"It's official: U.S. President Barack Obama wants lawmakers to weigh in on whether to use military force in Syria. Obama sent a letter to the heads of the House and Senate on Saturday night, hours after announcing that he believes military action against Syrian targets is the right step to take over the alleged use of chemical weapons. The proposed legislation from Obama asks Congress to approve the use of military force ""to deter, disrupt, prevent and degrade the potential for future uses of chemical weapons or other weapons of mass destruction."" It's a step that is set to turn an international crisis into a fierce domestic political battle. There are key questions looming over the debate: What did U.N. weapons inspectors find in Syria? What happens if Congress votes no? And how will the Syrian government react? In a televised address from the White House Rose Garden earlier Saturday, the president said he would take his case to Congress, not because he has to -- but because he wants to. ""While I believe I have the authority to carry out this military action without specific congressional authorization, I know that the country will be stronger if we take this course, and our actions will be even more effective,"" he said. ""We should have this debate, because the issues are too big for business as usual."" Obama said top congressional leaders had agreed to schedule a debate when the body returns to Washington on September 9. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing over the matter on Tuesday, Sen. Robert Menendez said. Transcript: Read Obama's full remarks . Syrian crisis: Latest developments . U.N. inspectors leave Syria . Obama's remarks came shortly after U.N. inspectors left Syria, carrying evidence that will determine whether chemical weapons were used in an attack early last week in a Damascus suburb. ""The aim of the game here, the mandate, is very clear -- and that is to ascertain whether chemical weapons were used -- and not by whom,"" U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters on Saturday. But who used the weapons in the reported toxic gas attack in a Damascus suburb on August 21 has been a key point of global debate over the Syrian crisis. Top U.S. officials have said there's no doubt that the Syrian government was behind it, while Syrian officials have denied responsibility and blamed jihadists fighting with the rebels. British and U.S. intelligence reports say the attack involved chemical weapons, but U.N. officials have stressed the importance of waiting for an official report from inspectors. The inspectors will share their findings with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Ban, who has said he wants to wait until the U.N. team's final report is completed before presenting it to the U.N. Security Council. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which nine of the inspectors belong to, said Saturday that it could take up to three weeks to analyze the evidence they collected. ""It needs time to be able to analyze the information and the samples,"" Nesirky said. He noted that Ban has repeatedly said there is no alternative to a political solution to the crisis in Syria, and that ""a military solution is not an option."" Bergen:  Syria is a problem from hell for the U.S. Obama: 'This menace must be confronted' Obama's senior advisers have debated the next steps to take, and the president's comments Saturday came amid mounting political pressure over the situation in Syria. Some U.S. lawmakers have called for immediate action while others warn of stepping into what could become a quagmire. Some global leaders have expressed support, but the British Parliament's vote against military action earlier this week was a blow to Obama's hopes of getting strong backing from key NATO allies. On Saturday, Obama proposed what he said would be a limited military action against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Any military attack would not be open-ended or include U.S. ground forces, he said. Syria's alleged use of chemical weapons earlier this month ""is an assault on human dignity,"" the president said. A failure to respond with force, Obama argued,  ""could lead to escalating use of chemical weapons or their proliferation to terrorist groups who would do our people harm. In a world with many dangers, this menace must be confronted."" Syria missile strike: What would happen next? Map: U.S. and allied assets around Syria . Obama decision came Friday night . On Friday night, the president made a last-minute decision to consult lawmakers. What will happen if they vote no? It's unclear. A senior administration official told CNN that Obama has the authority to act without Congress -- even if Congress rejects his request for authorization to use force. Obama on Saturday continued to shore up support for a strike on the al-Assad government. He spoke by phone with French President Francois Hollande before his Rose Garden speech. ""The two leaders agreed that the international community must deliver a resolute message to the Assad regime -- and others who would consider using chemical weapons -- that these crimes are unacceptable and those who violate this international norm will be held accountable by the world,"" the White House said. Meanwhile, as uncertainty loomed over how Congress would weigh in, U.S. military officials said they remained at the ready. 5 key assertions: U.S. intelligence report on Syria . Syria: Who wants what after chemical weapons horror . Reactions mixed to Obama's speech . A spokesman for the Syrian National Coalition said that the opposition group was disappointed by Obama's announcement. ""Our fear now is that the lack of action could embolden the regime and they repeat his attacks in a more serious way,"" said spokesman Louay Safi. ""So we are quite concerned."" Some members of Congress applauded Obama's decision. House Speaker John Boehner, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy and Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers issued a statement Saturday praising the president. ""Under the Constitution, the responsibility to declare war lies with Congress,"" the Republican lawmakers said. ""We are glad the president is seeking authorization for any military action in Syria in response to serious, substantive questions being raised."" More than 160 legislators, including 63 of Obama's fellow Democrats, had signed letters calling for either a vote or at least a ""full debate"" before any U.S. action. British Prime Minister David Cameron, whose own attempt to get lawmakers in his country to support military action in Syria failed earlier this week, responded to Obama's speech in a Twitter post Saturday. ""I understand and support Barack Obama's position on Syria,"" Cameron said. An influential lawmaker in Russia -- which has stood by Syria and criticized the United States -- had his own theory. ""The main reason Obama is turning to the Congress:  the military operation did not get enough support either in the world, among allies of the US or in the United States itself,"" Alexei Pushkov, chairman of the international-affairs committee of the Russian State Duma, said in a Twitter post. In the United States, scattered groups of anti-war protesters around the country took to the streets Saturday. ""Like many other Americans...we're just tired of the United States getting involved and invading and bombing other countries,"" said Robin Rosecrans, who was among hundreds at a Los Angeles demonstration. What do Syria's neighbors think? Why Russia, China, Iran stand by Assad . Syria's government unfazed . After Obama's speech, a military and political analyst on Syrian state TV said Obama is ""embarrassed"" that Russia opposes military action against Syria, is ""crying for help"" for someone to come to his rescue and is facing two defeats -- on the political and military levels. Syria's prime minister appeared unfazed by the saber-rattling. ""The Syrian Army's status is on maximum readiness and fingers are on the trigger to confront all challenges,"" Wael Nader al-Halqi said during a meeting with a delegation of Syrian expatriates from Italy, according to a banner on Syria State TV that was broadcast prior to Obama's address. An anchor on Syrian state television said Obama ""appeared to be preparing for an aggression on Syria based on repeated lies."" A top Syrian diplomat told the state television network that Obama was facing pressure to take military action from Israel, Turkey, some Arabs and right-wing extremists in the United States. ""I think he has done well by doing what Cameron did in terms of taking the issue to Parliament,"" said Bashar Jaafari, Syria's ambassador to the United Nations. Both Obama and Cameron, he said, ""climbed to the top of the tree and don't know how to get down."" The Syrian government has denied that it used chemical weapons in the August 21 attack, saying that jihadists fighting with the rebels used them in an effort to turn global sentiments against it. British intelligence had put the number of people killed in the attack at more than 350. On Saturday, Obama said ""all told, well over 1,000 people were murdered."" U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday cited a death toll of 1,429, more than 400 of them children. No explanation was offered for the discrepancy. Iran: U.S. military action in Syria would spark 'disaster' Opinion: Why strikes in Syria are a bad idea ."
"(CNN) -- Usain Bolt rounded off the world championships Sunday by claiming his third gold in Moscow as he anchored Jamaica to victory in the men's 4x100m relay. The fastest man in the world charged clear of United States rival Justin Gatlin as the Jamaican quartet of Nesta Carter, Kemar Bailey-Cole, Nickel Ashmeade and Bolt won in 37.36 seconds. The U.S finished second in 37.56 seconds with Canada taking the bronze after Britain were disqualified for a faulty handover. The 26-year-old Bolt has now collected eight gold medals at world championships, equaling the record held by American trio Carl Lewis, Michael Johnson and Allyson Felix, not to mention the small matter of six Olympic titles. The relay triumph followed individual successes in the 100 and 200 meters in the Russian capital. ""I'm proud of myself and I'll continue to work to dominate for as long as possible,"" Bolt said, having previously expressed his intention to carry on until the 2016 Rio Olympics. Victory was never seriously in doubt once he got the baton safely in hand from Ashmeade, while Gatlin and the United States third leg runner Rakieem Salaam had problems. Gatlin strayed out of his lane as he struggled to get full control of their baton and was never able to get on terms with Bolt. Earlier, Jamaica's women underlined their dominance in the sprint events by winning the 4x100m relay gold, anchored by Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who like Bolt was completing a triple. Their quartet recorded a championship record of 41.29 seconds, well clear of France, who crossed the line in second place in 42.73 seconds. Defending champions, the United States, were initially back in the bronze medal position after losing time on the second handover between Alexandria Anderson and English Gardner, but promoted to silver when France were subsequently disqualified for an illegal handover. The British quartet, who were initially fourth, were promoted to the bronze which eluded their men's team. Fraser-Pryce, like Bolt aged 26, became the first woman to achieve three golds in the 100-200 and the relay. In other final action on the last day of the championships, France's Teddy Tamgho became the third man to leap over 18m in the triple jump, exceeding the mark by four centimeters to take gold. Germany's Christina Obergfoll finally took gold at global level in the women's javelin after five previous silvers, while Kenya's Asbel Kiprop easily won a tactical men's 1500m final. Kiprop's compatriot Eunice Jepkoech Sum was a surprise winner of the women's 800m. Bolt's final dash for golden glory brought the eight-day championship to a rousing finale, but while the hosts topped the medal table from the United States there was criticism of the poor attendances in the Luzhniki Stadium. There was further concern when their pole vault gold medalist Yelena Isinbayeva made controversial remarks in support of Russia's new laws, which make ""the propagandizing of non-traditional sexual relations among minors"" a criminal offense. She later attempted to clarify her comments, but there were renewed calls by gay rights groups for a boycott of the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, the next major sports event in Russia."
"Kansas City, Missouri (CNN) -- The General Services Administration, already under investigation for lavish spending, allowed an employee to telecommute from Hawaii even though he is based at the GSA's Kansas City, Missouri, office, a CNN investigation has found. It cost more than $24,000 for the business development specialist to travel to and from the mainland United States over the past year. He is among several hundred GSA ""virtual"" workers who also travel to various conferences and their home offices, costing the agency millions of dollars over the past three years. Under the program, employees work from home and may live in another state from the region in which they're actually assigned. The Kansas City employee, who started his job in January 2011, is paid $84,440 and works from his home in Honolulu, a GSA representative confirmed. In the past year, according to GSA travel records, the employee has flown back to the mainland nine times for conferences and meetings. Four of those trips were to St. Louis; four were to Washington, with a side trip to Cincinnati; and one was to San Diego. The total cost to taxpayers was $24,221. Jason Klumb, the GSA's regional administrator for Kansas City, defended the hire. ""The cost of that travel was included in the consideration of his candidacy as an employee as compared with the other applicants,"" Klumb said. ""And when factoring all of those in, it was determined that he was the best candidate, even in light of the cost that would be incurred."" Klumb called the GSA's teleworking program ""a successful program that's going to lead to cost savings for taxpayers."" But a GSA spokeswoman said, ""We are not going to defend this type of travel."" And a GSA employee in Kansas City, who requested anonymity, said that hiring someone in Hawaii to work for the Kansas City region was ludicrous. ""It doesn't make sense,"" the employee said. ""When you consider everything you need when you hire someone, it would have been better to look for someone in the Kansas City area. It would have reduced the cost of travel by at least 70 percent when you look at just the airfare of what it takes to from Honolulu to Washington, D.C., where a lot of business is done."" Dan Tangherlini, who was appointed acting GSA administrator this year, said the agency was examining the cost of the entire teleworking program. ""I think the most important part for the GSA to think about is make sure we open ourselves up, avail ourselves to all the smart people in the country, but then also make sure we have a clear business case,"" he said. ""If we have someone who is working in Nebraska but reporting to Boston, there has to be a clear explanation for what value they're providing, and you've got to give me the business case. You've got to explain to me why that's a cost-effective move for the American people, and that's a new standard that we're asking everyone at GSA to adhere to."" The GSA ""virtual employee"" program is different from telework programs offered by many private companies including CNN's parent company, Turner Broadcasting, in which some employees are encouraged to work from home some days of the week, partially to reduce traffic congestion. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform requested details about the GSA's teleworking program in June. That followed disclosures that 95 virtual employees, including 12 in supervisory positions, spent nearly $750,000 in travel costs between October 2010 and June 2011. ""The American people have a right to know that federal bureaucrats who enjoy the benefits of virtual work are eligible and responsible stewards of the taxpayer dollars that support the program,"" according to a letter from committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa, R-California, to the GSA. The details requested by Issa about the GSA program have not been provided to the committee. CNN also requested the information more than two months ago through the federal Freedom of Information Act but has been repeatedly told by the GSA that FOIA staff members have not finished compiling the material. The General Services Administration, which has more than 12,600 employees and a $26.3 billion budget, is a relatively obscure federal agency that handles government real estate and other non-military procurement. Congress launched an investigation into the GSA after a scathing inspector general's report issued this year showed lavish spending -- $823,000 -- at the agency's Western Regions Conference in Las Vegas in October 2010. The controversy became politically toxic after reports and video clips of the lavish conference were released. The revelation prompted taxpayer indignation, embarrassed the administration and put a spotlight on wasteful spending by the GSA. Jeff Neely, the GSA official who organized the conference, resigned, as did the agency's administrator, Martha Johnson. Two of Johnson's deputies were fired, and eight other employees left the agency. Tangherlini, a former Treasury Department official, took over as acting GSA administrator. In addition to the Las Vegas conference, the GSA apparently spent $330,000 to relocate an employee from Denver to Hawaii and probably millions more on other employees over a two-year period, according to a transcript of an interview with a GSA event planner. And 84 GSA employees, most of them supervisors or other senior staff -- all subjects of inspector general investigations -- are still collecting their bonuses, totaling more than $1 million in taxpayer money. In July, a CNN investigation revealed that the GSA's Kansas City office spent more than $20,000 to send employees to cooking classes to build team spirit. While the classes do not amount to a significant sum of money in the world of trillion-dollar government budgets, insiders said it was part of the free-spending culture that went on for years at the GSA's Kansas City regional headquarters. GSA spokeswoman Betsaida Alcantara said in a statement this year that all the agency's practices are under a top-down review. CNN's Sara Anwar, Elizabeth M. Nunez and Tom Cohen contributed to this report. Watch Erin Burnett weekdays 7pm ET. For the latest from Erin Burnett click here."
"Los Angeles (CNN) -- A medical doctor in Vancouver, British Columbia, said Thursday that California arson suspect Harry Burkhart suffered from severe mental illness in 2010, when she examined him as part of a team of doctors. Dr. Blaga Stancheva, a family physician and specialist in obstetrics, said both Burkhart and his mother, Dorothee, were her patients in Vancouver while both were applying for refugee status in Canada. ""I was asked to diagnose and treat Harry to support a claim explaining why he was unable to show up in a small-claims court case,"" Stancheva told CNN in a phone interview. She declined to cite the case or Burkhart's role in it. Stancheva said she and other doctors including a psychiatrist diagnosed Burkhart with ""autism, severe anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and depression."" The diagnosis was spelled out in a letter she wrote for the small-claims court case, Stancheva said. Stancheva, citing doctor-patient confidentiality, would not elaborate further, nor would she identify the psychiatrist involved in the diagnosis. Burkhart, a 24-year-old German national, has been charged with 37 counts of arson following a string of 52 fires in Los Angeles. The charges are in connection with arson fires at 12 locations scattered through Hollywood, West Hollywood and Sherman Oaks, according to authorities. Stancheva said the refugee applications by Burkhart and his mother were denied by the Canadian government, and she has not seen Burkhart since early March of 2010. ""I was shocked and dismayed at what happened in Los Angeles, and it appears he was not being treated for his depression,"" she said. Burkhart was in court on Wednesday for a preliminary hearing. Prosecutors said his ""rage against Americans,"" triggered by his mother's arrest last week, motivated his ""campaign of terror"" with dozens of fires in Hollywood and nearby communities. Burkhart kept his eyes closed and remained limp during most of his hearing, requiring sheriff's deputies to hold him up. The district attorney called his courtroom behavior ""very bizarre."" ""This defendant has engaged in a protracted campaign in which he has set, the people believe, upwards of 52 arson fires in what essentially amounts to a campaign of terror against this community,"" Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Sean Carney said. ""The people believe he has engaged in this conduct because he has a hatred for Americans."" Carney told the court Burkhart would flee the country if he was allowed out of jail on bond, but Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Upinder Kalra said he had no choice but to set bail. To go free while awaiting trial, Burkhart must post a $2.85 million bond and surrender his German passport. It was revealed that Burkhart is also under investigation for arson and fraud in relation to a fire in Neukirchen, near Frankfurt, Germany. The worst arson sprees in the city's history began last Friday morning with a car fire in Hollywood that spread to apartments above a garage, but no new fires have happened since Burkhart was arrested Monday, Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley said. No one was hurt in the fires, but property damage costs are likely to reach $3 million, authorities said. Cooley called it ""almost attempted murder,"" because people were sleeping in apartments above where Burkhart allegedly set cars on fire with incendiary devices placed under their engines. The criminal complaint filed Wednesday also alleged that the fires were ""caused by use of a device designed to accelerate the fire,"" Cooley said. ""If found true, the allegation could mean additional custody time for the defendant."" ""In numerous instances, the cars were parked in carports, resulting in the fires spreading to the adjacent occupied apartment buildings,"" a sworn affidavit from a Los Angeles arson investigator said. ""The vast majority of these fires occurred late at night when the occupants of the apartment buildings were asleep."" Investigator Edward Nordskog's affidavit detailed Burkhart's behavior a day before the fires began, when he was in a federal courtroom during extradition proceedings for his mother. ""While in the audience, the defendant (Burkhart) began yelling in an angry manner, 'F--k all Americans.' The defendant also attempted to communicate with his mother who was in custody. Shortly thereafter, the defendant was ejected from the courtroom by Deputy U.S. Marshals,"" Nordskog wrote. Dorothee Burkhart was arrested a day before on an international arrest warrant issued by a district court in Frankfurt, Germany, said federal court spokesman Gunther Meilinger. The 53-year-old German woman is wanted on 16 counts of fraud and three counts of embezzlement, he said. The charges include an allegation that she failed to pay for a breast enhancement operation performed on her in 2004, Meilinger said. Most of the German charges, however, stem from phony real estate deals that Dorothee Burkhart allegedly conducted between 2000 and 2006. ""It is my opinion that the defendant's criminal spree was motivated by his rage against Americans and that by setting these fires the defendant intended to harm and terrorize as many residents of the city and county of Los Angeles as possible,"" Nordskog wrote. A search of Burkhart's Hollywood apartment found newspaper clippings about the Los Angeles fires and articles from Germany reporting similar car fires in Frankfurt, Germany in September, 2011, the investigator said. ""It is my opinion based on my experience that it is highly likely the defendant has a history of setting arson fires in Germany before he came to the United States,"" Nordskog wrote. Burkhart's mother is scheduled for another extradition hearing Friday, while he is due back in court for arraignment on January 24. Meanwhile, both Burkharts are housed in a Los Angeles jail."
"(CNN) -- Police arrested another teen Thursday, the sixth suspect jailed in connection with the gang rape of a 15-year-old girl on a northern California high school campus. Jose Carlos Montano, 18, was arrested on charges of felony rape, rape in concert with force, and penetration with a foreign object, said Richmond Police Lt. Mark Gagan. Montano was arrested Thursday evening in San Pablo, California, a small town about two miles from the city of Richmond, where the crime took place. Montano, who was held in lieu of $1.3 million bail, is accused of taking part in what police said was a 2½-hour assault on the Richmond High School campus. Police said as many as 10 people were involved in the rape in a dimly lit back alley at the school, while another 10 people watched without calling 911. The victim was taken to the hospital in critical condition, but was released Wednesday. Four other teenage suspects were arraigned Thursday on charges connected to the rape. Cody Ray Smith, described by the court as older than 14, pleaded not guilty to charges of rape with a foreign object and rape by force. Two other juveniles, Ari Abdallah Morales and Marcelles James Peter, appeared with Smith at the Contra Costa County Superior Court, but did not enter a plea. The court described Morales as younger than 16, and did not give an age for Peter. All three juveniles, who wore bulletproof vests at the hearing, were charged as adults. A fourth person, Manuel Ortega, 19, appeared separately without an attorney and did not enter a plea. He did not wear a protective vest. Another person, Salvador Rodriguez, 21, was arrested Tuesday night, but he was not in court Thursday."
"(CNN) -- Thousands on Saturday fled the area in southwestern Ivory Coast where attacks left seven U.N. peacekeepers and eight civilians dead, according to a U.N. official. One attack occurred late Thursday and into Friday near Para Village, not far from the west-central African nation's border with Liberia, according to the United Nations. Humanitarian organizations reported Saturday they were expecting about 4,000 people in Tai, said Remi Dourlot, a spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Several hundred had arrived by midday Saturday in the town, which is on the edge of Tai National Park. Another 35 families crossed the Ivory Coast's southwest border into U.N. refugee camps in Liberia, and humanitarian groups said hundreds of others had been pushed south by the violence, according to Dourlot. The movement comes after blue-helmeted peacekeepers -- who were in the area because of threats against civilians -- came under attack, the United Nations said in a statement. Besides the U.N. peacekeepers, humanitarian groups reported eight civilians died in violence, said Dourlot. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday called on the government of Ivory Coast ""to do its utmost to identify the perpetrators and hold them accountable."" He added that he understood other peacekeepers remained in danger. ""Even tonight, after the attack, more than 40 peacekeepers remain with the villagers in this remote region to protect them from this armed group,"" Ban said. U.N. Operation in Cote d'Ivoire and Ivory Coast troops have increased their presence in the area, Dourlot said Saturday. Members of the U.N. humanitarian affairs office have deployed to Tai to coordinate relief efforts there with local authorities. Clinton urges Ivory Coast dialogue . A spokeswoman for the U.N. mission in Ivory Coast said Friday's incident was the first attack on peacekeepers since they entered the country in 2004. Sylvie van den Wildenberg, in a telephone interview from her office in Abidjan, said the remaining forces were continuing to protect area residents, ""who are living in a very difficult terrain -- their villages scattered."" Van den Wildenberg said it was not clear who was responsible for the attack, which occurred mid-afternoon. ""This is an area where you have so many different types of armed people,"" she said. ""People have different aims and different reasons to carry arms and to perpetrate attack. So this is a very complex environment. We can't extrapolate. We just can't fingerpoint any group."" The peacekeepers were on a reconnaissance patrol because U.N. officials had heard rumors several days earlier of armed men in the area threatening to attack a village, she said. U.N. peacekeepers remained in Ivory Coast after the 2010 presidential election, when the country was thrown into crisis after incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo refused to acknowledge defeat to former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara. The latter was sworn in on May 21. Gbagbo is in custody at the Hague, accused of crimes against humanity during post-election violence that killed thousands. According to the United Nations, its peacekeeping force in Ivory Coast as of April 30 included nearly 11,000 uniformed personnel, as well as several hundred international civilian personnel, local staff and volunteers. They provide technical, logistical and security support to the government. CNN's Christabelle Fombu and Tom Watkins contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Four groups that advocate for immigrant rights said Thursday they will challenge Arizona's new immigration law, which allows police to ask anyone for proof of legal U.S. residency. The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Arizona and the National Immigration Law Center held a news conference Thursday in Phoenix to announce the legal challenge. ""The Arizona community can be assured that a vigorous and sophisticated legal challenge will be mounted, in advance of SB1070's implementation, seeking to prevent this unconstitutional and discriminatory law from ever taking effect,"" said Thomas A. Saenz, president of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, known as MALDEF. ""This law will only make the rampant racial profiling of Latinos that is already going on in Arizona much worse,"" said Alessandra Soler Meetze, executive director of the ACLU of Arizona. ""If this law were implemented, citizens would effectively have to carry 'their papers' at all times to avoid arrest. It is a low point in modern America when a state law requires police to demand documents from people on the street."" Republican Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed the law last week. It goes into effect 90 days after the close of the legislative session, which has not been determined. Brewer and others who support the law say it does not involve racial profiling or any other illegal acts. ""Racial profiling is illegal,"" Brewer said after signing the bill Friday. ""It is illegal in America, and it's certainly illegal in Arizona."" The National Coalition Of Latino Clergy & Christian Leaders said Sunday it also planned legal action. ""Our churches and pastors in Arizona are outraged about the significant threat this anti-immigrant law will have in the lives of Arizona's Latinos,"" said the Rev. Miguel Rivera, the group's chairman. ""This policy violates the rights of American citizens, particularly the fast-growing Latino population of Arizona, by eliminating the basic right of due process, which we are certain that the courts will agree,"" Rivera said. The law requires immigrants to carry their alien registration documents at all times and requires police to question people if there is reason to suspect they're in the United States illegally. The measure makes it a state crime to live or travel through Arizona illegally. It also targets those who hire illegal immigrant day laborers or knowingly transport them. In addition to signing the law, Brewer also issued an executive order that requires training for local officers on how to implement the law without engaging in racial profiling or discrimination. ""This training will include what does and does not constitute reasonable suspicion that a person is not legally present in the United States,"" she said. Some officials in Arizona have expressed their displeasure with the measure. Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon said Thursday that he is ""very disappointed."" He said he is concerned that calls to boycott Arizona businesses and tourism will harm the state. ""I'm very incredulous that our state leaders -- our so-called leaders -- have allowed our state to be split when we're suffering economic hardships,"" Gordon told CNN. Other critics say the bill is unconstitutional and will trample residents' civil rights. ""Quite simply, this law is a civil rights disaster and an insult to American values,"" said Mary Bauer, legal director of the Southern Poverty Law Center. ""No one in our country should be required to produce their 'papers' or demand to prove their innocence. What kind of country are we becoming?"" But a national Republican leader said Thursday that Arizona is just filling a void left by the federal government. ""I think the people of Arizona have a right to pass their laws under the 10th Amendment,"" House Minority Leader John Boehner said. ""I think it is clearly a result of the federal government's failure to secure our border and to enforce our laws."" Gordon said the real solution is comprehensive immigration reform that would allow more immigrants to legally enter the United States. ""This law doesn't accomplish that,"" he said. ""It doesn't do anything on that."" President Obama has called on Congress to pass a comprehensive immigration reform law this year. CNN has learned that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other top Democratic senators will unveil the outlines of that legislation late Thursday. But Boehner said at a briefing Thursday that ""there's not a chance"" that Congress will approve the measure this year, especially after the recent passage of a health care reform bill. ""I've been out here for a little while and know that in the middle of an election year, after we've had bills like health care shoved down our throats and the process twisted, tortured, pressured, bribed, you cannot do a serious piece of legislation of this size, with this difficulty, in this environment,"" he said. ""And it's nothing more than a cynical ploy to try and engage voters, some segment of voters, to show up in this November's elections."" The Arizona measure has drawn sharp criticism from the Mexican government, which issued an advisory to its citizens this week. The secretary general of the Organization of American States and some member states also expressed concerns about the law Wednesday. ""This is an issue of concern to all citizens of the Americas, beginning with the citizens of the United States, a country with a very rich tradition of immigration and respect for immigrants who have come to lead a better life,"" OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza said. ""The rich tradition we all admire, of recognizing immigrants in the United States, has been harmed, undermined."" The uproar caused by the law has even spread to the nation's pastime. Protesters plan to demonstrate against the Arizona Diamondbacks baseball team Thursday outside Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois. In Arizona, two popular singers also will voice their opposition. Grammy Award-winning Colombian singer Shakira is scheduled to meet with Gordon on Thursday evening. Singer-songwriter Linda Ronstadt, an Arizona native of Mexican and German descent, also attended the Thursday afternoon rally with the immigrant rights groups. ""What Gov. Brewer signed into law last week is a piece of legislation that threatens the very heart of this great state,"" Ronstadt said. ""We must come together and stop SB1070 from pitting neighbor against neighbor to the detriment of us all."" Federal officials estimate there are about 10.8 million illegal immigrants in the United States, of which about 6.6 million come from Mexico and 760,000 from the rest of Latin America. About 1 million come from Asia. Arizona, which is on the Mexican border, has about 460,000 undocumented immigrants, the federal government says. At least five other states, including California, with 2.6 million, have more undocumented immigrants, the government says. The other states with more illegal immigrants than Arizona are Texas, Florida, New York and Georgia. A Pew Research Center survey late last year found that Americans believe Latinos are discriminated against more than any other major racial or ethnic group in American society. The Pew survey also indicated that about one-third of the nation's Latinos say they or someone they know has experienced discrimination. About 9 percent said they had been stopped by police or other authorities and asked about their immigration status in the year before the survey. Fifty-seven percent of those surveyed said they worried that they, a family member or a close friend could be deported."
"While Labor Day is the unofficial end of summer, it's also the unofficial start to the campaign season. That means politicking will be on the rise, especially as control of the Senate is at stake as well as control of 36 state houses. So, if you turn on your TV, expect to see more -- and nastier -- political advertisements. In fact, Elizabeth Wilner, senior vice president of Kantar Ad Intelligence, says as much as $3.4 billion is going to be spent on advertising this midterm season. The race with the most at stake is the one for U.S. Senate in Kentucky. This is not just one of the only Senate races Republicans are at risk of losing, but also the race where the top Senate Republican is at risk of losing his job. The Republican leader of the Senate, Mitch McConnell, is in a fight for his political life against Alison Lundergan Grimes, a relatively inexperienced Democratic politician who was just 8 years old when McConnell started his first term in the Senate in 1985. McConnell, a shrewd politician, prolific fundraiser and expert campaigner, has had numerous missteps, making this race even more interesting. His troubles include a flubbed campaign ad, a campaign manager who was a little too honest, the recent resignation of that manager and a caught-on-tape moment. Grimes, meanwhile, has also stumbled when talking about foreign policy, and questions have arisen about a possible sweetheart deal involving her campaign bus. This is one of the most interesting and critical races in the country. How Mitch McConnell crushed the tea party . Here are four other races that are worth watching: . Wisconsin governor: The Wisconsin governor's race has many national repercussions, as Republican Gov. Scott Walker is locked in a tight re-election battle against former Trek bicycle executive Mary Burke. Economic policy is a central component of this campaign. Walker has gained prominence in conservative politics for governing as a fiscal conservative and making deep cuts to spending by cutting public union workers' pensions. He also drastically limited workers' bargaining rights. Meanwhile, Democrats, backed by labor unions, are again fighting to defeat Walker -- they forced a recall two years ago that Walker won -- to move forward on more Democratic economic policies, including lifting the minimum wage. Walker, who is also being investigated for alleged illegal campaign coordination with outside groups, is considered a potential 2016 Republican presidential candidate, but if he loses his gubernatorial race, his path to the presidency will be very, very narrow. Democrats and Republicans understand the stakes, and President Barack Obama traveled to Wisconsin on Labor Day to speak at a union event in a trip packed with political symbolism. Walker, Burke tied up in new poll . U.S. Senate, Louisiana: Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu always has tough races, and her fourth bid for the Senate seat is no exception. Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy is the person who is giving Landrieu another difficult run. Cassidy is tying Landrieu to Obama in this conservative-leaning state while painting her as a corrupt Washington insider. Landrieu, meanwhile, is attempting to paint her Senate tenure as a picture of independence. Most interestingly, a political roller coaster is possible. If Landrieu or Cassidy doesn't receive more than 50% of the vote on Election Day in November, a winner won't be named until that state's December 6 election. There's a chance the Louisiana race, and the balance of the Senate, might be dragged out until December. Sen. Mary Landrieu to reimburse Senate for charter flight . National Democrats go after Cassidy on Medicare . U.S. Senate, Iowa: When popular Sen. Tom Harkin decided to retire, Democrats had a small panic attack as this solidly Democratic seat was now in play. But when Rep. Bruce Braley jumped in, Democrats' confidence was restored. But then that confidence has been shaken as Braley has run a gaffe-prone campaign that involves digs at farmers and meandering chickens. His missteps -- combined with the surprising strength of Republican candidate Joni Ernst, who has run a great campaign that began with a breakout performance in the crowded Republican primary -- make this a possible and unexpected pickup for Republicans. Climate group attacks Ernst on tax pledge, not climate . Florida's 2nd Congressional District: There is little to no chance that Republicans will lose control of the House of Representatives, and some race analyzers say the GOP will even pick up seats. But this race could be a bright spot for Democrats. Even in what is expected to be a difficult year for Democrats, Democratic candidate Gwen Graham could pull out a victory in this Republican-leaning district of Tallahassee and the central part of the Florida Panhandle. Graham has some advantages. She has no problem getting money -- raising more than Southerland -- and she has a Florida-famous last name. Her father is longtime Sen. Bob Graham, giving her access to his connections and deep knowledge of running successful campaigns. Key races in 2014 . Complete midterm coverage ."
"Gaza City (CNN) -- An Italian humanitarian activist and journalist who was kidnapped in Gaza has been found dead and one person is in custody, the Hamas Interior Ministry said Friday in a statement. Police investigating the case learned where 36-year-old Vittorio Arrigoni was being held and went to the location, where they found the body, the statement said. An autopsy revealed that he had been killed hours before police entered the location, it said. Medical sources said his body was taken to Shifa Hospital in Gaza. The grisly outcome came hours after a video was posted on YouTube showing a man identified by his colleagues as Arrigoni. A black blindfold covered his eyes; his right cheek appeared red as though it had been hit; his hands appeared to be bound behind his back. A hand belonging to someone outside of the view of the lens appeared to be grasping his hair on the back and pointing the captive's head toward the camera. Arabic writing scrolled over the video threatened that Arrigoni would be killed if Hesham al-Saeedni, who has been held for nearly a year by Hamas, were not released within 30 hours of 11 a.m. Thursday. Al-Saeedni is the leader of a group that may have been inspired by al Qaeda, said Alfredo Tradardi, the Italy coordinator for the International Solidarity Movement, where Arrigoni was a volunteer. The writing calls Italy an ""infidel nation whose armies are still present in Muslim lands."" Tradardi, who had initially expressed optimism that his co-worker would be released unharmed, told CNN in a telephone interview that the outcome underscores the need for progress to be made toward Middle East peace. ""Now, we have to work more deeply to try to change the foreign policy of our government, of the European government, of the United States government in order that they could press Israel to solve the problem of the Palestinians."" Arrigoni had been active in the Palestinian cause for nearly a decade, and had been allied with the International Solidarity Movement for more than two years, ""monitoring human rights violations by Israel, supporting the Palestinian popular resistance against the Israeli occupation and disseminating information about the situation in Gaza to his home country of Italy,"" the non-governmental organization said in a written statement. He was granted honorary citizenship for his work for the Palestinian people, the statement said. ""Vittorio Arrigoni is a hero of Palestine,"" said a statement released by Khalil Shaheen, head of the economics and social rights department at the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights. ""He was available everywhere to support all the poor people, the victims."" Arrigoni's colleagues last saw him about 8 p.m. Wednesday near the port in Gaza City, said Joe Catron, a member of the International Solidarity Movement. ""I think he was just the first foreigner they ran across,"" Catron said about the abductors. ""It is ironic they happened to come across someone who has dedicated a part of his life to helping Palestine."" Arrigoni, who was also working as a freelance journalist, was from the northern Italian region of Lombardy. Journalist Talal Abu-Rahmi, CNN's Yasmin Amer, Tom Watkins and Erin McLaughlin contributed to this story ."
"(CNN) -- Renowned radio personality Casey Kasem is in critical condition at a hospital in western Washington, a spokesman for St. Anthony Hospital told CNN in a written statement Thursday. ""Mr. Kasem is alert and appears comfortable at this time,"" Scott Thompson, a spokesman for the facility in Gig Harbor added. The 82-year-old former host of ""American Top 40"" and ""Casey's Top 40"" is receiving antibiotics through IVs, blood pressure support medicine and care for his bed sores, Thompson said. Kasem was admitted to the hospital Sunday after one of his daughters and an ambulance crew retrieved him from a home where he and his wife were staying with friends. ""Any further updates on Mr. Kasem's condition will be at the discretion and approval of his children,"" Thompson said. Danny Deraney, a representative of daughter Kerri Kasem, told CNN that members of the family, including Casey Kasem's brother, were flying to Washington. When asked if they feared Casey Kasem might die, Deraney said it could be his last moments or he could get better. Deraney clarified that he never meant that Kasem's health was failing as was reported by several media outlets. On Thursday, a message appeared on the Twitter account of Deraney PR, saying that Kasem was in ""stable condition."" A patient can be listed as both critical and stable, if his condition is poor but not deteriorating further. The radio icon has been at the center of a family feud between Jean Kasem, his wife of 34 years, and his three children from his first marriage. Kerri Kasem; her sister, Julie; and their brother, Mike Kasem, have contended since last year that Jean Kasem has prevented the three siblings from visiting their father. Kasem has Lewy body disease, the most common type of progressive dementia after Alzheimer's, and has been bed-ridden for some time. He had been at a facility in Santa Monica, California, before Jean Kasem took him to Washington state after his daughter Kerri Kasem won temporary conservatorship over her father's care. Last week, a Washington court granted Kerri Kasem the right to visit her father one hour a day and to have him examined by a doctor. On Friday afternoon, a Kitsap County judge will continue the hearing and get an update on the situation, Deraney said. Deraney expected the judge to rule on whether Jean Kasem would have to let Kerri Kasem have more input on where her father lives and who cares for him. Casey Kasem, who was also the voice of Shaggy in the cartoon ""Scooby-Doo"" and an announcer for NBC, retired in 2009. Kasem's daughter wins additional powers in court . CNN's Jane Caffrey contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- If you travel by plane and arriving on time makes a difference, try to book on Hawaiian Airlines. In 2012, passengers got where they needed to go without delay on the carrier more than nine times out of 10, according to a study released on Monday. In fact, Hawaiian got even better from 2011, when it had a 92.8% on-time performance. Last year, it improved to 93.4%. The Airline Quality Rankings Report looks at the 14 largest U.S. airlines and is based on an analysis of U.S. Department of Transportation figures. It's co-authored by Brent Bowen, the head of the Department of Aviation Technology at Purdue University, and Dean Headley of Wichita State. In addition to on-time performance, the joint project looks at three other categories: rate of consumer complaints, mishandled bags and denied boarding performance. At a time when U.S. airlines are a whipping post for passenger complaints about crowded flights, tight seats, costly tickets and unsatisfactory service, there is a glimmer of hope. Eight airlines improved their on-time arrival performance in 2012. Nine of the 14 rated had an on-time arrival percentage of more than 80%. ExpressJet and American Airlines had the worst on-time performance (76.9%) last year, according to the data gathered in the 23rd annual report. Virgin America had the best baggage handling rate of all the airlines (0.87 misplaced bags per 1,000 passengers.) American Eagle showed improvement from 2011 but still came in last, fumbling baggage at a rate of 5.80 mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers. When it came to complaints last year, Southwest again had the lowest consumer rate (0.25 per 100,000 passengers) while the distinction of being the airline with the highest consumer complaint rate went to United Airlines (4.24 per 100,000.) Seven of the world's most entertaining airports . Boeing does 'final' battery test on 787 Dreamliner . FAA delays closures of 149 control towers ."
"(CNN)For the second time during his papacy, Pope Francis has announced a new group of bishops and archbishops set to become cardinals -- and they come from all over the world. Pope Francis said Sunday that he would hold a meeting of cardinals on February 14 ""during which I will name 15 new Cardinals who, coming from 13 countries from every continent, manifest the indissoluble links between the Church of Rome and the particular Churches present in the world,"" according to Vatican Radio. New cardinals are always important because they set the tone in the church and also elect the next pope, CNN Senior Vatican Analyst John L. Allen said. They are sometimes referred to as the princes of the Catholic Church. The new cardinals come from countries such as Ethiopia, New Zealand and Myanmar. ""This is a pope who very much wants to reach out to people on the margins, and you clearly see that in this set,"" Allen said. ""You're talking about cardinals from typically overlooked places, like Cape Verde, the Pacific island of Tonga, Panama, Thailand, Uruguay."" But for the second time since Francis' election, no Americans made the list. ""Francis' pattern is very clear: He wants to go to the geographical peripheries rather than places that are already top-heavy with cardinals,"" Allen said. Christopher Bellitto, a professor of church history at Kean University in New Jersey, noted that Francis announced his new slate of cardinals on the Catholic Feast of the Epiphany, which commemorates the visit of the Magi to Jesus' birthplace in Bethlehem. ""On feast of three wise men from far away, the Pope's choices for cardinal say that every local church deserves a place at the big table."" In other words, Francis wants a more decentralized church and wants to hear reform ideas from small communities that sit far from Catholicism's power centers, Bellitto said. That doesn't mean Francis is the first pontiff to appoint cardinals from the developing world, though. Beginning in the 1920s, an increasing number of Latin American churchmen were named cardinals, and in the 1960s, St. John XXIII, whom Francis canonized last year, appointed the first cardinals from Japan, the Philippines and Africa. In addition to the 15 new cardinals Francis named on Sunday, five retired archbishops and bishops will also be honored as cardinals. Last year, Pope Francis appointed 19 new cardinals, including bishops from Haiti and Burkina Faso. CNN's Daniel Burke and Christabelle Fombu contributed to this report."
"HAMILTON, Bermuda (CNN) -- Four Chinese nationals of Uyghur ethnicity who had been held at the U.S. military's Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention facility have been resettled in Bermuda, officials said Thursday. Attorney General Eric Holder says the U.S. is ""extremely grateful to the government of Bermuda."" ""Above all, this was a humanitarian act,"" Bermudan Premier Ewart Brown told CNN in an interview at his Cabinet office in Hamilton, Bermuda. ""We don't see it as quid pro quo."" The four were twice cleared for release -- once by the Bush administration and again this year, according to a Justice Department statement. They were among 17 Uyghur detainees at the facility set up to hold terror suspects. The four were flown by private plane Wednesday night from Cuba to Bermuda and were accompanied by U.S. and Bermudan representatives as well as their attorneys, according to Susan Baker Manning, part of the men's legal team. President Obama has pledged to close the Guantanamo facility, raising questions of what will happen to the more than 200 remaining detainees. A political backlash against bringing any of the detainees to the United States has increased the focus on sending them to other countries. Brown said he read an article on the issue of the Guantanamo Bay detainees' fates in The Washington Post while he was in Washington for a White House meeting in May. He said he decided to put an offer to the U.S. government ""on the table."" He said Bermuda, a British colony, told London of its intentions, but not until late in the process. Britain must approve the transfer for it to be permanent, Brown said, adding that he believes the issue may raise tension between Bermuda and Britain. The issue is controversial because of China's opposition to the Uyghurs being sent to any country but China. Uyghurs are a Muslim minority from the Xinjiang province of far-west China. The 17 Uyghurs had left China and made their way to Afghanistan, where they settled in a camp with other Uyghurs opposed to the Chinese government, the Justice Department said in its statement. They left Afghanistan after U.S. bombings began in the area in October 2001 and were apprehended in Pakistan, the statement said.  Watch concerns about resettling the Uyghur detainees » . ""According to available information, these individuals did not travel to Afghanistan with the intent to take any hostile action against the United States,"" the statement said. Manning said the 17 were picked up as a matter of circumstance and never had terrorist training. They left China because they did not agree with the government, she told CNN. However, China alleges the men are part of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement -- a group the U.S. State Department considers a terrorist organization -- that operates in the Xinjiang region. East Turkestan is another name for Xinjiang. China on Thursday urged the United States to hand over all 17 of the Uyghurs instead of sending them elsewhere. The Chinese statement followed an offer by Palau, a Pacific island nation, to accept the Uyghur detainees. The Xinjiang region of 20 million people is largely populated by ethnic Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities who have traditionally opposed Beijing's rule and clamored for greater autonomy. A senior U.S. administration official told CNN the State Department is working on a final agreement with Palau to settle the matter of the 13 remaining Uyghur detainees. Issues to be worked out include how to transfer the Uyghurs to Palau and how much money the United States would give the men for resettlement, the official said. The official said the average in such cases is $100,000 per person. The United States will not send Uyghur detainees cleared for release back to China out of concern that they would be tortured by Chinese authorities. China has said no returned Uyghurs would be tortured. Palau said it will take in the ethnic Uyghur detainees for humanitarian reasons and because of the ""special relationship"" between Palau and the United States. Palau, with a population of about 20,000, is about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) southeast of Manila in the Philippines and about 4,600 miles (7,400 kilometers) west of Hawaii. It has received nearly $900 million in U.S. aid since independence in 1994, according to congressional auditors, and depends on Washington for its defense. In 2006, five other Uyghur detainees were transferred to Albania, according to the Justice Department, which said it has no reports they took part in any post-resettlement criminal behavior or terrorist activities. Since 2002, more than 540 detainees have departed Guantanamo for other countries, including Albania, Algeria, Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Belgium, Denmark, Egypt, France, Great Britain, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Libya, Maldives, Mauritania, Morocco, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Uganda, the United Kingdom and Yemen, the Justice Department said. CNN's Brian Vitagliano and Don Lemon contributed to this report."
"Kathmandu, Nepal (CNN) -- A ferocious leopard may have killed 15 people in Nepal in a 15-month span, its latest victim a 4-year-old boy that the creature dragged away into the jungle to eat. The head of boy was found in the forest a kilometer from his home Saturday morning, said Kamal Prasad Kharel, the police chief of the Baitadi district, an area about 600 kilometers (373 miles) west of Kathmandu. The grisly discovery, which came after teams of people searched for the child, marks the 15th victim in the past 15 months in that remote district in western Nepal. The police chief suspects that a single man-eating leopard is responsible for the deaths. If not, there are at most two of the man-eating creatures around, he believes. Maheshwor Dhakal, an ecologist at the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation in Kathmandu, agreed that it is unusual to find more than one or two man-eating animals in one area. Most leopards live on wild prey. More human victims could also be expected if there were more than one or two man-eaters around, he said. ""Since human blood has more salt than animal blood, once wild animals get the taste of salty blood they do not like other animals like deer,"" Dhakal said. Kharel said he feared the actual number of people killed by the leopard could be higher than 15, because others have lost their life to leopard attacks in Uttarkhand state in northern India, which borders Baitadi district. ""It could be the same leopard,"" he said. Of the 15 victims in Nepal so far, two-thirds are children below the age of 10. The others are older children and a 29-year-old woman who had gone to collect fodder for domestic animals in the nearby forest, a common practice in Nepal. ""No adult male has been killed,"" Kharel said. All the victims are from villages bordering the dense forests in the district, he said. After killing its victim, the leopard takes the body away into the forest to eat. ""In the case of the children it just leaves behind the head, eating everything, but some parts of the adult body are left behind because it cannot finish it,"" Kharel added. The district administration has announced a Rs. 25,000 (about $300) reward to anyone who captures or kills the leopard. The local administration has sought to raise public awareness of the dangers of going alone into nearby forests and has mobilized the police, armed police force and local people who have licensed guns to hunt for the animal. Controlling this particular leopard has been a challenge for the wildlife officials in Kathmandu. ""We are sending a veterinary doctor to the district to understand the situation,"" Dhakal, the ecologist, said. ""There is no alternative but to kill the leopard."" The chief district administrator has granted permission for this particular leopard to be killed. Normally, it is illegal to kill wild animals. Leopards are common in the low mountain areas, as compared to the high Himalayas, across the country. While cases of leopards killing domestic animals are common, and there are sometimes instances of leopards killing people in Nepal, this case is ""extreme,"" Dhakal said."
"(CNN) -- Kyle White now has two pieces of metal to wear -- one, a bracelet inscribed with the names of his six comrades killed in an ambush in Afghanistan, the other, a Medal of Honor given to him for his valor that ensured that death toll wasn't higher. Speaking minutes after President Barack Obama gave him the highest military honor, White insisted the two emblems are equally significant. They both represent his family on that day six years ago -- the seven others who, like him, survived as well as those who did not. The former Army sergeant said Tuesday he owes it to these men, whom he calls ""my heroes,"" to live his life well, even now that he's left the military, and with honor. ""Though I am still uncomfortable with hearing my name and the word 'hero' in the same sentence, I am now ready for the challenge of proudly wearing this piece of blue fabric and carved metal with the same reverence that I wear the bracelet. And I vow to live up to the responsibility of doing so,"" White said. Not long before, Obama recalled White's bravery and that of his colleagues. The President paid tribute to those who died that fall day in Afghanistan and those who survived. They had done everything their country could ask for and more. ""Kyle, members of Chosen Company, you did your duty,"" Obama said. ""And now it's time for America to do ours."" White himself insisted that the Medal of Honor cannot really be an individual award, calling it ""a testament to the trust we have in each other and our leaders."" Still, the President said that he deserved to be singled out. A high school freshman when the Twin Towers fell on September 11, 2001, White joined the Army and was just 20 years old and 21 months into his military service when he faced the ultimate test. He aced it, and in doing so represented the best of what Obama called the ""9/11 generation (which) has proven itself to be one of America's greatest."" ""Today,"" the President said to a crowd that included White, his parents and many of his former comrades, ""we pay tribute to a soldier who embodies the courage of his generation."" Attacked in 'ambush alley' On Tuesday, White dressed in full uniform. But on most other weekdays, he now wears a suit to his job as an investment analyst at a bank in Charlotte, North Carolina -- a job that he's admitted to Obama, with a laugh, is less exciting than his previous job in the Army. The Washington state native joined up after high school, following the lead of his father, a former Army Special Forces member. His service had, like many other members of the military, earned him a ticket to Afghanistan as his platoon's radio telephone operator. He was there on November 9, 2007, walking back from a meeting with elders with his unit of 14 and a squad of Afghan army soldiers. ""They knew not to stop, they had to keep moving,"" Obama recalled of the group walking single-file with a cliff to their right and a steep, rocky slope to their left. ""They were heading into an area known as ambush alley."" In an interview prior to the award ceremony, White told CNN how the group walked ""down this little incline and looking into the valley, (when) I hear this single shot. Then two shots, then the echo, then fully automatic gunfire."" Taking so much fire, members of his patrol were separated as they tried to take cover. White was finishing off his first magazine and beginning to load another one when an rocket-propelled grenade exploded, knocking him unconscious. Moments after he came to, an enemy round hit a rock just inches from his head. The shrapnel and rock fragments cut his face. Dazed, he struggled to take in what was happening. He and four others had been separated from the other soldiers, who'd jumped from a cliff. White administered first aid to one wounded soldier using the only cover available: a single tree. That soldier would survive. It was at that point in the attack that White realized his radio wasn't working. He looked out and saw a member of his patrol about 30 feet away whose wounds were so bad that he could not move. White ran toward him, braving enemy fire. White was able to drag the wounded man back to the tree. But the man's injuries were too severe, and he died. Risking death, again and again . White continued to risk himself to help his fellow warriors, again running from cover into enemy fire to reach the platoon leader. White told the military publication Stars and Stripes that he could see the leader's helmet and assault pack, but he couldn't tell whether the leader was alive. White had to see, he said. White crawled toward the man. It was too late. He was dead. White figured he would be killed. But he would do what he was trained to do. He would carry out his duty. ""It was never a choice,"" he explained to CNN. ""I told myself from the beginning that I was going to be killed, you know... just the amount of fire ... I'm not gonna make it through this."" But he kept focused. The soldier White had dragged to the tree earlier was hit again, this time in the knee, so the White wrapped his belt around the man's leg, creating a tourniquet. Then White found a working radio on a deceased comrade and called for artillery and helicopter gunships to help. Finally, maybe, there could be hope. But then a friendly mortar round landed near White. ""I remember just red hot chunks of metal like the size of my palm just flinging by your head,"" he told Stars and Stripes. Suffering a concussion, White managed to hang on, waiting for helicopters to evacuate him and others with him that day. When help arrived, he told his rescuers to put the other wounded aboard first. A soldier, changed . Speaking with National Public Radio this week, White said the experience -- from the violence to the wait -- seemed like ""forever."" And it hasn't entirely gone away, all these years later. ""It's something you still think about every day,"" White said. ""I still have these images from that day burned into my head. But it's something, as time goes on, it gets easier."" But something inside him changed, he said. ""Even to this day, you know, I can't say if it was something good or bad. ..."" he told NPR. ""And that was pretty much the reason why I decided to leave the Army."" White first returned home and trained other paratrooopers. When it came time for White to re-enlist, he thought hard about whether doing so felt right. He decided against it because he doubted that he could devote his complete heart and mind to it, he told NPR. It was unacceptable to him to continue in the service and then, perhaps, be deployed to Afghanistan. Service members deserve a leader who is all in, he explained. Obama called him on February 10 to tell him he'd be given the Medal of Honor. He's the 10th recipient of that award for his actions in Afghanistan, and the seventh surviving recipient. Four service members received the Medal of Honor -- all posthumously -- for actions in the war in Iraq, according to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. In a brief statement to reporters after Tuesday's ceremony, White called the Medal of Honor ""a symbol of the responsibility all soldiers knowingly face when they depart for distant lands in defense of the nation, a responsibility that locks us all in the bonds of brotherhood."" As such, White couldn't help but think about his brothers in arms. ""Without the team,"" he said, ""there could be no Medal of Honor. That is why I wear this medal for my team."" Read the transcript of the White House ceremony . 24 minority veterans receive long overdue Medal of Honor . See Kyle White's Army profile . CNN's Barbara Starr contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Like a stereotypical beauty pageant, it looks like thin will be in at the world's largest annual gadget convention next week in Las Vegas. At the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show, computer makers will be pushing a new breed of ultra-thin, ultra-light laptops amid a sea of razor-thin smartphones and tablets. Last year, 140,000 people in the technology industry convened at the Las Vegas Convention Center to mingle and gawk at cutting-edge hardware. The organizers expect to welcome at least that many people next week. Electronics makers use CES as a platform to show the types of products they plan to release in the coming year. The compact disc player, high-definition television and Blu-ray each debuted at past conventions. Decades since its formation, the yearly six-day event is a spectacle. But with some of the largest players in today's consumer electronics industry shunning CES, the trade show's impact may be waning. Apple, the world's most valuable technology company, and Amazon, an upstart in tablets and the leader in e-readers, do not participate. Google's operating systems can be found in partners' booths, running on phones, tablets and TVs, but the software giant does not run a booth. And Microsoft, which will deliver its 14th CES presentation Monday, announced recently it will not have a booth or participate in the keynotes after this year's event. ""Are we doing something because it's the right thing to do, or because 'it's the way we've always done it?' "" a Microsoft spokesman asked rhetorically in a statement. The big product categories that will dominate the CES show floor next week, according to manufacturers and analysts, are not revolutionary. They are expected to be thinner, lighter and more refined versions of gadgets that have already gained a toehold with consumers. Tablets . Electronics makers have been chasing after Apple's iPad for two years, and the racetrack is expected to get more crowded next week. Google and Samsung last month released the first phone running Android 4.0, which is Google's first system that's designed to work consistently on either a phone or a tablet. At CES, tech companies will showcase plenty of phones with that software, but the touchscreen tablets with Android 4 will be prevalent. Not to get left out of the party it started about a decade ago, Microsoft is stepping up its tablet efforts. The next major version of Windows will have a revamped interface for tablet computers, which will present programs as tiles that can be touched to fill the screen. Analysts expect to see a bevy of Windows 8 tablets at CES. With so many options, bargain hunters may get to pick something besides Amazon's Kindle Fire, which lit up holiday sales last month. (The Fire actually has quite a bit of Android code under the hood. Sorry, Microsoft.) Ultrabooks . Windows won't be just for tablets, of course. A new breed of computers called Ultrabooks will launch at CES from several PC manufacturers. If the tablet wars are a response to the iPad, then Ultrabooks follow in the footsteps of Apple's MacBook Air. They are thinner and lighter than the average laptop because they typically do not have disc drives, and instead of hard drives, use flash memory, which is faster but more expensive. Microsoft will enable this anti-disc computer with the application store in Windows 8. But the Ultrabook initiative is being driven by Intel, which makes the processor that runs them. ""You have Intel pushing heavily on this very thin but relatively traditional clamshell form factor without a lot of emphasis on touch,"" NPD Group analyst Ross Rubin said in a phone interview. ""And then you've got Microsoft pushing the touchscreen tablet experience."" Netbooks appear to be on their way out. That's a bad sign for Google, whose Chromebooks have struggled to challenge Microsoft in PC operating systems. Internet TVs that also do 3-D . TVs have long been the centerpiece of CES and of the consumer electronics industry as a whole. For the last few years, the big push has been in three-dimensional viewing technology, but demand has been small. Meanwhile, Internet services are also working their way onto television sets. Netflix and Pandora have seen tremendous growth on TV platforms. For the 3-D optimists, app-friendly TVs, which also happen to work with 3-D glasses, could allow for more 3-D video from independent filmmakers who distribute over the Web, Rubin noted. CES is expected to provide a launchpad for TVs that are smarter about how they let watchers access Web content, analysts say. Google has reportedly invested more in its TV platform, which should be evident at CES. The electronics giants do not want to get beaten to another big opportunity by Apple, which is rumored to be working on a TV set of its own. Don't expect Apple to show up at CES with a big screen though. Or to show up at all. Connected cars . As the automotive industry strives for a rebound, car makers are looking for high tech to be their guide. Several car companies have lined up CES presentations. They are expected to announce partnerships with popular Internet software companies and unveil technical wonders available at the touch of a button on the steering wheel. Dieter Zetsche, the head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, will present a keynote speech Tuesday. MOG, the music-streaming service, plans to announce integration with a line of cars Tuesday. And since last CES, Pandora has more than doubled the number of cars that tap into its streaming radio service, Pandora founder Tim Westergren said in a phone interview. ""These companies see the car as a software platform,"" Westergren said. ""It's the computer on four wheels."" Apps . Sure, CES is about gadgets, but the programs that run on them have become a key selling point. Many electronics makers have apparently decided that each new phone, tablet, car or refrigerator should allow owners to update their Facebook statuses. ""Software has simply become so critical to the overall customer experience,"" said Rubin, the NPD Group analyst. ""It's no longer an optional part of the business."" Software makers are eager to exploit this reality. Many say they will tout their wares at partners' booths and in private meetings. For example, online video provider Vimeo plans to make a major announcement Monday to coincide with the start of CES. Vimeo CEO Dae Mellencamp said in an interview at the company's New York headquarters that CES has emerged as an important venue for her company and others like it. ""It's the only trade show I attend all year,"" she said."
"(CNN) -- Bayern Munich might be licking their wounds after defeat in the European Champions League final, but the German club can find comfort in victory of a different kind: by beating Chelsea in football's financial league table. Despite Saturday's crushing penalty shootout loss to the English side in their own backyard at the the Allianz Arena, the Bavarians have been ranked as the second most valuable brand in football. According to a new report by independent consultancy Brand Finance, which has compiled a list of the 50 biggest brands in the sport, the four-time European champions have been valued at $786 million. Chelsea, by comparison, made fifth place with a value of $398 million. But English giants Manchester United lead the way, as in 2011, with a brand estimated to be worth $853 million. ""Manchester United have got a global reach,"" Brand Finance's head of sports brands Dave Chattaway told CNN. Click here to see football's top 10 brands . ""United have got quite a professional setup, with people who have worked for Pepsi, Disney, all different kinds of marketing industries. They have brought their expertise into the sports industry."" But Bayern are the year's big winners. Despite the defeat by Chelsea and having been beaten to the German league and cup by Borussia Dortmund, the club's brand value grew by 59% over the last 12 months. ""If you look at Bayern Munich, they are a domestic powerhouse,"" said Chattaway. ""They have got really strong links with strong German brands. ""Bayern have long-term deals, they have been with Adidas for over 10 years. They generate the highest commercial revenue and they are able to negotiate the highest possible deals based on their dominance of the German market."" Munich mourns as Bayern blow big chance . Behind United and Bayern are the Spanish ""El Clasico"" rivals of Real Madrid, third with a value of $600 million, and Barcelona, with a brand worth $580 million. Spanish champions Real and 2011 European champions Barca have seen similar decreases in the value of their brands, 7% and 8% respectively, which Chattaway puts down to the country's current economic plight. ""They have both had relatively successful years on the pitch,"" he said. ""The eurozone crisis has really impacted the capital in Spain and Italy. It's not necessarily something they are doing wrong commercially, it's a sign of the economy they operate in."" The top 10 is dominated by teams from the English Premier League, with United and Chelsea followed by 2011-12 title winners Manchester City in eighth ($302 million) Torres unsure of Chelsea future . ""Within Europe, the Premier League is still the pinnacle,"" explained Chattaway. ""It still generates the most money because of the broadcast rights. ""It is much more attractive to a foreign audience than the German Bundesliga or the Spanish First Division. The Premier League clubs are benefiting from that."" Italian Cup winners Napoli ($85 million) were the only Serie A club to increase brand value, coming off the back of a relatively successful Champions League campaign, to be 22nd overall. AC Milan ($292 million) placed ninth on the list after winning the title in 2010-11, while this season's champions Juventus ($160 million) fell from 10th in 2011 to 16th this year. Former England captain David Beckham and his Los Angeles Galaxy teammates enjoyed a landmark year in 2011, being crowned Major League Soccer champions for a third time. Despite their success, and despite boasting one of football's most recognizable and marketable stars, the Galaxy ($46 million) only crept onto the list in 50th position. ""The game in the U.S. is still developing massively,"" said Chattaway. ""The revenues are a fraction of those in Europe. The games are rarely sold out and the grounds themselves have quite a small capacity. ""The commercial deals in the U.S. cannot compete with the European market. The MLS is still largely only shown in the U.S., it hasn't really expanded globally as quickly as we would have expected."" With such a huge gap between the sport's most lucrative brands and those with less commercial appeal, are football clubs making the most of their financial potential? ""I think there is more scope for all the clubs to further maximize value -- clubs have traditionally been slow and unimaginative in monetizing the brand they own,"" Chattaway said. ""There is scope for football clubs to learn from U.S. sports marketing practices. ""The clubs need to better understand the brand asset that they own so that they can ensure they get the right returns on all commercial deals."" The list took into account various revenue streams for clubs, such as ticket sales, merchandising, sponsorship deals and money received from the sale of broadcasting rights. ."
"Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Rebels in Tripoli furiously hunting for signs of longtime Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi are exploring a network of tunnels and bunkers built beneath his massive compound. CNN's Sara Sidner got a peek at the passageways Friday. She dubbed it ""Gadhafi's inner sanctum."" The correspondent, who's been covering the battle of Tripoli, walked down steps into a pitch-dark tunnel and used a flashlight to navigate an underworld described as ""massive."" So far, she said, rebels have cleared about 700 meters of underground passages. The tunnel network is believed to extend all the way to the city's international airport and the Rixos hotel. That's where 33 journalists and two foreign nationals were held for five days by pro-Gadhafi forces. It also is thought to extend to a neighborhood where Gadhafi forces were lobbing shells recently toward the compound after it was taken over by the rebels. The tunnels Sidner saw are wide enough for adults to walk side by side. She spotted a golf cart that can easily fit in the corridors. Sidner also saw a range of other sights as she strolled through the labyrinth: A thick wall, a massive door and a sturdy lock. A charred ceiling, couches and beds where a fire apparently occurred. Pieces of metal and shrapnel. A section where NATO bombs fell and the roof caved in. Another room contained videotapes lined up on a shelf, part of a TV studio where Gadhafi may have recorded messages. ""It's set up like a survival bunker,"" Sidner said in an on-air report. ""There is literally a city under here."""
"WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former Vice President Dick Cheney on Sunday defended the Bush administration's economic record, the invasion of Iraq and the treatment of suspected terrorists, warning that reversing its anti-terrorism policies endangers Americans. ""We've accomplished nearly everything we set out to do,"" ex-Vice President Dick Cheney says Sunday about Iraq. In a wide-ranging interview with CNN's ""State of the Union,"" Cheney said the harsh interrogations of suspects and the use of warrantless electronic surveillance were ""absolutely essential"" to get information to prevent more attacks like the 2001 suicide hijackings that targeted New York and Washington. ""President Obama campaigned against it all across the country, and now he is making some choices that, in my mind, will, in fact, raise the risk to the American people of another attack,"" he said. Critics said the Bush administration's ""alternative"" interrogation techniques amounted to the torture of prisoners in American custody, while the administration's warrantless surveillance program violated federal laws enacted after the Watergate scandal. Since taking office in January, Obama has announced plans to close the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to halt the military trials of suspected terrorists there, and to make CIA officers follow the Army field manual's rules on interrogations. Cheney said the administration appears to be returning to the pre-2001 model of treating terrorism as a law enforcement issue, rather than a military problem. ""When you go back to the law enforcement mode, which I sense is what they're doing, closing Guantanamo and so forth ... they are very much giving up that center of attention and focus that's required, that concept of military threat that is essential if you're going to successfully defend the nation against further attacks,"" he said. But Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pennsylvania, said the Bush administration's policies undercut ""what is actually the source of America's greatness -- our principles."" ""How can we say that keeping a man in a black hole forever -- perpetually in a black hole -- and saying, 'Let's torture when we decide to,' is what America stands for?"" asked Sestak, a former admiral who led the Navy's anti-terrorism efforts. The Bush administration took office at the end of an economic boom and left in the middle of a deep recession, with a budget surplus in 2001 becoming a $1 trillion-plus deficit by 2009. But Cheney said he and Bush had to spend money to deal with the September 11, 2001 attacks, the resulting war in Afghanistan, the disaster of 2005's Hurricane Katrina, and the costly and unpopular war in Iraq, now nearly six years old. ""All of these things required us to spend money that we had not originally planned to spend, or weren't originally part of the budget,"" Cheney said. ""Stuff happens. And the administration has to be able to respond to that, and we did."" Obama has begun to wind down the war in Iraq, which has cost more than 4,200 American lives and nearly $700 billion in direct costs. But Cheney said the United States has ""accomplished nearly everything we set out to do"" in Iraq, including establishing a democratic government in the Middle East. Cheney was one of the administration's leading advocates of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, pressing the Bush administration's argument that Iraq was concealing weapons of mass destruction and could provide those weapons to terrorists. None of those weapons were found after the invasion, but Cheney said, ""We've eliminated that possibility."" In 2005, Cheney said the raging insurgency against U.S. troops was in its ""last throes."" Nearly two years later, a commitment of more than 30,000 additional American troops and a widespread effort to pay former insurgents to turn against Islamic militants helped quell the worst of the violence. ""I don't hear much talk about that, but the fact is, the violence level is down 90 percent,"" Cheney said. ""The number of casualties [among] Iraqis and Americans is significantly diminished. There's been elections, a constitution. They're about to have another presidential election here in the near future. We have succeeded in creating in the heart of the Middle East a democratically governed Iraq, and that is a big deal, and it is, in fact, what we set out to do."" But Sestak said the administration was too slow to react to the problems it faced in Iraq and let the conflict overshadow the ""whole fabric"" of U.S. national security. ""The cost of this war is something that I strongly believe has far, far hurt us,"" he said. ""We're going to recover, because we're Americans. But Iraq was just one piece of our security, and this administration failed to realize that."" Though considered one of the administration's most influential figures, Cheney said President Bush rebuffed his advice on at least two issues.  Watch Cheney tout Bush administration » . He said Bush left former Cheney aide Lewis ""Scooter"" Libby ""sort of hanging in the wind"" by refusing to issue Libby a pardon before leaving office. Libby was convicted of perjury, obstruction of justice, and lying to federal agents investigating the leak of a former CIA officer's identity. ""I believe firmly that Scooter was unjustly accused and prosecuted and deserved a pardon, and the president disagreed with that,"" Cheney said. He would disclose no details of his efforts to lobby the president on Libby's behalf, saying they would be ""best left to history."" And Cheney said he argued against the administration's policy on North Korea, which tested a nuclear weapon in 2006. The Bush administration reached a still-incomplete disarmament deal with the isolated Stalinist state in 2007 and removed it from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism as part of the deal. ""I had my say,"" Cheney told CNN. ""I got my chance to voice my views and my objections. I didn't think the North Koreans were going to keep their end of the bargain in terms of what they agreed to, and they didn't."" The Obama administration has nominated Christopher Hill, the State Department official who was the top U.S. negotiator with North Korea, to be the U.S. ambassador to Iraq. Cheney said Hill lacks the Middle East experience that his predecessors have, and ""I did not support the work that Chris Hill did with respect to North Korea."" ""I think it's a choice that I wouldn't have made,"" he said."
"Washington (CNN) -- A federal judge on Tuesday ordered a full mental competency screening for Omar Gonzalez, who is accused of jumping the White House fence, after a disputed initial examination found him not competent for trial. U.S. District Court Judge Rosemary Collyer expressed concern that the initial mental exam, ordered by a magistrate judge, was done before she had a chance to hear a legal motion by the defense disputing whether the magistrate had the authority to order it. David Bos, the federal public defender representing Gonzalez, objected to any examination in the first place because he says Gonzalez is fit for trial. The 60-minute initial mental examination of Gonzalez at the District of Columbia jail came as a surprise to the judge and to both the government and defense. But the result, finding Gonzalez not competent, can't be ignored, Collyer said in court Tuesday. Bos told the judge: ""There is no doubt in my mind that Mr. Gonzalez is competent to stand trial."" Nonetheless, he withdrew his objections and agreed to allow his client to undergo a fuller competency examination to try to undo the results of the initial examination. The judge delayed arraignment for Gonzalez on new charges the government filed against him last week. Gonzalez was arrested in September after he allegedly jumped the White House fence and sprinted into the executive mansion, setting off concerns about Secret Service security procedures. He was found with a folding knife and told a Secret Service agent ""that he was concerned that the atmosphere was collapsing and needed to get the information to the President of the United States so that he could get the word out to the people,"" according to an agent's affidavit filed in court. His family has said Gonzalez, an Iraq War veteran, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and paranoia. The incident came amid a series of disclosures about Secret Service lapses that cost the agency's director, Julia Pierson, her job. Collyer said that during the initial examination, the mental health screener found Gonzalez did understand some parts of the proceedings. The judge suggested that Gonzalez's mental issues, which she didn't describe more fully, could be resolved with medication. The judge also raised concerns that the government's handling of previous unrelated cases could mean it will take some time for Gonzalez to be examined at a federal Bureau of Prisons facility. She gave one example of an unnamed defendant who sat at the District of Columbia jail for months before anyone noticed he hadn't received the tests that were ordered. The problem, she said, was that sequestration has cut resources for the Bureau of Prisons and finding a bed can take time. Collyer ordered the mental health screening to be done in 30 days and set a new hearing for December 3 at 10:30 a.m."
"(CNN) -- A German tourist was in critical condition after a shark severed her right arm while she snorkeled in Hawaii on Wednesday, authorities said. The approximately 20-year-old woman, who was unconscious when first responders arrived, was taken to Maui Medical Center for treatment, according Lee Mainaga with the Maui Fire Department. Shark found on New York subway car . The attack took place about 50 yards offshore at White Rock beach in Maui. The beach has been closed one mile on either side of where the attack happened. Officials will assess on Thursday morning whether the beach can be reopened. Shark attack claims Brazilian teen's life . This shark attack is the fourth in Maui this year, with two happening on the same day in February, and the other in late July. While shark attacks have been on the uptick in recent years, according to the University of Florida, the fatality rate in the United States is just 2%. Discovery Channel defends dramatized shark special . Best places to swim with sharks ."
"(CNN) -- Fifteen people have now died after consuming cantaloupe contaminated with the listeria monocytogenes bacteria, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. At least 84 people in 19 states have become ill with the bacteria, the agency said. And the number of illnesses could still grow, added the CDC, citing reporting lags and how the disease can develop slowly in some people. On Tuesday, the CDC was reporting 13 deaths and 72 illnesses in what was already then the deadliest food-borne illness outbreak in the United States since 1998. Five people have died in New Mexico from eating the tainted cantaloupes, the CDC said. Three people died in Colorado, two in Texas and one each in Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma. Illnesses have also been reported in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Illinois, Indiana, Montana, North Dakota, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. What you need to know about Listeria . Most of those who fell ill are more than 60 years old, the CDC said. Doctors also are closely monitoring the pregnancies of two women who ate contaminated cantaloupe, with the agency noting that listeriosis can cause miscarriages and stillbirths. Older adults and people with compromised immune systems are also especially susceptible. Public health investigators have traced the source of the bacteria to a farm in Granada, Colorado. Food Poisoning 101 . The grower, Jensen Farms, issued a recall for its Rocky Ford-brand cantaloupes on September 14. By now, the cantaloupes should all be off store shelves, the CDC said. The agency warned that people should not eat Rocky Ford cantaloupes, even if they have eaten part of one and have not yet fallen ill. It also said that consumers should be wary of eating any cantaloupes if they don't know where they came from. How to keep your food safe ."
"(CNN) -- Criminals who file fraudulent tax returns by stealing people's identities could rake in an estimated $26 billion over the next five years because the IRS cannot keep up with the amount of the fraud, Treasury Inspector General J. Russell George said Tuesday. ""Our analysis found that, although the IRS detects and prevents a large number of fraudulent refunds based on false income documents, there is much fraud that it does not detect,"" said George's prepared testimony before a joint hearing of the House Ways and Means Subcommittees on Oversight and Social Security. George's report is the first detailed analysis of the tax refund fraud problem, which could affect any legitimate taxpayer. His projection of $26 billion is larger than any other estimate of identity theft tax fraud. In a statement issued following George's testimony, the IRS said it ""believes that the five-year estimate is far too high."" ""The estimate was based on 2010 figures, which took place before the IRS instituted major changes with the way it handles identity theft cases,"" the IRS statement read. ""Our expanded screening on issues such as W-2 matching, Schedule C information, interest income and Social Security income have had a major impact on our ability to reduce identity theft fraud."" Those efforts, according to the IRS, have lead to ""stopping more refund fraud than ever before"" and ""are not reflected in the five-year projection"" by the Treasury inspector general. Last year, according to the Treasury Inspector General's Office, the IRS reported that of the 2.2 million tax returns it found to be fraudulent, about 940,000 returns totaling $6.5 billion were related to identity theft. In its investigation, George said, auditors found another 1.5 million undetected tax returns with more than $5.2 billion in fraud. ""The primary characteristic of these cases is that the identity thief reports false income and withholding to generate a fraudulent tax return,"" George said. ""Without the falsely reported income, many of the deductions and/or credits used to inflate the fraudulent tax refund could not be claimed on the tax return. The individuals whose identities were stolen may not even be aware that their identities were used to file a fraudulent tax return."" Making the problem worse, George said, the IRS is hampered by limited resources. ""Even with improved identification of these returns, the next step of verifying whether the returns are fraudulent will require resources,"" he said. ""The IRS has faced budget cuts, a hiring freeze and staffing reductions during the same time it has encountered a significant surge in identity theft refund fraud. Without the necessary resources, it is unlikely that the IRS will be able to work the entire inventory of potentially fraudulent returns it identifies. The IRS will only select those tax returns that it can verify based on its resources."" The scope of the problem is illustrated by what George said his auditors found for tax year 2010, in which 48,357 Social Security numbers were used multiple times as a primary taxpayer identification number. ""When the identity thief files the fraudulent tax return, the IRS does not yet know that the individual's identity will be used more than once,"" George said. ""As a result, the tax return is processed, and the fraudulent refund is issued. These instances result in the greatest burden to the legitimate taxpayer."" As of last month, the IRS reported that it had stopped the issuance of $1.3 billion in potentially fraudulent tax returns. The IRS says it determined these returns were potentially fraudulent through a sampling of returns, and it does not believe any legitimate returns were included. George said more should be done to ensure that fraudulent tax returns are not deposited into bank accounts. In addition, thieves commonly get the refunds put on debit cards. ""Direct deposits should not be made to debit cards issued by financial institutions and debit card administration companies that do not take sufficient steps to authenticate individuals' identities,"" George said. To make matters worse, the IRS is not effectively helping the victims of identity theft, George said, adding that it can take more than a year to resolve these cases. ""The IRS acknowledges that it does not know the exact number of identity theft incidents or the number of taxpayers affected by identity theft,"" George said. ""It also has not been able to quantify the amount of improper payments resulting from identity theft."" In an investigation into tax refund fraud, CNN reported in March that criminals have purchased luxury cars, jewelry and plastic surgery with the money. First, thieves obtain Social Security numbers and other personal information from insiders at hospitals, doctor's offices, car dealerships or anywhere the information is stored. Then, they file an online tax return using the real taxpayer's name and a fictitious income. In most cases, the criminals buy a debit card so the IRS can issue the refund on that card, although some thieves have also gotten their returns on actual Treasury checks. The thieves know that the IRS does not verify the employer W-2s sent with the return until after the refund is issued. The IRS maintains it has certain filters in place at the start of the tax filing season to prevent and detect identity theft and fraud, and it says it has recently trained additional employees across the country to deal with the problem. It has also issued special personal identification numbers, or PINs, to identity theft victims when they are filing future returns. But in testimony before Congress last year, National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson said those filters ""inevitably block large numbers of proper refund claims"" since there ""is no easy way to distinguish proper claims from improper ones."" In testimony prepared for Tuesday's hearing, Deputy IRS Commissioner Steven Miller said the agency cannot stop all identity theft. ""However, we have improved, and we are committed to continuing to improve our programs. We can and will continue to work to prevent the issuance of fraudulent refunds, and we can and will continue to work with innocent taxpayers to clear their accounts and/or get them money faster in a courteous and professional manner."" At the same time, Miller said, there is a ""delicate balance"" in the ""need to make payments in a timely manner with the need to ensure that claims are proper and taxpayer rights are protected."" In the past four years, he said, the IRS has identified more than 490,000 taxpayers who are the victims of identity theft. ""Various new identity theft filters are in place to improve our ability to spot false returns before they are processed and before a refund is issued,"" Miller said. The IRS has issued special identification numbers to taxpayers whose identities have been stolen and clamped down on abuses in filing returns under deceased taxpayers' identities and prisoners. The agency also started a pilot program in April to help local law enforcement in obtaining tax return information related to ongoing criminal investigations. ""I cannot tell you that we will beat this problem in one year,"" Miller said. ""I can tell you that we have committed our talents and resources to prevent the issuance of fraudulent returns and have developed processes to minimize the pain felt by those who have been victimized."""
"(CNN) -- A short video that has gone viral in Mexico asks a tough question of the country's presidential candidates: ""Are you striving only for the (presidential) chair, or will you change the future of our country?"" A young girl with brown eyes and long brown hair, wearing a simple white shirt, poses the question. Behind her is a small army of child actors who star in the video, which is cute for a moment, but deadly serious. In it, the children act out a day in the life of a Mexican resident, fraught with all the problems and challenges that a leader must face. A child dressed as a businessman gets robbed at gunpoint as soon as he leaves his home. The robbers hand their loot over to a corrupt police officer. Protesters clash with riot police. There's a smog alert. Drug traffickers have it out with police on the streets, and human smugglers unload their cargo. Seeing children act out these grown-up situations has elicited a number of responses. Some viewers have criticized it as political manipulation, others as a wake-up call. But the list of Mexico's woes weighs heavily: security, pollution and poverty, among others. The video has garnered nearly 2 million views in less than four days. ""In reality, the video is not reflecting anything that people have not experienced,"" said Rosenda Martinez, a spokeswoman for Our Mexico of the Future, the group behind the production. The video targets the major presidential candidates -- Enrique Pena Nieto, Josefina Vazquez Mota and Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador -- and aims to raise awareness about Our Mexico of the Future. The goal of the organization is to collect as many ""visions"" of Mexico's future as possible and to compile them in a book that will be presented to the candidates before the election. So far, more than 10 million Mexicans have written or recorded their dreams for a safer or cleaner or more tolerant Mexico. ""We've had the response we've hoped for, and even exceeded it,"" Martinez said. After the children in the video depict a kidnapping, posters of the missing and people wearing face masks because of smog, the young narrator continues: ""If this is the future that awaits me, I don't want it. Stop working for your party, and not for us. Stop superficially fixing the country."" Some of the candidates have watched the video. Vazquez Mota, of the ruling National Action Party, said the video's message can't go unnoticed, while Institutional Revolutionary Party candidate Pena Nieto expressed that now is the time for change, as the video suggests. Leftist candidate Lopez Obrador, of the Party of the Democratic Revolution, had not seen the video, but said he agreed with the theme of change. Our Mexico of the Future will release data based on the millions of messages it has received. Martinez said to expect that security and the environment are the two most popular themes mentioned by Mexicans. CNN's Krupskaia Alis contributed to this report from Mexico City."
"ISIS, as the Islamic State jihadists in Iraq and Syria are known, has become the new face of international terrorism in the eyes of the United States and its Western allies. Now the focus in America and abroad has become what will President Barack Obama and other leaders do about it? Here are key questions on the matter: . 1) Who killed James Foley? Britain's ambassador to the United States, Peter Westmacott, told CNN on Sunday that British officials were close to identifying the ISIS militant who beheaded Foley, an American journalist captured in Syria in 2012. He couldn't elaborate on the identity of the killer, who is seen decapitating Foley in a video posted last week on YouTube. ""We're putting a great deal into the search,"" he said, referring to the use of sophisticated technology to analyze the man's voice. In the video, Foley, 40, is seen kneeling next to a man dressed in black, who speaks with what experts say is a distinctly English accent. Linguists said that based on his voice, the man sounds to be younger than 30. He also appears to have been educated in England from a young age and to be from southern England or London. Britain close to identifying James Foley's killer, ambassador says . 2) Will the United States expand air strikes to ISIS targets in Syria? Pressure is increasing on Obama to go after ISIS in both Iraq and Syria, ignoring an essentially non-existent border between them. Last week, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey said that taking on ISIS in Syria was the only way to defeat the Sunni jihadists. For Obama, the step would reverse his refusal for three years to get involved militarily in Syria despite pressure from his own advisers, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Obama ""has not made any decision to order military action in Syria,"" White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Monday, but the speculation and insistence continued. ""The White House is trying to minimize the threat we face in order to justify not changing a failed strategy,"" conservative GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said Monday. CNN National Security Analyst Peter Bergen said it will be difficult to defeat ISIS without ground forces, something Obama clearly opposes. Intervening in Syria also could result in some strange geopolitical bedfellows, he noted. ""Two of the most effective fighting forces in Syria are al Qaeda or al Qaeda splinter groups, or groups like Hezbollah, backed by Iran,"" Bergen said. ""So if you intervene, you may be helping Iran and Hezbollah and (Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's) regime."" Obama already sent military advisers to Iraq and launched air strikes to protect them and minority groups from ISIS fighters rampaging through the country's north. Is Obama heading toward airstrikes in Syria? A White House spokesman said last week that Obama would consult with Congress before taking such a step in Syria. The President also would seek to forge a coalition including regional allies as well as U.N. and European Union support, officials have made clear. Republicans urge airstrikes in Syria to defeat ISIS . 3) Will the Syrian regime that Obama opposes help fight ISIS? Obama wants al-Assad out of power, but now the Syrian leader engaged in a civil war against a U.S.-backed opposition is offering to help him take on ISIS. Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said Monday his government would accept support from the United States and others working under the U.N. umbrella to fight ""terrorists"" -- a code word for the group that calls itself the Islamic State and seeks to establish a caliphate across a Sunni-dominated swath of the the Middle East. Moallem, however, warned against any unilateral action or strikes in Syrian territory without its permission, saying ""any effort to fight terrorism should be done in coordination"" with the ""Syrian government."" Last week, Atlantic Council senior fellow and Syria expert Frederic Hof said a U.S. rescue mission for Foley earlier this year that went into Syria but failed to find him established the precedent for military action across the Iraq border, superseding any legal considerations such as being asked by the host government to enter. ""The sort of legal barrier that prohibited doing something inside Syria now seems to have evaporated,"" Hof said. The Syrian offer to help fight ISIS comes after al-Assad's government enabled the group to expand amid the Syrian civil war. ISIS fighters have attacked the Syrian opposition fighting government forces, but also have seized some government territory. Al-Assad's military recently launched its own air strikes on ISIS positions, amounting to what Hof described as a dispute between crime gangs over money -- in this case, from oil fields occupied by ISIS. Syria ready to cooperate with UN to fight terror . 4) Will ISIS attack the West? To some in the United States, especially critics of Obama, an ISIS attack on U.S. interests and even the homeland is a question of when, not if. ""ISIS is a very powerful local organization, and probably a reasonably powerful regional terrorist organization,"" former CIA chief Michael Hayden told CNN on Sunday. ""But it's one that has global ambitions -- and it has the tools."" There's no clear consensus inside the intelligence community as to whether ISIS, which calls itself the Islamic State, is currently capable of striking the West. ""It's expressed the intent,"" Hayden said. ""There's no more powerful way to express their street credentials among the jihadist community than a successful attack against the West."" Graham, a consistent advocate for increased U.S. military might, told CNN on Sunday that ""it's about time now to assume the worst about these guys, rather than to be underestimating them."" ISIS threat to the West . 5) Can the ISIS money flow be stopped? Bank robbery, kidnapping, smuggling, selling oil on the black market -- ISIS gets money to fund and expand its organization in all kinds of ways. Officials say the group can get about $3 million a day by selling discounted oil from fields it has seized in Iraq. It also has grabbed millions robbing banks including an Iraqi central bank in Mosul. Western allies can reduce the group's income by refusing to pay ransom for abducted citizens and pressuring regional governments to crack down on wealthy citizens sending money to it. The United States is working with governments in the region, including Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, to stop such private donations, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said last week. ISIS oil money ."
"(Health.com) -- An essential nutrient found in fish oil does not appear to slow the mental decline associated with Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study is merely the latest to cast doubt on the mental benefits of the omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which until recently was considered a promising way to minimize the risk and damage of dementia. (The other main ingredient found in fish oil, eicosapentaenoic acid, or EPA, is not believed to play a significant role in brain health.) Health.com: Fish oil doesn't benefit new moms, babies . DHA or fish-oil supplements aren't likely to cause any harm to Alzheimer's patients, but they aren't likely to do any good either, says Steven H. Ferris, Ph.D., the director of the Aging and Dementia Research Center at New York University. Fish oil ""seems to be healthy in general, and maybe for other things it's helpful, but it doesn't benefit cognitive function in a person with Alzheimer's,"" says Ferris, who was not involved in the study. Research on DHA has been inconclusive and sometimes conflicting. Several studies that followed large groups of people as they aged have suggested that a diet rich in fish is linked to a reduced risk of dementia and mental decline, but most randomized controlled trials comparing DHA supplements with placebo have found no benefit. Health.com: 9 foods that may help save your memory . ""It's not the first time something in large epidemiological datasets just didn't work out clinically,"" Ferris says, noting that statin medications, anti-inflammatory drugs, and estrogen therapy have all failed to live up to their initial promise in preventing or treating Alzheimer's. ""Unfortunately, that seems to be the situation here."" The study was funded by the National Institute on Aging and was led by Dr. Joseph F. Quinn, M.D., a neurologist at the Oregon Health and Science University, in Portland. Quinn and his colleagues randomly assigned about 400 women and men in their mid-70s with likely Alzheimer's disease -- the disease is very difficult to accurately diagnose -- to take 2 grams of DHA or placebo capsules per day. After 18 months, the average mental decline in the DHA and placebo groups was nearly identical, as measured on two separate tests and rating scales. Despite the disappointing results, the study doesn't entirely rule out the possibility that DHA may have some benefit if taken earlier in life. A growing body of research suggests that dementia begins decades before any noticeable symptoms surface, and it's possible that DHA helps prevent or slow those harmful changes. Health.com: 25 signs and symptoms of Alzheimer's disease . Treatments such as DHA may be too little too late for people who are already showing signs of Alzheimer's, according to Dr. Kristine Yaffe, M.D., a professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco. ""Effective treatment strategies to prevent progression of [Alzheimer's disease] will likely need to be initiated earlier,"" Yaffe writes in an editorial accompanying the study. Copyright Health Magazine 2011 ."
"(EW.com) -- Chris Meloni has booked his first post-""SVU"" gig -- and it's a bloody good one. The former star of the Dick Wolf drama will join HBO's ""True Blood"" in season 5 as ""ancient, powerful vampire who holds the fate of Bill and Eric in his hands."" He will be a series regular. Meloni's role on Alan Ball's drama marks a homecoming, of sorts: The actor previously played Chris Keller on the pay cabler's gritty drama ""Oz"" from 1998 to 2003. Earlier this year, Meloni decided to step down from playing Detective Elliot Stabler on the long-running NBC drama. See the full article at EW.com. CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly . © 2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved."
"Ballet dancer Pavel Dmitrichenko, often cast as the villain in Bolshoi Ballet productions, is now the lead defendant in a plot worthy of a Tchaikovsky score. The 29-year-old allegedly choreographed an attack intended to blind Bolshoi artistic director Sergei Filin, the man who put him in the roles of Ivan the Terrible and Swan Lake's evil genius. The mystery of who threw sulfuric acid into Filin's face in January has captivated Russians and kept Moscow detectives busy probing rivalries within Russia's renowned 240-year-old ballet company. It might well send Hollywood literary agents and producers scrambling for story details as described by police reports and local media accounts. Police declared their case was solved this week with a confession by Dmitrichenko . Russian police question suspect in Bolshoi director's acid attack . ""I organized this attack but not to the extent that it happened,"" he is heard saying in a video released by police. The characters in this drama include Dmitrichenko's girlfriend, Anzhelina Vorontsova. She has not been charged, but local newspapers quote ballet members as saying Dmitrichenko was angry because he thought Filin was stifling her career. Two alleged co-conspirators have been detained: Alleged hit man Yuri Zarutsky -- a burly, bearded Russian who was previously convicted of beating someone to death -- and Andrey Lipatov, who allegedly drove the getaway car after Zarutksy's battery acid attack on Filin. While the final act must still play out in a Russian courtroom, the story opens in the nearly two-century-old Bolshoi Theatre. Act 1 - The Bolshoi Theatre . Ballet is a world where competition is fierce, and where the artistic director wields considerable influence in making or breaking careers. Filin, 42, was promoted to the Bolshoi Theatre's coveted post in March 2011, shortly after the deputy ballet director, Gennady Yanin, who was widely seen as a favorite for the artistic director post, resigned when pornographic pictures of him surfaced online. There was ""fierce rivalry"" for the Bolshoi position at the time, according to the RIA Novosti news agency. That year, two dancers quit, unhappy with the direction the ballet had taken. Another dancer, Nikolai Tsiskaridze, loudly criticized Filin for going over budget in the ballet's multimllion-dollar renovation. Tsiskaridze, incidentally, was also a contender for the artistic director job that Filin got. But beyond professional disagreements, sinister factors were also at play. Act 2 - The Streets of Moscow . RIA Novosti reported that before the attack, Filin suffered months of intimidation, including threatening phone calls. Someone slashed his car tires. Somebody also attempted to hack his Facebook page. The trio of conspirators obtained battery acid at a car parts store, and made the acid stronger by evaporating the water from it, police said. Dmitrichenko, who studied Filin's schedule, called Lipatov and Zarutsky when he saw Filin leave the theater on the cold night of January 17, police said. As Filin entered the security code at the door of his Moscow apartment, authorities say, Zarutsky confronted him and tossed the sulfuric acid into his face.  It caused third-degree burns and left him blinded. Act 3 - Moscow Police Headquarters . Detectives pored over interviews with those who knew Filin and had suspicions about who would harm him. Other clues led them to several cell phones that Dmitrichenko had registered in other people's names, according to a police statement. Calls from those phones led investigators to Lipatov, the alleged driver. ""I didn't see what happened there,"" Lipatov told them in a video released by police. ""I just took Yuri there, waited for him and gave him a lift back."" When an interrogator asked Zarutsky about the crime, he allegedly said, ""I don't want to talk about it."" Police concluded a ""hostile relationship"" stemming from Dmitrichenko's professional interaction with Filin was his motive. Bolshoi Prima ballerina's grace under pressure . Act 4 - A Moscow Court . The three men faced a judge Thursday, who ordered that they be kept in police custody until the investigation is over. If convicted, the attackers could face up to eight years in jail for willfully inflicting damage on the health of another. It may take at least six months for Filin to recover from the burns. In the meantime, Galina Stepanenko, a former principal dancer, will run the company. She says she's going to follow Filin's plans and she believes the dancers will now be united by greater respect and care for each other. Doctors performed a skin graft on Filin and, after a second eye surgery, they were able to save his sight. His colleagues are now working to ensure his artistic vision isn't lost. Read the latest news on CNN.com ."
"This week the Supreme Court heard two historic cases on marriage. Even though I was a lawyer in the litigation and in the courthouse both days, I can't predict which way the court will come down. But the outcomes range from nothing at all to fundamentally restructuring the foundational unit of western civilization. Hollingsworth v. Perry is about whether state laws defining marriage as one man and one woman violate the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. United States v. Windsor asks whether Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage for federal law and programs as between one man and one woman, is unconstitutional. DOMA passed in 1996 with 78% of the U.S. House and 85% of the Senate and was signed by President Bill Clinton. The whole nation is focused on the litigation. Ironically, it's possible that neither case will be decided on the merits. In Hollingsworth, California's governor and attorney general abdicated their duties by refusing to defend their state constitution. So pursuant to California law, the sponsors of Prop 8 — officially registered with the state — stepped in to defend the law, represented by Charles Cooper at Cooper Kirk and the Alliance Defending Freedom. In Windsor, the defendant was the federal government. But President Barack Obama declared that he believes DOMA is unconstitutional and ordered his Justice Department not to defend it. So per its rules, the U.S. House voted to authorize Paul Clement  — probably the greatest Supreme Court lawyer practicing today — to defend DOMA. Article III of the Constitution limits the jurisdiction of the federal courts. One requirement is that there must be adversity between the parties. Since the defendants in both cases refused to defend their own laws, the court will consider whether the Constitution allows these third-party legal teams to become a proper party to the lawsuits. There's a second issue in Windsor. Edith Windsor entered into a gay marriage in Canada in 2007 and lived in New York. When her partner died in 2009, Windsor sued to contest the federal estate tax she paid, claiming a spousal exemption. But New York did not create gay marriage until 2011, so Windsor was not harmed by DOMA not allowing the federal government to recognize her marriage, since if the IRS used state definitions Windsor would still be regarded an a single woman. Thus it's possible she lacks standing to sue over the issue. It also raises the issue of whether courts must recognize polygamous marriages, which are legal in dozens of nations worldwide. The swing vote regarding the Article III issues in both cases is probably Chief Justice John Roberts. He openly expressed skepticism in Hollingsworth and led the Court in an hour-long debate in Windsor solely focused on whether the court has jurisdiction. Assuming the court does decide the merits, the implications are historic. Windsor would alter America's system of federalism. Only the states determine who can get married. But the federal government is free to decide whom to confer federal benefits on — largely economic entitlements and federal issues such as immigration. Federalism is a two-way street. But if DOMA Section 3 is invalidated, the states will be able to dictate whom the recipients of federal benefits are. If Windsor is historic, Hollingsworth is earth-shattering. If the Supreme Court declares a constitutional right to marriage other than one-man, one-woman, then all traditional marriage laws in all 50 states will be invalid, and there will be a serious debate (already in a lower federal court) of whether polygamists also have a constitutional right to national recognition. On the merits, the court seems unlikely to declare an unwritten constitutional right to gay marriage, though arguments did not go as well for DOMA. Justice Anthony Kennedy is likely the swing vote in both. As Justice Samuel Alito said this week, the Internet and cell phones have been around on this planet longer than gay marriage. It is an energetic debate in all 50 states, and this summer we will learn whether the Supreme Court will shut down this debate by making it a constitutional issue on which the American people are not allowed to vote."
"Zango Town, Liberia (CNN) -- At the gravesite in a northern Liberia village, there are no religious or traditional burial rites. No ceremony, no mourning, no family members, and no final goodbyes. Nothing but a group of men dressed in space-suit-like outfits, cautiously throwing the dead body into the grave, they pause only to toss in anything else they are wearing that came into contact with the deceased. These men are part of the country's Ebola response team, specifically tasked with burying anyone suspected to have died of the Ebola virus. The virus is spread through contact with the blood and body fluids of people infected with Ebola, and it is still transferable even from a dead body. To help combat the spread of the disease, the Liberian government has directed that its citizens should not bury anyone who dies of, or is suspected of having been infected with, Ebola. For months Liberians ignored the directive, fearing that they would be ostracized by their communities if they admitted that their relatives had died of Ebola, but here in Lofa County -- ground zero of the country's outbreak -- almost everyone has witnessed the devastating suffering and numerous deaths caused by the virus. Now almost anytime there is a suspected Ebola death in the community, they call in the Ebola response team to come and bury the body safely. Safe burials . ""When it started, it wasn't that easy,"" says Alpha Tamba, an Ebola response coordinator in Lofa County. ""It was kind of difficult for communities to disclose death. People preferred driving us away."" ""We must be grateful for the communities, through the efforts of the local leaders. Now they are disclosing death to us,"" he explains. Today, the team has been called to a village where a woman has died of unknown causes. It may not have been from the deadly virus, but the villagers are not taking any chances. The Lofa County health team arrives carrying gloves, gowns, goggles and diluted bleach. They suit up: from head to toe, no skin is exposed. On their hands they wear three layers of gloves, securing the edges with clear tape at the wrists. Before they enter the house to collect the body, one of them goes in and sprays the house with bleach. Then -- and only then -- can the rest of the team enter to place the body in an airtight polythene bag, ready for burial. Wailing rents the air as the burial team walks out of the house carrying the body on a stretcher. Some of those crying are the dead woman's family members; for their own safety, they can only mourn from a distance. Town abandoned . A few kilometres away from the village is Zango Town: most of the houses here have been abandoned, their doors padlocked and windows shuttered. Some of the residents abandoned the town in such a hurry that their clothes and floor mats have been left hanging on clotheslines. Kazalee Johnson, a community worker, tells CNN the empty houses belong to people who either died of Ebola or those who fled in terror, for fear of contracting the virus. Johnson says he lost his 8-months-pregnant sister, his brother, niece and many, many others: too many to name. ""They died. They died,"" he says. ""So many people die -- the houses on your right and even the houses on your left. They are all gone,"" says Johnson. It's hard to imagine another area in Lofa county that has been harder hit than this one. But then there's Barkedu Town -- of the 1,000 or so Ebola-related deaths in Liberia, 20% of the victims have died in this single town. Quarantine zone . Home to more than 8,000 people, Barkedu is now under quarantine: no one can go in, and no one can go out. The toll of the isolation is weighing heavily on the community. ""From the time we started receiving death from Ebola -- every activity cease,"" says Musa Sessay, the town's chief. ""Because we do farm here and now there's been no farming."" ""We need food, we really need medicine. But the most important one is medicine because the hospital is closed down, there is no health worker,"" he says. This is what life is like across Lofa: The people are locked in, afraid and alone. And not even the health workers are spared the ravaging effects of Ebola. Sometimes when they are called in to investigate a case, they get there only to discover the victim is one of their own. Ebola nightmares . One of the local clinics had to be locked up after all the healthcare workers based there contracted the virus. Only one survived. ""It is very heartbreaking. You are working for the team at the front and you see them lying down. Day by day, they are dying,"" says Tamba, who admits the harrowing work he does has caused him nightmares. ""Sometimes we go to bed and we dream of nothing else but Ebola, Ebola, Ebola -- nothing else,"" he explains. ""Several times I dream I become infected, I see myself in the case management center."" But he says that amid all the bad news, he is beginning to hear happier tidings: an increasing number of Ebola survivors, people who initially tested positive for the virus but -- because they reported it early and because of the medical teams' efforts -- later recovered. These positive outcomes keep Tamba hopeful as he and other health workers continue to tirelessly explain to the community how to prevent infection. ""It is difficult to stand in front of Ebola, but this is the situation we have,"" he says. ""We must do everything we can to kick Ebola out of our country. ""Staying at home or running away from Ebola is not a solution, so we have to face it. We have to fight it. To get it to zero."" READ MORE: Ebola death toll passes 1,550, outbreak worsens . READ MORE: Ebola: Nine things to know about the disease . READ MORE: Ebola: Your biggest questions answered ."
"(CNN) -- The big winners of this Formula One season could be road drivers rather than F1 racers, according to one former world champion. Jody Scheckter, who took the drivers' title in 1979, hopes a raft of technological changes -- notably smaller, hybrid engines that promise greater fuel efficiency -- will help improve road cars' performance. ""It's very positive for the sport, this is the first time you've seen the sport bring in regulations that really push the envelope of technology for every type of car,"" the South African told CNN. ""They are trying to take efficiency from everywhere they can on a car."" This year's race cars will boast an enhanced Energy Recovery System (ERS) and 1.6-liter V6 engines, compared to the 2.4-liter V8s on show last year. The ERS uses heat generated when braking and thermal energy from exhaust gases to create extra power. The Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) has been used in F1 since 2009, but Scheckter says these latest advancements in the sport will only benefit everyday drivers. ""Wherever there is heat, they turn that into energy,"" added the former Ferrari driver. ""From that point of view, that's what road cars are becoming more and more. ""They've taken this energy from the brakes and these different areas, that's what Formula One has done to a much higher degree than I've ever seen before. I think the technology will flow to road cars very quickly. ""It's very important for the global environment that they can make the technology work practically and then it can move into road cars."" On the track, Scheckter expects an unpredictable start to the championship as teams and drivers wrestle with the new regulations. An encouraging preseason for Mercedes has fueled talk that Lewis Hamilton is the favorite for this weekend's Australian Grand Prix and in pole position to take the title. Hamilton, a world champion in 2008, set the fastest time on the final day of the final test event in Bahrain, but the quickest lap time of preseason was set by Felipe Massa of Williams. The Brazilian is a new arrival at the British team following nine years with Ferrari and Scheckter expects Massa and Hamilton to start well, but he stopped short of tipping either to be top of the pile at the end of the season. ""If you're going to follow some of the test results then you have to think that Mercedes and Williams have got an advantage at the beginning,"" he said. ""How long it will take for other teams to catch up, who knows? ""I would've thought after the fourth, fifth race, you might see things settle down. Someone could make a modification and gain one second, two seconds per lap. That is a massive amount. So until things settle down I wouldn't want to back anybody."" The climax of the 2014 season is set to be a dramatic one, with double points set to be awarded to the driver who takes the checkered flag at November's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with the winner of that race awarded 50 points, rather than the usual 25. It's a move that Scheckter thinks will see the fight for the world championship go down to the wire. ""What they are trying to do is make it so the last race determines the championship,"" he said. ""If somebody is quite far ahead and it looks like he's going to win the championship ... if he doesn't finish and another guy does he wins. ""Is that fair? No it's not, but it makes exciting racing. Or it makes you throw something at the TV!"" Interactive: 10 cars that changed Formula One ."
"(CNN) -- European football's governing body, UEFA has revealed that 32 of its 54 member states have declared an interest in hosting matches at the 2020 European Championships. Traditionally, the tournament is hosted by one or two nations, but matches in 2020 will be shared between 13 cities across Europe. UEFA, who announced a change in format for the tournament's 60th anniversary last December, welcomed the enthusiastic response from the national football associations. ""We are extremely proud to see the huge interest in the bidding process, with more than half of our member associations willing to host matches at UEFA EURO 2020,"" UEFA President Michel Platini said. ""The finals will be a great celebration of football across the European continent, and the 60th anniversary edition will be truly special, by really coming to the doorstep of all football fans."" Platini initially floated the idea following the 2012 championships hosted by Poland and Ukraine and a decision to change the format was agreed by UEFA's Executive Committee last December before being confirmed in January. The format, dubbed a ""Euro for Europe,"" has attracted interest from reigning Euro champions, Spain and the other traditional powerhouses of European football -- Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Greece and England. ""UEFA's 'EURO for Europe' in 2020 promises to be a fitting way to recognise 60 years of the UEFA European Championship,"" said England Football Association secretary Alex Horne in a statement. ""It would be great to see England playing in front of their home fans here in London as part of a EURO Finals tournament but many countries have also put themselves forward as hosts and we expect this to be a very competitive bidding process."" Less illustrious footballing nations including Armenia, Israel, Kazakhstan and Wales have also thrown their hat into the ring. UEFA says all 32 associations can submit a maximum of two bids -- one which covers three group matches and one knockout round and another which will vie to host the semifinal and final. The closing date for bids is April 25 with UEFA's Executive Committee announcing the host cities on September 25 next year. The full list of countries and their proposed host cities is as follows: Armenia (Yerevan), Azerbaijan (Baku), Belarus (Minsk), Belgium (Brussels), Bulgaria (Sofia), Croatia (Zagreb), Czech Republic (Prague), Denmark (Copenhagen), England (London), Finland (Helsinki), France (Lyon), Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (Skopje), Germany (Munich), Greece (Athens), Hungary (Budapest), Israel (Jerusalem), Italy (Rome, Milan), Kazakhstan (Astana), Netherlands (Amsterdam), Poland (Warsaw, Chorzow), Portugal (Lisbon, Porto), Republic of Ireland (Dublin), Romania (Bucharest), Russia (St Petersburg), Scotland (Glasgow), Serbia (Belgrade), Spain (Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Valencia), Sweden (Solna), Switzerland (Basel), Turkey (Istanbul), Ukraine (Kyiv, Donetsk) and Wales (Cardiff)."
"New York (CNN) -- Northeast Florida State Attorney Angela Corey has made it clear that she alone will decide whether George Zimmerman will be charged in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman's attorneys termed as ""courageous"" her decision not to present evidence to the grand jury that the original prosecutor, Norman Wolfinger, scheduled to convene on April 10. The Trayvon Martin family was also pleased that Corey would make the charging decision. But the question remains, will George Zimmerman be charged? Tuesday, in a bizarre development, George Zimmerman's attorneys, Hal Uhrig and Craig Sonner, during a news conference held in front of the Seminole County Courthouse, announced that they had withdrawn from his representation. They said they had lost contact with their client over the previous two days and revealed Zimmerman's unusual behavior -- including phone calls to Fox News host Sean Hannity and the special prosecutor, Corey. The attorneys also said that they are concerned with Zimmerman's emotional and physical well-being and even suggested that he may be suffering from PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). In short, they said that their client had gone rogue. Clients fire attorneys every day, for no reason or any reason. And attorneys withdraw from cases around the country daily. But it is rarely done so publicly and with so much information divulged about the inner workings of the lawyer-client relationship. Rogue clients that are potential defendants spook prosecutors. It can be a nightmare to try to locate and arrest a fleeing defendant. Remember Joran Van Der Sloot. Not surprisingly, within hours of the now-infamous withdrawal, Corey issued a statement saying she would be holding her own news conference within 72 hours ""to release new information regarding the Trayvon Martin shooting death investigation."" Many suspect that the announcement that Zimmerman had gone rogue forced the special prosecutor's hand. By all accounts though, Angela Corey is a seasoned career prosecutor who doesn't bend to public opinion or political pressure. During her 25 years as an assistant state attorney, Corey tried hundreds of cases, including more than 50 homicides. During her three-year-plus as state attorney of the 4th Judicial Circuit, Jacksonville's Duval County jail has seen an increase in the population, despite a drop in crime in the city. Some say this is a direct result of her aggressive prosecutorial bent. But her career hasn't been without controversy. Recently she came under intense fire for charging 12-year-old Cristian Fernandez as an adult in the killing of his 2-year-old brother, making Christian the youngest person in Florida ever to be charged as an adult. Corey, a devout Episcopalian, references her faith in discussing her cases, which some would say is a no-no for a prosecutor. In a written statement she provided in response to her detractors about the Fernandez case, Corey defended her decision to charge Fernandez as an adult by stating, ""We are blessed in the 4th Circuit to have a great working relationship with ... public defenders,"" and ""We asked for prayers for our two-year-old victim, David, and for Cristian Fernandez."" In discussing the investigation into the shooting death of Martin she said, ""What we are asking people to do is take a step back. Pray for Trayvon. Pray for his family. Listen to their words. I believe these are wonderful people who are asking for a peaceful approach to this case, while still demanding the answers they deserve. And I look forward to meeting with them to try to help them on this journey. Our victims always have a tough plight."" If she files charges against Zimmerman, it would be wise not to ""overcharge"" the case. Corey needs to be able to prove her case beyond a reasonable doubt. To prove manslaughter in Florida, Corey's team would have to prove that Zimmerman's acts caused Martin's death. Manslaughter would not be difficult to prove but for Florida's ""stand your ground"" law. Florida's law states that a person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in any place where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force ... to prevent death or great bodily harm. So even if Zimmerman killed Martin, he was justified in doing so if he believed he was in danger of being killed himself or of suffering great bodily harm. It seems the Sanford Police certainly believed Zimmerman's claims. But there is an exception. If Zimmerman was the initial aggressor, he cannot avail himself of the protection of the ""stand your ground"" law. Former Florida State Rep. Dennis Baxley, the co-sponsor of the law, told me by phone that the law doesn't apply to Zimmerman if he pursued Martin and was the initial aggressor. And he is right. Florida's statute makes it clear that the justification is not available to a person who initially provokes the use of force against himself, unless such force is so great that the person reasonably believes that he is in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm and that he has exhausted every reasonable means to escape. And that is what this case ultimately boils down to -- who started the fight. And the answer to that question is far from clear. Martin left the home of his father's fiancee on February 26 to buy skittles and an ice tea. He was unarmed. Zimmerman left his home to go to Target and was carrying a concealed weapon for which he had a permit. Martin was 17 years old, Zimmerman, 28. The police report describes Martin as 6 feet tall and 160 pounds and lists Zimmerman as 5-foot-9. Zimmerman sees Martin, deems him ""suspicious"" and calls the police. Zimmerman tells the dispatcher he is following Martin. The dispatcher tells Zimmerman ""we don't need you to do that."" Martin notices Zimmerman is following him and tells his girlfriend, Dee Dee, with whom he is on the phone. She tells him to run, and he agrees to walk quickly. Zimmerman says that he returns to his parked SUV and is attacked suddenly by Martin. Dee Dee hears someone ask Martin why he is there. Martin asks Zimmerman why he is following him. Dee Dee believes she hears Martin being tackled. Witnesses say they heard angry words, heard someone crying for help (many explain it sounded like the voice of a younger person) and then a single gunshot. The screams for help stop. Three witnesses saw Zimmerman straddling Martin in the grass. The incident happens 70 yards from the home Martin was walking to, not near Zimmerman's SUV. Martin is found dead, laying on his stomach. Zimmerman is bleeding from his nose and the back of his head and has stains on the back of his jacket. Zimmerman isn't tested for drug or alcohol consumption and is allowed to leave the police station with the clothes he was wearing that night. A tenet of our legal system is that when there is conflicting evidence, let a jury decide. I believe in our jury system. Let them decide. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Sunny Hostin."
"(CNN)If that car parked in Harvard Yard is a rockin', school officials may soon come a knockin', because hanky-panky between students and faculty at the elite university has officially been banned. Specifically, the school adopted a new policy this week that prohibits romantic relationships between undergraduates and professors. The previous policy only did so between professors and the students they taught. Harvard released a statement saying a specially appointed committee ""determined that the existing language on relationships of unequal status did not explicitly reflect the faculty's expectations of what constituted an appropriate relationship between undergraduate students and faculty members ... therefore, the committee revised the policy to include a clear prohibition to better accord with these expectations."" The action comes nearly a year after the U.S. Department of Education announced it was investigating 55 colleges and universities, including Harvard, for violations pertaining to Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination on college campuses. Harvard responded at the time by saying it had appointed its first ever Title IX officer, and that the school's president ""recently announced the creation of a university-wide task force -- composed of faculty, students and staff -- that will recommend how we can better prevent sexual misconduct at Harvard."" The new policy is the result of ""a formal process to review Harvard University's Title IX policy,"" the school said."
"(CNN) -- Each summer, more than 50,000 people pour into a cobblestone square in Tuscany for a gut-wrenching 90-seconds. That's all it takes for the flamboyantly dressed jockeys of Italy's legendary horse race -- Palio di Siena -- to race bareback around the medieval square. It's been called the ""most dangerous horse race in the world"" -- about as far away as you can get from the genteel green lawns of Britain's Royal Ascot or the multimillion prize money bestowed on America's Kentucky Derby. Now as the dust settles on this year's colorful Palio di Siena, CNN takes a look at five weird and wonderful horse festivals from across the world. Palio di Siena, Italy . On two days each year, the pretty town of Siena in northern Tuscany is transformed into an elaborate medieval race track, with 10 riders careering around the iconic city square three times. Dating back to the 17th century, each rider represents their local neighborhood, competing not just for the coveted victory banner -- but good luck for the coming year. Luminarias Festival, Spain . Fire and horses may seem like an unlikely combination, but that's exactly the dramatic scene which takes place in a small town in central Spain each year. Horse are ridden over blazing tree branches as part of the Luminaries Festival in San Bartolome de Pinares, in an effort to purify and protect the animals. The controversial tradition, which has been criticized by animal welfare groups, dates back 500 years and is held on the eve of Saint Anthony's Day. Watch: From camel racing to prized jockey . White Turf, Switzerland . From fiery Spain to snowy Switzerland -- there's not a bonfire in sight at the glitzy White Turf racing carnival, held on the frozen Lake St Moritz. The remarkable competition includes skijoring, where horses thunder around the icy track while their riders hold on for dear life to a harness at the back, trailing behind on skis. In such extreme weather -- around -20C -- fur coats are the order of the day for the champagne-sipping spectators who are perhaps better known for their luxury lifestyles than racing tips. Pasola Festival, Indonesia . The glitz and glam of snow-capped St Moritz couldn't be further from the spear-wielding horsemen of Indonesia's annual Pasola Festival. The fierce festival -- held on the island of Sumba -- sees two teams go head-to-head on elaborately decorated horses, throwing blunt spears at each other as part of an ancient ritual battle. It is believed that every drop of blood spilled will bring a good harvest. Soma-Nomaoi Festival, Japan . If you like your ancient festivals a little less violent, there's the 1,000-year-old Soma-Nomaoi wild horse chase in central Japan. The three-day festival sees samurai horsemen compete in different challenges -- from racing over a one kilometer track to battling over sacred flags. Dressed in extravagant armor, helmets, and carrying swords, the fantastical warriors appear to have stepped straight out from the 10th Century."
"(CNN) -- Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Abdelati Obeidi flew to Greece Sunday to deliver a personal message from Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, a Greek foreign ministry official told CNN. Libya asked Greece to allow a special envoy to travel there to communicate a message, Greek foreign ministry spokesman Grigoris Delavekouras said. The nature of that message was not immediately known. Obeidi met with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou Sunday night, according to Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas. ""We stressed -- reiterated -- the clear message of the international community. One of full support and implementation for the decisions of the United Nations, immediate ceasefire and an end to violence, particularly against Libyan civilians,"" Droutsas said after the meeting. ""From what the Libyan envoy said, it is clear that the administration is looking for a solution,"" he added. Obeidi is expected to continue talks in Turkey and Malta, according to Droutsas. The envoy crossed the Libyan border into Tunisia Sunday morning, and from there boarded a private Greek plane for Athens. Obeidi is the Libyan deputy foreign minister in charge of European affairs. Journalists Houda Zaghdoudi and Elinda Labropoulou contributed to this report ."
"(CNN) -- Sergio Garcia, a 36-year-old undocumented immigrant in California, has held two lifelong dreams: to become a U.S. citizen and to practice law. He's been waiting 19 years for a visa still stuck in a backlog, but the California Supreme Court ensured this week that his second dream will become a reality. Garcia can be admitted to California's state bar and legally practice as a lawyer there, the court ruled. ""I'm super excited to finally be able to fulfill one of my dreams,"" Garcia told CNN Friday. Court: Undocumented immigrant can be lawyer . But the case raises many questions, particularly among those who have been critical of Garcia's efforts to practice law. They question how someone who is in the country without legal status can be licensed to uphold the law as an attorney. Garcia says that this an easy initial response to make but that looking at the details of his case, it is not so clear-cut. He was brought to the United States as a minor and has been in line for 19 years for a green card. If anyone feels frustrated the the situation, they should address it with the federal government, Garcia said. It's the immigration system that's broken, he said. Garcia was born in Mexico in 1977 and taken to California by his parents when he was 17 months old, according to court documents. He remained there until 1986, when he and his parents returned to Mexico. Eight years later, at age 17, Garcia again returned to California with his parents and without documentation, though his father had obtained permanent resident status in the United States. That year, Garcia's father filed an immigration visa petition on his son's behalf, which federal immigration officials accepted in 1995. The visa still has not been granted, even though Garcia has lived in the state since 1994. California's Supreme Court ruled Thursday (PDF) that no state law or public policy should stop Garcia or others like him from obtaining a law license in the state. Asked why he didn't choose a different career or pursue other opportunities, Garcia said law was his singular focus. ""I wasn't smart and put all my eggs into one basket,"" he said. ""This whole idea of being an attorney was the only idea I had going, so 20 years of working on that dream, I couldn't really afford to give up on it."" ""That, and I'm a little bit stubborn, anyway,"" Garcia added. Now that he has a law license, however, one thing that Garcia will not specialize in is immigration law. ""Oh, no, that's just too messed up,"" he said. CNN's Catherine E. Shoichet and Tom Watkins contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Rip it up and start again. As a 20-year-old, Ana Ivanovic claimed the French Open on Roland Garros' clay courts. All the portents suggested great things were ahead of the Serbian. Here was a tennis player with an impressive forehand and serve, with the added bonus of being incredibly marketable. But six years on, much like the characters Vladimir and Estragon in Samuel Beckett's play ""Waiting for Godot"" -- a drama about the passing of time -- the wait for a second grand slam shows no sign of ending. Since that win in Paris in 2008, Ivanovic has suffered from big-match nerves, serving woes and a series of injury problems. It is arguable she has also endured something of an identity crisis, chopping and changing coaching teams along the way. Her continuing search to help solve this problem and allow her to feel comfortable in her own skin has led her to appointing a support network who speak the same language. ""I've been working really hard,"" Ivanovic told retired grand slam champion Kim Clijsters in an interview for CNN's Open Court show. ""I have a new team with me since Wimbledon and it's a Serbian team for me for the first time."" Ivanovic's new team includes coach and hitting partner Nemanja Kontic -- who represented Montenegro in the Davis Cup -- fitness coach Zlatko Novkovic and physio Branko Penic. They have all been part of her entourage since her split with British coach Nigel Sears in July, following a second-round exit at Wimbledon. Her career is littered with coaches who have come and gone as she has searched for a winning formula to challenge consistently for grand slams. Since parting company with her early mentor Zoltan Kuharsky in 2006, she has employed David Taylor, Craig Kardon, Heinz Gunthardt, Antonio van Grichen and Sears. A number of others have also helped her temporarily as part of the Adidas Player Development program. It's not just coaches that have come and gone. It's also true of fitness trainers. Such constant chopping and changing suggests a player stuck in a rut, desperately searching for a way out of it. Her desire to follow up that 2008 French Open win has also led Ivanovic to ponder why she picked up a racket at the age of five in the first place -- for the enjoyment. ""We are also having more fun and a lot of laughs on the court as well to make it interesting, because the year gets very long,"" she said of her team. In Kontic, Ivanovic may not have a wise professor on her hands as she did with Sears, yet the 32-year-old, ranked 1,635th in men's doubles, is able to offer her something that respect within the game cannot always buy -- a shared cultural identity. ""I'm really enjoying someone who speaks the same language and can understand you,"" Ivanovic said. Employing a coaching team made up of her compatriots could be key to Ivanovic performing consistently, according to a former grand slam champion turned coach. ""She's hooked up with someone she has trust in and she's finding herself,"" Jo Durie, who won mixed doubles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, told CNN. ""It's about confidence with Ana. Her sense of trust in herself is what she needs. ""A lot of players on tour jump around with coaches, I can never understand that. You need to get to know someone."" Ivanovic's solitary grand slam win helped the baseliner become the world No. 1, for 12 weeks in total. Now ranked 14th, she has been outside of the top 10 since June 2009, partly explained by her inability to reach the final four of a grand slam since that 2008 win over Dinara Safina in Paris. Wrist, shoulder, foot, abdominal and hip injuries all took their toll as Ivanovic fell to No. 65 in the rankings. Although she acknowledges that there have been improvements in the demands of the WTA Tour calendar, parts of the worldwide schedule are still difficult for the players. ""Especially at the end of the year when from America we mostly go back to Europe for a week and then we go to Asia for quite a few weeks, so that's kind of tiring and hard,"" she said. ""I know it's difficult to fit it all around it, but Asia at the end of the year really gets a lot of players."" While her playing fortunes might have fluctuated, Ivanovic's marketability has never been dented. According to Forbes, she was the ninth highest-paid female athlete in 2013 with total earnings of $7 million -- brought in largely thanks to lucrative sponsorship deals including Adidas, Yonex, Juice Plux and Dubai Duty Free. Ivanovic has had a number of high-profile boyfriends -- including Masters-winning golfer Adam Scott and fellow tennis player Fernando Verdasco -- but as Caroline Wozniacki has discovered, it is tough combining consistency on court with such a relationship. Her latest campaign, though, does not look like being clouded by such distraction or, just as importantly, injury. Kicking off the 2014 season in Auckland, New Zealand, she ground out a victory against fellow former No. 1 Venus Williams to end a more than two-year title drought. It was the ideal preparation for next week's Australian Open. Despite Ivanovic's obvious talent, Durie doubts whether her game has the consistency required to win a grand slam. ""I think she'll find it difficult,"" added Durie. ""She can beat the top players, but to win a grand slam you have to win seven matches. ""She's capable of big wins, she can certainly beat players like Serena Williams. But can she beat Petra Kvitova and Serena in a row?"" Clijsters retired for a second time in 2012, having won four grand slams, as she decided to focus on her family -- and has since had a second child. Ivanovic, now 26, admitted that she too has started thinking about life after tennis. ""I still feel like there is so much I can achieve and so many tournaments I can win,"" she told the Belgian. ""I don't want to put a date to it because I think you feel it when the time is right. Family is a big part of my life and I want to have lots of kids of my own one day. ""Tennis is a big part of my life, but it's not my whole life. So definitely I want to achieve what I can on the court and then focus."""
"New York (CNN) -- A federal judge has ordered that an official monitor be put in place to prevent discrimination in the hiring of New York City firefighters. U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis said the city needs ""to comprehensively reassess its policies and practices, to analyze the evidence showing the effect of those policies and practices, and to rationally consider how they can be changed to achieve a firefighter hiring process that is -- in actual practice and effect -- fair and open to all."" The order requires the city to take remedial steps to fix discriminatory hiring practices and puts the court monitor in place for at least the next 10 years to make sure those steps are taken. Garaufis cited ""the clear evidence of disparate impact that Mayor (Michael) Bloomberg and his senior leadership chose to ignore was obvious to anyone else who looked."" ""Instead of facing hard facts and asking hard questions about the City's abysmal track record of hiring black and Hispanic firefighters, the Bloomberg Administration dug in and fought back,"" the judge said in his ruling. Mark LaVorgna, a spokesman for the mayor, said the city intends to appeal the decision. Litigation against the city's firefighter hiring practices began in 2007, when the U.S. Department of Justice filed a complaint alleging the Fire Department of New York's hiring exams negatively affected black and Hispanic applicants. ""Four years of litigation and two adverse liability rulings later, the City still doesn't get it,"" Garaufis said. ""The City's senior leaders have routinely denied that they are responsible or doing anything to remedy nearly forty years of discrimination."" Bloomberg strongly disagreed with the decision. ""I think it's fair to say no previous administration has done more or been as successful in attracting the diversity to the FDNY than we have,"" the mayor told reporters Wednesday, ""and I couldn't feel more strongly about it."" Bloomberg said 61,000 people, more than half of them minorities, applied to the fire department in the last recruiting campaign, ""shattering any previous record for minority applicants."" Garaufis acknowledged that the city has improved its minority recruiting, but he said the subsequent hiring processes and ""discriminatory testing procedures"" have kept many of these minorities from actually being hired. Paul Washington, a representative of the Vulcan Society, one of the plaintiffs in the case, praised the decision. ""We're very pleased to see this order and it's certainly long overdue,"" Washington said. ""We're glad to see the judge properly addressing this issue."" Details of the court-appointed monitoring, as well as logistics for a future fairness hearing in which third parties will be able to express their opinions, is scheduled for October 20, said Darius Charney, an attorney for the plaintiffs."
"(CNN) -- American journalist James Foley was murdered, beheaded by an English-speaking member of ISIS, the extremist group that calls itself the Islamic State and has already conquered large swaths of two Middle Eastern countries. The sickening execution, recorded and released online for the world to see, came with a warning to the U.S.: ISIS showed another captive American journalist, believed to be Steven Sotloff, and threatened to kill him too if the U.S. does not stop helping those fighting to stop ISIS advances. The killing and the threat, along with all the evidence ISIS is leaving as it gouges its way across the region, are a direct challenge to the American people, to the U.S. government and to the international community. As it makes increasingly clear what kind of an organization it is, ISIS is sending a message: ""Stay out of this, so we can keep driving toward our objective."" President Obama said Wednesday that ""We will do everything we can to protect our people ... The entire world is appalled by the brutal murder."" The U.S. government has crucial steps to take now. First, obviously, it cannot give into ISIS threats and must continue helping dislodge ISIS from northern Iraq where it is engaging in ethnic cleansing against Christians and other minorities; kidnapping, raping and selling women; and massacring people. The U.S. effort should keep a special focus on helping America's loyal and ideologically moderate friends, the Kurds of Iraq. At the same time, the U.S. should make a strong diplomatic push to obtain international legitimacy for the campaign to defeat ISIS. It is important to prevent ISIS from scoring a recruiting victory among Muslims and anti-Western and anti-American camps by portraying this as a war between Islam and the West, which it is not. There are few people on Earth who are not horrified by ISIS. That includes the overwhelming majority of Muslims. The grand mufti of Saudi Arabia, Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, called ISIS and al Qaeda ""Enemy No. 1"" of Islam. Countless Muslims have criticized and condemned them. ISIS is the enemy of anyone who does not belong to ISIS. They kill minorities, Shiite Muslims and Sunnis who don't abide by their views. They are virulently opposed to the West, to the U.S., to modernity and to anyone who sees the world differently from their narrow medieval perspective. The U.S. should seek a U.N. resolution declaring that the international community, including the Muslim world, considers ISIS and its methods repugnant. Any country that disagrees, any government that is not revolted by ISIS and troubled by its methods and its goals, should go on record saying so. Before ISIS, we knew that human beings are capable of unspeakable brutality. But anyone who thought man's inhumanity to man had eased after the mass crimes of the 20th century now knows better. ISIS didn't just remind us how cruel humans can be; it has taken the use of brutality as a weapon of intimidation, extermination, genocide and recruitment propaganda to new levels. ISIS is not the first to murder victims in large numbers; it is not the first to kill those who disagree with its beliefs or who belong to different ethnic or religious groups. But it seems no group has advertised its bloodlust with such relish and effectiveness. More important, those using these methods, embracing this philosophy, are in control of enormous territories. When ISIS calls itself a state, it is not hyperbole by very much. ISIS has taken over a a tract of land bigger than many countries, something that al Qaeda, its comparatively mild-mannered inspiration, never came close to achieving. ISIS has established and gained full dominion not only of cities and populations but of wealthy oil-producing lands. It is now financially self-sufficient, collecting millions of dollars every day from oil smuggling operations. If not stopped, it could continue its push toward the oil fields of southern Iraq at the edge of the Persian Gulf, which remains the epicenter of oil and gas production that allows the global economy to function. If Osama bin Laden weren't dead, he would die of envy. ISIS views the videos of mass executions, of severed heads on poles and of crucified men, as a way to keep its enemies frightened and weakened, and a way to tell prospective recruits that it is fearless in its war to create an Islamic caliphate ruling over all the world's Muslims. Its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, incidentally, claims to rule over all Muslims and believes the ultimate goal of ISIS is to take over huge sections of Asia, Europe and Africa. The killing of Foley, an idealistic journalist, sharpens our understanding of the organization seeking to dominate the Middle East. That the man who murdered him might have been British should erase any remaining fantasy in the West that this gruesome war, now raging in Syria and Iraq, will stay within any country's or any region's borders. Those who seek to downplay the risk to the United States should think again. Britain has confirmed that Foley's killer was most likely a British citizen. There have been reports of hundreds, even thousands, of Europeans training, fighting and killing alongside ISIS. In June 2013, a video from Syria surfaced, showing men cutting off another man's head. To the shock of Europeans, they were heard speaking Dutch. The ISIS members who hold European passports are able to travel freely across Europe and the U.S. and are prepared to do the unthinkable. There are hundreds of Germans, Spaniards, Belgians, French. Graduates of the Syria war, from where ISIS pushed into Iraq, have killed in Europe. And ISIS ideology is gaining support in the continent. Last month, ISIS flags flew in an anti-Israel demonstration in the Hague, chanting against America and the West and most enthusiastically, ""Death to the Jews."" ISIS can simply not be allowed to keep a foothold in the Middle East. If it does, the consequences will become even more catastrophic. In Iraq alone, 1.2 million people have been displaced, thousands killed. It is politically and strategically complicated, because ISIS is also fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Hezbollah, and defeating ISIS would also be enormously pleasing to Iran. But the group is a growing threat. The strategy of supporting the Kurds and the Iraqis in the front lines is a good one. It must be bolstered with material and diplomatic support. If it proves insufficient to turning back the bloody ISIS tide, then it must be revamped. Foley's mother said her son gave his life trying to expose to the world the suffering of the Syrian people. That suffering has now extended to Iraq, and it will only become more widespread if ISIS is not stopped."
"Qena, Egypt (CNN) -- In a deserted playground a few hundred miles south of Cairo, 13-year-old Asmaa Ashraf fiddles with a broken rusted slide. She is waiting listlessly for a lesson with her math tutor. The bright-eyed teenager lives in a sepia-toned village in the province of Qena, a place of rural poverty and neglect. But she has big dreams about education. She wants to open a school one day. ""At my school, we'll learn,"" she says, brushing her hands longingly over the slide. ""Teachers will show up and we'll be allowed to ask questions. We'll be allowed to draw with color."" Such aspirations, however, amount to fantasy for most youth in a country still struggling to land on its feet after being turned completely upside down. Two and a half years after the country's uprising began, Egypt's fledgling democracy is stillborn, stubbornly stuck between its past and future. And as the government struggles to wade through the country's protracted political problems, Egypt's festering education system is orphaned -- even though, with a growing youth population, it's key to the country's future. In the World Economic Forum's latest report on global competitiveness, Egypt ranked near the bottom -- 131st out of 144 countries -- for quality of primary education. Egypt's literacy rate is 66%, according to a 2011 United Nations report. Meanwhile, a report by London think tank Chatham House says just $129 a year is spent on each Egyptian student; the United States, for example, spends 40 times as much. The situation is worst in regions far from the capital, and in Upper Egypt, where more than half the population is under 29. Many schools look more like rank penitentiaries rather than hubs of learning. Students and teachers seem to be on the verge of exhaustion rather than bursting with inspiration. And forget technology. Desks and a stable electricity supply are luxuries. ""We didn't have enough desks last year,"" recalls Asmaa's 12-year-old neighbor, Omnia. ""So most of us just sat on the floor. We only get a little paper, but my mom found this,"" she said, holding up a small, faded ""Hannah Montana"" notebook. The American pop culture reference is lost on her. To make up for the gaps in education, millions of middle-class Egyptian families spend a large part of their income -- sometimes as much as 25% -- on private tutoring. It's impossible to know how much money is spent in all, but some estimates put the total at $1 billion a year. Public school teachers rarely make more than $300 a month. More than a few of them say they teach the bare minimum in class so that they can earn more from the same students in private tutoring sessions. ""There are too many issues to deal with,"" said one 32-year-old teacher in Asmaa's village. ""I have kids of my own I'm struggling to take care for."" He says he gives three hours of private tutoring in the evening and does mechanical work on the side. For parents with any hope that their children will be better off, investing in education is essential. Egypt's final secondary school exams are a rite of passage for students. Their scores chart their future. If they don't do well, they won't get a place in college. The status quo is even more somber for Egypt's women. According to a recent World Bank report, the illiteracy rate for young people in Upper Egypt is 17%, higher than the national average of 11%, and the illiteracy rates for females is 24%, almost twice that of males. Also, 70% of young women in Upper Egypt are jobless. More: Interactive -- Impossible odds, unstoppable girls . Politicians, whether they're from the ruling Muslim Brotherhood or the opposition, agree that educational reform is needed. But they quickly fall silent when pushed to articulate plans. One politician said the country simply has ""bigger fish to fry,"" with a controversial new constitution and still no full, functioning parliament. But with unemployment at staggering rates -- 33% for men age 20-24 and 53% for women in the same age -- Egypt has a highly combustible pool of frustrated and disenfranchised youth in danger of becoming a lost generation. ""This is a generation that desperately needs to learn how to critically think, to learn how to be in the 21st century,"" said Malak Zalouk, director of the Middle East Institute for Higher Education at the American University in Cairo. ""Mubarak's regime trained students to be loyal citizens. And now, despite a revolution for dignity ... there is none."" It sounds like an almost hopeless picture. However, as Egypt's public education system founders, a few innovative ideas have emerged. This year, a few Egyptian entrepreneurs have launched Nafham, a Web-based startup that features crowd-sourced educational videos. Nafham, which means ""We understand"" in Arabic, hopes to provide an alternative -- a virtual classroom -- for struggling Egyptian families. It divides the Egyptian public school curriculum into lessons that can be explained in 5- to 15-minute videos, covering all lessons mandated by the government curriculum. Since the website went live in October, Nafham's staff of teachers created around 4,900 videos, while 1,000 videos were crowd-sourced -- reviewed and approved by the staff. By late May, Nafham's YouTube channel had more than 1 million views. For the 65% of Egyptians who don't have Internet access -- those who stand to gain the most from the service -- Nafham says it hopes to form group viewings in some villages. It is also in talks with some companies to offer USBs with Internet access to groups throughout the countryside. Another innovative initiative is Teach for Egypt, a start-up created by Nada Ramadan, a 24-year-old Egyptian who's a graduate student at Georgetown University in Washington. Based on the Teach for America model, Ramadan plans to recruit ambitious college graduates -- most from within the Egyptian community and diaspora -- to commit to a two-year service in which they are trained extensively and placed in underprivileged schools. Ramadan says she's running into problems, however, while trying to implement her idea. The bureaucracy in Egypt leaves little room for productivity, let alone creativity and innovation. Still, she continues to push on. ""We could all stand around and protest that the government is failing us, or we could go out and offer the solutions,"" she said. ""So, that's what we're trying to do."" But until those solutions are offered, Asmaa -- and a whole generation in waiting -- will continue to linger near broken slides, daydreaming about the future. More: CNN's ""Girl Rising"" Interactive: Impossible odds, unstoppable girls . Open letter from Christiane Amanpour: It's time to power the world . How to help | Take action with 10x10 ."
"The Cold War aerial games of chicken portrayed in the movie ""Top Gun"" are happening in real life again nearly 30 years later. A U.S. Air Force spy plane evaded an encounter with the Russian military on July 18, just a day after Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was downed by a suspected surface-to-air missile that Ukraine and the West allege was fired by pro-Russia rebels in eastern Ukraine. The RC-135 Rivet Joint fled into nearby Swedish airspace without that country's permission, a U.S. military official told CNN. The airplane may have gone through other countries' airspace as well, though it's not clear if it had permission to do so. The U.S. plane had been flying in international airspace, conducting an electronic eavesdropping mission on the Russian military, when the Russians took the unusual action of beginning to track it with land-based radar. The Russians then sent at least one fighter jet into the sky to intercept the aircraft, the U.S. official said Saturday. The spy plane crew felt so concerned about the radar tracking that it wanted to get out of the area as quickly as possible, the official said. The quickest route away from the Russians took them into Swedish airspace. The U.S. official acknowledged that was done without Swedish military approval. As a result of this incident, the United States is discussing the matter with Sweden and letting officials know there may be further occurrences where American jets have to divert so quickly they may not be able to wait for permission. ""We acknowledge a U.S. aircraft veered into Swedish airspace and will take active steps to ensure we have properly communicated with Swedish authorities in advance to prevent similar issues before they arise,"" the U.S. State Department said. The incident was first reported by the Swedish news agency Svenska Dagbladet. Russian officials did not provide any immediate reaction about the encounter. This was at least the second potentially-dangerous encounter between a U.S. plane and Russia over the past few months. On April 23, a Russian Su-27 Flanker fighter jet buzzed within 100 feet of the nose of a U.S. Air Force RC-135U reconnaissance plane over the Sea of Okhotsk between Russia and Japan, a Defense Department official said. Russian fighter jet nearly collided with U.S. military plane in April . Russian and U.S. aircraft often encounter each other, both in Northern Europe as well as the area between the Russian Far East and Alaska. But the official said the land radar activity by the Russians in this instance was unusual. The ongoing civil unrest in Ukraine and the downing of MH 17 over eastern Ukraine on July 17, which killed all 298 people aboard, have heightened tensions between Washington and Moscow.  Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was brought down by a suspected missile. Pro-Russia rebels have denied allegations from Ukraine and the West that they shot down the Malaysian airliner, or that Russia supplied equipment used to shoot it down."
"(CNN) -- Activists speaking at a Syrian government-sponsored ""national dialogue"" meeting Sunday criticized recent crackdowns by the country's security forces, calling for an end to violence against protesters. Syria's vice president hailed the Damascus University meeting between officials and members of the opposition as a step toward creating a ""democratic nation."" ""We hope that at the end of this comprehensive meeting to announce the transition of Syria to a pluralistic democratic nation where all citizens are guided by equality and participate in the modeling of the future of their country,"" Vice President Faruq al-Shara said in opening remarks at the meeting, which was broadcast live on state television. Syrian activists say that security personnel have assaulted unarmed protesters during months of anti-government demonstrations that erupted nationwide in mid-March. The Syrian government has claimed armed groups are responsible for the violence at the demonstrations. Several speakers at Sunday's meeting called on Syria's government to change its tactics. ""The bloodshed needs to stop. Yes, there are unauthorized protests, but is it a reason to use unjustified and excessive violence? The use of all types of excessive force is unjustified,"" said Qadri Jameel of the opposition Front of Change and Liberation. Syrian researcher Al-Tayyeb Tizzina also criticized the use of force and asked for violence to stop in order for the dialogue to succeed. ""The establishment of a political society requires the immediate start of a process dismantling the police state that is dominating Syria,"" he said. Al-Shara acknowledged that a surge of violence in Syria precipitated Sunday's meeting. ""We have to admit that without the big sacrifices that were presented by the Syrian people, from the blood of their sons, civilians or military in more than one province, city and town, this meeting wouldn't have happened,"" he said. The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency said the meeting included members of the opposition, independent activists, youth leaders and academics. However, some opponents of President Bashar al-Assad's regime have criticized the meeting, saying the government is trying to quiet widespread unrest without making meaningful changes. Demonstrators protested the meeting in nationwide ""no dialogue"" marches Friday. ""Any dialogue must be based on the base of (al-Assad's) stepping down from power,"" said a statement from the Change in Syria Conference, an opposition group that called for al-Assad to hand over power to the vice president at a meeting in Turkey last month. Sunday's dialogue meeting began as Syria's foreign ministry summoned the U.S. and French ambassadors and accused them of interfering in internal affairs when they visited Syria's fourth-largest city without permission last week, state media reported. The ministry told the diplomats that their visit to the city of Hama violated the Vienna Convention, according to SANA. That 1961 accord, brokered through the United Nations, sets ground rules as to how diplomats can operate in other countries. However, a senior U.S. State Department official said U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford was not summoned by Syrian officials on Sunday; his meeting with Syria's foreign minister was previously scheduled by the U.S. Embassy in Damascus last Thursday. The official declined to speak on the record because of the sensitivity of the situation. In the meeting, Ford said his visit to Hama was meant to gather information and support freedom of expression. He also accused the Syrian government of inciting Syrians against the United States, including organizing a protest outside the U.S. Embassy Friday and Saturday, the senior State Department official said. Protesters threw tomatoes, eggs, glass and rocks at the embassy as they called for the ambassador to leave during the 31-hour demonstration, according to the senior State Department official, who asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the situation. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland issued a blunt rebuttal to similar Syrian government accusations Friday, calling claims that Ford's visit was inciting protesters ""absolute rubbish"" and saying she was ""dismayed"" by the Syrian government's reaction. Nuland said the U.S. Embassy had notified the Syrian Defense Ministry before the visit and that Ford's car was waved through a security checkpoint. The French foreign ministry issued a statement Sunday saying that its embassy had also been besieged by demonstrators, faulting Syrian authorities for failing to stop the destruction of vehicles, burning of French flags and other damage. The French government summoned Syria's ambassador to France on Sunday to issue a formal protest on this matter, and to hold Syrian authorities responsible for the security of French diplomats in the Middle Eastern country. It also challenged the Damascus government's decision to summon Eric Chevallier, France's own ambassador to Syria. Like the U.S. ambassador, Chevallier visited Hama on Thursday and spent the night, the French government said, meeting with wounded people and their families and medical staffers at a hospital. Al-Assad issued a decree appointing a Hama provincial governor Sunday, a day after firing the existing leader after a series of peaceful demonstrations there, including a massive anti-government protest last Friday. Activists and Human Rights Watch have reported many arrests and deaths in a fierce government crackdown in the area. Citizens have called a general strike in the city. Diplomatic tensions over Syria also flared in Washington last week, with the State Department summoning Syrian Ambassador Imad Mustapha Friday. The State Department said Mustapha was called ""to express a number of our concerns with the reported actions of certain Syrian embassy staff in the United States."" The statement, issued in response to a question taken at Friday's daily briefing, said the State Department had received reports that Syrian mission personnel had been conducting video surveillance of people participating in peaceful demonstrations in the United States. ""We are also investigating reports that the Syrian government has sought retribution against Syrian family members for the actions of their relatives in the United States exercising their lawful rights in this country and will respond accordingly,"" the statement said. CNN's Elise Labott, Yousuf Basil and Salma Abdelaziz contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Half a century ago, with the space race in full swing, the heated quest for interplanetary exploration between the Earth's superpowers gained a new, self-proclaimed, contender. ""We're going to Mars!"" audaciously declared Zambian schoolteacher Edward Makuka Nkoloso in a 1964 newspaper op-ed, revealing to the world his fanciful plans for his country to beat the United States and the Soviet Union in their fierce battle to conquer outer space. ""Our rocket crew is ready,"" continued Nkoloso, explaining that his aspiring troupe of space explorers had been gearing up for their interstellar journey in the headquarters of the academy he'd set up on the outskirts of Zambian capital Lusaka. From within what he called the ""Academy of Sciences and Space Technology,"" Nkoloso said, he'd been studying Mars through telescopes. He'd also been training his would-be astronauts by rolling them down a hill in oil drums, a technique aimed at getting his team acclimatized to the weightlessness experienced during space travel. Read this: Nigerian doctor takes to the skies . ""Specially trained spacegirl Matha Mwambwa, two cats (also specially trained) and a missionary will be launched in our first rocket,"" wrote Nkoloso, a grade-school science teacher and self-appointed director of the space academy. Unsurprisingly, the program, which was never taken seriously by the government of the newly independent Zambia, failed to take off; a $7 million grant Nkoloso said he'd requested from UNESCO never came, whilst the pregnancy of the 17-year-old spacegirl brought the proceedings to an end. ""The Afronauts"" Fast forward to 2010, when Spanish photographer Cristina De Middel was searching for ""unbelievable stories"" for a new personal project she was hoping to develop. Whilst scouring the depths of the internet, she stumbled on a website listing the 10 craziest experiments in history. ""The first one on the list was the Zambia space program,"" says De Middel who, after a decade of working as a news photojournalist, had decided to embark on a new career as a visual storyteller. Fascinated by Nkoloso's visionary and dreamy perspective on life, De Middel set about creating an imaginary documentation of his elusive endeavors some 50 years ago. The result is ""The Afronauts,"" an arresting photo book that has been shortlisted for this year's esteemed Deutsche Börse Photography Prize. In the self-published book, De Middel self-consciously conjures up the story of the unofficial space program piece by piece. She uses a series of cinematographic images, including staged depictions of discarded oil barrels, makeshift spaceships, elephant-hugging spacemen and flying cats, as well as vintage-looking maps, documents and newspapers cuttings. Throughout, facts and fiction are intertwined as part of an intriguing narrative which challenges viewers' perceptions about what's real and what's not. ""I was working in a very free way,"" says De Middel, sitting at the café of the Photographer's Gallery in London, where The Afronauts is being exhibited. ""I needed to add mystery; I needed to add this fascination for great things and work on the photographic language that would not state if it's true,"" adds De Middel, encouraging viewers to question the documentary value of photography. ""Otherwise, I would have ruined the game."" ""Big dreams"" Whilst playful, De Middel's dream-like images are not intended to make fun of Nkoloso's fantastical, yet high-flying, ambitions. Her speculative pictures exude a feeling of nostalgia and sympathy, celebrating the audacious and naive spirit of a past era where grandiose dreams were not limited by circumstances. ""I think that's the greatest characteristic we have as humans, that we can dream of becoming big,"" says De Middel. Read this: Artist's spectacular glasses . ""That is something common to all humanity,"" she adds. ""You don't have to be American and work for NASA to dream of going to the moon; you can be an African -- he [Nkoloso] was a school teacher and thought that could be done."" ""Honest approach"" Creating The Afronauts, which was sold out in just a few months, De Middel worked more as a movie director, trying to make the best of the resources around her. For models, she relied on social media and friends; for the astronauts' helmets, she used old domes of street lights; and for the flashy spacesuits, she employed the sewing talents of her grandmother. ""It was like a short, small and very modest movie production,"" says De Middel. ""But instead of producing a moving image, I just did stills."" Most of the images were shot in between different projects, in locations such as Spain, the Palestinian territories, Italy and Romania. Others were repurposed pictures from the photographer's archive. De Middel, who's never been to Zambia, acknowledges she's not ""an expert in Africa"" -- nor in space. This led her to go about the story with caution. ""I always kept in my mind that I don't know a lot about African history and I am approaching a subject that can be sensitive or can be offensive for some people,"" says De Middel. So far, she says, her work has received a great response from people in Africa. She's been contacted by Nigeria's space program and been invited to the continent to give talks, while her book is being shown in South Africa and Senegal. ""I would love to [take the exhibition to Lusaka as well],"" she says. If anything, De Middel says, the extraordinary tale of the forgotten Zambian space program presented a chance to talk about Africa from a different perspective. ""The only honest approach I could do to that story was documenting my cliché, and that's what I really wanted to do, because, in a way, I was raising awareness of the existence of that cliché and what we expect from Africa,"" she says. Read this: Zambia's amazing street acrobats . ""Not only because the story is positive, in terms of African people having dreams, but also evidencing what we expect from Africa in terms of aesthetics and behavior."" Today, nobody seems to know what happened to Nkoloso or his cast of wannabe space explorers. Yet Nkoloso's desire to dream the impossible has found a new, alternative, home inside De Middel's images, striking a chord with captivated audiences around the world. ""He had a fascination for the universe that we all share,"" says De Middel. ""Asking if we're alone, looking at the stars, making metaphysical questions. That is a universal feeling and it doesn't belong to the people who can actually have the technology to go to the moon; it's everywhere."""
"(CNN) -- By now, we're on the same page that Mitt Romney's pick of Paul Ryan as his running mate contradicts a golden oldie of presidential election strategy -- run to the conservative (or liberal) base to win the nomination and then reposition toward the center to lure the more moderate independent swing voters who are necessary to win the general election. Ryan may be many things -- energetic, charismatic and geeky -- but no one familiar with his Full Monty conservative budgets would describe his selection as remotely moving to the center. Just the opposite -- Romney has doubled down on his move to the right during the primary battle. What gives? Did the looming prospect of defeat push Romney into a desperate gamble? Give Romney some credit. He's made a shrewd move. The Ryan choice adopts a strategy premised on supermobilizing the base and luring a smidgeon of others. Put on your thinking caps and grab an abacus, here are the numbers that could put Romney in the White House. Conservatives outnumber liberals 2 to 1 (40% to 21%). Rage against Obama has the GOP ready to walk over red hot coals to cast a ballot. A mainstay of Gallup's measure for determining who is likely to vote -- whether survey respondents are thinking a lot about the election -- shows not only that Republicans are more attentive than Democrats by 13 points but also more fired up than in recent presidential elections. To make sure they harvest the Ryan enthusiasts, the Romney campaign appears to be assembling an impressive operation to turn out the vote and to aggressively compete with the Obama team for the early vote. What makes the Romney mobilization particularly threatening to Obama is that it targets his biggest challenge -- polls consistently show him ahead but there are ominous signs that a decisive group of those supporters won't actually cast a ballot. Even with Obama's pro-immigration shift and the growing number of Latinos in competitive states, their actual turnout may flag from their record numbers in 2008. Less than half of Hispanics eligible to vote are registering and only 64% of Hispanics say they will definitely vote as compared to their 77% response in 2008 and the national average of 78% today. Ditto on youth. The percentage of voters 18 to 29 who say they will definitely vote in November (58%) is currently running 20 points or more behind the national average today (78%) or the youth turnout in 2008 (78%) or 2004 (81%). Blue collar voters -- never drawn to Obama (think Hillary Clinton in 2008 Democratic primaries) -- may desert him in numbers that approach the ""Reagan Democrat"" defections in 1980. This possible weakness in the Democratic coalition coincides with a bit more slippage among Obama's 2008 supporters (9%) than among McCain voters who won't vote GOP in November (5%). Bottom line: By picking the bona fide conservative Ryan, the Republican base is likely to deliver a rapturous response, which may allow Romney to succeed in exploiting Obama's greatest weakness at this point. Before you conclude this is far-fetched, think back to Karl Rove's strategy in 2004 to move right with strident social conservatism on abortion and same-sex marriage, steep tax cuts and hawkish policies in Afghanistan and Iraq. Embracing the base and scorning the rush to the middle cost George W. Bush the independent vote. But Bush also supercharged conservatives and Republicans, who turned out in droves. Refuting the conventional wisdom that Democrats do best in high-turnout elections, it was Bush who most benefited from the 16% jump in the total vote. But -- there's always a but. Even as Ryan fires up conservatives, he may also mobilize votes for Obama -- including senior citizens who reside in key swing states like Florida. Alarmed by his draconian proposals to remake Medicare, they may boost their support of Obama. Another potential risk: A good number of voters may be primed to punish the incumbent for poor economic times. Pluralities of Ohio and Florida independents report that Obama's re-election would hurt their personal financial situation. But the coming hullabaloo over Ryan's budget proposals may distract the economically pained from punishing Obama. All in all, Romney has a tough battle ahead -- even stringent counts of Electoral College votes based on polls show Obama within striking distance of winning. But using Ryan to ignite the Republican base is probably Romney's most plausible path to prevailing. And, it may produce a campaign focused a bit more on policy than on birth certificates, service records and the other side issues of recent elections. Strap in, folks, 2012 may be much more interesting and close than we'd imagined. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Lawrence R. Jacobs."
"(CNN) -- An argument before the Supreme Court on October 1 in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum will have enormous significance. The case concerns the torture of Ogoni leaders in Nigeria, but at stake is the future of the law under which this case was brought, the Alien Tort Statute. The United States stands at a crossroads. At its best, our nation has played a crucial role in championing human rights throughout the world and pioneering human rights law. At its worst, it has abandoned its lofty ideals in the name of realpolitik and supported dictators and policies that were responsible for horrible abuses. Passed in 1789, the Alien Tort Statute was a prescient piece of legislation. It allows foreign victims of human rights abuses in foreign nations to seek civil remedies in U.S. courts, and its animating idea -- that people anywhere should have recourse for violations of the ""law of nations"" -- was the foundation of our modern understanding of human rights. In the 1990s, Royal Dutch Petroleum (Shell) had extensive oil drilling operations in the Niger Delta in Nigeria, a region long plagued with poverty, human rights violations and environmental disaster. A popular movement of the Ogoni people resisting what they saw as reckless oil development in the region was violently suppressed by Nigeria's military dictatorship. In the suit, the plaintiffs accuse Royal Dutch Shell of helping the former dictatorship in the arrests on false charges and torture of 12 members of the Ogoni tribe, who sought to peacefully disrupt Shell's operations because of the devastating health and environmental effects of unregulated drilling. All the plaintiffs were themselves tortured except Esther Kiobel, who brought her claims on behalf of her late husband, Barinem Kiobel. Kiobel was executed through a sham trial process in which the plaintiffs believe Shell played a central role. The Supreme Court court accepted Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum last fall after a federal appeals court ruled that the statute could not be used to sue corporations. The justices indicated in February that they might question not just the application of the statute to corporations but whether and under what circumstances it applies to any human rights violations, even by individuals, that take place outside the United States. They ordered the case to be re-argued on exactly that question. The case has been brought in the United States because of our nation's historical role in promoting the idea of universal rights and in the development of international human rights law. From Franklin D. Roosevelt's Four Freedoms speech and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that Eleanor Roosevelt tirelessly worked for, to the stirring oratory of Robert Jackson at the Nuremberg Tribunal, mid-century Americans gave voice and visibility to the idea that all people, everywhere, were entitled to certain fundamental rights. Since 1977, the State Department has annually produced Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. The international leadership of the past century is a long way from where we find ourselves now. Our own era is defined by a different legacy: one of waterboarding and ""torture memos,"" extraordinary renditions, indefinite detention at Guantánamo Bay and targeted killings in countries with which we are not at war. ""The United States is abandoning its role as the global champion of human rights,"" Jimmy Carter wrote bluntly in The New York Times in June. Shell Oil must aid Nigeria workers who were tortured, abused . On this grim and morally and legally compromised horizon, the Alien Tort Statute is still one bright spot for human rights advocacy. In a groundbreaking case in 1980, the family of a 17-year-old Paraguayan, Joelito Filártiga, who had been tortured and killed by a henchman of Gen. Alfredo Stroessner, brought and won a civil case against his murderer, Americo Peña-Irala. The young man had been tortured to death because his father opposed the government. The ruling established that the statute could be used to hold modern torturers accountable for their actions, wherever they are committed. In the wake of the case, Filártiga v. Peña-Irala, the Alien Tort Statute developed into a new tool in human rights law. Successful cases were brought against government officials, against non-state actors like Radovan Karadžić in Bosnia-Herzegovina and against multinational corporations before the Second Circuit ruling in Kiobel that disallowed that. It is this legacy that is at stake in the Kiobel case before the Supreme Court. The immediate questions before the court on October 1 concern the reach of the Alien Tort Statute and whether it will continue to be possible for people like the Filártigas and the Kiobels to pursue their tormentors and hold them accountable for their heinous acts, and whether corporations can be held to account. But the larger question is: Does the U.S. want to be a leader or a laggard in upholding international human rights? If the statute is narrowed and its promise of universal accountability curtailed, it will rightly be perceived as yet another step by the U.S. away from its once leading advocacy for human rights. If, on the other hand, the Supreme Court upholds the Alien Tort Statute, it will signal to the world that we do still believe that people everywhere are entitled to certain fundamental rights and that we will help enforce those rights. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Vincent Warren."
"Hong Kong (CNN) -- Thousands of people filled Hong Kong's Victoria Park on Saturday to mark the 22nd anniversary of the bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square. The candlelight vigil comes after recent efforts by the Chinese government to quash would-be demonstrators from holding anti-government protests. About 26 people were arrested between February and March, according to a Hong Kong-based human rights group, when an anonymous group began an internet campaign calling for anti-government protests in China similar to ones that have taken hold in the Middle East. In response to the campaign, authorities deployed heavy security along major thoroughfares, especially in Wangfujing, a busy shopping street in downtown Beijing that had been designated by the online group for protests. The government also tightened rules on foreign reporters, explicitly warning them that they risk detention, suspension of press cards and expulsion if they show up at planned demonstrations. 20 years on: Tiananmen remembered . Saturday's protest is an annual event organized by the Hong Kong Alliance, a pro-democracy group. Hong Kong police called it a ""peaceful gathering."" Images of the demonstration showed a sea of flickering candles covering the length of the park. A little more than 22 years ago, students gathered in Tiananmen Square to memorialize the recently deceased Hu Yaobang. He was fired as Communist Party chief in 1987 by Deng Xiaoping for pushing policies deemed too soft toward ""bourgeois-liberal ideas"" and tolerating student protests. The April 15 memorial quickly turned into a pro-democracy movement, and students held talks with the government and later a hunger strike in Tiananmen Square to press their cause. On June 4, 1989, Chinese troops in armored personnel carriers and tanks rumbled toward Tiananmen Square. The soldiers, on strict orders to clear the square of demonstrators, had forced their way through the city's main thoroughfare. Along the way, they met fierce resistance from students and city residents who barricaded the streets, so they fired at them. When the firing stopped, hundreds if not thousands of people lay maimed or dead. Relatives of victims renew their hopes every year that Beijing's leaders will reverse the verdict that the protests were a counter-revolutionary rebellion that had to be put down. CNN's Aliza Kassim contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- As Barack Obama makes his case to the nation for taking the fight to ISIS, his top diplomat is also trying to make sure America doesn't have to go it alone. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is sweeping through the Middle East to try to convince regional leaders to back America's plan to beat back the terror group, which has seized a large chunk of territory stretching from northern Syria to central Iraq with alarming pace in recent months. So who's with them? ."
"(CNN) -- South Korea launched an investigation Tuesday into reports of toxic chemicals being dumped at a former U.S. military base, the Defense Ministry said. The tests follow allegations of American soldiers burying chemicals on Korean soil. The first tests are being carried out by a joint military, government and civilian task force at the site of what was Camp Mercer, west of Seoul. ""Soil and underground water will be taken in the areas where toxic chemicals were allegedly buried,"" said the statement from the South Korean Defense Ministry. Once testing is finished, the government will decide on how to test more than 80 other sites -- all former bases. The alarm was raised this month when a U.S. veteran alleged barrels of the toxic herbicide Agent Orange were buried at an American base in South Korea in the late 1970s. Two of his fellow soldiers corroborated his story about Camp Carroll, about 185 miles (300 kilometers) southeast of the capital, Seoul. ""We've been working very closely with the Korean government since we had the initial claims,"" said Lt. Gen. John Johnson, who is heading the Camp Carroll Task Force. ""If we get evidence that there is a risk to health, we are going to fix it."" A joint U.S.- South Korean investigation is being conducted at Camp Carroll to test the validity of allegations. The U.S. military sprayed Agent Orange from planes onto jungles in Vietnam to kill vegetation in an effort to expose guerrilla fighters. Exposure to the chemical has been blamed for a wide variety of ailments, including certain forms of cancer and nerve disorders. It has also been linked to birth defects, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Journalist Yoonjung Seo contributed to this report."
"San Diego, California (CNN) -- The ""Dream 9,"" five women and four men, say that they are ""undocumented and unafraid."" Don't believe it. I bet they were afraid. Who wouldn't have been? The nine -- Claudia Amaro, Adriana Gil Diaz, Luis Leon Lopez, Maria Peniche-Vargas, Ceferino Santiago, LuLu Martinez Valdez, Mario Felix-Garcia, Marco Saavedra and Lizbeth Mateo-Jimenez -- spent more than two weeks in a federal immigration detention facility in Eloy, AZ. Martinez Valdez and Peniche-Vargas--had been put in solitary confinement for what was supposed to be 15 days. All because they wouldn't take ""go"" for an answer. Some of these ""Dreamers"" had been deported to Mexico by the Obama administration, though President Obama has repeatedly said that his administration is not looking to deport Dreamers--the name taken by young immigrants who are in the U.S. without papers. Three of them who were on this side of the border -- Saavedra, Martinez Valdez and Mateo-Jimenez -- ""self deported"" to Mexico to join the other six. Then, on July 22, all nine linked arms and marched across the border into the United States. The idea was to draw attention to the administration's repressive immigration policies. The nine asked for humanitarian parole. When that was denied, they claimed asylum. Opinion: Let's deport Rep. Steve King . Now, they have been set free. Earlier in the week, federal officials found that all nine have ""credible fear"" of persecution or torture in their birth countries and thus cannot be removed without a hearing before an immigration judge. Pending those hearings, the nine have now been released into the waiting arms of family members within the United States. It's a major victory for the Dreamer movement. For many, this is a heartwarming story about the power of the individual who is brave enough to make a stand. For others, it is major inconvenience. It's a story that the White House wishes would go away. Ditto for immigration reformers who are split between those who back the Dream 9 and those who want to sacrifice them for political expediency. David Leopold, former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, callously dismissed the Dream 9 action as a ""publicity stunt"" and a distraction. He also said it was unlikely that the three Dreamers who voluntarily left the United States would qualify for asylum. So far, Leopold has been spectacularly wrong. All nine will get asylum hearings. And the Dreamers got more warmth from Congress. Thirty-five lawmakers signed a letter asking Obama to use his discretion to release the young people from custody. The letter -- signed by Reps. Mike Honda, D-California, Raul Grijalva, D-Arizona, and Ruben Hinojosa, D-Texas, among others -- describes the activists as ""victims of our broken immigration policy"" who ""deserve to come home to the United States."" Immigration reformers were bound to lose confidence in this administration. A president can't deport nearly 2 million people in under five years, split up hundreds of thousands of families, detain thousands of undocumented children without giving them access to legal counsel, and expand Arizona-style immigration enforcement nationwide through the maniacal program known as ""Secure Communities"" without raising a stink. For many, what happened to the Dream 9 was the last straw. Searching for the American Dream in Mexico . Martinez-Valdez and Peniche-Vargas were in solitary confinement because, according to authorities, they started a ruckus in the dining hall. Of course they did. Didn't Obama say that the Dreamers were Americans except for legal status? This is how Americans behave. We're ornery, courageous and defiant. We yell ""freedom"" at the top of our lungs. These kids are Americans, all right. The next thing you know, a bunch of Dreamers will dump tea into Boston Harbor. Besides, Obama made quite a show -- before the election -- of announcing that his administration was sparing Dreamers deportation by offering deferred action and temporary work permits. Nearly 300,000 Dreamers have been awarded the special accommodation so far. There's not room for nine more? Some might not be eligible for deferred action, some might be. Let's find out. Maybe there would be more compassion on the Potomac if these young people hadn't embarrassed Obama, put the lie to the fairy tale that this administration has been compassionate toward immigrants, divided self-serving organizations such as the lawyers group AILA, and pitted one group of immigration reformers against another -- those who want to protect the Dreamers versus those who want to protect the president. I've had my differences with the Dreamer movement. I think that many of these young people have a sense of entitlement, like most young people in the United States. I didn't think it was a good idea for Dreamer activists to disrupt congressional hearings on immigration reform, or occupy the offices of reform advocates like Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Illinois. And I think much of what drives Dreamer activists within the United States is a look-at-me narcissism fed by social media and a culture where young people are told they can become the next American Idol. Opinion: House, knowledge economy needs immigrants . But I never questioned their sincerity, or dismissed anything they did as a stunt. I wouldn't presume to tell people who put their freedom at risk along the U.S.-Mexico border that the difficult decisions they're making are the wrong ones. And I certainly wouldn't do it to protect an administration that doesn't deserve protecting. The Dream 9 are back where they belong -- in the United States. But this story isn't over. The fault lines it exposed within the immigration reform movement remain. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ruben Navarrette."
"(CNN)When photographer Fabio Bucciarelli first visited South Sudan, he found a nation filled with hope. He found citizens worn out by decades of war -- but looking forward to an independent, peaceful future. That was two years ago, after the world's youngest country split from its northern nemesis, Sudan. ""I remember the look on people's faces,"" Bucciarelli said. ""Tired but happy, hopeful for a better future after a past full of pain and war."" His return in February was anything but. This time, Bucciarelli found a nation on the brink of an abyss. Instead of jubilant faces of hope, he saw defeated faces haunted by a return of ghosts of past wars. Months of ethnic violence had left thousands dead, 1.5 million people displaced and a looming famine, according to the United Nations. Bucciarelli found despair cramped in tent camps, growing sexual violence and the recruitment of child soldiers. He described the violence in South Sudan as an ""invisible"" conflict. ""It represents one of the longest and most forgotten African wars,"" he said. ""Its apparent stillness leads to hear about it less and less. Given the tragic consequences and repercussions on the population, I find it essential to bring it to light."" His goal, he said, is to tell the stories of people rendered powerless by wars, provide objective images and shed light on human rights issues. ""It's hard to find front-line war photography of the kind we've seen in Libya or Syria,"" Bucciarelli said. ""The images in South Sudan are different. They describe visually the effect of the impending war, lending you a view of the civilian and military populations and providing a glimpse of life inside a murky, not clearly defined conflict."" The latest conflict erupted in December last year, when President Salva Kiir accused his fired deputy, Riek Machar, of an attempted coup. Since then, militia loyal to both have battled each other and targeted civilians from rival tribes. The conflict has wiped out entire neighborhoods and transformed into a full-blown war between two large tribes, the Nuer and the Dinka. Machar belongs to the Nuer community, while the President is a Dinka. Bucciarelli's pictures provide a rare window into a civilian population under siege. ""South Sudan's war represents one of the longest and most forgotten African conflicts,"" he said. ""Its tragic consequences are quietly fading away from the headlines, making these pictures even more crucial."" Social media . Follow @CNNPhotos on Twitter to join the conversation about photography. South Sudan split from Sudan in 2011 as part of a peace deal that ended decades of war in Africa's largest nation. That war left 2 million people dead and ended with the peace agreement that included an independence referendum for the south. The recent clashes have been a major setback for a country so desperate for a new start. Instead of relishing its independence, residents of areas such as Bentiu, Bor, Nyang and Mingkaman are struggling to survive as communities turn against one another. Concerned neighboring nations have stepped in and urged warring parties to sign ceasefire deals, but the weapons have not gone quiet. Frantic international pleas for peace have gone unheeded. Fabio Bucciarelli is an Italian photographer whose work focuses on conflict and war. You can follow him on Twitter."
"(CNN)  -- Space shuttle Discovery launched just before midnight Friday on a mission to the international space station. Space shuttle Discovery lifts off late Friday from Kennedy Space Center in a photo from iReporter Alan Walters. The crew of seven astronauts includes one from Mexico and another from Sweden. One of those seven, Nicole Stott, will remain on the station as a flight engineer, while astronaut Timothy Kopra is to return home aboard the shuttle. Also on board: The Leonardo logistics module, science experiments and the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (COLBERT), named for fake newsman Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central's ""The Colbert Report."" Colbert won an online poll conducted by NASA to name the newest space station compartment, but Colbert and the space agency compromised to give the moniker to the treadmill. The new compartment was given the name Tranquility. NASA astronaut Cady Coleman said the treadmill is an essential addition to the space station.  Watch shuttle launch » . ""We have the treadmill now to keep them healthy, which is really part of being able to come home in one piece. So it is an essential part,"" Coleman said. iReport.com: Discovery lights night sky . Discovery's liftoff, originally set for Tuesday, had been postponed three times -- first for bad weather, and twice more while mission managers checked out indications of a faulty valve."
"(CNN) -- This past week saw severe weather in many parts of the world that took dozens of lives and left behind serious damage. Here's a look at some of the extreme weather stories covered by CNN's global affiliates, including a typhoon in the Philippines and a tornado in New Zealand. Unlikely typhoon in the Philippines . Typhoon Bopha devastated the Compostela Valley region in the southern Philippines early this week. At least 148 people have died and thousands of homes have been destroyed, according to TV5. Typhoons are uncommon in the Bopha region. Watch the video above to see how the storm knocked down power lines. Tornado strikes near Auckland . A tornado ripped through the outskirts of Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, killing three people and leaving more than 200 people injured, according to TVNZ. About 150 homes were left without power. Flooding in Argentina's capital . Heavy rains in the Argentinian capital of Buenos Aires left two people dead, forced evacuations and flooded nearly 9 million acres of farmland, Canal 9 said. See some of the most serious flooding in the video above. Hard to see in Chinese province . Dense fog in the province of Sichuan caused heavy traffic and temporary highway closures in southwestern China. In some areas, visibility was reduced to less than 200 meters. Check out the fog in the video above from CCTV. Poland's winter wonderland . Seven centimeters of snow fell in the city of Lublin on Monday. The snow brought with it temperatures of minus 1 degree Celsius (30 degrees Fahrenheit). In the nearby town of Bialystok, nine cars collided, causing one injury. See the snow in the video above, courtesy of TVN."
"(CNN) -- The retrial of Egypt's former president, Hosni Mubarak, on charges of killing protesters during the country's 2011 revolution and profiteering resumed Saturday before being adjourned until next month. Mubarak was forced from office in February 2011 following two weeks of mass street protests. Following a lengthy trial, he and his former interior minister, Habib al-Adly, were found guilty and sentenced to life in prison last year on charges that they were complicit in the protesters' killings. After appealing their convictions, they were granted a new trial early this year. Six of Mubarak's former security aides last year were acquitted of charges related to the killings, and Mubarak's two sons -- Gamal and Alaa -- were acquitted of corruption charges. But they, too, were ordered to be retried after President Mohamed Morsy, himself ousted this week, ordered a new investigation last year. Mubarak and the other defendants have pleaded not guilty to all charges. Mubarak was present in court Saturday for the fourth session of the retrial, wearing his signature sunglasses. He made his first court appearance in May. The retrial has been adjourned until August 17, the prosecution said in a statement. A public prosecutor sent Mubarak -- who spent months detained in a military hospital -- back to prison in April. Mubarak's health has been a bone of contention during his trial and incarceration. He suffered a heart attack after relinquishing power and had maintained that he was physically unfit to stand trial. Mubarak has been held since his guilty verdict last year. He is also charged with seizing public funds and misusing political influence. He also faces a corruption charge that was not part of the original trial. Mubarak is accused of selling natural gas to neighboring Israel for prices below fair market value. The ousted autocratic leader spent three decades in charge of Egypt, the most populous Arab country. Journalist Adam Makary contributed to this report."
"(InStyle.com) -- Singer Carrie Underwood dishes on dieting, beauty and fashion. Carrie Underwood in a Michael Kors wool crêpe dress and Kenneth Jay Lane link bracelet. 1. Always look the part . Most of the time I slap on some makeup in the morning so I don't look bad if somebody snaps a picture. Somebody, somewhere, will catch you, even if it's a fan at the grocery store. Very rarely do I go out without makeup. 2. Keep a food diary . I'm OCD like that. I count calories, fat and fiber--which is important in making you feel fuller faster--and protein, especially when I'm working out.  Watch how Carrie handles romantic distress » . 3. Don't be a dairy queen . Cheese is ruining my life! I'm trying to talk myself into being lactose-intolerant. I mean, it's basically moldy milk, and it doesn't smell that great--but it's so good! Oh, jeez, I'm thinking about it now... 4. Exercise your options . Always take an hour for yourself to go do something positive. I like the elliptical machine or swimming if I'm in a hotel with a decent pool and there aren't too many people there. I also do the treadmill, free weights, exercise ball. If it's a nice day, outdoor activity is nice. I get a bike and ride around. Plus, I get a decent cardio workout every night onstage. 5. Don't break the bank . I don't buy expensive jewelry and fur coats and Escalades. I've never bought a car in my life. The car I have, a Ford Mustang convertible, is the one I won on Idol--I guess I need to go buy a new car after all! 6. Smell yummy . I don't do smelly soaps or wear perfume, so lotion is kind of my perfume. My favorite body lotion is Benefit's Maybe Baby. It's got a little shimmer in it. If I'm dressing up I might use perfume. I have a couple by Anna Sui. And Gwen Stefani's perfume [L], is good too. 7. Be a girlie girl . With makeup I think it's important for girls to play. I mix a lot. I'll put on lip gloss and go, ""That needs to shimmer."" So I'll put something shimmery on top. Then I want it a little pinker, so I put pink on top. But it all comes together. I'm trying to lay off the black eyeliner, though--I love it a little too much. 8. Go with the flow . I tend to go after bigger, flowy tops or dresses. I know I'm doing myself a disservice, but I'd rather put on a muumuu and have people at least think there might be a skinny person underneath than put on something tight and have them think, Look at that gut! 9. Laugh at yourself . Usually I come up through the floor to get to the stage. I can't stand up on the little platform or the audience will see me, so I'm squatting down with my rear end pressed up against the back of it. I just laugh because the audience thinks this is so glamorous--and here I am under the stage with these ropes and equipment, my butt pressed against plastic! E-mail to a friend . Get a FREE TRIAL issue of InStyle - CLICK HERE! Copyright © 2009 Time Inc. All rights reserved."
"The gunman who held hostages for more than 16 hours in a Sydney cafe was no stranger to police -- and was on bail for violent criminal offenses at the time of the siege. Man Haron Monis, an Iranian-born refugee who was granted political asylum in Australia in 2001, had ""a long history of violent crime, infatuation with extremism and mental instability,"" Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott told reporters. ""It's pretty obvious that the perpetrator was a deeply disturbed individual,"" he said at a press conference Tuesday, adding that the 50-year-old was ""well known"" to federal and state police, as well as the Australian Security Intelligence Organization. ""But I don't believe he was on a terror watch list at this time."" New South Wales Premier Mike Baird said authorities were investigating why Monis -- who was killed in the siege -- was at large, given his criminal background. ""We're all outraged that this guy was on the street,"" he told reporters. ""We need to understand why he was. We also need to understand why he wasn't picked up."" What we know, what we don't know . Accessory to murder, sex charges . The self-styled Muslim cleric, also known as Sheikh Haron, was facing dozens of charges at the time of the siege, including two counts of being an accessory to the murder of his ex-wife, according to the Attorney General of New South Wales. Noleen Hayson Pal was found dead with multiple stab wounds in a stairwell, and her body had been set on fire, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. ""They should have put him away and thrown away the key,"" the dead woman's godfather, Ayyut Khalik, told NBC News. He said Monis used to beat Pal, forcing her to wear a hijab all the time and forbidding her from talking to ""outsiders."" Court documents show Monis was also facing 45 sex-related charges, including sexual intercourse without consent and aggravated indecent assault. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the initial charges, laid in May 2014, related to an alleged sexual assault on a woman in western Sydney in 2002, before other sex-related charges were added regarding six additional victims. Monis was using the name Mohammad Hassan Manteghi -- his birth name, according to Iran's state news agency IRNA -- and claimed to be a ""healer,"" according to the report. Monis also pleaded guilty last year to writing offensive ""poison pen"" letters to the families of Australian soldiers who died in Afghanistan, and was sentenced to 300 hours of community service. The letters were ""sadistic, wantonly cruel and deeply wounding,"" one High Court judge said at the time, according to CNN affiliate Seven News. But the criminal accusations against him began even before he came to Australia. Monis fled his homeland in 1995 while being sought for allegedly committing fraud, Iran's semi-official Fars News reported. A spokesperson at Iran's embassy in Canberra told CNN that Tehran had officially requested Monis's extradition but nothing had come of it. Monis had been granted political asylum in 2001 and had had no further contact with his birth country, the spokesperson said. Who were the victims? An extremist theology . Manny Conditsis, a lawyer who acted for Monis in relation to the accessory to murder and letter-writing charges, told CNN his former client had been a cleric in Shiite Iran, but had become critical of the Islamic Republic's government in the late 1990s, and fled to Australia ""because he was going to be killed."" He had left behind a wife and two children, who he believed Monis had not seen since. Throughout the 2000s, said Conditsis, Monis ""became sympathetic to what he perceived ... was the victimization of Muslims and Islamists around the world, and partly at least took up that cause."" His broader cause, he said, was lobbying governments around the world, particularly Australia, not to wage wars on Muslim soil. ""He was so blinded by that objective that it would seem he had lost sight of objectivity and rationality and acted in extreme ways,"" he said, describing his former client as ""intensely conflicted and contradicted and inconsistent."" While older footage of Monis preaching shows him dressed in typical Shiite cleric's attire, in his social media posts, he appears to embrace a radical Sunni extremist theology. He used the Internet to spread extremist beliefs, garnering nearly 13,000 likes on his Facebook page. During the siege, Abbott said, the hostage-taker ""sought to cloak his actions with the symbolism of the (ISIS) death cult,"" Abbott said. On his website, which has now been taken down, there was a pledge of allegiance to the so-called Islamic State terror group. The site describes Monis as a Muslim cleric and activist based in Sydney who has ""continuously been under attack & false accusation by the Australian government & media since he started his political letter campaign from 2007."" There's a graphic photo of slain children at the top of the site. Under the image, it reads, ""This is an evidence for the terrorism of America and its allies including Australia. The result of their airstrikes."" A description on the site portrayed Monis as a victim of a political vendetta and compares him to Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder who has claimed the sex crime allegations he faces are politically motivated. A YouTube video posted in November shows Monis standing on a street corner, chains draped over him, carrying a sign that says, ""I have been tortured in prison for my political letters."" Police have refused to comment on that accusation. His last tweet linked to his website, with a haunting message posted the day of his attack on the Sydney cafe: ""If we stay silent towards the criminals we cannot have a peaceful society. The more you fight with crime, the more peaceful you are."" Conditsis  told Australian public broadcaster ABC that Monis was an isolated figure who was probably acting alone. Crisis in a cafe . Monday's hostage situation began around 10 a.m. Hundreds of police officers, including snipers, took position around the Lindt Chocolate Cafe in Sydney's central business district. Australian media captured haunting images of hostages pressing their hands against the cafe's windows. They were reportedly taking turns holding a black flag with Arabic writing on it that said, ""There is no God but God and Mohammed is the prophet of God."" The man holding the hostages demanded to speak to Abbott. Police were monitoring social media because hostages appeared to be posting information about the man's demands. Hours into the crisis, at least five hostages managed to escape, running terrified toward police in riot gear. That made the hostage-taker furious, reported Chris Reason, a correspondent for CNN affiliate Seven Network. Reason said he could see the gunman become ""extremely agitated"" when he realized what had happened, and he ""started screaming orders"" at the remaining hostages. Gunfire erupted early Tuesday as police stormed the cafe where the gunman had been holding hostages. Two hostages were killed during the standoff. Police later announced that the siege was over and that the lone gunman had been killed."
"(CNN) -- With the sweltering summer bidding adieu and pleasant autumn temperatures setting in, now's the time to explore New Delhi. Travelers to the Indian capital may hesitate to try the city's famed street foods, fearing the notorious ""Delhi belly."" But skip the street food scene and you miss an essential part of the Delhi experience. Here are seven street delicacies among Delhi's endless choices, including a mix of vegetarian, non-veg and dessert. Ram laddoo . Desperate for an energy boost after a tiring shopping session? A plate of ram laddoo is your fix. Ram laddoo (""laddoo"" is a name for sweet flour balls) are savory, deep-fried moong balls served with chili-coriander sauce and garnished with grated radish. Served in silver-colored, throwaway plastic bowls, one serving of six-to-seven balls is a great power snack or even lunch. Best to try it at the make-shift ram laddoo stalls, sometimes on a bicycle, that are strewn across town. If you aren't lucky enough to see one, try it at Lajpat Nagar main market. Chaat . Sitting under a tiny tin-roofed shop in and downing deep-fried potato patties floating in a blend of yogurt, spicy green and red sauces served in leaf bowls is a definitive Delhi experience that even hardcore locals can't get enough of. Chaat is a collective term used to describe savory street dishes in India, especially these three: aloo tikki (described in the gallery above), dahi bhalla (cutlets of skinless black lentil-like gram submerged in yogurt) and papri chaat (a hybrid of aloo tikki and dahi bhalla with salty, plain biscuits thrown in). Many Delhi chaat addicts flock to a narrow alley behind the Union Public Service Commission's office near Khan Market (Humayun Road, Pandara Flats, India Gate, New Delhi, India). Prabhu Chaat Bhandar's (Dholpur House, Shahjahan Road, Khan Market, New Delhi; open daily 11 a.m.-9 p.m.) range of chaat options do the trick for a satisfying dinner. Parantha . Located in a remote corner in old Delhi's Chandni Chowk area, Paranthe Wali Gali (Lane of Paranthas) is home to some of Delhi's best-known parantha joints. The chapati's stouter, fancier cousin, parantha is a pan-fried flatbread generally stuffed with vegetables, such as mashed potato, grated cauliflower and radish. It's a popular breakfast item in Delhi's Punjabi households. Paranthe Wali Gali offers innovative parantha options. As you plonk down in one of the Gali's tiny, crammed restaurants, you'll find a number of delicious offerings: Indian rabri (sweet yogurt) parantha, mirch (red pepper) parantha, and lemon parantha (prepared from lemon zest, and probably the best this street has to offer). Samosa . Samosa is chaat's close competitor for the title of ""Definitive Delhi Street food"" title. (If there was such a thing.) It is to India, perhaps, what momo dumplings are to Tibet and bagels are to certain parts of the United States. As most people know, samosas are deep-fried, triangular pastry pockets, packed with potato, peas, lentils and sometimes meat. Although they're often served as an appetizer at Indian restaurants around the world, they can be paired with chaat for a full meal. Great places to try samosas in Delhi include Rewari Sweets (Sadar Bazar, Gurgaon, India; +91 124 232 1826; open daily 8 a.m.-8:30 p.m.) and Bengali Sweet House (27-33, Bengali Market, Connaught Place, New Delhi; +91 11 2331 9224; open daily 8 a.m.-11 p.m.). Kebabs . Traveling to Delhi and not trying the kebabs? Not done. A legacy left behind by the Mughals, who invaded India in the 16th century, the grilled meats served on skewers make the best on-the-go protein meals. You can typically choose among mutton or chicken kebabs. The Chandni Chowk and Hazrat Nizamuddin areas house some of the best kebab outlets in Delhi. If you aren't up for the large crowds in these bustling locations, you can take refuge in the more accessible Qureshi's Corner in Greater Kailash II (8, Narmada Shopping Complex, Alaknanda, New Delhi; +91 11 2602 0563; open daily 7-11 p.m.). Chola bhatura . No snack this, chola bhatura is for people with huge appetites. Fluffy, plain, flour bread combined with a chickpea curry, garnished with chopped onion and served with a tangy mango pickle, chola bhatura is a Delhi meal staple. It works both as a lunch and dinner item. Baba Nagpal Corner in Lajpat Nagar is arguably the best chola bhatura area in New Delhi. But if you find yourself in Karol Bagh or Rajouri Garden, you could hop into any of the numerous chola bhatura shops. Faluda kulfi . After consuming mouth-burning delicacies it's kulfi time. Kulfi is India's local ice cream, made with milk and a smattering of dried fruits. There are 57 varieties in all. The queen of them all is faluda kulfi (faluda is a popular rose milk flavor dessert drink with vermicelli noodles). The trusted Krishna Di Kulfi in Pandara Road Market serves kulfi with the heavenly faluda, a beverage consisting of rose milk and vermicelli."
"(CNN) -- One of the most highly anticipated apps for Apple devices was made available on Wednesday. At least, until it wasn't. Google announced a Gmail app for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch that was designed to make it easier for the service's more than 190 million users to navigate their mail. ""We check email pretty much everywhere these days,"" Google content manager Matthew Izatt wrote on the Gmail blog. ""And when we do, we want easy access to our important messages so we can respond quickly and get back to life -- or slinging birds at thieving green pigs."" Users of Apple's operating system could already access Gmail through a mobile site or set it up as their default e-mail account. But the new app promised a smoother experience with a host of new features. The tech blogosphere was delighted. ""Go get the iPhone app for Gmail!"" popular blogger Robert Scoble wrote on his Google+ page. Then, a few minutes passed. ""UPDATE: DO NOT. The Gmail app is really a piece of crud,"" he wrote. ""Not worth loading. Very disappointed."" Google had obviously already noticed what Scoble did. Shortly after it was unveiled, the app was pulled from the Apple Store. ""The iOS app we launched today contained a bug with notifications,"" Google posted on its Gmail Twitter account. ""We have pulled the app to fix the problem. Sorry we messed up."" Later, a fuller explanation was added to the original blog post. ""Earlier today we launched a new Gmail app for iOS,"" Google posted. ""Unfortunately, it contained a bug which broke notifications and caused users to see an error message when first opening the app. We've removed the app while we correct the problem, and we're working to bring you a new version soon. Everyone who's already installed the app can continue to use it."" The app ... at least the fully working version of it ... will send push notifications and sound cues when new messages are received, search your inbox for an e-mail, autocomplete e-mail addresses and upload photos to messages. It will also feature the same Priority Inbox that Gmail's Web version has and add a new mobile interface that will allow users to navigate their inbox more quickly with touch controls. There was no word from Google Wednesday afternoon as to when the fixed app might be back up."
"Washington (CNN) -- A hearing continues Thursday to determine the future of John Hinckley Jr., who shot President Ronald Reagan and three others in March 1981. After an expected week and half of testimony, a federal judge will consider whether Hinckley should eventually be released from a mental hospital, where he has been a patient since his 1982 trial. The trial ended in a jury verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity. On Wednesday, Hinckley's lawyers said he is not dangerous and should eventually be released. But prosecutors are fighting that, saying Hinckley has been deceptive about his activities while on visits to his mother in Williamsburg, Virginia. In opening statements, prosecutor Sarah Chasson said Secret Service agents will testify they performed surveillance on Hinckley without his knowledge earlier this year when he was allowed what he was told was unsupervised free time in Williamsburg. On several occasions in July and September, Hinckley was supposed to go to the movies or shopping but instead went to bookstores where he looked at books about Ronald Reagan and presidential assassins, Chasson said. A requirement of Hinckley's current visitation program is that plans be laid out detailing what he will do when on his own and that medical staff and the Secret Service are informed. According to Chasson, in the first instance in July, Hinckley was supposed to go to the movie ""Captain America."" Later when he saw his ""treatment team,"" Hinckley not only maintained he had gone to the movie, but he enthusiastically recommended it. Chasson also quoted from a 1987 diary entry by Hinckley in which he said ""psychiatry is a guessing game"" and doctors ""will never know the true John Hinckley."" ""The hospital doesn't know what Mr. Hinckley is thinking, and he wants it that way,"" the prosecutor said. Hinckley's attorney, Barry Levine, said the issue is not whether Hinckley has sometimes been deceptive but whether he is dangerous. ""This man is not dangerous and the evidence shows he is not dangerous,"" Levine said. He added that Hinckley is ""flawed"" but is ""fundamentally decent."" Levine said that in the two and a half decades that Hinckley has been at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington to undergo treatment and during his visits outside that facility, there has ""not been a single act of violence."" Since 1999, Levine said, Hinckley has been taking a drug called Risperdal. Medical websites describe Risperdal as an antipsychotic medication often used to treat bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Dr. Tyler Jones, director of psychiatry at St. Elizabeths, testified Hinckley also started taking Zoloft in 2005 after complaining about anxiety. Jones said Hinckley had been diagnosed years ago as suffering from depression and from an unspecified psychotic disorder. But Jones said he's been in remission for both of those disorders for many years. He said Hinckley also suffers from narcissism, which has improved but is still present. Jones said he has interviewed Hinckley but has not treated him. According to Jones, Hinckley's treatment team was informed by the Secret Service that Hinckley had not told the truth about his activities during several visits. Jones said the medical staff discussed this issue with Hinckley, who initially did not appear to view the issue as a big deal, but later understood it was a serious issue. Although concerned Hinckley was not truthful about his activities, Jones said, ""We didn't feel this constituted an increased risk."" The staff decided to reduce Hinckley's Christmas visit to his mother from 10 days to five days, and he will not be allowed to have any unaccompanied activities during that December stay. Jones said the staff had considered stronger action including the possibility of revoking Hinckley's privileges altogether. A September filing by prosecutors said Hinckley ""continues to be deceptive regarding his relationships with and interest in women."" According to the document, in June of 2009 he went on the Internet to find photos of his female dentist. ""When he was caught, Hinckley claimed, falsely, that the dentist had invited him to view her personal photographs."" Asked about the photographs of the dentist, Jones said the photographs were of the woman graduating from dental school and were ""not salacious."" He said the hospital considers Hinckley ""a low risk of violence to himself and others."" Currently, Hinckley is allowed to visit his mother 10 days a month. On July 29, St. Elizabeths Hospital filed a proposal to increase that. The first step would allow Hinckley to have two visits of 17 days. That would be followed by six visits of 24 days. According to the September government filing opposing the plan, the hospital would then ""be given the sole discretion to place Hinckley on convalescent leave in his mother's hometown."" After the judge and all the lawyers were in place, Hinckley, now 56, entered the court wearing a brown sports jacket, dark pants and a striped tie. He shook hands with all his lawyers and sat down. U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman greeted Hinckley and he replied, saying, ""Good morning."" Hinckley's defense team has listed him as a possible witness at the proceedings but has not revealed if he will definitely testify. Prosecutors want to cross-examine Hinckley and his defense lawyers oppose that. Mental health experts and Secret Service agents will testify, along with Hinckley's brother and sister. Hinckley's mother is now 85 years old and is not a scheduled witness. It's not clear how quickly the judge might issue a ruling on the hospital's plan to gradually allow Hinckley greater freedom. On March 30, 1981, Hinckley waited for President Reagan to leave a Washington Hotel after a speech. He opened fire and hit Reagan, his press secretary James Brady, Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy and Washington police officer Thomas Delahanty. All survived, but Brady suffered a serious head wound that permanently affected his mobility and his speech. Hinckley, who was 25 at the time of the shooting, was enamored of actress Jodie Foster. He left a letter addressed to her in his Washington hotel room saying, ""Dear Jodie. There is a definite possibility I will be killed in my attempt to get Reagan."""
"Atlanta (CNN) -- Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain told supporters Saturday that he is suspending his presidential campaign, which has become hobbled in recent weeks by allegations of sexual harassment and an Atlanta woman's claim that they carried on a 13-year affair. While he will still be able to raise and spend campaign funds because he did not officially drop out, Cain's White House bid is effectively over. Cain said he came to the decision after assessing the impact that the allegations were having on his wife, his family and his supporters. Cain and his wife, Gloria, held hands as they walked up to the podium where Cain made his remarks in Atlanta. The crowd chanted, ""Gloria! Gloria!"" before the candidate spoke. Even as he stepped aside under the weight of the allegations that have dogged him, Cain said that he was at ""peace with my God"" and ""peace with my wife."" He repeatedly called the allegations ""false and untrue,"" and added that ""the (media) spin hurts."" ""I am not going to be silenced and I will not go away,"" Cain said, announcing what he called his Plan B: A website, TheCainSolutions.com, through which he will continue to advocate for his platform. His catchy ""9-9-9"" economic plan is not going anywhere, he said. ""Your support has been unwavering and undying,"" Cain told his supporters. He will endorse another of the Republican presidential hopefuls soon, he said. Other candidates were quick to react. ""Herman Cain provided an important voice to this process,"" Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann said in a statement. ""His ideas and energy generated tremendous enthusiasm for the conservative movement at a time it was so desperately needed to restore confidence in our country."" Fellow Georgian Newt Gingrich said the ""9-9-9"" plan ""got our country talking about the critical issue of how to reform our tax code and he elevated the dialogue of the Republican presidential primary in the process."" Texas Gov. Rick Perry said he knew the Cains made a ""difficult decision. He helped invigorate conservative voters and our nation with a discussion of major tax reform."" Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman said Cain brought ""a unique and valuable voice to the debate over how to reform our country's uncompetitive tax code and turn around the economy. I understand his decision and wish him and his family the best."" Recently, Cain acknowledged that Ginger White's allegations of an affair have led to a drop in campaign contributions, and a Des Moines Register poll showed his support among likely Republican Iowa caucus-goers has fallen to 8%, down from 23% in October. The poll has a sampling error of plus or minus 4.9 points, the newspaper said. Respondents said they were most concerned that Cain does not understand important issues, but said the allegations against him contribute to their concern, the newspaper said. This week, White told the news media that she and Cain engaged in an on-and-off affair for more than 13 years. She described the affair as ""very casual."" White issued a statement, through her attorney, after Cain's announcement Saturday. ""Ginger White respects Mr. Cain's decision regarding his campaign and indeed would have respected any decision he made,"" the statement said. ""That being said, she is disappointed that he has not apologized for the public statements he has made about her and other women who have spoken out."" In a fund-raising letter Tuesday night, Cain referred to White as ""troubled."" Two women -- Sharon Bialek and Karen Kraushaar -- previously accused Cain of sexually harassing them in the 1990s while he was head of the National Restaurant Association. Two other women also have said Cain sexually harassed them while they worked at the association, but they have declined to be identified. Cain told the Union Leader in New Hampshire that he repeatedly gave White money to help her with ""month-to-month bills and expenses."" But he denied the relationship was sexual, as White contends. He said the two were friends. ""I send checks to a lot of people; I help a lot of people,"" Cain told Fox News on Thursday. ""That in itself is not proof. So the other allegation in terms of it being a 13-year physical relationship, that is her words against my word."" In the interview, Cain said his wife, knew nothing about White nor his financial support for her until the mother of two came forward last week. ""My wife now knows,"" he told the newspaper. ""My wife and I have talked about it, and I have explained it to her. My wife understands that I'm a soft-hearted, giving person."" Cain's announcement came a month before the Iowa caucuses, the first formal test of the primary season, scheduled for January 3. New Hampshire Republican officials who supported Cain began to survey their options Saturday, with several state representatives saying their support could go to Gingrich or Ron Paul. Cain's most prominent supporter in the state, former GOP state party chair Jack Kimball, said he would wait to learn who Cain would endorse before making his own decision. Cain told staffers earlier this week he was reassessing his campaign in the wake of White's allegation of an affair, and he acknowledged to reporters Wednesday that her account had led to a drop in contributions to his campaign. He said in the Thursday Union Leader interview that his wife's feelings, as well as the reaction from supporters and donors, would be important factors in deciding whether he will stay the race. Cain told the newspaper he would drop out of the race if his wife asked him to, but quickly added that she wouldn't. Though Gloria Cain rarely makes public appearances or statements, she told Fox News last month that she believed the sexual harassment allegations were ""unfounded."" CNN's Rachel Streitfeld contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Four years ago, Brandon Stanton became New York City's unofficial photo-chronicler. With his blog, Humans of New York -- which has over eight million followers on social media -- he has captured the heart and soul of the city's multi-national inhabitants. His trademark -- the micro narratives that accompany each image -- has been imitated in the far reaches of the globe, from Sydney to Khartoum. Last month, he turned his lens, and poignant interview style, to the world at large. In partnership with the United Nations, he is touring roughly a dozen countries in a bid to raise awareness for the peacekeeping organization's Millennium Development Goals. His first stop: Iraq and Jordan. 'My eyes were opened' Though his trip was ""months in the works,"" Stanton didn't anticipate that his arrival in Erbil, Iraq would coincide with that of ISIS. The first people he questioned were Yazidi refugees who had only freshly fled their homes, their families, their lives as a whole. ""My idea of what constitutes personal tragedy has been expanded a lot just listening to what these people are going through,"" admits Stanton. For the Yazidis he approached -- from the student who had to abandon his long sought after Master's degree to flee bombs to the mother whose children can't stop crying for home -- Stanton found himself falter at the prospect of pursuing his traditional line of questioning. ""When you've just abandoned your house, and your family is surrounded by a hostile army, and you don't know if they're going to survive, it's just inappropriate to ask what your happiest memory with your mother is,"" he says. ""I felt I couldn't ask them beyond their present circumstances, because their lives were absolutely consumed by those circumstances."" 'Pack a bag and get ready to run' The day Stanton landed in Iraq, ISIS captured the Mosul Dam. The day he left, the United States started air strikes. His time there, he admits, was often terrifying. ""When I was in Dohuk, there was a moment I got a call in the middle of the night from UNICEF telling to pack a bag and get ready to run, because ISIS was shelling the town and had broken through the lines,"" he recalls. ""It was an abundance of caution it turned out, but it was a sleepless night."" It was one of many moments, he admits, when he appreciated what it means to feel secure. ""I went to this place where all people wanted was a bit of security: to send their kids to school, to start a business, to get married and live a normal life. And I realized that in the absence of physical security, no other layers of life can really be experienced,"" he says. ""That constant uncertainty seeps into your psyche in a way that you can't really pinpoint until you go back to a place that is secure."" For Stanton, that place was Jordan. ""I really noticed when I landed in Jordan, where the infrastructures was in place and there was no imminent threat, that there was a load lifted from my psyche,"" he says. The stories he heard were different as well. The tenor, though often still heart-breaking (he visited Zaatari Refugee Camp that houses around 80,000 Syrians), demonstrated a lighter side of the human character. In the absence of immediate danger, there was hope. ""The other thing this trip has made me realize is the depth of ambition, particularly in underdeveloped countries,"" he says. ""Everybody I talked to had such big dreams, and often such limited opportunities with which to achieve those dreams."""
"(CNN) -- A new CNN poll confirms that we're witnessing a quiet reversal in the character of our two major parties. Traditionally, Republicans have always coalesced around the conventional wisdom front-runner for president. Conservatives respect structure, order and party brand names. Not for nothing was the name Nixon, Bush or Dole on the GOP presidential ticket from 1952 to 2004. In contrast, Democrats have favored the presidential candidate with the hot hand, rising from obscurity to the White House -- think Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. But a fresh-out-of-the-oven CNN presidential poll shows a fractured GOP field of newcomers with no clear front-runner while the Democrats have given an unprecedented lead to a brand name of their own: Hillary Clinton. Opinion: GOP strategy on shutdown courts doom . Yes, it is pathetically early to be projecting on the 2016 presidential campaign. Predictive capacity hovers somewhere near zero, and time fixated on polls would be productively used thinking about the 2014 midterms or the fights over the debt ceiling looming over our divided, dysfunctional Congress. But as a snapshot of the underlying dynamics driving the two parties, this new poll is worth a look. On the GOP side of the aisle, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie narrowly leads the fractured field at 17%, one point above Rep. Paul Ryan, best known as Mitt Romney's vice presidential running mate. In the old days, the previous vice presidential nominee would be the future favorite. But that doesn't seem to be the case for Ryan, who emerged from the 2012 presidential race arguably damaged by his association with the Romney campaign. Traditionally, the governor of blue state New Jersey wouldn't be on the GOP radar at all, but Christie -- cruising to a landslide re-election -- seems to be the exception to this and other rules. Next on the list is Rand Paul, the scion of an outsider libertarian movement sparked by his dad's multiple runs for president. But the compelling and controversial one-time eye doctor is a first-term senator from Kentucky, far from your typical presidential timber. Perhaps most interesting is the second tier of GOP candidates. Jeb Bush seems settled in at 10%, despite brand name and legendary brand loyalty. Two Hispanic senate Republicans, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, come in next at 9% and 7% respectively. And then, at the bottom of the barrel, come two 2012 aspirants: Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum. Far from being strengthened by their 2012 campaigns, these two candidates seem weakened by the experience. Rick Perry's ""oops"" heard round the world still resonates while Santorum's strident social conservatism doesn't seem to be taken seriously by 95% of the party faithful. Strange days. Obama pressures conservative Republicans over possible shutdown . The real news is on the Democratic side. Hillary Clinton has accumulated a towering 55 percentage point lead over her next closest competitor, Vice President Joe Biden, who is at 10% and doesn't exactly lack name recognition. Below Biden are first-term Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren at 7%, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo at 6% and Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley -- perhaps the most openly ambitious of the bunch -- at 2%. Clinton's dominance illustrates an interesting dynamic. Six years ago, she was a far more polarizing figure among Democrats (and independents). Today, after her service as secretary of state, she seems more qualified and less polarizing, transcending her association with the culture of wars concurrent with Bubba's two terms in office. Tough and experienced, Clinton is now positioned as a candidate who rivals Obama's 2007 surge. She will also be positioned as the candidate of the 51%, compelling to women of all ages and even possibly competitive among Republican women in this incarnation. Uncle Joe Biden is well liked by the rank and file, but there doesn't seem to be much of a stampede to put him on the top of the ticket. Warren's strength comes from fascination with the new and represents the growing strength of the liberal base in the party. And while successful governors like Cuomo and O'Malley have earned the right to be taken seriously as presidential candidates, the party faithful don't seem to be much interested in buying what they are selling at the moment. If Clinton does not run for some reason, Democrats will quickly wake up to the awkward fact that they have almost no depth of the bench after two Obama terms. So there you have it: Democrats are behaving like Republicans, falling in line behind the big brand name dominating a race that is still three years away. And Republicans are behaving like Democrats, putting forward a fractured field with no clear front-runners but elevating a New Jersey governor, a Wisconsin congressman and a Kentucky senator to the front of the pack. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of John Avlon."
"(Tribune Media Services) -- When Eileen Mather lands in Mexico City on her way to Tapachula, Mexico, she learns her airline ticket isn't valid. Her airline forces her to buy a new one. Mather asks her online agency, Cheapoair.com, for a refund, but more than six months later, she's still out $879. Is she also out of options? Q: I need your help getting my money back for a plane ticket I had to pay for twice. Here's my story: I bought tickets online through Cheapoair.com from Philadelphia to Tapachula, Mexico. When we arrived in Mexico City, Aviacsa Airlines representatives told us that Cheapoair hadn't paid for the last leg of our trip. So I had to buy new tickets. Two members of our group also had to pay again. After I returned home, I faxed all of my documents to a supervisor at Cheapoair. That was six months ago. I've called her repeatedly and left messages, but no one has contacted me, and I'm out $879. Is there anything you can do? -- Eileen Mather, Glenside, Pennsylvania . A: You shouldn't have to pay twice for your airline tickets. But you also shouldn't be too quick to blame Cheapoair for the mix-up. A lot can go wrong when you're dealing with a flight schedule that involves multiple carriers. Reservations can be lost, paper tickets and boarding passes can be misread. And, of course, there's the language issue. When you're traveling internationally, something can easily get lost in the translation. Cheapoair may -- or may not -- have been responsible for your non-working tickets. But as your online travel agent, it was responsible for helping you fix it. That's why you buy from an intermediary and pay a booking fee: so there's someone to turn to when something goes wrong. The online agency shouldn't have kept you in a holding pattern for more than six months. Cheapoair's ""Golden Guarantee"" promises ""to provide all our customers with 24/7 toll-free number support because we understand the importance of critical last-minute client/traveler needs and requirements for changes to trips."" I guess offering a toll-free number around the clock doesn't necessarily mean your questions will be answered quickly, but you can't blame me if I'm left with that impression. You could have avoided a lengthy dance with Cheapoair by taking this up with Aviacsa either when you were flying to Tapachula or returning home. If you had arrived at the airport a half-hour earlier, you might have been able to speak with a supervisor and straightened this out. Once you were home, and were running into a brick wall with Cheapoair's supervisor, I would have tried knocking on the front door again. Normally, starting a new query through an online form means your complaint will get reviewed again and may be assigned a new case number. A phone call doesn't work the same way. After you hang up, your case is basically closed. I contacted Cheapoair on your behalf. It apologized for the delay and said it contacted Aviasca, but couldn't determine why your ticket wasn't accepted. An airline representative told Cheapoair it would have to speak to the agent who was working at the ticket counter when you checked in, which was impossible. Cheapoair refunded the $879 you spent on your second ticket. Christopher Elliott is the ombudsman for National Geographic Traveler magazine. E-mail him at celliott@ngs.org. Copyright 2009 CHRISTOPHER ELLIOTT, DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC."
"(CNN) -- Even during the harshest periods of the communist era, being Shanghainese had a special cachet in China. The city and its residents were a synonym for Western fashion and open-minded attitudes, as different as could be from their Mao-pin wearing comrades. Its personality remains just as strong today. Shanghai is an unusual place. It's Chinese, but not entirely; its hybrid of Eastern and Western business and social traditions is found nowhere else in mainland China. Here are the things that make China's booming commercial hub a unique place in the world's most populous country. The Bund . A number of pockets in China have impressive Western buildings -- the German Quarter in Qingdao, Russian buildings in Harbin -- but none provide the surreal feeling of ""elsewhereness"" like the Bund. The Bund refers to Shanghai's waterfront on the west bank of Huangpu River. Two dozen colossal Western structures, ranging in style from art deco to Victorian Gothic, stand side by side, forming a massive marble curtain. View it from afar and you'd think you were sailing into Liverpool. The 1,500-meter-long strip is a legacy passed down by one of the city's former rulers, Great Britain. It was largely built in the late-19th and early-20th centuries to establish Shanghai as the British Empire's trading hub of the Far East. The most magnificent building is today's number 10-12, the former HSBC building. When completed in 1923, the seven-story neoclassical landmark was dubbed ""the most luxurious building from the Suez Canal to the Bering Strait."" The building's original ceiling mural managed to survive the Cultural Revolution; the octagonal mosaic painting is one of the best-kept secrets in Shanghai. It's now in the lobby of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, the building's current occupier. With the financial center's move to the east bank of Huangpu River, the old Bund has become a new home for world-class hotels, restaurants and retailers. Skyscrapers . According to Emporis, a global real estate data provider based in Germany, Shanghai ranks sixth among world cities with the most skyscrapers. There are 241 skyscrapers in Shanghai, eight fewer than Dubai, 14 more than in Seoul and 103 more than the second mainland city on the list, Guangzhou. Although towering blocks mushroom throughout the metropolis, the skyscraper center point is the Lujiazui Financial District. On the opposite side of the traditional Bund, Lujiazui appears so futuristic that it's become a Hollywood favorite as a setting for films, most recently featured in ""Her"" with Joaquin Phoenix. Lujiazui is home to the most recognized high-rises in China, including the 468-meter Oriental Pearl TV Tower, the 421-meter Jinmao Tower and the 492-meter Shanghai World Financial Center. Since 1994, each of them has had a turn as the tallest structure in China. Next in line is the 632-meter Shanghai Tower. Scheduled to open in 2015, the 121-story building is set to host what it claims will be world's tallest luxury hotel, J hotel. The 258-room hotel -- a joint venture between Shanghai Jinjiang Hotel Group and Interstate Hotels and Resorts -- will occupy the 84th through 110th floors of the Shanghai Tower. International events and entertainment . When international events set up in China, Shanghai is as often as not the default host city. Large-scale events in Beijing tend to carry political messages, while those in Shanghai focus more on fun and glamor. The Chinese Formula One Grand Prix is one of the biggest annual events in Shanghai. It's the only Formula One stop in mainland China. The Shanghai Masters (October 4-12) tennis championship is attended by the highest-ranking players of the year. The week-long event is part of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000. Shanghai is also building a Disneyland. Set to open toward the end of 2015, Shanghai Disneyland will be the first Disney theme park in mainland China (Hong Kong Disneyland opened in 2005) and the sixth in the world. The $5.5-billion investment will further promote Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck in the realm of the Monkey King. International food . High-quality international restaurants are springing up in Shanghai so quickly that it's hard to keep track of them all. New kitchens often set up on the Bund, around Xintiandi and in the former French Concession, as rivals to the established fine-dining scene in Beijing. But look beyond the glitzy restaurant menus and into the homes of private residents, and you'll see a tradition of international cuisine found nowhere else in China. The city's British rulers and Russian refugees may be long gone, but their food has remained. Worcestershire sauce, that classic condiment from the United Kingdom, has a brother some 9,000 kilometers from home. Known locally as ""spicy soy sauce,"" Shanghainese Worcestershire sauce was first produced in 1930 to cater to the large expat market. Nowadays, the yellow-labeled bottle is ubiquitous in supermarkets. Shanghainese usually use it to accompany deep-fried pork chops. When Russians fleeing the October Revolution of 1917 came to Shanghai, they brought their borscht. The hearty beef and vegetable soup has evolved into Shanghai's favorite comfort food. Local mothers usually cook it to treat friends and families. Pidgin English . Colonial history has trickled down to Shanghai's local lingo. Shanghai dialect is filed with localized English words and pidgin English cultural identifiers unique to Shanghainese. A spring lock is called ""si ba lin."" Cement is ""si men ting."" In Shanghainese, ""on sale"" can refer to a ""cheap"" person. Shanghai dialect is incomprehensible to a typical Mandarin speaker, whose language is largely based on pronunciation and vocabulary from northern China. Shikumen . Shikumen is Shanghai's indigenous alleyway housing. Series of stone buildings were built in the 1870s as a way to accommodate the city's rapidly growing immigrant families. When the Communist Party took over in 1949, shikumen architecture was at its height -- there were around 200,000 shikumen buildings throughout central Shanghai, each divided into tenements to house five or even ten families. As modern high-rises in Shanghai have grabbed international attention, however, these local architectural treasures have been ignored or even shoved aside. Since the 1990s, shikumen buildings have been getting pulled down more quickly than the skyscrapers rise. But you can still find them in a few corners. In Xintiandi, high-end restaurants, pubs and clubs have taken over the revamped old buildings. Tianzifang is a more Bohemian area. In its labyrinth of alleyways, indie designers hang up cocktail dresses next to self-employed vendors selling replica communist souvenirs in the courtyard. For more authentic shikumen neighborhoods, CitÃ© Bourgogne on Shaanxi Nan Lu, and Jing'an Villa on Nanjing Xi Lu, are throwbacks to a uniquely Shanghai experience that's rapidly disappearing. Now based in London, Tracy You is a native and longtime resident of Shanghai and a former CNN travel producer."
"HARARE, Zimbabwe (CNN) -- Zimbabwean lawmakers on Monday narrowly voted for Lovemore Moyo as speaker of the parliament -- making him the first opposition lawmaker to hold the position in the country's history. Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC faction has a slim majority following parliamentary elections. ""This is historic as it ceases to be a rubber-stamping house,"" Moyo said after winning the position. ""It will ensure that progressive laws are passed. I promise to be professional."" Moyo -- the national chairman of the main Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party -- received 110 votes while his only opponent, Paul Themba-Nyathi, received 98 votes. The speaker of the parliament is the fourth most powerful post in Zimbabwe. Themba-Nyathi represented the splinter MDC faction led by Arthur Mutambara, but he had support of President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party. The vote took place hours after Mugabe swore in lawmakers, five months after they were elected. Two members of the main MDC -- led by presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai -- were arrested as they arrived at the opening session, but they were released after a short time, according to a government spokesman. An MDC official said the arrests were part of the ""sinister agenda of this regime"" to ""tilt the balance of numbers in their favour during the voting for the speaker of parliament."" One of those detained -- Shuwa Mudiwa -- appeared back in parliament, but the other member -- Elia Jembere -- was not seen, according to sources. Government spokesman Bright Matonga said Jembere had been accused of rape, but that he has been released from custody. A third member -- Elton Mangoma -- escaped an arrest attempt when other party members came to his rescue, MDC officials said. Attendance at the session of parliament is important since the membership is closely divided between the MDC and the Mugabe's ZANU-PF. The ruling ZANU-PF party lost its majority in the 210-seat parliament in elections in March, but vote recounts and political violence have delayed the body from convening until now. Final results gave 100 seats to an MDC faction led by Morgan Tsvangirai, the party's presidential candidate. President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF got 99 seats. An offshoot of the main MDC party, led by Arthur Mutambara, won 10 seats. An independent candidate won one seat. Tsvangirai, who was locked in a bitter presidential contest with Mugabe, had objected to Mugabe's decision to convene parliament, saying it could ""decapitate"" power-sharing talks that have been on hold for the past two weeks. Still, Tsvangirai said he would attend the swearing-in ceremony. MDC party spokesman Nelson Chamisa said all MDC members elected to parliament were expected to attend ""except those few MPs who are still in hiding."" CNN's Nkepile Mabuse in Johannesburg, South Africa contributed to this report."
"During 15 years of talking to high school students about sex and bullying, Laurie Halse Anderson has continued to get the same questions from boys: Why was the main character in her book, ""Speak,"" so upset about what happened to her? Didn't she want the attention of one of the popular boys? And why was the impact so traumatic? Anderson, who published the award-winning novel in 1999, believes the questions come from an honest place. They're teen boys, after all, growing up in a society where media and pop culture tell them women are created for sexual gratification. They're not used to reading novels that feature characters like Melinda Sordino, a teen who is raped by a classmate at a house party. As her classmates and neighbors go to great lengths to protect her attacker, Melinda plunges into near-silence, refusing to say what happened while still feeling ostracized by her classmates. Fifteen years after its publication, society has shed some of the stigma associated with sexual violence, but the conflict at the heart of ""Speak"" still shows up in headlines, from Steubenville, Ohio, to Maryville, Missouri. And yet, many parents still struggle to find the words or the courage to talk to teens about sex and intimacy, Anderson said. As a mother who raised four girls, Anderson knows that parents today are navigating uncharted territory when it comes to adolescent sexuality, and they're doing it earlier than parents in other generations. Talking to teens about sexuality, intimacy and consent is urgent, she said. ""We've fallen down on our responsibility to our children by somehow creating this world where they're surrounded by images of sexuality; and yet, we as adults struggle to talk to kids honestly about sex, the rules of dignity and consent,"" she said. ""So many teens out there are operating in a vacuum, they're operating in adult situations without any adult support or advice."" For the 15th anniversary of ""Speak,"" Anderson is lending her support  to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, a resource for survivors of sexual violence. Macmillan, the publisher of ""Speak,"" is matching donations to the organization in April, which is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Anderson said she wrote ""Speak"" based on her own experience of being raped as a teen. She struggled for years to find the words or the courage to express what she'd gone through. Much has changed since then, she said, and ""Speak"" has become required reading in some schools across the country. Scores of students still describe the same struggles to Anderson, and she often directs them to the RAINN hot line, she said. Over the years, more resources have emerged for survivors of sexual violence, especially online. Today, if you're a victim of any crime, including sexual violence, you can go online and ""find someone who's walked in your shoes who can help you make sense of what happened,"" she said. ""I do see reduction of shame, which is very good. We still have a long way to go yet.That's the reason many victims don't come forward. That feeling is understandable, but it's why we still need to do more to reduce the stigma around rape,"" she said. While the Internet brings people together and creates supportive communities, it has also become the source of damaging images and intense bullying, she said. ""We as a culture are still figuring out how to teach our children the awesome parts of the Internet and cell phones and new media, but we also have to figure out how to keep them safe,"" she said. Although many students first encountered ""Speak"" in high schools, it's now being taught in middle schools, Anderson said. She thinks it's an acknowledgment that sex education needs to start earlier if we want to help teens feel comfortable talking openly about sex and what feels right and wrong. She believes parents can be more involved, too; just take a deep breath and commit to talking about sex and what constitutes consent, she said. ""Because boys and girls can be victims of rape, we need to try to teach them to make decisions about life that keep them safe, sober and with people they can trust, and make sure people who might be inclined to rape -- who think they can get away with it -- know they can't get away from it. ""It used to be that we teach girls not to be raped, but we need to start teaching boys not to be rapists, and that's a really hard thing for parents of boys to process,"" she said. ""No one wants to think of their sons as rapists. ""We are a culture who is right now in 2014 finally having the conversation that it actually doesn't matter what a woman is wearing, you're not supposed to rape her. I think we're all trying to find the right language surrounding sexual assault. I'm optimistic  that we're heading in a better direction as a culture."" The term ""young adult lit"" was hardly in use when Anderson wrote ""Speak."" She didn't set out to be a public touchstone in the genre, she said. A teacher who uses ""Speak"" in her classroom told Anderson that she calls it ""resilience literature,"" a term Anderson said she is proud of. ""Speak"" is about teen rape, the pressures of high school and the insularity of small-town life, but most importantly, it's about overcoming stigma, Anderson said. ""That can be the most painstaking aspect of being a teen, figuring out what the world really looks like,"" she said. ""If you find someone in a book, you know you're not alone and that's what's so comforting about books."""
"LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Former detainees of Immigration and Customs Enforcement accuse the agency in a lawsuit of forcibly injecting them with psychotropic drugs while trying to shuttle them out of the country during their deportation. Raymond Soeoth, pictured here with his wife, says he was injected with drugs by ICE agents against his will. One of the drugs in question is the potent anti-psychotic drug Haldol, which is often used to treat schizophrenia or other mental illnesses. Doctors say they are required to see patients in person before such drugs are administered. Two immigrants, Raymond Soeoth of Indonesia and Amadou Diouf of Senegal in West Africa, told CNN they were injected with the drugs against their will. Both are plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union against the government. They are seeking an end to the alleged practice and unspecified damages.  Watch why the former detainees claim abuse » . Dr. Paul Appelbaum, a professor of psychiatry, law and ethics at Columbia University, reviewed both men's medical records for this report and was stunned by what he discovered. ""I'm really shocked to find out that the government has been using physicians and using potent medications in this way,"" said Appelbaum, who also serves as a member of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. ""That is the sort of thing that would be subject to a malpractice claim in the civilian world."" The allegations of ICE forcibly drugging deportees were raised last month by Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Connecticut, during the re-nomination hearing of ICE chief Julie Myers. ""The information the committee has received from ICE regarding the forced drugging of immigration detainees is extremely troubling, particularly since it appears ICE may have violated its own detention standards,"" Lieberman spokeswoman Leslie Phillips told CNN in an e-mail. ""Senator Lieberman intends to follow up with ICE to ensure that detainees are not drugged unless there is a medical reason to do so."" ACLU attorney Ahilan Arulanantham, who is representing Soeoth and Diouf, said, ""It would be torture to give a powerful anti-psychotic drug to somebody who isn't even mentally ill. ... But here, it's happening on U.S. soil to an immigrant the government is trying to deport."" Responding to Lieberman's written questions, Myers said 1,073 immigration detainees had ""medical escorts"" for deportation since 2003. From October last year to the end of April this year, she said 56 received psychotropic medications during the removal process. Of those, 33 detainees received medication ""because of combative behavior with the imminent risk of danger to others and/or self,"" she said. ""First, I am aware of, and deeply concerned about reports that past practices may not have conformed to ICE detention standards,"" Myers said. She added no detainee should be ""involuntarily medicated without court order,"" except in emergency situations. But both Soeoth and Diouf say they had not exhibited any combative behavior. Soeoth, a Christian minister from Indonesia, spent 27 months in detention awaiting deportation after his bid for political asylum was rejected. Hours before he was to be sent back home on December 7, 2004, he says guards injected him with a mystery drug that made him groggy for two days. See the document that shows Soeoth was injected . ""They pushed me on the bench, they opened my pants, and they just give me injection,"" he said through broken English. He says he was taken to Los Angeles International Airport while in this drug-induced stupor, but two hours before takeoff, airline security refused to transport him, so ICE agents returned him to his cell at Terminal Island near Los Angeles. Terminal Island, once a federal prison, is a crowded facility along the ocean where hundreds of illegal immigrants await deportation. Soeoth's medical records indicate he was injected with Cogentin and Haldol, even though those same records show he has no history of mental illness. In the records, the government says he was injected with the drug after he said he would kill himself if deported -- a remark Soeoth denies ever making. ICE said in a written statement it couldn't respond to specific allegations due to pending litigation. ""Department of Homeland Security law enforcement personnel may not and do not prescribe or administer medication to detainees,"" the ICE statement said. ""Only trained and qualified medical professionals, including officers of the U.S. Public Health Service, may prescribe or administer medication."" But, Diouf says, he was injected on the plane right before he was to be deported. He said he even had a federal stay of his deportation -- and the paperwork to prove it -- but his U.S. government escorts wouldn't let him show it to the pilot of the plane preparing to fly him out of the country. See Diouf's stay of deportation document . That's when, he says, ""I was wrestled to the ground and injected through my clothes."" A government report says he was medicated because he did not follow orders. In both cases, Diouf and Soeoth remain in the United States pending a decision in the case. If they lose, they may land back in the hands of ICE, once again facing deportation. Soeoth says he's traumatized by what happened. ""I know this country [is] very generous to immigrants,"" he says. ""What they did to me was very, very bad."" E-mail to a friend . CNN's Wayne Drash, Traci Tamura and Gregg Cane contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- A memorial cruise is scheduled to set sail 100 years after the sinking of the Titanic, following the same trans-Atlantic route as the ill-fated ship, according to organizers. A list of first class passengers for the R.M.S. Titanic is one of the artifacts that remains after the sinking. The Titanic Memorial Cruise is to set sail in April 2012, departing from Southampton, England, on April 8, just as the Titanic did. On April 15, the ship -- the Balmoral -- will arrive at the spot in the North Atlantic where the Titanic sank after it collided with an iceberg. Passengers on the 2012 cruise will take part in a memorial service at the site, according to organizer Miles Morgan Travel. Artifacts from the Titanic and a piece of the ship's hull have been recovered, but most of the wreckage remains where the luxury cruise liner sank. The 12-night memorial cruise will then take passengers to Halifax in Nova Scotia, Canada, so they can visit cemeteries where some of the Titanic victims are buried. The trip will end in New York, where the Titanic was headed. Prices for the trip start at $3,900. Millvina Dean, thought to be the last survivor of the Titanic, died in June 2009 at age 97, according to friends. Dean was an infant when the Titanic -- publicized as ""practically unsinkable"" and as the largest passenger steamship at the time -- struck an iceberg on the night of April 14, 1912, during its maiden voyage from Southampton in southern England to New York. The ship sank less than three hours later, killing more than 1,500 people. Dean's brother and mother also survived the sinking."
"""Big Bang Theory"" fans can breathe a sigh of relief. According to Deadline, the stars of the hit CBS series have agreed to hefty pay increases for the new season. Quoting unnamed sources, the publication reports that Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco have secured three-year deals for ""$1 million per episode for the 72 episodes the show is slated to produce in Seasons 8-10."" According to reports, the trio will also have an increased stake in the show's backend profits. It's been said that the trio previously received more than $300,000 per episode. The Hollywood Reporter confirmed the deal in its story and said co-stars Kunal Nayyar  and Simon Helberg were still in negotiations, but expected to sign a deal soon. Warner Bros. Television told CNN that ""we aren't commenting on the speculation at this time."" Earlier, the company confirmed that ""ongoing contract negotiations"" had caused production on ""The Big Bang Theory's"" eighth season to be postponed. Production had been scheduled to begin July 30 and on  Tuesday the company released a statement saying ""Production on season 8 of 'The Big Bang Theory' will begin Wednesday, August 6, with contract negotiations now having been concluded."" Warner Bros. is owned by CNN's parent company. The new deals would put Parsons, Galecki and Cuoco in the same territory as the former cast of ""Friends,"" who also negotiated for pay raises at the height of their show's popularity. The popular series was renewed in March. Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch, who also appear on the show, are reported to have received raises in September. 'The Big Bang Theory' actors get $25,000 an hour ."
"GENEVA, Switzerland (CNN) -- The number of confirmed swine flu cases across the globe kept rising Friday, but some signs of hope emerged in the battle against the worldwide outbreak. Tourists sunbathe wearing surgical masks in the popular Mexican resort of Acapulco. The World Health Organization said Friday that the number of confirmed cases stood at 367 worldwide, including 141 in the United States and 156 in Mexico. Thirteen countries have confirmed cases, the organization said. Meanwhile, researchers worked to develop a vaccine for swine flu, which is also known as 2009 H1N1. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hopes to have a vaccine to manufacturers within a month, said Michael Shaw, lab team leader for the H1N1 response at the CDC. ""We're doing the best we can as fast as we can,"" he said. Yet it would take four to six months from the time the appropriate strain is identified before the first doses become available, said Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO director of the Initiative for Vaccine Research. ""Of course we would like to have a vaccine tomorrow. We would have wanted to have it yesterday,"" she said. ""It's a long journey."" She said there is ""no doubt"" that a vaccine can be made ""in a relatively short period of time."" The steps involved in producing a vaccine involve isolating a strain of the virus, which has already been done, and tweaking it so manufacturers can make a vaccine, Kieny said. The tweaked virus will be shipped to manufacturers, who will fine-tune it. Then come more tests before national regulatory agencies decide whether to approve a vaccine. As researchers work, at least one politician at the epicenter of the outbreak expressed optimism Friday. Authorities in Mexico are ""beginning to see evidence that the [virus] might be letting up, and the number of people who have been hospitalized has leveled out in regards to people who are contagious, at least as of yesterday,"" Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard told reporters.  Watch how Mexican authorities are dealing with the outbreak » . ""We do have a problem, but I say this so that we know where we are as a city after we have done all we have done, and in what direction we are heading and how much we have progressed. And what I can say is that we are heading in the right direction."" The WHO said Mexico has 156 confirmed cases and nine deaths. Mexican authorities say they have confirmed 16 deaths and at least 358 cases, and they suspect more than 150 deaths may have been caused by the flu.  Watch Dr. Sanjay Gupta demystify pandemics » . The CDC gave the following state-by-state breakdown of the 141 confirmed H1N1 cases in the United States: Arizona, 4; California, 13; Colorado, 2; Delaware, 4; Illinois, 3; Indiana, 3; Kansas, 2; Kentucky, 1; Massachusetts, 2; Michigan, 2; Minnesota, 1; Nebraska, 1; Nevada, 1; New Jersey, 5; New York, 50; Ohio, 1; South Carolina, 16; Texas, 28; and Virginia, 2.  See where cases have been confirmed » . One death in the United States has been attributed to swine flu -- a toddler from Mexico whose family brought him to Texas for medical treatment. In a Cabinet meeting, President Obama on Friday praised the ""extraordinary"" government response to the virus but emphasized that ""we also need to prepare for the long term."" ""Since we know that these kinds of threats can emerge at any moment, even if it turns out that the H1N1 is relatively mild on the front end, it could come back in a more virulent form during the actual flu season, and that's why we are investing in our public health infrastructure.""  Go behind the scenes at the CDC » . He said there are indications from Mexico that ""relatively young, healthy people"" have died rather than people whose immune systems are compromised, and ""that's why we're taking it seriously."" ""So I just want everybody to be clear that this is why this is a cause for concern, but not alarm. We are essentially ensuring that, in the worst-case scenario, we can manage this appropriately, government working with businesses and individuals, the private sector, and containing an outbreak, and that we can, ultimately, get through this."" In addition to the confirmed H1N1 cases in Mexico and the United States, Canada has 34; Spain has 13; United Kingdom has 8; New Zealand and Germany each have 4; Israel has 2; Austria, China, Denmark, Netherlands and Switzerland each have one, according to the WHO.   Learn about the virus » . Hong Kong health officials said a patient who is being treated there arrived from Mexico on a China Eastern Airlines flight that stopped in Shanghai. Denmark did not provide further details. An additional 230 cases are being investigated in the United Kingdom, and Spain has 84 suspected cases. Australia, which has had no confirmed cases, was investigating 114.  View images of responses in U.S. and worldwide » . The effects in Mexico reflect the fear and concern across the globe, including in the United States, where schools and parents are taking precautions in academics, graduations and sports because of the flu. For example, 22 students Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania who just returned from from a five-week trip to Mexico City will get their diplomas at a separate ceremony when they graduate Saturday. Texas school officials have postponed all interscholastic sports until at least May 11. And Alabama has stopped such competitions until at least Tuesday. The U.S. Department of Education said Friday that 433 public and nonpublic schools in 17 states had been closed because of the flu outbreak. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan noted in a news conference that the number is less than 1 percent of the nation's approximate 100,000 schools. Earlier Friday, United Flight 903 was diverted to Boston, Massachusetts, on Friday after a female passenger started complaining of ""flu-like"" symptoms on a Munich-to-Washington flight, Logan Airport spokesman Phil Orendella said. CDC officials at a news conference Friday were asked to compare the strain with the deadly 1918 virus. ""What we have found by looking very carefully at the sequences of the new H1N1 virus is that we do not see the markers for virulence that were seen in the 1918 virus,"" said Nancy Cox, chief of the CDC's Influenza Division. However, she added, ""We know there's a great deal that we do not yet understand about the virulence of the 1918 virus or other influenza viruses that have a more severe clinical picture in humans."" CNN's Karl Penhaul, Diana Magnay, Jake Perez, Saeed Ahmed, Umaro Djau and Nicole Saidi contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Wise men say to look before you leap. In Alaska, it's advisable to look before you land. That's because, in Alaska, where seaplanes are common, you just might land on a whale. Last week in tiny, remote Angoon, Thomas Hamm was shooting video of a seaplane coming in for a landing. It was a mundane scene in the island community that's only accessible by boat or seaplane. The video starts out normal. But as the plane lowers, it's clear something is different about this approach. ""All the sudden, the pilot advanced the throttle and I didn't know why. I thought, 'Oh something must be wrong,'"" Hamm told CNN. That something was a whale, a humpback, swimming just under the surface. For a moment, it appeared the whale and plane would collide. But the pilot pulled up, getting just enough lift to avoid the mammal. The plane landed safely seconds later. Later Hamm showed the pilot the video he shot. Hamm said the pilot told him he didn't notice the whale; he reacted to the commotion on the shore. Guys were pointing and yelling. Right as the pilot pulled up, the whale breached, clearing his blowhole and drenching the plane's windshield. That's one way to make a splash. Jetliner diverts to Pacific atoll, mechanical glitch blamed . Rare albino whale 'parades' off Australian coast ."
"Dallas (CNN) -- Some may disagree whether George W. Bush was a ""uniter, not a divider,"" as he liked to say, but he did get all five living presidents together for the dedication of his presidential library. At Thursday's event in Dallas, Democratic former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton praised Bush for his initiatives in Africa, and Bush defended his record. ""The political winds blow left and right, polls rise and fall, supporters come and go, but in the end, leaders are defined by the convictions they hold,"" Bush said at the ceremony for the George W. Bush Presidential Center. ""My deepest conviction, the guiding principle of the administration, is that the United States of America must strive to expand the reach of freedom."" Bush has said he is aware that the opening of his presidential library would reopen debates over the Iraq War and the policies he pursued after the September 11 terrorist attacks. History will show, he said at the dedication, that he always stuck by his convictions. ""A free society thrives when neighbors help neighbors and the strong protect the weak and public policies promote private compassion,"" Bush said. ""As president, I tried to act on these principles every day. It wasn't always easy and certainly wasn't always popular ... but when future generations come to this library to study this administration, they're going to find out that we stayed true to our convictions."" Carter told a story of how he asked, on Bush's inauguration day, for a meeting to talk about a civil war in Sudan that was entering its second decade. Bush kept his word and acted, Carter said. ""In January of 2005, there was a peace treaty between north and south Sudan that ended a war that had been going on for 20 years,"" Carter said. ""George W. Bush is responsible for that."" The last time the five living presidents were together was right before President Obama took office. It is a rare and special occurrence when the five gather, Obama said. ""This is a Texas-sized party,"" Obama said. ""When all the former living presidents are all together, it is a special day for our democracy."" The presidents on the stage definitely differed on many policy matters, but they all share one quality, Obama said: They did what they believe is right. ""That's what President George W. Bush chose to do,"" Obama said. Bush became a little emotional as he closed his speech: ""Whatever challenges come before us, I will always believe our nation's best days lie ahead."" The center's library and museum take visitors through the turning points of Bush's two terms. The first exhibits recall the 43rd president's initial priorities on education, faith-based community initiatives and tax cuts. And they show how the September 11 terrorist attacks changed everything. Bush 43: 'History will ultimately judge' At one exhibit, the bright red dress that first lady Laura Bush wore to her husband's first state dinner, just six days before 9/11, stands in contrast to the next, most talked-about artifact in the museum: the twisted hulk of two beams from the World Trade Center. In an interview with CNN's John King, the former president said he knows that the center's dedication will rekindle the debate about his presidency, and he conceded the library is in part an effort by him and supporters to influence history's verdict. But he predicted visitors would find it ""more objective"" than they might have imagined, and he showed little interest in revisiting flashpoints like Iraq, Hurricane Katrina or the 2008 financial crisis, or the scorn with which many look back at the Bush presidency. A glimpse at a White House before everything changed . ""You know, I'm really not that concerned about why people did what during my presidency,"" he said. ""I'm more concerned about being an effective person for the rest of my life. ""I know this: that Laura and I gave the presidency eight years of our life. We gave it our all. Made the best judgment calls I could. I didn't compromise my principles. And I'm a content man. And I am excited about what we're going to do here."" As the son of another former president, Bush said he wouldn't mind seeing his brother Jeb Bush run for the highest office. If he could make the decision for Jeb, he would tell him to run for president, Bush said. But in an interview Thursday on NBC's ""Today,"" former first lady Barbara Bush said that while Jeb Bush is able to do the job, she would like to see other families in the White House. ""There are other people out there that are very qualified, and we've had enough Bushes,"" she said. In addition to the library and museum, the Presidential Center includes the George W. Bush Institute, a public policy institute. By the numbers: Presidential libraries . CNN's Mariano Castillo wrote and reported this story in Atlanta. CNN's John King and Brianna Keilar contributed from Dallas."
"An 11-year-old boy's rendition of the national anthem at Game 3 of the NBA finals brought the usual appreciative applause Tuesday, but outside AT&T Center in San Antonio, his performance brought a darker reaction from some posters on social media -- and eventually an online backlash against their racist comments. See the performance by Sebastien De La Cruz . Here's a sampling of some of the unkind tweets that went flying around the Internet about Sebastien de la Cruz: . -- ""Why they got a Mexican kid singing the national anthem -___-"" from Daniel Gilmore. -- ""How you singing the national anthem looking like an illegal immigrant"" from Andre Lacey, proud father and firefighter from Augusta, Georgia. -- ""Why is a foreigner singing the national anthem. I realize that's San Antonio but that still ain't Mexico"" from Lewie Groh. -- ""Who let this illegal alien sing our national anthem?"" from Matt Cyrus. And the list went on and on. As for Sebastien, he said the racist comments have not fazed him. ""For those that said something bad about me, I understand it's your opinion,"" said Sebastien to CNN. ""I'm a proud American and live in a free country. It's not hurting me. It's just your opinion."" Sebastien has been singing since he was 5 but gained fame in 2012 after being on NBC's ""America's Got Talent"" for singing his mariachi ballads with hopes of winning to help his younger brother get surgery for his hearing problem. Juan de la Cruz, Sebastien's father, hasn't taken the negative comments personally at all. ""When he was on 'America's Got Talent,' he faced racism there, too. You can't satisfy everyone,"" said de la Cruz to CNN. ""I think people reacted the way they did because Sebastien was wearing his mariachi outfit,"" said de la Cruz, ""But, it doesn't make sense to listen to those people when most of the feedback we have gotten is positive. San Antonio supports Sebastien."" A collection of the negative tweets was posted on Public Shaming, a Tumblr blog dedicated to outing and shaming racists' social media  posts. Other media outlets used that post as the foundation for the story, and the story took off from there. The blog highlighted 28 tweets from NBA fans who came off as offended and ashamed that the Spurs would allow the boy, who happened to have been born and raised in San Antonio, to sing the nation's anthem. However, Public Shaming must have suspected what would happen once the racist tweets were posted because most of the Twitter handles have been deactivated or the tweet has been removed. The blog posted screen shots of the tweets so it could continue to display the public microbloggers' rants. After the harsh reaction spread across the Internet, tweets supporting and defending Sebastien and vociferously denouncing his critics started to take over: . -- ""That little 10 year old mariachi National Anthem singer has more talent and grace than the combined racist pig idiots on Twitter,"" from Mexican-American cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz . -- ""Racist scumbag says Chicano kid singing nat'l anthem just ""snuck into the country."" This idiot's apparently of color too. @A2daO,"" from Laura Gonzalez, a Chicana Santa Rosa City Schools board member and middle school teacher. -- ""Why are ppl so upset over a Hispanic singing the national anthem. He's probably got more roots in here than most 'Americans',"" said Amanda Aguirre on Twitter. -- And, from the American Latino Museum, ""We're proud of the 11-year old San Anto-native Sebastien de la Cruz for his amazing performance last night!"" San Antonio is a multicultural city with more than 55% of the population being Hispanic and 90% of those people identifying themselves as Mexican according to the Pew Hispanic Center. For some Mexican-Americans, the incident was just the latest sign of a persistent problem they face: being treated as outsiders in their own country. ""To see people acting this way doesn't make sense anymore. It's a demographic fact that the country is changing and Latinos are going to be behind that economic push that moves everyone forward,"" said Chon Noriega, director of the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center, to CNN. ""Cities like San Antonio are defining a trend of a nation."" That the word ""Mexican"" is being used as a derogatory term is part of the problem, said Noriega, ""It's become the N-word of Mexican descent. Yet it's also the name of a group of people in a neighboring country."" It will take a lot more than some racist tweets to bring Sebastien down. The ""boy with the golden voice"" tweeted earlier today: ""Please do not pay attention to the negative people. I am an American living the American Dream. This is part of the American life."" Sebastien said today was like any other day, but he's always grateful to wake up to yet another day able to sing. He said he owes his positive outlook to his parents, family and everyone in San Antonio. See how Sebastien is handling the reaction . Follow Cindy Y. Rodriguez on Twitter ."
"(CNN) -- Timothy Bradley says he needs to beat Manny Pacquiao for a second time in Las Vegas on Saturday to move on from the controversial conclusion of their first fight two years ago. The WBO welterweight champion won a contentious points decision when the pair met in June 2012, inflicting a first defeat on Pacquiao in seven years. Boxing commentators roundly criticized the result while former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis said the scoring showed that boxing had lost its integrity. Bradley claims he subsequently received death threats and that he was unfairly targeted by fans and the media alike for the decision of the ringside judges. ""It would mean the world to me to get this victory for me and my family because of everything we went through in the past,"" the 30-year old told CNN's Don Riddell. ""It was like I stole something from the world that night. All I did was do my job. People ridiculed me, demonized me."" Bradley insists these dark experiences made him stronger as a person and will act as the perfect motivation ahead of the MGM Grand rematch. He questioned Pacquiao's hunger at the pre-fight press conference Thursday, suggesting the legendary Filipino's best days are behind him. Pacquiao has won world titles at seven weight divisions in a career stretching 18 years but has lost two of his last three fights. ""What really motivates me for this fight is what my opponent said,"" Pacquiao countered in riposte to Bradley's claims. ""He said I don't have the killer instinct any more, I don't have the aggressiveness any more. This helps me, it helps a lot."" Although he recorded a comfortable victory over Brandon Rios last November, Pacquiao was knocked out for the first time since 1999 by Juan Manuel Marquez in his previous bout. At 35, it would be difficult for Pacquiao to resurrect his career at the very highest level if defeated by Bradley for a second time but he refuses to entertain this notion ahead of the contest. ""My mind is set in the winners side not on the losers side,"" he said. ""I always think positive and not negative."" ""This fight on Saturday will be to prove that my journey in boxing will continue and I'm excited for that."""
"China is launching its first lunar probe in early December, state-run Xinhua news agency reported Tuesday, just over a decade after the country first sent an astronaut into space. The Chang'e-3 probe -- which will blast off from a Long March 3B rocket in Sichuan province located in southwest China -- is expected to land on the moon's surface in mid-December, a spokesman for the China's State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence told Xinhua. The unmanned mission marks China's first attempt at a soft-landing on the lunar surface and the first soft-landing on the moon since the Soviet Luna 24 probe in 1976. China sets course for lunar landing this year . On landing, the spacecraft will release Jade Rabbit (called Yutu in Chinese) -- a six-wheeled lunar rover equipped with four cameras and two mechanical legs that can dig up soil samples, a designer for the rover told Xinhua earlier this month. A public poll determined the the solar-powered robot's name, which comes from the white pet rabbit of the Chinese moon godess Chang'e. The slow-moving rover will patrol the moon's surface for at least three months, according to Xinhua. Timeline: China's race into space . China is yet to announce the probe's preferred landing site, but researchers say an impact crater named Sinus Iridum, or Bay of Rainbows, is its likely destination. In 2010, China's previous lunar mission captured images of the crater while scouting potential landing sites for the 2013 probe. In the United States, scientists are concerned the Chinese mission could interfere with a NASA study of the moon's dust environment. Chang'e-3's descent is likely to create a noticeable plume on the moon's surface that could skew the results of research already being carried out by NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE), Jeff Plescia, chair of NASA's Lunar Exploration Analysis Group told Space.com, a space news site. The mission constitutes the second phase of China's moon exploration program which includes orbiting, landing and returning to Earth. Earlier missions included plotting a high-resolution, full-coverage lunar map."
"BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Brad Blauser lives in war-torn Baghdad, where he doesn't earn a paycheck and is thousands of miles from his family. But he has no intention of leaving anytime soon. Since 2005, Brad Blauser's Wheelchairs for Iraqi Kids program has distributed nearly 650 free wheelchairs. For the past four years, the Dallas, Texas, native has been providing hope to hundreds of disabled Iraqi children and their families through the distribution of pediatric wheelchairs. ""Disabled children -- they're really the forgotten ones in this war,"" said Blauser, 43. ""They are often not seen in society."" Blauser arrived in Iraq as a civilian contractor in 2004, but quit that job last year to devote himself full time to his program, without compensation. Vote now for the CNN Hero of the Year . ""There's no paycheck. It's not really safe here. But this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,"" he said. An estimated one in seven Iraqi children ages 2 to 14 lives with a disability, according to UNICEF. Illnesses such as Spina bifida, palsy and polio leave them unable to walk. Some parents carry their children every day. For these children and their families, limited access to health care has taken a toll. ""A number of families don't know what's wrong with their kid. There's not a doctor available for help [and] there's no pediatric wheelchair source in this country,"" Blauser said. Blauser first learned about this situation in 2005 through Maj. David Brown, a battalion surgeon. His friend shared heartbreaking accounts of helpless children pulling themselves along the ground, or living motionless in back rooms, too big to be moved long distances very often. ""So I asked him, 'What do you need?' "" Blauser recalled. ""And he surprised me by his answer: 'I need children's wheelchairs.' "" Blauser began researching and campaigning for help from friends and family in the United States. In 30 days, 31 pediatric and small adult wheelchairs arrived in Mosul for distribution to children in need. Wheelchairs for Iraqi Kids was born. ""The experience for me in the first distribution was awesome,"" said Blauser. ""To see the smile come across their face and [to] look over at the mothers and fathers -- they've definitely been changed."" That's the case for 3-year-old Ali Khaled Ibrahim and his family. At 8 months old, Ali was struck by a mysterious fever that left him partially paralyzed. He cannot speak and experiences increasingly frequent and violent convulsions. ""Ali's handicap affected the family a lot,"" said his father. His mother said she couldn't carry out her daily chores and her ""psychological state worsened."" ""When I heard the news of the distribution of these advanced wheelchairs, I was very happy deep down,"" she said. ""I thought maybe that will ease my work as a mother in the way I deal with my son.""  Watch Ali and other children receive their wheelchairs from Blauser's group » . Today, Ali smiles at home as he sits in his new wheelchair. His siblings giggle and sprinkle his face with kisses. The toddler's parents are thankful for the relief it has brought not only to Ali, but their entire family. The boy is among hundreds of disabled Iraqi children to benefit from Blauser's generosity. Since 2005, Wheelchairs for Iraqi Kids has distributed nearly 650 pediatric wheelchairs. To obtain the specialized chairs, Blauser partnered with Reach Out and Care Wheels, a nonprofit pediatric wheelchair organization in Montana. The organization provides wheelchairs designed for rough terrains in developing nations, making the devices ""perfect for this environment,"" said Blauser. Through sponsor donations, his group purchases the chairs from ROC Wheels for about $200 apiece, and USAID donates shipping. Members of the the U.S. and Iraqi armies, Iraqi police and border patrol work together to carry out the distributions. Blauser and his group help adjust the children into their wheelchairs, which fit their bodies as they grow.  Watch Blauser demonstrate the specialized wheelchair » . For Blauser, who provides part-time safety consulting in exchange for room and board, an initial plan to stay for one year has become a dream to get wheelchairs to every Iraqi child who wants one. And he's determined to see it through. ""By providing what they need, I'm hoping to start a movement to change the way people think about disabled children,"" said Blauser. ""They are not a curse, they are a blessing and they deserve to have their needs met."" Want to get involved? Check out Wheelchairs for Iraqi Kids and see how to help."
"(CNN)  -- The images of Haitian children crying or injured or wandering the streets alone are heartbreaking. It's no surprise there has been a flood of well-intentioned people who want to adopt those children. But that's not always the best immediate move, aid groups caution. Save the Children Chief Executive Jasmine Whitbread said the ""vast majority"" of children on their own in Haiti are not orphans, but were simply separated from their families in the chaos. Their family members may still be alive, she said, and ""will be desperate to be reunited with them."" ""Taking children out of the country would permanently separate thousands of children from their families -- a separation that would compound the acute trauma they are already suffering and inflict long-term damage on their chances of recovery,"" Whitbread said. Hurriedly whisking unclassified children out of Haiti will not ensure the children are happy or safe in the long-term, experts said. Homes and potential parents must be reviewed by professional social workers and it's logistically impossible to do that in a short time. Allowing adoptions to proceed without thorough background checks can lead to child trafficking and other crimes. The United Nations Children's Fund, or UNICEF, does not facilitate adoptions, but it has been bombarded with calls from people who want a Haitian orphan, said Christopher de Bono, a UNICEF spokesman. In 2007, UNICEF estimated that there were 380,000 orphans in Haiti, but de Bono said Thursday that he'd ""hate to vouch for that figure"" because that number -- any number -- is impossible to verify. Between Haiti's ""lousy [child welfare] oversight system,"" and all the challenges that Haitians have endured, it's not uncommon for Haitian parents to put their children in orphanages temporarily, de Bono said. This means knowing who is truly an orphan and who isn't requires great attention to detail and documents. ""Removing children who've just experienced a disaster from their environment, from where they're from is not necessarily good for them,"" he said. Haitian children must first be fed, sheltered, clothed and given medical attention; the next step is to register them and trace their relatives. Diana Boni, who works with Port-au-Prince's BRESMA orphanage, is firmly against new adoptions out of Haiti. ""Under no circumstances should we evacuate any child newly orphaned or displaced,"" she wrote in an e-mail to CNN. ""Imagine losing much of your family, only to discover that a surviving relative had been whisked off to the States to be adopted by strangers without your knowledge or consent! Adoptions without consent are child trafficking. Pure and simple."" Full coverage | Latest news updates | Twitter updates . She has been taking care of children who waited for years in the orphanage to be adopted. ""It's a bit sad, as I have several wonderful children who waited literally for years for new families, and no one ever came,"" she said. The disaster in Haiti has led to an outpouring of support around the world, with the United States alone donating more than $305 million as of Wednesday, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, a newspaper covering nonprofit organizations. List of missing, found | Are you there? | Impact Your World . Because Haiti's poverty already made it ""extremely vulnerable"" to exploitation and abuse, rushed adoptions could open the door to traffickers, said World Vision Chief Executive Justin Byworth. ""We are concerned not only about premature overseas adoption but also about children increasingly being sent unaccompanied to the Dominican Republic,"" he said. Aid groups said adoptions that were already in progress before the January 12 earthquake should go ahead, as long as the right legal documents are in place and they meet Haitian and international law. For those who want to help Haitian children, Whitbread said, they should donate to aid agencies that are working on reuniting children with their families. The International Committee of the Red Cross has opened an office at the headquarters of the Haitian Red Cross in Crois de Prez to help people locate their relatives, said Pete Garratt, a disaster response manager at the British Red Cross. The Red Cross also has set up a Web site to help people searching for relatives, he said. CNN's Jessica Ravitz contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Airport hotels have always been necessary but unloved stopover spots for the depleted traveler, places to shower, rehydrate and let the body recuperate from the merciless rigors of flying. Yet checking into the Hilton Frankfurt Airport, which opened in December turned out to be much more. It's an example of the emerging generation of airport hotels that are intended to function as destinations, real places where one might reasonably stay longer than a single night. Some of the best and most spectacular airport hotels are in Asia: the Regal in Hong Kong; the Crowne Plaza in Singapore. Now the rest of the world is catching up, and the newest airport hotels in Europe, the United States, Latin America, and elsewhere are responding to the generalized craving for experience. And there's more going on than that: the increasing sophistication of these hotels parallels a reemergence of civilization—daring architecture; edible food—in airports themselves. Travel + Leisure: Innovative new airport terminals . The improved hotels are one component of a backlash against that shiny one-world placelessness that airports have long cultivated. Moreover, they are being retooled for a new breed of business traveler. ""The nature of work is changing,"" says Erin Hoover, head of design for the Sheraton and Westin brands, ""and it's very collaborative."" Now airport hotels—like the newly opened Hilton in London, Novotel in Auckland, New Zealand, and Element in Miami—are catching up, bringing technology, design, and style to the international stopover. Hilton Frankfurt Airport . The Hilton Frankfurt Airport is a stylish, hyper-connected oasis. The hotel, along with the lower-priced Hilton Garden Inn, occupies the eastern end of the Squaire (a name meant to evoke town square and air), an ultra-elongated mixed-use complex that rests on angled columns atop a high-speed rail station, is adjacent to the airport's commuter train station, and is squeezed between two major autobahns. When Squaire managing director Christoph Nebl characterizes it as ""the best-connected spot in Europe,"" he's not exaggerating. Travel + Leisure: America's safest airports . Sheraton Malpensa Hotel (Milan) A series of glass modules lined up like the teeth of a comb, this property makes for a fitting addition to a world capital of design. Atlanta Airport Marriott Gateway . Two minutes from the terminal via SkyTrain, the building is LEED certified and has a lobby floor made of terrazzo embedded with glass. Aloft San Francisco International Airport . A newly rehabbed Clarion Inn building—dropped ceilings have been removed to give the rooms at this hotel an airy feel, and an expanded lobby big enough for a bustling bar scene has been added. Travel + Leisure: America's best and worst Airports . Hilton Heathrow Terminal 5, U.K. From its glamorous all-white main lobby staircase and unusually glitzy light fixtures to perfectly manicured exterior grounds and a celebrity chef--helmed restaurant (Mr. Todiwala's Kitchen), this property has all the makings of a hotel hot spot. Element Miami . The Miami International Airport satellite of this Westin brand features the cutting-edge Pilot program, where electricity can be generated by guests using the hotel's stationary bikes. The fully equipped kitchens, nutritious menus, and bathrooms with mood-improving lighting attest to Element's health-conscious hospitality approach. ALT Hotel Pearson, Toronto . Original art, Egyptian cotton linens, an Italian-made Calla chair, and Fruits & Passion bath products lend sophisticated global flair to the 153-room ALT, part of Canadian hotel group Groupe Germain. Custom Hotel, Los Angeles . Relaunched and refreshed by Joie de Vivre in September 2011, this bombastic crash pad minutes from LAX appeals to your sense of whimsy with themed gimmicks, like the Pan Am--inspired staff uniforms and Hangar Lounge, the property's main lobby. Steigenberger Airport Hotel Berlin . When Berlin's long-awaited Brandenburg Airport opens in March 2013, so too will this grand 322-room property with an outdoor reflecting pool, nine meeting spaces, a lobby bistro, and a fitness center with a gym, sauna, and steam bath. Lotte City Hotel Gimpo Airport, South Korea . Understated and refined, this hotel provides a welcome break from its chaotic surroundings—a massive theme-park-mall complex within the airport. It opened in late 2011, with touch screen controls in the 197 rooms. Planning a getaway? Don't miss Travel + Leisure's guide to the World's Best Hotels . Copyright 2012 American Express Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved."
"Key West, Florida (CNN) -- For more than 20 years, the bulletproof museum case housed a small piece of yesteryear: a gold bar recovered from a sunken Spanish galleon. Today, its case is broken, littered with black fingerprint dust. The treasure is gone. Stolen. Two thieves were caught in the act by the museum's security cameras. ""This is a special piece,"" said Melissa Kendrick, executive director of the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum in Key West, Florida. ""All the pieces have an incredible historic value, but this is the piece that was shared with the public in a whole totally different way."" It was different because visitors could touch it. By reaching into the specially designed display case, more than 6 million people have touched the 74.85-ounce bar, valued at more than $550,000. ""They're touching something that belonged to someone in 1622,"" said Carol Shaughnessy, author of ""Diving Into Glory."" ""Ordinarily people don't get to touch something like that. You can't touch an Egyptian mummy. This is a hands-on connection to history."" But now, what does a thief do with a priceless, high-profile artifact? Is there an underground market that will pay $550,000 for this almost 400-year-old piece of solid gold? One expert says no. ""That's why these crimes don't make a whole lot of money for the criminals,"" said Robert Wittman, a former FBI agent who once headed the FBI's Art Crime Team. ""It doesn't make sense to do it."" Wandering through the museum, the thieves can be seen in security video trying to open museum doors. The video is incredibly clear. First, they appeared to be targeting a display case of gold chains. Then, after a security guard left this part of the museum, a man can be seen reaching into the case housing the gold bar and placing the little piece of history into his pocket before exiting the museum. ""We're getting information and following leads,"" said Key West Police Chief Donie Lee. ""Unfortunately we haven't got the best lead, which is, I know that person and we go out, and it's a positive ID, and we're able to go out and pick those guys up."" What makes the crime so shocking, police said, is that the thieves were able to snap the glass at its edges. It's not just any glass, but three-eighths-inch thick bulletproof Lexan glass. ""By designating this as a handling object, it brought certain risks to the bar,"" Kendrick said. ""But after your first five, and your next 10, and when you get to 25 years, you start to get to the point when you think that it's never going to happen."" Treasure hunter and salvor Mel Fisher recovered the solid gold bar from the wreck of the Santa Margarita in 1980. Fisher and his team had been searching for the Nuestra Senora de Atocha and instead found the sister ship, the Santa Margarita. Both ships had gone down in a hurricane off Key West shortly after leaving Havana, Cuba, in 1622. The ships were headed home to Spain with a cargo of gold, silver and coins from the new world. The team found the Atocha in 1985. The stolen bar is one of dozens of gold and silver bars retrieved from the bottom of the sea. Experts say that about 90 percent of stolen art and artifacts is eventually recovered that but it often takes years to find. The FBI has recovered more than 2,600 items of cultural property valued at more than $142 million. The items range from Colombian artifacts to Rembrandt paintings. Wittman, the former FBI agent and author of ""Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World's Stolen Treasures,"" said the market is incredibly small for these high-profile objects. He said thieves often steal the items and then try to figure how to sell them. ""We recovered paintings and artifacts that were missing for many years. Ten, 15, sometimes 20 years, because the thieves couldn't get rid of them,"" he said. ""They kept them in their closets. They were white elephants. They made no money out of the deals. They were stuck."" In 1990, thieves entered the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts, and stole 13 works of art, including three Rembrandts from the 1600s. None has been recovered, and federal agents are using DNA to try to find the perpetrators. Wittman said no legitimate collector would take the risks associated with buying stolen goods. ""They don't buy stolen property, because ... they can't show it, they can't enjoy it. ... It makes them into criminals, and the last thing they want to do is spend a lot of money for a painting or for an artifact, whether it's gold or whatever, and have it seized by the police and go to jail,"" he said. Key West authorities said they believe the thieves were not locals and that they are probably long gone. The museum's insurance company is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the return of the bar. Police said they remain hopeful they will solve the crime but just hope they can recover this golden piece of history. ""This is going to end up in somebody's house probably, used as a paperweight,"" said Lee, who is leading the investigation. ""Other than melting it down, which is the worst-case scenario for everyone, we're just hoping that they will come to their senses somehow and return this back to the museum."""
"(CNN) -- The crane operator facing charges over a deadly building collapse was denied bail Sunday. A Philadelphia judge refused to allow Sean Benschop, 42, to leave jail. He is charged with six counts of involuntary manslaughter, 13 counts of recklessly endangering another person, and one count of ""risking a catastrophe,"" District Attorney spokeswoman Tasha Jamerson told CNN. Wednesday's building collapse in downtown Philadelphia left six dead and 13 people injured. Benschop, who maintains his innocence, turned himself in Saturday. ""My client is being made the scapegoat in this situation,"" said Daine Grey, Benschop's attorney. ""The victims here aren't just those who died and their families. My client is a victim as well. He's currently being looked at as the cause of everybody's pain, but that just isn't the case."" Grey told reporters Saturday that while his client feels ""extremely sympathetic and remorseful,"" he is not guilty. ""This was an accident, but Mr. Benschop was not responsible,"" Grey said, in remarks captured by CNN affiliate WPVI. ""And we believe that, in time, the facts will show that he is not responsible."" Benschop had marijuana and pain medication in his blood after the collapse, a law enforcement source told CNN. Pennsylvania court records indicate Benschop, who also went by the alias Kary Roberts, has been arrested multiple times in the past two decades. Many of the related charges -- related to alleged firearms violations and theft -- were withdrawn, dismissed or resulted in not guilty verdicts, though he was found guilty in the mid-1990s on drug charges. Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter blamed Benschop's ""reckless and irresponsible behavior"" for the building collapse and said Saturday he hopes that Benschop faces ""the harshest level of charges ... and he is punished accordingly."" ""Justice will only be served if Sean Benschop receives a sentence that buries him in a jailhouse forever, just like his victims were buried on Wednesday,"" Nutter said. Nutter is pressing for answers from two property owners who hired Benschop to operate heavy machinery, saying that, along with Benschop, they ""bear the ultimate and sole responsibility for this tragedy."" Benschop allegedly was working a crane to tear down a vacant building in downtown Philadelphia when a four-story wall collapsed onto a Salvation Army thrift store, causing an ominous rumble followed by panic on the streets. Afterward, searchers climbed over shards of wood, concrete and rebar looking for survivors, such as a 61-year-old woman pulled alive from the rubble early Thursday. The first lawsuit against him was filed that same day, by attorneys for a 54-year-old woman pulled from the rubble by a firefighter."
"WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A former middle-school student who was strip-searched by school officials looking for ibuprofen pain medication won a partial victory of her Supreme Court appeal Thursday in a case testing the discretion of officials to ensure classroom safety. Savana Redding leaves the U.S Supreme Court in April. She was 13 when she was strip-searched. Savana Redding was 13 when administrators suspected that she was carrying banned drugs. No medication was found, and she later sued. The justices concluded that the search was unreasonable but that individual school administrators could not be sued. The larger issue of whether a campus setting traditionally gives schools greater authority over students suspected of illegal activity than police are allowed was not addressed fully by the divided court. ""Savana's subjective expectation of privacy against such a search is inherent in her account of it as embarrassing, frightening and humiliating,"" wrote Justice David Souter for the majority, likely his last opinion before he steps down from the bench next week. But reflecting the divisiveness over the issue, Souter said, ""We think these differences of opinion from our own are substantial enough to require immunity for the school officials in this case."" Whether the school district would be liable was not an issue before the high court. ""I'm pretty excited that they agreed with me, they see that it was wrong for the school to do that,"" Redding said from her Hobbs, New Mexico, home after the ruling was announced. ""I'm pretty certain that it's so far less likely to happen again"" to other students. Redding was an eighth-grade honor student in 2003, with no history of disciplinary problems at Safford Middle School, about 127 miles from Tucson, Arizona. During an investigation into pills found at the school, a student told the vice principal that Redding had given her prescription-strength 400-milligram ibuprofen pills. The school had a near-zero-tolerance policy for all prescription and over-the-counter medication, including the ibuprofen, without prior written permission. Redding was pulled from class by Vice Principal Kerry Wilson, escorted to an office and confronted with the evidence. The girl denied the accusations. A search of Redding's backpack found nothing. A strip search was conducted by Wilson's assistant and a school nurse, both females. Redding was ordered to strip to her underwear and to pull on the elastic of the underwear, so any hidden pills might fall out, according to court records. No drugs were found. ""The strip search was the most humiliating experience I have ever had,"" Redding said in an affidavit. ""I held my head down so that they could not see that I was about to cry."" Souter said Wilson initially had ""sufficient suspicion"" to justify searching the girl's backpack and outer clothing. But when no contraband was found, the officials went too far by continuing the search of her underwear. With the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, Redding and her family sued, and a federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled against the school, calling the search ""traumatizing"" and illegal. That court said the school went too far in its effort to create a drug- and crime-free classroom. The Supreme Court found little agreement on key issues. Justices John Paul Stevens and Ruth Bader Ginsburg agreed that the search was illegal but would have also made individual officials liable for damages by Redding. ""Wilson's treatment of Redding was abusive, and it was not reasonable for him to believe that the law permitted it,"" said Ginsburg, who was especially forceful during oral arguments in April, criticizing the school's actions. But Justice Clarence Thomas took the opposite view: that administrators deserved immunity and that the search was permissible. ""Preservation of order, discipline and safety in public schools is simply not the domain of the Constitution,"" he said. ""And, common sense is not a judicial monopoly or a constitutional imperative."" In 1985, the high court allowed the search of a student's purse after she was suspected of hiding cigarettes. Such a search was permitted if there were ""reasonable"" grounds for believing that it would turn up evidence and when the search was not ""excessively intrusive."" Opinions in 1995 and 2001 allowed schools to conduct random drug testing of high school athletes and those participating in other extracurricular activities. The court was being asked to clarify the extent of student rights involving searches and the discretion of officials regarding those they have responsibility over. Adam Wolf, an ACLU attorney who represented Redding, applauded the decision. ""When parents send their kids to school, they can now breathe a sigh of relief they will not end up naked before school officials,"" Wolf said . But school administrators said the ruling does not make their jobs any easier. ""The home medicine cabinet now poses a serious threat to students, who may take those medications for abusive purposes,"" said Francisco Negron, general counsel for the National School Boards Association. ""That's a problem schools are trying to stem."" ""How they determine now whether the drug is dangerous, whether it's not dangerous -- that kind of clarity and that kind of guidance, the court did not give us."" Redding, now 19, said she has never gotten over her experience. ""Before it happened, I loved school, loved everything about it. You know, I had a 4.0 GPA, honor roll, and now, well, afterwards I never wanted to go to school again."" She is attending college. The case is Safford Unified School District No. 1 v. Redding (08-479)."
"Hong Kong (CNN) -- When American pop artist Andy Warhol visited Beijing in 1982 and was told there wasn't a McDonald's, he replied: ""Oh, but they will."" Twenty-six years after his death, Warhol, whose much-lauded prescience extended across visual and consumer culture, has popped up in China once again -- and he was right about the fast-food chain. ""Andy Warhol: 15 Minutes Eternal,"" the first major retrospective of his work in China, recently arrived in Shanghai with the aim of acquainting the Chinese public with the artist who created some of the most famous paintings of the most iconic figure in the country's history. Warhol goes to China . While Warhol's trip to Beijing was his first and only visit to mainland China, his engagement with the country started a decade earlier, inspired by former U.S. president Richard Nixon's rapprochement with the communist power in 1972. Ripping from the headlines, Warhol adopted Chairman Mao as his subject, applying his signature pop aesthetic to China's paramount leader. His series of portraits went on to become some of his most well-known works. ""Mao was front-page news in America and that was often where Warhol got his biggest inspiration,"" said Eric Shiner, director of Pittsburgh's Andy Warhol Museum, which organized the exhibition. He described Mao as ""classic Warhol subject matter."" Warhol relied on a copy of Mao's portrait photograph in the leader's Little Red Book of ideological quotations to create his paintings. Little did he know that he would eventually pose for a photo in front of the original portrait hanging in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. His trip to Beijing was an unexpected byproduct of a visit to Hong Kong. The industrialist Alfred Siu had invited him to the city to attend the opening of a night club, decorated with portraits of Britain's Prince Charles and Princess Diana that he had commissioned from the artist. Upon Warhol's arrival, Siu announced he had arranged a VIP tour to Beijing for him and his friends. Artistic inspiration aside, China also provided Warhol with a respite from the pressures of fame. ""It was one of the special places,"" said Christopher Makos, the artist's close friend and personal photographer, who accompanied him to China. He recalled that Warhol went virtually unrecognized in China, although the artist stood out for his unusual looks. ""As Andy would say, he didn't have to wear his Andy suit. Notoriety and fame is a double-edged sword....you have no privacy."" China's communist uniformity, with its blue sea of unisex Mao suits, appealed to Warhol's aesthetic obsession with repetition. ""He was all about multiples...and at the time, China was the ultimate multiple,"" Makos said. The country also provided a source of inspiration for Warhol's nascent modeling career. Warhol posed for Makos' camera with gestures he adopted from the tai chi practitioners he observed outdoors -- and even adopted the bared-teeth expression of the guardian lion in the Forbidden City in one photo. Can Warhol make a name in China? While Warhol is well-known within art and fashion circles in China (Shiner said 600 of these cultural elite attended the exhibition's pre-opening), he remains unknown to the average Chinese citizen. Many Chinese are familiar with certain Warhol works, such as the Marilyn Monroe or the Chairman Mao portraits, reproductions of which dot cafes and tourist markets across Beijing. But they are much less likely to connect the work with the artist -- or to even have heard of the artist himself. ""If you don't know who Andy Warhol is, I won't blame you. But if you say you've never seen his Marilyn Monroe portrait, I would have to jump into the Huangpu river and kill myself!"" wrote user @Jianisi_yangyang on Sina Weibo. A search on China's popular Twitter-like platform revealed many posts by users expressing ignorance of whom Warhol was or why he is famous. Having recently launched a ""massive"" advertising campaign and sat for dozens of interviews with mainland media outlets, Shiner is hoping to reach the masses. ""One of the reasons why I wanted to do this show is so the general public can learn about the artist behind these iconic works and realize (Mao and Marilyn Monroe) are just a few of thousands of images he made,"" he said. So far, it appears that this education is welcome -- and necessary. ""For the first time, I learned the charm of pop art,"" Weibo user @Yanmingdu wrote about the exhibition, while user @GracieMankedun posted, ""Just saw Andy Warhol's exhibition and I got a little confused. For example, I didn't understand the Campbell's soup cans."" ""The curiosity is greater than the awareness,"" said John Good, international director for post-war and contemporary art at Christie's, which is holding its second private sale of Warhol's work in Hong Kong this week. ""We've seen a great deal of interest and curiosity (among Chinese) about Western art and international culture. I think Warhol is a perfect artist...to show what Western culture is all about."" Christie's first private Warhol sale in Hong Kong last November attracted a mostly Asian demographic and managed to sell nearly half of its lots, Good said. Censoring Mao in China . However, visitors to the ""15 Minutes External"" exhibitions in mainland China will not see any Chairman Mao portraits. While Shiner was planning the exhibition with the host venue -- the Shanghai Power Station of Art -- its staff advised that exhibiting the Mao works wasn't a ""good idea right now."" A staff member told CNN that government authorities would have considered the works ""too political."" ""Of course, the primary concern is to get the show there and up and not put anything in a category that would ever question anything,"" Shiner said. ""Knowing that we would have the censors from the Ministry of Culture, we wanted to make sure... that nothing would put the show in jeopardy."" An editorial in the state-backed Global Times newspaper suggested that while Warhol may not have had ill intent, the ""provocative"" blotches of color splattered on Mao's face suggested that he was wearing make-up -- a disrespectful portrayal of the iconic leader. While Shiner acknowledged the Mao portraits ""could be read as a sarcastic or ironic portrayal"", he said Warhol ""definitely wasn't being critical. He always liked to blur the lines on gender, and making colorful men somewhat beautiful was something that he liked to do as an inside joke,"" he added. Once the Chinese public gains a deeper understanding of Warhol's work, he expects that the Mao works ""won't be as big a deal."" Influence on Chinese contemporary art . Warhol's influence on Chinese contemporary art can actually be traced back to 1981, when many contemporary artists, labeled as dissidents, fled the country, Shiner said. While most of them went to Paris and Berlin, two artists ""very specifically went to New York because they wanted quite literally to be part of Andy's universe"" -- Ai Weiwei and Xu Bing. Both artists have gone on to become some of the most recognized and celebrated names in Chinese contemporary art, and some would go as far as calling Ai Weiwei ""China's Andy Warhol."" ""Ai Weiwei loves the idea of multiples,"" Makos pointed out, noting Ai's most famous installations, including the 9,000 backpacks representing the schoolchildren killed in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, and the millions of porcelain sunflower seeds he poured into the Turbine Hall of London's Tate Modern museum. Shiner readily concurred: ""He's really gone on to model his entire art-making process and career on proven Warhol tactics, looking at repetition, multiplication, and critique of consumer culture. When you look at his Coca-Cola works, that's directly related to Warhol and it's really amazing how many things he picked up from Andy."" Ai's similarity to Warhol also lies in his social activism, which aims to change Chinese society through art, he added. As for Xu Bing, viewers may not immediately see Warhol in his work, Shiner said, but he described the artist as a ""huge fan of Warhol"" who ""loves the idea of repetition -- the formal arrangement of Chinese character after Chinese character, an endless array of similar looking imagery."" Unfortunately, neither artist became acquainted in person with their muse, despite moving to New York for him. Ai once spotted Warhol at a party, but did not approach him, Shiner revealed. ""As a young man, he was too shy to actually go and say hello,"" he said, recalling that Ai told him his English wasn't good enough at the time. Ai and Xu aside, the Warhol aesthetic and vocabulary has deeply influenced Chinese contemporary artists over the past 10-15 years, with its characteristic combinations of social realist imagery with pop culture and iconic brands. The Shanghai exhibition will run to July 28 and make its way to Beijing later this year. Meanwhile, Makos will also hold an exhibition of his photographs of Warhol next month in Shanghai, including images from their 1982 trip to China. ""His work lives on. Maybe (the Chinese) don't know him, but they know his work,"" Makos said, predicting that Warhol ""will get bigger and bigger in China."" ""Andy was the ultimate pop artist. To this day you can still find Campbell soup on the shelf in the grocery store and you can see multiples of them,"" Makos said. ""As long as that imagery is live and well, Warhol will have this built-in publicity."" CNN's Feng Ke contributed to this report."
"London (CNN) -- Four current and former employees of Britain's Sun newspaper were arrested by authorities investigating claims of inappropriate payments to police, News Corp. and police said Saturday. Police searched the men's homes as well as the East London offices of News International, the News Corp. subsidiary that publishes the Sun and other U.K. newspapers, London's Metropolitan Police Service said. A 29-year-old police officer was also arrested Saturday at the central London police station where he works, police said, on suspicion of corruption, misconduct in a public office and conspiracy in relation to both offenses. He works for the force's Territorial Policing command. Three of the men were arrested at their homes -- two of them, aged 49 and 57, in the county of Essex, and one aged 48 in London. A fourth, aged 42, was arrested at an east London police station. By late Saturday, police said that all five men were subsequently released after posting bail. The current and past newspaper employees were all set to ""return pending further inquiries"" in April or May, according to the Scotland Yard statement. Earlier, they'd been questioned on suspicion of corruption, aiding and abetting misconduct in a public office, and conspiracy in relation to those offenses. The operation ""relates to suspected payments to police officers and is not about seeking journalists to reveal confidential sources in relation to information that has been obtained legitimately,"" an earlier police statement said. News Corp. said it is cooperating with the search of its News International offices. Police said the operation was the result of information provided to police by News Corporation's Management and Standards Committee (MSC), which was set up to look into conduct at News International, a subsidiary of News Corp. The News Corp. statement said the company had ""made a commitment last summer that unacceptable news gathering practices by individuals in the past would not be repeated."" The committee was asked ""to proactively co-operate with law enforcement and other authorities if potentially relevant information arose at those titles. As a result of that review, which is ongoing, the MSC provided information to the Elveden investigation which led to today's arrests."" The Sun, which is Britain's best-selling tabloid newspaper, was the sister paper of News International's now-defunct Sunday title, the News of the World. A spokeswoman for News International earlier declined to comment on the search of its offices. The investigation into alleged corruption, known as Operation Elveden, is being run in conjunction with an inquiry into phone hacking prompted by allegations of wrongdoing at News of the World. The best-selling News of the World tabloid was shuttered in July amid outrage over claims that its staff hacked the voicemail of a missing 13-year-old girl who turned out to have been murdered. James Murdoch, chief executive of News International and the son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, has insisted that the practice of phone hacking was not widespread. News Group Newspapers, a subsidiary of News International that was the publisher of News of the World, agreed to payouts in the High Court totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars earlier this month over phone hacking claims. Among those who read statements in court were Labour Party lawmaker Chris Bryant, former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, actor Jude Law, the actor's ex-wife Sadie Frost, and high-profile rugby player Gavin Henson. News International said the company ""made no admission as part of these settlements that directors or senior employees knew about the wrongdoing by NGN or sought to conceal it. However, for the purpose of reaching these settlements only, NGN agreed that the damages to be paid to claimants should be assessed as if this was the case."" Both James and Rupert Murdoch, as well as senior executives at News International, have testified before British lawmakers examining allegations of wrongdoing. A public inquiry has also been set up to look at claims of widespread misconduct by the British media. Representatives of a range of news outlets have appeared before it. There have been 13 arrests in connection with Operation Elveden and 17 in relation to Operation Weeting, the phone hacking inquiry, the Metropolitan Police confirmed. Three people have been arrested in connection with both investigations. Operation Elveden is overseen by the British police watchdog, the Independent Police Complaints Commission."
"London (CNN) -- Il Rottomatore -- or ""the demolition man"" -- is how Italy's incoming prime minister has come to be known, thanks in part to his pugnacious approach to politics. Matteo Renzi's nickname hardly bodes well for drumming up support in one of the most fractious governing systems on the planet, one which has speared all but one of its governments since World War II. Then again, the 39-year-old's backers say this football-fan Mayor of Florence is precisely the breath of fresh air needed in Rome's stuffy halls of power. Neither an MP nor an elected premier, Renzi has managed to wrest control of the party's leadership by promising to smash the gridlocked reform process and shift its axis to the center. How he thinks he will manage to garner more support than career politicians, like his predecessor Enrico Letta, is as yet unclear. What's more: Renzi had initially vowed only to seek the top job through the ballot box and not a leadership contest, meaning some are skeptical about what he stands for. ''What Renzi's done is gutsy,'' says Giuseppe Ragusa of the Luiss Guido Carli University in Rome. ''But he is not going to have the public's support; he doesn't have the votes from the electoral poll. So this is going to be a difficulty. Instead Ragusa says Italy is hoping that by virtue of his youth and dynamism Renzi will have the energy ''to do something very quickly."" Something, being the optimal word. Italy has been crying out for a plausible, long-term economic agenda for years, leaving the country wholly unprepared for the economic slump of recent years. Often described as his country's answer to Tony Blair, Renzi is good at talking the big picture, which is probably just as well because Italy's problems aren't small. First there's a two trillion-euro debt pile to shrink, record unemployment, crippling and antiquated labor laws not to mention stifling business and payroll taxes. Still, top of the list for Renzi, will be moves to create the kind of political stability where such measures can actually take hold. This means ploughing on with plans to reform the parliamentary system in a move which is likely to cost the country its upper house -- or senate -- in its current form. However, Renzi may be on a collision course with Brussels after suggesting the EU give his nation some leeway to breach its 3% limit on the budget deficit in order to support a recent return to growth. Vincenzo Scarpetta of London-based think tank Open Europe says Renzi will have to prove himself on the international stage. ''He is relatively little known compared to his two predecessors,'' says Scarpetta. ''So he will have to act quickly.'' Yet if anything, Renzi is a long distance player. A marathon runner and keen sportsman, Renzi already has an eye on the distant horizon -- saying he wishes to see this term through until the next election in 2018. Addressing reporters after being asked to form a government by Italy's President -- as protocol dictates -- Renzi said it would likely take a few days to get his key people in place. ''But I assure you,'' he said, ''I will give this commitment all the energy I have.'' Commitment is something this former boy scout is known for and at less than half of the age of Silvio Berlusconi, Renzi certainly has energy. But he'll need more than stamina to succeed. Above all, he must find support. READ MORE: Is Matteo Renzi ready to be Italy's PM? WATCH MORE: The future of Europe's economy ."
"Military forces have managed to take the remaining strongholds of al Qaeda affiliate Al-Shabaab in the far northeast of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, the military said. ""In effect, operations will now focus on the environs of the city and policing within the liberated areas,"" the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) said in a statement, adding that its troops worked with Transitional Federal Government forces. ""Our joint operations have gone extremely well today and over the weekend,"" AMISOM spokesman Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda said.  ""Casualties have been thankfully very low on our side, with just one killed and six minor injuries.  The outer north and eastern fringes of the city must still be cleared, but key ground and buildings are no longer under the control of the extremists."" ""It has been a big achievement to remove Al-Shabaab from the city, and put an end to the fighting that disrupted so many lives.  But the challenge is now to protect civilians from the sort of terror attack we saw last week, as they attempt to rebuild their lives."" Last week Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for a suicide truck bombing in the heart of Mogadishu that left dozens dead. Other Al-Shabaab attacks last week led to the deaths of at least 10 civilians. Al-Shabaab was designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. government in March 2008. The group is waging a war against Somalia's government to implement a stricter form of Islamic law, or Sharia. Federal and African Union forces in the impoverished and chaotic nation have battled the group for years. Many analysts believe Al-Shabaab has been severely weakened by AMISOM, targeted strikes against foreign members and the weakening of al Qaeda. Al-Shabaab said in August that it was withdrawing from Mogadishu, and the Transitional Federal Government, backed by African Union peacekeepers, now control most districts of the capital city, the United Nations office said. Forces have pushed Al-Shabaab outside most of Mogadishu, but the group is still a major threat, said African Union forces spokesman Lt. Col. Paddy Nkunda in a statement last week."
"(CNN) -- A Florida judge sentenced Rachel Wade, the 20-year-old woman convicted of second-degree murder for fatally stabbing her romantic rival in a fight last year, to 27 years in prison Friday. While acknowledging mitigating factors -- primarily Wade's youth and lack of a criminal past -- the judge said her actions were not ""unaggravating."" ""The murder was no accident,"" Judge Joseph Bulone said. Wade went to trial in July, accused of second-degree murder in the stabbing death of 18-year-old Sarah Ludemann. The two women, only teenagers at the time, had fought for months via voicemails, text messages and MySpace postings over their relationship with the same man, Joshua Camacho. The feud culminated in a fatal confrontation in the early morning hours of April 15, 2009. After a three-day trial and only two and a half hours of deliberation, a jury of five men and one woman convicted Wade of second-degree murder. Wade had claimed self-defense and hoped for an acquittal or no more than a manslaughter conviction. A life sentence was recommended by Florida prosecutors. The defense had recommended 15 years, followed by 15 years of probation. TruTV's ""In Session"" correspondent Beth Karas spoke to Wade days before her sentencing. ""I think about it every day, regardless if they give me five years or 20 years more than they could give me,"" Wade said.  ""I never meant to do it, and I'm still gonna have to live with it, no matter if I'm home or if I'm in prison."" Wade's lawyer told HLN Friday that the sentence was ""very fair."" ""I just don't think this was a case that called for life,"" said Jay Hebert. Hebert said the case is a cautionary tale about the potentially deadly mix of young people and modern communications technology. ""When you start looking at the tragic nature of this, the social networking, the instant messaging, the ability of people to hide behind the screen and make statements and create situations -- it just festered until it bubbled up and exploded into a situation... until two good girls, their worlds collided,"" he said. Hebert said Wade has resolved to teach young people about the dangers associated with social networking. ""I don't think we can appreciate how young people talk,"" he said. ""And that's the lesson for parents. Pay close attention to your children. Watch how they talk and who they talk to. Watch their social networking outlets."" ""Because it's an explosive situation when when you don't have to be accountable, when you can break up with somebody or ask somebody to prom via text,"" he said. ""There's no face-to-face interaction."" In Session Correspondent Beth Karas contributed to this report."
"(WIRED)  -- Apple's loose-lipped overseas partners are exchanging whispers about the next-generation iPad, claiming it will come in three different versions, one of which would work with Verizon's network. The iPad 2 will support three different wireless configurations: UMTS, CDMA and Wi-Fi only, according to ""industry sources quoted by DigiTimes"" citing component makers. That's up from the two versions Apple currently offers: UMTS plus Wi-Fi, and Wi-Fi only. To explicate the alphabet soup, UMTS is the standard used by major 3G carriers such as AT&T and T-Mobile, while CDMA is compatible with Verizon and Sprint networks. Currently the 3G iPad ships with a MicroSIM card slot, and in the United States, the only carrier that uses MicroSIM is AT&T. Customers who want to connect to non-AT&T 3G networks must either buy an external wireless hotspot device such as the Verizon MiFi (Verizon already sells a MiFi plus iPad package) or trim a standard SIM card down to MicroSIM size, like Wired.com's Charlie Sorrel. The current 3G model of the iPad is not tied to a contract: Customers pay a flat monthly rate for data and can opt out whenever they please. So if this rumor is true, it means that when the iPad 2 ships, you'll have to pick a 3G model based on your carrier preference. If you don't plan to be on the road a lot, there's still the Wi-Fi option. Support for both major wireless standards in the United States will make the iPad 2 available to a much larger potential audience, whereas before it was only available in the states from AT&T. WIRED: With iPad, Apple still has fatal attraction for AT&T . Whether Apple hammers out sales agreements with Verizon or Sprint remains to be seen. Recent rumors suggestion that the iPad 2 will hit stores April 2011, one year after the original iPad's release. Some third-party protective cases for a purported ""iPad 23 have been cropping up in Asia, hinting at the possibility of a bigger speaker and a rear-facing camera. Persistent rumors -- so far unsubstantiated -- have also pointed to a Verizon-compatible iPhone to be released in early 2011. If Verizon gets the iPhone and the iPad, it would greatly expand Apple's potential market, and would also likely deal a severe blow to AT&T, which has been roundly criticized for the inability of its 3G network to keep up with iPhone-induced demand. Subscribe to WIRED magazine for less than $1 an issue and get a FREE GIFT! Click here! Copyright 2010 Wired.com."
"Abuja, Nigeria (CNN) -- More than 70 members of the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram have been killed during a Nigerian military operation in the northeastern state of Borno, an Army spokesman told CNN on Friday. The military ""remains on the offensive,"" according to Brig. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, who said the operation started Thursday and continued into the next day. Who are the world's 10 most dangerous terrorists? This wasn't the only clash between Boko Haram and Nigerian troops of late. Suspected members of the extremist group around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday (12:30 p.m. ET) attacked a military checkpoint in Damaturu, Nigeria's Joint Task Force reported in a statement. Also in northern Nigeria, Damaturu is the capital of Yobe state. Special operations troops responded, waging ""a fierce encounter with the terrorists in various parts of Damaturu ... for several hours,"" according to the Joint Task Force. By the time that fighting was over, 21 suspected Boko Haram fighters were dead, the government group reported. Three vehicles were recovered, as were assault rifles, a rocket-propelled grenade, improvised explosive devices and 709 rounds of ammunition. The military did not provide any information on its casualties. ""Law abiding citizens are enjoined to remain calm as the 3 Division Special Operation Battalion is on top of the situation,"" the Joint Task Force said, noting a 24-hour curfew was imposed throughout the state. ""Any credible information should be passed promptly to security agencies for necessary action."" Last May, President Goodluck Jonathan put three states in the region under a state of emergency, giving Nigerian forces wide latitude in fighting the group, which human rights organizations say has killed more than 3,000 people since 2009. Boko Haram, which means ""Western education is sacrilege"" in the Hausa-Fulani language, seeks to impose a strict version of Sharia law across northeastern Nigeria, if not the entire country. The group has attacked various targets in the West African nation since its formation in the late 1990s, according to the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, including killing and kidnapping Westerners, and bombing schools and churches. Hundreds of its members, including its leader Mohammed Yusuf, died in July 2009 clashes with government forces. But the group did not stay down for long, and has remained an active and violent force in Nigeria. In August, its militants allegedly went into a mosque in Borno state and killed 44 worshipers. The group released a video boasting that it was growing stronger. Opinion: Should U.S. fear Boko Haram? CNN's Vlad Duthiers reported from Nigeria, CNN's Greg Botelho wrote this story from Atlanta. CNN's Nana Karikari-apau contributed to this report."
"Istanbul (CNN)A woman carried out a suicide bombing at a police station in Istanbul's historic Sultanahmet district Tuesday evening, killing one police officer and injuring another, officials said. The attack happened in the section of Turkey's largest city that is home to landmarks such as the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, and is heavily trafficked by tourists. The bomber, speaking English, entered the police station saying she lost her wallet, and the explosion happened at about 5:20 p.m., Istanbul Gov. Vasip Sahin told reporters. Sahin did not mention a motive for the attack. Sahin initially said that the blast, besides killing the bomber, critically injured one police officer and slightly wounded another. Later Tuesday, Turkey's semi-official Anadolu news agency reported that one of the officers died of his wounds at a hospital. Police cordoned off the area. The attacker's identity is unknown and the incident is being investigated, the governor told reporters. CNN's Gul Tuysuz reported and wrote from Istanbul, and CNN's Jason Hanna wrote in Atlanta. CNN's Hande Atay contributed to this report."
"Why in the world would Scott Brown, a former half-term Senator from Mitt Romney's Massachusetts, put himself in the mix for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination? The real question is: Why not? When Brown told the Des Moines Register over the weekend that he was heading to the Iowa State Fair ""to determine whether there's an interest in my brand of leadership and Republicanism,"" the news was met with some amusement by political insiders. After all, Brown has already floated bids for New Hampshire senator and Massachusetts governor, and he doesn't seem likely to pursue either. 2016 Watch: Scott Brown makes a stop in Iowa . Brown was thumped by Elizabeth Warren in his 2012 re-election bid, and he became something of a punch line earlier this year after he unleashed a volley of questionable late night tweets at some online critics. But so what? The truth is that in today's media environment, there's almost no downside for a long-shot ""candidate"" like Brown to tell people he's mulling a White House run. For someone with no real perch other than a paid gig at Fox News, it actually makes a lot of sense. Just by going to the Iowa State Fair, a must-do for any ambitious pol, Brown will be rewarded with the only currency that matters in modern campaign politics (other than hard fundraising dollars): Buzz. ""Funnel cake and free name ID. What's not to love?"" asked Will Ritter, a Boston-based GOP operative and former Mitt Romney adviser. ""How many stories got posted about Ed Markey's legislative agenda yesterday? It's fun. Senator Brown's a skilled retail politician and this gives him a platform to talk about a brand of Republicanism we could use more of."" For obsessive political watchers, Brown's shamelessness about the whole enterprise is kind of refreshing. ""I do admire the audacity to just go to the state fair and tweet about it,"" said Jeff Smith, a professor at the New School and regular contributor to the Washington Twitter conversation. Brown knows exactly what he's doing. Scott Brown stirs speculation with New Hampshire visit . It's the same reason Iowa Rep. Steve King and New York Rep. Peter King (no relation; not even close) are ""refusing to rule out"" a 2016 bid. Will either of them be taking the oath of office one day? Nope. But with so many news platforms to fill -- on television, on the web, on the radio -- a presidential trial balloon or a trip to Iowa is almost guaranteed to get you at least a crumb of media exposure, a boost in stature, and maybe even a few campaign contributions down the road. Just look at this month's Family Leadership Summit, a gathering of social conservatives in Iowa that drew potential 2016 presidential contenders Ted Cruz and Rick Santorum to the first-in-the-nation caucus state. Both men seem likely to run for the Republican nomination, and both will be returning to Iowa over and over and over again in the coming years. But even if they don't, the two conservatives proved how keeping one's name in the 2016 conversation is its own reward. In their speeches, Cruz and Santorum issued a series of anti-Obama bromides and boosted their profiles with the grassroots activists who attended the Iowa summit. Neither Republican did a single thing to advance the news cycle other than board an airplane to Des Moines. Yet there they were, trailed at every turn by reporters from the Washington Post, Des Moines Register, Associated Press, New York Times, Dallas Morning News, Wall Street Journal, NBC News, ABC News and Fox News. Another Cruz trip to Iowa stokes 2016 speculation . ""The focus on the 2016 presidential contest is completely ridiculous, and everybody knows it,"" wrote David Weigel of Slate after witnessing the cattle call. Well, not completely. In our atomized media ecosystem, there's certainly a market for niche political coverage, in the same way there's a market for micro-reporting on the status of Robert Griffin III's return from knee surgery. More importantly, the presidential cycle is starting earlier than it ever has, with advisers to likely candidates working behind the scenes to assemble campaign infrastructure and peddle dirt on their potential opponents. On the Republican side, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie are driving national discussions about ideology and governance. Still, there's a difference between running for president and ""running"" for president, even though it's sometimes difficult to tell the difference. Running for president requires hard work, an ungodly amount of fundraising effort, a professional team of advisers, polling, a paid media strategy, a voter contact operation and ballot access. See: Romney, Mitt. ""Running"" for president means doing a lot of interviews and delivering some well-timed lines in debates. See: Cain, Herman. Which category does Scott Brown fall under? For the moment, it would seem the latter. Looking at the 2016 GOP field, Christie probably has the Northeastern Republican lane all to himself, a prospect that would make it difficult for Brown to raise money. Before his Iowa trip, Brown met privately with Christie at the Republican National Committee's summer conference in Boston, a meeting first reported by the New York Times. Christie raised money for Brown several times during his Senate tenure, and, according to one Christie insider, the two are ""very friendly."" Then there's the fact that Brown, who supports some abortion rights, isn't exactly a hardliner on social issues that matter to so many Republican caucus-goers in Iowa. Even some of his former advisers aren't sure what he's up to. Eric Fehrnstrom, the media strategist who crafted Brown's truck-driving, regular-guy image during his stunning 2010 Senate upset, is not currently advising him, Republican sources told CNN. Asked by text message if he's serious about a presidential bid, one Republican who talks to Brown often responded: ""Who knows. You should call him and ask."" ""He's acting on his own, as far as I can tell,"" another onetime adviser said in an e-mail. But what if Brown takes off? What if he gains a toehold in New Hampshire, rises to high single digits in the polls sometime in 2015, and gets invited to some Republican primary debates? What if he rattles off a few good lines, has his moment in the sun, and then fades? He will have lost absolutely nothing -- but gained a spot on some vice presidential short lists along with a hike in his post-campaign speaking fees. Another Republican who has spoken with Brown recently isn't surprised by the sudden interest in the presidential spotlight. Brown, this person said, is a relentlessly enthusiastic guy who still takes great pride in capturing Ted Kennedy's old Senate seat. ""The fact that he is in Iowa doesn't surprise me,"" the Republican told CNN. ""In '16, it's not a bad idea to put your name out there and see where it takes you. He was enthusiastic about getting back in the national conversation. I could definitely anticipate this."""
"The former Rutgers University student convicted of spying on and intimidating his gay roommate was released from jail Tuesday after serving his sentence, a jail official said. Dharun Ravi, 20, was found guilty in May of invasion of privacy, witness tampering, hindering apprehension and bias intimidation. He left the Middlesex County Jail in North Brunswick, New Jersey, on Tuesday morning, according to Edmond Cicchi, warden of the Middlesex County Office of Adult Corrections. Ravi was released early after jail officials applied five days of good behavior and five days of work credit to his term, Cicchi said. Ravi's former roommate, 18-year-old Tyler Clementi, killed himself by jumping off a New York bridge after learning Ravi had secretly recorded Clementi and his partner with a webcam. While Ravi could have been sentenced to 10 years in prison, New Jersey Superior Judge Glenn Berman instead gave him a 30-day jail sentence, three years of probation and ordered him to complete 300 hours of community service aimed at assisting victims of bias crimes. The judge said he took Ravi's youth and his lack of a criminal record into consideration when handing down his sentence. Ravi began serving his term on May 31, two days after apologizing in a written statement for spying on Clementi. His lawyer filed a notice of appeal of his conviction earlier this month. On Monday, U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement said it would not deport Ravi to his native India. The agency is legally prohibited from deporting legal permanent residents unless they have been convicted of crimes such as an aggravated felony, domestic violence or drug or weapons offenses, a spokesman said."
"(CNN)New York may be a paradise of Zagat-rated, Michelin-starred restaurants, but some of its best food can be found on the streets. Hundreds of mobile eateries hawking gourmet global cuisine occupy corners across the city, alongside traditional hotdog vendors and halal carts. King of Falafel & Shawarma . Halal carts slinging styrofoam plates piled high with falafel, shawarma and rice are ubiquitous in New York, but you'll recognize ""the King"" by the seemingly endless line crowding the sidewalk beside it. Originally a Queens staple, the cart dominated the corner of 30th Street and Broadway in Astoria for almost a decade before it won the Vendy Award for New York's Best Street Food in 2010. Now, its second cart in Midtown Manhattan peddles its famous falafel and shawarma to the masses, in addition to meaty plates like the Freddy's Junior: chicken, kefta and basmati rice topped with chopped onion and doused liberally in tahini and chile sauce. King of Falafel & Shawarma; 53rd Street and Park Avenue; +1 718 838 8029 . Milk Truck . Bessie, Milk Truck's sunshine-yellow food truck, is a welcome sight for hungry New Yorkers during lunch hour. Every day, the truck's perpetually cheerful staff hawk classic American comfort foods like mac and cheese and turkey chili. The most popular item by far is the grilled cheese sandwich. There are three variations: the classic, the classic with onion and mustard, and a hearty three-cheese version with apple. Despite not having a regular location -- Bessie's daily whereabouts must be tracked online -- Milk Truck has become a fixture in the New York street food scene thanks to its fiercely loyal following. Milk Truck; locations vary; +1 646 233 3838 . Red Hook Lobster Pound food truck . New Yorkers don't need to go to New England for a good lobster roll. Thanks to Big Red, Red Hook Lobster Pound's lobster shack on wheels, they only need to walk to the curb. Rolls come Maine-style, served cold with mayo, or Connecticut-style, served warm with butter and lemon, each stuffed with a quarter pound of fresh Maine lobster. Despite a price tag high that's high for the streets -- $16 per roll at the time of writing -- the truck still sells between 300-400 rolls every two hours. Red Hook Lobster Pound Food Truck; locations vary; +1 718 858 7650 . Lumpia Shack . Though Lumpia Shack has recently upgraded to its own brick-and-mortar, its original location at Brooklyn's Smorgasburg street food market still remains. Lines form before the tiny street stall as early as 11 a.m. each Saturday for lumpia, crispy, Filipino-inspired spring rolls. Each roll is made using locally sourced ground pork, roasted duck or truffled adobo mushrooms, hand-rolled and then deep-fried. Unlike regular street food, Lumpia Shack's plating is restaurant quality: the lumpia are arranged artfully on a tray, drizzled with homemade sauce and garnished with pea shoots and pickled vegetables. Lumpia Shack; Smorgasburg at Kent Avenue and Wythe Avenue, Brooklyn; +1 917 475 1621 . Dirty water dogs . Sometimes it feels like almost every other Manhattan street corner is dressed with the ubiquitous blue and yellow striped Sabrett umbrella, under which you'll find New York's most iconic street food: the dirty water dog. Named after the warm, salty water it's soaked in, the hot frank is served in a soft bun (which sops up residual water) and then topped with ketchup, mustard, onions, relish and sauerkraut. It's neither sophisticated nor gourmet, but it's the quintessential New York food experience. Various locations . Solber Pupusas . Culinary heavyweights Anthony Bourdain, Marcus Samuelsson and Martha Stewart are all said to be fans of Vendy-winning Solber Pupusas, and it's no wonder. Husband and wife owners Rafael and Reina Soler-Bermudez (""Solber"" is a portmanteau of their last names) have been making the stuffed Salvadoran corn tortillas in their tiny mobile pupuseria for more than 15 years, selling more than 600 on a regular day. The signature platter comes loaded with two pupusas, tangy curtido, pickled jalapenos, tomato sauce and sour cream. Served on banana leaves with a tangy slaw, the Salvadoran tamales are also crowd favorites. Solber Pupusas; Brooklyn Flea Market at Lafayette Avenue and Vanderbilt Avenue, Brooklyn; +1 516 965 0214 . Calexico . Unlike California, New York isn't renowned for its Mexican food, but the city has stepped up its game in recent years, thanks in large part to Calexico. What started out as a lone taco cart in SoHo in 2006 -- one of New York's first -- has since grown into a fleet of carts across the city and a handful of brick-and-mortar locations. Its original SoHo cart remains its most popular location, still slinging soft corn tacos cradling slow-cooked chipotle pork, hearty bowls of jalapeno cheddar grits and burritos packed with beer-battered fish, beans, rice and Monterey Jack cheese. Calexico; Prince Street and Wooster Street; +1 646 590 4172 . Bolivian Llama Party . Traditional Bolivian street food staples can now be enjoyed on the streets of Brooklyn thanks to this popular Smorgasburg stall. Though saltenas -- crusty, empanada-like pastries filled with meat and vegetables --are easily its best-selling item, the chola slider is the real star here. The modern take on the humble sanduiche de chola comes stuffed with either pork or beef brisket and topped with hibiscus-pickled onions, carrots, kolla cheese and parsley. Bolivian Llama Party; Smorgasburg at Kent Avenue and Wythe Avenue, Brooklyn; +1 347 395 5481 . Breakfast cart bagels . New York boasts many terrific brick-and-mortar bagel shops, but you won't get a cheaper or more authentic breakfast than a bagel and coffee from a street cart. Every morning, locals file out of the subway and make a beeline for the nearest silver breakfast cart, whose narrow shelves are stocked high with bagels and pastries of every kind. Many pre-prepare their bagels for convenience, but most carts will make your bagel to order. Coffee, usually deli-quality, is served in small blue-and-white Anthora cups that have become as characteristic of New York as yellow cabs and dirty water dogs. Various locations ."
"(CNN) -- What would we lose if we lost 220,000 postal jobs (120,000 proposed through layoffs, 100,000 through attrition), 3,700 post offices, 300 mail processing plants, or even the post office itself? With millions of jobs and businesses lost to the recent recession, these may seem like just more numbers, or more seemingly inevitable ""facts"" -- that in the electronic age we now rely on the private sector to deliver public services. But postal workers are people we depend on and post offices are places we want to know will always be there. Downsizing the U.S Postal Service - -which is so low on money, it's in imminent danger of default -- may seem like a ripple in this troubled economy, but it promises to be a social tsunami if action isn't taken soon to save it. For one thing, the postal service has been a huge employer. Before I became a history professor I carried mail for the Postal Service for 20 years. As with many government jobs, you're hired for this one based on achieving a high score on a competitive exam. Veterans, roughly 20% of today's postal workforce (though once well over 50%) earn extra points on this exam, thus giving them a head start and a job to come home to after military service. Who were my co-workers? Just everyday people who, like me in 1980, were attracted to a job that had good benefits, job security, and started at $8.10 an hour. This was as a result of the 1970 nationwide postal wildcat strike that began in New York after postal workers declared they were tired of earning $2.95 an hour and having to work a second job or collect food stamps to make ends meet. In collecting oral histories for a book I later wrote on the postal service, I interviewed those who had worked before 1970, including those who struck. The postal worker's job could include processing mail as clerks and mail handlers, delivering it as letter carriers, driving it as truck drivers, and as maintenance workers keeping up the vehicles, buildings, and grounds. Above all, postal workers were proud of having a career serving the public. The job allowed many to move into the ranks of middle-class wage earners, where they were able to buy homes and send their children to college. But they were also members of extended families and community networks. Many started small businesses on the side, adopted foster children, were active in civic organizations, or enrolled in college classes. Their jobs mattered to communities. Postal jobs have especially played a key role in black community development. The post office has long been one of the largest employers of African-Americans. Even as they faced discrimination at other jobs, many found work there with college degrees or military service under their belts. By 1970, they had become twice as likely as whites to work for the post office, and even before the wage bump that year, the job had afforded them a middle-class status and the ability to accumulate wealth. Today the nation relies on a vast mailing industry that operates primarily for profit. But that network is underpinned by the U.S. Postal Service -- a self-supporting quasi-corporate government agency that remains committed to universal service by constitutional and congressional mandate. Many Americans may not realize that it was the Post Office that pioneered parcel post in 1916 in response to the overpriced, poor, and inconsistent service disaster that was private package delivery. Or that the USPS came up with the concept of overnight mail and zip codes that UPS and FedEx rely on so heavily in their business. Many don't make the connection that e-commerce not only competes with but also generates U.S. mail. Or that during the turn of this century -- the Postal Service's peak years of revenue and mail handling -- it was common to hear competitors and political ideologues calling for the agency's privatization, while at the same time blocking USPS innovations like the proposed 1997 Global Postal Link program to help expedite parcels through customs. Or that the post office is the victim of an artificial deficit created by the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, signed by President George W. Bush, which forces the Postal Service to pre-fund its retiree health benefits 75 years into the future over the next 10 years. What should have been annual revenue surpluses for the Postal Service over the last decade have instead contributed to nightmare annual deficits as it is forced to pay $5.5 billion a year out of operating funds to satisfy this unnecessary and devastating mandate. . We lose more than numbers when we lose postal jobs and post offices, or even the existence of a universal postal service. We lose more than just people committed to providing service, but also people engaged with their communities. People able to consume goods that others produce to help drive local economies. We would also lose the promise of jobs in the future that provide what has become a more dependable service over two centuries since the founding of this country (the post office was started in 1775). An alternative to this loss? People could demand that Congress treat the Postal Service as a venerable American institution worthy of fulfilling its enduring mandate, for which it has recruited generations of skilled and dedicated professional government employees. A good start would be H.R. 1351, introduced by Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Massachusetts, a bill that would at least allow the Postal Service to transfer surplus pension funds to satisfy the retiree health plan pre-fund requirement. And that pre-fund requirement ultimately needs to be repealed to keep the Postal Service from running off the rails. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Philip F. Rubio ."
"(CNN) -- The U.S. relationship with President Hosni Mubarak's Egypt is full of contradictions and tensions, according to recently published U.S. diplomatic cables, but is also underpinned by similar basic interests in a rough and unpredictable part of the world. A CNN analysis of secret and confidential cables published by WikiLeaks and its media partners reveals U.S. frustration with Mubarak's lack of succession planning, concerns over stuttering economic reform and private criticism of the Mubarak government's hard line toward domestic opponents. But the cables also show that Washington sees Egypt as an important and -- until now -- stable ally on issues, including Iran's nuclear program, promoting negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and making life difficult for Hamas in Gaza. And above all, Egypt is regarded as a moderate bulwark against Iranian-sponsored Islamist fundamentalism. The cables show that Mubarak has taken a persistently hard line toward Iran, telling U.S. diplomats in 2008 that he had warned Tehran ""not to provoke the Americans"" on the nuclear issue and insisting Egypt could never accept a nuclear-armed Iran. Mubarak has also repeatedly warned of Iran's influence with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and in a cable from February last year, was quoted as describing ""Tehran's hand moving with ease throughout the region, from the Gulf to Morocco."" A 2009 cable noted that with ""the discovery of a Hezbollah cell in Egypt, the Egyptians appear more willing to confront the Iranian surrogates and to work closely with Israel."" To that end, the cables describe the Mubarak government as a helpful partner in stopping smuggling into Gaza from Egypt. A cable from 2008 quoted a senior Egyptian military figure as stating that Egypt had spent approximately $40 million to purchase the steel for an underground wall on the Gaza border, ""and Egypt was paying the cost of this wall in terms of public opinion both within Egypt and the region."" There is no guarantee that any ""successor"" to the Mubarak government would take such a hard line with Hamas. For the U.S., the alliance between Egypt and Saudi Arabia has also been an important counterweight to growing Iranian influence on the ""Arab street"" and among states such as Syria and Qatar. Egyptian officials, from Mubarak down, have also repeatedly impressed upon visiting Americans -- military, diplomatic and Congressional -- that it alone among Arab states can play a mediating role between Israel and the Palestinians. [Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, and Mubarak has resisted popular opposition to it.] . Ahead of Mubarak's visit to Washington in May 2009, Ambassador Margaret Scobey wrote from Cairo that ""the Egyptians want the visit to demonstrate that Egypt remains America's indispensable ""Arab ally."" Scobey continued that Mubarak was ""a tried and true realist, innately cautious and conservative, and has little time for idealistic goals."" He viewed himself as ""someone who is tough but fair, who ensures the basic needs of his people."" At the same time, the Mubarak government has been very sensitive to any perceived slight from Washington. It has complained about cuts in U.S. economic aid and a stagnant level of military aid ""because it shows our diminished view of the value of our relationship"" according to one cable. On pressure to improve human rights, according to one cable from Scobey in 2009, ""Mubarak takes this issue personally, and it makes him seethe when we raise it, particularly in public."" In a later cable, she said that Mubarak ""harkens back to the Shah of Iran: the U.S. encouraged him to accept reforms, only to watch the country fall into the hands of revolutionary religious extremists."" The Egyptian president relied on his interior minister and intelligence service to ""keep the domestic beasts at bay, and Mubarak is not one to lose sleep over their tactics."" The U.S. cables display frustration with Mubarak's reluctance to address human rights issues, with one in 2008 saying: ""While Egypt has made some limited gains over the last several years, such as on freedom of the press, progress overall has been slow."" In a later cable, Scobey suggested the new U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton ""may wish to lay down a marker for a future discussion on democratization and human rights concerns."" But given Mubarak's sensitivities, the U.S. has trodden carefully in pressing the Egyptian government on human rights. A cable from 2009 said the United States now avoided ""the public confrontations that had become routine over the past several years"" over human rights. Over the past five years, the cables reveal a growing unease with the lack of a succession plan, and apprehension about the prospect of Mubarak's younger son, Gamal, taking over from his father. As far back as April 2006, one cable observed that Mubarak's wife, Suzanne, was their son's ""most ardent booster"" but added: ""The possibility that Gamal might succeed his father remains deeply unpopular on the street."" It adds that ""unlike his father, (Gamal) cannot take the military's support for granted,"" having never served as an officer. But the same cable laments the lack of obvious contenders to succeed the aging Mubarak -- a situation that appears to hold today. Scobey wrote in apparent frustration two years ago that Mubarak ""seems to be trusting to God and the ubiquitous military and civilian security services to ensure an orderly transition."" Recent events may have eroded that confidence, but one cable in 2007 pointed out that Egypt's internal security apparatus, ""an estimated 1.4 million strong, is at least twice the size it was under Sadat ... and makes any kind of violent change of leader unlikely."" That perspective is now being challenged -- and the role of the military may be critical in deciding the outcome. A cable from 2008 cites Egyptian experts as describing a ""disgruntled mid-level officer corps"" with military salaries falling far behind the civilian sector and the top brass averse to Gamal succeeding his father. Egyptian commentators also noted that many officers were frustrated that loyalty to the regime trumped competence, and that the best military talent was sidelined in case it should pose a threat to the government. Even so, one cable concludes: ""The military still remains a potent political and economic force."" After discussing whether the military might step in to prevent Mubarak from passing the baton to his son, the cable concludes: ""In a messier succession scenario, however, it becomes more difficult to predict the military's actions."""
"(CNN) -- No play can begin in a baseball game until the pitcher throws the ball. And no play can conclude until the umpire makes the call. ""We're not just robots they send out there,"" umpire Tim McClelland (2nd from L) told author Bruce Weber. Yet these figures -- the man on the mound and the men who stand in judgment -- are vastly different in importance to the average fan. There are countless children who dream of becoming a major-league pitcher. He is, literally, the king of the hill. Umpires? Almost nobody dreams of becoming an umpire. And yet the positions share a number of similarities, according to two new books: ""As They See 'Em"" (Scribner), by New York Times writer Bruce Weber, and ""The Complete Game"" (Knopf), by former major-league pitcher (and current New York Mets broadcaster) Ron Darling. Both jobs require a great deal of command, neither gets enough training, and both are often disrespected by others in the game. Indeed, despite a library of books by and about pitchers (Jim Bouton's ""Ball Four,"" Jim Brosnan's ""The Long Season,"" Christy Mathewson's ""Pitching in a Pinch""), Darling said he believes that people still don't understand what it takes to stand on that mound. ""Within baseball circles there is a common baseball axiom, 'If pitchers weren't so stupid, hitters would never get a hit,' "" he said in an e-mail. ""Of course, I knew this was a fallacy so I decided to write about the travails of major league pitchers. Throwing a ball 95 mph to tin cup-sized quadrants sounds pretty difficult to me, and I wanted to express this to the reader."" Umpires, on the other hand, rarely get written about at all -- in fact, they're often treated as less than human. (""The owners basically see them like bases,"" former baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent told Weber. ""They say, 'We need a base; we need an umpire; same thing.' "") Weber found a fraternity (and they are almost all men) much like cops or soldiers: tight-lipped believers in baseball law and order. Weber immersed himself in the ""land of umpires,"" as the book's subtitle calls it, attending umpiring school, calling games at various levels of pro ball and talking with those who were willing -- including the legendary Doug Harvey, who was called ""God"" for his imperious demeanor. What he found is that what looks so obvious on television at home is often a challenge on the field, a matter not just of eyesight but positioning, rule-book knowledge and basic guts. ""That's really what [being an umpire] is about -- is being in charge,"" he said. ""If there's anything that characterizes the major league umpire, it's that special kind of chutzpah."" Umpires need that presence because they're often baseball's most disrespected men. Aside from the vitriol they face -- the managers kicking dirt, the spectators yelling ""Kill the ump"" -- they're second-guessed by broadcasters and barely tolerated by management, as Weber reveals in detailing the episodes preceding and following the 1999 umpires' strike. And yet Major League Baseball doesn't participate in umpire training or development, entrusting it to two umpire-run private schools, Weber observes. (MLB does run an annual umpire camp.) Darling echoes Weber's concerns in his own field, pitching. In these days of strict pitch counts and injury concern, pitchers are ""undertrain[ed],"" he says, noting that top draft choices climb the ranks ""never allowed to throw more than 110 pitches."" That leaves them at a disadvantage when they have to go deeper into a game or cope with a tough inning, he says. ""It would be like training for the marathon and never running more than 5 miles,"" he says. ""Identifying and preserving million-dollar arms are [the purview] of doctors, not baseball people."" Darling's book is a chronicle of pitchers' thought processes, using individual innings from his pitching or broadcasting career to make his point. He talks about panic overtaking a pitcher, as it did for Darling in a 1984 game in which he got pasted by the Cubs; he also addresses the rush of pitching in a World Series game and -- in a treat for baseball fans -- goes over the extra innings in perhaps the most famous college baseball game ever, a 1981 extra-inning contest that Darling's Yale Bulldogs lost to Frank Viola's St. John's Redmen, 1-0. He says he remembered the games vividly. ""I definitely watched tapes and read box scores, but I was very clear on almost all the minutiae of the good old days. A little scary and maybe a major personality flaw!"" Pitchers get more support than umpires, of course. Darling observes that the relationship between a pitcher and his catcher during a well-pitched game ""is one of sport's most beautiful dances. I would not have said it when I was playing, but after a shutout ... there is a love for that person immediately after the process. You did something together that could not have been done alone, and nobody can understand what you went through to get there."" Umpires, too, take pride in their best moments, though few pay attention outside their fellow umpires. More common is to be vilified for missed calls. Weber devotes a moving passage in his book to a conversation with the retired Don Denkinger, a 29-year veteran remembered by fans (if he's remembered at all) for a wrong call in the 1985 World Series. Though time has dulled the pain, ""I think he lives with [that call] every day,"" Weber said. ""When a dreadful thing happens to you in front of so many people and you become famous for it, it must be devastating."" Weber says his time with umpires has made him much more sympathetic to their judgmental tasks. When watching games now, the Yankees fan says, he'll focus on the umpires. ""I just think umpiring is interesting. People hate 'em, and they somehow perceive of umpiring as a flaw in the game, but I don't,"" he said. ""Now I'm always interested who the umpires are."" Which is a point the umpires would appreciate. ""Umpires are people, too,"" veteran ump Tim McClelland told Weber. ""We have families; we have emotions. ... Somebody says, 'Kill the umpire,' and people go, 'Heh, heh, that's funny,' but in order to do that, you have to disassociate the umpire from the person. ""We're human. We're not just robots they send out there."""
"President Barack Obama signed an executive order Monday banning federal contractors from discriminating against employees on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Despite calls from religious leaders, faith-based groups will not be exempt. ""Thanks to your passion and advocacy and the irrefutable rightness of your cause, our government -- a government of the people, by the people and for the people -- will become just a little bit fairer,"" Obama said. Gay federal workers are already protected from workplace discrimination by a Clinton-era order and Obama's action extended the protections to shield workers from gender identity-based discrimination. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which joined a coalition of nearly 100 civil rights and LGBT groups urging Obama to reject calls for a religious exemption, thanked him for taking action. It said he made the ""right call"" for not tagging any religious exemptions to the document. ""Faith-based groups that tap the public purse should play by the same rules as everyone else and not expect special treatment,"" the group's executive director, Rev. Barry Lynn, said in a statement. ""No forms of discrimination should be supported with the taxpayer dime, period."" Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, was in the room as Obama signed the order and said it was an emotional moment. ""There are now millions of LGBT people and their families who are just going to sleep a little bit easier tonight knowing that they can't be fired from their jobs as federal contractors,"" she said. During the ceremony, which comes 50 years after President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Obama also recalled the history of executive actions and legislation to ban discrimination in the workplace and ""make sure we the people applies to all the people."" Senate passes LGBT anti-discrimination bill . But Obama's signature on Monday did not touch a 2002 executive order signed by President George W. Bush that allows religious groups to weigh prospective employees' faith in hiring decisions. This gave some opponents of the order hope that they could continue to consider sexual orientation in hiring decisions. One of those opponents, Stephen Schneck, director of the Institute for Policy Research & Catholic Studies at The Catholic University of America, said he was disappointed by Obama's decision regarding the religious exemption. But he suggested that religious groups could still rely on the 2002 order. ""I believe the administration has left open a path that religious groups can work with,"" Schneck said. Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, had stronger words for Obama and worried that the Bush-era executive order would leave out some faith-based groups. ""While we don't know the full implications of this executive order, I am disappointed that this administration persistently violates the freedom of conscience for religious organizations that provide necessary relief for the poor and endangered,"" Moore said. ""The ones hurt will be the most vulnerable in our society."" Obama's executive action extends protections against sexual-based discrimination to employees of federal contractors operating outside of the 21 states and the District of Columbia that enacted their own non-discrimination legislation. Obama also noted that a majority of Fortune 500 companies have policies in place against discrimination based on sexual orientation. The action is not the first time Obama has used his presidential powers to benefit the LGBT community. In 2010, he signed an order extending benefits to same-sex partners of executive branch employees already provided to opposite-sex partners. But on the federal legislative level, LGBT groups have struggled to enact similar legislation. The Senate passed a bill barring LGBT discrimination in the fall. But the measure, which exempted religious groups from the would-be-law, did not make it to the House floor where Republicans opposed it. And attendees greeted Obama's call to continue applying pressure to ""resolve this problem once and for all"" with one resounding word: ""Amen."" Supreme Court rules against Obama in contraception case ."
"Editor's note: This is an excerpt from the February issue of National Geographic magazine. You can read the full story here. (National Geographic) -- Miles from the main roads, in rural Africa, soccer balls bounce unevenly. Playing fields are arid, lush, weedy, sandy—any flattish space will do. Goalposts might be made of gathered mahogany or driftwood. Some feet are bare, others shod in fraying sneakers, boots, rubber sandals. Yet children kick and chase handmade, lopsided balls with skill and abandon, competing for pride and joy—for the sheer pleasure of playing. Has the ""beautiful game"" ever been lovelier? Jessica Hilltout doesn't think so. In 2010, when the World Cup came to Africa for the first time, the Belgium-based photographer set out to see what soccer looked like far from the bright lights and big stadiums. What she found—over seven months, ten countries, and 12,500 miles—was a grassroots game where passion trumped poverty, a do-it-yourself ethic prospered, and one ball could ""bring happiness to an entire village."" In the 30-odd soccer-loving localities she visited, in countries from South Africa to Ivory Coast, balls are spun into being with whatever's at hand: rag or sock, tire or bark, plastic bag or inflated condom. Each might last days or months on a field of gravel or hard earth. Wherever Hilltout went, she swapped the store-bought balls she kept in her car for these ""ingenious little jewels,"" most of which were made by children. Read the whole story at Nationalgeographic.com. Are you a soccer lover who has improvised a game or its implements? Share your experiences in the comments section below."
"(CNN) -- The International Olympic Committee has reinstated India, allowing its athletes to once again compete under their country's flag after a ban of more than a year. The reinstatement raises to 89 the number of countries and territories participating in the Sochi Games. ""It is the first time in Olympic history that a suspension of an NOC (National Olympic Committee) has been lifted during an Olympic Games,"" the IOC said in a statement Tuesday. The decision means that Indian athletes can now compete for India's Olympic committee and walk behind their national flag at the closing ceremony of the Winter Games in Sochi on 23 February, the statement said. At the opening ceremony last week, India's delegation of three athletes had marched under an IOC flag. India was suspended from the Olympic fold in December 2012 after the Indian Olympic Association elected Lalit Bhanot, who spent 11 months in jail on corruption charges, to a top post. The situation remained deadlocked for months, as the Indian association refused to bow to the IOC's demands for changes. But the IOC said Tuesday that it had ended the suspension following the Indian association's general assembly and elections for a new board on Sunday. An IOC delegation that observed the elections reported that they complied with the requirement that ""no person convicted or charge-framed can run for a position within the organization."" Narayna Ramachandran, the president of the World Squash Federation, was voted in as the new president of the Indian association. ""To symbolically mark the lifting of the suspension and in recognition of the three Indian athletes competing in Sochi, the Indian flag will be raised in the Olympic Village,"" the IOC said Tuesday. India responded positively to the announcement. ""I am happy that suspension is over and now Indian teams and players will take part in the International events under the national flag,"" said Vijay Kumar Malhotra, the former acting president of Indian Olympic Association. CNN's Harmeet Shah Singh and Khushbu Shah contributed to this report."
"(Mother Nature Network) -- Mother's Day poems come in all shapes and sizes. Many address the poet's memories of his mother. Others describe the poet's gratitude for his mother. Some are very short. Some are very long. Sometimes the mother-child relationship is complicated and the poet discusses the good times along with the bad. Other times, it's a straightforward message of love and gratitude. If nothing else, the poet almost always acknowledges the significant role a mother plays in the lives of her children. Needless-to-say, with Mom being portrayed so many different ways in poetry, there are several avenues for approaching a selection of poems appropriate for Mother's Day. Well, we're here to help you. Here's a list of selected works to get you started with Mother's Day poems: . Mother Nature Network: Mother's Day song guide . ""To My Mother"" by Robert Louis Stevenson . The Scottish poet evokes childhood memories in this four-line ode to Mom. It appeared ""A Child's Garden of Verses,"" a collection of 65 poems by Stevenson first published in 1885 under the title ""Penny Whistles."" You too, my mother, read my rhymes For love of unforgotten times, And you may chance to hear once more The little feet along the floor. ""Kaddish"" by Allen Ginsberg . Ginsberg, one of the leading voices of the Beat Generation, wrote this lengthy poem following the 1956 death of his mother. It was published as part of a collection, ""Kaddish and Other Poems: 1958-1960."" Its title refers to the traditional Jewish prayer recited during times of mourning. ""To My Mother"" by Christina Rosetti . Rosetti, a 19th century English poet best known for her lengthy poem called ""Goblin's Market,"" wrote this short piece about her mother in 1842: . To-day's your natal day; Sweet flowers I bring: Mother, accept, I pray My offering. And may you happy live, And long us bless; Receiving as you give Great happiness. Mother Nature Network: Kids' Mother's Day crafts projects . ""Thanking My Mother for Piano Lessons"" by Diane Wakoski . Wakoski, a contemporary poet who counts Allen Ginsberg among her influences, writes of the ""beauty that can come from even an ugly past"" in this poem that recounts, among other things, the financial struggles her mother accepted in order to make sure she could pay for her child's piano lessons. ""Mother o' Mine"" by Rudyard Kipling . The Nobel laureate, who lived from 1865 to 1936, wrote about the undying love of a mother in this 11-line poem: . If I were hanged on the highest hill, Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine! I know whose love would follow me still, Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine! If I were drowned in the deepest sea, Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine! I know whose tears would come down to me, Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine! If I were damned of body and soul, I know whose prayers would make me whole, Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine! ""Mother to Son"" by Langston Hughes . This lesser-known piece by the Harlem Renaissance writer takes the perspective of the mother speaking to her son and telling him that ""Life for me ain't been no crystal stair."" It can be found in ""The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes."" ""What I Learned From My Mother"" by Julia Kasdorf . Kasdorf is the second contemporary poet on our list. She talks about how her mother taught her to comfort those in mourning, to offer healing and ""the blessing of your voice, your chaste touch."" Do you have a favorite Mother's Day poem? Let us know in the comments below. © Copyright 2010 Mother Nature Network ."
"LONDON, England (CNN) -- When Danish auteur Lars von Trier presented his gothic thriller, ""Antichrist"" at Cannes Film Festival last month, it was greeted with cat-calls, jeers and, at times, disbelieving laughter. Danish auteur Lars von Trier has been making films that shock, provoke and impress for over 40 years. Filmmakers are expected to give audiences a hard time at Cannes and the two-hander starring Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg as a couple grieving the loss of a child is no exception. But it was the level of pornographic sex and visceral brutality that outraged some and astonished many. Von Trier was labeled a woman-hater for the wince-inducingly horrific final scene in which female lead Charlotte Gainsbourg takes a pair of rusty scissors to her genitals and performs a DIY clitoridectomy right to camera. An Ecumenical Jury that normally hands out a prize at Cannes celebrating spiritual values felt moved to award ""Antichrist"" an ""anti-prize"" for being ""the most misogynist movie from the self-proclaimed biggest director in the world."" ""Lars von Trier, we get it,"" wrote film critic Wendy Ide in UK paper The Times. ""You really, really don't like women."" Misogyny couldn't be further from the truth, according to Von Trier, who says he sees himself up there on the screen: ""I mostly see myself as the female character,"" the 53-year-old director told CNN in Cannes. Do you think that Lars von Trier is a woman-hater? Tell us below in the SoundOff box . The director says that he shot the film as a form of therapy after recovering from a serious mental illness. Indeed, a few years ago, it was questionable whether von Trier, who is famously multi-phobic, would be able to make another film. In the winter of 2006, he fell victim to depression and checked into hospital, the aftermath of which left him ""like a blank sheet of paper,"" he told Danish paper Politiken at the time. Today, if not fully recovered -- the most terrifying thing he can think of is still ""myself"" -- he is able to function once more and is receiving cognitive behavioral therapy to help him face up to his psychological issues. Despite, or perhaps because of, what he describes as his ""sensitive"" nature, von Trier is one of today's great contemporary European auteurs, considered responsible for spearheading a revival in the fortunes of Scandinavian filmmaking. ""I think that if you are, shall we say, sensitive, then there is a good side and a bad side about it,"" said von Trier. ""The good side is that you can sometimes achieve something creatively. But, of course, it always also allows some of these negative thoughts in.""  Watch Lars von Trier talking to CNN's The Screening Room about ""Antichrist"" » . He has been nominated for the top prize at Cannes, the Palme D'Or, a staggering eight times, winning once in 2000 for the harrowing operatic tragedy, ""Dancer in the Dark,"" starring Icelandic musician, Bjork, who also took home the Best Actress prize that year. It is rumored Bjork became so unhinged filming ""Dancer in the Dark"" she ate her own cardigan. Von Trier claimed each morning she would say ""Mr von Trier, I despise you,"" and spit at him.  In pictures: The wierd world of Lars von Trier » . Von Trier has a reputation for being tough on his actors. His friend and long-time collaborator, actor Stellan Skarsgard describes von Trier as ""not uncomplex."" ""I was scared,"" admitted Gainsbourg who won Best Actress at Cannes for her performance. ""I had heard stories about him as a director ... maybe he's cruel and vicious."" But she now describes him as her ""guide"" and ""the greatest director I've ever worked with."" Fueled by his unconventional approach and upbringing, the mythology surrounding von Trier looms large over everything he touches. Brought up in Copenhagen by bohemian parents who were committed nudists, he suffers from crippling bouts of agoraphobia; and, most famously, a fear of flying. Each visit to Cannes involves a five-day road trip from Denmark to the French Riviera by camper van. He has an undeniable egotistical streak: this year at Cannes, he declared, ""I am the best filmmaker in the world,"" and in 1991, when displeased that Cannes jury president Roman Polanski had only awarded ""Europa"" the runner-up Grand Prix prize, he called him a ""dwarf."" He also seems to actively court controversy: 1998 Palme D'Or contender ""Dogme #2: The Idiots"" grabbed headlines for being the first commercial film to show non-simulated sex on screen, and for von Trier's typically eccentric claim that the best way to prepare actors for sex scenes is to direct in the nude. But, von Trier says, he has always taken a deeply personal approach to the experimental, often dark and challenging works that he creates. He says he finds it difficult to know how to satisfy the needs of others with his films and so works only for himself. ""I feel very strongly for satisfying, maybe not my own needs, but my own idea of the film and the images that come from within,"" he told CNN. ""If I didn't follow my instinct, then I can't work."""
"(CNN) -- An American woman died aboard a cruise ship that docked at Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday, the same ship on which 86 passengers previously fell ill, according to the state-run Brazilian news agency, Agencia Brasil. The American tourist died aboard the MS Veendam, owned by cruise operator Holland America. Federal Police told Agencia Brasil that forensic doctors were investigating her death. The ship's doctors told police that the woman was elderly and suffered from diabetes and hypertension, according the agency. The other passengers came down with diarrhea prior to her death during an earlier part of the trip, the ship's doctors said. The Veendam left New York 36 days ago for a South America tour."
"(CNN) -- The Army sergeant who admitted to gunning down 16 civilians in a 2012 rampage through two villages near his outpost in southern Afghanistan is expected to take the stand at his sentencing hearing and will apologize. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales pleaded guilty in June to more than 30 criminal charges, including 16 premeditated murder counts. The plea spares the 39-year-old Bales the prospect of a death sentence in the killings. He now faces life in prison, but a jury of four officers and two enlisted personnel will decide whether he will have a chance at parole. ""Yes, Bob will take (the) stand ... Yes, Bob will apologize,"" Bales' lawyer, John Henry Browne said in an e-mail to CNN. Bales admitted to slipping away from his outpost in southern Afghanistan and going on a house-to-house killing spree in two nearby villages in March 2012, a massacre that further strained ties between American troops and their Afghan allies. Afghanistan shootings Fast Facts . But he has not offered an explanation for his actions. ""I've asked that question a million times since then. There's not a good reason in the world for the horrible things I did,"" Bales said when he pleaded guilty, according to Drew Mikkelson of CNN affilliate KING, who was tweeting from the courtroom. Mikkelson also tweeted from the sentencing hearing, which began this week at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, near Tacoma, Washington. So far, a number of Afghan civilians have taken the stand for the prosecution to talk about what they saw and survived. Haji Mohammed Wazir lost 11 relatives -- his wife, mother, two brothers, a 13-year-old nephew and six of his seven children -- according to KING. ""My life has never been the same,"" Wazir told the jury. It's been more than a year since the massacre, but Wazir said: ""I feel like it's happening right now,"" the affiliate reported. KING's Mikkelson tweeted that a 12-year-old boy who survived the rampage testified about seeing his father and sister get shot. Another witness broke down on the stand and cried out: ""For God's sake, don't ask me any more questions,"" Mikkelson wrote. In addition to the murder counts, Bales pleaded guilty to six counts of attempted murder, seven of assault and the use of illicit steroids and alcohol. He pleaded not guilty to a charge of obstruction of justice. Bales is a member of the Army's 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, an element of the 2nd Infantry Division. His attorneys have said the service made a mistake in assigning Bales to another combat tour despite evidence of post-traumatic stress disorder and a traumatic brain injury suffered during a combat tour in Iraq. CNN's Matt Smith contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Could search crews be just a few hundred feet from solving a mystery that has riveted millions for 76 years? That's the question raised by tantalizing evidence published this week by teams trying to find out what happened to famed aviator Amelia Earhart, who vanished along with navigator Fred Noonan during a doomed attempt to fly around the world in 1937. Yet that evidence has been met with skepticism in some quarters. Debate about the mystery gained new currency this week after researchers publicized images recorded by search teams scanning the ocean floor nearly a year ago near Nikumaroro Island in the South Pacific. The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery raised the prospect of a big break in the case by publishing an image online. It showed something -- hard for the layman to size up -- on the ocean floor. The group said, ""It's the right size, it's the right shape and it's in the right place."" Could it really be a piece of Earhart's Lockheed Electra plane? Louise Foudray, caretaker and historian of the Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum in Atchison, Kansas, chose her words carefully on Friday afternoon. ""We don't want to shrug off the hard work anyone is doing. We do like the idea that people are still interested,"" she said. ""But we're skeptical."" Opinion: Will mystery of Earhart be solved? She said there have been other theories that have emerged. One is that Earhart's plane was forced down by the Japanese around the Marshall Islands. Another is that Earhart secretly returned to the United States and the government gave her a new identity. There are people out there who buy those theories. But in reality, Foudray said, ""no one has yet to come up with anything conclusive."" It wasn't until March that one analyst made a possible connection to Earhart in an online forum for the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery. The group said experts have offered various interpretations. Some think the sonar image could be a man-made object, and others say it could be a geologic feature. Earhart: The evidence we almost lost . ""So did (last summer's) expedition actually succeed in locating the wreckage of the world's most famous missing airplane? Or is this sonar target just a coral rock or ridge?"" the organization says on its website. ""Of course we're not going to know until we can get back out there, but until then the anomaly is worth close study."" Richard Fredricks, executive director of the American Salvage Association, a trade group, said that ""almost anything is possible"" these days with advanced technology. And that includes locating a lost airplane. He cited technology such as side-scan sonar and magnetometers but said finding a lost plane such as the Earhart craft is ""more a function of funding than technology."" Money is needed to invest in expeditions, he said. The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery on its website is asking for contributions to continue its work. Foudray said she's heard all of the evidence and nothing solid has risen to the surface. And that includes the latest foray into the South Pacific deep. ""We don't expect anything,"" she said. Photo may be key to finding what happened to aviator ."
"(CNN) -- Alexandre Vinokourov claimed Kazakhstan's first medal at the London Olympics with gold in Saturday's men's cycling road race. Much fancied home favorite Mark Cavendish finished a disappointing 29th as the British team struggled to meet pre-race expectations. Colombia's Rigoberto Uran took the silver, while bronze went to Alexander Kristoff from Norway. The 38-year-old Vinokourov, who served a two-year ban for blood doping between 2007 and 2009, announced after the race that he may retire from the sport after Wednesday's cycling time trial. ""I will still race in the time trial on Wednesday but I have the gold medal I wanted and after that I will consider retiring,"" said the Kazakh cyclist. World champion Cavendish had been strongly tipped to finally claim the Olympic medal that had eluded him at the 2008 Games in Beijing, where he was the only member of Britain's track cycling team to return from the games without a medal. Despite the British team having control of the peloton throughout the race, they struggled to close the gap on the lead group and Cavendish was nowhere in sight as Vinokourov out sprinted Uran to the finish line in front of Buckingham Palace. ""There was a group of 22 who got away and we couldn't pull them back,"" said Cavendish. ""I can be proud of how the lads rode. They have got nothing left in the tank. Cavendish's hopes appeared to have been boosted when rival Swiss sprinter Fabian Cancellara crashed, but the peloton could not close on the leading group. With just under 10km to the finish line -- and a handy time advantage of 50 seconds -- the leading pack looked to be preparing for a sprint finish, but Uran made a break for it, and surprisingly Vinokourov was the only rider to respond. As the two riders rounded the final corner, the Kazakh made the most of his rival slowing to look back to check for pursuers and launched a sprint to the line. It was quickly clear that the Colombian had no answer to the Kazakh's attack and Vinokourov had a big enough lead to ride across the line with his arms aloft."
"(CNN) -- A rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo killed at least 321 civilians and abducted 250 others -- including at least 80 children -- in a previously unreported rampage late last year, Human Rights Watch said in a report released Saturday. The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) carried out the brutal campaign in northeastern Congo over four days in December, the report said. LRA forces attacked at least 10 villages from December 14 to 17, killing and abducting hundreds of civilians -- including women and children, according to Human Rights Watch. LRA combatants tied up villagers in the nation's remote Makombo area and hacked them to death with machetes or crushed their skulls with axes and heavy wooden sticks, the report said. Most of those killed were adult men, but at least 13 women and 23 children were among the dead -- including a 3-year-old girl who was burned to death, according to Human Rights Watch. The LRA also killed those they abducted who walked too slowly or tried to escape, Human Rights Watch said. According to those who managed to escape, children captured by the LRA were forced to kill other children who had disobeyed the LRA's rules, the report said. In numerous cases, children were ordered to surround the victim in a circle and take turns beating the child on the head with a large wooden stick until the child died, the report said. ""The Makombo massacre is one of the worst ever committed by the LRA in its bloody 23-year history, yet it has gone unreported for months,"" said Anneke Van Woudenberg, a senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. ""The four-day rampage demonstrates that the LRA remains a serious threat to civilians and is not a spent force, as the Ugandan and Congolese governments claim."" CNN could not independently confirm the massacre. Human Rights Watch said that the roughly 1,000 United Nations peacekeeping troops in LRA-affected parts of northeastern Congo are insufficient to protect civilians. The peacekeeping force is considering removing some troops from the area under pressure from the Congolese government, a move Human Rights Watch warned against on Saturday. The U.N. Security Council is planning to visit Congo in mid-April to discuss the peacekeeping force's plans for withdrawal and the protection of civilians, Human Rights Watch said. The Congolese government denies that the LRA is still a serious threat in the country, which may have contributed to the absence of reports about the December massacre, Human Rights Watch said. ""We have been forgotten,"" an 80-year-old Congolese man whose son was killed during the massacre told Human Rights Watch. ""It's as if we don't exist."" ""The government says the LRA are no longer a problem, but I know that's not true,"" he said. ""I beg of you, please talk to others about what has happened to us."" The LRA is led by self-declared mystic and prophet Joseph Kony, who claims his insurgency -- which began in 1986 -- is aimed at replacing Uganda's government, led by President Yoweri Museveni, with a democracy based on the Bible's Ten Commandments. After being pushed out of Uganda in 2005, the LRA now operates in the remote border area between southern Sudan, Congo, and Central African Republic. In 2005, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for senior LRA leaders for crimes they committed in northern Uganda, but those indicted remain at large. The two commanders who perpetrated the December massacre report to one of those indicted leaders, according to Human Rights Watch. The Makombo massacre is the deadliest documented attack by the LRA since killing sprees around Christmas 2008 left scores of Congolese dead, but dozens of other attacks against civilians have been carried out in other areas in recent months, Human Rights Watch said."
"(CNN) -- World number one Caroline Wozniacki suffered another morale-sapping defeat at the French Open as she was dumped out by 28th seed Daniela Hantuchova. The Dane, who is yet to win a Grand Slam tournament, was beaten 6-1 6-3 in just 73 minutes to extend her miserable run at Roland Garros. Her best performance in Paris was reaching the quarterfinals in 2009 and she struggled against Hantuchova, from Slovakia, who was competing in her 41st major. Hantuchova reeled off nine straight games to seal the opening set and take a commanding lead in the second but Woznaicki offered herself hope when she secured her first break to reduce the deficit to 4-2. But Hantuchova held serve twice to seal one of the biggest victories of her career and set up a meeting with 2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the last 16, after she beat Canadian Rebecca Marino 6-0 6-4. ""She played very well today, better than me for sure,"" Wozniacki told a press conference. ""She knew what she wanted to do and I need to get back on the court and practice and come back stronger. ""Kim had a tough loss yesterday and I had a tough loss today and that's what can happen. Since we are number one and two we must be doing something right. ""I am young and I get experience every time and you learn more from your losses than from your wins."" After Wozniacki's exit, and Kim Clijsters defeat on Thursday, the trend for upsets continued as Australian 8th seed Samantha Stosur was beaten by unseeded Gisela Dulko. The Argentine set the tone by taking the first four games of the match, and though she dropped the second set, Stosur's 35 unforced errors counted as Dulko wrapped up the match. Afterwards, she told a press conference she was dedicating her victory to her brother's twins, Myla and Teo, who were born overnight. ""Yesterday night I was awake really late,"" she said. ""You know, it was very emotional, because I would have loved to be there, but I'm here. The key to the match was to start well, to be aggressive from the start,"" Stosur added: ""She seemed to be out ahead a little bit better and really kind of be the one dictating the points, which, for me, I'm usually the one able to do that."" Elsewhere, defending champion and fifth seed, Francesca Schiavone, from Italy, had no such trouble making the fourth round after her Chinese opponent Shuai Peng retired hurt with the score at 6-3 1-2. Russian third seed Vera Zvonareva beat Anastasia Rodionova, from Austria, 6-2 6-3 and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the 14th seed, triumphed over Nuria Llagostera Vives, from Spain, 3-6 6-3 6-3. Serb Jelena Jankovic, the 10th seed, beat Bethanie Mattek-Sands, from the United States, 6-2 6-2, while 11th seed Marion Bartoli, from France, beat Julia Goerges, from Germany, 3-6 6-2 6-4."
"(CNN) -- Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has survived another attempt to oust her from the job after no challengers emerged to vie for the leadership of the governing party and the country. In a short statement after the vote, Gillard said she accepted the support of her colleagues ""with a sense of deep humility and a sense of resolve."" She said that leadership uncertainty that had been blighting the party in recent months was settled ""in the most conclusive fashion possible."" One hundred Labor caucus members had been due to vote, but in the end, no votes were cast because there were no candidates beyond Gillard for prime minister, and Wayne Swan as her deputy. ""There was no vote because there were no opposing candidates,"" said ALP returning officer Chris Hayes. ""It puts beyond doubt the question of leadership in the Australian Labor Party,"" he added. Minutes before the meeting of Australian Labor Party (ALP) caucus members, former leader Kevin Rudd made it clear that he would not be pitting himself against his former rival. ""I'm not prepared to dishonor my word,"" he told reporters. He was referring to comments he made last February after mounting an unsuccessful bid to depose Gillard. At the time he said he wouldn't try again. Rudd lost that poll 31 to Gillard's 71, but the decisive vote failed to end speculation about a leadership challenge amid a poor performance by the prime minister in public polls. Gillard called the vote for 4:30 p.m. local time (1:30 a.m. ET) after being pushed by long-time Labor minister Simon Crean. Crean called a press conference and dramatically challenged Rudd to stand up and bring an end to bitter infighting. ""I don't want any more games, I'm sick to death of it, it's about time he stood up and instead of having his camp leak things, actually have the courage of his conviction and his beliefs,"" Crean said. Before the vote, Crean said he wouldn't be nominating himself as leader, but would take the job of deputy. Until Thursday, he was Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government, and Minister for the Arts. An uneasy tension has existed between Rudd and Gillard since his former deputy staged a successful bid to replace him in June 2010. Soon after, she assigned him to the post of foreign minister. Gillard reinforced her claim to power by winning a general election in August 2010. However the vote produced the first hung parliament in Australia since 1940. The Welsh-born politician secured enough support from the Australian Greens Party, and independents, to form a minority government. However last month, the Greens pulled their support, with leader Christine Milne accusing the Gillard government of ''walking away from its agreement with the Greens and into the arms of the big miners.'' The parties clashed over a number of issues, not least a controversial mining tax and a move by the government to reject World Heritage Listing for the Tarkine wilderness in north west Tasmania. In January, Gillard surprised the country by calling an election for September 14, the longest lead time for an Australian election in history. At the time, experts warned the tactic could backfire."
"(CNN) -- Ryan Alexander Jenkins, a reality TV contestant suspected in his wife's slaying, was found hanging from a coat rack in a motel room in an apparent suicide, according to Canadian officials. Police were hunting for Ryan Alexander Jenkins after the death of Jasmine Fiore. Staff at a motel in Hope, British Columbia, found Jenkins dead, officials said. ""It was a man hanging by a belt from a coat rack,"" Kevin Walker, the manager of the budget Thunderbird Motel, told CNN affiliate CTV on Sunday. Walker said a woman, about 20 to 25 years old, dropped off Jenkins at the motel on Friday in a silver Chrysler PT Cruiser with Alberta tags. Police have not been able to identify the woman.  Watch how suspect found in hotel » . Earlier Sunday, Canadian authorities said they had credible information that Jenkins was in Canada and called on him to turn himself in. He was believed to be armed and dangerous.  Watch what led police to hotel room » . The nude body of Jenkins' wife, former swimsuit model Jasmine Fiore, was found last weekend in Orange County, California. CNN has not confirmed reports that the marriage was annulled. Fiore's body was found last Saturday in a Dumpster behind an apartment complex in Buena Park, just outside Anaheim, California. Her teeth had been extracted and fingers removed in what police said was an apparent attempt to conceal her identity. Law enforcement sources have told CNN that Fiore was identified through the serial numbers on her breast implants. Fiore lived in Los Angeles and was last seen alive in San Diego at a poker game with Jenkins, the night before the body was found. Jenkins reported Fiore missing last Saturday night to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, authorities said. The body was identified Monday as Fiore. While the cause of death had not been confirmed, a preliminary coroner's report indicated she was strangled. According to court records in Las Vegas, Nevada, Jenkins was charged in June with battery for allegedly striking Fiore in the arm with his fist. And in 2007, Jenkins pleaded guilty in Calgary, Alberta, Canada to assault in a separate case. He was sentenced to 15 months probation, ordered to undergo counseling for domestic violence and sex addiction and to stay away from the person involved, according to court records. Jenkins, who appeared on the VH1 show ""Megan Wants a Millionaire,"" is from Calgary. 51Minds, which produced ""Megan Wants a Millionaire,"" said Thursday in a written statement that it ""was not aware of Ryan Jenkins' record when it cast him. ""The company did have in place what it thought was a thorough vetting process that involved complete background checks by an outside company for all contestants on its shows,"" it said. ""Clearly, the process did not work properly in this case. 51 Minds is investigating what went wrong and taking steps to ensure that this sort of lapse never occurs again."" CNN's Paul Vercammen contributed to this report."
"HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- In the decade since the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to China, local movie-makers have faced daunting changes in the industry. A trend of fewer films being produced each year in Hong Kong at the time of the handover has continued into the 21st century. Stephen Chow's ""Shaolin Soccer"" is one of Hong Kong's all-time top-grossing films. People in Hong Kong's industry point to several causes for the comparatively leaner times: a lack of opportunities for new acting talent, inadequate training and schooling for people who produce movies and changing tastes within the Hong Kong public. At the same time, local film-makers have had to refocus their cameras for a new audience: mainland China. ""The Hong Kong film industry came to a rude awakening [in the late 1990s] that the world was changing faster than it was in the age of new delivery systems for home entertainment and the Internet,"" says Bede Cheng, a local film archivist and curator. ""Unfortunately, it seemed to be blinded by the 'golden age' of the '80s, where any film could easily rack in over $1.3 million."" The box office numbers are sobering. In the early 1990s, Hong Kong released around 200 local features a year. By 1997, that number dropped to 85 films grossing $69 million, according to the Hong Kong, Kowloon and New Territories Motion Picture Industry Association (MPIA). By 2006, those figures slumped to 51 films grossing $37 million. Ten years ago, the top 10 grossing films accounted for 47 percent of the total box-office return; today, the portion is 58 percent. ""1997, unfortunately, coincides with the beginning of the collapse of the local film industry -- a well-documented fact,"" says screenwriter Jimmy Ngai. ""On the other hand, it also commenced the opening up of the mainland market. ""The result is that the industry has grown more and more accustomed to looking north for both investment and box return -- nothing political, but more of a survival instinct. What needs not to be spelt out for film-makers venturing north is that one plays according to what goes with the territory."" The new Chinese market has translated into an emphasis in contrasts of Hong Kong-made films, says film archivist Cheng. ""Today production is down, with many majors like Chinastar and Golden Harvest scaling back,"" he says. ""Most films are high-end productions with big stars, or low-end made with a shoestring budget for an easier return. ""The number of screens is also down, with the consolidation of more multiplexes, usually owned or partly owned by distributors, which already have a steady supply of foreign films to fill the screens. Some once video distributors like Mei Ah and Universe have gone into production as a way to keep the pipeline flowing."" In 2006, Hong Kong closed five small cinemas and re-opened one multiplex. Gary Mak, director of Broadway Cinematheque -- Hong Kong's last-remaining alternative-screening venue -- remains optimistic about more adventurous programming and distribution. But Mak points to a shortage of creativity in the local industry. ""No talents, no formal training, in most areas such as script-writing, directing, acting, etc,"" he says. ""Even the independent scene still needs more real talents -- or at least, real producers to pull together a really good project."" Tim Youngs, Hong Kong consultant for Italy's Far East Film Festival, says changing tastes among Hong Kong movie-goers has also affected the industry. ""Audiences have become increasingly dismissive of local movies, often referring to them as poor quality, and there are much fewer paying cinemagoers these days. ""So the hometown audience shows less support for local movies, whether by not seeing local films or opting for piracy, while the declining number of films means less opportunities for film-makers, fewer chances to try out new things, and damage to confidence."" Elizabeth Kerr, film critic and curator formerly based in Seoul, South Korea, agrees with Youngs' assessment. ""For all the risk-taking businessmen out there [in Hong Kong], no one is willing to put their money where their mouth is and throw in some support. ""The industry for the most part suffers from the cleave between that fluff -- which makes money -- and the more adult film-making of the smaller studios, distributors and indies."" How is South Korea's film industry different from its Hong Kong counterpart? ""The drive to attain world adoration,"" Kerr says. ""Koreans truly believe they're making great art all the time. South Korea launched an active campaign on all levels -- corporate, government, education -- to train and cultivate a modern film industry."" Still, Kerr sees reason for optimism. Films that best retain a Hong Kong style, Kerr maintains, likely carry ""Category III"" (under 18 not allowed) ratings: Movies that are ""grown up and smart,"" she says. ""Even if the films don't work, someone tried."" In the end, it may be culture that poses one of the greatest challenges for Hong Kong's movie industry. ""Around 1997, like lots of Hong Kong people, I kind of lost myself,"" says independent film-maker Chan Wing-chiu. ""The film industry was already almost dead in the '90s. Why work for a sunset industry?"" Chan's own first feature in 2005, ""A Side, B Side, Sea Side,"" includes a scene with a gaggle of girls on Hong Kong's Cheung Chau island who are unable to communicate in Chinese with an Australian man speaking fluent Mandarin. The two parties end up conversing in English. ""That's me,"" says Chan, referring to the girls. ""I speak English better than Putonghua [China's official common language, also known as Mandarin]. Many Chinese say that now that Hong Kong is part of China, Hong Kong people must learn Putonghua. I disagree. In Hong Kong we all speak Cantonese. Hong Kong already has a bad reputation for Putonghua, but I don't feel ashamed. I'm proud to have grown up during the transition between 1997 and SAR. ""Why do we have so many problems with China? Because our language, our culture, our values, our way of thinking are different. So we are not good at speaking Putonghua. Even in the cinema, we see Western movies, Japanese movies, Korean movies... but not many Chinese movies."" Adds independent director Yan-yan Mak: ""We are monsters. China says: 'You are not Chinese.' Gweilos [Hong Kong slang for Caucasians] say: 'You are Chinese.' After 1997, we lost the confidence to be Hong Kong people."" E-mail to a friend ."
"Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Bomb blasts in Pakistan rocked three police buildings near Lahore, police told CNN on Wednesday. Police chief Ghulam Mehmood Dogar said the three bombs were planted on Tuesday night at a police station, an office of a senior police official and a police barracks. They were detonated by remote control this morning in the city of Gujranwala, 70 kilometers northwest of Lahore, Dogar said. Three police officers were injured and parts of the buildings were damaged. The first two explosions happened within 30 minutes of one another, and the third bomb was detonated about three hours later. Gujranwala has been largely free of the militant violence plaguing parts of Pakistan. Police said there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks. On Monday, two people were injured when in back to back explosions at police stations in the southern port city of Karachi. Journalist Nasir Habib contributed to this report ."
"(CNN)Manchester City and Ivory Coast football star Yaya Toure has called on the media to be more respectful in its attitude towards religion after the Charlie Hebdo attack. Twelve people were killed by brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi at the French satirical magazine's offices last week, with the gunmen reportedly yelling, ""We have avenged the Prophet"" while carrying out the attack. While Toure -- a Muslim himself -- advocates freedom of speech, he feels news outlets also have responsibilities. ""As a Muslim I always believe in the way people can say what they want to say,"" he told CNN's Amanda Davies. ""But for me, the most important thing is that we know something that sometimes the newspaper is doing a lot -- and they're trying to do too much, and sometimes they do it not with respect."" ""Everybody has his point of view -- everybody has something to say about that,"" Toure added. ""Of course it's a newspaper trying to say something. But sometimes it hurts people."" Depicting Mohammed is offensive to many Muslims and the magazine's past cartoons of the prophet apparently motivated the attackers in last week's slaughter. The City midfielder says he was disappointed to hear of the attack on Charlie Hebdo -- and he now fears for the safety of his Muslim friends in the French capital. Currently on international duty with Ivory Coast ahead of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations which begins this week, Toure spent a season playing in the French Ligue 1 with Monaco in 2006-07. ""When you hear something like that it's a bit disappointing,"" he said, referring to the attack on the Charlie Hebdo office. ""I feel very sorry for the families -- they lost their friend, father, or their husband, you know. ""Of course I have a friend in Paris, I have people who I work with. You get a bit confused, a bit afraid, because, as a Muslim, I have a friend and they are Muslim as well and I'm afraid of what is going to happen."" The latest Charlie Hebdo issue has also been highly controversial, largely because on its cover is an illustration of a tearful Prophet Mohammed, holding up an ""I am Charlie"" sign accompanied by the words ""All is forgiven."" The new cover was met with mixed emotions -- with some calling it a bold example of free speech and others criticizing it as needlessly offensive to Muslims."
"(CNN) -- The phenomenal success of ""Modern Family"" has been a game changer for its entire cast, including actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson. The show's high ratings, three consecutive Emmy wins for outstanding comedy series and broad fan base have given all its stars a massive platform. Ferguson is using his for a cause that's both political and personal: the fight to legalize same-sex marriage. The 37-year-old Montana native doesn't just play Mitch, a gay man in a loving, committed relationship on TV; in a way, he is Mitch. After dating for more than two years, Ferguson and his boyfriend, Justin Mikita, decided to take the next step. During a recent trip to Mexico, Ferguson ""popped the big Q."" Mikita said yes. After much consideration and debate, the newly engaged couple decided to go public with their private news, not because they don't enjoy their privacy -- they certainly do -- but because in doing so they knew they could shine a light on a cause dear to their hearts. Ferguson and Mitka started the Tie the Knot foundation. Its mission is simple: sell bow ties to raise money for marriage equality. The ""Modern Family"" actor recently spoke with CNN about his organization. CNN: When you go to www.tietheknot.org, the first thing you see is a hilarious video of you and Justin announcing your engagement. Jesse Tyler Fergusson: I feel like when you tackle any subject with comedy, humor and wits, you're going to get a lot further than if you just give the dry facts of the cause. CNN: It definitely gets your attention. It couldn't have been an easy decision to put your private life out there like that. Ferguson: We kind of felt like the only way to legitimize why we wanted to do this was to announce that we were actually engaged. It made me very nervous; I didn't want to exploit something that was very personal and private between Justin and me. But, in the context of our foundation, it felt like (it was) the right time to tell people. CNN: My favorite part was your struggle with labeling your relationship. Ferguson: I hate ""lover""! I think it sounds so pretentious and like that ""Saturday Night Live"" skit with Will Ferrell and Rachel Dratch in the hot tub eating turkey. I've always found the term fiance in gay or straight relationships to be completely strange. It doesn't sound English or American at all. I love calling Justin ""the lover I've taken on,"" but he doesn't care for that. So I just say ""boyfriend."" I think there's something really sweet and innocent about it. CNN: A lot of boyfriends, and girlfriends in Maine, Maryland and Washington got some good news on Election Day when same-sex marriage was legalized in those states by popular vote. Ferguson: I have such mixed feelings about it. Obviously, I'm so happy these states won marriage equality. It's also very tough for me. I went through it with Proposition 8 (in California), seeing the majority vote on the minority's rights. It's incredibly hard to swallow. I just feel like it shouldn't be up to the majority to vote on a minority's civil rights. I'm thrilled that we are slowly making progress, and we have to make progress however we can. But I do look forward to the day we stop putting it in the hands of the states and make it a national thing. This is America and (marriage equality) should be part of the ""United"" part of our country. CNN: What do you see as the biggest challenge between where things are now and the protection of same-sex marriage under federal law? Ferguson: We're in a great place. There's a forward movement on this issue, and for many young Americans it's a nonissue. But one stumbling block is the lack of education about marriage equality. I feel like there's a fear that the definition of marriage will be changed. Nobody's looking to change the meaning of what it means to be married. We just want to add to who has the right. It's the same thing as women wanting the right to vote. They weren't going to change the meaning of going to the polls and putting the card in the ballot; they just wanted the right to vote. CNN: And whether you're voting or getting married, who doesn't like to wear a nice bow tie, right? Why did you pick this accessory as the cornerstone of your foundation? Ferguson: I selfishly wanted to get involved in the fashion world anyway, but in a way that didn't feel like a huge undertaking. So I thought about what I like to wear and also what is literally the smallest piece of clothing I could possibly design. So we came up with the bow-tie line. It was Justin's idea to incorporate it into the foundation. We thought -- why don't we kill two birds with one stone? We'll start a bow-tie line and funnel the proceeds into a foundation for marriage equality. Then Justin came up with the idea of Tie the Knot, which just perfectly marries those two ideas. CNN: I think people will appreciate the symbolism. Also, it matches your character in ""Modern Family."" I imagine your cast mates have been supportive. The chemistry there really seems to go beyond the set. Is that the case? Ferguson: I mean it really is. People are always trying to test us and break us and find out the darkness, but there's really nothing to tell. We're kind of on this roller coaster together, and it's a very bonding experience. We're watching our families grow. I've gotten engaged since meeting these people. Ty (Burell) has had two kids. Julie (Bowen) had twins. Sofia (Vergara) got engaged. We'll go to a birthday party or get together at someone's house and bring our husbands, wives, fiances, boyfriends and girlfriends, and it feels like a huge extended family. CNN: I bet when one of your family members finds themselves at the center of a crazy headline or serious crisis you all react. Do you turn into Papa Bear? Ferguson: There's obviously some sense of protection because we know being (in) the media's eye how vulnerable that can be when you're going through something. So we all rally around one another and protect one another. We're always checking in with one another, and some walls definitely go up to protect some people. It's exactly what you would expect from people who have your back. CNN: I can only imagine what a ""Modern Family"" gay wedding will be like. I bet you and Justin get asked a lot when the big day is. Ferguson: About once a day! We're in the process of planning it. It could be as early as this spring, and it could be the following spring. We're kind of waiting for some pieces to fall into place and to see what my work schedule is like next summer. I'm also really excited to be married. I don't want to have a three-year engagement. I proposed to Justin because I wanted to be married. I don't want to be a professional engaged person. CNN: Are you planning something more traditional or, dare I say, modern? Ferguson: Well, we're not going to be redefining the marriage ceremony. I grew up Catholic but don't practice any longer. I haven't been to the Catholic Church in years so I would feel really weird to try and bring in those traditions -- it's just not us. It's going to be a very nontraditional, very organic, very simple ceremony. We're not going to have a wedding party or try to find someone amazing to officiate. I think it will be a very short, very sweet and simple and hopefully beautiful ceremony. I don't even have any gay friends who have gotten married, but several of my straight friends had very untraditional weddings, and those have always been my favorite. CNN: Have you decided about starting a family? Ferguson: It's something we've talked about. It's one of those early date questions. ""Do you want kids?"" And we both do. But I'm just excited to get married and sit in the marriage place for a little while. I don't want to jump into kids right away. But, yeah, we both really want kids very much."
"(CNN) -- An ex-convict, a mobster, a serial killer -- after more than two decades in the movie business, Ray Liotta is still perhaps best known for these ""bad guy"" roles in such films as ""Something Wild"" and ""GoodFellas."" Ray Liotta (right) co-stars with Seth Rogen in ""Observe and Report,"" which opened Friday. But in his most recent film, ""Observe and Report"" -- a dark comedy co-starring Seth Rogen as a bipolar mall security guard and Anna Faris as the vapid make-up counter clerk he's in love with -- Liotta inches away from his edgy persona to play a detective investigating a flashing incident at the mall. ""A flasher keeps flashing people at the mall, so they call in the 'real police,' which is me,"" Liotta told the Columbus Dispatch. ""The last thing I want to do is investigate."" The film, which opened in theaters Friday and has earned rave reviews by critics, is not Liotta's first comedic undertaking. The 54-year-old actor also starred in 2007's ""Wild Hogs,"" a comedy co-starring Tim Allen and John Travolta about a group of middle-aged suburban men who decide to become bikers. The film was one of that year's surprise hits, taking in more than $150 million at the domestic box office.  See some of the highlights of Liotta's career » . Liotta first made his mark on the film industry by playing a psychotic ex-husband determined to win back his ex-wife in ""Something Wild."" The role propelled Liotta to fame and earned him a Golden Globe nomination for best supporting actor. From there, Liotta starred as mobster Henry Hill in the Martin Scorsese classic ""Goodfellas"" (1990), working alongside renowned actors Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci. ""Edgy guys stand out in people's minds,"" Liotta said of his famous ""bad guy"" roles, according to the Dispatch. But, to avoid being typecast as the ""bad guy"" forever, Liotta decided to break from the mold in his next role as a caring father in the heartwarming film ""Corrina, Corrina"" (1994), co-starring Whoopi Goldberg. Liotta soon proved that acting was not his only forte. He formed his own production company in 2002 and made his debut as a producer on the film ""Narc,"" in which he also starred as a corrupt cop. He's also earned plaudits for his television work. In 2004, Liotta starred in an episode of the hit NBC drama, ""ER,"" winning an Emmy for his guest appearance. The actor got his start on daytime TV, playing the character Joey Perrini on the soap ""Another World."" With several films currently in production, Liotta shows no signs of stopping. The actor told the Dispatch that he hopes to try his hand at romance in the future, joking that he'd like to ""kiss the girl without having to choke her first."" CNN's David Daniel contributed to this story."
"Ten years ago I was one of a small number of UK lawyers who opposed the invasion of Iraq on the grounds that it was illegal and unauthorised by the United Nations. We were all strong advocates of the notion that the rule of law was the bedrock of any civilised and democratic society. Without it our lives would be subject to a free for all in which might becomes right. The embodiment of the rule of law internationally has been the U.N. Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights -- direct results of the devastation inflicted by the Nazi regime in Germany during the Second World War. No one wanted a repeat of such flagrant aggression, so the Charter was drawn up to replace gunboat diplomacy with peaceful measures overseen by the U.N. Security Council. This was not a new vision. In 1945 the U.N. Charter was ratified by the U.S., the UK, and the majority of the 50 states who had originally agreed to this framework. Thrashed out by experts and with massive support behind it, the document was no maverick, outlandish or oddball agreement. The Charter is not gobbledygook -- it is full of common sense, and it should be obligatory reading in every school. OPINION: Why Iraq War was fought for oil . Article 1 makes clear that the main purpose of the U.N. is to ""maintain international peace and security and to that end to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace"" and to act in accordance with justice and the principles of international law. It is for the U.N. to determine what collective measures should be taken -- not for individual states to take unilateral or bilateral action. This is not rocket science, but the simple application of restraint and respect for the rules that Britain and America agreed to when they signed the Charter. But this is not what happened 10 years ago at the behest of U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Their agenda was quite different -- to remove a dictator, Saddam Hussein, whose regime was abhorrent. But regime change, however desirable, is not permitted by the Charter. If it were, the powerful nations could go round the world picking off the weak -- or more particularly the states thought to be hostile to their own ambitions. In case some politicians found it difficult to understand all this, Article 2(4) spelled it out in unequivocal terms: ""All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state"". Everyone recognised there might have to be exceptions to this rule, but the Charter specifically does not authorize preemptive nor preventative action(i.e. getting in first) on the basis of a perceived future threat. INTERACTIVE: How has the war changed you? The only way around this predicament was for the Bush-Blair axis to fabricate a case of threat. This they did by the knowing manipulation of flawed intelligence about the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq (which were never found), and the bogus claim that Saddam Hussein could deploy such WMD within a 45-minute window. This argument, which was false, became the main basis for invasion because the only other route to war had been closed off by international law. The U.N. has the power to authorise military intervention once all other options have been exhausted and the peace and stability of a region is in jeopardy. At the time it became a debate about whether Iraq satisfied these criteria by its failure to abide by U.N. resolutions concerning disarmament. The principal Security Council resolution 1441, adopted in November 2002, called on Iraq to disarm its WMD and cooperate with U.N. weapons inspectors. The Council made clear they continued to be in charge but had not authorised the use of force in Iraq. EXCLUSIVE: Hans Blix on 'terrible mistake' in Iraq . Tony Blair insisted to the British public that he would only support a war if a second Security Council resolution authorising the action was passed, but the resolution never came. Bush and Blair realised they would never get one, and so they prepared to go it alone with a cobbled together coalition. Troops had already been committed on the ground. There was no going back. This was why Bush and Blair were not prepared to allow the weapons inspectors, who were in Iraq, any more time. Inspectors had found no evidence of WMD in the lead-up to the war and never did, but were ordered to go home. I am not alone in these views. There is a substantial consensus of international legal opinion which recognises the illegality of the invasion. Kofi Annan, then the U.N. Secretary General, told the BBC in 2004 that the Charter had been breached and that the invasion was not sanctioned by the Security Council. FULL COVERAGE: The Iraq War, 10 years on . In the UK we are still waiting for the results of a public inquiry into the circumstances in which the decision to go to war was taken. Blair never wanted this inquiry but was forced by the power of the victims' families and public opinion to accede. So far two years have gone by while the government has obstructed disclosure and publication. It is intolerable and inexcusable. I believe George W. Bush and Tony Blair should be tried for war crimes as defined by international law. In 1998 the International Criminal Court was established to deal with individuals who commit international crimes. Four transgressions were agreed -- war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and the crime of aggression. Unfortunately only the first three have been brought into effect. The UK, to their credit, signed up to the court. But the U.S. did not, lest its leaders end up accused of crimes before the court. ARWA DAMON: Iraq suffocates in cloak of sorrow . Whilst the act of aggression cannot be prosecuted, war crimes committed thereafter can be. So for example to launch an attack, like the invasion of Iraq, with the knowledge that its effect is likely to cause incidental death or injury to civilians or the natural environment (Article 8) will render the perpetrator liable to prosecution. The use of cluster bombs and depleted uranium in Iraq by coalition forces (euphemistically called collateral damage) upon vulnerable civilians falls within this definition. As a result, a legal consortium of which I was a part, and other groups in Europe, petitioned the ICC for action against UK politicians over their involvement in the war. Nothing has happened. Getting U.S leaders hauled before the court is even more problematic -- the Security Council could refer Americans to the court, but the U.S. is a permanent Council member and can veto any potential referral. Alternatively individual member states could incorporate these crimes of universal jurisdiction into their own domestic law. Then if a U.S. perpetrator of war crimes travelled into that country's jurisdiction, they could be arrested. The UK has such a provision, but when put to the test by UK citizens seeking arrest warrants in relation to the planned visits of Israeli political and military leaders -- who were potentially responsible for war crimes in Gaza -- the UK government reprehensibly placed impediments in the way of its future use. So George W. Bush can safely plan a visit for tea with Tony Blair in London without fear of prosecution in the UK. The whole episode regarding the Iraq War is a tawdry tale that has subverted the rule of law and tarnished the reputation of international law. Without accountability for Western states, how can we expect the rest of world to respect these principles? It is time for Bush and Blair to be thoroughly, independently and judicially investigated for the crimes I suggest have been committed and it is time for the crime of aggression to come into force. Until this is redressed, la lotta continua!"
"LONDON, England (CNN) -- London commuters crammed onto buses, scrambled for taxis, cycled or simply walked on Wednesday as a strike by Tube workers shut down most of the subway network. Commuters queue for packed buses in London on Wednesday morning. The strike began Tuesday at 7 p.m. (2 p.m. ET) but the first full effects were felt during Wednesday's morning commute. The strike was set to last for 48 hours with a normal service resuming Friday morning, according to Transport for London (TfL), which runs the city's transportation network. The RMT trade union called the strike after talks with management over pay, job cuts, and disciplinary issues broke down. ""RMT doesn't resort to industrial action lightly,"" General Secretary Bob Crow said in a statement. ""The fact is that Tube workers have been driven into walking out today."" Transport Commissioner Peter Hardy said the talks had been making progress on all issues and he urged the RMT to return to the table. ""The RMT leadership says we were close to a deal,"" Hardy said in a statement. ""If that is the case, then they should call off the strike, return to talks ... and resolve this issue without any more disruption to Londoners."" TfL was running extra buses and free shuttle services across the River Thames during the strike. Electronic travel cards used for the TfL network were temporarily being allowed on all train lines in greater London, it said. While most services on the Tube were shut because of the strike, one line -- the Northern line -- was running normally and five others were running on a reduced schedule, TfL said. ""It's been really good,"" a girl on Oxford Street told CNN about her commute. ""The Northern line is running perfectly."" Still, some bus services were packed with commuters who normally ride the underground trains or who failed to find a taxi. ""I think we'd all like to strike for more money, but unfortunately we can't,"" said one woman at Oxford Circus, where the Tube is closed. Others hit the pavement and walked. ""It's OK -- quite refreshing,"" said a man on Regent Street. He said he had just walked from Liverpool Street Station, a train station as well as a Tube stop that is more than 2.5 miles away. The RMT represents about half of the 20,000 employees on the Tube, a TfL spokeswoman said. Other unions including Unite and TSSA represent the rest, she said, and were not on strike."
"(CNN) -- Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir arrived in neighboring South Sudan on Monday for talks on unrest in the latter nation that has left hundreds dead. He flew into the airport in the capital of Juba before heading to the presidential palace to meet his South Sudan counterpart, President Salva Kiir. The two later held a joint news conference with al-Bashir stressing readiness to support South Sudan, according to the official Sudan News Agency. Al-Bashir's visit comes as rival parties in the South Sudan power struggle work to find a solution to the violence. Meanwhile, talks between South Sudan's government and rebels began Monday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Those negotiations were delayed last week. ""The two delegations appreciated the gravity of the situation and the need and urgency of resolving the crisis in South Sudan. They reminded themselves of the long-drawn liberation struggle that culminated in the independence of their country. They regretted the unfortunate situation which the current conflict has brought,"" read a statement from the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, an East African trade bloc helping to mediate between the parties. Talks are expected to pick up again on Tuesday. The negotiations ""come not a moment too soon,"" African Union Chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said in a statement. ""Not a single day can be lost in the search for peace in South Sudan. Stopping the fighting in South Sudan is not only a humanitarian imperative but also a strategic necessity, in order to halt the rapid descent of Africa's newest nation into collapse."" South Sudan erupted in violence on December 15 when rebels loyal to ousted Vice President Riek Machar tried to stage a coup. Since then, militia members loyal to the ousted leader have battled government forces. Violence quickly spread with reports of mass killings emerging nationwide. As teams from both sides are negotiating, fighting rages. Three weeks of fighting have left more than 1,000 people dead and forced 200,000 from their homes, officials say. South Sudan seceded from Sudan in 2011 after decades of war, making it the world's youngest nation. Despite the split, al-Bashir has a stake in the talks. Though South Sudan and Sudan divorced, they still have unresolved oil issues. Prolonged fighting has cut South Sudan's oil output, affecting both economies. Heed the warnings: Genocide and Rwanda's lessons for South Sudan . CNN's Samira Said and Nana Karikari-apau contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Environmentalists in Vietnam were ebullient this week after remote cameras in a forest reserve snapped pictures of a live saola, one of the rarest large mammals on Earth. At most a few hundred -- and as few as a couple dozen -- of the animals are thought to exist. Because of that rarity and its elusiveness, the saola is dubbed the ""Asian unicorn."" That moniker comes despite the fact it has two closely spaced parallel horns. ""These are the most important wild animal photographs taken in Asia, and perhaps the world, in at least the past decade,"" said William Robichaud, coordinator of the Saola Working Group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Species Survival Commission, in a World Wildlife Fund press release. Scientists discover new species in Australian rainforest . ""This is an historic moment in Vietnam's efforts to protect our extraordinary biodiversity,"" Dang Dinh Nguyen, deputy head of the country's Quang Nam Forest Protection Department, said in the release. The picture of the animal was taken in September in a reserve in the Central Annamite Mountains and announced by the WWF on Tuesday. 441 species discovered in Amazon since 2010 . Van Ngoc Thinh, WWF-Vietnam's country director, called the picture ""a breath-taking discovery."" ""When our team first looked at the photos we couldn't believe our eyes. Saola are the holy grail for Southeast Asian conservationists,"" Van said in a press release. The saola, which is a relative of cattle but looks like an antelope, was first discovered in 1992 in forests along the Vietnam-Laos border. A WWF survey team found a skull of the animal in a hunter's home. In Vietnam, a saola was last seen in the wild in 1998. In Laos, a remote camera snapped a picture of one in the wild in 1999. And in 2010, Laotian villagers captured a saola that died before word got to researchers. Olinguito: The newest rare mammal species . There are no saola in captivity. Environmentalists said Wednesday the pictures show that efforts to save the saola are working. ""Saola are caught in wire snares set by hunters to catch other animals, such as deer and civets, which are largely destined for the lucrative illegal wildlife trade,"" Van said in the WWF release. ""Since 2011, forest guard patrols ... have removed more than 30,000 snares from this critical saola habitat and destroyed more than 600 illegal hunters' camps."" New legless lizards found in California . 'Chewbacca bat,' other bizarre species found in national park ."
"Gaza City (CNN) -- With the latest failed cease-fire quickly becoming a distant memory, the two sides in the Israel-Gaza conflict traded rockets and airstrikes Saturday -- as well as blame for not stopping the bloodshed. Israeli airstrikes killed at least five more people in Gaza on Saturday, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported. The area around central Gaza's Qassam mosque, in particular, was a frenzy of activity as medical workers sifted through rubble there. WAFA claimed that Israeli fighter jets struck that mosque and another, killing at least three people. Less than a mile away from the Qassam mosque, a strike killed two men riding on a motorbike, Palestinian Health Ministry spokesman Dr. Ashraf el-Qedra said. Israel's military confirmed the strike, saying the two men were militants. El-Qedra added Saturday night that a 13-year-old girl died in an airstrike on her family home in Rafah. That was in addition to a 10-year-old boy who died while playing with friends, the Palestinian health ministry said. Then again, Israel is on the defensive as well. The Israel Defense Forces said that, since the end of the cease-fire early Friday, about 100 rockets were fired toward Israel from Gaza. That figure includes at least 30 launched Saturday, of which 24 hit Israel, the military said. The IDF responded by targeting ""some 120 terror sites and nine terror operatives."" All this back-and-forth, of course, is nothing new. The Israelis and Palestinians -- particularly Hamas, the Islamic militant group and political party that controls Gaza -- have been at it for weeks, with the former fending off persistent rocket attacks and the latter dealing with relentless Israeli strikes. There have been efforts to halt the bloodshed as well as to broach some of the thorny issues related to it. And there have been some breakthroughs, including a few cease-fires. Yet none of those peacemaking attempts, so far, has stuck. Death toll's rise slows . The death toll's climb has slowed since IDF announced overnight into Saturday an end of its ground incursion in Gaza -- even as it continued to strike from the air. Israeli forces say troops redeployed after completed their mission of destroying Hamas' tunnels. Still, while there weren't scores of dead Saturday as has been true many other days over the past few weeks, the total carnage remains significant. According to el-Qedra, at least 1,911 in Gaza have died since the conflict began, in addition to just under 10,000 injured. It's unclear how many casualties were militants: The United Nations estimates that about 70% of the dead were civilians, or about 1,340. IDF, meanwhile says about 900 militants have been killed, which would put the civilian death toll at around 1,000. IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said that that number was a preliminary estimate based on field reports from troops returning from battle. Israeli officials say 64 Israeli soldiers have died, and three civilians were killed in Israel. The Iron Dome missile defense system has intercepted many of the rockets Gazan militants have fired at populated areas of the country. Blame game continues . Besides the violence, another thing that hasn't stopped is the blame game. One point of contention: who broke the most recent cease-fire hours before it was supposed to run out? Hamas denied firing rockets into Israel on Friday. Yet militants from Islamic Jihad and the Al-Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades admitted to doing just that -- blaming Israel for refusing to accept their demands during negotiations. Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said it was Hamas' fault regardless, telling CNN the group runs Gaza and ""can't outsource terrorism to the other groups. When they want to enforce a cease-fire, they do it very well."" Hamas has been in charge of the Palestinian government in Gaza for years, while the Palestinian faction Fatah runs the government in the West Bank. The two groups have been at odds but also made repeated efforts at a unity government, including one earlier this year. One sad irony of all this bloodshed is that -- according to the Egyptian foreign ministry, which brokered recent talks -- the parties have reached an agreement on most issues. Those not agreed upon were few and limited, the ministry said in a statement. Still, there's too much history to show that agreement on some issues will not necessarily lead to a grander breakthrough. The Palestinians have asked for Israel to lift its blockade on Gaza and to re-open the air and seaports, a Palestinian negotiation who spoke on condition of anonymity said. Israeli authorities fear Hamas could import weapons by sea and maintains a ship blockade off Gaza's shores. Palestinians also wanted Israel to extend Gaza's fishing zone in the Mediterranean from three miles off the coast to 20. Fishing is a keystone of Gazan livelihoods. But Israel was willing to extend fishing rights to only six miles off the coast, said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri. Yet Israel is resisting in-depth talks as long as rockets continue to head toward its territory. After Gazan rocket fire on Friday, Israel's Foreign Ministry said the country ""will not conduct negotiations while under fire."" CNN exclusive: Inside the mind of Hamas' political leader . Nobel laureate Wiesel: Hamas must stop using children as human shields . Gaza conflict: Can economic isolation ever be reversed? Life in Gaza: Misery heightened by war . CNN's John Vause reported from Gaza, Matthew Chance reported from Jerusalem; Ben Brumfield and Greg Botelho wrote and reported from Atlanta. CNN's Jethro Mullen, Ali Younes, Tal Heinrich, Jake Tapper and Samira Said also contributed to this report."
"(CNN)At least 10 people and two attackers were killed in Tuesday's attack against the luxurious Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli, Libya, a spokesman for a security division of the Ministry of Interior in Tripoli said. Five foreigners -- one American, one French citizen, and three people from Tajikistan -- were killed in the attack, Essam al-Naas said. Five Libyans were killed. The Libyan branch of ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks, and released photos of the two gunmen, it said had carried out the attacks as Abu Ibraheem Al-Tunsi and Abu Sulaiman Al-Sudani. Their naming convention indicates that the men were of Tunisian and Sudanese origin, respectively. Al-Naas said it appears the attackers were Libyans. American contractor David Berry was among the people killed in a terrorist attack at the Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli, Libya, on Tuesday, according to Cliff Taylor, chief executive officer of Crucible, a security firm where Berry was working. The FBI is expected to open an investigation into the incident, two U.S. officials told CNN. A State Department official confirmed the death of a U.S. citizen, but would provide no further information. A French citizen was among those killed, according to the French Foreign Ministry. Al-Naas earlier said at least two Libyan security personnel had been killed in the attack and that three gunmen were holed up in the hotel. An online group that supports ISIS said the attack was carried out in the name of Abu Anas al-Libi. Al-Libi was an alleged al Qaeda operative accused of involvement in the bombing of U.S. embassies in Africa. He was captured by U.S. special forces in Libya. He died in a U.S. hospital this month. A spokesman for the Corinthia Group in Malta told CNN there had not been a hostage situation in the hotel, as some reports suggested. ""We are trying to take possession of the hotel back to assess the damage,"" he said, but Libyan security forces were not yet allowing that. The attack began when militants detonated a car bomb in the parking lot of the hotel. The gunmen then shot their way into the hotel. Guests were evacuated to safety, however. The five-star hotel is popular among government officials, some of whom reside there. A witness to the events told CNN that all roads leading to the Corinthia Hotel had been sealed by security forces. People were warned to stay away, the witness said, adding that there had been exchanges of gunfire. CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq and Stephanie Halasz contributed to this report."
"Washington (CNN) -- The sister of presidential assailant John Hinckley Jr. testified Tuesday that she has seen no sign that her brother represents a danger to himself or others. Diane Sims, who said she loves her brother, said she supports a proposal that would expand his visits to their mother's home in Williamsburg, Virginia, and might eventually allow him to live there as a full-time outpatient. But she said she does not think it would be a good option for him to move to the Dallas area, where she lives. ""President Bush lives not 10 minutes from me and I think it would be a concern,"" said Sims, apparently referring to concerns the Secret Service might have. Former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, moved to Dallas after they left the White House. Sims said she has no worries that Hinckley would be a risk to others in Dallas. U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman asked if it is accurate she is worried about her brother's personal safety in Dallas, since that is the city where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. ""That's a concern to me,"" Sims said quietly. She also said she thinks a move to Dallas would place Hinckley too far away from the medical experts who have cared for him for many years. Hinckley's sister testified on the fourth day of a multiple-day hearing to discuss his future. Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the 1981 shootings of President Ronald Reagan, press secretary James Brady, Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy, and police officer Thomas Delahanty. All of those men survived, though Brady was shot in the head and left permanently disabled. Hinckley was staying at the home of his sister and her husband in Dallas on October 13, 1980, when, according to testimony in his 1982 trial, he went to a pawn shop to buy two .22-caliber revolvers, one of which he used to shoot Reagan and the others five months later. Only days before the purchase, three guns had been confiscated from Hinckley's luggage while he was trying to board a plane in Nashville. Hinckley posted bond, was released and flew to New York City, then spent the night in New Haven, Connecticut, where actress Jodie Foster was a college freshman student. He flew to Dallas to stay that weekend at his sister's home while she and her husband were away at a football game. On that Monday, Hinckley told her he was going out to look for a job, but, unknown to her, he bought the guns instead. The gun purchase was not mentioned in court Tuesday, and the government has not said it would be more dangerous for Hinckley to live in Dallas than anywhere else. Since his conviction, Hinckley has been living in St. Elizabeths, a government mental hospital in Washington. But in recent years he's been allowed to visit his mother's home with increasing frequency. Currently, he spends 10 days a month in Williamsburg. Under the proposal made by St. Elizabeths he would be granted two visits of 17 days each followed by six visits of 24 days. The hospital's recommendation for Hinckley's eventual release on convalescent leave asks the judge to allow Hinckley to live full time in Williamsburg ""at the discretion of the hospital"" once the eight longer visits have been completed successfully. The report was filed with the court under seal on July 29 and was not made public until Tuesday. The doctors signing the report said such leave would be permitted only upon an assessment, at the end of the new visits, that ""Mr. Hinckley is experiencing a good mental status and that he does not present as [sic] a danger to himself or others."" If so, the recommendation said, Hinckley would be ""conditionally released to reside permanently on convalescent leave."" He would be required to meet at least once a month with a psychiatrist who is already counseling him in Williamsburg and to continue his weekly visits to a therapist there. He would also be expected to continue his volunteer activities at Eastern State Hospital. However, the filing said, should Hinckley violate the terms of his convalescent leave, ""the hospital will return him to total inpatient care with due notification of the court."" If the judge were to grant convalescent leave at the hospital's discretion at the end of the eight longer visits now requested, it would be unlikely to happen until at least the fall of 2012, since as the filing requires a minimum two-week interval between each of the new visits. Hinckley would be expected at the outset to live with his widowed mother, who is turning 86 this week and is in good health. However, the hospital said should his ""mother not be available"" after Hinckley's release, his brother and sister had expressed interest ""in the housing options of independent apartments as well as Assisted Living Facilities... in the Williamsburg area."" Sims often spends time in Williamsburg when Hinckley is there and drives him back to St. Elizabeths. She was asked many questions about how the 56-year-old fits into the Virginia community. She said he feels comfortable there and has indicated he wants to stay there even when his elderly mother is no longer there. According to Sims, Hinckley likes working part time in the library of Eastern State Hospital and is comfortable with the psychiatrist and case manager/therapist he sees while in Williamsburg. Under questioning, Sims acknowledged the family does not permit a woman identified in court only as CB to visit the Hinckley home. Hinckley at one time told some of his caregivers at St. Elizabeths that he was engaged to CB, who had been a patient there. Hinckley later ended the engagement, doctors have said. Prosecutors described CB as being psychologically unstable and asked if it was accurate Hinckley's mother does not allow her to visit for fear she would have a mental breakdown at the home. Sims said that is the case. Sims said her brother never told the family he was engaged and -- quite to the contrary -- has said he's not engaged and has no plans to marry the woman. She said she is aware her brother still sees CB sometimes when the woman visits St. Elizabeths. Previously the court heard testimony that Sims had taken her brother to a singles group meeting in Williamsburg a number of years ago, and he was asked to leave. Sims said she wanted to set the record straight about what happened. She and her brother believed members of the group knew they were coming, but that was not the case, she said. The group was surprised to see Hinckley there, she said. But she said all the members were in their mid-70s and her brother would not have fit in. Sims said that when her brother goes out in the community he usually has no problems with people who recognize him. ""He's not bothered by people, he's not pointed out,"" she told the court. She said, ""He doesn't bother anybody"" either. She said Hinckley and his family members find they are able to go to certain restaurants where people know who they are but are welcoming. ""In general, the people in town have been very tolerant,"" she said. Last week, prosecutors said Hinckley had not told the truth about deviating from his approved itinerary to go to a movie while on his few hours of permitted unaccompanied time. According to a report by Secret Service agents who were watching Hinckley without his knowledge, on one outing last July, Hinckley did not attend a movie and instead went to a bookstore where he passed by an aisle of books that included an account of the day Reagan was shot. The judge noted the report did not indicate that Hinckley read that book or any similar books. ""The subject was not observed picking up and looking at specific books,"" the report says. ""One item of note is the subject stopped for a time and looked at the shelves in the American History area that contain several books about President Reagan and his attempted assassination."" Hinckley's sister said she had accompanied him to bookstores and never saw him look at any books like that. She said he gravitated to books on music and art. But in response to questioning by a prosecutor, she said she wasn't aware Hinckley had failed to go to the movies as planned on two occasions, in July and in September. Sims was asked if she ever noticed Secret Service agents keeping an eye on Hinckley. She replied the only time she has noticed surveillance is when she drives Hinckley out of her mother's gated community and back to St. Elizabeths. She said agents are always waiting in a vehicle and follow along. But at the end of a March 2011 visit, the Secret Service was not waiting, she said. According to Sims, about midway through the trip to Washington, Hinckley's brother, Scott, got a call on his cell phone from an agent who said he had been late. Sims said the agent asked the Hinckley family's location and requested that they wait for him to catch up. Sims replied the family did and was happy to cooperate with the Secret Service. CNN's James Polk contributed to this report."
"WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush on Tuesday announced a troop deployment shift for America's two wars, a move that reflects a more stable Iraq and an increasingly volatile Afghanistan. President Bush said Tuesday that he soon will start bringing some U.S. troops home from Iraq. Through early next year, about 8,000 American troops will leave Iraq and not be replaced. Some 4,500 other U.S. service members will go to Afghanistan. Bush also emphasized the U.S. intention to help Pakistan defeat insurgents who are using the country's tribal areas to stage attacks in Afghanistan. ""Iraq, Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan pose unique challenges for our country,"" Bush said Tuesday in a speech at the National Defense University in Washington. ""Yet they are all theaters in the same overall struggle."" Bush said he is making the Iraqi troop withdrawal decision based on a recommendation from top military officers, including Gen. David Petraeus, the highest-ranking U.S. military officer in Iraq.  Watch Bush announce the troop reduction in Iraq » . ""He and the Joint Chiefs of Staff have recommended that we move forward with additional force reductions,"" the president said, citing military and political strides in stabilizing the country and dramatically bringing down violence. Bush adopted the entire recommendation from Petraeus, a senior military official in Iraq told CNN. The source said five people saw the plan before it went to the president. Debate the Iraq issue! Join The Forum . In explaining progress in the war effort, Bush cited the ""surge"" offensive, winning the hearts and minds of Sunni tribes, Iraqi political reconciliation efforts, economic improvements, an improved Iraqi army leading the fight against Shiite and Sunni insurgents, and a return of hundreds of doctors who fled the fighting. ""Over the next several months, we will bring home about 3,400 combat support forces -- including aviation personnel, explosive ordnance teams, combat and construction engineers, military police and logistical support forces,"" he said. ""By November, we will bring home a Marine battalion that is now serving in Anbar province. And in February of 2009, another Army combat brigade will come home. ""This amounts to about 8,000 additional American troops returning home without replacement. And if the progress in Iraq continues to hold, Gen. Petraeus and our military leaders believe additional reductions will be possible in the first half of 2009."" At present, there are about 146,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. An adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki welcomed Bush's decision. ""We look at this step as a positive step that there is stability in Iraq, there is a real improvement in the security situation in Iraq and there is a real improvement in the capability of the Iraqi security forces in protecting and keeping the security in Iraq,"" said Sadiq al-Rikabi, al-Maliki's political adviser. Democrats were less than enthusiastic about Bush's announcement. The plan ""may seem to signal movement in the right direction,"" but it ""defers troop reductions until the next administration,"" said Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Missouri, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. ""More significant troop reductions in Iraq are needed so that we can start to rebuild U.S. military readiness and provide the additional forces needed to finish the fight in Afghanistan."" Skelton said Iraq ""cannot continue to overshadow other critical U.S. security needs."" ""The effort in Afghanistan must move to the forefront and once again become our top priority,"" he said. Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama praised Bush for announcing additional troops for Afghanistan and ""moving in the direction of the policy that I have advocated for years."" However, ""we will continue to spend $10 billion a month in Iraq while the Iraqi government sits on a $79 billion surplus,"" Obama said. ""In the absence of a timetable to remove our combat brigades, we will continue to give Iraq's leaders a blank check instead of pressing them to reconcile their differences,"" he said. Obama criticized the timing and scope of Bush's move. ""His plan comes up short -- it is not enough troops, and not enough resources, with not enough urgency,"" the senator from Illinois said of Bush's call for more troops in Afghanistan. In his speech, Bush praised other members of the U.S.-led coalition, saying many of those nations will be able to end their deployments to Iraq this year. He said Australia has ""withdrawn its battle group"" and Polish troops are ""set to redeploy shortly."" The president said Iraq and the United States will work ""toward the conclusion of a strategic framework agreement and a status of forces agreement,"" pacts that will spell out the terms of their relationship. ""These agreements will serve as the foundation for America's continued security support to Iraq once the United Nations resolution authorizing the multinational forces there expires on December 31."" Bush focused his remarks just as strongly on Afghanistan, where al Qaeda and Taliban militants have been making a comeback. ""For all the good work we have done in that country, it is clear we must do even more,"" he said. ""As we learned in Iraq, the best way to restore the confidence of the people is to restore basic security -- and that requires more troops."" He said that a Marine battalion of around 1,000 will deploy to Afghanistan in November instead of Iraq and that an Army combat brigade of around 3,500 will go in January. Bush said the U.S. would make additional forces available in 2009 and called on allies to increase their force levels. Bush said stepped-up insurgent efforts in Afghanistan have necessitated the increase of U.S. troops from ""less than 21,000 two years ago to nearly 31,000 today."" He said these troop increases and those by allies, including Britain, France, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Australia, Germany, Denmark and the Czech Republic, have resulted in what he calls a ""quiet surge"" in Afghanistan. Bush described challenges in Afghanistan that don't exist in Iraq. ""This is a vast country,"" he said. ""Unlike Iraq, it has few natural resources and has an underdeveloped infrastructure. Its democratic institutions are fragile. And its enemies are some of the most hardened terrorists and extremists in the world."" He said Americans will help develop Afghan security forces and are improving efforts on the civilian side, adding more personnel to deal with issues of diplomacy, development, the rural economy and the fight against the drug trade."
"Hong Kong (CNN) -- Six simple words have sent Hello Kitty lovers into a spin. ""Hello Kitty is not a cat."" The apparently shocking revelation was made in an LA Times article published Wednesday about a retrospective of Kitty paraphernalia opening next month at the Japanese American National Museum. The story started innocently enough before the bombshell was dropped by Christine R. Yano, an anthropologist at the University of Hawaii, who has delved more deeply than most into the Hello Kitty phenomenon. ""That's one correction Sanrio made for my script for the show,"" Yano told the LA Times. ""Hello Kitty is not a cat. She's a cartoon character. She is a little girl. She is a friend. But she is not a cat. She's never depicted on all fours. She walks and sits like a two-legged creature. She does have a pet cat of her own, however, and it's called Charmmy Kitty."" Whoa. The news reached far and wide, including backstage after the Linkin Park gig at the Minnesota State Fair. ""I just got off stage to find out that Hello Kitty is not a cat. This is worse than finding out Pluto is not a planet,"" tweeted clearly shocked rapper Mike Shinoda. For those who don't know, Hello Kitty is an international superstar who was introduced to the world in 1974 by Japanese company Sanrio. In the last 40 years her button nose has appeared on a dazzling array of merchandise, generating billions of dollars for the company. Until now, her pointy ears and whiskers gave her legion of fans the distinct impression she was feline. Wrong. Summing up the disbelief, @jkltoraay tweeted: ""You cannot say hello kitty is not a cat after 40 years no human has whiskers and pointed ears and a little yellow nose."" For some, the news raised more questions than it answered. ""Been tossing and turning for the last few hours trying to figure out how Hello Kitty isn't a cat. How is it possible? What does it mean?"" @NotKennyRogers tweeted. ""Since Hello Kitty isn't a cat, wtf is My Melody?"" tweeted @mrsunlawyer. Users raced to update Kitty's Wikipedia entry, which now reads: ""She bears the appearance of a white Japanese bobtail cat with a red bow although she is actually a little girl."" Singer Katy Perry stepped in to try to calm the masses: ""IT'S OKAY HELLO KITTY FANS, KITTY PURRY IS A CAT."" At last count it was retweeted more than 13,000 times. As the Sanrio website clearly states, Hello Kitty is a ""cheerful and happy little girl ... who lives in London with her mama (Mary White), papa (George White), and her twin sister Mimmy."" Yes, she's also British. For the record, Kitty's birthday is November 1, she likes baking and making pancakes, origami and eating apple pie. Her favorite saying is ""You can never have too many friends."" She may have lost a few today. Meow."
"(CNN) -- Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was told to take a month off work after doctors diagnosed her with a subdural hematoma. The diagnosis and the doctor's recommendation mean Fernandez will be out of commission during the critical campaign season for congressional elections on October 27. Spokesman Alfredo Scoccimarro said Saturday the president will suspend all her activities. A subdural hematoma is a blood clot on the brain's surface beneath its outer covering, called the dura. Often, in people over 60, a brain trauma can cause the blood vessels in the brain to tear, and blood to clot. In August, Fernandez, 60, suffered a cranial trauma, for which doctors conducted a brain scan and found normal results with no symptoms at the time, Scoccimarro said. Doctors at a Buenos Aires hospital discovered the hematoma on Saturday after a neurological evaluation, he said. According to Argentina's constitution, the vice president would assume the presidency temporarily in the president's absence, but officials have not said if that will occur in this situation. Fernandez's health made headlines when she underwent surgery in January 2012 to remove her thyroid, after doctors said they detected cancer in the gland. A few days later, a spokesman for Fernandez said she did not actually have cancer and that doctors had discarded their original diagnosis."
"(CNN) -- It's a perennial problem. How do you persuade young, apathetic voters to go to the polls? Enter ""Voteman"" -- Denmark's rather ill-judged and short-lived cartoon solution. The cartoon opens with two apparently politically disaffected young men. The scene switches to Voteman, a muscle-bound, stubble-chinned superhero, answering a call asking him to persuade voters to have their say in the upcoming European Parliament elections. Naked, he leaps up from a bed surrounded by women apparently performing sex acts on him and -- having donned a leather waistcoat and trousers -- sets off from a Bond villain-esque island hideout on his mission, riding a pair of harnessed dolphins as waterskis. An orgy of cartoon violence follows -- one of the original men is decapitated, while other would-be non-voters are punched, slapped and tossed through the windows of a polling station to vote. The cartoon is the unlikely creation of the Danish Parliament's EU information center, originally posted to its official YouTube page. Less surprisingly perhaps, it has now been pulled and an apology made for its graphic sexual and violent content. Mogens Lykketoft, speaker of the Danish Parliament, said in a statement on his Facebook page that many people had perceived the cartoon as ""more serious and offensive than it was intended, and see it as talking down to the youth. ""Reaction in social media is sharply divided between those who see this as unacceptably vulgar, and those who think it is tough but acceptable humor which brings attention to the vote on May 25. ""The latter was the intention. But I acknowledge that Parliament, as an institution, in future has to show more caution in what we put our name to."" The cartoon tells the story of how Voteman, as a young man, once forgot to vote in European Parliament elections. This, the narration says, taught him a painful lesson: ""No influence on climate regulations, agricultural subsidies, chemicals in toys -- and the amount of cinnamon allowed in his cinnamon buns. ""Horrified by this, he decided he would dedicate his life to making everybody vote. So if you're not going to vote, don't try to run, don't try to hide, because he will find you. And he will make you vote."" The European Parliament elections, in which voters in each of the European Union's member states elect representatives to the body, are taking place across Europe next week. May 25 is the day on which Danish voters will go to the polls. Denmark's turnout for the last European elections in 2009 was close to 60%, well above the European average of 43%. CNN's Kim Norgaard contributed to this report."
"Los Angeles (CNN) -- Los Angeles Clippers co-owner Shelly Sterling asked a Los Angeles probate court Wednesday to uphold her negotiated sale of the team for $2 billion despite her husband's objections, her attorney said. The probate court agreed to hold a four-day trial on the issue, beginning July 7. Sterling's legal maneuver comes as three physicians say her estranged husband, Donald, 80, is mentally incapacitated, said her attorney, Pierce O'Donnell. Court papers say her husband shows early Alzheimer's or other brain disease. Donald Sterling, the team's other co-owner, doesn't want to sell the team as the National Basketball Association demands; this week he called the league ""despicable monsters"" and ""a band of hypocrites and bullies."" O'Donnell said his client sought an expedited hearing ""given the fact this is a very important transaction,"" he said. ""It's unfortunate. Mrs. Sterling regrets having to go to court and publicly air this problem. But Mr. Sterling's conduct in reneging on the sale requires her to do so,"" O'Donnell said. Joining Sterling and O'Donnell at the courthouse Wednesday was the attorney for former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, with whom Shelly Sterling has reached an agreement to sell the franchise for a record $2 billion. Donald Sterling opposes a sale of the team and says he gave his wife a purported letter only to negotiate with a buyer, not to formally sell the team, his attorney said Wednesday. ""Bottom line, Donald Sterling does not want to sell the team,"" attorney Bobby Samini said. Technically, a family trust owns the Clippers. But O'Donnell said that three physicians have certified that Donald Sterling lacks the mental capacity to function as a trustee of the complex trust. ""The trust agreement provides that if two qualified physicians certify that he's mentally incapacitated, he's removed. We also have a third distinguished doctor who's an expert in this field, mental capacity, who has reviewed the evidence, and supports the other doctors and agrees on that conclusion. So there's three doctors. We only need two,"" O'Donnell said. ""This is a complex business. You have a $2 billion basketball team. You have massive amount of 150 real estate holdings, and it requires a person to run the business who is competent, and the doctor -- three doctors -- have said that he lacks the mental capacity,"" O'Donnell said. Doctors' findings . Donald Sterling recently underwent a CT scan and a PET scan of his brain, according to Shelly Sterling's court filings. Dr. Meril S. Platzer, a California neurologist, examined Donald Sterling on May 19 and found he ""is suffering from cognitive impairment secondary to primary dementia Alzheimer's disease,"" court papers said. The PET scan on May 16 providing findings ""consistent with a neurodementia of the Alzheimer's type,"" Platzer said in his certification of Donald Sterling's incapacity. Donald Sterling was unable to spell ""world"" backward, was unaware of the season of the year and initially had difficulty drawing a clock, Platzer said in court papers. Dr. James Edward Spar, a specialist in geriatric psychiatry who examined Donald Sterling on May 22, said Sterling suffers ""mild global cognitive impairment"" and ""the overall picture is consistent with early Alzheimer's disease, but could reflect other forms of brain disease,"" court papers said. Platzer said in a May 29 certification that Donald Sterling has ""an impairment of his level of attention, information processing, short term memory impairment and ability to modulate mood, emotional liability, and is at risk of making potentially serious errors of judgment,"" court papers said. Spar said in May 27 letter that Donald Sterling ""is substantially unable to manage his finances and resist fraud and undue influence, and is no longer competent to act as trustee of his trust,"" court documents said. Another specialist in geriatric psychiatry, Dr. Stephen L. Read, ""confirmed the methodology and conclusions of Drs. Platzer and Spar,"" court papers said. ""I agree that the history and the findings are highly suspect as representing the slow emergence of progressive dementia, and specifically Alzheimer's disease,"" Read said in documents filed in court. ""In addition, the findings described are fully consistent with the general loss of brain tissue and, more specifically, with the pattern of impaired brain functions demonstrated by the PET scan of May 16, 2014."" Under the trust agreement, if Donald Sterling became mentally incapacitated, he would be removed as a trustee, O'Donnell said. Donald Sterling is mentally sound, one of his lawyers, Maxwell Blecher, told CNN on Tuesday. ""It strikes me as totally incredible to argue that this man -- I talk to him every day -- is incapable of making decisions and is mentally incompetent,"" Blecher said on Tuesday afternoon. ""And I don't believe any court is going to make a finding to the contrary."" Adam Streisand, the attorney for Ballmer, said his client was hoping for a speedy court date. ""Mr. Ballmer has insisted, as a provision of this deal, Shelly Sterling get approval from the court that she has the authority as the sole trustee based upon the removal of Mr. Sterling as a trustee. So we are here because Mr. Ballmer is insisting that the court bless the transaction,"" Streisand said. ""If it does not go forward, the consequences are dire,"" Streisand said. ""Mr. Ballmer is not going to stick around for years, for this to wind through the courts. And the NBA has made it very clear that it will take over the team, and that is a consequence that is not going to benefit the Sterling family."" September deadline . Donald Sterling initially vowed to fight the sale and filed a lawsuit against the NBA, then said he was going along with the sale -- until Monday, when he again pulled his support. ""From the onset, I did not want to sell the Los Angeles Clippers. I have worked for 33 years to build the team,"" Donald Sterling said. In Shelly Sterling's court filings, NBA general counsel Richard W. Buchanan said if the Sterlings don't sell the team by September 15, the league may sell the team or renew termination proceedings against the Clippers or both. In one document, Shelly Sterling said her husband ""has gone back and forth between opposing the sale and supporting the sale"" of the team since May 29. ""To date, I have not received Donald's written consent to the sale of the Clippers to (Ballmer) for $2 billion,"" Shelly Sterling said in court papers. Sterling has been embroiled in controversy since a recording of a conversation with his friend V. Stiviano surfaced. The recording included a series of racist comments. Sterling's comments, first posted on TMZ, sparked outrage among NBA players, executives and fans. The commissioner fined Sterling $2.5 million and banned him for life from the NBA. In a statement Tuesday, Sterling said he has apologized for the remarks and his apology is sincere. He also made inflammatory comments to CNN's ""Anderson Cooper 360"" about African-Americans, which the NBA had planned to use as part of its evidence against him in an owners' meeting where a vote would be taken on whether to terminate his ownership rights. The meeting was canceled. Sterling's lawsuit makes clear that he believes the NBA has no right to force such a sale, and the league was wrong in banning him for life and fining him. In addition to damages, the lawsuit seeks a restraining order. Sterling says NBA officials are 'bullies,' 'hypocrites,' 'monsters' NBA commissioner: Sterling saga not over yet ."
"(RollingStone.com) -- Rage Against the Machine's 1992 debut is a grenade that keeps exploding. Among '90s albums, only ""Nevermind"" and ""The Chronic"" rival it for cultural impact. Rage made hip-hop-tinged funk metal the new rebel music, taking over the alienation beat from grunge slackers and making Marxist sloganeering seem badass. Like any good revolutionary sect, the band members weren't without their contradictions and tensions. Zack de la Rocha's blocky, academically aspirational rhymes preached leftist revolution, and guitarist and sonic architect Tom Morello practiced an almost authoritarian control and extreme technical precision as he mimicked sampling, sent down thunderous power chords and, occasionally, indulged in almost New Age-y solos. (See the liquid note-bending on ""Township Rebellion."") RollingStone.com: Rage Against the Machine box set marks 20th anniversary of first LP . Remastered to museum-clean standards, the reissued album comes with DVDs of live shows and music videos, plus demos that prove just how down and detailed the group had every song (even if Morello still couldn't resist changing solos). The rap appropriation has lost the force of novelty, of course, but blaming Rage Against the Machine for Fred Durst is like blaming Abraham Lincoln for John Boehner. RollingStone.com: 500 greatest albums of all time . De la Rocha's throat-scraping eruptions about suicide (the fate of an outcast in ""Settle for Nothing"") and bullets in the head feel as primal as any lefty rock -- and maybe more so, heard from inside Morello's palace of sound. Rage was machine-like, yes, but built to change worlds. See the full story at RollingStone.com . Copyright © 2011 Rolling Stone."
"(CNN) -- Ah, fandom, it's a curious and wonderful thing. When it was announced last year that we would be getting a Green Day version of ""Rock Band,"" fans of the band (myself included) were pretty excited. The band that helped turn the '90s punk-rock revival into a more mainstream, pop-radio movement would be getting some major attention in the digital world. When the game was released on Tuesday, I couldn't wait to get home and see if I could play like Tre Cool or sing like Billie Joe Armstrong. But with so many other versions of ""Rock Band"" out there, why would you want to spend money on this game? Well, for starters, any fanboy or fangirl will love the loading screens with Green Day specific graphics and sounds. You also get to view cool memorabilia, like still photos and rare video footage of the band, for completing songs in career mode. Playing songs like ""When I Come Around"" and ""Pulling Teeth"" brings back memories of college days, and yes, I will admit I wish they had put ""All By Myself"" in the game, because it's the only hidden track that Green Day has ever included on an album. Maybe an Easter egg is hiding in the shadows for us to discover? There are also unique drum lessons written specifically for this version of the game. From what I've seen, even veteran Rock Band players will need them. Most of the songs included in the game are ones that fans of Green Day can listen to again and again. Now we can also tell our friends, ""yeah, I five-starred 'Brain Stew/Jaded!' "" Hardcore ""Rock Band"" fans have posted videos on YouTube of themselves playing in expert mode and achieving five gold stars, which is something that not even the members of Green Day were able to do, according to a recent interview with MTV. The graphics are really well done in this game and the motion-capture technique used to animate the Green Day doppelganger is pretty impressive. When the piano opening to ""Viva La Gloria (Little Girl)"" starts playing, Billie Joe encourages the audience to clap and fakes surprise when the piano stops before the song kicks into high gear. It's almost like being at a concert -- I nearly forgot I was supposed to start singing. Also notable is that the band's clothing choices match the theme and era of each album. ""21st Century Breakdown"" has an almost steampunk feel to it. In the Oakland venue the band is decked out in waistcoats, trousers and pin-striped shirts to match the vibe of the album. As with most of the ""Rock Band"" games, when you earn four stars or more on a song, you get a reward. In this case, you get ""cred"" instead of ""fans"" and with that the ability to open up more sets with tougher songs like ""Peacemaker"" from ""21st Century Breakdown"" -- a fun, fast-paced song about death and destruction. All the members of Green Day play an instrument and sing at the same time, which is no small feat given the technical difficulty of the bass lines and Tre Cool's blazing fast drumming speed. My other ""band mate"" was busy clacking away on his guitar and wouldn't have been able to sing if he tried, nor would I when behind my electronic drum kit. Sore arms and scratchy voice aside, ""Green Day: Rock Band"" is a lot of fun. Fans both new and old will enjoy playing along with their favorite songs. We may not all be able to unlock achievements like ""It's All Fun Until Someone Gets Hurt"" or ""Louder Than Bombs or Eternity,"" but we'll have fun trying."
"Kiev, Ukraine (CNN) -- A perilous face-off intensified Saturday when Russia state news complained that Ukraine had mobilized 15,000 troops in the suburbs of Slavyansk in eastern Ukraine ""in order to wipe out the city and its residents."" Quoting a Russian Defense Ministry source, RIA Novosti said satellite photos showed the force forming around the city that has become a friction point between the Ukraine military and pro-Russian militants. The Defense Ministry source said the number of Ukraine troops put the pro-Russian militants at a disadvantage because the latter are ""armed only with small amount of pistols and shotguns."" Many eastern Ukraine residents have Russian roots and sympathize with Moscow. The source said the photos showed about 160 tanks, 230 infantry combat vehicles and armored personnel carriers, mine throwers and multiple-launch rocket systems. Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly criticized Kiev's use of force against Ukrainian civilians. Developments in Ukraine have come at a rapid pace in recent days: . -- Russia, which already had 40,000 troops on its side of the border, started new military drills a few days ago after Ukrainian forces said they killed five pro-Russian militants. Ukraine launched the second stage of an ""anti-terrorist operation"" against militants in Slavyansk. -- On Friday, a team of European and Ukrainian military observers were seized Friday by pro-Russian separatists in Slavyansk. -- Russian military aircraft ""crossed and violated"" Ukrainian airspace seven times overnight, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told reporters in Rome on Saturday. The Russian Defense Ministry denied the accusation, according to the state news agency Itar-Tass. -- Yatsenyuk met with Pope Francis while in Rome on Saturday. The meeting has been seen as a sign of support from the Vatican for his government. -- G7 leaders said they would impose new sanctions on Russia over its role in the crisis. The Ukrainian Prime Minister urged Russia to pull back its security forces and not to support pro-Russian militants in eastern and southern Ukraine. ""We urge Russia to leave us alone,"" he said in televised remarks. Ukraine's government has promised constitutional reforms and protections for Russian speakers in a bid to ease the tensions in its eastern regions. Inspectors seized in Slavyansk . On Saturday, the fate of the military inspectors preoccupied world leaders. The inspectors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe were detained Friday as they entered Slavyansk, along with five Ukrainian military representatives and the driver of their bus, Ukraine's Interior Ministry said. Ukraine's Security Service, the SBU, said the group is being kept under ""inhumane conditions"" in the basement of a building held by the militants. The self-declared mayor of Slavyansk, Vyacheslav Ponomarev, told reporters that one of the ""prisoners"" has diabetes, but he has the medicine he needs and will be given his own quarters overnight. Separatist leader Denis Pushilin, self-declared chairman of the so-called ""Donetsk People's Republic,"" told CNN he doesn't believe they are from the OSCE, but that some are NATO spies. The German Foreign Office said it had set up an emergency task force to find out what has happened to the team members, four of whom are German. The others are from Denmark, Poland, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic, Russian state media said. The OSCE mission in Ukraine is tasked with helping to implement an international agreement signed nine days ago in Switzerland, which called for illegal militia groups to disarm and leave occupied buildings, among other provisions. In a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov asked the United States to use its influence to secure the release of pro-Russian leaders being held in Ukraine. Kerry urged Russia to support efforts of the OSCE and the government of Ukraine to liberate the inspectors and their Ukrainian guides, according to a senior State Department official. Targeted sanctions . Against the backdrop of increasing volatility in Ukraine, leaders of the G7 industrialized nations on Friday announced they would ""move swiftly to impose additional sanctions on Russia"" over its actions in Ukraine. The statement from the group -- which includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States -- came hours after U.S. President Barack Obama threatened Russia with new sanctions. CNN's Gul Tuysuz reported from Kiev and Laura Smith-Spark wrote and reported from London. CNN's Andrew Carey and Nick Paton Walsh in Slavyansk and journalist Victoria Butenko in Kiev contributed to this report. CNN's Alex Felton, Bharati Naik, Ben Brumfield and Boriana Milanova also contributed."
"The Late-1980s pop culture relic ""21 Jump Street"" was a primo specimen of a TV police procedural with a catchy hook: A team of fresh-faced cops work undercover as high school kids, reporting back to their tough/earnest boss at the address listed above. The hit series ran for four years, and was notably progressive in its willingness to incorporate newsmaking social issues, including AIDS, homophobia, and child abuse. But 25 years later, ""21 Jump Street"" the TV show is remembered primarily as the career kickstarter of Johnny Depp as a young actor with an obvious something. As it turns out, dim memories and a new generation of pop culture consumers work to the great advantage of ""21 Jump Street"" the movie: What this fast, cheeky, and very funny interpretation of the original premise sacrifices in teachable moments, it makes up for in intelligent giddiness. Shaped by the precocious comedic smarts of talent-on-a-roll Jonah Hill (who not only costars but also developed the story with Michael Bacall and is one of the executive producers), the movie morphs into an action comedy with a tonal complexity that marks it as a very contemporary creative project. It's part homage and part wink at the past. It jokes about high school but is also a sensitive sociological study of those crucial years. It bridges slapstick and action. It's quick-witted with its pop references. Oh, have you heard? Depp makes a delightful cameo appearance! On the surface, ""21 Jump Street"" follows the crime-fighting antics of odd-couple cop partners Schmidt (Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum). Their wonky dynamic is established in a perfectly placed opening flashback to 2005, when the two were real high school students -- Schmidt the klutzy, anxious nerd with a brain; Jenko the athletic, academically challenged coolio. Seven years later, when both police rookies are coincidentally assigned to an undercover--high schooler program, the duo are prepared to play out those same life scripts, until a mix-up alters fate. Schmidt is assigned a class schedule befitting a popular non-Einstein; Jenko is shuffled into advanced-placement chemistry. (''Ap-chemistry,'' he calls it, laboriously reading his course list.) Given a do-over, the two get to reexperience those less than wonder years. They get to work issues out. And by the way they get to bust a drug ring fronted by a smart and popular guy played with oddball charisma by Dave Franco. (The curiosity isn't that he's the brother of James Franco; it's that he's so interestingly weird. Okay, like his brother.) But that, as I say, is on the surface. Underneath, ""21 Jump Street"" is a riot of risks that pay off, the biggest of which might be handing Tatum funny business. And now for the revelation: The guy's got bust-out talents as a really funny, self-aware comic actor. With all appropriate salutes to the busy fellow's famous abs, and with full forgiveness for his participation in ""The Vow,"" I am feeling the Channing charm for the first time. And wow, those scenes where the smart actor, playing a ''dumb'' character who realizes he's not as dumb as he has always believed he is, fakes playing a dumb guy to mess with his smart partner's head are kind of perfect. Also, Tatum can sustain a great, I mean great, Dumb Face. Under the limber direction of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (""Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs""), and working from a screenplay by Bacall -- a script jammed, by the way, with so many oinky references to male reproductive equipment that I choose to believe the producers were rising to a dare -- Hill and Tatum play their Mutt-and-Jeff act against a supporting cast equally fast on their feet. A refresher viewing of any old ""Jump Street"" episode may sharpen your appreciation for the kind of earnest '80s-TV police captain that Ice Cube is tweaking in his funky turn as Schmidt and Jenko's boss, but the joke is equally welcome without the historical background. Explaining why he's assigning Schmidt and Jenko to shutting down the school drug ring after the death of one student, the captain tells it true: ''This kid is white, so people actually give a s---.'' There's room for laughs and truth at this newly reopened address. A- . See the full article at EW.com ."
"(CNN) -- After years spent fighting in some of the world's worst wars, former U.S. Navy SEAL Kristin Beck says she knows what she wants. ""I want to have my life,"" she told CNN's ""AC360."" ""I fought for 20 years for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I want some happiness."" Beck recently came out as transgender. She wrote about the experience in a book, ""Warrior Princess: A U.S. Navy SEAL's Journey to Coming out Transgender."" Trapped in a man's body . It chronicles her life as a young boy and man, known then as Chris Beck. Beck deployed 13 times, serving in places such as Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq. She earned a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart along the way. Though she's felt trapped in the wrong body since grade school, Beck didn't come out until after she left the military in 2011. Doing so earlier would have been too big a risk. Transgender men and women are banned from service. ""That's a chance that if I took it, I might be dead today,"" she said. ""There's a lot of prejudice out there. There's been a lot of transgender people who are killed for prejudice, for hatred. When the book came out -- some amazing support and some amazing praises -- but also some pretty amazing bigotry and hatred."" Beck says she doesn't need people to love, or even like, her. ""But I don't want you to beat me up and kill me. You don't have to like me, I don't care. But please don't kill me."" 'No one ever met the real me' Beck explains her years of hiding as living like an onion. Deep down, under various layers, or skins, she hid her female persona. ""It is a constant, but as you suppress and as you bottle it up, it's not like on that surface,"" she said. ""You would never notice it because I can push it so deep, but then it does kinda, like, it gnaws at you. So it's always there."" Looking back, Beck believes she might have wanted to become a SEAL because they are ""the toughest of the tough."" She thought: ""I could totally make it go away if I could be at that top level. ... Maybe I could cure myself."" But the feeling of being born in the wrong body never went away. And for her entire career, Beck kept her mouth shut. She says virtually no one, out of the thousands of people she worked with, knew her secret -- it was so well hidden. ""No one ever met the real me,"" she said. Though her identity was hidden, the rest of what Beck offered was true. ""I gave true brotherhood. I did my best, 150% all the time, and I gave strength and honor and my full brotherhood to every military person I ever worked with."" Watch Anderson Cooper . 360° weeknights 8pm ET. For the latest from AC360° click here."
"(CNN Student News) -- January 31, 2014 . This Friday, CNN Student News is all about journeys: the nationwide one that millions of Chinese are taking for the Lunar New Year, the harrowing one that led thousands of Atlantans to abandon their cars, and the first one that a baby polar bear took in the snow. We'll also discuss a new legal development in the case of an accused terrorist, and we'll examine Super Bowl security. On this page you will find today's show Transcript, the Daily Curriculum, and a place for you to leave feedback. TRANSCRIPT . Click here to access the transcript of today's CNN Student News program. Please note that there may be a delay between the time when the video is available and when the transcript is published. DAILY CURRICULUM . Click here for a printable version of the Daily Curriculum (PDF). Media Literacy Question of the Day: . If you were reporting on a cultural tradition, what elements and perspectives would you include, and why? Weekly Newsquiz: The following questions relate to events that were covered this week on CNN Student News. Write your answers in the space provided. 1. What major U.S. city suffered historic transportation gridlock on its roads resulting from a snow and ice storm? 2. What country experienced a revolution on January 25, 2011 that was marked with protests and celebrations this week in Tahrir Square? 3. What term refers to markets of smaller countries that are starting to grow? 4. What word, from an Old French term meaning ""undertake,"" is a term for someone who organizes and manages a business? 5. What is the title of the annual speech given by the U.S. president before Congress? 6. What animal is associated with the Chinese New Year that begins today? 7. What organization oversees most college sports in the U.S.? 8. What war-torn country's largest city is Aleppo? 9. The Rangers are a special operations unit associated with what branch of the U.S. military? 10. What number is represented by the Roman numerals XLVIII? CNN Student News is created by a team of journalists and educators who consider the Common Core State Standards, national standards in different subject areas, and state standards when producing the show and curriculum. We hope you use our free daily materials along with the program, and we welcome your feedback on them. FEEDBACK . We're looking for your feedback about CNN Student News. Please use this page to leave us comments about today's program, including what you think about our stories and our resources. Also, feel free to tell us how you use them in your classroom. The educators on our staff will monitor this page and may respond to your comments as well. Thank you for using CNN Student News! Click here to submit your Roll Call request."
"(CNN) -- Former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, who embodied a vanishing breed of liberal Republicanism before switching to the Democratic Party at the twilight of his political career, died Sunday after a long battle with cancer, his family announced. Specter died of complications from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at his home in Philadelphia, his family said. He was 82. The veteran Pennsylvania politician had overcome numerous serious illnesses over the past two decades, including a brain tumor. He had been in the public eye since serving as a member of the Warren Commission, which investigated the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Specter was elected to the Senate in 1980 and represented Pennsylvania for 30 years, longer than anyone in the state's history. His politically moderate image fit hand-in-glove in the politically blue Northeast, both with its Democratic centrists and its liberal Republicans. He was also one of America's most prominent Jewish politicians, a rare Republican in a category dominated by Democrats over the decades. And his name is synonymous with Pennsylvania, an idiosyncratic state that pushes and pulls between the two parties, and his home, the staunchly Democratic city of Philadelphia. In 2006, Philadelphia magazine called him ""one of the few true wild cards of Washington politics ... reviled by those on both the right and the left."" ""Charming and churlish, brilliant and pedantic, he can be fiercely independent, entertainingly eccentric and simply maddening,"" the profile read. Former Gov. Ed Rendell, a Democrat, called Specter ""a mentor, colleague and a political institution"" who ""did more for the people of Pennsylvania over his more than 30-year career with the possible exception of Benjamin Franklin."" And Pat Toomey, the Republican who now holds Specter's old Senate seat, praised him as ""a man of sharp intelligence and dogged determination."" And at the White House, President Barack Obama said Specter ""was always a fighter."" ""From his days stamping out corruption as a prosecutor in Philadelphia to his three decades of service in the Senate, Arlen was fiercely independent -- never putting party or ideology ahead of the people he was chosen to serve,"" Obama said in a written statement on Specter's death. And Vice President Joe Biden lamented the loss of ""my friend,"" ""who never walked away from his principles and was at his best when they were challenged."" Biden will travel to Penn Valley, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday for Specter's funeral, according to the White House. G. Terry Madonna, director of the Franklin & Marshall College Poll and professor of pubic affairs at Franklin & Marshall College, said Frank Sinatra's song ""My Way"" could apply to Specter. ""There isn't any doubt in many respects he was an unusual politician,"" Madonna said. ""He didn't look at polls. He didn't track how his comments were playing out in the press. ... ""He was fundamentally a pragmatist who could bend with the times,"" Madonna said, and he believed greatly that government could help people. ""The Republicanism in his day, it was a different kind of Republican. He was a Philadelphian, and not into that staunchly conservative Republicanism that we see"" today. Readers wished the best for Specter . Madonna called Specter an ""indefatigable"" public figure, highly demanding of both himself and those who worked for him over the years. He had a few election losses but he was undeterred by defeat, the prospects of losing and the challenges he faced. ""The last thing you would have thought about Arlen Specter was that he was born in Kansas,"" Madonna said. ""He always came across as kind of urbane. He had a kind of caustic sense of humor."" But Specter in fact was born in Wichita, the youngest child of Lillie Shanin and Harry Specter, an immigrant from Ukraine. He grew up in Russell, Kansas, also the hometown of another Republican icon, a one-time presidential nominee and senator, Bob Dole. After graduating from Russell High School in 1947, Specter first went to the University of Oklahoma. But he eventually went east for his higher education. He earned a bachelor's degree in international relations in 1951 from the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa. He was in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War from 1951 to 1953, serving as a second lieutenant in the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. He returned to his studies and graduated from Yale Law School in 1956. After Yale, he started practicing law and became an assistant district attorney in Philadelphia. He served on the Warren Commission at the recommendation of Rep. Gerald Ford, later president. Specter is credited with co-authoring the ""single bullet theory,"" which suggested that some of the wounds to Kennedy and then-Texas Gov. John Connally were caused by the same bullet. Even though he was a registered Democrat, Specter ran successfully for Philadelphia district attorney on the Republican ticket in 1965 and eventually registered as a Republican. He lost an election for Philadelphia mayor in 1967. He served as district attorney until 1974 and prosecuted corruption cases against Philadelphia magistrates and Teamsters. Specter ran for the U.S. Senate in 1976, but he was defeated in the Republican primary by John Heinz. He ran for governor but was defeated by Dick Thornburgh in the primary. But he won his bid for Senate in 1980 and distinguished himself, serving until 2011. ""During his tenure in the Senate, Specter championed Pennsylvania's economy and took an active interest in foreign affairs, meeting with dozens of world leaders as well as supporting appropriations to fight the global HIV/AIDS pandemic and backing free trade agreements between the U.S. and under-developed countries,"" according to a bio from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He served on the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which he was chairman from 2005 to 2007. He served as chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence from 1995 to 1997. And he was a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Specter brought more financial resources to Pennsylvania than anyone in the state, working with mayors and other local leaders to help them get grants and aid, Madonna said. And he's remembered across the state's 67 counties for his efforts. ""He didn't shy away from pork,"" Madonna said. He participated in the confirmation hearings of 14 U.S. Supreme Court nominees, the Penn bio says. He is remembered for leading the charge against conservative nominee Robert Bork and going after Anita Hill, who accused nominee Clarence Thomas of harassment. ""No member of Congress shaped the Supreme Court more than he did,"" Madonna said. ""He had a prosecutorial mindset. He could be incredibly persuasive as an interrogator."" Specter straddled right and left. He criticized Republicans for President Bill Clinton's impeachment and voted in favor of the Iraq war. He supported embryonic stem cell research. During the 1990s, he briefly announced a run for president but eventually dropped the effort and endorsed Bob Dole. Despite his longtime membership in the Republican Party, Specter became more alienated from the party as it grew more conservative. Like many of his moderate compatriots, he came to be viewed by the new conservatives as a RINO -- a Republican in Name Only. Decades after he switched to the Republican Party, he changed his stripes again. He became a Democrat in 2009, saying Republicans had moved too far to the right and embraced social conservatism. The move gave Democrats a 60-seat filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. But in 2010, when he ran for re-election, Specter lost the Democratic primary to Rep. Joe Sestak. Sestak, who went on to lose the race to Toomey, praised Specter via Twitter as ""a warrior of inestimable public service."" After the loss, Specter moved from the halls of Congress to those of academia, taking on a new role at the University of Pennsylvania Law School as an adjunct professor. ""Arlen's knowledge of the inner workings of the government and lawmaking is second to none,"" said Michael Fitts, the law school's dean. ""The insight he brings from his career in public service, particularly as a leader on judicial issues, will be invaluable to our students as they prepare for their own careers in the law."" The senator practiced law when he wasn't in office and authored books throughout his career, including: . -- ""Passion for Truth: From Finding JFK's Single Bullet to Questioning Anita Hill to Impeaching Clinton"" -- ""Never Give In: Battling Cancer in the Senate"" -- ""Life Among the Cannibals: A Political Career, a Tea Party Uprising, and the End of Governing As We Know It"" ""For the past quarter-century, he's also been a Zelig-like national figure,"" the Philadelphia magazine article said, referring to the Woody Allen character from the film of the same name who changed his persona as his surroundings and circumstances changed. ""From his role in sinking Robert Bork's Supreme Court nomination to his cross-examination of Anita Hill, from stem-cell research to the impeachment of Bill Clinton, Specter's greatest talent may be his unique ability to put himself -- somehow, some way -- in the center of the nation's most important debates,"" the article said. Obituaries 2012: The lives they've lived . CNN's Sarah Hoye in Philadelphia contributed to this report."
"Yaounde, Cameroon (CNN) -- Heavily armed poachers recently killed nearly 40 endangered forest elephants for their ivory in two national parks, officials in Cameroon said Tuesday, the latest in a string of slaughters of the animals in Central Africa. ""The carcasses are still fresh, indicating the killings took place probably only this month,"" ecologist Theophile Mbarga told CNN on Tuesday. Very young -- even newborn -- elephants were among the carcasses found in Nki and Lobeke national parks. The toll could reach 50 after a thorough search is made, Mbarga added. The dead elephants were found closely clustered -- less than 35 feet apart -- indicating the poachers used powerful, modern weapons, conservation group WWF project manager Zacharie Nzooh told journalists Tuesday. Evidence indicates that a horseback-riding band of about 300 poachers from Sudan was behind the slaughter, officials said. The same poachers were believed to be responsible for hundreds of elephant deaths over the past year. Forest elephants are distinguished from the more familiar savanna elephants by their smaller size and straighter tusks. A kilogram (2.2 pounds) of their ivory sells for hundreds of dollars on the underground market in places such as China and Thailand. Political analysts say the proceeds fund rebel groups in Sudan and the Central African Republic. A recent peer-reviewed study published at PLOS One documented a ""catastrophic"" 62 percent decline in Central Africa's forest elephant population over nine years. Officials estimated that 1,700 forest elephants remain in the two Cameroonian parks. It is feared they will be completely wiped out within seven years. Savanna elephant populations in the Central African Republic are believed to have plummeted from around 80,000 just 30 years ago to a few hundred today, according to WWF, formerly known as the World Wildlife Fund. The governments of three Central African nations -- Cameroon, the Central African Republic and Chad -- announced Saturday they would muster as many as 1,000 soldiers for joint military operations to protect the region's last remaining savanna elephants, as the Sudanese poachers are still active in the region. ""We recommend the mobilization of all defense and security forces in the affected countries"" to stop the poachers, members of the Economic Community of Central African States said in a joint statement. The communique was issued at the end of a three-day emergency anti-poaching ministerial conference held in Cameroon's capital, YaoundÃ©. The operation is estimated to cost about $2.3 million. The announcement called on other nations to contribute additional funds to sustain the effort. On the night of March 14 to 15, poachers slaughtered killed at least 89 elephants in southern Chad, WWF said. They are also believed to be behind the killing of at least 30 elephants in the Central African Republic since January 1. The poachers on horseback are also suspected of killing 300 elephants in Cameroon's Bouba N'Djida National Park in early 2012. The carnage prompted Cameroon to mobilize 600 elite troops to try to keep the poachers from crossing the border again, WWF reported. In the statement, the ECCAS states congratulated Thailand for its March 3 decision to ban its legal domestic ivory trade and urged its vigorous enforcement. Ivory consumers ""need to be sensitized to the consequences"" of the ivory trade, the statement said, adding that ""destination countries (should) adopt measures to reduce ivory demand."" Robert Jackson, the U.S. ambassador to Cameroon, said he was pleased with the meeting. ""The plan is a good one. But execution is now critical."" he said. ""I am, however, concerned that there is no mention of corruption in the statement, because it contributes directly to the poaching and trafficking problem,"" he said. CNN's Jim Kavanagh contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers could open the Morganza Spillway as early as Saturday, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said Friday. The Mississippi River Commission has directed the Corps to operate the crucial spillway once river flows reach a certain trigger: 1.5 million cubic feet per second. Projections indicate the tipping point could be hit as early as Saturday evening, Jindal has said. Opening the spillway would lower anticipated cresting levels along the lower Mississippi River and divert water from Baton Rouge and New Orleans but would flood much of low-lying south-central Louisiana. Seven parishes are expected to be affected by the opening, according to the Corps. The Mississippi River Commission has advised a ""slow opening,"" and the flood would spread gradually over several days, the Corps said. The Morganza Spillway has not been opened since 1973. Louisiana state and local officials braced for the possibility of major flooding in the Atchafalaya River Basin if, or when, federal authorities open the spillway north of Baton Rouge. They advised residents to expect road closings. Residents gawk at Mississippi's rise . The National Guard worked around the clock to construct a flood barrier in Morgan City, Louisiana, where the Atchafalaya River was already 3.15 feet above flood stage, according to the National Weather Service. The strategy in Morgan City, officials say, is to reinforce the levees around the city. That's where efforts were being focused Friday, rather than on handing out sandbags to individual residents. ""Really, we're just waiting,"" said Evie Bertaut, who has lived in Morgan City for 50 years. Officials believe that the levees will protect the city from flooding, but some are taking preliminary precautions, she said. At Sacred Heart Church, where Bertaut works, people spent the day moving important documents such a baptismal, marriage and financial records to the second floor. ""Most people are getting their photographs together, things that you can't replace in case you have to go,"" she said. A collective gasp as Louisiana town braces for flood . Meanwhile, in the Arkansas town of Helena, the river crested at 56.5 feet -- 12.5 feet above flood stage, according to the National Weather Service. The river's slow pace has given emergency responders more time to prepare, forecasters said. But while the slow-moving water gives residents extra time to get ready, it also means that land could remain under water for some time. Jindal urged southeastern Louisiana residents to evacuate. ""Now is the time to take action,"" he said. The U.S. Coast Guard said floodwaters could close the Mississippi River to ships at the New Orleans port as early as Monday morning. To help New Orleans, the Army Corps of Engineers said Friday that it will open 52 more bays at the Bonnet Carre Spillway just north of the city, diverting water into Lake Pontchartrain. That will mean a total of 264 bays will be open in the 350-bay spillway. Stars talk about the flooding and response . The National Weather Service said that as of Friday morning, the river was at 16.8 feet in New Orleans, just a fraction below flood stage. It is expected to crest May 23 at more than 19 feet. The New Orleans levees are built to withstand 20 feet, according to the weather service. Upriver in Vicksburg, Mississippi, Police Chief Walter Armstrong said 600 residents had been evacuated as of Thursday night. The river was expected to crest at 57.5 feet. Flood stage at Vicksburg, the level at which the river may begin flowing over its banks, is 43 feet. Armstrong said he expected higher water Friday, with more homes affected. More than two dozen roads were closed and about 45 businesses will be closed by Friday. Homes that were built between the levee and the Mississippi River were the first affected. ""We estimate that every home built on the river side of the levee from Memphis all the way to the Louisiana line is flooded,"" said Mike Womack, executive director of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. Residents near Vicksburg counted on a levee for protection. In addition to the mainline levee along the river, starting near Vicksburg and extending northeast for more than 20 miles, a so-called backwater levee offers shelter. The backwater levee is designed to keep water from backing into the Yazoo River delta and is designed lower than the mainline levee so that water can flow over it. That level is expected to be reached Monday, said Charlie Tindall, attorney for the Board of Mississippi Levee Commissioners. The backwater levee was being ""armored"" by a heavy plastic coating to prevent it from washing out, he said. Nonetheless, 1.4 million acres in Mississippi, including 602,000 acres where crops are growing, could flood, said Rickey Grey of the state's Department of Agriculture. Across the South and lower Midwest, floodwaters have covered about 3 million acres of farmland, eroding for many farmers what could have been a profitable year for corn, wheat, rice and cotton, officials said. In Arkansas, the Farm Bureau estimated that damage to the state's agriculture could top more than $500 million as more than 1 million acres of cropland are under water. Womack talks about flood costs . ""It's in about 10 feet of water,"" Dyersburg, Tennessee, farmer Jimmy Moody said of his 440 acres of winter wheat, which was to be harvested in the coming month. Other farmers in Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Arkansas rushed to salvage what wheat they could ahead of the rising water. As for corn, farmers who were able to get into the fields during a soggy planting season in late March and April are seeing their crops in some cases under several feet of water. Some officials said Thursday that spillover effects resulting from the flood could threaten other industries. That includes the possibility that the Waterford 3 nuclear power plant in Taft, Louisiana, could be closed, according to CNN affiliate WGNO. The Mississippi River is expected to crest at 26.6 feet in Taft on May 23. If it reaches 27 feet, officials told WGNO, the plant's water intake system could shut down. NBA's Grizzlies inspired by fans in flooded Memphis . Carl Rhode of Entergy, the plant's operator, told WGNO that the threat to the intake system is not a matter of nuclear safety. However, Scott Welchel, a St. Charles Parish Emergency Operations Center official, said shutting down the plant would have a ""domino effect"" on local industries. ""It would impact every industry along the river,"" Welchel said. ""That's just something that isn't easy for people to deal with, especially on a moment's notice."" For residents in communities along the river, the damage has been far more devastating than can be measured in dollars and cents. Danny Moore of Millington, Tennessee, told CNN affiliate WPTY that the recent disaster marked the second time in one year that flooding took away nearly everything he had. Moore said that after a flood destroyed all of his furniture last year, he decided to move everything he owned into rented storage space. However, those belongings were destroyed when his storage unit was flooded several days ago. ""They say bad luck comes in threes. I hope this is the end of it,"" Moore told WPTY. The Millington resident said he lost a house to a fire in 2009. Moore said he is too preoccupied with taking care of his girlfriend, who is suffering from an infection that is damaging her liver, to look for new furniture. ""We'll do what we've got to do and keep praying,"" Moore said, holding back tears. CNN's Mariano Castillo, Mia Aquino and Erica Henry contributed to this report."
"Actor Russell Johnson, best known as Professor in the 1960s TV sitcom ""Gilligan's Island,"" died Thursday, his agent said. Johnson was 89. Johnson played the iconic role of Professor Roy Hinkley, whose scientific schemes to get the castaways rescued were always foiled by Gilligan's bumbling. He died at his home in Washington, where he lived with his wife, Connie. She and their daughter, Kimberly, were at his side, said agent Mike Eisenstadt. Johnson is also survived by a stepson, Court, and a grandson, he said. Johnson worked up until his death, signing autographs over the holidays, said Eisenstadt. He called Johnson's death ""unexpected."" The chief deputy coroner in Kitsap County, Washington, told CNN that Johnson died from natural causes. Johnson was ""just a positive and nice guy"" who always treated people with respect, his agent said. His acting career began in the early 1950s with many jobs as a character actor on television. He played Marshal Gib Scott in two seasons of ""Black Saddle,"" a Western that ran in 1959 and 1960. Johnson acted in dozens of television shows after the four seasons on ""Gilligan's Island,"" but his career seemed stranded on its own island because of the popular sitcom role. A noteworthy big screen role was as a nuclear physicist in the 1955 science fiction film ""This Island Earth."" Share your memories . Johnson was in Ray Bradbury's 1953 sci-fi classic ""It Came From Outer Space."" Before becoming an actor, Johnson served in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. He was on a B-24 Liberator when it was shot down during a bombing raid over the Philippines in 1945, according to his official biography, and used his G.I. Bill benefits to pay for acting school after the war. Johnson, in a 2004 interview for the Archive of American Television said the success of ""Gilligan's Island, which he never expected to last more than the initial order of 13 episodes, was the result of the ""great chemistry"" of the cast. Tina Louise, who played the glamorous Hollywood starlet Ginger on ""Gilligan's Island said she was "" very saddened to hear of the passing of Russell Johnson."" ""My prayers and condolences go out to his wife Constance and his family,"" Louise said.  ""He will always be in our hearts and remembered from Gilligan's island as part of American pop culture history. He will truly be missed."" Advice to young actors . Johnson's advice to young actors was to ""prepare yourself."" ""Most of us have to really learn how to do what we do, and that takes some studying and being part of an acting group,"" he said.  ""Preparation is everything, and that means studying."" Another important ingredient to acting success is perseverance, he said.  ""You can have all the talent in the world, but if you don't persevere, if you don't stick to it, it doesn't mean anything."""
"(CNN) -- After nearly 40 years of recorded increases, the number of immigrants living in the United States remained flat between 2007 and 2008, recent statistics released by the U.S. Census Bureau show. The number of naturalized citizens in the U.S. increased, partly attributed to voter drives for the 2008 election. According to the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, the U.S. foreign-born population represented about 12.5 percent of the population in 2008, down from 12.6 percent in 2007. Taking into account the margin of error, it was possible that the immigrant population remained even. ""Between '07 and '08 there really wasn't that much of a change,"" said Elizabeth Grieco, chief of immigration statistics staff at the Census Bureau. But given the steep upward trend in the foreign-born population since 1970, no change is big news. The American Community Survey collects data from about 3 million addresses each year, and provides one of the most complete pictures of the population, according to the bureau. The survey doesn't give a reason for the leveling off, but experts pointed to the economic downturn and the resulting high unemployment as factors behind the shift. ""The recession has had a significant effect on immigrants' decisions on whether to come to the U.S.,"" said Michelle Mittelstadt, director of communications at the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute. Would-be unauthorized immigrants and legal temporary workers are mostly the ones who have decided to stay put in their home countries for now, Mittelstadt said. The largest declines in the foreign-born population were in states that were hardest hit by the recession, including California, Florida and Arizona. Mittelstadt noted, however, that those immigrants already in the United States appear to be staying. A recent study by the Pew Hispanic Center concluded that emigration from Mexico, the largest source of immigrants to the United States, slowed at least 40 percent between mid-decade and 2008, based on national population surveys in the United States and Mexico, as well as Border Patrol apprehension figures. The Mexican-born population in the United States dropped by about 300,000 between 2007 and 2008, according to census data. The new Census statistics show that for the first time since the American Community Survey was fully implemented in 2005, the number of noncitizens decreased, Grieco said. There were about 21.6 million noncitizens in 2008, down from 21.9 million in 2007. The label noncitizens includes both legal residents and illegal immigrants. Along with the decline in the noncitizen population, however, there was a notable increase in the number of naturalized citizens, Grieco said. The number of individuals who are naturalized citizens increased to 43 percent of the foreign-born population in 2008 from 42.5 percent in 2007. The Census survey matches reports from the Department of Homeland Security on the rise of naturalization applications. ""Naturalizations grew at a record pace between 2006 and 2008, with a total of 2.4 million immigrants becoming new citizens in the United States,"" according to a DHS statement. A significant fee increase imposed in 2007 for naturalization applications and an awareness of citizenship brought on during voter registration drives for the 2008 election help explain the increase, Mittelstadt said."
"(CNN) -- The hostage crisis in eastern Algeria is over, but the questions remain. Among them, exactly how many people are unaccounted for at a remote natural gas facility after three days of chaos that ended Saturday, leaving at least 23 hostages and dozens of Islamist militants dead. Some 685 Algerian workers and 107 foreigners were freed, the Algerian Interior Ministry said. Britain's BP said Sunday four of its workers remain unaccounted for. And Norway's Statoil said five of its employees were missing, while 12 others are now home in Norway, Algeria and Canada. ""Search efforts are ongoing at the gas installation, looking for more possible victims. I fear the numbers will be updated with more victims later today when the search operation is expected to end,"" said Mohammed Said, Algeria's communication minister. The attackers came from six countries -- only three were Algerian -- and included Arabs and Africans, Said told state-run Radio Algeria. Algeria's military found numerous ""foreign military uniforms"" in its sweep of the In Amenas facility, its Interior Ministry said. Mauritania's Sahara Media news agency said Sunday it had a video from Moktar Belmoktar, who leads the Al-Mulathameen Brigade associated with al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb that regional media have reported was behind the attack. In it, Belmoktar said, ""We at al Qaeda are claiming responsibility of this blessed guerrilla operation."" Belmoktar has communicated with this and other news sites before, said Andrew Lebovich, a Senegal-based security analyst. But the news agency did not post the video, and CNN has not independently confirmed its authenticity. Eleven former hostages -- among them British citizens -- have gotten medical treatment and psychological counseling from the U.S. military at a U.S. naval base in Sigonella, Italy, a U.S. official said Sunday. The hostages were brought from Algeria to the base Friday, the official said, and are being flown to their home countries as their conditions warrant. The remains of one American hostage were also brought to the base, the official said. In a statement Saturday night, the White House said it was in close contact with Algeria's government to ""gain a fuller understanding of what took place."" British Foreign Secretary William Hague echoed those remarks, adding his government is ""working hard to get definitive information"" about each individual. Japan has 10 citizens -- likely affiliated with JGC Corp., an engineering firm that was involved in gas production in In Amenas -- who are yet to be confirmed safe, in addition to a number of dead. Opinion: Algeria crisis is a wakeup call for America . Such Islamist militant activity is not new to Africa, including recent violence in Mali and Somalia. Algeria's status as Africa's largest natural gas producer and a major supplier of the product to Europe heightens its importance to those who want to invest there. Yet that interest is coupled with pressure to make sure foreign nationals, and their business ventures, are safe. Youcef Yousfi, Algeria's energy and mining minister, insisted Sunday his country can keep its gas facilities secure and ruled out foreign forces coming in to help. ""We are going to strengthen security, and we rely first on our means and resources,"" Yousfi said, according to the official Algerian Press Service. Raids turn deadly . Militants in pickup trucks struck the sprawling gas complex about 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of the Libyan border at dawn Wednesday, gathered the Westerners who worked there into a group and tied them up. The In Amenas plant is run by Algeria's state oil company, in cooperation with foreign firms such as Statoil and BP, and because of that employed workers from several countries. The kidnappers wielded AK-47 rifles and put explosive-laden vests on some hostages, according to a U.S. State Department official. Algeria said the attack was in retaliation for allowing France to use Algerian airspace for an offensive against Islamist militants in neighboring Mali. And Sahara News' report Sunday claimed Belmoktar said ""40 immigrant Jihadists and supporters of Muslim countries"" led the siege in retaliation for the Mali offensive. Read more: Mali takes key town as nations ready more troops . But regional analysts believe it was too sophisticated to have been planned in just days. On Thursday, Algerian special forces moved in because the government said the militants wanted to flee to Mali. The Islamic extremists also planned to blow up the gas installation and rigged it with mines throughout, the U.S. official said. Thursday's military incursion succeeded in freeing some hostages -- but not all. Some survivors described their harrowing escapes by rigging up disguises and sneaking to safety with locals, with at least one survivor running for his life with plastic explosives strapped around his neck. Several hostages died. And the Algerian military came under criticism from some quarters for unnecessarily endangering hostages' lives. Undeterred, the government followed with a second push Saturday. That assault killed the remaining hostage-takers but resulted in more hostage deaths. The army intervened ""to avoid a bloody turning point of events in this extremely dangerous situation,"" the Algerian Interior Ministry said Saturday. ""It was clear that the terrorists were determined to escape the country with the captives and to bomb the gas installations."" On Sunday, an American lawmaker said the Algerian government turned down U.S. offers to help during the crisis. ""They decided they were going to handle it their way,"" said Rep. Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican who is chairman of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee. ""They did not want us or the other hostage nations involved in the decision-making."" British Defense Secretary Philip Hammond called the loss of life ""appalling and unacceptable,"" while laying blame solely on the terrorists. Countries mourn dead, try to track down missing . While the military part of the operation is over, the searching and mourning is not for people in countries worldwide. In addition to combing the sprawling desert site, Algerian forces are searching hospitals and medical centers around the country, as well as towns and villages near the targeted site, according to a statement Sunday from Statoil. 'Mr. Marlboro': The veteran jihadist behind the attack in Algeria . Colombia . Colombia's president said a citizen was presumed dead. France . No known French hostages are unaccounted for, France's Defense Ministry said Saturday. One man -- identified as Yann Desjeux -- died after telling the French newspaper Sud Ouest on Thursday that he and 34 other hostages of nine different nationalities were treated well. Three others who had been held are safe. Japan . There are still 10 Japanese who have yet to be confirmed safe, JGC -- the engineering firm -- said Sunday. Malaysia . Three hostages were on their way back to Malaysia, the country's state-run news agency reported Sunday. But there is a ""worrying possibility"" that another is dead, while a fifth is unaccounted for, the agency said. Norway . Five Norwegians are missing, while eight are safe, Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said. ""We know that there are many fatalities,"" Statoil CEO Helge Lund said Sunday. ""A new day without answers has increased our concern."" Romania . One Romanian lost his life, the country's Foreign Ministry said Saturday. Four other Romanians were freed. United Kingdom . Three British citizens were killed, the Foreign Office said Sunday. Three other British nationals and a UK resident are also ""believed dead,"" he said. Twenty-two other Britons who were taken hostage have safely returned home. United States . At least one American, identified as Frederick Buttaccio, is among the dead, the State Department said. Six freed Americans left Algeria and one remained. Read more: Algeria attack may have link to Libya camps . CNN's Paul Cruickshank, Slma Shelbayah, Kevin Bohn, Barbara Starr and Per Nyberg contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- The Chinese-French painter Zao Wou-ki once told me that painting expresses the thoughts we struggle to put into words. Faced with this challenge, ""It's easier to learn English!"" he joked, his wit shining through, even though Alzheimer's disease had already begun its slow, relentless onslaught on his mind. Zao, widely regarded as one of the foremost Chinese contemporary painters of the 20th century, passed away at his home in Switzerland on Tuesday at the age of 93. Born in Beijing in 1920, he formed part of the second generation of Chinese artists to turn westward in their search for inspiration. Encouraged by the French-educated Chinese artist Lin Fengmian, his teacher at the prestigious Hangzhou National College of Art (today the China Academy of Art), he relocated to Paris in 1948. Although he did not know it at the time, the move would be permanent, due in part to the rapidly changing political situation in China. Apart from brief trips abroad, Zao would remain in France until the year before his death, one of the few Chinese artists from his generation to emigrate to Europe. Embraced by France, he was elected to the prestigious Academie des Beaux Arts society in 2002 and received the Legion of Honor in 2006 from then-president Jacques Chirac. For Zao and his contemporaries, Paris represented the source of modern art. Living there meant direct access to the paintings that he had until then only encountered as black-and-white reproductions in art magazines. An oil painter by vocation, he immersed himself in the riches that surrounded him -- heading directly to the Louvre on the very day he arrived in the city. Meanwhile, with the assistance of his friend and mentor, noted poet and painter Henri Michaux, and blessed with the warm charm and wit that would impress me decades later, Zao cultivated an extensive circle of fellow artists and cultural figures. In just a few years, he established himself as an integral member of the postwar French art world. Zao worked hard to find his artistic voice. At first he made a determined effort to distance himself from ink painting -- the medium most closely associated with the Chinese painting tradition-- and subject matter that might be construed as overtly Chinese. He wished to be appreciated on his own merits and not to fall victim to stereotype. His breakthrough, however, came with his 1954 masterpiece ""Wind,"" a painting that was both his first purely abstract work and a return to his origins: the inky black forms rising in two wavering columns are abstractions of oracle bone characters -- the most ancient of Chinese scripts. In the decades that followed, Zao committed himself fully to abstract painting, rarely using even figurative titles after 1959. Instead, he titled his works with their date of completion, marking their entry into the world. The lyrical qualities that defined him as an artist appeared early on, first in his oil paintings and later in his ink paintings, after his reengagement with the medium in the early 1970s: oscillating planes of color, light, and shade met, collided, and diverged, skidding across the surface of his works. The apparent disorder of his paintings concealed an underlying structure, sometimes described as Daoist in nature, which bore striking parallels to a similar balance between order and chaos found in Chinese traditional painting. In Zao's case, this phenomenon is perhaps best understood as a self-statement: the artist's insistence on his personal and aesthetic identity in the face of the vagaries of borders and time. Zao's given name, ""Wou-ki"" (or ""Wuji"" in the standard Hanyu Pinyin romanization used in China), means ""no boundaries."" No single phrase better encapsulates the union in his person and art of the two often disparate cultures and aesthetic visions of France and China. ""French thought and Chinese thought are not the same,"" he told me. ""It's hard to translate between them. Sometimes you must wear yourself out trying to understand. Painting must express these feelings."" An artist friend once asked about my research. Hearing that I studied Zao Wou-ki, he grew suddenly pensive. ""Zao Wou-ki,"" he mused, ""his work isn't representative of either Chinese or French art."" ""Yes,"" I answered. ""He represents himself, and that is enough."""
"Kenyan counterterrorism sources are looking at a Norwegian citizen of Somali descent as a possible suspect in the Westgate mall attack last month, the sources told CNN on Friday. The Norwegian citizen is believed to have ties to Mohamed Abdikadir Mohamed, known as Ikrima, who is regarded as one of the most dangerous commanders in the Somali terror group Al-Shabaab. Norwegian intelligence services are in Kenya investigating Ikrima and the Norwegian citizen, the Kenyan sources said, and have also spoken to the latter's sister in Norway. Norwegian authorities have not yet released the Norwegian citizen's name. Kenyan authorities suspect Ikrima of involvement with the Westgate mall attack. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the bloody four-day siege at the upscale mall in Nairobi, where at least 67 people died. U.S. officials said Ikrima was the target of a raid earlier this month by U.S. Navy SEALs on an Al-Shabaab compound near the town of Baraawe in Somalia. It's believed that he escaped after the U.S. troops came under heavy fire. A Kenyan intelligence dossier seen by CNN alleges Ikrima's involvement with Briton Samantha Lewthwaite, a terror suspect known as the ""White Widow,"" in a foiled Mombasa attack in 2011 with Jermaine Grant, a fellow British citizen currently held in Mombasa on terror charges. Kenyan intelligence sources say that Ikrima, who speaks six languages and grew up in Kenya, is the main ""point person"" between al Qaeda in Somalia and al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and that he has helped pinpoint Kenyan targets. Recruiting operatives in the West? Morten Storm, a former informant who has worked for several Western intelligence agencies, has told CNN that he developed a close relationship with an Al-Shabaab figure called Ikrima between 2008 and 2012. He said he is confident that it's the same person who was targeted by U.S. forces. Inside story on an Al-Shabaab commander . Storm, who is Danish, described Ikrima as a Somali-Kenyan Al-Shabaab operative who had spent time in Norway. He said that Ikrima made clear to him via e-mail that he was ready to send recruits from the West back home from Somalia to launch attacks. Norwegian journalist Bent Skjaerstad told CNN his sources have confirmed that Ikrima had indeed spent time in Norway and had tried to recruit for Al-Shabaab in Europe. Skjaerstad, who reports on security and terrorism for TV2, said Ikrima had lived there between 2004 and 2008. He had failed to gain asylum status but had been given Norwegian travel papers. Skjaerstad told CNN that according to his sources, Ikrima had traveled to Somalia while living in Norway and had used about a dozen aliases. Friends of Ikrima who knew him from his time growing up on the Nairobi suburb of Eastleigh told CNN he traveled to Norway in 2003 and grew increasingly radicalized there. The sources, who had kept up with him over the years, said Ikrima traveled in 2007 to London, where they lost contact with him. In 2008 they heard that he was in Somalia, where he has been based since. Arabic is among the six languages spoken by Ikrima, and he studied French for two years at the Alliance Francais in Nairobi, his friends say. Al-Shabaab in Norway . The possible involvement of the Norwegian citizen in the Westgate mall attack has highlighted concerns about the widening reach of the Al-Shabaab group outside Somali borders. Stig Hansen, a security expert based in Norway and author of the book ""Al-Shabaab in Somalia,"" told CNN that if the Norwegian suspect is who he believes him to be, he lived in a small town in Norway but had connections with a wider group, not all of Somali origin. He came to Norway at age 8 or 9 and stayed for a couple of years, during which time he gained Norwegian citizenship, Hansen said. He later returned to Somalia. Al-Shabaab became quite popular among some Somali community groups in Norway from 2007 to 2009, Hansen said, ""because they were wrongly seen as some kind of national resistance group."" Observers noticed contradictions between what the group said in its English- and Arabic-language messaging, he said, which contributed to ignorance within the diaspora about its real nature. ""But the terrorist attacks inside of Somalia made it easier for the wider ethnic Somali community to see that this was really a terrorist organization, and it distanced itself,"" he said, making it less popular now. However, this development brought its own problems, Hansen said, and not just in Norway. ""What you have to look out for, also in the United States and the United Kingdom and all these other Scandinavian countries, are these small, small networks that are in one sense detached also from the Somali community leaders -- radicalized groups of youths and radical preachers, sheikhs, that go traveling around the various countries to try to incite,"" he said. ""That's what we have to watch these days."""
"(CNN) -- At least 35 people were killed and more than 100 wounded in shootings and explosions across the country on Tuesday, officials with Iraq's interior ministry told CNN. Officials said 29 people were killed and 107 wounded in 11 car bomb explosions in nine different parts of Baghdad. Most of killed and wounded were civilians, officials said. In Falluja, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) west of Baghdad, five people were killed and 12 others were wounded when gunmen attacked al-Tahadi police station in southern Falluja. In northern Mosul, about 400 kilometers (249 miles) north of Baghdad, a bomb exploded in the convoy of army Gen. Mohammed Khamas, killing him instantly. Khamas was the deputy head of army intelligence department in Mosul. Iraq has seen a sharp increase in friction between its Shiite and Sunni populations since April, when Iraqi security forces raided a site used by Sunni protesters to demonstrate against the Shiite-led government. Sunnis have felt politically marginalized under Shiite President Nuri al-Maliki, whose government fears it is being targeted by Sunni Islamists involved in fighting in neighboring Syria. More than 800 Iraqis were killed and 2,030 wounded in violence and acts of terrorism in August, the United Nations said."
"(CNN)  -- Low visibility caused by mist and sand created poor flying conditions for the pilot of an Afriqiyah Airways flight that crashed just before landing in Tripoli, Libyan sources with knowledge of the investigation said Saturday. The plane, an Airbus A330-200, originated in Johannesburg, South Africa, and was at the end of its nearly nine-hour flight when it crashed Wednesday. All but one of the 104 passengers on board were killed. The sources said that as the pilot approached Tripoli International Airport, he took the plane off auto-pilot hoping to manually land the aircraft. He realized he was in trouble and tried to pull the plane up and turn the auto-pilot back on to give it another try, the sources said. But the effort was too late and the plane slammed violently into the ground, explaining the condition of the wreckage and damage to the plane's tail at the crash site, the sources said. An investigation into the crash is under way, and authorities are reviewing the aircraft's flight data recorder. Meanwhile Ruben van Assouw, the 9-year-old sole survivor of the plane crash, has returned home to the Netherlands. He suffered multiple fractures to his legs and underwent surgery at Al Khadra Hospital, said a doctor at the hospital who declined to give her name. Both of Ruben's parents and a brother were killed in the crash, a Dutch foreign ministry representative said. Ruben's family issued a statement Friday expressing gratitude to people who have helped them, such as Libyan hospital professionals and Dutch envoys, as well as the outpourings of sympathy from citizens in both countries. The family also thanked ""the vast majority of the Dutch media for respecting our privacy."" The family, which will raise Ruben, said the boy knows that his parents and brother were killed. ""Considering the circumstances, Ruben is doing fine. He is sleeping a lot; now and then he wakes up and is then lucid,"" the family said in the statement. ""He has drunk a little, and has seen the flowers and cuddly toys."" Ruben's family said it has to deal with ""two kinds of grief"" -- the sorrow the boy is enduring and the sadness over the loss of the other family members. ""The coming period will be very difficult for us,"" the family said. ""We hope that all the media will respect our privacy."" More than two-thirds of the passengers killed in the plane crash were Dutch, the ministry said. Passengers from Libya, South Africa, Belgium, Austria, Germany, France, Zimbabwe and Britain were also among the victims, the airline said on its Web site. The Dutch foreign ministry said Friday it is sending more experts to Tripoli to help Libyan authorities and Dutch colleagues identify the victims."
"(CNN) -- First there was friendship. Then there was romance. After that there was marriage. And now, at what would have been a few weeks from her senior year in college, Christian Minard finds herself expelled from school -- because the person she married is another woman. In a letter from earlier this month that Minard shared with CNN, an administrator at Southwestern Christian University noted that he'd been told of Minard's same-sex marriage and saw pictures of it posted to Facebook. Such a union is in apparent conflict with the ""lifestyle covenant"" of the university ""that all students must agree and sign,"" he added. ""As an American and a Christian, I do respect your choice,"" the administrator wrote. ""(But) I have to uphold the Lifestyle Covenant at SCU and confront you with our position. ""Due to this recent event, you will not be able to attend SCU in the future."" When asked to confirm that the school -- which describes itself as part of the ""International Pentecostal Holiness"" denomination -- sent the letter and to elaborate on the decision, the school's provost, Connie Sjoberg, said only that federal law ""prohibits us from confirming if an individual is or has been a student at our institution."" Sjoberg added, ""We therefore cannot comment on your specific request."" Did Minard sign the school's morality covenant? Yes, she concedes. But she still thinks her expulsion is unfair. Plenty of other students violate the contract in one way or another without being expelled, she says. Minard thinks she is singled out because she's a lesbian. In addition to the emotional sting, the 22-year-old says she is now stuck personally -- not knowing what to do, or where to go next. ""I'm trying to figure out how and where I can graduate,"" she told CNN, noting that she'll have to start paying off her loans at the end of next year unless things change. ""... It's going to be hard to get into classes that may be full, because they gave me very little notice before the fall semester starts."" What you need to know about same-sex marriage . Believes 'gay lifestyle' compatible with 'faith in God' Located in the metropolitan Oklahoma City community of Bethany, Southwestern Christian University's website states the school's three core values are scholarship, service and spirit. The latter value includes ""building a Christ-centered community,"" ""honoring our Pentecostal Holiness heritage"" and ""respecting diversity and various Christian backgrounds."" Minard came to the school on scholarship for basketball, though her playing career was cut short after doctors told her -- after she'd suffered multiple concussions -- that she should avoid sports with physical contact. ""I stayed on without a scholarship,"" Minard said, ""because I was so invested in the university and knew that some credits wouldn't transfer to other schools."" Meanwhile, her life was changing in other ways as well. About 3Â½ years ago, she met her future spouse, Kadyn Park. They started out as friends, and romance blossomed over time. ""We eventually fell in love and decided to get married,"" Minard said. The couple wed March 17 in Albuquerque, New Mexico -- a state where same-sex marriage is legal. She had planned to become a strength and conditioning coach. ""Once I graduated,"" Minard said, ""I was willing to go wherever life took me."" Her educational and professional path, though, is now far from clear. Yet Minard feels that she's in the right place in her own spiritual journey. Having grown up in the Lutheran Church, Minard notes that she ""at first ... struggled"" with the idea that her faith was at odds with her sexuality. ""I had questions, but I worked through those questions,"" she said. ""And now I have a strong faith in God. And I believe you can still have faith in God and live a gay lifestyle."" Love wins in gay couple's 40-year immigration fight . Utah same-sex marriages already done are valid, appeals court rules ."
"(CNN) -- With Sharon Osbourne gone, ""America's Got Talent"" has tapped Spice Girl Mel B. to fill the empty seat. Entertainment Weekly reports that the singer and TV personality, whose full name is Melanie Brown, will join fellow judges Howard Stern and Howie Mandel on the NBC reality competition when it returns this summer. Osbourne announced she was leaving ""AGT"" last year following claims that NBC discriminated against her son, Jack. Brown, aka Scary Spice, is a veteran of reality competitions. She competed on ""Dancing With the Stars"" in the United States, served as a judge on the Australian version of ""The X Factor"" and was a guest judge on the UK's ""X Factor"" and ""Britain's Next Top Model."" ""I've known Melanie since she did 'Dancing with the Stars,' and I've known her as a performer in The Spice Girls before that,"" Paul Telegdy, NBC's president of alternative and late night programming, said in a statement to EW. ""To know her is to know a very frank, strong, enduring entertainer. Someone who has a very strong point of view. We needed somebody who was qualified for the job. She's an amazing singer, dancer and a huge personality. The contestants will get a lot of constructive feedback from her and I can't wait to see her chemistry with Howard and Howie."" Mel B. might not be the only new face on the series this summer -- EW adds that the show is considering hiring a fourth judge as well."
"Editor's note: Ben Chavis is the co-author with Carey Blakely of ""Crazy Like A Fox: One Principal's Triumph in the Inner City."" Chavis received his doctorate in education and philosophy from the University of Arizona and served as principal of American Indian Public Charter School for seven years. Chavis has also worked as a real estate investor. Currently, he is replicating the model he established at American Indian Public Charter School in various schools throughout the U.S. and Canada. Educator Ben Chavis says money isn't enough to improve schools run by incompetent administrators. (CNN) -- Teachers unions and politicians are constantly claiming that K-12 public schools need more money in order to produce good academic results. But does the data support the argument that our schools need more money to succeed? The Oakland Unified School District had a budget of $602 million for the 2008-2009 school year, according to Katy Murphy, an education reporter with the Oakland Tribune. That budget, which includes $77 million spent on consultants, means that the district spends an average of $16,270 per student! What have we, the public taxpayers, received for our exceptionally generous financial support of the Oakland public schools? According to the California Department of Education, the district's reported 2008 California Standardized Test scores show: . 1. Of 707 eighth- and ninth-graders who took the California Standard test for general math: 1 percent tested advanced, 5 percent tested proficient and 94 percent failed by testing below grade level.  See details about K-12 schools, teachers » . 2. Of 2,506 ninth- and 10th-grade students who took the California Standards test in algebra: 0 percent tested advanced, 3 percent tested proficient and 97 percent failed the test. How is it possible for a public school system to so liberally spend more than half a billion dollars and still fail to educate 94 percent or more students of all racial backgrounds? Does anyone believe providing more money to these public school systems will enhance these students' academic performance in mathematics? During my principalship at American Indian Public Charter School, we spent less than $8,000 per student, proving that schools did not need more money. We served a student population that is on average 98 percent minority, with 97 percent receiving free or reduced-price lunch and many who are non-English speakers and from single-parent families. AIPCS students spend three to four hours a day working on mathematics and English-language arts. In 2009, they excelled in academics, physical fitness and any standardized test that they were given. The hard work of these students and staff has paid off with virtually all of our eighth-graders testing advanced in algebra, including 100 percent of our eighth-grade black students, Mexican-American students and American Indian students. Before I became its principal, people called American Indian Public Charter School the zoo. The neighbors hated it. They couldn't stand the behavior of the students, who, with little supervision or control, wreaked havoc in the area. Unfortunately, the students who decided to attend the school did not receive the academics and structure they so direly needed. The school was in many ways a failure, a joke, a sham. When I took over as principal in 2000, it was the worst middle school in Oakland. I told the board I would take the job only if they let me go my own way and do what I thought was best. I implemented a golden rule at American Indian Public Charter School for staff, students and families: If you act like a winner, you'll be treated like a winner. If you act like a fool, you'll be treated like a fool. The charter school is now one of the top-scoring schools in the state and is nationally recognized. The United States spends more money on public education than any other country in the world. Yet, we still have a secondary public education system that ranks with Third World countries in preparing our children in English-language arts, mathematics, science and social studies. Washington, D.C.; Detroit, Michigan; Los Angeles, California; Kansas City, Missouri; and numerous other cities throughout the United States are producing the same poor academic results at an extraordinary cost to the taxpayer and a tremendous academic loss to our students and country. I believe all the money in the world would not be enough to improve schools run by incompetent public school administrators. We need proven leaders who can prepare our children to be competitive members in a free-market society. The American public has been conned into believing that public schools need more money. Have you ever met a public school administrator who said they have enough money? President Obama is moving in the ""right"" direction by reforming public schools to be held responsible to the American public in return for more money. It's very clear that most Americans want to ensure that accountability be attached to the stimulus money that is being awarded to all institutions, including public schools. Next time you hear school officials or politicians begging for more money, ask them how large the district's budget is and how many students are enrolled in their district. Then you do the math. After all, it's your money they want to take. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ben Chavis."
"(CNN) -- A top judge has issued a special plea to the four suspects named in the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri killing to come before the court. Judge Antonio Cassese, the president of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, said in an open letter to the four men accused in the 2005 attack that they will be treated fairly if they appear before the court or even participate in the trial proceedings without being present. Cassese issued the statement after Lebanese authorities told him they have been unable so far to serve warrants on and arrest the accused. ""We will conduct trials based on a firm presumption of innocence of the accused. The Tribunal shall never convict anybody unless guilt is established beyond any reasonable doubt,"" he said. Arrest warrants were issued for Salim Jamil Ayyash, Mustafa Amine Badreddine, Hussein Hassan Oneissi, and Assad Hassan Sabra. A highly placed source in the Lebanese army, who had correctly given CNN the names of the suspects previously, has said that all four belong to Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite militant group. Hariri, a wealthy entrepreneur turned politician, died when his motorcade was hit by a bomb in Beirut on February 14, 2005. Supporters say he was killed because of his opposition to Syrian influence in Lebanon. His death prompted mass protests that led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon, who had been in the country for nearly 30 years. Cassese defended the tribunal, saying its personnel ""are doing their job with full independence and impartiality."" ""We are only acting in the interest of Lebanon; our only motivation is the pursuit of justice. Our exclusive aim is to find the truth about the assassination of 14 February 2005 and other possibly connected criminal cases, while upholding the highest international standards of criminal law."" The judge said that if the accused don't wish to come before the tribunal at The Hague in the Netherlands, they can participate by video link. Cassese said the tribunal ""will appoint the best professionals to represent them in court"" in their absence. But he urged them to appoint legal counsel and pass along instructions to them, even if they choose not to appear before the court. ""If you believe this Tribunal is illegal or illegitimate, argue this point through legal counsel chosen by you -- you will thus have your voice heard on this issue. Use your counsel to make your case and zealously protect your rights."" If they can't afford lawyers, tribunal funds are available for hiring legal counsel. ""The march to justice is inexorable, and one way or another we will end up with a trial. I therefore strongly appeal to the accused to take advantage of the broad legal possibilities offered by our Rules of Procedure and Evidence, thereby contributing to the establishment of truth and the conduct of fair proceedings,"" he said. As for Lebanese authorities, the judge said he's hopeful they will ""persist in their search for the accused."""
"(CNN) -- It's a moment familiar to any regular air traveler. A passenger's photo shows oxygen masks hanging from the ceiling on Monday's Continental Flight 128. The plane bucks up and down, lurches forward and back, or both. Sometimes overhead bins fly open. The squeamish gasp. Babies cry. Then, usually, it's all over. In-flight turbulence is often a mere inconvenience. But it's also the leading cause of airline passenger injuries that are not associated with a fatal crash, experts say. And, on rare occasions, it can be deadly. In the case of Monday's Continental Flight 128, an unexpected blast of air led to much more than jangled nerves, bumps and bruises. Turbulence struck the flight, from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Houston, Texas, unexpectedly, injuring seven passengers badly enough to require hospitalization after the pilot diverted the flight to Miami, Florida. Police said 26 passengers were injured, four seriously.  Learn more about airline turbulence » . Turbulence, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, is caused by a quick change in air movement. Jet streams, air shooting off of mountains, cold or warm weather fronts and thunderstorms can all cause changes in speed or direction. The rapid shift in gravity force -- or G-force -- can cause a sensation not unlike being whipped around on a roller coaster. Most of the time, discomfort is the worst byproduct. ""Normally, it's an inconvenience,"" said Kevin Garrison, a retired Delta Air Lines pilot living in Lexington, Kentucky. ""Very rarely does it hurt passengers, which is odd because a lot of them don't keep their seat belts on."" And wearing seat belts, aviation officials say, is the best way to stay safe. ""In the event that something happens,"" said Les Dorr, a spokesman for the FAA, ""that's the best advice that we or anyone else can give passengers."" Since 1980, three people have been killed in turbulence-related accidents, according to the administration. At least two of those deaths involved passengers who reportedly were not wearing seat belts while the seat-belt sign was on. There have been 234 turbulence-related accidents since 1980, and 114 passengers were seriously injured in those accidents, the FAA reported. Flight attendants have been hurt at a much higher rate. During that same time period, 184 attendants were seriously injured, despite their numbers being far smaller than the number of passengers. ""The majority of injuries actually happen to flight attendants,"" Dorr said. ""They have to be up performing their tasks, even when the seat-belt light is on."" And while pilots are almost always strapped in with seat belts, even they aren't exempt. ""I've had a few bloodied heads -- when I hit my head on the overhead when the seat belt was a little loose,"" said Garrison, who flew for Delta for 27 years. In Monday's accident, passengers reported they were slammed into the Boeing 767's ceiling -- some said two or more times -- when the plane dropped rapidly. ""I saw people being thrown to the roof as if they were dolls,"" Fabio Ottolini, who was returning to Houston with his wife and daughter after visiting family in Brazil, told CNN affiliate KTRK-TV. Passengers said most of those injured were not wearing seat belts. Initial reports are that the Monday flight was hit by what's called clear-air turbulence, or air pockets that hit without warning. While pilots are always on the lookout for regular turbulence spots -- like mountain ranges and places where weather fronts are converging -- clear-air turbulence can happen anywhere. ""You can't see it; you can't sense it with radar,"" Dorr said. ""The best way to determine if there's a possibility of clear-air turbulence is to have somebody in front of you that's already flown through it."" Dorr said passenger injury numbers have dropped over the past few years, during an industry-wide effort to increase safety. No passengers were reported seriously injured in turbulence incidents in 2008, and five flight attendants -- down from a high of 19 in 2003 -- received serious injuries, according to the FAA. The Commercial Aviation Safety Team has focused on seat-belt awareness and pushed for better communication systems for reporting turbulence, Dorr said. All licensed pilots also receive ""upset training,"" which teaches how to deal with extreme turbulence, he said."
"WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Russian military aircraft flew just 500 feet over two U.S. Navy ships this week as the ships participated in a joint military exercise with South Korea in the Sea of Japan, according to U.S. military officials. Two Russian Ilyushin IL-38 maritime patrol aircraft flew only 500 feet above a U.S. aircraft carrier. On Monday, two Russian Ilyushin IL-38 maritime patrol aircraft, known as ""Mays,"" overflew the U.S. aircraft carrier Stennis while it was in international waters in the Sea of Japan. The Russian aircraft flew about 500 feet over the ship, lower than other flights the Russians have made over U.S. ships in the past year. The USS Stennis was about 80 miles east of Pohang, South Korea, participating in the joint military exercise when the flyover occurred. On Tuesday, the USS Blue Ridge, a lead command and control ship, and the Stennis were overflown by two Russian ""Bear"" long-range bombers multiple times, according to U.S. military officials. The Bears overflew the ships at about 2,000 feet, officials said. U.S. military officials said that in both cases, U.S. Navy F/A-18 fighters met up with the Russian aircraft about 70 nautical miles from the U.S. ships and flew alongside them until they left the area. On both days, U.S. aircraft tried contacting the Russian planes on international air frequency radio channels, but the Russian pilots did not respond, officials said. The last time Russian planes flew over a U.S. Navy ship was February 2008, when two Bears flew 2,000 feet over the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz south of Japan. Russian long-range flights skirting U.S. or other nations' boundaries have also been common over the last year. Although the Pentagon does not often talk about the overflights, there is nothing illegal about the actions, and they are generally seen by the United States as nothing more than muscle-flexing by the Russian military."
"(CNN) -- For decades, skyscrapers have served as iconic symbols of national pride or flashy trophies of corporate wealth, reshaping the skyline of the world's major urban centers. Perhaps in the future, the high-rise superstructures could also help revolutionize the way we travel. That, at least, is the fanciful concept behind the Vertical Hyper-Speed Train Hub, a futuristic proposal of two UK-based architects envisaging trains roaring up and down the side of specially-designed skyscrapers nearly as high as the Empire State Building. Towering above the crowded streets of future metropolises, these giant buildings are designed to minimize the large slices of real estate that major railway terminals occupy by flipping them on their side. The goal, designers Christopher Christophi and Lucas Mazarrasa say, is to free up valuable space in the densely-packed cities of tomorrow, which will be significantly challenged by overcrowding and a sharp drop in public space availability. ""In 60 years' time, it will be very difficult for governments to find attractive pieces of available land for public use in the heart of megacities,"" says Christophi, 27. ""Governments will be able to take advantage of such spaces in order to re-adapt the cities' structure to society needs,"" he adds. How it works . The designer's vertical station concept calls for a tall cylindrical skyscraper whose small footprint would allow the transformation of the surrounding area into an urban park. Passengers arriving at the tower would use a lift to make their way up into the platform and from there into their carriage, which could accommodate 10 people sat in two rows opposite each other. But, you might wonder by now, how could commuters stay on their feet whilst the train slides in hyper speeds along the huge tower's faÃ§ade? The main idea is that instead of traveling on normal rails beneath, the carriages would be supported by magnetic tracks running up the skyscraper's exterior. Each carriage proportion is designed as a cubical shape to enable it to function both vertically, when docked, and horizontally, while traveling After the train's departure, the wagons would pivot like a ""Ferris wheel,"" allowing commuters to remain in an upright position and enjoy breathtaking views of the city. Connecting cities . The radical proposal won the designers an Honorable Mention at this year's eVolo Skyscraper competition, which encouraged people from around the world to propose new ideas for vertical structures of the future. The designers say the towers, which would be capped off by a rooftop green plaza, are envisioned as individual pieces of infrastructure that could be replicated in cities around the world. The hope is to connect a new hyper-speed network of underground tunnels and overground routes where superfast trains would cover distances of 300 miles in 30 minutes. This, they claim, would not only save commuting time and simplify the way public transport is being used, but would also help to cut down CO2 emissions by replacing ways of transport powered by fossil fuels. ""Our conceptual design is based upon utilizing existing and viable technologies that can currently be seen in hyper speed rail networks, for example in China,"" says Mazarrasa, 29, adding that is a matter of time before we're able to reach the rail speeds their concept requires. ""The Maglev trains currently travel at 360 miles per hour -- this technology by the 2075 will in no doubt move leaps and bounds from what it already is today, making the hyper-speed trains probably the fastest and safest way of transporting goods and people."" Of course, there are a number of limitations to the project -- the proposal deals only with stations designed to accommodate city by city travel, not to mention efficiency issues around loading trains in high volume terminals and connecting train routes. Yet, like in most futuristic transport proposals, practical details are best to take a back seat for now to allow us to enjoy the thrilling ride -- that is, unless you're afraid of heights."
"Los Angeles (CNN) -- Chris Brown sat alone in court for 35 minutes on Friday while his lawyer talked with the judge and prosecutor behind closed doors in his probation violation case. The judge emerged from his chambers to order Brown to come back on June 10 because lawyers need more time to look at ""additional discovery"" in his case. While not much happened in Friday's hearing before Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge James Brandlin, ultimately it could be big trouble for the singer. In a court filing in February, prosecutors accused Brown of not completing the 180 days of community labor ordered when he pleaded guilty to a felony assault charge in the beating of his girlfriend Rihanna. Rihanna shows support in court for Chris Brown . The paperwork Brown submitted to show he had completed community labor is ""at best sloppy documentation and at worst fraudulent reporting,"" District Attorney Jackie Lacey said. Brown wasn't in town on some of the dates reported, the motion said. Mark Geragos, Brown's attorney, said after the last hearing that the prosecutor's filing was so fraudulent that he would ask the judge to punish the deputy district attorneys involved and call for a contempt of court hearing for filing false documents with the court. ""And I don't mean just false, it is fraudulent,"" Geragos said. The Los Angeles County district attorney's office has ""tortured"" Brown during his probation more than any client he's ever had, Geragos said. Despite the serious allegations outlined in the court filing, the prosecutor is not asking for Brown's probation to be revoked and the singer sent to jail. She is asking the judge to order him to restart his 1,400 hours of community service under the supervision of a Los Angeles probation officer. Brown and his mother were in court for Friday's hearing, but Rihanna, who attended his last court date, was not there. When the pop star sat behind Brown in court at that hearing, it was Rihanna's second time in a courtroom with him. The first was the day in August 2009 when Brown was sentenced to five years' probation and ordered to stay away from her. Then, she was a witness for the prosecution. At the probation court date, when Geragos was asked why Brown's assault victim was in court, he replied, ""She thinks it's utterly ridiculous what they're doing to him."" Rihanna and Chris Brown's relationship through the years ."
"New York (CNN) -- In a recent piece by prominent Iranian cartoonist Mana Neyestani, we see one of his favorite characters -- a cantankerous grandfather who along with his two grandchildren is a solid supporter of the Green Movement against the regime in Iran -- having managed to tie up Larry King inside a closet and trying to disguise himself as the world renowned talk show host in order to get to interview Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Sporting his thick moustache and holding a list of tough questions in hand, the grandfather is charging out of the closet yelling at a CNN producer, ""Get out of my way! The language of this Mr. President only I understand,"" while the producer is baffled by the thick moustache that ""Larry King"" has suddenly grown. The point of the cartoon is a deep and pervasive sense of frustration that Iranians all over the world have with the inability of prominent American journalists and talk show hosts to handle the slippery Ahmadinejad. Christiane Amanpour, Charlie Rose, and Larry King in particular are being criticized for providing Ahmadinejad with a global forum to say whatever nonsense he wishes without enough of a serious challenge to his statements -- some of which are flat-out lies. Since the massively contested presidential election of June 2009, scores of peaceful demonstrators have been arbitrarily arrested, tortured, and murdered; prominent human and women's rights activists, reformists, and labor union leaders have been arrested and subjected to Stalinist show trials and given long and punishing prison terms; the leaders of the opposition Green Movement have been systematically harassed and intimidated; the universities have gone through yet another round of ideological purges; yet another cultural revolution to silence and suppress non-conformist ideas is well under way; an entire cadre of independent-minded journalists have been forced into the indignity of exile -- and yet few of these atrocities manages to gain much attention in the conversations that these prominent American journalists have with Ahmadinejad. That sense of frustration is not limited to Iranians. Jon Leyne, the distinguished senior BBC correspondent has written a wonderful essay discussing the difficulties of interviewing Ahmadinejad. Mr. Leyne points out how Ahmadinejad succeeds ""in moving the agenda onto a ground of his own choosing, and few, if any, of the Western journalists who have interviewed him have scored many points off him."" The former USA Today correspondent Barbara Slavin has also written an article, ""How not to get played by Ahmadinejad,"" in which she too testifies that the ""Iranian president has perfected the art of slipping and sliding around even the most seasoned interviewers."" Perhaps the best example of how Ahmadinejad manages to slip away from hard questions is when Christiane Amanpour asked him about the case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a woman charged with murder and adultery and originally condemned to death by stoning. In response to Amanpour's question, Ahmadinejad point blank said that this report is false and Ashtiani has not been condemned to death by stoning -- which was a plain lie. In anticipation of Ahmadinejad's trip to New York, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran had in fact prepared a full preparatory list of atrocities perpetrated under the administration of Ahmadinejad's for American journalists -- with key facts and crucial issues that they might raise when interviewing him. To be sure, Amanpour did ask Ahmadinejad about executions increasing fourfold since he took office, as well as about the Iranian regime taking action against opposition leaders, including raiding their offices. And in Larry King's case, after interviewing Ahmadinejad he had a follow-up conversation with Fareed Zakaria, the host of CNN's ""Fareed Zakaria GPS,"" in which the evasive answers of Ahmadinejad were put in proper context with more detailed attention to the internal atrocities in Iran. But still the balance of the result tipped heavily in favor of Ahmadinejad's rhetorical one-upmanship. Slavin has suggested that ""reporters need to be armed with in-depth knowledge of Iran's economy, politics and society -- and even then, they may have difficulty getting Ahmadinejad to admit the truth."" But that is not the modus operandi of a journalistic culture that is conceptually geared towards geopolitics and ""international"" politics rather than domestic matters. Ahmadinejad always wins in these encounters because he points to other atrocities by redirecting the question at the questioner, and there are plenty of atrocities around the globe. The other factor is the language barrier between Ahmadinejad and his interviewers, which he strategically uses to his advantage. ""Mr. Ahmadinejad's technique,"" Leyne points out ""is aided by the fact that most of the foreign interviews are carried out in translation -- leaving the journalist less scope for jumping in, and less time to cross-examine."" Leyne's young colleague, Bahman Kalbasi of BBC Persian has now become a Facebook phenomenon because he accosted Ahmadinejad in a hallway at the UN and shouted a succession of questions at him: ""Mr. Ahmadinejad why don't you talk to Iranian journalists? Why do you just talk to foreign journalists? Why do you run away from Iranian journalists?"" Ahmadinejad left his real surprise for after all his interviews, when during his official address to the General Assembly he effectively accused the United States government of direct involvement in the atrocities of 9/11. But in this case, President Obama had an opportunity during his subsequent interview with Kalbasi to respond to Ahmadinejad. ""For him to make the statement here in Manhattan,"" President Obama said, ""just a little north of Ground Zero, where families lost their loved ones, people of all faiths, all ethnicities who see this as the seminal tragedy of this generation, for him to make a statement like that was inexcusable,"" Obama said. Still, too many of Ahmadinejad's statements went unchallenged last week --particularly those that had to do with the vast array of atrocities in his own country. These are not problems that can be solved by handing to journalists a list of questions to ask a head of state with just too many skeletons in his closet to count. These are problems that American journalism as an institution faces as it tries to cope with and cover a far more globalized planet than we've ever seen before. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Hamid Dabashi."
"(CNN) -- Chelsea have completed the signing of England international defender Gary Cahill from Premier League rivals Bolton Wanderers for a fee of $10.7m. The 26-year-old finalized his protracted move on Monday after agreeing personal terms and passing a medical, making it the biggest English transfer so far during the January window. Cahill has signed a five-and-a-half year contract with the London club, despite doubts beginning to surface about the deal due to the length of time negotiations over his financial terms took. Who are football's top January transfer targets? He told the official Chelsea website: ""Chelsea are a massive club. They look to win trophies season in season out and it is a big opportunity for me to be a part of that. ""Opportunities like this, you just can't turn down,"" added Cahill, who has won seven England caps and will be battling with Brazilian David Luiz to partner England captain John Terry at the heart of the Chelsea defense. Speaking on Saturday about Cahill's impending arrival, Chelsea manager Andre Villas Boas told reporters: ""He has good technical abilities which is important in the way we want to play and to implement our philosophy. ""Competition will be tight for him but we brought him in to become better as a team."" Cahill joined Bolton from Aston Villa in January 2008 and developed into one of England's top defenders during his four years at the Reebok Stadium. However, he had already indicated he was not prepared to sign a new contract, meaning Wanderers were forced to sell him or lose him for free at the end of the season. Meanwhile, the Carlos Tevez transfer saga has taken a new twist after Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti confirmed the Italian club had made a $31.7 million bid for Manchester City's Argentine striker. Speaking to reporters after Inter's 1-0 victory over city rivals AC Milan, Moratti said: ""Our offer is 25 million euros -- now it depends on them whether they accept it or not."" Inter have emerged as favorites to sign Tevez, after Milan pulled out of the race last week when their plan to sell Alexandre Pato to Paris St Germain fell through following the Brazilian's decision to stay at the San Siro. Ironically big-spending PSG now seem the only realistic challengers for Tevez, who has fallen out of favor at City after refusing to come off the substitutes' bench during the 3-1 Champions League defeat at Bayern Munich earlier in the season. Elsewhere in the Premier League, Blackburn central defender Chris Samba has handed in a written transfer request, despite Rovers manager Steve Kean saying the player was not for sale. The Congolese international has already been the subject of a rejected bid from QPR, while title-chasing Tottenham and French big spenders PSG have also been linked with the player. Samba issued a statement saying: ""In my five years at Blackburn I have always given 100% in every game I have played. I have had several opportunities to leave but I have always stayed. ""I have decided now is the right time for me to pursue a new challenge and I have asked the club to respect my decision and allow me to leave."" In other transfer news, Barcelona have announced that French defender Eric Abidal has signed a new deal with the club. The 32-year-old, who had been linked with a move away from the Nou Camp, is now contracted to the European champions until June 2013, with an option to extend the deal until 2015. Abidal has made 177 appearances in four years with Barca, winning the Champions League twice and the Spanish La Liga three times."
"PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria (CNN)  -- Trash litters its cities. Electricity is sporadic at best. There is no clean water. Medical and educational services are limited. Basic infrastructure is severely lacking. ""Planet in Peril"" met in a secret location with members of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta. These are not conditions that should plague one of the richest oil states in the world. Hundreds of billions of dollars has been made from the Niger Delta's oil reserves and many people have gotten very rich. Conversely, the average Nigerian has suffered as a result of the country's oil prosperity. The United States Agency for International Development says more than 70 percent of the country lives on less than a dollar a day -- the population is among the 20 poorest in the world. Oil companies are only part of the equation. The other is the Nigerian government. Transparency International, a global organization intent on stamping out corruption, has consistently rated Nigeria's government one of the most corrupt in the world. Nigeria's federal government and oil companies split oil profits roughly 60-40. The money is then supposed to make its way down to the local governments to fund various projects. Somehow, little money actually reaches its intended destination. Nigeria's own corruption agency estimates between $300 billion to $400 billion has been stolen or wasted over the last 50 years.  Lisa Ling travels to secret location to meet notorious Nigerian militant group » . Gov. Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers state, one of the largest oil producers of Nigeria's 36 states, acknowledges past problems with corruption, but thinks progress is being made. ""There's a lot of improvement,"" Amaechi said. ""The work being done by the corruption agency and the federal government has somehow been able to control the level of corruption in government."" Over the last few years, a culture of militancy and violence has arisen in the absence of jobs and services. Kidnappings for ransom, robberies and even murder happen with regularity. The biggest and most powerful armed group is the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, or MEND. They say they are at war against the Nigerian military and the oil companies operating there. MEND, formed in 2005, said it has more than 30 camps throughout Nigeria. Members are armed with high-tech weaponry they said was obtained from ""foreign sources."" Hundreds of people have been killed on both sides and countless oil workers have been kidnapped. Over the years, MEND's attacks on oil pipelines have halted oil production and, therefore, raised the price of oil around the world. They demand oil profits be distributed to average Nigerians of the Niger Delta and said they will not stop their attacks until their objectives have been fulfilled.  See environmental battle lines for ""Planet in Peril"" » . The battle is over oil -- one of the world's most valuable resources. But to most Nigerians -- oil is a curse. It has provoked an environmental disaster of monstrous proportions. Since the 1970s, the United Nations estimates there have been more than 6,000 oil spills in the Niger Delta -- that is equal to more than 10 times the amount spilled from the Exxon Valdez in 1989. Yet, there is no international outcry and rarely are the spills reported, even to most Nigerians. They are still happening and the consequences are nothing short of devastating. Communities along the Niger Delta have lived off subsistence fishing and agriculture for decades. Collecting food becomes impossible when a spill happens, like one that occurred in August. The waterways and mangroves are blanketed in thick brown oil sludge that goes on for miles. Toxicity overpowers the air and a sense of lifelessness pervades the landscape. Many say it will take 10-15 years for the area to be free of contamination -- if the cleanup effort commences in a timely manner. The August spill was a result of a leak from an old pipeline that had corroded. It took the oil company three months to clamp the leak, but the company said it wasn't reported for a full month after it began. Once the leak was reported, the company said it was denied access to the site by the community. Leaders of the village deny that, and the finger-pointing between the two sides is nothing new -- there is no love lost here.  Who is telling the truth? Who knows? Either way, the creeks are blackened. This is life in the Niger Delta."
"Washington (CNN) -- Republicans' chances of winning control of the Senate in Tuesday's midterm elections are now up to 95%, according to CNN's Pivit, an analysis that combines experts' projections with political watchers' predictions on key races. The jump was driven largely by a Des Moines Register poll over the weekend that put Republican Joni Ernst 7 percentage points ahead of Democrat Bruce Braley in a Senate race seen as a must-win for Democrats. In that race, Pivit puts Ernst's chances at 88%. Pivit also offers bad news for Democratic Sen. Mark Udall in Colorado, whose chances are at just 6%, and Sen. Mark Pryor in Arkansas, who's down to 2%. Pivit's analysis suggests Democrats are in better shape in North Carolina, where Sen. Kay Hagan has a 69% chance of holding off Republican challenger Thom Tillis, and in New Hampshire, where Sen. Jeanne Shaheen's chances of beating Scott Brown are up to 81%. Republicans, meanwhile, look to have put Kentucky's Senate race out of reach. Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell's chances of surviving a challenge from Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes are up to 97%. Republicans need a net gain of six seats to capture a majority. Pick-ups in Montana, South Dakota and West Virginia are all but assured, and Democratic incumbents are facing uphill battles in Alaska, Arkansas and Louisiana, as well. Republicans are also hoping for wins in states like Colorado, Iowa, New Hampshire and North Carolina -- which would help solidify their chances of gaining a majority by providing insulation in case the GOP loses seats of its own in Georgia and Kansas."
"(CNN) -- Attention white Anglo-Saxon Protestants: Your days of running things are over. You have jumped the shark. But there's no need to feel bad for WASPs. They've had an amazing run. Every single president in our nation's history, except for John F. Kennedy -- a Catholic -- and Barack Obama, has been a white Protestant. Except for a handful of exceptions, for over 200 years the presidential nominees of both major political parties have been WASPs. WASPs had almost as many victories in a row as The Harlem Globetrotters. But it's over. Look at this year's presidential tickets: A Mormon, an African-American, and two Catholics. Even some of the keynote speakers at the Democratic and Republican conventions were not WASPs. The GOP featured Italian-Irish Catholic Chris Christie and the Democrats tapped Latino-American, Julian Castro. Times are so bleak for WASPs that there's not a single one on the Supreme Court. Likewise, in Congress, the percentage of Protestants fell from 74 percent in 1961 to a slim majority of 55 percent today. Neither the current Speaker of the House (John Boehner: Catholic) nor the Senate majority leader (Harry Reid: Mormon) is WASP. I'm sincerely not gloating. And my jibes are in jest. But what I'm happy about is that our two major political parties are increasingly reflecting the new face of America. The demographics of our nation are changing and, by 2042, minorities are expected to become the majority in the U.S. Objectively, the delegates at this year's Democratic convention were far more diverse. The Republican convention looked more like the early bird dinner crowd at The Cracker Barrel. Opinion: In Ohio, candidates are salesmen trying to close the deal . However, in the GOP's defense, a party that is 90% white, they have started to slowly showcase minorities, such as Sen. Marco Rubio and Govs. Nikki Haley and Bobby Jindal. They are well aware that if they don't, the GOP will go the way of the Whigs. There's little doubt that we will see more diverse presidential candidates. And we will likely see in the not too distant future a president who is Latino, Asian, Jewish, Sikh or Muslim. (That screaming sound you might have heard was Michele Bachmann shrieking in horror at the idea of a Muslim-American president.) This is a testament to our nation. We are by our very nature progressive. It may take years, or even decades, to see change, but we always march forward, not back. So, how did we get to where we are today where the white Protestant establishment seems to be losing power? Well, it's kind of complicated (as these things tend to be). There are tons of reasons. But one important factor that has contributed to today's political landscape is changing voting rights laws. Back in the days when our nation was founded, only white men who owned land could vote. That means rich white men with money get to control the political system. (I know some of you are thinking: How is that different than today?) In our first presidential election in 1789, no women, no blacks, no poor white men, and in many states neither Catholics nor Jews, were permitted to vote. Over time, some states abandoned the requirement of land ownership so that poor white men could vote. And the religious restrictions were also lifted so that non-Protestants were able to vote. Opinion: Democrats and Republicans need a plan to keep American dream alive . However, it wasn't until after 1870, when the 15th Amendment was ratified, that black American citizens were finally guaranteed the right to vote. (Although poll taxes, literacy laws and other measures were still employed in some states to disenfranchise black voters.) And it took all the way to 1920 -- more than 100 years after our first president was elected -- that women were finally given the right to vote with the passage of the 19th Amendment to our Constitution. Enfranchising voters of all backgrounds has led to the opening up of our democratic process. Minorities no longer just voted -- they became active in politics. And they didn't just show up at political meetings -- over time they sought elective offices. And some of them won. With each success, they inspire even more minorities of every race, ethnicity and religion to become active in our political system. So WASPs, you've had your great run. And there is no doubt that another white Protestant will rise up one day against the growing odds and win the White House. But until that day comes, you can console yourself knowing that a white Protestant male is one of the most exciting athletes in our nation today: Tim Tebow. (Of course, he is the back up to Mark Sanchez.) The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Dean Obeidallah."
"(CNN) -- A Detroit man, who stabbed an officer outside a courtroom and escaped wearing the officer's uniform, has been captured, authorities said. The inmate, Abraham Pearson, was spotted walking in a Detroit neighborhood Monday night, said Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon. Authorities said Pearson attacked a deputy with a sharpened comb in front of two other inmates inside a holding cell at the Frank Murphy Hall Monday morning. He then handcuffed Deputy Harrison Tolliver, and fled, also taking the officer's cell phone and radio, the Wayne County Sheriff's Office said. The two inmates did not intervene or leave the cell, according to police. Pearson escaped from the rear of the building, carjacked a citizen and drove away in a Dodge minivan. The Dodge was recovered and the officer's uniform was found under a vehicle near Beaubien Street in Detroit. Pearson was facing sentencing on Monday on carjacking and armed robbery charges. According to the sheriff's office, the 25-year old has a lengthy criminal record and was on parole. The arrest could add at least 11 more charges to the crimes he was already facing, Napoleon said. Tolliver, 63, was taken to the Detroit Receiving Hospital and later released. Tolliver is a retired Detroit police officer who joined the Sheriff's Office in December. CNN's Dominique Dodley contributed to this report."
"(CNN)The United Nations' top human rights official has called on Myanmar's leaders to ""unequivocally condemn"" an ultra-nationalist Buddhist monk who labeled a visiting U.N. rapporteur a ""whore"" at a protest. Ashin Wirathu, the leader of the far-right, anti-Muslim 969 movement, made the remarks about Yanghee Lee, the U.N.'s Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, at a public rally on Friday. ""Don't assume you are a respectable person, just because of your position,"" he said in the speech, footage of which was widely circulated on social media. ""To us, you are just a whore."" The comments drew a sharp response from the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, who described Wirathu's remarks as ""sexist,"" ""insulting"" and ""utterly unacceptable."" ""I call on religious and political leaders in Myanmar to unequivocally condemn all forms of incitement to hatred, including this abhorrent public personal attack,"" he said in a statement released from Geneva Wednesday. ""It's intolerable for U.N. Special Rapporteurs to be treated in this way."" Lee was on a 10-day visit reporting on the human rights situation in the predominantly Buddhist southeast Asian country, which is emerging from a half-century of military rule. She had spoken out about the crisis facing the country's 1.3 million-strong Rohingya Muslim minority, most of whom live under apartheid-like conditions in Rakhine state, with limited access to adequate healthcare and education. Since an outbreak of communal violence between Buddhists and Muslims in 2012, more than 130,000 live in wretched displacement camps they are forbidden to leave. Lee also criticized proposed law changes backed by the monks, including a bill restricting interfaith marriage and religious conversions. She made reference to Wirathu's comments in a statement this week. ""During my visit, I was personally subjected to the kind of sexist intimidation that female human rights defenders experience when advocating on controversial issues,"" she said. Wirathu was jailed in 2003 for inciting anti-Muslim violence, but released in an amnesty nine years later. Myanmar's Minister of Information and presidential spokesperson Ye Htut  posted comments on his Facebook page indicating he would ask the Ministry of Religious Affairs to look into Wirathu's speech. READ MORE: 'Caught between a hammer and an anvil' READ MORE: Rohingya ""not welcome"" READ MORE: Curfew imposed after deadly violence . READ MORE: Aung San Suu Kyi's 'silence' on the Rohingya ."
"(CNN) -- In January 2010, a hardcore ""Transformers"" fan going by ""gaastra"" on a message board for Shout! Factory (a DVD and CD company ""for the discerning pop culture geek"") asked the simple question, ""What would it take to get the Takara shows a release in America?"" Before long, Shout! Factory DVD producer Brian Ward was asking fans how much interest they would have in such a release and what they would like to see on it. 18 months later, the first of the ""Takara shows,"" known as ""Transformers: Headmasters,"" was officially released Tuesday for the first time in the United States. Such is the relationship that geek-friendly companies like Shout! have with fans that this release has seen the light of day. ""I'm really excited about it,"" said Michael Albert of Bear, Delaware, moderator of Seibertron.com, a ""Transformers"" community site that boasts as many as 300,000 page views per day (mostly by fans whose interest in ""Robots in Disguise"" goes well beyond one of the biggest box office successes of the year, ""Transformers: Dark of the Moon,"" and its predecessors). ""This is the first time we've gotten a legitimate release of this Japanese series. You would have to get recordings of them burned onto DVDs, or import them from Australia or Europe, or find a laser-disc player from the 1980s to watch this."" Albert and others from Seibertron.com -- one of many fan sites like tfarchive.com, tformers.com and tfw2005.com -- said that these releases were one of the most sought-after items by fans over the years. The Transformers first became a pop cultural phenomenon in the U.S. in the mid-'80s, based on a pair of toy lines from Japan's Takara company, Microman and Diaclone. When interest in the characters faded after a very short-lived fourth season of the original ""G1"" animated series, it came full circle with the Japanese producing ""Headmasters,"" the first in a series of anime which took the characters in a wild new direction, involving new characters who were able to detach their heads, which were entirely separate characters (the U.S. series only touched on this concept briefly before it ended). ""It really is interesting to see just how the Japanese and their culture played into a series that for most of us we've only known as straightforward Autobots vs Decepticons,"" said Ward, a ""Transformers"" fan himself who has produced all of the Shout! Factory releases of other series, such as ""G1"" and the 1990s ""Transformers: Beast Wars."" ""[The Takara anime series] really bends towards a lot of things that Japanese children want to see,"" said Albert. ""After 'Headmasters' is over, the Transformers are not so much sentient robots but having human drivers. From what I understand, Japanese children prefer having human drivers."" Ward pointed out other, more subtle culture differences. ""Where the G1 characters would call Optimus Prime 'optimus' -- they were pretty casual with their leader -- the Japanese approach it very differently. Optimus Prime will be referred in more of a formal manner, he'll be 'Commander' or something among those lines."" ""The Autobots and Decepticons [in these series] are, no pun intended a well ordered machine,"" he said. ""It's interesting to watch those characters change culturally."" ""Some major characters die early on,"" said Matt Brown of Canton, Michigan, a podcaster at Seibertron.com. ""Later in the series, another major character bites the dust. They don't mess around."" As with any anime import, there is the eternal debate of ""subbed versus dubbed."" There are some fans who simply do not want to watch subtitles. Kim Manning, head programmer for Adult Swim (which is owned by Time Warner, also owner of CNN), and one of the top people responsible for what anime series are seen in the United States, said that every effort is made to get dubbed versions. ""I think they're more likely to reach a more mainstream audience, and we're always hoping to get a larger audience excited about anime,"" she said. ""I think hearing it in your native language allows you to get more absorbed in the action, and to pay more attention to the animation, which is often just gorgeous."" In the case of ""Headmasters"" however, the episodes are not dubbed, but have brand-new subtitles. ""We saw the releases that had come out in the U.K. and Australia and saw that the subtitles there weren't entirely accurate, and in some cases didn't make sense,"" said Ward. ""It was clear that the folks who had translated did not use English as their first language. We gave it to a really good captioning and subtitling house in L.A. and they did a brilliant job of accurately translating the dialogue and understanding what was being said. We got those scripts approved by Hasbro (owners of 'Transformers'), and we're really happy with the outcome. The translation is about as close as one can get to an accurate translation of what's being said in Japanese."" Dubbed versions of the series are out there, however, including one for Malaysian and Singapore television. ""When we heard them, it really got to a point where it was comical,"" Ward explaned. ""The voices were awful. Names would change. Soundwave disappears and is simply replaced by 'New Soundwave.' It was almost the equivalent of watching a Saturday afternoon martial arts movie dub, and that's certainly not something we wanted to do with a property as beloved as 'Transformers,' so we opted out of original dubs and went for brand new subtitles."" Early fan reaction to this was not entirely positive. ""There was a small bit of disappointment that the project couldn't secure enough funding to do a brand-new English dub,"" said Seibertron.com podcaster Bob King of Ashley, Pennsylvania. ""I kind of share that feeling, but I also know that this isn't going to be a very mainstream release, and for them to spend that much money would be kind of a gamble. I appreciate that they're staying cautious."" ""People who have not seen it before might be disappointed in the subtitles, but rest assured [that the existing dubs] are that horrible,"" said Seibertron.com founder Ryan Yzquierdo, from Chicago, Illinois. ""You can't actually sit there and watch the dubs, unless you like drinking while watching 'Transformers.'"" Albert said that the Takara series' legacy extends beyond a mere curiosity: ""The themes are non-Western compared to what Hasbro does now but some of the design aesthetics do play into what we see today."" The other Takara series will be released in the near future as ""The Japanese Collection,"" though a production delay has postponed its release for several weeks. Despite those delays and some early hesitation from the subtitle-phobic, Yzquierdo said that most fans are just excited to check the shows out: ""This is something that I never thought I would see released in the States."" Indeed, this is just the latest example of fans communicating directly with companies to make a difference in what material is released to the public. Manning has communicated often with a ""vibrant"" community of fans on the Adult Swim message boards. ""We definitely look at what people are talking about online, what people are watching and buying online, too. From that, we're always looking for shows that we think will appeal to our audience, and then we pass it around the office -- several of us are anime fans, as well, so we make our own focus group."" As for the importance of the release of ""Headmasters"" specifically, Ward said, ""It gives [fans] something definitive, something approved by Hasbro. Casual fans who just love Transformers will be really surprised by the quality of the show. These were things that were almost, for lack of a better word, lost to American audiences."""
"(CNN) -- Manchester United's hopes of winning a treble this season ended on Saturday with a 1-0 defeat to arch-rivals Manchester City in the semifinals of the English FA Cup at Wembley Stadium. Alex Ferguson's team are on course for a record-breaking 19th English league title and have also reached the semifinals of the European Champions League, but Yaya Toure's second-half winner gave City the chance of winning a first trophy in 35 years. The Ivory Coast midfielder pounced after consecutive errors by veteran goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar and midfielder Michael Carrick allowed him the chance to drill in a low shot seven minutes after halftime. United's bid to reach the final of the 140-year-old knockout competition for a record 19th time was then sabotaged by a moment of madness from 36-year-old midfielder Paul Scholes. The former England international, the only player of the two squads actually born in Manchester, was sent off with 18 minutes left for a reckless high lunge into the thigh of City's Argentine defender Pablo Zabaleta. Ferguson casts doubt over Hargreaves future . City last won the tournament in 1969, and most recently reached the final in 1981 -- one of the modern classics which was won in a replay by Tottenham. Roberto Mancini's team will face either Bolton or Stoke in the final on May 14, with the two Premier League teams meeting in Sunday's second semifinal also at England's national stadium. The Italian urged his team not to get carried away, with the club still battling to qualify for next season's Champions League. ""We have everything in our hands. If we have the same spirit we had today, we have the fourth spot,"" he said, having molded City into contenders since taking charge December 2009 after being handed a lavish transfer kitty by billionaire owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. ""Manchester City was a small team until three, four, five years ago. It's important to start to win the first trophies."" United should have taken an early lead after dominating the first half-hour, with Dimitar Berbatov guilty of two bad misses in quick succession. The Bulgarian, starting in place of suspended England striker Wayne Rooney, was first denied by quick-thinking goalkeeper Joe Hart and then belied the form that has seen him become the Premier League's top scorer this season by inexplicably scooping the ball over the bar from close range after being found by Nani's inviting low cross. City, missing injured captain and top scorer Carlos Tevez, capitalized on some slack United defending after the interval as the 40-year-old Van der Sar -- who retires at the end of this season -- made a poor clearance and then Carrick gave the ball away to Toure. Hart did well to tip a 65th-minute freekick from Nani onto the crossbar before Scholes' red card forced a reshuffle with Berbatov replaced by midfielder Anderson. Man of the match Toure was denied by Van der Sar in the final minute and City survived five minutes of time added on to reach the club's second final since winning the English League Cup in 1976. The match ended in ugly scenes as United defender Rio Ferdinand had to be restrained after Anderson reacted to City striker Mario Balotelli's unwise celebrations in front of opposition fans. Ancelotti in troubled waters at the Bridge . In Saturday's Premier League action, third-placed defending champions Chelsea moved five points clear of City with a 3-1 victory at mid-table West Brom. The London club bounced back from the midweek Champions League exit at the hands of United as striker Didier Drogba leveled the scoring after this time being given the chance to start instead of $80 million signing Fernando Torres. West Brom had led through Nigeria striker peter Odemwingie, but Salomon Kalou put Chelsea ahead in the 26th minute and Frank Lampard sealed victory just before halftime. The result eased any fears that Chelsea will not qualify for next season's top European competition, moving Carlo Ancelotti's team eight points clear of fifth-placed Tottenham -- who host United's main title rivals Arsenal on Wednesday. Arsenal can reduce United's lead to four points by beating sixth-placed Liverpool on Sunday in a match that Kenny Dalglish's team also need to win in order to beat Tottenham to the sole Europa League spot. Everton consolidated seventh place with a 2-0 victory at home to Blackburn thanks to second-half goals by midfielder Leon Osman and defender Leighton Baines, the latter a penalty. Aston Villa moved up to ninth with a last-gasp 2-1 victory at second-bottom West Ham as substitute striker Gabriel Agbonlahor headed an injury-time winner after teammate Darren Bent canceled out Robbie Keane's early opener. Sunderland, European hopefuls earlier this season, slumped to an eighth defeat in nine games as the 2-0 loss at Birmingham left both clubs in a group of four teams on 38 points -- five clear of the relegation zone. Wigan moved out of the bottom three with a 3-1 win at Blackpool that dropped the promoted home team into the danger area for the first time this season."
"ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Long before U2 and Bono blazed their own paths, and decades before the Christian music industry became a half-billion-dollar annual business, a hippie musician with long blond locks paved the way. Larry Norman sang about drugs, politics, racism, sex and Jesus -- sometimes in the same song. Larry Norman was a Christian rock musician before the genre existed, combining faith with a backbeat and social consciousness. Think of him as rock music's street preacher, often referred to as ""the father of Christian rock."" ""Between 1969 and 1979, Larry Norman was the Christian rock scene's answer to Bob Dylan, John Lennon and Mick Jagger,"" said Emmy-nominated director David Di Sabatino, who takes a critical look at Norman's career and life in his documentary ""Fallen Angel: The Outlaw Larry Norman."" ""He set the standard. He created the space for others to exist. ... The vision he created for where Christian rock music could go still resonates today."" The documentary is scheduled to go into limited theatrical release in early 2010. Norman hit the U.S. music scene at a turbulent time for the nation. His first solo album, ""Upon This Rock,"" came out in late 1969, after he left the band People! The San Francisco Bay area psychedelic group was fresh off the success of a Top 20 hit with a cover of the Zombies' ""I Love You."" It was a time when college campuses were erupting in anti-Vietnam War protests and the nation was still trying to digest what had just happened that summer at Woodstock. As many Americans looked for answers, Norman offered his faith, a bold decision for an unknown solo artist making his major-label debut. ""It was a pretty gutsy move to sing about Jesus on his first record,"" younger brother Charles Norman said. ""To take a chance on mentioning Jesus on a secular record was a pretty important step."" "" 'Upon This Rock' was written to stand outside the Christian culture,"" Larry Norman said in an interview with CCM magazine. ""My songs weren't written for Christians. ... I was saying, 'I'm going to present the Gospel, and I'm not going to say it like you want. This album is not for you.' "" No small surprise, given that rock music at the time was the soundtrack of the counterculture and was far from the mainstream. A national survey conducted by Louis Harris and Associates in 1966 found that rock 'n' roll was by far the most unpopular music in the country. About 45 percent of adults said they disliked it, with only about 5 percent saying it was their favorite. Compare that with today, when nearly two-thirds of those asked in a recent Pew Resource Center poll said they listen to it. Being a rocker in the late 1960s wasn't just flying in the face of a conservative Christian music industry but mainstream America as well. Then there were the lyrics, especially on Norman's second solo effort, 1972's ""Only Visiting This Planet."" There were no happy songs about going to heaven; the tunes tackled the social issues of the day. Norman sang about drugs, politics, racism, sex, venereal disease and Jesus -- sometimes in the same song -- getting his music banned from Christian bookstores that might have sold it. ""Stuff like that shocked uptight Christians,"" Charles Norman said in an NPR interview shortly after his brother's death in February 2008 at age 60. ""One of his songs, it's called 'Why Don't You Look Into Jesus,' one of the lines is: 'You've got gonorrhea on Valentine's Day [VD] and you're still looking for the perfect lay. ... Why don't you look into Jesus? He's got the answer.'"" The album also contained what became Larry Norman's signature song, ""Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music."" Nearly two decades after its release, ""Only Visiting This Planet,"" helmed by Beatles' producer George Martin, was recognized as a seminal recording for the genre, voted by CCM magazine in 1990 as the greatest Christian album ever recorded. A similar list released in 2001 by CCM, a Christian music and lifestyle magazine, put the album at No. 2 all time. U2's ""The Joshua Tree"" was sixth. Norman was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame that same year, along with Elvis Presley. The accolades came much sooner in the mainstream media. In 1971, Billboard Magazine called Norman ""the most important writer since Paul Simon,"" while Time magazine pegged him as ""probably the top solo artist in the field."" Norman's fans include U2, Guns N' Roses and Bob Dylan, according to his brother Charles. John Mellencamp said he's one, too. British pop star Cliff Richard made no secret of his admiration. ""When I first became a Christian, I hunted around in vain to find Christian rock 'n' roll music I could relate to. It just all sounded horrible,"" Richard said on ""Rockspell,"" a Gospel-music-themed BBC television show he hosted in 1986, and on which Norman appeared. Then he was introduced to Norman's music, ""and I just was overjoyed and thrilled, because suddenly I could relate ... and there seemed to be a Christian who could do it as well, if not better, than the rest of us."" Black Francis of the alternative rock group the Pixies said Norman has been a lifelong influence. ""I listened to his records growing up, and saw him perform many times. In fact, I used to dress up like him; long blond hair with bangs, sort of a grown-out British invasion look, with black jacket, black shirt, black pants and two-tone black and white cheerleader shoes,"" Francis said. ""While Larry is always referenced by his Christian beliefs, to me he was always an entertainer ... humorous, poignant and always rock 'n' roll. His respect for the arena of entertainment is what gave him his power as a performer."" More than 300 versions of Norman's songs have been recorded by other artists, including non-Gospel acts as diverse as Richard and Francis, as well as Sammy Davis Jr., Petula Clark and Tennessee Ernie Ford. Christian music has come a long way in the 40 years since Norman pioneered Christian rock. ""Before Larry Norman, there was not any Christian music industry,"" said Shawn McSpadden, manager for Switchfoot and the Grammy Award-winning band Third Day. But today is a different story, according to figures from the Gospel Music Association. It says 56 million units of Christian/Gospel music sold in 2008, totaling nearly $500 million. ""The Christian music industry has been very business-savvy, probably without even realizing it, in that a lot of the artists and bands use their local church as their home base when they begin their careers,"" said Bruce Burch of the University of Georgia's Music Business School. ""They immediately have fans that are passionate and devout not only about them as a band or artist, but to their message."" Album sales for the genre, during 2008, outsold classical, jazz, new age and Latin, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Norman, a hippie musician who set out to sing about his faith, blazed the trail for Christian rock."
"LONDON, England (CNN) -- With Manchester United continuing their top form from last season and aiming for what would be a remarkable clean sweep of trophies this year, it's only appropriate that we should profile a blog somehow linked to the Red Devils. Fan focus: The Republik of Mancunia blog is popular with Manchester United supporters. The Republik of Mancunia blog focuses on the Old Trafford club and is updated daily with a keen following among thousands of Manchester United fans. Authored by Manchester-born and raised 25-year-old Scott (who prefers to remain anonymous), the blog began in the 2005-2006 season. Scott, also known as ""Scott the Red,"" told CNN that before starting the blog he had been published on several football sites, and then ""fell into"" creating the Republik of Mancunia web site. ""I love talking about United and I'm an argumentative guy, so getting to write my opinions down about the latest goings on is something I really enjoy doing. ""(In 2005-2006) I was also getting on soapbox about the fact we were not in decline, which the current media at the time seemed to think we were,"" he said. Scott said running a blog was a very difficult and time-consuming task, though he enjoyed the interaction with other fans. ""I imagine if I wasn't in love with the club, I'd have given up on it long before now. It takes up a lot of time and you get people who support other teams having a go at you on a daily basis, sometimes United fans and all!"" Scott said the readership of his blog, and also contributions to his Manchester United forum came from areas as widely spread as Europe, Africa and even as far as Asia and South America -- with a strong base at home in the United Kingdom. ""I find it odd thinking of some lads thousands of miles away and hours apart sat at a computer and reading my latest rant. I like it though!"""
"Mogadishu, Somalia (CNN) -- Blood and body parts littered the ground outside Turkey's embassy in Somalia on Saturday afternoon, the grisly result of a blast that police said left six dead and nine wounded. A minivan packed with explosives went off around 5 p.m. in the heart of Mogadishu, just a few meters from the Turkish diplomatic post, said police Col. Ahmed Mohamud. When it was over, two Somali security guards, a university student and three attackers were dead, according to Mohamud. Turkish embassy sources said that two of its staff members were among the wounded. Somali police and Turkish embassy guards, meanwhile, converged on the scene. Mangled buses and cars ended up in a disfigured heap, while the windows of numerous nearby apartments were shattered. Al-Shabaab -- a militant Islamist group with connections to al Qaeda -- claimed responsibility for the attack. ""We are behind the martyrdom explosion,"" the group claimed via Twitter. ""The Turkish were our main target."" The U.S. government reacted Saturday to ""the terrorist attack"" by pledging its solidarity with Turkey, ""the people of Somalia ... and all members of the international community who are working for peace and stability in Somalia."" ""This cowardly act will not shake our commitment to continue working for the brighter, more democratic and prosperous future the people of Somalia deserve,"" State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement. Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud similarly blasted what he called ""an act of cowardly desperation by terrorists"" against one of his nation's ""most determined and dependable allies."" He lauded Turks' ""tireless efforts"" over the past two years to help build new schools and hospitals, among other contributions. ""I condemn this criminal act of terrorism and my government and security forces will do everything it can to catch those who planned and directed it,"" Hassan said. ""We must continue to stand firm against those who seek to destroy this country and, with the brave support of our allies, we must double our efforts to deliver the peaceful future the Somali people so desperately want."" Saturday's bombing was the second major attack in Mogadishu in a few days: On Wednesday, at least one person died in the capital after a bomb hidden in a lawmaker's car blew up. The targeted member of Parliament, Sheikh Adan Mader, and other lawmakers were out of the car when the blast occurred and were unharmed, police said. Designated a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. government in 2008, al-Shabaab has waged a war with Somali's government in an effort to implement a stricter form of Islamic law in the country. Its forces were pushed out of Mogadishu in summer 2011 by Somali and other African forces, raising hopes of a return to relative security in a city after about 20 years of violence. But the militants have persisted by maintaining control of large rural areas of southern and central Somalia and staging guerrilla-style attacks. In one such attack that al-Shabaab took credit for, in June, at least 14 people died and 15 were wounded in an attack on U.N. headquarters in Mogadishu. In addition to its volatile security situation, Somalia has been plagued by famine. A May report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network, found that 258,000 Somalis had died in the famine between October 2010 and April 2012. Half of the famine victims were children younger than 5. Journalist Omar Nor reported from Somalia, and CNN's Greg Botelho wrote this story from Atlanta."
"(Mental Floss) -- If you think comic book characters do amazing things in comic books, you won't believe what they can do off the page. For starters, Superman brought down the Ku Klux Klan, and Donald Duck raised ships from the ocean floor. 1. Superman defeats the Ku Klux Klan . In the 1940s, ""The Adventures of Superman"" was a radio sensation. Kids across the country huddled around their sets as the Man of Steel leapt off the page and over the airwaves. Although Superman had been fighting crime in print since 1938, the weekly audio episodes fleshed out his storyline even further. It was on the radio that Superman first faced kryptonite, met The Daily Planet reporter Jimmy Olsen, and became associated with ""truth, justice, and the American way."" So, it's no wonder that when a young writer and activist named Stetson Kennedy decided to expose the secrets of the Ku Klux Klan, he looked to a certain superhero for inspiration. In the post-World War II era, the Klan experienced a huge resurgence. Its membership was skyrocketing, and its political influence was increasing, so Kennedy went undercover to infiltrate the group. By regularly attending meetings, he became privy to the organization's secrets. But when he took the information to local authorities, they had little interest in using it. The Klan had become so powerful and intimidating that police were hesitant to build a case against them. Struggling to make use of his findings, Kennedy approached the writers of the Superman radio serial. It was perfect timing. With the war over and the Nazis no longer a threat, the producers were looking for a new villain for Superman to fight. The KKK was a great fit for the role. In a 16-episode series titled ""Clan of the Fiery Cross,"" the writers pitted the Man of Steel against the men in white hoods. As the storyline progressed, the shows exposed many of the KKK's most guarded secrets. By revealing everything from code words to rituals, the program completely stripped the Klan of its mystique. Within two weeks of the broadcast, KKK recruitment was down. And by 1948, people were showing up to Klan rallies just to mock them. Mental Floss: 5 memorable moments in comic book censorship . 2. Donald Duck's scientific breakthrough . In 1966, Danish engineer Karl Krøyer developed a method for raising sunken ships off the ocean floor by injecting them with polystyrene foam balls. However, when Krøyer tried to license his invention with the Dutch patent office, he was denied. Donald Duck had beaten him to the punch by 22 years. Indeed, Krøyer's concept could be traced back to a Donald Duck comic conceived by Carl Barks. In addition to being the most celebrated artist of the Donald Duck comics, Barks was known for his scientific prowess. So in a 1944 story, when Donald got a bump on his head that turned him into a genius, the duck managed to mumble, ""If I mix CH2 [a methylene compound] with NH4 [ammonium] and boil the atoms in osmotic fog, I should get speckled nitrogen!"" Although it sounded like nonsense, it wasn't. In 1963, chemists P.P. Gaspar and G.S. Hammond wrote a technical article about methylene that included a reference to the Donald Duck story. The final paragraph read, ""Among experiments which have not, to our knowledge, been carried out as yet is one of a most intriguing nature suggested in the literature of no less than 19 years ago."" A footnote revealed that ""literature"" as the Donald Duck comic. It seems the web-footed children's hero had deduced the chemical intermediate long before it had been proven to exist. Mental Floss: Musicians performing on Sesame Street . But why were these top American chemists looking to comics for inspiration? Apparently, Dr. Gaspar had been a lifelong Donald Duck fan, and he'd rediscovered Donald's early reference to methylene while collecting old copies of the classic adventures. Gaspar never disclosed how much his work owed to Duckburg's most famous resident, but then again, how many scientists would confess that they used comic books to bolster their research? 3. A Spider-Man villain keeps folks out of jail . In a 1977 edition of Spider-Man, Peter Parker has the tables turned on him. The villain, Kingpin, tracks down Spidey using an electronic transmitter that he'd fastened to the superhero's wrist. Although Kingpin loses in the end (he always does), one New Mexico judge saw beauty in his plan. Inspired by the strip, Judge Jack Love turned to computer salesman Michael Goss and asked if he could create a similar device to keep track of crime suspects awaiting trial. In 1983, Goss produced his first batch of electronic monitors. Authorities in Albuquerque then tested the devices on five offenders, using the gadgets as an alternative to incarceration. Today, the transmitters are a common sight in courtrooms across the country, usually in the form of electronic ankle bracelets. Most famously, Martha Stewart donned one while she was under house arrest in 2004. Perhaps she would have felt better knowing that the gadget had once nabbed Spider-Man, too. Mental Floss: Truth about lie detectors (and Wonder Woman) 4. Captain Marvel Jr. saves the bad-hair day . Like most American kids in the 1940s, Elvis Presley fantasized about growing up to be like his favorite comic book superheroes. But it turns out that The King might have been more interested in their fashion statements than their special powers. During his early teen years, Elvis was obsessed with Captain Marvel Jr., known as ""America's most famous boy hero."" A younger version of Captain Marvel, the character sported an unusual hairstyle that featured a curly tuft of hair falling over the side of his forehead. Sound familiar? When Elvis set out to conquer America with his rock 'n' roll ways, he copied the 'do, thus making it one of the most famous hairstyles of the 20th century. But that wasn't all. Captain Marvel also gets credit for the short capes Elvis wore on the back of his jumpsuits, as well as The King's famous TCB logo, which bears a striking resemblance to Marvel's lightning bolt insignia. Of course, Elvis never tried to hide his love for the Captain. A copy of Captain Marvel Jr. No. 51 still sits in his preserved childhood bedroom in an apartment in Memphis, and his full comics collection remains intact in the attic at Graceland. Plus, the admiration was mutual. Captain Marvel Jr. paid tribute to The King in one issue, referring to the singer as ""the greatest modern-day philosopher."" For more mental_floss articles, visit mentalfloss.com . Entire contents of this article copyright, Mental Floss LLC. All rights reserved."
"(CNN) -- On Tuesday, a federal advisory panel, the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity, recommended that university scientists who have submitted articles on how to modify a flu virus to two very prestigious journals delete critical information from them before publishing. The papers describe how to alter bird-flu virus to be more infectious and potentially nastier. Yes, this is same bird flu virus that, as it moved into pigs, was freaking us all out last year. If you had the detailed map of the viral changes needed, then either a terrorist or an amateur ""garage"" biologist operating without the right safeguards would have a very effective critter for killing you and me. If there is one thing that scientists hate, it is any policy that restricts research in any way. Scientists are taught that they need to be bold in asking questions and not let anything deter them from following their thinking wherever it leads, no matter how unpopular that might be. They are also taught the absolute necessity of making their claims public in reputable journals so that other scientists can subject them to the critical skepticism from which the truth ultimately emerges. Once in a long while, however, the price of the truth is simply too high to let scientists disclose their findings publicly. That is so when it comes to publishing detailed information about dangerous viruses and microbes. We don't have to hide the genetic map for a killer avian flu virus from all eyes. Access to some who have clearance to see it should be possible. If that is done, then the truth will still be known about whether those making claims of being able to engineer the virus can actually do so. To go further with potentially catastrophic data is to court trouble. There are those who will say that the only way to fight terror is to adhere to those values that have proven crucial to the advance of science over the decades. The more we know, the worse for the terrorists. Unfortunately, that is no longer the world we live in. The ethics of inquiry need to adapt. Handing the complete formula for making a nasty pandemic bug to any nut with access to the Internet or a subscription to a scientific journal makes no sense in a world that has seen the use of anthrax and sarin as weapons of terror. Freedom is key to good science. Freedom from terror is also key to good science. When they conflict, the latter is more important freedom than the former. Journals and those who write for them ought to do all they can to try and ensure that most important freedom. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Arthur Caplan."
"(CNN) -- Andrew Sable wasn't in the market for new wheels, but he says the federal ""cash for clunkers"" program helped him get an offer he couldn't refuse. ""I'd have been foolish not to take it,"" said Andrew Sable, who got $9,000 for his 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The gas-guzzling 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee his college-student son drives went bad last weekend. Ordinarily Sable would have fixed it, even though the vehicle was worth perhaps $2,000 at best. But, aware of the program that started this month, Sable took a $4,500 federal credit this week to trade in the Jeep and buy a new, more fuel-efficient Chrysler PT Cruiser. And Chrysler, eager to sell vehicles, threw in its own $4,500 incentive. The $9,000 in savings knocked the price to $8,900 before taxes and fees. ""I'll never get $9,000 for this old vehicle [any other way]. I'd have been foolish not to take it,"" the 43-year-old Sable, an insurance underwriter living in North Bellmore, New York, told CNN after filing a report with iReport.com. He'll drive the PT Cruiser and let the son drive his Nissan. iReport.com: Read Sable's account of the purchase . Under the $1 billion program, people will be given credits of $3,500 to $4,500 to replace gas guzzlers -- generally vehicles with a combined city/highway fuel economy of 18 miles per gallon or less -- with new vehicles that are more fuel efficient. The old vehicles are crushed or shredded.  Watch CNN's Gerri Willis explain the ""cash for clunkers"" program » . The exact credit offered through the program --- officially called the Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Act of 2009, or CARS -- depends on how many more miles per gallon the new vehicle gets. Fuel economy thresholds for new vehicles vary according to type. New cars must have a combined city/highway fuel economy of at least 22 mpg. New SUVs and small or medium pickup trucks or vans must get at least 18 mpg. New large vans and pickups must get at least 15 mpg. The government put Sable's old Jeep at 15 mpg. His new PT Cruiser, which the program classifies as an SUV, gets a combined 21 mpg. Part of the program's intent is to get vehicles with low fuel efficiency off the road. Caroline Radtke, a 31-year-old who wrote about her purchase on iReport.com, was happy to oblige. Radtke and her husband this month got a $4,500 CARS credit for trading in their 2000 Isuzu Trooper (15 mpg) to buy a new Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen, a diesel-powered car that the program lists as getting 33 mpg. After the credit, they paid just under $26,000. ""What was going out of my [old] vehicle was bad for the planet, and you're putting so much financially into the stupid thing to fill it up because it runs out so fast,"" Radtke, a freelance graphic designer living in San Antonio, Texas, told CNN after filing her iReport. ""After driving it for eight and a half years, I wanted something more productive financially and more friendly to the Earth."" The couple would have bought a new car without CARS, but the credit probably allowed them to get a nicer car than they otherwise would have, Radtke said. If they had sold the Trooper themselves, they might have gotten $3,000 if they were lucky, she said. iReport.com: Radtke's purchase . The CARS program isn't for everyone. The credit won't go toward used-car purchases. Also, people looking to get rid of their under-18-mpg vehicle might find they can get about the same or more than a CARS credit by selling it. But the program worked just fine for iReporter Julie Callahan, a Salt Lake City, Utah, woman who was looking to replace her 1990 Chevy C1500 pickup truck, which had more than 350,000 miles and is rated at 15 mpg. She and her husband already had a newer vehicle, but she used the truck to go to work and for other in-town purposes. But lately it started having shifting problems, and it was occasionally slipping going uphill. Like Sable, Callahan, 39, got $4,500 this week to turn in the old vehicle and buy a new PT Cruiser. And, like Sable, she also received a separate $4,500 credit from Chrysler. She'll be paying about $10,000 for her new vehicle after taxes and fees. The $9,000 she saved with the credits from CARS and Chrysler isn't too shabby, considering she figures her old pickup was nearly worthless because it had so many miles. iReport.com: How Callahan got $9,000 for her truck . ""Without the incentives, I probably wouldn't have purchased a brand new vehicle,"" Callahan, who runs a science outreach program at the University of Utah, told CNN after filing her iReport. Unless it is renewed, the program will end November 1 or when funds allotted by Congress run out, whichever happens first. Trade-ins must be less than 25 years old, and their titles must be free of any liens. Consumers can go to a Web site, cars.gov, to learn the program's rules. FuelEconomy.gov: See if your vehicle qualifies for CARS ."
"(CNN) -- The former Penn State assistant football coach currently awaiting trial on child sex assault charges can visit with some of his grandchildren, a judge ruled Monday. The decision by Judge John Cleland eases some conditions of Jerry Sandusky's house arrest, which had forbidden contact with his 11 grandchildren. Joe Amendola, Sandusky's attorney, said the former assistant coach and his family are happy about the ruling. ""Jerry, Dottie, and their entire family are very relieved by and pleased with the court's decision,"" Amendola said in a written statement. Sandusky will be allowed to visit with eight of his grandchildren under parental supervision, Cleland ruled. But another judge in a custody case involving the other three grandchildren should decide whether Sandusky can visit with them, Cleland ruled. The mother of those children has strongly objected to them having contact with Sandusky. State Attorney General Linda Kelly had blasted Sandusky's request to see his grandchildren, saying in a motion earlier this month that Sandusky was fortunate to be granted house arrest when ""he is alleged to have committed 52 sexual offenses."" Kelly also argued that Sandusky should be required to stay indoors during his house arrest because of fears among neighbors and teachers at a nearby elementary school. Cleland denied that request Monday, ruling that prosecutors did not present any evidence showing that Sandusky had tried to contact children at the school. The state ""failed to present any evidence whatsoever that (Sandusky) presents a clearly defined threat to any student at the adjoining elementary school simply by being on his deck,"" Monday's the ruling says. Cleland also ruled Monday that Sandusky would be allowed to have visits from adult friends and to leave his home for meetings with attorneys and private investigators aiding in his defense, provided that a probation coordinator approves. ""Jerry is also happy he can now have visitation with long-time friends with the prior approval of the Probation Department and will be able to continue to use the deck to his home to exercise, care for and supervise his dog, Bo, when Bo is in the yard,"" Amendola said in his statement issued after Monday's ruling. Sandusky has been under house arrest since December, when he was charged with sexually abusing young boys over a 15-year period. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Cleland has said he is aiming for a May 14 trial for Sandusky. On Monday, the judge denied a prosecution request that jurors be selected from outside the county where the former coach is being prosecuted. The allegations against Sandusky led to the firing of Penn State's heralded head football coach Joe Paterno only months before he died of complications from lung cancer. Tim Curley, Penn State's former athletic director, and Gary Schultz, a former university vice president who oversaw campus police, have been charged with perjury and failing to report an alleged 2002 sexual assault of a child. Both of them have pleaded not guilty. On Monday an attorney requested that the perjury charge against Curley be dropped, arguing that Paterno's death means prosecutors no longer have a required second witness to support the charge. CNN's Jason Carroll and Mark Norman contributed to this report."
"Kurdish fighters defending the key Syrian border city of Kobani are dangerously outmatched as ISIS advances, a top United Nations official said Tuesday, calling for the international community to step in. ""They have been defending themselves with great courage. But they are now very close to not being able to do so. They are fighting with normal weapons, whereas the ISIS has got tanks and mortars,"" Staffan de Mistura, the U.N. special envoy for Syria, said in a statement. ""The international community needs to defend them. The international community cannot sustain another city falling under ISIS."" Were Kobani to fall, ISIS would control a complete swath of land between its self-declared capital of Raqqa, Syria, and Turkey -- a stretch of more than 100 kilometers (62 miles). Outnumbered and outgunned by ISIS, local fighters trying to defend the Kurdish-dominated city have tried to flee into Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that Kobani was about to fall to ISIS as protests raged in his country over how the group should be handled. And hours after U.S. airstrikes targeting ISIS struck near Kobani overnight, the city's future was far from certain. Stopping ISIS from taking over cities, towns and other territory in Syria isn't the focus of U.S. efforts, a senior administration official and a U.S. official told CNN. At a briefing, a State Department spokeswoman faced persistent questions over whether saving the city was a U.S. priority. The answer, CNN global affairs correspondent Elise Labott said, sounded like a resounding ""no."" ""It's obviously horrific to watch what's going on the ground, but it's important for the United States, for us to also step back and remember our strategic objective as it relates to our efforts and our engagement in Syria,"" spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters. The U.S. goal, she said, is ""a deliberate, well thought-out campaign in Syria"" to disrupt ISIS command and control, destroy the group's infrastructure and attack sources of fuel and financing for ISIS. ""Certainly no one wants to see Kobani fall, but our primary objective here is preventing (ISIS) from gaining a safe haven,"" she said. ""And we're going after those specific structures that I mentioned,"" Psaki added. ""But we would not have taken the range of military strikes we have taken, including overnight, if we did not want to support and -- and defend the area."" Five airstrikes targeting groups of ISIS fighters struck near Kobani overnight, U.S. Central Command said.  There were another four strikes elsewhere in Syria and four in Iraq. ""Finally, they are hitting the right places,"" one local fighter against ISIS said after the airstrikes near Kobani, which is close to  the Turkish border and key to ISIS' effort to extend its terrain. Airstrikes against the radical Islamist group in Kobani can be challenging because many targets are too close to the Turkish border or Kurdish forces to strike, a senior U.S. military official said. Violent protests in Turkey . Destroying ISIS will require ground operations, Erdogan said, according to the semi-official Anadolu news agency. Speaking to Syrian refugees, he said there has been ""no achievement yet,"" despite months of efforts against ISIS. Erdogan called for a no-fly zone, and for the arming of opposition groups in Iraq and Syria. People upset over what they consider Turkey's failure to respond adequately to the ISIS threat launched protests in Turkey, some of which turned violent. Three people were killed and at least 36 injured in demonstrations throughout Turkey, police said, according to Anadolu. At least five Turkish police officers were among the injured, Anadolu said. There were clashes overnight in Istanbul, and a group of about 50 to 60 protesters blocked a road, CNN affiliate CNN Turk reported. Some demonstrators set fire to a bus and garbage truck and smashed windows and cars. One protester was killed in the middle of a demonstration after being hit in the head by a gas canister in the town of Varto, police said. And two protesters died during demonstrations in the southeastern province of Siirt, Anadolu reported. In Belgium, meanwhile, Kurdish protesters stormed the European Parliament building.  CNN affiliate RTL Belgium said about 50 protesters stormed into the building.  Police then cordoned it off. Some European nations have joined the fight against ISIS, but the Kurdish protesters want tougher action. Belgium participated in overnight airstrikes in Iraq, U.S. Central Command said. Dutch join in, Canada to follow suit . Dutch forces participated for the first time in airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq as well, dropping three bombs on ISIS vehicles that were shooting at Kurdish Peshmerga forces, the Dutch Defense Ministry said in a statement. The vehicles were destroyed, and ISIS fighters may have been killed, the ministry said. Canada's Parliament approved an air combat mission against ISIS in Iraq, pledging up to six CF-18 fighter jets as part of a strike force, in addition to other aircraft for surveillance, reconnaissance and refueling. ""To be absolutely clear, Canada's engagement in Iraq is not a ground combat mission. It includes a number of targeted measures, being taken with allies, to severely limit the ability of ISIL to engage in full scale military movements and to operate bases in the open,"" Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a statement. ""We do not take this step lightly. The threat posed by ISIL is real. If left unchecked this terrorist organization will grow and grow quickly."" Near Kobani, airstrikes hit ISIS vehicles . In Syria, according to U.S. Central Command, the airstrikes against ISIS included: . -- One south of Kobani destroyed three ISIS armed vehicles and damaged another . -- One southeast of Kobani destroyed an ISIS armed vehicle carrying anti-aircraft artillery . -- Two southwest of Kobani damaged an ISIS tank . -- One south of Kobani destroyed an ISIS unit . Elsewhere in Syria, two strikes west of al-Hasakah hit multiple ISIS buildings, one near Deir Ezzor struck an ISIS staging area and IED production facility, and one southwest of Rabiyah struck a small group of ISIS fighters. The United States, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE all participated in the strikes, Central Command said. Death toll in fight for Kobani . More than 400 people have been killed in the fight for Kobani since mid-September, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The group said it has documented the deaths of 219 ISIS jihadists, 163 members of the Kurdish militia, and 20 civilians. A northern Iraqi hospital has received the bodies of at least 29 suspected ISIS militants, the head of the Tal Afar hospital said Tuesday. Danial Qassim said most were killed in U.S.-led coalition airstrikes overnight. Tal Afar is about 70 kilometers (43 miles) west of Mosul -- Iraq's second-largest city.  Mosul has also been overtaken by ISIS, which calls itself the Islamic State. How ISIS makes its millions . Why is ISIS so successful at luring Westerners? U.S. military airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq and Syria have cost more than $62 million so far, according to data provided by the U.S. Defense Department. The data, apparently sent out inadvertently to the Pentagon's press contacts on Monday, listed the total number of airstrikes by U.S. Central Command in Iraq and Syria. It also detailed locations of targets and specified the costs of munitions used."
"Unlike most harried men in many other countries around this time each year, Korean men don't have to worry about shopping for jewelry or flowers or writing nice cards to give to their significant other on February 14. Instead, for South Koreans Valentine's Day is when women shower men with chocolates. It's also just one romantic day in a whole series of calendar-dictated romantic days. Next up is March 14. Known as White Day, on this occasion men gift women with candy. Fact: Chupa Chups is the most sold candy. Next is Black Day on April 14, when downbeat singles who didn't receive any goodies head to local Chinese restaurants to commiserate over their loneliness while eating jjajyangmyeon, or ""black noodles."" Surprisingly, one of the most popular gift-giving days of the year is November 11, or Pepero Day, so named in honor of a favorite Korean stick-shaped snack. (Link in Korean only) Catering to women . Throughout the country, stores selling confectionery prepare for months leading up to February for one of their best-selling days of the year. As February 14 nears, visitors to the country will notice lines and lines of women at such stores. Naturally, retailers need to cater to the female shopper's eye. ""Valentine's Day is one of our top five days of the year,"" Chul-hyun Yoo, the public relations representative for CU convenience stores, told CNN. With 7,900 stores throughout the country, CU is the number one convenience store chain in South Korea, recording almost ₩3 trillion (US$2.8 billion) in total sales last year. ""You can tell what concerns women and men is different by comparing the sales of Valentine's Day and White Day,"" said Yoo. ""Women tend to go for value for money, while men buy big, flashy baskets."" One translation: women are comparatively stingy, while men like to show off. Some of the best-selling items on Valentine's Day are the Ferrero Rocher chocolates sold in packets of three or five. Fellas, don't eat all at once. Becoming unhealthy? At the more upscale Jubilee Chocolatier dessert cafe in Seoul, women line up on the days up to Valentine's Day to buy handmade chocolates that can be customized with their loved one's initials. ""Our Valentine's Day sales make up 20 percent of our entire sales,"" said Gae-ra Lee, public relations representative for the cafe. Although the series of romantic days used to cater more towards couples, or those wanting to confess their secret loves using a romantic day as an excuse, in recent years, goodie-gifting on Valentine's Day and White Day has expanded to include family, co-workers and pretty much anyone you come into contact with on those days. ""I'm buying chocolates for my father. I feel like Valentine's Day should about confessing romantic love,"" said Jin-hee Oh, 28, an office worker shopping at Lotte Department store. ""Nowadays, you don't give chocolates on Valentine's Day because you really like that person,"" said Chun Kyung-woo, a culture reporter for a local newspaper. ""The custom has evolved so that now you have to give small crappy candy that no one actually wants to all your friends and everyone at the office down to your security guard as a show of goodwill,"" said Chun. ""It's unhealthy."" So what did I do? Along with the other female members of the Seoul office, we each gave the Turner Korea boss some chocolate. Not that he needs it."
"(CNN) -- Announcement of a Nintendo 2DS handheld console is causing a collective ""eh"" among fans of the pioneering gaming company. The new console hopes to entice the entry-level gamer (i.e. kids) with a large catalog of games designed for the Nintendo 3DS and DS while appealing to parents with a low price point ($129). Unlike its counterpart, the 2DS does not have 3-D visual effects, nor can it be folded shut like other DS handheld consoles. Instead, the 2DS remains flat and fixed, much like a tablet. The controls are similar to other Nintendo handheld consoles and screen sizes are the same as the 3DS unit. While critics are split over whether this is a good idea for the company in the long term, fans in forums and social media are shaking their heads. Some are asking why a 2DS model is needed when 3-D can be turned off on the current console, while others are calling for Nintendo executives' heads. Much of the confusion lies in the naming convention. While the Nintendo DS can only play DS games, the 2DS and 3DS can play games designed for the DS or the 3DS. The problem arises because the games are clearly labeled for the DS or the 3DS, but not for the 2DS, and could have parents wondering, ""Where are the 2DS games?"" It was a similar problem when the Wii U was announced and players couldn't play Wii U on Wii systems. The names weren't distinct enough to create separation for a casual audience. The move to a non3-D environment for the handheld console is a welcome one to some fans. ""Oh I'm so happy they're creating a 2DS,"" said @omglazerkittens on Twitter. ""That's the whole reason I haven't bought one yet."" Nintendo, for its part, has said the new device is designed for young kids, despite having promotional videos with adults using it. Despite the nonplussed reaction from many older gamers, some fans understand the need for a device aimed at the young audience. The new console may appeal to ""parents who want to buy their kids PokÃ©mon and a 3DS at an affordable price,"" wrote Haziq, a member of popular online video-gaming forum NeoGAF. ""Plus, the flat design kind of reminds me of a tablet. I wouldn't be surprised if this is Nintendo's way of directly competing with that market for small kids."" The October 12 release for the Nintendo 2DS is the same day the company plans to launch the latest titles in the Pokemon universe, ""Pokemon X"" and ""Pokemon Y."" But other gamers aren't so quick to accept the need for the new console or Nintendo's explanation. ""To those who say the 2DS is a kid-friendly option, where does the inability to protect the screen with folding fall into that?"" wrote @JustinMcElroy on Twitter. Twitter user @kellyherron27 wonders whether Nintendo is not happy with the 3DS market anymore. ""Feels like they're saying, 'OK, so our novelty really is a gimmick. Oops.' "" But in explaining the need for the Nintendo 2DS, another NeoGAF member may have offered the most clear-eyed assessment. ""Parents will be buying this for kids and that's the point, hence the price,"" wrote Alpha_eX. ""They're aiming at kids wanting the new PokÃ©mon game and if parents can get it cheap, it'll sell over a more expensive 3DS model."" ""This console isn't aimed at any of us (adults)."""
"(CNN) -- Mitchell Johnson was in danger of becoming the forgotten man of Australian cricket. Shunned by the selectors after an alarming loss of form, he spent a year out of the Test team as he struggled to overcome a foot injury. But the 31-year-old is back with a bang, having terrorized Sri Lanka's batsmen to help the home side clinch a 2-0 series win in Melbourne on Friday. The left-arm paceman was named man of the match after claiming six wickets and scoring 92 not out as the tourists crumbled to defeat by an innings and 201 runs -- Sri Lanka's third worst reverse in the five-day game. Johnson, only playing because of injuries to other bowlers, followed up his four-wicket haul from Sri Lanka's first-innings 156 with a fiery spell that earned two more scalps and ended the tour of key batsman Kumar Sangakkara, who had scored 27. Sangakkara, who on the opening day joined the elite club of players to have scored 10,000 Test runs, needs surgery on a broken finger after being hit on the gloves by Johnson -- who also gave wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene a hairline thumb fracture in the first innings. Neither Jayawardene nor bowler Chanaka Welegedara were able to bat due to injuries, and Sri Lanka collapsed to 103-7 all out in 24.2 overs. Two wickets fell in Johnson's opening over of the innings, one of them a run out. ""The plan through this Test match was to get up their batters and unfortunately for them they got a few injuries out of it,"" said Johnson, who passed the milestone of 200 wickets in his 49th Test. ""I think that intimidation factor definitely worked out there today. We found a bit of a weakness with them with the short ball ... They obviously didn't handle it as well as they would have liked."" It marked a minor career resurrection for Johnson, who was Australia's main strike bowler until his form fell apart during the 2010-11 Ashes series against England. ""In the time I've had off I've been able to reflect on a lot of things. I had probably got to the stage where I listened to a lot of outside influences -- that doesn't affect me anymore. I'm just happy with how I've come back, and making the most of the opportunities I get,"" he said. ""It's not every day you get to play for your country, and I'm pretty proud of the fact I've played 49 Tests now. You've just got to look to the future and, if you get picked, go out there and make the most of it. That's what I'm doing ... and playing with a smile on my face. ""I've always been happy playing for Australia, it just got to the point where I was feeling the pressure. It happens in professional sports, you can feel the pressure and start to believe in things that are said or outside influences, and it just got to that point for me. ""I've moved past that. I'm 31, I've been around the game for a long time now and I think I've matured in that I have belief in myself and just go out there and play my game and do the best job I can."" Despite his heroics, Johnson is not guaranteed of starting the third Test in Sydney from January 3-7. Mitchell Starc is expected to return after being rested, while debutant Jackson Bird made a strong impression as an opening bowler, taking two wickets in each innings. ""His control with the new ball is an area that I think we've been looking for,"" captain Michael Clarke said. ""The one thing I really like about Jackson is you know what you're going to get. ""He bowled into the breeze the whole game and did a fantastic job for us. I think Birdy played a huge part in Mitch's success in the first innings, and it allows a bowler like Mitch to be able to attack."" Australia will be without key all-rounder Shane Watson, who has a calf injury, meaning Glenn Maxwell has the chance to make his Test debut after previous appearances in limited-overs internationals. Meanwhile, India leveled the Twenty20 series against Pakistan with an 11-run victory in the second match at Ahmedabad on Friday. The home side put on 192-5 after batting first, with Yuvraj Singh smashing 72 off 36 balls, sending seven deliveries over the boundary ropes. Pakistan could not follow up Tuesday's five-wicket win in Bangalore, finishing on 181-7 after 20 overs. Ashok Dinda took 3-36 from his four overs. It is the first bilateral series between the neighboring countries in five years. The three-match one-day series will start on Sunday."
"Washington (CNN) -- New disclosures that the Internal Revenue Service targeted liberals as well as conservatives in assessing applications for tax-exempt status have reshaped perceptions of the scandal, shifting the focus away from Republican claims of political villainy. IRS targeting included liberal groups . Investigations by the FBI, congressional committees, the Treasury inspector general's office and the IRS continue, but Monday's revelations bolstered assertions by agency officials and Democrats that the problem was egregious mismanagement instead of intentional misconduct by the Obama administration. Shifting polls contradict key deposition . House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California told CNN on Tuesday that the priority now should be to ensure that laws and regulations prohibiting political groups from getting tax-exempt status are properly enforced, regardless of whether organizations are on left or right. ""These groups are in some ways giving the appearance that their primary purpose is the common good, the common welfare ... when they are actively engaged in political activity, for which they shouldn't be getting a tax deduction,"" Pelosi said. However, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin argued too many questions remain unanswered to stop investigating whether politics played a role in the controversy. ""What we still don't know is who ordered this kind of targeting, why did it take so long for them to clean it up?"" Ryan, the 2012 GOP vice presidential nominee, told CBS. Asked if the claim of political motivation now seemed less valid, he responded: ""I don't know the answer to that, so we're going to let the facts take us where they take us."" In particular, Ryan said he wanted more details on why conservative-oriented groups had their tax-exempt applications stalled and experienced harassing behavior by the IRS, such as having to answer inappropriate questions about the beliefs and activities of members. At the same time, he sounded like Pelosi in saying the bigger question involved the practice of targeting, rather than who specifically got targeted. CNN Poll: Did White House order IRS targeting? ""We know that the IRS did target people based upon their political beliefs,"" Ryan said. ""Who cares whether they're right or left? ... The fact that they're targeting people for harassment based upon their political beliefs should be cause enough alone for outrage."" That's a big change from inferences by GOP leaders in recent weeks that the Obama administration was likely behind the targeting that started in 2010 in an effort to subdue political rivals. With no evidence to date of any such connection, it was unclear how hard congressional committees would continue pushing the issue. The GOP-led House Ways and Means Committee has scheduled a hearing on Thursday on an initial review of the IRS targeting by the agency's temporary leader, Daniel Werfel. President Barack Obama appointed Werfel to clean up the IRS mess last month after an inspector general's audit uncovered targeting of applications that contained conservative-themed words such as ""tea party."" The audit by Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration J. Russell George only cited the targeting of conservative groups, which it said ended in May 2012. Read IRS watchdog's report . In his first substantive report on the agency, Werfel said Monday that its tax-exempt unit used multiple lists of inappropriate criteria in assessing tax-exempt applications until earlier this month, more than a year later than previously revealed. The ""Be on the Lookout"" or BOLO lists included liberal-themed words such as ""progressives"" and other politically oriented terms such as ""occupy"" and ""medical marijuana"" in alerting IRS workers to check for unacceptable political activities, according to copies made available by Democratic Rep. Sander Levin of Michigan. Werfel said he has suspended the use of BOLO lists in considering tax-exempt applications for now. A statement by Levin questioned why George's audit focused only on BOLO lists that contained conservative labels. The inspector general's report ""served as the basis and impetus for a wide range of congressional investigations, and this new information shows that the foundation of those investigations is flawed in a fundamental way,"" Levin's statement said. A spokesperson for George later responded that the report focused only on BOLO criteria used to refer cases for extra scrutiny of potential political activity that would make groups ineligible for tax-exempt status. Republicans have claimed the controversy amounted to political retribution against enemies of the administration, an accusation denied by the White House and the IRS. McConnell: Obama administration a 'culture of intimidation' In response to Levin's statement, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Dave Camp, R-Michigan, said the inclusion of ""progressives"" on a BOLO list did not prove that liberal groups underwent the same extra scrutiny of conservative groups cited in the inspector general's report. The release of George's audit last month ignited a political firestorm in Washington while fueling conservative mistrust of Obama's administration as an example of big government gone wild. Werfel noted Monday that his internal investigation, while still incomplete, found no evidence so far of intentional wrongdoing by IRS personnel or involvement by anyone outside the IRS. He also said no evidence had emerged that in appropriate targeting extended into other areas of the agency. Five IRS managers have been replaced, from the previous acting commissioner whom Werfel succeeded to the head of the unit based in Cincinnati that handles tax-exempt applications. In addition, Werfel created an Accountability Review Board to recommend within 60 days ""any additional personnel actions necessary to hold accountable those responsible"" for the targeting disclosed by the inspector general's report. White House spokesman Jay Carney said Monday that Obama believes Werfel's report ""is an important step in ensuring accountability for any staff that acted inappropriately, identifies the failures in their systems that allowed the misconduct to happen, and takes a forward-looking systemic view at the agency's management."" In his audit that disclosed the misconduct, George said there was no evidence of a political motive. However, he is continuing to investigate the matter, along with the FBI and the congressional committees. As part of his review, Werfel said 80 groups awaiting IRS action on their applications for tax exempt status for more than 120 days could self-register with the agency as long as they certified under penalty of perjury that they would comply with applicable laws and regulations. At the heart of the matter is what kind of organization can qualify for tax-exempt status. Regulations limit such status to groups primarily involved in social welfare activities, while political groups are considered ineligible. Confusion over defining what constitutes political activity versus social welfare activity contributed to the targeting by the IRS, Werfel said. An IRS statement on Monday said the ""safe-harbor"" option for self-certification would apply to groups that ""certify they devote 60% or more of both their spending and time on activities that promote social welfare."" ""At the same time, they must certify that political campaign intervention involves 40% or less of both their spending and time,"" the statement said. Applicants meeting those thresholds would get approval within two weeks of seeking self-certification, it said. Earlier: What's a 501(c)(4)? Werfel said the IRS would continue checking on tax-exempt groups to ensure they were following the law. Separately, the House Oversight Committee, which has been aggressively investigating the IRS matter, plans to meet on Friday to consider a resolution aimed at resolving questions about whether a key agency official must testify. Lois Lerner was the director of exempt organizations when the agency filtered applications for tax exempt status. She appeared before the committee in May and said she had broken no laws or regulations and then invoked her constitutional right not to answer questions. Lerner pleads the 5th . Several committee Republicans questioned whether she waived that right by making her opening statement, and Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa said she could be called back at a later date if that were the case. CNN's Dana Bash and Deirdre Walsh contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Oprah Winfrey gave her support to those suffering in the Gulf states, saying President Obama is doing the best he can to handle the oil disaster. ""What's going on in my heart is the same thing, everyone feels for what is happening to all of the fisherman and families who, this time of year, would be hosting people from all over the country and all over the world there,"" said Winfrey, who was in Atlanta, Georgia, on Wednesday to speak at a middle school graduation. ""We can only hope and pray that this will soon be resolved in a way that people can pick themselves up and move forward,"" Winfrey added. The talk show host said she has heard the criticism of Obama's handling of the oil crisis. Winfrey, an avid supporter of the president, said he is doing a good job. ""I think the president is doing the best anybody can,"" said Winfrey, who campaigned for Obama when he ran for president. ""I really don't understand what people want him to do? I think he's the president of the United States. ""You're not supposed to be emotional, you're supposed to take action and get things done and make sure those things happen so I'm not sure what people want him to do,"" she said. The underwater gusher began after an April 20 explosion aboard the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon. The explosion and subsequent fire caused the rig to sink two days later, rupturing the pipes and sending oil spilling from the well. Winfrey said she has been saddened by television reports of those affected by the oil disaster. ""What is happening not only to the people but to the animals is what breaks my heart,"" Winfrey said. CNN's Don Lemon contributed to this report."
"London (CNN) -- Whatever the literary merits of J.K. Rowling's new novel, the Harry Potter author is unlikely to earn many plaudits for the originality of her subject matter. Have you read it yet? Share your review? With a plot examining social tensions and class divisions between the rich and poor residents of an English village, ""The Casual Vacancy"" is a modern take on themes that have provided fertile inspiration for dramatists, novelists and satirists of English manners since at least the 17th century. Muggle moms await first adult J.K. Rowling book . ""We're a phenomenally snobby society and it's such a rich seam,"" Rowling said in an interview with The Guardian newspaper by way of explanation, in words that might as well have been attributed to Jane Austen, George Eliot, Joanna Trollope or any number of other female British writers. ""The middle class is so funny, it's the class I know best, and it's the class where you find the most pretension."" Still, Rowling clearly has an authorial eye for the preoccupations of her middle-brow audience. Britain can sometimes feel like a country in the midst of a permanent, low-intensity class war in which all targets are fair game and all are left feeling routinely persecuted. While the wealthy and privileged are derided as snobs and ""toffs,"" members of the working class are grotesquely parodied and vilified as illiterate ""chavs"" and the middle class is roundly mocked, often from within its own fragmented ranks, for its petit bourgeois obsessions with house prices, farmers' markets and amateur dramatics. Julian Fellowes, the script writer behind lavish Emmy-nominated period saga ""Downton Abbey"" complained last year that ""poshism"" was the ""last acceptable form of prejudice"", while Benedict Cumberbatch, the well-heeled star of ""Sherlock"" said last month he had contemplated relocating his career to the U.S. because ""posh-bashing"" in the UK had gone too far. At the opposite extreme, Owen Jones, the author of ""Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class,"" argued that the widespread blaming of last year's riots in London and other cities on a supposed feral underclass was ""classic demonization, reducing complex social problems to supposed individual failings and behavioral faults."" Class, swearing and sex fill J.K. Rowling's first adult book . If Rowling needed any further evidence of the enduring power of issues of class and status to raise British heckles, it came last week in the blundering form of Andrew Mitchell, a senior member of Prime Minister David Cameron's cabinet, whose job as chief whip is still in the balance over whether or not, during an altercation with a policeman, he called the officer a ""pleb"" and suggested that he ought to ""learn his f****** place."" For critics of Cameron's government, Mitchell's alleged insult and the fact that, like the Eton-educated prime minister and many of his colleagues, he attended one of the UK's elite fee-paying public schools appeared to offer further proof of a blue-blooded conspiracy to keep the proles firmly in their place. As Kevin Maguire wrote in the Mirror newspaper: ""In Mitchell's angry flash of social superiority ... we glimpsed the naked prejudice of the posh boys sitting at the cabinet table. The mask slipped to reveal how voters, the great British public, are viewed as inferior creatures, drones expected to know their place and tug a forelock at Conservative rulers in their government castle."" Yet there are good reasons, aside from unvarnished prejudice, why class remains such a potent political issue. For those worst affected by the present government's austerity program, portrayed by opponents as an ideologically motivated assault on the founding principles of Britain's welfare state, the ""We're all in it together"" mantra coined by British Finance Minister George Osborne -- the heir to a baronetcy and a multimillion dollar wallpaper fortune -- understandably rings hollow. Class remains the single most important factor in shaping the life prospects of every single person born in Britain; a fact most glaringly illustrated in terms of life expectancy itself, with men in the most deprived areas of the Scottish city of Glasgow typically dying at 71, while those in London's wealthy enclave of Kensington and Chelsea can expect to live beyond 85. Time: We read 'The Casual Vacancy,' here's what we think . At the heart of the British class structure still sits the English public school, the best known archetype of which is now probably Rowling's own Hogwarts -- a place of arcane rituals and Latin lessons, bunk-bedded boarding houses and Gothic grandeur. Real-life public schools may not offer lessons in magic and wizardry, but they do equip the offspring of those willing to cough up annual fees of tens of thousands of dollars with access to a world of privileged connections and a fast track via a well-oiled ""old boys' network"" into lucrative and successful careers in the upper echelons of politics, government, the military, the judiciary, banking and business. About 7% of English pupils attend fee-paying schools yet alumni of the top 100 public schools make up almost one third of annual admissions to Oxford and Cambridge -- universities whose own peculiar traditions owe more to their archaic ties to those institutions than to the rigors of a modern, egalitarian education system. Opinion: J.K. Rowling's daring leap . Former public schoolboys even punch above their weight on our screens, with two of Britain's leading actors -- Damian Lewis, an Emmy winner this week for his starring role in ""Homeland"", and Dominic West, celebrated for his portrayal of a rough-edged Irish-American detective in ""The Wire"" -- both also alumni of Eton. It remains to be seen whether Rowling has anything novel to add to the class debate, but one thing of which she is undoubtedly aware is that it is a subject that will shift copies from the shelves in droves. As ""Downton Abbey"" and the entire careers of Hugh Grant and Richard Curtis have demonstrated there remains an insatiable appetite beyond British shores for the sort of cut-glass accents, excruciating social awkwardness and polite self-effacement that the country has turned into a thriving export industry. Rowling, famously canny businesswoman that she is, will surely already have negotiated movie rights to a story that will be lapped up as eagerly across the Atlantic. Social class, swearing and sex permeate Rowling's first adult book . The opinions in this piece are solely those of Simon Hooper."
"(CNN)On Sunday, at almost the same moment that dozens of world leaders linked arms and led millions of people through the streets of Paris to commemorate the 17 victims of last week's terror attacks in France, explosives carried by two young girls ripped through a mobile phone market in the northeastern Nigerian town of Potiskum. The blasts, which killed three people besides the bombers and injured 46 more, came just a day after another bomb, strapped to a girl described by witnesses as about 10 years old, exploded in a busy market in the city of Maiduguri, killing at least 20 people. While coming in widely divergent settings, thousands of miles apart, the attacks in France and Nigeria were both motivated by an Islamist extremist ideology that rejects a modern world shaped by political, economic, and social liberalism -- and in the case of Boko Haram, whose name can be roughly translated as ""(Western) education is forbidden,"" also abhors scientific progress. To achieve this end, no deed is too brutal or tactic too low, as is underscored both by the recent actions of Boko Haram and the posthumously posted video by the gunman who killed four hostages in a kosher grocery store near Paris. The difference has been that while there has been an outpouring of solidarity for the French victims and pledges of international solidarity for France's stand against violent extremism, nothing similar has been forthcoming for Nigeria's fight against the growing power of Boko Haram, at least not since the ephemeral and largely ineffectual global social media phenomenon of the #BringBackOurGirls campaign last year. This is despite the fact that over the course of recent months, Boko Haram has proven itself to be as much of a threat to international peace and security as the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, which has received so much attention. In fact, as Jamestown Foundation terrorism analyst Jacob Zenn has pointed out, Boko Haram's videos show a troubling convergence between the Nigerian militants and their ISIS counterparts not only in terms of symbolism and ideology, but also insurgency doctrine. Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, for example, first expressed ""support"" for the ISIS caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, this past summer. Meanwhile, Boko Haram has added the jihadist black banner to its logo and the ISIS anthem to the musical repertoire on its videos. In one recent video, Shekau even seemed to declare that he is establishing his own ""Islamic Caliphate"" and greeted his ""brothers"" in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen, as well as ""the Caliphate in Iraq and Syria."" Even more worrisome than Boko Haram's extremist ideology and gruesome terrorist acts should be the increasing military sophistication demonstrated by the Nigerian militants. Alas, while it is largely ignored by American and European leaders and only sporadically covered by major media outlets, Boko Haram has been steadily gaining ground in its war against Nigeria. As I wrote several months ago, Boko Haram has, like ISIS, clearly moved beyond one-off asymmetric attacks to sophisticated military operations resulting in the assimilation of increasingly large chunks of territory, successfully overrunning and now effectively controlling large portions of three states in northeastern Nigeria -- by some estimates, a total area larger than the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg combined. Boko Haram's territorial base has been used by the group as a staging ground for what has become a steady campaign of terrorist attacks, like the past weekend's suicide bombings, which regularly hit more than half a dozen other Nigerian states as well as neighboring countries like Niger, many of which are already under significant pressure from militants linked to al Qaeda's North African affiliate. Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou has even gone so far as to declare to the newsmagazine Jeune Afrique that ""the Islamic State is at our door."" By some estimates, more than 10,000 people in Nigeria alone have died as a result of Boko Haram-related violence in 2014, while more than 1.5 million others have been displaced. Just last week, the militants stormed Baga on the shores of Lake Chad, one of the last towns in the region remaining in government hands, reportedly killing more than 2,000 civilians. Moreover, the militants are showing increasingly advanced conventional military capabilities, in contrast with the demoralized Nigerian military forces they square off against. In early September, for example, the group shot down a Nigerian attack jet that was operating against it and captured the pilot, whom it later apparently beheaded, according to a video obtained by The Associated Press. What makes the threat from Boko Haram all the more significant is the political and economic context of Nigeria, Africa's most populous country and the largest economy on the continent. The West African country is in the midst of a hotly contested general election, including a rematch presidential race between incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan and former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, with votes to be cast just a month from now. No doubt Boko Haram, which rejects democratic politics along with other ""infidel"" ideas, will take advantage of the campaign and voting process to step up attacks. It is hard to imagine how the threat could not have an impact on the vote. In Paris on Sunday, police and military forces fanned out across the French capital, meaning there was a reasonable sense of safety for marchers. In Nigeria, even if the country deployed every last soldier and policeman, it would barely be able to put one security officer at each of its polling stations. And, as if this were not bad enough, declining oil prices have slashed Nigerian government revenues, substantially diminishing the resources available to defeat the extremists in battle and win the subsequent peace with social and economic development of an area whose long-running marginalization helped give rise to the insurgency in the first place. It does, of course, go without saying that both the Nigerian political class and its military, with all their attendant pathologies, bear responsibility for the dire situation the country finds itself in. But that fact alone should not absolve the international community of its obligation (and self-interest) in helping to tackle the growing threat posed by Boko Haram -- any more than legitimate concerns about generally lackluster leadership by French President François Hollande and the French political elite's failure to deal squarely with the potential for radicalization among segments of the country's marginalized Muslim population prevented world leaders from showing their support for France in recent days. As the Roman Catholic archbishop of Jos, Nigeria, pleaded on the BBC recently, ""We need that spirit to be spread around...Not just when it happens in Europe, but when it happens in Nigeria, in Cameroon."" In the struggle against Islamist extremism and for peaceful coexistence and progress, it is time the international community recognized there is no place for a tale of two cities."
"(CNN) -- When you think of GIFs, those never-ending sequences of looping motion, you're more likely to associate them with lightly humorous viral content than a respectable art form. However, their hypnotic movement has been gaining favor with the artistic community, and now one of the most high profile museums in the world, London's Saatchi Gallery, has teamed up with Google+ to explore their more reflective side. They gathered a roster of impressive judges, such as film director Baz Luhrmann, artists Shezad Dawood, Tracey Emin and Cindy Sherman, and Saatchi Gallery CEO Nigel Hurst, for The Motion Photography Prize, the first global competition for artists working with animated GIFs. Over 4,000 people from 52 countries entered their work, which fitted into six categories - landscape, lifestyle, action, people, night and urban. The top gong went to a Brooklyn-based creative director Christina Rinaldi, whose mesmerizing GIF of a New York City window cleaner, shown above, draws the viewers in with its almost trance-inducing repetition. Cindy Sherman, American photographer and film director, was attracted to the vibrancy of Rinaldi's work: ""It almost transcends the GIF medium by turning the soapy water into brushstrokes, so it seems more like creating a painting,"" she explained. Rinaldi herself said that choosing motion rather than still photography was crucial to capturing the rhythm of the window cleaner at work: ""I was inspired by his brush strokes and the texture of the suds,"" she said,"" I watched him as if he were a performance artist -- his work temporary and only to be witnessed within a few seconds. I quickly became enamored with his efficient rhythm. Surviving in New York City requires an elevated sense of efficiency and an innate hustle."" The work of other finalists -- Kostas Agiannitis, MicaÃ«l Reynaud, Matthew Clarke, Emma Critchley and Stefanie Schneider, highlighted the diverse and creative nature of a GIF as an art form. ""There is incredible potential in this technology, and many photographers are now using GIFs to create motion in their work"", says Saatchi Gallery's CEO and one of the judges Nigel Hurst. ""You're looking at an image that floats somewhere between a still photograph and film, it has elements of both but sometimes incorporated in an unexpected way, which makes it even more compelling,"" Hurst says. He added that the judging process was no different than when looking at other, more conventional, art: ""What stood out for us were images which were arresting, and used the parameters of the GIF in an imaginative way."" Artist and illustrator Clay Rodery, whose work has appeared in the New York Times, The Atlantic and on HBO, initially started creating GIFs to practice animation, but soon started making entire pieces for the format drawn by the chance to more eloquently express ideas he had inside his head. He says:"" First and foremost I'm conscious of it looping. Its duration might be very short, sometimes only several frames, but in a loop there is the potential for its content to be endless."" Moreover, Rodery says that GIFs helped him develop as an artist: ""It most certainly has expanded the breadth of my work and its emotional impact. These days you need to work very hard to get your work to stand out, and a moving image really does wonders to get you noticed."" The exhibition will be featured online on Saatchi Art, a web gallery for emerging artists. Too haute to handle - inside the world's biggest furniture fair . Korean artist creates fantasy worlds in her studio without Photoshop . Pimp my fish tank: This is the eerie, beautiful world of aquascaping ."
"(CNN) -- After a multi-year odyssey marked by almost nonstop partisan bickering, CIA employees hacking into Senate Intelligence Committee computers, and former Bush administration officials launching a pre-emptive public counterattack against the committee's report, we finally have a summary of the CIA's use of torture. So what have we learned? The committee report confirms that six days after the 9/11 attacks, ""President George W. Bush signed a covert action Memorandum of Notification (MON) to authorize the director of central intelligence (DCI) to 'undertake operations designed to capture and detain persons who pose a continuing, serious threat of violence or death to U.S. persons and interest or who are planning terrorist activities.'"" That decision put the CIA on the path to revive and even expand coercive interrogation techniques it had employed during the Cold War. Some key facts we already knew were confirmed, most importantly that agency personnel violated U.S. and international law by repeatedly waterboarding several detainees, including 9/11 attack mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. The summary of the report provides lurid details of ""24""-like interrogation techniques, outlawed by international treaties to which the U.S. is a signatory: running power drills next to the heads of detainees, days of forced sleep deprivation and, in the words of the committee summary, ""threats to harm the children of a detainee, threats to sexually abuse the mother of a detainee, and a threat to 'cut (a detainee's) mother's throat.'"" The committee report summary also confirms what many have long believed -- that the torture program produced no actionable intelligence and did not to thwart al Qaeda's global activities. The former chief of the CIA's Counterterrorism Center and torture program participant Jose Rodriguez continues to claim that such intelligence was obtained, and that it did in fact save lives. The available record, as laid out by the committee, amply refutes that assertion. And the committee summary could not be clearer about the actions of agency managers and attorneys in the expansion of the use of techniques that were clear violations of international law. According to the committee summary: . "" ... by the end of November 2001, CIA officers had begun researching potential legal defenses for using interrogation techniques that were considered torture by foreign governments and a non-governmental organization."" CIA Director George Tenet subsequently sent a letter to Bush urging that the CIA program be exempt from Geneva Convention prohibitions on the use of techniques defined by international law as torture. Whether as federal employees or political appointees, CIA personnel took an oath to uphold the laws of the United States. Instead, they chose to engage in acts that clearly violated those laws, including international treaties banning the use of torture to which the United States is not only a signatory, but a putative leader as well. The response of multiple former intelligence community insiders who authorized or supported these programs is perfectly summed up in this quote from an anonymous former official offered to the Daily Beast earlier this week: . ""It goes back to the one basic thing: Whether they did right or they did wrong, they were told to do something, they did it, and they feel like they had the rug pulled out from underneath them."" Indeed, those CIA attorneys and managers who signed off on waterboarding and other tactics had an affirmative obligation to refuse to authorize, much less participate in, a torture program. Now, through de facto surrogates appearing on major media outlets and operating a website attempting to rewrite the history of this dark era, participants in the torture program claim they are the victims for simply following orders. The defense of ""I was just following orders"" is never a winning one. The use of mass surveillance and torture are the hallmarks of totalitarian governments. The United States has employed both since the September 11, 2001, attacks on our nation. While we have yet to renounce the former, the release of this Senate Intelligence Committee torture report summary is a long-overdue first step in renouncing the latter. Let's hope it's not the last step."
"(CNN)  -- From the Nintendo 3DS's ability to grab titles on demand to the increasing popularity of retail sites like Steam and Direct2Drive.com, downloadable games will be everywhere in 2011. The days when you had to visit your local store, buy a title and insert a disc into your console to play a game are long gone. Thanks to new episodic titles (""Back to the Future,"" ""Jurassic Park""), popular indie PC games (""Minecraft,"" ""Recettear"") and a growing range of smartphone apps and console-exclusive downloads, digital game distribution continues to grow. Whether you're playing on your PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360 or mobile handset, here are five new and upcoming titles that exemplify the expanding breadth of what online game downloads have to offer. ""X-Men Arcade"" (PlayStation Network/Xbox Live Arcade) Revisit your misspent adolescence with a conversion of the popular side-scrolling 1992 arcade brawler starring Cyclops, Wolverine, Nightcrawler and other comic book favorites -- before they became movie icons. High-definition multiplayer cartoon action for up to six players takes top billing, as you use fists, laser beams and super powers to bludgeon Magneto's crew of villains, including Juggernaut, Pyro and The Blob. ""Gemini Rue"" (Wadjet Eye Games) A sci-fi point-and-click adventure set in a dystopian future that's drawn comparison to genre classics like ""Beneath a Steel Sky,"" this retro-futuristic, film noir-flavored tale harkens back to PC gaming's early '90s heyday. It's available February 24, and anyone who owned an Amiga or IBM-compatible should appreciate its nostalgic pixel graphics and ""Blade Runner""-style vibe. ""Full House Poker"" (Xbox Live Arcade)   Arriving on the heels of interactive game show ""1 vs. 100"" comes Microsoft's next multiplayer social gaming experiment, which makes online poker tournaments possible for up to 30 players. Texas Hold 'Em showdowns, staffed by avatars, can be played for virtual chips, with hidden surprises -- including new tables, decks and outfits to unlock -- and the ability to compete against professional players. ""MotoHeroz"" (WiiWare, RedLynx) Following upon the success of popular speedster ""Trials HD,"" developer RedLynx hopes to bridge the gap between side-scrolling platform hoppers and arcade racing with this candy-colored interactive rally for up to four players. Offbeat physics set the stage as you compete on more than 100 levels, with daily competitions, online leader boards and, oddly enough, single-player story options. These should provide a ready excuse to put pedal to the metal. ""Bionic Commando Rearmed 2"" (PlayStation Network/Xbox Live Arcade) This game picks up where the last downloadable mix of combat and grappling arm-powered action (and 1988 NES game) left off, adding a jump button, items to equip (love the grenade launcher!) and enhanced graphics. With puzzles to solve and bosses to battle, it should provide old-school fun for anyone who's ever dreamed of playing a disgruntled cyborg."
"(CNN) -- UEFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against Lazio over allegations a section of their supporters chanted racial abuse at Tottenham players in the Europa League on Thursday. Aaron Lennon, Jermain Defoe and Andros Townsend appeared to be subjected to racist abuse -- including monkey chants -- during the goalless draw at White Hart Lane, a game that was watched by UEFA president Michel Platini. Members of Football Against Racism in Football (FARE) who were at White Hart Lane plan to file reports to UEFA to assist with their investigation. Romanian referee Ovidiu Alin Hategan and match delegate Adonis Procopiu have already submitted their reports of the match's events. Tottenham held by Lazio in Europa League . ""UEFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against S.S. Lazio for the improper conduct of the club's supporters (racist behavior) during the UEFA Europa League group stage match on Thursday 20 September between Tottenham Hotspur FC and the Italian side,"" read a UEFA statement. ""The UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body will deal with the case on 18 October 2012."" Lazio could be hit with a fine of $26,000 if their fans are found guilty of racial abuse, while UEFA could also force the club to play their next game behind closed doors. Racism remains ""significant"" problem in English football . Earlier this week Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel had to close his Twitter account after receiving racist abuse online. Chelsea issued a statement condemning those responsible and has informed the police following the matter. The statement read: ""We've been made aware of racist tweets targeted at Mikel which are totally unacceptable, disgusting and abhorrent. ""We've informed the police and support taking the strongest possible action."" This season UEFA has fined Bulgarian side Levski Sofia $39,000 for racist behaviour by their fans during the club's Europa League second qualifying round match. Levski fans unveiled a racist banner during their game against Bosnia & Herzegovina's Sarajevo on July 19. ""Fans should realise that the club is responsible for all of their extreme or irrational actions,"" Levski said in a statement. Meanwhile on Thursday, two AIK Solna supporters suffered stab wounds while in Naples for their side's Europa League game against Napoli. A 41-year-old and a 23-year-old were both wounded in the leg, but the club do not believe the attack was football related."
"Venice, Louisiana (CNN) -- A wind shift could push more oil from BP's Deepwater Horizon gusher into the Mississippi Delta and areas west of the river, which is ""bad news for Louisiana,"" Gov. Bobby Jindal said Monday afternoon. Louisiana has been mostly spared since the oil rig exploded April 20 and sank two days later about 50 miles (80 kilometers) off the southeast coast of Louisiana. The catastrophe is sending 210,000 gallons of crude into the Gulf of Mexico each day. Most of the slick has been centered in an area east of the environmentally sensitive delta. ""We've said all along that the oil coming west of the river would pose a whole new set of challenges,"" Jindal said at a news conference. He detailed efforts to place booms and other restraining devices into four passes near Grand Isle to prevent the oil from reaching land. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecasters had warned over the weekend that the Mississippi Delta and areas to the northeast of it, including Breton Sound, Chandeleur Islands and the mainland behind them, could see oil hit the coast by Tuesday. Further east, scientists were analyzing tar balls found on a beach on Dauphin Island, Alabama, to determine whether they were caused by the oil spill, Coast Guard spokesman Erik Swanson said. The tar balls are ""pieces of emulsified oil"" shaped like pancakes, ranging in size from dimes to golf balls, Swanson said, adding they can sometimes occur naturally. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry confirmed the presence of tar balls in some areas, but said they were ""easy to clean up."" She said booms were being moved toward Grand Isle in anticipation of oil reaching the area soon. In addition to the use of dispersants on the surface and controlled burns, weather allowing, officials were carrying out a third test of sub-sea dispersants to determine their impact, said Landry. She said officials were trying to do in a few weeks what normally would take a few years. So far, the spill has had little impact on wildlife, said Mark J. Musaus, deputy director of the southeast region for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Only a few birds have been taken to a wildlife rehabilitation center at Fort Jackson, Louisiana, he said. Two of them, a gannet and a pelican, were released Monday back into the wild. Another oiled pelican was still in the treatment center, as was a green heron, he said. The stakes are high for residents of coastal Louisiana who make their living from fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. The government has closed parts of the Gulf to fishing. The affected area, which is east of the Mississippi Delta, comprises about 4.5 percent of the Gulf of Mexico, NOAA said. Hundreds of thousands of feet of boom and large volumes of dispersants continued to be deployed in an effort to capture or break up the spilled oil moving toward the Gulf coastline. Thousands of workers and volunteers also have been skimming the water's surface. A BP executive said Monday the energy company is working ""parallel paths"" to fix the oil well. The failure over the weekend of a four-story dome to cap the leak has led BP to move on to other options, including the use of a smaller chamber over the leak and shooting garbage into the gaping hole to try to plug the gusher, said Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer for exploration and production. The company also is considering placing a valve or a new blowout preventer on top of the existing one, which is not functioning as well as it should, Suttles told CNN's ""American Morning"" program. As the name suggests, a blowout preventer is a device that is supposed to clamp shut over a leaking wellhead. David Nagel, executive vice president of BP America, said the blowout preventer may be working better than some people believe, limiting the gusher to 5,000 barrels of oil a day. ""We have a blowout preventer that we think is mostly shut,"" Nagel said in an off-camera briefing with reporters Monday in Washington, adding that the situation seems to be stable. He said remote-control inspection machines had not been able to check how the blowout assembly was working but ""something is constraining the leak"" from what would have been a flow estimated between 40,000 to 60,000 barrels a day. Suttles said BP is drilling a relief well to try to divert the flow to another pipe. ""What we're going to do is keep developing options until we get this flow stopped,"" Suttles said. ""That started about a week ago,"" Suttles said. ""That work continues. The well is at about 9,000 feet. ""About 5,000 feet of that is the water depth. Then the rest is drilling below the seafloor. We're slightly ahead of plan here. These are complex tasks, but we're making very good process."" It may take up to three months to reach the target area, Nagel said. And progress will slow the deeper the drill bit goes, he said. ""The rock gets harder, and every time you have to replace a worn-out drill bit, it takes more time to withdraw and stack the drill pipe,"" in 90-foot sections on the construction vessel to change the bit, re-assemble the sections and lower the drill pipe back into action, said Nagel. On Friday, BP lowered the massive containment vessel over the well to cap the larger of two leak points. But that plan was thwarted Saturday after ice-like hydrate crystals formed when gas combined with water blocked the top of the dome and made it buoyant. BP has built the smaller dome and it is already available, Suttles said Monday. That device would keep most of the water out at the beginning of the capping process and would allow engineers to pump in methanol to keep the hydrates from forming, Suttles said. Methanol is a simple alcohol that can be used as an antifreeze. Called ""Tophat,"" the 5-foot-tall, 4-foot-diameter structure weighs less than two tons. The structure is to be deployed this week by the drill ship Enterprise, to which it is to be connected by two strings of pipe -- one inside the other with a space in between for hot water, he said. The process of stopping the gusher with garbage is called a ""junk shot."" Under that procedure, debris such as shredded tires, golf balls and similar objects would be shot under extremely high pressure into the blowout preventer in an attempt to clog it and stop the leak. That procedure would be done late next week, Suttles said Monday. Federal investigators are still trying to determine what caused the explosion that sunk the Deepwater Horizon, which was owned by BP contractor Transocean Ltd. BP is legally required to cover economic damages from the spill up to $75 million. But Florida Sen. Bill Nelson has introduced legislation that would raise the liability cap to $10 billion. ""If this gusher continues for several months, it's going to cover up the Gulf Coast and it's going to get down into the loop current and that's going to take it down the Florida Keys and up the east coast of Florida, and you are talking about massive economic loss to our tourism, our beaches, to our fisheries, very possibly disruption of our military testing and training,"" Nelson said Sunday on CNN's ""State of the Union."" BP has received 3,400 claims for lost income and damages and 295 of those claims have been paid, at a price of $3.5 million, Nagel said. ""It's a host of things,"" he said, ""The immediate loss of income is being handled very quickly."" None of the payouts are for liability, but Nagel stressed ""the interim plans are in no way meant to be final."" Also Monday, organizers announced a ""Gulf Aid"" benefit concert for south Louisiana fishermen and wetlands restoration. The concert, to be held Sunday, is slated to feature Lenny Kravitz, Allen Toussaint, Mos Def and the Voice of the Wetlands Allstars featuring Dr. John, Cyril Neville and Tab Benoit. CNN's Paul Courson contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- An estimated 13,000 Congolese civilians threatened by fierce fighting and gruesome attacks have fled to neighboring Uganda over the past two days and more are expected, the United Nations' refugee agency said in a news release Thursday. Congolese Anosiate Nyirahabineza holds her son Jeremiah in Kampala, Uganda, in June. The agency said the people fled from villages in the besieged province of North Kivu, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where fighting between rebels and government troops has prompted the displacement of 250,000 people since August. The staff of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in the southwestern Uganda town of Ishasha said the people crossed into Uganda from Congo's Rutshuru district. Since August, about 27,000 civilians have escaped to Uganda, which now hosts more than 150,000 refugees from countries in the region. The U.N. agency said the latest refugees are reporting many attacks and atrocities. It quoted a 25-year-old named Daudi, who said, ""The assailants killed everybody in my village. They took the young boys with them and killed all the rest of the population. It's a miracle that my wife and I managed to escape."" He said one of his two children was separated from the family and it is not known where he is. Another villager said rebels who attacked his village ""killed all the women, even pregnant women,"" the U.N. agency said."
"(CNN) -- President Barack Obama appeared on NBC's ""Meet The Press"" on Sunday, talking about the ""fiscal cliff"" negotiations and priorities for his administration in his second term. The president told host David Gregory that he was optimistic something will be worked out to keep tax rates from rising on Tuesday -- but if not, his first piece of legislation for the next Congress will be a bill to reduce tax rates on most Americans. Obama slams GOP 'priority' as fiscal cliff hours away . The president also spoke about his second term and what he wants to accomplish. Here are highlights of what he said: . Gun control after the Newtown killings . ""Something fundamental in America has to change,"" said Obama, who visited on December 16 with families of victims of the Newtown, Connecticut, school shootings. The president said Sunday he will put forth a proposal next year to change firearm laws. Among the things the legislation will address are assault-style rifles, high-capacity ammunition magazines and background checks on all firearm sales. His comments echoed those made five days after the shootings in Newtown, where a gunman killed his mother at home, then 20 children and six adults at an elementary school. Obama said he hopes that the Newtown killings spur Americans to take action and not let the shootings feel like ""one of those routine episodes,"" the emotions of which fade with memory. """"It certainly won't feel like that to me. This is something that, you know, that was the worst day of my presidency,"" he said. The president said he wanted to listen to all the parties involved in the gun control debate but was skeptical about the National Rifle Association's call to put armed guards in every school as the only solution. Obama said December 19 that a task force led by Vice President Joe Biden will have legislative recommendations in January. Benghazi attack . Obama said the security failures that led to the deaths of four Americans at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, were ""severe,"" but he blamed human mistakes. ""There was just some sloppiness -- not intentional -- in terms of how we secure embassies in areas where you essentially don't have governments that have a lot of capacity to protect those embassies,"" he said. The State Department will implement all of the 29 recommendations by a review board headed by veteran diplomat Thomas Pickering. The FBI also has some ""very good leads"" into who carried out the September attack that killed U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three others, Obama said. Among the recommendations in the report sent to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were strengthening security, adding fire-safety precautions and improving intelligence collection in high-threat areas. ""But we'll try to do more than that,"" Obama said. U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice . The president said verbal attacks on Rice for her comments on the Benghazi investigation were ""puzzling."" ""Of all the people in my national security team, she probably had the least to do with anything that happened in Benghazi,"" he said. Rice said on Sunday news programs in the days following the attack that it was the result of a protest against an online anti-Islam film. She was heavily criticized for those statements, to the point that she withdrew her name from consideration as the next secretary of state to avoid what she called a ""lengthy, disruptive, and costly"" confirmation process. Critics said Rice's comments were out of line with the true intelligence about the incident and were an attempt by the administration to avoid tying it to terrorism. ""Most Americans recognize that these were largely politically motivated attacks as opposed to being justified,"" Obama said. Next secretary of defense . He has yet to make a decision as to who to nominate for secretary of defense, Obama said. Sources have said they think the president will pick Chuck Hagel, a Republican, who has met with controversy since his name has been connected with the position. Gay rights groups, which were strong supporters of Obama's election campaigns, have hit Hagel for questioning in 1998 whether a nominee for an ambassadorship was suitable because he was ""openly, aggressively gay."" Obama, without calling Hagel his preferred candidate for the job, said: ""I've served with Chuck Hagel (in the U.S. Senate). I know him. He is a patriot. He is somebody who has done extraordinary work."" Hagel has apologized for those comments, Obama said. He added that he didn't see anything in Hagel's political record that disqualified him as a potential nominee. Hagel currently is the co-chairman of the president's Intelligence Advisory Board. Leon Panetta, who has been secretary of defense since July 2011, has indicated he wants to return to private life next year. Four issues for the next term . When asked about his priorities for the next four years, Obama listed immigration, the economy, energy and debt reduction. He will introduce legislation to fix a broken immigration system in 2013, he said. ""We have talked about it long enough,"" He said. ""We know how we can fix it."" Obama also wants to fix America's infrastructure. ""If we are putting people back to work, rebuilding our roads, our bridges, our schools, in part paid for by some of these broader long-term deficit reduction measures that need to take place, that will grow our economy,"" he said . And he wants to increase further the amount of energy, especially green energy, that America produces. ""We are producing more energy and America can become an energy exporter. (The question is) how do we do that in a way that also deals with the environmental challenges that we also have at the same time,"" Obama said. But the most pressing quandary is the fiscal cliff. ""It is going to be very hard for the economy to sustain its current growth trends if suddenly we have a huge bite taken of the average American's paycheck,"" he said."
"(CNN) -- Miles away from the somber ceremony on a tarmac where coffins containing the remains of victims of Flight MH17 were returned, dozens of forensic scientists at a military base in the Netherlands were preparing for the grim task of identifying the remains. In all, 298 passengers and crew -- among them dozens of children -- were killed when the packed Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 they were on crashed in eastern Ukraine last Thursday. All of the bodies and body parts recovered from the crash site will eventually be brought to Hilversum, Netherlands, where a team of experts from the Dutch national forensics unit (Landelijk Team Forensische Opsporing) will do everything they can to return the dead to their loved ones. ""You don't know which nationality each body is,"" explains Jos van Roo of LTFO. ""So we try to identify all the bodies. We are in contact with the other countries to combine efforts to identify the bodies."" The LTFO has experience of other mass disasters, having worked on the 2004 Asian tsunami, the crash of Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771 in Libya in 2010 and other incidents in the Netherlands. Van Roo says great care has and will continue to be taken over the bodies, out of respect for the victims and to avoid any further distress to their families. Forensics specialist: 'It must be very precise' It is painstaking work, van Roo says: ""There are lot of bodies and body parts coming our way. [Everything] must be examined. ... It must be very precise. You must make sure you don't give the wrong body to the wrong family."" The team's work began days ago on the Ukrainian field near the Russian border where MH17's journey from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur came to a premature end. Forensic genetics expert Denise Syndercombe-Court of King's College London says some identifications will be relatively simple. ""It sounds as if they have perhaps 200 body bags with identifiable bodies or parts of bodies in,"" she says. ""And while they have been at the site for some time, I would expect that it will be possible to get good DNA profiles from most of those."" In some cases, working out who is who may be even easier than that -- if a victim has a distinctive scar or clothing, or even a wallet or passport in a pocket. Dental records can also be used to identify those who are not immediately recognizable. If DNA is needed, it is usually taken from an area of deep muscle. Mitochondrial DNA may also be used. In both cases, the experts will then need to compare the DNA taken from the victim with a relative. Search for DNA matches . But Syndercombe-Court says the fact so many families died on Flight MH17 may complicate the process. ""Where you have lots of family members traveling together, you may have to rely on DNA matches to more distant relatives,"" she explains. ""Once you get beyond the immediate family, beyond grandparents or aunts and uncles, it becomes more difficult."" In those cases, scientists may have to rely on alternative comparisons, matching DNA from the remains to that found on toothbrushes or clothing owned by the dead person. Van Roo says work has already begun to collect details and DNA matches for those on board the plane, with dozens of detectives interviewing family members. ""We have been working with the families of the victims. From them, we ask [for] a description of the victim, and we take DNA, look at the dental records and take fingerprints,"" he told CNN, adding that the process of talking to relatives can take a long time. ""You try to get as much information during your first visit. You don't want to forget some questions. It is very painful to have to get back to families to ask [more] questions."" ""Every bit of information you get from a relative needs to be collected very carefully. Also you need to take records from the bodies. It is a delicate procedure for example, [to] take dental records or DNA."" Syndercombe-Court helped to identify the victims of Yemenia Flight 626, which crashed into the Indian Ocean on its way from Yemen to Comoros in 2009, leaving 152 dead. She says not every victim will be easy to put a name to: Cases where the force of a blast or fire have damaged the remains can be complex. And she says that while experts do have the passenger manifest, some cases may never be fully resolved. But she hopes knowing, at least, that everything possible has been done, and that the remains were handled with great care will offer some solace. ""The longer it goes on, the more difficult it can be. ... If someone is not found, or a body part is never identified, but it is dealt with in a sensitive way, the families know someone has gone to the effort, someone has tried their best."" For the experts at Hilversum, the next weeks and months will be busy and difficult. Van Roo says the work can be emotional, but everyone is united by their common aim. ""We have the drive to give the bodies back to the families,"" he says. ""Every case is unique, [but] you want to get the victim back. The drive stays the same."" Syndercombe-Court agrees: ""It's a tough job, but a good job. ""It is always grim, but we do it with the knowledge that we are helping someone else: The family want to be able to put it to bed, and we want to give them some peace."" MH17 tributes in Moscow: 'Forgive us' Mother regrets hot heeding son's fears . CNN's Erin McLaughlin and Antonia Mortensen contributed to this report."
"LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- The Transportation Security Administration said Friday its officers at a Texas  airport appear to have properly followed procedures when they allegedly forced a woman to remove her nipple rings -- one with pliers -- but acknowledged the procedures should be changed. The woman involved -- Mandi Hamlin -- told reporters earlier Friday she was humiliated by last month's incident, in which she was forced to painfully remove the piercings behind a curtain as she heard snickers from male TSA officers nearby. The incident occurred at the Lubbock, Texas, airport. The officers ""rightly insisted that the alarm that was raised be resolved,"" the TSA said in a statement posted on its Web site Friday afternoon. ""TSA supports the thoroughness of the officers involved as they were acting to protect the passengers and crews of the flights departing Lubbock that day."" However, ""TSA has reviewed the procedures themselves and agrees that they need to be changed,"" the statement said. ""In the future, TSA will inform passengers that they have the option to resolve the alarm through a visual inspection of the article in lieu of removing the item in question."" Hamlin and her lawyer, celebrity attorney Gloria Allred, said they want a public apology from the agency, as well as a guarantee that future passengers with piercings will be treated with dignity and respect. Allred pointed out that TSA's Web site says passengers with piercings can undergo a pat-down inspection if they do not want to take their piercings out -- an option she said Hamlin was never offered. ""The conduct of TSA was cruel and unnecessary,"" Allred told reporters at a news conference. ""Last time that I checked, a nipple was not a dangerous weapon."" She said if an apology was not forthcoming, ""Mandi is going to have to consider her legal options."" Attempts by CNN to reach Allred for a response to the TSA statement Friday afternoon were unsuccessful. TSA said in its statement it acknowledges ""that our procedures caused difficulty for the passenger involved and regrets (the) situation in which she found herself. We appreciate her raising awareness on this issue and we are changing the procedures to ensure that this does not happen again."" The incident occurred February 24 as Hamlin, 37, was preparing to fly to Dallas-Fort Worth from Lubbock, where she had been visiting her elderly great-uncle. Hamlin said she also has navel and ear piercings and has never set off a metal detector or been singled out for additional screening at an airport. She did not set off the metal detector at Lubbock International Airport, but was pulled to the side for additional screening, Allred said. A hand wand used by a TSA officer beeped when it was waved over her breasts. Hamlin told the officer she had nipple piercings, Allred said, and that officer called over another officer, who told her she would need to remove them. ""Ms. Hamlin did not want to remove her nipple piercings,"" Allred said, reading from a letter she sent TSA. ""After nipple rings are inserted, the skin can often heal around the piercing and the rings can be extremely difficult and painful to remove. In addition, once removed, the pierced skin may close up almost immediately, making it difficult and painful to reinsert the piercing."" More officers were called over, and the group grew to four male and two female TSA officers, according to Hamlin. Also, a small crowd of onlookers had started to gather. The officers insisted that Hamlin remove the nipple rings, Allred said. ""She felt humiliated by the scene that the TSA officers were making,"" Allred said. ""With tears streaming down her face, she again asked to show the piercings to a TSA officer instead of having to remove them. She was told, however, she would not be allowed to fly unless she removed them. Had she been told that she had a right to a pat-down, she would have chosen that option."" She eventually was taken to a private area behind a curtain to remove the piercings, Allred said. One came out easily, but the other would not, and she called to an officer that she was having trouble and would need pliers. She was handed a large pair, Allred said. ""As Ms. Hamlin struggled to remove the piercing, behind the curtain she could hear a growing number of predominately male TSA officers snickering in the background,"" Allred said in the letter. ""Mandi Hamlin was publicly humiliated. ... Clearly, this is not how passengers should be treated.""  Watch the passenger demonstrate removing the jewelry » . Afterward, Hamlin underwent another scan, but realized she had forgotten to remove her navel ring. She offered to remove it, Allred said, but an officer told her it was not necessary because he could see it. Hamlin wondered why a similar visual inspection of her nipple rings would not have sufficed, Allred said. ""I wouldn't wish this experience upon anyone,"" Hamlin told reporters. ""I felt surprised, embarrassed, humiliated and scared. No one deserves to go through this."" In a statement earlier Friday, the TSA said it ""is well aware of terrorists' interest in hiding dangerous items in sensitive areas of the body. Therefore, we have a duty to the American public to resolve any alarm that we discover."" TSA included in its statement a picture of a prototype training device it will use to simulate a ""bra bomb"" in training and testing its officers. Hamlin said she had to visit the person who originally pierced her nipples to get the rings reinserted, and said the process was excruciatingly painful because of the scar tissue that had formed. ""People who are pierced should not be snickered at, should not become the object of ridicule, should not be singled out for special and uneven and unequal treatment,"" Allred said. ""They should be respected just like everybody else."" She said she had received a call from TSA's public affairs office Friday morning. ""We hope that means they're going to jump on this and do something about it,"" she said. ""We want TSA to do the right thing now. We're going to give them the opportunity."" Hamlin said she will continue to fly but will avoid the Lubbock airport. The next time she visits her great-uncle, she said, ""I will be driving."" E-mail to a friend . CNN's Mike Ahlers contributed to this report."
"WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Republican presidential front-runner Sen. John McCain on Thursday defended his statement that U.S. troops could spend ""maybe 100"" years in Iraq -- saying he was referring to a military presence similar to what the nation already has in places like Japan, Germany and South Korea. Sen. John McCain defends his stance on troops in Iraq Thursday on CNN's ""Larry King Live."" This week, Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama both took McCain to task for the comments, saying that if he's elected he would continue what they call President Bush's failed policies in Iraq. ""It's not a matter of how long we're in Iraq, it's if we succeed or not,"" McCain said to CNN's Larry King. ""And both Sen. Obama and Clinton want to set a date for withdrawal -- that means chaos, that means genocide, that means undoing all the success we've achieved and al Qaeda tells the world they defeated the United States of America. ""I won't let that happen."" Last month, at a town hall meeting in New Hampshire, a crowd member asked McCain about a Bush statement that troops could stay in Iraq for 50 years. ""Maybe 100,"" McCain replied. ""As long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed, it's fine with me and I hope it would be fine with you if we maintain a presence in a very volatile part of the world where al Qaeda is training, recruiting, equipping and motivating people every single day."" The remaining Democratic contenders for the White House seized on the statement.  Watch McCain talk about Mitt Romney's endorsement and his critics on the right » . ""He said recently he could see having troops in Iraq for 100 years,"" Clinton said at an Arlington, Virginia, rally last week in a line she's repeated on the campaign trail. ""Well, I want them home within 60 days of my becoming president of the United States."" Obama took a similar tack. ""Sen. McCain said the other day that we might be mired for 100 years in Iraq -- which is reason enough not to give him four years in the White House,"" Obama has said on several occasions. McCain told King he thinks opponents are taking the quote out of context. He said any long-term troop presence in Iraq would depend on agreement from the Iraqi government. ""If they don't want to and we don't feel a need to do so, obviously, the whole thing is keyed to Americans being able to withdraw and come home with honor, not in defeat,"" he said. McCain was endorsed Thursday by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, once considered his fiercest rival for the GOP nomination. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee remains in the race, although McCain has an overwhelming advantage in the number of delegates earned for this year's Republican convention. E-mail to a friend ."
"(CNN) -- Michael Jackson, the show-stopping singer whose best-selling albums -- including ""Off the Wall,"" ""Thriller"" and ""Bad"" -- and electrifying stage presence made him one of the most popular artists of all time, died Thursday, CNN has confirmed. He was 50. He collapsed at his residence in the Holmby Hills section of Los Angeles, California, about noon Pacific time, suffering cardiac arrest, according to brother Randy Jackson. He died at UCLA Medical Center. As news of his death spread, stunned fans began to react and remember one of the most remarkable careers in music."
"(CNN) -- The small, World War II-era plane that crashed Friday during a Reno, Nevada, air race was equipped with data and video recording devices that investigators hope to use to help determine what happened and why. Seven people, including the pilot, were killed when the plane crashed into spectators at the race, with two others later dying at area hospitals. Close to 70 people were injured. National Transportation Safety Board member Mark Rosekind on Sunday described this realization, as well as the discovery of information and pieces that may have come from the devices, as ""significant new information."" It was also not entirely expected, given the size and nature of the P-51 aircraft. ""I'm not aware of a lot of aircraft having it, this is the first one I came across,"" said Howard Plagens, who is the NTSB official heading the investigation. Plagens was referring to a ""box"" that recorded key variables such as altitude, latitude and oil pressure. In addition, there was an outward-facing video camera on the plane, according to Rosekind. Several memory cards have been found at the wreckage site that may have come from either device, and will be sent to the NTSB laboratory in Washington, D.C., for a full analysis, Rosekind said. They may belong to some of the 200,000 spectators then at the annual National Championship Air Races and Air Show. Investigators do have a copy of the ""box"" data, since it was sent in real time by telemetry to sources outside the aircraft. Besides the cards, Rosekind said parts of a plane's tail, an ""elevator trim tab"" and video camera fragments have been found. ""There were thousands of pieces of debris,"" Plagens said, explaining how the site had been laid out in a grid system to help organize the probe. As with the memory cards, one of the authorities' first goals will be to determine if these came from the plane being piloted by 74-year-old Jimmy Leeward. Countering earlier reports, Rosekind said on Sunday that Leeward did not send a ""Mayday call,"" indicating he was in distress. Investigators have repeatedly stated that it is not now known why the aircraft nosedived. Some speculation has surrounded the elevator trim tab -- which was breaking apart prior to the crash, a photograph shows. Besides the plane's trim tab, parts of a tail, the memory cards and already known plane data, investigators also will pore over ""a tremendous (amount of) video that was captured"" at the scene, according to Rosekind. While a preliminary report will be available Friday, Rosekind has said the full investigation could take six to nine months. ""It's not just what happened, it's why it happened,"" he said Sunday. ""(We're) trying to make sure this doesn't happen again."" Meanwhile, the crash's toll became clearer Sunday as more of those killed were identified. Besides Leeward, the dead include Michael Joseph Wogan, a 22-year-old from Phoenix who was attending the event with his father as part of a father-and-son vacation, his family said in a statement. His father, William, was ""seriously injured,"" the statement said. Wogan was diagnosed at an early age with muscular dystrophy, and was wheelchair-bound his entire life. However, his 19-year-old brother James Wogan said in the family statement, ""He was about moving past that and always driven toward independence. Michael liked to get out and travel, and he was so excited about getting on a plane as part of this trip."" Michael Wogan graduated magna cum laude from Arizona State University with a finance degree in May, his family said. He had operated a web development company and was in the process of developing a second business. Memorial service details were pending, the statement said. Also identified Sunday were George and Wendy Hewitt, members of Cascade EAA Warbirds Squadron 2. The Hewitts were killed when the plane crashed into the seating area, said R.D. Williams, a spokesman for the squadron. According to its website, the squadron aims to ""promote and encourage the preservation and operation of World War II and other such aircraft that are representative of military aviation operations"" along with educating people on safely operating and maintaining such aircraft. The plane that crashed Friday -- dubbed the ""Galloping Ghost"" -- was one such plane dating from that era. Several witnesses have portrayed Leeward -- a real estate developer from Ocala, Florida -- as a hero because he appeared to manuever the plane away from the crowded grandstands at the last moment. He went down around 4:15 p.m. PT Friday while taking part in a qualifying round in the ""unlimited class"" division of the air race, said Mike Draper, the show spokesman. The final rounds, which had been slated for the weekend, were cancelled. ""This is the first time in 40 years, I think, that we've had a visitor injured or killed,"" Reno Mayor Bob Cashell told reporters Saturday. ""We've lost some pilots, but we've never had a major catastrophe."" One local hospital, Renown Medical Center, received 34 patients, four of whom were in critical condition as of Sunday afternoon. Two patients -- a male and a female -- died, the hospital said Friday. Dr. Mike Morkin, the medical director of emergency services at the hospital, was on duty when the call about the crash came in Friday. ""The severity of this accident was the worst I've seen since I've been at Renown,"" Morkin, a 16-year veteran at the hospital, said. Renown South Meadows Medical Center received and discharged five patients, the hospital said Saturday. St. Mary's Hospital in Reno said it had accepted 28 patients from the accident: As of Sunday afternoon, two were in critical condition and six in serious condition. The remainder have been released. CNN's Divina Mims contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Cristiano Ronaldo has urged his Real Madrid teammates to carry their recent impressive form into the New Year after they cut Barcelona's lead at the top of Spain's La Liga to two points. The Portugal international scored a spectacular goal as Real kept the pressure up on defending champions Barca with an emphatic 6-0 victory over Real Zaragoza. But Ronaldo does not want his colleagues to take their foot of the gas and keep the pressure on the Catalan side, who won the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi, when the season resumes again on January 2 after the winter break. ""It was important to seal the year with a victory, so we are happy about that. We must all now think of the New Year, which we should start as well as we've ended this one,"" Ronaldo told the club's Web site. ""I'm working well and I want to carry on this way until the end of the season. I'm doing better every day. I missed two months and coming back was difficult, but things are working out for me."" Real coach Manuel Pellegrini also paid tribute to Barcelona for an amazing 12 months in which they added the Club World Cup trophy to victory in La Liga, the Copa del Rey, Champions League and European and Spanish Super Cup titles. ""What Barcelona have achieved is a great feat and hard to emulate. But there is also great merit in just being two points behind them on the table,"" he said. ""We've played well away from home against the teams that earned the most points last year. Barcelona's excellent performances add to our own merit."" Meanwhile, Hugo Sanchez become the fourth La Liga manager to lose his job his season after he was sacked by Almeria following their 2-0 away defeat to Espanyol which left them a point above the relegation zone. Almeria had lost eight of their 15 games in La Liga this season and the Mexican has been replaced by Constantin Galca, the coach of Almeria's B team, on a temporary basis."
"(CNN) -- More than 2,000 lives lost. A vast and unfolding humanitarian crisis. And the downing of a civilian airliner that shocked the world. It's hard to imagine -- but true -- that the raging conflict between Ukraine and Russia, or at least Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels, all started with a humble trade agreement. As tensions run high over a Russian aid convoy described by Western leaders as a provocative incursion, reports of direct Russian military activity inside Ukraine and Ukrainian fears of an outright invasion, it's time to look back on how we got here, and where things are headed: . How it started . While the roots of the crisis run quite deep, what's happening now began to unfold in earnest in the fall of 2013. That's when then-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych scuttled a trade deal with the European Union that would have pulled the country, so recently a satellite of the Soviet Union, toward Europe in the latest twirl of a dance that has lasted centuries. Instead, Yanukovych jumped at Russian President Vladimir Putin's offer to buy $15 billion in debt from his cash-strapped government and cut the price of vital natural gas to the country. Yanukovych's decision set off protests in Ukraine's more Europe-leaning west calling for the government's ouster. Security forces responded harshly, beating protesters and firing live ammunition into demonstrations, resulting in several deaths. As clashes spread, so did international anger over the situation. By late February, Yanukovych had fled to Russia, the government had fallen and a new pro-Europe government had formed to replace it. That, in turn, set off pro-Russian demonstrations in Crimea, a semi-autonomous Ukrainian republic and the location of a major Russian navy base. After thousands of Russian troops filtered into the territory -- purportedly at the invitation of Ukraine's self-exiled president -- Ukraine's regional parliament called a referendum on secession, and before you could say ""borscht,"" Crimea was part of Russia. And it's here that things turned even uglier. Pro-Russian fighters occupied government buildings in the country's east, demanding a referendum on independence. Before long, rebel forces -- believed to be supported by Russia -- had taken control of major cities in Ukraine's east. Fighting broke out between the rebel groups and Ukraine's military, fighting that continues today. In a major and likely inadvertent escalation in July, a suspected surface-to-air missile believed to have been operated by pro-Russian rebels shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, killing all 298 people aboard and hardening Western opinion, particularly in Europe, against Russia. What's happening now . Ukraine's military has been on the offensive recently against the pro-Russian forces, but those successes seem to have slowed. Russian troops remain camped along the Ukrainian border, Western leaders say. And Ukrainian officials said Tuesday that they had detained 10 Russian soldiers in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, further evidence, Kiev says, of direct Russian involvement in the conflict. Meanwhile, the United Nations has warned of a growing humanitarian crisis sure only to get worse unless something is done to stem the fighting. What's next . A full-scale invasion is unlikely. While Putin's approval rating among Russians is sky-high, recent polling shows the Russian people aren't wild about an out-and-out invasion of Ukraine, said Robert D. Kaplan, the chief geopolitical analyst for Stratfor. ""He may be a dictator, but dictators care about public opinion as much as democrats,"" he said. But any talk of peace from Putin is likely a stalling tactic. Putin is buying time so that he can continue slipping arms and aid to help rebels recover from their recent losses, said Heather Conley, senior vice president of Europe and Eurasia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. ""His best option is to have a permanent frozen conflict,"" she said. Fall and winter will slow the fighting. Kaplan said the colder seasons in Ukraine mean mud and mud means a slower tempo for military operations. Just don't expect total silence, he says -- there will still be fighting. Moscow will try to squeeze Ukraine. Putin will slow the flow of crucial natural gas and goods into Ukraine, putting further pressure on Kiev's economy and war-fighting ability. ""The Russians will try everything to weaken the regime in Kiev,"" Kaplan said. The West has some soul-searching to do. Sanctions applied by the United States and Europe against Russia have so far only played into Putin's playbook, enhancing the image of an aggrieved Russia trying to shake off its detractors, Conley said. Putin's strategy of assembling a larger Russian empire has significant ramifications for Estonia and Latvia, Conley said, raising questions about just what the West will do to stop Russia if Putin chooses to further extend his reach. And what will it take to end this? Ukraine is a linchpin of Putin's plans for Russia, whether it's reassembling a historical empire or shoring up the Russian economy, Conley says. So whatever happens must support that. Kaplan says Putin can't pull back without gaining assurances that Ukraine will never become part of NATO. Ukraine, he said, needs assurances about its sovereignty and energy security."
"NEWARK, New Jersey (CNN) -- An FBI analyst and former vice presidential aide was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison for espionage after he admitted supplying classified documents to Philippine nationals in an effort to overthrow that country's government, federal prosecutors said. Leandro Aragoncillo, 48, a former U.S. Marine and Philippine native who worked as a military aide to Vice Presidents Al Gore and Dick Cheney before joining the FBI as a civilian employee, pleaded guilty to four charges of espionage in May 2006. The plea deal spared Aragoncillo from facing the death penalty, prosecutors said. In a sentencing hearing Wednesday morning, U.S. District Judge William H. Walls sentenced Aragoncillo to 10 years in prison for his involvement in a plot to overthrow Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. In addition, he fined Aragoncillo $40,000. Aragoncillo could have been sentenced to up to 20 years for participation in a conspiracy to transmit national defense information, prosecutors said. U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie, in a news release issued Wednesday, accused Aragoncillo of ""betraying his Marine uniform, his adopted country and the trust bestowed on him as an FBI analyst."" Michael Ray Aquino, a co-conspirator, was sentenced by Walls on Tuesday to six years in prison. Aquino, 41, is a former Philippine national police officer who pleaded guilty in July 2006 to taking classified documents, obtained from Aragoncillo, and passing them on to Philippine officials plotting to overthrow Arroyo. Aragoncillo, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was arrested along with Aquino on September 10, 2005. Mark Berman, an attorney for Aquino, said that his client admits receiving documents from Aragoncillo, but maintains that he did not know the information was classified. Prosecutors say that Filipino recipients of the classified documents included former President Joseph Estrada, who was ousted six years ago; Sen. Panfilo Lacson, an opposition politician; and former House Speaker Arnulfo Fuentebella. ""I never intended to cause harm or injury to the United States,"" Aragoncillo told the judge. Aquino's attorney said his client was ""relieved"" that the court rejected the government's recommended sentence of 10 years in favor of a lighter penalty. Attorneys for Aragoncillo refused to comment. E-mail to a friend ."
"TOKYO, Japan (CNN)  -- Voters in Japan will turn out for parliamentary elections Sunday in what poll after poll shows will be a historic shift in political power to oust the ruling party. Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso has approval ratings in the teens. The Liberal Democratic Party has been in nearly continuous control of Japan's parliament for more than five decades. But the country's worst economic crisis since World War II has led a normally sedate electorate to the polls, disgruntled with how slowly the country is emerging from the downturn. Polls show that the opposition, the Democratic Party of Japan, will snag more than 300 of the 480 seats up for grabs in the lower house of Japan's parliament. If the DPJ does win a majority, it will be the first time it will govern the world's second-largest economy. Leading the DPJ is Yukio Hatoyama, who has been mobbed at street rallies by supporters, the kind of support the opposition has never seen. Hatoyama is touting an Obama-style message of change, pledging to raise the minimum wage and discourage hiring through agencies or on temporary contracts. That message is gaining traction in a country that is witnessing historic highs in unemployment and experiencing ramifications like homelessness for the first time. Voters are looking for somebody to pay, and if the polls are right, that target is the current prime minister, Taro Aso. Aso's approval ratings dwell in the teens, and his stimulus packages, though credited for lifting the economy slightly out of recession, are not being credited with helping households feel more secure about a lasting economic recovery. The LDP, in political ads and stump speeches across Japan, says the DPJ is making empty promises and can't pay for its proposed programs. CNN's Kyung Lah contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- There are no easy answers when journalists have to decide how to cover a terrorist group's video. The issue resurfaced Tuesday when a member of the Islamic extremist group ISIS was shown on camera beheading American journalist Steven Sotloff. No major news organization showed the gruesome conclusion of the ISIS video, but many did show screen grabs and short video clips of Sotloff and the executioner, as well as another hostage that ISIS is threatening to kill. The video is newsworthy -- even if it also plays into the propagandistic hands of the people who produced it. But a vocal flock of viewers and readers -- and some fellow journalists -- have deplored the decisions to show snippets of the video, reprising arguments that were made in August when news organizations showed screen grabs of James Foley, another American journalist who was beheaded by ISIS. ""Can't believe this bears repeating, but one should not empower ISIS by publishing their PR materials,"" freelance journalist Jeb Boone wrote on Twitter after the Sotloff video emerged. One major international broadcaster, Al Jazeera, said it had decided not to show any images of Sotloff from the video -- a more conservative position than other television networks. ""We suggest all media do the same,"" Al Jazeera's public relations account said via Twitter, using the hashtag #ISISmediaBlackout. Not showing the video at all, however, risks sanitizing the grim reality of the world. So most media outlets tried to strike a balance. ISIS ""would like us to show you the most graphic images on that video, as part of their campaign of terror. We will not,"" CBS News anchor Charlie Rose said as he introduced a segment about Sotloff's death. Instead, CBS showed only video clips from it. Media figures also tried to demonstrate some self-awareness when dealing with the issue. ""No way to avoid leading the show with ISIS butchery and yet, maddeningly, that also seems like what ISIS wants,"" Chris Hayes wrote on Twitter before his 8 p.m. MSNBC program. Newscasts tended to show more photos of Sotloff in the field, reporting on stories throughout the Middle East, than of him as a hostage. But screen grabs from the video were still widespread, including on CNN's homepage and television networks. The Foley video surfaced on the social media website Diaspora, as reported by INSITE, a blog on terrorism and extremism run by the SITE Intelligence group. It was later put on YouTube and promoted via Twitter. The Sotloff video was discovered on an unidentified file-sharing website by the SITE Intelligence Group, which researches terrorist threats. Perhaps that's why social media reactions to the Sotloff video were more muted -- or perhaps, terribly, it's because the shock value was diminished the second time around."
"JERUSALEM (CNN) -- A car bomb killed one of Israel's most prominent crime bosses in Tel Aviv Monday, Israeli police sources say. Police at the scene of the car bomb blast which killed crime boss Yaakov Alpheron. Police say Yaakov Alperon was killed instantly when an explosive device was apparently detonated by remote control on a busy street in Tel Aviv. The blast injured two other people, including a 13 year-old boy. Head of one of Israel's most notorious crime families, Alperon is the most senior figure to be killed and the latest casualty of ongoing mob wars that have left scores of innocent people dead. In the past these mob-style hits have led to more revenge attacks."
"Beirut, Lebanon (CNN) -- A member of the Shiite militia Hezbollah, who escaped from an Egyptian prison during the recent unrest there, made a surprise appearance Wednesday at a Hezbollah rally in Beirut. The Hezbollah television network al Manar showed Sami Shehab being greeted by rapturous applause as he took the stage at the rally in a southern suburb of Beirut to mark the group's martyrs' day. Shehab, also known as Mohammed Yusuf Mansour, was accused by Egyptian authorities of leading a Hezbollah cell in Egypt and planning attacks in Egypt. He had been in prison for nearly two years before escaping on February 3 along with several members of the Palestinian Islamic group Hamas, Hezbollah officials said. He was described as a ""brother in our struggle"" as he joined a group of Hezbollah officials on stage."
"(CNN) -- Jessica Heeringa, 25, was due to close the Michigan gas station where she was working alone as a cashier at 11:30 p.m. Friday. But at 11:15, police got a 911 call that the station was unmanned. When police responded, Heeringa was gone. ""Something very bad happened,"" the police chief of Norton Shores, a community of 22,500 near Lake Michigan about 40 miles west of Grand Rapids, told CNN affiliate WOOD-TV. ""This was an abduction, not just a missing person,"" Chief Daniel Shaw told the station. ""There was nothing disturbed inside the store. There was no sign of a struggle or a robbery had occurred,"" Shaw told the station. Heeringa's purse was left in the store, and her car was still there, WOOD reported. Heeringa last served a customer about 10:50 p.m., police said. ""Between the time that last purchase was made and the time that the customers came in and found the store empty is when Jessica was abducted,"" Shaw told WOOD. ""We have spoken with the person who made the purchase there and cleared them of any wrong. And unfortunately, they didn't see anything that would lead them to believe there was something going on at the store that was leading to that abduction."" The chief told the station police are looking for the driver of a silver minivan who was seen in the store's parking area late Friday. Shaw described him as a white male, between 30 and 40, with wavy hair parted in the middle, according to WOOD. The van could have been a Chrysler Town and Country, he told the station. The store did not have security cameras, leaving police with few other clues. ""We are desperately looking for additional information,"" he told WOOD on Monday morning. Heeringa's family and friends were posting missing posters around the area, and a Facebook page was set up for people to offer clues or support. ""We are searching! Hang tight! The whole Country wants you home!"" said a Facebook post from Monday morning. Tips had come in from as far away as New Jersey, Missouri and Arkansas, WOOD reported. Heeringa is described as 5 feet, 1 inches tall, 110 pounds with blond hair, blue eyes and wearing wire-rimmed glasses. She has a 3-year-old son, her family told CNN affiliate WZZM-TV. Besides local police, the county sheriff's department and the Michigan State Police were involved in the investigation, according to local media reports. The FBI has also been contacted, the reports said. ""We've got a team of detectives and investigators on staff all day and night to track down those leads,"" Shaw told WOOD. ""We are very concerned. It's been too long,"" Heeringa's grandfather, Roman Homrich, told Mlive.com on Monday. Heeringa's mother, Shelly Heeringa, told WZZM that she thinks her daughter's abductor was a past customer who knew Jessica and the store. ""She's very helpful, that's why I think he lured her out of the gas station,"" the mother told the station. ""He knew there wasn't security cameras."" People with information that may help find Heeringa are asked to call the Norton Shores police at 231-733-2691."
"(CNN) -- A potential salmonella outbreak has prompted a multi-state recall of sprouts, an Idaho food company announced Friday. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration made a formal recall request Monday, urging on its website that people not eat alfalfa or spicy sprouts from Evergreen Fresh Sprouts. The federal agency noted that the salmonella Enteritidis pathogen is different from the E. coli bacteria that has been blamed for at least 47 deaths, and widespread recalls, in Europe. The next day, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on its website there had been 21 reported cases of salmonella tied to the sprouts, which are also labeled as Evergreen Produce. Nine of those were in Washington state, seven in Montana, three in Idaho, one in North Dakota and one in New Jersey. Three of those people have been hospitalized, and there have been no deaths, according to the CDC. Those affected, ranging in age from 12 years old to 77 years old, fell ill between April 12 and June 7. A vast majority, 77%, of those who became sick were female, according to the CDC. The recalled sprouts were delivered to four distributors and three retail stores in Idaho and Washington state, Evergreen said in its press release Friday. They include 4-ounce, 16-ounce and 5-pound bags of alfalfa sprouts, plus 4-ounce and 16-ounce bags of spicy sprouts. The expiration dates for all the affected products are between June 22 and July 14. Evergreen said that authorities determined that all those who fell ill with the salmonella had eaten its sprouts. But the Moyie Springs company said that tests on its products are still pending, and no products have come back positive yet. According to its website, Evergreen has been family owned and operated since 1990. Besides vegetables, it also distributes fruits, dairy items, pastas and a host of other food products."
"(CNN) -- Arsenal came back from two goals down to claim a 4-2 victory over Bolton at the Emirates Stadium which saw them climb to the top of the English Premier League. Bolton, who had been beaten 2-0 by the Gunners on Sunday, raced into an early lead through Gary Cahill who finished well from close range to direct his shot past Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia in the seventh minute. Owen Coyle's side then doubled their advantage from the penalty spot through Matthew Taylor after Arsenal midfielder Denilson had fouled Lee Chung-yong inside the area. But Arsene Wenger's young side kept their composure and pulled a goal back before halftime through Tomas Rosicky who lashed an angled shot past Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen.  Arsenal grabbed a controversial equalizer in the 52nd minute when Cesc Fabregas latched on to Andrey Arshavin's pass to slip the ball through Jaaskelainen's legs but there had appeared to be an earlier foul when William Gallas appeared to catch Mark Davies on the ankle. The turnaround was complete when Thomas Vermaelen fired home Arsenal's third after Abou Diaby had knocked down a corner into the path of the Belgian defender. Arsenal scored their fourth -- and the goal required to send them top of the table -- in the 85th minute when Eduardo slipped in Arshavin and the Russian made no mistake to fire the ball past Jaaskelainen. Wenger's side are level on points with Chelsea on 48 points, and are level with a goal difference of 34, but the Gunners go top having scored more goals than their London rivals. Elsewhere, Liverpool produced a defiant performance to help ease the pressure on Rafael Benitez with a 2-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield thanks to a brace from Dirk Kuyt. The Holland international gave Liverpool the lead in the sixth minute with a low shot from the edge of the area which flew past Heurelho Gomes' right-hand after he had been set up by Italian playmaker Alberto Aquilani. Liverpool, who were without the injured Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres, showed their defensive discipline to keep out Spurs and should have been out of sight by the time they were awarded an injury-time penalty after David Ngog was brought down by Sebastien Bassong. Kuyt scored the first effort only to be ordered to re-take by referee Howard Webb, but the Dutchman held his nerve to send Gomes the wrong way and keep Liverpool in the race for the fourth Champions League place. Meanwhile Aston Villa beat Blackburn Rovers 6-4 in a thrilling English League Cup semifinal second leg tie to go through 7-4 on aggregate and secure a Wembley final against either Manchester United or Manchester City. A Nikola Kalinic brace had Rovers ahead, but Stephen Warnock slotted in before Christopher Samba was sent off. James Milner converted the subsequent penalty and a Steven Ngonzi own-goal and Gabriel Agbonlahor and Emile Heskey's strikes seemed to seal it. Volleys from Martin Olsson and Brett Emerton gave Rovers hope before Ashley Young curled home to wrap up the win for Martin O'Neill's side."
"(CNN) -- Getting hired or promoted in today's competitive environment is no easy feat. But, then again, neither was our pitch for MasterCard. The rules of the game were made clear: whichever advertising campaign had the best consumer test score would be declared the winner and awarded the MasterCard account. Yet, despite the fact that our now famous ""Priceless"" campaign did not fare well in testing, we won the business, and the rest is history. Fifteen years later, ""Priceless"" remains one of the most recognizable ad campaigns in recent history. So why did we win the business, defying set rules and what early testing said would be a failure? According to MasterCard's CMO Larry Flanagan, it was because of our ""core"" -- we were a fighting and a cohesive team of competitors, who believed with every ounce of our beings that this campaign would crush their long-standing competitor, Visa. In other words, we had tapped their ""hidden agenda."" The hidden agenda is the unspoken, visceral, emotional motivation that is behind every decision. Whether deciding who wins the billion dollar deal ... or the job, the hidden agenda is always at work. Your mission is to connect to it, and here's how: . Do your hidden-agenda homework . It's not enough to know factoids about the company. That's table stakes. Do your homework about the emotional state of the company. Are they on a high, yet searching for the next big thing? Are they in crisis and in need of a turnaround? Are they guided by a value system that drives the decisions they make? It turns out that every decision stems from a hidden agenda, which can be found in three forms: . â€¢ Wants are about people viewing their circumstances through the lens of ambition and confidence. â€¢ Needs are about viewing circumstances through the lens of fear or concern. â€¢ Values are about people viewing the world entirely through the lens of their belief systems. In addition to understanding the company's hidden agenda, study the person who will be interviewing you to determine their hidden agenda. Connect with your real ambition . I had breakfast a few weeks ago with a very compelling young man. This electrifying fellow was exuberant, quirky bordering on eccentric, and without pretense. He spoke of what he hoped to create in his life, and I hired him on the spot. Your real ambition is a deep desire to create something special that doesn't yet exist. It's bigger than mere ambition because it's noble. When the person you are trying to reach is touched by your real ambition and makes common cause, they'll hire you. Try this: Think about what you want to accomplish, but precede with the words ""I will ..."" Make sure it is seemingly impossible, devoid of practicality and utterly fantastic. You can create a shared bond with your interviewer, because they see you both share a common vision. See also: Is happiness the secret of success? Bond with your credo . A company is many things, but it is a community first. Each community has a set of values that bind them; I call it a credo, Latin for ""I believe."" Dig deeply and look behind the facts and figures. What does the company you're applying to believe? If you want to be part of it, know it and connect yourself to it. Try this: Take out a sheet of paper, and write ""I believe that ..."" What words would you select? What values would you express that would make you proud for others to see? Connections are made because of the beliefs you share. You'll be hired, because your interviewer will see that your credo syncs perfectly with theirs. Ignite with your core . Your core is what makes you stand out from the pack. While many people have similar traits, your core is comprised of a set of skills, abilities, and strengths that, together, are completely unique to you. And as was the case with MasterCard, your core will be seen as something the company needs -- the ""answer to their prayers"" and a means by which you can help them. See also: Is workplace boredom 'the new stress?' Critical to your core is authenticity. As a wonderful mentor once told me when I was presenting what I thought was a perfect version of myself and thinking that the real me was no road to glory: the person you are is the person they want to see. They are hiring you, not a manufactured version of something or someone else. Try this: Ask five people who know you well and support you to write down the key characteristics they associate with you. Not only will you be staggered by what you'll get, but you will also feel proud and affirmed. You mobilize people to hire you, because their vital needs are satisfied by the authenticity and sincerity of your core. Your pursuit for the promotion or job of your dreams is not a fact and figures game -- it is a human game. When you make a profound connection with the emotional desire of your boss or interviewer, the facts and figures will take the backseat, every time. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Kevin Allen."
"When Harry returned home the morning after the typhoon struck, he found part of the roof missing from his home. It wasn't as bad as Yolanda,"" he said, referring to Typhoon Haiyan, which completely destroyed his house in the Magallanes ""barangay,"" or district, of Tacloban a year ago. ""It was so scary."" Much of his barangay, which lies close to the water's edge, was decimated by the storm surge that was generated by the most powerful storm ever to make landfall in November, 2013. It is also one of the poorest areas in Tacloban. Little more than a year on and most people in this traumatized town in the central Philippines will be incredibly relieved that Typhoon Hagupit, which passed some 50 kilometers north, came with nothing like the force of Haiyan. Most of what has been rebuilt in the past few months has largely remained intact. Harry was one of many who heeded official warnings to evacuate to safer areas during the storm -- he was not going to repeat the mistake he made last year of trying to ride it out. Surveying the damage around his modest home, its walls held up by various metal sheets and cardboard boxes, Harry seemed remarkably positive: ""It's not so bad."" Pointing at the missing part of his ceiling above his living area and kitchen, he added: ""It was not nailed down as well as the other area of roof."" He'll just repair it again like last time. TYPHOON TRACKER: Follow Hagupit's path . Checking for damage . This was a typical scene across Tacloban on Sunday morning, as some 48,000 people anxiously prepared to return to their homes from evacuation centers to check the damage. According to the mayor and the city's disaster management authorities, there have so far been no casualties and power should be restored in the next day or so. Clearing up is more about mopping up; torrential rains drenched the entire area, flooding many roads. Though the storm was nowhere near as powerful as last year's, authorities took no chances and were prepared for what was to come. Our next stop was the Santa Nino church, a building that became symbolic of the damage done by Haiyan. Almost leveled completely, it was in the process of being renovated. Hagupit spared it this time around -- the only clues to what took place the night before were lots of tree branches and roots strewn around the surrounding streets. Still waiting for homes . Many people in Tacloban are still living in tents or other rudimentary structures more than a year after Haiyan. They've been promised new homes but the process has been extremely slow. For those lucky enough to get one, they're often located miles away. They may be away from vulnerable, flood-prone areas, but they're also far from where they work, shops and their friends. These are the main reasons why many have chosen -- against the wishes of the government -- to rebuild their basic shanty homes in areas like Magallanes and San Jose. Yet some like Lucrecia Simbajon, 58, another resident of Magallanes, would jump at the chance of a new home if only she was offered one. She and her family are among hundreds who have spent the last few days camped out at the local Roman Catholic ""Redemption"" church. ""I don't know how long I'm going to be here, as the roof was blown off my house last night,"" she said. Her home --  a typical wooden and metal shack --  was wiped out last year. As a result, she spent more than 20 days at the Redemption, lying between pews with her children. Though it is easily the sturdiest building in the area, the church's perforated roof is a reminder that Haiyan spared little in its path. Simbajon doesn't know how she'll carry out the repairs this time around. Her house is located in an area declared a ""no build zone"" because it was so close to the coast and therefore vulnerable to storm surges. ""We need help from the government --  financial assistance, materials, so we can rebuild,"" she said. They got no help after Haiyan, she added. Aside from delivering parcels of rice and noodles, she said no one from the government had been near over the past few days. Asked if she'd consider one of the new houses the local government pledged to build in the wake of Haiyan, she was emphatic: ""We no longer have a home here. For my family we are willing to move, to transfer."" Sheltering in chapel . The atmosphere inside the main chapel at the Redemption was far calmer than a day earlier when everyone nervously awaited the arrival of Hagupit -- these were among the town's poorest and most vulnerable. A white board listed everyone who was evacuated here, including several heavily pregnant women. Alita Castillo, another local, is also a volunteer with a local NGO dealing with disaster risk reduction. Her entire family is staying in an adjacent hall. ""We're more prepared this year, with more people prepared to leave their houses,"" she said. ""Last year, we had 70 families staying with us in the church. This time we have more than 200."" Yet she and her family still don't have a house, more than a year after Haiyan. And now the house she had been staying in has been badly damaged. ""I don't know where we'll go this time,"" she said. ""We helped organize a home owner's association and luckily, with help from the church, the United Nations, and a few other groups, we'll be eligible for free housing -- but it's still in the process. Hopefully two years from now I will have one.""​ ."
"Sydney (CNN) -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has welcomed the return by Australia of two ancient Hindu art treasures that were allegedly stolen from temples in Tamil Nadu. During a meeting with Modi in New Delhi on Friday Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott handed over a 900-year bronze statue of Shiva Nataraja (dancing Shiva) and a stone statue of Ardhanariswara (Shiva in half-female form), also from circa 1100. ""I would like to convey to Prime Minister Abbott the deep sense of gratitude of 1.25 billion people of India for the efforts he has made to bring with him two ancient statues that were stolen from India,"" Modi said. Modi said Abbott and the people of Australia ""have shown enormous respect and regard not only for our ancient treasures, but also for our cultural heritage."" The National Gallery of Australia in Canberra bought the Shiva Natarja for $5 million (A$5.3 million) in 2008 from then New York-based art dealer Subhash Kapoor. Kapoor was arrested in Germany in 2011 after U.S. investigators raided Manhattan storage units allegedly leased in his name, and found items ""displayed in major international museums worldwide."" Kapoor was subsequently extradited to India where he's awaiting trial. The former owner of the Art of the Past Gallery, Kapoor sold the Ardhanariswara to the Sydney-based Art Gallery of New South Wales for $280,000 (A$300,000) in 2004. In March this year, the Indian Government wrote to Australia seeking the return of the two idols. In a statement to mark Abbott's return of the two statues in New Delhi, the National Gallery of Australia said it ""would never knowingly purchase a stolen or looted item."" It said the gallery had undertaken lengthy, comprehensive and independent research before it bought the Shiva Nataraja from Kapoor. ""Despite these efforts, court proceedings may yet confirm that the gallery has been a victim of a most audacious fraud,"" gallery director Ron Radford said. Radford noted that Kapoor's trial ""is yet to be heard and he has proclaimed his innocence."""
"(CNN) -- The first nine months of this year has seen more pirate attacks than all of last year. And more than half of those attacks were carried out by suspected Somali pirates, an international maritime watchdog group said Wednesday. The increase in attacks has forced many countries to patrol pirate hotspots such as the Gulf of Aden. ""The increased activity in Somalia is the major reason for the spike,"" said Cyrus Mody, manager of the International Maritime Bureau, which monitors shipping crimes. From January 1 until September 30, pirates worldwide mounted 306 attacks, compared with 293 in all of 2008, the Bureau said. Of the incidents this year, Somali pirates accounted for 54 percent: they launched 168 attacks. Most of them took place off the east coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden, a major shipping route between Yemen and Somalia. They successfully hijacked 32 vessels and took 533 hostages. Eight others were wounded, four more killed and one is missing, the Bureau said. Somali pirates are still holding four ships for ransom with 80 crew members as hostages. Somalia's transitional government, which has a tenuous grip on power, has been unable to stop the pirates -- many of whom are based in the port cities. This has prompted Europe and other Western countries to step up maritime patrols. ""In the Gulf of Aden, the number of attacks have gone up. But because of the presence of naval vessels, the success rate of the pirates have decreased,"" Mody said. ""The navies are responding very very effectively."" Today's pirates are a far cry from the eye-patched, peg-legged swashbucklers of Hollywood. They don night-vision goggles, carry rocket launchers and navigate with global positioning devices. Many pirates are trained fighters; others are young thugs enlisted for the job. Experts say they often sail out to sea in a mother ship and wait for a target. When they find one, the pirates board smaller boats and move in, typically with five to seven armed hijackers per boat. Two recent trends have led to a rise in piracy: access and opportunity. As global commerce picks up, more and more of the world's fuels, minerals and other crucial commodities travel by ship. Ninety-five percent of America's foreign trade, for instance, moves by water, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration. That cargo is an easy target for robbers in countries that lack the resources to secure their shorelines, such as Somalia. Those who have tracked pirate activity say it started in Somalia in the 1980s, when the pirates claimed they were aiming to stop the rampant illegal fishing and dumping that continues to this day off the Somali coast. Piracy accelerated after the fall of the Somali government in the early 1990s and began to flourish after shipping companies started paying ransoms. Those payments started out being in the tens of thousands of dollars and have since climbed into the millions. With the ransoms they collect, pirates can earn up to $40,000 a year, analysts say. That's a fortune for someone from an impoverished country. Some analysts say companies are simply making the problem worse by paying the piracies. ""Yes, the ransoms have probably caused the piracy to become a bit more rampant. But at the same time, from the owner's point of view, there is no other way currently to secure the safe release of the vessel along with the crew and the cargo,"" Mody said. ""It's basically a cycle."" Other trouble spots this year were waters off Nigeria, with 20 attacks; Malaysia with 14; and Bangladesh with 12."
"(CNN) -- Long before fish swam in Macquariums, hipsters got Apple logo tattoos and thousands camped out for days to get into computer store openings, there was a machine. Danielle Brecker found this 1989 photo of friends on their Macs at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Saturday marks the 25th anniversary of the original Macintosh, the first personal computer to draw masses, introduce the mouse and incorporate a graphical user interface, relying on images instead of text. The Apple Inc. watershed product entered American consciousness amid fanfare, with a $1.5 million commercial, made by Ridley Scott, wowing audiences during Super Bowl XVIII. The piece's title, ""1984,"" invoked author George Orwell's message and stood as a warning against conformity. Two days after the ad ran, the Macintosh became available and life, as people knew it, changed. No longer were computers viewed as toys with which to play primitive games or as untouchable tools reserved for degreed engineers. We began to think different. ""The Macintosh demonstrated that it was possible and profitable to create a machine to be used by millions and millions of people,"" said Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, research director for the Institute for the Future, a Palo Alto, California, think tank, and chief force behind ""Making the Macintosh: Technology and Culture in Silicon Valley,"" an online historical exhibit. ""The gold standard now for personal electronics is, 'Is it easy enough for my grandmother to use it?' People on the Macintosh project were the first people to talk about a product in that way."" Pang, 44, remembered being ""mesmerized"" by the computer when he first saw it up close in his college bookstore. He wasn't alone. Read about how iReporters are preserving Mac history . For graphic designers like Zoë Korstvedt, now a Los Angeles creative director, the evolving Mac, with each added feature, was ripe with ah-ha moments. To tinker with a piece, play with the text, ""to visualize on your computer was just insane,"" she said. ""My colleagues and I wonder how we did it [their jobs] before."" No wonder, then, that when Korstvedt, 44, married her first husband in 1989, she used half of their wedding money to buy her first home computer: a Mac SE/30, for which she forked over extra bucks for an upgrade to a whopping 8 megabytes of RAM. Nothing compared to the 12 gigs she now has. ""I was styling,"" she said with a laugh. Jeremy Mehrle, 30, of the St. Louis, Missouri, area is too young to know a world without Macs. This MacAddict began hoarding and tinkering with tossed-out computers, and then he discovered eBay. Today, the motion graphics designer's 1,400 square-foot basement is a museum to Apple computers, all-white and in gallery-style with about 80 fully-functioning machines on display. ""Some people think it's really cool. ... Others say 'It's Jeremy's thing, it's a little weird, whatever,'"" he said. ""I think if I had stacks everywhere, and you couldn't move in my house, people would be worried."" What's Mehrle's hobby, however, became a career for Dan Foust, 38, of Bloomington, Illinois. ""Danapplemacman,"" as he's known on eBay, makes a living out of buying, and when necessary resuscitating, these computers before hawking them online to customers/collectors in places as far-flung as Italy and Australia. So what would people pay for an original Macintosh? ""A complete boxed system?,"" he said. ""I can't put a price on that."" The extremes to which people have gone in their love and loyalty for Apple (and specifically Macs) knows no bounds. Perhaps no one knows this better than Leander Kahney, news editor at Wired.com and author of Cult of Mac, as well as the more recently published Inside Steve's Brain. That would be Apple co-founder Steve Jobs' brain, of course. From his phone in a San Francisco coffee shop, Kahney told tales of people allotting their limited vacation time to Macworld conferences, a man who has traveled to 40 Apple store openings and those who shaved Apple logos into their heads. As for the Apple tattoos, those, at first, really bothered him. ""I'm a bit of a leftie,"" he said. The idea of ""corporate worship"" didn't initially sit well with him -- although he's not afraid to admit his own obsession. ""It's a very deep relationship people have with their computers. ... If the computer's not working, it's more important than the car breaking down."" Speaking of worship, Israeli filmmakers Ron and Kobi Shely created ""MacHEADS: The Movie,"" a 50-minute documentary that'll be available next week on Amazon's video on demand service and, soon after, on iTunes. The film includes footage from The Church of Mac in Los Angeles, where a preacher and congregants gathered to glorify the computer at a service that ended with, ""Praise Steve."" ""Although we read a lot about the [Mac] phenomenon,"" Ron Shely said by phone from Tel Aviv of the two-year film project, ""we didn't realize how big this social movement really is."" And that, beyond the products, is what has been so powerful about the Mac brand, said Peter Friess, president of The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, California. iReport.com: Got your own Mac Museum? Show us! Steve Jobs ""really has changed the world,"" Friess said. ""You hardly find people who changed cultures. He changed culture."" Decades before Jobs' health became a topic of discussion, Friess was lucky enough to meet the man. At the time, German-born Friess was a lowly watchmaker, repairing clocks in the basement of Munich's Deutsches Museum, the largest science and technology museum in the world. The year was 1984, and Friess thought a Macintosh might come in handy, so he called Apple Germany to see if he might be able to get one. The answer, as he recalled it, ""'You're very lucky. Steve Jobs is in town. We'll come over and give you one.'"" Ever since, he's been amazed and exceedingly intrigued by every new computer. ""My wife goes crazy,"" Friess, 49, admitted. ""Every Apple computer I buy, the first thing I do is take it apart, just to see what's inside."" For Gary Allen, 61, of Berkeley, California, his interest is less inside than it is outside the company's stores. He runs ifoAppleStore.com, the first three letters taken from his police dispatch days, meaning ""in front of."" The site's genesis dates back to 2001 when Apple store No. 9 opened, in Palo Alto, and he and his son went early. Way early -- as in the night before. The crowds, and natural community, grew on Allen, who began seeing new-found friends at other openings. They were like groupies chasing a band. So he started a Web site, to help fans keep in touch, and soon other Apple enthusiasts began writing from across the globe, sharing tips about new stores, as well as testimonies and photos. The site, he said, averages about 4 million visitors a month. Allen, who guessed he's been to 22 store openings so far, once stood in the rain for days in Tokyo so he could snag the first spot in line. He's seen old friends at openings in Germany and Italy. Last summer, he and his now 21-year-old son experienced what he called ""the perfect storm,"" hitting Boston, Beijing and Sydney. Next stop: Paris. He may not speak the same language as the thousands who surround him in these various cities, but that doesn't much matter when people speak the same language of computer love. ""Apple enthusiasts, it turns out,"" Allen said, ""are the same wherever you go."""
"(CNN)""We cannot kill our way out of this war,"" State Department spokesperson Marie Harf said on Tuesday.   ""We need in the medium to longer term to go after the root causes that leads people to join these groups, whether it's lack of opportunity for jobs ...""  Since then, Harf has been attacked by conservatives, particularly for her jobs remarks.  But she's right in her assessment. And, I would suggest, she should have gone further: There's reason to think that bombing is exactly what ISIS wants us to do. Why else would they be goading us into it? It's called ""terrorism"" for a reason. The goal is to cause terror, to scare people into acting -- or overreacting.  The most recent ISIS propaganda video was produced in English for a reason.  It seems they want the West to react and take the bait.  And we are obliging. Months ago, a war-weary United States was suddenly whipped back into a pro-military-action frenzy.  Why? Writing in Mother Jones, Kevin Drum, explained: ""All it took was a carefully stagecrafted beheading video and the usual gang of conservative jingoists to exploit it."" Longtime defense analyst Kenneth Brower made a similar point: ""A YouTube video of a beheading forces the U.S. president to go to 'war' in order to avoid being called weak by his domestic political opposition. That's not leadership! Worse, the so-called hawks push for deeper involvement irrespective of military reality. They live in a fantasy world of U.S. military exceptionalism."" ISIS then beheaded a British journalist, so the British stepped up its military support in the campaign against ISIS.  Then ISIS goaded Jordan with a video of the hideous immolation of a Jordanian pilot.  Jordan responded with bombs.  Now ISIS has just goaded Egypt with a mass execution ... and Egypt has, predictably, responded.  Anyone who doesn't see a pattern here isn't looking. Yes, the violent terrorism of ISIS is medieval and inhumane. That doesn't mean it can't also be rational. And this is where the assessment of Harf and the Obama administration -- and Republicans calling for even further military action -- falls short of the mark. Not only can we not kill our way out of this war, but killing may exacerbate the situation. Why would ISIS goad the world to attack it?  To be legitimized as a forceful threat, while at the same time provoking actions that lead to more civilian casualties when nations strike back. This provokes more rage at the West and its regional allies, drawing more martyrs and sympathizers to the terrorist cause. And we are playing into ISIS' hands: In Syria, ISIS had to put up giant screens to show its beheading videos.  But in the West, mainstream media is doing it for them, covering ISIS propaganda as 24/7 fear- mongering under the banner of news. Effective counterterrorism strategy begins with not doing what the terrorists want us to do. But right now, we are the dog being wagged by the tail of ISIS. After all, while the capacity to commit terrorism likely involves some psychosis, terrorists don't just spontaneously spring from the ground like demonic daisies.  In 2006, the National Intelligence Estimate compiled by America's top counterterrorism agencies found that the war in Iraq had, according to a Washington Post article, ""become a primary recruitment vehicle for violent Islamic extremists, motivating a new generation of potential terrorists around the world whose numbers may be increasing faster than the United States and its allies can reduce the threat."" ISIS and its ilk want to concoct an existential war between their brand of fundamentalist Islam and the rest of the globe.  The leadership of ISIS may do abhorrent things because of a crazy adherence to an apocalyptic interpretation of Islam, as Graeme Wood has just written in The Atlantic.  But they don't just slaughter people, they produce hi-definition, theatrically staged, English-language videos of the slaughter, as well as a propaganda magazine in English. America's homeland, thankfully, has not been the direct target of ISIS violence, but we have been the target of this propaganda. It's working. Recruits are flocking to ISIS. This is not to say there's no military solution to ISIS, though many experts such as Brower certainly doubt that such tactics will work.  It may ultimately be smarter to push a political solution, such as the division of Iraq and the region into new sectarian-based states, as has been proposed in the past.  Whatever the solution, what is clear is that the values and vision of America and our allies in the region should be proactively driving the agenda rather than a reactionary furor whipped up at the whim of ISIS. We have to stop broadcasting their propaganda.  We have to stop responding with bombs every time they provoke us with videotaped slayings.  We have to stop being weak and fearful in the face of ISIS' threats.  Otherwise, no matter how much territory we bomb, ISIS will keep winning. In fact, if you think the only way to defeat them is with bombing, they've already won."
"(CNN) -- Investigators probably will have to use dental records to identify some of the eight people who were killed in a wreck involving a church bus and two other vehicles in eastern Tennessee, a Tennessee Highway Patrol official said Thursday. Some of the bodies in Wednesday's crash were burned or otherwise made unrecognizable, hindering authorities' ability to notify all of the victims' families about the deaths, highway patrol Sgt. Bill Miller said. ""The crash is so horrific ... it's probably the worst that I have seen in my career ... and I've worked in several, several counties in my"" 17 years on the job, Miller said. More from CNN affiliate WBIR . The bus, owned by a North Carolina church, was carrying a group of seniors on their way back home from a religious conference when one of its tires malfunctioned, sending the bus across a median on Interstate 40 and crashing into an SUV and a tractor-trailer, authorities said. Church bus was carrying seniors home from a jubilee . Eight people were killed: Six on the eastbound bus; one of three occupants of the SUV, and the tractor-trailer driver, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said. Two of the 14 other people who were hospitalized after the wreck had been released by Thursday morning, said Travis Brickey, a representative of the University of Tennessee Medical Center. Two people were in critical condition; seven were in serious condition, and three were in stable condition, Brickey said. None of the victims' names was released. The church group -- about 18 people including the driver, Miller said -- was returning to the Front Street Baptist Church in Statesville, North Carolina, after attending the 17th annual Fall Jubilee conference in Gatlinburg. Indiana bus crash kills pastor, pregnant wife, chaperone on teen trip . The group of senior citizens was called ""Young at Heart,"" said Rick Cruz, the church's pastor. Twelve of the hospitalized victims -- including the two in critical condition -- are church members, Cruz said Thursday morning. ""It's been a very long night for all of us here,"" Cruz told reporters. ""We are thankful for all the prayers and support that we've been receiving."" More from CNN affiliate WHNS . The wreck happened about 2 p.m. Wednesday in Jefferson County, about 40 miles east of Knoxville, the Tennessee Department of Safety said. Miller said it wasn't clear exactly what happened to the bus tire, other than it malfunctioned or failed in some way. The bus swerved across a grassy median and struck the SUV before hitting the tractor-trailer, he said. The bus came to rest on its side, pinning some of its occupants, he said. More from CNN affiliate WATE . Video from the site showed smoke rising from the tractor-trailer. Some people walked out of the bus on their own, but emergency personnel had to extricate others, Miller said. ""This was such a horrific crash that determining if seat belts were used or not ... may be extremely difficult to impossible to determine,"" he said. Miller said it's too early to know whether charges will be filed in connection with the wreck. More from CNN affiliate WVLT . Girls injured when school bus overturns in Kansas . Six dead after bus, train collide in Ottawa . CNN's Andrew Spencer and Rich Phillips contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- The 54 men and 14 boys rescued after being found chained this week at an Islamic religious school in Pakistan have been reunited with their families or placed in shelters, authorities said. The group was discovered in an underground room with heavy chains linking them together. The school, Al-Arabiya Aloom Jamia Masjid Zikirya, which also was a drug rehab clinic, is in Sohrab Goth, a suburb of Gadap in Karachi. All 14 boys were returned to their families, senior police official Ahsanullah Marwat told CNN. Of the adults, 47 had been released to their families, and seven were handed over to a shelter for the homeless, he said. Three people who worked at the facility were arrested, but the four men who ran the place were still at large, Marwat said. Officials said the facility was part madrassa and part drug-rehab facility, and the captives were chained at night apparently to prevent their escape. ""The operation was successful, and we plan on continuing our work to ensure that places like this are shut down,"" Marwat said. Many of the captives told police their families sent them there because they were recovering drug addicts. During the day, they worked and did religious studies. But the future of the rescued children was unclear. One woman told a local television station that she was willing to pay the police to keep her troublesome child. She said she would rather have the facility remain open, regardless of how it treated the children. Many others, however, said they were in shock and disbelief over the allegations. One man complained he was deep in debt after paying the school a large amount of money to board his son."
"After a weekend of intense investigation, authorities are piecing together more details about Friday's fatal shooting at Los Angeles International Airport, including the suspect's behavior earlier in the week and a warning from his family that may have come minutes too late. Officers sent to check on Paul Ciancia's welfare arrived at his apartment less than an hour after the shooting started, police said Monday. Here is a rundown to get you up to speed: . The suspect . Ciancia, 23, of Los Angeles, is charged with murder of a federal officer and commission of violence in an international airport. He was shot by officers Friday and was in critical condition at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center on Sunday. A source said Ciancia was unable to speak to investigators. Clues about a motive . Attorney General Eric Holder said Monday that more investigation is necessary to uncover a motive for the attack. But a note found on Ciancia indicated that he wanted to kill Transportation Security Administration employees to ""instill fear"" in what the suspect called the agents' ""traitorous minds,"" FBI Special Agent in Charge David Bowdich said. According to someone who knew Ciancia and his three roommates well, Ciancia began asking for a ride to the airport days before the shooting. He claimed he needed to fly to New Jersey to help his sick father, but he never said what day he needed to leave, the source said. On Friday, Ciancia burst into a roommate's room and demanded a ride to the airport immediately, said the source, who spoke to CNN on the condition of anonymity. The roommate obliged. Investigators don't think the roommate had any idea of Ciancia's plans. The near-save . Around the same time, Ciancia was sending text messages to family members in Pennsville, New Jersey. One suggested that something bad would happen. Although Ciancia has no known history of mental illness, he said in the texts that he was unhappy, and the messages were alarming enough that Ciancia's father decided to call police. ""I felt that it was pretty serious. It sounded as if Paul Ciancia in California was thinking about harming himself, so obviously I knew I needed to make a phone call to the LAPD,"" Pennsville Police Chief Allen Cummings told CNN's Jake Tapper on Monday. Cummings spoke with a lieutenant there, who told him the department was in the middle of responding to a shooting at LAX. ""At this point, we weren't connecting the dots,"" he said. They did later when a reporter called the police chief, asking him to comment on the shooting. Los Angeles Police Department Cmdr. Andy Smith says police were first called to check on Ciancia at 10:06 a.m. Officers arrived at his apartment six minutes later, according to Smith. Ciancia was already gone. The timeline provided Monday by police differed from that offered earlier by Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. He said police had arrived at Ciancia's apartment about 45 minutes after the suspect had left for the airport. According to the LAPD account, they arrived 52 minutes after the shooting, which began about 9:20 a.m., according to police. It was not immediately clear when Ciancia left for the airport. The attack . About 9:20 a.m. Friday, Ciancia walked up to a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint in Terminal 3. He pulled a .223-caliber assault rifle from a bag and shot TSA officer Gerardo Hernandez ""at point-blank range,"" according to a court document filed by an FBI agent. Ciancia then went up an escalator but returned to shoot Hernandez again, apparently after seeing him move. He continued walking and shooting. Witnesses said he went from person to person, asking, ""Are you TSA?"" ""I just shook my head,"" traveler Leon Saryan told CNN's Anderson Cooper. ""And he kept going."" Chaos and terror inside LAX Terminal 3 . The victims . Hernandez, 39, was the first TSA officer to die in the line of duty since the agency was created in 2001. ""He took pride in his duty for the American public and for the TSA mission,"" said his wife, Ana Hernandez. The couple, who married in 1998, have two children. Two other TSA officers -- James Speer, 54, and Tony Grigsby, 36 -- were wounded but were released from the hospital. Grigsby, who was shot in the foot, told reporters Monday he was injured while helping an elderly man move to a safe area. ""I turned around and there was a gunman,"" he said. ""Shot me twice."" A traveler who was shot in the leg, 29-year-old Brian Ludmer of Lake Forest, Illinois, was in fair condition Sunday. The police response . TSA officers are unarmed. So it was airport police officers who eventually shot Ciancia multiple times in the chest, also striking him in the face and neck. Airport Police Chief Patrick Gannon said the FBI told him that his officers were 60 seconds behind Ciancia. He praised their response, even though he acknowledged that he had moved his officers away from positions inside the checkpoints during the past year. ""The threat ... at the airport does not exist behind security at that podium; the threat exists from the curbline on,"" Gannon said. ""So ... we have our people stationed throughout the airport."" Holder said Monday that the investigation will include a review of security measures at LAX and other airports. ""The responsibility for protecting airport security is not a TSA function but something that I think we need to certainly examine, given what happened in Los Angeles,"" he said. Travel delays . The incident forced authorities to shut down parts of the airport, evacuate travelers and put a temporary hold on some departures and landings. More than 167,050 airline passengers were affected by the incident Friday as a result of cancellations, delays or diversions to other airports, according to LAX. One airline, JetBlue, temporarily moved its operations to Long Beach Airport. On Saturday, an additional 40 flights were affected, including 30 that were canceled, involving about 4,000 passengers, according to Los Angeles International Airport. According to FlightAware, a flight tracking website, airlines canceled 236 flights into or out of LAX after the incident Friday morning and 27 more Saturday. An additional 919 flights were delayed over the two days, FlightAware said. Some of those cancellations and delays may have been caused by problems other than the shooting, however. The airport was operating normally Monday morning. Suspect's family responds . Ciancia's family, in a statement read Monday afternoon by attorney John Jordan in New Jersey, said they were ""shocked and numbed by the tragic events of last Friday."" ""It is most important for us as a family to express our deep and sincere sympathy to the Hernandez family,"" the Ciancia family said. ""(By) all accounts, Officer Hernandez was an exemplary member of the law enforcement community and a good family man. Our hearts go out to his family and many others who grieve his passing. ""We wish to convey, too, our hopes that those who were wounded during this incident will experience quick and full recoveries. We also regret the inconvenience experienced by thousands of travelers as well as the administration and the employees of the Los Angeles airport."" The Ciancia family said they would ""continue to love and care for"" Paul. ""We will support him during the difficult times ahead. While we do not mean to minimize the grief and distress experienced by many other families, we hope that the public will understand that this is a very difficult time for our family, too,"" the family said. What's next? If convicted, Ciancia could face the death penalty or life in prison without parole. The U.S. attorney general would decide whether to pursue a death sentence. TSA Administrator John Pistole said the shooting has prompted a review of security protocol with partner agencies. McCaul said better coordination with local law enforcement could improve security at checkpoints. But the congressman acknowledged that ""it's very difficult to stop these types of attacks."" ""It's almost like an open shopping mall,"" he said. Opinion: Don't arm the TSA ."
"New Haven, Connecticut (CNN) -- A judge in New Haven sentenced a 31-year-old man to death Friday for his role in a deadly home invasion that killed a woman and her two daughters in 2007. Jurors convicted Joshua Komisarjevsky in October on six capital felony charges. The 12-member jury had recommended death by lethal injection on each of the counts. ""The task of sentencing another human being to death is the most sober and somber experience a judge can have,"" said Superior Court Judge Jon Blue. Komisarjevsky responded Friday, saying that he ""came into this trial angry and defiant."" It's a ""surreal experience to be condemned to die,"" he said. ""Our apathetic pursuits trampled the innocent."" He said, ""I did not rape. I did not pour that gas or light that fire."" ""I will never find peace again and my soul is torn,"" Komisarjevsky added. The family of his victims left the courtroom before Komisarjevsky spoke. Richard Hawke, in a victim's statement prior to the sentencing, said the killings of his daughter and granddaughters had left him ""half-past dead."" ""They offered to give you everything you asked for, you didn't have to take their lives,"" he told Komisarjevsky. ""You will from now on be known as a prison number in the book of death. You are now in God's hands."" The man convicted of being Komisarjevsky's accomplice, Steven Hayes, was sentenced to death in 2010. Juries convicted the pair on charges that they beat and tied up Dr. William Petit Jr., raped and strangled his wife, molested one of their daughters and set the house on fire before trying to flee. Petit is the sole survivor of the attack that killed his wife and two daughters. ""I lost my family and my home,"" said Petit. ""My wife, my friend, my partner. I miss our late night chats and our partnership in raising the girls."" Before assaulting and killing Jennifer Hawke-Petit, Hayes forced her to go to a bank and withdraw $15,000 from an account after finding evidence that the account held between $20,000 and $30,000, authorities said. The two daughters, who were both tied to their beds, died of smoke inhalation, while William Petit managed to escape from the basement, where he had been held. Hayes had been charged with third-degree burglary in 2003 and sentenced to five years in prison. He was released three years later to a halfway house, where he met Komisarjevsky. Komisarjevsky's attorneys had asked for leniency, arguing that he had no prior history of violence, was abused as a child and had been committed to a mental hospital for depression."
"ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN)  -- Dressed head to toe in black, designer Isaac Mizrahi is wearing an outfit that seems to contradict his personality -- and his usual fashion flair. Isaac Mizrahi has earned four awards from the Council of Fashion Designers of America. ""I always start with color when I'm designing things. Always. If the color is right, I feel better,"" he touts on his Web site. But Mizrahi has an explanation for his less than colorful attire on a recent visit to CNN Center in Atlanta. ""We have this very quick trip, and we have to go right back and there's no time to pack and we can't check luggage ... so I focused it to black, gray and white."" It's just one more style tip you can pick up from Mizrahi's new book ""How to Have Style"" (Gotham). Despite the slightly audacious title, Mizrahi, who has won four awards from the Council of Fashion Designers of America, has earned the right to tell women how to dress. For five years, the New York fashion designer has been selling low-priced clothing and home furnishings at Target. But with his new book comes a new job -- as the creative director of Liz Claiborne. CNN talked to Mizrahi about his love for theater, the most common fashion mistakes and why bad flowers are never OK. The following is an edited version of that interview: . CNN: You started in acting at the High School of the Performing Arts. How do you combine that love and your love for design? Isaac Mizrahi: Well, you know what, I think it's all theater. I think that fashion is a form of entertainment. And I think that these days, as a fashion designer, it's almost like you represent a political party or something. Like women say, ""Oh, that's a brand name I associate with because I've worn it before. I love it. It seems to fulfill who I am really easily."" Whatever it is, she knows that it just makes her life really easy so she associates with it, you know? And in the end, I am like this personality that represents that.  Watch Mizrahi talk about his new book » . But more than that, I have designs [in] the entertainment business. There's a movie called ""Unzipped"" about me that was a really successful movie. I had two TV series. I design costumes constantly for theater and ballet and opera. So to me it's all one big world. It's seamless to me. CNN: What's your daily schedule like? It has to be crazy with all that you do. Mizrahi: It changes every day, and I really like that. There's a base to it. I wake up, I go swimming every day, and I eat the same breakfast almost every single day. But when I get to work is when it changes up. Some days I work in the showroom; some days I work in the design room; some days I actually work in my own private studio, where I just do sketches and sketches and sketches. Other days I work in the TV studio taping segments and my Web show. I don't really love travel. I feel like it really disrupts what I love doing most, which is this creation, you know what I mean? When I finally let myself enjoy it, I can enjoy traveling. But it takes a great agony for me to separate from New York City and my studios and the people that I work with. CNN: Say you're walking down the street. What's the most common style error that you see in people? Mizrahi: I see a lot, a lot, a lot of bad hair. I would say that's the most common style error I see is bad hair. You know people have excuses for bad shoes -- because you know some people have back problems, it is the street and they're walking and walking and walking -- but I do think that people have no excuse for bad hair. Because you know what? There's a hat, if your hair is really that bad that day. But I always think that women should be encouraged to spend a lot of money on their hair. It's like you should spend your most money ... on your hair. You'd think I had a chain of hair salons, but I don't. [Laughter]. CNN: What about in home furnishing? You do a line for Target that's ending this year. What's the most common mistake people make there? Mizrahi: You know what it is with people? I think people get lazy when it comes to being at home -- they leave things around. I like to think about cabinets. I like to put things away as much as possible. It's like salt shakers on the table? No. You put the salt shakers in a cabinet, and the table looks so much better when it's plain. You know what I mean? And people just think that bad flowers are better than nothing, but I disagree with that. I think that nothing is way better than bad flowers. You either have gorgeous, gorgeous flowers, or you have no flowers. Like at a dinner party, I prefer no flowers usually to the flowers that people have on the table. That's awful, but it's true. CNN: How has your personal style evolved over time? Mizrahi: It's gotten a lot quieter, my personal style. I used to dress, dress, dress, dress, dress, and I don't know, I dress in a very particular way now and it's almost like clockwork. And every once in a while I break out and do something crazy. CNN: Can you describe your personality for me, and how it affects your style? Mizrahi: I don't know. It's very hard to describe one's personality. I can't say about my personality, but I like to think that I'm very exposed to what's going on out there in the world culturally, and that's what influences my design. It's kind of like here's the 360 degrees of what's going on [in] the world culturally, you know? Socioeconomically, culturally, and here's my response to it. Here's what the clothes look like; here's what you should be wearing. And it's kind of like a wonderful edge, you're standing, and yet there's room enough in there for your own interpretation or to move in one direction or another. Oh! Here's a good description of my personality: claustrophobic. I am very claustrophobic. I don't like to commit to one thing necessarily, but when I do commit to it, it's whole and complete."
"Two car bombs targeting Christians killed at least 38 people in southern Baghdad on Christmas. In Afghanistan, two rounds of ""indirect fire"" hit the U.S. Embassy compound in Kabul, but no one was hurt. The incidents highlight the security challenges with which both Iraq and Afghanistan are grappling. Both countries have had a heavy U.S. military presence until recently. The departure of U.S. forces from Iraq has done little to curb the near-daily cycle of violence. In Afghanistan, U.S. and Afghan officials are working on an important security pact to outline the future of American troops in Afghanistan. 18 dead in Christmas Day attacks near Iraq churches . Iraq attacks . In Iraq, a car bomb exploded outside a church in southern Baghdad just as worshipers were leaving a Christmas Day service, killing many. In another attack Wednesday, a car bomb went off at an outdoor market where many Christians shop, police said. Altogether, at least 38 people were killed and some 70 others were wounded, the Interior Ministry said. The bomb outside the church killed 27 and wounded 56. The market attack left 11 dead and 14 wounded. The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad condemned the attacks -- in the Dora area of Baghdad -- targeting ""Christians celebrating Christmas."" ""The Christian community in Iraq has suffered deliberate and senseless targeting by terrorists for many years, as have many other innocent Iraqis.  The United States abhors all such attacks and is committed to its partnership with the Government of Iraq to combat the scourge of terrorism,"" according to a statement released by the embassy. Iraq has experienced an uptick in sectarian violence this year as tensions simmer between the disaffected minority Sunni community and the Shiites, who dominate the government. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom notes that many people in small religious minority communities in Iraq, including Christians, have fled the country over the last decade and those that remain are ""particularly vulnerable,"" facing ""discrimination, marginalization, and neglect."" Sectarian warfare, especially between Sunnis and Shiites, raged during the Iraq War. Half or more of the pre-2003 Iraqi Christian community is thought to have left Iraq, the commission said in its 2013 annual report. In 2003, there were thought to be 800,000 to 1.4 million Chaldean Catholics, Assyrian Orthodox, Assyrian Church of the East members, Syriac Catholics and Orthodox, Armenian Catholics and Orthodox, Protestants and evangelicals in the country, the group said. Now, according to community leaders, the estimated number of Christians stands at around 500,000, the report said. Afghanistan attack . Two rounds of ""indirect fire"" hit the U.S. Embassy compound in Kabul, the embassy said. No one was injured. ""At approximately 6:40 local time in Kabul, approximately two rounds of indirect fire impacted the U.S. Embassy compound. All Americans are accounted for and no injuries were sustained,"" the embassy said in a statement Wednesday. ""The Embassy continues to investigate the attack."" The embassy did not elaborate on what kind of rounds were fired, or where in the compound they landed. A claim of responsibility was posted on the Taliban's official website. The group said it fired missiles at the U.S. Embassy and the main base of NATO, which leads the military coalition known as the International Security Assistance Force. The incident comes at a pivotal time in U.S.-Afghan relations. The two countries are working on an important security pact. The deal will lay out the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan after 2014 when the NATO-led force of some 80,000 troops is scheduled to leave. This month, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel was in Afghanistan and said the security pact will be agreed upon despite a failure so far to forge a deal."
"(CNN) -- Two of Turkey's main political parties are pushing for a constitutional amendment to lift bans on headscarves at public universities, a move that has caused concern among Turkey's secular population. The lifting of the ban on headscarves has caused concern among Turkey's secular population. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan initiated the move, saying it would create equality in Turkey's higher education. The constitutional commission will discuss the proposal -- submitted by the AKP and MHP parties -- in the coming days before sending it to the floor for a vote. If approved, it would need President Abdullah Gul's approval, which is expected. Under the proposal, veils, burqas or chaddors -- all of which cover a woman's face -- would not be allowed. Bans on headcoverings were imposed in the early 1980s by Turkey's universities because they were seen as political symbols and conflicted with Turkey's secular governing system. The proposal to change Turkey's constitution sent chills through Turkey's secular population. Women's groups went to parliament Tuesday to voice their rejection. ""This is a direct threat to the republic and its foundations,"" said Deniz Baykal, leader of Turkey's main secular party, CHP. Another CHP lawmaker said she fears that if the proposal is enacted, parents will feel pressure to have their daughters wear headscarves, even in elementary school. Mustafa Akaydin, head of Turkey's Higher Education Commission, is against the proposal. He said that allowing headscarves would be a rejection of Turkey's secular system of government. ""It is an attempt to create a counterrevolution,"" Akaydin said. ""It will be a breaking point."" He said a majority of female high school students at one school were wearing headscarves during last weekend's entry exams -- a rarity in Turkish schools. The Higher Education Commission will meet Friday in Ankara to discuss the proposed changes. E-mail to a friend ."
"(CNN) -- Just when cruise lines thought they might be headed for calmer waters ... At least 162 passengers and 11 crew members have reported being ill on board Princess Cruises' Caribbean Princess, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The institute said health officers would board the ship in Houston to investigate the gastrointestinal illness, which is causing vomiting and diarrhea. The news follows reports of sickness this week on another cruise ship, this one from the Royal Caribbean line. Nearly 700 crew and passengers fell ill aboard the Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas, the highest number of sick people reported on any cruise ship in two decades, CDC data show. That ship returned home Wednesday, two days earlier than expected. To compare the cruises, 5.22% of passengers on the Caribbean Princess reported being ill, versus 20.5% on the Explorer of the Seas. The outbreak on board the Caribbean Princess has been confirmed as norovirus, according to Julie Benson, a spokeswoman for Princess Cruises. Are cruise ships floating petri dishes? Noroviruses spread easily and are a common cause of gastroenteritis, which produces vomiting and diarrhea. Norovirus is also suspected on board the Explorer of the Seas, though the cause of the illness there has not been confirmed. Caribbean Princess is expected in Houston early Friday. The seven-day cruise is being cut short by one day. Sick passengers are being asked to stay in their cabins, while staff disinfect public areas such as restrooms and elevators. The decision to cut the trip short was made based on forecasts for heavy fog, not the outbreak, Benson said. CNN first learned of the stricken Princess ship from a Twitter post by the Houston Chronicle. Royal Caribbean cruise ship returns home - with a sickness record . CNN's Miriam Falco contributed to this report."
"The mayor of the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv underwent emergency surgery after being shot in the back, city officials and police said Monday, amid continuing unrest in the region. The attack on Mayor Gennady Kernes happened around noon local time, the Kharkiv city office official website said. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the shooting. After a two-hour operation, Kernes was out of surgery but in critical condition, the city office said. ""The surgery was successful. His life-threatening condition is expected to go on for several days,"" a statement said. ""He was unconscious when brought to the hospital."" The online statement also said a bullet casing was found at the scene. Police said an investigation unit was trying to determine the circumstances of the shooting. In a major challenge to Kiev's new leaders, armed rebels have captured towns and government buildings across eastern Ukraine and are holding a team of European monitors hostage. Western nations accuse Moscow of supporting the separatist gunmen who are occupying official buildings in cities across the region. Sanctions . The United States on Monday imposed sanctions against seven Russian government officials and 17 companies linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin in its latest action to punish Moscow for its actions in Ukraine. The White House said the seven Russians, including two from Putin's inner circle, are now subject to a freeze on any assets they hold in the United States and a ban on U.S. travel. In addition, the United States will deny export license applications for any high-technology items that could contribute to Russian military capabilities. The Commerce and State departments will revoke any existing export licenses that meet these conditions, the White House said in a statement. ""The sanctions build on the ones that were already in place. We're moving forward with an expanded list of individuals,"" U.S. President Barack Obama earlier told reporters in Manila, Philippines. The move, Obama said, was to spur Putin to ""walk the walk, not just talk the talk"" in resolving the crisis in Ukraine. If the latest round of sanctions does not work, the next phase could target economic sectors like banking, Obama said. The European Union also announced Monday that it was imposing sanctions on 15 people who are ""responsible for actions which undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine."" A list of the people targeted by the latest sanctions will be published Tuesday and will go into effect at the same time, the Council of the European Union said. The sanctions will include asset freezes and travel bans. U.S. and Russian defense secretaries speak . U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel spoke on the phone with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Monday. According to a Pentagon description of their conversation, Shoigu ""reiterated his assurance that Russian forces would not invade Ukraine."" Hagel, the Pengaton said, called for an end to what he described as ""Russia's destabilizing influence inside Ukraine"" and ""warned that continued aggression would further isolate Russia and result in more diplomatic and economic pressure."" The Russian government's description of the call said Shoigu ""definitively denied the groundless allegations of the presence of Russian sabotage and military intelligence groups on Ukrainian territory"" and criticized what he called ""anti-Russian hysteria recently unleashed in the Western press."" He also criticized what he said was an ""unprecedented"" increase in activity of U.S. and NATO troops in Eastern Europe near the Russian border, according to the Russian government's description of the call. Ukrainian soldier killed . A homemade bomb exploded near Ukrainian soldiers who were in the eastern Donetsk region Monday, killing one and injuring another, Ukraine's Defense Ministry said. The death came days after Ukrainian forces said they killed five pro-Russian militants in an operation to clear roadblocks near the city of Slavyansk last week. Police are investigating Monday's blast, the Defense Ministry said. A CNN team covering a pro-Ukraine rally in Donetsk watched violence unfold Monday as pro-Russian separatists wielding batons beat demonstrators who said they wanted to see a united Ukraine. Observer freed . Pro-Russian separatists holding a European military observer team in eastern Ukraine released one of the observers for medical reasons Sunday, shortly after parading them before cameras. At least seven of the inspectors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe appeared at a news conference staged by Vyacheslav Ponomarev, the self-declared mayor of Slavyansk, who referred to them as ""prisoners of war."" The freed observer was from Sweden and had been suffering from diabetes, Ponomarev spokeswoman Stella Khorosheva told CNN. Michael Bociurkiw, an OSCE spokesman in Kiev, called it ""a welcome development."" The monitors were seized Friday outside Slavyansk, one of the flashpoints in the standoff between Ukraine's interim government and pro-Russian factions challenging its authority in the east. They said that although they have diplomatic status, they went along with Sunday's news conference because the mayor asked them to. Germany strongly criticized the group's appearance before the media. The ""parading of OSCE observers and Ukrainian security forces as prisoners is abhorrent and a flagrant violation of their human dignity,"" Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a statement. He added that Russia had a duty to ""influence"" the separatists so that the other members of the mission could be freed as soon as possible. Putin has repeatedly criticized what he says is Kiev's use of force against Ukrainian civilians."
"TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Sony blamed the global economic slowdown, increased competition and an appreciating yen for a 95 percent drop in third-quarter profits, as the company announced its results Thursday. Customers check Sony's Bravia brand LCD TVs at an electronics shop in Tokyo, Japan. Profits for the quarter, which ended December 31, fell from nearly 200 billion yen ($2.2 billion) in 2007 to about 10 billion yen ($110 million) in 2008. Across the company, sales were down 25 percent, but electronics and games sales were especially hard hit. Sales of games, including the company's popular PlayStation series, fell 32 percent over the year. Sales of electronics decreased by nearly 30 percent. The appreciation of the yen also cut into profits. A stronger yen makes Japanese products more expensive or forces companies to lower their profit margins to keep prices the same. Last week, Sony warned that it will close out the fiscal year, which ends March 31, with an operating loss of 260 billion yen ($2.9 billion), its first in 14 years.  Watch what lies ahead for Sony » ."
"(CNN) -- For centuries, Timbuktu has existed in the Western imagination as a byword for the most exotic, far-flung place conceivable. Situated on the southern edge of the Sahara, it acquired a near-mythical status in distant countries for its fabled inaccessibility, and for the accounts of the dazzling material and intellectual wealth to be found there. Intrigued visitors continue to be drawn by the treasures that survive from the city's medieval golden age as an important academic, religious and mercantile center -- its great earthen mosques, and hundreds of thousands of scholarly manuscripts held in public and private collections. The city, today part of present-day Mali and known as the ""city of 333 saints"" for the Sufi imams, sheiks and scholars buried there, was made a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1988. But there are fears this carefully preserved legacy could be under threat from groups of armed rebels who have overrun the ancient city this month, in the vacuum left by retreating Malian government forces. Irina Bokova, the director general of UNESCO, has called on the groups to respect and protect the city's heritage. ""Timbuktu's outstanding earthen architectural wonders that are the great mosques of Djingareyber, Sankore and Sidi Yahia, must be safeguarded,"" she said. ""Along with the site's 16 cemeteries and mausolea, they are essential to the preservation of the identity of the people of Mali and of our universal heritage."" Timbuktu, which has a population of about 50,000, is held by at least two rival groups who have been involved in a northern uprising against Mali's government, headquartered in the southern capital of Bamako. One is Ansar Dine, a Salafist Islamist group that seeks to impose Sharia law. The other, the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), has been fighting for an independent homeland for the nomadic Tuareg people in the country's north, and earlier this month unilaterally proclaimed independence for the region they call Azawad. Read also: Rwanda genocide survivors cycle towards London 2012 . Following the overthrow of Libyan President Moammar Gadhafi, many Tuareg who had been fighting for Gadhafi's forces reportedly returned to northern Mali, bringing their weapons with them. Last month, a Tuareg uprising triggered a military coup against Mali's President Amadou Toumani Toure by officers dissatisfied with the government's efforts to put down the insurrection. But in the disorder following the coup, the rebels seized large areas of the north. Martin van Vliet, a researcher at the African Studies Center in Leiden, the Netherlands, said that while Timbuktu was no longer a city of vital economic or military importance, it stood out as an important prize for the rebels due to its symbolic significance. ""The group that controls Timbuktu controls the symbolic capital of the entire region, because it's that well-known across the world. If you control that city, it will be known."" Historically, Timbuktu's legend began to spread throughout the medieval world when the Emperor of Mali made his pilgrimage to Mecca through Cairo in 1324, and dazzled those he encountered with the gold his party carried. Early in the 16th century, reports of the city on the sand -- then part of the Songhay Empire -- filtered back to Europe through the Moorish diplomat and writer Leo Africanus, adding to the city's near-mythical status as an African El Dorado. Becoming the first European to reach the city subsequently became an obsession for Western explorers, many of whom perished in the desert sands. In 1824, the Geographical Society of Paris even offered a reward for the first European to accomplish the feat. Two years later, however, the person to do so met with disaster. Scottish explorer Gordon Laing survived an attack by Tuareg nomads en route to Timbuktu, only to discover on arrival that its wealth had greatly diminished since its heyday. Laing stayed a month in the city, then was murdered two days after leaving. During its golden age, Timbuktu was a thriving desert trading town at the heart of important trade routes for gold and salt, and a major intellectual and spiritual center, which played a key role in the spread of Islam in Africa. Islamic scholars traveled great distances to study in the city's university, which had 25,000 students during its zenith, and was comprised of three mosques. Read also: Sculpting peace in Mozambique . Constructed from mud bricks and wood in the distinctive Sudano-Sahelian architectural style, the Sankore, Sidi Yahia and Djingarei-ber mosques have been maintained and remain major attractions in the city today. The latter, Timbuktu's oldest, was built in the early 14th century, while the Sankore, during its heyday, was said to have the largest collection of books in Africa since the Library of Alexandria of antiquity. ""Timbuktu in the 14th to the 16th century was an important university city where many manuscripts referring to knowledge of astronomy, economy, religion, mathematics, physics, and medicine were produced,"" said Lazare Eloundou, chief of the Africa unit for UNESCO's World Heritage Center. Comprising the other significant component of Timbuktu's heritage legacy, this immense trove of scholarly manuscripts -- estimated to number in the hundreds of thousands -- remains in the city in state and private collections. For generations, local families have protected the fragile manuscripts, some of which date from the 13th century, from invaders. Fearing that those responsible for the current unrest could loot or destroy the treasures, librarians and curators are making efforts to hide the texts or smuggle them out of the city to safety. While there have been reports that offices of local libraries have been looted by the gunmen, no significant losses of the documents have yet been reported, according to Eloundou. ""We are still concerned by what could happen there in case there is a fight -- we're concerned about the risk of damage,"" said Eloundou. ""We also don't know what the reaction of the Islamist groups will be with regard to the manuscripts."" He said the city's heritage was vastly important to locals -- as a source of cultural pride, but also of income. Even if the city's treasures survived unscathed, they stood to lose out from the uprising as it could plunge the region into isolation once again. In addition, an estimated 200,000 people have been displaced by the uprising in the wider region. ""The fact this part of the country has been taken by the Tuareg rebellion and Islamist groups does not allow any more tourists to visit, and the communities depend a lot on the tourism revenue,"" he said. ""This is really going to affect their lives."""
"(CNN) -- When Lukas Hartmann, 29, signed up for 23andMe's at-home genetic testing service, there were no surprises in his results. The Berliner learned he would probably die from ""a mix of heart attack and prostate cancer,"" he wrote on a friend's blog, but ""nothing special there."" Then a few months ago, he received an update from the company. Hartmann's genetic code showed two mutations that are linked to limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, he says the site told him. ""Some people with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy lose the ability to walk and suffer from serious disability,"" his results page read. This can't be true, he thought. It must be an error. Genetic testing can be a powerful tool. It can offer information about your family history, tell you how your body might respond to different drugs and identify your risk factors for disease. It can also be misleading. The Food and Drug Administration on Monday ordered 23andMe to stop sales of its $99 home genetic testing kits, saying the Google-backed company has not proven the validity of its product. The FDA warned that customers who received inaccurate results could suffer from undue mental anguish or undergo unnecessary medical procedures. The government agency has asked 23andMe to revise its marketing strategy to comply with federal regulations. The action triggered outrage among some of 23andMe's supporters. ""So GMOs, aspartame, artificial flavors & colors, pink slime ... no problem!"" a poster named Laura Ann wrote on the company's Facebook page. ""But in no way should we be allowed the right to know our own genetic material as a means for making better decisions about our health."" In a statement, 23andMe said it has received the FDA's letter and will be working to address the agency's concerns. There are more than 3 billion letters in our genetic code. Though it's been 10 years since the Human Genome Project was completed, scientists still don't understand what every gene does, and what a mutation might mean for someone's health. It's one of the issues opponents to home genetic testing kits raise most often. If DNA experts don't understand 100% what a gene mutation means, how can we expect consumers to? 5 cool things DNA testing can do . Scientists have identified more than 2,000 single gene disorders, says Rebecca Nagy, president of the National Society of Genetic Counselors. These are disorders that can be diagnosed based on the mutation of a single gene in the body; some examples include Huntington's disease or cystic fibrosis. But conditions such as Type 2 diabetes or Alzheimer's are more complex. Hundreds of genes may contribute to the development of these diseases, Nagy says, and a person's risk is also influenced by his or her environment. Testing for markers of risk scattered across someone's genome is ""really only testing for the tip of the iceberg."" ""That's where it gets a little scary, because if a person has a normal test result on 23andMe, they leave thinking they don't have a risk,"" she says. ""It's not that the science behind (this kind of genetic testing) isn't good. It's that the science behind them isn't complete."" The upside of these at-home genetic testing kits -- and 23andMe isn't the only company that sells them -- is that they've generated a lot of buzz about genetics, Nagy says. She says she believes most early adopters of the tests are information-savvy and understand the results aren't set in stone. ""I don't think that anyone thinks that this kit replaces formal testing by a doctor,"" Heather Armstrong posted on 23andMe's Facebook page. ""I seriously doubt that a doctor would agree to perform, say, a double mastectomy, based on these results."" Joseph Stolarski posted, ""If you find something interesting, you then take it to a medical professional for further evaluation. No one is or should rely on it for medical 'diagnosis.' It's just a tool, like personally checking your heart rate with a watch or checking your weight on a scale."" But Nagy says she worries about what will happen when the tests become more mainstream. Giving this kind of information to someone unfamiliar with genetic testing's limitations could prove dangerous. Nagy recommends anyone who wants to do genetic testing first talk to a genetic counselor. Counselors have specialized graduate degrees and extensive knowledge of the human genome. They're also trained in explaining test results to laymen. ""Our message is to be a smart consumer,"" Nagy says. ""Know what you're doing so that when you get the results back you can really use them to your best benefit."" Hartmann did some intense investigating, saying he looked at the raw data 23andMe provided him. He eventually found he did indeed have two mutations, he says, but they weren't on the same gene. He says he submitted his ""bug report"" to the company and it apologized. In general, Hartmann thinks it's a good thing for every person to have affordable access to his or her genetic data. But he's browsed the community forums on 23andMe.com and has seen how seriously some people take their results -- without fully understanding them. Hartmann says he now believes he will not get limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, although he says there is a risk he could pass the genetic mutations onto his kids. ""I can live with that,"" he wrote. ""For quite some time, I hope."" Parents push for standardized screening of Jewish genetic diseases . CNN's Dorrine Mendoza and CNNMoney's James O'Toole and Aaron Smith contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Affectionately known in his home city of Madrid as ""the wise man of Hortaleza,"" Luis Aragones left the legacy of helping Spain's ascension to the top of world football. Aragones, whose death at the age of 75 was announced Saturday, coached his national side to the European Championship title in 2008 -- the country's first success at a major tournament in more than 40 years. That breakthrough was continued by his successor Vicente del Bosque, who continued with the ""tiki taka"" passing style Aragones introduced, as ""La Roja"" won the 2010 World Cup and the 2012 European crown. ""Without a doubt, he marked the road in this final successful phase. I felt a great deal of appreciation towards him,"" Del Bosque told the national team's official website. ""I knew he had some health problems, but I never imagined it would lead to this."" ""Always with us, Luis,"" led the website tribute of Atletico Madrid, the club where Aragones played for a decade between 1964-74 and was head coach on four occasions, most recently 2001-03. He guided Atletico to the La Liga title in 1977 and the Spanish Cup on three occasions. ""Luis Aragones was a great player and coach, but before all that a great person and a friend,"" said the team's president Enrique Cerezo. ""First and foremost he was Atletico. We want to express on behalf of the whole club our condolences to his family."" Aragones' final coaching job was with Turkish side Fenerbahce, which ended in mid-2009, and late last year he announced his retirement from the game -- in which he started out at Getafe in 1957. He was reportedly taken to a Madrid hospital last week with a serious illness, from which he did not recover. Aragones will be buried at a private ceremony on Sunday. Atletico will observe a minute's silence ahead of the home match against Real Sociedad, in which the team will seek to go top of the table above another of his former teams, Barcelona. ""I wish to express our sorrow at the loss of one of football's greatest men and one of the most charismatic and likeable managers we remember,"" Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu said before his side's 3-2 defeat by Valencia -- its first at home in the league since April 2012. ""As a club, we had the honor of his services, albeit for a very short time, in the 1987-88 season, when we won the Spanish Cup. ""We much appreciate his respect for Barca, its model and our players. Euro 2008, with Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta and so many others, is a great example."" Aragones' appreciation of Barca's ""tiki taka"" style -- started by Johann Cruyff and developed by Pep Guardiola -- was borne out by the number of the players from the Catalan club he selected for the national team. But his heart lay in the nation's capital, where he was on the books of Atletico's big rival Real Madrid from 1958-60 as a player -- though he spent most of that time out on loan to other clubs. ""The loss of Luis Aragones saddens all of us who love football,"" said Real president Florentino Perez. ""Today is a day of mourning for this sport, but it should also be a day of recognition for a legendary figure who was vital in giving us a glorious period with our Spanish national team. ""He ennobled this sport and all Spanish fans owe him gratitude and respect. His personal and professional career was always characterized by honesty and hard work."" The only blot on his international career was an incident in 2004, when he was accused of making a racial comment -- which was caught on television cameras -- about France striker Thierry Henry while he was trying to motivate his players in training ahead of a World Cup qualifying match. Aragones was fined by European football's ruling body UEFA and subsequently apologized to Henry, insisting he had not intended to make a racial insult."
"MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Russian space officials say the crew of the Soyuz space ship is resting after a rough ride back to Earth. A South Korean bioengineer was one of three people on board the Soyuz capsule. The craft carrying South Korea's first astronaut landed in northern Kazakhstan on Saturday, 260 miles (418 kilometers) off its mark, they said. Mission Control spokesman Valery Lyndin said the condition of the crew -- South Korean bioengineer Yi So-yeon, American astronaut Peggy Whitson and Russian flight engineer Yuri Malenchenko -- was satisfactory, though the three had been subjected to severe G-forces during the re-entry. Search helicopters took 25 minutes to find the capsule and determine that the crew was unharmed. Officials said the craft followed a very steep trajectory that subjects the crew to gravitational forces of up to 10 times those on Earth. Interfax reported that the spacecraft's landing was rough. This is not the first time a spacecraft veered from its planned trajectory during landing. In October, the Soyuz capsule landed 70 kilometers from the planned area because of a damaged control cable. The capsule was carrying two Russian cosmonauts and the first Malaysian astronaut. E-mail to a friend ."
"(CNN) -- The worst kept secret in Formula One is finally out -- Fernando Alonso is leaving Ferrari and will be replaced by Sebastian Vettel. Red Bull's four-time world champion has signed a three-year contract with the Scuderia, the oldest team in F1, from 2015. After ending his five-year stint at Ferrari, Alonso remains coy on where he will be driving next season. The double move by two of the sport's high profile world champions is the most significant in the driver market this season. But in the fickle world of F1 there are no guarantees it will work out for either of the ambitious racers. There are still seats to be filled at McLaren, Force India and Toro Rosso. With the curtain about to fall on the 2014 season at Sunday's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, hopeful drivers have just one more chance to stake their claim for the remaining seats. Where will Alonso go? Alonso is regarded as the best all-round driver currently racing at the elite level of motorsport, a fact many of his peers are even happily willing to acknowledge. The Spaniard -- a double world champion with Renault in 2005 and 2006 -- is regarded as the key to the F1 driver market. The 33-year-old made it clear he wanted to leave Ferrari, even though he had two years left to run on his contract with the Italian team, but he has yet to confirm where he will go next. A return to McLaren seems most likely, despite his acrimonious departure from the team after just a single season as Lewis Hamilton's teammate in 2007. McLaren is about to embark on a new phase after reigniting its relationship with engine manufacturer Honda. Alonso is expected to lead this new era at McLaren, although the fiercely ambitious driver may first want guarantees that the Honda engine is going to be a success. Keeping the media guessing about his future -- and maybe his future employers too -- seems to have provided Alonso with plenty of sport off track. Speculation in the media has seen Alonso linked with buying the Lotus team, joining forces with German sports car specialists Audi and even ousting Nico Rosberg or Hamilton at Mercedes. Alonso remained typically tight lipped about his future plans when he was questioned by the media at the Abu Dhabi season finale. Has Vettel made the right decision? Vettel has endured his worst season at Red Bull in 2014, failing to win a race compared to three victories for his rookie teammate Daniel Ricciardo. Since his full debut season for Toro Rosso in 2008, the German has won at least one race a year, not to mention winning four straight world championships between 2010 and 2013. The 27-year-old is now hoping to succeed where Alonso failed at Ferrari by adding to his collection of world titles. ""The next stage of my Formula One career will be spent with Ferrari and for me that means the dream of a lifetime has come true,"" Vettel said. ""When I was a kid, Michael Schumacher in the red car was my greatest idol and now it's an incredible honor to finally get the chance to drive a Ferrari. ""I am extremely motivated to help the team get back to the top. I will put my heart and soul into making it happen."" Vettel will partner Kimi Raikkonen -- the last man to win a world title with Ferrari in 2007 -- in 2015 but there are no guarantees the car and its Ferrari engine will be any match for the might of Mercedes. Who will drive for McLaren? McLaren has tried to dampen speculation over just who will be in its cars in 2015 in the build-up to this weekend's season-ending race. ""We know you're awaiting news on our driver line-up. We'll announce after December 1 -- you'll hear it here first,"" the team said on Twitter. Alonso remains the red-hot favorite to take one of the seats but the future of current drivers Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen remains unclear. Button -- the 2009 world champion with Brawn Grand Prix which has since morphed into Mercedes -- has remained sanguine about his future and has even explored the idea of moving to sports car racing. Danish rookie Magnussen is fiercely passionate about staying with McLaren, the team which gave the 22-year-old his F1 debut in 2014. ""There is no Plan B,"" the Dane told CNN when asked if had explored his options if he wasn't retained by the eight-time world champions. Which other teams have seats to fill? Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari, Williams, Lotus and Sauber have all confirmed their driver pairings for 2015. There are still seats on offer at McLaren, Force India and Toro Rosso. Force India has already announced it will retain German Nico Hulkenberg for 2015 but Mexican Sergio Perez has not had his position with the team confirmed. There's also only one seat up for grabs at Toro Rosso, who will blood 17-year-old Max Verstappen as the youngest F1 driver in history next season. Junior Red Bull driver Carlos Sainz Jr is in pole position for the second seat -- and the Spaniard has been named as a test driver for Red Bull at the end of season test in Abu Dhabi -- although Toro Rosso may still retain French racer Jean-Eric Vergne. Sauber announced Swede Marcus Ericsson and Brazilian Felipe Nasr as its 2015 drivers in November much to the chagrin of current driver Adrian Sutil, who believed he had a contract with the team for next season. Ericsson and Nasr are both pay drivers, backed by sponsors who bring an estimated $30m funding to the Swiss team. Grid shrinks to 18 in 2015? The F1 market may be flooded with plenty of eager racers but the number of seats has been squeezed. The financial pressures on the Caterham and Marussia teams, which both went into administration in October, means there are, in theory, only 18 spots on the F1 grid in 2015. After missing the U.S. and Brazil grands prix, Caterham has used crowdfunding to help finance a return in Abu Dhabi. Japan's Kamui Kobayashi retained his drive while the team has also handed Briton and former tester Will Stevens his F1 debut. Both Caterham and Marussia remain on the official entry list for the 2015 season but their future is dependent on a hard winter drumming up funding to stay in the sport. With teams spending a minimum of $70m per season, employing a driver who offers pace, performance and a pot of personal talent is more important than ever for those teams for can't afford super-talents like Alonso."
"(CNN) -- Andy Murray's first match since undergoing back surgery in September ended in a straight sets defeat to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at an exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi Thursday. The reigning Wimbledon champion went down 7-5 6-3 to the Frenchman, who himself was plagued by injury at the back end of this year. Murray, who has dropped to No.4 in the rankings, lacked sharpness after his layoff and was broken in the 12th game of the opening set to fall behind. The British star has been training at his base in Florida to prepare for the upcoming season and looked set to even the match up when he gained an early break of service in the second set. But Tsonga hit back with two breaks of his own to wrap up victory in 72 minutes at the Zayed Sports City complex. ""The courts here are very fast and you have to react quickly,"" said 26-year-old Murray. ""Jo was sharper than me today, he served very well. ""It's always good fun here. It's great preparation for the season as you have to play against the best in the world."" The organizers of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship have indeed attracted a stellar field with the top two ranked players, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, in the line-up. David Ferrer of Spain won the opening match Thursday as he beat Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 7-5 6-1 to set up a semifinal clash against compatriot Nadal. Tsonga's win over Murray has earned him a match against Serbia's Djokovic, while Murray will gain much-needed match practice against Wawrinka in the fifth place playoff. Murray, recently voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year back in the UK, became the first British man to win the Wimbledon title in 77 years when he triumphed at the All England Club back in July, but his season took a turn for the worse as he became troubled by a long-standing back problem."
"(CNN) -- South Korea's Red Cross has offered $8.4 million in flood aid to North Korea, the Yonhap news agency said Tuesday. The aid includes medical kits, food and emergency supplies, South Korea Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung told reporters. The Red Cross is Seoul's main channel for humanitarian aid to North Korea. The communist nation has not replied to the offer, Chun was quoted as saying. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies blamed a flash flood for displacing more than 23,000 people in a North Korean province bordering China. ""The whole city of Sinuiju with its 350,000 residents is without piped drinking water at the moment because the main pumping station was inundated,"" said Henk Schipper, Red Cross water and sanitation delegate in North Korea. In August, nearly 260,000 people in northeastern China and North Korea fled their homes as heavy rains caused the Yalu River to overflow its banks, state news outlets in those countries reported Sunday. Tensions between North Korea and its southern neighbor have escalated since a May report from Seoul blamed North Korea for the sinking of a South Korean warship in March. The report, whose findings have been endorsed by the United States, alleged that a North Korean sub sank the ship, the Cheonan, with a torpedo, killing 46 sailors. North Korea denies it was responsible for the sinking."
"BEIJING, China (CNN) -- The head of China's quality watchdog is reported to have resigned over the tainted baby milk scandal that has killed four children and sickened nearly 53,000 others. The official Xinhua News Agency said Li Changjiang had quit with the approval of China's State Council. Li's agency is responsible for ensuring that China's food supply chain is safe. Monday's resignation came hours after the World Health Organization said the scandal had highlighted flaws in the country's entire food supply chain. The chemical melamine blamed for causing kidney stones and kidney failure has been detected in formula milk powder from 22 dairies across China. The crisis was initially thought to have been confined to baby milk powder, but tests have found melamine in samples of liquid milk taken from China's two largest dairy producers, Mengniu Dairy Group and Yili Industrial Group, as well as Shanghai-based Bright Dairy. WHO China representative Hans Troedsson said on Monday quality issues could occur anywhere from the farm to the retail outlet. He said ""it's clearly something that is not acceptable and needs to be rectified and corrected,"" according to The Associated Press. Troedsson said the WHO was discussing with officials how to strengthen China's food quality system. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has called milk manufacturers ""heartless"" and promised stricter laws to protect the public. China's Health Ministry said Sunday that about 13,000 children were hospitalized, while another 40,000 had undergone outpatient treatment for illnesses related to suspected melamine-tainted milk products. The scandal has spread beyond the mainland with melamine being found in three Chinese-made dairy products in Singapore. The country's Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority said tests on ""White Rabbit Creamy Candy"" showed that it was contaminated with melamine and it ordered stores to remove the product from shelves. Taiwan announced Monday it was banning the importation of all dairy products from China because of melamine contamination in milk supplies on the mainland, Taiwan's Health Ministry said Monday. And a second child in Hong Kong has been diagnosed with a kidney stones after drinking the tainted milk as worried parents continued to take their children for health checkups, the government said Monday, AP reported. The 4-year-old boy was in hospital in a stable condition, the Hong Kong government said in a statement. A three-year-old girl was sickened by a suspected melamine-tainted milk over the weekend -- the first known illness outside of mainland China. The Chinese premier visited Beijing hospitals and a supermarket Sunday to show his concern for the crisis. ""What we need to do now is to ensure that nothing like this happens in the future, not only in dairy products, but in all foods,"" he said. ""Manufacturers and owners of dairy companies should show more morality and social responsibility in these cases. They are heartless, so we have to create strict law and legislation. I'm sorry."" Investigators arrested two brothers who sold milk used to produce the contaminated baby milk powder last week. They could face death if convicted, according to China Daily, a state-run newspaper. The raw milk had been watered down and the chemical added to fool quality checks, the newspaper said. Melamine is commonly used in coatings and laminates, wood adhesives, fabric coatings, ceiling tiles and flame retardants.  Watch CNN visit the company at the center of the scandal » . But anger has been directed not just at the producers accused of adulterating their milk to increase profits, but also at government regulators, Time magazine reported. ""Xinhua was quick to blame the dairy industry for their skewed rules, but what it didn't say was that the government also played a part in that ugly game,"" the magazine quoted a blogger, identified as sadmoon109, as saying. Health experts say ingesting melamine can lead to kidney stones, urinary tract ulcers, and eye and skin irritation. It also robs infants of much-needed nutrition. Thousands of tons of the tainted milk powder have been recalled. Melamine is the same industrial contaminant from China that poisoned and killed thousands of U.S. dogs and cats last year. The chemical, a byproduct of plastic manufacturing, can be used to mimic high-protein additives.  Learn more about the chemical melamine » . A senior dairy analyst said Chinese farmers were cutting corners to cope with rising costs for feed and labor. ""Before the melamine incident, I know they could have been adding organic stuff, say animal urine or skin,"" Chen Lianfang of Beijing Orient Agribusiness Consultant told Time. ""Basically, anything that can boost the protein reading."" Copyright 2008 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report."
"Clarksburg, West Virginia (CNN)  -- North Central West Virginia Airport boasts quick check-ins, free, accessible parking and a convenient baggage claim. That's not surprising, considering that fewer than 20 people fly out of the facility on any given day. And all three scheduled daily departures to Washington have a stop in Morgantown, West Virginia, only 35 miles away. But the airport offers a special treat as the end of the year approaches -- free sightseeing flights. Thanks to a Federal Aviation Administration program that gives small regional airports millions of dollars if they can reach a certain level of passenger traffic, the Clarksburg, West Virginia, facility tries its best to get 10,000 passengers off the ground by the end of the year. For Suzanne Pierson, that meant she and her grandson Donavan got an ""awesome"" bird's-eye view of Clarksburg and neighboring Bridgeport, West Virginia, from a chartered Boeing 757 last December. ""They were trying to meet the quota, and they were 300 passengers short,"" said Pierson, who saw an ad placed by the airport advertising the free flights. Since the difference between 10,000 and 9,999 is the difference between $1 million and $150,000 in federal funds, airport managers in Clarksburg and other small towns do whatever they can to get over that number. In Kearney, Nebraska, residents get to take aerial tours of the city's Christmas lights for $15. In Altoona, Pennsylvania, residents got free 10-minute flights to reach the local airfield's goal of 10,000 passengers. Sen. Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican who is a frequent critic of federal spending, said ""about 40"" airports are believed to offer similar flight programs to reach the threshold, which was set by Congress. Coburn is asking the FAA and the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, to come up with a definitive figure. ""The whole purpose for that isn't to say what you're doing is illegal -- it's probably not -- but to have a more cogent policy that truly represents the needs based on enplanements for every airport,"" Coburn said. He said federal support for small airports like Clarksburg's ""should be earned in terms of grant process,"" not by gaming the system. ""We created the incentive to kind of weasel on it so you can get more money, and it's exacerbated now because of the economic downturn,"" Coburn said. Clarksburg is about 200 miles west of Washington and about 110 miles south of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where most area residents catch flights when they travel by air. But airport director Rick Rock said an economic benefit analysis said the facility contributes about $395 million into the local economy, ""So I definitely think there's no question that we need this airport."" In addition to the $1 million based on passenger traffic, the Clarksburg airport got $30 million to lengthen its runway in 1999 and another $1.6 million from the Obama administration's economic stimulus bill in 2009. Local students get free flights to Washington for school trips as well, Rock said. And the airport just got another $150,000 grant from the FAA to promote itself. Rock said the money is needed to meet FAA mandates for security, runway paving and safety, and he's proud of what the facility has achieved -- particularly for students. ""We're trying to introduce aviation to them at a young age, so they can look at it as a career,"" he said. ""A lot of these kids have never had the chance to fly. We've been able to share that opportunity, and the kids love it. It's special."" But Coburn said at least five airports have used ""creative ways"" to keep the money flowing in and has managed to get support for a congressional investigation to find out how airports like North Central West Virginia can get so much money for so few passengers."
"ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- It's a common sight in the traffic-clogged streets of Istanbul, a city that straddles two continents. Workers next to the spot where subway trains will one day emerge from the tunnel. Opening of the tunnel has been delayed by at least four years by the discovery. A taxi driver, enraged by perpetually gridlocked traffic, stepping out of his car and yelling ""Maniac!"" at the man driving the public bus behind him. For decades Istanbul has been growing at a breakneck speed; its population exceeding -- by some estimates -- 15 million people. Too bad traffic often moves at a snail's pace. Most residents are quick to tell visitors the city's transport system is overwhelmed. ""Istanbul is a dynamically changing city, every year increasing in population,"" says Zeynep Buket, an engineer working with Turkey's transportation ministry. ""We are in need of radical systems, and this radical system is a mass transit system."" The ""radical system"" city planners embarked on five years ago involved construction of a new subway tunnel beneath the Bosphorus Strait, the spectacular body of water that cuts this city in two. By the year 2025, engineers predict more than one million people a day will use the tunnel to travel between Istanbul's Asian and European shores. ""We will connect two continents, Asia and Europe,"" said Nusret Ilbay, one of the many engineers working on the $3 billion Marmaray Tunnel Project. He was standing on scaffolding, overlooking a gaping 30-meter deep hole that will one day be a subway station on the Asian side of the Bosphorus. A concrete wall is all that holds back a churning river of sea water. Watch video of the tunnel being constructed . ""As you can see, some leakage on the wall face has been observed,"" Ilbay explained on a tour of the construction site. ""In order to overcome these leakages, we have applied chemical grouting."" Legend has it, thousands of years ago Jason and the Argonauts narrowly escaped death sailing up the Bosphorus in search of the mythological Golden Fleece. Today, engineers face equally daunting challenges building a tunnel beneath one of the world's busiest shipping channels, at depths of up to 55 meters, in an active earthquake zone. First they dredged a trench on the bottom of the Bosphorus. Then, using divers and undersea cameras, they submerged and buried 11 massive pre-fabricated tunnel segments, almost all of them longer than a football field. To enter the unfinished tunnel, visitors must climb down a steep staircase in a construction tower surrounded by water in the middle of the strait. During the descent, the temperature plummets and humidity rises. Construction workers toil here in the gloom of this 1.4 kilometer long tube on the bottom of the sea, their welding torches spraying showers of sparks in the darkness. One worker claimed that during the lunch break, when the machinery came to a stop, he could hear the sound of oil tanker and cargo ships' engines as they motored past in the waters overhead. As a precaution in the event of a catastrophic flood in the tunnel, engineers constructed an emergency bunker on the bottom of the sea. Stocked with food and water and equipped with a heavy water-proof door, the ""emergency room"" is supposed to protect survivors for up to 10 days, until they can be rescued. But, in their rush to modernize Istanbul's transport system, city planners ran into an unforeseen obstacle: history. In Yenikapi, a neighborhood of textile factories and seedy hotels where one of the main transit stations for Istanbul's new subway and commuter rail system was to be built, archaeologists discovered the lost Byzantine port of Theodosius. It was originally built at the end of the 4th century AD by Emperor Theodosius I  when Istanbul -- then known as Constantinople -- was the capital of the eastern Roman Empire. The port's harbor silted over centuries ago, and eventually disappeared beneath subsequent layers of civilization. Until its rediscovery in 2004, archaeologists said they only knew about the port from ancient books. ""This was a big moment of joy and happiness for us, an unexplainable feeling,"" recalls Professor Zeynep Kiziltan, the acting director of Istanbul's Archaeology Museum.  Look at pictures of the excavation » . ""At around one meter below sea level, we started finding the remains of ropes. As we continued [digging] a bit more, the remains of a boat surfaced."" Since that discovery, armies of hundreds of laborers and archaeologists have been working in a giant pit, three shifts a day, seven days a week. The scale of the excavation is unusual in modern-day archaeology, says Cemal Pulak, an anthropologist from Texas A&M University's nautical archaeology program. Look at a map of the site . ""Its mind-boggling ... it really looks like an Indiana Jones-type operation,"" says Pulak, who has worked as a consultant on the excavation of the lost port. The Yenikapi dig has uncovered an ancient armada: 34 Byzantine ships ranging from dating between the 7th and 11th centuries AD. In one tent, two workers carefully uncover the ancient wooden beams of a 40-meter long merchant vessel. A third man preserves the wood by keeping it moist, sprinkling the relics with water from a hose. Archaeologists have nicknamed this ship ""The Titanic,"" because it is the largest of the Theodosius wrecks. It is believed the vessel once carried wheat from Egypt to Constantinople. Scattered around the ship are shards of pottery, animal bones, and thousand-year-old clamshells. Historians say the new discoveries include the first examples of ships being built using the beginnings of the ""skeleton approach"" to constructing the vessel's hull. Pulak says that marked a revolutionary change which transformed shipbuilding from ""mostly an art form to a science."" ""The earlier methods of building depended on verbal transference of the method from master shipbuilders to apprentices,"" he explained. ""The development of the latter method ... allowed for the speedy communication of new shipbuilding ideas that could be transmitted on paper. It is the beginning of engineering. Ships could be preconceived and pre-designed."" ""I think it is one of the unique projects not only for us but for the world,"" said geologist Yucel Yilmaz. In addition to finding the timbers of thousand-year-old jetties and docks, which still jut up in straight rows at the bottom of the mammoth pit, archaeologists have uncovered the remnants of a pre-historic human settlement. ""The first man, about 8,400 years ago, came and started to settle here,"" Yilmaz said. ""There was no Bosphorus [then]. The Bosphorus was a river valley... the people who settled here walked across the Bosphorus."" Plans to travel beneath the Bosphorus have been delayed at least four years by the excavation of the Theodosious Port. The postponement has added untold millions of dollars have also been added to the cost of the entire project. In the rush to move forward, the residents of Istanbul have accidentally uncovered a valuable piece of their city's ancient past."
"(CNN) -- A Florida exterminator and father of four children adopted from Florida's foster care system has told police that a body found in the pest-control truck he was driving is one of them -- his 10-year-old daughter, authorities said Wednesday. Jorge Barahona, 53, already faces a charge of aggravated child abuse for injuries to the dead girl's twin, Victor, who was also found in the truck, which was parked on the side of I-95 near West Palm Beach, Florida, officials said. According to a probable-cause affidavit filed by the West Palm Beach Police Department, a roadside assistance ranger with the Florida Department of Transportation stopped to check the red Toyota pickup Monday around 5:30 a.m. and found the 10-year-old boy inside next to an open gas can. The boy ""appeared to be in respiratory distress and (was) trembling"" and his clothing ""was soaked with an unknown chemical,"" the affidavit said. The ranger then found Barahona on the ground beside the truck and called for help. The boy was hospitalized in intensive care with severe burns to his abdomen, upper thighs and buttocks, the affidavit said.  While examining the boy, doctors noted he had sustained previous injuries, including a broken collarbone, a broken arm, scarring to his buttocks and lower abdomen, and ligature marks on both wrists, police said. After Barahona and his son were taken to a hospital, a worker decontaminating the truck discovered the body of the girl, wrapped in a plastic bag, the document said. Barahona told police he was distraught over the death of his daughter, and had intended to commit suicide by dousing himself with gasoline and setting himself afire, the affidavit said.  Barahona said he didn't go through with his suicide plan because his son was with him, the document added. ""Basically, to paraphrase, he was stating that he placed his daughter in a plastic bag being distraught over her death,"" West Palm Beach Police Spokesman Chase Scott told reporters. ""He drove here from South Florida accompanied by his son, Victor. He then pulled off to the side of the road saying that he poured gas on his self, intending to light himself on fire. His son's head was in his lap and he decided, after giving his son some sleeping pills, that he wasn't going to do that."" Barahona told police that he doused himself with gasoline and inadvertently got some on the boy, Police Capt. Mary Olsen said. But, she added, the man's story doesn't add up -- there was no gasoline on the boy. Instead, he was covered with another chemical whose composition had yet to be determined. ""That's why we're still treating this as a hazmat (hazardous materials case),"" she said. Scott said the chemicals were so potent that staff caring for the boy at the hospital became ill as well, he said. Victor, who was transferred Wednesday morning to a specialized burn unit at Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital, has not been able to talk to investigators because he is on a breathing tube, she said. Olsen said police would decide how to charge Barahona further once the autopsy on his daughter determines her cause of death. Asked whether Barahona has expressed remorse, she said, ""He feels remorse, but we're not getting consistent statements with what we're seeing in our evidence."" She added, ""It's a complex case."" At a hearing Wednesday in Miami attended by Barahona's wife, Carmen, a judge ordered that the remaining two children in the home be placed in foster care. Florida's Department of Children and Families had opened a child protection investigation within the past few days to look into a complaint involving the Barahona family, and it wasn't the first such complaint, spokesman Mark Riordan said. Reporters in the courtroom Wednesday heard tales of abuse, mainly concerning the twins, from state officials and experts.  The caller to the child protection hotline in the latest case reported that the twins were routinely locked in a bathroom for long periods of time and had been bound with tape, the court heard. The story was corroborated by interviews with the other two children in the home, officials said in court. An investigator told the court that she had showed up last Friday night at the family's home but had not seen the children. Instead, she said, she had left the family's house after speaking with Carmen Barahona, planning to return on Monday. Asked why she had not planned to return sooner, she said, ""I'm not allowed to do investigations on a weekend."" However, a spokesman for the department, John Harrell, said it is the job of investigators to follow through immediately or refer to someone else in the department to follow through when a matter is urgent. CNN's Kim Segal, Shawn Nottingham and John Zarrella contributed to this report ."
"Yangon, Myanmar (CNN) -- When Burmese commuters have an accident they don't dial 911 or any ordinary emergency service. They call the country's version of Marlon Brando, a heartthrob in the 1980s and 90s who turned his back on the film industry to run a fleet of ambulances and bury the nation's dead. A household name in Myanmar, which is also known as Burma, Kyaw Thu has starred in more than 200 films, and even took home a Myanmar Academy Award in 1994 for best actor in ""Da-Byi-Thu Ma Shwe Hta."" He followed it up with best director for ""Amay No Bo"" in 2003, but by then his head had already been turned by the story of an old woman left to die alone in hospital. ""The doctor warned the patient's family that she was close to death. After that they disappeared. A few days later she passed away -- so this dead body had no owner,"" Kyaw Thu told CNN at this office on the outskirts of Yangon, Myanmar's largest city. He later found out that the woman's family couldn't afford a funeral service. At the time, it wasn't uncommon; poor families would often sneak out in the dead of night to bury their dead, he said. And so began the Free Funeral Service Society, founded in collaboration with multi-award winning late Burmese writer and director Thukha, which now also provides a free library, education, medical, dental care and disaster relief. From films to funerals . Kyaw Thu's decision to leave the film industry wasn't entirely his own. In 2007, he was arrested and later banned from the film industry after being accused of supporting the Saffron Revolution. That year, the Myanmar military staged a violent crackdown on the largest anti-government demonstrations since 1988. Led by monks, tens of thousands of Burmese marched through the streets to protest plans to cut fuel subsidies. Kyaw Thu doesn't deny that he helped them but says that the society's policy of aiding people ""regardless of social status, national and religion"" meant that no one was turned away. He says he's on better terms with the current government led by President Thein Sein, who came to power in 2011, ending 50 years of military rule. However, he says not enough is being done to repair the country's patchy public services and protect the country's poor. ""We are showing the government what we need to do,"" he said. He claimed the government is out of touch with what's happening on the ground, as are foreign investors, who he says go straight to the capital Naypyidaw to listen to politicians rather than the people. ""I want to make a suggestion: before they go to Naypyidaw they should meet the CSOs and NGOs who are really doing things for Burma so they know what's really happening,"" he said. ""So after they meet with the CSOs and NGOs they'll have information -- they'll know the reality. So they can criticize and they can negotiate and they can discuss with the government and other parties."" He says other parties need to do more to deliver on their promises by using their own funding, rather than seeing him as a bank. A country on the mend? Kyaw Thu spoke with CNN as hundreds of delegates arrived in the country for the World Economic Forum on East Asia, two days of talks on how the country can shake off the legacy of its past. As well as basic, if not non-existent, public services, the country is saddled with crumbling buildings, potholed roads, a patchy telecommunications network and an outdated electricity network that only services a quarter of the population of 60 million people. Under the control of military leaders, Myanmar's economy stagnated so much so that in 1990 its per capita GDP growth was at a similar level to that recorded in 1900, according to a recent report from McKinsey & Company. There's much that needs to be fixed, but money is needed. Kyaw Thu's society relies on donations and an army of volunteers -- around 500 a day -- who do everything from carrying caskets to preparing bodies for burial. Trained doctors and nurses man the hospitals and clinics where patients are offered everything from eye surgery to maternity care and blood transfusions. The extent of their work can be seen in hundreds of laminated photos pinned on notice boards, which line the halls of the company's headquarters. One shows a newly married couple -- still in their wedding clothes -- carrying a casket; they came to volunteer straight after the service, he said. Others show shots of aid workers digging wells and bringing supplies to cyclone-hit residents, students sitting learning in class and then, incongruously, a couple of images of mutilated bodies -- all part of a day's work for the society. Message to Burmese people: 'Please be united' Kyaw Thu may be incredibly popular in Myanmar, providing services that in many countries are promised by politicians, but he says he has no plans to enter politics. ""No,"" he said, shaking his head, ""I have no ambition to make a political party."" He says his motivation is altruism; he doesn't need power, glory or adoration. ""When we are giving the aid to the people, we don't expect any kind of benefit or opportunity. When we help, if they're happy, I'm also happy."" He supports Nobel laureate and leader of the National League of Democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi -- her image hangs on the walls of his office -- but says Burma's people need to drop their unquestioning admiration of Suu Kyi and her father, the late General Aung San, and start following their lead. ""People are not following their speech. They are very impressed. They say we love Aung San Suu Kyi, we love General Aung San... but they're not following their policy. They're not implementing what they're saying. This is the problem with Burmese people."" Kyaw Thu is dismayed by the outbreaks of ethnic violence around the country that have strained relations between Burmese Buddhists and the minority Muslim population. He said the society has not been allowed to travel west to Rakhine State where Rohingya Muslims are alleged by human rights groups to be suffering systematic abuse amounting to ""ethnic cleansing."" ""They (the government) say it's very dangerous and very difficult. So we have no chance to go to the desperate people,"" Kyaw Thu said. He said the pace of Myanmar's transformation, from a military state to thriving democracy at peace with ethnic rivalries, depends on the attitudes of ordinary people. Decades of military rule had produced bad attitudes, he said. ""If the attitudes of normal citizens change and are good -- within five years it will change,"" he said. ""I want to give the message to all people in Burma: Please be united."" Han Thar Nyein contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Somalia's government said Saturday they are investigating the death of a Malaysian cameraman who was shot dead when African Union peacekeepers allegedly fired on his convoy. Noramfaizul Mohd Nor was travelling with a convoy of humanitarian workers when a contingent of Ugandan-nationals with AMISOM opened fire, killing Nor and wounding another journalist, TV-3 reporter Aji Saregar Mazlan, Somalia's transitional government said in a Saturday statement. ""The police and the security forces immediately reached the location of the incident and started a full investigation for the shocking action,"" the government said. Attempts to reach AU representative were not immediately successful Saturday. On Friday, Nor was heading to the outskirts of Mogadishu to cover a Malay-sponsored project to help drought victims on behalf of Malaysia's national news agency Bernama. In an interview with Bernama, Malaysia's Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Nor was a ""hero."" ""He was willing to take the risk to provide extensive coverage of our missions to help others in many parts of the world,"" he said. Reporters without Borders, an activist organization on behalf of journalist, said Friday that Somalia continued to be one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists, often caught in the cross-fir between Islamic Al-Shabaab militia and pro-government forces. ""Nor joins the long list of journalists killed in the course of their work in Somalia, Africa's deadliest country for media personnel with 23 killed since 2007,"" Reporters Without Borders said Friday. ""Despite the recent retreat by the Islamist insurgent group Al-Shabaab, the violence and fighting in Mogadishu have not stopped and covering Somalia continues to be extremely dangerous,"" the organization stated. CNN's David Mckenzie contributed to this report ."
"BEIJING, China (CNN) -- When Jimmy Wales visited the headquarters of Hudong.com last month, he had one question for its founder: is it possible for Wikipedia to be the number one online encyclopedia in China? Don't call me Jimmy: Pan Haidong, head of Hudong.com, the largest Chinese encyclopedia website. ""Absolutely not,"" was the response of Pan Haidong, head of Hudong.com, the world's largest Chinese encyclopedia website. ""Because there is Hudong here in China. Of course we are a copycat of Wikipedia but we have a lot of innovations, and we do a lot of work here in China so it is totally different actually,"" Pan told CNN. It's been a year since China's government lifted its ban on the Chinese version of U.S.-based Wikipedia yet it remains unclear whether Wikipedia has gained any share of the country's massive Internet readership. Shortly after Wikipedia was launched in China in 2002, the country's Internet censors began to intermittently block access to both Chinese and English versions of the online encyclopedia with the longest ban lasting around three years. In recent months, Wales has held a series of meetings with officials from the State Council Information Office, the government body charged with internet censorship in China, to establish a dialogue between the Wikipedia community and Chinese government. He says they have not discussed why the website was banned. ""We have a friendly relationship,"" Wales told CNN. ""But in terms of getting down to the nitty gritty of what happened, I have no idea. It is not really a big concern."" What is a big concern for Wales is whether Wikipedia can compete with the country's two homegrown encyclopedia websites that emerged while Wikipedia was blocked: Hudong.com and Baidu Baike, an online knowledge sharing site launched by Baidu, the No. 1 search engine in China. One challenge Wikipedia faces is it lacks the brand recognition in China that is otherwise nearly universal. ""I had an English-speaking, college-educated tour guide [in Beijing], and he asked me what I do?"" Wales told CNN. ""I said, 'I am the founder of Wikipedia.' He had a blank stare. He had no idea what Wikipedia was. This would not happen anywhere else in the world. Everyone knows Wikipedia if they are using the internet."" Wales said he is trying to mobilize the local Chinese Wikipedia community to spread more awareness about the online encyclopedia but otherwise has not outlined a specific strategy to beat its more entrenched domestic competitors. ""I think I am going to have to come to China a lot and do interviews so people can learn about Wikipedia,"" said Wales. ""Once people come to understand it that will be helpful for our cause."" 'No reason for China to use Wikipedia' Yet Wales' star power alone may not be enough to convert China's 300 million internet users into Wikipedians, or volunteers who run the website. ""There's, in fact, no reason for China to use Wikipedia, a service based 'out there,'"" Baidu's chief scientist William Chang said at a 2008 internet conference in Beijing. ""It's very natural for China to make its own products."" And it is also very natural for Chinese to use domestic encyclopedia websites that some say are better suited to the online habits and informational demands of the country's exploding population of internet surfers. ""We know the market better,"" said Pan, founder of Hudong.com. ""That is why we can get a bigger share of it."" Hudong has more than 3 million articles and 1.7 million registered users, according to its website. Baidu Baike has nearly 2 million entries; Chinese Wikipedia has just 280,000 and over 700 thousand members. English Wikipedia has more than 3 million articles and over 10 million volunteers. ""We have the largest team here who are more familiar with the wiki concept and wiki operations in China,"" Pan told CNN. ""Of course we are more focused on the wiki community, which means we need to get a lot of people involved to make it grow."" Hudong.com utilizes a range of social networking functions to attract Chinese internet users, including chat forums, fan groups, short messaging services and bulletin boards. Nearly 100 million Chinese netizens regularly visit online bulletin boards, according to research from China Internet Network Information Center. The website rewards members through a ranking system where users are upgraded to a higher status on the site based on the points they earn. Members also can win prizes, like laptops and iPods, for high participation on the site. Baidu Baike has a similar model. Wikipedia uses a reputation system to promote its members based on their participation on the website and the quality of the content they contribute. Promotion is subject to peer approval, and the site's volunteer administrators are elected by the community. ""The entry barrier is really high on Wikipedia for Chinese users,"" said Pan. ""We don't have a very hierarchical structure to say who is managing this or who is managing that."" Instead both Hudong.com and Baidu Baike have a centralized management structure. Paid staff are charged with mobilizing the community to contribute to certain topics as well as filter out content that might offend the Chinese government. Saying 'no' to censorship . Wales has refused to comply with Chinese censorship rules, which means certain pages containing sensitive information on both English and Chinese Wikipedia remain inaccessible. ""The question is how comfortable is China about just describing the facts?"" said Wales. ""In some cases that is not completely clear, so right now there are certain pages that are filtered from Wikipedia. We don't support that but we also can't do anything about it. But it is far better than just blocking the entire site. Far better for China and for us."" Since Hudong's and Baidu Baike's business operations are based in China, the companies have little choice but to comply with government policy or face the same fate as Wikipedia. ""If there is something that the government doesn't want, we don't talk about it,"" said Pan. ""We just follow the law."" Which is why in the long run many Chinese Wikipedians say their website will win. ""I don't think they can become a reference book like Wikipedia because they don't have a serious community focusing on improving the quality of content as well as trying to respect neutral point of view,"" said Isaac Mao, a Chinese Wikipedian and blogger. ""They have to follow the hidden rules and you never know what those are."" However Pan said Hudong's content, in time, will improve if the Chinese government continues to gradually loosen its grip on the internet. ""I have been seeing a lot of improvement,"" said Pan. ""So we should be glad for that, of course."" Wales also said Wikipedia's reemergence in China, albeit at times unreliable, is a sign that Beijing's web policy is changing. ""We are hopeful,"" said Wales. ""Wikipedia has been open for more than a year, and we are hoping that will continue. We would like for Wikipedia to have as much impact in China as it has in other places around the world."" Pan's doesn't believe it will happen. ""There is no way,"" said Pan. ""I don't want to be the Jimmy Wales of China. I just want to say that we want to do something good for society. That is our dream actually."""
"(CNN) -- Nine civilians died in an attack on a luxury hotel in the Afghan capital, a government official said Friday. The dead were a mix of Afghans and foreigners, children and adults, according to Gen Mohammad Ayoub Salangi the deputy interior minister. Six people were also injured. The incident began when four teenagers entered the Serena Hotel in central Kabul on Thursday and started shooting randomly, police said. Afghan security forces killed the four gunmen, who police said were all under 18 and were ""government opponents."" Police said they believe the gunmen entered the hotel by smuggling small pistols in their shoes, then hid in the bathroom for several hours before launching their attack. The hotel also was the site of a shooting, in January 2008, that killed seven people. The Taliban claimed responsibility for that attack. This is latest attack to claim the lives of foreigners in the Afghan capital. Earlier this month, gunmen shot and killed a Swedish journalist in broad daylight. In January, a bomb and gun attack by the Taliban on a restaurant in Kabul killed 21 people, most of them foreigners. Earlier, in eastern Afghanistan, Taliban militants stormed a police station in Jalalabad, and a deadly gunbattle ensued, the country's Interior Ministry said. At least 11 people were killed and 22 were injured at the station, and at least six attackers were killed, according to a doctor at the hospital. This came as the militant group threatened to carry out attacks before next month's presidential election. Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid confirmed the action to CNN. He said fighters will ""continue to attack the pro-U.S. Afghan establishment."" Canada pulls out of Kabul as NATO winds down Afghan operations . Suicide blast rips through bazaar in northern Afghanistan . Journalists Zahir Shah Sherazi in Peshawar, Pakistan, and Qadir Sediqui in Kabul contributed to this report."
"Miami (CNN) -- The 9-year-old girl critically injured when an airplane struck her on a Florida beach last weekend has died, the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office said Tuesday. The girl, Oceana Irizarry, and her father, Ommy Irizarry, 36, of Georgia were struck Sunday afternoon by a plane making an emergency landing, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The father died at the scene, and the girl was rushed to a hospital. Venice Municipal Airport officials reported a plane in distress Sunday afternoon, sheriff's spokeswoman Wendy Rose said. The pilot of a 1972 Piper Cherokee radioed that he would be unable to make it back to the airport and that he was instead going to attempt a landing on Caspersen Beach, just to the south. The pilot, Karl Kokomoor, and his passenger, David Theen, were uninjured. They are from Englewood, Florida. Kokomoor -- the president and CEO of local engineering firm -- is ""emotionally distraught and devastated,"" his pastor, Victor Willis, said Tuesday. ""Words cannot express the sorrow I feel,"" said a statement that was read by Willis. 'Never saw them' Kokomoor said that he was losing altitude fast and had little time to make a decision. He said he aimed for an area on the water's edge that appeared to be remote. ""I never saw them,"" he said. ""It was only after I landed and we exited the plane that I realized that there were people on the beach."" The investigation into the crash is being conducted by the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board. The death investigation -- which is being conducted by the sheriff's office -- will determine if Kokomoor will face any charges, said Rose. ""I send my heartfelt apologies to the Irizarry family for my role in this tragic accident,"" the statement read. ""I will fully cooperate with the FAA and NTSB in their investigations."" Family was celebrating wedding anniversary . On the same day he died, Ommy Irizarry posted a love message on Facebook to his wife, as they were celebrating their ninth wedding anniversary. ""Thank you for being with me through thick and thin. I love you with all my heart, mi Roma. I am very happy and can't wait to see what the next 100 have in store for us,"" Irizarry wrote. According to his Facebook page, Irizarry was originally from Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. He was an Army sergeant first class stationed at Fort Stewart, Georgia. He was a platoon sergeant assigned to Fort Stewart's Warrior Transition Battalion, the Army said. He twice deployed to Iraq since joining the Army in 2002. ""This is a heart-wrenching situation, especially losing loved ones while on vacation to celebrate a family milestone,"" said Maj. Gen. Mike Murray, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division and Stewart-Hunter. ""Our thoughts and prayers are with the Irizarry family."" CNN's Kevin Conlon and Javier De Diego contributed to this report ."
"(CNN) -- Beset by war and sectarian violence, Iraq has not had a lot to laugh about in recent years. But a trio of old friends from Baghdad have sought to change that, by distilling the jokey banter of their late-night drinking sessions into a controversial talk show. Hosted by Yasser Sami and Walid Monam, and produced by their friend Ghazwan Al-Shawi, the show is called ""Akou Fad Wahad"" -- ""There is this guy"" -- the typical setup for one of their anecdotes. The aim behind the production, says Al-Shawi, ""was to make people smile."" ""We wanted to do anything to make miserable and sad people happy,"" he said. But while it's proved a hit with their predominantly male audience, not everyone appreciates their sense of humor. Sami describes the first episode, broadcast in the summer of 2011, as ""very bold."" ""It got us into a lot of trouble because there was sexual and pornographic innuendos, so it was like a shock for all Iraqis,"" he laughs. Since then, the show has routinely offended the conservative sectors of Iraqi society with its discussion of taboo topics including relationships and sex. A religious group staged a demonstration outside the show's studio last year, and government censors complained about the content. Read more: Arab female film directors find acclaim . Sami said a gang even turned up at his house, threatening him. ""I can't tell you (who) because this means I will give them another chance to come to me again,"" he laughs. The jokes might not be considered particularly edgy to non-Iraqis -- or even necessarily that funny. A typical gag goes like this: ""A stoned guy bought two birds for his mother, one tweeting and the other silent. She asks, 'Son, why is it that only one of them that is tweeting?' 'Mother, the other one is the composer,' he replied."" But although the humor may seem mild, Iraq is not yet ready for ""Akou Wad Fahad."" Sami says the team has had to modify their approach in order to continue broadcasting. ""We changed things in the show,"" he said. ""We used to have a female DJ, but we were asked to remove her from the show, and we did."" Even in the new Iraq, said Monam, there are still many ""red lines"" that cannot be crossed in entertainment. ""Were it not for the limitations that are imposed on us, it would be a much better show. But we have to live with social taboos,"" he said. Challenging this, he says, is ""impossible,"" at least for now. But as frustrating as it might be, he and his friends are content to tone down their act, if it means bringing a smile to people's faces."
"(CNN) -- ""It's the most wonderful time of the year."" That's what Andy Williams sang 50 years ago, and for some, the song rings true. For others, left cold by carols and gift wrap, urgings to ""be of good cheer"" can be devilishly hard to escape. Hard, that is, if you stick to your holiday routine. But what if you leave it all behind? Plenty of small-group escorted tours are still taking bookings for December, and if you're a solo traveler it's especially easy to snap up an available spot. Whether you're constitutionally immune to the holiday spirit, or just not feeling it this year, a few new faces and jingle-bell-free surroundings are bound to give you a boost. Here's a sampling of tours with open spaces for 2013, as of this writing -- some with last-minute deals for travel in the coming weeks. Around Turkey in 12 days . The real St. Nick hailed from Anatolia, the Asian portion of modern-day Turkey, which is nothing at all like the North Pole. The Christmas Turkey tour drops in on the saint's home town as well as some of the country's biggest draws, including the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, the ""fairy chimneys"" of Cappadocia and the shores of Gallipoli. From $1,899, not including international airfare, visa, entrance fees, and tips. December 18-29; 1-866-377-6147. Sand, Sea and Souks . Here, where the Sahara meets the Atlantic, you'll trade bargain-hunting in a crowded mall for haggling at a busy souk (marketplace). The Best of Morocco tour visits the exotic cities of Fez and Marrakech, as well as Roman ruins at Volubilis. It will also have you trekking by camel to stay in a Berber desert camp and admiring the ocean in Essaouira. From $1,279, not including international airfare, visa, departure transfer, most lunches and dinners, and tips. December 23-January 6;1-855-444-9110. Rivers and temples . Ready for a change of pace? You'll find it in more ways than one on the Laos & Cambodia Explorer tour floating slowly down the Mekong River. Witness daily life in Laos' Luang Prabang, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that blends traditional Lao and colonial French architecture; fly on to Cambodia to tour the legendary Angkor temples. $2,874 with promo code (given on website); does not include international flights, visa, meals other than breakfast, or tips. December 21-January 3; 1-800-663-5132. Mayan Mystique . This tour of the Yucatán Peninsula starts and ends in Cancún, but its focus lies in culture, not cabanas. In addition to exploring Mayan ruins at Uxmal and Chichén Itzá, your agenda includes the museums of Mérida and a once-functioning hacienda. You'll also hit the beaches in Tulúm and Playa del Carmen. From $1,799; does not include international flights, dinners, some lunches, or tips. December 21-30; 1-888-800-4100. Wonders of the West . The American West boasts majestic scenery and remarkable cities. Why choose between these experiences? Instead take a tour that meanders from San Francisco's Coit Tower to the towering sequoias of Yosemite; from the bright lights of Las Vegas to the shimmering sunsets of the Grand Canyon. $2,999; does not include transport to California, most meals, or tips. December 21-January 4; 1-888-800-4100. New Year's on ice . The Harbin Ice Festival in northeast China gives this tour a dazzling, color-saturated twist. After taking in sights like the Great Wall, Beijing's Forbidden City and the terra-cotta warriors of Xi'an, you'll fly to Harbin and ring in 2014 with a view of the festival's gorgeous ice sculptures, illuminated with a rainbow of lights and traditional paper lanterns. The next day, try the ice luge or other amusements at Ice and Snow World, the festival's theme park. From $2,299, not including international airfare, visa, entrance fees and tips. December 23-January 2; 1-866-377-6147. Ski the Tyrol . This Alpine ski and snowboarding getaway run by Topdeck Travel, which specializes in tours for adults under 40, lets you learn some downhill skills or practice those you've got. Get cozy in the Austrian village of Kirchdorf, where the day's outdoor activities end with the tradition of après-ski, also known as nightlife. During Christmas week, day trips to the Christmas markets of Salzburg and Innsbruck are optional at additional cost. $749; does not include international airfare, transfers from airport, ski pass, equipment rental, or meals other than breakfast and two dinners. December 21-28 or December 28-January 4; 1-800-607-1399. Costa Rica on the go . You might not need a New Year's gym membership after this active tropical getaway. Hit the ground -- or rather, rapids -- running with a whitewater rafting trip, followed up by rainforest hikes and kayaking through mangroves. Then enjoy well-earned relaxation in hot springs and mud baths. $2098; does not include international airfare, some meals, or tips. December 28-January 4; 1-800-488-8483. Climb Kilimanjaro . For a truly epic voyage, splurge on the Snows of Kilimanjaro tour, an ascent of the highest peak in Africa. Your first day will be spent acclimatizing in Arusha National Park; from there it's four to six hours of hiking a day, with arrival at the summit timed for sunrise where possible. Though the climb is tough, groups have often included septuagenarians, and tour operators boast a 97% summit success rate. Plus you'll travel in relative comfort with private igloos and porters to carry all but your day pack. $6,495; does not include international flights, some tips or a sleeping bag, which is recommended. December 19-28; 1-800-554-7016. Trekking in Patagonia . Snow-capped mountains, glaciers and sparkling lakes: Patagonia is a breathtaking wilderness at the southern tip of the world. And with some serious hiking involved, this trip may leave you breathless in more ways than one -- it's recommended for the physically fit. Your outdoors time is bookended with stays in Santiago, Chile, and Buenos Aires, and the trip mixes basic camping with hotel stays. $3,863; does not include international airfare, some lunches and dinners, or tips. December 22-31; 1- 800-970-7299. If you could go anywhere this December holiday season, where would you go and why? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below."
"(CNN) -- Federal civil rights investigators have found ""reasonable cause"" to believe that police in Portland, Oregon, use ""unnecessary or unreasonable force"" with persons who have mental illness, the U.S. Justice Department said. The department's civil rights division and U.S. Attorney's Office in Oregon issued a letter to Portland Mayor Sam Adams stating that local and federal authorities will ""continue our collaborative relationship to craft sustainable remedies."" In the 42-page letter, federal officials outline remedies that include training and new policies to investigate alleged police misconduct. Investigators found cause to believe that the Portland Police Bureau engages in ""a pattern or practice of using excessive force in encounters involving people with actual or perceived mental illness."" ""We found instances that support a pattern of dangerous uses of force against persons who posed little or no threat and who could not, as a result of their mental illness, comply with officers' commands,"" said the letter, which was signed by Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez and U.S. Attorney Amanda Marshall. ""We also found that PPB employs practices that escalate the use of force where there were clear earlier junctures when the force could have been avoided or minimized."" One incident in December 2010 involved several officers who used ""repeated closed-fist punches and repeated shocking of a subject who was to be placed on a mental health hold,"" the letter said. Adams, in a posting on his web page, vowed that the city and its Police Bureau would improve quickly, and listed a series of changes: . -- The city will revise its use-of-force policies -- particularly those regarding the use of stun guns -- ""to ensure that officers have necessary guidance when encountering someone with mental illness or perceived to have mental illness."" -- The police will expand their Mobile Crisis Unit -- composed of an officer and a mental health worker -- ""to ensure availability at all times and enhance non-law enforcement capacity to respond to persons in crisis that do not pose a public safety threat."" -- The city will establish a mental health desk at its 911 calling center to ensure calls are properly dispatched. -- The city will lead efforts to boost community mental health treatment options, such as establishing a 24-hour secure drop-off and walk-in center, ""that will provide police officers more options when assisting persons experiencing a mental health crisis."" -- The city will use an early intervention system to identify officers, supervisors and units ""for non-punitive corrective action, and to assess gaps in policy, training, supervision and accountability."" -- The city will move to speed investigations of complaints about possible officer misconduct. -- A community body composed of representatives of a variety of groups will assess how well the agreement is being implemented, offer recommendations on additional steps, and advise the police chief and Adams on how to improve community relations."
"(CNN) -- Aid organizations have deployed emergency response teams to Haiti and appealed for donations after the Caribbean nation was was struck by a devastating earthquake described by local officials as a ""catastrophe of major proportions."" The magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck southern Haiti on Tuesday, knocking down buildings and inflicting a new catastrophe on the western hemisphere's poorest nation. Humanitarian charity Oxfam said Wednesday it was rushing rescue teams to the country from around the region to provide clean water, sanitation, shelter and emergency supplies and called for donations to fund its efforts. Impact Your World: How you can help . ""At this stage it is too early to tell the severity of the earthquake in Haiti, but the early signs are not good with communications down across the country,"" said Jane Cocking, humanitarian director of Oxfam. Kristie van de Wetering, a former Oxfam employee based in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, said the situation in the capital was ""very chaotic"" with many buildings reduced to rubble. ""We can hear people calling for help from every corner. The aftershocks are ongoing and making people very nervous,"" she said. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said volunteers in Haiti were assisting the injured and supporting hospitals which had been overwhelmed by the disaster. It said it had enough supplies in Haiti for 3,000 families. Experts in disaster response are due to arrive in the country later Wednesday to coordinate international relief efforts, it said. ""The most urgent needs at this time are search and rescue, field hospitals, emergency health, water purification, emergency shelter, logistics and telecommunications,"" the group said in a statement. The quake struck about 15 km (10 miles) southwest of Port-au-Prince shortly before 5 p.m. local time, cutting off communications across much of the country. ""Port-au-Prince is devastated, lot of deaths. SOS. SOS...,"" wrote Louise Ivers, the clinical director of medical charity Partners In Health, in an e-mail to the group's offices in Boston, Massachusetts. She added: ""Temporary field hospital ... needs supplies, pain meds, bandages. Please help us."" Raymond Joseph, Haiti's ambassador to the U.S., told CNN's Wolf Blitzer by telephone that the country was going throug . ""I'm calling on all friends of Haiti and people who are listening to me to please come to our aid,"" said Raymond Joseph, Haiti's ambassador to the U.S. told CNN's Wolf Blitzer by telephone. ""Today as Haiti is going through the worst day in its history I am calling for all others who got help from us in the beginning to help in support,"" Joseph said. ""The only thing I can do now is pray and hope for the best."" Singer Wyclef Jean, nephew of ambassador Joseph, stressed the need for help for what is considered among the poorest nations in the Western Hemisphere. ""We're going to need immediate aid,"" Jean told Blitzer on CNN. ""We're going to need the United States and the international community to react immediately."" He founded Yele Haiti, whose community service programs include food distribution and emergency relief. In Washington U.S. President Barack Obama said the government would ""stand ready to assist the people of Haiti."" At the Pentagon, the U.S. military said humanitarian aid was being prepared for shipping, but it was not yet clear where or how it would be sent. A U.S. aviation source said the control tower at the Port-au-Prince international airport collapsed, possibly hindering efforts to fly relief supplies into the country. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters that Washington is offering ""our full assistance"" to Haiti. ""And our prayers are with the people who have suffered, their families and their loved ones,"" she said. The deputy chief of the U.S. mission in Haiti, David Lindwall, told Clinton that he saw ""significant damage"" from the quake and said U.S. officials there expect ""serious loss of life,"" Crowley said. And Clinton's husband, former U.S. President Bill Clinton -- now the U.N. special envoy for Haiti -- said the world body was ""committed to do whatever we can to assist the people of Haiti in their relief, rebuilding and recovery efforts."" Haiti's government is backed by a U.N. peacekeeping mission established after the ouster of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004. The United States has been heavily involved in Haiti commercially, politically and militarily for most of the last century. U.S. intervention under Clinton restored Aristide to power in 1994 after a 1991 coup, and a U.S. jet hustled him out of the country again in 2004 following a rapidly spreading uprising against his government. With people stripping the trees for fuel and to clear land for agriculture, the mountainous countryside has been heavily deforested. That has led to severe erosion and left Haitians vulnerable to massive landslides when heavy rains fall. Roads in Haiti were unsafe to travel on because of a lack of lighting and because many buildings along transportation routes had collapsed or were not deemed safe, said Ian Rodgers of the relief organization Save the Children. ""What I can hear is very distressed people,"" Rogers said. ""There is a lot of distress and wailing of people trying to find loved ones."" A representative for the aid group Catholic Relief Services in Haiti described the situation in the nation as ""a total disaster,"" said Robyn Fieser, regional information officer for the group. Haiti's dense population will increase the risk to its people, Jean said. The nation's need for aid will range from water and food to medical and building supplies. ""This is the worst devastation that we as Haitian people have faced,"" he said. Hurricane Gordon killed more than 1,000 people in 1994, while Hurricane Georges killed more than 400 and destroyed the majority of the country's crops in 1998. And in 2004, Hurricane Jeanne killed more than 3,000 people even as it passed north of Haiti, with most of the deaths in the northwestern city of Gonaives. Gonaives was hit heavily again in 2008 when four tropical systems passed through. According to the U.N. Office for the Special Envoy for Haiti, unemployment reaches 70 percent nationally, and 78 percent of Haitians live on less than $2 a day. CNN's Edvige Jean-Francois, Shasta Darlington, Deb Feyerick, Matt Smith, Mike Mount and Pierre Meilhan contributed to this report."
"(CNN)  -- Be bold! Think big! Barack Obama wants to do just that. An $800 billion economic stimulus plan. Three million jobs. Health care reform. A restructured automobile industry. Obama's popularity with voters will win him influence with political opponents. Obama won the biggest Democratic majority for president in 44 years. His party made big gains in Congress. Democrats now have a majority of nearly 60 percent in both the House and Senate. President Obama's got a mandate. And a majority. What's to stop him? Just this: the U.S. system of government. It is set up to make it difficult to get things done. The Constitution was written 222 years ago by men who didn't trust government. They had just waged a revolution against a king. To the founders of the American republic, strong government meant despotism. So they set up a system with an elaborate separation of powers. The idea was to ensure weak government. The dirty little secret of American government is that it was designed not to work very well. As president after president has discovered, there are innumerable ways opponents can stop measures from getting passed, even if the president's party holds a majority in Congress. The Senate has its own rule that's not in the Constitution requiring a super-majority of 60 Senate votes to control the agenda. A minority of 41 senators can ""filibuster'' a measure and prevent it from coming up for a vote. How many votes will Republicans have in the Senate? 41 or 42, depending on the outcome in Minnesota where ballots are still being counted. Presidents often have problems holding their own party together. That's because members of Congress are elected by local constituencies and they are expected to represent local interests. American politicians are independent political entrepreneurs. They are not foot-soldiers of a party. When Bill Clinton first became president, he had a solid Democratic majority in Congress. But he could not get his health care reform plan passed. After an intense advertising campaign by opponents, many Americans were worried that the Clintons were planning a government takeover of the health care system. The Clinton plan failed, and within two years, Democrats lost their majority in Congress. One-party control didn't work any better for George W. Bush. Bush had trouble getting what he wanted -- notably, immigration reform -- from a Republican Congress. Republicans lost their majority in Congress in 2006. But here's another dirty little secret of American government: it often does work. Very well in fact. Under the right conditions, barriers fall away and things get done, sometimes with amazing speed and efficiency. What are the right conditions? An overwhelming sense of public urgency. That sense of urgency certainly existed after 9/11, when Congress quickly passed the Patriot Act. Getting anything big done in American government requires a sense of crisis. That's why politicians in the U.S. are always declaring crises -- a drug crisis, an education crisis, an environmental crisis. Or they're trying to rally the country to fight a war on something -- a war on poverty, a war on crime. If the public urgency is not authentic, however, opponents won't have much trouble stopping things from happening. Obama certainly takes office at a time of crisis, just as Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt did. Like them, he has the opportunity to transform American government. Members of Congress who try to block President Obama's program may find themselves in political trouble. Because there is yet another dirty little secret of American government: the United States is the most populist democracy in the world. Here, the people rule. When the people want something, they will get it, whether it's the death penalty or gun rights or lower taxes. Why doesn't the United States have a metric system or dollar coins like other countries? Because the people won't use them. Obama's popularity is soaring right now. When a president is popular, he has clout. Everyone wants to be on his side, even members of the opposition party. They're in business for themselves, and supporting a popular president is good for business. Standing in his way could drive them out of business. American government is not an efficient, well-oiled machine. It was never designed to be. It has to be lubricated by public pressure. If the people are shouting ""Do something!'' -- as they are right now -- then something will happen. Even if it means a lot more spending and a lot more government. The people reserve one key right: they will let the government know, rather quickly, whether or not it's working."
"(CNN)  -- From personal stories of growing up with gay parents to challenges of what defines a family, the public's comments on same-sex couples having families was supportive and critical, calm and heated -- sometimes all in one conversation thread. In CNN's documentary ""Gary and Tony Have a Baby,"" Soledad O'Brien follows a gay couple in their struggle through the legal and personal obstacles to become parents. We asked readers and viewers what they thought about gay couples having families. ""Whether they are gay as a couple, or gay as a single parent -- as long as they love and nourish that child it will make absolutely no difference. Compared to the atrocious things that we read here on CNN about what parents do to their children, being raised by a gay parent will be a blessing,"" says one reader. ""I work in a medical clinic and believe me, the large number of gay people/couples that we see are a helluva lot more 'normal' (and pleasant) than the straight people/couples!"" Others said that while they were against same-sex marriage, they saw no reason for sexual orientation to prevent having children through adoption or other means. ""My morals and my religion agree that marriage is between a man and a woman,"" says one reader. ""[But] I don't mind gays adopting."" Another said: ""Marriage is an institution created by God to join a man and a women. That being said, children do need someone to love and if that person is psychologically sound, physically fit and has the wherewithal to create a supportive and loving environment for the child, it would [be] hard for me to say no way."" Some said having same-sex parents would harm the child. ""Children being raised by gay couples can easily be targeted by bullies,"" said one reader. ""These children will go through a great suffering because they will be confused as to why they don't [have] a daddy or a mommy. It's a shame that the children are being exposed to something that God is against."" Another wrote: ""If there is a mother and father possibility, [a child] should always go in the favor of the normal mother and father situation. It is the responsibility of those in charge to give them the best chance to survive in a culture that is normally straight. I am not against gays, but I do think there is a reality that one gender of parents is not the norm."" Other readers shared their stories of growing up with same-sex parents or being a gay parent themselves. ""As a gay single man, it has been my honor to adopt four wonderful children,"" one reader wrote. ""Over the years we have encountered the typical family pressures as everyone else. Our only outward difference is that I am Caucasian and my children are African-American. Two of my four boys are now 18 and 19. Both are headed to college. My younger two are 15 and 16 now. Both successful high school students, happy and well adjusted (well as adjusted as a teenager can be!). ... My kids know about my life and were told when they were young. I have kept no secrets. ... Parenting means being there for your child. It mean participating in their lives. Loving them. Listening to their goals, biting your tongue when necessary and losing your mind when needed."" Another said, ""My parents love me, that's all that matters. What makes you a better parent then mine? Because you're a Christian? Because you are straight? They love me and that's all that matters. They push me to succeed, and make me the best person I can be. Isn't that what being a parent is, loving you for who you are?"""
"Washington (CNN)President Barack Obama on Thursday said he wants the people of France to know the United States ""stands with you today, stands with you tomorrow"" in the wake of this week's terror attacks. He made the remarks during an appearance in Knoxville, Tenn. to announce a new higher education initiative. Obama told the audience in Knoxville ""we stand for freedom, and hope, and dignity of all human beings,"" adding, ""that's what Paris stands for."" ""That spirit will endure forever,"" he added, ""long after terrorism is banished from this world."" His comments follow a tumultuous few days for France, where two hostage situations and a shooting at a French satirical paper erupted in two days, resulting in numerous deaths. Obama made a visit to the French Embassy on Thursday to offer his condolences following Wednesday's attack by three gunment on journalists at Charlie Hebdo, which resulted in 12 deaths. The Charlie Hebdo attack: What we know and don't know . He signed a book of condolences for the victims of the attack shortly after returning from a trip to Arizona for a speech previewing his State of the Union address. ""On behalf of all Americans, I extend our deepest sympathy and solidarity to the people of France following the terrible terrorist attack in Paris,"" the President wrote. ""As allies across the centuries, we stand united with our French brothers to ensure that justice is done and our way of life is defended. We go forward together knowing that terror is no match for freedom and ideals we stand for -- ideals that light the world. Vive la France!"" Obama also met with the French Ambassador, GÃ©rard Araud, who called the visit ""a moving and highly significant gesture"" in a tweet. ""The French are grateful,"" the ambassador said. Obama on Wednesday vowedÂ to ""hunt down"" the perpetrators of the ""cowardly, evil attacks,"" and the United States is supporting the French government in its investigation into the attack. On his flight back from Arizona, the President spoke with his national security team about the latest developments."
"(CNN) -- The label on the package claimed that it contained T-shirts and baby toys. When customs officials in Sydney scanned the parcel, they found five pythons and two venomous tarantulas. But when customs officials in Sydney X-ray scanned the parcel, they found instead five pythons and two venomous tarantulas. On Tuesday, authorities raided the house in Sydney to which the parcel had been addressed. Officials seized evidence but expect to file charges later, the customs agency said. Importing live animals without a permit is illegal in Australia and can yield a 10-year prison sentence and a fine of 110,000 Australian dollars ($92,000 U.S.). The parcel was sent from the United States last week, but officials would not say specifically where it had been mailed from. The snakes were wrapped within white calico bags and the spiders were packed in clear plastic containers, the customs agency said. The creatures were later killed because they posed a quarantine risk, the agency said in a press release. It titled the press release: ""Spiders and snakes on a plane."""
"(CNN) -- Jeff Yeager says the economic downturn is an opportunity for people to simplify their lives and be content with less. More than 40 percent of the average household food budget is spent on eating out, says Jeff Yeager. The author of ""The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches"" has some ideas for saving $20,000 to $30,000 a year. The savings don't necessarily require sacrifices, he says, but rather choices that can lead to greater happiness. Yeager talked with Heidi Collins on Tuesday on ""CNN Newsroom."" A transcript of their conversation follows. Heidi Collins: How did you become a cheapskate, if you will? Jeff Yeager: Well, you know, I'm about 50 years old. I grew up in the Midwest, and back then, spending money was really a last resort. We led sort of a simpler life, and I think, in a lot of ways, happier, Heidi. And that's really what I write about is, maybe there's a silver lining to this economic downturn. Maybe we can simplify our lives, be content with less and actually enjoy life more. Collins: All right. As a fellow Midwesterner, I share your cheapskate thoughts already. Yeager: You are a sister of the cheaphood. I knew it, Heidi. Collins: Well, hey. I do wonder, though, as you've gone through this process, if you will, if you become the ultimate cheapskate, are you noticing now a lot more people kind of joining your club? Yeager: You know, they are. And again, I don't really talk about a life of sacrifice. I talk about a life of choices and how, in many instances, less can be more.  Watch Jeff Yeager explain his savings suggestions » . You know, in this economy, we hear a lot of stories about how to get more stuff for 20 percent less. I'm not saying that's unimportant. But maybe we're missing the real point. The secret to the time is being content with less. Collins: OK. Wow. I like the way you talk. All right, so let's get to these five things, because that's what everybody really wants to hear about. Specifically, what they can do. And again, this is in order to save 20,000 to $30,000 a year. Really? Yeager: If these things apply to your family. Collins: OK. Yeager: And they are -- let me say in advance -- these are some fairly radical changes. But, again, it's probably not about sacrifice. It's about changing your life and maybe in the end being happier. Collins: OK. Well, very good. First thing you say, give up your cell phone. Yeager: Give up the cellulite life. I will use myself as a poster child. You know, I have a fairly successful career, a very happy life. I've never owned a cell phone, and nothing awful has ever happened. Collins: Now, wait a minute. I've got to push back for a second, because a lot of people will tell you you can be happier with a cell phone because you're out of the office and you're with your family more, still able to still do business. Yeager: We can debate all that, but 10 or 15 years ago, none of us had it, and nothing awful happened. It seemed to me we were really quite happy. Average cell phone plan costs about $100 a month. There's an interesting article in the recent Christian Science Monitor that shows the actual cost of using a cell phone could be more than $3 a minute by time you factor in unused minutes and so on. Collins: Wow. All right. You say you might not need that second car and certainly not the third? Yeager: Americans own about 2½ cars per family. Can you give up one? The Auto Club says it costs about, on average, $1 a mile to drive a car by the time you factor in the cost of the car, depreciation and so on. So, you could easily be talking about $5,000 to $10,000 savings by sharing the remaining car that you have, using public transportation and so on. Collins: OK. Give up meals prepared outside your home. Quit going out for meals no matter what, if it's just a salad or a fancy fancy dinner? Yeager: More than 40 percent of the average American family household food budget is spent on meals prepared outside the home. You can cut that by 80 percent by cooking those same meals at home and you know, maybe recapture some family time around the dinner table. Collins: Yes, there would be people who would argue with you about that, though, too, because our culture is just so socially oriented to food. Every dinner, every business meeting, every lunch. Yeager: We're too busy to cook because we're too busy earning the money to spend it by dining out. Collins: Yes, yes. All right, you also say quit shopping for new clothes. Yeager: Yes. Here again, it's what's good for your pocketbook and good for the environment. Less than 2 percent of clothes that we throw away in America are worn out. The average family spends about $1,800 on clothing. Certainly most of us have more than enough stuff in our closet that we could go six months, even a year without buying new clothes. Collins: Yes, and then maybe just get it tailored or updated or something. Accessorize, I don't know, right? Yeager: And again, less than 2 percent of the clothes we throw away are worn out. That's a waste of the Earth's resources. Collins: All right. And finally, give up college room and board. You want the kids to live at home forever? Yeager: This is a big one, you know? Back in my day, if you have a child in school, consider having them live at home while they go to school. It's been a huge generational shift. Back in my days, lots of people, including myself, lived at home when we went to college. Therefore, we didn't take out any college student loans. Now, of course, most kids go away to school, take out student loans. When they graduate, what do they do? They move back home with mom and dad! Let's skip the money step!"
"(CNN) -- We don't know much about the shooting at Los Angeles International Airport just yet, but it has clearly jangled our collective nerves, dredging up the fear and shock and pain of 9/11 -- the wellspring of our modern airport security process -- reminding us that more than a decade later, flying is still a fraught experience. For those of us who were working for United or American, that day in 2001 changed everything. When we finally got back onboard, our workplace now included air marshals, armed pilots, martial arts lessons, tasers, fortified cockpit doors, and a new focus on vigilance, not warmth and customer service. ""Welcome aboard"" was less a greeting and more an opportunity to size you up. So, reports of today's airport shooting raise new fears about weaknesses in this system. Is it possible that the gunman who shot and killed one TSA officer and injured two of his colleagues may have made it through LAX security with a high-powered rifle? (As of this writing, that is not yet clear.) And is it time to start arming Transportation Security Administration officials? No way. I can understand the urge to react, to grasp at anything that might protect travelers. I too want air travel to be safe; hell, my husband is a pilot. But arming screeners at checkpoints well away from the airfield wouldn't be just another of the many precautions the airlines have taken to avert large-scale terrorism. It would simply be about protecting people from something that is everywhere in America: gun violence -- yes, at airports, and also at schools, at movie theaters, and malls. If you're the kind of person who thinks that every teacher and hall monitor and mall cop and cinema usher should be armed, then you'll probably feel safer if we give guns to TSA officers. And maybe flight attendants and customer service reps and baggage handlers. And probably bus drivers and ballpark ticket takers, and hospital staff. LAX shooting delays flights nationwide . September 11, 2001, still hurts, but most of our public killings have been at the hands of angry or disturbed co-workers, students, neighbors, family members -- not terrorists. Do you really want to start handing out guns to the people you work with? Probably not if you work for an airline where people are often underpaid, overworked, sometimes inhumanely exhausted and locked, perennially, in famously contentious relationships with management. Even before 9/11, it made me nervous that as airline workers, we skipped security entirely, simply hopping off the employee bus and entering a back door, bags and bodies unscreened. I feared that the next air disaster would be caused by a colleague with a bone to pick. Of course, I was wrong, and thankfully employees' bags are now screened, but giving guns to airline and airport workers is still a disquieting idea. I was never a fan of armed pilots, even in the nightmarish days after 9/11. Another flight attendant might have felt reassured but, when I once walked into the cockpit of a 757 to find a pilot with a gun resting on his lap, I was most decidedly rattled. I hadn't met the guy before and had no reason to distrust him, but even the thought of an accident was enough to make me question my safety (turbulence anyone?). And a couple of chilling mishaps -- an inadvertent discharge in the cockpit of a US Airways plane and an incident where a JetBlue pilot lost his gun in an airport -- demonstrate the potential dangers of even a best-case-scenario arming of the nation's nearly 50,000 TSA agents. Chaos, terror unfold inside LAX Terminal 3 . Unquestionably, terrorism is a real concern for airlines, but like it or not, as Americans, we have also have to worry just as much about angry neighbors with guns. To fight our justified fear, some will undoubtedly push for more guns and others for fewer. One thing is for certain -- we will continually be forced to debate this. I only hope that we can find some common ground before the next reminder. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Tiffany Hawk."
"(CNN) -- Having established itself as Apple's top tablet competitor by going smaller and cheaper, Amazon will now go head to head with the category-defining iPad on its own turf. Even as Google's new Nexus 7 challenges the Kindle Fire for dominance in the small-tablet category, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on Thursday introduced a new, 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD. That pits the new device, which will ship in late November, against a device with which Apple has, thus far, squashed all direct competition. No tablet that has tried to match the iPad feature-for-feature has gained more than a token foothold in the market. So, how do the latest version of the iPad and the Kindle Fire HD stack up? Because only a few people have gotten their hands on the new device, some questions can't be answered yet. But here's a look at what we do know so far: . Price . The Fire comes out way ahead on this one, as is to be expected from Amazon, which has targeted customers looking for the basic features of a tablet but not willing to pay Apple's heftier price tag. For $499, the cost of the lowest-end iPad (the 16GB, WiFi-only model), a buyer can get a 32GB version of the Fire HD with a 4G LTE connection on an upgraded cellular network. The 16GB version of the Fire comes in at $299, or $200 less than the comparable iPad. Size . While Amazon obviously closed the gap significantly, the iPad still has a bigger screen than the Fire. Apple's iPad screen measures 9.7 inches diagonally, while the Fire is at 8.9 inches. That's less than the difference between the screen sizes on the iPhone 4S and the larger Samsung Galaxy S III smartphones. (There's speculation the iPhone 5 will have a larger screen). But competition between Apple and Amazon could heat up on another front if rumors that Apple plans to release an ""iPad Mini"" turn out to be true. Display . Both tablets feature high-definition screens, although the details vary. The iPad's ""retina display"" featured a total of 3.1 million pixels, with a resolution of 2,048 by 1,536. By contrast, the Fire HD measures 1,920 x 1,200 pixels, with custom features designed to reduce glare and improve color saturation. Both Apple and Amazon boast that the resolution on their tablet is so sharp that it's impossible for the human eye to discern individual pixels. Data plans . Until now, the Kindle Fire has been a WiFi-only device, and some of its new models remain that way. But Bezos announced that the top-end version of the Fire HD is available in 4G. The plan is offered at an attractive price of $50 a year. But that price gets you 250 MB of data per month -- not a lot for a device designed in large part to stream movies and other media. It was unclear Thursday what the charges will be for going over the allotted data. The $50 is well under what AT&T and Verizon charge for a year of data on the iPad. When the first iPad launched, AT&T offered data plans starting at $15 per month, or $180 per year, for 250 megabytes of data. Currently, Verizon offers a variety of plans, from 1GB of data per month for $20 (or $240 per year) all the way up to a massive 8GB per month for $80 ($960). AT&T offers a 250MB per month plan (the same as the Fire) for $15, or $180 per year. For $5 more, customers can get up to 2GB per month. There are obviously lots of permutations of plans customers can seek out for iPads, based on carrier and special offers. It's safe to say Amazon's is going to be less expensive, although it offers a minimal amount of data. Apps . It's hard to compete with Apple's App Store. There are more than 225,000 apps designed specifically for the iPad. Many work to take advantage of its display and screen size. Add the more than a half-million apps that run on mobile devices and you've got a lot from which to choose. Amazon, of course, likes to play up the movies and books that make up its universe of content (and the sale of which make Kindle prices possible). Bezos lumped together more than 22 million movies, TV shows, songs, apps, games, books, audiobooks and magazines available from Amazon's store. He showcased a few, nice-looking new apps. But while the Kindle Fire runs a modified version of Google's Android operating system, it only runs apps available from Amazon. That cuts the number available down to several thousand -- more than enough for many users, but nowhere near what the iPad offers."
"(CNN) -- Rock singer Sammy Hagar, a little older since his Van Halen days but still featuring bountiful blond curls, touted single moms, family and sex Monday night on the premiere of HLN's ""Dr. Drew."" But for Van Halen fans, Hagar's memories of the band and how he would like to regain a friendship with Eddie Van Halen may have been the biggest draw. ""The greatest part of my musical career was being in Van Halen,"" said Hagar, who described to Dr. Drew Pinsky the alcoholism in his father and former bandmates. One of the band members, Hagar said, went into rehab and got clean, but ""Eddie keeps falling down and would be in denial."" Hagar, 63, claims Eddie Van Halen, who he says is doing better these days, is perhaps jealous of his success since leaving the band, a power hard rock mainstay of the 1980s and 1990s. ""They threw me out of the band, and they haven't done anything since 18 years later,"" said Hagar, author of a bestseller ""Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock."" ""He's got the biggest heart in the world,"" Hagar said of Eddie Van Halen. In other comments, Hagar: . -- Recalled dreaming as a young man about an alien encounter, with blue beings and beams of light. ""You can call me crazy all you want. Anyone who says we are the only life in this whole vast universe, they are crazy."" -- Admitted to many sexual consorts during his days on the road and between marriages. Now, ""I chase my wife around the house."" -- Talked about being raised by a single mother in an abusive marriage. ""My mother made me feel love."" -- He also spoke about his father who he said died in the back of a police car.""Because of my father I am very sensitive to it,"" Hagar said of alcoholism. -- Touted old-fashioned hard work. ""I was willing to work my butt off for anything I could achieve,"" Hagar said. ""I came from nothing."" Pinsky, who has been a physician for 30 years, opened the show with an answer to critics who say he can't diagnose at a distance. ""I have studied thousands of cases ... It's what I do."" He said his work includes family issues, sex, addiction and other aspects of the ""human experience. Why we do what we do."""
"Washington (CNN) -- Naif Al-Mutawa anticipated a struggle when he launched an Islam-inspired comic book series that he hoped would become a symbol of tolerance. He worried about the comics being banned in Saudi Arabia - which wound up happening, briefly -- and he expected to be challenged by conservatives in Islam, since Al-Mutawa wanted to buck the trend of Islamic culture being directly tied to the Koran. But it wasn't an Islamic cleric that stalled the series, called ""The 99,"" after the 99 attributes of Allah, which the superheroes are supposed to embody. It is the American market, and the voices of Islam's Western critics, that have caused the most problems for ""The 99,"" says Al-Mutawa, who is the focus of a PBS documentary airing next week. In 2010, President Barack Obama called the comic books, which debuted in 2006, ""the most innovative response"" to America's expanding dialogue with the Muslim world, which Obama has encouraged. The series features 99 superheroes from across the globe who team up to combat villains and who embody what Al-Mutawa calls basic human values like trust and generosity. But Al-Mutawa, a Kuwaiti-born clinical psychologist and graduate of Columbia Business School, says a vocal minority have raised surprising questions about American tolerance of Islam. The idea for ""The 99"" started during a conversation in a London cab between Al-Mutawa and his sister. It took off, although slowly, after Al-Mutawa raised $7 million from 54 investors across four continents. The first issue was released during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in 2006. The comic book was quickly banned in Saudi Arabia and Al-Mutawa received threats of fatwas against him and his project from clerics. But Saudi Arabia eventually lifted the ban and the television adaptation of ""The 99"" will be aired there this year. Al-Mutawa and his team have now raised more than $40 million in venture capital for the project. But when word leaked that The Hub, a Discovery Channel cable and satellite television venture, purchased the series and planned to air it in the United States, the response from conservative bloggers and authors was swift. Pamela Geller, founder of the Atlas Shrugs blog, called the series, part of the ""ongoing onslaught of cultural jihad,"" and created a counter-comic strip that made the 19 hijackers behind the September 11, 2001 attacks the superheroes. New York Post columnist Andrea Peyser, meanwhile, urged readers to ""Hide your face and grab the kids. Coming soon to a TV in your child's bedroom is a posse of righteous, Sharia-compliant Muslim superheroes - including one who fights crime hidden head-to-toe by a burqa."" According to Al-Mutawa, the criticism spooked The Hub. ""All of a sudden we couldn't get an air date and I was asked to be patient and we have been,"" Al-Mutawa said. ""But it has been a year and the actual push-back died down."" A spokesperson for The Hub told CNN that ""'The 99' is one of the many shows we have on the possible schedule, but at this time, no decisions have been made about scheduling."" Al-Mutawa isn't shy about responding to the criticism his comics have received in the U.S. ""There is nothing different from them and the extremists in my country,"" he says. ""They are just as bad. They are just intellectual terrorists."" Geller, author of the book ""Stop the Islamization of America,"" called Al-Mutawa's statement ""ridiculous victimhood rhetoric."" ""He is the one mainstreaming oppression and discrimination,"" Geller says. ""I work for equality of rights for all people. So which one of us is the intellectual terrorist?"" Geller also takes issue with Al-Mutawa's assertion that ""The 99"" exemplifies ""moderation"" and ""toleration,"" pointing to a ""burqa-wearing superhero."" But Al-Mutawa says criticisms of burqas are evidence that, ""for some people anything to do with Islam is bad."" ""How clichÃ© is it that characters created to promote tolerance are getting shot down by extremists,"" he says. Al-Mutawa's frustrations are chronicled in the new documentary ""Wham! Bam! Islam!,"" which will air on PBS on October 13 as part of the Independent Lens series. The film's director, Isaac Solotaroff, began shooting before the comic was released. He said that one of the most surprising aspects of the story is how ""a very small group of people who scream very loud, have a disproportionate share of the public discourse when it comes to culture."" Echoing Al-Mutawa, Solotaroff calls it a case of the tail wagging the dog. He says that initial concerns of censorship in the Middle East began to change as the project progressed. ""We were waiting for a fatwa from a cleric in Saudi Arabia, Solotaroff says,"" when it ended up being the U.S. market that has been resistant to ""The 99."" ""Realizing that The 99 will not survive if focused solely on the Middle East, Al-Mutawa must now target an international and predominantly non-Muslim market,"" reads the website for ""Wham! Bam! Islam!"" Citing The Hub holdup, Solotaroff says the project is now stuck in the most important market"" for ""The 99."" Al-Mutawa is also trying to gain distribution for his TV series in France and other countries, but his main focus remains the United States. ""One way or the other,"" he says, ""'The 99' will get on air in the U.S."""
"(CNN) -- A second Massachusetts compounding pharmacy surrendered its license after state inspectors found ""significant"" issues that could affect sterility, state health officials said. The pharmacy, Infusion Resource, was also found to have a center for giving intravenous medications to patients in violation of state regulations, which require a clinic license, Dr. Madeleine Biondolillo, director of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Bureau of Healthcare Safety and Quality, said Sunday. The state Board of Pharmacy immediately issued a cease and desist notice to Infusion Resource after the October 23 inspection revealed the violations, she said. Over the weekend, the Department of Public Health ""secured the voluntary surrender of Infusion's pharmacy license."" The company, which compounds antibiotic and nutritional IV medications for home use, said in a statement it has since recalled all compounded products dispensed in the past month, effecting 38 patients. ""No issues were cited related to the integrity of our products nor to the quality of our compounding practices,"" said Bernard Lambrese, Infusion Resource CEO, in a statement. ""It is correct that Infusion Resource does not have a clinic license from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The space in our facility is intended for patient education, validation of patient and caregiver skills, medication counseling, medication education, teaching and training."" What is a compounding pharmacy? Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said last week the state would immediately begin unannounced inspections of all Massachusetts pharmacies and require that they submit annual reports detailing what they produce and distribute. That announcement came in the wake of the fungal meningitis outbreak that has caused 25 deaths and 354 illnesses, linked to the Massachusetts-based New England Compounding Center. Seven of those illnesses are peripheral joint infections that specifically affect a joint such as a knee, hip, shoulder or elbow. Infusion Resource is not linked to the outbreak. The incident began unfolding September 24, when the department was notified about a cluster of six rare fungal meningitis cases in Tennessee. The patients shared several risk factors, including having received an epidural injection of a steroid -- methylprednisolone acetate -- that had been compounded at the NECC in Framingham. The department soon learned that the suspect product had been distributed to more than 14,000 patients in 23 states. FDA: Drug maker had internal warnings months before meningitis outbreak . The Department of Public Health has asked two other companies -- Ameridose and Alaunus Pharmaceutical -- to cease all pharmacy operations based on their shared ownership and leadership with NECC. ""NECC's transparency in dealing with the board since inception in 1998 demonstrates its good faith intention to operate in compliance with the requirements of its license,"" said Paul Cirel, a Boston-based lawyer representing the compounder, in a statement last week. ""Furthermore, the company's intention and best efforts at compliance are equally applicable in every other state in which it has been licensed."""
"(CNN) -- Barcelona beat Real Madrid 3-2 at the Camp Nou on Wednesday to claim the Spanish Super Cup in an ill-tempered El Clasico clash. Lionel Messi's volley two minutes from time secured a 5-4 aggregate triumph for Josep Guardiola's side, after French striker Karim Benzema's goal in the 82nd minute looked to have forced the Spanish season's traditional curtain-raiser into extra-time. Tempers flared in injury time when Brazilian full-back Marcelo's dismissal for a lunging tackle on Barca debutant Cesc Fabregas sparked a mass brawl between the two sets of players. Barca's Spain striker David Villa and Real's Germany playmaker Mesut Ozil were red-carded for their involvement in the melee, despite both players having already been substituted. Real coach Jose Mourinho also became involved when he was seen to poke the eye of Guardiola's assistant Tito Vilanova. Recent matches between the two teams have seen similar scenes, with five clashes between the archrivals last season resulting in five red cards. Having drawn Sunday's first leg 2-2 at the Bernabeu, European champions Barca went ahead in the tie when Andres Iniesta latched onto a through ball from FIFA Ballon d'Or winner Messi and clipped a finish over Iker Casillas in the Real goal. Copa del Rey winners Real equalized five minutes later, when Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo prodded Benzema's low cross into the back of the net. Barca regained the lead on the brink of half-time, when Messi found the net following a neat back-heel from center-back Gerard Pique. Benzema scored a second equalizer for Real before Messi's late strike stole glory for Barca, but Mourinho was happy with what he saw from his charges. ""Real Madrid gave a spectacular performance from the first to the last minute,"" Mourinho told the nine-time European champion's web site. ""I just say what I think. We came here to play. Former Inter coach Mourinho stopped short of criticizing the referee for sending off two of his players, but the 48-year-old did appear to suggest Barca's players had made the most of the fouls which were committed. ""The referee must punish what he deems punishable,"" he said. ""Pepe and Marcelo played a great game, one for the entire 90 minutes and the other for 45. Pepe saw a booking for a minor tackle and Marcelo gave a great performance. ""I'm not going to say we're happy because we didn't win the Spanish Super Cup; that would be hypocritical of me. We intend to play like men and not fall on the ground at the slightest touch."" Guardiola has now won 11 major honors since becoming Barca coach in 2008 and the former club captain was delighted with his team's performance. ""What will stay with me is the inhuman effort of the players,"" he said. ""They responded like the players they are: eternal, mythical, unrepeatable, honest, who like to train and play football. ""Truthfully, seeing the way they responded, it's a privilege and honor to be their manager."""
"(CNN) -- The inaugural addresses of the presidents are, for the most part, a wasteland of howling rhetoric and dried-out inspiration. History has little noted, nor has it long remembered, more than a handful of them. Lincoln's two inaugural addresses stand (of course) as the great exception. Franklin Roosevelt's addresses in 1933 and 1937 remain alive, as does the sonorous rhetoric of John F. Kennedy's address in 1961. We continue to quote a single sentence from Thomas Jefferson's first inaugural, a sentence from Ronald Reagan's first and a two-word phrase from Lyndon Johnson's. After that ... After that, you get a lot of this: . ""Liberty -- liberty within the law -- and civilization are inseparable, and though both were threatened, we find them now secure; and there comes to Americans the profound assurance that our representative government is the highest expression and surest guaranty of both."" Who said that? It could have been any one of 20 presidents. (In this case, the speaker happens to be Warren G. Harding.) Writing a great inaugural speech must be very hard, since even many strong and important presidents failed to do it. Theodore Roosevelt failed. Dwight Eisenhower failed. Barack Obama failed the first time, and since second inaugural addresses are almost always even worse than firsts, it seems almost certain he'll fail again on Monday. Why do inaugural addresses fail? They fail for two reasons: One subject to the speaker's control; the other, not. They fail, first, because the grandeur of the occasion inspires new presidents and their teams to overblown rhetoric, even as their political advisers steer them away from too specific commitments. Grand language wrapped around a thin message produces only vapid blather. Consider, for example, this passage from Obama's first inaugural address: . ""On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics. We remain a young nation. But in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history ...."" Unfortunately for Obama, those words were false as description and therefore inaccurate as prediction. You might say that the line ""we come to proclaim an end to ... false promises"" was itself a false promise. Good writing can never come from bad thinking. Zelizer: Learning from Lincoln, Wilson, FDR . But there's another source of failure, one not so easily corrected. Inaugural addresses can fail even when the ideas are clear, even when the writing is fine, if the addresses make commitments that the ensuing presidency cannot deliver. Listen to this inspiring passage: . ""The elevation of the negro race from slavery to the full rights of citizenship is the most important political change we have known since the adoption of the Constitution of 1787. No thoughtful man can fail to appreciate its beneficent effect upon our institutions and people. It has freed us from the perpetual danger of war and dissolution. It has added immensely to the moral and industrial forces of our people. It has liberated the master as well as the slave from a relation which wronged and enfeebled both. ""It has surrendered to their own guardianship the manhood of more than 5,000,000 people, and has opened to each one of them a career of freedom and usefulness. It has given new inspiration to the power of self-help in both races by making labor more honorable to the one and more necessary to the other. The influence of this force will grow greater and bear richer fruit with the coming years."" ""No doubt this great change has caused serious disturbance to our Southern communities. This is to be deplored, though it was perhaps unavoidable. But those who resisted the change should remember that under our institutions there was no middle ground for the negro race between slavery and equal citizenship."" Those were the words of James A. Garfield. Between Lincoln and Lyndon Johnson, no president expressed a stronger personal commitment to equal rights for black Americans than Garfield in 1881. Yet this commitment is remembered today only by historians. Garfield was assassinated in September 1881, serving barely six months in office. Even had Garfield served a full term, his efforts would almost certainly have failed. Federal enforcement of the voting rights of Southern blacks; federal funding of equal education for black children -- to become reality, these aspirations of Garfield's required support from courts, Congress and public opinion. None would have been forthcoming. Garfield's aspirations were doomed to fail by forces of opposition too strong for him to overcome. Garfield's noble summons went unheeded at the time and therefore inspires little interest now. An inaugural address is a plan for what is to come. Even a good president can deliver a bad speech. In fact, they usually do. But however beautifully written, a speech can only be made great by the presidency that follows. An inaugural address is a plan, and the test of a plan is the result. A speech can fail all by itself. Its ideas can be weak, its language can be foggy. But even if the ideas are clear and the words crisp, an inaugural address can be deemed ""great"" only if it is followed by actions that make good on its lofty words. This is why we still remember the mighty words of Lincoln and FDR and why we forget almost all the others. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of David Frum."
"Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- At least 28 people are dead and at least 218 others were wounded Wednesday after three blasts during a Shiite procession here, authorities in Pakistan said. Khalid Ranjha, a Lahore government official, said two of the dead are children and two others are women, and seven of those injured are in critical condition. The three explosions occurred within a radius of about 600 meters (2,000 feet). All three blasts were the work of suicide bombers, said Nayab Haider, a spokesman for the Lahore police. Police tried to stop the first suicide bomber as the procession was ending, but he blew himself up as the police officer caught up with him in the crowd, Haider said. Three or four minutes later, the second blast erupted. It was followed 25 minutes later by yet a third suicide bomber. Police have found two heads and one body separately, said Haider, who said authorities had assigned 2,500 police officers to the procession after receiving a warning that it might be attacked. Khusro Pervez, a senior government official, said the incidents took place around the time of the daily breaking of the Ramadan fast, and security may have been lax. ""At the end of the procession, security should have been more vigilant,"" Pervez said. ""The incident happened because of security breach."" Pakistan is a largely Sunni Muslim nation, and the attack on Shiite Muslims conjures thoughts of the long-standing tensions between the two groups in the Middle East and Asia. Paramilitary forces have been deployed to the streets to bring order. Local TV channels showed pictures of angry people burning vehicles, beating police and trying to break into a police station. CNN's Samson Desta contributed to this story."
"ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN)  -- It was an image that got the nation talking: Two giggling young women in oversized sunglasses robbing a bank. The ""Barbie Bandits"" helped their hometown earn the dubious distinction as the nation's bank robbery capital. Here one of the so-called ""Barbie Bandits"" is captured on surveillance video at a surburban Atlanta bank. Atlanta's FBI field division topped Los Angeles in reporting the most bank heists, with 350 for the 12 months ending September 30, 2007, according to the FBI, which annually names areas most prone to bank robberies. The Los Angeles area was No. 2 with 338 heists, followed by Philadelphia with 316. Just Thursday, two suspects overpowered a security guard at an Atlanta, Georgia, bank, took his gun, robbed the bank and fled with money in hand, police said. Eventually, police shot one of the suspects in an exchange of gunfire. Two more armed bank robberies took place in metro Atlanta Friday. The FBI says violent crime is up across the nation, especially in major metro areas like Atlanta. So it's no surprise Atlanta has become a prime target for bank robberies, FBI spokesman Stephen Emmett told CNN.  Watch Hotlanta or Heistlanta? » . ""This goes hand in hand with those figures,"" Emmett said. Atlanta's rapid growth over the last decade has also been a factor. A recent Atlanta Business Chronicle article reported that metro Atlanta has 26 more banks than in all of North Carolina -- roughly one bank for every 3,500 people in the region.  See photos of bank heists in metro Atlanta » . ""We would attribute a lot of that [bank robberies] to the growth and the fact that the banking industry has matched that growth with an increase in bank branches throughout the area,"" Emmett said. Atlanta's rise in bank heists comes just as Los Angeles has aggressively countered once out-of-control bank robberies. Los Angeles has gone from more than 500 bank robberies in the mid-2000s to this year's 338, the FBI stats show. According to the FBI, its Atlanta field division reported 350 bank robberies in the last year -- the most notorious of which were the ""Barbie Bandits"" and ""Grandpa Bandit"" robberies. The FBI says 122 of the heists were armed robberies, or robberies where a weapon was visibly used. Emmett said many more of the robberies were what law enforcement officers classify as ""note jobs"" -- where a robber gestures as if he or she has a gun on them in a demand note handed over to the teller. Also factored into the total number of robberies were ATM heists and a record nine armored car robberies. Those armored car robberies are particularly disturbing to Emmett. ""Anyone that would confront an armored car courier knowing that he's already armed and in somewhat of a defensive posture, that mindset is very troubling for law enforcement,"" he said. While Emmett said there is no ""typical"" bank robber, he said he has seen some trends, most notably that they are often people battling drug addictions. He also said bank robbers are often repeat offenders. Two recent high-profile cases in Atlanta seem to confirm that. Two women dubbed the ""Barbie Bandits"" were arrested after working with a bank employee to rob a Bank of America in the Atlanta suburb of Acworth. They both later admitted to police to having drug addiction problems. Recently apprehended 69-year-old Bobby Joe Phillips, dubbed the ""Grandpa Bandit,"" is suspected to have robbed seven banks in Tennessee and the Atlanta area and had a criminal history. Emmett says typically very little money is taken in a bank heist. Joe Brannen, president of the Georgia Bankers Association, agrees, saying ""the average is $2,000 to $3,000. It's not as big a payoff as most people think it is."" With the holidays in full swing, authorities are steeling themselves for a spate of bank robberies with robbers looking for quick holiday cash. ""I would make the assumption that a large part of it is the increased [financial] pressures this time of year,"" said Brannen. The FBI advises banks to be extra vigilant this time of year and to keep a close eye on jittery individuals donning gloves, hats and sunglasses. But Brannen says profiling people like that can be problematic. ""We've chosen not to go there. Here in Atlanta, lots of people wear head coverings for religious purposes. This is a free and open society,"" he said. He said customers want to come into a bank unimpeded -- that 99.9 percent are just customers, not bank robbers. Brannen says banks do all they can to balance convenience for their customers and the bank's need for security. ""There is no good, magic solution."" he says. Emmett said as long as metro Atlanta continues to grow, so will the number of bank robberies. ""This is something that is part of growth. We have more banks. We have more people. We're a big city now."" E-mail to a friend . CNN's Rusty Dornin contributed to this report."
"Washington (CNN) -- When the Obama administration unveils its National Security Strategy Thursday, it will be the first time a president explicitly recognizes the threat posed to the country by radicalized individuals at home. ""For the first time since 9/11, the NSS integrates homeland security and national security,"" according to highlights of the plan given to CNN by a senior administration official said. The security strategy acts as a blueprint for how the White House intends to protect Americans. In the past, it has focused mostly on international threats. But National Security Adviser John Brennan explained Wednesday that a spate of terror-related plots in the United States recently prompted the Obama administration to include homegrown terrorism in the document. ""Such a strategy must begin with the recognition that a clear-eyed understanding of our strategic environment -- the world as it is today -- is necessary to shape the world that we seek,"" according to a summary of the plan. ""Currently, the United States is focused on completing a responsible transition in Iraq, succeeding in Afghanistan, and defeating al Qaeda and its terrorist affiliates, while moving our economy from deep recession to enduring recovery. Even as we confront these crises, our national strategy must take a longer view. We must adapt and lead in a rapidly changing, interconnected world in which interests of nations and peoples are increasingly shared."" Homegrown terrorism represents a new phase of the terrorist threat, officials said. Earlier this month, Pakistani-American Faisal Shahzad was charged with trying to detonate a car bomb in New York's bustling district of Times Square. U.S. Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan is suspected of fatally shooting 13 people at Fort Hood in November. Colorado resident Najibullah Zazi, an Afghan national, pleaded guilty in February for conspiring to detonate explosives in the New York subway system. David Headley, an American citizen from Chicago, Illinois, is accused of providing surveillance in the Mumbai, India, terrorist attacks that killed 160 people. ""We've seen an increasing number of individuals here in the United States become captivated by extremist ideology or causes,"" Brennan said. ""We have seen individuals, including U.S. citizens armed with their U.S. passports, travel easily to extremist safe havens, return to America, their deadly plans disrupted by coordinated intelligence and law enforcement."" Brennan, who made his comments at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said that as the United States has strengthened its defenses against massive attacks like 9/11, al Qaeda has shown itself to be a ""resilient, resourceful and determined enemy."" Brennan said al Qaeda is recruiting individuals with little training, attempting relatively unsophisticated attacks and seeking people living in the United States to launch such attacks. ""They are seeking foot soldiers who might slip through our defense,"" Brennan said. ""As our enemy adapts and evolves their tactics, so must we constantly adapt and evolve ours."" Brennan did not provide any specific details about the president's strategy for combating al Qaeda and its affiliates, but said it ""will require a broad, sustained and integrated campaign that harnesses every tool of American power, military and civilian, kinetic and diplomatic."" The strategy is built  around protecting ""four enduring U.S. national interests -- security, prosperity, values, and international order."" In order to achieve this, it must strengthen U.S. institutions, values, and infrastructure -- such as education, energy, science and technology, and health care. It calls for strong diplomatic efforts internationally and galvanizing ""collective action to address the share global challenges of our time."" ""Engagement begins with our friends and allies -- active partners in advancing common interests. We will continue to deepen our partnerships with increasingly active centers of influence -- cooperating when we can, and differing when we must. ""With adversarial regimes, engagement provides us a means of testing intentions, giving governments the opportunity to change course, and mobilizing international coalitions."" The strategy calls for updating ""all of the tools of American power, and work with our allies and partners to do the same."" ""These tools include those in the fields of defense, diplomatic, development, homeland security, the rule of law, intelligence, and strategic communications, as well as support the participation of the American people and private sector. We are working to strengthen each of these tools, but also to integrate them through coordinated planning and capacity building in key areas,"" the strategy said."
"(CNN) -- Pamela Anderson is set to bring a little Hollywood glamor to motorsport after becoming part owner of a sports car racing team. The former Baywatch star has linked up with the Race Alliance team, which is competing in the inaugural FIA GT Series. The Playboy pin-up ventured into motorsport in March 2012 when her and occasional racing driver Markus Fux fronted the Downforce1 European Le Mans teams. Following the failure of that venture Fux and Anderson have teamed up with the Race Alliance team for the final three races of the GT Series' 2013 season. ""We want to make Race Alliance a recognizable name and have looked for the best drivers possible,"" a spokesman for the team told Autosport.com. ""The plan is to contest the full FIA GT Series next year, as well as the Nurburgring 24 Hours, and then look to NASCAR after that."" In Vitantonio Liuzzi and Mathias Lauda the Austrian team boasts two drivers of considerable pedigree. F1 Inforgraphic: Deals on wheels . Liuzzi spent six years in Formula One, including one season with Red Bull, while his teammate Lauda is the son of Austria's triple F1 world champion Niki Lauda. Liuzzi and Lauda will be behind the wheel of a Ferrari 458 Italia when the team debuts in Slovakia this weekend. Three dates remain on the GT Series' 2013 calendar, with Spain and Azerbaijan hosting races after Slovakia. Competing against Anderson's team will be one led by rally driving legend Sebastian Loeb. The Frenchman won a record nine World Rally Championships in a row between 2004 and 2012 and now heads the Sebastian Loeb Racing team."
"LONDON, England (CNN) -- Britain's Prince Harry turned 25 Tuesday in the knowledge that he is now entitled to part of the multi-million dollar inheritance left to him by his late mother. Prince Harry is currently training to become a helicopter pilot with the British Army. Harry was just 12 years old when Diana, Princess of Wales, was killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997. His mother left an estate worth £21 million ($35 million), but more than £8 million ($13.31 million) was paid in inheritance tax, leaving around £13 million ($21.6 million) to be shared between Harry and his brother William, who is second in line to the throne, the British Press Association reported. Much of that money is thought to have been invested but it is not known if the economic downturn has affected the amount. Both princes are prevented from spending the lump sum of their inheritance until they turn 30. But Harry will pocket all income generated by his portion of the estate -- around £300,000 ($500,000) a year.  Watch more about Prince Harry's birthday windfall » . Prince Harry joined the British Army in 2006 and served in Afghanistan for more than two months from the end of 2007 to early 2008, before being withdrawn after news of his secret deployment leaked out to the media. There had been fears that Harry, who is third in line to the throne, could become a target for Taliban militants. According to British media reports, the prince's deployment was subject to a news blackout deal struck between the Ministry of Defence and newspapers and broadcasters in the UK and abroad. He received a promotion to the rank of lieutenant in April last year and is now training to become a helicopter pilot with the British Army's Air Corps. The young royal has also created a few negative headlines, particularly in Britain's tabloid press, in recent years. In February this year, he was formally disciplined by his Army superiors after videos surfaced showing him using offensive language -- referring to a fellow soldier as a ""Paki"" and another as looking ""like a raghead."" A spokesman for the prince told CNN: ""Prince Harry has apologized for his comments and has been subjected to normal Army disciplinary procedures. The matter is now closed."" In a well-publicized gaffe in 2005, Harry apologized after he was photographed wearing a Nazi uniform at a party. ""It was a very stupid thing to do and I've learned my lesson, simple as that really,"" he said in an interview marking his 21st birthday. ""I'd like to put it in the past now. What's done is done. I regret it."""
"(CNN) -- The flight data and cockpit voice recorders from JetBlue Flight 191, which made an emergency landing this week, have been retrieved and will be analyzed, officials said Thursday. The National Transportation Safety Board will download the data Friday, said spokeswoman Kelly Nantel. Information gleaned from them will be given to the FBI, she said. Investigators are looking into the apparent midair meltdown of the captain, Clayton Osbon, whose remarks and erratic behavior Tuesday led the co-pilot to lock him out of the cockpit. Crew and passengers subdued Osbon as he screamed and banged on the door so hard the first officer thought Osbon would come through, according to a federal criminal complaint filed Wednesday against Osbon. The complaint says Osbon began making remarks during the flight that concerned the first officer, who is his co-pilot. ""Osbon yelled over the radio to air traffic control and instructed them to be quiet. Osbon turned off the radios in the aircraft, dimmed his monitors and sternly admonished the FO (first officer) for trying to talk on the radio,"" the U.S. attorney's office in the Northern District of Texas said in a written statement. ""When Osbon said 'we need to take a leap of faith,' the FO stated that he became very worried. Osbon told the FO that 'we're not going to Vegas,' and began giving what the FO described as a sermon."" It was not immediately known whether the alleged remarks are audible on the voice recorder. But federal regulations state that planes manufactured since 1991 must record cockpit chatter on microphones. The JetBlue plane was new and would be subject to the rule. The cockpit voice recorder captures two hours of data and the flight data recorder, which measures the plane's speed and altitude, contains 25 hours. About 3Â½ hours into the planned five-hour flight from New York's Kennedy International Airport to Las Vegas, the pilot left the cockpit to use the lavatory, but he failed to follow security protocol, alarming the crew, according to an affidavit filed in support of an arrest warrant. He then banged on the lavatory door and told the female passenger inside that he needed to go to the bathroom. By that time, the first officer had summoned another JetBlue pilot who had been traveling as a passenger to enter the cockpit and the two locked themselves inside, the affidavit states. From the cabin, Osbon tried to enter his security code to gain access to the cockpit ""and he banged on the door hard enough that the FO thought he was coming through the door,"" according to the affidavit. But the door held and, over the PA, the first officer ordered passengers to restrain Osbon. Several did just that, subduing the pilot in the forward galley. Osbon, who was been charged with interfering with a flight crew, has not made a public statement. He has been suspended pending an investigation and is receiving medical treatment, the airline said Wednesday. A court official said Osbon was still under care Thursday. JetBlue has repeatedly praised the first officer, along with an off-duty captain who stepped in to assist and other crew members. Some passengers have referred to the first officer as a hero. But his mother said on Thursday that he would reject the label. ""Knowing my son, he would think that he's not a hero. He just did what he was paid to do,"" Jean Beatrice Dowd said of Jason Dowd. ""That's just his job, and he loves his job. He's just a quiet man."" He called his parents the night of the incident, his mother said. ""He was pretty shaken up, and he couldn't say much."" The incident took place on a significant date for the family -- the 10th anniversary of the death of Jason Dowd's older sister, who died of cancer, Jean Dowd said. ""I know he was thinking of her, too, at the time this was all going on,"" Dowd said. The incident ""has been earthshaking for us, too,"" she said. ""To lose him would have been terrible for us."" Jason Dowd, 41, who is married and has two young children, has not made a public statement. He was in New York, speaking with officials about the incident, his mother said. After the incident, the flight made the emergency landing in Amarillo, Texas. Osbon's stepmother said Thursday she has flown with him several times. ""He loved to fly, a love which he got from his dad,"" Judy Osbon said in a statement. ""He also took his piloting very seriously and was very good at it. I've only known Clayton to be a cheerful, conscientious and caring person."" Her stepson was upbeat the last time they spoke, she said. Osbon's father, Ronald, who was a pilot, and a passenger were killed in a 1995 airplane crash in Florida, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The pilot radioed he was losing power on both engines and was out of gas. The aircraft crashed near Daytona Beach Regional Airport. CNN's Aaron Cooper, Mike M. Ahlers and Carol Cratty contributed to this report."
"Rhode Island resident Lisa Kondvar remembers her mother as a beautiful, small and vivacious blonde. So she was shocked to see the body of a tall brunette woman lying in the open casket at her mother's wake in New Jersey on December 9. Right away, the tears and the crying stopped. Kondvar and her family immediately closed the casket and left the room, she said. ""It wasn't mom,"" Kondvar said. ""They sent us the wrong body."" Her mother, Margaret Porkka, was vacationing in St. Maarten on the family's annual Thanksgiving trip when Porkka suddenly died after feeling light-headed. Porkka, 82, was pronounced dead at St. Maarten Medical Center on November 29, the morning after Thanksgiving. Other than a pacemaker and a right hip replacement, Kondvar said, her mother was in good health and very active. ""It didn't make sense. She was full of life,"" Kondvar said. ""My mother was a picture of health. She ran circles around me."" Kondvar said her family was told their mother's body had been taken to Emerald Funeral Home in St. Maarten, where the funeral director denied their request to see their mother and demanded a $7,000 wire-transfer-only fee to send the body back to the United States. ""That gave me a red flag,"" Kondvar told CNN. ""When I hear 'wire transfer,' I get cautious."" Eager to get their mother's body back on American soil and not knowing of any alternative, the family wired the money and left their mother's passport, necessary information for the death certificate, and a set of clothes for the funeral services. The body that arrived in a casket at the New Jersey funeral home on December 6 was not her mother, Kondvar said. But the body was dressed in Porkka's clothing and was accompanied by her passport and death certificate. The casket also had a small, red-velvet pouch containing jewelry and items that Kondvar said did not belong to her mother. ""There was a medical bracelet that said 'angina.' My mother didn't have angina,"" she told CNN. Now, Kondvar and her family want answers, and they want their mother back, she said. ""It pains me that she's gone, and it's even worse because I don't have her and I want to hold her one more time, and I can't do that,"" Kondvar said. Repeated calls to St. Maarten Medical Center and Emerald Funeral Home over the weekend were not returned. Kondvar said she hasn't heard from the hospital or the funeral home since leaving St. Maarten. Kondvar, who is a nurse, said she contacted U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, for help. Reed, a personal friend of Kondvar, has been in touch with the U.S. consulate in St. Maarten and is closely monitoring the situation, according to Reed's spokesman, Chip Unruh. According to Kondvar, Emerald Funeral Home in St. Maarten was supposed to notify the U.S. consulate of Porkka's death so the office could arrange for the body to be accompanied back to America. That never happened, Kondvar said. As if the situation weren't already complicated, there's reason to believe that somehow her mother's body was mistakenly sent to a family in Canada and cremated, Kondvar told CNN. ""If it is mom up in Canada, we want her back. We certainly don't hold anything against this family because they're in grief,"" she said. ""I can't even imagine what they're going through."" Unruh said Reed has expedited a DNA test to determine whether the body that was sent to Canada is in fact Kondvar's mother. ""It's a nightmare,"" Unruh said. The government of St. Maarten issued a statement on its website explaining some of what happened. Two women, one Canadian and one American, died on November 29 and were taken to the same funeral home, it said.  The government honored the families' requests to send the bodies to their respective homes, and the deceased women were flown to the United States on the same airline. ""Upon collection of the deceased the next of kin of both deceased persons claimed that this was not the body of their respective relatives and have lodged a complaint with the local law enforcement authorities. The body that was flown to Canada has since been cremated,"" the government website said. DNA analyses ""will be carried out in order to verify conclusively the identity of both bodies. As soon as there is more information available it will be made available through the representatives of the respective Governments, the families of the deceased and the respective media outlets,"" the government statement said. As Porkka's family awaits the test results, Kondvar said she has a terrible, gut feeling the body in Canada is not her mother's. ""If it's not her, I don't know where that leaves us,"" she said. Kondvar told CNN the St. Maarten government is performing an internal investigation into what went wrong. But Kondvar is wary. She's been in touch with the State Department and wants to hire an international attorney to lead her own investigation. ""I want an outside investigation. I don't trust that government. They've hurt my family,"" she said. Kondvar, a resident of Warwick, said she's not sure whether she will ever return to St. Maarten, although she has fond memories of the island and the residents from her family vacations. ""(My mother) loved St. Maarten. That's why it brings me some kind of peace, is that she died in paradise,"" Kondvar said."
"London (CNN) -- London's Heathrow Airport is ""fully operational"" and returning to normal after an emergency landing Friday forced the closing of both runways, the airport said -- but many travelers are likely to suffer delays anyway. British Airways has canceled all its inbound and outbound short-haul flights until 4 p.m. (11 a.m. ET) as a result of the incident. And Heathrow Airport has warned of disruption to travel that could last all day. So far, 23 planes have been diverted to other airports and 19 flights canceled, some arrivals and some departures, a spokeswoman said Friday morning. The airport is working to return to normal service as soon as possible, she said, but passengers are advised to check with their airlines. A British Airways plane bound for Oslo was forced to make the emergency landing ""due to a technical fault,"" the airline said. Flight BA762 turned back less than half an hour after taking off for the Norwegian capital, it said. The Airbus A319 aircraft was carrying 75 passengers and five crew members, the airline said. The passengers were evacuated from the plane on emergency slides. ""Airline colleagues are now caring for customers in the airport terminal,"" said British Airways. London Ambulance Service treated three patients for minor injuries after the emergency landing, it said on Twitter. British Airways said it would be carrying out a full investigation into the incident, alongside the Air Accident Investigation Branch, part of the UK Department for Transport. The slides were deployed on the left side of the aircraft, indicating that the problem was with the right engine, said CNN's Richard Quest. Planes can fly safely even if only one engine is operational, he said. London Fire Brigade said one of its crews helped the airport fire service put out an aircraft fire. ""We believe the fire is now out,"" it said via Twitter. Heathrow, which is a major international hub, was ranked the third busiest airport in the world in 2012 after Atlanta and Beijing, according to Airports Council International. Monday is a holiday in the United Kingdom, so many people will be taking flights Friday to take advantage of the long weekend. Holidaymaker Aileen Wilson was one of many travelers whose flight was grounded by the incident. ""We've just been sitting, waiting in a plane meant to take off"" this morning, she told CNN iReport. ""At first we were told ongoing incident and then emergency landing. We (are) still waiting to take off (and) not allowed out of plane!"" Instagram user Shazia Shaikh took a photograph from the office where she works at Heathrow Airport of emergency vehicles surrounding a plane. ""Runways closed (and) lots of smoke,"" she told CNN iReport. ""The rain doesn't help. Emergency vehicles were quick to the aircraft I'm told."" On average, 190,000 passengers travel through the airport each day, half arriving and half departing, according to Heathrow's website. CNN's Claudia Rebaza, Richard Allen Greene, Sarah Brown and Dominique Van Heerden contributed to this report."
"Washington (CNN) -- House Democrats are bracing for a rough election night next Tuesday, and top leaders are making a major push for rank and file members to open their wallets to help save those vulnerable Democrats who are in danger of losing their seats. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Rep Steve Israel, D-New York, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, held a conference call Tuesday afternoon with House Democrats and told them it was time to pony up -- and gave them a Friday deadline. According to a source on the call, a dozen House members and two Democratic candidates pledged almost $500,000 during the session. Several Democratic sources told CNN that members are expecting Republicans to pick up some seats, but they still believe that many House Democrats in competitive districts are positioned to survive if they get support. The DCCC has invested heavily in field operations with 950 staff in 40 districts. But the surge of outside money from GOP groups on new television and radio spots, combined with contributions from several wealthy GOP candidates, has Democrats concerned. In a memo circulated to House Democrats, the DCCC chairman argued that the uptick in GOP spending by outside groups was something the committee was prepared to counter. Israel wrote that despite the effort by Republicans and their allies, ""not a single Democratic incumbent is out of contention. This is a stark contrast from 2010, where many incumbents were already down and out despite our best efforts."" But Israel also said, ""This climate is incredibly challenging and only getting harder."" So, with seven days left before the midterms, the leaders stepped up the pressure on members to give now. The DCCC has consistently out-raised its GOP counterpart over the course of the 2014 election cycle. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, House Democrats have raised over $172 million for the midterms, while House Republicans have raised about $131 million. For Democrats, much of the money has been brought in by top leaders like Pelosi, Israel and Rep Steny Hoyer, the No. 2 House Democrat. The purpose of the call on Tuesday was to make it clear that they expect others, especially those who were given plum committee posts by their leaders, to lend a hand. There are always members in both parties who sit on money in their campaign accounts at the end of an election cycle. Some of these members might be considering a bid for the Senate or governor, or may be reluctant to share the cash with their colleagues. But the ones who spent hours hosting fundraisers and trekking over to the Democratic headquarters to dial donors for dollars are frustrated with colleagues who don't reach their targets and don't seem to suffer major repercussions. According to a DCCC dues sheet obtained by CNN, about 90% of House Democrats have contributed to the campaign committee, but 77 -- less than half of the House Democratic caucus -- have paid the full amount of dues for the 2014 midterms. Leaders were expected to raise between $450,000 and $800,000 for this cycle, and data from the DCCC shows 37 House Democrats exceeded their goals. Democrats on key committees overseeing banks, telecommunications companies, and other industries who donate to campaigns are also expected to raise significant money -- between $200,000 and $500,000 per election cycle, depending on their committee and seniority. But the 2013-2014 dues sheet shows many of those committee leaders fell short on their fundraising goals. For example, Michigan Rep Sander Levin, who is the top Democrat on the tax writing committee, gave $525,000 -- more than his assigned $500,000. But California Democratic Rep Henry Waxman, who is the most senior Democrat on the Energy and Commerce panel, and a close ally of Pelosi's, has sent in $10,000 of his $500,000 in dues. Waxman's office did not respond to an inquiry from CNN. Internal tallies of members' campaign contributions are regularly shared among House Democrats. Making sure fellow Democrats see the spreadsheets that show who is paying up and who isn't is a tool leaders hope will shame those who haven't given significant amounts yet to write checks. But it's also a list leaders keep in mind when they decide who gets to keep slots on powerful committees in the next Congress."
"San Angelo, Texas (CNN) -- The Texas jury that found polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs guilty Thursday of sexual assault will deliberate again to determine his punishment. Jeffs, who represented himself after firing his defense team, remained stoic as the verdict was read. Jurors will decide his fate after hearing additional witness testimony in the penalty phase of the trial, which began Thursday evening and will continue Friday. The sect leader faces a maximum sentence of life in prison for his conviction of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old and a 15-year-old who were his ""spiritual wives."" The jury convicted him of two counts of sexual assault on a child -- charges that stemmed from a 2008 raid on a ranch his church operates near Eldorado, Texas. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott hailed the verdict and said prosecutors were seeking a life sentence for Jeffs. ""Here in the state of Texas, juries render tough, swift justice against anyone who would sexually assault a child,"" he said. Before the verdict, witnesses showed jurors DNA evidence they said showed Jeffs conceived a baby with a 15-year-old child. And prosecutors presented an audio recording that they alleged documents Jeffs' sexual assault of a 12-year-old girl in the presence of three other ""wives."" Abbott said attorneys were presenting new, ""repulsive"" evidence about the sect leader during the trial's penalty phase. ""I think it will confirm in (jurors') minds why they convicted the man and why they want to put him behind bars for a long time,"" he said. Court adjourned about two hours after jurors reached a verdict Thursday. The trial was scheduled to continue at 10 a.m. Friday (11 a.m. ET). Jurors deliberated for three hours and 45 minutes, starting Thursday afternoon. They sent out two notes during deliberations, requesting a CD player to listen to audio recordings and asking for the transcript of testimony from a witness. Jeffs stood silently for most of his 30-minute closing argument Thursday -- the latest dramatic twist in a trial that included frequent objections and sermonlike speeches about religious freedom. Jeffs stared at the table in front of him for most of his allotted block of time during closing arguments, as Judge Barbara Walther counted down. He looked up at the jury when he reached the 20-minute mark, staring at each member. The jurors stared back. Five minutes later, Jeffs mumbled, ""I am at peace."" The leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spoke so quietly that people in the courtroom strained to hear him. Prosecutor Eric Nichols warned jurors not to be swayed by Jeffs' frequent invocations of religious freedom as a defense. The case, he said, has nothing to do with an attack on religion. Instead, it is about Jeffs and his actions, Nichols argued. He showed pictures of Jeffs' alleged victims as he summed up his argument. Jeffs began the hearing on Thursday -- the fifth day of his trial -- by asking for what he called constitutional protection because he represents a religious organization. The judge immediately denied his request. The sect leader then questioned witness J.D. Roundy, a sect member who also had taken the stand for four hours the day before. He did not call additional witnesses to the stand. On Wednesday, Texas prosecutors rested their case after playing a key piece of evidence for jurors: a 20-minute audio tape that began and ended with a man saying prayer. Prosecutors alleged that the recording documents Jeffs' sexual assault of a then-12-year-old girl in the presence of three other ""wives."" The girl had grown up in Jeffs' Yearning for Zion ranch, clearing cactus and attending a Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints school where Jeffs was principal, authorities said. Prosecutors showed the jury a photo of her with her arms around Jeffs, and a marriage certificate which listed the girl's age as 12 at the time. On Tuesday, the jury heard audio recordings that prosecutors said showed Jeffs instructing a 14-year-old and his other young ""wives"" on how to sexually please him in order to win God's favor. Prosecutors said the 14-year-old was Jeffs' ""spiritual wife"" and conceived a child with Jeffs when she was 15. Jeffs' trial started last week. He made no plea during his arraignment and remained silent for more than a day of the trial proceedings. But on Friday, he began repeatedly objecting -- at one point delivering an hourlong speech about his religious freedom ""being trampled upon."" Jeffs could be sentenced to five years to life in prison on the charge of aggravated sexual assault regarding the alleged 12-year-old. For the other count, he would face a sentence of two to 20 years. Jeffs' breakaway sect is believed to have about 10,000 followers. Their practice of polygamy, which the mainstream Mormon Church renounced more than a century ago, is part of the sect's doctrine. The Texas legal proceedings began after about 400 children were taken from the sect's Yearning for Zion ranch in 2008. Jeffs was also charged with bigamy after the raid and is expected to be tried on that charge later. Child protection officials said they found a ""pervasive pattern"" of sexual abuse on the ranch through forced marriages between underage girls and older men. But the Texas Supreme Court ruled the state had no right to remove the children. The court also said the state lacked evidence to show that the children faced imminent danger of abuse. Most of the children were returned to their families, although some men at the ranch were charged with sexual abuse. Jeffs was on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list when he was arrested five years ago during a routine 2006 traffic stop in Las Vegas. He was convicted in Utah on two counts of being an accomplice to rape for using his religious influence over his followers to coerce a 14-year-old girl into marrying her 19-year-old cousin. Afterward, he was sentenced to two consecutive prison terms of five years to life. But in July 2010, the Utah Supreme Court overturned his convictions, ruling that the jury instructions were erroneous. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said last week Utah is prepared to retry Jeffs, depending on the outcome of the Texas case. In Session's Christi Paul, Jim Kyle, Grace Wong and Keith Lovely Jr. contributed to this report."
"The Western Australian government caught 172 sharks, and killed 50 of the largest animals, as part of a culling program that has sparked anger among conservationists. The three-month program, which ended last week, used baited lines attached to floating drums to catch sharks off popular beaches in Western Australia following a spate of fatal shark attacks in waters off the state in recent years. The scheme, which was part of the state's $20 million shark mitigation policy, allowed for tiger, bull and great white sharks measuring longer than 10 feet (3 meters) hooked on the drum lines to be destroyed. Some 50 tiger sharks longer than 10 feet were killed between January 25 and April 30. The largest one, which measured 14.8 feet (4.5 meters), was caught in February off Perth's Floreat beach. Not the right culprits? But none of the creatures captured were great white sharks, the species believed to be responsible for most of  the recent fatal attacks in Western Australia, which have left seven people dead in the past three years. Under the program, another 14 sharks measuring less than 10 feet died on the drum line and four more were destroyed because they were too weak to survive, according to the government's figures published Wednesday. Western Australia's Fisheries Minister Ken Baston hailed the shark mitigation policy a success, saying it was restoring confidence among beachgoers and contributing to research about shark behavior. ""The human toll from shark attacks in recent years has been too high,"" Baston said in a statement released to the media. ""While of course we will never know if any of the sharks caught would have harmed a person, this government will always place greatest value on human life,"" the minister said. Conservationist's nightmare . But the scheme has been criticized by environmentalists who say the sea predators should remain protected species. ""Of the 172 sharks that were caught on the drum line, the majority were tiger sharks which haven't been involved in shark fatalities for decades in Western Australia,"" Sea Shepherd shark campaigner Natalie Banks told CNN. More than 70% of the creatures caught on the drum line weren't large enough to be considered a threat or were other animals, like stingrays, Banks said. While monitoring the government program, Sea Shepherd found that sharks released alive were in a ""state of shock"" known as tonic immobility and sank to the ocean floor, she said. Hi-tech initiative . As part of its shark research and protection policy, the Western Australian Department of Fisheries is working on a satellite-linked shark tagging program that allows beach safety authorities to know, through near real-time alerts, if a tagged shark is in the vicinity. Under the three-month cull scheme, 90 sharks were tagged before being released alive. Other animals caught on the line were freed, including seven stingrays and a north-west blowfish. Beach closures due to shark sightings were also down this year, according to government figures. There were 93 closures in 2013-14, compared to 131 the previous season. The Western Australian government is seeking approval to extend the program for three more years. Human remains found in search for woman 'taken' by shark in Australia . Shrimper catches rare goblin shark ."
"(CNN)If Usain Bolt ever takes up figure skating, he will know how Kauto Star feels. The 14-year-old racehorse, one of the greatest steeplechasers of all time and a two-time Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, made his dressage debut at London's Olympia Horse Show on Tuesday. Dressage, which involves horse and rider working together to produce a complex ""dance"" routine marked by judges, is how Kauto Star has been spending retirement since his last National Hunt race in 2012. Laura Collett, a leading British event rider, has been helping the horse to learn the intricacies of a sport that rewards precision and poise above power and pace. ""He's changed shape a lot since we got him,"" Collett told Horse and Hound magazine in the build-up to Kauto Star's demonstration dressage test at Olympia. ""He hadn't done any flat work at all. But he's got a brilliant temperament and he's very willing. He got the hang of it very easily. ""He needed to soften his whole body -- he was just used to going in a straight line. So he's done a lot of gymnastic exercises and things to supple him up. ""He tries really hard. When you've taught him something once, he remembers it. The hardest thing for him was the canter -- he only really knew about going fast."" Having spent a career streaking past thousands of spectators lining a racecourse, Kauto Star appeared a little unprepared for an indoor arena crowd as he took his first, dainty dressage steps at Olympia. ""It's the crowds being up high and so close, it's quite intimidating,"" Collett told the BBC afterwards. ""He didn't show himself off to the best of his ability -- he got a bit of stage fright and shut down. ""Most horses who come into an arena like this have been doing it for eight or 10 years, and build up gradually. He's been thrown in at the deep end."" Kauto Star is not in contention for Rio 2016. Britain has one of the world's leading dressage teams and no matter his racing pedigree, there simply isn't the time to bring him up to the required standard. Instead, dressage is seen as a way to offer the horse an interesting retirement -- although that wasn't met with universal approval when the decision was made, two years ago. Owner Clive Smith sent Kauto Star to Collett's Wiltshire yard in December 2012, against the wishes of the horse's longtime trainer, Paul Nicholls. The dispute over the horse's future brought to an end a partnership responsible for almost a dozen major victories on the racecourse, a career bettered only by 1960s legends Arkle and Flyingbolt. Now, by contrast, Collett says there is ""no pressure"" on Kauto Star to perform to any standard in his new sport. ""The main thing is the horse is happy and relaxed,"" she said this week, ""and he has a varied lifestyle."""
"Well, it seems the U.S. Navy finally got the memo: DON'T USE ALL CAPS! IT'S RUDE! The Navy is switching to a new messaging system that's cheaper and more efficient. And oh yeah, one that does away with a century-old practice: communications using all uppercase letters. ""Lowercase messages are here to stay; they provide a more readable format,"" a Navy news release said, citing James McCarty, the naval messaging program manager at U.S. Fleet Cyber Command. The all-caps were a vestige of a bygone era. Back in the 1850s, the teletype machines that the military used were made up of three rows of keys -- none of them lowercase letters. Word of the change went out to all naval commands in April. But it didn't reach the rest of us until the news release this week. In it, the Navy said it is ditching its in-house Defense Message System in favor of e-mail. One with a very apt acronym: NICE (Navy Interface for Command Email). The switch will save the Navy $20 million a year. And it gets them caught up with current Internet protocol. ALL CAPS READS LIKE YOU'RE BEING SHOUTED AT. Old sea dogs may feel differently. But they have a couple of months to adjust. The system won't fully be in place until next year. Once it is, naval officers will no longer feel like they're being barked at. Except, of course, in person by their superiors."
"(CNN)  -- Lionel Messi will captain Argentina for the first time as they take on Venezuela in a friendly in cricket-mad India Friday. Messi has been handed the responsibility by new Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella after their disappointing Copa America campaign. They went out in the quarterfinals to eventual winners Uruguay, costing then coach Sergio Batista his job. ""He is the captain from now on,"" Sabella told gathered reporters Wednesday ahead of the match in the 120,000 capacity Salt Lake stadium in Kolkata. ""We are looking to build a couple of options, looking for one or two players to build up a combination with him."" The arrival of World Footballer of the Year Messi in India has been greeted with much excitement and a big crowd gathered at Kolkata airport as he flew in. Barcelona star Messi and his teammates will be looking for a morale-boosting win over their South American rivals in the biggest football match over played in India. They will then go to Bangladesh for a friendly against Nigeria's Super Eagles on September 6 as they prepare for 2014 World Cup qualifiers which begin in October. ""Winning will give us confidence. This is the beginning of a long trip ahead and we hope it finishes with qualification to the World Cup,"" added Sabella. Friday's match will be played on an artificial pitch in a cricket stadium adapted for football."
"New York (CNN) -- Decades ago, when the Department of Defense was creating the predecessor to today's Internet, one of the main goals was to create a communications system that could endure catastrophic disasters. The Internet was designed to have no central point of failure, allowing anyone to run his or her own communications channel. This was a system that could withstand a nuclear attack. Today, the services built on top of that network have done a great job in enabling communications, perhaps none more dramatically than Twitter. During the days since the Haiti earthquake, the popular social networking and microblogging service has been used for rescue efforts and for fundraising to help stabilize and rebuild the country. So it was big news when Twitter was offline for 90 minutes  Wednesday morning. Technology pundits promptly began hand-wringing -- the weaknesses of having a single point of failure to critical communications had been revealed again! Could we trust Twitter? Did this mean the Web couldn't help us fulfill our most basic obligations to those in need? Not at all. There's no reason that organizations or individuals who want to use the Web to relay critical information have to rely on Twitter or Facebook or Google or any other giant of the technology industry in the first place. We've just forgotten a bit about how the Internet was supposed to work. Rescue organizations and charities should simply be able to use the Web sites they already have to deliver those messages. And wasn't that the promise of the Web in the first place? Weren't we going to stop relying on individual companies as gatekeepers for communication? When blogs took off a few years ago, wasn't it with the promise that we'd all be able to share our voices without having to ask any company for permission? Why did we give that up? Maybe it's because they made it look so easy. Twitter has done an impressive job of growing to handle its enormous number of users, while keeping its service simple. The company has even shown a reassuring sensitivity to the civic and social obligations that come from running such a popular communication service. Companies such as Facebook and Google have stepped up, too. Their hearts appear to be in the right place, and they're doing real work to help people communicate. But the Web is bigger than any one site or any one social network. In my own work, I run a nonprofit that strives to connect government policymakers to the expertise of ordinary people using the Web. We'll naturally make great use of Twitter and Facebook and all the other services, but it'd be unforgivable to pick only one of them as a platform for civic engagement. Telling people the only way to talk to the White House is on Facebook is like saying you can only call your senator by using a particular phone company. And that's the key lesson to learn from Twitter being down while people are depending on it for communication: Some needs are too important to put in the hands of any single company. Communicating in real time about emergency information is clearly one of them. Fortunately there's good news. Smart inventors have already made cutting-edge technologies that let any site deliver messages with the same immediacy as Twitter or Facebook. Now the challenge is reminding all of the social institutions, media organizations and government agencies that they need to use their own communications infrastructure just as much as they participate in services such as Twitter and Facebook. The reality is social networks come and go. Ten years ago, otherwise-sensible companies were paying millions of dollars to America Online to buy ""AOL keywords."" These were shortcuts to parts of the AOL service, which dominated U.S. Internet access at the time. In fact, many of us have allowed companies to become intermediaries to all our communications, whether it was AOL 10 years ago or Facebook today. But we don't need to ask gateways for permission to publish. We can run our own Web sites, at our own Web addresses and keep control over how we communicate. Think how ludicrous it would seem for someone to decide, say, to offer emergency services as an AOL keyword called ""911"" instead of having people just dial their phones? That sounds absurd, but you can see advertisements today that essentially say ""Find us on Facebook at facebook.com/AcmeWidgets!"" Now, Facebook probably won't fade away entirely, like early networks such as Friendster. But those Facebook addresses are just like AOL keywords 10 years earlier. And it is conceivable that the organizations and companies who communicate on Facebook today may want to become more independent. Whether due to emergency or just the everyday requirements of doing business, they ultimately will stop depending on a single point of contact for their communications. This is, after all, how the Web was designed to work. We already see governments and civic organizations using the Web as effectively as the best corporations and media. In the United States, we have a White House that's got an iPhone application and a State Department that's asking us to define democracy by responding on Twitter. Judging by how much technology has affected society already, those first experiments will soon evolve into full-fledged platforms for citizen participation and charitable action. And let's hope they won't have to worry if any one Web site goes down. Because we'll have a web of independent but connected communications systems, just as the Internet was always designed to be. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Anil Dash."
"(CNN) -- The International Atomic Energy Agency issued a critical report Tuesday saying that it has ""serious concerns"" about Iran's nuclear program and has obtained ""credible"" information that the Islamic republic may be developing nuclear weapons. The IAEA report, the most detailed to date on the Iranian program's military scope, found no evidence that Iran has made a strategic decision to actually build a bomb. But its nuclear program is more ambitious and structured, and more progress has been made than previously known. ""The agency has serious concerns regarding possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear program,"" the report said. ""After assessing carefully and critically the extensive information available to it, the agency finds the information to be, overall, credible. The information indicates that Iran has carried out activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device."" U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the report had just arrived and refrained from commenting on details at an afternoon briefing. But a senior U.S. official called the report ""a big deal."" ""The report is very comprehensive, credible, quite damning, and alarming,"" the official said. Read the IAEA report here . Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad slammed the report as a fabrication of facts aimed at satisfying U.S. allegations about Iran's nuclear program. Ahmadinejad essentially called Yukiya Amano, the director general of the IAEA, a U.S. puppet and said the United Nations agency has no jurisdiction in Iran. ""The Americans have fabricated a stack of papers and he keeps speaking about them,"" he said on state-run Press TV. ""Why don't you do a report on the U.S. nuclear program and its allies? Present a report on the thousands of U.S. military bases where Washington has nuclear arms that threaten global security."" The IAEA had released another report on Iran in September but this one was highly anticipated because of the military aspect. Since 2002, the IAEA has regularly received new information pertaining to the development of a nuclear payload for a missile, the report said. It said Iran has made ""efforts, some successful, to procure nuclear related and dual use equipment and materials by military related individuals and entities"" and has acquired nuclear weapons information from ""a clandestine nuclear supply network."" It has also worked on mastering the design of a nuclear weapon and tested components, the report said. The IAEA said the some of the activities have both civilian and military applications, but others are specific to nuclear weapons. Iran has repeatedly insisted its nuclear program is for peaceful, civilian energy purposes only. According to the IAEA report, Iran is believed to have continued weapons research and technology development after 2003, when the intelligence community thought Iran had stopped. Instead of halting, it seems Iran took a temporary hiatus at the time, although the program progressed at a more modest pace since then, the report said. After the report's release, top Republicans in Congress called on President Barack Obama's administration to ratchet up economic sanctions against Iran. Rep. Mike Rogers, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, raised the fear that Israel would attack Iranian nuclear facilities without further steps by the United States and its allies. Rogers, R-Michigan, said new sanctions should cut off the supply of refined fuel to Iran and target its central bank, which he said is being used to finance Tehran's nuclear program. ""If we talk about it for a long time, if we're not really leading on it, I will tell you we leave this option to the Israelis,"" he told CNN's ""John King USA."" And in a written statement, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen called on Congress to pass two bills targeting Iran's energy sector. The Florida Republican leads the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which recently sent legislation to the House floor to do just that. ""If fully implemented, they have the potential to cripple the regime's ability to continue its nuclear program,"" she said. ""If the Iranian regime acquires nuclear weapons capabilities, the U.S., Israel and our other allies in the region and around the world will face an unimaginable threat to our security. The clock is ticking."" Previous IAEA reports have cited concerns by the organization that Iran has been seeking to develop nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles to deliver them. Word of the latest report drew strong comments in Israel, where talks of how to deal with Iran have recently hit fever pitch. Israel considers Iran its arch-nemesis for its repeated innuendos about the destruction of the Jewish state. Ahead of the report's release, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned that his nation would consider every option in countering Iran's bomb-making capabilities. ""Israel does not want a confrontation, but if it happens, the state of Israel will not be destroyed and there will not be 10,000 dead and not even 500 dead in any possible scenario,"" Barak said Tuesday on Israel Radio. Iranian Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi said Iranian armed forces were in ""full combat readiness and will give a crushing response to those daring to attack the country,"" IRNA said. The United States, Vahidi said, was trying to ""promote Iranophobia"" in a bid to attain its ""sinister goals."" Western powers have long suspected that Iran's nuclear program is geared toward weapons development. The United States is looking to increase the heat on Iran, including a possible strengthening of existing sanctions on Iran's financial and banking sectors and additional political pressure -- all of which could be applied by the United States alone or in coordination with other allies. The United States also hopes international organizations, such as the United Nations, will take steps to further isolate Iran diplomatically. Officials said that one of several options being considered is sanctioning the Central Bank of Iran, although the United States is mindful of the impact such a move could have on oil prices during a time of global economic turmoil. U.S. officials said the Obama administration will use the report to lobby the international community to slap new economic sanctions against Iran. Obama said he discussed the upcoming report with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Cannes, France, during a meeting of the G-20 industrialized nations. The U.S. president said the two leaders ""agreed on the need to maintain the unprecedented international pressure on Iran to meet its obligations."" CNN's Elise Labott, Jill Dougherty and Moni Basu contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- South African golf was handed another boost on Tuesday when the country was awarded the right to host one of the lucrative World Golf Championships events for the next five years. The news comes after Charl Schwartzel joined 2010 British Open winner Louis Oosthuizen as a reigning major champion with his dramatic victory at the Masters on Sunday. ""This is, without doubt, the most significant milestone in the history of professional golf in South Africa,"" Sunshine Tour commissioner Gareth Tindall said on his return from Augusta following meetings with the U.S. PGA Tour and the International Federation of PGA Tours. ""It is something that we have been working on for a long time, and the unanimous support that we have received from the other professional tours around the world confirms the major standing of our players and the Sunshine Tour in world golf. ""What is even more significant is that we have the commitment that we will host this World Golf Championships event for a period of five years. That has enormously positive implications for the game and for our country as a whole."" Can McIlroy conquer the mental minefield? It will be known as the ""Tournament of Hope"" and will try to build awareness of poverty and HIV/AIDS in Africa. The three of the four WGC events held in the U.S. have prize money higher than the season's four major tournaments, while the HSBC Champions in China is comparable. The date and venue for South Africa's first staging next year have yet to be announced, but it will feature the top 70 players in the world. Meanwhile, this year's South African Open has been moved back a week to ensure the tournament will not clash with the President's Cup in Australia due to be held from November 17-20, with several players from the country expected to feature in the International team to take on the United States. The Alfred Dunhill Championship will be played during the week of the Melbourne event."
"(CNN) -- In a place accustomed to tough stretches, this has been a particularly tough few days at the White House. After emerging from the showdown over the Republican-led government shutdown relatively unscathed, the Obama administration finds itself under assault on three fronts: problems surrounding Obamacare, the revelations of the U.S. spying on allies, and the 2012 attack on the U.S diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, the latter for which a senator has threatened to hold up all of the Obama administration's nominations. The controversies are sure to fuel continued Republican attacks on President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies as the nation gears up for midterm elections next year, and the White House has portrayed the attacks as so much partisan chatter. But to CNN senior political analyst David Gergen, they reflect the relative inexperience of the Obama White House. ""This is an administration that has been very, very good at its politics, but has never been very good at execution of policies from Day One,"" he said Monday. ""It's an administration which has some really smart people in it, and a lot of younger people. It doesn't have very many heavyweights."" The worst part for Obama may be figuring out what to do about it all -- not just the various individual fires, but more generally how to ""take control of his own government,"" CNN chief political analyst Gloria Borger said. If you're the President, how do you make sure that subordinates aren't withholding information you should know? How do you strike the right balance, and explain it clearly, on things such as gathering intelligence versus maximizing privacy and protecting key relationships? And how do you make sure those tied to your administration avoid big missteps that could come back to bite you? ""Four out of five Americans have little or no trust in their government to do anything right,"" Borger writes in an analysis. ""And now Obama probably feels the same way."" Does Obama still have faith in government? Here are the latest details on the issues causing the administration the most heartache today: . Obamacare . Another week, another congressional hearing on the problem-plagued rollout of Obama's health insurance program. This time, Marilyn Tavenner, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services -- which is in charge of the Obamacare website -- became the first administration official to formally apologize to Americans for the troublesome start. She offered the apology Tuesday in an appearance before the House Ways and Means Committee. ""We know that consumers are eager to purchase this coverage, and to the millions of Americans who have attempted to use Healthcare.gov to shop and enroll in health care coverage, I want to apologize to you that the website has not worked as well as it should,"" she told lawmakers. Obamacare website administrator apologizes . The website, which would-be applicants have found difficult to use, at best, embarrassingly crashed over the weekend, leaving consumers completely locked out. Then, the White House found itself on the defensive over revelations that, despite claims to the contrary by the Obama administration, some who have purchased insurance on the open market will lose their coverage and have to buy new policies. An insurance industry source told CNN Monday that the vast majority of Americans who have purchased coverage on the individual market will find their policies changed or even canceled under Obamacare rules. It's been known for some time that some of the policies would have to change -- the Department of Health and Human Services said in 2010 as part of a federal regulation that up to two thirds of individual policies wouldn't meet regulations allowing them to continue under what's called ""grandfathered"" status. That refers to plans allowed to continue even though they don't provide all the rights and protections of those offered under Obamacare. White House spokesman Jay Carney argued Monday the administration has always said some health care plans would not meet new Obamacare requirements. ""There are existing health care plans on the individual market that don't meet those minimum standards and therefore do not qualify for the Affordable Care Act,"" he said. ""There are some that can be grandfathered if people want to keep insurance that's substandard."" And those who lose coverage will be able to buy more comprehensive coverage on the health insurance exchanges -- some of them at a subsidized price, he said. But the reality that so many plans will disappear or have to change seems to fly in the face of what Obama said so often in selling the plan to voters. ""If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan,"" the president said in 2009, and frequently since. It also offered Republicans ammunition to renew their attacks on the plan. ""The larger problem is how Obamacare is hurting people out there,"" Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday. ""It is about college graduates and middle-class families getting hit with massive premium increases they can't afford."" NSA spying . After months of seemingly endless leaks about U.S. surveillance programs, the pressure on the administration rose to new levels in recent days with revelations published by the German news magazine Der Spiegel that the United States was collecting the communications of allied leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Obamacare and NSA spying: What did Obama know, and when did he find out? German leaders respond angrily to the news, with Merkel demanding a stop to the practice and proclaiming that her country's confidence in the United States had been ""shaken."" But it was comments by the administration claiming that Obama did not know of the practice until recently that drew the sharpest criticism -- from both the right and the left. Rep. Peter King, the Republican chairman of the House Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, was incredulous that the president didn't know what was going on. ""He certainly should have known, if he didn't,"" the former chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on ""The Situation Room."" ""I think that's almost more of a serious issue that something like that at that level would be conducted without him knowing it."" Rep. King on NSA spying: If Obama didn't know, he should have . And Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, said not knowing about the program was a ""big problem"" for both Obama and the Senate Intelligence Committee, which she chairs. ""As far as I'm concerned, Congress needs to know exactly what our intelligence community is doing,"" her statement said. ""To that end, the committee will initiate a major review into all intelligence collection programs."" Benghazi . Longstanding Republican criticism of the administration's handling of the attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, which left the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans dead, resurfaced this week with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, threatening to hold up administration nominations over the issue. Senators are expected soon to review Obama's nominations for several high-profile judicial appointments and other nominations. Senate rules allow a single senator to at least temporarily hold up presidential nominations, and Graham says he will do so until the administration makes survivors of the attack available for congressional testimony. ""I'm going to block every appointment in the United States Senate until the survivors are being made available to Congress,"" he said. ""I'm tired of hearing from people on TV and reading about stuff in books. We need to get to the bottom of this."" The White House said Monday that Graham and other Republicans are using Benghazi for political purposes, ""and we find that unfortunate."" CNN's Ted Barrett, Catherine E. Shoichet, Jake Tapper, Jim Sciutto, Elise Labott, Brooke Baldwin and Jim Acosta contributed to this report."
"Tokyo (CNN) -- Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is investigating a report that workers at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant were told to use lead covers in order to hide unsafe radiation levels, an official said. The alleged incident happened December 1, nine months after a major earthquake and tsunami ravaged northern Japan and damaged the plant. ""We'll firmly deal with the matter once the practice is confirmed to constitute a violation of any law,"" said the ministry official, who could not be named in line with policy. An official with the plant's operator, TEPCO, said the company received a report of the alleged incident Thursday from subcontractor Tokyo Energy & Systems. The report said a second subcontractor, Build-Up, created the lead covers and ordered workers to use them over their dosimeters, pocket-size devices used to detect high radiation levels. The TEPCO official could also not be named in line with policy. Tokyo Energy & Systems said in its report that the workers never used the covers, the TEPCO official said. Japan's Asahi Shimbun newspaper, however, reported Saturday that while some workers refused the orders to use the lead covers, nine others did use them for several hours. The newspaper's report cited plant workers, who described the lead covers as fitting snugly over the dosimeters inside the breast pockets of the workers' protection suits. TEPCO told CNN it ordered Tokyo Energy & Systems Inc. to conduct an investigation and is awaiting a reply. CNN's Junko Ogura contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Scratch Christian Bale off the list of actors supposed to play Steve Jobs. Bale was rumored to be the finalist to play the Apple co-founder in the Aaron Sorkin-written film biography but decided he wasn't right for the part, said The Hollywood Reporter. The Jobs biopic has been in the works since at least 2012, when Sony announced that Sorkin would write a film based on Walter Isaacson's best-selling biography. Bale is the second notable performer to turn down the Jobs role. Leonardo DiCaprio was also pegged for the film. The Hollywood Reporter noted that neither Bale nor DiCaprio had begun negotiations. According to Variety, Seth Rogen is being talked about for the part of Steve Wozniak, Jobs' Apple co-founder. The film is to be directed by Danny Boyle, who won an Oscar for ""Slumdog Millionaire."" Filming was scheduled to begin this winter."
"(CNN) -- The melting glacial ice in places like the Alps, Greenland and the Himalayas is a dramatic visual document of how our planet's climate is changing. For U.S.-based environmental photographer James Balog, it is a vision he has spent more than six years trying to record and preserve. After an assignment for National Geographic in Iceland in 2005, he was shocked by the changes taking place and wanted to find a way to capture what was going on, in the Arctic and glaciers elsewhere around the world. The result has been a new documentary film, ""Chasing Ice,"" based on 36 time-lapse cameras looking at 16 different glaciers in locations in Alaska, Bolivia, Canada, France, Greenland, Iceland, Nepal, the Rocky Mountains and Switzerland. Each camera has been taking a photograph every half-an-hour during daylight, producing almost one million pictures in total. Balog says putting the documentary together has changed his initial skepticism about climate change. ""What we've seen has been a complete shock. I never really expected to see this magnitude of change. Every time we open the backs of these cameras it's like 'wow, is that what's just happened.'"" At one point in the film, Balog is shown looking at the memory card he has just removed from a camera and saying: ""This is a memory of a landscape. A landscape that is now gone and will never be seen again in the history of civilization."" Watch: CNN special 'Secrets in the Ice' Of all the places he has filmed, it is the Arctic that has attracted most attention in recent years. In September this year, the ice cap fell to its lowest extent on record. It grows each winter but is retreating further and further every summer, according to data collected by the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center. The summer ice extent has declined by 13% each decade since the ice was first monitored in 1979. Climate scientists have previously predicted the Arctic could lose almost all of its ice cover in the summer months by 2100. However, the recent accelerated ice losses have led some to believe that date could come much sooner. While accepting that glacial ice melting has happened many times before in human history, Balog says what he is documenting now can no longer be considered a natural process. ""What we're seeing is a much more accelerated rate of change, especially in the past 40 years or so and that has clearly been traced by scientists to the impact of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide emissions into the atmosphere."" ""In the past 100 years, the atmosphere has accumulated 40% more carbon dioxide in it than had been seen in the peak over the past one million years. ""So, in the past one million years the peak of carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere has been 280-290 parts per million (ppm). We're now at 395 ppm and adding more every year. It's gone beyond natural and is affecting the entire world,"" he says. Balog, who lives in the Rocky Mountains near Boulder, Colorado, believes the economic and technological solutions to mitigate the impact of climate change already exist. ""What we need is a greater political and public understanding of the immediacy and reality of these changes. I believe that this film can help shift public perceptions by telling people a story that is real and happening now,"" he says."
"(CNN) -- So we thought Asian kids did great in school. Think again. A new study suggests that women and minorities are less likely to receive early support from potential academic mentors. Researchers from Wharton, Columbia and NYU ran an interesting field experiment: Pretending to be students, they e-mailed more than 6500 professors at top U.S. universities admiring each professor's work and asking to meet. The e-mails were all identical except for the senders' names. Names that one can associate with a gender or race -- like Brad Anderson, Meredith Roberts, LaToya Brown, Juanita Martinez, Deepak Patel, Sonali Desai, Chang Wong, and Mei Chen -- were used. The researchers found that faculty were most likely to respond to e-mails from white males. But more surprising was the high level of racial bias against Asians and Indians -- professors were likeliest to ignore e-mails from these students. One of the researchers noted, ""We see tremendous bias against Asian students and that's not something we expected. ... A lot of people think of Asians as a model minority group. We expect them to be treated quite well in academia."" The study highlights the pernicious nature of the ""model minority"" stereotype of Asians, and the fact that Asians are still viewed as the most foreign ""other"" in our American culture -- perhaps the biggest outsiders in the politics of ""not like us."" A common refrain I hear from well-meaning friends and colleagues is: ""What's so bad about the Asian stereotype? Seems to me Asians have done all right."" I get it. As a woman of color, I'm keenly aware that on the spectrum of bias, there are plenty of worse things to be called than good at school. It doesn't sound so terrible to be thought of as hardworking or quiet when there are so many more obviously sinister racial myths out there to bust. But the flip side of the model minority myth is an assumption that Asians do just fine and don't need any mentoring or help in the academic or professional world. Whether due to bias or mere lack of interest, the professors in the study treated Asian and Indian students differently despite their reputation for academic achievement. And this lack of mentorship while in school may lead to an achievement gap in the workplace. There's still a huge disparity between the percentage of Asians graduating at the top of their class from the best schools in the country and the percentage of Asians who go on to achieve top leadership positions in their chosen fields. Disturbingly, I have heard thoughtful colleagues wonder aloud whether the underrepresentation of Asians in senior leadership roles is due to systemic, external factors that should be addressed with reform in the workplace, or whether it's Asians who are responsible for taking themselves out of the C-suite pipeline because ""they're just happy being the worker bees."" Is there any truth to the perceptions that Asians are passive, lack leadership skills and assertiveness, are unwilling to take initiative or risk, and even unable to have fun or a decent sense of humor? Some people definitely think so. I'm not the only American of Asian descent who has been told, in the form of a compliment, that I'm surprisingly outgoing, funny, or sociable -- for an Asian. I still get friendly compliments on my ""very good English."" And at one of my very first legal job interviews, one judge put it succinctly: ""I've always thought your people were very bright."" It's the very benignity of these model minority stereotypes that render them so persistent and difficult to eradicate. So, what can we do about it? We can start by improving mentor and sponsor programs. Mentors and mentees are too often arbitrarily paired in the corporate world. Employers should consider the real affinities that may actually exist within their workforce and offer employees the tools, training and access to identify, cultivate and maintain their own meaningful mentor and sponsor relationships. At one law job early in my career, I was assigned to a ""mentor"" who himself had only been at the firm a few weeks. Why? He was from Seoul. I'm from California and grew up in D.C. And I'm not even Korean-American. Meanwhile, I went to a college that graduates about 400 students a year, and a white male senior partner whose office was down the hall had gone to this same small college, yet no one at the firm had stopped to think that perhaps I might have something in common with him. Sure, it's also incumbent on people to take initiative and simply walk down the hall and introduce themselves to potential mentors. But it would be incredibly helpful and transformative for the gatekeepers -- in academia, the corporate world, public service, media, entertainment and the arts, whatever path talented young people might choose -- to recognize the subtle, unconscious biases that sometimes prevent Asians from achieving their true potential. Maybe then Asians in America can be recognized for bringing more to the table than just being good at school. Q & A with author Helen Wan about 'The Partner Track'"
"(CNN) -- San Francisco's new sheriff is facing misdemeanor charges over an alleged domestic abuse incident on New Year's Eve, authorities said. Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, who was sworn in Monday, said Friday he will not resign. ""We are cooperating with law enforcement and the district attorney's office and will, of course, continue to do so,"" he told reporters. The charges were announced by San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon, who also took office Monday. Mirkarimi is accused of domestic violence with battery, child endangerment and dissuading a witness. Gascon said there were a series of text messages between the sheriff and his wife, Eliana Lopez, the alleged victim, about the incident. Lopez, standing next to her husband, called the charges ""unbelievable"" and said the couple would fight them. ""I don't have any complaint against my husband,"" Lopez said. ""We are together. ... this is completely wrong."" Mirkarimi was booked and released on bail, San Francisco police said. Mayor Edwin M. Lee called the charges ""extremely serious and troubling."" ""As elected officials, our primary responsibility and focus must always be to fulfill our duties to the people of San Francisco,"" Lee said in a statement. He said he would review options under the city charter, but ""ensure that we do not take steps that undermine the integrity of the criminal justice proceedings under way."""
"Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama has approved the use of armed Predator drones in Libya, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday. Gates suggested that the unmanned Predator missions may have already begun. He said he believed that the first flights were launched Thursday but were called back due to poor weather. ""The president has said that where we have some unique capabilities, he is willing to use those,"" Gates said. ""And I think that today may in fact have been their first mission."" Gates said the Predator drones offer a ""modest contribution"" to NATO efforts to support rebels fighting embattled Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's forces there, though Gadhafi is not a specific target. Unmanned aerial vehicles offer more precise targeting, because their low-flying capability allows for better visibility, ""particularly on targets now that have started to dig themselves into defensive positions,"" Gates said. He said the drones are needed for humanitarian reasons, and they have capabilities that larger aircraft such as A-10s and C-130s cannot provide. Vice Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. James Cartwright said the added precision is necessary because forces loyal to Gadhafi ""nestle up in crowded areas"" to maximize civilian casualties. ""It's very difficult to identify friend from foe,"" Cartwright said, noting that the drones facilitate identification of individuals on the ground. Remote Predator operators are now permitted to strike Gadhafi's defense missions, including air defense, missile and radar sites. Predator strikes are also authorized for civilian protection and can hit Gadhafi's troops, military installations and equipment in the field. The U.S. employed the use of unmanned drones early in the NATO campaign, but they were intended for surveillance only and not authorized to fire."
"Fancy a stroll around the observation deck of the tallest building in the world? Normally, doing so would involve a flight to Dubai, an expensive hotel room and a struggle through traffic under blazing sunshine. But now you can take it all in from the comfort of your own living room. Google has launched a new project capturing a 360-degree view of the iconic Burj Khalifa in Dubai -- a building so enormous it is sometimes referred to as the ""vertical city."" The images taken by Google allow users to navigate through the building, using Street View technology, which the company generally uses to map cities. Users can explore the structure from the opulent basement entrance hall to the highest occupied apartment in the world on the building's 163rd floor. To compile the images, Google's photographers used state of the art equipment and battled 40 mph winds at the top of the building's spire, 828 meters (2,716 feet) above ground level. The pictures will be the first time Street View has been used in the Middle East, and the first collection of images to feature a skyscraper. The Burj Khalifa is the tallest man-made structure in the world. Modeled on principles of classical Islamic architecture. The building took six years and more than 22 million man-hours to erect. The edifice's massive foundations required over 58,900 cubic yards of concrete, weighing more than 110,000 tonnes. Close to 26,000 glass panels, each individually hand-cut, were used in the exterior cladding -- equivalent to 17 soccer fields of material. Google's Street View technology had to be specially adapted to document buildings such as this. The 360 degree cameras are mounted on a backpack which can be carried by a single operator. Other landmarks and natural wonders like the Eiffel Tower and Grand Canyon have also been captured by the technology."
"Super Bowl XLVIII started out bad for the Denver Broncos. The Seattle Seahawks made sure it got worse. Seattle romped 43-8 by playing a suffocating defense and taking advantage of four Denver turnovers, including two interceptions thrown by quarterback Peyton Manning, the NFL's most valuable player for the season. The game pitted pro football's best offense, Denver, against the best defense, Seattle, but the drama disappeared early at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. On the first play from scrimmage, a bad snap went sailing past Manning and landed in the end zone for a safety, giving Seattle a 2-0 lead without running a play. Denver didn't score until the third quarter, when the game was out of reach. Seattle's defense was so strong that Denver managed only 27 yards rushing, compared with 135 for Seattle. Manning went 34 for 49 to gain 279 yards in the air, but most passes were for short yardage with his receivers quickly taken down. His counterpart, Russell Wilson of Seattle, went 18 for 26 to gain 206 yards and score two touchdowns. Fittingly, a Seattle defensive player, linebacker Malcolm Smith, was named the game's most valuable player. Seattle won its first Super Bowl in franchise history. Manning was thwarted in his quest for a second Super Bowl ring. After the safety, Seattle kicked two field goals, and Marshawn Lynch scored on a 1-yard run for a touchdown. The Seahawks'  Smith intercepted Manning's second interception and returned it for another touchdown. The second half started out bad for Denver, with Seattle's Percy Harvin running the opening  kickoff back for a touchdown. Jermaine Kearse caught a 23-yeard pass from Russell Wilson with 2:58 left in the third quarter for another touchdown. Wilson threw his second scoring strike to Doug Baldwin with 11:45 left in the fourth. Just before the third quarter ended, Denver got onto the scoreboard when Manning threw a 14-yard pass to Demaryius Thomas. Denver went for a two-point PAT to make the score 36-8. Denver, led by the 37-year-old Manning, has the NFL's best offense, statistically, but never got moving Sunday. Richard Sherman, the Seattle defense player who mocked San Francisco after winning the NFC championship, was never really challenged. He left with an injury in the fourth quarter. Balmy conditions on Game Day . Though the game didn't experience the blackout that hit last year's Super Bowl, fans in Los Angeles had their own visual blackout. Some fans lost cable service for a period and missed part of the second half and the halftime show, starring Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Time Warner cable said in a tweet that the issue was resolved before the end of the game. A man was shot several times during a Super Bowl party at a residence in Denver, police said. The man was found outside the home, but police spokesman Sonny Jackson did not have additional information, such as what led to the shooting. The man was taken to a hospital in critical condition, and authorities do not have a suspect or a suspect description. The experts' picks . History of the Super Bowl: By the numbers . The secrets of the Super Bowl flyover ."
"(CNN) -- All five remaining inmates held in the Mississippi pardons controversy have now been released from prison. Mississippi's Supreme Court last week upheld the controversial pardons of more than 200 convicts that former Gov. Haley Barbour granted on his way out of office, rejecting a challenge by the state's attorney general. In a 77-page, 6-3 ruling Thursday afternoon, the court found the pardons ""may not be set aside or voided by the judicial branch."" Attorney General Jim Hood argued that no proper notice had been posted in newspapers, but the court found the final decision rested ""solely with the governor."" ""We are mindful that the victims and their families are entitled to be interested in the subject matter of this case, and they are undoubtedly -- and understandably -- concerned with its outcome,"" Justice Jess Dickinson wrote for the majority. But in the cases before them, it was up to the governor to "" decide whether the Constitution's publication requirement was met."" In a statement after the court ruling, Barbour said it ""reaffirmed more than a century of settled law in our state,"" but acknowledged that his decision has been difficult for many of the inmates' victims. But in a dissenting opinion, Justice Michael Randolph called the decision ""a stunning victory for some lawless convicted felons, and an immeasurable loss for the law-abiding citizens of our state."" Hood argued that the state Constitution required that for a pardon to be valid, notices be filed, each day, for 30 days in newspapers where their crimes were committed. But during a February Supreme Court hearing, Barbour's lawyers argued that previous state court rulings had found the 30-day notice rule was ""an unconstitutional encroachment"" on the governor's power. Thursday's ruling is the final word on the case, but Hood said he would seek to get the notice requirement restored to the state charter. ""We do respect the decision of the Court, but feel deeply for how it must weigh on the victims and their families. It is these victims and family members who have lost today and the criminals who have won,"" he said in a statement, echoing Randolph's dissent. Among the 214 inmates Barbour pardoned before he left office in January were four convicted murderers who had worked as ""trusties"" at the governor's mansion. Critics argued that the governor failed to consider the families of their victims before freeing them. All four and an armed robber also pardoned by Barbour had remained free while the issue worked its way through the courts, and were freed under Thursday's decision. Five other inmates who had remained behind bars awaiting a ruling have been released. Barbour has defended his pardons and said the former inmates had been rehabilitated. CNN's Martin Savidge and Joe Sutton contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- London's Metropolitan Police have praised the good behavior of Scotland fans during Sunday's match against Brazil, despite claims by Brazilian striker Neymar that a banana was thrown at him as a form of racist abuse. Santos striker Neymar, 19, scored both goals in Brazil's 2-0 victory at the Emirates Stadium, the home of English Premier League side Arsenal. But the Brazilian attacker later revealed that he was subjected to racist taunts from Scottish spectators, which culminated in the banana-throwing incident. However, the police confirmed they had received no complaints about any form of racism being displayed during the match on Monday. Will Neymar win 2014 World Cup for Brazil? Match commander, Chief Inspector Mark Shearan, issued an official press release which read: ""The Scottish supporters who travelled down to the game in their numbers were friendly and good-natured, colourful and supportive of their team. ""There were six arrests at the match -- of which only two were definitely Scottish supporters and were drink-related. This figure must be the seen in the context of a 53,000 strong crowd."" After his two-goal winning performance, Neymar had earlier claimed to Brazilian media that he had been the subject of racist abuse: ""This atmosphere of racism is totally sad. ""They were jeering me a lot, even when I was about to kick the penalty the entire stadium was jeering. ""We leave our country to play here and something like this happens. It's sad. I would rather not even talk about it, to keep the subject from escalating."" Neymar's teammate Lucas Leiva, who plays in England for Liverpool and removed the banana from the pitch, added: ""There is no more space for racism in the world. ""Europe is where it happens the most. That has to change, everybody is equal today and it's a matter of respect."" The Scottish Football Association (SFA), in a statement on their official website, denied the claims from Neymar. ""There was no evidence of such instances but the Scotland supporters have confirmed they booed the player for perceived unsporting behaviour during the match. ""The tens of thousands of Scotland fans who travelled to London were, in fact, commended for creating a carnival atmosphere not just inside the stadium but across the city throughout the weekend. ""The Scottish FA has contacted the Brazilian Football Federation and the match organisers, Kentaro, to inform them of our information and of our supporters' unhappiness at the unfounded accusations,"" the statement read."
"He says it's his last fight. And it's been his hardest. After 43 years in Congress, New York Rep. Charlie Rangel said the campaign for his 23rd term is his final one. The 84-year-old ""Lion of Harlem"" wants two more years in Washington, but on Tuesday, voters will decide if his time is up. He's a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus, and the former chair of the powerful Ways and Means Committee. But the legend of Harlem politics is on shaky ground. Rangel running for 23rd term in the House . Rangel says he's ready this time . He's been bruised before. In the 2012 Democratic primary, victory came by a thin margin. Rangel beat state Sen. Adriano Espaillat by fewer than 1,100 votes. The congressman said he didn't put up much of a fight. ""I didn't have a campaign last time. When he told me he was running I was in the hospital in Columbia Presbyterian with a viral infection in my spine."" This time, Rangel said he's ready. ""Well, I don't have a walker. I don't have a spinal injury."" Rangel has also had more time to recover from a humiliating censure in 2010 from the U.S. House of Representatives following a series of ethics violations. 2014 midterms: What's at stake . Gearing up for Round 2 . Since 2012,  Espaillat has been gearing up for Round 2. This time, the underdog said he's counting on an upset and making comparisons to one of the biggest ones ever in boxing: . ""Sonny Liston was a big, bad bear when he got into the ring, but (Muhammad) Ali was faster, smarter than him,"" Espaillat said. ""He was able to draw circles around him, and he shook up the world and he changed boxing."" If voters want a change now, it may be a measure of how much the district has changed since Rangel went to Washington in 1971. Harlem's rich African-American history now seems distant . Neal Schumacher knows the streets of Harlem as well as anyone. He gives walking tours, and he often points out the fact that the neighborhood is, ""...not the Harlem that I grew up in, but a Harlem I embrace."" A falling crime rate has accelerated real estate development in the neighborhood, but affordable housing remains among the most pressing issues for many with roots in the community. ""People are concerned about gentrification, about rising housing costs, about some of the mom and pop shops closing. About being able to afford to live in the community where you are now,"" said Schumacher. Harlem has long been known for its rich African-American history. But to Harlem historian Jacob Morris, that past feels more distant today. ""In the 20th century Harlem was incontrovertibly...the cultural capital of Black America. ...Is it still? I would say now it's the custodian of that great history."" Both say racial and ethnic politics not part of race . Today, the demographics are different. So is the district itself. Part of the Bronx was added to Harlem's district before the 2012 primary. The 13th Congressional District now has a Hispanic majority. If elected, Espaillat would become the country's first Dominican-American congressman. Both candidates insist that racial and ethnic politics shouldn't determine the outcome of the race. ""We never had a political battle in my congressional district in 43 years based on where you were born or what religion you have,"" Rangel said while campaigning Saturday. 2014 midterms: Complete coverage . Turnout could be key . According to a NY1/Siena College poll released the week before the primary, the vast majority of voters said the race or ethnicity of the candidates makes no difference to them, . The same poll shows Rangel has a 70-point lead with blacks and a 5-point lead with whites, while Espaillat has a 24-point lead with Latinos. Overall, the poll gives Rangel a 13-point lead (47%-34%) against Espaillat. Insiders suggest the race is tighter than that and too tough to predict. A key factor: turnout is expected to be low. Both campaigns will have to battle to get voters to the polls on Tuesday. The congressional race is the only item on the ballot."
"(CNN) -- Investigators now say that, according to automated electronic connections attempts by the ACARS data reporting system of Malaysia Flight 370, the airplane flew far to the west, in an entirely different direction than it should have been heading as per its original flight-planned route, which was to the north. The 90-degree turn to the west might have been purely random if entered by a nonpilot or inexpert pilot who knew simply how to turn a single knob (called the heading bug) that could command the autopilot to make a turn to a new heading (or direction). There is strong evidence that this is not what happened. Investigators now believe, according to news reports, that after its transponder and ACARS radio were turned off, turns were initiated at GPS waypoints. These waypoints are essentially virtual checkpoints in the sky, defining markers charted by airspace regulators that create pathways in the air that airplanes follow to keep safely separated from each other. The waypoints are defined by an exact latitude and longitude and can be located by a number of the airplane's various navigators, including GPS. If the reports of the flight path are true, it is not a route that could happen by accident. There are two ways the 777-200 could have flown on this path. After passing one waypoint, it could have been directed to fly to the next waypoint by a pilot turning the heading knob toward that exact place, a process that would require some piloting expertise. This would be very unusual, and a novice or pilot without much flying experience on this plane would not know to make these kinds of inputs or have any conceivable reason to do so. The almost certain explanation would be that these waypoints were programmed into the flight management system of the 777-200, a task that would have been beyond the abilities of anyone but a professional pilot. The autopilot follows the course put into the flight management system by the pilots. That is, when the autopilot is not being manually controlled instead. The manual control part is easy. You turn a knob and the airplane goes where you ask it to. The flight management system part is very complicated. I am a commercial pilot, and I have done some training on the Boeing 777. Even after a few hours of professional instruction I would have been unable to program the flight management system to command the autopilot to fly the flight plan that Flight 370 reportedly flew. This leaves us with one of two possible conclusions. Either the flight was commandeered by a group with at least one professionally trained pilot among them or one of the pilots in control programmed the new off-route flight plan into the flight management system. The latter would be far more likely. When terrorists hijacked the airplanes that were flown into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, they flew the airplanes by hand and those hijackers had trained for months with that exact mission in mind. In the case of Flight 370, it would almost certainly have remained on autopilot, which would have dutifully followed the flight plan in the flight management system. That flight plan was quite possibly entered for some mysterious reason by a trained pilot. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Robert Goyer."
"When exactly did once-lowly kale become an international locavore staple? Not sure, but let's call it 2011, when Gwyneth Paltow made kale chips on TV with Ellen DeGeneres. What's that got to do with a list of great veg eateries around the world? We're not sure -- we just know that, like the rest of the world, we've been spending more time lately eating plants we'd never heard of when we were kids and seeking out an evolving supply of incredible vegetarian options while traveling. From the world's only city with an all-vegan strip mall to those with large Hindu and Buddhist populations and a huge variety of options, the following vegetarian-friendly destinations have imaginative restaurants with cult-like followings. Some of the cities on this list are obvious choices, while others, like Glasgow, Scotland, have only recently forayed in any significant way into vegetarian cuisine. Here are our top 10 choices for herbivores who travel. Portland, Oregon . From vegetarian/vegan-friendly bed-and-breakfasts to the world's only all-vegan strip mall, compassionate choices rule many establishments in this city. We recommend: Natural Selection, the brainchild of California Culinary Academy graduate Aaron Woo. With European-style decor and fare derived from France, Italy and Spain, this excellent restaurant serves dishes such as chard and mushroom gnocchi and caramelized cauliflower with polenta, using local vegetables and fruits at their seasonal peak. The menu changes weekly. Natural Selection, 3033 N.E. Alberta St., Portland, Oregon; +1 503 288 5883 . New York . The chance of blindly stumbling into a vegetarian restaurant is probably higher in New York than in any other U.S. city. While there's seemingly no end of diversity, from raw restaurants like Pure Food & Wine to farm-to-table Candle Cafe, our latest favorite is the amazingly creative Dirt Candy. Yes, there's a wait to get a reservation -- the restaurant has only nine tables -- but we love the thoughtful, complex dishes and emphasis on a star ingredient per dish. Dirt Candy, 430 E. Ninth St., New York; +1 212 228 7732 . Chennai, India . As the ancient birthplace of vegetarianism, South India is largely vegetarian. The states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu offer extremely spicy rice-based dishes and curries, while tiffin items like dosas, tamarind and lemon rice are common. Vegetarian thalis (platters with a few curries, rice dishes and breads) cost less than a Starbucks latte. We recommend: Madras restaurant for delicious South Indian home-style cooking. Madras, Raintree Hotels, 636 Anna Salai, Teynampet, Chennai, India; +91 44 4393 9999 . Chiang Mai, Thailand . Thanks to a large Buddhist population, Chiang Mai has more than 80 vegetarian restaurants. Even those that aren't vegetarian-specific offer meatless tom yum soup, pad thai, salads and coconut-milk based curries. We recommend: Pun Pun, which sources organic vegetables from its own farm. Curries are served on banana leaves. Pun Pun has two locations in the city: Wat Suan Dok temple or Suthep Road near Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand; +66 81 470 1461 . Glasgow, Scotland . It may come as a surprise to many that PETA named Glasgow the best city for vegans in the United Kingdom in 2013. The growing number of vegan restaurants is part of the city's effort to improve the health of its residents and the result of its vibrant youth culture. We recommend: Mono Cafe Bar in the Merchant City area. The bar brews its own beer and offers a home-style meatless menu including refried bean burritos. Music from folk singers, songwriters and the operatic crowd is a plus. Mono Cafe Bar,12 Kings Court, Glasgow, Scotland; +44 141 553 2400 . London . PETA ranked London the most vegetarian-friendly city in the world in 2009. It's still a top site for meat-free eaters. With more than 130 vegetarian-centric restaurants, spicy vegetarian curry houses are as plentiful as pubs offering fish and chips. Nowadays, even pubs are serving meatless cuisine and raw food -- notable newcomer Redemption is an example. We recommend: Arguably London's most well known vegetarian restaurant, Food for Thought in Covent Garden serves everything from Mexican to Indian dishes, cheese and dill scones to quiches. The carefully chosen menu is inexpensive and satisfying. Food for Thought, 31 Neal St., Covent Garden, London; +44 20 7836 0239 . Seoul, South Korea . While it's best to double check with the server if there's any meat in the bibimbap, vegetarian dishes are common on Korean menus. There's kimchi, of course, and a wide variety of veggie pancakes and side dishes, good news for any vegetarian visitor who may get dragged to a barbecue restaurant. We recommend: Traditional Korean vegetarian restaurant Hangwachae in Seoul serves house-made condiments from chili paste to soy bean paste. Even the rice is made with 20 different Asian herbs. Hangwachae, Gwanhun-dong Jongno-gu, Seoul 30-9,  Cheong-A Building, B/1; +82 2 720 2802 . Vancouver, British Columbia . In the last year or so, Vancouver has seen notable restaurants including the Heirloom, The Parker and The Acorn open to meet rising vegetarian demand. We recommend: The Acorn, which received a Top Ten Best New Restaurants mention in En Route Magazine, the first vegetarian restaurant ever to snag the honor. Vegetarians, vegans, gluten-free and raw junkies can sample a seasonal menu created with fruits and legumes from apples to Hen of the Woods. The artfully composed dishes look like they belong in a museum. The Acorn, 3995 Main St., Vancouver, British Columbia; +1 604 566 9001 . Jordan . It's so easy to find vegetarian-friendly restaurants in Jordan where mezze dishes such as tabouleh, hummus, falafel and gourmet Arabic flatbreads abound. From Beit Sitti (it means ""my grandmother's kitchen"" in Arabic), located in the heart of Amman, to Petra's Kitchen, there are good options at nearly every bend of the country. We recommend: Feynan, an ecolodge in the heart of the mountainous Dana Biosphere Reserve. In a candle-lit environment, visitors feast on flat breads baked by Bedouins, vegetarian stews, hibiscus juices, falafel, hummus and sticky knafeh for dessert. Feynan, Dana Biosphere Reserve (western edge), off Dead Sea-Aqaba Highway, Ma'an, Jordan; +962 6 464 5580 . Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia . A melting pot of cultures from China to India, Kuala Lumpur has more than 86 vegetarian-specific restaurants according to online healthy eating guide HappyCow. Chinese, Malay and Indian cuisines are common. We recommend: The inexpensive Gopala Vegetarian Restaurant, which features a potpourri of cultural cuisines from Thai to Indian. The vegetarian satay and vegetarian fried rice earn raves. Gopala Vegetarian Restaurant, No. 59, Jalan Thambipillai, Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; +60 3 2274 1959 ."
"(CNN) -- Comprehensive immigration reform. Suddenly the phrase is on everyone's lips. From President Barack Obama to rising Republican star Sen. Marco Rubio to right-wing television hosts Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly. As if by magic, everybody's for it after six years of ducking and using reform as a political wedge issue -- everybody wants to get it done. But what exactly is it? What kinds of changes will it entail, and what will they mean for America? After more than 10 years of on-and-off debate in Washington, the most important piece of the puzzle is still rarely discussed and poorly understood. Obama often talks about reform without even mentioning it. It never came up on the campaign trail. It's not what brought Latinos out to vote in record numbers. And although it's likely to be included in the framework for reform expected to be released Monday by a bipartisan group of Senators, the concept gets very little attention from the media, English- or Spanish-language. iReport: Under deportation, above fear . What's the most important piece of comprehensive immigration reform you never heard of? It's fixing the legal system so it works for the future -- for immigrants and the U.S. economy. Many Americans think reform is about the 11 million unauthorized immigrants already living in the United States. Many have been here for years and have put down roots. We're not going to deport them -- not even the harshest restrictionists think that's practical. Nor are most likely to go ""home"" voluntarily, no matter how difficult we make their lives with tough enforcement. For the overwhelming majority, America is home by now. And they are sure to be the most contentious issue when the immigration debate resumes in months to come. News: Possible compromise on immigration reform takes shape . But most contentious is not the same as most important. We all must ask: What created this problem in the first place? Exactly what is it about the broken immigration system that produced this vast underground world of workers and families -- a population the size of Ohio? The root cause: For less-skilled foreigners who want to come to work legally in the United States, there is no ""line"" -- no available visas. The two existing programs for low-skilled temporary workers are for seasonal labor only: farmhands, landscaping crews, summer and winter resort workers. And there are virtually no permanent visas to be had for unskilled workers. There simply is no avenue for an uneducated Mexican unless he has family members living legally in the U.S. who can sponsor him for a family visa. Many, if not most, of the 11 million already here would have preferred to enter the country legally if that were possible. But they and others like them have no lawful option. This wouldn't be a problem if we didn't need immigrant workers. But we do. And we're going to need them increasingly as the economy recovers. This isn't because American workers are somehow lacking or inadequate. On the contrary, for the most part, it's because Americans are doing better than in decades past. We're becoming better educated and aspiring to the kinds of jobs for which our better educations prepare us. News: GOP needs to back immigration overhaul, lawmakers say . In 1960, half of the native-born men in the labor force were high school dropouts happy to do physically demanding, low-skilled work. Today, less than 10% of the native-born men in the labor force are high school dropouts. And meanwhile, far from shrinking, the demand for low-skilled labor is growing over time. In 1955, for example, 25 cents of every dollar spent on food was spent in a restaurant. Today, the figure is nearly 50 cents. And one of the fastest-growing occupations in America is home health aide. But very few Americans with high school diplomas aspire to careers as busboys or home health aides. And they shouldn't -- their educations equip them to do more productive work, making better wages and contributing more to the economy. No, we don't need as many immigrant workers in a down economy -- and far fewer want to come to the U.S. when jobs are scarce. But we still need some, and they need a legal way to get here. And whatever program we create needs to be flexible, growing in good times to accommodate rising labor needs and shrinking back in down times when demand subsides. Don't get me wrong: The goal of reform is not to increase the overall number of unskilled immigrants entering the country. What's needed is to end illegal immigration by creating ways for needed workers to come legally -- creating worker visas and establishing a system that allows employers who can't find enough willing and able Americans to connect easily and quickly with lawful immigrants. This is not just an economic imperative. Without it, there can be no successful immigration law enforcement. Even the best, most effective enforcement is no match for the dynamism of the U.S. economy. As long as there are jobs available, foreigners will want to come to work here. And if we want to prevent them from coming illegally, we need to create lawful alternatives. Finding a solution for the 11 million unauthorized immigrants already in the country addresses the mistakes of the past but fixes nothing going forward. Unless we create ways for the immigrants of the future to enter legally, we're going to find ourselves in exactly the same predicament a decade or two down the road -- wondering what to do about 10 or 20 million unauthorized immigrants living among us but beyond the rule of law. The only way to prevent this: a legal immigration system that works. Now if only Obama would mention it. Then we'd have some hope of getting somewhere as the debate resumes. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Tamar Jacoby ."
"(CNN) -- Hating the Internal Revenue Service is an American pastime that transcends political affiliation. This past May, disgust for the IRS reached an all-time high when Lois Lerner, director of the IRS's Exempt Organizations unit, disclosed the agency had improperly targeted social welfare organizations seeking special status under section 501(c)(4) of the tax code based on their political ideology. This revelation resulted in more than three months (and counting) of congressional hearings and investigations. Read the IRS inspector general's report on targeting . But in typical Washington fashion, the manufactured congressional outrage and grandstanding has served to do little more than obfuscate the real scandal at the IRS: that the agency allows social welfare organizations to manipulate federal tax law by spending hundreds of millions of dollars on political ads. Anyone who watched television in the lead-up to the 2010 and 2012 elections undoubtedly noticed the slew of vitriolic, misleading campaign ads. Some of these ads were sponsored by federal candidates, but many more were produced by groups with innocuous sounding names -- such as Crossroads GPS or the American Action Network -- but massive bank accounts. Crossroads GPS, for example, a nonprofit organization cofounded by former George W. Bush administration official Karl Rove, spent more than $70 million on the 2012 election. Like the groups targeted by the IRS, Crossroads GPS is a section 501(c)(4) organization, which affords certain tax benefits and -- most importantly -- the ability to keep the names of donors secret. Federal law requires these groups to operate ""exclusively for purposes beneficial to the community as a whole."" IRS regulations, however, create a loophole in the law by allowing groups ""primarily"" engaged in these types of activities to benefit from this tax status. Many 501(c)(4) groups have interpreted this regulation to mean they can spend up to 49% of their funds on political activities -- mostly negative, deceptive political ads. Adding to the confusion, the IRS has said there is no specific percentage the agency uses to gauge whether a group has engaged ""primarily"" in social welfare activities, but rather that it considers all facts and circumstances. What does that mean exactly? No one knows. When directly confronted about the problem and the agency's record of inaction, the IRS has said only that it is ""aware"" of the issue. But the IRS has been aware of and has chosen to ignore this problem for more than 50 years. If the agency had revised its regulations at any point in the past as my organization and others requested, the agency might have avoided the quagmire in which it is drowning. Frustrated with the IRS's inaction, in May CREW filed a lawsuit against the IRS for flouting the law barring 501(c)(4) organizations from engaging in political activity. The case is pending in District of Columbia district court. Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland, and other public interest groups filed a similar lawsuit last month. Because social welfare organizations are not required to disclose their donors, 501(c)(4) groups have become the de facto vehicle for millionaires, billionaires, and even corporations who want to remain anonymous while influencing our elections. As a result, politically active nonprofit groups spent more than $300 million on the 2012 election. Americans should not only be outraged that our elections are being flooded with anonymous cash, but because of the nonprofit status of these groups, taxpayers are subsidizing their activity. With more and more groups seeking to participate in federal elections using money raised from donors who want to remain anonymous, applications to the IRS for 501(c)(4) status more than doubled between 2010 and 2012. To manage the deluge, Lerner said the agency relied on code words and other shortcuts to single groups out for extra review. While the scrutiny of tea party groups has received the most attention, the IRS ""Be on the Look Out"" (BOLO) list also included the words ""progressive,"" ""occupy,"" and ""Israel."" Flagging any group for further screening because their applications included specific words or phrases was wrong. The impact, however, of such misguided actions on our democracy was negligible, particularly compared to that wrought by the IRS's failure to stop hundreds of millions of dollars from flooding our electoral system to influence our votes. For all of the abuse heaped upon the IRS and for all the concern about the BOLO list, the same thing could happen again if the disparity between the language of the statute and regulation is not addressed. Agents processing applications of groups seeking social welfare status in the future will remain as confused about the standards as those whose decisions have been questioned this year. Nevertheless, Congress has shown no appetite to pass legislation clarifying the requirements for these nonprofit groups. As the 2014 election cycle gets under way, the super rich and corporations with deep coffers will continue to buy our elections, and Congress will continue to spend time and resources on a never-ending cycle of investigations into a problem with a fairly easy solution: as Congress intended when it first passed the law, prohibit 501(c)(4) organizations from spending money on anything other than social welfare activities. As long as members of Congress do nothing other than one-up each other's disdain for the IRS, nothing will change. And that really is a scandal. Join us on Facebook/CNNOpinion. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Melanie Sloan. Got a story idea or tip for CNN's investigations team? Go to cnn.com/investigate or click here to submit. Watch Erin Burnett weekdays 7pm ET. For the latest from Erin Burnett click here."
"Why do their cheap meatballs taste so good? Why are bookshelves named Billy? Why can't store layouts be normal? These questions, and more, will no doubt be posed by the visitors who head to the new IKEA Museum opening next year. Of course, we might need to hammer together our own answers, having wound our way through thousands of irrelevant facts first. But perhaps a DIY museum experience will be even more satisfying once completed. The furniture company that changed the affordability of design has filed to build a museum on the site of its first store in Sweden. Tentatively scheduled to open in fall 2015, the museum will take up 7,000 square meters on the site of the recently relocated IKEA store in Almhult, also the site of IKEA'S first store opened by founder Ingvar Kamprad in 1958. IKEA town . Almhult is known as ""IKEA Town"" for being the birthplace of IKEA, which still maintains a strong corporate presence in the city. While the then-17-year-old Kamprad had already registered IKEA as a business in 1943, selling products ranging from nylon stockings to cigarette lighters, the Almhult site was the first brick-and-mortar store as well as the company's first furniture showroom. READ: The hotel room you can pack and and bring with you . A small exhibition of IKEA's history, titled ""IKEA through the ages,"" is already in place at the basement of the corporate culture center in Älmhult, but company reps are hoping that the new museum will be a much bigger tourist draw. ""In the IKEA Museum we plan to tell the IKEA story, focusing on range, business and people development over time,"" said Michele Acuna, managing director for IKEA Tillsammans, the corporate culture center. ""We also plan to have a museum shop and food services for our visitors,"" said Acuna, adding that the museum is expected to draw ""roughly 200,000 visitors annually when it is in full steam."" Would you pay a visit to the IKEA Museum in Sweden? Let us know in the comments. MORE: Inside the world's biggest furniture fair ."
"(CNN) -- ""These types of patients have such disfigurement beforehand they can't eat, they can't breathe properly. It's about functionality,"" says Dr. Richard Luskin, CEO of the New England Organ Bank. Luskin is referring to the small group of people worldwide who are on waiting lists in hope of a new face, and in the United States at least, they may now have one donated to them more readily. Last month the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS), a non-profit organization managing the U.S. organ transplant system, approved the first national policies for the transplantation of limbs, faces and other structures collectively known as ""vascularized composite allografts"" (VCAs) -- which should make it easier to find donors. As of April 2014, there had been 28 face transplants across the world. Animal attacks, severe burns and gunshot wounds had left these recipients scarred for life, literally, in the one place their scars cannot be hidden -- their face. ""Anyone with this disfigurement would argue they're not living, they're surviving,"" says Luskin. Face transplant recipients: New findings . A growing field . The first face transplant was performed in France in 2005 on Isabelle Dinoire, whose mouth, nose and chin had been chewed away by her dog. Since then the field has grown and transplants involving varying combinations of facial parts have been performed in six other countries, including the United States. As the procedures improve and their safety grows, donor registries and collaborating hospitals will increasingly be asking the question: Would you like to donate your face? Or in the case of the UNOS approval, asking family members of potential donors the sensitive question of whether they will donate the face of their loved one. The UNOS approval will initially be in place temporarily for 15 months to enable public comment, but families of donors will receive extra guidance when it comes to making the decision. ""Face transplants remain unique and require very specific criteria such as hairlines and ethnic components,"" explains a UNOS spokesperson. ""Therefore consent should be distinct and individual."" ""(This) will broaden the donor pool for wait-listed patients across a number of regional and national organ procurement organizations,"" explains Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez, professor of reconstructive plastic surgery at NYU Langone Medical Center. ""A major component for a successful procedure is patient selection on both the recipient and donor,"" he adds. ""The likeliness of a perfect match can be very challenging."" But this once-experimental procedure is becoming more widespread and accepted. Richard Norris, from Virginia, received a new face in March 2012 and last month his face was featured on the cover of the U.S. edition of men's magazine GQ. Norris lost most of his facial features after a gun blast, and lost abilities such as his sense of smell. But after surgery at the hands of Rodriguez and his team he can live his life once again. Face transplant patients: Where are they now? Risk of rejection . However, as this mode of surgery becomes a norm, the side effects and risks that come with the life-changing operation are still a concern and a question of ethics. Like any other transplant, there is a risk of the new organ being rejected by the patient's immune system and recipients have to take immunosuppressive drugs for the rest of their lives, putting them at risk of infections and cancer. But unlike many other transplants, replacing a face is not a matter of life and death. The surgery is classed by some as life-changing, not life-saving, which raises questions as to whether this risk is justified. ""For heart transplant patients they need a transplant or they will die. These (face transplant) patients are not in organ failure but are having to take anti-rejection medication and have lifelong repression,"" explains Dr. Maria Siemionow, from the University of Illinois, who performed a near-total face transplant in 2008 on American Connie Culp, who was shot in the face by her husband. But Siemionow is working to solve this problem. ""We need new therapies which will be less harmful,"" she says. The Polish surgeon is developing chimeric cells, which bring together the cells from a donor and the recipient during transplantation. ""We are fusing together cells from the bone marrow of donors and recipients so these cells will be recognized by the recipient's immune systems as their own,"" she explains. Not an easy task. By combining the two cells and delivering them into patients receiving a transplant, their immune system will learn to recognize the donor's cells, which are present throughout their new face, making their immune cells less likely to attack the face. ""If the (immune system) can recognize more cells as 'self' the patient will need less anti-rejection drugs,"" says Siemionow, whose experimental therapy is hoped to enter clinical trials in a few years and when it does, may make face transplants more acceptable to critics. ""Immunosupression is the main ethical concern and new therapies are crucial for the future of this field,"" she says. Luskin feels the benefits of a new face counter ethical doubts. ""There is no ethical issue,"" he concludes. ""I saw a patient walking down a crowded hospital hall a few years after surgery and no-one noticed them. He looked like a normal guy. To me, that's the point of these surgeries."""
"Call them drones; call them toy airplanes with digital cameras dropped into their girths. Either way, South Korean defense officials said on Friday they were sure that they came from North Korea and that they were up to no good. Three diminutive single-engine unmanned propeller planes that look like they could have come from a hobby shop were found on the ground in March and April in parts of the South near the border with the northern Communist regime. Though the low-tech buzzers don't seem to represent a major danger, they come in the shadow of North Korean missile launches and the impending countdown to the test of a nuclear device. And they made it through South Korean air defenses. Ministry of National Defense officials in Seoul immediately suspected that the sky-blue colored fliers belonged to Pyongyang. They formed an investigation team with the United States in mid-April to analyze the ""travel log file"" and photos taken by the drones and announced the results on Friday. Scientists found a ""smoking gun that all three were sent from North Korea and are programmed to return to North Korea,"" South Korean defense spokesman Kim Min-soek said. Photos the drones took along on their journey corroborate their flight path, he said. Precarious cargo . Had the mechanical carrier pigeons made it back home, they would have delivered precarious cargo, but it would have been far from precious. Japanese-made digital cameras, which look like they could be of the consumer variety, were inserted into the bellies of the drones and had taken aerial photos of the South from around the border region. All three were programmed to fly over military facilities, and two of them had images of targets of military interest -- strategically important islands near the demilitarized zone, and the Blue House, residence and office of South Korea's President Park Geun-hye. Images from the third drone were not available to South Korean investigators. A wild ginseng digger had stumbled upon the plane and had deleted its memory card so he could use it himself, the Korea Times reported. The planes were not capable of transmitting images back to North Korea in real time, and the photos themselves were no better than what one might see on a service akin to Google Earth, Kim said in a previous briefing. Limited capabilities . There is little danger the drones could have made it far into South Korea. The type of drone is not used for long-range missions, a defense analyst said. Instead they're better suited to see what the enemy is up to on the other side of a hill or wall. ""It has quite a small range, it doesn't have very long endurance so it would only be up there for a few hours. You would use those to see what the other guys are doing in a battlefield environment,"" said James Hardy, the Asia Pacific editor of IHS Jane's Defence Weekly magazine. ""They're very much closely built off a remote-controlled aircraft that you can buy in a toy store. They're just a militarized version of that,"" Hardy said. The Korean drones are nowhere near as sophisticated as those used by the United States in Pakistan, Yemen and Afghanistan, he said. They would also not make much of a weapon, if someone decided to stuff explosives into them, Kim has said. ""Even if they are to be used for future attacks, (they) can only carry 2-3 kilograms of TNT and cannot cause huge damage."" North Korea has flaunted similar, larger UAVs at military parades in recent years, and some of them have been spiked with explosives, Hardy said. Video footage shows North Korean exercises using them as missiles, but it's an expensive way to build a bomb, he said. And it could only take out a single vehicle or ship. 'Tis the season . Spring is traditionally a time of high tensions between Pyongyang on the one side and Seoul and Washington on the other. Annual U.S.-South Korean joint military drills, that ended on April 7, drew criticism from North Korea, which views the exercises as ""dress rehearsals for invasion,"" according to analyst James Person from the Woodrow Wilson Center. In March, Pyongyang fired two mid-range ballistics missiles off its eastern coast, in an apparent response to the drills. Days later, the two sides fired hundreds of shells across the Northern Limit Line, their disputed maritime border. The shells were shot into the sea, not at hard targets. North Korea also warned it was preparing to test another nuclear device. ""It's all good stuff because it allows the North Koreans to do something provocative and slightly annoying which might embarrass South Koreans, but it's not provocative enough to create a proper military response,"" Hardy said. Slipping through . The drones would fit well into that category, since they slipped through South Korean air defenses. They are made of polycarbonate, which is difficult to detect with radar, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency. They fly at an average speed of about 110 km per hour (68 mph) at an altitude of 1.3 km (.8 miles). They were launched in North Korea from three locations, South Korea's defense ministry said: Near the Kaesong area, 27 kilometers southeast of Haeju and 17 kilometers from Pyonggak. South Korea's defense ministry called the intrusion by the drones a violation of the truce that ended the bloody conflict between North and South Korea in 1953. Kim said Seoul will send a warning via the United Nations to Pyongyang and tighten air defenses as a response to the drones."
"(CNN) -- Move over, Emma. There's a new queen in town. Isabella dethroned Emma as the top name for girls born last year, according to the Social Security Administration's annual list of most popular baby names, released Saturday. Jacob, on the other hand, held on as the most popular boy's name for the 11th year in a row. The Social Security Administration started compiling name lists in 1997. And as in years past, the influence of pop culture is reflected in the names picked for newborns. The boy's name that rocketed up the list the fastest is Cullen -- the name of the lead character in the popular ""Twilight"" book series. Cullen's girlfriend in the books is Bella, short for Isabella. On the girls' side, the fastest riser is Maliyah, an altered version of the name of President Obama's daughter Malia -- which also is among the top 10 fast risers. But parents are equally quick to drop celebrity-inspired names once they think the popularity is passe. Among the biggest drops last year were Mylee and Miley, as in singer Miley Cyrus. Also on the outs: Lindsay and Jonas (think actress Lindsay Lohan and the band Jonas Brothers). Meanwhile, Barack continued to move up the list. Sixty-nine Baracks were born in 2009, the agency said. As always, religious names retained their popularity -- even if some were somewhat unconventional. Among the popular names are Nevaeh (heaven spelled backward) for girls, and Messiah for boys. The 10 most popular girls' names, in order, are: Isabella, Emma, Olivia, Sophia, Ava, Emily, Madison, Abigail, Chloe and Mia. The 10 most popular boys' name, also in order, are: Jacob, Ethan, Michael, Alexander, William, Joshua, Daniel, Jayden, Noah and Anthony."
"LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Los Angeles fire officials say they're worried that nighttime winds could push two major wildfires, which already are blamed in two deaths, closer to pricey neighborhoods on the Pacific coast. Fire draws near homes in the Los Angeles-area community of Porter Ranch, California, on Monday. ""We are concerned about what will happen tonight when the winds pick up,""  Los Angeles Fire Chief Douglas Barry said Monday. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Monday declared a state of emergency Monday in Los Angeles and Ventura counties because of the fires.  Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman, whose district covers the area where the fire is burning, called on President Bush to issue a federal disaster declaration for the area. At least two people have died because of the blazes, which have burned 8,000 acres in the hills and mountains of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, fire and police officials said. One was identified as a man who died in a makeshift wood-and-cardboard shelter and appeared to be homeless. A dog's body also was found. The other victim was killed in a collision of motorists who were trying to exit a freeway that was closed because of one of the wildfires, a fire official said. No identity or age was available for either victim. ""Winds are causing fire conditions to change by the hour,"" Schwarzenegger said in a statement released Monday. ""Several thousand acres have already burned with minimal containment and more acres are threatened."" iReport.com: Are wildfires affecting you? Residents downwind were warned to remain alert into the night. ""It can go from here to the ocean in a matter of two to three hours,"" said Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, The Associated Press reported. Barry said investigators have not determined a cause for either blaze. Fire officials warned that strong winds, predicted to reach more than 60 mph after 11 p.m., could send fire roaring south down the Pacific coast near Highway 101. Officials have shut two freeways north of Los Angeles and authorities dispatched water-dropping helicopters and more than 200 fire engines as the blaze ""started to push toward the city,"" said John Tripp of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.  About 350 police officers are on the scene, patrolling evacuated neighborhoods and warning residents ahead of the flames. Officials shut down part of Interstate 210, also known as the Foothill Freeway, and any residents north of the freeway were under a mandatory evacuation order. The fire jumped the interstate in one spot and headed toward the Lake View Terrace area. A portion of State Route 118, known as the Ronald Reagan Freeway, also was closed. The larger of the two fires has charred more than 3,500 acres in the Angeles National Forest, officials said.  See video of the Angeles National Forest fire » . That fire destroyed several structures, including about 30 mobile homes in the Lopez Canyon area, said Los Angeles County fire inspector Sam Padilla. The mobile homes had been evacuated Sunday. The other fire, burning nearby, is expected to expand as the winds push the flames away from the center. In San Diego County, a wildfire that began on an explosives training range at Camp Pendleton had grown to more than 1,500 acres by nightfall and forced the evacuation of 1,400 homes, The AP reported. In northern California, a wildfire that started Sunday on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay had spread across 250 acres as of Monday morning but hadn't damaged any buildings in the historic state park, a Marin County fire official said.  See video of the Angel Island fire » ."
"(CNN) -- In September 1985 a devastating earthquake measuring 8.1 on the Richter Scale smashed into Mexico City killing 10,000 people and leaving parts of the city in ruins. Since then, the populous Latin American nation of 122 million has invested in one of the most advanced seismic warning systems anywhere in the world. The SASMEX facility came online in 1991 and reacts to data gathered by sensors placed near major fault lines along Mexico's Pacific coast. Receivers dotted around five major cities, including Mexico City and Acapulco, will sound the alarm if they detect an earthquake. It's a system that can buy vital seconds for residents to brace themselves before the tremors begin. But not everyone has access to a SASMEX receiver -- there are 100,000 in operation but at a cost of roughly $330 apiece, they are a luxury the majority of Mexicans can't afford. Most receivers are stationed in the likes of public buildings, hospitals, schools and subway stations. With roughly 21 million people living both formally and informally in and around Mexico City alone, that means many will not be aware the alarm is sounding until the ground begins shaking. $50 alarm . According to local tech entrepreneur, Andres Meira, such vital services should be far more widely available. Meira is no passive observer in this debate. He moved to Mexico City after working in Haiti and witnessing the devastation caused by the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck the Caribbean island in 2010 killing more than 230,000 people. It's an experience that had a profound and lasting effect on him. ""Until you live in one of these places you don't really understand the primitive fear of earthquakes,"" he said. ""There are times when you can't sleep and sometimes you wake up in the middle of the night and make sure things aren't moving."" Now, after combining with local engineers and tech investors based in Silicon Valley, Meira believes he may have a solution that will bring the SASMEX signal to the masses. It's called the Grillo (the Spanish word for cricket) early warning system. The compact device -- a cube about the size of an alarm clock -- taps into the special frequencies that SASMEX operates on and relays that information to its users. When seismic activity is detected, the Grillo sounds a loud, flashing alarm. At a cost of just $50, it also undercuts the price of the receivers used primarily in public buildings by around 85%. ""This is the most affordable and the most direct way for the Mexican public to connect to the early warning system,"" Meira says of the product, which also became Mexico's most successful ever Kickstarter campaign. Mexico City's geographic location and geological makeup put it at particular risk from seismic activity. There have been a handful of relatively small quakes in 2014 already. Meira also hopes versions of the Grillo system could be introduced elsewhere in the world where earthquakes are a real risk -- like in Nepal, India, the West Coast of the U.S. and along much of the Pacific Coast of South America. Missing education? But others point to the difficulty of introducing a mass warning system without first educating citizens on what to do when receiving a direct alert. Speaking to McClatchyDC.com earlier this year, Arturo Iglesias Mendoza, director of the Institute of Geophysics at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, pondered what would happen if 5,000 of 60,000 people in a football stadium received an alert of an imminent earthquake? ""People should know that the safest thing to do is to stay in the stadium,"" he said. On top of that, the $50 price is still a considerable investment for many residents of a country where the average wage remains under $5 a day. Then there is the fact that only a handful of early warning systems like SASMEX exist anywhere in the world. This means that Grillo will unlikely have government sourced data and advanced sensor system set up near major fault lines to tap into in many other locations. Meira and his colleagues have anticipated such difficulties. He speaks of the next stage of the Grillo project which will see hundreds of specially developed sensors placed all over Mexico, feeding into an algorithm that will provide early-warning alerts to apps and smartphones. Warning app . Known as Grillo Active, the tiny orange devices contain a sensitive movement detector, microprocessor and a WiFi module to transmit a signal. Grillo are currently in talks with a major convenience store chain to locate the devices at between 500 and 1,000 of their stores around Mexico. Such a wide spread will ensure more reliable and faster alerts. ""The real test of a good infrastructure is the density of sensors,"" Meira said. ""This is our plan in Mexico."" Given that the devices can be produced cheaply and located anywhere with an internet connection, the potential for Grillo to be used in a variety of vulnerable areas around the world is very real. Japan remains the only nation in the world where the entire country is hooked up to an early warning facility. And that system, which consists of 1,000 GPS sensors. For now, however, this fledgling group's focus remains on Mexico. The first small batch of Grillo boxes produced have been sold, although they haven't yet seen any action in the field. Mexico's last earthquake was recorded about six months ago, when the device was still in the prototype phase. Meira hopes that the acid test doesn't come too soon, but he expects a solid performance from his invention when it does. ""The science is all there,"" he said. ""We have tested it out in two earthquakes and they worked just fine. One was a seven pointer (on the Richter scale) and it worked perfectly."" Now, they await the next earthquake."
"(CNN) -- Bayern Munich's record winning start to the Bundesliga season came to an abrupt end Sunday as they were stunned 2-1 at home by Bayer Leverkusen. Going into the match at the Allianz Arena, Bayern had racked up eight straight wins, but a late own goal by their German international defender Jerome Boateng saw them slip to defeat. They still have a four-point lead at the top from Schalke, while Leverkusen have moved up to fifth. The visitors took the lead when Andre Schuerrle left striker Stefan Kiessling with a close range tap-in after 42 minutes. Bayern drew level with 13 minutes remaining as striker Mario Mandzukic headed home, but Leverkusen were to enjoy their first win in Munich since 1989. Boateng's attempted to head away a shot but it just flew past goalkeeper Manuel Neuer on 86 minutes. In other action, Eintracht Frankfurt missed the chance to move back above Schalke when they lost 2-1 at Stuttgart. Snow can't stop Dortmund victory . Vedad Ibisevic scored Stuttgart's winner for the second straight week. Alexander Meier had leveled for Frankfurt after Christian Gentner's sixth-minute opener for the home side . Borussia Moenchengladbach came from two down to score three late goals in a 3-2 win at Hanover. In Serie A, champions Juventus maintained their lead at the top with a controversial 1-0 win at Catania, who finished with 10 men. Chilean star Arturo Vidal put Juve ahead after 57 minutes before Catania defender Giovanni Marchese was sent off mid-way through the second half. But the real arguments came in the first half as Catania thought they had gone ahead when Argentine striker Ruben Bergessio tapped home a rebound. The referee ruled it out to the fury of the home side and their president Antonino Pulvirenti, who was sent from the bench for dissent. Inter Milan kept up their pursuit of the Old Lady with their fifth straight win, 3-2 at Bologna to stay four points behind. Andrea Ranocchia and Diego Milito put Inter 2-0 ahead before Nicolo Cherubin hit back for the home side. Esteban Cambiasso's first goal of the season sealed three points for the Nerazzurri. In La Liga, Atletico Madrid drew level on points with Barcelona at the top as man of the moment Radamel Falcao scored his 10th league goal of the season in their 3-1 win over Osasuna. Joao Miranda and Raul Garcia put Atletico 2-0 ahead in the Vincente Calderon Stadium before Roland Lamah pulled one back for Osasuna, who stay bottom of the table. Falcao sealed the three points 17 minutes from time. In the late match, reigning champions Real Madrid won 5-0 in Mallorca with Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuain both scoring twice. But they remained eight points adrift of the leading pair in fourth place."
"Washington (CNN) -- In one ill-fated fundraiser, Mitt Romney managed to offend Palestinians, Latinos and some of the same people he's counting on for support if he wants to unseat President Barack Obama. It isn't the first time Romney's oratory fumbles have put his campaign on its heels, handed opponents material to push the stereotype of him as an out-of-touch businessman and provoked members of the party's conservative base to question his worthiness as their standard-bearer. ""Everybody has the same reaction: 'dumb, dumb, dumb,'"" said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, adding that Romney's gaffes reinforce a sitcom-like caricature of the candidate. Opinion: What's wrong with Romney . After the tape, recorded during a May 17 private fundraiser at the home of Sun Capital executive Marc Leder, made the rounds on Monday, Romney convened a hastily scheduled news conference Monday night in which he said his comments were ""off the cuff"" and ""not elegantly stated."" However, he defended the main message of his remarks, saying he that while he could have made them ""more clearly,"" he said he was trying to point out the differences between his and Obama's campaigns. Democratic pundits gloated and were content to let Romney's words speak for themselves. ""I mean, I don't think Democrats had much to say at all. I mean, there wasn't much left to say,"" Democratic strategist Richard Socarides said on CNN's ""Early Start."" ""Look, I mean, I think that, you know, big picture, this is a -- was a devastating moment for Governor Romney, potentially fatal, as people start to focus on this campaign."" Narratives at work . Another Democratic strategist said that Romney's comments played into the two narratives that they have pushed: ""First, that he doesn't care about the middle class. Well, thanks for the help, Mitt,"" Paul Begala, a CNN contributor and a senior adviser in the leading pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA, said on CNN's ""AC360."" ""On the second front ... in order to give big tax cuts for the rich, Mitt Romney is going to have to raise taxes on the middle class. Well, when you're claiming to wealthy people that 47 percent of Americans don't pay federal income tax, I think a lot of those people, retirees, working class folks are going to listen to that and think, 'Gee, I guess the Democrats are right. I guess he does want to raise the taxes on the middle class in order to help the rich.'"" Republican strategist Margaret Hoover, who served in the Bush White House, said the comments would wound Romney but it wouldn't be a fatal one. Video threatens Romney campaign . ""You can understand while he tripped over his words, it probably wasn't characterized the best way. I think we can all agree with that,"" she said on ""Early Start."" ""You can understand what he was trying to say. Do we have a systemic problem in this country when you have almost 50 percent of people not paying any federal income taxes? And he's running on a platform that would fundamentally change the tax code so that you lower the base, broaden the base and lower tax rates across the board."" Reaction from other conservatives was mixed. While some some applauded Romney's comments, others saw them as reinforcing why they questioned his legitimacy. CNN contributor and conservative blogger Erick Erickson tweeted: ""Dammit! I'm just now seeing these Romney secret videos. We need that guy on the campaign trail!"" Others, such as New York Times columnist, David Brooks, wrote ""Romney's comment is a country-club fantasy. It's what self-satisfied millionaires say to each other. It reinforces every negative view people have about Romney."" And conservative commentator Bill Kristol, a frequent critic of Romney, called the remarks ""stupid and arrogant."" ""It's worth recalling that a good chunk of the 47 percent who don't pay income taxes are Romney supporters â€” especially of course seniors (who might well ""believe they are entitled to heath care,"" a position Romney agrees with), as well as many lower-income Americans (including men and women serving in the military) who think conservative policies are better for the country even if they're not getting a tax cut under the Romney plan. So Romney seems to have contempt not just for the Democrats who oppose him, but for tens of millions who intend to vote for him,"" Kristol posted on The Weekly Standard on Tuesday. Romney campaign responds . A Romney adviser tried to put the comments in context: . ""What he's saying is there are people out there who don't pay taxes, unfortunately,"" Bay Buchanan, a senior adviser, said on CNN's ""Starting Point"" on Tuesday. ""They're in a position where they're dependent on government, and those individuals are -- those Americans are voting for Barack Obama. They're in his backyard. And so those are people that I'm not going to be able to reach with my 20 percent tax cut or my cuts in spending because they would be concerned. It's not going to impact them getting a 20 percent tax cut. They don't pay taxes."" Romney's comments were recorded by a hidden camera and posted Monday afternoon on the left-leaning news websites Mother Jones and The Huffington Post. Romney argued nearly half of Americans will vote for Obama because they rely on government support. Adding to his argument about entitlement, Romney said his ""job is not to worry about those people."" He also joked about wishing he had Latino heritage and talks about a Chinese factory his former firm purchased. A clip released Tuesday morning showed Romney questioning the prospect of ever reaching peace between Israelis and Palestinians, calling a path to a solution in the region ""almost unthinkable to accomplish."" ""I'm torn by two perspectives in this regard,"" Romney is shown saying in a clip that only shows only the candidate speaking and does not include any questions that may have prompted his remarks. ""One is the one which I've had for some time, which is that the Palestinians have no interest whatsoever in establishing peace, and that the pathway to peace is almost unthinkable to accomplish."" Opinion: How Romney really feels about the GOP . With two weeks until the first presidential debate and less than two months before the election, the timing couldn't be worse, political experts say. The Romney campaign had banked on its convention last month to make a favorable introduction of Romney to the electorate, a large part of it just beginning to pay attention to the election. But a CNN/ORC International poll conducted after the convention showed Romney gained only a 1% rise in the polls while Obama gained three to four times that much following the Democrats' convention. Romney's acceptance speech was largely overshadowed by a rambling, off-the-cuff monologue by actor Clint Eastwood, which preceded it. Last week, Romney was criticized by Democrats and Republicans alike for an aggressive and politically charged response to violent attacks on U.S. embassies in Egypt and Libya. After the attacks, Romney in a statement said, ""It's disgraceful that the Obama administration's first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks."" Series of gaffes . Over the weekend, Politico posted a story that detailed tensions within Romney's campaign and on Monday the campaign launched a new effort to inject energy and fresh policy details with a series of speeches and advertising. ""There's been a bit of bad luck involved in some of it,"" said John Geer, chairman of Vanderbilt University's political science department. ""It's not a surprise that these blunt remarks are going to be made in front of this type of audience. Here's a guy who's trying to work on his image about caring and this doesn't help him at all."" Romney has been plagued by a series of gaffes during his presidential run. He joked with unemployed workers in Florida in June 2011 that he, too, was also unemployed. In January of this year, he told a crowd of supporters that he likes ""being able to fire people"" in a talk about insurance companies. He went on to say that if someone didn't provide adequate services, he liked to be able to find someone else who would. But critics took the first part of the quote used it to paint him as a venture capitalist focused only on a company's bottom line. Controversial video shows candid Romney . In a February interview, Romney told CNN that he is ""not concerned about the very poor,"" citing the safety net in place by the American government and said that his primary focus is the middle class. But it was the first part of the sentence that critics pounced on as evidence of Romney's elitism, while conservatives said the safety net he talked about only encouraged a welfare state. Later that month, at a campaign stop at the Daytona 500 NASCAR race, Romney told a reporter that while he might not follow the sport as closely as the most ardent fans, ""I have some great friends who are NASCAR team owners."" And at an event in Detroit, he tried to prove he was behind the American automotive industry by saying that he drove a Ford Mustang and a Chevrolet pickup and that his wife, Ann, ""drives a couple of Cadillacs."" Defenders sought to defuse the controversy by pointing to Obama's comments during the 2008 Democratic primaries about ""bitter"" people who ""cling to guns or religion."" But those comments came long before the general election and did little to harm him with voters. Romney's comments will serve as a distraction in coming days but there's still opportunities for him to get back on track with a weak economy and high jobless rate. ""He's a tough campaigner Romney. ... I don't think one should rule him out,"" Geer said. ""The fundamentals are still a problem for Obama."" iReport: Weigh in about Romney . I'm the 47% but - You're WRONG Mitt Romney! 4,000 millionaires in Romney's '47%' Jim Acosta, Peter Hamby, Ashley Killough, Kevin Liptak, Jeanne Sahadi and Rachel Streitfeld contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- So many visitors to Turkey see little more than the beautiful but crowded Mediterranean coast or the great mosques and palaces of Istanbul. But the country is huge, and there are many more attractions away from the tourist hotspots. Relics of vanished civilizations, a vast inland sea with a water-loving cat and a Biblical mountain with views deep into Iran and Armenia are just some of the reasons to go. 1. See it all from a train . For people who like intrepid journeys but like them even more when they're sitting or lying down, the Turkish rail system is heaven. From February 2014, if all goes to plan, you'll be able to whiz between Istanbul and Ankara, Turkey's capital, on a new high speed train. East of Ankara the pace slows. The Dogu Expresi (Eastern Express) leaves nightly at 6 p.m. and takes just more than 24 hours to trundle from Ankara to Kars, almost 1,500 kilometers away in the remote northeast. It stops at the cities of Kayseri, Sivas and Erzurum, passes through the rolling fields of Anatolia and ends among snow-topped eastern mountains. The two-berth cabins have a mini-fridge stocked with mineral water and soft drinks, and washbasins with hot and cold running water. A porter makes your bed and brings drinks and snacks during the day, and there's a dining car. You can book online at Turkish State Railways, or by phone (+90 0216 337 8724), but the English version of the site is clunky -- it's easier to book through a travel agent or buy tickets at a station. Tickets cost $45 in a one-berth cabin on the Ankara-Kars route. 2. Hunt rare ruins . It sometimes feels that you can't walk more than a few paces in Turkey without stubbing your toe on some millennia-old relic. Some sites -- such as ever-popular Ephesus -- are packed with visitors almost all year round. But remarkably few people visit the equally spectacular Aphrodisias, where you can wander around a square kilometer of ruined temples and theaters with only tortoises for company. The site reached its zenith around 2,000 years ago, when it was famed for its sculptors. You can see some of their work in the excellent on-site museum. Aphrodisias is around 160 kilometers from the coastal resorts of Bodrum, Marmaris or Kusadasi. The easiest way to get there is by car, and car rental is available at all resorts and at Dalaman Airport. Ancient Aphrodisias, Geyre Bedesi, Karcasu; +90 256 448 8003; open (site and museum) April-October, daily 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; November-March, daily 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; admission TL10 ($4.50) 3. Sail an inland sea . Up to 400 meters deep and almost 120 kilometers across, Lake Van is a true inland sea. With no outlet, its waters are saturated with mineral salts that turn the shallows milky blue. In its depths, colonies of extremophile bacteria form weird, 40-meter-high towers. Only one kind of fish -- pearl mullet or inci kefali -- has adapted to live in its hyper-alkaline waters. Van is also famous for a breed of water-loving and often odd-eyed cat, and is rumored to have its own monster. You can swim in the shallows, where it's almost impossible to sink beneath the surface. More than a thousand years ago, the lake was part of the kingdom of Armenia. The ancient Armenian Surb Kach (Holy Cross) church on Akdamar Island, three kilometers from thev lake shore, has remarkable frescoes and carvings, which have recently been restored. It can be visited by a combination of dolmus and small boat from Gevas, about 50 kilometers from Van. Grand Deniz Turizm, Van-Tatvan Highway, 40 kilometers from GevaÅŸ and Van (+90 432 612 4038), offers boat trips to Akdamar and other islands in the lake. 4. Cycle among mountains . Turkey has thousands of miles of mountain and forest trails. Some of the most spectacular cycling country is in the Kackar mountain range and the valley of the River Coruh, where you can also go whitewater rafting. With several peaks rising well above 3,000 meters (the highest, Kackardagi, is 3,932 meters high), these mountains are snow-covered much of the year. In summer -- the best time to visit is June to August -- they're cooler than better known cycling spots closer to the Med. For a really big adventure, you can follow mountain roads all the way down to the Black Sea coast and fly back to Istanbul or Ankara from Trabzon. You can fly to Erzurum from Istanbul or Ankara, or take the train (see above). The Coruh Valley is around 120 kilometers north of Erzurum and more than a thousand kilometers east of Istanbul. 5. Follow an epic walking trail . The Lycian Way feels like a path trodden by the ancients but in fact this walking route stretching from the Aegean coast to the Mediterranean was pioneered in 2000 by an Antalya-based expat, Kate Clow. For most of its length, it parallels the Lycian coast, but it soars to 1,800 meters above sea level at its highest point, the shoulder of Tahtali Dag (Mt Tahtali). The best place to start (or finish) is the small resort of Olu Deniz -- there are village guesthouses and campsites along the way. You need at least four weeks to walk the entire 509-kilometer distance, but public transport is plentiful -- so you can walk for a week, or even just for a day or two. Several airlines fly to both Dalaman (about 50 kilometers from Olu Deniz) and Antalya from Istanbul and direct from European airports. Best times to go are April-May and October. More information at Lycianway.com or Cultureroutesinturkey.com . 6. Climb Mt. Ararat . Noah's Ark is said to have come to rest on top of Turkey's highest mountain, the 5,137-meter Agri Dagi (Mt. Ararat). Some believe it's still there. From the summit of Ararat, you can see a vast swath of Turkey and deep into Iran and Armenia. Ararat is a hard slog, requiring some technical mountain skills. The terrain is rugged, and climbers must contend with extremes of heat and cold -- the highest summit is snow-covered all year, and summer temperatures at the foot of the mountain can reach more than 30 C. It's essential to go with a trustworthy specialist company, avoiding amateur local guides who claim to know the mountain but lack skills needed for a safe trip. Getting to the top and back takes at least five days, using mules to carry tents and supplies. The ascent starts from the the city of Dogubayazit, about 1,500 kilometers east of Istanbul. Nearest major airports are at Erzurum and Van, both around 4-5 hours' drive. Turkish Mountaineering Federation, Hani A Blok Kat 4, 06050 Ulus, Ankara; +90 312310 1578 . Getting around . Travel in Turkey is affordable and efficient. If you mix and match road, rail and air transport, there's no part of the country you can't reach. Every town has its otogar (bus station), from which air-conditioned, long-distance coaches zoom to all points of the compass. On board, you can expect free tea, soft drinks, water, snacks and a squirt of eau de cologne from smartly dressed stewards. You can buy tickets in advance, but you should shop around for the best fare, because several lines compete on each route. For shorter journeys, you can pile into a dolmus. These minibuses run on fixed routes, but not at fixed times -- they leave when they're full. Turkish Airlines (+ 90 212 444 0849) flies to Istanbul and Ankara from major cities worldwide, with connections to Antalya, Dalaman, Erzurum, Trabzon and Van from Istanbul and Ankara. Other internal airlines with extensive domestic networks include Atlasjet (+90 850 222 0000) which flies to Antalya, Erzurum and Trabzon from Istanbul; Onur Air (+90 850 210 6687) flies to Antalya, Dalaman, Erzurum and Trabzon from Istanbul; Pegasus (+90 850 250 0737) flies to Erzurum and Van from Istanbul and Ankara. GoTurkey.com is the official Turkish national tourist office site."
"(CNN) -- As the world knows, peace can sometimes be fleeting. One-time basketball bad boy Ron Artest, who changed his name to Metta World Peace and said it was meaningful and inspirational, was ejected Sunday from the Los Angeles Lakers-Oklahoma City Thunder game for hitting James Harden in the head with his elbow. After scoring against the Thunder in the second quarter, World Peace was cheering his own shot when he hit the Oklahoma City guard in the back of the head, knocking him down. Watch the NBA.com video of the hit . Harden was on the floor for several minutes, and did not return to the game after being diagnosed with a concussion, according to the Thunder. World Peace was ejected from the game and faces possible suspension. The Lakers won 114-106 over the Thunder in double overtime. ""During that play I just dunked on (Kevin Durant) and (Serge) Ibaka, and I got really emotional and excited. It was unfortunate that James had to get hit with an unintentional elbow,"" World Peace told reporters after the game. ""I hope he's OK. The Thunder, they're playing for a championship this year, so I hope that he's OK and I apologize to the Thunder and to James Harden,"" he said. Hours later, World Peace tweeted that he watched the replay again: ""Oooo .. My celebration of the dunk really was too much ... Didn't even see James ... Omg... Looks bad."" Harden told ABC's Lisa Salters he had ""a little bit of a headache."" On Monday, the Thunder said Harden was undergoing testing. ""Harden participated in a series of limited activities per NBA guidelines, but has additional steps that must be taken under the league-mandated concussion policy before he can make his return to the court,"" the team statement said. ""He will be re-evaluated tomorrow and is currently listed as day-to-day."" World Peace's act was called ""disgraceful"" by game commentators, and sports analysts said the behavior was reminiscent of the ball player they once knew as Ron Artest. ""He has gone to such lengths to rehabilitate his image, and to revert back to this? He lost control,"" said Michael Wilbon, an ESPN analyst. Sports fans were baffled, some even amused, when World Peace announced last year that he planned to legally change his name from Ron Artest. ""Ron Artest has contemplated the name change for years and always knew that he wanted his last name to be World Peace. But it took many years of research and soul searching to find a first name that was both personally meaningful and inspirational,"" his publicist said at the time. Back when World Peace was still Artest and playing for the Indiana Pacers, he made headlines in 2004 for his role in a brawl between players and fans at a Pacers-Pistons game after somebody threw a drink on him. The NBA suspended Artest for 86 games. Fast forward to September 2011, when Artest announced the name change. Even before it was finalized by the court, World Peace was working on making the world a more peaceful place. In 2011, he raffled off his 2010 NBA Championship ring to help mentally ill youths. For his work with the youth, he was given the NBA's citizenship award for philanthropic work. A star turn on ""Dancing With the Stars"" garnered the basketball player a new legion of fans. But in the world, peace sometimes comes with a price: The NBA is now reviewing World Peace's less than peaceable actions."
"(CNN) -- Over the past few weeks almost a third of all Americans headed back to classrooms -- from early learning centers to universities, as students and as teachers -- accompanied by the usual seasonal mix of joys and jitters. Or perhaps not. Lately it seems we've been inundated with bad news: The nation's report card is crummy; schools are broke and failing; graduates can't find jobs. And with competition for resources putting increased pressure on standardized test scores, cheating scandals have become practically ho-hum. Among all these headlines resides a more quietly sobering fact: This year's high school graduates will be the first educated entirely under the No Child Left Behind Act. In other words, a whole generation of kids who've grown up with an emphasis on multiple choice testing, who've been taught that knowing the one right answer is more important than the process of inquiry, who've learned that admitting ""I don't know"" is a crime. But the problem isn't simply with a narrowly conceived educational policy. Pressure to know the right answer (or, more precisely, to appear to know) isn't limited to the classroom. It's pervasive throughout our culture -- a reality at once daunting and hopeful. Daunting because it means real reform will require more widespread change. Hopeful because it means there's something every one of us can do about it. Maybe even starting today. I'm talking about breaking the habit of faking knowledge in order to save face. For most of us, the fear of not knowing -- of looking dumb -- gets ingrained when we're small and reinforced throughout life in ways both subtle and overt. For every time someone reassured us, ""There's no such thing as a stupid question,"" weren't there ample experiences -- on the playground, at the dinner table, and yes, in the classroom -- that convinced us otherwise? Anyone who's ever been reprimanded or ridiculed for revealing ignorance knows all too well: The taste of shame is bitter and lingering. We'll go to great lengths to avoid it, often without deliberate thought. How many times have I found myself nodding in feigned recognition when someone makes reference to a person or book they assume I know? How many times have I been guilty of unwittingly inflicting similar discomfort on others? In some walks of life, presenting a knowing demeanor is practically a job requirement. One financial adviser recalls how, early in his career, he was so anxious to impress upon his clients that he knew was he was doing, he'd use meetings to ""information dump"" -- only subsequently learning that they'd been too embarrassed to speak up and confess they had no idea what he was talking about. A surgeon tells about the time when, as a new intern, afraid to admit unfamiliarity with a procedure and ask questions, she plunged in confidently -- and made an incision four times longer than the patient had been told the scar would be. Politicians routinely face shame if they confess to not knowing. Remember Rick Perry's memory lapse during the 2011 Republican primary debate? It seems we'll forgive our elected officials just about any breach of ethics, but let them admit to anything less than invulnerable certainty and they can kiss our vote goodbye. For the past several years, I've made a conscious effort to be candid about the limits of my own knowledge. As a college teacher, I've discussed this intention explicitly with students and colleagues. Guess what? I'm mortified to report: Despite my public resolution to practice this most essential form of academic integrity, I still catch myself engaging in a kind of knee-jerk, face-saving, passive dissimulation on a semi-regular basis. Based on what I hear from others, I'm not alone. Such behavior is apparently endemic. So what are we to do? For starters, talk about it. Own up to instances when we faked knowledge. Initiate conversations about what makes us more or less susceptible to this behavior. You're likely to hear some funny stories, and the experience of shared vulnerability is humanizing and makes for closer connections. Best of all, it creates an environment in which all stand to grow. My friend Lori, during her years as a high school history teacher, constantly encouraged her students to play in the wide-open spaces of uncertainty. One way she did this was by sharing her own gaps in knowledge. She'd model not just her comfort with not having figured everything out, but her delight in it. This, she seemed to convey, was where real intellectual pleasure lay: in the adventure of exploring the unknown. Often she'd assign Shakespeare as a way of getting students to think about power and status. She'd have them read one of the plays, then ask: ""Who's more powerful in this scene?"" Her students, anxious to deliver the ""right"" answer, would demand clarification. ""What do you mean? Powerful how?"" Lori would shrug and unfurl her fingers: Nothing up my sleeves. This isn't a trick. If her students protested, she'd say simply, ""That's all I know."" And so they'd be forced to grapple not only with the answer to her question, but with the meaning of her question, with the definition of power in the first place, which she, the authority figure, had just handed over to them: You guys figure it out. You decide. In this way, they were learning about history and drama but also about shifts in power, and who may wield it, and how classrooms can work and how societies can work, and about the very nature of ""right"" answers as opposed to the illimitable richness of interrogating the questions. This is what excites me when I think of heading back to school this fall: the prospect of bringing such generous, generative energy into the classroom. Perhaps filling in the ovals with number two pencils is important for helping us understand how far we are from achieving equity in schools across the nation. That is a vital project, deserving urgent attention. But we won't ever achieve equity -- let alone excellence -- if we don't also work to make our schools places where we all feel safe saying ""I don't know."" The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Leah Hager Cohen."
"(CNN)Japan's Shimanami Kaido might be an expressway, but it was designed with the cyclist in mind. A spectacular 60-kilometer road-and-bridge network connecting Japan's main island of Honshu with Shikoku (the nation's fourth largest island), it spans six smaller islands in the process and features bike and pedestrian lanes for its entire length. The sublime scenery of the Shimanami Kaido (Island-Wave-Sea Route) runs from Onomichi in Hiroshima Prefecture down to Imabari in Ehime Prefecture. Whichever way you travel, the views of the Seto Inland Sea National Park are sublime. Cycling gives you the freedom to stop for a photo halfway across a bridge or detour to investigate lighthouses, shrines and natural wonders most automobile travelers zip past. With 14 cycle rental terminals along the way, you can go at your own pace, spend a night at a campsite or inn or just hand your bike in at the nearest rental terminal and hop on a bus. Some terminals even have electric bicycles for hire. Experienced cyclists will be able to complete the entire route  -- there are a few challenging spots -- in a few hours. Here's a look at some of the highlights. Starting point: Onomichi . As of March, Onomichi is home to Japan's first hotel designed exclusively for cyclists: Hotel Cycle in the Onomichi U2 building, just five minutes' walk from the JR station. Manager Katsunori Takahashi is huge cycling enthusiast, and it shows. You can park your bike in your room, and there's even a cycle-through restaurant. Taiwanese bike manufacturer Giant has a store in U2 catering to cyclists: bikes, accessories, repairs. U2's Shima Shop sells local produce such as lemon comfiture and dried debera (five-spot flounder), an Onomichi delicacy. As for Onomichi itself, the town was built on a hillside overlooking the sea, so the best way to see it before you head onto the Shimanami Kaido is to catch the ropeway to the top of Senkoji Hill and enjoy the panorama. The walk down the Path of Literature is pleasant -- it winds past past boulders engraved with works by famous writers who've stayed in Onomichi over the centuries. You'll see the splendid Senkoji Temple, which dates from 806 AD, one of the oldest temples in Japan. A stamina boost comes in the form of Onomichi's legendary ramen. Tsutafuji is one of the most popular ramen shops in town. It's a mom and pop waterfront bar near the JR station that's been open more than 50 years. There are just 10 stools inside, so you may have wait a while. Once inside, you'll get a bowlful of noodles topped with pork in a pork-bone-and-fish broth. 'Orchard of Japan' After a day in Onomichi, it's time to roll. As soon as you've crossed Onomichi Strait and reached Mukaishima Island, you'll find yourself in a serene realm of citrus groves, set in the folds of forest-clad mountains. Citrus is big business here. The town of Setoda is Japan's number one producer of lemons, while Ehime Prefecture is known as the Orchard of Japan. There are tangerines, oranges and hybrid fruits unique to these islands, such as anseikan (a cannonball-sized grapefruit). Citrus-related products abound: cakes, jams, honey, sauces, juices. World's longest suspension bridge . As you breeze across the routes magnificent bridges (seven of them), a labyrinth of misty islands unfolds below. There are inhabited islands, desert islands and islands that are no more than a rock with a lone pine tree clinging to it. A procession of trawlers, tugs and speedboats glides in and out the channels. As for those bridges, their exquisite state of the art forms make them an attraction in their own right. Tatara is one of the world's longest cable-stayed bridges -- its elegant 220-meter-high steel towers represent the folded wings of a crane. At 4,045 meters long, Kurushima Bridge is the longest suspension bridge in the world. Temples, fusion food, stunning sea . Deep in the heart of rural Japan, there's a rich amount of art and culture to enjoy. Kosanji Temple on Ikuchijima Island is a must-visit. Built in 1936 by Buddhist priest Koso Kosanji in memory of his mother, this wonderland of temples, pagodas and natural beauty took more than 30 years to complete. Each building is modeled on famous temple buildings in Kyoto, Nikko and elsewhere, so visiting is like taking a stroll through Japanese history. For the perfect ending to a trip (should you choose to loop back the way you came) you can't go wrong with the Bella Vista Hotel in the hills outside Onomichi. The rooms are huge and offer views over the supreme serenity of the island-dotted sea. There's exquisite fusion in the hotel's Italian restaurant (blowfish and tagliarini). The hotel spa is open to the elements on one side, allowing fresh ocean breezes to cool your skin as you boil to a jelly while watching Jupiter rise over the Seto Sea. Travel info . Shinkansen bullet trains depart Tokyo regularly for Shin-Onomichi station -- the trip takes about 4.5 hours. Domestic flights between Tokyo and Hiroshima take about an hour and 20 minutes. Bicycles can be rented for 500 yen a day (children 300 yen). Tolls totaling 500 yen (about $5) are required for all bridge crossings. By car, the tolls are about 4,000 yen one way. A free shuttle bus to the Bella Vista Hotel runs from Onomichi JR station. The Tourist Office in the station can arrange it for you. Steve John Powell is a Hiroshima-based travel writer who has contributed to the Japan Times, CNN Travel and the South China Morning Post. Originally published May 2014. Updated April 3, 2015. CNN Travel's series often carries sponsorship originating from the countries and regions we profile. However CNN retains full editorial control over all of its reports. Read the policy."
"(CNN) -- Sometimes it takes just one. One person-- one idea -- to ignite a movement that changes lives. Helping the millions of people who've fled the war in Syria may seem a challenge far too big for small relief efforts. The U.N. calls it the worst humanitarian crisis in a generation. The needs are staggering. And yet, for some people, it's just not an option to do nothing. I AM NOT A TOURIST . Tanya Khalil says she refuses to be a neutral observer. Her country, Lebanon, is taking in more Syrian refugees than any other -- nearly 1 million at last official count -- despite its tiny size. The university student says it's impossible to walk the streets of Beirut without seeing reminders of the suffering -- some refugees searching for food, others sleeping on sidewalks. ""We cannot think somebody else will take care of it,"" Khalil says. ""We are that somebody. Each and every one of us is that somebody and it is our duty towards one another to be caring and compassionate souls."" Khalil started a group called I AM NOT A TOURIST. The name was meant as a wake-up call to her fellow Lebanese -- that the Syrian crisis was now on their doorstep and they could no longer act like bystanders. She couldn't stand the thought of Syrian refugees shivering in brutally cold temperatures while she and her friends were sleeping in their warm beds. They began collecting winter clothing and blankets for refugees in Akkar and the Bekaa Valley in north Lebanon. Khalil estimates 4,500 people donated items, filling 25 huge trucks. ""We ended up with more than 10,200 'bags of love,' "" she says. Unlike other host countries, Lebanon has no formal refugee camps. Refugees there are scattered across some 1,600 locations, complicating aid distribution. Khalil partnered with established NGOs to help with logistics: Sawa for Syria and War Child Holland. The United Nations estimates nearly 2.5 million Syrians are seeking shelter in Lebanon and in other neighboring states, but that accounts for only registered refugees. The true number could be much higher. And the crisis is only getting worse, as thousands of Syrians flee across the border each day. Sweaters for Syria . Ranya Alkadamani was half a world away when she felt compelled to help. It all started with a conversation with her brother. An Australian citizen living in Perth, Alkadamani has Syrian parents and family in Beirut. Her brother was heading to Beirut and asked if she had any old sweaters that he could take for a U.N. relief effort. She said sure -- and then realized she could do something even bigger. She sent an e-mail to work colleagues, asking if they had any sweaters to contribute. The note touched her boss, who called her and said he wanted to help start a campaign and that he would pay for shipping the sweaters. It became known as Sweaters for Syria. Alkadamani says she was overwhelmed by the response. She was worried that they wouldn't receive enough donations to fill even one container, but ""in two weeks, we pretty much filled the Salvation Army's warehouse with 1,000 bags."" The campaign inspired people across Perth. One 6-year-old boy is said to have collected 600 sweaters on his own. ""When people know there's something tangible that they can do to make a difference, they'll do it,"" Alkadamani says. She cried when she saw all the bags piled up in the warehouse -- 100,000 sweaters in all. ""Everyone was so generous and they cared as much as I did, and they're not even Syrian,"" she says. ""That was overwhelming."" The bags were delivered to the UNHCR for distribution in Turkey and Jordan. Alkadamani visited Jordan this month, helping to hand out sweaters to refugees who were crossing the border. She also visited Zaatari, a sprawling camp in the desert now home to nearly 125,000 refugees. That effectively makes it one of the largest cities in Jordan, and one of the largest refugee camps in the world. Life is harsh there, a far cry from the comforts of home refugees left in Syria. The war doesn't discriminate -- people from all walks of life have been forced to leave behind virtually everything they own. Alkadamani says she wants the world to understand that ""the people in those camps are just like you and me."" Khalil also stresses that point. She says Syrian refugees are just normal people -- from doctors to pharmacists to teachers -- with normal lives before the war tore their world apart. You can do something too . Major aid agencies like UNHCR are overwhelmed with the sheer scale of this crisis, so grassroots efforts can play an important role in filling the gaps. Aid organizations also encourage groups to raise cash donations, as they provide the flexibility to meet particular needs by trained relief workers. In all of these ways, individual efforts can make a difference in the face of enormous suffering. It starts with a simple idea -- and the willingness to act. You too can make an impact for Syrian refugees go to CNN.com/impact for large and small ways to help."
"Britain's Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, is going back to work, taking on a new role as an air ambulance pilot. The duke will start training in September, a year after leaving the Royal Air Force, where he flew search and rescue helicopters. He will have his first air ambulance shift in spring 2015. It's the first time a royal who's in direct line to the throne has taken a civilian job. The East Anglian Air Ambulance is operated by a private company, Bond Air Services, but the Duke will donate his salary to charity. He'll be based near his country home on the Queen's Sandringham Estate, which should allow him to remain a hands-on dad to his one-year-old heir Prince George. A palace spokesman said Prince William was ""hugely excited and motivated"" by his new job. ""The Duke sees this as a true form of public service, helping people in their most difficult times,"" the spokesman said. ""He regards his work with the RAF search and rescue force as having been an exceptional privilege and the Duke wanted to make his own contribution to the outstanding work of the air ambulance service."" The high-profile royal would have had to weigh up the risks of taking on a civilian, as opposed to military, role. Public interest could  affect not only his work, but potentially also that of medics and patients on board his aircraft. There is the heightened possibility of phone footage emerging of his rescues which could compromise privacy and security. There's also the risk of additional hoax calls. These were not a major issues whilst Prince William was a military search and rescue pilot because he was working in a remote part of west Wales and over water. The two air ambulances in East Anglia are the most widely used in the UK and operate in a built-up area. Their usual landing spots include school playing fields; residential gardens; car parks; beaches and any open space deemed possible by the pilot. William is currently on what officials have described as a ""transitional year,"" focusing on his royal duties and charitable work. He always planned to return to work and was keen that it would involve flying. Most air ambulance pilots have a military background like the Duke, who joined a squadron based at RAF Valley after qualifying as a search and rescue pilot in 2010. He undertook 156 search and rescue operations, resulting in 149 people being rescued. He is highly skilled. Andrew Egerton Smith, chairman of the East Anglian Air Ambulance said: ""Having the Duke of Cambridge as one of our pilots is marvelous news as he brings much experience to the charity after his successful career as a search and rescue pilot.  We have an outstanding track record of attending people in their hour of need which is recognized and  generously supported by our local communities."" William will spend the autumn and winter in training with the East Anglian Air Ambulance and, once qualified, will start co-piloting in the spring of next year. He will work from Cambridge and Norwich Airports doing both day and night shifts. The Duke is then expected to progress to the position of helicopter commander. The palace said the pilot role would be the Duke's ""primary occupation."" Its statement added: ""But his roster will take into account the duties and responsibilities he will continue to undertake on behalf of The Queen, both in the United Kingdom and overseas. The Duke will also continue his work with his patronages and with the Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry."" The Duke has always been keen on a role beyond his royal duties whilst he is still second in line to the throne. This job will allow him to balance both positions whilst having his young family close-by. The Cambridges' country house, Anmer Hall, is being renovated and is set in idyllic rural surroundings which affords the family more privacy than their official residence at Kensington Palace, London, which is constantly monitored by photographers."
"(CNN) -- President Abraham Lincoln and his wife, Mary Todd, needed a baby-sitter. It was April 18, 1864, and the Lincolns had planned to go to a fair in Baltimore, returning the next day. They needed someone to watch their 11-year-old son, Tad. A newly published letter from Mrs. Lincoln requesting a sitter gives rare insight into the family's life inside the Lincoln White House, showing one way the family had to juggle their busy schedules, just like everyone else. The letter is being offered for sale by the Raab Collection, a dealer in historical documents, valued at $15,000. It's not long -- just one line -- but the signed letter is in the first lady's hand. ""Hon. Mr. Harrington, We would like to have the services of Charles from today, at 2 P.M. until tomorrow at 11 A.M. Very Resp. Mrs. Lincoln."" ""Charles"" was Charles Forbes, a Treasury Department employee who was detailed to the Lincolns and often served as the president's valet, footman, messenger or attendant, according to the Raab Collection. George Harrington was assistant secretary of the Treasury and Forbes' boss and handled personal financial matters for the Lincolns. ""Children in the White House have always held a great fascination with the American people,"" said Nathan Raab, vice president of the Raab Collection. ""It shows the president and first lady at their most personal, their most human."" Mary Todd Lincoln ended up not going to the Baltimore event, likely too burdened with preparations for a reception the next night, the final White House reception of the season, Raab says. Forbes' close family relationship soured a year later when President Lincoln was assassinated. Forbes was seated outside the president's box at Ford's Theatre and was the one who allowed the assassin, John Wilkes Booth, to enter. Forbes and the president's guard then left for a drink, leaving Lincoln unattended, Raab says. Mary Todd Lincoln ended up blaming Forbes for her husband's death. ""Lincoln,"" a film about the 16th president and his battle to end slavery, is up for 12 Academy Awards this year, including best picture. The ceremony is scheduled to be broadcast Sunday night."
"Port-Au-Prince, Haiti (CNN) -- Haiti's economy is getting a boost thanks to a venture with one of Korea's largest companies that promises to bring 20,000 garment industry jobs to a new industrial park in the north of the country. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive were joined by members of the Interim Haitian Recovery Commission, the Inter-American Development Bank, Haitian business leaders and the chairman of Sae-A Trading Co. Ltd. at the Haiti Apparel Center in Port-au-Prince as they signed an agreement to build the North Industrial Park. It's part of an effort to rebuild the Haitian economy that began even before the earthquake struck one year ago. ""This will inspire people all over Latin America, the Caribbean, the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia who have thought seriously about investing in Haiti and not come through,"" said Clinton. ""What we need is a commitment to be competitive in getting investment and putting people to work, and then we need to build the institutions that will allow the people to flower. That is our commitment."" Smiling, Bellerive said that looking back over the past year, ""This is the best day of my life today."" The project is expected to generate $500 million in wages and benefits over 10 years and result in Haiti's first textile mill, according to its backers. Investment in the industrial park will also include the construction of at least 5,000 homes. The United States will oversee the construction of a power grid that will provide electricity to the park and the surrounding area. The garment industry had been the prime source of Haitian exports before the earthquake and it remains so today. About 28,000 people currently work in Haiti's garment sector, manufacturing products for Gap, JCPenney, Wal-Mart, New Balance and other well-known brands. Georges Sassine owns a garment plant in Port-au-Prince that employs 530 people. He believes the garment industry holds the key to growing Haiti's economy and making the country self-sufficient. ""Today, this industry represents over 50% of our earned foreign currency earnings. It also represents over 50% of the total commercial exports of Haiti,"" he said. Sassine didn't have a problem retaining buyers after the earthquake. ""We shipped our first container 10 days after the quake. We were ready to do business."" At the time, he had to ship his goods over land to the Dominican Republic before delivering them to buyers. Today, he is able to ship goods from a reopened port in the capital, Port-au-Prince."
"(CNN) -- Crews in Southern California struggled to get the upper hand on a fast-moving wildfire in Santa Barbara County early Tuesday. Known as the White Fire, the blaze had already charred some 1,000 acres after getting its start Monday afternoon, U.S. Forest Service spokesman Andrew Madsen said. The flames were 5% contained. The Forest Service expects to have 700 personnel in place Tuesday morning. The Santa Barbara Sheriff's Department evacuated up to 6,000 people from the popular White Rock Campground at the end of the busy Memorial Day weekend as the wildfire advanced, public information officer Kelly Hoover said. Although the fire caused minor damage to a ranger station, it quickly moved deeper into Los Padres National Forest, away from homes and structures, according to Madsen. No injuries or fatalities have been reported. Santa Barbara is located about 85 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles."
"Yangon, Myanmar (CNN) -- The Australian editor of a Myanmar newspaper was ordered to remain in jail after a court hearing in Yangon Thursday. Officials revealed at the hearing that Ross Dunkley, the editor of the Myanmar Times, faces charges related to torturing and drugging a woman. Dunkley was arrested in early February. At the time, authorities said he faced immigration charges. At the hearing Thursday, authorities added the drug and torture charges stating that Myanmar law dictates that any foreigner who faces criminal charges always faces additional immigration charges. The woman making the allegations against Dunkley was at the hearing, and said the editor gave her a drug on two occasions that hampered her memory. On the second time, the woman said she jumped out of Dunkley's car to escape. Dunkley denied all charges and requested to be released on bond, which was denied. But in a strange twist, the woman told the judge that she wanted to drop her allegations and withdraw the case. ""The woman who had made allegations of physical assault against Mr. Dunkley told the court that she wanted to withdraw her complaint,"" David Armstrong, chairman of Post Media Ltd. and a friend of Dunkley's who is serving as his spokesman, said in a statement. ""She admitted that she made allegations during the hearing that she had not made in her initial police interview."" A judge asked her to consider her request and scheduled another hearing for March 3. Officials from the Australian Embassy in Myanmar attended the hearing, Armstrong said. Myanmar Times is one of a few newspapers owned and run by a foreigner in the nation. Dunkley's arrest comes amid a business dispute with the paper's local partner. ""I cannot say for sure that the cause behind Ross' arrest was driven by business dispute because I was not with him in Myanmar,"" said Armstrong. ""But what I can say, all the troubles came to Ross at an odd timing as there was a business negotiation with his local partner going on."""
"(CNN)In the gentle yet fiercely warm surrounds of the southern Ugandan countryside, Mwanja Banuli looks on as farmhands fill his truck with sugar cane. Packing this rough, woody crop is heavy going and making sure every inch of space is utilized is key. Transport costs money, after all, and this humble sugar farmer has lots of costs to consider. ""There are many challenges in this business,"" Banuli says. ""Rent for our land costs about $300 and then you need to pay people to clear the land. ""You have to hire a tractor for ploughing and tilling the land. When you add up all these expenses, it's a big investment."" Searching for Sugarman . In Uganda, sugar is big business. This particular batch is headed for Kakira Sugar Limited -- one of the country's oldest and largest factories. Kakira was founded by Muljibai Madhvani, an immigrant from the Indian subcontinent in the late 1920s. It's a company still going strong to this day. ""What you see in the background is the first mill that was installed in 1930 to crush only 150 tons of cane,"" explains Kenneth Barungi, assistant general manager of Kakira at the site of the company's nearby factory. ""(Kakira) started expanding every 10 years, every 20 years, modernizing, acquiring more land, introducing irrigation, expanding the crushing capacity. By (the 1970s) they were producing about 83,000 tons of sugar."" ""That was about 50% of all the sugar produced in Uganda. At that time they (Kakira) contributed to about 53% of the national GDP... just because of manufacturing and industry,"" he added. Dawn of dictatorship . It was at this time, however, that history intervened in the shape of one of the 20th century's most brutal rulers. After a military coup in 1971, army commander Idi Amin Dada seized power. The former heavyweight boxer made himself Uganda's president and a brutal dictatorship followed. The often erratic Amin praised Hitler and said the German dictator ""was right to burn six million Jews."" He even bizarrely offered to be king of Scotland if asked. Within a year he had expelled the country's Asian population, numbering around 35,000. After almost 50 years, the Madhvanis were no longer welcome in Uganda. Those who stayed, did so at their own risk. ""When Idi Amin told every Asian to leave, they all left the country and went mainly to the UK,"" Barungi continued, adding that he believes this when Uganda began to economically fall apart. ""All industries collapsed, all international trade collapsed. There was no longer available foreign exchange to import machinery. Even if you imported the machinery you didn't have technical expertise here to run such industries."" ""Within a few years Kakira Sugar Industries had collapsed, but so had infrastructure in Uganda. Social services, everything had collapsed."" A new start . After Idi Amin was deposed in 1979, however, some of the ejected population slowly started coming back to Uganda. Among the returnees were the Madhvanis. The country they left behind, however, was a very different place. ""The factory was a skeleton,"" Barungi said. ""There was no longer a sugar plantation, the houses were occupied by anybody. There was no business to run so it (the plantation) was just an empty shell."" The Madhvanis quickly borrowed money from the World Bank and the African Development Bank and set about rebuilding their business. It has grown rapidly over the last 25 years and now produces 18,000 tons of sugar (a year), Barungi said. But the effects of the macabre, harrowing events of recent history still linger. A sweeter deal? Some reports suggest some black Ugandan workers resented how certain sections of the Indian mercantile class treated them. These days, however, Kakira says it strives to promote a responsible philosophy for how it interacts with its workers. Not only is this the right way to engage with people in its employ, they believe, it also improves productivity and staff mobility. Kakira has built schools and hospitals to cater for their staff and their families while the company has also founded the Kakira Outgrowers Rural Development Fund (KORD), an NGO that provides the likes of workshops, loans and other services for its contractors. Besides nearly 8,000 staff members, Kakira has almost as many contract workers in the shape of farmers, like Mwanja Banuli. They farm the lands neighboring the plantations and are contracted to Kakira, supplying 70% of its sugarcane needs. ""To be able to sustain business you want agricultural farmers, plantation workers, you want factory workers and the vision of Muljibhai Mudhvani was to develop human resources,"" Barungi said. This enlightened approach saw KORD awarded with a best NGO-business partnership award from the Ugandan Manufacturers Association. But it's the positive impact on individual lives that offers the biggest reward for many in the community. ""Before KORD I was just useless,"" said Beatrice Katende, who has received assistance from the body's programs. ""I used to work as a casual laborer for other people in the community digging in their gardens to get some income. ""When KORD came into existence we learned to farm, to save and how to be self-sufficient."" Through offering a hand up to people like Katende, Kakira hope to help themselves as well as provide assistance to other areas of the local economy. ""The main vision was to always make sure that there is labor supply always available to work at the factory. The excess can go and work in other industries in the country,"" Barungi said. More from Marketplace Africa ."
"(CNN) -- BlackBerry customers slammed by last week's global outage are being offered free apps, not cash, as payback for their troubles. At least a dozen apps, which would cost about $100 on the BlackBerry App World site, will be made available in the next few weeks, according to a statement released Monday by BlackBerry maker Research In Motion. ""We truly appreciate and value our relationship with our customers,"" RIM Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis said in the statement. ""We've worked hard to earn their trust over the past 12 years, and we're committed to providing the high standard of reliability they expect, today and in the future."" An October 10 failure at a data center caused outages in Europe and elsewhere, RIm said. RIM throttled service to help address the outage, which spread over the next few days to Europe, the Middle East, India, Africa, Latin America and North America. Full service was restored on Thursday, according to the company. The free apps include: . * SIMS 3 . * Bejeweled . * N.O.V.A. * Texas Hold'em Poker 2 . * Bubble Bash 2 . * Photo Editor Ultimate - Ice Cold Apps . * DriveSafe.ly Pro . * Drive Safe.ly Enterprise . * Nobex Radioâ„¢ Premium . * Shazam Encore . * Vlingo Plus: Virtual Assistant . More apps will be added later, according to the statement. The first ones will become available on Wednesday and they'll stay free for the rest of the year. Business customers also will be offered a free month of technical support. The offer seemed to please at least some of BlackBerry's roughly 70 million customers. ""Only 1 simple word for this... AMAZING!!!"" wrote one visitor to a post on the BlackBery fan site, Crackberry. ""I wasn't expecting this at all, but it is welcome."" ""Trust restored RIM! ... ,"" wrote another. ""This also tells you RIM is very, very serious with surviving. No giving up for them."" But response was more measured among less-enthusiastic customers. ""What a useless 'compensation',"" wrote one commenter on the website for London's Guardian newspaper. ""What [if] somebody uses their device for communications (e.g. e-mail) rather than using loads of apps? The value in apps is totally worthless."" Many had been hoping to at least be reimbursed for the amount of time their service was out. By comparison, after Sony's PlayStation Network went down this spring, the company offered players free games, a weekend of free video rentals and a free month of PlayStation Plus, a premium subscription service offering exclusive titles, discounts and other perks. That PlayStation outage lasted the better part of a month for some customers."
"(CNN) -- The interesting news in the latest CNN/ORC International poll that Bill Clinton is pulling a 66% favorable rating among Americans suggests the 42nd president has the power to help or hurt Barack Obama as the 2012 campaign enters its final five months. The question is: Which has he been doing more of lately? The poll was a reminder that Americans tend to be more forgiving of their presidents over time, no matter how long they served, which party they hailed from or how voters may have felt about a commander in chief at the moment he stepped down. Jimmy Carter (54%), George Herbert Walker Bush (59%) and Clinton, who have been out of office between 31 and 11 years, all earned personal approval ratings north of 50%; only George W. Bush, who stepped down three years ago, is below 50%. But even his rating has improved since he returned to private life. Being an ex-president is almost always good for your approval rating. Photos: Secrets of the Presidents Club, from Truman to Obama . The CNN poll appears at the moment when Clinton has once again been playing an outsize role on the public stage, and many have suggested all sorts of theories and reasons for maneuvering. Some have read in his comments about Mitt Romney (he called his business record ""sterling"") a desire to undercut Obama or set the table for a run by his wife, Hillary, in 2016. This analysis gained momentum when Clinton told CNBC that economics demanded that the Bush tax cuts should be extended temporarily. That comment led Clinton to apologize. But the evidence doesn't really support a campaign of sabotage. A simpler explanation for Clinton's capering -- and one that better fits Clinton's record -- is that he is a permanent political consultant. And his ""candidate"" isn't paying close attention to his advice. Clinton is trying to change the debate in the presidential campaign from one about the past to one about the future. Fighting about who did what in the 1980s, Clinton thinks, is a sure loser. Better to focus on who has the better plan going forward. (Remember the chorus of his campaign song? ""Don't stop thinking about tomorrow."") So he has taken his approach to the airwaves. It is easy to forget that Clinton has differed with the White House in the past about how to frame a political race. In 2010, working through Vice President Joe Biden, he urged Obama to make the case that the president had done a number of things to improve the lives of Americans in his first two years and suggested the president campaign on his record. But the White House resisted this approach, fearing the stimulus and health care reform were not popular enough to brag about and instead tried to make the Republican agenda the issue. Clinton disagreed but (mostly) kept his mouth shut about it. He doesn't seem willing to bite his tongue now. Photos: Clinton's last days in office . Clinton isn't the first president to meddle in presidential politics after his own presidency ended. So great was his dislike of Dwight Eisenhower that Harry Truman couldn't stay out of the 1952 race and even campaigned against Ike that fall. Richard Nixon made life unpleasant for Gerald Ford in the 1976 Republican primary (and seemed determined to undercut George Bush in 1992, to Clinton's benefit). But Clinton's grudge isn't personal; it's about how best to mount and run a campaign. How much of his personal popularity Clinton will spend to win this argument is unclear, but nearing age 66, as the new poll shows, the former president has time to earn it back."
"HARARE, Zimbabwe (CNN) -- Talks among regional African leaders failed Monday to resolve a long-standing power-sharing dispute between embattled Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. South African former president Thabo Mbeki is shown at talks Monday in Harare. After the meeting a visibly angry Mugabe said talks faltered after Tsvangirai, head of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), presented proposals which differed from recommendations by the 15-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC). ""The talks did not go very well. ... MDC have a proposal which is in conflict with the SADC and we opposed it and then the talks broke down,"" Mugabe said. ""We will continue with discussions here at home. We shall continue to exchange ideas and see where the differences are with the SADC proposal."" The meeting had drawn the leaders of Mozambique and South Africa, as well as former South African President Thabo Mbeki. In light of the continued stalemate, SADC executive secretary Tomaz Salamao told journalists that South African leader Kgalema Motlanthe, who is leading the SADC, had called for a summit on January 26. The meeting will be held in Botswana or South Africa. Tsvangirai blamed Mugabe for the failure of the talks. ""For us as the MDC this is probably the darkest day of our lives,"" Tsvangirai told reporters as he left the hotel where the 12-hour-long meeting took place. ""I am sure the whole nation is waiting anxiously for the resolution of this crisis. We are committed to this deal but subject to (ruling party) ZANU-PF conceding on these issues."" Mugabe told the state media that Monday's meeting would be the final one, and that he would form a government without the opposition if no agreement was reached. The MDC has not been able to settle with Mugabe since signing a power sharing deal in September. Tsvangirai accuses Mugabe of keeping the most powerful portfolios in the government for his party. The ministries under contention include home affairs, finance, foreign affairs, local government, information and defense. Both Tsvangirai and Mugabe, along with Arthur Mutambara of a small faction of the MDC, are expected to attend next week's summit, Salamao said. The power-sharing deal is expected to keep Zimbabwe's melting economy from a total collapse. Zimbabwe is experiencing its worst economic and humanitarian crisis, with the highest inflation in the world officially at 231 million percent as of July 2008. Analysts say the inflation is thriving because of an acute shortage of all essentials ranging from fuel, electricity, cash and food. The United Nations estimates that about 5 million people in Zimbabwe need urgent food aid. A cholera epidemic has claimed more than 2,200 lives since its outbreak in August. The ravaging cholera has been made worse by a four-months-long industrial action by doctors and nurses demanding higher pay."
"Pro-Russian rebels released dozens of captive Ukrainian troops Sunday as part of a ceasefire deal. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said in a Twitter post that 73 troops were released in Donetsk. But despite the ceasefire, violence continued to flare in the volatile region. As shelling rocked the city throughout the day Sunday, local officials described the situation as ""critical."" Six civilians died and 15 were injured as the result of shelling, Donetsk's city office said on Monday. Poroshenko spoke with German Chancellor Angela Merkel over concerns that the ceasefire deal -- brokered earlier this month -- is being violated. They ""agreed to make further efforts to settle the situation peacefully,"" Poroshenko's office said in a statement. In an interview with TV Tsentr pm Saturday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the truce agreed upon in Minsk, Belarus, appeared to be holding generally and that Moscow, at least, is ready to work toward a long-term peace. ""Sporadic exchanges of fire occur on both sides, but the process of establishing (a) durable peace is still in progress,"" he said, according to parts of that interview published by the state-run Itar-Tass news agency. Which Russian companies have been hit?"
"(CNN) -- Travel warnings from the U.S. Department of State didn't stop Faith Hentschel, 65, from venturing to Iran this May to visit the rustic sites in ancient Persepolis and the colorful bazaars in Tehran. A photo of Khaju Bridge in Isfahan, Iran, taken by an American traveler. ""I had no idea what to expect,"" said Hentschel, who spent two weeks in Iran after booking the trip through a private tour operator and applying for a visa. ""I was stunned with the friendliness of all the Iranian people. That alone makes me want to go back."" Iran is still a relatively rare destination for Americans, creating a niche market for only a handful of tour operators across the nation that organize group trips for travelers once or twice a year. And with news of the arrest of three American backpackers, along with the June election riots and government crackdown, Iran may be an even harder sell, some travel companies said. ""It really depends on the political climate and the perception of Iran,"" said Mike McDonnell, who operates the site BestIranTravel.com in San Francisco, California. The site books trips for non-Iranian travelers interested in visiting. His site saw a decline in booking travel to Iran this summer. ""It's already really hard to get to Iran in the first place."" Officials at the U.S. Department of State say travel warnings have been implemented on Iran since the hostage crisis in 1979, when militants captured 52 American diplomats and staff. The Americans were held for 444 days. Since then, the two countries have had no diplomatic relations. U.S. passports are valid for travel to Iran and visas are required to enter the country, according to the State Department Web site. Going with an organized tour group is the easiest way to attain a visa. Travelers who do visit Iran run the risk of being denied entry, U.S. officials say. In some cases, Iranian officials have prevented American citizens, academics, scientists and journalists from leaving the country, and even detained, interrogated and imprisoned some on unknown or various charges, the Web site said. ""It's made well-known that the destination [Iran] could be perilous for American citizens,"" said Darby Holladay, spokesman at the State Department. Last week, three Americans were detained after crossing into northern Iran during a hiking trip. The two men and one woman, said to be seasoned travelers, began their trip in Turkey and went into Iraq before crossing the unmarked border into Iran. The U.S. State Department and the Australian and British government warn against traveling into the border zones. ""Obviously, we are concerned,"" Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday to reporters. ""We want this matter brought to a resolution as soon as possible."" Mudhafer Mohammed, owner of the Miwan Hotel, told CNN that the hikers said they had come to the area because they heard it was safe. Mohammed said he tried to discourage them from going to Ahmed Awa, a popular tourist destination in the northern Kurdish region of Iraq. ""I told them, 'Don't go there because it is unsafe for you because you're American and Ahmed Awa is very close to the Iranian border,' "" Mohammed told CNN. It is unclear whether the three wandered into Iran accidentally or intentionally entered the country. Pauline Frommer, creator of the Pauline Frommer's Travel Guides, said it's  safer when visiting countries in conflict to use travel companies and tour operators that rely on local accommodations and guides. She warned against staying in big hotel chains, which have been targets in recent terrorist attacks in Indonesia and India. ""When it's an iffy destination, it's always a good idea to try and travel under the radar,"" she said. ""You don't want to be a target."" Despite worries about safety, demand for visiting Iran has grown in recent years. Last May, travel writer Rick Steves shot a 10-day video of his visit to Iran in a one-hour special that launched on PBS. The project cleared up misconceptions about Iran and sparked Americans' interest in traveling there, travel experts said. At Geographic Expeditions, a luxury travel company that organizes trips to Iran, the number of participants doubled from 25 in 2007 to 50 in 2008. Spiekermann Travel Service, Inc., one of the oldest travel agencies that specializes in Iranian travel, has booked more than 350 tours to the country since it began operating there in 1995. ""My path is known,"" said Ihab Zaki, owner of Spiekermann, which is based in Michigan. He said he began offering tours after he visited the country himself and was awed by its history and art. ""We send all our paperwork to local governments and they know we are coming. I don't let my people roam around in the middle of nowhere. It's very safe."" But the recent uncertainty in Iran has caused interest to wane. Spiekermann's bi-annual trips to Iran, limited to 14 travelers, usually sell out. But only four have signed up for the fall trip. Far Horizons Archaeological & Cultural Trips, Inc. in San Anselmo, California planned a second trip to Iran for October after their first trip in May sold out. But owner Mary Dell Lucas said the trip maybe be canceled because travelers are withdrawing. ""What's happening most recently is scaring people,"" she said. ""Those three Americans made a mistake, but with us, it's very different. We are taking a group, and we are invited."" Lucas' firm and other tour companies say they take precautions.  Participants are required to abide by Iranian law, which means women must dress conservatively and cover their heads with scarves. A professor and a local guide, who are familiar with the country, accompany the American travelers. Barbara Bailey, a 73-year-old from rural Ohio, went on a two-week vacation to Iran last April with a tour group. Her favorite part of the trip was talking to the Iranian women at the local restaurants. ""I went because nobody has really been before, and I know they have a wonderful history,"" Bailey said. ""If you can get past the government, the people there are great."" If travelers can't afford to spend between $6,000 and $10,000 on organized excursions of  two or three weeks and decide to backpack, they still need to follow the rules, said Jon Dorn, editor in chief of Backpackers Magazine. ""If you're going to a place that's not like America, then do your homework on what's appropriate,"" said Dorn. Backpackers Magazine, an online and print publication specializing in backpacking, hiking and travel, reaches 2.5 million readers in the U.S. Dave Stevenson, who oversees the Web site www.travel-security-and-safety.com, said hikers should be equipped with GPS systems, satellite or cell phones and maps when traveling in border areas, especially in conflict zones. They should also notify relatives back home where they are hiking abroad. ""The world is a big place,"" Stevenson said, ""And there are always plenty of places to hike that aren't dangerous or war zones."" CNN's Arwa Damon contributed to this report."
"ATHENS, Georgia (CNN) -- Over the railroad tracks, near Agriculture Drive on the University of Georgia campus, sits a unique machine that may hold one of the solutions to big environmental problems like energy, food production and even global climate change. Biochar's high carbon content and porous nature can help soil retain water, nutrients, protect soil microbes. ""This machine right here is our baby,"" said UGA research engineer Brian Bibens, who is one of a handful of researchers around the world working on alternative ways to recycle carbon. Bibens' specialty is ""biochar,"" a highly porous charcoal made from organic waste. The raw material can be any forest, agricultural or animal waste. Some examples are woodchips, corn husks, peanut shells, even chicken manure. Bibens feeds the waste -- called ""biomass"" -- into an octagonally shaped metal barrel where it is cooked under intense heat, sometimes above 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit, the organic matter is cooked through a thermochemical process called ""pyrolysis"". In a few hours, organic trash is transformed into charcoal-like pellets farmers can turn into fertilizer.  Gasses given off during the process can be harnesed to fuel vehicles of power electric generators.  Watch how biochar is made and why it's important » . Biochar is considered by many scientists to be the ""black gold"" for agriculture. Its high carbon content and porous nature can help soil retain water, nutrients, protect soil microbes and ultimately increase crop yields while acting as natural carbon sink - sequestering CO2 and locking it into the ground. Biochar helps clean the air two ways: by preventing rotting biomass from releasing harmful CO2 into the atmosphere, and by allowing plants to safely store CO2 they pull out of the air during photosynthesis.  See more about how biochar works » . ""Soil acts as an enormous carbon pool, increasing this carbon pool could significantly contribute to the reduction of CO2 in the atmosphere,"" said Christoph Steiner, one of the leading research scientist studying biochar. ""It gives us a chance to produce carbon negative energy."" Worldwide use of biochar could cut CO2 levels by 8 parts per million within 50 years, according to NASA scientist James Hansen. Global carbon levels in the air have been steadily increasing at an alarming rate since the 1980s, according to NOAA. Since 2000, increases of 2 parts per million of CO2 have been common, according to NOAA. During the 1980s rates increased by 1.5 ppm per year. The process of making biochar can also lead to other valuable products. Some of the gases given off during the process can be converted to electricity, others can be condensed and converted to gasoline, and there are also some pharmaceutical applications for the by-products, said Danny Day President and CEO of Eprida, a private firm in Athens, Georgia currently exploring industry applications for the biochar process. Although scientists look to biochar to improve the future, its origin lies in the past. For centuries indigenous South Americans living in the Amazon Basin used a combination of charred animal waste and wood to make ""terra preta,"" which means black earth, in Portuguese. Thousands of years later, the terra preta soil remains fertile without need for any added fertilizer, experts say. ""These terra preta soils are older than 500 years and they are still black soil and very rich in carbon,"" said Steiner, a professor at the University of Georgia. Reducing the need for deforestation to create more cropland. By using biochar concepts, terra preta soils have been proven to remain fertile for thousands of years, preventing further harmful deforestation for agricultural purposes. But still more large-scale tests need to be conducted before biochar technology can be rolled out on a global scale. Day says biomass -- that otherwise would be thrown away --could be developed into entirely new markets for biofuels, electricity, biomass extracts and pharmaceutical applications, in addition to biochar. ""We have 3 billion people out there who are at risk for climate change and they can be making money solving our global problem,"" said Day. Industries can now begin to look at farmers around the world and pay them for their agricultural wastes, said Day. ""They can become the new affluent."""
"(CNN) -- Rapper and reality TV star Flavor Flav pleaded guilty to misdemeanor domestic violence charges in Las Vegas Monday. The plea deal allows the Public Enemy hype man to avoid a trial on felony charges, which could have sent him to prison for several years. Instead, Flav -- real name William Jonathan Drayton Jr. -- must stay out of trouble during a year of probation and attend 12 domestic counseling sessions with his longtime girlfriend's teenage son. He was arrested after an argument involving a kitchen knife in his Las Vegas home in October 2012. Flav, 55, was initially charged with child abuse, assault with a deadly weapon and battery domestic violence. Las Vegas prosecutors agreed to reduce the charges to two misdemeanors counts, including attempted battery with substantial bodily harm and battery constituting domestic violence, according to Tess Driver, spokeswoman for the Clark County, Nevada, district attorney. Along with the year of probation and counseling requirement, he was given credit for the time he served in jail after he was arrested and before he was released on bond, Driver said. Although he gained fame with the groundbreaking rap group Public Enemy starting in the late 1980s, Flav, with his collection of clock necklaces, became a reality TV star over the last decade. He began as a cast member of VH1's ""Surreal Life"" in 2004, which spawned ""Strange Love"" in 2005 and three seasons of ""Flavor of Love"" from 2006 to 2008."
"Las Vegas (CNN) -- Police are on an ""intense"" and ""extremely focused"" nationwide manhunt for the occupants of a black Range Rover at the center of a shooting on the Las Vegas Strip that claimed three lives. The incident involved a Maserati that was shot at and subsequently crashed into a taxi, which caught fire. The driver of the Maserati, whom family identified as Kenneth Cherry Jr., died at a hospital. The taxi driver and a passenger also died. The shots were fired from the Range Rover, which Las Vegas police spokesman Bill Cassell said could be anywhere. Police have received multiple reports of vehicles that match the description, but ""at this point, we have no information that the vehicle in the crime has been located,"" he said Friday. Cassell declined to say whether there was one suspect or several, citing the ongoing investigation. Cherry, an aspiring rapper known as Kenny Clutch, was driving his Maserati on Thursday when someone in the Range Rover fired several shots at his car as it headed north on Las Vegas Boulevard. The Maserati continued into the intersection of the boulevard and Flamingo Road and collided with a taxi, which caught fire, killing cab driver Michael Boldon, 62, CNN affiliate KVVU said. ""It is gut-wrenching,"" Boldon's younger brother, Tehran Boldon, tearfully told KVVU. ""My life mission will be to see them punished and brought to justice for the senseless thing they did."" In a separate interview Friday with CNN, Tehran Boldon said that his brother's son is a limousine driver on the Las Vegas Strip and he called his father to warn him to avoid the area after seeing a car afire -- not realizing that the taxi on fire belonged to his father. ""He saw the accident and he tried to warn his dad to say avoid Flamingo (Road)"" because he knew his father was nearby at the Rio casino, Tehran Boldon said. ""He called and he didn't get a response. So his father was the fatality in that accident that he was being warned to avoid. ""We lost a real patriarch and brother,"" said Tehran Boldon. The son, 36, works the same shift as his father did. The father's body was burned beyond recognition and was identified by his cab assignment, Tehran Boldon said. He is also trying to provide the coroner's office with his brother's dental records, he said. A passenger in the taxi also died. A passenger in the Maserati and three others were injured in the pileup, Sheriff Douglas Gillespie said. The Clark County Office of the Coroner/Medical Examiner was conducting an autopsy of Cherry, 27, a representative said Friday. The office wasn't releasing further information Friday about Boldon or his passenger. The fire closed a block and a half of the Strip near some of its biggest draws: Caesars Palace, the Bellagio, Bally's and the Flamingo. Police collected surveillance video from the casinos. The shooting took place two blocks from where rapper Tupac Shakur was killed in 1996. Cherry prominently features his Maserati in a music video on YouTube. ""Out of everyone I know in the rapping industry, there is no way I would have ever, ever expected to find that he was shot on the Las Vegas Strip in such an aggressive manner,"" said Vicki Greco, Cherry's attorney. ""He didn't have a (criminal) record or a history. He was just a good kid trying to make it and be a good father."" Cherry had two children, she said. See an iReporter's video of the fire . ""First time in Vegas, and then, like, the whole thing, what you know from movies only -- I was shocked,"" said Christine Gerstenberger, who was visiting from Germany. Thursday's incident started about 4:20 a.m. with a dispute in the valet lot of the Aria hotel, about a block away, Gillespie said. Investigators haven't confirmed the cause of the altercation, but he said it spilled onto the street. The Maserati's passenger and other witnesses are helping detectives piece together what happened, he said. The ""top priority"" for police is to find those who were inside the Range Rover, which sped away from the intersection. John Lamb, who was inside Caesars Palace, told CNN affiliate KLAS that he heard the commotion and saw the taxi on fire from a window. ""There was a loud bang, and I heard two other booms. I looked out my window at Caesars Palace ... and could see the fireball,"" he told KLAS. Man kills 3, himself in Southern California shooting . CNN's Matt Smith, Tom Watkins, Jason Hanna, Deanna Hackney and Michael Martinez contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- A Nebraska ""hate crime"" that targeted an openly gay woman and that triggered responses from candlelight vigils locally to Facebook postings of support nationwide was staged by the alleged victim, authorities said Tuesday as they charged the woman with lying to police. Charlie Rogers -- a former basketball player for the University of Nebraska who identifies herself as lesbian -- told police that three masked men entered her home on July 22, stripped her, tied her down, and carved homophobic slurs into her body before attempting to set her and the house on fire. But the Lincoln Police Department said Tuesday that ""the physical evidence conflicted with Charlie Rogers' version of events"" and that ""extensive investigation revealed numerous inconsistencies."" Previously on CNN.com: Woman speaks out after alleged hate crime . Rogers was arrested Tuesday, police said. Her attorney, Brett McArthur, told CNN Tuesday night that Rogers had agreed as part of an arrangement to turn herself in, in exchange for a personal recognizance bond. ""She did not have to post any money"" to be released, McArthur said, adding that his client pleaded not guilty to the charge of lying to police. ""She maintains her innocence. This has been kind of a kick in the gut as a victim to turn around and be charged,"" McArthur said. In a news release, police cited DNA and pathologists' examinations that did not substantiate Rogers' original statements, and changes in her story during the investigation. ""These were serious allegations that garnered national attention and spread fear among local citizens,"" the police statement said. ""A great deal of time and resources were spent investigating Charlie Rogers' claims in hopes of identifying and arresting the three suspects in this case."" Beth Rigatuso, president of Heartland Pride based in Omaha, organized a vigil that attracted over 1,000 people in the aftermath of the reported attack. For her, the news that it may have been a hoax is ""a pretty big blow."" ""I don't feel betrayed as much as I feel sad for how, if this is really true...there is a lot of things going on with her,"" Rigatuso said. ""It leads to a bigger problem in our society that someone would do this."" Rigatuso said she hopes people would not turn their backs on Rogers now. The vigil she put together in Omaha raised more than $1,800, all of which was deposited in an account for Rogers. ""We'd like to get the funds returned to us so we can establish our own fund to support victims of anti-gay violence."" Rigatuso said Tuesday. McArthur, Rogers' attorney, said he ""knows nothing"" about the fund or how much money might be in it. He said it was in place before he became Rogers' lawyer. According to the Lincoln Police Department complaint, Rogers, 33, provided information ""she knew to be false"" with the intent to ""instigate an investigation of an alleged criminal matter."" Rogers reported to police that she was lying on her bed when the alleged attackers held her down and carved ""derogatory words"" into her arms and abdomen and ""a cross"" in her chest. She told police she was then rolled onto her stomach where more cuts were made. But according to a deposition from Lincoln police investigator Lynette Russell filed as part of the complaint, Rogers bedspread was ""evenly placed on the bed and no apparent sign of a struggle."" A DNA lab test found no evidence of blood on the bedspread. Russell also described a pair of white gloves found at the scene that Rogers had said were not hers. ""Ms. Rogers DNA profile was the major contributor to the DNA located on the inside of the gloves,"" Russell said. Furthermore, the deposition said, the FBI sent photos of Rogers' cuts to a forensic pathologist, who believed the wounds to be self-inflicted. ""This opinion is based partially on the fact that the cuts appeared superficial and symmetrical, avoided sensitive areas of the body,...are accessible to the victim and follow the victim's frame of reference for reading and writing,"" the deposition said. Rumors had been circulating in recent weeks in Lincoln and on the Internet due to the fact that police had yet to pinpoint any suspects. The urge to respond to rumors prompted Rogers to give her one and only interview. ""For people to think this doesn't happen here, it does,"" Rogers told CNN affiliate KETV on July 27. ""It did."" She refused to discuss the incident itself during that interview. Rogers' attorney at the time, Megan Mikolajczyk, told CNN her client was ready for a full interview early last week, but canceled saying ""things have changed."" Mikolajczyk said Tuesday that she is no longer Rogers' attorney. According to neighbor Linda Rappl, Rogers' showed up on her doorstep bloodied in the early morning hours immediately following the alleged attack last month. ""I was in shock,"" Rappl said soon after the incident. ""She was naked, her hands were tied with zip ties. All I could see was a cut across her forehead and blood running down."" Rappl said she took the sobbing Rogers inside and wrapped her in a blanket before calling 911."
"Washington (CNN) -- Investigators searching a Washington, D.C., park for a missing 8-year-old girl found the body of a man matching her suspected kidnapper's description, police said Monday. Relisha Rudd has been missing since March 1, when she was last seen with Kahlil Tatum, a 51-year-old janitor at the homeless shelter where Relisha lived. Although the body has not been positively identified, ""everything we have is consistent with what (investigators) know about (Tatum's) appearance,"" D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier told reporters Monday, adding that the death was ""most likely a suicide."" The search for Relisha intensified last week when authorities began combing Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens. The search was prompted by evidence that Tatum had spent time there after Relisha's disappearance. ""On March 2, we know that Mr. Tatum purchased, among other items, a carton of black, 42-gallon, self-tie contractor trash bags within the District of Columbia,"" Lanier said Thursday. ""Not long after that purchase, Mr. Tatum was in the area of the aquatic gardens for a period of time."" Lanier said after Relisha was last seen, Tatum continued to go to work and was seen around the capital several times between March 2 and March 20. Lanier said Relisha was not with Tatum in any of those sightings. Tatum had not been seen since March 20. Tatum was a janitor for the homeless shelter where Relisha's family had been staying, and it appears Tatum had permission to be with the girl. The case took on new urgency when police discovered the body of Tatum's wife, Andrea Denise Tatum, 51, at a suburban Maryland motel earlier this month. That discovery prompted police to issue an Amber Alert for Relisha. The possible discovery of Tatum's body will not end the search for Relisha, according to Lanier. ""We're still here for the reason we came to be here, to find Relisha."" The search for the girl has been extensive. Lanier told reporters ""hundreds of police officers and firefighter cadets"" had been pulled to help with the search, along with divers, underwater cameras, aerial surveillance, search dogs, and cadaver dogs. ""Our primary focus here was to find Relisha,"" Lanier said Monday. ""We're not finished. That search is continuing."""
"(CNN) -- Lewis Hamilton realistically can't win the title but the former world champion hopes to challenge powerhouse Sebastian Vettel at the Korean Grand Prix after posting the fastest practice times Friday. Hamilton's time of one minute, 38.673 seconds in the second session in Yeongam was about one-tenth of a second quicker than Vettel, the triple reigning world champion who has captured the last two races in Korea. ""It's the first time I can remember that second practice has really gone well for me,"" Mercedes' Hamilton was quoted as saying by Formula One's website. ""We haven't changed anything but the day just went smoothly and all the processes with the team worked well. I love this track."" Vettel admitted there was ""some room for improvement"" in his Red Bull. ""It will be close with Mercedes,"" he told Formula One's website. ""Of course we're not sure what others were doing with their fuel loads today, but it seems close ahead of tomorrow's qualifying. ""I like the track here, it's a shame it's so far from Seoul, which is a great city, but it's good coming here as it's quieter than some other races, which means we can focus on our job."" The only driver with half-a-chance of catching Vettel, Fernando Alonso, was a distant seventh in the second session. He trails Vettel by 60 points with a mere six races remaining and admitted this week he needed a comeback similar to Oracle Team USA's in the America's Cup sailing to overtake the German. But Alonso didn't sound optimistic Friday. ""There is every probability that, again here, we can expect to struggle in the race,"" Ferrari's Alonso told Formula One's website. ""It won't be easy for us in performance terms, but we know that apart from that, we can do well on Sunday. Now, we must try and get the most out of what we have available and put everything together tomorrow and in the race."" Kimi Raikkonen, Alonso's teammate next season, crashed in the first practice session but was unhurt. Autosport.com quoted the Finn as saying he would take action at the end of the season to fix a lingering back problem. ""It is not really surgery, but for sure we are probably going to do something,"" said Raikkonen. ""I know what the issues are."""
"(CNN)  -- A Utah man trapped for more than 26 hours in a crevice of a popular cave tourist attraction died as rescuers struggled to save him, authorities said Thursday. John Edward Jones, 26, of Stansbury Park was stuck in the Nutty Putty Cave, which sits west of Utah Lake near Cedar Valley, according to the sheriff's office of Utah County. The cave is 55 to 60 miles south of Salt Lake City. Sheriff's officials said Jones entered the cave at around 6 p.m. Tuesday with a group of about 11 people and became stuck about 8:45 p.m. in a ""tightly confined"" feature inside Nutty Putty Cave called ""Bob's Push."" Utah County sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Spencer Cannon told CNN affiliate KSL that Jones was trapped upside down in a crevice that was about 18 inches wide and about 10 inches high. The crevice is about 150 feet below the surface and about 700 feet from the cave entrance, according to the sheriff's department. ""They had him to a level spot where he wasn't heading downhill with his head below his feet,"" Cannon said. ""During the course of that, they have a raising system to hold him in position, and one of the devices of that system failed, and Mr. Jones actually fell back to the area where he had been stuck for so long."" Shortly before midnight on Wednesday, rescuers got close enough to Jones to conclude that he was not breathing and he had no pulse. Rescue officials were meeting Thursday to determine how to recover Jones' body. Rescuers had tried to reach Jones for more than 24 hours, but had problems navigating the treacherous terrain, Cannon said. ""Getting people to him is very difficult,"" Cannon told KSL before Jones died. ""It is a tightly confined space. When there is movement, it is literally millimeters at a time."" There are narrow areas of the cave where visitors have to crawl on their bellies to get through, according to the attraction's Web site. Up to 5,000 people visit each year, the site said."
"Rand Paul wears his political ambition for all to see. Look no further than the tie he sported during a three-day trip to Iowa. It had yellow images of corn, the crop that epitomizes politics in the first-in-the-nation caucus state. ""And by coincidence, I have one in the shape of South Carolina,"" the Kentucky Republican said Wednesday, drawing laughs. He was speaking at a Republican breakfast outside Des Moines at Machine Shed, a Midwest restaurant chain where the waiters wear overalls and drinks are served in Mason jars. As Paul blitzed across the Hawkeye State this week, holding events at Iowa GOP offices and campaigning for local candidates, he hardly played coy to the question of whether he was running for President. After all, his nine-city trip marked his fourth visit to the state since the 2012 election. ""I don't know why Iowa keeps popping up on my calendar, but it seems to be pretty frequent,"" he said Monday, clearly with sarcasm. His itinerary this time included a campaign-style schedule where he continued testing his 2016 message on the road. From reducing the federal deficit to defending civil liberties and reforming the criminal justice system, Paul mostly stayed on his talking points. But the trip was not without controversy. His combative answer to a reporter's question -- combined with video of Paul appearing to avoid an immigration activist — absorbed most of the attention surrounding his visit. Experts say it's unlikely those story lines will derail any progress Paul has made in the state with voters, but his comments could underscore questions some Republicans have about his foreign policy, especially as he seeks to broaden his appeal. Off-message . At his first stop on Monday, which actually took place in Omaha, Nebraska, near the Iowa state line, Paul held a news conference after touring a tech startup venue with Nebraska GOP Senate hopeful Ben Sasse. Asked if he still supported phasing out foreign aid to Israel, Paul fired back at a reporter for ""mischaracterizing"" his position and staunchly denied that he had ever proposed such legislation. But it's well-documented that he called for ending all foreign aid, including assistance to Israel, and sought support in Congress for his proposal in 2011. In Iowa, Paul stressed that he never introduced legislation that solely ""targeted"" Israel and argued that he strongly favors sending money to the country. Still, he added, Israel will be better positioned in the long run without foreign assistance. ""Every country ultimately would be better off to be independent,"" he said on Tuesday. Paul is also taking heat for quickly exiting a tense moment when an immigration activist confronted Rep. Steve King at a fundraiser while the two lawmakers ate dinner Monday night. Video of the incident shows Paul, at the behest of his press aide, quickly getting up from the table and getting away from the confrontation. Paul said he was stepping away to do interviews with local media. Whether or not those interviews were hastened because of the activist is unclear. Still, the video quickly spread and it was enough for critics to frame a narrative that Paul bolted from an uncomfortable exchange. The dust-ups in his trip made headlines and ate up much of the coverage of his Iowa visit. David Kochel, Mitt Romney's Iowa strategist in 2008 and 2012, said he doubts caucus voters will judge Paul negatively for leaving after ""someone tried to sandbag him."" ""I think he's fine on that,"" he said. ""As for Israel, that's a little more difficult. You have social conservatives in Iowa who very much feel the need to be in solidarity with Israel -- not just Christian conservatives, but it's also national security conservatives."" While Paul has voted in favor of sending more aid to Israel this year and has proposed cutting off aid to the Palestinians, his past statements and views on foreign policy are rooted in his libertarian leanings — a perspective still largely outside of mainstream Republican thought. ""He'll probably have work to do on that issue,"" Kochel continued. ""It could be one of those things that might limit his potential."" Still, Kochel thinks Paul is the current frontunner in Iowa among prospective candidates. He points to Paul's frequent travel to the state, his efforts to build a wider GOP, and the network of supporters built by his father's presidential campaigns the past two cycles. 'Son of Ron' In the 2012 Iowa caucuses, former Rep. Ron Paul of Texas finished with 21% of the vote, just slightly behind Romney and former Sen. Rick Santorum — who tied for first at 25%. Many of Ron Paul's supporters were previously inactive in politics, citing a lack of candidates who represented their views. ""Your father cured my apathy,"" one man told Rand Paul at an event in Council Bluffs. Building off Ron Paul's 2012 momentum, the so-called liberty faction of Iowa's Republican Party eventually took control of party leadership. Mainstream Republicans, with the support of Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, wrestled back control earlier this year. But Paul knows he needs more than just the libertarian wing of the party. As seen in his trip this week, he's going after the state's social conservatives and business Republicans, too. ""Paul is attempting to pivot from being 'Son of Ron,' so to speak,"" said Dennis Goldford, professor of politics at Drake University in Des Moines. ""He's never going to deny that or reject it. But he has the view that Republicans need a broader base or broader range than some other candidates have maintained."" Paul spoke at five GOP offices this week and five other events in a tour that took him around the state in a 730-mile loop. At each stop, Paul's main message sought to counter post-2012 perceptions that the Republican Party should change its message. ""I say 'hell no.' We have to be more boldly for what we're for,"" he said at the GOP office in Davenport. It's a mantra he has repeated in his travels across the country this year. But he proposes doing so with some traditional and unorthodox ideas for mainstream Republicans. Part of that includes a push to speak out against domestic surveillance programs and mount a strong defense of the Fourth Amendment. He has also been aggressive in courting voters and even Democrats to help expand the party. To do that, he's urging for reform to the criminal justice system with reduced sentences for nonviolent drug offenders and the restoration of voting rights to nonviolent felons after they get out of jail. In Northwest Iowa, home to many of the state's social conservatives, Paul placed an evangelical spin on his message. ""Many of us are Christians, we believe in a second chance in our religion. Anybody here who's not a sinner, raise their hand,"" he said Monday night at a fundraiser in Okoboji. ""We believe in redemption, should the law allow people a second chance."" But that's about as deep as Paul waded into social issues during the trip. He didn't talk about abortion, contraception or same-sex marriage until audience members asked him about the issues at one of his final events. Asked whether he supported a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, Paul said he ""favors the concept"" of traditional marriage but argued the federal government should stay out marriage entirely. ""I don't want to register my guns in Washington or my marriage,"" he said. The previous past two winners of Iowa caucuses, Santorum and Mike Huckabee, both ran on a vocal platform with regard to social issues. Goldford said if Paul doesn't devote more attention to those topics, someone else will step in to fill in the void. ""To function in Iowa he's going to have to address the concerns of conservative evangelicals because Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz are going to do that,"" he said. Paul left Iowa before this weekend's annual summit hosted by the Family Leader, a group that's influential with social conservatives in the state. Guest speakers include Cruz, Huckabee, Santorum, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal. Paul said he couldn't make it due to a scheduling conflict. But he indicated he'd be back. ""You have to meet people four, five, six times in Iowa because they expect a real personal touch, and I think it's actually one of the good things about the process,"" he told reporters, before needlessly adding: ""if I decide to do this."""
"(CNN) -- Scores of people who had been without bread for days were killed when Syrian warplanes bombed a bakery in the western village of Halfaya, opposition activists said Sunday. More than 100 people were killed, the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria said. The death toll could rise, the activist group said. An activist who oversaw the burial of many bodies said at least 109 people died. Hassan Al-Rajb told CNN that 69 people were identified and buried, while 15 others were laid to rest without being ID'd. At least 25 more bodies were still at the site, but hospital workers said the roads were cut off and they were unable to reach the bakery, he said. The hospitals cannot handle all the wounded, he said. An LCC activist told CNN he went to the scene. ""There were dozens of dead thrown in the street. The residents were shocked and in a state of fear. It was chaotic,"" Mahmoud Alawy said. Videos posted on social media purported to show the aftermath of the attack. Many bodies had limbs apparently blown off, and others lay bloody in the streets and in rubble strewn over a sidewalk. Uniformed Free Syrian Army soldiers and civilians scramble to pull survivors out of the carnage. CNN cannot independently confirm government or opposition reports out of Syria, as the government has restricted access by journalists. The town has lacked the ingredients for bread for about a week until an aid group delivered provisions Saturday, Alawy said. Hundreds of people lined up at the bakery on Sunday. Al-Rajb said the town has three bakeries, and one opened at 1 p.m. Workers began to distribute the bread two hours later. He was on his roof about 200 meters (about 219 yards) from the bakery about 4 p.m. and saw a plane overhead. He scrambled toward the scene when he heard cries of ""Emergency! Emergency!"" he said. ""The first floor collapsed on the second floor, and four rockets were fired into it,"" he said of the attack. Alawy claimed the government has been targeting large gatherings of people with artillery shells in the recent days since the Free Syrian Army liberated the town from Syrian forces. About an hour after the bakery attack, 15 shells were fired into Halfaya from a nearby town, Al-Rajb said. The Hama Revolution Command Council, a network of activists affiliated with the FSA in Hama province, said a MiG warplane bombed the bakery. Many Syrians face food shortages and other needs as winter weather sets in. The United Nations estimates that more than 2.5 million need humanitarian assistance. Earlier in the week, opposition groups also said rebels and regime forces battled near a hospital in Halfaya. Twenty-five people died there, the LCC said. Syria firing more Scud missiles, NATO says . Russia: Syria consolidates its chemical weapons . CNN's Salma Abdelaziz contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- An official in Inner Mongolia is disputing an Amnesty International report that parts of the region are under martial law. ""We did not enforce martial law. Everything is normal,"" said Chao Lumen, an official with the information department of Xilingol prefecture. In the report released Friday, Amnesty International detailed protests in and around the city of Xilinhot, the prefecture's seat of government. ""Nothing happened here. There were no demonstrations or protests,"" Chao said Monday. The Amnesty report said Chinese authorities declared martial law in some parts of the autonomous region in an apparent response to days of protests. The region has long been the scene of ethnic tension between Mongolians, who have lived in the area for centuries, and the Han people, who arrived in larger numbers after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. Han people are the majority ethnic group in China. According to the human rights organization, 2,000 Mongolian students took to the streets Wednesday in Xilinhot, in a show of solidarity with an ethnic Mongolian herder by the name of ""Mergen,"" who was killed earlier this month when he was hit by a coal truck that was driven by ethnic Hans. Amnesty reported that the drivers of the coal truck are both in custody of Chinese authorities. In a clip posted to YouTube that purports to show that same demonstration, a large group of people, many of whom are young people wearing school uniforms, can be seen walking through the streets. The students were marching toward the building that houses the regional government, shouting, ""defend our land and defend our rights, according to the New York-based Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center. The group refers to the area as ""southern"" -- not ""inner"" -- Mongolia, and would like to see the region achieve independence or merge with Mongolia. CNN could not independently verify the authenticity of the clip. According to Amnesty, the protests, which started May 23, have been largely peaceful, but at least 18 people were reported injured in confrontations with police northeast of Xilinhot, in Right Ujimchin Banner, or Xi Wu Qi in Mandarin. ""The protests are a wake-up call for the authorities. As in other minority areas, authorities must start heeding the message rather than attacking the messengers,"" said Catherine Baber, Amnesty's Asia pacific deputy director. Protesters say their culture is under threat as pastoral herders are pushed out from the grasslands and forced to move to the cities, or to places where animal grazing is not possible, according to Enghebatu Togochog, Director of the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center. He traces the motivation for recent demonstrations to the Chinese central government's efforts, in recent years, to expand coal mining and production in areas that have traditionally been used for grazing."
"February 2, 2015 . February is the start of Black History Month in the U.S., and today's show takes a look back at a series of significant events in the Civil Rights Movement. We're also looking at tensions in the Middle East, from their background to a recent flare-up. And we'll show you what the Grand Canyon looks like under a blanket of fog. Go there on CNN Student News! On this page you will find today's show Transcript and a place for you to request to be on the CNN Student News Roll Call. TRANSCRIPT . Click here to access the transcript of today's CNN Student News program. Please note that there may be a delay between the time when the video is available and when the transcript is published. CNN Student News is created by a team of journalists who consider the Common Core State Standards, national standards in different subject areas, and state standards when producing the show. ROLL CALL . For a chance to be mentioned on the next CNN Student News, comment on the bottom of this page with your school name, mascot, city and state. We will be selecting schools from the comments of the previous show. You must be a teacher or a student age 13 or older to request a mention on the CNN Student News Roll Call! Thank you for using CNN Student News!"
"(CNN) -- Five more Georgia men were charged in connection with an anti-government militia with ties to Fort Stewart that's been accused of killing two people and plotting to assassinate President Barack Obama, authorities said Tuesday. The five defendants were indicted in Liberty County, Georgia, on charges that include violation of the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act, involving what prosecutors called an ""identified criminal street gang"" named FEAR, for Forever Enduring, Always Ready. Four U.S. Army soldiers at Fort Stewart had already been accused of being members of the anarchist group, which was allegedly stockpiling weapons and bomb parts to overthrow the U.S. government, prosecutors said. The four soldiers are accused of killing former GI Michael Roark and his teenage girlfriend, Tiffany York. 'Anarchists' accused of murder; broader plot against government . Under one of three indictments returned Monday by a Liberty County grand jury, Christopher Jenderseck was charged with three Street Gang Act violations and two counts of tampering with evidence in the killings of Roark and York in neighboring Long County, said District Attorney Tom Durden and Assistant District Attorney Isabel Pauley of the Atlantic Judicial Circuit. In a second indictment, defendant Timothy Martin Joiner is charged with burglary, theft by taking and two Street Gang Act violations. Adam Dearman is charged with three Street Gang Act offenses. In the third indictment, Joiner, Adam Dearman, Randall Blake Dearman and Anthony Garner are charged jointly, prosecutors said. Joiner and Randall Dearman each face two counts of burglary, nine counts of entering an auto, two counts of financial transaction card theft, one count of theft by taking, one count of criminal damage to property in the second degree, and 14 counts of Street Gang Act violations, prosecutors said. In addition, Adam Dearman is indicted on three counts of Street Gang Act violations, and Garner is charged with theft by receiving stolen property and one Street Gang Act count, prosecutors said. Jenderseck was arrested Tuesday in North Dakota, but Joiner and Garner weren't in custody, authorities said Tuesday. Regarding the charges against the four soldiers, a law enforcement official said they had legally purchased at least 18 rifles and handguns in Washington and Georgia. Uncompleted pipe bombs were also found, and were comprised of store-bought materials, the official said. No sophisticated military grade-explosives were involved in their construction. One official described the offenses as a murder case and said no federal charges had been filed. Last month, Pfc. Michael Burnett laid out the elaborate plot, telling a southeast Georgia court that he was part of what prosecutors called ""an anarchist group and militia."" Dressed in his Army uniform, he spoke in a Long County court about the group of Army soldiers and its role in the December deaths of Roark and York. Roark, he said, was killed because he took money from the group and planned to leave. ""I don't know how it got to the point where two people got murdered,"" Burnett said in court. He talked about how he and three others accused -- Pvt. Isaac Aguigui, Sgt. Anthony Peden and Pvt. Christopher Salmon -- had begun getting together, ""just going out shooting guns, just guy stuff."" ""And then Aguigui introduced me to 'the manuscript,' that's what he called it, a book about true patriots,"" the soldier said. The four men became part of a group that aimed ""to give the government back to the people,"" according to Burnett, who said that revolution was its goal. They called it FEAR -- Forever Enduring Always Ready -- and spent thousands of dollars buying guns and bomb parts. Prosecutors: 'Anarchist' group of U.S. soldiers aimed to overthrow government . The government needed a change, Burnett told the court. ""I thought we were the people who would be able to change it."" It is not clear how capable the group was of carrying out the goals Burnett laid out. Assistant District Attorney Pauley identified Aguigui as the leader of what she described as ""an anarchist group and militia"" that included active and former troops. ""Defendant Aguigui actively recruited new members at Fort Stewart (in southeast Georgia) and targeted soldiers who were in trouble or disillusioned,"" she said. At the time of their arrest, group members had plotted a number of ""acts of domestic terror,"" the prosecutor said. These included ""forcibly taking over the ammo control point of Fort Stewart to take the post, bombing vehicles of local and state judicial and political figureheads and federal representatives to include the local department of homeland security, (and plotting) to bomb the fountain at Forsyth Park in Savannah."" Days before he died, Roark had been discharged from the Army, according to Pauley. Roark and his girlfriend were killed because Aguigui felt the couple was ""a loose end,"" Burnett said. Burnett admitted being at the scene of the crime, including watching as a soldier ""checked (York's) pulse and then shot her again."" As part of an agreement with prosecutors, Burnett pleaded guilty to manslaughter -- instead of murder, thus avoiding a possible death sentence -- and other charges. He also agreed to testify against the three other soldiers accused in the case. All four soldiers had also been charged by the military in connection with the two killings. But as their case proceeded through civilian courts, the Army dismissed its charges, according to Fort Stewart spokesman Kevin Larson. In a statement last month, Larson insisted that Fort Stewart and its affiliated Hunter Army Airfield do not have ""a gang or militia problem."" ""Any suspicions of gang activity are actively investigated by CID, (which) recognizes the obvious concerns with the combination of gangs and military-type training,"" he said. ""That is why CID monitors and investigates gang and extremist group association with criminal acts in the Army so closely. We believe the reason we are able to maintain a low gang criminal threat status is because of the awareness of and focus on the threat."" Fort Stewart, about 40 miles southwest of Savannah, is home to the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division. Tens of thousands of troops, their dependents, civilian personnel and contractors live and work on the base, which encompasses 280,000 acres and includes parts of five counties, including Long County, which has about 14,500 residents. Hunter Army Airfield is in Savannah but is officially part of the larger Fort Stewart complex. The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks what it characterizes as ""hate groups"" nationwide, spoke to Aguigui's father last month. ""I served my country for 20 years and I honor that, take pride in that,"" Ed Aguigui told the center, according to the center's Hatewatch blog. ""I don't know what my son's views are, and where they came from."""
"(CNN) -- The U.N. Security Council has condemned the killing of a French journalist who was reporting from the violence-racked Central African Republic. French troops found the body of Camille Lepage during the search of a vigilante group's vehicle in a western region of the country, French authorities said Tuesday. ""All necessary means will be employed to shed light on the circumstances of this assassination and to find our compatriot's murderers,"" the office of French President Francois Hollande said. The U.N. Security Council said that ""those responsible for the killing shall be held accountable."" Widespread unrest . Sectarian violence has killed thousands of people and displaced many more in the Central African Republic since a coalition of mostly Muslim rebels deposed President Francois Bozize in March 2013. The rebels have since been forced from power, but Christian and Muslim militias have continued to clash despite the presence of French and African peacekeepers in the country. Vigilante groups known as the anti-balaka, which translates to anti-machete, were formed to counter attacks on Christian communities by Seleka groups. But the anti-balaka have carried out deadly reprisals on Muslim communities. Humanitarian groups have warned that the country risks descending into genocide. Lepage's body was found in an anti-balaka vehicle in the region of the western town of Bouar. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius described Lepage as a ""journalist and photographer of great courage."" U.S. sanctions . News of her killing came on the same day that the White House announced that President Barack Obama had issued an executive order declaring an emergency in the Central African Republic and authorizing the use of sanctions to deal with the crisis. The order also imposed sanctions on five individuals involved in the unrest. The U.N. Security Council had in January unanimously voted to set up a sanctions regime against the people responsible for instability and atrocities in the country, putting three people on a sanctions committee list. More than 2.5 million of the country's roughly 5 million inhabitants are in need of humanitarian assistance and approximately one million people have been displaced, according to the White House. ""Growing attacks perpetrated by both Muslim and Christian militias have brought CAR to a crisis of disastrous proportions,"" it said in a statement. Mother shot on the road to safety, victim of CAR violence . Will the people of CAR ever get to return home? CNN's Anna Maja Rappard and Laura Bernadini contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- No. 2 Alabama clobbered No. 1 Louisiana State University Monday night, winning college football's Bowl Championship Series 21-0. The rematch of the century took place in New Orleans, and this time, there was more at stake than just bragging rights. Follow the SI.com live game blog . The showdown for the BCS title came two months after the two giants battled in a tense Southeastern Conference matchup. Both teams went into that November 5 game undefeated. College football pundits dubbed it the game of the century. Alabama, playing at home in Tuscaloosa, lost 9-6. For the Crimson Tide, Monday was a chance at redemption -- and to settle the debate, once and for all, who is the best team in college football. ""These kind of competitive games, especially this game, playing somebody in your league that you already played, I think makes this a more special challenge,"" Alabama coach Nick Saban told reporters before the game. ""The opportunity that our players have to play LSU again is something that is unique."""
"(CNN) -- A spate of deadly shootings during anti-drug operations in Honduras -- including two in which U.S. agents killed suspects -- is linked to an aggressive new strategy to disrupt a preferred corridor for traffickers. Operation Anvil, as the multinational mission is known, differs from past efforts because of its reliance on military outposts close to the front lines to provide quick responses. It is a strategy reminiscent of counterinsurgency tactics used by the U.S. military on battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan. In a two-month span, six people have been killed in the operation, including possibly four innocent civilians. Despite the controversial shootings, American and Honduran officials say they both are happy with their collaboration and consider Operation Anvil -- launched in April -- a success. As of Wednesday, authorities said, they had interdicted five planes, seized about 2,300 kilos of cocaine, and made seven arrests. Firearms, including military assault rifles, have also been seized. ""The amount of drugs seized and the disruption of narcotrafficking routes speak for themselves,"" said Jorge Ramon Hernandez Alcerro, the Honduran ambassador to the United States. Meanwhile, critics in Honduras and the United States oppose the law enforcement strategy and question why American agents are killing anyone on foreign soil during peacetime. The latest incident was just after midnight on July 3, when a plane carrying 900 kilograms of cocaine crashed in northeast Honduras -- not an uncommon occurrence in a region that is among traffickers' preferred smuggling stopovers. Authorities descended on the scene, and when one of the suspected traffickers aboard the plane allegedly made a threatening move, two Drug Enforcement Agency officers opened fire, agency spokeswoman Barbara Carreno said. The suspect later died. It was the second such incident in a two-week span. On June 23, a DEA agent shot and killed a suspected trafficker after he reached for a weapon, the agency said. The pair of shootings by DEA agents follow an episode in May in which villagers in the country's Mosquitia coastal region say Honduran forces aboard American helicopters mistakenly fired on a civilian riverboat, killing four, including two pregnant women. A U.S. official with knowledge of the incident said that the preliminary Honduran investigation, as well as a video of the incident, raises doubts about claims by those on the riverboat that they were innocent victims. The official asked not to be named because the a final report has not been issued. ""I think this is a disheartening sign of the escalation of U.S. involvement in Honduras without clear goals and guidelines,"" said Dana Frank, a Honduras expert and history professor at the University of California Santa Cruz. ""There is no clear oversight from Congress over what is going on,"" she said. ""It's not clear under what terms the DEA is there, operating in killings."" Anti-narcotics cooperation between the United States and Central American countries is not new, but Anvil represents a new approach to intercepting smugglers' aircraft. Oliver Stone film revolves around drug war . Anvil's major innovation is the use of military outposts closer to the drug trafficking routes, known as forward operating locations, for quicker deployment by Honduran police and their DEA advisers. Anvil appears modeled after counterinsurgency tactics used by the United States in Afghanistan and Iraq, but the Hondurans say the suggestion to use the forward operating locations came from them. About 600 American troops are located in Honduras, mostly at Soto Cano Air Base. Officials say they have seen a decreased role in Operation Anvil as the DEA team has stepped up, but a limited number of U.S. troops remain at the forward operating locations. Joint Task Force Bravo, as the U.S. contingent is called, serves ""purely as a support element, providing re-fueling capability, communications infrastructure and medical evacuation capability"" at the forward bases, said Lt. Christopher Diaz, the spokesman for the group. The forward operating bases are owned and maintained by the Hondurans, and they have operated them for years, Diaz said. The helicopters used in the operations belong to the U.S. State Department, and are piloted either by Guatemalan military pilots who are on loan, or by U.S. contractors, said Stephen Posivak, spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Honduras. What's not new is the teamwork between the DEA and vetted Honduran police who participate in the operations, Posivak said. ""This concept is new, but previously there's been these type of bi-national efforts done by the Honduran government and DEA,"" he said. Operation Anvil seeks to track planes entering Honduras, ascertains where they will land, and then sends helicopters out to make arrests, Posivak said. Both governments insist that the DEA agents provide a supporting role only, and that under their rules of engagement are allowed to fire their weapons only in response to a threat. The DEA ""is in Honduras at the request of our government in a support and training capacity,"" Hernandez said. The three shooting incidents are the part of Operation Anvil that has received the most attention, but law enforcement aid is just one of the facets of American help. Anvil falls within the larger framework of Central American Regional Security Initiative, or CARSI, which has provided more than half a billion dollars to the region since 2008. Besides law enforcement efforts, the money goes toward institution building and anti-corruption efforts, Posivak said. Nobelists focus on violence against women in Central America . ""It's not a problem that can be solved by law enforcement alone,"" he said. The goal is to address security concerns through all means, he said. U.S. funding for CARSI has increased from $60 million in 2008 to an estimated $135 million in 2012. The most controversial of the Anvil-related confrontations has been the May 11 incident near Ahuas in the Mosquitia region. Hilda Lezama, the owner of the boat that was attacked, told reporters last month that she was carrying passengers before dawn when helicopters appeared and opened fire, wounding her and killing four. The State Department, however, has indicated that the Honduran forces were justified in firing in self-defense. DEA agents were present, but did not fire their weapons, officials say. The Honduran government is investigating the incident, but critics don't believe the government has the capacity to fairly assess itself. ""What happened in Ahuas is unbelievable. They claim they combat crime but they cover up their own crime?"" said Rodolfo Pastor Fasquelle, a Honduran historian and former minister of culture, arts and sports. Pastor is one of 40 Honduran scholars, joined by 300 from outside the country, who signed a letter to President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asking that the United States cease all military and police aid until corrupt agencies are cleaned up. For the Americans, ""the collateral damages are related to an equation that supposes that the high price paid to keep drugs from reaching its market is in some way beneficial and worth it. For us who gain no benefit, these costs are unacceptable,"" Pastor said. They wrote the letter, he said, because Hondurans are ""fearful of the prospect of militarization without end."" Hernandez, the Honduran ambassador, counters that Operation Anvil and other programs are not military operations, but law enforcement ones. ""These are crime-fighting operations and, as such, entail serious risks for people involved in illicit activities and for the law enforcement agents on the field,"" Hernandez said. ""The DEA agents have followed their own rules of engagement and have used arms only when their lives have been threatened. Any loss of life is regrettable; the security authorities of Honduras have repeatedly alerted the local population of the dangers they incur by participating in this criminal activity."" Given the lack of control by Honduran authorities in the northeastern part of the country, it was inevitable that the United States would play a more direct role in combating drug trafficking there, said Mark Ungar, a professor of political science and criminal justice at Brooklyn College who has studied and worked in Honduras. Drug cartels exert such influence in the region that both law enforcement and civilian government agencies have been corrupted, he said. The corruption is entrenched, with local police, aeronautic agencies, rural logging interests and indigenous groups infiltrated by the cartels. Just as part of the counterinsurgency missions in Afghanistan and Iraq had an element of earning locals' trust, the same is needed in Honduras, Ungar said. ""It's not just a matter of seizing planes and catching people in the act, but a matter of gaining trust and understanding how these organizations work,"" he said. Drug trafficking through this corridor is not likely to stop until there is an understanding of how deeply entrenched the drug trade is in local communities, he added . But the Honduran government is weak, its institutions and police suffer from corruption, and public opinion favors security on the streets more than security in remote parts of the country, Ungar said. These factors are not favorable for long-term success, he said. Posivak, the U.S. embassy spokesman, said Operation Anvil has already proven successful at disrupting criminal organizations. ""We believe these interdictions have had a strong impact,"" he said. Why the U.S. can't afford to ignore Latin America . CNN's Catherine Shoichet contributed to this report."
"Paris (CNN) -- Investigators trying to determine why an Air France plane crashed mysteriously two years ago have recovered the complete contents of the flight data recorder and the last two hours of cockpit conversation, they announced Monday. It will take several weeks to analyze the data, French air accident experts said. All 228 people aboard Air France 447 were killed when the Airbus A330 belly-flopped into the ocean June 1, 2009, in stormy weather. The cause of the crash is still not known. Discovering that there was data on the recorders ""is excellent news. It is really going to help us work out what happened on that plane,"" said Martine Del Bono, spokeswoman for France's Bureau of Investigation and Analysis (BEA). Q&A: Will the mystery of Flight 447 be solved? The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder were found at the beginning of May after an unprecedented series of submarine searches of a mountain range 3,900 meters (12,700 feet) under the ocean. They were brought to the surface and taken to Paris by ship and plane. The investigators also recovered two bodies from the fuselage -- after finding only about 50 bodies in the days immediately after the crash. They will not bring more bodies up from the ocean if they cannot identify the two they already have, they said Thursday. Those two bodies are being examined to see if there is enough DNA to identify them, investigators said, adding that they hope to have results by Wednesday. If they can identify the remains, they will consider bringing up other bodies from the wreckage. The bulk of the plane was located earlier this year and contains many more human remains, according to investigators. Recovering more bodies will be a difficult task, with miles of cable required to bring each one up over a period of three hours, they said. Investigators also brought an engine and an avionics bay containing computers to the surface, they said. The pilots of Air France 447 lost contact with air traffic controllers on June 1, 2009, while flying across an area of the Atlantic known for severe turbulence, officials said. But exactly what caused the plane to plunge into the ocean remains a mystery. The plane slammed into the water while en route from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Paris, falling so fast that air masks did not have time to deploy. The fuselage was discovered in April with bodies still inside, investigators said. Some relatives of those who died have expressed reservations about remains being brought to the surface. Last month Robert Soulas, head of a support group for families of flight victims, said: ""For me, personally I would like to leave the bodies of my children, my two children, on the seabed."" Other relatives have called for the bodies to be recovered. CNN's Ayesha Durgahee, Catherine Clifford and Niki Cook contributed to this report."
"(CNN Student News) -- January 13, 2011 . Download PDF maps related to today's show: . • Arizona • Australia . Transcript . THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: A problem that won't be solved, even if the solution is clear. The story and the reasons, leading off today's broadcast of CNN Student News! My name is Carl Azuz! First Up: Winter Storm Woes . AZUZ: Florida is the only state in the union without snow on the ground and that includes Hawaii! In the northeast, that snow is deep. When a weather emergency is called in New York, which gets more than two feet of snow a year, you know it's bad. More than 1,700 flights have been canceled at New York city's 3 major airports, though the city's public schools stayed open. They're closed in Philly and Boston, though. And across Massachusetts, 64,000 homes had their power knocked out. Forecasters expect 24 inches in some areas. Some of this can be blamed on the storm system that iced out the southeast. And Martin Savidge explains how and why, that's likely to happen again! (BEGIN VIDEO) MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Officials knew Atlanta wasn't prepared for the storm. In fact, over the years the city made a conscious decision not to be ready. Historically, what's been the attitude of the city when it comes to snow or ice? MAYOR KASIM REED, (D) ATLANTA: Well, I mean, when I was a boy growing up here it was a day off, a day or two off. But now that I'm mayor, that's fundamentally different. SAVIDGE: Atlanta has relied on two basic facts -- southern snowstorms are rare, and the best way to get rid of the snow is to simply let it melt. That logic fails about once a decade. This time the city remained shut down for days as roads became impassable. In fact the roads are still so bad I couldn't get to the experts I wanted to interview, so I called them. Do we have any idea of what this snow event for the city of Atlanta may cost? TOM CUNNINGHAM, FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF ATLANTA [ON PHONE]: No, not right now. SAVIDGE: Cunningham says because a convention might have been snowed out doesn't mean the city lost money. Remember all those passengers stuck at the airport? Most would have just passed through. Instead they spent money on hotels and ate at area restaurants. What about all those businesses who couldn't work because their employees couldn't get in? CUNNINGHAM [ON PHONE]: There is certainly some lost income associated with hourly workers not being able to get in and get paid. A lot of that aggregate output is going to be made up over the course of the year. SAVIDGE: But why lose it at all? Why not just buy the equipment to handle the snow? I got that answer in my very next call to the Georgia Department of Transportation. JILL GOLDBERG, DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY, GDOT [ON PHONE]: A snowplow is $250,000. You would need so many of them it would be $100 million or more to shell out in order to truly cover all of the interstates. SAVIDGE: And that's not likely to happen in this economy. There are many businesses that were unable to do business, employees couldn't come in. Millions of dollars, maybe tens of millions, maybe more, lost over what appears to be this 3 day period? Still not worth buying the trucks: . REED: My answer right now is no. SAVIDGE: And you know what, the economist says the mayor's probably right. It appears that the business community, at least for now, is in agreement with the city that these events are so rare that its not worth the expense of investment of equipment and personnel. CUNNINGHAM [ON PHONE]: I think that's a fair assessment. (END VIDEO) House Condemns Shooting . AZUZ: A tone of coming together at the U.S. House of Representatives. Yesterday, lawmakers held a bipartisan Congressional prayer service in honor of the 19 shooting victims in Arizona. House Speaker John Boehner said, ""our nation mourns for the victims, it yearns for peace and it thirsts for answers."" Later, the House planned to vote on a Resolution, a statement, that spoke out against the Arizona shooting. President Obama left Washington, D.C. for Tucson, Arizona yesterday. Last night, he was scheduled to speak at a memorial service for attack victims. The president and first lady, whom you see here, were also planning to spend time at the University of Arizona in Tucson, where they were going to visit with victims' families. Blog Report . AZUZ: We're turning now to our Facebook page, for some of your comments on the Arizona shooting. Justin writes that even if the suspect is mentally unstable, he was stable enough to target the Congresswoman, and therefore should be tried and thrown into prison. Savannah lives in a town near Tucson, in Gabrielle Giffords' area. She said she was completely shocked and that this was a horrible tragedy that never should've happened. And Aubrey states, ""when things like this happen, I often wonder what were the signs that he was going to do this, and why could no one see them?"" All of these comments from Facebook.com/cnnstudentnews. And on our blog: Jacob believes that in order for someone to carry a gun, they need to have a mental stability test. And listen to what Ben says: ""This was a flaw in U.S. defense; There wasn't enough security at this gathering to prevent the shooting from happening. But if we lived in a civilized country, we wouldn't need that security."" You can talk to us at Facebook.com/cnnstudentnews. And of course at our blog at CNNStudentNews.com! Is This Legit? CNN STUDENT NEWS: Is This Legit? Queensland is a state in New Zealand. Not Legit! Queensland is a state in Australia. Australia Floodwaters Rising . AZUZ: Parts of Queensland, Australia are suffering through what's being called the worst natural disaster in the state's history. Massive flooding has left huge areas of Queensland underwater. And it's not just the people in the middle of these floods who've been affected. Some areas that were able to stay dry have been completely cut off for weeks. Supplies had to be brought in by helicopter. Phil Black is where people are racing against the rising tide. (BEGIN VIDEO) PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Brisbane river churned swiftly, sweeping away boats, their jetties and other huge pieces of debris. And the water steadily began creeping beyond its banks. But this was just the beginning. This marker on a riverside pub showed what to expect. 2011 is predicted to get very close to the floods of 1974. Very quickly the first streets were inundated and locals were shocked by the water's speed. It's well up there already isn't it? UNIDENTIFIED MALE:It is. It's coming up real quick. BLACK: All along the river people desperately packed what they could into cars and trailers. They raced the water, and some kept going even when they were clearly falling behind. Philip Johnston got his family out before the floods reached his home. PHILIP JOHNSTON, BRISBANE RESIDENT: We've got places to go to so we're right with that. Some of the lower lying guys are going to lose everything. ADAM BESWICK, BRISBANE RESIDENT IN ROW BOAT: Water was halfway up the driveway. Waist deep at the gate. BLACK: We rowed with Adam Beswick to his home, past others with water already up to the ceiling. Beswick's house is on a small hill and on stilts, but he believes it will be swamped. If the prediction is accurate, how high up will this come? How much of it will be covered? BESWICK: I would probably think up to this ridge here but not the main ridge. BLACK: And all of this is just one street. What you are seeing here is going to be experienced by, it's estimated, more than 20,000 homes and properties across the city. Some people were clearly taking things casually. Some were too casual and too slow to realize the seriousness of their situation. More proof of just how quickly this water is coming in. These rescue boats have been called out to help people who very suddenly found themselves surrounded by water. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We couldn't evacuate before and we just couldn't go anywhere so we ended up calling the police. BLACK: How would you describe what you've seen out there? UNIDENTIFIED MALE:It's pretty horrendous actually. Especially looking at the river. It's just frightening looking at the power of nature there. BLACK: The extent of that power will be known soon with flood waters expected to peak here on Thursday. Phil Black, CNN, Brisbane, Australia. (END VIDEO) Shoutout . CNN STUDENT NEWS: We know you want a Shoutout dedicated to your class on CNN Student News and there is one way to get it, so listen up, y'all! First: Have your teacher take an original photo of your school. It has to be an original, not taken from anywhere else. Then: Head to CNNStudentNews.com, and scroll down the page to the ""How Do I"" box on the left side. You click ""How do I get a Shoutout?"" And you follow the instructions to get your iReport to us. Hope to hear from you soon! Before We Go . AZUZ: If you've ever visited us here at the CNN Center, you've been only a snowball's throw, from the world famous Peachtree Street. These days, it's more like an ice rink. A place where driving is deleterious, but skating is serious! Or at least seriously possible. Of everyone who's ever passed through the middle of downtown Atlanta, this guy's gotta be one of the only people ever, to do it on ice skates. Goodbye . AZUZ: At least as far as ice-see it. It's like Peachtree on ice: A once-in-a-lifetime sight to ski. We'll ski ya tomorrow, on air, online, on iTunes, and probably still on ice. I'm Carl Azuz!"
"Phnom Penh, Cambodia (CNN) -- The cause of a mysterious illness that has claimed the lives of more than 60 Cambodian children has been determined, medical doctors familiar with the investigation told CNN on Wednesday. A combination of pathogens, disease-causing micro-organisms, is to blame for the illness, the World Health Organization, in conjunction with the Cambodian Ministry of Health, has concluded, the doctors said. The pathogens include enterovirus 71, which is known to cause neurological disease; streptococcus suis, which can cause infections like bacterial meningitis in people who have close contact with pigs or with pork products; and dengue, which is transmitted by mosquitoes. The inappropriate use of steroids, which can suppress the immune system, worsened the illness in a majority of the patients, the doctors said. The World Health Organization (WHO) is expected to advise health care workers to refrain from using steroids in patients with signs and symptoms of the infection, which include severe fever, encephalitis and breathing difficulties. While not all the microorganisms were present in each patient, doctors concluded the illness was caused by a combination of them and worsened by steroid use. The WHO sources did not want to be identified because the results of the health organization's investigation have not yet been made public. ""I'm very confident for the reason of the epidemic,"" said Dr. Phillipe Buchy, chief of virology at the Institut Pasteur in Cambodia and one of the doctors who cracked the case. ""The first thing that goes through your mind is, is this one of the usual suspects you haven't detected before?"" said Dr. Arnaud Tarantola, chief of epidemiology and public health at the Institut Pasteur. ""If it is, has it mutated, or changed in a way that it causes more severe disease? Or is it something completely new?"" On the steroids issue, Tarantola said, ""When you have a dying child, you try to use what you have at hand, and they were right to try that."" But, he acknowledged, ""from the cases we reviewed, almost all of the children died, and almost all of them had steroids."" Parents face anxious wait over mystery illness . ""I think we can close the case and move ahead asking different questions,"" Buchy said. ""Not what is the illness, but now, how long has the virus been circulating? What is the extent of the circulation of the virus? How many mild diseases are we missing? That's the next step."" Over the past four months, doctors at Kantha Bopha Children's Hospitals in Phnom Penh have been faced with the mysterious syndrome, which kills children so fast that nearly all of those infected with it die within a day or two of being admitted to the hospital. Dr. Beat Richner, head of the children's hospitals -- which cared for 66 patients affected by the illness, 64 of whom died -- said that no new cases of the illness had been confirmed since Saturday. Other hospitals in the country have reported similar cases, but far fewer than the children's hospitals in the capital, which are the most popular. In the last hours of their life, the children experienced a ""total destruction of the alveola(e) in the lungs,"" Richner said. Alveolae are the air sacs where oxygen enters the bloodstream. Most of the children who have contracted the illness have come from the south of the country, though health officials cannot find what is known as a cluster -- a lot of cases coming from one specific area. By June 29, the WHO had been contacted and Cambodian officials were scrambling to instruct health providers across the country to spread information about the illness as quickly as possible. Officials search for clues in disease killing Cambodia's children . The WHO and the Cambodian authorities' announcement of the situation drew criticism from Richner, who said they were ""causing unnecessary panic."" The WHO said the unexplained nature of the outbreak obliged it to communicate the information. Over the weekend, lab tests linked enterovirus 71 (EV71) to some of the cases. But the tests didn't solve the whole puzzle and health officials continued their investigations, noting the detection of other elements like streptococcus suis and dengue. The link to EV71 does not particularly help in the treatment of the illness, as there is no effective antiviral treatment for severe EV71 infections and no vaccine is available. In milder cases, EV71 can cause coldlike symptoms, diarrhea and sores on the hands, feet and mouth, according to the journal Genetic Vaccines and Therapy. But more severe cases can cause fluid to accumulate on the brain, resulting in polio-like paralysis and death. Outbreaks of the enterovirus ""occur periodically in the Asia-Pacific region,"" according to the CDC. Brunei had its first major outbreak in 2006. China had an outbreak in 2008. Adults' well-developed immune systems usually can fend off the virus, but children are vulnerable to it, according to the CDC. ""It looks like (EV71) has emerged strongly, probably because it hadn't circulated with the same intensity in the past years,"" Tarantola said. Reported cases of streptococcus suis have risen significantly in recent years, notably in Southeast Asia, according to a paper that appeared last year in Emerging Infectious Diseases, a journal published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. The rainy season in Cambodia, which lasts from May to October, is a key problem in trying to control diseases like dengue. Because of a lack of indoor plumbing in many homes, people collect rainwater in vats, creating potential breeding grounds for mosquitoes. In Cambodia, as with many places around the world, parents first try treating their child at home. If that doesn't work, they typically then go to a local clinic. A hospital visit, which often involves a long trip, is a last resort. Mystery illness claiming dozens of lives . CNN's Sara Sidner and Tim Schwarz contributed to this report."
"Beijing (CNN) -- Jobs and money, national identity and political stability. These are some of the contentious issues driving the presidential election in Taiwan this weekend. Seeking another four-year term is the incumbent president Ma Ying Jeou of the ruling Kuomintang Party, pitted against Tsai Ing-wen, leader of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Who wins the election will influence Taiwan's relations with mainland China and impact business, geopolitics and security in the region, including China-U.S. ties. For many Taiwanese electorates, political observers say, the main issues are jobs, economics and Taiwanese identity. For the policy-makers in Beijing, however, the overriding question is whether the next Taiwan president will stick to the status quo. That means abiding by the ""1992 Consensus,"" a tacit and ambiguous agreement reached 20 years ago between Beijing and Taipei under which both sides agreed on the principle of ""one China"" without agreeing on how it is to be defined or interpreted. Despite the ambiguity, the 1992 Consensus has served as the basis for cross-strait dialogue that has led in recent years to the unprecedented blossoming of economic and people-to-people ties across the Taiwan Strait. In Beijing's view, ""zuguo tongyi,"" or reunification of the motherland, is a matter of national pride and iron-clad policy. Beijing says it prefers to do so peacefully but refuses to rule out the use of force to keep Taiwan from declaring itself a separate state. China keeps hundreds of missiles aimed at Taiwan, an ominous threat to the island to stay in the fold. War in the Taiwan Strait would prompt a China-U.S. standoff. In 1954, the U.S. and Taiwan signed a mutual defense treaty. Even now, Washington sells Taiwan advanced jet fighters and other military hardware. America is also bound by the Taiwan Relations Act, U.S. legislation passed in 1979, to consider an attack on the island as ""a threat to the peace and security"" of the region and ""of grave concern to the U.S."" But all these years, Washington has avoided spelling out what it would do in case military clash erupts in the Taiwan Strait. Some observers say such ambiguity serves as a deterrent. Others worry it could lead to miscalculations. That delicate balance lurks at the heart of this weekend's election. Incumbent president Ma Ying Jeou advocates maintaining the status quo. ""Ma Ying Jeou will continue the 1992 Consensus,"" says Tsinghua University professor Yan Xuetong. ""If he does that we can maintain the current relationship across the Strait."" If Ma wins, says Wang Jianmin, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) in Beijing, ""we can hopefully keep the 'peaceful development' scenario with the mutual trust based on the 1992 Consensus."" Beijing's policy-makers are wary of Tsai Ing-wen, suspecting her of pushing a pro-independence agenda. Tsai for one rejects the 1992 Consensus and instead calls for a yet undefined ""Taiwan Consensus."" Jia Qingling, a top communist party official who oversees Taiwan affairs, recently warned: ""If we deny the status quo there is no way to carry on any further negotiations, and what we have achieved so far would be in vain. We would go back to the days of chaos and uncertainty."" But Wang believes relations between Beijing and Taipei will see a drastic change if DPP gets elected. ""There is no way China will keep the current level of talks if Taiwan claims itself to be a country,"" he says. ""If so, Taiwan's economy will certainly decline if the life blood from the mainland gets cut off."" But Tsinghua's Yan Xuetong downplays any worst-case scenarios. ""Even if Tsai Ing Wen wins the election, she will adopt a moderate policy to mainland China,"" he opines. There are good reasons not to rock the boat, mostly money. Closer ties between Taiwan and the mainland, observers say, have brought significant ""peace dividends"" to both sides -- robust business and trade, tourism, academic and people-to-people exchanges and family reunions. Two-way trade last year topped U.S.$160 billion, according to estimates by China's customs bureau. Over the years, Taiwanese investors, big and small, have pumped billions of dollars of investment into China. Last year alone, they invested over U.S.$12 billion in 520 projects on the mainland, according to a report by the state-run Xinhua new agency. Mainland companies, on the other hand, invested U.S.$174 million into over 200 projects in Taiwan in the short time since Taiwan allowed mainland investments in June 2009, Xinhua said. Since Taiwan opened its borders to mainland tourists three-and-a-half years ago, says Shao Qiwei, head of China's tourism agency, over three million mainlanders have visited the island. Last year alone, 1.8 million joined tours or went as individual travelers, Shao added. In contrast, about five million Taiwanese tourists visited the mainland last year, according to National Tourism Administration. But for the Communist leadership in Beijing closer ties also poses a downside: they bring a democratic contagion to the mainland. On Sina Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter, Linghutian writes: ""No matter who wins, it's the victory of Taiwan's voters and the democracy they've been practicing. We mainlanders should just stay calm and learn something, since we now can't really do much."" While the Taiwanese electorate is able to directly elect their president and other leaders this weekend, China's political elite is still struggling behind closed doors to reach a consensus on who among them will take top positions ahead of the major political transition later this year. In the autumn, Vice President Xi Jinping, 58, is expected to replace 69-year-old Hu Jintao as party chief when the Communist Party holds its national congress -- an event that takes place every five years. Xi is expected to formally ascend as state president when China's legislature convenes in the spring of 2013."
"Washington (CNN) -- The much-maligned, color-coded Homeland Security Advisory System is about to be consigned to the proverbial dustbin of history. Not that anyone is really paying attention. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is expected to announce Thursday that the almost 9-year-old threat alert system will go away in April. It will be replaced by the new National Terror Advisory System that will focus on specific threats in geographical areas, a department source said Wednesday. The source did not provide details of the new system, which Napolitano will unveil at what the department is calling ""the first annual 'State of America's Homeland Security' address"" at George Washington University. The top Democrat and Republican on the House Homeland Security Commission reacted positively to the news, although committee chairman Rep. Peter King, R-New York, reserved judgment on the specifics. ""Though the system served a valuable purpose in the terrible days and months following the terrorist attacks of September 11, it was clearly time for the current color-coded system to be replaced with a more targeted system,"" King said. ""I know they have been working on this for a long time. It sounds to me like the changes they are proposing make sense. We will have to wait and see how they implement this new, more targeted system. I expect the biggest challenge for DHS will be balancing the need to provide useful and timely information with the need to protect sensitive information."" ""The old color coded system taught Americans to be scared, not prepared,"" said ranking member Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Mississippi. ""Each and every time the threat level was raised, very rarely did the public know the reason, how to proceed, or for how long to be on alert. I have raised concerns for years about the effectiveness of the system and have cited the need for improvements and transparency. Many in Congress felt the system was being used as a political scare tactic -- raising and lowering the threat levels when it best suited the Bush administration."" President George W. Bush established the Homeland Security Advisory System by presidential directive on March 11, 2002, just a few months after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. The five levels -- green for low, blue for guarded, yellow for elevated, orange for high and red for severe -- were intended to identify the risk of terrorist attack. The initial level was yellow, which the system retained until September 11, 2002, when it was raised to orange to cover the first anniversary of the attacks. It was lowered back to yellow on September 24. In its lifetime, the threat level has been raised to orange/high five times, although it went to that level three other times for specific industries. The threat level was raised to red/severe once -- on August 10, 2006, and only for commercial flights from the United Kingdom to the United States -- when British authorities announced they had disrupted a major plot to blow up aircraft. The level went down to orange on August 16, 2006, where it remains. The general threat level is yellow/elevated. The two lower levels have never been used, and task force looking at the system recommended in 2009 eliminating them altogether and making yellow the lowest threat level but renaming it ""guarded."" Almost from the start, the threat level system was the butt of jokes and multiple parodies. The ""Democracy Threat Advisory Level"" went from green/low (""Wow, clean money systems really work"") to red/severe (""Martial law, but it's for your own good""). A ""Total Headcase Advisory System"" began with ""George Soros is arrested"" and ended with ""Hillary Clinton is elected president."" Still another announced that Homeland Security and Crayola had jointly revised the system, changing green to aquamarine, blue to raw umber, yellow to burnt sienna, orange to neon carrot and red to cotton candy. The public didn't care much for the system either, with polls conducted at the time indicating most Americans found it confusing and not very useful. More seriously, however, some critics accused the Bush administration of using using the system to generate fear at politically sensitive times, such as just before the 2004 election. And just days after his 2005 resignation, then-Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge told a Washington forum that he sometimes disagreed with the rationale for raising the alert but was overruled by others on the Homeland Security Advisory Council, which made the decisions. The council included Attorney General John Ashcroft, FBI chief Robert Mueller, CIA director George Tenet, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell. ""More often than not we (the department) were the least inclined to raise it,"" Ridge told reporters after the forum. ""Sometimes we disagreed with the intelligence assessment. Sometimes we thought even if the intelligence was good, you don't necessarily put the country on (alert). ... There were times when some people were really aggressive about raising it, and we said, 'For that?' "" And in 2009, Ridge wrote in a tell-all book that sometimes officials such as Ashcroft and Rumsfeld pressured the department to change the level, describing a 2004 event in which his arguments against raising the alert worked. ""I believe our strong interventions had pulled the 'go-up' advocates back from the brink. But I consider the episode to be not only a dramatic moment in Washington's recent history, but another illustration of the intersection of politics, fear, credibility and security,"" he wrote. ""After that episode, I knew I had to follow through with my plans to leave the federal government,"" he wrote. Ridge announced his resignation on November 30, 2004, and left office on February 1, 2005. The Bush administration denied Ridge's assertions, however. ""Nobody's more surprised than I am,"" then-Homeland Security adviser Fran Townsend told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. ""Of course, Tom Ridge never expressed those concerns while he was in the administration, nor did he when I spoke to him after he left ... (He) wasn't the only one in that meeting who suggested the terror alert shouldn't be raised. At no time was there a discussion of politics in that meeting. And the president was made a consensus recommendation from the council that he accepted -- not to raise the terror alert."" Townsend is now a national security contributor for CNN. CNN's Fran Townsend contributed to this report ."
"Phnom Penh, Cambodia (CNN) -- During the Khmer Rouge regime, I was put in prison at the age of 15 for picking mushrooms in the rice fields to feed my pregnant sister. Under the Khmer Rouge, everything belonged to the Revolution — and picking up anything from the ground without their permission was a crime. For several hours in front of about one hundred villagers, the Khmer Rouge publicly tortured me. I did not cry, because I was told not to. Then, they put me in prison. Months later, after running out of lies to tell the prison chief while begging for my life, one of the older prisoners stepped forward and pleaded to the prison chief on my behalf. Surprisingly, the prison chief agreed and I was released. I came to learn much later, however, that in exchange for me, they killed him. My experience is a mere footnote to the millions of other Cambodians who suffered and died at the hands of this regime, but it is illustrative of the ongoing struggle to find justice and closure. 35 years on, top Khmer Rouge leaders face justice in Cambodia . Trial 'will not bring back the dead' When the verdict is announced in the first trial of the Khmer Rouge tribunal's second case, there will be no winners and no cause for celebration. While the occasion marks an enormous achievement in Cambodia and the international community's long struggle to assert the primacy of human rights, peace, and the rule of law, it is a victory that can only be marked with somber contemplation. We have come a long way in forging an international system to meet the challenge of responding to and punishing mass atrocities, but judgments do not bring back the dead or restore trust. No action can assuage the anguish, sadness, and regret that haunts the survivors to this day. Over 35 years after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime, we still see the effects from this period in almost every facet of Cambodian society. From physical scars and disabilities, to trauma and psychosocial conditions, the horrors of this period continue to manifest themselves in survivors, families, communities and institutions. Suffering under the Khmer Rouge . Many estimates found that more than a million people died under the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979 from execution, disease, starvation and overwork. See places where Cambodia's shocking past is on show . Like many families, my mother, my deaf sister, Keo Kolthida Ekkasakh, and I, all suffered under the Khmer Rouge. And my mother lost all three of her brothers, one sister, one daughter and many grandchildren under the regime. Nearly 60 of our family members are still missing today. Society is still divided, and the memories of this period— even memories of kindness — carry a heavy burden. I will never forget the kind act of the man in prison. I do not even know the name of the man who saved my life. I have been searching for his family members for years, in the hope that I can pay my respect for the courage and kindness he showed me. 'Too little, too late' Achieving true justice in these circumstances is an impossible feat for mankind, and an altogether late endeavor at best. Time and again, the international community has watched mass atrocities, genocide, and other heinous crimes proceed unchecked. INTERACTIVE: Five faces of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge . While our efforts in applying due process in the punishment of genocide and mass atrocities deserve recognition and respect, we should not overlook the paramount need for preventing such crimes before they occur. Prevention must be the watchword in defining our struggle, and our struggle against evil must begin with courage. We must have the courage to call out inhumanity when it occurs and take steps that prevent such crimes, rather than responding to their aftermath. We must seize the opportunity to stand up for what is right, no matter the circumstance, because we know that saving millions of lives today speaks far greater for our civilization than issuing verdicts tomorrow. This verdict regarding the two senior Khmer Rouge leaders matters a great deal to me, as should it for all Cambodians, because it gives some closure -- but closure is too little, too late for many. If only the international community would exercise the courage and resolve as the man in prison did for me, the world would need fewer verdicts. In 2013: Infamous leader during Cambodia genocide dies ."
"(CNN) -- A suicide bombing ""mastermind"" in the Pakistan Taliban has been gunned down and killed in the country's northeastern tribal region, just days after a major faction in the militant group announced it was breaking away over ideological differences. Gunmen riding in a car attacked Ashiqullah Mehsud, a senior commander in the leadership of the group known formally as the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), in the village of Urmuz in North Waziristan on Thursday before speeding off, sources told CNN. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, while the TTP has yet to issue a statement. Mehsud was viewed as a successor to Qari Hussain Mehsud, the militant group's explosives expert whose notoriety includes allegedly recruiting children as suicide bombers. Deadly infighting . Pakistani intelligence sources believe the incident is the result of internal rivalries between TTP factions. The Pakistan Taliban has been beset with months of deadly infighting, culminating in an announcement early this month by the group's Mehsud faction that it would be going its own way after failing to convince the leadership to give up what it said were ""un-Islamic"" practices, such as attacks in public places, extortion and kidnappings. It's the first split since the TTP -- a coalition of militant groups -- was founded in 2007, seeking to establish its version of sharia law across Pakistan. Tensions within the TTP escalated after the group's leader, Hakimullah Mehsud, was killed in a U.S. drone strike in November last year, setting off a power struggle among top commanders of the TTP that led to violent clashes in which dozens of people were killed. Appointed by a tribal council, Mullah Fazlullah has stood at the helm of the TPP since Mehsud's death. He hails from the country's Swat valley and is the first TTP leader who is not a Mehsud. He has struggled to contain the internal frictions among the group's factions, especially those within the Mehsud tribe, which makes up the majority of the TTP. In a statement released last month, Azam Tariq, a spokesman for the breakaway Mehsuds, said the TTP leadership had ""fallen into the hands of a bunch of conspirators ... involved in criminal activities like robbery and extortion."" Zahir Shah Sherazi in Peshawar contributed to this report."
"Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic once again faces two genocide charges instead of one in his long-running trial over ethnic violence during the 1990s Balkan wars. Appellate judges at a U.N. war crimes tribunal in the Netherlands on Thursday reinstated the second genocide charge, ruling that the tribunal improperly dismissed the count in June 2012. Karadzic, whose trial began in 2010, also faces nine other charges related to ethnic violence during the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. The reinstated charge accuses Karadzic of trying to permanently remove Bosnian Muslims and Croats from parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992. The charge was thrown out last year after the prosecution rested its case, with the tribunal ruling that there wasn't enough evidence for a genocide conviction on that particular allegation. But the appellate judges Thursday ruled that the evidence of serious abuse against Bosnian Muslims and Croats -- including detaining them in overcrowded, squalid conditions where they were starved and left vulnerable to disease -- could be shown to be genocidal acts. The judges cited allegations that Karadzic and officials loyal to him decided on a plan to rid Bosnia of Muslims, in part by killing a third of them and converting another third to Orthodox Christianity. Thursday's decision came exactly 18 years after the notorious 1995 Srebrencia massacre, for which Karadzic faces the other genocide charge. Nearly 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica in July 1995. Srebrenica became an emblem for the dissolution of Yugoslavia -- once a multiethnic state of Serbs, Croats, Muslims and others -- into six countries during a bloody and brutal conflict. On Thursday, more than 400 victims of the massacre were to be reburied at a memorial center in Potocari in Bosnia and Herzegovina, adding to the more than 5,000 victims already buried there, the country's state-run news agency FENA reported. Victims of the massacre have been buried at the site periodically as officials locate and identify more victims in mass graves. ""Sadness and pain, I have no words. It is so hard,"" said Fadila Efendic, who was set to bury her son Fejzo at the site Thursday, according to FENA. ""This is beyond any human comprehension what they did to us and what we are experiencing."" The 1992-95 Bosnian conflict was the longest of the wars spawned by the breakup of Yugoslavia. Karadzic was removed from power in 1995, when the Dayton Accord that ended the Bosnian war barred anyone accused of war crimes from holding office. Karadzic was captured in 2008 after more than 13 years of hiding in plain sight in Belgrade. He had adopted an elaborate disguise that included long hair and a full beard, and was practicing alternative medicine in the Serbian capital. His former military commander, Ratko Mladic, was captured in 2011 and is also on trial for charges including genocide. Both men would face life in prison if convicted. The court cannot impose the death penalty. Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosevic also faced charges connected with the Balkan wars, but he died in 2006 while on trial at The Hague."
"(CNN) -- The historic measure to regulate and tax marijuana in Washington State deserves to be looked at closely as a model of how legalization ought to be designed and implemented elsewhere in America. We've turned a significant corner with the approval of Initiative 502, which purposefully offers a true public health alternative to the criminal prohibition of pot. For the first time in a very long time, the well-intended but failed criminal penalties to protect public health and safety will be set aside. Adults who choose to use marijuana and obtain it through legal outlets will no longer be faced with the threat of criminal sanctions. People of color will no longer face the egregious inequities in how marijuana criminal penalties are imposed. Parents, as they help prepare their children for the choices they face concerning marijuana, will no longer be hobbled by misinformation about the drug and the absence of effective supports to encourage abstinence. ""The great experiment"" of alcohol prohibition became the national law in 1920. Its intentions were good, but it failed in a number of vitally important ways. In 1923, the state of New York repealed its alcohol prohibition law. Ten other states soon followed, and in 1933 national Prohibition ended. I believe Washington state has just played that pivotal role with regard to marijuana. Moreover, by borrowing from public health model principles known to be effective, the state has offered the most compelling replacement to prohibition considered to date. What is a public health model? In brief, it's an approach that acknowledges use of marijuana can present harms to the user and to public safety, and includes provisions to prevent or ameliorate those harms. A public health model includes six key elements. Washington state's new law incorporates each of them. The first is accountable oversight by an agency of government. The Washington state legalization model assigns responsibility to a state agency for writing regulations concerning how the growing, producing and selling of marijuana will occur. Among those regulations are tight limitations on advertising and the prevention of access to marijuana by minors. Then, that agency will have the authority to issue licenses to growers, producers and sellers and to enforce adherence to the rules. The second element is a well-funded multifaceted marijuana education program that is based on science rather than ideology. Far too few Americans are sufficiently informed about marijuana's effects on health and behavior, both the positive and the negative. A key to good decision-making is possessing accurate information. The third element is well-funded prevention programs widely available to all the state's geographical and demographic communities. We've learned a great deal about what knowledge, skills and community supports actually work in helping young people navigate a world in which drugs such as marijuana are readily available. Sadly, far too little funding has been devoted to putting such programs to work in our communities. A fourth element is making treatment of marijuana dependence readily available. The new law dedicates funding to establish a statewide Marijuana Help Line. It also earmarks funding to state, county and local governments for the provision of services for those in need of help. Evaluation of the new law's impact is the fifth element. An independent state agency will receive funding to conduct periodic assessments of how the new system affects behaviors, attitudes and knowledge. Using the findings of these evaluative studies, the state agency overseeing the pricing and taxing of marijuana can adjust those costs to maximize undercutting of the black market and deterrence of youth access to marijuana. The sixth element is research. The new law earmarks funding to the state's two major research universities for the purpose of conducting marijuana-focused studies. As we gradually learn how to live more healthfully and safely with marijuana, the knowledge derived from those studies will inform education, prevention, treatment and refinements in the law. In more than 40 years of research -- primarily marijuana dependence counseling interventions for adults and adolescents -- it has seemed to me that prohibition has hindered more than it has helped good decision-making. Far too many teens think smoking pot is ""no big deal,"" greatly underestimating the risk of being derailed from social, psychological and educational attainment. Far too many adults don't take seriously enough the risk of marijuana dependence that accompanies very frequent use. We can do better. By regulating and taxing marijuana based on a set of strong public health principles, I believe our cultural norms concerning marijuana will shift and the harms we've witnessed will greatly reduce. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Roger A. Roffman."
"(CNN) -- Homeland security officials on Wednesday abruptly shelved a proposal to build a national database of license-plate scans after criticism from privacy advocates. The proposal, which had been posted online last week by the office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, sought a contractor who could establish a searchable database of license plates, with the times and locations where they were spotted by traffic cameras and other sources. But in a statement late Wednesday, the department announced a reversal. ""The solicitation, which was posted without the awareness of ICE leadership, has been canceled,"" said spokeswoman Gillian Christensen. ""While we continue to support a range of technologies to help meet our law enforcement mission, this solicitation will be reviewed to ensure the path forward appropriately meets our operational needs."" It was unclear whether the proposal was dead or was merely withdrawn for revisions. Under the proposal, officers in the field would have been able to use their smartphones to look up a license plate and see every time and every place the vehicle had been spotted by a camera. ""The database should track vehicle license plate numbers that pass through cameras or are voluntarily entered into the system from a variety of sources (access control systems, asset recovery specialists, etc.) and uploaded to share with law enforcement,"" the original solicitation read. The proposed National License Plate Recognition database was to have been used by immigration officers to find and arrest fugitives. Supporters of license-plate scanning, like former New York state homeland security chief Michael Balboni, said it could have been an invaluable tool for finding dangerous suspects. ""What license-plate readers have been used for most effectively is (trying) to do hits against outstanding warrants, against unlicensed drivers, against folks who have shown before that they've been involved in some kind of crime -- that's where the hits come."" But since the solicitation was posted and featured in the Washington Post, privacy advocates have warned that the database sounded like a dragnet that would track the whereabouts of all drivers, including people who have done nothing wrong, and that the records might be held indefinitely. ""The idea is, we want to collect everything on perfectly innocent people and then dip into it whenever we feel like it,"" said Kade Crockford of the American Civil Liberties Union. ""There have already been quite a few cases of abuse. Essentially, the problem is that this is creating a nationwide warrantless location-tracking list."" Opponents also said the tracking of cars would reveal personal information about drivers, like whether they went to church, where they slept at night, or whether they had been to an abortion clinic or a political protest."
"London, England (CNN) -- Irish football officials have lodged an official complaint with world ruling body FIFA after Thierry Henry confessed that he handled the ball in the build-up to the goal which sent France to next summer's World Cup. Television cameras showed Henry guiding the ball with his hand twice, before William Gallas scored from his resulting cross to give ""Les Bleus"" a narrow win in the two-legged World Cup play-off against the Republic of Ireland. ""I will be honest. It was a handball but I am not the referee,"" the Barcelona striker told reporters after the match in Paris. The Irish Justice Ministry confirmed to CNN that Dermot Ahern had asked the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) to demand a replay in the interests of fair play. ""Thierry Henry has admitted handling the ball, claims he told the ref he handled it. Millions of people worldwide saw it was a blatant double handball -- not to mention a double offside -- and we should put the powers that be in the cozy world of FIFA on the spot and demand a replay,"" Ahern said in a statement sent to CNN. ""They probably won't grant it as we are minnows in world football but let's put them on the spot. It's the least we owe the thousands of devastated young fans around the country. Otherwise if that result remains it reinforces the view that if you cheat you will win."" The FAI later confirmed that it had taken the matter to FIFA. ""I really believe the integrity of the game has been questioned last night,"" chief executive John Delaney told reporters. ""The governing body of world football have to step up to the plate and accede to our call for a replay."" Delaney said the FAI had also written to the French football federation. ""They need to look at themselves in this situation. Henry is their captain and a wonderful footballer, but does he want to be like Diego Maradona and his legacy to be this handball, this goal that got them to the World Cup in an unjust manner? If we had qualified in this manner, I wouldn't be happy,"" he said. ""It is up to the people who govern the game now. Every time I go to a FIFA congress I hear about fair play and integrity. This was a defining game with the whole world watching, and if FIFA believe in fair play and integrity, this is their opportunity to step forward."" The FAI has argued that there is a precedent for the result to be struck out, following FIFA's ruling that Uzbekistan had to replay a play-off against Bahrain  for the 2006 World Cup in Germany after the referee made a mistake in awarding a penalty. ""The Football Association of Ireland is hoping that FIFA and its disciplinary committee will, on behalf of football fans worldwide, act in a similar fashion so that the standards of fair play and integrity can be protected,"" the FAI said. FIFA confirmed it had received the Irish request for a replay, but gave no timescale on a decision. However, it said that under its regulations the referee's decision cannot be changed. ""Law 5 states that the decisions of the referee regarding facts connected with play, including whether or not a goal is scored and the result of the match, are final,"" it said. ""The referee may only change a decision on realising that it is incorrect or, at his discretion, on the advice of an assistant referee or the fourth official, provided that he has not restarted play or terminated the match."" Irish captain Richard Dunne, who spoke to Henry on the final whistle, said he felt cheated by the goal. ""He admitted he handled it, but it doesn't make me feel any better because we are not going to the World Cup finals,"" the defender said. ""FIFA will probably be happy. Yet again the big decisions have gone for the bigger team."" Football's international governing body had faced criticism from several Irish players that the seeding system for the play-off draw favored more powerful nations such as France. Blog: When will FIFA see what's staring them in the face? Dunne's teammate Robbie Keane admitted it was ""hard to speak,"" as he struggled to come to terms with the result. ""With the way we played, we certainly deserved to win the game and it killed us near the end with that handball,"" he was quoted by the FAI Web site as saying. ""I've seen the replay but we knew anyway (it was handball). You could see by the reaction of the players, especially Shay (Given) who was two yards away from it. You don't get a reaction like that. It was a clear handball. ""He (Henry) almost caught the ball and actually ran into the net with it. We're devastated."" Ireland team manager Giovanni Trapattoni told reporters that the referee had time to ask the linesman and then Henry. ""It would not have been the first time a player would have asked and it would not have been out of turn. ""We are angry,"" the Italian continued. ""It is a bitter evening for me. I would prefer to have gone out on penalties."" Fanzone: Five of football's most famous injustices . But former France international David Ginola was emphatic that Henry should not have ""owned up."" ""You don't do that,"" he told CNN. ""Henry was doing his job. You can't blame him for doing everything he could for his team and country to get them to South Africa. ""But it was a shame to finish the game like that as Ireland had played very well. ""Referees need more help on the pitch, so as not to allow things like that. Obviously the referee was not well-positioned and couldn't see."" English Referees Union chief Alan Leighton told CNN that Swedish official Martin Hansson had clearly missed a huge decision. ""I think the incident was more of instinct than deliberately attempting to cheat but it does seem that the ball hit his hand twice and therefore there is an issue."" But on the wider issue of cheating, Leighton said: ""It is all very well to blame the referees for not spotting it but fundamentally it starts with the players. ""I think the players have to think about the game, think about the reputation of the game and their own reputations and say look actually there is a line that we will not cross."""
"(CNN) -- Top officials in Moscow have accepted a French offer to help supply the Russian navy with two new amphibious assault warships, French President Nicolas Sarkozy's office said Friday. The offer came from a consortium led by two French manufacturers -- DCNS and STX -- working in conjunction with Russian shipyards. Two additional warships may be constructed, bringing the total to four, Sarkozy's office said. Sarkozy and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ""welcomed the implementation of this unprecedented cooperation that will benefit the industry and employment in both countries,"" said a statement from Sarkozy's office. It ""illustrates the willingness and ability of France and Russia develop partnerships in all major areas, including defense and security."" The deal will create 5 million hours of work for an estimated 1,000 people over four years around the French town of Saint-Nazaire, according to the statement."
"(CNN) -- To kick off the release of her new album, Madonna is joining Twitter for one day to answer questions from fans. The pop legend will be turning to Twitter on Monday night to promote her 12th studio album, MDNA, and interact with fans on the popular social network. She will be answering questions starting at 10:00 p.m. EST/7:00 p.m. PST. The Twitter handle @MadonnaMDNAday sent out its first tweet on Sunday to get the word out about the Q&A. Fans can submit questions to Madonna by tweeting @MadonnaMDNAday and using the hashtag #askmadonna. The account already has over 12,000 followers. The news was also announced on Madonna.com/AskMadonna, with the following message: . ""Madonna joins Twitter for one day only to answer fan questions and celebrate the release of her MDNA album. Got a question? #AskMadonna,"" the site says. It's uncertain if the account will still send tweets about the album or if it will be shut down after the online event. The Twitter account has not yet responded to questions from Mashable. Madonna's dip into Twitter isn't just to promote her album, but also to increase her social media presence. She recently granted a Facebook Live-exclusive interview with late-night host Jimmy Fallon on Saturday. Fans â€” who had to ""Like"" her Facebook page in order to watch the interview â€” were also encouraged to submit questions for the pop queen. Her interview with Fallon was the only talk show appearance planned to promote the album. Madonna has nearly 9 million subscribers on Facebook. This is her first album since the release of ""Hard Candy,"" featuring ""4 Minutes,"" in April 2008. See the original article on Mashable.com. © 2011 MASHABLE.com. All rights reserved."
"(CNN) -- South Korea will stage its first Formula One grand prix in 2010, motorsport's governing body, the International Automobile Federation (FIA),  announced on Monday. Work is in progress at the 5.6km site of the future South Korean Grand Prix in Yeongam county. The 19-race season will open in Bahrain on March 14 and the final race will take place in Brazil. After missing out on staging a grand prix in 2009, Canada will return to the circuit in 2010 with a June 13 date if agreement could be reached with Formula One Management which holds the sport's commercial rights. If that is not completed then the Turkish Grand Prix will be moved back one week to the June 6 slot. South Korea is spending millions of dollars on a track in Yeongam county and officials are confident the Korean Grand Prix, set for October 17, will quickly make its mark. Work is in progress at the 5.6km site, 320km south of Seoul, where seating to accommodate 135,000 spectators is being built. Organizers say the main circuit will include Asia's longest straight stretch of 1.2km which will allow speeds of up to 320km per hour. Seoul has hosted the Olympic Games, the Asian Games and a football World Cup, but never a Formula One race, despite a major domestic auto industry. The 19-race schedule for the 2010 Formula One championship which gets under way in Bahrain on March 14: . March 14, Bahrain Grand Prix . March 28, Australian Grand Prix . April 4, Malaysian Grand Prix . April 18, Chinese Grand Prix . May 9, Spanish Grand Prix . May 23, Monaco Grand Prix . May 30, Turkish Grand Prix . June 13, Canadian Grand Prix ** . June 27, European Grand Prix at Valencia, Spain . July 11, British Grand Prix . July 25, German Grand Prix . August 1, Hungarian Grand Prix . August 29, Belgian Grand Prix . September 12, Italian Grand Prix . September 26, Singapore Grand Prix . October 3, Japanese Grand Prix . October 17, South Korean Grand Prix . October 31, Abu Dhabi Grand Prix . November 14, Brazilian Grand Prix . ** Subject to the completion of contract negotiations with Formula One Management. If these are not completed then the Turkish Grand Prix will be moved to June 6 ."
"London, England (CNN) -- Britain's Prince William and fiancee Kate Middleton made their first official engagement as a couple Thursday, launching a lifeboat in Wales. The pair, who are due to marry in April, officially named the ""Hereford Endeavour"" lifeboat in a ceremony at the Trearddur Bay Lifeboat Station in Anglesey, North Wales.  Middleton, wearing a Vivien Sheriff black-feathered beret, three-quarter length cream coat and suede boots, poured a bottle of champagne over the lifeboat after Prince William made a speech commending the efforts of the volunteers and rescue crew. ""We effectively have two launches today,"" said CNN royal contributor Mark Saunders. ""The launch of the lifeboat by William and Catherine and, at the same time, the launch of William and Catherine into this celebrity saturated world they are going to be living in."" Despite the modest nature of the event, hundreds of people turned out to watch the royal couple conduct their first official duty together. ""In 20 years of royal reporting I've never witnessed quite such excitement for such a single job,"" said Saunders. One onlooker told CNN: ""It's lovely... I would have thought more people would have brought flowers and things for them but it's lovely... It's low key which is what he (Prince William) wanted."" It's the first public appearance the couple has made since they announced their engagement last November. ""It's a very low-key event, launching a lifeboat on the island where they both live...it's a very good debut event for them,"" said Saunders. ""They have a very good relationship with the locals here, they are often seen at the local supermarket and buying wine from the local off-license. So for a first event, they couldn't have picked a better one."" The reason for such a low-key ceremony, says Saunders, is to prepare Middleton for life as a royal. ""(The royal family) have learnt many lessons from when Princess Diana first joined the royal family. ""Diana was just thrown in the deep end and absolutely given no guidance whatsoever. They're making sure this time round Catherine is well prepared,"" he said. After naming the new Atlantic 85 lifeboat, Prince William and Middleton met members of the charity's lifeboat crew along with fundraising volunteers and were given a demonstration of the vessel's capabilities. In a statement issued before the ceremony, Lifeboat's Operations Manager, Aubrey Diggle said: ""It's an honor to have Prince William and Miss Middleton at our naming ceremony. ""Naming a new lifeboat is always a special occasion for the charity where we can thank our supporters and fundraisers. Having the royal couple there will make the day even more memorable for the whole community."" The couple currently reside in Anglesey while Prince William serves as an RAF search and rescue helicopter pilot."
"(CNN) -- A Dutch court intervened Friday to stop a 13-year-old girl from attempting to sail around the world by herself, stripping her parents of sole custody. Laura Dekker will find out on Friday whether the Dutch Court will back her record attempt. Laura Dekker's parents support her round-the-world ambition, which sparked concern from child protection officials because of her age. They took the case to court to prevent the solo trip. On Friday the Dutch High Court in Utrecht ruled that the Child Protection Board will share custody over Laura with her parents for two months. The move prevents the parents from permitting Laura to set off on her trip alone, though Laura will remain at home with her father, Dick Dekker, a court official said. During those two months, a child psychologist will assess Laura's mental state and ability to carry out a solo round-the-world journey, a court official said. A guardian will be appointed to oversee the case until the court next meets Oct. 26. The court will then make a final ruling on whether her parents may have the final say about their daughter's plans, the court official said. Is the court right to block her bid? Have your say below . Laura's parents are happy about Friday's decision, family lawyer Peter de Lange said. He said the parents are especially pleased that the court didn't prevent Laura from making the journey, because they hope she can still proceed with her plans. The teenager was out sailing Friday, de Lange said. She is pleased with the decision and hopes she can still make a solo trip, he said. Laura believes she will be able to convince the court that she is fit to make the trip alone, de Lange said. Social workers took the action to stop the teen from attempting to become the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe because they believe the voyage would be too dangerous. Laura said she has dreamed of sailing around the world since she was 10 and her parents are determined to help her achieve her goal. She called the attention that has been heaped on her case ""a bit over the top."" Just this week, a British teenager became the youngest person to sail around the world solo when he returned to Britain after a nine-month trip. Guinness World Records confirmed the feat. Mike Perham, 17, had a support team sailing alongside him during the trip. He said he doesn't think age alone should determine whether Laura Dekker is ready for such an adventure. It's ""whether she's got the physical strength, the mental strength, or the technical ability,"" he said. ""Can she strip an engine blindfolded? Can she build boats? Is she an electrician? Is she a mechanic as well? You can't just be a sailor for a trip like this."" Another sailor, Robin Knox-Johnston, also said age shouldn't be the only determining factor. He was the first person to circumnavigate the globe alone without stopping -- in 1969, when he was 29. ""It's really more a question, is that person, that young person, mature enough to be able to look after themselves and deal with everything that's going to come at you when you get out alone at sea?"" he said. Gold medal-winning Olympic sailor Shirley Robertson insisted that sailing is an experience-based sport and that Laura may not be ready for such a great challenge. ""Mike Perham has four years on Laura. That's a big difference,"" she told CNN. ""Mike had already completed challenges such as sailing across the Atlantic before embarking on his ultimate quest. ""There's a world of difference between sailing a small craft on the Ijsselmeer and sailing around the world with all the challenges that presents."" Robertson also pointed out that ""we live in a culture of record-breaking and fame-seeking,"" with people constantly looking to be the youngest or quickest at anything. ""Why does she need to sail around the world on her own now? Why not sail with a parent first to gain more experience?"" CNN's Ashleigh Nghiem, Francesca Church and Paul Armstrong contributed to this story."
"(CNN) -- So, Gary Oldman, tell us what you really think. In a raw interview with Playboy, the actor, 56, railed against Hollywood ""dishonesty"" and double standards, said that Mel Gibson and Alec Baldwin have been victims of hypocrisy and asserted that not voting for ""12 Years a Slave"" to win an Oscar meant ""you were a racist."" Oh, and he doesn't like the Golden Globes, helicopter parents or reality TV, either. Indeed, the ""Dark Knight"" actor, who's starring in the forthcoming ""Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,"" pulled no punches when talking about pretty much anything. The conversation will appear in the magazine's July/August issue. The Gibson and Baldwin affairs really angered him, he said, because he believes their accusers don't exactly have clean hands themselves. ""I don't know about Mel. He got drunk and said a few things, but we've all said those things. We're all f***ing hypocrites,"" Oldman said. ""The policeman who arrested him has never used the word 'n*****' or 'that f***ing Jew'? I'm being brutally honest here. It's the hypocrisy of it that drives me crazy. ""Mel Gibson is in a town that's run by Jews and he said the wrong thing because he's actually bitten the hand that I guess has fed him -- and doesn't need to feed him anymore because he's got enough dough,"" Oldman continued. ""But some Jewish guy in his office somewhere hasn't turned and said, 'That f***ing kraut' or 'F*** those Germans,' whatever it is? We all hide and try to be so politically correct. That's what gets me. It's just the sheer hypocrisy of everyone."" Other Oldman tidbits: . On reality TV: ""The museum of social decay."" On helicopter parents: ""There's never any unsupervised play to develop skills or learn about hierarchy in a group or how to share. The kids honestly believe they are the center of the f***ing universe. But then they get out into the real world and it's like, 'S**t, maybe it's not all about me,' and that leads to narcissism, depression and anxiety."" On political correctness at the Oscars: ""At the Oscars, if you didn't vote for '12 Years a Slave' you were a racist. "" On the Golden Globes: ""A meaningless event. ... It's 90 nobodies having a wank."" If Oldman is hard on Hollywood and its people, he's equally critical of himself. Asked about ""Sid & Nancy,"" his breakthrough film, he said, ""I don't like myself in the movie."" Ditto with ""The Fifth Element"" and ""The Dark Knight."" ""It was work,"" he said. (He did have kind things to say about the film ""Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,"" Francis Ford Coppola and ""Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban"" director Alfonso Cuaron.) As the interview continued, Oldman -- who described his politics as ""libertarian"" -- recognized that he may have been a little too blunt. ""So this interview has gone very badly. You have to edit and cut half of what I've said, because it's going to make me sound like a bigot,"" he said at one point . ""You're not a bigot?"" replied interviewer David Hochman. ""No, but I'm defending all the wrong people,"" Oldman said. ""I'm saying Mel's all right. Alec's a good guy. So how do I come across? Angry?"" ""Passionate, certainly,"" Hochman said. ""Readers will have to form their own opinions."" ""It's dishonesty that frustrates me most,"" Oldman said. ""I can't bear double standards. It gets under my skin more than anything."""
"Washington (CNN) -- Only a third of U.S. voters think that most members of Congress deserve to be re-elected this year, according to a new national poll. That's the lowest number ever recorded for that question in a CNN survey. The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll, released Tuesday, indicates that only 34 percent feel that current federal lawmakers deserve re-election, with 63 percent saying no. According to the survey, 51 percent feel their own member of Congress should be re-elected -- also an all-time low in CNN polling -- while 44 percent say their representative doesn't deserve to be returned to office in November. Full poll results (PDF) The numbers on both questions are even lower than in 1994, when an anti-incumbent fever helped Republicans win back control of both the House and the Senate from Democrats. The trend line on those questions goes back to 1991, when they were first asked. ""This is not a good year to be an incumbent, regardless of which party you belong to,"" said CNN polling director Keating Holland. ""Voters seem equally angry at both Republicans and Democrats this year."" Fifty-six percent of people questioned in the survey say that most Democrats in Congress do not deserve to be re-elected. An equal percentage say that most congressional Republicans don't deserve re-election. The poll suggests Americans are split when it comes to their vote this November, with 47 percent of registered voters saying they will support the Republican candidate in their district for the House of Representatives and 45 percent saying they will back the Democrat. Republicans trailed the Democrats by 6 points in November. The voters' cool view of incumbents of both parties ""may hurt the Democrats more because there are more Democratic incumbents,"" Holland said. ""It's a change from 2006, when voters concentrated their anger at GOP members of Congress."" The generic ballot question asked respondents if they would vote for a Democrat or Republican in their congressional district, without naming any specific candidates. The Democrats currently hold a 255-178 advantage in the House, with two vacant seats that the Democrats once held. Republicans need to win 40 seats to take back control of the chamber. While President Obama is not up for re-election this November, he will be in 2012, if he decides to run for a second term. According to the poll, 44 percent of registered voters say Obama deserves re-election, with 52 percent saying the president does not deserve a second term in office. The survey also indicates that 49 percent of Americans approve of the job Obama's doing as president, with half of the public disapproving of his job in the White House. ""One problem Obama faces may be the perception that Obama is not a middle-class kind of guy,"" Holland said. ""Only 4 percent of Americans describe themselves as upper class. But a 45 percent plurality say that Obama belongs to the upper class, with 42 percent saying he is from the middle class and 12 percent describing him as working class."" The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll was conducted Friday through Monday, with 1,023 adult Americans, including 954 registered voters, questioned by telephone. The survey's sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points both for all Americans and for registered voters. CNN deputy political director Paul Steinhauser contributed to this story ."
"After several months of airstrikes, the international coalition's operation against ISIS in Syria has failed to dismantle the group's structure of command and has pushed its militants further beyond the country's borders. Civilians and opposition rebel forces have been left frustrated by the coalition's narrow focus, lack of a clear agenda and apparent failure to take into consideration the dynamics of the wider Syrian conflict. Late last month, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said that without U.N. Security Council approval, the U.S. strikes lacked legitimacy. But in comments to media he said: ""Anyway, if their aim is to strike against ISIS, it's OK."" Does this statement mean that the Syrian government views the coalition strikes as beneficial to its hold on power? Does the old Arab proverb the ""enemy of my enemy is my friend"" apply to this case and to the reality on the ground? In the short term, the international coalition's counter-terrorism strategy may certainly be in the interests of the Assad regime. Military strikes are to some extent forcing ISIS fighters to retreat from territories under their control in northern and eastern Syria. Other opposition groups -- including the Free Syrian Army -- are unlikely to have the capability to take advantage of these strikes. The Syrian military is still superior when it comes to aerial force and may be best placed to retake ISIS territories. Although the Gulf states would like to see an anti-ISIS offensive that would ultimately lead to the collapse of the Syrian government, the U.S. and Western allies have made it clear that regime change is not an objective of this military campaign. Coalition strikes have not been targeting the Syrian government's military forces or infrastructure. Thus the Syrian government has found the U.S., Western allies, and Arab states on the side of its own allies Russia and the Islamic Republic of Iran -- aiding Assad against one of his most powerful and influential threats. Ironically, the same nations that may have indirectly contributed to the creation of ISIS itself, are now investing their military capital into fighting it. So far, however, the balance of power has not shifted significantly either in favor of the government forces or rebel groups. ISIS has been pushed out of some territories, but is advancing in others. Although government forces have made slight advances in Aleppo, resource constraints have prevented the military from taking full advantage of the coalition strikes. Strategically, Assad needs to focus on holding the large cities already under government control. Civilian suffering . More fundamentally, the coalition's anti-ISIS campaign has deflected attention from the Syrian government and armed rebel group's atrocities against civilians. There are claims the Assad government has in fact ratcheted up its attacks in the shadow of the strikes. The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Thursday reported that regime airstrikes had killed 221 civilians, ""taking advantage of the international media focusing on ISIS and Ein al-Arab 'Kobani'."" Syrian civilians might also question why the international community decided to intervene against ISIS after ignoring -- for several years -- the Syrian government's brutality in a conflict that has led to more than 190,000 deaths and more than 3,200,000 refugees. The offensive has not alleviated the humanitarian crisis facing the Syrian people and the strikes' unintended consequences -- civilian casualties -- are increasingly leading to a domestic outcry against such intervention. Tackling the disease . For some, the question is why the coalition does not address the fundamental roots of the war, tackling the disease itself rather than the symptoms. On a long term basis, the coalition strikes against ISIS in Syria will inevitably keep expanding, working to escalate the conflict. A strategic shift to target the Syrian government's military infrastructure is unlikely as many regional and international state actors have a stake in Syria. Coalition training may gradually improve some of the Syrian rebel groups' military capabilities and strategic planning but the current balance of power between the government forces and various rebel and armed groups will likely continue. Domestic, regional, international and non-state players will continue to pursue their own goals. Amid ongoing instability and competing interests, Syria's social and political environment will be ripe for further radicalization, militarization and ultimately further civilian suffering. In the end, both ISIS and Assad may be the beneficiaries of the foreign airstrikes, using them as a pretext to further advance their political interests. A narrow and short-term counter-terrorism strategy that fails to take into account the many layers of the wider Syrian conflict is unlikely to succeed."
"LOS ANGELES, California (CNN)  -- Actor Tim Roth is in an abandoned building near downtown Los Angeles, and he's about to mix things up. British actor Tim Roth plays a human lie detector on the hit series ""Lie to Me."" ""This is a scene where the FBI is interrogating a suspect,"" Roth said. ""I'm breaking into the interrogation to get information out of him using the sort of techniques that my character espouses as opposed to pressuring him."" Roth, who plays Dr. Cal Lightman on the hit Fox series ""Lie to Me,"" is shooting scenes for the season finale, which will air May 13. His character is an expert on body language and the detection of deception. ""Our series is based on the idea that we can read what's going on across your face and if it's contradicting what you're actually saying,"" Roth said. Lightman and his colleague, Dr. Gillian Foster -- played by Kelli Williams -- run ""The Lightman Group."" They observe body language and interpret what it means in order to help law enforcement agencies see through the bull. His character is based on Dr. Paul Ekman, a specialist who reads clues embedded in the human face, body and voice to expose the truth in criminal investigations. Ekman, who in 2001 was named as one of the most influential psychologists of the 20th century by the American Psychological Association, is a scientific consultant for the show. Roth says Ekman can be intimidating. ""He makes me very, very nervous, Paul, you know,"" he said. ""I mean, he's the sweetest man, as sweet as can be, but when he's around, you feel like your acting is really being judged."" Roth is perhaps best known for his outings with famed director Quentin Tarantino. The British actor pulled off a convincing American accent in the cult classics ""Reservoir Dogs"" and ""Pulp Fiction."" He uses his true-Brit accent in ""Lie to Me,"" which debuted in January and is one of the season's few successful new dramas. In a review for Entertainment Weekly, critic-at-large Ken Tucker wrote that ""Like 'Monk' and 'Psych' and 'The Mentalist,' 'Lie' offers us an eccentric who's brought in by law enforcement to solve crimes."" Though he gave the show a B-minus, Tucker praised Roth for ""resist[ing] the cuddly/cranky."" The show has quickly found its fan base, though ratings have declined slightly since the show was put in its 8 p.m. Wednesday time slot, ahead of ""American Idol."" (The first five episodes aired after ""Idol."") ""I got stopped because one of my lights was out and I was coming back from work and the guy, the cop that stopped me said 'Oh, we watch your show' and they seemed to enjoy it,"" said Roth. ""ER"" alum Mekhi Phifer is set to join the cast as an FBI agent for two episodes this season, starting Thursday. ""I'm here to kick ass and take names, you know. So it's kind of different,"" Phifer said. ""It's fun, you know. Obviously, I carry a gun and I'm in law enforcement rather than being a doctor."" Phifer particularly likes acting in intense scenes with Roth. ""I have my own way of doing it,"" he said. ""It's a little different than the way Tim does it. It's a lot of fun, and we're having a great time."" And will time spent on the show help Phifer better detect when people are lying to him in real life? ""It's going to take a few more episodes, but I'm pretty perceptive,"" he said. Roth, however, makes no claims of special powers -- at least when he's away from the set. ""I try not to know too much, because it actually is quite extraordinary,"" he says. ""When you watch politicians on TV, you can use the stuff that Paul does to see if they're lying or not. I try not to take it home."""
"New York (CNN) -- A New York judge has upheld a nearly 15-year-old murder conviction despite a former judge's claim that his own racial bias caused him to wrongly convict the defendant, according to court documents. New York City Criminal Court Judge ShawnDya L. Simpson ruled Wednesday that there was no evidence that former New York Supreme Court Judge Frank Barbaro acted with bias toward the defendant when the verdict was rendered. The case was revisited after Barbaro, a longtime champion of civil rights, said he believed that he denied a fair trial to a white man who claimed he killed a black man in self-defense. In a bench trial in October 1999, Donald Kagan said he was acting in self-defense when he shot Wavell Wint, 23, during a confrontation at a Brooklyn movie theater 11 months before. ""The evidence demonstrates that Justice Barbaro applied considerable effort in his deliberations and issued a written decision,"" Simpson said in the decision. Simpson ruled that Barbaro's claims of bias and prejudice were ""mere afterthoughts or second guesses."" Simpson wrote that was it troubling that it took Barbaro 13 years to ""express his concern that he may have been biased and prejudice."" The verdict, she ruled, should only be vacated with ""compelling and credible evidence that the fact finder acted improperly as a matter of law."" On the issues of Kagan's proclaimed innocence, Simpson wrote that Kagan failed to meet his ""burden of establishing by clear and convincing evidence that he is actually innocent for the crimes he was convicted."" Barbaro, who is white, found Kagan guilty of second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon. Kagan was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison, where he remains today. Testifying during a December hearing on a motion to set aside the conviction, the former judge said he was convinced at the time that the defendant who stood before him was a racist who wanted to kill a black person. As a result, Barbaro says, he ignored evidence that Kagan had acted out of fear and not hatred. Barbaro, now 86, said in an exclusive interview with CNN this year, ""I couldn't get out of my mind the look on the lawyer's face when I said I found him guilty. And the defendant on the stand, like he was pleading to me, 'It just happened, it just happened,' and that was sort of haunting me."" Barbaro told CNN on Thursday that he is very disappointed with Simpson's decision. ""I believe she made a terrible error,"" he said. ""I think the facts were so clear. Judge Simpson didn't give any credence to the fact that I said I made a mistake, and that's very disappointing. It's sad."" Kagan's lawyer, Richard Mischel, said he plans to appeal Simpson's decision. ""We believe in the merits of the motion, and we're going to proceed with an appeal as far as necessary to vindicate Mr. Kagan's rights,"" he said. Mischel said that Kagan has a parole board hearing October 14 and that they plan to go ahead with the appeal, even if he is released. ""It's not just about getting him out of jail; it's about rectifying a wrong,"" Mischel said. CNN's Jean Casarez contributed to this report."
"Past, present and future came together on a thunderstorm-filled Sunday, as President Barack Obama received an honorary doctorate and gave the commencement speech at historically black, all-male Morehouse College, where the Rev. Martin Luther King and many other prominent African-Americans spent their formative years. After opening with several one-liners, and more smiles than we've seen from him in the damage-control-filled recent weeks, Obama delivered a serious message to the class of 2013. During a speech rife with both personal and historical references, the president invoked a past full of challenges, often resulting from racism, but noted that African-Americans need to break free from that past to succeed in a globally competitive economy. ""I understand that there's a common fraternity creed here at Morehouse: 'Excuses are tools of the incompetent, used to build bridges to nowhere and monuments of nothingness,'"" Obama said. ""We've got no time for excuses -- not because the bitter legacies of slavery and segregation have vanished entirely; they have not. Not because racism and discrimination no longer exist; we know those are still out there. It's just that in today's hyperconnected, hypercompetitive world, with millions of young people from China and India and Brazil -- many of whom started with a whole lot less than all of you did -- all of them entering the global workforce alongside you, nobody is going to give you anything that you have not earned,"" he said. Opinion: What Obama must say to African-American grads . ""Nobody cares how tough your upbringing was. Nobody cares if you suffered some discrimination. And moreover, you have to remember that whatever you've gone through, it pales in comparison to the hardships previous generations endured -- and they overcame them. And if they overcame them, you can overcome them, too,"" he said. Morehouse valedictorian Betsegaw Tadele praised Obama for setting a strong example. ""There is no impossible. There is no unbelievable. There is no unachievable, if you have the audacity to hope,"" Tadele said, paraphrasing the name of the president's 2006 book, ""The Audacity of Hope."" Following Tadele -- whom Obama jokingly called ""a skinny guy with a funny name"" -- Obama reflected on how being an African-American has affected his personal journey. ""Whatever success I have achieved, whatever positions of leadership I've held, have depended less on Ivy League degrees or SAT scores or GPAs, and have instead been due to that sense of connection and empathy, the special obligation I felt, as a black man like you, to help those who need it most; people who didn't have the opportunities that I had -- because there, but for the grace of God, go I. I might have been in their shoes.  I might have been in prison. I might have been unemployed. I might not have been able to support a family. And that motivates me,"" the president said. Big-name college commencement speakers of 2013 . The president's repeated mention of connection to the black community comes after blunt criticism from Morehouse alumnus Kevin Johnson, a pastor from Philadelphia, who criticized Obama in an April 14 editorial in the Philadelphia Tribune, calling him ""a president for everyone, except black people."" Johnson gave a baccalaureate sermon on Saturday as part of Morehouse's graduation weekend. The president's speech on Sunday was well-received, though the crowd had to brave some thunder and lightning and endure pouring rain. One awkward silence came when Obama slightly deviated from his prepared remarks. He was expected to say, ""Be the best husband to your wife, or boyfriend to your partner."" However, instead, he said ""Be the best husband to your wife, or your boyfriend, or your partner,"" eliciting some clearly confused responses from the crowd. Later, he noted that Morehouse men can set examples for other groups that have been subjected to discrimination: Hispanics, gays and lesbians, Muslims, and women. ""It is not just the African-American community that needs you. The country needs you. The world needs you.  As Morehouse men, many of you know what it's like to be an outsider; know what it's like to be marginalized; know what it's like to feel the sting of discrimination.  And that's an experience that a lot of Americans share,"" he said. Obama said his job, as president, is to advocate for policies that generate more opportunity for everyone, and he implored the Morehouse grads -- and all Americans -- to ""advocate for an America where everyone has a fair shot in life."" ""There are some things, as black men, we can only do for ourselves.  There are some things, as Morehouse men, that you are obliged to do for those still left behind.  As graduates -- as Morehouse men -- you now wield something even more powerful than the diploma you are about to collect.  And that's the power of your example,"" he said. Students scarred by war earn college degrees . Obama finished his speech with another message not just to the newly minted Morehouse grads, but to all Americans -- a message based on Martin Luther King's refusal to be afraid. ""That's what being an American is all about. Success may not come quickly or easily. But if you strive to do what's right; if you work harder and dream bigger; if you set an example in your own lives and do your part to help meet the challenges of our times, then I am confident that, together, we will continue the never-ending task of perfecting our union,"" he said. And despite lots of big-picture talk about success and giving back, Obama made it clear that without appropriate focus on those closest to you, big-picture accomplishments mean little. ""Everything else is unfulfilled if we fail at family -- if we fail at that responsibility. I know that when I am on my deathbed someday, I will not be thinking about any particular legislation I passed. I will not be thinking about a policy I promoted. I will not be thinking about the speech I gave. I will not be speaking about the Nobel Prize I received.  I will be thinking about that walk I took with my daughters. I'll be thinking about a lazy afternoon with my wife.  I'll be thinking about sitting around the dinner table, and seeing them happy and healthy and knowing they were loved. And I'll be thinking about whether I did right by all of them."""
"(CNN) -- A British report issued Thursday called for ""decisive action"" to contain the growing problem of piracy off the coast of Somalia. ""We conclude that for too long there has been a noticeable gap between the government's rhetoric and its action,"" said the 210-page report, issued by the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee. ""Despite nine U.N. Security Council resolutions and three multinational naval operations, the counter-piracy policy has had limited impact. The number of attacks, the costs to the industry and the price of the ransoms have all increased significantly since 2007."" Over the past four years, the average ransom has risen from $600,000 to $4.7 million per vessel, with 2011's total outlay reaching $135 million, the report said. Those payments ""should be a matter of deep concern to the British government and to the entire international maritime community,"" said the report, which described the government as ""disappointingly slow to track financial flows from piracy."" Though some ships have begun taking ""more robust"" measures to defend themselves, pirates still face few repercussions for their actions, it said. In those cases where pirates are detained, some 90% are released without charge, it said, noting that there is no reason why Britain could not assert jurisdiction over suspected pirates. Simply returning suspected pirates to their boats or to land ""provides little long-term deterrence and has demonstrably failed to prevent annual increases in both the number of pirates going to sea and in the number of attacks."" The report cited Saferworld, a nongovernmental organization that works with grass-roots organizations in Somalia, in estimating that 1,500 to 3,000 pirates operate off Somalia's coast. They typically range in age from 15 to 30 and are almost all male, uneducated and unskilled -- many of them from rural areas, it said. They often carry small arms and travel in one or two skiffs, the report said, citing Capt. David Reindorp, head of the Defense Crisis Management Center at the Ministry of Defense, as its source. ""They will maneuver one of the skiffs to come alongside the vessel and they will throw up a line on a hook, a grappling rope or some form of apparatus by which they can climb up on to the freeboard of the ship. If they are detected during that, they will usually fire at the ship, generally in and around the bridge, aiming either to get the master to slow down or to clear their way on to the freeboard. Once they have got on to the ship, they will proceed to the bridge and take it over."" Negotiations are typically carried out by satellite phone and usually take three months to a year, it said. Pirates have begun working from larger vessels, mother ships, which are stocked with food and fuel and have extended the areas vulnerable to attack, it said. Though most hostages are released unharmed, 15 died last year, it said. Over the past four years, 3,500 seafarers have been taken hostage and 62 have been killed, it said. The report applauded the government's practice of using a number of different departments to tackle the problem, but said it ""lacks clear leadership"" and urged the government to ""provide a statement clarifying which department has the overall lead on countering piracy."" There is no lack of targets. Some 90% of the world's traded materials are shipped by sea, and 40% of that -- 28,000 ships per year -- goes through the Indian Ocean, Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea, the report said. The report put the annual cost of piracy -- including insurance, prosecutions, security and ransoms -- at $7 billion to $12 billion. In a statement, Foreign Secretary William Hague said the report will be discussed next month at a meeting in London. ""We will use the London Conference on Somalia to chart a way forward on the future political direction of Somalia, the vital humanitarian effort and the international community's approach to tackling piracy."""
"NEW YORK (CNN)  -- A new lawsuit alleges that convicted swindler Bernie Madoff financed a cocaine-fueled work environment and a ""culture of sexual deviance,"" and he diverted money to his London, England, office when he believed federal authorities were closing in at home. A new lawsuit alleges Bernie Madoff financed a sex-and-drugs workplace with investors' money. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in New York's State Supreme Court, was brought on behalf of former investors and seeks unspecified punitive damages and compensation. Beyond that, it offers a look at what the plaintiffs' attorneys say was once Madoff's multimillion-dollar empire and what is now his world in a federal prison in North Carolina. Among the allegations in the 264-page lawsuit are that during the mid-1970s, Madoff began sending employees to buy drugs for company use. The complaint alleges that some employees and investors were aware of the drug purchases, and that BMIS [Bernard Madoff Investment Services] was known by insiders as the ""North Pole"" in reference to the excessive amount of cocaine use in the work place. Attorneys Joseph Cochett and Nancy Fineman filed the complaint based on an investigation, including a four-hour interview with Madoff in prison in July, that they conducted for former investors. They also allege that major financial institutions, including KPMG, the Bank of New York and JP Morgan Chase, were aware that Madoff was transferring stolen funds to his London office for personal purchases. According to the complaint, Madoff transferred funds to London to buy extravagant personal items. ""In 2006 Madoff thought the end was near because the [U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission] investigated. He realized he had to change things up so his focus shifted to London,"" Fineman said. ""We know that KPMG were the auditors for the London branch and that money was used to buy yachts and Bentleys, they are supposed to look at related-party transactions. KPMG should have noticed these as a red flag."" Officials of KPMG and the Bank of New York did not immediately respond to calls from CNN Wednesday evening for comment on the lawsuit. JP Morgan Chase spokesman Tom Kelly said, ""We do not comment on pending litigation."" The alleged illicit behavior outlined in the complaint did not stop at drug use and extravagant spending. Company parties consisted of topless entertainers, and some employees had affairs in places such as Madoff's own office, the lawsuit says. Madoff was fond of escorts and masseuses, and used money stolen from investors to pay them, according to the complaint. Madoff was convicted of operating a Ponzi scheme and defrauding thousands of investors. He pleaded guilty in March to 11 counts, including fraud, money laundering and perjury, and was sentenced to 150 years in prison. Prosecutors have said it was the largest investor fraud ever committed by a single person, totaling billions in losses to investors. Before Madoff, 71, was transferred to Federal Butner Correctional Complex outside of Raleigh, North Carolina, he lived a life of luxury. The lawsuit states that he had multimillion dollar residences in Manhattan, Montauk on New York's Long Island; Palm Beach, Florida; and Cap d'Antibe, France. The complaint includes details of Madoff's drastically different life now in prison. He lives in a cell where he sleeps on the bottom bunk while up top sleeps his 21-year-old cellmate, who is serving time for drug crimes, according to the lawsuit. Madoff's recreational activities consist of walking around the prison track at night, and eating pizza cooked by a convicted child molester, the lawsuit says. Madoff now spends his time with infamous inmates, the lawsuit says, including Carmine Persico, a former organized-crime former boss, and Jonathan Pollard, a convicted spy for Israel. Many of his fellow inmates are in prison for drug and sex crimes, according to the lawsuit. Going after large financial institutions that allegedly allowed Madoff's scheme to flourish is the goal of Fineman and her associates. ""Our goal of meeting with Madoff during the investigation is to get as much money back from responsible parties and that's why lawsuits are filed and why lawyers do what they do,"" Fineman said. ""Even now, 10 months later, the pain in the victims' voices is still evident. I still hear it when I talk to people who were being defrauded for so long."" According to the complaint, Fineman and Cochett are seeking punitive and compensatory damages for their clients with ""an amount to be determined at trial, including interest thereon."" Fineman said that during the prison interview with Madoff, ""He said he was apologetic, but he didn't seem apologetic."" ""I forgot I was in prison, he was talking to us as if we were in a restaurant -- he has quite an ego, you could see why people would be drawn to him,"" Fineman said. ""He told us things that were self-serving to him,"" she said. ""But he told me he knew he would die in prison."""
"(CNN) -- Elvis was singing in the men's room. But I'd gotten used to that. This time, though, there was something new. And it led me, after all these years, to the legendary Barbara Hearn. A little explanation -- all right, a lot of explanation -- is in order: . There's a restaurant in Naples, Florida, called BrickTop's. I stop in there occasionally when I'm in town. In the men's restroom, every time I've gone in, Elvis Presley's voice is singing. Oddly, his voice is not heard out in the restaurant itself. But in the restroom, the voice is there nonstop. ""Are You Lonesome Tonight?"", ""(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame"". . .the Elvis-in-the-men's-room playlist is rather eclectic. The other night I was eating at the restaurant and, of course, Elvis was singing in the men's room. But there had been an addition to the restroom dÃ©cor since my last visit six months or so ago. There was a framed, autographed photo on the wall, of a young Elvis smiling next to a dark-haired woman. The autograph was hers. The signature: Barbara Hearn Smith. For Presley aficionados, the name Barbara Hearn is as historic as that of Martha Washington or Betsy Ross or Mary Todd Lincoln. She was Elvis's hometown girlfriend in Memphis at the beginning of 1956, just before his career hit the stratosphere. That was the year everything changed; by the time it was over, Presley's old life was in the rear-view mirror. And part of that old life, presumably, was Barbara Hearn. But now, in the dwindling weeks of 2011, in the BrickTop's men's room, here was Elvis singing, and here was Barbara Hearn's autograph. A closer inspection of the handwriting revealed that she was saying she had dined at another BrickTop's, in Nashville, Tennessee. So she still strides the American continent? I had to find her. I did -- at the Holly Tree Manor Bed and Breakfast in Trenton, Tennessee, which she and her husband of 50 years, Jim Smith, own and run. She's 74, and she laughed out loud when I told her where I had found her photo. ""Well, I suppose it's all right if my name is on a restroom wall,"" she said. ""It's better than if my phone number was up there."" She said that she and her husband had been having lunch at the BrickTop's in Nashville when a waiter had overheard them talking about Elvis. When he realized that she had actually known Elvis, he said that the boss of the place -- Joe Ledbetter -- was a huge Presley fan. Jim Smith went out to their car, where he knew there was a photo of Elvis and Barbara; he brought it into the restaurant, and she signed it so the waiter could give it to the boss when he came in. (I got in touch with Ledbetter, who runs all six BrickTop's locations, most of which are in the South. He told me he'd had copies made of the photo, and ordered that they be put in nice frames and hung in the men's and women's restrooms of all his restaurants. He said that the nonstop Elvis songs do not discriminate by gender: They are in the women's rooms as well as in the men's rooms. Why? He loves Elvis. Why not play Elvis's music in the restaurants themselves -- why just in the bathrooms? ""It would drive some customers nuts to hear it for so long. In the restrooms, you're just there for a few minutes."") But back to Barbara Hearn: She said she first met Elvis when she was working at Goldsmith's Department Store in Memphis with a friend named Dixie Locke, who was dating Presley. When Dixie and Elvis went their separate ways, he asked Barbara if he could take her out. ""People sometimes say that Elvis and I went steady for a year,"" she told me. ""I always correct them. I went steady with Elvis for a year. Elvis? Well, he didn't go steady with anyone."" But she was his girlfriend during his remarkable ascent in 1956. There is a famous photograph, taken by Alfred Wertheimer inside the home on Audubon Drive in Memphis that Presley shared with his parents (this was pre-Graceland). In the photo, Barbara is prim in a white dress with dark polka-dots; Elvis is slouched and shirtless. ""People don't understand what's in that picture,"" she told me. ""He had just been outside standing in his new swimming pool. It was just being filled up, with a garden hose. I was dressed to go out with him for the evening, all gussied up. And what we're doing is, he had just taken the train back from New York, where he had recorded some new songs for RCA Victor. He had brought back the recordings -- they had not been released yet. We were listening to one of them. He wanted to know if I thought it was any good. I said yes, I thought it was. It was 'Don't Be Cruel.'"" Soon enough he went to Hollywood; by the end of that year, he would be bringing Natalie Wood to Memphis to meet his parents. (""I didn't hold it against him at all,"" Barbara told me. ""If the roles had been reversed, and I had been the one to go to Hollywood and I'd met Gregory Peck, I would have brought Gregory Peck back to Memphis with me."") She eventually went to work in Washington for one of Tennessee's U.S. senators, Estes Kefauver. It was there that she met her future husband. She saw Elvis only infrequently over the years, and never lost her affection toward him. ""That year of 1956, I saw him go from being barely famous to a super-duper star,"" she said. ""From a boy to a man."" And now, more than half a century later, there they are, in the restaurant restrooms, accompanied by the sound of his voice. She said she'd had no idea, until I told her. ""What a hoot,"" she said, and laughed again. ""He's a friend who never stops giving."" The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Bob Greene."
"(CNN) -- Seriously, don't believe everything you read on the Internet. Intentionally or not, the latest round of misleading stories making viral waves has made it harder to tell truth from fiction. Here's a quick guide to some of the most viral fake stories this week: . Facebook fees . No, Facebook is not going to start charging you. Facebook even created a help page just to say this: ""Facebook is a free site and will never require that you pay to continue using the site."" The page then goes on to explain that, yes, you may pay money for some games and other apps you play on the site. And if you go over your mobile phone's data limit while using Facebook, you'll have to pay for that, too. That still too vague for you? Maybe leaves a little too much wiggle room? Well, then, let's try this entry under Common Myths About Facebook. Question: Will Facebook ever charge for service? Answers: No. We will always keep Facebook a free service for everyone. When contacted, a Facebook spokeswoman simply pointed to those two entries instead of providing a response. We're guessing if someone had to answer this question for Facebook every time it came up, it would be a full-time job. Obamacare and Ebola coverage . There's no reason to think your health insurance would treat a case of Ebola any differently than it would any other illness because of Obamacare. But a false viral story making the rounds may have some people convinced otherwise. And, for that, we can thank National Report. That was where the most recent ""pay for Facebook"" story originated, and it's where this doozy comes from, too. National Report is a satire site, though it's sometimes hard to tell if you just breeze through the headline and first few sentences of a story. We all know The Onion is fake news. (Well, almost all of us, anyway). But sites such as National Report and The Daily Currant aren't so well-known or, for that matter, nearly as funny. In fact, the more cynical among us may think these sites are intentionally trying to drive traffic by pushing out seemingly real stories about hot topics. You know ... like how a controversial government policy addresses an unprecedented and frightening, if isolated, disease outbreak. NBA, NFL, Congress ... or none of the above? If you like football and you hate Congress, well, welcome to 97% of the population of the United States. (Full disclosure: We made up that statistic.) But if you responded to the NFL's recent off-the-field troubles by sharing a post that shows that our lawmakers are bigger lawbreakers than our football stars, you fell for a fake. The good people at Snopes, the Web's BS meter since 1995, are all over this one, as is PolitiFact. The so-called statistics -- 36 members of Congress have been accused of spousal abuse, three have been in jail for assault, 84 were arrested for drunk driving in a single year -- change from version to version. But these figures all go back to a 1999 online article that provided no source for its statistics and named none of the supposedly corrupt members of Congress. Under scrutiny, it was later retracted. Sorry, Pluto's still not a planet . But some smart people say it should be. So there's that. Space geeks everywhere were saddened in 2006 when Pluto lost its status as our solar system's ninth planet. So you can forgive them, perhaps for jumping the gun on social media when news appeared to hit recently that the tiny, chilly chunk of rock has been restored to its rightful place. Call this one a combination of enthusiasm, confusion and exaggeration. What actually happened was that the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics held a September 18 debate on whether Pluto should be restored to its full glory and four days later released the results of a vote by the audience. Pluto won. But in reporting that event, which has no official influence, many blogs and news sites appeared to go a bit too far, at least with their headlines. ""The People Have Voted: Pluto is a Planet!"" Time blared. ""Pluto Is a Planet Again, According to Harvard Astronomers,"" another blog announced. So you can see how some of us who grew up with ""Interplanet Janet"" rushed to the incorrect conclusion that we have ""nine planets large and small"" again. Don't microwave your iPhone . Thanks, 4chan! When Apple's iOS 8, the new operating system for mobile devices such as its new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, rolled out this month, some of the online message board's notorious pranksters greeted it by crafting a fake ad for a new service. Wave, according to what we have to admit was a pretty authentic looking ad done in Apple's trademark style, is a feature that ""allows your device to be charged wirelessly through microwave frequencies."" Just pop your phone in the microwave, and the battery will be all charged up. We'd like to believe no one actually fell for this one. So, if you know otherwise, just don't tell us."
"(CNN) -- After an extensive, month-long buildup, Yahoo has finally unveiled its new logo. Overall the look is cleaner and thinner, and it is a new sans-serif typeface created by Yahoo. The logo is still purple, though a shade darker, and features all the usual uppercase letters in the same order finished off by the signature exclamation point, which dances around in some versions. Yahoo posted two flavors of the new look to its Tumblr at midnight on Thursday. One is white text on a purple background, the other purple text on white background. Both have a slight beveled effect, though it's more noticeable on the purple text. It has already replaced the logo that appears on the top left corner of Yahoo.com. ""We knew we wanted a logo that reflected Yahoo - whimsical, yet sophisticated. Modern and fresh, with a nod to our history. Having a human touch, personal. Proud.,"" wrote CEO Marissa Mayer in a blog post on Tumblr, which Yahoo bought earlier this year. ""We didn't want to have any straight lines in the logo. Straight lines don't exist in the human form and are extremely rare in nature, so the human touch in the logo is that all the lines and forms all have at least a slight curve,"" Mayer added in her post, which goes into exhaustive detail about the thinking behind the logo. In a recent internal poll of Yahoo employees, 87% wanted the logo changed, Mayer said. Yahoo managed to turn a simple rebranding into an impressive marketing push by dragging it out for 30 days. For the past month, the company has rotated out the logo on its homepage daily with one of the runnersup. Some of the 29 logos were a lot more unusual than the final choice, perhaps to make fans appreciate the reserved simplicity of the final look. ""Sharing these logo variations prepares people for change, so there's less risk of what happened to Gap,"" said David Airey, a graphic designer specializing in brand identity. When Gap tried changing its logo in 2010, there was an outcry among Gap loyalists and logo enthusiasts. The clothing company eventually caved and switched back to its old logo. Yahoo's logo redesign was headed up by an in-house branding group and product designers, according to AdAge. It is likely just one of the more noticeable elements of a larger rebranding effort for the struggling company, which Mayer has re-energized since becoming CEO last year. ""The logo is only part of a brand new branding and image campaign. It signals to consumers, investors and employees that change is coming,"" said Columbia business school professor Bernd Schmitt. The new logo is probably not different enough to raise much ire (or eyebrows) among Yahoo users, although some Internet critics were unimpressed. On Twitter, the reaction to the logo was less than enthusiastic. ""The new Yahoo logo looks like it got run through Alien Skin Eye Candy on Photoshop 4.0.,"" said Justin Williams. ""A bad logo is all it took for Yahoo! to make everyone talk about it,"" tweeted Preshit Deorukhkar, editor of design publication Beautiful Pixels. Yahoo hasn't updated its logo since 2009, and it has been mostly the same since 1995. The move to change it now is logical given its Mayer's recent attempts to breathe new life into the brand. ""More often than not, when a company's identity looks a little tired (or more likely when new leadership wants to put their own stamp on things), what's already in place won't need to be thrown out. It'll just need to be freshened up,"" said Airey."
"(CNN) -- A conference of Islamic prosecutors in Iran worked Wednesday to draft an indictment against Israeli leaders, accusing them of crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza. Palestinian women walk past a building destroyed during Israel's campaign in Gaza. The charges stem from Israel's late-December offensive into Gaza against Hamas militants. The Israeli military has been accused of using excessive and indiscriminate force in civilian areas. Israel is ""a regime that only understands the language of violence and force,"" Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said at the gathering, in calling for the prosecution of Israeli ""criminals."" ""I am confident that there will come a day when all Zionist criminals will be brought to justice,"" he said on the second day of the conference in Tehran, the capital of Iran. The Iranian president regularly rails against Israel and has called for the Jewish state's elimination. Yigal Palmor, a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, said: ""The day when this conference will start dealing with human rights in the countries that are members of this organization will be the day that their claims concerning Israel will be deserved to be heard, not before. People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, let alone commit suicide bombings."" ""The accusations themselves are nothing more than the hysterical, hostile coverage of the media in these countries and not based on solid facts,"" he continued. Human Rights Watch, in a report released last month, said there was evidence that Israel committed war crimes in Gaza by firing white phosphorus shells over densely populated areas. Israel has rejected that claim. Israel also has said that the offensive was to defend against repeated rocket attacks by Palestinians. The Israel Defense Forces said on Wednesday its forces ""operated in accordance with international law"" during recent fighting in Gaza, but said there were a few incidents in which ""intelligence or operational errors"" occurred. This is the conclusion of probes that emerged from Operation Cast Lead, in which Israel was broadly criticized for its actions in Gaza. Phosphorus shells can be used to create a smokescreen for troops. In creating the diversion, the element ignites when exposed to oxygen and can cause severe burns. The Israeli offensive was launched December 27 and ended January 17 with a cease-fire. Of the 1,453 people estimated killed in the conflict, 1,440 were Palestinian, including 431 children, a U.N. report recently said. Thirteen Israelis died -- three civilians and six soldiers were killed by Hamas, and four soldiers were killed by friendly fire -- the report said. A spokesman for the Israeli prime minister called the U.N. report an example of the ""one-sided and unfair"" attitude of the U.N. Human Rights Council, which had requested it. The two days of meetings in the Iranian capital have included more than 200 senior judicial officials from the Organization of the Islamic Conference -- an association of 56 states. The organization might ask the U.N. International Court of Justice to charge Israeli leaders with crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza. The court would not be obligated to act."
"(CNN) -- Pemba Sherpa had already reached Camp 1 on Mount Everest when he heard the loud and chilling bang of the avalanche. He knew his father was behind him on the Khumbu Icefall and ran down the mountain, only to find the devastation of ice, snow and baggage scattered everywhere. ""I thought he abandoned his load and ran to safety,"" he tells me, almost whispering. ""But I could not find him amid the commotion at base camp. Then I saw the helicopters, with the bodies on the suspended ropes, and I knew I lost my dad."" Ang Tshiring's body was taken to Lukla, a tourist town where most who embark on a trip to Everest Base Camp start out. From there, Pemba and his brother carried him home themselves on foot, a trek that took seven hours along the mountain trail. Unforgiving land of few opportunities . Ang Tshiring, 57, was a high altitude cook. For the past 15 years, during the climbing season, he spent one month at Everest Base Camp and one month at Camp 2, at 6,100 meters. Two months to earn $1,500, meant to last the year. Ang Tshiring was famous for always showing happiness. Climbers who knew him remember him as a funny man, laughing and joking all the time, never angry, always kind. His son Pemba, 37, lives with the family in Thamo, a small village of 50 souls located in the Thame Valley in the Khumbu, where the country's greatest ethnic Sherpa climbers live, well off the beaten track of Nepal's Everest Base Camp trail. The Thame Valley suffered the biggest loss of life from April's Everest tragedy that killed 13 guides (another three are still missing and presumed dead), the deadliest accident in the history of the world's highest peak. Here, every man, if not in school or too old, is involved in climbing expeditions. They have few other choices. Little grows but the odd patch of potatoes. Few tourists pass by and yak herding is an insufficient way to make a living. Cut off from the economic tourism opportunities that the rest of Nepal's Kumbhu region enjoys, uncontaminated by progress, the Thame Valley retains the atmosphere of ancient Himalaya -- which for centuries nurtured the Western utopian dream that a secret land of happiness may exist somewhere among the impenetrable snow-capped mountains. The villages are marked by the vernacular architecture of slate-roofed houses. Traders still cross the perilous high passes into Tibet with their cargo of salt and wool as they've done since ancient times. There's an abundance of pagodas, monasteries, stone walls carved with mantras, wheels containing prayer scrolls and sacred shrines. Thousands of colorful flags flutter in clusters, offering prayers to be carried along by the wind. Everest avalanche: American climber recounts how Sherpa saved his life . A time to earn merit, not mourn . In Ang Tshiring's home, feelings of sadness are eclipsed by spiritual duty. ""All that matters now are the puja,"" says Ang Riku, his widow, referring to a series of prayers and rituals. Her focus is on directing special prayers aimed at purifying and earning merit for Ang Tshiring's spirit. Nothing else holds relevance for her -- not the political demands of the Sherpas, nor the discussions raging on social media worldwide, nor whether someone will climb Everest from the Nepal side of the mountain this year. She's silencing her mourning and sorrow to give all of herself for the benefit of Ang Tshiring. The Sherpa follow one of the Tibetan sects of Buddhism, Nyingmapa, and believe that 49 days after Ang Tshiring's death, his next life is determined and he may reborn. Ang Riku is concerned. She says accidental deaths are a bad way to go. It means Ang Tshiring's consciousness was in confusion when he died, and that affects his afterlife and rebirth. The more people involved in the prayers, the better the chances of a superior reincarnation. Ang Riku and Ang Tshiring's private quarters have been transformed into a prayer room, and we all sleep together on the floor of the main hall. Early in the morning, Ang Riku and I plan to go to the three isolated monasteries of Ginupa, Charok and Laudo, located high on the steep hills above Thamo. Immersed in nature, they're a retreat for ascetics and much revered by local communities. On the kitchen table are several kilograms of rice, three bottles of Coke, a few pats of butter and sugar. Her son, Pemba, has already left for Namche Bazar to meet the management of the company his father worked for to discuss what support they can offer. ""You are my porter,"" Ang Riku says, bursting into a laugh, and I'm glad that she finds my presence amusing. High cost of devotion . Ang Riku climbs the yak trails with determination, stopping every few minutes to catch her breath. We pass through forests of juniper, continuously climbing until we reach the clouds and the monasteries hidden in them. At each gompa (monastery), the same ritual takes place. The lama (priest) offers us butter or milk tea and food. We politely decline, but the lama insists and we accept. We barely empty half of our bowls when the lama comes to fill them again. We decline, he insists, we accept again. Then Ang Riku offers money for the lama to perform the puja. The lama declines, she insists, he accepts. This display of generosity is a fundamental aspect that governs the relationship of the Sherpas. Next, Ang Riku prepares a copper plate full of rice, the equivalent of $30, and a ceremonial white scarf that the lama will use for the prayers. We pay our respects in the monastery's prayer room. Before leaving, the lama puts the ceremonial scarf around Ang Riku's neck. It's an emotional moment, the only time Ang Riku lets her emotions overtake her. She cries, holding the hands of the lama, abandoning herself in his support. After six or seven bowls of noodles and a dozen teas, we head back home. Ang Riku's face is relaxed. She's carried out important deeds for her husband. But today was just a small part of the funeral rites. Ang Riku also sends bags with salt, butter, rice and money to 500 families in the valley, so they'll recite prayers for Ang Tshiring. She says she sent similar bags to many monasteries in the Kumbhu and in special holy places as far as India. The cost of such devotion is high. To confirm a day of puja in a large monastery costs $1,300. The total expenditure will be upward of $10,000, significantly more than the life insurance that the government pledged after many protests by the Sherpas. Ang Riku says she had to ask for a loan at the market at an interest rate of 25% per year -- she doesn't have the collateral to borrow from banks. Climbers head home as Everest Sherpas refuse to work . ""I wonder if I will come back alive?"" Although the world regards them as high altitude guides and porters, most Sherpas don't want to be mountain climbers on Everest. Better jobs are available for many in the other valleys of the Khumbu that cater to trekking tourists. But here in the Thame Valley, there aren't many options. ""Every time I go on a climbing expedition, I wonder if I will come back alive,"" says Pemba. ""I feel sad, but I have to do this job for my family. I've summited Everest 14 times and I've always brought a photograph of my family with me."" Though more catastrophic than usual, this year's tragedy was no great surprise for those in the Thame Valley, who have become familiar the loss of life that almost always occurs in April and May. The only difference, Pemba tells me, is that ""this year was particularly unlucky."" The Sherpas' approach to religion includes an animist tradition that holds that mountains and other natural features are the abodes of deities that can make men suffer if they fail to respect them. I offer a puja in the monastery for Ang Tshiring in the afternoon and ask Lopsang, a young monk who says he escaped from Tibet, the reason behind the bad luck. ""I don't know if the god of the moun ."
"(CNN) -- The sudden momentum toward a bipartisan plan to reform the U.S. immigration system has sparked a torrent of discussion about this politically charged and emotional issue. Here's a sampling of voices from across the spectrum of viewpoints: . ""Anything other than having these people going home and apply through our regular immigration system that successfully admits over 1 million people every year is amnesty,"" said a CNN commenter using the screen name ninesixteen. ""Allowing them to wait in the U.S. is a reward. Our immigration is deliberately constructed to not let in unlimited numbers. These people violate our laws yet expect to be allowed to stay and work when others wait patiently in their countries. Legalization is wrong."" Immigration Q&A: Amnesty or path to citizenship? ""Illegal immigration has already put massive and unaffordable burdens on the welfare state and with 20 million or more applying for Amnesty, this will simply accelerate this process,"" said Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips, who argues that the real number of undocumented immigrants in the United States is higher than the frequently cited 11 million figure. Mexico 'welcomes' new U.S. immigration reform push . ""I'm a liberal democrat but here's the problem with this law,"" said a CNN commenter going by the screen name Riprod. ""Legalize them and now they have to pay taxes, SS (Social Security), get minimum wages, union participation etc. Now they are no longer economically employable by farmers, construction, landscapers and hotels, hotel workers, etc. So we are left with 11 million more on welfare while these companies search outside our border for more workers. No, I'm totally against this, they're illegal, arrest them and kick them out. Secondly, it took me 20 years and about $40,000 to get my citizenship legally and I feel cheated when I see this."" By the numbers: Immigration and naturalization . ""They need to make them do things the right way. Spend the thousands of dollars to file that paperwork properly. Make sure all the criteria is met. Put them through the ringer like they do anyone else who applies for Residence in the United States,"" CNN comenter Melissa Bickers said. ""First fix the border. Then make e-verify federal law, and enforced. After that is done, I will welcome the 11 million illegal immigrants,"" CNN commenter ""David"" said. What's in Senate immigration plan? ""What I am asking for is that President Obama consider every category of immigrant as he moves forward with immigration reform. I have to say, it irks me a bit when I hear that illegal immigrants will not be deported when I have waited for months and spent thousands of dollars to do it 'the right way,' "" said CNN iReporter Julie Richard, a Canadian who married an American but said she wasn't allowed back in the country after a visit home with the couple's infant daughter. The couple has had to spend seven months apart, she said, while sorting through immigration issues. Immigration plan: A new era of bipartisanship or a political necessity? ""It is vital that the framework includes a path to citizenship, so that undocumented immigrants can come out of the shadows and into the light and have a chance to become Americans. It gives hope to millions of our fellow human beings,"" Archbishop JosÃ© H. Gomez of Los Angeles, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Migration. iReport: Under deportation, above fear ."
"(EW) -- With summer coming to a close, Oscar season is officially in full swing. James Franco, fresh from his Comedy Central Roast, kicks off the first of the ""For Your Consideration"" ads that appeal to awards-show voters. In a bid to secure a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his role as Alien in ""Spring Breakers,"" the film's distributor, A24, launched a campaign called ""Consider This S***,"" The Hollywood Reporter first reported. James Franco's Comedy Central roast: The 26 best lines . In ""Spring Breakers,"" directed by Harmony Korine, Franco plays a kind of Spring Break Jesus, in the form of a rapper/hustler/predator of college girls â€” replete with chest-length cornrows, a grill and a psycho-Southern accent. Though not considered a leading contender for the category, a spokesperson for A24 films told The Hollywood Reporter, ""James Franco has created a character so indelible it deserves recognition. We are excited to be able to support it with a campaign and know the impact of Alien will last far past this awards season."" In the ad, Franco, dressed to the Florida-swag hilt as Alien, is book-ended by two out of four of his college-age, perma-bikini-clad protÃ©gÃ©s: Brit (Ashley Benson) and Candy (Vanessa Hudgens). Franco is leaning against a white car and proudly double-fisting Oscar statuettes. Review: 'Spring Breakers' Franco was last nominated for an Oscar at the 2011 show for his performance as mountain climber Aron Ralston in ""127 Hours."" Not a member of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences? Not to worry. You can lend your support by memorizing his ""Look at my s***"" speech, or basking in the pink afterglow of the bizarrely entrancing cast cover of Britney Spears' ""Everytime"" in this fan video. CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly . © 2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved."
"(CNN) -- With one child dead and the second arrested in her death, a California woman pleaded for a bit of privacy on Mother's Day. Crystal Walters posted a brief message on Facebook on Sunday, the day after sheriff's investigators in Calaveras County announced the arrest of her 12-year-old stepson on a homicide charge in the death of her 8-year-old stepdaughter, Leila Fowler. ""I don't have much to say but thank you to those who are standing by us in this devastating time for our family,"" Walters said in a brief post on Facebook. ""And thank you for respecting our privacy during this time. We need a little space. Happy mothers day to all."" Leila Fowler was stabbed April 27 in the family's northern California home. The 12-year-old boy told police he'd seen an intruder leaving the home. But Saturday, police announced the boy had been arrested. ""Citizens of Calaveras County can sleep a little better tonight,"" Sheriff Gary Kuntz said. The death of young Leila, known for her bubbly personality, shook the small town of Valley Springs, where purple ribbons, in Leila's favorite color, were tied to stop signs. After the killing, police offered a sketchy description of the suspect as a 6-foot-tall white or Hispanic male with a muscular build. They also interviewed registered sex offenders in the area, ran down leads and searched in attics, storage sheds and more in the rural, mountainous community located about 60 miles southeast of Sacramento. Kuntz said law enforcement officers ""put over 2000 hours into this investigation to provide Leila Fowler's family with answers in her death."" Hundreds flock to vigil for slain girl . He declined to answer questions after Saturday evening's announcement and didn't specify the exact charges against the brother, where he is being held or when he will appear in court."
"Fort Hood, Texas (CNN) -- An Army officer testifying at a military hearing Wednesday that he first thought the rapid rate of gunfire suggested there was more than one shooter in last November's Fort Hood massacre. Maj. Stephen Richter of the Army Medical Corps told in chilling detail that he felt the shooter stalking him and could see the red laser from the gunsight flickering in his eyes. He said the gunman then turned away from him, distracted by gunfire from the civilian police officers who had rushed to the scene. Richter, testifying via video link from South Korea, said all the shooting ceased when Maj. Nidal Hasan was brought down by police fire. Hasan is charged with killing 13 people and wounding dozens of others in the rampage. Richter said he called out when he saw the gunman's uniform and identification badge. ""I remember saying to the police officer, 'He is one of us,'"" Richter said. Still convinced there were other shooters, Richter said that after Hasan was felled by the police fire, he grabbed Hasan's handgun off the ground and prepared to fire it himself at any additional attackers. The gun was jammed, he said, and he burned his fingers on the barrel as he tried to clear it. The barrel was hot from firing what apparently was scores of rounds. In earlier testimony, Army Criminal Investigation Division special agent Kelly Jameson said 146 spent shell casings had been collected. Sources close the prosecution later clarified that he was referring only to those found inside the building where the shooting began. Another 68 were collected outside, for a total of 214, they said. And Army investigators said Wednesday that the gunman still had 177 rounds on him when he was shot by police. The two police officers also testified Wednesday. One of them, Maj. Mark Todd, testified that he found extra magazines and a second handgun, a revolver, after Hasan was shot four times. Todd and his fellow civilian police officer, Sgt. Kim Munley, described the gunfight outside the building where the final stand-off occurred. ""I challenged him, 'Halt, military police, drop your weapon,'"" Todd said. ""He raised his weapon and fired."" Munley, who was widely praised for her role in ending the shooting, admitted that she did not know how many times she had hit the gunman. ""I did not see him fall from my shots. No,"" Munley said. During her testimony, prosecutors showed a video automatically recorded by a camera mounted on the dashboard in her police car as she raced toward the shooting. In addition to the sound of sirens wailing and fast driving on the way to the scene, the video shows Munley dashing out of her vehicle and bystanders pointing to where the shooter was. Munley is then seen racing off camera. Moments later the tape provides clear audio of repeated gunfire. A separate police car ""dash-cam"" was introduced during Todd's testimony, but because of a technical glitch there was no audio. Neither police camera recorded the video of the final confrontation. Munley said she exchanged fire with the gunman and was injured herself. She told of the difficulty of getting off an accurate shot at the start of the confrontation because of people in the background. In the final moments, ""I realized he was closing in,"" Munley said. ""We began to exchange fire again. He was shooting and I was returning fire."" After she was wounded three times, Munley was on the ground and her police weapon ""malfunctioned,"" she testified. The gunman walked up and kicked her weapon away. He did not shoot her again and Munley said he appeared to be having problems with his own weapon. She described the man, whom she identified as Hasan, as solemn, with no expression, a description other witnesses have described in the previous days. Listening to her testimony Wednesday, Hasan gave no reaction, occasionally looking down. He wore his usual fleece watch-cap pulled low on his brow and had a blanket bunched up around his shoulders. Munley said she remains on medical leave but expects to return to work on November 1. The defense spent longer in cross-examining Munley than any of the other more than 50 witnesses heard so far in this Article 32 hearing, pointing up small differences between her testimony and what she told investigators immediately after the shootings. During the period of the final shots, Todd made repeated calls for Hasan to drop his gun. He said the gunshots seemed to echo between the buildings. ""It sounded like thousands of shots being fired,"" he said. Asked whether he knew if he hit Hasan, Todd replied, ""I see [sic] him wince a couple of times."" In the end, Hasan fell to the ground, and Todd ran up, kicked his gun away, turned him over on his stomach and searched him. That's when he found the additional gun, extra ammunition magazines and a cell phone. New testimony shows that the deadly massacre could have been much worse if Munley and Todd had not arrived when they did. Army Criminal Investigation Division officer Duane Mitchell said 177 unexpended rounds were recovered from Hasan in both 30- and 20-round magazines. He also explained that he had two gun sights to help him shoot accurately: a red laser gunsight for low-light conditions and a second green laser, which is most effective in sunlight. Mitchell showed receipts found in Hasan's car for gunsight batteries, providing a glimpse into the planning for the attack. At the end of the morning session, the defense entered objections to the introduction of autopsy reports for the 13 fatalities, saying they had been denied funding for an independent pathologist. The investigating officer, Col. James Pohl, who acts as the presiding judge in the case, said he would receive the autopsy reports only to identify the victims and their cause of death. Nine people died after being shot in the Army medical processing center and four more died after they were rushed to the base hospital. The prosecution said it planned to complete presenting its case on Thursday. The defense has been told it can take up its case November 8. A pause of at least one week in the proceedings had been planned to allow Fort Hood to mark one year since the shooting and to honor the victims and those soldiers and civilians who exhibited special heroism. An Article 32 hearing determines if there is enough evidence to proceed to a court-martial."
"A Pakistani woman whose gang rape made international headlines nine years ago has given birth for the first time. A son was born Sunday to Mukhtaran Bibi, now 40, who became a symbol in the fight against so-called honor crimes. ""I am very happy. I did not think I would live to see this day,"" Bibi, of Multan, in Punjab Province, told CNN. The man she has since married, Nasir Abbas Gabol, said: ""I am a very happy father."" ""Today when we leave the hospital we will take the baby home and there my father will name our son, as per custom in my village,"" he added. In 2002, a tribal council ordered her rape by four male acquaintances as retribution after her brother was accused of having relations with a higher-caste woman, Pakistani authorities said at the time. Later that year, six men were sentenced to death for raping her or abetting in the rape. But five of the men have since been acquitted."
"(CNN) -- Comedian Joan Rivers is ""resting comfortably"" in a New York hospital after apparently suffering cardiac and respiratory arrest during a procedure at a medical clinic Thursday. Her daughter, Melissa Rivers, issued a statement Thursday night after arriving at the hospital following a flight from Los Angeles. ""I want to thank everyone for the overwhelming love and support for my mother. She is resting comfortably and is with our family. We ask that you continue to keep her in your thoughts and prayers,"" she said. A law enforcement official told CNN that Rivers stopped breathing during throat surgery. Rivers, 81, was taken by ambulance in critical condition to Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. The clinic address given by a New York Fire Department spokesman is a building that houses an endoscopy clinic where doctors perform minor procedures on patients. The clinic is a mile away from the hospital. ""This morning, Joan Rivers was taken to the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, where she is being attended to,"" hospital spokesman Sid Dinsay said in a statement. ""Her family wants to thank everybody for their outpouring of love and support. We will provide an update on her condition as it becomes available."" Rivers had been scheduled to perform her comedy act at the Count Basie Theater in Red Bank, New Jersey, Friday night. Michael Lucas, who was in the audience for Rivers' show at New York's Beechman Theater Wednesday night, told CNN that she joked about death. ""She said, 'You know I'm 81 years old, and I could drop dead at any moment and you would be so lucky because you will have a story to tell your friends for the rest of your life,'"" Lucas said. ""Then she mimicked people talking about what it was like to see her drop dead on stage."" Rivers was in fine form, he said. ""There was no sign (Wednesday) night that she was declining. Her show was over an hour long and she never stumbled or even paused to catch her breath."" In 2013, Rivers allowed cameras to record a health scare for her and her daughter's reality show, ""Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best?"" Rivers said on the show that doctors found a spot on an X-ray after she had a persistent cough. ""We're just not going to be sad about this,"" Rivers said during the episode. ""We're gonna do jokes and be up until we know. That's how I deal with things. I'm not just gonna sit around the next couple of days and go crazy."" Rivers has been open about her health issues. She was diagnosed with osteoporosis in 2002 after a fall down some stairs left her with broken bones, and she became an advocate for screenings for women. She also admitted to not being as healthy as she could be. ""I try not to be, but I'm a terrible eater,"" she said. ""I wish I could say I eat super-healthy, but I don't. I love junk food -- it should be its own food group -- so I help my bones with supplements and medicine."" Joan Rivers 'stands behind' Gaza quotes: 'War is hell"" See more comedian content at CNN Comedy. CNN's Tony Marco, Lisa Respers France and Doug Ganley contributed to this report."
"""We were shouting for help, but nobody listened,"" said Muhammad Iqbal about the slaying of his pregnant 25-year-old wife, Farzana Parveen, at the hands of her relatives, who gathered to kill her in front of a courthouse in Lahore, Pakistan. More than 20 members of the woman's family stoned her to death for the ""crime"" of ""dishonoring"" her family by choosing to marry someone she loved rather than a husband her family had chosen.  A police officer said  ""one family member made a noose of rough cloth around her neck while her brothers smashed bricks into her skull."" Social media immediately picked up on the horrific and very public killing. #Farzana became a hashtag that provoked a conversation about the crime of so-called ""honor killings"" and society's tolerance and the police's alleged indifference to it.  Suddenly a crime that not long ago would barely have elicited a headline was now a source of conversation and consternation among those on social media both within and outside Pakistan.  And discussion about the slaying turned up another grim fact: Iqbal told CNN he killed his first wife so he could be free to propose to Farzana. The #Farzana hashtag comes on the public heels of another long-known and rarely noted issue that caught fire in the public's imagination and provoked a storm of well-deserved outrage: the kidnapping of schoolgirls in northern Nigeria by the militant group Boko Haram. A Nigerian lawyer created the #bringbackourgirls hashtag to call attention to the mass abduction of young women who gathered at school to take their exams. Once the word got out, people around the world began talking about the issue over social media.  Reporters and politicians rushed to follow their lead, and discussions about girls' education and the crimes of Boko Haram at last punctured public indifference. In America, another horrific crime unleashed a gush of online discourse.  This time it was a 22-year-old man on a quest for what he called his  ""day of retribution,"" when he would torture and kill ""good-looking people"" before launching a ""war on women"" to punish girls and women who he said had ""starved (him) of sex.""  The misogyny in the killer's more than 100-page diatribe led women to begin using the #Yesallwomen hashtag to push forward a conversation on Twitter and Facebook and Tumbler about the rarely discussed though frequently experienced issues of violence against women, from sexual assault to harassment to domestic brutality. The #Yesallwomen hashtag went global and began trending on Twitter. Once again the mainstream media picked it up from there and followed the lead of women who had had enough of crimes and abuses perpetrated against them to speak publicly on the toll they have taken on their lives. Yet, for all the hashtag consciousness-raising and social media meet-ups of the like-minded the question remains: Will what happens in cyberspace stay there? Or will online outrage lead to real world change? Will crimes committed against women and girls across the globe finally come to be seen as harming and hampering not just women, but the communities in which they live? Much could be done if online activism led to real-life campaigning for concrete progress, such as: . -- Enacting and enforcing laws to protect girls as young as 8 and 9 from being married against their will . -- Providing aid and incentives to keep girls in schools -- built near their homes -- and to combat traditions that keep them out of the classroom . -- Pushing for more stringent laws in the United States and abroad to punish traffickers rather than children . -- Highlighting as role models the many fathers and brothers who value their daughters and allow them to pursue their futures unfettered, sometimes at the risk of their own safety and standing in society . And these are only the start.  The hashtag activism and social media outrage is an important start to addressing issues to which the world for so long had remained indifferent.  But it is just one step. It falls to each of us to see whether all the talk about the power of women and girls and the shame of harming them translates into on-the-ground change.  The stakes are high -- for all of us."
"(CNN) -- Sitting incongruously among the hangars and laboratories of NASA's Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley is the squat facade of an old McDonald's. You won't get a burger there, though -- its cash registers and soft-serve machines have given way to old tape drives and modern computers run by a rogue team of hacker engineers who've rechristened the place McMoon's. These self-described techno-archaeologists have been on a mission to recover and digitize forgotten photos taken in the '60s by a quintet of scuttled lunar satellites. The Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project (LOIRP) has since 2007 brought some 2,000 pictures back from 1,500 analog data tapes. They contain the first high-resolution photographs ever taken from behind the lunar horizon, including the first photo of an earthrise (first slide above). Thanks to the technical savvy and DIY engineering of the team at LOIRP, it's being seen at a higher resolution than was ever previously possible. ""We're reaching back to a capability that existed but couldn't be touched back when it was created,"" says Keith Cowing, co-lead and founding member at LOIRP. ""It's like having a DVD in 1966, you can't play it. We had resolution of the Earth of about a kilometer [per pixel]. This is an image taken a quarter of a f***king million miles away in 1966. The Beatles were warming up to play Shea Stadium at the moment it was being taken."" Between 1966 and '67, five Lunar Orbiters snapped pictures onto 70mm film from about 30 miles above the moon. The satellites were sent mainly to scout potential landing sites for manned moon missions. Each satellite would point its dual lens Kodak camera at a target, snap a picture, then develop the photograph. High- and low-resolution photos were then scanned into strips called framelets using something akin to an old fax machine reader. The images were beamed in modulated signals to one of three receiving stations in Australia, Spain, or California, where the pictures--and collateral chatter from the NASA operators--were recorded straight to tape. After finishing their missions, the satellites were unceremoniously dashed against the moon rocks, clearing the way for Apollo. The brilliant and ballsy engineering was typical of NASA during its golden age, a time when it was also more closely linked to other government agencies with an interest in taking pictures from space. ""These guys were operating right at the edge,"" Cowing says with a reverence for these NASA engineers that's shared by his team. ""There's a certain spy program heritage to all this, but these guys went above that, because those spy satellites would send their images back. These didn't. They couldn't. They were in lunar orbit."" Fascinating Ways People Try to Leave Their Mark on the World . The photos were stored with remarkably high fidelity on the tapes, but at the time had to be copied from projection screens onto paper, sometimes at sizes so large that warehouses and even old churches were rented out to hang them up. The results were pretty grainy, but clear enough to identify landing sites and potential hazards. After the low-fi printing, the tapes were shoved into boxes and forgotten. They changed hands several times over the years, almost getting tossed out before landing in storage in Moorpark, California. Several abortive attempts were made to recover data from the tapes, which were well kept, but it wasn't until 2005 that NASA engineer Keith Cowing and space entrepreneur Dennis Wingo were able to bring the materials and the technical know how together. When they learned through a Usenet group that former NASA employee Nancy Evans might have both the tapes and the super-rare Ampex FR-900 drives needed to read them, they jumped into action. They drove to Los Angeles, where the refrigerator-sized drives were being stored in a backyard shed surrounded by chickens. At the same time, they retrieved the tapes from a storage unit in nearby Moorpark, and things gradually began to take shape. Funding the project out of pocket at first, they were consumed with figuring out how to release the images trapped in the tapes. ""We're both Apollo babies, so the moon to us was something that's unfinished business,"" says Cowing. ""These tapes were sealed for history by somebody who cared, and it was astonishing the condition they were in. So we started buying used parts on eBay, Radioshack -- I was sitting at a black-tie reception at one point buying something on my iPhone. We just buy and reassemble these things bit by bit."" The drives had to be rebuilt and in some cases completely re-engineered using instruction manuals or the advice of people who used to service them. The data they recovered then had to be demodulated and digitized, which added more layers of technical difficulties. The resulting framelets had to be individually reassembled in Photoshop. After kluging through countless engineering problems (try finding a chemical substitute for whale oil to lubricate tape heads), the LOIRP team was able to single out and reproduce the famous earthrise image. This proof of concept brought the first NASA funding in 2008, and the team recently completed processing the entire tape collection. ""We're the first people out of a generation or more to see this,"" says Cowing. ""No human eye had ever seen this. All they saw was something that had already been through one generation of copying. We're seeing something one order of magnitude more precise right on the screen."" Since the '60s, a series of Earth and moon imaging satellites have launched, including the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2009. Despite the advances in computing power and optics, Cowing says the terabytes of images recovered at LOIRP are often even more detailed than those taken by LRO, capable of being blown up to billboard size without losing resolution. ""A lot of the images they're taking today, our imagery from 1966 and '67 has sometimes greater resolution and greater dynamic range because of the way the pictures were taken. So sometimes you look into a shadow in a picture that LRO's taken, and you don't see any detail -- with ours, you do."" Officially named Building 596, McMoon's flies a flag bearing the distinct Skunkworks skull and crossbones, signaling the team's hacker ethic. The seven or so people tinkering away inside maintain an open-source mentality about their work, making all images and their technological discoveries free to the public. They also have plans for a decommissioned Titan ICBM that's sitting outside (for students, of course). McMoon's has grown into a highly specialized operation, stuffed with a melange of old and new technology now put to use in decoding various NASA and Library of Congress tapes that no one knows what to do with. With a built-in ability to handle hazardous chemicals, the old McDonald's made practical sense, but it also gave them a layer of distance to carry out their weird work. ""I had a choice between the barbershop and this building -- we didn't really care what sort of building they gave us, we just didn't want to pay for it,"" Cowing says. ""The surplus folks at NASA Ames where all the old computers and stuff go, they love us because we come over and make all the old stuff work. The safety guys come by and we usually either make them our friends or bark at them and they don't come back."" The images gathered at LOIRP have been coerced into providing even more information than they were intended to. Their data have been used to correct figures from the time about Earth's arctic ice levels, and have helped identify an El Nino-type event in the '60s. All the images and the information gathered from them are being fed into the Planetary Data System, an official repository where mission data from LRO, Mars Observer, Climate Orbiter, and many others are documented. Started by the same Nancy Evans that provided the tape drives, the Planetary Data System didn't exist when the Lunar Orbiter pictures were initially taken. The images and information that LOIRP has recovered will be submitted as the official record of the original sattelite mission. It's a testament to the lasting work of the engineers who designed the orbiter missions, and the tenacity of the modern techno archaeologists who are bringing that work to full fruition. ""Back then things were designed, even if they failed, to still do something. Today, most jet fighters would fall out of the sky if they didn't have computers adjusting their surfaces and their pattern thousands of times a second. Back then they just had to engineer stuff elegantly so that it worked,"" he says. ""We feel that we're completing the Lunar Orbiter 1 through 5 missions. They never formally submitted their stuff for the archives so we're doing it."" Read more from WIRED: . What Exactly Is in McDonald's Famous French Fries? Why You Always Seem to Choose the Slowest Line . People Around the World Pose With Everything They Eat in a Day . Why Does Sleeping In Just Make Me More Tired? 30 Years After Chernobyl's Meltdown, Gripping Photos Expose the Human Fallout . Subscribe to WIRED magazine for less than $1 an issue and get a FREE GIFT! Click here! Copyright 2011 Wired.com."
"(CNN) -- Bristol County, Massachusetts, prosecutors have dropped charges against an 18-year-old man accused of raping a 17-year-old girl in July at a Keith Urban concert south of Boston. ""Given the state of the evidence, the case was dismissed in the interest of justice,"" said Gregg Miliote, a spokesman for the Bristol County district attorney. Sean Murphy was charged with rape after an incident that happened in front of a large crowd on the lawn of the Xfinity Center, an outdoor amphitheater in Mansfield, Massachusetts, on July 26. Multiple people recorded what happened on their cell phones and provided video to authorities for their investigation. Murphy entered a not guilty plea in court and was released on $10,000 bond. His attorney had always maintained his client's innocence. ""Put simply, this was a consensual act, not a sexual assault,"" lawyer Steven Brooks said at the time. ""This was a private act that regrettably occurred in a public place."" ""Mr. Murphy deeply regrets this incident and I am sure the young woman does as well. The young woman was neither intoxicated nor overcome by drugs at the time. Mr. Murphy has no criminal history whatsoever."" Fans hospitalized after 'nutso' Keith Urban concert . About 18,000 people attended the concert in Mansfield, about 30 miles south of Boston. More than 20 people were hospitalized after the concert, police said. Another 50 were taken into protective custody, and several others were arrested over ""alcohol-related issues,"" local authorities said. ""In total, fire and EMS attended to 46 medicals resulting in 22 transports mostly alcohol-related,"" Mansfield Police Chief Ron Sellon and Fire Chief Neal Boldrighini said in a joint statement. ""Police dealt with a steady stream of intoxicated persons as well, resulting in over 50 people being taken into protective custody and a number of others arrested for alcohol-related issues."" CNN's Alan Duke, Mayra Cuevas, Todd Leopold and Cristy Lenz contributed to this report."
"It was a Friday evening in February when Adrian Vasquez, an 18-year-old from the town of Rio Hato, Panama, accepted an invitation from two friends to accompany them on what was proposed as an overnight fishing expedition. Their plan, according to Vasquez's mother, Nilsa de la Cruz, ""was to return the following morning. On February 24, they left from Ensenada Beach in the town of San Carlos aboard a small fishing boat."" But the following morning came and went without their return, and the Vasquez family started looking for the 18-year-old and his friends. Arnaldo Vasquez, the teen's father and a hotel worker, asked fishermen to search for them along the shore from which they had departed, and his mother prayed at home with relatives and friends. Soon after, the Panamanian navy joined the search, sending ships and airplanes to look for Vasquez, Oropeces Betancourt, 24, and Fernando Osorio,16. For nearly a month, their fate remained a mystery. But on March 21, fishermen spotted the boat, the Fifty Cents, adrift north of the Galapagos Islands, nearly 600 miles from where it had launched. After being alerted by the fishermen, the Ecuadorian navy rescued the lone crew member. In a statement, Rear Adm. Freddy Garcia Calle said Vasquez showed ""severe signs of dehydration and lack of nutrition."" He said the survivor had thrown his friends' bodies into the ocean ""because they had become badly decomposed."" Vasquez returned Tuesday to Panama City on a commercial flight. According to his mother, he had lost 20 pounds. ""After 28 days of anguish, after praying to God that he be found alive ... this is indeed a miracle,"" de la Cruz said. She said her son told her the fishing trip had started out well. The three caught plenty of fish. But the boat's engine died without warning and, with no tools and scant navigational experience, there was little the trio could do, de la Cruz told CNN. Soon, currents had swept their boat out into the Pacific, far from the coast. De la Cruz said they ate raw fish and drank rainwater. She did not detail how the other two died. The Ecuadorian navy has said it is not investigating the deaths and considers the incident a rescue operation. De la Cruz described an emotional reunion Tuesday at the airport in Panama City, where relatives hugged Vasquez and cried tears of joy. He was taken to his home in Rio Hato, in Panama's Coclé province, southwest of the capital. Reached Wednesday by phone, de la Cruz said her son ""has been sleeping a lot. We don't want to ask him any questions because we know he's traumatized. He's surrounded by the family.  We're loving on him and trying to help him feel better. We're going to take him to a psychologist tomorrow."" De la Cruz said her son is ""a very loving and hardworking young man"" who enjoys spending time with his brothers and loves soccer. She said the family is taking one day at a time and trying to support her son. ""For us, this is an opportunity to get closer as a family, to be more understanding and loving,"" she said."
"New York (CNN) -- Get in line, have your money ready and move to your extreme left -- Al Yeganeh, ""the Original SoupMan,"" is back. He reopened his famed soup store Tuesday in midtown Manhattan. Yeganeh and his Soup Kitchen International first rose to fame after he was caricatured in the long-running NBC-TV show ""Seinfeld"" as the ""Soup Nazi,"" a cranky and demanding soup-stand cook who bellowed ""No soup for you!"" to customers who didn't follow his strict rules for ordering. Yeganeh, who first opened his shop in 1984, closed the store six years ago, but kept the lease to pursue franchise opportunities and a line of frozen soups with the Original SoupMan brand. Loyalty to the brand apparently has not faltered. Avid soup fans lined up around the block Tuesday during New York's steamy heat wave to get a taste. Greg Packer secured the first spot in line by getting to the storefront at 5 a.m. ""I love Al. I love soup. And I can't wait for that first bowl of soup,"" said Packer, who chose chicken vegetable. Daniel Hank, also in the line, said he didn't care if it was 90 degrees or 90 below outside -- he would  wait for his favorite soup, the lobster bisque. ""It's like there's an entire lobster in the cup. You open up the top and a claw comes out and strangles your taste buds. It's so special,"" Hank said. Chef Dan Rubano, who mentored with Yeganeh, was at the store a day before its opening, helping to set things up. ""We are keeping the original recipes and adding more to the menu,"" Rubano said. Although Yeganeh didn't stop by for opening, Rubano said he's expected to make sporadic appearances. According to the ""Seinfeld"" Web site, Yeganeh was at first unhappy with the publicity from the ""Soup Nazi"" episode and was quoted as saying he threatened to ""smack"" comedian Jerry Seinfeld's face. Seinfeld, whose title character was banned during the ""Soup Nazi"" episode, declined to comment on the store's reopening. CNN's Jennifer Rizzo contributed to this report."
"ISIS has used videos of its shocking beheadings of Western hostages to seize the world's attention, threatening the United States and its allies. But the Islamic militant group is also pushing its extremist views in a slick online magazine. The publication -- named ""Dabiq"" after a town in northern Syria that symbolizes a clash between Islam and the West -- portrays U.S. President Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain as ""crusaders"" who will ""bring about the complete collapse of the modern American empire."" It also carries images evoking apocalyptic battles between the Sunni extremist group's fighters and the rest of the world -- including American soldiers enveloped in flames. By producing the magazine, ISIS is taking a leaf out of the book of its former ally al Qaeda, which has praised and advocated terrorist attacks in its glossy publication, Inspire. But experts say the two terrorist groups don't appear to be aiming for the same goals through their propaganda. Inspire focuses more on practical advice for terrorists planning attacks, publishing guides on how to make bombs and get them onto planes. Dabiq ""is very different,"" Seth Jones, a security analyst at the RAND Corporation, told CNN. ""This is encouraging people to come, to recruit and to join the army in Iraq and Syria -- and fight."" 'A global outreach strategy' ISIS has already been exploiting the brutal tactics it used to grab control of large areas of Syria and Iraq for publicity purposes. The publication of Dabiq demonstrates that ISIS, which calls itself the Islamic State, is ""looking not only to nearby areas for support, but is undertaking a global outreach strategy to recruit immigrants to build its state,"" the Institute for the Study of War said in a recent report. It noted ""the sophistication and production value of the magazine."" ISIS has successfully recruited large numbers of foreign fighters from across the globe, including from the United States and Western Europe. A CIA source told CNN last week that more than 15,000 foreign fighters, including 2,000 Westerners, have gone to the civil war in Syria. It was not immediately clear how many have joined ISIS and how many are with other groups opposed to the Syrian government. The foreign fighters come from more than 80 countries, the CIA source said. Article on Foley's beheading . Dabiq carries plenty of violent images, apparently aimed at luring jihadists. It has photos of the mutilated bodies of Muslims wounded and killed by Western forces and their allies -- but also pictures of ISIS's own victims. The final section of its most recent issue is dedicated to the beheading of American journalist James Foley, the first of three Western captives whose killings the group has publicized. The article defends his murder as retribution for Western military campaigns in the Middle East. The magazine shows that ISIS, which is also known as ISIL, is paying close attention to what's being said about it in the West, featuring an ""In the Words of the Enemy"" section. In the first issue, it focuses on an article co-written by Douglas Ollivant, an Iraq combat veteran and key adviser on the surge in U.S. troops there under former President George W. Bush in 2007. Ollivant, who appears regularly on CNN, is also described as a ""crusader."" He said he was ""perversely honored"" that the terrorists were reading his work, but was also aware he was being ""incorporated into their propaganda."" ""We take them seriously, write about them seriously, and perversely they then twist this to their potential recruits and say 'Look, you know, American analysts take us seriously,'"" Ollivant told CNN. Feds: NY store owner plotted to send jihadists to Syria, kill U.S. troops himself ."
"(CNN) -- A leading international children's charity has warned that Elton John's desire to adopt a 14-month-old baby boy could lead to more children being abandoned. Elton John kisses baby Lev during his visit to the orphanage in Ukraine on Saturday. The singer, 62, made the announcement during a visit with his partner, 46-year-old David Furnish, to an orphanage for HIV-affected children in Ukraine on Saturday. ""David always wanted to adopt and I always said no because I am 62 and I think because of the traveling I do and the life I have, maybe it wouldn't be fair for the child,"" he told reporters. ""But having seen Lev today, I would love to adopt him. I don't know how we do that but he has stolen my heart. And he has stolen David's heart and it would be wonderful if we can have a home. I've changed my mind today."" While EveryChild praised the British musician for helping raise awareness of children affected by HIV/AIDS, it said international adoption is sending out the wrong message. James Georgalakis, EveryChild's Communications and Advocacy Manager, told CNN: ""Research conducted in the Ukraine in 2007 which showed high-profile celebrity adoptions and news around foreigners coming into the country and adopting children generally was actually encouraging vulnerable young mothers to abandon their children into homes hoping their child would be adopted by a rich foreigner and have a better life. ""So it's quite well documented that these high-profile adoptions could actually be increasing the number of children in institutions."" Do you think celebrity adoptions are a good thing? According to research by the charity's Web site, 95 percent of the children in Ukraine's institutions are not orphans, with babies born to HIV+ mothers facing particular discrimination. They are separated from their mothers and often end up in children's homes and institutions segregated from children not affected by HIV. It argues that governments such as Ukraine need to be encouraged to put more emphasis on keeping families together rather than placing them in outdated Soviet-era children's homes. ""After a great deal of campaigning by charities such as ours, the Ukraine government introduced a new 'gate-keeping' system which means the authorities will have to consider all available options before a child is placed in an institution,"" Georgalakis said. ""So when a child is taken into care or abandoned, they will have look at whether a child has other family or can be fostered by another family for example. This is a huge step forward and one that needs support. ""We will definitely be speaking to Elton and his representatives about this."" Elton John is the latest high-profile figure to be linked with a case of this kind. Earlier this year, Madonna won a court appeal to adopt a second child from Malawi. Critics of the pop-star accused the pop superstar of taking advantage of ""archaic adoption laws"" in a bid to adopt three-year-old Chifundo James. Madonna's initial attempt was denied because she did not meet a residency law that requires applicants to have lived in the country for some time before adoption. This condition was waived when Madonna -- and then husband Guy Ritchie -- adopted her first Malawian child, David Banda. The judge in that case said the interest of the child outweighed the issue of residency. Meanwhile, the British Association for Adoption and Fostering said around 4,000 children need to be adopted in UK each year, with many facing a considerable wait. BAAF Chief Executive David Holmes told CNN: ""While Elton John may be considered too old under current guidance to adopt a baby in the UK, there are many children, particularly older children, sibling groups, children with disabilities, and children from black minority groups, all waiting for a family. ""We'll certainly be reinforcing this message during National Adoption Week in Britain later this year."""
"Swat Valley, Pakistan (CNN) -- On October 9, a Pakistani schoolgirl who dared to speak out against the Taliban took a bullet to the head for her act of defiance. Now, as Malala Yousufzai lies in a hospital bed in Birmingham, England, the shock and outrage among her countrymen have given way to a new sentiment: What will the government do about this? While the Pakistani news media debate how the country should respond to the attack, thousands of people nationwide have joined in rallies in support of the wounded 14-year-old. Malala: Global symbol, but still just a kid . The shooting has prompted an unusually strong and united reaction of disgust and anger among many Pakistanis, analysts say. ""There is a groundswell of sympathy for her and also a very strong demand for the Pakistani state to do something about this issue,"" said Raza Rumi, director of policy and programs at the Jinnah Institute, a Pakistani research organization. Much of the discontent is directed toward the Pakistani Taliban, the extremist group that has claimed responsibility for the shooting and said it will seek to kill Malala if she recovers from her injuries. ""This has created a very bad feeling for the Taliban,"" said Saleem Khan, an executive with a paper manufacturing company in the city of Lahore. Khan said he was ""crying and weeping"" after hearing of the attack on Malala, who had defied extremists in the northwestern Swat Valley by insisting on the right of girls to go to school. Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, the first woman to hold that job, said Sunday that she thinks the shooting marked a ""turning point"" in the ferocity of how Pakistan goes after Taliban offenders and extremist groups. ""Pakistan, at the diplomatic, political and every level, has been asking ... to take this matter seriously, to not let them (the Taliban) have a safe haven,"" she said. Meanwhile, police in Birmingham said ""two well-wishers"" were stopped when they came to the hospital overnight wanting to see the girl. No arrests were made, contrary to earlier reports from the hospital. Hospital director Dave Rosser said the intruders were ""probably people being over-curious,"" but he added that the hospital is taking no chances and that tight security is in place. Standing with Malala: Teen inspires others to fight for education . At a rally organized by the powerful MQM political party in Karachi, thousands of people gathered, some waving flags and banners with messages of support for Malala. ""Our prayers are with you,"" read one. Another said, ""Malala -- (an) attack on you is an attack on education and progress."" Social activist Saman Jafery said: ""If Taliban is a mindset, then Malala is a mindset, too. It's a mindset of educated and empowered women."" Another of those at the rally, Haider Rizvi, said people ""don't want the Taliban anymore in Pakistan, and after the Malala incident, it is time for people to stand up."" ""The message is right here ... all these people. They are condemning the act of the Taliban,"" added student Ashwar Waqi. The Taliban, who operate in northwestern Pakistan along the border with Afghanistan, have fallen foul of Pakistani public opinion in the past, notably in 2009, when a video emerged of the flogging of a teenage girl in the Swat Valley. The video provoked appalled reactions in Pakistan at the time, but ""the scale of protests for Malala are bigger,"" said the Jinnah Institute's Rumi. ""Even the right-wing mainstream media have expressed outrage."" The Taliban became increasingly unpopular among Pakistanis in 2009 as the military carried out an offensive against members of the group in northwestern areas. But the military operations failed to root them out altogether, and their continued influence in the region was demonstrated last week by the gun attack on Malala and two other girls as they were being driven home from school. The two other girls were less severely wounded than Malala. Opinion: One girl's courage in the face of Taliban cowardice . One of them, Kainat Ahmed, is being treated locally. She said she was so scared after the attack on the bus in which they traveled that she couldn't sleep for two days. The 16-year-old girl is in the 10th grade. But despite the injury to her arm and the terror of the attack, Ahmed said she does not regret studying and hopes to continue. ""Girls' education here is more important than boys' because boys can have any jobs they want to but girls cannot,"" she said. ""I want to tell all the girls to continue their mission to get an education."" Interior Minister Rehman Malik, visiting the three girls' school in the town of Mingora on Tuesday, said the name would be changed from ""Khushal Public School"" to ""Malala Public High School."" A task force will be established to protect all girls' schools in the region that are under threat of militants, he told reporters. ""I am not only grieved, the whole nation is grieved,"" he said. The hunt for those responsible has made ""considerable progress,"" Malik added, although he gave few details of the investigation. Authorities have forensic evidence, Malik said. Police Chief Gul Afzal Afridi of the Swat District said that 60 suspects are being detained, interrogated or investigated. ""We have sufficient evidence to find the culprits,"" the chief said. ""Soon we will catch them."" Politicians and commentators in Pakistan have slammed the attack. But the condemnation of the Taliban has not been as universal. ""Everybody was angry that it happened, but not everybody was angry with the Taliban,"" said Tazeen Javed, an Islamabad-based communications consultant who writes for The Express Tribune newspaper. The cricket star-turned-politician Imran Khan, who visited Malala in a hospital in Peshawar last week, has drawn criticism for not condemning the Taliban outright for the attack. Khan ""showed a lot of concern but couldn't resist bringing in the issue of the drone strikes as a cause for this attack, which was a bit of a deflection,"" said Rumi, referring to the drone attacks carried out by the United States in northwestern Pakistan that have generated resentment in the country. Certain commentators have also begun to question the official version of events, suggesting that the attack on Malala may be used as a pretext by the government for military action against the Taliban in the restive tribal region of North Waziristan. Gordon Brown: Millions face Malala's fight . ""The Malala incident is the CIA's latest attempt to divide public opinion and incite conflict in Pakistani society,"" Haider Mehdi, a contributor to the Pakistani daily The Nation, wrote in a column Tuesday. As the controversy about the attack rages in Pakistan, the doctors treating Malala thousands of miles away said they are ""very pleased"" with her progress and optimistic that she will make a good recovery. However, she faces reconstructive surgery and there is ""still a long way to go,"" said Rosser, of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. Her family is not yet in England to be by her bedside, but the Pakistani high commissioner is making arrangements on that front, he said. In the meantime, the 14-year-old appears to be ""every bit as strong as we had been led to believe,"" Rosser said, adding that the consultant leading her care ""is impressed by her resilience and her strength."" Reza Sayah reported from Swat Valley and Jethro Mullen from Hong Kong. CNN's Laura Smith-Spark contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Thousands of Ontario, Canada, residents made do without power Monday in the aftermath of storms that toppled trees and brought down power lines. Meanwhile, residents in the upper Midwest prepared for bitter cold wind chills. More than 300,000 customers remained without electricity Monday across Ontario, including 200,000 in Toronto, officials reported, in the wake of what Mayor Rob Ford called one of the worst ice storms to hit the city. Still, the city was functioning and conditions were ""not even close"" to warranting an emergency declaration, he told reporters Monday. Toronto Hydro CEO Anthony Haines said major power lines are being restored at a rate of one every few minutes, but street-to-street work remains, and he couldn't offer a guarantee everyone will have power by Christmas. ""My caution continues to be my caution. Let's really plan for the worst,"" Haines said Monday evening. ""I am encouraged in the progress we have made today, obviously, with well over 100,000 customers being restored today."" Ford said 100 trucks from other cities were on their way to Toronto to help restore power to more people. Toronto had opened more than a dozen warming centers some were expecting up to 300 people, officials said. In the United States, areas that had been as warm as the 70s on Sunday began a slide into frigid territory as Canada sent some of that cold air sliding across the eastern United States. Dangerously cold wind chills were on tap in parts of Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and Illinois. Wind chill warnings were posted for parts of Minnesota, warning of of wind chills as low as 45 below zero. Still, the picture was much calmer than over the weekend, when storms left at least 10 people dead. At least five people died in Kentucky floodwaters, two people died in Mississippi storms, and one person died in a traffic accident during Missouri's severe weather, officials said. A weather-related wreck Saturday near Wichita, Kansas, left one person dead, according to CNN affiliate KWCH-TV. And a tornado Saturday also killed a woman in Arkansas, CNN affiliate KARK-TV in Little Rock reported. The tornado was one of two rated at EF2 to hit the state on Saturday. Northeast: Hot and cold . New York City set a record high Sunday at 71 degrees, National Weather Service meteorologist Ashley Sears said. The previous record, set in 1949 and matched in 1998, was 63. But temperatures will fall each day until Wednesday, and by Christmas, New York might not even reach the freezing mark. And in northern New England, another round of snow and ice is set for Monday, the National Weather Service said. Southeast: When it rains, it pours . Rain was finally tapering off in Georgia, South Carolina and states in the Mid-Atlantic. A wave of cold temperatures will take its place Tuesday. Temperatures will likely be 10 to 15 degrees colder than normal on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Midwest: Ice and dangerous wind chills . The storms left some Michigan residents dealing with no electricity. Sara Hadley's family lost power after an ice storm struck her hometown of Lansing. She sent photos of some of the countless icicles in her neighborhood. ""Last time we had ice like this was 1998,"" Hadley told CNN's iReport. Pacific Northwest: Another storm brewing . Coastal and valley rain as well as mountain snow is in the forecast through Tuesday, the service said. Higher elevations could get dumped with 6 to 12 inches of snow. CNN's Sean Morris, Adam Shivers, Todd Borek, Jareen Imam, Leslie Holland and Janet DiGiacomo contributed to this report."
"Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- The Taliban have launched their spring offensive, their annual spate of attacks targeting foreign bases, government officials and Afghan police, a Taliban spokesman said Sunday. On Sunday morning, a roadside bomb killed three police officers in Afghanistan's Ghazni province, provincial spokesman Nabi Jan said. A Ghanzi deputy police chief was among those killed, and two other officers were injured, Jan said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack -- and said more will come. ""Today was our first day of the new operation, and we conducted many operations in several provinces such as Ghazni province, Kapisa province and Nangarhar province,"" Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told CNN. He said the new spring offensive will target foreign military bases and foreign convoys as well as attacks on Afghan National Police and the Kabul government. The group will use suicide attacks and rockets, Mujahid said. ""We hope to plan and conduct more attacks on foreign troops so as to force them to leave Afghanistan,"" the Taliban spokesman added. The Taliban regime in Afghanistan was sheltering the al Qaeda terror network when it launched attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001. The next month, the United States cranked up military operations that led to the toppling of the Taliban government. Ever since, international forces have been fighting radical Islamic militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan."
"A Massachusetts judge ruled Monday that the public should know exactly what investigators seized from the home of former New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez, who has been charged with murder in the death of a friend. Bristol County District Judge Daniel O'Shea ordered the documents to be made available Tuesday afternoon. The documents to be released include search warrants, police affidavits explaining what they were looking for and what was taken away as possible evidence. Hernandez has been charged with premeditated murder in the death of Odin Lloyd, 27. He has pleaded not guilty. O'Shea ruled in favor of a motion filed by media outlets including the Patriot Ledger in Quincy, Massachusetts; the Taunton Daily Gazette in Taunton, Massachusetts; and the Associated Press. Hernandez jersey exchange draws 1,200-plus . Defense attorneys representing Aaron Hernandez opposed the motion. They can appeal the court's decision. In court papers, lawyers for the media argued ""the press's (sic) ability to keep the public informed is premised in large part on open access to the court system and on its ability to examine and report on public documents."" At Hernandez's arraignment last month, prosecutors said they had examined his cell phone and 14-camera home surveillance system. Authorities have said Hernandez, 23, and two other men picked Lloyd up from his Boston apartment early on June 17. Surveillance cameras captured the car at an industrial park near Hernandez's North Attleborough home. Lloyd's body was found in the industrial park later that day, authorities have said. Also on Monday, Ernest Wallace, one of two men who police say was in the car with Hernandez the night Lloyd was killed, agreed to be held without bail pending his next hearing. Patriots owner Kraft speaks out about Hernandez . A prosecutor told a judge in Attleboro, Massachusetts, that Wallace had accepted the decision in the presence of his lawyer, David Meier.  Meier declined to comment to reporters. Wallace winked at his family and appeared to mouth the words ""I love you"" but was not asked to address the court. Wallace is charged with accessory after the fact to murder. He pleaded not guilty. His next hearing is scheduled for July 22. Another man who police say was in the car the night of Lloyd's slaying, Carlos Ortiz, is already being held without bail and has pleaded not guilty to a  weapons charge. At a news conference after Wallace's court hearing, Bristol County District Attorney Samuel Sutter declined to directly  answer a question from CNN about whether Wallace or Ortiz is cooperating with authorities. Search of Hernandez's apartment reveals new evidence . ""It's an excellent question,"" Sutter said. ""But I'm not going to comment one way or the other at this point."" A law enforcement source has told CNN that Ortiz is cooperating with investigators but declined to elaborate. In court papers, Ortiz allegedly told police that the day after Lloyd was killed, he and Hernandez went to a Franklin, Massachusetts, apartment leased by Hernandez. In the apartment, investigators say there was a ""white colored hooded sweatshirt"" similar to the one he was seen wearing on surveillance video the night of the killing. Ortiz has a status hearing scheduled for Tuesday, but prosecutors say if Ortiz agrees to continue to be held without bail, the hearing will likely be canceled. Legal woes mount for former Patriots tight end ."
"(CNN) -- The mission is anything but a Mickey Mouse task: Navigate the world's most treacherous seas, crossing 73,000 nautical kilometers in a confined space with stressed-out, sleep-deprived crewmates. That's the challenge facing two sailors -- Charlie Enright and Mark Towill -- who met on the set of a Disney movie. ""When they say this is the hardest race in the world, that's true,"" Towill tells CNN as he reflects on the Volvo Ocean Race, a grueling feat of endurance where competitors will face 30-meter waves in the Southern Ocean and winds of 110 kph (68 mph). With such conditions, tragedy is always a risk -- Dutch sailor Hans Horrevoets died in the 2005-06 race when he was swept overboard. The nine-month event begins in Alicante, Spain, on Saturday. Its eventual finish in June in Gothenburg, Sweden, will mark the longest route in the event's 42-year history. Not surprisingly Towill, general manager of Team Alvimedica, describes the buildup as the ""calm before the storm,"" while Enright admits it is impossible to predict what lies ahead in the coming months away from family and friends. To add a further twist in the marathon journey ahead, the American pair's crew is the youngest in the race -- skipper Enright is 30 while Towill is just 25. They are reunited seven years after meeting on the set of Morning Light -- the brainchild of Roy Disney Jnr., a nephew of the company's legendary founder Walt. Roy Disney, who died in 2009 a year after its release, came up with the idea of getting a crew of aged 18 to 23 to compete in the Transpacific Yacht Race from San Pedro in California to Honolulu in Hawaii. Hundreds applied but just 15 were selected, among them Towill and Enright. ""I just put my application in at the last minute as my flatmates did it,"" says Enright. ""I loved every minute."" From day one, despite the five-year age gap and differing backgrounds, the pair struck up a friendship that's still going strong. Enright hails from Rhode Island, a state awash with sailors, while Towill, from Hawaii, was the first in his family to take an interest in sailing. ""They wouldn't know what the boom or the spinnaker pole was but they're my biggest supporters,"" says Towill, who followed his newfound friend to Ivy League university Brown where they studied and sailed. Coached by Volvo Ocean Race sailors, they took on board every nugget of information they could about offshore racing before signing up in 2011 to the race's development program, learning the business side of getting together a team and the finances required. They worked tirelessly to get sponsors before Alvimedica, a medical technologies company that had already been liaising with race organizers, became a financial backer. Both parties' involvement was made possible by a cost-cutting rule for the 2014-15 race which meant teams would no longer make their own boats but use a centrally built Volvo Ocean 65 one-design vessel by Farr Yacht Design. It brought down the price of entering a team from $70 million to $21 million. ""It's a fairytale story,"" says Towill, recalling the surprisingly swift sealing of the deal. ""Alvimedica is a young company growing rapidly and we are a young team, so it was the perfect fit with American sailors -- and America's a big market for them."" That sole meeting spilled over to dinner, followed by a night out which eventually ended at 1 a.m. with a handshake to confirm the partnership. Enright and Towill needed to be up at 6 a.m. for a flight home but snuck out for another drink on their own to celebrate what they had achieved. For Enright, it was the realization of a lifelong ambition. He recalls in grade two at school putting together a project on the Whitbread Round The World race, set up in 1972 and by which it was known until Volvo became the title sponsor in 2001. ""It's the pinnacle of offshore racing, which is what I like most, and it just became a natural ambition,"" he says. As skipper, he knows the buck stops with him on the water and he admits he thrives on both the pressure and responsibility of seven other sailors relying on him for their direction and personal safety. Throughout the race, he will work closely with Towill as always, who he calls the yin to his yang, both with the shared aim ""to keep each other honest."" Towill admits to having gone into hibernation in the buildup to the race, knowing that there will only be snippets of sleep in the next nine months, and he expects their friendship will be tested. ""I'd be lying if I said it was going to be peachy all the time,"" says Towill, who turned down a job in renewable energy in San Francisco to follow his sailing ambitions. ""There's eight guys on a boat with not much space, stress and a lack of sleep. The dynamic of how we are as a group is important."" Amid the young guns on board, Australian navigator Will Oxley will provide experience. By the end of the race, the Volvo veteran will have turned 50 and sailed competitively more than the distance to the moon during an impressive career. Oxley's advice to Enright has been to ""keep it all in perspective."" The two young sailors and their crew will also be hoping for a Disney ending. In pictures: The Everest of sailing?"
"(CNN) -- Federal officials charged 20 people Wednesday in a scheme to recruit illegal immigrants from Russia and Eastern European countries to work as exotic dancers in New York strip clubs, according to Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. Charges against the 20 individuals include racketeering, extortion, visa and marriage fraud, and transporting and harboring illegal immigrants. The accused are alleged to be members of the Gambino and Bonanno organized crime families, according to federal authorities. ""The defendants themselves had one thing in common -- the desire to turn the women they allegedly helped enter this country illegally into their personal profit centers,""Bharara said. ""Today's arrests have brought an end to their illicit activities."" Several of the accused are alleged to have run the ""Strip Club Enterprise,"" which controlled a series of strip clubs throughout Queens and Long Island. Through these clubs, the accused are alleged to have recruited Eastern European women to enter the United States on student J1 visas to perform as strippers in their enterprises. Prosecutors also charge the defendants threatened physical violence and economic harm if the owners and operators of New York strip clubs as part of a broad extortion scheme. ""The defendants controlled their business and protected their turf through intimidation and threats of physical and economic harm,"" said James T. Hayes, Jr., special agent in charge with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which led the investigation. ""Today's arrests bring to an end a long-standing criminal enterprise operated by colluding organized crime entities that profited wildly through a combination of extortion and fraud."" Some of the exotic dancers brought illegally into the United States were also matched with U.S. citizens in fraudulent marriages to resolve their immigrations status, prosecutors said in the indictment. Before dawn on Wednesday, federal agents arrived at Cheetah's Gentlemans Club and Restaurant off Times Square in Manhattan, Gallagher's 2000 in Queens, NY, and seven other New York-area strip clubs and confiscated files and documents. Attorneys for those indicted were not immediately available for comment."
"Atlanta (CNN) -- It was somewhere in the middle of Six Flags' Goliath roller coaster that my eye started to short-circuit, nearly going black. The towering roller coaster pressed my fellow riders and me deep into our seats as we rounded a set of sharp curves. Many find the ride thrilling; for me it was unnerving. I spent much of my time in line for the next ride of the day, the Batman roller coaster, reading about the potential for roller coaster deaths and accidents. This was Friday in Georgia, the same day a woman died after falling from her seat on a Six Flags coaster in Texas. Pecking through roller coaster news on my phone that day, before the death in Texas had been reported, I learned, among other things, that it was reported that a 45-year-old died after passing out and having an apparent heart attack on Goliath, the ride that made my eye briefly malfunction. I get that this seems paranoid, and I knew reading this information while waiting in line for a roller coaster was an unnecessary form of self-torture. But I couldn't help it. There's something about a roller coaster death that is uniquely terrifying in a screenplay kind of way. It's summer fun gone horribly wrong. I think this is partly why so many are shocked and saddened by the death of Rosy Esparza, who fell, according to a witness who spoke with CNN affiliate WFAA, from the Texas Giant roller coaster at Six Flags in Arlington, Texas. The exact cause remains unknown, but authorities say there was no sign of ""foul play or criminality."" Six Flags said in a statement that safety is paramount. ""Since the safety of our guests and employees is our number one priority, the ride has been closed pending further investigation,"" the park said. A park spokeswoman did not immediately respond to requests for comment on its safety inspection policies and the calls for federal oversight. Still, it's a reluctant thrill seeker's greatest fear. It's almost impossible to imagine how terrifying the experience would be -- and how family members and fellow riders could process such an accident. After Esparza's death, Sen. Ed Markey, the Democrat from Massachusetts who recently took the seat vacated by John Kerry, has reportedly renewed his call for federal oversight of roller coaster inspection. ""No federal agency has legal authority to enforce safety standards,"" NBC wrote in a post about the safety issues. ""And Texas is one of at least 17 states that have no agency responsible for inspecting amusement park rides, according to NBC News' survey of state codes in all 50 states."" Markey wants a federal agency to oversee safety enforcement. The Consumer Product Safety Commission regulates mobile amusement park rides, like those found at fairs, but does not have jurisdiction over ""fixed"" rides like those at Six Flags, said Scott Wolfson, a spokesman for the federal agency. The difference makes little sense, and Markey isn't alone in his call for more oversight. Tracy Mehan, from the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, said that relatively little is known about the prevalence of roller coaster injuries and deaths because the federal government doesn't enforce safety inspections and investigations. A patchwork of state laws govern the process, she said. Would-be roller coaster regulators have been criticized as needlessly scaring people about the dangers of roller coasters. And it's true that the statistics aren't quite as terrifying as the rides. As the National Review put it this year, ""Americans are 5,000 times more likely to be legally executed by their own government than to die on a roller coaster."" The writer, Charles C.W. Cooke, puts the odds of roller coaster death at 1 in 1.5 billion in a given year, compared with a 1 in 10 million chance of being killed ""because the aircraft he is traveling on falls apart."" But that framing is misleading, given how little is known about national roller coaster injuries. One of the best sources of information comes from a Center for Injury and Policy Research study of child injuries in the United States. After looking at injuries that were treated in hospitals from 1990 to 2010, the group found that a child is hospitalized from an injury related to an amusement park, carnival, fair or arcade-type ride once every three days in the summer, Mehan said. These are serious injuries: fractures, neck injuries and traumatic brain injuries. Including less serious injuries like bruises and sprains, about 4,440 child injuries are reported to hospitals each year on the rides, including those at fairs and other attractions, she said. The rate is 20 injuries per day during the summer months. ""We would really like to see a national database or a national system put in place so we can get a picture of what's happening,"" she said. The group was unable to compile info on deaths, for example. Regardless of the stats, however, it's the joy-gone-wrong factor that makes roller coaster deaths particularly horrifying. Are those fears slightly irrational and disproportionate? Maybe. But safety seems far from assured these days. Improvements, of course, must be weighed against deadlier public safety concerns. More should be done, for instance, to prevent road-traffic deaths, which kill about 1.3 million people globally each year. Many of those deaths could be prevented with simple changes to traffic laws and other rules, according to a fascinating report from Bloomberg Philanthropies (PDF); and self-driving cars could lead to greater reductions, still. But the existence of more-pressing and deadlier threats does not justify lax oversight of amusement park rides that are meant to entertain. Roller coaster fans should support a review of safety requirements. Otherwise, at the very least, they risk having a joyous experience soured by fear. The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of John D. Sutter."
"(CNN)The new Greek government has plenty of challenges ahead of it: A towering debt, chronic unemployment and relations with the rest of Europe. But it also has an urgent security problem. Greece has become an unwitting crossroads -- both for jihadists trying to reach Iraq and Syria from Europe, and for fighters returning home from the Middle East. Greece's long land and maritime boundaries, its proximity to Turkey, the explosion of illegal migration from Syria and the country's dire financial situation make it an inviting hub for jihadist groups, according to multiple counterterrorism sources. One source close to the Greek intelligence services told CNN there may be some 200 people in the country with links to jihadist groups such as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or the al Nusra Front -- the two groups that most Europeans join. Leftist leader plans his next move after elections in Greece . Among recent cases with a Greek connection: . -- Belgian officials believe that Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a prominent Belgian jihadist within ISIS, may have traveled from Syria to Greece and then communicated by phone with the terrorist cell recently broken up by Belgian police. -- Earlier this month, three young Belgians were arrested at Charleroi airport as they prepared to fly to Greece. The Belgian Prosecutor's Office says they have been charged with participation in a terror group. -- On January 17, Greek police arrested a 33-year old Algerian man whose extradition was sought by Belgium in connection with last week's raids. The man, who has not been named, has protested his innocence. -- Last year, two French jihadists were arrested after using Greek soil to return home. One was arrested after passing through Italy.  One was Ibrahim Boudina, a 23-year-old French national born in Algiers. Greek border guards had found in his possession a USB stick with instructions for how to make homemade bombs. Europe faces 'greatest terror threat ever' They did not detain him, but tipped off French investigators, who later found bomb-making equipment and devices in his apartment near Cannes. Boudina has denied terror charges and awaits trial. What's unknown is how many jihadists are traveling individually -- in either direction -- and how many are using support networks. ""Greece is not a target, just a gateway into Europe and a stop on the fighters' return home,"" said the source close to Greek intelligence. ""The large immigrant communities is Greece, and particularly in Athens, are in a position to provide jihadists and others associated with such groups with housing and generally help them remain anonymous,"" the source said. In 2011, Greek authorities detained nearly 50,000 illegal migrants from Afghanistan and Pakistan, according to police figures. One analyst who has studied jihadist travel patterns says there are indications that militants are setting up logistical, recruitment and financial cells in Greece, in part to facilitate the travel of a growing number of would-be fighters traveling from Kosovo and Albania. ISIS has produced several propaganda videos featuring Kosovars appealing to their countrymen to join them, and the Kosovo authorities believe some 200 individuals have left to wage jihad in Iraq and Syria. But it's not just the Balkans that's providing the travelers. ""We estimate that about 2,000 people have used Greece in the last two years or so, mainly arriving by boat from Italy, as a stop to an onward journey,"" the source close to the intelligence services told CNN. ""Given the number of people who have left Europe for Syria and the Middle East we don't regard this number as very high. But there is a good chance that it is much greater than we know at this point,"" he added. Coming in the other direction, the number of migrants trying to reach Europe illegally has soared since Syria's implosion, especially by sea. Many head to Greece and Italy on rust-buckets that trawl the Turkish coast seeking out the desperate. John M. Nomikos, director of the Research Institute for European and American Studies in Athens, says many migrants have their documents taken by human traffickers and then seek political asylum when they get to Greece. Nomikos says a few of those who arrive in Greece subsequently marry Greek women and receive Greek ID cards or passports, allowing them to travel through much of the European Union. Figures from the European Union's border agency, Frontex, show that 270,000 people tried to enter Europe illegally in 2014 -- with huge increases in the numbers setting off across the central and eastern Mediterranean. Whether ISIS or other groups are already exploiting this influx to infiltrate members into Europe is one of the worrying unknowns to European officials. The Greek Interior Ministry acknowledges it has little idea of the number of people living illegally in Greece. Nomikos and others say the Greek authorities' ability to track asylum-seekers and would-be jihadists has been hard hit by six years of recession -- a time in which budgets have been cut and senior members of the intelligence communities have lost their jobs or retired early. Combined with political appointments in the security services, and a lack of terrorism specialists, Nomikos says this has led to a damaging ""expertise deficit"" at a time when threats are multiplying. It doesn't help that Greek police are preoccupied with the remnants of the far-left November 17 group that occasionally launches sabotage attacks and carries out assassinations. Nomikos also says there is inadequate coordination between the National Intelligence Service, the police and other agencies -- and that Greece badly needs help from the U.S. or European government to reform its security services. ""The country urgently needs a Department of Homeland Security in order to coordinate the intelligence-sharing among the Greek intelligence service (NIS-EYP), anti-terrorism squad intelligence unit"" as well as police, coastguard and military intelligence, Nomikos says. The Balkan states to the north of Greece have become a major source of weapons to jihadist cells elsewhere in Europe, and some analysts believe that militant groups in the Middle East may also be tapping into this illicit arms bazaar. In November, Albanian police arrested eight people in the town of Shijak and seized guns and ammunition. Prosecutors were quoted in Albanian media as saying the weapons were destined for Syria or Iraq. In the wake of the Paris attacks this month, Federica Mogherini, the European Union's foreign policy chief, promised better intelligence sharing across the EU and with affected Arab states to tackle terrorism. An EU summit on February 12 will address the issue, to be followed by a similar gathering in Washington the following week. Whatever the Syriza government's disagreements with its partners on economic policy, it will likely welcome a more coordinated approach on a danger it is unable to confront alone. Ioannis Mantzikos is a researcher and consultant on Islam in Africa and terrorism issues based in Athens. Elinda Labropoulou contributed to this report."
"(CNN)  -- A controversial extra-time goal by William Gallas saw France reach the World Cup finals after a 1-1 home draw against the Republic of Ireland in Paris on Wednesday night. France were trailing 1-0 in the second leg, with the scores tied 1-1 on aggregate, when Arsenal central defender Gallas forced the ball home for the decisive goal. But TV replays showed that his former club teammate Thierry Henry had clearly handled the ball twice before passing to him to head home. Irish goalkeeper Shay Given frantically gestured to the referee and Damien Duff was booked for his protests, but the goal stood and Raymond Domenech's men eventually went through after surviving late pressure in the Stade de France. Robbie Keane had given the Republic a deserved first half lead as he scored after a fine cutback by Duff. The pair both had chances in the second half to put the game out of France's reach, but home keeper Hugo Lloris blocked Duff's effort after he was clean through and forced Tottenham star Keane wide from a similar position. Cristiano Ronaldo will be going to World Cup after his Portugal side won 1-0 in Bosnia-Herzegovina to claim it 2-0 on aggregate in their European playoff match in Zenica. Real Madrid star Ronaldo sat out both legs of the decider through injury, but despite his absence Portugal qualified for the World Cup for the third time in a row. Raul Meireles' second-half goal in the second leg gave them a comfortable victory in a tie deemed awkward after a slender victory in the first leg secured though a goal by Bruno Alves. A pass from Nan found Meireles, whose low shot found the net and sent the Portuguese, who reached the semifinals in 2006, through. Slovenia upset Russia to qualify for the World Cup finals for only the second time with a 1-0 home win in Maribor. Slovenia trailed 2-1 from the first leg and go through on the away goals rule with the aggregate score tied 2-2. Striker Zlatko Dedic, who plays for Bochum in the Bundesliga, scored on the stroke of halftime. He reacted first to a Valter Birsa cross from the right to grab the crucial goal. Guus Hiddink's men suffered a further setback when substitute striker Alexander Kerzhakov was shown the red card in the 68th minute. Andrei Arshavin set up substitute Pavel Pogrebnyak for a late chance as Russia forced for an equalizer which would have put them through, but Dedic should have scored a  second for Slovenia late on. 2004 European champions Greece are also through as they beat Ukraine 1-0 in Donetsk with Dimitrios Salpigidis scoring the only goal for the visitors on the half hour mark. The Panathinaikos striker beat the offside trap after a superb pass from Celtic's Georgios Samaras and slotted home. The teams played out a 0-0 draw on Saturday in the first leg in Athens. Ukraine pressed desperately for an equalizer in the second half but to no avail."
"(CNN)  -- Gael Monfils saved five match points before beating top seed Roger Federer 7-6 6-7 7-6 to reach the final of the Paris Masters on Saturday. The home hero will play Robin Soderling for the title after the Swede beat  another Frenchman, Michael Llodra, in an earlier pulsating encounter at the Bercy arena. It was truly the great escape for 12th seed Monfils, who was on the ropes as he served at 5-6 down in the deciding set, having broken back after dropping his service for the first time. The opening two sets were shared on tiebreaks. 16-time grand slam champion Federer proceeded to force a succession of match points, all saved by a mixture of dogged defense by his French opponent or uncustomary errors by the world number two. The partisan crowd breathed a collective sigh of relief when Monfils finally forced the third tiebreak of the match and claimed an early mini-break. Federer retrieved the loss but uncharacteristic forehand errors saw him fall behind again and when Monfils was presented with his first match point he seized it. He will now hope to go one better than 2009 when he was beaten in the final by Novak Djokovic. ""I went to the limits of myself,"" Monfils admitted after his first career victory over Federer. ""I feel better and better as the tournament goes on. I ran out of juice a little bit at the start of the third set but the fans were there, they pushed me and I kept believing."" Earlier, world number five Robin Soderling had to save three match points before ending the fairytale run of Llodra. He won 6-7 7-5 7-6 to reach his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final, but came under massive pressure in the 12th game of the third set. Like Monfils, Soderling staved off defeat to force a deciding tiebreak and secured victory on his second match point after two hours and 49 minutes of gripping action. ""Today it was a great match. It wasn't maybe pretty, but I'm here as a winner,"" Soderling told the official ATP Tour website. Llodra, who came back from a break down in the deciding set to set up his victory chances, had defeated defending champion Djokovic and Nikolay Davydenko on his way to his first Masters semifinal."
"(CNN)  -- The sagging economy is taking a bite out of federal school-meal subsidies as more students take advantage of free or low-price breakfasts and lunches, nutritionists say in a report released Thursday. About 425,000 more students are participating in the National School Lunch Program, a group reports. The School Nutrition Association surveyed more than 130 school nutrition directors from 38 states to produce its report, ""Saved by the Lunch Bell: As Economy Sinks, School Nutrition Program Participation Rises."" The nonprofit organization said that about 425,000 more students are participating in the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program in 2008-09 than in the previous school year. That represents an average increase of 2.5 percent from 2007-08, the report says. These numbers hold true despite a slight decline in the number of students enrolled in public schools this school year, according to the study. More than three-quarters of the districts surveyed reported a rise in the number of students eating free meals under the U.S. Department of Agriculture program, the report says. Many of the school district employees who monitor the food programs complain that the federal subsidies fall far short of the rising costs. According to the association, the estimated average cost to prepare a school meal is $2.90, but the federal reimbursement is $2.57. School lunch programs are experiencing a potential loss of at least $4.5 million per school day, based on 30 million school lunches provided, the group says. The good news, according to association President Katie Wilson, is that ""this year, when hunger is more common, more students are able to eat a balanced, nutritious meal at school."" Meals served under the USDA programs must meet nutrition guidelines based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. For lunches, that means no more than 30 percent of calories can come from fat and fewer than 10 percent from saturated fat."
"While President Obama has reignited a national conversation over rising college costs with his new proposals, those suggestions are unlikely to dramatically lower costs soon. And the president has not given many specific suggestions how to cut these costs that have been rising dramatically faster than people's income. Tuition fees are roughly double the share of income then they were in the 1960s. Let me offer five suggestions on how to lower post-secondary educational costs. This list is not comprehensive, but full implementation of even some of them could reduce the burden that colleges impose on students, parents and taxpayers. First, adopt the three-year bachelor's degree as in Europe. Students at prestigious schools like Oxford and Cambridge receive their degrees in three years, and they still get first-class jobs. Diminishing returns sets into collegiate study like anything else, and much of the material in the last two years of college is of marginal importance, with the possible exception of some demanding majors such as engineering and architecture. The feds could simply say undergraduate student eligibility for financial assistance ends after 90 semester hours of study.  This approach should reduce the cost of a B.A. degree by something on the order of 25%. A less cost-saving variant of the three-year plan would keep the degree at its traditional 120 semester hour length, but have students go to school year-round for three years. We really don't need the summer off to plant crops as people did hundreds of years ago. Facilities would get greater utilization, lowering capital costs. College graduates would gain an extra year working full-time. Faculty usually will teach additional courses for far less than the average pay per course taught regularly. Maintenance costs of facilities per student would also fall. Second, make it possible for students to use MOOCs (massively open online courses) and other low-cost, online options, allowing for lower cost ""blended"" degrees combining perhaps two years of traditional classroom experience with an equal amount of online training. This would cut the cost of quality degrees perhaps 40%. Without any governmental involvement, teachers and  entrepreneurs have brought hundreds of high-quality but free or low-cost courses to the internet --Udacity, Coursera, EdX, StraighterLine, Saylor Foundation, Khan Academy and Twenty Million Minds Foundation are examples of a few providers or facilitators of quality instruction.  Yet students seldom get credit for these courses.  The barriers are not technological, but legal or involve overcoming special interest obstruction. Students need to be examined on the online material, with safeguards assuring the registered student is actually being tested. Obstacles to accrediting these innovative approaches need to be overcome. The federal government, which accredits the accreditation agencies, could tell these agencies they must allow accredited schools to accept as much as 60% of coursework from MOOC or related providers.  The federal government can't deliver the mail or run a national medical care system efficiently, so they should not be the prime mover here. Where is the Gates Foundation or Warren Buffet when we need them? Third, offer a traditional residential degree for 40% less by dramatically reducing labor and capital costs. The typical university employs twice as many ""professional non-instructional personnel"" (administrators) per 100 students as it did 40 years ago. Why not create new universities with staffing near the 1970 norms -- a university without sustainability and diversity coordinators or an army of public relations specialists, where faculty teach extensively rather than do trivial research that no one reads, and where there are no expensive intercollegiate athletic programs for the amusement of non-students. Specifically, ask the faculty to teach four classes per semester instead of two or three. Build few buildings but utilize them extensively, including on Fridays, weekends and summer months.  Have a least two faculty members for each administrator (the ratio now is often one to one). Prohibit faculty from teaching trivial courses in their specialty. Do we really need courses on ""Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame"" taught to students who are clueless about  Beethoven, Shakespeare and van Gogh?  Limit the pay of all employees to no more than that of the president of the United States or less.  Could existing universities do this? They haven't, so state governments might have to create new institutions from the ground up. Fourth, create a National College Equivalence Test similar to the high school GED. A good national test of basic reading, writing, mathematical and general knowledge about our institutions and society could be administered by, say, the Scholastic Testing Service, or ACT.  High scores on the test would lead to a ""college equivalence certificate."" Most students want a diploma as a ticket to a good job. Employers could use scores on the equivalency test as an alternative certification device, and individuals could take the test anytime --even home schooled kids with little formal education. Fifth, get the federal government out of the student financial aid business. There is good evidence the 11.7% annual growth in federal student financial aid over the past decade (and similar growth earlier) has encouraged colleges to raise tuition fees and finance a costly academic arms race. Lower income Americans are a smaller proportion of recent college graduates than in 1970, before Pell Grants began. If we implement the first four reforms, the need for student financial assistance will dramatically decline. The current system breeds high dropout rates, rewards poor performance (students lingering in school get more aid than those graduating promptly) and encourages kids to enter college who would be better off entering trade schools or apprentice programs.  Ending these inefficient federal programs would save tens of billions annually. In short, there are lots of thing we can do to make colleges more affordable beyond the president's idea of providing good consumer information by rating colleges."
"(CNN) -- Lady Gaga may have to disappoint a lot of her ""little monsters"" in Indonesia after Jakarta police recommended that her sold-out June 3 show not be issued a permit because of security concerns. ""Yes, it is for sure, the promoter will not get a permit to hold the concert,"" National Police spokesman Saud Usman Nasution said Tuesday. The concert promoter, Big Daddy Entertainment, declined to comment on the development. ""Please wait for further official information from us,"" spokesman Alif Ramadoni said. There has been an outcry against Lady Gaga performing among Islamists and conservative Muslims, who say her revealing costumes and sensual dance moves are ""haram,"" an Arabic term that means ""forbidden by Islamic law."" The chairman of the Islamic Defenders Front, Habib Rizieq, said his group could not guarantee what might happen, as far as security goes, if the concert were held. The pop star was given a thumbs-down in March by a ""high-ranking member"" of the country's highest Islamic authority, according to The Jakarta Globe. The report said that Indonesian Council of Ulema chairman Cholil Ridwan was urging Muslims not to attend the overtly sexy and controversial singer's upcoming concert in Jakarta. ""[The concert is] intended to destroy the nation's morality,"" Ridwan told the Globe. Ridwan is concerned that the singer's revealing outfits and sexy dance moves will set a bad example for Muslim youths. Newspaper reports said more than 25,000 tickets were sold in the first two hours after the concert went on sale in March. Police said the promoter should not have started selling tickets before getting a permit. This isn't the first bit of controversy during the singer's ""Born This Way"" tour. Gaga also ran afoul of Christian groups in South Korea, prompting the government to ban kids under the age of 18 from attending her show. Ahead of the concert in late April, detractors called it ""pornographic"" and a promotion of homosexuality. Yoon Jung-hoon, a reverend who helped organize the ""Civilians Network against the Lady Gaga Concert"" movement, told the Chicago Tribune that his group collected 5,000 supporters on Facebook. He also advocated a boycott of the show's sponsor, Hyundai Card, in addition to Hyundai Motor Co., Korea's largest automaker. ""Some people can accept this as another culture, but its impact is huge beyond art and debases religions,"" Yoon said. ""Even adults can't see her performance, which is too homosexual and pornographic."" The show went on as scheduled. CNN's Kathy Quiano and journalist Tasha Tampubolon contributed to this report."
"Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Perhaps no one better understands what the family of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is going through like the widow and children of Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer. ""I mean, my heart is totally with the congresswoman,"" says daughter Sara Taseer. What do an American lawmaker from Arizona and a Pakistani governor have in common? Both outspoken elected officials were gunned down in broad daylight, within days of each other. Taseer died; Giffords clings to life. Separated by half a world, they are united by similar crimes. Taseer was assassinated by his own security guard last week in Islamabad, Pakistan's capital. He was coming out of a popular market when the guard, Mumtaz Qadri, opened fire and shot him 27 times. Governor's accused killer makes unscheduled court appearance . Taseer had been an outspoken critic of Pakistan's blasphemy laws, which make it a crime to insult Islam or the Prophet Mohammad. He argued that in a country that's 98% Muslim, these laws are used to discriminate against minorites. That's dangerous talk in a nation increasingly swayed by a more conservative brand of Islam, and several clerics targeted Taseer as a blasphemer himself. Qadri confessed in court Monday that he killed Taseer because of his support to change the blasphemy laws. And that, Taseer's family says, is where his shooting diverges from Giffords'. Sara Taseer says, ""The difference is in Pakistan, this is not a message just to my father or my family. This is a message to all liberal and progressive people to keep quiet, and scare and intimidate them."" She says Giffords' shooting was an isolated incident, which has no chance of gaining popular support in the United States. ""The impact is different. And the fear among the people. I'm sure in Arizona the general public is not feeling threatened, or not fearing that they can voice their views or openly condemn it. We are in a totally different situation. People who support us can lose their own lives."" Shooting rampage suspect to make first court appearance . Another difference: even Giffords' political opponents publicly and forcefully condemned the man who shot her. The Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner went on TV to say, ""An attack on one who serves is an attack on all who serve."" But in Pakistan, even Taseer's supporters have been mostly silent: perhaps calling his loss a tragedy, but stopping short of criticizing the man who killed him. ""It's because they fear for their lives,"" says Taseer's son Shehryar. ""There's also been a warning issued [by clerics] against anyone who has any further vigils, and anyone who takes up the case of the governor and his family, their offices will be burned and their person killed."" Shehryar says that was the real tragedy of his father's shooting: it's forcing liberals to stay quiet and hide. ""I think they'll be hunted. Without a doubt in my mind I believe that."" Taseer's shooter has been hailed as a hero by many conservative Muslims in Pakistan. He has been cheered, and showered with rose petals on his way into court. ""That's ...it makes me sick. It makes me sick to my stomach,"" says Taseer's youngest daughter Shehrbano. ""Some people genuinely believe this was 'the right thing' to have been done. That's the most scary and upsetting aspect of it. It's disgusting."" Shehrbano graduated from college in Massachusetts, and now works as a journalist in Pakistan. She reserves some of her strongest criticism for Pakistan's legal system. ""There were over 200 lawyers who went and put garlands and rose petals around my father's assassin's neck. And these men are the so-called vanguards of justice."" Shehrbano has little to no faith that the Anti-Terrorism Court where Mumtaz Qadri is being tried will produce a fair result. ""They have a sorry record of convictions. The investigation teams, they don't hand in enough evidence. The lawyers are scared. The judges are bribed. People are terrified of taking a stand."" Now his family is looking back at the life of Salmaan Taseer, a businessman and governor of one of the most-populated provinces in the world. His widow Amna says, ""When I started my marriage, he was arrested and put in a Lahore fort for four months. It was a very difficult period, but we made it through that. And it's kind of ended in such a dramatic way also. But on top of it all I say one thing: that he was a great father and even better husband."" The family says privately, they've received thousands of messages, letters and visits to console them. Shehrbano says a Christian woman approached her after the assassination. ""She told me 'Your father was all we had.'"" They're also looking ahead, to what legacy Taseer leaves for the future. His daughter Shehrbano says, ""I hope his passing doesn't mean that the room for debate is over. I believe there's room in the public sphere for moderates, for liberals. I really hope that this doesn't mean that debate in Pakistan is over."" His son Shehryar says he refuses to back down from the causes his father stood for. ""It's not a Taseer trait. Taseers are fighters. He believed in Pakistan too much to ever back down. In fact his last tweet was 'Even if I'm the last one standing, I'd still support it.'"" And daughter Sara says, ""He had a liberal and progressive and secular vision. And he ...this country needed him. This country needed people like him. The region needed people like him. The world, I think, needs people like him."""
"(CNN) -- Facebook will soon be using your Web browsing to help decide which advertisements you see. A new Facebook system will use your activity on other websites to send you what Facebook thinks are ads about your current interests. Advertisers will, in effect, be bidding to get their ads in front of you. Here's an example: Say a Facebook user visits a travel website and clicks on a page about a vacation package to Las Vegas. If an advertiser has bid on that kind of search, that user could then see ads for discounted trips to Vegas the next time they visit Facebook. ""By bidding on a specific impression rather than a larger group, advertisers are able to show people more relevant ads while also running more efficient and effective campaigns,"" a Facebook spokeswoman said in a written statement. The site announced the new system, called Facebook Exchange, to marketers last week. It's expected to begin rolling out in the next couple of weeks. Real-time bidding is already widely used across the Internet. In a blog post, Mike Stiles of Atlanta-based social marketing company Vitrue compared the feature to Google's Ad Words, which pushes an advertiser's ad in front of users when they search for a keyword that advertiser has chosen. ""The underlying principle is that users want relevant ads, advertisers don't want to waste money on misguided ads, and Google wants both users and advertisers to be real happy so they'll come back again and again,"" he wrote. Currently, Facebook ads are targeted based on users' profiles and the companies or other pages they ""like."" Stiles writes that model will still be available for advertisers, but the new one should be more specific. Facebook noted that users will be able to opt out of Exchange by going to the site's About Ads page, by clicking on an ""X"" that appears on the ads themselves or by blocking cookies on their Web browser. The company statement said Facebook won't share any user data with the advertisers and that no advertising controls that users currently have will go away. How do you feel about Facebook targeting ads? Jim Anderson, Vitrue's chief operating officer, said the new system probably won't appear dramatically different to the typical Facebook user. ""It's not going to be discernible to most consumers,"" he said. ""Most people won't notice any difference or, to the degree they can discern a difference, it will be 'Wow ... this is more relevant to me.'' "" And while the ""real time"" nature of the new system will enhance relevance, it won't be perfect, according to Anderson. ""It's possible you might not be served an ad until after you took that trip to Vegas,"" he said, referring to the previous example. ""But without this kind of targeting, you might be served an ad for a trip to Miami, which you weren't considering anyway."" As Web giants like Facebook and Google get better at harvesting user activity, using Web searches for advertising is becoming increasingly popular. According to research firm International Data Corporation, more than $5 billion in online advertising is expected to go to real-time bidding ads in the United States in 2015. That's 27% of what's predicted to be spent, up from less than 10% last year. Facebook, of course, is increasingly under pressure to demonstrate a sustainable advertising model since its stock went public last month. Anderson predicts the site will continue to diversify how its ads work in the coming months. It's sometimes a tricky prospect. It was just revealed that Facebook settled a lawsuit last month by the state of California over its ""Sponsored Stories"" feature. According to reports, Facebook paid $10 million to charity after five users claimed the site broke California law when it used their posts in the feature without paying them."
"(CNN)  -- Proving that the Wii's motion-sensing controls weren't a fad, both Sony's PlayStation Move and Microsoft's Kinect had strong holiday seasons, suggesting a growing appetite for active video games. Sony and Microsoft sold more than 4.1 million and 8 million units over the holidays, respectively, on the strength of titles like ""Sports Champions"" and ""Dance Central."" And as a host of new compatible offerings illustrate, both these and other manufacturers hope to further expand the market for gesture-tracking gaming systems throughout 2011 and beyond. Here's a look at what's coming in the months ahead. PlayStation Move . Like the Wii, the Move system features a wand-like controller that gamers wave about to control their avatars onscreen. Angling to entice hard-core players as well as casual game enthusiasts, Sony's upcoming 3D TV-enabled sci-fi shooter ""Killzone 3"" and military-themed blaster ""SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs"" both will feature PlayStation Move support. Each offers more intuitive aiming through physical gestures, and looks to make a case for how well this new tech can integrate with more die-hard gameplay experiences. Titles with a more mainstream focus like ""MLB 11: The Show"" (batting), ""PlayStation Move Heroes"" (arcade mini-games), ""LittleBigPlanet 2"" (platform hopping) and ""Sorcery"" (spell casting via a plastic wand) are also planned. And nearly 50 titles in all genres, from adventure to sports to downloadable PlayStation Network games and third-party outings such as ""Time Crisis: Razing Storm,"" are now available for the Move. Kinect . Microsoft's hit system, which uses cameras to read players' full-body movements and translate them into action or sports games, will extend its immediate focus to a range of social applications. Announced at CES, the company's new Kinect Avatar service utilizes the hands-free controller to allow real-time mapping of facial movements onto a digital character. When you raise your eyebrow, so does your avatar. Up to eight virtual avatars, all reflecting their users' actual facial expressions, can hang out in virtual chat rooms -- including performance stages and other imaginative environments -- via Xbox Live. You can even record videos of their conversations. The Kinect also will feature such motion-controlled entertainment options as casual videoconferencing and, come spring, the ability to use hand gestures and voice commands to enjoy streaming video from Netflix and Hulu Plus. New upcoming titles for the Kinect, which cover a range of interests and play styles, include psychedelic shooter ""Child of Eden,"" automotive epic ""Forza Motorsport 4"" and the humorous trivia game ""You Don't Know Jack."" Tablets, PCs and handheld 3-D . New gyroscope-equipped tablet PCs such as Motorola's Xoom, Acer's new Android slate and Apple's rumored iPad 2 also promise potential new ways to bring motion controls to handheld gaming. Expect more titles that, like some popular iPhone games, let you tilt to steer on-screen vehicles, pilot dogfighting planes or aim virtual cross hairs. Motion controls manufacturer Softkinetic also plans to offer controller-free games shortly through its proprietary ""iisu"" 3-D gesture-recognition technology. PC gamers can soon enjoy motion control capability outside of racing chairs and plastic putting simulators. Sixense's Hydra controller, which uses a magnetic field to detect your movements, is due in April, packaged with the popular puzzle game ""Portal 2."" The Nintendo 3DS, a handheld gaming system capable of producing three-dimensional special effects without the need for special glasses, will include touchscreen controls and dozens of custom games when it arrives March 27. From touch-sensing Android smartphones to gesture-tracking TV remotes and accessories like Nyko's Power Shot, which transforms the PlayStation Move into a plastic rifle, motion controls will be everywhere in 2011. What's next for these technologies appears to be a broader range of everyday uses that more inventively tap into the power of your own body -- the most intuitive controller of all."
"(CNN) -- In nearly two thirds of Middle Eastern countries, there are more women than men in university, according to United Nations statistics. This is a giant step towards -- and in many cases beyond -- one of the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals: to eliminate gender disparity in all levels of education by 2015. While most women's rights campaigners welcome the progress in education, many are concerned it does not translate into greater equality in the workplace. ""The gender gap has been closed in education in many Arab countries, which is a big achievement of recent years,"" said Dima Dabbous-Sensenig, Director of the Institute for Women's Studies in the Arab World at the Lebanese American University. ""It's very recent,"" she added. ""Even in the 1990s there was a big gender gap in education. However, there's a paradox that we have a lot of women getting a higher education and they are still too absent from the workforce and politics. ""The idea that education is key to more women reaching positions of power has not materialized."" In Lebanon, for example, women make up 54% of university students, but only 26% of the labor force and 8% of legislators, senior officials and managers, according to the United Nations Statistics Division. Qatar has the region's second highest percentage of women in higher education -- 63% of the university population, and 93% literacy among women. However, women make up just 12% of the labor force and only 7% of legislators, senior officials and managers, the same statistics show. In Europe and the United States, women also make up the majority of university graduates -- 60% according to the European Union and U.S. Department of Education. However, women made up 40.5% of the global labor force in 2008, according to International Labor Organization statistics. The factors driving young women to seek a university education are not also driving them into the workplace, Dabbous-Sensenig said. Also read: Saudi female entrepreneurs . ""In some Gulf countries I think many women go to university to find a better husband or to fill time before they get married. ""Lack of protection for women at work and harassment are among the factors that keep women out of the workplace."" For others, university is a luxury unavailable to men who are expected to become breadwinners. ""Some men can't go to higher education because they need to make money as soon as they leave school,"" said Dabbous-Sensenig. ""Fewer men go on to masters degrees than women because it's too many years before they can start working."" Nawar Al-Hassan Golley, Associate Professor in Literary Theory and Women's Studies at the American University of Sharjah, in the United Arab Emirates, said both the high percentage of women in university and their absence from the workforce can be explained in the social upbringing of girls. ""Girls and boys continue to be socialized very differently with different expectations,"" she said. ""Boys have more personal freedoms to go outside the home, whereas girls continue to be socialized within the home. ""Therefore, for many girls school is their only opportunity to make friends and socialize outside the family, so it is something they look forward to. ""Boys have more freedoms outside of school and see school as somewhere with unnecessary discipline. This may make boys more likely to drop out of school than girls."" This pattern continues at university, said Al-Hassan Golley. ""Girls tend to be brought up to be wives and mothers and the majority of girls in the United Arab Emirates marry straight after graduation,"" she said. ""So university is something they look forward to as their last few years of freedom before they are restricted by family life. ""For boys there are more temptations as they can get jobs such as in the military or police that are well paid without having to go through an academically challenging degree."" While the high numbers of women getting a good education has not yet translated into parity in the workforce, it is a step in the right direction, both women agree. Also on Inside the Middle East: The film director who's not allowed to go to the movies . ""I believe that things will change gradually,"" said Dabbous-Sensenig. ""The more women are highly educated, some of them will become motivated, independent young women who will get good jobs. Thirty years ago they didn't have that option."" Al-Hassan Golley added: ""I think it will take a long time before women break through these cultural and societal expectations. ""At my university we have a Women's Studies program that discusses these issues and helps challenge these expectations and students respond very positively to them."" Follow the Inside the Middle East team on Twitter: Presenter Rima Maktabi: @rimamaktabi, producer Jon Jensen: @jonjensen, producer Schams Elwazer @SchamsCNN and writer Catriona Davies @catrionadavies ."
"Washington (CNN) -- The State Department's former point man on security in Libya told a congressional hearing Wednesday that his superiors worked against him as he tried to get more help for the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi in the months before it was overrun in a deadly terror attack. Eric Nordstrom, the one-time regional security officer, told the House Oversight Committee that he had a disheartening conversation with the regional director of the agency's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs when he requested additional manpower for the facility. ""I said, 'Jim, you know what makes it most frustrating about this assignment? It's not the hardships. It's not the gunfire. It's not the threats. It's dealing and fighting against the people, programs, and personnel who are supposed to be supporting me,"" Nordstrom said. He also told the State Department officer, ""'For me, the Taliban is on the inside of the building."" That bombshell ended a contentious hearing during which two State Department officials defended the Obama administration's handling of the September 11 attack that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. What we know about the Libya attack . Benghazi has become a flashpoint in the presidential campaign with Republican Mitt Romney saying the attack illustrates that President Barack Obama's policies have made America less influential and more vulnerable around the world. Under Secretary of State for Management Patrick Kennedy responded to suggestions the State Department was responsible for a lack of preparedness. ""We regularly assess risk and resource allocation, a process involving the considered judgments of experienced professionals on the ground and in Washington, using the best available information,"" Kennedy said. The assault on the U.S. compound was ""an unprecedented attack by dozens of heavily armed men,"" Kennedy said. His colleague, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Programs Charlene Lamb, added that the State Department ""had the correct number of assets in Benghazi at the time,"" drawing a sharp rebuke from committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa, R-California. ""To start off by saying you had the correct number, and our ambassador and three other individuals are dead, and people are in the hospital recovering because it only took moments to breach that facility somehow doesn't seem to ring true to the American people,"" Issa said. Republican committee members and the State Department officials went back and forth about the appropriate number of people needed to provide security at the vulnerable Benghazi location. Various communications dating back nearly a year asked for anywhere from three to five diplomatic security special agents. As the four-hour hearing drew to a close, Nordstrom divulged he had verbally asked for significantly more help -- 12 agents -- but the officer from the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs had rebuffed his request. ""His response to that was, 'You're asking for the sun, moon, and the stars,'"" Nordstrom said. That attitude made the Benghazi incident predictable, according to Nordstrom, who left Libya in July and continues to work at the State Department for diplomatic security. ""For me and my staff, it was abundantly clear that we were not going to get resources until the aftermath of an incident. And the question that we were to ask again is, 'How thin does the ice have to get before someone falls through?'"" Five special agents were in Benghazi at the time of the attack, Issa said. Two of them only happened to be there only because they had traveled with Stevens from Tripoli, Lamb said. ""The post had agreed that three was a sufficient number to have on the ground."" Lamb said. But Lt. Col. Andrew Wood, a Utah National Guardsman who was a site security commander in Libya from February through August, testified that the regional security officer -- it was unclear if he was talking about Nordstrom -- tried to obtain additional personnel, but ""was never able to attain the numbers he felt comfortable with."" ""The security in Benghazi was a struggle and remained a struggle throughout my time there,"" Wood said. ""Diplomatic security remained weak. In April, there was only one U.S. diplomatic security agent there."" U.S. official sought more security for Benghazi post . State Department officials also responded to allegations by Republicans that the Obama administration intentionally misled the public about the cause of the attack. Critics accuse the administration of trying to cover up or play down the attack through initial statements that described it as a spontaneous act stemming from protests over an anti-Muslim film rather than a planned terrorist assault. ""We have always made clear that we are giving the best information we have at the time. And that information has evolved,"" Kennedy said, citing remarks by U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice on September 16 that critics alleged were deceptive. ""For example, if any administration official, including any career official, were on television on Sunday, September 16, they would have said what Ambassador Rice said. The information she had at that point from the intelligence community is the same that I had at that point. Clearly, we know more about today than what we did."" While congressmen from both parties agreed that security at overseas U.S. diplomatic posts is crucial, and they expressed hope for a bipartisan solution, several times during the hearing the dialogue devolved into rancorous comments back and forth. The assault in Benghazi occurred 11 years to the day after the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Kennedy said the fullest picture of proper security and procedures will not be fully clear until a review board appointed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and including former Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen is completed. State Department officials: Benghazi attack 'unprecedented' Democrats had accused Issa of planning a partisan, election-year hearing, a similar allegation leveled against the panel for its past investigations of the botched ""Fast and Furious"" gun-running program and the failed Solyndra clean energy company that received government loan guarantees. On Tuesday, two senior State Department officials provided reporters with the most detailed explanation yet of the attack in Benghazi, saying on a conference call that there was no prior indication such an assault was imminent. The officials, who briefed reporters on condition of not being identified by name, said there was ""nothing unusual"" throughout the day of the attack. What Obama administration has said about Libya attack . Stevens held an evening meeting with a Turkish diplomat and then retired to his room in one of the compound's buildings at 9 p.m., according to the officials. The first sign of a problem came 40 minutes later, when diplomatic security agents heard loud talking outside the compound, along with gunfire and explosions. Asked whether the attack was a spontaneous assault taking advantage of a demonstration, as originally asserted by Obama administration officials, one senior official said, ""That was not our conclusion."" The two senior officials offered riveting detail of the attack by what one of them described as ""dozens of armed men"" who marauded from building to building and later fired mortars on a U.S. annex less than a mile away. In the havoc at the four-building compound, Stevens and two of his security personnel took refuge in a fortified room that the attackers were able to penetrate, one official said. The attackers doused the building with diesel fuel and set it ablaze and the three men decided to leave the safe haven and move to a bathroom to be able to breathe, according to the official. Stevens became separated from the security personnel in the chaos and smoke, and eventually turned up at a Benghazi hospital, where he was declared dead. Romney knew ex-SEAL slain in Benghazi . CNN's Jill Dougherty, Elise Labott and Tom Cohen contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Selena Gomez is ready to show off a new side. She's starred in a TV movie sequel to her hit Disney series, ""Wizards of Waverly Place,"" and the edgy, R-rated drama, ""Spring Breakers,"" and this month the former teen queen is celebrating her 21st birthday, releasing her fourth studio album and rehearsing for her first arena tour. With the release of her new LP, ""Stars Dance,"" the world is getting a glimpse of a more adult Gomez. CNN sat down with the multi-hyphenate on the morning of her birthday, and she opened up about how much she's grown since leaving teendom behind. ""The past year and a half has been really transitional for me, just personally, as well as transitioning into becoming a woman,"" she said. ""I still feel like I'm 15 sometimes and then other times, I'm wanting to feel comfortable in my body and my skin."" For this album, Gomez drew inspiration from her favorite pop star, Britney Spears, as well as from her good friend Taylor Swift for a more mature sound. The former ""Mouse House"" starlet revealed she is most proud of this album because it is the first time she was able to dedicate herself fully to her music. ""I was able to have full creative control over it. Before, I would have maybe a month or two to record an album, and I'd have to do my series at the same time and tour on the weekends. I wasn't in the right mindset to fully give my all."" Gomez began acting professionally at a young age, nabbing roles in children's programs such as ""Barney and Friends."" As more former child stars are seen heading down dark and destructive paths, Gomez has always made a conscious effort to keep from falling down the same rabbit hole. The secret? It all comes down to the company you keep. ""I truly believe that you are who you surround yourself with. To me, it's that easy. I have a great family, I have great friends, and my mom is like my mama bear. She's the one that's going to tell me 'no' when everyone around me says 'yes.' It's a good thing to have a tight group that will keep you in check."" ""Stars Dance"" is a very personal album, Gomez said. Expectations for the disc are high, following three Top 10 debuts from her previous albums. ""Come and Get It"" marked Gomez's first single to break into the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. With a 64-date arena tour on the horizon, the performer is determined to strike while the iron's hot. ""I really just want to give it my all. I've never been this tired. Dancing so much, singing constantly, just getting it tight. We want the show to be really big. I want it to be big, but in a grand way, just having my dancers and just bringing it to life."" Despite her hectic schedule and speculation about whether she'll rekindle her relationship with Justin Bieber, Gomez said she has no plans for a break in the near future. In fact, it may not be long before fans will be treated to album No. 5. ""I'm already in the studio now. I actually started working on new stuff and creating a whole fun, different vibe. It's constantly evolving. I'm super-stoked with where this is, and hopefully it will continue to just get better."""
"Barcelona, Spain (CNN) -- Not content with revolutionizing smart phones, mobile apps now appear to be in the driving seat of the auto industry as manufacturers increasingly surrender control of their vehicles to technology. Signs of the increasing dominance of the app came on Monday with Ford's decision to launch its newest B-Max compact at Mobile World Congress -- a phone industry gathering in Barcelona -- rather than a motor show. Read more: Powerful camera phone unveiled . Bill Ford, the U.S. auto giant's executive chairman, told CNN his company chose the event to debut its tech-filled car as a statement of its intention to work with app developers in shaping the vehicles of the future. The B-Max is the first car in Europe to feature SYNC, a voice-recognition system developed by Ford and already available in some U.S. cars. The system links audio, phone and GPS systems and will also call emergency services in the event of a crash. The increasing dependence of vehicles on computers has raised concerns that manufacturers are trading technology for safety, exposing drivers to hazardous distractions and malicious hackers. But Ford, the great grandson of Henry Ford, insisted SYNC would ""allow drivers to keep their eyes on the road and their hands on the steering wheel,"" and said his company was working with app makers to further improve security. ""Today, often, drivers are looking down and we know that they're playing with their cell phone and texting and we want to stop all that,"" he told CNN. ""We want them to be looking at the road with their hands on the wheel, and our tech is allowing them to do that, knowing they also want to be connected."" Ford said his firm's current crop of hi-tech cars were capable of utilizing offboard ""cloud computing"" to expand their abilities, performing tasks like directing drivers to the nearest coffee shops, checking their health and keeping tabs on their daily diary. He acknowledged this raised the prospect of potential breaches that could put valuable personal data in the hands of criminals but said the technology was currently being rolled out on an ""opt-in, opt-out"" basis. The carmaker said the B-Max would eventually run its AppLink system, which will add control of smartphone apps to voice-operated commands. Among currently available apps are programs that read out Twitter updates and pick and choose radio stations. More functions will follow as it partners with app developers, the company said in a statement. ""Ford aims to deliver voice-control compatibility with apps for a wide range of services, and is now actively seeking to partner with app developers on future opportunities,"" it said in a statement. Ford hopes the B-Max, which goes on sale in Europe later this year, will help expand its current 4 million U.S. SYNC users to 13 million worldwide by 2015. It says the car should appeal to drivers previously priced out of the hi-tech market. ""The all-new B-MAX is going to be a game-changer in the European compact family vehicle segment. No other vehicle in its class offers such an attractive combination of style, versatility and technology,"" Ford Europe's chairman and CEO Stephen Odell said in a statement. ""We think it will be among the most technologically advanced small cars you can buy at any price."" Barry Neild contributed to this story from London."
"(CNN) -- Three people died Tuesday in an explosion in the Turkish capital Ankara, in what may have been a terror attack, Interior Minister Idris Naim Sahin told CNN sister network CNN Turk. ""There was a powerful explosion in a car that was parked,"" the minister said, citing preliminary information. ""The possibility that it was a terrorist attack is high."" He said it was also possible that a gas explosion had caused the blast, ""though that is a weak possibility."" The explosion shook a crowded street in the center of Ankara, damaging vehicles and buildings on Kumrular Street near the Kizilay metro station, the official Anatolia news agency reported. An eyewitness described the scene as ""terrible"" and ""very chaotic."" ""Cars were exploding. Pieces were spreading around. We were terrified,"" the unnamed witness told CNN Turk. Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay said earlier there were no deaths, but 15 people were wounded, Anatolia reported. Ankara governor Alaaddin Yuksel said officials, including police and a prosecutor, were investigating the cause of the blast. He said many cars were parked on the street with garbage bags under them at the time of the explosion. Five people are in surgery, he added. An emergency services doctor at Numune Hospital in Ankara said 10 injured people were brought to the hospital. One was in intensive care, one was in the burn unit and the other eight have light injuries, said the doctor. None of the injuries are life-threatening, said the doctor, who did not give a name. Doctors in state hospitals are not allowed to speak to the media. The explosion took place in front of the Cankaya municipal building, local official Bulent Tanik said on Turkish television. He cited eyewitnesses as saying a burning gas tank had been thrown out a window onto the street. Police have sealed off the street, Anatolia reported. --CNN's Yesim Comert and Talia Kayali contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- The trial of Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius, charged with murder in the death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, will begin in March 2014, his attorney Kenny Oldwage told CNN on Sunday. The first phase will take place in March, but the entire trial could take place at various times across a year or more due to potential motions and postponements along the way. Pistorius will be served with an indictment Monday following the completion of the investigation. It's the day that would have been Steenkamp's 30th birthday. Pistorius is charged with premeditated murder over the February shooting death. The double amputee track star killed the woman he calls the love of his life on Valentine's Day in his home. He says he mistook her for a home invader. The police investigation team ""is convinced that the accused has a charge to answer,"" a police statement said. The athlete's family said in June that he would resume running using his blade-shaped prosthetic legs. Pistorius has started sprinting again for the sake of his emotional health, not for training to compete again, the family said. Steenkamp's uncle: I forgive Oscar Pistorious ."
"(CNN) -- A cargo train derailed and crashed into homes Sunday in a sprawling Kenyan slum, the Red Cross said. Rescue efforts are under way to free residents trapped in damaged homes in the capital city of Nairobi, the agency said. At least five people were transported to a local hospital, Red Cross said on its Twitter page. Kibera -- one of Africa's largest slums -- is filled with rows of homes made from a mixture of mud, tin, wood and concrete. A railway passes through the neighborhood. The settlement is home to hundreds of thousands. CNN's Christabelle Fombu contributed to this report ."
"(CNN) -- It's crazy golf on an insane scale -- a putting green swimming in a giant bowl of noodles and chopsticks, the Great Wall of China for a hazard, a fairway threading through Mayan ruins and a panda-themed hole. China is getting into golf in a big way ahead of the sport's reintroduction to the Olympics in 2016, and even its take on the mini version of the game is larger than life. ""Traditionalists will probably hate it,"" says design guru Brian Curley, principal partner in Schmidt-Curley, the company behind the 22 courses that make up the Mission Hills complex in Hainan Island. ""But this is real golf, with real clubs on real fairways,"" he told CNN. Just about everyone has tried their hand at crazy or mini-golf, a scale-down variant of the game which has the ability to delight and infuriate in equal measure. Usually situated at seaside resorts or other leisure locations, the prerequisites for success are a modicum of actual golfing skill, the ability to putt in a straight line or at unlikely angles off prominent obstacles -- and a large slice of luck. President Barack Obama, who takes every opportunity to hit the fairways when not leading the Western world, even tried his hand at crazy golf while on holiday with his family in Florida in 2010. Making a par on his opening hole, he then had to watch as his nine-year-old daugher Sasha made a hole in one, besting her dad in front of the gathered ranks of the world's media. Obama might well be tempted to put his handicap on the line at the ground-breaking new course being constructed at Curley's Mission Hills Haikou development. Combining the wacky elements of mini-golf with the ""grown-up"" version of the game, the proposed 18-hole layout would leave little chance of aces by nine-year-olds -- but still plenty of chances of humiliation for the average golfer. Fantasy golf . Mindful of the impression that there is a ""sameness"" to the courses being churned out in their droves in the fastest expanding golf market in the world, Curley and his team wanted to come up with something that he felt would appeal to the wider Chinese public and other visitors to the resort. So instead of bunkers, rough and trees, the players will be faced with a replica of the Great Wall of China winding its way the length of a 400-meter par four hole. It also has a hole to rival the infamous ""island green"" seen at TPC Sawgrass in Florida, home of the the U.S. PGA Tour's Players Championship. That tricky 17th sees the best in the world attempt to hit their ball onto a tiny green surrounded by water, and spectators delight in seeing the likes of Tiger Woods find the lake. At Mission Hills' new course, set to open in 2014, the water is replaced by an 80-meter wide noodle bowl with 50-meter giant chopsticks. Standing on the tee, players will not know whether to laugh or cry, and the degree of difficulty may not end there. Tiger Woods eyes long rivalry with McIlroy . Wind machine . Curley is promising the addition of ""man made"" gale force winds on each tee, adjustable depending on the standards of the players and available by hitting a red button. There is a par-5 threading its way through Mayan ruins, while another green is created in the image of the ""Birds Nest"" Olympic Stadium in Beijing. Another hole is styled after China's favorite animal, the panda bear. On a conventional golf course, the degree of difficulty is often dictated by which tee the player chooses to play from. Leading professionals play from the tees furthest from the hole, while higher handicappers can opt to hit their first shot from much closer. On the Chinese fantasy course, one of the par-3s will give golfers the choice of hitting their ball onto a tiny green surrounded by lava rocks. In true mini-golf fashion, the other easier option at the volcano theme hole will let players hit towards a mound from which the ball will be whisked nearer the hole down a pipe. Curley and his team needed the permission of the owners of the complex before committing to the costly project, but Mission Hills' chairman Dr. Ken Chu is an enthusiastic backer. ""This will be a fun alternative for families, novices and children on holiday,"" he was quoted in the Asian edition of Golf Course Industry International. Only time will tell if Chu's faith in the project proves founded, but the Mission Hills group has already established itself as a host venue of leading professional tournaments. Last year the Hainan Island development staged the World Cup teams event for the first time, taking over from the Mission Hills complex at Shenzhen. This year Shenzhen was the venue of the prestigious HSBC-World Golf Championship event, won by Englishman Ian Poulter. The Ryder Cup hero conquered the conventional bunker-bound Olazabal course in 21 under par, but knowing Poulter's reputation as a golfing trendsetter, he will probably be itching to test his mettle on Curley's new wacky creation at the first opportunity. Schwartzel triumphs at Alfred Dunhill ."
"(CNN) -- His girlfriend Lindsey Vonn thinks he's ""dorky,"" but what does Tiger Woods think? ""I guess so. My teammates used to call me 'Urkel' back in college,"" Woods told CNN's Rachel Nichols in an exclusive interview ahead of his appearance at the Turkish Airlines Open this weekend. Like the bespectacled character from 90s sitcom, ""Family Matters,"" Woods freely admits to having a ""nerdy side"" but his attraction to Olympic skiing champion Vonn, who also described him as ""funny"" and ""a great guy"" in a recent interview, has far more to do with mutual passions. ""I like to have fun. I enjoy life. I'm very competitive. I think that's why we get along so well,"" Woods said. The pair, who went public with their relationship in March, also share an understanding of the physical demands of top athletes, although Woods concedes golf isn't exactly littered with glorious physical specimens. Read more: Vonn puts comeback on ice . ""I think we understand the work ethic that it takes. It's two totally different training regimes because she's got to spend so much time on leg development and core development and time on the bike that we don't have to. Looking at some of the guys on tour, they've got huge guts and can't breathe when they go up to tee boxes but they can still win golf tournaments,"" Woods said. ""In her sport, unless you're feeling close to 100% you are not going to win. So it's very different."" Return to fitness and form . Woods famously won the U.S. Open in 2008 (his last major triumph) playing through the pain barrier of a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament and a double stress fracture of his tibia, and injuries (knees, Achilles and elbow) have dogged him since. But barring the withdrawal from the AT&T National at Congressional in June, 2013 has been kinder physically, enabling the Tiger of old to re-emerge more regularly. Read more: Woods dropped by EA Sports . ""I knew I could get back, but I had to get healthy first. I couldn't practice unless I got healthy. And in order to play tournaments you gotta practice,"" he says. Enlisting the help of swing coach Sean Foley in 2011 has also paid dividends creating more consistency in his game, he says. ""I've won eight times these last two years, so I'm very proud of that."" Major frustration . There is, however, the small matter of Woods' continuing failure to make an impact on the biggest stage -- Woods remains stuck on 14 major titles, four short of Jack Nicklaus' record of 18. It's a frustration, admits Woods, after being in contention at two majors this year. For once, his feted accuracy landed him in trouble during the second round of the Masters in April. While tied for the lead, Woods' third shot to Augusta's par-five 15th hit the flagstick before ricocheting back into the water. After taking a drop -- in the wrong place as it later transpired -- Woods ended up with a triple-bogey eight and eventually finished in a tie for fourth. Woods felt the same sense of lost momentum three months later at Muirfield. ""At the British Open on Saturday at the 17th I just spun one up in the air and it ended up in the bunker. I blasted out made bogey, Lee (Westwood) made birdie so there was a big shift there. I've been there with chances to win at the weekend, I just haven't done it yet,"" he said. Time, insists the 37-year-old, is still on his side. ""A lot of golfers peak in their 30s. You start eliminating mistakes as you get older. I might not bomb it as far, but strategic awareness improves. You understand how to attack the golf course and that's why there are so many great players -- (Ben) Hogan for instance, won most of his majors at my age and over. ""For Jack (Nicklaus) it took him until he was 46 ... You are going to have your years when you play really well -- you may clip two or three -- and then you have years when you just don't win anything -- you are there, you just don't happen to win,"" he said. ""Quite frankly, since 2008, I've been there with a chance to win about a half of them. I just haven't seemed to have won one."" Rules of the game . Woods may have enjoyed his most successful season since 2009, but not everyone has been pleased with his progress. Last month, golf journalist Brandel Chamblee awarded Woods a grade ""F"" for his 2013 labors, noting provocatively that he had been ""a little cavalier with the rules"" -- a reference to four rules violations this year including the controversial two-shot penalty at Augusta. Woods' agent Mark Steinberg raged on his behalf calling the slur ""shameless"" and ""baseless,"" before Chamblee offered an apology of sorts via Twitter. The constant scrutiny has become par for the course for Woods who says its just the nature of 21st century media landscape. ""It's a new world for everyone because it's a 24-hour news cycle. Everyone has outlets via blogs, the Internet has changed everything in how our sport is looked upon."" 'Watermelon guy' Woods takes refuge in practice, ""hanging out with my boys"" at the Medalist Golf Club near his home in Florida and focusing on his children: six-year-old daughter Sam and son Charlie who turned four this year. ""It was pretty neat that he was at Akron (WGC-Bridgestone International in August) when I won this year. It's the first time he's seen me win a golf tournament. It was thrilling for me and he got pretty excited. ""He's been out on a golf course with me (before), but he's never seen people following me playing. So that was a little bit different -- he was a little bit nervous about that because obviously it's a different type of crowd. It was a little bit shocking to him and he also loved it at the same time."" Much like his late father Earl, Woods is taking pride in watching his kids as they take their first, less public strides onto the sports field. ""I don't yell at them when they play T-ball or soccer. I just watch, support and let the coaches coach. ""Lately, I've been the watermelon guy -- so if they need a little bit of sugar, get a little tired they will come over and say: 'do you have any watermelon?' Other than that, I just watch and to me that's just a thrill."""
"LONDON, England (CNN) -- Britain's foremost aviation showcase celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. The Spitfire is one of the aircraft from Farnborough's inaugural show getting airborne once again to celebrate the airshow's 60th year. The 46th Farnborough International Airshow will commemorate the first show ever held in 1948 at this year's event in Hampshire which runs from July 14 to 20. ""As we look back on the past 60 years, we also are excited to continue looking forward to the next 60 years,"" said John Cairns, Head of Services at Farnborough International Limited (FIL) which runs the biennial airshow. To mark the occasion, Farnborough's world-renowned flying display will include aircraft which flew at the first show like the Swordfish, Spitfire, Sea Hawk and Sea Fury. Adding a modern twist to the mix will be the debut of The Blades, the world's only globally accredited aerobatic airline. The airshow was first established as a way for the British public to see and learn about the best of aviation. Staying true to its original purpose, on both Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 July -- Farnborough's ""public weekend"" -- there will be a four-and-a-half-hour flying display. Highlights include perennial favourites the Red Arrows, the Royal Air Force aerobatic team who will close the show with their aerial gymnastics, as well as the debut of the Aero Sekur Shooting Stars, an Italian ladies' parachute team who will be providing daily skydiving displays. ""Farnborough, in essence, has always been about innovation, and I am delighted that to a long line of distinguished 'Farnborough Firsts' I am able to add some very worthy new firsts, including the first ever women's parachute team to appear at the Airshow; the world's first aerobatic airline and the first business aviation jet to have been developed at Farnborough,"" continued Cairns. As well as displaying aircraft for the public, Farnborough has also established itself as one of the world's premier showcases for the aviation business world. This year, 1,500 companies from 35 countries as diverse as Colombia and Bahrain will be exhibiting planes and other technologies in a show that is predicted to be Farnborough's biggest to date. On the trade days which run from Monday 14 to Friday 18 July, business attendees will be able to see the world's latest aerospace innovations in the air. A full range of civil, business and defence aircraft will take part in flying displays. These include the Airbus AB380; HAL helicopters; the Kestrel JP10 (originally conceived at Farnborough airfield); the MiG 29; the EADS Eurofighter; the F 16 and F18; the MB 346; the AB 609; MB 311. In 2006, Farnborough trade week accumulated $42 billion worth of orders including $550 million in business aviation orders. The Airbus A380 also made its UK debut at Farnborough that year. ""Our intention has always been to build on the success of the 2006 event, and to ensure that this year's show delivers an incomparable business service for our exhibitors and their customers, ensuring that they can gain maximum benefit and opportunity from attending Farnborough Airshow -- whether that is taking orders, making sales or developing new business,"" said Amanda Stainer, the Airshow's Exhibition and Events Director. To find out more about Farnborough International Airshow go to: www.farnborough.com/ ."
"(CNN) -- Japan's parliament elected Yoshihiko Noda as the country's new prime minister Tuesday, making him the country's sixth new leader in five years. Noda won 308 out of 476 possible votes. The prime minister-elect will officially take over his new post after a ceremonial endorsement by Japan's emperor, which is expected to happen Wednesday. Ahead of the vote, former Prime Minister Naoto Kan officially submitted his resignation, as did his Cabinet, clearing the way for Noda's election. The Democratic Party of Japan, the country's ruling party, picked Noda as its new leader on Monday. He served as finance minister in Kan's cabinet. In his first speech as party leader, Noda called for party unity to tackle Japan's massive problems. ""Running Japan's government is like pushing a giant snowball up a snowy, slippery hill,"" he said Sunday. ""In times like this, we can't say, 'I don't like this person,' or 'I don't like that person.' The snowball will slide down."" On Friday, Prime Minister Kan announced that he would resign. His approval rating had tumbled following the devastating March earthquake and tsunami that triggered the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl as reactor cores overheated and spewed radioactive material into surrounding areas. An observer of Japan's revolving door of prime ministers said the country's political problems are weighing down one of the world's largest economies. Japanese politicians lack spine and public support, said Keith Henry of the Tokyo-based Asia Strategy, a government policy consulting firm. ""They've got to turn the ship around 180 degrees,"" Henry said. ""Until they see an iceberg, they're not going to do it."" Japan is facing a massive reconstruction program in the region devastated by the tsunami, an ongoing nuclear energy crisis and unaddressed problems in the economy. Noda, a fiscal conservative, has pledged to raise taxes and would like to privatize state assets. Last week, the credit rating agency Moody's downgraded Japan to an Aa3 rating from Aa2, blaming the country's huge deficit and frequent changes in administration that have prevented the government from implementing long-term economic policies. The CIA World Factbook puts the government debt at more than 200% of the GDP. CNN's Kyung Lah contributed to this report."
"Washington (CNN) -- A super PAC backed by the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch is dropping $6.5 million into six competitive Senate races in a final ad push to send Republican candidates to the upper chamber. The television ads, which will air in Alaska, Arkansas, North Carolina, Colorado, Iowa and New Hampshire, link Democratic candidates in each race to President Barack Obama, reinforcing Republican messaging throughout the 2014 midterm season that has pushed the Democratic candidates in each of those states to keep their distance from the President. Local residents are the face of ads in the six states, saying either ""there are lots of reasons"" or ""there are many reasons"" why the Democrat doesn't deserve their vote. And the voters go on to say in similar form that, ""A vote for [insert Democratic candidate here] is a vote for President Obama."" The ads also close by directly endorsing the Republican candidate for Senate in each race, a push not seen from groups in the Koch political network before 2014. That's because Freedom Partners Action Fund is the first super PAC in the Koch's web of political groups that can do so under campaign laws. And while super PACs, unlike nonprofit issues groups, are required to disclose their donors, super PACs can also directly support individual candidates. The group was founded in June and the Koch Brothers donated more than $4 million to Freedom Partners Action Fund, according to the group's October quarterly disclosure with the Federal Elections Commission. The super PAC has also launched ads in several congressional districts in the last week and plans to push additional ads in key states before the election is over. ""We'll launch additional ads, it's just for these states these are kind of our close out messages,"" the group's spokesman James Davis said. Dana Bash contributed to this report."
"(CNN)  -- Park Ji-sung headed a second half winner as Manchester United beat bitter rivals Liverpool 2-1 to reclaim top spot in the English Premier League on Sunday. Spanish international striker Fernando Torres gave Liverpool a shock fifth-minute lead at Old Trafford, but Wayne Rooney quickly equalized from the penalty spot. The goal came in controversial circumstances with Javier Mascherano's foul on Antonio Valencia appearing to start outside the area. Rooney's initial spotkick was saved by Pepe Reina, but the England striker continued his rich scoring vein by hitting home the rebound in the 12th minute. In a second half of few openings, South Korean star Park dived to power home the winner on the hour mark from man of the match Darren Fletcher's superb cross. Torres, who had started and finished the move to put Liverpool ahead, fluffed a great chance to equalize in the the last minute, but his shot ballooned high and Yossi Benayoun could only head it straight at Edwin van der Sar. The win takes United two points clear of Arsenal on 69 points after 31 games. Third-placed Chelsea were later held to a 1-1 draw at Blackburn to be four points adrift, but with a game in hand. It was another setback for Chelsea, who were knocked out of the Champions League by Inter Milan in midweek. Didier Drogba gave Carlo Ancelotti's men an early lead at Ewood Park as he neatly converted Nicolas Anelka's cross, but they were unable to press home their advantage. El-Hadji Diouf equalized for the home side in the 70th minute when he rose above Paulo Ferreira to cleverly direct Michel Salgado's cross past Petr Cech. Fletcher claimed their earlier victory over Liverpool, who are battling with Tottenham, Manchester City and Aston Villa for the final Champions League spot, had put the pressure on Chelsea. ""The team that puts the most consistent run to the end of the season will probably be the champions,"" Fletcher told Sky Sports. United's city rivals Manchester City also enjoyed a crucial 2-1 win on Sunday as they beat Fulham at Craven Cotage. Fulham were feeling the effects of their famous win over Juventus in midweek and fell behind to first half goals from Roque Santa Cruz and Carlos Tevez, who starred for the visitors. Fulham captain Danny Murphy pulled one back from the spot in the 75th minute but they could not force an equalizer. City move above Liverpool into fifth place, two points adrift of fourth-placed Tottenham, but with a game in hand."
"WASHINGTON (CNN) -- For years, retired Air Force Col. John Leech has had no desire to return to the Pentagon. Retired Col. John Leech narrowly escaped death at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. Leech narrowly escaped death September 11, 2001, when a hijacked American Airlines jetliner hit the building. He will attend Thursday's dedication of the Pentagon memorial honoring the 184 people killed in the terror attack. In an earlier visit to the memorial, Leech left a note for his friend Navy Capt. Jack Punches: ""Thanks Jack for serving and dying for our nation."" Leech could barely contain his sadness recently as he watched a Department of Defense videotape showing the burned interior of the area in the building where he was that fateful morning. ""Wow. My God. ... It makes you weak in the knees to see these pictures,"" Leech said. Leech, 54, recently took CNN into an office not far from the conference room where he was that morning. He has avoided touring the building since the attack but finally decided he was ready to ""re-engage"" with the past. In 2001, Leech was working as a Defense Department liaison officer to the White House Drug Policy office. He worked primarily out of the White House but attended meetings at the Pentagon every Tuesday and Thursday morning.  Watch as he returns to the crash site » . As he walked the now-renovated halls where he spent the morning of September 11, he recalled the horror of the day. The shock, he said, was indescribable. ""It hit with such force. I had never experienced anything like it in my life. It rattled you right down to the bone,"" Leech said. Flight 77 slammed into the west wall of the Pentagon at 9:37 a.m. ET. Among the 184 people killed in the building and on the plane were a 3-year-old girl and a 71-year-old retired Navy captain, the youngest and oldest victims, who were both passengers on Flight 77.  A closer look at the new Pentagon memorial » . Several people were killed or severely burned not far from where Leech took cover. He remembers people screaming, ""bloodcurdling screams."" ""I was so lucky. ... It was almost like we were in a protective cocoon,"" Leech recalled. ""I mean, I inhaled a lot of jet fuel vapors, and I got dusted up, but that was the extent of my injuries."" The married father of a 26-year-old woman remembers snaking his way outside the burning building, where in a stupor he noticed a comb that appeared to belong to a small child. ""A little girl's comb that was untouched. It was not scorched; it didn't have smut on it,"" Leech remembered. ""It was a pristine red comb sitting off the side, and next to it was a tattered suitcase, and I can remember looking at that and thinking, who did that belong to? What little girl did that belong to?"" Leech served 28 years in the military and now works for the Department of Homeland Security but hopes to return one day to the Defense Department. Seven years after that horrible day, Leech visited the chapel at the new Pentagon Memorial, a two-acre park, which opens to the public Thursday. It was built at the spot where Flight 77 plowed into the Pentagon and will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Thumbing through a condolence book in the chapel, he found the friend whom he was with that day, Navy Capt. Jack Punches. He wrote, ""Thanks Jack for serving and dying for our nation -- John Leech."" ""I've avoided ... anything to do with 9/11, so it feels good to be here,"" he said. ""I mean, a lot happened that day. A lot of good people died. A lot of very good people."" CNN senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre contributed to this story ."
"NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- Patrons at Mat and Naddie's restaurant in New Orleans may start with mouth-watering shrimp and crawfish croquettes. Or if they are feeling a tad more adventurous, they might try the artichoke, sun-dried tomato and roasted garlic cheesecake. Stephen Schwarz has received a grant and low-interest loan from the state to help keep his business going. What diners probably don't know is that in a down economy, it is a constant struggle for restaurant owner Stephen Schwarz to keep Mat and Naddie's up and running. ""I haven't gotten to the point where I have said, 'Oh my God, I'm not going to make payroll this week,' "" Schwarz says. ""I guess I am more conservative. I always want to keep a certain amount of cash in the bank."" Nothing has been easy in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina. Schwarz is one of the lucky ones. His restaurant is in the city's uptown area, near the riverbend, for those familiar with the city's quirky geography. It's one of the few areas of the city that did not flood. He had Mat and Naddie's back up and running and turning out what he calls ""Modern Louisiana"" food just three weeks after the storm. But in the past few years, a city that prides itself on amazing cuisine has seen a healthy spike in its number of restaurants. Before Katrina, there were about 800 restaurants in New Orleans. Now, the number is closer to 1,000. ""I think eventually, there are going to be places that go out of business,"" Schwarz says. ""They're going to have to ... unless we get more people down here, living down here back to the levels before the storm.""  Watch Schwarz describe the culinary competition in New Orleans » . Tourists, volunteers and emergency workers have been among the patrons frequenting all those restaurants. But the recession is putting the brakes on the number of people with disposable income heading to New Orleans. So entrepreneurs like Schwarz are trying to stay afloat. ""It's a matter of how much stamina we can have, and how long we can last before things turn around,"" he says. ""How long can I continue to be creative about how we do our business so that maybe we can get some infusion of cash somewhere else."" Schwarz also operates Michael's Catering. Before Katrina, it was a relatively small operation that provided a nice little amount of financial padding each month. Things are different now. ""In the last year, it really got to the point where catering is 40 percent of our business,"" Schwarz says. ""It is almost equal to what we do at dinner [at the restaurant]. Before, dinner was about twice the volume of catering."" At a recent charity event on the mezzanine level of a New Orleans hotel, Michael's Catering was among 15 or so entities providing a taste of the city to patrons. It was a way to get some exposure, but the food, which was pulled pork from a roasted pig, had to be mouthwatering. ""It's very important, because it really gets your name out there,"" says Krystan Hosking, catering manager for Michael's. And there was also pressure. ""Word of mouth is very important, because if you get one bad review, there are tons of restaurants that people are just waiting to try,"" she says. ""So if somebody gives you a bad review, they aren't going to give you a second chance."" Schwarz has been creative coming up with the funds to stay in business. This year, he received a $10,000 grant and a $40,000 low-interest loan through the state -- part of Louisiana's recovery effort to keep small businesses up and running. Unlike some areas of the country that have seen the economy collapse in a matter of weeks, Schwarz says New Orleans is coping with a gradual decline. ""It's going to mean that we are going to have to keep on somehow, keep our capital here, so that we can cover this slow eating-away of losses."" Schwarz says. Between the catering gig and the restaurant, Schwarz has about 28 full- and part-time employees. Schwarz himself is a transplant. He came to visit about 30 years ago and never left. He says he's proud that New Orleans residents tend to turn their backs on chain restaurants. But just because Mat and Naddie's has been a presence near the riverbend for a generation is no guarantee it'll be there after the recession. ""Even if we do go out of business,"" Schwarz says, ""or if a lot of places like us go out of business, I hope that the memory of the people who live here, or their memory of what they like, will stay with them -- and those places will come back."""
"Washington (CNN) -- On Saturday he was the comedian-in-chief, cracking jokes with reporters and celebrities at the annual White House Correspondents Dinner. On Sunday he oversaw one of the riskiest special forces operations since Desert One, Jimmy Carter's ill-fated attempt to rescue the American hostages from Iran more than three decades ago. Barack Obama isn't just the president. He's the nation's ultimate multi-tasker, juggling enough roles and responsibilities to make the average person's head spin. Over the last month and a half, Obama held at least five National Security Council meetings to help plan the assault on Osama bin Laden's compound. The days in which those meetings were held coincided with, among other things, an education reform speech, two political fundraisers, a discussion with the Japanese prime minister about that country's nuclear crisis, a long-awaited deficit reduction speech, and two meetings on immigration reform. The day before the last National Security Council meeting -- on April 28 -- the ""birther"" controversy came to a head. Obama made a surprise appearance in the White House briefing room to release his long-form birth certificate. (Yes, he actually was born in Hawaii.) And in the midst of all the planning, the president cut a deal with congressional Republicans to narrowly avert a government shutdown. He also dealt with a series of devastating storms in the South. Has this always been par for the course at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue? Not really, according to Boston University presidential historian Robert Dalleck. The frenetic pace of the presidency is largely a reflection of America's role as the premier global power in the post-World War II era, Dalleck told CNN. Harry Truman dealt with countless domestic crises during the Korean War; LBJ tackled the Great Society and civil rights while fighting in Vietnam. But in recent years, he said, the daily pace has accelerated due to the rise of the internet, wireless, and other facets of the communications revolution. There's a ""kind of blinding rapidity"" in which one event quickly overtakes the next, said Dalleck. Our attention -- and that of the president -- is whipped from the latest economic crisis to the newest tornado wreckage to the latest protest or outbreak of violence in the Middle East. Faced with a pressure for constant response, modern administrations face times ""of great pressure and intense demand over a series of compelling issues,"" he said. ""(Abraham) Lincoln's burdens were as great as any president will face,"" Dallek noted. But the rapid onslaught of information from around the world contributes to ""a different sort of feel now."" Case in point: the execution of Sunday's mission against bin Laden's compound. Obama was able to ""monitor the situation in real time,"" according to White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan. That ability ""does speed things up and create a greater sense of pressure,"" Dallek said. Dallek questioned whether an older person -- including a more hands-off administrator such as Ronald Reagan -- could adequately function in today's version of the pressure cooker environment. He or she ""might be overwhelmed,"" Dallek said. Among other things, ""you need to have good health."" You also need to be constantly on call. Teddy Roosevelt would ""just disappear as president for months at a time and people didn't know where he was,"" noted acclaimed Rice University historian Douglas Brinkley. If Obama were to disappear for 15 minutes, people ""would freak out."" Current times are not ""uniquely oppressive,"" Brinkley noted, drawing a contrast with the divisions of the 1960s and the generations that fought World War II and the Civil War, Brinkley said. But globalization and the interconnectedness of the modern age -- while increasing the flow of information -- have contributed to an overarching sense of ""frustration and fear"" that the administration is now confronting. Wendy Schiller, a Brown University political scientist, noted that every president since Eisenhower has recognized the need for an executive office equipped to handle ""a wide range of issues quickly and responsibly."" Ike ""laid the foundation for the West Wing infrastructure of expertise that we see now working for Obama (constantly), and that infrastructure gives presidents the capacity"" to adapt quickly on a broad range of issues. ""The key challenge for presidents in the 21st century is knowing when to respond immediately and knowing when to take their time to manage a given situation,"" Schiller said. ""It is not just that Obama has been involved in such a broad range of issues and activities. It is that he has handled them each differently and appropriately,"" she asserted. The president's speech late Sunday night ""reinforced an image of a man -- as commander-in-chief -- who knows how to prioritize the nation's interests,"" she said. Schiller argued that the ""24/7 news media and now social media puts far greater pressure on presidents for an immediate response or reaction to national and world events because voters learn about (developments) much more quickly than they used to."" But while the ""informational time gap between the president and the voters has narrowed considerably .... the president incurs the same costs for reacting rashly or impatiently as his predecessors did in eras of slower technology,"" she warned. Does she agree with Dallek's assertion that an older person might be overwhelmed by the nature of the modern presidency? Schiller didn't say, but she did offer a quote from Alexander Hamilton: ""Energy in the executive is a leading character in the definition of good government."" Twenty-first century presidents, she said, must have that energy ""in all senses of the word."" Above all, ""be sane,"" Dallek concluded. ""That's the watchword."""
"(CNN) -- American investigators reviewing a hard drive belonging to the captain of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 have found that there were deletions of information even closer to the final flight than first indicated by Malaysian officials, U.S. law enforcement officials tell CNN. The forensic search of the computer files by government experts found files were removed even after February 3, the date Malaysian authorities have cited for when some data was cleared from the drive of the captain. Investigators are examining the contents of drives belonging to both pilots. Copies of the hard drives are at the FBI's forensics lab facilities in Quantico, Virginia, and one is being analyzed with the assistance of consultants the FBI uses to help analyze such electronic data. It's not clear why Malaysian officials cited the February 3 date and if they knew of the other deletions. The type of software used for flight simulation takes up a lot of room in hard drives and investigators believe that could be one reason for deletion of files. It's possible too that some damage could have been done during the first examinations done by Malaysian investigators. Law enforcement officials say that they aren't drawing any conclusions about the subsequent deletions, or the earlier ones, just two days into reviewing the hard drive contents, which officials described as a large volume of data. More couldn't be learned about the nature of the deletions, and who made them. Some senior U.S. counterterrorism officials say that an accident is the leading operative theory as cause for the disappearance of Flight 370. That's because there is no other information indicating foul play. ""Barring other information to suggest otherwise one has to first think this was a tragic accident,"" a U.S. law enforcement official said. But investigators have not ruled out terrorism or other theories. Investigators have focused on the pilots because of the lack of any other information. But there isn't proof that they did anything wrong. U.S. investigators have compiled profiles of the two pilots, based on interviews with friends, neighbors and family members conducted by Malaysian investigators, and on a search of their online activities, U.S. officials say. Those interviews haven't turned up anything that could suggest any explanations for the plane's disappearance. U.S. investigators also are concerned about the preservation of evidence in Malaysia. Malaysian authorities waited six days to search the pilots' homes. This was enough time, U.S. officials believe, for someone who had access to the homes perhaps to have tampered with evidence. They don't know if there was any tampering but it is a worry because Malaysian officials didn't appear to secure evidence immediately. U.S. officials say they understand that there are Malaysian legal restrictions and requirements for probable cause before such searches. The difference in procedures is a common issue in international investigations such as this."
"(EW.com) -- This weekend, ""Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters"" hunted down the No. 1 spot at the box office with $19 million from 3,372 theaters. Although ""Hansel and Gretel"" can hardly be called a fairy-tale success at this point, it proved far more bewitching than fellow newcomers ""Parker"" and ""Movie 43,"" which were left with only bread crumbs in their sad debut frame. Paramount and MGM spent $50 million to produce ""Hansel and Gretel,"" which was shot in 2011 and originally scheduled to be released in March 2012. Distributor Paramount moved the film's release to this month to capitalize on star Jeremy Renner, whom the studio hoped would blossom into a true box-office draw following ""The Avengers"" and ""The Bourne Legacy."" (It also seems likely that ""Hansel and Gretel"" got placed in January due to its poor quality — January tends to be a dumping ground for studios' stinkers.) Whether or not Renner had anything to do with it, the date change proved at least somewhat effective — ""Hansel and Gretel"" outgrossed the last supernatural fantasy with Hunter in the title, ""Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter,"" which staked a weak $16.3 million in its debut frame. 3-D showings of ""Hansel and Gretel"" accounted for 55 percent of its weekend gross, while IMAX made up 11 percent of the total. Due to its R rating, the Grimm tale played primarily to older audiences — 57 percent of crowds were above the age of 25, and 55 percent were male. Audiences issued the film a lukewarm ""B"" CinemaScore grade, so it seems unlikely that Hansel and Gretel will achieve strong word of mouth. Fortunately for Paramount (the studio suffered a rough winter with Jack Reacher, The Guilt Trip, Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away, and Rise of the Guardians — which passed $100 million this weekend), the film has already earned $35.8 million from international territories representing about 40 percent of the overseas market. Last weekend's box office champ, Mama, dropped 55 percent into second place with $12.9 million. With $48.7 million after 10 days, Universal's $15 million horror entry has officially surpassed Gangster Squad as 2013′s highest grossing release. Of course, that will change faster than you could say ""Iron Man 3,"" but it's an impressive performance nonetheless. 'Downton Abbey': Big season 4 spoiler! Two Oscar contenders finished in third and fourth place with almost identical weekend grosses — not to mention almost identical totals. ""Silver Linings Playbook"" dropped by an incredibly small 7 percent in its 11th weekend to $10 million. Weinstein's $21 million drama continues to benefit from great word of mouth. And with $69.5 million so far and another month until the Oscars still to go, director David O. Russell's Playbook is on track to finish above $100 million. ""Zero Dark Thirty,"" meanwhile, fell by a steeper 38 percent to $9.8 million and $69.9 million total in its sixth weekend. The $40 million Sony drama will need to notch better holds if it wants to join fellow Best Picture nominees Argo, Lincoln, Django Unchained, Les Miserables, and Life of Pi in the $100 million club. Norah Jones to do 'Ted' song at Oscars . Jason Statham's annual action misfire ""Parker"" lived up to its low expectations, finishing in fifth place with $7 million from 2,224 theaters. FilmDistrict's shoot-em-up, whose budget was in the $35 million range, didn't get any boost from costar Jennifer Lopez, who proved unable to attract viewers outside her go-to rom-com genre. Parker opened short of Statham's last three leading efforts, Safe ($7.9 million debut), Killer Elite, ($9.3 million), and The Mechanic ($11.4 million), and it will likely finish below $20 million domestically. Between Parker, The Last Stand, Broken City, and Gangster Squad, January has been a difficult month for non-fantasy gun-driven violence. But at least audiences enjoyed Parker — it earned a ""B+"" CinemaScore grade. 1. Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters -- $19.0 million . 2. Mama -- $12.9 million . 3. Silver Linings Playbook -- $10.0 million . 4. Zero Dark Thirty -- $9.8 million . 5. Parker -- $7.0 million . See the original story at EW.com. CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly . © 2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved."
"(CNN) -- World champion Sebastian Vettel began his 2011 Formula One defense in emphatic style on Sunday, leading the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne from start to finish. McLaren's 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton did well to finish second after damaging his car on the first corner while Lotus Renault's Russian driver Vitaly Petrov achieved his first podium finish by claiming an impressive third place. Fernando Alonso finished fourth for Ferrari, with Mark Webber in his Red Bull in fifth place. Jenson Button came sixth in his McLaren. Formula One teams, drivers and circuits . Sauber pair Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi finished a creditable seventh and eighth respectively, but they were later disqualified by race stewards for technical infringements to do with their rear wings. This meant Ferrari's Felipe Massa moved up to seventh place with the Toro Rosso of Sebastien Buemi taking eighth place. The 23-year-old Vettel, who was claiming his 11th victory in just his 63rd grand prix, told the official Formula One website: ""I'm very pleased, it was a very good weekend and I had a very nice car to sit in this afternoon. ""It was a good race and towards the end things calmed down a bit as Lewis didn't push as hard."" The German continued: ""The start was crucial and being on the clean side I had a very good getaway. We learned a lot of things today and it feels good coming here after a long winter and setting the pace."" Hamilton was satisfied with his runner-up spot, saying: ""We can take this and be very proud of ourselves. A week or two ago we weren't expecting to be in the top five, so to come to second is a great achievement."" Meanwhile, a stunned Petrov told the after-race press conference:  ""To be honest I can't believe I'm sitting with these guys. We didn't know where we were coming into the season, but in practice and qualifying we were good. ""In the race the team did everything perfectly. We can be very proud of what we have achieved today."" However, it proved a disastrous day for the Mercedes pair of Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg, who had both retired by the 22nd lap of the race."
"(CNN) -- California's vote on a controversial cigarette tax remained too close to call Wednesday morning, although votes counted so far suggest it was narrowly rejected. With all precincts reporting, the tally was 50.8% against the proposal and 49.2% in support of it, according to the California Secretary of State website. But the vote was listed as a ""close contest"" with no final result. Counties have 28 days to count every vote-by-mail, provisional and damaged ballot, the secretary of state's office said. With nearly 3.9 million votes cast in precincts, the ""no"" votes were ahead by only about 63,000. Proposition 29, would raise about $735 million a year. About three-quarters of the money raised would go to cancer research. ""The American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association and the American Lung Association wrote the initiative carefully,"" Lori Bremner of the American Cancer Society told CNN's ""Sanjay Gupta MD"" last week. ""The money is going to be invested in cancer research here in California and on tobacco prevention and cessation programs to protect kids and reduce smoking here in California."" Studies show the tax would help decrease smoking and save lives, she said. Opponents slammed the tax as a misguided burden in an already tough economy. ""What we're seeing in the state of California is a lot of frustration on the part of our citizenry that it's just another tax,"" said Dr. Marcy Zwelling, a general practitioner. The tax, she said in an interview with CNN, ""goes to build bigger bureaucracy, build business, build buildings, not necessarily to go to cancer research."" The opposition in California was fueled by a huge influx of cash from big tobacco companies. About $47 million was raised in efforts -- including TV advertising -- to defeat ""Prop. 29,"" including $27.5 million from Philip Morris and $11 million from R.J. Reynolds, according to figures from MapLight, a nonpartisan research firm. About $12 million was raised in support of the initiative, including $8.5 million from the American Cancer Society and $1.5 million from the Lance Armstrong Foundation, known as Livestrong. Armstrong himself appeared in ads urging people to ""vote yes on 29."" (Gupta, CNN chief medical correspondent, is a board member of the foundation.) There is already an 87-cent tax on each pack of cigarettes in California. According to California's official voter guide, the health groups behind Prop. 29 said it would ""save lives, stop kids from smoking, and fund cancer research,"" while those opposed said the initiative ""doesn't require revenue be spent in California to create jobs or fund schools."" Bremner insisted the campaign against Prop. 29 traded in ""deceptions."" The biggest misconception is that the money collected ""will be somehow wasted or used otherwise,"" she said. But Zwelling said it would heavily affect poorer Americans, who are more likely to smoke. And other efforts, including the state's ban on smoking in public places, have succeeded at pushing people to quit smoking, she said. John Seffrin, CEO of the American Cancer Society, said if the bill passed, ""It would make California the second-largest funder of cancer research after the (National Cancer Institute) in the entire country."" Some grant proposals that currently go unfunded would find a source of revenue, he said. ""So, it's a tremendous opportunity for California to do the right thing -- not only for California, but for the whole world."" CNN's Caleb Hellerman, Nadia Kounang and Josh Levs contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- A Nevada man was found guilty Thursday of raping and strangling a 19-year-old student in a string of attacks that rattled the university community in Reno two years ago. A Washoe County, Nevada, jury convicted James Michael Biela, 28, of first-degree murder and sexual assault in the death of Brianna Denison. He was also convicted of two counts of sexual assault for attacks on two other women. He was also convicted of one count of kidnapping related to one of those attacks. The father and former construction worker faces the death penalty. Denison, a sophomore at Santa Barbara City College in California, was last seen alive on her friend's couch on January 20, 2008. Three weeks later, her body was found in a field near her friend's home. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled. A pair of panties that did not belong to Denison were found near the body, in what police said was a ""calling card"" that helped them connect Biela not only to Denison, but also to the other assaults. From the witness stand in Biela's capital murder trial, one of the women recounted how she was attacked on the University of Nevada-Reno campus. She said her assailant threatened her with a gun, raped her and took her panties as a souvenir. The defense challenged the identification because she earlier told a friend she could not describe her attacker to police. The second woman, a student at the university, testified she was abducted outside her apartment and driven to a dark area and raped in the attacker's vehicle. The woman testified that her assailant asked for her panties and took them with him. The trial began with emotional testimony from Denison's mother, her boyfriend, and a video showing her with friends at a diner just a few hours before she was abducted. Denison was visiting friends in her hometown of Reno. After they attended a concert, she slept on the living room couch in a friend's off-campus apartment. While she slept, someone crept into the apartment and snatched her, police and prosecutors said. Her case triggered a flurry of national media coverage and thousands of tips, including the one that led to Biela's arrest. Police released a photo of the panties near Denison's body and a description of the pickup truck. A friend of Biela's girlfriend saw the photo of the panties, and thought she recognized the truck police described. She told investigators a friend's boyfriend had a truck similar to the description, and that her friend had seen women's panties inside it. Detectives immediately followed up on the tip and, with permission from the girlfriend, took DNA samples from Biela's 4-year-old son. Lab tests showed that the boy's father -- Biela -- was almost certainly a match for the DNA found on the doorknob and at the crime scene, police said. DNA obtained from the other victim's rape kit matched Biela's, according to testimony. Biela's defense attorneys challenged the DNA testing method, claiming it was not accurate. CNN's Rupa Mikkilineni contributed to this report."
"Mogadishu (CNN) -- A female soldier roughly passes her hands over the waistband of my jeans as a finishing touch to the most intimate pat down I've ever received. But we're not done yet, a metal detector is then passed in unusually close contact with my skin. Up down, over and around. And that's just to get through the first gate. At the second entrance, a Somali close protection officer bars the way and Special Forces officers crowd around as our camera is switched off and on to prove it is indeed a camera. Even though we had traveled in with African Union soldiers tasked with escorting the President, suspicions still had to be assuaged. And if all this seems extreme, it isn't. On his second day in office, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was targeted by the al-Qaeda linked militant group al-Shabaab, and even on this day, as we drive through town, we pass the still-smoking wreckage of the Somali Minister of Interior's convoy. A car filled with explosives drove into his flag car, detonating on impact. Fortunately for the Minister he wasn't in the car at the time. Eight civilians, though, were killed on the street. Read more: Suicide bomber targets Qatari delegation in Somalia, 8 dead . And yet, Mahmud insisted on keeping this appointment at an opening of a hotel in Deynile, on the outskirts of Mogadishu where Al-Shabaab still have a presence. If he's worried he didn't look it, smiling from behind his wrap-around shades as women dressed in the Somali flag sing traditional songs of welcome. Eventually he is brought to us around the back of the courtyard for our scheduled interview -- but not before the perimeter is repeatedly swept. Read more: Dozens dead in Somali courthouse attack . In an open-air space like this, though, there is only so much his men can do. Especially when his enemies are willing to die for the cause. The president tells me he is aware that these trips he makes cause consternation among his advisers, but he has absolutely no intention of stopping. He says they send the most powerful message of all -- that al-Shabaab no longer call the shots in Mogadishu."
"Washington (CNN) -- We're doing well, President Barack Obama told business leaders Tuesday, but it could be better if not for political hijinks in Washington. In remarks at a Wall Street Journal conference, Obama said policy decisions in his first term in response to the Great Recession had spurred a recovery that could be better. ""America is poised for a breakout,"" he declared, noting that stock markets and corporate profits were ""soaring"" and that ""we are in a good position to compete around the world in the 21st century."" Now, Obama said, the challenge was to ensure opportunity for all to address too-high unemployment and stagnating incomes as growth continues. In particular, he cited the 16-day government shutdown in October as an example of what he called ""self-inflicted"" wounds caused by dysfunctional politics in Washington. ""We have to stop governing by crisis in this town,"" Obama said, making clear he blamed Republicans for a failure to achieve compromise on major issues such as immigration reform and a comprehensive deficit reduction agreement. ""We should not be injuring ourselves every few months. We should be investing in ourselves,"" the President said in advocating a budget approach that includes deficit reduction as well as strategic spending on education, infrastructure and technology. On immigration, Obama noted that the Democrat-led Senate has passed a reform measure that analysts say would grow the economy and shrink deficits. However, House Republicans have refused to bring up the Senate plan. ""You wouldn't turn down a deal that good,"" he said. ""Congress shouldn't, either."" At the same time, the President said he was open to passing a series of immigration reform measures instead of the comprehensive legislation that won Senate approval -- as long as all the necessary components are included. Obama also addressed the major issue of the day, saying the HealthCare.gov website problems have hurt efforts to address the biggest contributor to the nation's debt -- rising health care costs. Asked what lesson he had learned, Obama said that ""we probably underestimated the complexities of building out a website."" He also said the ordeal showed that ""the way the federal government does procurement and IT (information technology) is just generally not very efficient."" ""We probably need to blow up how"" the government contracts information technology services, Obama said. In a lighter moment, Obama noted that some people call him a socialist, and he said to laughter his accusers need to get out into the world more. ""You've got to meet real socialists to know what a real socialist is,"" he said, noting that he advocates a lower corporate tax rate and that the stock market ""is doing pretty good."" Obama's support slips; controversies, sluggish economy cited ."
"(CNN) -- Gas prices have dropped more than 7 cents over the past two weeks, but risen in some regions stricken by Superstorm Sandy, according to a survey published Sunday. The new national average for regular gasoline is $3.47 -- down more than 36 cents over the past six weeks, the Lundberg Survey found. ""This latest decline comes mostly from weak gasoline demand,"" said publisher Trilby Lundberg, ""both because we are in the lower demand season and have also lost our daylight saving time. Losing that puts a damper on driving."" Sandy's impact in the Northeast lowered demand as well, since many people were stuck at home, unable to drive. Map: See images of destruction, recovery across the East Coast . But because there was also ""great difficulty getting fuel to the end user point,"" gas prices went up in some of those same areas, she said. The highest average price found by the latest survey was $4.18 for New York's Long Island. That average was up 26 cents from two weeks earlier. Long Island generally has higher prices than the national average due to taxes. The Lundberg Survey tallies prices at thousands of gas stations nationwide. Good news should lie ahead for consumers around the country, Lundberg said. ""Pump prices may well drop some more form here -- unless crude oil prices get seriously spooked by Middle East conflict or another geopolitical issue."" The current nationwide average is 9cents above the average a year ago, ""whereas most of this year it's been more like 16 cents,"" Lundberg said. The city with the lowest average in the latest survey was Memphis, at $3.04. Here are average prices in some other cities: . San Diego - $3.80 . Seattle - $3.49 . Las Vegas - $3.57 . Denver - $3.35 . El Paso - $3.36 . St. Louis - $3.14 . Boston - $3.69 . Atlanta - $3.24 . Miami - $3.42 ."
"(CNN) -- Marin Cilic made a winning return to the ATP circuit Monday after serving a reduced doping ban. The 25-year-old Croatian completed a tight three set victory over Dutchman Igor Sijsling at the Paris Masters, prevailing 5-7 6-1 6-4 at Bercy Stadium. Cilic has slipped to World No.47 after testing positive for the stimulant nikethamide at the Munich Open in May. He was banned for nine months by an independent tribunal in September, but his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport saw his suspension cut to four months last Friday. The decision allowed Cilic to enter the final regular season tournament on the main tour in the French capital and he took full advantage. Despite losing the first set, Cilic earned a second round match against in form World No.5 Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina. He later admitted that he was pleased to put the experience behind him and return to action. ""I would definitely say it was the worst time of my life as a player,"" he told AFP. ""I have been on the tour for six, seven years, and have been always really careful and really honest and fair as much as I could with all the other players. ""And then to be in that kind of situation where when I found out about the positive test it was an extremely difficult situation where people were even calling me a doping player and a cheat. ""I knew I didn't cheat,"" added Cilic. World No.1 Rafael Nadal, who is playing in Paris for the first time in four years, told gathered reporters that he was delighted to see Cilic return to action. ""One thing I can say is I'm happy to see Marin back on tour. He's a good guy and a great player,"" he told AFP. ""I don't know what happened but if he's back, it's because it's fair that he's back. That's all. I'm happy for that."" Nadal will open his campaign later in week but the early headlines will surround players attempting to book their passages to the ATP World Tour Finals in London. Roger Federer, Swiss colleague Stanislas Wawrinka and French duo Richard Gasquet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga are battling for the final three places in the elite eight-man field, with four others having mathematical chances of qualifying. Wawrinka learned his second round opponent in Paris as Spaniard Feliciano Lopez won a tight encounter against Australian qualifier Bernard Tomic 6-4 6-7 7-6 Monday. Federer, who needs one win to clinch a 12th consecutive appearance in the finals, will face the winner of the first round match between Kevin Anderson and Mikhail Zouzhny, while Gasquet and Tsonga could meet in the third round of their home event. World No.2 Novak Djokovic claimed the ATP finale last season, beating Federer in the final, while Nadal has never claimed the title. The Spaniard hopes to use a good performance in Paris as a springboard to success in London. ""The last tournament of the year is important,"" he told the official ATP Tour website. ""In 2010 I played well (lost in the final to Federer); the rest I played really bad. I want to try to change that. ""I was always motivated for this last part of the season, but I was not able to apply it well. I hope this year I can change that situation. I hope to play well here and then we'll see."""
"(CNN) -- When the average person contemplates the issues surrounding landfills, it's doubtful they give much consideration to the tons of food that fill them. Food biodegrades so where is the problem? The problem, environmentalists say, is just that. When food rots, it releases methane, a greenhouse gas which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says is 20 times more damaging to the environment than carbon dioxide (CO2). Rotting food in a landfill in Canterbury, England. The developed world chucks out a lot of food. Such is the volume that according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), if just 5 percent of Americans' food scraps were recovered it would represent one day's worth of food for 4 million people. The U.N. World Food Programme offers another way of looking at it: It says the total surplus of the U.S. alone could satisfy ""every empty stomach"" in Africa (France's leftovers could feed the Democratic Republic of Congo; and Italy's could feed Ethiopia's undernourished). Proportionately, the UK and Japan have traditionally been among the worst offenders worldwide in recent years when it comes to food waste, discarding between 30 and 40 percent of their food produce annually. The figures for how much the U.S. throws out, however, vary considerably depending on whom you ask. According to the USDA, just over a quarter of the country's food -- about 25.9 million tons -- gets thrown in the garbage can every year. But according to a study conducted by the University of Arizona, that figure could be as high as 50 percent, as the University claims that the country's supermarkets, restaurants and convenience stores alone throw out 27 million tons between them every year (representing $30 billion of wasted food). Either way, it still costs the U.S. around $1 billion every year just to dispose of all its food waste, according to the EPA. But moral and economic issues aside, it is the environmental concerns around food waste that is driving the push for reform on how to treat the problem of leftovers. Methane, the gas food waste produces, traps 23 times as much heat in the atmosphere as the same amount of CO2, the EPA says. And landfills are the place you will find most of it -- they account for 34 percent of all methane emissions in the U.S. The University of Arizona believes that if Americans cut their food waste in half, it would reduce the country's environmental impact by 25 percent. The UK's Waste & Resources Action Program (WRAP) -- which says the entire food supply chain in the UK contributes 20 percent of its greenhouse gas emissions -- believes that if we stopped throwing out edible food, the impact it would have on CO2 emissions would be the equivalent of taking 1 in 5 cars off the road. But ironically, one of the solutions to dealing with food waste actually results in a product that could keep cars on the road: Biogas. Biogas is a by-product of a process called anaerobic digestion (AD). AD is a process where organic matter -- such as food waste -- breaks down in an environment with little or no oxygen, generating a natural gas made up of 60 percent methane and 40 percent CO2. It is the exact process, in fact, which goes on in landfills. But there is a difference. Whereas methane can be harmful to the environment in an open setting, such as a landfill, in controlled and closed settings such as a combined heat and power plant, it can be harnessed and converted into biogas, a renewable energy. And that energy can be used to provide heat, light and fuel. According to a study by the National Society for Clean Air, biogas-fueled cars can reduce CO2 emissions by anything from 75 percent to 200 percent compared to cars powered by fossil fuels. Most organic matter can be processed with AD. In the UK it is already being used to treat sewage, which Friends of the Earth (FOE) says, reduces CO2 emissions by 16 percent compared to traditional sewage treatments. According to the Chartered Institute for Environmental Health, gas from sewage waste and landfills is already being used to provide 650 MW of electricity to the UK's national grid, representing between 60 and 75 percent of the country's green energy (the UK is Europe's biggest producer of biogas). However, while the potential for food waste-as-energy seems big, the practical applications for it are currently very small (only 0.4 percent of the UK's food waste is processed by AD, for example), with critics of AD pointing out that the amount food waste can contribute to the energy supply are negligible to say the least. FOE itself admits that just 0.36 percent of the UK's electricity needs could be met by AD. And, if 5.5 million tons of food waste was treated by AD (the majority of the UK's annual 6.7 million tons of food waste) it could only generate enough electricity to power 164,000 houses. That being said, environmentalists will say, that's much better than getting that electricity from fossil fuels. And there has been a big push, in Europe in particular, to cut back on the amount of biodegradable waste that is being sent to landfills. According to the European Landfill Directive, the amount of biodegradable waste sent to landfills in member countries by 2020 must reach 35 percent of the levels reached in 1995. The country that is leading the way in putting its biodegradable waste mountains to good use -- particularly in the world of biogas-powered cars -- is Sweden. That country -- which plans to eliminate petrol and diesel vehicles from their streets by 2020 -- already has 7,000 biogas cars on the road. It also has 779 biogas buses and the world's first biogas train, which, according to The Ecologist, cost just 1 million euros ($1.4 million) to develop. E-mail to a friend . (Sources: Chartered Institute of Environmental Health; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Planet Ark; U.S. Department of Agriculture; University of Arizona; World Food Program; Waste & Resources Action Program (WRAP); Friends of the Earth (UK); National Society for Clean Air; The Ecologist; Just-food.com; Food Production Daily; Endhunger.org)"
"Jakarta, Indonesia (CNN) -- A crash involving two trains in central Indonesia Saturday killed 36 people and injured 26, officials said. The crash occurred when a train traveling from Semarang in Central Java to the capital of Jakarta was struck from behind by another train headed to Jakarta from Surabaya in East Java, according to Bambang Ervan, transport ministry spokesman. Four coaches have been lifted off the track, and one remains, said Sugeng Priyono, spokesman for the Indonesian railway company. Many people were crushed in the last carriage of the first train, which was stationary when the other train slammed into it, survivors said. ""Suddenly I heard a very loud sound from behind,"" said Anwar Riksono, a passenger who was sleeping when the trains crashed. ""It shook so hard and the lights went off."" A crane lifted away large pieces of the train, mangled beyond recognition. The transportation ministry says it is investigating whether the crash was caused by human or technical error."
"(CNN) -- On Tuesday night's ""Larry King Live,"" guest host Joy Behar talked about whether the Rihanna/Chris Brown case sends a dangerous message. Robin Givens told Joy Behar Tuesday night that details of domestic abuse are often the same. Among her guests were Robin Givens and Denise Brown. In an emotional interview, Behar examines how domestic abuse starts and why it's hard to stop. The following transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity: . Guest host Joy Behar: In a ""Larry King Live"" exclusive, Robin Givens and Denise Brown sound the warning to one quarter of all women who will be kicked, punched, raped, even killed by partners in their life times. ... We're talking about Rihanna and Chris Brown and the allegations against him. As you've just heard, the numbers are pretty appalling. Joining me now is someone who lived it: actress, ex-wife of former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson and spokesperson for the National Domestic Violence Hotline, Robin Givens. Greetings. Robin Givens: Greetings. Behar: Does this Rihanna/Chris Brown [story] bring up bad memories for you? Givens: Yes, it does. Behar: Tell me how you've been feeling lately while you're watching this on television? Givens: Even sitting now, you know, here with you, it shakes you up. You know, you begin to sweat. You begin to feel sad all over.  ... It's hard to sit here.  Watch Givens describe living with abuse » . Behar. You were saying to me before that it's always the same story. What do you mean by that? Givens:  I've spoken to women every[where]. ...  Peoria, El Paso. ... And what's amazing is that I find that my story is their story; their story is my story -- down to the details. He dragged me down the hall by my hair. He pulled me out of bed by my panties. He would like to choke me. He would kick. When I wrote my book, I was somewhere talking about something. And a woman came up to me and she said I wanted you to stop talking because I felt like everybody would know that you were talking about me. Behar: Oh, boy. And it's the same progression, too, it seems? Givens: I was hit for the first time before I was married. And I did what you thought you should do, of course. You know, you don't take any phone calls. Three days, absolutely not. Absolutely not. All of a sudden, you start taking a phone calls. Behar: Softening up. Givens: Yes. And then all of a sudden, OK, let's meet and we'll talk. And then you meet and all of a sudden this person, this man that you love, that's claiming his love for you, is crying, you know? And then you're consoling them. And it just becomes, I'll never, ever, ever do it again. ...  I just love you so much. It's so hard for me to handle how much I love you. And it just begins. Behar: It must have touched you a little bit, too, like here's this big heavyweight champion crying ... Givens: Yes. ... To see a man crying like that and promising and professing his love, I thought well, he must love me. ... Behar: In the fall of that year, you and Mike sat down with Barbara Walters to talk about the relationship. Here's an excerpt: . Barbara Walters, host: What's it been like, this roller coaster? Givens: It's been torture. It's been pure hell. It's been worse than anything I could possibly imagine. ... He shakes. He pushes. He swings. Sometimes I think he's trying to scare me. Behar: That is a most interesting moment  in that interview, which I've seen many times. What was going on in your head during that interview? Givens: Well, I was so numb. Barbara knew what was going on in our lives and encouraged me to be honest. I wanted to be honest and thought it would help other people. ... Behar: By the way, he [Tyson] was never convicted of anything? Givens: No. ...  It's interesting, though. He had done an interview somewhere. ...  I don't know specifically, but [he said] the best punch he ever threw was against me and that he punched me in the head and I bounced from one wall to the other. Behar: After the interview [with Walters], though, you stayed with him. Givens: Yes. Behar: Why did you stay with him? Givens: Well, he had said that he was going to get help. And I loved him. I wanted to make it work. I was very bonded. And it's hard to be bonded and save yourself at the same time. Behar: One of the most influential women in the world used her considerable power to speak up about domestic abuse. Here's what Oprah Winfrey had to say. Winfrey: Heal yourself first. And, also, love doesn't hurt. I've been saying this to women for years, love doesn't hurt. ... And if a man hits you once, he will hit you again. ... He will hit you again. Behar: If Oprah was speaking to you, too, call the National Domestic Violence Hot Line now. The number is 1-800-799-SAFE. That's 1-800-799-7233. ... Denise Brown's sister was Nicole Brown. We all know Nicole Brown Simpson, O.J. Simpson's former wife. Greetings, Denise. How are you? Denise Brown: I am doing great. And I'm listening to all this information that you guys are talking about and it's amazing. It's so great to get out there. You talk about the dirty little secret. And it is. It's just that -- a dirty little secret. And then you're talking about what Oprah said -- if they hit you once, they'll hit you again. You can even go one step further, Joy, and you can say if they hit you once, they'll hit you again. And if they ever threaten to kill you, eventually one day they will. ... You know, it's the cycle of domestic violence, which is about the power and control of one human being over another -- the verbal, the emotional, the psychological abuse, you know, the chipping away at one's self-esteem. I'm sure you heard it, Robin: you know, nobody is going to want you. I'm the best thing for you. Givens: Um-hmm. Brown: And then that escalates into the physical violence, which is the hitting, the kicking, the punching, throwing up against the walls. And then, of course, [comes] the honeymoon phase. And that's the 'oh, baby, I'm so sorry. It's never going to happen again.' Givens: She's absolutely right. The woman -- every woman tells the same  story. Behar: If you read the Internet now, there's some hostility toward Rihanna. They're saying she provoked Chris. What do you make of that? Givens: I don't know why that is. I mean I don't know why in our society that is, that we blame the victim. Brown: Battery treatment programs is what people need. I spoke to a gentleman, Dr. Donald Dutton. He wrote a book, ""The Batterer."" He said right now, it would take three years for people that are batterers to get that mindset to change. And I'm sure that's even more. And our society does not take it serious enough ... until, of course, there's a murder or there's a celebrity or something of that nature, which is really sad. Givens: The one thing I'd like to say to Rihanna, actually; as difficult as this all is, she does not have to answer to the media. She doesn't have to explain it. She has to take care of herself. Behar: Thank you all very much. Go to CNN.com/LarryKing if you have something to say about domestic abuse. If you need help, there are resources listed there for you. Don't wait. Get help now."
"(CNN)  -- A New Zealand teenager has been questioned in connection with a scheme by hackers to remotely take over more than 1 million computers worldwide and use them for criminal activity, New Zealand police and the FBI said Thursday. FBI Director Robert Mueller says botnets are ""the weapon of choice for cyber criminals."" The FBI has identified at least 2.5 million unsuspecting computer users who have been victims of so-called ""botnet"" activity. Hackers install viruses, worms and other attack programs that allow them to take over the computers and use them to commit cyber crimes. Industry numbers suggest there are as many as 5 million infected computers. The FBI tracked down the teen and believes the 18-year-old, known by the cyber alias ""AKILL,"" was the ringleader of an international botnet group know as the ""A-team,"" responsible for infecting more than 1 million computers. Authorities seized computer equipment and questioned the teen, said New Zealand Police Detective Inspector Peter Devoy, but the person has not been identified, arrested or charged.  Watch how botnet attacks occur » . Internet addresses and information furnished by the FBI led to the teenager, Devoy told CNN. ""Today, botnets are the weapon of choice for cyber criminals,"" said FBI Director Robert Mueller in a statement. ""They seek to conceal their criminal activities by using third-party computers as vehicles for their crimes."" Personal computers can be compromised when users open an attachment, click on an advertisement or give personal information to a ""phishing"" site, or a fake site that looks legitimate. The FBI advises users to protect themselves by updating their anti-virus software, installing a firewall, using non-common passwords and avoiding suspicious e-mail attachments and advertisers' links. In 2005 the FBI launched Operation Bot Roast to combat botnet attacks, which the bureau estimates have caused $20 million in losses and theft, including one scheme that bilked a Midwest financial institution out of millions. Since June, eight people have been charged or convicted of crimes related to botnet activity. Between January and June, Symantec Corp., a leading computer security company, detected more than 5 million bot-infested personal computers carrying out at least one attack a day, according to the company's September report. That was a 17 percent decrease form the previous reporting period, according to Symantec, which said hackers appeared to be abandoning the technique because of strengthened security and law enforcement initiatives. China had the most infected computers at 29 percent, followed by the United States at 13 percent, Symantec reported. However, 43 percent of the servers used by hackers to operate the hijacked computers were located in the United States, Symantec said.  E-mail to a friend . CNN's Kevin Bohn contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- In 1967, the Mamas & the Papas had a hit with a song that detailed, with bittersweet harmonies, the checkered history of the band. The song, written by the group's John Phillips and his wife, Michelle, was called ""Creeque Alley."" Michelle Phillips, Denny Doherty and John Phillips, here in 1998, were members of the Mamas & the Papas. If the song were to be updated today, it might have to be retitled ""Creep Alley."" With the claims by John's daughter, Mackenzie, that she had an incestuous relationship with her father, the story of Phillips and his group -- in music, models of California dreams and California dreamin' -- takes on a darker hue. The story was already tangled, a motley love- and drug-soaked tale of excess set to the group's distinctive four-part harmonies. Phillips left his first wife, Mackenzie's mother, Susan Adams, for 18-year-old Michelle, whom he'd met in a San Francisco club while touring in the early '60s, according to the band's biography on Allmusic.com. The band's lead male singer, Denny Doherty, later had an affair with Michelle; she was forced out of the group for a time. The fourth member, Cass Elliot, had an unrequited crush on Doherty, the biography noted. After the Mamas & the Papas' success with such singles as ""California Dreamin' "" and the No. 1 hit ""Monday, Monday,"" the Phillipses bought a Bel Air mansion from which they ruled over the Los Angeles music scene. In his 1986 memoir, ""Papa John,"" John Phillips, who died in 2001, remembered hosting parties for the Beatles when they visited town. John Phillips, the band's primary songwriter, was at least six years older than the others and did not shy from the task of addressing the group's pain and confusion in song. In such songs as ""Got a Feelin',"" ""I Saw Her Again Last Night"" and ""Trip, Stumble and Fall,"" he cast a cold eye on the band's romantic entanglements, even as his melancholy and sometimes cutting lyrics were often belied by those sunny harmonies and Lou Adler's slick production. ""One doesn't try to hold Cass and Denny and Michelle together,"" he said in a 1995 interview. ""It's a useless task to start with. You just sort of stay out of the way and let things roll as they can."" In 1968, the group split up. There was a 1971 reunion that produced the contractually obligated album ""People Like Us,"" but the experience was ""horrible,"" John Phillips recalled in the liner notes to the group's anthology, ""The History of the Mamas and the Papas."" The group members had mixed success after the breakup. Elliot, who died of a heart attack in 1974 (and not by choking on a sandwich, as urban legend has it), pursued a solo career; she had a handful of hits. Doherty and John Phillips also tried their hands at solo careers; the latter's 1970 ""John, the Wolf King of L.A.,"" produced a minor hit and is now considered a classic but sold relatively poorly upon release. More common were the stories of trouble. Michelle and John Phillips divorced in 1970; late that year, Michelle was married to Dennis Hopper for eight days. John Phillips, who married Genevieve Waite in 1972, became increasingly immersed in drugs, says his Allmusic biography, to the point where he couldn't finish an album commissioned by the Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. In 1981, he was convicted of drug trafficking. By that point, daughter Mackenzie says, she was also a full-blown drug addict. ""I grew up in a place where there were no rules ... which did not serve me well, and everybody, I think, knew that,"" she said on a reunion special for her '70s sitcom, ""One Day at a Time."" According to Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh's ""The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows,"" Phillips missed the 1980-81 season while in rehab for addiction issues. In her new book, ""High on Arrival,"" she claims she had become sexually involved with her father in 1979, after he forced sex on her the night before she married a rock manager, Jeff Sessler. (Earlier that year, the house she shared with Sessler burned down, taking all her belongings with it.) According to Mackenzie Phillips, the affair with her father lasted 10 years. She told Chynna Phillips, her half-sister, about the affair in the late '90s, according to an interview with Chynna in Us magazine. ""Somebody could have dropped a piano on my head, and I probably wouldn't have felt it,"" Chynna Phillips told the magazine. ""But I knew it was true. I mean, who in their right mind would make such a claim if it wasn't true?"" She says the news sent her into ""a deep, deep sadness and depression for about 10 days. A part of me died when I found out."" John Phillips also underwent rehab but struggled for the rest of his life. He had a liver transplant in 1992 but was photographed drinking several months later. He toured with versions of the Mamas & the Papas, some including Mackenzie. He died in 2001 of heart failure. Chynna Phillips and Mackenzie's ""One Day at a Time"" co-star Valerie Bertinelli have since rallied around her. But others have not. ""I am stunned by Mackenzie's terrible allegations about her father,"" Waite, John Phillips' third wife, wrote in a statement released to ""The Oprah Winfrey Show."" Mackenzie Phillips appeared on the show Wednesday. ""I would often complain about her overly familiar attitudes towards him, and he said it was just her way. John was a good man. ... He was incapable, no matter how drunk or drugged he was, to have sexual relations with his own child."" And Mackenzie's half-brother, Tamerlane, the follower of an Indian guru, is having none of it. ""My family is and always will be a decrepit bowl of dog urine compared to Nityananda of Ganeshpuri. That is how great Nityananda is,"" he told the New York Post's Page Six. ""Worship Nityananda, not the Phillips family."""
"When you're a patient, you trust you're in good hands, but even the best doctor or nurse can make a mistake on you or someone you love. ""Mistakes are happening every day in every hospital in the country that we're just not catching,"" says Dr. Albert Wu, an internist at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Medical errors kill more than a quarter million people every year in the United States and injure millions. Add them all up and ""you have probably the third leading cause of death"" in the country, says Dr. Peter Pronovost, an anesthesiologist and critical care physician at Johns Hopkins Hospital. The harm is often avoidable, and there are strategies you can use to help doctors and nurses get things right. Here's a list of 10 shocking medical mistakes and ways to not become a victim: . 1. Mistake: Treating the wrong patient            • Cause: Hospital staff fails to verify a patient's identity.           • Consequences: Patients with similar names are confused.           • Prevention: Before every procedure in the hospital, make sure the staff checks your entire name, date of birth and barcode on your wrist band.           • Example case: Kerry Higuera . 2. Mistake: Surgical souvenirs     • Cause: Surgical staff miscounts (or fails to count) equipment used inside a patient during an operation.     • Consequences: Tools get left inside the body.     • Prevention: If you have unexpected pain, fever or swelling after surgery, ask if you might have a surgical instrument inside you.     • Example case: Nelson Bailey . 3. Mistake: Lost patients     • Cause: Patients with dementia are sometimes prone to wandering.     • Consequences: Patients may become trapped while wandering and die from hypothermia or dehydration.     • Prevention: If your loved one sometimes wanders, consider a GPS tracking bracelet.     • Example case: Mary Cole . 4. Mistake: Fake doctors     • Cause: Con artists pretend to be doctors.     • Consequences: Medical treatments backfire. Instead of getting better, patients get sicker.     • Prevention: Confirm online that your physician is licensed.     • Example case: Sarafina Gerling . 5. Mistake: The ER waiting game     • Cause: Emergency rooms get backed up when overcrowded hospitals don't have enough beds.     • Consequences: Patients get sicker while waiting for care.     • Prevention: Doctors listen to other doctors, so on your way to the hospital call your physician and ask them to call the emergency room.     • Example case: Malyia Jeffers . 6. Mistake: Air bubbles in blood     • Cause: The hole in a patient's chest isn't sealed airtight after a chest tube is removed.     • Consequences: Air bubbles get sucked into the wound and cut off blood supply to the patient's lungs, heart, kidneys and brain. Left uncorrected the patient dies.     • Prevention: If you have a central line tube in you, ask how you should be positioned when the line comes out.     • Example case: Blake Fought7. Mistake: Operating on the wrong body part     • Cause: A patient's chart is incorrect, or a surgeon misreads it, or surgical draping obscures marks that denote the correct side of the operation.     • Consequences: The surgeon cuts into the wrong side of a patient's body.     • Prevention: Just before surgery, make sure you reaffirm with the nurse and the surgeon the correct body part and side of your operation.     • Example case: Jesse Matlock8. Mistake: Infection infestation     • Cause: Doctors and nurses don't wash their hands.     • Consequences: Patients can die from infections spread by hospital workers.     • Prevention: It may be uncomfortable to ask, but make sure doctors and nurses wash their hands before they touch you, even if they're wearing gloves.     • Example case: Josh Nahum . 9. Mistake: Lookalike tubes     • Cause: A chest tube and a feeding tube can look a lot alike.     • Consequences: Medicine meant for the stomach goes into the chest.     • Prevention: When you have tubes in you, ask the staff to trace every tube back to the point of origin so the right medicine goes to the right place.     • Example case: Alicia Coleman . 10. Mistake: Waking up during surgery     • Cause: An under-dose of anesthesia.     • Consequences: The brain stays awake while the muscles stay frozen. Most patients aren't in any pain but some feel every poke, prod and cut.     • Prevention: When you schedule surgery, ask your surgeon if you need to be put asleep or if a local anesthetic might work just as well.     • Example case: Erin Cook . Do you have a personal story to tell about a medical mistake? Share it in the comments section below."
"Los Angeles, California (CNN) -- Simon Monjack's death two months ago was caused by acute pneumonia and severe anemia, according to a Los Angeles County coroner spokesman. ""Just like Brittany,"" Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said, referring to actress Brittany Murphy, Monjack's wife, who died five months earlier. Some prescription drugs were detected in his system, but not in lethal levels, Winter said. Sharon Murphy issued a statement saying the preliminary findings should ""stop the reckless innuendos that my daughter and son-in-law misused any kind of prescription medications."" ""It is with great relief that Simon's preliminary autopsy findings have been released, so the media speculations can stop,"" Murphy said. ""As I was sure of, just like my daughter Brittany, there was no kind of drug overdose."" One more test will be conducted, at Monjack's family's request, before a full autopsy report is released in about two weeks, Winter said. Monjack, a 39-year-old British screenwriter, was found dead at his Hollywood home May 23, according to the coroner's office. Murphy, his wife of less than three years, died in the same home last December. Murphy, 32, died from a combination of pneumonia, an iron deficiency and multiple drug intoxication, a coroner said. The drugs involved were legal and used to treat a respiratory infection, according to an autopsy. The often bubbly, free-spirited actress appeared in films such as ""Clueless,"" ""8 Mile,"" ""Don't Say a Word"" and ""Girl, Interrupted."" She also lent her voice to animated works, including the movie ""Happy Feet"" -- in which she also sang -- and a regular role on the animated TV series ""King of the Hill."""
"ARBIL, Iraq (CNN) -- Two United Arab Emirates based companies announced on Tuesday that they will be investing in the Iraq's autonomous region of Kurdistan. Nechirvan Barzani, Prime Minister of the Kurdish Regional Government, called the project ""a significant contribution to the Iraqi economy."" Four hundred and sixty one million square feet have been officially assigned to ""Gas Cities LLC,"" a joint venture between Dana Gas and Crescent Petroleum, both Sharjah-based companies, to establish a new venture: ""Kurdistan Gas City."" Kurdistan Gas City will include industrial, residential and commercial buildings in an integrated city. The expected initial investment in basic infrastructure is estimated at $3 billion, with further foreign direct investment exceeding $40 billion during the operations phase. Work will start on the project, which is designed to promote private sector investment in a variety of gas-related industries, on September 21. Gas City is structured to hold over 20 varieties of world scale petrochemical and heavy manufacturing plants, and hundreds of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), served by state-of-the-art facilities. Mr Nechirvan Barzani, Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, said: ""Dana Gas and Crescent Petroleum have made a significant contribution to the Iraqi economy through their work in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq thus far, we are making significant progress in spurring on economic growth and creating opportunity for our people."" Hamid Jafar, Executive Chairman of Dana Gas, explained the importance of this achievement saying: ""The Kurdistan Gas City is an enormous step forward in Dana Gas' strategy across the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia."" The Kurdistan Gas City is projected to generate job opportunities for nearly 200,000 Iraqi citizens in infrastructure, industrial projects, support services and other business activities. This is not the first project for Dana Gas and Crescent Petroleum in Iraq's Kurdistan Region, the two companies are committed to a service agreement signed in April 2007 with the Kurdistan Regional Government to build 180 kilometers of natural gas pipeline and two liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) plants, which are 80 percent complete. The project is on track and will start pumping 150 million cubic feet of gas per day in the coming weeks, rising to 300 million cubic feet by early 2009. Other companies from the UAE showed similar interest in Kurdistan Region ""Damac Properties"" one of the major private developers in the regions revealed on June 3 plans for a $16 billion residential, commercial and recreational project."
"(CNN) -- The U.S. Army's official history of the Iraq war shows military chiefs made mistake after mistake in the early months of the conflict. Iraqis watch as a statue of Saddam Hussein is toppled in Baghdad in 2003. Failures to recognize the chaos engulfing the country and to send in enough troops to restore order after the 2003 invasion have long been highlighted by critics, but a new report shows the Army assessing itself. Frank opinions from officers serving in the 18 months from the start of war to Iraqi elections in January 2005 reveal there were concerns at the time, not just about assumptions made by planners but at decisions taken once U.S.-led coalition forces had control of Iraq. ""I flipped,"" Gen. Jack Keane, then the Army's deputy chief of staff, told the historians of his reaction to a June 2003 decision to transfer control of all coalition troops away from the land forces command that had been preparing for the mission. He recounted a conversation with Gen. John Abizaid, who succeeded the invasion's architect, Gen. Tommy Franks. ""I said, 'Jesus Christ, John, this is a recipe for disaster. We invested in that headquarters. We have the experience and judgment in that headquarters."" Keane said it took the U.S. command between six and eight months to get the new headquarters up and running. During that time, troops in the field saw the mood of ordinary Iraqis turn against Americans and watched the insurgency take root. ""By the time we got a plan together to resource everything, the insurgents had closed that window of opportunity quickly,"" Col. David Perkins, a brigade commander in the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, told the historians. ""What we started doing in September was probably a good idea to have done in April 2003."" Franks, who would soon retire and be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, said he ordered the transition to force the Pentagon to get leaders into the field to work with civilian occupation officials. ""That is a task that John Abizaid and I very simply laid on Washington and said, 'Figure it out. Do it fast. Get me a joint headquarters in here. We have a lot of work to do and [civilian administrator of Iraq] Jerry Bremer has a lot of responsibility and he needs help,' "" he recalled. The 720-page report compiled by the Combat Studies Institute at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, details the effects of having too few coalition troops on the ground when the reality after the fall of Baghdad was ""severely out of line"" with the anticipated conditions. Previous experience ""should have indicated that many more troops would be needed for the post-Saddam era in Iraq,"" historians wrote in the report, ""On Point II: Transition to a New Campaign."" ""The coalition's inability to prevent looting, to secure Iraq's borders and to guard the vast number of munitions dumps in the early months after Saddam's overthrow are indicative of the shortage,"" the study found. About 150,000 U.S. and allied troops were in Iraq after the invasion, at a time when war planners were assuming that Iraq's government would remain functional after Hussein's ouster and that there would be no mass insurgency. ""These factors were in line with prewar planning for a quick turnover of power to Iraqis and a quick withdrawal of U.S. forces, leaving Iraqis to determine their own political future -- options that proved impossible to execute,"" the historians wrote in the report released over the weekend. ""We had the wrong assumptions, and therefore, we had the wrong plan to put into play,"" Gen. William Wallace, who commanded the Army's V Corps during the invasion, told the authors. But some of the most critical decisions were made between May and August 2003, which some participants called a ""window of opportunity that could have been exploited to produce the conditions for the quick creation of a new Iraq."" Among those decisions were the frequently criticized dissolution of the Iraqi army and the order that barred former members of Hussein's Baath Party from public life as well as the change in plan over the joint headquarters."
"(CNN) -- Rafael Nadal will miss the U.S. Open after the reigning champion couldn't recover in time from a right wrist injury. The world No. 2 injured his wrist after Wimbledon and pulled out of the recent Masters events in Toronto and Cincinnati. Due to make an announcement over the weekend about his participation at Flushing Meadows, that decision was pushed back to Monday and the Spaniard's fans were ultimately left disappointed with the outcome. ""I am very sorry to announce I won't be able to play at this year's U.S. Open,"" the 28-year-old announced on his Facebook page. ""I am sure you understand that it is a very tough moment for me since it is a tournament I love and where I have great memories from fans, the night matches, so many things. ""(There is) not much more I can do right now, other than accept the situation and, as always in my case, work hard in order to be able to compete at the highest level once I am back."" It's not the first time Nadal won't be able to defend a grand slam title. He also skipped Wimbledon in 2009, the year after his memorable triumph over Roger Federer at the All England Club, when his knees were the issue. Injuries have been an ever present in the 14-time grand slam winner's career, with those knees the biggest culprit. But a hamstring injury hindered Nadal at the 2011 Australian Open -- when he was on the verge of capturing a fourth consecutive grand slam titles -- and in Melbourne seven months ago, back pain meant he was unable to perform at his best in the finale versus Stan Wawrinka. His absence means Federer will be bumped up to No. 2 in the seedings, only behind Novak Djokovic. Federer has been the hottest player this summer, reaching the final in Toronto and winning Cincinnati, and without his nemesis at the U.S. Open, the Swiss' chances of landing a record-extending 18th major have now improved. Nadal is the highest profile casualty of the U.S. Open, though 2009 champion Juan Martin del Potro also withdrew with a wrist injury. The tournament begins next Monday."
"(CNN) -- Myanmar's Supreme Court rejected Friday an appeal by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to overturn her house arrest. A diplomat who attended the hearing and spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed that the appeal was unsuccessful. Suu Kyi, 64, has one final avenue for appeal to a special court in Myanmar's new capital, Naypidaw. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate's house arrest was extended by 18 months last August after an incident in which uninvited American John Yettaw stayed at her lakeside home. Myanmar's ruling military junta accused Suu Kyi of breaching the terms of her house arrest. She has been imprisoned or under house arrest for much of the past two decades, since her party the National League for Democracy won a landslide election victory in 1990. The junta has never recognized the results, but has promised to hold fresh elections this year, although no date has yet been set. Suu Kyi is disqualified from standing because she was married to a foreigner. The NLD has still to clarify whether it will participate in the vote. CNN's Dan Rivers contributed to this report."
"(RollingStone.com) -- Paul Reubens is dusting off his red bow-tie once more for a film revival of his iconic character Pee-wee Herman. The comedian confirmed the Judd Apatow-produced film was moving forward during an appearance on ""The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon"" on Wednesday, but wasn't able to divulge too many details just yet. TV on the Radio make Paul Reubens a race car driver for 'Happy Idiot' video . ""There is going to be one,"" Reubens said. ""And I was hoping I could make this huge announcement tonight, but it's a week away, I think, from being announced."" Reubens, however, did say that production on the film would begin next February and that a director had been hired as well, though he wouldn't say who. ""Steven Spielberg?"" Fallon cracked. ""Steven Spielberg!"" Reubens gamely responded, before shaking his head no and adding: ""It's called P.T."" As Reubens noted, news of a new Pee-wee Herman movie, and of Apatow's involvement, has been bouncing around for the better part of three years now. The script was written by Reubens and comedian Paul Rust â€” whose writing credits also include ""Arrested Development"" and ""Comedy Bang! Bang!"" â€” though what kind of adventure the titular hero will embark on remains unknown. Own Pee-wee Herman's 'Big Adventure' bike . The Pee-wee persona originally developed in the 1970s, evolving from Reubens' early improv work with Los Angeles troupe the Groundlings. After missing the final cut for the 1980 cast of ""Saturday Night Live,"" Reubens adapted the eccentric character for the stage with ""The Pee-wee Herman Show,"" which gained national exposure after being filmed and released by HBO as a 1981 special. Of course, Pee-wee became a major star once he hit the big screen with 1985's Tim Burton-directed ""Pee-wee's Big Adventure."" The success of that bizarre comedy helped Reubens launch a TV series, the eventual cult-classic ""Pee-wee's Playhouse,"" in 1986. A film sequel, ""Big Top Pee-wee,"" was released in 1988, though was a critical disaster and relative commercial flop. As a sign of his character's '80s legacy, Pee-wee (not Reubens) was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1991, Reubens was arrested for indecent exposure in an adult theater in Sarasota, Florida. With Pee-wee then the punchline of dirty schoolyard jokes, Reubens retired the character for most of the decade. In 2007, the actor appeared in character at Spike TV's Guy's Choice Awards, marking Pee-wee's first public appearance since 1992; then in 2011, Reubens appeared as Pee-wee in a ""Saturday Night Live"" segment opposite cast member Andy Samberg. See the original story at RollingStone.com. Copyright © 2011 Rolling Stone."
"(CNN) -- He's just 15 and the world is seemingly already at his feet. Last month, Martin Odegaard became Norway's youngest international footballer in a friendly against the United Arab Emirates, provoking huge media interest and the hungry attention of Europe's top clubs. Such is the focus on the midfielder that 35 scouts from some of those teams -- including Manchester United and Liverpool of the English Premier League -- came to watch him at a recent Under-21 match. ""In the beginning it was unreal and a little bit surreal that all these clubs wanted Martin, but it's strange what you can get used to,"" his father Hans Erik Odegaard tells CNN. ""Almost every top European club has been in touch."" His international debut is not Odegaard's only record-breaking feat this year. In April he became the youngest player in the history of the Tippeligaen when he made his debut for Stromsgodset in a top-flight game against Aalesund. He followed that up by scoring the fourth goal in a 4-1 win over Sarpsborg to become the youngest scorer in the Norwegian league. Former Norway international Morten Gamst Pedersen has described Odegaard's potential as ""unbelievable,"" while manager Ronny Deila -- who gave the teen his Stromsgodset debut before joining Scottish club Celtic -- says he can ""become the best in the world."" Odegaard's father, a former footballer at Stromsgodset and Sandefjord, recalls the moment when he realized his son might have what it takes to play professionally. ""I saw from a very early age that 'he had the feeling,' but I remember very well when I knew he'd be quite good,"" he said. ""I was still playing and Martin must have been no more than eight. I was out on the pitch running some intervals. He was, as always, with me. When I was finished I wanted to go home, but we couldn't before he had done 50 more shots (at goal). ""Then I understood he also had a talent for training and that is the most important talent you can have."" ""Quite good"" probably doesn't do Odegaard's myriad talents justice, given he has been compared to Lionel Messi or -- closer to Scandinavia -- the legendary Denmark international Michael Laudrup, who played for Juventus, Barcelona and Real Madrid. ""I'm sure you can compare him with many, but I don't like to do that,"" reflects Hans Erik. ""Those players are and were so good and Martin is at the start of his career."" Former Monaco chief executive Tor-Kristian Karlsen, who is Norwegian and has watched Odegaard's progress over the last few months, is a fan. ""He's obviously still in the early stages of his development but his understanding of the game is very impressive,"" says Karlsen. ""He plays in bursts, so you might not notice him for five minutes, but he has good movement and can take people on."" Young, gifted and talented . Books such as Malcolm Gladwell's ""Outliers,"" Geoff Colvin's ""Talent is Overrated"" and ""The Talent Code"" by Daniel Coyle all explore the idea that to become an expert you need to practice any skill for 10,000 hours. What's clear from Odegaard's prodigious development is that his success has been helped by a specialized training regime and his thirst to learn and practice. ""I have been a regional trainer for the best boys in this area, and I checked how much they trained with the team and by themselves,"" says Hans Erik. ""Martin is training more than double than these boys did -- at least 20 hours a week."" It's not just how much he trains -- it's also the type of training he has focused on by doing everything with the ball. ""The boys loved it when I joked about other teams that warmed up with running instead of using the ball,"" adds Hans Erik. ""I always said that they should maybe do athletics."" Hans Erik believes Martin has been able to cope with the demands of professional football and making his international debut at such an early age because of the work done to develop his first touch and ""quick feet."" ""It's the pace of the game that makes the difference in adjusting to different levels,"" says Hans Erik. ""We've used so many hours in working with his first and second touch to take off the pressure. ""We have worked a lot on bringing the ball closely to his feet, so he can change direction quickly, so even if he's physically weaker than the others he doesn't get caught because he's able to get away."" Family fortunes . Now 40, Hans Erik admits that, as a player, he was ""a runner with a big heart and scored some goals"" -- so does Martin's talent come from his mother Lene? ""She played handball and sprinted,"" says Hans Erik, before joking: ""She tells us she was fantastic, but none of us, or any others, has seen that."" While Hans Erik's professional career has given him advantages in overseeing Martin's progression as a player, he admits it has given him difficulties as a father in his relationship with his son. ""I was always afraid of favoring him. We were always changing captain, but he was never picked,"" he says. ""The expectations were high on him so it happened that I sometimes yelled at him and one day another parent came to me and said that I was too hard with Martin. ""Then Martin and I agreed that he should always get the feedback when we were alone in the car after the game. That was a good solution. ""We've always -- and still do -- talked so much about football. His natural understanding for the game makes him a very smart player. Since he was 10 I could discuss football with him as an adult."" Stay or go? Hans Erik, who has so far avoided using agents to advise on his son's career, concedes that ""the level of the Norwegian league isn't as strong as many other European leagues."" So what's next for the wunderkind from the port city of Drammen who has already visited Manchester United as well as German clubs Bayern Munich, Stuttgart and Borussia Dortmund? Karlsen believes going to a country like the Netherlands would benefit the 15-year-old. ""If he went to some other countries they might take something out of his game, by telling him to get rid of the ball,"" Karlsen says. ""In Holland, they are not so concerned with the results."" Whatever Odegaard does next, his father insists the decision will not be influenced by money. ""In the end it's all about development,"" he says. ""Nothing else matters. I'm allergic to boys who are satisfied getting into an academy or winning a first-team contract, because you haven't achieved nothing . ""It's a danger when there's so much attention to him from clubs and the media. I think he has handled it very well so far and he has his feet on the ground. ""When we are talking with the clubs we have just talked about sport. We're also in a position that it's not obvious that he will go abroad now."" And amid all the hype and record breaking, Odegaard's father insists that his son's education will not be forgotten. ""He will still, of course, go to school. I don't think it's good for any young boy just to play football and PlayStation. You need to work with your brain too and to develop as a person."""
"German leaders are furious with Greece. Yet again they have to go back to their electorates asking for more billions to throw down the black hole that is the Hellenic Republic. They have now become so angry that they are even openly proposing that Greece's fiscal affairs be deferred to some European Commissioner, preferably one of a Teutonic disposition. Greek leaders, meanwhile, have seized upon this German ""transgression"" with glee. For it offers them a wonderful excuse to put on domestic display their patriotic fervor at a time when they are running low on legitimacy in the eyes of a battered, demoralized electorate. Beating their chests about the German threat to Greece's national sovereignty, they are hoping that the Greeks will somehow forget that it was they, their leaders, who ceded sovereignty to the so-called troika of the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank. This is a typical case of a shady coalition of vested interests that is disintegrating under the weight of its collective hubris. For the past 18 months, German and Greek leaders have been working together to deny the truth about three simultaneous bankruptcies: The irreversible bankruptcy of the Greek state, the effective insolvency of many Franco-German banks, and, last but not least, the unsustainability of the euro-system as we know it. To keep these truths from surfacing, German and Greek politicians, each for their own purposes, settled on gigantic loans for Greece that would act as plaster on the festering wounds of the aforementioned bankruptcies. But to get these ""historic"" loans through the parliaments of Berlin and Athens, they had to be portrayed as a form of humanism; as German solidarity to the Greek people. Alas, to extend such ""solidarity,"" German lawmakers demanded subsidiarity; which is euro-speak for the recipient agreeing to a tough reform agenda, complete with strict fiscal targets. In plain language, the huge loans would only be granted if similarly lofty promises were made by the Greek government. Thus, German leaders, unwilling to confront their bankers and the fault lines developing throughout the eurozone, pretended to believe that the problem was Greece and that Greece could be ""cured"" by means of loans and austerity. At the same time, Greek leaders, unwilling to confront their electorate, pretended to believe that they could deliver the targets demanded by Germany. Of course, it was only a matter of time before reality caught up with both sets of leaders. Once it became abundantly clear that the targets Greece had committed to were well and truly unrealistic, the coalition between our German and Greek leaders became testy. The knives are out and, if it were not for an equilibrium of terror at the thought of a euro-system collapse, a disorderly brawl would be plain for all to see. The worst part of this sad saga is that public debate is still failing to keep track with the real issues. Instead of coming to terms with the structural imbalances within the eurozone, the Germans accuse the Greeks of incompetence, corruption and a singular failure to meet ""their"" targets. The Greeks, meanwhile, are replying with references to World War II and yelps of horror at the prospect of violations of national sovereignty. Neither side is willing to admit that the whole rescue package was flawed from the outset. No serious consideration is given to the plain facts: . •That the cascade of insolvencies in the eurozone should never have been treated like liquidity problems fixable by loans to the bankrupt banks and states. •That it is always a terrible idea to make large loans to an already shrinking economy conditional on further reduction in the national income from which these loans must be repaid (for this is precisely what hefty austerity measures in the middle of a recession achieve). •That Greece's agreed targets would be equivalent to my promising, perhaps under duress, to break the world 100-meter sprint record in the forthcoming London Olympics. The punishment of any big lie is its revelation. Unfortunately, we are not there yet. The preordained failure of the Greek ""program"" has not yet exposed our leaders' connivance. It is, instead, generating Teutonic wrath among the hard working Germans (whose living standards have been under constant pressure for a decade, and who are now told they must guarantee even more zillions for the Greek state) and unbearable Sisyphean pain for Greeks caught up in a vicious cycle (from which no amount of hard work or innovative thinking can help them escape). Something must give. If it is not our leaders' insidious lie, it will be the eurozone. It's that simple."
"(CNN) -- The ever-expanding outbreak of life-threatening fungal meningitis in back pain patients linked to steroid injections prepared by a compounding pharmacy, which so far has sickened at least 214 people and killed 15 in 15 states, is a public health catastrophe. What is particularly tragic for those who have been sickened or killed by the tainted drug and for their loved ones is that this situation was completely avoidable. Since federal laws were enacted in 1938 and 1962 giving the Food and Drug Administration the authority to ensure that all brand name and generic drugs were both safe and effective, compounding pharmacies have traditionally filled a very narrow health care niche in which they prepared, in response to physicians' prescriptions, individually tailored preparations of drugs for patients having unique medical needs that could not be met by a commercially available standard drug manufactured by a pharmaceutical company. While the FDA has long considered the compounding of drugs to be subject to FDA regulations, the agency has recognized the important health care role for such compounded medications. Therefore, it has used ""enforcement discretion"" to allow compounding pharmacies to produce these drugs without complying with FDA regulations, generally deferring regulatory oversight to state pharmacy boards. News: What is a compounding pharmacy? However over the past two decades, many so-called compounding pharmacies began large-scale production of drugs and moved from the traditionally narrow role filled by such pharmacies into a realm that clearly involved drug manufacturing and distribution of standardized drugs. In many cases, the drugs have been sold in multiple states, thus involving interstate commerce. The steroid medication linked to the current fungal meningitis outbreak was produced and widely distributed by the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Massachusetts, one of many compounding pharmacies across the country that has crossed the line between traditional compounding and large-scale drug production. The injectable steroid medication produced at the center was never approved by the FDA and was not manufactured in accordance with the FDA's rigorous manufacturing standards designed to ensure that drugs are sterile and uncontaminated with such germs as bacteria or fungi before being sold and distributed. As a result, as many as 14,000 patients in 23 states were exposed to potentially contaminated steroids and need to be monitored for signs of fungal meningitis or other infections. Many people rightly are asking how the disastrous outbreak could happen in the United States and who is to blame. While numerous probes and investigations are just getting under way and litigation targeting the producer of the tainted drug and health care providers who used it will certainly take years to resolve, blame for this disaster will undoubtedly rest with many parties. Among them are the compounding pharmacy that produced the contaminated steroid drugs, health care facilities and providers who chose to use a dangerous drug lacking approval by the FDA and evidence that the products were sterile, trade associations and professional groups representing compounding pharmacies that have vigorously resisted federal regulatory oversight of their members, state and federal regulators, and Congress. A key player at the federal level deserving a significant amount of blame is the FDA. Loud alarm bells were sounded on December 4, 2006, when the FDA issued warning letters to the New England Compounding Center and four other compounding pharmacies, directing them to stop producing standardized versions of medications that, according to the agency, were being ""marketed for general distribution rather than responding to the unique medical needs of individual patients."" the center was cited for violations of FDA regulations in marketing four different drugs, including repackaged doses of the cancer drug Avastin into syringes for treatment of macular degeneration. News: Injectable drugs from Mass. facility suspect . Clearly, the FDA considered the center and the other compounding pharmacies to be engaged in drug manufacturing. The pharmacies, like any other drug manufacturer, were therefore subject to the safety and effectiveness standards required for approval of new drugs, as well as the rigorous manufacturing standards designed to ensure that drugs are sterile and uncontaminated with such germs as bacteria or fungi before being sold and distributed. However, following its warning letter, the FDA subsequently dropped the ball and failed to take the actions necessary to ensure the center adhered to these drug standards, which are essential for protecting the health of patients. For whatever reason, whether inattentiveness or lack of compliance and legal resources, by not aggressively enforcing the regulations related to large-scale drug manufacturing and interstate commerce, the FDA allowed the company to shift its wide-scale manufacturing and interstate distribution operation to injectable steroids. On Thursday, the FDA attempted to deflect criticism for its failures by asserting that it lacked authority to take action earlier. This flies in the face of the agency's long-stated position that it had legal authority over such activities and its prior enforcement activities against the New England center and multiple other compounding pharmacies. While no one wants to be viewed as being responsible for a preventable public health catastrophe, American citizens should express their outrage and demand that all parties responsible for this tragedy -- including the FDA -- be held accountable. Otherwise history will repeat itself. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Michael Carome."
"(CNN) -- Chester Nez, the former Marine and last of the original 29 Navajo code talkers, passed away June 4 at age 93. When an elder dies in Indian country -- especially someone as revered and decorated as Nez, the World War II veteran -- we, Native Americans, feel it, all of us, regardless of tribe or nation. We are also reminded that, not long ago, in the 19th and 20th centuries, Native American culture, including our languages, was considered a threat to U.S. national security. Then, the government worked in collusion with Christian institutions to stamp out Native American languages, including Navajo. ""A great general has said that the only good Indian is a dead one,"" Capt. Richard Pratt famously read from a paper at an 1892 convention. ""In a sense, I agree with the sentiment, but only in this: that all the Indian there is in the race should be dead. Kill the Indian in him, and save the man."" Pratt was the founder of the Indian boarding schools, institutions charged with turning the ""red Indian"" into the ""noble savage."" Native Americans: We're not your mascots . Chester Nez attended one of these schools as a child, and was punished when he spoke Navajo. One can't help but think that, had it not been for the resilience of the Navajo people and their resistance to these early oppressive American policies, it's quite possible that World War II could have ended differently. Without the use of the Navajo language that was once discouraged by American policy, the U.S. military could have lost a distinct advantage over its enemy. Nez's death is a reminder that America's strength lies in its diversity. Native Americans, who have not always been included in the American story, should be remembered and honored for their contributions. Before the arrival of the Europeans, there were between 300 and 500 unique languages spoken throughout what is now the United States and Canada. Today, there are fewer than 200, and that number will continue to decrease if North American indigenous language revitalization efforts aren't considered paramount to the continuity of Native American communities by the United States. Opinion: NFL may throw flag on N-word, but what about the 'R-word'? Recently, a neighbor and I were discussing Native American languages. He was curious why more Native American elders ""don't just pass on the language to the next generation."" I told him that many of said elders still suffer from the trauma they experienced in the Christian boarding school system, and remembered what Ruby Left Hand Bull told me recently. ""They'd pierce your tongue if you spoke your language!"" my elder recalled. ""Or they'd make you stand in front of the classroom and they'd tell you to stick your tongue out and then they'd whip it with a wooden ruler, just for speaking our language."" Ruby knew our Lakota language growing up, she said, and very well. But she has lost it, she said. She understands it, but it's all but left her, courtesy of the boarding schools. I told my neighbor, who said he was a third-generation Italian-American, that his people's language could die in New York, but there is no threat that it will become an extinct language any time soon. ""There are more Italians speaking Italian every day right across the Atlantic,"" I said. ""You could board a plane or hop a ship today and travel to your home country and hear your people's language reverberating off Italian walls. We, Native Americans, don't share in that luxury. This is it. This is our home country. Our languages are invariably on the brink of extinction, especially since we are 1% of the population. So when a Native American language dies, it's forever gone."" Our elders tell us that when a language dies, so, too, does the culture. But all is not lost. There are various campaigns to revitalize Native American languages. The state of Colorado, for example, passed a law stating that Native Americans who speak their language can teach it to students for credit at secondary schools under the category ""World Languages."" Maybe one day all Native Americans will, again, be fluent speakers of their language -- just like Chester Nez, the warrior. Indeed, the world would be a richer place for it. My hope is that when President Barack Obama visits with our Native American leaders this month at Standing Rock, North Dakota, he will be reminded of the significant contributions of Native American peoples like Chester Nez. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Simon Moya-Smith."
"A safe distance from Nairobi's Westgate Mall, several Kenyans stare through a stand of trees at the site of one of the nation's worst terrorist attacks. The opulent mall has proudly stood for six years -- like a glittering city within a city in the popular enclave of Westlands, about 15 miles from slums where residents struggle daily to survive. But Saturday's attack by Al-Shabaab terrorists has left dozens dead, turning the 350,000 square foot, five-story shopping complex into a symbol of a very different kind. Related story: Kenya mall shooting enters fourth day . Among the onlookers Tuesday gathered at a cordoned off area near the scene of the attack, cab driver Benjamin Kamau said he doesn't feel safe anymore. The tragedy has shaken him. It will take a long time to return to any sense of safety or normalcy. Westgate Mall has made its name as a place to see and be seen -- where shoppers sipped frozen yogurt, caught a movie and shopped for the latest fashions amid an extravagant waterfall and casino. For the nation's wealthy, it was a taste of the West in their own backyard: 80 stores including Samsung, Nike and Adidas -- lined its pristine, peach colored marble hallways. For Kenya's expatriate community, the mall was a taste of familiarity in a land far from home. Related story: Kenya tourism suffers another blow . Now, pools of blood have smeared once shiny floors. Coffee shops that were once filled with lively chatter have been littered with half-empty latte cups left by shoppers trying to escape with their lives. On the day of the attack, my cousin, Charles Mugo, and his two daughters, ages 6 and 3, found themselves with about 40 other shoppers in the mall parking garage. They'd just returned from a grocery store to pick up food for the family dog, Muthaka, when gunmen stormed in, AK-47 rifles blazing. Mugo came face-to-face with one of the terrorists, a lanky, 6-foot man, wearing a black scarf-like cloth on his head and magazines of ammunition around his waist. ""Just like Rambo does in the movies,"" Mugo recalls. ""We're not here to rob you, we're here to kill you,"" the gunman announced to the crowd. ""You've been killing our women and children in Somalia."" When the gunmen demanded to know if they were Muslim, Mugo hesitated just long enough for the attackers to turn their attention to a man nearby. The man stared at them blankly when one attacker tested him by asking who the Prophet Muhammad's mother was. They shot at him -- the bullet ripping through his coat -- but leaving him unharmed. The interaction lasted long enough for Mugo to push his two girls under a parked car, and for him to stoop low behind it. They waited, and waited. ""Girls, did you pray today?"" he whispered. ""I've prayed five times already,"" the older daughter told him. ""I don't want to die today."" Ninety minutes passed. By then, the gunshots did not sound as close.  They felt confident enough to make a run for safety. ""Westgate bad, blood,"" the younger daughter told me later. She showed me scratches on her face from laying flat on the ground. ""I ran, ran, ran."" Eventually, the Mugos escaped unharmed. Kenyans and foreigners died in attacks scattered across the complex. It was the deadliest terror attack in Kenya since al Qaeda blew up the U.S. Embassy there in 1998, killing 213 people. Terrorism experts say the attack bears eerie similarities to the 2008 siege of a hotel in Mumbai, India -- another upscale target with Western appeal. Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistani terrorist group that attacked the hotel for more than three days, killing 166 people. Related story: Could Kenya mall shooting happen elsewhere? The Nairobi attack targeted non-Muslims at a stylish mall. ""This is a soft target. It's in a high profile area,"" said CNN military analyst retired Lt. Col. Rick Francona. ""There's going to be a lot of foreigners there, a lot of wealthy there. This is -- this was well-planned and well-thought out."" CNN national security analyst Fran Townsend said, ""There is no sort of hard perimeter by which you could screen for security purposes, and so it's difficult to protect."" The tragedy has changed many who've been touched by it. Four days after the attack, Mugo is still trying to sort out his feelings. ""You have to take time to let it sink in. I think I'm still in shock,"" he said.  ""All I keep thinking of was what if they were different scenarios. What if I had parked at a different place. What if I had not gone to that mall. At the time, all I kept thinking was I just couldn't let these girls die."" Outside the mall, the Kenyans keep watch. From a distance. Kamau, the taxi driver, shakes his head. ""I won't be going back in there. Never, ever, ever."" Related story: Attack 'fits the new al Qaeda playbook'"
"(CNN)For Frank Clegg Leatherworks, ""made in America"" is not a seasonal trend or marketing slogan meant to evoke classic workwear looks or to drive sales of limited edition brand collaborations. It's simply the way Ian and Andrew Clegg's father has done business since 1970 in Fall River, Massachusetts. It has not always been easy. Frank Clegg resisted the urge to outsource production overseas even as clients disappeared and margins shrunk. In the 1990s they started making bags for other labels to stay afloat. As the Cleggs tell it, staying in Massachusetts was the only way to ensure survival, by standing out for maintaining quality control of their products. But will consumers see it that way beyond next season? How can brands like Frank Clegg that are in it for the long haul convince the Target generation that one of their leather satchels is worth the triple-digit investment? Ian Clegg pondered this sentiment aloud to a group of people gathered in a Brooklyn showroom on a rainy Saturday night in December for a panel discussion on the future of American apparel manufacturing. His family business trains and employs skilled leather craftsmen, paying them a living wage to make quality bags and accessories, he said. ""In order to keep that going we can't let it be a trend,"" he told the group of entrepreneurs, small-business owners and fashion enthusiasts. ""How do we keep it going without it being a trend?"" The question comes at a time when shopping small and local are attractive buzzwords for a generation of consumers that claims to be disillusioned with corporate America. Whether they'll pony up the extra cash for a handbag whose makers claim will last longer than their fast-fashion equivalents is another matter — a reality that the Cleggs and other business owners in attendance seemed to be aware of. The discussion occurred during a pop-up market called Northern Grade, which features American-made goods with a contemporary feel. The first Northern Grade launched in 2010 as a menswear market in Minneapolis, expanding to other cities amid growing demand for classic looks inspired by American heritage brands. People travel hundreds of miles for the markets, which tend to attract style-conscious men (and women) willing to pay a premium for waxed cotton jackets, selvedge jeans or Oxford cloth shirts made in the United States. Northern Grade is one of several new markets trying to reach this consumer, building on the success of its predecessor, the Pop-Up Flea, which has also expanded to new cities worldwide since its first show in 2009 in New York. December's Northern Grade was the first to exclusively feature American-made products for women in an attempt to reach a demographic historically known to favor fast fashion over high-dollar investment pieces from new or emerging brands. The brands (and price tags) at Northern Grade's markets for men and women are not for everyone, said market co-founder Katherine McMillan. They're trying to reach consumers searching for quality in an item, shoppers ""who appreciate the details and bigger picture when buying an item,"" she said. ""There will always be the people who buy a shirt at H&M that's made fast and costs less than a shirt made in the U.S. by a smaller brand,"" she said. ""I'm hoping the quality shopper wins out in the long run."" The Americana boom in menswear has led to greater demand for tomboy-inspired looks for women the past few seasons. So-called ""boyfriend""-style button-up shirts and jeans are mainstays in stores like Madewell and J. Crew, and just about everyone from Valentino and Alexander Wang to Opening Ceremony has incorporated elements of  casual and formal menswear into their runway looks. Menswear's influence was apparent in many of the brands at Northern Grade, not by coincidence. Stephanie Beard, founder of Austin-based brand esby, said working in menswear inspired her to start her own line for women. ""I was really envious of how classic menswear was, but it was not cut for my body,"" she said. ""I felt like there was a market for quality womenswear because I couldn't find it when I was looking for it."" With the help of Kickstarter, she launched her first line in February with the goal of using quality fabrics, even if they can't be found in the United States. All the fabrics she uses in her collections are imported except for the knitted canvas of some shirts. The sewing and pattern-making happens in New Orleans before items are shipped to a wash house in New Jersey and back to Austin to be sold or shipped. ""Staying in the United States was always the plan,"" she said. ""I want to be hands-on and I can't fly out of the country for each season to oversee production."" For some, made in America is a lifestyle choice, said panelist Katharine Keegan, founder of style blog ""That Kind of Woman."" It has crossover appeal to those who identify as conscious consumers and claim to care about where their clothes come from. These shoppers consider the ""made in USA"" label synonymous with fair labor practices and supporting small businesses. ""Made in USA is about knowing the people behind product,"" she said. ""It's a lifestyle, it's being part of a bigger cause."" The past few years have seen the launch of a handful of e-retailers and online-first brands dedicated to supply chain transparency and knowing your brand. Information about provenance, materials and brand story are prominent features on new sites such as ZADY, Everlane, and Of a Kind. Not all brands featured on Of a Kind — which showcases limited runs of goods from emerging designers — manufacture in the United States, said Erica Cerulo. But each brand is vetted so Of a Kind can provide customers with an honest answer. ""Our customers want transparency about where things come from. That matters more to them than whether it's made in the USA,"" she said. Besides, she said, everything made in United Sates is not created equally, just like all ""made in China"" merchandise isn't the same. ""It's about finding brands you trust,"" Cerulo said. People in the audience said they would love to support these brands if they could afford them. By the end of the discussion, educating consumers had emerged as one way to sell them on the value of the goods. That's why markets like Northern Grade exist, McMillan said: so consumers can meet designers in person. ""The biggest issue, which we are always thinking about, is how much it costs,"" she said. ""I'm hoping that the way organic and local food prices have come down a little, the items we sell at Northern Grade can become more attainable to the masses. ""When you are paying for normal and fair wages for a person, the price of the item goes up. Here's hoping demand brings it down eventually."""
"(EW.com) -- The bad news: Emmy-award winning comedian John Oliver is leaving ""The Daily Show,"" where he's been serving as a correspondent since 2006. The good news: He'll be moving to HBO for a brand-new topical comedy series, slated to launch in 2014. The show will air weekly on Sunday nights. Oliver caught the cable giant's eye this summer, when he spent two months filling in for ""Daily Show"" host Jon Stewart. ""We weren't otherwise searching for another weekly talk show, but when we saw John Oliver handling host duties on The Daily Show, we knew that his singular perspective and distinct voice belonged on HBO,"" said HBO Programming president Michael Lombardo said in a statement. ""We are extremely excited that John has agreed to make HBO his home."" ""I'm incredibly excited to be joining HBO, especially as I presume this means I get free HBO now,"" Oliver added. ""I want to thank Comedy Central, and everyone at The Daily Show for the best seven and a half years of my life. But most of all, I'd like to thank Jon Stewart. He taught me everything I know. In fact, if I fail in the future, it's entirely his fault."" See the original story at EW.com. CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly . © 2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved."
"(CNN) -- The ideal of childhood, and the protection of its innocence, is a central pillar of both our morality and our legal code. There is, therefore, little that shocks and outrages us more than crimes by adults against children. Unfortunately, we have much to be shocked and outraged about. There have, for example, been a number of recent pedophile criminal cases inside the Catholic church and at universities like Pennsylvania University. And in the Congo, the crimes against children by the warlord Joseph Kony triggered KONY 2012 -- an online crusade made up of mostly children against Kony's abuse of children. What is KONY 2012? The last couple of weeks have brought us two more disturbingly high-profile criminal cases against children. First there was the failed attempt by the medieval Pakistani Taliban to kill the 14-year-old education activist and BBC blogger Malala Yousufzai. And now there are the lurid accusations against the BBC celebrity Jimmy Savile, who is alleged to have sexually abused children. These grotesque crimes may have been separated by several decades and by thousands of miles, but they have one thing in common. Both the Pakistani Taliban and Jimmy Savile sought to destroy the innocence of youth. Savile is accused of treating children as if they had adult bodies and sexual appetites, while the Taliban attempt to murder Malala Yousufzai was driven by their rejection of the idea of education for girls and thus, in a sense, of the very idea of childhood itself. But Malala, who is now recovering from the assassination attempt at an English hospital, shares our modern conception of childhood. ""I have the right of education,"" she told CNN. ""I have the right to play. I have the right to sing. I have the right to talk. I have the right to go to market. I have the right to speak up."" What Malala is claiming is the right to an autonomous childhood, the right to transform herself from an innocent child to a knowing adult -- and to be let alone by the adult world in this journey. This right is mirrored by the experience of Jimmy Savile's alleged victims, whose innocent childhoods were ruined by their exposure to his criminal adult appetites. A Taliban spokesman said of the attack on Malala: ""She has become a symbol of Western culture in the area. She was openly propagating it. Let this be a lesson."" The Taliban, with their rejection of the very idea of childhood, are of course wrong. But the Malala case does indeed offer us a ""lesson."" Yes, we should all be horrified by this appalling crime against a 14-year-old Pakistani girl from the Swat Valley, but I fear that, in our idealization of childhood and in our acute sensitivity to the innocence of brave young girls like Malala, we are ourselves vulnerable to transforming children into celebrity martyrs -- modern day versions of Joan of Arc. This happened with KONY 2012, a movement akin, as I wrote earlier this year, to a children's crusade. And Malala, who was nominated for the 2011 International Children's Peace Prize, is herself in danger of becoming a symbol of injustice exploited by everyone from UNICEF to Madonna and CNN itself. So how did this happen? Unfortunately, Malala was allowed, by her family, by many Pakistanis and by the media to become a spokesman against the Taliban. The well-meaning BBC is partially to blame here, for giving her a highly visible blog that would inevitably attract Taliban ire. Malala's equally well-meaning father holds some responsibility too, for allowing his daughter to become so vulnerable -- as does the world's media for transforming the teenager into a global celebrity. Our ideal of childhood is rooted in allowing children to being let alone by the adult world to develop themselves. We need adults to fight their political battles -- to have prosecuted Jimmy Savile, to hunt down Joseph Kony, to fight the Pakistan Taliban. Let's remember that children are, in every sense, innocent and thus shouldn't be encouraged to become the foot soldiers in the battle against their own exploitation. The story of Malala Yousufzai should be seen as both an inspiration and a warning. CNN is currently encouraging its readers to send messages to Malala. My message to her is twofold. Firstly, I dearly hope that you recover quickly from your wounds. And secondly, once you recover, I hope you'll be able to go back to the privacy of your childhood, to simply being Malala rather than a global celebrity whose image is owned by other people. (The BBC addressed its connection with Malala Yousufzai on its blog called The Editors, and you can read it by following the link here). The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Andrew Keen."
"LONDON, England (CNN) -- I have a confession. As a music style, heavy metal has completely passed me by. I don't understand it. I'm not even sure I want to. ""Bring your daughter to the slaughter,"" bellows Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson. Why would I want to do that? Why would I want to listen to anyone even suggesting I do that? Outside The Crobar in London's Soho our intrepid reporter tries out her rock moves. While the thought of spending the evening head banging leaves me longing for an expensive glass of merlot, slightly fruity, and perhaps a long sit down, I can't escape the feeling that I'm somehow missing out. As a child of the 70s, how could I have missed the birth of a wildly popular new music genre right in the next decade? Even at the end of the 80s, when Iron Maiden was releasing its ""First Ten Years"" compilation of greatest hits, I would have been sixteen (or thereabouts), the perfect age to fall for the charms of a long-haired, rebellious rocker in tight leather pants. You'd think. There's only one thing for it -- a crash course in all things metal with the man who knows, self-confessed metalhead Malcolm Dome, who also presents the chart show for 24-hour UK rock and metal radio station TotalRock. I meet him at the TotalRock studios in Central London. The stairs are scuffed. It smells of stale sweat. I'm pleased to see Malcolm is wearing the traditional heavy metal attire of black T-shirt and black jeans. Obviously I'm going to have to go and buy a T-shirt, perhaps one with a skull on it. ""You can wear anything you want,"" Malcolm assures me. ""You'd probably be surprised how many heavy metal fans there are who have very high-powered business jobs -- even members of parliament who are into metal. They can't go around dressed as I'm necessarily dressed now all the time because it doesn't fit into their jobs."" Fortunately for Malcolm, his job as heavy metal journalist and broadcaster almost requires him to look the part. He's been involved in the scene since the late 1960s, when he fell for a young heavy metal group called Black Sabbath. His main allegiance later shifted to Led Zeppelin, but when it comes to music styles he's not fussy. ""I've got eclectic tastes,"" he says. ""I'm happy to listen to Frank Sinatra, listen to AC-DC, to all sorts."" Finally, we've found some common ground. If there's anyone who can convince me of the joys of heavy metal, it's someone who also appreciates the soothing, melodic tones of Sinatra. I've heard someone compare heavy metal to pantomime, I say. Surely that can't be true? ""It's absolutely panto,"" Malcolm enthuses, adding ""Sammy Goldwyn said that any film should start with a climax and build it from there. And that's what metal does. It starts with a big, big stage show and builds it from there. Of course it's panto. It's 'he's behind you', it's the whole larger than life character, it's circus, it's frivolity."" He hastens to add that a lot of time and effort goes into staging the shows, and from that perspective, it's completely serious. The problem with heavy metal, Malcolm says, is that the mainstream media misrepresented it for years. ""Every time the mainstream media used to cover it in the 70s and 80s, it was done from the point of view that 'this is weird, we don't understand it, we're going to go away not understanding it but we're going to present it to you anyway,'"" he says. Heavy metal was painted as the dark preserve of working class men who wore denim and leather and were, for the most part, sexist. That's even before you take into account accusations of devil worship and Satanism leveled at the genre by Christian activists in the 80s. ""You can understand people actually seeing what was being presented to them thinking 'I don't get it and I don't want to get it,'"" Malcolm says. Now many more people ""get it."" Some 30,000 people listen to TotalRock each week, many of them women. ""It's ended up being I think a music that attracts if not fifty percent female fans then certainly a very big minority. The fact is metal has never tried to exclude women."" So what of lyrics like ""bring your daughter to the slaughter""? ""'Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter' was actually written for a movie,"" Malcolm explains, ""One of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies. However, it is not about killing people. Slaughter was a metaphor for the party. So it was actually a fun representation. Metal has never openly espoused violence towards anybody."" It should be stated here that there are varying degrees of heavy metal, from the hair metal of carefully-coifured Jon Bon Jovi to the black art of New York doom metal band Unearthly Trance. ""What makes Unearthly Trance so heavy is that they literally make your bowels rumble,"" Malcolm says. ""They are so intense. But it's also hypnotic. And strangely soothing,"" he adds. Dozens of sub-categories of metal have evolved to include black metal, stoner metal, thrash metal, power metal, goth metal, death metal and grind core, to name a few. What binds them all is a fierce dedication to the style of music and an admirable loyalty to their chosen bands. There seems to be none of the fickleness associated with the pop world where young performers are routinely thrown on the scrapheap after a few hits -- or flops. As Malcolm says, it's not unusual for bands to have a career that spans decades. Iron Maiden has been going for almost 30 years. Black Sabbath for even longer. So is there any age when heavy metal fans should retire gracefully from the scene? ""Absolutely not, no, no, no,"" Malcolm says, looking slightly shocked. ""If you love it and enjoy it why should you have give it up because you reach a certain age? Definitely not. Metal is ageless."" It's not too late for me then. What a relief."
"(CNN) -- If you want to salute, race or flirt with other drivers in Nevada, you could soon be out of luck with some cars. That's because on Monday, Nevada became the first to approve a license for ""autonomous vehicles"" -- in other words, cars that cruise, twist and turn without the need for a driver -- on its roads. The license goes to Google, the Silicon Valley technology giant known more for its search engine and e-mail service that nonetheless has been known to dive into other big ideas such as space elevators to Internet-enabled glasses. In a 2010 post on Google's official blog, engineer and Google X founder Sebastian Thrun said that the self-driving vehicle project aims ""to help prevent traffic accidents, free up people's time and reduce carbon emissions by fundamentally changing car use."" He noted that the ""automated cars use video cameras, radio sensors and a laser range finder to 'see' other traffic, as well as detailed maps ... to navigate the road ahead."" There is no driver needed, though one is typically in the front seat ready to take control if need be. Earlier this spring, Google said it had ""safely completed over 200,000 miles of computer-led driving."" Monday marked a new milestone for the project, when Nevada issued a special license after demonstrations on state freeways, state highways, in Carson City neighborhoods and on Las Vegas' landmark Las Vegas Strip, the state's Department of Motor Vehicles said in a news release. The new plate is red and features the infinity symbol and the letters AU, for autonomous vehicle. All such cars on the road are ""test"" vehicles for now, though the state signaled it intends to be ""at the forefront of autonomous vehicle development."" ""I felt using the infinity symbol was the best way to represent the 'car of the future,' "" state DMV Director Bruce Breslow said. ""When there comes a time that vehicle manufactures market autonomous vehicles to the public, that infinity symbol will appear on a green license plate."" Google was the first company to apply to test its self-driving system in Nevada, the state said, while indicating that ""other auto manufacturers have indicated their desire to test and develop"" such technology in the state."
"(CNN) -- Matt Sandusky stood in solidarity with his adoptive father, Jerry Sandusky, while a grand jury investigated multiple allegations of child rape against the former Penn State assistant football coach. Matt Sandusky told the grand jury nothing inappropriate had ever happened to him. And he sat with the rest of the family early in Jerry Sandusky's recent trial. But last week brought a bombshell that shook the proceedings: Matt Sandusky, 33, was now willing to testify that the man he first met through the Second Mile charity repeatedly molested him while he was a child, according to Matt Sandusky's lawyers. The revelation kept Jerry Sandusky from taking the stand in his own defense. Sandusky's son fits pattern of other alleged victims . Portions of a 29-minute interview police had with Matt Sandusky during the middle of the trial were broadcast Tuesday on NBC, which obtained the audiotape. Jurors never heard the tape. Detectives asked Matt Sandusky why he was now willing to cooperate. ""I mean for my family so that they can really have closure and see what the truth actually is,"" Matt Sandusky said. ""And just to right the wrong, honestly, of going to the grand jury and lying."" In the police interview, Matt Sandusky said that he was molested between the ages of 8 and 15, that he tried to escape from the Sandusky home and once attempted suicide. ""I know that I really wanted to die at that point and time,"" he said, according to the audio obtained by NBC News. Matt Sandusky, a foster child formally adopted at 18, also described Jerry Sandusky rubbing, hugging and showering with him. ""If you were pretending you were asleep and if you were touched or rubbed in some way you could just act like you were rolling over in your sleep, so that you could change positions,"" said Matt Sandusky. The defendant would sometimes rub near and against his genitals, he told police. The potential witness said he could not recall penetration or oral sex. It was only days before the commonwealth rested, and after some alleged victims had testified, according to Matt Sandusky's lawyers, that he told them he was abused and wanted to cooperate with prosecutors. The younger Sandusky's willingness to testify as a rebuttal witness created a dilemma for Jerry Sandusky's defense team. They wanted their client to testify after the jury heard damning testimony from eight alleged victims, but they decided it against it. Attorney: Sandusky to appeal child sex abuse convictions . ""To put Jerry on the stand and have Matt come in and testify against him it would destroy any chance of an acquittal,"" co-defense counsel Joe Amendola told reporters Friday night after his client was convicted of 45 of 48 sexual abuse charges against him. Amendola said that Jerry Sandusky, 68, denied ever having inappropriate contact with Matt. By not putting Jerry Sandusky on the stand, the defense ensured that Matt Sandusky would not testify. The younger Sandusky's attorneys, Justine Andronici and Andrew Shubin, released a statement about the recording. ""This tape demonstrates Matt's tremendous courage and strength as he begins to disclose that Jerry Sandusky sexually abused him when he was a child,"" they said. ""Although the tape was released without Matt's knowledge or permission, it illustrates that he made the difficult decision to come forward and tell the painful truth to investigators despite extraordinary pressure to support his father."" The audiotape's leak was the main subject of a meeting hastily called Tuesday by trial Judge John Cleland and attended by prosecutors, defense attorneys and even the judge who has overseen the grand jury that's investigated the Sandusky case, a source with knowledge of the meeting told CNN National Correspondent Susan Candiotti. No one at the meeting took responsibility for sharing the tape with the media, the source told CNN. Jerry Sandusky's defense team was asked to turn over its copy of the tape, but it will remain available to them. Cleland ordered that any discovery turned over to the defense in the Sandusky case be sealed unless it was put into evidence at trial. He also said defense attorneys shall give a sworn statement within 10 days as to what materials they received and who they have given it to. The judge is trying to protect the current investigation and the privacy of the victims and witnesses. Neither prosecutors nor defense attorneys, who have vowed an appeal, would comment on Tuesday's meeting. Matt Sandusky's grand jury testimony remains a secret. Amendola said months ago he was not concerned about what the man said before the grand jury. Karl Rominger, another defense attorney, had a jailhouse visit with Jerry Sandusky on Monday. ""I'm innocent,"" said Jerry Sandusky, in answer to questions CNN's Candiotti asked of him through his lawyer. ""I didn't do it,"" he said, according to Rominger. Sex abusers prey on kids' trust, thrive on shame and fear, experts say . Rominger says Sandusky was bothered he didn't get to testify. But Jerry Sandusky doesn't regret his decision, according to his lawyer. Sandusky, who was allowed Monday to call his wife, Dottie, is not allowed visitors until a psychiatric examination is completed that also will determine whether he remains on suicide watch, according to Rominger. ""Some of the guards are friendly and will talk with him. Others don't talk to him at all,"" according to Rominger. Sandusky is allowed out of the small cell -- which features a toilet, sink and bed -- once a day to take a shower. ""He's come up with exercises to keep active,"" his lawyer told CNN. ""Enough to work up a sweat."" InSession's Jessica Thill contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- America's economy has the potential to transform lives like no other force on Earth, but too often in recent years we have seen Washington act as an anchor. And while CEOs and presidents may generate the business headlines, an over-involved federal government hurts employees and those looking for jobs across the entire spectrum. As someone who grew up in poverty, watching his single mother work 16-hour days to provide as much as she possibly could for us, I have lived the power of the American Dream. With help from my mom and my mentor, I learned that I didn't have to be an entertainer or an athlete to achieve my goals; I could think my way out of poverty. I realized the power of education, and the incredible opportunities provided by free markets. Sen. Cory Booker: Finishing our nation's unfinished business . My fear is that too many folks these days aren't given the chance to see the greatness that resides within them. Over the past 50 years, we've seen the War on Poverty struggle in its core mission -- to help lift folks up. It's time for a change, so I have introduced my Opportunity Agenda. A significant part of my Opportunity Agenda is focused on job-training efforts. There are 4 million open jobs across the country right now -- jobs that are unfilled because of a skills gap in the work force. This in spite of the fact there are 35 federal work-force development programs. My SKILLS Act, which the House has already passed thanks to the efforts of Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-North Carolina, would cut through the bureaucratic maze and mountains of red tape that hinder these programs. We'll create one Workforce Investment Fund, cutting waste and duplication out while ensuring more dollars are used for their actual purpose -- job training. President Barack Obama signaled that Vice President Joe Biden would be looking at job-training programs this year -- I eagerly await their call to discuss my proposal. I am also working on a proposal to create opportunity zones across America to tie some of the tax dollars coming out of our low-income communities to the community itself in order to rebuild infrastructure and lift those areas up. In my time on county council in Charleston County, this concept was referred to as Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts, and I see great potential in this concept at the federal level. It is not enough to simply rebuild, or as some would call it gentrify, our tougher neighborhoods -- we have to provide the opportunity to the folks living there already to take part in a brighter future. Population shifting isn't fixing the problem, it is simply moving it somewhere else. So instead of overtaxing and overregulating, I see a future where the government cuts out waste and duplication, and gives all Americans the chance to realize their full potential. As I travel throughout South Carolina, be it speaking with a local chamber of commerce, or a group of pastors, or working at a burrito store for a morning (verdict: my own skills with a broom could stand some polishing), my constituents are very clear: They don't want a handout, just a hand up. It isn't the federal government's responsibility to guarantee outcomes. It is, however, our responsibility to make sure that a better future is possible if people want it. Opportunity knocks for all of us at some point. My hope is that Washington doesn't get in the way of folks answering. Join us on Facebook.com/CNNOpinion. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Sen. Tim Scott."
"(CNN) -- Rescuers were scheduled to resume their search Friday morning for survivors of a ferry that sank off the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar, killing 60 people and leaving more than 80 people unaccounted for, the Red Cross said. As night fell Thursday, crews halted their search until the next morning, the Red Cross said. The vessel with about 290 people aboard -- including 31 children -- capsized near Zanzibar on Wednesday, according to a spokesman for the agency's office in Tanzania. About 145 people have been found alive, and rescue operations are ongoing, said Raymond Kanyambo, a spokesman for the agency. Rescuers search for bodies after Indian ferry disaster . Authorities intensified efforts Thursday by using army helicopters, government troops and boats. Strong winds and rough waves, which officials blame for the capsizing, complicated ongoing rescue efforts, he said. Ferries in the region often carry passengers not included in the manifest, making it hard to pinpoint the exact number of people aboard. The ferry was traveling between the Tanzanian commercial capital of Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar, the Indian Ocean archipelago popular with tourists for its pristine sandy beaches. Bangladesh ferry death toll rises to more than 100 . Zanzibar is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania. The capsizing Wednesday is the latest such disaster in the popular tourist destination of Zanzibar in less than a year. More than 200 people perished when a crowded ferry traveling between two islands of Zanzibar sank in September. In that incident, the ferry had a capacity of about 600 passengers, but was carrying more than 1,000 people, officials said at the time. Tanzanian authorities charged five men with negligence in the September capsizing, including the owner of the ferry and the captain. See video footage of September's incident . Journalist Farouq Karim contributed to this report from Zanzibar. CNN's Karen Smith, Said Samira, Faith Karimi and Michael Martinez also contributed."
"Undocumented immigrant students in California will be able to receive state-funded financial aid in 2013 to attend college, under a new law signed Saturday by Gov. Jerry Brown. The law allows top students who are on a path to citizenship to apply and receive the state aid, the governor said. About 2,500 students are projected to receive Cal Grants totaling $14.5 million, according to the California Department of Finance. That averages out to $5,800 per student. The funding amounts to 1% of the overall $1.4 billion Cal Grant program, officials said. The new law, AB 131, is one of two pieces of legislation known as the California Dream Act and will become effective January 1, 2013, officials said. ""Going to college is a dream that promises intellectual excitement and creative thinking,"" Brown said in a statement from Sacramento. ""The Dream Act benefits us all by giving top students a chance to improve their lives and the lives of all of us."" Currently, illegal immigrant students in California must pay resident tuition rates if they graduated from a state high school and are actively seeking to legalize their immigration status, officials said. The other half of the California Dream Act was signed into law by Brown in July and allows undocumented immigrant students to receive privately funded scholarships administered at public universities and community colleges. That law, called AB 130, was needed because the University of California and California State University systems avoided giving the private scholarships to their undocumented students, citing vagueness in laws, said the legislative aide to California Dream Act's author, state Assemblyman Gilbert Cedillo (D-Los Angeles). Cedillo called Saturday's signing ""historic"" and path-breaking for the United States -- coming at a time when many states such as Alabama and Arizona are passing aggressive laws targeting undocumented immigrants. Some of those laws are being challenged in court. ""The signing of now both parts of the California Dream Act will send a message across the country that California is prepared to lead the country with a positive and productive vision for how we approach challenging issues related to immigration,"" Cedillo said in a statement. ""Today, Ana and Maria Gomez, Jaime Kim, David Cho, Pedro Ramirez -- and thousands of other students who are some of the best and brightest in California -- have been told by our governor and legislative leaders that you are welcome here, that you have something to contribute, that you can be proud of what you have accomplished and that your talents and ambition will not go to waste,"" Cedillo said. Under AB 131, undocumented immigrant students will be eligible for state Board of Governors fee waivers, student aid programs administered by a college or university, and the state aid Cal Grants program for state universities, community colleges, and qualifying independent and career colleges or technical schools in California, according to Cedillo. The California Dream Act differs from a proposed federal bill called the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors -- or DREAM -- Act, which would create a path to citizenship for immigrants who entered the United States illegally as children under the age of 16 and have lived in the United States for at least five years, obtained a high school or General Education Development diploma, and demonstrated ""good moral character,"" according to a White House fact sheet."
"London, England (CNN) -- Forty years ago London's docklands were an industrial wasteland. The shipping companies had moved to deeper waters, factories were left abandoned and poverty was rife. It's hard to believe that in just a few weeks the very same East End docks will be transformed into a St Tropez-style luxury marina worthy of the world's A-list celebrities. The mega-rich and their superyachts are set to descend on the regenerated Docklands for front row seats to the 2012 London Olympics. And high-end companies are keen to ensure no expense is spared when catering to their every whim. The exclusive experience will include helicopter transfers, speedboat taxis, a specially-constructed beach and even pontoons with private jacuzzis. Watch: The exclusive world of superyachts . ""It will be a mini Monaco,"" Benjamin Sutton from concierge service MGMT told CNN. ""In terms of location you can't get any better. We're opposite the Excel Center which will be hosting the gymnastics, basketball, wrestling. We're 5 minutes walk from the Thames Cable Car to the O2 Arena in Greenwich. And the Olympic Stadium is a 10 minute drive away. ""We have preferential tickets to first class events like track and field. We tailor the package around the individual qualms of the client. Pretty much whatever they'd expect we can offer."" The high-end service comes with a price tag to match. Berths are roughly £60 ($90) a meter per day, with a 70-meter superyacht setting you back a whopping £58,000 ($90,000) for two weeks of the Games. Celebs set sail . Among the wealthy expected at Wood Wharf, Canary Wharf, St Katharine Docks and Royal Victoria Dock in east London are Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich. The oligarch's superyacht Eclipse - believed to boast two helicopter pads, 20 jet skis, two swimming pools, hot tubs, a dance floor and a cinema - was previously chartered by music star couple Beyoncé, 30, and Jay-Z, 42. ""There is a rumor that George Clooney will also be arriving,"" Benjamin revealed. Though he was quick to add: ""But we can't reveal for sure who is going to be there. Privacy is very important."" Watch: Designing superyachts . And when the superyacht owners come out to play, nearby restaurant and club Waterside House will be offering them the exclusive, high-end entertainment they've come to expect. A £1,000 membership will get you into the club's Black Card lounge for the duration of the Games. It includes access to a specially built 60 meter beach and nightclub where DJ Fatboy Slim is expected to perform. ""It means by definition that the rest of the marquee is also extremely exclusive."" Waterside House founder and director Ali Warburton told CNN. ""These are very, very high-end clientele. We've got Olympic contestants, oligarchs, ambassadors, celebrities and CEOs of some of the largest companies in the world. ""Superyacht owners are all over it. They're all billionaires and there's only a certain amount of time they can spend on their boat."" London's docklands: From wasteland to luxury . It's a dramatic transformation for an area which in the 1970s had become a deserted wasteland. In fact, the grim image of a ruined city was the perfect setting for Stanley Kubrick's 1987 Vietnam war film Full Metal Jacket. The docklands had originally secured London's reputation as a great trading city and by the 1930s was the busiest port in the world. But with the emergence of bigger cargo ships in the 1960s, the shipping industry was forced to move to deep-water ports just outside London in Essex. By 1980 most of London's docks were obsolete. And it wasn't until the London Docklands Development Corporation redeveloped the site in the late 1980s -- including the financial hub of Canary Wharf -- that the docklands was reborn. Watch: The new home of sailing? The Olympic makeover is the latest development for this historic East End heartland -- one which Benjamin predicts could give it a lasting reputation. ""This is an Olympic-themed platform to launch London as a future destination for superyachts,"" he said. ""All these boats that used to go to the Med will now see London as a great place to stop off; a new launching pad for Europe."""
"Hong Kong, with its glittering skyscrapers and luxury malls, is home to some of the world's richest people but new government figures show that a fifth of its population lives in poverty. About 1.3 million people, or 19.6%, of the population were deemed to be living below the poverty line in 2012, according to the Hong Kong Povery Situation Report 2012 released on the weekend. It is the first time the city's government has set a poverty threshold, which stands at 50% of median household income before tax or welfare benefits. ""That poverty line marks an important milestone in our effort to alleviate poverty in Hong Kong,"" Matthew Cheung, Hong Kong's secretary for Labour and Welfare told CNN on Monday. ""We want to build a more caring, compassionate and inclusive society here."" Cheung said that Hong Kong's leader, Leung Chun-ying, would announce a package of measures early next year to help those struggling to make ends meet. ""We want to really tackle the problem of intergenerational poverty, social upward mobility is very important, promote employment and promote self-reliance,"" said Cheung. Leung, who took office in the former British colony last year, has pledged to narrow the city's gap between rich and poor, which is at a record high. Although part of China, Hong Kong has its own government and legal system. The city's Gini coefficient, which measures income equality, stood at 0.537 in 2011, the latest year that government figures are available, up from 0.533 in 2006. A reading above 0.4 suggests potential for social unrest. If welfare benefits such as social security assistance and old age allowance were included, Hong Kong's poverty rate would fall to 15.2% or 1.018 million people, the government's Commission on Poverty said. Carrie Lam, Hong Kong's chief secretary for administration and chairman of the commission, said that the poverty line had limitations because household assets are not taken into account and this may overstate the number of people living in poverty. The 2012 poverty line for one-person households was set at a monthly income of 3,600 Hong Kong dollars ($464); 7,700 Hong Kong dollars ($993) for a two-person household, 11,500 Hong Kong dollars ($1,483) for a three-person household and 14,300 Hong Kong dollars ($1,844) for a four-person household."
"(CNN) -- Rem Koolhaas revolutionizes city landscapes with distinctive and cutting-edge buildings. Seattle's Central Library is one of Rem Koolhaas' recent builds. Responsible for the iconic CCTV headquarters in Beijing the Dutch architect was named one of ""The World's Most Influential People"" by Time magazine. Similar to the man himself, his buildings are not afraid to make a statement. ""We felt it was very important for an entity like CCTV to make its presence felt... To generate a space and to define a space, that is the main thing,"" he told CNN at the opening of his ""Transformer"" building in Seoul, South Korea. Koolhaas admits that the current economic climate is not particularly favorable to big and bold architectural plans, but from adversity comes creativity. ""Definitely there were a number of projects that we worked on put on hold, but on the other hand certain things were also accelerated because the price of construction is getting so cheap."" Despite these new parameters he remains optimistic that his profession will continue to invent and be relevant, ""because it means kind of smaller, but more complex and kind of interesting things, kind of related to, not necessarily with commerce, but more connected to culture and to the social world."" His buildings have attracted worldwide fame and given Koolhaas himself a form of semi-celebrity status. Yet Koolhaas still feels a sense of unease being labeled a ""Starchitect."" ""I think it's a name that is actually degrading to the vast majority of people it is applied to. And it really is a kind of political term that for certain clients is important because they use star architects. My hope is that through the current complexity that title will exit discretely and disappear,"" he said. He believes that by being able to respond to different demands architecture is evolving into something new. ""It is not possible to live in this age if you don't have a sense of many contradictory forces,"" he said. ""Each building has to be beautiful, but cheap and fast, but it lasts forever. That is already an incredible battery of seemingly contradictory demands. So yes, I'm definitely perhaps contradictory person, but I operate in very contradictory times."""
"Hong Kong (CNN) -- China has removed 162,629 ""phantom staff"" from government payrolls, as Beijing presses on with a campaign against official corruption and misuse of public money, state media reported. Hebei province in central China was the worst offender, with 55,793 officials found to be getting paid even though they never worked, followed by Sichuan and Henan, state news agency Xinhua reported on Monday. No ""phantom employees"" were found in Shanghai and Tibet, the report added. President Xi Jinping has made rooting out corruption a top priority since taking power amid widespread suspicion that government officials use their position for personal gain. The People's Daily also said that 114,418 official vehicles had been scrapped out of a total of 119,846. China has promised to phase out the use of government vehicles by the end of 2015, except for those used for emergencies and law enforcement. The news reports did not shed light on how employees could receive a paycheck without showing up for work, but Hong Kong-based commentator Frank Ching said it was not unheard of for senior Chinese officials to employ friends and family members."
"Cairo (CNN) -- Egyptian police trying to clamp down on demonstrations against President Hosni Mubarak early this year were told to use tear gas, but not automatic weapons or live ammunition, a senior Egyptian police official testified Monday at Mubarak's trial. General Hussein Saeed Mohamed Mursi was one of several senior police officials due to testify Monday. During his testimony, prosecutors attempted to cast doubt on Mursi's credibility, as he was in charge of communication between police forces on the ground. According to testimony, police were ordered to use police vehicles to disperse protesters, Egyptian state television reported. The judge was forced to halt proceedings several times due to chaos in the courtroom, according to Egyptian state TV. Confrontations between Mubarak's lawyers and the prosecution caused the chaos, victims' lawyer Amir Salim said on television. The bickering started when Mubarak's lawyers raised a picture of the deposed president, infuriating the victims' lawyers, the station said. Mubarak is charged with ordering the killing of protesters to quash the uprising in February that brought about an end to his 30-year rule. He faces a possible death penalty if convicted. Outside the courtroom, clashes broke out between police and families of those killed in the uprising that led to Mubarak's ouster. At least 22 people were arrested and 26 people were injured -- 14 police officers and 12 protesters -- according to the Interior Ministry and the Health Ministry. ""The policemen are beating us to please their commanding officers,"" said Amal Eid, sister of a teenager allegedly killed by police on January 29. ""They don't care about us or why we are even here. Nothing has changed."" Another man, Mohamed Yaseen, tried unsuccessfully to push his way inside court. ""There is no real revolution without bearing arms,"" he shouted. The clashes began when the families of those killed tried to push their way into Cairo's police academy, the site of the trial. Police used batons to beat them back. The family members, in turn, threw rocks and guard railings at the officers. Police chased the protesters and family members, beating some and arresting others. After the melee, riot police circled the entrance of the court and cut off access. A similar scene played out in August during a court appearance by Mubarak. The trial resumed after a nearly three-week recess ordered by Judge Ahmed Refaat in part to give officials time to review evidence in the case. Mubarak was wheeled into court on a gurney, flanked by nurses. It was his third appearance before Refaat, who ordered the trial closed in August -- a ruling partially imposed to protect potential witnesses. Egyptians got a glimpse of an ailing Mubarak during pre-trial hearings in August when he was wheeled into court on a hospital gurney and put in an iron cage -- a standard procedure in Egyptian criminal trials. Former Interior Minister Habib El Adly, a member of Mubarak's inner circle, is being tried alongside the former president on similar charges. Attorneys for El Adly petitioned the judge Monday to separate the cases. About 840 people died and more than 6,000 were wounded in the 18 days of uprising that toppled Mubarak, according to Amnesty International. In addition to accusations of ordering the killing of protesters, Mubarak faces corruption charges. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Also expected to appear Monday with Mubarak were his two sons, Alaa and Gamal. The two face corruption charges. They also have pleaded not guilty. The elder Mubarak is the first leader since this year's Arab Spring revolts to face a judge. Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was tried in absentia after he was deposed in January and fled to Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, Cairo's district courts have indicated they are considering filing individual charges against Mubarak for every person killed by his forces in the uprising. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- This week in iReport, we're looking at one of the hottest topics of discussion lately: President Obama's decision to send more troops into Afghanistan. iReporters had a lot to say about this issue, but that's not all. iReporters showed us long lines all around the U.S. for Black Friday, and one shared the story of survivors still suffering 25 years after a major industrial accident in India. Finally, a giant condom was unfurled in observance of World AIDS Day. Obama's Afghanistan plan -- iReporters certainly weren't at a loss for words when it came to President Obama's recent decision to send 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan. Some believed that he was right in listening to his generals and doing exactly that. Others said that it was time for the troops to come home. No matter how iReporters felt about the issue, it was certainly a spirited debate. Chemical disaster -- We looked at powerful international stories this week. One video commemorated the 25th anniversary of a chemical gas disaster in Bhopal, India. On December 3, 1984, 40 tons of poisonous chemicals escaped a Union Carbide chemical plant. iReporter Joel Gershon told us people are still suffering health problems from the tragedy, and he interviewed people who remember the accident and are feeling its effects. World AIDS Day -- We also saw something a bit offbeat, but with a serious message. Gert Ungerer shared the story of a giant canvas ""condom"" placed over a lighthouse on the northern coast of South Africa to bring awareness of World AIDS Day. The region has felt the serious effects of AIDS. Ungerer's video outlined how the condom structure was put up and how it looks in daylight. Camping out for Black Friday -- Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, signals the start of the holiday shopping season, when people rush stores at the crack of dawn in hopes of scoring some major deals. We received photos and videos of lines and crowded stores all over the United States. Dedicated shoppers brought blankets and tents to make the wait more bearable, and some people waited for days to get the best sales. iReporter Asa Thibodaux visited a Best Buy in Maple Grove, Minnesota, to talk to some of the shoppers in line. You may be surprised at what they planned to buy."
"(CNN)  -- It seems that now someone called ""Barack Hussein Obama"" can be pulled aside and patted down merely because of his name. But while our president has the benefit of Air Force One, millions of us with a ""funny name"" (Muslim and otherwise) do not. Like me. I've consistently faced ""random"" selections for extra screening at the airport after I decided to wear the hijab, or Muslim head covering. I've been told to take my head scarf off or have my head probed while the passengers in front of me offered pitying smiles as they rushed to their flights. One time, the woman in front of me had a hairdo that could pose more of a security threat than any head scarf could. Muslim women wear the hijab as a symbol of modesty, to be judged not by their appearance. The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. dreamed that people would be judged for ""the content of their character."" However, the Transportation Security Administration  is judging me and other Muslims by the way we look. The TSA uses the hijab to profile Muslim women, and passengers can now expect a full-body pat-down, an appallingly invasive ""enhanced pat-down search  that could include the chest and groin, or a planned ""mind-scan""  that would track people's reaction to terrorist symbols. What's next, palm reading? At an airport with a full body scanner, I can have the image of my body displayed before a stranger -- virtual nudity.  Do they seriously have a blank check on our bodies? Of course I care about profiling partly because I'm affected. But does one have to face this issue to feel that it's wrong? After all, it is difficult to imagine ourselves in other people's shoes when we don't have to. It's hard for me too. Especially over the past month, I've been shocked at the comments about my faith, and the sometimes-prejudiced support for racial profiling. Radio host Mike Gallagher said, ""There should be a separate line to scrutinize anybody with the name Abdul or Ahmed or Mohammed."" Sorry Paula Abdul and Muhammad Ali, or anyone with the world's most common name, Muhammad. For people who aren't affected by racial profiling at airports, imagine this: The TSA implements a new rule to counter drunken driving, which kills over 13,000 Americans every year. People who are not Muslim have to go through a Breathalyzer test before they can enter their vehicle. Muslims don't drink alcohol and are, therefore, exempt. Ridiculous? I agree. I know that what I am going through is just the tip of the iceberg of racial profiling in our country. Thirty-two million Americans report that they have been the victims of racial profiling. Racial profiling violates the U.S. Constitution, is ineffective and trickles down to the workplace, schools and elsewhere. You also run into problems when you justify profiling nearly one in every four people in the world. There are Muslims of every possible race, making profiling practically futile. Fareed Zakaria said  it best: ""When you're trying to find a needle in a haystack, adding hay does not help you."" Putting ethical and pragmatic reasons aside, it's hard to justify not caring. Even if racial profiling doesn't affect us, it affects our friends, family members, co-workers, doctors, television personalities --  the list goes on.   There are some people who don't know Muslims and are numb to realizing the effects of profiling. Therein lies the problem. According to the Pew Research Center, people who know Muslims are less likely to have negative views of them. Co-existence is a dismal possibility unless people go to the source to find out about Islam, not skewed Web sites. And Muslims, here's something to think about: If your knowledge of Islam came from common stereotypes, wouldn't you also be misinformed about the faith and its followers? The Quran says, ""[God has] made you into nations and tribes, so that you might come to know one another (49:13)."" So get to know your fellow Americans. There are some Americans who think Muslims are terrorists and some Muslims who think that other Americans are willfully ignorant. Neither group deserves such a label. Psychologist Henri Tajfel, who was a Holocaust survivor, explained  how we isolate ourselves into an ""in-group"" and facilitate discrimination of an ""out-group."" Religious profiling boxes Muslims into a category separate from Americans. We can't accept that distinction. Let's all think outside of the box. It's essential for U.S. security that airport screening be done. But we need to stop the inflation of procedures that make our society more afraid and less secure. The TSA needs to stop and evaluate methods that are more effective, less invasive, and don't discriminate based on religion or race. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Nafees A. Syed."
"This is the second part of a two part series on the best used luxury cars. (AOL Autos)  -- Recently, Consumer Reports magazine issued its list of best and worst used cars, and divvied them up by price range. The Porsche 911 has several versions, but all have been annointed with the ""supercar"" appellation. Using CR's recommendations as a guideline, here is a list of some of the best used luxury cars currently on the market in the $30,000+ price range: . 2007 Acura MDX . The newer MDX is classified as a crossover SUV, but it's a deluxe version. It was all-new in '07, and was built on a proper platform -- as opposed to being adapated from the Accord passenger-car platform. It also came in three flavors: Base, Technology and Sport Packages, and all three were powered by a 3.7-liter 300-hp V6. The voice-activated navigation system is a nifty feature, as it comes with rearview camera and AcuraLink satellite communications with real-time traffic data. AOL Autos: Used Acura . 2007 BMW 328i sedan . The 328i is another sleek, finely-tuned and beautifully-designed driving machine, offering sporty performance and Euro-style luxury. It is widely considered to be the definitive ""sports sedan."" The '07 328i was propelled by a 3.0-liter 230-hp inline six-cylinder engine, which you can find mated to either a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission. Consumer Reports also recommended the 3-Series coupe and convertible that joined BMW's model line-up in '07.  AOL Autos: Used BMW . 2004 BMW M3 . The M3 is the top-of-the-line, high-performance-tuned version of the 3-series coupe. Performance power, therefore, is much higher than the other 3-Series editions. It came as a coupe or convertible, and churned out 333 horses. The M3 is often favorably compared to the Porsche 911 when it comes to quick acceleration, crisp braking and taking tough corners at brisk speeds without breaking a sweat. 2007 Infiniti FX35 . Well, the marketplace surely is not lacking for luxury crossovers. Here is yet another one that appeals to luxury buyers with its balance of SUV-type spaciousness, pampering amenities, deft handling and burly engine muscle. For '07, the FX35 was a two-wheel-drive vehicle powered by a 280-hp 3.5-liter V6 and a five-speed automatic transmission. AOL Autos: Used Infiniti . 2006 & 2007 Infiniti M . Infiniti's M series is another winner, which seamlessly synergizes sleek styling, aggressive engine performance and a bevy of luxo-line amenities. It comes in both the M-35 and M-45. During the last used-model year, '07, the primary distinction between the two was that the M35 was powered by a V6 that kicked out 275 horses, while the M45 muscled up to a 325-hp V8. Luxury features included standard leather seats with heating and ventilation, and optional 10-way power adjustments for the driver's seat. Lexus . Just like in the $24,000-to-$30,000 category, Consumer Reports recommended a slew of world-beating used Lexus models in this segment: the '06-'07 6-cylinder GS RWD; the '07 GS450h Hybrid; '05-'07 GX; '07 IS; '04-'07 LS; '03-'06 LX and '06-'07 RX. AOL Autos: Used Lexus . Lexus has placed No 1 in the JD Power Dependability Survey every year for the last 12 years - until '07, when another carmaker, Buick, finally tied them for first. Porsche 911 (various years) Consumer Reports included the '98 911 in the $24,000 to $30,000 category. Here, the model years get more recent as the price range climbs. The 911 went through some changes over this time period, of course, but all have been anointed with the ""supercar"" appellation. AOL Autos: Used Porsche . And by the latest recommended used-model year, the '07, you could choose among various styles and engine sizes, including the Carrera, with its 3.6-L 325-hp flat-six plant; the Carrera S and S Cabriolet, with the 3.8-L 355 hp V6; the 911 Turbo, with twin-turbocharged 480 hp six-cylinder engine; and the GT3 track model, powered by a high-revving 415-hp six-cylinder engine."
"(CNN) -- A Delaware pediatrician has been indicted on 471 felony counts in the alleged sexual abuse of his patients, prosecutors announced Monday. The Sussex County grand jury indictment accuses Dr. Earl Bradley, 56, who has had a practice in Lewes, Delaware, for more than 10 years, of victimizing 103 children -- all but one girls. The charges range from rape and sexual exploitation of a child to endangering child welfare and assault. Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden told CNN Radio the indictment is based on ""video and digital evidence"" seized from Bradley's home and medical practice in December. Authorities have not ruled out additional charges, he added. ""The reality is that as a prosecutor, the rules prohibit me from telling you exactly how I feel -- and I'm feeling a great deal today,"" Biden said. Bradley also has medical licenses in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Florida. Authorities have said they have contacted officials in those states. He was initially arrested and charged in December. Bradley's attorney, Eugene Maurer Jr., said he would base his client's defense on mental health. ""Most of the evidence in this case comes from videotapes -- it's kind of hard to argue with videotapes,"" Maurer said, adding, ""The issue in this case is going to come down to his mental health at the time."" Biden said Bradley will be arraigned within four to six weeks."
"Tehran, Iran (CNN) -- Iranian opposition leader Mehdi Karrubi has not been seen for six weeks and may be facing psychological torture by the government, activists claimed Monday, citing sources in the country. ""We are extremely concerned for the health and well-being of Karrubi, who is 74 years old, and no one has heard from him for six weeks, not his wife, any family or associates,"" said Hadi Ghaemi, the director of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. His wife said she had not had any contact with him since July 16, the campaigners said, citing the opposition leader's official website. Ghaemi alleged that Karrubi is ""surrounded by a team of psychiatrists working with his captors"" to try to manipulate him into a televised confession. He cited ""a credible source from inside Iran,"" without saying who it was. An opposition website said February that both Karrubi and Mir Hossein Moussavi, another opposition leader, had been detained. The website, Kaleme, citing ""trusted sources,"" reported that the men and their wives had been arrested and taken to Tehran's Heshmatieh prison. The semi-official Fars news agency denied the report, citing an unnamed judiciary source, but it had earlier said that the government had restricted the movements and communications of both men. The two, who are both former government insiders, both ran for president against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the disputed 2009 election that led to months of protests and a government crackdown on the opposition. Iranian authorities rounded up opponents afresh in February, as revolutions swept the region. Iran media said Monday that that Karrubi was being kept in an unknown location but did not include any comments from Iranian officials. International journalists have been limited in their ability to gather news in Iran, where the government has squelched the media and maintains tight control over state-linked news organizations."
"Erie, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- The image remains chilling nearly eight years later: a pizza deliveryman sitting cross-legged on the pavement with a homemade bomb clamped around his neck, surrounded by nervous police who crouch behind their cars. ""Why isn't anybody trying to get this thing off me?"" he shouts to the dozens of officers nearby. But before a bomb squad can arrive, the device goes off, killing 46-year-old Brian Wells. In the agonizing minutes before his death on August 28, 2003, Wells told police the bomb had been fastened to his body by people who ordered him to rob a bank and follow a detailed checklist before it would be disarmed -- instructions that amounted to a twisted scavenger hunt. Timeline, evidence photos, video, 911 audio . The case fueled years of debate about whether the hapless Wells had been the victim of a heinous murder or a willing participant in a horrifically botched crime. The FBI later concluded that Wells had been a participant and closed the books on the case in March. Two people that agents identified as having been part of the scheme are in prison; a third has died. But Wells' family still believes he was a blameless victim -- ""innocent 100 percent,"" his sister, Jean Heid, told CNN. ""They screwed up big time,"" Heid said. ""They let an innocent man, my brother, die while in their custody and they didn't even lift a finger to help him. ""This case is going to be looked at for years to come, and they don't want it known that they screwed up,"" she said. ""Brian never would have done this."" In particular, she said, one of the plotters escaped justice. According to the FBI, Floyd Stockton knew of the robbery, but received immunity from prosecution and was allowed to go free. Prosecutors never called him as a witness in the trials, saying he was ill at the time. The FBI believes a Stockton associate, William Rothstein, was the mastermind of the heist and likely made the bomb, the affidavit says. Bombmaking materials were found in Rothstein's home. According to the FBI affidavit, one of the admitted conspirators said Stockton carried the bomb out of Rothstein's garage on the day of the robbery and handed it to Rothstein. Read the entire FBI affidavit warrant . Rothstein then secured the bomb around Wells' neck and followed him to the PNC Bank branch that Wells robbed shortly before his death, the affidavit states, quoting a witness who talked to Rothstein's girlfriend, Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong. Stockton is a registered sex offender who was a fugitive from a rape charge in Washington state at the time the plot unfolded and was staying with Rothstein at the time, according to court papers. According to Kenneth Barnes, a convicted crack dealer who is now serving a 20-year prison term in the bomb plot, Stockton was to have divvied up the money from the bank heist. Stockton has rebuffed repeated requests for comment from CNN, both by telephone and in person. Barnes also gave the FBI information that implicated Wells. According to an FBI agent's court affidavit, Barnes told authorities that Wells had been discussing the hold up about a month before it took place. Barnes' story had been corroborated by another witness in the affidavit. By all accounts, the 2003 case evolved into one of the most complicated and bizarre crimes in the annals of the FBI. Police investigating fake collar bomb extortion plot . Half an hour before the bomb went off, Wells had walked into the PNC branch on Peach Street in Erie. The bomb sat on his chest beneath a white T-shirt, which had the word ""Guess"" spray-painted on it. And he carried a cane, which turned out to be a homemade shotgun. Wells handed over a series of notes to the tellers, demanding $250,000. Tellers didn't have nearly that much in cash, and Wells walked out with a little less than $9,000. Police caught up with him in the parking lot of a nearby eyeglass shop, where he died begging for help. Because it was a bank robbery, the FBI became the lead investigative agency. Agents quickly assembled a task force of more than 50 law enforcement officers from a half-dozen federal, state and local agencies. At first, the FBI saw Wells as a victim. Rich Schapiro, a writer for Wired magazine, has reported extensively on the case and told CNN that the notes Wells carried led him to believe he could live. ""The note suggested at the very end of this, if he completed it in the allotted time -- which wasn't much -- that he would be able to save his life,"" Schapiro said. One federal law enforcement official says the cast of characters ultimately linked to the crime is ""like a band of criminal misfits."" According to the FBI, those misfits began to turn on each other less than a month after Wells died. On September 21, Rothstein called Pennsylvania State Police to report that there was a body in his freezer -- the body of a man named James Roden, whom he said was killed because he was going to report the bomb plot to authorities, according to the FBI affidavit. Rothstein told FBI agents that Roden had been killed by Diehl-Armstrong and that he had helped Diehl-Armstrong hide the body. After her arrest, Diehl-Armstrong implicated Rothstein in the bomb plot, and she eventually told investigators she gunned down Roden when he threatened to go to police about the plan. Rothstein died of cancer before being officially linked to the crime. Diehl-Armstrong is now serving prison terms both for the botched heist and for Roden's killing. Her own lawyer says she has multiple personality disorders and sometimes has ""difficulty"" telling the truth. 'Pizza bomber' conspirator gets life behind bars . Barnes, meanwhile, saw his 45-year sentence for the bomb plot reduced to 20 years because he cooperated with authorities. And Stockton now lives in Bellingham, Washington, north of Seattle. He's the one Wells' sister wants brought to justice. ""He didn't deserve immunity, ""Heid said. ""He's the guilty one that killed my brother. He deserved to be brought to justice."" Prosecutors said Wells may have been duped into thinking the bomb was a fake before agreeing to take part in the holdup -- but they're confident he was part of the plot from the beginning. ""No one could have sat through this trial without understanding the degree of evidence linking Mr. Wells to these participants,"" Assistant U.S. Attorney Marshall Piccinini, who led the government's case, told reporters. And Jim Fisher, a retired FBI agent and writer, told CNN that he believes Wells was murdered as part of the plot. ""It was a first-degree murder,"" Fisher said. ""This was an intentional, pre-meditated homicide. Moreover, it was extremely cruel in the way the crime was executed."" CNN's Blake Luce and Curt Merrill contributed to this report."
"Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- South Korea will conduct naval fire drills near a flashpoint with the North that resulted in the deaths of four people, military officials said Thursday. The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff announced the exercises will take place in the seas southwest of Yeonpyeong Island on a day to be announced between December 18 and 21. The South previously announced military exercises for this week, but Thursday's announcement adds to them. Tensions mounted between the Koreas on November 23, when North Korea shelled the island, which lies in South Korean territory. The attacked killed two marines and two civilians and injured 18 people. Last month's attack was the first direct artillery assault on South Korea since 1953, when an armistice ended fighting. The North has accused the South of provoking the attack because shells from a South Korean military drill landed in the North's waters. North Korea Thursday accused the South's new defense minister, Kim Kwan-jin, of ""going reckless like a puppy knowing no fear of a tiger,"" state-run KCNA reported. During his confirmation hearing this month, Kim said South Korea would respond with airstrikes if the North attacks it again. The South Korean joint chiefs said the drills will be carried out in the presence of officials from the Military Armistice Committee and representatives from U.N. party members to ensure that the exercise is lawful and follows rules of the armistice."
"(CNN) -- The tiger is one of wildlife's most endangered species, but there's one big cat which refuses to be tamed. Meet Radamel Falcao -- or ""El Tigre"" as his friends nicknamed him after watching him terrorize defenders on the streets of Colombia as a child. From making his professional debut at just 13 to running top-class defenders ragged, this is one Tiger who hasn't changed his stripes since bursting onto the scene in Europe with Porto and Atletico Madrid. ""I think that every person specializes in what they know best and as a young kid, I liked scoring goals,"" he told CNN. ""Later, I realized that's what I was best at and I went perfecting that aspect to give the best of myself to my team in the position I played, which was striker."" Constantly on the prowl for goals, the 26-year-old is one of football's most wanted transfer targets, with several top European clubs waiting to poach him from Atletico. He moved to Spain in a â‚¬40 million ($53 million) deal from Porto in 2011, and scored 36 goals in his debut season in La Liga including two in the Europa League final against Athletic Bilbao. His stunning hat-trick in the demolition of European champions Chelsea at the 2012 Super Cup Final underlined to those not au fait with Spanish football just how deadly he can be. Atletico thrash Chelsea in Super Cup . Falcao then went on a streak which saw him score in 11 consecutive games for club and country between August and late October. With 18 goals in La Liga this season, the vultures are circling the Vicente Calderon once again, with Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester City all hovering. But Falcao insists he is happy with life at Atletico and says he has no thoughts of moving on -- at least not yet. ""I have three years left on my contract with the club and my reality is that this contract ties me down for a few more seasons,"" Falcao said. ""Afterwards though, I don't know what's going to happen in the future as it's in the hands of the people responsible for deciding the future of the players on Atletico. ""I simply give the best of myself for the team, for this really good season that we're having. We have a lot of objectives/goals in our sight and I hope that we can achieve them."" Falcao has emerged as one of the world's top goalscorers since making the move to Porto from Argentina's River Plate in July 2009. It was in Portugal that he came to prominence, scoring 34 goals including the winner in the final of the 2011 Europa League to help the club pull off a quadruple haul of trophies. His goalscoring feats in the continent's second-tier competition, in which he scored a record 17 goals, earned him a move to Spain where he has led the line for Atletico with his predatory instincts causing havoc for defenses across Europe. Can Falcao help Atletico Madrid reign in Spain? It is a skill which he honed as a youngster, spending many hours on the practice fields in a bid to perfect the art of one of football's hardest arts -- scoring goals. Ever since he ran around the streets barefoot, covered with scratches and blood, Falcao's desire has been to reach the very top. His father played club football in Colombia, and there was never a doubt in Falcao's mind what he wanted to achieve in life. Incredibly, he made his professional debut for Deportivo Pereira at the age of just 13, making him the youngest player to ever appear professionally in Colombian football. At the age of 14 he moved to Argentina to pursue his dream of becoming a professional footballer. It was there that he flourished, establishing himself as one of the most exciting players at River Plate. After overcoming a serious knee injury in 2006, he returned to lead River Plate to the Clausura title and earn a move to Europe with Porto. It was the realization of a dream for a player which had begun life with one simple dream -- to become one of the best striker's on the planet. Fantasy football: Pedro Pinto's team of 2012 . ""Thanks to lots of training and hard work, I was able to succeed and be able to shine above other players of my age,"" Falcao said. ""This is work that took a long time, many years in terms of knowing the position, the development of my abilities and also the talent and potential that I was born with. ""Through lots of training, I went along perfecting it, along with knowing the team that I play with, both Atletico Madrid and my national team, which allowed my good development as a striker."" While league and cup success with Atletico remains his priority, the opportunity to lead Colombia into battle at the 2014 World Cup is high up on the agenda. Falcao on fire as Atletico Madrid win Europa League . Colombia has not appeared at the World Cup finals since 1998, but is third in the South American qualifying section. The top four of the nine competing nations will automatically qualify for Brazil, while the fifth-placed team goes into a playoff against an Asia confederation side. Falcao who has scored five goals in six qualifying games, wants the latest generation of Colombian talent to write their own records and emerge from the shadow of former great players such as Carlos Valderrama and Faustino Asprilla. ""We're forming quite a strong team and hopefully we can manage to qualify for the World Cup and for the next few World Cups and bring lots of other triumphs and victories home,"" he said. ""I don't like comparisons too much -- we simply want to write our own history and hope that it's important for our country."""
"(CNN) -- As far as hitchhikers go, this one looks harmless enough. He or she -- it's hard to tell -- is short and friendly, if a little fashion-challenged. Get him talking, however, and he won't shut up. Meet hitchBOT, a talking, tweeting, bucket-bodied Canadian robot that's hitchhiking west from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Victoria, British Columbia -- a journey of nearly 4,000 miles. The robot employs artificial intelligence, speech recognition, social media and other tools to bum rides from motorists. Deposited last Monday on Highway 102 outside Halifax, hitchBot by Friday had journeyed to just west of Toronto. Its travels are being documented on Twitter, on Instagram and on the robot's website, which charts its progress on a map. The gender-neutral robot was conceived by university researchers David Harris Smith and Frauke Zeller, who view its quest as part performance art, part social experiment. As they see it, humans in popular science fiction are always wondering whether they can trust robots. Instead, they'd like to turn the question around: . Can robots trust human beings? So far, the answer appears to be yes. Three young men gave hitchBOT a ride, bought it a stuffed animal and fed it a ""meal"" of metal screws and motor oil. A couple covered hitchBOT with a plastic cape to keep it safe from the rain. And people have been recharging hitchBOT along the way by plugging it into their cars' cigarette lighters. ""People seem to be rather intrigued with hitchBOT, and take very good care (of it),"" said Smith, a communications and multimedia professor at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and Zeller, a communications professor at Ryerson University in Toronto, in a statement e-mailed to CNN. ""We have even seen hitchBOT lying in a camping bed under a blanket, and sitting on a toilet,"" they said, ""so people certainly have fun with it."" hitchBOT has a bucket for a torso, blue swimming-pool noodles for arms and legs and a smiling LED panel for a face, protected by a cake saver. It wears yellow gloves on its hands, and wellies -- rubber boots -- on its feet. Inside is a simple tablet PC and some components from Arduino, the open-source electronics platform. Together, all the parts cost about $1,000. ""We wanted to see what we can build on a shoestring budget ... and with tools/components that one can get in any hardware store,"" Smith and Zeller said. Thanks to its computerized innards and speech software, hitchBOT can answer basic questions, make small talk and recite info from Wikipedia. It can also get pretty chatty, not always something you want in a road-trip companion. ""We knew that sometimes ... hitchBOT won't be able to properly understand what people are saying. For these cases, we came up with the solution to let hitchBOT simply chatter away,"" its creators said. ""We taught hitchBOT to say that sometimes it gets a bit carried away, and that its programmers could only write that many scripts, hoping for people to be patient."" hitchBOT records its journey via GPS. It contains a camera and snaps random photos every half hour or so, which are moderated before being posted online to protect people's privacy. It also can record conversations with people it meets -- with their permission -- as a sort of audio diary. Humans who encounter hitchBOT are directed to its website, where instructions tell them how to handle the robot (tip: drop it off at rest stops or gas stations instead of alone on busy highways). hitchBOT's final destination is the Open Space artist center in Victoria, British Columbia, which means the robot will likely have to hitch a ride on a boat. Nobody knows exactly how long his cross-country trip will take. Smith and Zeller say the goal of their project is to examine the relationship between humans and ""smart"" technologies while seeing whether an anthropomorphic robot can engender good will, cooperation and even affection. The two researchers are worried that someone might mistreat hitchBOT. But the journey's success so far has allayed their fears a little. ""We have seen so much support on social media and through other channels that we are now more optimistic,"" they said. ""They (the robot's drivers) all say that wherever they go with hitchBOT, they meet lots of people through it. ""Everybody stops, takes pictures, and wants to talk ... so this is an interesting case of technology bringing humans closer to each other."""
"(CNN) -- Poaching tourists from the trendy tango bars of Buenos Aires or the glamorous beaches of Rio de Janeiro would be a tall task for most cities. But the Chilean capital, Santiago, is looking to do just that by encouraging travelers passing through on business to stay and uncover its potential as a hip South American destination. Chile has become one of the continent's leading locations in which to do business in recent years. Foreign investment increased by 80 percent in 2011 alone, totaling $12 billion for the year according to Daniel Pardo, director of SERNATUR, the Chilean tourism ministry. As a result, the number of foreigners coming into the country for trade purposes has increased along a similarly sharp upward curve. This surge has been concentrated mainly in Santiago, Chile's nerve center and economic engine room, and it's here that Pardo and the country's tourist board spy an as yet untapped opportunity. ""Hopefully by bringing out those business people that are coming here for a week to do their jobs (they will) stay for the weekend and enjoy the country,"" Pardo told CNN's Richard Quest. ""There's a lot of interest in coming to Chile,"" he adds. ""And we've seen it in our numbers, with a 60 percent growth in tourism this year."" See also: Exploring the mystery and beauty of Chile . Travelers who take up the invitation to hang around will find a variety of parks, churches and museums which offer a wealth of easily accessible tourist sites -- ideal for the culture vulture with a couple of hours to spare. For those with a little more time on their hands meanwhile there is even more to explore and experience around the city's outskirts and beyond. With the Santiago business traveler in mind, CNN asked Lonely Planet's Bridget Gleeson, co- author of Lonely Planet Chile and Easter Island Travel Guide, to lend her expertise in selecting the city's best spots. In the city . Santiago offers an intriguing mix of both the modern and the classic. Historic sites such as the Catedral Metropolitana contrast sharply against the rowdy Mercado Central fish market, which offers ""a colorful attraction for photographers and foodies alike,"" says Gleeson. Touring the city's downtown district on foot is a particularly nice way to explore Santiago, she adds, while the nearby Centro Cultural Palacio La Moneda museum plays host to the finest Chilean modern art. Other Santiago highlights include Museo de la Moda (Museum of Fashion) in the Vitacura district -- which includes famed items such as John Lennon's jacket and the famous ""cone bra"" Jean Paul Gaultier designed for Madonna -- and the 300 meter high San Cristobal lookout point. Valparaiso . The picturesque seaside resort of Valparaiso is a UNESCO world heritage site and a heaving modern port that is integral to Chile's vast export industry. See also: Singapore on a stopover . A little under two hours from Santiago by road, the town is perched atop a dozen or so hills which offer spectacular vistas out across the Pacific Ocean. Vistors can ""tour (the Chilean poet and author) Pablo Neruda's charming hilltop house, La Sebastiana"" or ""board one of Valparaiso's 15 antique ascensores (elevator cable cars) ... to take in vibrant street art and stunning views over the ocean,"" says Gleeson. Those on a quick stop-off before heading back to Santiago however may make the most of their time by taking ""a quick boat ride from Muelle Prat (harbor) to get a feel for the city,"" Gleeson advises. Observatories . With an average of more than 330 cloudless nights per year, Chile is a near perfect natural laboratory for astronomers and stargazers. It is for this reason the country will host 68 percent of global astronomy infrastructure by 2018, according to the national government. But you don't have to be an acolyte of Alfred Hubble to enjoy the sparkling contents of the Chilean night sky. The Paielan Observatory in the Maipo Valley is just 50 kilometers from Santiago and is surrounded by a spectacular, unspoilt nature reserve. A world class restaurant on the premises meanwhile serves up the latest in contemporary Chilean cuisine, enabling visitors to enjoy fine dining under the stars. Wine regions . Chile is a major exporter of wine and visiting some of its fertile vineyards is a rite of passage for many a connoisseur. See also: Making the most of wine at 35,000 feet . Almost 17 million people drink a glass of Chilean wine every day and the country is the world's largest grape exporter. ""Many travelers opt to visit a few wineries with a specialist like Uncorked Wine Tours,"" says Gleeson. These customized tours include an English-speaking guide, visits to three wineries and a leisurely lunch in wine country. Those looking to go it alone on a wine-tasting odyssey meanwhile can reach some of the lesser visited wineries in the Santiago region by public bus in little over an hour. If you're planning an independent visit, Gleeson warns however, it is wise to log onto the wineries' websites to find out about specialty tastings, picnics, and additional activities before setting out. Stina Backer contributed to this story ."
"(CNN) -- There's some magic coming to a British stage. Author J.K. Rowling has announced she is developing a play based on her ""Harry Potter"" stories. According to her website, Rowling is working in collaboration with award-winning producers Sonia Friedman and Colin Callender on the project. ""Over the years I have received countless approaches about turning Harry Potter into a theatrical production, but Sonia and Colin's vision was the only one that really made sense to me, and which had the sensitivity, intensity and intimacy I thought appropriate for bringing Harry's story to the stage,"" Rowling said in a statement. ""After a year in gestation it is exciting to see this project moving on to the next phase. I'd like to thank Warner Bros. for their continuing support in this project."" Warner Bros. is owned by CNN's parent company, Time Warner. Rowling will reportedly be a producer of the play and work with a writer, but she will not be writing the play. The story will follow Potter in his early years as an orphan. Directors and writers for the play, which will go into development in 2014, are currently being considered."
"(CNN) -- The cold has cleared the sunbathing crowds from New Jersey's beaches, yet the freezing temperatures won't keep some surfers out of the water. They have grown up with ""ice cream headaches"" -- the painful ache when you eat something cold too fast -- they are the surfers from New Jersey. ""I've had times when icicles form in my hair,"" says surfer Andrew Gesler. Even the smallest waves will have the hardcore surfer walking over the snow-covered sand to take advantage of the power of the chilly Atlantic Ocean. For years, professional surfer and cancer survivor Dean Randazzo has been among those in the frigid waters, wearing a full wet suit, hoodie, gloves and booties. ""You just deal with your surroundings,"" says Randazzo, ""if you love something so much you just keep doing it."" Randazzo kept surfing year-round and it paid off in 1990 when he started making a living off the ocean. Early in his career at contests around the world, he would often be asked, ""Are there waves in Jersey?"" As filmmaker Alex DePhillipo shows in his newly released surfing documentary ""Dark Fall"", not only is the surf good in New Jersey, but there are a lot of good surfers in the state. The movie credits Randazzo, a New Jersey native, with proving that East Coast surfers are worthy contenders. ""He has absolutely paved the way for any surfer that wants to become a professional from New Jersey,"" says DePhillipo. Randazzo now just started his own line of surfboards. Gesler -- the narrator of ""Dark Fall"" and a professional surfer -- concurs, ""Randazzo is our big brother, coming from New Jersey you don't have a lot of people that have made the impression that Dean has."" It was the impression of a surfer and a state that took years for Randazzo to change. The money to be made in surfing comes from sponsors, appearances and editorial photographs. Only a few in the profession make enough money in surf contests to support themselves. Randazzo became a professional surfer in 1990, yet he still couldn't find a sponsor to support him. A sponsor pays the athletes to use or wear their product and they usually pick up the expenses incurred when traveling to contests. Randazzo couldn't find a sponsor to believe in him, no one wanted to get behind a surfer from the Garden State . ""I had to win money,"" recalls Randazzo, ""there were places on the tour when I wasn't eating if I didn't win money in that contest, or I didn't have a plane ticket home."" Winning money meant winning contests and in 1996 Randazzo became just one of 44 surfers to qualify for the World Championship Tour. ""Somehow I managed to do that with no sponsorship,"" says Randazzo, then dryly adding the word ""barely."" He also managed to put credibility into the New Jersey surf scene. ""Dean has paved the way,"" DePhillipo says, ""There's never been a surfer from New Jersey or the Northeast that's made the World Tour."" The success Randazzo has enjoyed is no surprise when you learn a bit more about this Jersey boy. Fighting to be respected in the surf scene was nothing compared to the four battles Randazzo fought and won against cancer. It was in 2001 when he was first diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a cancer of the lymph nodes. ""Everyone has their hometown hero, but in this case Dean's just like a state hero,"" says DePhillipo, ""he's even motivation for people who aren't from Jersey because of his fights, his battles."" When Randazzo isn't in the water he uses his celebrity status along with the sport he loves to raise money for the Dan Randazzo Cancer Foundation. Currently residing in California, Randazzo frequently returns to New Jersey. Not forgetting where he came from, the foundation sponsors an annual event called ""Surf for a Cause"" in his hometown of Margate. ""It's just one of those events that everybody wants to support even if they're not surfing, they want to support Dean,"" says Stacey Marchel, a Jersey surfer and the owner of Stacey's Surf Camp. As the film ""Dark Fall"" points out, it is because of Randazzo that being a surfer from New Jersey is no longer, as he puts it, ""like trying to be a professional snowboarder and growing up in Miami Beach."" Florida doesn't have snow but as captured in this new surf film, New Jersey definitely has waves. The state also experiences winter and that freezing season is what separates the surfing fraud from the fanatic. But as Randazzo or actually any Jersey surfer will tell you, the passion doesn't waiver with the weather."
"(CNN) -- The retirements are coming thick and fast out of Old Trafford, with Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand the latest to call time -- on his international career. The 34-year-old's retirement follows the farce that ensued in March when he was recalled by England manager Roy Hodgson for the World Cup qualifiers against San Marino and Montenegro, only for Ferdinand to quickly withdraw due to his ""pre-planned fitness program"" with his club. In a statement released by the English Football Association, Ferdinand explained that he wanted to retire from international football to ""concentrate on my club career."" ""After a great deal of thought, I have decided the time is right for me to retire from international football,"" added Ferdinand, who has not played for England since a Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland in June 2011. ""The team looks in great shape and there is an influx of young, talented players coming through the ranks which bodes well for the future. ""I regard it as a great honor and a privilege to have represented my country at every level from Under-17s upwards. ""I have always been very proud to play for England. I would like to wish Roy and the team all the best for future tournaments. ""A big thank you to all the fans, managers, coaching staff and players that I have worked alongside - the journey has been incredible."" In October, Hodgson was forced to apologize to Ferdinand after an English newspaper reported he had told fellow commuters during a tube journey on London's underground that the Manchester United defender's international career was over. Ferdinand had been controversially left out of England's squad for Euro 2012 despite the United defender expressing his desire to add to his 81 international caps. After leaving Ferdinand out of his Euro 2012 squad, Hodgson opted to take Chelsea captain John Terry, though the defender had been due in court to face allegations he racially abused Rio's brother, Anton Ferdinand. Hodgson insisted it was purely a football decision and Terry was cleared in July. But he was banned for four matches on the same charge by the FA and announced his retirement from international football. After making his debut against Cameroon at Wembley in 1997, Ferdinand went on to win 81 caps for England, playing in three World Cups. ""It's important to pay tribute to someone of Rio's stature and the achievements he had in a senior international career with England over 14 years at the highest level,"" said Hodgson . ""To have captained his country, to play at three World Cups and indeed score in one of those, marks him out amongst a very special group of players. ""I appreciated the call from Rio to inform me of his decision, which clearly he had spent much time considering before reaching this point."""
"(CNN) -- One of the three guns Adam Lanza used to kill 20 children and six adults at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, was a military-style semiautomatic rifle known as an AR-15. That surprised and shocked a lot of people unfamiliar with America's gun culture. They questioned why such weapons are available and why anyone would need them. ""Personally I don't know how any ordinary citizen can justify owning an automatic or semiautomatic gun,"" writes CNN commenter Mark Smerkanich. ""Can't we leave those guns to the trained military?"" Self-described gun owner Julie Jones-Hawkins comments, ""I ... fully support a ban on rapid-fire weapons. Any weapon that can take out an entire kindergarten class is a problem."" Here are five reasons many gun owners say they want military style rifles: . 'Some people play golf, others bowl. I shoot' ""Every month or so I take my guns out to the range and shoot. It's thrilling, exciting and a great way to vent,"" says Christopher L. Kirkman, a Florida-based military-style gun owner. Kirman was one of more than 100 gun enthusiasts who shared opinions on CNN iReport about owning firearms that would have been banned under the now-expired 1994 federal weapons ban. ""Sure, I could try to say that the reason I own these guns is self-defense, but the truth of the matter is that, although they will technically serve this purpose, they are not why I own them,"" he says. Michigan gun owner Ethan Daniels describes his enthusiasm for his rifle more succinctly, saying, ""I like to shoot, and that is one heck of a fun carbine to plink with."" iReport: Tell us why you own your military-style weapon . Background can factor into a gun owner's choice of weapon. ""The AR-15 is what I am used to from my extensive training as an airborne infantryman,"" writes Nathan Lee. ""Because of my training, it's what I feel the most comfortable with."" Another reason for these guns is hunting. The AR-15 is a ""good hunting platform. I've hunted coyote with it,"" says CNN iReporter MVR155, who owns two of the weapons. He asked to remain anonymous. Owners of military-style rifles also use them to hunt deer and other game. But some states have banned the AR-15 and its .223 caliber for deer hunting. Related: Newtown shooter's guns: What we know . 'It's cool' It may not be the best or most important reason, but military-style weapons often appeal to the enthusiast side of the American gun owner. Just like many car lovers who dream of owning a Lamborghini, many gun owners get excited about the idea of owning an AR-15. ""There are people who buy certain types of firearms because they have a certain image -- the AR-15 is one of them,"" says Austin Nikel, a former AR-15 owner in Boulder, Colorado. ""One thing about this country is how Hollywood has glorified the image behind those certain types of weapons. A lot of guys grow up with GI Joe, and that image is extremely attractive. It grabs you and affects you. ""A lot of people buy the AR-15 because, well, it's cool."" Apparently it wasn't cool enough for Nikel to hold on to. He ended up selling his AR-15 to his father. iReport: Why some own military-style weapons . 'A part of history' ""Since coming of age -- and in the decades since -- I have collected many different firearms, some of them historical pieces, some for sport, some of them even the so-called 'assault weapons' that are now a controversy,"" says iReporter Hrothgar01. ""Guns like these are as much a part of the history of this country as the muskets carried by pioneers, the rifles toted by doughboys in the trenches, and the other arms that have served and protected throughout the years. To hold one in your hands, appreciate its history and design, and to be able to take that piece of history to the range and work -- it is a feeling that many people in this debate do not understand or appreciate."" Related story: By the numbers: Guns in America . 'Protecting my family' ""I believe the foremost person responsible for protecting my family and myself is me,"" writes iReporter ShortyDoowap, who owns a pair of AR-15s. ""These rifles provide me with the tools to perform that duty. I don't own these guns to target shoot, though I do that with them. I don't hunt with them, though I could in a pinch."" Parks says he ""would not hesitate to use one to simply defend my home and family from a single intruder if it became necessary."" Related: Parents defend right to keep guns in the home . In some home-protection situations, fans say military-style rifles are generally more accurate than handguns. Rifles are generally easier to learn how to shoot, say military-style rifle owners. Like most firearms, military-style weapons such as the AR-15 are semiautomatic -- increasing protection because the shooter can fire off many shots without having to manually chamber a new bullet. With a bolt-action rifle or pump-action shotgun, firing multiple shots takes more time. ""When you weigh it all out, these types of guns are stigmatized,"" says iReporter MVR155. Military-style weapons look more dangerous than other guns, he says, but really, there are many weapons available which are just as lethal, but which are not designed in a military style. iReport: One gun owner's solution . 'Fascination with the Second Amendment' ""I am a proud owner of an AK-47,"" writes iReporter INGunOwner. ""It's a terrific gun. Lots of fun to shoot. I own an AK because of my fascination with the Second Amendment, which I view as a backstop protector of freedom. Many people would argue that we have no use for it today because the government is trustworthy. ""However since it acts as a deterrent, we can never measure exactly how much it has been effective. Perhaps the notion that people feel safe with our government after over 200 years is a testament to the Second Amendment value in balancing power with the citizens."" Related: Gun owners fear new legislation could tread on their rights . CNN's Henry Hanks contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Joe Marshall was cruising across the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge when a piece of steel and a giant cable crashed down. He was just 50 yards away. The iReporter was just far enough away that he didn't see the debris as it fell. But he did see cars quickly move to the right lanes to avoid the mess. The falling debris forced the closure of the bridge and snarled traffic between Oakland and San Francisco, California, as commuters look for alternate ways to get to and from the cities. It's also forcing structural engineers to look at key questions around the nation's infrastructure: Has the nation done enough to address crucial bridges two years after the tragic collapse of a bridge in Minnesota that killed 13 people? The answer, experts say, is no. The pieces that fell this week raise even more troubling issues because repairs had just been made in September to the same section of the 73-year-old bridge, which spans the San Francisco Bay and carries an average of 280,000 vehicles daily. Over Labor Day weekend, crews worked to repair a damaged steel beam. ""The bridge has been inspected, and it is now safer than when we closed it,"" Randell Iwasaki, the director of the California Department of Transportation, said at the time. Abolhassan Astaneh-Asl, a structural engineering professor at the University of California, Berkeley, says he's concerned that authorities took a ""Band-Aid"" approach in September. ""It failed,"" he said. He's worried about what he calls ""fracture-critical"" bridges: roughly 460 bridges across the country that are in dire need of repairs. ""Following the Minnesota bridge collapse, there was a lot of discussion because of emotions,"" he said. ""I didn't really see a sustained effort that says, 'We are going to replace these fracture-critical bridges.' "" Federal regulators said support plates that were about half as thick as they should have been were the likely cause of the August 1, 2007, bridge collapse in Minnesota that killed 13 people and injured 145. The gusset plates -- metal plates that are meant to strengthen joists -- are believed to have failed on the I-35W bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. A new bridge has since opened in Minnesota, what the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials hailed as one of the nation's Top 10 transportation feats this year. ""It is critical that our transportation systems receive the funding necessary to keep America moving. But even more important is that our state and local governments use that money to deliver projects that quickly meet the needs of our communities,"" John Horsley, the group's executive director, said in a recent report. But engineers say that's the problem: Repairs aren't happening quick enough. If a tragedy like the Minnesota collapse doesn't get people's attention, they wonder, what will? ""I have seen some lip service, but I have not seen a lot of momentum and action,"" said William Ibbs, a professor of civil engineering at UC-Berkeley. ""Part of that is due to the economic recession. When California has a budget deficit of $25 billion, they don't worry about bridges. They worry about closing the budget gap."" Fari Barzegar, a civil engineering consultant based out of Oakland, says the Minnesota collapse put critical bridge problems front and center before the American public. ""In the engineering community, we knew these things many years ago, and there were requests for money, which wasn't coming,"" Barzegar said. But he says funding hasn't kept up post-Minnesota. According to a 2009 American Society of Civil Engineers report, more than 26 percent of the nation's bridges are either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials estimated in 2008 that it would cost roughly $140 billion to repair every deficient bridge in the country. Bridges are typically inspected every two years. ""If we don't start making substantial progress in five years, we will have more collapses,"" Ibbs said. The Bay Bridge opened in 1936 and spans 8.4 miles. It was the largest and most expensive bridge -- $77 million -- of its time. The bridge is best known to most Americans from the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. A 50-foot section of the bridge collapsed during the quake, killing one person and prompting efforts to make it quake-tolerant. Part of the bridge, the West Span, is a suspension bridge. The other portion of the bridge, known as the East Span, is a truss-cantilever design. This week's falling debris happened on the East Span, which is in the process of being replaced."
"(CNN) -- Fear is a terrible thing to waste. Yet modern Americans have squandered it as a tool for managing burgeoning populations of wildlife. A woman is in the hospital after she was mauled by a bear while walking in her central Florida neighborhood on Monday. Authorities caught a 75- to 100-pound yearling, but think the larger predator bear is still on the prowl. Tom Shupe thinks black bears have a people problem. He's a state wildlife biologist once responsible for dealing with growing bear-vs.-people conflicts in central Florida. I spent time with Shupe while researching the book ""Nature Wars."" He explained that perpetually hungry black bears need plenty of food habitat. Parents disown yearlings, forcing them to find new space. As their populations grow, they spread out, often from the Ocala National Forest south into the swampy sprawl of Greater Orlando. Trouble starts when a bear turns up in a backyard. Instead of scaring it away, too many people say: ""Oh, isn't he cute. Let's toss him a cookie. Get the camera."" Thus begins a photo collection of ""Our Bear."" But it's the beginning of the end for that bear, because the people are teaching it to associate the smell of people with food. The bear comes back for more. Soon it's breaking into the house. The people call 911: ""Do something about your bear."" Shupe arrives, darts the bear and moves it 100 miles. But the bear has learned people equals food, and does it again. After three strikes, the bear is shot -- euthanized. But it's not the bear's fault. It's the people's fault. Deer are eating our gardens and spreading ticks that cause Lyme disease; coyotes are killing our pets; turkeys are chasing our children to school; and geese have overrun our soccer fields because they don't fear us. And we have done all sorts of things to help them lose their natural fear. People say our conflicts with wild creatures are our fault because we encroached on their habitat. True, but only half the story. Many species encroached right back. Why? Because our habitat is better than theirs. Ours can sustain many more of them than their un-peopled landscape. We put out all sorts of food for them: lawns, gardens, shrubbery, birdseed, grill grease, garbage, dumpster waste. We offer water: Air-conditioner drip pans are water fountains for raccoons. Edges and hiding places are homes: A coyote can have a litter of pups in that brush behind your garbage and you won't know it. And we offer protection from predators, mainly ourselves. The results are mounting in people-vs.-wildlife conflicts. We should be celebrating a conservation success story that is unique on the planet. Instead, we demonize elegant creatures and fight over what to do, or not to do, about too much of a good thing. How did this happen? How did we turn this story into such a mess? In a nutshell: . Over the last century and half, forests grew back on abandoned farmland; a century ago we ended commercial hunting and began restoring wild bird and animal populations. Since World War II we sprawled out into suburbs and exurbs -- something early conservationists didn't imagine. The 2000 census showed that for the first time, an absolute majority of the population lived neither in cities nor on working farms but in the vast sprawl zone in between. That's where family farms were a century ago. Today, it's full of trees and filling with wildlife. We've become forest people -- yet we spend 90% of our time indoors. There we get most of our nature on digital screens, where wild creatures are often portrayed as pets performing all sorts of antics. Research suggests that the white-tailed deer's biggest predator since the last Ice Age has been man. But sprawl man has largely gotten out of the predation business. He doesn't hunt and doesn't want others to hunt around him. He's peppered the landscape with hunting restrictions and enacted all sorts of laws against hunting, firearms discharges, even bow-and-arrow use in some places. What this means is that in just the last few decades, for the first time in 11,000 years, huge swaths of the whitetail's historic range -- the Eastern United States -- have been put off-limits to its biggest predators. No wonder deer have burgeoned out of control. In Massachusetts, for example, it's illegal to discharge a firearm within 150 feet of a hard-surfaced road or within 500 feet of an occupied dwelling without the occupants' written permission -- often not easy to get. Those two laws alone put almost two-thirds of the state effectively off-limits to hunting. Lots of states have similar restrictions and most were imposed in the name of safety. Guns kill 31,500 people annually in the United States, but hunters are relatively safe. Estimates say about 100 people die in hunting accidents, mainly in cases of mistaken identity. These days, deer kill more than twice that many, both in deer-vehicle crashes and when drivers swerve into a tree or an oncoming vehicle. These accidents hospitalize another 30,000 people. Don't swerve: Hit the deer. Overabundant white-tails, meanwhile, do enormous damage to the landscape, and not just gardens and shrubbery. They are ruining our forests by eating their understories so trees can't regenerate. No seedlings. No places for understory birds and the insects they feed their newborn. Black bears are shy and docile creatures motivated by hunger and fear, but they, like deer, beavers, turkeys, waterfowl and others, were almost wiped out in the United States by the end of the 19th century. Daniel and Rebecca Boone reportedly killed 155 of them in one season in Kentucky. With protection, they slowly came back in the 20th century, to about 750,000 in 2002 and perhaps a million or more today. Between 1900 and 2009, black bears killed 63 people -- 86% were in the last 40 years. Why the increase? More bears and more denatured people living in the same habitat. Birdseed sellers now refer to wild birds as ""outdoor pets,"" helping to condition people to think that putting out food for wild animals is an act of kindness. It isn't. Food and no fear have turned many normally nocturnal wild creatures diurnal. They hang out among us in the daytime. Nuisance wildlife control people say tossing rocks at coyotes would help reinstill their fear of people. Instead, I've known people to toss them dog biscuits. Carrying a stick or a golf club is enough to deter wild turkeys, mail carriers tell me. Bear-proofing your garbage cans and taking down your birdfeeders in spring are no-brainers. Conflicts between people and wild animals will continue to rise as both populations grow into one another. There are all sorts of ways to mitigate them, both lethal and nonlethal. Some work better than others. Reinstilling their fear will help. Feeding them won't. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Jim Sterba."
"(CNN) -- The death toll from a shooting at a house party in the violence-plagued Mexican border city of Juarez has climbed to 14, state media reported Sunday. Chihuahua State Attorney General Carlos Manuel Salas told reporters that another 14 people were injured when gunmen attacked the gathering of young people at a house party Friday, the state-run Notimex news agency reported. The victims killed were between ages 14 and 30, Notimex said. Children as young as 7 and 11 were among the injured, the agency reported. Salas said authorities were investigating the backgrounds of all the victims. Mexico's National Human Rights Commission said it was sending representatives to the neighborhood, which was near another home where cartel gunmen stormed a house party in January, killing 15 people. Most of the victims in that shooting were youths who had no ties to organized crime. Investigators said the January shooting was a case of mistaken identity caused by bad intelligence. It sparked widespread outrage in the violent border city, including calls for Mexican President Felipe Calderon to resign. In a news conference Saturday, the country's deputy interior minister told reporters federal authorities will maintain the security strategy they are developing with state officials. ""We are here to address this deplorable and condemnable acts, and to ensure full support to local authorities investigating these unfortunate events,"" deputy interior minister Juan Marcos Gutierrez said, according to Notimex. CNN's Nick Valencia contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- ""Gigantic, alien-looking buildings"" that bring to mind melted guitars, mushroom-like parasols and UFOs. That's how some of the world's finest examples of ""blob buildings"" have been described, by the company that wants to celebrate them. Building data company Emporis of Hamburg, Germany, usually gives kudos to more traditional architectural triumphs, such as these new skyscrapers completed last year. But this time ""we felt that it's time to highlight this interesting and visually appealing topic,"" says Sarah Krenz, in the Emporis public relations office. What makes a building a blob? ""Unconventional, right-angle-free geometric shapes,"" according to the report. It's also known as ""liquid architecture."" Emporis cites the Experience Music Project in Seattle, locally known as ""The Blob,"" as a prime example. Others include the Golden Terraces in Warsaw, ""whose wavy roof, created from 4,700 separate glass elements, rests like a frozen liquid over the atrium of this multi-story shopping center."" As well as standing out from other buildings in their vicinity, blob buildings often conjure imaginative responses from the public, not always complimentary. While the Selfridges Building, a shopping center in Birmingham, England, is known as the Beehive due to its honeycomb-like façade, the London City Hall was once described as a ""glass testicle."" This list anticipates the opening next year of another ""blob"" -- the exhibition building Fondation Louis Vuitton pour la Création in Paris, designed by Frank O. Gehry. What do you think? Are blob buildings creative and inspiring or ugly and over the top? Comment below."
"(CNN) -- It was the moment the world had been waiting for, and as he has so often in his glittering career, Lionel Messi delivered. After a frantic opening to the World Cup in Brazil with entertainment and goals aplenty, one of its gold-plated stars announced his arrival in style. A trademark slaloming run from the Barcelona striker ended in the fashion soccer fans have become well accustomed to -- with the net rippling. In truth, Argentina were far from their best against the World Cup debutantes Bosnia and Herzegovina despite going 1-0 up thanks to the quickest goal at the World Cup to date. Sead Kolasinac was the unwitting scorer, diverting the ball into his own net after a Messi free kick was glanced on by Marcos Rojo. Alejandro Sabella's men couldn't build on that early lead though as Bosnia and Herzegovina held their own until the interval. Argentina's lead was doubled on 65 minutes thanks to a piece of magic from their talisman. Messi swapped passes with Gonzalo HiguaÃ­n and sidestepped two challenges before firing home off the inside of the post via a slight deflection. His vigorous celebration perhaps showed the pressure he was under to perform, as the endless comparisons to Argentina's other world famous player -- Diego Maradona -- go on. A goal from substitute Vedad Ibisevic ensured a nervy final six minutes but Argentina held out to secure three important points. France 3-0 Honduras . The first World Cup goal to be awarded via goal-line technology helped France to a convincing 3-0 victory over 10-man Honduras in Porto Alegre. Karim Benzema, who had put France ahead thanks to a first half penalty, fired a shot against the post only for Honduras keeper Noel Valladares to inadvertently nudge the ball towards goal. It was awarded by the referee after goal-line technology -- introduced for the first time at this World Cup by FIFA -- instructed him the ball had crossed the line. Replays inside the stadium led to boos from some supporters, as the big screen flashed up 'no goal' for the initial effort that hit the upright, then 'goal' after the ball had cannoned off Valladares. Aside from the confusion it was a routine win for an energetic France side, whose task was made easier when Honduras went down to 10 men. Wilson Palacios, who plays for English Premier League side Stoke, had already been booked when he barged into Paul Pogba, conceding a penalty and attracting a second booking. Benzema duly dispatched the spot kick as France seized the initiative just before the interval. Then just three minutes after the break came a landmark moment for the world game when Benzema's volley from an exquisite Yohan Cabaye pass flashed back off the post. Valladares tried to parry the ball clear as it hurtled towards him but only succeeded in flicking it over the line, the referee confirming the goal a few seconds later. Honduras protested and the replays led to confusion but the goal was awarded, four years after the incident in South Africa that led FIFA president Sepp Blatter to change his mind on technology. A shot from England's Frank Lampard flicked off the bar and bounced down a yard over the line in their quarterfinal with Germany but the goal wasn't awarded. There was no doubt about Benzema's second, as he fired emphatically into the roof of the net after pouncing on a loose ball, completing a perfect opening night for France coach Didier Deschamps. Switzerland 2-1 Ecuador . The other game in Group E on Sunday was a tale of two super subs for Switzerland as an injury time winner from Haris Seferovic broke Ecuadorian hearts in Brasilia. The striker came off the bench to pounce in the dying seconds of the game after another sub -- Admir Mehmedi -- had canceled out Enner Valencia's early header. It meant that after nine matches at the World Cup, there is still to be a draw. After a low key opening it was Ecuador who struck first, as Enner Valencia planted a firm header into the net from Walter Ayovi's center. Switzerland, tipped by many as World Cup dark horses, struggled to get into any sort of rhythm and squandered a succession of set pieces. But its two-time European Champions League winning coach Ottmar Hitzfeld got his half time tactical tinkering just right and it drew level within minutes of the restart. Hitzfeld brought striker Admir Mehmedi on for Valentin Stocker and the Freiburg forward nodded home from close range. Swiss goalkeeper Diego Benaglio saved well from Jefferson Montero before Josip Drmic had a goal ruled out for offside as the match neared a dramatic conclusion. Ecuador had a great chance to find the net but Michael Arroyo was tackled brilliantly by Valon Behrami, who then launched a counter attack. The referee played an excellent advantage after Behrami was fouled and the move ended with Seferovic finishing off Ricardo Rodriguez's low cross. ""We've done it, and that's unbelievable,"" Hitzfeld was quoted as saying by FIFA's website. ""We never stopped believing in ourselves. I'm extremely happy with the three points and it means it's a good start."""
"(CNN) -- It's become a popular segment on his show, and Jimmy Fallon's latest lip-sync battle featured ""The Voice"" coaches Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton. So what happens when ""The Tonight Show"" host has two popular singers perform songs by not actually singing? A whole bunch of awesome, apparently. The setup is simple: Each celebrity contestant selects a song and then lip-syncs a snippet. Shelton kicked it off with Taco's '80s hit ""Puttin' on the Ritz,"" including some faux tap dancing. That was followed by Fallon's version of Ellie Goulding's ""Burn,"" and Stefani ended the round with ""Call Me Maybe"" by Carly Rae Jepsen. The trio seemed evenly matched until Stefani and Shelton took it to a new level. In a hilarious duet of ""Endless Love,"" Stefani did the Lionel Richie part and Shelton subbed for Diana Ross. Who do you think won?"
"(CNN) -- Online and on the air, talking about sports has almost always been a guy thing. Former athletes and coaches banter on a more-or-less equal footing with other guys who've never played a down or never hiked a ball but have a head full of stats and an encyclopedic knowledge of the manly arts. Meshall Shuman zooms in on Hattie Lemon at a recent taping of ""Ladies in the Locker Room"" It's almost insulting to say the obvious, but there are plenty of women who know their sports, too. And they have their own sports show, one that offers an alternative to the ""testosterone ceiling"" of the guys' club. It's called ""Ladies in the Locker Room,"" and TV subscribers in the Atlanta, Georgia, area have been tuning in to its unique brand of sports commentary, analysis and trivia since 2004.  Watch the 'Ladies in the Locker Room' » . The show is the brainchild of Hattie Lemon, a prolific writer, director, producer and actor whose independent crime series ""Atlanta Homicide"" is featured on the CoLours TV network. ""Ladies in the locker room are not women who think they know everything about sports; they just know the men who do,"" Lemon said. It's one of the catchphrases she uses to describe the show that immediately disarms most critics who otherwise wouldn't respect an all-female sports show. ""It's all women, all sports, all sexy,"" Lemon said. ""It's a combination of my love of sports and my love of media."" Each year for the past five years, Lemon has recruited a new group of personalities and production crew members to punch out about a half-dozen shows. The show is captured live at sports clubs and restaurants across the Atlanta metro area, with additional time in the studio to create produced segments to add to the mix.  Photo gallery: Making 'Ladies in the Locker Room' » . And for the second time in the show's history, Lemon is traveling to the Super Bowl with a handful of her ladies and a production crew to create a version of the show featuring interviews with the celebrities and stars flocking to football's big game. Soma Balber, a self-professed superfan of the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team and one of the show's commentators for the 2008-09 season, first got to know Lemon when she began playing a recurring role in ""Atlanta Homicide."" They got to talking about sports, and Balber was asked to be a part of the show. ""It's kind of nice to show the audience that women can have fun watching sports,"" Balber said. ""And we want to educate women about sports as well."" Lemon, who describes herself as a huge fan of professional football, says she hopes her show will lead more men to understand that women love sports, too. ""When women talk about sports, sometimes men look at us as groupies,"" Lemon said. ""Men don't think women understand sports."" As for men who have never played sports but still know all the stats? They get the ""man pass."" It's not fair, she says, but ""it is what it is. I just hope we get more women talking about sports."""
"(CNN) -- Eight of the 13 people facing hazing charges after the death of a Florida A&M University band member had turned themselves in by Thursday afternoon, a state police spokeswoman said. All eight who have surrendered so far face felony charges in the November death of 26-year-old Robert Champion, said Gretl Plessinger, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Of the remaining three who face the same count, two are in Georgia and one is in Delaware, she said. ""We're in contact with their attorneys or their families, and are expecting them to turn themselves in,"" Plessinger said. Champion, a FAMU Marching 100 drum major, collapsed on a band bus after a November 2011 football game in Orlando. Medical examiners reported his death came within an hour of his being badly beaten during a hazing incident. Prosecutors announced charges in Champion's death Wednesday. Eleven of the 13 people are charged with hazing resulting in death, a felony, while two others face a misdemeanor hazing count. Champion's mother has said her family is disappointed that the suspects didn't face more serious charges, and she told reporters Thursday that authorities botched the investigation into her son's death. Pam Champion said authorities didn't properly process the bus for evidence and failed to immediately question students who were on the bus. And the family's lawyer, Chris Chestnut, said the family believes FAMU alumni coached the students on how to answer questions from police. ""We know they were caucusing to determine how to get away with murder,"" Chestnut said. He said the family plans to sue the school soon. Deputy Ginette Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Sheriff's Office, defended its investigation. ""I know our deputies questioned everyone available,"" Rodriguez said. ""I can assure you our detectives conducted a thorough and complete investigation, as we do in every case."" Champion's death brought renewed public scrutiny to hazing, a practice that has gone on for years despite what the Tallahassee university said had been efforts to eradicate the problem. Champion's mother called for FAMU's famous marching band to be disbanded for the upcoming year, saying the school ""cannot go on with business as usual."" Nine students at University of Florida charged with hazing . ""They need to clean out the filth to move forward. How can they allow the band out there?"" she said Thursday. ""They haven't done anything to safeguard students -- certainly not my son. My son was murdered."" The prosecutor who brought the charges, Orange County State Attorney Lawson Lamar, said Wednesday that the case built by investigators does not support a charge of murder. Some university band members have said Champion died after taking part in an annual rite of passage called ""Crossing Bus C,"" an initiation process in which pledges attempt to run down the center aisle from the front door of the bus to the back while being punched, kicked and otherwise assaulted by senior members. An estimated 30 people were on the vehicle. An autopsy found ""extensive contusions of his chest, arms, shoulder and back,"" as well as ""evidence of crushing of areas of subcutaneous fat,"" medical examiners reported. In a written statement, FAMU General Counsel Avery McKnight said the school ""remains committed to the absolute eradication of hazing from all aspects of the university experience."" ""The university will be able to address all aspects of the marching band after reviewing the documents and evidence flowing from the Champion case and from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's final report on its investigation of the marching band,"" McKnight said. ""As for now, the marching band continues on indefinite suspension."" Those facing the more serious charges could serve up to six years in prison if convicted, Lamar said. The two suspects charged only with misdemeanors could be jailed for up to a year. Of the eight who had surrendered on felony charges by Thursday morning, all but three had been released on $15,000 bail, Plessinger told CNN. Two -- Jessie Baskin, 20, and Benjamin McNamee, 21, turned themselves in in Miami. Two others, Rikki Wills, 24, and Caleb Jackson, 23, surrendered in Tallahassee. Bryan Jones, 23, surrendered Wednesday night in Tampa, while 20-year-old Harold Finley turned himself in at the Palm Beach County jail. Two others, 19-year-old Aaron Golson and 26-year-old Shawn Turner, surrendered in Gadsden County, near Tallahassee. Jackson, Golson and Finley had not yet made bail Thursday afternoon, Plessinger said. Earlier this year, the Champions filed a negligence lawsuit against the bus company and its driver. Fabulous Coach Lines President Ray Land said before the suit was filed that the company's employees, who were not on the bus at the time, responded quickly after learning that there was an emergency, even following the ambulance transporting Champion to the hospital. The school's band director, meanwhile, asked for full reinstatement Wednesday. An attorney for Julian White, who was placed on paid administrative leave shortly after Champion's death, said his client worked to root out hazing over 22 years as director. ""Dr. White remains disappointed that barely 48 hours after meeting with band members, that Robert Champion was killed in an extreme, horrific and illegal act of bullying,"" White's attorney, Chuck Hobbs, said in a statement."
"Few question that there was a major chemical attack in Syria last week, and the United States has made clear that it blames the government of President Bashar al-Assad. Now, the question is how President Barack Obama will respond. For almost two years, Obama has avoided direct military involvement in Syria's civil war, only escalating aid to rebel fighters in June after suspected smaller-scale chemical weapons attacks by Syrian government forces. However, last week's attack on a Damascus suburb that reportedly killed and wounded more than 3,000 people obliterated the ""red line"" Obama set just over a year ago against the use of Syria's chemical weapons stocks. At the White House, spokesman Jay Carney told reporters Monday that Obama was evaluating ""a response to the clear use on a mass scale with repugnant results of chemical weapons,"" adding that ""there is very little doubt that the Syrian regime ... used those weapons."" Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called the attack ""inexcusable"" and ""undeniable,"" and said there was ""a clear reason that the world has banned entirely chemical weapons."" He said that evidence ""strongly indicates"" chemical weapons were used in Syria and that ""we know the Syrian regime maintains custody"" of such weapons and has the rockets to use them. Read Kerry's remarks . Obama ""will be making an informed decision about how to respond to this indiscriminate use"" of chemical weapons, Kerry added, saying the president ""believes there must be accountability"" for those who use them. Options available to Obama range from ordering limited missile strikes to continued diplomatic efforts labeled by critics as a ""do-nothing"" approach. Obama will be presented with final options regarding actions against Syria in the next few days, a senior administration official said Monday. Assuming the president decides to go ahead with a military response, any action could come as early as mid-week, though it could be later, the official cautioned. Factors weighing into the timing of any action include a desire to get it done before the president leaves for Russia next week and before the administration has to make a decision on whether to suspend aid to Egypt because of the ongoing political turmoil there, the official explained. The administration also wants it to be a quick response to the use of chemical weapons, the senior administration official said. American officials are consulting with allies to ensure they are supportive of any U.S. action, which the senior administration official said would be very limited in scope and a direct reaction to the use of chemical weapons. And three representatives of allied governments involved in those top-level consultations said the goal is to reach a consensus as soon as possible. ""No one is talking about a long process,"" one European diplomat told CNN. Marie Harf, a State Department spokeswoman, said any U.S. response would be ""a determination on how to respond to a blatant use of chemical weapons, and it's not necessarily to change the entire situation on the ground in Syria."" That might be a mistake, said Michael Doran, an analyst at the Brookings Institution's Saban Center for  Middle East Policy. A U.S. strike ""can't just be one and done,"" but should be part of a plan to remove al-Assad, he told CNN's ""Anderson Cooper 360."" ""The president has been very reulctant to get involved. Public opinion has been against it. There's not a lot of support on the Hill,"" Doran said. ""And yet, here we are again. Time and time again, we get dragged further and further in."" The result could be ""a Vietnam-type problem, where we kind of back our way into this, if we don't come up with a plan about how to win."" Kerry spoke with his British, Jordanian, Qatari and Saudi counterparts Monday and with the secretary-general of the Arab League, Harf said. ""Obviously, the intelligence assessment is ongoing,"" she said. ""But he reiterated that the president is studying the facts and will be making an informed decision about how to respond going forward."" The Obama administration is expected to declassify the intelligence assessment backing up its assertion that the Syrian regime was responsible for last week's chemical weapons attack, another senior administration official said. The declassification would happen before any U.S. military action would take place. A senior administration official familiar with the intelligence told CNN that the evidence ""includes but is not limited to"" satellite images of activity at Syrian military installations identified as including chemical weapons depots. Earlier Monday, a White House official ruled out sending ground troops to Syria or implementing a no-fly zone to blunt al-Assad's aerial superiority over rebels fighting to oust his regime. The official insisted that all other options were under consideration by Obama but put no time frame on a decision. Meanwhile, a senior Defense Department official told CNN's Chris Lawrence Monday that four U.S. Navy destroyers ""maintain readiness and, if required, could execute a mission within hours"" of being ordered to do so. But the official added that the U.S. military remained ""in a holding pattern"" as Obama considers both military and nonmilitary options. Opinion: How Al-Assad used chemical weapons to poison debate on Syria . Also, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said while visiting Indonesia that any U.S. action ""will be in concert with the international community and within the framework of legal justification."" While U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday that the use of chemical weapons was a crime against humanity and must be punished, certain opposition by Syrian ally Russia and possibly China undermined the possibility that the Security Council would support a military mission. Instead, a limited coalition of NATO partners such as Germany, France and Britain -- all of which have called for action against Syria -- and some Arab League members appeared more likely to provide the political backing needed by Obama to order U.S. missile strikes. A senior administration official told CNN on Monday that the goals of any coalition military action would be to punish al-Assad and show him that there was a cost for using chemical weapons while preventing him from doing so again. In addition, a military strike would seek to degrade the Syrian regime's capabilities enough to weaken it without causing it to fall to an opposition considered unprepared to assume power, the official said. Possible coalition partners include NATO allies Britain, France, Germany and Canada, as well as regional powers Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Last month, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey provided Congress with a list of declassified U.S. military options for Syria that emphasized the high costs and risks of what he said would amount to ""an act of war"" at a time of deep budget cuts. U.S. official: Almost no doubt al-Assad regime used chemical weapons . Dempsey's letter, dated July 19, listed U.S. assets in the region including Patriot missile defense batteries in Turkey and Jordan, as well as F-16 jet fighters positioned to defend Jordan from possible cross-border trouble. In addition, the Pentagon has sent four warships armed with cruise missiles to the region. According to U.S. officials, updated options offered the president in recent days included: . â€¢ Cruise missiles fired from one of four Navy destroyers deployed in the Mediterranean Sea. The missiles would be used to strike ""command and control"" facilities such as command bunkers, or the Syrian regime's means of delivering chemical weapons: artillery batteries and launchers. There is no indication that the missiles would strike at actual chemical weapons stockpiles. â€¢ Military jets firings weapons from outside Syrian airspace. This option carries additional risks and is considered less likely. ""They have to be careful to do this in concert with our allies,"" Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, told CNN on Sunday, adding that ""I don't think the White House is going to want to risk American lives by sending pilots over Syria, so that really limits our options to cruise strikes and think that's probably where the White House is going to go."" U.N. chemical weapons inspectors reach alleged attack site . Cruise missile strikes could be ""very punishing"" on al-Assad's missile supplies and aircraft without going after the chemical weapons stockpiles to risk dispersing them, Schiff said. To Aaron David Miller, a vice president at the Woodrow Wilson International Center, the situation is forcing Obama to shift from being an ""avoider-in-chief"" regarding military involvement in Syria. ""It's almost inevitable that the president will authorize some form of military action,"" Miller told National Public Radio in an interview broadcast Monday. He said he expected a significant response that amounts to ""a warning that lays down this time a red line that the president intends to enforce, not one that turns pink."" ""It cannot simply be a couple of cruise missiles into a storage shed somewhere,"" Miller said, adding that the goal was to deter al-Assad rather than topple him or radically shift the balance in Syria at this time. ""The president's not on the verge of becoming the cavalry to rescue the country."" Schiff agreed that Obama has little choice but to respond strongly. ""In terms of the credibility of the White House,"" he said, ""the cost of not acting now, I think, exceeds the cost of acting."""
"(CNN) -- Mitch McConnell could very well become the Senate majority leader after Tuesday's midterm elections, but don't count on Ted Cruz to make it an easy transition for the Kentucky Republican. Cruz, a Republican senator from Texas who's eying a 2016 presidential bid, all but promised to raise hell next year should his party control the Senate. In an interview with The Washington Post published Sunday, Cruz refused to pledge his support to McConnell, the current minority leader in the Senate, and outlined what he believes should be the chamber's priorities. Dems put up brave face ahead of election . While Cruz has campaigned for many mainstream Republican candidates this year, his new comments indicate he's aiming to re-claim the mantle of Republican insurgent, a role that helped define his first year in the Senate in 2013. The first priority next year, he told the Post, should be a string of hearings on President Barack Obama, ""looking at the abuse of power, the executive abuse, the regulatory abuse, the lawlessness that sadly has pervaded this administration."" Polls give GOP momentum going into midterms . He also hopes a Republican Senate will ""pursue every means possible to repeal Obamacare,"" just as the GOP-controlled House has tried more than 50 times to dismantle the health care law. Part of the effort, he said, should include forcing a vote that could avoid a possible filibuster by Democrats. If Obama vetoes the repeal, the Senate should vote on Obamacare provisions ""one at a time,"" according to the Post. McConnell, who's trying to stave off a high-profile Democratic challenge in his re-election bid, has largely stayed away from spelling out the would-be Republican agenda next year. How presidential contenders are spending Election Night . Cruz's comments also set the stage for an interesting dynamic between himself and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, a potential 2016 rival. Unlike Cruz, Paul has stood closely by McConnell's side in the senior senator's re-election campaign -- an alliance that could surely benefit Paul, who's eager to get his own series of bills passed in the run-up to a presidential bid."
"As they make a final push to approve presidential nominations before Republicans take control of the Senate, Democrats said Tuesday the confirmation of a record number of federal judges was evidence they were right to make controversial changes to filibuster rules, despite objections from Republicans. ""Yes,"" Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid responded loudly when asked if still believes he was right to employ the so-called ""nuclear option"" a year ago in order to clear a backlog of nominees. The No. 2 Senate Democrat explained that at the time there was a ""breakdown in the relationship between the executive and legislative branch."" ""If you just look at where we were, with all of the nominations stacked on the calendar, most of which had been reported from committees with overwhelming bipartisan votes,"" Sen. Dick Durbin said.  ""Republicans were trying to keep as many nominations from final approval as possible. So we had no choice."" During the first year of the congressional session, before the nuclear option, the Senate confirmed a total of 36 federal district and circuit court judges appointed by the President.  After the rules changes, which took place Nov. 21, 2013, the number of judges confirmed more than doubled to 84. The rules change lowered the number of votes needed to overcome a filibuster from 60 to 51, making it much easier for Democrats, who currently have a 54 to 46 majority, to approve judges to those lifetime positions. Before the Senate adjourns, probably in the next day or two, Democrats hope to confirm an additional 12 district court positions. Democrats this week also cleared a new surgeon general, a top immigration official, and were ready to approve Tuesday the No. 2 at the State Department. Each of those people faced serious GOP opposition and might not have been cleared if not for the rules change. ""The train is running over everyone. That's the Reid train. Last trip around the track,"" complained Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona about the last minute wave of judicial and executive branch nominations Senate Democratic Leader Reid is jamming through. ""It's a result of the nuclear option which deprived us of our ability to advise and consent and it's shameful. McCain and other Republicans also blamed Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and a small group of other conservatives who forced a weekend session that Reid used to clear procedural hurdles on a number of nominees. ""It was also caused in part by what happened last weekend when several nominees who are controversial are now going to receive Senate votes and are probably going to be confirmed who otherwise probably would not have been,"" said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine."
"Washington (CNN) -- Former Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison knew her window to run for president had closed. That moment passed when then-Gov. George W. Bush, a fellow Texas Republican, ran for and won the presidency in 2000 and served two terms, the lawmaker told CNN. She was a senator with aspirations to a higher office who was also in the process of adopting two children. ""The timing wasn't right for me. Even if he served four years, then maybe. But eight years and Texas fatigue. Then I had children, so...,"" she said, her voice trailing off. Wednesday marks the 95th anniversary of Congress' approval of the 19th amendment to the Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote. But all these years later, no woman has ever been named a major party's presidential nominee. The path to the presidency is especially challenging for Republican women and it contrasts sharply with Democrats who -- as buzz grows around Hillary Clinton -- may be poised to nominate the first female presidential candidate of either major party. Primary problems: GOP women struggle to come out on top . Four of the five women who are currently governors are Republicans, and four of the past six presidents previously were governors. Still, GOP women's names are seldom mentioned among top-tier potential presidential hopefuls for 2016. Sure, nods are given to retiring Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann's failed 2012 presidential bid. And there's a perennial hope among some conservatives that former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will run, though she's said she has no interest in the position. But when mention is made of Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina, Gov. Susana Martinez of New Mexico, or New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, it's often couched as ""she would make such a good running mate,"" not in a way that is on par with male candidates, former Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, told CNN. ""Women should naturally be considered for the highest office in the land,"" Snowe said. ""The bench is too small"" Democratic women in Congress far outnumber Republicans -- 16-4 in the 100-seat Senate and 62-17 in the 435-seat House of Representatives. In each of the past 10 election cycles, GOP women have won a smaller percentage of primary elections for U.S. House seats than have their Democratic counterparts, according to a study by Rutgers University's Center for American Women and Politics, and only twice -- in 1994 and 2010 -- have more Republican than Democratic women run in primaries. ""It's the concept of the pipeline. If the women aren't in the offices we draw on for the presidency, the bench is too small to choose from,"" said Debbie Walsh, director of the Rutgers center. Even when they do seek office, studies have shown that conservative women in particular have had a tougher time getting the networking and financial support -- either from within the party or from outside groups -- needed to mount successful bids, Walsh said. While there are a number of well-heeled groups, such as EMILY's List, which back candidates with progressive stances, there are fewer such groups targeting conservative women, the Rutgers study found. SarahPAC, the political action committee of former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, has supported a number of conservative women candidates, including New Hampshire's Ayotte in 2010. This year, the PAC is supporting Joni Ernst, a Senate candidate from Iowa who won her primary on Tuesday, among other women. SHE PAC, another conservative women's group, is supporting Mia Love, the former mayor of Saratoga Springs, Utah, in her second bid for the U.S. House. Love narrowly lost in 2012 to incumbent Jim Matheson, who is not seeking re-election. The group is also supporting Monica Wehby, an Oregon physician running for Senate, among other candidates. Both Love and Wehby won their primaries. CNN Poll: Majority say GOP out of touch with women . The other challenge female candidates to federal office face is an ""ideological shift to the far right among the Republican primary electorate,"" the study found. This shift has meant Republican women who might be moderate on such issues as abortion rights are less likely to survive primary fights in conservative districts. The results: fewer Republican women headed to Congress and a shallower pool of presidential contenders down the road. The Republican Party is keenly aware of its problems in both recruiting and supporting female candidates and attracting women voters. The party performed an autopsy of sorts after huge losses among women, minorities and young voters in the 2012 presidential election. GOP's soul-searching leads conflicted party to double down . The party concluded it needed to beef up its outreach operations and has spent millions on efforts such as Project GROW, which seeks to identify and support more female candidates for the midterm elections, and ""14 in 14,"" a program aimed at wooing more women voters in key states. ""We've come together with the other GOP campaign committees ... to set up programs to get more women involved in our party,"" said Kirsten Kukowski, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee. ""We've done things like recruit more women operatives to be involved and have a seat at the table with candidates, message-training and specific voter contact efforts."" The proof is in the numbers . But some senior Republican women say that despite plenty of lip service paid to elevating women within the party, representation at the federal level is paltry, and the performance trend in primaries shows fewer Republican women are winning in those races than just two decades ago. ""It's unfortunate that there's this attitude and perception within the Republican Party that are more aspirational when it comes to women,"" Snowe said. ""The Republican Party hasn't done the groundwork to build a strong bench of Republican women to launch a presidential candidacy."" ""Women have to put a step forward"" as well, Snowe said, to better ensure that they are in the running for the nation's top political post. Senate balance of power could shift on women candidates . However, doing so involves tough choices, Hutchison said. ""We do end up with a great amount of responsibility for our families. Being out campaigning for weeks and months at a time is difficult. The women in the Senate struggle with this, with questions of, 'Do you move your children to be with you, or do you leave them back home?'"" Hutchison said. ""That makes it harder for us to say, 'Yes, I'm going to run for president and go to New Hampshire, Iowa, and South Carolina for weeks on end' -- especially if they are in office already and away from their families. To add that to it is very difficult."" ""Whereas, no matter what we say, men have wives and they can leave more easily,"" she said. Though they may disagree with her political views, Republican women often give Hillary Clinton kudos for her political skill. ""Republican women have to do what Hillary Clinton is doing. We have to steal the playbook of what she is doing,"" said Crystal Wright, an editor and blogger with ConservativeBlackChick.com. Winning requires building strong coalitions, fundraising and surrogates, Wright said. ""Look at what Hillary has done in each campaign she has run. ... She's a good example of a case study for how women should model their efforts for running for office."""
"Anatalya, Turkey (CNN) -- Lapped by the pristine waters of the Mediterranean Sea, the Turkish coastal city of Antalya attracts millions of sun-seeking tourists each year, beguiling them with its sweeping scenery, picture-perfect beaches and blazing sunshine. It is this abundance of sunlight -- Turkey receives greater annual solar radiation energy than Spain and Germany according to estimates by the Joint Research Center of the European Commission -- that has prompted Antalya's local authorities to push ahead with plans to harness the city's solar potential. ""We aim to make Antalya the leader of solar power generation of Turkey and to promote it to the world as 'The Solar City,'"" says Antalya's mayor Mustafa Akaydin. The declaration comes as the sun-soaked city, located some 700 kilometers south of Istanbul, starts rolling out its ambitious plans to use solar power to generate electricity, emulating the successful example of cities like Barcelona, Spain, which has put in place regulations requiring solar panels to be fitted to all large new buildings. In April, the city opened the ""Antalya Solar House,"" an ecological research and educational center designed by architectural firm Temiz Dunya to raise awareness about the benefits of renewable energy and promote eco-tourism. The zero-emission structure, which was built with ecological materials, generates most of its energy using photovoltaic panels (22kW in total) as well as a windmill and heat pumps. 'Living' buildings could inhale city carbon emissions . These systems are supplemented with gray-water recycling -- re-use of used water from bathtubs, showers and so on. -- and passive solar heating features such as a greenhouse to collect heat during the winter months. It also has a green roof that facilitates rainwater harvesting and acts as heat insulation. ""The building is also very significant because it is Turkey's first energy positive building,"" says architect Mehmet Bengu Uluengin, the designer behind the Solar House. ""It actually produces more energy than it consumes."" The architect says the structure has fascinated the local population while helping to change perceptions that buildings can only be big energy consumers. ""The idea that having a building that not only provides its own energy but actually gives some back is a totally new phenomenon for Turkish people,"" says Uluengin, who is also a professor at Istanbul's Bahcesehir University. ""They like it, they find it very intriguing."" Local authorities expect around a thousand people to visit Solar House each month, including students, green investors and hotel owners. They say the project is just the first part of a long-term initiative to turn Antalya into a climate-friendly city -- other initiatives include a waste management facility that will convert the city's sewage into biogas. ""Antalya has already been the pioneering city of green energy (in Turkey),"" says Akaydin. ""We are trying to make Antalya the leader of agriculture, tourism, park and garden lighting, energy generating and (solar) panel producing."" While educating the local population about achieving energy efficiency, Uluengin says the technology used in the Solar House can also help Antalya -- Turkey's biggest coastal resort and home to several five-star hotels -- to become an ideal destination for eco-conscious tourists. ""There are several hotels which are considering green energy to attract customers,"" he says. ""A hotel which can say that ... if you're staying here your carbon footprint is zero for the duration of your stay -- this is becoming very interesting for people worldwide,"" he adds. For the moment, however, sunny Antalya is still far from being branded a green resort -- local authorities estimate that eco-visitors account for just 1% of the city's tourism. Mayor Akaydin says that Turkey is missing a trick by failing to exploit its clean energy capabilities. ""Turkey has a very big potential in solar and wind energy. Unfortunately, the insufficient and wrong policies of the government prevent the promotion of them,"" he says. Turkey's geothermal potential . Despite receiving plenty of sun, Turkey has been remarkably sluggish in developing a sound solar industry. The country still depends heavily on oil and natural gas, most of which is imported from abroad. In 2008, oil provided 37% of Turkey's total final consumption of energy, natural gas and electricity 18% each, coal 17%, biomass and waste 7% and other sources 3%, according to figures by the International Energy Agency. At the same time, limited government subsidies, coupled with high costs for green energy equipment, have further impeded the market's growth, leaving little incentives for households to go solar. Yet, Uluengin is optimistic that green initiatives like the one in Antalya can help Turkey's green energy sector to take off in the coming years. He notes that the lack of government incentives has bolstered Turkey's fledgling renewable energy industry by creating a solid and growing grassroots movement -- that, he says, is in contrast to the top-down approach that was implemented in other European countries, where the sector grew after governments started offering subsidies and incentives for green energy usage. ""The way we are going through it in Turkey is more painful but is also healthier because it is growing out of real demand,"" says Uluengin."
"BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (CNN) -- More than 10,000 charred bone fragments were found buried at the site of a former Argentine government detention center, the first find of its kind at one of the secret centers, Argentine officials said. Bones were unearthed during a seven-month search at an ex-detention post in La Plata, Argentina, officials said. Searchers said they also found a wall with more than 200 bullet holes and an ""important quantity"" of spent ammunition shells on the ground nearby. In some cases, bullets were still lodged in the wall. The announcement was made Tuesday at a news conference by government officials and representatives of the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team, better known as EAAF, the initials of its name in Spanish. A team of six professional anthropologists and support crew said it believed the remains were human, but it was unable to determine how many bodies the fragments represented. ""I ask the forgiveness of family members, because I can imagine what the mothers and all who are gathered here will feel, but what we are about to show is not to detail the genocide but so that we have proof for the trials that are to come,"" said Sara Derotier de Cobacho, secretary of human rights for Buenos Aires province. ""But let us not forget,"" she said in a statement, ""that behind every clandestine center there were the names of the repressors. ... So it is very important for all citizens to know those names."" The detention center was among those used in Argentina during the country's ""Dirty War,"" which started in 1976 when a group of generals staged a coup and started a vicious crackdown against anyone considered a subversive. By the time civilian control of the government resumed in 1983, up to 30,000 Argentines had been abducted and taken to the secret government detention centers, where they were tortured and killed. They are widely called ""los desaparecidos,"" or ""the disappeared."" Thousands more people were abducted and killed by right-wing dictatorships in other South American countries during the 1970s and 1980s, particularly in Chile and Uruguay. The bone fragments in Argentina were unearthed during a seven-month search at the former detention post in the city of La Plata, near Buenos Aires. In 25 years of searching, this was the first time that human remains were found at a former detention center, said Luis Fondebrider, president of the EAAF. ""We've worked throughout the country and have always found remains in cemeteries, never outside,"" Fondebrider said in the release. The conference was called, he said, because of the extraordinary nature of the find. ""We usually don't hold press conferences about our work or what we find,"" Fondebrider said. ""But we understand that the magnitude of what we have found where the Clandestine Center of Arana was located merits that sometimes we show partial results."" The searchers determined that bodies had been burned inside graves along with tires, combustibles and other material, Fondebrider said. ""The possibilities of identifying some of these remains is low because of the state they are in,"" Fondebrider said. The searchers will start analyzing the remains next year and are working with two prominent forensic genetic laboratories that specialize in working with remains that are in poor condition, he said. Lending an official air to Tuesday's proceedings, Carlos Stornelli, minister of security for the province of Buenos Aires, and Pablo Buruera, mayor of La Plata, also attended the news conference. ""We are looking for the truth so we can attain justice and construct, from there, the memory of our 30,000 'desaparecidos,' "" Derotier said."
"Paris (CNN)A traumatic event, such as the 9/11 attacks or the assault on Charlie Hebdo in Paris two weeks ago, can produce huge shifts in public opinion. A surge in patriotism, perhaps higher church attendances -- but one would not expect it to boost the work of an 18th century writer. In France, and especially in Paris, the mood over the past two weeks has been subdued, but punctured by public displays of solidarity across faiths. In a famously fractious society, there is a sense of cohesion. The French seemed to have coalesced in reaching back into their history and the Enlightenment: They have started reading Voltaire. One of France's most renowned philosophers, Voltaire published his ""Treatise on Tolerance"" in 1763.  It was an appeal for religious tolerance, within and between faiths. The French publisher Folio says sales of the ""Treatise"" have increased significantly since the Charlie Hebdo attacks. Between 2003 and the beginning of this year, Folio had sold 120,000 copies of the book -- roughly 10,000 a year. From January 12 to 14, immediately after the rally in Paris in support of free speech and tolerance, some 7,000 copies were sold. Folio said another 20,000 new copies would be made available to cope with demand. Online orders on Amazon and Kindle have also spiked. When first published, the ""Treatise"" was a revolutionary creed, and one that landed Voltaire in trouble with the French government and especially powerful religious interests, such as the Jesuits. His message has endured to become a cornerstone of the French republic, where the state and religion are formally and forcefully separated. But Voltaire went far beyond the rifts within Christianity in the ""Treatise."" ""I say that we should regard all men as our brothers,"" he wrote. ""What? The Turk my brother? The Chinaman my brother? The Jew? The Siam? Yes, without doubt; are we not all children of the same father and creatures of the same God?"" Voltaire wrote the ""Treatise"" because he was outraged by the execution of a Protestant man, Jean Calas, who was wrongly convicted of murdering his own son to prevent him from converting to Catholicism. His campaign to clear Jean Calas went all the way to King Louis XV, who pardoned Calas posthumously. Paris mayor: We'll sue Fox News . Last week, the justice minister here, socialist Christiane Taubira, celebrated Voltaire's legacy when speaking at the memorial for the Charlie Hebdo cartoonist Tignous. ""We can draw anything, including a prophet, because in France, the France of Voltaire and irreverence, we have the right to make fun of religions,"" she said. ""A right. Yes, because a right is democracy and democracy is the realm of the law."" That sentiment was shared across the political spectrum. Writing in Le Figaro on Tuesday, former Prime Minister Dominique Villepin said that ""Faced with the drama that struck it, France has shown great dignity."" Villepin, from the conservative UMP, wrote that, ""The people have chosen by instinct loyalty to France."" It was fitting, and perhaps not accidental, that when world leaders gathered at the rally last week to commemorate those killed in Paris, they began their walk down the Boulevard Voltaire, toward the Place de la Nation. Scattered around them, among the many tributes, posters of the writer bordered with the motto: ""Je suis Charlie."" Some of the marchers waved copies of ""A Treatise on Tolerance"" as they walked and left them at impromptu memorials in the Place de la Republique. The chateau at Versailles, once the residence of royalty, devoted the Hall of the Pope to a portrait of Voltaire in honor of the victims of the terror attack. Underneath, a sign quotes from the ""Treatise"": ""What is tolerance? It is the prerogative of humanity."" Opinion: Attacks show hypocrisy of West's outrage . The Societe Voltaire, charged with keeping the philosopher's flame alive, says the attacks in Paris were also an attempt to assassinate him. In an article in L'Express, the Societe said Voltaire's lifelong struggle was to ""crush the infamous"" (a saying with which he often ended his letters) and defend the victims of fanaticism. In the words of the Societe's Alain Sager: ""The border today is not between the religious and the atheist, between the Christian and non-Christian, Muslim and non-Muslim, between the Jewish and non-Jewish. It is between barbarism and civilization."" Among the millions of tweets in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo killings, not a few cited these words attributed to Voltaire: ""I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it."" Voltaire never actually said that. The phrase was invented by his English biographer many years later. But he did write this, in ""A Treatise on Tolerance"": ""The fewer dogmas, the fewer disputes; the fewer disputes, the fewer miseries: If this is not true, then I'm wrong."" Two-hundred-fifty years later, the words have new resonance."
"A nurse has died of Ebola in the Malian capital of Bamako, the health ministry said Wednesday, sparking fears that the nation has not yet defeated the deadly virus. This is the second confirmed Ebola fatality in the West African country. The first victim, a 2-year-old girl, died last month after she traveled to Mali with her grandmother from Guinea -- one of three countries hardest hit by the outbreak in the region. The clinic where the nurse died has been quarantined, and the government  has urged citizens to report suspected cases. The first case prompted fears that the virus was spreading beyond Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea -- the three nations which have seen the most cases of Ebola. Shortly after the toddler was diagnosed, dozens of people who came into contact with her were quarantined, including medical workers. It's unclear whether the nurse was among those who were in contact with the child. The virus has killed at least 4,960 people and infected more than 13,000, mostly in the three nations, according to the World Health Organization. There is currently no cure or vaccine for Ebola. As the world reels from the outbreak, scores of companies are fast-tracking tests for various vaccines, and hope to have millions of experimental doses by next year. Scientists racing to stop the epidemic are trying various experimental drugs on patients, including ZMapp and TKM-Ebola. Health care workers in affected nations will get the first opportunity to try the experimental vaccines, the WHO said. Ebola is spread by direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person."
"(CNN) -- Lazio will play its next two European matches behind closed doors after football authorities punished the Italian club for several offenses, including a fourth charge of racist behavior this season. European football's governing body also fined Lazio €40,000 ($52,000) following incidents in last week's Europa League round of 32 tie with German side Borussia Monchengladbach. Lazio had already been fined a total of $230,000 for racist abuse and other fan offenses during two group-stage matches with English team Tottenham Hotspur and another against Slovenia's Maribor. The Rome-based team has appealed UEFA's latest decision, which was handed down for ""setting off and throwing fireworks, racist behavior and insufficient organization."" ""The control and disciplinary body decided to order Lazio to play their next two UEFA competition matches as host club behind closed doors,"" read UEFA's statement. It applies to the home leg of Lazio's last-16 clash in the second-tier competition against another German team, Stuttgart, on March 14. ""The remaining game behind closed doors applies to the next UEFA competition match for which the club would qualify,"" the ruling body said. It is also the second time in a matter of days that a top Italian team has been cited for racism. Inter Milan was fined €50,000 ($65,500) by the Italian football federation on Tuesday after its supporters directed abuse at former player Mario Balotelli during Sunday's derby match with city rival AC Milan. Lazio president Claudio Lotito was disappointed by UEFA's decision, saying it was unfair on the majority of fans at the Stadio Olimpico. ""We cannot as a club be penalized for the mistakes of a small minority (and) we will lodge an appeal,"" Lotito told RaiSport. ""Lazio did everything we could and should have done to stop this from happening. It seems absurd to me that we have to play behind closed doors, which will seriously damage the club economically and stop the fans from participating in this event. ""We must distinguish between the delinquents who act on their own volition and those fans who express themselves in a civilized fashion."" UEFA meted out a heavier punishment to Turkish club Fenerbahce following last week's home Europa League match against BATE Borisov, threatening the Istanbul team with a one-season ban from from European competition if it offends again in the next two years. That sanction is probationary, but Fenerbahce will have to play the home leg of its last-16 clash with Viktoria Plzen on March 14 behind closed doors and pay a €60,000 ($79,000) after its fans set off and threw fireworks from outside the stadium. Fenerbahce's Portugal midfielder Raul Meireles will miss both games against the Czech club after being sent off in the February 14 away leg against BATE."
"Mexico City, Mexico (CNN) -- What was Hurricane Karl weakened Friday to a tropical storm after making landfall, but the heavy rain it spawned could still cause mudslides and flash floods in the Mexican interior, forecasters said. Karl was downgraded after coming ashore as a Category 3 hurricane about 10 miles (15 kilometers) north of Veracruz, Mexico, CNN's satellite and radar estimates showed. The storm is forecast to weaken to a tropical depression later Friday or Saturday and dissipate over the mountains of Mexico on Sunday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Friday evening. It added the Mexican government has discontinued all coastal watches and warnings. The storm delivered torrents of rain and fierce winds several hours before it hit land around 11:30 a.m. (12:30 p.m. ET). Photographs sent to CNN's iReport by Ricardo Arcaraz, who lives in Veracruz, showed heavy rain and trees on top of power lines. He reported widespread outages. Maximum sustained winds later weakened to around 70 mph (115 kph) with higher gusts, according to the Hurricane Center. Karl, located about 75 miles (115 kilometers) east of Puebla Mexico, was moving west-southwest at about 9 mph (15 kph), it said. Satellite images and surface observations from Mexico suggest Karl is weakening rapidly as it passes through steep mountains, the Hurricane Center added. High winds remain a threat, though forecasters said they will likely weaken too in the coming days. The homes of at least 3,000 families in central Mexico were damaged, the state-run Notimex news agency reported. ""Tropical storm force winds are occurring in a small area near the center. These winds will continue to spread inland along the track of the center tonight but should decrease rapidly as Karl weakens,"" the Hurricane Center said. Potentially dangerous rain also was forecast. ""Karl is expected to produce rainfall accumulations of 5 to 10 inches across portions of south-central Mexico, with isolated amounts of 15 inches possible in the mountains,"" the center said. ""These rains could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides."" Within the past day or so, some 8 inches of rain has fallen in Veracruz, according to CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller. Some local flooding was already reported, the Mexican Interior Ministry said. Officials closed some roads and urged evacuations for large, low-lying areas in Veracruz. Mexico's National System for Civil Protection issued a red alert, the highest level, for central and southern Veracruz. An orange alert was in place for northern Veracruz and the states of Hidalgo, Tlaxcala and Puebla. A yellow alert was issued for the states of Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosi and Oaxaca. Mexican President Felipe Calderon also sent a warning Friday morning on his Twitter account. ""An alert for Hurricane Karl in the nation's central states,"" it said, adding that Karl ""could convert to a Category 4. It will enter through Veracruz around midday."" Texas could be spared any major problems because a storm surge occurs only near the landfall location, said CNN meteorologist Sean Morris. Coastal flood advisories have been issued for south Texas, which means forecasters expect a small amount of coastal flooding but nothing serious, Morris said. A larger threat to south Texas will come from several inches of rain that could cause flooding and mudslides. The area could see as much as 4 inches by Sunday, with isolated amounts of up to 6 inches in far southern Texas. CNN meteorologists Brandon Miller and Mari Ramos contributed to this report."
"(CNN)  -- Canada reserved the best to last as its ice hockey heroes beat arch-rivals the United States 3-2 with an overtime goal from Sidney Crosby to claim the final gold of the Winter Olympics. Crosby, Canada's star player, broke American hearts with his goal seven minutes and 40 seconds into added time to give the hosts its 14th gold of a triumphant Vancouver Games. Canada looked headed for a comfortable victory as Jonathan Toews scored in the first period and teammate Corey Perry followed up to make it 2-0 early in the second. But Ryan Kesler pulled one back later in the second period to set up a frantic finale. Canada's much-vaunted Stanley Cup hero Crosby missed a breakaway chance to seal the gold for his side but with the clock counting down it seemed not to matter. That was until the United States threw caution to the wind and Zach Parise forced overtime with just 25 seconds remaining, his fourth goal of the Games for the previously unbeaten in five U.S. squad. The momentum now appeared to be with the United States, who had beaten Canada 5-3 in a preliminary round match. But they reckoned without Crosby, who had not been a significant factor in the final until he came good as he received a pass from Jarome Iginla and slid his winning shot under U.S. goaltender Ryan Miller. He was immediately mobbed by teammates who had finally lived up to the expectations of an ice hockey-mad nation. ""I just shot it,"" Crosby told gathered reporters.""It doesn't even feel real. It feels like a dream."" It's the first victory for a host country in Olympic ice hockey since the famous United States triumph at Lake Placid in 1980. But their 2010 counterparts were unable to match their golden feat and it clearly hurt. ""We only came here for one thing we wanted that gold medal, it's really a tough feeling right now. It stings you a lot, said Patrick Kane. The other gold decided on the 17th and final day of action in Vancouver went to Norway's Petter Northug who won the men's 50km cross country title. He beat Germany's Axel Teichmann in a two-up sprint with Johan Olsson of Sweden taking the bronze."
"(CNN) -- A banker caught looking at photos of a semi-nude model on live TV will remain an employee of the Sydney-based Macquarie Private Wealth, the firm said Friday. David Kiely became a Web sensation after he was filmed on Australian television admiring pictures on his computer screen of scantily-clad Miranda Kerr. Kiely was opening e-mailed pictures of Kerr while one of his colleagues, Martin Lakos, was being interviewed on Channel 7 news behind him on Tuesday. ""In accordance with Macquarie established policies and practices and internal review, interview events of 2nd February has been completed,"" a company spokeswoman told CNN. ""This review has been discussed with the employee and action taken. He will remain an employee of Macquarie. Macquarie and employee apologies for any offense that may have been caused."" A Web site was set up calling for Kiely to not lose his job. An email petition, Here is the City, wrote: ""Whether set up or not, Kiely was really only guilty of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. There but for the Grace of God."" It said Kiely ""seems like a nice bloke, the pictures were not hardcore and that he had already suffered enough."" It adds: ""There's just too much political correctness in this world anyway."" A posting of the clip on YouTube had attracted more than 1.3 million hits by Thursday, along with thousands of comments, with many viewers arguing Kiely was unlucky to be caught on TV."
"(CNN) -- Here's a 21st-century art object if ever there was one: a Japanese film by a French-Vietnamese writer-director based on a 1987 international best-seller named after a 1965 Beatles' song about Scandinavian pine. Well, that's not all the song is about. According to John Lennon, it was conceived as a deliberately opaque reference to an extramarital flirtation (he didn't want his wife to know about it) that went nowhere. The narrator sleeps in the bath, then torches the place in the morning. Tran Anh Hung's lovely but overly languorous film of the acclaimed Haruki Murakami novel catches at the sexual longing and consternation that both the book and Lennon's song evoke: the tantalizing co-mingling of desire, mixed signals and cross purposes that can derail a tentative relationship. Tran (who also wrote the screenplay) follows Murakami's slender plotline with respect bordering on devotion, but fails to find a correlative to the complex, overlapping perspectives that allow the novel to live in both the present and the past -- to enter into the mindset of adolescent angst, and to contemplate it from afar. Instead the film flails between too many lengthy, numb exchanges and a handful of spectacular but histrionic set pieces. Toru Watanabe (Ken'ichi Matsuyama) is a freshman at Tokyo University in the late 1960s. He's largely impervious to the political upheaval going on around him, still struggling to come to terms with the sudden suicide of his best friend, Kizuki, on his 17th birthday. In their grief, Watanabe and Kizuki's girlfriend, Naoko (Rinko Kikuchi of ""Babel""), spend many hours consoling each other, and on her 20th birthday they finally sleep together. The next day, Naoko quits school and retires to a sanatorium, leaving the confused Watanabe to muddle his way through classes. While he and Naoko correspond in long, intimate letters, Watanabe takes up with another girl (or should I say, she takes up with him?). Midori (Kiko Mizuhara) is as self-confident and assertive as Naoko is vulnerable and timid. Watanabe, meanwhile, is a distinctly passive and bewildered protagonist, unsure of what he wants or what his obligations might be to the broken, suicidal Naoko. The performances are credible enough, but neither the passive, vacillating Watanabe nor the neurotic, grief-stricken Naoko are easy figures to identify with, and it's hard to understand why so many women keep throwing themselves at Matsuyama's clay feet. Only Mizuhara's assertive Midori offers any energy, and she's sidelined for much of the movie. While the movie has moments to savor and artistry to spare, these elements don't cohere into a satisfying whole. Tran doesn't speak Japanese, but in other respects he's well-suited to Murakami's world. A Vietnamese brought up and educated in France, best known for ""The Scent of Green Papaya"" and ""The Vertical Ray of the Sun,"" Tran is a cinematic aesthete, very much attuned to melancholy and introspection. ""Norwegian Wood"" features a tumescent score by Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood and stunning cinematography by the Taiwanese Mark Lee Ping-bin (""In the Mood for Love""). It's so gorgeous to look at that spectators are in danger of swooning in their seats. It's rather irritating that the characters prefer to wallow in misery than admire the natural beauty all around them -- including each other, of course. And that's the trouble. The film feels like a fetish object; almost a series of screen prints, it's a beautiful illustration of the text, but somehow the text itself is lost in translation."
"(CNN) -- Gadget fans eagerly awaiting the next wave of Apple products just got some good news, and some bad news. First, the bad: Based on CEO Tim Cook's comments Tuesday on the company's quarterly earnings call, Apple appears unlikely to announce a major new product until this fall at the earliest. If so, that would mean the company, which typically rolls out new stuff every three or four months, will have gone an entire year -- an eternity in tech-industry time -- without launching a new gadget. And now the good: Cook also said Apple sees potential in some ""exciting new product categories."" On the surface, there's not much news in that last statement. But as the most-watched tech company in the world, Apple's every utterance is parsed for its deeper meaning. Many observers see those four words as further evidence that Apple is moving beyond laptops, phones and tablets into other areas of computing -- most likely a ""smartwatch"" that could display messages, or a long-rumored connected TV. ""Our teams are hard at work on some amazing new hardware, software and services, and we are very excited about the products in our pipeline,"" Cook said, adding ""we can't wait to introduce (them) this fall and throughout 2014."" This may just be corporate PR speak, aimed at assuaging investors concerned about Apple's plummeting stock price. But it could serve to re-energize the Apple faithful who line up to buy whatever new gizmos the company makes and may be growing impatient for new ones. Of course, Cook made similar comments early in 2012 when he said Apple was working to deliver ""some products that will blow your mind."" What followed were the usual updates to Macs and iPods, plus the iPhone 5 and the iPad Mini -- solid if not groundbreaking products. Blogosphere reaction this week to Cook's comments has been mixed. ""Apple almost never spills any beans about what its product plans are, so it's worth getting excited about fall based on Tim's willingness to talk about that specific period, as well as his mention of 'new product categories,' "" wrote Darrell Etherington in TechCrunch. ""Still, unless he's purposefully trying to throw us off the scent, people eager for new Apple products might also want to sleep through the summer."" Slate's Will Oremus thinks Cook's teases about mind-blowing future products reflect a shift in Apple's approach to promotion since co-founder Steve Jobs died in 2011. ""In the past, Apple didn't have to promise exciting new things,"" he wrote. ""It just delivered them."""
"Washington (CNN) -- Global financial reform topped the agenda Tuesday as President Obama huddled with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, whose country is at the center of Europe's debt crisis. The White House meeting marks the conclusion of a four-country financial relief tour for the beleaguered Greek leader. Beginning Friday, he visited Germany, France and Luxembourg seeking support for his government's new austerity measures to counteract skyrocketing budget deficits. Greece had one of the worst budget deficits in the developed world last year, at 12.7 percent of gross domestic product, more than three times higher than previously declared due to accounting irregularities -- or what some call outright fraud. It also has a public-sector debt equivalent to 113 percent of its entire economy. Athens recently unveiled a package of budget reductions to try to bring its deficit down to the 3 percent level allowed under the rules for the eurozone -- the European Union countries that have adopted the euro currency. Finance ministers from those 16 countries met in Brussels last month to try to find a way to end the crisis that some analysts say could spread to other heavily indebted European nations, such as Portugal, Spain and Italy. Greece's ""deficit is more a credibility deficit than a financial deficit, and we need to bring back the sense of credibility,"" Papandreou said recently. His unpopular budget cutbacks have met with stiff political resistance and strikes at home. Overseas, the Greek prime minister is trying to win support for greater regulation over certain forms of financial speculation that analysts say have made his country's debt crisis worse. Among other things, Papandreou is asking U.S. and other leaders to restrict the use of credit default swaps, which are insurance contracts -- the same kind of contracts that pushed insurance giant American International Group (AIG) to the brink of collapse. Two weeks ago, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the Federal Reserve is looking into actions taken by Goldman Sachs and other Wall Street firms that may have contributed to Greece's debt problems. Bernanke's comment came in response to a question posed by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Connecticut, who asked about U.S. banks and hedge funds making financial bets that the Greek government will default on its loans. Goldman Sachs and other banks have been in the news over reports they secretly helped raise $1 billion in credit for Greece in a way that was off the balance sheet, and that they helped hide the country's debt woes from European Union regulators. The New York Times reported recently that some of these same banks also were making side bets that Greece would default on loans it owes American banks and hedge funds. By betting in favor of default, the U.S. banks and hedge funds would win whether Greece pays off its loans or not. Dodd asked whether Bernanke thought there should be limits on the use of these types of bets to prevent firms from creating intentional runs against governments. ""The rising price of these contracts contribute to an atmosphere of crisis, making it even more difficult for the Greek government, in my opinion, to borrow,"" Dodd said. Bernanke noted the similarity of the situation of banks making bets to hedge against Greek debt to banks that made bets to hedge against real estate debt, which imploded AIG. ""The poster child for that would be the capital arrangements that banks took out for AIG,"" he said. ""Derivatives have a legitimate purpose, but if they're used to distort accounting results or regulatory ratios, that needs to be addressed."" Congress is considering legislation to make such financial bets more transparent. Papandreou has asked American and European authorities to crack down on financial speculators who benefited from taxpayer bailouts only to turn around and profit by exacerbating his country's debt crisis. ""Enough is enough,"" he told an audience at the Brookings Institution on Monday. CNN's Jennifer Liberto, Christine Theodorou and Alan Silverleib contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Alleged Boston crime boss James ""Whitey"" Bulger may have authored two memoirs, one of which was titled ""My Life in the Irish Mafia,"" according to court documents. It is not clear whether the notorious fugitive, who evaded authorities for 16 years, actually wrote the memoir, but prosecutors say it is part of their investigation. The manuscript was seized at a South Boston home on January 5, 1995, the same day a warrant was issued for Bulger's arrest on racketeering charges. The alleged gangster also apparently penned a separate autobiography that was found by authorities at Bulger's Santa Monica, California, apartment after his arrest there, courts documents say. Bulger, 82, has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him, including 19 murder counts. Once one of the FBI's 10 most wanted fugitives, he is currently being held without bail and faces an impending racketeering indictment after authorities tracked him down in June 2011 at his California home. Bulger was arrested after being lured out of his apartment with an FBI ruse: He apparently received a phone call and was told his lock box, located in the basement parking lot of his building, had been broken into. When Bulger went down to check, FBI agents arrested him. His alleged barbarity as an Irish-American mobster in Boston inspired the Jack Nicholson character in Martin Scorsese's 2006 film ""The Departed."" CNN's Chuck Johnston and Jack Maddox contributed to this report ."
"(CNN) -- When pictures leaked out in December of the late Steve Jobs' new yacht, Venus, leaving The Netherlands, interest was once again sparked in the mysterious world of the super mega yachts, and in those who build them for the super mega rich. I say mysterious because the business of yacht building is full of rumors and speculation until the ship is seen leaving the sheds of the family-owned builders, whether in Amsterdam, Hamburg or Bremen. Read more: Steve Jobs' yacht impounded over pay dispute . A bit of the veil on this industry was lifted in London in January when the builders and designers of the biggest yachts celebrated the launch of the 2013 Top 100 Forecast from superyachts.com. The backers of this event are at pains to remind people this business employs thousands of people (craftsmen, architects, builders, designers, deckhands), and when a new anchorage is discovered by the rich and famous to park their yachts, it can generate a lot of income for a region. Read more: Sailing the world's most beautiful lakes . And since they aren't allowed to talk about those who buy these yachts, they are only to happy to talk all about the business. Herbert Aly, the CEO of Blohm+Voss, told me that superyacht building was actually hurt during the economic crisis. It took some time for the slowdown to filter through as orders can take five to seven years to fulfill, so 2011 and 2012 were the tough years. But that's coming to an end. Watch here: Yacht sales down amid austerity . ""We've seen the rock bottom of it,"" Aly stressed. ""And I think 2013 will be a promising year for the industry, for the big ones."" Aly said the bigger yacht side of the business is coming back faster than the smaller side. Read more: Adventurers recreate 'greatest survival story' of the Antarctic . Aly's competitor Peter Lurssen would agree. His famed Lurssen shipyard in Bremen will soon unleash the world's longest mega yacht, codenamed Project Azzam. While Lurssen is not allowed to confirm the owner, or the specifics, he can talk a little bit more once aficionados caught a glimpse of it. ""The yacht had to leave one shed and flowed through the river to the next shed, and even though the nose wasn't on, specialists were there with their instruments and they figured out it, yes it will be longer than what is flowing today."" Watch here: 'Super yachts' gather in London . The '""specialists"" estimate it will be around 180 meters long, beating out Roman Abramovich's Eclipse, built by Blohm+Voss, which comes in at 163.5 meters long. Will they just keep getting longer? ""Maybe we will see 200 meters, but I think that's it,"" said Aly. ""Why do you go for a bigger one if you are alone on it?"" Read more: Olympic yachts glide into London for a colorful makeover . Well, not exactly alone, since some of the mega yachts need 60 to 80 employees when the boat is in full use. But he has a point. We could ask one of the owners, but they tend to like the yacht to do the talking. Henk de Vries of Feadship built the Venus for Jobs, though he won't confirm that. But he says building for the mega rich also means building an intimate relationship. ""It's very personal. I have the cell phone number of my customers."" And they have his. ""Oh, yes, and they call me when something breaks down."" Does that mean de Vries will do whatever it takes to strike a deal with a tech billionaire or Saudi sheik? ""I had someone ask me the other day, 'but you can't say no to a prince?' I said, yes, we do. We do it all the time,"" de Vries said, laughing. All the builders stress that the ship takes on the personality of the person paying for it, and that things like the interior can change over the years it takes to build the ship. But since they only can book a profit once the yacht is delivered, they work hard to find a compromise. And de Vries has something new and special coming out of the shed soon. ""Whereas the Venus was about eliminating everything, and going back to even than more than basic, just purity and form in design. This project that will be shown to the world, again I can't say anything, except that it is very large, and it's immensely complex and has everything that is included in that one."" In other words, while the roofline of Venus looks like -- you guessed it -- an iPhone, the next one will be all about the bling. Project Azzam will be all about the yacht's length. With the business of big yachts coming back, it's possible other builders might want to get in on the action. Europe's family-run yacht builders caution against it. ""We see military shipyards, commercial shipyards who think, 'oh, OK. I'll do a frigate, paint it white, put a nice interior in it, I have a nice yacht.' No way,"" said de Vries. It's about the personal touch, as Lurssen stressed. ""We had a client that had in the contract that I could never resign as a director as long as the yacht is still not delivered, in fact not out of warranty."" At a time that Europe is very worried about jobs, the uptick in interest for mega yachts should be looked at in a positive light, even if news reports will soon be filled with gossip (and jealousy?) over Project Azzam and the ""bells and whistles"" yachts to soon sail away from the shores of Europe to the Middle East."
"Washington (CNN) -- The Federal Aviation Administration Wednesday proposed a $2.9 million fine against American Eagle Airlines for allegedly conducting more than 1,100 flights using planes with landing-gear doors that had not been repaired as prescribed by the FAA. The proposed fine comes just weeks after the FAA proposed a $2.5 million fine against the airline for allegedly operating flights without adequately ensuring that the weight of baggage was properly calculated. The Fort Worth, Texas-based American Eagle -- a regional affiliate of American Airlines -- flew four Bombardier regional jets on more than 1,100 flights between February and May 2008, with main landing-gear doors that had not been repaired as ordered by the FAA in August 2006, the FAA said. ""Following Airworthiness Directives [repair orders] is not optional,"" FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said in a statement. ""The FAA does not hesitate to levy fines if maintenance standards are violated."" American Eagle responded that it was disappointed in the FAA's actions, saying the airline did not endanger the public and it considered a fine unwarranted. The repair order required airlines to inspect landing-gear doors and take necessary action, fixing the doors or replacing them with new ones. In this case, American Eagle found damage on four aircraft, but rather than removing the doors as required, the airline repaired them while they remained on the planes. American Eagle said it self-disclosed to the FAA that repairs were performed while the landing-gear doors remained on the aircraft, a process that the FAA and the aircraft manufacturer subsequently approved, the company said. American Eagle subsequently removed the landing-gear doors on each of the affected aircraft and repaired them in accordance with the Airworthiness Directive. The airline said it will meet with the FAA to discuss the matter. The proposed fines are the latest in a string of multimillion dollar fines the FAA has proposed against airlines for failing to follow repair orders. In October, the FAA proposed to fine US Airways $5.4 million and United $3.8 million for other maintenance violations. In March, Southwest Airlines agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle a complaint that it flew unsafe planes."
"(CNN) -- Uncertainty over the fate of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was further compounded Saturday by reports that two men whose names matched those on the passenger manifest had reported their passports stolen. Malaysian authorities apparently did not check the stolen documents on an international law enforcement agency database, CNN has learned. After the airline released a manifest of the 239 people on the plane, Austria denied that one of its citizens was on the flight as the list had stated. The Austrian citizen was safe and sound, and his passport had been stolen two years ago, Austrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Weiss said. Similarly, Italy's foreign ministry confirmed that no Italians were on the flight, even though an Italian was listed on the manifest. Malaysian officials said they were aware of reports that the Italian's passport was also stolen but had not confirmed it. On Saturday, Italian police visited the home of the parents of Luigi Maraldi, the man whose name appeared on the manifest, to inform them about the missing flight, said a police official in Cesena, in northern Italy. Maraldi's father, Walter, told police that he had just spoken to his son, who was fine and not on the missing flight, said the official, who is not authorized to speak to the media. Maraldi was vacationing in Thailand, his father said. The police official said that Maraldi had reported his passport stolen in Malaysia last August and had obtained a new one. U.S. law enforcement sources, however, told CNN they've been told that both documents were stolen in Thailand. Still, the missing passports raised concerns about the possibility of terrorism. A law enforcement official Saturday told CNN that various U.S. government agencies were briefed about the passports. The names of the persons whose passports were stolen have been circulated and checked, the official said. There's nothing at this point to indicate foul play on their part. The National Transportation Safety Board announced late Saturday that a team of its investigators was en route to Asia to help with the investigation, the agency said. ""They will be positioned to offer U.S. assistance,"" the NTSB said of the team, which also includes technical advisers from Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration. Plane bore painters, pilgrims, others from around the world . FBI help . The FBI is ready to send agents to Asia if requested by the Malaysian government, but no agents have been sent yet, U.S. officials familiar with the issue told CNN on Saturday night on condition of anonymity. Earlier Saturday, an official said FBI agents were heading to the area. U.S. authorities have not ruled out terrorism -- or anything else -- as a cause of the airliner's disappearance. CNN law enforcement analyst Tom Fuentes, a former FBI assistant director, was told by sources at Interpol, which keeps a database of lost or stolen travel documents, that the stolen Italian passport was in the agency's database. The reportedly stolen Austrian passport was not. Malaysian authorities apparently did not check Interpol's database, sources told Fuentes. ""Interpol's database has 39 million records of stolen travel documents at the present time,"" he said. ""One billion passengers a year board international flights where there's no inquiry made of that database. So it leaves an opening."" Referring to the stolen documents, Fuentes added, ""You wonder who was using it? What were their motives? Were they using it to check luggage in that matched the tickets, and maybe the luggage contained explosives? So, it's a great concern when people use false documents to board international aircraft."" Traces of oil spotted near area plane lost contact . A U.S. intelligence official said authorities had established ""no nexus to terrorism yet although that's by no means definitive. We're still tracking."" Malaysian authorities reiterated during a news conference that they are not ruling anything out regarding the missing aircraft. In the United States, Fuentes said, passports are routinely checked against the Interpol database. ""Even in the United states, we have a tremendous problem with our documentation, our driver's licenses,"" said Mary Schiavo, former inspector general of the U.S. Department of Transportation. ""Everything can be forged and faked here. We certainly have a problem with that as well. But that's why you have the various checklists to check against and had they been identified as stolen passports ... there was a way to flag them in advance. That's what is disturbing, as it apparently wasn't checked."" China mystery . Schiavo also expressed surprise that two potentially stolen passports may have been used to board the flight. ""It's rare that you have one stolen passport, much less two stolen passports on a flight. It's starting to look like more than a coincidence,"" she said. She added it was especially surprising given the destination of the flight was Beijing. ""American citizens have to have visas ... and you can't get on board the plane without showing the visa,"" she explained. ""For a stolen passport, stolen two years ago -- these visas only last for a certain amount of time. So, did they (the authorities) not check? Did Beijing not clear or have to issue a visa? There are a lot of questions about these passports because the destination was Beijing."" First officer was transitioning to 777-200s . Safest part of flight . No one is sure what happened to the plane. Air traffic controllers lost track of it after it left Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, on its way to Beijing on Friday. The plane was cruising during what experts consider to be the safest part of the journey when it vanished. Greg Feith, a former investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, said there were multiple scenarios of what could have gone wrong, including structural problems with the wings or fuselage. ""Of course, you also have to look at in that part of the world and around the world there is still a potential for a terrorist act or an intentional act that could have rendered the airplane incapacitated,"" he said. He added: ""Whatever happened, happened very quickly. For them to have lost two-way radio communication with (air traffic control), two-way radio communication with the company, and to lose any kind of radar data with ground control facilities means that the airplane was compromised in a very quick manner and it may have been well beyond the control of the crew to keep the airplane under control and make any kind of emergency distress call or emergency landing."" How a jet goes missing . CNN's Hada Messia in Rome, Jim Sciutto in Washington, Shimon Prokupecz and Pamela Brown contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- For the first time since a reported massacre there, U.N. observers on Saturday entered the Syrian town of Tremseh, where opposition activists say more than 200 people were killed. The violence took place Thursday, on what may have been the single deadliest day in the 16-month crisis. It prompted a fresh round of condemnation from world leaders. In Tremseh, the U.N. team found evidence of an attack, including a burned school, damaged houses, and proof that artillery, mortars and small arms were used, said Sausan Ghosheh, spokeswoman for the head of the U.N. Supervising Mission in Syria. She added that the number of causalities remains unclear. ""The attack ... appeared targeted at specific groups and houses, mainly of army defectors and activists. There were pools of blood and blood spatters in rooms of several homes together with bullet cases,"" Ghosheh said in a statement. U.N. observers are expected to return to the town Sunday to continue their fact-finding work. Still grappling with the attack, Syrians endured yet another bloody day Saturday as regime forces fired from low-flying helicopters and a bomb exploded at a state security headquarters, opposition activists said. At least 73 people were killed in Saturday violence, including 20 in Homs, 11 in Damascus Suburbs and 13 in Hama province, the Local Coordination Committees of Syria said. Fourteen additional deaths were reported in Deir Ezzor and 12 in Idlib, among others. Another opposition group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said a car bombing targeted a state security building in Hama, and ""a number of state security personnel were killed and wounded."" Syrian state-run TV said at least three civilians and a security officer were killed in Muhrada by a suicide bomber in a truck. Farther south, the Daraa province town of Khirbet Ghazaleh came under heavy shelling and machine gun fire after the Syrian army surrounded it with tanks, the LCC said. ""Helicopters fly over the city at a low altitude with a continued siege of the city and gunfire from snipers,"" the opposition network said. Meanwhile, Deir Ezzor was subject to intense shelling by government forces, as well as fierce clashes between regime forces and the Free Syrian Army, the LCC said. How long can al-Assad hang on? According to the opposition network, more than 200 villagers were killed in the Hama-area town of Tremseh on Thursday, and dozens more were killed elsewhere across the country. U.N. spokeswoman Ghosheh said a large patrol had been sent from Damascus to Tremseh on Saturday to assess the situation, amid widely differing accounts of what happened from opposition activists and the government. An initial reconnaissance mission was sent Friday following assurances of a cease-fire in the area, the spokeswoman said, but it was too late in the day to do much. ""The patrol assessed the situation -- if there was in fact a cease-fire and our access to the town,"" she said. ""An 11 vehicle integrated patrol, comprised of specialized military and civilian observers, arrived ... on Saturday after confirming that a cease-fire was in place."" International anger against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has ratcheted up since the Tremseh incident, with at least one U.S. official suggesting the need for more pressure on al-Assad's regime. As outrage grows in Syria, report of a 'breakthrough' for humanitarian aid . ""Through these repeated acts of violence against the Syrian people, President Assad has lost legitimacy to lead. It is time for him to go. It is time for the political transition that is long overdue to finally get under way,"" Josh Earnest, a White House spokesman, told reporters Friday. ""It certainly does build strong international support ... to continue to ramp up the pressure on Assad,"" he added, citing ""ongoing conversations at the United Nations about additional ways that we can build some international agreement and raise the stakes even further."" Syria moving chemical weapons? Activists in the city of Hama, meanwhile, gave a grisly account of the assault in Tremseh. Witnesses inside the town told the activists by telephone that Syrian military forces had launched a full-scale attack against the opposition Free Syrian Army inside the town, which was surrounded by government tanks and artillery. As the government forces rained artillery rounds into the town, a number of village residents fled their houses, going into the streets, where many of them were shot dead by the government militias, the activists told CNN. The government painted a starkly different picture of Tremseh than that detailed by opposition groups. The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency blamed ""armed terrorist groups"" for the violence. It said the government said residents called security forces for help after the terrorist groups raided the neighborhood. Regime forces arrested some of the members of the terrorist groups and confiscated their weapons, the government said. Syria's detached and deluded elite? ""Armed forces successfully dealt with the terrorists without casualties taking place among the citizens. They searched into the terrorists' dens where they found the dead bodies of a number of citizens who had been abducted and killed by the terrorist groups,"" SANA reported, citing a military source. CNN cannot independently verify reports from Syria because the nation has restricted access by international journalists. Meanwhile, many who survive the violence are caught in a precarious humanitarian situation. The chief U.N. organization that coordinates emergency aid warned Friday that more Syrians will die if contributing nations do not follow through and fund its relief operation. ""We have run out of language to describe how it is for the civilian population,"" said John Ging, operations director and chairman of the Syria Humanitarian Forum for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. ""It is physical and it is psychological."" CNN's Saad Abedine, Dan Lothian and Hamdi Alkhshali contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Boeing resumed testing Monday of its 787 Dreamliner in an effort to receive certification from the Federal Aviation Administration, a company spokeswoman said. The certification tests come two months after a fire on board one of the planes caused a power failure during a test flight. Boeing halted tests after the November 9 incident. Boeing resumed in-house testing of the jet on December 23, and the FAA certification tests began Monday, said Boeing spokeswoman Lori Gunter. Once the plane meets FAA approval, Boeing can begin filling orders for nearly 900 jets from around the world. The Dreamliner is Boeing's next-generation passenger jet. It is touted as a highly fuel-efficient aircraft made largely with composite materials. Boeing suspended test flights after the fire during a flight near Laredo, Texas, in November. The crew used backup systems to land the aircraft. Engineers determined the problem started as a short circuit or an electrical arc in a power distribution panel, most likely caused by foreign debris, Boeing said."
"London (CNN) -- Space has come of age, grown up enough to be commercially viable -- or has it? For more than 80 years the BIS has been looking at how we get into, and travel in, space, but the society has concentrated more on the technical achievement or feasibility than on the finance or contractual requirements. From the end of World War II, technologies were very much in the hands of the defense industries and development was funded by the defense departments of national governments. Recognizing the strategic importance of space led to the 'space race' and the conquest of space being nationally or government funded. However, times change. The end of the Cold War led to the end of the space race -- governments no longer had to prove their nation's technical superiority in space. But in many Western industrialized nations, as the government support and funding reduced overall, there appeared a raft of technically capable companies and some government departments and entrepreneurs who were able to identify key areas where there could be a viable and sustainable return on their investment. Communications satellites became commercial products as soon it was realized that communications capacity could be sold and could provide a realistic return over their lifetime. Science and Earth observation (EO) missions have not met with such commercialization yet. It is difficult to see a commercial return from scientific exploration of either our own planet or other celestial bodies. But the gathered EO information could see a commercial return from the sale of mapping, environmental or weather data, or charges for navigation services. However, military and government owned assets -- already fully operational -- make it hard to compete. When it comes to launchers and human spaceflight things are changing. The original missile-based launch vehicles gave way to commercially manufactured, but government-owned and operated systems. Now the launcher market is opening up as new players broach new user markets. Space tourism and small payloads have very different launch requirements that are best satisfied by new systems -- like Virgin Galactic's Spaceship 2 and XCOR's Lynx spaceplanes. BIS spokesman Nick Spall adds: ""For many the fascination for space is the almost visceral desire we have to travel further and faster to explore and to spread human interest across the cosmos. The BIS has championed the goal of eventually colonizing the solar system and, indeed, traveling on to the stars one day. ""To achieve this human spaceflight ambition, NASA is quite correct in its decision to use a commercialized approach to lowering the cost of launching astronauts into orbit. The investment in Boeing's CST-100 and the Space X V2 spacecraft for flights to the ISS from 2017 will make seat prices cheaper and more sustainable. ""For the future though, reusable spaceplanes such as the UK's Skylon are the real answer to getting humans and hardware into space to properly explore and occupy the rest of the solar system. ""To help this low-cost approach happen, purely private space tourism spacecraft companies will offer affordable flights to space, with Virgin Galactic's SS2 and the XCOR Lynx going sub-orbit in the next two years. One day we will see space hotels in orbit and then on the Moon and eventually Mars. ""To go into deep space, to asteroids, the Moon and Mars, governments will have to foot the bill initially, but the possibilities are immense and there is a very exciting future for humans in space,"" he said. BIS President-Elect Mark Hempsell believes the UK government's new policy of maximizing economic return from space is illustrated by the recent studies into setting up spaceports in the UK, both for suborbital and orbital flights. ""The recent change in UK government direction, with the formation of the UK Space Agency as a key component, is at long last connecting the vision within Britain with the capability to realize its potential,"" he said. Another important factor of space exploration is in its relations with the dual areas of education and outreach. Space education . BIS vice president Chris Welch said: ""Space -- and especially space exploration -- has been shown time and again to engage and motivate students in a way that few other topics can. ""It also has a role to play for defining how a country sees itself. One only has to look at the recent exploits of China and India to see how success in space exploration can transform a nation's view of itself and what its citizens can achieve if they believe they can aspire to greatness,"" he said. NASA's decision to sub-contract Boeing and SpaceX is a sign of things to come, but governments must continue to support and fund those areas that are not yet self-sustaining. The UK space sector is currently bringing in over Â£11.3 billion ($18.07 billion) per annum to the UK economy and supports 99,000 jobs. The UK government, recognizing this important contribution, plans to capture 10% of the world space market and generate more than Â£40 billion ($64 billion) per annum by 2030, according to the UK government. This will certainly require the support and leadership of UK industry and the creation of up to 100,000 new jobs. With India's Mangalyaan spacecraft now orbiting Mars and China's ""taikonauts"" in Earth orbit and its Chang'e 3 lunar lander already on the Moon, the competition is heating up. The space industries of the Western industrialized nations must play their part in identifying where they can make a real contribution and even take a leadership role, while the national space agencies take on more of a coordination and funding role, particularly in scientific exploration and manned missions ."
"(CNN) -- For 14 seasons, Bob Harper has been the man behind many of the transformations on NBC's ""The Biggest Loser."" His new book, ""Skinny Meals: Everything You Need to Lose Weight -- Fast!"" is chock full of 100 new recipes, all under 350 calories. We asked Bob to share some of his favorites. Eggs Florentine . Will you take a look at that photo? Doesn't it look like something you could serve for a brunch with pride and confidence? Well, go ahead! But don't forget to make this just for yourself sometimes, too. Sauce: . ¼ cup plain 2% fat Greek yogurt . 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard . ½ teaspoon chopped fresh dill . ½ teaspoon chopped fresh parsley . Eggs: . 2 cups coarsely chopped fresh spinach . 1 whole wheat English muffin, toasted . 3+1 or 5+1 large eggs, scrambled . Directions: . Mix the sauce ingredients together and set aside so that it has a chance to come to room temperature while you are preparing the spinach and eggs. In a steamer, steam the spinach for 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until just wilted. Drain any excess water. Set aside. Top the toasted English muffin with the spinach and eggs; delicately spoon the sauce on top. Nutrition information: 313 calories, 30g protein, 32g carbs, 8g fat, 6g fiber . Bob says: . ""Instead of making a traditional Hollandaise sauce (a sinfully rich combination of egg yolks and melted butter that hurts my heart just thinking about it), I've lightened things up using Greek yogurt. I don't think you're going to miss 'real' Hollandaise. This is going to become your go-to sauce for life."" 10 simple weight-loss tips . Avocado toast . Replace the fatty butter and sugary jam you used to pile on your toast with this abundance of natural flavors, good fats and protein, and you will have a well-balanced meal to kick-start your day! It's low-calorie, high-protein and oh, so good. Ingredients: . ¼ avocado . Pinch of paprika . ½ teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice . 1 slice whole-wheat or Ezekiel bread, toasted . 4 hard-boiled large egg whites, chopped . 1 ½ teaspoons finely diced shallots . 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard . ½ teaspoon capers, rinsed and coarsely chopped . Dash of freshly ground black pepper . Directions: . In a small bowl, mash and mix the avocado, paprika and lemon juice. Spread on the toast. In the same small bowl, mix together the egg whites, shallots, mustard, capers and pepper. Pile the egg white mixture on top of the avocado-smeared toast and enjoy! Nutrition information: 221 calories, 20g protein, 20g carbs, 8g fat, 6g fiber . Bob says: . ""Like most busy people, I tend to automate my weekday breakfasts. I have one or two recipes that I repeat, saving the slightly more complicated preparations for weekends, when I have more time to cook. Avocado toast is one I just have to have several times a week! To save even more time in the morning, double the chopped egg white, caper, shallot and Dijon mixture the first day of the week you make this breakfast; it'll keep in your refrigerator, and then all you have to do is pile it on your toast with the mashed avocado."" Junk-food fakes: Healthy alternatives to fast food . Terrific tuna salad . Pairing the protein of tuna with the carbs of pasta and all these delicious briny add-ins makes a memorable and hearty lunchtime meal. Ingredients: . 4 ounces canned tuna, drained . 1 teaspoon capers, rinsed . ½ shallot, minced . 1 tablespoon pitted Kalamata olives . ½ cup cooked whole-wheat corkscrew pasta . ¼ cup quartered cherry tomatoes . 1 cup chopped arugula . 1 cup chopped fresh spinach . Directions: . In a medium bowl, mix the tuna, capers, shallot and olives. Toss the pasta, tomatoes, arugula and spinach with the tuna mixture. Nutrition information: 288 calories, 28g protein, 26g carbs, 10g fat, 5g fiber . Bob says: . ""When shopping for canned ingredients, like tuna, be sure to purchase the low-sodium version. There's no short supply of other salty flavors in this dish: Capers and olives both naturally add a little salty punch to every bite. For a little extra crunch, you could also dice up a tart apple and mix it into this lunch."" Eating out? Best, worst food choices . Zucchini noodles with avocado cream sauce . Carb-free noodles, hooray! Thinly sliced zucchini will work in any recipe that calls for pasta. It pairs beautifully with any ""skinny"" sauce. Ingredients: . 1 large zucchini . 4 ounces roasted boneless, skinless chicken breast, warmed before plating . Avocado cream sauce: . ¼ avocado . 1 cup arugula . ¼ cup chopped fresh basil . ¼ cup low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth . 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice . 1 teaspoon crushed garlic . 2 teaspoons grated Parmesan cheese . Directions: . Slice the zucchini very thinly lengthwise. Then cut each piece into thirds lengthwise to resemble thick noodles. Steam the ""noodles"" for 2 to 3 minutes, or until they are just cooked through. Meanwhile, blend the avocado, arugula, basil, broth, lemon juice, garlic and Parmesan in a food processor or blender. Toss the ""noodles"" with the sauce and the cubed chicken and serve. Nutrition information: 258 calories, 27g protein, 19g carbs, 11g fat, 8g fiber . Bob says: . ""If you have a mandoline, use that to slice the zucchini thinly (but watch your fingertips!). If not, use a sharp knife and cut precisely."" Got cravings? Snack 'em down! Chimichurri steak . Chimichurri is an Argentinean sauce similar to pesto. You will often see it with more olive oil than herbs, but to make it skinny, Harper swapped the base and created a more herbaceous condiment. Ingredients: . Olive oil spray . 1 cup sliced bell peppers . ¼ red onion, thinly sliced . 3 plum tomatoes, quartered . 2 cups chopped fresh spinach . 4 ounces lean round steak . Chimichurri sauce: . 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley . 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro . 1 teaspoon chopped fresh mint . ½ garlic clove . 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice . 2 tablespoons low-sodium chicken broth . Directions: . Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Coat the skillet with olive oil spray and add the bell peppers and red onion. Cook for 5 minutes, then add the tomatoes and spinach. Heat through, stirring, until the spinach wilts. Remove the vegetables and set aside. Place the steak in the hot skillet and cook for at least 3 minutes on each side. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes before slicing. Meanwhile, combine the parsley, cilantro, mint, garlic, lemon juice and broth in a food processor or blender and process until coarsely blended. Cut the steak into strips and serve on top of the vegetables. Drizzle the chimichurri sauce over the steak. Nutrition information: 262 calories, 29g protein, 20g carbs, 10g fat, 5g fiber . Bob says: . ""Chimichurri isn't only for Argentineans. It's popular throughout South America. And chimichurri isn't only for steak; you can use this as a marinade for any protein, as a sauce for lunch pasta, as a topping on eggs or as a dressing."" Can you really control where you lose fat?"
"WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The man who revealed that Valerie Plame worked for the CIA said that he was ""extraordinarily foolish"" to leak her name. Former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage was a source of the CIA leak to columnist Robert Novak. Former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told CNN's Wolf Blitzer in an interview broadcast Sunday that he did not realize Plame was a covert agent when he discussed her with syndicated columnist Robert Novak. Novak, a former CNN contributor, wrote the July 2003 column in which Plame was named as a CIA employee. He later cited his sources as Armitage and Karl Rove, then President Bush's top political adviser. Armitage said he had seen a memo that said Plame was publicly chairing a meeting, so he assumed her CIA employment was not a secret. ""There was no ill intent on my part, and I had never seen, ever in 43 years of having a security clearance, a covert operative's name in a memo,"" he said.  Watch Armitage explain why he leaked Plame's name » . Blitzer asked Armitage if he ""simply assumed that she was not a clandestine officer of the CIA."" ""Well, even Mr. Novak has said that he used the word 'operative' and misused it,"" Armitage said. ""No one ever said 'operative.' And I not only assumed it, as I say, I have never seen a covert agent's name in a memo. However, that doesn't take away from what Mrs. Plame said. It was foolish, yes."" Rove, who left the White House in August, has denied he was also a source of the leak to Novak. Plame's identity was disclosed shortly after her husband, former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson, challenged one of the chief claims underpinning the Bush administration's case for the U.S. invasion of Iraq -- that Iraq had sought uranium for nuclear weapons from the African country of Niger. In an op-ed piece for The New York Times, Wilson wrote that he had investigated the claim at the request of CIA officials and found it ""highly doubtful"" that any such transaction could have occurred, and he accused the Bush administration of having ""twisted"" the evidence for war. Neither Armitage nor Rove was charged with a crime in the leak. Wilson and Plame have accused Rove and other Bush officials of leaking her identity as a CIA officer in retaliation for her husband's emergence as an administration critic. A federal judge in Washington recently dismissed a lawsuit by the couple against Rove, Armitage, Vice President Dick Cheney and Cheney's former chief of staff, Lewis ""Scooter"" Libby. Libby was convicted of obstructing justice and perjury in the probe and sentenced to 30 months in prison, but Bush commuted his term before he had served any time. E-mail to a friend ."
"(CNN) -- A controversial Kansas church says members will picket before the memorial service Wednesday evening for two Florida teenagers allegedly killed by their mother. In a press release, Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas, said it will demonstrate outside the service in Tampa because the mother is a military wife and ""the doomed American military declared war on God & His church."" The controversial church and its pastor, Fred Phelps, have made their name picketing near funerals of people who died of AIDS, gay people and soldiers. The church plans to picket beginning at 5:15 p.m.and ending at 6 p.m., when the service is scheduled to start, according to CNN affiliate WFTS-TV in Tampa. Julie K. Schenecker, 50, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths Friday of her 16-year-old daughter, Calyx, and her 13-year-old son, Beau. She was denied bail at a court appearance Monday, a court spokesman said. Her husband, Army Col. Parker Schenecker, is with the U.S. Central Command, which is headquartered in Tampa. Police told WFTS that he was in the Persian Gulf emirate of Qatar when his children were killed. King High School, which Calyx attended, and Liberty Middle School, where Beau was a student, are sponsoring the service at First Baptist Church of Temple Terrace in Tampa, the church said. Josh Saliba, director of creative ministries, told CNN he would not comment on Westboro Baptist's plans to protest. On Monday -- their first day back since the shootings became public -- students at Liberty Middle School wore blue and black in memory of Beau, who was an eighth-grader there. CNN affiliate Bay News 9 posted a statement Monday from the Schenecker family: . ""Colonel Parker Schenecker has returned from his deployment and is grieving with family and friends. He is devoted first and foremost to honoring the lives and memory of his beautiful children, Calyx and Beau,"" the statement said. ""Parker and his family have been touched by the overwhelming support from the community both near and abroad. Arrangements and details are still being finalized with regard to the services to be held for Calyx and Beau."" A search warrant filed Tuesday said Julie Schenecker was unconscious and wearing a bloody robe, and her slain children were covered in blankets when police arrived. Julie Schenecker was awakened and taken from a screened-in pool area to inside the home, where evidence was recovered, according to the warrant filed in Circuit Court in Hillsborough County. The search warrant was posted on the website of CNN affiliate WTSP. The warrant provides new details in the case: Five bullets, along with a Smith & Wesson box and instruction manual, were found in the master bedroom; 15 live rounds and five spent shell casings were in the master bath. Also indicated in the search warrant -- both inside and outside the house -- were cigarette butts, note pads, undisclosed medication and paperwork. Police found Calyx's body in an upstairs bedroom. She had been shot twice in the head, police said. Beau's body was later found in the front seat of an SUV inside the home's garage, police said. They said he was shot while he was being driven to soccer practice. Schenecker confessed to killing the children, according to a police statement, eventually recounting her rationale and thought process ""in detail,"" according to a news release. ""She did tell us that they talked back, that they were mouthy,"" Tampa police spokeswoman Laura McElroy told CNN affiliate WTSP last week. ""But I don't think that will ever serve as an explanation to the rest of us of how you could take a child's life."" Schenecker had initially planned what she called the ""massacre"" -- killing the children and then herself, McElroy said on Monday -- for January 22, but she put it off after learning there would be a three-day check before she could buy a gun. Police later found writings in the house, thought to be from Schenecker, in which she spelled out her intentions in detail. ""There are definitely indications that she planned this,"" McElroy said. ""(The writing) was devoid of emotion."" CNN's Phil Gast contributed to this report ."
"(CNN) -- Two hijackers who took over a plane flying from Sudan's Darfur region on Tuesday and diverted it to Libya surrendered to authorities Wednesday, Libyan state media said. The hijacked plane took off from near the Darfur refugee camp of Kalma, which was attacked earlier in the week. The official news agency JANA said the two hijackers surrendered to Libyan authorities in the eastern town of Kufra, where the plane landed, and they were being detained in a hall in the airport there. Their identities were not released. Earlier, the hijackers had released all 87 passengers aboard the plane, but had held on to six crew members while they negotiated with Libyan officials through the pilot about passage to France, JANA said. Libyan officials tried to persuade the hostage-takers to surrender as the hijackers demanded fuel to fly the plane to Paris, France. No details were provided as to how the two surrendered. All of the remaining hostages were freed, and JANA said 20 Sudanese officials were en route to the airport. Libya will send a plane to return the passengers and crew to Khartoum, Sudan, the plane's original destination, JANA said. The Sun Air Boeing 737 airliner was about 10 minutes into a flight from Niyala, Sudan, to Khartoum on Tuesday when the pilot called the control tower and told officials the plane had been hijacked and was heading to Kufra, Sun Air airlines official Murtada Hassan Jumaa told the Al-Arabiya news channel. The hijackers at first wanted to land the plane in Egypt, but the Egyptian government refused them permission, John Ukec, Sudan's ambassador to the United States, said Tuesday. Khaled Deeb, an Al-Jazeera reporter in Tripoli, Libya, said Libyan authorities allowed the plane to land only because the hijackers said they were low on fuel -- ""for humanitarian reasons and nothing else."" ""The fact that the plane was kidnapped from Darfur indicates that one of the militant groups may have prepared for this operation, and the fact that they want to go to France adds more to that theory,"" Deeb said Tuesday. ""The hijackers don't have any clear demands except for fuel and then heading to France."" -- CNN's Mustafa Al-Arab contributed to this report ."
"(CNN) -- A young woman stands against a crisp black backdrop. The photographer walks forward and gently turns her away from the camera. Today the focus is not on her face but on the delicate architectural feat that sits atop her head. It seems to almost defy gravity, with light radiating from the hair tower as it spirals upwards in a conical shape. Hairstyles have long been popular fashion statements for Nigerian women. But over the years, the intricate braiding and eye-catching sculptures have often reflected the country's changing sociopolitical times as well. And for the last six decades, one man made it his life's work to capture the complex refashioning of his homeland. In February, the renowned artist J.D. 'Okhai Ojeikere died at his home in Lagos aged 84. He left behind a remarkable body of work, much of which is largely unknown outside Nigeria. But now, many of Ojeikere's countrymen are putting in a renewed effort to celebrate the life of the beloved artist -- through documentary films, exhibitions and an impressive monograph of work, Nigeria is presenting J.D. 'Okhai Ojeikere to the world one last time. ""He started taking images of a nation that was in the throes of development [and] independence in 1960,"" explains Bisi Silva, the founder and director of the Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos. ""We discovered oil, money... modern buildings were going up. So he documented that process, that transition into a modernizing nation."" A final wish for a departed friend . Over the last five years, Silva has been working tirelessly to complete an extensive monograph on Ojeikere. This has not been yet another project for the art curator -- Ojeikere was a close friend, and the duo had been collaborating on the monograph up until his untimely passing in February. ""I had a very close relationship with 'Pa Ojeikere,' as we call him here,"" says Silva, who turned to crowdfunding platform Kickstarter to raise funds for publishing the book. ""I used to speak to him at least once a week."" Silva recalls Ojeikere's passion and enthusiasm for the project and, holding it close to her heart, she says she's determined to finish what they had started together. ""He was really dynamic, really passionate about photography and there was so much to learn in his archive. Over the last five years, we became friends. He was like a father to me. ""It was just such a big shock that he passed away. That he wouldn't see the book he was extremely excited about."" Documenting independence . Born in a small rural village in West Nigeria in 1930, Ojeikere would become one of Nigeria's most celebrated artists. For over 60 years, the master photographer fastidiously immersed himself in capturing his homeland, documenting every facet of daily life. His many photographs would come together to create a striking anthropological study of Nigeria. The 1950s saw a young Ojeikere searching for a vocation. Rejected by the army, it was an uncle who inadvertently put him on a lifelong journey by suggesting photography. Starting small, the untrained amateur would photograph women in his village as they donned their Sunday best and headed to church. Later on, Ojeikere got a job as a darkroom assistant at the Nigerian Ministry of Information. When he wasn't working, he was often found at the local university, snapping moments between students, staff and events on campus -- once again capturing daily life on film. The country was moving toward a time of social change and political upheaval and Ojeikere explored this through his lens. ""You're getting a sort of history of Nigeria at a very important, transitional period, just on the cusp of independence,"" says Silva. ""And just after independence [in 1960], when there is a feeling of euphoria, feeling of liberation, the sense of 'now we can conquer the world, we can develop the nation; we are free, we are independent.' ""And this all comes out in the way in which individuals and people presented themselves. It's like: 'Look at me. I'm fashionable, I'm modern, I'm confident, I'm educated. I'm a professional.' All these images amount to a visual image of Nigeria in the 50s, 60s and 70s."" Not just hair . Ojeikere's next job was working for the national television station, a career move that enabled him to rub shoulders with other creative minds. This is when he started to take photographs with more artistic intent, explains Silva. ""He started coming into contact other artists, filmmakers, writers and that's why as he developed, the artistic intent as opposed to the anthropological intent began to develop. When we finally get to 'Hairstyles,' they are actually done in a very specific manner. It wasn't someone on the street. It was in a studio with a specific lighting, with a specific position."" The ""Hairstyles"" series, for which he is so critically acclaimed, features over 1,000 photographs of Nigerian styles since 1954. But for Silva, his work documenting traditional Nigerian headgear and the country's architecture, as well as his studio portrait work, must be examined alongside ""Hairstyles"" to fully comprehend Ojeikere's legacy. The images communicate a transition from the normal photographs depicting Africa, says Silva. ""The images we are used to seeing of Africa -- they gave a one dimensional perspective of a race, of a nation, of a people. It's been a herculean work to bring this publication together."" Final tributes . Silva's monograph is just one tribute to Ojeikere. Nigerian filmmaker Tam Fiofori recently released ""J.D. 'Okhai Ojeikere: Master Photographer,"" a documentary capturing the final year of the artist's life. Elsewhere, an exhibition of ""Hairstyles"" is currently shown across the UK. Curated by Gillian Fox, it is the first time audiences in the country are having the chance to view Nigeria from this perspective. ""As a Nigerian, he wanted to document that moment in Nigeria when it was a time of colonial rule changing over to democracy,"" says Fox. ""He was keen in the wake of modernization to capture something that was quite intrinsic to his culture, his nation and he saw the rate of change that was happening and he thought hairstyles were fascinating and an art form in their own right,"" she continues. ""They were something that should be preserved because the thing about a hairstyle is that they are really ephemeral."" She adds: ""I think it was a love letter to his country. He used photography which is a very modern medium to document these moments of social change."" Click through the gallery above to explore some of Ojeikere's iconic photographs."
"(CNN) -- South African mountain bike star Burry Stander, who narrowly missed out on a medal at the London Olympics, has been killed in a road accident. Stander, 25, was on a training ride when he was hit Thursday by a vehicle in Shelly Beach, on the country's southeast coast, according to Cycling South Africa, the national cycling body. Details of the accident are still being investigated, it said. ""Not only is this a loss to South African sport, but we have lost a true gentleman who through his professionalism, modesty and humility, constantly showing sheer guts, represented our country with great pride,"" Cycling South Africa said in the statement released Thursday. The organization expressed its condolences to Stander's family, including his wife and parents. Stander finished fifth in the Men's Cross Country mountain bike event at the Olympic Games in London last year. It was the second Olympics for Stander, who had finished 15th in the same event at the Beijing Games. He rode a superb race to move through the field in a race won by Jaroslav Kulhavy of the Czech Republic from Nino Schurter of Switzerland. Italy's Marco Fontana was third, 25 seconds adrift, with Stander only missing out on the podium by four seconds in a close finish. He had won the 2011 African championships to book his place at the Games. Adrien Niyonshuti was fourth in the same race to become the first Rwandan to qualify for an Olympic competition. Stander had recently married the multiple South African road race champion Cherise Taylor. CNN's Jethro Mullen contributed to this report."
"Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- South Korea said Wednesday that it had put a satellite in orbit for the first time, giving a lift to its homegrown space industry and matching a feat achieved last month by its hostile neighbor, North Korea. Amid a billowing plume of smoke, the Naro-1 rocket blasted off from a launch site perched on the edge of an island near the country's southern coast. South Korean television footage showed it ascending into the clear blue sky. South Korean officials: North Korean rocket could hit U.S. mainland . Officials and technicians watched the launch intently to see if it would succeed in delivering its payload into orbit. A crowd of onlookers near the site applauded and waved national flags. About an hour after takeoff, Science Minister Lee Ju-ho declared the launch a success. North Korea on Google Maps: Monuments, nuclear complex, gulags . The pressure on the South Korean rocket scientists to get the satellite into space increased after North Korea carried out its own successful launch last month in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions. Only weeks before that, the South was forced to suspend its previous attempt to launch the Naro-1 rocket after finding problems with the electronic signal just minutes before it was due to take off. The country's previous launch attempts in 2009 and 2010 had failed. After threats against U.S., North Korea turns ire to South . Wednesday's successful effort comes at a delicate time on the Korean peninsula: North Korea said last week that it plans to conduct a new nuclear test and carry out more rocket launches after the U.N. Security Council voted to tighten sanctions on the secretive regime. Pyongyang didn't say when it intends to carry out the nuclear test, which follows previous underground detonations in 2006 and 2009. Although the North's rocket launch last month managed to put an object in space, it was widely considered to be a test of long-range ballistic missile technology. It's unclear whether that satellite is functional. North Korea says new nuclear test will be part of fight against U.S. Saber-rattling statements . In its saber-rattling statements last month, North Korea said its missile and nuclear programs were part of a new phase of confrontation with the United States. It also threatened ""physical counter-measures"" against South Korea if it participates in the imposition of the new sanctions. South Korean authorities say their latest attempted satellite launch is a crucial step for the development of the country's civilian space program. The satellite carried by the launch vehicle is mainly intended for gathering climate data and other atmospheric information, they say. Is Asia on cusp of space race? Analysts have said the South Korean launch is different from that of the North because it is more transparent, clearly focused on civilian applications and doesn't contravene U.N. sanctions. The development of the South Korean rocket program, using Russian technology for the first-stage launcher, began in 2002. Seoul is aiming to develop its own thruster by 2021 through a program estimated to cost 1.5 trillion won (about $1.4 billion). The successful launch puts South Korea among the small group of nations that have sent a rocket into space from their own soil. Others include the United States, Russia, China, Japan, France, India, Israel, Iran and North Korea. South Korea already has a number of satellites in space, but they were launched in other countries using foreign rocket technology. Opinion: Rescind North Korea's license to provoke . CNN's K.J. Kwon reported from Seoul, and Jethro Mullen reported and wrote from Hong Kong."
"(CNN) -- South African police are investigating abuse allegations at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy, the talk-show host's $40 million school for disadvantaged girls near Johannesburg. Oprah Winfrey, who founded the school this year, has apologized in connection with the incident. Investigators declined to provide details of the alleged abuse and said no charges have been filed. The academy's CEO, John Samuel, said in a statement earlier this month that an internal inquiry was launched based on a claim of misconduct involving a dormitory parent. According to an article in The Cape Argus, a Cape Town newspaper, the dorm parent allegedly grabbed a pupil by the throat and threw her against a wall, the girl claimed. Girls at the school also claimed that the matron swore and screamed at the girls and assaulted them, the newspaper reported Saturday. The newspaper said one of the pupils ran away from the school, blaming the alleged abuse. In an emergency meeting with pupils and parents at the school, Winfrey apologized in connection with the incident. ""I've disappointed you. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry,"" she said tearfully, according to numerous South African media reports. Winfrey's representatives said she flew to South Africa twice in October to meet with parents of girls at the academy, although they would not specify what the meetings were about. Previously, Winfrey -- who has spoken publicly about the abuse she suffered as a child -- issued a statement on October 17 saying, ""Nothing is more serious or devastating to me than an allegation of misconduct by an adult against any girl at the academy."" In the statement, Samuel said South African child protection services were notified and that the dorm parent was removed from the campus. ""We have engaged professional investigators of the highest standing from South Africa and the United States to conduct a fair and impartial inquiry into these claims,"" the statement said. The school's head has agreed to take a paid leave of absence pending the results of the investigation, although she is not the subject of the allegation, Samuel said. The national prosecuting authority is deciding whether or not criminal charges will be filed. In an October 23 statement, Samuel referred inquiries to the South African Child Protection Services Unit. The academy opened in January with a student body made up of some of South Africa's poorest children. The academy provides its 450 students with textbooks, uniforms and meals. E-mail to a friend ."
"(CNN) -- Saturday's World Cup downhill race in Bormio ended in a thrilling dead heat as Aksel Lund Svindal extended his overall lead despite narrowly missing out on a three-way share of victory. The Norwegian had to settle for third place after finishing just 0.01 seconds behind Austria's Hannes Reichelt and Italy's Dominik Paris -- who delighted the home crowd by claiming his first World Cup win. ""It's amazing, it was my dream to win a downhill in the World Cup -- and now I finally won it,"" said the 23-year-old, who finished third at his national championships in March. ""Tying with Reichelt doesn't make any difference -- I am only happy to be on top. I was very nervous in the leader box because I knew the others behind will ski well, but it turned out good. ""It is totally amazing to win here in Bormio, I can't say anything just that it was a dream come true."" Reichelt also set a time of one minute 58.62 seconds as he claimed the fifth World Cup win of his career and his second podium this season after placing third in the Super G at Beaver Creek in the U.S. at the start of December. ""I feel like I am back in downhill because my last races were really bad, but I felt confident today,"" the 32-year-old said. ""I think equipment today was very important because if the skies are stable on this bumpy slope it helps you to ski fast. During the Christmas break we did a good job, I did a lot of testing and now I can say I am on the right wave back. The year is ending really, really nice."" Svindal earned his first podium finish at Bormio, which is considered one of the most testing courses on the World Cup circuit. He finished 0.01 seconds ahead of fourth-placed Austrian Klaus Kroll, who was the World Cup downhill champion last season. ""It's crazy, four guys within two-hundredths on one of the toughest downhills in the world,"" said Svindal, who leads the downhill standings by 92 points from Paris and has a 114-point advantage in the overall competition. He now has a record-equaling six podium positions before New Year, matching the mark set by Austria's Michael Walchhofer in 2004-05. ""I can't remember a race exactly this close. But as a ski racer you almost get used to it, it's actually kind of crazy like that,"" Svindal said. ""For sure there is that one mistake at the bottom that I wish I had back, but that's ski racing. As long as you are fighting for the win like I am today, sometimes you get it and sometimes you don't. But racing is a lot of fun when you are in that position."" Meanwhile, Veronika Zuzulova had a comparatively more comfortable victory in the women's slalom in Semmering, Austria, as she won her first World Cup race. The Slovakian was 0.10 seconds ahead of home hope Kathrin Zettel over the two runs, while Tina Maze extended her overall World Cup lead with her 11th podium in 16 starts. The Slovenian, who was fastest in the first run, now has a 427-point advantage over Germany's Maria Hofl-Riesch, who placed fourth."
"(EW.com ) -- As Tracy Jordan once said on ""30 Rock:"" Live every week like it's Shark Week. Syfy seems to be taking that maxim to heart, announcing its own Shark Week of sorts (Sorry, Discovery), pegged to the upcoming release of ""Sharknado 2: The Second One."" ""Sharknado 2,"" is, of course, a sequel to last year's super-buzzy, low-budget television movie, ""Sharknado."" ""Sharknado Week"" will air July 26 through August 2; Sharknado 2 premieres Wed. July 30. Also in the programming block? Roger Corman's ""Sharktopus vs. Pteracuda"" (August 2), Mega Shark vs. Mecha Shark (July 26), and ""Sharkmania: The Top 15 Biggest Baddest Bloodiest Bites"" (July 27). No one could forget the plot of ""Sharknado 2,"" but here's Syfy's description once again: ""A freak weather system turns its deadly fury on New York City, unleashing a Sharknado on the population and its most cherished iconic sites -- and only Fin (Ian Ziering) and April (Tara Reid) can save the Big Apple. The movie, directed by Anthony C. Ferrante from a screenplay by Thunder Levin, also stars Mark McGrath, Kari Wuhrer, Vivica A. Fox and Judah Friedlander, with cameo appearances including Kelly Osbourne, Judd Hirsch, Perez Hilton, Matt Lauer, Al Roker, Andy Dick, Robert Klein, Sandra ""Pepa"" Denton, Biz Markie, Downtown Julie Brown, Richard Kind and Kurt Angle, among others."" The week might become an annual thing â€” Syfy has already ordered a third Sharknado. See the original story at EW.com. CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly . © 2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved."
"Lagos, Nigeria (CNN) -- A month after Nigeria's ruling party ruled he may stand for re-election next year, President Goodluck Jonathan said Wednesday he intends to run. Jonathan said he plans to make a formal declaration about his candidacy Saturday. ""In presenting myself for service, I make no pretense that I have a magic wand that will solve all of Nigeria's problems or that I am the most intelligent Nigerian,"" Jonathan wrote on his Facebook page. ""Far from it. What I do promise is this -- if I am elected president in 2011, I will make a covenant with you, the Nigerian people, to always do right by you, to tell you the truth at all times, to carry you along and most importantly to listen to you, fellow citizens in our communities, and also those of you on this page."" Jonathan's eligibility was in question until last month, when the Peoples Democratic Party said he could run in an open race with other candidates next year. Under Nigerian ""zoning"" rules, power must shift to different regions and ethnic groups every eight years. Jonathan -- who is from the Niger Delta, in the south -- was part of the joint ticket of the late President Umaru Yar'Adua, who was from the north. Yar'Adua's death in May, after a long illness, upset the order of the zoning. Yar'Adua was elected in 2007 and his southern replacement threatened to halt the north's turn at holding power. ""I know you are tired of empty promises, so I will make only one promise to you today,"" Jonathan wrote. ""The only promise I make to you my friends, fellow citizens and Nigeria, is to promise LESS and deliver MORE if I am elected."""
"(CNN) -- The first patient to be diagnosed with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS, in the United States is recovering well and should be able to go home from the hospital soon, doctors said Monday. The patient, an American health care provider who had been working in Saudi Arabia, is not on oxygen and is eating well and walking around, said doctors in Munster, Indiana. Doctors have also tested others who have come into contact with the patient. So far no one else has been diagnosed with the virus. Medical staff will continue to monitor the situation closely. The patient, whose name has not been disclosed due to federal privacy standards, was working at a hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He told his doctors that the hospital had MERS patients, although he does not remember working with any of those infected. The man was on a planned visit to Indiana to see his family. He traveled on April 24 and went to a hospital in Indiana with symptoms April 28. About 50 staffers worked closely with the man, said Dr. Alan Kumar, chief medical information officer with Community Hospital in Indiana. No patients at the Indiana hospital had close contact with the MERS patient, who was in a private triage unit and admitted to a private bed on a general medical floor within three hours of showing up at the facility. His family brought the man in after he complained of flulike symptoms -- shortness of breath and fever. They told the medical staff he had been in Saudi Arabia. ""There was a possible thought initially that it was pneumonia,"" or some other kind of respiratory virus, Kumar said. ""That is why he was in a private room the entire time."" MERS: 5 things to know . The patient never needed a ventilator but was initially put on oxygen. The hospital knew which staffers had close contact with the patient because it uses electronic tracers on staff members, tracking where they go in the hospital and how much time they would have spent with the man. Between that monitoring and video surveillance, the hospital was able to track the patient's entire journey through the hospital system, according to Kumar. Both the family and health care workers have all tested negative for the virus and all are on home isolation, officials said. If any of those exposed have to go out, doctors have advised they wear a mask. Doctors will run a second test on both populations since the virus is thought to have a 14-day incubation period. If they still test negative for the virus, they will be considered clear and safe to return to their regular work and duties. Scientists do not know exactly how MERS spreads, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but they don't believe it spreads through casual contact. The virus poses a ""very low risk to the broader general public,"" said Dr. Anne Schuchat, assistant surgeon general with the U.S. Public Health Service and director for the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, on Friday. MERS mystery: Virus found in camels . Out of an abundance of caution, Indiana health officials and the CDC have acquired the passenger lists from the planes the patient took from Saudi Arabia -- he changed planes in London and landed in Chicago -- and the bus he took to Indiana. Of the 100 or so passengers on the plane, three-fourths have been tested, and none has been shown to be positive for MERS. The patient was not symptomatic at the time of travel, according to the doctors. Health officials are also reaching out to the 10 passengers who shared his bus. Scientists believe MERS spreads through close contact with a patient -- meaning someone would have to have come in contact with some of their bodily fluid. MERS first emerged in 2011, with the first cases being diagnosed in the Arabian Peninsula in 2012. There have been 401 confirmed cases in 12 countries, according to the CDC. Of those, 93 people died. Testing for MERS involves looking for the virus' molecular structure in a patient's nose or blood. While the patient in Indiana was the first MERS case on U.S. soil, the CDC has been preparing for such a scenario and had been conducting an awareness campaign with hospitals and doctors since MERS emerged. There are no travel restrictions to the Arabian Peninsula; however, the CDC suggests people who visit there monitor their health and watch for any flulike symptoms. If you do feel unwell after such a trip, be sure to tell your doctor about your travel. There is no vaccine or special treatment for MERS. Doctors said they believe the patient's quick diagnosis and care dramatically increased his chances for getting better. ""MERS picked the wrong hospital, the wrong state, the wrong country to try to get a foothold,"" said Dr. William VanNess, Indiana state health commissioner. Opinion: Why MERS virus is so scary ."
"Istanbul, Turkey (CNN) -- An Istanbul court slapped a world-renowned musician Monday with a 10-month suspended sentence for posting a series of tweets that poked fun at Islamic descriptions of heaven. Classical concert pianist Fazil Say, 43, was found guilty of ""openly insulting the religious values held by a portion of the public"" for the tweets, which were posted last year. ""Although I am innocent and have not committed any crime, this decision I received is more worrisome for the freedom of expression and belief in Turkey than it is to me as a person,"" Say wrote in a statement posted on his Facebook page. The sentence marks a ""very sad day for freedom of expression in Turkey,"" Say's lawyer Meltem Akyol told CNN. ""We were expecting an acquittal."" ""Freedom of expression does not entitle you to condescend or offend or insult people,"" countered plaintiff Ali Emre Bukagili. ""That's a crime."" Say's tweets included: ""You say the rivers will flow with wine, is heaven a tavern? You say each believer will receive two women, is heaven a brothel?"" according to the indictment. In another, Say joked about the short duration of a cleric's traditional Islamic call to prayer. The tweet asked a rhetorical question to the chanting cleric: ""What's the hurry? Lover waiting?"" the indictment said. Say also was convicted of retweeting allegedly offensive posts, such as, ""I am not sure if you have realized it, but where there is scum, a lowlife, a thief or a fool, s/he is always an Allahist. Is this a paradox?"" Faruk Logoglu, deputy international affairs chairman of the nation's main opposition party, CHP, called the sentence a ""new link in the long chain of assaults on the freedom of expression and freedom of conscience in Turkey."" ""This is shameful for Turkish democracy,"" he said. Say won't have to serve his sentence as long as he doesn't commit a similar crime within the next five years. ""The decision is a correct one,"" said Bukagili. ""In our laws, it is against the law to publicly insult a belief, and he did that."" The case was filed last June after three plaintiffs lodged formal complaints. Say has been a vocal critic of the Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party, which has governed Turkey since it first won parliamentary elections more than a decade ago. Critics linked the case to a recent string of freedom of expression prosecutions in Turkey. Last year, Say commented on the case for CNN Turk. ""... if I thought I was guilty, I would feel uncomfortable with myself and would enter the jail on my own,"" he said. ""It is difficult for them to send me to jail. It is that simple."""
"Jerusalem (CNN) -- Amene Tekele Haymanot thought he had made the right choice when five years ago he escaped war-torn Eritrea and opened a business in sunny Tel Aviv, Israel. But he and his countrymen couldn't escape conflict for long. Haymanot never expected himself - or his store -- to become targets of threats and violence in a metropolitan city known for its tolerance. But it was. His windows were smashed in and his business looted during an anti-immigration protest. ""Now I am afraid here. I cannot live this way. I'm afraid for my life,"" Haymanot, who is an illegal immigrant awaiting refugee status, told CNN. His fear has been growing for many months because illegal African immigrants have attracted anger in certain parts of Israel -- and Haymanot believes the color of his skin makes him vulnerable -- because many here will assume if you're black in his Tel Aviv neighborhood -- you are here illegally. Many Israelis are frustrated with the estimated 59,000 illegal African immigrants in the country and Israel's inability to deal with them. Most of the new arrivals are from Eritrea and Sudan, and the government says they come illegally through the Egyptian border. The police say about 700 African immigrants enter the country illegally every week. Illegal African immigrants are blamed by residents in neighborhoods where there is a large African population for increasing levels of crime, suffocating the infrastructure and changing the fabric of Israel. Many Israelis who sympathize with the plight of African immigrants say they believe racism plays into all this. Some Israelis are asking how a country that founded by Jews trying to escape persecution could turn against anyone trying to escape danger in their own lands. Attorney Asaf Weitzen, who works with the immigrant hotline in the south Tel Aviv neighbourhood of Hatikva, trying to sort out immigrants' legal problems, says: ""There is a very big pressure on the neighborhood, and the structures cannot support so many people."" He adds that the problem is exacerbated because newcomers come from a different background, speak a different language and have a different approach to life as well as by the fact they are a different race. The biggest problem that immigrants and Israel face, Weitzen says, is the lack of a proper and enforceable immigration policy. He says the Eritrea population should be award asylum and given the necessary papers to work. His words echo the call from the United Nations for Eritreans to be given refugee status due to conditions in their home country. But Israel has no diplomatic relations with Sudan, the source of the second largest illegal immigrant group in the country, so repatriating those immigrants is nearly impossible. The current Israeli policy leaves the immigrants in an unsustainable holding pattern, says Weitzen: They are not allowed to legally work but do so anyway, leaves residents frustrated as the number of poor grow in certain neighborhoods, putting pressure on everything from housing to hospitals. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the immigration problem is being dealt with. ""The problem of infiltrators must be resolved and we will resolve it,"" he said last Thursday. ""We will complete the construction of the security fence in several months and soon will start the process of sending the migrants back to their home countries."" Anti-immigrant sentiment is particularly strong in Hatikva, partly due to the influx of large numbers of African immigrants who have moved in there. In May an anti-immigration protest numbering several hundred demonstrators boiled over into all-out violence bashing in a few store and car windows owned by African immigrants. (TRY THIS FIX) Israeli protesters chanted slogans such as ""infiltrators get out"" and ""Tel Aviv: A refugee camp"". Three members of the right wing Likud party -- part of the governing coalition - were among the politicians who attended. One of them, Miri Regev, was quoted as saying that ""the Sudanese are like a cancer in society."" Police arrested 17 Israeli protesters at the demonstration and charged them with property damage. In two separate cases in May, two African illegal immigrants were arrested and charged with raping teenage Israeli girls, sparking even more tension between the communities in some parts of the country. Even mentioning the issue of illegal immigration in the neighborhood where the violence broke out causes crowds of residents to form. One was close to tears about the situation, saying that people feared the influx of Africans -- and sometimes Africans themselves. ""They come by group, by group, by group and I [am] alone, I [am] afraid,"" said long-time resident David Ovady, who has lived in south Tel Aviv for 40-plus years. He held up a container of pepper spray that he now keeps with him at all times when he is walking around the neighborhood. Dror Kahalani, a community activist who has lived in the neighborhood for 45 years, said through tears that he knows the immigrants are human beings and need help -- but that it's not up to residents to foot the bill for them. ""The government must, must in every meaning of the word, starting tomorrow morning,"" said Kahalani, ""gather them all together, build them a tent city and give them solutions, food, medical, everything they need, give it to them. But not here."" In the aftermath of the attacks and arrests, visual reminders of the tension are gone but not the sentiment. ""Someone has to take over the law,"" Kahalani said. The day after the attacks, Netanyahu denounced the violence and what many described as provocative language used against the illegal immigrants. ""I would like to stress that the expressions and acts that we have viewed last night are unacceptable,"" the prime minister said. Amene Tekele Haymanot, who works and lives in Hatikva, says that his Israeli neighbors continue to make threats and intimidate him even after breaking apart his business. He says Israelis in the neighborhood threatened to kill him and burn his place down. With no official refugee status he now wants to close his store and move somewhere where he can live in peace. So far he can't seem to find that, no matter where he goes."
"LONDON, England (CNN) -- In the developing world millions of people struggle to operate machinery, read from a blackboard, or just see the world around them, because they don't have access to the eyeglasses they need. Self-refraction glasses let the wearer adjust the lenses to suit their vision, without the need for an optometrist. But a pair of glasses developed by Joshua Silver, a physics professor at the University of Oxford, offers an affordable solution. The glasses can be adjusted to the right strength by the wearer without the need to visit an optometrist. A major reason for that is a chronic shortage of optometrists -- in Ghana, for example, there is just one for every eight million people. That makes it incredibly difficult for ordinary people to visit an optometrist, without which it's impossible for them to get glasses. But Silver thinks he may have come up with a solution to the problem. His self-refraction glasses mean people can correct their vision without needing an optometrist (see Fact Box). ""Take a Sub-Saharan country where there is one optometrist for every million people; those people will never see an optometrist, so how will they get eyewear?,"" he told CNN. ""Any model of delivery of vision correction in the developing world that depends on eye care professionals won't work. If you find a model that doesn't rely on them, then you potentially have a solution."" Silver has been developing the glasses for over 20 years and continues to research the technology at the Center for Vision in the Developing World (CVDW) at the University of Oxford. He told CNN that about 80 percent of those who try the glasses are able to correct their vision, but there are limitations. They can't be used to correct astigmatism and it's not known if they are suitable for children, although the CVDW is currently running a study to determine if schoolchildren can correct their own vision with their teachers' help. So far, 30,000 pairs of self-refraction glasses have been distributed around the world, through an adult literacy program in Ghana and the U.S. Military Humanitarian and Civic Assistance (HCA) Program. The man behind the HCA program was Kevin White. He has now retired from the military and has set up Global Vision 2020 to distribute self-adjustable glasses. White has just returned from Liberia, where he trained 40 people from local NGOs to dispense the glasses. White sees charity organizations already working in developing countries as the key to distribution. ""If I can train people from existing networks to dispense glasses, and they can spare one day each week or month to dispense the glasses, then they can see 50 to 100 people in a day -- and that's a way to reach a lot of people,"" White told CNN. But for the program to be sustainable, White says the next step is to train his dispensers to become trainers themselves, so that he builds a growing network of people in developing countries who can distribute the glasses. Silver estimates that one billion people in the developing world don't have access to the glasses they need, and he has said that he would like to see all of them wearing glasses by 2020. But he is under no illusions that he can do it alone. ""No one person or company can possibly deliver that many glasses by 2020. There's a big infrastructure that needs to be set up to do that, and I'd like to see it happen,"" he told CNN. Distribution is one problem, cost is another. Currently, it cost $19 to manufacture a pair of self-refraction glasses, and Silver acknowledges that the price needs to come down to a few dollars a pair to make them affordable. Another issue is style. The glasses are currently functional, rather than fashionable, and that may limit their uptake, but more cosmetic versions are being developed. Silver says far more research is needed before those one billion people get their glasses, but he sees his self-refraction technology as a step toward that goal. He told CNN, ""It's one of the world's largest problems. There's an immense amount of interest in solving it and self-refraction is one route that can assist with that."""
"Los Angeles (CNN) -- Dionne Warwick, one of the most recognizable pop voices of the 1960s, filed for bankruptcy last week, citing more than $10 million in tax debt dating back to 1991. ""Due to several consecutive years (the late '80s through the mid-'90s) of negligent and gross financial mismanagement, Dionne Warwick has realized the current necessity to file personal bankruptcy,"" Warwick publicist Kevin Sasaki said in a statement to CNN Tuesday. Warwick, 72, made hits out of many Burt Bacharach and Hal David songs, and won five Grammys in a 50-year career. The singer is down her last $1,000 in cash and only owns furniture and clothing worth $1,500, according to the Chapter 7 filing in New Jersey. The bankruptcy documents filed in New Jersey on Thursday outline a sad financial situation for Warwick, a cousin of the late Whitney Houston. Along with $7 million in federal IRS debt, Warwick said she owes more than $3 million to the state of California in franchise taxes. Another $500,000 is owed to a lawyer and a business manager, the filing said. ""In light of the magnitude of her tax liabilities, Warwick has repeatedly attempted to offer repayment plans and proposals to the IRS and the California Franchise Tax Board for taxes owed,"" Sasaki said. ""These plans were not accepted, resulting in escalating interest and penalties. Although the actual amount of back taxes owed have been paid, the resulting penalties and interest has continually accrued."" Warwick's total assets are worth just $25,500, mostly because of two fur coats and two sets of diamond earrings valued at $13,000, the documents showed. She also claimed clothing worth $5,000, art worth $5,000 and furniture valued at $15,500. Warwick recently took a credit card debt management class, it said, perhaps relating to a $20,000 Visa debt. Her monthly income was listed at $20,950, although she is eligible for a pension from the SAG/AFTRA union, the filing said. Warwick listed her employment with Star Girl Productions, an entertainment management company. She has been touring in recent months, singing her hits for fans in Europe and South America, according to her website. Warwick's success began in 1962 with ""Don't Make Me Over,"" followed by 18 consecutive Top 100 singles. Other Bacharach/David classics include ""Walk on By,"" ""Anyone Who Had a Heart,"" ""Message to Michael,"" ""Promises Promises,"" ""A House is Not a Home,"" ""Alfie,"" ""Say a Little Prayer,"" ""This Girl's in Love With You,"" ""I'll Never Fall in Love Again,"" ""Reach Out For Me"" and the theme from ""Valley of the Dolls."" ""Warwick has spent many years of her career raising funds for several humanitarian and philanthropic causes without compensation,"" Sasaki said. ""Aside from carrying the banner for world hunger, she was the first musical artist to donate all sales and proceeds from her landmark recording, 'That's What Friends Are For' to AIDS and The American Foundation For AIDS Research (amfAR)."" 2012: Dionne Warwick sings Hal David's last lyrics . CNN's Jane Caffrey contributed to this report."
"(EW.com) -- Those Jack Bauer fans just won't give up: The infamous character from Fox's long-running drama ""24"" was a big trending topic on Twitter late Sunday in light of the Osama Bin Laden news -- no doubt because many were thinking (hoping?) a Bauer-like embed was responsible for the ""actionable intelligence"" that led to President Obama's press conference. Here's the good news: Kiefer Sutherland could be back on Fox this fall. Now, the bad news: He won't be reprising his role as a counter-terrorism agent. Instead, he's playing a dad whose autistic son can predict events before they happen in a project called ""Touch."" The drama's from Tim Kring (""Heroes"") and is already generating great buzz. But a return of Bauer is still in the cards. A big-screen version of the drama remains in the works at 20th Century Fox, and producer Brian Grazer (whose company, Imagine Entertainment, was behind the TV show) recently acknowledged that he's on board. In March, . Sutherland told the women of ""The View"" that the movie will come out in 2012. Hey Kief: Care to rethink that timeline now? See full article at EW.com. CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly . © 2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved."
"(CNN) -- A fire erupted Friday at the headquarters of the Shanksville, Pennsylvania, memorial to United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed on September 11, 2001, officials said. ""There is a potential for 9/11 memorabilia loss due to a fire,"" according to a statement from the National Park Service, but the extent of the damage is not known yet. NPS spokesman Mike Litterst said 10% of the archives and museum collection was stored in the damaged buildings, but much of it was kept in a fireproof safe. Among the items in the damaged buildings was a U.S. flag that flew over the U.S. Capitol on the day of the terrorist attack. The flag was given to the Flight 93 National Memorial last September 11. Its status was not known. Four buildings were damaged, the park service said. Heavy rain helped the firefighting efforts. Seven fire companies responded to the blaze, which started about 3 p.m., said Geraldine Budzina, a Somerset County dispatcher. No injuries were reported. ""I think stuff has been lost"" Ken Nacke, whose brother Louis was on Flight 93, said many 9/11 artifacts -- including notes and other mementos left at a temporary memorial at the crash site -- were being stored in the area where the fire burned. He said he had spoken Friday with the head of Families of Flight 93 shortly after the group president was contacted by the memorial's superintendent. ""I think stuff has been lost,"" Nacke said. ""I just don't know what has been lost. I know the layout of the buildings and I wouldn't be surprised. It's heartbreaking that we spent all this time to have this happen. All the blood sweat and tears that went into building this."" Nacke helped raise funds for the Flight 93 National Memorial and advised in its planning. ""At the temporary memorial, people would leave cards, T-shirts and handmade stuff that was very comforting to us,"" he said. ""That's why it's heartbreaking. I hope none of this stuff is lost."" Cause of fire is unknown . Clouds of dark smoke could be seen billowing into the blue sky over the grounds Friday afternoon on a live webcam. ""We are deeply saddened to learn that a fire occurred at the Flight 93 National Memorial headquarters,"" Gordon Felt, president of Families of Flight 93 said in a statement. ""We understand that no one was injured, and we are grateful for that."" ""Neither the memorial proper nor the new visitor center currently under construction were affected, as the headquarters is located approximately two miles from those sites,"" Litterst said. Initial reports were of extensive damage to the complex, Litterst said. All employees and volunteers were safely evacuated. The cause of the blaze is under investigation, he said. 40 people died in the plane crash . The memorial park is dedicated to the 40 passengers and crew who died when Flight 93 crashed outside the town in southwestern Pennsylvania. The plane went down, killing all on board, as passengers fought back against the hijackers, according to investigations. The memorial, still incomplete, includes a visitor center with traditional and interactive exhibits, public programs and information about the history of Flight 93. United Airlines Flight 93 was traveling from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco when hijackers took over the plane, according to the 9/11 Commission. Investigators said the terrorists were most likely trying to turn the airplane toward Washington to hit a major political target. The 2,200-acre memorial park is managed by the National Park Service. The second phase of construction is to be completed by 2015. Since 2001, more than 1 million people from around the world have visited the crash site. What you need to know about the Flight 93 National Memorial . CNN's Aaron Cooper, Deanna Hackney and Laura Bernardini contributed to this report."
"InStyle.com) -- The dark horse in a stampede of sun-kissed curls, Lucy Liu's ebony mane sets her apart from the typical Hollywood leading lady. ""Even if you don't have any makeup on, you can still look really pretty if your lips are soft and shiny."" ""My hair is so dark that I'd have to bleach it to add color, so I never dye it,"" she says. From long, sexy locks on Ally McBeal to razor-straight styles that whip around as she side-kicks and slices her way through Charlie's Angels and Kill Bill, Liu's hair practically plays a supporting role. This fall she returns to television as publishing exec Mia Mason on ABC's Cashmere Mafia. With a wavy bob (thanks to a grown-out perm), Liu, 38, embraces her girlier side. ""When my hair was longer, people didn't come up and talk to me,"" she says. ""Now they find me more approachable."" What's your earliest beauty memory? I used to watch my mom put makeup on, and we would go to the five-and-dime store and experiment with whatever makeup was there. It was basically L'Oréal lipstick -- which is funny, because I still use it. So is your mom your beauty guru? No, now she's coming to me for tips. She sees how amazing my makeup looks, but it's not me. It's the people putting it on. I really like to keep my skin clean. I use just a little concealer. I don't even put on sunscreen, but I don't sit in the sun either. No sunscreen! How do you keep your skin so young and smooth? I drink a lot of water, and I've never had coffee. I think caffeine can be really bad for your skin. And I don't get facials, ever. Why don't you get facials? I think they damage your skin. People are getting peels and dermabrasion, and anything with the word ""abrasion"" doesn't work for me. I also think a lot of plastic surgery hurts your skin. Do you always carry around two different eye liners? Yes. The liquid liner is for above the eye, and the pencil is for inside the eye. But I rarely use the pencil unless I'm going out. If you put liquid liner on during the day and then add pencil to the inner rims at night, it glams it up. What about your hair? How do you keep it so shiny? I alternate between Dr. Bronner's All in One soap, Davines and Prawduct for shampoo and different conditioners like Pantene. I love herbal scents because I'm a little bit allergic [to fragrance]. If I walk into a store and it's all perfume, it's too much. And I let my hair air dry. I rarely blow-dry -- I don't have time. You sound very low maintenance. Do you have any beauty indulgences? I splurge on acupuncture. It's preventative medicine: You go in once a month, and you get a little checkup so you're regulated. It keeps you healthy. My parents used to get acupuncture. It has been a part of my culture and my life for a long time, and it really, really works. It can help you lose weight, it can help your skin stay young -- and I've found it helps with jet lag. [Acupuncturists] look at your tongue and will say: ""All right, you're drinking too much"" or ""You're emotional, aren't you?"" How else do you stay healthy? Do you still practice martial arts? I just trained for the movies. But I love going hiking, and now because I'm [filming in New York City], I go biking. People can see me on the street -- I'm not biking that fast. It's just good exercise, and you get around quickly. It's like being on a horse or a motorcycle because you're outside. What about Aquaphor? I've heard you're obsessed. I use it for everything. It's not too glossy, so I wear it when I do movies because it looks really natural. I always carry a mini with me. And if I fall, which I do a lot -- I generally skid -- I'll put it on my [scrapes]. When I was shooting a movie in Montreal, it was freezing. If you take a little bit of Aquaphor and dab it on your face, it keeps your skin looking fresh. I dubbed it Aqua for Everything. Get her look . Makeup . Makeup pro Scott Barnes applied La Femme eye shadow in Clove (far left, $6; alconeco.com) in Liu's creases and black liquid liner along her upper lash lines. Next he lined top and bottom inner rims with black pencil. For a natural glow he used the same beige cream makeup on cheeks and lips (Scott Barnes Crème Color in Flush, left, $24; saks.com). Hair . To enhance Liu's waves and add volume, stylist Hallie Bowman spritzed Kiehl's Super Thick Volumizer ($19; kiehls.com) on her damp hair, then blow-dried with a diffuser while scrunching the ends. Once hair was dry, Bowman rubbed Kérastase Vinyle Nutri-Sculpt cream ($29; kerastase.com) between her palms and finger-shaped waves to tame frizz and flyaways. E-mail to a friend . Get a FREE TRIAL issue of InStyle - CLICK HERE! Copyright © 2009 Time Inc. All rights reserved."
"(CNN)The former imperial capital of Hue sits just below what was once the demilitarized zone between North and South Vietnam and was, near the end of the war, the site of some of its fiercest fighting. You've seen it in newsreel footage -- and recreated (in England) in Stanley Kubrick's ""Full Metal Jacket."" It's one of the few areas of Vietnam I've never been. Hue is, in many ways, a city of ghosts, of memories and spirits -- and we play on that in Sunday's episode. It begins with a camera movement inside a ""Spirit House"" -- the dollhouse-sized shrines that many believers keep outside their homes and businesses. The Vietnamese are largely ancestor worshippers. Helping your deceased relatives into the next life -- and making sure they are happy while there -- is important. On special days and holidays, families visit temples and pagodas and leave offerings, often food, sometimes replicas of money or appliances or luxuries for the departed. Things they liked in life that might make the afterlife more comfortable. Spirit houses, as I understand them, are designed to deal with the problem of hungry, dissatisfied spirits who may not be settled, who have, for one reason or another, unfinished business left behind. They sit out front, or near the house or store, usually filled with incense and offerings, in the hope of distracting the spirits away from the main destination. In the weeks following the initial North Vietnamese taking of the city of Hue, many hundreds -- if not thousands -- of citizens, deemed dangerous or counterrevolutionary or otherwise undesirable, were summarily executed and buried in unmarked mass graves by the communist forces. When the United States Marines and army of South Vietnam retook the city, it was only at the end of brutal, house-to-house fighting and finally, airstrikes, that Hue was retaken -- flattening much of the city in the process. Many, many people were lost, their bodies never identified or recovered. This, the inability to find the physical remains of a relative, is a particular agony to Vietnamese. For this reason, this episode is haunted by ghosts. We hadn't intended it to be so. But that definitely emerged as a theme. You feel it as you drive the streets and early morning rice paddies on a scooter, walk the parapets of the ancient citadel, look at the flag hanging in the mist across the Perfume River. At one point, a young woman I'm having dinner with casually mentions that her mother doesn't like her to go out after dark. Too many ghosts. I don't want you to think that this episode of ""Parts Unknown"" is some kind of a bummer -- a depressing discussion of a war about which there are still strong feelings and disagreements here. It's not. One of the crazily awesome, incongruous things about Vietnam that I've found from the first time I visited is how friendly, welcoming, quick to move beyond the past the Vietnamese are. It is an incredibly beautiful country. One filled with passionate, proud cooks, and opinionated, enthusiastic eaters. You will see me with some old friends -- and you will, as always in Vietnam, see me eating some amazing food. And if you thought pho was the best thing ever? Wait 'til you see Bun Bo Hue."
"(CNN) -- Twenty-five people were discharged from hospital Friday, state media reported, a week after a meteor exploded in spectacular fashion in the skies above Russia's Urals region, shattering glass in thousands of buildings. Eleven children were among the patients who went home Friday morning, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported. More than 60 people were hospitalized across the region, the local emergencies ministry said. The total count for those hurt climbed in the days after the meteor's arrival on February 15 to more than 1,500, according to RIA Novosti. Most of the injuries were minor and caused by flying glass. The Chelyabinsk region, the hardest-hit area, asked federal authorities Monday for $16.6 million in aid, RIA Novosti said. Russian scientists track down fragments of Urals meteor . The total bill for the damage is estimated at 1 billion rubles ($33 million), with more than 4,000 buildings affected, many of them apartment blocks. About 200,000 square meters (almost 240,000 square yards) of glass were broken in total, authorities said. Meanwhile, the first fragment of meteorite arrived in Moscow on Friday for analysis, RIA Novosti reported. About 50 small fragments have been found so far, the news agency reported earlier this week, some in a crater in the Chelyabinsk region's Lake Chebarkul. Opinion: Don't count 'doomsday asteroid' out yet . Images taken soon after the meteor blast showed a hole in the ice covering the lake where a chunk of meteorite was believed to have fallen. Because the meteor exploded in a huge fireball in the atmosphere, the fragments could be scattered over a huge area. A couple of purported pieces of Chelyabinsk meteorite were advertised for sale on the eBay online auction site Friday. The national space agency, Roscosmos, said scientists believe one meteoroid entered the atmosphere, where it burned and disintegrated into fragments. Amateur video footage showed a bright white streak moving rapidly across the sky before exploding with an even brighter flash and a deafening bang. According to NASA estimates, the meteor measured 55 feet (17 meters) across and had a mass of 10,000 tons. CNN iReport: Meteor in the sky over Chelyabinsk . The space agency put the amount of energy released in the meteor's explosion at nearly 500 kilotons. By comparison, the nuclear bomb the United States dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 released an estimated 15 kilotons of energy. The whole event, from the meteor's atmospheric entry to its disintegration in the air above central Russia, took 32.5 seconds, NASA said. Residents told CNN of their shock as they saw, heard and felt the awesome blast, and the chaos and confusion they witnessed in the moments afterward, when no one knew what had happened. Denis Kuznetsov, a 23-year-old historian from Chelyabinsk, told CNN via e-mail of his experience. At first there was a blinding flash lasting several seconds, which made him want to shut his eyes. The light shone ""like 10 suns,"" he said. ""This is no exaggeration."" Kuznetsov said he experienced what felt like ""a push,"" as a sound wave passed through his body. ""For some seconds I simply stood,"" he said, amid the sound of breaking glass. Interior Minister Vladimir Puchkov told state news agency Itar-Tass this week that he wanted to see scientists develop new technologies that would allow such meteors to be spotted in advance. ""I believe that this emergency situation will push us towards generating new resources, approaches and ideas in tackling this serious problem,"" he is quoted as saying. The European Space Agency said that events of the magnitude of the Chelyabinsk meteor blast ""are expected once every several of tens to 100 years."" It calculates that the meteoroid burst and disintegrated about 15 to 20 kilometers (nine to 12 miles) above the ground. ""The terminal part of the explosion probably likely occurred almost directly over Chelyabinsk,"" said Detlef Koschny, of the European Space Agency. ""This was perhaps the single greatest contributor to the blast damage."""
"(CNN) -- Among the entertainers who have donated their energies to the USO in recent years are Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, Scarlett Johansson, Kid Rock, Queensryche, Toby Keith, Lewis Black and Robin Williams. Stephen Colbert's trip to Iraq, facilitated by the USO, was six months in the planning. But when the USO conducts a public opinion survey asking people who they think of when the military service organization is mentioned, one name always comes up. ""The first thing out of their mouths is 'Bob Hope,' "" said Mark Phillips, the USO's vice president for communications, with an audible shrug. ""And if they're not part of the military, the list stops there."" As the country celebrates Independence Day and pays tribute to the men and women who serve in its armed forces, the USO is trying to change that mindset. The organization, which was founded in 1941 to bring comfort and entertainment to America's men and women in uniform, has been focusing its support on American troops stationed around the world, particularly those in the military theaters of Iraq and Afghanistan, said Phillips. As part of that initiative, it's paying a great deal of attention to the troops' desires, whether they be for high technology -- the USO recently brought video game/HDTV entertainment centers and satellite-based telephone systems to some areas -- or a diversity of entertainers, including rappers and NFL players. The Colbert trip was a meeting of the minds between the Comedy Central star and the military, said Rachel Tischler, the USO's vice president for entertainment operations. The ""Colbert Report"" host, who has attested to his interest in Iraq in such venues as Newsweek magazine (he was a guest editor last month), expressed interest in going, a request that made its way up the chain of command to Gen. David Petraeus, the former leader of coalition forces in Iraq. Petraeus liked the idea, said Tischler, and the principals were put in touch with the USO. Colbert's excursion, which the comedian called ""Operation Iraqi Stephen,"" was unusual for the USO, she added. ""We try to keep our footprint small,"" she said, noting that the organization is reliant on the military to feed and house its guests. In ""Colbert's"" case, the footprint was considerably larger: Colbert's staff and several USO employees -- not to mention 150 volunteers. The trip required six months of planning. But the broadcasts went well, with Colbert paying tribute to the military and the USO's volunteers (as well as his own staff) on the ""Report."" He also put in a plug for USO donations: ""The USO does more than bring my show to Baghdad,"" Colbert said on the show. ""They also deliver much-needed care packages to the troops."" (Whereupon, in a care-package primer, Colbert and Tom Hanks filled a box with shaving gel, Tang and a demolished ice sculpture.) The group remains greatly dependent on the kindness of strangers, said Phillips. ""We're primarily a volunteer organization,"" he said, noting the USO has fewer than 400 paid employees and 25,000 volunteers. Though the USO does receive a small congressional appropriation -- $20 million in 2008 -- much of its funding comes from individuals, corporations and in the form of in-kind services. Jamie Masada, the owner of Los Angeles' Laugh Factory comedy club, said the organization is close to his heart. He followed a tour of Laugh Factory comedians with an invitation to service members to visit his club. ""What we try to do is give the soldiers -- the people that are out there putting their lives on the line for our country ... we try to say, one day if you come to Los Angeles, if you want to be a comedian, our door is open to you. We want you to send us some material, some jokes,"" he said. At a recent USO fundraiser, five service members were given the opportunity to compete for the title of ""funniest service member."" The group was given advice from several notable comedians, including Tom Dreesen and Paul Rodriguez, and the winner received cash, gift certificates and a performance at the club, complete with name on the marquee. A number of performers return again and again. Toby Keith has gone on at least seven USO tours; ""He insists on going to the smallest, most remote places,"" said Phillips. Actor Gary Sinise and his Lt. Dan Band are also frequent participants. ""There aren't enough words to describe just how grateful I am to our nation's troops,"" said Keith in a press release before this year's tour. ""I've participated in several USO tours over the years and I've seen firsthand their sacrifice. And I will not stop doing all I can to show my support and lift their spirits."" Many entertainers shy away from publicity, particularly on the home front. ""We have celebrities come to Bethesda Naval Hospital, Walter Reed ... and they almost always insist we don't talk about [the visits],"" said Tischler. At its core, Phillips said, the USO remains dedicated to the needs of U.S. service members. ""Service members in Iraq and Afghanistan are frequently at small, remote bases,"" said Phillips. ""There's little in the way of creature comforts. Those are the things we try to deliver."""
"Venice, Louisiana (CNN) -- A history of slipshod inspections is at least partly to blame for the disaster that destroyed the drill rig Deepwater Horizon and unleashed the worst oil spill in U.S. history, a former Interior Department official says. Bobby Maxwell worked for 22 years as an auditor and audit supervisor for the Minerals Management Service, and he said the disaster would not have happened if inspectors had done their jobs. But he said a ""culture of corruption"" enveloped the agency, ""and it permeated the whole agency, both the revenue and the inspection side."" The Minerals Management Service, a division of the Interior Department, is the primary federal agency that conducts safety inspections and collects revenue on the more than 3,500 oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico. Before leaving the agency in 2006, he supervised more than 100 auditors, who dig through oil company documents to make sure the federal government is getting all the royalties it's owed. He won an award from his bosses at the Interior Department. And although not an engineer by training, he spent a great deal of time on offshore rigs, many times working alongside Minerals Management Service inspectors. But he said that the agency was badly flawed and that investigators looking into the explosion that killed 11 workers aboard the rig in April should be asking questions about how those inspections were conducted. ""What types of inspections? Who did them? Did they give them any waivers? Was the equipment adequate? Did they think they needed a second blowout preventer? Did they demand BP put it in? MMS is responsible for that, too,"" he said. As an auditor, Maxwell said, he was flown to offshore oil rigs routinely, sometimes in the company of Minerals Management Service inspectors. He says that when he was present, agency inspectors he saw were doing little real work. ""It seemed like a formal process they would go through,"" he said. ""We showed up on the rig. They had a checklist they would run through quickly, check things off, say things like 'Hi, Joe. Hi, John. See you at this weekend's fishing tournament.' "" In May, an inspector general's report on the Minerals Management Service office in Lake Charles, Louisiana, sharply criticized a ""widespread"" culture of taking gifts from industry officials before 2007. Many of the inspectors joined the agency from the industry and had relationships with people in the business that originated ""well before they took their jobs with industry or government,"" the report states. Inspectors got paid meals and tickets to sporting events from companies they monitored; let oil and gas company workers fill out their inspection forms in pencil, with the inspectors writing over those entries in ink before turning them in; and in 2008, one conducted inspections of four offshore platforms while negotiating a job with the company that operated them, the report found. And a 2008 inspector general's report found that regulators in the agency's Denver, Colorado, office received improper gifts from energy industry representatives and engaged in illegal drug use and inappropriate sexual relations with them. Maxwell worked out of the Denver office during that period and traveled to the Gulf region frequently. He is now in the fifth year of a whistleblower lawsuit he filed against the Kerr-McGee Oil Co., claiming that the firm cheated the Interior Department and the U.S. Treasury out of tens of millions of dollars in revenue from the company's oil concessions in the Gulf. The company, which has since been acquired by Anadarko Petroleum, denies the accusations. A federal judge in Denver is hearing that lawsuit, and should he win, Maxwell will stand to gain about $6 million in whistleblower fees. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has publicly criticized some Minerals Management Service inspectors, saying they had a ""cozy relationship"" with oil company executives and workers. He has announced plans to split the agency into separate energy development, enforcement and revenue collection divisions, saying they have conflicting missions. In a statement issued to CNN, the Interior Department says that real change -- ""systemic and not cosmetic"" -- is coming to the service. Salazar ""is well aware that we need to clean up the troubled agency,"" the department said. But Maxwell said that even if the agency is split up, it won't make much of a real difference. ""You still have the same people,"" he said. ""If you had people issues with the corruption and jobs not being done, you still have the same people in the name of a new agency. So those people may not be changing what they are doing. Therefore, you have the old agency with the new name, with the same corruption."" Maxwell says he decided to speak out because he was ""tired of seeing us not being able to do the job we were hired to do."" He says he is both angry and heartbroken over the damage done to the marshlands, the water and to the economy of the Gulf states, especially Louisiana. ""The only way to potentially change it is to stand up and be recognized and tell what was happening,"" he said."
"(CNN) -- Reputed mob boss James ""Whitey"" Bulger, visibly annoyed, muttered under his breath ""You're a f---ing liar"" Thursday as a disgraced former FBI supervisor testified that there was ""no question"" the Irish gangster doubled as an informant for FBI Boston. Prosecutor Brian Kelly requested that the judge in Bulger's federal trial advise Bulger to ""keep his little remarks to himself,"" which Judge Denise Casper advised shortly after. Both sets of attorneys have spent a remarkable amount of time during the trial of the notorious Bulger, charged with 19 murders and in court after living in hiding for 16 years, trying to prove whether Bulger was an informant during a 15-year period. Even Judge Casper is beginning to question the importance of the issue. During post-court discussion over motions, as the defense was attempting to further it's argument that Bulger's informant records were forged by his FBI handler, Judge Casper questioned, ""How does that address that your client is not guilty of crimes here?"" Bulger's attorney J.W. Carney danced around the question and responded, ""Bulger was not providing information as an informant, he was providing money so that he'd get tipped off about wire taps and search warrants."" Bulger's attorneys have been quick to admit to acts of extortion and racketeering -- charges Bulger is also facing -- to defend their client's position that he was not another ""rat"" from South Boston. ""Why can't both be true?"" Judge Casper inquired. ""The defendant's position is (that) only one is true."" Carney said. ""Why would James Bulger be paying all this money to all these people if the government's theory is he got all this protection because he was providing information. Why would he keep paying everybody?"" Former FBI supervisor John Morris, an addition to the government's long list of cooperating witnesses, testified Thursday that he took bribes from Bulger in the amount of $7,000, along with a silver-plated champagne bucket and two cases of imported wine. Morris said he asked Bulger if he could ""spring"" for a plane ticket for his secretary girlfriend to visit him during FBI training in Georgia, and Bulger obliged. Morris admitted to his acts of corruption in 1997 in exchange for immunity. A sheepish, red-faced Morris, though less than six feet away from Bulger, avoided eye contact with the defendant, who glared steadily at his old confidant throughout his testimony. This is the first time the two have seen each other since they cut ties in 1991 after Morris leaked Bulger's informant status to the Boston Globe. Morris said he first met Bulger at a dinner he hosted his Lexington, Massachusetts, home in 1978 along with Bulger's FBI handler John Connolly, whom he characterized as his ""best friend."" Morris said he met Bulger and later his associate Steve ""The Rifleman"" Flemmi eight to 10 times in various places, including Morris' home, Morris' girlfriend's apartment, a hotel, Bulger's home and even in Flemmi's mother's house for dinner. Flemmi's mother cooked. The defense has previously argued that Bulger was not treated like an informant, and thus did not believe that he was. Morris testified that Connolly preferred to meet Bulger in ""pleasant surroundings, not the type of surroundings you would meet a normal informant,"" like in a hotel or car. ""He wanted Mr. Bulger to be comfortable,"" Morris said. Morris was supervisor to rogue FBI agent Connolly, who is currently serving a 40-year sentence on second-degree murder charges for leaking the identities of witnesses cooperating against Bulger's Winter Hill Gang. Flemmi, serving a life sentence, is set to testify against Bulger later in this trial after agreeing to cooperate with the government to evade the death penalty in 1997. All that Bulger and Flemmi wanted from their handlers in exchange for information was ""a head start,"" as Morris described -- to be tipped off if they were going to be indicted or charged so they could flee. The pair, according to Morris, knew they were ""fair game"" and acknowledged that they were engaging in criminal activity and at some point they might get charged. If that happened, they didn't want their identity as informants disclosed and would rather ""take the risk"" Morris said. Morris admitted to tipping his informants off to wire taps, and keeping their names out of a 1975 horse race indictment. He testified that the Mafia, or La Cosa Nostra, was the main priority of the FBI in Boston and that Bulger and his partner Flemmi were instrumental in the take-down of those mobsters. The two provided the agents with a drawing of Mafia headquarters, and that was used to take down the New England Mafia in a 1983 sting. After being tipped off to an indictment, Bulger went on the run for 16 years and landed himself on the FBI's top 10 most wanted list before being arrested in his Santa Monica. California, home with his girlfriend in 2011. Morris said that he signed off on reports Bulger provided to the FBI that he knew were false lies to protect himself from being implicated as the person to who leaked sensitive information that may have tipped Bulger off to witnesses that were cooperating against him. Those potential witnesses were eventually murdered, Morris said, and Bulger has been charged in their killings. While the defense had little time to cross-examine Morris, who will be back on the stand Friday, defense attorney Hank Brennan painted Morris to be a liar, an adulterer, and a fraud. He was able to fire off a question that is likely to resound with the jury. ""You were corrupt, weren't you Mr. Morris?"" Brennan queried. ""Yes,"" Morris exhaled after a long pause and a deep breath."
"JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israel has expelled Venezuela's ambassador in response to Venezuela's expulsion of an Israeli envoy and the rupture of diplomatic relations earlier this month. A pro-Palestinian mural in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas. Venezuelan head of mission Roland Betancourt and two other diplomats were given until Friday to leave. ""Due to the decision of Venezuela to cut relations with us a few weeks ago, we told the Venezuelan charge d'affaires that he and his staff should leave Israel,"" Foreign Ministry official Lior Hayat said. ""We told them they are declared persona non grata in Israel."" Venezuela expelled Israeli Ambassador Shlomo Cohen and staff on January 6 and broke off diplomatic relations on January 14 in protest of Israel's attack on Gaza. Bolivia also broke off relations with Israel that day. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro defended his country's actions, saying Israel violated basic human rights with its military action. ""Our decisions were just, correct, aligned with and adjusted with the spirit of our constitution, which mandates that we seek international peace,"" Maduro said in a statement on the foreign ministry's Web site. Maduro said Venezuela's actions are compatible with its support for the creation of a Palestinian state. He has not spoken, he said, with any Israeli officials over this week's expulsion of the Venezuelan diplomats. ""The response of the state of Israel is weak, late, and in any case for us it's an honor,"" Maduro told the Qatar-based television network Al-Jazeera. ""We're proud that the state of Israel that exists today, led by these criminals, made this decision."" Israel and Venezuela have had diplomatic tensions before. Israel recalled its ambassador to Venezuela in August 2006 ""in protest against the one-sided policy of the president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, in light of his outrageous defamatory remarks against the state of Israel, and in reaction to the recalling of the Venezuela ambassador to Israel,"" the foreign ministry said at the time. A January 21 cease-fire put an end to fighting between Hamas militants in Gaza and Israel, which had launched a three-week offensive, saying its goal was to stop missile strikes into southern Israel. More than 1,200 Palestinians, many of them civilians, were killed. Israel lost about 10 soldiers and three civilians."
"Hong Kong (CNN) -- Growing levels of conflict, terrorism, and the toppling of regimes in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as political violence in East Africa, are driving a rise in political instability worldwide, according to research by UK risk analysis firm, Maplecroft released on Thursday. Since 2010, one in ten of the countries surveyed have experienced a significant increase in the level of short-term political risk. These risks include governments asserting control over natural resources, regimes being ousted by popular uprisings and the expropriation of foreign investors' assets. The findings form part of the latest Maplecroft Political Risk Atlas, which uses 52 indicators to help companies monitor political issues affecting the business environment in 197 countries. Since 2010, Syria has deteriorated the most. It now ranks second compared with a 44th place ranking in 2010. Somalia topped the rankings. Afghanistan, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo also ranked in the top five. Egypt has been downgraded to ""extreme risk"" for the first time as a result of violence following the ousting of former President Mohamed Morsy and an increase in terrorist attacks in the Sinai Peninsula, the report said. Maplecroft warned that Syria, Egypt and Libya are ""now so bad"" that they will be ""mired in exceptionally high levels of dynamic political risk for years to come."" A fall in political violence in the Philippines, India and Uganda has contributed to these countries experiencing the biggest reduction in short-term political risk over the past four years. Improvements in the level of governance has also helped to lower risk levels in Malaysia and Israel in the same period. Social unrest . The report said there is a higher chance for social unrest to exacerbate political instability in Bangladesh, Belarus, China, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam. ""This is due to the erosion of democratic freedoms, increasing crackdowns on political position and the brutality by security forces towards protesters, compounded by rising food prices and worsening working conditions,"" Maplecroft said in a statement. Another concern for foreign investors is that there has been a major increase in oppression by governments worldwide. ""This erosion of political freedoms is central to driving the wider risk of unrest and instability in the medium- to long term,"" said Charlotte Ingham, senior political risk analyst at Maplecroft. In the short term, foreign investors face a heightened risk of becoming complicit with the actions of these oppressive regimes, which poses a threat to a company's reputation, the think tank said. Empowered youth . Instability increases as the gap grows between political freedoms and social gains, such as education and computer literacy among young people. In 2010, prior to the the Arab Spring, Libya, Tunisia, Iran, Syria and Egypt were among the countries with the biggest divide between political freedoms and social gains. Maplecroft predicts that the growing imbalance between social gains and political freedoms in Bahrain, Azerbaijan and South Africa will heighten the risk of instability in those countries in 2014 and beyond. Although China is categorized as ""extreme risk"" in Maplecroft's ranking of oppressive regimes, the speed of the country's governance reforms is likely to be sufficient to limit the chances of widespread social unrest that could lead to a ""jasmine"" revolution, according to the think tank. But China's increased scrutiny of foreign business practices has created compliance challenges for companies operating there, the report added. Maplecroft cautioned that Vietnam's crackdown on social media and freedom of speech amid growing opposition may undermine the stability of the government in the long term. Poland has experienced a significant increase in the level of political freedoms over the past four years, according to Maplecroft, and now displays a ""near perfect balance"" between the level of political freedoms and social gains, which reduces the likelihood of protests and disputes over labor conditions. Political violence . East African countries saw the biggest increase in the risk of political violence, including terrorism, poor governance, and regimes vulnerable to popular uprisings. Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan scored in the ""extreme risk"" category, while Kenya and Ethiopia are ""high risk."" Eritrea, Tanzania and Mozambique also saw a change in their risk category. Three years after the Arab Spring, more than 60% of countries in the Middle East and North Africa region have seen a significant rise in political violence, demonstrating the long-term political risks associated with forced regime change, the report said. In the West, the impact of the global financial crisis continues to be seen in high levels of unemployment and underemployment. This, combined with austerity measures, has contributed to growing inequality and stalling or declining living standards, according to Maplecroft. Political landscapes both in Europe and the United States have become increasingly fragmented and polarized as populist parties flourished in response to growing voter dissatisfaction with established political parties over these issues."
"English Premier League club Liverpool have agreed a $36 million deal with Ajax for Uruguay striker Luis Suarez. Liverpool have been haggling with the Dutch outfit over the fee for several days but both announced on their websites that negotiations had proven successful on Friday. The Reds have now been given permission to discuss personal terms with Suarez and will aim to complete the transfer before the European transfer window closes on January 31. Liverpool reject Chelsea's bid for Fernando Torres . A statement on the official Ajax website read: ""Ajax and Liverpool have reached an agreement over the transfer of Luis Suarez. ""He will make the move to the English club immediately. The deal is worth up to a total of €26.5 million ($36 million)."" Suarez hasn't played a league game for Ajax since November last year after he was banned for seven matches for biting an opponent. The 24-year-old was infamously sent off during the World Cup quarterfinal against Ghana in July after saving a goal-bound attempt with his hands. His switch would mark the first signing Kenny Dalglish has made since he returned to Liverpool as manager. The Scot previously won eight league titles as a Reds player and manager. Liverpool posted a statement on their website that read: ""Liverpool Football Club announced this afternoon that they had agreed a fee of up to €26.5 million ($36 million) with Ajax for the transfer of Luis Suarez, subject to the completion of a medical. ""The club have now been given permission by Ajax to discuss personal terms with the player and his representatives."" The deal comes on the same day Liverpool revealed they had turned down a multi-million dollar offer from Chelsea for Spain striker Fernando Torres."
"Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- An airstrike Saturday hit a parking lot outside the compound in central Tripoli of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, killing three people, a government spokesman said. Musa Ibrahim said he had no information about the identities of the dead in the attack on the compound, called Bab el-Azizia. The attack, presumably from NATO forces, came shortly after Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Khaim announced that Libya's army will withdraw from the besieged coastal city of Misrata and allow tribal leaders to attempt to deal with the rebels. ""The situation in Misrata will be eased and will be dealt with by the tribes surrounding Misrata,"" Khaim told reporters. ""You will see how they will be swift and quick and fast."" He added that the residents of Libya's third-largest city have been in the grip of the conflict. ""The tactic of the Libyan army is to have a surgical solution, but it doesn't work,"" Khaim said. ""With the airstrikes, it does not work. We will leave it for the tribes and Misrata people to deal with the situation -- either to use force or negotiations."" He added, ""The tribal leaders have issued an ultimatum to the military saying they will deal with the situation if the military cannot do it. ... They will speak with the rebels and, if there is no solution, they will fight the rebels."" In the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, in the east, rebel spokesman Ahmed Bani reacted to Khaim's comments with laughter and derision. ""This only confirms that he wants to save face,"" Bani said of Gadhafi. ""This confirms that our rebels in Misrata have liberated Misrata and that Libya is still in one piece, not two, the way Gadhafi hoped. In regards to the tribes fighting the rebels; how would you believe that a person will fight his brother? And who are the tribes that are supporting Gadhafi, anyway?"" He predicted that if Gadhafi forces leave Misrata, ""it will mean that this game is over."" But he added that he did not necessarily believe they will. Earlier Friday, Bani said that Libyan rebels had wrested control of a key building in Misrata and made other advances in the city. ""This victory is quite important for us, and it shows that we are advancing and we are heading in the right direction,"" Bani told CNN about the rebels' control of the National Insurance Building, which is on the main thoroughfare, Tripoli Street. Its height provided snipers with a clear view of surrounding streets. Bani said some fighters loyal to Gadhafi were negotiating to surrender their weapons to the rebels in exchange for the rebels' assurances that they would not be harmed. But the carnage of recent days was on display at the city's hospitals, where doctors were working long hours and beds were full. Gadhafi's forces retain control of roads that lead to the seacoast city. But access by sea remains open, and on Friday another aid ship chartered by the International Organization for Migration left Benghazi for Misrata carrying food, medicine and other supplies. The organization said it hopes to rescue more casualties and stranded migrants from the city. ""Given the increasing number of casualties in Misrata and the thousands of lives that are in danger, we felt a responsibility to act,"" said Foreign Minister Eamon Gilmore of Ireland, which is helping fund the chartered vessels. ""Colonel Gadhafi's forces have agreed to allow ships into the port to evacuate civilians and we have requested that the IOM undertake an emergency operation on our behalf,"" Gilmore said. At a news conference in Baghdad, America's top military chief acknowledged a stalemate on Libya's eastern front, around the oil towns of Ajdabiya and al-Brega, both of which have changed hands several times. ""The regime forces have changed their tactics, and changed it in a way where they essentially look like the opposition forces, so it's become a much more difficult fight,"" U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters. ""And as I've observed in recent days, essentially it is very much stalemate-like in the vicinity of Ajdabiya and al-Brega,"" Mullen said. He said the outcome -- toppling Gadhafi after nearly 42 years of rule -- is certain. But the timing, he said, is ""difficult to predict."" Also Friday, Sen. John McCain made an unannounced visit to Benghazi, the rebel stronghold, where residents welcomed him. Some waved American flags, some chanted, ""Thank you John McCain! Thank you Obama! Thank you America! We need freedom! Gadhafi go away!"" The senator from Arizona's arrival came a day after the United States said it was deploying drones to Libya. McCain, a proponent of beefing up U.S. efforts to oust Gadhafi, said the drones will increase NATO's capability but not enough to break a ""significant degree of stalemate."" Though he opposes sending U.S. ground troops to Libya, he said the international community needs to ""facilitate"" weapons and training for the rebels. McCain, the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Libya since the conflict erupted in February, challenged critics of intervention to tour Benghazi, as he did Friday, to see a ""powerful and hopeful example of what a free Libya can be."" The top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee stopped by a hospital and suggested that Western powers are not doing enough for the rebels. ""Let's face it: This is not a fair fight,"" said McCain, a decorated Vietnam veteran with clout in defense circles. ""Maybe we should be doing everything we can to help these people and maybe we're not, and they're dying."" U.S. Predator drones were deployed Thursday in the North African nation as part of the NATO-led military efforts there. But as of Friday night, the drones had made no strikes, said a Pentagon spokesman, Navy Capt. Darryn James. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said earlier that bad weather forced the deployed drones to return. Libya's deputy foreign minister told reporters that the decision reflects poorly on U.S. President Barack Obama. ""He is involving himself in a dirty game,"" Khaim said. ""This is will be another crime against humanity committed by the American administration and I feel very sad for President Obama to be involved in such a thing."" CNN's Reza Sayah, Saad Abedine, Frederik Pleitgen and Barbara Starr contributed to this report."
"WASHINGTON (CNN) -- As he awaits a crucial progress report on Iraq, President Bush will try to put a twist on comparisons of the war to Vietnam by invoking the historical lessons of that conflict to argue against pulling out. President Bush pauses Tuesday during a news conference at the  North American Leaders summit in Canada. On Wednesday in Kansas City, Missouri, Bush will tell members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars that ""then, as now, people argued that the real problem was America's presence and that if we would just withdraw, the killing would end,"" according to speech excerpts released Tuesday by the White House. ""Three decades later, there is a legitimate debate about how we got into the Vietnam War and how we left,"" Bush will say. ""Whatever your position in that debate, one unmistakable legacy of Vietnam is that the price of America's withdrawal was paid by millions of innocent citizens, whose agonies would add to our vocabulary new terms like 'boat people,' 're-education camps' and 'killing fields,' "" the president will say. The president will also make the argument that withdrawing from Vietnam emboldened today's terrorists by compromising U.S. credibility, citing a quote from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden that the American people would rise against the Iraq war the same way they rose against the war in Vietnam, according to the excerpts. ""Here at home, some can argue our withdrawal from Vietnam carried no price to American credibility, but the terrorists see things differently,"" Bush will say. On Tuesday, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, ""President Bush's attempt to compare the war in Iraq to past military conflicts in East Asia ignores the fundamental difference between the two. Our nation was misled by the Bush Administration in an effort to gain support for the invasion of Iraq under false pretenses, leading to one of the worst foreign policy blunders in our history. ""While the President continues to stay-the-course with his failed strategy in Iraq, paid for by the taxpayers, American lives are being lost and there is still no political solution within the Iraqi government. It is time to change direction in Iraq, and Congress will again work to do so in the fall."" The White House is billing the speech, along with another address next week to the American Legion, as an effort to ""provide broader context"" for the debate over the upcoming Iraq progress report by Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander, and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador in Baghdad. President Bush has frequently asked lawmakers -- and the American people -- to withhold judgment on his troop ""surge"" in Iraq until the report comes out in September.  Watch Bush criticize the Iraqi government » . It is being closely watched on Capitol Hill, particularly by Republicans nervous about the political fallout from an increasingly unpopular war. Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he would wait for the report before deciding when a drawdown of the 160,000 U.S. troops in Iraq might begin. Bush's speeches Wednesday and next week are the latest in a series of attempts by the White House to try to reframe the debate over Iraq, as public support for the war continues to sag. A recent CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll found that almost two-thirds of Americans -- 64 percent -- now oppose the Iraq war, and 72 percent say that even if Petraeus reports progress, it won't change their opinion. The poll also found a great deal of skepticism about the report; 53 percent said they do not trust Petraeus to give an accurate assessment of the situation in Iraq. In addition to his analogy to Vietnam, Bush in Wednesday's speech will invoke other historical comparisons from Asia, including the U.S. defeat and occupation of Japan after World War II and the Korean War in the 1950s, according to the excerpts. ""In the aftermath of Japan's surrender, many thought it naive to help the Japanese transform themselves into a democracy. Then, as now, the critics argued that some people were simply not fit for freedom,"" Bush will say. ""Today, in defiance of the critics, Japan ... stands as one of the world's great free societies."" Speaking about the Korean War, Bush will note that at the time ""critics argued that the war was futile, that we never should have sent our troops in, or that America's intervention was divisive here at home."" ""While it is true that the Korean War had its share of challenges, America never broke its word,"" Bush will say. ""Without America's intervention during the war, and our willingness to stick with the South Koreans after the war, millions of South Koreans would now be living under a brutal and repressive regime."" E-mail to a friend ."
"Buenos Aires (CNN) -- Argentina's president is scheduled to temporarily hand over power Wednesday as she undergoes thyroid cancer surgery. Doctors were set to operate on President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner at Austral Hospital, located about 60 kilometers (35 miles) outside Buenos Aires, the state-run Telam news agency reported. She will hand over power to Vice President Amado Boudou until January 24, officials have said. Supporters gathered outside the hospital Tuesday, posting banners and flags on a surrounding gate. Some set up camp for an overnight vigil. ""There is nothing healthier than the love between the people and the president,"" one sign said, according to Telam. Recent medical tests uncovered papillary carcinoma in Fernandez's thyroid gland, presidential spokesman Alfredo Scoccimarro said last week. The cancer has not spread to her lymph nodes or grown beyond the thyroid gland, he said. Fernandez, 58, was sworn in for a second four-year term last month after she won re-election with more than 54% of the vote. She became Argentina's president in 2007. Her husband, Nestor Kirchner, was president from 2003-2007. He died in October 2010. During Fernandez's presidency, Argentina's economy has enjoyed sustained growth of about 8% annually. Papillary carcinoma is the most common type of thyroid cancer and has a high survival rate, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine. More than 95% of adults with papillary thyroid carcinoma survive at least 10 years, according to a description on the library's website. Treatment includes surgery, radioactive iodine and medication, the library says. Possible complications in surgery can include damage to a nerve that controls the vocal cords or accidental removal of a gland that helps regulate blood calcium levels, according to the medicine library. Recently doctors have diagnosed several current and former South American leaders with cancer. Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2010. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced that doctors had diagnosed him with cancer in June. He did not specify what kind of cancer he had, but after undergoing several rounds of chemotherapy, he said in October that he had been cured. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff overcame cancer while she was a candidate for the office, and former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is undergoing treatment for throat cancer."
"(CNN) -- Decorating in the midst of a financial recession is not easy. But Thom Filicia, host of the Style Network's ""Dress My Nest,"" author of ""Thom Filicia Style"" and former cast member of ""Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,"" insists that it can be done. ""Paint is very affordable. Pick a color that has life and personality,"" Thom Filicia says. ""I always tell people, 'Start with what you have.' Work as much with what you have as possible, and then fill in where necessary,"" Filicia said. CNN recently asked the design guru about decorating on a budget and helpful tips to make your home look its best. CNN: When you walk into a room that you're going to redesign, where does your mind first go? Thom Filicia: I look at the layout, I look at the way the space is being used, and I try to figure out what the best use of the space is; that it works really well, it looks good, that you're getting the best views, you're seeing the space, and that you're getting through the space. CNN: And that's focusing mainly on furniture? Filicia: That really focuses on all the furniture. You want to look at where the rug is and where the sofa is and coffee tables and chairs -- just how the room works. Even if it's great-looking stuff, it sometimes doesn't look as good as it can look. CNN: What can people on a tight budget do to rearrange their living room and make it look better with what they have? Filicia: Make sure that your furniture layout works. Make sure that the things you love to look at, you're seeing. Make sure things aren't cluttered. Paint is very affordable. Pick a color that has life and personality. You could do an accent wall behind your sofa. You could use a low-[volatile organic compound] paint so it's environmentally friendly. You can use inexpensive up lights. You put them on either side of a piece of furniture or behind a tree. You always want to have a Lutron dimmer you plug into the wall. And then plug your lamps into the Lutron dimmer, and you can dim the whole room. CNN: As far as accessories go, like flowers and pillows, where do you draw the line on too much or not enough? Filicia: I like to keep things clean and straightforward. I think one floral arrangement is usually enough, or maybe a couple really small cute little ones. Pillows should function. You want to sit on a sofa and be comfortable. Start with three: one lumbar in the center and maybe a pair of pillows left and right. Add a throw, a rug for underfoot. Those things start to add layers to the room and make it a little more acoustical. CNN: What are some common designing rules that people always tend to follow but that you can actually break? Filicia: People think that dark walls make a room smaller. It actually makes the space bigger. All the corners recede, and it adds a lot of depth. Also, I think that color definitely adds a lot of warmth to spaces. CNN: What's the most common mistake that people make? Filicia: People just don't trust their instincts, and they're not willing to take a risk. Have fun with it. It's only decorating. People tend to go with beige and white just because they're afraid or they don't want to make a commitment. CNN: If someone had just enough money to do one thing in their room, what would you tell them to focus on? Filicia: The first thing you want to really focus on is a great sofa, because it is really the anchor for the room. In a bedroom, the anchor piece is your bed. Start with your anchor piece, and that's where you spend your most money. CNN: You have a new book out now, is that right? Filicia: Yup, I have a book out right now, which is called ""Thom Filicia Style,"" and it's a great book. It's a lot of fun. It's got a lot of great tips in it. It talks about my philosophy; it talks about color and texture. It's a very comprehensive book with case studies. CNN: Can you give us some tips for making a place eco-friendly on a tight budget? Filicia: It's very easy to use eco-friendly cleaning supplies, environmentally friendly lighting throughout your house using low wattage or eco-friendly bulbs. Also, just turning your lights off when you're not in a room; when you're brushing your teeth not keeping the water running; taking shorter showers. These are all really simple, easy ways that we can all help Mother Earth repair and heal and replenish itself."
"(CNN)Brad Pitt has a solution to everyone who's been tripped up by ""Selma"" star David Oyelowo's name: Just sing it. At the 2015 Palm Springs International Film Festival awards gala on Saturday, Pitt -- a ""Selma"" producer -- led the audience in a singalong of actor's surname. Oyelowo, who was born in Britain, is the son of Nigerian immigrants. ""In situations like this, I found it sometimes helps to sing it,"" he told the audience after their uncertain attempt to say the name. ""O-yell, o-yell, o-yell,"" he started. That didn't quite do the trick, so he tried a couple bars of Coldplay's ""Yellow."" Awards presenters may be getting many chances to say ""Oyelowo."" The actor has been nominated for several honors for his portrayal of Martin Luther King Jr. in ""Selma,"" including a Golden Globe, and he's considered a leading candidate for a best actor Oscar. As for the mispronunciations, people shouldn't feel too bad. Oyelowo told Jimmy Fallon that it's not an easy name to say properly and that his father questions the accents in the Western pronunciation. But, he added, that's OK: His father has trouble with ""Oprah Winfrey"" and ""Steven Spielberg."""
"(CNN) -- Last year we published a list of quintessential Americana experiences. You can find it here. They weren't necessarily the most patriotic, obvious or agreeable choices. NASCAR, bourbon, state fairs, Vegas, what's not to love? Apparently, plenty. There was scandal. There was outrage. There was name calling. Because we're gluttons for punishment -- or maybe just because we think we actually can please all of the people all of the time -- we're back for round two. Here's our Volume II of the most authentically American experiences this country has to offer. 1. Seaside boardwalks . Boardwalks have been enhancing beachside amusement since long before the Drifters' released their classic ""Under the Boardwalk"" in 1964. The first boardwalk was built in Atlantic City in 1870, when a railroad conductor was asked to find a way to prevent sand from filling shorefront hotel entryways. The innovation remains America's favorite wooden path, showing up everywhere from Monopoly, which was inspired by ""America's Favorite Playground,"" to the HBO series ""Boardwalk Empire,"" which takes place in Prohibition-era Atlantic City. Of course, you don't have to travel to Jersey to experience the joy of a lumber-pathed stroll; there are more than 60 boardwalks split between America's coasts. Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York, includes roller coasters, carnival attractions, Nathan's Famous hot dogs and other slices of Americana. Out West, the Venice Boardwalk in California offers bodybuilders, artists, trinket sellers, magicians and boutique shops a place to be seen. 2. Pueblos and powwows . One of the most inspiring American experiences is witnessing the culture of the first Americans come alive in a spectacle of swirling, pulsing color. Every April, approximately 3,000 Native American dancers and singers from roughly 700 tribes come together in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to compete and celebrate their heritage. The teams blend traditional style with modern, innovative techniques, so the result is more than just living history, it's the evolution of a culture that most Americans think has all but died away. In the same area are many pueblo sites that provide tours of cave dwellings and indigenous architecture. Perhaps the most memorable is Taos Pueblo, 2Â½ hours northwest of Albuquerque. This village of adobe buildings has been continually occupied by Native Americans for more than a thousand years. Taos Pueblo, 120 Veterans Highway, Taos, New Mexico; open 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; closed for about 10 weeks in late winter and early spring; $10 for adults; 575-758-1028 . Gathering of Nations, University of New Mexico Arena, Avenida Cesar Chavez, Albuquerque, New Mexico; 505-836-2810 . 3. Wrigley Field, Chicago . Forget national pastime -- to some Americans, baseball is a national religion. Wrigley Field in Chicago, regardless of denomination, is their Vatican. Boston's Fenway Park has two years on Wrigley (the former was built in 1912), but Fenway has had more significant updates. Like a giant video display installed in 2000, and extra seats and luxury boxes that have been added time and time again. By contrast, Wrigley has remained fairly true to its roots. It's a classic jewel box design -- green seats, open roof, exposed steel, brick, stone -- with ball-swallowing ivy-covered walls. There's truly no better place to watch a game if you want a direct link to nearly a century of baseball history. If you're in Chicago during the off-season, no worries. The park provides 90-minute tours year-round. Wrigley Field, 1060 W. Addison St., Chicago; tours $24 for individuals; 773-388-8270 . 4. College football, anywhere (though Alabama ain't bad) Let's not kid ourselves. Football is the true national sport of the 21st century. While it doesn't get much more American than the Super Bowl, we'd argue that the most enjoyable, purest way to experience the unique American-branded mixture of militant strategics, refined athleticism, brute force and exploitation of young labor is at a college football game. Best to get there early enough to tailgate. Bonding with strangers, drinking and grilling beforehand is 72.4% of the experience. Pretty much any stadium will do, but a game experience doesn't get much better than at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, home of the reigning national champion Alabama Crimson Tide. (Yes, we know, the barbecue is spicier and the cheerleaders are hotter at your team's stadium, but we had to draw the line somewhere and ""national champs"" earns you the top spot on lists like this.) Bryant-Denny Stadium, 920 Paul W. Bryant Dr., Tuscaloosa, Alabama. 5. Kentucky Derby . There's one more sporting event we have to include on the list. Sure, other countries have their horse races. But those competitions weren't founded by the grandson of William Clark of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Also, those races don't have a traditional drink made of bourbon (mint julep), nor do they encourage everyone to dress like a flamboyant Southern aristocrat. We're talking bow ties, seersucker, bold pastels and spectacular hats that put British royal wedding attendees to shame. Churchill Downs, 700 Central Ave., Louisville, Kentucky.; May 3-4, 2013; single day general admission $25-40; 502-636-4400 . 6. Burning Man . The first Woodstock Music & Art Fair in 1969 was one of the most pivotal moments in American cultural history. Five-hundred-thousand people came together to celebrate drugs, weirdness, creativity, individualism, beauty and sticking it to the Man. What's the direct descendant of Woodstock? Before you say Bonnaroo, Coachella, Lollapalooza or any other trendy music festival -- each of which is run by the Man -- let us stop you. The world's largest festival of artistic expression is Burning Man. The weeklong event held every year in the Black Rock Desert of northern Nevada is difficult to describe. As the website puts it, describing Burning Man is ""like trying to explain what a particular color looks like to someone who is blind."" Essentially 50,000 creative spirits gather in one of the most desolate areas in the continental United States to wear bizarre clothes, make art, do drugs, experience a new form of communal living, have a hell of a lot of fun and let their freak flags fly. Burning Man; August 26-September 2, 2013; 415-863-5263 . 7. Soul food . It's difficult to pin down the most American of foods. Almost every candidate has roots in other countries, but, of course, that's what makes them American. Soul food makes the top of the list because it's delicious, unapologetically artery-clogging and it brings us face to face with our turbulent past. African-American slaves on Southern plantations were often given scraps and leftovers to eat, and had to make do with whatever vegetables they could grow nearby and with little care, as so much time was spent working. From these restrictions arose some of the finest recipes in American cuisine. There are thousands of spectacular soul food restaurants -- many of the best are in the South -- but Sylvia's in New York is maybe the most well known. Sylvia's, 328 Lenox Ave., New York; 212-996-0660 . 8. Juke joints . While we're in the region, one of America's great art forms, Blues music, grew up in the juke joints of the South. Jukes arose after emancipation, taking the form of shacks and private houses where African-Americans gathered to listen to and play music, gamble and dance. A few classic juke joints still remain, some along Highway 61, aka the Blues Highway, which stretches from New Orleans to the town of Wyoming, Minnesota, an American experience in and of itself. Po' Monkey's, opened in 1963 outside Merigold, Mississippi, is considered one of the last remaining original jukes. It's only open Thursdays, and it's not easy to get to, but the music and crowd make it worth the trip. Po' Monkey's; Po Monkey Road, Merigold, Mississippi; 662-843-2712 . 9. Outdoor Christmas light displays . Sure, other countries have Christmas lights (or fairy lights, in the UK), but no one else takes it quite as seriously as Americans. The lighting of the approximately 80-foot tall Norwood spruce at Rockefeller Center in New York is practically a national event. But the greatest displays of holiday spirit can be seen in more rural areas. Take Magical Night of Lights in Lake Lanier, Georgia, which consists of seven miles and millions of lights, or the six-mile long Oglebay Winter Festival of Lights in Wheeling, West Virginia. Magical Night of Lights, 7000 Lanier Islands Parkway, Buford, Georgia; 770-945-8787 . Winter Festival of Lights, 465 Lodge Dr., Wheeling, West Virginia; November 8, 2013-January 5, 2014; Sunday through Thursday until 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday until 11 p.m.; 800-624-6988 . 10. Megachurches . Americans know how to make praising Jesus memorable. Just look at Gospel music and tent revivals. In modern times you needn't look much further than Gospel brunches (wash away your sins from the night before with spiritual songs and mimosas) and megachurches. Those giant boxes of worship are where thousands of Christians gather not simply to pray and praise, but in many cases to eat, shop and work out. The United States has more than 1,300 of them, and more than 50 draw a weekly attendance between 10,000 and 45,000. The mega-ist of American megachurches is Lakewood Church in Houston, led by senior pastor Joel Osteen. Every week his message is broadcast to 7 million viewers in more than 100 countries. Lakewood Church; 3700 Southwest Freeway, Houston; 713-635-4151 ."
"(CNN) -- The Bangladeshi military has revised the number of army officers missing after last week's bloody uprising, from 72 down to six. Bangladeshi soldiers carry a coffin during a funeral Monday for victims of last week's mutiny. The earlier number was based on ""assumptions,"" said Lt. Gen. Sina Ibn Jamali, the army chief of general staff. ""The numbers we are giving now are grounded in facts,"" Jamali told reporters Sunday night. Authorities said confusion arose because no one knew for sure how many officers were inside the Bangladesh Rifles headquarters when paramilitary troops, or jawans, staged a bloody revolt and took dozens of them hostage Wednesday. Search crews have recovered 73 bodies from a river, sewers and three mass graves inside the Rifles compound in the Pilkhana area of the capital, Dhaka. Of those bodies, 53 were confirmed as those of army officers. Meanwhile, an army investigation into the 35-hour rebellion began Monday. The police have filed murder charges against more than 1,000 Rifles, and soldiers were out in full force throughout Bangladesh looking for them. The 65,000-strong Rifles is a border security force -- distinct from the army, but whose commanders are career army officers. The jawans had complained for years that their army superiors dismissed their appeals for more pay, subsidized food and the opportunity to participate in U.N. peacekeeping operations, which pay far more than what they make at home. The two-day standoff ended after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina promised the jawans amnesty if they laid down their arms. She has backtracked since, saying the government will not show mercy to those who killed, looted or committed arson."
"(CNN) -- The Bank of England knowingly helped to sell looted Nazi gold from occupied Czechoslovakia months before the outbreak of World War II, according to experts. On Tuesday the Bank of England's archives -- published digitally for the first time -- reveal that £5.6 million of gold was transferred just days after the Nazi siege of Czechslovakia in 1939, which was one of the catalysts that sparked the war. While the transfers themselves were known at the time, the archives unmask private letters and telephone conversations where the Bank of England avoided questions over its Czech gold holdings from the Treasury. The bank sanctioned the transfer of gold -- worth an estimated £736.4 million ($1.1 billion) today, according to the Financial Times -- between two accounts held by the National Bank of Czechoslovakia and the German central bank, known then as the Reichsbank. Albrecht Ritschl, professor of economic history at the London School of Economics, told CNN that the Bank of England ""in cold blood, and pretending not to know what these accounts were and where the gold was coming from, agreed to the transfer."" Ritschl said: ""From the Czech point of view this was very clearly a breach of trust."" The Bank of England declined to comment when contacted by CNN. The archived document claims bank officials suspected but were ""not sure"" the accounts were Czech and German. However, they believed it was ""no business of theirs,"" as both accounts were held by the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) -- a central bankers' bank. But David Blaazer, a historian at the University of New South Wales and author of a study on the Bank of England and Czech gold, told CNN: ""There is absolutely no doubt that the Bank knew which numbered BIS account belonged to which central bank."" Despite an attempt by the British government to block all Czech assets in the UK, the transfer went ahead and the story caused an outpouring of public anger. Banker for Germany . With the UK heavily exposed to the German debt crisis in 1931, such transfers were part of an ""economic appeasement"" plan of Nazi Germany by Britain, according to Ritschl. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was keen to avoid conflict with Adolf Hitler's Germany after the human cost and economic devastation caused by the First World War. This culminated in Britain, France, Germany and Italy signing the 'Munich Pact,' leading to the annexation of Czechoslovakia and the country's eventual invasion. Ritschl said: ""This policy started in 1933 when Hjalmar Schacht was reinstalled by Hitler as president of the Reichsbank. ""This was beneficial in the short term for Britain, as Nazi Germany unblocked British assets frozen in Germany,"" Ritschl told CNN. ""Britain then resumed its traditional role as a banker and insurer for Germany's foreign trade. As the episode shows, the Nazis had a reliable partner,"" he said. After the gold transfer, the assets were ""disposed"" of with around £4 million going to the central banks of Belgium and Holland and the remainder sold in London, according to the official report. Ritschl said the personal friendship between Reichsbank President Hjalmar Schacht and then-Bank of England Governor Montagu Norman may have had a bearing on the bank's actions at the time. Government intervention . In May 1939, then British Chancellor of the Exchequer John Simon wrote to Norman to ask whether the bank was still holding Czech gold. In his reply, Norman did not answer the question but pointed out ""that the bank held gold from time to time for the BIS and had no knowledge of whether it was their own property or that of their customers."" According to Blaazer, the Bank of England could not refuse to follow the order of a customer (the BIS) to transfer gold between its own accounts. He said: ""The bank claimed, and the government accepted, that this particular transaction fell beyond the governments and the banks power."""
"Kathmandu, Nepal (CNN) -- The two-day ritual slaughter of tens of thousands of animals -- among the world's largest sacrifice of animals -- began Tuesday in southern Nepal, officials said. About 200,000 animals, including male water buffalo, goats and roosters will be slaughtered, despite protests from animal rights activists, according to the chief priest of the festival. People from Nepal and India sacrifice animals to the goddess Gadhimai in the Bara district, about 150 kilometers (about one mile) south of Kathmandu, in thanks for wishes granted. ""This is a divine power center,"" Mangal Chaudhary, the head priest of the Gadhimai temple, said by phone. ""When people wish for a son, a job, good health or anything else come true, they make an offering to the Gadhimai goddess."" He expects more than 5 million people -- 60 percent from India, which shares an open border with Nepal -- to attend the festival. About 15,000 male water buffalo will be slaughtered, up from 12,000 five years ago, said Chaudhary, who is the 10th generation of his family to serve as chief priest. Water buffalo are slaughtered on the first day, and other animals on the second day. Government officials say they cannot stop the centuries-old tradition, despite opposition from animal-rights activists from Nepal and India. ""This is a matter of people's religion and belief,"" said chief district officer Tara Nath Gautam, the highest-ranking government official in Bara. Animal rights activists say they aren't looking for a sea change. ""We do not expect this practice to stop overnight. A sustained effort is needed so that, sometime, the practice will end,"" said Nepali animal rights activist Pramada Shah. Though meat from the sacrificed animals is given to devotees, the hides of water buffalo are taken by the festival management committee to sell. The heads are buried on the temple premises, which spread over three square kilometers, Chaudhary said. Buffalo is eaten by low castes in Nepal and India, but goat meat is eaten by a wider population. An estimated 100,000 to 200,000 goats are sacrificed, Chaudhary said. Journalist Manesh Shrestha contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Let me tell you 'bout Wayne and his deals of . Cocaine . A little more every day . Holding for a friend till the band do well . Then the D.E.A. locked him away . -- The Clash, ""Jail Guitar Doors"" The first thing you notice about the Travis County Correctional Complex is the door. A thick steel door painted the color of the ocean on a cold day automatically slides open for visitors authorized to enter the jail. It makes a noise that fills the room when it closes. And then suddenly, it's severely quiet. As if the door was designed to warn you it can't be easily opened. On the other side, past beige hallway after beige hallway and an outside walkway bathed in barbed wire, I arrived at Room 7 on the programs floor, where eight women were learning to play guitar and write songs. ""Let's practice the G chord again and strum four times,"" instructed Jean Synodinos, an Austin-based singer-songwriter who teaches the weekly music class at the county jail in Texas. The students each focus on wrapping their fingers around the frets of acoustic guitars, each one with ""Jail Guitar Doors"" spray-painted on the wood. Jail Guitar Doors is the name of an organization started by musician Billy Bragg in the United Kingdom. Inspired by a song by The Clash, Bragg wanted to bring instruments and music education into prisons to support the rehabilitation process behind bars. It was only later that Bragg learned the ""Wayne"" in The Clash song was his friend Wayne Kramer, co-founder of the punk band MC5. Kramer was one of the most influential political musicians of a generation. But in 1975, Kramer was caught selling cocaine to undercover agents and served two years in the federal prison in Lexington, Kentucky. Over three decades later, it was Bragg who prompted Kramer to start a U.S. branch of the organization that Kramer had inspired. This is how there came to be eight women in the Travis County Correctional Complex learning to play G chords and write songs. Just a few miles away, the annual South by Southwest music festival was getting underway, a massive event in which hundreds of thousands of music industry professionals and fans from around the world converge on Austin to hear their favorite bands or find new ones waiting to be discovered. From what I can tell, people mostly just spend a lot of time waiting in line and partying, throngs of music fans spilling over into the street in search of entertainment. But the class at the Travis County jail reminds us that music is more than just entertainment. It's power. The power to transform someone's life, the power to transform a system. Almost all of the women at the Travis County jail have been behind bars before. They're facing trial for a range of offenses, from drug possession to parole violations to larceny. These aren't major crimes. One of the women in the class is on trial for shoplifting $15 in merchandise from a department store. But since it's her fourth offense, she's facing up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Our criminal justice system is broken, as these women not only say but clearly show with such stories. Yet the women also talk about how they are broken too, how they can't seem to turn their lives around. And they don't want society to give up on them. They crave the services that have largely been slashed as the United States has focused less on rehabilitation and more on simply warehousing people who commit crimes, contributing to our country having the highest incarceration rate in the world. ""This class isn't just about music,"" says Raul Garcia, a program coordinator on staff at the jail. The women are learning to channel their feelings into constructive outlets and to stop and think before acting. ""It's that impulsivity that can get you in trouble,"" Garcia says connecting the class to its real world implications. ""You have to learn to use your breaks."" ""What did you eat today for breakfast?"" asks Synodinos. ""Oh, we had this awful meat patty thing that's brown on the outside and pink on the inside,"" one woman says. The seven other women erupt in agreement, the gray stripes of their uniforms bouncing with the energetic discussion. Synodinos interrupts, ""OK, but what does that symbolize for you? Maybe you really don't like it because it makes you miss your mom's cooking."" The woman who brought up the meat patty in the first place jerks her shoulders back with the thought, then takes a deep breath and wipes her eyes. The meat patty is more than just a menu item. And these women's lives can be more than just a prison term. ""Music is like an escape,"" one of the women says during the discussion. ""It reminds us there's life outside, there's something more than these walls to be a part of."" At the same time, Jail Guitar Doors reminds us that music is about more than lines and concerts and hit singles. Music is about expression and self-discovery and empowerment and transformation. And for eight women in the Travis County Correctional Complex, music is a way to respond to the noise of their lives and find a way to escape, at least metaphorically for now, that impenetrable door. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Sally Kohn."
"(CNN) -- The generation of gays and lesbians that literally created the modern LGBT movement -- from the heroes of the 1969 Stonewall riots to their slightly younger friends -- is at, or nearing, retirement age. That used to mean the beginning of an extremely difficult time in an LGBT person's life. But as gay baby boomers find more acceptance in mainstream society and continue to do what they've always done -- push to make a better world for the LGBT community -- their retirement options are slowly improving. That is, if they decide to retire at all. ""The notion of retirement has never been a part of my vocabulary,"" said Bob Witeck, CEO and co-founder of Witeck Communications. Nearly 61, Witeck has put some thought into what he should do with his strategic public relations and marketing firm as he gets older. Like many friends his age who are also entrepreneurs, he plans to keep working. ""Because I run a business, as I get older I can change the intensity of my engagement in the kinds of work I take on,"" Witeck said. ""I know I'm lucky that way, and I'm lucky in my personal life as well. My husband is 50, so I have a younger man to help me if I need it,"" he said, laughing. For decades, according to published studies and reports, many LGBT seniors entered into a kind of dangerous isolation, because the majority did not have children or spouses to help care for them. Even if they did have the benefit of a partner to help as their health declined, they faced extra burdens their straight counterparts did not have. Without federal marriage equality, gay couples -- no matter how long they've been together -- cannot inherit each other's Social Security benefits, even if they were legally married in the handful of states that allow it. They can be designated as the beneficiaries of each other's retirement savings, but must pay inheritance taxes that straight widows and widowers do not. In order to make health care decisions on behalf of an incapacitated partner, gay couples must pay additional legal fees to be granted medical power of attorney. Historically, nothing could stop a hospital or nursing home from forbidding a gay person from visiting their partner, and openly gay people often faced discrimination from health care providers, according to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force report, ""Outing Age 2010."" Consequently, many LGBT seniors ended up going back into the closet as their declining health and mobility left them dependent on strangers for help, according to a study conducted by the National Senior Citizens Law Center, Lambda Legal and others. Or they were slow to ask for help -- even if they badly needed it. ""When you put that together -- the absence of adult children and a partner to help, and add barriers to accessing services, and limit the financial means others have -- then this very thin network of support breaks at exactly the wrong time, right when there is an increasing need for services,"" said Michael Adams, executive director of the group Services & Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Elders, known as SAGE. Read more: Growing old openly gay . Roll of the dice . Witeck said his retirement plans and those of his friends are nothing like those of their fathers' generation. ""My father was of the generation that thought you put in your time and then you just take off the rest, and many could afford to do it,"" Witeck said. ""He had absolutely no plans and had a generous pension."" His father worked on Capitol Hill for a couple of decades, Witeck said, and was able to retire at 60. He lived another 27 years. ""Over time he did get a little discouraged because he felt like he didn't have a purpose, but that's what the people he knew did,"" Witeck said. ""They just abruptly stopped working. I can tell you, that won't be me."" He has, however, seen some friends whose plans to continue working have been derailed by health problems. ""I do know, as we age, our health can fail, and I've seen it with some friends who aren't as sharp as they once were. So I know it's a roll of the dice on how long we can keep working,"" he said. ""Hopefully I can stay healthy and won't need the help."" But often retirement-age people do need help, and that has not always been easy for the LGBT community. ""There is no question we are making a lot of progress in this area, and we've absolutely been helped along by the emergence of boomers into retirement years, but by the very nature of the enormity of this work, true change will take years,"" Adams said. His organization, SAGE, has been working to change the situation for older LGBT people since 1978. Much has changed for the community since then, he said. ""Especially since the Obama administration took office,"" Adams said. ""The federal approach to aging issues has improved."" While there still isn't federal recognition of marriage for gay couples, the federal Pension Protection Act of 2006 allowed a rollover option to nonspousal beneficiaries. That meant people could leave their pensions to anyone without a tax penalty. In the past, only married spouses were eligible for that benefit. In 2010, Obama issued a memorandum requiring all hospitals receiving Medicare or Medicaid funds -- nearly every hospital in the United States -- to respect the right of all patients to choose who may visit them during a hospital stay, including a same-sex domestic partner. The president also directed the Department of Health and Human Services to help ensure that medical decision-making rights of LGBT patients are respected. This year the Administration on Aging -- the federal agency responsible for funding programs that help the elderly -- finally issued guidance saying agencies and programs it funds should recognize the LGBT population among those with ""the greatest social need."" That designation means that there should be more financial backing and programs to help elderly gay people. The Administration on Aging spends more than $2.3 billion annually on nutrition and social services for the aging, according to Adams, but the LGBT community only sees $2 million of that. Finally, Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colorado, introduced the LGBT Elder Americans Act this year. If enacted, it would further boost support for the community. As it is written now, the Older Americans Act, which goes up for reauthorization every five years, does not specifically mention LGBT older adults. Among the LGBT Elder Americans Act's proposals is an amendment that would permanently establish the National Resource Center on LGBT Aging, which would provide training to providers of services to the elderly around the country. It would also require long-term care ombudsmen to collect data relating to discrimination against LGBT older adults. Creating gay-friendly facilities . On the local level, however, everything may not be as rosy. ""While the laws have become more accepting of marriage equality of the LGBT community and nondiscrimination policies in a broader sense are more inclusive, that doesn't mean people who work with the elderly automatically become more accepting,"" said Laurie Young, director of aging and economic security with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. ""There is often high turnover in nursing home staff and a lack of professionalism,"" she said. ""Sometimes even the leadership will get it (being inclusive of LGBT people), but it doesn't get passed on to the people working with the LGBT community."" Several organizations, such as the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and SAGE, have made training the staffs of senior centers, nursing homes and assisted living facilities a priority. They want those workers to become more sensitive in their work with gay people, particularly because members of the baby boomer generation are more likely to be open about their sexuality than previous generations. ""LGBT people want to experience the services and programs that exist for all older people,"" Adams said. ""So our work has shifted to try and bring along aging and health service organizations so they're as accessible as possible to the LGBT community."" SAGE, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and other groups also train ombudsmen to intervene if an LGBT person comes forward with a complaint. They encourage facilities to create more gay-friendly paperwork, so instead of requesting the name of a husband or wife, the forms include space for a spouse or partner. Even changing the decorations can help. ""These changes don't have to cost a lot,"" Young said. ""We've talked about something as simple as having photos in the lobby of the senior center or nursing home that are more reflective of a broader population -- anything to signal that the space is more welcoming."" Even in the short time that SAGE has been conducting its training, it has seen a difference, Adams said. ""In the past few years we started to notice a real change in the reception of our calls,"" he said. ""We used to reach out to these organizations and hear, 'Oh, we don't have any gay people using our services,' and occasionally we'd have even hostile responses. Now our offers to help have been increasingly met with a desire on the part of these service providers to do a better job working with LGBT folks."" Witeck said he hopes he will never need those support services, but if he does, he's confident his generation will continue to make them more accessible to the LGBT community. ""We, meaning baby boomers, are such a huge and active bunch,"" Witeck said. ""I've seen it so many times before: where we go, institutions change. I know with different generations in the past, there were serious isolation issues and institutions that refused to see us as full human beings. ""But when I think of the arc of change for true equality for LGBT people and how much has gotten better since my generation was in high school and college, it's way beyond what I ever imagined was possible,"" he added. ""And I imagine it will get that much better for all of us, so LGBT people won't have to live in fear when they do need the help."" How has LGBT life changed over the years? Share your story with CNN iReport. You're story could be featured in an upcoming CNN story."
"London (CNN) -- The European Union is spending more than $167 million to soothe the pain being felt by fruit and vegetable farmers hit by Russian food sanctions. The move comes as the trade war between the West and Russia intensifies, and looks likely to hit Europe's growth figures. Fears over the impact of chilling relations has already undermined Europe's fragile recovery. Around $2.7 billion worth of fruit and vegetables were shipped from the EU to Russia in 2013, the bloc's single biggest export to the market. The package announced by the EU Monday will support producers of fruit and vegetables that are already in season and can't be easily stored. Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a tit for tat move against Western sanctions, banned imported European cheese, American chicken and Norwegian seafood from the country's dinner tables. The move was in response to countries imposing economic sanctions against Russia in the aftermath of the flight MH17 disaster. The Kremlin banned most agriculture products from the U.S., the European Union, Norway, Canada and Australia. Europe's food exports to Russia were worth $15.8 billion in 2013, making up around 10% of the bloc's agriculture exports, according to EU data. European countries sold $1.6 billion worth of pork and $1.3 billion worth of cheese and curd to Russia. The U.S. shipped $1.3 billion worth of food to Russia, with chicken and other poultry making up a quarter of the total value, around $310 million. The ban of foreign food is more than just an inconvenience for Russians who like imported food. Russia is the world's fifth largest agricultural importer and remains dependent on food supply from abroad -- its agricultural trade deficit extended to $26 billion in 2013, according to data from the European Commission. With billions worth of food disappearing from the market, prices are likely to go up and experts forecast increased Russian inflation, which is already running at 7.5%. Russians will still be able to enjoy European wines and spirits, as well as bread, pasta and cereals. These have escaped the embargo -- even though their ban would hurt Europe economically. In 2013, EU countries sold nearly $1 billion worth of spirits and $733 million worth of wine to Russia. Explore CNN's infographic above to see what items are likely to disappear from Russian menu. Russia's food ban leaves Europeans with sour taste ."
"Los Angeles (CNN) -- ""We are One""? Not quite. Singer Jennifer Lopez, who was supposed to perform the official song of this year's World Cup at the opening ceremony this week, has pulled out. ""Regretfully Jennifer Lopez will not be attending this year's World Cup opening ceremonies,"" her rep told CNN in a statement late Sunday night. No reason was offered. Lopez teamed up with rapper Pitbull and Brazilian star Claudia Leitte to record Brazil 2014's official song, ""We Are One (Ola Ola)."" The trio was slated to perform at the tournament's opening ceremony ahead of the host's first match with Croatia on Sao Paulo on Thursday. The World Cup song has been a tradition since the 1966 World Cup in England, when a song dedicated to the tournament mascot, a lion named ""World Cup Willie,"" was released. Four years ago, it was Shakira telling the world to ""Waka Waka"" ahead of South Africa 2010. Soon after the song was released, Pitbull, who has previously worked with the likes of Christina Aguilera and Enrique Iglesias, spoke of his joy at being involved in the project. ""I'm honored to join Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Leitte at the FIFA World Cup to bring the world together,"" said Pitbull. ""I truly believe that this great game and the power of music will help unify us, because we are best when we are one."""
"Elliot Rodger's difficulties with women were so devastating to him that he vowed to kill anyone he couldn't win over. ""My orchestration of the Day of Retribution is my attempt to do everything, in my power, to destroy everything I cannot have,"" Rodger wrote in a 137-page manifesto obtained by CNN affiliate KEYT. ""All of those beautiful girls I've desired so much in my life, but can never have because they despise and loathe me, I will destroy."" He also said he despised men who had luck with women and said he would eliminate them, too. ""I will kill them all and make them suffer, just as they have made me suffer,"" he added. ""It is only fair."" On Friday, that ""day of retribution"" came. Authorities say Rodger, 22, fatally stabbed three men in his home before killing two women outside a sorority house and then shooting a man at a deli in Isla Vista, California. By the end of his rampage, six victims were dead. Rodger died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. And perhaps the only clues to the reasons are in the gunman's haunting dissertation of his life. A life-changing divorce . For most of his early childhood, Rodger was a happy boy. But he said his first major traumatic event came when he learned at 7 that his parents were divorcing. He described his parents' divorce as a devastating, ""life-changing event,"" but said he gained more respect for his father after he quickly acquired a girlfriend. ""Males who can easily find female mates garner more respect from their fellow men, even children,"" Rodger wrote. ""How ironic is it that my father, one of those men who could easily find a girlfriend, has a son who would struggle all his life to find a girlfriend."" Bitterness after puberty . But the impetus for most of Rodger's angst stemmed from his unfulfilled desires for women. ""As children we all play together as equals in a fair environment. Only after the advent of puberty does the true brutality of human nature show its face,"" he wrote. ""Life will become a bitter and unfair struggle for self-worth, all because girls will choose some boys over others. The boys who girls find attractive will live pleasure-filled lives while they dominate the boys who girls deem unworthy."" He described himself as a very jealous person, ""and at the age of nine my jealous nature sprung to the surface."" Rodger wrote about the website PuaHate.com as a ""forum full of men who are starved of sex, just like me. ""Many of them have their own theories of what women are attracted to, and many of them share my hatred of women, though unlike me they would be too cowardly to act on it. Reading the posts on that website only confirmed many of the theories I had about how wicked and degenerate women really are."" The site was down Sunday. ""I certainly would not want to blame a specific website for the violence and a tragedy that was carried out by one specific individual,"" Josh Glasstetter, a researcher at the Southern Poverty Law Center, told CNN. ""But his online activities on forums like PuaHate gave his thoughts and beliefs more of a definition, and direction."" Traumatized by porn . When Rodger was 11, a friend he met through a chat room sent him photos of ""beautiful naked girls,"" he wrote. ""When I looked at the pictures, I was shocked beyond words. I had never seen what beautiful girls looked like naked, and the sight filled me with strong and overwhelming emotions,"" Rodger said in his autobiography. ""I was traumatized. My childhood was fading away. Ominous fear swept over me. ... Indeed, a whole new world had opened up before me, and I had no idea how to prevail in it. I still wanted to live as a child."" The trauma got worse two years later, Rodger said, when he was at an Internet cafe and saw an older teen watching porn. ""The sight was shocking, traumatizing, and arousing. All of these feelings mixed together took a great toll on me,"" he wrote. ""I walked home and cried by myself for a bit. I felt too guilty about what I saw to talk to my parents about it."" ""Not getting any sex is what will shape the very foundation of my miserable youth,"" he said. Taunting and bullying . Rodger said he endured a spate of bullying in the eighth and ninth grades, causing him to be ""more shy and timid than I ever was in my life."" ""I felt very small, weak, and above all, worthless,"" he wrote. ""I cried by myself at school every day."" He said one of his worst days came at the end of ninth grade, when a classmate was bragging about having sex with his girlfriend. ""I defiantly told him that I didn't believe him, so he played a voice recording of what sounded like him and his girlfriend having sex,"" Rodger wrote. ""I could hear a girl saying his name over and over again while she panted franticly. He grinned at me smugly. I felt so inferior to him, and I hated him."" That sense of inferiority carried over into his college days at  Santa Barbara City College. ""Every day that I spent at my college, the more inferior and invisible I felt,"" he wrote. ""I felt like such an inferior mouse whenever I saw guys walking with beautiful girls."" 'Sophisticated, polite gentleman' Some of Rodger's social media posts were more positive than the rants in his autobiography. He portrayed himself as an affluent young man who drove a black BMW Series 3 coupe and traveled the world. ""I consider myself a sophisticated, polite gentleman, unlike most boys my age,"" according to a statement posted on ""Elliot Rodger's Official Blog."" CNN cannot confirm the authenticity of the social media posts. According to the blog, Rodger was born in the United Kingdom and moved to the United States at age 5. He was raised in the shadow of Hollywood, in the affluent Los Angeles suburb of Woodland Hills, by his father -- a commercial photographer and sometimes director -- and his stepmother, an actress who appeared with Matt Damon in ""Green Zone."" Pictures posted on Rodger's Facebook page show him with his father, Peter, on the red carpet at the premiere of the 2012 film ""The Hunger Games."" Peter Rodger briefly worked as a second unit assistant director on the film, according to a spokeswoman with Lionsgate Entertainment, the company behind the ""Hunger Games"" movie franchise. But it's also in the blog where Rodger railed against life in Isla Vista. ""I have tried very hard to fit in with the social scene there, but I have ultimately been unable to do so,"" the blog states. ""There are too many obnoxious people who have ruined my whole experience at that place."" 'Day of retribution' The day before before the rampage, a video posted on YouTube featured Rodger ranting for nearly seven minutes against women who he said rejected him and popular kids who ignored him. ""For the past eight years of my life, ever since I hit puberty, I've been forced to endure an existence of loneliness, rejection and unfulfilled desires all because girls have never been attracted to me,"" he said. ""Tomorrow is the day of retribution. The day in which I will have my revenge against humanity, against all of you."" Rampage killings: Fast Facts ."
"(CNN) -- Karry Trout's first patient was a 38-year-old woman who had been diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer. The patient had waited nearly six months after feeling a lump in her breast to visit the doctor. She had no health insurance. It was Trout's job, as Mason General Hospital's patient navigator, to guide the single mother through treatment and, hopefully, into recovery. Patient navigation is a relatively new field in the health care industry. A navigator's primary role is to remove the obstacles patients face in accessing or receiving treatment. More hospitals are creating these positions to help patients traverse an often-confusing medical system. Despite her inexperience, Trout could relate to the fear she saw in the patient's eyes. ""I know what the shock of a diagnosis is like. I know what the waiting and the unknowns are like,"" she says. ""I haven't experienced it personally, but I think sometimes it's worse when it's your child going through it."" Trout's daughter, Ella, was almost 8 months old when doctors first spotted a problem. One of Ella's eyes wasn't tracking properly, and soon after it started to bulge. Doctors at Seattle Children's Hospital diagnosed an optic glioma, or a tumor growing around the nerve that connects the eye to the brain. By the time she was 18 months old, Ella had lost sight in both eyes. Ella went through four years of chemotherapy, several major surgeries and six weeks of radiation all before the age of 7. New to Shelton, Washington, and a single mother, Trout struggled to keep Ella's frequent doctor appointments in Seattle, about two hours from home, as well as work a full-time job as a radiologist for Mason General and juggle never-ending insurance forms. ""It's a lot,"" Trout says. ""And when you are going through that diagnosis, and then you have all of that on top of it, it can be very overwhelming."" 4 ways to control your health care costs . Four years ago, Trout got a notice from the Susan G. Komen foundation about a grant for breast cancer patient navigation. What on earth is patient navigation? she wondered. After a bit of research, Trout realized what had been missing from her experience with Ella. ""I didn't have somebody who was my go-to person,"" she says. Trout applied for the grant, and Mason General was awarded enough money to start a program. In her role as a patient navigator, Trout does community outreach to raise awareness about the importance of breast cancer screening. She is one of the first staff members to meet with a patient after a diagnosis, providing them with information that they can read later when the shock has worn off. She works with specialists to arrange appointments and helps connect women with financial aid, transportation or child care if they need it. ""When you get that initial diagnosis, you just have a lot of questions,"" she says. ""And it's hard to pick up the phone and speak to your physician or nurse every time you have a question. That's what I'm here for."" Patient navigation programs are the result of the medical community's new emphasis on patient-centered care, says Mandi Pratt, associate director of community programs at George Washington University's Cancer Institute. ""Patient navigation, in part, is a function of how fragmented our (health care) system is,"" Pratt says. ""It makes it difficult to have a seamless experience."" Are we prepared for 18 million cancer survivors? Advocates say patient-centered care can improve outcomes and reduce costs, so much so that hospital reimbursement from insurance companies is now partially tied to patients' opinions on how well a facility treated them. In 2011, the American College of Surgeons' Commission on Cancer established new accreditation standards for cancer facilities, requiring them to incorporate ""a patient navigation process to address health care disparities and barriers to care."" The standards move us closer to a future Dr. Harold Freeman first envisioned in the 1980s. Freeman then was a breast cancer surgeon in Harlem, New York, trying to figure out why patients in his hospital had a five-year survival rate of 39% when it should have been closer to 85%. Freeman realized many patients were being diagnosed with late-stage breast cancers; they were arriving at the clinic with large masses that had obviously been ignored. Freeman identified five main barriers his patients faced in receiving care: financial, communication, medical system, psychological and personal. Obstacles ranged from not having health insurance to not understanding the language. Some patients feared doctors or mistrusted medical advice. Others simply missed chemotherapy because they couldn't find child care. ""People got lost in the complex system,"" Freeman says. In 1990, he pioneered the first-ever patient navigation program, training people from the community to listen and answer questions after a diagnosis. He also began an educational program to advocate for screenings. Over time he increased patients' five-year survival rate in the same population to 70%. These barriers are never going to go away completely, Freeman says, but patient navigation can help address them. ""Can you eliminate poverty? Probably not ... but you can change the things that poverty means,"" he says. ""If poor people are less educated, you can educate poor people. If poor people don't have access to screening, diagnosis or treatment, you can create programs to concentrate on those one by one."" For now, patient navigation is primarily being used in the cancer community, but it's spreading to other chronic diseases. Even patient navigation, Freeman says, falls prey to our fragmented system -- one filled with specialists that each operate in a separate universe. 5 million more people living with diabetes . Freeman compares the care continuum, from the first examination to survivorship, to a mile relay. ""It takes teams of people passing batons one to the other until the last runner crosses the finish line."" Since starting the patient navigator program at Mason General, Trout has helped hundreds of women cross that finish line. She often receives letters of thanks from patients who say she helped them feel empowered to make informed decisions in a time of chaos. ""I think when you go through things as a patient, you know, as a parent -- to be able to be treated with compassion and not just (as) another diagnosis is a gift,"" Trout says. ""And that's what I hope I provide."" Let's talk about sex ... and cancer ."
"Philadelphia (CNN) -- The pilot of a tugboat towing a barge that crashed into a sightseeing ""duck boat"" -- killing two tourists -- intends to plead guilty to a charge stemming from the July 2010 accident, federal prosecutors said Thursday . Matthew R. Devlin, 35, of Catskill, New York, has agreed to plead guilty to one count of misconduct of a ship operator causing death, according to a statement from the office of the U.S. attorney for eastern Pennsylvania. He also will surrender his ship¹s mate license, the statement said. Devlin could be sentenced to up to 46 months in prison, the statement said. No sentencing date was given. The plea agreement closes the case, the statement said. Two tourists from Hungary -- one 16 years old, the other 20 -- died when a 250-foot sludge barge towed by the tugboat overran a disabled 33-foot ""Ride the Ducks"" tour boat on the Delaware River, plunging the amphibious vessel and its 35 passengers and two crew members underwater. According to National Transportation Safety Board findings, tugboat pilot Devlin made and received 21 cell phone calls in addition to surfing the web using a company laptop during his more than two hours at the wheel. The NTSB released its final report on June 21. The incident was ""another tragic example of the deadliness of distraction,"" Deborah Hersman, chairwoman of the NTSB, said after the final report showed several people involved were on the cell phones or computers. After the accident, Devlin initially told his superiors and the Coast Guard that he was dealing with a serious family medical emergency involving his 6-year-old son. The sightseeing duck boat was anchored in the shipping channel after being shut down because the boat's operator saw smoke and feared an on-board fire. Lawyers who represented the families of the two victims released a statement Thursday saying the families ""are gratified that Federal prosecutors have acted to hold one of the responsible parties accountable in this tragedy that should have been avoided."" The statement from attorneys Robert J. Mongeluzzi, Andrew Duffy, Peter Ronai and Holly Ostrov Ronai added that the families ""expect the corporations who were involved to acknowledge their roles and act accordingly."" The statement did not elaborate."
"(CNN) -- Monday, the official first day of winter, airlines were scrambling to accommodate passengers affected by the cancellation of hundreds of flights after a monster weekend winter storm blanketed a swath of the East Coast. Charlene Fisk, a filmmaker from Atlanta, Georgia, tried her best not to lose it at Hartsfield International Airport on Monday at 4:30 a.m. when she found out she wouldn't be getting home to upstate New York anytime soon. Her US Airways connecting flight had been canceled, so she was placed on another flight to Philadelphia, which was then canceled. She's going to have to fly to Chicago on Monday evening, hopefully stay the night with friends and then hop on a standby flight to Syracuse. Her family will have to drive about an hour from their home to pick her up. ""Passengers are talking about renting cars together and just driving home,"" Fisk said. US Airways is picking up the tab to fly Fisk to Chicago. And while some airlines are offering refunds, a spokesman for Delta Air Lines said the company is providing weather waivers that allow passengers to reschedule without a penalty if they were scheduled to travel before Christmas. Another strong winter system will be developing by Tuesday in the Rockies. The system will take a track through the central Plains, Midwest, and into the western Great Lakes. Winter storm and blizzard watches are already in effect for the Central Plains for Tuesday night through Thursday. Severe weather also will be possible from Dallas and Houston, Texas, to Little Rock, Arkansas, and New Orleans, Louisiana. On Monday, CNN correspondent Susan Candiotti was taking her first day of vacation when she began a chaotic journey from Newark, New Jersey. Already with boarding pass in hand, she spent nearly two hours in three different lines because agents were unsure which line passengers should be in, she said. Another agent eventually told Candiotti and others to go directly to TSA security where they got in another line. A different Continental agent then lead them to an upper floor to check their bags. Then, they were sent back to security and she made it to her  8:45 a.m. flight gate with 10 minutes to spare only to learn that the flight had been postponed until around 11 a.m., when it eventually took off for Columbus, Ohio. Her final destination is northern Kentucky which she'll eventually reach once her sister picks her up in Ohio and drives her home. ""My experience today was nothing compared to many people we interviewed (on Sunday) who stood in line for three or four hours,"" Candiotti said. ""One student trying to get to Denver had to spend two sleepless nights at the airport. So, my delay pales by comparison."" Washington's Dulles and Reagan National airports saw snowfall of 18 inches and 16.4 inches respectively on Sunday, the highest one-day totals ever for December. Alison Young posted on her Facebook page that she's glad her brother finally made it to Omaha, Nebraska. He arrived at 3 a.m. central time on Monday. He began his journey at 7 a.m. Sunday at Reagan National, had to scramble to find a flight out of Dulles, went through Denver and then made it home. ""Can't wait to attempt my own trek home Tuesday,"" Young joked. American Airlines said it would add extra flights, use bigger planes where possible and reflow passengers to other flights. Passengers who were affected can switch flights with no change fees through Thursday, said Charley Wilson, airline spokesman. Continental Airlines said though flights are extremely full because of the Christmas season, staffers are working on a ""case-by-case basis"" to ensure passengers get home for the holidays. Passengers can also get a refund or change their flights for free at Continental's Web site or through the 800 number, said spokeswoman Mary Clark. Areas from the Mid-Atlantic through the Northeast set snowfall records this weekend. Record snow blanketed some areas Sunday, including 23 inches in Bethesda, Maryland, and 24 inches in Medford, New Jersey. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, received 23.2 inches -- its second-highest snowfall ever in a single event. Two people were killed in weather-related crashes, the Virginia State Police said Sunday, and ""there are two additional deaths that are likely related to the winter storm."" The storm, known as a nor'easter, blanketed the mid-Atlantic region and the heavily populated Interstate 95 corridor. Meanwhile, western North Carolina residents were digging out from the powerful storm. In Washington, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty said the storm is ""perhaps the biggest we've seen in several years."" ""We are going to throw everything we have at it to keep the District open for business on this busy pre-holiday weekend,"" Fenty said when he announced the snow emergency. But, he also urged residents to stay put in their homes. ""We urge everyone if you don't have to go anywhere, wait. We should have a lot of streets ready to go by rush hour Monday. And, hopefully, all of it done between Monday and Wednesday."" Nine people were taken to a hospital after a bus and a city snow plow collided, a D.C. fire official said. The injuries were not considered serious."
"A counselor in Brooklyn's Orthodox Jewish community was found guilty Monday of sexually abusing a girl over a period of three years in a case that one victim's advocate described as marking ""a new era."" Nechemya Weberman, 54, was found guilty on all 59 counts he was facing, including sexual conduct against a child. He faces a possible sentence of 117 years in prison, the Kings County District Attorney's office said. The abuse began in 2007, when the girl's parents hired the unlicensed counselor to help their then-12-year-old daughter; it continued -- mostly in his office -- until 2010, the district attorney's office said in a news release. The victim, who testified at trial, is now 17, it said. Pearl Reich, a former Orthodox Jew who identifies herself as a victim's advocate, said the verdict ushers in ""a new era for the Jewish religious community."" Reich told CNN affiliate WCBS that the victim will need a lot of help, but that Weberman's conviction is part of the healing process. ""We're very hopeful that this will lead to other young women in this community and other communities understanding that they can come forward,"" District Attorney Charles Hynes told reporters. ""They will be protected."" The case highlighted practices of the conservative Satmar Hasidic community, many of whom live in the insular Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of South Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Joel Engelman, an advocate against sexual abuse among Orthodox Jews who described himself as a survivor of such abuse, said it is rare for respected members of the community to face such allegations in court. In the past, members of the community have intimidated and pressured those who have accused their leaders of sexual abuse, he said. The case came to light last year, when four men were arrested and accused of trying to bribe Weberman's victim and her boyfriend to get them to drop the case against Weberman, a spokesman for the district attorney said. ""There was a huge fundraiser for the accused Weberman, and the entire community structure was filled with propaganda and hate against the victim in an effort to shut (her and her family) up,"" Engelman said. ""Thankfully, the courage of the young survivor has been tremendous, and she was able to withstand and go through with the process."" George Farkas, Weberman's attorney, was not available for comment. Sentencing is set for January 9."
"(CNN) -- Two more arrests were made in connection with the shooting death of a Mississippi State University student on campus, bringing the total number of suspects to three, officials said Tuesday. All three suspects are from the Jackson, Mississippi, metro area, and they are believed to be acquaintances of the victim, who is from Madison, Mississippi, said university Police Chief Georgia Lindley. All three suspects are facing a charge of capital murder with the intent to sell a controlled substance, Lindley said. Trent Deundra Crump turned himself in to authorities of Alachua County Sheriff's Department in Gainesville, Florida, Lindley said. Duntae Harvey, 21, was arrested Monday and was being transferred Tuesday from Rankin County, where he has been held, university officials said. Mason Perry Jones, 21, of Jackson was arrested Monday in Memphis by members of the U.S. Marshal's Fugitive Task Force, Lindley said. The victim, John Sanderson, 21, was found dead in Evans Hall, a dormitory for male students. The shooting took place place at 10 p.m. Saturday. The suspects were apparently selling drugs and drugs were found at the scene of the shooting, Lindley told CNN affiliate WREG. The shooting prompted the school to send a campus-wide alert through a series of text messages. CNN's Joe Sutton and Michael Martinez contributed to this report."
"Why play one sport when you can play two at the same time? That was the question a number of like-minded individuals were asking themselves, circa 2006. And it is thanks to the vision of these select few that the sport of FootGolf -- a game, unsurprisingly, combining elements of football and golf -- was born and has been spreading its way around the globe ever since. One of those men was Mike O'Connor, who today combines the roles of president of the Federation for International FootGolf (FIFG) and president of UK FootGolf. ""I just knew FootGolf would be a bit of a no-brainer for the amount of golf courses there are, as well as the number of golfers and footballers,"" O'Connor told CNN of a game that involves players kicking a football around a golf course, complete with bigger holes. ""I always thought it would take off. So it was just a question of waiting for the right time to get involved with it all really."" After years in production, O'Connor would bring the sport to the UK -- where there are now over 10,000 active players -- and set up UK FootGolf in 2012. Yet it is a Dutchman called Michael Jansen who is credited with the title of founding father of the game. ""He created what we do today,"" O'Connor said. ""He created everything, from how the game is played, down to the look of the players. Everything."" Kicking around a new idea . Jansen, now an FIFG ambassador, held the first FootGolf competition in the Netherlands in 2008, after hearing of a unique idea from friend and former professional footballer Willem Korsten. Korsten had played an early interpretation of the game during his days at Tottenham Hotspur, when he and his teammates would attempt to kick a football from the training pitch back to the changing rooms in as little time as possible. The mere invention of FootGolf seems to be a natural progression, given that football and golf have long shared a close relationship. Footballers are well known for playing golf in their spare time, so perhaps it is no surprise that FootGolf has proved such a hit with those hailing from a footballing background -- 70% of people who have taken up the sport have been footballers. While there is obviously the relaxing aspect of walking around a golf course on a sunny day, former English Premier League player Bryan Hughes also feels that the sport represents another opportunity for footballers to flex their competitive muscles. ""There is that challenge when playing golf. As sportsmen, we've all got that in our lockers. We want to challenge each other, we want to challenge ourselves and obviously be the best. That's why footballers turn to golf,"" he told CNN. ""It can be a challenge if you want, but I think it's good that you can actually have it as a casual game as well. Some footballers play golf but do it as a hobby, to relax and wind down, and escape from the pressures of a football match on a Saturday."" But while golf is in good health when it comes to attracting footballers, the sport has lost players in recent years -- According to a report in The New York Times, a recent survey by the U.S. National Golf Foundation estimated the game has lost five million in the last decade, with 20% of the existing 25 million golfers likely to quit in the next few years. Many feel the game takes too long to play, is too difficult to learn and has too many complicated rules, which has led to a number of new alternatives being introduced to help boost a sport in decline. Such concerns have led to the introduction on golf courses of 15 inch-wide holes -- about four times the width of a standard hole -- a relaxation in the game's rules, and of course, FootGolf. Gaining a worldwide foothold . Since Jansen's inaugural competition -- open to a mix of Dutch and Belgian professional footballers -- the sport has gone from strength to strength. Three countries formed the FIFG in June 2012 for the first ever World Cup in Budapest, Hungary, while today the world governing body boasts 22 different member nations, ranging from South Africa to Argentina. ""A lot of people are getting involved and loving the sport. It's definitely the fun element that attracts people to it,"" O'Connor said. ""It catches such a large demographic because it's such a low skill level to be able to play. You've just got to be able to kick a ball."" And it is the sport's ability to appeal to all that means a FootGolf course somewhere has likely played host to either a family visit, a first date, a corporate business trip or even, as was the case in the UK, an 81-year-old grandmother's day out with her grandson. But while there is little doubting the game's capacity to attract members from most walks of life, O'Connor feels luring newcomers at a young age is truly pivotal to FootGolf's future and its capability to grow as a sport. ""When I first set up FootGolf I knew a lot of people would want to play the sport, and I knew I wouldn't be alone in liking the idea of playing football on a golf course,"" he said. ""But I was always conscious of the next level. ""I knew it would take off with adults, but we started looking at how the sport could continue to grow and grow. And if you get the youngsters involved you're going to still be going in 10, 20, 30 years' time, and you'll be continuing to build, develop and progress."" Much to O'Connor's surprise, since its introduction, the sport seems to have struck a particular chord with junior football coaches. There has been an overwhelming response from these coaches, who have contacted UK FootGolf to explain that the game is the perfect way to help youngsters focus on their passing and shooting. So much so, that the governing body has taken the steps to set up its very own UK FootGolf Academy Scheme, due to start for business in May, and headed up by Hughes, who previously played for Birmingham City, Charlton Athletic and Hull City and is now a player-assistant manager at Scarborough Athletic. The scheme is currently being worked on with UK-based 1st4sport -- who develop training qualifications for the likes of the English Football Association and the English Rugby Football Union -- and will range from including holiday camps for kids to qualification courses for future coaches. Hughes will take on the role of academy director, and like O'Connor, he feels the scheme can help to push the boundaries of FootGolf even further. ""The concept of FootGolf is something that really appeals to me and I'm sure there is a massive amount of people that would really want to get involved with the Academy Scheme. The potential there is huge and it is something that I'm really looking forward to,"" Hughes said. ""I don't think a lot of kids get the right sort of education when it comes to sport, I think they just want to kick the ball against a wall nowadays. They need direction and for somebody to really push them a little, to get them right up there and become the best they really can be. The scheme will give you that platform."" As well as furthering the profile of the sport, the Academy Scheme will be hoping to produce some of the FootGolfers of tomorrow. A tour de force . The FIGC currently stages a European Tour, with each of its different 22 member nations holding their own tournament throughout the year. Some of the world's finest players go from competition to competition looking to accumulate points, before a European champion is eventually crowned at the final stage in Portugal in November. ""Players travel from country to country because they love FootGolf and they love trying different courses,"" O'Connor said. ""There's quite a small, but cult, following of people that do this. They all want to get ranked and be known as a good FootGolfer, not just in their own country but around the world."" There are also a number of domestic tournaments taking place each year on various courses across the globe. The U.S. currently leads the way when it comes to different courses with 90, while the UK, now boasting 30, has made impressive progress to move up to second, given it had just two at the beginning of 2013. With FootGolf continuing to make huge strides both at home and abroad, O'Connor has high hopes for the sport and feels the sky is most certainly the limit. ""In five years' time, every country in the world that has got golf courses will be a member of the Federation for International FootGolf,"" O'Connor said. ""With the amount of inquiries we are getting from all over the place, I have no doubt about that. ""We've got somebody in Togo asking us about joining the FIFG. They've only got one golf course in Togo, and they're talking about putting FootGolf on it! That's how big an impact the sport is having around the world."" Read more: A golf club with more eagles than most ."
"NEW YORK (CNN) -- One of the sweeping criminal complaints unveiled Thursday in New Jersey against 44 public officials and others includes a New York man accused of trying to arrange the private sale of a kidney from a donor in Israel. Levy Izhak Rosenbaum, who lives in Brooklyn and is not a licensed physician or medical professional, faces charges of acting as a human organ broker. He offered to obtain a kidney for an undercover FBI agent and a confidential witness working for authorities, the criminal complaint says. The price was $160,000. ""I am what you call a matchmaker,"" Rosenbaum is quoted as saying at a July 13 meeting with the two undercover agents. The undercover FBI agent told Rosenbaum one of her uncles needed a kidney because he had been on dialysis for two years and on a transplant list at a Philadelphia hospital, the complaint says. The first meeting took place at Rosenbaum's home on February 18, 2008, three days after the confidential witness contacted Rosenbaum by telephone, the document says. At that meeting, the complaint alleges, Rosenbaum said he could obtain a kidney for $150,000. He later raised the price to $160,000. ""I'm doing this a long time,"" the complaint says Rosenbaum told the two agents. He then added: ""Let me explain to you one thing. It's illegal to buy or sell organs. ... So you cannot buy it. What you do is, you're giving a compensation for the time."" At their last meeting, on July 13, Rosenbaum said he had been arranging kidney sales for 10 years, the complaint says. Asked how many transplants he had brokered, Rosenbaum is said to have responded, ""Quite a lot. ... Quite a lot."" Rosenbaum also told the agents he had brokered a transplant two weeks before their meeting, the document says. According to the complaint, the undercover FBI agent called a person who was the recipient of a kidney brokered by Rosenbaum, who had provided the telephone number as a reference. The person, a New Jersey-area resident identified in the complaint as Recipient 2, had paid cash for the kidney a little more than a year before the February 2009 call. The surgery was performed at a hospital outside the New Jersey area. Asked about the donor's motive, the kidney recipient replied, ""I guess he needed the money,"" according to the complaint. All of the donors ""come from Israel,"" Rosenbaum is alleged to have said. The price had gone up to $160,000, he said, because ""it's hard to get people,"" noting that Israel had passed laws prohibiting the sale of human organs, the complaint states. The agents had already paid $10,000 and were told to bring another $70,000 at a meeting scheduled for this week. ""I prefer you do it with cash,"" the complaint quotes Rosenbaum as saying. The remaining $80,000 would be due ""when I get the donor in the hospital, check them out,"" the complaint says."
"New York (CNN) -- Like so many other people of my generation, John Lennon and the Beatles made an indelible stamp on my life. The very first piece of vinyl I actually owned -- and hadn't borrowed from my older brother -- was the album ""Help!"" To this day, I can remember at the age of 8 dropping the needle on the disc and hearing Lennon's voice roar through the 10-inch speaker on my record player. The Beatles had a profound influence on me. They're the reason why I picked up a guitar, formed a band at age 11 and dreamed of a life as a rock star. Fast-forward 16 years to December 8, 1980. At the time, I was a music journalist for City TV in Toronto, Canada, hosting ""The New Music"" program. Just a couple of weeks earlier, we had reported on Lennon's comeback with the album ""Double Fantasy,"" which marked his re-emergence after five years out of the music business as a self-proclaimed ""househusband."" We were actively working with his record company, trying to set up an interview for a future edition of the program. I was not far from my 24th birthday when the telephone rang on that December day around 11:30 p.m. It was my executive producer, John Martin. ""Lennon has been shot,""he said, ""and we need to do a special."" Tell us where you were when Lennon died . It was one of those moments where time seems to slow down and the mind considers a hundred questions before finally settling on the truth: . How could he have been shot? Are the reports mistaken? Who would do such a thing? How could we lose such a pop culture icon? Didn't he just turn 40? Didn't he have a young son? Didn't he have security? Will I wake up and this will all have been just a dream? We gathered that night in our offices to sift through the material that we had: old Beatles footage, a Lennon documentary that my producer shot years earlier, and the famous D.A. Pennebaker film. We collected the names of friends, collaborators and other acquaintances who could help us tell the Lennon story. A day or two later, City TV aired a live broadcast of a memorial to Lennon at Nathan Phillips Square in front of Toronto's City Hall. Canada had a rich history with Lennon: It was there that he made his post-Beatles debut with the Plastic Ono Band in 1969 and staged his famous North American bed-in in Montreal. Next Wednesday marks 30 years since Lennon's murder. His killer, Mark David Chapman, 55, is still serving his prison sentence of 20 years to life at the maximum-security Attica Correctional Facility in upstate New York. He will stay there for at least another two years as he was just denied parole for the sixth time. This weekend, CNN will examine the events leading up to Lennon's killing. Chapman and his wife, Gloria Abe, describe the murder in rare audio recordings that will debut on CNN's ""Losing Lennon: Countdown To Murder."" Chapman's childhood friends reveal an obsessive idolization of Lennon that later turned to hatred. His wife talks about how she knew that her husband planned to kill Lennon and explains why she didn't warn anyone. The impact of Lennon's death still reverberates today. Several tribute concerts and ceremonies started in October, when Lennon would have turned 70, and have carried on since. This year, Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, revived the Plastic Ono Band with current rock stars including Lady Gaga. Ono told Rolling Stone she believes this rekindling of interest in Lennon ""has to do with the social climate, with wanting some of John's energy, power and conviction."" Lennon's profound influence on music and musicians continues to this day. Marc Roberge, the lead singer of alt-rockers O.A.R., was not even 2 years old when Lennon was killed. Roberge penned the recent song ""Dakota"" after stopping by Lennon's old apartment building with his wife. He was so taken with the images that came to mind as he looked into the entranceway where Lennon was shot that he walked across Central Park West, sat down on a park bench and penned these lyrics: . Outside the archway lies a thief, awaiting Double Fantasy . He's something evil underneath . Outside Dakota died the symphony . ""I watched and I tried to imagine this going down,"" Roberge told me. ""And then I tried to imagine what if it never happened, and that's really the question of the song: 'If you just kept walking on your way.' I mean, would the world be different? And I think the world would be better."" Like Roberge, I've often wondered what would have happened had Lennon not been murdered. Would the world have been a better place? There's certainly every possibility that his commitment to peace would have added something substantive to the global conversation. At the very least, we would have had years more of great music and performance from a man who was truly an artistic genius. Watch American Morning weekdays 6am to 9am ET. For the latest from American Morning click here."
"(CNN) -- The discovery of horse DNA in hamburgers on sale at supermarkets in Ireland and Britain is testing the appetite of meat lovers there. The Food Safety Authority of Ireland said Tuesday that 10 out of 27 hamburger products it analyzed in a study were found to contain horse DNA, and 23 of them tested positive for pig DNA. Read more: Multi-state beef recall tied to potential E. coli contamination . The horse-tainted burgers, on sale at several different supermarket chains, came from two meat processing plants in Ireland and one in Britain, the Irish authority said. ""This raises concerns in relation to the traceability of meat ingredients and products entering the food chain,"" it said, but noted that the findings posed no risk to public health. Read more: Bacteria seen in nearly half of U.S. meat . In nine out of the 10 burger samples, the horse DNA was found at very low levels, the authority said, but in one sample from Tesco, Britain's largest retailer, the horsemeat accounted for about 29% of the burger. Tesco responded by pulling from its shelves all products from the company that had supplied the dubious burgers. Read more: How severe weather makes people go hungry . ""We understand that many of our customers will be concerned by this news, and we apologize sincerely for any distress,"" Tesco said. The retailer is working with Irish and British authorities and the supplier to work out what had happened, it said. Alan Reilly, the chief executive of the Irish food authority, said there was a ""plausible explanation"" for the pig meat finding its way into the burgers, since meat from different animals is processed at the same plants. But he said there was ""no clear explanation at this time"" for the presence of the horsemeat. Report: Unsafe food putting lives at risk . ""In Ireland, it is not in our culture to eat horsemeat and therefore, we do not expect to find it in a burger,"" Reilly said. ""Likewise, for some religious groups or people who abstain from eating pig meat, the presence of traces of pig DNA is unacceptable."" Many British and Irish people expressed their distaste over the revelations on social media. Read more: Horse -- coming soon to a meat case near you? Some Twitter users said they weren't surprised to hear about the questionable origins of the burgers, while others debated the ethics of eating horsemeat. And then there were those who saw an opportunity for attempts at humor. ""Going to #tesco and expecting a beef burger. Instead you get #horsemeat . Sounds to me like foal-play,"" wrote Twitter user Matt Oswin under the username @BrushmanLestar."
"(CNN) -- A competitor has died and another is in hospital following a tragic end to the World Sauna Championships in southern Finland. Russian Vladimir Ladyzhenskiy died Saturday after taking part in the final of a competition in which contestants are required to withstand rising temperatures for as long as possible. Finnish finalist Timo Kaukonen was also taken to hospital for treatment, organizer Ossi Arvela said in a statement posted on the event's website. Images of the contest showed Ladyzhenskiy and Kaukonen sitting side by side in the sauna. Both contestants can then be seen lying on the ground, apparently doused in water. Ladyzhenskiy appears to be suffering from severe skin burns. ""The event was interrupted immediately after the accident. Competition organization grieves these sad events,"" Avela said. Finnish police and organizers are investigating the incident, Arvela said. But he said first aid personnel had been in place and all competitors taking part in the contest had provided doctor's certificates. ""All the rules were followed,"" he said. The World Sauna Championships take place annually in the town of Heinola."
"(CNN) -- Rescue workers Tuesday recovered the body of a child from debris left by a landslide in China's southwestern Guizhou province, state-run media reported. The child's body was the first to be recovered after a rain-triggered landslide buried 107 people from 38 families Monday afternoon. The child, yet to be identified, was found at 5:50 p.m. under rubble in Gangwu township, a rescue headquarters spokesman told the Xinhua news agency. Chances of survival for the others was ""slim,"" rescue workers said. A survivor described the mudslide's speed, which left little time to escape. ""I called the others to flee. But it was too late. I saw some people behind me being buried,"" villager Cen Chaoyang told Xinhua in a telephone interview. Rescuers had to run three miles to reach the site, which is not accessible by vehicle. Rain and landslides continue to plague the region, Xinhua said. The tourism industry has already been affected by the severe weather. Officials have closed 35 of the top scenic spots in the region, Xinhua reported."
"(CNN) -- Ian Livingstone may not be the father of Lara Croft, but maybe at 63 he can be labeled the grandfather of Lara, the Tomb Raider. On the eve of the reboot of the franchise, with a younger and more realistic Lara, the life president of Eidos told me about that snowy night in March of 1995 when he reluctantly decided to travel to Derby England via car from Birmingham. He is forever grateful that he did. Livingstone was being shown around the offices of Core Design as he was doing due diligence ahead of a possible takeover by Eidos. ""In the very last room,"" Ian recalled, ""I think you could say it was love at first sight. There was this amazing character, on screen. It was the very first character with 3-D model, in a 3-D that was a female character."" For a generation, video games had been 2-D worlds with the action moving across the screen. ""Here is one with the character moving into the screen. And there she was, Lara Croft. And we had to have her. It was quite radical. Up to then, games were played mainly by teenage boys and the games were made were also men, so they tended to make male heroes."" Eidos bought Core Design and in 1996 Lara Croft, with her short trousers and large bust, hit computer screens. The game became huge. Since then, 30 million copies of Tomb Raider have been sold, before the launch of the new Tomb Raider Monday. But before you think Livingstone lucked into finding Lara Croft quietly being designed by Toby Gard at Core Design, this was 20 years in the making. Livingstone and his school friend Steve Jackson enjoyed playing board games, especially role-playing games. They started to write role-playing books and eventually discovered the American game Dungeons and Dragons. They got the exclusive European distribution rights to the board game on the back of ordering just six copies of D&D, according to Livingstone, and the set about trying to sell the games to stores. It wasn't easy. ""We had to live in a van for three months as we tried to get people to understand this strange role-playing game,"" Livingstone told me. However, he added, ""we never shied away from the challenge. We ended up opening our own shops because other people were reluctant to stock the games."" That string of stores, known as Games Workshop, set them on their way. And board games to video games was a natural progression. Now, with a CBE in the pocket and the honor title of Life President for Eidos -- a brand name now owned by Square Enix -- Livingstone is more of a advocate for the British video games and film graphics business. The UK was once in the top three in terms of games and graphics business, but has slipped to six. Livingstone says he knows why. British schools. ""The curriculum was simply teaching children how to use technology, not how to make technology,"" Livingstone told me. ""So it was making digital users, not digital makers."" Livingstone and Alex Hope, of Double Negative, were asked to make recommendations to the government to transform the school curriculum to teach people how to program, and not just use, video games. As Livingstone likes to point out, the UK games and graphics business is bigger than the film industry. And the industry supplies the film industry but also the military, among other customers. As for the new Tomb Raider, the reset is a chance to introduce Lara Croft to a new audience and make her a more realistic role model. ""Back in the 90s, it was more of a sort of cartoon character,"" Livingstone said. ""And now it's a realistic character. And realism goes to looks, behavior, and everything about the woman is real."" That includes Lara being younger and with a smaller bust size. ""In past Tomb Raiders, the combat had not been as real as it might have been. So, the decision was made to give it that gritty realism. And she was no longer that armor-plated Teflon-coated hero. Here was this character that you played as Lara, who could sustain damage."" But not be raped, Livingstone told me, recalling a misstep by an employee who said last year that one scene could be seen as the prelude to a sexual assault. ""There was no rape implication. There was a threat which she survived by throwing off her adversary."" The player has the tools to overcome the man and kill him within seconds, Livingstone said. With the reboot now out, it can't be long before we read of a new Lara Croft film with a new, younger, actress to set the mark for a new franchise. Then, more games must be on the cards. Lara lives on."
"RALEIGH, North Carolina (CNN) -- A woman whose husband and two sons are accused of plotting ""violent jihad"" overseas said federal authorities tricked her into leaving her home so they could search it. Sabrina Boyd says terrorism allegations against her husband, Daniel, and two sons are false. Sabrina Boyd said Tuesday that she rushed out to a hospital earlier this week after being told her loved ones had been in a serious car accident. The FBI declined to comment on the allegation. Boyd's claims came the day before an eighth suspect in this North Carolina group of alleged terrorism supporters was identified as Jude Kenan Mohammad, a knowledgeable source told CNN Wednesday. Authorities had said Tuesday that they were seeking an eighth suspect in the case, although they would not identify the person, who is described as a U.S. citizen and North Carolina resident in an indictment. Seven men already arrested in the case face charges of supporting terrorism and conspiracy to commit murder abroad. They are scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday. Officials identified three of the men as U.S. native Daniel Patrick Boyd, 39, -- who according to the indictment had fought against the Soviets in Afghanistan -- and Boyd's sons, Dylan Boyd, 22, also known as ""Mohammed,"" and Zakariya Boyd, 20. The four others are: Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan, also a U.S.-born citizen; Hysen Sherifi, identified as a native of Kosovo who is a legal permanent resident of the United States; and Hiyad Yaghi and Anes Subasic, both naturalized U.S. citizens. Sabrina Boyd, the wife of Daniel Patrick Boyd and the mother of the two younger Boyds, said the allegations against her family are false. ""I know that my husband and my sons are free of guilt,"" she told CNN Tuesday. ""I'm hopeful that the truth will come to light.""  Watch as Sabrina Boyd says she's proud of her husband and sons » . She said she had not spoken to her husband or to her son Dylan, but had spoken to Zakariya. ""He seemed OK,"" she said. ""He said, 'They're innocent, the truth will come out.'"" Learning about the arrest of her husband and sons had been particularly distressing because of the manner in which she found out, she said. She said federal authorities sent a person the family knew to her door this week to tell her that her husband and three sons had been sideswiped by a tractor-trailer. The person was wearing a shirt that appeared to be covered in blood, she said, and told her ""it was grave and they were bleeding, and I needed to be rushed immediately to Duke Hospital,"" she said. For Sabrina Boyd, the news was all too familiar: In 2007, her 16-year-old son, Luqman, was killed in a car crash. ""I had already been through this two years prior,"" she said. She said authorities took her, her daughter and pregnant daughter-in-law to the hospital, where she learned that her husband and sons had not been in a car accident. ""When we got to the hospital they brought us around back, separated us, handcuffed us, including my 8-month pregnant daughter[-in-law], and were very rude and then told us, 'They're not dying, they're detained. And you better cooperate with us.'"" She added, ""They used the death of my son to trick me into getting out of my own house so they could just serve a warrant with nobody there."" All eight suspects are accused of plotting ""violent jihad"" overseas, according to the indictment, and are charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and conspiracy to murder, kidnap, maim and injure people. The indictment makes no reference to a direct threat to individuals or property in the United States, but said the men had practiced military tactics in a North Carolina county that borders Virginia. The court document also mentions overseas trips taken by several of the men. According to the indictment, Daniel Boyd and his sons left the United States for Israel in June 2007 to ""engage in violent jihad, but ultimately returned to the United States after failing in their efforts."" It said Yaghi and Hassan also traveled to Israel in June 2007, and that Daniel Boyd lied to Customs and Border Protection agents at the Atlanta, Georgia, and Raleigh airports about intending to meet the two men in the Jewish state. The indictment also said Daniel Boyd traveled to Gaza in March 2006 ""to introduce his son to individuals who also believed that violent jihad was a personal obligation on the part of every good Muslim."" Sabrina Boyd said her husband flew to Israel in 2007 with Zakariya after Luqman's death. Both sons were to have gone, she said. ""They'd always wanted to go to the Holy Land,"" she said. However, she said, Zakariya and Daniel Boyd were detained by Israeli authorities and were deported to France. She offered no details. About a year earlier, Daniel Boyd had taken the couple's youngest son, Noah, to Jerusalem to visit holy sites, she said, saying the trips were not unusual for Muslims, Christians or Jews. The indictment alleges that Daniel Boyd traveled to Pakistan and Afghanistan during 1989 to 1992, and learned military-style training in terrorist camps there. He also fought the Soviets in Afghanistan, the indictment says. According to The Washington Post, Daniel Boyd and his brother, Charles, had been sentenced in 1991 in Pakistan to have their right hands and left feet cut off after being convicted of bank robbery. The newspaper reported in October 1991 that the brothers and their families had moved to Peshawar to work with a Muslim relief agency. The country's Supreme Court overturned their convictions, the newspaper reported. CNN's David Mattingly, Jeanne Meserve and Mike Ahlers contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- The defense for Charles Taylor is expected to submit its counter-recommendation Thursday after prosecutors said the former Liberian president deserves an 80-year sentence for a war crimes conviction. Taylor was found guilty last month of aiding and abetting war crimes in neighboring Sierra Leone's civil war. ""Should the trial chamber decide to impose a global sentence, 80 years' imprisonment would be appropriate,"" said Brenda Hollis, chief prosecutor for the Special Court for Sierra Leone. In the statement last week, the prosecutor said the sentence reflects the gravity of the crimes. ""But for Charles Taylor's criminal conduct, thousands of people would not have had limbs amputated, would not have been raped, would not have been killed,"" Hollis said. ""The recommended sentence provides fair and adequate response to the outrage these crimes caused in victims, their families and relatives."" Last month's landmark ruling by the international tribunal was the first war crimes conviction of a former head of state by an international court since the Nuremberg trials of Nazi leaders after World War II. Taylor, 64, was found guilty of all 11 counts of aiding and abetting rebel forces in a campaign of terror that involved murder, rape, sexual slavery, conscripting children younger than 15 and mining diamonds to pay for guns. Prosecutors accused Taylor of financing and giving orders to rebels in Sierra Leone's civil war that ultimately left 50,000 dead or missing. His support for the rebels fueled the bloody war, prosecutors said. Prosecutors, however, failed to prove that he had direct command over the rebels who committed the atrocities. There is no death penalty in international criminal law, and he would serve out any sentence in a British prison. Taylor has been a pivotal figure in Liberian politics for decades, and was forced out of office under international pressure in 2003. He fled to Nigeria, where border guards arrested him three years later as he was attempting to cross into Chad. His trial was at the special court for Sierra Leone in The Hague, Netherlands. U.N. officials and the Sierra Leone government jointly set up the tribunal to try those who played the biggest role in the atrocities. The court was moved from Sierra Leone, where emotions about the civil war still run high. Taylor becomes the first former head of state since Adm. Karl Doenitz, who became president of Germany briefly after Adolf Hitler's suicide, to be convicted of war crimes or crimes against humanity by an international tribunal. Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was tried by an international tribunal, but died before a judgment was issued."
"Washington (CNN) -- Close to 20 inches of snow piled up at the nation's capital as a blizzard pounded mid-Atlantic states Saturday, cutting power to hundreds of thousands in the region in what the president referred to as ""Snowmaggedon."" Snow was falling from southern Indiana eastward to New York City, Washington, Pennsylvania, Delaware and the New Jersey coast. President Obama kept to his busy Washington schedule amid the swirling flakes, and ditched ""the Beast"" -- his souped-up Cadillac limousine -- for an armored, four-wheel drive Chevy Suburban capable of trudging through the several inches of snow. Despite plowing and shoveling, the continuous snow made for a slippery White House driveway. Before the 15-vehicle presidential motorcade pulled out of the driveway headed to the Capital Hilton for Obama's speech to democrats, one of the emergency vehicles lost traction and slid into an SUV. No one was in the car at the time. Flights canceled, highway crews mobilized . About 19.5 inches of snow fell at American University in Washington over two days, and was on track to possibly break a record. The capital received 28 inches of snow in the ""Knickerbocker Storm"" of January 27-28, 1922. The blizzard has left hundreds of thousands of customers from Virginia to Pennsylvania without power, utility companies said. As of 12 p.m., Dominion Virginia Power had restored electricity to 101,000 of 207,000 customers who were without power Saturday morning, the company said. In Maryland and Washington, more than 104,000 Pepco customers were in the dark, the utility company said. The majority, or 81,324, live in Montgomery County, Maryland, and 9,587 live in Washington, according to Pepco. In Philadelphia, a reported 26.7 inches had fallen at the airport by 1 p.m., the National Weather Service said. ""We are getting absolutely clobbered this morning with snow,"" said Steven Steingard, a lawyer who lives in suburban Philadelphia. ""We have about a foot already and they say it will continue for 10 to 12 hours more."" The storm also may produce a record snowfall for Baltimore, which has 21 inches of snow so far, according to the National Weather Service. Virginia snowman is taller than a house . In College Park, Maryland, snow-laden power lines drooped onto branches, causing power failures. One city resident, Ben Hampton, told CNN he could could hear electrical transformers popping. Annapolis, Maryland, had 18 inches of snow by Saturday. State officials at the briefing said 2,400 pieces of equipment were trying to clear highways. The state also was relying on 300 National Guard members to help with ongoing weather trouble. Check on traffic and road conditions . More than 750 personnel are clearing roads in Washington, Mayor Adrian Fenty said. But the heavy, wet snow has even trapped some plows, Washington Department of Transportation director Gabe Klein said. Flights were canceled at Washington-Baltimore area's three main airports and at Philadelphia International Airport. Amtrak has canceled many trains in and out of Washington, and Greyhound has been halted until 1 p.m. Sunday, Klein said. Check on flight delays . On Friday, a weather-related accident in Virginia's Wythe County left two dead, state police said. A father and son stopped on a shoulder to help injured occupants of a disabled vehicle. Minutes later, a tractor-trailer jackknifed and struck their van while trying to avoid hitting the disabled car. The father and son died at the scene, state police said. Virginia state police said the accident was one of many crashes and disabled cars reported. Winter storm warnings were in effect from southern Indiana eastward to New York City and south to North Carolina, with blizzard warnings for Washington, Delaware and the New Jersey coast. Are you snowed in? Share photos and videos . Delaware Gov. Jack Markell declared a state of emergency Friday night and ordered all vehicles off the roads by 10 p.m. ET. Forecasters were predicting that the mountains of West Virginia and Maryland, west of the nation's capital, would receive the most snow -- possibly 3 feet. CNN's Greg Morrison, Suzanne Malveaux and Angela Fritz contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- The wife of Singapore's first prime minister died at her home Saturday at the age of 89. A private funeral for Kwa Geok Choo will take place next Wednesday, the prime minister's office said in a statement. She was married to Lee Kuan Yew, who is widely credited with molding Singapore into one of the world's most prosperous countries. Lee, 87, was the founding father of the island nation. His son, Lee Hsien Loong, is now Singapore's prime minister -- the country's third since it gained independence from Malaysia in 1965. The elder Lee was admitted to the Singapore General Hospital earlier this week for a chest infection ."
"NEW YORK (CNN) -- In 2009, some units of the New York Police Department still function more like ""Dragnet"" than ""CSI."" They rely on typewriters. Records show New York City signed a $432,900 contract for typewriter maintenance with in 2008. NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne confirmed the department's continued, if limited, use of the 20th-century writing devices, explaining that they're mainly used for filling out property vouchers -- forms that officers must file when they seize items during case investigations. The typewriters also are retained in case a technological meltdown disables the NYPD's computers, he said. The vintage typing machines do not come cheap. Public records show that the city signed a $432,900 contract for typewriter maintenance with Afax Business Machines in 2008, as well as a $99,570 contract with that company in 2009. Typewriter company Swintec received a $982,269 contract from the city in 2007. Eugene O'Donnell, a former New York police officer who now lectures at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said the typewriters are an anachronism -- and a waste. ""The two places you'd find typewriters are the museum and the police department,"" O'Donnell said. Typewriters create significant efficiency and storage problems for the department, he added, causing extra labor and unwieldy paper trails. Deputy Commissioner Browne emphasized that ""we have a $4 billion budget"" and the financial resources devoted to typewriters are relatively miniscule. Officers interviewed by CNN on the street had no soft spots for the contraptions. ""It's so antiquated,"" said one officer who did not want to be identified. Her partner shared her frustration. ""It's very inconvenient -- you have to find ink, you have to find this, find that."""
"(CNN) -- Nine months after a Justice Department investigation castigated Puerto Rico's police department, another exhaustive report, this one by the American Civil Liberties Union, discloses evidence of widespread abuses and violations of civil rights. The Puerto Rico Police Department, the second-largest police department in the United States, was the object of a scathing report by the ACLU that concluded things have not changed since the government issued its own report. The 17,000-strong department ""is a dysfunctional and recalcitrant police force that has run amok for years,"" the report said. The organization found routine use of excessive force and incidents of civil and human rights violations, especially against low-income people, Puerto Ricans of African descent and Dominican immigrants. ""These abuses do not represent isolated incidents or aberrant behavior by a few rogue officers. Such police brutality is pervasive and systemic, island-wide and ongoing,"" the new report states. Puerto Rico's secretary of state called the ACLU report a ""rehash"" of what the federal government had already found, and said that changes are already under way. Millions of dollars have been spent on retraining, new equipment and salary raises to improve morale, Secretary of State Kenneth McClintock said. The Justice Department's own report included more than 100 recommendations that had been drafted and implemented by the Puerto Rican government itself, he said. ""We are already changing the police force and changing it dramatically,"" he said. Government officials of the U.S. commonwealth admit that there are some problems with its police force, but it is not correct to call it pervasive, he said. ""For some agents it was something ingrained, in some members of the force,"" McClintock said. The Puerto Rican government has raised more than $50 million to spend on its police force, much of that going to police raises and training. When the Justice Department released its report last year, it noted that amid the allegations of abuse, Puerto Rico was grappling with a record-number of homicides in 2010. The ACLU report updates the figure, saying that with 1,130 murders in 2011, last year set a record for homicides. Over a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, more than 1,700 officers -- or about 10% of the total police force -- were arrested for criminal activity such as assault, theft, domestic violence, drug trafficking and even murder, the report says. The ACLU says that incidents of abuse or impropriety have been reported as recently as May of this year. ""You don't have a dramatic transformation overnight,"" McClintock said. According to the ACLU, the Puerto Rico Police Department has used unreasonable force in at least some of the 28 deaths of civilians that it said came at the hands of the police. The most recent killing happened in April of this year, the report states. On April 27, two brothers got into a dispute with a police officer after he stopped their sister for speeding. At one point, one of the brothers took the officer's nightstick and hit him with it, and the other hit him with a pipe, police have said. The officer responded by firing 14 times, killing Saul Medina Figueroa and critically injuring Adrian Medina Figuaroa, the report states. The sister disputes that the officer acted in self-defense, raising questions about the justification of the officer's use of force, the ACLU report says. The ACLU based its findings on interviews conducted in Puerto Rico between March and September, 2011. Puerto Rico: A forgotten front in America's drug war? KKK wants ACLU help to adopt highway . CNN's Nick Valencia contributed to this report."
"Seoul (CNN) -- Is she or isn't she? Pregnancy rumors and speculation are swirling around the world but the lady in question is saying nothing. This could easily be about a Hollywood star but this time, we're talking about the world's most reclusive nation, North Korea, and its first lady. Ri Sol Ju, the wife of young leader Kim Jong Un, has not been seen in public for around two months, according to North Korea watchers. A photo released by the state-run news agency KCNA shows her back in public and wearing a long coat that could be hiding a bump. Ri watched a football match and attended a musical concert with her husband Monday to mark the 60th anniversary of the Kim Il Sung Military University. Read more: North Korea's leader still a mystery . South Korean media has kicked into overdrive to speculate on whether she is pregnant or whether she was kept out of the public eye as a disciplinary measure for a perceived slight. Local media has claimed she may have fallen out of favor for not wearing a lapel pin of the former leaders, a requirement for adult North Koreans. ""Rumors first came out from officials who attended the same event,"" said Kim Yong-hoon, head of the North Korean desk at Daily NK, an online newspaper based in Seoul that focuses on North Korea. ""They started questioning and speculating if she was pregnant and it has spread throughout the country and that's how we heard about the rumors."" Kim says the interest in whether Ri is pregnant is far higher outside of North Korea than it is inside, according to his sources inside the isolated nation. Read more: Power consolidation inside North Korea . John Delury, assistant professor at Yonsei University says this global interest speaks volumes about the way any news about North Korea is handled. ""Do we track the last time Michelle Obama showed up?"" Delury says. ""Our minds are so trained to do this with North Korea that we miss the bigger picture which is there is something new --and by almost international standards we could say more normal -- about the way she appears in public."" By announcing Ri Sol Ju as his wife and having her accompany him on many public engagements, Kim Jong Un has shown a personality very different to his late father, Kim Jong Il. While producing a son and heir for a dynastic regime is considered very important, Delury points out ""that's also true for the families of the 'chaebol' or business conglomerates of South Korea, for Hyundai and Samsung,"" he says. ""Even in the U.S. and UK, powerful families are concerned about producing the next generation."" Read more: Kim Jong Il's sushi chef returns after fleeing for life . Journalist Jungeun Kim contributed to this report ."
"London (CNN) -- The Syrian poet, critic and artist Adonis has been described as the greatest living Arab poet. He was the first Arab to win the German Goethe Prize last year at the age of 81, whose judges described him as ""the most important Arab poet of our time,"" and he was one of the favorites to win last year's Nobel Prize for Literature. Adonis, born Ali Ahmad Said Esbar, grew up in a poor village near the Syrian city of Latakia and received no formal education until he was granted a scholarship to a French lycee by the then president of Syria at the age of 13. He was forced to leave Syria in 1956 after being imprisoned for his involvement in the opposition Syrian National Socialist Party. He moved to Beirut, Lebanon, and now lives in Paris and Beirut. He spoke to CNN through an interpreter at an exhibition of his collages and a series of literary events called ""A Tribute to Adonis"" at the Mosaic Rooms in London until March 30. CNN: How do you feel watching the situation in Syria? Adonis: I'm very sad. I wish that the regime would understand that it has to reform or renew itself and create a new government through free and fair elections. I also wish that the opposition had not resorted to armed violence because I'm personally against violence in all its forms. I do not see any justification for its use whatsoever. CNN: Should the outside world intervene in Syria? A: The world should not interfere, especially not militarily. The Western world should not use this as a pretext to fulfill its own goals in the region. More from Inside the Middle East: Filmmaker Nigol Bezian's tour of 'Little Armenia' in Beirut . CNN: Are you in touch with friends in Syria? A: I last went to Syria a year and a half ago, but I'm always in touch with my friends there. Many of them are in the opposition -- but in the peaceful opposition. Many of them share my views that the solution must be Syrian and through a democratic dialogue. We must reach a new regime that is democratic, plural and secular. CNN: Are your friends scared? A: Their main fear is for the violence and for the potential for the situation to develop into civil war. They are not scared to speak out. They can talk openly. CNN: How have events of the past year changed the Arab world? A: There's definitely a new consciousness everywhere. The question is will this lead to a new political reality and new regimes? It's difficult to predict, but I hope so. CNN: Have you seen changes in Lebanon, where you have lived on and off since 1956? A: Lebanon will remain as it has always been: An ongoing project, a work in progress. It's a project that's difficult to stop, but it's equally difficult to continue with. CNN: You received no formal education until you recited one of your own poems to the then Syrian president in 1943. How did that happen? A: It was almost 70 years ago after Syria became independent and the president was touring the country. I was 12 or 13 and I read a poem in front of the president. He called me over and asked what I wanted. I said I would like to go to school, so I got a scholarship to a school in Latakia. More from Inside the Middle East: Women and the Arab uprisings: 8 'agents of change' to follow . CNN: How did that change your life? A: Poetry gave me a new life. I can always say that poetry allowed me to be reborn. CNN: How important is poetry in Arab culture? A: There are two things that are central to our culture: Religion and poetry. They were always in conflict. Unfortunately now religion is overwhelming poetry, but I have a saying that poetry remains deeply-rooted and strong. Poetry has never had any influence throughout history, however poetry creates a new aesthetic, a new beauty, a new type of relations between things and people, and this is not insignificant. CNN: What was Syria like before 1970 when Hafez al-Assad, Bashar's father came to power? A: I left Syria in 1956, a few years before the Baath party became the government in 1963. I was always opposed to the Baathist ideology. I was always against the one-party state. CNN: You left Syria after being imprisoned for membership of an opposition party in 1956, then you left Lebanon in 1982 after the Israeli invasion. Do you feel you have always been in exile? A: I don't only feel in exile because of these two departures. There are many other factors making me feel this way: Relationships with other people, my relationship with language, my relationship with the world. Love sometimes makes you feel you are in exile. Existentially, the feeling of permanence is always accompanied by a feeling of exile, of impermanence. CNN: How has Syria changed since you left? A: What's strange is I feel it is I who has changed, not the country. CNN: What are your memories of the Syria of your youth? A: I remember the coast, the mountains, the beautiful girls for which Syria is famous. I miss swimming in the sea. CNN: Will you ever go back to live in Syria? A: I would like to go back, but I don't think my desire will be fulfilled. CNN: The Mosaic Rooms in London is currently running 'A Tribute to Adonis' and an exhibition of your artwork. What does this mean to you? A: I'm very happy. There's a lot of attention and a lot of sensitive appreciation."
"(Mashable) -- For all their buzz and value, location-based social networks haven't really gone mainstream yet. Only 7 percent of Americans are aware of location-based social networks, according to data from Edison Research. Part of the explanation for this is that the majority of mobile users aren't using smartphones. And as a result, just 10 percent of those surveyed use mobile location services at least once a week, according to the Mobile Marketing Association's latest Mobile Consumer Briefing survey. For smartphone users, like those of the iPhone (a popular device among early adopters), that number jumps all the way up to 63 percent. Still, even with smartphones predicted to overtake feature phones sometime next year, there may still be adoption hurdles for location-based social networks. Here's a look at why location-based services haven't yet hit critical mass and what those platforms are doing about it. Privacy concerns remain an issue . Kristine van Dillen, director of industry initiatives and partnerships at the Mobile Marketing Association, said location-based services aren't growing as quickly as they should be. One reason for the lag is concern over privacy and who has access to users' data. Sites like PleaseRobMe.com, which humorously bring awareness to location-based privacy issues, may have scared some social media users from opting in. Furthermore, the use of geo-location data for commercial purposes has also raised concerns, prompting the Congressional subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection to hold hearings on the issue. Concerns about loopholes in Foursquare that give others the ability to announce your check-inshave also been raised. ""There's still a perceived risk in accessing location data,"" van Dillen said. Location-based service providers are addressing these concerns by giving consumers more control. Most current iterations of the popular location-based networks allow users to opt-out of location tagging and notifying users when their location is being shared. Consumer education is also key. Users need to know how their location data will be used, and feel comfortable that the companies that have access to it will behave responsibly, according to van Dillen. She said consumers will become more comfortable sharing information with their friends and trusted applications. Brands will view these services as less risky, and more mainstream, and new types of location-based services will come to the forefront. Where is the value? Because of privacy concerns, it is imperative for location-based services to clearly communicate the value proposition to users. Without a clear picture of what they're getting in return, users may be hesitant to share location data. One of the ultimate promises of location-based check-ins is more accurately targeted advertising. For some users, the privacy concerns of sharing their location might be trumped by the potential utility of receiving highly targeted advertising and promotions. However, even though Gowalla, Foursquare, BrightKite and Yelp allow for check-ins at ""places,"" rather than just map coordinates, which makes the data more valuable for targeted advertising, actual advertiser value hasn't yet totally materialized. Michael Boland, a senior analyst and program director at BIA/Kelsey said check-ins represent the makings of a business model, but they haven't reached their full potential value yet because there isn't a well-defined system to buy and sell advertising. ""I think it does have a lot of staying power. We're only going to see it grow and evolve,"" he said. For early adopters, though, the long-term promise of more value through targeted ads, coupons and deals, along with the game mechanics (i.e., badges and ""mayor"" competitions) instituted by some networks has made location-based services worth the potential privacy headaches. As Twitter and Facebook move into the location tagging space, they might finally take the trend mainstream. During its Chirp developer conference in April, Twitter announced the launch of its annotations feature, which gives users the ability to attach metadata to tweets, including location. Facebook, meanwhile, will also reportedly soon enable members to add location details to their status updates and release an API so other apps can offer location ability to Facebook users. Each network faces the usual hurdles for location adoption. For Twitter, the biggest problem might be convincing users of the value of location-enabled tweets. Twitter has yet to clearly communicate to users what they get in return for adding location to their tweets. On their knowledge base page explaining the feature they write that location will help you ""add context to your updates and help you join the local conversation, wherever you are."" Twitter gives an example of one user tweeting about the weather in one location, while another user tweets about traveling to that very location. Unfortunately for Twitter, compared to sites like Foursquare and Gowalla which clearly indicate the value -- every check-in is part of a game, you can find your friends, get tacit recommendations for places to go, and maybe score a deal or two -- Twitter is only communicating what feels like a very niche and impractical value proposition. Further, because location is off by default for all users, without a more clearly communicated message, the feature may remain off for many people. Facebook, meanwhile, faces the other major problem: Privacy. Because Facebook has had so many different privacy issues over the years, many users are wary of new features. And Facebook hasn't always had the best track record when it comes to rolling out new features in a way that people trust. So how they roll out location to users and how well they do at making users feel that their information is safe may be make or break for location on Facebook. One thing Facebook does have in its favor is a great track record of getting people to eventually use new services en masse -- concerns or not. When Facebook launched its news feed feature in 2006 it faced a very vocal user backlash. A few months and a few tweaks later, the feature was widely used and has become an integral part of the service. The advantage for both Twitter and Facebook is that their users already have a built-in network of followers and friends, so they don't have to sign up for a new service and start adding people to it. The location feature is simply an add-on to their existing account. ""Facebook could really be the looming giant that could wipe all [other location services] away,"" Boland said. ""Facebook has proven to have so many users who are mobile. If they turn on that feature, it's the looming category killer."" What remains to be seen is if the users will go for it. © 2010 MASHABLE.com. All rights reserved."
"(CNN Student News) -- September 8, 2010 . Download PDF maps related to today's show: . • Colorado • Texas • Japan . Transcript . THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: I'm Carl Azuz and you're watching CNN Student News! Today's headlines, no commercials. Bringing you stories from all over the U.S. today, and we start things off in Colorado. First Up: Colorado Wildfires . AZUZ: That's where authorities are trying to put out a wildfire that's been burning for a couple days now. The state's governor has declared a state of emergency. The fire is near the city of Boulder. Around 3,500 people were told to leave their homes, and school was canceled in the area. As of yesterday afternoon, there hadn't been any reports of injuries. Planes, like the one you see here, are dropping fire retardant, chemicals that are used to try to put out the fires. The planes can only fly in certain conditions, though, so if the weather gets bad or the wind picks up, that can be problematic. Officials say that more equipment and more firefighters are heading to the area to help out with the efforts there. Tropical Storm Hermine . AZUZ: These images were taken in Texas on Monday night. They give you an idea of the conditions caused by Tropical Storm Hermine. This storm made landfall near Brownsville. It got weaker as it moved across the state, but Hermine still dumped huge amounts of rain on parts of Texas. Forecasters expected some areas to get up to 10 inches of rain. And in the southern part of the state, Hermine threatened what are called ""storm surges."" Those can raise water levels; in this case, maybe as much as 3 feet. Just the Facts . TOMEKA JONES, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Just the facts. The Quran is the holy book of the Islamic religion. Its name comes from an Arabic term that means ""the recitation."" The Quran is made up of 114 chapters, which are divided into different verses. It includes specific laws and rules for Islamic society, as well as guidance for Muslims about their daily lives. Quran Controversy . AZUZ: The Quran is a big part of a protest that's scheduled for this Saturday. The Dove World Outreach Church in Gainesville, Florida is planning to burn Qurans. Terry Jones, the church's pastor, says the protest is aimed at Islamic extremists, not at all Muslims. And he acknowledges that it'll make some people upset. TERRY JONES, CHURCH PASTOR, DOVE WORLD OUTREACH: We feel that the message that we are trying to send is much more important than people being offended. We believe that we cannot back off of the truth of the dangers of Islam, of the dangers of radical Islam just because people are going to be offended. AZUZ: A lot of people are criticizing this idea to burn Qurans. That includes other religious leaders. Some of them came together in Washington, D.C. yesterday to speak out against the plan. DR. GERALD DULEY, PASTOR, PROVIDENCE MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH, ATLANTA, GA: Religious leaders denounce anti-Muslim bigotry and call for respect for America's tradition of religious liberty. As religious leaders in this great country, we have come together in our nation's capital to denounce categorically the derision, misinformation and outright bigotry being directed against America's Muslim community. AZUZ: Another group that's spoken out against this is the U.S. military. In a statement, General David Petraeus -- he's the U.S. commander in Afghanistan -- said burning Qurans ""could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort in Afghanistan."" Blog Promo . AZUZ: Well, there are always interesting comments on this, not only from the people involved in the story, but from you. We've put up a post on our blog at CNNStudentNews.com where you can talk this story, you can talk about how you feel about it. This Day in History . GRAPHIC: . September 8, 1504 -- Michelangelo's ""David"" statue is unveiled in Florence, Italy . September 8, 1565 -- St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest city in the U.S., is established . September 8, 1900 -- A Category 4 hurricane hits Galveston, Texas, killing more than 8,000 people . September 8, 1974 -- President Gerald Ford pardons former President Richard Nixon for any crimes he may have committed while in office . September 8, 1998 -- Mark McGwire breaks Roger Maris' record for the most home runs in a single season . Is This Legit? JOHN LISK, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Is this legit? Worldwide, one out of every 10 adults is illiterate. Not legit. It's actually twice that many -- one out of every five adults -- who can't read or write. International Literacy Day . AZUZ: Some surprising numbers, and those are part of the reason why the United Nations created International Literacy Day. It's designed to raise awareness about literacy needs around the world. The theme of this year's event is ""Literacy and Women's Empowerment."" According to the U.N., two-thirds of the world's illiterate adults are women. The organization says that literacy is a basic human right because it's the main tool for learning. CEO Principal . AZUZ: Sticking with the education theme, different teachers have different teaching methods. You know that; you're aware of it; you see it all the time. In Japan, one principal is running his school like a business. And based on his students' test scores, it's working. Kyung Lah shows us how he's making the grade. (BEGIN VIDEO) KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT, TOKYO: The school day begins at Wada Junior High with drills; math drills, as fast as these kids can do them. The theory here: train the brain with drills, much in the same way puzzles may prevent dementia among the elderly. Principal Akihisa Shirota believes it so much, he joins the students. School curriculum is the basics, plus lessons from real-world business and community leaders to show kids where the basics will take them. Revolutionary for a Japanese school system known for rigidity and formality. But Shirota is not your average principal. He's not even a trained educator. He's a businessman who started and then ran publishing at high-tech companies. His lack of experience in this setting is what led the school to recruit him. ""Principals are people who became teachers right after graduating from college,"" says Shirota. ""That limits any outside the box thinking,"" he explains. He runs the school more like a corporation; students, his workers. And he keeps track of them. You know all the names of all the students. PRINCIPAL AKIHISA SHIROTA, WADA JUNIOR HIGH: No only name, but also their testing score. LAH: You know their test scores and their names? SHIROTA: Yes, yes, yes. LAH: Every single one. SHIROTA: All of them. LAH ""He's different,"" says a student. ""More like a friend sometimes, but still the boss."" In the three years since Shirota has been principal, the school claims higher test scores. The result, he believes, of a number of innovations. It's 6:40 in the evening and students are still here at Wada Junior High School. The reason why: night school is about to begin. This is an unusual move by this public school to try to boost its test scores. It's where I meet 15-year-old Koya Nakamora. ""We start at 7:00 p.m.,"" Nakamora explains. He's been in school since 8:00 in the morning and leaves at 9:30 at night. Critics call this too tough for a public school, but Shirota says the old must give way to new thinking. And other educators in the country are taking note. The bottom line, says this former businessman, if Japan's corporations must adapt and compete in a global economy, it only makes sense that, so too, must Japan's schools. Kyung Lah, CNN, Tokyo. (END VIDEO) Off the Beaten Path . AZUZ: Well, it is time for our first field trip of the school year: Off the Beaten Path. Turns out, people had a lot of time on their hands over the long Labor Day weekend. (BEGIN VIDEO) AZUZ: Honestly, who doesn't dream of being a champion arm wrestler? Okay, don't answer that. Just arm yourself for a battle of the biceps! At Canada's National Arm Rasslin' Championships, it's about technique. For some, it's all in the wrist. For some, it's in speed. And for some, it's in the face. Would you wanna hold hands with this guy? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When they mean redneck festival, they mean redneck festival. AZUZ: But we're not still talking about arm wrestling. We're talking about this: Pennsylvania's annual Redneck Festival! You can ride the bull or barrel. You can shop for jewelry or aluminum. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They sell like hotcakes. AZUZ: But if a ""haybale obstacle course"" isn't your speed, saddle up for a one-wheeled whirl across the Brooklyn Bridge! When you're too coordinated for two wheels, you don't just want to boast balance; you want to show stunts. This person had a ""can-do"" attitude. At least people would hear it if he fell. It's easy to see how all this pedal-spinning can make your head spin. So without a wheel, why not just turn yourself around at a Hawkeye State Hokey Pokey? To get this many people over age 8 to participate, you must be trying to set a record. And they did: a Guinness World Record. More than 7,300 hokey pokers putting their hands into history. That's what it's all about when you journey Off the Beaten Path. (END VIDEO) Goodbye . AZUZ: A world record is always cool, even if group dances are a little hokey. And those unicycle guys are wheelie awesome. Time for us to brake for the day; I know it breaks your heart. CNN Student News returns tomorrow. Have a great one. Talk to you then!"
"In 2010 alone, there were roughly 1,100 attacks on U.S. fuel convoys. This has cost the men and women of our armed forces dearly. Military officials recently reported  that more than 3,000 uniformed soldiers and contractors died while protecting such missions in Iraq from 2003 to 2007.  But new Pentagon initiatives could dramatically reduce our battlefield fuel demand through the use of new clean energy technologies, helping save lives and stretch ever-scarce defense dollars. The U.S. Department of Defense is one of the world's largest institutional energy consumers. Using more than 300,000 barrels of oil daily, the U.S. military consumes more petroleum products than three-quarters of the countries in the world. In fiscal year 2008, energy cost the department about $17.9 billion. Leaders in the Pentagon, though, are up to the challenge. The Defense Department played a key role in the development of the Internet, semiconductors and modern satellite-based navigation, used by virtually anyone with a smartphone. Now, as detailed in a recent report by the Pew Charitable Trusts, its efforts to improve vehicle efficiency and use advanced biofuels could similarly lead the way for countless U.S. businesses seeking a foothold in the burgeoning global clean energy economy. Building on the work of an expert panel convened by the Defense Science Board, the Pentagon has called for a new technology development strategy aimed at reducing risk to soldiers and enhancing our nation's overall long-term energy security. The department considers this one of its top strategic imperatives. In keeping with this plan, the military has set a target of obtaining 25% of its energy from renewable sources by 2025, with 450 renewable energy projects already functioning. For example, the Navy will soon test a hybrid electric drive system for the USS Truxtun, a guided missile destroyer, which will save 8,500 barrels of fuel annually. The Air Force made history last year with the first flight of a biomass-powered aircraft, the A-10C Thunderbolt II. And the Army has insulated roughly 9 million square feet of bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, reducing energy consumption by 77,000 gallons per day. With more than 500,000 buildings and structures at major installations around the world, the Defense Department manages three times the square footage operated by Walmart. Since 1985, it has reduced its facility energy consumption by more than 30%. The Army's ""Net Zero"" program offers another case in point. The project aims to have select installations each produce as much as they consume in energy, water or waste by 2020. Fort Carson and Fort Bliss, to name just two, will become Net Zero in all three areas. Combined, these efforts could have a huge impact on U.S. operational security. On average, each deployed soldier requires 22 gallons of fuel per day. In fact, in Afghanistan alone, tens of millions of gallons of fuel must be delivered each month. Yet, according to the U.S. Army, there is roughly one casualty for every 46 ground resupply convoys in Afghanistan. So reducing our reliance on oil could keep countless troops out of harm's way. This Pentagon initiative could also act as a catalyst for our nation's growing clean energy economy. According to Pew's report, the military's sizable purchasing power could provide a crucial difference in helping technologies make the transition from the labs to the marketplace. In the process, badly needed jobs and manufacturing opportunities in the private sector also could be created across the nation. The past decade has presented great challenges to our armed forces. They have responded with creativity, tenacity and courage. The Pentagon has been charged with managing two wars, helping establish more robust homeland security measures and responding to worldwide humanitarian emergencies. Throughout these trying times, however, the military also has looked inside its own operations and developed a sound strategy to enhance America's security and lessen our dependence on foreign fuels. Congress and the White House should match that effort and aid this endeavor to save American lives, money and energy."
"Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- South Korean marines detained an American man on the bank of a river bordering North Korea late Tuesday, according to a South Korean Defense Ministry official and a senior U.S. State Department official. The marines were on a regular patrol mission west of Seoul when they caught the man by the Han River in an area where it divides North and South Korea. The U.S. citizen was being interrogated Wednesday, the defense ministry official said, adding that it was not immediately known whether the American was trying to cross into North Korea. The U.S. Embassy in Seoul said it was ""aware of the reports that a U.S. citizen has been detained attempting to swim from South Korea to North Korea."" The Embassy said it had been in contact with South Korean authorities but didn't have any additional information to share. Americans are allowed to travel to North Korea, usually arriving by plane from Beijing. But it's forbidden to cross from South Korea into North Korea. The U.S. State Department warns citizens against all travel to the authoritarian state led by Kim Jong Un. Three U.S. citizens are currently in detention in North Korea: Kenneth Bae, Matthew Todd Miller and Jeffrey Fowle. A North Korean court on Sunday sentenced Miller to six years hard labor for committing ""acts hostile"" to North Korea, although the circumstances surrounding his alleged crime remain murky. Bae, a Korean-American missionary, is serving a 15-year sentence for allegedly trying to bring down the North Korean government. Fowle, who was arrested in June while traveling as a tourist, is still awaiting trial. Fast facts on detained Americans . CNN's K.J. Kwon reported from Seoul, and Jethro Mullen from Hong Kong. CNN's Paula Hancocks, Elise Labott and Josh Levs contributed to this report."
"ATHENS, Greece (CNN) -- Protesters clashed with riot police and 10,000 people marched on parliament in Greece as a 15-year-old boy killed by police was buried Tuesday. Tear gas fills the air near where the teen's funeral service was held. Thousands paid their respects to Alexandros Grigoropoulos at his funeral, but a small number of the protesters there grew violent at the end of the ceremony. Riot police lined up as night fell and a reasonably peaceful candlelight vigil was held in central Athens. Some 10,000 people marched on the country's parliament Tuesday to express their anger at the teenager's death, and also other issues like the economy, jobs, and allegations that the government is corrupt. Groups clashed with riot police at the parliament and across central Athens. Street riots started over the weekend after Athens police killed 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos on Saturday. Police said six young protesters pelted a police patrol car with stones, and the teen was shot as he tried to throw a fuel-filled bomb at the officers. The shooting occurred in a neighborhood where there have been regular clashes with police, but it immediately sparked clashes and riots in Athens and Thessaloniki, the country's second-largest city. The violence then spread to other municipalities.  Watch iReporter John Kountouris' videos of the violence » . The events have exacerbated the unpopularity of the ruling party and left Greek Prime Minister Konstandinos Karamanlis scrambling to shore up support.  Watch crowds gathered for funeral » . On Tuesday, he met with President Karolos Papoulias and cabinet members before briefing political leaders on the country's security situation. Opposition leader George Papandreou of the left-wing PASOK party said: ""The country does not have a government that can protect its citizens, their rights, or their safety. ""I told Mr. Karamanlis that our society, our citizens are experiencing a multiple crisis: an economic crisis, a social crisis, an institutional crisis, and a crisis of values. And the government is unable to address these crises; they have lost the confidence of the Greek people.""  See images of anarchy on Greek streets » . Karamanlis ruled out early elections and called for all political parties to stand together against violence. ""It's our responsibility to maintain a united stance against illegal acts,"" he said in statement. ""We must condemn in the strongest terms, with pure reason and not minced words - the violence, pillaging, and vandalism, that hampers social peace."" The government called on union leaders to cancel a national strike planned for Wednesday, fearing it could lead to further violence. But the labor movement refused, saying the action was planned before the shooting of the boy and was unrelated to it. Cleaning crews worked for hours early Tuesday to clear the mess left by the riots, but evidence of the violence remained. In some places, entire rows of shops still have broken windows. iReport.com: Are you there? Share photos, video of rioting . The mayor of Athens asked residents not to dispose of garbage for a day because many of the city's trash bins were destroyed in the violence. Karamanlis vowed again Tuesday that those responsible for the violence would be punished. ""I assured the president that no leniency will be tolerated in holding people accountable,"" he told reporters. ""No one has the right to use this tragic incident as an alibi for actions of raw violence."" Athens police said 12 policemen were injured in Monday's violence and 87 people were arrested. There were 10 flashpoints across Athens where police confronted rioters, police said.  Watch protesters clash with police » . Many of the young people who rioted holed up at universities, taking advantage of a decades-old rule that bars police from entering university grounds. The rule came into force after tanks crushed a 1973 student uprising protesting the ruling military junta. The dean of Athens University resigned Tuesday as a result of the students' violent behavior. Public and private schools and universities across the country were shut again Tuesday. Watch as iReporter witnesses the clashes . Demonstrators torched government buildings and the offices of the ruling conservative party in central Athens. They also set cars and trash containers ablaze. Monday, young demonstrators barricaded streets in Athens and Thessaloniki and hurled gasoline bombs as they battled police. Clouds of tear gas hung over the capital as police tried to disperse the crowds. The police officer who fired the fatal shot at the teenage boy has been charged with ""manslaughter with intent"" and suspended from duty, police said, adding that a second police officer was arrested Saturday on criminal accessory charges. Government officials, including the interior minister, have condemned the shooting. Authorities conducted an autopsy on the boy Monday in an effort to clarify the circumstances of the shooting, but the boy's family has called in their own investigators to verify state findings, the Athens coroner told CNN. CNN's Eileen Hsieh and Phil Black, and Journalist Anthee Carassava, contributed to this report ."
"Vardzia, Georgia (CNN) -- In an isolated mountain valley on the southern edge of the former Soviet Union stands a cliff honey-combed with caves. This is Vardzia -- a cave monastery built in the 12th century by Georgian kings and queens. In the 800 years since its construction, Vardzia has been destroyed by an earthquake and further damaged by invading armies. In the final days of winter, when snow coats the surrounding peaks, the caves look all but deserted. But Vardzia does have several permanent residents: seven Orthodox monks who have become the de-facto guardians of this ancient site. They live much like their ancestors did, in spartan cave dwellings on the side of the cliff. They draw their water from a spring deep within the mountain that is only accessible via a series of tunnels. The well is called ""Tamar's Tears,"" after Queen Tamar, who completed construction of Vardzia eight centuries ago after the death of her father King Giorgi. Uncorking Georgia's wine heritage . One of the monks who lives in the cliff is Father Lazar. He roams the tunnels and staircases that hug the cliff-side, dressed in flowing black robes. Though he is only 28, his thick beard and pony-tail make him look far older. ""It puts joy in my heart to live here,"" the priest says, as he looks out of the doorway of his incense-scented cave at the rushing river below, where he sometimes fishes for trout. ""In the winter this is a quiet place. The frost sets in and the trees die. It is a holy place. A spiritual place."" In fact, Father Lazar says aside from the monks, the only other people who live in this valley, are the nuns who inhabit a small convent beyond a bend in the river. Speaking a mixture of Georgian, Russian and English, the monk takes visitors on a small tour of the complex, pointing out the remnants of an irrigation system that once provided water to up to 30,000 residents. He also shows Vardzia's crown jewels: two cave chapels whose domed ceilings are hewn directly out of the rock. The domes are coated with ornate,  icons, from the 8th century, depicting saints, Georgian royalty, and the dog-shaped demons that await the damned on Judgment Day. In the summer, the monks endure a different kind of torment which disturbs their ascetic mountain life: tourists. ""For the priests, it is not very good because they make a lot of noise,"" Father Lazar says. ""Different kinds of tourists come here, some of them yell a lot and run around here and there. They holler."" Vardzia has long been a tourist destination for hardy tourists willing to brave hours of driving down pot-holed mountain roads. But road crews are now re-paving the road - and there are big plans to further develop this quiet corner of Georgia. ""Visitors to Georgia are going to Vardzia and there is no infrastructure there at all,"" says Tengiz Bendukidze, an executive with Rakeen, an Emirati real estate development company. ""That's why Rakeen is going to invest up to 20 million dollars. And we are going to build a 4-star hotel and villas also."" There are big hopes that through tourism, Georgia can overcome the chaos and conflict of nearly two decades of post-Soviet independence. In years gone by, this small Caucasus country was a prize destination, due to its unique combination of rich cuisine, ancient mountain-top monasteries, Black Sea coast line and full-throated polyphonic choral music. ""During the Soviet era, Georgia was the number one tourist attraction for almost all the Soviet Union,"" said Nika Gilauri, the prime minister of Georgia, in an interview with CNN. ""We are getting back now this title for the region."" Executives at Rakeen say they are still working out the final concept of the new Vardzia hotel project. ""The main attraction is the caves. The cave city. And also we'll include [a] service package like hunting, rafting, camping and stuff like that,"" says Bendukidze. The new hotel is expected to be constructed on a hillside directly across the river from the cave complex, on a patch of territory that was occupied by a Soviet-era hotel until it was demolished a few years ago. Father Lazar has little positive to say about the old communist hotel...or its capitalist replacement. ""It's a bad idea to build a big hotel right there, directly across from Vardzia,"" he says. ""If there's going to be a bar or a night club there, then that's also not good."" But, he concedes, the tourists will probably appreciate the view."
"(The Frisky) -- Matchmaker and dating coach Rachel Greenwald is responsible for 750 marriages, and she doesn't believe you will find the love of your life by waiting for him/her to spontaneously appear in line at the grocery store or sit next to you on the subway. Darn. There goes my approach. This Harvard M.B.A. and New York Times best-selling author advocates a better way -- being proactive and approaching your dating life like a job search. Sure, there has to be an intersection of luck, timing, and opportunity, to find love,"" she says, ""But you increase your odds when you do something about it. If you have a strategic organized plan, something will come through faster."" So, uh, what should this plan be? Her new book, ""Have Him at Hello: Confessions from 1,000 Guys About What Makes Them Fall in Love ... Or Never Call Back,"" just hit bookstores and has some ingenious ideas for us. I had the opportunity to chat with Rachel and get a singles state of the union. Here's eight interesting tips I learned. The Frisky: Online dating is making me depressed . 1. The ""no effort mentality"" is crazy. We are officially the instant gratification dating generation. If love doesn't happen instantly, we're out of there. But anything worth having takes work. Rachel points out that we are willing to put effort into other things in our lives -- our careers, our friendships, our hobbies, our living space --but we expect our love lives to come effortlessly. ""You wouldn't expect to be a CEO in five seconds,"" Rachel points out. 2. It takes a village to find Mr. or Mrs. Right. An important step in working on your love life is letting people know that you're looking. A lot of us are embarrassed to reach out for help when it comes to finding love. We think it seems desperate to admit that we would like to find someone to spend the rest of our lives with. I'm totally not talking about myself, by the way. ""The stigma is all in your head,"" says Rachel. ""That's like someone saying 'I'm unemployed but too embarrassed to find a job.'"" Rachel suggests thinking of all the people in our lives as possible networking opportunities. The Frisky: I slept with your husband and here's why . 3. Stop asking ""Where?"" Ask ""How?"" Asking a friend, co-worker, family member, or acquaintance where you can meet a great guy is a dead-end question. When you mention in casual conversation to your ""village"" that you are looking to meet someone this year, ask ""how."" That way you are enlisting them in your search. ""How?"" is a far more proactive and empowering question. It implies suggestions and solutions. 4. Get online. There's no stigma about dating online anymore -- one-fourth of the people who got married last year met online. So, if you don't already have a rocking online profile ... make one. But Rachel also recommends Twitter as an alternative source. ""Why not throw a Twitter party?"" she suggests. ""Send out a tweet to your friends and tell them that you're having happy hour drinks on Friday at your favorite bar. Tell them to bring friends."" Rachel's also a big fan of Meetup.com. ""It's much more sophisticated then it was a few years ago,"" she says. You can search something like ""Singles, New York, film lovers,"" and find groups that meet in your area. You can even click through the groups and see mini-profiles and pictures of the members. 5. Don't forget about Facebook! One-third of married people met through introductions by friends. Following that logic, Facebook may be our single most underused resource. ""Treat Facebook like an online dating profile,"" says Rachel. ""Take it seriously. If a guy sees a bad photo of you on Facebook or weird things on your profile, he may not give you a chance."" Rachel suggests crafting the image you want to project on Facebook. ""Pick five words that represent you and make sure your Facebook profile reflects those five words,"" she says. Once you're satisfied with your profile, she suggested playing a game she calls ""I Spy a Facebook Guy."" Here's how it works: Give yourself 10 days to cruise around your friends' Facebook pages and find 50 guys that you think are interesting. Then scope out their profiles and write them a message. Hey, you already know someone in common. 6. Married people are a great resource. They know a thing or two about relationships, but more importantly, they know other single people who are marriage-minded. Plus, they're much more eager to see you settle down than your single friends. The Frisky: Why women should ask men out on dates . 7. You may have tried it all, but have you tried it well? Trying something once or twice isn't enough. ""Doing online dating with a bad profile picture or going to a singles event and leaving after you scanned the room once is like looking for a job with a poorly written resume or applying for a sales job [when] you're an accountant,"" says Rachel. Instead, take a look at what you've been trying and how, and think of ways to do it better. 8. It's OK to outsource. How do we know what we're doing wrong in our dating lives? Rachel says that there's no shame in hiring a dating coach. Hey, we have personal trainers, therapists, and head hunters. Outsourcing is part of our culture -- yet we feel we can tackle the dating thing on our own. Why? OK, I'm sold. I will definitely be trying out some of this advice. The Frisky: 5 reasons why moving is good for you . TM & © 2010 TMV, Inc. | All Rights Reserved ."
"(CNN) -- Poetry, performance and prayer celebrated the voice of literary giant Maya Angelou at a memorial service held Saturday at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. ""She taught us that we are each wonderfully made, intricately woven and put on this earth for a purpose,"" first lady Michelle Obama said during her tribute to the celebrated poet and actress. Angelou, 86, died at her Winston-Salem home on May 28. Angelou had been ""frail"" and suffering from heart problems, her literary agent said. Angelou taught American studies for years at Wake Forest. Obama did not meet Angelou until 2008, while on the campaign trail, but she said Angelou's poem 'Phenomenal Woman' had a profound impact on her life. ""I was struck by how she celebrated black women's beauty like no one had ever dared to,"" Obama said in the service held at Wait Chapel. ""She also graced us with an anthem for all women, a call to all of us to embrace our God-given beauty. How desperately black girls needed that message,"" the first lady said, remembering that as a young girl her first doll was a white Malibu Barbie. She said that Angelou reminded everyone that "" We must each find our own voice, decide our own value and then announce it to the world with all the pride and joy that is our birthright as members of the human race."" 'Spiritual queen mother' Oprah Winfrey remembered her friend as the greatest woman she has ever known. ""The loss I feel I cannot describe,"" Winfrey said, holding back tears. ""It's like something I've never felt before. She was my spiritual queen mother and everything that that word implies. She taught me the poetry of courage and respect."" Winfrey recalled meeting Angelou in the late 1970s, when she worked as a news reporter. ""She looked at me and said, 'Who are you girl?'"" Winfrey said. ""I will miss her."" 'She had the voice of God' ""I Loved Maya,"" said former President Bill Clinton during his reflection. He said the two last met in April in Austin during a celebration of of the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act. Clinton recalled that he hugged Angelou and said, "" I cannot believe that you have gotten yourself here."" He said she responded, ""Just because I'm wheelchair-bound doesn't mean I don't get around."" Clinton became aware of Angelou while in college by reading her book. ""I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,"" her lasting contribution to literature that bore witness to the brutality of a Jim Crow South. He said Angelou was always paying attention and used her voice to call attention to the things that really mattered. ""God loaned her his voice. She had the voice of God and he decided he wanted it back from her,"" Clinton told the audience. Music and more . Actress Cicely Tyson reflected on a friendship that began in 1960, when both were in a play called ""The Blacks,"" which ran for three years. ""Every emotion known to man was exhibited by Maya. She held nothing (back). She spoke her mind no matter what the situation,"" Tyson remembered. The memorial service also featured singer Lee Ann Womack performing ""I Hope You Dance,"" considered Angelou's favorite song. At the conclusion of the service Saturday, Angelou's voice once more was heard in a recording of the 1996 Ashford & Simpson song ""Been Found."" Maya Angelou remembered by those she inspired . Legendary author Maya Angelou dies at age 86 ."
"Manchester, New Hampshire (CNN)New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie dominates almost any room he enters but is suddenly facing questions about his relevance in the 2016 presidential race. The surprisingly fast-moving Republican presidential contest, kicked off by Jeb Bush shortly after the New Year and accelerated by the unexpected re-emergence of Mitt Romney, is putting pressure on Christie, who was once the Republican establishment's favorite. The big-check GOP contributors that were once assumed to be Christie's for the taking — in particular the Wall Street financiers just across the Hudson River from New Jersey — are now being courted aggressively by Bush and Romney as they ramp up their campaigns. ""There is big advantage to moving first, and when you're a whale like both Jeb and Romney are, and you jump into that pool first, its hard for anyone else to squeeze in,"" said B. Wayne Hughes, a California billionaire and Republican donor who has not committed to supporting a candidate. ""They have the same donor base, so they have to go after those guys."" Bush has been a well-liked figure in the center-right donor set for years, thanks to his widespread family connections and the perks and ambassadorships doled out by two previous Bush White Houses. The former Florida governor has also been a champion of immigration reform, a precious issue for the business community and Republicans who want to grow the party's appeal among Hispanics, even as conservatives bristle at the idea. Romney, meanwhile, built an impressive financial network during his 2012 campaign, and many of those donors are waiting to see what he does before committing to another candidate. His surprising decision last week at a New York donor meeting to ""show some 2016 leg,"" as one attendee put it, was designed to keep Bush at bay as he mulls a third presidential bid. But their moves are also complicating things for Christie, who is still expected to launch a presidential bid but is moving at a much slower place than Bush or Romney. All three Republicans will be competing for a similar slice of establishment-friendly financial backers and voters should they each seek the GOP nomination. Christie, already hamstrung on fundraising by strict pay-to-play laws that prohibit Wall Street employees from from contributing to governors seeking federal office, was further diminished in the eyes of some donors last year by the ""Bridgegate"" scandal and its subsequent investigations. Christie's record as governor has also been met with some skepticism by the business community: New Jersey has seen eight credit downgrades and continues to have some of the highest taxes in the country. His fading star opened the door last year for Bush to start making calls to potential supporters who might have previously been with with Christie. Christie's team insists the Romney and Bush developments have had little bearing on his decision-making process — or his ability to fund a potential campaign. ""The last couple of weeks actually had no impact,"" said one Christie confidante, granted anonymity to discuss the 2016 machinations with some candor. ""He is not changing his plans. He is not moving up any schedule. He is attending a bunch of inaugurals. He has a bunch of speeches coming up. He feels he is in good position and he feels like he has time to decide to want to do more."" The adviser pointed out that Christie is fresh off an impressive tenure as chairman of the Republican Governors Association, a post that put him in regular touch with some of the party's biggest contributors. He remains on the RGA's executive committee, and plans to connect with many of the same donors at February gathering of the RGA in Washington. No candidate — even ones with the names Bush and Romney — can take the donor world for granted, the Christie adviser insisted. ""I think all three of them, Romney, Bush, Gov. Christie, have a leg up on donor world,"" the source said. ""But you take those people for granted at your own peril. Everybody will be courting those folks, but I think the smart folks will take their time."" To most Americans, the donor courtship now underway is hidden from view and largely meaningless. But in the early stages of a presidential primary, the whims of big donors have outsized importance, especially in a post-Citizens United world where a single rich person can prop up a candidate with a well-funded super PAC. As the costs of running a presidential campaign skyrocket, landing the support of a major bundler can bring instant credibility to a candidate even before the campaign begins in earnest. Early signals indicate that Christie might not be hard up for cash should he decide to run. Already he has secured the backing of Texas bundler Ray Washburne, a recently-departed Republican National Committee finance chairman, two GOP sources confirmed to CNN. And The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Ken Langone, the Home Depot founder and prominent Republican donor, is organizing a dinner for Christie and potential supporters in New York later this month. Once the donor primary ends and the actual primary begins, Christie may be on better footing in a race against Bush and Romney. ""There is room in the primary for anyone who has enough resources,"" said Tom Rath, a longtime New Hampshire power broker and Romney ally. ""Look, it's a little different talking about how you connect with voters, and it's another story talking about how you connect with the large scale fundraisers. But the fact is, New Hampshire will give every candidate a fair shot. There is not home court advantage here for anyone at all."" Though both of Christie's potential rivals in the establishment lane have big networks and deep experience in national politics, both of them are older than than the 52-year old Christie. Romney is 67 and Bush is 61, and both could be tagged as stale emblems of the past. Christie, too, is a natural retail campaigner and perhaps the best political performer of anyone in the Republican field. The contrast could be stark against the buttoned-up, bespectacled Bush and the notoriously awkward Romney. ""He is kind of a hell-raiser, and nobody is going to say that about Jeb Bush or Mitt Romney,"" said Leighton Lord, a South Carolina attorney who hosted a reception for Christie in the early primary state this week. ""He is not like a lot of the other folks that are running that are more cautious and calculating. Folks are getting tired of that. They like his authenticity, which he has got all day long. That's sort of a counter to Romney. With Romney, you're never sure if you're getting the real Mitt Romney or the Romney he thinks you want."" Though he's been slower than Bush or Romney when it comes to hiring staff and building out a campaign, Christie is still looking and sounding very much like a candidate-in-waiting. He is likely to launch a political action committee in the coming weeks, multiple GOP sources said, and he is heading to a big conservative gathering in Iowa after this week's excursion to South Carolina. Christie can afford to wait longer than other candidates, his supporters said, in part because of his fame. He doesn't need to introduce himself to voters in the way Bush will, for instance. ""So much of politics these days is celebrity,"" Lord said. ""We have got to find somebody who has the substance and the integrity, but is also a celebrity. And Chris has got that."" In South Carolina, where he attended the inauguration of Gov. Nikki Haley, Christie posed for selfies with top elected officials, including the Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General, before dropping by a crowded GOP meet-and-greet arranged by Lord and other Republicans. The reception was a positive one. Christie's speech to the audience was ""short on conservative red meat, but long on how he's the guy that can win,"" said one Republican who attended the afternoon session, held at a Columbia law firm. ""He said something to the effect of, 'Today is Nikki Haley's day, but maybe it will be Chris Christie's day in South Carolina soon,"" the source told CNN. ""You couldn't walk away from that thinking anything other than he's going to run."" After the event, Matt Moore, the chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party, posted photos of the event on Facebook. ""My honor to introduce Chris Christie in South Carolina today,"" he wrote. ""The man tells it like it is...we like that in S.C.!"""
"New York (CNN) -- Keep your kids away from these Santas! Bar-goers dressed in Christmas-themed costumes descended upon hundreds of cities worldwide Saturday for the annual bar crawl known as Santacon. In New York, thousands took to the streets dressed as elves, Santas and holiday-themed characters, as they have since 1997. In recent years, the debauchery of some of its participants has become too much -- even for some who take part in it. ""It was just terrible, they were throwing up in the streets. It was really just disgusting. I just put a red suit on and have a good time,"" Sandy Bachom, who participated in the event last year, told CNN afilliate WABC. ""I think New Yorkers generally are extremely tolerant of visitors, but when they come in such droves, and then combine that with public intoxication, it has a negative impact in our neighborhoods,"" state Sen. Brad Hoylman said to WABC. Despite the controversy, city officials are supporting the event. ""It's what makes New York New York,"" Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said at a press conference Friday. ""There has been some rowdy activity by a small handful of people."" However, NYPD officers were handing out fliers stressing that they would stop revelers who publicly consume alcohol. Santacon NYC is vowing to clean up its act. ""Santacon has had growing pains,"" the event's organizers said in a press release on the NYC SantaCcon website. ""With a little elbow-grease from the elves, a little patience from the community, and just a pinch of holiday magic, Santacon can spread joy."" Santacon.info, a website that attempts to keep up with SantaCons wherever they are -- and assist organizers in publicizing them -- maintains a list that on Saturday showed 146 locations where events will be taking place this weekend and next, from Helena, Montana, to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam."
"(CNN) -- Cindy Goodman was having dinner with a group of girlfriends one night when the conversation took a surprising turn. Summer at the beach may seem like fun, but more Americans are afraid to take time off. Goodman asked her friends where they planned to go this year for their summer vacation. Nowhere, they answered. They were afraid to take time off because they didn't want to risk losing their jobs, she says. ""It's going to be an interesting summer,"" says Goodman, a Miami Herald business columnist. ""The people who still have a job are really feeling overwhelmed and overworked. They're afraid to take vacations, but at the same time, they need them more than ever."" The bad economy isn't just depleting bank accounts. It's cutting into people's vacation time. Americans typically take time off and kick back during the summer. This year may be different. People are worried that a temporary vacation could lead to permanent time off, Goodman says. ""I don't think anyone is going to be fired for taking two weeks off, but they might think that they'll think of another way of doing my job without me,"" says Goodman, who wrote about people's vacation fears for her blog at http://worklifebalancingact.blogspot.com. How to take time off without guilt . Americans had a difficult time taking vacations even before the economy slumped. Numerous articles and studies draw the same conclusions: Americans don't know how to pry themselves away from the workplace. This year, Expedia.com, the travel reservation company, conducted a survey that compared Americans' vacation habits with their counterparts in other countries. The survey said about 34 percent of Americans don't take all the vacation time they earn each year. In contrast, 22 percent of French citizens and 24 percent of Germans don't take all the vacation allotted to them. Japanese workers are the least interested in using all of their vacation days, according to the Expedia survey. About 92 percent of Japanese workers do not take all of their vacation days. Christine Louise Hohlbaum, author of ""The Power of Slow: 101 Ways to Save Time in Our 24/7 World,"" says even when Americans manage to take vacations, they still don't completely leave their office, because of technology. ""You can take a BlackBerry on vacation and still have a conversation with clients anywhere else in the world,"" Hohlbaum says. ""It's wonderful for innovation, but not so great for leisure."" But workers who don't take vacation hurt themselves and their companies, Hohlbaum says. Overworked employees get sick more often and place themselves at risk for long-term illnesses such as heart disease. Companies suffer because their employees are too tired or ill to be productive, she said. Workplaces are full of exhausted employees who have already checked out in their cubicles, Hohlbaum says. ""If people are overworked, they're surfing the Internet,"" she says. ""They're not contributing to the bottom line."" Hohlbaum says she talked to a computer technician who found a way to take more time off but be more productive. He started a walking group for his colleagues during lunch hour. He and his colleagues were transformed. ""It was an amazing experience,"" Hohlbaum says. ""They bonded. It helped people relax and when they got back to work, they were much more productive."" She suggests that other workers follow his example. Explain the upside of the idea to the boss: The company benefits from well-rested workers because they're more productive. Set performance goals with your boss to prove taking time off will allow you to thrive and will result in greater productivity, she says. Some workers, however, find that their biggest skeptic may be internal; they don't know how to take it easy anymore, Hohlbaum says. ""If you're so used to being purposeful, make leisure time your purpose,"" Hohlbaum says. Alternative ideas . Goodman, the Miami Herald columnist, offers some of her own tips for taking time off. If you're too afraid to ask for an extended vacation, plan four-day weekends or time off around holidays. Goodman says she's going to take a four-day vacation around the Fourth of July. But there was a time when she traditionally took two-week vacations during the summer. ""I have the same kind of fear that everyone else has, '' Goodman says. ""I want to take time off, but I don't want to miss too much work time. I want to keep my column in the paper every week."""
"(CNN) -- The office of House Speaker John Boehner slammed comments by an architect of Obamacare who said the health care law was sold to the American public with misleading messaging, arguing Jonathan Gruber's remarks confirm the ill-will behind passage of the law. ""If there was ever any doubt that ObamaCare was rammed through Congress with a heavy dose of arrogance, duplicity, and contempt for the will of the American people, recent comments made by ... Jonathan Gruber, put that to rest,"" Boehner's office said said in a statement Thursday. Videos recently emerged showing Gruber suggesting that the administration exploited the ""the stupidity of the American voter"" and the ""lack of economic understanding of the American voter"" in pushing the Affordable Care Act. Third video emerges of Obamacare architect insulting voters . In the statement, Boehner's office said, ""the American people are anything but 'stupid.' They're the ones bearing the consequences of the president's health care law and, unsurprisingly, they continue to oppose it."" White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest pushed back against Gruber's comments in a press briefing in Myanmar, saying, ""I disagree vigorously with"" the assessment that the White House passed the law by taking advantage of what they saw as the voters' lack of intelligence. ""This was a very difficult undertaking but ultimately this is a law that has had significant benefits for millions of people,"" he said, adding that Republicans are the ones ""who have been less than forthright and transparent about what their proposed changes to the Affordable Care Act would do in terms of the choices are available to middle class families."" For his part, Gruber said Tuesday on MSNBC that he ""was speaking off the cuff"" and ""spoke inappropriately."" ""And I regret making those comments,"" he added. Boehner's next challenge . CNN's Jake Tapper and Jim Acosta contributed to this report."
"A Texas company says it has made the first metal gun using a 3-D printer, taking the debate over people's emerging ability to create their own firearms to a new level. Solid Concepts, a specialty manufacturing company, said in a blog post it has fired more than 50 rounds from the handgun, even hitting a few bull's-eyes at more than 30 yards. The pistol is a version of an M1911, a handgun designed by John Browning and first used widely in the latter stages of combat stemming from the Philippine-American War. It's built from 33 mostly stainless-steel parts and has a carbon-fiber handgrip carved with a laser. ""The 3-D-printed metal gun proves that 3-D printing isn't just making trinkets and Yoda heads,"" the company said in the blog post. Solid Concepts went out of its way Friday to point out that producing the metal gun isn't meant to advance a trend that worries law enforcement and some politicians. As 3-D printers become more widespread and affordable, some envision a near future in which criminals can crank out untraceable weapons without having to leave their homes. ""Let me start out by saying one, very important thing: This is not about desktop 3-D printers,"" Alyssa Parkinson, a spokeswoman for the company, wrote in the blog post. The metal gun wasn't a move toward making firearms with a 3-D printer cheaper or more accessible, she wrote. Basic 3-D printers, such as the MakerBot Replicator 2, can be bought for around $2,000. But Solid Concepts used a specialized, high-end printer whose cost would be out of reach of most people. ""The industrial printer we used costs more than my college tuition (and I went to a private university),"" Parkinson said. ""And the engineers who run our machines are top of the line; they are experts who know what they're doing and understand 3-D printing better than anyone in this business."" Solid Concepts wanted to show that 3-D printing is more than just hobbyists churning out plastic doodads -- it's a viable option for serious commercial use. ""It's a common misconception that 3-D printing isn't accurate or strong enough, and we're working to change people's perspectives,"" Kent Firestone, a vice president at the company, said in a statement. In May, a nonprofit group, also from Texas, stirred far more controversy when it posted a video of the live firing of a plastic handgun created with a 3-D printer. Cody Wilson, a 25-year-old self-described anarchist, posted instructions on how to make the gun online through his nonprofit group, Defense Distributed. Those instructions were taken down after the U.S. State Department sent the group a cease-and-desist letter. The group's website was shut down shortly afterward. Solid Concepts is a licensed firearm manufacturer. It said one use for its new capabilities with 3-D printers may be selling replacement parts for handguns."
"(CNN)The New England Patriots rallied to down the Seattle Seahawks 28-24 Sunday and win Super Bowl XLIX at Glendale, Arizona. Quarterback Tom Brady completed a Super Bowl record 37 passes and threw for four touchdowns. The Patriots are the sixth team to win at least four Super Bowl trophies. Brady overcame two interceptions and threw for 328 yards. Julian Edelman caught nine passes and had the game-winning touchdown with 2:02 remaining in the contest. Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson shrugged off a slow start to complete 12 of 21 passes for 247 yards, but he threw an interception at the Patriots goal line with 20 seconds to go. Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch had 102 yards rushing and one score. The Patriots trailed 24-14 before Brady threw two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter."
"(CNN) -- International Correspondent Fred Pleitgen reports from the site of E1, a controversial settlement that the Israeli government plans to build. What is E1? I was standing on the barren hilltops East of Jerusalem and it is hard to believe the area could be at the center of an international controversy. E1 stands for East 1 and marks territory that the Israeli government has slated for settlement construction in the West Bank. It's about 12 square kilometers (4.6 square miles), and when completed will touch the outskirts of Jerusalem. The construction in the E1 area would be an expansion of one of the largest Israeli settlements in the West Bank, Ma'ale Adumim, with about 40,000 inhabitants, and would merge it with the greater Jerusalem area. Why has the plan caused so intense international reaction? After the United Nations General Assembly vote on November 29 to grant the Palestinians the status of a non-member observer state in the body, Israel announced settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem as a response, saying part of that would likely take place in the E1 area. The Palestinians believe construction here would essentially cut the West Bank in half and could also impede access from the West Bank to East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians would like to see as the capital of any future Palestinian State. In an interview with CNN, the Palestinians' chief negotiator Saeb Erekat condemned the plan saying: ""There is no chance for a Palestinian state. I mean it is impossible. Anyone who looks at the map, looks at the geography will know exactly that this decision means that there is no more two-state solution."" How many Israeli settlements are there? According to the settlement monitoring group Peace Now, there are currently 137 Israeli settlements in the West Bank, with about 325,000 inhabitants in total. The settlements are essentially Israeli towns of various sizes in Palestinian territory. Many of them, like Ma'ale Adumim, look almost like any other Israeli town with everything from supermarkets to shopping malls and schools. What is their legal status? The legal status of the settlements is in dispute. The United Nations and many scholars of international law consider them illegal, but Israel and some experts like the late Eugene Rostow of the Yale Law School and Julius Stone, international law professor at the University of Sydney, have said they are legal. The Palestinians want Israel to give up most settlements as part of any future two-state solution, but many believe that is not realistic considering the size of some of them. How do settlements impact the peace process? Settlements are one key reason why there have been no negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians for several years. The Palestinians say they will only return to the table if Israel freezes all settlement construction, while Benjamin Netanyahu's government wants negotiations without preconditions. The dispute over new construction in the E1 sector is adding fuel to the fire and the U.N. believes it might destroy any chance of a two-state solution for good. How would ordinary Palestinians be affected by E1 development? For average Palestinians in the area, the concerns are immediate. Attala Titi, a taxi driver in the town Eizzaria near Jerusalem, told me he fears additional detours and checkpoints if settlements are constructed in the E1 area. ""If they build this settlement and close off our roads it will mean that my trip from Hebron to Jericho would take between five hours to a whole day."" How about people currently living in the settlement? Ma'ale Adumim's Mayor Benny Kashriel is happy at the prospect of expanding the settlement, a project that has been on hold for years. ""This place, this residential neighborhood, it is in the Ma'ale Adumim municipality, part of Ma'ale Adumim municipality, government land. It has to be built for our young couples,"" he told me from his office."
"(CNN) -- Jeffrey Fowle never met Kenneth Bae and Matthew Todd Miller. But he's been in their shoes. Just three weeks ago, Fowle -- like his fellow Americans, Bae and Miller -- was detained in North Korea. Within a half-hour of his release, he was on a plane leaving the isolated East Asian nation. ""On the ride to the airport ... I was hoping they'd be on the plane as well,"" Fowle said Saturday. ""I got there, and they said I was the only one coming home."" No more. On Saturday, the U.S. government announced that Bae and Miller will soon be joining Fowle on American soil after being released. Now in Ohio, Fowle wonders why it didn't happen sooner and why he was let go first, despite the fact Bae and Miller were detained before him. ""Kenneth Bae and Matthew Miller should have been released before I was,"" Fowle told CNN. ""But I'm glad to hear that they're on their way home."" It's too early to say what their lives will be like back home. Miller has been held since April. For Bae, it has been nearly two years. Euna Lee, who was released from North Korea in 2009 after being detained for 140 days, said she wanted to return not just to her home, but to normal. ""You can imagine that that doesn't happen,"" Lee said. ""But that's what, I'm sure, they want to probably have, (to) just come back to regular, mundane days."" North Korea releases Bae, Miller . Conditions vary for detainees, but all isolated . Numerous Americans have been detained over the years in North Korea, though that's not to say that they've all had identical experiences. Of the three released in the past few weeks, it appears Bae had it worst. The married father of three from Lynwood, Washington, moved to China in 2005. A year later, he established ""Nations Tour,"" a China-based tour company that specialized in tours of North Korea. A devout Christian, Bae was in Rason, an area along the northeastern coast of North Korea, when authorities arrested him in November 2012. U.S. officials confirmed Bae's detention the next month. The following May, he was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for ""hostile acts"" against the Communist nation, and spent time in a labor camp, as well as a hospital. And Miller got six years of hard labor in September for ""acts hostile"" to North Korea, all because he had ripped up his tourist visa and shouted his desire to seek asylum after arriving in the country, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported. Fowle received no such sentence after leaving a Bible at a club in northern North Korea, which he admitted doing. While also accused of ""perpetrating hostile acts,"" and while he -- like Bae and Miller -- told CNN he signed documents admitting his guilt, Fowle said he didn't spend time in a jail or at a labor camp. Instead, he spent time in a high-rise hotel and a hospitality center since his detention last spring. Lee said that being cut off from the world is a major punishment in itself, with or without harsh conditions. ""Being isolated in a foreign country is very difficult,"" she said. ""(Having) no communication with family members or the outside world (makes) it even more hard."" Former detainee: 'I'd tell them to keep the faith' Thankfully, that won't be a struggle any more for Bae and Miller. If past releases are any indication, they'll soon be hugging and kissing family members back in the United States, then going off to spend time with loved ones. ""What they really need is people around them (and in the public who) can continually give them positive attention, until they are fully recovered from this attention and isolation,"" Lee said. Fowle said that his transition home was eased by the fact he got his old job back home in Ohio. That would seem impossible for Bae, who's been gone longer and whose business was predicated on traveling to North Korea, as Fowle fully admits. Still, he believes that both Bae and Miller -- if they can survive months detained in North Korea -- can survive and thrive in their return home as well. Asked what he would say now to his two fellow Americans, Fowle said, ""I'd tell them to keep the faith."""
"(CNN) -- Growing up in Lisbon, I was always pleased to tuck into the little fish pates offered as part of the entrees at my local restaurant. Little did I know, that many years later, this Portuguese staple of sardines would become one of the hooks which would lift the Iberian nation out of recession. In the second quarter of this year, Portugal's economy outperformed many other countries in the European Union with growth of 1.1%, thanks in part to its exports, which rose by more than 5%. But the export euphoria was short lived: many knew that behind those chunky fish fillets, Portugal had some economic bones to swallow. Fish canning factory Conserveira do Sul, is in many ways, an example of Portugal's economic successes and failures. For more than 30 years, this family-run business in the south of the country has fought crisis after crisis. As I get a tour of the factory, one of its co-owners, Jorge Ferreira, tells me the company has been in ""pre-alert crisis since the 1970s""-- a time when the canned fish sector went into a deep crisis and many factories closed. Read more: Europe feeling the economic winds of change . This time around however, the crisis has brought him a good economic catch. Ferreira says: ""Our products are low priced and they have been the option for many people who have had their wages reduced, so in the last few years we have observed an increase in the quantity sold of our product."" In other words, the business is faring better as the Portuguese turn to a cheaper diet. But the success of Conserveira do Sul, which produces 12 tons of fish every day, has more to thank than just its domestic market. Read more: Serbian PM: We will be next to join European Union . Chinese demand for the product, and two large distribution deals in China, have played a large part in their turnaround. ""The Chinese are looking for healthy and safe products... a safe process is very important to the Chinese market because they are very aware of contamination problems, of pollution problems"" says Ferreira. To secure these key distribution deals, Jorge tells me he shows off the factory -- the canning process, the sterilization of the product and the fresh fish itself, which arrives at the port just outside the factory door -- to Chinese distributors. It's a move that has brought work and deep sighs of relief to its employees, many of whom have been working here for years. Read more: Portugal energy boss: No need for second bailout . Maria is one of them. She has been cleaning, gutting and canning fish since she was 13. She tells me she has plenty of work. Inside the factory she cannot feel the crisis; outside however, it's a different matter. Therein lays Portugal's economic predicament. While those traditional exports of fish and olive oil offered a ray of hope in the second quarter, they were not the country's saving grace, with some arguing the numbers were simply an anomaly. The coalition government may have known that it was too early to call this a turnaround, because they did little to play off these numbers. Read more: Merkel's style over substance . Ricardo Marques, an economist at Informacao dos Mercados Financeiros, tells me over a coffee that we are ""seeing an improvement in Portugal's economy but as long as austerity is being implemented the people on the street will never feel the benefits"". There is certainly more austerity to come. The government of Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho has been unable to persuade the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission and the European Central Bank to ease the country's deficit target to 4.5% of GDP from the current 4% goal. As a result the government is expected to reveal a new batch of austerity measures when it announces its budget on October 15. These are expected to include more unpopular public sector job cuts, cuts to pensions and benefits and plans to raise the retirement age to 66. But this won't be easy. There is a political crisis inside the governing coalition, the Constitutional Court has ruled four times against the governments' plans to trim public sector pay and recently there were whispers of a second bailout. Read more: Mutti Merkel is no Iron Lady Thatcher . The Troika, which was visiting the country when I was there, was quick to deny the murmurs of another crisis, issuing a statement which said that Portugal's bailout program ""remains broadly on track, with the authorities determined to achieve its objectives."" There is no doubt that there's an improvement in the Portuguese economy. There are reasons to be optimistic. But let's not start popping the champagne just yet. For now, pate and bread may be the most appropriate economic aperitif."
"(CNN) -- Meeting planner Gail Murphy heard about the travel warning to Mexico too late in the day on Monday to do anything about her plans to head to Cancun the following day. Alberto Morales wore a mask on his flight from Mexico City to Denver, Colorado, on Monday. ""I'm in good health,"" said Murphy, who is heading to the Eighth Annual Mexico Showcase and Travel Expo from her home in Shelburne, Vermont. ""I'm a risk taker, so I'll go anyway."" In light of the swine flu, the U.S. State Department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a warning against any non-essential travel to Mexico. The move could potentially devastate an already struggling tourism industry in the country. The World Health Organization urged countries not to restrict international travel or close borders, as such measures would not in themselves stem the outbreak. Efforts to contain the outbreak by restricting travel would be unlikely to work without ""draconian measures,"" said Dr. Keiji Fukuda, the agency's assistant director-general. But he said people who are ill should put off trips abroad, and people who fall ill after a trip should see a doctor. Mexico is the epicenter for the swine influenza virus outbreak. More than 100 deaths in Mexico are being investigated as possibly tied to the outbreak. The WHO confirmed 73 cases of swine flu Monday, but health officials in Scotland, California and Texas confirmed nine more, bringing the worldwide total to 82. Reports of the illness in Mexico couldn't have come at a worse time for the country's tourism industry, which is already grappling with negative publicity about drug-cartel fueled violence. ""They were having a terrible time anyway with all of the problems on the border and now to be hit with this, too,"" said Barbara Nassau, owner of New York-based In House Travel Solutions. She added that the outbreak has the potential to hamper travel similar to the way it was affected when bird flu hit China. iReporter Dyana Pari Nafissi works in international business development in Mexico City and said tourism in the country had already been dealt a blow by fears of violence. iReport.com: Watch Dyana discuss what's happening in Mexico . ""We've been on a steady decline since the first U.S. travel warning about the drug cartels,"" she said. ""When you look at the kids that braved [that travel warning], and now they are back [in the U.S.] and they are sick. It's devastating to the economy here."" Some of the confirmed cases in the United States were high school students who recently returned from a trip to Mexico. News of the outbreak didn't seem to overly concern travelers arriving Monday at Denver International Airport on a Mexicana flight from Mexico City. Two Mexicana crew members who didn't want to be named said about 60 percent of the passengers wore masks during the flight. Ernesto Vargas, a Mexican businessman, didn't wear a mask. ""I thought about carrying one with me, but the crew wasn't wearing a mask. So we asked them, and it seemed quite safe."" Alberto Morales, another businessman, said he wore a mask in the Mexico City airport and on the plane. ""Yes. I have a mask, and we are using the mask."" Is he concerned? ""Don't worry, I am OK,"" he said with a laugh. ""People are afraid about the flu, but we have many precautions and the government has a good sense for this trouble,"" Morales said. Ian Jeffries, a spokesman for Expedia.com, said the company had no data as of Monday on cancellations or changes caused by fear of swine flu, but added that it was prepared to aid any of its customers that had concerns. ""Expedia is currently offering to waive Expedia-imposed change and cancel fees for hotel and air reservations originally booked to Mexico,"" he said. ""We will continue to monitor the situation and modify our policy accordingly."" Several major U.S. airlines also are waiving fees for those who want to change their travel plans to Mexico. Jeffery Brown arrived at the airport in Atlanta, Georgia, on Monday after spending five days in Cancun with his wife. They saw people in surgical masks but didn't notice any widespread concern. ""My wife and I were a little concerned, but you know we haven't seen anybody sick in our resort, and we haven't seen anybody sick at the airport,"" he said. ""Nobody said a word about it [at the resort]."" Mexico isn't the only country that potentially has a tourism headache on its hands. Cases of swine flu have also popped up in Canada and Spain as well as the United States and Scotland.  Watch how businesses might be affected by swine flu » . Steve Weakland, border security coordinator for the United States Customs and Border Protection  Atlanta field office, said all of his personnel have received illness recognition training. If a traveler exhibits symptoms of the disease, CBP employees have been trained to inform the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to further investigate. ""Our guys are more the recognition aspect of it,"" Weakland said. ""We wouldn't make any diagnosis or anything along those lines."" Teresa Roberts planned to take her mom to Akumal, Mexico, for Mother's Day and said she was more worried about traveling to New York for business than she is about contracting swine flu south of the border. ""Just because of the number of different travelers that go through the airports in New York from all around the world,"" said Roberts who flies about two or three weeks a month  from her home in Atlanta, Georgia. ""I'm not nervous about going to Mexico at all."" Many in the tourism industry appeared to be taking a wait-and-see approach. Disney Cruise Lines, which does not sail into Mexico, said it is closely monitoring the situation, as did officials for theme parks including Universal and Sea World in Orlando, Florida. Meg Barton travels several times a year to Mexico from her home in Round Rock, Texas, and also isn't overly worried. Because of her father's recent heart surgery, she is already an avid hand washer and is always cautious about germs when abroad. ""I don't drink a lot of water in Mexico ever, and I am really more concerned about the drug issues in Mexico than I am the swine flue,"" Barton said. ""We take antibiotics and Pepto with us when we travel."" Eric Meyer of Lafayette, Colorado, flew in to Minneapolis-St. Paul with his wife and baby to visit family in Minnesota and lamented that ""It's out there, but what can you do?"" ""Wash your hands maybe and call it good,"" he added. ""Put a mask on? [I'm] not gonna go that far and be that guy yet."" Rochelle Yates said a client of her New York City-based Yates Travel is planning to take plenty of antiseptic products on an upcoming trip to Cancun. Most seasoned travelers know to guard against infectious disease ordinarily, Yates said. ""My clients are people who travel all over the world, and they know that you have to take precautions regardless,"" Yates said. ""You have to wash your hands no matter where you are, if you are on a cruise ship, in a hotel or even in your own house."" CNN's Chris Welch, Jim Spellman and Amy Zerba contributed to this story."
"(CNN) -- Jim Shepperd was just crossing the Howard Frankland Bridge from Tampa to St. Petersburg when the winds whipped furiously and the first named storm of the hurricane season began its one-two punch on the Tampa Bay area. By the time he and his chow-shepherd mix, Aussie, made it home to Gulfport, Tropical Storm Andrea was thrashing his neighborhood. Just down the street, a tornado touched down, felling a massive 200-year-old cedar tree. ""There were a lot of trees down,"" the hairstylist said Friday morning. ""We're lucky. We're OK."" By 5 p.m. ET, Andrea's heavy rain had moved on, targeting a broad swath of the East Coast. The storm, categorized as a post-tropical cyclone with sustained winds of up to 45 mph, was about 55 miles northeast of Raleigh, North Carolina, and continuing on its predicted path up the Northeast Coast. Forecasters say it's expected to drench 13 states from Georgia to Maine. Meteorologists want everyone in Andrea's path to know this: The storm's biggest danger will probably be flash floods. The National Weather Service offers tips on what to do in a flooding situation. In short, road beds may be washed out under flood waters, so never drive through flooded roadways. At 11 a.m. Friday, the National Hurricane Center said Andrea was packing 45-mph winds and was about 50 miles southwest of Fayetteville, North Carolina, and 90 miles west of Wilmington, North Carolina. Andrea is expected to produce 2 to 4 inches of rain in central and eastern North Carolina. Up to 2 inches are expected over portions of South Carolina. Farther north on Friday, a flood watch area includes Washington, which the National Weather Service predicts could get 6 inches of rain Friday, and New York, where forecasters say 1 to 2 inches of rain an hour could fall at times into Saturday. Even Maine's coast, including Portland, could see as much as 3 inches of rain by the time the weekend is done. Follow the storm on CNN.com's hurricane tracker . As of 8 a.m., Andrea's projected path is similar to that of Tropical Storm Debby nearly a year ago. Debby dumped up to 2 feet of rain onto the low-lying areas, causing extensive flooding in some coastal towns. CNN meteorologists Sean Morris and Ivan Cabrera contributed to this report."
"(EW.com) -- ""New Year's Eve,"" a schlock ensemble love-o-rama timed for the season of easy good feeling, is a movie I often found myself laughing at in ridicule, and one that also gave me a lump in the throat. So I guess you could say I had a good time. The movie, like last year's ""Valentine's Day,"" was written by Katherine Fugate and directed by Garry Marshall, and I can just imagine Marshall showing up on the set to basically shout seven words: ''Action!'' ''All right, everybody, overact!'' ''Okay, cut!'' If you had to pick the cheesiest subplot, your head might explode. Is it Jon Bon Jovi as a rock star trying to win back the fiancÃ©e he dumped -- a superchef played by Katherine Heigl, who looks as if she can barely slice a pineapple? Is it Ashton Kutcher as a smirk-aleck stuck on a grimy elevator with an agonizingly sincere backup singer (Lea Michele)? Is it Hilary Swank as a Times Square exec who saves the dropping New Year's Eve ball from mechanical failure? (She calls...Kominsky! A repairman with funny Russian accent!) Or is it Robert De Niro as a dying man with a bucket-list wish so wispy that the entire anecdote seems designed to let De Niro shoot his scenes in less than an hour? ""New Year's Eve"" is dunderheaded kitsch, but it's the kind of marzipan movie that can sweetly soak up a holiday evening. EW.com rating: B- . See the full article at EW.com. CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly . © 2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved."
"(CNN) -- Tiger Woods' former caddy Steve Williams has issued an apology after apparently making racially tinged remarks at an awards dinner in Shanghai, China. Williams -- who was fired by Woods in July -- was being presented with a satirical award for ""celebration of the year"" for comments he made after his new boss, golfer Adam Scott, beat Woods at the Bridgestone Invitational in Ohio a month later. According to media reports, when asked about those comments during his acceptance speech Friday night, Williams said: ""I wanted to shove it up that black ---."" Should Williams be punished for Tiger remarks? Shortly afterward, the New Zealander issued an contrite statement on his website. ""I apologize for comments I made last night at the Annual Caddy Awards dinner in Shanghai. Players and caddies look forward to this evening all year and the spirit is always joking and fun. ""I now realize how my comments could be construed as racist. However I assure you that was not my intent. I sincerely apologize to Tiger and anyone else I have offended."" Woods is in Australia preparing for the President Cups teams event in Melbourne starting November 17. His agent Mark Steinberg said in a statement: ""I was with Tiger when the story broke. We were obviously not there, but if all the reports are accurate, it is regrettable. Really nothing more to say."" In several interviews after his dismissal, which brought to an end a 13-year working relationship, Williams let it be known that he was disappointed and shocked and also brought up Woods' sex scandal. Interviewed after Scott's Bridgestone victory, Williams called it the ""greatest week I've had in my career."" Scott and Williams are at Sheshan, near Shanghai, to take part in the HSBC Champions golf tournament and the Australian was reportedly among the audience at the awards dinner. The row over Williams' remarks has led to media speculation that the partnership may not last much longer. However, Scott told reporters that he would not be taking any action. ""Steve issued a statement and apologized, and he did the right thing. That's all there is to say about that from my side of things,"" said the 31-year-old, who was in third place at the Chinese tournament ahead of Sunday's final round, three shots behind Swedish leader Fredrik Jacobson. ""It's not an issue for me. I think everything in that room last night was all in good spirits and a bit of fun, and I think it probably got taken out of that room in the wrong context. ""Anything with Tiger involved is a story. I value Steve's contribution to my game and while he's caddying I hope he can caddy for me. ""There was a lot of language used last night and it's just this was reported. I don't really think that stuff has ever left the room before and it's probably good reasons why. I think it's probably all very unnecessary."" It is not the first time Williams has had to apologize for inappropriate remarks. Three years ago he made derogatory comments about Woods' great rival Phil Mickelson at a charity event in New Zealand and was later forced to back down by his employer. Former U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell told the UK Press Association that he did not believe Williams had intended to make a racial remark. ""The comments were surprising, yes. These are racially sensitive times, especially in sport. It's unfortunate because it was a very sticky situation,"" the Northern Irishman said. ""I don't think Stevie Williams was trying to be racial. I don't think it was a racial comment. I think he was trying to be funny and make a joke of it. ""It was an embarrassing situation that he was put in. He was up in front of his peers and colleagues and it came out wrong."" Scott shot three-under-par 69 in Saturday's third round to be on 13-under 203 at the tournament, which offers more than $1.1 million to the winner and will have a big influence on who wins the European Tour money list. World No. 3 Rory McIlroy is seeking to overhaul top-ranked Luke Donald and prevent the Englishman from making history by topping both the U.S. and European money lists in the same year. The Northern Irishman shot 65 on Saturday to climb up to a tie for fourth with Lee Westwood -- four shots behind Jacobson, who carded 67. Former world No. 1 Martin Kaymer, who is fourth in the Race To Dubai standings behind McIlroy and Charl Schwartzel, was tied for sixth with McDowell on 205."
"(CNN) -- The family of Marlise Munoz has long said the pregnant Texas woman was brain dead, but now it has the medical records to confirm it, lawyers said Friday. ""We have recently received Marlise Munoz's medical records, and can now confirm that Mrs. Munoz is clinically brain dead, and therefore deceased under Texas law,"" attorneys Jessica Janicek and Heather King said in an e-mail. Meanwhile, the judge in the case has recused herself from ""all remaining proceedings"" and asked that another judge be assigned, according to the order for recusal. No reason for the recusal is cited, and Melody McDonald, a spokeswoman for the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office, said the office learned late Wednesday afternoon that the judge had stepped down. The case was transferred to the 96th District Court in the county, according to a court order signed Friday. ""I do not have any other details, and we will have no further comment at this time,"" she said. Munoz's husband, Erick, asked a court Tuesday to force a hospital to take her off a respirator, ventilator and other machines, saying her wishes shouldn't be disregarded just because she is pregnant. Erick Munoz filed an emergency motion as well as a complaint against John Peter Smith Hospital, both with the same goal: to have the hospital disconnect the machines so that her family can take her body and give her a proper burial. ""Marlise Munoz is legally dead, and to further conduct surgical procedures on a deceased body is nothing short of outrageous,"" her husband says in the motion. Erick Munoz -- like his wife, a paramedic by training -- said previously that doctors told him his wife ""had lost all activity in her brain stem,"" and an accompanying chart stated that she was ""brain dead,"" according to his lawsuit. The hospital referred requests for comment to the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office, which said it will defend the medical facility against the lawsuit. It is legal counsel for John Peter Smith Hospital ""in a number of civil areas."" In a brief court document filed Friday, the civil defendant said simply, ""Tarrant County Hospital District d/b/a JPS Health Network generally denies, each and every, all and singular, the allegations contained in Plaintiff's Original Petition and demands strict proof of the same."" At this time, no hearing has been scheduled in the case. Hospital spokesman J.R. Labbe said last month that doctors were simply trying to obey a Texas law that says ""you cannot withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment for a pregnant patient."" Munoz's husband responded by saying that ""Marlise cannot possibly be a pregnant patient -- Marlise is dead."" Furthermore, he argued that her wishes -- relayed, he said, in conversations but not in writing that she not be on ""life-sustaining"" measures when she is brain dead -- shouldn't be treated differently from a man or other woman simply because of her pregnancy. Mother of pregnant woman on life support: Change the law . Last month, Erick Munoz discussed with CNN affiliate WFAA his wife's wishes and how their shared occupation had helped shape her views. ""We'd seen things out in the field. We both knew that we didn't want to be on life support,"" he said. ""We reached a point where you wish your wife's body would just stop."" Lynne Machado, Marlise Munoz's mother, said Tuesday the family is not talking about the case but said she and her husband, Ernest, agree with Erick Munoz that their daughter would want to be removed from the machines. 'Against the expressed will' of family . As the lawsuit details, the story began at 2 a.m. on November 26, when Erick found his wife unconscious on the kitchen floor. At the time, she was 14 weeks' pregnant with the couple's second child. Soon after that, she was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital, where Erick Munoz says he was told that his wife ""was for all purposes brain dead."" The family also says the fetus may have been deprived of oxygen. In the lawsuit, he says subsequent measures taken at the hospital -- and, in turn, the state law used to justify them -- amount ""to nothing more than the cruel and obscene mutilation of a deceased body against the expressed will of the deceased and her family."" ""Marlise Munoz's death is a horrible and tragic circumstance, but by no means should (the hospital) be entitled to continue cutting into her deceased body in front of her husband and family under the guise of 'life-sustaining' treatment,"" the lawsuit says. Dr. Jeffrey Ecker, director of obstetrical clinical research and quality assurance at Massachusetts General Hospital, works on complicated pregnancies and prenatal diagnosis. He says nothing scientifically in Marlise Munoz's pregnancy is black and white. ""A lot depends, first of all, on how long the patient here was deprived of oxygen, or otherwise compromised. We can certainly use tools like ultrasound and MRI to sometimes see where there has been injury as a result of low blood pressure or low oxygen. But just seeing that things look well isn't the same as saying that things will be well,"" he told CNN. ""Those things can't perfectly predict health and outcome. And there are certainly occasions where as we look as best as we can tell, a fetus seems to be developing appropriately and meeting all its milestones, and yet after birth, after delivery, there is evidence of profound compromise,"" Ecker said. Tom Mayo, a Southern Methodist University law professor who helped write the applicable Texas law, said he believes the hospital is misinterpreting it. ""She's not a patient anymore,"" he said. ""And so I don't see how we can use a provision of the law that talks about treating or not treating a patient in a case where we really don't have a patient."" The Texas law states that a ""person may not withdraw or withhold life-sustaining treatment under this subchapter from a pregnant patient."" Mayo said, ""The provision they seem to be relying on is called the pregnancy exclusion. More than 30 states have this pregnancy exclusion in their law. ... If they're relying on that provision, I think Texas law in that respect does not compel the provision of life-sustaining treatment."" When 'life support' is really 'death support' CNN's Vivian Kuo, Elizabeth Landau and Ed Lavandera contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- It's an unreal scene, like one from a horror film. Here's how Tulsa World editor Ziva Branstetter described Oklahoma's botched execution on Tuesday of convicted killer Clayton Lockett: . • 6:28 p.m. Fifty milligrams of midazolam have been injected into each of Lockett's arms to start the process, an attempt to sedate him before the second and third drugs are administered to stop the breathing and the heart. Lockett has spent the past several minutes blinking and occasionally pursing his lips. • ...6:37 p.m. The inmate's body starts writhing and bucking and it looks like he's trying to get up. Both arms are strapped down and several straps secure his body to the gurney. He utters another unintelligible statement. Defense Attorney Dean Sanderford is quietly crying in the observation area. • 6:38 p.m. Lockett is grimacing, grunting and lifting his head and shoulders entirely up from the gurney. He begins rolling his head from side to side. He again mumbles something we can't understand, except for the word ""man."" He lifts his head and shoulders off the gurney several times, as if he's trying to sit up. He appears to be in pain. State officials reportedly were unsure how much of the second and third drugs that were supposed to kill Lockett were actually injected into his body. While the third was being administered, Lockett's vein ""exploded,"" Oklahoma Department of Corrections Director Robert Patton told reporters. He called the execution off. Then the inmate, Patton told the media, died of an apparent heart attack at 7:06 p.m. Perhaps some supporters of the death penalty find comfort in the fact that death by lethal injection is supposed to be painless -- more sterile than a firing squad, more clinical than the electric chair. For those people, perhaps, Oklahoma's botched execution will be a wake-up call -- a realization that all executions, regardless of method, are cruel and not especially unusual in parts of the United States. But in Oklahoma -- where both the firing squad and the chair are still statutory alternatives to the needle, if other methods were to be deemed unconstitutional by the courts -- method and morality don't seem to matter much. This is the state -- the state where I grew up, by the way, and where I once worked as a newspaper reporter -- that has the highest per capita rate of executions in the country. Nationally, support for the death penalty has declined from a high of 80% in the 1990s to only 60% now, according to Gallup. States such as Connecticut, Maryland and New Mexico recently have abolished this abhorrent practice. It's unclear if public opinion in Oklahoma mirrors the national trend, statistically, but anecdotal evidence suggests the state supports, if not celebrates, state-sponsored death. ""Give them a bonus!"" one commenter wrote on The Oklahoman's website, apparently referring to the executioner or state officials. ""I hope that man was in more pain than anyone ever imagined possible,"" a woman from Oklahoma wrote on Facebook, echoing a sentiment I saw repeated. Not everyone reacted this way, to be sure. But an outsider could be forgiven for seeing politicians in the state who support these unethical policies as death-hungry and vengeful. History would support that view as well. It was Oklahoma, after all, in 1977, that was the first state to authorize death by lethal injection. That decision was made, in part, because Oklahoma was ""facing the expensive prospect of fixing the state's broken electric chair,"" and lethal injections were cheaper, according to Human Rights Watch. It was Oklahoma, in 1988, that lost an argument before the U.S. Supreme Court that it should be able to execute a man who was convicted of murder at age 15. And it was Oklahoma, just this year, that executed a 38-year-old man, Michael Wilson, whose last words, just a moment before his death, were, ""I feel my whole body burning."" Yet, the state proceeded with Lockett's execution this week. And it did so, according to The Guardian, using ""dosages never before tried in American executions."" Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin was forced to show some sense when she ordered a stay of a second execution -- of convicted child rapist and murderer Charles Warner -- that was scheduled to occur after Lockett's on Tuesday. That a state was going to execute two men in one night drew international curiosity and condemnation. It rattled some feathers in Oklahoma, as there were protesters at the Capitol. But the governor and many residents were unmoved. No one would dispute that Lockett's crime was unthinkably heinous: He was convicted of shooting 19-year-old Stephanie Neiman before watching his accomplice bury her alive. But that doesn't excuse the state from ordering his death, especially in this way. Both Lockett and Warner's sentences had been contested in court, with attorneys for the inmates arguing that the state cannot withhold the exact source of the drugs it planned to use for the executions. A political circus ensued, and the court, in the view of Andrew Cohen, a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice, ""caved in to the political pressure."" Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Steven Taylor wrote, in agreement with the court, that Lockett and Warner had no right to know the source of the chemicals. ""...(I)f they were being hanged, they would have no right to know whether it be cotton or nylon rope; or if they were being executed by firing squad, they would have no right to know whether it be by Winchester or Remington ammunition,"" he wrote, according to news reports. States have been scrambling to come up with drugs they can use to kill people since some drug makers stopped selling them for such purposes. Fallin has called for an investigation into the botched execution. As part of that, she should make the source of Oklahoma's drugs known. But Oklahoma seems to be a place hell-bent on secrecy. Near the end of the Tulsa World editor's journal of events, Ziva Branstetter writes that ""blinds are lowered"" and reporters were not allowed to see what happened in the final moments of Lockett's life. ""Reporters exchange shocked glances,"" she wrote at 6:39 p.m. ""Nothing like this has happened at an execution any of us has witnessed since 1990, when the state resumed executions using lethal injection."" Reporters were escorted to a white van outside the state penitentiary in McAlester, Oklahoma, which is commonly known as ""Big Mac."" They were told to leave their state-issued pens, Branstetter wrote. One could find hope in that moment -- could think that the state realizes that if witnesses saw what happened after the curtain fell, they would be shocked into action. That seems like a plausible explanation, but I still have my doubts. The death penalty is on its way out in America. But it's got a cold grip on Oklahoma."
"Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- The Taliban has executed a pregnant widow accused of adultery in western Afghanistan, provincial and district officials said Monday. The 47-year-old woman, Sanam Gul, also known as Sanam Bibi, was killed in Badghis province Saturday morning, said Ashrafuddin Majidi, the provincial governor's spokesman. The district governor of Qades, Hashim Habibi, confirmed the execution. He said the woman was accused of adultery that left her pregnant. The Taliban shadow district governor, Mullah Abdul Hakim, and his judge ordered the woman to be executed, he said. Mohammad Yousuf, a Taliban commander, carried out the execution, shooting the woman in her head, Habibi said. The International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan condemned the killing. ""This tragic gruesome brutality is an example of Taliban justice,"" said U.S. Army Col. Rafael Torres, director of the ISAF Joint Command Combined Joint Operations Center. ""This is not what the people of Afghanistan want -- they want peace and freedom and that's what we're going to help provide."" The statement from the ISAF cited reports that the widow was whipped 200 times before she was shot."
"Washington (CNN) -- Colleagues of Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia mourned his death as family and friends planned his funeral. Byrd, the longest-serving member of the U.S. Congress, died Monday at the age of 92. Under West Virginia law, the state's popular two-term Democratic governor, Joe Manchin, has the power to appoint Byrd's successor. Manchin is expected to name a fellow member of his party to succeed Byrd, who was also a Democrat, thereby keeping a total of 59 Democrats in the Senate. There are questions, however, regarding exactly how long Byrd's appointed successor can serve before another election is held. West Virginia law says that if a Senate vacancy is created within two and a half years of the end of a term, the appointed successor will automatically serve out the remainder of the term. If not, a special election is required. Byrd's current term is scheduled to end on January 3, 2013. The two and a half year mark will be reached on Saturday, July 3. West Virginia law fails, however, to state exactly when a vacancy occurs. Whether the vacancy is considered to have been created at the moment of Byrd's death, or when the Senate informs state officials of the vacancy, or when Manchin declares the seat vacant will be crucial. West Virginia -- a traditional Democratic stronghold -- has been increasingly competitive for the Republicans. John McCain easily defeated Barack Obama in West Virginia in the 2008 presidential election. Neither Manchin nor the Democratic-led Senate have made any official declarations yet. As question swirl around the timing of the next election for Byrd's seat, numerous political leaders have been issuing statements in remembrance of the nine-term senator: . -- President Barack Obama . ""The people of West Virginia have lost a true champion, the United States Senate has lost a venerable institution, and America has lost a voice of principle and reason with the passing of Robert C. Byrd. Senator Byrd's story was uniquely American. He was born into wrenching poverty, but educated himself to become an authoritative scholar, respected leader, and unparalleled champion of our Constitution. He scaled the summit of power, but his mind never strayed from the people of his beloved West Virginia. He had the courage to stand firm in his principles, but also the courage to change over time."" -- Gov. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia . ""Sen. Byrd was a fearless fighter for the constitution, his beloved state and its great people. He made a significant mark as a member of Congress in both our state's and nation's history. His accomplishments and contributions will define history for eternity."" -- Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-West Virginia . ""It has been my greatest privilege to serve with Robert C. Byrd in the United States Senate. I looked up to him, I fought next to him, and I am deeply saddened that he is gone. He leaves a void that simply can never be filled. But I am lifted by the knowledge of his deep and abiding faith in God, I have joy in the thought of him reunited with his dear (late wife) Erma, and I am proud knowing that his moving life story and legacy of service and love for West Virginia will live on. Senator Byrd came from humble beginnings in the southern coalfields, was raised by hard-working West Virginians, and triumphantly rose to the heights of power in America. But he never forgot where he came from nor who he represented, and he never abused that power for his own gain."" -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada . ""By virtue of his endurance, Robert Byrd knew and worked with many of the greats of the United States Senate. Because of his enduring virtue, he will be remembered as one of them. Senator Byrd dedicated every single day of his Senate service to strengthening the institution, state and republic that he loved so dearly. There will never be another like him."" --Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky . ""Sen. Byrd combined a devotion to the U.S. Constitution with a deep learning of history to defend the interests of his state and the traditions of the Senate. We will remember him for his fighter's spirit, his abiding faith, and for the many times he recalled the Senate to its purposes. ... We are glad to know that Senator Byrd and his beloved Erma are reunited. We extend our deepest sympathies to the entire Byrd family."" --Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont . ""No senator came to care more about the Constitution or to be a more effective defender of our constitutional government than the senior senator from West Virginia. He was a senator's senator. ... I know him as a mentor and a friend. I was honored to stand with him and fight against assaults on the Constitution and against an unnecessary and costly war in Iraq. He was a self-educated man who learned much throughout his life and had much to teach us all. He was a symbol of West Virginia, he was an outstanding senator, and he was extraordinary American."" --Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Alabama . ""It is a sad day for all of us. There was no one who loved the institution of the Senate more, and no one who was a better student of it."" CNN's Ted Barrett, Alan Silverleib, and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Since the start of the financial crisis, the world's wealthiest man, investor Warren Buffett, has been front and center. Alice Schroeder says investor Warren Buffett has become a symbol of stability in American business. He's advised Sen. Barack Obama on economic policy. He urged Congress to pass the $700 billion bailout bill. He bought stakes in Goldman Sachs and General Electric. He wrote an op-ed piece in the New York Times saying he's buying stock in American companies now because he believes they will do well in the long run, citing as his rule: ""Be greedy when others are fearful."" Buffett's name came up in the second presidential debate when the candidates agreed he'd be a good choice for treasury secretary. His fortune was estimated at $62 billion by Forbes in March. Alice Schroeder got Buffett's cooperation in writing her new book, ""The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life"" (Bantam Books). Schroeder, who worked on Wall Street as an insurance industry analyst, met Buffett 10 years ago when his company, Berkshire Hathaway, bought a big insurance company. Schroeder says she suggested he write a book about his life, and the 78-year-old Buffett turned the tables, urging her to do it instead. Schroeder estimates she spent about 2,000 hours with Buffett and interviewed 250 people for the book. Now on a tour to promote her book, Schroeder is in a unique position to speak about Buffett at a time when many media outlets are seeking his views. ""I have about 300 hours of recorded interviews and the rest of the time I observed him, I watched him make decisions and talk on the phone, went through files. I got to sit in his office for weeks, I ate steaks with him,"" says Schroeder, who's 51. ""If it ever said moo, he'll pretty much eat it. He likes his steaks bloody rare and hanging off the plate, they're so big."" CNN: Why are people so interested in Warren Buffett? Schroeder: I think he's transcended business to become a national figure because of people's trust in him as a symbol of stability and a symbol of someone who knows how to manage risk and avoid catastrophe and of how to run a business on principles. CNN: Is there any realistic possibility of him taking a government position? Schroeder: No, none. What he really likes to do is run Berkshire Hathaway, and he's not going to let anything take him away from that. He's also not going to let anyone spend his day filled up with meetings or schedule his time, he's too independent. CNN: You make clear that in the 1990s tech boom, Wall Street turned away from Buffett and there was some criticism of him. Do you think that now, because of the market downturn, people will look to him more to set a standard of how the market operates? Schroeder: I think it's fair to say that throughout his career, every time there's been a bubble and it's burst, his reputation has grown. That happened in the 1960s, when the bubble burst in the 1970s, it happened again after 1987. It happened again after the savings and loan crisis. ... It happened again after the Internet bubble and it's happening now. CNN: It doesn't seem to have had a lasting effect, since we keep going back into another boom period or bubble. Schroeder: He would say that human nature doesn't change, and that fear and greed are always the two drivers of the market. And there are people who listen when he gives learnings, but that the market will always be ruled by cycles driven by fear and greed. CNN: Have you talked to him about the current market turmoil? Schroeder: Last spring, when Bear Stearns was being taken over by J.P. Morgan ... he talked about the dominoes falling, and how, if that happened, the government could face some very unpleasant choices and have to take drastic measures. With hindsight it looks really prescient. In 2002, he talked about derivatives as financial weapons of mass destruction. More recently, his observation was that there was a lot of anger and denial at first about what was going on, and that people were not quite grasping the gravity of the situation and how quickly and dramatically they needed to move. He always says, don't sell into a panic, don't let the fear and the emotions of the market change how you feel. If you own good stocks in good companies or you own an index of the markets, and you see it getting cheaper, that's a reason to be happy, not to panic and sell. ... The idea is buy low, sell high -- not buy high, sell low. He understands the factors that are burdening the country, the federal deficit, the consumer debt, the infrastructure spending that we're going to have to do, but he has a belief in American ingenuity which over the long term has enabled our country to solve problems that seemed insurmountable in the past. For example, in the 1970s, it looked like the country could not ever dig its way out of the mess. So he does have a faith in the long-term prospects of the country. CNN: Is he a gambler? Schroeder: No, he's a handicapper -- big difference. A handicapper is somebody who understands odds-making. A gambler is somebody who bets but may not even understand the odds. Warren believes in a margin of safety, he doesn't bet unless the odds are overwhelmingly in his favor. When he goes to Vegas he does not gamble, he goes to see the shows. CNN: What are his flaws? Schroeder: He is somebody who can be very tough in business and very impersonal, including with people he likes. And in personal relationships, he negotiates as if it were a business relationship . When he was putting Berkshire Hathaway together, as [his business partner] Charlie Munger puts it, he was an implacable acquirer. The book refers to him, in my words, as a great white shark, and the book describes the battle between his avarice and his higher principles. At times, his avarice won. And over his lifetime, it's been essentially a progress during which his higher principles have increasingly had the upper hand. But when he was in junior high, he was a shoplifter. He was a juvenile delinquent. He sold his sister's bicycle. It's been pretty much uphill from there, but it hasn't been a straight line. CNN: In his adult life, was there a time when his avarice won out over higher principles? Schroeder: Absolutely, he's made investments that he shouldn't have made, for example, when he invested in Salomon. He was criticizing Wall Street and saying if you want to make a lot of money, hold your nose and go to Wall Street, and at the same time he was already there. Berkshire owned $700 million of convertible preferred [stock] in a major Wall Street bank. And he was sort of mentally distancing himself from a business that he was invested in. That kind of separation is something that's very hard to maintain. And in the end, he had to become interim chairman of Salomon to rescue the firm. Psychologically, he was trying to distance himself from it because the two sides of him were at war. CNN: Is he still critical of Wall Street? Schroeder: You've got an economy in which financial intermediaries who don't add anything to the economy ... have in the past two decades stripped off huge amounts of fees, particularly buyout funds, and hedge funds and funds of funds, and he's very, very critical of the amount of fees that have been taken out. He has no problem with executive pay when it's related to performance. He thinks in most cases executives are being paid to sit in a chair whether they perform or not.  And he's pointed out that these people are not like major league baseball players, who get recruited away by other teams. When CEOs get fired and they get these golden parachutes, you don't normally see them winding up somewhere else, right? So they're getting paid these huge amounts of money as an incentive to stay and then they get paid the consolation prize when they get fired. The pay is always getting ratcheted upward, they're getting paid to incent them to stay and they're getting paid to console them when they leave, no matter what the shareholders are getting. It's not aligned with anything the shareholders get, that really bothers him. CNN: What would he say about coping with an economic downturn? Schroeder: That people should think for the long run and make their personal decisions for the long run and build a margin of safety into their lives as best they can. Think about what could go wrong. Don't assume the best-case scenario. If you've got debts, your first thought should be how to pay them off, and negotiate with creditors if you're struggling, because they'll usually be flexible. And be realistic about what you can afford, because having a financial cushion means you can sleep at night, and that's worth more than a big-screen TV."
"(CNN) -- Police in Norwalk, Ohio, are searching for a 17-year-old girl who has been missing since June 7 after trading text messages with her boyfriend that indicated the two were planning to run away together, police Sgt. Jim Fulton said Monday. Fulton said police believe Abbi Obermiller left her grandparents' home on her own accord late on the night of June 6, but said detectives are ""concerned"" that the situation may have changed and that there is a ""possibility she is in danger."" He declined to elaborate on what information authorities have received that led them to believe her situation possibly changed. Investigators in the case have uncovered a series of text messages between Obermiller and her boyfriend, identified by police and by Obermiller's parents as 20-year-old Robert Young of Norwalk, that appear to be coordinating when she would be picked up from her grandparents' home in the early morning hours of June 7, Fulton said. According to Fulton, Obermiller repeatedly sent messages to Young asking, ""How much longer?"" At 12:45 a.m. June 7, Young responded and told her to ""leave now,"" Fulton said. The last text message from Obermiller appeared to direct Young to her location, Fulton said. CNN could not immediately reach Young for comment Monday night. Young has denied knowledge of Obermiller's whereabouts, according to police. Young has told police the messages were a week old and were sent over Memorial Day weekend while the couple coordinated a swimming date, Fulton said. However, other evidence indicates the couple were  making plans to run away  after Obermiller's parents expressed  disapproval of their relationship,  Fulton said. Young was charged June 14 with obstruction of justice in the case for  his failure to cooperate in the investigation, authorities said. A text message to one of Obermiller's friends sent before her disappearance indicates Obermiller knew she would be going away. In it, she tells her ""bestest friend"" that she won't be able to talk for a while so ""don't forget me,"" according to Fulton. And a note found in her grandparents' home reads: ""I just couldn't take any more of this drama, it's not good for me. Love you all. Hope to see you soon. Love, Abbi,"" according to Fulton. Fulton also said one of Obermiller's friends told police she saw Abbi wearing a wedding ring. ""We do believe that Bobby does know where she's at, he just doesn't want to tell us,"" Obermiller's mother, Rose Obermiller, told HLN's ""Prime News"" on Monday night. Rose Obermiller told ""Prime News"" that she initially approved of her daughter's relationship with Young, but that Young's behavior grew increasingly alarming. ""In the beginning he was a nice Christian boy,"" Obermiller said. ""He went to church, he was on the baseball team, he was on the basketball team (and) he really cared for Abbi. ""But as it went on, he was telling her, 'No I don't want you to be class treasurer; no, I don't want you to go to New York with your choir; no, I don't want you to see these friends and relatives,"" Obermiller said. ""He was telling her what not to do."" Fulton said Young has declined to take a polygraph test in the case."
"(CNN) -- After the fall of the Berlin Wall, East Germany lay in shambles as many businesses went bankrupt and millions of people lost their jobs. Some firms, however, got back on their feet and revived the ""Made in Germany"" trademark by harnessing the expertise of their workers. Their aim was to become, once again, a global brand. CNN travelled to the town of Glashütte in Saxony, known as the birthplace of the German watchmaking tradition. Here, watchmakers such as A. Lange & Söhne and Nomos Glashütte among others have thrived since the fall of the Wall and have since exported their high-end watches to the rest of the world. German craftsmanship . It is companies like these which put their personal, unique stamp on a timeless piece which isn't assembled overnight, explained A. Lange & Söhne. ""It takes about four weeks for a watchmaker to put this piece together. And to learn to do this you need about five to ten years of experience,"" said Marco Wolf, a watchmaker at A. Lange & Söhne, one of the longest-running high-end watchmakers in the world. The hand-crafted timepieces, all mechanical and made with microscopic precision, are carefully created in the former Communist town of Glashütte. ""That is what our customers appreciate. The love for details striving for perfection. All that with typical German attributes like solidity, cleanliness, understatement. I think that combination is what drives people and what makes them our customers,"" said Wilhelm Schmid, CEO of A. Lange & Söhne. Attention to detail goes beyond the surface, according to Schmid, who describes how even tiny parts of the watch the customer will never see are engraved. ""And each engraver has his or her own signature style,"" he added. All in the family . The company's namesake, Ferdinand Adolf Lange, founded Glashütte's watchmaking tradition in 1845. The industry flourished and for over a century Glashütte was Germany's watchmaking capital. But all that changed after World War II, when Glashütte suddenly found itself in the Communist east part of Germany. All the watchmaking companies were nationalized and forced to build cheap watches, some of which were secretly sold in the West. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, much of the watch industry was able to get back on its feet, explained Schmid. ""There was still talent here. They were working on different watches than we are working on here today, but the talent generally speaking was there,"" he said. ""So all we had to do was help them to get to the next level."" Bouncing back . Fortunately for those companies, Glashütte has revived as Germany's capital of watchmaking once again, employing more people than it ever has. Of the town's 1,800 residents, 1,500 work in the watchmaking industry. Watchmaker Nomos Glashütte is another example of the area's growth in the past 25 years. The company, formed two months after the fall of the Berlin Wall, says its focus on design has pushed it forward in the past 25 years. ""We have brought great and unique design to Glashütte,"" said Uwe Ahrendt, CEO of Nomos Glashütte. ""We make beautiful watches and our timepieces come at very good prices,"" he said. In an era of start-ups and cheaper products being made at a fraction of the cost, the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall is a reflection of how resilient these particular watchmakers have been, and how adaptable they are in the global landscape. Read more Super fast and green? How the new breed of sports cars is getting a makeover . Read more: Want a top notch college degree but can't afford it? Head to Germany . Learn more: Germany by numbers: A look inside Europe's economic powerhouse ."
"(EW.com) -- Is it too soon to make a horror film inspired by the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, in which a vast area of the world was radioactively contaminated following the catastrophic meltdown of a Ukrainian nuclear power plant? No, according to Oren Peli. The ""Paranormal Activity"" writer-director both co-wrote and co-produced this tale of six vacationing twentysomethings who make the egregious error of signing up for an ''extreme tourism'' outing to the Chernobyl-adjacent and long abandoned town of Pripyat. (Newcomer Bradley Parker directs.) Before you can say ''What, was the ballet all sold out?'' our hero-victims are being menaced, and rapidly thinned out, in an array of ways it does not behoove us to disclose here. If nowhere near as scary as the original ""Paranormal,"" the result is superior to many of the low-budget terror flicks that have arrived since (yes, ""The Devil Inside,"" we're talking about you) and benefits hugely from Dimitri Diatchenko's performance as moviedom's Worst. Tour. Guide. Ever. B-- . See the full story at EW.com. CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly . © 2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved."
"Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Torrential rains and floods in Pakistan have killed 30 people, and 50 others are missing, a paramilitary official said Friday. More than 30,000 people have been affected by flooding, mainly in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, said Murtaza Baid, spokesman for the Frontier Corps. Water swept away four villages and severely damaged others. Medical camps and shelters have been set up for victims, and 900 troops are helping doctors and emergency teams in rescue efforts. Flooding has also been reported in southern Punjab province. Journalist Nasir Habib contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Ollanta Humala, a left-leaning Peruvian politician who promises reforms in education and services to the poor, was sworn in as the nation's president Thursday. In his first address as president, Humala stressed equality, saying he wants Peru to be ""a place where everyone enjoys the same rights to abundance and happiness."" ""Economic growth and social inclusion must march together,"" he said of his governing philosophy. He succeeds Alan Garcia, who oversaw a period of robust economic growth as president, but who nonetheless was unpopular and criticized for promoting business at the expense of indigenous groups and the environment. Humala, an ex-army officer who ran unsuccessfully for president in 2006 as a leftist ally of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, reinvented himself as a more moderate leader. He calmed markets and worries that his moderation was a facade to win the election by naming a Cabinet made up of political moderates. The new president has promised to spread the benefits of Peru's economic boom to the poor. He has cited needs to improve the nation's infrastructure, water, sanitation and education, particularly in rural areas. A number of presidents from other Latin American countries, including Ecuador, Chile and Brazil, were on hand to witness the swearing-in ceremony. There was a small oddity during the swearing in of Humala and his two vice presidents, when they all swore allegiance to Peru's 1979 Constitution. That document, however, was replaced in 1993 by a new one drafted during the presidency of strongman Alberto Fujimori. Humala defeated Fujimori's daughter, Keiko, to win the presidency. The slap at the current Constitution resulted in boos and shouts from members of Fujimori's party. Several times in his speech, Humala talked about the importance of unity. ""Reality requires a new social contract that makes it possible for all Peruvians to live together,"" he said. He added that he wants ""to be seen as a defender of human rights and of freedom of the press and expression."" Other leftist leaders in Latin America, such as Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa and Venezuela's Chavez, have been criticized by press freedom organizations for clamping down on the media. Humala promised change, but warned that it would not be as swift as his critics fear, or as some of his supporters desire. To be lasting, he said, ""any changes must be gradual and rational."" In another minor controversy, the outgoing president, Garcia, did not attend the swearing-in ceremony to pass the presidential sash to his successor. Garcia, who was also president in a disastrous term from 1985 to 1990, was booed and heckled by Congress when he bid farewell. According to local media, he decided not to attend this time to avoid another round of heckling."
"Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Another Taliban leader has been seized in neighboring Pakistan by security forces, sources said. Mullah Abdul Salam was arrested last week, according to Afghan government officials, Taliban sources and a U.S. official. Word of Salam's arrest comes days after news of the capture of the Afghan Taliban's reputed second-in-command, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. ""The Taliban is down another 'shadow governor,' "" the American source said of Salam. The source declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the information. The news came against the background of an intensified U.S.-led campaign against insurgents on both sides of the border. Taliban fighters are resisting Operation Moshtarak, an allied military push into areas the Taliban control in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province. ""They know this is their last stronghold. They're not backing down,"" CNN's Atia Abawi reported from the battlefield, where she is embedded with U.S. Marines. The crackle of small-arms fire and the whoosh of outgoing mortar rounds from the Marines were clearly audible on the line as she described the battle. ""About five minutes ago, Taliban started attacking our area,"" she said shortly before 8 a.m. ET. ""The Taliban are not giving up -- they seem to be coming out in squads, [but] they know they can't group together in large numbers"" because it would make them easier targets. The Taliban seem to include ""foreign fighters who will fight to the death,"" she said. It will take NATO-led military forces ""another 25 to 30 days to secure that which needs to be secured"" in Helmand and a further three months to ensure insurgents are kept out of the area, British Maj. Gen. Nick Carter said Thursday in a briefing from Afghanistan broadcast by the Pentagon Channel. The Nad-e Ali district is ""broadly secure,"" Carter said, noting there is still Taliban resistance in Marjah. ""It will be some days before we can be completely confident that Marjah is secure,"" said Carter, the International Security Assistance Force's head of Regional Command South. Ten civilians were killed on the second day of the operation, he said. Reports at the time said 12 were killed. There have been five casualties among the NATO-led forces during the operation, the forces said in a statement Thursday, without giving further details. It said later that four ISAF servicemembers died Thursday -- two of them in an improvised explosive device strike; another after a separate IED attack; small-arms fire killed the fourth servicemember. It was not immediately clear whether the four were among the five casualties noted earlier. The four deaths bring to 44 the number of Americans killed this year in Afghanistan. In all, 78 coalition forces have died this year . Across the border in Pakistan, four people were killed and five were wounded Thursday when a drone fired on a suspected militant compound in the country's tribal region, intelligence sources and a local political official said. The four dead were suspected militants, two intelligence officials said. It was not clear whether the wounded also were militants. The remote-controlled aircraft fired two missiles at the compound in the Danday Darpakhel area of North Waziristan, one of seven districts in the tribal region along the Afghan border, the sources said. They asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to speak to the media. The U.S. military does not comment on reported attacks by the pilotless aircraft, but the United States is the only country operating in the region known to have the ability to launch missiles from drones. Salam was arrested in Pakistan, the Afghan government and Taliban sources said, but they named different cities as the location of his capture. Gov. Muhammad Omar of Afghanistan's Kunduz province said Salam was detained in Quetta, where the Afghan Taliban reportedly has its leadership councils. The Taliban sources said he was nabbed in Faisalabad. Salam is believed to be the Taliban commander for Kunduz, Omar said. Salam was directing Taliban military operations in the province, including ordering terrorist actions, mine planting and suicide attacks, said Abdul Razaq Yaqubi, police chief in Kunduz. Yaqubi said Salam and another Taliban ""shadow governor,"" Mullah Salih, were arrested last week in the Pakistani city of Peshawar. He said the information came from Pakistani authorities. Salih was the shadow governor of Baghlan province, the police chief said. There was no immediate confirmation of Salih's arrest. Taliban sources and Omar said other suspected members of the Afghan Taliban were arrested with Salam, but their identities are not clear. CNN's Pam Benson in Washington and journalist Mati Matiullah in Kabul contributed to this report."
"It was a shocking and gruesome discovery: three dead infants found in a Massachusetts home so squalid that police officers had to search it in hazmat suits. Now, days later, as investigators continue to search through what the Worcester County District Attorney's Office describes as the home's ""deplorable conditions (such as) massive insect infestation, mounds of used diapers and feces,"" a picture is beginning to emerge of the family that lived inside. And it's a picture so deranged, so unfathomable to a reasonable mind, that even a lawyer for the accused calls the situation ""completely inexplicable."" Erika Murray was arraigned September 12 on a bevy of charges stemming from the discovery of the dead infants at her home the day before, but she has not been charged in their deaths. The 31-year-old pleaded not guilty to charges of concealing an out of wedlock fetal death, two counts of permitting substantial injury to a child, intimidation of a witness, cruelty to an animal and violating an abuse prevention order, according to Tim Connolly, a district attorney spokesman. Whether or not Murray is the mother is not known by authorities for certain at this point, but her attorney assumes that she is. ""My expectation is that it will be confirmed that they were indeed hers,"" Keith Halpern told CNN. Murray lived in the now-condemned single family home with her longtime boyfriend, Ray Rivera, and the couple's children. Just how many children lived with them in the vermin-infested 1,150-square-foot home, however, depends on which parent you ask: of the four living children that the state removed from the home on August 28, Murray told investigators that Rivera, 38, only knew about two of them. The other two -- a 3 year old and an infant, according to Halpern -- were apparently not only born in secret but lived hidden from their father amid mountains of garbage under the same roof. Rivera also ""presumably"" did not know about the ones that had died, at least according to the account Murray has told authorities, Halpern said. ""It is a mystery to me how Mr. Rivera could have failed to notice (the) numerous pregnancies (of) the woman with whom he shared a bed,"" said Halpern. ""It's a mystery to me how he could have failed to realize that there were two children living under the same roof as him, and he didn't know about it."" CNN was unable to reach Rivera or members of his family Sunday evening. He has not been charged with any crime, and there is no public record of physical abuse. 'Prisoner of her own fear' Halpern said that while his client's explanation ""is not based in reality,"" the situation  Murray came to be in was the result of fear, not malice. ""She was terrified of the pregnancies being discovered,"" said Halpern. ""She was terrified of the two younger children being discovered. Why? I don't know the answer to that."" Whether based in reality or not, Halpern said Murray was ""a prisoner of her own fear"" and suggested it was that fear that explains the three infants found dead in her home. ""Try to imagine the state of mind of a woman who attempts to hide a pregnancy,  go into labor and deliver children -- at least twice, but presumably five times -- on her own."" ""I feel certain that she did not do anything to harm any of these children,"" he said. ""I don't think there will be a determination that they were killed."" Though Halpern said he has yet to consult with a pathologist, he said it is not clear if they were ever alive to begin with or if they were all stillborn. Abuse suspected in 2007 . The state's removal of the four living children at the home last month was the result of the filing of what's called a 51A report in Massachusetts, according to Alec Loftus, a spokesman for the state's office of Health and Human Services. A 51A can be filed by any citizen with reason to believe that a child has been abused or neglected. This was not the first time a 51A had been filed when it came to that home, according to a Massachusetts Department of Children and Families spokeswoman. Cayenne Isaksen said such a report was previously received in 2007, but that ""it was unsupported and therefore no case was opened."" For now, Isaksen said DCF has Murray's four children in its care and is focused on  ""ensuring (their) safety and well-being and providing them with the proper medical care, support and services they need,"" she said. Connolly said that the family caring for them has no public statement to make at this time. Murray's case was adjourned to October 14. Investigators, meanwhile, remain at the scene digging through the squalor. ""Our investigation will continue for quite some time,"" said Joseph Early, the Worcester County District Attorney. Dad accused of slaying five kids had history with social services ."
"LONDON, England (CNN) --   Bread. For Egypt's middle classes it is breakfast, lunch and dinner. In Egyptian Arabic it is known as ""aish"" which means both bread and life. Bread is the staple food of Egypt's poor -- 40 percent of whom live on around $2 per day . For many Egyptians the flat, round bread is also becoming a symbol of the country's inequalities. Rocketing global commodity prices and failing domestic supplies have made this staple food unaffordable for 20 percent of the country's 76 million inhabitants. The Middle East's most populous country is not alone in these problems. The UN warned economic turmoil could hit many of the world's poorer countries as global inflation spirals -- but with 40 percent of the population living near the poverty line, the price rise has struck particularly hard. Earlier this week, in the gritty industrial city of Mahalla al-Kobra, northern Egypt, a teenager was killed during two days of violent clashes between residents and police. The protesters, who are enraged by low wages and rising prices, also tore down a billboard of Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak. Prime Minister, Ahmed Nazif, rushed to the city to try to head off any further escalation in the civil disturbances and workers were promised bonuses and concessions. But for many Egyptians, these moves are too little too late. On the streets, the popularity of Mubarak's regime is at an all time low. The riots in Mahalla al-Kobra are the latest in a series of flares in social unrest. Read CNN Correspondent, Ben Wedeman's blog about the Egypt crisis . Despite a growing economy and billions of dollars in international investment, average wages remain low and the gulf between the country's tiny elite and the majority of workers grows ever wider. The doubling of prices over the past year and an acute shortage of government subsidized bread has acted as a catalyst to the population's smoldering discontent. All Egyptians can buy the cheap government subsidised bread under a decades old socialist-inspired system that also provides subsidies for public transport and gasoline. As unsubsidized bread -- which can sell at 10 to 12 times the cost of government bread -- becomes unaffordable for a portion of the population the demand for government bread is growing. At the same time the supplies of subsidized bread have also decreased. The population is jaded and many people believe that corruption is behind the shortages. Rumors circulate that subsidized bakeries would rather sell their flour on the black market than use it to produce bread. People have no choice but to wait in line to buy government bread. ""I've been standing here for hours, and we are not close to getting bread yet,"" Mohammed el-Deeb, a manager at a medical company told the Associated Press, ""Of course I need to stand in the line, I can't afford the other bread."" In recent weeks, two people were stabbed and killed when fights broke out over government bread. Five others died from exhaustion caused by hours spent standing in line. There are fears the unrest could emulate the 1997 bread riots in which 70 people were killed after the government raised the price of bread and other subsidized foods. The government is facing a political crisis and has ordered the army -- which normally only makes bread for employees -- to increase production and distribute it to the public. The army opened 10 large bakeries in Cairo and set up 500 kiosks to sell bread to the public, according to the government. Read John Defterios' blog about the Egyptian food crisis . Egypt grows about half the wheat it consumes every year and buys the rest from the world market. Egypt's Finance Minister, Youssef Boutros Ghali says this is what is causing all the problems: ""The price rise is being driven by what is happening in the international markets. The local component is very little."" He also believes the international investment and economic growth needs time to trickle down through the whole population, ""It's not enough. There are 77 million of us. For the 77 million to feel it we need at least five, six, seven years plus of growth,"" he said. But that won't give much relief to the country's citizens, many of whom currently live on $2 a day.  E-mail to a friend ."
"(CNN) -- While an art student at Dumlupinar University, Turkish illustrator Murat Palta watched ""Star Wars"". As with the generations of fans that preceded him, he was struck by the film's epic quality. Though the movie is set in the future, Palta was reminded of the colorful Ottoman miniatures that illustrated Turkish literature from the 16th century. Gallery: Cult classics reimagined as Ottoman miniatures . ""I kept on trying to imagine what 'Star Wars' would look like if it was placed in the Ottoman era, so I decided it would be good to illustrate it,"" he recalls. Palta soon got hooked on reimagining Western cult classics in the Eastern tradition. For his graduation project, he expanded his portfolio to include antique-style versions of several cult classics, including ""A Clockwork Orange,"" ""Inception"" and an array of Scorsese and Tarantino movies. ""I guess I just really like movies,"" he admits. ""I just wanted to make fun of them, but not in a mean way."" There is an underlying playfulness throughout his illustrations. Each took a full day or two to complete using a combination of handmade stencils, watercolors and Photoshop. In his rendition of ""Scarface,"" Al Pacino shoots down his foes while wearing a fez. His ""Goodfellas"" gangsters drive horse and buggies instead of cars and in ""The Shining,"" Danny rides a bicycle made of wood. ""The first time I mentioned my project to my teachers, they didn't understand it,"" Palta admits. ""They said, 'why don't you illustrate Turkish movies?' I told them there's no point. I wanted to combine not just the two cultures -- Western and Eastern -- but the two styles: modern and traditional."" They were impressed when they saw the finished product, however, and Palta, since graduated, has moved on to display his work (he's gearing up for an exhibition in Florence, Italy at the Vaia Balekis Contemporary Art Gallery). The project is also far from over. ""I'm still working on it,"" he admits. ""I think next I'll illustrate 'Lord of the Rings' and '2001: A Space Odyssey,' or maybe 'Pan's Labyrinth.'"" Gallery: Iranian epic Shahnahmeh, remade for the digital age . Interactive: Press freedom in the Middle East ."
"BABAHOYO, Ecuador (CNN)  -- At least 10 people have died and thousands have been left homeless after torrential rains inundated large parts of Ecuador, officials said Thursday. Authorities said the rains, which began a week ago, were the worst in a quarter century. Civil defense officials said more than 10,000 families have been affected. Los Ríos -- north of Guayaquil -- was the hardest hit of nine provinces affected, civil defense officials said. In Los Ríos province, five people died when an ambulance drove into a hole at the side of a street at dawn Thursday. A newborn boy, his parents, a doctor and a driver were killed. Streets also were flooded in the capital of Quito.  Watch the scenes of devastation in Ecuador » . On Wednesday, President Rafael Correa declared a state of emergency and ordered 2,000 members of the army and the police to help rescue workers. Correa increased by $25 million the $10 million he already had allocated for the emergency efforts. He also directed another $88 million to municipalities. Once the crisis has eased, an emergency fund will give seed and fertilizer to help farmers whose fields were washed away, Ecuador's government said. There also have been reports of livestock drowning. Cristina Medina, a spokeswoman for the Ecuadorean Red Cross, said provinces most heavily affected were along the Pacific coast, where drinking water was often in short supply. In some towns, high waters forced entire neighborhoods to evacuate, Medina said. E-mail to a friend ."
"(CNN) -- World No. 2 Roger Federer reached the semifinals of the Paris Masters for the first time in his long and illustrious career with a straight-sets victory over Austria's Jurgen Melzer on Friday. The top seed in the absence of the injured Rafael Nadal, Federer had previously never made it past the last-eight stage -- where he was eliminated in 2002, 2003 and 2008. It is the second time he has beaten a frustrating run in the capital, having ended his long wait for a first French Open title on clay at Roland Garros last year. The Swiss star, a 16-time Grand Slam champion who has won 65 career titles, defeated 11th seed Melzer for the third time this season following straight-sets victories at Wimbledon and the US Open. The 29-year-old triumphed 6-1 7-6 (7-4) against the French Open semifinalist to set up a Saturday showdown with last year's losing finalist Gael Monfils, who upset world No. 4 Andy Murray in front of a jubilant home crowd in the late match. ""I thought I served well the whole match,"" Federer told the ATP website after firing 18 aces, his best in a two-set match. ""I think in the second he was able play a bit more solid overall, and I think he served a bit better. Top guys rarely just go through two sets not having a sniff at all. His sniff was in the breaker when he hit two good returns to go 2-1 in a mini-break, really."" French 12th seed Monfils lost the opening game to love but broke Murray on the Scot's next turn at serve before going on to seal a 6-2 2-6 6-3 victory. Monfils will be seeking to stop Federer's bid to win a third successive ATP event as he bids to emulate last year's feat, when he made it to the title match before losing to Novak Djokovic. The other semifinal of the indoor hardcourt tournament will be fought out by fourth seed Robin Soderling and dark horse Michael Llodra, who knocked out Djokovic on Thursday. Soderling saw off American eighth seed Andy Roddick, with the Swede winning 7-5 6-4 against a player he will line up with at the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London later this month. He reached the last four at Paris-Bercy for the first time, having ended a run of two three-set defeats to Roddick in the U.S. earlier this year. ""I just didn't feel sharp - everything was very basic,"" Roddick told the ATP website. ""I played one good point, one bad point. The basics weren't there as much as they have been in the past couple of weeks, which is disappointing."" World No. 34 Llodra, France's fourth-ranked player, boosted his chances of being picked for next month's Davis Cup final against Serbia as he continued his dream run this week. The first unseeded semifinalist since 2007, the left-hander defeated Russian 10th seed and 2006 champion Nikolay Davydenko 7-5 6-1. The 30-year-old fought back from 4-2 down in the first set to win 11 of the next 13 games. ""I needed to play serve-and-volley because he was returning very well,"" Llodra said. ""I was very lucid on break-points. When I had opportunities, I tried to be aggressive. I think today it was more mental victory than a tennis victory."""
"ROOSEVELT, New York (CNN) -- When Lisa Brown moved into her rental house on Long Island last summer with her three daughters, she says, it felt like a new beginning. Lisa Brown has to move out of her rental house because it is facing foreclosure . After living in apartments, the spacious house got her attention immediately. ""It was bigger than what I had lived in,"" she says. Brown was also won over by the neighborhood with its tidy homes and good school district. ""I wanted to come here, and I wanted to see my kids graduate from this school district."" But they hardly had a chance. Instead, fighting back tears, she says, ""I have to get out."" Brown and her family are being evicted not because of anything they did, but because her landlord defaulted on the mortgage and the house fell into foreclosure. The house was recently sold at auction. The bad news came just seven months after Brown had moved in. A real estate broker came to the door and handed her an eviction notice, telling her she had 30 days to vacate. ""I was hysterical, I was like, what do you mean?"" Watch Lisa Brown's talk about why she has to move »  The broker explained that the landlord no longer owns the property and that the lease was no longer valid. Brown had no idea the house was in foreclosure.  As a tenant, she always paid her rent on time, and she assumed the rent was going toward the mortgage. ""I didn't see there was a problem,"" she said. ""You know, I'm paying rent, and she's putting it toward her mortgage, I didn't see the problem."" Unfortunately, Brown is not the only tenant caught off guard. According to the Center for Housing Policy, nearly 20 percent of all foreclosures are on rental properties, and tenants' rights in such situations are minimal.   In most states, when a bank forecloses on a landlord, the tenant has no guarantee of being allowed to stay in the property, and neither the bank nor the landlord has a legal obligation to tell the tenant about the foreclosure. So while the owners know what's going on, renters are usually kept in the dark. New York State Sen. Jeff Klein is aware that renters can run into problems. ""In many instances, they're actually paying their rent on time, and the owner of the property who is in foreclosure is pocketing the money,"" he says. Klein says rental properties are involved in 50 percent of all foreclosures in New York, and he is working on a law to warn renters of foreclosure proceedings ahead of time and to keep them from losing their security deposit and being evicted with nowhere to go. Similar laws are already in place in Ohio, Illinois, Minnesota, Maryland, Rhode Island, Michigan and California. ""What we're facing here"", Klein says, ""is sort of the new homeless population unless we do something about it."" Brown was astonished to learn that her landlord rented her the house when she knew she was losing it. ""She knew that this house was foreclosing on her. She did nothing about it. Nothing, except take my money."" Brown was paying $1,900 a month in rent. She had also paid $5,700 for a security deposit and broker fees to secure the house. She says that money is gone. ""She will not give me my deposit back. Nothing."" CNN tried to reach the owner, who lives upstairs, for comment, but her phone was disconnected, and no one answered the door. The broker who rented her the house and who was paid $1,900 says he did not know the house was in foreclosure. He also says the brokerage fee will not be returned. ""It took everything I had to move in,"" Brown says, ""to give my kids a better environment."" And now, ""I'm left out with nothing."" Because eviction papers trump the lease, Brown has no legal right to stay. The bank that foreclosed on the house, and now owns it, offered her $1,000 to get out, but she says she's lost close to $6,000 and has nowhere to go. ""If it was me, yeah I could move out and go on my own. But it's my family you're talking about, my children, my three daughters and my pets, that I brought in here thinking that we were going to stay and be happy."" Brown is considering suing the owner in small-claims court to get her money back and cover moving expenses. For now, though, she says she will adjust her dreams and find another place for her family to live."
"(CNN) -- Veteran striker Raul Gonzalez scored his 71st Champions League goal to help Schalke beat holders Inter Milan 2-1 on the night and 7-3 on aggregate to reach the semifinals of the competition on Wednesday. Already in the driving seat after their stunning 5-2 first leg win at the San Siro, the German Bundesliga side never looked likely to relinquish their advantage and eased through to the last four, where they will now face Manchester United. Raul opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time, controlling an inch-perfect pass from compatriot Jose Manuel Jurado, before rounding goalkeeper Julio Cesar to slip the ball home. However, the Italian side levelled the scores just four minutes later when Thiago Motta was left unmarked from a corner to head home. Benedikt Hoewedes then had a header ruled out for offside, but the Schalke defender was not to be denied and he hit the winner with nine minutes remaining, firing home after latching onto Raul's pass. Schalke coach Ralf Rangnick told reporters: ""We have produced two great performances against Inter. ""If you only allow the Champions League winners a couple of chances, you know you have played well. ""Each player worked hard for each other and that was the key to our success,"" he added. Schalke will host United in Gelsenkirchen on April 26 in the first leg, with the return at Old Trafford on May 4."
"Paipote, Chile (CNN) -- In short order, freed miner Victor Antonio Segovia dispatches with some of the myths swirling around the 33 men rescued from the depths of the earth this week: He has no plans to write a book about what he endured in the San Jose mine, he isn't going to sue anyone for the collapse, and he intends to go back to working in the area's mines. ""Just not that one,"" Segovia says. All day Friday in the hardscrabble mining town of Paipote, Segovia's family and neighbors ready the Segovia family home for his arrival from the nearby hospital. All 33 men underwent a barrage of medical testing to see how their record days of imprisonment underground had affected them mentally and physically. All but two miners were released from the hospital Friday, and all the men are expected to make a full recovery. The Segovia family was particularly hard hit by the collapse. Two of the other trapped miners, Esteban and Pablo Rojas, are Segovia's cousins. ""Welcome home Victor Segovia,"" one neighbor said as she carried a handwritten sign greeting the miner into his home. ""If God has given you a new life and chance, grab on to it with everything you have."" The family has received gifts. While Victor's brother Pedro Segovia waits under the scorching sun of Chile's Atacama desert, he nervously toys with a brand new Sony media player. An anonymous gift left for the now famous miner. Pedro Segovia said his brother is tough and untouched by how close he came to dying in the dark recesses of the earth. ""We missed him a lot,"" Pedro Segovia said. But for him its just like another shift. As if he worked for eight hours and came home. If Segovia  has troubling memories of his long, forced stay in the mine, so far he hasn't shared them with his brother. ""He'll tell me at some point,"" Pedro Segovia said. ""What happened, what he lived through."" Inside the Segovia house are hints of how he passed the long weeks of eternal darkness. Two Chilean flags decorate a wall in a courtyard behind the Segovia's home. In carefully etched blue ink Victor drew a miner with a drill over a 33 on the white section of the flag. Below, each miner wrote his name and put his signatures in ordered columns. ""For you with all my heart,"" Segovia wrote his mother Blanca. The flags were a gift for her 50th wedding anniversary and were delivered by way of the ""paloma"" tube system that sent food and letters to the men. ""He likes to play the guitar, accordion and organ,"" Blanca Segovia said with pride about her son, who learned to play the instruments without any formal training. ""We are going to have a nice party for him."" But for the guest of honor just getting to the party will be almost as difficult as the previous legs of his journey. As the afternoon wears on, more and more media trickle into the neighborhood. Tripods and cameras are posted like sentries in front of the Segovia home. It has all the makings of an ugly media scene. So photographers agree and shake hands that all will stay in a fixed line so everyone can get an unobstructed shot of Segovia's homecoming. But hours later as Segovia steps from a van, a still photographer lurches forward and the plan is scrapped. Pushing against the wave of cameramen, Chilean police nearly have to carry the miner into his family's home. One of the photographers gets into a showing match with an officer after the melee. As the party gets under way, though, clapping and joyous chants of ""Chi Chi Chi, Le Le Le, los mineros de Chile,"" can be heard from outside the house. Then journalists still hanging around the house receive an invitation to come in and speak with the miner. Segovia appeared understandably worn from his ordeal and the crush of media attention. As reporters ask him questions, he looks down. His voice is soft and his answers are clipped. ""That was quite something,"" he said simply of the August 5 mine collapse. ""That was something very ugly."" He said he has been to Camp Hope, where family members waited for the miners' rescue. ""I don't need to go back,"" he said. Segovia said he missed his family terribly while in the mine. And, he said, he has become someone who ""thinks more about God."" ""We were a team,"" he said of the 33 men. ""But all the same there were problems. So much time together, like any family, the problems start but were ones we worked out."" Other miners have told CNN that the 33 men swore an oath never to discuss the details of what took place as the men struggled to survive in the mine. Before he goes back to the party, Segovia makes it clear he is not completely free of the mine. ""Down there you were always tired and didn't have any nightmares,"" he said. ""Here you have nightmares until you realize you are out."""
"(CNN)An Ohio man who authorities accuse of plotting to attack the U.S. Capitol appeared in a Cincinnati court Thursday and entered a plea of not guilty. Christopher Lee Cornell, 20, has been charged with attempting to kill government employees, solicitation to commit a crime and possession of a firearm. The first two charges are punishable by up to 20 years in prison, while the third charge can carry a possible sentence of up to five years behind bars. Authorities say Cornell planned to set off bombs at the U.S. Capitol and then open fire on people as they fled. He came to the FBI's attention several months ago after posting about his support for violent jihad on social media, according to a criminal complaint. The FBI launched an undercover operation, with the help of a person who began cooperating in exchange for favorable treatment on his criminal exposure on an unrelated case. Cornell allegedly told that source he had been in contact with persons overseas, and that he had aligned himself with ISIS. He did not think he would receive ""specific authorization to conduct a terrorist attack in the United States, but stated that he wanted to go forward with violent jihad and opined that this would be their way of supporting ISIL,"" the complaint said, using another name for ISIS. According to the complaint, Cornell wrote: ""I believe that we should just wage jihad under our own orders and plan attacks and everything. I believe we should meet up and make our own group in alliance with the Islamic State here and plan operations ourselves."""
"LONDON, England (CNN) -- A series of major international sporting events, a weak currency and its perennially sunny perch on the tip of South Africa are making Cape Town one of the hottest sailing destinations of 2009. Lucky strike: The port city of Cape Town is set to benefit from several major sporting events . The Indian Premier League cricket tournament was recently relocated to South Africa because of security concerns, and now Cape Town is slated to host the opening match on April 18. Both the Lions Tour rugby and the FIFA Confederations Cup football will follow the cricket tournament, heading down to South Africa later this year. Combined with the arrival of the World Cup in 2010, South Africa has suddenly become the ultimate holiday spot for sports fans. Calvyn Gilfellan, chief executive of Cape Town Routes Unlimited -- the region's tourism board -- told CNN the boost to the region had arrived at a crucial time. ""When the financial crisis started people went into gloom and doom but these events are helping a lot to restore confidence in the industry. ""The fact that we have a positive exchange rate also helps us a lot as a destination,"" he said. But South Africa's government is so focused on ensuring the success of the upcoming games that it recently denied a visa to The Dalai Lama. Critics contend that South Africa bowed to pressure from the Chinese government in refusing Tibet's spiritual leader entry to attend a peace conference that was partially intended to help promote the World Cup. As the focus strengthens on these international events, the Cape Town region looks set to benefit more than many from the expected surge in tourism. Gilfellan says this is largely due to the city's location. ""We are lucky to be in such a wonderful spot. A lot of these events revolve around the marine industry and revolve around the harbor."" This weekend harbor will play host to the Cape Town International Jazz Festival -- one of many upcoming festivals in the area. Cape Town's picturesque Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, set against the backdrop of Table Mountain, has become South Africa's most visited tourist attraction. Commodore of the Royal Cape Yacht Club (RCYC) John Martin, told CNN the Cape Town port was used widely for business, leisure and sports. As well as being the country's second biggest functioning port for trade, the port played host to racing yachts in events such as the Volvo Ocean Race and the Clipper Round-the-world Challenge. ""We have several major yachting events that stop here and we are very proud of that."" Martin said the popularity of the port means water space is ""at a premium,"" but there are hopes a new harbor and breakwater will be constructed in the next few years. Still, Cape Town has the capacity to cater for foreign visitors on super-yachts and international cruise-liners. ""Cape Town is a real focal point for refueling and repairs and it's also quite cheap here so people tend to stay for a while,"" he said. Gilfellan said she felt the surge of massive sporting events would undoubtedly have spin-off benefits for the marine industry. The Indian Premier League Twenty20 cricket, which starts this month, had been tipped to go to England, but ultimately South Africa was chosen for its sunny weather. The tournament, which will feature 59 matches across six venues, will run from 18 April to 24 May . The 2009 British and Irish Lions tour officially kicks off on May 30 in Rustenberg. Matches will be held in Cape Town on June 13 and June 23. The eight-team Confederations Cup runs from June 14-28, and will take place across four cities. The event marks the first time an African nation will host an international FIFA tournament. The landmark event foreshadows the much-anticipated World Cup football tournament in June 2010, for which qualifying matches are currently being held. Although that's still a year away -- there are signs that the excitement in South Africa is already palpable. A new television commercial that began airing last month features Spain and Liverpool star, Fernando Torres, and Brazilian icon Kaka showing off their football skills. The advertisement ends with Torres saying ""Ke Nako"", which in South Africa's Sotho language means ""it's time."" It seems for Cape Town and the whole country -- this could not be more true. Mike Steere contributed to this report."
"Washington (CNN) -- An undercover investigation by the Federal Trade Commission found funeral homes nationwide deceived customers into making purchases they weren't required to make and failed to give up-front pricing to customers. Undercover FTC agents posing as customers found ""significant violations"" in 23 of the 102 funeral homes investigated, according to the FTC. Operators violated key provisions of the ""Funeral Rule,"" a 1984 regulation the FTC put in place to prevent funeral home operators from forcing customers to buy caskets or any other item as a condition of paying for a funeral. Another provision of the rule requires funeral homes to provide an itemized price list during the first in-person funeral arrangement meeting. Nationally, Richmond and Fredericksburg, Virginia had the highest number of funeral homes found with significant violations, according to the FTC's report. Eight of the 19 funeral homes investigated in the two cities committed significant violations. Columbia, South Carolina, was next with five significant violations out of 10 funeral homes inspected. Thirty-three funeral homes had what the FTC called minor compliance issues. In those cases, the FTC contacted the funeral homes and required proof they were addressing violations. The FTC gives funeral homes an opportunity to right their wrongs before they're hauled into court. A three-year program run by the National Funeral Directors Association gives participants extra training and additional compliance monitoring. Funeral homes that participate are allowed to make a payment to the U.S. Treasury in place of a civil penalty. Civil penalties can be up to $16,000 per violation, according to the FTC. Jessica Koth of the National Funeral Directors Association says the ""NFDA takes compliance with the Funeral Rule seriously."" Koth says the organization encourages members to meet all obligations. Since the annual undercover stings began in 1996, the FTC said investigators have found fewer than 400 funeral homes with significant violations. There are 19,680 funeral homes in the United States, according to the NFDA. FTC inspections during 2011 encountered varying levels of compliance: . -- In northwestern Indiana, one of 12 funeral homes inspected had significant violations; . -- In Maui, Hawaii, none of the four funeral homes inspected had significant violations; . -- In the New York City area, as well as parts of Connecticut and New Jersey, one of 22 funeral homes inspected had significant violations; . -- In Cleveland, four of 16 funeral homes inspected had significant violations; . -- In Columbia, South Carolina, five significant violations were found in 10 funeral homes inspected; . -- In Austin, Texas, four of 19 funeral homes inspected had significant violations; . -- In Richmond and Fredericksburg, Virginia, eight of 19 funeral homes inspected had significant violations."
"(CNN) -- A most awkward and revealing situation has emerged in the heart of Europe, forcing European governments to choose between their principles and their fears, and drawing an uncomfortable gap between Europe's words and its actions. Last July, a bus carrying tourists about to start their vacation suddenly exploded outside the airport in the Bulgarian city of Burgas. The bombing killed five Israelis -- including a pregnant woman -- and a Bulgarian driver. This week, Bulgaria's foreign minister blamed  Hezbollah, saying an investigation showed the attack was carried out by two members of the Iran-linked Lebanese organization. Hezbollah denied the accusation. But Bulgaria says it discovered strong links, with ""data showing the financing and connection between Hezbollah and the two suspects."" The news shines a light on a most surprising fact: Hezbollah has been conducting business rather comfortably in much of Europe over the years, openly raising money for its operations. Those operations, according to countless investigations in a growing number of countries, include plotting and attempting to kill tourists, diplomats and others. Washington, which labeled Hezbollah a terrorist organization in 1995 after a series of attacks in Lebanon and elsewhere that killed hundreds of Americans, has been pressuring the European Union to do the same. But the EU has resisted. The ""terrorist"" designation is more than a symbolic label. The label would allow European authorities to freeze funds, control the travel of Hezbollah operatives, and otherwise do what it can to prevent more loss of life. The new secretary of state, John Kerry, urged the EU to ""send an unequivocal message to this terrorist group"" now that Hezbollah has been linked to an attack on European soil. American officials have told Europe that their inaction is ""making it harder to defend our countries."" U.S. officials accuse Iran and Hezbollah not only of conducting attacks against civilians around the world, but also of actively supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's brutal repression at home in a conflict that has already left more than 60,000 dead. Opinion: Why Obama is going to Israel . According to a new report from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, authorities in various countries have uncovered and disrupted nearly 30 different terror plots by Hezbollah or Iran's Quds Force, an arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, in the last couple of years. But Europe, incredibly, continues to waver. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton reacted to the news from Bulgaria with a clammy statement that there is a ""need for reflection."" Hezbollah operates in Lebanon as a powerful Shiite political party, social services organization and an intimidating, heavily-armed militia. It has strong support among the country's Shiite population and bitter opposition from Sunnis. EU officials say they fear destabilizing Lebanon, a country perennial teetering on the edge of sectarian violence. They also worry about angering Hezbollah, fearing attacks on European peacekeepers in Lebanon or terrorist attacks on European soil. Judging by recent events, that particular outcome was not prevented by their timid approach. France, in particular, has resisted upsetting Hezbollah. Paris has taken the lead in fighting extremism in Africa, sending troops against militants in Mali and declaring that it is committed to ""a relentless struggle against terrorist groups."" But it is somewhat less relentless when it comes to Hezbollah. The French take a special interest in protecting their influence in Lebanon, a former colonial holding. A firm Western stance against the group, however, could strengthen Lebanon's struggling pro-Western opposition, which blames Hezbollah for the assassination of many of its members, including former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. A U.N. tribunal set up to investigate Hariri's 2005 assassination indicted four Hezbollah members. The pattern is well established. Argentinean prosecutors accused Hezbollah of carrying out and Iran of planning and financing the worst terrorist attack in that country, the 1994 bombing of a Jewish Community Center, which killed 85 and injured 300. Western experts generally agree with the assessment of the former U.S. homeland security secretary, who describes Hezbollah as ""the most potent terrorist organization in the world."" The government of the Netherlands already declared it a terrorist group and Britain named its militant wing a terrorist entity, as if it were separate from the rest of the organization. It is funded by Iran and closely coordinates its moves with Tehran. Over the years, it has been accused of carrying out attacks throughout the world, often in collaboration with Iran. In recent months, as tensions have risen between Iran, on one side, and Israel and the West on the other, Tehran and its Lebanese ally have stepped up their activities to a feverish pace, targeting Israelis diplomats and tourists in India, Cyprus, Thailand and elsewhere. Hezbollah and Iran were linked to a plot to kill the Saudi Ambassador in Washington. Hezbollah's protective ally, Iran, is enduring harsh economic sanctions from the West over its controversial nuclear program, and a number of Iranian nuclear scientists have been assassinated, as have a few key figures in the Hezbollah hierarchy. The circumstances of these assassinations have all been murky, but there is nothing vague about the bombing of buses full of tourists. By any definition of the word it qualifies as terrorism. And clearly, the question is not just symbolic. Europe is letting Hezbollah operate on its soil. By some counts, there are 950 Hezbollah-affiliated individuals in Germany alone. Europe wants to treat Hezbollah as a legitimate political organization, but the group's actions place it squarely outside the realm of legitimacy. As long as Europe closes its eyes to this reality and allows the group to organize, fundraise and hold meetings, it is guilty not only of hypocrisy, but also of passive complicity in Hezbollah's attacks on innocent civilians. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Frida Ghitis ."
"NEW YORK (CNN) -- Two former New York Police Department detectives were sentenced to life in prison without parole Friday for operating as Mafia hit men while employed by the NYPD. Louis Eppolito, 60, and Stephen Caracappa, 67, who spent a combined 44 years on the force and once worked as partners, were found guilty in April 2006 of engaging in racketeering. According to prosecutors, they were paid $4,000 a month by the Mafia and were personally paid $65,000 by Luchese crime family underboss Anthony ""Gaspipe"" Casso for killing another mobster during a phony traffic stop. Authorities said Casso regarded the officers as his ""crystal ball,"" likely referring to their alleged involvement in relaying classified information to the Luchese family. Eppolito and Caracappa, who reiterated their innocence at Friday's sentencing, were found guilty of participating in or aiding eight murders, two attempted murders and one murder conspiracy, as well as witness tampering, witness retaliation, obstruction of justice, money laundering and drug charges. Eppolito was sentenced to life in prison plus 100 years, while Caracappa received life in prison plus 80 years. They were also fined a combined $4 million. ""The sentences imposed today bring some measure of closure for the families of the victims of these defendants' unspeakable crimes and for the citizens of the city whose trust these men betrayed,"" U.S. Attorney Benton J. Campbell said in a news release. ""We are gratified that the defendants will spend the rest of their lives behind bars."" Eppolito, who grew up in a Mafia family, wrote the book ""Mafia Cop,"" in which he described how he turned away from the ""family business"" to become what he said was one of the police department's most decorated officers. He also had small roles in several films, including the role of Fat Andy in the 1990 mob film ""Goodfellas."" Caracappa was a member of the NYPD's Organized Crime Homicide Unit, which he helped create."
"(CNN) -- Chrysler says it will recall 630,000 newer model Jeeps worldwide to fix a software glitch in its side airbag and seat belt mechanism and transmission fluid leak problems. No accidents or injuries happened because of these defects. But it refuses to recall 2.7 million older Jeep models with a fire hazard that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says caused more than 50 people to burn to death. Chrysler's refusal to comply with the highway administration's request to recall 2.7 million 1993 to 2004 Cherokee and 2002 to 2007 Liberty models puts profits over safety, putting people who ride in them everyday at risk of their car being hit from behind and going up in flames. These modern day Pintos for soccer moms have been involved in 37 rear-impact fatal fire crashes. Fifty-one people burned to death in those crashes, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Compare that with the Ford Pinto: 26 people died in Pinto rear impact fires before it was recalled in 1978. A recall would cost Chrysler no more $300 million to fix the problems and return the SUVs. Chrysler would not exist today but for a $10 billion bailout loan from the U.S. government. As a return for the bailout, Chrysler should spend a fraction of that to recall the Jeeps. The refusal to recall these rolling firebombs is an insult to American tax payers and Chrysler's Jeep customers. The Grand Cherokee is 21 times more likely to be involved in a fatal rear impact crash in which fire is the cause of death than its biggest competitor, the Ford Explorer. The Jeep crashes in which people died in fires were readily survivable crashes. A rear impact crash at 70 mph in a vehicle similar in size to these Jeeps is no more severe than that of a front barrier crash at 35 mph, performed in the traffic administration's 5-Star Safety Ratings. Large seat backs spread the force of the crash better than small airbags, making 80 mph rear impacts survivable. But a car crashing into the rear of these Jeeps can rupture their fuel tanks at speeds less than the 50 mph rear-impact standard. The Center for Auto Safety conducted a 40 mph rear impact crash test of a 1996 Grand Cherokee in which the Jeep's tank ruptured and spilled all the fuel. The 50 mph standard has 35% more energy than the Center's 40 mph test. The Grand Cherokee and Liberty fuel tanks hang lower than the rear bumper, so they are particularly vulnerable to low-speed hits from vehicles that are lower to the ground. Many low-profile cars have sloping front ends that can directly hit the tank. Even 10 mph rear impacts crush the not-so-protective brush guard. In 1978, Chrysler engineers cited the safety benefits of placing the fuel tank in front of the rear axle and noted that placing the fuel tank behind the rear axle in SUVs may require a shield because of bumper mismatch. Chrysler moved the fuel tank in front of the rear axle in the 2005 Grand Cherokee and in the 2008 Liberty. There has not been a single fire death in a rear impact of the newer Jeeps with the more protected fuel tank location in all the years since. The devastating effect of the fire defects in these Jeep models is that children riding in the back of Jeeps have been killed and injured. Chrysler sold these Jeeps as family vehicles. Parents put their kids in child seats in the back because that's safer. Tragically, children have been trapped in the seats and suffered horrible burns and deaths because they could be pulled out in time. Fiat CEO John Elkann -- Chrysler is a subsidiary of Fiat -- and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne are good people with families who should respond to the tragic deaths of their customers and could order a recall today. They owe it to the American public. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Clarence Ditlow."
"(CNN) -- The final of the European Champions League will see two of the continent's giant clubs meet in the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid, in a battle to decide the champions of the most lucrative competition in world soccer. The match, which takes place on 22 May, will also pitch two heavyweight coaches against one another in the shape of Portugal's Jose Mourinho and Holland's Louis Van Gaal. Mourinho, who won the European Cup with Porto in 2004, is hoping to cap a treble for the Nerazzurri after already wrapping up the Italian title and domestic cup prior to the game. Bayern are also looking to seal the capture of three pieces of silverware for the campaign, after beating Schalke to the Bundesliga title and also having won their domestic cup. Check out our profiles of the two coaches by clicking the links in the photo gallery above. Can Mourinho beat Van Gaal to become king of Europe? The match will also see some of the greatest players in the world -- Arjen Robben, Samuel Eto'o, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lucio among them -- vie for the most lucrative title in club football before jetting off to South Africa to take part in the 2010 World Cup. CNN will have all the build up to the big match with Pedro Pinto and Alex Thomas hosting a special half-hour preview program on CNN International at 1800 GMT. Your can also have your say on which coach you think will emerge as the new king of Europe by adding your comment to the blog."
"Editor's note: Donna Rose is a speaker and advocate for transgender and transsexual issues. She is the author of a memoir, ""Wrapped In Blue: A Journey of Self-Discovery."" Her Web site is http://www.donnarose.com/ . Donna Rose says transgender people don't fit the stereotypes society often tries to impose. (CNN) -- It was only a matter of time. The real-life drama of being transsexual has come to Hollywood. Chastity Bono, the impossibly cute little blond girl who, for many of my generation, remains frozen in time as the sweet, chubby-faced cherub closing many a Sonny and Cher show in the arms of her doting parents, recently announced that he is transsexual and will be transitioning from female to male. He will go by the name of Chaz. As shocking as this news may be to some, it is yet another reminder that all is not necessarily as it appears and that each of us is more complicated than simply the skin and bones of our bodies. Rather, it is our heart and spirit that defines us. Transgender people -- that is, people who may not experience or express their gender in ways that are necessarily typical for the physical sex of their body -- have been part of the fabric of cultures for as long as history has been recorded. We're a cross-section of society -- pilots, engineers, doctors, factory workers, artisans and pretty much anything else you can imagine. It was only a matter of time before we came to Hollywood. Make no mistake -- Chaz isn't the first and certainly won't be the last. Despite what others choose to believe, transsexual people are no longer relegated to hiding in safe little shadows for fear that society will detect them and punish them. We are far more than traditional stereotypes of transpeople as hookers, drug-users, porn stars or social misfits relegated to the fringes of society. In a very real sense, transgender people are no one thing. We are everyone, everywhere. Whether you realize it or not, we go to your school, we are active in your communities of faith, we are your neighbors, your co-workers, your family members. We live in a world that tries to force all of us to conform to the expectations and roles established for our bodies at birth, yet our heart and our spirit often realize that we have been miscast in life. We are forced to ask questions of ourselves about things that few ever consider. The search for answers is indeed the pathway for overall happiness and fulfillment in life. This is a journey that each of us is on -- trans and not -- and the simple fact of the matter is that the transgender journey may appear unique, but the end goal is a universal one: Happiness. Needless to say, there are those who continue to live in a world where ""different"" somehow automatically means bad, or is a threat. These are people who would keep transgender people trapped in stigmas of mental illness, moral weakness, sexual perversion and general societal freakishness. Our defense is a simple one: We prove who we are, individually and collectively, not with words but with the courage to come out and the ability to live our lives with dignity and grace. It may come as a surprise for many people in this country to recognize that many of us who are transsexual are not embarrassed, ashamed or otherwise apologetic of who or what we are. We refuse to go back into the stifling closet of trying to be something we're not. We enjoy each and every day being unique, as men and women and everything in between, and we rejoice in our diversity rather than fear it. The ties that bind us are far more than the obvious connections of gender. They are bonds of courage, authenticity, integrity and pride. This is not a journey about surgery. It is not a journey about being ""fixed."" It's not about the clothes. It's not about sexuality, or hormones, or any other single thing. It is a journey of self, full of uplifting revelations and heartbreaking realizations. A major point on that journey is gaining a sense of self-awareness and self-acceptance. Chaz's recent announcement indicates that he has reached that point and is well on his way to be who he will become. Chaz will face hurdles. It may come as a surprise to some that it is still legal to fire someone in this country, or to deny housing simply because they come out as transgender. Transgender people are victimized by crime more frequently than the general population. Many of us find ourselves unemployed and unable to be hired for jobs for which we are well qualified simply because we are transgender. And, as harsh as this life can be for us, many previous generations had it even worse. Things are changing -- slowly but surely. Why are they changing? Because transgender people are here to stay. We've been here all along and we're finally acknowledging that our unique journey is part of who we are, but not ALL of who we are. Chaz is a courageous brother. He is a role model to others struggling with similar issues and questions. He is someone who has taken control of his life and intends to live it to the fullest. These are not things to fear. These are things to admire. The message here is not one of our bodies, but one of our spirits. It is not one of becoming something you're not; it is of accepting what you are. As French writer Andre Gide said: ""It is better to be hated for what you are than loved for what you're not."" Many of us have experienced these words first-hand and know them to be true. Chaz knows who and what he is. That is not something to fear. That is something to celebrate. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Donna Rose."
"Mexico City (CNN) -- The runner-up in Mexico's presidential election said Friday he still won't accept a vote count, even after the country's electoral tribunal upheld the legality of the election and officially declared Enrique Pena Nieto as the winner. Leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has not conceded the July 1 election, citing allegations of electoral fraud by the victorious Institutional Revolutionary Party, known as the PRI. The electoral tribunal on Thursday rejected a demand by Lopez Obrador's coalition, the Progressive Movement of Mexico, to invalidate the presidential election, which he lost by 6 percentage points. On Friday, it validated the final results, officially naming Pena Nieto as president-elect. ""The elections were not clean or free or authentic. As such, I will not recognize the illegitimate power that came from vote-buying and other grave violations of the constitution and the laws,"" Lopez Obrador said. The candidate called on his followers to demonstrate in Mexico City's historical square, the Zocalo, on September 9. Lopez Obrador narrowly lost another presidential race in 2006. Back then, he refused to recognize the new government and called his supporters into the streets. He went on a national tour, where he drummed up support, calling himself the ""legitimate president of Mexico."" It was unclear if he would call for similar demonstrations now. In a unanimous decision announced Thursday, the electoral tribunal ruled that the demand to invalidate the election was ""unfounded."" The tribunal found that the leftist coalition that brought the charges didn't prove any constitutional violations and didn't show that the process wasn't free and fair. Critics of the process said the irregularities included illegal campaign spending, secretive financing and coercion of voters. Read more: Vote-buying allegations persist after Mexican election . When the allegations surfaced immediately after the vote, election officials recounted the votes in more than half of the ballot boxes individually. Among the bigger controversies were allegations that PRI campaigners passed out hundreds of supermarket gift cards in exchange for votes. The electoral tribunal said that the coalition could prove only that PRI officials gave the cards to supporters, and not to the general public in exchange for votes. Pena Nieto is expected to be sworn in on December 1. CNNMexico's Belen Zapata and Tania Montalvo contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- U.S soccer star Robbie Rogers has ""come out"" as gay on the day he retired from the game Friday. The former Columbus Crew winger represented America on 18 occasions, including at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. But Rogers, who was released from his deal by second-tier club Leeds United last summer before taking up a spot with third-tier Stevenage, revealed on his blog that he is homosexual and keen to seek a life away from football. ""Secrets can cause so much internal damage,"" Rogers wrote on his blog. ""People love to preach about honesty, how honesty is so plain and simple. Try explaining to your loved ones after 25 years you are gay. ""Try convincing yourself that your creator has the most wonderful purpose for you even though you were taught differently. ""I always thought I could hide this secret. Football was my escape, my purpose, my identity. Football hid my secret, gave me more joy than I could have ever imagined. Soccer's last taboo: Why gay players stay in the closet . ""I will always be thankful for my career. I will remember Beijing, The MLS Cup, and most of all my teammates. I will never forget the friends I have made a long the way and the friends that supported me once they knew my secret. ""Now is my time to step away. It's time to discover myself away from football. It's 1 A.M. in London as I write this and I could not be happier with my decision. ""Life is so full of amazing things. I realized I could only truly enjoy my life once I was honest. ""Honesty is a b**** but makes life so simple and clear. My secret is gone, I am a free man, I can move on and live my life as my creator intended."" Rogers' announcement has seen former teammates flock to show their support, with U.S. international defender Oguchi Onyewu, tweeting: ""Extremely proud of the courage from @robbierogers. Truth is not always easy to display, but truly strong people always find a way #RESPECT"" U.S. midfielder Stuart Holden added on Twitter: ""Much love and respect to my boy @robbierogers ! Proud to be your friend bro."" Rogers' retirement means there are still no openly gay players participating in professional football in Europe with the exception of Swedish-based Anton Hysen. 'Brave' cricketer Davies reveals he is gay . It was hoped that Hysen's coming out, which attracted headlines the world over in March 2011, would pave the way for other gay footballers to take similar steps. But not since the tragic loss of Justin Fashanu has a top-flight league witnessed an openly gay professional football player. Fashanu, who committed suicide in 1998, became the first £1 million black player in the history of English football when he signed for Nottingham Forest in 1981. While at Forest, constant rumors and speculation surrounded his private life with concocted allegations of affairs with Conservative MPs. Thomas relief after admitting he is gay . With the rumors continuing throughout his career, he finally came out in 1990 and continued to play for a whole host of lower league clubs. ""You have to understand,"" he said in an interview before his death, ""that footballers are very narrow minded people. It's the nature of the business. When you put yourself in the firing line, you are open to attack. I know I'm there to be shot down in flames."" Following his passing, one particular group of fans would recite the chant: ""He's gay, he's dead, he's hanging in a shed, Fashanu, Fashanu."" Expert: Use gay slurs controversy to tackle homophobia in sports . While there has been huge progress since those dark days, the presence of homophobia in football has not been extinguished. Only this week, police launched an investigation into allegations that a Blackburn Rovers footballer made homophobic gestures towards Brighton fans during an English second division match. View: Hi-res gallery of openly gay athletes . Brighton, which is situated on the south coast, has a large gay population and its fans are often targeted with homophobic chants. ""I think there's a big culture shift needed within football from the grassroots to the top of the game,"" Louise Englefield of FootballvHomophobia told CNN . ""The top of the game is a symptom of a much wider issue about lack of awareness and ignorance around the ability of gay men to participate and excel at football . ""When you've got a lack of gay players at the top level, then it's easy for that environment to be quite negative. ""I imagine there are players who are reticent to come out."" Opinion: Why the fuss about gay marriage? While other sports have embraced their gay stars, such as John Amaechi in basketball, Martina Navratilova in tennis and Gareth Thomas in rugby, football has yet to move with the times. Off the field, the UK Parliament backed a bill to legalize gay marriage earlier this month as society continues to move forward. And while football has yet to move with the times, progress is being made. Premier League and Football League clubs in the UK have created several initiatives to combat homophobia, working alongside charities such as HvF. ""Within football, people don't understand the seriousness of homophobia,"" added Englefield. ""The things fans shout at players, they believe it's not hurting them and they don't care if they're gay or not. ""Homophobia is used to put players down and it's a way of deriding players. That's cultural all the way through football and happens in other sports. ""When a player gives a pass away or falls over, fans use homophobia abuse to put them down and it's that which we want to stop. ""One of our key things is changing chanting in the stadium. Stop and think before you chant."" Liverpool youngster Suso fined for calling teammate 'gay' A particular success story in England has been the creation of the GFSN Gay National League, where ""gay friendly"" teams compete on a regular basis. Rogers' story has been met with admiration from fellow gay football players, but his retirement from the game means that the community is still waiting for a player to come out and continue playing. ""The great pity with Robbie is that he felt it was an 'either or choice,' "" Scott Lawley, who plays for Nottingham Ball Bois in the GFSN Gay National League told CNN. ""Reading his blog, it felt as if he thought he had no choice but to quit football if he wanted come out. ""He could have easily retired without coming out but he's been very brave and hopefully set us in the right direction. ""He hasn't forced us to the point where a gay man runs out in front of 30,000 people to play football . ""And the fact that no professional player has come out in recent years means there are still issues to deal with. ""But we will come to that day when we do have openly gay players in the top divisions and we're moving in the right direction."""
"Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- In what is seen as a bow to international pressure to delay implementation of a ban on private security contractors, the Afghan government said Wednesday it will form a committee to plan the phasing out of those contractors without endangering development projects. The committee is to be led by Afghanistan's minister of interior and will include representatives from NATO, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force and major international donors. It will ""develop plans for the disbandment of the PCSs that provide security for development projects and report on progress to the president,"" the Afghan government said in a written statement. It said the phasing out of ""illegal"" security contractors and road convoy security companies ""continues on a priority basis as laid out in the decree."" The committee will prepare a timetable for the dissolution of contractors protecting development projects and submit it to President Hamid Karzai by November 15, the Afghan government said. ""Once approved, 90 days max will be given to each organization before [the] designated dissolution date. Following the completion of [the] plan's implementation, the government of Afghanistan will assume responsibility for providing necessary security for development and reconstruction projects."" The committee will examine development and aid companies and develop plans for them to shift to government security, Interior Minister Bismillah Khan Mohammadi said at a news conference. Convoys run by private security companies will also have to transition, he said. ""This is a very serious matter for the government of Afghanistan,"" Karl Eikenberry, U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, told journalists. ""This is a fundamental issue for the people of Afghanistan, for President Karzai. This is about the exercise of sovereignty within this country. It's about the monopoly of the use of force. It's about having the responsibility for and having authority over any armed elements in this country."" The announcement was welcomed by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, which issued a statement saying it supports the ""principled stand"" of Karzai's government regarding the proposed ban. ""We are committed to implementation of this decree with a fixed timetable and accept that the international community must respond promptly to President Karzai's long-standing concerns about the conduct of private security companies,"" the U.N. mission said. Eikenberry said earlier in a statement the United States ""strongly endorses"" the United Nations' position. ""We will continue to work on a priority basis and in a spirit of partnership with the Afghan government and international partners to support successful implementation of the decree in a manner that increases Afghan security, strengthens sovereignty and leadership and ensures the continuous predictable delivery of critical international development assistance,"" he said. The United States had previously expressed concern about Karzai's pledge to phase out the country's 52 private security companies by year's end, saying that if implemented, the move would leave critical aid personnel unprotected and unable to continue their work. The United States has been negotiating with the Afghan government over such protection, and had been asking for clarification on which contractors would be allowed to remain in the country and under what conditions they could operate. Earlier this month, the Afghan government clarified exceptions to the proposed ban, saying that firms offering protection to embassies and foreign diplomats would be allowed to continue to operate. The decision ""addressed the concerns of NATO and foreign embassies regarding the private security companies' dissolving process,"" a statement from Karzai's office said. However, it said that other private security companies not engaged in that work ""are a strong threat for the national security and national sovereignty of the country"" and that their dissolution would continue as planned."
"(CNN) -- Fearing that flocks of unmanned aircraft might soon traverse U.S. skies, the Federal Aviation Administration on Friday quickly appealed a judge's ruling that the agency does not have the authority to regulate commercial drones. The case involves Raphael Pirker, a drone enthusiast fined $10,000 by the FAA for using his 56-inch foam glider to take promotional videos of the University of Virginia Medical Center. The FAA said Pirker's flight ran afoul of its strict rules governing the commercial use of drones. On Friday, less than 24 hours after losing its case, the FAA said it was appealing the decision by Patrick Geraghty, an administrative law judge with the National Transportation Safety Board. ""The agency is concerned that this decision could impact ... the safety of people and property on the ground,"" the FAA said in a statement. Geraghty said FAA regulations approved for manned aircraft did not apply to unmanned aircraft any more than they applied to paper airplanes or balsa wood planes. Pirker's attorney, Brendan Schulman, called it ""a tremendously significant decision for model aircraft and commercial drone operators."" ""As a general matter, the decision finds that the FAA's 2007 policy statement banning the commercial use of model aircraft is not enforceable. It would appear to me to have a very significant impact on other operators,"" Schulman said. But the decision confounded the FAA, which as recently as last week had publicized its restrictions on commercial use of drones. In a press release headlined ""Busting Myths about the FAA and Unmanned Aircraft,"" it stressed that UAS enthusiasts could not use drones for commercial purposes. ""A commercial flight requires a certified aircraft, a licensed pilot and operating approval. To date, only one operation has met these criteria, using Insitu's ScanEagle, and authorization was limited to the Arctic,"" the FAA's Busting Myths release said. ""There are no shades of gray in FAA regulations,"" the FAA continued. ""Anyone who wants to fly an aircraft-manned or unmanned-in U.S. airspace needs some level of FAA approval."" The flight that got Pirker in trouble occurred October 17, 2011, when he remotely piloted a $130 RiteWing Zephyr II aircraft at the campus medical center. The FAA investigated, and the following April it proposed a $10,000 civil penalty, saying that Pirker operated the plane ""in a careless or reckless manner so as to endanger the life or property of another."" Pirker operated the aircraft within about 50 feet of numerous individuals, about 20 feet of a crowded street, and within approximately 100 feet of an active heliport at UVA, the FAA alleged. One person had to take ""evasive measures"" to avoid being struck by the aircraft, the agency said. Pirker appealed the case to the NTSB, where the case went before Geraghty. The FAA is appealing the matter to the full safety board."
"Havana, Cuba (CNN) -- Cuba's Fidel Castro on Tuesday said he would publish a new book in August on the fighting more than 50 years ago between his ragtag rebels and the 10,000-strong army under former dictator Fulgencio Batista. In an essay published Tuesday on the state-run website, www.cubadebate.cu, Castro said the book will be called ""The Strategic Victory."" ""I didn't know whether to call it 'Batista's Last Offensive' or 'How 300 Defeated 10,000,' which would sound like a science fiction story,"" he said. Castro said the 25 chapters contain photos, maps and illustrations of the weapons used during a series of battles that lasted 74 days in 1958 and paved the way for his bearded revolutionaries to declare victory on January 1, 1959. ""The enemy suffered more than 1,000 losses, more than 300 of them deaths and 443 taken prisoner,"" he wrote. Castro went on to rule Cuba for 47 years until he was sidelined by illness in 2006. He has spent most of the last four years in seclusion, writing frequent essays called ""Reflections of Comrade Fidel"" for state-run media. In recent weeks, he has re-emerged on the public stage, making seven public appearances. On Monday, Cuba celebrated the 57th anniversary of the launching of Castro's Revolution. He failed to appear at that event in central Cuba despite high expectations, but he paid tribute at a small ceremony in Havana to the rebels who were killed. Castro also held lengthy talks with a group of artists. Both events were later broadcast on state TV. Castro said he would now start work on a book covering the second half of the fighting, called ""The Final Strategic Counteroffensive."""
"Vancouver, British Columbia (CNN) -- The tragic death of a trainer at Sea World last week revived a number of long simmering questions. While we still grapple with ""how did this happen?"" the central question for many revolves around the role of large mammals -- like Tilikum the killer whale -- in zoos and aquariums: Should they be there or not? Animals in zoos, aquariums and museums play an important and powerful part in our cultural and formal educational processes. Humans are inherently interested in nature. We are not very far removed from a time when being knowledgeable about nature was vital to life; you either knew how to find your dinner or you were dinner. Today, with well over 50 percent of our populations living in cities, we are rapidly becoming divorced from the realities of the animal world. The dialogue we see in the media, read on blogs and hear in conversation makes it clear that many people have lots of ideas about what's happening in our natural world, much of it not correct. This lack of knowledge is concerning in a world beset by environmental problems, where species are disappearing at an alarming rate. We need people to understand the changes taking place in our natural systems and appreciate that each of our actions has an impact. More interest and knowledge, not less, is essential. Zoos and aquariums provide access and a vital connection to the world of wildlife and our environment, helping to foster an understanding of nature and how it works, and an appreciation for why it matters. Most professionally operated zoos and aquariums, such as those accredited by the Canadian or American Associations of Zoos and Aquariums, are dedicated to increasing engagement and raising awareness and participation in conservation issues. They conduct active programs that aid species survival, research and conservation, both at their public display facilities and in the field. The Vancouver Aquarium has operated our Marine Mammal Rescue (MMR) program since the mid 1960s. Each year, hundreds of marine mammals are rescued from situations of distress and rehabilitated by our dedicated team of staff and volunteers, led by our veterinarian. Their goal is to return marine mammals to good health so they can be released back to the ocean. The Vancouver Aquarium has not had killer whales on exhibit since 2001. However, our orca research continues in the field with experts working off the British Columbia coast to observe and study social interaction, behaviors, migrations, and feeding patterns. We do have beluga whales, including two calves born recently. Belugas are ideally suited to an aquarium environment. The calves' births have allowed researchers to study the social structure of a beluga family, and in collaboration with the University of British Columbia we have conducted beluga vocalization studies since 2002 to understand contact calls and other forms of communication between these beautiful and communicative animals. As our visitors see beluga whales and learn about their communication, natural history and the challenges they face due to climate change in the Arctic, a unique chain is created, moving from initial amazement of observing these creatures to the inspiration to care about them and finally to take action, in large or small ways, to protect their future by conserving their natural environment. We see our role as more important now than ever before. The time of simply displaying animals merely as curiosities is, thankfully, over. Our aquarium, and many others like it, represents often the only -- and the best -- opportunity for urbanites (particularly youth) to establish a connection with the natural world of animals. Sadly, many of us will never experience the joy and wonder of encountering animals in their natural habitat. But can get learn about them up close and personal in a modern and reputable aquarium or zoo. If you have had the good fortune to spend time in such an institution, and have seen the sense of awe and wonder on the faces of youngsters meeting a sea otter, for example, for the first time, you'll know what this is all about. What's more, having access to, and learning about, Tilikum and other whales in aquariums and marine parks since such amazing creatures were first displayed in the mid-1960s, has totally changed people's perceptions about them. Before then, killer whales were feared, termed ""wolves of the sea"", and even had a bounty on their heads in some places; being able to see them personally helped spark people's curiosity and interest. The resulting change in public perception was dramatic and swift, leading to their protection by the U.S. government in the 1970s under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Today, most people revere killer whales and understand a great deal more about the challenges this species faces around the world -- with overfishing depleting their food supply, the impacts of climate change and pollution threatening their environment and their ultimate survival. With so many changes confronting nature and the animals that make it their home, human understanding and appreciation is critical. Animals that people are privileged to see in professional zoos, aquariums and similar institutions are vital to engagement, inspiration and conservation. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Dr. John Nightingale."
"Baghdad (CNN) -- Violence across Iraq has claimed nine lives in the past two days, officials with the nation's interior ministry said Monday. Gunmen killed Arkan Yaqoub, a Christian citizen, who was shot dead along with his driver by gunmen as they were driving in central Mosul on Monday morning, said ministry officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of security concerns and because they are not authorized to talk to the media. Yaqoub was the deputy director of the state cement factory in Mosul. The motive behind his killing was unknown, but many Iraqi Christians have been targeted since 2004 by Sunni extremist groups, prompting many to flee the country. In Saqlawaiya, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) north of Falluja, two civilians were shot to death by gunmen Monday morning. The two were driving in a car when gunmen intercepted the vehicle on a highway, the officials said. The motive was unknown. In northeastern Baghdad's al-Shaab neighborhood, a roadside bomb exploded near a minibus Monday, killing one civilian and wounding five others, the officials said. Elsewhere, a police officer at al-Kadhimiya civic court died when a bomb attached to his car exploded in the Saba al-Boor district of northern Baghdad. On Sunday, an Iraqi servicemember and a firefighter died when they responded to the scene of a roadside bombing. The bombing targeted a liquor store in the Abu Ghraib area of western Baghdad and set the building ablaze. When the servicemember and firefighter responded, another roadside bomb exploded. Six people were wounded. There have been at least 20 such bombings at liquor stores across Baghdad since the beginning of March, when the Iraqi government decided to reopen liquor stores and bars in the capital city. They had been closed for four months. The interior ministry officials said Sunni and Shiite extremists are believed to be behind the attacks. In the al-Taji district in Baghdad's northern outskirts, an Iraqi police officer was shot by gunmen while driving in a car Sunday afternoon, the officials said. Atheel al-Nujaifi, Mosul's governor, escaped a roadside bombing unharmed Monday morning. He was driving to Baghdad in a convoy consisting of six vehicles when a roadside bomb exploded at one of the vehicles. One of al-Nujaifi's bodyguards was wounded, the interior ministry officials said. The incident occurred about 110 kilometers (68 miles) south of Mosul. Others were wounded in attacks, interior ministry officials said. Five civilians were wounded in a roadside bombing in eastern Baghdad on Monday, and two employees of a security company were wounded in another roadside bombing in southeastern Baghdad. On Sunday, a police lieutenant was wounded when a bomb attached to his car exploded. Overall, violence in Iraq is down considerably from its peak between 205 and 2007. However, assassinations, gunfire and bombs remain regular occurrences."
"San Diego, California (CNN) -- Nearly six years ago, I left Texas to move back home to California. I must have been the only one. U.S. Census Bureau data released this week confirm that, during the last decade, the tide was definitely going the other way. The Lone Star State was the undisputed winner in the 2010 population sweepstakes. Its prize: more congressional seats awarded through reapportionment than any other state. Texas added four House seats and increased its number of electoral votes to 38. That will be second only to California, which has 55 electoral votes. California, which grew rapidly through the 20th century, only increased at the national average in the past 10 years. It didn't add any House seats this year. The other winners in the census lottery include Florida, which picked up two new seats in Congress. Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Utah, South Carolina and Washington all picked up one extra seat. It is a much bleaker story in Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Massachusetts, which lost seats. Why did you move -- or stay -- in the last few years? Tell us on iReport! It makes for quite a sea change. We are seeing the transfer of influence and prominence away from what has long been considered the power corridor of Boston, Washington and New York and toward the Sunbelt. Texas is the buckle in that belt. If you want to catch a glimpse of the future, you don't go to Alexandria or Syracuse or Worcester. You go to Austin, Houston or San Antonio. A generation or two ago, Americans left the Northeast and headed west to California in search of the Pacific, milder climate, bountiful farmland and a spirit of tolerance. Now, they're still leaving the Northeast -- but also leaving California -- to head to Texas in pursuit of lower taxes, less government regulation, lower home prices and a spirit of independence. I have plenty of friends and family in Texas, and they have good reason to celebrate this holiday season. After all, this is a place that is used to coming in second. Texas is the second-largest state in area, behind Alaska. And it's the second-most populous state next to California. But in terms of population growth, it's second to none. Texas is a beautiful and extremely livable state, with scenic vistas and hospitable people. But somewhere in its bloodstream, there is an inferiority complex. It's just as well that my friends in Dallas can fly to Los Angeles or New York in just a few hours, because the city is always aspiring to be thought of as being sophisticated as Los Angeles and New York. While some pundits are saying that this population shift to the Southwest is good news for Republicans, I'm not so sure that's true. Texas is still a red state, but there is some evidence that it's trending purple. Election results confirm that Dallas County and Harris County, which includes Houston, are home to more Democrats than they used to be. There is still a lot of red in the panhandle and western Texas, to be sure. But demographics don't lie. You can't talk honestly about population growth in Texas without acknowledging two things. First, much of it is coming from transplants from blue states such as California. They are packing up preformed liberal tendencies and taking them into the land of the blue bonnets. According to The Dallas Morning News, an average of 80,000 Californians moved to Texas each year from 2006 to 2008. Second, much of the rest of Texas' population growth is tied to the phenomenal increase in the Hispanic population. That's another subset that tends to lean left politically. According to Bill Frey, a demographer with the Brookings Institution, Hispanics made up more than half the new arrivals to Texas. The same goes for Arizona, Florida and Nevada. That's not surprising. The larger story likely to come out of the 2010 census is that the Hispanic population is exploding. The data showing the racial/ethnic breakdown of the U.S. population won't be released until February. But already there is reasonable speculation that the Hispanic population could be somewhere in the neighborhood of 60 million, or about 19 percent of the total U.S. population, which is now 308.7 million. And in Texas, Hispanics will likely account for nearly 40 percent of the state's population. There is no question that, as a result of the population shifts of the past 10 years, Texas and states out West are coming into their own and will have more power and influence to steer a new course for the country. But who will these states be steered by? Whom do you think? Welcome to the new America. Or should I say, ""Bienvenidos?"" The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ruben Navarrette Jr."
"Orlando, Florida (CNN) -- A whale trainer at SeaWorld died from ""multiple traumatic injuries and drowning"" after a 12,000-pound killer whale grabbed her ponytail and pulled her underwater in front of shocked onlookers at Shamu Stadium, the Orange County Sheriff's office said Thursday. Dawn Brancheau, 40, was ""pulled underwater for an extended period of time,"" by the whale, Chuck Tompkins, SeaWorld's curator of zoological operations, told CNN's ""American Morning."" The county medical examiner ruled Brancheau ""most likely died from multiple traumatic injuries and drowning after one of the park's killer whales pulled her into a pool behind Shamu Stadium,"" the sheriff's office said in a statement. The statement confirms Tompkins' account, saying that Brancheau was interacting with the whale, named Tilikum, in knee-deep water ""when the animal grabbed her by the hair, said to be in a long ponytail, and pulled her underwater."" Rescuers were not immediately able to reach Brancheau because of the ""whale's aggressive nature,"" the sheriff's office said. She was recovered by SeaWorld staff members after Tilikum was coaxed into a smaller pool and lifted out of the water by a large platform on the bottom of the smaller tank, authorities said. WESH: Watch tourist's video seconds before whale attack . ""While this incident remains the subject of an ongoing death investigation, there are no signs of foul play,"" the sheriff's statement said. ""All evidence and witness statements indicate that the death was a tragic accident."" Earlier accounts varied on how Brancheau ended up in the tank. A witness told CNN affiliate WKMG-TV that the whale approached the glass side of the 35-foot-deep tank at Shamu Stadium, jumped up and grabbed Brancheau by her waist, shaking her so violently that her shoe came off. A SeaWorld employee, who asked not to be identified, described the incident the same way. Orange County Sheriff's Office spokesman Jim Solomons said Brancheau slipped into the tank. Tilikum has been linked to two other deaths. He and two other whales were involved in the drowning of a trainer at a Victoria, British Columbia, marine park in 1991. The trainer fell into the whale tank at the Sea Land Marine Park Victoria and was dragged underwater as park visitors watched. In 1999, Tilikum was blamed for the death of a 27-year-old man whose body was found floating in a tank at SeaWorld, the apparent victim of a whale's ""horseplay,"" authorities said then. The Orange County Sheriff's Office said the man apparently hid in the park until after it closed, then climbed into the tank. The 22-foot-long whale was ""not accustomed to people being in his tank"" and ""wouldn't have realized he was dealing with a very fragile human being,"" Solomons said at the time. iReport: Photo taken moments before Sea World incident . Because of Tilikum's history, as well as his size, trainers did not get into the water with him, Tompkins told CNN. Specific procedures were in place for working with him, he said, although ""obviously, we need to evaluate those protocols."" ""He's just a really, really large animal,"" Tompkins said, noting that female killer whales weigh 6,000 pounds -- half of Tilikum's weight. ""Just because of his size alone, it would be dangerous to get in the water with him."" But the whale's previous incidents were also taken into account, he said. Tompkins pointed out that the 1991 incident occurred before SeaWorld owned Tilikum and that no one is sure what took place in the incident eight years later. Tilikum could have been trying to play with Brancheau or get her attention or companionship, said Nancy Black, a marine biologist who has studied whales for 20 years. Such whales play with seals and sea lions in the wild, tossing them in the air, she said. But they do not kill them and end up letting them go. ""I don't believe the killer whale purposely intended to kill the woman,"" she said. ""It was more likely an accident, I would guess."" But, she said, the whale could also have been frustrated for some reason. Tompkins said there were no indications of any problem with Tilikum or any other animal just before the incident, and that Brancheau ""had done a great session with him ... he seemed to enjoy what he was doing at the time."" The incident, however, raises larger questions regarding the captivity of wild animals. A spokesman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals called the death ""a tragedy that didn't have to happen."" Jaime Zalac said the organization had called on SeaWorld ""to stop confining oceangoing mammals to an area that to them is like the size of a bathtub, and we have also been asking the park to stop forcing the animals to perform silly tricks over and over again. It's not surprising when these huge, smart animals lash out."" Black told CNN that killer whales in the wild live in family groups, and males stay with their mothers their entire lives. Family members rely on each other for social structure and play, and they cover hundreds of miles of ocean, she said. ""I think they do need more space, and situations like that do cause a lot of stress for them, most likely."" She said Tilikum had a ""flopped fin,"" something seen in captivity but not much in the wild. But Tompkins said, ""We have a tremendous track record with these animals at SeaWorld"" and a very small percentage of problems. It's useful to have animals in the park, he said, because it gives scientists a chance to study them and gives members of the public an opportunity to see them and learn about them. ""This is the first time in 46 years that we've ever had an incident like this with a trainer,"" he said. Although Tilikum is large and has to be handled carefully, ""to mark him as a killer is unfair."" In 2006, a trainer at the adventure park was hospitalized after a killer whale grabbed him and twice held him underwater during a show at Shamu Stadium. CNN's John Couwels and Brian Todd contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Two-time Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso has signed a three-year deal with Ferrari that will keep him at the Italian motorsport giants until 2016. The Spaniard has only been with Ferrari for one full season after joining from McLaren at the end of the 2009 campaign but has stated his desire to finish his career with the team. ""I am very happy to have reached this agreement,"" Alonso said on Ferrari's official web site. ""I immediately felt comfortable within Ferrari and now it feels to me like a second family. ""I have the utmost faith in the men and women who work in Maranello and in those who lead them: it is therefore natural for me to decide to extend my relationship in the long term like this, with a team at which I will no doubt end my Formula One career one day."" Alonso missed out on the drivers' championship by four points to Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel in 2010 but has suffered a disappointing start to the current campaign. He is fifth in the standings, 52 points behind leader Vettel, but did claim his first podium finish at the Turkish Grand Prix earlier this month. Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo said of the new deal: ""It is a great pleasure to have renewed our agreement with a driver who has always demonstrated a winning mentality even in the most difficult circumstances. ""Fernando has all the required qualities, both technically and personally to play a leading role in the history of Ferrari and I hope he will be enriching it with further wins very soon."" Vettel has spoken of his desire to represent the Italian team one day, but with Ferrari's other driver, Brazilian Felipe Massa, having another season after this to run on his contract, it won't happen until 2013 at the earliest. There had also been speculation that Ferrari would pursue an interest in McLaren's English driver and 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton, but he is tied to the British-based team until 2012. Alonso has competed in 23 races with Ferrari, with five wins, 11 podiums, two pole positions and 293 world championship points to his name. Mwanwhile, MotoGP could be set to expand for the 2012 season. The sport's governing body said 11 teams boasting 16 riders had advanced to the next stage of selection to compete in the motorbike world championship."
"NEW YORK (CNN) -- As his presidency nears its end, a reflective President Bush suggested Tuesday that he regrets some of his more blunt statements on the war on terrorism over the last eight years and said he wishes he had not spoken in front of a ""Mission Accomplished"" banner only a month after U.S. troops in Iraq were deployed. President Bush says his wife told him that as president, he should watch his words carefully. ""I regret saying some things I shouldn't have said,"" Bush told CNN's Heidi Collins when asked to reflect on his regrets over his two terms as president. ""Like 'dead or alive' and 'bring 'em on.' My wife reminded me that, hey, as president of the United States, be careful what you say."" The interview, aboard the USS Intrepid in New York, came after the president addressed a Veterans Day ceremony. Shortly after the attacks of September 11, the president said of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden: ""I want justice. There's an old poster out West that said, 'Wanted, dead or alive.' ""   Watch President Bush talk about his regrets » . Bush was also criticized in 2003 for his answer addressing insurgents in Iraq. ""There are some who feel like that the conditions are such that they can attack us there. My answer is, bring 'em on,"" he said then. On Tuesday, the president also referenced the moment aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln on May 1, 2003, during which he declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq. ""They had a sign that said 'Mission Accomplished.' It was a sign aimed at the sailors on the ship, but it conveyed a broader knowledge. To some it said, well, Bush thinks the war in Iraq is over, when I didn't think that. But nonetheless, it conveyed the wrong message."" The president, whose legacy is sure to be hotly debated for decades, said there also is much he is proud of. ""I am proud to be the commander in chief of people who are so selfless and so courageous that they would volunteer to serve our country in a time of war,"" he said. ""I'm proud when I see people feed the hungry. I'm proud when I'm in Africa and see volunteers helping those citizens dying of HIV/AIDS."" In the wide-ranging interview, the president also discussed his Monday meeting with President-elect Barack Obama and said he consulted former President Clinton before his meeting with the future commander in chief. ""I remember the conversation I had with my predecessor Bill Clinton,"" Bush said. ""As a matter of fact, [I] called him yesterday and said, 'Bill, I'm getting ready to meet with the new president, and I remember how gracious you were to me. I hope I can be as gracious to President-elect Obama as you were to me.' '' Bush described the atmosphere in his Oval Office meeting with Obama as relaxed and said he offered the future president advice on the transition process. Bush also said Obama was specifically interested in how his two young daughters would adjust to life in the White House. ""It was interesting to watch him go upstairs,"" Bush said. ""He wanted to see where his little girls were going to sleep. Clearly, this guy is going to bring a sense of family to the White House, and I hope Laura and I did the same thing. But I believe he will, and I know his girls are on his mind and he wants to make sure that first and foremost, he is a good dad. And I think that's going to be an important part of his presidency."" Bush said he plans to return to Texas after he leaves office January 20 and ""may write a book"" but otherwise has few plans. ""No doubt I'm heading straight home. I miss Texas; I love Texas; I've got a lot of friends in Texas. ""I'll probably get back and take a deep breath,"" he said. Bush said he has begun to think about an outline for the book. ""I want people to know what it was like to make some of the decisions I had to make,"" he said. ""In other words, what was the moment like? And I've had one of those presidencies where I've had to make some tough calls, and I want people to know the truth about what it was like sitting in the Oval Office."" Bush expressed regret that Republican presidential nominee John McCain did not win the presidency but called the election of Obama ""good for our country."" ""The election of Barack Obama is an historic moment for our country. There are a lot of people in America who did not believe they would ever see this day. It is good for our country that people have hope in the system and feel vested in the future and President-elect Obama has a great opportunity,"" Bush said. ""I really do wish him all the best. I am just as American as he is American, and it is good for our country that the president succeeds."""
"(CNN) -- The sudden death of Academy Award-winning actor and comedian Robin Williams has sent shock waves throughout the world. The 63-year-old was not only known for bringing laughter to so many throughout his career but for bringing compassion to his philanthropic causes as well. Impact Your World remembers Williams' generosity by looking at some charities with which he worked. Robin Williams' legacy: A big heart for charity . The United Service Organization (USO) was a perfect fit for the comedian. The goal of the organization is to lift the spirits of American troops, and that's exactly what Williams did. During his USO tours, the ""Good Morning, Vietnam"" star traveled to war zones entertaining troops from Afghanistan to Kuwait. The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, which is dedicated to curing spinal cord injuries, tweeted: . The entertainer and Christopher Reeve were very close friends. They formed an inseparable bond as roommates while studying at New York's Julliard School. Williams was the first to bring a smile to his college buddy's face after Reeve's 1995 horseback riding accident left him paralyzed from the neck down. In Reeve's autobiography ""Still Me,"" he wrote how Williams made a surprise hospital visit impersonating a Russian proctologist and was going to perform an exam on him! The comedic actor was a friend to people of all ages. Just like his ""Patch Adams"" character, Williams brought smiles and laughter to sick children. He visited kids battling cancer one-on-one and signed autographs at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. In 2006, the father of three was honored with the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award at Celebrity Fight Night. The annual event raises money primarily for the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center in Phoenix. Reba McEntire has emceed the benefit dinner and auction for the past nine years and recalled her favorite memory of Williams. She added, ""I will miss Robin so much, as we all will. Thank God we have so many wonderful memories of him, his wit, talent, big heart and generosity."" The late actor was also involved with Comic Relief to raise money for those in need, especially America's homeless. He hosted a series of HBO TV specials with comedian friends Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg. Comic Relief founder Bob Zmuda remembered Williams' generosity on CNN's ""New Day"": ""Robin was the one from the get-go that was really insistent that we would raise funds for the homeless community. Robin was kind of born with a silver spoon in his mouth. ... I think he felt that he was given so much and that he needed to give back and he truly did."" Complete coverage of Robin Williams . Videos: The world according to Robin Williams ."
"(CNN) -- ""Saturday Night Live"" had some fun recently at the expense of undecided voters. Bill Maher took it a step further on his HBO show ""Real Time,"" calling those who have yet to make up their minds in the presidential election ""ignorant."" The jokes may be funny, but both campaigns are taking the final phase of the election season very seriously. The stakes are high in the first debate between President Obama and Mitt Romney, set for Wednesday night in Denver. As New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said so aptly over the weekend, ""This whole race is going to be turned upside down come Thursday morning."" Opinion: Obama, light a cig; Romney, throw deep . That's not just Jersey bluster. Both Obama and Romney are hoping to land a knockout punch -- a moment where they can break through for good. For viewers everywhere, expect great drama. Undecideds . The notion that the final month of the election may not matter is, well, ignorant. Presidential debates can make a difference. Opinion: Swing voters want to hear specifics . Let's look back to 2000. The final debate was ""enough to turn a neck-and-neck race into a solid lead for GOP Texas Gov. George W. Bush"" over Al Gore. What did it? ""The debate appears to have made Republicans more enthusiastic about voting while turning some Democrats away from the polls,"" according to a CNN poll at the time. Same thing in 2004. After the second presidential debate of the cycle, CNN wrote that Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry ""appears to be holding the ground he gained against President Bush after the first presidential debate."" It tightened a race that was at one point looking like a Bush runaway. (True, Bush won most of electoral votes, but the difference in popular votes was within 3 percentage points.) Maher and SNL can poke fun at the undecided voters, but these people matter -- especially in a tight race like the one between Obama and Romney -- since they make up a small but solid percentage of the electorate. The undecideds will have three more chances to make a decision, including a debate on October 16 that will be moderated by ""State of the Union"" anchor Candy Crowley. Unsatisfieds . Recently, 40% of Americans ""say they are not too or not at all satisfied, marking the lowest level of candidate satisfaction since the 1992 presidential election."" That's a lot of Americans who aren't ready to enthusiastically embrace a candidate or start convincing their friends that their choice is the right one. What about the last presidential election? In 2008, 72% of voters said they were satisfied with the choices, perhaps because both Barack Obama and Sarah Palin were dynamic. What does this mean for 2012? Namely, that a big voting bloc is waiting for the candidates to prove their worth. Opinion: Why debate is crucial for Obama, too . The unsatisfieds are voters who feel their needs are not being met by the campaign stump speeches and talking points. CNN's Halimah Abdullah took a look at these ""slivers"" of voters. Abdullah profiled a man who voted for Obama in 2008 but has grown disillusioned. This man has a specific list of items that he finds politically appealing, but neither campaign has satisfied him so far. He plans to tune in to the debates which may sway him. Late deciders . Like the unsatisfied voters, there is a group of voters who haven't started to pay attention to the race. They're not glued to the 24-hour news cycle of cable TV or the blogosphere. They're not remotely as invested as the inside-the-beltway crowd. But they do vote, and the debates are a critical last-minute stop for them. Opinion: Will candidates let returning troops fall off the fiscal cliff? In the 2004 election, which at first looked like a big Bush victory before the debates in the last month, 10% of voters said they decided in the final 30 days, and Kerry captured 54% to Bush's 44% of this group. Similarly, in the 2008 race, 15% of the voters made their decision in the last month, with more than 50% going for Obama. In 1996, Clinton received more of the last-minute deciders. Persuadables . There's one more category of people who Obama and Romney will be looking to lock up during the debates. These are the persuadable voters. They are voters who lean one way or the other but aren't sure whether they will cast a ballot. In the latest CNN poll, a large percentage of respondents fell into this category. Among Obama supporters, 26% of likely voters ""moderately"" support him while 30% of registered voters ""moderately"" support him. Among Romney supporters, 28% of likely voters ""moderately"" support him and 35% of registered voters support him. These numbers are not insignificant. In a race that involves both rallying the base and attracting independents, especially in the swing states, turning moderate support to strong support as well as registered voters to likely voters can be a key to victory. 2012 finale . Like any election, this one is defined by key moments. Certainly, Romney's victory in the primary was one. Mitt and Ann Romney's speeches at the Republican National Convention -- and, likewise, Barack and Michelle Obama's at the Democratic National Convention -- were as well. Since the conventions Democrats have gained ground and a secretly taped video of Romney's offhand comments about 47% of Americans not paying taxes has surfaced. It would be surprising if Obama doesn't allude to Romney's comment in some way, even if in passing. Opinion: Romney's best bet is to be Mr. Fix-it . On the foreign policy front, a terrorist attack in Libya on September 11 left a U.S. Ambassador dead, and questions remain glaringly unanswered regarding the Obama administration's handling of security in Libya. Romney is expected to bring up this issue. Back in late February was the ""season finale"" of the primary debates, which in retrospect seemed like the ultimate reality show with more twists and turns than a ""Real Housewives"" reunion. Now we get the season premiere of the general election debates with four highly anticipated episodes before the 2012 series finale. The comedy shows can have their fun -- but the real drama begins tonight in Denver. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Steve Krakauer."
"(CNN) -- Defending Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic has been named as the top men's seed for this year's tournament, with French Open winner Maria Sharapova heading the women's singles seedings. World number one Djokovic retains the top seeding at the All England Club despite his defeat to Rafael Nadal in the French Open final earlier this month. The Spaniard is seeded second ahead of six-time champion Roger Federer, who is seeking a first grand slam win since the 2010 Australian Open. Great Britain's Andy Murray, a losing semifinalist for the last three years, is seeded fourth. However, the Scot's preparations suffered a blow on Wednesday when he was beaten by Janko Tipsarevic at The Boodles exhibition tournament in Buckinghamshire. It was Murray's second successive defeat on grass, following his surprise early exit from the Aegon Championships at Queen's Club last week. France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who suffered an injury scare when he injured a finger at the Aegon Championships, is seeded fifth for Wimbledon. He will not be joined by fellow Frenchman Gael Monfils as the world number 15 has failed to recover from a knee injury in time for the championships. The Wimbledon women's singles seedings reflect the current WTA Tour rankings, with world number one Sharapova selected top. She is followed by world number two Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska, with reigning Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova seeded fourth. Australia's Sam Stosur is the fifth seed, with four-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams seeded sixth. Meanwhile, two-time Wimbledon champion Nadal was named as the flag carrier for Spain at the London 2012 Olympics on Wednesday. Sharapova and Djokovic were handed similar roles for Russia and Serbia respectively earlier this month."
"(CNN) -- On October 1, 1982, the first commercial compact disc, Billy Joel's ""52nd Street,"" was released in Japan. In the 30 years since, hundreds of billions of CDs have been sold, Joel has stopped recording pop music and the music industry has moved on to the next hot medium. When the first CD player was released that same day, it was described as a ""new digital record player, using laser beams"" by United Press International. Spun out of the far less successful Philips' laser disc technology (remember those?), the CD was a result of Philips and Sony combining forces. The compact disc was actually invented several years earlier. The first test CD was Richard Strauss's ""Eine Alpensinfonie,"" and the first CD actually pressed at a factory was ABBA's ""The Visitors,"" but that disc wasn't released commercially until later. Mass adoption didn't happen immediately -- CDs wouldn't overtake cassette tapes until the late 1980s. The first album to sell 1 million copies in the CD format and outsell its vinyl version was Dire Straits' ""Brothers in Arms,"" released in 1985. As with most new technologies, one reason for the slow spread of CDs was their steep price tags. The Sony CDP-101 player sold for the equivalent of $730 when it first hit Japanese shelves in 1982. Accounting for inflation, that's about $1,750 today. The audio CDs themselves were $15, which is $35 in 2012 dollars. Because getting a new player and replacing an entire music collection was costly, audio manufacturers were savvy enough to market the first CD players to classical music fans, who were more likely to care about sound quality and have extra disposable income. When they arrived, CDs were hailed for their pristine sound. But whether the audio quality of CDs is greater than vinyl remains a hotly debated topic among hi-fi enthusiasts. ""For most people who weren't audiophiles, the switch to CDs was a revolution. It took away all the audio noise,"" said Mark Katz, a music professor at the University of North Carolina and author of ""Capturing Sound: How Technology Has Changed Music."" Young listeners opting to stream, not own music . Some will still argue that records sound better than CDs, but that is only plausible when people take meticulous care of their albums, listening to them in scratchless, snap-crackle-and-pop-free condition. Most people don't consume music in a vacuum. Even today, the average music fan will listen to tunes on cheap earbuds in an environment filled with background noise, and is likely unable to be able to tell the difference between a CD and an MP3, says Katz. The compact disc changed technology, and went on to be used for data and video storage, evolving into re-writeable media and Blu-Ray DVDs. The shiny little platter also changed how people interacted with their music. ""Changing formats usually has greater impact on the way people listen, consume and disseminate the music, but it also does have an impact on the creative side,"" said Katz. The first compact discs could hold up to 74 minutes of music (the rumor was that the length of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony established that standard) or at least several songs more than a vinyl LP. This longer length allowed composers to write longer works without worrying about side breaks -- where listeners would have to flip over a record or cassette. Convenience was another huge change. The discs were small, just 4.5 inches in diameter, and could be carted around far more easily than records. Listening to music on a CD was easier -- there was no standing up to flip over the record or tape, less time spent searching for the song you wanted to hear right then. Some CD players even allowed you to program what songs played or didn't, and in what order. Three decades later, it may be surprising to some that CD sales, and Billy Joel's career, are still alive. Though their market share is plummeting, CDs still account for the majority of album sales in the U.S. In the first half of 2012, 61% of all albums sold were CDs, according to the Nielsen Company and Billboard. Even so, CDs are gradually being overtaken by digital files. At first, MP3s were burned from CDs onto computers, traded on peer-to-peer networks such as Napster and the Internet's back alleys. Then Apple released the iPod, and its iTunes store turned digital music files into a legitimate business. Now popular services like Spotify and Pandora let users stream music from anywhere, and Amazon and Apple are encouraging people to store their digital libraries in the cloud. Like CDs before them, this new format is changing both the creation and consumption of music. Musicians no longer have to wait until an album is finished to release tracks -- they can sell them one at a time. Length of a song isn't an issue, just file size. Listeners have more flexibility than ever, with unlimited mix-and-match options. And increasingly, they're opting to download single songs over albums. And in an age when computer users can conjure almost any song they want with a few taps or mouse clicks, music stores themselves are disappearing. Katz doesn't think CDs and physical music storage will ever vanish altogether. People like tangible things, and form meaningful relationships with objects they can hold and look at -- more so than strings of ones and zeros. That explains why vinyl sales are up, often among young hipster types who weren't even alive when vinyl was the dominant medium. ""There is the basic human fact of connection with physical objects, that won't change,"" said Katz. Compact discs are unlikely to evoke the nostalgia many people feel for vinyl records, with their spiraling black groove and sometimes trippy cover art. And to people born in this century, they're already becoming a retro curiosity. Streaming debate strikes chord with music fans . But a generation of music fans grew up on them -- Nirvana, Public Enemy, Billy Joel and all."
"New York (CNN) -- A city official married the first couple in New York City to wed under the state's new law allowing same-sex marriage Sunday. Phyllis Siegal, 76, and Connie Kopelov, 84, were married in a chapel at the city clerk's office as a crowd of onlookers cheered. The two, of New York, have been together for 23 years. Kopelov left the clerk's office in a wheelchair, but used a walker to approach reporters. ""Your cheers are wonderful,"" Siegal told well-wishers outside the office. She told reporters the experience was ""just so amazing. It's the only way I can describe it."" Hundreds of same-sex couples heard the news Friday that they made the cut in the marriage lottery that New York state instituted for Sunday, the day that the state's Marriage Equality Act took effect. ""These are two independent people who are joining together because they can see and they can feel how much better their lives will be,"" city clerk Michael McSweeney said as he married Siegal and Kopelov. ""We are grateful that they are allowing us to share this truly momentous ceremony with them."" The New York City clerk's office has been flooded with more than 2,600 requests for marriage licenses since the wording on the online application was changed from ""Groom and Bride"" to ""Spouse A and Spouse B."" The office could handle less than a third of those requests -- gay or straight -- on Sunday, according to a press statement the city released earlier in the week. The lottery was set up to allocate 764 slots for couples who want to obtain marriage licenses and/or be married at city clerk's offices on Sunday. Buffalo residents Kitty Lambert and Cheryle Rudd claim to be the first couple married in the state. The two exchanged vows at 12:01 a.m. Sunday in Niagara Falls, according to CNN affiliate WGRZ. Couples began lining up outside the clerk's office in New York City before the ceremonies began Sunday. Some women wore wedding gowns, while some men wore suits or tuxedos. If all 764 weddings actually take place on Sunday, it will set a one-day record for the city. ""Marriage equality is alive and well in every borough of New York City right now,"" said Christine Quinn, speaker of the New York City Council, who is also gay. She said watching the weddings ""sent a chill up my spine."" Marcos Chaljub and Freddy Zambrano were married after Siegal and Kopelov. The two tearfully said their vows as friends hovered and snapped pictures. ""You're married!"" one declared as celebratory hugs were exchanged afterward. Chaljub and Zambrano conducted last-minute preparations Saturday for their wedding, picking up bouquets of wildflowers for their bridesmaids and champagne for a family brunch afterward. The couple has been together for five years. ""I have certain people in my life, they're not totally OK with it, but they accept it, and just the fact they respect us because of that, it's really the most that I can ask for,"" Chaljub told CNN's Susan Candiotti. The two have been wearing rings for five years, and said they don't plan to exchange new ones. ""We're just going to polish them up and exchange them again,"" Chaljub said. As with many weddings, there were some comical moments. Chaljub momentarily forgot which finger to put Zambrano's ring on. ""Is it this one?"" he asked. Asked whether he took Michael Elasser, 56, as his spouse, 60-year-old Douglas Robinson responded, ""You bet your life I do!"" The couple's two adopted sons, ages 25 and 22, attended the ceremony. ""This is one of the great things about America, this diversity,"" Robinson said. ""I'm so proud to be an American today, but I'm particularly proud to be a New Yorker."" New York Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum of Beit Simchat Torah congregation, who has lobbied for legalizing same-sex marriage, set up a station for couples desiring a religious ceremony after the civil one. New York legalized same-sex marriage in June. The Marriage Equality Act was a priority for Gov. Andrew Cuomo after winning election in November. The law was passed under a Republican-led Senate after days of delays and negotiations between the two parties. Quinn announced that a drawing will take place Monday to award a honeymoon package to one newly-married couple in each borough. The package will include two nights in a Manhattan hotel; dinners; tickets to a museum, the Empire State Buidling, a Broadway show and Cirque du Soleil; and Macy's gift certificates. However, opponents of the new law were planning to gather Sunday afternoon at rallies organized by the National Organization for Marriage in New York, Albany, Rochester and Buffalo. A handful of protesters were outside the city clerk's office in Manhattan Sunday morning. Quinn told CNN that New York is the place where the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) movement was born, and a place the world looks to. ""All eyes are upon it, and I believe it is going to help propel this movement forward faster than any of the other states have,"" Quinn said. Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont and New Hampshire also allow same-sex marriage, as does the District of Columbia. CNN's Jesse Solomon and Steve Kastenbaum contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Rarely has an animal birth been more hotly anticipated but the equine answer to the Royal Baby has taken its first tentative steps at the home of racing, Newmarket in eastern England. On Sunday, Song produced the first filly to the superstar stallion Frankel at the National Stud, and despite it being just a few days old, the expectation on it to succeed on the racecourse is already huge. An anticipated 130 foals will be born to Frankel in 2014, none of which will race for two years but with the potential for some sporting sibling rivalry come 2016 at the earliest. Song is owned by Khalid Abdul Rahim, of Bahrain, who paid $1.3 million for the mare when she was already in foal to Frankel. Director of The National Stud Brian O'Rourke described the new offspring as ""a very nice quality, athletic individual,"" adding that both ""mare and foal are doing well."" There is even footage online of the foal taking some of its first steps in Newmarket. Mother and foal will stay together for at least five months. Frankel earned owner Prince Khalid Abdullah, a Saudi prince, more than $4m in prize money during an illustrious racing career, which included a record nine consecutive Group 1 wins and ended with victory in the Champion Stakes at Ascot in October last year. However, Frankel, who went to work in his new role at stud in February last year, is now earning his owners infinitely more with a whopping fee of $160,000 for every mare sired and hence earnings of nearly four times his career winnings this year alone. The offspring of 2001 Epsom Derby winner Galileo, Frankel boasts an impressive pedigree, but predicting how Frankel foals may fare is by no means an exact science. Despite the sums paid for the mares and foals in question, she could well prove a flop. Despite that there are high hopes for the filly and Frankel's first foal, a colt, born just a few days earlier at Coolmore Stud in Ireland to a mare called Chrysanthemum. That colt is valued at Â£6m and has been quoted as a 100-1 shot to win the 2017 Derby. As for the filly foal in Newmarket, she remains unnamed with suggestions for a possible moniker to the offspring of Frankel and Song, currently including Sinatra or My Way."
"(CNN) -- Researchers believe the number of children who have an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is much higher than previously believed, according to a new study published Monday in the American Journal of Psychiatry. By looking at a total population sample in South Korea, the study authors estimate that 1 in 38 children in the country -- or 2.64% -- has some form of autism. The approach is a new one. Previously, researchers have examined only children known to have the neurological disorder or at high risk of developing it. The study authors predicted that if similar studies were conducted in other countries, the prevalance estimates would also go up. The research also led the study authors to believe that more girls than previously thought fall under the autism umbrella. What is autism? In the United States, the most recent estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for autism prevalence are about 1% or 1 in 110 children, based on population studies in a select number of areas around the country. In this new study, researchers looked at all 55,000 school children in a large metropolitan community of Seoul, which they say is representative not only of South Korea, but also many other developed nations. According to the study, researchers began with 55,266 7- to 12-year-old students. Parents and teachers were asked to fill out an autism screening questionnaire. Parents of 23,234 of the children in the regular school system responded. All 294 children already enrolled in special education or on the disability registry were considered to have tested positive for an autism spectrum disorder. From the initial assessments, 1,214 students screened positive for some form of autism. Only 286 went on to get a full clinical evaluation, of which 201 were diagnosed with some form of autism. Using mathematical algorithms, researchers estimate 1 in 38 children in South Korea have an autism spectrum disorder. ""Are we surprised? Yes,"" said Dr. Young Shin Kim, lead author of the study and assistant professor at the Child Study Center at the Yale School of Medicine. Kim said the prevalence estimates in the study, which happened to take place in South Korea, are higher than previous estimates elsewhere, including but not exclusively the United States. Kim said she believes if more studies like this are done in other countries, they, too, will find an autism rate of 2-3%, while acknowledging that more research needs to be done to validate the study results. In depth autism coverage on The Chart . The study doesn't mean that suddenly many more children have autism, Kim said. Instead, she suggests ""they have been there all along but they were not counted in previous prevalence studies,"" and that ""two-thirds are in the community unrecognized and untreated."" Roy Richard Grinker, a cultural anthropologist at George Washington University and one of the co-authors of the study, said he thinks the study's estimates are ""surprising"" but he doesn't think they are alarming. What these estimates tell us, he said, is that ""autism is more common than we think it is."" Autism and communication . Grinker said he would compare the situation in South Korea to where the United States was 20 years ago, as far as autism awareness goes. He said when the study began in 2005, South Koreans believed that autism was rare in their country. He cited one South Korean official who he said estimated the prevalence of autism to be about 1 in 100,000. At that same time, the CDC estimated autism prevalence to be about 1 in 150 children and Australian researchers believed it to be around 1 in 160 children. Since then, new research has led to a 1 in 110 prevalence estimate. When asked about the newest estimates, Dr. Marshalyn Yeargin-Allsopp, chief of the Developmental Disabilities Branch of the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities at the CDC, said, ""We've always said that what we report is an underestimate."" She said there are different ways to determine prevalence and that the CDC is considering a total population study of autism, but that it is not yet under way. Vanderbilt University's director of the Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders (TRIAD), believes the new data adds to what's already been known about ASD in other parts of the world -- that autism is not rare. But Dr. Zachary Warren, who did not participate in the study, also said, ""In the current study the authors sampled from a population, noted that many folks from this sample did not participate, and performed diagnostic evaluations on a relatively small number of children. As such, these concerns suggest interpreting the 2-3% prevalence rate reported with significant caution as it may in fact be an overestimate related to how they studied this specific community in Korea."" Dr. Max Wiznitzer, a pediatric neurologist at Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, said the results of this study (which he also wasn't part of), suggest that what the numbers tell us is ""that (many) children in this district in Korea have difficulties with social/communications skills."" ""We have to be careful not to confuse them with other conditions that can also cause problems in these realms like ADHD and social anxiety disorders,"" he said. What makes Monday's study different from other autism studies is that researchers sought out children in regular schools. According to the researchers, few children in South Korea are put in special education classes. Grinker said about 10-12% of school children from K-12 classes receive some form of special needs education, but that in Korea that figure is far lower, maybe under 1%. He attributes that to a law that mandates inclusion, which makes it difficult to provide special education. Also, children in regular schools in Korea are in school for up to 12 hours a day, with highly structured, large classrooms, and few opportunities for socialization. Many of the children who were identified with an autism spectrum disorder through this study were found to have a higher IQ, but had poor socialization skills, one of the hallmarks of autism. ""I think many children with autism can do well in that highly structured situation and may not get flagged as having a particular problem,"" Grinker said. This may explain why many children with autism in South Korea may go unnoticed and may explain a significant difference with children in the United States. Dr. Geraldine Dawson, chief science officer of the advocacy group Autism Speaks, which funded part of the study, believes the most important finding is that the research shows that using ""the comprehensive sampling approach ... has the potential to yield an autism prevalence estimate that exceeds previous estimates."" Grinker believes the most important message from the study is not the numbers, but that it suggests that ""autism is more common than we previously thought and that, if we look hard enough, cases will be found and these children need treatment so they can thrive."" Dawson also believes that the study clearly confirms that autism is a significant global public health concern that transcends cultural, geographic and ethnic boundaries. It also shows that it's possible to translate and adopt screening and diagnostic approaches developed in English-speaking countries to effectively assess prevalence in other countries. Autism Speaks is funding similar research in India, South Africa, Mexico and Taiwan, Dawson said."
"(CNN) -- A convicted child pornographer in Pennsylvania was sentenced Tuesday to 12 years in federal prison, thanks in part to three girls featured in CNN's Freedom Project who provided information to U.S. authorities. Jeffrey Herschell, 54, of Washington, Pennsylvania, visited an Internet site that showed live sex shows that forced young girls in the Philippines to act out customers' fantasies, U.S. investigators said. ""Whatever the American client wants us to do, we must do it,"" ""Gen"" told CNN in May 2011 for the documentary ""The Fighters."" ""Gen"" and her friends were schoolmates and just 8 years old when the abuse occurred. An investigator from Homeland Security Investigations, part of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told CNN the information the three girls provided him was integral to the case against Herschell. Their information launched an investigation that uncovered a ring operating live-streaming shows of children engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Customers from around the globe, including an estimated 10 to 15 from the United States, paid to view the shows and direct them, in some cases. When HSI agents executed a search warrant on Herschell's home in 2011, they found computers, cell phones and hard drives containing dozens of explicit videos and images of children. The inquiry involved several U.S. agencies, the Philippines national police and the non-profit group Visayan Forum Foundation, which fights modern-day slavery. READ MORE: Victims endure lives degraded by traffickers ."
"Bill Clinton and George W. Bush sounded like old college buddies when they appeared in Washington on Monday. You'd never know that Clinton was the candidate who made Bush's father a one-termer, or that Bush ran for office in 2000 promising to restore ""honor and dignity to the White House"" after Clinton left. Things are genial now that both men have their presidencies behind them and are focused on their legacies as former presidents. They appeared together on Monday to announce a new leadership program through their respective foundations. But at times, it appeared the announcement took a back seat to the presidents' relationship. The two former commanders in chief joked with and about each other, told stories about their relationship, and even offered commentary about the number of selfies each is asked to take. ""He used to call me twice a year, in his second term, just to talk,"" Clinton said about Bush. ""We'd talk -- depending on how much time he had, 'cause he was busier than me -- somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes, for several years. It meant a lot to me."" Clinton said he and Bush ""talked about everything in the right world. He asked my opinion, half the time he disagreed with it. But I felt good about that, I thought that was a really healthy thing."" Bush and Clinton were together Monday to announce the Presidential Leadership Scholars program, a partnership between their respective presidential centers, as well as George H.W. Bush's and Lyndon B. Johnson's centers. The program's aim is to bring ""motivated leaders across all sectors an opportunity to study presidential leadership and decision making and learn from key administration officials, practitioners, and leading academics."" It is well-documented that Clinton has grown closer with the Bush family since his presidency. Clinton and George H.W. Bush worked together after the Asian tsunami in 2004 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, while Clinton and George W. Bush worked together after the 2010 Haitian earthquake. Monday's event was a mutual admiration festival. As Clinton heralded their post-presidency friendship, he regularly touched Bush's arm. When the Arkansas Democrat reflected positively on Bush's father, George H.W. Bush, Bush 43 looked at Clinton and said, ""Thank you, you are right."" When Bush gave Clinton advice on becoming a grandparent -- ""Get ready also to be, like, the lowest person in the pecking order in your family"" -- the two laughed and shared a hearty handshake. Bill and Hillary Clinton are expecting their first grandchild this fall as their only daughter, Chelsea Clinton, is pregnant. Hillary Clinton attended Monday's event and sat near the back. During the event, Bill Clinton's phone rang and the former president joked that ""only two people have this number and they are related to me."" ""I hope I'm not being told I'm about to become a premature grandfather,"" Clinton said to a chorus of laughs. The former presidents were asked to reflect on each other's leadership qualities. Clinton said Bush was decisive and did what he thought was best for the country, even if Clinton sometimes disagreed with him. ""I actually learned a lot watching him over the years,"" Clinton said. Bush, in a briefer answer, said Clinton was an ""awesome communicator"" who can ""really lay out a case and get people all across the political spectrum to listen."" ""[There is] a lot to admire about Bill Clinton,"" Bush said, before noticing that he had said less than Clinton had. ""Is that enough?"" Bush said. ""It was a lot shorter than your answer, I know."" The differences between Bush and Clinton were also on full display. Clinton offered wordy, detailed answers, while Bush used more folksy one-liners and quips to engage the crowd. Both joked about how Bush often said he ""didn't do"" nuance. Clinton said that before the event they ""were laughing about having to go to restaurants and having to spend our time taking selfies"" with fans. Without skipping a beat, Bush said, ""At least they are still asking, you know."" Bush takes Ice Bucket Challenge, challenges Clinton ."
"(CNN) -- A body found in an Indiana lake has been identified as that of Teleka Patrick, the Michigan doctor who's been missing since December, the Porter County Coroner's Office confirmed. Her body was discovered Sunday in Lake Charles, west of Gary, Indiana, officials said. The cause and manner of death are still pending further investigation, but are consistent with drowning, the coroner said in a statement Tuesday. An autopsy revealed no trauma, the statement added. Mysterious disappearance . The 30-year-old medical resident failed to show up for work on December 6 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The night before, her 1997 Lexus was discovered abandoned more than 115 miles away in a ditch off of Interstate 94 in Indiana, directly south of the lake where she was ultimately found. Police brought out dogs to track Patrick's scent. They led investigators out of the ditch where Patrick's car rested to the highway. There, the scent went cold. ""We looked everywhere,"" Sgt. Rick Strong of the Indiana State Police told CNN in December. Videos provide clues . Surveillance video and home videos uploaded to YouTube provided investigators with clues about Patrick's movements in the weeks, days and hours before she vanished. The YouTube videos showed Patrick talking, cooing and singing to someone unnamed and apparently unknown. Patrick's mother told CNN she wasn't aware of any romantic relationship her daughter may have had. But the videos have an intimate feel to them. ""Hi, baby,"" Patrick says in one. ""I am just coming to you to say 'hi' and tell you about my day."" In another video, Patrick shows a table set for two with omelets and pancakes. ""If you were here, this is what would be your plate,"" she coos. In a surveillance video from a Radisson hotel in Kalamazoo, not far from where she worked, Patrick is seen on the night of December 5 around 7:30 p.m., hours before police found her car in Indiana. She spent about 10 minutes talking with employees at the reception desk but ultimately left. There's no audio on the video, and it's not clear why Patrick failed to book a room. But at 7:48 p.m., she strode across the hotel's tiled floors, out the door and onto a hotel shuttle bus. Those are the last known images of her. Her family says Patrick, who had just moved to Michigan, bought a plane ticket to come visit them for the holidays in Florida. In January, family members urged investigators to remain focused on the possibility that foul play was involved in her disappearance, after reports surfaced that gospel singer Marvin Sapp had filed a personal protection order against Patrick in September. In court documents, Sapp said Patrick ""has claimed him as her husband, had moved from California to Michigan, joined his church, had contacted his children and had been to his home. ""I have at least 400 pages of correspondence from her which I have never responded,"" his complaint reads. Questions remain . While the discovery of Patrick's body answers some questions, it leaves many more unanswered for the grieving family of a young doctor described as ""wonderful,"" ""beautiful"" and ""talented."" Investigators have said they have no evidence of foul play, but they also don't have conclusive evidence that Patrick's movements on December 5 were voluntary. ""We have scoured, searched and looked at everything we could possibly look at -- all the exits, all the businesses, all the hotels,"" Strong said late last year. ""We posted fliers; we talked to neighbors (who live near the highway). We did a full-blown, on-the-ground search in the wooded area north of where the car was."" Carl Clatterback, a private investigator hired by Patrick's family, told CNN that investigators are looking into the videos. A central question: Who was Patrick talking to in the videos and does that person know anything about what happened to her? CNN's Tiffany Campbell and Julia Lull contributed to this report."
"Tokyo (CNN) -- Dozens of flights were canceled in and out of a northeastern Japanese city on Tuesday after construction workers came across an unexploded shell believed to be from World War II buried near a taxiway. Airport authorities in Sendai said they had canceled all 92 flights, national and international, scheduled to use the airport Tuesday after the discovery of the shell late Monday under an unpaved area beside the taxiway. Read more: World War II bomb closes part of Amsterdam airport . Members of the Japanese Self Defense Force are working to remove the ordinance, which is thought to be a U.S.-made bomb dropped during World War II, the airport said, adding that officials hope flights will be able to resume Wednesday. The device still has a fuse, which raises the risk that it could explode, and is approximately 110 centimeters (43 inches) long and 35 centimeters wide, authorities said. Sendai is still recovering and rebuilding after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that killed thousands of people and caused widespread destruction across northeastern Japan in March 2011. The city is the largest in the region of Tohoku, which bore the brunt of the natural disasters. The damage to its airport was widely documented in images that emerged in the aftermath of the quake and tsunami."
"Washington (CNN) -- Toward the end of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's surprise appearance at the TED Women conference Wednesday, she told the story of a girl and her father in a developing country. ""This teenage girl's father expected to force her into early marriage, but she had been to school and she received a cow, perhaps through the Heifer project,  to encourage her to stay in school. When her father demanded she drop out of school and get married, she said no. When he insisted, she insisted right back. ""And finally she pulled out her trump card: 'If I leave and get married, I'm taking my cow, that cow belongs to me.' So guess what. She stayed in school, she was spared an early marriage, all because her father couldn't bear to part with the cow."" TED.com: Sheryl WuDunn on oppression of women . Clinton devoted her talk to the importance of empowering women and girls around the world, and the audience of 700 at the International Trade Center responded enthusiastically. ""Let women work and they drive economic growth across all sectors. Send a girl to school even just for one year and her income dramatically increases for life, and her children are more likely to survive and her family more likely to be healthier for years to come. Give women equal rights and entire nations are more stable and secure. Deny women equal rights and the instability of nations is almost certain."" Clinton said the goal of empowering women and girls is a ""central tenet"" of American foreign policy. ""Women's equality is not just a moral issue, it's not just a humanitarian issue, it is not just a fairness issue,"" she said, ""It is a security issue, it is a prosperity issue, and it is a peace issue. ""Therefore when I talk about why we need to integrate women's issues into discussions at the highest levels everywhere in the world, I'm not doing it just because I have a personal commitment or because President Obama cares about it. I'm doing it because it's in the vital interests of the United States of America."" Clinton said the status of women will be a key part of a new document the State Department is planning to release this week. Modeled on the Defense Department's review every four years of U.S. defenses, the ""quadrennial diplomacy and development review"" will assess American foreign policy. TED.com: Zainab Salbi on women and wartime . Clinton spoke of an array of initiatives and programs the State Department is using, many involving technology that can empower women. Among them is a program in the wartorn Democratic Republic of Congo that enables women who are the victims of violence to record and transmit their testimony in criminal cases through the use of mobile phones. Clinton's talk did not mention the ongoing worldwide controversy over the release of thousands of U.S. diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks. She did pay tribute to Elizabeth Edwards, who died the day before her talk. ""She lived with a fierce intelligence, a passion, a sense of purpose,"" Clinton said. ""She would have appreciated this event, where we are coming together to look for solutions."" The TED Women conference was a new event organized by TED, a nonprofit that runs conferences and makes talks available on its website, and by the Paley Center for Media. Clinton said the effort to empower women and girls faces cultural barriers: ""The low value that many families and societies place on girls makes possible many of the worst abuses they suffer. But even among girls who are spared the worst, too often it is a girl who is still the first to drop out of school, the last to be fed, the last to receive medical care. And in too many places, she is taught there are special limits to what is possible for her. ""We need to reach out to faith leaders and community leaders to change the perception and treatment of girls, and to persuade men and boys to value their sisters and their daughters, their talents and their intrinsic worth."""
"NEW YORK (CNN) -- The numbers were good for ""Knowing."" In ""Knowing,"" a physics professor (Nicolas Cage) ponders patterns in a list of numbers. The film, about a physics professor who sees clues for disastrous events in a time capsule's list of digits, overcame some pretty long odds at the box office -- going against the Paul Rudd-Jason Segel comedy ""I Love You, Man,"" the Julia Roberts-Clive Owen romantic thriller ""Duplicity"" and some fairly scathing reviews -- to emerge as the weekend's No. 1 film. Though star Nicolas Cage wouldn't have predicted the outcome, in an interview before the film's release, he did talk about the power of positive thinking. ""I'm a huge believer of the human spirit,"" he told CNN. ""I think people are amazing. I think what we have accomplished is incredible. ... If you think positive and you apply the guts and ingenuity that mankind has been doing forever, at least in our existence, I believe we get through anything."" Cage's character, John Koestler, is a science professor whom Cage describes as ""someone who is reawakening to his faith."" He begins the film believing that everything is random, but as the film continues -- and he seeks to alert the world of a coming catastrophe -- ""he believes there is cause and effect and perhaps even a divine mind,"" Cage said. The film begins in 1959, with students burying items in a time capsule at an elementary school. One of the children, however, creates an image of seemingly random numbers. Fifty years later, when the capsule is opened, Koestler's son receives the page of numbers, and his father realizes that they correspond to major disasters of the past half-century. Koestler determines that three events have yet to occur and sets out to meet the clairvoyant child's now grown daughter. The final event threatens life on Earth itself, and the group begins a race against time, with unusual consequences. Critics were not impressed. The film earned a 25 percent rating on the review aggregator RottenTomatoes.com, with some reviewers in full-on mockery mode.  Watch Mr. Moviefone review ""Knowing"" and other films » . ""It's increasingly hard to believe that Cage won an Oscar in 1996 (for 'Leaving Las Vegas'),"" wrote USA Today's Claudia Puig in a 1½-star review. ""In the past decade, he has made some awful choices, and his range has seemed to grow more limited."" ""It's so inept that you may wish you were watching an M. Night Shyamalan version of the very same premise,"" wrote Entertainment Weekly's Owen Gleiberman, referring to the director whose last two films, ""Lady in the Water"" and ""The Happening,"" were two of the most detested films of recent years. But the film's apocalyptic theme obviously strikes a chord, something director Alex Proyas (""Dark City"") saw early on. Proyas told CNN in a pre-release interview that ""you can read [the film] as biblical if you choose to,"" but he prefers to see it as ""spiritual."" ""I try to leave it very open-ended,"" he said. ""I try to think of it as more a spiritual place than a biblical one."" Cage's character, he said, is on a spiritual quest in the midst of what could be global destruction. Rose Byrne, who plays the clairvoyant child's daughter, Diana, called the film ""kind of a theological discussion."" ""That's always an exciting topic,"" she said. ""It's bridging the gap between science and spirituality. That always makes things thought-provoking, and I like that with any piece of art."" Byrne said that ""Knowing"" taps into some of the end-times anxiety that's been in the air in recent years, which perhaps could help find an audience. (As she was talking before the film's release, she didn't realize how much of an audience.) ""I think it's a common thing in life,"" she said of end-of-the-world fears, referencing one of the latest making the rounds -- the Mayan calendar's Long Count end in 2012 -- in making her point. Proyas observes that given such worries, the film can be a wake-up call for such concerns as global climate change. ""There is a symbolic aspect to what is happening and what the story is about, and to get people to pay attention to what could happen,"" he said. But, he adds, it's also just a movie. ""I believe in the entertainment value of movies -- very much so,"" he said. ""I ... want to make it good for the audience. I really want people to be there and experience something powerful and resident, both in terms of ideas and emotions ... and also with this film trying to do something different. It's a challenging film, and it takes some unexpected turns."""
"(CNN) -- Look out air travelers. A congressional slugfest over the U.S. deficit is threatening to trigger higher airfares and widespread slowdowns at the nation's airports. Remember that big fight in Congress last year over the national budget deficit? Eventually Congress and the White House agreed to scheduled budget cuts that are so deep that lawmakers would be forced to come together on tough choices. Washington wonks call these cuts ""sequestration."" Related story: Sequestration is the 'dumbest thing' The Federal Aviation Administration is in the cross hairs for sequestration -- with a possible $1 billion in mandatory cuts scheduled to occur as soon as January. The FAA chief warned of the impact of such cuts. And a new study says the cuts would result in fewer air traffic controllers, customs officers and security officers. The FAA's sweeping overhaul of the U.S. air traffic system also would take a hit. NextGen, as it's called, is aimed at improving efficiency and increasing safety. ""If the sequester were to occur, we would face some very drastic cuts in services and these investments,"" said FAA acting administrator Michael Huerta, in an October speech. ""These cuts would impact air traffic control services, NextGen implementation, and aircraft certification -- all of which are critical to our ability to move forward with aviation in this century. ""They would result in significantly less efficient and less convenient air travel service for the American traveling public. We will always, however, maintain the highest levels of safety."" It's anybody's guess -- and up to Congress -- whether the cuts will actually happen. But groups representing pilots and the aerospace industry say it's time to get nervous. Opinion: Clock ticking on defense cuts . Marion Blakey, who headed the FAA during the George W. Bush administration and who now leads an aerospace industry lobbying organization, warned in August that just the threat of the cuts is already having a chilling effect. Consumers should be worried, she warns. ""This will affect their ability to fly when they want and how they want,"" Blakey says. ""It will certainly be a drag on the airlines, which then will incur great cost, which then will be passed on to the consumer or it will cut into the carriers' very meager profits and that's not healthy."" Blakey's group, the Aerospace Industries Association, and Econsult Corp. released a study in August that paints a worst-case scenario, including possible closure of 246 airport control towers, 1,500 fewer air traffic controllers and the loss of 9,000 security screeners and 1,600 customs officers. Obviously, fewer controllers, screeners and customs people would throw a wrench into an already stressed air travel system. ""A billion dollars is a body blow to the FAA,"" Blakey says. For industry planners, Blakey says January is right around the corner, and making industry decisions amid such uncertainty comes with an economic price that will affect the consumer. Not only would airline passengers feel the cuts, but pilots of small aircraft, known as general aviation, or GA, will see ramifications, both in safety and efficiency, says Melissa Rudinger, senior vice president of government affairs at the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. The cuts could include the shut down of more than 200 control towers, ""which operate almost exclusively at GA locations,"" she says. ""It's unclear to us how the FAA would go about literally closing the doors and turning out the lights,"" she says. ""But there's definitely a safety risk that would have us concerned."" Safety would not be an issue, Blakey says. ""I have every confidence they'll keep it safe,"" she says, although she expects FAA controllers will slow traffic at small airports by reducing hours of operation and capacity. ""I do not anticipate that the FAA will reduce hours and personnel at the nation's big air traffic control centers and the TRACON radar tracking centers,"" she says. For now, many in the aviation industry are taking a wait-and-see attitude. ""There is a great deal of uncertainty about whether sequestration will actually happen and what the real impact would be on commercial aviation,"" writes a spokeswoman for the airline industry trade group Airlines for America. Other groups aren't talking at all. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association wouldn't comment in August, and the FAA referred questions to the Office of Management and Budget. The OMB has 30 days to analyze the sequestration legislation and to make recommendations to the White House. An internal OMB memo (PDF) in July said sequestration would be ""highly destructive to national security and domestic priorities, as well as to core government functions,"" and that Obama has submitted deficit reduction proposals to Congress aimed at avoiding the cuts. The cuts would delay deployment of the multibillion-dollar NextGen program by at least a decade, according to the study. ""It's a very big deal to keep that on track,"" Blakey says. ""It's going to get hit; it's just a question of how much."" This is not just about FAA, Blakey says. Think about the idea of cutting 9,000 Transportation Security Administration screeners. ""How do you like the lines now? How are you going to like them then?"" She says, ""People would like to treat this as a hypothetical or a simple congressional debate."" But the threat will grow, she warns, unless ""people step up and try again to address the long-term issues"" surrounding the nation's debt and deficit -- or they postpone the FAA cuts to give themselves more time for a compromise."
"(CNN) -- Speaking Saturday at the Summit of the Americas, President Barack Obama said it is reasonable to debate alternatives in the war on drugs, but insisted legalizing drugs wasn't a valid option in the United States. Obama voiced his view in his first public remarks at the hemispheric event during a meeting of business leaders, where he was part of a panel alongside Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos. The possibility of drug legalization has gained traction in Central America, which is being squeezed between suppliers to the south and consumers to the north. Yet the idea goes against decades of the prohibitionist policy backed by the United States, which is largely followed and enforced in Latin America and the Caribbean. Santos noted Saturday that people in his native Colombia, too, have called for different ways to approach illicit drugs. ""Sometimes we pedal and pedal and pedal, and we feel like we are on a stationary bike,"" he said of the war on drugs. ""I think the time has come to simply analyze if what we are doing is the best we could be doing, or if we can find an alternative that would be more effective and less costly to society. This is a topic of extreme political sensitivity."" He added, ""One extreme can be to put all users in prison. On the other extreme, legalization. In the middle there may be more practical policies, such as decriminalizing consumption but putting all the efforts into interdiction."" The first thing that regional leaders should do, Santos said later at the summit's opening session, is seriously and collaboratively examine how to tackle drug trafficking ""without dogma, without prejudice."" ""This summit is not going to resolve this issue,"" he said. ""But it can be a starting point to begin a discussion that we have been postponing for far too long."" Obama earlier Saturday left the door open for debate, but made it clear that the United States has a firm stance. ""I think it is entirely legitimate to have a conversation about whether the laws in place are doing more harm than good in certain places,"" Obama said. ""I personally, and my administration's position is, that legalization is not the answer."" Much attention in the run-up to the summit was on the drug issue, as well as on leaders from the hemisphere who are not present in the coastal city of Cartagena, Colombia. Venezuela's foreign minister told reporters Saturday that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will not attend because of health reasons. Chavez had recently returned to his country from Cuba, where he underwent cancer treatment. Cuba, which is not a member of the Organization of American States, was not invited to join the leaders. But there was a last-minute push by Ecuador's leftist President Rafael Correa to get Cuban leader Raul Castro a seat at the table. Correa boycotted the summit because of Cuba's exclusion. Santos, a key U.S. ally, said in his opening remarks Saturday that it was time to overcome such issues -- calling it unthinkable if Cuba is not part of the next Summit of the Americas, as well as nearby Haiti. The United States has ""never been more excited"" to work as equal partners with countries in Latin America, Obama said earlier Saturday -- a vow that's been made before by U.S. presidents, but that nonetheless drew applause from the audience of business leaders. The president presented an upbeat assessment of hemispheric relations, touting a 46% increase in trade between the United States and Latin American and Caribbean countries. ""This hemisphere is very well positioned in the global economy,"" he said. Rousseff spoke of a need for a ""virtuous relationship"" based on respect and equality among economies, while Santos said he welcomed a ""change of mentality in relations between north and south."" Obama pointed out one change he'd like to see: ""I think in Latin America, part of the change in mentality, is also not always looking at the United States as the reason for everything ... that goes wrong."" There are many examples of increased cooperation between the United States and Latin America, but they are not always flashy and don't draw the same type of attention that conflicts do, Obama said. ""Oftentimes in the press, the attention at summits like this ends up focusing on the controversies,"" the president added. ""Sometimes those controversies date back to before I was born."" The summit's start was momentarily overshadowed by two security incidents -- one involving bomb blasts and another involving Secret Service in Colombia to protect the U.S. delegation. Roughly a dozen Secret Service agents and officers are being investigated over early findings that they allegedly brought back several prostitutes to a hotel in Cartagena, two U.S. government sources familiar the investigation told CNN. The Secret Service personnel have since been sent back to the United States. Separately, two small blasts occurred nearly back-to-back Friday in Cartagena. The explosions -- one near a bus station and another near a shopping mall -- occurred a good distance away from where world leaders were gathering, said Alberto Cantihho Toncell, a spokesman for the Colombia National Police. There were no casualties, and only minor damage was reported, Toncell said. The explosions came on the heels of a similar one earlier in the day near the U.S. Embassy in the capital city of Bogota, authorities said. CNN's Dan Lothian contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- It would take you almost five solid months -- without sleeping or bathroom breaks -- to watch every sporting event at this year's Summer Olympics. More than 3,500 hours of competition from London will be crammed into just 17 days. In the past, people had to settle for watching the delayed, edited bits broadcast on TV or websites, but technology and viewing habits have changed. This year, 40% of people plan to follow the games on more than one device, with 35% checking in on their tablets and 27% using their smartphone, according to a new study by Harris Interactive. Fans asked to tweet from Olympics only if it's 'urgent' So what are the best ways for today's mobile, multiple-screen owning, Twitter-loving generation to follow the Olympics Ã  la carte? We offer these five: . Live streaming, with a catch . First, the good news: It's finally possible to stream any Olympic event live online, on a tablet or from your smartphone. After years of tape-delayed broadcasts and online video, NBC has caught on that viewers want to follow the Olympics on multiple devices in real time, and is offering the live options in addition to its regular television programming. The bad news is that anyone in the U.S. who wants to enjoy live streaming of the games needs to have a current cable, satellite or telco TV subscription that includes MSNBC and CNBC (for some areas this may mean be more than just basic cable). You will be prompted on the NBC site and in NBC apps to choose your provider from a list and log in with your official username and password in order to access any live streams. Cord cutters -- those who have canceled their cable and primarily watch TV online through services like Hulu and Netflix -- are out of luck, however. They can sign up for cable and cancel after the games are over, but there's no one-time payment option just to access live streaming. NBC wants mobile and online options to complement the TV coverage, not replace it. NBC, which is owned by the largest cable provider in the United States, Comcast, paid $1.18 billion for the rights to this year's Olympics. The network makes a good portion of that amount back on television advertising, which still generates more revenue than online ads. Online . The Internet portal for all video in the U.S. is NBCOlympics.com. On the main video page, anyone can view the select clips that NBC posts after watching a short ad. These clips are a combination of highlights from events, interviews, profiles, and peeks behind the scenes. Sort by your sport of choice or type of video. How to avoid Olympics spoilers . The site is also providing live streams of any sport to cable, satellite or telco TV subscribers. Called LiveExtra, the service will live stream some Olympic trials and every single Olympic sport. You can watch online or through the complimentary app. It's the only option for live streaming in the U.S. Though hosted through YouTube, all of the videos on the NBCOlympics are in Flash. To view them on iPhones, iPads or other mobile devices, go to the mobile version of the site, m.nbcolympics.com. You can also download one of the official apps to watch official NBC Olympic video on your iOS or Android device. For the first time, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will live stream 11 high-definition channels simultaneously over YouTube for 64 territories in Asia and Africa that don't have broadcast deals, but those streams will not be accessible outside of those countries. Foreign news websites such as the BBC will also have videos, but again, most will be blocked for U.S. viewers. Mobile apps . NBC created two official apps for Android and Apple mobile devices, NBC Olympics and NBC Olympics Live Extra, and both are free to download. NBC Olympics has no live video, but tons of content that can be enjoyed by anyone for free, including news, results, video highlights, and the intriguing-sounding Twitter heat map. NBC Olympics Live Extra app is a mobile version of its LiveExtra online service and requires a cable, satellite or telco subscription. View any event live, watch replays of the ones you missed, and check out medal ceremonies and alternative camera views. Look over the in-app schedule and set up notifications for the events you don't want to miss. (Avid streamers should be careful not to go over their monthly data limits.) There are two official apps for the London 2012 Olympics, and they're available for a mix of platforms including iOS, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone 7. Official London 2012: Results App has live updates of results, as well as schedules, news, background on sports and athlete profiles. You can follow specific countries and set up custom alerts. The second app, Official London 2012: Join In App, is more for people attending the games, and has schedules and locations for the various Olympic-related festivities going on in London. The free BBC Olympic iOS and Android app will have a steady stream of quality Olympics news, including a running tally of medals won and live reporting from the BBC journalists attending events. Social media and news . Perhaps you have no interest in seeing your favorite diver's perfectly executed reverse 3 1/2 somersault tuck. You just want to know who got the gold as soon as it happens. Individual sports have official, automated Twitter feeds that will tweet out the results as they happen. You can narrow it down to just the events you're interested in and follow those feeds (say @L2012Trampoline or @L2012Judo), or keep an eye on all of them at once by following the London 2012 official Twitter list of automated feeds. The official London 2012 feed is @London2012. Twitter takes the Olympic gold for speed . This year a lot of the fun will be following the athletes themselves. You can look up your favorites or follow this list of verified Olympic athlete Twitter accounts, the London 2012 list of Olympians or find a list just for your preferred sport of team, like Team USA. If you want more color, find a hashtag for the event you're interested in to get live tweets of the excitement as it happens from attendees and journalists. There's also an official London 2012 Facebook page you can like to get updates. And of course, there are old-fashioned news sites and blogs filled with words and pictures. There are 21,000 journalists in London covering the Olympics (outnumbering the 10,500 athletes competing). With all the content online, on TV and on social media, keeping up with the Olympics won't be nearly as much of a challenge as avoiding spoilers. Television . Oh right, there's TV, too. If you have cable, you can catch NBC's coverage scattered across a number of its channels: NBC, NBC Sports Network, MSNBC, CNBC, Bravo and Telemundo. Check the schedule for your location, sorted by time or sport, at the NBC Olympics site. If you don't have cable, you can still tune into NBC over the air for nearly round-the-clock coverage, including the four-hour prime-time broadcast that will show the most popular events mixed in with the usual profiles and athlete interviews. The channel will broadcast a total of 217 hours of Olympic coverage. Opinion: Is it really #NBCfail?"
"San Diego, California (CNN) -- You're a mean one, Mr. Gingrich. Well, not really. Those of us who know Newt Gingrich tend to describe him as not only intelligent but also charming. Some members of the Washington press corps will admit as much, even though they usually don't agree with Gingrich's views. No matter. Facts shouldn't get in the way of a good smear. And at the moment, the left is trying to dampen the appeal of the former House speaker and current GOP presidential front-runner by likening him to a green and hairy Dr. Seuss character who tries to steal Christmas. Only in the real life version, Gingrich is supposedly at war with the poor for saying this: ""Really poor children in really poor neighborhoods have no habits of working and have nobody around them who works, so they literally have no habit of showing up on Monday."" That narrative was front and center again this week as Gingrich explained his remarks to reporters gathered at a New York press conference, emphasizing that he believes the secret to getting America working again is to teach some Americans how to work. ""I've been talking a little bit about the importance of work,"" Gingrich said, ""particularly as it relates to people who are in areas where there are public housing where there are relatively few people who go to work."" At one point, Gingrich turned the tables on the reporters and asked them a question. He wanted to know, ""How many of you earned some money doing something before you were 10 years old, whether it was cutting grass or babysitting or something?"" Talk to hugely successful people, Gingrich said, and most of them will say that they got an early start learning about jobs and responsibility and earning money for their labor. Tragically, that's not happening with many young people today. Gingrich pointed out that, for instance, among African-American teenagers, the unemployment rate is a staggering 43%. Now, you can spin a statistic like that one of two ways. You can say these unemployed black teenagers are helpless victims and the system is working against them. Or you can say that many of these teenagers are unemployable because no one ever taught them the skills necessary to hold down a job. Gingrich thinks government should have a hand in creating a ""pathway to work"" so ""people get in the work habit and learn the skills to be successful."" Bravo for Newt. Politicians don't usually speak this way, which is why so many of them have mastered the art of talking for hours without saying anything of importance. I can't imagine Mitt Romney saying these things; he's too busy telling people what they want to hear to tell them what they need to hear. This subject is as important as they come, and Gingrich deserves credit for kicking off the discussion, especially since he was sure to be pummeled for stating the obvious. Here's the obvious: Americans have lost their work ethic, and some never had one to lose. They grow up -- or put more precisely, they're raised -- thinking of so many jobs as beneath them that they wake up one day not knowing how to do any job. Gingrich was right on the money. But I would go further than he did. This isn't just a problem for black Americans; it's a problem for all Americans. In fact, as someone who speaks to groups all over the country and who spends a fair amount of time visiting high schools and colleges, I worry less about students from poor families who lack resources and opportunities than I do about those from the upper-middle class who lack passion and purpose. Poor kids often have a fire in their belly, a desire to improve their lot and help their parents. Upper-middle class kids can be harder to motivate, especially if they've never been taught to work by their parents. You think I'm kidding. I remember once seeing a 21-year-old struggle with how to hold a broom and sweep the floor. It wasn't his fault. No one had ever taught him how to do that chore -- or any other. Whenever I write about young people and the jobs they won't do, I hear from dozens of employers with stories of their own. The common theme in all those e-mails is that we've been too soft on our kids and haven't demanded enough from them, something we hardly notice because we've allowed illegal immigrants to pick up the slack. Parents used to make their children work after school, or on weekends, or during summer break, to earn extra money to buy what they wanted. They gave them a list of chores to do to earn their allowances. No chores, no allowances. Today, parents find it easier to skip the chores and buy their kids what they want, which is no good for anyone and no good for society. You know what is good? This conversation, and others like it. No subject this important should be off limits. After all, how do we fix a problem if it is considered taboo to even mention it? Newt Gingrich had the courage to mention the problem of America's vanishing work ethic, and emphasize the need to restore it. And for that, Americans should be thankful. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ruben Navarrette Jr."
"(EW.com) -- To promote her Fox comedy ""Raising Hope"" (which begins its third season October 2), Martha Plimpton pitched a funny idea. ""People are always trying to come up with creative ways of engaging the viewers,"" she tells EW. ""And I thought well, I play a housekeeper on a show, what if I went and cleaned the house of ""Raising Hope's"" biggest fan. In my uniform."" The network thought she was joking, but she was serious. The contest begins today at www.fox.com/cleansweep. Through October 8, fans can enter by submitting their best ""Awkward Family Photo"" and a paragraph stating why their family is just like the Chance family and why they deserve a house call from Martha and her TV husband Garret Dillahunt. Yes, he's coming along to, to make like his character and mow the winner's lawn. (And okay, they'll have professional crews there to help them.) ""Raising Hope"" creator Greg Garcia will select the winner from the top 10 finalists in mid-October, and Plimpton and Dillahunt will get their hands dirty later that month or in early November. Entertainment Weekly: What does this say about your commitment to promoting your show? Martha Plimpton: Well, I think it says a lot about my commitment to promoting the show. [Laughs] It's a funny thing: A lot of people who haven't seen the show yet say they haven't watched because they're not really sure what it is. They think it's about a baby, or that it's extremely dumb or something. But I think this show is a lot smarter than people realize. The writing is very, very sharp. If dare I say it, it's a lot more sophisticated underneath. [Laughs] Do you know what I mean? The exterior is really ridiculous and silly, but there's real sophistication in the writing, and I'm really proud to be a part of it. And I think it's really smart, and it makes me laugh. If it makes me laugh, well, I'm sorry, but then it must be good. [Laughs] Because I don't laugh at a lot of things. I'm thrilled that we got a third season. I very much would like for people to enjoy this show as much as I do. I want to share it with the largest amount of people I can. And I will do what is necessary. Muppets: 'Blue Brothers' sing for EW! Clearly. Have you given Greg Garcia any guidelines for choosing the winner? We should stay away from hoarders, crime scenes, and people with too many cats. I'm not bringing a hazmat suit. What's your personal cleaning specialty that fans should be aware of? I am excellent with laundry. For example, as a laundry expert, I never use fabric softener on towels because it makes them less absorbent. I don't know if your readers know this. You should not put Bounce sheets or fabric softener in with your towels. You should dry them separately without fabric softener, so they stay absorbent. And I'm kind of a bed fascist. I don't know if I'll be doing this in the home of our winner, but I like to iron my sheets. I'm that kind of odd person weirdo. See the original article at EW.com. CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly . © 2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved."
"(CNN) -- ""An unconditional right to say what one pleases about public affairs is what I consider to be the minimum guarantee of the First Amendment."" -- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Hugo L. Black, New York Times Co. vs. Sullivan, 1964 . It's downright disgusting to listen to conservative and Republican lawmakers, presidential candidates, business owners and media commentators use such vitriol to describe the Occupy Wall Street protesters as hell-bent on destroying America. How in the world can anyone even form their lips to say such a thing when this very country was founded on the basis of dissent? Self-professed rodeo clown Glenn Beck castigates the Occupy Wall Street protesters, but he's always running off at the mouth about the Founding Fathers and how brilliant they were. Without dissent and protest, there is no United States of America! It's as if these folks never picked up a history book to understand how this nation was formed. The very notion of a United States of America started with someone saying, writing and screaming, ""Enough is enough!"" And when more and more of the early settlers became enraged at the heavy-handed actions of the British, that's when we were on our path to the American Revolution. Do any of these so-called strict constructionists even read the very U.S. Constitution they love to wave in the faces of their critics? Every American, no matter if you're young or old; rich or poor; red state or blue state; Black, white, Asian, Hispanic, Native American; has the freedom to assemble and freedom of speech, which is at the heart of these protests. In this same space, I praised the tea party for not sitting around and complaining. Instead, they organized and mobilized to affect the political discourse in the Republican Party and have definitely had their voices heard. I may disagree with a number of things the tea party advocates, but there is no way I would condemn them for doing it. As Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas said, ""The right to revolt has sources deep in our history."" It's increasingly clear that some Americans love to talk a good game about protests, yet hate it when someone who opposes their views decides to stand up and be heard. Remember all of those political voices championing the people of Iran taking to the streets to protest? How about Tunisia? Egypt? Libya? Bahrain? What would this world be without protest? We would have never seen freedom in Eastern Europe were it not without the people there, in the words of civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, being ""sick and tired of being sick and tired."" Praise God that the children of South Africa, led by the African National Congress, didn't ignore the calls of history. If so, Nelson Mandela would be dying in jail and freedom would have never ended apartheid. This nation would not have been forced to make real the very principles cited in the Declaration of Independence, or treat every human being as an equal, were it not for the civil rights movement. Those brave men, women and children chose not to accept the status quo, and this nation and the world are much better off because they did. As a supporter of Occupy Wall Street, I understand fully the sentiment that is being expressed. The massive corporate greed that has devastated the wages of the common worker, and seen the pay of a bunch on Wall Street go through the stratosphere for literally making nothing tangible, has been immoral and obscene. Wall Street and their protectors in Washington -- Democrat and Republican -- say nothing is wrong with making a profit. That is absolutely true. But what is shameful and outlandish is to watch the American taxpayer save the jobs (and big bonuses) of these financial miscreants, only to see them jack up fees left and right. Without the American people they would have had to pack up their belongings and hit the pavement. Instead, they refuse to work with homeowners struggling to meet the big mortgage payments that Wall Street helped underwrite; then sell in exotic transactions that wrecked this nation's financial infrastructure. Conservatives call this an assault on capitalism. No, Occupy Wall Street is about trying to bring some decency and honesty back to an industry that used to have some. Instead, what we have today are literal financial pirates trying to take the largest booty they can find. They don't care about the long-term health of this country. It's all about the next quarterly earnings reports and their massive year-end bonuses. This fight that Occupy Wall Street is engaged in is nothing short of a battle for the soul of this nation. Are we going to continue to allow ourselves to be held hostage by the big banks? Will we continue to allow them to trample over us with their ""too big to fail"" attitude? No, no, and hell no. It's time to bring these Goliaths to their knees by any means necessary. That mean the young and righteous Davids must protest, march, sit-in, work the halls of Congress and state capitals nationwide, and make it clear that as long as Wall Street, its lobbyists and political protectors continue to mistreat the common man and woman, they are our mortal enemy. Now is not the time to dismiss the protesters as a bunch of lefty college students with no guidance, no substance and no mission. Instead of listening to politicians pimp the next generation, these folks are saying in the words of the founders of the nation's first black newspaper, Freedom's Journal: ""We wish to plead our own cause; too long have others spoken for us."" The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Roland Martin."
"(CNN) -- Just one in seven engineers are female, only 27% of all computer science jobs are held by women, and ""women have seen no employment growth in STEM jobs since 2000"" reports Forbes. Women who work in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math, and those who campaign for higher numbers of women in these fields, think they have some solutions to this growing problem. 1. ""The toys and games that young girls play with mold their educational and career interests; they create dreams of future careers."" says Andrea Guendelman, co-founder of Developher. ""Extensive research shows that certain toys and games can help young children develop the spatial logic and other analytical skills critical to science, technology, engineering and math. ""A huge part of the reason women are not entering these fields and huge part of the solution starts at the very beginning."" 2. ""Introduce girls early to role models of other women In STEM"" suggests Regina Agyare, founder of Soronko Solutions. ""[These women] will mentor them and introduce them to STEM through games and practical learning experiences."" 3. ""It's important to engage girls in STEM at an early age and keep them interested."" adds Patty L. Fagin, PhD, Head of School at Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart. ""Girls start out as strong in math and science as boys, but lose interest along the way; we call this the ""leaky pipeline."" Grow the pipeline, keep girls engaged, and we'll increase the number of women in STEM. ""Create opportunities for success and safe environments in which to fail. They'll learn to persevere and develop a growth mindset, so critical to success in STEM fields ... instead of ""this is hard, I can't do it,"" they will believe, ""I can try another way."" ""Girls want to make a difference, so give them hands-on, real-world problem-solving activities to show STEM is relevant and fun. ""Expose girls to the different areas of STEM and provide women mentors for girls and young women, so they, in turn, will mentor other girls."" 4. ""There's no magic recipe for getting girls into STEM, but we know early and positive exposure makes an impact."" Karen Horting, CEO and Executive Director at the Society of Women Engineers told CNN. ""Our Invent it. Built it. program Oct. 25 in Los Angeles will expose girls in the sixth to eighth grade to the creative, collaborate nature of a rewarding career in engineering. ""Registration continues through Oct. 11 and additionally provides educators and parents with the tools they need to nurture the future engineers in their lives."" 5. ""Start them young."" is Michelle Sun, Founder and CEO of First Code Academy's advice. ""STEM fields are often thought of as a career path for the boys, globally and no less common in Asia. ""We observe brothers in a family are more likely to be enrolled to our kids coding classes. However, the amazing thing we found, with students from 8 - 11 years old, is that our female students come to our programs with minimal preconception of what programming is about. ""They approached it with much enthusiasm and confidence, just as any other hobbies or subjects. ""By starting them young, we provide them a chance to experience the STEM field first hand."" 6. ""I believe one on one mentoring programs with accomplished female STEM professionals will help bring girls in to the STEM field."" says Adeola Shasanya who recently co-founded Afro-Tech Girls and works at the Lagos State Electricity Board as an Electrical Engineering and Renewables Consultant. ""Fun technical workshops could also help spark a STEM interest for girls. ""I believe work shadowing a female stemist in a typical work environment could enlighten the girls on what work would be like as a STEMist."" 7. Haiyan Zhang, Innovation Director at Lift London, Microsoft Studios believes confidence is key; ""Insatiable curiosity and the self confidence to make change in the world -- two qualities that are key to instil in the female innovators of the future. ""Science, technology, engineering and mathematics become the tools with which to explore curiosity and to create change."" 8. ""Women are the future of technology and today's technology is fun and cool."" says Weili Dai, President and Co-founder of Marvell Technology Group . ""It's not just about developing ""nerdy"" stuff it's about turning technology into fashionable and user-friendly smart solutions. ""A woman's natural talent is design, and the look and feel, and making these things fit into our lifestyles."" ""I believe by embracing STEM and leveraging inherent strength of women -- the sense of responsibility, passion, compassion, and pride we dedicate to family and community -- and applying it to business can make women the X factor in the new era of global growth and prosperity for the ""Smart Life and Smart Lifestyle."""" 9. ""Time and again, I hear from women who chose their STEM career because they were inspired by a successful woman who proved it could be done."" adds Suw Charman-Anderson, Founder of Ada Lovelace Day. ""Role models are incredibly important, both to girls and to women, and we need to show girls just how exciting, fulfilling and enjoyable a career in STEM can be."" ""We must prove that there is a path for them to tread by telling the stories, past and present, of the women who've built, invented, discovered and explained the world around us, but who so often go unmentioned."" 10.""To get more girls in STEM let's go for collective action..."" says Julie Kantor, Chief Partnership Officer at Million Women Mentors. ""Of 368,000 high school girls who want to pursue STEM only 4% said they had a mentor encouraging them. Commit to mentoring a girl or young woman in STEM skills. Or offer an internship with a designated mentor at your company. ""Ladies and gentlemen, let's get a million STEM mentors by 2018."" Read: 12 inspirational quotes from women scientists . Relive: Twitter chat as it happened: 'How can we get girls into STEM?' Quiz:10 female scientists you should know ."
"Beijing (CNN)Chinese-style air rage is now served both hot and cold. Last month, a China-bound Thai AirAsia flight was forced to return to Bangkok after a female Chinese passenger threw hot water on a flight attendant amid a heated argument between her boyfriend and the cabin crew over service. On Saturday, passengers on a plane departing Kunming Changshui International Airport in southwestern China, angry with the crew for turning off the air-conditioning during the de-icing process, opened three emergency exits just as their plane was pushing back from the gate. The flight was canceled and 25 passengers onboard were detained. China Eastern Airlines flight MU2036, bound for Beijing, was already seven hours behind schedule at 3:45 a.m. when crew began to de-ice the plane at the Kunming airport, which saw more than 100 flights delayed or canceled that night because of snowy weather. Frustrated by the lengthy delay, some of the 153 passengers -- who had been sitting on the plane for two hours -- exploded with rage when the air-conditioning stopped and an elderly passenger complained about discomfort due to the stuffy cabin, airport police told state media Saturday night. Dissatisfied with the pilot's explanation about the need for air-conditioning to be off during the 30-minute de-icing process, members of a tour group started quarreling with the crew, according to police. When the Boeing 737-800 jet finally pushed back from the gate, three of its four over-the-wing emergency exits suddenly popped open. Photos circulating on social media show two opened exits on the right side of the cabin with passengers still seated, as well as crews and police on board documenting evidence. Air rage and emergency exists: Stormy weeks in Chinese aviation . Anger common in delay-prone China . After detaining and questioning all 25 members of the tour group, the authorities announced that a male member of the group, prompted by a female tour guide, opened two exits on the right side. Both were sent to jail for 15 days, while police continued to look for the person who opened the exit on the left side. As news of the incident spread, some Chinese Internet users sympathized with the perpetrators because of the delay, but many considered their punishment too lenient and suggested airlines should blacklist them for life. Air rage is a common sight in delay-prone China and Saturday's episode was not the first dramatic incident involving irate passengers at Kunming airport. One of the country's busiest hubs, more than 32 million fliers passed through its terminal last year. In August 2012, 31 passengers from a long-delayed flight tried to stop other planes from leaving Kunming by forcing their way onto the tarmac and occupying a taxiway for half an hour, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. The following February, some 50 passengers from a canceled flight stormed several gates at the airport in an attempt to prevent other travelers from boarding their flights. Police had to disperse the angry crowd with pepper spray, according to Xinhua. Exporting air rage . With the exponential growth of outbound tourism, Chinese travelers now seem to be exporting their air rage overseas as well, with several incidents resulting in flight delays or diversions recorded in recent years. In February 2012, a Chinese couple was kicked off their United flight from Guam to Shanghai, after they repeatedly yelled at a flight attendant and told her to ""shut up"" when she tried to move their luggage in the overhead bin to accommodate other passengers. In September that year, a Swiss flight bound for Beijing was forced to return to Zurich when a fight broke out between two Chinese men over a reclined seat. In February 2014, a fight erupted between two groups of Chinese passengers before their flight could take off from the Thai resort island of Phuket, resulting in 29 people being taken off the plane. Then, in April, a Thai Airways red-eye from Bangkok to Beijing turned bloody when a brawl involving three Chinese men broke out. During an official visit to the Maldives in September, President Xi Jinping personally asked Chinese tourists to behave themselves while traveling abroad. Last year the government released a lengthy list of do's and don'ts aimed at turning Chinese travelers into ""civilized tourists."""
"Washington (CNN) -- Equal pay for women, raising the minimum wage, immigration reform, combating climate change and virtually swearing off extended wars. All are catnip for the political left, and all were highlighted by President Barack Obama this week as he informally launched the November election campaign for 36 Senate seats and a new House of Representatives. By flying the Democratic banner so high in Tuesday's State of the Union address and subsequent road show to four states, Obama tried to signal unity with his liberal base and provide the party's candidates with ammunition for elections certain to be ""spirited"" -- the Washington euphemism for fierce and nasty. ""The president wants to highlight differences between the parties and show that Democrats are on the side of ordinary people,"" said Darrell West, the vice president for governance studies at the Brookings Institution. ""That's how he won in 2012, and that's the strategy in 2014."" Focus on women, minorities . Hence the emphasis on policies that benefit women and minorities and appeal to younger voters. On Tuesday and in subsequent speeches in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Tennessee, Obama called for equal pay for women and made sure to include references to the popular first lady. ""When women succeed America succeeds,"" he said Thursday in Waukesha, Wisconsin. ""And by the way, when women succeed, men succeed. I don't know about all the guys here, but you know when Michelle is doing good and happy, I am happy, too. I'm just sayin'."" The President also called in his State of the Union speech for raising the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $10.10, taking the first step himself by announcing he will unilaterally give the raise to workers under federal contracts. Republicans oppose the move in allegiance to their business supporters. According to Brown University political scientist Wendy Schiller, Obama is focusing ""on all the things that can help folks immediately, even if the impact is small."" ""Positioning the Democrats as the party of the working man and woman is old school but absolutely necessary if they are going to successfully counter the Republican resurgence among working class and independent voters, especially women,"" Schiller told CNN. Obama's 'Mad Men' remark . She cited a remark from Obama's speech Tuesday that received prolonged applause from legislators jamming the packed House chamber -- the President's call for ending unfair workplace policies for women ""that belong in a 'Mad Men' episode."" ""When both the Democratic and Republican members of Congress stood up and applauded after the famous 'Mad Men episode' quote, it was clear that each party sees women as the crucial swing factor in the 2014 elections,"" Schiller said. On the GOP side, she described the choice of Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington to deliver the party's formal response Tuesday night as ""smart politics."" Obama's re-election victory in 2012 owed much to a solid majority among women voters, including independents turned off by hardline anti-abortion policies of Republicans. The Democratic-fueled accusation of a GOP ""war on women"" gained traction with infamous missteps by Republican candidates such as former Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri, who claimed that women rarely get pregnant from ""legitimate"" rape. Akin lost his bid to unseat Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill in the Show Me State. Now a concerted Republican outreach to women voters means Democrats ""can't just count on another Todd Akin to save the Senate in 2014,"" Schiller said, adding that ""they all have to work to produce federal policies that help working families in order to sustain that advantage."" GOP must walk the talk . West said Republicans must follow stated intentions with action when it comes to diversifying their policies and supporters. ""They have to become something other than the party of angry white men,"" he said, adding the GOP also must make ""meaningful changes in public policy"" because ""they can't spin their way out of political problems by highlighting women and minorities."" While specifying issues advantageous to Democrats, Obama also has jabbed at Republicans this week on another matter that resonates with voters -- the perception that political intransigence led by tea party conservatives stymies progress in Washington. Republicans got the blame for last year's highly unpopular 16-day government shutdown when conservatives led by GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas tried to link a funding measure to dismantling the 2010 health care reforms they detest. To Obama, Republicans must decide ""whether they're going to waste time creating new crises that slow things down, or whether they're going to spend time creating new jobs and opportunity,"" he said Thursday. In what he depicted as a presidential declaration of independence from congressional dysfunction, Obama said ""I want to work with them, but I can't wait for them."" Immigration reform . Another topic: reforming the immigration system, with Obama and Democrats seeking a path to legal status for the millions of people living illegally in the country. Republicans are desperate to reduce the Democratic advantage among Hispanic Americans, the nation's largest minority demographic. But House Republicans remain unlikely to support a comprehensive Senate plan that passed with bipartisan support and has Obama's backing. Instead, House Speaker John Boehner and other Republicans call for a piecemeal approach to try to show empathy with Latinos while avoiding a backlash by conservatives that would worsen an already damaging internal GOP rift. On other issues, Obama reiterated his push for unspecified action against climate change and made clear that with the Afghanistan war finally winding down, he has no intention of committing America to another prolonged engagement. ""I will not send our troops into harm's way unless it is truly necessary; nor will I allow our sons and daughters to be mired in open-ended conflicts,"" he said. ""We must fight the battles that need to be fought, not those that terrorists prefer from us."" He also refused to back down from withering criticism from the political right about the health care reforms known as Obamacare, offering a strong defense of the benefits and telling Republicans to quit trying to undermine the law. Democratic unity? Schiller said Democrats need to remain unified on Obamacare and other issues, to run as a national party as much as possible even though the November elections are at the state and district level. ""When Obamacare was brought up in the State of the Union, they all stood up and applauded, even Democratic senators who could be in trouble on the issue in their re-election races,"" she said. ""If there are any cracks in that united front for the Democrats as champions of middle class and working folks, it undermines not only their 2014 chances, but the remainder of the Obama presidential agenda."" While unity may exist in policy, some Democratic candidates facing tough elections don't want to campaign with Obama due to public opposition to Obamacare and slower-than-desired economic growth and job creation. On Thursday, Republican Gov. Scott Walker welcomed Obama to his state with an airport handshake, but Walker's Democratic challenger, Mary Burke, was nowhere to be seen. Republicans believe they can win control of the Senate by taking six seats from Democrats in November. The House is likely to remain in Republican hands, with the outcomes of 90% of the races considered safely predictable and Democrats needing to win most of the others to regain the majority, according to West. ""It's an uphill battle for Democrats to retake the House,"" he said, calling the situation ""pretty much a matter of arithmetic."""
"DINGLE, Ireland (CNN) -- Fewer tourists and relatively warm temperatures may be reason enough to put Ireland on your list of winter travel destinations, especially Dingle Peninsula, once ranked by National Geographic Traveler as ""the most beautiful place on Earth."" Winter offers tourists a chance to explore Ireland's west coast  unhindered by bothersome crowds. The peninsula, on Ireland's west coast, includes the oceanside town of Dingle, which boasts more than 1,000 full-time residents. Winter visitors will avoid the area's hundreds of thousands of summertime tourists. Boats crowd Dingle's popular marina, bringing fresh seafood catches of the day. Some of the marina vessels also will ferry visitors to see Fungie, a locally famous dolphin who has lived in the waters outside town since 1984.  See breathtaking photos of Dingle » . Outside Dingle, numerous vacation cottages are available to rent, including homes in the village of Dunquin. In winter, rates are drastically cut, and rental period dates may be more flexible. Most shops and restaurants have shorter hours during winter, and traditional music is found in some of the pubs on the weekends. As with most of Ireland, pubs abound, even in the smallest villages. A beer (preferably Guinness) and some hearty pub grub are a perfect way to cap a day of exploring the wintry sights of the peninsula. Because Ireland sits near the warm waters of the Atlantic Gulf Stream, the Emerald Isle has an average temperature of 46 degrees Fahrenheit (7 Celsius) during December, January and February. But pack smart and bring layers of clothing, including warm sweaters and jackets, because winter weather often means rain on Ireland's western shore."
"(CNN) -- ""It's the hour for us in this country to turn it back toward the Lord. We're much more than 'hallelujah' people. We're into government, and we are into politics. We are a force to be reckoned with."" Wilfredo De Jesus wants his message heard loud and clear: Evangelical Latino Protestants in the United States are more relevant than ever. And they're up for grabs ahead of the 2014 midterm elections. One of the leading voices of the fast-growing evangelical Protestant Latino voting bloc, in the past 14 years as the senior pastor of New Life Covenant Ministries in Chicago, De Jesus has seen the church grow from ""68 people in one of the worst parts of the nation to over 20,000."" Last year, he was named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world. ""We're very vocal now,"" he said. ""In the last 10 years, you've seen this bloc of people has grown. And we have tremendous influence. Especially in politics."" A new study by a nonpartisan research institute based in Washington suggests that he's right. The 2013 Hispanic Values Survey released recently by the Public Religion Research Institute showed a sharp shift in religious demographics among Latinos. It's that complex religious divide that could be the key to the Republican Party making inroads in the community during the next election cycle. ""The number of evangelical Protestants nearly doubled from 7% to 13% when you compare childhood religious affiliation to current religious affiliation,"" said the institute's Chief Executive Officer, Robert P. Jones. That's between 7.5 million and 8 million ""quintessential swing voters."" An 'affinity for the Republican Party' The door is the most open to Republican candidates and the Republican Party, Jones said. ""Evangelicals have the most affinity for the Republican Party. While nearly half lean towards the Democratic Party, almost as many lean towards the Republican Party at 43%."" The findings were taken from a random sample survey of 1,563 respondents who identified as Hispanic living in the U.S. De Jesus -- or ""Pastor Choco,"" as he is more commonly known -- believes that evangelical Protestants are ""what the country needs right now"" and could be the key not only for the GOP winning big during the midterms, but also for Republicans to get back to the White House. ""We've learned from the Bible that when the righteous govern, the people rejoice. And (Latinos) haven't seen our people rejoice for quite some time,"" he said. ""At the core of evangelicals is the fear of God and the institution of family. These are things we feel we can bring back to this nation."" 'We need to do a better job communicating' Latino evangelicals might be ripe for Republican influence, but getting them to vote red is a different story. Angel Garcia, president of the Chicago Young Republicans, said that although the survey gives the GOP reason to be hopeful, the party needs to be more proactive within the community. ""We've done a bad job of managing our brand. We've let a handful of people in our party, that have made some unfortunate statements, control the party's message,"" Garcia said. The 38-year-old attorney and lifelong Republican said that as the son of Mexican immigrants, ""it's disappointing as a Latino when you hear people making ignorant statements (in the party). But both sides make ignorant statements. I am a leader in the party. I have lived the Latino culture. It's my job to show the voters and pretty much the entire party that we need to do a better job communicating."" He's talking about statements like this one by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, describing his plan to deal with undocumented immigrants during a 2012 primary debate: ""The answer is self-deportation, which is people decide they can do better by going home because they can't find work here because they don't have legal documentation to allow them to work here."" ""When he said that, I looked over at my wife and said, 'He just lost thousands, if not millions, of us.' Immigration ... it's a preeminent issue for us,"" said the Rev. Gabriel Salguero, president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition. A focus on immigration reform . Much like his friend De Jesus, Salguero believes that Latino evangelicals are the key to victory for any politician. Nowhere is this more evident than on the issue of immigration reform. ""Evangelicals are coming to a boiling point on this issue. We've prayed about this, held meetings with the White House; we've done all we can,"" he said from Newark, New Jersey. ""Let me be clear: We face the issue of immigration every day, as pastors, as caretakers, as Latinos. This is on the top of our political agenda. It would be disingenuous of me to say it doesn't carry heavy electoral gravitas."" Both Salguero and De Jesus were advisers to President Barack Obama on the immigration issue. It's an area where they feel he's failed. Republicans have the chance to capitalize on it, according to De Jesus. ""Barack flipped on us,"" De Jesus said. ""I traveled for Obama for 14 months as a surrogate. I talked to the White House, and I said, 'the president cannot speak from both sides of his mouth.' It's only right for the Republicans to say, 'let's win back this Latino bloc, at least the evangelicals.' That starts with the immigration issue."" The dismal Latino turnout for Romney was a stark contrast to the momentum developed for years under President George W. Bush, who won 44% of the Latino vote in 2004, compared with the 27% Romney received eight years later. After the 2012 election, the GOP held a postmortem emphasizing Hispanic outreach, but it's still unclear how much of a priority Republicans have made Latino voters. At the latest Conservative Political Action Conference, a panel on minority outreach had dismally low attendance. Disapproval of both parties . The Hispanic Values Survey showed that while there is ""dissatisfaction"" among Latino voters with the Democratic Party on issues like record deportation numbers under Obama, there is ""distrust"" of the Republican Party within the Latino community. ""The Democratic Party has a less bumpy road ahead,"" Jones said. ""The clearest word of caution to Democrats ... one phrase that is a bellwether question of how well to gauge voters is, 'How well does the party care about people like you?' "" Nearly three in 10, or 29%, said ""neither party cares about them,"" according to the survey. ""Democrats certainly don't have this community locked down. That's a pretty clear indication that there's significant dissatisfaction among Latinos with both parties,"" Jones said. ""That's not necessarily a reason for us to be optimistic. We have to be realistic and more proactive,"" said Daniel Ballori, president of the Young Republican Federation of Puerto Rico. The 31-year-old said the focus for the Republicans in winning more Latino votes should be on the economy, whether they are courting evangelical Protestants or others in the community. ""Jobs and unemployment. The figures show that U.S.-born Latinos care about the same issues that non-Latino Anglos care about. Right now, that's jobs and unemployment,"" Ballori said. He may be on to something. Though the issue of immigration reform was ranked high among the concerns of Latino voters, it was in a four-way tie for the third most important issue behind the economy and affordable health care, according to Public Religion Research Institute research. Garcia said the solution to courting more Latino voters comes down to the rhetoric. ""Regardless of party, Hispanics will go to the candidate that supports them. We're the party of (Marco) Rubio, (Brian) Sandoval and (Susana) Martinez. Our message should be one of inclusion,"" Garcia said. The question then becomes, how do they do that? ""These politicians are so full of it to get elected,"" De Jesus said. ""Give us someone who is real and speaks the truth and is going to do what they say and mean it. We'll vote for them, whatever party they're from."""
"(CNN) -- A high-speed passenger train left its tracks on the outskirts of Split, Croatia, Friday, killing at least six people and injuring 45, according to Croatian police. The high-speed train derailed on the outskirts of Split, Croatia, about noon on Friday. The train was on its way from the Croatian capital, Zagreb, when it derailed about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from it's destination of Split about noon, said Marina Kraljevic-Gudelj, a spokeswoman for police in Split. ""This is a huge tragedy, so there is no place for speculation,"" she said. Police had launched an investigation into the cause of the crash. CNN's Per Nyberg contributed to this report."
"Just over half the public says that it's bad for the country that the GOP controls the House of Representatives, according to a new national poll conducted after the end of the partial government shutdown. And the CNN/ORC International survey also indicates that more than six in 10 Americans say that Speaker of the House John Boehner should be replaced. The poll was conducted Friday through Sunday, just after the end of the 16-day partial federal government shutdown that was caused in part by a push by House conservatives to try and dismantle the health care law, which is President Barack Obama's signature domestic achievement. Full poll results (pdf) According to the survey, 54% say it's a bad thing that the GOP controls the House, up 11 points from last December, soon after the 2012 elections when the Republicans kept control of the chamber. Only 38% say it's a good thing the GOP controls the House, a 13-point dive from the end of last year. Defeated GOP wants to unite and fight another day . This is the first time since the Republicans won back control of the House in the 2010 midterm elections that a majority say their control of the chamber is bad for the country. CNN Chief National Correspondent John King said there is time for Republicans to recover before the 2014 midterms. ""The midterm election is a year away. There's plenty of time for Republicans to work on the brand, but they've taken a bit of a beating here. They've got some work to do. They need a bit of a makeover,"" King said. Majority want Boehner out . ""We fought the good fight. We just didn't win,"" Boehner said at the end of the shutdown. And while he received a standing ovation at a closed gathering of House Republicans as the crisis came to a close, he may not see anything to applaud in the new poll. ""John Boehner fares just as badly as the GOP,"" CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said. ""Sixty-three percent of all Americans think that Boehner should be replaced as Speaker of the House, a view shared by roughly half of all Republicans."" Fleischer: Shutdown deal is a 15-yard punt . According to the poll, only 30% of the public says Boehner, who became Speaker in January 2011, should continue in that role. Congress near historic lows . The survey indicates that the approval rating for Congress remains near an all-time low. Only 12% of those questioned say they approve of the job Congress is doing, just two points higher than the historic low in CNN polling. And 86% give federal lawmakers a thumbs-down, also near the all-time high. Forty-four percent say they approve of the job the President is doing with 52% saying they disapprove. Four things we learned from government shutdown . ""Barack Obama's numbers are pretty anemic, but he remains in much better shape than the GOP,"" Holland said. ""Even though Obama's approval rating remains stuck in the mid-40s, it didn't take a hit during the shutdown -- 44% just before the shutdown began; 44% now."" According to the survey, 44% also say they have more confidence in Obama rather than the GOP in Congress to deal with the major issues facing the country today, a 5-point drop from last year; 31% say they have more confidence in congressional Republicans, unchanged from last December. Obama wants new approach after shutdown . ""The biggest change on that question is the 21% who volunteer that they don't have confidence in either side -- a remarkably high number that is roughly double its usual level,"" Holland said. Majority favor health care law or say it doesn't go far enough . Even though they lost this round, conservatives vow to continue their fight to dismantle Obamacare. And they point to major troubles with the rollout of the website where Americans without insurance can enroll in the new health care exchanges. The president addressed the debacle at an event Monday at the White House, saying there was no way to sugarcoat the issues that applicants have experienced. According to the poll, just more than four in 10 say they favor the law, with 56% opposed to it. But of those opposed, 38% say they are against the law because they think it's too liberal and 12% say it's not liberal enough. That means that 53% either support Obamacare, or say it's not liberal enough. The health care numbers are little changed from late last month, just before the start of the shutdown. Congressional fight over Obamacare turns to website woes . The poll was conducted for CNN by ORC International, with 841 adults nationwide questioned by telephone. The survey's overall sampling error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points."
"Los Angeles (CNN) -- A former Los Angeles cop with military training vowed war against other men in blue Thursday, leaving one officer dead days after he allegedly killed two other people to begin a wave of retribution for being fired, police said. The focus of the intensive, expansive manhunt is Christopher Jordan Dorner, a 270-pound former Navy lieutenant who has professed his venom against LAPD officers he claimed ruined his life by forcing him out of his dream job. Dorner blames one retired officer for bungling his appeal to get his job back in an 11-page manifesto, in which he also complained of mistreatment by the LAPD. In that letter -- provided to CNN by an LAPD source -- he vowed to violently target police officers and their families, whoever and wherever they are. ""I will bring unconventional and asymmetrical warfare to those in LAPD uniform whether on or off duty,"" Dorner wrote. ""I never had the opportunity to have a family of my own, I'm terminating yours."" Authorities believe he followed through on his threats early Thursday by shooting a Riverside, California, police officer and two others. A day earlier, Irvine police named Dorner a suspect in the double slayings Sunday of a woman -- identified by Los Angeles police as the daughter of a retired LAPD officer -- and her fiance. ""My opinion of the suspect is unprintable,"" said Riverside police Chief Sergio Diaz, hours after one of his officers was killed. ""The manifesto, I think, speaks for itself (as) evidence of a depraved and abandoned mind and heart."" The violence, as well as Dorner's background as a police officer and military trained marksman, left police on edge around Southern California. In Torrance, LAPD officers guarding one of Dorner's alleged targets mistakenly opened fire on a blue pickup truck that resembled one Dorner was thought to be driving, said Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck. The gunfire left two people wounded, Beck said. Torrance police also fired on another blue pickup, but no one was injured in that incident, according to a senior law enforcement source. In downtown Los Angeles, police wearing body armor patrolled outside their own iconic headquarters. Police have good reason to be fearful, the chief said. ""Of course, he knows what he's doing. We trained him,"" Beck said. ""He was also a member of the armed forces. It is extremely worrisome and scary, especially to the officers involved."" The manhunt for Dorner spanned hundreds of miles and numerous counties. By Thursday afternoon, it was largely centered around Big Bear Lake -- about 100 miles east of Los Angeles -- where authorities found the truck the suspect allegedly used in the Riverside shooting. KTLA: Manhunt for former cop after officers shot . Police confirmed that the vehicle, which was burnt out when it was found, belonged to Dorner by its vehicle identification number, San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon said. This discovery spurred more officers to converge on the area to conduct beefed up patrols, staff checkpoints and go to every residence in the mountain community. McMahon acknowledged the fire may have been set as a diversionary tactic, though law enforcement isn't taking any chances. Early Thursday evening, he said that aerial and K9 searches on the ground will ""continue as long as we can"" -- though snow is coming -- and urged locals to be on alert. ""He could be anywhere at this point, and that's why we're searching door to door,"" the sheriff said. 1 cop dies in 'cowardly ambush' It all started Sunday when Dorner allegedly killed two people in Irvine, according to police. Police identified the victims as Monica Quan and her fiance Keith Lawrence. Quan, 27, was the daughter of retired Los Angeles police Officer Randal Quan, LAPD Officer Tenesha Dobine told CNN. In his manifesto, Dorner said Quan handled his appeal. On Tuesday, Dorner checked into the Navy Gateway Inns and Suites on San Diego's large naval base, Cmdr. Brad Fagan said. Dorner likely had access to the hotel because he'd been honorably discharged from the Navy Reserve, said the Navy spokesman. Having retired February 1 as a lieutenant, Dorner worked with mobile inshore undersea warfare units and provided security on oil platforms in Iraq, according to Pentagon records. He was rated as a rifle marksman and pistol expert. ""He did not physically check out"" Wednesday as expected, Fagan told reporters. Police in San Diego say a man who could have been Dorner tried to hijack a boat there on Wednesday. Someone later found a wallet containing Dorner's identification and an LAPD detective's badge near the San Diego airport, according to police. It was unclear whether the badge was legitimate. Timeline in manhunt for former L.A. cop . By about 1 a.m. Thursday, the scene had shifted about 100 miles north to Corona, California. There, a pair of LAPD officers on a protection detail were flagged down by a citizen who reported seeing the suspect's vehicle, LAPD Deputy Chief Jose Perez said. The officers chased the vehicle and caught up to it on an Interstate 15 off-ramp. ""The officers were fired upon with a shoulder weapon,"" Perez said, with one of them suffering a ""graze wound"" to his head. The police returned fire, while the suspect set off once again. About 20 minutes later, two police officers were in their car at a stop light in Riverside when Dorner allegedly pulled up beside them. That driver unleashed ""multiple rounds"" from a rifle at the officers, riddling the cop car with bullets and leaving a 34-year-old officer, who had been on the Riverside force for 11 years, dead, according to Diaz. The other officer, 27, was ""seriously wounded but we expect a full recovery,"" the Riverside police chief said. KCBS: Riverside officer fatally shot . It was ""a cowardly ambush,"" said Diaz, claiming Dorner has ""no connection"" to his city. A good Samaritan picked up one of their police radios and called dispatchers to send help, Riverside police said. Suspect calls attacks 'a necessary evil' In addition to posting his manifesto online, Dorner reached out directly to CNN, mailing a parcel to AC360 anchor Anderson Cooper's office at CNN in New York. The package arrived on February 1 and was opened by Cooper's assistant. Inside was a hand-labeled DVD, accompanied by a yellow Post-it note reading, in part, ""I never lied"" -- apparently in reference to his 2008 dismissal from the LAPD. The package also contained a coin wrapped in duct tape. The tape bears the hand-written inscription: ""Thanks, but no thanks, Will Bratton."" It also had letters that may be read as ""IMOA"", which could be a commonly used Internet abbreviation for ""Imagine a More Open America,"" or possibly ""1 MOA,"" which means one minute of angle, perhaps implying Dorner was notably accurate with a firearm. The coin is a souvenir medallion from former LAPD Chief William Bratton, of a type often given out as keepsakes. This one, though, was shot through with bullet holes: three bullet holes to the center and another shot nicked off the top. The editorial staff of AC360 and CNN management were made aware of the package Thursday. Upon learning of its existence, they alerted Bratton and law enforcement. Bratton headed the LAPD at the time Dorner was dismissed. The dispute centers on a 2007 incident in San Pedro involving a man's arrest at a DoubleTree hotel. Two weeks later, Dorner accused his training officer of kicking the man after he'd given up. The investigators' report said ""the delay in reporting the alleged misconduct coupled with the witness' statements irreparably destroy Dorner's credibility."" The report cited contradictory accounts from the arrested man and his father and denials by the accused officer and three hotel employees that the arrested man had been kicked. Dorner claims he was wrongly ousted for blowing the whistle on what he insists was police abuse. Suspect's grudge dates back to 2007 complaint . Dorner challenged his firing for years, losing at every turn. First, the police department's Board of Rights rejected his appeal. Then, in October 2011, a judge ruled against his appeal, according to court records. Beck, the Los Angeles police chief, said Thursday that Dorner's case had been ""thoroughly reviewed"" and said the department would not apologize to Dorner or clear his name. But as his manifesto shows, Dorner is showing no sign of relenting. He complained he had been railroaded out of the department after reporting police brutality by another officer. Dorner also complained of a continuing culture of racism and brutality in the LAPD. Attacks on other police officers and their families, he said, are ""a necessary evil that I do not enjoy but must partake and complete for substantial change to occur within the LAPD and reclaim my name."" ""Look your wives/husbands and surviving children directly in the face and tell them the truth as to why your children are dead,"" Dorner wrote. Such a chilling warning prompted Los Angeles police to set up 40 protective details in an effort to safeguard people listed in Dorner's letter, Beck said. The chief acknowledged that this effort was taxing the department, which has been placed under tactical alert, meaning all officers must stay on duty. ""It's extremely, extremely manpower intensive,"" Beck said. ""But the safety of my employees, people that come on the job to protect the lives of strangers, is extremely important to me. And I will expend whatever resource is necessary."" KABC: Former cop shoots three officers . CNN's AnneClaire Stapleton, Sara Weisfeldt, Barbara Starr, Pete Janos, Mallory Simon and Deanna Hackney contributed to this report."
"Hong Kong (CNN)A daring cross-border raid by one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's associates has -- so far -- yet to sour Sino-Russian relations. According to Chinese state media, Ustin, one of three rescued  Amur tigers released by the Russian leader earlier this year, has attacked a herd of goats on Heixiazi Island in the northern province of Heilongjiang. The region shares a border with Russia's far-eastern Amur region, and it is thought that the tiger crossed the Heilongjiang river to hunt. Russian conservationists rescued five cubs in 2012, and the Russian president was on hand for their release following rehabilitation and hunting training. The animals were fitted with tracking devices and in October, Ustin, along with another released tiger, Kuzya, were found to have made their way to China. A wildlife protection expert from China's Northeast Forestry University, Zhu Shibing, said that footprints and other traces left near the goat's shelter belonged to Ustin. Chinese news agency Xinhua reported that the skulls of the two dead goats were crushed and had puncture wounds the ""size of a human finger"" -- a testament to the power of the tiger's bite. Three further goats remain missing. ""Our monitoring data and this attack all tell that Ustin is in good physical condition, and has a large range of activities on Heixiazi Island,"" Xinhua quoted Zhu as saying. He also warned villagers to keep their distance, should they spot the goat killer, and to not throw food at it. Kuzya, the other tiger known to have crossed into China, was previously blamed for an attack on a Chinese hen-house. The Russian leader has been involved in conservation efforts of the species. He is often photographed with tigers and other wild animals, and takes part in a number of outdoor activities in an apparent effort to bolster his image as a strong, intrepid leader. Putin becomes eighth-degree karate black belt ."
"A few hours before Hillary Clinton addressed an audience of around 6,000 people near Denver, the former secretary of state did what few people looking to sell a book would do: She toured a plastics factory. Clinton aides say the event was tied to her family's foundation  -- the Clinton Global Initiative -- and the fact that its annual meeting will be held in Denver later this month. But the optics of the event said something different. After touring the factory and giving short remarks about the power of American business -- ""I am convinced that American businesses can compete and win against anybody anywhere if we are at the top of our game,"" she said -- Clinton stepped off the stage and headed to a rope line of eager factory workers and camera-toting employees. ""Let me shake a few more hands,"" Clinton said, a comment reminiscent of refrains made by Iowa- or New Hampshire-bound politicians. In the last month, these two facts have been evident: Clinton-land wants you to know she has a memoir -- ""Hard Choices"" -- coming out on June 10 and she has become more open about her presidential ambitions. Clinton discusses Berghdal in book . And the two have a lot to do with one another. Instead of surrounding herself with the regular PR flacks and publicists in preparation to sell her book, Clinton has brought on seasoned campaign veterans and political communicators. Sources close to Clinton are talking about ""war rooms"" and ""surrogate operations"" instead of book signings. Clinton to take part in CNN town hall as book launches . ""This is a very well orchestrated roll out that is going to make the book have far more impact and, yes, will add to her sense of candidacy,"" said David Gergen, a senior political analyst with CNN who has deep connections with the Clintons. ""I think what you will see with her over the next year until she makes a firm decision is an occasional set of events like this that will keep her fresh, allow her to say her piece."" 'A very professional operation' In addition to helping Clinton, the hypothetical candidate, Gergen said the book rollout will help her staff. ""It gives them a sense of what a political campaign feels like,"" he said. ""I don't think she has made her final call yet, but she is clearly laying the groundwork in a way that suggests a very professional operation."" Earlier this year, the former senator was also more measured in her remarks and more sheepish when answering questions about 2016. In January, Clinton told an audience in New Orleans that she ""wasn't thinking about"" running and that she has ""tried to get other people not to think about it."" In Portland, she shrugged when asked about 2016 and walked off stage to a chorus of laughs. In Miami, she commended the way the question was asked, but failed to actually answer it. Fast-forward to June and Clinton was more openly talking about the worst-kept-secret in Washington: She is thinking about running for president. In an interview with People Magazine that was part of the book rollout, Clinton said she knows she has ""a decision to make"" on 2016 and that she will ""just have to make my own decision about what I think is right for me."" In her Colorado speech on Monday -- the one after her campaign style tour of the plastics plant -- Clinton called the presidency ""as much a job as it is a mission"" and when asked about how difficult it is to run, she remarked that she ""luckily"" has ""a lot of resilience and a lot of stamina."" Her rhetoric, too, has started to sound more like a campaign. At the end of the speech in Colorado on Monday, Clinton closed with what sounded like an impassioned plea for support and, if the venue was different, for votes. ""Please join me,"" she said, her voice raising over the roaring crowd, ""in making some hard choices for America."" Seasoned hands help communicate message . With the stepped up rhetoric has come a more robust inner circle of Clinton aides to tightly and systematically trickle out information about the book. Once an operation with just a few press staff and advisers - along with dozens of informal friends and longtime confidants - the Clinton world has added a few seasoned political hands to help communicate Clinton's message around the book. The Clinton team brought on Tommy Vietor, a National Security Council spokesman during Obama's first term, to coordinate and assist in the response to the book and questions about Clinton's record at the State Department. It has also tapped Kiki McLean, a former Clinton senior adviser and veteran of five presidential campaigns, to coordinate the surrogate operation around the book. With the new hires comes what one source called a war room of former diplomats who stand ready to respond to criticism of Clinton's tenure at the State Department. It is safe to say that Clinton's book roll out is one of the first to use phrases like war room and surrogate operation. One of Clinton's closest advisers - Philippe Reines - also briefed a group of Democratic national security experts and communicators last week on the political scrutiny over the Benghazi terror attack and the themes of Clinton's book. The meeting was tightly controlled by Clinton's advisers, who told attendees that there would be no leaking what was discussed in the briefing. Outside groups have also begun to step up their activity around the book. Correct the Record, a pro-Clinton messaging and rapid response organization with deep ties to Clinton, hosted media training for their surrogates in May. Ready for Hillary, a pro-Clinton super PAC that is building grassroots support for the former first lady, announced on Wednesday that they would follow Clinton's book tour in ""The Hillary Bus,"" a mobile venue for the group to sign up supporters and support the pseudo-campaign. The groups that have Hillary's back . Leaks and excerpts trickle out . As her aides have been planning and preparing, Clinton has been all over the news. She appeared on the View in May - joking that she was ""running ... around the park"" -- and details about her book have slowly leaked out on a nearly daily basis. The first book excerpts came out in early May, when in honor of Mother's Day Vogue published a passage of Clinton's book that was dedicated to her mother. Then came the book's Author's Note, put out by Simon & Schuster, the book's publisher. Shortly after that, the most highly anticipated chapter of Clinton's book - her recollections and thoughts about Benghazi - was leaked to Politico. The speculation was that Clinton's staff wanted to get the news out of the way early so that it wouldn't shadow the rest of the book. On Thursday, CBS reported that Clinton talks about negotiations for captured soldier Bowe Bergdahl's release and her differences with Obama over arming Syrian rebels in the book, which it said it had gotten a copy of. Along the way, locations for Clinton's book tour were released: New York City, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and San Francisco, to name a few. If all of this seems reminiscent of a campaign, that's because it is. Seasoned staff, effective surrogate operations and coordinated leaks are what can make or break a political campaign. And as is evident with Clinton's stepped up presence and the slow trickle of news about her campaign, Clinton's book tour appears to be as much a memoir roll out as it is political tune up."
"(CNN) -- Cristiano Ronaldo scored the only goal of the match with a stunning backheel as Real Madrid beat Rayo Vallecano to stay 10 points clear in the Spanish title race Sunday. Real had to work hard to emerge on top in the capital derby at the Vallecas while arch-rivals Barcelona won 2-1 against Atletico Madrid in the late kickoff to avoid falling further behind Jose Mourinho's men. The reigning champions owed their win to a Lionel Messi free-kick in the 80th minute. It was his 28th league goal of the season, one fewer than Ronaldo. Dani Alves opened the scoring on 36 minutes but Radamel Falcao equalized at the beginning of the second half for the home side. Earlier, the first half of the clash between the Madrid rivals was short of chances, but Rayo came closest to scoring as Michu rattled the woodwork with Iker Casillas beaten. Ronaldo struck shortly after the break following a corner. He was running away to chase a loose ball, but then fashioned an incredible backheeled effort which flew into the net. ""A backheel is always different. It was a great goal but I'm not sure if it was the best of my career -- I have to see it again on TV,"" Ronaldo told AFP. Jose Callejon later wasted a chance to double the lead for Los Blancos to calm their nerves. Ronaldo was also denied a second by home keeper Joel late on before the home side lost Michu to a red card for a rash challenge. It was Real's 21st league win of the season."
"(CNN) -- What would you see if you could fly over Mars in a plane and look out the window? Victoria Crater as seen by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The crater is about half a mile in diameter. It must be something like the thousands of curious, intriguing and spectacular images taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera mounted on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The University of Arizona, Tucson, which operates HiRISE, has just released a new batch of these photos taken in the last several months. You can check out the full set here. They reveal an alien landscape of craters, valleys, ridges, channels, weird surface patterns and other features in incredible detail. Take the stunning image on the left, which shows the muffin-cup-like Victoria Crater, a site once explored by the Mars rover Opportunity. The camera isn't looking straight down, but is pointed 22 degrees east so we get a better view of the crater's slopes, ""comparable to a view from an airplane window,"" the university says. Looking at some of the photos, you feel like you're flying over the Grand Canyon or the Sahara. Others are distinctly extraterrestrial in nature. In all cases, the images reveal lots of details about the surface of our neighbor in the solar system. ""Each full image from HiRISE covers a strip of Martian ground 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) wide, about two to four times that long, showing details as small as 1 meter, or yard, across,"" according to NASA's Web site. It might be the closest thing to visiting Mars without leaving your chair."
"(CNN) -- The U.S. Supreme Court upheld President Barack Obama's sweeping health care legislation Thursday in a narrow 5-4 ruling that Obama says will provide up to 30 million additional Americans with health care. America doesn't have universal health care coverage -- what the World Health Organization (WHO) calls ""a widely shared political aim of most countries"" -- but neither do most other countries. Nearly 50 countries have attained universal or near-universal health coverage by 2008, according to the International Labor Organization. Several well-known examples exist like the UK, which has the National Health Service, and the Canadian public health care system. Here are more examples of countries have implemented near-universal health care. Brazil . Free health care coverage is recognized as a citizen's right in Brazil. Brazilians have both a private and public health care system, which was overhauled in 1988. The Sistema Ãšnico de SaÃºde, a nationalized program, provides primary health care, while a network of public and contracted hospitals delivers specialist care. About 80 percent of Brazil's population relies on public care, while the wealthiest 20% can afford private health care, according to a Center for Strategic and International Studies report. Since the 1990s, Brazil has also provided universal access to HIV/AIDS drugs. During the three decades since the nation's major health care changes, infant mortality decreased and life expectancy increased by 10.6 years, according to a 2011 article in medical journal The Lancet. But the system hasn't been without problems, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies report, which alluded to gaps in the quality of care between various Brazilian regions. Rwanda . Since establishing a national health plan in 1999, Rwanda has insured about 91% of its population with health care -- a greater percentage than the United States. Rwanda has been dubbed ""Africa's Singapore"" by The Economist for its transformation since a devastating genocide in 1994. Watch Fareed Zakaria talk with Rwanda's president . The country has three health insurance plans, one for government employees, another for the military, and the third for the remaining population. The country commits about 20% of its annual spending to health, which is funded by tax revenues, insurance premiums and financial support from international donations, according to a WHO report. Since introducing health insurance, Rwanda has seen lower childhood mortality rates; more people are also receiving medical attention. But the country faces challenges from an increase in health services and making contributions more affordable for its poorest citizens, according to a WHO report. Thailand . By law, Thailand requires all patients to be covered by health insurance, regardless of their ability to pay. The WHO uses Thailand as an example of a low- or middle-income country that has been able to extend health coverage to all citizens. Introduced in 2002 as the ""30-bhat scheme,"" (which is less than $1), the plan added about 14 million previously uninsured people to the Thai system. Prescription drugs, hospitalizations and services like chemotherapy, surgery and emergency care are free to patients, according to a WHO report. But the addition of millions of people to a health care system strained the existing structures, prompting criticisms of long waits, poor quality of service and shortage of service. South Korea . South Korea passed a law in 1977, mandating health insurance for industrial workers. During its rapid economic growth, health care became a priority for the government, which created the National Health Insurance. The system extended to universal coverage by 1989. The government merged more than 300 individual insurers into a single national fund, according to a WHO report. Korea's single-payer program has ""been successful in mobilizing resources for health care, rapidly extending population coverage, effectively pooling public and private resources to purchase health care for the entire population, and containing health care expenditure,"" according to a report published in Health Policy Plan. But another report published in Health Affairs said that the public funding is limited, leaving ""beneficiaries with relatively high payments."" South Korea's expenditure on health care is 6.3% of the country's gross domestic product, compared with 18% in the United States. Moldova . The Eastern European country became independent with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. By 2004, it began a mandatory health insurance program with the aim of providing the entire population with basic health care. Employed Moldovans chip in a portion of their income through a payroll tax or a flat-rate contribution. Others who are unemployed or not working are insured by the government. Its National Health Insurance Company is the sole buyer of health care services and organizes emergency, primary and secondary care locally, according to a report by the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, a joint partnership between European governments and the World Health Organization. Kuwait . Kuwait's level of health care is comparable to average European standards, according to the WHO's profile of the Middle Eastern country. The country began building up its health care system as it gained wealth from oil revenues. By the 1950s, the government implemented free comprehensive health care. This resulted in declines in general mortality and infant deaths, the report said. ""Free health care was so extensive that it even included veterinary medicine,"" according to a local WHO report. Kuwait faces an aging population as well as an epidemic of diabetes, heart disease and obesity-related complications that place great demands on its health care system. Chile . The Chilean constitution guarantees rights to health protection. Chileans can opt for public care or get coverage from private health insurance companies. Wealthier citizens can buy insurance from the Instituciones de Salud Previsional or obtain coverage through their employer. A 7% income tax funds the public health care system, the Fondo Nacional de Salud, according to an analysis of health care reform in Chile. Public care includes free medical, dental and midwifery services, which are run locally. Private insurance tends to focus on specialist treatment. The existence of both public-private insurance has created inequities of care, prompting reform efforts in 2000 to increase equality across the country. Chile has guaranteed universal access to quality treatment for some conditions including certain cancers, HIV/AIDS, pneumonia, depression and dental care, which has improved care for the poor, according to the WHO. China . China announced an overhaul of its health system in 2009 to bring safe, affordable basic health services to all residents -- a tall order for a country containing 1.3 billion people. The government committed about $126 billion to reform the quality and efficiency of its health care, and ensure affordable and quality medication. But the issue of equity in health care persists. ""There are still significant disparities in health status between regions, urban and rural areas, and among population groups,"" according to the WHO. China has seen increased life expectancy and reductions in infant deaths, but health observers stated in the WHO report the need to improve delivery of care."
"San Francisco (CNN) -- The three largest U.S. cellular carriers by subscribers sell the latest iPhone, and next week, eighth-place C Spire Wireless will join the group. Some people were taken aback this week when C Spire, which only has stores in Mississippi, Southwest Alabama and Southwest Tennessee, announced that it will begin carrying the iPhone 4 and 4S on November 11. Among those grumbling over the news were some of T-Mobile USA's 33.6 million subscribers. How, they asked, could a regional carrier get the coveted product before one of the big four? C Spire's infrastructure is based on a cell standard used by Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel, which now both have the iPhone, but it is not common in other countries. C Spire, formerly Cellular South, has a deal with Verizon so that customers who travel outside of its Mississippi home base can still make calls. Since C Spire's network uses the same underpinnings and antenna bands as Verizon, Apple did not have to make modifications to its phones beyond what it already did for Verizon when it launched there in February. An Apple spokeswoman confirmed that C Spire would begin selling the phone next week, but she did not respond to a question about whether the company needed to modify the hardware. The iPhone 4S, Apple's newest gadget, uses a special antenna receiver from Qualcomm that works on typically incompatible networks. ""IPhone 4S is now a world phone, so both GSM and CDMA customers can roam worldwide on GSM networks,"" Bob Mansfield, Apple's head of hardware engineering, says in a promotional video. T-Mobile's network runs on the global standard called GSM. AT&T Mobility also uses GSM. That's what makes T-Mobile an attractive takeover target for AT&T, which plans to bolster its own network using T-Mobile cell towers, as long as the merger is approved. (C Spire, along with Sprint, are suing to block the acquisition, saying it will reduce competition.) While AT&T and T-Mobile use the same basic network infrastructure, their cell signals operate on different antenna bands. That prevents T-Mobile from easily making iPhones run on its network. When asked why C Spire got the iPhone before T-Mobile, Brad Duea, a T-Mobile senior vice-president, smiled, having likely fielded the question before. ""The iPhone already works with their bands,"" he said in an interview on Wednesday. ""They didn't have to change anything."" Since the original iPhone came out in 2007, owners have been able to take the devices to T-Mobile, swap out a SIM card and use them on the network. But as Apple has added 3G and faster data speeds for AT&T, the unofficial T-Mobile iPhones -- more than a million in all, T-Mobile has said -- have not been able to exceed 2G speeds. AT&T's and T-Mobile's 3G and so-called 4G networks operate on different bands. Another T-Mobile executive, Cole Brodman, recently addressed the issue publicly at a conference and in a letter to customers, though not in great deal. Executives say that, while they'd like to have the iPhone, Android is a fine alternative to the iPhone."
"(CNN) -- Champions League holders Barcelona survived a scare in Germany on Tuesday evening as Zlatan Ibrahimovic's second-half equalizer earned them a 1-1 last 16 first leg draw against Stuttgart. The Catalan giants failed to produce the free-flowing football that has become their trademark under coach Pep Guardiola and they fell behind in the 25th minute. Stuttgart had warmed up for the match by hitting five goals past Cologne at the weekend, with striker Cacau helping himself to four of them. And the Brazilian-born forward maintained that form by opening the scoring here, powerfully heading home Timo Gebhart's cross. The home side had chances to double their lead before the break, with only goalkeeper Victor Valdes depriving Cacau of a second -- although Lionel Messi did strike the post with a long-range effort for the visitors. However, Barca regrouped after the break and levelled just seven minutes into the second period, when Swedish striker Ibrahimovic was on hand to finish from Gerard Pique's nod down. The result means Barcelona will be strong favorites to reach the quarterfinals when the teams meet again at the Nou Camp in a fortnight's time. Meanwhile, in the night's other match, Bordeaux look well set to reach the quarterfinals after a narrow 1-0 victory against Olympiacos in Athens. Laurent Blanc's side are unbeaten in the competition this season and look genuine contenders to win the trophy after Michael Ciani nodded home Yoann's Gourcouff's free-kick from close range on the stroke of half time. In the only Europa League match played in Tuesday, Portuguese giants Benfica cruised into the last 16 after thrashing Hertha Berlin 4-0 for a 5-1 aggregate victory. Two goals from oscar Cardozo and one apiece from Pablo Aimar and Javi Garcia ensured Benfica's smooth progress, where they will now face either Marseille or FC Copenhagen."
"Violent crime in the United States fell for the fifth consecutive year in 2011 with murder, rape and robbery all going down, although crime remains a serious problem in many urban areas, the FBI said on Monday. The report of all crimes reported to police nationwide showed slightly more than 1.2 million violent incidents nationwide, while property crimes hit a nine-year low. Compared with 2010, the new figures show violent crime down 3.8 percent overall. Property crime was down 0.5 percent. Among violent incidents reported to police, murders were down about 0.7 percent, robberies dropped 4 percent, aggravated assaults declined 3.9 percent, and forcible rapes were down 2.5 percent. Despite the positive trend, crime remains a serious problem in many urban pockets riddled with gangs, drugs, and poverty. There were 14,612 murders last year, on average one every 36 minutes.  That's a small decline from 14,722 in 2010, but it's a decrease of nearly 17 percent from a decade ago. Most victims were male and in cases where race was known, 50 percent were black and 46 percent were white. Statistics showed 514 murders in New York and 431 in Chicago. Guns were used in two thirds of the nation's murders last year, 41 percent of robberies, and 21 percent of aggravated assaults, the report showed. The closely watched Uniform Crime Reports do not include explanations for the consolidated figures, and the FBI does not comment on the data. However, criminologists point to a variety of factors for the continuing decline in overall violence. They cite a more settled crack cocaine market, an increase in incarcerations, an aging population, data-driven policing, and changes in technology that include a big increase in surveillance cameras. James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University, said crime has continued to decline from a peak in the 1990s but now is decreasing at a slower rate. ""I call it the limbo stick effect,"" Fox said. "" You can only go so low. You're never going to get down to zero crime."" The FBI crime statistics differed from a telephone crime survey released by the Justice Department early this month. That report actually showed crime increasing last year, but attributed the change to a jump in simple assaults. Fox said many of those assaults described to interviewers were non-injury pushing and shoving incidents not reported to any law enforcement agencies. He also noted the increase that the Justice Department reported was from an all-time low in the crime rate the previous year, suggesting crime is entering a low level where police officials hope it will stay for some time."
"LONDON, England (CNN) -- Violence and heavy metal seem to have been inextricably entwined since the dawn of the metal genre. Accusations that the Columbine killers were influenced by Marilyn Manson's music were found to be false. Judas Priest, Marilyn Manson and Black Sabbath are just some of the household metal names to have come under public fire for supposedly inciting teenagers to commit murder and suicide. It's a fire the international media has been happy to flame, quick to draw links between various acts of savagery and heavy metal even if, as in the case of the Columbine shootings and Marilyn Manson, evidence points to the contrary. For anthropologist, documentary filmmaker and self-confessed ""Metalhead"" Sam Dunn, heavy metal is often used as a scapegoat to distract from the thoroughly more complicated societal problems surrounding such incidents. ""I think people look at heavy metal and label it for all sorts of things because we need easy answers to complex questions,"" Dunn says. ""I think that it's easy to target a heavy metal band for inciting violence or making kids turn to a cult than it is to actually look at real problems in the real world."" It's easy to see where the journalists, parents and religious groups get their ideas from. A quick scan of the lyrics of any heavy metal band worth its salt will often reveal some gasp-inducing subject matter. For instance in his film ""A Headbanger's Journey,"" Dunn quotes some of his favourite lyrics by a metal band called Autopsy: ""Burning from the inside out, bloody foam spews from your mouth, smell the putrid stench of flesh, as it burns you to your death."" Not the sort of poetry to be quoting to grandmother over lunch, but can such ludicrous gore really incite people to violence, not to mention murder? As one young Norwegian metal fan told the UK's Guardian newspaper: ""It's all fantasy, none of this is real, you can't take this seriously, it's just like a movie."" But compared to some of the images filling our cinema screens -- The Devil's Rejects, Wolf Creek, The Passion of the Christ to name a few -- even Autopsy's lyrics seem a little tame. ""I have listened to enough metal for me to essentially be a serial killer,"" says James McMahon from UK music magazine NME. ""But there's something in me that says no, that's not what I believe life is about. Serial killers existed before Slayer, you know."" ""I'm a big fan of horror movies but Hostel, Saw, those torture porn films, I found myself repulsed -- metal is pantomime comparatively."" As Alice Cooper quips: ""There's more blood in 'Macbeth' than in my shows and that's required school reading."" For metal musicians, death, blood and mayhem, in its various guises, are all simply part of the act, part of ""the show."" ""I think it comes from being a child of the '70s,"" says Iron Maiden's lead singer Bruce Dickinson. ""I was brought up on Hammer horror movies and things like ""The Devil Rides Out,"" classics like that."" ""So while we do the devil type things, it's done... I wouldn't always say in a tongue-in-cheek way, but there is an element of it. It's done with a view to storytelling and drama, with a bit of dressing-up going on."" Iron Maiden has also endured its fair share of controversy. The title of its 1982 album, ""The Number of the Beast,"" and repeated use of ""666"" in the titular track's chorus had America's religious right up in arms. They accused the band of being devil worshippers, Satanists and of ""trying to pervert our kids."" ""When I play that song I think, well, ok, this isn't glorifying the devil, because that's certainly not what I would do,"" says Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain, a born-again Christian. ""It's making an awareness that yes he's out there, and you've got to be aware. There is a man with 666 tattooed on his noggin somewhere."" Ironically, the fundamentalist reaction to ""The Number of the Beast"" packed out Iron Maiden tour gigs in every American town they visited. Kids squeezed into arenas desperate to see what was scaring their parents so badly. Despite this marketing draw, Dickinson is keen to distance Iron Maiden from the violence for violence's sake approach practiced by some of his contemporaries, such as musicians from the extreme Black Metal and Death Metal sub-genres. ""We're not interested in being extreme,"" he says. ""We're interested in being interesting and in animating people's imaginations with the stories that we tell and the songs."" It's an approach that chimes with what one female Iron Maiden fan, Ruth, tells us, ""I really don't see any violence in the fans and I have been to loads of their gigs,"" she says. ""I am in a tiny minority of women, in a room full of men wearing black -- which should seem scary, but it totally isn't. The men hold doors open for me and apologize if they bash into me. They are basically really meek and polite."" So while upside-down crucifixes, homicidal zombies and lashings of blood might continue to fuel our preconceptions about heavy metal music, it's worth remembering, appearances and reality can be very different beasts indeed."
"Washington (CNN) -- The chairman of the Republican Party and a leading GOP senator called on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to give up his post Sunday, following the publication of remarks he made about President Obama's race in 2008. A new book quotes Reid, D-Nevada, as saying privately in 2008 that Obama could be successful as a black candidate in part because of his ""light-skinned"" appearance and speaking patterns ""with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one."" The remarks were ""embarrassing and racially insensitive,"" said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, head of the GOP's Senate campaign arm, in a statement to CNN. GOP Chairman Michael Steele, on NBC's ""Meet the Press,"" said: ""Racism and racist conversations have no place today in America."" Steele also was on the defensive for a remark he made last week that members of both parties have called a racial slur. In an interview with Fox News, Steele used the phrase ""honest injun."" The Congressional Black Caucus has accepted Reid's apology and is dismissing calls for him to step down as majority leader. Rep. Barbara Lee, chairwoman of the caucus, issued the following statement: ""I have had an opportunity to speak with Senator Reid and he apologized for his unfortunate remarks concerning the president, and he understands the gravity of such remarks. There are too many issues like the economy, job creation and energy for these regrettable comments to distract us from the work that must be done on behalf of the American people."" Democrats also rejected the calls for Reid's dismissal. Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia, chairman of the Democratic Party, said ""the case is closed"" following Reid's round of apologies. Douglas Wilder of Virginia, who 20 years ago became the nation's first elected African-American governor, also rejected calls for Reid's ouster. ""I think that what Reid was giving was a personal opinion, which wasn't affecting the laws or the operation of the dispensation of justice in our country,"" Wilder told CNN's ""State of the Union."" But he said he believes the incident ""illustrates the need for more open discussion about race."" Reid's office made clear he has no plans to step down. Democrats rejected the calls for Reid's dismissal, and Reid's office made clear he has no plans to step down. ""Sen. Reid will stay in his position as majority leader and will run for re-election,"" his spokesman said. ""As the leader in the fight to pass the Voting Rights Act and legislation banning hate crimes, Sen. Reid has a long record of addressing issues that are important to the African-American community. His Republican critics who are looking to politicize the issue can't say the same."" Reid's controversial quote is in the book ""Game Change,"" due in stores Monday. The authors write that ""Reid was convinced, in fact, that Obama's race would help him more than hurt him in a bid for the Democratic nomination."" In a statement to CNN, Reid said, ""I deeply regret using such a poor choice of words."" ""I sincerely apologize for offending any and all Americans, especially African-Americans for my improper comments. I was a proud and enthusiastic supporter of Barack Obama during the campaign and have worked as hard as I can to advance President Obama's legislative agenda,"" Reid said. In his defense, he pointed to his efforts to integrate the Las Vegas strip and the gaming industry, among other legislation favored by African-American voters. ""I have worked hard to advance issues important to the African-American community,"" he said. And the senate leader called Obama on Saturday afternoon to apologize for the remarks. In a statement issued after the call, Obama said, ""As far as I am concerned, the book is closed."" ""Harry Reid called me today and apologized for an unfortunate comment reported today,"" the president said. ""I accepted Harry's apology without question because I've known him for years, I've seen the passionate leadership he's shown on issues of social justice and I know what's in his heart."" An aide to the senator told CNN that Reid also offered apologies to several prominent African-American political figures, including House Democrats Jim Clyburn of South Carolina and Barbara Lee of California; the Rev. Al Sharpton; CNN political contributor and Democratic strategist Donna Brazile; NAACP chairman Julian Bond; and the head of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, Wade Henderson. Steele, the GOP's first African-American chairman, was asked about the remarks on both ""Meet the Press"" and ""Fox News Sunday."" He told NBC on Sunday he believes Reid is out of touch with ""how African-Americans generally feel"" about sensitive issues. Steele was asked by NBC whether he believes the situation is similar to one involving former Sen. Trent Lott, who lost his post as Senate majority leader in 2002 after saying that the nation would have been better off if one-time segregationist candidate Strom Thurmond had been elected president. ""Oh, yeah. There is a big double standard here,"" Steele said on NBC. Steele added: ""When Democrats get caught saying racist things, you know, an apology is enough."" Steele said that if a Republican senator had made the same remark Reid did, Steele himself and the Democratic Party ""would be screaming for his head very much as they were with Trent Lott."" Cornyn, in his statement, also accused Democrats of following a ""double standard,"" and noted that they had pushed Lott to step down. ""As we await his explanation, Sen. Reid should do the right thing, follow the example that he himself set in 2002, and step down as majority leader,"" Cornyn said. Kaine shot back against those arguments. ""Anybody looking at Trent Lott's statements praising somebody who had been a pro-segregation candidate for president will see that there is no comparison between those comments and those of Sen. Reid,"" Kaine told NBC. The comments ""were in the context of praising the senator and acknowledging that the senator could be a great president, but they were still insensitive,"" Kaine said. Asked whether Reid should resign, he said, ""Absolutely not. ... We're moving on."" Nevada state Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, who is African-American, affirmed his support for Reid in a statement Saturday. ""While I am disappointed in Sen. Reid's comment and choice of words, I accept his apology,"" said Horsford, a Democrat. ""I have known Sen. Reid for many years and he has consistently been supportive of advancing the interests of the African-American community as he has for all Nevadans and all Americans."" Steele, meanwhile, was asked about his remark in a Fox News interview last week that the GOP platform ""is one of the best political documents that's been written in the last 25 years, 'honest injun' on that."" ""Fox News Sunday"" host Chris Wallace noted that lawmakers from both parties have called that a racial slur. ""Well, if it is, I apologize for it. It's not an intent to be a racial slur. I wasn't intending to say a racial slur at all,"" Steele said. CNN's Dana Bash, Mark Preston and Rebecca Sinderbrand contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- An 11-year-old Pennsylvania boy is missing in Egypt, according to the boy's family. The family says that the boy's Egyptian father abducted him. A U.S. Embassy spokeswoman in Cairo, meanwhile, says U.S. authorities are ""aware of the situation"" and are assisting the boy's mother in her search efforts. Stephano Khalil Mohamed Atteya, or Nikko as he is called by his family, went to Egypt with his mother and her sister to visit his father, who lives there, according to a missing person report from the Pennsylvania State Police in Harrisburg. The boy was last seen August 1 with his father, the boy's family said. The father sped off with the boy in a car after forcing the boy's mother and aunt from the car, the family said. ""They heard (Nikko) screaming from the window, calling for his mom,"" said Nikko's aunt, Olga Panagos, who lives in Fayetteville, Pennsylvania. ""That's the last time they saw him."" Nikko's father, an Egyptian citizen, requested that his son come to Egypt to meet his grandmother and attend his father's sister's wedding, American relatives said. The U.S. Embassy in Cairo is working with Nikko's mother, who is still in Cairo, and with local authorities to help locate the boy, according to spokeswoman Elizabeth Colton. The boy's parents were married in 1999 and divorced in 2005; Nikko was their only child together and was born in the United States, according to Panagos. ""The family is very stressed. We have no idea where Nikko is,"" Panagos said. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pennsylvania, also is working with the family to provide any appropriate assistance, according to Casey spokeswoman April Melody. CNN's Leigh Remizowski, Mohamed Fadel Fahmy and Jill Dougherty contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- In 2009, du Pont heir Robert H. Richards IV, 47, was convicted of raping his 3-year-old daughter and served no jail time because, a judge said, he would ""not fare well"" in prison. You are only just hearing about this travesty thanks to a civil suit filed recently by Richards' ex-wife, Tracy Richards, alleging that he also sexually abused his 19-month-old son during the same period. How does this happen? Lady Justice wears a blindfold that's supposed to represent objectivity. Unfortunately, it seems to blind her in some cases, especially when a defendant is wealthy and connected. And Richards is wealthy and connected -- he's the heir to not one, but two fortunes provided to him by his predecessors. In 2008, Richards was indicted on two counts of second-degree child rape for sexually penetrating his daughter repeatedly from 2005 to 2007. Those two counts would have carried mandatory minimum sentences of 10 years each. He was released on $60,000 bail. Richards is unemployed, but with a trust fund and apparently had plenty of cash to hire one of the state's top law firms. His lawyers pushed until Delaware prosecutors offered a deal allowing him the fourth-degree rape plea -- normally reserved for statutory rape cases -- and Richards admitted the assault. At the sentencing, Superior Court Judge Jan Jurden ordered Richards to attend a sex offender rehabilitation program and pay a whopping $4,395 to the Delaware Violent Crimes Compensation Board. (That'll teach him!) She then sentenced him to eight years in prison, but suspended the prison time and put him on probation instead, writing: ""Defendant will not fare well in Level 5 setting."" Translation for the rest of the world: The rich rapist will ""fare well"" living as a free man in a house where he raped his own daughter. A few points here: . 1. The purpose of prison is twofold -- to keep criminals segregated from their victims and the rest of society, to punish them by denying them the freedoms that law-abiding citizens enjoy and to rehabilitate them. Prisons are loaded with pedophile rapists who are incarcerated regardless of their ability to deal with the prison environment. If Richards was a relative of the Dipshots, instead of the du Ponts he'd probably be behind bars now. 2. And if the rapist doesn't ""fare well"" in prison, how is he a good fit for society? As far as I'm concerned, a sex offender who rapes his own child will never ""fare well"" in society. You can't cure sex offenders of their sexual urges, you can only teach them to try to control them. In the meantime, we have a duty to keep rapists like Richards contained in a location where they have no contact or opportunity to hurt another child for a good long time -- and that place is in jail. 3. The Delaware justice system appears to have also lost sight of Richards' victim -- his own kid! Think she'll ""fare well"" knowing her rapist was sent home to his mansion and never properly punished? The sentence was outrageous, but blaming the judge is too easy. The truth is the entire system is to blame. People with zero resources to properly defend themselves are funneled into the prison system, while rich rapists like Richards can buy an excellent criminal defense team and secure a deal no public defender could ever dream of getting. But Tracy Richards has not given up. She filed a suit last month seeking compensatory and punitive damages on behalf of her children. In addition to detailing the abuse of his daughter, the lawsuit also alleges that while Roberts was on probation, he admitted to the sexual abuse of his toddler son. It cites probation reports from two different probation officers notifying the Courts in 2010 and 2012 about that suspected abuse. According to the lawsuit, which is supported by paperwork from the earlier criminal case, Richards went into his daughter's room while she slept and penetrated her with his fingers while he masturbated. The suit also alleges that Richards then told the girl ""to keep what he had done to her a secret."" The girl eventually told her grandmother, who informed Tracy Richards. The girl then recounted the abuse to her pediatrician and New Castle County police, who arrested him. Given all this background, it may seem like a slam dunk of a civil suit, but societal factors -- the advantages of money-- can play a large role in the justice system. You can be certain that if Richards lives off a trust, it's one that du Pont family attorneys have painstakingly set up, and it's probably going to be remarkably hard to pierce. Likely knowing she's in for a fight, Tracy Richards has hired law firm Jacobs & Crumplar, attorneys more than capable of going after people who think they are untouchable. This is the firm that won victims $77.4 million in a settlement with the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington over sex abuse by a priest. I've got my fingers crossed that a civil jury will award jaw-dropping damages in this case and strip Richards of the trust fund and the wealthy status that allowed him to avoid jail -- where he really belongs."
(CNN) -- Dancers have put on a dazzling display atop extravagant floats at the legendary annual Rio Carnival. Thousands of revelers cheered as dancers shimmied and shook their colorful costumes through the streets of the Brazilian city. Seven-year-old Julia Lira took her place as the drum corps queen for the Viradouro School of Samba despite criticism that she was too young to fill a role normally reserved for voluptuous adult dancers.
"West Milford, New Jersey (CNN) -- For Gary Oppenheimer, 2007 was a year of plenty. His backyard garden produced a bountiful harvest with a surplus of spaghetti squash, melons, pumpkins, tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers for his family. At the end of the season, Oppenheimer had 40 pounds of excess fresh produce -- and nowhere to take it. ""Nobody wanted more,"" he said. ""My wife wouldn't let me bring any more in the house, and I didn't want it wasted."" So Oppenheimer took the produce to a local food pantry at a battered-women's shelter. When he dropped off the food, he was struck by the response he got from the shelter worker. ""[She] thanked me profusely, and as I left she said, 'Now we can have something fresh to eat,' "" Oppenheimer recalled. ""That stuck with me because I remember walking away thinking, 'What? They have canned stuff only all the time?' "" The experience ultimately led Oppenheimer, 57, to create a way for gardeners across the country to easily share their excess produce with hungry families in their communities. In 2008, Oppenheimer became the director of the West Milford Community Garden in West Milford, New Jersey. He learned that toward the end of the summer, plots were often abandoned and good food was sometimes left to rot. He tried to find a list of his town's local food pantries online where the extra produce could be donated. A Google search showed the nearest food pantry was in another town, 25 miles away -- when in fact there were six food pantries in Oppenheimer's town of West Milford. Oppenheimer knew he had stumbled upon a gap in information that could rescue fresh produce from a wasteful end and potentially save lives. ""I realized that if I'm having this problem as a gardener, then other people across the country must be having the exact same problem,"" he said. ""I got up the next morning, and I went on the internet, and I grabbed the domain of AmpleHarvest.org."" He reached out to food pantries across the country through social networking, food banks, master gardeners, faith organizations and other groups to encourage them to sign up for inclusion in his database of food pantries. Oppenheimer enlisted the help of Web designers and in May 2009, AmpleHarvest.org was rolled out nationally. The free online resource enables food pantries to register and be listed in a central nationwide directory, and makes it possible for American gardeners to easily find the local pantries where they can donate extra produce. Do you know a hero? Nominations are open for 2010 CNN Heroes . ""The country is loaded with gardeners who have more food than they can possibly themselves use,"" Oppenheimer said. ""AmpleHarvest.org gives them the ability to easily, quickly get that food to somebody who genuinely, really needs it."" According to the Department of Agriculture, nearly 15 percent of American households have difficulty meeting their food needs. Those who rely on food pantries are often surviving on canned and processed foods. But with 41 million U.S. households growing fruits and vegetables, according to the National Gardening Association, Oppenheimer is helping green-thumbed Americans share healthier options with their neighbors in need. ""Whether it's a hanging tomato plant off your apartment terrace, or a garden ... or whether you run a farm, we all have food that's left behind,"" Oppenheimer said. ""That's the food that ... we can get into the system to help diminish hunger in the country."" Nearly 2,000 food pantries across the United States are now registered on the site. Timothy Lesko recently received fresh produce from a food pantry that had items from AmpleHarvest.org donations. Lesko said the fresh vegetables will help his family eat more healthfully. ""Me and my wife are trying to have my son be as healthy as possible. [At] the grocery store, the food's expensive, and it's hard to buy the healthier foods because we don't always have the money,"" Lesko said. ""It would be nice to see if more people could farm at home and bring whatever extra they have for the pantry."" Although Oppenheimer cannot track the amount of produce that has been donated to food pantries, he said he's received messages from numerous pantries and clients across the country who've been given food as a result of AmpleHarvest.org. He also has heard from growers who continue to donate because the website led them to local pantries. And as the food pantries continue to see results, Oppenheimer hopes his efforts will turn into a lifelong commitment for the gardeners. ""The point is to get it so that people will find it's easy and convenient to get in the car and to drop off that bag of tomatoes or carrots or apples, and then to make it a part of their regular routine, hopefully for the rest of their gardening lives."" Want to get involved? Check out the AmpleHarvest.org website and see how to help."
"(CNN) -- ""We must be on you but cannot see you."" That was one of the very last voice signals transmitted by Amelia Earhart in the summer of 1937, somewhere over the vast Pacific Ocean during her ill-fated flight around the globe. An intense search led by the U.S. Navy was launched to find Earhart and her plane, but after several weeks, nothing was found. ""All right, good night."" Those were the last words transmitted 17 days ago from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, somewhere over the South China Sea between Kuala Lumpur and Ho Chi Minh City. An international search led by the Malaysian government and Malaysia Airlines and joined by governments and private companies from the United States, Great Britain, China, Australia, Norway, Japan, New Zealand and others have narrowed down a possible search region to a vast chunk of the Indian Ocean southwest of Perth, Australia. ""This is probably the one of the largest efforts you'll ever see in terms of maritime surveillance and joint operations,"" Australian Defense Minister David Johnston said Tuesday. Reports now seem to support the theory, popularized by pilot instructor Chris Goodfellow, that an incapacitating emergency led the pilots to divert the Boeing 777 toward the closest airport (hence turning south) while simultaneously trying to fight an electrical fire of some sort until they were overcome. Experts believe that the jet continued on dumb autopilot until it was, like Earhart's Lockheed Electra, out of fuel, plunging into the sea. Opinion: Flight 370's resting place is best clue . Earhart was lost on July 2, 1937. MH370 disappeared March 8, 2014, more than two weeks ago. In those 77 years, almost everything about the world has changed. Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappeared just a few years before World War II erupted and a new world order emerged: what is often called the American century. And the three-week search effort for Earhart was entirely American, directed by the Navy. Flight 370 was operated by Malaysia's national airline, en route to Beijing. The flight was the opposite of pioneering, instead a routine long haul of 227 passengers, with a coach class ticket costing about $530. But in this case, the search effort is extraordinary and much more international in scope. This time, it's not just the Americans. The Australians, the Chinese and the Norwegians are deploying their air forces and navies with cutting-edge technologies for weeks on end to help. Pakistani radar, Chinese satellites, even NASA aided the search. Add to that countless hours of analytical personnel. In the end, it was a private British satellite company, Inmarsat, that confirmed the likely flight path and terminus. According to some reports, this is the most expensive search effort in history. Although there was strong criticism against the Malaysian government for delays and missteps during the initial days of the investigation, it seems as if the international community has largely united in focusing massive resources on finding the plane. There was nobody famous on the flight and yet it is somehow unremarkable that dozens of nations are expending millions of dollars to solve the mystery. Together. Pilot: How mechanical problem could have downed Flight 370 . All this stands in stark contrast to Russia's opportunistic conquest of the Crimean peninsula, a major part of the neighboring nation of Ukraine. That sort of nationalist land grab reminds me less of the Cold War than of norms of the 18th century and just about every century of history prior. Certainly, there's something extraordinary and dangerous going on in the Crimea, but a calmer, more patient, more historical assessment distinguishes the reflexive nationalism of a weakened ex-empire from the larger trends in a globalizing world. Or what about the civil war in Syria? Or the heightened tensions on the North Korean peninsula? Or the disputes between Japan and Korea over the ""Sea of Japan"" versus the ""East Sea""? Or the uprisings in Venezuela? All are hot spots where the international community has largely been paralyzed, unable to do much more than call for multilateral inquiries and issue hollow condemnations. So what's left to be seen is whether this unprecedented international coalition assembled to scour the ocean for the remains of Flight 370 is one of the few bright spots in an otherwise devastating tragedy for the families of the 227 passengers and 12 crew members. Or whether this is merely a one-off proposition where each nation is acting in its own self-interest to do what it must for its own citizens, while feigning cooperation for the world stage. I prefer to see the goodness here, that the world can come together and work together when it counts. Sometimes it takes a tragedy to remind us of the everyday miracles of our time. Join us on Facebook.com/CNNOpinion. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Tim Kane."
"(CNN) -- Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg just had a birthday on May 14. He's now 29. If that seems insanely young for a billionaire, remember that he co-founded Facebook when he was a teenager. Zuckerberg has a lot to celebrate. He's amassed a fortune, inspired one of every seven people on the planet to use his product and changed how the world communicates -- all before age 30. By comparison, when they were 29, Steve Jobs launched the Macintosh computer and Bill Gates was readying the first retail version of Microsoft Windows. And most of the rest of us were just struggling to pay the rent. So happy birthday to Zuck! To mark the occasion, we collected these 10 random facts about the tech wunderkind: . 1. Zuckerberg suffers from red-green colorblindness and sees the color blue best, which is why blue dominates Facebook's color scheme. 2. AOL and Microsoft tried to recruit him when he was in high school after he created Synapse, a program that used artificial intelligence to learn users' music-listening habits. 3. He wears the same gray Facebook T-shirt almost every day because he's busy and it saves him time in the morning. 4. Despite Zuckerberg's casual wardrobe, he said he wore a tie every day in 2009 to show that Facebook was serious about growing in the face of the global recession. 5. He is a vegetarian and once said he will only eat meat if he has killed the animal himself. But among his ""likes"" on his Facebook page are McDonald's and In-N-Out Burger. 6. He has amassed 220,000 Twitter followers despite the fact that he's only tweeted 19 times in four years, and not once in 15 months. 7. In October 2010, Zuckerberg took a bunch of Facebook staffers to a public theater to see ""The Social Network,"" the movie about the founding of Facebook. In public comments afterward, he criticized the film's portrayal of him as someone who invented Facebook to gain social status. 8. He owns a Hungarian sheepdog named Beast, who has a Facebook page with 1.5 million fans. 9. He took some heat last year for giving his wife, Priscilla Chan, a ruby wedding ring that jewelers valued at about $25,000 even though he was worth about $19 billion at the time. 10. If you type @[4:0] in a Facebook comment window and hit enter, his name will appear. What, if anything, fascinates you about Zuckerberg? Let us know in the comments."
"(CNN) -- There are fears of Russians and it is October, but it's not a Tom Clancy novel. It is a case of international naval intrigue off the Swedish coast that brings back memories of the Cold War. The Swedish military on Monday intensified a search in the ocean off Stockholm for an underwater mystery vessel, but stopped short of calling it a submarine. Civilian vessels were ordered to stay at least six miles (about 10 kilometers) away from the Swedish warship conducting the search, the English-language website The Local reported. The search began Thursday after Swedish intelligence picked up an emergency radio call in Russian, reported The Local, citing the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet. The radio transmissions were being sent to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, 330 miles (530 kilometers) south of Stockholm on the Baltic's southern shore, according to The Local report. There were also reports that a foreign vessel was spotted in the waters near Stockholm. Russia on Sunday denied it has any vessel in Swedish waters. Moscow suggested the vessel may belong to the Netherlands and have been involved in naval exercises off Sweden, according to a report from Russia's Itar-TASS news agency. The Dutch were quick to respond, saying a sub involved in the exercises was anchored in Tallinn harbor of NATO-ally Estonia for the weekend, according to a report from Agence France-Presse. 'We have good stamina' On Monday, the Swedish military vowed to continue searching at least for the next few days, according to The Local. ""We have good stamina,"" The Local quoted defense spokesman Dag Enander. ""We're using the sensors we have and are searching both from land and water,"" Enander was quoted as saying. To confuse matters even more, the Swedish military said Monday that it purposely provided incorrect information on Sunday about where the mystery vessel was sighted to keep the search area secure. U.S. officials told CNN there are no U.S. submarines or surface ships in the immediate area. U.S. intelligence doesn't know of any Russian assets in that area, the officials said. All the activity begs the question, why would a Russian sub need to snoop around in Swedish waters anyway? Johan Wiktorin of the Swedish Royal Academy of War Sciences gave three possibilities to The Local: . ""They could be mapping the waters in order to be able to navigate them in the event of hostilities,"" Wiktorin is quoted as saying. ""They could also be installing equipment, like sensors, that could track or get an observation of our units in that area,"" he goes on. ""Or they could also possibly reconnoiter our (defense) systems."" Russian military around the world . Whether there is a Russian sub in Swedish waters or not, there is no question that Russian forces have been active in the Baltic and around the globe this year. In fact, the Swedish military said Sunday that it has monitored suspicious activity for several years, according to another report in The Local. In July, a U.S. Air Force reconnaissance plane fled into Swedish airspace after the Russians took the unusual action of beginning to track it with land-based radar. The Russians then sent at least one fighter jet into the sky to intercept the U.S. aircraft. And on April 23, a Russian Su-27 Flanker fighter jet buzzed within 100 feet of the nose of a U.S. Air Force RC-135U reconnaissance plane over the Sea of Okhotsk between Russia and Japan, a Defense Department official said. Also on April 23, Dutch fighter jets scrambled to intercept a pair of Russian Tu-95 Bear bombers that entered a half-mile into Netherlands airspace. On June 4, according to U.S. defense officials, four long-range Russian Tu-95 bombers, accompanied by an aerial refueling tanker, flew into the U.S. Air Defense Identification Zone, an area extending 200 miles (320 kilometers) from the North American coast, off Alaska, where they were intercepted by U.S. F-22 fighter jets. Two of the Russian bombers peeled off and headed west, while the other two flew south and were identified by U.S. F-15 fighters within 50 miles of the California coast. And last month, two Alaskan-based U.S. Air Force F-22 fighter jets intercepted two Russian IL-78 refueling tankers, two Russian MiG-31 fighter jets and two Russian Bear long-range bombers, according to Capt. Jeff Davis of the North American Aerospace Defense Command. More than six hours later, two Canadian CF-18 fighter jets intercepted two Russian bombers in the Beaufort Sea, Davis said. Those Russian planes came within about 40 nautical miles of the Canadian coastline, he said. Earlier this year, a top U.S. Air Force general said Russia was stepping up its military activities in the Asia-Pacific region as tensions increased over Ukraine and Russia's move into Crimea."
"(CNN) -- On Monday, news broke that about 200 girls had been kidnapped from their school in Chibok, in the northeastern state of Borno -- a region at the center of Nigeria's five-year terrorist insurgency. The very next day, the Nigerian military announced that all but nine of the girls had been rescued. This turned out to be untrue. The school's principal and the girls' parents complained that the girls were still missing. In August last year, a military spokesman announced the death of Abubakar Shekau, the leader of Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, at the hands of the military. But like the news of the release of the schoolgirls, it proved to be fiction. 'Misleading sources' Incidents like this have come to shape the way the military is perceived in the wildly unpredictable battle against Boko Haram. Posts on the military's social media accounts regularly boast of ""smoking out"" or ambushing terrorists or recovering weapons -- often written in way that brings to mind Iraq's infamous former information minister under Saddam Hussein, dubbed ""Comical Ali,"" who claimed coalition forces were in retreat even as American tanks rolled almost unchallenged across the country in 2003. Like him they've also ended up pinning the blame for inaccurate reporting on ""misleading"" sources. Even when there is truth to its narratives -- and there have been major successes, including a crackdown that started in early 2013 that killed several top Boko Harem commanders and driven others across the border into Chad, Niger and Cameroon -- the triumphalism seems odd when juxtaposed with the harsh reality of events like the Chibok abduction, or the one at another government school in neighboring Yobe State in February, in which more than fifty schoolboys were murdered in their dormitories, with nary a soldier in sight until several hours later. Perhaps the military resorts to this impulsively buoyant tone because it believes it cannot afford to sound anything otherwise. Or perhaps it's simply because it can get away with it -- because the Nigerian authorities have a long and remarkable history of getting away with anything they say. That tenuous relationship with fact makes it relatively easy for senior government officials to publicly dispute government finances to the tune of billions of dollars; and for an assortment of newspaper headlines to display wildly differing casualty figures the morning after a bombing incident. Death 'cheap and plentiful' And then there's the scale of Nigeria's tragedies. For a country that is not at war, death is cheap and plentiful. So cheap and so sweeping in its audacity that Nigerians readily make jokes about it. That might help explain the trademark blunted edge of Nigerian outrage. If it happens often enough, the mind is soon inured, and eagerly accepting of the sense of resignation that might offer the best protection against the emotional impact of the next cycle of negative breaking news. All of the above combine to create the context in which the Nigerian military -- wielding political power for 29 of Nigeria's first 39 years after independence -- has learned to operate. Not since the civil war, almost 50 years ago, has it been tested this much. The closest it got were the lengthy tours of duty in Liberia and Sierra Leone, in which it played a prominent role at the head of the West African ECOMOG Force, intended more as a ""peacekeeping"" unit than a combat force. Indeed what we are seeing may be evidence of its struggle to adapt to new rules of engagement, fighting an enemy driven by convictions much deeper than those displayed by the pro-democracy activists and diamond-obsessed rebels it contended with in the 1990s; possessing access to sophisticated weapons, and operating in terrain far better suited to insurgents than conventional armies. Abuse claims . The increasing militarization of the troubled zones has since spurred accusations of human rights abuses, from local and international observers. An International Crisis Group report from April 2014 has called for an end to the use of ""heavy-handed military and police methods that risk pushing yet more restless, jobless and frustrated youths into violence and extremism."" Communication strategies also require overhaul. In the age of social media, the military needs to realize that propaganda is now a lot more likely to be found out and discredited. News reports suggest that the military, long hampered by aging hardware, is now acquiring new weapons and equipment. That's heartwarming. In a country where institutional graft is the rule and not the exception, it is crucial to ensure that the military budgets are spent to boost the military's capability, and troops' morale -- and not pocketed by bigwigs. International cooperation also needs to be stepped up; and it does seem that the government is now more willing than ever to work with Europe and America. Nigerians have long been wary of allowing the American military the sort of foothold it has in countries like Yemen and Pakistan, but there's certainly room for more intense cooperation that does not involve abdicating total control. Finally the military will need to prepare to adapt itself to the reality of the government's planned shift to a ""soft"" counter-terrorism strategy, embodied in a document unveiled by National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, a retired Army Colonel, in March. Amid the backlash it has faced recently, the beleaguered military can count on the support of a growing number of Nigerians, who think that it is being under appreciated for the work it is doing. Just this week a ""Support The Nigerian Military"" page launched on Facebook, in honor of ""our military men and women on the field who risk their lives daily to keep us safe."""
"(CNN) -- Cristiano Ronaldo grabbed a hat-trick as Real Madrid crushed Malaga 7-0 to close the gap on Spanish league leaders Barcelona. The Portuguese striker ended his four-match goal drought in style as Jose Mourinho's side reduced Barca's advantage at the top of La Liga to seven points. Second-bottom Malaga had no answer to a powerful attacking display and finished the game with nine men after defender Manolo was sent off and Cala limped off injured after they had made all their permitted substitutions. Malaga coach Manuel Pelligrini, who was replaced at Real Madrid by Mourinho, chose to rest some of his best players and the decision came back to haunt him at the Bernabeu. France international Karim Benzema began the rout after 27 minutes when he diverted Xabi Alonso's free kick into the net. Angel Di Maria added a second nine minutes later after capitalizing on a missed interception to slot the ball into the bottom corner. Just before the break Marcelo slammed Di Maria's pass into the corner of the net to make it 3-0. There was no let up after the interval as Ronaldo rounded off a flowing move to register a fourth before Benzema got his second with a header from Marcelo's cross. Manolo handled in the area to give Real a penalty and was shown a second yellow card by the referee. Ronaldo made no mistake from the spot. And the striker completed his hat-trick by converting Sergio Canales' cross at the near post with 13 minutes remaining before asking to be substituted."
"(CNN) -- Five people in southern China have been charged with intentional injury after illegally buying one of the kidneys of a teenage boy, who used the money at least in part for an iPhone and an iPad, according to state media. The five, including a surgeon, removed the organ in April 2011 from the 17-year-old high school student from China's Anhui province. The teenager is now suffering from renal insufficiency, Xinhua reported. The boy's condition is deteriorating, it said. One of the defendants, a man named He Wei, was described as ""penniless and frustrated over gambling debts"" and allegedly ""sought to make enormous earnings through illegal kidney trading,"" the news agency reported. It said the men identified donors through online chat rooms and conducted the operation at a hospital. A man named Song Zhongyu, a surgeon from a provincial hospital in Yunnan province, received nearly $35,000 in the deal, while the boy was given about $3,500, Xinhua said. Wang later confessed to his mother when she confronted him about where he got the money for the Apple products, the news agency said. According to China's Ministry of Health, about 1.5 million people in the country are in need of transplants, and yet only 10,000 transplants are performed each year, Xinhua reported."
"Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- Four members of a group of 31 North Koreans who accidentally crossed over into South Korean waters on a fishing boat, have decided to defect to the South, despite Pyongyang's demands that they all be repatriated to the North, the South Korean Red Cross said. The defection of the four North Koreans could spark tensions on the peninsula, where joint U.S.-South Korea military drills have kicked off this week. North Korea had threatened to engulf Seoul in a ""sea of flames,"" a day before the opening of the exercise. The South will return the remaining 27 members of the group through Panmunjom, a truce village on the ground border between the two sides, and send the fishing boat back through the waters in the West Sea on Friday, the Red Cross said. South Korea's intelligence agency questioned the North Koreans for almost a month since they crossed over in February before deciding to release the group, the aid agency said. There are currently more than 20,000 North Korean defectors in South Korea, according to the South's Unification Ministry. The number of annual defectors has risen dramatically since the turn of the century and continues to climb. Defectors who are forcefully repatriated to the North after attempting to cross over into third countries such as China, Mongolia or Southeast Asia are commonly sent to prison camps as a punishment. Many defectors who live in South Korea fear for the lives of their family or relatives who remain in the North."
"(CNN) -- The NBA is without a Chinese-born player for the first time in 12 years, after it was announced Yi Jianlian has signed a one-year deal in his homeland. Yi failed to earn a new contract with 2011 NBA champions Dallas Mavericks, and he has returned to China to join former team Guangdong Tigers. ""It's a huge pity to spend his prime years on the bench in the NBA without being trusted,"" Guangdong general manager Liu Hongjiang said of Yi in a statement. ""He wants to play and we can provide an ideal stage."" Yi carried the flag for China at the recent London 2012 Olympics, his third appearance at the Games. His departure is a blow the league, which is looking to take advantage of the potentially lucrative Asian market. Current NBA star Dwayne Wade, a champion with Miami Heat earlier this year, told CNN that basketball still trails football as the world's favorite sport. The popularity of the NBA in China skyrocketed when center Yao Ming joined the Houston Rockets in 2002. The first Chinese-born player to take to the court in the NBA was Wang Zhizhi, who made history by joining the Mavericks in 2001. The NBA's profile in Asia has been boosted by the emergence of Jeremy Lin, a Taiwanese American who shot to global fame with a string of standout performances for the New York Knicks during the 2011-12 season. Lin, 24, has since left the Knicks to join the Houston Rockets."
"(CNN) -- As he strained, crunched and lifted weights, the muscle panels surfaced from Jason Dinant's stomach. Faintly at first, they emerged: one, two, three and four -- not yet a six-pack. ""In the first three months, I saw such a fast improvement, now I'm worried about plateauing,"" said Jason Dinant. ""My bottom two abs haven't come in yet,"" he said. Since January, Dinant, an iReporter, has tried to get  six-pack abs in time for his 10-year high school reunion in June. Dinant, a Las Vegas, Nevada, resident, is one of the three iReport contributors being followed by CNNhealth as they strive to meet diet and fitness goals they set at the beginning of the year. iReport.com: See the journey to change . Dinant wanted to whip his beanpole figure into muscular shape. He also wanted to display a healthier physique for his blog called ""Naked Boy News,"" where he stands shirtless to give what he calls ""the naked truth about today's news."" And now the 27-year-old has another motivation. Dinant will be a guest, riding in a chariot-style car for an ""ab-veil"" on June 28 for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride March in New York.  His car is to be accompanied by rows of shirtless men who also have six-packs. Dinant was invited because,  the Naked Boy News is ""a very popular act,"" said Maurice Michaane, director of the event. ""People in the Northeast know him."" With the parade only two months away, Dinant said: ""Now I'm in high drive. There's no cheating on the diet."" To get in shape, he works out four to five days a week, performing a combination of core exercises, dumbbell curls and pull-ups. He jogs, does cardio exercises and works with a fitness trainer.  To avoid looking like ""a toothpick with abs,"" he started lifting weights. With a stringent diet and hours at the gym, the 6-foot-tall Dinant shrank from 160 to 143 pounds. Losing weight is normal with all the exercising and dieting, said Robert Dothard, a personal trainer based in Atlanta, Georgia. ""You can't see a six-pack through fat,"" Dinant said. ""Belly fat is the enemy. People reveal their ab muscles, but the nutrition and exercise are also formula for weight loss."" The key is to eat in increments, but it's difficult for people with traditional, 9-to-5 jobs to eat something every two hours to maintain their weight, he said. Body builders try to offset the weight loss by consuming protein powders and supplements, Dothard said. Dinant's weight loss was completely unintentional. He said eating 16 egg whites and 1¼ pounds of chicken breasts every day gets old after three straight months. ""It's hard to eat that much protein,"" Dinant said.  ""I started drinking this protein shake so I can get in all the calories and protein."" Compared with just four months ago, the ""man boobies"" and the extra layer of flab around his midsection have been lost, Dinant said. And there's an even bigger benefit. ""I'm awake more. I'm alert more and I have more energy,"" he said.  ""I just feel better. My whole body has become healthier and better."" While pleased with the results, Dinant worried that with two-thirds of a six-pack, his body will begin to plateau. ""Plateaus are really a mental thing,"" Dothard said.  ""When that happens, people start going back to their own habits. So they end up cheating and binging."" If the body doesn't respond to the workout anymore, more difficult exercises should be adopted. ""Jason has to do something different or harder to maintain results to keep on the track that he's on,"" Dothard said. ""It can be frustrating, especially when he is still working out and the body is not responding to the same thing. People work out 30-45 days and get tremendous results, then it slows down or stops. Nothing's wrong. The body is adjusting to what you're doing."""
"(CNN) -- From his early days as one of the first faces familiar to television audiences in the 1950s, as host of ""American Bandstand,"" Dick Clark was a constant. He wasn't just a major force in television, but in the music industry as well, up until his death on Wednesday at the age of 82. So it's no wonder that iReports flooded in from those who worked closely with Dick Clark, as well as those who only knew him as a friend who came into their living rooms, whether it be each week or only each New Year's ""Rockin'"" Eve. Dick Clark was involved with so much, from various award shows, to the popular ""Pyramid"" Game show, to ""TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes,"" that only focusing on one reason he was so loved by so many just isn't enough. Even three reasons doesn't cover it. So here are ten reasons -- counting down, like he did to the new year -- why iReporters loved Dick Clark: . 10. He was humble . Sioux Falcone worked with Dick Clark in the 1980s. She well recalls him wearing a name tag to his own holiday party. ""I was watching CNN and my son asked who the man on television was and I told him 'actually he was my boss.' And my son didn't believe me. So I pulled out this photo yesterday and here he was wearing a name tag. I thought it was really endearing."" She also said that her fondest memory of Dick Clark was when he gave her his first desk after he moved to the west coast for 'American Bandstand.' She inquired about the piece of furniture with the office manager and a few days later Clark was at here desk. ""He said, 'I heard you want my desk,' and I said I would pay, but he said I didn't have to pay for it,"" she said. ""He helped me load his antique desk into my car,"" she said. ""He would show random acts of kindness like that.'"" 9. ""He broke color barriers"" Maxine Porter, the legal steward for the late Bill Pinkney of the R&B/soul group, the Drifters, put it this way: ""What artist of color didn't have some association with Dick Clark over the years?"" Clark is widely credited with integrating his audience on ""American Bandstand"" and, according to Porter, Pinkney was one of those musical artists of color who credited Clark with their start. ""The first comment I heard him make about Dick Clark was, 'You know, we were one of the first black acts, if not the first, on his show in Philadelphia before he went national,"" she said. ""As a little girl, watching television in Mississippi, I was not exposed to blacks in any positions of power or affluence,"" said iReporter Elnora Fondren Palmtag of Clarksdale, Mississippi. ""Dick Clark was an inspiration when he fought for the integration of his show, first for the performers on his show and later adding dancers of different races. I know he helped to launch the careers of some great black performers, but you may not see the impact he had on the poor underprivileged children of the ghettos around the country who did not know that they could be more than what they could see around them."" 8. He introduced generations to music . Mark Jensen from Branson, Missouri, was one of many loyal viewers of ""American Bandstand."" ""I watched the show every weekend, and because of the show, I heard music that I normally wouldn't have because I couldn't afford to buy records or a radio."" Jensen was inspired by ""Bandstand:"" the now singer/songwriter also goes by the stage name of Mark Catron. 7.  He was a teenage staple . Every afternoon, Janie Lambert from Hughesville, Maryland would switch on American Bandstand at home, and dance to Chubby Checker, learning to do ""the Twist"" and ""the Limbo."" ""I will never forget March 1967 when the Beatle's Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane were debuted on 'American Bandstand.' The Beatles new look and sound was eerie, strange, a little frightening but oh so very exciting. This was a big change for the music industry."" Lambert described ""Bandstand"" as ""the part of my day that I looked most forward to,' she said. ""No one can take his place."" 6. He was a mentor . Paul Revere is a member of Paul Revere and the Raiders, who hit it big in the 1960s. He worked with Dick Clark for several years and describes Clark as being a wonderful and close friend. Revere describes one of his fondest memories with Clark when he and his band were at a shoot for the '60s NBC show, ""Where the Action Is."" ""He's my guy. We saw each other six weeks ago, and I can't even believe he is gone."" He said his heart sunk when he heard the news of Clark's passing. ""When you get older you want to spend time with the people you are close to, and you keep putting things off because you always think you are going to have another day."" He said he is really glad he had the chance to see Clark six weeks ago. ""You need to always tell your friends how much they mean to you,"" he said. ""That is what I learned from this situation... I gave him a hug and told him everything I have and everything I am I owe to him."" 5. He was forever young . Kathi Cordsen remembered thinking about how ageless Dick Clark seemed on television when she tuned in to watch his show. Her fondest memory of Clark was when she would throw dance parties at her house with her neighbor friends while they watched ""American Bandstand"" in the afternoon. ""I remember always thinking how Dick Clark never seemed to age from year to year and I wondered how he did that. Good living and being a good person, that must have been what it was."" 4. He was a dancer's best friend . When Karen Folkes was a teenager, she was living in Minnesota, but she was travelling to Hollywood to dance on Dick Clark's show. Her brother, who lived in California at the time, managed to get her and her friend passes to ""American Bandstand."" She found herself in Clark's office with his now wife, Kary Wigton, who was also from Minnesota. Clark and Wigton told Folkes she could come by the show whenever she wanted. During the 1970's Folkes danced on the show 32 times. Dancers still have Dick Clark to thank, as he produced the Fox television series ""So You Think You Can Dance."" 3. He was the perfect host . Paul Martin was a British DJ living in America during the 1960s ""British invasion,"" and looked up to Clark. ""Some entertainers are trained in broadcast schools, some get lucky and just land a broadcast job on the spur of the moment, others get there because of who rather than what they know and the right connections, etc.,"" said Martin, now living in Beverly Hills, California. ""But Clark made it to the top of his profession because he was the right guy at the right time on the right show and America and the world's most popular television music program!"" 2. He was great to work for . Steven Leuck, a contractor in Eugene, Oregon, worked for Clark in his New York City home in the mid-1980s. Having grown up on ""Bandstand,"" he was ""thrilled"" to work for him. ""Mr. Clark called me at home and told me personally how much he appreciated the extra time and work it took to get [his] specialty lighting purchased, delivered and installed on time,"" he said. ""He gave me his home phone number and told me that if I should ever need anything that he could do for me that I should never hesitate to call on him. I have worked with many celebrities over the years but he was far and away the kindest, most thoughtful gentleman of all the celebrities I have ever met or had the pleasure to work with."" 1. He gave people opportunities . Maggie Kortchmar, back when she was known as Maggie Lee, had a song played on ""American Bandstand"" in the 1980s. ""He said my name so sweetly: he was thoughtful, and concerned with the kids saying it was okay."" Unfortunately, the record got a lukewarm response, but ""Dick Clark looked right into the camera, and told me he liked it and for me to keep plugging. A very generous, kind man."""
"(CNN) -- Firefighters gained ground in recent days in the battle with a wildfire that burned 84 buildings and blackened 28,000 acres of dense forest in northern California. The Ponderosa fire, which is in a remote area of Shasta County, California, is just one of 42,750 wildfires that have burned 6,901,035 acres in the United States this year, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The fire, ignited by lightning five days ago, was 57% contained by Thursday, allowing some families forced from their homes to return, fire officials said. The Ponderosa fire still threatens 900 homes, forcing those residents to evacuate. Nearly 2,500 people, equipped with 263 firetrucks and 11 helicopters, are involved in the effort to stop the Ponderosa fire. Fires rage on Canary Islands . Shasta is one of three northern California counties for which Gov. Jerry Brown has declared states of emergency because of wildfires this week. The other counties included in the declaration, which makes emergency funding available to fight the blazes, are Plumas and Tehama. In Plumas County, the Chips fire has burned 63,147 acres, most of it in the Plumas National Forest. The 1,146 personnel fighting it have managed to gain 40% containment, according to officials. ""Today's mission is clear: hold, hold, hold,"" Operations Section Chief Rob Laeng told firefighters at their morning briefing Thursday. Wildfires spread in Greece . In Tehama County, the battle is almost over against the Mill fire. It is 95% contained after 1,680 acres burned, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. A fire that has burned nearly 100,000 acres, mostly managed by the U.S. Forestry Service, in northern Idaho is still just 5% contained three weeks after it began, officials said. The Trinity Ridge fire threatens the community of Featherville, but efforts to create a buffer for the area have been ""very successful,"" according to a statement on the fire's incident website."
"(CNN) -- After 20 years, over 300 goals and a host of major honors, Thierry Henry has called time on his football career. The Frenchman, who won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 with his country, is hanging up his boots to pursue a broadcasting career. Although he made his breakthrough with French team Monaco, and spent time with Juventus, Barcelona and latterly New York Red Bulls, Henry is best remembered for a glittering eight-year spell with Arsenal in the English Premier League. Henry became the London club's all-time leading goalscorer and helped the Gunners win two league titles and the FA Cup on three occasions. ""It has been an incredible journey and I would like to thank all the fans, team mates and individuals involved with AS Monaco, Juventus, Arsenal FC, FC Barcelona, the New York Red Bulls and of course the French National Team that have made my time in the game so special,"" he said on his official Facebook page. ""I have had some amazing memories (mostly good!) and a wonderful experience. I hope you have enjoyed watching as much as I have enjoyed taking part. See you on the other side..."" Henry's move to Arsenal in 1999, after a troubled year in Turin with Juventus, saw him reunited with former Monaco coach Arsene Wenger. The pair led Arsenal through a golden era, including an unbeaten Premier League campaign during the 2003-04 season. That team that won 26 and drew 12 of its 38 league matches during that campaign became known as the ""Invincibles."" Henry left Arsenal in 2007 and headed to Barcelona, where more titles lay in wait. During three seasons in Catalonia, Henry won the Spanish championship on two occasions and helped the club lift the European Champions League in 2009. The 37-year-old brought the curtain down on his player career with a four-year stint in the ""Big Apple,"" helping New York Red Bulls win Major League Soccer's Eastern Conference in 2010 and 2013. Although his immediate focus will be punditry work with British broadcaster Sky TV, Henry has not ruled out a coaching career. ""I don't know if I can be a good coach or not, but the desire is there,"" he told Sky."
"Unsecured footage from thousands of webcams around the world -- including in the United States and western Europe -- has been accessed and streamed by a website thought to be based in the Russian Federation, British officials say. The website's operator claims to be republishing the feeds -- from sources including CCTV and baby monitors -- to highlight security weaknesses. So what can consumers do to find out if their privacy has been violated and to prevent it from happening again? CNN spoke to Andrew Paterson, senior technology officer at Britain's independent authority on information rights -- the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) -- which issued a warning about the web cams Thursday and Jules Polonetsky, executive director of the Future of Privacy Forum think tank. How can you tell if your webcam feed has been compromised? Paterson suggests the first step for concerned consumers should be to check the security settings on their web camera and ensure that their password is not set to default. ""It's a website that's republished the feeds from many thousands of unsecured web cams and CCTV cameras. I believe you can view more or less live footage and it looks like one person has automatically scanned the internet for unsecured cameras and then aggregated this information in one site,"" Paterson says. ""If you're particularly interested you could try to find your country, you could try to find the region or city that camera is in."" The website guesses location based on IP addresses and has a list of countries from where it is publishing feeds, ranking them by number of unsecured cameras discovered. At the time of writing, the U.S. tops the list -- with 4,591 feeds, followed by France, the Netherlands, Japan, Italy and the United Kingdom. What devices are affected? CCTV cameras and baby monitors are among the devices that feeds have been taken from. But many others could be affected. ""In theory, if you have a web camera and it is interface accessible over the internet, it could be at risk,"" Paterson says. Paterson says in the case of the Russian website it appears that the operator has concentrated on only a few makes. The worry is that others may also have accessed such feeds, he says: ""It appears that the person responsible is trying to raise awareness but it's possible other people are doing other things."" Polonetsky says it's valuable to teach the lesson that web cameras need to be secured but says there have to be better ways than publishing people's feeds online. He says similar problems have existed for years. ""Almost scarier is that there are thousands of other similarly unprotected devices on the web. We continually learn about some essential device that is web accessible,"" he says. ""There have been some very public examples of smart home equipment that could be accessed remotely,"" he says -- including devices to raise blinds or turn on lights remotely. ""If you can remotely access something, that means others can remotely access it as well and you need to lock it down -- or you're at risk."" So what can I do to protect my privacy? Again, Paterson stresses that having a strong password is critical. ""The one piece of advice I can give is that if you have a camera you should go and check if it's secured with a password and must double check it's not the default password,"" he says. ""Secondly, work out whether you actually need to view your webcam over the internet or not. If you don't then you might as well turn that feature off."" While the ICO doesn't know the Russian website owner's intentions, Paterson says that as far as it can tell the feeds have not been archived -- though they don't know for certain. ""It looks like if you change the default password and set a strong one it will no longer show up on website -- but the owner [on the Russian site] could do anything he or she wants,"" he says. But the same flaw that has allowed this website to access personal feeds, could also have let other online users view your feed -- and they may not be broadcasting the fact. ""If you're able to log in remotely, then others are able to log in remotely. Either ensure that access is disabled or ensure you have a secure password,"" Polonetsky says. Could I seek redress if my camera feed has been accessed? Polonetsky suggests that delivering a product with a security weakness is ""like selling houses without  a front door."" ""Actually, it's worse,"" he says. ""Here you're selling things to people who don't even know there's not a back door. It's completely irresponsible -- it's like selling a car without a key piece of safety equipment. These things are not safe to be on the internet."" Polonetsky says it is possible that sellers of devices without basic data protection would be considered unfair to consumers under the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's standards. ""It could be considered unfair to sell a product that puts personal data at great risk. It will be interesting to see if any the sellers face action."" In the UK, Paterson says accessing a computer without authorization could well breach the Computer Misuse Act. ""If you have strong evidence that somebody has compromised your camera you may be able to take it to law enforcement,"" he says. The ICO itself regulates the Data Protection Act. ""If the feed from your camera can identify individuals that would be personal data and if someone's processing that in an unfair or unlawful manner then it could breach the act,"" he says. As the website appears to be Russian-based, however, any potential legal action would require action from the authorities there. The ICO is currently trying to enlist their help to get the website taken down."
"(CNN) -- Scientists studying the carcass of what they call the heaviest squid ever found have discovered it has eyes as big as soccer balls -- reportedly the largest in the world. Scientists are interviewed while two colossal squids are defrosted. The one on the right is missing part of its body. The colossal squid's eyes were measured at about 27 centimeters (10.8 inches) across by researchers, who have been defrosting it and a smaller specimen at Te Papa, the national museum of New Zealand. ""This is the only intact eye (of a colossal squid) that's ever been found. It's spectacular,"" squid specialist Kat Bolstad of the Auckland University of Technology told The Associated Press on Wednesday. Bolstad, one of a team of international scientists brought in to examine the creature, added: ""It's the largest known eye in the animal kingdom."" His assertion was backed up by Swedish professor Eric Warrant of the University of Lund, who specializes in vision in invertebrates. ""This is the largest eye ever recorded in history and studied,"" Warrant told AP. ""It has a huge lens the size of an orange and captures an awful lot of light in the dark depths in which it hunts."" Scientists snaked a camera into the colossal squid's body and measured its beak and tentacles in an exam broadcast live on the Internet. ""It didn't seem really fair that only a handful of people would get to see an animal like this up close,"" said Steve O'Shea, a marine biologist at the Auckland University of Technology. He led a team that examined the corps of the colossal squid on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in a lab at Wellington's Te Papa. ""It's the end of three days without much sleep,"" O'Shea told CNN. ""It's been an exhausting exercise."" Blog dispatches from the lab provided updates (""They're going to rotate the Squid!"") peppered with commentary (""anything with lots of legs/tentacles gives me the willies but if it's here -- and not moving is a plus in my book -- you have to touch!"") A New Zealand fishing boat snagged the squid in February 2007, as it sought toothfish in the Antarctic waters of the Ross Sea. The crew hauled in a line with many baited hooks and discovered a massive squid feasting on one of the hooked fish, the museum says on its Web site. Researchers determined it was a colossal squid, a species first documented in 2003 that tends to weigh more than the also-big giant squid. The larger colossal squid that scientists examined this week weighed 1,091 pounds (495 kilograms) and measured about 32 feet (10 meters), the museum said. ""We probably have more questions than we have answers now,"" O'Shea said just after completing the exam. Yet the team made at least one key finding. When they measured the colossal squid's beak, O'Shea said, they were stunned to discover that it was shorter than colossal-squid beaks recovered from the stomachs of sperm whales, which prey on squid. That led O'Shea to conclude that even heavier colossal squid lurk somewhere below the surface, unseen by human eyes. ""They grow considerably larger,"" he said. E-mail to a friend ."
"(CNN) -- The finest buildings in the world have been named at the World Architecture Festival in Singapore. At a glittering ceremony, Building of the Year was awarded to The Chapel in Vietnam, designed by a21studio. Future Project of the Year was won by 5468796 Architecture + Number TEN Architectural Group, for Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Canada. The three-day Festival, now in its seventh year, saw hundreds of firms from more than 50 countries competing in 27 different categories, from Small Projects to Culture and Experimental. A total of 2,000 architects, designers, clients and press converged on the spectacular Marina Bay Sands Hotel, where in addition to awards ceremonies there were numerous lectures and conferences. 10 great architecture towns and neighborhoods . Asian architects on the rise . Victory for a21studio in the Building of the Year award was symbolic of an upsurge in competition entries from Asia, which had a significant impact on this year's awards. Submissions from China, Malaysia and Vietnam increased by up to 140%. They competed alongside more well-established firms like Aedas, Zaha Hadid Architects and Foster & Partners. Asian firms quickly made their mark in the first two days, with Vietnam firmly in the lead; Vo Trong Nghia Architects, another Vietnamese firm, won three awards, including those for Future Projects Education and Hotel and Leisure. How China claimed the world's greatest architectural hits . Other winners . Landscape of the Year went to the National Arboretum Canberra, Australia, designed by Taylor Cullity Lethlean and Tonkin Zulaikha Greer, and Small Project of the Year was awarded to The Pinch community library in China, designed by John Lin and Olivier Ottevaere. Two new awards were added to this year's program. The Exterior Color Prize, which recognized the creative use of color, was awarded to Cook Robotham Architectural Burea for the Departments of Law and Central Administration, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria. The Wood Excellence Prize for the most exceptional timber project went to DSDHA for the Alex Monroe Studio in Snowfields, UK. Highlights of day one included the Culture category, which was won by Gustavo Penna Arquiteto & Associates for the Freedom of the Press Monument in Paranoá, Brazil, which resembles a huge, translucent triangle, lit from within and embedded in the earth. Biodesign: Why the future of our cities is soft and hairy . SGi Architects won the Religion category for La Ascension del Senor church in Seville, Spain, an angular, stone-and-steel structure containing three large ""voids"". On day two, the New And Old category was won by Rethinking the Split House, designed by the Chinese architecture studio Neri&Hu Design and Research Office. Judges were impressed by the bold vision, which involved replacing the rear wall of a three-storey 1930s townhouse in with plate glass. Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners and Arup Associates won the Future Projects Experimental category with Skyfarm, an eye-catching concept design proposal for a vertical farm that enables the cultivation of crops in high-density areas. A full list of the winners can be found at the World Architecture Festival website. Africa's most exciting architects . Is architecture dead?"
"(CNN) -- As Michael Ballack finally calls time on his 17-year professional career, German football can bask in the knowledge they boast the best two teams in Europe. But while the Champions League final between eventual winners Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund showcased all that is good about German football, the 36-year-old has told CNN the domestic game may suffer as a result. As well as the continent's most glittering club prize, Bayern won the German Cup and the Bundesliga by an incredible 25 points. Dortmund, who won the championship in the previous two seasons, were their nearest challengers, and the pair have accounted for five of the last six titles. Ballack told CNN World Sport that duopoly could be bad news for the Bundesliga, if Germany's top league starts to resemble Spain, where Barcelona and Real Madrid reign supreme. ""In Germany we have a situation now where Dortmund and Bayern are far, far more away from the other teams, and that's what we don't want to see in the Bundesliga,"" said Ballack, who has 98 Germany caps to his name. ""We have a little bit of a similar situation in Spain with Barca and Madrid, and in the (English) Premier League it's more open. ""These last years we could see a lot of surprises, and from the bottom (a team) could beat the first one. It was exciting and the Bundesliga was good to see. Bayern Munich is heading away a little bit so we will see how it develops in the future."" Bayern's historic treble confirmed them as the dominant force in Germany, and with their considerable financial muscle, they are already planning on extending their superiority over the rest. Shortly before the end of the season it was announced that Mario Gotze -- one of Dortmund's best players -- would be joining Bayern for $49 million, with striker Robert Lewandowski expected to make a similar move in the coming weeks. While the man who masterminded Bayern's success in 2013, Jupp Heynckes, is retiring, his replacement is Pep Guardiola, who won a total of 14 trophies in four years as coach of Barcelona. So how can the other teams, Dortmund included, keep up with the Bayern juggernaut? ""With money,"" Ballack jokes. ""No, it's difficult for the weaker teams to close the gap because like I said, the bigger teams still invest, and they could invest. ""If you take Bayern Munich, they just bought six months ago Javi Martinez for $52 million, now Gotze for $49 million. So that's a lot of money and it's not possible I think to do it for any other club in Germany. ""It is just Bayern Munich who has this good position, and from a financial point really good, and really healthy. And that's important. ""Dortmund as well, they are trying to close the gap between them and the other teams, but of course Bayern Munich are far away from the others."" Guardiola comes with a reputation as one of the game's leading coaches, but given the standards Bayern set this season, Ballack thinks the Spaniard will struggle to improve the team. ""I think sometimes when you come in (as a new coach) you think 'I have to change something.' But if you see this Bayern Munich team now, I can't really see where he needs to change. ""Obviously he has his own idea of football and how he wants to play. I'm sure he's seen a lot of games, if not all, in the last six months from Bayern Munich, and he knows there's not much to improve. ""It's an incredible level that they've played in the last six months or the last year. And like I said before, the little details. Maybe change something just to change something because you want to play your own style. ""But on the other side, like I said, you can't really change a lot because everything works well. But I'm sure he's a smart guy and a good coach, and he will handle it."" Ballack's farewell match in Leipzig saw a World XI, coached by new Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, take on a Germany XI, coached by Rudi Voller. Former teammates Didier Drogba, now at Galatasaray, Ukrainian Andriy Shevchenko, Bayern captain Philipp Lahm and seven-time Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher, among others, took part. Mourinho managed Ballack at Chelsea and has now returned to London for a second stint after his three-year tenure at Real Madrid ended in disappointment. One of the Portuguese's first engagements will be to renew his rivalry with Guardiola when Chelsea play Bayern in the UEFA Super Cup at the end of August. And Ballack, who won one Premier League title and two FA Cups in his four years at Chelsea, and three Bundesliga crowns with Bayern, says his time with Mourinho was a golden spell in his career. ""He has a fantastic reputation at (Chelsea), also I think in England. He's a charismatic manager and I really enjoyed working with him for two years and most of the players as well I can say. ""I think (his image) is not always what you see in the media. What we have as players, is another picture. And that's the picture in the dressing room. ""It's the daily work with him on the pitch and his speeches when he talks to us. And that's what I can say is special, because his attitude, his personality, if he comes in front of the group if he talks to us. ""What's fantastic is he brought the team behind him. And that shows not just in Chelsea, he also adapted really well on the international (stage). He worked in Italy, he worked in Spain, and everywhere he had success."""
"WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Activists say the U.S. is handing the enemy a victory the longer it allows the detention of enemy combatants at the U.S Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. ""When we leave them at Guantanamo, in a military prison, we give them a status they don't deserve,"" said John Hutson, a former U.S. Navy judge advocate general. ""We make them heroes and martyrs to their friends and colleagues back in terrorist camps,"" he said. Ten years after the first detainees were brought to Guantanamo from what was considered the battlefield in Afghanistan after 9/11, constitutional and judicial experts held a news conference Wednesday to say the Obama administration needs to restore American values of human rights and the rule of law. Hundreds of protesters rallied later outside the White House as part of the event, with organizers saying the rally was to ""call on President Obama to keep his promise and shutter Guantanamo Bay now."" Under the Bush administration, the United States claimed that Guantanamo Bay detainees are not on U.S. soil and therefore not covered by the U.S. Constitution, and that ""enemy combatant"" status means they can be denied some legal protections. President Barack Obama in January 2009 ordered the camp to be closed within a year, citing security concerns. But as of July of last year, 171 detainees remained at Guantanamo. Their prolonged and murky circumstances were the focus of the Wednesday event. ""There is no case that is so important that we should sacrifice our dedication to human rights and rule of law,"" Hutson said. ""It's not a rule of law unless it applies all the time, and it's not a human right unless it applies to all people."" Morris Davis, a former chief prosecutor for the military commissions at Guantanamo, said political interference from back home during the Bush administration blocked any basis for a fair trial. ""Initially I was probably the leading proponent for Guantanamo, and for military commissions,"" Davis, a retired Air Force colonel, said Wednesday. But he eventually resigned after he said the Bush administration pressured him to use evidence he felt was obtained through torture. ""I believed at the time that we were committed to having full, fair and open trials,"" Davis said. ""I resigned when I lost confidence that that was our commitment."" Obama, in a 2009 speech delivered in Cairo, Egypt, acknowledged that the U.S. had acted ""contrary to our ideals"" in the time that followed the 9/11 attacks. After telling his Middle East audience he had ""unequivocally prohibited the use of torture,"" Obama then said he had ""ordered the prison at Guantanamo Bay closed,"" on a timetable that would have ended about a year ago. ""If we roll up the Constitution every time that there's a difficult factual situation, we might as well roll up the entire democracy,"" said Vincent Warren, executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights. Talat Hamdani, a Muslim American whose son died in the attacks on World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, spoke at the rally in front of the White House. ""We say we are not at war with Islam, yet actions do speak louder than words,"" Hamdani said. ""Guantanamo is a shame -- a disgrace for our nation and we need to set the record straight by leading by example."" Despite a steady downpour of rain, the large group of protesters -- including some in orange jumpsuits symbolizing the Guantanamo Bay detainee uniforms, marched past the White House and on to the Supreme Court following the rally. CNN's Lindy Royce-Bartlett contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Do not go backstage at Cirque Du Soleil. It will only hurt your self-esteem. Anthony Gatto says he's been in training since he was 3 years old and performing since he was 8. In the performers' tent for the touring show ""Kooza,"" there are the chiseled men catapulting their partners onto each other's shoulders from a giant see-saw and the woman doing contortions on children's-sized blocks. You can only take so much of this before your ego needs normal. Normal might be that man in the corner, wearing a T-shirt, shorts and sneakers throwing balls in the air. How hard can that be? Your self-worth will be quickly dashed again when the man picks up a soccer ball, bounces it on his head and jumps rope at the same time. Moments later, he's juggling six or seven orange rings (they move so fast, it looks like a blur) and then does a pirouette -- while all the rings are in the air -- and then catches them on his arm.  Watch the juggler in action » . You could say Anthony Gatto went into the family business. But his stepfather wasn't a farmer or a doctor. He was a juggler. ""By the time I was 8, I was entered into a juggling competition, and incidentally, that was the same competition that Patrick Dempsey, the actor, was in,"" Gatto said. ""He used to be a juggler. We competed against each other. I took first, he took second. Now he's a big actor and here I am, juggling."" Gatto is being modest. In fact, he didn't audition for ""Kooza."" The show went looking for him. ""I have right now 11 juggling world records,"" he said. ""Some of them I've held since I was 16 years old and they have yet to be beaten."" Imagine a wearable disco ball. That's not too different from the form-fitting outfit Gatto wears onstage. Backstage, it's a long-sleeve T-shirt, gym shorts and sneakers. But there's nothing casual about his daily routine. He typically works out and practices six to seven hours a day to prepare for his 10 minutes in the spotlight. In fact, he is practicing until moments before he runs on stage. ""Juggling is something that is so delicate, you have to have a really good feel, you can lose that in minutes,"" he said. ""There are so many variables that can affect you. If it's a humid day, it's a very difficult task to get through the number that I do. The wind, if there's any air current in there and you're expecting to catch a ring and it blows an inch, you miss it."" But he rarely misses -- at least not in his act. This performer, who relies on coordination and concentration 350 shows a year, admits his most embarrassing moment has nothing to do with balls, clubs or rings. It's acting that trips him up. ""I have fallen as the delivery-man character in the show. In fact, I have done this a few times,"" he said. ""I like to think it's because I put my heart and soul into the characters I'm portraying."" Surrounded by all this talent and precision, there is some comfort in knowing one of the best -- maybe the best juggler in the world -- is also a klutz."
"Copiaco, Chile (CNN) -- The wife of one of the 33 men trapped 2,300 feet below ground in Chile gave birth Tuesday to a daughter, a relative said. Elizabeth Segovia, wife of Ariel Ticona, was recovering in a hospital after giving birth to a 4-kilogram (8.8 lbs.), 48-centimeter (19-inch) girl, said Ticona's sister, Veronica Ticona. The daughter was to have been named Carolina, but that plan was changed after the August 5 cave-in trapped her father, Veronica Ticona said. Nearly two weeks ago, Segovia got a handwritten letter from her husband -- sent through the 4-inch-wide hole that has served as an umbilical cord to the miners -- proposing they name their daughter Esperanza Elizabeth instead. Esperanza is Spanish for hope. ""First, because we never lost hope; second, because it's the name of the camp where the families are living; and third, because the 33 miners never lost hope either,"" Segovia said earlier in September. Esperanza is believed to be the first child born to any of the 33 men since they were trapped. Read the latest on the rescue efforts . In the 40 days that have followed, their contact with the outside world has been limited to what rescuers have been able to pass through the narrow hole that reaches into the cave ceiling. Ticona said her brother was told of the birth by a video conference system. ""He is very happy to be a father,"" she said. Segovia discovered that their child would be a girl by looking at a grainy ultrasound on August 4, the day before the mine collapse. ""My world just collapsed,"" she said earlier this month. ""I couldn't react. I just cried and cried."" But, she added, she forced herself to stop crying because doing so adversely affected her fetus. The tube to the mine has carried life-affirming news in both directions. A few days after seeing her daughter on grainy, flickering ultrasound images, Segovia saw her husband on grainy video that the miners shot by the flickering lights mounted on their mining helmets, then packed into the tube for the journey upward. With her daughter's arrival Tuesday, Segovia is now waiting for her husband's arrival in the months ahead. The couple also have two sons, ages 5 and 9. CNN's Karl Penhaul contributed to this story."
"(CNN) -- If you don't like mangoes, look away now. This article includes a ""mango"" word count well in excess of what is normally reasonable. It features mango culinary demonstrations, mango samplings, mango lectures, mango medics, a mango auction and even a mango summit. That's because I attended the International Mango Festival, held in the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Miami earlier this month. It's an annual event, one that draws enthusiasts, like myself, and also mango ""experts"" who gather to talk, taste and slurp their way around this sweetest, drippiest of fruits. I imagine most are still reading. After all, who doesn't like mangoes? The United States is the world's biggest importer of mangoes, buying in more than 300,000 tons of them in 2010, worth around $280 million, according to the UN's FAO figures. That's not as much bananas -- in the same year the U.S. imported more than 4 million tons of bananas, worth nearly $2 billion. But clearly we have a liking for this red-yellow fruit. My mission, I decided, was to try and discover if there is such a thing as a ""perfect"" mango, and if so, where I could find it. Hundreds of varieties . It's not as absurd a mission as you might think -- there are an estimated one thousand mango varieties grown around the world, the Fairchild Garden has a collection of 600 types, and they're all quite different. ""Surprisingly, only 20 of those are commercially traded,"" says Noris Ledesma, the curator of tropical fruit for Fairchild's Tropical Fruit Program. ""The most common are Tommy Atkins, Ataulfo, Kent and Keitt. With the exception of Ataulfo, which is from Mexico, all other varieties are from Florida."" Mangoes were introduced to the United States in the early 1900s by David Fairchild, the then manager of the Office of Seed and Plant Introduction of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. His global seed explorations brought thousands of seeds, plants and crops into the country, including the mango. Originally from South Asia, the mango moved to Africa, then South America and the Caribbean. Fairchild brought the mango into the U.S. from India. For Dr. Richard Campbell, director of horticulture and senior curator of tropical fruit at the Fairchild, mangoes are ""a special fruit that have everything: aromas, flavors, colors and culture. ""They bring out passion and appeal to the common man and to the most sophisticated."" So where should I start on my perfect mango mission? ""Mangoes from Indonesia do not taste the same as mangoes from India, Hawaii or Mexico. It's just geography,"" says Dr. Campbell. So perhaps I should start close by -- in Florida. Florida produces the majority of mangoes in the United States, and it turns out South Floridians are exceptionally confident with their mango selections. Local favorites . Standing in front of the one dollar line for the mango tasting and flavor evaluations, I ask festival attendee Stacey Griffin what she votes for. Her mango of choice is the Merritt, a complex mango from Florida with layers of flavors. Griffin's second choice goes to the Champagne mango, also known as the Ataulfo, from Mexico, with thick, buttery flesh and a thin pit. For Griffin, mangoes are great in all forms: hot, cold, as smoothies or in a cooked dish. For others, including myself, the choice is too overwhelming to make such an important decision so quickly. I wonder if there are tricks or techniques I should apply to come to a decision quicker. ""The best way to taste mango and to appreciate the complexity of the flavors is early in the morning with an empty stomach,"" says Ledesma. If you want to get really technical, which is exactly what festivals like this seem to thrive on, we can also argue over mango cultivation, pruning, crafting and market demand. The event features a long diary of workshops and displays and other proceedings on all things mango. I learn, for instance, that while India is the world's biggest producer of mangoes by some distance, Mexico is the biggest supplier to the United States, with China, India and Brazil following. That doesn't necessarily mean Mexico has the best mangoes, but the Champagne variety from Mexico is deliciously sweet with an appetizing orange color. Then there's the Keitt -- shining yellow and aromatic. There's the Manila from Philippines -- strong and sour. The Okrong from Thailand is also pleasant, while the Kent variety is rather grassy. Mangoes during the festival sell for the modest price of $1-2 each, but in Japan the price can go much higher. ""The Floridian mango sells for $80 a piece,"" says Ledesma. ""It's given as a gift because its red color is a symbol of luck and abundance."" Mango tastings don't have to involve the fruit in its pure form. Cut, cooked, creamed . Soon I find myself trying mango-based dishes like sticky rice with mango, mango ceviche and mango chutneys offered by local vendors and chefs. It all has a refreshing yet sweet flavor and the savory and spicy combinations intrigue me. Its versatility makes it easy-to-use in salads, dips, chutneys, smoothies and even bread. But even after dozens of tastings, I'm still looking at my notes unable to decide what makes a perfect mango. I seek alternative opinion once again. ""I definitely do not like Manila,"" says seven-year old son. ""It's super sour."" Dr. Campbell says it's almost impossible to decide what the ""best"" mango is. But that doesn't stop him picking one out. ""My favorite is the Edward because I grew up with it, I have it in my backyard,"" says Campbell. ""It is safe and it reminds me of home."" After two days of exploration, numerous tastings and various conversations I finally decide on a favorite: I opt for the Fairchild mango from Panama, named after David Fairchild. It's smooth, creamy and fragrant, its bold sweetness is addictive and I'm intrigued by the color. It's just a shame my choice means excluding so many delicious others."
"(CNN) -- London may be the center of attention this summer, but venture beyond the Olympic Stadium and you'll find the real British Isles, a world of ancient thatched cottages, monumental castles, elegant university towns and jagged peaks. You won't have to travel far to see why the British landscape so inspired the Romantic poets, why A-listers flee the city for tiny medieval villages and why a pint in a pub selling hammers and nails tastes finer than any other on Earth. England: The Cotswolds . For a slice of picture-postcard England, the Cotswolds make an easy excursion from London but feel half a world away. The wool trade boomed in these rolling hills in medieval times and today the region is littered with achingly pretty villages, elegant old mansions, graceful churches and atmospheric pubs, most largely unchanged for centuries. Wander between rows of honey-colored almshouses and thatched cottages, browse the antiques shops or stop for a cream tea and you'll feel transported back in time. Away from the tourists in Burford and Broadway you'll find quieter spots such as Chipping Campden with its long curving high street. Leading members of the arts and crafts movement were so enamored by the town they made it their home in the early 20th century, and their founder, William Morris, settled in nearby Kelmscott in a gloriously unassuming riverside mansion. Another hidden gem, Painswick, lies to the west with its elegant rows of medieval terraced housing and wonderful rococo gardens. For the best pint, head to the Falkland Arms in Great Tew, a place so special I barely wish to share it. England: Cambridge . Soaked in history and riddled with historic buildings, the university town of Cambridge exudes a dreamy air of Old World sophistication. The august colleges, hushed quadrangles, manicured lawns and cobbled laneways give way to ""The Backs,"" a stretch of picturesque gardens bordering the meandering River Cam. Cambridge is an exclusive kind of place where gowned cyclists ply the streets and the academic elite debate life-changing questions in dimly lit pubs. You can visit many of the University's 31 colleges, but don't miss the extraordinary King's College Chapel. Its mesmerizing fan-vaulted ceiling is best appreciated during Evensong when you can listen to the college's celebrated choir as you ponder your place in the universe. Art lovers should follow up the grand neoclassical Fitzwilliam Museum with the unassuming Kettle's Yard, a treasure trove of 20th-century art, ceramics and sculpture. For the quintessential Cambridge experience, hop on a chauffeur-driven punt to the sleepy village of Grantchester. Once a favorite haunt of the influential Bloomsbury Group of writers, intellectuals and artists, this is the place for afternoon tea at the tranquil Orchard Tea Garden. From Cambridge, it's a short trip north to the charming town of Ely and its magnificent cathedral, whose soaring towers dominate the flat marshy fenland that surrounds the town. England: Lake District . England's largest protected outdoor playground, the Lake District National Park, is a wild and winsome place full of craggy peaks, glittering lakes and moody fells. For walkers and climbers, there's a wealth of routes from which to choose. Try the Langdale Pikes, a chain of rugged hills offering spectacular views or for something less taxing, the Borger Dalr route. The region provided ample inspiration for some of England's finest writers and poets, and today you can follow the William Wordsworth trail from his childhood home in Cockermouth to tiny Dove Cottage in Grasmere, and the more tranquil Rydal Mount in Ambleside, where you can sit in the house where he once tested his verse. Beatrix Potter's bucolic 17th-century farmhouse, Hill Top, is also here and scenes straight from her books lie around every corner. Many of the main sights get extremely busy, as do cruises on the largest lake, Windermere. Instead head for Coniston Water, where a trip on the restored 19th-century Steam Yacht Gondola offers captivating views of the surrounding hills and drops you off at Brantwood, the fascinating former home of John Ruskin, Victorian art critic, philosopher and philanthropist. Scotland: The Highlands and Islands . Big skies, craggy mountains, steely-gray lochs and cascading falls, the majestic, wild expanses of the Scottish Highlands are every bit as romantic as their celluloid reputation. The grand vistas, lonesome castles and isolated pubs where you can warm yourself by a peat fire, sip a dram of whisky and put the world to right are all just waiting to be explored. You can hike, bike, ski and fish, feast on seafood, dance a jig or even toss a caber (a large wooden pole thrown as a test of strength during the traditional Highland Games). The mercurial landscape of the Cairngorms National Park makes an excellent place to start. Sculpted by glaciers and home to golden eagles, wildcats and red deer, the ancient forests and bleak moorland here are simply spectacular. For pure romance, head to Eilean Donan Castle. Perched on a rocky islet on the edge of Loch Duich, it is one of Scotland's most iconic sights. Nearby is the glorious Isle of Skye or head for the Hebrides to marvel at the mysterious standing stones at Callanish and dip your toes in the azure waters off Lewis and Harris. Possibly Scotland's most spectacular setting though is on far-flung Orkney, where you'll find the wonderfully preserved Skara Brae. The village, which predates the Egyptian pyramids, remains a testament to the ingenuity of the people of the day. Wales: Snowdonia and North Wales . North Wales is one of the country's most spectacular and traditional regions. Its high mountains and rough terrain deterred waves of invaders over the years, and its finest landscapes are protected as part of Snowdonia National Park. Snow-capped mountains, tumbling rivers, Stone Age burial chambers and Roman forts all lurk here. It's an excellent spot for gentle hiking or challenging climbs but rather than tackle the busy Mount Snowdon, head instead for Cader Idris, a legendary peak said to be an entrance to the underworld. Capel Curig makes a good base for walkers and climbers, but history buffs should head to one of the magnificent medieval castles that dot the area. The intimidating fortresses at Harlech, Beaumaris, Conwy and Caernarfon jointly form a UNESCO World Heritage Site and are intriguing places to explore. Alternatively, catch the dramatic Ffestiniog Railway to the slate mines at Blaenau Ffestiniog to learn about the human side of Wales' industrial heritage. A short trip south and you enter an entirely different world at the whimsical Italianate village of Portmeirion. Set on a tranquil peninsula, this bizarre enclave was the brainchild of Welsh architect Sir Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis. Ireland: Kerry . Gorgeously green and incredibly friendly, the lush scenery and unique atmosphere of Kerry have made it one of Ireland's most popular regions. Here, emerald forests drip with moss, dramatic peaks lie shrouded in mist and water trickles everywhere. Head out from the tourist honeypot of Killarney around the Ring of Kerry with its glorious views, sandy beaches and ancient ruins. It's a busy route in summer and the best way to leave the crowds behind is to take a trip to the early Christian monastery of Skellig Michael. Seven miles offshore and up 600 steep steps, you'll find the 6th-century beehive huts of what was once one of Europe's most remote religious communities. The sense of isolation here is humbling, and the views are nothing short of spectacular. Alternatively, you could take a trip in a pony and trap across the beautiful Gap of Dunloe which is flanked by Ireland's highest mountains, the McGillycuddy's Reeks. Whatever you do, don't miss the Dingle Peninsula with its vast stretch of golden sand at Inch, scenic Conor Pass and beguiling eponymous town where you can down a pint in the wonderfully atmospheric Dick Mack's pub/hardware store. Northern Ireland: the Causeway Coast . Northern Ireland's troubled reputation has been hard to shake off, but wander this way and you'll be rewarded with the peace and tranquility of a place the world has yet to discover. Beyond Belfast's black taxi tours, urban regeneration and stunning new Titanic experience, the biggest draw is the otherworldly Giant's Causeway. Here, more than 38,000 interlocking basalt columns form a patchwork of stepping stones that stretch out into the sea. This extraordinary landscape marks the start of the legendary Finn McCool's bridge to Scotland, although a rival theory suggests it's merely a geological phenomenon formed 50 million to 60 million years ago. From here the beautiful Causeway Coast stretches in both directions. Head east to reach Carrick-a-Rede, where a narrow swaying rope bridge connects the mainland to a little island traditionally known for its salmon fishing, or go west to the dramatic ruins of Dunluce Castle. Perched on a clifftop, the fortress partly collapsed into the sea in 1639 and today a narrow bridge forges the gap between the main castle and its courtyard. Alternatively, you could just hop on the historic train line to Bushmills, where you'll find the world's oldest legal distillery."
"New York (CNN) -- The mayor of Newark has called for an investigation into a far-reaching New York Police Department surveillance program that was allegedly conducted in the New Jersey city's Muslim's neighborhoods. ""The Newark Police Department was not involved in joint operations with the New York Police Department as was described in the disclosed NYPD report,"" Mayor Cory Booker said Wednesday, referring to a leaked internal New York police document that allegedly detailed police surveillance of Muslim-owned business and mosques across the city. ""I strongly believe that we must be vigilant in protecting our citizens from crime and terrorism but to put large segments of a religious community under surveillance with no legitimate cause or provocation clearly crosses a line,"" he said. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie also called the development ""disturbing"" and has asked the state's attorney general to investigate. The 60-page report, first obtained by The Associated Press, showed maps of Newark and photographs of Muslim residences and mosques. There was no statement in the document regarding terrorism or criminal activity. The New Jersey mayor's statement comes a day after New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended the extent of police surveillance against critics who have suggested authorities went too far. ""We have to keep this country safe,"" the mayor told reporters, addressing questions about a separate report, also leaked to AP, that indicated the New York police were closely monitoring Muslim student associations in schools across the Northeast. ""If people put things on websites and make them available to everybody, of course the NYPD is going to look at anything that's publicly available in the public domain,"" Bloomberg said. ""And given we've had a dozen people arrested or convicted of terrorist acts who've come from similar organizations, we have an obligation to do so."" That report said police have tracked websites, and on one occasion sent an undercover officer with students from the City College of New York on a whitewater rafting trip. ""The police department goes where there are allegations,"" Bloomberg said. But Yale University President Richard Levin described New York's surveillance program as ""antithetical to the values"" of the New Haven, Connecticut, university and those of the nation. When a reporter asked if police had gone too far by sending the agent on the rafting trip, Bloomberg responded, ""No."" Police spokesman Paul Browne told CNN that his agency does not monitor students directly but confirmed it monitors websites they use. ""In any case where you see an NYPD officer present, it's an indication that we were looking at an individual,"" he said. The Columbia University Muslim Students Association condemned the police practice in a statement this week. ""We are concerned that news reports about NYPD's presence on our campus have a chilling effect on the intellectual freedom necessary for a vibrant academic community,"" it read. In December, a prominent group of Muslim leaders boycotted Bloomberg's annual interfaith breakfast in protest of the controversial program. The move stemmed from a series of earlier news reports that raised questions about the nature of a CIA partnership with the New York police that allegedly helped to build city intelligence programs to spy on Muslims. The boycott stood in a stark contrast to the goodwill the mayor earned among Muslim leaders when he defended plans for a controversial Islamic community center near the former site of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan. The CIA later announced its internal watchdog found no issue or evidence of wrongdoing in the spy agency's partnership with New York police."
"(CNN) -- Bayern Munich coach Louis Van Gaal has signed a one-year contract extension with the German champions. The Dutchman's current deal was due to expire at the end of the Bundesliga season but the club confirmed on Monday that Van Gaal's new contract will take him through until June 2012. Bayern won the title last season but have endured a tough start to the current campaign. They are sitting ninth in the table after losing two of their opening six games and were defeated at home by league leaders Mainz on Saturday. But chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge told the club's official website that they were keen for the coach to stay despite Bayern's patchy form. ""I always prefer doing things which might not have been expected,"" he said. ""People are always extending contracts after victories, so this sends out a very good signal to the world at large about our opinion of the coach's value, even though we lost to Mainz."" Speaking ahead of Bayern's Champions League tie with Swiss team FC Basel on Tuesday, Van Gaal said: ""My first priority is always the sporting perspective. Winning things is always important, and you can win things with a top club like Bayern Munich."" The 59-year-old led Bayern to the Champions League final for the first time since 2001 last season, where they were beaten 2-1 by Inter Milan, then coached by Jose Mourinho. Van Gaal said his ""outstanding"" relationship with his playing staff and the board were major factors in his decision to commit. He added: ""I couldn't wish for anything better. The chemistry's right. You get to know each other properly in difficult situations. We're seeing it again right now. ""These are tough times, but the board is keeping the faith -- the faith which took us to the Champions League final in Madrid."" Rummenigge said Bayern valued their coach highly: ""He does a superb job every day. We're recognizing that with this contract extension."" Bayern's captain -- Dutch midfielder Mark van Bommel -- welcomed the news. He said: ""The coach signing a new deal is a very good sign. He's doing a great job."" One of Germany's stars of the World Cup, Thomas Muller, echoed the comments of his captain. ""Van Gaal been extremely important for me so far, he's made a huge contribution to my career. That settles the matter, which is good for him, for us and for the club as a whole."""
"(CNN) -- Two leading Jewish watchdog groups are denouncing a prominent cartoonist's illustration about Israel's offensive in Gaza, saying it uses anti-Semitic imagery. The cartoon was published Wednesday in newspapers and on the Internet. The Anti-Defamation League, which has been fighting anti-Semitism since it was founded in 1913, called the syndicated cartoon by Pulitzer Prize-winning Pat Oliphant ""hideously anti-Semitic."" The Simon Wiesenthal Center, which, among other things, fights anti-Semitism and educates people about the Holocaust, said ""the cartoon mimics the venomous anti-Semitic propaganda of the Nazi and Soviet eras."" Published Wednesday in newspapers and on the Internet, the cartoon shows the small figure of a woman, labeled Gaza, carrying a child. She is being pursued by a headless, jackbooted figure wielding a sword, marching in an apparent goose-step and pushing a fanged Jewish star on a wheel. The Anti-Defamation League said the cartoon used ""Nazi-like imagery"" and a ""hateful evocation of the Star of David."" Abraham H. Foxman, the ADL's national director, said the cartoon's ""outlandish and offensive use of the Star of David in combination with Nazi-like imagery is hideously anti-Semitic."" ""It employs Nazi imagery by portraying Israel as a jack-booted, goose-stepping headless apparition,"" Foxman said. ""The implication is of an Israeli policy without a head or a heart. Israel's defensive military operation to protect the lives of its men, women and children who are being continuously bombarded by Hamas rocket attacks has been turned on its head to show the victims as heartless, headless aggressors."" The Wiesenthal Center, which also issued its statement Wednesday, said it urged The New York Times Web site and other Web sites to remove the cartoon. ""There is nothing about Oliphant's cartoon not meant to denigrate and demonize the Jewish state, from the headless goose-stepping soldier to the horrific depiction of the Star of David about to devour a cowering innocent Gazan woman holding a baby,"" Rabbi Marvin Hier, the group's dean, and Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the group's associate dean, said in a joint statement. ""The imagery in this cartoon mimics the venomous anti-Semitic propaganda of the Nazi and Soviet eras. It is cartoons like this that inspired millions of people to hate in the 1930's and help set the stage for the Nazi genocide,"" the statement said. A spokeswoman for Universal Press Syndicate, which distributes Oliphant's work, issued a statement defending him, saying he, ""like all editorial cartoonists, uses his art to comment on important issues of the day widely reported in the worldwide media -- in this case, the conflict over Gaza. That his cartoons sometimes spark intense debate is a testament to his talent."" Universal said no media outlet had informed the syndicate that it removed the cartoon, but ""Oliphant's clients are not contractually bound to inform us."" A New York Times spokeswoman said, ""We did not run the cartoon in the newspaper, nor do we plan to do so."" She said NYTimes.com has, by contract with uclick.com, an ""Oliphant"" button on the cartoons page. ""Yesterday, those who clicked on it saw the cartoon you mentioned, which is now relegated to the Oliphant archive,"" she said. Imagery and rhetoric comparing Israel to Nazis have been deployed by Israel's persistent critics, who decry the Jewish state's treatment of Palestinians as oppressive and brutal. Israel and its supporters defend the state as humane and say it has properly defended itself against attacks. There has been sharp criticism of Israel's offensive against Hamas militants in Gaza who launched rockets into southern Israeli towns. Human Rights Watch said Wednesday the Israeli military's firing of white phosphorus shells over densely populated areas during the offensive ""was indiscriminate and is evidence of war crimes,"" a claim denied by Israel. Israel has said that Hamas militants situated themselves among civilians during the offensive. Oliphant, who won the Pulitzer in 1967, has been a dominant figure in the editorial cartoon world. His work has been distributed since 1980 by Universal Press Syndicate, which calls the Australian native one of the ""sharpest, most daring practitioners"" among editorial cartoonists. He has received many honors, and his cartoons have been exhibited across the world. ""In 1998, the Library of Congress commemorated the acquisition of 60 of his works with a special exhibition at the Library's Great Hall,"" according to an Oliphant biography on the Universal Web site. This isn't the first time Oliphant's cartoons have drawn criticism. The American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee in 2005 ""wrote to the San Francisco Chronicle and Universal Press Syndicate to communicate concern over racist depictions of Arabs,"" according to the group's Web site, and the Asian American Journalists Association criticized offensive stereotypes in cartoons in 1999, 2001 and 2007. Debates over offensive editorial cartoons are not uncommon. Keith Woods, dean of faculty at the Poynter Institute, a journalism school in St. Petersburg, Florida, was asked to comment on the reaction to the cartoon, whether the cartoon was improper, and at what point in the editorial process an editor can say a product has gone too far. He said he understands the positions the Jewish groups and Israeli policy critics bring to the table. He said he believes Oliphant is saying that ""Israel is behaving toward the Palestinians the way the Nazis behaved toward the Jews"" and that he is stating an opinion shared by many in the Middle East and the world. ""I believe that like the caricatures they are, editorial cartoons by their nature exaggerate their messages, so I don't think Oliphant is suggesting a one-to-one comparison. So I get the message, instead, that Israel is acting brutally toward the Palestinians."" He also believes the ADL and the Wiesenthal Center ""are saying that the cartoon is at least doing unintentional harm (if not more calculated harm)."" ""I see their point. There are symbols -- and the Nazi extermination of the Jews is surely one of them -- that can only truly be analogized to their equals. Unadulterated evil compared with unadulterated evil. Israel's ongoing battles with its Arab neighbors may be many things, but it is not The Final Solution."" As for the question of how news organizations should handle and discuss such a cartoon, Woods said that ""Oliphant clearly has the right to provoke or offend. The question for him is: Do you truly wish to conflate a complex, historic conflict with one of the most evil acts in history? And for the newspapers that carry the cartoon -- and their behavior here is equally open to critique -- do you wish to perpetuate such a comparison?"""
"It should have been a great morning for Richie Incognito. A brand new black Ferrari was delivered to his Florida house on Tuesday. Instead he is at the center of national media attention and exiled from his NFL team after a Miami Dolphins teammate made allegations of misconduct against him. Dolphins coach Joe Philbin suspended Incognito on Sunday night. ""You know, I'm just trying to weather the storm right now. And this will pass,"" he told CNN affiliate WSVN outside a doctor's office in Weston, Florida, on Tuesday. Incognito said he didn't want to comment on media reports that he sent line-mate Jonathan Martin voice mails containing racial slurs and threats of physical violence. When asked about his status with the team, Incognito closed the door to his car without answering and drove away. ESPN, NFL.com and other media outlets reported that representatives for Martin on Sunday submitted the voice mails and texts to the league and the Dolphins. One of the messages, from April, contained a reference to Martin's biracial background, according to ESPN's sources. ""Hey, wassup, you half (expletive) piece of (expletive). I saw you on Twitter, you been training 10 weeks. I'll (expletive) in your (expletive) mouth. I'm gonna slap your (expletive) mouth, I'm gonna slap your real mother across the face (laughter). (Expletive) you, you're still a rookie. I'll kill you."" Philbin told reporters on Monday he made the decision to suspend Incognito ""based on the information that I had at that time."" He didn't give a reason for the move. Martin left the team suddenly last week and has not commented publicly on why he walked away in the middle of the season. He remains on the team's roster (meaning he will be paid for this week), though last week he was listed as inactive with an ""illness."" Also Tuesday, celebrity gossip website TMZ posted a video of Incognito at a bar, shouting at the top of his lungs while pacing wildly around a pool table topless. He uses profanity and the N-word in referring to one of his teammates who is also there. Martin doesn't appear in the video and TMZ only said the video was recorded earlier this year. CNN reached out multiple times to representatives for each player but hasn't received comment. Richie Incognito, Jonathan Martin, and the NFL's future . Cafeteria incident sparked departure . Last week, the Dolphins announced Martin had taken ""a leave of absence."" Philbin said Martin left the team after an incident at the team's cafeteria. Jay Glazer, an NFL analyst for FoxSports.com, reported that some of his teammates got up from a lunch table as a joke when Martin sat down. The lineman threw his food tray hard to the ground, he reported. Glazer later tweeted the incident was a final straw for Martin. The coach said representatives for Martin contacted the team on Sunday with their concerns. The Dolphins spent Sunday gathering information, after which he suspended Incognito, Philbin said. Several media outlets said Martin had left the Dolphins because of bullying, something Incognito denied on Twitter. ""Shame on you for attaching my name to false speculation,"" one of the tweets said, according to Bleacher Report. That tweet and others addressed to various media outlets were later deleted. A post from Sunday remained a day later: ""Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth -- Buddha."" Philbin said he met with Martin and also talked with members of his family before Sunday, and the second-year player didn't say anything about player misconduct. The team said Sunday in a statement that Incognito, a nine-year veteran at offensive guard, was suspended for detrimental conduct. ""We believe in maintaining a culture of respect for one another and as a result we believe this decision is in the best interest of the organization at this time,"" the team said in a statement on its website. The Miami Herald reported that a Dolphins source said Incognito is ""done"" with the team. A Dolphins spokesman had no comment. 'Teddy bear off the field' Chris Draft played with Incognito when both were with the St. Louis Rams in 2007 and 2008. Incognito's on-field aggressive persona was nothing like his personality away from the playing field, Draft said. ""He was really kind of a big teddy bear off the field. My wife actually loved him,"" he said. The Sporting News takes a yearly poll of NFL players, and in 2009 they dubbed Incognito the dirtiest player in the league. The Rams released Incognito in December 2009 after an argument during a game with then-head coach Steve Spagnuolo. He played with the Buffalo Bills for three games before joining the Dolphins. Incognito, who played in the Pro Bowl all-star game in January, appeared to have calmed down on the field, according to a profile on NFL.com. Incognito pointed to meditation as a positive tool he used. The NFL will review the case, league spokesman Greg Aiello said Monday. ""I will tell you that if the review shows that this is not a safe atmosphere I will take whatever measures are necessary to assure that it is,"" Philbin said. ""I have that obligation to the players that I coach on a daily basis."" The NFL Players Association has said the union has not started an investigation. NFL's pecking order . Dolphins rookie Will Davis said he hasn't experienced any acts of bullying or hazing. ""I think a lot of people think of hazing as being cruel, but I don't see anything like that in this locker room,"" he said. ""But it depends on how you take hazing. I've always thought the guys in here were great."" He said everyone on the team loves Incognito. ""I was shocked,"" he said. Wide receiver Mike Wallace said there was a lot of respect for both players. ""I know both of those guys personally,"" he said. ""I feel like they are both good guys."" Former Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder told ""Piers Morgan Live"" that a locker room is often a place where players are trying to establish a pecking order. People cannot compare it to working at a regular job, he said, because it involves physically aggressive men with big egos competing and trying to prove their manhood. NFL players are ""a bunch of testosterone-filled alpha males who are trying to find their place on the totem pole,"" he told Morgan. He said when Incognito joined the team, he would test people to see where he stood with them. ""He is a guy that needs to know his place with you,"" Crowder said. Incognito also apparently liked to play pranks. In a segment shown on an HBO series that follows one NFL team during each preseason, Incognito figured out a teammate's iPad password. He then teased the player about a status update he made for the player and joked about the player's fiancee. ""Hard Knocks"" has given audiences a look inside team dynamics, sometimes giving viewers a glimpse at life for rookies. And inevitably some of the younger players get hazed. Hazing on the decline? Still, former Dolphins running back Ricky Williams said it occurs less frequently in the NFL than most people think. ""Really I haven't seen much hazing,"" he said in an interview on ""The Lead with Jake Tapper."" He said it's a well-known ""rite of passage"" for a high draft pick to pick up a big dinner bill for some other players on the team. ""Once you sign that contract there's a lot of rules, written and unwritten, that you are expected to follow,"" he said. ""For me, this is something that should be handled internally. I don't think the media, I don't think fans, I don't think anyone outside is really in a position to really fully understand what occurs inside of a locker room and inside of a football team."""
"(CNN) -- Was it George Zimmerman or Trayvon Martin who screamed for help the night the 17-year-old Martin was shot dead? That could depend on which mother the jury believes. Both Zimmerman's and Martin's mothers expressed no hesitation Friday in separate court appearances as to whose panicked voice is heard screaming during a 911 call from that February 26, 2012, night in Sanford, Florida: Each said it was her son. That contradiction -- with Sybrina Fulton insisting it was her son, Trayvon, who cried out, while Gladys Zimmerman said it was her son, George, who was yelling after being attacked by the teen -- was central to Friday's court proceedings, and central to the second-degree murder case unfolding in central Florida. Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty and claimed he shot the teenager in self-defense. The 911 call played twice in court on Friday, his lawyers claim, back up their assertion that it was Martin, and not their client, who was the aggressor. Testifying late Friday afternoon, Gladys Zimmerman said she was sure George was the one yelling. Why? ""Because he's my son."" She answered ""all of the above"" when asked whether she had ever before heard her George Zimmerman laugh loudly or cry out for help. This instance, though, Gladys Zimmerman admits was different. ""I haven't heard him like that before,"" she said as her son wiped away tears in the courtroom. ""The anguish, the way that he is screaming it describes to me anguish, fear, I would say terror."" Contrast that to the very different story offered a few hours earlier by Sybrina Fulton, who was stoic as prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda played the 911 call. When asked whether she recognized the screaming voice, the mother -- who earlier stated that her son was ""in heaven"" -- said it was that of ""Trayvon Benjamin Martin."" Trayvon Martin shooting: Fast Facts . Defense attorney Mark O'Mara followed up by asking her, ""As his mother, there was no doubt it was him screaming?"" She replied: ""Absolutely."" O'Mara then raised the possibility her son, not Zimmerman, was to to blame. ""You certainly hope, as a mom, that your son Trayvon Martin would not have done anything that led to his death, correct?"" he asked. ""What I hoped for,"" said Fulton, ""is that nothing happened and he'd still be here. That's my hope."" Parents' comments pivotal, or do they cancel each other? More than a year ago, the tale of what happened between Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman captured the nation's attention and shone a spotlight on gun laws as well as race -- given that Martin is African-American, while Zimmerman is Hispanic. Moreover, the case prompted some to question Florida's ""Stand Your Ground"" law, which gives a person facing a ""presumption of fear of death or great bodily harm"" extra protections should they respond with force instead of retreat. Ultimately, Zimmerman chose not to utilize that specific defense. The trial kicked off nearly two weeks ago with impassioned opening arguments. The prosecution suggested Zimmerman, whom they painted as a neighborhood watch volunteer who overstepped his bounds, had ""profiled"" Martin because he was black. They called to the stand the 911 dispatcher who told Zimmerman not to follow Martin, though he did anyway. Then there were crime scene and autopsy photos. And of course, there was the testimony of Rachel Jeantel, who said she'd been on the phone with her friend Trayvon Martin in the minutes before his death. She testified that she'd heard Martin call out, ""Why are you following me for?"" and then say, ""Get off,"" before their call was cut off. Jeantel has been described as the defense's star witness. That may still be true. But in many ways, Friday was the most emotional and potentially pivotal day in the trial to date. O'Mara isn't disputing that latter assertion. He told CNN's Brooke Baldwin on Friday night that ""once the jury decides who was screaming for help (on the 911 call), if they can, I think everything else falls in line."" Speaking to CNN, O'Mara says he doesn't dispute that Fulton genuinely believes it was her son's voice. But so does Gladys Zimmerman of her own son, the defense lawyer says, arguing that ""all the other evidence would suggest"" that the screaming voice is indeed that of George Zimmerman. And even if not everyone sees it that say, O'Mara opined, it's possible each woman's testimony may cancel each other out. Opinion: Can Zimmerman win over the jurors? ""I think the jury is going to look at this and say both of these women just have to live with the belief that it is, in fact, their son,"" O'Mara said. ""And they are going to make a determination not based on what each mom says, but on the other evidence."" Daryl Parks, a lawyer for Martin's family, didn't entirely disagree -- telling CNN that he didn't think the case ultimately ""is going to hinge on whose voice you're hearing."" The six jurors, all women, will weigh both mother's credibility, others' testimony and a host of evidence. When all the testimony and presentations are over, Parks said, he expects they'll agree on a verdict: guilty. He said, ""At the end of the day, we do not believe that George Zimmerman had to pull out a gun and shoot Trayvon Martin in the heart."" Defense challenges medical examiner . Sybrina Fulton and Gladys Zimmerman weren't the only members of their respective families to take the stand Friday. Jahvaris Fulton, Martin's older brother, testified Friday morning about the voice on the 911 call. The 22-year-old college student said he was certain that it was his brother, even as he added that he had ""heard him (Martin) yell"" before, but ""not like that."" Hours later, it was Jorge Meza's turn. He testified right after Zimmerman's mother. A deputy sheriff in Orange County -- which is just south of Sanford, both in central Florida -- he's also George Zimmerman's uncle. He said he originally heard the 911 call on TV and without any further information or prompts, immediately recognized his nephew's voice. The other highlight of Friday's court proceedings was the testimony of Voluscia and Seminole County associate medical examiner Shiping Bao. In Zimmerman's trial, it's a jury of millions . Bao said the muzzle of Zimmerman's gun was likely in loose contact with Martin's clothing, indicating that the teen was shot at close range. In testimony that at times turned contentious, Bao also said Martin did not die right away after the gunshot. ""I believe he was alive for one to 10 minutes after he was shot. His heart was bleeding until there was no blood left,"" the medical examiner said as autopsy photos lingered on a courtroom screen, adding that Martin was ""suffering (and) in pain."" ""There is no chance he could survive. Zero."" During a contentious cross-examination, defense attorney Don West expressed doubts about the condition of Martin's body and clothing when it was examined, noting the victim was not moved from the scene for about three hours. Bao would not confirm that timeline -- despite West's repeated attempts to have him do so -- because he said he was not there. As the two disputed Bao's ability to establish a timeline, Judge Nelson interjected, telling the witness to ""please stop speaking so Mr. West can ask the next question."" Prepared notes that Bao was reading from also drew West's attention. When asked about them, Bao said, ""I typed out potential answers to your potential questions."" Bao objected to sharing his notes, telling the judge that they were private and no one had seen them. Despite his protests, Nelson allowed the papers to be copied and reviewed by lawyers from both sides. The notes revealed that Bao had changed his mind about a couple of issues: the amount of time Martin survived after being shot and whether the marijuana in the teenager's system was enough to affect him. West argued that the prosecution knew about these changes but didn't tell the defense. But Bao insisted that he did not tell anyone that he'd changed his opinion. The defense attorney pressed Bao, too, on the collection of Martin's clothes and scraping of his fingernails. The medical examiner, though, said he couldn't remember each detail and that he'd trusted that his technicians properly followed procedures. Late in Friday's court proceedings, O'Mara made his pitch for acquittal -- arguing that Zimmerman acted in self-defense; there was no direct evidence of ill will, hatred or spite surrounding Martin's killing; and that it was still unclear who could be heard screaming on the 911 call. There is ""no other reasonable hypothesis"" for what happened, the defense attorney argued, besides self-defense. The judge, though, denied the motion -- after which, around 5 p.m., the prosecution formally rested its case. CNN's Mariano Castillo and HLN's Grace Wong contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Mali and Ghana are through to the semifinals of the Africa Cup of Nations after both achieved hard-fought quarterfinal victories on Sunday. Barcelona midfielder Seydou Keita scored the winning spot-kick for Mali as they defeated co-hosts Gabon 5-4 on penalties after the match finished 1-1 after 120 minutes in Libreville. Meanwhile, an extra time winner from Andre Ayew proved enough for World Cup quarterfinalists Ghana to edge past Tunisia 2-1 in the second match in Franceville. Mali will now face Ivory Coast in the last four, while a semifinal showdown with Zambia now awaits Ghana. Gabon looked on course to reach the last four for the first time in their history when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang set up Eric Mouloungui for a 55th minute opener. And the scoreline remained that way until six minutes from time when Bordeaux striker Cheick Diabate turned and fired home an equalizer for Mali. With both sides scoring their first four penalties, Gabon's star player Aubameyang saw his spot-kick saved by Mali keeper Soumaila Diakite, leaving Keita to coolly slot home for Mali. Ghana continued their march towards a fifth Africa Cup of Nations title by seeing off a Tunisian side that ended the match with 10 men. Captain John Mensah opened the scoring for Ghana in the 10th minute, when he headed home a left-wing corner. Tunisia leveled three minutes before the break when Evian striker Sabeur Khalifa bravely headed in Zouhaier Dhaouadi's teasing cross from the right. But Ghana secured the victory after 101 minutes when Tunisia goalkeeper Aymen Mathlouthi dropped a harmless-looking cross for Ayew to roll home from five yards out. And Tunisia's hopes of getting back into the game were effectively ended when Aymen Abdennour was sent off for elbowing Ayew."
"(CNN) -- A second person who had been taken hostage at a rural Louisiana bank this week has died, a hospital official said Thursday. Laden McDaniel, a woman who police said was among three Tensas State Bank employees taken hostage on Tuesday, died at Rapides Regional Medical Center, according to Sarah Clancy of the Alexandria, Louisiana, hospital. Authorities said Fuaed Abdo Ahmed shot McDaniel and Jay Warbington as police stormed the bank in St. Joseph just before midnight Tuesday. Police shot and killed Ahmed, Louisiana State Police Col. Michael Edmonson said. He said the gunman had threatened to kill the hostages. Warbington died later, police said Wednesday. The third hostage had been freed before the shooting began. In 2012: Gunman wounded, ending French hostage incident . Ahmed had with him a book on torture and a bag with items he could use to torture people, state police Trooper Albert Paxton said Thursday. He also had a book on hostage negotiations, Paxton said. Police said Ahmed, 20, was known to police, and Edmonson described him as a paranoid schizophrenic. Ahmed told hostage negotiators that he heard voices and wanted to have a device removed from his head. Born in California, Ahmed moved with his family to northeastern Louisiana, where his family owns a convenience store, Edmonson said. The Mississippi River community of St. Joseph is about 35 miles south of Tallulah, Louisiana, and 35 miles north of Natchez, Mississippi. It is the seat of Tensas Parish, home to about 5,000 people. Ahmed entered the bank branch with a handgun around 12:30 p.m., and took the three bank employees hostage, according to officials. After word got out about the hostage situation, local, state and federal law enforcement agents descended on the usually quiet community. Law enforcement agents were able to talk to the hostages as well as the gunman. Edmonson said he talked to, and prayed with, relatives of the hostages. CNN's Ed Payne, Dave Alsup, Alina Machado, Greg Botelho and Joe Sutton contributed to this report."
"(TIME.com) -- As the assistant chef and the senior policy adviser for healthy-food initiatives at the White House, Sam Kass knows how to fill a plate to the first lady's approval. Recently, we caught up with Kass at Google's annual Think Health summit, where he spoke to health care leaders and innovators about his work with Michelle Obama on her Let's Move initiative to curb childhood obesity. So far, Kass said, the campaign has overhauled school lunches, replaced the government's food pyramid with the more consumer-friendly MyPlate, and encouraged pediatricians to write prescriptions for more fruits and veggies. ""Yet we've only scratched the surface of what's possible,"" he said. We asked Kass about everything, from what the United States is doing right in terms of healthy eating to what he's growing in the White House garden this season. What do you think has been the greatest breakthrough for the Let's Move campaign so far? There isn't one magic bullet for what's having the greatest impact -- there are all kinds of things we are doing and will continue to do. But I think what's really important is that we have unified the country around health. You believe we will see the greatest changes to national health when young kids start making healthy eating decisions for themselves. Are we seeing this transition yet? I see this all the time. We recently had the first ever Kids' State Dinner. There was china, butler service, the President and first lady were there -- the whole nine yards. It was amazing. Now these kids have gone back to their schools and communities and they're heroes. Why? Because they cooked some vegetables in a creative way and they used whole grains to make healthy dishes. They've started owning this for themselves, and it's what makes them great. We start seeing this everywhere, and that's what gives me great hope that we are really going to turn this around. TIME.com: Can laws against junk food in schools rein in child obesity? What are some of the simplest changes American families can make to their diets? There are a lot of little things that can be done. It's the first lady's experience that little changes can have huge impact. If families just filled half their plate with fruits and vegetables at dinnertime, it would have a transformative impact on their health. If we drank more water and low-fat dairy and nonsugary drinks, that would also have a transformative impact. Really any of the seven MyPlate tips, if we did any of those, we would really have a great impact. Sometimes it feels overwhelming. It feels like these problems are just so big, but in the end, the solutions can be quite small, approachable and doable. I think it's important to remember that. We need to break through and make sure parents have that kind of information they need and we can deliver it to them in ways that are useful. You trained under chef Christian Domschitz in Vienna. What can we learn from the way people eat abroad? I think there's a tremendous amount that we can all learn from the world. People are learning from us. American chefs are some of the greatest chefs in the world now. But of course we always have more to learn. I think what I've seen (abroad) is a love and care for food and the quality of ingredients. There's care taken in making sure people have time to prepare them properly with good portion sizes. TIME.com: Disney's diet: No more junk-food ads on kids channels . What are you growing in the White House garden right now? We are just ending summer and moving into fall, so we are just picking our last watermelons. Our tomatoes are still doing great. We have a lot of peppers, our zucchinis and yellow squash are just finishing up. We have a bunch of beans right now. And of course, pumpkins. We have the best pumpkin harvest of our time here by quite a lot. We will have a fun Halloween. What are some of the favorite meals in the White House? That's top-secret information. We balance. The first lady practices what she preaches, which is moderation. When we put out the MyPlate guide, she came in and said, ""We're cooking the MyPlate."" That's what we're doing. What she's always said to her kids, and throughout the Let's Move campaign, is that if we're eating balanced all the time, then when we go to a party and have pizza or cake, it's no problem. We all love fries and burgers and all that stuff. But we just can't have it day in and day out. That's when we run into trouble. What did you have this morning for breakfast? Today the Google team provided a healthy breakfast. In line with MyPlate, I had granola with low-fat yogurt and fruit. I'm also a big oatmeal guy. Oatmeal and bananas are pretty standard for me. TIME.com: The sad state of American kids' food environments . This article was initially published on TIME.com. Q&A with the White House chef on healthy eating . &copy 2012 TIME, Inc. TIME is a registered trademark of Time Inc.  Used with permission."
"ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Rawalpindi's police chief stopped doctors at the hospital where Benazir Bhutto died from conducting an autopsy, according to a lawyer on the hospital's board. In a video released Sunday, Benazir Bhutto, far right, appears through the sunroof before shots ring out. It was a violation of Pakistani criminal law and prevented a medical conclusion about what killed the former prime minister, said Athar Minallah, who serves on the board that manages Rawalpindi General Hospital. However, the police chief involved, Aziz Saud, told CNN that he suggested an autopsy be done, but that Bhutto's husband objected. The revelation came on Monday after new videotape of Bhutto's assassination emerged, showing her slumping just after gunshots rang out. The tape provided the clearest view yet of the attack and appeared to show that Bhutto was shot. That would contradict the Pakistan government's account. Read Bhutto's full medical report . A previously released videotape showed a man at the right of her vehicle raising a gun, pointing it toward Bhutto, who was standing in her car with her upper body through the sunroof. He fired three shots, then there was an explosion. In the video that emerged on Sunday, Bhutto was standing, and her hair and scarf appeared to move, perhaps from the bullet. Bhutto fell into the car, then came the blast.  Watch new tape showing apparent gunman » . These images seem to support the theory that Bhutto died at the hands of a shooter before a bomb was detonated, killing another 23 people. Doctors at Rawalpindi General Hospital declared the 54-year-old dead hours after Thursday's attack, but the cause of her death has been widely debated. Pakistan's Interior Ministry announced on Friday that Bhutto died from a skull fracture suffered when she fell or ducked into the car as a result of the shots or the explosion and crashed her head onto a sunroof latch.  See the likely sequence of events » . Bhutto's family and political party maintain that the government is lying, and insist she died from gunshot wounds. Bhutto's husband, in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Monday, called for an international investigation into his wife's death, saying the new video proves the Pakistani government ""has been trying to muddy the water from the first day."" ""Everything is now very clear that she was shot,"" Asif Ali Zardari said. Zardari also called on the U.S. government to push for an international probe. ""I want them to help me find out who killed my wife, the mother of my children,"" he said of the Bush administration. Javed Iqbal Cheema, spokesman for Pakistan's Interior Ministry, said the government's conclusion on Bhutto's death was based on ""absolute facts, nothing but the facts"" and ""it was corroborated by the doctor's report."" But Minallah issued an open letter on Monday and released the doctors' clinical notes to distance them from the government statement, and he also talked to CNN. In the letter, Minallah said the doctors ""suggested to the officials to perform an autopsy,"" but that Saud ""did not agree."" He noted that under the law, police investigators have ""exclusive responsibility"" in deciding to have an autopsy. Minallah told CNN that he was speaking out because the doctors at the hospital were ""threatened."" ""They are government servants who cannot speak; I am not,"" he said. He did not elaborate on the threats against the doctors. He said the lack of an autopsy has created ""a perception that there is some kind of cover-up, though I might not believe in that theory."" ""There is a state within the state, and that state within the state does not want itself to be held accountable,"" Minallah said. Cheema said the government had no objection to Bhutto's body being exhumed for an autopsy if the family requested it. Her widower has said the family was against exhumation because it did not trust the government. Minallah said the family could not have prevented an autopsy at the hospital without getting an order from a judge. The three-page medical report, which was signed by seven doctors, described Bhutto's head wound, but it did not conclude what caused it. It noted that X-ray images were made after she was declared dead. The wound was described as an irregular oval of about 5 centimeters by 3 centimeters above her right ear. ""Sharp bones edges were felt in the wound,"" it read. ""No foreign body was felt in the wound."" E-mail to a friend . CNN's Jomana Karadsheh contributed to this report ."
"Seoul, South Korea (CNN)It started with a first-class aviation executive throwing a fit on a flight over her nuts. It ended Thursday with that former executive sentenced to jail for one year. Heather Cho was working for Korean Air on December 5 when, as a first-class passenger on an international flight, an attendant served her macadamia nuts in a bag. Cho wanted them on a plate and demanded that the plane go back to the gate at New York's JFK airport so a crew member could be kicked off the flight. A South Korean judge said that her actions threatened the development of the aviation industry and inconvenienced passengers, and ruled that she violated aviation law, changed a flight path and interfered with operations. Cho had the chief steward removed from the flight after the plane had left the gate. The flight arrived 11 minutes behind schedule. A year in jail may seem just as extreme as freaking out over nuts. But the flight attendant testified that she was pressured by another Korean Air manager to keep quiet about Cho's behavior. Prosecutors said during her trial that there was a systematic attempt to cover up the incident. The judge blasted Cho for her conduct, saying that she had used the plane as if it were her personal car and that as a passenger, she could not override crew members and give orders during a flight. The case, dubbed ""nut rage,"" gripped South Korea, especially because Cho is the Korean Air chairman's daughter. There is growing resentment over the perceived privileges and nepotism for the families that control the country's top companies. Cho resigned as vice president at the company a few days after the incident and publicly apologized, saying she accepted ""full responsibility."" On Thursday, she appeared in court wearing a green prison uniform. She gazed downward. Her hair hung in her face. ""I don't know how to find forgiveness,"" she said. Park Chang-jin, the chief steward who was booted from the flight, has said the former executive treated crew members like ""feudal slaves."" Details of Cho's behavior on the flight have emerged. Park and Kim Do Hee, the flight attendant who served the nuts, had knelt in front of Cho in apology. Kim testified that Cho berated them about the service, and later shoved and cursed her. When the flight arrived in Korea, the flight attendant said another airline manager, Yeo Woon-jin, pressured her not to talk to investigators about Cho's physically abusing her and Park. Yeo was found guilty of interfering with an investigation. Following public fury over the December incident, Korean Air chairman Cho Yang-ho apologized to the flight attendants and the public. Asked in court in January if he knew that his daughter mistreated employees, he said, ""I just heard that she's strict with her workers."" CNN's KJ Kwon contributed to this report."
"(CNN Student News) -- Students will make educated predictions about how many electoral votes each presidential candidate will capture in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. Procedure . Have students review the origin, purpose and function of the Electoral College. Ask students: What is the ""winner take all"" system? Are there any states that do not follow this system? If so, how do they determine their electoral vote allocation? How many electoral votes are needed to win the presidency? Next, divide students into small groups and assign each group a current swing state in the 2008 presidential race. Consult the CNN Electoral Map Calculator for a list of swing states. Then, refer groups to online resources, including CNN's Election Center 2008 on the CNN Politics site, to identify the following for their assigned swing state: . After students complete their research, have each group analyze its data to determine which candidate it thinks will likely capture the swing state's electoral votes. Have each group present its prediction and the rationale behind it. Following the presentations, direct students to the CNN Electoral Map Calculator to log their predictions for all the U.S. states and calculate how many electoral votes they predict each presidential candidate will capture. Instruct students to create a chart and log their predictions for each U.S. state. After the election, compare students' predictions to the actual electoral vote outcome. Wrap up the activity by discussing the role of the Electoral College in determining the outcome of a U.S. presidential election. Correlated Standards . Civics . 9-12 Content Standards . II. What are the Foundations of the American Political System? A. What is the American idea of constitutional government? B. What are the distinctive characteristics of American society? C. What is American political culture? D. What values and principles are basic to American constitutional democracy? III. How Does the Government Established by the Constitution Embody the Purposes, Values, and Principles of American Democracy? A. How are power and responsibility distributed, shared, and limited in the government established by the United States Constitution? B. How is the national government organized and what does it do? V. What are the Roles of the Citizen in American Democracy? A. What is citizenship? B. What are the rights of citizens? C. What are the responsibilities of citizens? D. What civic dispositions or traits of private and public character are important to the preservation and improvement of American constitutional democracy? E. How can citizens take part in civic life? The National Standards for Civics and Government (http://www.civiced.org/index.php?page=stds) are published by the Center for Civic Education (http://www.civiced.org/). Social Studies . Standard X. Civic Ideals and Practices . Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of the ideals, principles, and practices of citizenship in a democratic republic. The Curriculum Standards for Social Studies (http://www.socialstudies.org/standards/strands/) are published by the National Council for Social Studies (http://www.socialstudies.org/). Keywords . U.S. presidential election, candidates, popular vote, Electoral College, campaigning ."
"(CNN)On what would have been the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 86th birthday, the Academy Awards decided to snub a beautiful film made about a seminal moment in his life. ""Selma"" did pick up two nominations, including one for best picture. But when the Hollywood gods consider a film to be truly great, its actors and/or actresses, screenplay and particularly its director are also recognized. ""Selma"" is a good film that told a great story, at least according to Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voters. Those voters are 93% white, 76% male and the average age is 63, according to a 2012 analysis by the Los Angeles Times. But did those demographics play a role in how ""Selma"" was received? True, the historical drama has been besieged by criticism over accuracy, particularly its portrayal of President Lyndon Johnson. In the film, King and Johnson are depicted as a lot more adversarial than the actual tapes of their conversation suggests. But it's hard to see that being the reason for its snub: ""Gravity"" was nominated for 10 Oscars, won seven, and yet you won't find an astronaut who would describe the film as accurate. And ""Dallas Buyer's Club"" was also a 2014 Oscar darling that sprinkled creative liberties all over a true story. Race could be invoked as a factor when you remember the email exchange between two top-level Sony executives that became public courtesy of  ""The Interview"" hack. In it they joked about the kind of movie President Obama prefers and then began listing only those starring black people. But the two were also unkind to Jeffrey Katzenberg in that same exchange. There were backstabbing remarks revealed in emails about Angelina Jolie and Adam Sandler as well. My point is -- and I'm sure I'm at risk of losing my black card for writing this -- when those same old, white men made ""12 Years A Slave"" a favorite of the Oscars just a year ago, it is hard to say the snubbing of ""Selma"" is all about the demographics of the voters. Some, sure. But all? Remember, these people live in a land of make believe, where it's normal for the inhabitants to be injected with silicone. Oscar snubbings could come from a thousand superficial reasons, like someone sleeping with or not sleeping with the right person at the right time. In a town full of gay men, the heart wrenching ""Brokeback Mountain"" somehow lost out to the woefully mediocre ""Crash."" Leonardo DiCaprio's trophy case continues to sit empty. And I will never understand how ""Shakespeare in Love"" beat ""Saving Private Ryan"" for best picture. Truth be told. my favorite film of 2014 was ""The Drop"" and I don't think that was nominated for anything by anyone. It would have been wonderful to see ""Selma"" director Ava DuVernay become the first black female director nominated for an Oscar. She is incredibly talented and it is always nice to be recognized by peers. But I do not need her to win an Oscar to tell me how I should feel about ""Selma."" I do not need the Academy to tell me how I should spend my money at the movies. I do not need old, white men to validate a story so deeply personal and relevant to me today. That's not to suggest Hollywood's racism should not be called out. Only that the true story of Selma is much more than calling out racism. To paraphrase the acceptance speech Common gave at the Golden Globes on Sunday, ""Selma"" the movie and Selma the historic marches are about the awakening of our humanity. The old guard at the Oscars has the power to snub ""Selma"" for whatever reason it sees fit. But as a summer full of marches for the fight for equality reminded us, Hollywood has neither the power to snub nor the authority to validate Selma."
"(CNN) -- In brief remarks to the media just after returning to her hometown of Seattle, an emotional Amanda Knox thanked those who believed in her and supported her fight to overturn her murder conviction in Italy. ""I'm really overwhelmed right now,"" said a tearful Knox, who arrived to cheering supporters at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. ""I was looking down from the airplane, and it seemed like everything wasn't real."" ""What's important for me to say is just thank you, to everyone who has believed in me, who has defended me, who has supported my family,"" she said, her voice shaking. Being with her family, she said, is ""the most important thing to me right now."" ""Thank you for being there for me,"" she said. Knox and her family were on a British Airways flight that landed in Seattle about 8:12 p.m. ET. Before beginning her remarks, Knox smiled and said, ""They're reminding me to speak in English, because I'm having problems with that."" An Italian appeals court on Monday overturned Knox's murder conviction in the 2007 death of her roommate, British student Meredith Kercher. Knox initially was sentenced to 26 years in prison. Knox's mother and stepfather, Edda and Curt Mellas, also thanked those who have supported their family, as well as the Italian attorneys who fought on her behalf. ""Meredith was Amanda's friend,"" said Philadelphia attorney Theodore Simon, who spoke at the news conference. Knox wants the Kercher family to be remembered, Simon said as Knox nodded and appeared to fight tears. Knox supporters in Seattle said they planned a rousing welcome. ""To Amanda herself, we say, 'Way to go, kid,' "" Tom Wright, founder of the group Friends of Amanda Knox, said Monday night. ""We look forward to welcoming you home with open arms and open hearts,"" Wright said, reading a statement. ""You have well deserved, and will well deserve, all the joy and warmth and fun of your normal life returned to you."" The statement also said that it was ""primarily a sad occasion,"" and that the group's ""deepest sympathies"" were with Kercher's family. CNN affiliate KOMO-TV reported that Wright was among a group of more than a dozen supporters who gathered at a hotel suite to watch the jury return its decision about Knox more than 5,000 miles away. Afterward, Margaret Ralph was among those crying tears of joy. Asked what she'll say when she sees Knox, Ralph told KOMO, ""I won't say anything. I'll just give her a big hug and kiss."" ""It was incredible,"" fellow supporter Kellanne Henry told KOMO, adding that it took a minute to absorb the news. ""They finally got it right,"" she said. Many Seattle residents took to social media to post messages. ""I am so happy this nightmare is over for you,"" Seattle resident Jenn Whitney wrote in a posting on one of several Facebook pages devoted to Knox. Whitney said she ""cried with joy"" when Knox's conviction was overturned. ""I pray that God brings you home safely,"" she added. ""If I had the chance to greet her when she lands back here in Seattle, the only thing I would do is hand her a rose, give her a hug and say 'welcome home!' "" Jeff Bamby posted. On another Facebook page, Tamara Slater wrote, ""Amanda you have been in the prayers of so many people, it must be heart warming to know you were never forgotten. Welcome home!"" CNN affiliate KIRO-TV reported that when staff went out to gauge reactions to the news out of Italy on Monday, ""We met just a few people in West Seattle who disagreed with Monday's ruling and thought that Knox was guilty."" Jordan Adams said he thought Knox was guilty, but he was willing to accept the decision to overturn the conviction. ""I did think she was guilty, but I guess, good luck to her since she's been freed and cleared,"" he told KIRO. Early Tuesday morning, a jogger who spotted a CNN crew in Seattle's Queen Anne Hill neighborhood stopped and yelled, ""Yay Amanda! Welcome home!"" But later, another resident walked up to a CNN crew to say that she could not ""care less about Knox returning home"" and that she believed Knox committed the crime. CNN's Josh Levs and Sandra Endo contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- On August 24, a jury of nine in a California federal court handed down a ruling that sent shockwaves through the global wireless phone industry. Samsung, the world's largest phone maker, was found guilty of infringing on key Apple hardware design and software elements. Samsung got Apple's attention because of its size, but every Android device manufacturer now needs to consider potential exposure areas that could put them in the crosshairs as Apple tries to slow Android growth. The appeals game will surely play out over the next many months. In the meantime, consumers will feel the pain as devices potentially get more expensive and software changes begin to creep into their Android smartphones. If appeals rulings uphold the initial verdict, the mobile ecosystem as we know it will look very different in one to two years. This would be driven by fundamental changes in the look and feel of non-Apple phone hardware, changes to the Android mobile operating system and potentially the emergence of a third popular mobile operating system. Smartphone market changes coming . Android phones account for 56% of the U.S. smartphone market. Friday's ruling was very sobering for the Android device manufacturers that have driven this growth. Until recently, smartphone design patent ownership seemed like a gray area. The court has now made it clear that, in fact, it is very black and white. All phone manufacturers will need to be a lot more careful from here on out when it comes to design, and patents they want to avoid, license or partner on. This could result in phones being more expensive for consumers. Over the next year, consumers lose in this equation. Android phone makers will be scrambling to develop temporary workarounds to steer clear of any potentially infringing Apple patents. The time spent working on these fixes will reduce time spent on development of new, innovative features. In the case of Samsung, it is likely the only device manufacturer with the resources and scale to develop and implement fixes rapidly, mitigating the immediate impact on consumers. If there are other phone makers in Apple's sights, they will be taking advantage of a much-needed head start to begin developing workarounds now to avoid a lawsuit. Sure, Android consumers could always turn to Apple, but some are turned off by the company's one phone per year release schedule and continued hesitancy to incorporate the latest mobile advances such as 4G and larger screens. Consumers who want to stay in the open and highly-customizable Android ecosystem could experience some temporary frustration. Creating the next iconic device . This ruling could prove to be the catalyst for major industry change. Smartphone product roadmaps are all but decided for the next year. Beyond that, every device manufacturer will be thinking outside of the ""rectangular slab form-factor"" box in an attempt to create the next big consumer trend. This will be easier said than done given that consumers have become accustomed to the current crop of devices. Device manufacturers know that consumers can't tell them what they want, they can only tell them what they don't want. This will result in phone makers traveling into unchartered territory in the hopes of capturing consumer attention and emotion. Choice will likely also come in the way of new mobile operating system platforms. It is no coincidence that Microsoft and Nokia's stock opened higher the day after the ruling. Apple stated during the trial that these companies have proven that it is possible to innovate in the smartphone market without copying Apple. Of course, Apple does have patent and design agreements with Microsoft and both companies have a mutual interest in slowing Android growth. As wireless carriers and device manufacturers seek to diversify their product lineup in the wake of the ruling, Microsoft might finally have its day in mobile. It is very likely that we'll eventually see a three horse mobile operating system race among Apple, Android and Microsoft. Short term is not pretty, but long term looks good . The short-term might not be pretty, but long-term, the industry is poised to break free from the homogenous rounded rectangular slabs with grid-based apps we're all familiar with today. This ruling will encourage accelerated innovation from device manufacturers, which will move beyond the constraints of a single form factor. Ultimately, the consumer will choose what designs will win and which implementation of hardware and software integration is most elegant. Today's constraints will define how the industry will innovate tomorrow. It might be a tough road, but there are promising days ahead. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Jefferson Wang."
"Washington (CNN) -- Macy Friday can't remember what she was thinking when -- mouth agape, eyes bugged -- she shook hands with Hillary Clinton in Denver this week. It all happened so fast, she says. What she does remember is the national response to the photo of her reacting with pure, unadulterated excitement to meeting the former secretary of state. Media outlets pounced on the story. The Washington Post captured the reaction perfectly, writing that Macy had a ""look on her face that has never been witnessed by anyone who is not a dad chaperoning a minivan full of teenagers at a One Direction concert."" But why was Macy so excited? What does she like about Hillary Clinton? And who else would she react that way to meeting? CNN spoke with Macy Friday over the phone Thursday. Here is our conversation: . CNN: How did you get to meet Hillary Clinton? Macy: I went to Union Station unsuspecting that she would come. I had seen her in the elections and I have heard a lot about her. I was just like, 'Wow.' I was excited because, I thought, she was saying hi to a lot of people. I didn't think she was going to say hi to me. They went into a coffee shop and we were like, 'Oh no, they are going to leave.' And then, she came out and she is like, 'Hey you.' And I didn't know who she is talking to. And then I realized it was me and I went up and I turned back at my family. (long pause) I had never met anybody famous before. (long pause) I turned back at my family and I, like, I, you know, made the face. CNN: What did you think about all the attention your photo received? Macy: Well, I love it. Because, well, it is not just because... I think Hillary Clinton is a a really good role model for girls of all ages and it [the reason she liked the attention] isn't just because it got a lot of cool places. I am just happy because people know that a younger girl still looks up to somebody like that. CNN: What is it about Secretary Clinton that you look up to? Macy: I like her because, like, she is running for president and a lot of people think that girls shouldn't be president because they are not as smart or they shouldn't have the same rights. And she is just a good role model for girls because, you know, she is just sort of, like, to everybody, 'Girls can be awesome, too.' [Editor's note: Clinton herself has said she has yet to make a decision on whether she will run for president.] . CNN: You are 10. When you were born, Hillary Clinton had been well known for 20 years. How much did you know about her when you met earlier this week? Macy: I didn't know, too, too, too much. I knew that she was the first lady for a while. And her husband is Bill Clinton. And her daughter Chelsea just had a baby. And her niece's name is Macy. And that is my name. And when I first went up to her, I said, 'Macy,' and she said that is one of her favorite names. CNN: Who are some other famous people you would be as excited to see as you were with Secretary Clinton? Macy: Oh gosh, well, Selena Gomez, Katy Perry, probably Michelle Obama and Barack Obama. Hmmm... Taylor Swift. Did I already say Taylor Swift? Probably One Direction. CNN: A local anchor in your hometown joked that you would be the first women president. Would you ever want to do that? Macy: Maybe! It is a really hard job. I think, I think, maybe. [Editor's note: Macy will be eligible to run for president in 2040.] . CNN: Do you think you could do it? Macy: Yeah! CNN: If Hillary Clinton runs for president, what would your advice be to her? Macy: I would say that even if you are different or you are a different gender, it doesn't matter what you look like. I don't know, like, if you wear glasses. Everybody can be awesome. CNN: If you could vote in 2016, would you vote for Secretary Clinton? Macy: Yes, totally. CNN: Thanks Macy... Macy: Thank you. And one more thing: Make sure if Finn [her 12-year old brother] does give you the permission to use the photo, give him photo cred! --- . (CNN did use the selfie that Finn took of his family and Clinton. And, yes, he did get the photo cred. Also, some question and answers were edited for clarity.)"
"(CNN) -- Michelin Travel Publications rolled out the results for New York City's 2015 Michelin Guide today, and 73 area restaurants earned one or more of the guide's highest honor - the Michelin star. The Michelin Guide, or Le Guide Michelin, originated in France in 1900 and has since offered its notes, recommendations and ratings on restaurants and hotels in select cities around the globe. It published its first New York City edition in 2005. World's 50 best restaurants for 2014 . The guide's recommendations are put together by a team of ""famously anonymous"" inspectors, who all must undergo strict training and sign confidentiality agreements before they can file reports on their assigned establishments. The ratings for the guide are as follows: . Three stars -- ""Exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey. One always eats here extremely well, sometimes superbly. Distinctive dishes are precisely executed, using superlative ingredients."" Two stars -- ""Excellent cuisine, worth a detour. Skillfully and carefully crafted dishes of outstanding quality."" One star -- ""A very good restaurant in its category. A place offering cuisine prepared to a consistently high standard."" Best restaurants in America are... Here is the full list (alphabetically in each category): . Three Michelin stars: . Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare . Eleven Madison Park . Jean-Georges . Le Bernardin . Masa . Per Se . Two Michelin stars: . Aquavit . Atera . Blanca . Daniel . Ichimura . Jungsik . Marea . Momofuku Ko . Soto . One Michelin star: . Ai Fiori . Aldea . Andanada . Aureole . Babbo . Batard . Betony . Blue Hill . Bouley . The Breslin . Brushstroke . Cafe Boulud . Cafe China . Carbone . Casa Enrique . Casa Mono . Caviar Russe . Danny Brown Wine Bar & Kitchen . Delaware and Hudson . Del Posto . Dovetail . 15 East . Gotham Bar and Grill . Gramercy Tavern . Hakkasan . Jewel Bako . Juni . Junoon . Kajitsu . Kyo Ya . La Vara . Lincoln . Luksus at Torst . Meadowsweet . Minetta Tavern . The Modern . The Musket Room . M. Wells Steakhouse . NoMad . Peter Luger . Picholine . Piora . Pok Pok NY . Public . The River Cafe . Rosanjin . Seasonal . Spotted Pig . Sushi Azabu . Sushi of Gari . Take Root . Telepan . Tori Shin . Torrisi Italian Specialties . Tulsi . Wallse . Zabb Elee . ZZ's Clam Bar ."
"(CNN) -- FACETIME: Ghassan Hasbani, CEO International Operations, Saudi Telecom . With 160 million customers worldwide, Saudi Telecom is a key player of the global telecommunication industry. With representation in 11 countries including Lebanon, Turkey, India and South Africa, the company is looking to boost that growth even further. MME sat down with CEO for International Operations, Ghassan Hasbani on STC's growing portfolio. IN FOCUS: Diversifying away from Iranian Oil . Increasing sanctions on Iran and growing doubts over the future supply of oil has led to many energy importers to look for alternative sources of energy. MME looks at the measures some of Iran's biggest customers are taking in response to increasing pressure to cut imports from Tehran. Marketplace Middle East airs weekly at the following times (all GMT): . Thursdays: 1645, . Fridays: 0945, . Saturdays: 0715, . Sundays: 0615,1645 ."
"(CNN) -- Peace. Love. And Snarknado 2. What does it say when Americans unite, not once, but twice in a lifetime for a TV show? And not just a TV show, but one where a twister filled with man-eating sharks menaces a major metropolitan area. We couldn't afford a psychologist so we'll just have to look at social media. Last summer, ""Sharknado"" churned up a storm of laughs, 5.3 million viewers and enough clever tweets to choke a ... shark. It was the same story Wednesday night for the debut of ""Sharknado 2: The Second One"" on Syfy. The Twitterverse exploded. #Sharknado2TheSecondOne was the top-trending hashtag on Twitter well into the overnight hours and social search website Topsy recorded more than 215,000 tweets with #sharknado2 over the past day. But what inspires such passion, such creativity? Is it the rubber sharks flying through Midtown Manhattan, the implausible storyline, the Al Roker cameo? Yes. Yes. And yes. With this amount of chum in the water, there was bound to be a feeding frenzy, right? And there's more to come. Syfy has already signed on for a third ""Sharknado"" movie. Screenwriter Thunder Levin predicts now that New York has gone down, there might be a ""global Sharkapocalypse."" Heaven forbid. Sequel suggestions are already making the rounds. With all this creativity floating around, some were offering Syfy suggestions for new shows at #NewSyFyOriginals. This one has promise. And you know you've got a good thing going when the National Weather Service and the Weather Channel are joining in on the fun. . Syfy announces 'Sharknado Week' around 'Sharknado 2' premiere . CNN's Dorrine Mendoza contributed to this report."
"WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Isaac Lidsky arrives in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, stops suddenly and, upon hearing a voice, extends his hand in greeting almost instinctively. Isaac Lidsky graduated from Harvard University at 19. Retinitis pigmentosa has seriously impaired his vision. Seemingly simple gestures such as a hello don't always come easily for a man who is legally blind. But this hasn't deterred the ex-Justice Department prosecutor from pursuing a promising legal career, one that will take him inside the nation's highest court in a few weeks. The Florida native will join 36 of the nation's top young attorneys as law clerks to Supreme Court justices for the 2008-'09 term. He will be the first legally blind law clerk in the court's history. Lidsky, 28, will work with the retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and will be assured of long days writing and researching cases. ""I certainly am nervous to the extent I am eager to be helpful to the justice and productive,"" he said. ""I just want to do good work.""  Watch as the lawyer will break new ground at the court » . Lidsky, a one-time actor, may be vaguely familiar to adults of a certain age. He played the lovable geek Barton ""Weasel"" Wyzell on the NBC series ""Saved by the Bell: The New Class"" in the 1990s. ""There's a little bit of a cringe factor because my character was not necessarily the coolest kid in school, but certainly, [there's] fond memories,"" he recalled. ""It was an incredible experience for a kid to have."" Around that time, the 13-year-old was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease that already had struck two of his older sisters. The symptoms were slow to develop, so Lidsky came to terms early with the idea of losing his vision. Now his sight is seriously impaired. Lidsky said his parents, Betti and Carlos Lidsky, did not allow self-pity and encouraged him to help others like himself. ""Right away my parents really led the charge on saying, 'How can we take this challenge and turn it into something positive?' "" he said. ""So for 15 years we have been doing just that."" Acting was never going to be a career for Lidsky. It was the law that always attracted him. As a child he went to court with his father, a prominent Miami lawyer. Becoming a Supreme Court law clerk, he said, was a lifelong dream. After graduating at 19 from Harvard University, he earned a degree from its law school, with a brief stop in between as an Internet business entrepreneur. In 2004, he began a clerkship with Judge Thomas Ambro of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ambro became a mentor to the bright young lawyer and witnessed a sudden decline in his vision. ""You could tell things were getting worse,"" Ambro said. By the end of the one-year assignment, ""he now needed a cane and was using a guide dog. Once he had no idea I was in the same room with him until I spoke."" But that did not dull Lidsky's drive to succeed. ""He had a real good sense of what he was facing,"" Ambro said. ""He's determined to make it in the same way as other people who succeed. For him it was simply a matter of getting the tools to do it."" Those tools include optical character recognition software, which scans printed words electronically and reads them back to him, and a Blackberry-type communication device that sends and receives e-mail audibly. Friends said he was a little reluctant over the years to embrace much of the technology, as he sought to preserve his independence as long as possible. After his clerkship came a stint in the Justice Department's Civil Division, where he argued about a dozen cases in federal courts. He said his acting skills came in handy when pleading before often skeptical judges. With the recommendations of Ambro and others, Lidsky applied four times to be a Supreme Court law clerk but was rejected. A meeting with longtime federal Judge David Tatel, who also is blind, convinced Lidsky he should not give up his dream. Then came the call from O'Connor. ""Sitting in her chambers, here I was worrying about having to recall the minutiae of legal doctrine"" for the personal interview, he recalled. ""But we fell into talking about our families and philosophies, and she made me feel very warm and welcome."" O'Connor was not available for an interview, but former clerks said they remember her as a nurturing type who nevertheless demands much from them. ""I have no doubt Justice O'Connor will keep me very busy,"" Lidsky said. In addition, Lidsky likely will be assigned to an active justice to sort through the 9,000-some appeals that reach the high court every year. In that capacity, he would recommend which cases should be accepted for review and help write early drafts of opinions. O'Connor also will continue her practice of sitting in on several appeals court cases a year, so Lidsky will assist her on those, along with the 78-year-old's busy schedule of teaching, speeches and public advocacy. Lidsky will have to scale back involvement in his foundation, Hope for Vision, which he created with his wife, Dorothy, and some friends to raise awareness of blinding diseases. His group is launching a campaign this week to find a cure for blindness by 2020. ""We have communities of Hope across the country that do events to raise awareness and funding for research,"" he said. ""It's purely volunteer-driven, very grass-roots. Over 98 percent of the money we raise goes directly to scientific grants."" As for the future, Lidsky plans to go to London, England, after his clerkship ends, so his wife can finish her master's degree. He would be set to rejoin his law firm, where he has taken a leave of absence, but has no specific career goals. ""In 10 or 15 years, I would bet he will be a man still on your radar screen,"" Ambro predicts. Lidsky appears more modest. ""I'm not out there to set any kinds of records or prove anything to anybody,"" he said. ""As odd as it may sound, losing my vision has in a lot of ways been a very rewarding experience for me."" CNN's Kelli Arena contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- HTC's new flagship smartphone, the One, is an impressive bit of hardware and a big step forward for the company in three significant ways. The One is a top-notch, beautifully designed handset packed with the best specs and a ton of compelling features. It also runs a unique, fresh take on Google's Android operating system. And it's available in exactly the same configuration across the three major U.S. carriers. This is the phone that could close the gap between HTC's flagship and those from Apple and Samsung. We spent a couple of hours with the One before its big unveiling in New York today, and were thoroughly impressed by the luxurious materials used on the handset, the expert build quality holding it all together, and a slew of thoughtfully crafted software features. Although the phone carries the branding established last year with the One X, One S, and other HTC phones, the One amounts to a reboot of the company's vision for Android. The One X, HTC's previous flagship, won critical praise, but as an AT&T exclusive it failed to generate the sales the company had hoped for. ""We think about the One X and we think 'Wow, it was big, and it was one of the best phones we've ever done,'"" Scott Croyle, HTC's vice president of design, said. ""But if I were to compare it to, say, other stuff that was out there, I wouldn't say it was a step-change different."" The company set out to build a phone that could surpass, not just meet, the performance and quality of the Apple iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy SIII. So it put a huge effort into nailing the Sense user interface, packing the phone with the best tech and broadening its reach across carriers. Sense 4, the previous generation of HTC's Android customization, has been thrown out. Every aspect of Sense has been rethought and redesigned. The result is a slick, clean user interface, full of artful icons that match the flat, understated look Google has been trying to push with its own stock version of Android. And there's a focus in the new Sense on making things that users commonly do easier and more intuitive — such as sifting through social media and news apps, or snapping photos and video. ""I think we came to this recognition that, 'Wow, there are these two other companies that are going to spend a lot more money than HTC,'"" Croyle said. ""This is the reality of the business. They have much deeper pockets and they can carpet bomb the industry and they have a tremendous amount of inertia there, particularly with Apple in the U.S. So, for the One, we really had to get it right, we really had to just go for it."" While it's easy to see the chamfered edges found on the One and think of the iPhone 5, the One is far from a copycat product. It has a massive — and gorgeous — 4.7-inch 1080p display with a pixel density of 468 pixels per inch. As with nearly every flagship phone out there nowadays, pixels are indiscernible on the One's generous display. Colors look vivid and crisp as well. The touchscreen dominates the front of the One, with aluminum capping each end. Rows of pinholes are machined into each strip of aluminum, serving as pathways for sound coming from a set of dual front-facing speakers. Every phone speaker we've ever heard has sounded like hell. While the One won't replace your Jambox anytime soon, its onboard speakers sound immensely better than anything we've heard from a phone. Inside, the One features a 1.7GHz, quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU, 2GB of RAM, and NFC chip, Bluetooth 4.0 and connectivity to both HSPA and LTE networks. Everything is packed into a sleek, aluminum unibody — shipping in either silver or black — that features a subtly curved back with inlaid antennas. The One weighs 5.04 ounces, and is just 0.36 inches thick. The One will also sports a beefed up camera, with a ton of photo and video features — which are so plentiful we've written a separate story focusing on the One's camera. Along with all new hardware, HTC is using the One to introduce an all new take on Android. Sense 4, HTC's last skin, was among the best versions of Google's mobile OS thanks to its simplicity and gimmick-free implementation. The latest version — now just called Sense — brings users from a lock screen to a new Flipboard-like app called BlinkFeed, which displays a feed of information, stories, photos and video from various sources of your choosing. HTC has worked in integration with a few news outlets, so news stories by topic or by outlet can show up in your BlinkFeed. And the app can be connected to Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and other social networks as well. See a news story you're interested in reading? Just tap the tile in your feed and you're taken to a view that shows the story and its accompanying artwork in a presentation that makes reading clean and easy — again, very much like Flipboard, Pocket, Pulse and other ""read it later"" services. Tap a tweet or post from Facebook you'll be launched into that corresponding social network's Android app. You can even set up BlinkFeed to pipe in your photos and videos. Everything is displayed in reverse chronological order, just like your Twitter timeline, Facebook feed and everything else that's sorted online. While BlinkFeed is a pre-installed app, it's also the default view any One user will see once they unlock their phone. If you want to get to a traditional Android homescreen view — with apps, widgets and folders of apps — just swipe in from the right on BlinkFeed and Android as you know it will appear. ""If you want regular Android, it's there,"" Croyle said. ""But, everybody's snacking on information, whether it's from their social networks or some news source that they're just interested in. So [BlinkFeed] really is geared around that recognition of how people are actually using their phones."" AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile will sell the One, along with many smaller regional telecom companies. The significance of this can't be overstated. Currently, only Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy S III are offered as widely. The iPhone is sold through AT&T, Sprint and Verizion — and it's on it's way to T-Mobile. The S III is sold by all four of the nation's top carriers. All too often, a great phone, like last year's One X, was confined to a limited audience due to carriers wanting exclusive rights to phones. The fact that the One is joining it's biggest rivals in a new paradigm that bucks the idea of exclusive phones is a good thing for HTC — because they get to sell their best device in more places — and consumers — because you have more choice when you go to buy your next phone. Subscribe to WIRED magazine for less than $1 an issue and get a FREE GIFT! Click here! Copyright 2011 Wired.com."
"(CNN) -- The question of Jewish resistance to the Nazis -- or the lack of it -- has loomed large ever since the true extent of the horrors of the Holocaust became impossible to ignore. Liev Schreiber, left, and Daniel Craig play Jewish resistance fighters in the World War II drama ""Defiance."" As early as 1940 and 1942, Charlie Chaplin and Ernst Lubitsch fashioned satiric fantasies in which Adolf Hitler was comically humiliated by Jews (a barber in Chaplin's ""The Great Dictator"" and a hammy actor in Lubitsch's ""To Be or Not to Be""). More recently, Steven Spielberg and Roman Polanski presented authentic stories of Jewish Holocaust survivors in ""Schindler's List"" and ""The Pianist."" In ""Defiance,"" Edward Zwick tells the true story of the Bielski brothers, Tuvia (Daniel Craig), Zus (Liev Schreiber) and Asael (Jamie Bell). When the Germans and local collaborators started rounding up Jews in what was then Belorussia in 1941, murdering thousands -- including the Bielskis' parents -- the three men took refuge in the woods. They evaded capture, scavenged, begged or stole the food they needed; they set up a camp and saved hundreds of fellow refugees -- and they fought back.  Watch the stars of ""Defiance"" talk about the film » . It's a remarkable story, one that should have inspired a more exciting and original movie than this sluggish compendium of earnest debates and hackneyed battle scenes. The timing is unfortunate. For a story that has gone neglected for the best part of 60 years, this is hardly the ideal week to be extolling heroic Jewish resistance fighters. Ari Folman's angst-laden nonfiction animated film, ""Waltz With Bashir,"" is altogether more relevant. Zwick's Hollywood liberal credentials are not in doubt, but his films have a surprisingly gung-ho undercurrent (they include such martial adventures as ""The Last Samurai,"" ""Glory,"" ""The Siege,"" ""Legends of the Fall"" and ""Courage Under Fire""). He may like a fight, but he's no great shakes when it comes to staging action. Besides, in a Zwick flick, words always speak louder. In ""Defiance"" those words come with a thick, guttural European inflection (Hebrew is spoken as English, though characters also break into subtitled Russian and German on occasion). The speechifying is often clumsy and long-winded. Take the backwoods intellectual who doesn't know how to handle a hammer but can sure nail a philosophical one-liner: ""At least Descartes recognized the subjective nature of existence,"" he kvetches. Where's Lubitsch when you need him? Dour and dourer as the movie goes on, Daniel Craig looks rugged in a weathered leather jacket and cloth cap, but his Bond associations aren't exactly helpful. You have to check yourself from wondering why he doesn't just take out that battalion of Nazis single-handedly. Tuvia may be a reluctant hero, but he shoulders the burden of leadership and assumes responsibility for protecting his ever-increasing flock. Schreiber's Zus, on the other hand, joins with the Soviets to take the fight to the Germans. It takes him longer to learn who his true friends are. The movie is full of mud and muck, yet somehow Zwick sanitizes the things that matter most. In the most challenging scene, just as Tuvia turns a blind eye as his enraged fellow Jews beat a German prisoner to death, Zwick consistently pulls back from anything that might be too unpleasant or tasteless. His heroes remain fundamentally unsullied. Later Asael picks up Tuvia's mantle and leads his followers like a latter-day Moses, away from their enemies through an impenetrable swamp. ""Defiance"" is a hard slog, at times. But even if it's heavy-handed and old-fashioned, there's also something satisfyingly solid about it. It's always comforting to know who the good guys are, even if they're stuck in a not-so-good picture. ""Defiance"" is rated R and runs 137 minutes. For Entertainment Weekly's take, click here."
"Robert, Louisiana (CNN) -- Three attempts to pump mud and 16 tries to stuff solid material into a breached Gulf of Mexico oil well failed to stop the flow, top BP executives said Saturday, and engineers and executives with the oil giant have decided to ""move on to the next option."" That option: Place a custom-built cap to fit over the ""lower marine riser package,"" BP chief operation officer Doug Suttles said. BP crews were already at work Saturday to ready the materials for that option, he said. Suttles said three separate pumping efforts and 30,000 barrels of mud -- along with what chief executive officer Tony Hayward described as ""16 different bridging material shots"" -- just didn't do the trick. ""We have not been able to stop the flow,"" a somber Suttles told reporters. "" ... Repeated pumping, we don't believe, will achieve success, so we will move on to the next option."" Suttles and other officials said that the ""top kill"" attempt to stop the flow did so -- but only as long as they were pumping. When the pumping stopped, the oil resumed its escape. And Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry said that BP would resume using undersea dispersants for the new attempt to trap the oil. Suttles said the lower marine riser package cap ""should be able to capture most of the oil"" that has fed what is now the largest oil spill in U.S. history, but he cautioned that the new cap will not provide a ""tight mechanical seal."" ""We're confident the job will work, but obviously we cannot guarantee success at this time,"" he said. Engineers should be ready in about four to seven days to make the fresh attempt, he said. Landry said officials were ""disappointed in today's announcement,"" but noted that the immediate efforts to stop the flow were never intended to be permanent. ""The real solution, the end state, is a relief well,"" she said. BP currently is working on two relief wells, but they are not expected to be ready until August, Suttles said. Earlier, Suttles said that BP engineers would try to place a second blowout preventer -- the piece of equipment that failed when the Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 20 -- should the lower marine riser package fail. The failed blowout preventer is a 48-foot-tall, 450-ton apparatus that sits atop the well 5,000 feet underwater. Suttles and Landry praised the clean-up efforts, however, in light of the failure of the ""top kill"" attempt to stop the flow. ""It's a tribute to everybody that we only have 107 miles of shoreline oiled and only 32 acres of marsh,"" Landry said. Meanwhile, teams in Louisiana were working Saturday on a clean-up project aimed at protecting coastal marshes. Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser has said that machines would suck oil out of marshes Saturday after crews determined where to deploy them. But Nungesser told CNN that BP needed to ""step up to the plate tonight to save our wetlands"" by using its might to create sand barriers to prevent the oil from moving into the marshes. ""BP needs to say it will pay to move those dredges and pump that sand berm,"" he said. ""We are gonna die a slow death if we don't get that berm. We've got to have that barrier island."" President Barack Obama, who toured the area Friday, said federal officials were prepared to authorize moving forward with ""a portion of"" an idea proposed by local officials, who want the Army Corps of Engineers to build a ""sand boom"" offshore to keep the water from getting into the fragile marshlands. But Nungesser said the marshes couldn't wait and that the effort needed to start immediately to save the Louisiana wetlands. Government scientists on Thursday said as many as 19,000 barrels (798,000 gallons) of oil were spewing into the ocean every day, making this disaster perhaps twice the size of the Exxon Valdez incident. Previously, BP officials and government scientists had said 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons) of crude were flowing out daily. ""This is clearly an environmental catastrophe,"" Hayward said Friday. ""There's no two ways about it."" In an e-mail message sent out after the announcement Saturday, Hayward said he was ""disappointed that this operation didn't work."" ""The team executed the operation perfectly, and the technology worked without a single hitch,"" he said. ""We remain committed to doing everything we can to make this situation right."" Obama's visit to the region came under intense political pressure to take control of the situation. ""We want to stop the leak, we want to contain and clean up the oil and we want to help the people in this region return to their lives and livelihoods as soon as possible,"" the president told reporters. About 25 percent of the Gulf of Mexico exclusive economic zone has been put off limits, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and fishermen are worried the gushing oil will take a more serious toll than Hurricane Katrina did in 2005. ""Katrina was nothing but rain, water and wind. This is poison. It's gas,"" oysterman Arthur Etienne said. CNN's Anderson Cooper contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Once thought to be a leading reformer inside the Libyan government, Saif al-Islam Gadhafi has emerged as one of his father's most-visible defenders. Saif, 38, has never lived a day in which his father Moammar didn't rule Libya -- as its undisputed leader inside the country and an enigmatic, controversial voice for the world. And yet, as the Libyan government faced a stiff popular uprising, it was Moammar Gadhafi's second eldest son -- and not the Leader of the Revolution himself -- who was first to talk to the nation about the unrest and detail a plan to address it. In early March Saif made it known his feeling about outside intervention into the unrest in Libya. ""We're  not afraid of the America  fleet, NATO, France. You people, this  is  our country. We live here, we die here.  We will never, ever  surrender  to those terrorists. Libyan nation is so united  now. We are  so  strong,"" he said. That was March. This is now. And still, Saif's name makes front-page news. Citing unnamed British government sources, the Guardian newspaper reported Friday that a senior adviser to Saif -- Mohammed Ismael -- was in London for secret talks with British officials. Ismael told CNN earlier this week that he would be traveling to London for family reasons. Calls placed to his mobile phone were not answered Friday. But Guma El-Gamaty, a leader of the Libyan opposition, said Ismael's visit was anything but personal. ""Our sources from Tripoli tell us that Saif has sent Mohammed Ismael to London with a specific offer. The offer is that Colonel Gadhafi will go into retirement, inside Libya, perhaps in his town of Sirte or Sabha in the south and Saif will take over and oversee some sort of reforms,"" he told CNN's Becky Anderson. Asked about the Guardian report, a British Foreign Office spokesman neither confirmed nor denied it. ""We are not going to provide running commentary on our contacts with Libyan officials,"" the spokesman said. ""In any contact that we do have, we make it clear that Gadhafi has to go."" Meanwhile, sources close to Gadhafi have told CNN that any transition in Libya would involve his son, Saif, who has long been seen as a possible successor to his father. Saif has denied any such desire, but others were interested in the idea for some time because he was considered more modern in his thinking, even reform minded by many Libya watchers. But that was before his recent and very public vows to fight to the ""last bullet."" Among his relatives, Saif was seen in some ways as the polar opposite of his father. Whereas Moammar Gadhafi years ago launched a program to ""destroy imported ideologies, whether they are Eastern or Western,"" his son speaks fluent English, earned his PhD from the London School of Economics, written an op-ed . in the New York Times and has been a frequent go-between in talks with international officials. Moammar rarely goes anywhere without a distinctive tribal dress and an ornate Bedouin tent. The well-traveled Saif, meanwhile, is more likely to appear in Western business attire: a suit and tie. While the father runs a nation, his son's main job -- at least before his 2009 appointment as General Coordinator, a position like many in the nation's government with few guidelines -- was heading a charity, the Gadhafi Foundation. And lastly, while the elder Gadhafi is known for his heavy-handed rule in Libya and its restrictions on civil rights and more, Saif Gadhafi fashioned himself as a human rights advocate and pushed for democratic and institutional reforms that could give more power and freedoms to the people. David Held, a professor at London School of Economics and Saif Gadhafi's academic advisor, said Gadhafi knew he had a dilemma. ""He  was torn,"" said Held. ""There was a dilemma in his heart between loyalty  to his father and the regime and on the other hand desperately realizng  that the Gadhafi regime was untenable, unjustified and the reform  utterly crucial."" Still, his status as a leading reformer and pull with foreign diplomats have dropped significantly since the start of the uprising. And for all their differences, Saif's standing in the world is largely defined by his father's role. While some may see the son as more open to change, there's little question that his loyalty remains first with Moammar. ""He's the heir apparent,"" CNN National Security Contributor Fran Townsend said about Saif. ""The question will be, will he be able to retain control in light of the current chaos?"" CNN's Greg Botelho contributed to this report."
"(AOL Autos)  -- At the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and MINI showed the world what electric vehicles of the future will look like. And the future of driving looks fun. The Dodge Circuit EV can blast from 0-to-60 mph in around 4 seconds. Those in the know realize that sometime in the future, the vast majority of light cars and trucks in the US will feature electric final drive systems. The motors used in these systems will be powered by batteries, fuel cells, on-board generators, and perhaps even the sun. But this open issue doesn't change the inevitability of this reality. Given our current economic times, reality demands practical, tangible, and achievable ideas of what electric vehicles (or ""EVs"" for short) might actually look like. This is it ... Chrysler . Three of the four electric vehicles Chrysler showed in Detroit, Michigan, were shown at other events and even to Washington bureaucrats. Each of these vehicles is a running prototype, not some pie-in-the-sky-we'll-never-build that idea. ENVI is the special group of engineers at Chrysler that develops the company's EVs. To date, the ENVI group has developed four electrically powered models, each quite different from the other: a Dodge Circuit EV sports car (rear-wheel drive), a Chrysler Town & Country minivan (front-wheel-drive), a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited (all-wheel-drive), and now a Jeep Patriot (front-wheel-drive). Chrysler promises to offer at least one of these models in 2010, and three more by 2013. AOL Autos: Dodge Circuit EV photos . Chrysler approaches electric vehicles with simple plug-and-play engineering. Every one of their vehicles uses similar electric drive motors (only varying in power output), advanced lithium-ion batteries, and a power management controller. Each plugs in to 110- or 220-volt household outlets for recharging. The Chrysler and both Jeeps use an on-board range-extending battery charger (a generator). This generator automatically turns on after the vehicle's initial batter charge has been spent (usually within a range of 40 miles), supplying extra voltage that give these three vehicles an estimated range of approximately 400 miles. The generator is powered by a small gasoline-powered engine that runs with exceptional efficiency. This technology is similar in concept to what General Motors has shown in their Chevrolet Volt, a vehicle that should be ready for production in 2010. AOL Autos: Cadillac Converj photos . The Dodge Circuit carries a larger battery pack and no generator, so its range on the charge it carries is approximately 150-200 miles. Its large battery pack combined with compact dimensions and the exceptional torque provided by its electric motor blast the car from zero-to-sixty mph in around four seconds, exceptionally fast for any sports car regardless of engine type. Mercedes-Benz . Mercedes-Benz used the 2009 Detroit Auto Show to showcase their Concept BlueZERO vehicles. The Mercedes approach was to develop one efficient body style, and then equip it with three different electric drive packages. AOL Autos: Mercedes Stirling Moss photos . Much of the hardware for the all-electric front-wheel-drive propulsion units is built into what Mercedes calls ""sandwich-floor"" architecture that the company uses on several production cars. The design helps keep heavy components mounted low on the chassis for better handling, enhanced safety, and maximized interior room. All three Concept BlueZERO vehicles include electric drive and batteries. The E-Cell uses a large battery pack that is said to deliver a range of 120 miles. The F-Cell utilizes a smaller battery pack, but supplements the vehicle's range with a hydrogen fuel cell. The fuel cell produces electricity to recharge the battery pack that extends cruising range to 240 miles. The E-Cell Plus, with a range of approximately 360 miles, is the distance champion. The key is the on-board generator powered by tiny 1-liter turbo-charged three-cylinder gasoline engine. The engine and generator are located in the rear of the BlueZERO. For the record, when you see photos of these cars together, the E-Cell is lime green, the F-Cell is mint green, and the E-Cell Plus is orange. Toyota . Adding to its line of popular hybrid vehicles in the U.S., Toyota just confirmed plans to add as many as 10 new gas/electric hybrid vehicles in the next few years. On their way toward that goal, Toyota showed their all-new, third-generation Prius plus the new Lexus HS250H. AOL Autos: 2010 Toyota Prius photos . Important to this story, Toyota also committed to selling a battery powered electric car in 2012 for the U.S. market. Toyota debuted what their all-electric vehicle might be at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, and it's an urban commuter called the FT-EV. The little four-seater is based on Toyota's popular iQ, a car that's already a hit in Japan. The good news is that the iQ is a real car, so the FT-EV will not be a glorified golf cart or a neighborhood vehicle with severely limited capabilities. The claimed range for the FT-EV is 50 miles. As we went to press, details were still sketchy about the FT-EV's running gear. As Toyota releases more details, we'll bring them to you. Mini . While standard MINI models like the Cooper are comparatively easy on gas compared to larger cars, under the ownership of parent company BMW, MINI is testing the limits of how green a MINI can be. AOL Autos: 2010 BMW Z4 photos . Perhaps following the performance of the stunt cars used in The Italian Job (2003), BMW decided to investigate a battery-powered MINI. They introduced the MINI E coupe last November at the Los Angeles Auto Show and the car was on display again in Detroit. The ""charged"" MINI E can run up to 150 miles on a full battery pack. Charging is accomplished through standard 110- or 220-volt outlets. The electrified MINI weighs 600 pounds more than a standard MINI Cooper and because of the bulk of the required battery pack, the interior seats only two. Performance from the 204-horsepower motor equals the gas-powered MINI, with a 0-60 mph run in 8.5 seconds. BMW will produce only 500 MINI Es for the United States (if it were easy to make electric MINIs, they'd make more). The limited-production run will be split between New York and L.A. on one-year closed-end leases. After the leases expire, BMW will ship the MINIs back to Germany for evaluation. This scenario mimics what General Motors did with their EV1 electric vehicle about a decade ago."
"Washington (CNN) -- A Russian company is seeking to buy a controlling interest in one of the largest uranium extraction operations in the United States -- a sale that requires U.S. government review because of possible national security implications. Uranium One USA, now a subsidiary of a Canadian company, operates a uranium processing facility in Wyoming and has assets in Utah, Texas and Colorado. The sale of the company's existing and pending operations could give Russia control of about 20 percent of U.S. uranium extraction capacity, Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials estimate. Industry observers tell CNN they do not believe the sale of Uranium One to Joint Stock Company Atomredmetzoloto, or ARMZ, would jeopardize U.S. security, saying that the United States relies on Russian dismantled nuclear weapons for much of the uranium used in nuclear reactors today, and that sources of uranium are plentiful. ""I have no concerns about it at all,"" said Fred McGoldrick, former director of the State Department's Office of Nonproliferation and Export Policy. ""I don't see any national security threat to the United States from the Russians partly or entirely owning a mine in the United States."" He added, ""The Russian's aren't coming. They came and went. They are no longer the Soviets. I think it's to our mutual interest that we cooperate with the Russians."" Said Ed Lyman of the Union of Concerned Scientists, ""Looking at the big picture here, I don't really think this has major security implications. I'd be interested in hearing arguments otherwise, but I just don't see it."" In an application submitted to the NRC, JSC Atomredmetzoloto, which currently owns 23.1 percent of Uranium One's common stock, says it is seeking to buy a controlling 51 percent interest. The Russian company is controlled by Rosatom, the Russian government agency that oversees Russia's nuclear industry. Uranium One would continue to be publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange, its U.S. facilities would remain under their current management teams and five of the nine directors on the company's board would be non-Russian, the company said. ""The bottom line is any of the uranium we buy or sell has to be used for peaceful purposes and it's subject to all the safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Nuclear Suppliers Group, Euratom (the European Atomic Energy Community), or any other governmental agency having jurisdiction over the United States"" and customer countries, said Chris Sattler, spokesman for Uranium One. Uranium One USA is involved in the ""recovery"" of uranium, a form of mining in which a solution is injected into an ore body and the uranium leaches into the solution, which is then extracted, said NRC spokesman David McIntyre. The company is licensed to produce up to 2.5 million pounds of uranium a year, it said. Stockholders approved the sale August 31, Sattler said, but the companies are awaiting approval from numerous regulatory agencies in the United States, Canada, Australia and Kazakhstan. The NRC must approve the transfer of the NRC license for its Irigaray-Christiansen Ranch recovery facility in eastern Wyoming, McIntyre said. ""Generally, we look at whether the new ownership would have the technical expertise and the financial wherewithal to maintain the site and clean up when operations cease,"" he said. Further, the sale needs to be reviewed by the Committee on Financial Investment in the United States, an inter-agency panel that advises the president on any transaction that could jeopardize U.S. national security. Committee officials declined to discuss the sale, saying they are prohibited by law from disclosing such matters. And the sale may require approval of the Federal Trade Commission because it involves a stock transaction, and the Federal Communications Commission because one of the sites has a radio license, the NRC said. The NRC released details of a pending license transfer in the Federal Register, in an item giving the public an opportunity to request a hearing on the issue. The NRC involvement is limited to the company's operations in Wyoming. The states of Texas and Utah regulate uranium mining operations there."
"Hong Kong (CNN) -- In 1842, when Hong Kong became a British crown colony after the first Opium War, it was described by a very unimpressed UK Foreign Secretary, Lord Palmerston, as a barren rock with nary a house on it. He also added, prophetically and spectacularly incorrectly, ""it will never be a mart for trade."" Of course, by 1997, when Hong Kong was handed back by the British to become a Special Administrative Region (S.A.R) of China, it was a modern metropolis of well over six million souls, used to a free economy, a free press and the rule of law. According to the agreement hammered out between Britain and China, the territory would remain that way for at least 50 years. Under Chinese rule, Hong Kong would govern itself, choose its own leaders, control its own economy and maintain its own legal system. But there were many skeptics. Would China really be able to keep its hands off? Fifteen years later, almost a third of the way through those 50 years, are those promises still being kept? How has the territory changed? Christine Loh has a unique perspective. She was a legislator during the last years of the British colony and again in the early years of the Hong Kong S.A.R. A feisty democrat politician, no one would ever accuse her of being in the ""pro-Beijing"" camp. If you look at the people of Hong Kong, she said, their daily lives really haven't changed very much. Indeed, Hong Kong has its own borders and immigration control, even with China. It has its own currency, its own police force and system of law courts. It has freedom of expression and demonstration to a degree unheard of anywhere on the mainland. It's the only place in China, for example, that can commemorate the June 4, 1989 crackdown against the students in Tiananmen Square. The territory also has its own legislature and chief executive. Beijing has always promised to be hands-off, allowing the Hong Kong people to rule Hong Kong, but many still feel it has undue influence in local politics and in an electoral system that favors pro-Beijing candidates. China's huge presence is inescapable. ""Our unease in Hong Kong is that the mainland is so big and we are so small. We are a small city of seven million people. It is easy for us to be physically overwhelmed. I think that is our fear,"" Loh said. Since the handover, trade ties between Hong Kong and China have strengthened so much so that Hong Kong is now the mainland's biggest source of foreign investment, state news service Xinhua reported, quoting China's ministry of commerce. Hong Kong is also the top destination for investment from the mainland. Trade between the two surged nearly 600% to US$284 billion from 1996, the year before the handover, and last year, Xinhua said. And ties are only set to strengthen. In the days leading to the 15 year anniversary, China announced a package of policies to further bind the mainland and the island covering trade, finance, education science and technology and tourism. But the prospect of tighter ties with their homeland is not necessarily being welcomed by Hong Kongers, many of whom feel that while Chinese money has boosted business, it has also put pressure on public services. Earlier this year, full page advertisements appeared in the local media, bluntly calling mainlanders ""locusts"" and accusing them of driving up property prices and squeezing Hong Kongers out of their own hospitals and schools. ""We have a love-hate relationship with China,"" said Hong Kong entrepreneur Douglas Young, whose popular chain of stores selling furnishings and knick-knacks celebrates a unique Hong Kong style. He is adamant that Hong Kong should hold onto its differences. ""I disagree that you have to choose between being a Hong Kong person or a Chinese person. I am both. Like a New Yorker, a New Yorker is both a New Yorker and an American, and I am a Hong Konger as well as being a Chinese person,"" Young said. ""So I think there is nothing wrong with Hong Kong being a part of mainland China or being a Chinese city. All I am saying is that Hong Kong should maintain its differences in its regional identity."" CNN asked people on the streets of Hong Kong what the difference was between Hong Kongers and the Chinese. ""Many of us were educated in Western countries and went abroad for a university education so naturally our cultural background is different from those Chinese nationals who were born and raised in China,"" one man said. ""I don't know much about China,"" one woman said in Cantonese. ""The problems in China right now make me think that I should not consider myself Chinese,"" she added. However, one woman who described herself as a Chinese person who was born in Hong Kong said, ""Hong Kong people and Chinese people are basically the same. The only difference between the two is that they are born in different places."""
"(CNN) -- China rekindled memories of the 2008 Olympics with a spectacular opening ceremony for the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou on Friday. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao formally began the event, which will be the largest in its 59-year history with 28 Olympic and 14 non-Olympic sports and 476 gold medals to be won. China, which won a leading 166 golds at the previous competition in Qatar four years ago, has a delegation of 1,454 members including Olympic champion hurdler 110-meter hurdler Liu Xiang and badminton star Lin Dan. He Chong, who won diving gold in Beijing, capped a massive fireworks display in the middle of the Pearl River on Haixinsha Island by ignited a giant flare to light the cauldron that houses the Asiad flame. Afghanistan's athletes were the first of the 45 nations taking part to parade, with China concluding the march with Olympic women's rowing champion Jin Ziwei as flag bearer. ""Remember, you are part of history right here, right now,"" Olympic Council of Asia president Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, of Kuwait, said in front of 30,000 people attending the ceremony. ""Please show us your best performance, and show us the spirit of sportsmanship, fair play, friendship and respect to your fellow athletes and officials."" The event's official website reported that Guangdong Province built and updated 70 stadiums for the competition, which runs until November 27, and that 900,000 volunteers will be on hand. It said since winning hosting rights in 2004, Guangzhou officials have given out one million brochures and sent 40 million text messages to teach its citizens better manners, including instructions on how to smile. This year, cricket, dance sports, dragon-boat racing, roller sports and Go chess will make their debut appearances in the competition."
"(CNN) -- Why leave home when you can send out a sexy, stylish robot version of yourself to do anything you tell it? In ""Surrogates,"" lifelike robots take the place of humans in day-to-day life. That's the world of ""Surrogates,"" a film starring Bruce Willis that opens Friday. Willis plays an FBI agent who investigates the first murder to occur in years in a world where no one worries about crime or pain, because their robots self-heal with a quick reboot. Far-fetched science fiction? Sure. But scientists and the movie's makers say the technology might not be as far away as most people think. Armies use remote-controlled robots to attack enemies and destroy land mines. Emerging technology for the disabled allows users to operate robotic limbs and control computer cursors without touching a keyboard. And emerging ""telepresence"" technology is letting people see, hear and, increasingly, walk, talk and gesture using human-sized robots a world away. ""There are a lot of real-world components to this,"" said robotics expert and author Daniel H. Wilson, whose books like ""Where's My Jet Pack?"" and ""How to Survive a Robot Uprising"" explore the intersections between science fiction and real science. ""Clearly, there are not fully functional humanoid robots ... but there are a lot of components to telepresence that already exist."" ""Surrogates"" director Jonathan Mostow, whose film credits include 2003's ""Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,"" said he was drawn to the concept of surrogate robots as an extension of current technology. And, he said, as he met with scientists, he became convinced that something approaching the concept could one day be a reality. ""To me, it's not even a question of the technology. Technology always catches up,"" he said. ""The question is, is some universal human urge being met by this invention? It seems to me we have a fundamental human desire to be lazy, to sort of not have to do things in person and to do it remotely. ""That began with the telegraph and the telephone and has morphed into the Internet."" The first steps down the road are being taken at Anybots, a Mountain View, California, company founded in 2001 by Trevor Blackwell. The company offers, for about $30,000, a 5-foot-tall, 35-pound robot that allows the user to remotely travel, see, hear and talk. It hopes to release its latest version of the robot at a more affordable price. The robot's vaguely humanoid curves, roughly adult height and ability to move around using technology similar to that of the Segway are important steps up from current teleconferencing technology, Blackwell said. Anybots in the development phase are being designed to run, jump and climb stairs, and they come equipped with fully articulated hands designed to perform increasingly human-like tasks. Blackwell said he's not sure the technology will ever advance to the level imagined in ""Surrogates"" -- but that may have as much to do with desire as ability. ""I don't know if we'll ever get quite to that level, of being that realistic,"" he said. ""Most of the time, you're not trying to fool people; you're just trying to make something human enough so people can relate to it."" Wilson, who said he appreciates ""Surrogates"" because it avoids sci-fi's traditional ""man vs. machine"" dynamic, also imagines social reasons for not pursuing such technology. ""Would humans stand in line at the grocery store behind a robot? Would I let my children play outside if I knew there were robots outside walking dogs?"" he said. It's more realistic, Wilson said, that a humanoid robot could be created to remotely perform tasks that would be too dangerous for the machine's operator to do. although NASA employs robots in space, the highly technical work often required for space walks still requires a human touch -- at least for now. Plus, he said, making robots that look and act like us would help them function better, he said. ""Another major reason to create humanoid robots is, they can use all of our tools,"" Wilson said. ""Human beings have taken large chunks of the planet and completely transformed the environment to support our embodiment. Doorways are a certain width all over the world because human beings are about the same size. All our tools are similar because we've all got hands and thumbs."" For Mostow, the movie also reflects technological advances that, for better or worse, exist as the world of online networking continues to grow. ""You can do your shopping. You can get your news. You can let everyone know what you're up to,"" he said. ""For those who telecommute, you don't even have to put your clothes on to go to work. ""This idea basically just takes that to its logical conclusion."""
"COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (CNN) -- Sri Lankan soldiers seized a key rebel stronghold over the weekend, as humanitarian agencies feared for the safety of civilians. Sri Lankan troops at Elephant Pass, the isthmus that connects north Jaffna peninsula to rest of the country. ""It's an incredibly serious situation,"" James Elder, a U.N. spokesman, said Monday. ""We have a very large number of people, including tens of thousands of children, trapped in a fast-shrinking conflict zone."" Government forces took the area in a surprise attack early Sunday, the head of Sri Lanka's army announced. Troops crossed a lagoon and entered the town of Mullaittivu before encountering heavy resistance from Tamil fighters, according to the government-run news agency. ""Our troops fought their way through a 40 km (25 mile) thick jungle track,"" Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka said in a televised address Sunday. ""This is the long-awaited victory and I am happy to say that our heroic forces today captured the Mullaittivu town after 12 years,"" he said. There has been no confirmation from the rebels that the strategic garrison has been overtaken. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) -- commonly known as the Tamil Tigers -- have fought for an independent homeland for the country's ethnic Tamil minority since 1983. The civil war has left more than 70,000 people dead. The rebels gained control over Mullaittivu in 1996 and established a military garrison there, according to the government. In recent days, the military has made significant progress in its campaign to recapture rebel strongholds. Earlier this month, troops regained control of the northern town of Elephant Pass, the point at which mainland Sri Lanka links to the northern Jaffna peninsula. It had been in rebel hands for more than nine years. The recapture enabled the government to use a highway linking the mainland to the peninsula to move troops and supplies. Previously, it was done by air and sea. ""The area that the LTTE has dominated has shrank phenomenally,"" Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India, C.R Jayasinghe, told CNN. ""They lost ... about 90 percent of what they had."" Despite major government gains, critics point to ongoing civilian casualties resultant from the conflict. ""This is a critical moment in the conflict when the space for these people has shrunk,"" Elder said. The United Nations is ""calling on the ... Tamil Tigers to meet their international responsibilities and guarantee that these very large civilian populations to move freely and then can move away from the conflict and to areas where they can receive appropriate assistance,"" Elder said. ""Some Sri Lankan U.N. staff are trapped there,"" he said in a Sunday interview. ""Convoys are going to the area, delivering emergency supplies, but these are not sufficient for the number of people in need."" Sri Lankan authorities are barring journalists and humanitarian aid workers from areas where heavy fighting is taking place. Amnesty International spokesman Shuransu Mishra estimated that ""over a quarter of a million of the population, mostly Tamils, are trapped between the two sides."" The organization says greater access and protection for aid workers and journalists are needed as news agencies struggle to report an accurate picture of the conflict. ""The Sri Lankan authorities are doing little to ensure the safety of the country's media, or to prosecute those responsible for murdering or attacking them,"" Amnesty International spokeswoman Yolanda Foster said in a written statement on Friday. The Sri Lankan authorities ""are also directly responsible for subjecting journalists to harassment and interrogation,"" she said. At least 14 journalists have been killed since the start of 2006, according to the statement. Others have been driven from the country by death threats, or in fear of detention and torture by government authorities, it said."
"(CNN) -- A Saudi Arabian blogger detained in December, ostensibly because he supported reform advocates accused by the Saudi government of backing terrorism, has been released, a fellow blogger posted Saturday. Web sites like this one pushed for Fouad al-Farhan's release. Ahmed al-Omran said on his blog, saudijeans.org, and later told CNN that he was awakened by a text message from the wife of Fouad al-Farhan, saying he had been released and was at home with his family. ""That's great news, and this is just how I wanted to start my morning,"" al-Omran wrote. He said he later spoke with al-Farhan for several minutes on the telephone. ""He sounded fine; he seems to be in good spirits,"" al-Omran said. ""He said he would have more to talk about later but not at this point. He said now he'd like to take some time to spend with his family, with his children that he hasn't seen for so long.""  Watch al-Omran describe his conversation with al-Farhan » . A Web site set up to call for al-Farhan's release said, ""Fouad is free. He is back home in Jeddah after 137 days in custody."" The Saudi Interior Ministry said it had no immediate comment on the reports. In January, a ministry spokesman said al-Farhan was arrested December 10 ""because he violated the regulations of the kingdom."" But in an e-mail posted on al-Farhan's Web site after his arrest, he told friends that he faced arrest for supporting 10 reform advocates the Saudi government accused of backing terrorism. In the e-mail, al-Farhan said a senior Interior Ministry official promised that he would remain in custody for three days at most if he agreed to sign a letter of apology. ""I'm not sure if I'm ready to do that,"" he wrote. ""An apology for what? Apologizing because I said the government is [a] liar when they accused those guys of supporting terrorism?"" Al-Farhan, who blogs at alfarhan.org, is one of the few Saudi Web commentators to use his own name, according to the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists. In January, the Bush administration expressed its concerns to the Saudi government regarding al-Farhan's detention at ""a relatively senior level,"" U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. ""The U.S. stands for freedom of expression,"" McCormack said at the time. ""Wherever people are seeking to express themselves, via the Internet or via other areas, whether in Saudi Arabia or elsewhere in the world, we stand with that freedom of expression, and that was our message to the Saudi government."" The American Islamic Congress, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization, launched an online letter-writing campaign aimed at freeing al-Farhan, whom it called ""the godfather of Saudi blogging."" ""All he did was express his opinions in a very obvious way, and he didn't threaten anyone,"" al-Omran said. ""He was advocating against violence and terrorism."" Al-Omran said al-Farhan had stopped blogging for a few months in late 2006, after the Interior Ministry ordered him to take down a blog he was operating, but he began again at a new site. He said al-Farhan told him he was treated well in jail. He also called al-Farhan's release a turning point for the blogging community in Saudi Arabia. ""It showed the community of bloggers in Saudi Arabia can come together and support this cause -- support his freedom of speech -- even those who didn't agree with some of the things he wrote,"" he said. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Pakistan's much-awaited military offensive in North Waziristan was launched more than a week ago, and followed an attack on Karachi airport that left at least 36 people dead. Due to the strategic calculations of the Pakistani state, North Waziristan has steadily fallen into the hands of motley militant networks, and has become a mountainous zone for the Pakistani Taliban to recruit, regroup and launch attacks against the country. The Pakistani Army conducted a similar operation in the Swat Valley in 2009, not too far from the tribal areas, that has been a relative success in reclaiming territory. It is unclear which direction the latest operation will go. But a major humanitarian crisis is brewing in the wake of the new offensive. As of Wednesday, the government had registered over 450,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) who have been fleeing the area in view of the aerial bombardments and warnings by military authorities. There are fears the figures could be much higher. Desperate need for shelter . The military has taken extraordinary steps, especially in terms of its public relations efforts, to minimize the fallout in public perception. It's issuing press releases, specifying how many terrorists have been killed, and giving a count of aid distributed. Yet, thousands of families still need immediate support in terms of livelihood, shelter and basic amenities. While the United Nations has stepped in to provide aid, distribution systems have a long way to go in meeting the scale of demand. Beyond North Waziristan, the Pakhtun population follows the age-old custom of accepting and looking after ""guests."" Predictably, many families fleeing the violence are being absorbed into the towns and villages of Bannu, in neighboring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province. Bannu town is straining under the pressure of a massive population influx. While local Pakhtuns and civic groups have been engaged, the response of the government authorities has been slow. The disaster management authority (FDMA) in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), underfunded like most government agencies, is battling with the magnitude of the crisis. Government response . The government has established one camp in Bannu, but many more facilities are needed, especially during the hot summer season. A meager grant is being offered to each family for their multifarious needs, but very few have received it so far. The political opposition that rules KP has complained of a funds shortage, and voices in the media have criticized the federal government's inordinate focus on domestic political squabbles and high profile infrastructure projects, ignoring the plight of homeless people. The minister in charge of the government response â€” the Federal Minister for States and Frontier Regions retired Lt Gen Abdul Qadri Baloch -- has said ""every reasonable need of the IDPs will be taken care of in the best possible manner and money is not an issue."" However, he also urged fellow Pakistanis to ""open their pockets."" Few places to go . Pakistan's ethnic politics also impedes free movement of IDPs. While the country's constitution allows for freedom of movement for its citizens, the provincial governments of Sindh and Punjab have restricted the inflow of migrants from the north. The provincial government of Sindh says that it is already dealing with two million ""aliens"" and has attributed the rise of militancy in the port city Karachi due to earlier in-country migrations. Similarly, Punjab, the home province of Pakistan's Prime Minister, has refused to host the displaced people. This policy has been termed illegal by political leaders and has caused resentment not just among the IDPs but Pakistan's Pakhtun population in general. Marginalized population . The people of North Waziristan -- and the tribal region FATA -- have been stranded between the military and the militants for more than a decade. They have dealt with historic marginalization, underdevelopment, high poverty levels and, of late, the polio epidemic. An estimated 160,000 children are vulnerable since the Taliban banned immunization in North Waziristan two years ago, terming immunization as a ""Western conspiracy."" A major worry nationally is that the polio virus may spread faster than it has in recent months. According to government officials, Pakistan has reported 65 polio cases from FATA this year of which 50 alone pertained to North Waziristan. Challenge and opportunities . These grave challenges require leadership and effective interagency coordination. Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has set up a high level body that monitors the day-to-day situation. But, it is the local authorities that need more funds and broader mandates. The risks of aggravating the already marginalized people are manifold. Increased radicalization is one since the area is an open field for charities affiliated with extremist organizations. There are opportunities as well. Free of Taliban diktat, there is a greater scope for immunization campaigns for the children now. There is also an opportunity to rebuild FATA, which has been governed since the British times as a remote outpost of the Empire with little or no rights for the local population. Earlier reform efforts led nowhere. Political and administrative reforms must follow the military operations. Local governments and courts are needed for the area. Pakistan's tribal belt has to evolve from its current status as a ""strategic,"" semi-colonial arena to a democratic polity. This requires a civil-military consensus. For now, the country must tackle the growing numbers of homeless and avoid another catastrophe in the making. Fleeing Pakistanis crowd border towns, asking 'why weren't we warned?'"
"(CNN) -- Authorities found four human bodies abandoned in the Arizona desert Thursday. Initial indications point to exposure as the probable cause of death, said Victor Brabble, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. ""It is probable that they are immigrants attempting to cross into the U.S.,"" he said. ""However, we don't have enough to draw a conclusion on it now."" The bodies were found near Gila Bend, Arizona, about 70 miles north of the border. They have not been identified, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office said. Immigrants often try to cross the Sonoran Desert's harsh terrain, and there are many heat-related deaths, Brabble said Thursday. Immigrant rights advocates have warned that even as border crossings decrease, deaths are on the rise as increased border security forces people to choose more dangerous crossing routes. Border patrol officials have argued that more security is necessary to stop smugglers. According to a recent study by the Binational Migration Institute at the University of Arizona, more than 2,230 migrants have died in the state's desert area along the border in the past 22 years. In the border region of Pima County, Arizona, deaths of unidentified migrants in the desert have become so common the Medical Examiner's Office has helped create a website to track the deaths and assist family members searching for their loved ones' remains. On Thursday, a bipartisan group of senators announced a proposal to add 20,000 more border agents, complete 700 miles of fence along the boundary with Mexico, and deploy $3.2 billion in technology upgrades similar to equipment used by U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The proposed amendment, negotiated by a group of senators from both parties known as the ""Gang of Eight,"" is intended to ensure Senate passage of a major immigration reform bill with enough Republican support to persuade the GOP-controlled House to also take up the measure. Journalist Valeria Fernandez and CNN's Tom Cohen, Dana Bash and Ted Barrett contributed to this report."
"(WIRED)  -- The Verizon iPhone and AT&T iPhone have gone head-to-head in thousands of broadband tests, and the numbers tell the story you'd expect: AT&T's network is much faster. Ookla, creators of the Speedtest.net broadband test, compiled data from tests run by iPhone customers using the Speedtest.net app on both AT&T and Verizon. On average, the reported AT&T iPhone transfer rates were roughly two times faster than the Verizon iPhone's. The AT&T iPhone's average download speed was 1,769 Kbps, and the average upload speed was 730 Kbps. By way of comparison, the Verizon iPhone's average download speed was 848 Kbps, and the average upload speed was 506 Kbps. The results come from 43,000 AT&T iPhones and 14,000 Verizon iPhones all over the United States. Most Speedtest.net app users ran the tests multiple times, totaling 106,000 results from AT&T iPhone users and 49,000 results from Verizon iPhone users. The Speedtest.net results did not provide data on coverage reliability or dropped connections. From my benchmarking of the Verizon iPhone versus the AT&T iPhone, I also found that the AT&T iPhone's 3G transfer rates were much faster than Verizon's. However, the AT&T iPhone sometimes could not complete tests because it did not have a connection, whereas the Verizon iPhone successfully completed every test. In short, I found the Verizon iPhone to be slower with network transfers but more reliable with coverage. Reviewers at other publications had the same results. ""I think that's the story I expected to see,"" said Doug Suttles, co-founder of Ookla. ""Verizon has never talked up their speed, but they always talk up coverage and reliability.... I think the story is quality versus throughput: What are you after?"" Speedtest.net's nationwide results back my verdict: You should get a Verizon iPhone if you really care about voice quality and calls, but the AT&T iPhone is better as a media-consumption device (Netflix movies, photo downloads and uploads, etc.) because of its faster speeds. Subscribe to WIRED magazine for less than $1 an issue and get a FREE GIFT! Click here! Copyright 2011 Wired.com."
"(AOL Autos) -- There are two good ways to buy your new car or truck at a reasonable low price and avoid all of the negotiating games and hassles: . 1. Buy through the Internet . Buying your new or used car or truck through the Internet is the easiest and most hassle-free way to make the purchase. All you have to do is choose the vehicle brand and model you wish to purchase as well as provide some basic contact information such as your name and e-mail address. In return, you'll receive - via e-mail - low bottom-line selling prices from dealerships in your area for the exact vehicle you want to buy. Compare the various selling prices and find the lowest one. Then, simply go direct to that dealership's Internet Department, sign the papers and drive your new car home - no negotiating, no hassles. To begin the process, get your free price quotes from AOL Autos. It only takes a few minutes. This service is totally free and you are under no obligation or pressure to buy. AOL, like CNN, is a unit of Time Warner. Within 24 hours, you'll receive your bottom-line selling prices from dealerships in your area. Once you've compared the various prices and found the lowest one, you then have four good options: . • You can go to the dealership that gave you the lowest price, sign the papers and drive your new car home -- no hassles, no negotiating. AOL Autos: Best deals of the month . • You can try to negotiate the lowest price with the dealership in order to get the price even lower. There's nothing that says you can't. AOL Autos: Aggressive car buying tactics . • You can shop the lowest price around to other dealerships to see if any of them are willing to beat it. AOL Autos: Which dealers treat you best? • You can do nothing. If you feel unsure or uncertain, then set it aside for a while. You are not obligated to buy anything you don't want. By getting these low bottom-line selling prices via the Internet, you're avoiding the car salesman's entire negotiating game altogether. And you're buying your car at about the same price you would expect after lengthy negotiations. It's certainly the fastest and easiest way to beat the car salesman. AOL Autos: New rules to car buying . 2. Buy through the dealership's Fleet Department . Almost every dealership has a division called the ""Fleet Department."" It usually consists of only a handful of salespeople who specialize in selling fleets of cars -- large orders of several vehicles direct to businesses. This department is authorized by the dealership to sell their cars at bottom-line non-negotiable prices. The prices they offer are about the same as you would expect from an online price quote or after lengthy negotiations. A secret of the car business is that many dealerships' Fleet Departments also sell direct to the public. By the rules of the game, however, they can't advertise to the public since they don't want to compete with the dealership's retail sales team. So to buy from the Fleet Department, you have to specifically ask. To buy your vehicle direct from the dealership's Fleet Department, simply call the dealership and ask to speak with the Fleet Manager. When you get him on the line, explain to him that you're ready to buy a car and you'd like to buy it from him. If he asks you what business you are associated with, tell him where you work. He'll probably be happy to set up an appointment with you. When you arrive at the dealership, the Fleet Manager will show you the vehicle, allow you to test drive it, and then bring you to the office to discuss price. With absolutely no negotiations, he'll offer you a reasonable bottom-line non-negotiable selling price for the vehicle. If the price he gives you falls within the pre-set limits of your buying goal and you're satisfied with the deal, then you can buy the car. No pressure, no games, no hassles. If for some reason, you don't want to buy the vehicle, you are under no obligation. Simply thank the salesman for his time and leave on good terms. Then, if you'd like, you can visit (or call) the Fleet Departments of other dealerships to compare prices. The selling prices offered by the various Fleet Departments can vary depending upon their inventories. AOL Autos: Have a car shopping game plan . Michael Royce is a consumer advocate and former car salesman. For more car-buying tips and advice, visit his Beat the Car Salesman Web site."
"(CNN) -- An internationally renowned paleontologist will plead guilty to stealing dinosaur bones from federal land, his attorneys said in a court filing. Paleontologist Nate Murphy is expected to plead guilty to stealing fossils from federal land. Nate Murphy, whose famous finds include Leonardo, one of the best-preserved dinosaurs in the world, will make that plea in federal court in Billings, Montana. Earlier this month, Murphy pleaded guilty to state charges of stealing a fossil from private land in order to sell it. An expert cited in that case said Murphy's find was worth between $150,000 and $400,000. The self-taught dinosaur expert, who is director of vertebrate paleontology at the Judith River Dinosaur Institute, could face jail time. Murphy and his attorney did not immediately respond to phone messages Friday from CNN. Jessica Fehr, lead prosecutor in the case, said the U.S. Attorney's Office would not comment until after the plea is entered. In court papers, federal prosecutors say Murphy knowingly took fossils from federal property between about August 2006 and August 2007. The ""paleontological resources"" were said to be worth at least $1,000. In the state case, Murphy pleaded guilty to a felony charge of theft. As part of the plea, the state recommended Murphy's sentence be deferred for five years. Douglas Erwin, president of The Paleontological Society and curator of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, said ""theft of fossils from pubic lands has long been a problem."" In a written statement sent to CNN on Friday, he said such thefts ""can often result in the loss of important scientific information and the disappearance of specimens that belong to the public. ""At the same time, however, fossil collecting, particularly of common invertebrate fossils, has been a pastime enjoyed by many for decades, and is an important way of connecting people with their natural heritage."" An omnibus public lands bill, which the U.S. Senate passed Thursday, includes penalties for fossil theft from public land."
"Washington (CNN) -- More than 15 million surge protectors are being recalled for posing a potential fire hazard, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the manufacturer announced Thursday. Seven hundred instances of APC SurgeArrest devices overheating or melting have been reported, according to a press release from the safety commission. Thirteen people were hurt and 55 claims were made for damage caused by smoke and fire. The recall includes corded surge protectors manufactured before 2003 by Schneider Electric IT Corporation. ""The affected products may present a fire hazard under infrequent, abnormal building wiring and electrical conditions,"" the company said. ""This hazard has been reported in a small percentage (less than 0.01%) of the units sold and included reports of property damage, mostly involving damaged nylon carpeting."" Thirty-two model numbers of the company's ""7 series"" and ""8 series"" devices are included in the recall and can be found on the company's website, recall.apc.com, or by calling 888 437 4007 . The safety commission urges the public to stop using the surge protectors, and to contact the company for a replacement."
"(CNN) -- When news broke that six e-mail accounts belonging to members of the Bush family were hacked and some of the contents posted online, reactions ranged from being offended to amusement. Many people objected to the leak of family exchanges reflecting contingency planning for the funeral of President George H.W. Bush. If ever a family deserves privacy, it is when dealing with the death, or impending death, of a loved one. Others seized on the semi-nude bathing self-portraits of President George W. Bush to resume ridicule not seen since he left office. And virtually everyone took the episode as a warning that ""this can happen to you."" The Bush family email hack comes on the heels of reports of hacking at universities and major newspapers, and it follows urgent government warnings against our fragile cybersecurity defenses. So, do the average users of online e-mail and Web services simply have to assume that hacking will expose their personal messages and photos? Not necessarily. The recent spate of security breaches and the attention focused on them will mean that government and businesses will up their game even more to secure our information infrastructure. But the security reinforcement might take time. In the meantime, people have options to protect their information and themselves. Privacy and data security is a shared responsibility, after all, and users have a role to play. Some Web-based e-mail services like Google's Gmail offer tools to add an extra layer of protection. Gmail offers a two-step verification to add an extra layer of security. Such protection erects a double gate against unwanted interception. Through two-step verification, in addition to user name and password, you enter a code that the e-mail provider will send via text, voice call or on a mobile app. Two-step verification drastically reduces the chances of someone stealing the personal information from your e-mail account because hackers would have to not only get a password and your user name, they would also have to have access to the mobile phone to which the code is sent. And while you are taking steps to secure your e-mail, you would be well-advised to make sure your WiFi connection is secure. Wireless routers are ubiquitous, allowing you to share your internet connection and files around the house. But without securing your router, anyone within range can access the websites you visit and may be able to access your personal information. Securing your WiFi router with a password is an easy step to take, and it is often overlooked. If you want to get a little more technical, take a look at whether the website you are using to transmit information is using HTTPS -- hypertext transfer protocol secure. HTTPS encrypts your data so that it cannot be intercepted during transmission. You will find that your banking transactions almost always will be conducted through the HTTPS protocol. For an extra level of security, check to see if other websites you use offer HTTPS for transmission. So instead of throwing up your hands that Web-based e-mail and online data transfers can never be secure, seek out and use the security tools that already exist. And no matter what your political persuasion, thank the Bush family for the wake-up call. The opinions in this commentary are solely those of Christopher Wolf."
"Washington (CNN) -- The White House has been tight-lipped about how many uninsured Americans have signed up for health care insurance under the Affordable Care Act, which has led to some concerns about whether enough people are enrolling in private health plans to make the economic model work. Under the law, insurance companies are required to cover anyone. But in order to make that economically feasible, everyone has to buy insurance. The White House has set a goal of enrolling 7 million people in private insurance plans through the new health insurance exchanges by March 31, 2014, the end of the glitch-plagued open enrollment period that started October 1. But it has been tight-lipped so far about how many people have actually enrolled in private insurance plans -- those who have both applied and paid the premiums in advance. Officials announced Thursday that 700,000 people have applied for insurance plans in both the 36 states that are using a federally run health care exchange and the 14 states running their own exchanges. Obamacare website 'fixable' by end of November . But don't apply that 700,000 application figure to the 7 million enrollment goal. For starters, there's no guarantee that all 700,000 will ultimately enroll in a health insurance plan. And those 700,000 applications include Medicaid enrollments. Medicaid programs are the public health insurance programs run by states to provide low-income people with health insurance. As the law was originally envisioned, more than half of the uninsured people in the United States -- 24 million or so, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation -- who would be getting insurance through Obamacare would have been getting Medicaid. Anyone who makes less than 138% of the poverty level -- about $27,000 for a family of four -- isn't eligible for federal subsidies to buy insurance, so Medicaid is effectively their only option. So it's not necessarily a bad thing if more than half of the people getting insurance under Obamacare so far are getting Medicaid. But in many of the states operating their own exchanges, new Medicaid enrollees account for more than half of the people who have obtained insurance under Obamacare since October 1. Related: Finger-pointing over Obamacare . Should it be alarming that so many of these 700,000 new applications are people trying to get Medicaid and not private insurance? Not yet, said Matt Salo, executive director of the National Association of Medicaid Directors. ""There's nothing in what we've seen to suggest anything like that,"" he said. ""Whether you're able to be eligible for Medicaid or not is totally dependent on your income."" But he did admit ""Some of the numbers we've seen, preliminary, early numbers, do seem a little out of whack."" But he said there's a reason for that. ""In these small handful of states, they're aggressively targeting people they think might be eligible for Medicaid,"" Salo said. Salo pointed to people who the states already know are on food stamps receiving some other kind of state or locally funded health program. ""You know who they are, you know what their income is, you know they're OK accepting government benefits. If you go after these guys, there should be no surprise that these people are being enrolled."" Also, in some states, Medicaid coverage starts immediately, meaning there may be more of an incentive to enroll early because you get coverage sooner than on the private market where no matter when you enroll in the first two and a half months coverage still starts on January 1. In Arkansas they've insured more than 62,000 people in Medicaid since October 1. But in a novel twist they're doing it by using Medicaid dollars to buy people private insurance on the exchanges. Related: Obamacare more than a phone call away . And Oregon has been approved to use food stamps and other metrics as a prequalifier for Medicaid enrollment. So the state sent letters to uninsured welfare recipients that detailed simple steps to enroll in Medicaid -- i.e. just sign a form and mail it back or call a hotline. This has resulted in tens of thousands of enrollees. But Oregon also has yet to allow online registration for private health insurance. It's the one state that elected to fix the glitches in its website before going live. It may very well be that not enough people -- particularly the young and the healthy people who are needed to pay premiums to offset the benefits going out to older and less healthy -- are signing up for health insurance on the exchanges. But with so little information from the government, it is too early to tell. What we learned and didn't from Obamacare website hearing ."
"An unlicensed doctor has been charged with causing an HIV outbreak in a remote village in northwestern Battambang province, local media report. More than 800 panicked residents of Rokar village sought testing after reports of infections emerged last week. Some 106 people tested positive for HIV, according to the National AIDS authority. A provincial court has laid three charges against the unlicensed doctor, Yem Chroeum, including intentionally transmitting the HIV virus and running a clinic without permission from the Ministry of Health, police said. The police confirmed Chroeum used contaminated needles. ""After questioning Yem Chroeum, he confessed he did order his son-in-law to burn down the evidence behind his house, and (treated) patients with negligence, as well as using the same needles to treat them,"" Chet Vanny, deputy police chief of Battambang province told the Phnom Penh Post. Cambodia calls for investigation . Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen called for an inquiry into the mass HIV infection last week. ""I call for a thorough investigation into the issue,"" Hun Sen said in a televised speech. The Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization and UNAIDS have sent teams to the village to carry out more investigations and provide free testing and treatment services. ""I urge everyone to stay calm and avoid listening to or spreading rumors,"" said Dr Mam Bunheng, minister of health in a press release. ""We should also all fully respect the privacy of the affected families and ensure they do not face stigma and discrimination,"" he added. UNAIDS estimates there are 76,000 people living with HIV in Cambodia. The country has been widely praised for its progress in tackling AIDS. New HIV infections have dropped by 67% from 3500 in 2005 to 1300 in 2013, according to UNAIDS. Prime Minister Hun Sen announced last week that Cambodia is committed to stopping new HIV infections by 2020. The government will allocate US$3.7 million of national funding to HIV treatment from 2015 to 2017."
"(CNN) -- I've written quite a bit about medical myths, so I'm always a bit skeptical about medical ""knowledge."" But one thing I, and I'm sure many of you, think we understand is obesity. After all, weight issues crop up in media constantly. Just last night, Gov. Chris Christie was joking about donuts and his weight on The Late Show with David Letterman, and the First Lady's weight is once again a subject of discussion in the Washington Post--even though by any objective standard she's in great shape. We know how people gain weight, and we think we know how to lose it. Except a study in this week's New England Journal of Medicine shows us that's just not right. Pretty much everything we ""know"" about obesity and weight loss is wrong. Let's start with some things that are true. More than a third of Americans are obese. Many more are overweight. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that obesity-related medical costs were almost $150 billion in 2008, and the cost in health related expensed for an average person who was obese was more than $1,400. This doesn't count the physical, mental or quality-of-life toll that obesity can levy on a person. Few of us dispute that we need to do something about this problem. There are plenty of experts (present company included) who will tell you what needs to be done. The sad truth, though, is that lots of that advice (even mine) turns out to be mistaken. I know I've told people that making small, sustained lifestyle changes is the best way to lose weight over time. But it turns out that making such changes, say by deciding to walk a mile every day for five years, results in far less weight loss than you'd expect. Coca-Cola weighs in on obesity fight . I've lectured people about the importance of physical education in schools, and I've seen countless reports declaring that the decrease in PE nationwide is one of the reasons that more children are obese or overweight today. It turns out that studies don't show that's the case. My family loves watching ""The Biggest Loser."" But I've found myself telling my kids again and again that what's shown on TV isn't the best way to lose weight. I tell them that slow and steady works better in the long-run than rapid weight loss. I also tell them that setting unrealistic weight goals can actually sabotage your efforts. So imagine my shock to discover that what evidence exists in this new study hints towards ambitious goals being a good thing, and that quicker weight loss isn't less likely to be kept off in the long-term. People will say eating breakfast is a good idea when you're trying to lose weight, because it will keep you from binging later. But studies show that there's no protective effect from eating breakfast at all. People will say that eating more fruits and vegetables is a great way to lose weight. But studies show that, on their own, eating more of them without making other behavioral changes doesn't result in any weight loss. There's no magic to fruits and vegetables. Eatocracy: Chefs with Issues: Farm-to-table should still be on the table . People will say that snacking in between meals can lead to weight gain. But studies don't show that to be the case either. In general, people compensate for snacking throughout the rest of the day. In other words, it's not necessarily bad to snack outside of usual meal times. It's all enough to cause one to despair. But just because so much of what we believe is wrong doesn't mean we still can't do something about the issue. Studies do show that you can absolutely overcome genetic and familial factors to lose weight. They show that significant physical activity can help with weight loss, and that it has the added bonus of making you healthier in general. Reducing your caloric intake works overall, especially if it's done in a way to change your overall eating habits. Getting the whole family involved is important. And finally, for some, bariatric surgery can result in life-changing outcomes. Over the past five years, my wife and I have lost quite a bit of weight. I'm down somewhere between 15% to 20% of my high of more than 200 pounds. My wife lost even more, although I'm not going to give you any numbers (I like being married). Now that I look back, if I'm going to be honest about it, I did it in bursts over a few months here and there, each time gaining back less than I had lost. 7 weight loss myths (sort of) debunked . Each time, I had ambitious goals of 15 pounds or more in two to three months, and each time I really restricted my caloric intake. But I've kept the weight off by radically changing my overall eating habits. My breakfast consists of just coffee, I eat very light lunches, such as salads, and dinner is usually a healthy home-cooked meal with the family. My wife cooks way more than she used to and is obsessed with finding ways to make meals healthier. I avoid fried foods almost entirely, and I can't remember the last time I ate in a fast food restaurant. I also get to the gym two to three times each week. I don't tell you this because I think this is what you should do, or because I think it's the key to getting thinner. I tell you this because more and more, I think that the journey to sustained weight loss is a very personal and individual path. Perhaps our problem is we're trying to find a one-size-fits-all solution. I'm not sure that exists. Lastly, what was left out of this new scientific paper was prevention. The single best way to fight obesity is to avoid it in the first place. That has to start when kids are young, and it's a lifelong journey. But one thing I doubt will ever be proved false is that it's much easier not to gain the weight in the first place than to take it off later. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Aaron Carroll."
"It's a truth of warfare in the digital era: Bullets and bombs often are augmented by status updates and tweets. The bloody conflict taking place in Iraq is no different. And Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, a terror group so extreme that al Qaeda has denounced it, is taking the lead with a social media propaganda war the likes of which has never been seen. From recruiting fighters to spreading word of their violent attacks, ISIS is taking to the Web in what analysts say is a more sophisticated manner than previous combatants. Perhaps as a result, Iraqis have been reporting widespread outages of social sites, a common refrain during recent unrest in the Middle East and elsewhere. CNN's Nick Paton-Walsh in Turkey interviewed a defector from ISIS who said he used to recruit Westerners for the cause through direct messages on Twitter. Opinion: Will ISIS brutality backfire? ""There was special treatment for the Europeans. One British guy said he was called Ibrahim, then told me he was from Manchester,"" said the man, who said he left the movement after it killed two of his relatives. ""One asked my boss if he should fight in his own country or come to Syria. He was told, 'If God doesn't give you martyrdom in Syria,' then he could wage war in his own country."" The man, now in hiding, said he was part of a team that ran an online chat welcoming new recruits to ISIS. ""There are things I am allowed to answer and things I must ask my supervisor about,"" he said. ""Specific questions about religion -- I have to get their permission to message anyone. I can't talk on Skype. Everything is written down so they can monitor everything."" As the Islamist group's fight has moved from Syria to Iraq, that savvy Web strategy has expanded to include online video posts much slicker than the grainy, shaky clips that have popped up from al Qaeda and other terror groups. Recently, a slickly produced, hourlong ISIS video titled ""The Clanging of the Swords"" surfaced, showcasing  killings, roadside bombings and other acts of terror for which ISIS claimed credit. The video vividly displays these scenes in a style reminiscent of Hollywood efforts like ""The Hurt Locker"" and ""Zero Dark Thirty,"" complete with elaborate aerial shots. ""This is funded,"" said Nadia Oweidat, a Middle East analyst. ""This is geopolitics. There is money behind it. It's not just idiots; these idiots have somebody controlling them and providing them with equipment that is very expensive. You can't just get it in a cave."" On another front, at least one analyst says ISIS was recently using a mobile app made available in Google's Play Store to inflate its presence on social media. Called The Dawn of Glad Tidings, or just Dawn, the app was promoted as a way to keep up to date with news from ISIS. According to J.M. Berger, editor of national-security blog IntelWire, the Dawn app would post updates to users' Twitter feeds. By midafternoon Tuesday, Google appeared to have removed the app from its store. Google did not immediately reply to a message seeking comment for this story. With the digital assault accompanying a ground offensive that saw ISIS fighting Tuesday just 40 miles north of Baghdad in the city of Baquba, access to social media has been disappearing across much of Iraq. There has been no confirmation that the Iraqi government is behind a blackout. But both Facebook and Twitter have reported a precipitous drop in the number of people in Iraq using their products in the past few days. ""Users in #Iraq are reporting issues accessing our service. We're investigating their reports and we hope service will be restored quickly,"" Twitter said on its global policy team's account Friday. Facebook has issued a similar statement. ""We are disturbed by reports of access issues in Iraq and are investigating. Limiting access to Internet services — essential for communication and commerce for millions of people — is a matter of concern for the global community,"" read a Facebook statement sent to CNN. Facebook's internal numbers show that, since June 12, the volume of visits to its site and apps were as low as 30% of their normal volume in Iraq. There are no technical problems on its end, Facebook said. Web software firm Akamai reports that visits to Twitter in Iraq dramatically plummeted early Saturday. A Twitter spokesman said its internal traffic reports mirror Akamai's. Iraqis have increasingly turned to Whisper, a mobile app that lets users post anonymous images, in an apparent effort to get around the social-media issues. Neetzan Zimmerman, Whisper's editor in chief, told CNNMoney that Whisper usage in Iraq more than doubled between June 12 and June 15. During Arab Spring uprisings in places like Egypt and Iran, as well as more recent conflicts in places like Syria, unrest has been met with Internet outages and the blocking of social media sites. In virtually all cases, the opposition has accused sitting governments, who control their nation's Internet infrastructure, of blocking access to make coordination more difficult and keep news of the conflicts from spreading. MAPS: Crisis in Iraq ."
"MARDAN, Pakistan (CNN)  -- A family of 18 Pakistani men, women and children trudges down a dirt road toward a refugee camp. These children are among the thousands of refugees this week at the Jalozai camp in western Pakistan. Adolescent girls carry infants on their hips, while the men lug bundles of belongings on their backs. ""Come, stay close to me,"" said one woman wrapped in brightly colored robes, speaking to three children trailing behind her. ""This one is empty,"" a white-bearded Pakistani police officer tells the family, pointing toward a tent. The women and children scramble under the canvas flap, as Salar Khan explains what led his family to flee to Mardan. ""Mortars destroyed three houses in my village,"" he said. ""It was dangerous. A piece of shrapnel almost pierced my child's leg."" Khan said his family left their home Wednesday morning in Sultanwas, a town in Buner district. Now, they are living in Mardan's rapidly growing tent city of more than 1,400 other displaced Pakistanis. Five days ago, it was an empty field.  Watch as CNN's Ivan Watson tours a refugee camp » . Khan's family has joined tens of thousands of other Pakistanis fleeing south to escape the escalating conflict between the military and Taliban militants in northwestern Pakistan. Meanwhile, columns of Pakistani troops in military trucks head in the opposite direction, hauling field guns north toward the conflict zone. Pakistani families have fled the area any way they can: on foot, by hitching rides on the back of trucks and by stowing their belongings on the roofs of cars. As fighting has spread from the districts of Buner and Lower Dir to the Taliban stronghold in the Swat Valley, camps for displaced people are cropping up across northwest Pakistan. The United Nations said the new exodus is exacerbating an already existing humanitarian crisis. Since August, the U.N. has registered more than 500,000 Pakistanis forced to flee their homes by fighting in other northwestern parts of the country. ""Last year ... 4 million people worldwide lost their homes, out of which you have half a million displaced in Pakistan,"" said Manuel Bessler, a top U.N. official in Islamabad. Bessler spoke on a rooftop, overlooking the sprawling Jalozai refugee camp in western Pakistan. Until recently, the camp housed refugees from neighboring Afghanistan. The Afghans are now gone, replaced by more then 49,000 Pakistanis. Administrators are preparing space for 35,000 others. With help from U.N. agencies, the Pakistani government and other aid organizations, residents get access to medical care, children's schools and training programs to teach them how to rebuild their damaged homes if and when they get to return. Tensions have been building in the Jalozai camp. Two months ago, Pakistani police shot and killed one demonstrator after residents protested, blocking roads, throwing stones and demanding compensation for homes damaged by the fighting. This week, a crowd of several hundred agitated men gathered at the entrance, angry about a delay of several days in the monthly distribution of food aid. Some accused camp administrators of corruption, allegations that aid workers have denied. ""The wheat we've been given is substandard, and people are getting sick instead of being fed,"" said one man named Gulzada. ""Our houses have been destroyed,"" said another man called Anwar. ""There's no tea, no sugar, no wheat, no lentils. All that we have are the clothes we are wearing."" A fresh wave of displaced Pakistanis will only aggravate tensions, said Bessler, the U.N. official. ""This is a factor that is destabilizing not only in the camp but in the country as a whole,"" he warned. Only a fraction of the hundreds of thousands of displaced Pakistanis are ending up in camps. Many more have settled with host families or have resorted to paying rent in other cities. The influx of ethnic Pashtuns from northwest Pakistan upset the delicate demographic balance last month in the port city of Karachi. That led to ethnic clashes between Pashtuns and the resident Muhajir community, resulting in the deaths of more than 30 people. Many more Pakistanis are unable to leave the conflict area, according to Sebastian Brack, a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Islamabad. ""There is a serious humanitarian crisis under way,"" Brack said. ""There is serious fighting going on. There will be massive displacement. Because of the curfew, [many] have not been able to leave yet."" In this moment of crisis, some homeless Pakistanis are turning to a higher power. ""Whenever it is God's will, we will go back to our homes,"" says Mohammed Munir, an elderly man who fled with his family from the Buner district to the new camp in Mardan three days ago. ""And we pray to Allah that he will protect us. It's up to Allah. We can't do anything."" The man kneeled and prayed in the grass outside the entrance of a tent that his family now calls home."
"ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- You are about to meet Mr. Brown. David Mann and Tamela Mann -- a real-life couple -- star in ""Meet the Browns"" as father and daughter. He's David Mann, star of the TBS sitcom ""Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns."" To borrow a phrase from the network's marketing -- he's very funny. Mann's character -- ""Downtown"" Leroy Brown -- is a lovable, sometimes outrageous and always off-the-wall senior citizen who has stolen every scene he's entered in Tyler Perry's plays, movies and TV shows. Mr. Brown no longer has to steal scenes, because TBS -- owned by CNN parent company Time Warner -- has ordered 80 episodes of half-hour comedy, based on the success of 10 pilot episodes. ""Just in case I'm dreaming, don't pinch me,"" said Mann. ""I'm living the dream."" ""Meet the Browns"" is a spinoff of Perry's ""House of Payne,"" a sitcom that has yielded strong cable ratings for TBS, and it employs some of the same characters seen in Perry's movies and stage plays -- including a play and film named ""Meet the Browns,"" which is only mildly related to the TV series. The show focuses on Mr. Brown and his daughter Cora, played by Mann's real-life wife, Tamela Mann, as Mr. Brown tries to turn his house into a home for the elderly. Those who have followed Perry's productions know that Cora was the conceived during a brief fling between Brown and Madea, Perry's female alter ego. ""If it hadn't been for Cora, Mr. Brown and Madea probably would have killed each other by now,"" Mann said. ""Cora is the glue to this whole thing. Cora keeps everybody grounded."" Mann said Mr. Brown's speech and mannerisms are from a combination of people. ""Grandfathers, uncles, relatives, you know, different friends you see."" he said. ""I use to go to a nursing home and just look at people, watch -- 'OK, that's how they're doing this.' "" His biggest laughs come from his use -- or abuse -- of the English language which Mann refers to as ""Mr. Brownisms."" Manipulate becomes ""manipudip,"" while hypnotize transforms to ""hepatitis."" ""You hear them as I spit them out, and it's just like, 'What was I thinking?' "" Mann said. Mr. Brown's wardrobe, which is always two sizes too small for his protruding belly, is a bright-colored mix of thrift store specials. ""The clothes just kind of happened,"" he said. ""Because, you know, you have that uncle or that relative in your family who just can't let the clothes go?"" Since Mr. Brown originated on the stage -- in Perry productions -- Mann had to adjust to the small screen. ""I'm very animated and so I just had to make sure I toned that down for the screen because I'm so used to making sure that the person in the front row can see as well as the person in the balcony,"" he said. ""To bring that and condense it down for television was a transition for me."" Camera operators are challenged to keep up with Mann as he moves around the set, sometimes re-writing the script. ""One word can trigger a whole different thing with us, and that's what I love about working with Tyler Perry,"" Mann said. ""He gives you the freedom to go in there and create. If you see something that can make it funnier, he gives you the liberty to go ahead and do it, create it and make it funny."" Perry directs every episode at his new Atlanta studio on a sound stage next to where he also tapes ""House of Payne."" Mr. Brown never seems too far from Mr. Mann. In mid-interview, he emerges. ""Oh, he can come out any time,"" Mann, speaking as Brown, said. ""All you got tuh do is say it, and he'll come. Yeap, Mr. Brown is always 'round somewhere. You jes' got tuh belieeeeeve."" The character is played about 30 years older than Mann, which causes some confusion out of costume and in public, he said. ""What's funny is when people see me out they're like, 'Are you Mr. Brown's son?' No, I'm Mr. Brown,"" he said. ""But that's good for the makeup team."" Perhaps the most awkward time is when he is on the set, dressed as Mr. Brown, and he wants to show his wife, Tamela Mann, some husbandly affection. ""She is like, 'When you put that makeup on, you are Mr. Brown, you're not my husband.' "" he said. ""So, she doesn't want me kissing on her and stuff. She says 'it's like a dirty old man kissing and hugging on me.' "" You can also see Mr. Brown in ""Tyler Perry's Madea Goes To Jail,"" which hit theaters last month and has been a rousing success at the box office. ""They finally got Madea,"" Mann said. ""She's been to jail a few times, but this time Madea goes to prison -- or as Mr. Brown would say, 'prisnuh.' """
"London (CNN) -- Rupert Murdoch is the last of a dying breed: An old-fashioned press baron with ink running through his veins, a hefty checkbook, and a hunger for the next big story. Now aged 83, he has spent the past half century turning a business that began with one local Australian newspaper into a massive multimedia empire which spans the globe and includes TV, online, film and print interests. The phone-hacking scandal forced him to close the British tabloid that was his pride and joy, News of the World, and for a time even appeared to jeopardize his global empire, valued by Forbes at $9.4 billion. It led the powerful businessman to submit himself for questioning by British politicians, where he declared: ""This is the most humble day of my life."" But Murdoch bounced back from the crisis, and he remains at the helm of his global empire. In 2013, News International, the UK subsidiary of Murdoch's News Corp. was rebranded News UK, while News Corp. itself split into two separate entities. News Corp. is now focused on publishing while 21st Century Fox encompasses television and film assets. This month, Forbes estimated the net worth of Murdoch and his family at $14.5 billion, adding that stocks from the two companies had boosted his worth by more than $2 billion in the past year. The same year, Murdoch filed for divorce from his third wife, Wendi Deng. Deng had grabbed headlines when she lunged to defend her husband from a pie-throwing intruder at a 2011 parliamentary hearing in London, earning her the sobriquet ""tiger wife."" But speculation about the state of the couple's relationship had swirled for months before Murdoch's spokesman confirmed the divorce. One tweet fittingly declared that Murdoch had gone ""from tabloid boss to tabloid prey."" The media mogul was kept on the edge of the limelight from October 2013, when former employees went on trial for alleged phone hacking. The newspaper business is in Murdoch's blood. Born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1931, he was one of four children -- the only son -- of a celebrated journalist and his debutante-turned-philanthropist wife. His father, Keith Murdoch, was a reporter who exposed the horrific conditions experienced by Anzac troops fighting at Gallipoli in World War I, and went on to manage a large newspaper company. ""I was raised in a newspaper family by a father who believed that the newspaper was among the most important instruments of human freedom,"" Murdoch declared in his 2008 Boyer Lectures. His mother, Elisabeth, was inspired to devote her life to ""good works"" as a schoolgirl. At the time of her death in 2012, aged 103, she remained a supporter of more than 100 charities, and enjoyed an almost regal status in Australia. Murdoch was studying at Oxford when his father died in 1952. Mentored -- like his father -- by press baron Lord Beaverbrook, he learned his trade as a reporter in Birmingham, England and as a Â£10-a-week sub-editor at Beaverbrook's Daily Express in London before returning home to take charge of the family business. ""I found myself a newspaper proprietor at the age of 22,"" Murdoch said in 2008. ""I was so young and so new to the business that when I pulled my car into the lot on my first day, the garage attendant admonished me, 'Hey sonny, you can't park here.'"" Despite his youth, the new boss of the Adelaide News took to the job like a duck to water, quickly getting embroiled in a newspaper war -- the first of many -- with local rival the Adelaide Advertiser. ""It cost a great deal,"" he said. ""But it taught me that with good editors and a loyal readership, you can challenge better-heeled and more established rivals -- and succeed."" He was soon looking to expand the company: After buying up other local papers across the country, in 1964, he set up Australia's first national newspaper, The Australian, and in 1969, moved overseas to purchase his first UK paper, News of the World, shortly followed by The Sun. The sensationalism and sex on the pages of some of his papers provoked shock and anger among his competitors on Fleet Street, and earned Murdoch a number of less than complimentary nicknames. As Ian Hislop, editor of British satirical magazine Private Eye, told CNN: ""[We have] referred to Murdoch as the Dirty Digger throughout his long career, and it's not an accident; he does dig up dirt and then puts it in papers and sells it."" His hunger for the latest scoops -- and his willingness to pay for them -- have ensured massive sales figures, but have also caused controversy over the years, from Christine Keeler's kiss-and-tell over the Profumo scandal, to the ""Hitler Diaries"" (later revealed to be fakes) to O.J. Simpson's ""If I Did It"" book. That desire to be first with the big news has led some to question his methods -- even before the phone-hacking scandal. ""He ran close to what might be considered journalistic ethics,"" said Lou Colasuonno, former editor-in-chief of the New York Post, which Murdoch took over in 1976. ""I'm not saying he broke the law, I'm not saying he did anything illegal, but I am saying he's aggressive in getting stories."" Print unions . That aggression was evident in the mid-1980s when Murdoch, by then the owner of London's Times and Sunday Times papers, broke the stranglehold of the unions on the country's print industry. After months of plotting, the media titan switched his operations from Fleet Street to Wapping, in the east end of London, and from hot metal to computerized systems overnight, forcing hundreds of printers out of work. ""He was the man who tamed the print unions so that newspapers became incredibly profitable,"" said Martin Dunn, former deputy editor of the Sun and News of the World. Those profits were plowed into Murdoch's growing Fox network of TV and film interests in the United States, helping to create the corporate behemoth that is News Corp., which now also owns the influential Wall Street Journal, America's largest circulation daily. The thrice-married father-of-six Murdoch has long been at the center of a frenzied succession debate -- something the current scandal only complicates. His oldest four children -- daughters Prudence and Elisabeth, and sons Lachlan and James -- all have a say in the running of the company. His youngest daughters Grace (born 2001) and Chloe (born 2003), with Wendi Deng, are both said to have a financial share in News Corp. Famously hands-on, Murdoch has never shied away from getting stuck in -- whether tracking down a story, or dictating the political direction of his papers. ""If I see things in the paper which I think are incorrect, I'll certainly point it out and say 'so-and-so made a mistake here,' or 'this wasn't as good a report as was in the opposition newspapers,'"" he told the makers of BBC documentary ""Who's Afraid of Rupert Murdoch?"" in 1981. ""I ... have the right to insist on excellence."" On the same program, Robert Spitzler, former managing editor of the New York Post said Murdoch's role went beyond commenting and suggesting. ""Rupert wrote headlines, Rupert shaped stories, Rupert dictated the leads of stories,"" he said. ""Rupert was everywhere."" In a 1968 television interview, Murdoch admitted that he enjoyed the power his position gave him, but -- in remarks that now seem more relevant than ever -- insisted: ""We have more responsibility than power, I think. ""A newspaper can create great controversies, stir up arguments within the community ... can throw light on injustices, just as it can do the opposite, can hide things and be a great power for evil."" But even those who may be considered his enemies recognize Murdoch's business acumen. ""He's a dealmaker, he's a brilliant businessman,"" Michael White, of the UK's Guardian newspaper, which broke the hacking story, told CNN. ""He's a great strategic mind."""
"(CNN) -- A former NFL player and his mother have been indicted in a scheme to steal more than $690,000 by fraudulently obtaining five home equity loans in six days, according to the New Jersey Attorney General's Office. Irving Fryar, 51, and his mother, Allene McGhee, 72, were charged with second-degree conspiracy and theft by deception in New Jersey Superior Court Wednesday. The indictment alleges that Fryar schemed with McGhee to obtain five home equity loans totaling more than $690,000 between December 16 and 21, 2009, using McGhee's Willingboro home as collateral for all of the loans. The pair allegedly deceived five banks by acquiring the loans within six days and purposefully failing to disclose the existence of any other loans. The indictment further charges that McGhee's loan applications falsely claimed that she earned thousands of dollars a month as an event coordinator for her son's church, New Jerusalem House of God in Burlington County. Fryar himself allegedly received or spent more than $200,000 of the fraudulently obtained loan proceeds, the attorney general's office said. Fryar and McGhee made only a few payments on four of the loans, and those banks eventually wrote the loans off as losses, authorities said. ""This is not a case in which Mr. Fryar and his mother simply omitted or misstated information on loan applications,"" said acting Attorney General John Hoffman. ""This indictment alleges that they engaged in an elaborate criminal scheme that was designed to defraud these banks of hundreds of thousands of dollars."" Neither Fryar nor McGhee responded to CNN's requests for comment. It is unclear whether either has hired an attorney. A court date has not yet been set, according to the attorney general's office. Between 1984 and 2000, Fryar played for four NFL teams: the New England Patriots, the Miami Dolphins, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Redskins. He is the head football coach at Robbinsville High School in Robbinsville, New Jersey. CNN's Rob Frehse contributed to this report."
"Ohio inmate Dennis McGuire appeared to gasp and convulse for roughly 10 minutes before he died Thursday by lethal injection using a new combination of drugs, reporters who witnessed it said. McGuire was convicted in 1994 of the rape and murder of 22-year-old Joy Stewart, who was seven months pregnant. Her relatives were at Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville to witness his death, according to tweets from television reporter Sheila Gray. McGuire's ""children and daughter-in-law were crying and visibly upset,"" Gray tweeted. She said McGuire, before the drugs took effect, thanked Stewart's family for a letter he apparently received. ""To my children, I'm sorry. I love you. I'm going to heaven and I'll see you there when you come,"" McGuire reportedly said, according to CNN affiliate WDTN. Columbus Dispatch reporter Alan Johnson said that the whole execution process took 24 minutes, and that McGuire appeared to be gasping for air for 10 to 13 minutes. ""He gasped deeply. It was kind of a rattling, guttural sound. There was kind of a snorting through his nose. A couple of times, he definitely appeared to be choking,"" WDTN quoted Johnson as saying. The convicted murderer was pronounced dead at 10:53 a.m. ET. The execution generated controversy because, like many states, Ohio has been forced to find new drug protocols after European-based manufacturers banned U.S. prisons from using their drugs in executions -- among them, Danish-based Lundbeck, which manufactures pentobarbital. According to Ohio's corrections department, the state used a combination of the drugs midazolam, a sedative; and the painkiller hydromorphone. Both the length of time it took for McGuire to die and his gasping are not typical for an execution, said Howard Nearman, an anesthesiologist at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland. ""Why it took 24 minutes, I really can't tell you,"" he said. ""It just makes you wonder -- what was given? What was the timing, and what were the doses?"" In an opinion piece written for CNN this week, a law professor noted that McGuire's attorneys argued he would ""suffocate to death in agony and terror."" ""The state disagrees. But the truth is that no one knows exactly how McGuire will die, how long it will take or what he will experience in the process,"" wrote Elisabeth A. Semel, clinic professor of law and director of the Death Penalty Clinic at U.C. Berkeley School of Law. Speaking on behalf of McGuire's legal team, attorney Allen Bohnert called on the governor to impose a moratorium on future executions because of what took place Thursday. ""At this point, it is entirely premature to consider this execution protocol to be anything other than a failed, agonizing experiment,"" he said in a statement. ""The people of the State of Ohio should be appalled at what was done here today in all of our names. Ohio, like its citizens, must follow the law. The state has failed."" CNN's Sonny Hostin said that McGuire's execution will likely spark debate over whether how inmates react to the use of the drugs constitutes cruel and unusual punishment prohibited by the U.S. Constitution. ""Whenever there's a change in the lethal injection process clearly it's subject to legal proceedings and perhaps we will see those,"" Hostin said. Ohio ran out of pentobarbital, which is a narcotic and sedative barbiturate, in September, according to JoEllen Smith, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. In response to that shortage, the department amended its execution policy to allow for the use of midazolam and hydromorphone. Stewart's body was discovered by hikers near a creek in southwestern Ohio in February of 1989. Her throat was cut and she had been sodomized. Death penalty states scramble for lethal injection drugs . There are currently 138 men and one woman on death row in Ohio. The state was set to execute death row inmate Ron Phillips using the new drug combination last year, but Gov. John Kasich granted the convicted killer a stay of execution pending a review of a possible organ donation to his family members. Death penalty in the U.S. gradually declining . Serial killer Joseph Franklin executed after hours of delay . A death row interview ."
"BUCKLIN, Kansas (CNN) -- Rob Sellard's young wheat field is a stark reminder that no matter how bad the economy, farmers are always at nature's mercy. Rob Sellard and his wife, Sylvia, farm 14,000 acres, or about 22 square miles, in Kansas. ""The fact is we don't have any moisture right now, and when we hit some warm days this wheat will deteriorate very rapidly,"" Sellard told CNN during a visit in March, pointing to places where the green wheat was starting to die from lack of rain. ""Without moisture this wheat is going to continue to die,"" he said. Add in the high costs of planting last fall -- the spike in oil prices drove up the price of petroleum-based fertilizers, fuel and chemicals -- and the chances of making a profit this year look bleak. ""Four or five years ago, we were buying $350 to $400 a ton fertilizer. This wheat crop here, when we fertilized last August or September, fertilizer was $1,100,"" Sellard says. ""Even if we had a decent crop, even if we cut it decently, this wheat crop will be in the red.""  Watch as Sellard examines the dry soil » . For generations, the Sellards have farmed near Bucklin, Kansas. Rob and his wife, Sylvia, now farm a whopping 14,000 acres -- nearly 22 square miles. Recent years have been good to the Sellards and other farmers. 2008 saw record wheat prices, and the Sellards also raise Black Angus cattle -- the ones that make those tasty steaks that corporate execs once spent so lavishly on. But cattle production, like the economy, is also suffering.  Learn more about what affects farm costs » . ""With the fears on Wall Street, people have stopped eating out so much,"" he says. ""Less beef is sold. Foreign countries, they are struggling too because of everything that has happened, so we don't have the exports."" Exports are slowly improving, and farmers such as the Sellards do have the option of hanging on to their prized cattle until prices improve. Likewise, they can sit on their wheat harvest and hope prices go up -- although they'll have to pay to store the grain. Grain prices are low compared with last season, when record prices helped some farmers make a good profit in Kansas and across the country. According to the Kansas State University agricultural extension office, Kansas wheat sold for an average of $10.50 a bushel at its peak in 2008 -- largely a result of changing supply and demand. From 1999 to 2006, the average price was $3.16 a bushel. As of this week, wheat was selling for $5.39 a bushel at a local grain elevator in Bucklin, in southwestern Kansas. Sellard says that despite last year's high prices, not everyone made lots of money. ""You can read all you want, the sensationalism of high prices a year ago,"" he says. ""I don't know of very many people around here who got $10 or $11 wheat. In most people's case, when the grain started going up they sold it at $5, $6 ."" By the time prices hit $11, few farmers had any wheat left to sell. Still, Kelly Estes -- president of BTI Inc. Bucklin Tractor & Implement, the local John Deere dealership -- has seen farmers with money to spend. ""I think that farmers for the most part up our way, there is no question that net income has increased the last two years significantly to what it was, due to the commodity prices going up to what they did,"" he says. Estes has sold out of 2009 model farm equipment, much of which sells for more than a quarter-million dollars. Business has been so good that Estes is looking to hire more employees -- and he says the agricultural sector might be one answer to unemployment. ""There is a real opportunity for even city kids that want to come out and work in rural North America,"" he says. ""They are laying people off in the cites that might have opportunities here."" Estes, however, says he does worry about the impact of the economic downturn on rural America as the effects of the recession start to hit home. ""You know it always starts on the East Coast and West Coast and it kind of comes in. By the time it gets here we are hoping that the tidal wave is [reduced to] a ripple effect."" He already has seen sales of used tractors slow. ""For us '09 looks good, '08 was fantastic; '10 is a more cautious year for us. There is no question. Just due to what Mother Nature is doing, due to what the economy is doing."" Kraig Lindsay says things also have slowed at the Offerle Cooperative Grain Elevator in Bucklin, which he manages. ""There is less consumption going on, so [the grain is] not going to be moving out of here,"" he says. Some farmers are waiting, holding onto their grain, hoping for prices to go back up. So how will farmers and those who rely on them survive? ""We are concerned,"" Sellard says. ""But we hope in the good years we've saved up enough equity that we can go the next year. ... [that] we haven't blown it all in one year."""
"LIMA, Peru (CNN) -- The government of Peru on Friday declared a state of emergency in a remote northern area after a clash between police and indigenous people protesting what they say is the exploitation of their native lands left a number of people dead. Alberto Pizango, a leader of the protesters, says his followers did not kill police officers. Police and indigenous protesters said separately that at least eight police and 22 protesters died. The clash took place at dawn outside the northern province of Bagua in the Department of Amazonas as police attempted to break up a roadblock on the 59th day of protests. Foreign Minister Jose A. Garcia Belaunde told CNN en Español that the state of emergency was ordered to give the government the opportunity to re-establish order and reopen talks with the protesters. Under the state of emergency, the army can be called on to maintain order. ""Look, the use of force is legitimate,"" he said. ""Today, what we have received in response were gunshots -- directed at police helicopters, killing eight or nine police."" But Alberto Pizango, the principal leader of the indigenous group, said his followers could not have been responsible for killing any police, because they were armed only with stones and arrows. He said the demonstrators had been pursuing a peaceful protest. Authorities have not confirmed the number of civilian deaths. The director general of the police, Jose Sanchez Farfan, said government buildings in Bagua had been looted and set aflame. Though a congressional commission has recommended the repeal of the laws rejected by the native communities, President Alan Garcia supports those that allow using the lands, maintaining that the richness of the Amazon belongs to all Peruvians and that a significant percentage of natural areas are already protected. ""These people don't have crowns,"" he said about the protesters. ""These people aren't first-class citizens who can say -- 400,000 natives to 28 million Peruvians -- 'You don't have the right to be here.' No way. That is a huge error."" Garcia called Pizango a criminal. Several days ago, Garcia announced an arrest warrant had been issued for Pizango, who is accused of inciting his followers to violence. Journalist Maria Elena Belaunde contributed to this story from Lima."
"Philip Seymour Hoffman's last wish for his son was that he grow up in New York, Chicago or San Francisco, according to the late actor's will. Hoffman, who died of a heroin overdose earlier this month, left his entire estate to ""friend and companion"" Mimi O'Donnell, who is the mother of his three children, according to the document released by the Manhattan Surrogate's Court Wednesday. It was signed by Hoffman in October 2004, when his son, Cooper, now 10, was just a year old and before daughters Tallulah and Willa were born. ""It is my strong desire, and not direction to my guardian, that my son, Cooper Hoffman be raised and reside in or near the borough of Manhattan in the State of New York, or Chicago Illinois, or San Francisco, California,"" Hoffman stated in the 13-page will. That provision was in a section that applied only if O'Donnell was not living at the time of his death and if a guardian was to be appointed for his children. If living in his preferred three cities was not possible, Hoffman requested that his son at least visit there twice a year. ""The purpose of this request is so that my son will be exposed to the culture, arts and architecture that such cities offer,"" Hoffman's will said. Noticeably absent from his list is Los Angeles, given Hoffman's fame as a Hollywood actor. Hoffman named O'Donnell as his estate's trustee and executrix of his will. Hoffman, 46, was found on the bathroom floor of his apartment, a needle in his arm. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators discovered close to 50 envelopes of what they believed was heroin in the apartment, law enforcement sources said. They also found used syringes, prescription drugs and empty plastic bags of a type commonly used to hold drugs, the sources said. Hoffman, who was nominated for Academy Awards four times, won the Oscar for best actor in 2006 for his portrayal of writer Truman Capote in ""Capote."" He earned Academy Award nominations for roles in ""Charlie Wilson's War,"" ""Doubt,"" and ""The Master."""
"London, England (CNN) -- British police questioned four members of the Pakistani national cricket team after allegations surfaced that gamblers fixed part of a match against England, the manager of the Pakistani team said Sunday. They arrested a different man in connection with the allegations late Saturday. The investigation comes after a British tabloid newspaper reported that two Pakistani players deliberately bowled ""no balls"" -- a foul -- while playing against England in London last week. A ""no ball"" is when the bowler -- the equivalent of a pitcher in baseball -- steps over the line as he throws the ball. The batting team gets a run when that happens. A chance lost for Pakistan's cricketers? The British tabloid News of the World posted what it said was a video of an undercover reporter meeting with a man identified as Mazhar Majeed, who tells the reporter exactly which bowlers would bowl ""no balls"" and when, then lays out 14 thick stacks of bills on a table. The video of the meeting -- which the newspaper said took place Wednesday, the day before the match between Pakistan and England began -- is intercut with clips from the following two days, where the players perform as Majeed said they would. The tabloid also says the alleged ringleader pocketed 150,000 British pounds (U.S. $232,800) in the scam. London's Metropolitan Police said a 35-year-old man was arrested late Saturday on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers. A source familiar with the investigation named him as Mazhar Majeed. Without identifying the suspect by name, London police said Sunday in a brief statement that the 35-year-old man was released on bail ""until a date in the future."" No date for a hearing or further proceedings was given in the statement. No players or team officials have been arrested, the International Cricket Council said Sunday. But police questioned team captain Salman Butt, manager Yawar Saeed and two other players, Saeed told reporters Sunday. He did not name the other two players at the news conference, but Britain's Press Association earlier reported that he had said they were bowlers Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asaf. Police refused to confirm to CNN who was being questioned. Team captain Butt said Pakistan gave 100 percent throughout a match. ""We have given our best,"" Butt said after his team lost to England. The team manager refused to comment on the report that Pakistani players intentionally committed three fouls during the . match. ""No allegations are true until they are proved either way,"" said Saeed. ""So that this point in time they are just allegations. Let's wait until the case is complete."" England beat Pakistan in the four-day match at Lord's cricket ground, which ended Sunday afternoon, after the scandal broke. Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari ordered an investigation into the scandal, his spokesman said Sunday. He directed the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board to submit a preliminary report ""immediately,"" Farhatullah Babar said, adding that Zardari asked to be kept informed about any British investigations as well. Sam Peters, News of the World's cricket correspondent, told CNN that the tabloid did not ""drive these events ... These events were going to happen regardless of whether the News of the World was involved."" But, he said, staffers believed the story was in the public interest. ""It's a legitimate story to get to the bottom of something that's been plaguing our sport,"" he said. ""... It's swirled around, and the innuendo's been there."" ""People need to know this is going on,"" he said, ""what they're watching when they're paying money to go to sports events ... it's not always what they believe it to be."" However, Shakil Shaikh, president of the Islamabad Regional Cricket Association, told CNN that while he is ""shocked"" at the news, ""no proof has been given of the involvement of these players in the match-fixing issue"" and he has seen no concrete evidence against the cricketers. He said if evidence does surface, an investigation will be launched. It is the second allegation of corruption directed at the Pakistan cricket team this year. The International Cricket Council's anti-corruption unit was set up in response to allegations against the captains of Pakistan, India and South Africa in 2000. All three were banned from the game for life. News of the World does not allege that gamblers fixed the results of the match -- only that specific moments in the match were fixed, a practice known as ""spot-fixing"" rather than ""match-fixing."" Betting on cricket matches is legal in England. International and local cricket officials will not be issuing further comment ""as this is now subject to a police investigation,"" the council said in a statement. A Metropolitan Police spokesman told CNN the arrest came in response to information provided by the newspaper. Andrew Miller, a cricket expert and the U.K. editor for ESPN's Cricket website, told CNN on Sunday morning that since a major scandal involving match fixing between India and South Africa in 2000, things appear not to have changed much. ""What we're discovering is that corruption has never gone away,"" Miller said via telephone from London. ""It's resurfacing this year -- during the 10th anniversary of the biggest scandal ever to hit cricket."" Miller said though it remains to be proven, it appears this newest scandal could be on par with the scandal from 10 years ago. He added that cricket's many aspects of play and rules make it susceptible to betting. And in a five-day test match, such as the one under way between Pakistan and England at the Lord's cricket ground, there are a lot of possibilities for placing bets that players can manipulate. ""If you were going to invent a game that you could corrupt -- it would be cricket because you can bet on every aspect of the game,"" he continued. For example, there are up to 2,700 deliveries per game and if a gambler were to plop down $10,000 on the 827th delivery, predicting it correctly, the payoff for that particular bet could be handsome. ""We believe this is really huge, and could be affecting other areas of cricket,"" Peters said. The News of the World report was co-authored by Mazher Mahmood, a controversial figure in British journalism who has exposed several previous scams. He was responsible for a report in May that revealed Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson offered to sell access to her former husband, Prince Andrew. According to the UK Press Association, the tabloid's reporters were able to gain access to the alleged ring by posing as ""Far Eastern businessmen."" CNN's Richard Allen Greene, Phil Black, Caroline Paterson, Bharati Naik, Les Neuhaus and Andreena Narayan contributed to this report."
"Below is an excerpt from CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta's new book,  ""Cheating Death: The Doctors and Medical Miracles that Are Saving Life Against All Odds"" published by Wellness Central, an imprint of Grand Central Publishing. The following is from Chapter Two: A Heart-Stopping Moment: . ""Cheating Death: The Doctors and Medical Miracles that Are Saving Lives Against All Odds,"" just hit store shelves. And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm. -- 2 Kings 4:34, KJV . Mike Mertz was driving home, an hour after finishing his run as a school bus driver in Glendale, Arizona. He told me he doesn't remember why he didn't come straight home from work that day. He thinks that maybe he went for a jog. A trim fifty-nine years old, Mertz enjoyed a two- or three-mile run several days a week. Maybe he was looking for a cheaper gas station than the one on his usual route or was just trying to avoid taking his Saturn over a nasty set of new speed bumps. Whatever the reason, whatever route he wandered, it brought Mertz not to the usual entrance of his townhome complex, but the back driveway. The change in routine may have saved his life. Corey Ash, a UPS driver, was making deliveries that Wednesday afternoon, when he heard a terrible engine noise. Thinking the sound was underneath his own hood, he pulled over. Hopping out, Ash immediately realized that it was coming from a Saturn almost directly across the street. It was an accident scene. The small silver car was piled up against a palm tree, the engine revving at top speed. The only thing keeping it in place was a stucco wall a few feet from the tree; the car was wedged between the two. Racing over, Ash could see that the driver had his eyes closed and seemed to be unconscious. The driver's foot was wedged against the accelerator. Ignoring the chance that the car might break free and crush him, Ash reached across the slumped body and turned off the ignition. He dragged Mertz out of the car and laid him on the ground. After dialing 911, Ash started CPR the way he'd learned during an Air National Guard training exercise just two months before. As he listened to the ambulance siren, racing up the road from Glendale Fire Station 154 barely a mile away, Ash began to pump hard on Mertz' chest. Studies show that when a bystander jumps in, the chances of survival in a cardiac arrest case increase exponentially. Even though it may not seem like you are accomplishing much, simply pushing the heart and circulating the blood can make a tremendous difference. Mertz had that going for him, but he was also fortunate to have collapsed in Glendale. Paramedics there are at the forefront of a revolution in emergency care. With a few simple measures -- going against the grain of the medical establishment -- they have found that they can radically improve the odds of surviving a cardiac arrest. The fire engine pulled up with a screech, and a brawny firefighter named Ruben Florez jumped to the curb. As fellow firefighters scrambled down, Florez thumped an urgent rhythm on Mertz' chest, two hundred compressions over two minutes, before a medic stepped in and delivered an electric shock from the paddles of a defibrillator. Win a signed copy of Dr. Gupta's book . Then came another two hundred compressions, then shock, two hundred compressions, then shock. Finally, after six hundred thumps and three defibrillator shocks, a weak pulse returned. Mertz was back from the dead. At no point was mouth-to-mouth resuscitation performed, and at no point did Mike Mertz get a breath. Surprisingly, that may be the real reason he survived. In reality, survival from cardiac arrest outside the hospital is rare. Until very recently, Arizona was in line with the rest of the country -- only about 2 percent of the victims pulled through without long-term damage. But in 2005, cities around Arizona began doing something new. It went against the guidelines of the American Medical Association and the teaching practices of major medical schools and hospitals. This new method didn't look like the CPR that had been taught in every YMCA, firehouse, school, and church ever since the 1970s. In short, it was a radical experiment. The experiment sprang from two lines of thinking: animal studies aimed at modifying CPR technique and a public health effort to train more people in CPR. If your heart gives out while you're walking down the street, the number-one thing that can save your life is to have a bystander who is not only trained in CPR , but willing to help. Unfortunately, such help is rare. Published studies put the rate of bystander CPR at around 20 percent. If you dig deep, the number really has nothing to do with the lack of desire. Instead, study after study shows people are apprehensive about putting their mouth on someone else's and maybe catching an infection from someone who's on the ground dying. Now, the reluctance can be overcome. In Seattle, which has run massive training programs and public education campaigns since the 1970s, the rate of CPR assistance from bystanders is close to 50 percent. That one fact gets much of the credit for the city's high survival rate from cardiac arrest. In recent years, a driving goal of the American Heart Association has been to encourage more members of the public to jump in and help. But how? There was simply no getting around mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Or was there? Excerpted from ""Cheating Death,"" by Sanjay Gupta, M.D. Copyright © 2009 by Sanjay Gupta, M.D. Used by permission of Wellness Central, an imprint of Grand Central Publishing. All rights reserved."
"Editor's note: Bishop T.D. Jakes is founder and senior pastor of The Potter's House of Dallas, Texas, a multiracial, nondenominational church with more than 50 outreach ministries. Bishop T.D. Jakes says the church must sound the alarm to wake America from its slumber. (CNN) -- The blood-washed church for which Jesus died is not relegated to one group or another, nor is it held hostage by politics or ethnicity. It is a breathing, living testament to God's love and grace. It serves its community where it is located and is aware of the needs and nuances of that community. However, its relevance and vision must go beyond its community and reach the world for which Christ died. Today as the church moves from its introspective posture to a broader role in politics, business, media and impacting societal ills, it has the dubious and daunting task of doing so without losing its core function. Like all such organizations that cease to be intrinsically focused, it runs the risk of being totally misunderstood and misaligned. I have listened and watched the events of the last few days with great disappointment as the church and the so-called African-American church, in particular, has been painted rather negatively with a broad, wide-ranging brush. I personally wish the distinctions of the church by ethnicity would one day become an antiquated idea. But this will require more people moving from a segregated worship experience. Until then, the church is becoming increasingly bruised by those who seek to move it from its core principles and make it an instrument of division rather than a catalyst for unity! To say the current picture in the media of the institution that I have loved all of my life is less than flattering would be an understatement. And because I know that many Americans unfortunately do not venture outside of the comfort of their own groups for worship, the only understanding some will have of who we are is based largely on sound bites and media portrayals. I want to set the record straight! I am afraid that once again our churches will be victimized by stereotypical ideas and opinions that are based in whole or in part by the extreme and not the norm. The church I have read about in the media -- a church filled with divisiveness, a lack of tolerance for other ethnic groups, a church not focused on helping the downtrodden and less fortunate, a church filled with hostility -- does not remotely resemble the churches that I grew up around and have loved for more than 50 years. Most, if not all, predominantly African-American church doors are open to all, not just to blacks, but to anyone who is seeking a spiritual home, guidance, support, direction, faith and a feeding of the soul in the purest sense. Many of us have worked with other organizations, different cultures and denominations believing that there is more to unite us than there is to divide us. The African-American church I know is filled with programs designed to address the many ills that inflict our society: HIV/AIDS, homelessness, reducing the rate of recidivism, assisting with employment and job training, economic development and financial management classes, home buying seminars, food banks to feed the hungry, schools to educate and an active plan to guide our youth. Those outreaches have been colorblind, passionate depictions of Christ's love for all humanity! The predominantly African-American church may be founded by an African American, it may be led on Sunday by an African American, but as you look through the crowd of these beacons of hope and faith, you will see an increasing audience that is much more reflective of our world than many would have you to believe. White, black, Hispanic, Asian -- nationalities from all across the world come together -- some to visit our churches, to enjoy our music and ministers and still others are gradually starting to join our churches. Gradually race fades into the fabric of faith and becomes less central to the overarching core of human needs in general. Is it a perfect union? Of course not. Is there work to do? Absolutely! But the core message is not one that enrages, but one that encourages people to change and grow, and any other depiction is distorted and inaccurate. The Potter's House, though largely African-American, is composed of 20 different nationalities and growing in diversity. It is designed much the same way Sen. BarackObama has built his campaign: on a strong commitment to reconciliation, the admonition for unity and strong desire for the continuation of diversity instead of exclusion. While I have not endorsed any candidate, who can ignore the hunger of Americans for change? No matter who your political choice may be, it is hard to remain ambivalent to the tone that Obama sounded, igniting a national response from people of all walks of life, crowding into stadiums openly weeping -- like they were in church -- at the very idea of a nation that reflects the best of our ideals; not the divisive ranting and bickering that may drive up ratings but threaten the cannibalization of our dreams and the demolition of our hopes. As a child, I grew up in a neighborhood back in West Virginia where blacks and whites helped each other in times of need and despair. Now that I am in Dallas, Texas, I have seen our city struggle to its feet in times of dire desperation. I was there when the buses came in to the Reunion Arena in Dallas loaded with mostly people of color who were hungry, weak and tired, and needing human dignity. They were unloaded -- covered with the stench of the atrocities of the superdome in New Orleans. I saw blacks, whites and Hispanics driving up with bags of clothes and food and crying together, trying to accommodate whomever they could, wherever they could. This is the America I want my grandson to grow up in. I am wondering who will get the message that our nation's citizens are by and large looking for a voice that will unite us, clothe our naked, feed the poor and help our diminishing middle class before we self-destruct like many great empires of the past. Who cares what color they are, what banner they fly, what gender they are, or how they pronounce their names? This is a defining moment in our history, and we are about to destroy greatness with petty self- aggrandizing egotism! I implore you to not take the words of a few and depict the thoughts, hearts and motives of many. At the end of the day, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. proved with his nonviolent approach that hate-filled words will not liberate anyone. To be sure, there is still work to do to defeat racism and to attain justice in our country for all. We continue to need someone who will hold us accountable to our best practices and not our worst. But there is no liberation without love, no prosperity without philanthropy and no hope if the church becomes immersed in the quagmire of pettiness. As an American I plead with you that we are running out of time. It is critical that we dislodge ourselves from political distractions. We must return to the task of looking for the right man or woman who can answer the bloodcurdling cry of a nation that is in search of a leader with a courageous effective plan for the war in Iraq, and the medical, moral, economic and security issues that are being ignored by these distractions. If we do not, we will have done a terrible disservice to our coming generations. The Bible said that while good men slept, evil ones came and planted tare, a noxious weed, among the wheat! The tare of a hate-filled church image is a tactical distraction planted to divert our attention from choosing our next president. Let's get back to listening for leadership strategies from our best and brightest before there is no country left to lead. My hope is that the church remains a vibrant part of our process, sounding the alarm that warns: America, please wake up out of our sleep! E-mail to a friend ."
"The debate over the ""Redskins"" name in sports isn't just at the professional level. Students at an Oklahoma City high school were refusing to go into Capitol Hill High School on Wednesday morning because their mascot no longer has the controversial name, according to CNN affiliate KOCO. Dozens of students stood on the lawn outside the building rather than heading into class. The city's public school board voted Monday to change the name in response to Native American students' feelings that the mascot name was offensive. The vote to change the mascot, which has been in place since the 1920s, was unanimous. School administrators will immediately start phasing out the Redskins mascot and will create a committee of current and former students and community members to pick a new mascot before the end of the spring semester, spokeswoman Tierney Tinnin said in a statement, according to The Oklahoman. In the NFL, Washington Redskins football team owner Dan Snyder has repeatedly defended his team's use of the name and wrote in a March letter that the name ""captures the best of who we are and who we can be, by staying true to our history and honoring the deep and enduring values our name represents."" The support of a handful of Oklahoma City high school students isn't likely to help Snyder's cause. President Barack Obama said last year that he might change the name if he were the team owner. In June, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office found that six team trademarks were offensive and canceled them. The team appealed, and the patent office ruled that the Redskins could use the logos until the years-long appeals process was complete. The National Congress of American Indians has spoken out against the use of ""Redskins"" and other Native American mascots."
"(CNN) -- We celebrate Veterans Day this week, but we have been riding a crest of war remembrance for months now. World War I's centenary alone has brought forth new books -- histories of that war, based on historical documentation and letters unearthed in family and state archives. We look anew at the inscriptions on tombs of known and unknown soldiers and posters from the past whose propagandistic messages shout at us across the divide of time. Opinion: How a century-old war affects you . But in the midst of this flood of words, an equally significant, and telling, aspect of the Great War has been largely overlooked: the place of silence in and around the conflict. World War I may call to mind the written word -- the harrowing verses of Wilfred Owen or the prose of Erich Maria Remarque, whose ""All Quiet on the Western Front"" rendered war's raw brutality. But the experiences of the years 1914-1918 in fact enshrined the notions that language cannot adequately express the experience of combat, that the veteran will often remain silent about war, even to his or her own family, that the speech of soldiers -- the euphemisms and slang used on the battlefield, the coded communications used after, among veterans -- leaves out as much as it reveals. Opinion: When the flu wiped out millions . This notion of war as an inaccessible space may seem almost antiquated today, when civilian smartphones and video cameras produce a continual feed of chaotic combat situations. But much of what goes on in military operations remains unknown to those who were not there. The connections between silence and war still hold among soldiers-- for reasons of security, censorship, military culture and enduring mechanisms of human psychology. Opinion: The mighty women of World War I . In 2014, as in 1914, many veterans keep quiet about what are their most life-changing experiences. There is, for one thing, the trauma; there is also the desire to protect one's family. There is guilt over killing -- and guilt over surviving. And there is the sheer difficulty of how to explain it: how to put an exceptional state into everyday language. Opinion: How World War I gave us 'cooties' World War I was a watershed in this regard, modeling, during the course of the conflict, what could and could not be said about war by combatants. Some silences were strategic: Soldiers knew their communications home would be censored, and it was unwise to appear defeatist or unpatriotic by conveying the horrors of the battlefield. Opinion: The promise World War I couldn't keep . Others refused speech as a way of respecting the war experience of fallen comrades. War poetry is vocal on the need for restraint to counter the rhetoric of heroism produced by those far from the front. In his 1915 poem ""When You See Millions of the Mouthless Dead,"" Charles Hamilton Sorley scorned the use of ""soft words"" about those who could not speak back: ""Say only this, 'They are dead.' /Then add thereto, /'Yet many a better one has died before.'..."" Opinion: The 'bionic men' of World War I . Most combatants could not come up with the words, soft or hard, to communicate to those back home what lay around them: carnage on an unprecedented scale. With many new weapons, and others used on a mass scale for the first time in history, World War I inaugurated a new human experience of battle and devastating new injuries. Even the educated felt that language failed them to convey the sights and smells of bodies rent by machine gun fire, devastated by bombs from the air, blistered from gas or paralyzed by shell shock. ""I cannot find words to translate my impressions. Hell cannot be so terrible,"" wrote the French lieutenant Alfred Joubaire in his diary, unable to draw comparisons with any known reality. Opinion: War: What is it good for? Art! The writings, drawings and other artifacts that flowed from the front grappled not only with the question of how to rise to these expressive challenges, but whether it is even possible to communicate this new reality to the noncombatant. Opinion: Should nations pay the price for their leaders' misdeeds? Henri Barbusse reflected on this futility in his 1916 novel ""Under Fire,"" which originated from notes taken during his time at the front. ""It'll be no good telling about it, eh? They wouldn't believe you ... no one can know it. Only us,"" remarks one soldier. ""No, not even us, not even us!,"" another responds. ""We've seen too much to remember ... We're not made to hold it all."" Traumatic repression, the veterans' despair at being understood, the affirmation of a special bond of knowledge and experience among comrades -- all familiar struggles from our modern wars. They are all here, in 1916 -- violence of a scope that exceeded comprehension. Indeed, Barbusse's scene ends with the rueful reflection that this war was something ""you can't give a name to."" Opinion: The promise World War I couldn't keep . Both the modern figure of the literary witness and the modern figure of the mute veteran emerged from this early 20th-century conflagration -- as with Barbusse, they were often one and the same - and with them the notion of war as something too overwhelming to tell. Opinion: How World War I gave us drones . Of course, this situation was not unique to the Great War. A study released in August by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, which reveals the prolonged post-traumatic stress among Vietnam veterans -- home from war for 40 years now -- reminds us of that. Opinion: How World War I gave us drones . And so it's fitting that from 1919 onward, World War I's November 11th Armistice has been marked in many countries through two minutes of silence and has been expanded to include the veterans of all wars. The words of World War I can enlighten us about the conflict 100 years later. But the spaces of silence around the din of all wars can tell us much about war's toll on those who wage it -- in 2014 as in 1914. Photo blog: WWI: The Golden Age of postcards ."
"(CNN) -- The major tunnel between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit was scheduled to reopen at 5 p.m. ET Thursday following a shutdown because of a bomb threat, Windsor police said. Police ""fully inspected"" the tunnel before reopening it, Windsor authorities said. The bomb threat led to traffic backups as drivers on both sides of the border were rerouted. Employees at the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel received an anonymous phone call around 12:30 p.m. from someone saying there was a bomb in the tunnel, Sgt. Matthew D'Asti with Windsor police told HLN. Authorities were working together on both sides of the border to investigate and search the tunnel for any possible device, D'Asti said. Neal Belitsky, president and CEO of Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, said the threat was called in to the Canadian side. Authorities treated the matter ""as a nonspecific, anonymous bomb threat,"" said D'Asti. The tunnel was evacuated. The tunnel is one of two international crossings between the cities of Windsor and Detroit. Traffic was being routed to the other, a bridge about two miles away. Approximately 27,000 to 29,000 vehicles pass daily through the tunnel, which opened in 1930. The Coast Guard said it set up a safety zone in the Detroit River in order to keep vessels away from the tunnel. CNN's Chandler Friedman, Devon Sayers and Michael Martinez contributed to this report."
"Thirty miles from Hong Kong's Disneyland park, a small fishing village offers a contrasting view of the city's past. Located in the southwest corner of Lantau, Hong Kong's largest island, Tai O is connected to the outside world via a narrow mountain road.  It has a view contrary to expectations for one of the world's most crowded cities: There are no skyscrapers, no neon signs or real estate companies. The few shops in village close at 5 p.m., when the nightlife on Hong Kong Island has yet to spark. In recent years, tourists have been flocking to Tai O to glimpse this part of Hong Kong's rapidly disappearing past. But when they arrive, they are greeted by a placard at the bus station decrying: ""Mass development will destroy Tai O."" It's a sign of the times: Even as tourists boost the coffers of a local economy once dependent on fishing, villagers are deeply ambivalent about the hordes of visitors encroaching on their seaside hamlet. ""We are going to lose our distinctive way of life and identity if no one protests against the government plan,"" said lifelong Tai O resident Wang Waking, 51, who runs the Tai O culture workshop. ""I am afraid that the commercially-driven plan is going to turn Tai O into another resort."" Villagers like Wang are torn by government plans to add fountains, sculptures and a stage next to the temple to Tin Hau, where generations of fishermen prayed for safety before sailing. The government's US$100 million ""Revitalize Tai O"" project will also replace patches of wetland by boardwalks and a new plaza will rise near the dock. The project is scheduled to be completed later this year, according to the Hong Kong's Civil Engineering and Development Department spokesperson Carol Ho. Original plans called for tearing down all the village's distinctive stilt houses, but was curtailed after protests by villagers. While the redevelopment celebrates Tai O's seafaring heritage -- in 1960, villagers caught 30% of all seafood sold in Hong Kong, according to the book ""Tai O History"" -- it comes in the wake of a 2012 Hong Kong law banning of commercial trawling. That move was applauded by environmentalists but decried by local fishers. ""It wrecks my heart to see fishermen forced to sell their large trawlers,"" said a local fisherman surnamed Wong, who says he catches 70% less after the ban.  Wong, who sells homemade shrimp paste, now must import shrimp from mainland China. Tai O is separated from the rest of Hong Kong by steep, rocky hills. Before 1990, the only way to get to Tai O was by boat. Permits to drive on the town's single road are only granted to villagers and public buses. A sense of isolation still pervades the village's tight-knit community, which many locals say they are keen to keep to themselves. As visitors are drawn to the Venice-like village with homes largely built on stilts, the pathways are dotted with signs warning ""Private Property"" and ""No Entry."" To circumvent the signs, tour guides now row tourists on boat down the river and having a look at the houses from the water. Besides tourism, real estate development could change the fortunes of the town, as Hong Kong has one of the world's most expensive real estate markets. Yet villagers say they are actively working to keep property among themselves. ""I can't tell you how many people are interested in our house,"" said resident Ines Wong. But villagers do all their real estate business by word of mouth to keep outsiders out of the property market, Wong said. ""The fact is that outsiders don't know where to buy property at Tai O. And even if demand for Tai O property is high, local people tend to sell to locals,"" she said. Wong, 24, grew up in Tai O, but like many other young people here, was forced to find work in other parts of the city. She eventually moved to Kowloon, which sits across Victoria Harbor from Hong Kong Island, where she started working for a large bank. While she found it hard to leave her home, she said she had little choice. ""Tai O has no job market at all. I don't see what I can do. Selling salt fish with a degree in marketing?"" While Wong decries the impact of tourism, many of her peers who still live in Tai O welcome the government tourism plan. ""We are one of the oldest communities in Hong Kong. If Tai O has nothing to offer to its young residents, it may become a dead town in a few years,"" said Paul Lieu, 30-year-old local resident. Lieu landed on a job as a tourist guide last year. He makes 30% less than a similar job in other parts of Hong Kong, but he enjoys the commute-free work. Before tourists poured in, the only local job Lieu could find was temporary construction work. Now young people start small business like transforming their stilt homes into guesthouses or waterfront cafés. ""I think Tai O has lost part of its unique character with all the development going on. But that the price we pay to get a better life and to help this community to survive,"" he said. For Wang, the changes are attacking a way of life. ""Tai O people have deep feeling for the mountains, rivers and wetlands surrounding us, because we live so close to nature,"" she said. ""With the boardwalk, children lose a good place to find clams."""
"Madrid (CNN) -- Spanish rail chiefs testified on safety before lawmakers Thursday, two weeks after 79 people died and scores were injured in a horrific derailment in northwestern Spain. The investigation has focused on the actions of the train's driver, Francisco Jose Garzon, but questions have also been asked about the safety systems in place on Spain's national railway network. Gonzalo Ferre Molto, president of state-owned rail infrastructure company Adif, and Julio Gomez-Pomar, president of state railroad company Renfe, outlined what is being done to ensure the safety of rail travelers. ""My desire is to know the whole truth and avoid the possibility of an event of this nature happening again,"" said Ferre. ""This is the best service we can offer to the victims and the whole Spanish society."" Lawmakers heard that the route the train was on, from Madrid to Ferrol, includes a mix of conventional and high-speed track, with the latter allowing high-speed trains to travel at over 200 kilometers per hour (124 mph.) Driver on phone when train derailed, court says . Two different safety systems are used in Spain: the European Rail Traffic Management System for the high-speed track and another known as ASFA on conventional lines. The train and its engineer were switching between the two kinds of track and operating system in the course of the journey. A transition from an ERTMS-operated section to the other system happened about four miles before the train derailed on a curve near the northwestern city of Santiago de Compostela, Ferre said. That section of track had been inspected on April 20, he said. Speed limit on bend . Court officials have said the train was traveling at 153 kph (95 mph) when it derailed, nearly twice the speed limit on the curve where the accident happened. Victims mourned at memorial mass . After the accident, a temporary speed limit of 30 kph was imposed on the stretch where the accident occurred and is still in place, Ferre said. A permanent limit of 60 kph will come into force once that is lifted. ""Our safety department is developing an investigation report,"" Ferre told the parliamentarians. ""Safety in the rail sector is an open subject."" Gomez-Pomar said Renfe has started to examine the safety systems in place and admitted that they can be improved. He said the driver had taken control of the train at Ourense station at 8:06 p.m., about 35 minutes before the crash occurred. Garzon had started his working day about eight hours earlier, but his effective driving time at that point was less than three hours, he said. The driver, who has worked for Renfe since 1992, had passed his most recent health test, Gomez-Pomar said. He had been qualified to travel the Ourense-Santiago stretch of track since February 2012 and was given permission to drive the kind of train involved in the crash last November. In total, more than 7,000 trains have passed through the stretch where the accident occurred, Gomez-Pomar said. Human error . Some lawmakers from smaller parliamentary groups criticized what they said was a rush to blame the driver for the crash. ""Shifting the responsibility of a high-speed train on to the machine operator is, from our point of view, a rather excessive responsibility,"" said Rosana Perez, of the Mixed Group. She suggested the number of drivers aboard a train should be increased as a safety measure to protect against human error. ""It has been said that the only cause is the human factor. If it is really so, we are lost. This argument falls by its own weight,"" said Gaspar Llamazares, of the United Left group. Charges filed . Investigations continue into the cause of the July 24 derailment, which shocked the nation. As of Thursday, 38 people remain in the hospital, six of them -- all adults -- in critical condition, according to local health authorities. No nationalities were given for those still hospitalized. Authorities have charged Garzon with 79 counts of homicide by professional recklessness and an undetermined number of counts of causing injury by professional recklessness. He has been given conditional release but has surrendered his passport. Three witnesses were expected to give statements Thursday to a court in Galicia, in a closed-door session. They are a station manager and two neighbors who went to help the survivors immediately after the crash. Minutes before the derailment, Garzon received a call on his work phone, apparently receiving instructions on the way to Ferrol from a Renfe staff member, a court in Galicia said last month. The train was nearing the end of the six-hour trip between the capital and Ferrol at the time of the accident. Spain train crash victim: 'It felt like a roller coaster' CNN's Laura Perez Maestro and Al Goodman reported from Madrid, and Laura Smith-Spark wrote in London."
"Atlanta (CNN) -- A man, who tried to rob a group of people waiting in line to buy the new $180 LeBron James sneakers, was shot and killed when one of the customers pulled out a gun, Atlanta police said. The incident took place before dawn Saturday outside a shoe store in Atlanta's Little Five Points area. The group was waiting for the store to open for the day so they could buy the LeBron X Denim on its first day of release. Police said the man approached the group with a gun in hand and tried to rob them. One of the men in the group took out his own handgun and fired, said Atlanta police spokesman Carlos Campos. ""A number of witnesses were interviewed and this appears to be self-defense,"" he said. Campos said the customer was not charged. Another customer in line, Taylor White, told CNN affiliate WSB-TV that the would-be robber should have thought twice. ""I didn't even expect him to come up here, thinking it was that sweet. Thinking it's that candy land like that,"" White said. ""He wanted to pickpocket everybody. But people out here, they weren't going for none of that."""
"If Mitt Romney were to write a bumper sticker slogan for the past month, it would probably be, ""Detroit DID go bankrupt. Russia IS a geopolitical foe."" Reality isn't quite so simple as to perfectly apply recent developments on Detroit and Russia to the American debate in 2012, but neither were Romney's arguments on the car industry and on Russia. That didn't stop Democrats and pundits from using them to beat Romney down. And it would be a good retort to Joe Biden's often-repeated 2012 bumper sticker slogan: ""Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive!"" Biden used the phrase to simultaneously flaunt what the Obama administration accomplished in the war on terror and hit Romney for his position against the auto bailout. Romney had different ideas than the president about the war on terror, and he also had outspoken ideas on Russia, which he told Wolf Blitzer on CNN in March of 2012 was ""without question our number one geopolitical foe."" His statement drew snickers in Washington and complaints in foreign policy circles that he was stuck in the Cold War. Archives: Hillary Clinton criticizes Romney's remarks on Russia . ""You don't call Russia our No. 1 enemy -- not al Qaeda, Russia -- unless you're still stuck in a Cold War mind warp,"" President Barack Obama said at the Democratic National Convention last September. The president probably still wouldn't call Russia this country's top foe. But now that Russia has given NSA leaker Edward Snowden a year of asylum, and the two countries can't find accord on Syria or Iran, he might choose not to put the line in his convention speech. Snowden asylum could cancel planned Obama-Putin talks . ""Now is the time to fundamentally rethink our relationship with Putin's Russia,"" Sen. John McCain said upon hearing news of Snowden's asylum. ""We need to deal with the Russia that is, not the Russia we might wish for. We cannot allow today's action by [Russian President Vladimir Putin] to stand without serious repercussions."" ""Russia has stabbed us in the back,"" said Sen. Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat. He called on Obama to protest by demanding the upcoming G-20 summit for world economic powers be moved away from Russia. Biden's slogan, ""General Motors is alive!"" drew a direct contrast between the candidates on the auto bailout that Obama engineered after initial action by President George W. Bush. Romney's much-cited New York Times op-ed argued the car industry should be shepherded into a managed bankruptcy and not propped up with taxpayer dollars. The headline of Romney's op-ed in November 2008 was ""Let Detroit Go Bankrupt."" That headline followed him all the way to November of 2012 when he lost the election. Romney's argument in the opinion piece was directed at the car industry, but it foreshadowed last month's news that the Detroit the city, once the powerhouse of the American economy, was going bankrupt. ""[W]e refused to throw in the towel and do nothing,"" Obama said in a video message in October of 2012. ""We refused to let Detroit go bankrupt, I bet on American workers, and American ingenuity and three years later that bet is paying off in a big way."" A conservative might apply the high labor costs Romney cited as part of the downfall for the auto industry to the cost of government worker pension plans that have helped put the city in trouble. How to deal with promises made to public employees is an issue Americans will face in the coming decades in places far flung from the Motor City. Hatch: After Detroit, replace public pensions . The federal government has made pretty clear there won't be any sort of bailout for the city of Detroit like there was for the auto industry that lives there. CNNMoney: Why Obama won't bail out Detroit . Campaigns are full of little moments like the Detroit and Russia storylines that may have worked against Romney. They add up. More damaging for Romney than either the Detroit op-ed or the Russia as a foe storyline was his statement to fundraisers about giving up on the 47% of Americans who would not vote for him no matter what. This week we also got the most in-depth explanation from Romney on those comments in the form of a book excerpt from Washington Post writer Dan Balz. Romney said he was misunderstood. More: Romney regrets 47% comments . Archives: Romney doesn't back away from message caught on secret tape . In politics, eight months is an eternity. It's enough time for the Romneys to welcome four new grandchildren into the world. How Detroit and Russia and the 47% factored into 2012 are interesting historical questions, but the national dialogue has moved on. Romney is retired from national politics and the pundits and press have moved on to the 2016 parlor game. Trio of potential 2016 GOP contenders heading to South Carolina ."
"(CNN) -- Lotus Renault driver Robert Kubica has confirmed that he will not be fit in time for the start of the 2012 Formula One season. The 26-year-old Pole, winner of the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix, missed the whole of this season after suffering serious injuries following a rallying crash in February. There had been some hope that Kubica would be fit enough to start the new campaign, but he released a statement on the team's official website confirming this would not be the case. Kubica said: ""I have come to the conclusion that I am not yet certain to be ready for the 2012 season. This was a difficult decision to make, but it is the most reasonable one. ""I know that Lotus Renault need to prepare for next year, and further extending deadlines would not have been the right thing to do. On a personal level, my recovery is very encouraging and my doctors keep being impressed."" Kubica added: ""I just need more time, as I want to be 100% ready before I commit to anything driving related."" Team principal Eric Boullier also released a statement, saying: ""Everybody in the team is, of course, very disappointed. Robert not driving in Australia at the start of next season is not what we were all hoping for. ""However, he has taken a very mature decision, acting in the best interests of Lotus Renault GP. As a team and as a family, we remain 100% behind him and we'll help as much as we can."" Kubica suffered a partial amputation of his forearm and compound fractures to his right elbow, shoulder and leg in the accident in Andorra last February. He subsequently had three operations and has undergone a lengthy period of rehabilitation but has so far not driven a car. Kubica's decision leaves the team with a choice of three drivers to fill its two seats, Vitaly Petrov, Bruno Senna and Romain Grosjean, unless they look outside their current line-up."
"London (CNN) -- A Europe-wide scandal over horse meat in products labeled beef spread still further Friday, as UK authorities revealed the results of DNA testing on beef products and raided the premises of three more UK food firms. Of 2,501 tests carried out on beef products across the industry by noon Friday, 2,472 found no horse meat content above 1%, the UK Food Standards Agency said. The 29 positive tests involved seven products sold by five suppliers, according to the Food Standards Agency. Another 962 tests are still under way, the agency said at a news conference. Fifteen of the positive tests were for the lasagna products sold by frozen food giant Findus that first triggered the horse meat alert last week. The others concerned beef products sold by supermarket chains Tesco, Aldi and The Co-operative, and burgers made by catering supplier Rangeland. Tesco, Asda and Aldi all issued statements saying they are boosting testing on meat products to protect customers, restore confidence and ensure product quality. Jim Smith, group technical director for Tesco, said the company will ""no longer work with the suppliers who fell below our very high standards."" The Food Standards Agency declined to give details of the names or location of the three food premises raided Friday. Investigations are ongoing, but authorities cannot rule out the possibility of arrests, it said. The latest raids come a day after UK authorities arrested three workers at two meat plants, Farmbox Meats near Aberystywth and Peter Boddy Slaughterhouse in Todmorden, West Yorkshire. Inspectors toured the plants Tuesday and suspended their permits to operate Wednesday, the agency said. Meanwhile, authorities in northern England confirmed Friday that a dish had been pulled from 47 school kitchens after tests revealed horse DNA. The ready-made cottage pie, or shepherd's pie, came from an external supplier, the Lancashire County Council said. ""This does not appear to be a food safety issue but I've no doubt parents will agree we need to take a very firm line with suppliers,"" councilor Susie Charles said in a prepared statement. Authorities across Europe have been scrambling to get a grip on the crisis over rogue horse meat in beef products. Fears of mislabeled meat also spread to the sky, where companies that provide in-flight catering in Europe initiated reviews of their suppliers. LSG Sky Chefs said it has contacted all its meat suppliers in Europe and has asked for written confirmation that their products do not contain horse meat. Another major caterer, Gate Gourmet, is doing the same with its suppliers. The European Union intends to begin testing meat across all 27 member states, it confirmed Friday. It called for testing 10 to 150 samples per country and at least five tests per country for the presence of the drug phenylbutazone, also known as bute, which is approved for horses but is not allowed to enter the food chain because it can be harmful to humans. Over the past week, unauthorized horse meat has been discovered in a variety of products labeled as beef that were sold in supermarkets in countries including Britain, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany and Ireland. In the UK, catering giant Compass Group and Whitbread, which owns hotels, coffee shops and restaurants, were the latest to say Friday that they had found horse DNA in certain beef products. Whitbread said it was removing a meat lasagna and a beef burger from its menus and would work with the Food Standards Agency to implement a robust future testing regime. ""We are shocked and disappointed at this failure of the processed meat supply chain,"" it said in a written statement. Compass Group said an affected burger from Rangeland Foods had been provided to some sites in Ireland and Northern Ireland where it holds the catering contract. It promised DNA testing across processed meat products in future. NorgesGruppen in Norway also confirmed to CNN on Friday that horse meat had been found in frozen lasagna dishes in its stores. ""The analysis tells us that the lasagnas contained 60% or more horse meat,"" a spokeswoman said. ""We have withdrawn up to 8,000 products last week. We are in talks with the factory, the French company Comigel."" Comigel was one of two French firms whose role in the scandal was highlighted at a news conference held by French authorities Thursday. The other firm, Spanghero, should have known that the meat it labeled as beef was actually horse, French Consumer Affairs Minister Benoit Hamon said. Spanghero was the first company to label the meat as beef, the minister said, adding that 750 tons of horse meat were involved over a period of at least six months. Spanghero should have identified the meat as horse from its Romanian customs code, as well as its appearance, smell and price, he said. Comigel also should have noticed anomalies in labeling of the meat it received, Hamon said. A Spanghero representative told CNN the company had acted in good faith. ""The company has never ordered horse meat and we never knowingly sold horse meat,"" the representative said. The affair has been passed to the Paris prosecutor to be investigated as fraud, Hamon said. The offense is punishable by up to two years in prison and fines of up to â‚¬187,500 for the companies involved. Hamon said there is no reason to doubt that the Romanian abattoir that supplied the horse meat was acting in good faith. In another twist, UK inspectors said Thursday that horse carcasses contaminated with the equine painkiller bute may have entered the food chain in France. UK and French authorities are working to trace the horse meat, the Food Standards Agency said. The meat industry was first thrust into the spotlight last month when Irish investigators found horse and pig DNA in hamburger products. The discovery of pig DNA in beef products is of particular concern to Jews and Muslims, whose dietary laws forbid the consumption of pork products. Jewish dietary laws also ban the eating of horse meat. CNN's Claudia Rebaza, Kendra Wates and Susannah Palk contributed to this report."
"A federal judge struck down Oregon's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage Monday. ""Because Oregon's marriage laws discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation without a rational relationship to any legitimate government interest, the laws violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution,"" U.S. District Judge Michael McShane said in his ruling. Oregon voters passed Measure 36 in 2004, which amended the state's Constitution to define marriage as between one man and a woman. In February, the state's attorney general said she would not defend the ban in court because it would not stand up to a federal constitutional challenge. ""My decision will not be the final word on this subject, but on this issue of marriage I am struck more by our similarities than our differences. I believe that if we can look for a moment past gender and sexuality, we can see in these plaintiffs nothing more or less than our own families, families who we would expect our Constitution to protect, if not exalt, in equal measure,"" McShane said. ""With discernment we see not shadows lurking in closets or the stereotypes of what was once believed; rather, we see families committed to the common purpose of love, devotion, and service to the greater community."" Same-sex couples camped out in lawn chairs outside a government building in Oregon's largest county while waiting for the news, then cheered as word of the judge's decision spread. Multnomah County began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples minutes later, the county said in a statement. Ben West, one of the plaintiffs who challenged Oregon's constitutional ban, stood beside his fiance and his son as he told CNN affiliate KGW that he was thrilled by the news. ""We're excited. It's surreal. We're part of history. Our family is recognized, I mean, I'm tingling. It's amazing,"" he said. ""It means that my son's family is just as legitimate as the one next door, and that he can grow up proud."" At a news conference shortly after the judge's ruling, activists and attorneys who challenged the amendment celebrated the news. ""Love won today,"" said Marty Rouse, national field director for the Human Rights Campaign. Ten years ago, Rouse said, the first same-sex marriages in the United States were celebrated in Massachusetts. And 45 years ago marked another historic moment, he said. ""Same-sex couples were arrested and sent to jail for dancing together at establishments like the Stonewall Inn,"" he said. ""Today, 45 years later, in 18 states and now including Oregon and the District of Columbia, same-sex couples are dancing together at their own weddings, and they have wedding rings, not handcuffs. History in Oregon. Congratulations."" Meanwhile, the National Organization for Marriage, which opposes same-sex marriage, said it had filed a motion with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals asking judges to block McShane's ruling. ""This case is an ugly example of inappropriate cooperation between the Attorney General and the gay marriage lobby, both of whom want to redefine marriage in contravention of the overwhelming decision of the people to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman,"" Brian Brown, the organization's president, said in a statement. ""The people of Oregon are entitled to a defense of their decision on marriage rather than being abandoned in court."" Same-sex marriage now allowed in 18 states . The Oregon ruling continues a near-unbroken string of state and federal court victories nationwide in the past year for supporters of same-sex marriage. Seventeen other states and the District of Columbia allow same-sex marriage within their borders: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. Just over a decade ago, there were none. Earlier this month, judges in Arkansas and Idaho ruled that same-sex marriage bans in those states were unconstitutional. Both decisions are being appealed. This month also marks the two-year anniversary of President Barack Obama voicing his public support for the first time of same-sex marriage, citing his own ""evolution"" on the issue. ""At a certain point, I've just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married,"" Obama said at the time. Groups supporting same-sex marriage applauded the Oregon ruling. ""The importance of Judge McShane's decision cannot be overemphasized,"" said David Fidanque, executive director of the ACLU of Oregon. ""Our federal Constitution does not allow any state -- or its voters -- to deny same-sex couples equal protection under the law simply because of who they are and who they love. This type of discrimination is wrong, and it's also unconstitutional."" But court battles over the matter are far from over. About 70 cases dealing with same-sex marriage are now making their way through U.S. courts. Separate federal appeals courts in recent weeks heard challenges to same-sex marriage bans in Utah, Oklahoma and Virginia. Similar appeals will be heard on current bans in Nevada, Texas, Kentucky, Ohio and Michigan. Federal judge orders Utah to recognize same-sex marriages . Also Monday, a federal judge said Utah must recognize the marriages of more than 1,200 same-sex couples who obtained marriage licenses earlier this year after a court struck down that state's same-sex marriage ban. The U.S. Supreme Court days later issued a stay preventing any more same-sex marriages, but that action left those who got married in the interim in legal limbo. The judge's ruling Monday says Utah must give those couples ""all the protections, benefits, and responsibilities given to all marriages under Utah law."" While some details of the Oregon and Utah cases are similar, there's a key difference. In Utah, the state is appealing a judge's decision to overturn its voter-approved ban of same-sex marriage.  Gov. Gary Herbert slammed what he said was a decision by an ""activist federal judge."" In Oregon, officials are taking the opposite tack, praising the judge's ruling overturning their state's same-sex marriage ban. ""Now, finally, all Oregonians will have the opportunity to make a legal commitment to the person they love. Every person and every family in Oregon deserves that chance,"" Gov. John Kitzhaber said in a statement. ""Today is a win for love, for families, and for freedom."""
"DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) -- Orangutans and bonobos in one of North America's leading ape research centers are spending time high in their habitats to escape Iowa floodwaters, officials said Monday. Floodwaters encroach on the bonobo facility at the Great Ape Trust of Iowa. Water on the grounds of the Great Ape Trust of Iowa in Des Moines has been as high as 14 feet after flooding began last week. Research, including the future and origins of culture, language, tool use and language in ape species, was brought to a standstill, officials said. But at no time were the apes in danger. ""The parts that house the animals all have drains, and being wet is a part of their daily routine,"" said Al Setka, director of communications. Animals moved to the highest levels of their living quarters when they wanted to stay dry, the trust reported. The orangutan habitat is 30 feet high, and the bonobo one is 25 feet high, according to the trust's Web site. ""Today, we are just trying to finish cleaning out the living areas to give the apes access to all of their indoor space,"" Setka said Monday. The trust's Web site said the Des Moines facility, built in a former sand quarry, will be the largest in North America when it is completed."
"Covert drone strikes are one of President Obama's key national security policies. He has already authorized 283 strikes in Pakistan, six times more than the number during President George W. Bush's eight years in office. As a result, the number of estimated deaths from the Obama administration's drone strikes is more than four times what it was during the Bush administration -- somewhere between 1,494 and 2,618. Under Obama, the drone campaign, which during the Bush administration had put emphasis on killing significant members of al Qaeda, has undergone a quiet and unheralded shift to focus increasingly on killing Taliban foot soldiers. Obama revealed: The man, the president . To the extent that the targets of drone attacks can be ascertained, under Bush, al Qaeda members accounted for 25% of all drone targets compared to 40% for Taliban targets. Under Obama, only 8% of targets were al Qaeda compared to just over 50% for Taliban targets. And while under Bush, about a third of all drone strikes killed a militant leader, compared to less than 13% since President Obama took office, according to an analysis of thousands of credible media reports about the strikes undertaken by the New America Foundation. While Bush sought to decapitate the leadership ranks of al Qaeda, Obama seems to be aiming also to collapse the entire network of allied groups, such as the Pakistani Taliban. As a result, so-called ""signature strikes"" have become a hallmark of Obama's drone war. These are drone attacks based on patterns of merely suspicious activity by a group of men, rather than the identification of a particular individual militant. These have decimated the ranks of low-level combatants, killing somewhere between 1,332 to 2,326 reported militants. In April 2010, a militant told a New York Times reporter, ""It seems they really want to kill everyone, not just the leaders."" Obama's drone campaign is quite controversial: Some claim that a substantial number of civilians are killed in the attacks, while U.S. government officials assert that the civilian casualty rate is now zero. In Pakistan, the program is deeply unpopular and the Pakistani parliament voted in April to end any authorization for the program, a vote that the United States government has simply ignored. The New America Foundation analysis of the drone campaign in Pakistan found that: . -- The civilian casualty rate has been dropping sharply since 2008. The number of civilians, plus ""unknowns,"" those individuals whose precise status could not be determined from media reports, reported killed by drones in Pakistan during Obama's tenure in office were 11% of fatalities. So far in 2012 it is close to 2%. Under President Bush it was 33%. -- Conversely, the percentage of militants killed has been rising over the life of the drone program. The number of militants reported killed by drone strikes is 89% of the fatalities under Obama compared to 67% under Bush. -- Some of these attacks were designed to help Pakistani interests. In the first eight months of 2009, the U.S. carried out 19 drone strikes targeting affiliates of the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Baitullah Mehsud, who had carried out an extensive campaign of attacks against Pakistani police officers, soldiers and politicians. Mehsud was eventually killed by a CIA drone strike. -- Since it began in 2004, the drone campaign has killed 49 militant leaders whose deaths have been confirmed by at least two credible news sources. While this represents a significant blow to the militant chain of command, these 49 deaths account for only 2% of all drone-related fatalities. Osama bin Laden himself recognized the devastation that the drones were inflicting on his organization, writing a lengthy memo about the issue in October 2010 that was later recovered in the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where he was killed by a team of U.S. Navy SEALs. In the memo to a lieutenant, bin Laden advised that his men leave the Pakistani tribal regions where the drone strikes have been overwhelmingly concentrated and head to a remote part of Afghanistan and he also suggested that his son Hamza decamp for the tiny, rich Persian Gulf kingdom of Qatar. Buzz ramps up over SEAL's bin Laden book . The year 2010 marked the most intense point of the Obama drone campaign, with a record 122 strikes. This combined with the May 2011 raid on bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, and the killing of at least 24 Pakistani soldiers in a NATO air strike in November severely damaged the relationship between the United States and Pakistan, and resulted in the eviction of CIA-controlled drones from Shamsi air base in Baluchistan in southwestern Pakistan. At the same time, Cameron Munter, then-U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, was urging that there be more judicious targeting of the drone strikes as well as increased consultation with the Pakistanis about them. In the past two years, there has also been increased congressional oversight of the program. The chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, explained in a May letter to the Los Angeles Times that ""Committee staff has held 28 monthly in-depth oversight meetings to review strike records and question every aspect of the program including legality, effectiveness, precision, foreign policy implications and the care taken to minimize noncombatant casualties."" Some combination of pushback from the State Department, increased congressional oversight, the closure of the CIA drone base in Pakistan and, perhaps, a declining number of targets in the tribal regions and a greater desire to heed Pakistani sensitivities about drone attacks has led to a sharp fall in the number of strikes since 2010. The number of drone strikes in 2011 fell by 40% from the record number of strikes in 2010. So far this year, the number of strikes has dropped by a further 25%. This is a welcome development. If the price of the drone campaign that increasingly kills only low-level Taliban is alienating 180 million Pakistanis -- that is too high a price to pay. While the drone campaign in Pakistan may be on the wane, it is amping up against the al Qaeda affiliate in Yemen. This year alone, Obama has authorized around 30 drone strikes in Yemen, while Bush only launched one drone attack there during his two terms in office. Small wonder that as Obama prepares to address the Democratic Party convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, he continues to enjoy a considerable advantage over Mitt Romney on national security. A Reuters poll in August found Obama leading Romney by a comfortable 12  percentage points on national security, which is traditionally regarded as a Republican strength. Thanks to Fatima Mustafa, Farhad Peikar and Jennifer Rowland for their research help. Follow @CNNOpinion on Twitter."
"Chapel Hill, North Carolina (CNN) -- What happens to the 3,100 students who enrolled in fake classes and now have a degree stamped with the seal of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill -- an institution consistently ranked among the nation's top public schools? Likely nothing. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools is currently reviewing a scathing report, prepared by former federal prosecutor Ken Wainstein, which showed thousands of UNC students took fraudulent classes, some of them multiple times. But Belle Wheelan, the president of the association -- which is charged with accrediting degree-granting higher education institutions in the South, from Virginia to Texas -- told CNN that her group can't take away degrees. ""UNC has to verify every degree they give all the time. We ask them to make sure all courses really are legitimate,"" Wheelan said. ""All we can do ... is put them on sanction for lack of integrity. ""As far as taking those degrees back, there's nothing we can do."" UNC officials told CNN say they are still deciding how to try to remedy the fact that so many students graduated with credits from the so-called ""paper classes"" on their transcripts. Some students earned many credits taking multiple ""GPA booster"" classes. One student was enrolled in 19 different paper classes, Wainstein said. ""We're considering options on these matters and are working closely with SACS to evaluate possible courses of action,"" said spokesman Rick White. UNC report: 18 years of academic fraud . Expert: 'Nearly impossible' to take away degrees . Gerald Gurney, president of the Drake Group for academic integrity in collegiate sport and the former president of the National Association of Academic Advisers for Athletics, called the UNC fraud the largest and most nefarious academic scandal in the history of the NCAA. ""The depth and breadth of the scheme -- involving counselors, coaches, academic administrators, faculty, athletic administrators, etc. -- eclipses any previous case,"" Gurney said. But, while Gurney believes the NCAA should punish the university, he does not think that the students could lose the legitimacy of their degrees. ""Lifting diplomas from students who were advised to take these classes is nearly impossible,"" he said. The last time SACS investigated the paper classes -- when UNC insisted they existed on a much smaller scale -- the association made UNC offer new classes to students who had been enrolled in the fake ones. But the enrollment in the remedy class was optional, Wheelan said. UNC told CNN that 11 students opted to retake a class. The suspect classes were started by a professor's assistant in the African-American studies program (AFAM) who had sympathy for those at the school who were ""not the best and the brightest."" That assistant, Debbie Crowder, and professor Julius Nyang'oro then worked with several advisers in athletics to help student-athletes on the brink of eligibility keep their GPAs up, according to the report. One former football player, Mike McAdoo, told CNN earlier this year that his adviser told him to major in AFAM, and then put him in several paper classes, even though he had interest in majoring in something else. From emails that were attached to Wainstein's report, it's clear that some athletes were placed in these classes because they were struggling. One email, written by former women's basketball academics adviser Jan Boxill, suggests an athlete is only enrolled in ""two real courses."" Other emails show how counselors were calculated in adding, then dropping, and shifting athletes from class to class trying to keep them eligible to play. UNC fake class scandal and NCAA's response wind their way to Washington . Report: Nearly half of 3,100 students were athletes . This all comes as no surprise to whistleblower Mary Willingham. She sounded the alarm on paper classes and was a lone voice against the university when it insisted that the whole scheme fell to the shoulders of Nyang'oro and Crowder alone. Willingham told CNN that many people were involved and that the paper classes were used as a crutch for underprepared athletes. She said that in January -- a month before the Wainstein and his firm, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, was hired by UNC to do another investigation into what happened over the last two decades. Whistleblower in UNC paper class case files lawsuit . What Wainstein found was significantly bigger than what UNC had admitted to for the last five years. Nearly half of the 3,100 students were athletes. ""A good number of these student-athletes were ""steered"" to the AFAM paper classes by certain academic counselors in ASPSA,"" Wainstein's report says. His report says paper classes served as ""GPA boosters"" for athletes who were on the brink of eligibility. Why? Willingham says it's because they were admitted to UNC just to play -- and they couldn't keep up in the classroom the way they could keep up on the field, she says. Willingham has been attacked for saying that. One UNC official even publicly said she was lying. Now, the 131-page report and hundreds of supplemental documents appear to back her up. Willingham sat at her kitchen table this week, watching the University of North Carolina admit to nearly two decades of academic fraud. All she could think about were the athletes she tutored who she says were terribly unprepared for real classes at UNC. Many, she says, could barely read. ""I think about where they are, you know, what are they doing,"" she said, sitting at that same table the next day. ""It's hard to find a lot of those guys. And so I was wondering if they were paying any attention to this and if it had any meaning for them."" Federal education privacy rules forbid the university from publicly identifying the students involved in the paper classes. UNC in January: We failed students 'for years' Roy Williams: 'We tried to do the right thing' UNC said the Wainstein report came to a different conclusion than previous investigations because he had the cooperation of Nyang'oro and Crowder, who previously weren't talking. Nyang'oro was charged with fraud -- a charge later dropped when he began cooperating with Wainstein. But it's unclear why previous investigations did not uncover the damning emails, or whether the statements of the athletic advisers were different in the past. The latest one, though, did find that some coaches knew what was happening. Former head football coach John Bunting, for instance, told investigators he knew of the paper classes. His successor, Butch Davis, who was fired a few years back for his role, also admitted some knowledge. The investigators made no findings about Dean Smith, the legendary basketball coach and sports icon who coached 36 years at UNC. And the current basketball coach, Roy Williams, has adamantly denied knowing anything. Reacting Saturday to the report, Williams told reporters ""it's a very sad time for me"" as not only UNC's head basketball coach, but also a former assistant coach and student there. As to what happens next, Williams said he doesn't see anything in Wainstein's report pertaining to ""men's basketball that somebody can immediately look at and say this is going to happen or this is not going to happen."" ""The thing about it is that we tried to do the right thing,"" the coach said. ""I can't determine what the NCAA is going to do."" CNN analysis: Some college athletes play like adults, read like fifth-graders . CNN's Devon Sayers and Greg Botelho contributed to this report."
"Manila (CNN)Flags were flown at half-staff in the Philippines Friday as the nation observed a day of mourning for 44 police commandos killed in a disastrous operation in the country's Muslim south. The officers, members of the police's elite Special Action Force (SAF) unit, were killed in a 12-hour firefight with two Muslim rebel groups in the southern province of Maguindanao at the weekend. Their 392-strong team had been deployed to hunt two ""most wanted"" terror suspects. The fallen police were farewelled by grieving family members, politicians and police and military leadership at their home base, Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City Friday. Policemen across the country wore black armbands to show their sympathy. Delivering a eulogy for the fallen, President Benigno Aquino III made reference to his own loss as the son of an assassinated political leader, and vowed to bring the remaining target of the commandos' mission to justice. ""Our 44 fallen heroes from our police force, the youngest at 26 and the most senior at 39 years old, pushed themselves and exerted all their effort to do what they could, not only for themselves and their families, but for our beloved country,"" he said. ""They gave up their lives for the kind of peace and order that endures."" The president's father, Benigno Aquino, Jr., was a Filipino senator who was assassinated at Manila International Airport in 1983. The officers had been pursuing two ""high value"" terrorist bomb makers, including the senior Jemaah Islamiyah figure Zulkifli bin Hir, also known as Marwan, when they came under assault. Marwan, a Malaysian suspected of being behind the 2002 Bali bombings, has a $5 million U.S. government bounty on his head. Philippine authorities say they believe he was killed in the raid, but are yet to conduct DNA testing to confirm this. Previous reports of his death have proven false. The unit's other target, Filipino bomb maker Abdul Basit Usman, escaped. Aquino swore during the eulogy that Usman would be brought to justice. ""Capturing Basit Usman is number one on our list of priorities,"" he said. ""I assure you, we will get Usman."" Police Chief Superintendent Noli G. Talino, deputy director of the Special Action Force, delivered a speech recounting how the satisfaction of the assault on Marwan soured as the commandos became pinned down during the extraction. He recalled hearing the voice of a colleague on the radio asking for reinforcements, as they became surrounded by armed rebels. ""I felt guilty ... about what happened in the field, and it seems our efforts were not enough to extend the help that they have asked for. But we did our best,"" he said. ""Is it worth it? One international terrorist equivalent to 44 SAF troopers? I'm sure if you will ask them, it is worth it."" The Philippines has been fighting an insurgency in the predominantly Muslim south for years. Last year, it signed a peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the largest rebel group in the region. The MILF agreed to end hostilities in return for the establishment of a more autonomous Muslim region in the south. But hardline splinter groups, such as the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), have not signed any peace deal. The police commandos engaged in battle with both groups during the firefight near Mamasapano town, Maguindanao Province, last weekend. Secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government Mar Roxas said that the commandos were retreating from the assault on their targets when they came under fire from members of the BIFF. In maneuvering away from the BIFF assault, they strayed into territory controlled by the MILF, and further fighting ensued. On Wednesday, Aquino delivered a speech to the nation vowing that the deaths would not derail the deal with the MILF, saying the fallen police had given their lives for the cause of peace. ""If the peace process were derailed, how many more graves would we have to dig?"" he said. ""How many more children will idolize Marwan? How many will want to grow up to be Usman? How many engineers will choose to build bombs rather than buildings?"" he said. A board of inquiry is looking into why the mission went wrong. The SAF has been criticized for not coordinating adequately with the MILF ahead of the mission. But Benigno said in his speech that ""even if the MILF and BIFF now constitute two different groups, many of them are related by blood or by affinity. Strangers cannot just enter their territory. Our troops needed to enter quietly and carefully; otherwise, their targets may have been alerted."" The MILF issued a statement Wednesday on behalf of its chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim. The statement reiterated the MILF's ""full commitment"" to the peace process, extended sympathies to the families of the fallen police and announced its own investigation into the incident. ""In order to give meaning to their deaths, we must resolve not to let something like this happen again,"" read the statement."
"(CNN) -- Four members of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah have been indicted in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, a high-placed source in the Lebanese Army confirmed on Thursday. The Special Tribunal for Lebanon issued the indictments, and a U.N. source familiar with the body said the people include alleged perpetrators on the ground. Multiple sources in the region said they include Mustafa Badreddine. Badreddine -- who is the brother-in-law of Imad Mughniyeh, a former Hezbollah commander who was assassinated in Syria in 2008 -- is reported to be a member of Hezbollah's advisory council. The other names on the list are Hasan Oneisa, Salim Ayyah and Asad Sabra. Two additional lists of indictments are expected later this summer and are expected to include the organizers and planners of the attack, the U.N. source said. The United Nations and the Lebanese Republic negotiated an agreement on the establishment of the tribunal, based at The Hague. Many Lebanese believe the killing revolved around the controversies over Syria's role in Lebanon, occupied at the time by Syrian troops, and the Damascus government's strong political influence in Lebanon. People believe Hariri wanted the Syrians to withdraw from Lebanon and lessen Syria's influence, and many suspect that Syria and its ally Hezbollah went after Hariri because of his stance on this issue. Those suspected connections of Hezbollah and the Syrian government to the killing have raised tensions in the country, stoking fears of sectarian conflict erupting in the ethnically and religiously diverse nation, which endured a civil war from 1975 to 1990. Besides being prime minister of Lebanon for 10 years between 1992 and 2004, Rafik Hariri was the driving force behind Beirut's renaissance as a Mediterranean jewel, investing in the restoration of a city center that not so long before had been the frontline in Lebanon's civil war. Rafik Hariri was 60 when he was killed, a self-made Sunni billionaire of humble origins. His son Saad, 40, leads a political bloc known as ""March 14,"" which includes prominent Christian leaders. The group's adversaries include Hezbollah and other factions. Syria had thousands of troops in Lebanon and great influence in the country until mass protests after Hariri's assassination forced their withdrawal. Syria has denied any involvement in the assassination. But six years later, the shadow cast by that day still hangs over Lebanon, which finds itself in a political crisis -- in part caused by the bitter divide over the country's special tribunal that is tasked with investigating Hariri's assassination. Hezbollah is a political faction in Lebanon and provides social services to Shiites, but it has long been regarded as a terrorist organization by the United States and as an ally of Iran. It has had longstanding animosity toward the tribunal, based on the expectation that some of its members would be indicted as conspirators in Hariri's assassination. The Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has accused the group's arch-enemy Israel of the assassination. The movement, which fought a war on Lebanese soil against Israel five years ago, claims the tribunal is a plot involving the United States, Israel and France. Ibrahim Mousawi, a Hezbollah media relations officer, said it had no immediate reaction to the indictments. Rafik Hariri and 22 others were killed on February 14, 2005, when a bomb went off as his motorcade passed by. Saad Hariri, Rafik Hariri's son and a former Lebanese prime minister, said on Thursday the indictments were issued after years ""of patience and waiting and a constant national struggle."" Saad Hariri called on all factions to accept Lebanon's ""obligations"" to the tribunal and said on Thursday ""there is no excuse for anyone to escape from this responsibility."" ""Today, we witness a distinctive historic moment in the life of Lebanon's political, judicial security, and ethical systems. And I feel in the beat of my heart, the embrace of all the hearts of the Lebanese who defended the cause of justice and refused to bargain on the blood of the martyrs,"" Saad Hariri said in a statement. Earlier this year, Hezbollah brought down Saad Hariri's government. His replacement is Prime Minister Najib Mikati, a Sunni political independent who was backed by Hezbollah and its allies. Nasrallah said in January that Hezbollah nominated Mikati to form ""a national salvation government in which parties from across the political spectrum would take part."" He disputed the view that Mikati is a Hezbollah figure. He said Mikati is a consensus candidate and ""we will not lead the new government and it will not be the government of Hezbollah."" Speaking on TV on Friday, Mikati said the ""delicate situation"" Lebanon is experiencing ""requires us to be wise"" and avert civil strife. He stressed that the ""indictments -- no matter what their source is -- are not sentences, and that charges need to have compelling evidence, away from any doubt, and that everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty."" The U.N.-backed court said the indictment and accompanying arrest warrants ""were transmitted to the Lebanese authorities"" on Thursday. It said the announcement ""follows a declaration by the Lebanese authorities that they have received a confirmed indictment."" ""This is not a verdict of guilt and any accused person is presumed innocent unless his or her guilt is established at trial,"" the Special Tribunal said in a statement. ""At this time, the STL has no comment on the identity or identities of the person or persons named in the indictment. Indeed, Judge (Daniel) Fransen has ruled that the indictment shall remain confidential in order to assist the Lebanese authorities in fulfilling their obligations to arrest the accused."" The tribunal says arrest warrants have been submitted to the Lebanese authorities, and that they must inform the tribunal president ""within 30 days after the confirmation of the indictment of the measures the state has taken to arrest the person(s) named in the indictment."" CNN's Jenifer Fenton contributed to this report ."
"(CNN) -- For five years, Taliban militants held Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl captive. They released images of him from time to time. In one piece of footage, he appeared gaunt, eating slowly. In another, the soldier stood next to a bearded man with a gun and looked at the camera for a moment. Bergdahl's forehead was furrowed, and there appeared to be cuts on his face. Fast forward to late May when the 28-year-old was freed in exchange for five senior Taliban members held by the U.S. military. The news of Bergdahl's freedom initially was met with jubilation, but it quickly turned as many called for an investigation into his disappearance and captivity. Some critics accused the soldier of deserting his comrades in war. Less than two months later, the Army announced Monday that Bergdahl has completed medical care and mental counseling at an Army hospital in San Antonio. He is going to get back to work, the Army said. The soldier will soon take a desk job at Fort Sam Houston, said U.S. Army North spokesman Don Manuszewski . Bergdahl will be assigned to a unit responsible for homeland defense, civil support operations and security cooperation programs involving countries such as Canada, Mexico and the Bahamas. Manuszewski wouldn't offer any details about what Bergdahl will be doing day to day but said the former captive will not be treated ""any different than any other soldier."" When he's not in an office, Bergdahl will live in barracks and share a bathroom with other service members. He'll have his own room, the spokesman said. 'Sponsor' to help Bergdahl readjust . Bergdahl went missing on June 30, 2009, in Afghanistan's Paktika province, where he was deployed with the 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division. An Army fact-finding investigation conducted in the months after his disappearance concluded that Bergdahl left his outpost deliberately and of his own free will, according to an official, who was briefed on the report. But there was no definitive conclusion because that would require knowing Bergdahl's intent -- something officials couldn't learn without talking to him, a U.S. military official has said. The last step in the investigation would likely include hearing Bergdahl's account. At Fort Sam Houston, Bergdahl will have a ""sponsor"" to help him adjust to Army life again, Manuszewski said, which he called routine for anyone new at the post. The Army tries to match people who are of a similar age, with a sponsor sometimes being a few ranks above the post newcomer. The New York Times reported Monday that two soldiers will help Bergdahl readjust to Army life. A lot of stress expected for soldier . Just how all this change will feel only Bergdahl will know. But there's little doubt scrutiny of him will be intense and constant, said M. David Rudd, who specializes in mental health trauma. He is a former dean of the University of Utah's College of Social and Behavioral Science and was also the president of the American Association of Suicidology. ""The stress level is going to increase dramatically,"" said Rudd, who is now the president of the University of Memphis. ""The issue of stigma in the military -- the circumstances that surround his disappearance and the questions raised ... are probably going to provoke significant passions"" in other troops. Some fellow soldiers have publicly blasted Bergdahl as a deserter. Longtime war correspondent Mike Boettcher, who has worked in Afghanistan, said he believes Bergdahl is going to have a tough time readjusting. Gunmen kidnapped Boettcher in El Salvador in 1985, and he struggled to regain his footing after being freed. As a reporter covering emotionally wrenching topics, he felt he had to work extra hard to prove he could handle it. ""What you're worried about is how other people think of you,"" Boettcher told CNN on Monday. ""In my own instance, I felt like people were treating me like a fragile egg. So I felt I had something to prove."" For Bergdahl's family, there will be change, too. The casualty assistance workers who helped the service member's relatives during his captivity will conclude their services Monday, Manuszewski said. If Bergdahl's family members need help, they can call the post and ask for it. ""We are treating him the same way we would treat any other person assigned here,"" Manuszewski said. ""If the family called ... we would do what we could to support them."" Col. Timothy Marsano, a spokesman for the family, declined to tell CNN if Bergdahl's new job assignment had brought any kind of communication between the soldier and his family. Since his release, there has not been a reunion, at least a public one. In mid-June, the FBI said it was investigating threats against Bergdahl's parents. Bergdahl venturing off-base, rubbing elbows with public . Fellow soldiers call Bergdahl a deserter . CNN's Holly Yan contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- She's got nerves of steel, golf talent beyond her tender years, and a precocious flair for eye-catching fashion: 11-year-old Lucy Li, the youngest qualifier in U.S. Women's Open history, looked entirely at home as she teed-off at Pinehurst No. 2. Despite a three bad holes in North Carolina, which meant she finished her round with an eight-over-par 78, Li impressed onlookers with a composed round that saw her bounce back quickly from disappointing shots. She left the course smiling, having followed up two double-bogeys and a triple-bogey with assured play -- including birdies at the first and fifth. ""It was great,"" Li told reporters Thursday. ""What I was so happy about in my round, (was that) after I got doubles and triples, I was able to get it back. And I got a lot of pars after that."" Heading into the tournament, Li said her only ambition was to ""have fun and play the best I can."" But the California native can also count growing experience in her time at Pinehurst, not least how to deal with the perilous course -- which hosted the men's U.S. Open last week. ""It's tough,"" said Li. ""You miss the ball by three feet and it could be like a two- or three-shot difference. ""You could hit it three feet more right and you'd be putting this far away for birdie. Or you could be in the bunker and struggling for a bogey."" Tour pros had raised doubts about whether the child amateur -- still wearing braces and standing on a box to address the media after her opening round -- should be subjected to the pressure and expectation of such a big professional event. ""When I found out she qualified, I said, 'Well, where does she go from here? You qualify for an Open at 11, what do you do next?' "" asked world No. 1 Stacy Lewis on Wednesday. The 29-year-old added: ""If it was my kid, I wouldn't let her play in the U.S. Open qualifier at 11, but that's just me."" Pressure seemed to be the least of Li's worries as she chatted with the older members of her playing group and feasted on an ice cream during the post-round press conference. ""She is so mature for her age,"" said 23-year-old Jessica Wallace, who played with Li and Catherine O'Donnell -- the latter also shot 78. ""There were times when I felt more immature than she is. Catherine and I had fun talking to her. She's so mature, it's like talking to another 23-year-old."" Li became officially the youngest player to qualify after securing her place at an event at Half Moon Bay Golf Club near her home in California. She beats fellow American Lexi Thompson, who qualified for the 2007 Open aged 12, to become the youngest qualifier. But Li is not the youngest to compete at the tournament -- Beverley Klass competed in 1967, without having to qualify, aged just 10. While Canadian Wallace carded 74 to be on course to make the halfway cut, seven shots behind first-round leader Lewis, Li and O'Donnell were outside the projected top-60 ahead of their second rounds Friday. And there wasn't a fairytale end for Li -- she missed the weekend rounds after carding another 78 on Friday, laced with more highs and lows as she tied for 120th in the 154-player field. ""I'm really happy with how I bounced back from the big numbers,"" said Li, who again had to stand on a box to reach the microphone at her press conference Friday. ""Just be patient and not care about what happened, just go to the next shot and hit it like nothing, like it's the first shot."" Her caddy Bryan Bush added: ""She proved that she deserved to be here. Her play spoke for itself. ""It was never about score,"" he said. ""She was here for the experience and the opportunity to play with the best players in the world. She proved that she can."" The weekend attention switched from one child prodigy to a former one, as Michelle Wie claimed a three-shot lead from Thompson. The 24-year-old Wie also came to prominence at a young age but is still seeking her first major title. She birdied the last two holes to move clear of 19-year-old Thompson, who at 16 was the youngest winner of an LPGA event until that record was taken by Lydia Ko in 2012. New Zealand's Ko, now 17, fired 71 to move up the leaderboard and make the cut, being tied for 29th. World No. 1 Stacy Lewis dropped from the opening-round lead to a tie for third after a 73 which left the American four shots behind compatriot Wie."
"PENSACOLA, Florida (CNN)  -- A fourth suspect has been arrested in the shooting deaths of a Gulf Coast couple known for adopting special-needs children, authorities said late Monday. Police say they have evidence that places Gary Lamont Sumner at the crime scene. Gary Lamont Sumner faces a murder charge for his alleged role in the deaths of Byrd and Melanie Billings on Thursday, Escambia County, Florida, Sheriff David Morgan said. Sumner was pulled over in a traffic stop in Okaloosa County Sunday and arrested after authorities found he matched a description put out by Escambia authorities. Police believe six to eight people were involved in the homicides, which occurred in the couple's home in Beulah, west of Pensacola, near the Alabama state line.  Watch surveillance video of the home invasion » . The crime was ""a very well-planned and methodical operation,"" Morgan said. Wayne Coldiron, 41; Leonard Patrick Gonzalez Jr., 35, and Leonard Patrick Gonzalez Sr., 56, were arrested over the weekend. Coldiron and the younger Gonzalez face charges of murder, robbery and residential home invasion; the elder Gonzalez faces charges of evidence tampering for allegedly trying to disguise a vehicle spotted at the home. Morgan said at least three others are persons of interests in the investigation. ""We expect more arrests to be imminent,"" Morgan told reporters. Both of the Billingses were shot multiple times, Morgan said, but he would not release further details on their deaths. Authorities released two surveillance tapes taken from the front and rear of the Billingses' home. Each shows a vehicle pulling up to the property, and five people dressed in black and wearing masks entering the home through two entrances -- including through a utility door left unlocked, something Morgan said is not uncommon in the community. Authorities believe drivers remained in both of the cars. Investigators believe one motive in the deaths was robbery, but ""we believe there are other motives,"" Morgan said. He would not say what, if anything, was taken from the home. Melanie Billings' biological daughter, Ashley Markham, told reporters the couple initially had 17 children -- two biological children each for Byrd and Melanie Billings, with the rest adopted. Three have died over the years, she said. The couple had no biological children together.  Watch Ashley Markham say, ""Love was never scarce"" in Billings home » . Morgan, however, said the couple had a total of 16 children, with two that have died and others that have grown older and no longer live in the Billingses' home. Nine of the couple's children were home at the time of the incident, Morgan said, and police believe three of them saw the intruders. One managed to flee the home and seek help at a neighbor's house, the sheriff said. Coldiron and the younger Gonzalez were being held on $1 million bond, according to records posted on the sheriff's Web site. The senior Gonzalez was being held on $250,000 bond. One of the first three arrested is believed to be the mastermind behind the crime, Morgan said, but would not say which one.  Watch a report on the arrests in the complex case » . Police also released a surveillance photo taken at a Wal-Mart in nearby Gulf Breeze, Florida, recently. Two of the people in the photo are Sumner and the younger Gonzalez, but authorities want to know who the other man is, Morgan said. The sheriff called the surveillance tapes ""chilling."" He noted the vehicles were at the home less than 10 minutes, and the five people were in the house less than four minutes. ""It leads me to believe that this was a very well-planned and methodical operation,"" Morgan said.  Watch experts describe the ""military-style"" attack » . Although the Billingses were well known in the community, the sheriff said authorities are still trying to unravel why they were targeted. He compared their deaths to the slaying of the Clutter family of Kansas, inspiration for Truman Capote's novel ""In Cold Blood,"" noting the Clutter murders were something the community struggled with for years. ""It will be a very long time, I believe, until we piece together the truth of why this family was selected,"" Morgan said. Police believe the suspects might have bought the clothes they wore to the home and were reviewing surveillance tapes and photos from several stores, he said. Morgan said the crime's complexity is frustrating for investigators, comparing it to a complicated mathematics or word problem that lacks complete information. ""It seems as though each phase we complete, while we answer a set of questions, it opens up an additional set of questions."" Earlier, he said the complete story, when revealed, is ""going to be a humdinger."" Asked whether the suspects entered the home planning to kill the couple, Morgan said authorities do not know. Markham said earlier the family does not know any of the three suspects. She said the children ""are coping very well"" and are being cared for. ""They haven't asked too many questions,"" she said, noting that several have disabilities. While the investigation continues, the family is keeping the children's whereabouts a secret. CNN's David Mattingly contributed to this report."
"WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Shouting from the audience. Holding up signs blasting the health care reform bill before Congress. Frequent hissing and booing. Many Facebook and Twitter users condemned Rep. Joe Wilson for his outburst toward President Obama. Though it sounds like behavior at one of the health care town hall meetings last month, it was how some Republicans reacted to President Obama's speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night. But Norm Ornstein, a longtime observer of Congress and an expert at the American Enterprise Institute, said the tone and behavior from members of Congress are not necessarily new. ""A lot of what went on [Wednesday] night has become fairly typical of what we've seen in the State of the Union messages over the last 10 or 12 years, where it's one side jumping up wildly and the other side sitting on their hands in stony silence."" The most memorable moment came from Rep. Joe Wilson, R-South Carolina, who shouted ""You lie"" after the president said that a Democratic-sponsored health care bill would not cover illegal immigrants. Ornstein said that in addition to being beyond the bounds of what is typical, Wilson's comment is ""just sort of stunning in the level of disrespect for not just the president but the presidency.""  Watch more of Wilson's outburst » . During several moments in Obama's speech, members of the GOP hissed and yelled at the president as he laid out his plan for reform. One Republican held a sign saying, ""What bill?"" House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Virginia, was seen several times typing on his phone during the speech. Vice President Joe Biden told ABC's ""Good Morning America"" on Thursday that he was ""embarrassed for the chamber and a Congress I love."" Observers said the behavior is probably indicative of the vitriolic sentiments found during town hall meetings. ""I think a lot of those Republican members went home to their district and were met with very angry reaction from their constituents. Congress, as you know, is pretty polarized,"" said Kasie Hunt, a health care reporter for National Journal's Congress Daily. ""I think, in some ways, that's what you really saw last night: the degree of acceptance of that angry discord that we've really hadn't seen in a long time."" Hunt said there is still a lot of misunderstanding among Republican members of Congress. John O'Connor, who covers politics for The State newspaper in South Carolina, said that a lot of Wilson's anger mirrors what many feel in his home state. ""I think he feels the way a lot of people in South Carolina feel about [health care reform]. They're suspicious. They're worried. There's some fear out there about what could happen."" But O'Connor points out that South Carolina tends to be more conservative than other states, and Wilson's town halls were generally civil. ""Rep. Wilson, however, held a town hall meeting in Columbia where, for the most part, there was a pretty reasoned debate,"" he added. ""There were folks on both sides raising issues, asking questions."" Still, it might have been Wilson's constituents' anger and distrust that contributed to the outburst in Congress, O'Connor noted. ""His takeaway from that was that people support his stance, which was to oppose any version of what he's calling Obamacare,"" he said. ""So despite the fact that there was clearly some support in that audience for doing something about health care and health insurance, he kind of had a different impression of what the majority of the crowd thought."" Could Wilson face any trouble for his comments Wednesday night? Unlikely, according to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi said Thursday that there is a procedure that could have been implemented to strike Wilson's ""lie"" comment from the record. But she said the president did the right thing in continuing on and not giving it ""any more attention than it deserved."" Pelosi indicated that she would not press the issue farther. ""As far as I'm concerned, the episode was unfortunate. Mr. Wilson has apologized. It's time for us to talk about health care and not Mr. Wilson,"" she said. Political observers in South Carolina opine that the comment heard around the world ""was a little surprising."" ""This is not his personality. He's not a guy who tends to make a lot of inflammatory statements. You expect that a lot more from Rep. DeMint [Republican from South Carolina] than Wilson for sure,"" O'Connor added. Wilson said Thursday that his outburst was simply ""spontaneous.""  Watch Obama's full speech » . Meanwhile, the controversy surrounding him -- and anger on both sides of the aisle to his statement -- has helped his opponent in the 2010 midterm election. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said Thursday afternoon that since Wilson's comment, his Democratic opponent, former Marine Rob Miller, received 11,000 individual grass-roots contributions and raised more than $400,000. During the 2008 election, when support for Democrats and Obama was high, Wilson faced a tough slog against Miller. The Republican, who represents the 2nd Congressional District, including most of Columbia and parts east, won 54 percent of the vote to Miller's 46 percent. Ornstein added that Wilson's comment was an ""incredibly dumb thing to do"" for the broader picture of the Republican Party. ""It was a gift, in a way, to Barack Obama,"" he said. ""To independent voters out there, this just underscored the notion that you've got a party that is unremittingly hostile to the president that has no interest in negotiating or finding common ground."""
"(CNN) -- In anticipation of more flooding next week, residents of Fargo, North Dakota, began stacking sandbags Wednesday for the second time in just over two weeks along the banks of the Red River. A trucker relaxes April 1 on sandbag pallets in Fargo, North Dakota,  which is preparing for more flooding. They hoped to fill 1 million, said Fargo spokeswoman Karena Lunday. ""If we get a million, that will be a total of 4 million we've made since the flood started,"" she said. The first sandbag effort began about March 23. The Red River crested at nearly 41 feet at Fargo on March 28, breaking a record that had held since 1897, when the Red River reached 40.1 feet. The National Weather Service issued a flood warning Tuesday, predicting that melting snow -- and possibly rain -- will start to raise river levels on the Red River south of Oslo, Minnesota, this week. Lunday said forecasters expected the river to crest there between April 16-18, possibly reaching 35 feet on April 14. ""I don't think people are as worried as they were the last time, but the possibility of getting up to 40 feet is a concern,"" Lunday told CNN. The Red River meanders along the border between North Dakota and Minnesota, so many other cities also were bracing for flooding."
"(CNN)Everybody on the planet knows that Gene Roddenberry created Mr. Spock, the laconic, imperturbable extra-terrestrial First Officer for the Starship Enterprise. But Mr. Spock doesn't belong to Roddenberry, even though he is the grand exalted progenitor of everything that was, is, and forever will be ""Star Trek."" Mr. Spock belongs to Leonard Nimoy, who died Friday at age 83. And though he doesn't take Spock with him, he and Spock remain inseparable. Zachary Quinto, who plays Spock in the re-booted feature film incarnation of ""Trek,"" is excellent in the role. (Nimoy himself said so.) Quinto must know that however much he brings to the role, he will only be its custodian. Spock is Nimoy. Nimoy is Spock. It is, as Spock himself would intone, only logical. Nimoy often insisted otherwise, especially as the show went from canceled outcast to global phenomenon. He even wrote a book with the title, ""I Am Not Spock"" (1977) that was bought by millions of readers who didn't buy the title for a nanosecond. By 1995, he cried ""uncle"" by publishing a followup autobiography, ""I Am Spock."" In the years before and since, he carried his character's legacy with the grace and class he exhibited in other areas of his life. And the life of Leonard Nimoy, irrespective of Spock, was a rich and varied feast. Those two ""Spock"" books weren't the only things he'd published. A couple of books of poetry are also credited to him as were a collection of photographs celebrating what he termed ""the feminine aspect of God."" Which reminds me. Nimoy had a hand, so to speak, in creating one of Spock's most indelible traits: The ""live-long-and-prosper"" split-finger salute that Nimoy had borrowed from an approximation of the Hebrew letter shin, the first letter in the word Shaddai, one of the Hebrew names for God. Roddenberry didn't think of that. Nimoy did. And in doing so made an implausible character as much a part of our waking dreams as members of our own family. He also directed movies, two of which were part of the ""Trek"" franchise: 1984's ""The Search for Spock"" and 1986's ""The Voyage Home."" I got to meet him when the latter film opened. It was at a press conference that was part of the promotional junket in Los Angeles and Nimoy was very un-Spock-like in his jocular, freewheeling enthusiasm for the movie (which was, in fact, one of the very best, certainly the warmest, of the big-screen ""Trek"" iterations.) He could not stop smiling, not even when one of the reporters asked him about a scene in the film that catches Spock in an impromptu grin. (It vanished once the movie opened in theaters.) He looked like a man who knew he was going to soon have a lot more money than he'd had a week, or a day before -- though anyone with a brain knew he wasn't going to squander any of it on trivial things. He was Nimoy and he was Spock. And they were serious men with serious thoughts. Still, it was always nice to know Nimoy could smile, even if Spock couldn't."
"Conservative Republicans are painting Latino immigrants as Ebola carriers to fan the anti-immigration reform movement, but health experts say those fears are grossly overstated. Officials say there have been no reported cases of Ebola-infected migrants entering the United States through Mexico and border authorities reject claims that the border is not secure. Still many politicians continue to raise the alarm, seeking to derail immigration reform -- already delayed several times by Congress and the President. On Thursday, former Massachusetts senator and now New Hampshire Senate candidate Scott Brown said that he doesn't want undocumented immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border because they might be carrying Ebola. ""One of the reasons why I've been so adamant about closing our border, because if people are coming through normal channels -- can you imagine what they can do through our porous borders?"" Brown said in a radio interview. Republican candidate Thom Tillis, running for a Senate seat in North Carolina, said in a debate on Tuesday that the United States should seal its border with Mexico to prevent the spread of Ebola, while Rand Paul, the Kentucky senator and potential presidential candidate in 2016, said last week that the southern border is not secure enough to keep out Ebola. The countries most affected by the virus are Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia in West Africa. According to Carl Meacham, director of the America's program at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, the largest communities of West Africans in Latin America can be found in Brazil and the Caribbean -- not Central America, where the majority of immigrants who illegally cross the border are from. Julio Varela, founder of Latino Rebels, an opinionated Latino-issues website, questioned the motivation of such fears. ""I am starting to think that this is all some kind of mix-and-match game of fear,"" he said. ""You take the most extreme examples of xenophobic hysteria -- Mexicans, terrorists, ISIS, the border crisis and Ebola -- and mash them all together to create a new narrative of craziness,"" he added. The Ebolification of immigration reform has been going on for months. In July, Georgia Republican Rep. Phil Gingrey, a medical doctor, wrote a letter to Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, expressing his concern that the influx of families and unaccompanied minors at the U.S.-Mexico border could pose a grave public health risk. ""Reports of illegal migrants carrying deadly diseases such as swine flu, dengue fever, Ebola virus and tuberculosis are particularly concerning,"" he wrote. Unaccompanied migrant children posed a particular risk, he said, because they could spread the disease too quickly to be controlled, once in the United States. He urged the CDC to immediately assess the situation and notify the public of risks. During an August hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee's subcommittee on Africa, Frieden dismissed the possibility of Ebola reaching the United States via the southern border. ""That is not happening,"" he said. Other health officials agree with Frieden. They call threats, like the one Gingrey describes, as farfetched. There has never been an outbreak of Ebola in Latin America, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. That makes it extremely unlikely for a child or adult entering the United States via Mexico to be infected with the disease. Unswayed by the medical community's assertions of safety, far-right  conservative politicians and their sympathizers have gone even further. Fox News host Chris Wallace suggested that an Ebola infested terrorist could enter through the southern border and wage biological warfare. Meanwhile, Arkansas Republican Rep. Tom Cotton, currently running for Senate, said that terror groups are collaborating with drug cartels in Mexico. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson denied these allegations Thursday and warned against creating fear and anxiety in the public by passing on speculation and rumor. Some Latino Republicans have tried to distance themselves from the Ebola and ISIS border fears. ""I am saddened to see some conservatives use fear of deadly diseases to push an immigration restriction agenda. Their claims are generally vastly overblown and I am especially disappointed in Rep. Phil Gingrey, who is a medical doctor and should know better,"" said Bob Quasius, president of Café Con Leche Republicans."
"Washington (CNN) -- If the threat of underwear bombs became known last Christmas, why did airport screeners only recently begin aggressively checking for them? The answer is two-fold, Transportation Security Administration Director John Pistole told reporters Tuesday. First, the lack of a permanent leader at the TSA hindered change, he said. Secondly, the agency needed time to train screeners on the new pat-down protocols. The threat of hidden bombs became instantly clear on December 25, 2009, Pistole said, when authorities arrested Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, a Nigerian man, after his failed attempt to ignite his hidden explosive on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan. TSA officials immediately started looking at what they needed to do to modify technology or pat downs to detect the bombs, he said. But at that time, the top job at TSA was filled by a career official. The White House delayed nominating a TSA chief and then White House and Congressional Republicans feuded for a year over nominees. Much of the debate centered on whether the nominees supported unionization of airport screeners. Two of President Obama's nominees withdrew from consideration. ""Frankly it just came down to the fact there was not a presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed administrator in place until I was confirmed at the end of June to make a really significant decision like that, that would have impact on a number of people,"" Pistole said. ""That was a big part of it."" Pistole was sworn in as administrator in July and soon thereafter made the decision to go through ""enhanced pat downs."" Training time accounts for the rest of the delay, as the TSA quietly began pilot programs in Boston, Massachusetts, and Las Vegas, Nevada, in August, and rolled the program out nationwide in early November. Pistole consistently has said it was his decision to implement enhanced pat downs. He said he opted not to publicize them in advance because he felt to do so would be to give a ""roadmap"" to would-be terrorists. Implementation of the pat downs was further delayed because time was needed to train screeners on the new protocols, he said. Those protocols are considered sensitive security information, and have not been shared with the public. But Pistole said protocols do not allow for screeners to grope passengers. Pistole said some passenger descriptions of the procedures are ""so wildly outside the standard operating protocols that it just absolutely should not be happening. If it is, then we'll take appropriate action."" ""If we receive any complaints from a passenger about something happening, then we immediately follow up both with that passenger and with our security officers,"" he said. Most airport checkpoints have closed circuit television systems, which help investigators find out what happened, he said. Videotape helped dispel one passenger's complaint that she was handcuffed to a chair and mistreated, he said. ""If there's a security officer that did something that's not appropriate, then we take appropriate action. I just want to make sure that I have all the facts,"" Pistole said."
"NEW YORK (CNN) -- Defense and diplomacy were on full display when the United Nations secretary-general took to the soccer field in the first U.N. '""DiploMatch."" ""It is very hard at my age to play soccer,"" said the 64-year-old Ban Ki-moon. Typically, a Saturday evening soccer game with mostly middle-aged men wouldn't garner much attention, unless an ambulance is required. But the recent match played between two modest teams of U.N. ambassadors and officials, along with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, was certainly not typical. The mood was competitive yet congenial as the dignitaries traded their suits for shorts and hit the soccer field at Chelsea Piers on a balmy New York evening April 25. ""Soccer is a sport that really can unite the people and generate enormous power and energy among people regardless of where you are coming from,"" Ban said. ""When you follow the balls, you just forget, and you become one team, and you become one nation. This is what we aim to achieve today."" There was, of course, an underlying purpose behind the motivation to hit the pitch: support for a new charitable organization dedicated to advancing peace through the global reach and unifying power of soccer (also called football).  Watch Ban Ki-moon mix it up with diplomats on soccer field » . British U.N. Ambassador John Sawers summed up the rationale motivating the event. ""Soccer's the great world game, and this is [the] United Nations, the great world organization, playing it for charity, so it's a lot of fun."" ""Football for reconciliation"" is the driving purpose of Play31, the organization behind the U.N. game. The group says the sport has the unique potential ""to bring people together, spread joy and to create healing in post-conflict societies."" Its mission statement further explains, ""By donating footballs and facilitating community gatherings, we contribute to the creation of peaceful societies where children can exercise their right to play."" Play31 and ""the right to play"" are derived from Article 31 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The 1989 summit sought to guarantee certain universal rights for children under 18, including ""the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts."" Jakob Lund, the 26-year-old founder and president of Play31, was inspired to launch his program after spending time in Sierra Leone, a nation ravaged by 11 years of civil strife. ""We use soccer as a facilitator for people meeting each other and for people simply just interacting ... and I think that is something true for football is that it can transcend borders, languages, races, everything that we see can normally divide people -- on the football field, it can unite them, and that's what is so special."" Added the enthusiastic U.N. ambassador from Paraguay, Eladio Loizaga, who contributed two goals in the first half for his team: ""I mean, I didn't expect that! Two goals! I tried to put my best tonight for the children and for the event."" Radhika Coomaraswamy, special representative for children in armed conflict, said, ""there is really something to do with children that really brings the United Nations together."" Ban also emphasized the plight of children as an important priority on the U.N. agenda. ""This is a very small symbolic event, but though it may be small, this will, I hope, demonstrate our solidarity to those people, many young children, who are in war-torn countries, who really want some hope from the international community. I hope this will help."" But even with all the togetherness for a good cause, settling disputes on the pitch versus the halls of the United Nations had to have been a different experience for the ambassadors. Sawers explained, ""these guys I spend my days from Monday to Friday negotiating with, and we have fun on weekends, so this is us having fun."" Chile's Ambassador Heraldo Muñoz, one of the team captains, elaborated. ""Getting out of the U.N. and of negotiations, and speeches ... is quite good. I think it should say something about humanity that we are not only diplomats, but we are also football players and poets and writers."" The other team was led by Ambassador Christian Wenaweser of Liechtenstein. Wenaweser was quite impressed with one particular participant, expressing how he thought the secretary-general's performance was ""amazing."" ""He gave up his right to rest for this, and I think it's amazing. And he played well; he had good positioning, good defense. It was great,"" Wenaweser said. Laughing, Ban responded to reactions about his defensive prowess. ""When the ball comes to me, then I have to defend my team, so that was very, very difficult. But I think I have defended well."" The 64 year-old secretary-general played nearly the entire game, mixing it up with fellow U.N. dignitaries. ""It is very hard at my age to play soccer,"" Ban conceded. ""It's very hard, but I feel very much a sense of full excitement and energy."" Ban's dogged defense clearly made an impact. However, the secretary-general couldn't resist his role as the world's lead diplomat, even on the football field, and changed teams at halftime. Diplomatically, the score was not recorded, although observers said Team Lichtenstein was the victor. Ban played defense the entire time, except when he came off for a couple breathers. When he came off in the first half, the other team quickly scored three goals."
"(CNN) -- Watch out! Lock up your loved ones! Another bloated, over-produced, high-concept monstrosity has escaped from the labs at Dreamworks Animation, and it's out to devour your kids. Susan, aka ""Ginormica,"" has to save the world in ""Monsters vs. Aliens."" But don't be too alarmed. ""Monsters vs. Aliens"" is relatively harmless -- a toothless satire with a knee-jerk feminist theme and a sorry excuse for a plot. That sounds harsh, I know. Who doesn't want to see a 50-foot woman careening through San Francisco on skates that turn out to be automobiles -- the ultimate demolition roller derby? But think about that, just for a second. Roller skates work because they have fixed wheels. Try it with motorcars and you won't get very far. Is that too picky? Perhaps, but you wouldn't find Pixar playing so fast and loose with the laws of physics, and that kind of inattention to detail is typical of the lackadaisical storytelling here and in other Dreamworks animated features. (The talent pool for this one includes the directors of ""Shrek 2"" and ""Shark Tale"" and the writers of ""Kung Fu Panda"" and ""The Rocker,"" incidentally.) High concepts, top-notch voice talent and scattershot pop cultural references are no compensation for a coherent script. The XXXL lady in question -- dubbed ""Ginormica"" by her U.S. military guards -- starts out plain and petite Susan Murphy (voiced by Reese Witherspoon), until a meteorite hits her just minutes before she's supposed to tie the knot with unctuous chauvinist Derek (Paul Rudd). Her rapid growth spurt saves her from that particular fate worse than death, even if at first glance her new roommates don't look like much of an improvement. There's Dr. Cockroach (Hugh Laurie), a mad scientist who semi-advertently mutated with a bug; B.O.B. (Seth Rogen) an amorphous blue jelly-like blob who gets on just fine without a brain; Missing Link (Will Arnett), a gung-ho amphibian who's all mouth; and a giant dust mite called Insectosaurus who isn't voiced by anyone because he doesn't have anything to say. Sci-fi fans will have fun counting off the references to myriad classics -- ""Close Encounters of the Third Kind,"" ""Invaders from Mars,"" ""The Fly,"" ""The Creature from the Black Lagoon,"" ""The Blob,"" ""Mothra"" and ""Attack of the 50-Foot Woman,"" for starters -- and noting a few clever bits and pieces (Kiefer Sutherland, as General W.R. Monger, riffs on George C. Scott in ""Dr. Strangelove""). The trouble is, once the introductions are over, the filmmakers can only launch their desperately limp plot: The White House turns to these monstrous superheroes to save the planet from evil Gallaxhar (Rainn Wilson), a squidlike creature with four eyes and twice as many legs, and a one-eyed tin robot to do his dirty work for him. Ginormica gets a kick-butt finale, and is a much stronger character -- in any number of ways -- than the movie's president. (In a genuinely witty casting touch he's voiced by Stephen Colbert.) That may be good politics or at least a sound marketing decision from the studio's perspective -- it's been awhile since a family animated feature produced a genuinely strong female character (unless you count ""Coraline,"" which was way too scary for my family) -- but Susan's self-esteem is an awfully long time coming. iReport.com: What do you think of 'Monsters vs. Aliens'? (Bizarrely -- and maybe it's just my imagination -- Gallaxhar bears a passing resemblance to President Obama. I wonder ... would that make Susan/Ginormica a surrogate for Sarah Palin or Hillary Clinton?) Visually, too, ""Monsters vs Aliens"" is undistinguished, although its shortcomings may be disguised if you seek out the 3-D version. Funny how 3-D movies tend to produce two-dimensional characters, with ""Coraline"" again the exception to the rule. Jocular and unpretentiously trashy, ""Monsters vs. Aliens"" should be a lot of fun -- and it is, in places. But the truth is it's as hung up on itself as Susan's preening fiance. Hand on heart, I had a better time at ""Space Chimps."" ""Monsters vs. Aliens"" runs 94 minutes and is rated PG. For Entertainment Weekly's take, click here."
"(CNN) -- While Real Madrid signed Gareth Bale in the summer's highest-profile football transfer and added several other big names, Manchester United fans were left largely underwhelmed by the Premier League champion's moves in the off-season. They might be even more disappointed after learning how much United made in its last fiscal year -- and therefore had to spend. The record 20-time league winner in England -- self described as ""one of the most popular and successful sports teams in the world"" -- announced record revenues of $580 million for the year ended June 30, 2013 and said commercial revenues soared to a record $244 million. It left executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, who replaced David Gill in the United hierarchy, to declare on United's website: ""It has been a little over a year since our IPO (initial public offering) and in that time we have delivered on our targets and objectives. ""Our commercial business continues to be a very powerful engine of growth enabling the team to continue to be successful."" But United, in its first season without legendary manager Alex Ferguson, was largely quiet under new boss David Moyes and Woodward as it defends its Premier League title, signing just Marouane Fellaini and relatively unknown Uruguayan Guillermo Varela. United was linked with Cristiano Ronaldo, Cesc Fabregas, Ander Herrera and Leighton Baines -- who all stayed put with their current clubs. ""It's been pretty disappointing,"" said Andy Green, a United supporter who tweets about football finances. ""I don't think it's Moyes' fault. He gives his targets to the club. I don't think he should be held accountable at all."" Meanwhile, city rival Manchester City bought four key players prior to August, Chelsea swooped for the likes of Samuel Eto'o and Willian and Arsenal smashed its transfer record by purchasing Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid for more than $65 million. Tottenham splashed out on more than half-a-dozen stars, attempting to make up for the loss of Bale. ""United's commercial acumen isn't of value because it doesn't lead to a bigger stadium, lower ticket prices or better players,"" said Green. ""You have all these commercial deals but it's no benefit to the football club."" United has made a lukewarm start to the league season, winning two of its four games, although it began its Champions League campaign with a win Tuesday against Bayer Leverkusen. United is ""delighted to have David Moyes lead our football team into a new and exciting chapter,"" Woodward said. ""We look forward to a successful 2013/14, both on and off the pitch."""
"(Mashable) -- HP has announced a major new initiative and a slew of new devices that enable users to print from any device to a web-enabled printer by simply using e-mail. The idea -- which builds off the Google Cloud Print announcement we saw back in April -- starts with giving each printer its own unique e-mail address. That printer's owner (and their designated family, friends, and colleagues) can then print documents by sending it an email from a smartphone, from a tablet, or any other device that allows it. Called HP ePrint, the technology eliminates the need for installing drivers and enables a variety of new apps and services. Putting Documents in the Cloud . The new printers that HP is unveiling today along with ePrint can connect directly to Google Cloud using their touchscreen interface. That means users can print Google Docs directly from the cloud without using their desktop computer, as well as scan documents directly to their Google Docs account. Other Google services like Calendar and Picasa for photos are also supported. Similarly, Box.net and Docstoc users can also retrieve and push documents to and from the cloud through new print apps. A New Opportunity for Publishers . Another area HP is exploring with the ePrint concept is scheduled delivery. This allows users to get content printed at specific times -- for example, getting a customized daily newspaper printed out every morning that they can take with them on the train. MSNBC has signed on as a partner to pilot this concept, and HP has teamed with Yahoo to sell the ads, which, you can imagine could include a mix of contextual advertising and locally relevant promotions and coupons. Another Platform for Developers . Beyond productivity and news, initial apps include Facebook for printing photos and events and MapQuest for printing maps and directions. HP also sees a big opportunity for providing different types of activities for parents and kids, and to that end has signed on Crayola for coloring pages and PBS for a variety of education-driven printing. As for the market size for developers here, HP says it expects to ship, ""tens of millions of web-connected printers"" by the end of next year. Currently, developers interested in building apps need to apply for access to HP's SDK. Why's HP Doing This? Beyond selling printers, HP needs to sell ink. With more and more types of documents getting digitized and smartphones replacing former functions of printers (think coupons and tickets), HP needs new ways to drive printer usage. Web-connected printers fill this need in a few ways. First, they connect to the ever growing cloud for business users and make their lives easier. Second, the email-to-print concept clearly has the potential to drive new kinds of usage, both from business users and consumers who do things like print photos and news. Finally, there's also opportunities for developers to create sticky apps -- perhaps not on the scale we've seen in mobile, but with HP betting the future of its printers on web connectivity, you can bet we'll see some big winners emerge from the developer community. HP will dive into these topics at apress conference this morning to kick off Internet Week New York, where I'll be moderating a panel with a number of the players involved in the new ePrint initiative. We'll try and bring you video of the discussion later on. Disclosure: HP is a sponsor of Mashable's Internet Week New York channel. © 2013 MASHABLE.com. All rights reserved."
"So many hours of talks, so little progress. Despite two days of intensive negotiations, Iran and six world powers ""remain far apart"" on Tehran's controversial nuclear program, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said Saturday in Kazakhstan. Her words dashed hopes that the deadlock might be broken after what had seemed more promising talks back in February, also in the Kazakh city of Almaty. Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, acknowledged there was ""some distance"" between Iran and the six powers but seemed more positive in his assessment. ""Good negotiations"" had taken place in this round of talks, Jalili said, which he described as ""substantive, expansive and comprehensive."" But in a sign that progress was limited, no date or location has been set for new talks. This round was just the latest in a decade-long attempt to resolve differences between Iran and the international community over Tehran's nuclear ambitions. The first day of talks proved inconclusive. By the end of Saturday, despite ""long and intensive discussions,"" the two sides were no closer on agreeing on confidence-building measures, Ashton told reporters. ""It became clear that the positions of (the world powers) and Iran remain far apart on the substance,"" she said. ""We therefore agreed all sides will go back to their capitals to evaluate where we stand on the process."" Ashton said she would be in touch with Jalili ""very soon in order to see how to go forward."" While Ashton said these were the most detailed discussions that the two sides had had, with ""a real back-and-forward between us,"" she also made clear that she was disappointed by the lack of progress made. A senior U.S. administration official said Jalili directly engaged him in a 30- to 40-minute question-and-answer exchange in the middle of Saturday's plenary meeting. ""The quality of the discussion was different because there was this back and forth, this Q and A,"" the official said. ""We just went back and forth with him."" Still, the official expressed disappointment, saying that Iran had ""put forward some minimal ideas and expected great return, and quite disproportionate return."" Britain, too, took a hard line after the talks. ""The UK went to Kazakhstan ready with our partners to negotiate in good faith with Iran,"" British Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a statement. ""Iran's current position falls far short of what is needed to achieve a diplomatic breakthrough."" When negotiators from the diplomatic bloc of six nations -- the United States, France, Britain, Germany, China and Russia -- last sat down with Iran's envoy in Almaty in February, they delivered what they characterized as a ""fair and balanced offer"" to defuse tensions over the Iranian nuclear program. Instead of delivering the ""concrete response"" Western governments had expected, Iran announced it was making its own proposal to the negotiating parties. 'Two-way street' Jalili said Iran had tabled a proposal based on the discussions in Almaty and a previous meeting in Moscow -- and that it is now down to the six world powers to respond and show their ""willingness to take appropriate confidence-building steps in the future."" He repeated Tehran's position that Iran has the right to a peaceful nuclear program. ""Creating confidence is a two-way street,"" he said. Now, after many proposals put forward by Iran, it's the turn of the six world powers to respond, he said. Jalili's comments on Iran's enrichment of uranium -- one of the most contentious issues at stake -- reaffirmed Tehran's right to pursue that track but also appeared to leave the door open to some kind of negotiation. ""Enrichment is part of the rights of the Iranian people, whether we're talking about 5% or 20% ... however, this can be an issue that can create further confidence,"" he said. Jalili added that ""hostile behaviors"" directed toward Iran were detrimental to building confidence. This was presumably a reference to the draconian sanctions imposed by Western governments against Tehran, which are crippling the Iranian economy. Oil exports have plummeted over the past several years, as has the value of Iran's currency. ""The purpose of any sanctions is to put pressure in order to get this process to work,"" said Ashton. ""And I believe we should continue to work as hard as we possibly can to make sure we are successful and we reach a satisfactory resolution."" Questions fly around any plan to attack Iran . The so-called P5+1 governments are demanding that Iran come clean about its nuclear program, which they suspect includes covert development of nuclear weapons. Iran consistently denies those charges, arguing it is enriching uranium and building nuclear reactors only for peaceful civilian energy needs. Details of last February's offer from the six countries represented across the negotiating table from Iran have not yet been made public. Last month, technical experts from Iran and the P5+1 countries met for more than 12 hours in Istanbul to discuss the proposal. Iran's deputy chief negotiator said the Iranian proposal tabled Friday was based on a previous PowerPoint presentation that the Iranian delegation submitted during a round of talks in Moscow in June 2012. ""The Islamic Republic of Iran proposed a practical method to implement the Moscow plan in a smaller scale,"" Ali Baghery said in a statement issued to journalists Friday. The offer, he said, was aimed at establishing ""a new bedrock of cooperation."" A call for 'concrete actions' Washington has vowed it will continue to put pressure on Tehran. ""As long as Iran does not take concrete steps to address the concerns of the international community about its nuclear program, the dual-track process continues. And that pressure only will increase if Iran does not begin to take concrete steps and concrete actions,"" said a senior U.S. administration official in a telephone briefing to journalists this week. The official spoke on condition of anonymity. Iran argues that as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, development of nuclear technology is an inalienable right. On the eve of the two-day talks in Kazakhstan, Jalili repeated this position in a speech given at a university in Almaty. ""It is the right of the Iranian people to peaceful nuclear energy and most importantly to enrichment,"" Jalili said. A report recently published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace concluded that sanctions are unlikely to force Tehran to give up its nuclear program. The report, titled ""Iran's Nuclear Odyssey,"" highlighted the fact that Tehran's quest for a nuclear program has been going on for more than half a century, beginning under the rule of the pro-American shah, Reza Pahlavi, and continuing under the revolutionary Islamic republic that overthrew him. ""The program's cost -- measured in lost foreign investment and oil revenue -- has been well over $100 billion,"" Carnegie said."
"(The Frisky) -- Last night Nicole Scherzinger was the 10th star to claim the mirrored ball on ""Dancing with the Stars."" The lead Pussycat Doll went up against Olympic figure skater Evan Lysacek and ESPN anchor Erin Andrews and came out victorious. Many predicted that Scherzinger would win from the start based on her spectacular performances and stage presence, not to mention her extensive dance history as a member of the Pussycat Dolls. But Lysacek and Andrews gave her a good run for her money, bringing an enjoyable end to a season of controversy. Was it me, or was season 10 the most exciting ever? Kate Gosselin's diva behavior, Jake Pavelka's cornball glances at Vienna Girardi, and Nicole's spats with Pamela Anderson made it must-watch TV, not to mention Elisabeth Hasselbeck's major snafu regarding Erin Andrews' wardrobe. The show seriously picked the right contestants this time around. To help them out for season 11, here are the 15 stars we'd love to see do the rumba next. The Frisky: Kate Gosselin and 7 more celebs rejected by Playboy . Katie Holmes . So she might be a bit out of reach, especially since Katie Holmes is stuck in the Tom Cruise isolation bubble, but this could be a rebirth for her. Let's face it: Holmes has a lost some of her flair and she lets her daughter do most of the fancy dressing. ""Dancing with the Stars"" would allow Holmes to separate herself from TomKat, and at least get her out of the house. Heidi Klum and Seal . The couple has said in interviews that they are interested in joining ""Dancing with the Stars."" It would be good for everyone. Heidi Klum could get away from judging those sassy ""Project Runway"" stylists and rock some tacky, sparkly clothes. Seal could get back on the radar for something other than being Klum's husband. And the show could get to play off the drama of having a competing couple. The Frisky: 10 top models without makeup . Oprah Winfrey . Oprah may be leaving her iconic television show behind, but that doesn't mean she can't move on to something else. She needs to think of all the fans she has been shepherding for so many years! Honestly, with the number of women who look to her for advice on what to eat, read, and wear -- I don't think there's any way she could lose. Josh ""Sawyer"" Holloway . Now that ""Lost"" is over, people are going to have to find their dose of shirtless Sawyer somewhere else. We can sit around and watch old ""Lost"" clips, but I think seeing him get sweaty and strip down in a samba would be a better alternative. Yes? The Frisky: 8 things I won't miss now that ""Lost"" is off the TV map . Celine Dion . Back in 2007, the Canadian songstress said that she was interested in doing the show. Why hasn't ""DWTS"" snatched her up yet? They have a pretty loose definition of ""star,"" and she would be one of their biggest grabs. I am picturing a ""Titanic""-themed waltz to ""My Heart Would Go On."" It would be cheesily epic. Betty White . This lady is 2010's big thing, and rightfully so. Betty White is adorable, feisty, and totally held her own on ""Saturday Night Live"" this month. If White ends up in a set of dancing shoes, I am officially dubbing her the coolest grandma ever. The Frisky: 10 summer dresses under $50 . Johnny Weir . So Evan Lysacek gave it his shot and got to the final three, but I think Johnny Weir could take it all the way. Throughout the Olympics, he was known for bringing theatricality and flair to all his performances. The dance floor is the only other place that I can think of that could capture Weir's signature brand of pizzazz. Plus, we'd get the added perks of more self-designed outfits and seeing him get to beat Lysacek at something. Sarah Silverman . The comedian just had her show on Comedy Central canceled, so now it is time to dance the pain away. Sarah Silverman strikes us as sort of klutzy, but I am sure that can be smoothed out by the tender footsteps of Tony or Derek. Silverman is sure to make the sometimes exhaustive judging process a little more entertaining. Bob Saget . Between ""Full House"" and ""America's Funniest Home Videos,"" Bob Saget seems like quite the family man. But I have heard rumors that in real life he has a dirty sense of humor. Maybe Saget could reroute that crudeness into sexy dance moves? It would be a good mix of amusing and awkward, since a lot of viewers probably couldn't see past Saget as anyone other than Daddy Tanner. Dr. Drew . It is time for Dr. Drew to add something else to his resume other than harassing addicted celebrities and pregnant teens. The Doc needs to come to the dance floor and switch from psychoanalysis to polka. The Frisky: See 10 stars who've worn ankle alcohol monitors [SCRAMs] . Ryan Seacrest . ""American Idol"" is finally starting to see a decline, while ""Dancing with the Stars"" just had one of its most successful seasons. Now I haven't taken math since high school but it seems like it is time for Seacrest to think about switching teams. A little bit of fancy footwork could be just what he needs, though they would have to make it clear he couldn't host the show. Sarah Ferguson . The Duchess herself has said she wants to be on the show because her kids love to watch her dance. Now that she is stuck in the middle of a bribery controversy, she could use ""DTWS"" for image revitalization. Though there is a chance not even ""Dancing with the Stars"" could save her from this royal mess. Kendra Wilkinson . Speaking of image revitalization, Kendra Wilkinson could use a little help right now. Her sex tape has just hit the market, and with a rumored second one on the way, Kendra needs to get people's minds off these tapes and onto something else. And she already proved on her former reality show ""The Girls Next Door"" that she definitely can ""shake her booty."" The Frisky: Pro tennis player's breast reduction deflates her fan base . Mr. T . Mr. T had a brief fling as a rapper, and now it is time for him to reach triple threat territory. I pity the fool who don't vote for him. With the movie remake of ""A-Team"" out soon, he needs to make sure viewers know who the real B.A. Baracus is. TM & © 2010 TMV, Inc. | All Rights Reserved ."
"Rye, New York (CNN) -- What was meant to be a celebration marking the end of Ramadan turned into a melee at an amusement park on Tuesday when a group of Muslim women were told they weren't allowed on certain rides with their headscarves. Rye Playland was full of visitors celebrating Eid al-Fitr when the festive mood turned angry. Westchester County Police said the women wearing the hijab, a traditional Muslim headscarf, became argumentative when park employees enforced the no-headgear policy and men sprang to their defense. ""(The rule) didn't get relayed to the people who attended, so some people got upset,"" said Westchester County Police Capt. Thomas Gleason. Fifteen people were arrested and two charged with felony assault after two park rangers sustained minor injuries. Among those arrested were three women wearing the hijab. Police shut down the park for several hours during the incident. ""It had to do with headgear. People -- patrons -- are not allowed to wear headgear on rides for safety reasons,"" Gleason said. Zead Ramadan, spokesman for the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said members of the Muslim American Society who had organized the outing asked him to come to the park to mediate. Ramadan said the women felt they had been targeted by park employees because of their religious views. ""They're the most obvious Muslims around because they have hijabs on. They felt they were discriminated against,"" Ramadan said. ""Maybe there was a level of frustration that went around across the board,"" Ramadan said. ""Then you have the parks people who are trying to explain this and do their job."" Ramadan said he saw a cell-phone video showing police ""yanking a hijabi-wearing woman out of the crowd."" ""She was very small. They turn her around and throw her down on the ground."" Ramadan said that's when the crowd got very angry. ""Nobody was assaulted prior to the police being called, and that in itself is a problem,"" Ramadan said. Gleason said he was aware ""there was some cell-phone footage and maybe some video,"" ""There's no official video that we have released at this time,"" he said. ""There are some videos in the park that we're retaining for our own information."" Gleason said he had seen seen ""bits and pieces"" of phone footage from the incident. He said park officials told the Muslim organizers about the headgear ban but that information wasn't relayed to the group of visitors. Ramadan chalked the whole incident up to ""miscommunication."" ""The women felt they were being targeted, but in fact these were safety precautions,"" he said. ""And maybe (the park) didn't do the best job in disclosing those precautions."" But Westchester County Parks Deputy Commissioner Peter Tartaglia says the policy was made abundantly clear to the group's organizer, and that the rules are clearly posted. ""We repeatedly told him, because we knew this group would have religious headgear,"" Tartaglia insisted adding that a refund booth was set up in case anyone objected to the policy, which he said is posted prominently in the park. ""There's a sign at every ride,"" Tartaglia said. ""When you enter the park, there's a height line and it lists headgear policy. ""What triggered the incident was fighting within the group and the subject was why they didn't know the policy,"" said Tartaglia, adding that he arrived at the scene about 20 minutes after the fight broke out. He said police were called when it appeared the altercation could lead to a riot. Ride safety precautions posted on its website include the following safety rule: . ""Hats must be secured, and jackets/sweaters must be worn properly and not around the waist while on a ride. Some rides do not allow backpacks, purses or head gear of any kind."" Rye Playland, also known as Playland Amusement Park, is located about 17 miles northeast of the Bronx in Westchester County."
"BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- An Australian author was sentenced Monday to three years in prison in Thailand after falling foul of a Thai law that makes it a crime to insult the country's royal family. Harry Nicolaides behind the bars of a Thai holding cell on Monday. Harry Nicolaides was arrested last August over a 2005 book called ""Verisimilitude,"" which includes a paragraph about the king and crown prince that the authorities deemed a violation of the Lese Majeste law. Nicolaides, 41, was bombarded with questions from foreign journalists as he arrived at the court Monday, wearing shackles as he stepped from a prison bus. In tears, he said he would plead guilty. ""Truth is stranger than fiction,"" he said. ""It's been an ordeal for months. It feels like a bad dream.""  Watch shackled Nicolaides at court » . The Thai Criminal Court originally sentenced Nicolaides to six years in jail but cut the punishment in half because of the guilty plea. He listened calmly as the verdict was translated to him. After hearing his verdict Nicolaides said: ""I wish my family the best.""  Watch Nicolaides' brother's reaction » . One of his lawyers said no decision had been made about whether to appeal or seek a royal pardon. King Bhumibol Adulydej has pardoned foreigners in other similar cases in the past. CNN has chosen not to repeat the allegations made by Nicolaides because it could result in CNN staff being prosecuted in Thailand. Nicolaides had been living in Thailand since 2003, lecturing at two universities about tourism. He was about to leave Thailand when he was arrested on August 31 last year. It is not clear why the authorities waited three years after the publication of his book to bring charges against him. ""I think there are individuals who have exploited an obscure law for their own self-interest,"" he said. Only 50 copies of the book were published, and only seven were sold. The law Nicolaides was convicted of breaking is section 112, known as the Lese Majeste law. It says: ""Whoever defames, insults or threatens the King, the Queen, the Heir-apparent or the Regent, shall be punished with imprisonment of three to fifteen years."" Thailand's king is highly revered in this Buddhist nation, but even he has said in the past that he can be criticized. Thailand's new prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, also told CNN he is concerned about the misuse of the Lese Majeste law. ""There are cases in the past where this law has been abused for political purposes, and I agree this has to stop,"" he said. Despite the rhetoric there's little sign the prime minister will change the law. Other cases are pending against both foreigners and Thais. CNN's Dan Rivers and Kocha Olarn in Bangkok contributed to this report ."
"(Mental Floss) -- There was a time when movie props were worthless. When a film wrapped, the studio would often recycle props and costumes for use in other films, or sometimes simply throw them away. But that's changed over the years, and now movie collectibles are a big business, with high-profile props going for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Unfortunately, when you start talking that kind of money, there are bound to be a few crooked characters who will do whatever it takes to get their hands on a piece of Hollywood history. 1. Has anyone questioned the flying monkeys? It's believed there were six or seven pairs of Dorothy's famous ruby red slippers made for the production of the 1939 film ""The Wizard of Oz"". Of those, the location of four pairs is currently known, including one that resides in the Smithsonian. The Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, had their own pair, until the shoes were stolen one night in August 2005. The case went cold until this past April, when police received a tip that a resident in Homer Glen, Illinois, had not only bragged about paying someone to steal the slippers, but openly displayed the shoes in a glass box. Police raided the alleged thief's house, but didn't find the ruby red shoes. For now, the case remains open, and the shoes are still at-large. 2. ""Easy Rider"" choppers chopped . There are few motorcycles more iconic than the ones ridden by Peter Fonda and the late, great Dennis Hopper in their counterculture classic, ""Easy Rider."" There were four custom motorcycles built for the film -- two copies of each bike, including the ""Captain America"" chopper ridden by Fonda, featuring a star-spangled fuel tank and an extra long fork for the front wheels. One of the Captain America bikes was destroyed during filming, while the other three motorcycles were stolen from a storage garage before the film was even in the can. Obviously the bikes weren't famous yet, so they were presumably stripped and sold for parts. The thieves left the damaged Captain America bike, which was later restored, and now resides at the National Motorcycle Museum in Anamosa, Iowa. Mental Floss: What 10 Movie Props Later Sold For . 3. The man without the golden gun . In the 1974 movie ""The Man with the Golden Gun,"" James Bond takes on Scaramanga, an expert assassin who charges $1 million per kill. The hitman's signature is a custom-made, solid gold gun that can be cleverly disassembled and disguised as everyday items like a cigarette case, a lighter, a pen, and a cuff link. There were three prop guns made for the film -- one that came apart, another that didn't come apart, and one that could fire a blank round. In October 2008, one of these props (it's unclear which one it was) was discovered missing from its display case at Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire, England. Police still have no leads on the disappearance of the prop, worth an estimated £80,000 ($117,000) on the collector's black market. 4. The case of the missing ""Maltese Falcon"" There were a handful of falcon statues made for the 1941 noir classic, ""The Maltese Falcon"", starring Humphrey Bogart as Dashiell Hammett's famous private eye, Sam Spade. Over the years, nearly all original models of the bird have been lost, making the few remaining copies very valuable -- including one that sold for nearly $400,000 in 1994. For promotional purposes, plaster casts of the bird were made upon the film's release, and Elisha Cook, Jr., a character actor who played a henchman in the film, got his hands on one. His copy of the bird was later acquired by John's Grill in San Francisco, a restaurant dedicated to Hammett, who often wrote and ate there in the 1930s. The replica bird was on display for years, sitting on the second floor in a display case for all to see. That is, of course, until the day it disappeared in 2007. Mental Floss: Who Invented the Gatorade shower? After the falcon went missing, John's Grill offered a no-questions-asked reward of $25,000 to the person who brought it back, but no one came forward. The owner could have easily gotten a good replacement replica off eBay for a few hundred bucks, but he took a different approach instead. He put the $25,000 towards the creation of a new, original design of the Maltese Falcon that is a more stylized interpretation than the one used in the 1941 film. The new statue is five inches taller than the original and weighs around 150 pounds, three times heavier than the plaster replica that was stolen. To ensure this bird doesn't go missing, it's been bolted down and is monitored 24/7 by closed-circuit cameras. With that much security, the next time someone messes with this Maltese Falcon, it won't take Sam Spade to crack the case. 5. Well, that's one way to get an Oscar . In March 2000, a few guys got their hands on the ultimate movie collector's item when they stole 55 Oscars just days before the Academy Awards ceremony. Anthony Hart, a dock worker at delivery company Roadway Express, conspired with a fellow employee, truck driver Lawrence Ladent, to load 10 boxes of Oscars onto Ladent's truck. Ladent then took the statues to the home of accomplice John Harris for safekeeping until they could line up black market buyers. However, the men got spooked by the publicity surrounding the missing statues and dumped the boxes in an alleyway instead. Shortly after, Harris' half-brother, Willie Fulgear, found 52 of the Oscars while rummaging through the trash, looking for packing boxes to use during a move. After reporting his find to police, Fulgear collected a $50,000 reward from Roadway Express, but the other men didn't make out quite so well. Anthony Hart received the lightest sentence with three years probation. John Harris was sentenced to six months in jail, three years probation, and had to pay $921 to the Academy in restitution for the three missing statues. Lawrence Ledent was given six months in prison, five years probation, had to pay the Academy $1,050, and pay Roadway Express the full amount of the reward they offered to Fulgear. As for the three missing Oscars, one was found in 2003 during a Miami drug raid, but the other two are still out there somewhere. Mental Floss: Where 10 Oscar winners keep their statues . 6. Big bucks in spandex . Apparently no one's spider-sense was tingling when crooks made off with four hand-made superhero suits from the set of the first Spider-Man film. Each Spider-Man costume, valued at around $50,000 a piece, disappeared from a locked building on the Sony Pictures lot, leading authorities to believe it was an inside job. Police received a tip from the ex-wife of a former security guard at Sony, Jeffrey Gustafson, who said he might be involved in the theft. Police searched Gustafson's home and found records indicating that one costume was at a friend's house, two were traced to a collector in New York, and the last one was in the collection of a man in Japan. Adding to Gustafson's woes, police also found in his home a mannequin dressed in a $150,000 Batman costume that went missing from the Warner Bros. lot in 1996. Not coincidentally, Gustafson worked as a security guard at Warner Bros. at the time. For stealing the Spidey suits, Gustafson got 9 months in jail, 5 years probation, and had to pay $93,000 in restitution. Mental Floss: Strange robberies: Madonna's bustier . 7. Do collectors dream of rubber handguns? As he's hunting android replicants in a dystopian future, ""Blade Runner's"" Deckard, played by Harrison Ford, carries a strange-looking handgun that has captivated sci-fi fans for decades. The prop was custom-made using pieces from real firearms, including a bolt action from a rifle, two triggers, various knobs and dials, and even LED lights. To prevent their very expensive, one-of-a-kind prop from breaking, the producers made two solid rubber copies that were indistinguishable from the original at a distance, and could be knocked around during stunt scenes without getting damaged. But during the shoot, one of the dummy guns went missing and was never seen again. Oddly enough though, about a month after the film was released, highly accurate plastic replicas of Deckard's gun began appearing for sale on the collector's market. These knock-offs were so close to the ones used in the film that they must have been created using molds taken from the missing, now presumed stolen, dummy gun. While it's certain the thief made a pretty penny by selling the dummy gun, he would have surely been better off stealing the custom-made gun instead -- it sold at auction in 2009 for $270,000. Mental Floss: 10 weird pieces of unclaimed luggage . For more mental_floss articles, visit mentalfloss.com . Entire contents of this article copyright, Mental Floss LLC. All rights reserved."
"Editor's note: Dr. Anthony S. Fauci is director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Anthony S. Fauci: Progress has been made in the fight against HIV/AIDS, but ""our work is just beginning."" (CNN) -- When we commemorated the first World AIDS Day on December 1, 1988, we had little to celebrate. The number of reported AIDS cases in the United States was nearing 80,000 and rising rapidly. Untold thousands more in this country were living with the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV. Globally, AIDS cases already had been reported from more than 135 countries. An AIDS tsunami clearly was looming, but we had few defenses at our disposal. For those of us caring for people with AIDS, it was a dark time. We had just one anti-HIV medicine in our pharmacies, AZT, a drug that the virus rapidly defeated by mutating and developing resistance. Lacking other medicines to slow the relentless replication of HIV and its destruction of a person's immune system, we did our best to help our patients by managing to the extent possible their AIDS-related infections and complications. But the life span of most of the patients was measured in months. Two decades later, much has changed. An unprecedented research effort has led to more than two dozen anti-HIV drugs, more than for all other viral diseases combined. Taken in proper combinations, these medications have dramatically improved the prognosis for people living with HIV by increasing their life span by at least a decade and providing the possibility of a normal life span with continued therapy. Scientifically proven prevention approaches -- education and outreach to at-risk populations, voluntary HIV testing and counseling, condom distribution, prevention of HIV transmission from mother to baby, harm reduction approaches for drug abusers, mass-media campaigns and the screening of donated blood -- have been deployed with great success in the United States and many other countries. Innovative programs such as the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, as well as the efforts of nongovernment organizations, have reached millions of people in low- and mid-income countries worldwide with HIV-related services, at a scale unimaginable a few years ago. And gradually -- but too slowly -- we have begun addressing AIDS-related stigma in this country and abroad. Much has been accomplished in the fight against HIV/AIDS from scientific, medical and public health standpoints. However, now is no time to rest on our accomplishments or our laurels. The statistics of the HIV/AIDS pandemic tell us that much more needs to be done. Around the world, a staggering 2.7 million people were infected in 2007 alone. Globally, 33 million people are living with HIV infection, most of them in the developing world. In the United States, more than 1 million people are living with HIV. And 56,000 more people are infected each year in the U.S., driving HIV prevalence rates in some of our communities to levels that rival those seen in sub-Saharan Africa. Gay and bisexual men, and African-Americans in general, are disproportionately affected. The true ground zero of the HIV epidemic in the United States is in those communities. What is the way forward? First, even in the face of a world economic crisis, the global community must scale up the delivery of proven HIV therapies and prevention services. In low- and middle-income countries, less than one-third of people in need of anti-HIV therapy are receiving it, and only one in five people at risk of HIV infection have access to prevention services. All around the world, access to HIV services -- and medical care in general -- remains a challenge in many poor communities. The global community must sustain our commitment to investing resources for medicines, clinics, as well as training and salaries for doctors, nurses and community health care workers to provide care for HIV/AIDS and other diseases in the settings where they occur. Here in the United States, more than one-fifth of people living with HIV are unaware of their infection and not receiving appropriate care for their own health or the prevention services that would help them avoid transmitting the virus to others. A frequent scenario is that people learn of their infection status only when they have advanced symptoms of HIV disease, when their health may by irreparably damaged. Now is the time for the medical community and policymakers to embrace U.S. guidelines for all Americans aged 13-64 to be voluntarily  tested in routine medical care. Barriers to implementation of HIV testing guidelines, such as state, local or agency regulations that conflict with the recommendations, variability in payment coverage for the test, and concerns about the stigma and discrimination that may accompany an HIV diagnosis, must be addressed. Meanwhile, we also must continue to invest in the next generation of treatment and prevention modalities. Encouragingly, new means of preventing HIV infection are emerging from well-designed and well-implemented clinical research trials. One exciting concept is pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP, giving preventive doses of anti-HIV drugs to individuals who are at an increased risk of HIV infection. This still-experimental strategy is based on the concept that if HIV replication can be inhibited immediately following exposure to the virus, permanent infection might be thwarted. Multiple clinical studies of PrEP are under way in the United States and in populations around the world. Ongoing research to develop microbicidal gels or creams to be applied before sex offer the hope of people being able to protect themselves from HIV infection in situations where saying no to sex or insisting on condom use is not an option. Finally, a preventive HIV vaccine remains the greatest hope for halting the relentless spread of HIV/AIDS. We must solve the mystery of how to prompt the human body to produce a protective immune response against HIV, which natural infection with the virus seems unable to do. Historically, it has taken decades to find effective vaccines to combat most infectious diseases. Researchers usually experienced numerous setbacks and disappointments before reaching success, yet they persevered. Finding a safe and effective HIV vaccine demands an equally intense resolve. On this World AIDS Day, we should be proud of the many scientific advances that have been made in the fight against HIV/AIDS. But it is hardly a time for self-congratulation. Rather, we must understand that our work is just beginning. Developing HIV interventions and delivering them to the people who need them will require scientific and public health vision, and dedication from all sectors of society, in good times and bad. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Dr. Anthony S. Fauci."
"(CNET) -- Apple likes glass. A lot. You can tell that much from its many retail stores, and in its products where glass is used in displays, notebook trackpads, and both the front and back of the iPhone 4. That last place, though is what might be causing the company some headaches. That's according to a report today from Gdgt, which says that slip-on cases -- the kind that cover the back and sometimes front of the iPhone 4, have been the cause of serious cosmetic damage with the backside of the iPhone. Dirt and other loose bits of debris from your pocket end up in that space. Over time, that can lead to a shattered backside as small scratches grow to become large cracks that travel across the back of the device, much like a ding on a windshield. This has become a big enough problem, the report says, that Apple's engineers have been hard at work in ""a quiet lockdown,"" testing various third-party cases to see how widespread the problem is, and presumably to make sure it does not happen with future iterations of the device. The news comes at an especially interesting time given the recent expiration of Apple's free iPhone 4 case program (which included Apple's no closed-back bumper), and the reported beginnings of mass production for a CDMA version of the iPhone said to be coming to Verizon in early 2011. If Apple is planning to bring any physical design changes to that version of the iPhone, a back that's susceptible to cracking could very well be holding up that process. This wouldn't be the first time cracks have cropped up on Apple's hardware, or the iPhone line for that matter. Both the Mac G4 Cube, which was introduced in 2000, and the iPhone 3G experienced reports from users that the outsides were developing ""hairline surface cracks."" Similar blemishes had appeared on white versions of the company's MacBook notebooks, which Apple reportedly began acknowledging and repairing early last year. © 2010 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. CNET, CNET.com and the CNET logo are registered trademarks of CBS Interactive Inc. Used by permission."
"Ken Henggeler poured his grief into the thing he loved most: carpentry. Shaken by the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, the retired teacher and longtime resident of Newtown went to his barn, picked up an oak children's bench and went to work. He sawed away, cutting it into two shelves. On one, he made 20 individual slots for candles, one for each slain child. On the other, he placed six candles for the heroic educators. He drove into town, unsure of his destination. At the intersection of Main Street and Sugar Street, he felt a tug. After all, the park there is called The Pleasance. On a tree and nearby street pole, there were two signs. Both read: Pray for Newtown. It was the perfect spot. Just enough room to fit the shelves, and just enough space to let people hug, pray and cry. He and his wife, Darla, placed the shelf for the children in front and the one for the educators in the back, as if still watching over their young students. Henggeler struggled to light each candle. First one. Then two. Then three. ""It was really hitting me,"" he said, ""with how many were involved."" Glimpses of normalcy amid reminders of horror . A car pulled up and a man placed a giant brown teddy bear next to the makeshift shrine. More people came. All wept. The memorial grew and grew. ""We did it to help ourselves, and maybe the town,"" said Henggeler, a resident of 15 years. ""I just wanted to do something. Now, I'm in awe."" The pain in Newtown is suffocating. It's felt on every corner, in every store, in every church. Each fresh news report -- each photo of those precious children, those tiny victims with so much youthful exuberance -- brings another wave of emotions, of sorrow, horror and disbelief. Did you hear a child was shot 11 times? Can you believe the strength of Robbie Parker -- whose daughter Emilie was killed -- to forgive the shooter's family? Why did the shooter take out his rage on such pure innocence? The shooter's name isn't mentioned in conversations. It's just too damn painful. Newtown is grappling with other pressing questions: How does the town handle 26 funerals with only one funeral home? What becomes of the school building, and when do Sandy Hook students begin school again? Soundwaves: Newtown wonders how to heal . Sunday was supposed to be a festive day, filled with holiday revelry as students prepared for the final week before Christmas holiday. Instead, churches overflowed with mourners. Gray clouds stretched from horizon to horizon, a cold drizzle dampening the already somber mood. Newtown was the idyllic New England community -- that Norman Rockwell setting of rolling hills, a town green and an unwavering slice of Americana. The bumper stickers throughout town declared: ""Nicer in Newtown."" And it was. The town of 27,500 had great schools and great people. Notable residents have included 1976 Olympic champion Bruce Jenner, ""Hunger Games"" author Suzanne Collins and cartoonist James Thurber. It served as a bedroom community for Danbury and even New York, with people making the 60-mile commute into the city. Founded in 1711, the town in southwestern Connecticut spans 60 square miles, the fifth largest town in area in the state. Newtown's most gruesome crime story had been a murder charge against a husband accused of killing his wife in 1984; her remains were found beneath the floor of a barn in 2010. But the town was best known for its 100-foot flagpole that sits, literally, in the middle of Main Street. The flagpole also had been the town's greatest source of controversy for nearly 100 years -- declared a road hazard as cars replaced ox wagons. Yet the flagpole survived every attempt by highway authorities to remove it. It also survived a lightning strike and a car that slammed into it going 55 mph. The 12-foot by 18-foot flag now flies at half staff, a sad reminder hovering above the town's center. Headlines in Friday's Newtown Bee reported on vandalism at a cemetery and warned of police plans for a sobriety checkpoint over the weekend. Then, everything changed. Remembering the victims . Librarian Beryl Harrison was celebrating with staff at their annual holiday party last Friday. They were preparing to sing Christmas carols when word came. ""We got a call that there was a lockdown at the schools,"" she said. Word spread. Rumors flew. At one point, they were told the library was in lockdown. ""We thought they were joking: What could we be locking down the library for?"" she asked. ""It just got worse as the day went on."" Many of those precious children had studied in the library's children's area, accompanied by their parents. She had volunteered at the school over the years; both her sons attended school there, too. One librarian, she said, plans to attend at least six funerals. ""We just can't believe it,"" she said in the gentle voice of a well-schooled librarian. ""I hope this doesn't define the town, because it doesn't deserve to be remembered as a place of horror."" Not too far from Harrison's desk, pamphlets were spread out for any resident to take. One began, ""Facts for Families: Children and Grief."" Another provided the number for a grief hot line ""should you or anyone you know need to talk to someone during this very difficult time."" The old town hall will be turned into a grief counseling center Monday, complete with privacy screens. The Newtown Savings Bank has established the Sandy Hook School Support Fund to help families pay for funerals. Librarians across the country have begun pitching in. One book that's being shipped is called ""Tear Soup,"" considered one of the best at helping people, especially children, cope with tragedy. Just up the road, Ken Henggeler stood near the memorial with his wife and 22-year-old stepson, Eric Puffer. Puffer had attended Sandy Hook in first grade. He couldn't help but wonder about that classroom of children. He likely had studied in that exact same room. Puffer had begun his first day at work on Friday, at a DNA sequencing job in Boston. He immediately came home. His friends teach at the school and ""students that they used to have are now dead."" ""I don't know what to even say to them,"" he said. ""It just doesn't make any sense why he would go into school where these kids can't even defend themselves."" Puffer was a senior in high school when the shooter, Adam Lanza, 20, was a sophomore. He doesn't remember much about Lanza other than the way he dressed. ""I would see him in the hallway just dressed up formally with a briefcase, like shirt and tie,"" he said. ""He stood out so much wearing such odd apparel to school when we don't have a dress code."" Puffer glanced at the memorial his stepdad made. ""It's a visual representation. Seeing how many candles there are, it's just terrible."" Jan Philbrick, from the nearby town of Redding, stopped to hug people standing at the memorial. ""This has always been the sweetest of towns. It's held onto its identity,"" she said. ""It's hard to bear for any town, but this is a particularly kind, good, open, balanced place."" She described the memorial as beautiful, and said she stopped at it ""because we're all in this together."" Henggeler accepted a hug. He taught woodworking, architecture and robotics at nearby Danbury High School for 37 years, retiring three years ago. He searched for words as to how the tragedy affected him. ""I taught high school, but I had a special place in my heart for young children."" Weeping, he walked off. Like the rest of town, he cried tear soup. Strangers inspired to honor Newtown victims ."
"(CNN) -- A flat tire saw Stéphane Peterhansel's lead in the Dakar Rally cut to seven and a half minutes by American Bobby Gordon who finished second behind stage eight winner Nani Roma. Peterhansel suffered a puncture 30km from the end of the stage between Copiapo and Antofagasta and saw his overall lead whittled down to seven minutes 36 seconds by Gordon. The American lost out to Roma, from Spain, by just five seconds and is still awaiting his first stage win in the 2012 rally. Defending champion Nasser Al-Attiyah, from Qatar, was disrupted by technical problems and had to stop on several occasions. He now trails Peterhansel by over 45 minutes. Pole Krzysztof Hołowczyc is third, 12 seconds behind Gordon and 7 minutes 48 secs behind the leader. Peterhansel is a Dakar legend with three car titles and six on motorbikes, all coming before the grueling endurance event moved to South America in 2009 but he didn't enjoy his best stage on Monday. He told the Dakar Rally's official website: ""I am losing loads of time. I drove quite slowly in the rocky parts because I was scared of punctures. And despite this... I had one 30 km from the finish. It was a bad special, but that is the way it is. ""Gordon started three minutes before us, and 180 kilometres from here we had got to 30 seconds behind him. I think that when he saw us he stepped it up, leaving us in the dust. ""He can win this thing, so it is essential for him to manage this situation as well as he can."" Defending motorcycle champion Marc Coma sealed the 20th stage win of his Dakar Rally career as rival Cyril Despres got stuck in the mud. Stage eight saw Coma, from Spain, snatch the lead from the Frenchman and build a lead of one minute and 26 seconds. Despres spent ten minutes trying to extricate himself from a patch of mud and cut a frustrated figure at the end of the stage. He said: ""There was a torrent of mud between the inspection of the reconnaissance car two days ago and today. Therefore, it did not appear in the road book and I was the first to fall into the trap. ""There was no way I could have avoided it. I am awaiting the organisers' decision: after Ullevalseter, Gonçalves and a few others had gone through, they took a detour, otherwise there would have been 200 vehicles trapped in the mud. ""So I fail to see why I and the others should be the only ones to pay the price. But I do not think we will let this be."""
"(CNN) -- MotoGP championship leader Casey Stoner claimed his 10th pole position of 2011 on Saturday to boost his bid for a ninth victory this season at the Japan Grand Prix. After 14 of 18 meetings, the Australian holds a 44-point lead over world champion Jorge Lorenzo, who will start Sunday's race second on the grid for Yamaha at Motegi. He broke Lorenzo's 2008 lap record with a time of one minute 45.267 seconds to earn his first pole at the circuit, where he won last year's race. Stoner's teammate Andrea Dovizioso qualified third ahead of another Honda rider, Dani Pedrosa, while American Ben Spies claimed fifth for Yamaha. Honda's Marco Simoncelli completed the third row for Honda, while fellow Italian and seven-time world champion Valentino Rossi was seventh for Ducati. Hiroshi Aoyama, in 11th, was the highest-placed Japanese rider for what will be an emotional day. Motorcycling's top names had initially refused to travel to Motegi due to health fears after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was damaged during March's earthquake and tsunami. They backed down after MotoGP officials refused to cancel the race, but Stoner arrived late to reduce any exposure to radiation and Lorenzo told reporters that he had been washing with bottled water despite experts insisting the Motegi area is safe from any fallout. But the riders have helped raise $140,000 for the ""We are for Japan"" campaign, with Aoyama to present the check to local officials before the race. ""Everything has gone very well so far this weekend. We've been fastest in all but one session, so it's been fantastic,"" 2007 world champion Stoner told the MotoGP website. ""We'll have to watch the weather as this will affect the set-up. There's also a chance of rain, so it could get complicated. Jorge has been riding fantastic, as has Dovi and Dani, but there is no doubt that the Honda suits this track."""
"PARIS, France (CNN) -- Three French journalists charged in an alleged plot to kidnap African children for adoption in Europe arrived in Paris on Sunday, hours after French President Nicolas Sarkozy held emergency talks in Chad. But 14 other people remained in custody in the African nation, some facing serious charges that could send them to jail for up to 20 years. The journalists were among seven Europeans a Chadian judge released Sunday, including a Spanish flight crew, whom Sarkozy dropped off in a brief stop in Madrid on his way back from Chad. All were arrested last week after workers from Zoe's Ark -- a French-based charity group -- were accused of trying to fly 103 children out of Chad in a kidnapping and adoption operation.  Watch a report on how the events unfolded » . Some of the children may never return to their families because it is too difficult to determine their backgrounds, Red Cross spokeswoman Inah Kaloga told CNN on Friday. Those who remain under arrest in Chad are six members of the French charity, four Chadians and four remaining members of the flight crew. Some face kidnapping and fraud charges. Zoe's Ark leader Eric Breteau testified Saturday to a court in the Chadian capital that the three journalists and the flight crew of seven Spaniards and a Belgian were not involved in the alleged plot, court witnesses told CNN. At least some of the flight crew are scheduled to testify before a judge on Monday. The three journalists initially had been charged with complicity in the alleged kidnapping attempt. It's not clear if the charges against them have been dropped.  Watch the freed Europeans leave Chad » . In a joint news conference with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero on Sunday at Madrid's Torrejon Air Force Base, Sarkozy expressed satisfaction that some of those detained had been released. At the same time, however, he told reporters, ""We should respect the sovereignty of Chad."" Zapatero thanked Sarkozy for dropping the four Spanish flight crew members off in their home country, and thanked Chadian President Idriss Deby for allowing them to return. After his emergency talks in Chad, Sarkozy stressed the scandal would not affect the strong relations between the two countries or affect the planned deployment of a European force to protect refugees from Sudan's Darfur region who have fled to Chad and the neighboring Central African Republic. Sarkozy also said he hoped the six remaining French nationals -- all from Zoe's Ark -- would face trial in France. The charity says that the children were orphans from the Darfur region -- where the United Nations estimates 200,000 people have been killed in four years of conflict -- and that the group was taking them to host families in France. But after preliminary interviews with the children, aid agencies said Thursday it appeared most of them probably are not orphans and not from Sudan, but instead come from villages on the Chadian side of the border with Sudan. The children are staying in an Abeche orphanage while aid agencies and government officials try to find out where they came from -- a challenge hindered by the number of children, their youth, and the volatile situation in the region. A father of three of the children allegedly kidnapped told a French newspaper he put his children into the charity's care after he was told they would be educated at a school under construction in a nearby town. The Chadian man, who gave his name as Arbab, told Le Parisien on Sunday that workers from Zoe's Ark had visited his village three times. ""They never said they would take away our children,"" he told the newspaper. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Nic Robertson and Al Goodman contributed to this report."
"The Senate voted Wednesday to avert at least one chronic Washington political crisis for more than a year. With a snowstorm bearing down on the capital, it approved a House-passed measure that allows the government to borrow more money to pay its bills through March 2015. President Barack Obama signaled that he would sign the legislation, so the Senate vote was the last hurdle to resolving the debt ceiling issue until after the November congressional elections. ""I'm pleased that Republicans and Democrats in Congress have come together to pay for what they've already spent, and remove the threat of default from our economy once and for all,"" Obama said in a statement, adding that he hoped ""this puts an end to politics by brinkmanship."" Wednesday's result was a blow to tea party conservatives who oppose any kind of increase in federal borrowing. Filibuster denied . Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, a leader of the GOP tea party wing, mounted a filibuster attempt to force a 60-vote threshold for proceeding on the debt ceiling measure. However, a dozen Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, joined Democrats to overcome the filibuster on a 67-31 procedural vote that avoided another politically damaging legislative impasse over spending. The Democratic-controlled Senate then gave final approval by a 55-43 margin on strict party lines, with McConnell and the other Republicans who helped overcome the filibuster voting against the measure to reduce their political risk. ""We got a good outcome,"" said GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, one of the 12 who helped defeat the filibuster but then opposed the measure on the final vote. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said last week the debt ceiling must be raised by February 27, or the nation would risk a technical default. After Wednesday's Senate votes, Lew said the debt ceiling plan along with a recent budget agreement and spending bill ""will provide certainty and stability to businesses and financial markets and should add momentum to the economic growth forecasted in 2014."" To Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the defeat of the filibuster bid by Cruz signaled that ""the American political world is moving in our direction."" ""Republicans are trying to put tea party politics in the rear view mirror,"" he said. After the House and Senate consideration of the politically charged matter, Obama added that the        ""full faith and credit of the United States is too important to use as leverage or a tool for extortion."" Cruz sticks to his guns . Cruz, however, was unapologetic. ""Today's vote is yet another example that establishment politicians from both parties are simply not listening to the American people,"" he said. ""Outside the beltway, Americans of all political stripes understand that we cannot keep spending money we don't have."" With Congress on break next week for the President's Day holiday, failure to pass the debt ceiling measure Wednesday would have brought the nation close enough to the deadline to possibly shake financial markets. On Tuesday, the GOP-controlled House passed the debt-ceiling measure on a 221-201 vote, with only 28 Republicans supporting it compared to the 199 who opposed it. Meanwhile, 193 Democrats backed the measure with only two voting ""no."" The House vote followed an internal Republican fight over efforts to attach deficit reduction provisions to the debt-limit legislation. Obama and Democrats rejected any attempt to negotiate on the issue, which previously led to political brinkmanship that caused the first-ever downgrade of the U.S. credit rating in 2011. In the end, House Speaker John Boehner gave up efforts to link the measure to a provision repealing a cut in some military pension benefits. The Ohio Republican allowed a vote on a ""clean"" bill demanded by Democrats and despised by conservatives. The shift by Boehner evoked rare praise for the speaker from the Senate's top Democrat. ""It is encouraging that some of my Republican colleagues seem to be regaining their grip on sanity this week,"" Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Wednesday before the Senate vote. GOP change in tactics . Until it happened, House Republicans insisted that any increase in the borrowing limit had to come attached to deficit-reduction provisions. At a closed-door meeting on Monday, they discussed a plan to increase the debt ceiling until March 2015 -- past the upcoming congressional elections in November -- while also repealing cuts to military pensions that were part of the recently passed federal budget. Less than 18 hours later, though, Boehner told reporters the GOP proposal couldn't pass because ""we don't have 218 votes."" Some conservatives oppose raising the debt ceiling under any circumstance, while Democrats had made it clear they would unanimously reject any measure that tacked other provisions onto an increase in the borrowing limit. Without a purely Republican majority, Boehner decided to split up the GOP plan by holding separate votes on repealing the military pension cuts and a clean debt ceiling increase. The House easily passed the military pension measure earlier on Tuesday, then passed the clean debt ceiling legislation. Both Boehner and his top deputy -- House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia -- were among the 28 Republicans who supported the measure. On Wednesday, the Senate also passed the military pension measure after the votes on the debt ceiling legislation. Republicans facing pressure from conservatives ahead of the November vote were reluctant to back any kind of hike in the borrowing limit, a core issue for the political right because it represents rising federal debt. Boehner blames Obama . Despite his support for the proposal, Boehner put the blame for needing a ""clean"" debt-ceiling bill with no deficit reduction provisions on Obama, saying the rising federal debt was his fault. ""It's the President driving up the debt and the President wanted to do nothing about the debt that's occurring, will not engage in our long-term spending problem,"" Boehner said. ""And so, let his party give him the debt ceiling increase that he wants."" At the same time, Boehner declared himself disappointed about what he called a ""lost opportunity"" to address unsustainable federal spending. Republicans across the ideological spectrum agree that another round of political brinkmanship could harm their party after it got blamed for October's federal government shutdown. A recent CNN/ORC International poll found that 54% of respondents would blame congressional Republicans for a failure to raise the debt ceiling, while 29% would blame Obama and 12% would blame both."
"(CNN) -- ""You've got to save your best leadership for home."" These are the words of retired U.S. Army Commander Lt. General Russel L. Honore at a recent speaking event on leadership in the 21st century. Two nights ago, I found my two most active roles in life -- family man and journalist -- intersecting in a crisis. It was 3 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon when my wife alerted me. I was enjoying my afternoon off, comfortable in the warmth of our home, watching the snow from a rare winter storm blanket our deck and backyard. My wife, who is a fifth-grade school teacher in Fulton County, Georgia, received word that her school was shutting down because of the inclement weather. ""Honey I've got the kids. I'm on my way home,"" she said after school was dismissed early, and parents were rushing to get their children. As a journalist, I recognized that a news story was breaking before me. My wife's normal 20-minute daily commute was about to turn into an ordeal that would last nearly 24 hours. And I soon discovered that skills honed over years in the newsroom, were my best tools for assisting my wife and children. More than three hours later, she still hadn't moved very far. We stayed in constant contact as she inched along the 6-mile stretch of state highway leading her home. From the news, I soon realized this was no ordinary traffic jam. My family was stuck in gridlocked traffic caused by a one-two-punch of bad weather and poor government planning. Midnight approached and my wife told me she hadn't been able to move the car at all since 10 p.m. The half-tank of gas she started with that afternoon had dwindled, and temperatures were well-below freezing. The kids hadn't eaten. There was no restroom in sight. I felt hopeless and helpless. I called Georgia State Patrol and explained to them that my wife and kids were stranded in a vehicle among hundreds of other vehicles. I wanted to know how my family was going to be helped. They told me, ""We don't know sir. We're trying, but we are out-manned now."" Filled with adrenalin, I just couldn't sit idle with my family stranded. I called local authorities and was told the same thing. By this time, I was so angry, I couldn't think straight. I texted a friend who suggested prayer and texted me a bible verse to read, Philippians 4:1-14. I took to social media to help me cope with the situation and people reacted with posts of support. I stayed in touch with my wife a minimum of once per hour and at times twice per hour. On Facebook, I posted: ""More than 14 and a half hours, my wife and kids remain stranded in car stuck in traffic because of snow. Situation is desperate now. Been on phone w/ State police repeatedly who agree w/ me. All prayers are welcome as I'm praying for the safe return of many of my friends in similar situations too."" My wife later told me she cried only once, around 5 a.m., not knowing when she was going to be able to get the children home. She imagined having to wait for days, maybe until the snow and ice melted. It was so, so cold and she couldn't keep the engine running all night for fear of running out of gas. That's also about when I lost it, I told her -- about 5 a.m. At one point an act of kindness gave her hope: A truck driver knocked on the window in the middle of the night offering water and a blanket. She huddled the girls together in the front seat to keep them warm. ""I didn't let the girls see me cry,"" she said. I felt so guilty about it all. Why didn't I fill up the car with gas? Why didn't I get the oil changed? How could I drop the ball on my family? I thought about Gen. Honore, who I have come to admire even more since hearing him talk about leadership and life lessons. I decided it was time to take action. I called the Georgia State Patrol and local authorities one more time. They could offer me very little. I told them if police couldn't get my family , it was time for me to try. The state patrol dispatcher advised me to stay off the roads. It was now 20 hours into the ordeal. At day-break, I told my wife, ""I am coming to get you."" She said she didn't think I could get to her. I said, ""Don't worry about that. Against advice of the local and state authorities, I'm going to try."" I posted a message on Facebook letting folks know what I was going to do and asked for prayers. The reaction came pouring in. I called my neighbor Kenneth Rucker, retired military and current investigator with a local district attorney's office. Taking me in his four-wheel -drive truck, Rucker expertly traversed the thick ice on bridges passing hundreds of stranded vehicles along the way. I was laser focused on the mission: Find my wife and kids and extricate them. I trudged up an ice-covered northbound lane of highway, as Ken's pickup made a zig-zag between hundreds of stranded vehicles to get to a safe stop. I grabbed each of my daughters, and carried them one by one across the median strip to the warmth of Ken's truck. Then I escorted my wife into Ken's vehicle. I moved my wife's car into the median and left it there not knowing or caring when the traffic would start to move. I was leading my family home."
"(CNN) -- Roger Federer is undoubtedly the greatest men's tennis players of the modern era -- if not of all time -- following his epic victory over Andy Roddick in Sunday's Wimbledon final. Reaching for the stars: Roger Federer ithe best tennis player the world has ever seen. His star had waned somewhat in the past year, losing his No. 1 world ranking to Rafael Nadal, but his breakthrough victory at the French Open last month saw him match Pete Sampras with 14 titles at major tournaments. With the injured Nadal absent at SW19, Federer rolled back time to march relentlessly into the final against Roddick, dropping just one set along the way as he reminded fans of the form that saw him top the rankings for a record 237 weeks. Then on Sunday, Federer overtook Sampras' mark with 15 grand slams -- with the American in attendance to view his record finally go. Federer still has some way to go before beating Sampras' all-time record of 286 weeks at the summit, but at the age of 27 he has plenty of time to take back his crown from Nadal, especially with the Spaniard's career seeming in the balance due to his chronic knee problems. The Swiss is already the ATP Tour's all-time earner, with more than $48 million in prize money. He holds the record for most money earned in one season, $10 million in 2007, and is also second on the list for his $8 million the year before. Sampras, in comparison, is second on the earnings list with $43 million up until his retirement in 2002 after a 14-year career. He won 64 ATP Tour titles, compared to Federer's 59, but both are a long way behind the record 109 achieved by Jimmy Connors, with Ivan Lendl next on 94 and John McEnroe third with 77. When it comes to Grand Slams, Sampras won 14 finals and lost four. Including Sunday, Federer has reached the most, appearing in 20. Lendl, who held the world record for 270 weeks at No. 1 before being usurped by Sampras, appeared in 19 finals but could only win eight. The great Bjorn Borg, who shares the record for most successive titles at Wimbledon with Federer -- who completed his quintet in 2007 - won 11 of his 16 Grand Slam finals. None of those illustrious names have been able to surpass the efforts of Australian legend Rod Laver, who is the only men's player to have won all four Grand Slams twice in the same year. He did it first as an amateur in 1962, and then again in the 1969 when he became the first -- and only -- player to achieve the feat in the open era. Federer became the first player to reach seven consecutive Wimbledon finals with his 50th win at the All England Club in his semi-final victory against Tommy Haas on Friday, but still trails Sampras' record of seven titles at SW19. His bid for a record sixth successive crown was thwarted in an epic final showdown last year with Nadal, who has transformed himself from a clay-court specialist into a fearsome all-round talent. Federer, by contrast, has taken a long time to adapt to clay. He did not reach the semi-finals at Roland Garros until his seventh appearance in Paris, then was beaten in the final by Nadal for the next three years. His triumph this year came after the Olympic champion suffered a surprise early exit, although he had earlier ended Nadal's 33-match winning streak on clay in the Madrid Open final. The anxiously-anticipated Paris win made him just the sixth player to complete the set of major titles, the third in the modern era and the first since Andre Agassi -- who added the final piece in his jigsaw with victory at the 1999 French Open. Federer shares the Open-era record for most U.S. Open victories with Sampras and Connors, having clinched his fifth crown in 2008 when he beat young pretender Andy Murray in the final. He has always been generous in his praise of Sampras, who never won at Roland Garros but triumphed twice at the Australian Open and holds the record for winning eight successive Grand Slam finals.  Sampras: Federer is the greatest. ""I think his success here at Wimbledon is amazing,"" Federer has said of Sampras. ""Winning it three times, coming back, winning it four more times and going for five, it's quite something. ""And he finished off with the U.S. Open victory, which was very special against his biggest rival Andre Agassi. I think that's what I'll remember most of him. ""I guess he had the best serve we've seen in tennis history, even though today we also have some good ones. He was also a smooth mover which he never really got credit for. There's many things that Pete did incredibly well."" Federer's career has been no less incredible, but he has claimed that he started out with no such lofty ambitions. ""I'm very proud of all the records I've achieved because I never thought I would be that successful as a kid,"" he said. ""I would have been happy winning a couple of tournaments and maybe collecting Wimbledon."""
"Ray Rice, the Baltimore Ravens running back suspended by the NFL for two games after video showed him dragging his unconscious then-fiancée from an elevator, told reporters Thursday his actions were ""inexcusable."" ""You know that's not me,"" he said. ""You know that's something I have to live ... with the rest of my life."" NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said last week the running back would be suspended without pay for the first two games of the regular season. Rice indicted on assault charge . He also was fined an additional game check for ""conduct detrimental to the NFL,"" according to a league news release. The total amount Rice loses in pay reportedly amounts to $529,411. Rice resolved the charges stemming from the incident with his now-wife, Janay, and entered a pretrial intervention program in May, the NFL said. Under the program, he won't be prosecuted, and the charges will be expunged after a year, the league said. The punishments, both from the NFL and criminal justice system, were widely decried as too light, and it quickly spiraled into debates over domestic violence and victim blaming. Jane McManus, an espnW.com columnist, asked what message the suspension sent to the women who make up 45% of the NFL's audience. She said that an NFL official assured her the league doesn't tolerate domestic violence, ""but today I think we're seeing a little bit of a different message -- and one that might be a lot louder."" Fellow ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith was suspended by the network for a week after advising women not to behave in a way that might ""provoke wrong actions"" -- an assertion colleague Michelle Beadle publicly lambasted, tweeting, ""I'm now aware that I can provoke my own beating."" Smith has since apologized to Beadle and said he will strive to be more articulate in the future. Meanwhile, CNN anchor Carol Costello took to a soap box to ask point-blank: ""What was the NFL thinking?"" She questioned Coach John Harbaugh's decision to call Rice a ""heck of a guy"" and the Ravens' decision to tweet: ""Janay Rice says she deeply regrets the role that she played the night of the incident."" Costello also invoked many observers' dismay over the suspension of Cleveland Browns receiver Josh Gordon, who was suspended for a year after testing positive for marijuana. However, Gordon's suspension for a second positive drug test is dictated by the league's 2011 collective bargaining agreement, where Goodell is judge and jury when it comes to suspensions and fines for off-the-field conduct. Speaking at Thursday's news conference, Rice said he let down his family, teammates and the city of Baltimore. He said he knows his 2-year-old daughter might read about this on Google one day. ""I let so many people down because of 30 seconds in my life that you know I know I can't take back."" Rice apologized to his wife and called her an ""angel"" who could do ""no wrong."" ""We're in counseling. We're taking the necessary steps to move forward,"" he said. ""My job is to lead my family, my job is to lead my wife, my job is to lead in whatever I do. And If I'm not being the example, then my family crumbles. He said violence -- ""especially man on woman""-- is wrong and shouldn't be ""tolerated."" He said he and his wife will speak out about domestic violence. ""When the time is right we will go out there and help as many people as we can,"" he said."
"The discovery of a slain Palestinian teen in Jerusalem early Wednesday further inflamed tensions in a region already unsettled over the killings of three Israeli teens, not to mention decades of entrenched enmity between all sides. Mohammad Abu Khedair, 17, was heading from his home to a mosque in the middle-class neighborhood of Shuafat for prayers around 4 a.m. when three men forced him into a car and drove off, his father, Hussain Abu Khedair, told CNN. His body was found about an hour later at a forest in Jerusalem. The killing quickly triggered condemnations from Palestinian and Israeli leaders, as well as from the United States. Abducted Palestinian teen was kind, beloved . Those who spoke out passionately included an uncle of one of the three Israeli teens whose bodies were found earlier this week. He called the young Palestinian's killing ""a forbidden action, and it has no forgiveness."" ""Any act of revenge of any kind whatsoever is completely inappropriate and wrong. Murder is murder,"" said Yishai Frankel, uncle of Naftali Frankel, a 16-year-old dual Israeli-American citizen, to Israel's Channel 2. ""One should not differentiate between bloods, be it Arab or Jew. Israeli authorities are probing Wednesday's death, with police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld tweeting this effort will try to determine if it is a ""criminal or nationalistic"" act -- the latter term referring to a politically motivated act in retaliation for the Israeli  teens' killings. Mark Regev, a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told CNN late Wednesday that investigators ""at this stage cannot say who did this killing."" This came hours after Netanyahu's office promised a speedy investigation to find ""who is behind this despicable murder and the background to this act,"" according to a statement from his office. ""Netanyahu calls on all sides not to take the law into their own hands. Israel is a country of law and everyone is ordered to act according to the law."" The killing riled many Palestinians, particularly in Jerusalem. But it didn't happen in isolation. Israelis and Palestinians continue to trade blows -- over longstanding issues unrelated to Abu Khedair's death -- through rocket attacks and airstrikes. All this violence, from various angles, leads to one big question: When will it stop? Report: Body was 'charred and bore signs of violence' ""Settlers"" kidnapped the teenager and his body ""was charred and bore signs of violence,"" according to the Palestinian state news agency WAFA. DNA, through saliva samples, was used to positively identify the boy, his father said. Rosenfeld told the Jerusalem Post the teen had significant burn marks. The same Israeli publication also reported police are looking into previous kidnap attempts on members of the teenager's family related to a personal dispute. Yet Hussain Abu Khedair, the boy's father, blamed Israelis and vehemently denied reports that this may have been tied to any sort of family dispute. ""Netanyahu is responsible for the crime,"" the father told CNN, ""because he is the one who is giving the settlers the cover and supporting them."" The teen's cousin, Majdi Abu Khedair, said whoever carried out the abduction was driving a car that had been used in an attempted abduction two days ago. A similar claim was made to Haaretz by Knesset member Ahmed Tibi. The cousin passionately suggested: ""The Israeli police and Israeli government should do the same as they have done in Hebron: Demolish and blow the settler houses who have done this crime."" The Israeli military destroyed the homes of the two suspects in the killings of the three Israeli teens. When confronted with this suggestion, Regev insisted ""we are totally color blind when it comes to this sort of criminal act."" ""There's no difference between a Jewish resident of Jerusalem or an Arab resident of Jerusalem,"" the spokesman said. ""... Police will get to the bottom of this."" ""It is sickening to think of an innocent 17-year-old boy snatched off the streets and his life stolen from him and his family,"" said Secretary of State of John Kerry, who talked with Netanyahu by phone about the situation. ""There are no words to convey adequately our condolences to the Palestinian people."" He noted that both Israeli and Palestinian officials have condemned it, and he added to Netanyahu's call. ""Those who undertake acts of vengeance only destabilize an already explosive and emotional situation."" Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who heads the Fatah party and is based in the West Bank, called Mohammad Abu Khedair's father and promised that those behind his abduction and death will be brought to justice, WAFA, the Palestinian state news agency, reported. And Hamas -- the militant Islamic organization that controls Gaza -- said in a statement that it holds the ""Israeli occupation (fully) responsible,"" adding that the incident ""exposes (Israel's) ugly ... racism"" and ""refutes the Israeli narration of being the victim all the time."" Anger, clashes in Palestinian neighborhoods of Jerusalem . As news of the boy's death spread, public anger in Palestinian neighborhoods of Jerusalem rose to levels rarely, if ever, seen since the Second Intifada, or uprising, last decade. That led to several clashes around the city, the biggest of which was centered in Shuafat. Residents there threw stones at security forces and the Israeli authorities responded with occasional volleys of stun grenades or tear gas. Some protesters attacked two Palestinians whom they mistook for undercover Israeli police, The Jerusalem Post reported. The clashes expanded and continued through midnight in the Palestinian neighborhood, with a large amount of Israeli forces on hand. In Suwwaneh, Palestinians threw rocks at a nearby settlement and several of them were injured by rubber bullets, witnesses said. And some tossed Molotov cocktails at an Israel settlement in Silwan, outside Jerusalem's Old City. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported that more than 100 were injured, most of them in Shuafat, in the clashes. There were concerns that the Palestinian teenager's funeral could spark further unrest. But his father said Thursday he was still waiting to hear from Israeli authorities when the body would be handed over to the family. ""The autopsy should be done around 1 p.m., and then I am supposed to wait for a call,"" Hussain Abu Khedair said on Palestinian television. ""We will not bury my son at night,"" he said. ""We will do it during the day. If they purposely delay, we will do it during the day even (if that means) tomorrow."" Israeli airstrikes into Gaza . Meanwhile, the dangerous back-and-forth between Gaza and Israel was erupting yet again. Rockets from the Palestinian territory into Israel was met by at least eight airstrikes within about an hour early Thursday. Three hit a Hamas intelligence building in Gaza city, while at least one struck the Qassam training camp in Beit Hanoun. Palestinian medical sources reported at least 10 injured, one of them seriously. Israel Defense Forces said the airstrikes -- going after 15 Hamas targets -- were in response to the firing of more than 20 rockets into Israel since Wednesday. This is in addition to other actions -- including the arrests of hundreds of Hamas activists, the demolition of homes and the closure of dozens of institutions in Gaza, according to Netanyahu -- targeting Hamas and focused in Gaza. This action follows the abduction of Israeli teens Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar and Naftali Frankel as they were on their way home from school June 13; the three were found dead on Monday in a West Bank field. Hamas praised the kidnappings but denied that it was responsible for what happened. It warned that if Netanyahu ""brings a war on Gaza, the gates of hell will open to him."" At the teens' funerals, Netanyahu said the country would avenge their deaths at ""the hands of evil men."" ""A broad moral gulf separates us from our enemies,"" he said. ""They sanctify death; we sanctify life. They sanctify cruelty and we mercy and compassion. That is the secret of our strength."" Opinion: Teens' killing hurts Israelis, bad for Palestinians . Opinion: Slain teens call for justice, not escalation ."
"(CNN) -- The remains of Neil Armstrong were committed to the Atlantic Ocean on Friday during a ceremony aboard a U.S. Navy cruiser. Armstrong's cremated remains were sent into the Atlantic Ocean during a burial-at-sea service aboard the USS Philippine Sea, NASA said. His wife, Carol Armstrong, participated in the ceremony. Neil Armstrong, who died August 25 at age 82, was an aviator in the Navy before becoming the first person to walk on the moon, having flown 78 combat missions during the Korean War. He earned his renown commanding the Apollo 11 space mission and landing on the moon on July 20, 1969, when he was 38. Friday's ceremony came a day after hundreds of people attended a memorial service for him at Washington National Cathedral. Neil Armstrong, a hero who shunned fame . John Glenn: Armstrong was a good friend ."
"If just one thing could define emerging economies it's a young population -- and no other place reflects this more directly than in the world of tech startups. ""If you look at Vietnam or Cambodia or Myanmar, they don't suffer from the up-ended triangle that we all suffer from in the West of too many old people and too few young people,"" said Napoleon Biggs, a Hong Kong-based digital media specialist. Venture capitalists and startup funds are now circling South East Asia looking for ideas to invest in. He said groups like Rocket Internet from Germany were very good at identifying ""clones,"" or emerging market copies of internet ideas that have originated elsewhere. ""They raise significant amounts of money and they're not embarrassed about cloning because they say it's all about execution, which it is."" Frontier markets are where these investors are seeing the greatest returns. ""They've gone into places like Myanmar with a vengeance,"" Biggs said. ""They are bringing western business savvy and they find a local partner to make it happen."" One recurring feature of emerging market startups is that they are often aimed at solving specific problems in a country. ""In the West, the internet is often slagged off as a place where people waste their time,"" said Biggs. ""In emerging economies, it's more likely to be specifically engineered to overcome an existing problem."" Click through the gallery above to see some of Asia's most innovative companies chosen by Napoleon Biggs, angel investor Simon Squibb, analyst Xiafeng Wang of Forrester and Ping Wong of the Hong Kong Internet Society. Read this: The social apps taking China by storm . Read this: Can Alibaba topple the Silicon Valley giants?"
"(CNN) -- When Ji Yeqing awakened, she was already in the recovery room. Chinese authorities had dragged her out of her home and down four flights of stairs, she said, restraining and beating her husband as he tried to come to her aid. They whisked her into a clinic, held her down on a bed and forced her to undergo an abortion. Her offense? Becoming pregnant with a second child, in violation of China's one-child policy. ""After the abortion, I felt empty, as if something was scooped out of me,"" Ji told a congressional panel in September. ""My husband and I had been so excited for our new baby. Now suddenly all that hope and joy and excitement disappeared. ... I was very depressed and despondent. For a long time, whenever I thought about my lost child, I would cry."" As she lay unconscious, she said, an IUD to prevent future pregnancies was inserted. The issue of forced abortions -- and in some cases, forced sterilizations -- in China has seized the spotlight in recent days with news of escaped activist Chen Guangcheng. Chen, a blind, self-taught lawyer, rose to fame in the late 1990s because of his advocacy for what he calls victims of abusive practices, such as forced abortions, by Chinese family planning officials. He investigated forced abortions and sterilizations in eastern China -- a practice China denies -- and helped organize a class-action lawsuit on behalf of victims, for which he served four years in prison. A fellow activist, Hu Jia, said Chen has taken refuge at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. ""Chen may be safe for the moment, but the women for whom he risked everything are not,"" said Reggie Littlejohn, president of Women's Rights Without Frontiers, a California-based organization that describes itself as a ""broad-based, international coalition that opposes forced abortion and sexual slavery in China."" ""Forced abortion is not a choice,"" Littlejohn said. ""It is official government rape."" On a January 2011 visit to the United States, Chinese President Hu Jintao reportedly denied that China was forcing women to submit to abortions. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Florida, who gave Hu a list of human rights concerns, said that Hu insisted a forced-abortion policy did not exist, according to media reports. China's population is the largest on earth, with more than 1.34 billion people. Since its implementation in 1979, the one-child policy has prevented more than 400 million births in China, according to China's National Population and Family Planning Commission. About 13 million abortions are performed nationwide each year, the commission has said -- about 35,000 a day. It is unknown how many of those are coerced. But the one-child policy has been blamed for abuses. In some cases, advocates say, fetuses identified as female are aborted, or midwives strangle a female infant with the umbilical cord during delivery, identifying the baby as ""stillborn,"" according to All Girls Allowed, a nonprofit group that aims to end female ""gendercide,"" educate abandoned girls, rescue trafficked children and defend women's reproductive rights. Other females are abandoned, left to die or raised as orphans. Chinese traditionally prefer boys over girls because they are seen as better able to provide for the family and carry on the family bloodline. As a result, the practice of aborting female fetuses or abandoning infant girls continues, particularly in rural areas. In November, according to state-run news agency Xinhua, Premier Wen Jiabao, in a speech to the National Working Conference on Women and Children, ""urged banning illegal fetus gender identification and illegal abortion."" ""The social status of the female population indicates the level of social progress (of a nation), while children are the future and hope of a nationality and a nation,"" Wen said. Last summer, Xinhua reported that ""millions of Chinese men of marrying age may be living as frustrated bachelors by 2020"" because of the gender imbalance. In 2010, China's sex ratio at birth was 118 boys for every 100 girls, the news agency said. China kicked off a national campaign ""to significantly curb non-medical sex determinations and sex-selective abortions to balance the gender ratio,"" Xinhua said. Also during the campaign, ""efforts will be made to raise awareness of gender equality, to severely punish those involved in cases of non-medical sex determinations and sex-selective abortions, and to strengthen monitoring."" Liu Qian, vice minister of the Ministry of Health, said that doctors violating the ban would be stripped of their licenses or penalized, and involved medical institutions would also be punished, according to Xinhua. The one-child policy could contribute to China's high rate of female suicide, according to All Girls Allowed. China is the only country in the world where the female suicide rate is higher than that of men -- some 500 women a day, the group said, citing statistics from the World Health Organization and the U.S. State Department. In its 2009 Human Rights Report, the State Department noted that ""many observers believed that violence against women and girls, discrimination in education and employment, the traditional preference for male children, birth-limitation policies, and other societal factors contributed to the high female suicide rate. Women in rural areas, where the suicide rate for women was three to four times higher than for men, were especially vulnerable."" Sometimes the consequences are even more severe. In October 2011, a woman who was six months pregnant died during a forced abortion in eastern China, according to Women's Rights Without Frontiers. Last month, a woman in the same region was forced to undergo an abortion while nine months pregnant, the organization reported. The baby was born alive, but then was drowned in a bucket, according to the organization. A photo of the infant's body floating in the bucket was circulated on Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter, sparking widespread outrage. Chinese officials are prohibited under law from ""infringing on the rights and interests of citizens when promoting compliance with population planning policies,"" according to the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, created by Congress to monitor human rights and the rule of law in China. However, the commission in its most recent annual report noted ""reports of official campaigns, as well as numerous individual cases in which officials used violent methods to coerce citizens to undergo sterilizations or abortions or pay heavy fines for having 'out-of-plan' children,"" meaning a family's second child. In one example from October 2010, the commission said, a woman in southeastern China who was eight months pregnant with her second child was kidnapped and detained for 40 hours. She was forcibly injected with a substance that caused the fetus to abort. Her husband reportedly was not permitted to see her during this time, the commission said. ""Nothing in human history compares to the magnitude of China's 33-year assault on women and children,"" said Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey and chairman of the commission, during the September hearing at which Ji Yeqing testified. ""Today in China, rather than being given maternal care, pregnant women without birth-allowed permits are hunted down and forcibly aborted. ... For over three decades, brothers and sisters have been illegal; a mother has absolutely no right to protect her unborn baby from state-sponsored violence."" ""Out of plan"" children whose parents do not pay fines may go without household registration, or hukou, which presents obstacles to social benefits including subsidized health care and public education, All Girls Allowed said, citing the commission's 2010 report. A woman's family members, including her husband, parents, in-laws or siblings, may also be targeted for violations of the policy, according to Women's Rights Without Borders, which published a 2005 report compiled from Chen's notes into cases he was investigating before his arrest. The report alleges arrest, torture, beatings and fines of family members for the violations of relatives. It also documents a case where a woman suffered health problems after being forced to undergo a tubal ligation despite her high blood pressure. Ji told lawmakers her first forced abortion was in 2003, after officials said she and her husband would be fined $31,000 for their second child and fired from their jobs. Her second came in 2006, despite the fact she and her husband at that time were willing to pay the fine and lose their jobs. She continues to suffer consequences from the abortions. Her husband divorced her, she said, because she could not give him a son (the couple already had a daughter). After she remarried and moved to the United States in 2010, she said, she visited a clinic to have her IUD removed and undergo an exam. ""The doctor told me that I had cervical erosion, likely due to the poor medical conditions of my forced abortions,"" she said. Liu Ping told a similar story to Congress last year. She said after giving birth to her son, she was required to undergo five abortions between 1983 and 1990. During the last procedure, an IUD was inserted. ""When I learned of the procedure, I protested that I had a kidney disease and could not keep the IUD, but they completely ignored me,"" she said. ""The doctor just gave the bill to my husband and told him to pay."" Her husband was later arrested, she said, and she was given a ""serious administrative warning"" at her job and fined six months' pay. Liu had to report to the factory clinic each month for an exam to make sure she had not removed the IUD on her own or become pregnant again, she said. In 1997, she missed a monthly pregnancy check because she was caring for her terminally ill mother, she testified. ""Agents from the Family Planning Commission waited at my home to drag me to the exam,"" she said. ""When they pushed me to the ground, I fell and hurt my neck vertebrae. My spirit completely collapsed after this one. I attempted suicide, but was stopped by my family from jumping."" Liu was able to move to the United States and she and her husband reconciled after a divorce. ""I feel happiness and joyful,"" she told lawmakers. ""But I know in my homeland, China, there are millions of women who are suffering as I did. Each day thousands of young lives are being destroyed. I beg everyone to save them."" CNN's Jaime FlorCruz contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- The number of journalists jailed around the world reached a record high in 2012, with Turkey the worst offender, the Committee to Protect Journalists said in a report published Tuesday. At the start of this month, 232 reporters, photographers and editors were in prisons in 27 countries on charges of ""terrorism"" and crimes against the state intended to ""silence critical voices,"" the New-York based group said. The figure is the highest since the organization, which promotes press freedom, began record-keeping in 1990 through an annual census. Until now, the record was 185, set in 1996. Read more: Press freedoms watchdog slams Turkish government . Turkey holds 49 journalists behind bars, according to the group, the largest total for an individual country. Dozens of Kurdish reporters and editors have been jailed on terrorism-related charges, it said, and several other journalists ""on charges of involvement in anti-government plots."" ""Broadly worded anti-terror and penal code statutes have allowed Turkish authorities to conflate the coverage of banned groups and the investigation of sensitive topics with outright terrorism or other anti-state activity,"" the committee said. Iran came a close second, with 45 jailed journalists, according to the report. Tehran has ""sustained a crackdown that began after the disputed 2009 presidential election,"" it said. Many of the 32 journalists behind bars in China, the third worst offender, are Tibetans or Uighurs who were imprisoned for covering ethnic unrest that flared up in 2008, according to the committee. Others are being held for expressing dissident political views, it said . In Eritrea, none of the 28 detained journalists have ""ever been publicly charged with a crime or brought before a court for trial,"" the report said, dubbing the country ""the worst abuser of due process."" Amid the civil war raging in Syria, forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have seized at least 15 journalists, according to the committee. ""None of the detainees have been charged with a crime, and the authorities have been unwilling to account for the detainees' whereabouts or well-being,"" it said. On a more positive note, the committee noted that for the first time since 1996, Myanmar is not on its list of countries jailing journalists. The Myanmar government of President Thein Sein, whose recent political reforms have been welcomed by the United States and Europe, has released at least 12 journalists over the past year, the report said."
"(CNN) -- New York eighth-grader Arvind Mahankali is the fiercest speller around. No word can foil him, as he proved Thursday when he beat out other Scripps National Spelling Bee contestants by spelling ""knaidel"" correctly. ""I know this. I got this,"" he told CNN's ""Early Start"" on Friday morning, recalling how he confidently steadied himself before enunciating every letter in the Yiddish word of German origin meaning dumpling. When he uttered the final letter, the audience erupted in wild applause. The 13-year-old is feeling good even though he knows he won't be able to compete again since there's a limit on contestants beyond the eighth-grade. Mahankali isn't the type of kid who stops at spelling domination. ""Next year I'll try to go somewhere in the Math Olympiad and the Physics Olympiad,"" he said. The Bayside Hills, New York, teen, who wants to become a physicist, finished third in two previous national bees. He was eliminated after misspelling words with German roots. ""I thought that the German curse had turned into a German blessing,"" he said. It didn't hurt that he studied constantly, telling CNN that he browsed through the dictionary and let his mother quiz him. ""My dad collects words. I look up those words and get familiarity with those words."" Ending his Scripps career with a victory means he's ""retiring on a good note,"" he said. ""I shall spend the summer,"" he said, ""maybe (an) entire day, studying physics."" Pranav Sivakumar, a 13-year-old from Tower Lakes, Illinois, finished second. He missed on ""cyanophycean."" Then Mahankali nailed ""tokonoma"" and ""knaidel,"" and the rest is history. The annual contest offers the winner a healthy dose of classroom cred, $32,500 in cash and savings bonds, a trophy and a library of reference materials. Contest isn't bee-all and end-all . Eleven million schoolchildren participated in preliminaries leading up to the national contest this week. Of those, 281 children made the trip to Oxon Hill, Maryland, outside Washington, for the national bee. Eleven spellers made it through to the finals. Among them were 63 children who had been to at least one national bee before, and had to prepare for some changes in the rules for this year's events. For the first time, participants had to demonstrate proficiency in vocabulary in addition to spelling. Organizers also added an additional computer test for the semifinals, imposed time limits on computer-based spelling and vocabulary tests, and added a rule that resulted in automatic elimination for any participant who misspelled a word on stage in the second or third rounds. CNN's Athena Jones and Michael Pearson contributed to this report."
"HANNOVER, Germany -- Germany maintained the pressure on the Czech Republic in the race for top spot in Group D with a comfortable 4-0 win against Cyprus in Hannover. Lukas Podolski celebrates his goal as Germany cruised to a 4-0 victory over Cyprus. Both sides have already qualified for EURO 2008 but Germany showed no sign of letting up as Bayern Munich pair Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski struck either side of half-time to build on Clemens Fritz's second-minute opener. Thomas Hitzlsperger added the fourth in the 82nd minute as Germany claimed their eighth win in the group to move level with the Czech Republic on 26 points. Germany were quick out of the blocks and celebrated their first goal after less than 120 seconds. Podolski's determination paid off and he pulled the ball back from the goalline for Fritz to score with a far-post header. Klose added the second on 20 minutes, accepting a pass from the selfless Fritz in a central position and firing in from eight meters out. Podolski was Germany's main threat, and he finally got the goal an excellent performance warranted when he turned in Klose's low cross from the right eight minutes into the second half. The impressive Podolski turned provider for the final goal eight minutes from time, making a determined run to the goalline before squaring for Hitzlsperger, whose simple tap-in completed the scoring. Meanwhile, Arsenal midfielder Tomas Rosicky was among the goals for the Czech Republic as they beat neighbors Slovakia 3-1 in Prague to remain top of the group by virtue of their head-to-head with Germany. Germany conclude their qualifying campaign at home to Wales on Wednesday while the Czech Republic travel to Cyprus. Meanwhile, the Netherlands secured their place in the finals with a narrow 1-0 win over Luxembourg in Group G. Danny Koevermans scored the only goal for the Dutch two minutes before half time to seal their place in the finals alongside Romania -- who remain top of the group having already qualified, despite losing 1-0 to Bulgaria in Sofia. Spain beat Sweden 3-0 with goals by Joan Capdevila, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Ramos, while Northern Ireland maintained their slim chance of catching Sweden by beating Denmark 2-1. David Healy scored the winning goal to set a European Championship qualifying record of 13 goals, overtaking Davor Suker's 12-goal mark. Northern Ireland must now beat already-qualified Spain in Las Palmas on Wednesday and hope that Latvia can win in Sweden on the same night, if they are to reach the finals. E-mail to a friend ."
"Philadelphia (CNN) -- A singer is being sought for questioning in connection with the death of a woman following a cosmetic procedure, police said Friday. Claudia Aderotimi, 20, died early Tuesday, shortly after receiving buttocks enhancements in a hotel room near Philadelphia International Airport, according to police. The procedure allegedly cost $1,800. Police say singer Black Madam -- whom they have identified as Padge Victoria Windslowe, 41 -- is believed to be the person who injected Aderotimi with a substance that was supposed to be silicone. Officers searched Windslowe's apartment for medical supplies, according to a search warrant. She was not home at the time, and authorities are looking for her. Aderotimi and three other women had traveled from England to undergo the cosmetic procedure in Philadelphia, police said. A woman who allegedly helped arrange the trip told police that ""Black Madam"" carried out the procedure, according to an affidavit. Shortly after the injection, Aderotimi became short of breath and complained of chest pains. She was rushed to a hospital, where she later died, police said. The preliminary cause of death has been linked to the injection, according to the affidavit. Underground cosmetic procedures have become a growing cause of concern for health regulators. Last month, New York officials arrested a woman for allegedly illegally injecting liquid silicone as part an underground business she ran out of her home, according to the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office. She allegedly charged more than $1,000 for a round of shots and faces up to three years in prison if convicted. Last year in New Jersey, state health officials launched an investigation into infections related to cosmetic injections after six women were hospitalized for complications. The women developed symptoms after injections for buttocks enhancement and received surgical and antibiotic treatment, according to the state health agency. All the injections apparently were administered by unlicensed medical providers. Investigators have had a difficult time tracking these procedures because they are performed by unlicensed providers. ""It's hard to tell how many people are utilizing that [type] of service,"" said Dr. Tina Tan, a New Jersey state epidemiologist. Tan has heard reports of caulk and other products being used in the injections, as well as injection substances being purchased outside of medical supply stores, she said. Not surprisingly, injecting these materials can result in serious health complications and death, she warned. ""In our cluster, these patients had to be hospitalized,"" she said, adding that injection procedures should be performed by licensed health providers. ""We do not recommend going in a hotel room with people who you don't know their credentials."""
"(CNN) -- Pele, Diego Maradona and Franz Beckenbaeur will forever be remembered in football fans' consciousness for helping Brazil, Argentina and West Germany win the World Cup. That trio symbolized the idea that international football -- pitting the game's very best players against one another -- was the pinnacle of a footballer's career. But that passion for international football has cooled, especially for young English players, according to World Cup winner Patrick Vieira. ""I don't feel like in England, the young players are dreaming of playing for the national team anymore,"" said Vieira, who is now Manchester City's Football Development Executive. ""I think it's maybe the lack of England's Football Association power, I would say,"" added Vieira, who won the World Cup with France in 1998 as well as Euro 2000. ""Maybe this is as well a lack of love for the national team. ""In England, I really don't understand how come so many young players from the age of 16-21 pull out of the national team for injury. ""When I grew up in France, I wanted to play for the French national team. That was my target, my dream."" Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has long argued that the European Champions League is the best competition in the world, surpassing even the World Cup, but Vieira insisted: ""The national team is bigger than anything and I was really proud to play for France."" The former French international argued a key part of his development as a player was linked to the time he spent with the French national team, in particular learning from the example of more experienced players such as Marcel Desailly and Didier Deschamps, the current les bleus coach. Vieira questioned whether the lack of elder statesmen within the current French international set-up had contributed to the disciplinary problems that surfaced at the World Cup in 2010 and more recently at Euro 2012. Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri has not been recalled for France's upcoming friendly against Japan and World Cup qualifier against Spain even after serving a three-match ban imposed by the French Football Federation. Nasri swore at a reporter following France's Euro 2012 quarter-final defeat by Spain after previously telling another journalist to ""Shut your mouth!"" in their opening match against England when he had scored. ""His non-selection is a surprise,"" said Vieira, who was speaking at the Leaders in Football Conference in London on Wednesday. ""I'm sure he will go back to the national team."" England expects . Vieira's view that young English players were somewhat ambivalent about playing for their country might give the FA pause for thought. On Tuesday the Football Association opened its elite football facility -- the $168-million St. George's Park complex -- which it hopes can help pave the way for the national team to win a major international tournament for the first time since 1966. However, Vieira urged patience for the positive effects of the St George's Park initiative to trickle down. ""It doesn't guarantee success and it might take 10 to 15 years,"" said the former Arsenal, Inter Milan and Manchester City midfielder. ""The heart of the English player is double or triple that of the Spanish or French player. That is a good base to start with."" City have their own ambitious plans for a new training academy, which Vieira described as ""unbelievable"". The project, which will boast 15 full-size and two half-size football pitches as well as accommodation for 40 youth-team players, will contain a 7,000-capacity stadium for youth team matches, a separate building for the first team and a bridge linking the Etihad Stadium to the area -- which will be known as the Etihad Campus. ""We want to bring our young players from the academy through to the first team,"" said Vieira. ""It's important as the fans really identify with these players and this is the philosophy of the club. ""But clubs like City, Manchester United and Chelsea will also always try and sign the exceptional player,"" added Vieira, when asked if the English Premier League champions were no longer interested in signing players such as Atletico Madrid striker Falcao, who is expected to leave the Spanish club next summer. In deciding how their academy should be run, City traveled round the world to look at examples of other successful academies as well as how other sports develop young talented players. City particularly liked the way aspiring NBA players spent much of their day within an academy environment, which helps them ""to learn how to behave as an individual"", said Vieira. Vieira is an ambassador for Western Union's new PASS initiative, turning every pass in this season's UEFA Europa League into funding for one day's education for young people around the world."
"(CNN) -- Even a presidential campaign's airplane troubles can get partisan in an election year. Aviation incidents involving President Barack Obama and Ann Romney, wife of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, have inspired hundreds of supporters commenting at CNN.com to connect those events to the candidates' political positions. When the Air Force One pilot aborted his first landing in Toledo, Ohio, due to weather on Wednesday, commenters were quick to jump on Obama. ""See, Barack Obama can't even land a plane correctly,"" wrote a commenter whose handle is TheOtherBob. ""He was probably checking the polls - thinks he has Ohio in the bag - no need to land,"" wrote another commenter. ""He was distracted, since he was busy adjusting gas prices over his smart phone,"" wrote another commenter. Ann Romney's smoke-filled plane . Ann Romney couldn't catch a break, either. Her airplane cabin filling up with smoke due to an electrical problem was no laughing matter, but commenters quickly took aim at her husband and his response. Mitt Romney talked about not being able to open the airplane's windows in flight. (New York Times writer Ashley Parker, who wrote the presidential pool report mentioning the comments, declined to comment on his remarks, referring CNN to a New York magazine piece where she made it clear that Romney was joking.) ""Maybe if Romney hadn't started the outsourcing trend, that plane would have been built and maintained better by hardworking 47%ers,"" wrote one commenter. ""Firefighters came to the rescue, paramedics were there on time and the police took special care of your security. We are the 47% your husband scorns,"" wrote commenter Kweso. Reminders of the actual flying conditions . Enough with the political bickering, suggested some commenters. ""The hate thrown out at the Romneys (and at President Obama) is just plain absurd,"" wrote commenter jolivier23. On Romney's flight: ""CAN YOU PEOPLE STOP WITH THIS CHARADE. Can you just be happy that the everyone was safe and no one was injured,"" wrote one commenter. ""What is wrong with you people? Why are you making this a political issue? I am just glad nobody was hurt. "" On Obama's flight: ""This incident with the President was just routine turbulence which is something that you really can't do anything about in the first place,"" wrote one commenter. ""If the one of the best pilots (and co-pilots) in the U.S. Air Force aborts a landing you know the conditions were hairy,"" wrote daehttub2000. Perhaps remembering a line from that esteemed television show ""Hill Street Blues,"" he wrote, ""Let's be careful out there."" Many of us have stories of grabbing a complete stranger or picking airline pretzels out of our hair after a particularly bad bout of turbulence. Do you have any stories to share? Tell us in the comments below."
"(CNN) -- At least 13 people were killed and 20 others were injured when a severe storm tore through the Buenos Aires area, state media reported Thursday. Residents of the city awakened to crumbling walls, crushed cars, fallen trees and scattered branches after heavy rain, wind and hail hit Wednesday night, the state-run Telam agency said. ""The level of virulence of this storm is not normal,"" said Diego Santilli, the city's environment minister, according to Telam. ""The winds were similar to those of a tornado."" One resident told the news agency that the Parque Avellaneda neighborhood ""looks like they threw a bomb."" Fallen trees blocked streets. A wall in at least one historic building collapsed, Telam said. Damage occurred within the city limits and also in the surrounding province, where at least nine people were killed when they were crushed or electrocuted, Telam said. Wind gusts ranged from 100 kph to 120 kph (62 mph to 75 mph), said Luciano Timerman, a provincial emergency official, Telam reported. Authorities evacuated 500 people in the western and southern areas of the metropolitan area as the storm raged, Timerman said. They were returning to their homes on Thursday."
"(CNN) -- The Florida police sergeant fired for possessing shooting targets resembling Trayvon Martin defended himself Sunday and said the targets were meant to be used as training aids for ""no-shoot"" situations. Sgt. Ron King was fired from his job as a firearms instructor for the Port Canaveral Police Department on Friday after an internal review determined he possessed the paper targets and offered them to fellow officers for use during a firearms training session earlier this month. ""When informed of the basic facts, (I) found the entire situation unacceptable,"" John Walsh, the interim chief executive of the Canaveral Port Authority, told reporters Saturday. ""It is not the type of behavior that I want a police officer to have on both a personal and professional level. I find his conduct intolerable and I demanded that the chief immediately start procedures to terminate this employee."" The paper targets show a faceless black hooded sweatshirt with a bull's-eye on the chest. In one hand is a can of iced tea and in the pocket is a pack of Skittles candy, the same items Martin was carrying when he was shot and killed last year in a case that has drawn national attention. King, in a video statement posted online, said he bought the targets because the two items -- the Skittles and iced tea -- were not threatening, which meant the target could be used to help train officers when not to shoot a suspect. King did not say where he bought the targets, but similar ones caused a controversy when they were first sold online a year ago. ""While others have used it as a novelty, I view it as a tool for scenario-based firearms training,"" King said. Using ""real-life situations"" as training scenarios is not uncommon for firearms instructors, he said, and they help teach police how to respond to incidents in the future. ""The only stupid act I performed was to believe that some of my coworkers would be mature enough and care enough to use a bad situation as a learning tool,"" King said, referring to the Martin case. Port Canaveral is just an hour away from Sanford, where the 17-year-old Martin was killed in February 2012 as he walked home at night from a convenience store. George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain, is awaiting trial on a second-degree murder charge in Martin's death. He says he shot Martin in self-defense. King, who was hired in January 2011, disputed some of the details Walsh gave to reporters, including that he offered the targets to other officers to shoot. He said he showed them to only one, a fellow sergeant, to find out whether he thought they could be useful training aids. King said he offered one of the targets to the sergeant after the sergeant said his son would ""get a kick"" out of them. Instead of taking it, he said, the sergeant took a picture and then used the image to file a complaint about King. ""To the Martin family, I would like to apologize again for those law enforcement officials that chose to use your son's death as an element for their personal and political gains,"" King said. ""I assure you that the use of these targets that are in question is to prevent a tragedy from taking place."" On Saturday, Martin family attorney Ben Crump condemned the use of the targets as ""absolutely reprehensible."" ""Such a deliberate and depraved indifference to this grieving family is unacceptable,"" Crump said in a statement."
"(CNN) -- Violence between competing unions at South Africa's mines is threatening to weaken Africa's largest economy. On Wednesday, the world's top platinum producer, Anglo American, suspended all of its operations in Rustenburg, South Africa due to ""intimidation"" of its workers. Striking workers are also halting operations at some gold mines. The move follows strike-related violence at Lonmin's Marikana mine in August that left 44 dead. What triggered the violence? The 34 miners in the Lonmin mine in Marikana, South Africa, died after police opened fire on a gathering of thousands of machete-armed workers striking for higher wages. The shootings came after deaths earlier in the week, including those of two police officers who were hacked to death. The violence exploded when police shot at striking rock drillers in the ""Easterns"" area of the Marikana mine. Tensions have been high in part because of the presence of competing trade unions, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). Read more: Inquiry launched into mine shootings . The mine, about two hours northwest of Johannesburg, is operated by Lonmin, which is listed on both the London Stock Exchange and Johannesburg Stock Exchange, and is the world's third largest platinum producer. The bulk of its 28,000 employees work at the mine, and around 23% belong to the AMCU. The violence has prompted some people to draw parallels with the country's days of apartheid rule, which ended in 1994. South African's president, Jacob Zuma, has opened an inquiry into the incident. What is behind the conflict? Rivalry between the AMCU and the NUM is widely blamed for feeding the violence. The AMCU, which has expanded rapidly this year at the expense of NUM, is seen as the more militant union and has been linked to aggressive tactics to win wage increases. It has gained ground in an environment where workers have been dissatisfied with improvements in quality of life since the end of apartheid, particularly for those in the lower wage brackets. At Marikana, 3,000 rock drill operators at the mine stopped work as they tried to force an increase in their wages, from ZAR5,400 ($648) a month to ZAR12,500 ($1,500) a month. Tensions increased over the following days, with AMCU president Joseph Mathunjwa declaring the members were prepared to ""die here"" if necessary. The stand-off later escalated into violence, leaving 34 dead, 78 injured and 259 arrested on various charges, according to South Africa National Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega. The violence follows other fatal incidents including a six-week strike at Impala Platinum (Implats) in February, which left three dead, and an attack on Aquarius Platinum in August which also left three people dead. The push for higher wages comes after the AMCU was ""clearly emboldened"" by a strike at Implats' Rustenberg mine in February which resulted in a 125% increase in wages, analysts at Eurasia Group noted. The outcome set a ""problematic precedent for platinum companies in South Africa,"" Africa analyst Mark Rosenberg said. Alison Turner, analyst at Panmure Gordon & Co, said the emergence of the AMCU ""represents the single biggest risk to the platinum sector, particularly as many of the incidents in which the AMCU has been implicated have involved violence."" According to Rosenberg, however, violence at Marikana could prove to be detrimental to the union's aggressive recruitment strategy. Who is to blame for the Marikana shootings? While union rivalry is being blamed for the friction, it is unclear who triggered the first shots at Marikana, which is one of the country's bloodiest incidents since the end of apartheid in 1994. Police have said they were bringing in barbed wire to fence the miners, and used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse them. According to Phiyega, a militant group of strikers then fired on police who said they were forced to use ""maximum force"" to defend themselves. Video from the incident shows police shooting for some minutes at protesters, kicking up dust. When the dust clears, several bodies are shown lying on the ground. The video appeared to show the police response was ""very forceful,"" Turner said. The South African Institute for Race Relations said that policemen randomly shot into the crowd with rifles and handguns. ""There is also evidence of their continuing to shoot after a number of bodies can be seen dropping and others turning to run. This is reminiscent of the Sharpeville massacre in 1960,"" the institute said. In a press conference Phiyega said it was not a time for placing blame, but ""a time for us to mourn."" Late last month, a regional prosecutor charged 270 of the platinum miners with the murder of their colleagues, who are believed to have been shot by police. However, the charges are being dropped. What do the unions say? The two implicated unions, accused of trying to outdo each other in negotiating wages, denied instigating the clashes. AMCU general secretary Jeff Mphahlele told CNN the union could not be blamed. ""We are a peaceful organization and we do not condone violence,"" he said. Mphahlele said police initially shot at the protesters from behind, although when asked if they shot first he said: ""I was not there,"" adding: ""The killing of those people was not necessary."" He said Mathunjwa's reference to being prepared to die was in response to fears the police would attack. Frans Baleni, head of the NUM, said Monday that its members were under siege. ""Our members have been attacked, and that cannot be said to be clashes or rivalry, it is pure criminality,"" he said. Is the government tarnished? The NUM is a close ally of the country's ruling African National Congress and its inability to stop the violence and weakened role is expected to drag on Zuma, according to Rosenberg. The immediate impact is likely to be Zuma's pitch for re-election to head the party in December, he added. Re-election is ""significantly less likely"" Rosenberg said. While there is no formal challenger to the role yet, this could spur the emergence of one, he added. People are no longer willing to sit and wait around for the ANC to deliver, Rosenberg said. ""They are becoming more and more impatient and they're becoming more and more violent as a result."" What is the impact on Lonmin? Lonmin has so far missed out on around $75 million in lost production, and the workers haven't been paid for a month. The company said last week that a ""peace accord"" had been signed, but key unions had not agreed to the deal. Lonmin acting CEO Simon Scott said the company and unions have agreed to ""negotiate to address the wage demands within a legal framework."" He added, ""We simply ask that those negotiations happen in an environment free of intimidation and violence."" The company has previously announced its chief executive Ian Farmer had been diagnosed with a serious illness and was in hospital. It was unrelated to the mine incident. CNN's Moni Basu contributed to this story ."
"(CNN) -- Sawyer Jones kept asking if the tigers could get out of their enclosure. The 3-year-old boy was with his family at the San Francisco Zoo on Tuesday to enjoy a brisk holiday morning with the animals. A tiger dozes in the sun as Matthew Jones poses with his son Sawyer during their zoo visit Tuesday. Sawyer's father, Matthew Jones, said he was sure the tigers couldn't escape from their zoo exhibit. He never could have guessed it would really happen. Just a day after a tiger mauled one person to death and injured two others at the zoo, the elder Jones, of Menlo Park, California, was in shock. ""I assured him they couldn't,"" Matthew Jones said. ""I felt no reason for concern. I'm very curious to find out how the animal got out."" The family visited the zoo Tuesday morning and left before 1 p.m. The coincidence was unsettling. ""We couldn't believe that we were there just a few hours earlier,"" Matthew Jones said. The deceased victim has been identified as 17-year-old Carlos Sousa of San Jose, California, the San Francisco medical examiner's office said Wednesday. Matthew Jones said that after many trips to zoos around the country, he thought this zoo was ""perfectly adequate"" and saw nothing odd about it. He also thought it was highly unlikely that a huge tiger would be able to climb out of the enclosure. View CNN.com readers' photos of the tiger exhibit » . Other zoo visitors weren't so sure. Jina S., of San Jose, is questioning the nervous jokes she used to make about the tigers trying to jump out. Jina said she had always felt slightly uneasy about the pit surrounding the exhibit. She and her husband made comments about the tigers in the enclosure during their December 1 visit. ""When we were there, we were discussing how it wasn't much of a stretch that they could jump over that gap,"" she said. ""We were joking at the time, and it's horrible it happened to [Sousa]."" But Jen Williams of Hollister, California, said she felt safe during her June 2007 visit and didn't think the animals could jump over anything. She says that keeping animals in zoos brings some risk to what is generally a safe environment. ""It's always scary when you go someplace where there's large animals in captivity,"" she said. Steven Arnold of Mountain View, California, echoed Williams' sentiments and said tigers are wild animals that can do wild things, even in captivity. He has been going to the zoo for years and said he always thought it was theoretically possible for the tigers to escape their exhibit. ""They're pretty spectacular animals when you see them up close,"" Arnold said. ""They're huge. They don't remind you much of a house cat when you're seeing them up close."" As at several other zoos, patrons are invited to watch the tigers get meaty meals. Arnold describes the feedings as ""a big spectacle"" where visitors can get fairly close to the animals. Tigers' animal instincts become more apparent at these events, he said. ""[Zookeepers] feed them raw meat,"" Arnold said. ""They definitely give you the impression of being wild animals."" Reflecting on the mauling, Williams said she will continue to go see the animals and added that she's observed that renovations go on all the time. ""I guess it's just a risk you take, but it's very sad."" E-mail to a friend ."
"Washington (CNN) -- Not everyone subscribes to a New Year's resolution, but Americans will be required to follow new laws in 2014. Some 40,000 measures taking effect range from sweeping, national mandates under Obamacare to marijuana legalization in Colorado, drone prohibition in Illinois and transgender protections in California. Although many new laws are controversial, they made it through legislatures, public referendum or city councils and represent the shifting composition of American beliefs. Federal: Health care, of course, and vending machines . The biggest and most politically charged change comes at the federal level with the imposition of a new fee for those adults without health insurance. For 2014, the penalty is either $95 per adult or 1% of family income, whichever results in a larger fine. The Obamacare, or Affordable Care Act, mandate also requires that insurers cover immunizations and some preventive care. Additionally, millions of poor Americans will receive Medicaid benefits starting January 1. Thousands of companies will have to provide calorie counts for products sold in vending machines. Local: Guns, family leave and shark fins . Connecticut: While no national legislation was approved to tighten gun laws a year after the Newtown school shooting, Connecticut is implementing a final round of changes to its books: All assault weapons and large capacity magazines must be registered. Oregon: Family leave in Oregon has been expanded to allow eligible employees two weeks of paid leave to handle the death of a family member. California: Homeless youth are eligible to receive food stamps. The previous law had a minimum wage requirement. Delaware: Delaware is the latest in a growing number of states where residents can no longer possess, sell or distribute shark fins, which is considered a delicacy in some East Asian cuisine. Illinois and drones . Illinois: passed two laws limiting the use of drones. One prohibits them from interfering with hunters and fisherman. The measure passed after the group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said it would use drones to monitor hunters. PETA said it aims through its ""air angels"" effort to protect against ""cruel"" and ""illegal"" hunting. Also in Illinois, another law prohibits the use of drones for law enforcement without a warrant. Gender and voting identity . California: Students can use bathrooms and join school athletic teams ""consistent with their gender identity,"" even if it's different than their gender at birth. Arkansas: The state becomes the latest state requiring voters show a picture ID at the voting booth. Minimum wage and former felon employment . Workers in 13 states and four cities will see increases to the minimum wage. While most amount to less than 15 cents per hour, workers in places like New Jersey and Connecticut will see a slightly larger increase. New Jersey residents voted to raise the state's minimum wage by $1 to $8.25 per hour. And in Connecticut, lawmakers voted to raise it between 25 and 75 cents to $8.70. The wage would go up to $8 in Rhode Island and New York. California is also raising its minimum wage to $9 per hour, but workers must wait until July to see the addition. Rhode Island: It is the latest state to prohibit employers from requiring job applicants to signify if they have a criminal record on a job application. Social media and pot . Oregon: Employers and schools can't require a job or student applicant to provide passwords to social media accounts. Colorado: Marijuana becomes legal in the state for buyers over 21 at a licensed retail dispensary. (Sourcing: much of this list was obtained from the National Conference of State Legislatures). CNN's Christine Romans and Emily Jane Fox contributed to this report ."
"Wow, Canada, you really, really love Taylor Swift. According to Entertainmentwise.com, ""Track 3"" from her new album, ""1989,"" shot to No. 1 on iTunes in Canada after it was released. The only problem was, the release was an accident, as the track is eight seconds of white noise. 5 reasons you love Taylor Swift ... even if you don't want to . The track was eventually removed. The singer's latest project, one of the year's most eagerly awaited albums, is set for release in the U.S. on October 27. A song cowritten with fun.'s Jack Antonoff called ""Out of the Woods"" was released last week, and it skyrocketed to No. 1. Swift recently told Esquire that she's moved to New York and is focusing on work and enjoying her life, including being surrounded by a great group of girlfriends. She said she refuses to be part of what she sees as ""the takedown culture"" surrounding celebrities. ""You have celebrities who are pushed to the brink of a public meltdown, and so the public thinks that every person in the public eye has dirty secrets that they're keeping, or isn't what they seem, or is masking it and faking sincerity, faking authenticity, faking being surprised at award shows when you win a Grammy,"" she said."
"(CNN) -- Back in his native South Korea, the Korean Foreign Ministry nicknamed him ""Ban-chusa,"" meaning ""the Bureaucrat"" or ""the administrative clerk."" U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has focused on global warming policy by world governments. While Ban Ki-moon was known for his attention to detail and administrative skill, he was also seen by some as lacking in charisma and subservient to his superiors, while the Korean press called him ""the slippery eel"" for his ability to dodge questions. But on October 13, 2006, South Korea's Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon was elected to be the eighth Secretary-General by the United Nations General Assembly. Following up on a campaign aiming to bring out his charismatic side, Ban surprised the audience of a UN Correspondents' dinner that December by singing ""Ban Ki-moon is coming to town"" on the melody of ""Santa Claus Is Coming to Town."" Ban was born on 13 June 1944. He received a bachelor's degree in international relations from Seoul National University in 1970, and a master's degree in public administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 1985. He and his wife, Yoo (Ban) Soon-taek, whom he met in high school in 1962, have one son and two daughters. In addition to Korean, Ban speaks fluent English and is studying French. Ban was the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Republic of Korea from January 2004 to November 2006. His tenure included postings in New Delhi, Washington D.C. and Vienna, while he was responsible for a variety of portfolios such as Foreign Policy Advisor to the President, Chief National Security Adviser to the President, Deputy Minister for Policy Planning and Director-General of American Affairs. Throughout this service, his guiding vision was that of a peaceful Korean peninsula, playing an expanding role for peace and prosperity in the region and the wider world. Ban had long been actively involved in issues relating to inter-Korean relations. In 1992, as Special Advisor to the Foreign Minister, he served as Vice Chair of the South-North Joint Nuclear Control Commission following the adoption of the historic Joint Declaration on the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. In September 2005, as Foreign Minister, he played a leading role in bringing about another landmark agreement aimed at promoting peace and stability on the Korean peninsula with the adoption at the Six Party Talks of the Joint Statement on resolving the North Korean nuclear issue. In January 2007 Ban succeeded Kofi Annan and has since pushed the Sudanese government to allow peacekeeping troops in Darfur and focused on global warming policy by world governments."
"(CNN) -- At his heaviest, Brent Schmitt weighed 419 pounds. Even at  6 feet 3 inches tall, that was very overweight and he had high blood pressure. Many people in his family -- aunts, uncles and grandparents --suffered from diabetes, high cholesterol, heart disease and high blood pressure. The iReporter's life-changing moment came during an intense family discussion back in 2009 about his relatives' ailments. It finally clicked for him: It was time for him to take a different path. ""If I didn't do something about my health, then I was concerned I'd never live long enough to get married and have children or be healthy enough to spend quality time with my future family,"" the Evansville, Indiana, man said. And in 15 months, he dropped 177 pounds, more than 40 percent of his body weight. View Brent Schmitt's iReport . Starting a family is important to this 27-year-old civil engineer and he didn't want to miss out on this opportunity, or the chance to lead a healthy life. Schmitt jump-started the first six months of his weight loss journey back in July  2009 by reducing his food portions. He would use a smaller dinner plate than in the past and fill it with what he wanted to eat. Once he had done this, he would take half the food off his plate and just consume that portion. As part of his diet, Schmitt avoided processed foods. ""I tried to buy fresh fruit and vegetables every three days, along with lunch meat sliced from the deli section of my local grocery store,"" he noted. Schmitt focused on moving more, too. During the first six months of his weight loss plan, he made the daily choice of moving his body more than he had in the past. He would do little things like take the stairs rather than the elevator - or head to the copy machine after printing a work document, instead of letting his copies stack up. Once he hit the six-month mark of his lifestyle change, he added more rigorous activity to his daily routine, like using the treadmill. At first, he just walked on the treadmill, but over time he picked up his pace and started to run. In October 2010, he reached a milestone, running the Evansville half-marathon in less than two hours. ""At first I was in disbelief that I finished, and then I was relieved and proud of myself for achieving a difficult goal,"" he said. He now makes a point to take the longest route possible when walking somewhere in order to get more exercise. ""It's everyday choices like these that help me lose weight,"" he added. It took Schmitt about six and a half months to lose his first 100 pounds and then he shed the last 77 pounds over the next eight and a half months. He hopes to eventually reach his goal weight of 230 pounds. Dr. Melina Jampolis, CNNHealth's Diet and Fitness expert who's a physician nutrition specialist who practices in Los Angeles and San Francisco, California,  said Schmitt has shed his weight in a safe and effective manner and she salutes him for making smart choices. ""He didn't do any crazy diets or jump into a crazy exercise schedule - and he focused on proper nutrition,"" Jampolis said. ""His story just proves that in real life, if you make small choices like these day after day, it can end with tremendous results."" Schmitt's family doctor, Dr. Michael Allen, said he was comfortable with the pace of the weight loss, since he was a young male and didn't have  major health issues, beyond his high blood pressure.  Allen noted if Schmitt hadn't dropped the pounds, he would have been on his way to bigger health problems, including diabetes or possible knee replacement surgery. Many people who have not seen Schmitt in a long time  often do not recognize him, since his looks have dramatically changed. Many will ask him which diet plan he used or if he had bariatric surgery. ""I have to constantly reinforce the fact that it was a lifestyle change for me, and not a fad diet or surgery that caused me to lose so much weight,"" he added. Schmitt credits his family and friends for supporting him through his ""lifestyle change."" He says on days when he felt like he was struggling, they would remind him of his progress and how proud they were of him. ""They encouraged me to keep going,"" he said. Schmitt said his family members, with their various health issues, have closely watched his transformation, and he hopes his new healthy life will inspire them to make their own changes one day. Schmitt's goal of starting his own family is on track, too. In mid-June, he became engaged and plans to marry his fiancée in November 2012. ""Life is good for me right now and the future is bright,"" said Schmitt. ""I feel healthier, have more energy, more self-confidence and feel as though I have accomplished something really great."""
"(CNN) -- Pirates seized control of a cargo vessel near the Seychelles Thursday, one of two attacks that took place within minutes of each other off the coast of east Africa, according to the European Union Naval Force. The International Maritime Bureau say attacks off the east coast of Africa have increased this year. The EU maritime patrol responded to the early morning attacks, along with the Seychelles Coast Guard. The crew of the Panama-flagged MV Al Khaliq said two pirates had boarded the vessel before communication was cut off with the crew. The EU force confirmed that six pirates have boarded the 180-meter long bulk carrier, with two attack skiffs in tow. They hoisted the ""mother skiff"" onto the vessel with a crane, the EU force said. A second attempted hijacking took place at approximately the same time, but the Italian-flagged cargo ship evaded the attack, the EU said. Armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, pirates opened fire on the MV Jolly Rosso about 460 miles (740 km) east of Mombasa, Kenya. A Belgium warship, part of the EU force, responded to the attack, which caused no casualties. The 200-meter MV Jolly Rosso continued its voyage. Pirate attacks off the coast of east Africa have significantly increased this year, according to the International Maritime Bureau, which monitors shipping crimes. But successful attacks have gone down as a result of a strong presence of international monitors. The first nine months of this year has seen more pirate attacks than all of last year, the bureau reported on Wednesday. From January 1 until September 30, pirates worldwide mounted 306 attacks, compared with 293 in all of 2008, it said. More than half of this year's attacks were carried out by suspected Somali pirates off the east coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden, a major shipping route between Yemen and Somalia. Out of those attacks, Somali pirates successfully hijacked 32 vessels and took 533 hostages. Eight others were wounded, four more killed and one is missing, the bureau said. On Monday, pirates hijacked a Chinese merchant ship and its 25-member crew about 630 miles (1,000 km) northeast of Seychelles. The pirates appeared to be heading toward Somalia, the European Union Naval Force said. China plans to make ""every effort to rescue"" the crew members, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu, told reporters. The bulk carrier De Xin Hai is one of four ships that Somali pirates are holding for ransom with 80 crew members as hostages, the International Maritime Bureau said Wednesday. Maritime authorities say two recent trends have led to a rise in piracy: access and opportunity. As global commerce picks up, more and more of the world's fuels, minerals and other crucial commodities travel by ship. Ninety-five percent of America's foreign trade, for instance, moves by water, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration. That cargo is an easy target for robbers in countries that lack the resources to secure their shorelines, such as Somalia. Somalia's transitional government, which has a tenuous grip on power, has been unable to stop the pirates -- many of whom are based in the country's port cities. This has prompted Europe and other Western countries to step up maritime patrols. ""In the Gulf of Aden, the number of attacks have gone up. But because of the presence of naval vessels, the success rate of the pirates have decreased,"" said Cyrus Mody, manager of the International Maritime Bureau. ""The navies are responding very very effectively."" Piracy accelerated after the fall of the Somali government in the early 1990s and began to flourish after shipping companies started paying ransoms. Those payments started out being in the tens of thousands of dollars and have since climbed into the millions. With the ransoms they collect, pirates can earn up to $40,000 a year, analysts say. That's a fortune for someone from an impoverished country. Some analysts say companies are simply making the problem worse by paying the piracies. ""Yes, the ransoms have probably caused the piracy to become a bit more rampant. But at the same time, from the owner's point of view, there is no other way currently to secure the safe release of the vessel along with the crew and the cargo,"" Mody said. ""It's basically a cycle."" CNN's Saeed Ahmed contributed to this report ."
"(CNN)Thailand could soon recognize a third gender category for the first time in the country's constitution. ""It is a human right if you were born a male or female and you want to have a sex change or lead a life of a different gender,"" said Kamnoon Sittisamarn, the spokesperson of Constitution Drafting Committee, which is working on a new draft of the country's constitution. ""People should have [that] freedom to change sex and they should be equally protected by the Constitution and the law and treated fairly."" Third gender means that an individual does not have to identify as either male or female, and gives their right to self-identify. If enacted, Thailand would join several Asian countries, including India, Pakistan and Nepal, that have recently moved to recognize third gender. This week, the Constitution Drafting Committee, a panel tapped by the current Thai military junta, started work on a new draft. The junta, which calls itself the National Council for Peace and Order, took power in May after a military coup. The old constitution recognizes people of different religion, age, gender -- but had not extended to transgender people. ""It is now time to recognize the existence of the third gender in Thai society,"" said Sittisamarn. ""So we expand the region of protection as well."" ""Hopefully introducing third gender will help reduce discrimination in society."" The Constitution Drafting Committee is expected to consider various components of Thai law and submit it to review by April. The decision to legalize the Constitution will be made on August 6. Acceptance in Thailand . There's a perception that transgender people are well accepted in Thailand, due to the availability of gender reassignment surgery. But challenges still exist, several transgender people living in Bangkok told CNN. ""First of all in Thailand, we're pretty well-accepted, we can walk in the street and we don't have to fear that someone's going to shoot you in the head. At the same time, the most difficult thing is at a professional level, that people don't accept people like us,"" said Jenisa Limpanilchart, a businessperson. It's difficult for transgender people, despite their education level, to get hired and accepted by companies, she added. And matters like which locker room or bathroom to use become a human resources issue. And there is no legal recourse when discrimination occurs, because there have been no laws to protect them, said Kath Khangpiboon, a transgender activist with the Thai Transgender Alliance in Bangkok. Another problem is that the gender marked on government documents doesn't match how individuals identify their gender. When Khangpiboon travels, she gets pulled out of immigration lines for questioning by officials because of the gender marked on her passport. ""For trans people, we cannot change our title name. I'm still a 'mister' in my country. I cannot change my title. My name is Mr. Kath,"" said Khangpiboon, a transgender woman. While recognizing the third gender would not resolve all the challenges, it would be ""history"" for our advocacy work, she added. More nations recognize third gender . Earlier last year, India's Supreme Court granted the country's transsexual and transgender individuals the right to self-identify their gender. Asian countries including Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh have implemented policies recognizing third gender in recent years. Australia started allowing a third gender option in passports in 2011.  According to a 2012 report by the Global Commission on HIV and the Law, 20 countries have passed progressive legislation on the issue, including Argentina, Uruguay, and Portugal. Even as transgender people are no longer forced to conform to specific genders in certain countries, they are still denied acceptance in many societies. Same-sex marriage remains illegal in countries like Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Bhutan. And Thailand does not have plans to legalize same sex marriages in its constitution, said Sittisamarn."
"WASHINGTON (CNN) -- State Department officials should serve where they are needed -- even in war-torn Iraq, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says that ""people need to serve where they are needed."" Rice was responding to foreign service officers' objections to the possibility of ""directed assignments"" in Iraq. The issue has caused an uproar in the State Department, resulting in a contentious town hall-style meeting Wednesday. The new directives would be needed if enough qualified foreign service officers don't step forward to fill open positions at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. If the State Department enforces directed assignments, it will be the first time since the Vietnam War era. One official called the order to serve in Iraq ""a potential death sentence"" during the town meeting. The State Department already has begun notifying about 200 people considered prime candidates. Those chosen will be given 10 days to respond, according to last week's announcement. Unless they have a valid medical reason to refuse, those who decline could face dismissal, it said. Wednesday's heated meeting was replayed on an internal State Department television channel in Washington several times and talked about widely. Some at the hourlong meeting questioned why they were not told of the policy change directly, learning about it instead from news organizations last week.  Watch the diplomats exchange angry words » . ""I just have no respect for the whole process because you've demonstrated a lack of respect for your own colleagues,"" said foreign service officer Jack Croddy. ""Thank you for that comment. It's full of inaccuracies, but that's OK,"" Harry Thomas Jr., director general of the foreign service, shot back. Others pointed out the risks of such assignments, considering the dangers of a war zone, lack of security and regular rocket attacks on U.S. personnel. Rice, who did not attend the meeting, tried to calm things down Friday by underscoring the State Department's attempts to do ""everything that we can to try and protect our diplomats."" However, she said, ""This is one of the highest priority tasks of the United States, and we're going to meet our obligations."" Speaking to reporters en route to Turkey and the Mideast, she said, ""I don't know if we will have direct assignments or not, but we are one foreign service, and people need to serve where they are needed."" The secretary sent out a cable to State Department employees worldwide encouraging them to serve in Iraq. ""This year [U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker] has identified the need for additional positions to more effectively accomplish our mission in Iraq,"" Rice said in the cable. Rice said she has decided to go forward with the identification of  officers to serve, ""should it prove necessary to direct assignments."" ""Should others step forward, as some already have, we will fill these new jobs as we have before -- with volunteers. However, regardless of how the jobs may be filled, they must be filled,"" she said. Rice earlier said reports that the State Department was finding it hard to coax foreign service employees into Iraq ""couldn't be further from the truth."" The assignments are new positions. Fifteen people have stepped forward to volunteer for Iraq service since the new policy was announced October 26, department spokesman Sean McCormack said. McCormack rejected comments by Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-California, that State Department employees are ""nervous Nellies"" and that wounded U.S. military veterans should be asked to fill the Iraq vacancies. McCormack said until now the State Department has been successful in filling jobs in Iraq with volunteers. Since 2003, more than 1,500 personnel have volunteered to go to Iraq, he said. But with the expansion of the staff in Iraq this year, 58 spots were left open. ""They are serving in dangerous and challenging places,"" he said. ""We have a lot of brave people who are stepping up to the plate in Anbar and Basra and Baghdad and Kabul and a lot of other places that are not necessarily in the headlines."" State Department employees have been killed in Iraq, but McCormack could not say how many. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Zain Verjee and Charley Keyes contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Three people have been sentenced to death on Monday for their roles in a deadly attack in Beijing's Tiananmen Square last October, state television CCTV reported on its microblog. Another defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment, while four others received prison terms between five and 20 years. The trial that began on June 13 took place at a court in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in western China. Recently Xinjiang has been at the center of a spate of attacks, labeled terrorism by the authorities. A number of Uyghurs, a Turkic-speaking, predominantly Muslim ethnic group who largely populate the province, have been implicated in an increasingly violent separatism movement. It is unclear what exact role the sentenced people -- with names that sound Uyghur -- played in the Tiananmen incident that occurred October 28, 2013. A vehicle drove through security barriers into a crowd in the square when it crashed into a pedestrian bridge in front of the Forbidden City and burst into flames. The attack killed six people, including three in the vehicle, and wounded 39 others. Police caught all suspects some ten hours after the attack. Not along after the incident, one Islamic militant group called the strike a ""jihadi operation"" and warned of more violence to come. In a speech posted online, Abdullah Mansour, the leader of the Turkestan Islamic Party, said those who carried out the attack were ""mujahideen,"" the SITE Intelligence group said in a report. East Turkestan is the name used by many Uyghur groups to refer to Xinjiang. Some Uyghurs have expressed resentment toward China's Han majority in recent years over what they say is harsh treatment from Chinese security forces and Han people taking the lion's share of economic opportunities in Xinjiang. Uyghurs are said to have faced widespread discrimination, including in employment, housing and educational opportunities, as well as curtailed religious freedom and political marginalization."
"(CNN)Whenever ISIS carries out a new atrocity, whether it's beheading a group of Egyptian Christians or enslaving Yazidi women in Iraq or burning its victims alive, the big question most people have is: Why on Earth is ISIS doing this? What could possibly be the point? Adding to your list of enemies is never a sound strategy, yet ISIS' ferocious campaign against the Shia, Kurds, Yazidis, Christians, and Muslims who don't precisely share its views has united every ethnic and religious group in Syria and Iraq against them. ISIS is even at war with its most natural ally, al Qaeda in Syria. The Nazis and the Khmer Rouge went to great lengths to hide their crimes against humanity. Instead, ISIS posts its many crimes on social media for global distribution with seemingly no thoughts for the consequences. ISIS' beheading of the American journalist James Foley in mid-August galvanized much of the Western world against the group and led to an intensified U.S.-led air campaign against ISIS, which, according to U.S. military officials, has killed at least 6,000 of its fighters. The burning to death by ISIS of the Jordanian pilot, Muath al-Kaseasbeh, galvanized much of the Arab world against the group and has brought Jordan into the U.S.-led campaign against ISIS in a much more aggressive manner. The beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians in Libya by an ISIS affiliate led Egypt's air force on Monday to drop bombs on ISIS positions in eastern Libya. Former CIA director Robert Gates is reported to have kept a maxim on his desk that read, ""As a general rule, the way to achieve complete strategic surprise is to commit an act that makes no sense or is even self-destructive."" ISIS keeps surprising the world and its actions do indeed seem to make no sense or are self-destructive. So what is going on here? A key window into understanding ISIS is its English language ""in-flight magazine"" Dabiq. Last week the seventh issue of Dabiq was released, and a close reading of it helps explains ISIS' world view. The mistake some make when viewing ISIS is to see it as a rational actor. Instead, as the magazine documents, its ideology is that of an apocalyptic cult that believes that we are living in the end times and that ISIS' actions are hastening the moment when this will happen. The name of the Dabiq magazine itself helps us understand ISIS' worldview. The Syrian town of Dabiq is where the Prophet Mohammed is supposed to have predicted that the armies of Islam and ""Rome"" would meet for the final battle that will precede the end of time and the triumph of true Islam. In the recent issue of Dabiq it states: ""As the world progresses towards al-Malhamah al-Kubrā, ('the Great Battle' to be held at Dabiq) the option to stand on the sidelines as a mere observer is being lost."" In other words, in its logic, you are either on the side of ISIS or you are on the side of the Crusaders and infidels. When American aid worker Peter Kassig was murdered by ISIS in November, ""Jihadi John"" -- the masked British murderer who has appeared in so many ISIS videos -- said of Kassig: ""We bury the first crusader in Dabiq, eagerly waiting for the rest of your armies to arrive."" In other words, ISIS wants a Western ground force to invade Syria, as that will confirm the prophecy about Dabiq. We live in an increasingly secularized world, so it's sometimes difficult to take seriously the deeply held religious beliefs of others. For many of us the idea that the end of times will come with a battle between ""Rome"" and Islam at the obscure Syrian town of Dabiq is as absurd as the belief  that the Mayans had that their human sacrifices could influence future events. But for ISIS, the Dabiq prophecy is deadly serious. Members of ISIS believe that they are the vanguard fighting a religious war, which Allah has determined will be won by the forces of true Islam. This is the conclusion of an important forthcoming new book about ISIS by terrorism experts J.M. Berger and Jessica Stern who write that ISIS, like many other ""violent apocalyptic groups, tend to see themselves as participating in a cosmic war between good and evil, in which moral rules do not apply."" This also similar to the conclusion of an excellent new cover story about ISIS in the Atlantic magazine by Graeme Wood who writes, ""Virtually every major decision and law promulgated by the Islamic State (another name for ISIS) adheres to what it calls, in its press and pronouncements, and on its billboards, license plates, stationery, and coins, 'the Prophetic methodology,' which means following the prophecy and example of Muhammad, in punctilious detail. Muslims can reject the Islamic State; nearly all do. But pretending that it isn't actually a religious, millenarian group, with theology that must be understood to be combated, has already led the United States to underestimate it."" Amen to that. ISIS members devoutly believe that they are fighting in a cosmic war in which they are on the side of good, which allows them to kill anyone they perceive to be standing in their way with no compunction. This is, of course, a serious delusion, but serious it is."
"(CNN) -- The simple answer to the question why Pope Francis is headed to South Korea, in the first papal trip to Asia in 25 years, is straightforward. The pope is going to celebrate the sixth Asian Youth Day and beatify 124 martyrs of Korea. But the more complex answer has to take into consideration the Korean Catholic Church's unique history and the pope's theological agenda. These can give us a deeper understanding of why he is making this trip. While South Korea may not be viewed as an overtly Catholic nation (compared to the Philippines, the most Christian nation in Asia), at least 10% of South Korea's population belong to the Church, according to its statistics. The Catholic Church in Korea enjoys a high level of respect from non-Catholics, maintains good relations with other religious communities, and has a history of positive social engagement for the common good. Pope Francis's visit will recognize these accomplishments, a move that will not only please Koreans, but hold up their church as a model of evangelization. Evangelizing in Asia . Since it is Asia that has the greatest potential for the growth of Catholicism, it makes sense to highlight an Asian success story and to recognize the Asian youth who will be called on to continue that growth. Evangelization is in fact a key concern for Pope Francis. His apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, focused on this topic and called for the transformation of the Catholic Church to focus on ""the evangelization of today's world rather than for her self-preservation."" The pope's concept of evangelization does not focus simply on baptizing new Catholics, but, as seen in the chapter from that exhortation entitled ""The Social Dimension of Evangelization,"" also includes a call for the inclusion of the ""homeless, the addicted, refugees, indigenous peoples, [and] the elderly who are increasingly isolated and abandoned."" Moreover, this pope, while recognizing the importance of ordained clergy, decried ""clericalism"" before the publication of this exhortation, sees the laity as having an active role in evangelization. The pope's concerns as expressed in Evengelii Gaudium therefore resonate with the historical accomplishments of the Korean Catholic Church in that it has grown into a relatively large and healthy Catholic community with much of the work of evangelization being conducted by the laity. It is no accident that during his trip the pope will visit Kkottongnae (Flower Village), a Catholic institution devoted to caring for such marginalized groups as the elderly and the homeless, where he will meet with leaders of the Apostolate of the Laity. Origins of Korean Catholic Church . The Korean Catholic Church began with the baptism of a Korean scholar named Yi Seung-hun in Beijing in 1784, who had developed an interest in Catholicism after reading Chinese books on the religion. After his baptism, Yi returned to Korea and began baptizing others, so that there were already 4,000 Catholics there before a missionary -- a Chinese priest named Father James Zhou Wen-mo, himself one of the martyrs to be beatified -- arrived in 1794. The Korean state could not tolerate the existence of a foreign religion whose members recognized a deity outside government control and persecuted the new church. Catholics were given the choice of giving up their religion or being sentenced to death, with several thousands choosing the latter and becoming martyrs. Despite these persecutions, the church managed to survive and rebuild itself multiple times. While foreign missionaries played an important role, much of the work of maintaining the community and spreading the faith was carried out by the laity. The coming of religious tolerance in the late 19th century led to an increase in the number of Catholics, but it was not until the 1960s that the Catholic Church in Korea began to grow quickly. While that growth has slowed down in recent years, the church is quite healthy, with its approximately five million members, according to the church. At the same time, it must be stressed that the Korean Catholic Church faces challenges. Growth has declined, and many newly baptized Catholics leave the faith or become lukewarm. Likewise, Korean society has many of the difficulties post-industrial societies in the West face, such as the ""unbridled consumerism"" the pope decried in his apostolic exhortation. It is here that one can see the importance of the martyrs who the pope will beatify. In their stories, one sees Catholics giving up wealth, sex, and even life itself out of their love for others and for God. The pope will no doubt highlight how their devotion to the faith led to the growth and development of the Catholic Community in Korea, allowing him to echo the themes found in his exhortation. The fact that he will beatify these martyrs in Korea the day after Koreans celebrate their independence from Japan, will not be missed by Koreans. The pope likely hopes that this recognition, and the teaching opportunity it provides, will renew evangelization in Korea, and through it, the world."
"Atlanta (CNN) -- One of the countries hard hit by the Ebola outbreak in West Africa is not able to cope, a health worker said, calling on the international community to step up support. Anja Wolz, emergency coordinator for Doctors Without Borders, spoke to CNN on Tuesday from an Ebola facility in Kailahun, Sierra Leone. ""I think that the government and the ministry of health here in Sierra Leone is not able to deal with this outbreak. We need much more help from international organizations -- as WHO, as CDC, as other organizations -- to come to support the government,"" Wolz said. ""Still we have unsafe burials; people who are doing the burial without disinfection of the body; still we have patients who are hiding themselves; still we have patients or contacts of patients who are running away because they are afraid."" Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia are at the center of an Ebola outbreak that has already killed more than 800 people. The global concern over the spread of the virus has reached Saudi Arabia, where a man is in critical condition after recently returning from Sierra Leone. The 40-year-old man has symptoms of a viral hemorrhagic fever, the Saudi Health Ministry said Tuesday. The source of his infection is unknown, but Ebola cannot be ruled out, the ministry said. ""This is the biggest and most complex Ebola outbreak in history,"" Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a statement. ""It will take many months, and it won't be easy, but Ebola can be stopped,"" he said. ""We know what needs to be done."" The virus has already been confirmed outside of the three main countries. A Nigerian doctor has been diagnosed with Ebola nearly three weeks after a Liberian-American man with Ebola died after traveling to Lagos, Nigerian officials said Monday. Nigerian Minister of Health Onyebuchi Chukwu told reporters that the infected physician had been treating Patrick Sawyer, a top government official in the Liberian Ministry of Finance who died of Ebola in a Nigerian hospital July 20. Eight other people are being quarantined and three are awaiting Ebola test results, the health minister said. Read more about Patrick Sawyer's death . Meanwhile, the World Health Organization reports an outbreak of the virus in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria is believed to have infected 1,603 people and killed more than 887 this year, as of Friday. The United States is planning to send 50 health experts to West Africa to help contain the outbreak, which President Barack Obama addressed in remarks Tuesday, saying the citizens of the affected countries are in Americans' thoughts and prayers. Frieden said the 50 experts from the CDC will work to combat the outbreak and help implement stronger systems to fight the disease. The Ebola virus causes viral hemorrhagic fever, which affects multiple organ systems in the body and is often accompanied by bleeding. Early symptoms include sudden onset of fever, weakness, muscle pain, headaches and a sore throat. They later progress to vomiting, diarrhea, impaired kidney and liver function -- and sometimes internal and external bleeding. An Ebola patient had not been treated within U.S. borders until last week, but the CDC has spearheaded efforts to prepare for the deadly virus. 5 reasons not to panic about Ebola in the U.S. It helped create an isolation unit at Emory University Hospital, which is being used to treat American doctor Kent Brantly, who contracted Ebola in Liberia and was evacuated to the facility in Atlanta over the weekend. A second American patient, Nancy Writebol, arrived from Liberia on Tuesday. She will undergo treatment at the same unit. Emory is one of four U.S. institutions capable of providing such treatment. But in the nations hardest-hit and not as prepared, the reality is grim. Even in the best-case scenario, it could take three to six months to stem the epidemic in West Africa, Frieden said. Ebola spreads through contact with organs and bodily fluids such as blood, saliva, urine and other secretions of infected people. It has no cure. The most common treatment requires supporting organ functions and maintaining bodily fluids such as blood and water long enough for the body to fight off the infection. Ebola also claimed the life of a medical director at a hospital in Liberia's capital, Monrovia. Dr. Patrick Nshamdze tested positive Tuesday after being sick for two weeks. He died Saturday. In Sierra Leone, where government officials have asked citizens to stay away from work, the military has deployed at least 750 medical officials to 13 locations, military spokesman Col. Michael Samura said. Health officials are screening incoming and outgoing passengers at the country's main international airport with a device that takes people's temperature from their eyes at a distance. People showing signs of fever are quarantined and their blood is tested. On Tuesday, Liberia responded to British Airways' decision to suspend service to Monrovia because of the outbreak. ""The government of Liberia regrets that British Airways has suspended flights to and from Liberia until the end of August. However, we fully understand that international airlines must keep the safety of customers and crew as their highest priority,"" it said. ""We will continue to work around the clock with our international partners to ensure all our key international ports of entry are secure from any transfer of Ebola, both incoming or outgoing."" What is the risk of catching Ebola on a plane? Experts: U.S. health care system well-prepared for Ebola . Ebola's frontline: Battling fear and deadly virus . CNN's David McKenzie contributed to this report from Freetown, Sierra Leone. Journalist Heather Murdock reported from Nigeria. CNN's Fred Pleitgen, Faith Karimi, Nana Karikari-apau and Christabelle Fombu also contributed to this report."
"Washington (CNN) -- Attorney General Eric Holder says the Justice Department plans to expand a review of police tactics to update training, technology and other standards around the nation. The aim, in part, is to produce broad national recommendations to enhance officers' safety, help them deal with new threats and also boost the use of technology such as police car and body cameras. In the wake of complaints about police handling of protests in Ferguson, Missouri, critics likely will also push for new standards to address police crowd control tactics and the use of force. The protests followed the shooting death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer in August. Associations representing police officers and executives have supported the idea of a commission to review standards. Holder, who speaks to a gathering of police officers in Little Rock, Arkansas, on Wednesday, plans to announce his support for such a commission to do the most expansive review of police tactics in 50 years. Holder on Supreme Court's Ohio early voting decision: A 'step backward' Holder, in prepared remarks, said the goal of the ongoing review is to ""swiftly confront emerging threats, better address persistent challenges, and thoroughly examine the latest tools and technologies to enhance the safety, and the effectiveness, of law enforcement."" An ongoing review is already doing some of the work. But Holder says expanding it would ""consider the profession in a comprehensive way and to provide strong, national direction on a scale not seen since President Lyndon Johnson's Commission on Law Enforcement nearly half a century ago."" Excerpts of his speech were provided by the Justice Department before delivery. Holder's speech is also intended to mark the 20th anniversary of a landmark crime law that created the federal COPS grants program, which funds community policing in cities around the country."
"Washington (CNN) -- A Washington lawyer has filed a lawsuit in federal court, claiming he is the father of basketball star LeBron James. Leicester Stovell alleges that the athlete and his family have been involved in a cover-up to deny paternity by committing fraud and misrepresentation. He told HLN's ""Prime News"" on Thursday that he wants ""a carefully structured and secure DNA test"" to prove he's the NBA all-star's father. Stovell says he has been trying for three years to establish paternity and is seeking $4 million in damages. An earlier test ruled out the possibility, but he said the test could have been tampered with -- ""and there are indications that there was a motivation."" Stovell said he had sex with James' mother, Gloria James, after meeting at a Washington bar while she was visiting from Ohio in 1984. A few months later, she told him she was pregnant, but did not say whether he was the father. Stovell said his only request was that the child, if a boy, play basketball. He said his memory of the encounter resurfaced more than 20 years later, ""after being asked whether I had a son, and I then systematically explored all of my past for that possibility."" ""I came across this set of recollections and in focusing on them, they amplified,"" he said. In the complaint, filed June 23, Stovell says, ""I recently have concluded that a comprehensive, sophisticated and well-funded effort might well have been underway for quite some time, perhaps beginning in its present form as early as when defendant LeBron James was in high school, to frustrate identification of his real father, and that there is a likelihood that the father in question is me."" He stopped short of saying he is certain he is James' father. ""I don't want to make such a definitive statement in the absence of corroborative evidence"" such as DNA, he said. Stovell said he filed the suit two weeks ago because a statute of limitations was about to expire. ""I have some limitation considerations that caused me to want to file the suit before the end of June,"" he said. He denied the timing had anything to do with the current LeBron mania. James is scheduled to announce Thursday evening the team he has chosen to play for next season, a deal worth perhaps tens of millions of dollars or more. He currently plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers. He says he was informed by Gloria James months later that she was pregnant. He claims she told him the child would be named LeBron, similar to Leicester Bryce, Stovell's first and middle names. The lawsuit states Gloria James was 16 at the time of the alleged encounter, but Stovell said she told him she was in her early 20s. Stovell is a solo legal practitioner in the District of Columbia, and filed the lawsuit on his own behalf. A call to LeBron James' attorney, Frederick Nance of Cleveland, Ohio, was not immediately returned. The lawsuit had been filed without much initial publicity, but was reported by the TMZ celebrity website Wednesday. Public records show Stovell is a former government attorney with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He filed a lawsuit in 2002 against the agency, alleging racial discrimination. Federal court records show the case was settled when the commission paid him $230,000, while not admitting fault. CNN's Jason Kessler contributed to this report ."
"(CNN Student News) -- April 10, 2014 . Stories covered this Thursday include a mass stabbing at a Pennsylvania high school, a recall by the world's largest carmaker, and an examination of how the Civil Rights Act made history 50 years ago. We also continue our coverage of Financial Literacy Month and show you how a British company reinvented a set of wheels. On this page you will find today's show Transcript, the Daily Curriculum, and a place for you to leave feedback. TRANSCRIPT . Click here to access the transcript of today's CNN Student News program. Please note that there may be a delay between the time when the video is available and when the transcript is published. DAILY CURRICULUM . Click here for a printable version of the Daily Curriculum (PDF). Media Literacy Question of the Day: . What images would you choose to incorporate into a video about life in the 1960s? Why? Key Concepts: Identify or explain these subjects you heard about in today's show: . 1. Fort Hood . 2. APR . 3. Civil Rights Act of 1964 . Fast Facts: How well were you listening to today's program? 1. What happened yesterday at Franklin Regional Senior High School near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania? What heroic action by a student may have saved another's life? 2. What is the world's largest automaker? How many of its models are affected by its latest recalls? How many cars are being recalled worldwide? What car parts may be affected by this recall? 3. What was the goal of the Civil Rights Act of 1964? According to the report, why were some in Congress opposed to it? What is a filibuster? Who used this strategy to try to kill the bill? Who was the U.S. president who worked to get it passed? How did he accomplish this? 4. What is unique about the bicycle seen in the video that is produced by the Brompton Company? What is innovation? According to one of the company's directors, why is innovation important to a business, even if it was first to market a new product? Discussion Questions: . 1. What images and sounds are often included in memorials for fallen soldiers? How might the appearance of a president, as commander-in-chief, be important to the families of fallen or injured troops? 2. If there were already constitutional amendments addressing civil rights, why do you think that federal civil rights legislation was passed in 1964? How might the country have been different had this law not passed? 3. What homework would you want to do before applying for college financial aid? What kind of information would help you weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each option? If you were in the market for a loan, how would you go about finding one that had a low APR? 4. Why do you think that companies strive to innovate? What companies or businesses would you classify as innovative? Why do you think they have an edge when it comes to innovation? CNN Student News is created by a team of journalists and educators who consider the Common Core State Standards, national standards in different subject areas, and state standards when producing the show and curriculum. We hope you use our free daily materials along with the program, and we welcome your feedback on them. FEEDBACK . We're looking for your feedback about CNN Student News. Please use this page to leave us comments about today's program, including what you think about our stories and our resources. Also, feel free to tell us how you use them in your classroom. The educators on our staff will monitor this page and may respond to your comments as well. Thank you for using CNN Student News! Click here to submit your Roll Call request."
"LONGMONT, Colorado (CNN) -- A Colorado solar-energy company has high hopes for the economic stimulus bill that President Barack Obama will sign Tuesday in Denver. AVA Solar CEO Pascal Noronha holds one of the solar panels his company produces. Obama touts that the stimulus bill will help create up to a half a million so-called ""green"" jobs in the field of alternative energy. Colorado has a growing green energy industry. Executives of AVA Solar, based in Fort Collins, Colorado, are among green energy industry representatives invited to the bill signing. AVA Solar has its plant in Longmont, about 30 minutes north of Denver. The plant, set to begin production in the spring, will construct solar panels for solar power plants. Once production is up to speed, CEO Pascal Noronha says, the plant should create enough solar panels a year to power 40,000 U.S. homes. Noronha says AVA Solar needs two things: Government loans to expand its factory, and more government assistance to help power companies commit to building large solar power plants in the United States. iReport.com: What would you fix first? Noronha says those two moves would help AVA Solar create 1,000 to 2,000 new jobs in its factory, plus added employment for its suppliers. The company, founded in 2007, currently has 175 employees. Without the stimulus, Noronha said, AVA Solar is on track to create 420 new jobs by the end of this year. AVA Solar currently operates on $175 million in U.S.-based private venture capital. In 2007 the company also received $3 million in seed money from the U.S. Department of Energy. Noronha says Obama is on the right track in terms of the stimulus bill. ""What everybody needs is a little seed money because five years from now there's no question [that] solar has to replace the oil that we import,"" Noronha says. ""What the government needs to do is provide the traction that is needed to get the first few projects on the ground."" ""We need money from the federal government ... to facilitate production immediately,"" the CEO adds. ""Otherwise, we will be sitting and waiting for projects in the U.S., and if we have to wait one year or two years -- when we're able to produce a solution for this country today -- that is a really good reason for the government to say, 'Here it is, let's go.' "" Noronha says his company's biggest customer base is in Germany, a country that is far ahead of the United States in embracing solar energy. Obtaining U.S. customers is a priority, he explains. ""As a company we would very much like to have customers here in the U.S.,"" Noronha says. ""The government needs to be able to facilitate these customers by making it possible for them to put large-scale power plants up."" Noronha is optimistic about the stimulus bill and the direction of the Obama administration. ""If you look at the vision of the president, you know he is looking out in the future and saying we've got to reduce our dependence on foreign oil,"" Noronha says. ""Well, to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, there is only renewable energy. And there are two forms that are promising -- one is wind and the other is solar. And solar, you've got the sun's resources all over the world."""
"(CNN) -- Max Page, the 7-year-old who played a mini Darth Vader in a Volkswagen commercial, is recovering from open heart surgery, his doctor and mother said Thursday. Max Page: Meet the face behind the Force . ""Max is out of surgery and he's doing well,"" said his surgeon, Dr. Vaughn Starnes at Children's Hospital in Los Angeles. ""Max is in the cardiac ICU and recovering very well."" Max underwent the surgery to replace a pulmonary heart valve. Max's mother, Jennifer Page, described the recovery to CNN in an e-mail as ""a very frightening place. In the beginning stages it is filled with beeps, tubes and strange terminology."" She asked for payers for Max to begin to wake up and to have as little pain as possible, adding that, ""He hurts, can't have water and is disoriented."" Max's family waited in the lounge next door during surgery, his mother said, adding that his younger brother Els made him a special recovery pillow and offered a silent prayer by Max's side once the operation was complete. Max is known for playing the role of a mini Darth Vader character who goes around his parents' house trying to use ""the Force"" on various household items without much success. He eventually tries his luck on his parents' car, and much to his surprise, it starts. Well, with a little help from the remote start fob one of his parents uses from inside the house. Max was born with tetralogy of fallot, a congenital heart defect that in this case affected the function of his pulmonary valve, which helps the flow of blood through the heart. After a number of measures to preserve his pulmonary valve, doctor's replaced it with a porcine valve that should last 10-15 years, according to the Children's Hospital website."
"(CNN) -- The figure peers down silently from an upper floor of the ruins of a Scottish castle, wearing what looks like an outfit from the Middle Ages. Could this be a long-dead Scottish earl, or just a random, modern-day visitor? The mysterious image captured by Chris Aitchison at Tantallon Castle in eastern Scotland. The eerie image is captured in a photograph taken by tourist Christopher Aitchison in May 2008 at Tantallon Castle, which sits on a rocky outcrop along the Scottish coast, east of Edinburgh. The ""person"" appears to be wearing an old-style greenish ruff around the neck. Aitchison insists he did not tamper with the image and cannot explain it. ""I was not aware of anyone, or anything, being present in my picture, only noticing the anomaly when I got home,"" Aitchison said. ""Staff have verified that there were no sinister dummies in period costume or historical reenactments going on that day at the castle. I did not notice any nice old ladies wearing ruffs walking around the stairs!"" The picture was made public Friday by Richard Wiseman, a professor of psychology at the University of Hertfordshire who also studies the paranormal. Wiseman said he was looking for ""photographic evidence for ghosts"" ahead of a session on the subject at the Edinburgh International Science Festival next week.  See gallery of haunted photographs » . Wiseman solicited such photos from around the world and collated them for the conference. He said the majority of images showed mysterious-looking orbs, mists, figures and faces. In one picture, a face appears in the side-view mirror of a parked Mercedes convertible. The photographer insists no one was around when he took the picture; skeptics say the mirror could be reflecting the headrest or be the result of digital manipulation. Another photo of a person walking through a creek in the woods appears to show a second person wearing a hooded sweatshirt, standing on a rock nearby. Skeptics say the ""figure"" is an illusion created by tree branches and the rock formation in the background. Two friends raising a drink to the camera in a third photograph are joined by a ghostly third figure in the background with a face that looks like a Halloween monster mask. ""Many of the photographs can be easily explained,"" said photographer Gordon Rutter, who also examined the pictures. ""Orbs can be caused by the camera flash reflecting off tiny dust particles, mists can result from condensed breath in front of the lens, long exposures can create ghostly figures, and apparent faces are often people seeing patterns in random shapes."" But the ""ghost"" in the Scottish castle has generated the most attention. What do you think about the image? Tantallon Castle was built in the 1350s by a nobleman and soon became the stronghold of the Douglas dynasty. For 300 years, the Douglas earls of Angus held sway at the castle as one of the most powerful families in Scotland, according to Historic Scotland, which looks after historic sites for the Scottish government. The castle also was the scene of violence, enduring three great sieges: in 1491, 1528 and 1651. The last, by Oliver Cromwell's army, resulted in such destruction that the fortress was abandoned. It remains the ""last truly great castle"" built in Scotland, with enormously thick and high stone walls enclosing large courtyards, and high stone towers. That stonework could explain the mysterious figure in the photograph, having caused unusual shadows. It is also possible that a member of the public was standing there when the picture was taken, Wiseman said -- in which case, he hopes they will come forward. ""I think it's probably a person who's been caught in slightly odd dress,"" Wiseman told CNN. ""We know the day it was taken ... so somebody might come forward to say, 'That was me.'"" He added, ""If they can explain it, e-mail me. Or indeed, if they have photos they think are better, e-mail them to me."" A similar mystery happened five years ago at another medieval site, Hampton Court Palace, built by King Henry VIII west of London. A security camera captured a figure in period dress opening a window, peering out, then closing it again. Palace officials insisted at the time that no one was in the room, and they were at a loss to explain the figure. It later emerged that a member of staff wearing a medieval costume was the person in the video."
"(CNN) -- This Christmas, don't feel pressured to attend yet another holiday party. If you'd rather stay in and enjoy a relaxing day in front of the television, you do have options. For the Christmas-lover, ABC Family will be running a marathon of holiday films, from The Santa Clause to National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. But if you're not as excited about more holiday cheer, there are other options, such as a Doctor Who marathon or an evening spent with Duck Dynasty. We've rounded up your marathon options below: . *Note: Final time is when final episode begins; all in ET . ABC Family Christmas movies (11 a.m. to 9 p.m.) Doctor Who (BBC, 8 a.m. -- 5 p.m.) followed by Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor at 6 p.m., and additional specials Doctor Who: Farewell to Matt Smith at 8 p.m. and Doctor Who: The Time of the Doctor at 9 p.m. And if you miss them the first time around, the specials will air again immediately after The Time of the Doctor ends. Hawaii Life (HGTV, 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.) Nightmare Next Door (ID, 2 a.m. to noon) Man v. Food Nation (Travel, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.) followed by Man v. Food (1 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.) Undercover Boss (TLC, Noon to next day) Holmes Inspection (DIY, 7 a.m. to 11 a.m.) followed by Holmes Makes It Right (Noon to next day) A Christmas Carol on repeat starting at 12:05 p.m. (FXM) Duck Dynasty (A&E, 6 p.m. through next day) A Christmas Story on repeat starting on Christmas Eve and running until 6 p.m. Christmas Day (TBS) ""Oy! To The World: A Mel Brooks Christmas Marathon"" in which Brooks hosts a marathon of his most acclaimed films, from The Producers to Robin Hood: Men in Tights. (Sundance, starting at 6 a.m.) ""A Very Quentin X-mas"" marathon will feature Quentin Tarantino's films, such as Reservoir Dogs, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Kill Bill Vol. 2.(ENCORE, starting at 11:30 a.m.) See the original story at EW.com . CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly . © 2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved."
"Washington (CNN) -- New details emerged of what the White House knew about the Internal Revenue Service targeting of conservative groups, with spokesman Jay Carney disclosing Chief of Staff Denis McDonough was among the top officials made aware of the matter late last month. In a new timeline provided by Carney to reporters on Monday, General Counsel Kathryn Ruemmler learned on April 24 of a pending Treasury inspector general's report on how IRS staff used criteria targeting conservative groups in assessing eligibility for tax-exempt status. According to Carney, Ruemmler told McDonough as well as other Treasury officials about the pending report. It was the first time the White House acknowledged that McDonough was aware of the report before it became public in early May. IRS: By the numbers . In addition, Carney made clear that the information Ruemmler received on April 24 included details of improper acts by IRS officials. At the same time, Carney emphasized that the information was preliminary and could have changed before the inspector general released his final report on May 14. Carney insisted no one -- including Ruemmler and McDonough -- told President Barack Obama anything about the inspector general's pending report before media reports about it began appearing on May 10. ""We knew the subject of the investigation and we knew the nature of some of the potential findings, but we did not have a copy of the draft report,"" Carney said. ""We did not know the details, the scope, or the motivation surrounding the misconduct and we did not know who was responsible. Most importantly, the report was not final and still very much subject to change."" Opinion: What happened to Obama's promise? However, the new information on Monday continued a perception of a White House on the defensive over the issue, one of at least three controversies dogging Obama as his second term reaches the four-month mark. The Senate Finance Committee will hold the second congressional hearing on the matter Tuesday, after the House Ways and Means Committee grilled the outgoing acting commissioner of the IRS last Friday. On Monday, the Senate panel's Democratic chairman and ranking Republican sent a letter to the IRS official, Steven Miller, seeking an exhaustive list of information about the case. Another hearing is set for Wednesday by a third panel -- the House Oversight Committee. Some Republicans are calling for a special investigation into the IRS matter, in which tax officers assessing applications for tax-exempt status used key words such as ""tea party"" in determining levels of scrutiny. CNN Poll: Likability helps Obama survive brutal week . Separately on Monday, a Northern California tea party group filed the first lawsuit against the U.S. government stemming from the IRS targeting. ""The IRS and its agents singled out groups like NorCal Tea Party Patriots for intensive and intrusive scrutiny, probing their members' associates, speech, activities and beliefs,"" according to the suit filed in Cincinnati. ""NorCal and its members suffered years of delay and expense while awaiting the exemption and spending valuable time and money answering the IRS' questions. The result was a muffling and muzzling of free expression"" the lawsuit claimed. The group alleged violations under the Privacy Act as well as violations of its constitutional rights guaranteeing free expression and equal protection under the law. Opinion: We're pointing a gun at our democracy . Carney offered the new timeline in response to the first question at his daily media briefing, when a reporter noted ""confusion"" over what Ruemmler was told about the inspector general report in late April. He noted the report found no outside intervention in the IRS targeting of what he called ""inappropriate scrutinizing of conservative groups"" seeking tax-exempt status, and that no one in the White House intervened in the inspector general's review or ""did anything that could be see as intervening."" In addition, Carney said, the misconduct had stopped in May 2012, almost a year before Ruemmler or anyone else at the White House were told of it by anyone at Treasury. At the same time, Carney disclosed that White House and Treasury officials discussed the pending inspector general's report in the weeks before its formal release, even though he said no one told Obama about it. The White House first was notified of the upcoming report, known as an audit, on April 16, he said, calling that a routine notification also provided to Congress. Ruemmler was told about it eight days later and she informed McDonough and others about it shortly thereafter, Carney said. ""Ruemmler was informed that the inspector general for tax administration was completing a report about line IRS employees improperly scrutinizing what are known 501(c)(4) organizations by using words such as 'tea party' and 'patriot',"" he said. In particular, Carney said that ""at no time did anyone on the White House staff intervene with the IRS inspector general audit."" ""There were communications between the White House Counsel's office and White House Chief of Staff's office with Treasury Office of General Counsel and Treasury's Chief of Staff office to understand the anticipated timing of the release of the report and potential findings by the"" inspector general, he said, but added that Ruemmler acted properly in not informing the president. IRS official denies intentional political targeting, lying to Congress . ""The cardinal rule, as I said, is you do not intervene in an independent investigation and you do not do anything that would be, that would give such an appearance particularly when the final conclusions, as was the case here, have not been reached,"" Carney said. ""That is the doctrine we followed and the bottom line is, and this isn't just the most important fact, it is what we have said from the beginning - neither the White House nor Treasury intervened in the inspector general's audit."" Last week, Miller blamed a huge increase in workload, rather than deliberate targeting, for ""foolish mistakes"" in the political discrimination cited by the inspector general's report. He told the House Ways and Means Committee that the IRS division handling requests for tax exempt status was overwhelmed by a surge that followed the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision. ""I think that what happened here was that foolish mistakes were made by people who were trying to be more efficient in their workload selection,"" Miller said, calling the practices described in the inspector general's report as ""intolerable"" and a ""mistake,"" but ""not an act of partisanship."" He apologized for what he later called ""horrible customer service,"" but he also stubbornly rejected any accusation that it amounted to politicizing the work of the IRS. However, Republicans noted the increased requests for tax exempt status didn't kick in until 2011, months after the targeting began, according to the inspector general's report. Rep. Dave Camp, chairman of the Republican-led panel, and other GOP members sought to depict the controversy as indicative of government gone wild, with the IRS abusing conservative groups and other political foes of the administration. Democrats on the committee also expressed outrage at the targeting of conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status, but they pointed out that the top IRS official at the time was appointed by Republican President George W. Bush, not Obama. Opinion: IRS scandal is about donors, not tax . They also noted that the inspector general's report stated there was no evidence of any political motivation for what happened, or influence from outside the IRS. The Treasury Department oversees the quasi-independent IRS. Some Republicans are trying to find a link between the Obama administration and the IRS targeting. According to the inspector general's report, the IRS developed and followed a faulty policy to determine whether the applicants were engaged in political activities, which would disqualify the groups from receiving tax-exempt status. The controversial move began in early 2010 and continued for more than 18 months, the report said, declaring that ""the IRS used inappropriate criteria that identified for review Tea Party and other organizations applying for tax-exempt status based upon their names or policy positions instead of indications of potential political campaign intervention."" Among the criteria used by IRS officials to flag applications was a ""Be On the Look Out"" list, which was discontinued in 2012, the report said. Conservative groups complain their requests were delayed for months or even years through the targeting that sought to prevent ineligible political groups from getting tax exempt status. Miller testified Friday that determining the political nature of groups was one of the hardest tasks of IRS officers tasked with assessing requests for tax exempt status. The investigation by the Treasury inspector general for tax administration was initiated after congressional complaints began to surface in the media in 2012 that the IRS was targeting conservative groups and holding up applications. In a written response included in the report, the IRS commissioner of the Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division said there was no criminal behavior behind the actions of the agents, but rather inefficient management. Obama called the inspector general's findings outrageous and forced Miller's resignation. In addition, the commissioner of the IRS' Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division also announced his retirement Thursday. Joseph Grant will leave in June, according to an internal IRS memo provided to CNN. Miller also is scheduled to exit then. Obama has appointed Danny Werfel, a White House budget office official who has served in both Democratic and Republican administrations, to succeed Miller through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Obama counter-punches in effort to regain political balance . CNN's Dana Bash contributed to this report."
"Dakar, Senegal (CNN) -- Polls closed Sunday in Senegal where citizens voted in an election overshadowed by violence as protesters demand the elderly president refrain from seeking another term. President Abdoulaye Wade, 85, was booed and jeered when he cast his ballot at a polling station in the middle-class neighborhood of Point E. He did not address the crowd, looked visibly frustrated at one point, and made some sort of gesture to the crowd, which also included some of his supporters. If a candidate does not win 50% of the vote, a runoff election will be held next month in the West African nation. ""We've had enough of this regime of thieves and assassins. We will defeat them here,"" said Cheikh Gassama, a voter at the Point E station. As the president arrived, he and other chanted ""Na Dem,"" which means ""step down"" in Senegal's predominant Wolof language. Senegal is one of the continent's most stable democracies. Past elections have included a smooth transition of power, a rarity in a region with a history of election chaos, civil wars and coups. Turnout on Sunday was low, according to Thijs Berman, chief observer of the European Union monitoring mission. ""Early in the morning, you saw long queues of people in front of polling stations but, later in the day, there were much less people and it seems that the turnout is below 50%,"" he said. ""There was high political tension before these elections, so it is surprising that so few people came to vote."" Wade is seeking re-election despite deadly demonstrations after the country's highest court cleared him to seek a third term. Protests have occurred in Senegal since the Constitutional Council's January 27 ruling. Opposition demonstrators argue that the court was compromised and the constitution limits presidents to two terms. The incumbent successfully argued that he is exempt because he took office before the term limit was put in place. The president, who has been in office since 2000, was once hailed as a visionary, but his popularity has plummeted. ""Wade built schools, roads and hospitals,"" said Ayo Johnson, an analyst on African affairs. ""His leadership has now failed. ... There are increasing levels of poverty, inequality, lack of jobs and an increasing numbers of disillusioned youth."" Wade ran against 13 other candidates on Sunday's ballot. ""Senegal is at a crossroad. A people whose patience has run out, a leader who's out of touch, a constitution not reflective of popular sentiments and an opposition that is unable to put aside party differences with a common purpose to defeat Wade,"" Johnson said. Protesters calling for his ouster have clashed on the streets, with at least three people killed during demonstrations last weekend, an opposition leader said. At least two others died in previous clashes. A presidential spokesman has accused opposition candidates and their supporters of fueling ""urban guerrilla warfare"" leading up to Sunday's vote. But Amath Dansokho, head of the opposition June 23 Movement, blamed police for the escalating violence, saying they were responsible for some deaths during demonstrations in Dakar and Rufisque this month. The presidential spokesman denied the police or military were involved in the deaths. The opposition June 23 Movement, or M23, is named after the date of protests last summer that forced Wade to withdraw a constitutional amendment that would have nearly guaranteed his victory in this month's election. West Africa has a history of political strife, but Senegal has largely maintained peace and has never experienced a military coup. CNN's Umaro Djau contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Getting ahead in your career is not just about being successful; it's about being noticed. So how do you stand out to be hired by potential employers? How do you stand out for a promotion to a superior? How do you stand out as loyal to the people you are leading? It's simple: do the things that others aren't willing to do. Whether you're a leader, a team member, or a candidate, success comes from having the discipline to do the things that you know you should be doing, even when you don't feel like doing them. When you practice this kind of self discipline regularly, you'll naturally stand out from the pack -- because most people avoid the hard stuff. It's just easier to put it off. But the truth is that what feels easy now creates problems down the line. And what feels hard now -- doing the stuff you don't feel like -- makes everything easier in the long-term. Self discipline doesn't have to be hard -- you just have to change the way you think about it. Read more: Ambition could make you reach, but not happy . Successful people have mastered the art of self discipline. I've spent the last 10 years studying and coaching some of the most successful people in business, figuring out what makes them different. They're not smarter or more talented than the average person -- they just consistently do what others aren't willing to do by keeping three principles in mind: . Do it scared. Fear is one of the biggest saboteurs of our goals, because it inhibits action. The next time you feel yourself putting something off because you're afraid -- of uncertainty or failure -- just ""do it scared."" I once heard a true story of a woman who was trapped in a burning building on the 80th floor. She was terrified of heights and enclosed spaces, and when the fire alarm went off, she refused to follow her colleagues into the stairwell to evacuate to safety. The firemen did a sweep of the building and found her hiding under her desk, waiting to die. She was screaming ""I'm scared, I'm scared!"" as the firemen insisted she walk down the stairwell. Until one fireman said: ""that's OK, just do it scared."" He repeated it all the way down the 80 flights of stairs, until he brought her to safety. We've all faced these moments in our careers -- when you know what has to be done, but your fear holds you back. In order to stand out, you must develop the habit of acting in the face of fear. It's fine to be scared -- do it scared. It's fine to be unsure -- do it unsure. It's fine to be uncomfortable -- do it uncomfortable. Just do something. This is the attitude of the most disciplined and successful people on the planet. They might be scared, but they do it anyways. And by just doing something, you create movement and momentum that will lead to progress and results. Read more: Realize your potential, 'dare to be different' Habits, not results. Perfectionism is one of the most common reasons people procrastinate, and we've all done it at some point. The best way to overcome this impulse is to put your self esteem into stellar work habits instead of results. It can take a while to see the fruits of your labor -- whether you're spearheading a new initiative, trying to launch a business, or planning a second act career. To keep yourself motivated, take pride in sticking to your work habits, rather than looking for immediate results. In time, success will follow. Remember the big picture. The pursuit of any goal will inevitably face a number of obstacles. The difference between those who stand out in the careers and those who blend in lies in what you do when you reach these critical turning points. Do you hesitate and turn back? Or do you press forward? When you feel frustrated, depressed, or disappointed, don't give up -- just get some perspective. I have a mental reminder that helps me push past these hurdles. I hold my pen up to my eye and stare directly down the barrel. Then, I pull it away and look at it in its entirety. It's a quick way to remind myself to look at my life in the same way. Stop fixating on the here and now, and think about the big picture. Today's challenges may not make sense, but you must have faith that over the long-term, they will be nothing more than blips on the radar screen. Having this perspective and faith will help you press forward at the moments when others turn back. Contrary to popular belief, people who have reached the highest levels in their careers aren't necessarily better educated, more talented or better connected. Neither are they simply more motivated or harder workers. Rather, successful people have realized that getting to the top means that they first have to do the things that they don't want to do related to their goals. It's not about enjoying self discipline -- it's about adopting a few new ways of thinking that simply make discipline easier to endure. And when you develop the habit of doing things that others won't do, you're putting yourself on the fast track to the route to the top. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Rory Vaden."
"LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Michael Jackson's family and about 200 of their closest friends gathered on a hill Thursday evening for their final farewell to the pop singer, who died 10 weeks ago. Thursday's service for singer Michael Jackson began 90 minutes past the announced start time. Jackson's burial may lay to rest some of the mystery and controversy that erupted with his sudden death on June 25. His large family was divided over where the superstar's final resting place should be, but matriarch Katherine Jackson settled on a crypt inside the well-guarded and ornate Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn cemetery in Glendale, California. Thursday's service began 90 minutes past the announced start time, leaving dozens of celebrities -- including Elizabeth Taylor -- waiting in their seats for the 26 cars carrying the Jackson clan to arrive.  Gallery: Invitation for Jackson's service » . It began with Jackson's five brothers -- each wearing a single sequined glove -- carrying his flower-covered bronze casket onto the outdoor stage among six large bouquets of white lilies and white roses, along with green topiaries. His three children, led by daughter, Paris, 11, placed a crown atop their father's coffin, which a family spokesman said it was ""to signify the final resting place of the King of Pop."" Jackson's children, parents and siblings took their seats in the front row, while his nieces and nephews filled several rows of white chairs behind them. After an opening prayer by Pastor Lucius Smith, soul music legend Gladys Knight sang the gospel hymn ""His Eye Is on the Sparrow."" Clifton Davis sang ""Never Can Say Goodbye,"" a hit he wrote for The Jackson 5 -- the group that featured a young Michael and his brothers. What was said by Jackson's father, Joe Jackson, and others who took the lectern is not publicly known, because the family barred news cameras from the ceremony. A family statement issued afterward said close friends and family, including the Rev. Al Sharpton, spoke ""spontaneously to celebrate Michael's life."" News helicopters hovering above captured video from a distance, but without sound.  Watch media cover Jackson funeral » . Lisa Marie Presley, one of Jackson's former wives and the daughter of Elvis, attended the service, according to the family statement. It did not mention Debbie Rowe, Jackson's second wife and the mother of his two oldest children. Macaulay Culkin, the ""Home Alone"" actor who spent time with Jackson during his Neverland Ranch days, was there with his girlfriend, actress Mila Kunis. Actors Corey Feldman and Chris Tucker were also seen arriving for the service. Motown founder Berry Gordy, who gave Jackson and his brothers their first big record deal, and Quincy Jones, who produced Jackson's ""Thriller"" album, were there. Music producer Teddy Riley, who helped with Jackson's 1991 ""Dangerous"" album, attended. The guest list included TV executive Suzanne de Passe, who produced a miniseries about Jackson's family, and Kenny Ortega,  who was producing Jackson's comeback show. Thomas Mesereau, the lawyer who successfully defended Jackson in a child molestation trial, sat just behind the Jackson family. When the hour-long service ended, his brothers lifted Jackson's casket for a final time to carry him inside the Great Mausoleum, where he was placed in his crypt at 9:43 p.m. PT (12:43 a.m. ET Friday). The family statement said it was ""his final resting place."" The family and friends then drove to an Italian restaurant eight miles away, in Pasadena, California, for ""a time of celebration."" The massive mausoleum, the final resting place for Clark Gable, Carole Lombard and dozens of other celebrities, is normally open to tourists, though the public is denied close access to crypts. Security guards, aided by cameras, keep constant vigil over the graves and crypts, which are surrounded by a world-class collection of art and architecture. The Forest Lawn Web site boasts that the mausoleum, which draws its architectural inspiration from the Campo Santo in Italy, ""has been called the 'New World's Westminster Abbey' by Time Magazine."" Visitors will see ""exact replicas of Michelangelo's greatest works such as David, Moses, and La Pieta"" and ""Leonardo da Vinci's immortal Last Supper re-created in brilliant stained glass; two of the world's largest paintings,"" the Web site says. Jackson's burial was delayed by division among family members, though Katherine Jackson would make the final decision, brother Jermaine Jackson recently told CNN. He preferred to see his youngest brother laid to rest at his former Neverland Ranch home, north of Los Angeles in Santa Barbara County, California. That idea was complicated by neighbors who vowed to oppose allowing a grave in the rural area -- and by Jackson family members who said the singer would not want to return to the home where he faced child molestation charges, of which he was ultimately acquitted. The mystery of where Jackson would be buried became a media obsession in the weeks after his death. After his body was loaded onto a helicopter at UCLA's Ronald Reagan Medical Center hours after his June 25 death, it stayed in the custody of the Los Angeles County coroner for an autopsy. It was only later disclosed that Jackson's corpse was kept in a refrigerated room at the Hollywood Hills Forest Lawn cemetery until his casket was carried by motorcade to downtown Los Angeles for a public memorial service in the Staples Center arena. Again, speculation about Jackson's whereabouts grew when the media lost track of his casket after his brothers carried it out of sight inside the arena. It was only recently confirmed that it was taken back to the Hollywood Hills Forest Lawn while awaiting his family's decision. Though Thursday's interment may settle one Jackson mystery, a more serious one remains. The coroner announced last week that he had ruled Jackson's death a homicide. A summary of the coroner's report said the anesthetic propofol and the sedative lorazepam were the primary drugs responsible for the singer's death. Los Angeles police detectives have not concluded their criminal investigation and no one has been charged."
"(CNN) -- Who doesn't like getting those retail discounts or free gift coupons from their favorite stores? But did you know there were strings attached, invisible eyes tracking your every consumer move? And there's little you can do to stop it. We want to do something about that. Businesses have long sought to attract and retain customers by recording and analyzing your shopping and lifestyle habits. To do so, they often rely on ""data brokers"" -- companies that collect and share our personal information and label us based on what they learn. And they do this mostly without our knowledge. That fashionable handbag you found on sale? They know about it. That great deal you got on the BBQ grill from the hardware store? They're tracking that too. And that box of Cheerios? They already assumed you were going to buy that before you even entered the store. The data broker industry has been booming in recent years, due to new technologies that enable the collection of massive quantities of our personal information. Because of the sheer volume of data we leave in our wake when we shop, browse the web, order a magazine, or post to social media sites, we are largely giving them all this valuable information. Data brokers scoop up the digital breadcrumbs we leave as we shop in stores and online, and apply ""big data"" analytical tools to predict where we're going, what we'll buy, and what we'll do -- sometimes even before we know ourselves what we'll buy next. There's no question that the personal information that data brokers sell to retailers, financial firms, hotels, airlines and other businesses can provide benefits to consumers and our growing digital economy. It can help direct goods and services that are tailored to our interests and assisting businesses to combat fraud by verifying consumers' identities. They also take this information and use it to lump us into various, shorthand categories like ""Affluent Baby Boomer"" and ""Bible Lifestyle."" But if a data broker categorizes you as an ""Urban Scrambler,"" meaning a low-income minority, are you more likely to receive an offer for a payday loan than a credit card? What are the implications of being labeled as ""financially challenged?"" Will it mean you are cut off from being offered the same goods and services, at the same prices, as your neighbors? Do you want a company to know that you have diabetes, high cholesterol, or another medical condition as long as it is willing to pay the going rate for health data? Most Americans don't even know that data brokers exist, let alone that they collect and trade a staggering amount of our personal data. Brokers operate invisibly, buying and selling data about us without interacting directly with us. Too few offer easy ways for us to access our information or opt-out of their system of data collection. The Federal Trade Commission, a bipartisan agency that works to protect consumers, is seeking to shed light on this largely unknown industry. The FTC has just released a detailed study of nine data brokers. We found that data brokers collect billions of pieces of data on nearly every American consumer, often merging online and offline information. Data brokers are also making potentially sensitive inferences about consumers -- about their health, financial status, and ethnic backgrounds. And consumers have little if any window into this process, let alone meaningful control or choice about how their data is shared among businesses. This week, the FTC has called on Congress to improve the transparency of the data broker industry, and to provide consumers more control over their personal information. We also recommend that Congress require data brokers to create a centralized website, among other measures, so that consumers can access their own data and opt out of data collection and retention. I also believe data brokers should be required to take reasonable steps to ensure consumer information is not used for unlawful purposes, such as to illegally discriminate. We need better transparency into how data brokers collect and use our personal information to help ensure that we not go down a path that leads to unfair exclusion, but rather one that widens opportunities for all consumers. Join us on Facebook.com/CNNOpinion."
"TOKYO (CNN) -- The U.S. military held a ""Day of Reflection"" on Friday for troops in Japan after allegations that two U.S. service members committed sexual assaults on the southern island of Okinawa. Protestors in Okinawa express anger at claims two U.S. service members committed sexual assaults . The goal is to emphasize professionalism and core military values, the U.S. military said. Service members will meet in small groups to discuss topics such as personal values, responsible alcohol consumption, and understanding ethnic differences between the United States and Japan, the military said. The ""Day of Reflection"" follows the arrest last week of a U.S. Marine for the alleged rape of a 14-year-old Japanese girl and allegations Thursday that an employee of the U.S. Army raped a Filipino woman. Both incidents allegedly happened on Okinawa, where people have long resented the presence of the U.S. military. ""As responsible members of the Japanese community, and consistent with the values of our military, we will continue to do everything possible to prevent incidents,"" said Lt. Gen. Bruce A. Wright, commander of the U.S. forces in Japan. ""Every service member is expected to take personal responsibility for his or her off-duty conduct and we will continue to be unwavering in our commitment to maintain exemplary, high standards of professionalism,"" he said. The Okinawa prosecutor extended custody Friday for Tyrone Hadnott, the 38-year-old Marine accused in the rape of the teenager. That gives Japanese authorities until March 3 to file charges against him. Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has condemned the incident as ""unforgivable,"" and the allegation prompted the U.S. military in Japan to form a sexual assault prevention task force. The episode echoes an incident more than a decade ago that strained relations between the United States and Japan, and similar cases have further fueled resentment of the U.S. military presence. Police in Okinawa said Thursday they were investigating a second reported sexual assault involving an employee of the U.S. Army. It was not clear whether the suspect in the case is a soldier or a civilian employee at the military's base in Japan. The U.S. Army in Japan said it was aware of the incident but did not give further details. ""We are in full cooperation with host nation authorities,"" the Army said in a statement. ""We take this allegation very seriously and the Army does not tolerate sexual assault."" U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill met Thursday with Japan's foreign minister and expressed regret over the recent incidents. ""I just want to make very clear the great regret that we feel about this, the concern that we feel for the Okinawa people,"" Hill said. The U.S. military announced Wednesday that it was restricting the movements of all American troops and their families in Okinawa because of the allegation involving the Japanese girl. The restrictions are in place ""indefinitely"" to allow troops and their families to reflect on discipline and conduct, the military said. It means troops and their families cannot leave their bases or off-base residences except for work, worship, school or medical needs. Friday's day of reflection was a more focused part of those restrictions. It was taking part in more than 23 locations on Okinawa and mainland Japan, the military said. ""As a practical matter, we need to reel it in here and make sure we are on our best, best behavior,"" said Col. Jeff Newell, commander of the 374th Airlift Wing at Yokota Air Base. Newell spoke to his airmen at the base as part of the day of reflection, speaking about topics like responsible drinking and sexual assault prevention. ""The point we want to make here is the strategic impact of any American serviceman's behavior when they're off-base,"" Newell said. More than 40,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Japan, most of them on Okinawa. They were placed there under a security alliance after Japan was defeated in World War II. Locals have long complained about crime, noise, and accidents by the U.S. military, but resentment boiled over in 1995 after a 12-year-old Okinawan schoolgirl was gang-raped by three American servicemen. The military observed a similar ""Day of Reflection"" after that incident. Women's rights activist Mina Watanabe said Friday's day of reflection is just lip service. She said reported sexual assaults committed by U.S. servicemen on Okinawa have continued despite years of promises to prevent them. ""The U.S. military bases in Okinawa and Japan are not welcome,"" Watanabe said. ""They don't protect the safety of the local community. It's more danger for the community."" E-mail to a friend . CNN's Kyung Lah contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- In the wake of the Arab Spring and the global financial crisis, focus has been on the world's new and so-called ""disrupted society."" But I would avoid using such a negative phrase for Jordan; which is where I live and which has avoided the severity of the uprisings in other Middle Eastern countries. While some might point to a ""disrupted society,"" I call our world an ""enriched and awakened society."" It is a society of potential, innovation, and opportunity. Youth dominate the globe -- the 3.5 billion people under the age of 30 make up half of the world's population. Therefore, we have an impact on our own lives today, and we are the decision makers of our lives tomorrow. So how do we react to such opportunities, and what do we do with such potential that resides within us? Do we add water and sunlight so it can sprout, or do we suppress it with darkness and ignorance? It is said that Arab youth have faced tough challenges since the Arab Spring. But this is not unusual. Youth all around the world have faced unemployment, high tuition fees, and tough economic situations for years. It is these challenges that allow for innovation and creativity to be born. This is when and where we unleash our potential. Jordan's youth are not completely satisfied with the performance of the public sector, nor are they satisfied with their ability to participate in the decision making process. These frustrations, coupled with difficult economic times, have created an unstable environment and resulted in the launch of initiatives to engage youth as active citizens in political, economic, and social decision-making. But unemployment in Jordan and the Middle East did not take us by surprise during the Arab Spring. High unemployment was present in the Middle East, and in almost every country around the world, for many years before the uprising. The impact, however, has been far more painful as the world faltered under the economic downturn. The domino effect of the economic crisis hit the developed countries first, and then reached the developing nations of the Middle East. When it hit Jordan it was, by coincidence, around the same time of the Arab Spring. Therefore, it is important to note that the Arab Spring wasn't a mere result of unemployment, nor was it a complete call for democracy and freedom. The Arab Spring was simply a call for change: change in ideologies, change in direction, change in hope. Unemployment is a major issue in the Middle East and North Africa region, especially in Jordan. The official rate is 11%, and unofficial estimates are about twice that figure. Generous employment opportunities in the public sector have eased the pressure, but the debt crisis facing the government has been hindering its ability to help. Policy makers are now pressed to come up with solutions to empower the private sector and improve the education system. Many of the world's young are uncertain of their future and their ability to find meaningful employment. Jordan's young have some of the region's most sought-after talents, due to their high quality of education and hard-working attitudes. Regretfully, their productivity is not contributing to Jordan's economy, as they cannot find competitive salaries or similar opportunities. Therefore, many look for jobs abroad, particularly in the Gulf region. Yet, there is still hope for Jordanians. The entrepreneurship scene is expanding, and more of the country's young are establishing companies. I believe the young can rise and flourish -- especially in today's tough climate -- by thinking about their ""sphere of influence."" We should collaborate with individuals from our region by crossing borders, creating partnerships, and exploring ideas. Travel between Middle Eastern counties can be challenging due to visa requirements, but the virtual world eliminates such boundaries. Technological advances unite us in ways we should be united. And we must remember that divided we are as fragile as separate fingers, but united we are a strong fist. Three years ago, the Arab Spring signified hope. Now, Jordanian youth have witnessed the negative transformations in neighboring countries such as Egypt and Syria. Jordanian youth are smart and will not allow their country to head towards that same path. But the need for security and stability must be accompanied by reform and growth. I do not believe the Arab Spring caused a ""disrupted society."" Rather, the Arab Spring has created an opportunity that allows things ""out of the norm"" to occur. Such an Arab Spring encourages innovation and creativity; it allows for thoughts and ideas to sprout that were once dormant. Therefore, I advise my fellow Arab to prepare, strategize, and implement with utmost passion, wisdom, and honesty. READ MORE: . Opinion: Should we be depressed about the 'Arab Spring'? Arab Spring three years on: Why instability will continue into 2014 . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Amir Shihadeh."
"(CNN) -- For the second time in six months, Henrique Capriles Radonski will be in an electoral fight for the presidency of Venezuela. His opponent is different this time, but the stakes may be even higher: What course will the South American country chart after the death of Hugo Chavez? In October, Capriles proved to be the strongest challenger the opposition ever fielded against Chavez, yet he still he lost to the charismatic leader by double-digits. But Chavez's battle with cancer kept him from being sworn in, and he died March 5. On Sunday, Capriles will be in a contest against Nicolas Maduro, the interim president and the man Chavez picked as his successor. Q&A: Venezuela's presidential election . At age 40, he has been a mayor, a parliament leader, and a governor of a major state who has been given a second chance to win the presidency. ""I am seeking to win the confidence of all Venezuelans,"" Capriles said recently. ""I want a united country. I want Venezuelans to join together (and) work together with a single goal."" The most important issue, he says, is to tackle poverty. Generous social programs are a foundation of the government that Chavez headed, and Capriles has that he will not do away with them. But he has promised to end the large subsidies that Venezuela provides to Chavez allies. An attorney, Capriles was elected to parliament in 1998, when Venezuela had a bicameral legislature. He was just 25 years old at the time, but he quickly advanced to become the president of the Chamber of Deputies and then president of the entire Parliament. But the bicameral legislature was dissolved in 1999. The following year, Capriles was elected mayor of Baruta, which is located in the state of Miranda and is a suburb in the Caracas metropolitan area. He became mayor with more than 60% of the vote. In 2002, he become involved in violent anti-government demonstrations outside the Cuban Embassy and spent four months in jail. He was eventually released and cleared of any wrongdoing. He then was re-elected mayor with almost 80% approval in 2004. In 2008, he ran for governor of Miranda state and won. Capriles' grandparents were Polish Holocaust survivors, but he is a practicing Catholic, according to the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center."
"(CNN)Bill Cosby made things uncomfortable Sunday night on ""Celebrity Apprentice."" The beleaguered star isn't a contestant this season on the NBC reality show, which pits teams of celebs against each other for business-related tasks, but his name became embroiled in the season premiere's storyline. On Sunday NBC aired the first episode, which was filmed before rape and sexual assault allegations began mounting against Cosby. One of the competitors, Keshia Knight Pulliam, is famous for playing beloved youngest daughter Rudy Huxtable on ""The Cosby Show."" The actress served as project manager for her all-female team in which the women were trying to raise money for her charity Kamp Kizzy, which seeks to empower girls. After her team failed to fare as well as they could have in the challenge, they faced a grilling in the boardroom from host Donald Trump. ""Real Housewives of Atlanta"" cast member Kenya Moore told Trump her teammate declined to reach out to former co-star Cosby for a donation. ""I have not talked to Bill Cosby on the phone in I don't know how long,"" Knight Pulliam said emotionally. ""So for me to pick up the phone, having not talked to you for five years, except for when we run into each other for a Cosby event, I feel that's not my place to do."" Her explanation was unacceptable to Trump, who said, ""I really believe, if you'd called that gentleman he would've helped you, even if you hadn't spoken to him in years. Because you were an amazing team with one of the most successful shows ever. So I think it would've been a very good call to make for charity."" Trump ""fired"" her from the show. While not directly commenting on her ousting from the series, the actress did tweet: ""Ohhh the deception of editing... Smh!!"" For his part, Trump tweeted to his followers after that: ""This show was taped just before the terrible Bill Cosby revelations came to light. She still should have asked him for money-goes to charity."""
"Hong Kong (CNN) -- As the attention of the rugby world is drawn to Hong Kong this weekend for the Rugby Sevens, corporations are looking to capitalize on a sport that soon will become an Olympic event. Two dozen teams will pound the pitch, put in flying tackles and perhaps lose teeth in an effort to claim the 2012 championship trophy. For the New Zealand Sevens team, it's time to defend last year's victory. For spectators, it's a chance to run up a credit card bill on beer and bizarre costumes. But for HSBC, this year's tournament marks its return to the stands as a sponsor after a 17-year hiatus. ""There's more to sports than just the players on the field -- there's the financial funding,"" said DJ Forbes, the captain of the New Zealand Sevens. ""If a sponsorship deal is held in high esteem, potential sponsors are going be sure the money they invest is put in the right places."" But is the right place the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens? HSBC thinks so. Even as the bank is cutting tens of thousands of jobs worldwide, HSBC is investing in rugby ahead of the sport's inclusion in the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. ""Rugby has changed enormously. The HK Sevens is a very popular tournament but was much more standalone than it is now,"" said Giles Morgan, HSBC Group head of Sponsorship and Events. ""That and its upcoming inclusion in the Olympics in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro have made the game much more international and much broader. "" But while HSBC has ramped up its sponsorship investment in Hong Kong, the ""world's local bank"" is winding down some of its Asian retail operations -- notably in Japan and Thailand, while cutting 30,000 workers worldwide by the end of next year. All of this is a cost-cutting plan as laid out by HSBC's Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver to save some $3.5 billion. Morgan quickly defends HSBC's sponsorship as a calculated strategy. ""We very much regard our sponsorship as a business -- with business objectives,"" he said. ""This is not about a fun investment. We are targeting key demographics and key geographies. ""It made sense for HSBC to come back,"" he added. ""We didn't know rugby was going to grow the way it did."" And it has grown. From the Hong Kong Sevens first tournament in 1976 that featured just nine teams, it now invites 24 teams spanning every continent except for Antarctica. It now pulls in profits for Hong Kong on the order of hundreds of millions of dollars. Morgan declined to comment on how much HSBC actually invests in sponsoring this year's Hong Kong Sevens but he says the bank aims for a three-to-one return on sponsorship investment. But it is rare for any company to know its rate of return on investment, according to one Hong Kong advertising firm. Not only that, companies may pay a prestige premium that comes with being a title sponsor for high-profile sporting events because there are so few of them. In American football there's only one Superbowl. In international football, there's only one World Cup. In Hong Kong, there's only one Rugby Sevens Championship. So why invest in the Sevens then? For HSBC, it helps target specific clients in markets like Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore --hub cities the bank is targeting for growth, even as it streamlines elsewhere, Morgan said. ""With strong expat communities you'll be looking at strong growth."" HSBC is sharing title sponsorship of the Rugby Sevens with Cathay Pacific, whose global hub is Hong Kong. ""We're looking for sponsorships that really help build Hong Kong and help bring people in to make the city a tourist destination,"" says Camilla Taylor, Cathay Pacific's Marketing Manager-Events. ""We target a lot of different groups, including average rugby fans around the world. We're trying to promote the Sevens to a wider audience."" Cathay has been investing in the Hong Kong Sevens for much of the last 35 years. Aside from a seven-year break from 1997 to 2004 in the wake of the Asian financial crisis, the territory's flagship air carrier will likely not fly away as a Sevens sponsor soon, Taylor said. While HSBC, Cathay Pacific and other sponsors refuse to divulge their investment or returns, Hong Kong gladly throws its books wide open. The Hong Kong Tourism Board says last year's Rugby Sevens drew in more than 21,000 spectators from overseas. The average Sevens spectator from abroad spent $1,650 over the course of six days. In total, Hong Kong raked in more than $289 million in direct economic benefit. Companies are counting that as thousands descend on the city, more spectators may notice that DHL ad on the Jumbotron in Hong Kong's Central bar district, notice the Cathay Pacific billboard streak by on a Citybus, or notice that red-and-white HSBC banner flutter in the Sevens stadium breeze."
"(CNN) -- After more than seven hours of deliberations, jurors still haven't decided whether Jodi Arias will live or die. The Arizona jury sent out a note Wednesday morning saying its members couldn't agree. Judge Sherry Stephens told them to try again and ordered them back into the jury room. It was another unexpected turn in the dramatic, high-profile murder trial, which has lasted for months, sparked a media frenzy and drawn spectators who line up for courtroom seats. Earlier this month, the same jurors took less than two hours to decide that Arias was ""exceptionally cruel"" in 2008 when she stabbed ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander 29 times, slit his neck from ear to ear and shot him in the face. They pronounced her guilty of first-degree murder two weeks ago after 15 hours of deliberations. Now, the jury is weighing whether Arias, 32, should get the death penalty. After jurors told Stephens they were stuck on Wednesday, the judge encouraged them to listen to each other, pinpoint areas of agreement and disagreement and ask for further guidance if they need it. It's an approach often described as a ""dynamite charge,"" used by judges to blast open logjams in deliberations and help jurors reach a verdict. It's unclear whether her advice worked. After Stephens ordered them to continue their discussions, jurors deliberated for more than four more hours, then went home for the day. The jury's decision must be unanimous for Arias to be sentenced to death. In the case of a deadlock, a new jury would be chosen for this phase of the trial. A plea for mercy . A path of heartbreak, violence, lies and confessions has led Arias to the Phoenix courtroom where her life is now in a jury's hands. On Tuesday, she pleaded with jurors to spare her. It was a stark reversal from two weeks ago, when she told a journalist she preferred death to life in prison. ""I believe death is the ultimate freedom, so I'd rather just have my freedom as soon as I can get it,"" she told KSAZ shortly after her conviction. But her family implored her to change her mind, she told KSAZ late Tuesday. Now she wants to spare them further heartbreak, she said. ""One of my cousins really drove it home for me and told me how much it would affect them, if I did anything to myself,"" she said. Her mother pleaded with her, she claimed. ""Please don't give up; please don't give up,"" Arias said she told her. Haven't been following the trial? Read this . Well-planned presentation . Her life seemed to pass before her, as she delivered a slideshow presentation -- mostly of family photos -- to the jury on Tuesday. It started off with pictures of her as a toddler wearing pigtails and showed several images from holidays and vacations with family members. She read a prepared statement for nearly 20 minutes, at times crying. Arias told jurors that she had been a victim of abuse as an adult and as a child. She had claimed she killed Alexander in self-defense after he hurt her, something evidence failed to substantiate. She called his murder ""the worst mistake"" she'd ever made, ""the worst thing I've ever done."" She couldn't have imagined herself capable of such a grisly crime, Arias told the jury. ""But I know that I was,"" she said. ""And for that I'm going to be sorry for the rest of my life -- probably longer."" Arias pledged to make herself useful to other prisoners and humanity by performing acts of charity from behind bars, if spared. She told jurors Tuesday that she could teach people to read in prison and pledged to dedicate her life to good causes. She noted she could bring ""people together in a constructive and positive way"" by participating in various programs, including prisoner literacy initiatives; by her ""Survivor"" T-shirts, which would benefit victims of domestic violence; and by donating her hair, so it could be used to make wigs for sick children. She showed the jurors several pieces of her artwork. She told them she would suffer for what she did. ""I'm not going to become a mother because of my own terrible choices,"" she said. ""I won't be at my sister's wedding, when she ties the knot next year."" Attorneys argue life and death . Defense attorney Jennifer Willmott argued Tuesday that Arias' life should be spared. ""We're not talking about whether or not to convict. We're talking about whether or not to kill. And so when we talk about that, it matters that she was 27 years old and she had no criminal history,"" she said. ""It matters that she hadn't done anything wrong in her life before that."" Prosecutor Juan Martinez said pointing to Arias' artwork as evidence that her life should be spared wasn't a valid defense. ""It's an entitlement road that they want you to travel when they talk to you about the fact that she's a good artist,"" he said. ""It doesn't mean anything. All it means is: give her special or preferential treatment."" He argued that jurors should sentence Arias to death. ""You have a duty, and that duty really means that you actually do the honest, right thing, even though it may be difficult,"" he said. If Arias is given a sentence of death, she would be the fourth woman on death row in the state of Arizona. When Alexander died . Arias was living in Yreka, California, when she met Alexander at a business convention in Las Vegas in September 2006. That November, he baptized Arias into the Mormon faith, a ceremony Arias said was followed by anal sex. Arias became his girlfriend two months later, she testified. They broke up in the summer of 2007, and Alexander began dating other women. Alexander's naked body was found crammed in a stand-up shower in June 2008 after he missed two appointments, prompting friends to go to his house. He had been stabbed 29 times in the back and torso and shot in the head. His throat was slit. After her arrest, Arias told an elaborate lie about masked intruders breaking into Alexander's house and killing him before she narrowly escaped. Relatives who spoke with police described her as mentally unstable. HLNTV.com: Friend of Arias tweeting on her behalf . HLN's Graham Winch and In Session's Grace Wong contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- U.N. peacekeepers and troops from the Democratic Republic of Congo are trying to bring peace to an eastern Congo town where a cattle-rustling dispute led to the deaths of 30 people. At least 15 people were wounded in Friday's unrest, part of ongoing violence in this area of the country, the United Nations said. The United Nations called for an immediate end to fighting between the Bafuliru and Barundi/Banyamulenge communities in the province of South Kivu. Martin Kobler, the chief of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo, said troops would be deployed to Mutarule to assist the Congolese army and local officials. Eastern Congo, a mineral-rich region, has been at the center of a political and ethnic conflict involving its neighbors to the east, Uganda and Rwanda, for two decades. Government troops have also battled rebel groups such as M23, which was defeated in November. The persistent violence has led to thousands of families who cannot farm and leave their homes for refugee camps, according to the United Nations. The international body also blames a lack of government spending on agriculture, education, health and infrastructure for the worsening situation."
"Editor's note: The following story, based on testimony in Phillip Garrido's trial for a 1976 kidnapping, contains some sexually explicit material. Phillip Garrido is show in an early mug shot taken in connection with the 1976 rape and abduction case. (CNN) -- Fifteen years before the girl was held captive in the shed, there was the woman in the warehouse -- and at least one other woman who escaped capture. Phillip Garrido, who with his wife is charged in the 1991 kidnapping of Jaycee Dugard, had been convicted of kidnapping before. When he stalked, kidnapped and raped Katie Callaway Hall on November 22, 1976, he fulfilled an overpowering sexual fantasy that he had methodically planned for weeks, according to court records obtained by CNN. He told police it was his second kidnapping attempt of the day. Those facts came to light in Garrido's 1977 trial, in which he was convicted and sentenced to 50 years for kidnapping and rape. In her testimony, Hall said Garrido asked for a ride in her car, then bound and handcuffed her before taking her to a small warehouse in Reno, Nevada, where he repeatedly raped her for 5½ hours. It was not an act of impulse. ""He told me he had been renting it [the small warehouse] for a couple weeks, preparing it,"" Hall testified.  Watch how Garrido prepared for and explained the kidnapping » . It is CNN policy to withhold the identity of alleged victims of sexual assault. But in this case, Hall recounted her ordeal last week in an interview on CNN's ""Larry King Live,"" saying it changed her life forever. ""I had to tell everyone I met what had happened to me -- because I didn't feel like myself. It was as if I had to explain why I wasn't 'normal,' "" she said.  Watch Hall describe her ordeal » . She was not his first victim that day. The trial transcript reveals that Garrido told authorities that one hour before Hall's kidnapping, he tried to kidnap another woman, who wrestled away and escaped. And, police in Antioch disclosed last week that Garrido was charged with raping a 14-year-old in 1972, but the charges were dropped because the victim refused to testify.   Watch details of the 1972 case » . In the case involving Hall, CNN reviewed the 1977 trial documents, which include Garrido's psychiatric evaluation and the testimony of Hall and Garrido. The documents reveal a pattern of behavior that Garrido is accused of repeating in the 1991 kidnapping of Jaycee Dugard, who was recently found after being kept in a shed for 18 years. The 32-year-old documents also detail Garrido's self-described struggle with drugs and his efforts to control his sexual obsessions.  Can sex offenders be cured? » . Garrido and his wife, Nancy, have pleaded not guilty to charges involving Dugard's abduction, but police say he admitted kidnapping her in his initial interview. Police say Garrido and his wife kidnapped Dugard outside her home in South Lake Tahoe, California, and took her to an elaborate compound hidden in the backyard of their Antioch, California, home more than 160 miles away. Tucked behind overgrown trees and a fence were tents, outbuildings and a soundproof shed where Dugard lived with the two daughters she had with her captor. Out of sight . Garrido took great pains to make sure nobody could find the camp, not even the parole officer who visited twice a month at times, police said. Hall, too, was taken directly to a carefully prepped small warehouse after her kidnapping. As they drove from South Lake Tahoe, California, where she was abducted, to Reno, she tried to persuade Garrido to rape her in the bushes. ""I asked him, couldn't we just pull over and get it over with,"" she testified. But Garrido was determined. ""You might as well get that our of your mind; you are going with me, you have got no choice,"" Hall testified Garrido told her, according to court transcripts. ""I have it all planned."" He had set up the mini-warehouse in Reno exactly as he wanted, and worked to ensure nobody would inquire about it. He asked a man who lived in a storage unit 30 feet away to call him should any unknown vehicles show up. The mini-warehouse was meticulously furnished. On the other side of an unassuming metal, garage-style door, the walls were covered in long, heavy rugs hanging from the ceiling. Thick opaque plastic sheets were scattered throughout, creating a maze-like atmosphere that prohibited anyone from seeing all the way through, Hall testified. Staging the attacks . In the back, Garrido created a space set up like a stage. At the center was a mattress covered with an old, red satin, hole-ridden sheet and a fur blanket, Hall testified. Illuminating the bed were red, yellow and blue stage lights, with a stack of pornographic magazines and a projector alongside it. His intent, a prosecution psychologist said, couldn't have been clearer based on the methodical planning. From the moment she got to the mini-warehouse, Hall said it was clear to her Garrido was a man on a mission. ""He knew what he was doing,"" she testified. ""[He] knew exactly how he was going to do it."" She testified that it was there that he raped her for 5½ hours. As he drank wine and she smoked a small bit of hashish, Hall said she kept track of the time by listening to a radio, which regularly announced the time. Hall didn't know that she wasn't originally part of the plan, although Garrido alluded to the fact he hadn't targeted her, saying it wasn't intentional that she was taken. ""Could have been anybody,"" Hall recalled him saying, adding he told her it was her fault because she was attractive. He didn't say that his original plan had gone awry one hour earlier. Victim managed to escape . Despite his planning, there was one thing Garrido hadn't accounted for -- that one of his intended victims would fight back. One hour before Hall was kidnapped in her own vehicle, Garrido asked a different woman in South Lake Tahoe, California, for a ride. Like Hall, she obliged. But when he tried to handcuff her, he only secured one hand. ""She jumped out of the vehicle, struggling with him,"" prosecutors told the judge during a private conversation during the trial. When he unlocked the one handcuff, she escaped by jumping out of the moving car and running up the street. That kidnapping attempt came to light in a conversation between the prosecutor, defense attorney and judge in the case, according to the trial transcript. Despite prosecutors' wishes, the details of the first kidnapping attempt were kept from the jury, after a judge ruled they weren't necessary to prove Garrido's intent to kidnap. The court documents also discussed Garrido's use of marijuana, cocaine and LSD, which Garrido said was so heavy it fueled his sexual desires and sometimes pushed him to a point he could no longer control them. He said he responded to the urges by masturbating in drive-in movie theaters, restaurants, bathrooms, bars and while watching partially clothed or naked women in their homes. An interest in young girls . Though police have recently said they never expected Garrido would have kidnapped someone as young as Dugard based on his record, Garrido's own words during his trial showed young girls did grab his attention.  Watch how Garrido slipped through the cracks » . He admitted masturbating in his car while watching small girls outside their school. Sometimes, he said, he would open the car door, get out and pull down his pants. His own explanation of his sexual fantasies hinted at an obsession with sexual bondage and captivity. ""There has been a type of bondage pictures,"" he said, when asked if certain images heightened his arousal. ""Women in handcuffs, chained."" On the night he took Hall captive and bound her with a leather strap in her car, he said he took four hits of LSD, a drug that he said he used daily for at least four years, sometimes taking up to 10 hits at a time. He said when he used the drug it acted as a sexual stimulant. ""I had this fantasy that was driving me to do this inside of me,"" Garrido testified. ""Something that was making me want to do it without -- no way to stop."" Garrido said the urges would strike and continue to build until he was ""overcome"" with sexual cravings. Hall was curious, too, even during her kidnapping, what would make Garrido do this to her. So she asked him. ""He said that he didn't get off on pain,"" Hall recalled during her testimony. ""It was just a fantasy he had to live out."""
"Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (CNN) -- The search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 resumed Sunday, but stormy weather may cause problems, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said. A Chinese aircraft took off at 6:20 a.m. local time (6:20 p.m. ET). Other aircraft, including a South Korean P-3 Orion and a U.S. P-8 Poseidon, were preparing to depart from Perth. Ten planes will fly over 123,167 square miles (319,000 square kilometers) located about 1,150 miles (1,850 kilometers) west of Perth, the AMSA said. Weather in the search area is forecast to worsen with light showers and low clouds, though search operations are expected to continue, the authority said. Eight ships will join the search by the end of the day, including the Australian Ocean Shield, which will be fitted with a ""black box"" detector and an autonomous underwater vehicle, AMSA said. All ships will seek to locate and identify objects sighted by aircraft over the past two days. Search experts said the clock is ticking. Michael Kay, a former adviser to the UK Ministry of Defence, said on CNN that the batteries on the flight data recorder, sometimes called the black box, are designed to last only about 30 days. The plane disappeared March 8 -- three weeks ago. Eight planes and a number of ships scoured some 97,000 square miles of water Saturday for signs of the plane, with aircraft reporting sightings of objects similar to those reported Friday, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said. Two vessels -- one of them a Chinese warship -- retrieved objects, ""but so far no objects confirmed to be related to MH370 have been recovered,"" the authority said. Crew members aboard a Chinese plane dropped buoys to mark three suspected debris sites, China's state-run CCTV reported. ""After entering the search area, the airlifter flew for about 20 minutes,"" crew member Wang Zhenwu told the television network. ""We found an L-shaped debris in orange color right below the plane's right wing. Then within around three minutes, we found a stripe-shaped object. We immediately reported our findings to the captain."" The captain, Liu Jun, said buoys containing dye were dropped on each of the suspected sites, according to CCTV. Relatives complaining . Relatives of the 239 people on board the plane have complained about receiving mixed messages. Earlier this week, they heard this: ""All lives are lost."" But Saturday, a Malaysian official met with relatives and then told reporters he had not closed the door on the hope of relatives that survivors may exist among the 239 people aboard the Boeing 777-200 ER that went missing March 8. ""Even hoping against hope, no matter how remote, of course, we are praying and we will continue our search for the possible survivors,"" said Hishammuddin Hussein, Malaysia's acting transportation minister. ""More than that, I told the families I cannot give them false hope. The best we can do is pray and that we must be sensitive to them that, as long as there is even a remote chance of a survivor, we will pray and do whatever it takes."" Chinese relatives in Kuala Lumpur told CNN that Malaysian authorities are restricting their movement and access to information . When a briefing for them was not held Saturday, the Chinese relatives said they were deterred from attending a briefing for Maylasian relatives. They ended up talking to a Malaysia Airlines official after the briefing. 'They're still alive' In Beijing on Saturday, some of the relatives of the missing vented their anguish in the streets. ""They're all still alive, my son and everyone on board!"" yelled Wen Wancheng, 63, whose only son was among the passengers. ""The plane is still there, too! They're hiding it."" He held aloft a banner that read: ""Son, mom and dad's hearts are torn to pieces. Come home soon!"" Many relatives doubtless remember the speculation from early in the search that the plane may have landed somewhere. They implored Hishammuddin to redouble the efforts, and he said Malaysian authorities would do so. ""What they want is a commitment on our part to continue the search, and that I have given,"" Hishammuddin said. ""For me, as the minister responsible, this is the hardest part of my life, at the moment,"" he told reporters. ""Miracles do happen, remote or otherwise, and that is the hope that the families want me to convey -- not only to the Malaysian government, MAS (Malaysia Airlines), but also to the world at large,"" he said. He said the effort was still to find survivors. Sea objects . On Saturday that meant hunting again for plane debris in an ocean awash in debris -- including odds and ends from passing ships -- in hopes that among it are pieces of the jet. After the latest data analysis, experts says they believe that Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared three weeks ago, ended up in the southern Indian Ocean. Investigators concluded this week that, during the flight's initial phase, the plane was traveling faster -- and therefore burning fuel faster -- than they had thought. Authorities have concluded that it could not have traveled as far south as they had thought earlier. The new search area is 1,100 kilometers (680 miles) northeast of the previous one and closer to Australia's coast, so it's easier to reach. It's also marked by calmer waters. Ships plowed the waters of the search area and eight planes searched from above. ""Unfortunately, we didn't find anything of significance out there,"" flight captain Russell Adams said after returning to Perth. Malaysia plane saga: Your questions answered . Pieces of debris spotted Friday were hundreds of miles away from each other, but given the ocean conditions and the time passed since the airplane's purported crash, they could be part of the same object. Friday's sightings included 11 small objects spotted by a military P-3 plane. CNN's Kyung Lah, who went out on a U.S. Navy P-8 search plane Friday, said its crew spotted white objects, orange rope and a blue bag. ""At one point, sure, everybody on board got a little excited, but it's impossible to tell from that distance what anything is,"" she said. If and when the jet is found, the key question would remain: Why did it go down? That may not be answered until investigators retrieve the aircraft and try, literally, to piece together what happened to it. Vast, shifting search . The shifting hunt for Flight 370 has spanned vast bodies of water and continents. It started in the South China Sea between Malaysia and Vietnam, where the plane went out of contact with air traffic controllers. When authorities learned of radar data suggesting the plane had turned westward across the Malay Peninsula after losing contact, they expanded the search into the Strait of Malacca. When those efforts proved fruitless, the search spread north into the Andaman Sea and northern Indian Ocean. It then ballooned dramatically after Malaysia announced March 15 that satellite data showed the plane could have flown along either of two huge arcs, one stretching northwest into the Asian land mass, the other southwest into the Indian Ocean. The search area at that point reached nearly 3 million square miles. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said that further analysis of the data led authorities to conclude the plane went down in the southern Indian Ocean, far from land. Malaysian officials then told the families of those on board that nobody would have survived. On Saturday, after confronting relatives' grief, they made that conclusion seem less final. 'Unspeakable challenge' for families . Mystery surfaces pain of 1977 tragedy . Questions linger . Did flammable cargo doom flight? How they're searching for debris . CNN's Tom Watkins and Ben Brumfield reported and wrote from Atlanta, and Sara Sidner from Kuala Lumpur. Greg Botelho contributed to this report."
"New York (CNN) -- The idea for getting married was partly Kevin's idea. The 11-year-old also thought it would be neat if daddy and papa tied the knot on the same day the couple met 15-years earlier on a softball field. So Peter Mercurio -- papa -- and Daniel Stewart -- daddy -- started planning. ""I was walking Kevin to school one morning,"" Mercurio said, explaining to his son that he did not know yet who would conduct the ceremony, or where. And he said, 'Don't judges perform ceremonies? Why don't you try to contact the judge who finalized my adoption?' I said that was a great idea."" In Manhattan Family Court last July, with a few friends and family present, the state affirmed what the three guys had known instinctively for a long time: they were a family. Their story comes as the U.S. Supreme Court gets ready to debate on Tuesday and Wednesday the issue of same-sex marriage -- the legalities, the politics, the social implications. It is a personal narrative, though no less important -- than trying to figure out the meaning of the Constitution and the limits of ""equal protection."" Obama views on same-sex marriage reflect societal shifts . A day old and abandoned . ""I found a baby!"" Stewart's voice was frantic, and the echoes from the A/C/E subway station on Eighth Avenue only added to the initial confusion. ""I said I had called 911, but I didn't think they believed me."" ""I told him I didn't believe it either,"" said Mercurio. But he rushed to the scene and to a remote area behind the turnstiles. There, wrapped in a dark sweatshirt, lying quietly, was a brown-skinned, day-old infant. Abandoned. They could have walked away, but they stayed. Authorities soon arrived and took the child, naming him Daniel Ace Doe -- for the man who found him, the subway line, and the sad anonymity. The story made news. A few months later, Stewart was called to testify in family court about. Opinion: Slowly, GOP shifting on same-sex marriage . The judge dropped a bombshell: ""Would you be interested in adopting this baby?"" The answer was an immediate yes. But Stewart privately knew it would not be easy. His partner at first wanted to go slowly, or not at all. ""My first reaction when I heard: 'Are you insane? How could you say yes without consulting me?'"" said Mercurio, laughing at the memory. The couple had been together three years but their careers as an aspiring playwright and social worker took precedence at the time. Becoming parents and strengthening their bond was never discussed. ""I saw this opportunity here, this gift to be parents to this child. And how could we not say yes to that opportunity?"" Stewart said told CNN Justice Correspondent Joe Johns. ""It seemed like it was divine intervention -- it was meant to be."" Mercurio agreed. ""I think a lot of my initial response to Danny -- saying we were not ready to do this -- was all fear-based. And once I got over that, a calm set in. And you know, we went about methodically, preparing our lives for a child."" Line forms days ahead of same-sex argument . Crib and blankets just before Christmas . It was a mad scramble to get ready, parenting classes, crib, diapers, and blankets. Then just days before Christmas, they were told the baby would be transferred to their care. ""Our paternal instincts took over and it became a natural thing of how to take care of him,"" Mercurio said. They took their son home on a snowy day, riding the same C train where they found him. As blessed as they felt, the couple knew there would be challenges. When they first held the boy -- whom they soon renamed Kevin -- at the foster home they found him guarded. ""In fact when we saw him he didn't blink. His eyes were just wide open and his arms were very stiff and tightly crossed across his chest,"" said Mercurio. ""So we got him in this condition and we thought we just need to love this kid immediately,"" added Stewart. ""So we played with him and build up his trust in parents. Build up his trust in adults -- that he could be cared for, nurtured, and loved. So we showered him with love and touch. Didn't take long. He loosened up."" CNN is not identifying Kevin by his last name or his picture, to protect his privacy. But he knows the story of his discovery. Gay couple fights for right to marry in epic high court battle . A quiet family life . Mercurio and Stewart created an illustrated child's storybook, dramatizing the events-- from the subway to meeting his new family. ""One day he asked me: Dad is the story about me?"" said Stewart. ""I was very happy,"" said Kevin. He likes sports, his school, and his friends. The family went back to the dark underground station. They were all a little nervous about how Kevin would react. ""I think that was important for him to see and know that because now he has a connection,"" said Stewart. ""I mean it's not just something abstract. He really has seen, and knows, and understands. And he has taking a lot of pride in that spot. That's his station. That's his place. This is where we became a family."" Stewart and Mercurio are not activists. They live, quiet lives in Manhattan and like all parents, find joy and occasional frustration in raising a soon-to-be teenager. ""You know sometimes in life you have to say yes,"" Mercurio said. ""And we said 'yes' to becoming this baby's parents and it was the best 'yes' decision we have ever made in our lives."" Stewart said the story speaks to a core of humanity. ""I mean, deep down when you strip away all those layers, all those labels, we're all human beings and were all connected by certain things that we need in our lives -- love,"" he said. Married same-sex couple awaits epic high court appeal . CNN's Joe Johns and Stacey Samuel contributed to this story."
"New Delhi (CNN) -- Here's the best way to understand the new India in 30 seconds. Watch this commercial—or better yet, if you don't understand Hindi, read on. A smarmy-looking politician addresses a rural gathering, promising to give the people access to water. His speech is interrupted by a boyish young man, a villager, who pulls out his smartphone and plays a YouTube video for all to see: it's the same politician, making the same promises at the last election, years ago. ""I might be from the village,"" cries out the young man, ""but don't think you can fool me!"" The commercial—marketing an Indian mobile service provider—cuts to its familiar Hindi jingle, loosely translated as ""no making fools of us anymore, no making fools of us."" The story struck me because it weaves together some important trends and forces in India as the nation undertakes the biggest elections in world history. The first trend is the immense proliferation of Internet-enabled smartphones. In most Western countries, people have discovered the Internet and grown with it in stages: from painfully slow dial-up connections, to broadband, to Wi-Fi, to 4G mobile Internet. India's story has been very different. Until recently only a small elite—about a tenth of the population—could access the Internet, mostly through PCs. Even today, there are only 57 million broadband  subscribers in the country, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, or TRAI. By comparison, there are about 900 million mobile subscribers—a recent boom. Many of these mobile users are buying cheap smartphones and data packages to access the Internet. The offshoot is the opposite of what happens in the West: Hundreds of millions of Indians have never used a PC—and likely never will—but they can now begin to access the Internet on their phones. The Internet is aspirational in India; it's the new motorbike or washing machine. The second trend is the rise of rural India. Again, according to TRAI, 40% of mobile subscribers are now in villages and small towns. Even with the recent boom, rural subscriptions are still growing at more than twice the rate of urban ones. These rural subscribers, as the commercial shows, often don't speak English. But there's no longer a great shame in being unable to speak the language of their colonial masters; instead, there's a new pride and confidence in India's many regional dialects and languages. There's new rural money, and a yearning to be stakeholders in their futures and to fight for more accountable government. The third trend is India's youth bulge. More than 100 million voters in India's elections are first-timers who turned 18 in the last five years. Half of all Indians are under age 30; the average age in India is 28. Many of these young, brash Indians have cast off the fatalism of their forefathers. Growing up in an India of fast growth and development, they have more confidence in their culture, identity and language. Put that together with trends No. 1 and No. 2, and the result is amplified. For the first time in India's history, a majority of Indians are connected and engaged. They know about the skeletons in every politician's closet—and that information is power. Some suggest that these trends mean India's elections will be fought and decided on social media. Politicians have taken their cue, rushing to every platform available: Twitter, Facebook and Google Hangouts. The numbers seem staggering at first. Facebook says Narendra Modi, the front-runner to be India's next prime minister, is the second most ""liked"" politician in the world (13 million likes), after U.S. President Barack Obama (40 million likes). According to Twitter, there has been a 600% increase in political Tweets from India in the last year. Since January the two biggest parties, the BJP and the Congress, have grown their Twitter followings by 55% and 351% respectively. India's Internet and Mobile Association says a strong social media campaign could swing up to 4% of votes. Commentators have cited that data to brand India's elections the country's first-ever ""social media election."" For now, I'm skeptical. Some of the outreach attempts have been amateur at best: As Vox.com pointed out, the BJP's Twitter handle last week auto-tweeted anyone who mentioned the party on Twitter, including me and hundreds of others. In any case, the number of actual social media users represents a tiny percentage of the Indian electorate. Facebook says it has 100 million users in India: it sounds like a lot but it accounts for less than a tenth of Indians. One reason for this -- apart from limits to Internet access -- could be that Twitter and Facebook remain English language services, relatable to a small subset of Indians. Unlike China, which has a Chinese-language microblogging service called Sina Weibo, with hundreds of millions of users, India for now has no such indigenous, umbrella platform. Why? India is no monolith. There are dozens of languages, and an equal number of different Indias. Despite India's growth and increased connectivity, which suggests a more unified nation, the country may actually be becoming more regional-focused, with more pride in local languages, trends and politicians. This is also why I think it's far too early to call India's elections for any one politician or party. The three trends of mobile reach, the rural rise and the youth bulge are each combustible forces bubbling in a cauldron of uncertainty. Indians may want accountability and change, but it's too soon to tell which way that will manifest itself. It remains unclear whether Indians will vote for their regional interests, or cast their ballot thinking about a macro national picture. Watch India's elections very closely. They're immensely consequential—for India, and the world. But placing too much importance on social media chatter could be misleading. Calling these elections too early could be embarrassing, too. It is, as the ad-jingle goes, a fool's errand."
"On canvas, Vladimir Putin appears stern, Tony Blair looks relaxed and Junichiro Koizumi smiles broadly. Through paint and brushstroke, former President George W. Bush says he has found not only a rewarding hobby but a unique way to express himself and his impressions of 30 presidents, prime ministers and other world leaders during his time in office. These never-before-seen portraits, which were done by looking at photographs, will go on public display Saturday at his presidential library in Dallas. The exhibit is titled ""The Art of Leadership: A President's Personal Diplomacy."" It will also include photographs and artifacts of his interactions with these leaders. ""I think they're going to be (like), 'Wow, George Bush is a painter,""' Bush told NBC's ""Today"" show in an interview on Friday. ""I'm sure when they heard I was painting, (they said), 'Wow, I look forward to seeing a stick figure he painted of me.'"" One work he is most proud of is that of his father, former President George H.W. Bush. ""I painted a gentle soul,"" he said. The Bush Presidential Center is using these paintings to help broaden the image of Bush and is hoping to show ""what it takes to be a personal diplomat,"" said Margaret Spellings, president of the center, emphasizing one-on-one relationships with his fellow heads of state were very important to him. Most of the world leaders portrayed have not seen the art yet. George W. Bush to unveil paintings . The rebirth of cool . For newer generations the artwork, and the buzz around them, will show a new side of Bush. The 43rd President has enjoyed a resurgence of popularity, a bump aided partly by his work trying to save the lives of Africans who have AIDS and efforts to help veterans, including helping them to find jobs. Forty-nine percent viewed him favorably while 46% saw him unfavorably according to a poll last June from Gallup. When Bush left office in 2009, only 40% of Americans held a favorable opinion of him, a number which sunk to 35% in March of that year before beginning a slow climb out from under water. He's also earned nods from such publications as BuzzFeed and Vanity Fair that noted his counterculture hipness in painting outside of the art establishment  and taking selfies. Though the former President has opened a new chapter of his life with painting, there were reminders of the controversies surrounding his presidency. Just this week, the Senate Intelligence Committee voted to seek declassification of its report on the secret prisons and interrogation techniques used by his administration on terror suspects after the September 11, 2001, attacks. Bush also has refused to publicly discuss politics. In a video accompanying the exhibit, he said of the Dalai Lama: ""I painted him as sweetly as I could."" For Blair, the former British Prime Minister and one of the leaders he spent the most time with, Bush said he painted ""with a lot of affection"" and was trying to convey ""a passionate person and a reliable person."" After reading an essay about Winston Churchill's art hobby, Bush took up painting two years ago. ""I gave it a whirl,"" he said in the video. He hopes the paintings help convey his feelings and friendships to these leaders. He told NBC this will help ""make sure the last chapters of my life are full."" Opinion: Bush paints, but is he any good? ""I want to get better"" Bush said he still has a lot to learn with this hobby. ""I am not a great artist,"" he told his daughter Jenna Bush Hager, who is a ""Today"" show correspondent, in the NBC interview.  ""I paint a lot. I want to get better."" He has his share of critics. New York Magazine Art critic Jerry Salz said of some of Bush's previous  artwork ""no natural giftsâ€”except the desire to do this."" Bush's family said he is very disciplined and dedicated to his work and will often spend hours in his new studio with music playing. Family and friends said he is very excited about his work. ""He talks enthusiastically about it,"" Spellings said. Bush ""utterly loves it."" Bush uses various photos to see facial expressions, clothing and other attributes that he then uses to craft his paintings. He started off doing some smaller things like animals. Then an art professor at a local university suggested he try doing world leaders because he was good at capturing details. He was initially reluctant to share his work publicly. However, his paintings first came to light after a hacker last year obtained private Bush family emails, which included photos of some of his work. Some of the other paintings featured dogs. But other paintings were self-portraits of him in the shower and the bathtub while he was looking in a mirror. ""It's an invasion of one's privacy. And yeah, I was annoyed,"" Bush told NBC. ""And nor do I want my paintings to get out. And I found it very interesting the first painting that came out was the one I painted of myself in the bathtub. I did so because I wanted to kind of shock my instructor."" Bush on painting: 'I see colors differently'"
"London (CNN) -- Internet giants signed up Tuesday to a ""zero tolerance"" approach to images of child sexual abuse as the British government announced a new, tougher strategy to find and block illegal content. Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, Twitter and Facebook were among the firms summoned to a meeting on the issue at 10 Downing Street, the prime minister's residence, by the UK government's Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The summit was called in the wake of two recent UK child murder cases. In each case, the killer had viewed child sexual abuse images and violent pornography on the Internet, sparking calls for action to eradicate such content and protect vulnerable young people. After the summit, the government said the Internet Watch Foundation -- a watchdog body set up in 1996 -- would have new powers to seek out child sex abuse images, block access to them and remove them. The watchdog has previously acted after an image of child sexual abuse was reported to it via a hotline. While there are an estimated 1 million unique images of child abuse online, only 40,000 reports are made to the Internet Watch Foundation each year, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said. Now, the watchdog will work with a cross-agency government body, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, known as CEOP, to hunt down such images, the department said. And the UK's leading Internet service providers -- Virgin Media, BSkyB, BT and TalkTalk -- have agreed to give Â£1 million ($1.57 million) over the next four years to help fund the new approach. Tuesday's agreement represents a ""fundamental change"" in the way child sexual abuse content will be tackled, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport said. ""This will mean more images of child sexual abuse will be tracked down and acted on,"" said Culture Secretary Maria Miller. ""The abuse of children is absolutely abhorrent -- and that child is further violated every single time an image is circulated and viewed. The IWF and CEOP already do important and valuable work. ""This agreement will mean these organizations will no longer be limited to reacting to reports received. They will now have the remit and the resources to take the fight to the criminals perpetrating these vile acts."" In addition, Internet providers have agreed to introduce by the end of the month special pages to tell users when they try to access a page that has been blocked by the Internet Watch Foundation. The four main UK Internet service providers will also beef up the parental control options they offer, so that parents can easily restrict Internet access on all devices in their home by the end of the year. The main cell phone service providers in the United Kingdom also took part in the talks. All the firms present signed a statement saying: ""We have a zero tolerance approach to the presence of child sexual abuse material on the Internet."" Prime Minister David Cameron, speaking to reporters at the Group of Eight summit in Northern Ireland, said he was ""personally committed"" to the battle. He said he welcomed steps to make sure the big Internet companies ""use their expertise, their brains and their brilliance to get these disgusting images off the Internet much faster."" Tuesday's summit is not the only action taken by Web giants to tackle the scourge of exploitative images online. Google said Tuesday that it will spend $5 million on an effort to wipe pictures of child sexual abuse from the Web and another $2 million to research more effective ways to find, report and eradicate the images. Some of that money will go to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children as well as the Internet Watch Foundation, said Jacqueline Fuller, the director of Google Giving, in a blog post. The Web giant also is creating the Child Protection Technology Fund to develop more efficient ways to fight child porn, and already works to tag illegal images and prevent them being found elsewhere."
(CNN) -- Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored all four goals in Sweden's 4-2 win over England -- but his final shot was something special. His audacious overhead volley from 30 yards was labeled on social networking sites as the greatest ever soccer goal. What do you think? Share your views on Ibrahimovic's wonder goal.
"(CNN) -- Andriy Shevchenko has returned to pro sports. But not in football -- and not to the standard of success he has been used to. The former European player of the year is competing in his first professional golf tournament as part of the Kharkov Superior Cup in his native Ukraine, but struggled to a 12-over-par 84 in Thursday's opening round. ""It's a completely different game when you are under pressure, but I really enjoyed it still and so happy to be at this tournament, even if my scoring didn't go so good. It's a great experience for me,"" Shevchenko told the European Tour website. His playing partner, Frenchman Victor Riu, was the first-round leader in the second-tier Challenge Tour event after a sharply contrasting course-record 64. ""I am not a big fan of football so I didn't really know much about Andriy but it was great to play with him. There were a lot of people watching,"" the 28-year-old said. ""He was great. Every time I holed a putt he shook my hand or gave me a high five. He was really pushing me on to play better and cheering me when I made birdies so that was a really big help for me. ""I did put it up on Facebook that I was playing with him and it got a lot of responses, so I knew it was a big deal! Shevchenko, who enjoyed most of his success with Italian club AC Milan, retired from football a year ago after Ukraine co-hosted the European Championships and has since dabbled in politics. He entered this tournament as one of several amateurs in the 130-strong field, having initially taken up golf to help ease the pressure of playing elite football. ""I come on to a golf course and turn off my phone and just walk the course and hit some balls. It's one of the reasons why I started to play,"" he said Wednesday. ""I just found this great game where you have to be focused and balanced and that's why I like it. I like that mental balance."" Shevchenko did manage one birdie, but he carded a double bogey and dropped shots at 11 other holes at the Superior Golf and Spa Resort course, which is part of a luxury seven-star facility. ""To play with Victor and see him shoot a course record and play fantastic golf, I learned so much about the game from the two guys,"" he said. Shevchenko isn't the only athlete to try his hand at pro golf following a successful career in another sport. Former tennis No. 1 Yevgeny Kafelnikov became Russia's national champion in 2011 -- he is also in the field this weekend in Ukraine -- and eight-time grand slam tennis winner Ivan Lendl contested the Czech Open back in 1996. After Lendl struck an 11-over-par 82 in the first round, he was quoted as saying by the Chicago Tribune that it was ""five times worse than playing in a Wimbledon final."" Although similarly unlikely to make the halfway cut, and therefore miss out on the weekend action, Shevchenko is nonetheless proud to be participating in his country's first major golf tournament. ""It's the first event for me and also in Ukraine so it's big for golf here,"" he said. ""I love golf and I'm so happy that golf is starting to pick up in Ukraine and the people are starting to invest money long term."""
"(CNN) -- Martian rock N165, it's your time to shine, or glow, or whatever occurs when a hard substance gets zapped by a laser beam. From about 10 feet away, the Mars rover Curiosity's ChemCam was to take aim Saturday night at the hapless three-inch rock. ""We are going to hit it with 14 millijoules of energy 30 times in 10 seconds,"" Roger Wiens of Los Alamos National Laboratory told reporters. A millijoule is 1/1000th of a joule, which is way too complicated to explain here. Suffice to say, it should get the job done. India to launch Mars orbiter in 2013 . ChemCam, short for Chemistry and Camera, will analyze the resulting glowing, ionized gas in an effort to identify chemical elements in the rock. Scientists say it will be the first time such a powerful laser has been used on another planet. The laser works in conjunction with a telescope. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said Friday that Curiosity's first driving destination will be Glenelg, about 1,300 feet from the rover's landing site. ""We had a bunch of strong contenders. It is the kind of dilemma planetary scientists dream of, but you can only go one place for the first drilling for a rock sample on Mars,"" said project scientist John Grotzinger. ""That first drilling will be a huge moment in the history of Mars exploration."" The mobile science lab touched down on Mars early on August 6 and has been beaming back images of the surface of Gale Crater ever since. The rover's primary target is Mount Sharp, a peak about 8 kilometers (5 miles) away. But moving about a football field a day, with lengthy stops, it could take nearly a year to reach the slopes at the base of the mountain. Complete coverage of Mars . Mars 'Mohawk Guy' inspires Obama ."
"(CNN) -- Gabriel García Márquez, the influential, Nobel Prize-winning author of ""One Hundred Years of Solitude"" and ""Love in the Time of Cholera,"" has died, his family and officials said. He was 87. The literary giant was treated in April for infections and dehydration at a Mexican hospital. García Márquez, a native of Colombia, is widely credited with helping to popularize ""magical realism,"" a genre ""in which the fantastic and the realistic are combined in a richly composed world of imagination,"" as the Nobel committee described it upon awarding him the prize for literature in 1982. He was sometimes called the most significant Spanish-language author since Miguel de Cervantes, the 16th-century author of ""Don Quixote"" and one of the great writers in Western literature. Indeed, Chilean poet Pablo Neruda told Time that ""One Hundred Years of Solitude"" was ""the greatest revelation in the Spanish language since the Don Quixote of Cervantes."" The author's cousin, Margarita Marquez, and Colombia's ambassador to Mexico, José Gabriel Ortiz, confirmed the author's death to CNN on Thursday. ""We're left with the memories and the admiration to all Colombians and also Mexicans because I think Gabo was half Mexican and half Colombian. He's just as admired in Mexico as he is in (his native) Colombia, all of Latin America and throughout the world,"" Ortiz told CNN en Español. Share your memories with CNN's iReport . ""I believe they were somehow emotionally ready for this regrettable outcome. They knew he was suffering from a complex, terminal disease and was an elderly man. I believe (Garcia Marquez's widow Mercedes Barcha) was getting ready for this moment, although nobody can really prepare themselves for a moment like this."" In a televised speech Thursday night, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos declared three days of national mourning, ordering flags to be lowered to half-staff across the country. The author -- known by his nickname ""Gabo"" throughout Latin America -- was born in the northern Colombian town of Aracataca, which became the inspiration for Macondo, the town at the center of ""Solitude,"" his 1967 masterpiece, and referenced in such works as his novella ""Leaf Storm"" and the novel ""In Evil Hour."" ""I feel Latin American from whatever country, but I have never renounced the nostalgia of my homeland: Aracataca, to which I returned one day and discovered that between reality and nostalgia was the raw material for my work,"" reads a mural quoting the author outside of town. García Márquez was tickled that he had earned so much praise for his fertile imagination. ""The truth is that there's not a single line in all my work that does not have a basis in reality. The problem is that Caribbean reality resembles the wildest imagination,"" he told The Paris Review in 1981. A storyteller's childhood . García Márquez's early life was shaped by both familial and political conflict. His grandfather, a widely respected figure known as the Colonel, was a liberal military man who strongly disagreed with the political views of García Márquez's father, a conservative telegraph operator who became a pharmacist. (His father's ardent pursuit of his mother later inspired ""Love in the Time of Cholera."") Their political disagreement came to reflect that of Colombia as a whole, a country that spent a postwar decade in the grip of what was called ""La Violencia,"" a civil war that followed the assassination of a populist leader. García Márquez spent his early childhood with his grandparents while his parents pursued a living in the coastal city of Barranquilla. Both his grandparents were excellent storytellers, and García Márquez soaked in their tales. From his grandfather he learned of military men, Colombian history and the terrible burden of killing; from his grandmother came folk tales, superstitions and ghosts among the living. His grandmother's stories were delivered ""as if they were the irrefutable truth,"" according to the García Márquez site themodernword.com. The influence is obvious in García Márquez's works, particularly ""One Hundred Years of Solitude."" In 1936 the Colonel died and García Márquez returned to his parents and their growing family. He was eventually one of 11 children, not to mention several half-siblings from his father's affairs, a familial sprawl that also found its way into his books. After finishing high school, García Márquez went off to college with dreams of becoming a writer. His parents, on the other hand, had plans for him to become a lawyer. Writing ended up taking precedence: When La Violencia broke out, García Márquez started contributing stories to a local newspaper and eventually became a columnist. He had also been exposed to writers such as James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, Franz Kafka and especially William Faulkner, who had turned his own patch of land in Oxford, Mississippi, into the shape-shifting past and present of Yoknapatawpha County. In the mid-1950s, García Márquez left Colombia for Europe, a move partly provoked by a story he'd written that was critical of the government. The distance, he later said, helped shape his perspective on Latin American politics. For years, García Márquez had been writing and publishing fiction, including short stories in Latin American journals and a handful of longer works, including ""Leaf Storm,"" which was published in 1955. But it wasn't until 1967 with the publication of ""One Hundred Years of Solitude"" that he broke through to a wide audience. '100 Years' of literary renown . The novel is set in Macondo, a town founded by the patriarch of the Buendia family, José Arcadio Buendia. Over the generations, members of the family are set upon by ghosts and visions, fall in love, dream of riches and fight in wars. Natural events take on supernatural aspects -- rains that last years, plagues that create memory loss. It is a tapestry of almost biblical proportions in which reality and spirit swirl and merge, a world unto itself -- as well as a commentary on the politics and history of the world at large. ""The narrative is a magician's trick in which memory and prophecy, illusion and reality are mixed and often made to look the same. It is, in short, very much like Márquez's astonishing novel,"" wrote The New York Times in a 1970 review upon the release of the English translation by Gregory Rabassa. García Márquez worked on ""Solitude"" tirelessly, selling off family items, living on credit, smoking up a nicotine frenzy. Upon its release, the book became an instant bestseller in Latin America and was equally successful in English. It has been estimated to have sold in excess of 20 million copies -- some sources say as many as 50 million -- in two dozen languages. The book didn't ease all of García Márquez's problems, however. As a vocal leftist and defender of Castro's Cuba, he was regularly limited or denied visas by the United States until President Bill Clinton, a fan of ""Solitude,"" revoked the ban. Clinton commented on Garcia Marquez's death Thursday. ""I was saddened to learn of the passing of Gabriel García Márquez,"" he said in a statement. ""From the time I read 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' more than 40 years ago, I was always amazed by his unique gifts of imagination, clarity of thought, and emotional honesty. He captured the pain and joy of our common humanity in settings both real and magical."" García Márquez was also involved in a feud with onetime friend writer Mario Vargas Llosa, a Peruvian and a Nobel laureate, who punched the Colombian in the face in 1976 -- believed to be over politics but later revealed to be over Vargas Llosa's wife. García Márquez's ensuing works were generally praised. They included ""The Autumn of the Patriarch"" (1975), ""Chronicle of a Death Foretold"" (1981) and ""The General in His Labyrinth"" (1990). He is said to be the most popular Spanish-language author in the world. ""Love in the Time of Cholera,"" with an English translation published in 1988, was a particular bestseller. The love story, which was turned into a 2007 movie, was referenced in such works as the 2001 movie ""Serendipity"" and the finale of the TV series ""How I Met Your Mother."" García Márquez's style and impact have been widespread. He is credited with spearheading ""el Boom,"" attracting attention to a generation of Latin American writers, including Vargas Llosa and Mexico's Carlos Fuentes. Magical realism is now an accepted genre, to the point that some critics believe it has been overused. And he prompted a focus on Latin American politics -- protesting the 1973 CIA-aided coup in Chile, calling attention to corruption and free speech issues in South America and around the world. He never gave up journalism. ""I've always been convinced that my true profession is that of a journalist. What I didn't like about journalism before were the working conditions,"" he told The Paris Review. ""Now, after having worked as a novelist, and having achieved financial independence as a novelist, I can really choose the themes that interest me and correspond to my ideas."" He was one of the most honored -- and highly respected -- authors on Earth, particularly in parts of the world where literature is taken as seriously as politics. ""On behalf of Mexico, I would like to express my sorrow for the passing of one of the greatest writers of our time, Gabriel Garcia Marquez,"" tweeted Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto. Colombia's President summed up the author's presence on Twitter. ""Giants never die,"" Santos tweeted. For all of his immortality, however, Garcia Marquez preferred the here and now. Asked about the impact of dreams on his dreamlike writing, he said he'd rather focus on reality. ""Life itself is the greatest source of inspiration,"" he said. ""I see dreams as part of life in general, but reality is much richer. ""But maybe,"" he added, ""I just have very poor dreams."" People we've lost in 2014 . CNN's Rafael Romo and CNN en Español's Nelson Quiñones and Ana Melgar contributed to this story."
"(CNN) -- Mexico heads the list of the world's most overweight industrialized nations. Fat chance you say? Exactly. Nearly a third of Mexican adults are obese, a recent United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization report says, topping even the United States, which comes in a close second at 31.8%. The United States has long been a fixture atop the chubby list. The culprit? High-calorie, low-cost, processed foods and an increasingly sedentary lifestyle as Mexican incomes rise and more people move into metropolitan areas. The danger, according to the World Health Organization, is an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, degenerative joint diseases and some cancers. The obesity epidemic is a double whammy for Mexican children, who can be both malnourished and overweight. ""They are exposed to high-fat, high-sugar, high-salt, energy-dense ... foods, which tend to be lower in cost but also lower in nutrient quality,"" the World Health Organization reports. It's a growing problem -- and not just for Mexico. Since 1980, obesity rates worldwide have doubled. In 2008, more than 1.4 billion adults were overweight and 500 million were obese. The solution is simple but not always easy to accomplish, especially as nutritional options are limited in many parts of the world. The WHO recommends: . -- Limiting your intake of fats and sugars . -- Increasing consumption of fruit and vegetables, as well as legumes, whole grains and nuts . -- Engaging in regular physical activity: 60 minutes a day for children and 150 minutes per week for adults . CNN's Marilia Brocchetto contributed to this report ."
"(CNN) -- Earlier this month, an AeroMexico plane made an important flight from Mexico City to Madrid. The flight wasn't notable for who was inside the cabin, but for what was inside the fuel tank: it was the world's first transatlantic commercial flight using biofuel. The engines on that flight were powered by a fuel mixture that was 30% biofuel from the jatropha plant, and the trip followed a pair of Mexican domestic commercial flights by Interjet that used the same formula. Mexico is known for its oil production, but it could be its less obvious flats of arid and marginal land that will be the future of Mexico's energy resources. The country has quietly positioned itself to become a potential leader in biofuel production as scientists develop a second generation of fuels derived from sources that don't compete for arable land or with food. Jatropha-based biofuels are being increasingly used in Mexico, and agave -- the plant from which tequila is made -- is being studied as a new source for ethanol. But some observers warn that Mexico's cumbersome land laws make it too hard to purchase the land needed for cultivation at competitive prices. Some biofuels, such as ethanol derived from corn and sugar, can indirectly raise the prices of staple foods in many places, along with raising ethical issues, said Gilberto Lopez Meyer, director of Airports and Auxiliary Services (ASA), the Mexican government agency that oversaw the biofuel flights. So in 2007, Mexico, along with 14 other member countries of the International Civil Aviation Organization, committed to developing new strategies for second-generation biofuels that would not affect food production. ""We returned to Mexico with a mission,"" Lopez told CNN. Lopez's agency teamed up with the state of Chiapas, where Gov. Juan Sabines had already made a name for himself pushing his state toward alternative fuels. Chiapas began cultivating jatropha, whose seeds contain oil that can be extracted and converted into biofuel. The state already uses a jatropha biofuel mix on its buses and trucks, and President Felipe Calderon was on hand in November of last year to inaugurate a biodiesal plant there. ASA partnered with American company UOP, which refined the Chiapas jatropha into jet fuel. When the standards for biofuel use in commercial flights was approved July 1, Mexico was ready to make the domestic Interjet and international AeroMexico flights a possibility. The goal of ASA, which provides almost 100% of the jet fuel in Mexico, is to commercialize and distribute biofuels, Lopez said. ""We've been working on this project as part of a global effort to combat climate change,"" he said. By 2015, the goal is to have 1% of all jet fuel in Mexico be biofuel, and by 2020, 15%, he said. ""This is a huge goal,"" Lopez said. ""One percent doesn't sound like a lot, but it equals more than 40 million liters (10.6 million gallons)."" Mexico has several things in its favor to become a leader in biofuels, he said. It has plenty of land not being used for food, it has a high demand for energy, and it is located next door to the energy-hungry United States. ""Mexico has made the very important first step to be in a very priviledged place,"" Lopez said. Halfway across the world, researchers at Oxford recently published a study extolling the benefits that ethanol derived from agave. Agave can grow in arid land, and produces less than half of the carbon dioxide emissions produced by corn-based ethanol, Oliver Inderwildi, one of the study's authors, told CNN. Sugar-based ethanol produces even less emissions, but it needs arable land for cultivation. ""We need every space we can get, every arable land, for food,"" Inderwildi said. ""We think agave may be one part of the solution."" For their study, the researchers did a life-cycle analysis for the production of ethanol based on a hypothetical plant in Jalisco, Mexico, where 90% of tequila is produced. Potentially, agave plantations could boost local economies and create jobs, Inderwildi said. Mexico, the native home of agave plants, stands to benefit if such an ethanol industry takes off. Food prices would be spared, but would drinkers have to pay more for their margaritas and tequila shots? The tequila business is very small compared to the fuel business, and is also more expensive than fuel ethanol, so Inderwildi predicts that alcohol prices would remain stable. And unlike tequila, which requires the harvesting of the agave stem only, ethanol production would also require harvesting the leaves of the plant. ""Our study backs up that this is a good idea from an environmental perspective,"" he said. The catch, for now, is that neither jatropha or agave biofuel production is cost-effective. But technological advances and oil prices make such alternatives more desirable. When that tipping point comes, Mexico will be ready, the experts said. But James Row, CEO of Houston-based Producers Energy and part owner of a Mexican-based biodiesel company, told CNN that Mexico is still far from being an ideal place to produce biofuels. ""Mexico is absolutely a perfect country for biodiesel, especially if it can be domestically grown,"" he said, but the country's ejido system -- collectively-held land in rural areas -- creates hurdles for private investment. The result is difficulty in finding continuous large areas of rural land that can be negotiated for use for cultivation, or high prices that make it cost prohibitive. Without land reform, issues with land availability will continue, and Mexico will fall a decade or more behind other countries in the biofuels sector, Row said. The demand is there, the land is there, but there is no way to get it, he said. ""Now is the time for Mexico to get its act together for biofuels,"" he said."
"WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The world's tropical forests are disappearing, and one reason is simple economics: People, companies and governments earn more by logging, mining or farming places such as the Amazon jungle than by conserving them. Global climate change treaty, scheduled for completion in December, is designed to protect tropical forests. Efforts to halt rain forest destruction date back decades, but they so far have failed to tackle the issue on a scale commensurate with the challenge. Now there may be a remedy, and the reason is climate change. Increased awareness of the threat from global warming has prompted unprecedented international focus on how to combat it, as well as new appreciation for the vital role of tropical forests in the climate change equation. On Tuesday, world leaders gather at the United Nations for a special climate change summit, intended to build momentum for a new global climate change treaty being negotiated by almost 200 countries. The new treaty is scheduled to be completed in December in Copenhagen, Denmark. If eventually enacted, the treaty will include a revolutionary but little-known provision intended to protect remaining tropical forests. Known as Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation in developing countries, or REDD, the provision is based on the knowledge that destroying tropical forests contributes to global warming. Rain forests absorb and store huge amounts of carbon dioxide, the most prevalent of the greenhouse gases that cause climate change. Burning or clearing the forests returns that stored CO2 to the atmosphere, where it can trap heat and gradually increase temperatures. Every year, tropical forests equal to an area the size of England are destroyed, contributing about 20 percent of total annual greenhouse gas emissions -- more than all the world's cars, trucks and airplanes combined. The idea of the proposed provision is to make the stored carbon dioxide in the forests a commodity that can be bought and sold on the global market. Polluters in the developing world would be able to offset their emissions by buying credits for stored forest carbon dioxide. The money from those purchases would go to developing world governments, international organizations, local communities and others involved in forest protection programs. For the first time, tropical forests would be worth money for simply existing. That could create an economic incentive to protect tropical forests, which also have biological value as the planet's richest storehouses of land species and spiritual worth as pristine natural landscapes. To longtime defenders of tropical forests, the proposal represents the final stage of a long and halting journey from the fringes of the environmental movement toward the mainstream of international policy. ""Done properly, this is our No. 1 hope,"" said Randall Hayes, who founded the Rainforest Action Network in 1985 with the goal of halting tropical deforestation. ""Other strategies have been heroic but insufficient."" The system would let nations and industries that are the biggest greenhouse-gas emitters buy carbon credits in tropical forests in South and Central America, Africa, Southeast Asia and other equatorial regions. At the same time, investors could speculate on the price of carbon dioxide through credit trading. Private and public funds could invest in projects that protect forests to generate credits. Final details of the plan remain uncertain, such as how forest carbon credits would be verified and how the money paid for them would be handled and distributed. For developing countries, the idea represents a potential new revenue source. President Bharrat Jagdeo of Guyana, a leading proponent of the plan, has made trading carbon credits a central element of his Low-Carbon Development Strategy. The strategy ""is more about development than about the environment and it will help us to accelerate infrastructural development and fill the budget gap,"" Jagdeo said in an August 29 speech. The World Bank and partners have set up funds to help developing countries prepare for REDD and finance forest-protection initiatives. However, both funds are not fully capitalized, pending the successful conclusion of negotiations on the new global climate change treaty. ""Right now everybody is in a wait-and-see mode,"" said Benoit Bosquet, the World Bank's lead carbon finance specialist. ""Everybody seems interested, but the level of activity is still humble."" Conservationists cite the environmental benefits of saving tropical forests, which provide essential resources and services -- such as fresh water, food, flood control and many others -- on which more than a billion people depend. Now, they say, conserving forests also can contribute to sustainable development, benefiting both nature and people. Yet several steps remain before the tropical-forest provision becomes reality on a large scale. First, the U.N.-led negotiations must agree on a treaty to succeed the Kyoto Protocol -- the world's first global climate change agreement, which expires in 2012. The Kyoto treaty created a global carbon market -- but only the carbon storage of newly planted or replanted forests is eligible for credits. REDD also would protect standing forests, to prevent the absorbed carbon dioxide stocks from being released back into the atmosphere. Whether a new treaty will be completed in December is unclear. Negotiators have yet to set consensus targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and major disputes remain between industrialized powers such as the United States and emerging and developing economies including China and Brazil. The draft under negotiation includes REDD, but negotiations continue on how broad the policy would be. Advocates of a limited scope for REDD say areas with no history of deforestation should be excluded because protecting them won't reduce carbon dioxide emissions. In response, conservationists and developing nations warn against leaving out nations and regions -- including Jagdeo's Guyana, parts of Indonesia and Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo and others -- that still have much of their tropical forest intact. They argue that halting deforestation in only some countries would cause the loggers, palm oil developers and other drivers of forest destruction to move to previously untargeted areas. ""If REDD mechanisms exclude any significant group of countries, REDD will fail,"" Jagdeo told U.N. negotiators in December. Critics, including some environmental groups, question how such a vast and complex system can be successfully implemented. A Greenpeace report issued in March said including REDD credits in carbon markets would create a glut and drastically cut the price of carbon, resulting in industrial polluters buying cheap credits for offsets instead of reducing their emissions. The report also warned of reduced investments in renewable energy technologies due to the lack of an incentive from the cheaper carbon credits. Others question whether REDD will be another scheme generated by industrialized nations to exploit resources of the developing world, and in particular, the indigenous forest peoples. Jagdeo, the president of Guyana, has said such critics should recognize the opportunity that a new climate change treaty could present. If it includes sufficiently robust commitments for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, he argues, that would create a strong demand for carbon credits. The deforestation provision of a climate change treaty could help stem deforestation while providing ""badly needed capital flows to some of the poorest countries in the world,"" he said. Yet even the idea's most ardent supporters recognize that it could take years for a global-scale program to become effective. While local projects exist in rain forest countries such as Madagascar, it would take time and money to expand them. ""If there is a deal in Copenhagen and if there is a signaling by industrialized nations that, yes, they will make money available, then you will see developing countries scaling up their readiness,"" said the World Bank's Bosquet. ""They will see that this is now real and it's the time to react."""
"Editor's note: José Miguel Vivanco is executive director of the Americas Division of Human Rights Watch, a nonprofit organization that seeks to protect people's rights. A lawyer from Chile, he was educated there, in Spain and at Harvard Law School. José Miguel Vivanco says conviction of Peru's ex-president is a warning to those who deny human rights. (CNN) -- Peruvians are celebrating an extraordinary victory this week: the conviction of their former president, Alberto Fujimori, for death squad killings carried out during his rule in the 1990s. The Peruvian Supreme Court found him guilty of egregious human rights abuses, including the massacre of innocent civilians, and sentenced him to 25 years in prison -- a stiff message to other leaders that justice can eventually catch up to even the most powerful. It is one of the first times a nation's own independent courts have convicted a former leader for such serious human rights crimes and it sets an important precedent for a region that suffered so much from political violence and rights violations. Equally significant, the ruling came after a lengthy televised trial, which was clearly fair to the defendant -- despite Peru's previous history of authoritarianism and weak rule of law. Fujimori came to office in 1990 on the promise of crushing a vicious Maoist insurgency but, in the process of restoring order, he corrupted and weakened Peru's most vital government institutions -- including parliament, the courts and law enforcement. Just a few years ago, Fujimori had near-total control of Peru's judiciary. For a decade, his government used bribery, extortion, and intimidation to concentrate power in the presidency, subverting the democratic process and eliminating normal checks by the judiciary, legislature, and media on government abuses. He led Peru from 1990 to 2000, presiding over the war with the Shining Path guerrillas and the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement. He was convicted of authorizing killings and kidnappings by paramilitary death squads. Fujimori is to be tried separately on multiple corruption charges. The landmark decision fits within a global trend of increasing accountability for former heads of state. Just 20 years ago, it was exceedingly rare for even the most brutal leaders to be brought to book. In the late 20th century, Mao Zedong, Idi Amin, Milton Obote, Ferdinand Marcos, Anastasio Somoza, Jean-Claude ""Baby Doc"" Duvalier and Mobutu Sese Seko, to name just a few, were never brought to trial. Since then, however, the tide has turned. In October 1998, London police arrested General Augusto Pinochet on a warrant from a Spanish judge for human rights crimes. The arrest and the subsequent decisions by the British House of Lords to reject Pinochet's claim of immunity were a wake-up call to tyrants everywhere, but more important, they gave hope to victims elsewhere that they too could bring their tormentors to justice. In country after country, particularly in Latin America, victims were inspired to challenge the amnesty laws of the 1980s and 1990s that had allowed the perpetrators of atrocities to go unpunished and, often, to remain in power. Thanks to these efforts, former leaders in Argentina, and Uruguay have also faced human rights trials. Pinochet's arrest also strengthened a nascent international movement -- spurred by the killings in Bosnia and Rwanda, and facilitated by the end of the Cold War -- to make certain the worst abuses are punished. After the creation of UN tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, the world established the International Criminal Court (ICC) to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity and serious war crimes when national courts are unable or unwilling to do so. The ICC is now investigating crimes in the Central African Republic, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and in March the court indicted President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan on charges of crimes against humanity in Darfur. The Fujimori case stands out, though, because it was Peru's national court system which demonstrated the will, capacity, and independence to try its former president. A second panel of the Supreme Court will now review an appeal by Fujimori. One can hope the second panel will be as transparent and fair as the first. Even after this verdict, impunity for past atrocities continues to be a major problem in Peru and throughout the region. It is likely, however, that yesterday's verdict will help give momentum to efforts currently underway in many Latin American countries to bring other human rights violators to justice. The verdict will also send a powerful message to current heads of state who may be tempted to use abusive tactics to resolve their political problems. As Fujimori discovered yesterday, crimes they may be able to get away with while in power can come back to haunt them years later. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of José Miguel Vivanco."
"(CNN) -- Efforts to rescue a research crew aboard a ship stuck in ice off Antarctica stalled Thursday after sea ice conditions made a key element of the rescue plan risky, Australian maritime officials said. The rescue plan called for a helicopter to ferry the passengers from the MV Akademik Shokalskiy to a Chinese vessel, where they would then board a barge to take them to an Australian icebreaker, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said in a written statement. But the shifting ice conditions prevented the barge from being able to reach the Chinese vessel, the statement said. ""Alternative measures to complete the rescue operation are now being investigated by AMSA and the ships involved,"" the statement said. The news is the latest chapter in a saga that began Christmas Eve after the Russian-flagged MV Akademik Shokalskiy got stuck in 10 feet of ice. Even if the rescue begins Friday, it will still be weeks before the research team will make it to Hobart, Australia, John Young of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said. ""Mid-January is our best guess,"" Young told reporters on a conference call. The rescue plan called for the helicopter, which can transport 12 people each trip, to ferry the ship's 52 passengers -- who include the research team and journalists -- to the Chinese icebreaker called the Snow Dragon, or Xue Long, the maritime agency said. The 22 Russian crew members of the Akademik Shokalskiy will stay aboard, it said. The passengers are then to be transported by barge from the Chinese ship to the Australian icebreaker Aurora Australis. That's because the Chinese helicopter can't land on the Australian icebreaker because of load restrictions, and ice conditions make it unsafe to land it next to the ship, AMSA said. ""The preferred option is to wait for conditions that will allow the rescue to be completed in a single operation to reduce unnecessary risk,"" the maritime agency said. The master of the Akademik Shokalskiy has decided to keep the crew members on board until the pack ice eventually breaks up and allows the ship to move again, Young said. The vessel has enough supplies to keep the crew going for ""a very long time,"" he said. Failed rescues . The planned helicopter rescue follows a failed attempt by the Chinese icebreaker, which made it six nautical miles from the trapped vessel before being stopped by the ice. That was followed by an effort by the Australian icebreaker, which was forced Monday to suspend efforts to reach the expedition because of bad weather. The Aurora Australis got within 10 nautical miles of the ship before it turned back. Over the weekend, an effort by the French icebreaker Astrolabe was called off by the maritime agency. In preparation for the helicopter rescue, members of the research team as well as the crew of the Akademik Shokalskiy marked a makeshift helipad on the ice where the helicopter can land. Video clips posted online by the research team showed people, with arms locked, walking to tamp down the snow. ""As we understand, the helipad was suitable yesterday and will be suitable today,"" AMSA's Richard Wallace said. Once the passengers are safely aboard the Aurora Australis, the ship will complete a resupply mission to Casey Station, an Australian base in Antarctica, before making its way to Hobart, the maritime agency said. Viral sensations . The exploits of the research crew have gone viral, thanks in large part to Twitter and YouTube posts by those aboard the stranded vessel. Chris Turney, an Australian professor of climate change at the University of New South Wales, has tweeted photos of the stranded ship, the crew and penguins, who he said -- according to one post on Twitter -- ""to check out what's going on."" ""The group on this ship is incredibly collegiate,"" said Alok Jha, a science correspondent for The Guardian newspaper, told CNN's Anderson Cooper 360. ""There are a lot of skills and things people are sharing with each other."" Turney has said there are regular briefings on the status of rescue attempts, and in the meantime, people are doing what they can to keep busy. That includes yoga and Spanish classes, Jha and Turney said. The group even managed to ring in 2014 with good cheer. ""We're the A, A, E who have traveled far, having fun doing science in Antarctica!"" a dozen or so of them sang in a video posted on YouTube. ""Lots of snow and lots of ice, lots of penguins, which are very, very nice! ""Really good food and company, but a bloody great shame we are still stuck here! Ice cold, cha cha cha! Ice cold, cha cha cha!"" Spirits strong among passengers on ship stuck in Antarctic ice . CNN's Radina Gigova and Jethro Mullen contributed to this report."
"""The status quo is no longer acceptable."" That's the message the University of Virginia is trying to send its students and others after a scathing Rolling Stone story detailed allegations of a gang rape at a fraternity party, and the school's supposed indifference toward students who are victims of sexual assault. The horrific attack reportedly happened to a woman known only as Jackie, at the start of her freshman year in 2012. She told the magazine she was raped by seven men at Phi Kappa Psi, while two more gave encouragement. The school stands accused of bungling its response to the assault, and sweeping other assault allegations under the rug. ""To Jackie and her parents, I say I am sorry,"" Rector George Keith Martin said at an emergency meeting of UVA's governing board this week. ""To the survivors of sexual assault and their families, I am also sorry."" He added: ""This type of conduct will not be tolerated at the University of Virginia. The status quo is no longer acceptable."" The board unanimously adopted a resolution affirming a zero-tolerance approach toward rape and sexual assault cases. What exactly that means remains to be seen. The actual specifics of the new policy will be worked out later, university officials said. They are scrambling. UVA suspended all fraternities until after the winter break in the wake of the report, and President Teresa Sullivan has called on the Charlottesville Police Department to investigate Jackie's allegations and pleaded for witnesses to come forward with information. A few weeks before the November 19 article hit the newsstands, student-run WUVA interviewed the associate dean of students, Nicole Eramo, who guides women through their options when they report they've been assaulted. In the interview, Eramo admitted that no student had been expelled for committing sexual assault, even when there was an admission, and even though offenses such as academic cheating regularly lead to expulsion. Opinion: Stop shaming victims in college rapes . ""I feel if a person is willing to come forward in that setting and admit they violated the policy when there is absolutely no advantage to do so, then I feel that deserves some consideration, that they are willing to say, 'I have done something wrong and I am willing to take my licks and deal with it,'"" Eramo told reporter Catherine Valentine, explaining why no one had been expelled. Eramo said there had been 38 reports of sexual assault last year. ""I do feel like that person admitting in that context it shows a recognition of what they have done is wrong, and a willingness to improve,"" Eramo said, when pressed on the subject. ""I think we are trying to balance the rights of the individual who is being accused as well as the rights of the complainant and sometimes that is very difficult,"" she said. ""I think you would be surprised to see the number of survivors who I've worked with who don't even want to file a complaint, because they don't want to get the accused person in trouble."" Opinion: A student responds . Although Eramo's interview struck many as tone deaf, particularly given the Rolling Stone story, Jackie released an open letter in support of the associated dean to the student newspaper, The Cavalier Daily. Jackie and other victims of assault at the school said Eramo helped them tremendously as they dealt with what happened to them. ""How can we not do the same for her in her darkest moment?"" asked the letter from her supporters. ""Dean Eramo has truly saved my life. If it were not for her, I do not know if I could be alive today,"" Jackie wrote. Opinion: Punish rapists, not fraternities . Another victim who spoke to CNN, Lyra Bartell, said that Eramo has ""the hardest job at UVA"" and said the problems highlighted by Rolling Stone are more about the policy than about a person. Those policies were at the heart of the discussion at the special board meeting, where officials pledged to change cultural conditions and to improve support for survivors. The university also announced that the state attorney general has asked the law firm O'Melveny & Myers to do an investigation of how the school responds to reports of sexual violence, especially in cases where alleged victims choose not to make a formal complaint. ""I want to make it perfectly clear to you, and to the watching world that nothing is more important to me than the safety of our students,"" President Sullivan said at the meeting. ""Not our reputation, not our success, and not our history or tradition."" Opinion: UVA's answer to rape allegations a farce ."
"(CNN) -- Australian authorities ended their efforts to find survivors Friday after a boat carrying scores capsized off the coast of Indonesia this week. An Australian naval ship and four merchant vessels rescued 55 people in an area west of the Indonesian island of Java, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said. But many more others may have perished in the sea. The authority said it was halting further efforts following medical advice that ""there is no realistic prospect of survivability."" One body was recovered during the rescue operation. Rescuers had been searching for survivors since Wednesday, when Australian authorities received a call from someone aboard saying the vessel was having engine trouble. The caller said it had about 150 people aboard, presumed to be asylum seekers. The survivors, including at least three with injuries, were being taken to Merak, Indonesia, Australian authorities said. Several ships carrying asylum seekers in Australia have run into trouble in the waters between Indonesia and Australia in recent years. Read more: Asylum seekers risking all to escape dangers of home . Vessels often head for Christmas Island, a remote Australian territory closer to Java than to the Australian mainland. Dozens of people are believed to have died after two ships capsized near Christmas Island in June. More than 200 people were rescued from those accidents."
"(CNN) -- Feasting on turkey aside, brace yourself for that other Thanksgiving ritual: joining a nationwide mad dash to make it to a family gathering and back in a journey that can exasperate even the most seasoned traveler. If you're flying for the holiday, expect lots of company and few airfare deals. ""The airlines have eliminated tens of thousands of seats due to consolidation and just plain old capacity cuts and (they're) using smaller planes,"" said George Hobica, president of Airfarewatchdog.com. ""So there are going to be fewer seats."" It's also a bit trickier to book flights for Thanksgiving than Christmas because so many travelers want to fly in such a small window of time: four days versus two weeks for many people who save vacation time for the big holiday in December. The sputtering economy isn't keeping Americans from making the annual trek for Thanksgiving, said Melissa Klurman, contributing editor for Travelocity. Those who will be flying over the holiday will pay $376 on average for a domestic ticket, or about 4% more than at the same time last year, according to Travelocity. Here are five tips to make your journey a smoother one. 1. Book your tickets now . Last-minute sales aren't likely for one of the most popular times of the year to fly and seat maps are filling up quickly. ""Don't delay: Prices are not going to go down between now and Thanksgiving,"" Klurman said. ""Not only do you have a better chance of getting lower airfare, but also (better) seats. You can book your seat when you book your airfare. So if you don't want to be in the middle of the last row -- the early bird gets the window seat in that case."" If you're flying with someone for Thanksgiving, the chances of sitting together on the plane are also higher if you book early, Hobica said. 2. Look into alternate airports . Sometimes, it pays to look into flying in and out of airports that may be less convenient than your closest option. So you may find a cheaper flight out of Allentown, Pennsylvania, than Philadelphia, for example, Hobica said. Be especially flexible if you're in a major city like New York, where there are several airports in the area, Klurman said. Travelocity allows fliers to search alternate airports when they're pricing itineraries. 3. Consider flying on Thanksgiving Day . Travelers who choose to fly out on the Monday before Thanksgiving and fly back on the Sunday after will pay on average $213 more than travelers who fly on Thanksgiving Day and come back the next day, Travelocity calculated. Flying on the holiday also means much less crowded airports and planes. ""Have your turkey and then come back on Friday,"" Hobica advised. Lest you think it's impossible to do, Hobica assured that plenty of travelers have successfully gone this route, ""especially if they don't like their family or if they're sleeping on the sofa and the sleeping arrangements aren't comfortable,"" he said with tongue in cheek. In general, avoid a Sunday return, Travelocity advised. If you are flying on Thanksgiving Day, try to take the first flight out to make sure you make it to dinner. 4. Give yourself plenty of time . Connecting flights are often cheaper, but with the possibility of winter weather causing delays or cancellations over Thanksgiving, you risk a missed connection, Hobica said. He suggests travelers fly nonstop whenever possible, but if you do choose a multistop itinerary, allow lots of time to catch your next flight. If you miss a connection, Travelocity warns that with planes booked solid, it could be a while before your airline is able to book you on another flight. 5. Consider paying some extra fees to make the trip more comfortable . Hobica frequently flies JetBlue and he always pays a fee for seats with extra legroom, an option that comes with access to expedited security lanes and early boarding. The choices vary by airlines, but several, including American and United, let you board early for a fee, thus helping you avoid the epic struggle for overhead bin space. It may be worth paying this extra charge during peak travel times, like Thanksgiving, to make the journey saner, Hobica said. Another, more expensive option is to splurge for an airport lounge day pass, which can cost $30-$50. ""If you only fly once a year, sometimes the day passes are worthwhile, especially if your flight is delayed,"" Hobica said. ""They have free drinks in most of the lounges, snacks and shorter lines if you have to rebook your flight. ... It just makes the whole experience a bit more pleasant when you treat yourself well and get the perks."""
"Tokyo (CNN) -- Nissan has started scanning vehicles made in Japan for traces of radioactive material, a company official said Friday. ""Looking ahead, we will continue to implement all appropriate measures to reassure the public that all products from our company remain within globally accepted safety standards and until we are confident that any risk of contamination is completely removed,"" said Simon Sproule, corporate vice president of marketing for Nissan Motor Company. Sproule said the monitoring began this week. Sources inside the company said there is virtually no risk of contamination from a car and no potential health risk to customers, but testing began because of public concern. Production at several Nissan facilities remains suspended after a 9.0-magnitude earthquake damaged plants and equipment on March 11, the company said in a statement Thursday."
"NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- Three British guards jumped overboard and were rescued from the water after battling in vain to prevent pirates hijacking a chemical tanker off the coast of Somalia. Three British security guards board a helicopter to be transferred to a Royal Navy vessel. The Liberian-flagged Biscaglia came under ""sustained and heavy attack"" early Friday morning, Nick Davis, Director of Anti-Piracy Maritime Security Solutions (APMSS), said in a statement. The three APMSS-employed security guards -- all former British servicemen -- mounted ""sustained non-lethal resistance"" but were unable to stop the attackers seizing control of the ship, Davis said. The trio were airlifted to safety by a German naval helicopter and flown to a French frigate after the vessel summoned assistance from coalition warships. They were later transferred to a British Royal Navy ship. All three were unhurt, Davis said. ""I have spoken with my team leader on the phone and he informs me that the level of violence was significant and forced them reluctantly to leave the vessel after every effort was made to ensure the safety of the ships crew,"" Davis said. Pirates continued to shoot at the three in the water, Davis said. ""The hijacked vessel with pirates in control then attempted to run them down."" The Biscaglia is managed by Singapore-based Ishima and owned by Winged Foot Shipping in the Marshall Islands and was crewed by 25 Indians and two Bangladeshis who are believed to be still onboard. The vessel is believed to be on its way to an anchorage in Puntland, northeastern Somalia, Davis said. iReport.com: Share your view from 'Inside Africa' Also Friday, pirates released the Greek ship MV Centauri, which was hijacked in September off the coast of Somalia, according to Andrew Mwangura, the head of the Kenya Seafarers Association. There was no immediate information about the 25 crew members on board the ship when it was taken. A multinational naval force including vessels from the U.S., NATO member states, Russia and India has been patrolling the Indian Ocean waters seas near the Gulf of Aden, which connects the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, following a sharp increase in pirate attacks in the region. Around 20,000 oil tankers, freighters and merchant vessels pass along the crucial shipping route each year. So far this year, pirates have attacked almost 100 vessels off the coast of Somalia coast and successfully hijacked nearly 40, according to the International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Center. The most high-profile hijacking so far came earlier this month, when pirates seized a Saudi oil tanker carrying $100 million worth of oil and a crew of 25, although that attack occurred outside the pirates' normal operational range, 450 nautical miles southeast of Mombasa, Kenya. Pirates are still holding the ship. Another vessel held since September is the Ukrainian MV Farina, which was carrying a cargo of weapons and tanks and a crew of 22. In an interview provided to CNN this week, a pirate leader claimed attacks on shipping would continue as long as life in Somalia remained desperate. ""The pirates are living between life and death,"" said the pirate leader, identified by only one name, Boyah. ""Who can stop them? Americans and British all put together cannot do anything."" The interview was conducted in August by journalists working for the Somali news organization, Garowe."
"Editor's note: Peter Bergen, CNN's national security analyst, is a fellow at the New America Foundation, a Washington-based think tank that promotes innovative thought from across the ideological spectrum, and at New York University's Center on Law and Security. He's the author of ""The Osama bin Laden I Know: An Oral History of al Qaeda's Leader."" Peter Bergen says Osama bin Laden is still alive and still significant eight years after September 11. HELMAND, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Eight years after September 11, the ""war on terror"" has gone the way of the dodo. And President Obama talks instead about a war against al Qaeda and its allies. What, then, of al Qaeda's enigmatic leader, Osama bin Laden, who has vanished like a wisp of smoke? And does he even matter now? The U.S. government hadn't had a solid lead on al Qaeda's leader since the battle of Tora Bora in winter 2001. Although there are informed hypotheses that today he is in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province on the Afghan border, perhaps in one of the more northerly areas such as Bajaur, these are essentially guesses, not ""actionable"" intelligence. A longtime American counterterrorism analyst explained to me, ""There is very limited collection on him personally."" That's intelligence community shorthand for the fact that the usual avenues of ""collection"" on a target such as bin Laden are yielding little or no information about him. Those avenues typically include signal intercepts of phone calls and e-mails, as well as human intelligence from spies. Given the hundreds of billions of dollars that the ""war on terror"" has consumed, the failure to capture or kill al Qaeda's leader is one of its signal failures. Does it even matter whether bin Laden is found? Yes, it does. First, there is the matter of justice for the almost 3,000 people who died in the September 11 attacks and for the thousands of other victims of al Qaeda's attacks around the world. Second, every day that bin Laden remains at liberty is a propaganda victory for al Qaeda. Third, although bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri aren't managing al Qaeda's operations on a daily basis they guide the overall direction of the jihadist movement around the world, even while they are in hiding. Those messages from al Qaeda's leaders have reached untold millions worldwide via television, the Internet and newspapers. The tapes have not only instructed al Qaeda's followers to continue to kill Westerners and Jews, but some also carried specific instructions that militant cells then acted on. In March 2008, for instance, the al Qaeda leader denounced the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in a Danish newspaper as a ""catastrophe"" for which punishment would soon be meted out. Three months later, an al Qaeda suicide attacker bombed the Danish Embassy in Islamabad, killing six. Some reading this may think: But what's the proof that the al Qaeda leader is still alive? Plenty. Since September 11, bin Laden has released a slew of video and audiotapes, many of which discuss current events. After a nine-month silence, for instance, bin Laden released a 22-minute audiotape on March 14, sharply condemning the recent Israeli invasion of Gaza. Are these tapes real? Not one of the dozens of tapes released by bin Laden after 9/11 has been a fake. Indeed the U.S. government has authenticated many of them using bin Laden's distinctive voiceprint. And what about the persistent reports that he is ill? In 2002, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said bin Laden had kidney disease, for which he required a dialysis machine, and was therefore likely dead. But the stories of bin Laden's life-threatening kidney problems are false, judging by his appearance in videos that he released in 2004 and again in 2007, in which he showed no signs of illness. On the 2007 tape, the al Qaeda leader had even dyed his white-flecked beard black, suggesting that as the Saudi militant entered his fifth decade, he was not immune to a measure of vanity about his personal appearance. In fact, bin Laden looked much better in those videos than he did in the video he released shortly after the battle of Tora Bora in late 2001, where he had narrowly escaped being killed in a massive American attack. The situation is further complicated by the fact that bin Laden and al-Zawahiri are almost certainly hiding out in the tribal areas of Pakistan, on the Afghan border. Arthur Keller, a CIA officer who ran a spy network in Pakistan's tribal areas in 2006, told me the problems of working in the region: ""It's an incredibly remote area. They're hiding in a sea of people that are very xenophobic of outsiders, so it's a very, very tough nut to crack."" An additional factor operating in bin Laden's favor is the personal popularity he has long enjoyed in Pakistan. Three years after the September 11 attacks, for instance, a Pew poll found that al Qaeda's leader had a 65 percent favorability rating among Pakistanis. However, it is clear from the videos of bin Laden and al-Zawahiri that aired in the years since the attacks that they are not living in caves. In those tapes, both men's clothes were clean and well-pressed. Caves generally don't have laundry facilities. And the videos that they have released are well-lit and well-shot productions, suggesting access either to electrical outlets or to generators to run lights. Al-Zawahiri is often filmed in a library setting, and on one of his videos from March 2006, there are curtains clearly visible behind him, suggesting that the tape was shot in a house. By early 2008, the Bush administration had tired of the Pakistani government's unwillingness or inability to take out al Qaeda's leaders, and in July, the president authorized Special Operations forces to carry out ground assaults in the tribal regions without the permission of the Pakistani government. But in the face of the intense Pakistani opposition to American boots on the ground, the Bush administration chose to rely instead on drones to target suspected al Qaeda and Taliban leaders. Bush ordered the CIA to expand its attacks with Predator and Reaper drones. Between July 2008 and this month, U.S. drones have killed dozens of lower-ranking militants and at least 10 mid- and upper-level leaders within al Qaeda or the Taliban. This strategy seems to have worked, at least in terms of combating the ability of al Qaeda to plan or carry out attacks in the West. Law-enforcement authorities have uncovered no serious plots against U.S. or European targets that were traceable to militants who had received training in Pakistan's tribal regions after the drone program had been dramatically ramped up there. The increased pace of the American drone attacks in Pakistani's tribal areas was motivated in part by the hope that it would increase panicked communications among the militants, which might help pinpoint the locations of the top leaders in al Qaeda or the Taliban, but that approach has not paid off when it comes to bin Laden. If killing bin Laden with a drone has proved difficult, so too will be capturing him alive. His former bodyguard Abu Jandal told Al Quds al Arabi newspaper, ""Sheikh Osama gave me a pistol. ... The pistol had only two bullets, for me to kill Sheikh Osama with in case we were surrounded or he was about to fall into the enemy's hands, so that he would not be caught alive "" Should bin Laden be captured or killed, that would probably trigger a succession battle within al Qaeda. While al-Zawahiri is the deputy leader of the terror group and therefore technically bin Laden's successor, he is not regarded as a natural leader. Indeed, even among his fellow Egyptian militants, al-Zawahiri is seen as a divisive force, and so he is unlikely to be able to step into the role of leader of al Qaeda and of the world jihadist movement that is occupied by bin Laden. By the law of averages, eventually, bin Laden will be captured or killed. Yet the ideological movement that he helped spawn -- ""Binladenism"" -- will live on long after he is gone. That is bin Laden's legacy. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Peter Bergen."
"Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- The brazen shooting of a defiant teen blogger has stirred the conscience of Pakistan, a nation plagued for decades by violent extremism. An angry chorus of voices in social media, on the street, in newspapers and over the airwaves has decried the attack against 14-year-old Malala Yousufzai as cowardly and an example of a government unable to cope with militants. ""I blame the Taliban, first and foremost,"" columnist Sami Shah wrote in The Express Tribune, a local English daily. ""I blame the government. All of it."" Malala was slowly recuperating Wednesday after surgeons worked for three hours to remove a bullet lodged in her neck. Opinion: Girl's courage, Taliban's cowardice . On Tuesday, Taliban militants stopped a van carrying three girls, including Malala, on their way home from school in northwestern Pakistan's conservative Swat Valley. One of the gunmen asked which one was Malala Yousufzai. When the girls pointed her out, the men opened fire. The bullets struck all three girls. For two of them, the injuries were not life-threatening. For Malala, it was touch-and-go for a while. ""We are happy that she survived, but are worried too about her health condition,"" said her uncle, Faiz Muhammad, who is with her at a military hospital in Peshawar. On Wednesday, police took the van driver and the school guard into custody for questioning. They also said they'd identified the culprits. Meanwhile, the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack and issued an ominous threat. ""If she survives this time, she won't next time,"" a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban said. ""We will certainly kill her."" ""I have the right of education,"" Malala said in a 2011 interview with CNN. ""I have the right to play. I have the right to sing. I have the right to talk. I have the right to go to market. I have the right to speak up."" In fact, many of Malala's courageous words during that interview take on an even more defiant context. ""When your people need you, you should come up,"" she told CNN's Reza Sayah. ""You should come and stand up for their rights."" Malala also encouraged other young people to take a stand against the Taliban -- and to not hide in their bedrooms. ""God will ask you on the day of judgment where were you when your people were asking you, when your school fellows were asking you, and when your school was asking you that I am being blown up?"" Read more: 14-year-old girl wins Pakistan's first peace prize . Mian Iftikhar Hussein, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa information minister, said he was declaring a bounty of $100,000 for the capture of the culprits in the attempt on Malala's life. Pakistani Army Chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani visited Malala in the hospital and delivered a simple message: ""We refuse to bow before terror."" He also noted that the Taliban lack respect for the ""golden words"" of the Prophet Mohammed -- ""that the one who is not kind to children is not amongst us."" ""In attacking Malala, the terrorists have failed to grasp that she is not only an individual, but an icon of courage and hope,"" the general said. The chief minister of Punjab said he would bear the cost of Malala's treatment, calling her ""the daughter of Pakistan."" The head of PIA, the national airline, said he was putting a plane on standby to take the teenager ""anywhere in the world if needed"" for treatment. Two neurosurgeons, one in the United States and one in the United Kingdom, have also offered to fly to Pakistan if needed, the interior minister said. Throughout the country and around the world, Pakistanis, hurt and angry, prayed. ""Malala is what Taliban will never be,"" said Murtaza Haider, the associate dean of research and graduate programs at the Ted Rogers School of Management at Toronto's Ryerson University, in an opinion piece in the Dawn newspaper. ""She is fearless, enlightened, articulate, and a young Muslim woman who is the face of Pakistan and the hope for a faltering nation that can no longer protect its daughters."" ""If the Taliban wants to fight, then they should pick on someone their own size,"" a girl said on a local news channel. Shamila Chaudhary, a former U.S. National Security Council director for Afghanistan and Pakistan, told CNN the incident reverberates among women and girls and even conservative Muslims. ""The Pakistani Taliban don't have a lot of support in the Pakistani society,"" she said. ""They don't offer social services and justice, they don't offer any alternative to weak government."" This latest incident ""makes them more unpopular"" among masses of people who view the aspirations of Malala and the Taliban's resistance to them as a ""fight between good and evil,"" said Chaudhary, a senior South Asia fellow at the New America Foundation. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the act ""heinous and cowardly"" on Wednesday and said the attackers must be brought to justice. ""The secretary-general, like many around the world, has been deeply moved by Malala Yousufzai's courageous efforts to promote the fundamental right to education -- enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,"" a representative for Ban said. iReport assignment: Girls + Education = ... Twitter, the closest thing to a barometer of public opinion, likewise lit up. ""Wasn't the brute who put a gun to Malala's little head born to a woman?"" wrote Kamran Shafi. ""Did he have sisters, aunts, a wife or four? Bloody filthy terrorist!"" Pakistan's picturesque Swat Valley was once one of Pakistan's biggest tourist destinations. The valley, near the Afghanistan border and about 186 miles (300 kilometers) from the capital city of Islamabad, boasted the country's only ski resort. It was a draw for trout-fishing enthusiasts and visitors to the ancient Buddhist ruins in the area. But that was before militants -- their faces covered with dark turbans -- unleashed a wave of violence. They demanded veils for women, beards for men and a ban on music and television. They allowed boys' schools to operate but closed those for girls. It was in this climate that Malala reached out to the outside world through her blog posts. She took a stand by writing about her daily battle with extremist militants who used fear and intimidation to force girls to stay at home. Malala's online writing led to her being awarded Pakistan's first National Peace Prize in November. ""I was scared of being beheaded by the Taliban because of my passion for education,"" she told CNN at the time. ""During their rule, the Taliban used to march into our houses to check whether we were studying or watching television."" She said that she wanted to be a political leader, that her country ""needs honest and true leaders."" The Taliban controlled Malala's valley for years until 2009, when the military cleared it in an operation that also evacuated thousands of families. But pockets remain, and violence is never far behind. For Pakistani public officials, Chaudhary said, the incident is a reminder of the Taliban's ends -- keeping girls from going to school and imposing hard-line religious and cultural values. Many are in denial and haven't accepted ""the extent the Taliban will go to impose their cultural values."" There have been other examples of violence against women, Chaudhary said, including the Taliban flogging of a woman caught on video a few years ago. That was ""a trigger event -- it pulled a lot of the political elite out of their denial,"" she said. ""I see this instance as something similar."" Chaudhary said there's a misconception across the world that the political elite sympathize with the Taliban. That's untrue, she said. They are afraid of them and the possibility of violent retribution against officials and government installations. If the government doesn't talk about this latest issue and have justice served, it will be a ""step back,"" she said. Sami Shah, the columnist, said the ruling Pakistan People's Party shares blame. ""There can be a million excuses why the Taliban can still operate with impunity in Pakistan, a lot of them legitimate. But if you are the ruling party, then you must accept responsibility for your failures. And the PPP has resoundingly failed."" Setback for Pakistani teen facing blasphemy charges . Explainer: Pakistan's blasphemy laws . Pakistan's top court investigates use of girls to settle tribal dispute . CNN's Nasir Habib and Shaan Khan reported from Islamabad, and Joe Sterling from Atlanta. CNN's Noreen Shams and Saeed Ahmed also contributed to this report."
"Kaufman, Texas (CNN) -- A Texas community is on edge after a district attorney who said he would put away the ""scum"" who killed a colleague two months ago was shot to death alongside his wife in his home Saturday night. Kaufman County Judge Bruce Wood said he thought there was a ""strong connection"" between the slayings of Mike and Cynthia McLelland and the shooting death of Kaufman County Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse, who was killed on his way to work in January. Hasse and McLelland ""worked on similar cases very closely,"" said Wood, the county's top elected official. And Kaufman Mayor William Fortner told CNN that he thought the men were targeted by people seeking revenge. ""That's the logical conclusion, and I don't have any information that directs me to think that's the case, but that's what you would assume under the circumstances, since they targeted two people from our prosecutors."" The Kaufman County sheriff's office, however, won't officially say the killings are connected. ""I can't say that,"" Kaufman County Sheriff David Byrnes told reporters. ""No, we have nothing indicating that for sure."" Federal and state law enforcement descended rapidly on the crime scene to aid in the investigation. Just two months ago, McLelland vowed to find the people who killed Hasse, one of his top deputies. On Saturday, authorities found the McLellands' bodies in their home in Kaufman County, east of Dallas. ""I don't know of anyone who would want to cause him harm,"" Fortner said. ""As far as I could tell, he was doing a really good job as a district attorney."" Fortner said he hoped the killer or killers were caught ""before any more people are lost."" Wood and McLelland last spoke last week. ""He never stated to me that he was worried,"" Wood said. ""But everybody that works in the courthouse has been on edge, but he never indicated any fear to me."" Authorities are providing extra security for others, and the Kaufman County district attorney's office will be closed on Monday. ""We are taking precautions to protect other elected officials in the county,"" Byrnes told reporters Sunday. He declined to say what those measures were. Byrnes offered no details as to how the McLellands were killed. A law enforcement source told CNN that investigators at the McLellands' home recovered several shell casings at the scene of the crime. The casings are from a .223-caliber rifle, the source said. Authorities have not identified a suspect. McLelland was an Army veteran who later earned a master's degree in psychology and became a psychologist for the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, the district attorney's website said. He was raised in the small town of Wortham, Texas, where his parents had a ranch. He joined the Army after attending the University of Texas and spent 23 years in the service. He later earned his law degree and practiced as a defense attorney and mental health judge for 18 years before becoming the county's district attorney in 2010. McLelland and his wife leave behind two daughters and three sons. One son is a Dallas police officer. Another top prosecutor slain . The McLellands were killed almost exactly two months after Hasse was shot to death in broad daylight outside the county courthouse on January 31. Hasse had feared for his life and carried a gun to work, said a Dallas attorney who described herself as his longtime friend. Colleen A. Dunbar said she spoke with Hasse on January 24. She said the prosecutor told her he had begun carrying a gun in and out of the county courthouse daily. ""He told me he would use a different exit every day because he was fearful for his life,"" Dunbar told CNN. She said that Hasse gave no specifics on why he felt threatened -- only that he did. McLelland called Hasse ""a stellar prosecutor"" who knew that threats were part of the job. He vowed after Hasse's slaying to put away the ""scum"" who killed his deputy. ""I hope that the people that did this are watching, because we're very confident that we're going to find you,"" McLelland told reporters. ""We're going to pull you out of whatever hole you're in, we're going to bring you back and let the people of Kaufman County prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law."" Attorney Pete Schulte told CNN affiliate WFAA that public servants are facing a new quandary. ""It's going to have a chilling effect on people who do want to step into those roles and (have to think about whether to) start arming themselves,"" he said. ""I mean, that's the risk that we're going to face now because of this happening."" Schulte told the station that after someone shot through the windows of his Dallas offices in November, he began to carry a gun more often. CNN's Ed Lavendera reported from Kaufman, and AnneClaire Stapleton and Holly Yan from Atlanta."
"WASHINGTON (CNN) -- On their son's last night as president, a melancholy former President George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, made an impromptu visit to the White House's press briefing room and told reporters how much they'll miss the building. Ex-President George H.W. Bush says he'll miss coming and going from the White House. ""We will miss coming and going, but it's time to move on,"" said the former president, who was a frequent visitor during his son's two terms in office. ""The Bushes are going to a happy life."" When a reporter suggested that perhaps one of their other sons, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, will take the White House someday, the former president smiled. ""Maybe Jeb will do something. I'd like to see him try,"" the former president said. Barbara Bush, who was first lady from 1989 to 1993, said the hardest part of the night was saying goodbye to the White House residence staff a second time. ""In tears twice,"" she said, her eyes red. She added that she and her husband are looking forward to attending Tuesday's inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama. ""Very exciting day,"" she said. In addition to the inauguration, the former first couple was to attend a final dinner at the White House with current President Bush, first lady Laura Bush and the first couple's two daughters, Barbara and Jenna. As the former first couple left the briefing room, some reporters and photographers spontaneously started clapping out of respect.  Your view of history . The ex-president, who was using a long walking stick to get around, quipped, ""You didn't clap when I was president, what the hell is going on?"""
"(CNN) -- Bulgaria is a Turkish toilet, France is always on strike, Romania is a vampire theme-park and the UK... Well the UK doesn't exist. The piece ""Entropa"" shows Romania as a giant Dracula-inspired theme park. That's the view of the European Union according to a controversial art installation by Czech artist David Cerny, commissioned by his government to mark its six-month presidency of the pan-continental body. The work, ""Entropa,"" frames various representations of each member state as components of a giant multimedia model kit. But the piece, scheduled to have its official unveiling Thursday at the EU headquarters in Brussels, has sparked controversy.  Look at images of European nations » . Bulgaria's foreign ministry has summoned the Czech ambassador in Sofia to lodge a protest about the piece, according to the Czech News Agency. What do you think about images? And Betina Joteva, spokesperson of the Bulgarian permanent representation to the EU, said in comments reported by EUObserver.com: ""It [the work] is preposterous, a disgrace. It is a humiliation for the Bulgarian nation and an offence to [our] national dignity."" Bulgaria is not the only nation to suffer an unflattering depiction. Germany is criss-crossed by a series of autobahns in what some critics say is a close approximation of a swastika; Spain is a giant construction site in a dig at its building boom; and Luxembourg is a gold covered nugget sporting a ""For Sale"" sign. The Netherlands is depicted as a submerged land with only minarets peeking through the waves in an apparent reference to its religious tensions. Poland recreates the WWII flag-raising at Iwo Jima, only with the U.S. Marines and the Stars and Stripes replaced with Catholic clergy brandishing the multi-colored gay pride flag. The UK is absent from the work -- possibly because of its on-off relationship with the rest of the continent. The Czech government said in a statement on its presidency Web site Tuesday that the original brief was for the work to be created by 27 artists representing all EU Member States -- and that it was ""unpleasantly surprised"" to learn that this was not the case. ""David Cerny bears full responsibility for not fulfilling his assignment and promise,"" said Alexandr Vondra, Deputy Prime Minister. ""In this situation we are now considering further steps. The government said it will issue a further statement Thursday. The comments were in contrast to a statement issued by Vondra Monday, when he said that ""sculpture, and art more generally, can speak where words fail. I am confident in Europe's open mind and capacity to appreciate such a project."" Cerny is no stranger to controversy. In 1991 he was arrested after painting pink a Soviet tank that served as a Prague war memorial. His Web site shows other examples of his work, including previous kit-style installations entitled ""Jesus Christ"" and ""Dead Raped Woman""; and a life-size bronze fountain that depicts two men standing opposite each other, urinating. Cerny, and his main collaborators Kristof Kintera and Tomas Pospiszyl apologized to Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek and other government ministers Tuesday, according to a statement on the artist's Web site, for "" not having informed them about what is true and for having misled them. The statement adds that Cerny and his colleagues initially wanted to use 27 European artists for ""Entropa"", but fell short due to lack of time and money. Instead, they say, they decided to create fictional artists, some of whom have even been given their own Web sites. Cerny says he knew the truth would eventually come out but adds: ""We believe that the environment of Brussels is capable of ironic self-reflection, we believe in the sense of humor of European nations and their representatives."" Try telling that to Bulgaria."
"The smallest boat moored at the Hemingway Marina in Havana may hold the most intrigue. Hunkered down inside a blue, 25-foot sailboat named Salty are Josh Hakken and his wife, Sharyn, and their two boys, 2-year-old Chase and 4-year-old Cole. Theirs is no ordinary visit to the historic port, where they have eluded capture but where CNN found them Tuesday. The Hakkens have been on the lam after they allegedly snatched the two boys from their grandmother's home in Florida. The couple lost custody of their children last year. There is an international manhunt for this family, and here they are, blending in among the other boats. But their stop appears likely to be temporary, as Cuban officials announced Tuesday afternoon that they plan to turn the family over to U.S. authorities. Josh Hakken glared through his sunglasses at the CNN reporter who found him and said nothing beyond confirming his identity. The two boys are OK, said a woman matching the description of his wife, and she left it at that. Josh and Sharyn Hakken are wanted by U.S. authorities and were not in custody in Cuba. But that doesn't mean they aren't being watched. Cuban security officials wearing sidearms appeared as the CNN video crew was filming and ordered them to stop. At the security guards' request, CNN stepped away from the boat, which looked just like the photo that Florida law enforcement officials had circulated, except more battered. A statement from the Cuban foreign ministry said the boat put in to the marina, located a few miles west of Havana, in bad weather on Sunday. ""From the first moment, diplomatic notes were exchanged and a permanent and professional communication has been maintained between MINREX"" -- Cuba's foreign ministry -- ""and the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, with the goal of guaranteeing the integrity and well-being of the minors,"" the statement said. Joshua Hakken: Libertarian washed ashore in the worker's paradise . U.S. government officials have told the sheriff's office in Hillsborough County, Florida -- which includes the city of Tampa from which the boys went missing -- that ""they are receiving exceptional cooperation from the Cuban government,"" the sheriff's office said Tuesday afternoon. Earlier in the day, U.S. State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said the State Department is aware of the case, though it could not provide additional information because of privacy concerns. ""But what I do want to say, more broadly speaking, is that one of the  department's highest priorities is the welfare of U.S. citizens overseas, and this is particularly true for children who are our most vulnerable citizens,"" Ventrell said. Some worried that recovering the children will be difficult. ""Unfortunately, these parents and these poor children, these innocent ones, will now be in a country where there are no laws, there is no redress, and that has been a refuge for fugitives and wanted criminals for many years,"" Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R- Florida, told CNN. The boys had been removed from the care of the Florida couple last year, and on April 2, the couple's parental rights were terminated in Louisiana, investigators say. The Hillsborough County sheriff's office described Josh Hakken as an anti-government protester, and he was believed to be armed, according to the Hillsborough County sheriff's office. There is no extradition treaty between Cuba and the United States, although there have been recent cases in which Americans sought for crimes in the United States and discovered in Havana have been sent back by the Cubans. The FBI currently estimates there are around 70 fugitives from U.S. justice in Cuba, which is one of the reasons Cuba remains on the U.S. list of countries that support state terrorism. Most of the American fugitives in Cuba have been there for decades and have ties to revolutionary movements or radical groups. Last week, the police department in Slidell, Louisiana, issued its own statement offering background on the Hakkens and why the boys were taken from the parents last year. In June of 2012, Slidell police responded to a disturbance report at a hotel where Josh and Sharyn Hakken were staying with their sons, the police statement said. ""When police arrived, both Mr. and Mrs. Hakken were acting in a bizarre manner that alarmed officers. They were talking about 'completing their ultimate journey' and were traveling across the country to 'take a journey to the Armageddon',"" the Slidell police statement said, adding, ""Let it be noted that both of their children were present in the hotel room at the time."" Because of the parents' behavior and ""the fact that narcotics and weapons were located inside of the hotel room,"" the children were taken by child welfare officers, and Joshua Hakken was arrested on drug charges, the statement said. ""Approximately two weeks later, Slidell Police were notified that Mr. Hakken had shown up to the foster family home ... with a firearm demanding the return of his children,"" the Slidell police statement continued. ""The foster parents called 911, and Mr. Hakken fled without his children. We have heard nothing until (Wednesday)."" At some point over the past few months, the children were sent to live with their grandmother, Patricia Hauser, the mother of Sharyn Hakken. Sheriff's investigators say Josh Hakken entered Hauser's home at 6:30 a.m. last Wednesday. She told police that he tied her up and fled with the children in her silver 2009 Toyota Camry. That vehicle was found later that day just a couple of blocks away from the home. Those investigators told CNN they believe Hakken joined up with his wife, who was waiting in their pickup truck, and the family drove to a parking garage. A short time later, investigators said, Hakken is believed to have taken a sailboat out of a private slip in nearby Madeira Beach. Surveillance images showed the boat sailing into the Gulf of Mexico about three and a half hours after the boys disappeared from their grandmother's home, investigators said, adding that the photos showed adults and children on board."
"(EW.com) -- Today, Major League Baseball will celebrate its annual Jackie Robinson Day, and all players and umpires will wear jerseys with the number 42, which Robinson, the first African-American player in the MLB, made famous. Don't be surprised if the execs at Warner Bros. join in on the fun. The studio did have a grand slam weekend, after all. Warner Bros.' new baseball drama 42 topped the box office with $27.3 million — far ahead of recent baseball titles like Moneyball ($19.5 million debut) and Trouble with the Curve ($12.2 million). In fact, 42 scored the best ever debut for a baseball film, surpassing The Benchwarmers' $19.7 million bow. 42 also became the latest release to earn a rare ""A+"" CinemaScore grade, signifying exemplary word-of-mouth among ticket-buyers. Former ""A+"" releases include The Help, Tangled, The Blind Side, Titanic, and A Few Good Men. 42, which was produced by Legendary Pictures for $40 million, stars newcomer Chadwick Boseman as Jackie Robinson, as well as Harrison Ford as MLB exec Branch Rickey. The film played exceedingly well with older moviegoers (59 percent of audience members were above the age of 35) and African-American crowds (all ten of 42′s top theaters were in urban markets). According to Warner Bros., a surprisingly high 52 percent of the opening weekend crowd was female. If history is any indication, 42 will keep running around the bases for a long time to come. Like fellow ""A+"" films The Help and The Blind Side, which also deal with racial issues, 42 should earn a terrific multiplier and finish well above $100 million. Warner Bros. says it plans on expanding the film from its already-wide 3,002 theater count next weekend. EW: '42' movie review . In second place, Scary Movie 5 hit more of a bunt than a home run during its opening frame. The spoof sequel nabbed an unremarkable $15.2 million over the Friday-to-Sunday period from 3,402 theaters, a low-point for the 13-year-old franchise. Part of the reason for Scary Movie 5's sub-par performance may have to do with the fact that it arrived in theaters a full seven years after Scary Movie 4, which earned $40.2 million in its opening weekend in 2006. That's quite a long break for a youth-targeting franchise like Scary Movie. The film stars High School Musical's Ashley Tisdale, as well as tabloid-magnets Lindsay Lohan and Charlie Sheen in supporting roles. (Hey, at least this did better than Lohan's last starring effort!) Those casting stunts weren't enough to drum up interest in the wretchedly-reviewed sequel, though. Scary Movie 5, which Weinstein/Dimension spent $20 million to produce, drew less interest than similar horror spoof A Haunted House, which scared up an $18.1 million opening in January — against a $1.5 million budget no less! Audiences issued Scary Movie 5 a ""C-"" CinemaScore grade. Fox's hit animated family film The Croods dropped by a slightly larger-than-expected 36 percent in its fourth weekend to $13.2 million. The $135 million caveman comedy has now earned $142.5 million domestically, and may finish its run with about $180 million. Overseas, The Croods has earned an additional $207 million, making it a big winner for Fox Animation. EW: 'Scary Movie 5' review . G.I. Joe: Retaliation dipped 48 percent to $10.8 million this weekend, bringing its total to $102.4 million after three weekends. While the film is running behind its predecessor domestically and won't match G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra's $150.2 million total, it's making up ground overseas, where it has earned $168.3 million — ahead of Cobra's $152.3 million international finish. Paramount, MGM, and Skydance spent $130 million on the sequel. Rounding out the Top 5 was last weekend's champ, Evil Dead, which plummeted 63 percent to $9.5 million. Due to Evil Dead's built-in cult audience, much of which came to the theater on opening day, a large drop was expected. After ten days, the $17 million production from Sony's TriStar, Film District, and Ghost House Productions, has earned $41.5 million and may finish with about $55 million overall. 1. 42 -- $27.3 million . 2. Scary Movie 5 -- $15.2 million . 3. The Croods -- $13.2 million . 4. G.I. Joe: Retaliation -- $10.8 million . 5. Evil Dead -- $9.5 million . In limited release, the Ryan Gosling/Bradley Cooper drama The Place Beyond the Pines successfully expanded into 514 theaters, where it grossed $4.1 million, good for a strong $7,937 location average. Danny Boyle's latest, Trance, wasn't as fortunate. The film moved from four to 438 theaters this weekend, but could only manage a $925,000 frame, yielding a weak $2,112 average. Expect the former film to continue its expansion, while the latter may have trouble convincing tehater owners to take it on board. Internationally, the Tom Cruise thriller Oblivion had a terrific debut with $61.1 million from 52 territories, 48 of which it won. Oblivion's strongest markets included Russia ($8.6 million), the U.K. and Ireland ($7.9 million), and France ($3.9 million). The Universal sci-fi adventure opened in the same range as Oz The Great and Powerful, which conjured a $69.9 million international bow and has now grossed $251.6 million overseas. The film opens stateside next weekend. See the original story at EW.com. CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly . © 2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved."
"Washington (CNN) -- No decision has been made on whether to change the current plan to hold the September 11 terrorist attack trial in a civilian court in lower Manhattan, White House officials said Sunday. Last week, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other politicians expressed concern over the costs and disruption of holding the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four accomplices at a New York City courthouse. David Axelrod, the senior adviser to President Obama, and White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Sunday that Obama believes the trial should take place in a criminal court instead of before a military commission, as permitted for some terrorism suspects. However, Axelrod and Gibbs acknowledged that Obama and the Justice Department were considering moving the trial from New York City. ""We've made no decisions on that yet,"" Axelrod said on the NBC program ""Meet the Press."" Gibbs, speaking on CNN's ""State of the Union,"" also said the location of the trial was under discussion, but he expressed certainty that Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks, ""is going to meet justice and he's going to meet his maker."" Gibbs and Axelrod criticized Republican opposition to the plan to hold the trial in a criminal court, saying no one complained when the previous administration of Republican President George W. Bush put terrorism suspects such as ""shoe bomber"" Richard Reid on trial in U.S. criminal courts. ""Now we have a Democratic president and suddenly we hear these protests,"" Axelrod said. ""What has changed between now and then that would cause people to reverse positions?"" Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, told the CNN program that the Bush administration was wrong to hold terrorism trials on U.S. soil. Instead, trials for dangerous terrorism suspects should be held by military commissions at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention facility where they currently are held, McConnell said. Obama intends to shut down the Guantanamo facility by transferring the roughly 200 suspects to the United States to stand trial or face indefinite detention, or to third countries. McConnell said Sunday he would fight that plan by trying to withhold federal spending for it. ""'I think that will be done on a bipartisan basis,"" McConnell said of congressional opposition, adding that ""whatever domestic support they had for this is totally collapsing."" White House officials say the decision about any possible alternate sites to try Mohammed and the others will come from the Justice Department. New York police estimated that the cost to the city would be more than $200 million per year in what could be a multi-year trial and that more than 2,000 checkpoints would need to be installed around Lower Manhattan. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said additional protection would have to be deployed for the city, not just ""the core area of Manhattan."" Bloomberg initially supported the move, saying ""it is fitting that 9/11 suspects face justice near the World Trade Center site where so many New Yorkers were murdered."" However, Bloomberg used different rhetoric last week when asked about a community agency's proposals to relocate the trial, saying he would prefer the trial be held elsewhere, perhaps at a military base where it would be easier and cheaper to provide security. ""It's going to cost an awful lot of money and disturb a lot of people,"" Bloomberg said. On Thursday, several New York Democratic politicians urged the Obama administration to thoroughly re-examine locating the trial in downtown Manhattan. Julie Menin, chairwoman of a city community advisory agency, proposed four alternative locations for the trial within the Southern District of New York: Governors Island, Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and the Bureau of Prisons jail complex at FCI Otisville. The latter three are in Orange County, New York, less than an hour from New York City, county executive Edward Diana told CNN. Diana thinks the trials should not be held anywhere in New York, and definitely not in Orange County, which lost 44 residents in the terror attacks, he said. ""I've contacted my legal department and I'll tell you I'll do whatever it takes to stop those trials from coming here, even if it means closing down our roads,"" Diana said. ""I'll sue the federal government if need be."" Diana said he'd be worried about the safety of Orange County residents if the trial comes there. Diana, who shot down an offer from Newburgh to host the proceedings in their new courthouse, said the suspects should not be tried in civilian courts. But Newburgh Mayor Nick Valentine said the boost in media presence and police funding during the trial would help his ""very poor, very urban"" city. Newburgh's new $22 million courthouse is safe and has ""every security you could want,"" Valentine said. An alternate proposal at the West Point location has not been fully reviewed. A West Point spokesman said no one has officially requested a review of demands for such a trial, which would require in-depth study of legal and security concerns. U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Dean Boyd said the Justice Department ""can safely prosecute this case in the Southern District of New York while minimizing disruptions to the community to the greatest extent possible, consistent with security needs."" New York Gov. David Paterson will meet with the U.S. Marshal Service on Monday to discuss possible 9/11 trial locations in the state, Paterson spokeswoman Marissa Shorenstein told CNN. CNN's Susan Candiotti and Ross Levitt contributed to this report."
"MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- The body of an apparent stowaway fell from the wheel well of a plane taking off Thursday from the Dominican Republic, a Federal Aviation Administration official said. The 767 aircraft -- Amerijet flight 840 -- landed about two hours later without incident at Miami International Airport. The flight originated in Santo Domingo. FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said the FAA is investigating the incident. According to its Web site, Amerijet is an international cargo carrier. The plane was sent to a secure area of Miami International and was being inspected, according to the Miami-Dade Police Department. It's unclear why the plane continued to Miami after the body fell out, rather than returning to Santo Domingo. An Amerijet spokesperson did not immediately return a call for comment. CNN's Rich Phillips contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- The stubborn Rim Fire, one of the largest wildfire in California's history, is 70% contained, the U.S. Forest Service said Monday night. With rain and cooler temperatures in the forecast, firefighters who have toiled tirelessly for days will likely make further gains in the coming days. Still, officials don't expect full containment until September 20. The Rim Fire started August 17 and swallowed more than 235,000 acres -- making it the fifth-largest wildfire in California history. It has cost the state more than $39 million to date. Although the fire has consumed tens of thousands of acres inside Yosemite National Park, it has so far had little or no direct impact on Yosemite Valley, a popular spot for tourists and home to many of the park's iconic attractions, including the El Capitan rock formation. Authorities don't know what started the Rim Fire -- although the fire chief in the town of Twain Harte said illegal marijuana growers could be the unintentional culprits. ""It might be some sort of illicit grove, marijuana grow-type thing."" Todd McNeal told a meeting on August 23. The video of the meeting was posted on YouTube and picked up steam recently. Calls to the Twain Harte fire department were not answered Monday night. But Mark Healey with the Rim Fire Information Line dismissed the suggestion, calling it ""rumors."" The fire, he said, was still under investigation. What to know about wildfires ."
"(CNN) -- Explorer Dennis Schmitt found an island nearly two years ago near Greenland. Fishermen pass by Greenland's Ilulissat fjord in this September 2004 picture. Such a discovery would usually elicit curiosity, even wonder perhaps, but it evoked mixed feelings for the explorer. The island was once thought to be a peninsula attached to Greenland by an ice shelf or a glacier. But such a large amount of ice melted, it revealed the distinct island. ""I very quickly realized two things,"" he told CNN's Anderson Cooper during a visit to the island earlier this year. ""One [was] that this was going to be significant because it was going to be an example of climate change."" ""The other thing was that it meant it was really happening. It wasn't a joke. It wasn't just statistics. It was really happening."" He calls his discovery Warming Island. Many climatologists and scientists say arctic ice melt and other changes in the Earth's climate are the result of an increase in the world's temperature, a trend widely called global warming. Many global warming experts say the phenomenon, if unchecked, is capable of altering the world's climate and geography. In the worst-case scenario, experts say oceans could rise to overwhelming and catastrophic levels, flooding cities and altering seashores. Other scientists and observers, a minority compared to those who believe the warming trend is something ominous, say it is simply the latest shift in the cyclical patterns of a planet's life. Most of the scientific community believes that some warming is occurring across the globe and through some layers of the atmosphere. But why it is occurring and what that means for the future is scientifically and politically contentious. The Earth's temperature averages about 60 degrees Fahrenheit (about 16 degrees Celsius). The average surface temperature has warmed one degree Fahrenheit (0.6 degrees Celsius) during the last century, according to the National Research Council. The temperatures were relatively unchanged from 1880 to 1910, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. They rose till about 1945, cooled until about 1975 and have risen steadily to present day. There are several possible reasons for the warming, scientists say. A change in the Earth's orbit or the intensity of the sun's radiation could change, triggering warming or cooling. The reason most cited -- by scientists and scientific organizations -- for the current warming trend is an increase in the concentrations of greenhouse gases, which are in the atmosphere naturally and help keep the planet's temperature at a comfortable level. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, for instance, has increased by 35 percent since the dawn of the industrial age, according to the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, commonly referred to as the IPCC. The presence of methane is now 151 percent above pre-industrial levels, but the rate of increase has slowed in recent decades, according to the EPA. Meanwhile, nitrous oxide increased by about 18 percent during the past 200 years. Many scientists and experts who have studied global warming believe the increase is primarily the result of human activities, like the burning of fossil fuels, emissions from vehicles and the clearing of forests. ""For the last 30 years, there's no way there's anything natural that can explain it,"" Stephen Schneider, a professor of environmental studies at Stanford University in California, said. ""A vast bulk of the knowledgeable and honest community ... will say the science is settled and humans are at least a majority of the reason behind the warming,"" he added. Many scientific organizations share Schneider's view, ranging from the national academies of the countries that comprise the G8 to the National Research Council, the American Meteorological Society and the American Geophysical Union. But there are those who do not share his view, and among the skeptics is Richard Lindzen, a professor of atmospheric sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ""We've suddenly taken to reading tea leaves,"" he said. ""When we saw cooling from 1940 to 1970, we were proclaiming global cooling. Since then, there's been a few tenths of global warming, so we're proclaiming global warming."" He believes the current warming trend is the result of natural variability, where a planet goes through phases of warming and cooling and the human contribution to it is minimal. ""The Earth is always getting colder and warmer,"" he said. ""It's always changing. In fact, this is true of any fluid-covered planet."" Asked about glacial melt, which many observers point to as evidence of global warming, Lindzen said the way glaciers change and move are phenomena largely unexplained. ""We don't know why, but it's perfectly clear that glaciers change even though the temperature is cooling at the place that they've occurred,"" he said. ""What we're doing is cherry picking any event that occurs and then saying that's occurring due to global warming."" Yet, for Schneider, it is a cause for concern and alarm. ""We're already in serious melt, nobody can explain it. The models don't predict it,"" he said. ""We don't know what's going on up there. All we know is that we could be triggering something really nasty."" The greatest point of contention is the possible implications for future political and economic policies for the world's nations. The IPCC in February 2007 projected that if carbon dioxide levels doubled relative to pre-industrial levels, temperatures could rise between 3.6 to 8.1 degrees Fahrenheit (2 to 4.5 degrees Celsius) by 2100. The lower end of the range could cause more intense hurricanes, droughts, wildfires and flooding, Schneider said. The higher end could lead to the catastrophes commonly associated with the visions of Hollywood filmmakers. Uncertainties, however, plague such forecasts, which are based on computer simulations and models. The models contemplate factors associated with how the atmosphere, oceans and continents interact, all natural elements that have unpredictability intrinsic to them. ""Exactly how much it's going to warm up, we don't know,"" Schneider said. ""That it's going to warm up? I'd bet anything on that."" E-mail to a friend ."
"Health officials have added 45 infants to the list of more than 700 who were exposed to tuberculosis at a hospital in El Paso, Texas. Earlier this week, the city's Department of Public Health announced that 706 infants and 43 health care workers had been exposed to tuberculosis, commonly called TB, at Providence Memorial Hospital. An employee at the hospital came to work with an active case of TB some time between September 2013 and August 2014. He or she worked with infants in the nursery and in the post-partum unit at the hospital, the health department said. These 45 additional cases were exposed during the same time period, and are being notified along with the rest of the group. The family of each patient was sent a certified letter and is being contacted via telephone with instructions on how to get tested for TB. Any necessary follow-up care will be provided free of charge by the health department and the hospital. As of Monday, more than 350 appointments had been made for screenings, according to the health department. Parents and other family members of the infants are not being told to get tested because they ""are not considered exposed,"" health officials said in a statement. There is no word yet on whether any of the people exposed have tested positive for the disease. The infected health care worker is no longer working and is receiving treatment, the owner of the hospital, Sierra Providence Health Network, said in a statement. Tuberculosis is an infectious disease that generally causes coughing, chest pain and difficulty breathing, according to the Mayo Clinic. An estimated 2 billion people worldwide have what's called latent TB, where the bacteria remain dormant and don't cause symptoms. ""Once in the body, the bacteria usually lay dormant for months or years before they begin to grow and cause a case of active TB,"" the El Paso Department of Public Health said in a statement. ""That is why it is so important to identify people who may have been exposed, screen them, and provide treatment."" The bacteria that cause TB spread through the air when an infected patient coughs or sneezes, but it's not a highly contagious disease; close contact over a longer period of time is required before another person becomes infected, according to the Mayo Clinic. Only active TB can be spread. The Texas Department of State Health Services conducted an on-site investigation at Providence Memorial Hospital last week and cited the hospital ""for deficiencies that represent immediate jeopardy to patient health and safety,"" said Carrie Williams, the department's director of media relations. Investigators ""found serious deficiencies in the areas of infection control, patient rights and governing body."" The Center for Medicare Services has placed the hospital on a termination track, said David Wright, deputy regional administrator for CMS in Dallas. He said CMS is giving the hospital until October 11 to identify policy changes that need to happen to ensure something like this won't happen again. If the hospital fails to do so, its Medicaid and Medicare funding will be cut off. ""This is one of the largest TB exposure investigations we've ever been involved in, and it involves infants, so it is particularly sensitive,"" Williams said. ""Babies are more likely than older children and adults to develop life-threatening forms of TB."" Patients with TB must take antibiotics for six to nine months. Some strains of TB are resistant to antibiotics, which makes them more dangerous. Without treatment, TB can be fatal, the Mayo Clinic says. There is one vaccine for TB -- Bacille Calmette-Guerin, known as BCG -- that is not widely used in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; it is given more often to children in countries where TB is common. There were 9,582 recorded cases of TB in the United States last year. In October, health officials identified 140 infants who may have been exposed to tuberculosis in a similar incident at a hospital in Nevada."
"HARARE, Zimbabwe (CNN)  -- Illegal diamond mining by Zimbabwean troops is leading to bloodshed and attacks against civilians, said a global watchdog group formed to cut the flow of so-called ""blood diamonds."" The armed forces also are accused of funneling money from diamond fields to President Robert Mugabe's party. Residents and workers contributed accounts of attacks detailed by the interim findings of the Kimberley Process after a weeklong investigation in Zimbabwe. The probe started days after a Human Rights Watch report accused the nation's armed forces of violently taking over the diamond fields in Marange district and killing about 200 people since last year. Some victims of the clash were buried in mass graves, the report said. Lameck Chiso, 29, said he was stopped at a police checkpoint on his way from work in the diamond fields. ""Three men in army uniform jumped into my car and asked me to drive them back to the mining area,"" Chiso said. They took his money and urged him to praise the ""wonderful job"" the army was doing of restoring order to the Marange diamond area, Chiso added. ""I complied, but they responded by assaulting me with the back of a gun on my back,"" he said. Kimberly Process officials urged the government to demilitarize the diamond fields and investigate the accusations against the military. Tapiwa, 32, who declined to give his last name, said he has scars on his back and head from beatings he got when troops found him in the mining area. Such stories are common, said Georgette Gagnon, director of Human Rights Watch. The organization said more than 100 witnesses, including soldiers and children, were interviewed for its report. ""The police and army have turned this peaceful area into a nightmare of lawlessness and horrific violence,"" Gagnon said. ""Zimbabwe's new government should get the army out of the fields, put a stop to the abuse and prosecute those responsible."" The money from blood diamonds can end up funding rebel violence, the Kimberley Process group said. Separately, Human Rights Watch has accused the armed forces of funneling money from the fields into ZANU-PF, President Robert Mugabe's party. The government decried some aspects of the report, saying the critics were trying to smear the Mugabe's party. ""I can confirm that there has been illegal mining taking place in Zimbabwe, but we seem to be getting on top of the situation now,"" said Kembo Mohadi, Zimbabwe's co-minister of home affairs. The government has not been able to verify allegations of deaths and mass graves, Mohadi said. ""As a responsible government, we have started investigating these reports,"" he said, adding that mining proceeds in the cash-strapped nation are not being distributed to any particular group. ""The money will not be handled by any party but by the Treasury,"" he said."
"Misty and Larry Shaffer have been together since high school. She went to his senior prom; he went to her junior and senior proms. They got married in October 2008. He never said anything about her being overweight. When Larry, an Army specialist, was deployed to Afghanistan for a year in 2012, Misty decided she wanted to get in shape. She weighed about 260 pounds when he left, and less than 155 pounds when he returned. ""I just sat in bed one night and was like, 'I can do this,'"" she said. ""'I need to do this.'"" Shaffer, now 25 and living in Leland, North Carolina, has struggled with her weight her whole life, even as a child. Each time she had tried dieting in the past, she would relapse. Before she became pregnant with her daughter, Nevaeh, she took diet pills and lost 60 pounds. But all that -- and more -- came back after she stopped taking the pills. At her heaviest, she weighed around 300 pounds. She's 5 feet 6 inches tall. ""I would eat when I was bored. I'd eat three huge meals a day, and then snack in between. Sad or happy, I'd turn to food for everything."" Shaffer felt tired all the time. People picked on her. She wanted to surprise her husband, and work toward a better life for herself and her family. Her primary mission: Cut out all the junk. She stopped drinking soda, and tried to limit her liquids to water and coffee. upwave: Try it now! No fast food for a week . The first three to four months were the hardest, she said. Once she got past that, she started craving more healthy foods and water. It got to the point where, if she drank a diet soda, it made her so thirsty that she didn't even want it. Shaffer's job presented its own challenges; she's a personal shopper at a supermarket. At lunch time, the hot fried chicken ""just smells so good,"" she said. But the supermarket also offers a large, well-kept salad bar, as well as warm vegetables on the hot bar and oven-baked chicken. A typical breakfast for Shaffer is oatmeal with fruit or a cereal bar. On her days off, she'll cook up sausage, eggs or pancakes, but she'll watch her portion size. Around 10 a.m. she has a snack, such as fruit or carrots. Lunch is a salad or half a sandwich with some kind of vegetable or fruit. An afternoon snack might be yogurt. For dinner, she eats a lean meat (like ground turkey or a boneless, skinless chicken breast), a vegetable and a very small portion of starch. The big day, Larry Shaffer's return, was May 15, 2013. The soldier had never seen his wife weigh less than 220 pounds, even in high school. When she saw him at the airport, Misty Shaffer didn't know what to say or do. She just ran and jumped into his arms. Her husband was speechless, uttering only one word: ""Wow."" It was the first time he had ever picked her up. Before, he hadn't been able to lift her off the ground even a little, she said. That moment was worth everything. ""A lot of people look at it like, 'Why is that such a big deal?'"" she said. ""But (when) you never thought you'd see that moment, that somebody can pick you up ... it is a big deal."" The other big part of the surprise: She had bought a new house while he was away. Since then, Shaffer has been able to keep the weight off. When her husband left she was a size 22 to 24; now she can wear a women's size 6. She's especially loving how much money she saves on smaller clothes. Khakis, for example, used to cost $80, but she found a pair for her new physique for only $7. She said her husband's eating habits haven't changed much; he likes her cooking, but he'll help himself to ice cream or cake afterward. Sometimes she will join him. But she's not too tempted to go back to her old ways of eating. ""I've seen how hard I worked, and what I had to go through to get to this point,"" she said. She's still in disbelief when her husband picks her up."
"(CNN) -- The Obama administration plans to announce Wednesday the creation of seven ""climate hubs"" to provide information to rural communities facing extreme weather conditions. The hubs by the U .S. Department of Agriculture will provide scientific knowledge to help farmers, ranchers and landowners battle risks associated with climate change, including drought, floods, pests and fires. ""For generations, America's farmers, ranchers and forest landowners have innovated and adapted to challenges,"" Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said. However, he said, rural communities face more complex challenges today because of climate change. ""USDA's climate hubs are part of our broad commitment to developing the next generation of climate solutions so that our agricultural leaders have the modern technologies and tools they need to adapt and succeed in the face of a changing climate,"" Vilsack said. The hubs will be in Iowa, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Colorado, Oklahoma, Oregon and New Mexico. Additional sub-hubs will be set up in various other states, including Michigan and California. Climate hubs will focus on regional issues, and will equip local communities with knowledge to help them adapt. ""Sub hubs will support the hub within their region and focus on a narrow and unique set of issues relative to what will be going on in the rest of the hub,"" the White House said in a statement. Rural communities have been especially hit by climate change. In the Midwest, for example, the fire season is 60 days longer than it was three decades ago, the statement said. In addition to affecting food supply and rural economies, climate change comes with a hefty price tag. ""Drought alone was estimated to cost the U.S. $50 billion from 2011 to 2013. Such risks have implications not only for agricultural producers, but for all Americans,"" the statement said. The hubs are part of a broader commitment by President Barack Obama to make climate change a priority. Vilsack will introduce the hubs at the White House on Wednesday."
"(CNN) -- Millions of people are expected to go to Washington to celebrate Barack Obama's inauguration on January 20, but with a troubled economy and pocketbook issues on the mind, the president-elect must be careful to set the right tone. Construction of the inaugural stand continues in front of the White House last week. President Bush raised a record $42.8 million dollars for his second inauguration, and according to Public Citizen, more than 90 percent of the donations to that ceremony were from executives or corporations. But this year, some say throwing a multimillion-dollar party would be unseemly in a time when crash, bailout, and foreclosure fill the economic headlines. ""A lot of it is about tone and making sure that the celebrations that do take place are not over the top, that they don't appear to be insensitive to the pain people have right now,"" said Ryan Alexander, president of Taxpayers for Common Sense. The inaugural committee for Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to make sure the ceremony underscores the incoming administration's ""commitment to change business as usual in Washington."" The Presidential Inaugural Committee has limited individual contributions to $50,000. There is no law restricting the size of donations, but in the past, inaugural committees  have set contribution limits as high as $250,000. The PIC said it will not take contributions from corporations, political action committees, current federally registered lobbyists, non-U.S. citizens or registered foreign agents. Obama has promised to ""take power away from the corporate lobbyists"" -- a pledge that would be questioned should the president-elect rely on them to foot his inauguration bill. ""If he can pay for these parties with small donations, I think there'd be a lot more acceptance of that,"" Alexander said. Watchdog groups say there are some things Obama can do to take control of the tone. For example, he could make donations to charity, and Michelle Obama could opt for something more reasonably priced than a designer dress. When Franklin D. Roosevelt took office, he also faced a financial crisis. He gave voters a now famous pep talk about the failing economy, then skipped the fancy inaugural balls because they sent the wrong message. But analysts say Obama's not expected to go that far because so many people want to celebrate his historic win. ""Washington, D.C., was pro-Obama and had Obama-mania long before November 4. But the moment November 4 occurred, all -- all craziness sort of broke loose,"" said Anne Schroeder Mullini, a gossip columnist for Politico. As inauguration organizers work to keep the tone in check, they are speaking out against those trying to make money by scalping tickets to the event. Tickets for the inauguration are distributed through members of Congress, and just 240,000 seats are available for the actual swearing-in ceremony. The tickets are supposed to be free, but with demand outpacing supply, a traditional giveaway has turned into a thriving online marketplace. Legitimate ticket brokers -- the same companies that peddle tickets to rock concerts and NASCAR races -- are selling tickets to the inauguration for thousands of dollars, even for standing-room areas on the National Mall. California Sen. Dianne Feinstein wants to make that practice a crime, punishable by up to a year in prison. Organizers of the inauguration say it violates the spirit of the event and could spell disappointment for people who buy tickets for the ceremony. ""We think it's absolutely insane to be selling those tickets. We understand some people want to make a buck, but for those people thinking of buying tickets, it's buyer beware,"" warned Howard Gantman, staff director of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. CNN's Carol Costello, Brianna Keilar and Erica Hill contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Cristiano Ronaldo scored two penalties as Real Madrid beat ten-man Athletic Bilbao 4-1 to maintain their five-point lead over arch rivals Barcelona at the top of the Spanish league. The Portuguese striker fired home his 22nd and 23rd goals of the league season from 12 yards to help Real gets back to winning ways after their midweek defeat to Barca in the Spanish Cup. Real fell behind against Bilbao when Fernando Llorente volleyed home Javi Martinez's cross but Brazilian defender Marcelo equalized 12 minutes later. Llorente missed a great chance to restore his side's lead but he sliced wide with only Iker Casillas to beat. It would prove to be a costly error. Ronaldo scored his first penalty after Kaka had been pulled to the floor in the penalty area by Ander Iturraspe and got his second 20 minutes later after Mesut Ozil was fouled by Oscar De Marcos, who was shown a red card. Jose Callejon scored Real's fourth as he raced onto Gonzalo HiguaÃ­n's pass and fired into the net. Earlier on Sunday, Lionel Messi's fifth hat-trick of the season sent Spanish and European champions Barcelona on their way to a 4-1 win at Malaga. The Argentina striker got his first just after the half hour, heading home Adriano's cross before an Alexis Sanchez tap in made it 2-0. Messi's next two goals were carbon copies as he burst through Malaga's defense before slotting home. Rondon grabbed a late consolation for Malaga. A win for both Real and Barca was perfect preparation for the second leg of their Spanish Cup clash on Wednesday, with Barca leading 2-1 on aggregate. Elsewhere in Spain, Valencia were held to a 1-1 draw by Osasuna while Mallorca won at Rayo Vallecano. Levante and Real Zaragoza drew 0-0. In Italy, AC Milan kept the pressure on Serie A leaders Juventus with a 3-0 win at bottom club Novara. Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic netted twice while Brazilian striker Robinho scored the other. Milan's city rivals Inter moved into fourth spot in the table after coming from behind to beat Lazio 2-1 at the San Siro. Tommaso Rocchi scored first for the visitors but goals from Diego Milto and Giampaolo Pazzini rescued Inter. Udinese beat Catania 2-1, Palermo toppled Genoa 5-3 while the games between Bologna and Parma, Lecce and Chievo, Siena and Napoli, and Cagliari and Fiorentina all ended in draws. In Germany, champions Borussia Dortmund thrashed Hamburg 5-1 to go level on points at the top of the table with Bayern Munich and Schalke. Robert Lewandowski and Jakub Blaszczykowski both scored twice for Dortmund. In Sunday's other game Lars Bender scored the winner as Bayer Leverkusen beat Mainz 3-2."
"(CNN) -- Tired of staying in anonymous corporate hotels? Maybe you should try one of the gorgeous lodgings named by Wallpaper* as its best business hotels of 2012. A panel of well-traveled creatives picked the hotels from a shortlist. Highlights include New York's NoMad, which houses a two-floor library that turns into a cocktail bar, and the Fasano Boa Vista, in Brazil -- a resort that has natural forest and lakes in its vast grounds. More from Wallpaper*: The new breed of designer hostels . But this year's best business hotel is the Georges, a tiny boutique establishment in Istanbul's Galata district, which offers its pampered guests a private butler. Who says you shouldn't mix business with pleasure? For more on travel, visit wallpaper.com. © 2012 wallpaper.com. All rights reserved."
"Turkish authorities' use of live ammunition, tear gas, beatings and sexual assaults to crush street protests earlier this year constitute ""human rights violations on a massive scale,"" according to a report by human rights watchdog Amnesty International. Amnesty documented cases of Turkish riot police firing plastic bullets and tear gas canisters at the heads of protesters.  It also   accused police of sexually abusing female demonstrators and of severely beating and shooting protesters with live ammunition, resulting in the deaths of two men in separate incidents. The report, released Wednesday, focused on the turmoil that erupted in May and June, when police tried to put down an environmentalist sit-in.  Demonstrators had staged an Occupy Wall Street-style protest over government plans to demolish Istanbul's Gezi Park and replace it with a shopping mall. ""The levels of violence used by police in the course of Gezi Park protests clearly show what happens when poorly trained, poorly supervised police officers are instructed to use force -- and encouraged to use it unsparingly -- safe in the knowledge that they are unlikely ever to be identified or prosecuted for their abuses,"" said Amnesty International's Turkey expert, Andrew Gardner. The Turkish government has launched an investigation into the possible excess use of force.  At least one police officer from a counter-terrorism unit is standing trial along with other suspects for beating a protester named Ali Ismail Korkmaz in the Turkish city of Eskisehir.  The 19-year-old university student later died as a result of his injuries. Government announces democratic reforms . Amnesty International's report emerged two days after the Turkish government unveiled a long-awaited series of reforms, which  the rights group said fails ""to address these violations or to take any serious steps to ensure that they will not occur in the future."" Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan applauded what he called the ""democratization package,"" declaring it a historic moment for the country. The legislation lifts the ban on women wearing Islamic headscarves in public institutions.  However, women serving as police officers, judges or military personnel are still not allowed to wear headscarves. The reforms also removed the ban on teaching the Kurdish language, and ended the ban of the Kurdish letters ""q,"" ""x"" and ""w,""  which do not exist in the Turkish alphabet. However, Kurdish can only be taught in private schools, even though it is the language spoken by Turkey's largest ethnic minority. Another change called for expanding the definition and punishment for hate crimes committed on the basis of ethnicity or religious belief. The democratization package quickly inspired a chorus of criticism from a wide range of ethnic, religious and political groups. ""This is more of an election package,"" said Sebahat Tuncel, a lawmaker from the main Kurdish opposition party, referring to municipal elections expected to be held in 2014. ""This package could have lifted the obstacles to democratization. It could have lifted barriers to freedom of the press, to freedom of expression and amended the anti-terror laws,"" Tuncel added. Thousands of Kurds have been arrested in recent years, accused of collaborating with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), whose militants have been fighting a guerrilla war for the past 30 years against the Turkish state. Erdogan's government has tried to bring an end to the simmering conflict by launching negotiations with jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan. The peace talks have prompted some of the PKK's thousands of fighters to voluntarily leave Turkey for neighboring Iraq. Meanwhile, women's groups and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual activists are upset that the reforms did not include reference to hate crimes committed on the basis of gender or sexual orientation. Though Erdogan offered to create a cultural institute for Turkey's Roma minority and promised to return a government-seized monastery to the Assyrian Christians, he stopped short of reopening the Halki Seminary, which traditionally educated the country's top Greek Orthodox clergy. For decades, members of Turkey's dwindling Greek community, as well as many Western governments, have called for Turkey to lift its ban on Halki. ""I think it is a step forward and the government says more will come,"" wrote Suat Kiniklioglu, a former lawmaker from Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), in an e-mail to CNN. ""However, the real issue in Turkey is political and cultural polarization. I wish the package would address issues such as freedom of expression and pluralism."" Turkish president calls for reform . Turkey's president warned about the threats this polarization posed in an address before the Turkish parliament Tuesday. ""I viewed the peaceful demonstrations of the young people at Gezi Park... as a new manifestation of our democratic maturity,"" said Abdullah Gul. Gul argued that Turkey still had a long way to go in its democratization process. ""The effective and efficient operation of executive, legislative and judicial powers; the existence of a serious, constructive and strong opposition; a free, critical, impartial and independent media are of utmost importance for a country's democratic development,"" he said in his speech to lawmakers. Gul has been a loyal ally of Erdogan through the prime minister's decade in office. But as his term in the largely symbolic post of president draws to a close, Gul has increasingly challenged some of Erdogan's more controversial policies. The increasingly divergent political positions have prompted widespread speculation that Gul may be preparing to submit himself as a candidate to be the next prime minister of Turkey."
"Chiquita Chavis is an Army Reservist who served in Afghanistan and is waiting to see if she'll be deployed for a second time. But since returning from her first tour in 2010, she has fallen on hard times. She came back to find that the civilian job she left had been restructured, and with only part-time work, she struggled to make ends meet for herself and her young daughter. They ended up living in a friend's garage. ""I never had to live in the street,"" said Chavis, 30. ""But I (was) not in a situation where I could support myself on my own."" Chavis is not alone. While the Department of Veterans Affairs reports that overall veteran homeless rates are going down, female rates are going up. In fact, female veterans are the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. homeless population and are more at risk than their male counterparts, according to the report. Read the report on veterans' homeless rates (PDF) The VA says veterans become homeless for many reasons, including mental health issues and substance abuse. But it notes that female veterans can face additional challenges, such as sexual abuse. Female veterans are also more likely to be single parents, the VA says, which can make it more difficult to find adequate housing. Chavis' luck changed at a job fair when she met Jaspen Boothe, a captain with the Army National Guard. Within days, Boothe had helped Chavis and her daughter move to a transitional home where they could stay until they got back on their feet. Boothe, 35, considers it her mission to help her female comrades who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Since 2011, she has provided transitional housing or financial assistance to more than 50 female veterans and their children through her nonprofit, Final Salute. ""Not every veteran is living under a bridge,"" Boothe said. ""Not all veterans have mental issues. Not all veterans have experienced substance abuse. Some veterans have just fallen on hard times."" When they do fall, it can be hard for female veterans with children to find housing, according to the Government Accountability Office. It reported that 60% of the homeless shelters that serve female veterans don't accept children or have restrictions based on age or the number of children that can be housed. Read the GAO report on veterans and housing (PDF) In the past two years, Boothe has opened two transitional homes in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, where veterans and their children can live for up to two years while they get their lives back on track. Her nonprofit also offers them assistance with child care, employment placement and accessing benefits or counseling through the VA. Do you know a hero? Nominations are open for 2013 CNN Heroes . ""We offer wrap-around services ... anything they could possibly need to help get themselves back in a state of independence,"" Boothe said. ""We give all the tools that you need, but your success in this program is up to you."" Additionally, Boothe works to prevent homelessness by providing interest-free loans or grants to help female veterans pay for rent, deposit and utilities. To date, she's helped 100 women and children through her programs, and she has given plenty of personal support and encouragement along the way. ""I definitely am someone who relates to them on their level,"" she said. ""(I) let them know: ""Hey, you can get past your circumstances. They're only temporary."" She should know; she was once homeless herself. As a single mother, Boothe joined the Army Reserves to make a better life for herself and her young son. She was based in New Orleans and set to deploy to Iraq in 2005 when her life was turned upside down. Hurricane Katrina hit. Boothe and her son were fine -- she'd already sent him to live with a relative in Missouri while she prepared to deploy -- but the family lost everything, and Boothe became homeless. A month later, she was diagnosed with head, neck and throat cancer. She underwent surgery and radiation treatment at Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas, but she was eventually discharged from the Reserves because of her illness. When Boothe asked the VA what assistance was available for her, she was told they didn't have any programs that could help with the challenges she was facing as a female veteran with a dependent child. They referred her to local social services, which Boothe called probably the most demeaning experience of her life. ""You're treated basically as a baby's mama or a crack head, or some woman who's made a bunch of bad decisions with her life, and the only resources available were welfare,"" Boothe said. ""I'm not a welfare mom, I'm a soldier."" Boothe joined her young son in Missouri, where she was able to eventually get her life back together. Today, her cancer is in remission, and she lives with her son, her new husband and their son in Virginia, where she is on active duty with the Army National Guard. For years, Boothe considered her experience an isolated incident. But when she realized that other female veterans were struggling, too, she decided to take action. For her, it's part of the oath she swore to uphold when she entered the service. ""As a soldier, you raise your right hand, and with that comes certain responsibilities,"" she said. ""One of those is to never leave a fallen comrade. ... So whether they're in or out of uniform, they have me if they need me."" Boothe's help has given Chavis the break she needed. ""I have a job now, and I got promoted in like two weeks,"" Chavis said. ""I'm really at peace here, and I can focus on what my next steps are. ... Jas set me up for success."" Boothe is determined to help as many female veterans as she can. At the end of the month, she'll be getting another opportunity when she starts her dream job: working in women veterans outreach at the VA. One way or another, her ultimate goal is to make organizations like hers obsolete. ""I don't have a blueprint, but I'm going to figure it out,"" she said. ""It's my duty as a soldier to help my fellow sisters."" Want to get involved? Check out the Final Salute website at www.finalsaluteinc.org and see how to help."
"The Transportation Security Administration said Friday it has started the process of firing 25 of its agents and suspending 19 others for not following screening procedures. The 44 employees all worked in a checked-baggage screening room in Terminal B of Newark's Liberty International Airport, TSA spokesman David Castelveter told CNN in a written statement. In November and December of 2011, they were caught on surveillance cameras not following proper screening protocols, an agency internal investigation revealed. After passengers check their bags, TSA screeners are supposed to search the luggage with electronic scanners and open some bags by hand. In this case, the employees allegedly didn't follow procedures on about 250 bags during the two months, the agency said. All bags did receive some screening, however. The punishment marks the largest removal and suspension of TSA officers in the agency's history, and part of a larger internal crackdown on improper behavior by TSA agents. ""Accountability is an important aspect of our work and we take appropriate action with any employee who does not follow our procedures or engages in misconduct,"" Castelveter said. In June, the same investigation prompted the agency to fire eight checked-baggage screeners at Newark for violating TSA procedures, including some of them for sleeping on the job. That same month, 43 TSA workers in Fort Myers, Florida, were disciplined for not performing additional screening on random passengers and carry-on bags. At Boston's Logan Airport, 20 checked-baggage screeners were punished in August for reading newspapers or talking on the phone when they were supposed to be screening bags, or for not reporting the misconduct, a spokesperson told CNN at the time. And last year, 36 checked-bag screeners in Hawaii were fired after they were caught on a security camera in 2010 ignoring procedures, including putting bag inspection notices in bags without actually inspecting them, an inspector general's report said. TSA screeners put inspection notices in bags they didn't inspect . TSA reprimands bag screeners over job performance at Boston airport . Speedier trip through airport security could come within a decade . TSA behavior detection officers will be retrained after profiling complaints ."
"Bogota, Tennessee (CNN) -- Those who say no man is an island never met Danny Hayes. The 61-year-old retired construction supervisor lives in Bogota, Tennessee, a farming community so small that when asked how to find the town, locals respond, ""Don't blink."" Hayes' trailer in Bogota is about seven miles from the Mississippi River. Historic flooding across the region brought ""the Old Muddy"" much closer to him. The two-room trailer is more than 5 feet off the ground, but the river's invasion reaches Hayes' door and, at its height, threatened to evict him. ""There's the possibility the trailer could shift, could turn. Could flip over,"" Hayes said, standing on the trailer's small porch. ""Then again, I am not worried about that because I will get out."" The Mississippi's flooding has already forced hundreds to flee small towns like Bogota to cities like Memphis. And meteorologists say the heavy rainfall across the South could mean weeks more of high water. Whatever comes, Hayes said he will not be moved. ""I'd say for the average person who grew up in towns, you'd be in a dangerous situation,"" he said. ""I'd say a person who learned to live off the land and to survive, it's not a big thing."" The one acre of land Hayes retired to is no longer recognizable to him. Groves of pecan trees now stand half-covered in water. Homes abandoned by neighbors sit in several feet of dank and stinking water. To get to dry ground, Hayes paddles a small boat about 50 yards to Highway 78. Once on shore, he then walks the half-mile to town each day for a pack of cigarettes and a little conversation. The homes around Hayes' trailer sit empty, but as he waits out the flood, he is hardly alone. Since the waters began to rise, Hayes said, all manner of animals have swum by the trailer, looking for higher ground. The snakes, he shoots. ""It's illegal to kill snakes in Tennessee,"" he said with a serious look before breaking into a wide smile. ""Unless it's for your own protection."" The nine-shot revolver with a long barrel that Hayes keeps close also works to ward off other predators. Empty homes in the rural area could make for an inviting target for looters, he said. But his and his neighbors' homes are safe, Hayes said, while he patrols his small ""island."" To make his point, Hayes suddenly shoots the pistol three times in sudden succession into the invading waters. ""I am a crazy old man,"" he said with a laugh, ""And I will shoot the hell out of you, and I am serious about that."" As he waits for the waters to retreat, Hayes' family checks in with him regularly by cell phone. His two sons and their families fret about his decision to ride out the flood. But Hayes said he never considered leaving. He's too stubborn. So stubborn he married and divorced the same woman three times before they finally called it quits. Too stubborn ""to run for the hills over some water."" ""Rescue all them poor people and don't worry about this 61-year-old man,"" he said. ""Don't waste no 911 on me."" But with the water slowly receding, it appears that Hayes will be spared from the flood's wet grasp. Still, it could be another week, he predicted, before Bogota begins to dry out. Asked what he will do while the floodwaters retreat, Hayes replied with a ready joke. ""I got to sell this here land,"" he said, ""while it's still waterfront property!"" CNN's Sara Weisfeldt contributed to this report."
"An Israeli soldier was killed Sunday in a shooting along the Israel-Lebanon border, according to the Israel Defense Forces. The soldier was treated at the scene, then evacuated to a hospital. He later died of his wounds. Later, around midnight, as soldiers in the area conducted an investigation, ""suspicious people"" were identified and ""due to a threat, precise shots were fired at the suspects identified as Lebanese soldiers, and one suspect was hit,"" an Israel Defense Forces statement said. Earlier Sunday, a spokesman for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL, had said that a ""serious shooting incident"" was taking place along the Israel-Lebanon border. It was not immediately clear who was shooting at whom, Andrea Treneti said then. Commanders from both sides were talking to the head of the UNIFIL mission to establish what happened. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's office issued a statement deploring the shooting and calling for restraint on both sides. Israeli and Lebanese forces are cooperating in the investigation, the statement said. The soldier was shot while driving along the border near Rosh Hanikra, according to the IDF. An initial inquiry confirmed the sniper is a member of the Lebanese Armed Forces, it said, adding that further investigation is under way. According to the Lebanese National News Agency, army troops opened fire on Israeli soldiers near the border. UNIFIL has been in southern Lebanon since a 1978 conflict with Israel. After the 2006 war between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah militia, the peacekeepers' mandate was expanded to include helping Lebanon keep the country's south ""free of any armed personnel, assets and weapons"" other than government troops. Cross-border fire has been rare since the Israel-Hezbollah war. In late August, the Israeli air force conducted a strike in Lebanon between Beirut and Sidon, a day after rockets struck northern Israel, according to the IDF. There were no casualties. Israel halts plan that would displace Bedouins . Syrian refugees face miserable winter in Lebanon ."
"WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton said Sunday she won't vote for any more money to support the four-year-old war in Iraq without a plan to start bringing U.S. troops home. Presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton greets people before speaking in Washington on September 17. ""I've reached the conclusion that the best way to support our troops is begin bringing them home,"" the New York senator and former first lady told CNN's ""Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer."" ""I don't believe we should continue to vote for funding that has an open-ended commitment, that has no pressure on the Iraqi government to make the tough political decisions they have to make, or which really gives any urgency to the Bush administration's diplomatic efforts."" Clinton's declaration comes as the Senate debates the Defense Department's 2008 spending authorization bill. It follows her vote against a $120 billion war-spending bill in May, when Congress dropped a call for the withdrawal of American combat troops by March 2008 after President Bush vetoed a bill containing that provision. ""The president has no intention of changing his policy in Iraq,"" she said. ""He's now talking about leaving it to his successor."" Meanwhile, the Senate's Republican minority routinely filibusters Democratic proposals to wind down the war, which is costing the Treasury about $10 billion a month and has claimed the lives of nearly 3,800 American troops. May's spending bill made continued U.S. support contingent on a set of benchmarks for Iraq's government. But the Iraqis met only 11 of the 18 benchmarks, according to the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress. ""Even those who are implementing this policy of the president's cannot tell us it will make America more safe, nor that it will lead to the kind of political decision-making that we have to expect from the Iraqis themselves,"" Clinton said. Nearly two-thirds of the American public now opposes the war, according to a CNN-Opinion Research poll conducted in early September. Clinton said, if elected president, she would end the conflict ""as quickly and responsibly as I can,"" but said some U.S. forces would likely remain as trainers, to protect Americans and to battle Islamic militants loyal to al Qaeda. The two-term senator, who leads her Democratic presidential rivals by a double-digit margin in national polls, made the rounds of all five Washington talk shows Sunday. Last week, Clinton supported two amendments that would have forced the Pentagon to begin a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. But she said Sunday that even if Democrats muster enough Republican support to break a filibuster -- something they have been unable to do -- Democrats would still be unlikely to get the two-thirds vote needed to override a presidential veto. ""The answer for this is, let's elect more Democrats in 2008,"" she said. ""That will help solve the problem."" E-mail to a friend ."
"Despite a highly-publicized anti-corruption drive spearheaded by President Xi Jinping, China's position on an international corruption perceptions index has deteriorated in the past 12 months. Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index 2014 ranks countries based on a 100-point ""corruption perception"" scale, where zero equals a ""highly corrupt"" perception and 100 means the country is perceived to be very clean. In the report, released Wednesday, China scored 36, falling to 100th place from 80th last year, putting it on a par with Algeria and Suriname. North Korea and Somalia rank equal-worst of 174 countries with a score of just eight. Denmark and New Zealand ranked least corrupt, with scores of 92 and 91, respectively. The Corruption Perceptions Index highlights the problems that emerging economies have with public sector corruption, misappropriation of funds and bribery, said Jose Ugaz, the chair of Transparency International, in a press release. It's based on perceptions of public sector corruption, from the perspective of business people and country experts. ""The Transparency International report is inconsistent with China's well-known achievements in the anticorruption campaign,"" Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Hua Chunying told CNN. ""The public will judge the achievement that the government has obtained and it will not be affected by the index. ""Corruption is the disease of human society which harms the justice and development of the entire society. It has to be eliminated."" Anti-corruption drive . Xi's much-vaunted drive against the ""tigers"" -- high-ranking public officials -- and ""flies"" -- lowly apparatchiks -- has been touted as a ""life or death"" priority for the leader, who announced the initiative shortly after taking office in 2012. Since then, Chinese state media says 75,000 cadres have been found in breach of austerity measures, as of the end of August. Recently, the anti-corruption drive was extended to China's military, with particular emphasis on projects and medical and weapons procurement, China Daily reported. In the past, Xi has said that corruption could lead to ""the collapse of the Party and the downfall of the state."" Despite his warnings, and attempts to address the issue, the report finds that perceptions of public sector corruption in China are worsening. Rukshana Nanayakkara, Regional Outreach Manager for the Asia-Pacific Region, Transparency International, says that Beijing's approach is misguided. ""China's fight against corruption focuses on prosecution, a very top-down way of fighting corruption,"" he told CNN. ""The whole campaign of catching 'tigers' and 'flies,' and from this summer the 'foxhunt' (the worldwide operation to track down fugitive officials) they all talk about prosecution, punishing people. ""In many other parts of the world it is a more holistic approach, you need to talk about prevention as well. So, irrespective of the fact that China is trying to punish corrupt officials, it is still thrives. So this is a very strong message to China."" China's drop from 40 points to 36 from in the index was one of the ""biggest falls"" of 2014, Transparency said. Other countries whose rankings dropped were Turkey, which dropped five points, and Angola, Malawi and Rwanda, which all dropped four. Economic growth suffers . Transparency International says the extent of corruption within countries has an impact on their own economic growth, and there's a risk of problems being exported with trade and investment. ""The 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index shows that economic growth is undermined and efforts to stop corruption fade when leaders and high level officials abuse power to appropriate public funds for personal gain,"" Ugaz said in a statement. ""Corrupt officials smuggle ill-gotten assets into safe havens through offshore companies with absolute impunity. ""Countries at the bottom need to adopt radical anti-corruption measures in favor of their people. Countries at the top of the index should make sure they don't export corrupt practices to underdeveloped countries,"" Ugaz added. Top countries and mark out of 100 . 1. Denmark (92) 2. New Zealand (91) 3. Finland (89) 4. Sweden (87) 5. Norway (86) 5. Switzerland (86) 7. Singapore (84) 8. Netherlands (83) 9. Luxembourg (82) 10. Canada (81) Bottom countries and mark out of 100 . 174. Somalia (8) 174. North Korea (8) 173. Sudan (11) 172. Afghanistan (12) 171. South Sudan (15) 170. Iraq (16) 169. Turkmenistan (17) 166. Uzbekistan (18) 166. Eritrea (18) 161. Yemen (19)"
"Ovell Smith Krell has spent the better part of her 84 years wondering how her brother died at a Florida reform school in 1940, and where he may be buried. Today, she appears to be one step closer to finding out. Florida's attorney general filed a petition on Tuesday asking a state court to approve the exhumation of an unknown number of bodies believed to be buried at the now-defunct school in the Florida panhandle town of Marianna. ""The deaths that occurred at Dozier School for Boys in Marianna are cloaked in mystery, and the surviving family members deserve a thorough examination of the site,"" stated Attorney General Pam Bondi, who filed the petition on behalf of Jackson County's medical examiner. ""I am committed to doing everything within my power to support investigative efforts to help resolve unanswered questions and bring closure to the families who lost loved ones."" Krell -- who believes her brother, Owen, was buried on the school's property -- says she's overjoyed at the news. ""We know they're there and once they start digging, then maybe we can find remains and I hope one of them is my brother,"" she told CNN. ""I want his remains brought up, and if I get my brother I would be ecstatic."" Mystery surrounds graves at boys' reform school . It's unclear when the state court will rule on Bondi's petition, although a decision could come in the next couple of weeks. If the exhumations are approved, the bodies would be examined at the University of South Florida at the direction of Jackson County's medical examiner, Michael Hunter. Forensic investigators hope to start the process before the summer rainy season. Researchers plan to use DNA from surviving family members to help identify the remains and return them to their relatives. For years, stories and allegations of beatings, torture and murder have surrounded the century-old school. State authorities have said in the past that there were 31 burial sites at the school, and a 2009 state investigation found no wrongdoing in connection with those deaths. Investigators now say there's evidence that 98 boys died at the school, and some of them may be buried in the 50 graves that forensic investigators have recently found on school grounds. In the wake of those findings, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, asked the Department of Justice to investigate. Nelson called Bondi's petition for exhumations ""a critical step forward to bring closure to the families."" The mystery surrounding the graves first made headlines in 2008 when Florida's then-governor, Charlie Crist, ordered an investigation after a group of men, known as ""the White House Boys,"" came forward with stories of how they were beaten with leather straps by school administrators inside a small, white building on school property. Robert Straley, who spent about 10 months at the school in the 1960s for allegedly stealing a car, said he was taken to the ""white house"" on his very first day. ""I came out of there in shock, and when they hit you, you went down a foot into the bed, and so hard, I couldn't believe. I didn't know what they were hitting you with,"" Straley said. Former school administrator Troy Tidwell, a one-armed man who some former students accused of beating them, has said in a deposition that ""spankings"" took place at the school but denied anyone was ever beaten or killed. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement's 2009 report said most of the 31 boys buried in the school's cemetery were killed in a 1914 fire at the facility, while others died in a 1918 flu outbreak. At the time, the law enforcement agency said it could not determine where another 50 boys -- who it said died at the school as a result of illnesses or accidents -- were buried, blaming poorly kept school records. FDLE closed the case due to the lack of evidence that anyone had died as a result of criminal conduct, and no charges were filed. Investigators say the records do not explain why the boys were buried on school property in the first place. The boys who attended the school were considered ""young offenders"" of state law and were placed in the school in order to be ""separated from older more vicious associates,"" according to the 2009 report citing the Florida Children's Commission of 1953. Florida's Department of Juvenile Justice closed the school in 2011, blaming budget cuts. Ovell Krell said her family was told that her brother Owen ran away from the reform school, got pneumonia, and died underneath a house in town. ""They said that the body was so decomposed, you wouldn't be able to identify him ... they took him straight out to the school and buried him,"" she told CNN. But Owen's classmate told the family a different story, Krell said. According to Krell, the boy said as he and Owen tried to escape, ""my brother was running out across a field, an open field, and there was three men shooting at him, with rifles."" ""I believe to this day that they shot my brother that night, and I think they probably killed him and brought him back to the school and buried him,"" she said. Today, she simply wants to bring him home. She's 84 now, and says she's running out of time. ""My mom never got a good night's sleep the rest of her life after Owen went missing,"" she said. ""I'd make sure he's put with my mom and dad. It will probably be their first good night's sleep in over 70 years."""
"(CNN) -- For Connor Hays, nothing said summer more than spending a day at Joyland Amusement Park. Back in its prime, the Wichita, Kansas, theme park drew families with novelty rides, carnival food and live entertainment. Hays, now 25, says he visited Joyland at least twice each summer when he was a kid in the 1990s. After moving back to his hometown earlier this year, Hays wanted to revisit his childhood amusement park. But he couldn't. Joyland was no more. The theme park, which had been operating for 55 years, closed in 2004. What Hays found instead was a heap of scraps from a forgotten place. With a camera in hand, the web designer walked carefully through the tall fields of grass that now surround much of the abandoned remnants of the theme park. Within the confines of Joyland, Hays was hit with a rush of memories from his youth. ""My older brother and I would beg my parents to take us,"" Hays said. ""When we got there, we would ride the same three rides over and over again."" Those deep feelings of nostalgia associated with places like local, homegrown theme parks are quite common, according to Jim Futrell, a historian with the National Amusement Park Historical Association. ""In this Internet era, people are looking for something different to do, and a lot of amusement parks are able to capitalize on that,"" he said. Attendance at U.S. theme parks increased by 59 million visitors from 2000 to 2013, said David Mandt, a spokesman for the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions. The jump in attendance is positive news for an industry that historically goes through cycles of park closures. From 2004 to 2008, amusement parks hit a slump with dozens of theme parks shutting their doors nationwide. This includes several smaller theme parks that closed in the mid-2000s, including some that had survived a century, Futrell said. Ohio's Geauga Lake and Pennsylvania's Bushkill Park, were examples of this trend, Futrell wrote in a 2006 article for Funworld Magazine. Those smaller theme park closures have left a void for some intrepid travelers who are looking for a more nostalgic amusement park experience. Our fascination with abandoned buildings . Jessica Georgia is one of those travelers who is always searching for a vintage or ""Old Americana"" place to explore. It's what brought her and her family to the gates of Land of Oz, a relic theme park, sitting all alone on top of Beech Mountain in North Carolina. Georgia stumbled onto the theme park while doing an online search for interesting places to visit with her family. There wasn't much information she could find on Land of Oz, except that it once operated in the 1970s before closing its doors. What she did find online were photos of a real-life version of ""The Wizard of Oz."" Its yellow bricks, steel gate and lush green trees sparked her curiosity. She and her family visited the park in late May and found that the gates to the theme park were open, so they stepped inside. Georgia, her husband and daughter walked carefully down the yellow brick road. The path was still brightly colored after all these years, with a few bricks missing here and there. ""I don't think you are supposed to walk in the way we did,"" she said. ""The gates are there, there were the yellow bricks, and the shell of what used to be a castle. The Tin Man was also there, and the trees looked like they were looking at you."" Land of Oz may seem like an abandoned theme park, but it's actually not. The amusement park is closed, and the space has been converted into vacation rental property. Visitors can rent out Dorothy's house, which looks like an antique cottage, for two nights or more. Other parts of the park can also be rented for small events. The theme park hasn't been operational since the 1980s, when it first shut down. But the space went through a revival in the 1990s, according to Cynthia Keller, the property manager of Land of Oz and self-appointed ""Keeper of Oz."" Libraries are dying? Think again . ""You get the grounds to yourself, and you can stroll the yellow brick road,"" Keller said. ""We have been doing vacation rentals for the last 20 years."" Spending the night in Dorothy's home and waking up on top of a picturesque mountain is an experience that keeps the park's rental calendar pretty much booked up, Keller said. Even those who aren't hardcore fans of the classic Technicolor movie enjoy spending time at the converted theme park. ""We aren't crazy about 'The Wizard of Oz,' but I definitely had some nostalgia walking through,"" Georgia said. ""I had a lot of childhood memories of watching that movie with my sister when we were little, and being able to pass that experience down to my daughter. It makes you want to be a kid again."" Hays says going to Joyland with his parents always felt like a treat, giving him a ""special feeling that is hard to recreate or describe once you have grown up."" Although Hays doesn't have children yet, he hopes to share that same feeling with his own kids in the future. He plans on taking them to a theme park similar to Joyland. ""There is something about local amusement parks,"" he said. ""When you go to Six Flags, I don't think you have the same emotional connection to that park like a smaller theme park gives you."""
"BOSTON, Massachusetts (CNN)  -- The operator of a trolley that rear-ended another trolley should have been able to see the other vehicle was stopped 480 feet ahead, a federal investigator said Monday. Passengers walk past firefighters at a Green Line station in Boston after the trolley collision Friday evening. The trolley driver has told investigators he was text messaging during Friday night's collision, which injured 20 people. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, which previously had banned operators from using cell phones and other portable devices, now has told employees to leave the devices at home while on duty, National Transportation Safety Board member Debbie Hersman said Monday. Hersman also noted investigators have determined that the operator may have missed some crucial indications of a stopped trolley ahead on the tracks.  Watch new transit rule on cell phones » . ""There were several signals -- two green signals, a yellow signal and a red signal -- coming out of the station, and the point of collision occurred 80 feet past that red signal,"" Hersman said. ""We did a site-distance test, and we know that the operator had the ability to see the trolley stopped in front of him 480 feet in advance of the collision."" Boston officials said over the weekend that the trolley operator was using his cell phone. Numerous media outlets, including CNN's Boston affiliates, have identified the driver as 24-year-old Aiden Quinn. ""The operator of the striking train was interviewed at the hospital by two detectives,"" said MBTA general manager Daniel Grabauskas. ""He admitted that he was texting at the time of the accident."" The operator told detectives that, when he looked up, ""it was too late as he applied the brake and the train struck the other trolley,"" Grabauskas said. He described himself as ""outraged."" ""We have reinforced for a number of years that the use of cell phones or any other kinds of electronic devices while operating a train or a bus is absolutely prohibited,"" Grabauskas said. Though the investigation is ongoing, he said, the two-year employee will be fired if his version of events is confirmed. None of the injuries was considered life-threatening, the MBTA said. The collision happened at 7:18 p.m. ET Friday as the Green Line trains were traveling between the Park Street and Government Center stations in downtown Boston. Both trains were traveling westbound when one train rear-ended the second, an MBTA official said. A train operator also was text messaging last year in a California train crash that killed 25 people. CNN's Rob Frehse and Gary Bender contributed to this report."
"Tacloban, Philippines (CNN) -- The hospital applauded when the girl was born. Many pregnant women had been evacuated to give birth after Typhoon Haiyan left Tacloban's medical centers in shambles, but the mother didn't have time. Neighbors brought her to a makeshift hospital Monday. ""The baby came out and cried right away. There wasn't problems. There was no bleeding,"" said. Capt. Antonio Tamayo of the Philippines air force. ""It was a perfect delivery in a very imperfect environment."" It was a small victory in an area dominated by loss. Haiyan so brutally hammered Tacloban that the national Department of Health has sent medical teams to take over hospitals so local staff can rest and the medical centers -- many of them struggling to fulfill basic needs without electricity -- can be operational again, the Philippines Daily Inquirer reported. Singapore, Germany and Norway are also sending teams. ""Our first goal is to make the hospitals function, especially if they are not structurally damaged,"" Health Undersecretary Teodoro Herbosa said during a briefing, according to the newspaper. While the destruction is indiscriminate and damaged airports and blocked roads make the distribution of aid difficult, women and children are especially at risk as looting, the mobbing of relief trucks and prison breaks exacerbate an already dangerous situation, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. More than 2 million people need food aid, the Philippine government said. Nearly 300,000 of them are pregnant women or new mothers. ""Women and children are begging on the streets for donations, exposing themselves to abuse and exploitation,"" the U.N. agency said in a statement. ""With power lines still down, the lack of lighting has made women and children at home and in evacuation centers more vulnerable, especially at night."" The UNHCR is also deploying ""protection experts"" among the emergency teams it's sending to the area, and it will distribute 50,000 solar-powered lanterns in hopes of lessening the the risks of ""gender-based violence"" and increasing security among families who have lost their homes, it said. During the storm, survivor Jenelyn Manocsoc held her 11-month-old boy on her head to keep him out of the water as she clung to roof rafters. ""All I hear is many cries, many people crying. Many people say, 'Help!' "" she said. She doesn't know where her husband and many of her relatives are, she said. ""Now I don't know where we go,"" she said. ""It's very traumatic. It's very hard."" Many parents are trying to get their children out of harm's way, a daunting task considering the level of devastation and the long line of people hoping to be evacuated. Another survivor, Jovelyn Dy, had twin boys just three weeks ago, and she desperately wants to find a safe haven for them. ""We wake up, and there's some people inside our house, looters. They could harm my children and us as well,"" she said."
"Tianjin, China (Financial Times) -- Wen Jiabao, China's premier, has promised Beijing will do more to boost flagging growth in the Chinese economy in the coming months as he delivered a spirited defence of his economic legacy and his decade in power. His speech at the World Economic Forum in the eastern Chinese city of Tianjin on Tuesday is likely to be his last high-profile appearance on the global stage before he is replaced as the third-most-senior cadre in the Chinese Communist party next month. He is scheduled to step down as premier in March next year. Mr Wen acknowledged the downturn that has gathered pace in China in recent months. But he insisted his government still had the ability and the will to stabilise the economy, albeit at lower levels than the annual average 10.7 per cent growth seen throughout his time in office. ""Even though our government revenues slowed significantly in the past two months, by the end of July we still had about Rmb1tn [$158bn] in surplus on our government balance sheet and we have set aside around Rmb100bn as our stability and adjustment fund which we will not hesitate to use,"" Mr Wen said. He outlined a number of steps the government had taken this year to prop up the Chinese economy, including tax cuts, interest rate cuts, steady growth in the money supply and stepped up infrastructure investment. But he stressed that the government had not yet taken any extraordinary measures beyond the budget published at the start of the year and pledged that China would meet its target of expanding the economy by 7.5 per cent this year. The economy grew 7.8 per cent in the first half of the year and has deteriorated since then, putting it on track to grow by its lowest annual rate in 13 years. © The Financial Times Limited 2012 ."
"SAN FRANCISCO, California (CNN)  -- Thousands of protesters demonstrated against China's human rights record and its crackdown in Tibet after the Olympic flame arrived in San Francisco Tuesday. Pro-Tibetan demonstrators shout outside the Chinese consulate in San Francisco Tuesday. Chanting and waving flags, the protesters ended their march at the Chinese consulate, where they sat in a dense group, holding flags and banners, as police watched from nearby. ""Stop killing,"" one sign read, while another said, ""No human rights, no Olympics."" The protests came after passionate demonstrations in London and Paris in which protesters tried to snuff the torch's flame and dozens were arrested. Meanwhile, the Olympic flame was being kept in an undisclosed location in advance of Wednesday's planed 6-mile relay in San Francisco.  Watch how the city is preparing » . The run is the only U.S. appearance for the flame, wrapping up the first week of a 23-city global tour. Beijing organizers have said the monthlong international relay will not be stopped despite the protests, but some International Olympic Committee members have suggested an early end should be considered. The IOC's executive board will discuss the torch relay ""in general"" Thursday or Friday, but there is no proposal on the agenda to end the global tour early, IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said.  Watch the flame get the red-carpet treatment » . The official Beijing Olympics Web site, controlled by the Chinese organizers, gives little indication of any torch relay disruption. It characterizes the demonstrators as ""a small number"" of Tibetan separatists. Beijing blames the Dalai Lama and his followers for violence that erupted in March amid protests for Tibetan independence. China has drawn international criticism for its crackdown on the demonstrations, which began peacefully on the 49th anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising. China's Foreign Ministry Tuesday reacted forcefully to the torch relay protests. ""We express our strong condemnation to the deliberate disruption of the Olympic torch relay by Tibetan separatist forces regardless of the Olympic spirit and the law of Britain and France,"" China spokeswoman Jiang Yu said. ""Their despicable activities tarnish the lofty Olympic spirit and challenge all the people loving the Olympic Games around the world."" The flame will return to China in May to begin a relay through the host nation, ending in Beijing with the August 8 opening of the Olympic Games. One of the San Francisco torchbearers has dropped out of Wednesday's relay because of fears of protests, a torch relay spokesman said. David Perry, spokesman for the San Francisco Olympic Torch Relay, said he did not want to release the name of the person. ""I understand anyone that might feel that they don't want to expose themselves to something more than protest,"" Perry said. On Monday, three protesters scaled San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge and raised a large banner. Those who climbed the cables from which the bridge's deck is suspended were members of Students for a Free Tibet, said group spokesman Tenzin Dasang, 22. They unfurled a banner that read: ""One World. One Dream. Free Tibet."" The three climbers, along with four people on the ground, were charged with felony conspiracy and misdemeanor nuisance charges, said California Highway Patrol Officer Mary Ziegenbein. The climbers also were charged with misdemeanor trespassing. The Golden Gate Bridge protest came on the same day that thousands of protesters forced an abrupt halt to the flame's passage through Paris after 10 miles of the 17-mile planned route. Some stops were skipped and the flame was transferred from the torch back to the lamp to be carried on a bus several times to avoid protesters. Protesters pierced the thick security bubble surrounding the torchbearers, at times getting their hands on the torch itself. The Paris demonstrations were similar to those Sunday in London, where at least 36 people were arrested, according to London Metropolitan Police. Protesters cited China's actions in Tibet, its policies on the Darfur region of Sudan and the lack of civil rights and freedoms for the Chinese people. But other demonstrators, bearing Chinese flags, turned out in support of the Chinese government, and many others were spectators there just to see the torch. An Olympic committee member suggested Monday that the public relations nightmare that has followed the Olympic flame on its way to the Summer Games in Beijing may make 2008 the last time such an ambitious global torch relay is attempted.  Follow the torch relay itinerary » . International Olympic Committee member Richard Kevan Gosper, who is also chairman of the IOC's press committee, told reporters he was always opposed to a global tour for the flame. ""I'm a firm believer that we had the right template in the first place, that the torch simply should go from Olympia, Greece, to the host country,"" Gosper said. E-mail to a friend ."
"(CNN) -- Egyptian military and intelligence officials say they are preparing to launch an operation against al Qaeda cells that have recently been established in the restive Sinai peninsula. While Egypt has seen a number of homegrown militant Islamist groups emerge and dissipate over the past 20 years, none has had clear organizational links with al Qaeda. But senior officials told CNN that al Qaeda cells have now surfaced in northern Sinai, which has seen acts of sabotage and clashes between rival Salafist groups this year. Among the incidents, a gas pipeline to Israel was blown up several times. The focus of their concern is the coastal area between el-Arish, a resort town of about 80,000 people on the Mediterranean, and Rafah on the border with Gaza. ""Al Qaeda is present in Sinai mainly in the area of Sakaska close to Rafah,"" a general in Egypt's intelligence service told CNN Thursday. ""They have been training there for month, but we have not identified their nationalities yet."" The official said a military operation was imminent ""to deter these armed groups."" ""Units from the 2nd infantry division, with support from general security and the border guards,"" would take part in the operation, said the secretary general for North Sinai governorate, Gaber al-Araby. ""We plan to clean out those criminal pockets around the area of Rafah and Sheikh Zuweid,"" al-Araby said. A group claiming affiliation with al Qaeda has recently begun a propaganda campaign in the region, according to Egyptian officials. The authority of the state has rarely carried much weight in the Sinai peninsula, where Bedouin tribes have great autonomy. Gen. Abdel Wahab, the governor of North Sinai confirmed that a flier titled ""Al Qaeda Sinai Branch"" circulated outside a mosque in el-Arish on Wednesday. The document called for an Islamic state in Sinai and announced that the group was planning attacks on the police stations and security forces Friday. ""A security cordon has been placed around the entrances of el-Arish and reinforcements arrived outside the police stations and the el-Arish central prison in anticipation of an attack on Friday,"" said Hazem El Maadawi, an officer stationed outside the North Sinai police headquarters. ""Tomorrow is the big day,"" El Maadawi said, adding that he feared the worst. At the end of last month, seven people were killed in clashes in el-Arish. The clashes began after members of a militant Islamist group called Takfir wal-Hijra stormed a rally being held by another Salafist group outside a mosque. Mohamed Mahmoud, who was among the protesters, told CNN; ""The Takfiris stormed in by the hundreds mounted on pickup trucks and motorcycles waving black flags, a symbol of Jihad."" ""The militants were heavily armed with machine guns, hand grenades and rocked-propelled grenades,"" he said. ""They attacked two police stations and scared the residents under the name of Jihad. We only call for Jihad if someone attacks our Islamic country or people."" The head of security in North Sinai, Gen. Saleh al Masry, told CNN last week that Takfir-wal-Higra had become active during the revolution that led to the ousting of President Hosni Mubarak. ""The terrorists were joined by members of Palestinian factions and they are currently being questioned by military intelligence. We arrested 12 assailants including three Palestinians,"" al Masry said. What's not clear is whether the Takfiris are part of -- or aligned with -- the al Qaeda cells said to be training in Sinai. The new leader of al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, is Egyptian and before leaving his homeland in the mid-1980s, had similar views to Takfir about overthrowing the Egyptian state and replacing it with Islamic rule. More recently al-Zawahiri has recorded several messages exhorting Salafists in Egypt to take advantage of the ousting of Mubarak. In an audio message that appeared on Jihadist forums earlier this month, al- Zawahiri said: ""I commend the heroes who blew up the gas pipeline to Israel. I ask Allah to reward them for their heroic act, for they have expressed the anger of the Islamic Ummah against this continuing crime from the reign of Hosni Mubarak to the rule of the Military Council."""
"(CNN) -- The body of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will eventually be displayed publicly ""just like Lenin (and) Mao Zedong,"" the country's vice president said Thursday on state-run TV. ""The body of our leader will be embalmed, and it will ... be surrounded by crystal glass forever, present forever, and always with his people,"" Nicolas Maduro said. Maduro will be sworn in as interim president in a special session of the National Assembly at 7 p.m. Friday, said National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello on Thursday on Venezuelan state broadcaster VTV. The funeral for Chavez, who died at 58 Tuesday after a battle with cancer, will be held Friday in the capital, Caracas. Attendees are expected to include Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Cuban leader Raul Castro and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Maduro said. Venezuela is slated to hold elections 30 days after Chavez died, according to Foreign Minister Elias Jaua. Hugo Chavez's death draws sympathy, anger . Maduro did not say when Chavez's final resting place, at a military museum, will be ready. But people still will be able to view Chavez's body -- lying in state in a wooden casket at a military academy in the capital -- for at least another week, he said. ""Everybody can see him without any limits,"" Maduro said. ""We want anyone who wants to see him to have the chance to do so."" The South American nation is in a seven-day period of mourning, with schools closed for the week. Chavez's body later will be displayed much like the remains of former revolutionary leaders Vladimir Lenin of Russia and China's Mao, Maduro said. Venezuelans line streets for Chavez procession . CNN's Esprit Smith contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Even though the Ryder Cup prize ceremony took place at Medinah long after the sun had set, the staggering nature of Europe's triumph eclipsed the gloom -- and left many golf fans wondering how the visiting side had recorded the most remarkable comeback in the competition's 85-year history. Trailing 10-4 at one point on Saturday, and 10-6 as Sunday's singles got underway, the team led by Spain's Jose Maria Olazabal defied the odds to win a record eight-and-a-half points on the final day and thus the trophy itself. As darkness enveloped Medinah Country Club in Chicago, Europe's captain Olazabal talked of how the spirit of Seve Ballesteros had been key to his team's success. Inspirational and flamboyant, Ballesteros won five major championships, revolutionized the European Tour and revelled in the passion of a Ryder Cup battle with the United States. He died in 2011 after a long battle with cancer. ""Our team played in the spirit of Seve without ever giving up,"" Olazabal said. For leadership and teamwork specialist Khoi Tu -- a man who has advised Formula 1 champions and some of the world's leading companies -- the spirit of Ballesteros hung heavy over the European team. ""The thing that Europe had -- distinct to the United States -- was the notion of playing for Seve, and teams are often at their best when playing for an idea,"" says Tu, whose book 'Superteams' will be published next month. ""I'm not sure the U.S. did a lot wrong. But since the contest was so close, the key differentiator could be the 'Seve' idea. After all, could the power and pulling together of the U.S. team match his story? ""Like most sports, golf is a combination of will and skill and at this level, the will is often more important than the skill. ""The differentiator here was Seve had played a role in all the European players' lives and would have meant something for many of them."" As Spaniards and fellow professionals, Olazabal and Ballesteros shared a strong bond before the latter's death last year. On the course, the Spanish pair formed Europe's most dyanmaic Ryder Cup partnership (with 12 points gained from their 15 matches) and Olazabal ensured his late compatriot was never far from any of his team's minds this week by strategically placing his image on the players' clothing and bags. With Justin Rose looking up to the heavens in triumph, Sergio Garcia suggesting that Seve 'was with me all day' after his win and Europe's star man Ian Poulter saying he owed his presence on the team to Ballesteros, Olazabal's unorthodox approach to captaincy produced compelling results. The 46-year-old may have lacked the organizational ability of previous European captain Colin Montgomerie, whose side triumphed in another nail biting clash in Wales two years ago, but he compensated in other areas, says Tu. ""Compared to Montgomerie, Olazabal was all about emotion -- connecting with individuals on a very visceral level,"" he said. ""Montgomerie was about thorough preparation and leaving no detail unturned in an attempt to ensure the players were given the best platform to produce victory. ""This year, people felt emotionally connected to Olazabal and his ability to translate that Seve factor was very powerful. ""His organization wasn't perhaps the best though, given what happened with Rory McIlroy,"" referring to the world No.1 nearly missing his tee-off slot on Sunday after confusing his time zones. The Northern Irishman eventually made it onto the course just 10 minutes before he was scheduled to start thanks to a siren-wailing police escort from the team hotel to Medinah. Despite that glitch, Tu believes Olazabal built a team where belief became an intrinsic value and where his man management skills produced inspired results. ""Olazabal did do some interesting structural things -- such as choosing Poulter as a wild card,"" says Tu. ""Poulter has a brilliant Ryder Cup record and his infectious attitude will only ever amplify the belief in others."" Tu highlighted the way in which Martin Kaymer put a disappointing season behind him to emerge as the effective match-winner, as the German coolly sank a pressurized putt on the 18th to beat Steve Stricker and ensure that Europe retained the Ryder Cup. ""Teams play for a leader,"" says Tu. ""The worst leader of Europe in recent times was 2008 captain Nick Faldo, who told Lee Westwood in the middle of a round that he would not be playing the next day. ""Compare that to Olazabal's management of Kaymer, who was not in great form coming into the tournament and who didn't play on the Saturday either. ""Somehow, Olazabal managed to turn a potential weakness into a positive, by stressing to Kaymer that his absence on Saturday was a sacrifice for the team's greater good. ""This would have liberated Kaymer -- and just look at the way both he and Stricker handled the pressure in their clash late on. ""A lot of small things combined to tip Europe into the belief they could win and as the scores came through, their momentum became unstoppable. ""This momentum helped Kaymer -- and so did the Seve influence, as he was playing with something beyond himself. Stricker saw the increasing blue on the scoreboard and began to feel the pressure. ""It's a fine line between that pressure either being turned into a positive or negative, but Stricker knew everyone was relying on him -- which became pretty tough pressure -- and the game just ran away from him."" Stricker's misery was compounded by the fact he was the only player among the two dozen involved who failed to win a point all week -- a statistic that history will not look kindly upon as Americans try to understand how they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. The Wall Street Journal is already debating this, with the newspaper pointing an accusatory finger at the decision by U.S. captain Davis Love III to select Stricker as one of his four wild cards. ""The better questions to ask might be how teams from Europe consistently pull rabbits out of their hats at these Ryder Cups. Europe has now won two in a row, five of the past six and seven of the past nine,"" the paper wrote on Monday. ""If it were just this U.S. team that lost when on paper it seemed to have the better players, the blame might be easier to assign. But that's not the case."" For Tu, the answer is simple. ""The Europeans were playing for each other, for their leaders and for a purpose -- Seve."""
"(CNN) -- Girl wonder beats boy wizard. The Hunger Games trilogy has surpassed the Harry Potter books to become the best-selling series on Amazon.com, the company announced Friday. ""Since debuting in 2008, Katniss Everdeen and the Hunger Games have taken the world by storm, much as Harry Potter did a decade before,"" said Sara Nelson, the editorial director of books and Kindle at Amazon, which is the largest bookseller in the United States. ""Interestingly, this series is only three books versus Harry Potter's seven, and to achieve this result in just four years is a great testament to both the popularity of the work and, we think, the growth in reading digitally during that time,"" she said. Katniss is the Hunger Games heroine, whose prowess with arrows and boys has made her the envy of millions of fans. She is the star of the books in Suzanne Collins' trilogy, ""The Hunger Games,"" ""Catching Fire"" and ""Mockingjay."" Author J.K. Rowling penned the Harry Potter series about a boy wizard by the same name and his friends at Hogwarts, a school for witches and wizards. She is currently working on her first novel for adults. Both series got a big boost from films based off the books. CNN's Stacy Cowley contributed to this report."
"KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- The U.S. military bombed about 300 tons of poppy seeds in a dusty field in southern Afghanistan Tuesday in a dramatic show of force designed to break up the Taliban's connection to heroin. The U.S. military bombed about 300 tons of poppy seeds in a dusty field in southern Afghanistan Tuesday. The air strike occurred mid-day in Helmand province and was observed by CNN's Ivan Watson, who is embedded with the U.S. Marines operating in that province. The military dropped a series of 1,000-pound bombs from planes on the mounds of poppy seeds and then followed with strikes from helicopters. Tony Wayne, with the U.S. State Department, said the strikes on poppy seeds, that can be used to make opium and heroin, is part of a strategy shift for the military to stop the Taliban and other insurgents from profiting from drugs.  Watch U.S. military bomb poppy seeds » . ""There is a nexus that needs to be broken between the insurgents and the drug traffickers,"" Wayne said. ""Also, it is part of winning the hearts and minds of the population because in some cases they are intimidated into growing poppies."" In a bid to encourage Afghan farmers to swap out their poppy plants for wheat crops the U.S. Agency for International Development has been offering them seeds, fertilizers and improved irrigation. Observers have noticed a significant decline in the opium trade in Afghanistan, with the number of poppy-free provinces increasing from 13 in 2007 to 18 in 2008, according to a U.N. report released last year. Opium cultivation in the country, which has 34 provinces, dropped by about 20 percent in a year, the U.N. reported in August. ""It's a challenge to deliver assistance in a war zone -- you can hear fighter jets flying above us right now,"" said Rory Donohoe, a USAID development officer. ""At the end of the day, what we found is successful is that we work in areas that we can work,"" he told CNN in a recent interview in Helmand province. ""We come to places like this demonstration farm where Afghans can come here to a safe environment, get training, pick up seeds and fertilizer, then go back to districts of their own.""  Watch Afghans speak about the change in their farming practices » . Many of Afghanistan's northern and eastern provinces have already benefited from USAID alternative farming programs, which have doled out more than $22 million to nearly 210,000 Afghans to build or repair 435 miles (700 kilometers) of roads and some 2,050 miles (3,300 kilometers) of irrigation and drainage canals. Giving Afghan farmers improved access to markets and improved irrigation is successfully weaning them away from poppy production, according to officials at USAID. Over the years, opium and heroin -- both derivatives of the poppy -- have served as a major source of revenue for the insurgency, most notably the Taliban movement that once ruled Afghanistan. ""If you can just help the people of Afghanistan in this way, the fighting will go away,"" said Abdul Qadir, a farmer in Lashkar Gah. ""The Taliban and other enemies of the country will also disappear."" Atia Abawi contributed to this report ."
"(CNN) -- Films have altered the course of human history before. The rise of Nazism would not have been as rapid and absolute had it not been for the Reich's potent command of propaganda, including Leni Riefenstahl's monumental glorification of the fascist regime, ""Triumph of the Will."" And D.W. Griffith's celebration of white supremacy, ""The Birth of a Nation,"" helped to resurrect the Ku Klux Klan. Both these films are repellent, yet are judged to be masterpieces of world cinema, and their directors among the greatest of all time. So it's hard to imagine that a movie as slight and crude as ""The Interview"" could serve as a similar kind of historical watershed. And yet, future generations may well look to it as marking the emergence of a new chapter in geopolitics, dominated by a fresh set of actors and wildly different forms of conflict. If the attacks of September 11 taught us to fear insurgent groups using improvised weapons against civilians -- al Qaeda, the Taliban, ISIS -- what we've learned from the ""Interview"" fiasco is that even nation states and ""traditional"" terror organizations can now find themselves to be nothing more than blindsided bystanders in strange battles between entities with hidden (or purposely misleading) agendas. Corporations. Mysterious ad hoc hacker networks. Even motivated individuals. And these struggles will play out in the dark, with far-reaching and unpredictable consequences. Was the hacker attack that crippled media titan Sony insider sabotage, an attempt at extortion, a terrorist strike or, as more hawkish types have suggested, the overture to formal war? Were its perpetrators disgruntled employees, Internet pranksters, black hat mercenaries or the shadowy digital armies of rival nations? Perhaps the most frightening thing is that, months after the assaults, we still don't know exactly when they began, what their true objective was and, of course, who was actually behind them. Sony was quick to assign blame to North Korea, based on the conclusions of federal investigators. President Barack Obama issued a condemnation of the hermit kingdom's ""cybervandalism"" and promised to ""respond proportionately."" And, in a gesture of profound corporate cowardice, Sony yanked ""The Interview"" after a number of movie theater chains said they would not screen the movie. Since then, other researchers have raised serious questions about North Korea's real role in the hacks, pointing to the fact that while North Korea might have had a clear motive -- suppressing the release of a work that might embarrass its supreme leader -- early messages to Sony reportedly did not focus on ""The Interview,"" and instead sought vague ""monetary compensation."" Meanwhile, publicly released evidence of North Korean involvement seems flimsy, the country itself has hotly denied it is behind the hacks, and more recent theories have pointed instead to a possible inside job, or to hackers from other countries with greater resources and more ambiguous aims. The results of independent linguistic analyses performed on the messages sent by hackers make their North Korean origin questionable, and even suggest they were translated from Russian. (It's also worth noting that Russia's Foreign Ministry this week held a press conference slamming ""The Interview"" as ""aggressively scandalous,"" while also denouncing the U.S. accusations against North Korea as being without ""direct evidence."" As these theories and allegations have circulated, the playing field has continued to shift. A group claiming to be members of the enigmatic hacker coalition Anonymous vowed vague reprisal against North Korea. A few days later, North Korea's Internet access was shut down by a denial of service attack. As all this occurred, Sony changed its mind about releasing ""The Interview,"" allowing 300 theaters to screen the film despite warnings of physical attacks on moviegoers, while putting it on Google's Play store and YouTube. But the fact that it instantly leapt to the top of the popularity charts on both platforms has led some conspiracy minded people to wonder whether the entire episode wasn't a PR stunt (albeit one that got out of hand -- the revelations from the email leaks were far too damaging to have been released intentionally). And this is where things get oddly meta. I mentioned that ""The Interview"" comes off as a trivial work of frat-boy comedy, full of the toilet humor, misogyny, gay-panic japery and racial stereotypes that have marked other Franco/Rogen collaborations. (However, unlike others who've criticized it, I don't think it is any worse than, say, ""Pineapple Express."") But the movie's last scene (spoiler alert!), consciously or not, turns it into something with a darker kind of self-awareness. Franco's character, celebrity talk show host Dave Skylark, is shown reading the last page of his best-selling book about their madcap assassination adventure in North Korea to a huge and rapt crowd. He begins as follows: ""It was the beginning of a revolution. A revolution Aaron [Rappaport, Skylark's producer, played by Rogen] and I started."" They continue by noting that this ""revolution"" was not one waged with ordinary weapons, but with the power of the media -- and with what can only be defined as trollery. ""This was a revolution,"" he continues, ""ignited with nothing more than a camera and some questions. Questions that led a man once revered as a god among mortals to cry and sh*t his pants. The end."" It's a concise summary of the new era in which we live, where the ability to manipulate media and technology has increasingly become a critical strategic resource, where combat is conducted not just on battlefields but on servers and screens and social networks, and where it's increasingly impossible to tell the difference between pranks, crimes and acts of war. Welcome to the Troll Age. Buckle your seat belts -- and change your passwords."
"(CNN) -- Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has called plans to build a community center and mosque near the site of the 9/11 terror attack in New York City an ""unnecessary provocation."" ""Peace-seeking Muslims, pls understand, Ground Zero mosque is UNNECESSARY provocation; it stabs hearts,"" Palin wrote in a Twitter post Sunday. ""Pls reject it in interest of healing."" The former Republican vice presidential nominee also posted a plea asking ""peaceful New Yorkers"" to ""pls refute the Ground Zero mosque plan if you believe catastrophic pain caused @ Twin Towers site is too raw, too real."" Plans to build a $100 million, 13-story center have sparked an emotional debate. The developer, Sharif El-Gamal, describes the project as an ""Islamic community center"" that will include a 500-seat performing arts center, a lecture hall, an exhibition space, a swimming pool, a gym, a culinary school, a restaurant and a prayer space for Muslims. He said the project ""is not a mosque."" Plans for the project have called for a prayer space where an imam would lead services. A ""mosque"" is generally considered a space where Muslims worship. New York's Landmarks Preservation Commission is scheduled to vote in August on whether an 1850s structure on the site of the proposed center should be granted landmark status. Even if the commission approves landmark status, though, that may not necessarily halt construction of the center. Voices opposing the center dominated a hearing on the subject last week. ""It would be a terrible mistake to destroy a 154-year-old building in order to build a monument to terrorism,"" one woman said. The heckling and intense nature of the hearing got to be too much for some participants. ""I'm ashamed to be an American today,"" said Rakif Gathwari, a Muslim-American who reminded the crowd that people from many countries and religions died in the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. ""I want to prove to this hall that I am a citizen,"" Gathwari said, holding up his passport. Some Muslim community leaders say the project could provide an opportunity for improving interfaith relations. CNN's Deb Feyerick, Julian Cummings, Ed Payne and Alan Silverleib contributed to this report ."
"San Diego (CNN) -- The latest person to accuse San Diego Mayor Bob Filner of sexual harassment is a great-grandmother. Peggy Shannon, 67, who works at the Senior Citizens Service Desk in San Diego City Hall, allegedly faced ""continuous inappropriate sexual advances by the mayor while trying to do her job,"" according to the office of her attorney, Gloria Allred. Shannon said the mayor kissed her and once asked ""me if I thought he could go eight hours in one night."" ""Every day that I went to work, I had butterflies in my stomach because I did not know what was going to happen the next time the mayor came by my desk,"" Shannon told reporters Thursday. ""I have three sons, four grandsons and two great grandsons. As our mayor, you should be -- but are not -- a role model for any of them,"" she said. Later, Shannon spoke to CNN's ""Piers Morgan Live,"" and called for the mayor's resignation. ""I can forgive anybody but he needs to step down,"" she said. ""People are surprised that as a great-grandmother that this happened to me -- so it could happen to anybody else."" Shannon is the 16th woman to come forward with such allegations, according to CNN affiliate KFMB. Filner's office has not responded to multiple CNN requests for comment on the allegations. As the list grows, city officials said Thursday that Filner might be booted from office later this month over a different, but related issue: money. Hooters blackballs San Diego mayor . 'Inappropriate movement on my body' A local attorney became the 15th accuser against Filner, speaking to KFMB this week. Kathryn Vaughn told the station that after her husband walked away at a public event 10 years ago, Filner ""made an inappropriate movement on my body."" Filner, 70, was elected mayor of the eighth-largest American city in 2012, after 10 terms in Congress. His accusers range from a singer at a campaign fundraiser to his former communications director, who called him unfit for office. He has rebuffed calls to resign from all nine City Council members and from fellow Democrats, including California's two U.S. senators. He now faces a recall effort that is trying to gather more than 100,000 signatures needed to put his future up to a new vote, though some political observers doubt organizers can succeed. In July, Filner acknowledged that he ""failed to fully respect the women who work for me and with me"" and that he was ""embarrassed"" by his actions. But he also said he would be vindicated by ""a full presentation of the facts"" and he would not resign. Out of rehab, but locked out of office . Mayor could be booted over money . Now, investigators are also looking into possible financial impropriety -- including questionable charges at the Westgate Hotel, where Filner allegedly took women. The San Diego's City Attorney's Office told CNN Thursday that it had found the charges were inappropriate. Filner's attorney and the mayor's office did not respond to CNN's requests for comment Thursday. The city attorney's office said a rarely used section of the city charter, Section 108, dating back to 1931, would allow for Filner to be removed from office -- without a recall -- over unauthorized payments from the city treasury. The city council plans to vote August 28 on whether to invoke that section. If it does, it would then ask a court to boot Filner from office. Did Mayor Filner target victims of military sexual assault? Kevin Faulconer, a Republican who sits on the council's audit committee, raised questions about other charges as well. He alleged that Filner charged hundreds of dollars in personal expenses and threatened the city's credit by failing to pay the bill. The mayor's city credit card was stopped in July, Faulconer's office said. ""Mayor Filner's continued abuse of power knows no bounds,"" the councilman said in a statement. ""Based on this new evidence, I am broadening the scope of my Audit Committee hearing to investigate how Mayor Filner was able to circumvent credit card rules and how to prevent negative effects on the City's credit rating as a result of one person's misuse of taxpayer dollars."" CNN's Kyung Lah and Linda Hall reported from San Diego; CNN's Josh Levs reported from Atlanta. CNN's Chuck Johnston and Matt Smith contributed to this report."
"WASHINGTON (CNN) -- States appear to be taking more action to keep guns out of the hands of people with mental health problems in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings, new figures show. Mental health problems would prohibit potential buyers from purchasing a gun. Submissions of mentally ill patients' records to the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System for gun buyers have more than doubled since the massacre in April, the Justice Department announced Thursday. Currently, states are not required to send reports of mental health problems, which would prohibit buyers from purchasing a gun. But after the shootings -- when a student with a history of mental health problems killed 32 people before taking his own life -- the number of submissions to the database grew from 174,863 during the first half of the year to 393,957 from July to November. The number of states submitting the information also grew, from 23 before the Virginia Tech tragedy to 32 after it. The majority of the new records came from California authorities, who submitted more than 200,000 entries, the Justice Department said. Ohio boosted the amount of entries from three in March of this year to 7,845 in November. ""Instant background checks are essential to keeping guns out of the wrong hands, while still protecting the privacy of our citizens,"" Attorney General Michael Mukasey said to the National Association of Attorneys General. ""But as we learned in the tragedy at Virginia Tech, the checks must be accurate and complete to be effective."" Virginia Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho was judged a danger to himself and ordered to get outpatient mental health treatment in 2005, but there was no indication he followed up. Virginia did not report his name to the FBI system because he hadn't been committed to a mental health facility. Cho bought one of the guns he used in the massacre online from an out-of-state dealer, picking it up from a Blacksburg, Virginia, pawn shop after background checks were complete. He bought his other pistol from a Roanoke gun dealer a month before the shooting. Officials say making sure information -- such as mental health records -- that would keep a person from buying a gun is available at a national level ensures that the individual doesn't go across state lines to try to make a purchase. Background checks, however, aren't necessary for firearms purchases made at gun shows or from a private seller, which, according to estimates, account for about half of the guns sold in the United States each year. E-mail to a friend ."
"(CNN) -- It's been described as one of the greatest Victorian gothic horror stories of all time. Two ships with 129 men on board and fitted with the latest technology, vanish with barely a trace left behind. One hundred and sixty years of searching -- one attempt as recent as last month -- have failed to find ""HMS Erebus"" and her sister ship, the somewhat appropriately named ""HMS Terror"" -- the two vessels lost in the Arctic. In 1845 British Royal Navy captain Sir John Franklin set out with some of the finest sailors of the time on a mission to map the Northwest Passage. Franklin's expedition wasn't the first to the region, but it is the most infamous. ""Why did this fail when all the others didn't,"" asks author William Battersby. ""There was something jinxed about the expedition."" Battersby is one of many to be transfixed by the mystery of Franklin's last voyage. ""We love adventure stories, of derring-do, win against all odds, but in this story they don't and we still don't know why."" The environment of the Northwest Passage is unforgiving. The landscape is vast and deserted, comparable only to Jupiter's moons. The winters are unrelenting and bleak. Franklin's men were faced with particularly brutally harsh temperatures and blizzards when they reached the region. Despite the ships being reinforced with steel and holding three years worth or provisions, it appears the environment got the better of the crew. ""Man proposes, God disposes,"" says Bob Headland from the Scott Polar Research Institute, who regularly visits the region. '""And the ice gods are a fickle lot."" The disappearance of the Erebus and the Terror has prompted the longest search mission in history: Although there have been numerous attempts to find the ships, there has been no sign of them. Ryan Harris from Parks Canada led the most recent mission to try to locate the shipwrecks. Last month, his crews spent hours scouring the ocean floor, searching waters up to 50 meters deep. ""It's an incredible story. It's got shipwrecks, the remoteness of the Arctic, putting the might of English industrialism against Mother Nature,"" says Harris. Since 1997 Parks Canada has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars attempting to locate the ""Erebus"" and ""Terror."" The tale of the Franklin expedition has enthralled Canadians -- the wreckage has the dubious honor of being the only national historic site in Canada that hasn't been found yet. ""Once Franklin received his orders that sealed his fate,"" Harris explains. ""In directing them south-west into ultimately the Victoria Strait it took them to the ice choke point. Once they fell into the clutch of that area, their fate was sealed. There's not much wildlife there and it is isolated."" The last known account of the ""Erebus"" and ""Terror"" came in 1848. A rock cairn with a message on it indicated that the harsh conditions had already claimed their first lives, with only 105 men left alive. Franklin was one of the first casualties of his own expedition. That same year the men abandoned their ships, archaeologists believing they began making their way south in a desperate bid to find food. However the harsh environment supported little, and with few animals to hunt and over 100 men to feed, the chance of survival was low. It's been suggested that the men may have resorted to cannibalism in their last-ditch efforts to survive. ""There were far too many men to live off the environment. What man plans and what nature allows are two different things,"" says Headland. Archaeologists have relied heavily upon oral Inuit history to try to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Based on their accounts it is thought some of the men lived for another three or four years after abandoning ship. But questions remain over exactly what happened to them. In 160 years only two skeletons and three perfectly preserved bodies have been uncovered. It is likely diseases such as scurvy claimed many lives but Battersby believes it may have been the ships themselves that killed the sailors. His theory is that the men succumbed to lead poisoning derived from the internal pipe system used to melt ice into drinking water. It's hoped the discovery of the ships will provide answers. '""There's a charm to the story,"" acknowledges Harris. ""By solving a mystery it takes the allure away."" But having said that, Harris is determined the search will go on until the ""Erebus"" and the ""Terror"" are found. Parks Canada insists that their searches have not been futile and they'll continue to gather information to help with future efforts. ""I hope we're the last,"" says Harris. But after 160 years it's possible that this tale may be frozen in time forever. ""These are the last of the ghost ships,"" says Battersby. ""It is the world's biggest ghost story."""
"(CNN) -- The king of the South Pacific nation of Tonga died ""peacefully"" Sunday at a hospital in Hong Kong, a Tongan government official said Monday. He was 63. A cause of death has not been released by the government. ""Tonga has just woken up to the sad news of the passing of King George Tupou V,"" said Paula Ma'u, an official in the Ministry of Information and Communication. ""We are all in mourning."" Ma'u said Crown Prince Tupouto'a Lavaka, heir to the throne, was with the king ""just before he passed away."" Pesi Fonua, editor of Matangi Tonga online news website, said the Oxford-educated king was known for his world travel and spending habits, but was also respected for his efforts to bring democratic reforms and modernize Tongo. ""This king brought in things like mobile phones and other advances that we couldn't dream would come to Tonga, and his push for democracy made a big impact on the people here,"" Fonua said. However, he said, Tongans had ""mixed feelings here in the community"" about the king. ""He lived a bachelor life, always a single man, and he traveled a lot around the world and spent money. He brought us in some ways forward into the 21st century, but some people have different -- not as good -- views on him."" Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard expressed her condolences in a statement Monday, crediting George V with guiding ""his country through a critical process of constitutional change towards the establishment of a constitutional monarchy."" Tonga, with a population of 106,000, is the only monarchy that remains in the Pacific. George V ascended to the throne after the death of his father in September 2006 and quickly promised to speed up government reforms demanded by the people. ""Let us rebuild a new capital and a new Tonga,"" George V said in 2006, a week after a pro-democracy rally in the capital city of Nuku'alofa led to riots that left eight people dead and the central business district in ruins. In 2008, he announced he was giving up most of the near-absolute power that his family held for centuries and allowing the prime minister to guide the day-to-day governmental affairs. Tonga is an archipelago of 171 islands directly south of Western Samoa. Less than a third of the islands are inhabited. The present dynasty was founded in 1845 after the Tongan islands were first united. CNN's Brian Walker contributed to this report."
"(CNN)  -- Time magazine on Wednesday named Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke as its 2009 Person of the Year, calling him ""the most powerful nerd on the planet."" Bernanke will be featured on the cover of the magazine that hits stores Friday. He beat out Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, President Obama, Apple CEO Steve Jobs and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi among other finalists. Time said Bernanke was the reason the U.S. financial crisis wasn't worse. ""The story of the year was a weak economy that could have been much, much weaker. Thank the man who runs the Federal Reserve, our mild-mannered economic overlord,"" the article said. ""He didn't just reshape U.S. monetary policy; he led an effort to save the world economy."" Time: Person of the Year 2009 . Bernanke is considered a scholar of the Great Depression. A series of his writings were compiled into the book ""Essays of the Great Depression."" Michael Grunwald, who authored Time's article, on Wednesday told NBC's ""Today"" that ""basically [Bernanke] saw what looked like another depression coming, and he decided he would do whatever it takes to forestall that. And basically, I think he did. It could have been a lot worse."" Grunwald said, ""There are things that he could have done better. One of his responsibilities is for full employment in society, and he hasn't really stepped up on that, but basically in terms of influencing how the economy went this year, Bernanke was the guy."" The Time senior correspondent added, ""Look, he's been criticized from left and right, from liberals and conservatives, you know, for ... running the unelected fourth branch of government. He's a controversial figure."" Wednesday's announcement comes a day before a Senate Banking Committee vote on whether Bernanke should be given another term. ""Remember, he's a Republican appointed by a Democratic president. It's the Democrats on the committee that are going to vote to confirm. It's a really interesting combination of factors,"" Grunwald said. One of Bernanke's harshest critics is Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Kentucky, the only senator to vote against the economist's appointment four years ago by President Bush. In a statement Wednesday, Bunning said, ""I find it ironic that a man who has spent the last year rewarding others for failure is now being named 'Person of the Year.' ""But if Time magazine is in the business of rewarding failure, Ben Bernanke is their man -- he has certainly excelled at that."" Bunning called Bernanke a ""moral hazard,"" accusing him of supporting the ""easy money policies of his predecessor, Alan Greenspan,"" who made the cover of Time in February 1999, along with then-Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and his successor, Lawrence H. Summers. Another sharp critic of Bernanke, independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, said December 2 that he plans to place a ""hold"" on Bernanke's nomination for a second term once it leaves the Banking Committee. A ""hold"" is an informal practice in which a senator informs the majority leader that he or she does not want a bill or nomination to reach the floor for a vote. Majority leader Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada, would not need to act on Sanders' request, but Sanders could launch a filibuster to delay the motion to nominate the Fed chairman for another four-year term. ""The American people overwhelmingly voted last year for a change in our national priorities to put the interests of ordinary people ahead of the greed of Wall Street and the wealthy few,"" Sanders said then, explaining his action. ""What the American people did not bargain for was another four years for one of the key architects of the Bush economy."" Time magazine noted that Bernanke, who turned 56 Sunday, defies the stereotype of ""a typical Beltway power broker."" ""He doesn't have a commanding presence. He isn't a mesmerizing speaker. He has none of the look-at-me swagger or listen-to-me charisma so common among men with oversize Washington offices,"" the article said. Bernanke was sworn in as Federal Reserve chairman in February 2006. He spent years in academia, as a professor at Princeton, Stanford and New York universities and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, according to the Fed's Web site. Time magazine, like CNN, is a unit of Time Warner."
"Pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong that began Monday with students boycotting classes and demanding less involvement of China's Communist Party in Hong Kong's future continued Sunday and are growing into a wider movement. Organizers said some 60,000 protesters turned out for a Saturday night rally and police tried to block them from joining other protesters that are part of a sit-in outside government headquarters. They're protesting  new election rules issued by the Chinese government in August that say candidates for the top posts in Hong Kong must be selected by a committee perceived to serve the Chinese Communist Party. The students want to pressure China into giving Hong Kong full voting rights and the ability to choose candidates independent of Beijing. Some protesters wore rain jackets, goggles and umbrellas in anticipation of the police's use of pepper spray as tension rose following more than 70 arrests of student activists. Organizers  said they would continue to occupy the area outside government headquarters indefinitely until the students are released. They want to speak directly to Hong Kong's leader, Chief Executive C.Y. Leung. Hong Kong authorities said 34 people had been treated in hospital for injuries suffered in the protests. Student's home seached . Those arrested include 17-year-old protest leader Joshua Wong, whose parents issued a statement saying that their son's lawyer ""can see no legal justification for this continued detention given the nature of the allegations, his young age and his clean record."" Grace and Roger Wong said they can only conclude that their son is being detained for political reasons and call his arrest "" political persecution."" According to protest organizers, police spent two hours searching Wong's dorm room Saturday. They confiscated his computer, two SD cards, his phone and a thumb drive, they said. Amnesty International issued a statement Sunday calling for the release of the activists and condemned violence against protesters Friday night, when police used pepper spray. A government statement issued this week urged teachers and parents not to let minors take part in the rallies, saying their future opportunities could be affected. Teachers were also warned that if they are convicted ""as a result of participating in unlawful activities, they will have to bear their legal responsibilities as well as professional- and career-related consequences."" Other protest group joins in . Leaders of Hong Kong's Occupy Central movement, which had planned  a separate mass protest in the city's financial district over voting rights, decided Sunday to join the student movement. Co-founder Benny Tai said he would stay with the students until the last minute and was prepared to be arrested. ""We are willing to pay the price for civil disobedience,"" he said. Since the handover from Britain to China 17 years ago, the people of Hong Kong have been granted a wide range of civil liberties and a measure of autonomy under the governing principle known as ""one country, two systems."" But many believe that way of life is under threat as Beijing affirms its political authority over Hong Kong. Although most are not old enough to drive in the former British colony, the students' political vision is clear. ""The future of Hong Kong is ours,"" said 16-year-old student Phoebe Leung. ""I can't change Hong Kong, but if all of us are here ... we may change Hong Kong's future."""
"(CNN) -- Florida's effort to reunite families with the remains of their relatives believed to be buried on the grounds of a now-defunct reform school is being challenged by county officials. Commissioners in Jackson County, Florida, have filed a court motion to thwart the efforts of the state attorney general, who filed a motion earlier this month seeking the excavation of nameless graves on the grounds of the Dozier School for Boys in the Florida panhandle town of Marianna. It's yet another chapter in the long, sordid past of the reform school. Inmates sent there have told tales of brutal beatings, sexual assaults, murder and boys who simply disappeared. The graves, marked only by white tubular steel crosses, have been there since the early 1900s. Even though the graves are on state property, the county objects to the proposed exhumations because it said it has not been determined who will pay for the efforts of the county medical examiner, who would be directing the effort. In its circuit court filing, the county also said that notice has not been made to the family members of those who died. Glen Varnadoe has been one of the leaders in the effort to have the graves exhumed. He said his father and his uncle were sent to the reform school in 1934 after they allegedly stole a typewriter. Mystery surrounds graves at boys reform school . Thirty days later, he said, his uncle, Thomas Varnadoe, was buried on school property. Varnadoe said his father told him that they were regularly beaten during their time at the school. One night, his father said, he was awakened by guards who brought him to a freshly dug grave site in the woods, where school administrators told him that his brother had just been buried. He was only told that his brother died from pneumonia. Varnadoe said he simply wants his uncle's remains so he can bury him properly. And he said he is willing to file a civil action against Jackson County to make that happen. ""I'm angry, and I'm aggravated,"" Varnadoe said. ""I think they're going to be in for a tough fight."" ""Look how they buried these people,"" he said. ""If they want me to go away, then point me to Thomas Varnadoe's grave, and I'll have him disinterred and moved, and I'll leave these people alone."" CNN's calls to the Jackson County Commission went unanswered. For years, stories and allegations of beatings, torture and murder have surrounded the century-old school. State authorities have said in the past that there were 31 burial sites at the school, and a 2009 state investigation found no wrongdoing in connection with those deaths. The case of the unnamed, unmarked graves has gotten a large amount of public attention in recent months, after a research project by the University of South Florida uncovered evidence that about 50 bodies are buried beneath and around the 31 crosses that make up the cemetery in the middle of the woods on the school's property. In the wake of the university's findings, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, asked the Department of Justice to investigate. Earlier this week, Nelson toured the cemetery site. ""This is something that may be another part of our sordid past. This place was set up in the early 1900s and it was a different era back then when it came to civil rights,"" Nelson said. The mystery surrounding the graves first made headlines in 2008 when Florida's then-governor, Charlie Crist, ordered an investigation after a group of men, known as ""the White House Boys,"" came forward with stories of how they were beaten with leather straps by school administrators inside a small, white building on school property. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement's 2009 report said most of the 31 boys known to have been buried in the school's cemetery were killed in a 1914 fire at the facility, while others died in a 1918 flu outbreak. At the time, the law enforcement agency said it could not determine where another 50 boys, who it said died at the school as a result of illnesses or accidents, were buried, blaming poorly kept school records. FDLE closed the case due to the lack of evidence that anyone had died as a result of criminal conduct, and no charges were filed. Investigators say the records do not explain why the boys were buried on school property in the first place. The boys who attended the school were considered ""young offenders"" of state law and were placed in the school in order to be ""separated from older more vicious associates,"" according to the 2009 report citing the Florida Children's Commission of 1953. Florida's Department of Juvenile Justice closed the school in 2011, blaming budget cuts. Glen Varnadoe is quite happy that the school is closed. He said he's spent a considerable amount of his own money trying to have the remains of his uncle returned to him and his family. ""I don't know why you'd want to try to prevent anyone from returning a loved one after having been buried the way they have been buried,"" he said. ""You tell me what their motive is."""
"(CNN) -- It's the YouTube equivalent of a roundhouse kick in the face. Remember last month's viral video that showed action star Jean-Claude Van Damme doing the splits between two moving Volvo trucks? Now, Chuck Norris -- an actor who's also known for his martial arts feats -- appears to have upped the ante. A spoof video by Hungarian company Delov Digital shows a CGI likeness of the actor doing the splits between two airplanes soaring through the sky. But that's not all. There's also a squad of 11 commandos balancing on his head, in the shape of a Christmas tree. As their clothes light up, a message that says ""Merry Christmas and Happy New Year"" appears above them. It's unclear whether Norris, 73, was involved at all in producing the video, which has garnered more than 13.5 million hits on YouTube since it was posted last week. Representatives for Norris and Delov Digital did not immediately respond to requests for comment."
"(CNN) -- A shark bit a 16-year-old boy across both legs as he was surfing in Hawaii on Sunday, CNN affiliate KHON reported. The attack came four days after a shark severed the right arm of a German tourist while she was snorkeling. In the Sunday incident, the teen was surfing in Pohoiki Bay when an 8-foot gray shark attacked him, the affiliate reported. He was taken to a hospital, but his condition was not known. Authorities brought in helicopters to survey the area for sharks, but were unsuccessful. Shark found on New York subway car . Shark attack claims Brazilian teen's life . This shark attack is the fourth in the last month, and 9th for the year in Hawaii, the affiliate said. Last year, Hawaii had 11 shark attacks. While shark attacks have been on the uptick in recent years, according to the University of Florida, the fatality rate in the United States is just 2%. Discovery Channel defends dramatized shark special . Best places to swim with sharks ."
"(CNN) -- Myanmar announced Tuesday it will grant amnesty to 6,300 prisoners on Wednesday, one in a series of recent moves that could help the isolated nation normalize relations with Western nations including the United States. But is it really an authentic step toward greater freedoms in one of the world's most repressive states? Or is it another gesture by the nominally civilian government to appease critics? Kurt Campbell, a U.S. assistant secretary of state, called it a ""dramatic development"" that could prompt Washington to consider improving ties. The United States imposes an embargo on arms and investment in Myanmar, once known as Burma before a military junta took over. But if you ask Mark Farmaner, director of the London-based human rights group Burma Campaign UK, the prisoner amnesty is part of the ""mood music"" created to soothe the world. Obviously, he said, the amnesty was welcome, but it was hardly signaling the government's wish for democracy. ""What's very clear is that (President) Thein Sein is willing to make more concessions in order to get sanctions lifted and get more international legitimacy,"" Farmaner said. The amnesty announcement in state-run media did not make it clear how many political detainees would be included. Amnesty International has reported that more than 2,200 political prisoners are detained in poor conditions and subjected to torture and cruel treatment. Their release remains a key demand of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and a priority for lifting of Western sanctions. There was cause for optimism after a letter to Thein Sein from a new state-appointed human rights panel called for the pardon of ""prisoners of conscience who do not pose a threat to the stability of state and public tranquility."" Myanmar, ruled by generals since 1962, denied for decades that political prisoners even existed. Since Myanmar's elections in November 2010 -- the first in two decades -- its leaders have been gingerly reaching out to critics. ""Now I think it would be fair to say the elections themselves were flawed in many critical ways, and we have continuing concerns about a number of developments inside the country,"" Campbell, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said Monday in a lecture in Bangkok, Thailand. ""But it is also undeniably the case that there are dramatic developments under way,"" he said. ""We have stated clearly that we are prepared for a new chapter in our relations, and we are watching carefully developments on the ground. And I think it would be fair to say we will match their steps with comparable steps, and we are looking forward over the course of the next several weeks to continuing a dialogue that has really stepped up in recent months."" Tint Swe, the head of Myanmar's state censorship, called Friday for greater press freedoms, saying his own office should be shuttered as part of government reforms, reported Radio Free Asia. Last week, the government suspended the Myitsone dam project on the Irrawaddy River -- annoying the Chinese but pleasing Suu Kyi and environmental activists, who had been vocal opponents. In September, Myanmar's Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin held a rare, historic meeting with U.S. officials in Washington following what a U.S. State Department spokesman characterized as positive developments after years of discord over human rights and other issues. A month earlier, Suu Kyi met with Thein Sein at the presidential residence in Naypyitaw and the two vowed to work together in the nation's interest, state media reported. Nyan Win, a spokesman for Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, said then that he thought the meeting ""may be the first step towards reconciliation."" The NLD was banned from the 2010 election, but Suu Kyi is fighting to restore her party's legitimacy. Myanmar and Western nations have been at odds for years because of Myanmar rulers' ongoing clampdown on their political foes, most notably Suu Kyi. She spent most of the past two decades in some form of detention before being released a week after last year's elections. Farmaner of Burma Campaign UK said the government's talks with Suu Kyi are also about self-preservation. As long as there are popular protests, the government runs the risk of having to crack down on a growing movement as it did in 2007, when outrage over rising fuel prices escalated to Buddhist monks leading 100,000 people in the largest anti-government demonstrations since 1988. ""He wants to take politics off the streets of Burma and bring it under the parliament's wing,"" Farmaner said about Thein Sein. ""He is scared of it being on the streets."" Joshua Kurlantzick, fellow for Southeast Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations, admitted he was a bit wary about the intentions of a government that in the past has failed implement reforms. However, he said he is taken with the scope of the latest developments. ""Given that, this reform has definitely gone beyond what a lot of skeptics expected, including myself,' Kurlantzick said. A longtime pariah nation, Myanmar, he said, likely wants international recognition. ""It's important to them,"" Kurlantzick said. ""It's about diversifying their partners,"" he said. ""They don't want to be totally reliant on China. It's about not being dependent."" But a key issue that is not being addressed, said Farmaner, is rights for Myanmar's ethnic minorities, some of whom have waged armed insurgencies against the government. Until they are included in dialogue, he said, Myanmar cannot make progress. Ultimately, Farmaner has a warning for Western nations: Don't get carried away. Lift some sanctions if you want to send a message of encouragement, he said. ""But don't give away too much, too soon."" CNN's Saeed Ahmed contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Responding to an allegation by the U.S. chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that Pakistan's main intelligence agency has a ""longstanding relationship"" with a Taliban-allied insurgent group that targets U.S. troops in Afghanistan, a senior Pakistani intelligence official said: ""We do have a relationship: that of an adversary."" ""We have made our resolve very clear that (the Haqqani Network) is an enemy we need to fight together,"" said the official, who did not want to be identified discussing intelligence matters. In an interview that aired Wednesday on Pakistan's Geo TV, Adm. Michael Mullen spoke forcefully about the Haqqani Network, which he said ""very specifically facilitates and supports the Taliban who move in Afghanistan, and they're killing Americans."" ""I can't accept that and I will do everything I possibly can to prevent that specifically,"" he said. Then Mullen said Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence ""has a longstanding relationship with the Haqqani Network. That doesn't mean everybody in the ISI, but it's there."" ""I also have an understanding that the ISI and the (Pakistani military) exist to protect their own citizens, and there's a way they have done that for a long period of time,"" Mullen said. ""I believe that over time, that's got to change."" Based in Pakistan's North Waziristan frontier, the Haqqani Network ""has been at the forefront of insurgent activity in Afghanistan, responsible for many high-profile attacks,"" according to the United Nations. The group is believed to have three main sources of funds: donations from the Persian Gulf region, drug trafficking, and al Qaeda payments. Pakistani forces in December announced they had seized Nasiruddin Haqqani, son of the group's leader, Jalaluddin Haqqani. Other U.S. officials in recent months had expressed concerns that Pakistan has not been aggressively confronting militants operating in the tribal regions. The Pakistani intelligence official told CNN that ""we have our hands full"" fighting other Islamist militant groups along the border with Afghanistan, notably those under the umbrella of the Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT)  ""and once we are through with them we can turn on the other (the Haqqanis). We do not have the capacity to undertake simultaneous operations."" The official said the ""onus of providing proof of this"" relationship was on the Americans and it was not up to the ISI ""to start providing clarification."" Asked if offense was taken by Mullen's remarks, the intelligence official said: ""Not personally, no."" Earlier in the Geo TV interview, Mullen was pressed on issues such as the arrest of CIA contractor Raymond Davis and unmanned drone strikes against targets within Pakistan, which have marked what he called a ""rough patch"" of increasingly complex relations between the two nations in recent months. The admiral traced the difficulties back to the 12-year period in which the two countries had severed diplomatic ties, then restored them in the midst of the global terrorism crisis that followed the attacks of September 11, 2001. ""We can't snap our fingers and say all of the sudden we trust each other,"" he said, ""and that's what we're trying to work our way through in the midst of these huge terrorist challenges that we both have."" ""It's the focus from the United States' perspective on the terrorist threat (in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas), the al Qaeda leadership which still lives there and still threatens to kill as many Americans as they possibly could, combined with what I would call this federation of terrorist organizations that are getting along more than they used to, and at least from my experience ... the complexity is increasing, not decreasing."" As Joint Chiefs chairman, Mullen is the highest-ranking uniformed official in the U.S. military's chain of command. He has been part of recent discussions that have included CIA Director Leon Panetta and their Pakistani counterparts: Chief of Army Staff Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and the ISI's director, Lt. Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha. Mullen's term is set to end this year. ""It's been a very rough patch lately,"" Mullen said, ""and I think the leaders, including Generals Pasha and Kayani, Director Panetta and myself and others are very committed to working our way through this because we see the need to solve this problem, and we just can't walk away from it."" CNN's Nick Paton Walsh, Zarifmo Aslamshoyeva and Nasir Habib contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- The 2013 tennis season may only be in its fledgling stages but already the heat is well and truly on for those preparing for the year's first major. As the great and good on the men's and women's circuits fine tune their game ahead of the Australian Open that starts in Melbourne on Monday, they are having to contend with stifling temperatures in Sydney. According to the Australia Bureau of Meteorology, Monday was the hottest day in the country since records began over 100 years ago with an average temperature of 40.3 degrees. Officials in New South Wales have warned of a ""catastrophic"" fire threat as strong winds combine with the heat to increase the danger of bushfires spreading out of control. Players had to battle heat that reached 41.4 deg in Sydney, with world No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska claiming it was ""too hot"" to play and that officials should have halted proceedings under their extreme heat policy. But the Pole, along with the other players scheduled on Tuesday, battled through the searing sunshine with the help of regular breaks, ice towels and gallons of liquid. ""I think this is too hot to play tennis,"" Radwanska told reporters at a press conference. ""Even for players, for ball kids, for even the people sitting out there, I think it's just too hot."" One saving grace for Radwanska was her quick 6-4 6-3 victory over Japan's Kimiko Date-Krumm which meant she was only on court for 68 minutes. Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova battled through to a 7-6 1-6 6-2 victory over former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, though both players benefited from a heat break before contesting the deciding set. Kuznetsova told reporters: ""I think it shows you one more time how tough the tennis is right now. How players have to be fit to play in the hot conditions, the windy conditions. We're like iron women almost. ""It was very hot out there. In the second set the heat definitely disturbed me a lot. But the break really helped me before the third set."" The 2011 French Open champion, Li Na of China, was quoted as saying by AFP that she felt like she was ""playing in a sauna."" Germany's Angelique Kerber triumphed 6-2 7-5 over Russian qualifier Galina Voskoboeva who took a medical time out because of the extreme heat. Kerber: ""It was unbelievably hot. Usually I practice before my matches, 30 to 35 minutes, today it was just 10 or 15 minutes because I couldn't play more. It's tough to play in these conditions. ""I was trying to focus on the next point and not thinking about the heat, the sun and the weather. The whole match was tough from the first point. I'm happy I won in two sets."" Temperatures were due to cool off for Wednesday's play but by the end of the week the thermometer will be back up to 37 degrees in Melbourne, according to Jenny Harrison from the CNN Weather Center. She told CNN's World Sport show: ""We do see this every couple of years but this is record-breaking heat. Monday has been confirmed as the hottest day across Australia since records began. ""It looks as if Tuesday, once we get the stats in, could be the hottest day and outdo Monday. ""What has happened in the last few hours is a front has come through across the south east of Australia. In literally an hour the temperature in Sydney has dropped more than 10 degrees. ""Melbourne is cooler than that as the front went through there first. But in Melbourne by the end of the week the temperature is going to rise again, getting well above average."""
"HANOVER, Germany (CNN) -- Archaeologists have found more than 600 relics from a huge battle between a Roman army and Barbarians in the third century, long after historians believed Rome had given up control of northern Germany. Some of the artifacts are so well preserved that the scientists can already retrace some of the battle lines. ""We have to write our history books new, because what we thought was that the activities of the Romans ended at nine or 10 (years) after Christ,"" said Lutz Stratmann, science minister for the German state of Lower Saxony. ""Now we know that it must be 200 or 250 after that."" For weeks, archeologist Petra Loenne and her team have been searching this area with metal detectors, pulling hundreds of ancient Roman weapons out of the ground. They paint a picture of a highly organized, technologically superior Roman army beset by Germanic tribes in a forest about 80 km (50 miles) south of the modern city of Hanover. The hillside battlefield was discovered by relic-hunters illegally searching for souvenirs of more recent wars near the town of Kalefeld-Oldenrode. One of them brought some of the items he found to Loenne, who works for the local government. The artifacts are so well preserved that the scientists can already retrace some of the battle lines.  Watch how the battlefield discovery could re-write history » . ""We believe the Germans ambushed the Romans here, but the legions quickly fired back with catapults and archers -- and then it came to a massive man-on-man onslaught,"" Loenne said. The items unearthed so far include an axe, still sharp after nearly 1,800 years; horseshoes; shovels; spearheads; and dozens of arrowheads for a Scorpio, a cross between a catapult and a crossbow -- the ancient equivalent of artillery. ""With a very high speed, on a very long distance -- about 300 meters -- you can hit targets precisely,"" said Henning Hassman, of Hanover's archeological institute. Researchers say the evidence suggests the tribesmen lured the Romans into the forest to keep them from making full use of those long-range weapons and draw them into hand-to-hand combat, outside of the formations the imperial troops had mastered. However, they believe the Romans ultimately prevailed. Other relics include coins depicting the late second-century Roman emperor Commodus, depicted in the Oscar-winning Hollywood epic ""Gladiator"" -- a film that opens with a scene of battle against a barbarian horde that scientists say appears to be largely accurate. And Loenne said her team may have only begun to scratch the surface of the forest. ""We hope we might find fortifications and if we are lucky, maybe even battlefield graveyards,"" she said."
"Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- A suspected U.S. drone attack killed five people early Wednesday in Pakistan's tribal region that borders Afghanistan, two Pakistani intelligence officials said. It was the first drone strike since demonstrators marched to the border of Pakistan's tribal region over the weekend to protest the attacks. Activists from the United States and Britain participated in the march, which was led by the cricket star turned politician Imran Khan. Opinion: Why U.S. will live to regret drone strikes . Opinion: Could spread of drones mark new arms race? Four missiles were fired Wednesday at a suspected militant hideout in the area of Mir Ali of North Waziristan, one of the seven districts of the volatile tribal region, the two intelligence officials said, requesting anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the matter to the news media. The protest march against U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan came to a halt on Sunday when authorities used steel shipping containers and security forces to block access to the demonstration's final destination in the tribal region. When confronted with the roadblock, Khan directed protesters to turn back, saying the march had achieved its goal of drawing attention to the controversial U.S. drone strikes. Read more: U.S. activists in Pakistan to protest drone strikes . Khan has been a fierce critic of U.S. policy in Pakistan and the use of drone strikes, calling them a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty and a strategy that stokes militant anger towards Washington. In recent years, the U.S. government has sharply stepped up the use of drone attacks in Pakistan's mostly ungoverned tribal region, widely believed to be a safe haven for militant groups fueling the insurgency in Afghanistan. U.S. officials say the drone strikes are an effective strategy against militant groups and insist civilian casualties are rare. Read more: U.S. study says drones kill, traumatize too many civilians . CNN's Reza Sayah contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Paul Walker's sudden death has left many in Hollywood nearly too stunned to speak. As the news of his death spread on Saturday, some celebrities, including Lady Gaga and Alyssa Milano, tweeted their disbelief. Adored for his work in the ""Fast & Furious"" movie franchise, Walker was in the midst of filming a seventh installment at the time of his death. Two of his co-stars in the blockbuster series, Ludacris and Tyrese, expressed their grief on social media. ""I can't believe I'm writing this,"" singer/actor Tyrese shared on Instagram, along with a photo of himself with the late star. ""My heart is hurting so bad no one can make me believe this is real Father God I pray that you send clarity over this cause I just don't understand ... My heart hurts it's broken no one can convince me that this is real.... Prayer warriors please pray real hard for his only child, his daughter and family..."" Ludacris, meanwhile, remembered Walker for his ""humble spirit"" with a verse: ""Wherever you blessed your presence you always left a mark, we were like brothers & our birthdays are only 1 day apart, now You will forever hold a place in all of our hearts."" The 40-year-old actor, who rose to fame in 2001's ""The Fast & The Furious"" after appearing in '90s hits ""She's All That"" and ""Varsity Blues,"" died in a car accident. He'd been attending a charity event for his organization, Reach Out Worldwide. Throughout the industry, several are mourning the loss of a great friend and, by their account, giving humanitarian: . Tellingly, Walker's passing was felt throughout the entertainment world, as even those outside of acting took a moment to reflect on the sobering death. Walker's next film, ""Hours,"" is scheduled to be released on December 13."
"(CNN) -- Formula One team Sauber will feature a message of support for the people of Japan on the livery of their cars at the opening grand prix of the season. The Asian country was hit by a devastating earthquake and tsunami on Friday last week with over 5,000 people now confirmed to have died. One of Sauber's drivers, Kamui Kobayashi, is a native of Japan and was born in the Hyogo prefecture. He and Mexican Sergio Perez's cars will carry a message in Japanese at the Melbourne Grand Prix in Australia on March 27 that reads 'may our prayers reach the people in Japan.' Sauber's team principal Peter Sauber told Formula One's official website it was important the team did something to demonstrate their support. ""It is difficult to find the right words to express our emotions and feelings, but silence means we can't even begin imagine how to try,"" he said. ""We can hardly believe what we are seeing. Our thoughts are with the people in Japan. ""We hope they will have the necessary strength to overcome these circumstances of extreme adversity."""
"LONDON, England (CNN)      -- Up to 1,000 human rights campaigners demonstrated Saturday in front of No. 10 Downing Street, the official residence of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, calling on the British government to demand that full democracy be restored in Pakistan. Jemima Khan, center, ex-wife for former Pakistani cricket star Imran Khan, joins protesters in London. Protesters waved placards and chanted in support of the resignation of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, a week after he imposed a state of emergency in the country. The crowd of demonstrators massed behind barriers and included Jemima Khan, the ex-wife of former Pakistani cricket star turned politician Imran Khan. The demonstrators carried placards saying ""Free the innocent"" and ""End Musharraf's Regime"" and waved Pakistani flags. Imran Khan, who heads the the Movement for Justice Party, has been under house arrest since the emergency declaration. His ex-wife delivered a petition to a doorman at Downing Street, calling on Britain to use its influence to ensure that all institutions are in place well in advance of Pakistani elections originally scheduled for early next year. The petition also demands that Pakistan restore democracy and the judiciary and calls on Musharraf to release all political prisoners, including lawyers, journalists and opposition politicians. E-mail to a friend ."
"(CNN) -- It was a mother's worst nightmare. On March 31, 2014, at 11 p.m., I received a phone call from my 25-year-old son. ""Mom. I got lost, made a wrong turn and ended up at the Mexico border. I've been surrounded by military, and I need you to know in case anything happens to me."" On April 1, I received another phone call. ""Mom, I've been arrested. Please get me an attorney,"" Andrew said. It was the most frightening call of my life -- worse than the call from Afghanistan as my son explained, ""We have just been hit by an IED."" The call from La Mesa Prison in Tijuana, Mexico, three days later went this way: ""Mom, I am not going to make it through the night. Whatever you do, do not come down here and ask questions or do an investigation as you will be killed as well."" As Independence Day comes and goes this year, it is bittersweet to think about my son being bound by a felony arrest in a foreign country while we try to navigate a foreign judicial system. To think about my son, vibrant and ambitious, being held in the bondage of incarceration is inconceivable. This young man who valiantly fought for the freedom of others, willing to die to combat the evil of oppression and violence in two tours in Afghanistan, meritoriously promoted to sergeant on the battlefield in 2012 -- and now he is languishing in a Mexican penitentiary and experiencing captivity for the first time, as a result of one wrong turn. It is simply staggering. He has been incarcerated since April 1, for inadvertently crossing the border with legally purchased firearms. This separation is by far more traumatic than the combat tours. Marine 'optimistic' he'll soon be released . In Afghanistan, he had his Marine Corps brothers who always had his back. I feel like our executive branch has abandoned him, and it feels totally inhumane. The White House has not responded to us despite our petition on Whitehouse.gov, which has nearly 130,000 signatures. The White House says it will respond to petitions that get 100,000 signatures in 30 days. On a trip to Mexico in May, Secretary of State John Kerry ""raised the issue"" with authorities there. I am outraged. Andrew's situation should be considered a grave, serious and urgent concern. In the past years while reading scripture, I often paused at the directive to visit those in prison. Deep in my core was the question, mingled with fear: How, who, why? Today I have learned to walk without shame, boldly and compassionately, through the corridors of bars and locks and have a newfound perspective for those imprisoned. Incarceration of a loved one is a heart-wrenching, soul-searching experience that can debilitate, consume and potentially destroy both the captive and his free loved ones. Marine tells of abuse in Mexican prison . It is a difficult journey, but there is rest to be found in understanding that God's timing is perfect. I take huge comfort in that, and this is what keeps me going and fortifies my strength and helps me to persevere when I can't see God's plan. The saying, ""Trust his heart when you can't trace his hand"" is something I really have had to implement. Through faith, I will continue choosing not to be crippled by the weight of the dismay, trauma, and disbelief associated with this, and I will be steadfast in my determination to overcome the barriers of this injustice. My strength, focus and vision come both from the Lord and from the solidarity and outreach of so many good folks on both sides of the border and around the world. I am not journeying alone as I have poured out my broken heart to so many. And it feels as if they symbolically cupped my tears and replenish me continuously with flowing waters of hope and support. I fear that my son's plight is getting lost in current events happening on the ground in Mexico, but I know that through the collective strength of prayer and the unified focus of individual Americans standing together as advocates, there will be victory for Andrew."
"(CNN)A leader of pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region said Friday he is not interested in a truce with the Ukrainian government in Kiev because his troops are on the offensive. ""Since we're attacking, there is no sense to have peace talks now,"" Aleksandr Zakharchenko, leader of the self-proclaimed People's Republic of Donetsk, said in a meeting with university students, according to his media office. ""We've made this mistake before. It's not decent to repeat it,"" he said. Thousands have been killed in months of conflict between the rebels and Ukrainian troops, and a ceasefire agreed to in September crumbled long ago. Zakharchenko's comments came two days after the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Russia met in Berlin to discuss a way out of the violence. But Zakharchenko showed no interest in the talks. ""There will be no attempts from our side to talk about the ceasefire,"" he said, reported Russian state news agency RIA. ""We will be on the offensive until we reach the border of Donetsk region."" He said that he was interested in cooperating with Ukraine on prisoner exchanges. ""We need to get our guys who've been captured,"" he said, according to RIA. Despite the talks in Berlin, violence in the breakaway Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine shows no signs of abating. Power is out in and around Luhansk after militants shelled a power plant there, Luhansk regional official Hennady Moskal told Ukraine's state-run Ukrinform news agency. Moskal noted that the local water supply and boilers are off, and trolley buses aren't operating. Thursday's shelling of a transit stop in Donetsk city -- an attack that Ukraine's Defense Ministry blamed on rebels -- killed eight civilians, according to state news reports. But Ukrainian troops have come under heavy fire, as well. That includes 115 attacks in a recent 24-hour period that killed three troops and wounded 50 more, Ukrinform reported Friday. The news agency said that ""Russian-terrorist troops"" faced off with Ukrainian soldiers Thursday along Bakhumtka Highway, even posting a picture that showed a man with stripes on his clothing, suggesting that he was part of the Russian military. This is in line with Kiev's repeated assertions that Russia has not only actively supported rebels with arms, but has sent its own troops across the border to battle Ukrainian forces. On Wednesday, for instance, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that ""more than 9,000 Russian troops (crossed) our Russian-Ukrainian border, bring with them hundreds and hundreds of tanks, armed personnel carriers, and killing Ukrainian civilians and attacking Ukrainian troops."" Claims that Russian forces entered Ukraine 'complete rubbish,' Russia says . Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov promptly responded to this assertion with a firm denial, much like other denials made by Russian officials in recent months over similar allegations of armed intervention. ""As to the flow of troops and armaments, this is not the first time we hear something like that,"" he said. ""And each time I hear that, I say if you're so confident about that, please present us with facts, but no one has been able to provide us with these facts."" Russian forces, equipment enter Ukraine, PM says . Pro-Russian separatists have claimed control of parts of eastern Ukraine since the spring of 2014, despite a push by Ukrainian forces to defeat them. From mid-April to January 21, the conflict had killed at least 5,086 people and injured at least 10,948 others, said the United Nations. ""We fear that the real figure may be considerably higher,""  the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said about the death toll in a report released Friday. At least 262 people were killed in the fighting from January 13 through Wednesday alone, the report said. Unrest in Ukraine began with protests in the country's capital last year after President Viktor Yanukovych, favoring closer ties to Russia, dropped plans to sign a political and economic agreement with the European Union. After months of protests and days of deadly clashes between demonstrators and security personnel in Kiev, Parliament ousted Yanukovych in February. Weeks later, Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula. Then in April, violence broke out in two Ukrainian regions that border Russia -- Donetsk and Luhansk -- as separatist leaders declared independence from the government in Kiev."
"SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il tapped his son to join the powerful National Defense Commission -- a move analysts say makes the latter the heir apparent, South Korean state media said. Kim Jong-il has appointed his youngest son and his brother-in-law to the National Defense Commission. ""Kim Jong-un had been appointed to a low-level post, called 'instructor' at the National Defense Commission days before the first session of the 12th Supreme People's Assembly meeting was held,"" South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported, quoting a source. CNN was not able to independently confirm the report. The secretive North Korea shields its internal affairs from international scrutiny. And often, the only news coming the Communist nation is reported by its neighbor South Korea. The two countries have technically remained in a state of war since the Korean War ended in 1953, although relations have warmed somewhat in the last few years. The Korean conflict ended in a truce, but no formal peace treaty was ever signed. The 25-year-old picked for the North Korean defense commission is the youngest of Kim's three sons, Yonhap said. The move comes two weeks after Kim added his brother-in-law Jang Song Thaek to the military board. Analysts said Jang will serve as a caretaker for the successor, Yonhap said. Jang, who has been married to Kim's sister since 1972, is considered his right-hand man, according to Yonhap. Kim was reappointed this month as chairman of the military board in his first major public appearance since a reported stroke in August. His recent health problems and long absence from public functions prompted speculation on whether he was ready to groom an heir to the world's only communist dynasty."
"(CNN) -- You've been thinking about it for weeks. Mounds of turkey piled high with buttery mashed potatoes, dripping with gravy. Green bean casserole and pumpkin pie. Or sweet potato casserole and pecan pie. Cranberries. Collard greens. Stuffing. Every year, we spend hours making the traditional Thanksgiving favorites just like our mom used to do, like her mom did before that. ""When you do something repeatedly over the years, it builds up a kind of power,"" nutritional psychologist Marc David says. ""It creates its own momentum. To make the same dish year after year, decade after decade, there's something in that that connects us to the past."" Nostalgia comes from the Greek word for homecoming (nostos) and pain (algos). But experts say feeling nostalgic is actually good for your mental health. Anything can bring on that special moment -- music, smells, photos. We play the same songs, cook the same recipes, take the same family photo in the same spot next to the same fireplace because we're human, David says. Our biological functions are based on repetitive rhythms. Our brains are hardwired to relax when surrounded by the familiar. ""Emotional eating has gotten a bad name,"" David says. ""We're emotional people. We are emotional beings. We're built for pleasure."" Nostalgic products fill a need to belong and feel socially connected, according to an Arizona State University study published in the Journal of Consumer Research last year. That's why this time of year, TV and radio ads are filled with smiling families sitting around a large table in holiday sweaters, passing the dinner rolls. Even if you're far away from home, companies want you to believe that buying those same dinner rolls will fill your heart with holiday joy. Turns out, it works. Dr. Clay Routledge works with other researchers from the University of Southampton's nostalgia project. He recently published an article in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology titled ""The past makes present meaningful."" Nostalgia, Routledge found, increases a person's self-esteem. Daily activities like going to class or attending meetings are routine, even boring. When we engage in nostalgia, we tend to think of the things that are really important to us. That makes us feel like our life is meaningful. Taste of Home's sweet potato tart recipe . ""What's amazing about autobiographical memory is that bad memories fade faster than positive memories,"" Routledge says. ""One thing that's interesting about nostalgia is that it's not 100% detail accurate -- it's more the highlights."" Nostalgia is largely social. Routledge' s studies found that people who are alone or disconnected feel better after engaging in nostalgia. Yet you're probably dreaming right now about your grandfather's deep-fried turkey, not about him, right? ""Is it really about the food?"" Routledge asks. ""Or is the food just sort of a trigger or cue for what the holidays are really all about, which is relationships. We don't eat these foods other times of the year because we've segmented them off as special. They go with this occasion. They go with the relationships."" For Taste of Home editor Catherine Cassidy, Thanksgiving means cooking for the ones she loves. She gets satisfaction in putting good food on the table for her family. So many of our best moments from the past, she says, are rooted in our sense of smell. ""We call them food memories. When it comes to the holidays we are always trying to recreate the magic and the specialness we experienced when we were children."" So indulge in a little Thanksgiving daydream. Long for the oyster stuffing. Sniff the air in anticipation of mom's pumpkin pie. Then on the big day, enjoy your holiday feast, and all the benefits that come from the power of nostalgia."
"(CNN) -- Two health care workers went to the emergency room with flu-like symptoms after coming into contact with a patient confirmed to have Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS, officials said Tuesday. The Florida patient represents the second confirmed case of MERS brought into the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday. MERS is a mysterious virus that can be fatal, and was first found in the Arabian Peninsula in 2012. One health care worker in Orlando began showing symptoms 72 hours after exposure to the MERS patient but did not meet criteria for admission and was sent home, said Dr. Antonio Crespo, an infectious disease specialist at Dr. P. Phillips Hospital, where the MERS patient is being treated. The health care worker will be monitored and seems to be improving, Crespo said. The other one, whose symptoms began 24 hours after exposure, was admitted to the same hospital, officials said Tuesday at a press conference. ""We're just waiting for the results from the testing that was done yesterday to decide about discharge,"" Crespo said. At-risk workers at home . The two health care workers are among 20 in the Orlando area who may have been exposed to the MERS patient, and they are being tested for the virus, officials said. They were all notified and told to stay home and not work for 14 days, Crespo said. They also should monitor their temperatures and check for possible symptoms such as a cough, sore throat and fever. Five health team members who may be at risk have been identified at Orlando Regional Medical Center and 15 at Dr. P. Phillips Hospital, Crespo said. They were all evaluated for signs and symptoms that would be consistent for MERS. Samples were sent to the state lab for testing, said Dr. Ken Michaels, medical director for occupational health at Orlando Health. ""I'm glad to report that I've spoken to most of these team members today. They all report that they're doing great,"" Michaels said. On the 14th day, everyone involved will be brought back for further testing. Once medically cleared, they can return to work, officials said. Initial testing should be back within the next day or two, Michaels said. MERS: 5 things to know . Two confirmed U.S. cases . The confirmed MERS patient visited Orlando Regional Medical Center on May 5, accompanying another person who was having a medical procedure, officials said. ""I think the risk is negligible to those in the waiting room or the radiology area at (Orlando Regional Medical Center),"" said Dr. Kevin Sherin of the Florida Department of Health in Orange County. The MERS patient was admitted to Dr. P. Phillips Hospital on May 9. ""Before the patient came to the hospital, he was not having a cough,"" Crespo said. ""He was not having respiratory symptoms. So we believe that that makes less risk of transmission to other potential contacts."" Officials from the CDC and the Florida Department of Health are investigating the MERS case. During a White House briefing Tuesday, press secretary Jay Carney said President Barack Obama had been briefed on the MERS situation in the United States and that the CDC is taking the lead. The first U.S. case was reported this month in Indiana. That patient was released from a hospital Friday into home isolation, according to state health officials. The Indiana patient was an American health care provider who had been working in Saudi Arabia and was on a planned visit to Indiana to see his family. The Florida patient is also a health care provider who lives and works in Saudi Arabia, said Dr. Anne Schuchat, assistant surgeon general with the U.S. Public Health Service and director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. She said that he is not a U.S. citizen and that the Florida case is not linked to the Indiana one. The U.S. Transportation Security Administration will post CDC advisories at more than 20 U.S. airports to alert travelers about the virus. Although there are no recommendations to change travel plans, the signs will advise travelers to the Arabian Peninsula to avoid contact with sick people and wash their hands often. They should contact a doctor if they develop symptoms such as fever, shortness of breath and coughing, the CDC said. ""We think it's really critical to avoid overreacting in the community but also avoid under-reacting in the health care environment,"" Schuchat told CNN. ""The reason for the signage is so that we can promptly identify potential cases so that they can be separated from other people."" Can SARS lessons prevent a MERS virus outbreak? What is MERS? As of Friday, there have been 538 cases of MERS in 17 countries, including 145 deaths, according to the World Health Organization, Schuchat said. The virus is also known as MERS-CoV since it is a coronavirus, the same group of viruses as the common cold. It attacks the respiratory system, according to the CDC. Symptoms can lead to pneumonia or kidney failure. There is no vaccine or special treatment for MERS. Doctors said they believe the Indiana patient's quick diagnosis and care dramatically increased his chances for getting better. The ""risk to the general public remains very low,"" Schuchat said. In some countries, the virus has spread from person to person, but only in close contact, such as a person who was caring for an ill person. ""This virus has not shown the ability to spread easily from person to person in community settings,"" she said. Out of ""an abundance of caution,"" the CDC has been contacting people who were passengers on the same flights as the two patients with confirmed MERS, Schuchat said. No cases of MERS have been diagnosed as a result of transmission on a plane, the CDC's Dr. Marty Cetron said. The 44-year-old Florida patient traveled on May 1 from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to London, then from London to Boston, Boston to Atlanta, and finally Atlanta to Orlando. The man began feeling unwell on the flight from Jeddah, with symptoms including ""fever, chills and a slight cough,"" Schuchat said. Family members of the patient have been tested as well, Crespo said. ""The patient has been doing very well,"" Crespo said. The patient had a low-grade fever of 100.2 on Monday night but has a minimal cough, and he is ""in great spirits."" MERS mystery: Virus found in camels . CNN's Miriam Falco, Elizabeth Cohen, Jen Christensen, and Athena Jones contributed to this report."
"Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan's parliament set out new guidelines for its relations with the United States, as it agreed to re-engage with Washington after months of tension over deadly airstrikes on a Pakistani border post by NATO forces and other issues. A list of recommendations approved by lawmakers includes a call for an immediate end to U.S. drone attacks and no further use of Pakistan as a transportation route for weapons into Afghanistan. Future relations with the United States are to be based on mutual interest, Parliament Speaker Raza Rabbani said, as he read out the list to lawmakers. In addition, no overt or covert operations will be allowed on Pakistani soil and no private security companies or operatives will be permitted in Pakistan, he said. Foreign countries will not be allowed to establish bases in Pakistan, Rabbani said. The recommendations were drawn up by the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, a group of 18 lawmakers responsible for reviewing relations with the United States, NATO and ISAF. Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani told lawmakers that his government would work to implement the resolution ""in letter and spirit."" But in Washington, the U.S. State Department greeted the demands coolly. ""We respect the seriousness with which parliament's review of U.S.-Pakistan relations has been conducted,"" State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement issued Thursday afternoon. ""We seek a relationship with Pakistan that is enduring, strategic, and more clearly defined. We look forward to discussing these policy recommendations with the government of Pakistan and continuing to engage with it on our shared interests."" Relations between Pakistan and the United States hit a new low after NATO airstrikes on November 26 killed 24 Pakistani soldiers on the Pakistani-Afghan border. The deaths added to the anger already felt by Pakistanis over the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden at a compound in Pakistan last May, and continued American drone strikes on targets in the nation. Following the deadly border airstrikes, the Pakistani government shut down the two NATO supply routes in the country, asked the United States to vacate an air base on its territory and boycotted a conference about the future of Afghanistan. U.S. President Barack Obama expressed hope last month that the two nations could arrive at a ""balanced approach"" to relations as he met with Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on the sidelines of a nuclear security summit in South Korea. The talks were the highest profile meeting between the two countries since the November airstrikes. Obama said then that his expectation was that ""we can achieve the kind of balanced approach that respects Pakistan's sovereignty but also respects our concerns with respect to our national security and our needs to battle terrorists who have targeted us in the past."" Gilani expressed appreciation that Obama had acknowledged the need to respect Pakistani sovereignty and said his government was committed to fighting against extremism. He also said it was important to maintain stability in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. An investigation into the lethal NATO airstrikes in November by Brig. Gen. Stephen Clark on behalf of the United States concluded that Pakistan provoked NATO forces and that distrust between the two parties led to the firefight. Pakistan disputed the findings, saying Clark's report was factually incorrect. There has been a sharp drop in the number of drone attacks in Pakistan since the airstrikes. U.S. officials rarely discuss the CIA's drone program in Pakistan, though privately they have said that the covert strikes are legal and an effective tactic in the fight against extremists. CNN's Nasir Habib, Aliza Kassim and Barbara Starr contributed to this report."
"MUMBAI, India (CNN) -- Inside the blacked-out Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, hallways were littered with bloodied bodies. A commando in disguise give details of what went down in the Taj hotel when commandos went in. Terrorists were still holding 200 people 33 hours after the assault began. Knowing next to nothing about what they might encounter in the dark recesses of the hotel, Indian Army commandos decided to go back in -- and were met by terrorists firing mercilessly, throwing  grenades and continuously switching positions. The sound of gunfire and explosions reverberated throughout the hotel's atrium, making it impossible to pinpoint the origin of the shots. Through it all, the commandos walked down pitch-black halls, trying to navigate the damaged hotel without knowing the layout. A commando spokesman, his face and hair swathed in a black scarf and wearing dark glasses to hide his identity, revealed these details of the mission inside the Taj at a news conference Friday. At 6:30 a.m. Friday, the battle at the Taj came to a head with a final firefight at the room holding the 200 hostages, he said.  Watch what it was like inside the hotel for commandos » . When the gunfire stopped, commandos -- known as the Black Cats -- entered the room and freed all 200 hostages. Their difficulties had been apparent from the beginning, he said. ""We did not know the layout of the hotel,"" the commando told reporters. ""There was one person on the hotel staff who was helping to guide us around."" They entered the hotel for the first time essentially blind to what was ahead. They had no idea what kind of people they would encounter, what kind of weapons might be pointed at them, and whether they might be blown up by explosives.  Learn more about the Taj's past and future » . ""Then we heard gunshots on the second floor and we rushed toward the fired shots,"" he said. ""While taking cover we found that there were 30 to 50 bodies lying dead. At that point we also came under fire. The moment they saw us, they hurled grenades."" When the shots stopped, the commandos moved toward the source of the gunfire.  See the first photos from inside the Taj Mahal hotel » . ""At that time, they vanished ... they had gone elsewhere,"" the commando said. The attackers had a clear advantage, commandos said, because it was apparent from their movements they knew the hotel's layout. Some tourists rescued from the hotel said the building's large dome and a massive atrium made the sounds of gunfire and explosions reverberate endlessly. It was impossible to pinpoint where the shooters were. Because of the darkness, commandos could not tell how many terrorists were there -- were there many, or only a few who continued to change positions? At one point, commandos believed some of the terrorists were hiding on the eighth floor. As the commandos approached one of the rooms, attackers opened fire at them and said all the people in the room were dead. ""We fired at them and they fired at us, but because the room was absolutely dark and we had just gotten [inside] it made it difficult for us,"" the commando said.  Watch commandos talk about fighting the attackers » . During the fight, two commandos were shot. They decided to flush out the terrorists by blocking entry and exit routes. But the attackers knew all the doors, he said. When they made it inside the room, the terrorists had disappeared again. Inside that room, commandos found AK-47 ammunition rounds, including seven magazines fully loaded, and 400 other rounds for other weapons. They found grenades, credit cards, U.S. notes, foreign money and bags of dried fruit, which they believed helped sustain the attackers during the siege. During the three-day assault, the attackers fired indiscriminately. But the commandos were forced to use caution. ""Let me tell you one thing,"" the commando said. ""Within the first exchanges of fire, we could have got those terrorists -- but there was so many hotel guests -- there were bodies all over and blood all over. And we were trying to avoid the causalities of civilians. We had to be more careful in our fighting."" In trying to rescue hostages and trapped civilians, commandos had to convince guests they were there to help, not terrorists trying to trick them, Indian Army Lt. Gen. Noble Thamburaj said. ""There are a number of rooms that are locked from inside,"" he told reporters.  ""It is possible that some of the hotel guests have locked themselves in and for their own security and safety. Even though we have identified ourselves they are not opening the doors."" The overall operation may have been made more difficult because of a late start, CNN sister station CNN-IBN reported. CNN-IBN said that attacks at the Taj Mahal Hotel were well under way at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, but unnamed sources said the commandos were not given the go-ahead to take part in the rescue until midnight. Those sources told CNN-IBN said that once the commandos got the go-ahead, it took nearly three hours for them to leave for Mumbai from their undisclosed location. Once they arrived, the sources said, commandos had no precise maps of the hotel layout or its access points. While local police and other officers were at the scene, the sources said, the commandos and army special force units are the only ones equipped and trained to rescue hostages."
"(CNN) -- A Native American chief has asked all tribal employees not to use FedEx until the Washington Redskins changes its team name. ""Until the name of the NFL team is changed to something less inflammatory and insulting, I direct all employees to refrain from using FedEx when there is an alternative available,"" Osage Nation Chief Geoffrey M. Standing Bear penned in his directive to all employees. The tribe also issued a news release saying that Redskins owner Daniel Snyder ""chooses to stick with a brand which dictionaries define as disparaging and offensive. FedEx chose to endorse that brand through their sponsorship of Mr. Snyder's organization."" It concludes, ""The Osage Nation chooses not to use FedEx services. We encourage other tribal nations to consider similar actions."" Standing Bear was not available for an interview, but Assistant Chief Raymond Red Corn said the tribe would ""stand-pat"" on the press release. ""It was not our intention to become a news item,"" he said, adding that ""ethics"" drove the tribe's decision. The Redskins play their home games at FedExField, to which the shipping giant purchased the naming rights in a 27-year, $207 million deal in 1999, Forbes reports. Fred Smith, FedEx's chairman, president and CEO, is part of the team's ownership group. Patrick Fitzgerald, FedEx's senior vice president of marketing and communications, released a statement Wednesday saying that his employer values its sponsorship of the stadium and ""we are proud that FedExField is a venue that is used by a wide range of community groups."" ""FedEx has closely followed the dialogue and difference of opinion concerning the Washington Redskins team name, but we continue to direct questions about the name to the franchise owner,"" Fitzgerald said. Snyder has repeatedly defended the name and wrote in a March letter that the name ""captures the best of who we are and who we can be, by staying true to our history and honoring the deep and enduring values our name represents."" The team has employed Native Americans to defend the name and launched a site called Redskins Facts to promote its stance that the names honors Native Americans rather than disparages them. The team also has created a foundation to provide resources to tribal communities. The good deed hasn't stemmed the controversy as opposition to the name persists, and President Barack Obama said last year that if he were Snyder, he might change the name. In June, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office canceled six trademarks belonging to the team, saying they were offensive. The team appealed the decision, saying it spent millions defending the trademark, and the patent office ruled the Redskins could use the logos until the years-long appeals process was complete. The National Congress of American Indians has spoken out against the use of Redskins and other Native American mascots, and the Native Voice Network, which represents numerous Native American organizations, has targeted FedEx in its effort to convince Snyder to change the team name. The Native Voice Network says use of ""R-word"" has a negative, dehumanizing effect on children, a major concern when the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says suicide is the second-leading cause of death among Native American people between the ages of 15 and 24. Chrissie Castro, the Native Voice Network's ""network weaver,"" says her group ""definitely"" supports Osage Nation. ""We're very proud of their position and we'd love to see other tribal communities do the same,"" she said. The Oklahoma tribe has about 18,000 members and is situated in Osage County, the setting for the Meryl Streep movie, ""August: Osage County."" CNN's Devon M. Sayers contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, face corruption charges in a scandal that encompassed the Chicago Cubs, President-elect Barack Obama's vacated Senate seat and a children's hospital, according to an affidavit. Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich talks to laid-off workers in Chicago on Monday. The men were each charged with a count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and a count of solicitation of bribery, authorities said. According to the affidavit outlining some of the charges against the Blagojevich and Harris, here are some of the details that led authorities to charge the officials: . Senate seat . Blagojevich said in phone conversation that he is conspiring to trade the Senate seat left vacant by President-elect Barack Obama in exchange for positions that Obama has the power to appoint, namely the secretary of health and human services post.  Watch how the FBI's tapes show the governor wanted to trade seat » . In a November 3 conversation with an adviser, Blagojevich discussed receiving a kickback for appointing someone, identified only as ""Senate Candidate 1,"" to the vacant Senate seat. Obama reportedly backed the Senate candidate. ""During the call, Rod Blagojevich stated, 'Unless I get something real good for [Senate Candidate 1], s--t, I'll just send myself, you know what I'm saying?' "" the affidavit says. He later said, ""I'm going to keep this Senate option for me a real possibility, you know, and therefore I can drive a hard bargain. You hear what I'm saying? And if I don't get what I want and I'm not satisfied with it, then I'll just take the Senate seat myself,"" according to the affidavit. The governor said the seat ""is a f---ing valuable thing; you just don't give it away for nothing."" ""Blagojevich has also been intercepted conspiring to sell the Senate seat in exchange for his wife's placement on paid corporate boards or Rod Blagojevich's placement at a private foundation in a significant position with a substantial salary,"" the affidavit says. Intercepted phone calls indicate that the governor also has conspired to sell the Senate seat in exchange for millions of dollars in funding for ""a nonprofit organization that he would start and that would employ him at a substantial salary after he left the governorship,"" according to the affidavit. Tribune Co. Blagojevich and Harris threatened to withhold financial assistance from the Tribune Co. unless the company fired certain editorial board members who had been critical of Blagojevich and had called for the governor's impeachment. The money was related to the sale or financing of Wrigley Field, home stadium of the Chicago Cubs, a team owned by the Tribune Co. The governor instructed Harris to tell the Tribune's financial adviser that the assistance, which Blagojevich estimated to be worth at least $100 million, was contingent on the ouster of several board members. In a November 4 phone call, Blagojevich told Harris to tell the Tribune adviser, ""Our recommendation is fire all those f---ing people, get 'em the f--- out of there and get us some editorial support."" The affidavit gives only one name, Deputy Editorial Page Editor John McCormick. In a follow-up conversation, Harris said he had informed the adviser that the newspaper needed ""wholesale changes"" ""This is a priority. Stay on it, right. I mean, he, he gets the message, doesn't he?"" Blagojevich asked. ""Oh, yeah. He got it loud and clear,"" Harris reportedly replied. In another follow-up conversation, Harris said the Tribune owner told the financial adviser that he ""was very sensitive to our concerns"" and that certain cuts personnel cuts were imminent. On November 21, Harris said he had singled out McCormick ""as somebody who was the most biased and unfair."" Beginning November 30, Blagojevich began talking to a sports consultant and a Cubs officials about making state money available for Wrigley Field. Children's hospital . On October 8, Blagojevich told a person described only as ""Individual A"" that he was willing to make $8 million available for Children's Memorial Hospital, but ""I want to get [Hospital Executive 1] for 50."" Individual A felt that Blagojevich was talking about a $50,000 campaign contribution from the hospital's chief executive officer and that the $8 million referred to a recent commitment by Blagojevich to secure state funds via ""some type of pediatric care reimbursement."" ""Intercepted phone conversations between Rod Blagojevich and others indicate that Rod Blagojevich is contemplating rescinding his commitment of state funds to benefit Children's Memorial Hospital because Hospital Executive 1 has not made a recent campaign contribution,"" the affidavit says."
"(CNN) -- A federal judge Friday ruled in favor of a former UCLA college basketball star who sued to end the NCAA's control over the rights to college athletes' names, images and likenesses. In a landmark decision, U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken sided with Ed O'Bannon in his lawsuit against the National Collegiate Athletic Association. O'Bannon argued athletes in the top tier of college basketball and football should be allowed to profit from their schools' use of their likenesses. In a 99-page ruling, Wilken wrote that current NCAA rules ""unreasonably restrain trade in the market for certain educational and athletic opportunities offered by NCAA Division I schools."" Wilken issued an injunction to block the NCAA from prohibiting its member schools and conferences from offering their Football Bowl Subdivision or Division I basketball recruits a limited share of the revenues generated from the use of their names, images, and likenesses. She did rule, however, that the NCAA could set a cap on the money paid to athletes, as long as it allows at least $5,000 per athlete per year. ""The NCAA's witnesses stated that their concerns about student-athlete compensation would be minimized or negated if compensation was capped at a few thousand dollars per year,"" the judge wrote. O'Bannon's suit alleged the waivers the athletes are required to sign are illegal and asked that players be able to collectively negotiate the terms of their likenesses in order to keep a share of those profits. ""Before the court in this case is only whether the NCAA violates antitrust law by agreeing with its member schools to restrain their ability to compensate Division I men's basketball and FBS football players any more than the current association rules allow,"" Wilken wrote. ""For the reasons set forth above, the court finds that this restraint does violate antitrust law."" The ruling could potentially change college sports drastically, eventually forcing the NCAA to restructure its amateur model and allow college athletes to be paid. NCAA chief legal officer Donald Remy said: ""We disagree with the court's decision that NCAA rules violate antitrust laws. We note that the court's decision sets limits on compensation, but are reviewing the full decision and will provide further comment later."" William Isaacson, an attorney for the plaintiffs, called the ruling ""a big step forward for common decency."" ""One of the things the judge is saying here ... is some sharing is OK,"" he said. ""It won't affect amateurism, won't affect the popularity of the sport. She made a very reasonable and significant and measured decision."" Ramogi Huma, president of the National College Players Association, said the ruling was ""a big win"" that signaled ""the time for college athletes to get their due,"" though he was critical of the $5,000 compensation cap. ""The ruling says the NCAA was operating illegally and college athletes do have rights,"" said Huma, who helped find players to join the case. ""Even if you label them student-athletes and want to call it amateurism, it doesn't give the NCAA the right to deny them the rights that other Americans deserve."" Sonny Vaccaro, who started the lawsuit by introducing O'Bannon and lead attorney Michael Hausfeld, said the decision was precedent-setting. ""The key is, they're allowed to get paid,"" said Vacarro, who helped pioneer branding athletes by putting Nike shoes on Michael Jordan. Vacarro called the decision his most important career accomplishment. ""It's more important to me that these kids won and this go forward and the principles are right,"" he said. ""To me, it's more important than the Jordan and Kobe and things I did in my professional life. ...This was just something that was wrong and I totally believed in it."" The judge wrote that the injunction will not affect student-athletes who enroll in college before July 1, 2016. When athletes commit to a university, players are required to sign a waiver that relinquishes their right to their own likenesses in every form. That means they can't make money off their television appearances, their jerseys, or in any other way. The universities get any revenues from selling sports paraphernalia or other material related to the players. The trial began June 9 in federal court in Oakland, California. The plaintiffs were 20 current and former student athletes who play or played for an FBS football or Division I men's basketball team starting in 1956. Legal appeals could delay a final outcome for years but the decision is in a position to be the first major NCAA reform effort to take hold. Already the issues brought up in the case have had an effect, even before the ruling was made. Texas A&M, the University of Arizona and Northwestern University have decided to stop selling jerseys with the numbers of specific players. Instead, Texas A&M will sell the number 12 jersey, in keeping with its 12th man tradition; and Arizona will sell jerseys with numbers that correspond to the year of competition -- 14 for this year, according to a school spokesman. Northwestern will sell only jersey number 51, in honor of its head coach, Pat Fitzgerald, and legendary Chicago linebacker Dick Butkus. The NCAA's argument in both the ongoing O'Bannon suit and another one filed by former quarterback Sam Keller, also in federal court in Oakland, is that it is trying to protect the amateur model of college sports. Paying college athletes would hurt traditions, NCAA chief testifies . NCAA under fire: 5 things to know . NCAA faces change, legal challenges in months ahead ."
"(CNN) -- Donald Sterling can't seem to avoid trouble over recorded phone calls. In the latest twist to a downfall triggered by more recordings, the Los Angeles Clippers' owner allegedly threatened to ""take out"" his wife's lawyer and sue two doctors who declared him mentally unfit. He made several calls to the doctors this month and left profanity-laced voice mails to intimidate them out of testifying next month, according to attorneys for his wife, Shelly Sterling. ""I'm not incompetent. You're (expletive) incompetent, you stupid (expletive) doctor,"" he said in a June 9 voice mail provided by his wife's attorneys. 'How dare you' In the message, he identifies himself and expresses anger about the release of his medical records. ""There's an ethical issue here. ... How dare you give my records to a lawyer for the purpose of using it against me?"" he demands. ""You're nothing but a fraud and a liar and a cheat, and I'm going to see that you lose your license, and I'm suing you for conspiracy."" Sterling made the calls to two doctors, James Spar and Meril Platzer, who diagnosed him as mentally incapacitated. Both will present their evidence in court on behalf of Shelly Sterling, who's vying to uphold a negotiated sale of the Clippers. Death threat? His wife's attorney, Pierce O'Donnell, said Sterling targeted him as well and threatened to ""take you out."" ""I took that as a death threat,"" O'Donnell said. ""That hasn't happened in 40 years as a trial lawyer."" Donald Sterling waived doctor-patient confidentiality in connection with his mental evaluation, Shelly Sterling's attorneys said in court papers, an assertion denied by his lawyers. She asked a judge to order her husband and his legal team to stop contacting and harassing witnesses involved in the court battle. Los Angeles Judge Michael Levanas on Thursday rejected the wife's request to keep her husband and his lawyers away from witnesses, saying her assertions don't ""rise to the level of great and irreparable injury."" ""It is probably no surprise to anyone that this case might involve high emotions and some litigation posturing,"" the judge wrote. Deal to sell the team . Donald Sterling's attorneys admitted he left the voice mails, but they said he meant no harm and was just distressed that his medical records were publicized. The two physicians who examined Donald Sterling didn't have his permission to talk to third parties, said Bobby Samini, another attorney for Donald Sterling, . In next month's probate court trial, Shelly Sterling will ask the court to uphold her deal to sell the team to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer for $2 billion. Her decision to go to probate court follows a ruling by three physicians that her 80-year-old husband is mentally incapacitated and shows early Alzheimer's or other brain disease. The couple co-owns the basketball team. If one of the trustees is declared mentally incapacitated, the other becomes the lone trustee, according to records. His wife used that provision to negotiate the deal with Ballmer. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver banned Sterling for life and fined him $2.5 million after a different recording appeared in April in which he made a series of racist comments to a friend."
"(CNN) -- Joel Osteen is the senior pastor for the Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. It's America's largest congregation. His wife, Victoria Osteen, is the co-pastor there. Joel and Victoria Osteen appear on ""Larry King Live"" Tuesday night. The Osteens, known for their optimistic outlook on life, visited ""Larry King Live"" Tuesday night for a wide-ranging interview that covered President Obama, same-sex marriage, the recent outbreak of mass shootings, the state of religion in America and more. The following interview has been edited for brevity and clarity: . Larry King: Since you were last on, we have sworn in our first African-American president. What are your impressions [of Barack Obama]? Joel Osteen: Well, I think he's doing a great job. I'm impressed with his skill, his calmness, his just strength under pressure. These are tough times for him. King: And you, Victoria? Victoria Osteen: I've been really impressed. In fact, I've been impressed [with] the first lady. She stepped up, and she's done a remarkable job. King: Recent polls show 12 percent of Americans still believe Obama is a Muslim, and 35 percent say they don't know his religion, but to most of them it don't matter. Should it matter? Joel Osteen: Well, it matters to me. It matters to me that I know he loves the Lord, and I think it's important that he has convictions from his faith. So to me, it matters when I'm making my personal decisions. King: Does it matter to you, Victoria? Victoria Osteen: It does. It matters to me. ... I believe he is a Christian. King: The ""Hope for Today Bible."" This is a new Bible [from you]. How is this different from other Bibles? Joel Osteen: It's a living translation of the Bible, which is an easy version to read. And then it's got our notes besides certain passages. And it's just to help people maybe to understand the Bible a little bit easier. King: Do you think that eventually many more states are going to allow same-sex marriage? Joel Osteen: You know, I don't know where it's all going ...  I'd love to see it stay between a male and a female, not knocking anybody else. King: Supposing there were more states that had it. What would be the harm? Victoria Osteen: We really want to see marriage between a man and a woman. There [are] going to be people who get together and have relationships and have what they call their families. But I just think marriage should be sanctified by the church. It should be between a man and a woman. King: Should a gay couple be allowed to adopt? Joel Osteen: I think that, again, it's best for a male and a female. I'm not saying that gay people aren't good people. ... King: Or good parents.  Watch Larry King's interview with the Osteens » . Joel Osteen: Yeah, exactly. But again, I like to shoot for God's best, and that is a father and a mother in the home. It doesn't always happen. I know a lot of people raised by single parents. And you know what? We bless them and pray for them as well. But I think God's best is a male and female. King: In the new issue of Newsweek, the lead story by Jon Meacham is ""The Decline and Fall of Christian America."" Just off the premise of that headline, do you accept that? That Christian America is in trouble? Joel Osteen: I'm trying to think where he's coming from. ...  I see faith in America at an all-time high. King: The Newsweek article quotes our Albert Mohler Jr. And he's president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. And he said, ""The so-called Judeo-Christian consensus of the last millennium has given way to a post-modern, post-Christian, post-Western cultural crisis which threatens the heart of our very culture."" Joel Osteen: Well, he's a smart man and I respect him. You know, maybe what he's saying is true. ... America is more diverse than it was 50 years ago. And I don't know that that means we as Christians are any less. I would like to think our influence is still there. ... And I'm sure I'm an optimistic by nature. King: What do you make of these mass shootings? Joel Osteen: You know, it's really sad. People get deranged. People get confused. ... I believe there are dark forces in our world. There are evil forces that, unfortunately, we can give into. And some of it is just from depression, just that mental illness. King: Do you pray for them, Victoria? The shooters? Victoria Osteen: Oh, absolutely. You've got to pray for them. They're obviously tormented. They're deceived and not cherishing life. ... So yeah, we do pray for them. King: We've had a mass depression in this country, recession. Do you think that might be at the core of some of these things? Victoria Osteen: I think it is. When you've lost your job and you've just been beaten down and you don't see any future, it's easy to start letting those negative thoughts play. ... You don't have anything to live for. It's never going to get any better. And I think that if you don't watch it, you'll just spiral down and down and down. And that is why we feel so strongly about just giving people hope. Even at your lowest moment, you never know what God can do. He can turn any situation around. You can be just one night from getting the break you need, getting the job you want. King: How do you deal with death, having to console people [who are] dying? Joel Osteen: Well, it's difficult. But Larry, we have the hope of heaven. We believe we'll see our loved ones again. And as hard as it is, we'll just try to encourage people that death is just a separation. ... I lost my dad 10 years ago, and he was my best friend. But it's amazing the peace that God gave me. So I believe that God can give you a strength and a new beginning. King: Where do you believe he is? Joel Osteen: I believe he's in heaven. King: Which is a place. ... Joel Osteen: I believe it's a real place. ... You've had people on a lot about near death experience, and I've talked to them too, how they've had an accident and all of a sudden, they're up watching themselves. And I believe that our spirit's on the inside. My belief as a Christian is when we receive Christ as salvation that that gives us a guarantee for heaven."
"The Department of Justice announced on Thursday it has reached an agreement with the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico, to address a ""pattern or practice of excessive force"" by the problem-plagued Albuquerque Police Department. The DOJ said the city has agreed to allow an independent monitor and the courts to oversee reforms at the police department, along with community input and involvement. According to a joint statement, the department and the city plan to implement reform in eight areas of concern:  ""use of force policies, interactions with individuals with mental illness and other disabilities, tactical units, training, internal investigations and civilian complaints, management and supervision, recruitment and selection of officers, and community engagement and oversight."" ""This agreement marks an important step forward in addressing the unreasonable use of deadly force uncovered in our investigation into the Albuquerque Police Department,"" Attorney General Eric Holder said Thursday. The Justice Department concluded in a report released in April that Albuquerque Police had a history of  brutality and unnecessary deadly force. ""The pattern and practice is the result of serious systemic deficiencies in policy, training, supervision and accountability. The police department's failure to ensure that officers respect the Constitution undermines public trust,"" the DOJ said in the report. ""I am confident that the Albuquerque Police Department will be able to correct troubling practices, restore public trust, and better protect its citizens against all threats and dangers -- while providing the model of professionalism and fairness that all Americans deserve,"" Holder said. The reforms will include input from the community and the police department.  ""We have asked for and received valuable ideas and insights from officers, members of the community, representatives of many organizations, and others who have a stake in the future of our community,"" said Damon Martinez,  U.S. attorney for the District of New Mexico. Police brutality in Albuquerque, New Mexico's most populous city reached a boiling point in March when protesters clashed with police for more than 12 hours over the fatal shooting of James Boyd, 38, a homeless man. Video shows Albuquerque police killing homeless man . Report: Albuquerque police have 'pattern' of excessive, deadly force ."
"President Barack Obama apologized Thursday to those Americans whose insurance plans are being canceled due to the federal health law he championed even though he said repeatedly they could keep their coverage if they liked. ""I am sorry that they are finding themselves in this situation based on assurances they got from me,"" he told NBC News in an exclusive interview. ""We've got to work hard to make sure that they know we hear them and we are going to do everything we can to deal with folks who find themselves in a tough position as a consequence of this,"" he added. Obama's comments come days after he attempted to clarify what he meant when he assured Americans in previous years that they would be able to keep their plans under the Affordable Care Act, a controversy that is prompting legislation in Congress to address it. Obama further alters 'you can keep your plan' pledge . Republicans have hammered Obama over the promise since insurers began discontinuing coverage for some of the 12 million Americans who buy individual policies on the private market that don't meet Obamacare requirements for more comprehensive care. GOP moves past troubled Obamacare website . Insurance companies appear to be doing this for a variety of reasons; some are pulling all their plans from certain states where they have fewer subscribers in order to save money. In many cases, affected policyholders are being squeezed. They either don't qualify for subsidies to lower the cost of new premiums or they may have to pay more in the health care exchange marketplace. When Obama says he's looking to fix it, he primarily means steps that can be taken administratively, senior administration officials said. Some experts suggest one possible approach would be to ask insurers to delay the cancellation of plans and extend them into the New Year so that people are not left without insurance. That has been done, for example, in the state of California. But House Speaker John Boehner said an Obama apology was in order and said the Republican-led House had its own plan in mind. ""What Americans want to hear is that the President is going to keep his promise. That's why the House will vote next week to allow anyone with a health care plan they like to keep it,"" Boehner said. ""If the President is sincerely sorry that he misled the American people, the very least he can do is support this bipartisan effort. Otherwise, this apology doesn't amount to anything."" The administration eventually knew that many policies would be changed by the insurance carriers after Obamacare was introduced, and the associated political uproar since its October 1 online rollout has also angered Democrats and fueled Republican efforts to extend related controversies onto the campaign trail. Vulnerable Senate Democrats voice concerns . In 2010, the Health and Human Services Department estimated that 40% to 67% of individual plans would eventually lose their ""grandfathered"" status, which only was conferred if a plan was purchased before the health care law was approved in 2010. Although Obama said the ""buck stops"" with him on Obamacare problems to date -- including the rocky rollout of the website -- he still was resolute that his initiative to provide coverage for the uninsured and better coverage for many others would be better for the country. ""Most of the folks who ... got these cancellation letters, they'll be able to get better care at the same cost or cheaper in these new marketplaces,"" Obama said, also noting that ""we have to make sure"" people do not feel as if they've been betrayed by an effort carried out with their best interests in mind. ""They'll have more choice, they'll have more competition. They're part of a bigger pool. The insurance companies are going to be hungry for their business. So the majority of folks will end up being better off,"" he said. Key elements of the health law prohibit discrimination for pre-existing conditions and require new plans cover maternity care, mental health and other areas. The program was developed to put comprehensive care within reach of millions of uninsured Americans. About 95% of legal U.S. residents receive health insurance through private employers or the federal government, the Obama administration says. But more than 48 million Americans don't have any coverage. Debunking 4 Obamacare myths: Both sides get it wrong . Obama's apology comes a week after similar refrains were made by Vice President Joe Biden and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius regarding the botched Obamacare online rollout. Five things we learned from Obamacare records . WH: Chief tech officer too busy for congressional testimony . Asked if he thinks Americans will be able to trust what he says in the future, Obama said he thinks he'll ultimately be ""judged on whether"" Obamacare is better for Americans overall. ""When you try to do something big like make our health care system better ... there are going to be problems along the way, even if ultimately what you're doing is going to make a whole lot of people better off, and I hope that people will look at the end product and they're going to be able to look back and say, you know what, we now have protections we didn't have before,"" he said. In the NBC interview, Obama reiterated the administration's line that he's ""confident"" a ""majority of people"" will be able to use the website and apply for insurance by November 30. But he did not say whether he would push back the March 31 deadline to enroll or the penalty for those who do not purchase insurance. Obamacare depends on younger, healthier Americans to buy into the program and pay premiums to offset costs for covering older people who need more health care. Those without insurance who do not sign up for a plan face a fine. What else could go wrong with Obamacare? A Gallup poll conducted just over a week ago showed 36% of Americans said they didn't think that in the long run the Affordable Care Act would make much of a difference to their family's health care situation. Just over a third said the health care law would make matters worse, and one in four said that Obamacare would make things better. Opinion: Here's the truth about Obamacare ."
"Tucson, Arizona (CNN) -- Arizonans paid tribute Friday morning to the federal judge killed in the deadly shooting rampage last weekend in Tucson. U.S. District Judge John Roll was one of six people gunned down Saturday when he dropped by U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' meet-and-greet in a supermarket parking lot. The funeral service for the revered 63-year-old jurist was held at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Tucson. Roll's service came a day after a memorial was held for Christina Green, 9, the youngest victim of the mass shooting. In addition to the six deaths, 13 others, including Giffords, were wounded in the gunfire. Arizona Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl, both Republicans, said Friday they will introduce legislation to name a new federal courthouse in Yuma after Roll. The courthouse is about to be built, and Roll, as Arizona's chief federal judge, recently approved the plans for the building, according to Brooke Buchanan, an aide to McCain. President Barack Obama described Roll as ""the hardest-working judge"" within the 9th Circuit in a speech Wednesday night at a public memorial at the University of Arizona. McCain called Roll ""a man of great qualities and character."" He had recommended him for the federal bench 20 years ago. Chief Justice John Roberts said Roll was ""a wise jurist who selflessly served Arizona and the nation with great distinction, as attorney and judge, for more than 35 years,"" McCain said. President George H.W. Bush appointed Roll, a Pennsylvania native, to the bench, and he rose to become the state's chief federal judge. Two years ago, he received death threats after ruling that a $32 million civil rights lawsuit filed by illegal immigrants against a rancher could proceed, a ruling that sparked outrage from radio talk-show hosts and others. Roll was placed under protection by federal marshals for several weeks. No one was charged in the case. The jurist also received criticism recently when he asked to delay bringing felons to trial in Tucson, citing a judicial emergency. He said in a November letter to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the ever-increasing number of federal felony arrests had overwhelmed his court. Roll also had been assigned to hear a case on ethnic studies, according to the lead attorney in the case, Richard Martinez. The case, out of Tucson, involves a new law banning certain ethnic studies programs in public schools. Tucson resident Jared Lee Loughner, 22, is facing federal charges in Saturday's attack. Police said Loughner targeted Giffords and had complained about the lawmaker for years after apparently getting a response he didn't like to a question he asked her at a 2007 event. The shooting set off a political firestorm across the country, with some pundits saying that extreme partisan politics played a role in the mass killing. On Thursday, family, friends, classmates and hundreds of mourners filled St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in Tucson for the funeral service for Christina Green, the 9-year-old. All of them passed under a giant American flag that was recovered in the aftermath of the terror attacks in New York on September 11, 2001 -- the day Christina was born. Dozens of other mourners paid their respects by standing outside the church, which was filled to capacity. Obama noted Wednesday that Christina was beginning to discover the political system -- something that she saw ""through the eyes of a child."" ""I want us to live up to her expectations. I want our democracy to be as good as Christina imagined it. I want America to be as good as she imagined it,"" Obama said. ""All of us -- we should do everything we can do to make sure this country lives up to our children's expectations."" CNN's Ted Barrett contributed to this story."
"(CNN) -- Police in Brazil say they have arrested a fourth person in connection with the March 30 rape of an American woman and the beating and robbery of her French boyfriend on a minibus in Rio de Janeiro. The fourth person arrested -- a 13-year-old boy -- is accused of helping steal the tourists' credit cards, police said Tuesday. According to Brazilian media, the boy has denied involvement in the rape. Police said the woman and man boarded the minibus in the Copacabana beach district in Rio de Janeiro early on March 30. Three men subsequently boarded the minibus and forced off all the other passengers, police said. The woman was raped and her boyfriend was held captive and robbed, authorities said. Their credit cards were used at several locations inside and outside of Rio de Janeiro over a span of hours, police said. According to Brazilian newspapers, the man was handcuffed and beaten, while the woman was repeatedly raped. The two were dumped in Itaborai, a city more than 30 miles (about 50 kilometers) away, after six hours, O Globo newspaper said. Earlier, police arrested three other people in the case: Carlos Armando Costa dos Santos, Jonathan Foudakis de Souza and Wallace Aparecido Souza Silva. The rape highlights security concerns in the Brazilian city that will host matches in the 2014 World Cup and will put on the Summer Olympics two years later. As more women came forward saying they were victims of similar attacks, Rio de Janeiro Civil Police Chief Martha Rocha issued a written apology. She also fired two police officers responsible for handling rape cases. CNN's Shasta Darlington contributed to this report from Sao Paulo, Brazil ."
"(CNN) -- The leader of Colombia's main leftist rebel group -- the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia -- died in a military operation in the country's southwest, President Juan Manuel Santos said Saturday. ""I confirm the death of Alfonso Cano. The No. 1 of FARC is dead,"" Santos said. ""This is the most overwhelming blow given to the FARC in all of Colombia's history."" The military operation that took place Friday in the state of Cauca also killed Cano's communications chief, a female friend and members of his security team, Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon told reporters. Cano's chief of security was captured. ""The death of Alfonso Cano is the most important historical mark of our military forces and our national police in our fight against the FARC organization,"" Pinzon said. ""He was part of the organization for over 33 years. He was their ideologue, their political figure and most importantly, he was a despised terrorist ready to act in a radical way ..."" Cano, an alias for Guillermo Leon Saenz, took over the FARC's top spot in March 2008 after an apparent heart attack killed the former leader, Manuel Marulanda. Cano's family released a statement following his death, urging peace and asking the media to respect their privacy. They called on authorities in Colombia, and specifically on President Santos, to allow them the opportunity to give Cano a dignified burial. ""This is great news for all the Colombian people,"" said Labor Minister Rafael Pardo. ""This will help the peace process and it shows that armed conflict is no longer the way forward in Colombia."" The FARC has been at war with the Colombian government since the 1960s. While severely weakened in recent years, the guerrilla group has continued to carry out kidnappings and attack security forces in the South American nation. Following Cano's death, the FARC released a statement in which its leaders said they would not end their guerrilla struggle. ""This is not the first time that the oppressed and exploited in Colombia are mourning one of its greatest leaders. Nor is it the first (time) that he will be replaced with the courage and absolute conviction of victory. Peace in Colombia will not be born in any guerrilla demobilization, but the abolition of the causes that give birth the upheaval,"" they wrote. Senior officials in the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama said that they believe Cano's death will pose a serious challenge to the FARC going forward. There aren't many people left to head the group and most of those who might, no longer live in Colombia, they said. The FARC, which began as a revolutionary guerrilla group, has evolved into a narco-trafficking organization, the officials said. While it is no longer able to threaten the state, the FARC still has the potential to hurt a lot of people, they added. The United States and European Union consider the FARC a terrorist organization. ""This is an important victory for Colombia and represents a major blow against the largest terrorist organization in this hemisphere,"" said U.S. State Department spokeswoman Darla Jordan. ""We firmly support the efforts of the Colombian people, their security forces, and President Santos to combat the FARC,"" she said. In July, Santos said Cano escaped an attack by less than a day. At the time, security forces raided a remote camp believed to have been his hideout. After the raid, authorities found clothes they believe belonged to Cano. CNN affiliate Caracol TV reported that authorities also found large quantities of the cigarettes the FARC leader is thought to smoke. ""We were very close,"" the president told reporters at a military airport in Bogota. He said security forces had acted on an intelligence tip from one of Cano's ""own people."" CNN's Claudia Dominguez, Luis Carlos Velez and Elise Labott contributed to this report."
"In July, Iran lost one of its most acclaimed playwrights and directors when Mahmoud Ostad-Mohammad passed away in Tehran at the age of 62. Scores of relatives, friends, and theater lovers attended his funeral ceremony that was adorned with pictures of Ostad-Mohammad -- his trademark mustache and playful smile on display. Some wept while embracing copies of his famous screenplays. Among the mourners was Ostad-Mohammad's daughter, Mana, who is convinced that Western sanctions against Iran were partly to blame for his father's passing. ""This was the doctor's testimony,"" said Mana Ostad-Mohammad. ""This is based on my father's medical tests."" Through five decades, some of the most famous Iranian plays were brought to life by Ostad-Mohammad. Some were Iranian classics. Others were originals.  All were stories about the loves and losses of everyday Iranians. Then in 2011, came a diagnosis of late-stage liver cancer. Surgery was not an option, but Ostad-Mohammad's oncologist prescribed the cancer drug Nexavar. According to his doctor and medical tests, the drug appeared to stop the cancer from spreading. ""We were very hopeful that if he gets through this stage, he could get healthy and start living his life again,"" said his daughter Mana. But beginning last year -- soon after Washington and Western powers imposed additional sanctions against Iran to rein in its nuclear program -- Iranian doctors, pharmacists and patients say finding Nexavar and several other drugs that treated deadly diseases became increasingly difficult. Western powers have stepped up the pressure on Iran since 2006, when the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to impose new sanctions for Tehran's failure to suspend its nuclear program. The European Union imposed further sanctions last year. U.S. officials have long said medical goods are exempt from the measures and that Western sanctions are specifically designed to target the government, not ordinary Iranians. But Iranian officials say with the Western ban on Iranian banks doing business with much of the outside world, even medical goods that are exempt from the sanctions are often impossible to import. ""We have a serious shortage of drugs due to high prices or because they're impossible to purchase,"" says Tehran-based pharmacist Imen Heirani. Heirani said everyday he gets as many as 30 calls a day from patients looking for hard-to-find drugs. ""They're obviously tired because they've been searching for a while."" Mana was getting tired too. This year, finding Nexavar -- the drug that helped keep her father alive -- became harder than ever. ""It was very unexpected,"" said Mana. ""For 18 months we could easily get the drug but now we couldn't. We didn't know what to do."" Searching for the drug became Mana's daily mission. If pharmacies in Tehran didn't have Nexavar, Mana would open her phone book and start dialing pharmacies in other Iranian cities like Tabriz, Isfahan and Mashad. But last March finding Nexavar became virtually impossible, she says. Medical tests then showed her father's feto-protein level -- an indicator of cancer -- skyrocketed over the four months he went without Nexavar. On July 25, Ostad-Mohammad lost his fight with cancer. Iran lost a beloved playwright. And a daughter lost a father who she believes was a victim of Western sanctions and a political conflict that had nothing to do with him. ""More than being angry, I think about how simple-minded politicians are,"" she said. ""Sanctions are impacting the people, not the groups politicians say they're impacting."""
"(CNN) -- Nearly 35 years after a Texas judge sentenced him to death, Ronald Chambers was found dead Monday morning on the floor of his cell. Guards found Chambers, 55, unresponsive around 6:30 a.m. while doing their rounds, Dallas County Sheriff Spokeswoman Kim Leach said. He was then transported to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, where he was pronounced dead. The Dallas County medical examiner's office said it would take six to 12 weeks before Chambers' cause of death could be definitively determined. But Leach said Chambers had many health complications when he came last year to the Dallas County jail. Chambers was 19 when he and Clarence Ray Williams kidnapped Mike McMahon and his date from the parking lot of a Dallas nightclub, then ordered them down the embankment of the Trinity River, according to the Texas Attorney General's Office. The two men robbed the couple and, after shooting at them, left them for dead. The female survivor, Deia Sutton, testified that she and her boyfriend survived the first attack, but Chambers went back and killed McMahan by repeatedly hitting him over the head with the barrel of a shotgun. On December 18, 1975, a jury found Chambers guilty of capital murder and a judge subsequently put him on the state's death row. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals twice set aside his conviction -- once because he wasn't read his Miranda rights after being interviewed by a state psychiatrist -- but both times he was retried and convicted again. In 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court again granted Chambers a stay of execution, amid questions about the instructions given to the jury, the Dallas Observer reported. The case was sent back to Texas and a fourth sentencing trial was set for spring 2011, according to published reports. While numerous reports called Chambers the ""Dean of Death Row,"" because of the various legal maneuverings he didn't have a death sentence the entire time he was behind bars, including at the time of his death.  Excell White, who killed four people in 1974 and wasn't executed until 1999, spent more time -- 8,854 days -- on death row before being put to death than any other Texas convict. Texas, which has executed more prisoners since 1976 than any other state, pays $86.08 to execute a death row inmate, or the cost of drugs used in a lethal injection, the state's Division of Criminal Justice reports. That compares to the $17,338, on average, that it costs to jail a Texas inmate for 12 months, according to 2009 data from the National Institute of Corrections, which is below the national yearly average of $28,689."
"(CNN) -- Renee Mosier was one of an estimated half-million patients in the United States who were unable to get the drugs they needed because of shortages. ""You feel like you're in a fight with one hand tied behind your back,"" said Mosier, 56. It was a fight she lost in June. According to the Food and Drug Administration, the number of drug shortages has increased nearly 300% since 2005. More than half of the drugs on the shortage list are considered critical -- meaning they have no alternative. The drugs most often in short supply include anesthetics and oncological drugs. Mosier was diagnosed in 2006 with ovarian cancer, the fifth-deadliest cancer for women, according to the American Cancer Society. Surgery and treatment were able to keep her tumors at bay until 2009, when she returned to surgery. She was back in remission until June 2011, when her cancer appeared once again. Mosier was able to get her required surgery, but her doctor, Dr. Wendel Naumann, was unable to get Doxil, the chemotherapy treatment she needed. 'A huge, growing crisis in this country' ""This is a huge, growing crisis in this country, where we're actually having to ration drugs,"" said Naumann, who calls it ""unbelievable."" In November 2011, Mosier appeared on CNN's ""Sanjay Gupta, MD"" to share her ordeal. She told Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent, that without Doxil, she had few alternatives. ""At the time we just said, 'Let's go with what we have, and see what happens,' and the cancer pretty rapidly recurred."" Mosier was never able to get another dose of Doxil and spent the last month of her life in hospice care. She was able to make one last trip -- to the Bahamas to attend her daughter's wedding. In a follow-up interview with Mosier's daughters on this past weekend's ""Sanjay Gupta, MD,"" daughter Michelle Philipp told Gupta, ""We weren't sure until even (the) last minute if she was able to come. So we bought her the ticket, hoping it would give her something for her to look forward to, and she did, and it was just wonderful."" On June 29, 2012, Mosier died. Philipp's sister, Nicole Penninger, didn't hide her frustration with the situation. ""You feel like you're in this time now, it's 2012. You feel like, you're in America. Why can't she get these drugs, that she needs to treat something so serious?"" Critical dependence on a few companies . How did it get to this point? According to Naumann, ""We only have a couple of companies, and the problem is that if one of these companies goes down because of FDA inspections, manufacturing problems or something like that, we don't have those drugs if only one company is making them."" The House Oversight Committee came to the same conclusion. In a recent report, the panel claimed the FDA -- the very agency tasked with dealing with shortages -- is partly to blame for the shortage situation. The report paints a scathing picture of a regulatory agency that gave little consideration to the potential outcome of its actions. ""The committee has learned that FDA regulatory activity has effectively shut down 30% of the total manufacturing capacity at four of America's largest producers of generic injectable medications,"" it said. ""The FDA has failed to ensure that enforcement and compliance activities are conducted in a manner that does not create unnecessary shortages of critical drugs,"" according to the House report. That report is disputed by the FDA. ""Let me just say, very clearly, that the report is incorrect,"" Dr. Sandra Kweder of the FDA said on ""Sanjay Gupta, MD."" ""We are not in this situation because the FDA is shutting down companies. FDA is part of the solution."" Kweder is the deputy director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Office of New Drugs. She said FDA inspection processes and enforcement rules have not changed. ""What has changed is that there is an aging manufacturing infrastructure, and there are serious quality problems that have required companies to close down to fix the problems."" On Monday, the FDA issued a letter to Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Maryland) of the House Oversight Committee, responding to the committee's blaming the FDA for the shortages. The letter reiterated the report was false and emphasized the FDA is part of the solution. What happened with Doxil . While Doxil is not a generic drug, it was manufactured by Ben Venue Laboratories, one of the country's four largest producers of generic injectables. The Ben Venue lab was the sole manufacturer of Doxil in the nation. It voluntarily shut down in November 2011. A May 2011 FDA inspection found a string of problems, including inadequate oversight and metallic particle shards in some of the drugs produced on site. A November 2011 FDA inspection found additional problems, including finding a 10-gallon can in a storage area that contained urine. In a statement sent to CNN after it shut down, Ben Venue labs said its team ""has been working around the clock to implement changes needed to ensure a more sustained supply of the medicines we produce and to address the manufacturing-related issues at our facility noted in recent inspections by the FDA and other global regulatory agencies."" However, Ben Venue maintained that none of the Doxil supply was affected. From their findings, the House Oversight Committee found that 58% of the drugs on the shortage list were produced at facilities cited by the FDA. They also found that the FDA's warning letters increased 156% from 2010 to 2011. Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former FDA deputy commissioner, said the FDA isn't concerned about the outcome, though. ""They go in, they inspect facilities and then they issue findings. You're not asked to worry if there's a stable supply. You're asked to make sure the facility falls in line."" But Kweder says it's quite the opposite. ""Well, it's our job to worry about it in our drug shortages team. When we issue warning letters today, we ask companies to very specifically communicate with us how they plan to address the problem, so we can assess what the potential of a shortage is, "" she told CNN. Kweder also cited the recent reauthorization of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act as a key to preventing shortages. Signed by President Barack Obama earlier this month, the act will help the FDA expedite the drug review process, particularly for drugs in shortage. It will also require companies to notify the FDA if they anticipate an interruption in production. ""It allows us as a regulatory agency to step in, and try and prevent the shortage in the first place,"" Kweder said. ""So for example, we can go to other companies to ask them to increase their production. We can assist companies that are having difficulties to finding alternatives for the difficulties they are having, and even in rare cases, we can seek sources of medications from other countries, where they might be being produced to our standards."" Help comes from abroad . That's actually what happened in the case of Doxil. In February, the FDA stepped in and allowed the importation of Lipodox from an Indian manufacturer, a possible therapeutic alternative. But Naumann said he was never able to get his hands on it. ""The key is having enough notice,"" says Kweder. Since Obama signed an executive order requesting early notification from manufacturers in November 2011, more and more companies have been able to give the FDA the needed heads-up. ""We've done that successfully innumerable times. Just since January, at our count, we've prevented 94 to 100 shortages, things the public never sees,"" Kweder told Gupta. ""I think it's a start,"" says Naumann, but it's not enough. ""I think these shortages are going to continue because of the same problems that we have. There are certainly fixes out there for it. I don't think these shortages are going to go away because of this bill."" For Mosier's daughters, it's all too late. Had Mosier gotten the Doxil, Philipp says, ""I think she thought it would have at least put her in remission in another time, or it would save her from the chemo that was detrimental to her."""
"If the Gaza truce holds and Israel's Operation Protective Edge comes to its conclusion, some things are certain. Both Israel and Hamas will declare military victory -- Israel pointing to the destruction of militants' tunnels and depletion of Hamas' rocket supply; Hamas pointing to dozens of dead Israeli troops and the survival of Hamas leadership in Gaza. But unlike in previous conflicts, when Hamas had the support of many Arab nations, things have changed. This time, as CNN has reported, the fighting between Israel and Hamas has been a proxy war for the Mideast. Key regional players Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia have their own reasons to want to fend off the Muslim Brotherhood, of which Hamas is part, experts say. And Europe, like the United States, lists Hamas as a terrorist organization for its numerous attacks on civilians. But the group does have the support of some countries. ""It's no longer the Muslims against the Jews,"" said Danielle Pletka, vice president of foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute. ""Now it's the extremists -- the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Hezbollah, and their backers Iran, Qatar and Turkey -- against Israel and the more moderate Muslims including Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia."" A look at some key Hamas supporters: . Turkey . Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan openly supports Hamas. ""Erdogan has tried to use the cause of the Brotherhood to bolster his own Islamist credentials at home,"" says Eric Trager, of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Turkey also has ""more of an ideological sympathy with the Brotherhood,"" Trager says. Qatar . Qatar supported the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt -- which was toppled from power in a coup last year. Qatar funds many Muslim Brotherhood figures in exile, including Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal, who is believed to have orchestrated numerous terrorist attacks. ""Qatar has a long history of providing shelter to Islamist groups, amongst them the Muslim Brotherhood and the Taliban,"" Shashank Joshi of the Royal United Services Institute tells Time. Advocating for Hamas is beneficial to Turkey and Qatar in their political objectives because the cause draws popular support at home, says world affairs writer Frida Ghitis in a CNN.com column. But some question whether Qatar's support for Hamas is still strong. The country's financial support to the group ""largely dried up"" as Qatar sought ""to mend ties with its neighbors, with whom it had fallen out in part for backing the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt,"" the Council on Foreign Relations said. While Qatar and Turkey are powerful allies, ""Hamas might wish for more support given the breadth of the Arab world,"" Time reported. Iran and Syria . In the past, Iran and Syria supported Hamas. Iran supplied the group with weapons; Syria was home to Meshaal. But Meshaal did not support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country's civil war. In 2012, Meshaal left for Qatar, causing a breakdown in his relationship with both Syria and its ally Iran, says Firas Abi Ali, head of Middle East and North Africa Country Risk and Forecasting at the global information company IHS. And while Iran still professes to support Hamas, such claims ""are more ostentatious, showy, exaggerated and theatrical rather than genuine and practical,"" writes Majid Rafizadeh, an Iranian-American scholar at Harvard University, in a column for al Arabiya. Iran, which is a Muslim but not an Arab nation, ""uses Hamas (as well as Tehran's support for the Palestinian cause) as a tool to project its power and influence in the Arab world,"" he argues. The Council on Foreign Relations says Iran, while cutting its funding to Hamas in recent years, ""sought to bolster its ties to other resistance groups in the region, such as Islamic Jihad."" Hezbollah . The Lebanese militant group based in Lebanon is aligned with al-Assad's regime in Syria. During the conflict, Hezbollah reached out to Hamas, praising its ""steadfastness."" This does not mean the relationship is repaired to where it stood before Syria's civil war, but ""a new realignment might happen,"" Farwaz Gerges of the London School of Economics told Time. Popular support . Hamas' greatest support in the wake of the conflict with Israel may be from the public in Gaza and other parts of the Arab world. ""Hamas is not a monolith, nor is it only a terrorist group,"" Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations writes on CNN.com. ""It is a social movement, with a mass membership, a popular message of resistance that resonates across the Muslim world, and a political party with which we must negotiate."" Some analysts believe Hamas will emerge stronger from the fight with Israel. The conflict ""will only further radicalize the Palestinian population -- and alienate frustrated friends in the United States,"" Mark Perry of Foreign Policy argues. Before Operation Protective Edge, a poll by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy found that most Palestinians in Gaza oppose a two-state solution and want to work toward abolishing Israel -- a goal that is in line with Hamas' charter. But the poll also found most Palestinians support nonviolent methods of achieving their goals. Support could affect arms supply . While Hamas' recruitment might soar now, militarily the group ""is on the ropes,"" with tunnels destroyed and much of its rocket supply depleted, writes Rick Francona, retired U.S. Air Force intelligence officer and CNN military analyst. ""After similar conflicts in the past, Hamas has been rearmed and resupplied by its supporters, primarily Iran and to some extent Syria. The most efficient method for the rearming and resupply effort has been via the large number of smuggling tunnels between Gaza and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. ""That is not likely to be the case this time -- another blow to Hamas, which it must factor in to its assessment of this conflict as well as its future planning."" What is Hamas' endgame in Gaza? What is Israel's endgame in Gaza?"
"(CNN) -- Last Monday, only a few people knew about an obscure anti-Islam video produced in the U.S. Today, people around the world are aware of it. The video sparked protests worldwide, starting in Egypt and Libya, and then spreading to other countries. Tragically, some of the protests turned violent and took the lives of Americans, Libyans, Tunisians and Yemenis. The protests have subsided for now, it seems. In assessing what happened, we have to be cautious and ensure that we do not point fingers in the wrong direction. As things become clearer, it seems that the video was created and promoted by members of the American Coptic Christian community -- a community with its roots in Egypt. It is understandable that Muslims worldwide were deeply offended by the video. The United Nations called the video ""hateful"" and the Obama administration called it ""disgusting."" But, there were other elements at work in the some of the protests; there are those who used anger at the video to promote their own agendas. For example, the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya was likely a terrorist operation that took advantage of the protests. In the midst of all this, it is not surprising that some people looked to assign blame and demand apologies. These people within the Arab world began blaming the Coptic community -- a community whose very name means ""Egyptian."" In response, the Coptic Church, both in Egypt as well as in the United States, insisted that it has nothing to do with the video. It also said that the video does not in any way represent the view of the Coptic community. I do know a Copt who was involved with the promotion of the video. I met Morris Sadek earlier this year. Sadek's personal actions have nothing to do with the Coptic Church or the Coptic-American community. Virtually no Coptic Christian I encountered had heard of him before. They know about him now. And in response, he received a volley of shoes from outraged members of the Coptic community for his promotion of bigotry. It is a mark of Christian value for the Coptic Church to condemn the video and its filmmakers. But the Coptic Church should never be placed in the position of having to apologize for the actions of a few of its members. The same applies to Muslims. From the local representatives of Muslim communities in America, to the religious establishments of Egypt and Libya, to the leadership of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, which represents all Muslim countries, we have heard apologies and condemnations for the violence. The Muslim community at large is not responsible for the violence, and it should not be expected to apologize for the actions of some of its members. The violent actions of a comparatively small number of individuals do not represent all Muslims, just as the video does not represent the views of all Coptic Christians. Neither group needs to apologize, but both should be recognized for their solidarity in condemning the violence. At some point, there do need to be levelheaded discussions about hate speech (which is legal in America, unlike most other countries), the roots of widespread anti-Americanism in the Middle East and elsewhere, and what different cultures consider as sacred. Before that can take place, we should be careful about whom we hold accountable. It should be those who have been directly fanning the flames of intolerance not just over the last few months, but over the years. The video did not appear in a vacuum. There is a well-organized network that thrives on promoting anti-Muslim bigotry within the U.S. It provided an ideological base for Anders Breivik, recently convicted of mass murder in Norway. Similarly, there are those within the Muslim Arab world who also push for a hateful agenda, to devastating effect. The last few days are just a reminder of how important it is to confront such promoters of hate. Whether it's through legal channels or social pressures, they must be dealt with. Their aim, simply, is to engineer cultural wars between non-Muslims and Muslims. That must not be allowed to happen. The least we can do now is to make sure not to blame the wrong people for the vile actions of a few individuals. That is, after all, precisely what they want -- for us to do their dirty work for them. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of H.A. Hellyer."
"(CNN) -- Actress Lindsay Lohan's father jumped from a third-floor balcony Thursday to try to escape re-arrest, police said, but officers soon caught up with him and took him into custody -- again. Officers detained Michael Lohan after his girlfriend, Kate Major, said he violated terms of his release from jail earlier this week by calling her, the Tampa Police Department said in a statement. Investigators arrested Lohan on suspicion of domestic violence after an incident on Monday night, but they let him out of jail after he posted bail. Just after 1 a.m. Thursday, Lohan's girlfriend called police to say Lohan had violated the terms of his release by calling her, the police statement said. Lohan called his girlfriend again while she was talking with police, and she put him on speakerphone, it said. After prosecutors authorized Lohan's re-arrest, officers went to a hotel, the Tahitian Inn, where he was staying. ""Upon seeing officers, he jumped out of a third-story balcony in an attempt to escape arrest,"" the police statement said. Officers took him into custody after a short chase and discovered after taking him to jail that he may have broken his foot, police said. Doctors were evaluating him. Lohan is not expected to be released from Tampa General Hospital Thursday and has been admitted for overnight observation, said Tampa police spokeswoman Andrea Davis. Police responded to a domestic violence call at Michael Lohan's home Monday and arrested him for the battery of his live-in girlfriend, police said. Lohan told reporters Wednesday he ""didn't lay a hand"" on his girlfriend. ""I did not hurt her,"" he said. Lohan also said he never was served with a restraining order to stay away from the woman. According to CNN Tampa affiliate WFTS, a Sarasota County judge issued a temporary restraining order Tuesday. Lohan, 51, was arrested in Los Angeles in March in connection with alleged domestic violence and was charged with one misdemeanor count of corporal injury to a cohabitant. The relationship between Lohan and his daughter has been publicly strained for years, although the two did undergo family counseling together during her treatment at the Betty Ford Center. CNN's Rich Phillips contributed to this report."
"London (CNN) -- Some samples of designer Marc Jacobs' fashions for next year disappeared on the way from Paris to London by train this week, forcing the company to cancel Thursday's press day in London, the company said. ""The Marc Jacobs PR team is sorry to inform you that our press day tomorrow in the Marc Jacobs store is canceled, due to the theft of the spring/summer 2012 collections during its transfer from Paris,"" the company said in an e-mail sent Wednesday to fashion publications. Fashion editors attend the press days to see samples they'll use for photo shoots as part of their coverage of what's coming to stores in the future. A highly placed source in the Jacobs company, who asked not to be identified, said the apparent theft was not unusual for the fashion business. Contrary to some reports, only a part of the collection is missing, the source said. Paris police said they have not been contacted to investigate. CNN's Alina Cho and Stephanie Halasz contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards was released from federal prison Thursday after serving about 10 years, the federal Bureau of Prisons said. Edwards was convicted of racketeering, conspiracy and extortion after prosecutors said he asked for payoffs from people who applied for riverboat casino licenses in New Orleans in the 1990s. Edwards, 83, had pursued a pardon from President George W. Bush, but never got one. He began serving his sentence in February 2001. He was released from prison to a halfway house, said Edmond Ross, spokesman for the Bureau of Prisons. At Edwards' trial in 2000, star witness Edward J. DeBartolo Jr., former owner of the San Francisco 49ers, got a reduced sentence in exchange for testifying about his own $400,000 bribe to Edwards. He said he had felt compelled to make the payment. DeBartolo ended up not going through with the project after the scandal broke. Allegations of corruption dogged Edwards throughout much of his political career, but he always maintained that he'd never lose an election, and famously joked that he'd keep his office unless he was caught ""in bed with a dead girl or a live boy."" Frequently during his trial -- for allegedly extorting almost $3 million from casino applicants -- he held his own court on the courthouse steps. ""Today, I took care of some housekeeping and had my car fixed and went and cashed a check before they freeze my accounts,"" he told reporters at one point. Edwards served several terms in office -- from 1972 to 1980, 1984 to 1988 and 1992 to 1996. The Democrat, U.S. Navy aviation cadet and lawyer began his career as a city councilman and state representative before being elected to Congress, and then governor. He won his first gubernatorial term ""by an unprecedented combination of 'Cajun' and black votes,"" according to his biography on the Louisiana Secretary of State's website. ""Edwards named blacks to key state positions and his support of black politicians resulted in a mutually beneficial relationship,"" the biography says. His third term ""was marked by federal indictments, but not convictions, for mail fraud, obstruction of justice and public bribery,"" the biography adds. The bio does not refer to Edwards' conviction later on. The U.S. District Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana, on its website, describes Edwards as ""leader of the corrupt enterprise whose objectives included the illegal and corrupt manipulation of the riverboat gaming licensing process during and after his four terms as governor."" ""Also convicted were Edwin's son, Stephen Edwards and his close associates Andrew Martin, Cecil Brown, and Bobby Johnson,"" the office says. CNN's Dave Alsup contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Modern technology has made campaigning much easier in some ways. It's now possible to raise millions in small donations through the Internet, host Facebook town halls and galvanize millions of supporters through Twitter. An ad can be released on YouTube and attract enough media coverage to make it worthwhile without spending a dime on TV time. Technology is also a double-edged sword that's made campaigning more complicated. A candidate's every word can now be captured by modern technology and live in e-perpetuity. There is no such thing as wiping the slate clean after the primary. Candidates should be read their Miranda Rights before beginning a campaign. Anything they say can and will be used against them. How can Mitt Romney contend with some of the things he said during the primary campaign which will come back to haunt him in the general election? He needs to gracefully pivot. Nowhere is this more true than in his outreach efforts with Hispanics. Romney cannot Hispander (blatant pandering to Hispanics, usually involving mariachi music and merciless butchering of the Spanish language). He cannot flip-flop on immigration (again). He's fought the flip-flopper label for years, and neither the right that still doesn't entirely trust him nor the left that is salivating to defeat him will let him get away with a drastic change of position. Romney desperately needs to improve his numbers with Latinos. Polls show Romney trailing by as much as an unbelievable 50 percentage points behind President Obama with Hispanic voters. In 2008, Arizona Sen. John McCain won 31% of the Latino vote. It cost him states like Florida, New Mexico, Nevada and Utah. Unless Romney gets close to 40% of the Latino vote, he can kiss the White House goodbye. Polls also show that immigration is not the most important issue for Latinos. Like other Americans, we are most concerned about the economy. Still, immigration does set a tone. If Latinos perceive a candidate as anti-immigrant, it can turn them off, period. So, what's Romney to do? He can't erase the things he's said on immigration. Despite his campaign's efforts, they can't make supporters (or an adviser) like Kris Kobach disappear, and he is as radioactive as Kryptonite in the Latino community. However, all's not lost. From now until Election Day, when Romney gets asked an immigration question, he needs to start and finish by reminding Latinos that Obama promised, without caveats, to get immigration reform passed in his first year in office. Navarrette: Why Marco Rubio can't save the GOP . For many Latinos, a person's word is sacred. Romney should unequivocally say that Obama broke his word and dramatically increased deportation rates, causing family separation. He should sound angry and indignant about it. Romney needs to go from playing defense to playing offense on immigration. Hispanics are disillusioned with Obama. He too is vulnerable on the issue but only if Romney exploits that weakness. Romney has to remain staunchly anti-amnesty and pro-border security but at the same time sound sympathetic and understanding of the desperation of people who often risk their lives crossing a border so they can put food on their family's table. He needs to talk about the benefits of immigration and how the richness of our diversity has made us a stronger country. If Romney can neutralize the immigration issue by moderating his tone, giving more nuanced answers and taking the offensive against Obama, then he can focus on other issues. Hispanics are an aspirational people. We seek opportunities to provide a better life to our children. Romney should take every chance to remind Latinos that we have been disproportionately affected by the bad economy. As a group, Hispanics have suffered some of the highest unemployment, foreclosure and poverty rates. If Latinos are asked whether they are better off than four years ago, the answer is ""No, seÃ±or."" Romney is also going to have to put the time and resources into Hispanic outreach. If he expects to make up the lost ground, Hispanics cannot be an afterthought. His campaign needs to wake up and go to sleep every night thinking of the Latino vote. They'd be well served to embrace and deploy strong surrogates like Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and Raul Labrador. They speak the language not only literally but culturally. Latinos want to be courted. Obama has accepted speaking invitations to the NALEO and La Raza conferences. Romney needs to do the same, pronto, and he needs to make it count by delivering memorable speeches. Come Election Day, I don't know whether Romney is going to do better with Hispanics than the polls indicate or if Obama is going to do worse. Romney needs a lot of both to happen if he wants to move into la Casa Blanca. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ana Navarro."
"(CNN) -- North Korea resumed firing near its sea border with South Korea on Thursday, South Korean media said, citing Seoul officials. Artillery shells were fired toward South Korean-controlled Yeonpyeong Island, Yonhap News Agency quoted the officials as saying, adding that the shells fell in waters north of the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto inter-Korean maritime border. The North fired artillery shells on Wednesday in the same area, saying they were part of an annual training drill. ""We have confirmed North Korea's firing of several artillery shells, but they did not cross"" the two countries' maritime border, said Park Sung-woo, of Seoul's joint chiefs of staff, according to Yonhap. ""We are on high military alert."" ""Following the firing by North Korea, South Korea responded by shooting vulcan canons into the air, a statement that it would not be intimidated by saber-rattling by the communist neighbor,"" Yonhap said. There were no reports of casualties. Also Thursday, a South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman said that despite the tension, talks slated for Monday with North Korea would still go forward in the North Korean border town of Kaesong, Yonhap reported. Seventeen South Korean officials are expected to attend those talks, Yonhap cited Chun Hae-sung, the official, as saying."
"(CNN) -- Men sprawled on a tile floor, shirtless and convulsing. Children, too, seemingly unable to control their shaking and flailing. Panic and screams in the background. These are some of the hard-to-stomach images that the Obama administration has shown a select group of senators in closed-door briefings to make the case that a limited military attack on Syria is justified. CNN was the first to obtain the 13 different videos seen by members of the Senate Intelligence Committee that depict the gruesome scene of an chemical weapons attack in Syria on August 21. The administration told senators that their authenticity was verified by the intelligence community. The attack, allegedly carried out by Syrian forces under President Bashar al-Assad, has touched off the most critical foreign policy question since the uprising began in 2011: Is a military response merited? The videos capture a moment of panic, as those who are standing try to feed water to those who appear incapacitated. Prayers are repeated. What is sarin? Many of the videos were previously posted on YouTube, but this collection of footage is significant because the intelligence community has given it a stamp of authenticity. The footage could be vital in the administration's quest to convince Congress and the American public that the U.S. must launch punitive strikes against Syria, former U.N. Ambassador Bill Richardson said. ""That video will sensitize the American people that this isn't just an intervention, that this is a military strike to stop that type of atrocity,"" the former congressman told CNN. While the videos are hard to watch, they do not prove who is responsible for the attack, nor do they provide an answer for whether military strikes are the correct course. President Barack Obama favors limited intervention, and his administration has been working nonstop to convince allies in Europe and lawmakers back home for support. Hours after CNN obtained and broadcast portions of the videos, the Senate Intelligence Committee posted them on its website for public viewing. An aide to Dianne Feinstein, the committee's chairwoman, said it's expected the video will be played Monday at a briefing for all House members. Secretary of State John Kerry, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and National Security Adviser Susan Rice will be among those representing the Obama administration at that hearing and one Wednesday for senators, according to the White House. Based on her attendance at closed-door briefings, Feinstein has decided to vote in favor of the measure to intervene militarily in Syria, defying the wishes of many of her constituents. ""What's coming in is overwhelmingly negative,"" Feinstein said Thursday about the feedback from voters. ""There's no question about that. But you see, then they don't know what I know."" The availability of these videos obtained by CNN means that anyone can see at least part of the administration's evidence and come to their own conclusions. One video shows a room with enough children to fill a classroom, but they are arranged on the ground, the bright colors of their shirts -- red, yellow, green, purple, blue -- contrasting the paleness of their dead bodies. There were dead adults placed in this space, too. The video captures at least six rows of adults with no less than four bodies each. Sheets and blankets cover some of the bodies. In another video, a man uses a manual resuscitator on a toddler, who appears motionless. Another man comes with a bottled water and the men together try to rinse the small boy's face. It looks like the boy's chest moves, but his arms remain pinned to his side like a soldier at attention. CNN cannot independently confirm the authenticity of the videos. But officials have a number of reasons as to why they believe they are authentic. The videos were shot from multiple angles, providing overlap, not just in what could be seen but what could be heard, the administration officials told the senators. Why use chemical weapons? CNN's Ted Barrett contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- The U.S. Justice Department is suing the state of California and Gov. Jerry Brown because prison authorities required a Sikh prison inmate to cut his beard. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday on behalf of Sukhjinder Basra, an inmate at prison in San Luis Obispo in central California. It said that the requirement violated the man's right ""to practice his religion"" under the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLIUPA). In the Sikh religion, which originated in northwestern India, unshorn hair is an article of faith. The Justice Department said the suit followed a probe ""that revealed that California's inmate grooming policy substantially burdens the rights of an inmate to practice his Sikh faith. "" ""The rights guaranteed by the Constitution extend to all people in the United States,"" said Andre Birotte Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California.  ""By protecting those rights -- even for those incarcerated -- we strengthen those rights for all."" The state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation was also named in the suit. RLUIPA, which became law in 2000, protects the religious freedom of people ""confined to institutions such as prisons, mental health facilities and state-run nursing homes,"" the Justice Department said."
"Pretoria, South Africa (CNN) -- Oscar Pistorius is a heartbroken man who has to live with the fact that he killed the love of his life, his uncle has told CNN in an exclusive interview. For the past three months, the double amputee sprinter has been living at his Uncle Arnold's house in Pretoria. He has grown a beard because he doesn't want to be recognized, and has surrounded himself with photos of Reeva Steenkamp, his uncle says. Pistorius is charged with murdering the 29-year-old model and law school graduate early on February 14, and faces a court hearing next Tuesday. Arnold Pistorius described the runner's grief as ""unthinkable"" and says his heart bleeds for his nephew. ""He's got photos in his room, photos all over the place. He's housebound, you know. He doesn't go out in public places. Bloody photos of scene of killing leaked . ""What can you say if the person you love the most dies, and you were the instrument? How would you feel? It's unthinkable."" Pistorius says Steenkamp's death was an accident and that he mistook her for a burglar. The state says it was murder. A trial date has not been set. The sprinter's agent has also spoken for the first time about the 4 a.m. call he received telling him there had been a shooting at the track star's home. ""It was the estate where Oscar (was) staying at, the estate manager's daughter phoned me from Oscar's phone. So I picked up the phone and saw it was Oscar's number and thought it was him phoning me. And just had this voice of a girl frantically on the other side shouting, 'Please, you have to rush over here, you have to come to Oscar's house,'"" Peet van Zyl told CNN in an exclusive interview. ""I initially thought it was Oscar that has been shot. She said, 'No, no, no, no. Reeva's been shot.' She explained then to me basically just briefly what happened. And yeah, total shock obviously. So I had to jump in the car and rush through to Pretoria."" Van Zyl said he then called Ampie Louw, the sprinter's coach, and told him to jump in his car and get to Pistorius's house. ""When arrived at the house and you see all the police cars and lights ... I was standing outside, me and Peet and the lawyer, but Oscar was inside,"" Louw told CNN. ""I could hear him crying in the garage, and Reeva was at the entrance. So that was terrible for me."" Pistorius will make a brief appearance Tuesday at the Pretoria Magistrates Court, which will hear a motion by state prosecutors to postpone the case for further investigations. The trial itself may not happen until early 2014. READ MORE: Not everyone surprised at Oscar Pistorius' fall from grace . READ MORE: Pistorius, and the psychology of walls . CNN's Nick Thompson contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- The man who police say plowed his vehicle into a California Walmart, where he then attacked several customers, was booked Monday on four counts of assault with a deadly weapon and resisting arrest. Haamid Zaid, 33, of Seaside, California, is suspected of having been under the influence of drugs, but the motive is under investigation, according to Albert Morales, an officer with the San Jose Police Department. ""Once Mr. Zaid emerged from the vehicle, he used some type of metal object to attack people,"" Morales said of the Sunday incident at the San Jose store. The suspect was later subdued by a group of customers until police arrived, he said . One of the victims, a 61-year-old man, was transported to an area hospital. The injury was considered serious but not life-threatening. Three other unidentified victims were treated for injuries at the scene and released, authorities said. Detectives are reviewing surveillance video to help determine how the vehicle plowed into the store and whether the crash was intentional. Police: Man plows vehicle into a Walmart, assault customers . CNN's Scott Thompson contributed to this report ."
"(CNN) -- Parts of the Eastern United States on Friday fended off freezing rain and snow as a powerful winter storm lumbered through the Great Lakes, driving thunderstorms eastward. The National Weather Service predicted the storm would affect the Upper Midwest, Great Lakes and the Northeast, with blizzard conditions in Minnesota and Iowa and strong winds across a portion of the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley. Severe storms -- with wind and large hail -- were possible from Boston to Miami, said CNN meteorologist Sherri Pugh. Frozen conditions may have been a factor in a crash early Friday in Maine that left a driver dead. An SUV driver lost control of the vehicle while it was traveling on a snow-covered stretch in Somerville and slammed into a big rig, the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office said. Several New York-area airports -- LaGuardia, Kennedy and Newark in northern New Jersey -- were experiencing ground delays as of 6 p.m, due to limited visibility, the Federal Aviation Administration reported online. The wild weather also brought strong winds to parts of the Southeast and mid-Atlantic, though that threat was over by evening. Before then, the weather service reported two possible tornadoes early Friday afternoon in south-central Georgia, including one in Johnson County that damaged 12 buildings, including ripping the front doors off a fire station. There was also an EF0 tornado -- indicating 65 to 85 mph winds lasting three seconds or more -- in Compton, Maryland, 60 miles southeast of Washington, D.C. Heavy winds also downed trees in Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, while up to quarter-size hail was reported on Florida's Atlantic coast around St. Augustine. This all came on the heels of severe storms that struck Illinois late Thursday afternoon, knocking out power, damaging buildings and spawning floods, the National Weather Service reported. On Thursday night, storms and high winds swept across Tennessee, pelting Nashville with rain and hail and leaving thousands in the dark. In Illinois, damaging wind and golf ball-size hail were reported overnight. About 24,000 people in the state lost power, according to utility Ameren Illinois. Effingham and Champaign counties in Illinois reported flooding. ""We have some power lines down and a little water in the road in some places,"" said Pam Jacobs, director of the Effingham County Emergency Management Agency. John Dwyer, emergency management coordinator for Champaign County, reported road flooding and standing water in farm fields. He said the flooding was caused by 3 inches of rain Thursday coupled with the snow melt. The National Weather Service said radar indicated rainfall of 3 to 4 inches per hour. The Illinois State Police reported that fog caused a wreck on Interstate 57 in northeast Illinois, involving at least 27 vehicles. Authorities said they received reports of injuries, none of them life-threatening. As the storm moved eastward, winds knocked down dozens of trees in Nashville, reported CNN affiliate WSMV-TV. The station said trained weather spotters reported 1-inch hail and 95-mph winds. CNN's Ed Payne, Greg Botelho and Ralph Ellis contributed to this report."
"A Wesleyan University student who says she was raped in front of onlookers at a ""wildly out of control"" campus fraternity party has filed a lawsuit against Xi Chapter of Psi Upsilon, 11 of its members and the alleged assailant, according to court documents. Cabri Chamberlin, then a freshman, said she was raped by another student last May at the Xi Chapter of Psi Upsilon fraternity house in Middletown, Connecticut, at a pledge ""strip show,"" says the suit, which was filed Tuesday in a Connecticut federal court. CNN does not usually identify victims of sexual assault but has done so in this case because the woman wanted to make her name public. ""I'm proceeding in this case with my real name instead of 'Jane Doe' because as the victim of a heinous violent crime I've done nothing wrong and have nothing to be ashamed of,"" Chamberlin said in a statement provided by her lawyer. ""I can't even describe the pain of being raped, or how much it alters a life, and no other person should ever be forced to have that experience. I hope my experience and lawsuit will create changes that protect others."" At the party, the lawsuit says, many ""underage and extremely intoxicated"" young people danced with naked pledges and ""spilled alcohol throughout the area."" Chamberlin, who has taken a leave from her studies, said she became extremely uncomfortable, put on her jacket and attempted to leave when a male student picked her up from behind and raped her in the presence of ""numerous others,"" according to the lawsuit. Wesleyan public safety officers then took her to a nearby hospital, where a diagnosis of sexual assault was documented, the lawsuit says. ""Psi Upsilon Fraternity takes all reports of risk management violations, especially those with regard to sexual assault, very seriously,"" Tom Fox, executive director of Psi Upsilon Fraternity, said on the fraternity's website. ""We are currently investigating the incident and gathering further information."" After an internal investigation, the university expelled the alleged perpetrator and imposed ""sanctions against the fraternity and members,"" according to a statement by Wesleyan President Michael S. Roth. The student named in the lawsuit, who has not been charged criminally, did not return calls seeking comment. Middletown police confirmed that they responded to a sexual assault complaint from the Psi Upsilon Fraternity house on May 4, 2013, spokeswoman Lt. Heather Desmond said. The investigation is ongoing, and no charges have been filed, she said. Desmond said police were having difficulty finding witnesses and urged anyone who attended the party from May 3 into May 4 and may have witnessed anything to call police. The lawsuit says the fraternity contractually demands self-governance from Wesleyan, relinquishing the public safety and housing services the university generally provides to students. The fraternity allegedly failed to adequately provide its own security, and the defendants failed to train themselves in safety and risk management issues, including sexual abuse prevention, hazing and the misuse of alcohol, according to the lawsuit. Chamberlin's lawyer, Douglas Fierberg, said that because the fraternity sets itself apart from the university, officers from the university's Department of Public Safety can enter the fraternity only in ""exigent circumstances"" or when specifically asked to come in. ""This lawsuit seeks to hold this fraternity responsible for its gross mismanagement which it does under the guise of self-management,"" Fierberg told CNN. ""Fraternity self-management has historically proven itself to be flawed and dangerous. Women have been raped because of this mismanagement. People have died because of this mismanagement. And this victim will hold the fraternity responsible for its tradition of dangerous mismanagement."" Wesleyan University would not comment on the fraternity's arrangement with the Department of Public Safety, but Roth's statement acknowledged that the university's fraternities have ""some autonomy."" ""All have seen increased scrutiny over the past few years,"" Roth said of fraternities. ""We intend to focus our attention on improving the safety of these spaces."" Wesleyan University was not named in the lawsuit. ""On behalf of the university community, I want to express our horror at this shameful assault,"" Roth said in the statement. ""Sexual violence will never be tolerated on our campus. Sexual violence on college campuses is a national problem, and it's important to raise awareness about this issue. At Wesleyan we are committed to caring for survivors, vigorously pursuing perpetrators, and creating a positive campus climate in which sexual violence and misconduct have no place."" Chamberlin has taken a leave of absence from the university since the attack and is receiving ""intensive counseling, trying to pull her life together,"" her lawyer said. Chamberlin is seeking $10 million in damages, the lawsuit says. In 2012, a Wesleyan student sued the university and another fraternity, which Wesleyan no longer recognizes as a student organization, after she said she was raped in its frat house two years before. The fraternity had garnered the on-campus reputation as the ""Rape Factory,"" according to the lawsuit. Her assailant pleaded guilty to assault and unlawful restraint, court papers said. The case was settled in court-ordered mediation in August 2013. Ending rape on campus: Activism takes several forms ."
"(CNN) -- Since China took part in the Olympic Games in 1984 after a three-decade absence, competitive sports have served one purpose -- to build national pride. Athletes' victories on the global stage made us proud of the new China. The new ""open"" China was full of hopes, dreams and opportunities. A strong, united nation working together to build a better tomorrow was the higher calling for all of us. To serve this calling, many kids who were identified as potential elite athletes were enrolled into the government supported ""sports schools."" If they trained hard and were talented enough, they would make it to represent their city, their province and then one day their country. When there is a demand, there was also a reward. Chinese Olympic champions were well rewarded through national and local government, both in terms of compensation and social status. Lang Ping, the star of the 1984 women's volleyball team that won a gold medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, was the Michael Jordan of China. As the son of a sports reporter, I was fortunate enough to know her when I was a kid. The fact that I knew her made me very popular at school, pretty much like telling everybody at school today that Kobe Bryant is your friend. In 2008, China won 51 gold medals (100 medals overall) and topped the gold medal tally at the Beijing Olympic Games. After this astounding success, many started to ask what's next? Economic growth means that people have more options in terms of career. It is more and more difficult to find kids (and parents) who want to join the ""sports school"" system and aim for that one-in-a-million shot to become an Olympic gold medalist. Academic performance offers a more certain path to success. Better grades means better universities, better universities means better jobs. At least that has been (and will probably still be for a long time) the belief of many parents and teachers. There is nothing wrong with the obsession towards winning, after all, that's what elite competitive sports is all about but there are other emerging trends that might change the face of sports in China. A growing urban population and middle class are seeking a better quality of life and personal well-being. In 2013, more than 750,000 people participated in a running competition or marathon, up 50 percent on 2012, according to the China Track and Field Association . In 2014, there will be 53 marathons registered at the China Track and Field Association and this number is projected to grow at least at 20 percent annually. Compared to the 200 marathons held each year in Japan, China still has a long way to go but there is a new enthusiasm for sport at the grassroots level. However, we also see that more kids (and parents) are embracing sport and the values it teaches. We operate a sports academy in Shanghai that teaches fencing, squash and Thai boxing. Through a season of sports training and competition, we help kids to build confidence, work in teams and develop leadership skills. These are the qualities that will help them to secure that better future over and beyond their academic performance. The Chinese government and many Chinese educators are starting to see the value of sports in education. They could do more by making sports an important part of school grades. Six years after the Beijing Olympic Games, there is another Olympic Games currently taking place in China this month -- the 2nd Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing. This Games is different. At the opening ceremony, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach urged participants to take selfies to show off their good fortune and stressed the importance of sharing, learning and making friends. Most people don't know who won the first gold medal or how many gold medals China has won. In today's China, the demand for sports has gone beyond Olympic gold medals and national pride. Sport in China: What's wrong with winning?"
"WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Republican-controlled House of Representatives on Thursday passed the GOP leadership's 2013 budget plan -- a measure that has no chance of passing the Democratic-controlled Senate but creates a clear contrast between the two parties on a number of critical tax and spending issues ahead of the general election. The resolution passed in a strongly polarized 228-191 vote. No Democrats backed the measure; only 10 Republicans opposed it. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan's $3.53 trillion blueprint includes an overhaul of the nation's tax code and major changes to popular entitlements such as Medicare -- expensive programs that in the past have been considered politically untouchable. Why the budget may never be balanced . Republicans say the plan is necessary to slow the growth of exploding federal deficits and put the federal government on the road to fiscal stability. ""We have one of the most predictable economic crises in this country coming. It's a debt-driven crisis. And so we have an obligation -- not just a legal obligation but a moral obligation -- to do something about it,"" Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, said Thursday morning. GOP leaders ""think the key components are to get spending under control, reform our entitlement programs"" and help stimulate economic growth. Democrats, however, consider the plan a betrayal of last year's bipartisan deficit reduction deal and a GOP giveaway to the wealthy at the expense of the middle class and vulnerable seniors. ""In our view, we certainly don't want to return to some of the economic policies that got us into the mess to begin with. And we are concerned that the Republican budget does that,"" said Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen, a member of the House Democratic leadership. ""It disrupts the fragile recovery and undercuts investments that are going to be important for the long-term economic strength of the United States of America."" White House Press Secretary Jay Carney released a statement after the vote blasting House Republicans for banding ""together to shower millionaires and billionaires with a massive tax cut paid for by ending Medicare as we know it and making extremely deep cuts to critical programs needed to create jobs and strengthen the middle class."" Romney garners two endorsements . Over the past two days, the sharply divided House has overwhelmingly rejected President Barack Obama's budget proposal, a House Democratic plan, a more conservative Republican alternative, and a bipartisan blueprint containing controversial spending cuts and tax hikes opposed by majorities in both parties. The blueprint -- derived from proposals advanced by a special commission led by former Clinton White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles and former Wyoming GOP Sen. Alan Simpson -- includes roughly $2 trillion in cuts and more than $1 trillion in new tax revenues over the next decade. The measure failed in a 382-38 vote. While a budget resolution is not binding, it is used to guide congressional appropriators responsible for allocating federal dollars. Both chambers of Congress have not agreed on such a measure since the spring of 2009. Among other things, the Ryan plan calls for a reduction in individual tax rates and brackets. Instead of today's six brackets, with rates from 10% to 35%, it calls for just two: 10% and 25%. The proposal would eliminate the alternative minimum tax while dropping the top corporate tax rate from 35% to 25%. GOP leaders would compensate for lost revenue by closing a series of tax loopholes and ending numerous deductions. They have declined to offer any details, however, on exactly which loopholes and deductions would be affected, instead insisting that the matter will be taken up at the congressional committee level in the future. Returning to one of the most controversial points from last year's budget fight, the proposal includes dramatic changes to the Medicare program. It would offer future seniors a choice of staying in the traditional fee-for-service plan or opting instead for a Medicare-approved private plan, all of which would be available via a new Medicare exchange. No matter which plan they chose, including the traditional Medicare plan, seniors would receive a government subsidy to help pay for their choice. While Republicans insist the change is necessary to ensure the program's long-term fiscal viability, Democrats accuse the GOP of trying to destroy a key legacy of President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society. The Republicans ""want Medicare to wither on the vine, to die,"" House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, said this month. Medicaid, which provides health coverage for the poor, would be converted under the GOP plan into a series of block grants for states. Individual states would be empowered to tighten eligibility rules or revise enrollees' cost-sharing obligations. The GOP proposal also protects defense spending by undoing a scheduled $55 billion cut in the Pentagon budget, replacing the reduction with cuts elsewhere. Ryan has previously called the scheduled Pentagon cuts -- part of the agreement reached in last summer's Budget Control Act -- ""devastating to America's defense capabilities."" On Thursday, Ryan said senior military officials defending lower Pentagon spending proposals have not been honest. ""We don't think the generals are giving us their true advice,"" he said, accusing them of following an administration line. ""I think there is a lot of budget smoke and mirrors in the (administration's) Pentagon budget, which is not really a true, honest and accurate budget. When you confront military experts -- retired or active -- they concede these things to us."" Republicans would compensate for higher defense spending in part by requiring greater federal worker pension contributions and more means-testing of entitlement benefits. Overall, Ryan's plan caps 2013 domestic discretionary spending -- programs other than entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare -- at $1.028 trillion. Democrats immediately cried foul when the new proposed cap was unveiled, noting that it's nearly $20 billion below the total agreed to in last summer's deficit reduction deal. House GOP leaders insist they can propose any amount under the $1.047 trillion level, because that figure simply represents the top limit for discretionary spending, not a level up to which Congress must spend. While the House Republicans' proposed budget has no chance of becoming law, it could have a significant impact on this year's presidential and congressional campaigns. Democrats believe the proposed Medicare changes in particular could damage GOP hopes in key swing states such as Florida, which has a large elderly population. Numerous Republicans, however, believe they'll be rewarded for having the political courage to tackle politically sensitive issues. They also argue that it's important to draw clear distinctions with Democrats before voters go to the polls in November. CNN's Deirdre Walsh contributed to this report."
"The ancient world was full of strange animals that have gone extinct, such as a group of marine species with claw-like structures emerging from their heads. A new study suggests that these creatures were related to spiders and scorpions. Researchers discovered the fossilized remains of a species in southwest China that provides new insights into the evolution of animals in the modern era, scientists said. They report their findings in the journal Nature. Scientists believe that the creature -- 1 inch long, and with two pairs of eyes -- lived 520 million years ago and that it crawled or swam in the ocean. They were able to reconstruct the creature's nervous system to gain insights about its evolutionary relationships to animals familiar to us. ""For the first time, we are able to use fossilised neural anatomy to sort out how fossil animals are related to animals today,"" study co-author Xiaoya Ma of the Department of Earth Sciences at the Natural History Museum in London wrote in an e-mail. This creature belongs to the Alalcomenaeus genus, and its place in the animal kingdom lies in ""a group of weird extinct animals"" called the ""megacheiran"" or ""great appendage"" arthropods, Ma said. The species of the Alalcomenaeus group had elongated, segmented bodies with about 12 pairs of appendages they used for swimming or crawling. They also had a pair of long, scissor-like head claws, most likely for grabbing or sensing. Scientists say the reconstruction of the new creature's nervous system is the most complete for an arthropod living at that time, in the Cambrian geological period. Discovery makes a splash: The rarest whale . The brain and central nervous system of the creature are organized in a way that is similar to those of the chelicerata, the group that includes horseshoe crabs and scorpions. This suggests a close evolutionary relationship between the ancient Alalcomenaeus and the living chelicerata. A distinct group of arthropods called the mandibulates includes lobsters, insects, centipedes and millipedes. Last year at the same site in China -- called the Chengjiang formation near Kunming -- Ma and colleagues discovered a 520 million-year-old crustacean-type nervous system in an animal called Fuxianhuia. Taken together, these discoveries suggest that by 520 million years ago, the two major groups of arthropods had diverged. Their common ancestor must have been older, researchers said. ""This means the ancestors of spiders and their kin lived side by side with the ancestors of crustaceans,"" co-author Nick Strausfeld, neuroscience professor at the University of Arizona, said in a statement. Strausfeld's team used sophisticated imaging techniques to look at the inch-long Alalcomenaeus fossil. One kind of scan revealed that iron had built up in the nervous system as the creature fossilized. They also used a technique called computed tomography that reconstructs 3-D features. By combining these images and discarding any data that weren't in both, they were able to create a sort of negative X-ray photograph, ""and out popped this beautiful nervous system in startling detail,""  Strausfeld said. It confirmed what scientists had believed from the creature's outward appearance: The extinct genus Alalcomenaeus was related to chelicerates (spiders, scorpions and others). They also saw that the brain in the fossil was like the brains found in modern scorpions and spiders. If researchers find a fossil with features shared by this creature and the crustacean-like fossil Ma and colleagues found last year, that could be a common ancestor of both. There's plenty more weirdness from ancient history to uncover. 18-foot oarfish discovered ."
"(CNN) -- After he announced the resignations of four top officials in his administration in 1973, Richard Nixon swore he was done with talking about Watergate, according to the last batch of tapes released by the National Archives. Gone were his chief of staff, H.R. ""Bob"" Haldeman; his domestic affairs adviser, John Ehrlichman; White House lawyer John Dean; and Attorney General Richard Kleindeinst, a longtime friend. Nixon broke the news in his first public address about the scandal that would eventually bring down his presidency -- and as he tried to console the jettisoned Haldeman, he insisted it was his last. ""Well, its a tough thing, Bob, for you, for John, the rest,"" he said after the April 30, 1973, speech. ""But goddammit, I'm never gonna discuss this son of a bitch Watergate thing again. Never, never, never, never."" Of course, like much of what he had just told Americans, it didn't turn out to be true. Nixon would be forced to deal with Watergate over and over again in the next year or so, culminating with his own resignation in August 1974 -- a development forced by the discovery of conversations like those released Wednesday by the National Archives. The 340 hours of recordings are the last installment of a record that has kept historians busy for four decades. They run from April 1973 through that July, when the microphones were turned off after a probing Congress learned of the tapes. The new batch includes calls of support from two future presidents following the April 30 speech: Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. ""We're still behind you out here, and I wanted you to know that you're in our prayers,"" said Reagan, then governor of California and a rising conservative star. Story behind 'Our Nixon's' unique home movies . ""How nice of you to say that,"" Nixon replied. ""Well, let me tell you this. That we can be -- all each of us has a different religion, you know? But goddammit, Ron, we have got to build peace in the world, and that's what I'm working on."" Bush, then the Republican Party's chairman, told Nixon, ""I was really proud of you, and my golly, I know it was tough, and I just wanted to tell you that."" Nixon replied, ""Well, good for you, George."" The Watergate scandal began to unravel with the June 1972 break-in at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee. Five operatives of the Nixon re-election campaign were arrested in the attempt to illegally wiretap phones at the offices, located in the Watergate office building in Washington. The inner demons that drove Nixon . The subsequent investigations revealed that within days of the arrests, Nixon had discussed warning FBI agents away from the burglary probe by having the CIA claim the break-in was part of a national security operation. Nixon resigned shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court ordered him to turn over a recording of that conversation to investigators. Other tapes out Wednesday include Nixon discussing China with National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger and meeting with evangelist Billy Graham, the widow of baseball star Roberto Clemente and the Brazilian soccer legend Pele, who spoke of wanting to spread his sport to the United States. He's heard speaking with a variety of world leaders, including West German Chancellor Willy Bradt and Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. The tapes captured a June 1973 summit meeting between Nixon and Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev, in which Brezhnev bemoaned complaints about the world's two superpowers. Four lessons from Nixon's failed presidency . ""There are some people who keep throwing in this idea of there being two superpowers in the world who are out to dictate their, as they say, dictate their will, to foist their will upon others, and so forth,"" Brezhnev said. ""Now, but, are we to blame for being big? Are we to blame for being strong? What can we do about it? That is the way it is."" And Nixon talks of winding down the war in Vietnam and the return of American prisoners of war, justifying the December 1972 bombing raids on Hanoi that he credited with their release. ""The North Vietnamese had reneged on the agreement, they had attached conditions with regard to return of POWs, they had attached conditions on the return of civilians themselves,"" he told Roger Shields, a Pentagon official working with the former prisoners. ""We said no conditions. That's why we had to bomb. One of the major reasons we had to bomb. And it worked."" CNN's Athena Jones and Brian Rokus contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- The first clue was a boat floating in the ocean with no one on board. So teams of rescuers took off, unsure of they were looking for when one crew saw the unmistakeable second clue. There on a sandbar were three huge letters -- S.O.S. And there on a nearby rocky island were five people on a rocky outcrop off the northeastern coast of Australia, happy to see a helicopter after eight hours of waiting. The incident occurred Monday when five people were snorkeling in the Pacific Ocean. They anchored their boat near the sandbar, the Courier-Mail newspaper of Brisbane reported, but the boat drifted away after its anchor broke. They stamped out a large distress signal in the sand, but they knew it was only a matter of time before the tide claimed the signal. The rocks were high enough, but the group had no phones or food, which floated away with the boat. ""We were a bit (sun)burned and it would have been fairly cold (if they had to stay out through the night),"" Lyn Forbes-Smith told The Courier-Mail. She said they had gone diving at 8 a.m. and were picked up about 4 p.m. A helicopter rescue crew from Central Queensland took off and after an hour spotted the SOS. ""We did two sweeps and then when we came across some guys on the rocks and we saw SOS written in the sand so we knew it was them straight away,"" crew member Damien Kross told Seven Network. ""It was actually quite good because we knew we found them."" By the time the helicopter got there, the water level had made it impossible to send a boat in for a rescue attempt. The crew used a winch and basket to bring the three men and two women into the helicopter. Kross said the five were in good spirits despite being a little dehydrated."
"ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Sixty-four cases of measles have been diagnosed in the United States this year, the most in seven years, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Measles is a respiratory disease whose familiar symptom is red blotches on the skin. In all but one of the cases, the people who contracted measles had not been vaccinated. Some were too young to have gotten the shots, which are administered from 12 to 15 months of age. The CDC released the statistics Thursday to ""serve as a reminder that measles can and still does occur in the U.S. Ongoing measles virus transmission was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, but the risk of cases and outbreaks from imported disease remains,"" the organization said in a news release.  Interactive: More about measles » . In 54 of this year's cases the victims imported the measles from other countries, the CDC said. Dr. Anne Schuchat, the director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said many of the imported cases came from European nations and Israel.  Watch more on the measles outbreak » . ""Many people have forgot about measles in the United States,"" she said Schuchat at a news conference Thursday. ""It is very important for travelers heading off to Europe to make sure their immunizations are up to date."" The cases were reported in nine states, it said, and cases are being treated in Wisconsin, Arizona, Michigan and New York. Measles is a viral disease that can be deadly if not treated. The 64 patients ranged in age from 5 months to 71 years. Fourteen patients were hospitalized but no deaths were reported. E-mail to a friend ."
"(CNN) -- One night in late July this year, the Japanese supertanker M. Star was making its way through the Strait of Hormuz -- the chokepoint at the southern tip of the Persian Gulf. It was en route to Japan with 3 million barrels of crude oil. There was a loud thud at the front of the ship. Its hull suffered a substantial square-shaped dent above the waterline. Theories about the cause quickly abounded: a giant wave, a collision with a submarine or another vessel. And then -- six days later -- a militant Sunni group that had been active in Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan claimed it had attacked the ship with an explosives-laden boat. The Abdullah Azzam Brigades said the attack on the M. Star ""sought to weaken the infidel global order which is thrust into Muslim lands and which loots its resources."" For the Brigades, such an attack was a significant departure from previous targets. To begin with, intelligence analysts were skeptical of the claim. But U.S. officials now say it is credible. ""Government and industry sources can confirm that the claim by the Abdullah Azzam brigades ... is valid,"" the U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration said in an advisory last week. ""The group remains active and can conduct further attacks on vessels in areas in the Strait of Hormuz, southern Arabian Gulf, and western Gulf of Oman,' it said. The Saudis are already anxious about the foothold that al Qaeda has established in neighboring Yemen.  Now the Brigades -- spawned in the squalor of Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon -- may be an emerging player in the region's terror landscape. The Brigades are named after a Palestinian close to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.  Abdullah Azzam was killed in Pakistan in 1989 by a bomb explosion. The group is led by one Saleh al-Qarawi, who fought U.S. forces in Iraq and got to know al Qaeda's now-dead leader there -- Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Born in the Saudi city of Barida, al-Qarawi is only 28, but is already on the kingdom's most wanted list. When that list was first published in February 2008, he was described as ""one of the key suppliers of facilities, finances, fake documents"" for al Qaeda. And he has ambitious aims, telling an extremist website earlier this year: ""All the jihadist battlefields now are fields of fighting."" The Brigades have certainly shown themselves capable of audacious attacks. They claimed responsibility for an unsuccessful  rocket attack on a U.S. warship anchored in the Jordanian port of Aqaba in 2005, as well as for bombings in 2004 and 2005 aimed at tourists in Egypt's Red Sea resorts. Well over 100 people were killed in those attacks. In the interview he gave to the al-Fajr Media Center, al-Qarawi described how al-Zarqawi had sent him on a mission beyond Iraq. He'd been arrested in Syria and spent a brief spell in a Saudi jail. Describing his priorities, al-Qarawi said they include kidnapping U.S. and British citizens in the Arabian peninsula. ""American interests are our most important aims,"" he said, according to a translation by intelligence website Flashpoint Partners. It is also clear from the interview that al-Qarawi is very much a Sunni purist. He has little time for the Shiite Hezbollah, accusing it of attacking Lebanon's Sunnis. He also accuses Lebanese Shiites of ""malice"" toward the country's Sunnis. That suggests the Brigades would not have looked to Shiite Iran for help or harbor in attacking the M. Star (even if Saudi officials insist al-Qarawi once operated from Iran.) And it prompts this question: where did that small boat, laden with explosives, come from on the night of July 27 to attack the M. Star? If not Iran, did it set out under cover of darkness from the United Arab Emirates, Oman or even Saudi Arabia -- undetected by authorities?"
"(CNN) -- The fallout from Adam Lambert's risqué American Music Awards performance keeps coming with ""Good Morning America"" canceling the singer's live performance scheduled for Wednesday morning. ABC was flooded with more than 1,500 complaints, and the network sent an e-mail to potential concert goers letting them know that Lambert would not be performing on Wednesday. ""Given Adam Lambert's controversial live performance on the AMAs, we were concerned about airing a similar concert so early in the morning,"" a spokesperson for the network said. ""The Early Show"" on rival network CBS was quick to announce that they have booked Lambert to perform and discuss the controversy on Wednesday morning. Lambert shocked viewers with his sexually suggestive dance sequence that included simulated oral sex as well as Lambert kissing his male keyboardist. The Parents Television Council, a Media watchdog group, also attacked the show as vulgar and urged its members on Monday to contact ABC, Dick Clark Productions and the show's advertisers with complaints about the content. ""Last night's 'American Music Awards' broadcast was nothing short of tasteless and vulgar. Adam Lambert, the second-place finisher in last season's 'American Idol' competition, chose to treat American families to simulated oral sex and other demeaning behavior,"" the PTC posted on its Web site. Melissa Henson, director of communications and public education for the PTC, said the council wasn't concerned about Lambert's gay kiss. Its issue and focus are on the simulated oral sex, she said. ""The gender has nothing to do with it,"" Henson said. ""It would be true if it had been a woman's face that was thrust into his crotch."" Henson also noted that this is not an anti-Adam Lambert campaign and said the council would have had no problem with Lambert performing live on ""Good Morning America."" ""As long as he keeps it clean,"" Henson said."
"Oceanside, New York (CNN) -- Deployed to a volatile outpost in southern Afghanistan where U.S. Marines routinely face a mix of skirmishes and hidden explosives, Greg Buckley Jr. sensed that an attack was imminent. And he knew that it would come from within. The 21-year-old Marine was posted to Garmsir in Helmand Province, where he was training local security forces as part of NATO's planned withdrawal in 2014. It was during a static-filled phone call to his father over the summer that the Long Island native mentioned a run-in he had with an Afghan trainee while on guard duty. NATO releases details of brazen raid on base in Afghanistan . The encounter was the first in which the Buckley family's eldest son seemed to sense something was wrong, according to what he told his family in phone conversations and a letter. ""The guy turned around and said to Greg, 'We don't want you here. We don't need you here,'"" his dad said. ""Greg turned around again and said, 'Why would you say that?'"" according to Greg Buckley Sr. But the trainee apparently wouldn't relent, repeating the phrases for hours over the course of a night in which the young Marine was on guard watch. ""Greg said, 'I thought I was going to lose my mind,'"" his father said. ""Pitch black out, and all he kept saying over and over again is, 'We don't want you. We don't need you. We don't want you.'"" ""It was just tormenting for him."" The two men then finally confronted each other, yelling until a group of officers separated them, he told his father. ""One of his superiors came over and had Greg apologize to the guy,"" said the elder Buckley. The 21-year-old agreed and extended his hand, but the man refused. About a month later, Greg phoned his father again. ""He told me if I have to stay here until November... I'm not going to come home."" Greg also asked his father to prepare to tell his mother and his two younger brothers that he'd be killed. ""I don't understand,"" his father said. ""Out in the field?' ""No, in our base,"" Greg replied. 4 NATO troops killed in 'insider' attack in Afghanistan . On August 10, 2012, Greg Buckley Jr. was gunned down by the very forces he had been training, just days after learning that he was to head home early. ""It was only two days he had left there in Afghanistan,"" his father told CNN. The phenomenon is known as ""green-on-blue,"" due to a color-coding system used by NATO. It has become disturbingly more frequent in Afghanistan, with more than 50 NATO troops killed this year by local forces, the first time that's happened in a single year in the U.S.-led war. Last year, 35 people died in such insider attacks, and even less the year before, according to NATO figures. The killings have prompted suspensions of training new recruits while eroding the trust between NATO and its Afghan allies. The gunman involved in Greg's death attacked from inside his outpost and killed two other fellow Marines, his dad said. But Greg Sr. said his son had informed his superior officers that ""one day they are going turn around and turn those weapons on us."" CNN cannot independently confirm that Greg informed superior officers. Calls and emails to NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan were not immediately returned. More than a decade after the war began, the Buckley family is now struggling to cope with the loss of its eldest son. More than 2,000 other U.S. service members have been killed in Operation Enduring Freedom. ""It's not really day-by-day,"" said Greg's mother, Marina Buckley. ""It's more minute-by-minute."" Back in Oceanside, the Buckley family on Friday attended the town's first home football game, where their fallen son had intended to watch his youngest brother play varsity for the first time. ""Greg was supposed to be home for this game,"" said Justin, 17, who wore the number 30 on his back, Greg's old basketball number. ""I would tell him I love him and I miss him."" The senior running back, who donned a camouflage jersey along with his team, broke to the outside on Friday for a 25-yard score that helped cement the Sailors' improbable second-half comeback against top-ranked East Meadow. After crossing into the end zone, Justin raised his hand to salute -- honoring his fallen brother. NATO admits killing civilians in Afghan strike ."
"Japanese fishermen have captured a rare albino dolphin and killed 11 other dolphins in a shallow cove, according to conservation activists protesting the hunt. The albino dolphin currently sits in a small holding pen where it is being trained to eat dead fish and adapt to human interaction, said members of the Sea Shepherd conservationist group, which monitors dolphin hunts in the region. They speculate the rare dolphin will be sold for up to $500,000 to be displayed in captivity. The controversial hunt takes place annually between September and March in Taiji, Japan. Most dolphins are killed for their meat, while some are sold live to aquariums around the world. Locals defend the hunt, a long-held tradition, as no different than slaughtering any other animal for meat. But activists say the hunt is driven by greed. ""This brutal hunt is carnage carried out in the name of profit, not culture,"" said Melissa Sehgal, a Sea Shepherd campaign coordinator. ""These dolphins do not belong to Japan; they belong to the ocean."" The group says that 15 pods of Risso's dolphins have been slaughtered in the cove since this year's hunting season began, with approximately 170 Risso's dolphins killed. The Taiji Town Office declined CNN's request for comment on Sea Shepherd's newest report. READ MORE: Dolphins killed as Taiji's controversial hunting season resumes . Japan officials defend controversial hunt ."
"(CNN) -- The Boston Bruins put down their hockey sticks on Monday and got decked out ""Frozen""-style for a good cause. Bruins defenseman Dougie Hamilton would never have been Disney's first choice for Elsa, the cartoon star of the hit ""Frozen"" movie. But he and forward Matt Fraser (now known as Elsa's sister, Anna) brought a bit of Halloween fun to the sick children at Boston Children's Hospital. Rounding out the cast were Bruins defenseman Kevan Miller (Kristoff), forward Seth Griffith (Hans), defenseman Matt Bartkowski (Sven) and defenseman Torey Krug (Olaf). ""We're all fans of it. I've seen the movie, and I'm a fan so I'm not going to lie about that,"" Hamilton said on the team's blog. ""It's fun to be able to be something that's popular and they all know it and make them smile."" It appears the movie's hit song ""Let It Go"" has even made its way into the players' song lists. ""I've heard the song a lot of times, especially with my niece singing,"" Krug said. ""I know the lyrics."""
"LONDON, England (CNN) -- Open any fashion magazine and you're instantly bombarded with a collection of blindingly beautiful celebrities, bedazzled with shimmering jewels and perfectly coiffed ""messy hair."" Anna Boccia Lewis has been a DVF fan since the 1970s. Do you own a wrap dress? Tell us why. They teeter on gorgeous stilettos strutting their perfectly toned figures in clothing that could cost as much as a typical mortgage. Close that same fashion magazine -- or maybe ever-so-gently hurl it at the wall -- and perhaps you're left feeling slightly inadequate and envious. After all, why should we be left out of all the fun just because we can't afford the clothing in the magazine? But there is one fashion item that has arguably been bridging the gap for more than three decades between the wealthy elite and the average woman. This item is Diane Von Furstenberg's wrap dress. Just like the ""Little Black Dress,""  Furstenberg's wrap dress is considered an essential in many womens' wardrobes. Diane Von Furstenberg, or DVF as she's known, sold her first wrap dress in the 1970s. ""It has been a unique phenomenon, "" the Belgian designer told CNN. ""What was new about my wrap dress was that I did it in jersey and therefore it molded the body and it was very flattering to the body."" Technically speaking, a wrap dress is like a kimono. ""It's a very traditional form of clothing, it's a dress that has no buttons and no zipper,"" said Von Furstenberg. Since its inception, millions have flown off the racks. But that isn't to say the dress didn't see its dark periods as well. There was a time when the trend for wrap dresses was declared over, but like any good (or bad) fashion, it experienced a revival. ""Fashion changed completely and things went away,"" said Von Furstenberg. ""Ten years ago I started again because I saw that very hip young girls were buying them in thrift shops."" That trend continues today. While the dresses are stocked in DVF stores, they are regularly bought and sold in vintage stores and through online auction sites, such as eBay. ""My love affair with the DVF wrap dress began in the 1970s,"" says Anna Boccia Lewis, a self-confessed ""DVF addict"" from California. ""One of my first purchases was a yellow floral vintage DVF shirtdress that I found at Goodwill in South San Francisco for $4.75. ""I think what I love the most about Diane's designs is that each one has its own special personality -- just like the woman who is wearing it,"" Anna said. CNN asked other women to tell us what it is about DVF dresses that make them so special. Tell us your story -- ""Sound Off"" below. ""They make me feel not only sexy, but successful, sophisticated and timeless,"" said Carolyn Yapp, a 24-year-old DVF devotee from Jamaica. Melissa Calivis Green from Baltimore told us: ""For me, the iconic prints represent a sense of powerful femininity and the promise of endless possibilities."" Tracey Jennings of the United Kingdom has been wearing DVF dresses for the last ten years. She said: ""Like a lot of women, I have varied in size from year to year. As a result, my wrap dresses range from size four to size 10."" Kirsty Palmer, also from the United Kingdom, recently sold one of her DVF dresses on eBay. ""I like to change my selection,"" she said. ""Buying vintage wrap dresses makes them more affordable for me, yet I still get the benefit as if I were buying new due to their classic cuts and their durability."" Do you own a wrap dress? If so, we want to hear from you. Why did you buy it and what does it mean to you? ""Sound off"" below or Email us a picture or go to CNN's facebook page -- facebook.com/cnnintl."
"(CNN) -- Pakistan cricket legend Imran Khan has described how the unfolding crisis in Haiti revived harrowing memories of a similar earthquake in his own region. The devastating 7.6 magnitude quake struck northern Pakistan and the divided Kashmir region in October 2005, claiming the lives of almost 80,000 people, according to official estimates, and leaving millions homeless. Khan, who is now a prominent politician and campaigner for social issues in Pakistan, told CNN Thursday that he was left numbed by the scenes which greeted him as he traveled to some of the worst-affected areas in the aftermath. ""It was one of the most traumatic experiences I've ever had. Just watching human suffering, he said. ""It was the children that really disturbed me ... their crushed limbs. ""There were so many people needing attention. I remember seeing makeshift hospitals where they were amputating. That was difficult to take. ""Families were torn apart as parents lost their children and children were orphaned. Whole families were caught inside buildings, while few escaped."" Khan recalled being overwhelmed by the sight of an entire town being reduced to rubble. ""We arrived in the town of Balakot and it was totally flattened. You don't know what to do or say. So many people needing help at one time and you don't have the infrastructure, you don't have the hospitals to help."" Desperation grips Haitian capital . Balakot was one of the worst-hit places, with one in 10 of about 20,000 residents killed, according to the local government of the Mansehra district, where the town of is located. Thousands more were injured. Pakistani authorities later planned to move the town in the country's North West Frontier Province to a completely new location, owing to its current position on a volatile fault line. The destruction of Balakot brought home to Khan how much people had lost. ""Their livelihoods disappeared overnight,"" he said. ""They had nothing, no business, money, food. ""From what I've seen on television it's similar to what is happening now in Haiti. Clearly they (Haiti) won't have the resources to cope with it, so it will require a real outside effort."" While acknowledging the importance of the international aid effort, Khan pointed to role ordinary Pakistanis played in 2005. ""It was incredible. The government was incapacitated but there were little charities and groups forming all over the area trying to help. ""I was in an earthquake-hit area on the second day and I'll never forget seeing a three-mile queue of people trying to get to what was a largely remote area to help with whatever they could put in their cars. ""The government was paralyzed but people came forward, from rich to poor, young to old."" He also pointed to the success volunteer networks had in adopting villages and towns, taking responsibility for providing basic shelter, food and medicine. ""Everyone took responsibility,"" recalled Khan. ""Each group would look after a specific issue until the local population was able to get back on its feet. ""It's so important that the aid effort continues months after the disaster."""
"(CNN) -- Mikey Welsh, most famously known as the bassist for the rock band Weezer, died unexpectedly Saturday, according to the band. He was 40. The cause of death was not immediately known. Darryl Baety, a Chicago police spokesman, said that officers responded at 1:45 p.m. Saturday to a call from the Raffaello Hotel regarding a guest who had been scheduled to check out, but had not. After first knocking on the door, hotel personnel entered and found someone who was ""unresponsive and not breathing,"" according to Baety. Police are conducting a death investigation related to the case, pending autopsy results, Baety said. According to Welsh's official website, he was a painter before he made the the shift to music at age 19. A decade later, he had achieved fame as the bassist for the band Weezer, replacing the band's longtime bassist Matt Sharp. Welsh was part of the band's 2001 ""Green Album"" release, which featured ""Hash Pipe."" The single became one of the band's biggest hits, peaking at No. 2 on Billboard's Alternative songs chart. Welsh left the band shortly after, saying he had suffered a nervous breakdown. The band remembered Welsh as vital chapter to their history and one to never ""shy away from the absurd, dangerous or strange,"" according to a statement on Weezer's website. Weezer played as scheduled Sunday during Chicago's RIOTfest. CNN's Denise Quan contributed to this report."
"Sanaa, Yemen (CNN) -- More than a million anti-government youth gathered for protests in virtually all of Yemen's provinces, witnesses said Friday, a day the protesters dubbed ""Friday of victory from God."" The largest protest was in Taiz, where more than 500,000 went into Freedom Square, numerous eyewitnesses estimated. ""We will not stop marching and protesting. We feel that victory for the Yemeni revolution is near, and our patience will pay off very soon,"" said Mansoor al-Mukbili, a youth protester in Sanaa, the nation's capital. He said the regime is gasping its last breath and the protesters will continue seeking peaceful change and denounce any sort of violence. Fuad Himyari, the head of prayers in Sanaa's Change Square, called on youth protesters to stand firm, saying the battle against the oppressive regime is coming to an end. Pro-government protests were also witnessed in the capital as President Ali Abdullah Saleh's followers continue to gather, though in small numbers. More than 50,000 supporters showed up in Sabeen Square, 2 kilometers from the Presidential Palace. Pro-Saleh chants were repeated for more than two hours. ""Saleh, Saleh, we will defend you and support you,"" his supporters repeated. Protests demanding the ouster of Saleh have been going on for eight months. The ruling General People's Congress has been continuously urging dialogue. ""In the end the only way to solve the Yemeni crisis is through dialogue. We call opposition forces to the dialogue table,"" said Hasan al-Lawzi, the information minister. Abdu al-Ganadi, the deputy information minister, advised the opposition that Yemen is not Egypt and Tunisia, and that no one side will be able to solve the current crisis. ""We need to work together to rid the country from the political stalemate,"" he said. Opposition parties insist they will not be involved in any dialogue with the Saleh regime. ""The Gulf power transfer proposal was on the table for months and Saleh refused to sign it,"" said Ahmed Bahri, head of the political circle for the opposition Haq party. ""He was guaranteed immunity and we cannot guarantee he will get it in the end."" The proposal was put forward in May by the Gulf Cooperation Council, made up of six nations on the Arabian Peninsula. Saleh had initially indicated he would go along with it, but then refused to sign. In the southern Abyan province, government forces are gaining ground in the fight against suspected al Qaeda militants. The government said troops succeeded Thursday night in taking over al-Kod, a strategic town in the outskirts of Zinjibar, the capital of the province. The armed militants fled the town and are regrouping as government forces attempt to enter Zinjibar, officials said."
"Washington (CNN) -- In what one member of Congress called ""a charade,"" a couple that showed up at President Obama's first state dinner -- uninvited, the White House claims -- declined to answer questions surrounding the event before a House committee Wednesday. Under questioning from House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Mississippi, and others, Tareq Salahi repeated over and over again, ""On the advice of counsel, I respectfully assert my right to remain silent and decline to answer your question."" The Salahis' attorney notified the committee in December that because of a pending investigation by federal prosecutors, they would not answer questions about how they gained entry to the White House on November 24, despite not being on the guest list to attend that night's state dinner for the prime minister of India. In a brief statement that opened the often-contentious hearing, Salahi chastised the committee for requiring the couple to appear despite having been told the two would invoke their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination if subpoenaed. That, he alleged, is against the ethical rules of the Washington bar. He incensed some committee members by reiterating the couple's respect for U.S. troops, the Secret Service and the president. ""You have shown effrontery here,"" said Daniel Lungren, R-California. He called it ""an abomination"" that the Salahis would invoke the name of those in uniform ""and suggest that somehow what you do provides support to them."" ""The Constitution protects fools,"" Lungren said. ""The Constitution protects stupidity. The Constitution protects errant thought. Thank God it does."" ""This was not a hearing looking for information,"" the couple's attorney, Stephen Best, told reporters after the hearing. ""This was an opportunity for a public flogging."" ""I think today's procedure is a charade,"" Rep. Mark Souder, R-Indiana, said in the hearing, referring to the Salahis' refusal to answer questions. Other committee members also lambasted the couple, alleging they put their own desire for celebrity before the security of the president and are wasting the committee's time and taxpayers' money. ""I don't respect your right to take the Fifth Amendment. Not at all,"" Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-New Jersey, told the couple. ""Were you there?"" he asked Salahi, referring to the dinner. When Salahi began, ""On the advice ..."" Pascrell interrupted him, asking, ""Are you here right now? You gonna get an answer from your attorney on that?"" Pascrell noted the committee had offered to allow the couple to speak behind closed doors. After conferring with his attorney, Salahi said, ""Yes, but you didn't offer us any legal protection."" Salahi's wife, Michaele, also invoked her Fifth Amendment right under questioning by committee members, but replied, ""yes,"" when asked if she would return to testify after the investigation has concluded. Asked by Thompson whether the state dinner appearance was part of a ""reality TV stunt,"" Tareq Salahi said the couple was under a non-disclosure agreement and ""should not discuss matters related to the television matter."" The Salahis contend they were told they could attend the program to honor India's prime minister, but the White House says they were not invited and were not on the guest list for the exclusive affair. Best said after the hearing the couple received ""representations that they relied upon"" that they were invited guests. Two Secret Service investigators were privy to this information from a person who knows the Salahis, he said. ""This was not a stunt, and they committed no criminal act."" There was no connection to any reality TV show, he said, and the Salahis were not seeking publicity. The couple has turned down multiple offers from the media to be ""rewarded handsomely,"" he added. ""Whatever the real story is, it's on the other side of the gates of the White House, not with the Salahis,"" Best said. ""They thought they were invited. ... If it was a misunderstanding, it was a misunderstanding caused by representatives of the government."" Tareq Salahi also noted in his opening statement that the couple's attorneys have offered to provide information to the committee, but that offer was declined by Thompson's staff. ""Those offers are not satisfactory,"" Thompson said. ""These lawyers were not at the state dinner and have no firsthand knowledge of the facts."" Tareq Salahi also said the couple has provided phone records, e-mails and other documentary evidence to the committee. There also was criticism of the White House in Wednesday's hearing. Rep. Peter King, R-New York, said the White House ""continues to stonewall"" and will not allow social secretary Desiree Rogers to testify on the security breach. Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs has said that allowing a White House staff member to testify before a congressional committee would violate the Constitution's separation of powers. ""I don't know what the White House is trying to hide,"" King said. ""Obviously, something went wrong, and it originated with the White House, not the Secret Service."" Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan, in previous testimony before the committee, took responsibility for the security breach, acknowledging that ""appropriate procedures were not followed."" Rep. Charles Dent, R-Pennsylvania, said Wednesday he thought it was ""unfortunate"" that Sullivan ""had to take all that grief from us."" ""I hold you responsible for it,"" he told the Salahis. ""Your actions ... made a mockery of this country, a mockery of our security,"" Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, D-Texas, told the couple. ""I'm saddened, and I'm disappointed, and I'm outraged."" Best reiterated afterward the Salahis do not want the events surrounding the dinner to detract from the ""extraordinary institution"" of the Secret Service. ""They are Americans,"" he said. ""They are proud Americans."""
"(CNN) -- Filipino hero Manny Pacquiao scored a comprehensive 12-round points victory over Timothy Bradley to regain the WBO welterweight title he controversially lost to the previously unbeaten American two years ago. At 35, many had believed that the Pacman's best years were behind him, but he was an easy winner Saturday night in Las Vegas on all three of the judges' scorecards after dominating the bout. Pacquiao improved to 56-5 with two drawn and predicted he would continue to ply his trade in the ring for some time yet. ""I think I can go another two years,"" said Pacquiao. ""I'm so happy to be world champion again. Tim Bradley was not an easy fight."" Bradley had won their 2012 clash on a disputed points decision and Pacquiao also lost his next fight when knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez in the sixth round. But he beat the promising young Brandon Rios last November to revive his fortunes and was back to his peerless best to take Bradley's perfect record. The WBO may mandate Pacquiao to face the winner of the Marquez-Mike Alvarado clash next month although the bigger prize may be a long-awaited clash with American superstar Floyd Mayweather. Contractual and legal wrangles have to date prevented a money-spinning bout between the two boxing icons but Pacquiao's performance in beating Bradley has certainly restored his reputation. A star-studded crowd watched the fight in the MGM Grand Arena and aside from a spell in the fourth round, Pacquiao was in control. Back home in the Philippines, thousands watched the fight on big screens, cheering wildly as their national hero took command. ""The people of the nation are united in cheering on the victory of the nation's fist,"" President Benigno Aquino's spokesman told AFP after the victory. Many Filipino's are still recovering from the devastating impact of Super Typhoon Haiyan last year and Aquino said Pacquiao was a symbol of resistance in the face of adversity, having himself recovered from the defeats to Bradley and Marquez."
"(CNN) -- Andy Griffith's death certificate says the actor died of a heart attack, after years of suffering from other illnesses, including coronary artery disease. The North Carolina native had long endured hypertension and hyperlipidemia, his certificate said, which can suggest high cholesterol or high triglycerides. The heart attack occurred about 24 hours before he died, the certificate says. Griffith passed away at 7 a.m. Tuesday morning and was buried less than five hours later. He was 86. 'Mayberry' remembers Andy Griffith . Most known for his role as the sheriff of Mayberry on the CBS series ""The Andy Griffith Show,"" Griffith ""has been laid to rest on his beloved Roanoke Island,"" the family said in a statement issued Tuesday. He was buried in the Griffith Family Cemetery in Manteo, North Carolina. A member of the Televison Hall of Fame, Griffith also was inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame and Museum in 2007. His 1996 album, ""I Love to Tell the Story -- 25 Timeless Hymns,"" netted him a Grammy Award. Born in Mount Airy, North Carolina, in 1926, he graduated from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1949 with a degree in music. He made his film debut in ""A Face in the Crowd"" in 1957 and made his final film appearance in ""Play the Game"" in 2009. In between, he had two successful television series -- ""The Andy Griffith Show"" and ""Matlock"" -- and appeared in dozens of other TV shows and movies. Griffith is survived by his wife and two children. Officials, stars and fans react to his death . Theme song part of Americana . What we love about Andy . Why we need our slice of Mayberry . The Throwback: Sheriff Andy Taylor's many women ."
"(CNN) -- It's the height of summer in Paris, and the director of the most famous art museum in the world is queuing like any other tourist. Three-and-a-half hours later, Jean-Luc Martinez finally enters the Louvre, putting his bag through security, asking for directions, stopping to buy snacks and drinks. It's a familiar story for anyone brave enough to join the snaking line during peak season. Less so, when you're the man who holds the key to the front door. A few months after taking the top job at the Louvre, 49-year-old Martinez went on a covert mission to see what it's really like for the average Joe jostling against the snap-happy masses. Why? ""If you are a professional, there is a risk at certain times you are only going to look at the museum with the eyes of a professional,"" he told CNN in his first television interview with the international press, since taking the role in April. ""The people who visit the Louvre might only stop by once, and a trip to Paris is the holiday of their life. We have to make sure that they are received with a certain dignity."" The people's museum? With over 9.7 million tourists streaming through the turnstiles last year -- easily making it the most popular museum on the planet -- the biggest challenge the institution now faces is not how to increase numbers, but how to improve the experience. How will Martinez, one of the institution's youngest ever directors, make that happen? ""I hope it will be more welcoming, which means that when you arrive at the museum there are less queues, that the people of foreign origin find reference points in their language, that with the help of Wi-Fi and apps you understand what you see,"" he said. ""I picture a museum in which everyone finds their space. What threatens museums is that it is only an elite which understands the works of art. I want a museum where there are young people, children, elderly people -- and that requires work."" Modest Martinez . It's an ambitious vision for the 220-year-old gallery, an institution so steeped in prestige that Martinez underwent an interview with French President Francois Hollande before being offered the role. But then, Martinez isn't like previous directors. Growing up in social housing just outside of Paris in the 1960s, his father was a postman, his mother a caretaker of an apartment building. A former archeology and art history professor, Martinez was head of the Louvre's Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities department before taking over from 12-year director Henri Loyrette -- himself the son of a business lawyer. Described by colleagues as a ""quiet intellectual with a penchant for tweed and sweater vests,"" Martinez says the first time he visited the gallery as an 11-year-old on a school trip, it revolutionized his view of the world. ""I was a kid that lived in a modern city, almost entirely dating from the 1960s,"" he said. ""And there I was, in the heart of Paris, shown works of art that were more than 5,000 years old and that history is profound."" Beyond the stars . Yet gaze across at the crowds scrambling to get a photo of the Mona Lisa -- while a room of precious Rembrandt paintings stands almost empty -- and you get the feeling not everyone shares Martinez's appreciation for the Louvre's vast collection. ""The majority of people want to see the works of art that are the most famous -- the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and the Winged Victory of Samothrace,"" said Martinez. ""We have to do some profound work to valorize the other collections."" How? Through exhibitions of lesser-known works, new educational centers, and translating information plaques into English. Brand Louvre . Of the Louvre's 460,000 works, just 35,000 are exhibited, the rest in storage deep under the famous building. That's where Louvre Lens comes in -- a €150 million ($200 million) sister gallery in a former mining town in northern France. Opened last year, the gleaming new building displays around 200 pieces on loan from Paris. It's part of a growing Louvre empire, with another gallery set to open in Abu Dhabi in 2015, exhibiting 300 works from French museums. The United Arab Emirates is paying €400 million ($538 million) for the prestigious Louvre name. And in times of austerity, it's a deal which will help the French institution revamp its entrance and ticket areas. Does the deal also devalue the Louvre brand? ""No,"" says Martinez. ""It's an agreement, a scientific partnership, an economic partnership."" With Martinez at the helm, it's also the beginning of a brave new era for the beloved institution."
"(CNN) -- The church where Colleen Ritzer's family worshiped was filled with mourners for the slain Massachusetts math teacher's funeral Monday. ""You can see the effect she has had and how the community has bonded together to commemorate and celebrate Colleen's life,"" Ritzer's cousin, Gina McDaniel, said in her eulogy. About 400 Danvers High School students were among the estimated 1,000 people who gathered to pay final respects to Ritzer, who was killed allegedly by one of her own students -- 14-year-old Philip Chism -- a week earlier. ""Colleen loved her brother and sister very much and always did her best to be a sister, friend, and mentor to them,"" McDaniel said. ""She is the daughter that every parent hopes their children will become once they grow up."" Many mourners wore pink clothing -- Ritzer's favorite color -- and pink flowers decorated the outside of Andover's St. Augustine Church. ""Colleen's gift was that of inspiration,"" McDaniel said. ""In such a short period of time, one person has made a world of difference."" The Rev. Peter G. Gori, in his homily, offered advice on how to approach Ritzer's death. Â  ""Perhaps we should ask not why, or even how she died, but rather why and how did she live,"" Gori said. Ritzer's parents, brother and sister followed the hearse to a private burial for family and close friends. Ritzer, 24, was found dead in woods near the campus where she taught Tuesday morning. Authorities are still investigating the motive for her killing. Documents filed in a Tennessee court 12 years ago may shed light on Chism's past. The documents showed that Chism's father agreed during a separation from his mother to have restricted time with his son, who was then 2, because of ""prior physical and emotional abuse as well as alcohol abuse."" The documents, however, said the parents were attempting to reconcile. Chism's uncle, Terrence Chism Blaine, told CNN that the boy's parents are now separated and that the father -- a former military man -- now lives in Florida. Blaine told CNN affiliate WKRN in Nashville, Tennessee, last week that something may have provoked his nephew. ""Might could have been upset,"" Blaine said. ""You know -- teenagers go through that. He's 14, he's growing up still. That's the only thing that I can imagine. I can't imagine anything else because he's like a storybook kid -- a perfect family."" Chism's mother, Diana Chism, released a statement through her son's attorney saying her ""heart is broken for the Ritzer family and the loss of their daughter and sister Colleen Ritzer."" ""Her son was born in love and is dear to her, very dear,"" the statement said. ""She is struggling to understand this."" CNN's Sheila Steffen and Chris Boyette contributed to this report."
"Oslo, Norway (CNN) -- The man accused of killing 77 people in a bomb-and-gun rampage in Norway last summer said his actions were justified to save the country from multicultural forces as he went on trial Monday. Anders Behring Breivik raised his arm in a fascist-style salute -- a symbol of ""strength, power and defiance against Marxist tyrants,"" to quote the 1,500-page manifesto attributed to him -- as soon as his handcuffs were removed in court Monday. ""I acknowledge the acts but do not plead guilty,"" he told the court. His trial on charges of voluntary homicide and committing acts of terror is expected to last up to 10 weeks. He is accused of setting off a bomb in central Oslo that killed eight people, then fatally shooting 69 people at a youth camp run by the ruling Labour Party on nearby Utoya Island. Dressed in a black suit and sporting a jawline beard, Breivik listened impassively as prosecutor Inga Bejer Engh read the charges, describing how dozens of young people were shot to death. Breivik says his rampage was meant to save Norway from being taken over by multicultural forces and to prevent ethnic cleansing of Norwegians, said his lawyer, Geir Lippestad. In his manifesto, Breivik railed against Muslim immigration and European liberalism, including the Labour Party, which he said was allowing the ""Islamification of Europe."" And in court, he called the trial political and objected to the judge's friendship with a former justice minister. ""I do not recognize the Norwegian court. You've gotten your mandate from political parties that support multiculturalism,"" he said. ""OK, we will make a note of that general objection,"" Judge Wenche Elizabeth Arntzen said curtly. Prosecutors played a recording of a terrified girl phoning for help during the shooting rampage, a recording punctuated by constant firing in the background. They also showed security camera video of the central Oslo bomb blast that killed eight people, images that participants in the trial watched with ashen faces. Breivik sat in court without restraints, behind a bulletproof glass barrier set up to protect him during the six hours of proceedings. Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg vowed to double down on Norway's traditions of liberal democracy in response to the attacks, and Breivik's trial appears to be no exception. ""He was so close to having a bullet between his eyes. The police were so close,"" said Jorn Overby, who rescued some 15 people from the waters off Utoya during the massacre. But Overby told CNN that he owes Breivik only ""a punch in the face for firing at me."" ""He will get the treatment he needs,"" Overby said. Experts have given different opinions about Breivik's sanity, which will be a factor in determining what punishment he receives if convicted. Norway does not have the death penalty, and sentencing options could include imprisonment or confining him to a mental facility. But Breivik's defense will try to prove he was sane at the time of the killings, Lippestad said Monday. Lippestad told reporters after the hearing that the defendant had his reasons, but would not disclose them. It is important to Breivik that he be considered sane, Lippestad said after the hearing. Prosecutors outlined Breivik's life before the killings, showing a photo of the messy room where he lived at his mother's house, listing his six failed businesses and referring to his many hours playing the online game ""World of Warcraft."" Prosecutors said he had ""no job, no salary, no money from the government"" and was ""living off his savings."" The defendant smiled briefly when his ""Warcraft"" character was shown, one of the few times he showed emotion on Monday. He also appeared to be overcome with emotion, fighting back tears, when part of his video manifesto ""Knights Templar 2083"" was played in court. Lippestad declined to say why Breivik wept, citing attorney-client privilege. But lawyers for the victims said: ""No one thought he was crying for the victims."" A survivor of Utoya Island, Tore Sinding Bekkedal, said he was surprised to experience ""a strange feeling of relief"" when prosecutors switched from listing the names of the dead to those of the wounded. ""It was an intense gratitude, Bekkedal said during a break in the proceedings. ""It took me by surprise that I felt it, that these wonderful people are still among us, that we managed to save these ones at least."" Breivik is to begin testifying Tuesday, and asked Monday for his testimony to be broadcast, claiming it as a human right. Most of the relatives of the victims do not want that to happen, according to lawyers who represent the families of victims and survivors. ""It's going to be 10 weeks of hell ... to hear this man, to hear his explanation of why he did it and how he did it,"" said Trond Henry Blattmann, whose son was killed on Utoya Island. In November, prosecutors said psychiatrists had determined that Breivik was paranoid and schizophrenic at the time of the attacks and during 13 interviews experts conducted with him afterward. However, the court sought a second opinion because of the importance of the question of sanity to Breivik's trial. In a report released this month, two court-appointed psychiatric experts said Breivik was sane at the time of the killings. The victims on Utoya Island were among 700 mostly young people attending a Labour Party camp, the same camp Stoltenberg said he had attended every summer since 1974. ""I think that one of the main messages from Norway after the tragedy ... was that we were going to protect our democracy. And part of our democracy is the divisions of responsibilities between the government and the courts. It's up to the courts to decide whether this man is going to be sentenced or not, whether he is insane or not. It's not a question which is going to be decided by politicians. That's part of our democratic society,"" Stoltenberg said. Tore Bjorgo, a terror expert and professor at Norwegian Police University College, said Breivik appears to be overly concerned about his self-image and sees himself in the role of a ""fantastic, great person who will save Europe."" ""It's we who should decide what kind of a society we want; it's not the terrorists,"" he said. ""And the logic of terrorism is to try to provoke responses to get people to act in ways the terrorists want, and it was important that we didn't do that. We didn't go down that road, and that was, I think, a big victory."" CNN's Per Nyberg and Marilia Brocchetto contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- The president of Guinea-Bissau was assassinated Monday morning, a day after an explosion killed the head of the West African country's military, the prime minister said. Circumstances of Joao Bernardo Vieira's death are unclear. It was not immediately clear how President Joao Bernardo Vieira, 69, died. Prime Minister Carlos Gomes confirmed the death to CNN. Early Monday, gunfire and rocket explosions that lasted for about an hour were heard near the presidential palace in the capital, Bissau, according to local media. Looting was later reported at the presidential palace. Army spokesman Zamora Induta said an aide to the president was killed during the gunfire. He added that the gunmen remained at-large and that a 10-member-commission will manage the army until a new chief of staff is named. The army, he said, will remain neutral. Gen. Tagme Na Waie, chief of Guinea-Bissau's military, was killed in a bomb explosion in his office Sunday, according to local news reports. Five other high-ranking military officials were wounded, two of them critically. After the attack, all local radio stations were ordered to immediately suspend their programs. The United Nations said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed dismay over the killings. ""The secretary-general strongly condemns these violent acts, which have occurred soon after successful legislative elections which paved the way for enhanced U.N. support to the country's peace-building efforts,"" the statement said. ""The secretary-general calls urgently for calm and restraint, and urges the national authorities of Guinea-Bissau to fully investigate these assassinations and bring to justice those responsible for them."" The British government issued a statement advising against ""all but essential travel"" to the country. Na Waie's predecessor also was assassinated. Soldiers shot and killed Gen. Verissimo Correia Seabra in October 2004. Guinea-Bissau, a former Portuguese colony, has a history of military coups. Monday's development is the latest violence over four months as the army and Guinea-Bissau's president have clashed.  See location map of Guinea-Bissau » . The tiny west African country, located between Guinea and Senegal, has a population of 1.5 million and is considered one of the five poorest countries in the world, according to the CIA Factbook. The country has been in a near-constant state of political upheaval since independence from Portugal in 1974. In 1980, Vieira became president after a military coup. He was accused of purging political rivals and suppressing dissent, but several coup attempts throughout the 1980s and early 1990s failed to unseat him. In 1994, the country held its first free elections, and Vieira was elected president. He held the post for five years, until a military mutiny ousted him, and the country plunged into civil war. Successor Kumba Yala took office in 2000. He also was unseated in a military coup after three years. Yala's ouster paved the way for Vieira to run for office again. In 2005, he was re-elected president, pledging to pursue economic development and national reconciliation. CNN's Umaro Djau contributed to this report."
"Munyonyo, Uganda (CNN) -- Heads of 35 African nations observed two minutes of silence Sunday to honor more than 70 people killed in terrorist bomb blasts in Uganda earlier this month as the African Union summit opened. ""Our condolences go to the people of Uganda for the tragic loss of lives following that tragic incident,"" said Bingu Wa Mutharika, AU chairman and Malawian president. ""Terrorism has no place in Africa; it has no place in the developing world,"" he said. ""Let us all condemn these acts."" The summit, which formally opened Sunday following a week of conferences, is being held at a resort hotel in Munyonyo, about 12 kilometers south of the Ugandan capital of Kampala on the shore of Lake Victoria. On July 11, three bombs at two sites in Kampala killed 74 people and injured more than 80. Many of the victims had gathered to watch the World Cup finals. The Al-Shabaab militant group, which is currently battling the weak transitional government in war-torn Somalia, claimed responsibility for the bombings, saying they were in retaliation for Uganda's contribution of troops for peacekeeping operations in Somalia. About 6,000 Ugandan and Burundian troops were deployed for the peacekeeping mission more than two years ago in the Horn of Africa nation, which has been at war for more than a decade. Mutharika, in his remarks, stopped short of making any commitment toward AU peacekeeping missions in Somali and the Darfur region of Sudan. However, AU Commission Chairman Jean Ping said on Friday that Guinea and Djibouti have battalions of soldiers ready to be be deployed to Somalia. Forty-three heads of state have said they will attend the Summit. Thirty-five had arrived by Sunday, including Libya's Moammar Gadhafi and Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan. ""While people were enjoying the World Cup, Uganda was having the dark side of it,"" Jonathan told the conference. ""Nigeria condemns that terrorist attack on innocent people in totality and we stand in solidarity with Uganda."" While the theme of the three-day summit is maternal, infant and child health, the subject has been overshadowed by the Ugandan attacks, the deteriorating security situation in Somalia and the attacks by Al-Shabaab. ""We find the terrorist bomb attacks in Kampala despicable,"" Ping told attendees Friday. ""We welcome the pledges of other countries in providing the troops to Somalia, including from Djibouti, which already has a battalion ready."" Ping said he has been discussing the issue throughout the week with various African authorities and by the end of the summit, he expects more nations to pledge troops to Somalia peacekeeping efforts. The attacks are cause for Africa to change its stance on terrorism, Adris Piebalgs, European Union commissioner for development, told reporters at the summit. ""The recent bombings in Kampala have changed things greatly. We have just witnessed AU leadership during the opening of the summit today paying more attention on terrorism coming (from) Somalia,"" Piebalgs said. ""We are seeing real commitment, with more countries contributing to the AU peacekeeping mission in Somalia."" The EU will continue its support of the mission, he said, and urges more African nations to get involved and ""deal with the problem."" U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder also spoke at the summit, saying the United States ""recognizes that ending the threat of al-Shabaab to the world will take more than just law enforcement. That is why we are working closely with the AU to support the African Union's mission in Somalia ... we pledge to maintain our support."" The United States also recognizes that ending the threat of al-Shabaab to the world will take more than just law enforcement.  That is why we are working closely with the AU to support the African Union's Mission in Somalia.  The United States applauds the heroic contributions that are being made on a daily basis by Ugandan and Burundian troops, and we pledge to maintain our support for the AU and the AU Mission in Somalia. Some 20 people have been arrested in connection with the Kampala blasts, Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni told the summit, and have been giving investigators ""useful"" information about terrorist operations. ""The organizers of these attacks have been arrested. Their interrogations are yielding useful information,"" Museveni said. ""I have great contempt for the authors of terrorism,"" he told the summit. ""... They attack innocent people. I recommend (to) the AU leaders not to accept this terrorist arrogance."" Museveni told the summit the mandate of the AU peacekeeping mission in Somalia should be changed, with troops able to beyond Mogadishu and hunt Al-Shabaab and other militant groups. Piebalgs said he would support a wider mandate for the mission from the United Nations Security Council, and urged AU leadership to seek it. Somali insurgents reportedly killed two Ugandan peacekeepers this week in attacks on AU and government military positions in Somalia's battered capital, Mogadishu. ""How can these people dare attack the AU flag?"" Museveni said. ""These terrorists can be and should be defeated. Let us act in concert and sweep them out of Africa. Let them go back to Asia and the Middle East where they came from."""
"Baghdad (CNN) -- At least 29 people were killed and more than 120 others wounded in a dozen car bomb explosions in Baghdad and Kirkuk on Wednesday, police said. In Baghdad, 10 car bombs exploded in the predominately Shiite neighborhoods, killing 24 people and wounding 110 others Wednesday evening. The 10 car bombs exploded within two hours in the Baghdad communities of Kadhimiyah, Sadr City, Saidiya, Mashtal, Baghdad al-Jadida, Al-Husseiniyah and Zafraniyah. Two car bombs exploded in the oil-rich and ethnically mixed city of Kirkuk, about 240 kilometers (149 miles) north of Baghdad. The blasts killed five people and wounded 10 others Wednesday morning, police said. These attacks came amid growing tensions between Sunnis and Shiites, especially after an incident in Hawija in Kirkuk province, where Iraqi security forces raided a site used by Sunni protesters to demonstrate against the Shiite-led government. A clash between security forces and gunmen last month killed at least 50 people and wounded more than 85 others. Sunnis, who comprise a minority of Iraqis, had clout during the Saddam Hussein era but have been politically marginalized since his overthrow. Shiites, who make up a majority of Iraqis, now dominate the government. Since December, tens of thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets of predominately Sunni provinces -- including Anbar, Nineveh, Salaheddin and Diyala -- demanding that the Shiite-led government stop what they call second-class treatment of Iraq's Sunni community. Such turnouts include protests at al-Atisam Square in Hawija. More people died violently in Iraq in April than in any other month since June 2008, the United Nations said. A total of 712 people died and 1,633 more sustained injuries ""in acts of terrorism and acts of violence,"" the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq said. Civilians made up most of the fatalities, 595 in total. They were also the vast majority of injured, numbering 1,438. Baghdad saw the most deaths with 697 fatalities. CNN's Michael Martinez contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- The mother of a Brooklyn teenager shot and killed by police demanded an investigation Thursday, saying he was ""slaughtered"" and that she wants to know why. Kimani Gray, 16, died over the weekend. His death triggered protests in Flatbush, a community in Brooklyn where distrust of the police runs deep. ""I'm still waiting for Kimani to come home,"" Carol Gray told reporters during an emotional news conference. She wore dark sunglasses and struggled to speak as she recalled picking the color of her son's casket. ""He has a curfew,"" she said. ""Sometimes he's late. Sometimes he's early depending on the night. But whatever time he gets there, I'll be real happy to see him as soon as the bell rings. And for the past couple of days, the bell hasn't rung."" According to police, plainclothes officers were on patrol in their car in Flatbush when they saw a group of men gathered on the street at about 11:30 p.m. Saturday. As the officers got closer, Kimani Gray broke from the group and adjusted his waistband. The teen ""continued to act in a suspicious manner,"" so the officers got out of their unmarked car and tried to get his attention, said a NYPD statement. Kimani Gray then ""turned on them,"" it said, and pointed a .38-caliber revolver at the officers. They fired at the teenager, striking him. The teen died at a hospital, and a loaded .38 was recovered from the scene, the statement said. One officer fired four rounds; another fired seven, according to NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne. Both are now on administrative duty. The officers were taken to a hospital and treated for what the department described as trauma and tinnitus, a ringing in the ears. Gray said that her son was killed in front of his best friend's house. She described him as a typical teenager, into girls and hanging out with friends. Most people in the city likely don't believe what police say happened Saturday, said Councilman Charles Barron, who appeared with the teen's mother at the news conference. For her part, Carol Gray said she did not think her son had a gun, but added, ""I wasn't there."" ""He is not the public's angel, but he's my angel, and he's my baby, and he was slaughtered and I want to know why,"" she said. By Monday, anger at the shooting boiled over, with a mob of young people interrupting a vigil by running wildly into local businesses, according to an eyewitness. Police said they arrested two people that day. On Tuesday, another protest brought out a mostly calm crowd that returned Wednesday, anticipating that Gray's mother would speak, said iReporter and professional photographer Joel Graham. But the hope for a peaceful crowd faded when about 30 young men showed up across the street from the vigil, he said. ""They were not coming out of the shadow. They were staying in the dark area of the street. You just knew it was going to turn into the cops trying to contain those kids who were obviously gonna go for it,"" Graham said. ""That just stopped the original intention of the night."" Graham began to take photos, watching as kids crossed the street toward the protesters. Community leaders started shouting for everyone to calm down and asked anyone taking pictures to stop so they could talk to the young men and calm things down, the photographer told CNN. ""These kids broke loose and took off. The police were caught off-guard,"" Graham said. ""Those kids really know the streets, and they're spreading out and going down side streets away from the main street."" Next came the sound of breaking glass and rolling trash cans, Graham said, and business owners quickly pulled down their metal store-front security coverings. One officer received a gash to his face while another was pushed off his scooter, police said. Forty-six arrests were made, including two juveniles, with the majority charged with disorderly conduct. On Thursday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg offered condolences to Gray's family and said that more must be done to stop gun violence. ""I can promise you that we will conduct a full and fair investigation,"" he said. ""I understand there's anger in the community, but the ways to get answers is not through violence or law breaking. We cannot tolerate that and we will not tolerate that."" The mayor said, ""there's nothing we can do to undo the tragedy for the family, but we've just got to get guns out of the hands of kids and of the people who should not have them."" Flatbush is a place where many people distrust the police, and gun violence is part of everyday life, some residents say. ""As a black man growing up in Flatbush, you just expect to be harassed by the cops, pulled over, arrested and now just straight up killed,"" said Shanduke McPhatter, a 35-year-old former gang member who works with young men in the neighborhood. ""That's what's happening out here. And kids are doing it to themselves to -- they doing the crime, too -- and you got cops who don't live here coming in here so hard, too hard. That's how we got a situation like Kimani Gray."" The violence over Gray's death will eventually subside, but the intense distrust of police will rear itself again violently soon enough in Flatbush, said Lumumba Akinwole-Bandele, a senior organizer with the NAACP. A Brooklyn resident for 41 years, he and McPhatter told CNN there are big problems to address. ""There are no community centers here,"" McPhatter said. ""That has to change. You have to be here and get involved. ""And for the cops, they just need to take that badge away and talk, talk to us like human beings. We're asking them to do that, and we've gotta open up and talk to them. We have to do our part, too. Otherwise, this is just going to keep happening."" CNN's Mary Snow and Eliott C. McLaughlin contributed to this report."
"Lisbon, Portugal (CNN)  -- Pope Benedict XVI made one of his strongest statements to date on the sex abuse scandal sweeping the Roman Catholic Church, saying Tuesday the reality he has seen is ""terrifying."" And he distanced himself from criticism of the media by senior Vatican officials, saying the most important attacks on the church don't come from the outside, they come from the sins of the members of the church, CNN senior Vatican analyst John Allen said. Benedict was speaking on his plane en route to Portugal, where he is making a four-day visit. He has said very little in public about the scandal, which has swept Western Europe this year, leading bishops to quit or offer to quit in Ireland, Germany and Belgium. Hundreds of people have come forward this year saying they were abused by priests or other Catholic authority figures there and in Austria, Netherlands and the United States. He said three weeks ago he was ""greatly moved"" by meeting victims of abuse in Valletta, Malta. He said he gave the victims ""assurances of the church's action"" after the April 18 meeting. It is not clear if he plans to meet victims of abuse in Portugal, which has not been as badly shaken by the scandal as many other European countries."
"SAN FRANCISCO, California (CNN)  -- Imagine collecting thousands of empty plastic bottles, lashing them together to make a boat and sailing the thing from California to Australia, a journey of 11,000 miles (17,700 km) through treacherous seas. This 60-foot sailboat, the Plastiki, is being built from more than 12,000 recycled plastic bottles. You'd have to be crazy, or trying to make a point. David de Rothschild is trying to make a point. De Rothschild hopes his one-of-a-kind vessel, now being built on a San Francisco pier, will boost recycling of plastic bottles, which he says are a symbol of global waste. Except for the masts, which are metal, everything on the 60-foot catamaran is made from recycled plastic. ""It's all sail power,"" he said. ""The idea is to put no kind of pollution back into the atmosphere, or into our oceans for that matter, so everything on the boat will be composted. Everything will be recycled. Even the vessel is going to end up being recycled when we finish."" De Rothschild's vessel, scheduled to set sail from San Francisco in April, is called the Plastiki. Its name is an homage of sorts to Thor Heyerdahl, the fabled Norwegian explorer who in 1947 sailed 4,300 miles across the Pacific on the Kon-Tiki, a raft made from balsa wood. De Rothschild is something of an adventurer himself. The scion of a wealthy British banking family, he is one of only several dozen people to traverse both the Arctic and Antarctic ice caps. In 2005 he founded Adventure Ecology, an organization that uses field expeditions to call attention to environmental issues.  Watch how the boat is constructed » . Joining him on the Plastiki will be a permanent crew of three sailors and scientists plus a handful of other crew members who will rotate through the voyage. The Plastiki is expected to stop in Hawaii, Tuvalu and Fiji on its way to Sydney, a trip estimated to take more than 100 days. The plastic sailboat is taking shape in an old pier building not far from this city's famous Fisherman's Wharf. Here, thousands of two-liter soda bottles are being stripped of their labels, washed, filled with dry-ice powder and then resealed. The dry ice sublimates into carbon dioxide gas and pressurizes the bottle, making it rigid. The vessel's twin hulls will be filled with 12,000 to 16,000 bottles. Skin-like panels made from recycled PET, a woven plastic fabric, will cover the hulls and a watertight cabin, which sleeps four. ""This actually is the same material that is made out of bottles,"" said de Rothschild of the PET fabric. ""We actually wrap the PET fabric over the PET foam and then basically put it under a vacuum, heat it, press it and create these long PET panels. So that means the boat is, technically, one giant bottle."" Two wind turbines and an array of solar panels will charge a bank of 12-volt batteries, which will power several onboard laptop computers, a GPS and SAT phone. Only about 10 percent of the Plastiki will be made from new materials, de Rothschild said. He declined to reveal how much it's costing him to build the boat. ""We could potentially put together a boat that costs a fraction of what normal conventional boats are made of,"" he said. ""The idea is to take the Plastiki, break it down [after the voyage], and put it back into the system. So, it may come out being a jacket, a bag, more bottles. It's infinitely recyclable."" The ultimate goal of the Plastiki voyage is not just to encourage people to embrace clean, renewable energy but also to see consumer waste as a potential resource. That's what this is all about -- showcasing cradle-to-cradle products rather than cradle-to-grave,"" de Rothschild said. Whether the Plastiki will successfully complete its unique journey remains to be seen. But to conservationists concerned about the amount of energy required to manufacture and distribute plastic bottles, its symbolic message is a welcome one. ""Anything that gets in the news and makes people stop and think about plastic can be very helpful,"" said Betty McLaughlin, executive director of the Container Recycling Institute. ""But it strikes me as a long way to go. I flew from Los Angeles to Australia once, and it took forever. This trip strikes me as kind of dangerous."""
"(CNN)  -- Martin Kaymer increased his lead in the Race to Dubai with a superlative final round of 66 at St.Andrews to claim a three-shot victory in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on Sunday. The German birdied the final two holes at the home of golf to hold off a determined challenge by England's Danny Willett as he finished on 17-under 271. But there was disappointment for Lee Westwood who needed a top two finish to immediately dislodge Tiger Woods as world number one, but struggled to a one-over 73 for a tie for 11th. Westwood, who has been struggling with a recurrence of a calf injury, then confirmed he will not play again until the end of the month at the latest. But due to a quirk of the rankings, it could mean the Englishman will take over at the top in three weeks' time unless Woods changes his plans and enters a tournament before next month's HSBC Champions in China. ""It's just got more aggravated and achy as the week has gone on,"" Westwood told Sky Sports after his round. Kaymer, who claimed his first major title with victory at the PGA Championship, was winning his third straight tournament and again showed his cool under pressure. With Willett challenging, Kaymer needed to get down in two from just off the green at the famous 17th Road Hole to stay at 15 under. But he proceeded to hole his putt to suddenly open up a two-shot lead and despite finding a tricky lie on the road at the 18th hit his approach to within 10 feet. Kaymer duly holed the putt to complete one of his ambitions of winning at St.Andrews and claim his fourth title of a superb season which has seen him move nearly $1.5 million clear of Ryder Cup teammate Graeme McDowell at the top of the European Tour money list. He had his own views on the ongoing battle to top the rankings. ""To be honest I think at the moment Lee Westwood is number one in the world,"" Kaymer said. ""He plays unbelievable golf."" Overnight leader John Parry of England recovered from a mid-round crisis to finish with a level-par 72 for 13-under and sole third. Another Englishman, Gary Boyd, finished a further shot back for fourth after a fine 68."
"Washington (CNN) -- A Chicago man who planned to travel to Somalia to fight for a terrorist group pleaded guilty on Monday to terrorism-related charges. Shaker Masri, a 28-year old U.S. citizen, pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support for Al-Shabaab, a group he knew the United States had designated as a foreign terrorist organization, according to prosecutors. In his plea agreement, Masri said that on July 19, 2010, he told an associate he ""wanted to travel to a conflict zone to engage in jihadist fighting"" and that he had the choice of going to Afghanistan to help al Qaeda or travel to Somalia to aid Al-Shabaab. Masri told his associate he had decided to go to Somalia but he needed money. The associate -- who was actually a source assisting law enforcement -- said he would help Masri but insisted on going to join Al-Shabaab as well. Masri agreed, according to the plea agreement. Over several weeks Masri and his associate worked on their travel plans including ""how to conceal their departure, the financial costs of the journey, the necessity of supplies, and the weapons they would need to acquire in Somalia."" The plea agreement says the associate asked Masri how they would link up with Al-Shabaab once they arrived in Somalia. Masri explained that they would be traveling to a part of southern Somalia that was controlled by Al-Shabaab and said ""he expected that they would be placed with a brigade of al-Shabaab's militia comprised of foreign fighters."" According to the plea agreement, Masri said to avoid suspicion they should not travel directly to East Africa. Instead Masri decided on a route through California, Mexico, and then a ""Latin or South American country that did not work with United States' law enforcement"" and then on to East Africa. Masri told his associate that once they left for Somalia they would be ""wanted men."" Masri also told his associate that he needed to get rid of his laptop because it had information that could be incriminating, and buy a new one. In late July Masri and the man he believed to be his co-conspirator purchased one-way tickets to California to begin their circuitous journey. On August 3, 2010 -- the day before their scheduled departure -- Masri and his associate drove to a liquor store where the associate allegedly picked up $18,000 to fund their trip. Next they went to a store to buy a new laptop. Masri was arrested when he left the store. Earlier in his case Masri also was charged with attempting or conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction outside the United States. A criminal complaint charged he wanted to wear a suicide vest and become a martyr with an attack on ""infidels."" Under the terms of the plea agreement that charge was dropped. Masri is scheduled to be sentenced on October 16, and his plea agreement calls for a sentence of nine years and 10 months in prison on the conspiracy to provide material support charge. Chicago terror suspect's long road to seeking martyrdom ."
"RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (CNN) -- The office of Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas has a bank of six flat-screen televisions covering most of one wall, showing all the main international English-language news channels, and several local ones besides. Major General Athar Abbas addresses a news conference in Rawalpindi on April 28, 2009. This is one of the rooms where Pakistan's media war is being fought, and Abbas, the Pakistan army's main spokesman, is a key part of the battle. I kid with him that CNN isn't among the channels on his screens, and he seems slightly hurt, insisting it is. He's right and I'm wrong -- CNN was on a commercial break. In fact, I rather get the impression Abbas, who has become the face of the army's operation against Taliban militants in the Swat Valley, watches our coverage closely. One of his subordinates complains about one of our reports -- not the accuracy, but something in the general tone. Perhaps CNN has been just a little too questioning of the army's daily press releases, which claim hundreds of enemy fighters killed, and tightly controlled media trips. Whatever Abbas thinks of CNN, he is more than willing to explain how the Pakistan army sees the broad picture as it fights in the Swat Valley. The current conflict there is intricately linked to the situation in Afghanistan, in his view. He sees Swat as a political problem, which can only be partially solved by military intervention. He claims many of the Taliban's arms are coming across the border from Afghanistan. I ask if that includes NATO weapons, as suggested in recent reports, and he agrees. He says Washington is too focused on the safety of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal. The United States should ""stop worrying about the nukes and start worrying about the weapons lost in Afghanistan,"" he says. A U.S. government report last month warned that the Pentagon did not have ""complete records"" for about one-third of the 242,000 weapons the United States had provided to the Afghan army, or for a further 135,000 weapons other countries sent. The Afghan army ""cannot fully safeguard and account for weapons,"" the Government Accountability Office found. I ask how well armed the Taliban are, and he says they are ""very well equipped from the border area."" He also conspiratorially suggests they also are getting weapons and support from ""foreign intelligence agencies."" When I ask what that means, he smiles and says he can't elaborate -- declining to repeat the speculation in the press here that India, Pakistan's traditional rival, may be somehow involved in stirring up trouble on Pakistan's northwestern border. India denies that. But the very suggestion plays to a military strategist's nightmare scenario -- the Pakistan army bogged down in the northwest, unable to focus on the disputed province of Kashmir, a key element of its conflict with India. The military wants to get done in Swat as soon as possible, but the general acknowledges its troops will be there for some time. He estimates that 10 to 15 percent of the Taliban there are foreign fighters: ""Well-trained Arabs, Afghans, with a sprinkling of central Asians and North Africans."" He also says there are Yemenis, Saudis and Uzbeks fighting, as Pakistan has become the destination du jour of the international jihadist, with Arabs in commanding positions and the other foreign fighters bringing in expertise. He thinks that perhaps Mingora, the main town at the gateway to the Swat Valley, may be secured in 48 hours, but it may be much, much longer before the area is totally pacified. ""First you have to disarm the Taliban and then re-establish the writ of government,"" he says. He admits that Swat and neighboring Bajur Districts ""were lost to the state"" and that now ""we are paying in blood for areas we had already occupied."" Now, he says, the army is set for a long fight. ""We are prepared for that -- we are mentally prepared."" But they are also prepared for the conflict to be taken to other parts of Pakistan. A building belonging to the country's powerful intelligence agency, the ISI, was bombed in Lahore this week. The Taliban claimed they carried out the attack and Abbas says the security services expect more attacks. Just hours after I left him, his fears were confirmed, as details came in of more bombings in Peshawar. And then there is also the risk of the Taliban using the mass exodus of civilians from the Swat Valley as cover to penetrate other towns and cities. Already almost 3 million people have flooded out of what was once a tranquil tourist destination, and the military fears that among the mass movement of humanity there will be those plotting to strike at the heart of Pakistan's cities. ""It's a very big issue -- a serious concern,"" Abbas says. He describes the conflict in Swat as ""an existential threat"" -- a fight for the very existence of Pakistan in its current form. And he seems acutely aware that the portrayal of that conflict to the West will be critical."
"(CNN) -- The bad news kept piling on the National Football League on Wednesday with the arrest of an Arizona Cardinals player. Police in Phoenix arrested Jonathan Dwyer after practice on multiple allegations of felony assault. It was the latest public relations blow for the most popular sports league in America, which has been the subject of public scorn and scrutiny after half a dozen players recently got into trouble or were disciplined. Here is a quick look at those players and their travails. Adrian Peterson . One of the top players in the NFL, he left the Minnesota Vikings on Wednesday to deal with child abuse accusations in Texas. Peterson had been deactivated by the Vikings and missed Sunday's game, then reactivated Monday. But the team said it needed to correct its mistake and deactivated him again. Peterson then took a leave of absence and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell placed him on the exempt list, which gives the team the opportunity to continue to pay him while he deals with his legal issues. At no point has Peterson been suspended. Greg Hardy . The Carolina Panthers' defensive star also took a leave of absence because of legal troubles. As with Peterson, Hardy will be paid while he is away from the team. Hardy was convicted by a judge in July on misdemeanor assault charges. He asked for a new trial in front of a jury, which is scheduled for mid-November. Hardy played one game then was deactivated as the outrage against the NFL grew over how it was dealing with domestic violence issues. He has proclaimed his innocence of the charges, which were filed after police said he assaulted his then-girlfriend and threatened to kill her. He was sentenced to 18 months probation and a 60-day suspended . Jonathan Dwyer . The most recent player to be arrested, the running back is alleged to have assaulted a 27-year-old woman and an 18-month-old child. A Phoenix police spokesman, Sgt. Trent Crump, said it would be reckless to identify the victims. Dwyer, 25, was spending Wednesday night in the Maricopa County jail and the Arizona Cardinals deactivated him. He won't be able to take part in any team activities, if he is released from jail. Crump said two incidents were reported by neighbors in July. The woman didn't allege any violence until last week when she called from another state, where she had moved with the child. The most serious of six charges were three counts of assault, one of which caused a fracture. Dwyer was being held in the Maricopa County Jail and couldn't comment. CNN's attempt to reach his agent was unsuccessful. Ray Rice . The running back without a team is appealing his indefinite suspension by the league. While Rice has called punching his future wife in the head and knocking her out ""inexcusable,"" he is seeking to have the opportunity to play in the NFL again. The players' union has complained that Rice didn't receive due process from Goodell, who suspended him in June to a two-game ban, then increased the penalty to an indefinite suspension. That came earlier this month after TMZ Sports posted a video that showed the punch. Rice was three days away from completing the original suspension when the indefinite ban was handed down and when the Baltimore Ravens terminated his contract. Ray McDonald . Three days after Goodell created a new NFL policy against domestic violence on August 28, San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Ray McDonald was arrested on an accusation of felony domestic violence. The new policy imposes a minimum six-game unpaid ban for first-time offenders and up to a lifetime ban for second-time offenders. No charges have been filed in the incident involving McDonald. Neither the team nor the league has levied any discipline in the case and the starter at left defensive tackle played the first two games of the season. Quincy Enunwa . The Jets practice squad player's arrest went practically overlooked outside of the New York area. According to USA Today's ""NFL Players Arrests"" tracker, he was arrested September 4. Enunwa was charged with simple assault after a woman told police he pulled her off a bed at a hotel, causing her a head injury, ESPNNewYork.com reported. He pleaded not guilty, ESPN said, adding that the player was still practicing with the team."
"(CNN) -- One half Indian, the other Pakistani, they are the most talked-about partnership in tennis. Dubbed ""the Indo-Pakistan Express,"" Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi hope to end their breakthrough year with a showdown at the infamous Wagah border that divides their countries. Bopanna, an Indian Hindu, and Qureshi, a Pakistani Muslim also aged 30, reached their first major doubles final at the U.S. Open in September and climbed to eighth in the world rankings. Yet their work off the court has attracted just as much attention as they try to soften the often-fractious relationship between their two nations since partition in 1947. The pair have been honored with a string of awards for their humanitarian work in the past 12 months, and are determined to start picking up tournament titles in 2011. Can champion duo's reunion spark an Indian tennis boom? But a showpiece clash at the notorious border crossing that hosts a nightly pageant between India and Pakistan's border forces would be the perfect way to carry their ""Stop War, Start Tennis"" campaign into the new year. ""We're thinking how to get to a wider audience and spread the message of peace through our partnership and thought,"" Qureshi told CNN's Open Court. ""How about playing a match at the Wagah border, with Rohan playing on the Pakistani side and me on the Indian side for a gesture of friendship? ""At the U.S. Open the ambassadors to the United Nations for Pakistan and India both came to watch the semifinals and finals. That was a huge deal because normally you don't see two diplomats cheering for one cause -- it was a really positive sign. I just hope in the near future we can have that match at the border, that would be great."" The village of Wagah, near the Indian city of Amritsar and the Pakistani city of Lahore, is the only road border crossing between the two countries, and the daily ceremony -- which includes a lot of strutting, stamping and saluting -- regularly attracts a crowd of thousands. A match there could be a watershed moment for a pairing that first emerged in 2003 but did not make a major impact until this season. Their burgeoning partnership on court is allied to a deep-rooted desire to strengthen links between two countries which have a long and deep distrust of each other. ""We're both brand ambassadors for an organization called Peace and Sport,"" Bopanna said. ""Right now we're trying to see if we can help tennis in both our countries, promote it and keep the sport growing as much as we can."" As well as receiving the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year award at the recent ATP World Tour Finals in London, they were also given the Peace and Sport Award for 2010 at a glittering ceremony in Monaco. The citation read: ""Their commitment to promoting peace between the two countries and their conviction that peace was possible was shown amply during the year."" Joel Bouzou, president of the Peace and Sport Foundation, added of the proposed Wagah match: ""The sport is ready for peace. Will the two governments rise to the occasion?"" Their partnership may have attracted plenty of headlines but for Qureshi, teaming up with his Indian counterpart made perfect sense. ""I've been playing with Indian players ever since I started playing tennis,"" he said. ""Unfortunately there are not that many Pakistanis on the tour, and playing with an Indian was actually the most natural thing that came to me -- having the same language, most of the time having the same dinner, Indian or Pakistani foods in the evening. ""The first time I ever traveled to India when I was 16, I was one of the top [Pakistani] juniors and he was one of the top juniors in India and that's how I got to know him. ""Knowing his attacking style of play, I always knew if we played together we'd be able to make a really good impact. I think results clearly show in that way I was right, though normally he tells me that I am always wrong!"" As well as their run to the final of the U.S. Open, where they were beaten by the Bryan brothers from America, they also enjoyed success at Wimbledon which made them household names back home. ""This year we made the quarterfinal at Wimbledon and that was very, very big in Pakistan,"" Qureshi said. ""I've always told him I think he's the most popular Indian guy in Pakistan this year! ""I can thank him enough for that because obviously without him I wouldn't have been able to achieve all those goals, and with him being my best friend on the tour it makes it the icing on the cake. It's been a great journey so far."""
"London (CNN)A UK public inquiry into the 2006 death of Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko opened Tuesday at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, after years of wrangling over what evidence can be heard. In a deathbed statement, Litvinenko blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for ordering his poisoning by tea at a London hotel. The Kremlin has always strongly denied the accusation. Sir Robert Owen, who's chairman of the inquiry, said Tuesday that sensitive material relating to possible Russian state involvement in Litvinenko's death would be heard behind closed doors. The British government initially rejected requests to hold a public inquiry, but the decision was reversed last summer after Litvinenko's widow, Marina Litvinenko, challenged it in court. She argued that a public inquiry would enable the fullest possible investigation. An inquest -- a coroner-led investigation that is held as a matter of course in the case of unnatural deaths in England -- had been opened after her husband's death. But unlike a public inquiry, it cannot hear evidence behind closed doors. In Alexander Litvinenko's case, such evidence could involve matters of national security. ""The issues to which his death gives rise are of the utmost gravity and have attracted worldwide interest and concern,"" Owen said. Litvinenko, a former KGB agent and fierce critic of Putin, came to Britain in 2000 after turning whistle-blower on the FSB, the KGB's successor. He died at a London hospital on November 23, 2006, after being poisoned by the radioactive material polonium-210 while drinking tea at the Millennium Hotel in London's Grosvenor Square. UK prosecutors have asked for the extradition of two men, Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun, from Russia in connection with Litvinenko's murder. But Moscow has refused, saying Russia's constitution does not allow the extradition of Russian citizens. Both men deny involvement in Litvinenko's death. Owen said that Lugovoi and Kovtun had been invited to give evidence to the inquiry by video link from Russia and that he hoped they would do so. The public inquiry will look at possible Russian state involvement in Litvinenko's death. However, it will not address the question as to whether the UK government could, or should, have taken steps to prevent the murder. Litvinenko is said by his widow to have been a British agent, with a handler at MI6, Britain's foreign security service. In 2012, the counsel to the inquest, Hugh Davies, said evidence provided by the UK government showed Russian involvement and ""does establish a prima facie case as to the culpability of the Russian state in the death of Alexander Litvinenko."" The inquest has been put on hold while the public inquiry is held. Owen, the coroner in the inquest, said the open hearings in the inquiry should conclude before Easter; that is, early April. More than 70 witnesses are due to be called over the coming weeks, including family and friends of Litvinenko, those who worked with him before his death, medical staff who treated him after he fell ill and the pathologists who conducted his autopsy, the court heard. The pathologists will testify Wednesday on the postmortem results. The presence of radiation in Litvinenko's body complicated the autopsy, the inquiry heard. A nuclear scientist will also give evidence Wednesday about polonium-210, its qualities, where it can be found and what effect it has on the body once ingested. In the course of the inquiry, evidence may also deal with the contamination risk posed to the wider public by the transfer of such highly radioactive material. Owen said polonium could have been used to ""kill large numbers of people or spread general panic and hysteria among the public."""
"Tokyo (CNN) -- Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged to move forward swiftly with his plans to revive Japan's staggering economy after weekend elections gave his Liberal Democratic Party control of the upper house of parliament. The conservative LDP and its coalition partner together won 76 of the 121 seats in the House of Councillors, giving them a total of 133 votes in the 242-member chamber. Afterward, Abe said he wanted to press ahead with his plans -- including his economic programs -- ""with speed."" ""I would like to meet the expectation of the Japanese people,"" Abe said after Sunday's vote. ""Since the inauguration of my administration, we have been appealing that our policies are the only way to go. We believe that the Japanese people pushed us to make policy decisions and bring about the result."" The LDP controls the lower house of the Diet, Japan's parliament. But until Sunday, the House of Councillors was led by opposition parties that had made it difficult for Abe to get his program through the chamber. Abe took office in December, becoming Japan's seventh prime minister in six years and taking a second turn at the job. He immediately launched a program nicknamed ""Abenomics,"" a combination of coordinated government spending, structural reforms and central bank stimulus. The plan was to boost prices and end 15 years of deflation, leading to more robust growth for the world's third-largest economy. And Japan's economy surged in the first quarter of 2013, growing a faster-than-expected 3.5% -- but a stock-market skid in June raised questions about whether policymakers can pull off the high-wire act in the heavily indebted country. CNN's Yoko Wakatsuki reported from Tokyo; Matt Smith reported and wrote from Atlanta."
"(CNN) -- Bryan and Donna Scott married a year and a half after meeting on the beach in their home state of Florida. For their wedding, they received several antiques that they often spent weekends fixing up. The hobby became a habit as they frequented garage and estate sales, looking for old lighting fixtures they could make new. Eventually, requests came in from family and friends who wanted them, and then from an online store Bryan set up. By 2008, when recession caused many small businesses to close shop, the Scotts left their day jobs to grow the business, Barn Light Electric Company. ""I always tell people I became an accidental business owner,"" founder and owner Bryan said. ""It just happened. It was so successful and grew so much."" The Scotts, both 48, left careers in law enforcement and nursing to focus on Barn Light. The company, based in Titusville, Florida, manufactures and sells vintage-inspired lighting fixtures and has expanded into other industrial-styled goods. Last year, Scott reported, the company pulled in $10 million in revenue. It wasn't always easy. They used their first profits to pay off bills in the event their success was only a flash. ""After we quit our jobs, it was scary at that point. I didn't know if it was going to last,"" he said. Going from ""fixed income to being responsible for your own paycheck,"" they realized that the livelihood of their three children and then-staff of three employees depended on Barn Light's success. It motivated them to keep working hard and stay grounded. They've been married for 29 years, Scott said, and building Barn Light made them stronger. He is the ""gas,"" and Donna is the ""bricks,"" he said of their collaborative management of the company; he runs the manufacturing while she heads the administration, sales and marketing. He has some advice for others interested in turning their hobbies into a business. ""First, have a passion for what you're doing and don't approach it as a money-making opportunity,"" he said. ""Second, find that unserved niche within your hobby and aggressively go after it. Third, be a good blogger/copywriter or find someone who can do this for you."" Scott attributes their success largely to being unique. They're manufacturing vintage-inspired lighting styles and specialize in porcelain enamel finishes, a process the company says ""has not been seen in America for over 50 years."" The company bought the patents of old lighting businesses, including Benjamin Electric Manufacturing Company, and allows employees and customers to suggest ideas for new styles. A sense of family within the workplace and a strong connection to their Florida town has helped sustain and grow the business, they said. The Scotts both grew up in Titusville, famous for the Kennedy Space Center. They've hired an eclectic group of employees, including longtime workers on the space shuttle program, coal miners and about a dozen convicted felons with whom that Bryan developed relationships and offered a second chance. ""They put heart and soul into the company. [They're] some of our best workers,"" Scott said, and noted that some of them are now in managerial positions. Johnny Bragg, manufacturing general manager for Barn Light and Bryan Scott's uncle, calls Barn Light the best job he's ever had. ""I'm a veteran. I like American-made products,"" he said. ""Employees take pride in their work."" Bragg thinks of his fellow employees as close friends, he said. They ""don't just leave because it's the end of the day but because they've done a good job for Barn Light."" The company pays well, employees said, and has a sense of humor, too. After a string of visitors became pregnant after drinking from a certain water fountain, they hung a sign that says, ""Warning! Drinking from this water may cause pregnancy."" One employee's wife intentionally drank from the fountain to test the myth -- and turned out to be pregnant. They grew from a spare bedroom, to the garage, to a storefront and eventually, to three facilities -- shipping and assembly, porcelain enamel production and administration. The company is planning a move into one large building to bring their 80 employees under one roof in September, although projected growth suggests they might need to move in a few years. Locals may see a new building and go ""Oh, its Barn Light, they're getting bigger again,"" Barn Light's communications coordinator Betty Lynne said. ""It speaks to his heart,"" Lynne says of Bryan and the work ethic of the couple. ""He's one of the few people I know that loves going to work every day and loves what he does."""
"(CNN) -- England coach Fabio Capello has been forced to go back on his previously iron-clad rules in selecting his preliminary squad for the World Cup in South Africa. The Italian has always said he would not pick players who are injured or out of form, but has brought Liverpool's Jamie Carragher out of international retirement to bolster his defensive options as cover with injury-prone captain Rio Ferdinand and Ledley King also in the 30-man line-up. Neither Carragher nor versatile Tottenham star King have yet played for Capello, who retained his midfield mainstay Gareth Barry despite the Manchester City player being in doubt for the June 12 opener against the United States due to injury. Carragher made himself unavailable in 2007 after not being often used by previous managers Sven-Goran Eriksson and Steve McClaren despite being regularly named in squads. Blog: Will ""the Force"" be with Capello at World Cup? Capello also asked Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes to become available again following his own international retirement in 2004, but the 35-year-old turned down the opportunity. ""He said no, he preferred to stay with the family. But I tried,"" Capello told the UK Press Association. Liverpool fullback Glen Johnson was named despite being sidelined with injury, while striker Emile Heskey retained his place although he has not been a first-choice selection for his club Aston Villa. Key forward Wayne Rooney was named despite his niggling groin problem, with Tottenham's Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch taking the other striking spots along with Sunderland's 25-goal Darren Bent. Winger Aaron Lennon was included after only recently returning with Tottenham after a long-term absence, as was fellow right-sided player Shaun Wright-Phillips despite his failure to win a regular place at Manchester City, who also have 22-year-old Adam Johnson in the squad. Midfielder Joe Cole also got the nod, having last played for England in 2008, after a strong end to a season that saw him on the fringe of league champions Chelsea's first team. Italy's 2006 World Cup-winning coach Marcelo Lippi has stuck with the players who qualified for South Africa in his 30-man squad, resisting suggestions that he should bring in-form Roma striker Francesco Totti out of international retirement. Totti's on-loan teammate Luca Toni also missed out along with veteran Juventus forward Alessandro Del Piero, with Villarreal's Giuseppe Rossi one of seven strikers named. Inter Milan's controversial Italy under-21 forward Mario Balotelli missed out as Fabio Quagliarella (Napoli), Vincenzo Iaquinta (Juventus), Antonio Di Natale (Udinese), Marco Borriello (Milan), Alberto Gilardino (Fiorentina) and Giampaolo Pazzini (Sampdoria) were picked. Lippi omitted his former Juventus player Nicola Legrottaglie despite the defender being included in a recent 29-man training squad. France coach Raymond Domenech left out young Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema in his 30-man selection, while the omission of veteran midfielder Patrick Vieira means Thierry Henry is the only survivor from the 1998 World Cup-winning squad. Arsenal midfielder Samir Nasri also missed out, but four of his clubmates in England -- Gael Clichy, William Gallas, Abou Diaby and Bacary Sagna -- were included. However, defender Gallas has been warned by Domenech that he must prove his fitness, having been sidelined since March with a leg injury. Veteran Netherlands striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy has missed out on a place in coach Bert van Marwijk's 30-man, potentially signaling the end of the 33-year-old's international career. Van Nistelrooy left Real Madrid to join German club Hamburg to revive his hopes following a serious knee injury, but Van Marwijk said the player had not returned to a high enough level to be selected. ""I told him that we have followed him closely and admire his commitment and dedication to get to the World Cup,"" Van Marwijk told AD Sportwereld. ""I believe that Ruud is fit, but after his lengthy knee injury he does not have time to get back to his old level."" Dutch champions Twente have only two players in the squad, which features 14 overseas-based names. Feyenoord defender Giovanni van Bronckhorst, 35, has announced he will retire after the month-long tournament. Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz named a 24-man squad due to doubts over a couple of players including Real Madrid defender Pepe, who has only just returned to training after being sidelined since December. Goalkeepers Beto and Daniel Fernandes were named as deputies to Braga's Eduardo despite not playing in any of the qualifiers, but there were no other surprises for the 2006 semifinalists, who will be led by Real superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. Spain coach Vicente del Bosque is giving injured stars Andreas Iniesta, Fernando Torres and Cesc Fabregas every chance to be fit, naming the key trio in a 30-man squad including five goalkeepers. Uncapped Barcelona No. 1 Victor Valdes and Atletico Madrid's 19-year-old David De Gea were selected along with Real Madrid's Iker Casillas, Liverpool's Jose Reina and Diego Lopez of Villarreal. Barcelona winger Pedro Rodriguez, Osasuna defender Cesar Azpilicueta and Athletic Bilbao midfielder Javi Martinez were named despite having won only under-21 caps. Barca 19-year-old Bojan Krkic, who missed Spain's Euro 2008 success at his own request due to fatigue, has again been omitted. Slovakia defender Martin Skrtel, Filip Holosko and fellow striker Robert Vittek were named in a 29-man squad by coach Vladimir Weiss despite their recent injury problems. Liverpool's Skrtel has not played for three months since breaking a bone in his foot, while Holosko is struggling to get over a broken leg suffered last year and Vittek -- who is also based in Turkey -- has had a knee problem. Weiss also selected his 20-year-old son and namesake Vladimir of English club Manchester City, who as loaned to Bolton this season. Serbia coach Radomir Antic named just five home-based players in his 30-man squad, with six from English Premier League clubs including key defender Nemanja Vidic of Manchester United. Slovenia boss Matjaz Kek kept faith with the players who helped the small East European nation qualify for the second time when he named his 30-man squad. Denmark coach Morten Olsen picked Thomas Sorensen in his 26-man squad despite the goalkeeper suffered a dislocated elbow on duty with English club Stoke last month. Olsen, who won more than 100 caps as a player and took Denmark to the 2002 World Cup, gave defender Patrick Mtiliga his first call-up since his debut in November 2008. Greece coach Otto Rehhagel has picked Christos Patsatzoglou and Giorgos Seitaridis despite the duo's struggles with injuries this season. The German selected nine overseas-based players including qualifying campaign top scorer Theofanis Gekas of Hertha Berlin, Celtic striker Georgios Samaras and Liverpool defender Sotiris Kyrgiakos. Switzerland coach Ottmar Hitzfeld named an experienced 23-man squad for the finals, with seven players in reserve. The German has stuck with the likes of Blaise Nkufo of Dutch champions Twente, fellow striker Alexander Frei and midfielder Hakin Yakin, who are all 30 and above. Defender Philippe Senderos was included despite his lack of action with English club Arsenal, while Sampdoria midfielder Marco Padalino and Kosovo-born Swiss under-21 international Xherdan Shaqiri were also included."
"(CNN) -- Rizana Nafeek was a child herself -- 17 years old, according to her birth certificate -- when a four-month-old baby died in her care in Saudi Arabia. She had migrated from Sri Lanka only weeks earlier to be a domestic worker for a Saudi family. Although Rizana said the baby died in a choking accident, Saudi courts convicted her of murder and sentenced her to death. On Wednesday, the Saudi government carried out the sentence in a gruesome fashion, by beheading Rizana. Read more: Outrage over beheading of Sri Lankan woman by Saudi Arabia . Rizana's case was rife with problems from the beginning. A recruitment agency in Sri Lanka knew she was legally too young to migrate, but she had falsified papers to say she was 23. After the baby died, Rizana gave a confession that she said was made under duress -- she later retracted it. She had no lawyer to defend her until after she was sentenced to death and no competent interpreter during her trial. Her sentence violated international law, which prohibits the death penalty for crimes committed before age 18. Rizana's fate should arouse international outrage. But it should also spotlight the precarious existence of other domestic workers. At least 1.5 million work in Saudi Arabia alone and more than 50 million -- mainly women and girls -- are employed worldwide according to the International Labour Organization (ILO). Read more: Indonesian maid escapes execution in Saudi Arabia . Again according to the ILO, the number of domestic workers worldwide has grown by more than 50% since the mid-1990s. Many, like Rizana, seek employment in foreign countries where they may be unfamiliar with the language and legal system and have few rights. When Rizana traveled to Saudi Arabia, for example, she may not have known that many Saudi employers confiscate domestic workers' passports and confine them inside their home, cutting them off from the outside world and sources of help. It is unlikely that anyone ever told her about Saudi Arabia's flawed criminal justice system or that while many domestic workers find kind employers who treat them well, others are forced to work for months or even years without pay and subjected to physical or sexual abuse. Read more: Saudi woman beheaded for 'witchcraft and sorcery' Conditions for migrant domestic workers in Saudi Arabia are among some of the worst, but domestic workers in other countries rarely enjoy the same rights as other workers. In a new report this week, the International Labour Organization says that nearly 30% of the world's domestic workers are completely excluded from national labor laws. They typically earn only 40% of the average wage of other workers. Forty-five percent aren't even entitled by law to a weekly day off. Last year, I interviewed young girls in Morocco who worked 12 hours a day, 7 days a week for a fraction of the minimum wage. One girl began working at age 12 and told me: ""I don't mind working, but to be beaten and not to have enough food, this is the hardest part."" Many governments have finally begun to recognize the risks and exploitation domestic workers face. During 2012, dozens of countries took action to strengthen protections for domestic workers. Thailand, and Singapore approved measures to give domestic workers a weekly day off, while Venezuela and the Philippines adopted broad laws for domestic workers ensuring a minimum wage, paid holidays, and limits to their working hours. Brazil is amending its constitution to state that domestic workers have all the same rights as other workers. Bahrain codified access to mediation of labor disputes. Read more: Convicted killer beheaded, put on display in Saudi Arabia . Perhaps most significantly, eight countries acted in 2012 to ratify -- and therefore be legally bound by -- the Domestic Workers Convention, with more poised to follow suit this year. The convention is a groundbreaking treaty adopted in 2011 to guarantee domestic workers the same protections available to other workers, including weekly days off, effective complaints procedures and protection from violence. The Convention also has specific protections for domestic workers under the age of 18 and provisions for regulating and monitoring recruitment agencies. All governments should ratify the convention. Many reforms are needed to prevent another tragic case like that of Rizana Nafeek. The obvious one is for Saudi Arabia to stop its use of the death penalty and end its outlier status as one of only three countries worldwide to execute people for crimes committed while a child. Labor reforms are also critically important. They may have prevented the recruitment of a 17 year old for migration abroad in the first place. And they can protect millions of other domestic workers who labor with precariously few guarantees for their safety and rights. Read more: Malala, others on front lines in fight for women . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Jo Becker."
"NEW YORK (CNN) -- Lawyers for former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn urged a judge on Wednesday to dismiss a civil suit brought against him by the New York hotel housekeeper who accused him of assaulting her last year. The case ""must be dismissed,"" asserted lawyer Amit Mehta, because Strauss-Kahn enjoyed diplomatic immunity as an ""executive of a multilateral organization."" Judge Douglas McKeon told the Bronx courtroom that he would ""expeditiously issue a decision"" deciding whether the case could proceed. Strauss-Kahn headed the IMF, an international organization consisting of 187 member-states with headquarters in Washington, D.C. The IMF provides loans to countries that are suffering economic difficulties. He resigned his position soon after his arrest by New York police in May 2011, when he was charged with criminally assaulting a housekeeper in a Manhattan hotel suite. The housekeeper, Nafissatou Diallo, accused Strauss-Kahn of attempting to rape her when she walked into his suite. Police subsequently removed him from an Air France flight about to depart New York's Kennedy Airport and jailed him before his arraignment in criminal court. The arrest of such a high-profile international political figure who was preparing a presidential run in his native France sparked worldwide media interest. But, the criminal case against Strauss-Kahn was later dropped by New York prosecutors, because of credibility issues they cited in Diallo's account. The interesting life of Dominique Strauss-Kahn . In August, Diallo's lawyers served Strauss-Kahn with a civil suit seeking damages stemming from the alleged assault in the hotel. Lawyer Douglas Wigdor told the court Wednesday that Strauss-Kahn ""brutally sexually assaulted"" Diallo, arguing that Strauss-Kahn does not enjoy blanket diplomatic immunity from civil action. As head of the IMF, Strauss-Kahn did enjoy some immunity, but a key sticking point is whether it extended to situations beyond his official duties. ""Immunity is only provided for official actions,"" argued Wigdor. ""Absolute immunity does not apply to all situations."" Strauss-Kahn's lawyers did not invoke his immunity from prosecution during the criminal case. Wigdor ridiculed the fact that they would invoke it in the civil case, but not the criminal case as ""piecemeal immunity."" But, Mehta countered that Strauss-Kahn was eager to assert his innocence in the criminal proceedings, and so he didn't invoke whatever immunity he enjoyed as IMF chief. In the months following the hotel accusation last year, other allegations surfaced. Anne Mansouret, a Socialist member of the French parliament, said Strauss-Kahn had attacked her daughter. A complaint was filed, alleging a 2002 attack, though it could not be pursued because the statute of limitations had expired. Currently, Strauss-Kahn faces another legal battle -- this time the case centers on an investigation into a high-profile prostitution network operating out of luxury hotels in the French city of Lille. Strauss-Kahn has been formally warned by French authorities that he is under investigation for ""aggravated pimping,"" and has been released on 100,000-euro bail. CNN's Simon Rushton contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Manchester United ended 10-man Chelsea's hopes of winning a trophy this season with a 2-1 home victory that put Alex Ferguson's side into the semifinals of the Champions League for the fourth time in five seasons. A goal in each half from Javier Hernandez and Park Ji-Sung ensured a 3-1 aggregate win for the English Premier League leaders, who beat Chelsea in the 2008 final on penalties in Moscow. United will next face either defending European champions Inter Milan or Schalke, who hold a 5-2 lead ahead of Wednesday's second leg in Germany. The future of Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti is now in considerable doubt after a disappointing season which has seen the London side's domestic title reign realistically over with seven games to play. Ancelotti in troubled waters at the Bridge . The Italian raised eyebrows when he chose to start misfiring $80 million signing Fernando Torres up front with Nicolas Anelka and Florent Malouda flanking him, leaving former spearhead Didier Drogba on the bench. The Ivory Coast striker made an immediate impact after replacing Torres at halftime, and got Chelsea back into the match soon after Ramires' 70th-minute sending-off -- only for poor defending to allow United to regain a two-goal overall lead straight away. ""A lot of people thought Drogba would play,"" Ferguson told reporters. ""I thought having signed Torres for the money they did they had to play him. I wasn't 100% sure but I couldn't see how they could leave Torres out."" Ancelotti admitted he might have made a mistake in starting the Spain striker, who has not scored since leaving Liverpool at the end of January. ""Maybe. Could be. I told you a lot of times this season I wanted to start with Fernando for this kind of game, these type of tactics,"" the former AC Milan coach said. ""Didier played well in the second half. I wanted to put more pressure up front because we needed to score. Didier was fresh and he could use his power up front. This was the reason I took out Fernando."" The home side, having survived some early scares, thought they had scored in the 27th minute when Hernandez stole in at the near post to head home Wayne Rooney's cross, but the Mexico international strayed marginally offside. The breakthrough came two minutes before halftime as veteran Ryan Giggs combined well with John O'Shea to burst into the right side of the penalty area and slide a pinpoint low cross with his favored left foot to an unmarked Hernandez at the far post. Messi record as Barcelona go through . Ancelotti replaced Anelka, the club's top scorer in Europe this season, with Salomon Kalou after an hour but United could have gone further ahead as goalkeeper Petr Cech did well to keep out a low shot from Nani and then Giggs aimed a weak header after more good work by Rooney. Ramires, who was denied a penalty in injury-time in the first leg at Stamford Bridge last week, received his second yellow card after a tackle from behind on Nani. The first, also for a foul on the Portugal midfielder in the opening half, had already meant the Brazil midfielder would have been suspended for the first leg of the semifinal if Chelsea had progressed. With Nani replaced by Antonio Valencia in the 75th minute, Chelsea took advantage to level on the night as Michael Essien picked out Drogba with a lofted through pass and the 33-year-old chested the ball down and fired a low shot past Edwin van der Sar. Rooney gives Manchester United the edge . But Chelsea's excitement lasted less than 30 seconds as United surged forward, with Rooney and Giggs combining to set up hard-working South Korean midfielder Park -- who slotted in a low left-foot shot. It was the 37-year-old Giggs' third assist of the quarterfinal, having also set up Rooney's first-leg winner. The win kept United, the European runners-up in 2009, on course for a treble this season ahead of Saturday's FA Cup semifinal against local rivals Manchester City."
"(CNN) -- Oscar Pistorius will once again don the blade-shaped prosthetic legs, which he has made famous, and dash around a track, his family said. But the Olympic athlete charged with premeditated murder for the shooting death of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, is not training to compete again. He is running for the sake of his emotional health, the statement said. ""His focus at this time remains entirely on the court case,"" the family said Thursday. They have pushed him to spend time on the track in hopes it will help him ""process his trauma and prepare for the trial."" Pistorius is scheduled to appear in court again on August 19, which would have been Steenkamp's 30th birthday. The double amputee track star killed the woman he calls the love of his life on Valentine's Day in his apartment. He says he mistook her for a home invader. EXCLUSIVE: Oscar Pistorius heartbroken, uncle says ."
"(CNN) -- A Russian jetliner crashed on landing in the city of Kazan, killing all 50 aboard, authorities there reported Sunday. Tatarstan Airlines flight 363 carried 44 passengers and a crew of six, Emergency Situations Ministry spokeswoman Irina Rossius said. There were no survivors. The dead included Lt. Gen. Alexander Antonov, the regional chief of Russia's Federal Security Service, and Irek Minnikhanov, the son of Tatarstan regional President Rustam Minnikhanov, Russia's state news service RIA Novosti reported. A British national was also among those killed, the UK foreign ministry said. The Boeing 737 took off from Moscow's Domodedovo International Airport, about 700 kilometers (450 miles) west of Kazan, Rossius said. There was no immediate indication of the cause of the crash, which occurred about 7:25 p.m., the ministry said. Russia's Interstate Aviation Committee has launched an investigation, and the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and Boeing are assisting. Boeing said it ""extends its deepest condolences to the families of those who perished."" The jet was 23 years old and had been in service with at least eight airlines, including Air France, Uganda Airlines and Bulgaria Air, according to aviation industry websites. In a November 2012 flight, it was forced to cut short a flight to Moscow and return to Kazan after losing cabin pressure, according to the website AeroInside. Russia has tried to improve its checkered reputation for air safety in recent years. In 2011, then-President Dmitry Medvedev grounded two classes of Soviet-era aircraft after a pair of crashes that killed more than 90 people, including a charter plane crash that killed an entire professional hockey team. Medvedev said Russia would have to upgrade its aircraft fleet, step up safety standards and radically cut the number of airlines. 4 die in Bahamas plane crash . Plane crashes in Bolivia, killing 8 . Southwest Airlines pilot tells passengers ""We're going down"""
"NEW YORK (CNN) -- Most New Yorkers and visitors to Times Square know of The Naked Cowboy. The Naked Cowboy is part of the scenery at New York City's Times Square. For the past 10 years, he's the guy you've seen on the sidewalk, with the great body, strumming his guitar and singing, dressed in a cowboy hat, cowboy boots and underwear -- and nothing else, even in the dead of winter. As a native New Yorker, I will admit that at times, it has been my guilty pleasure to walk or drive by The Cowboy to see if he can bear the elements. To my amazement, he's always there and pretty naked -- in rain, sleet, snow, heat or bitter cold. I've even taken pictures.  Watch The Naked Cowboy in his natural habitat » . Well, it seems that Mars Inc., the makers of M&Ms, also knows about Robert Burck (The Cowboy's real name). Burck sued Mars this week for $6 million in federal court in New York. The allegations: trademark infringement under the Lanham Act and violation of his right of publicity under New York Civil Rights Law §51, arising from a video billboard for M&Ms. The video ad depicts an M&M frolicking around New York, in what kind of looks like Times Square, in what kind of looks like The Naked Cowboy's outfit -- briefs and nothing more than a smile. There have been plenty of jokes about the lawsuit, and I'm especially fond of the ones found on The Wall Street Journal Law Blog on Thursday, such as: . All jokes aside, I think he may have a case. In order for him to show trademark infringement, The Naked Cowboy has to be trademarked; has to prove that Mars, without his consent, infringed upon the trademark; and has to show there's a ""likelihood of confusion"" between his trademark and the allegedly infringing mark -- in this case the naked M&M. To state a claim under New York's civil rights law, Burck has to show that Mars used his name, portrait or picture for purposes of trade or advertising, and without his written consent. Surprising to some -- at least to me -- The Naked Cowboy's name and likeness are in fact registered trademarks owned by Burck. According to the complaint, Burck has licensed The Naked Cowboy name and/or likeness to companies for the purposes of advertising and endorsement. Mars, Inc., had no immediate comment. His character is part of the USA Network's ""Characters Welcome"" campaign; he appeared in a music video for the song ""Rockstar"" by the multiplatinum artist Nickelback; and he's featured singing in the video game ""True Crime: New York City at Times Square."" He also has appeared in several movies and television programs, including ""Starship Dave,"" ""Survive This,"" ""Mulva: Zombie A** Kicker,"" ""Steve Harvey's Big Time,"" ""New York Minute,"" ""Creature Feature,"" ""Lonely Planet,"" ""Troma's Edge,"" ""American Icon"" and ""The Howard Stern Show."" He even appeared in a Chevrolet commercial that debuted during Super Bowl XLI. And this isn't the first time a pseudo-celebrity (sorry Cowboy) has sued and won. Remember Vanna White? She was awarded $403,000 when Samsung used a robot, wearing a blond wig, jewelry and a dress, that turned letters on a game board similar to White's role on ""Wheel of Fortune,"" the TV game show. Still laughing? I'm not. At the end of the day, this lawsuit may be the end of the era of the ""naked"" cowboy. I predict he will be able to afford some very nice duds. E-mail to a friend ."
"MOSCOW, Russia (CNN)  -- Russian authorities are investigating the recent killing of a model-turned-bodyguard. Anna Loginova in a photo shoot for the Russian edition of Maxim magazine. Anna Loginova, a 29-year-old former successful model, ran a private security firm of female bodyguards, highly trained in martial arts, demanding high prices to protect Russian billionaires. One notable client was Russian boxer Kostya Tszyu. A carjacker pulled Loginova out of her Porsche Cayenne Sunday in Moscow. Loginova grabbed onto the door handle as the car picked up speed and she was dragged along the street before letting go as the car sped away. ""An intruder just threw her out of the car"" Russian police stated, ""She grabbed the door handle, but when the car picked up speed, she let go."" Her fearlessness proved fatal. Loginova died on the scene from serious cranial injuries. The vehicle was later found abandoned in southern Moscow. Luxury car theft is common in Moscow. Loginova told Maxim magazine in a recently taped interview that she fought off a car thief just four months ago. ""I stepped out of my car and closed the door when I suddenly saw a young man near me. He grabbed me by the arm in which I was holding the car keys,"" she was quoted as saying. ""By reflex, I used a jiu-jitsu technique. I twisted his arm and hit him on the face with my elbow. The guy obviously was not expecting such a reaction. He fell down on the rear windshield, which gave me enough time to grab my gun. He immediately jumped into his Honda and drove away,"" Those who knew her said she was never deterred by danger. For many Russians she was a feminine icon, bridging the glamorous world of modeling and the rough underbelly of Russian crime. ""I think she was kind and sweet, not like a terminator, not like Sigourney Weaver in 'Aliens'"" said Igor Cherski from Maxim magazine ""but I feel that she was not afraid of anything, there was no fear in her eyes."" E-mail to a friend ."
"(CNN) -- The man who led Germany to a World Cup win both as a player and a coach admits he has lost faith in FIFA due to the way the voting process for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments was handled. Franz Beckenbauer, a member of FIFA's executive committee, criticized football's governing body after the amount of votes each bidder received was made public. Beckenbauer was one of the 22 FIFA members who voted in the process and claims he was assured that the details would remain private. Yet soon after it was announced that Russia had won the right to host the 2018 competition, and Qatar had secured the 2022 version, media were reporting that two of the favorites, England and Australia, attracted just two votes and one vote respectively. It led to an angry reaction from representatives of the England and Australia bid teams and Beckenbauer acknowledges his faith in FIFA has been shaken as a result. ""I am disappointed with the way FIFA dealt with the result. The seven losing countries were treated disgracefully, particularly England and Australia, Beckenbauer told German newspaper Bild. ""All of us ExCo members were told ahead of the ballot that neither we nor the public would ever know the exact number of votes for each country. After each round of voting we were told only which country had been ruled out. ""Then, a few hours later, I was hearing from journalists what the exact voting had been. It's certainly affected my confidence in FIFA."" England were particularly vociferous in their criticism of FIFA and claimed several committee members promised them votes that didn't materialize. Ron Walker, a member of the Australian Football Federation, claimed the voting process had been ""contaminated"" in the year leading up to the announcement on December 2. Beckenbauer was instrumental in taking the World Cup to Germany in 2006 having won the tournament as a player in 1974 and as a coach in 1990. He announced in November that he will step down from his current role with FIFA in March in order to spend more time with his family."
"(CNN) -- The number of cases of E. coli stemming from a county fair in North Carolina has grown to 38, including one child who died, the state's department of health said Monday. More than 165,000 people attended the Cleveland County Fair, which ended October 7. Eight people have been hospitalized for E. coli infections. Two-year-old Gage Lafevers of Bessemer City died Friday, CNN affiliate WBTV reported. There are more than 700 strains of the bacteria E. coli. Although most of them are harmless, some can cause serious problems by attacking the intestinal tract. Contracting certain forms of E. coli can lead to diarrhea, nausea, dehydration and in some cases, death. Symptoms of E. coli infection can occur as late as 10 days after exposure, the North Carolina health department said. ""Not much we can say until things are definitely connected and hopefully we can know soon,"" Cleveland County Fair Manager Calvin Hastings said. ""All we can do is hope and pray for the families."" WBTV reported that as many as 75 people who attended the fair have been interviewed by officials, but authorities have yet to discern a possible source of the infection. Health officials said 22 of the people sickened are children. The outbreak comes about a year after one at the North Carolina State Fair in Raleigh affected 27 people. The source of that outbreak was a building that housed animals, officials said. Food recall roundup . Kroger recalls bagged spinach . Food safety tips from a pro . E. coli outbreak sickens 14 in six states . CNN's Joe Sutton contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- It's no shock that people love to hate Facebook. On Friday, for some, the emphasis shifted to hate as Facebook went public, turning its CEO into a billionaire and, as CNNMoney gracefully put it, making ""thousands of millionaires"" out of the rest of its staff and stockholders. ""Well most Americans are bitter and hateful toward anyone and anything more successful than themselves,"" one commenter wrote on that story. ""Just me or anyone else really hoping for Facebook stock to take a nose dive and never come back up? I want to watch it drop like a rock,"" one Twitter user wrote on the eve of Facebook's initial public offering Thursday. The anti-social network: Life without Facebook . Here's a rant from one financial analyst, spotted by Time.com, which shares a parent company with CNN and authored a recent post called ""Sick of hearing about Facebook? You're not alone."" ""But do I really need to see another article about how the Ferrari dealers in Silicon Valley have brought in extra inventory in anticipation of all the new millionaires? Or how Menlo Park and Palo Alto housing prices, which were already sky-high, are soaring even higher from all the new money?"" the analyst, Tracey Ryniec, wrote. ""I can't wait for this week to be over so we can talk about some other companies."" Some of the venom online was directed at the Winklevoss twins, those rowing-happy Harvard kids who repeatedly have been suing for part of Facebook. Dubbed ""the Winklevii"" in the film ""The Social Network,"" Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are set to make millions off of Facebook's IPO despite the fact that some courts have rejected their claims that Zuckerberg stole their idea for his blockbuster website. They could make $228 million for their 6 million shares in the company, according to a CNNMoney gallery on Facebook's new billionaires. At The New Yorker, Silvia Killingsworth writes that we all should give the Winklevii a bit of a break -- especially since they've been good sports about their anti-fame: . ""Sure, the Winklevii may sound a little cheesy finishing each other's sentences -- a well-enunciated mix of locker-room pep talk and well-worn entrepreneurial Web-2.0 jargon -- and they will be subject to Al Gore-style Internet-invention jokes until the end of time. But who'd have known they'd be such good sportsmen about it? In the movie, Cameron gets frustrated at one point and hollers. 'Screw it! Let's gut the frigging nerd!' In real life, the twins seem to have become entirely content with chasing the nerd around the courts, and collecting their cut of the biggest tech I.P.O. in history."" Others are teasing CEO Mark Zuckerberg himself. The comedian Andy Borowitz posted a fake letter from the 28-year-old to potential investors. It opens: . ""For years, you've wasted your time on Facebook. Now here's your chance to waste your money on it, too."" It ends like this: . ""One last thing: what will, I, Mark Zuckerberg, do with the $18 billion I'm expected to earn from Facebook's IPO? Well, I'm considering buying Greece, but that would still leave me with $18 billion. LOL. Friend me, Mark"" According to The New York Times, Facebook's new billionaires may spend their money in subtle (but still over-the-top) ways. On Thursday, the paper looked at spending culture in Silicon Valley, finding that the really rich types spend money in ways that are difficult to detect without a rich-person radar: . ""Fabulous home theaters are tucked into the basements of plain suburban houses. Bespoke jeans that start at $1,200 can be detected only by a tiny red logo on the button. The hand-painted Italian bicycles that flash across Silicon Valley on Saturday mornings have become the new Ferrari -- and only the cognoscenti could imagine that they cost more than $20,000,"" Somini Sengupta writes for the paper. ""Even at Facebook, ground zero for the nouveau tech riche, peer pressure dictates that consumption be kept on the down low."" Part of the reason some people are frustrated with Facebook this week is that all of us -- the users of Facebook -- are essentially the ones making the company so much money. My colleague Doug Gross looked at this on Wednesday. If you want to make the point really personal, check out this widget, which will tell you exactly how many dollars your Facebook page is making for the company. It's an estimate, of course, but it brings the point home. Here are details on the math they're using to make the calculations, in case you're feeling brainy. Others used the opportunity to gripe about Facebook's privacy settings, which are notoriously complicated (perhaps since the company wants info to be public): . ""Why is Facebook going public? They couldn't figure out the privacy settings either,"" wrote one Twitter user. Not all of the reaction is negative, of course. Many tech bloggers and Wall Street watchers are cheering on Facebook's run at the market, saying it's yet another Steve Jobsian expression of the American Dream. ""In 2004, who could have predicted that a Harvard sophomore would be destined to lead his dorm-room creation to a gajillion-dollar IPO eight years later?"" wrote Kasia Cieplak-Mayr von Baldegg at The Atlantic. ""The life and times of Mark Zuckerberg are dramatic, even epic, and -- you might say -- lyrical."" For more on that, check out this faux-musical about the company's rise. ""I'm happy for Facebook, Zuck and others put in their own time efforts and own capital they deserve this reward,"" another Twitter pundit said. ""American Dream!"" Some people will see this post and say, ""Yeah, yeah yeah. Haters gonna hate."" That's the tack Facebook appears to be taking. According to the blog TechCrunch, Facebook's Toronto office created a poster that counters all the negativity by saying ""Likers gonna like"" -- a riff on the site's mechanism for sharing content with friends. The blog post ends with this little bit of sappy futurism: . ""Facebook's mission is 'making the world more open and connected.' Sometimes that means making people uncomfortable at first. You don't have to agree with how Mark Zuckerberg does things, and you can hate if you want to. But remember, Facebook's just the messenger. The message is the future."" Feel free to complain about that in the comments section."
"(CNN) -- The first time an assassin's bullet tried to find her, Maria Santos Gorrostieta escaped, but her husband was killed. That was in 2009, when she was mayor of Tiquicheo, a small town in the Mexican state of Michoacan, which has seen some of the most brutal drug-related violence. President-elect: More than drugs define Mexico . The bullets found her in January of 2010, but again, she survived. She remained defiant, lifting her shirt at one point to show reporters her bullet wounds and scars after the second attack. Gorrostieta finished her term as mayor in 2011 and remarried. But the forces who wanted her dead prevailed this month, kidnapping her while she drove her daughter to school. Gorrostieta's body was found last week, her hands bound. No bullets this time. Investigators said there was evidence of a blow to the back of the head. It was a shocking end to a public servant who vowed to put her small town's interests first while she held a position that many try to influence. ""I will rise up again as many times as God allows me to so that I can keep on seeking, fighting for, and working out plans, projects and actions for the benefit of the people, especially those most in need,"" Gorrostieta, who was also a medical doctor, said after one of the unsuccessful attacks against her. Michoacan is the scene of a turf war between rival drug cartels, and smaller organized crime groups operate there as well. In 2009, she spoke about the importance of entrusting the mayor's office to a woman. ""The most important thing is not to be afraid,"" she said then, gaining a reputation for civic-mindedness. Stories of heroes and villains constantly emerge from Mexico, where acts of bravery and savagery coexist in the midst of a plague of drug violence. Mexican beauty queen killed in shootout . Mexican president-elect: Not just drugs . Gorrostieta's story appears to fall easily within the heroic category, though a report published Tuesday in the leading newspaper El Universal is a reminder that the most accurate tales often include shades of gray. Even though a majority of Mexico is safe from drug violence, the newspaper described Gorrostieta's city of Tiquicheo as one where the local drug trade called the shots and, citing unnamed sources, may have factored in its politics. Investigators are not ruling out any possible motives -- political, personal or criminal -- in her killing, the state's deputy attorney general, Marco Aguilera, told CNN. The investigation is focusing on reconstructing the 11 months of Gorrostieta's life since leaving office and whether there is anything that indicates impending danger. The former mayor did not reach out to authorities to seek protection or to report threats at any time, Aguilera said. The deputy attorney general said that her first husband, Jose Sanchez, had been the target of a failed assassination attempt before the first attack against his wife, in which Sanchez died. Between them, the couple was targeted a total of four times, and a motive for the attacks was never established, Aguilera said."
"(CNN) -- New Sunderland owner Ellis Short insists that he will not interfere on the football side following his takeover of the English Premier League club. Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn, left, and new owner Ellis Short at the club's final game of the season. The American billionaire will buy out the controlling interest of the Drumaville Consortium headed by club chairman Niall Quinn, upping his stake from 30% to 100%. Based in Texas, he has made the North-East club the fourth in the Premier League to have American owners, alongside Aston Villa, Manchester United and Liverpool. His move came hot on the heels of news on Wednesday that Portsmouth owner Alexandre Gaydamak had agreed to sell his club to United Arab Emirates businessman Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim -- who was previously instrumental in the Abu Dhabi United Group's takeover of Manchester City. Short, who saw Sunderland avoid relegation on the final day of the season last weekend, told the club's Web site that he will be sticking to the financial side of the business and allowing former Black Cats striker Quinn to deal with football operations. ""Niall runs the club,"" the 48-year-old said. ""Niall is a very smart footballer, very smart about the Premier League and is a wonderful chairman of the club who knows more about football than I ever will, so I will be in the background and Niall will be running the show. ""I will be involved in things like finance. With me coming in, you get all of these other good ingredients that are already in place at the club and can add to that a streamlined decision making process, a streamlined board and with some financial ability to make some moves -- and we think that is the missing piece that this club has needed."" Short funded Sunderland's transfer business last summer, with former manager Roy Keane spending large before surprisingly quitting in December after a poor run of results. His replacement Ricky Sbragia stood down last weekend after guiding the team to safety, and Sunderland have now been linked with a move for Wigan boss Steve Bruce. Short said he was prepared to further invest money in new players for next season. ""It's a very big club with a lot of fans, a big stadium and a lot of revenue -- and when you are in a position where we are, trying to improve it, it takes money,"" he said. ""But if that money is invested wisely, and the personnel decisions that you make are good ones, then I'm not worried at all. I fully expect that Niall will be able to make good personnel decisions going forward."" Sunderland announced on Thursday that veteran Dwight Yorke was one of seven players to be released ahead of next season. The 37-year-old Trinidad and Tobago international, who is out of contract, will depart the Stadium of Light along with striker David Connolly, midfielder Arnau Riera, goalkeepers Darren Ward and Nick Colgan and young defenders Peter Hartley and Niall McArdle. Meanwhile, prospective Portsmouth owner Al Fahim has told fans he intends to build a ""great football club"" once his takeover is completed. Pompey have accepted an offer from the Arab property magnate, and a period of due diligence will take place in the next few weeks. ""Everything I have seen makes me sure that we can build a great football club in the years to come,"" he told arabianbusiness.com. ""Portsmouth has incredible history, and its fans are some of the most loyal in the world of football. I look forward not just to working with them, but listening to their views on how they want to take the club forward. ""I am the investor, but this is their club and their community -- and it is a privilege to be taking charge."""
"(CNN) -- After more than a dozen trips to the Middle East and 14 months of unbridled optimism on the prospects for peace in the region and his own ability to negotiate it, John Kerry on Friday finally sounded defeated. While Kerry has made the peace process his priority since taking office, his focus has been challenged by the civil war in Syria, nuclear negotiations with Iran and, now, Russian moves against Ukraine. He acknowledged the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was still a global concern, but that the United States had a full agenda. ""We have an enormous amount on the plate,"" he said, adding what were possibly the toughest comments he has made about the parties' intransigence. ""There are limits to the amount of time and effort that the United States can spend if the parties themselves are unwilling to take constructive steps in order to be able to move forward,"" Kerry said. The past week was particularly frustrating for Kerry. Israel reneged on a scheduled release of Palestinian prisoners and the Palestinians responded by signing on to join 15 international bodies in defiance of their own commitment not to seek international recognition as a state. Kerry blindly stated the obvious when he called both moves ""not helpful."" Since beginning his peace mission, Kerry's lofty goals have become significantly more modest. In July, he announced a bid to reach a peace deal within nine months. But as time rolled by with little progress, Kerry sought to get Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to agree to a framework, which would form the basis for a comprehensive peace treaty. With the deadline set to expire on April 29, Kerry and his aides have struggled to get the parties to extend the talks, even putting the potential release of Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard on the table to secure the Palestinian prisoner release. Kerry said ""neither party has said that they've called it off."" And one Palestinian source close to the negotiations told CNN's Ben Wedeman that Palestinians were still committed to the talks until the April deadline. After that, he said, ""we are free."" Neither of those are ringing endorsements. Even if both sides are willing to mark time for another month, it's clear the peace process is on life support. While Kerry isn't ready to pull the plug entirely, he said the United States would ""evaluate what is possible and what is not possible,"" suggesting Washington may recalibrate its role as broker of the peace process as a result. ""We're not going to sit there indefinitely. This is not an open-ended effort,"" Kerry said Friday in Morocco. ""It's reality check time."""
"(CNN) -- President Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF party dismissed Monday a ""confidential"" cable released by WikiLeaks that claims the Zimbabwean leader has cancer. WikiLeaks claimed Friday that Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono had told the former U.S. ambassador Christopher Dell during a private meeting in 2006 that Mugabe had prostate cancer that had spread to other organs. ""If he was that ill (in 2006), how come he is still going strong? I have seen him for a long time and even last week, he has no health problems. There is a lot of things that are not true in that,"" said Rugare Gumbo, Zanu PF spokesperson, referring to the WikiLeaks cable. The cables claimed that Grace, Mugabe's wife, had told Gono that the 87-year-old was ""out of it about 75% of the time."" ""The governor (Gono) confided that Mugabe appeared to be deteriorating mentally and losing his capacity to balance factional interests,"" Dell wrote in his report after meeting Gono who has repeatedly denied claims of having an affair with Grace. ""She (Grace) wanted him (Mugabe) to step down."" Gono did not answer several calls made to him by CNN."
"(CNN) -- Those aboard an American Airlines airplane from London got to see a little more of America than they expected Friday, after their flight was diverted to Tulsa, Oklahoma, due to engine trouble. Flight 79 took off from Heathrow Airport at 3 p.m. (10 a.m. ET), destined for Dallas, Texas, according to American Airlines' website. The Boeing 777-200 airliner made it over the United States, but not to its final destination. It was diverted to Tulsa due to an issue with the plane's left engine, American Airlines spokeswoman Laura Masvidal told CNN. She did not specify what the issue was. Its flight crew declared an emergency before landing at Tulsa's airport shortly after 6:30 p.m. CT (7:30 p.m. ET). One problem -- besides whatever happened to the left engine -- is that Tulsa's airport doesn't have U.S. Customs and Border Protection workers on hand to handle incoming international travelers. That means the aircraft's 230 passengers and 14 crew members have to wait on the airport's tarmac, according to Masvidal. The aircraft that will take them to Dallas was set to leave that Texas city around 9:15 p.m. for Tulsa. According to American's website, it should have Flight 79's passengers and presumably crew on board when it departs Oklahoma at 10 p.m. If all goes according to plan -- this time around -- this aircraft should arrive at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport a few minutes after 11 p.m. local time. For those keeping score at home, that amounts to 14 hours after Flight 79's passengers first took off from London. CNN's Mayra Cuevas contributed to this report."
"America's first permanent English settlement, a military club for African-American officers, an unused airline terminal and Houston's Astrodome have all been labeled ""endangered"" by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The trust's 26th annual list of America's 11 most endangered historic places spotlights significant architectural, cultural and other structures and places at risk of destruction by human or natural forces. ""The listing on the '11 most endangered list' has a tremendous effect in mobilizing constituencies to find a productive way"" to save these places and ""usher them into their next chapter,"" said Stephanie Meeks, president and CEO of the nonprofit National Trust for Historic Preservation. Over the last 25 years, ""we've had a 97% success rate"" of saving places on the list, Meeks said. Local coalitions ""get a big boost and additional support emerges from the shadows when people learn for the first time that a resource is threatened."" Airports where architecture soars . A black officers' club in Arizona, the spiritual center of African-American life in Maine and a general store/residence for Chinese-American laborers in California also made the list this year, a result of the trust's outreach to minority communities ""to represent diverse facets of American history,"" she said. Anyone can nominate a place for inclusion on the list, she said. Trust employees decide the final list, looking at the national significance of the structure or place, the urgency of the threat facing the place (whether by people or nature) and the possibility of a successful resolution. The existence of a coalition with a plan to save the place also helps. View the photo gallery above to see the full list of 11 endangered places. 8 amazing outdoor music venues ."
"(CNN) -- Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky is giving people whiplash. In the last month, he has shifted, flip-flopped and pandered so strikingly on a range of positions and statements that it makes you wonder whether he has suddenly developed a deep disregard for his own convictions, or never had any to begin with. At the Urban League's National Convention in Cincinnati in July, Paul expressed support for the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act and talked about the necessity of protecting the rights of minorities. Kudos to him for even showing up, not a usual move for Republicans. But we must hold him accountable for his past statements that private businesses had the right to deny service to anyone they wanted, something the Civil Rights Act specifically forbids. Last year when the Supreme Court struck down key provisions of the Voting Rights Act, Paul seemed to suggest it wasn't necessary, since we had an ""African-American president."" Just a few days ago, in a flip-flop worthy of the International House of Pancakes, a straight faced Paul denied ever saying the United States should stop sending any military aid to Israel. Does he really think that little of American voters? Let's refresh the senator's memory. In 2011, Paul put forth a budget proposal that would have cut $500 billion from the federal budget and would have ended all foreign aid, including to Israel. He has since engaged in pretzel-like messaging maneuvers trying to rewrite history to fit reality -- one where a Republican candidate perceived as even the slightest bit anti-Israel can kiss any chance of the Republican presidential nomination good-bye. It gets better. Or at least more cringe-worthy. Paul has repeatedly said he is a huge proponent of immigration reform and understands how wrong his party has been on this issue. Frankly, this is one instance on which I have given Paul props for being on the right side of history, the American people and the long-term viability of his party with at least a glimmer of hope and an opening to start a conversation with Latino voters. That hope fizzled recently when first, Paul decided to go campaign for Rep. Steve King of Iowa, the most anti-immigrant/anti-immigration reform member of Congress. Then, in a grand gesture, a profile in courage, Paul could not have fled faster as Erika Andiola, an undocumented ""Dreamer"" confronted King at an event, with Paul sitting right next to him. According to his staff, Paul left so abruptly because he was late for a media interview. Maybe. Or maybe, he didn't have the guts to reconcile his hypocritical pro-immigration reform statements with his support of someone like King. At least King, who stayed and spoke with the young woman, had the courage of his convictions, twisted as they are. Maybe there is something in the water in Iowa. Or something in the voters. Oh, yes, they get to decide presidential nominees. That must explain why Paul, in another rewrite of his record, said he didn't think anyone there wanted to ban birth control. This is a tad bit different from reality. Paul's staff should remind him we can all do Internet searches for what our elected officials have said and done in the past. In 2013, Paul introduced the personhood amendment that would not only have banned abortions but also would have in effect banned many forms of birth control, including some forms of the pill. Paul also supported the Blunt Amendment, which would have given employers an excuse to deny contraceptive health care coverage based on their conscience. When this was defeated in the Senate and the issue made its way to the Supreme Court in the form of the Hobby Lobby case, Paul praised the decision that lets employers deny such coverage on religious grounds. Every one of these flips underscores how the GOP has flopped in gaining traction with key demographics it will need to be competitive in a 2016 general election. This last one underscores how nervous Republicans are that even in the midterms, the ever-growing gender gap might be big enough to deny the ""Republican wave"" the party is dreaming about--and that would include taking over the Senate. As a strategist, I understand Paul's (and his party's) frustration and the need to try to bamboozle the public into thinking he supports something he has denied in the past, and sometimes vice versa. It's very confusing. But as a woman and a Latina, a member of two key constituencies where Republicans desperately need to gain support if they are ever to see the inside of the Oval Office, I am offended. I can read. I can do research. This is not George Orwell's ""1984."" Paul does not get to rewrite history and pretend he is not doing so."
"(CNN) -- Two catchphrases have dominated stories about women in the election cycle this year: ""the war on women"" and ""having it all."" It is time to change the conversation. Women are the voters most likely to matter on November 6 -- they make up the majority of undecided voters and they outvote men. But to win women's votes, Mitt Romney and President Obama must talk about what really matters to them. I know something about that from my students. The young women in my classes look to the future and want to know how to create workable lives for their families. They know about the pay gap. They know their earnings will matter to their families. They know their mothers are often starved for time. ""How are we supposed to do it?"" they ask, over and over. We have not been giving them good answers. Undoubtedly, the issues raised in claims about a ""war on women"" and the difficulty of ""having it all"" are important. But those arguments don't fully address my students' questions. In order for the candidates to speak directly to women, they need to talk about jobs, but not just any jobs.Â  What matters are good jobs that make family lives sustainable. Pay equity is the tip of the iceberg. Consider this from the Center for American Progress: Including all workers, the median full-time female worker earned $10,784 less in 2010 than the median full-time male worker. Over a 40-year career, that wage gap adds up to more than $400,000. This pay discrepancy affects the economic well-being of American households. Women comprise two-thirds of American family breadwinners and co-breadwinners. Inequality in pay means families have less money for quality child care, less education, fewer doctor visits and more scrambling to make ends meet, year in and year out. It's not just households and family life that suffer. So does the economy. Studies confirm that stretched workers mean lower productivity. But pay alone won't make the difference. All workers have family responsibilities. When women ask about fair pay, they are also asking about how to get jobs that make it possible to take a sick child to the doctor. They are asking about how to make sure fathers can get away from work early enough to make dinner, too. Flexibility is a universal concern for American workers, not simply a women's issue. As President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers reported in 2009, workplace flexibility increases productivity and reduces turnover and absenteeism. It's good for the economy, and good for families. A Reuters poll this month showed that women make up 54% of the undecided voters and their No.1 concern is family well-being. Contraception and reproductive rights, of course, matter a great deal to female voters. But if that's the only issue the candidates talk about, they ignore the worries that women wake up to every morning as they hustle children through bowls of cereal and pile out the door to work. Here is what the candidates can do: . First, fight for the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would expand 1963's Equal Pay Act and make it easier for women to compare their pay with that of fellow workers. Paycheck Fairness was blocked this year in Congress; it needs to be reintroduced. In our service economy, women still dominate in the lowest-paid jobs.  Because women's pay has become more and more essential to their families, those historic inequities matter more and more. Second, fight for workplace flexibility. Family responsibilities burden all workers, men as well as women, regardless of pay. This is a social and economic reality that the nation must face. America needs leaders who will drag our workplaces out of the 1950s and into the 21st century. Finally, support paid sick days nationwide. Forty percent of the people in the work force do not have paid sick days, which puts them in danger of losing their jobs when they are sick; millions more cannot take sick days to care for their children. Support for the Healthy Families Act before Congress is critical. This legislation would grant workers up to seven job-protected paid sick days each year, to use not just when they are ill, but for helping sick family members and preventive care. There is still time, but not much, for me to tell my students that the candidates have some answers to their questions. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Kirsten Swinth."
"Mogadishu, Somalia (CNN)At least 15 people, including two members of Parliament and a deputy mayor, were killed Friday when militants attacked a hotel frequented by government officials in the heart of Somalia's capital, police said. The bloodshed began when a car packed with explosives blew up near the main gate of the high-profile Central Hotel, which is a few miles from Somalia's presidential palace, Mogadishu police Capt. Hassan Abdi told CNN. The explosion was followed by heavy gunfire between the attackers and hotel guards, witnesses said. Then came a second blast -- a suicide bombing carried out by a woman near a mosque inside the hotel -- as other attackers shot their way in, Abdi said. ""I saw ... several people burned by the flames of the explosions lying on the blood-filled ground inside the hotel,"" said Mustaf Mohamed, who runs a small shop nearby. Government ministers, members of Parliament, army officers and other officials often go to the Central Hotel. Deputy Prime Minister Mohamed Omar Arte was among those inside at the time of the attack, having just attended traditional Friday prayers there. He suffered minor injuries but survived, according to state media, as did Transportation Minister Ali Jama Jangeli. But other prominent politicians did not make it. They include Parliament members Hajji Gafe and Ali Omar, as well as Mohamed Aden Guled, Mogadishu's deputy mayor, Abdi said. In addition to the dead, 20 others were wounded in the attack. Al-Shabaab, an Islamist extremist group blamed for terrorist acts in Somalia and beyond over the years, claimed responsibility, Sheikh Abdiaziz Abu Musab, a spokesman, said on militant-run Andulus radio. Villa Somalia, the East African country's equivalent of the U.S. White House, sharply condemned what it called ""today's outrage."" The presidential palace tweeted, citing President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, ""#AlShabaab are un-Islamic and anti-democracy."" Since emerging in the mid-2000s, Al-Shabaab has been intent on taking control of Somalia, one of the world's poorest countries, with a gross domestic product per person that ranks 226th out of 228 countries. Its militants have repeatedly targeted Somali officials, soldiers and institutions in the East African nation. The group's focus has broadened, especially since then-leader Ahmed Godane announced in 2012 that his followers ""will march with (al Qaeda) as loyal soldiers."" What is Al-Shabaab, and what does it want? The following year, Al-Shabaab carried out its most high-profile operation yet at the upscale Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya. Shoppers were gunned down, held hostage and tortured. Four days later, the siege ended with as many as 67 dead and parts of the mall destroyed. Al-Shabaab has never forgotten its home base of Somalia. The Somali government, helped by allies including the United States and African Union, has managed to strike significant blows against the group, including a 2014 U.S. operation that killed Godane. But Al-Shabaab has continued its campaign of violence in attacks such as a suicide blast last month on a Somali army convoy in Mogadishu, the bombing of a bus carrying Kenyan teachers in Galkayo, Somalia, and an attack on an African Union military base. Journalist Omar Nor reported from Mogadishu, and CNN's Greg Botelho wrote from Atlanta."
"WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Navy arrested nine more suspected pirates off the coast of Somalia Thursday -- the second capture in two days -- after receiving a distress call from an Indian-flagged commercial ship. Suspected pirates are arrested in the Gulf of Aden. According to the Navy announcement, at 4 a.m. local time the Indian-flagged Premdivya sent a distress call to all ships in the area reporting that she had been fired upon by a small skiff, and suspected pirates were attempting to board it. A U.S. Navy helicopter crew was launched from the USS Vella Gulf and fired two warning shots at the small boat to get them to stop. A Navy boarding team was then launched to investigate the skiff's crew and found rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons on board the small craft, according to Navy officials. The suspected pirates were taken aboard the USS Vella Gulf and processed. They'll be moved to a temporary holding facility aboard the larger USNS Lewis and Clark, according to the statement. The Navy is now holding a total of 16 suspected pirates while the U.S. and Kenyan governments work out legal details on how the suspects will be moved to Kenya for prosecution. Last month, the United States and Kenya signed an agreement saying that suspected pirates captured by U.S. ships will be moved to Kenya to be tried for their crimes. The capture Wednesday of seven suspected pirates marks the first time the United States was able to capture and hold pirates since its forces began patrolling the dangerous waters off Somalia. Piracy has become a chronic problem off the Horn of Africa in recent years, with some pirates operating from largely lawless Somalia. Pirates attacked nearly 100 vessels and hijacked as many as 40 in the waters off the coast of Somalia in 2008, according to the International Maritime Bureau. The task force led by the Vella Gulf was set up in January in an effort to clamp down on the attacks in the region, the southern approach to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal."
"Miami (CNN) -- After weeks on the run and days in immigration detention, American technology pioneer John McAfee arrived in Miami on Wednesday. He said he had no choice in the matter, that Guatemalan authorities expelled him to the United States and put him on a plane to a destination they determined. ""I was whisked out of prison,"" McAfee told CNN affiliate broadcaster WSVN in front of his South Beach hotel. ""I was forcibly separated from Samantha, and now here I am."" Samantha Venegas is McAfee's girlfriend. When the plane landed, U.S. officials boarded the aircraft to greet him and escort him off. Former girlfriend: McAfee 'frightened for his life' It was unclear whether he planned to stay in Miami or where he might go next. For the past week, McAfee waged a public battle, requesting an asylum in Guatemala and arguing that police in Belize were persecuting him. Authorities turned down his request and told him he would have to leave the country. ""He opted to return to his country of origin,"" said attorney Telesforo Guerra, who has represented McAfee since he arrived in Guatemala last week. Authorities in Belize, where McAfee had lived since 2008, say they want to talk to McAfee about the November 11 killing of his neighbor, American businessman Gregory Faull. McAfee said he had nothing to do with the death and insists he left Belize to escape police persecution. Guatemalan authorities took him into custody on accusations of entering the country illegally, and his asylum bid was rejected. McAfee told WSVN he has openly criticized Belize's government for seven months, making himself a ""thorn in their side."" ""Unfortunately, now that I'm here, they can't shut me up,"" he said. CNN en EspaÃ±ol's Adriana Hauser reported from Miami. CNN's Joe Sutton and Ana maria Luengo-Romero reported from Atlanta. Journalist Miguel Salay reported from Guatemala City."
"The Pentagon's most expensive weapons program ever, the F-35 warplane, is cleared for takeoff again. The limited flight clearance, approved by Navy and Air Force officials Monday, allows the aircraft to fly with an engine inspection regimen and restricted flight envelope following the fleet's grounding after an engine fire last month. Defense Department spokesman Mark Wright said in a statement Tuesday the restrictions would ""remain in effect until the root cause of the June 23 engine mishap is identified and corrected."" It had been hoped that the stealth fighter would be able to make an appearance at the famed Farnborough air show, under way now, but Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said Tuesday afternoon that won't happen. ""The Department of Defense, in concert with our partners in the U.K., has decided not to send Marine Corps and U.K. F-35B aircraft across the Atlantic to participate in the Farnborough air show,"" he told reporters.  ""This decision was reached after a consultation with senior leaders and airworthiness authorities, despite the decision by airworthiness authorities to clear the aircraft to return to flight -- to limited flight."" The 2014 Farnborough International Airshow began Monday, and runs through July 20 in Farnborough, England.  The opening day brought $42 billion of orders and commitments for commercial aircraft and engines, according to a statement from the show's organizers. The F-35 was developed at a cost of nearly $400 billion so far and beset for years by cost overruns and delays. The so-called Joint Strike Fighter was temporarily grounded following a fire on the runway at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. No one was hurt. Engine maker Pratt & Whitney worked with Air Force investigators to inspect all engines in the fleet. ""We have great confidence in the F135 engine powering the F-35, and we have worked very closely with DoD and the Services to return the aircraft to flying status,"" Matthew Bates, communications manager for Pratt & Whitney Military Engines, said in a statement Tuesday. The F-35's lead contractor, Lockheed Martin, which is producing variants of the plane for the U.S. Navy, Marines and Air Force,  also worked with investigators following the fleet's grounding. F-35 future . The Pentagon wants more than 2,400 of the fighter jets ultimately, while hundreds more are expected over time to go to allies such as South Korea, Japan and Australia. More than 100 planes have been built so far, most for testing, but the program is still in its development and training phases. The military says the stealthy fighter will be ""the most affordable, lethal, supportable and survivable aircraft ever to be used"" by so many services worldwide. But its production has been controversial for its soaring cost history -- the price tag has nearly doubled from early estimates, to $135 million per unit as of last year, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office report in March -- as well as its schedule, software and other setbacks. Test flights began in 2007. While all models have been grounded in the past for various problems, the version for the Marines, the F-35B, has had more issues. Experts say that's mainly due to its design for shorter takeoffs and vertical landings. Richard Aboulafia, a Teal Group analyst, said earlier this month that every component of the F-35 overall ""is pushing the frontiers of technology"" as engineers combine extraordinary engine power with a lighter weight design. He said the program has made gradual progress in recent years where glitches get resolved pretty quickly compared with 18 to 24 months ago, when setbacks seemed to come one right after another. ""It's a tremendously complex project,"" he said, adding that cost issues remain a concern."
"New York (CNN) -- A New York district attorney recommended Monday that charges be dropped against former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who was accused more than three months ago of sexually assaulting a hotel housekeeper. In ""a recommendation for dismissal"" filed in court Monday, two prosecutors in the Manhattan district attorney's office laid out their arguments for requesting that numerous charges -- including attempted rape and sexual assault -- be dismissed, citing fresh evidence and questions about the accuser's credibility. ""The nature and number of the complainant's falsehoods leave us unable to credit her version of events beyond a reasonable doubt, whatever the truth may be about the encounter between the complainant and the defendant,"" the document states. ""If we do not believe her beyond a reasonable doubt, we cannot ask a jury to do so."" The prosecutors voiced concern that the case appeared to rest exclusively on the housekeeper Nafissatou Diallo, predicting her ""falsehoods"" would be ""devastating"" if revealed during a trial. They claim she ""has not been truthful in matters great and small,"" including lying about a ""gang rape, as well as other details about her life in (her native) Guinea."" In the document, the district attorney's office notes that DNA testing indicated semen on her dress matched Strauss-Kahn and shows there was a sexual encounter. There was ""no trauma to her body or oral cavity"" and ""scrapings from underneath her fingernails ... yielded no results."" Moreover, prosecutors claim Diallo's current story of her ""prompt outcry to her first supervisor is inconsistent with certain aspects of that supervisor's account."" ""All of the evidence that might be relevant to the contested issues of force and lack of consent is simply inconclusive,"" wrote the prosecutors. The decision to drop charges -- which still needs to be approved by a judge -- was cheered by Strauss-Kahn's attorney and jeered by the alleged victim's lawyer, as well as some women's rights advocates. A status hearing for the case is scheduled for Tuesday. Kenneth Thompson, who represents Diallo, addressed reporters after meeting with prosecutors Monday afternoon for less than half an hour. Hours earlier, he filed his own motion asking a judge to halt proceedings in the case and appoint a special prosecutor. ""Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance has denied the right of a woman to get justice in a rape case,"" Thompson said. ""He has not only turned his back on this innocent victim, but he has also turned his back on the forensic, medical and other evidence in this case. ""If the Manhattan district attorney, who is elected to protect our mothers, our daughters, our sisters, our wives and our loved ones, is not going to stand up for them when they're raped or sexually assaulted, who will?"" But Strauss-Kahn's U.S.-based attorneys, William W. Taylor and Benjamin Brafman, lauded the decision to drop charges, saying it vindicates their consistent claims that their client is innocent and his accuser ""was not credible."" ""Mr. Strauss-Kahn and his family are grateful that the District Attorney's office took our concerns seriously and concluded on its own that this case cannot proceed further,"" the attorneys said in a statement. Aside from the court filing, there was no immediate comment from the office of District Attorney Vance on the attorneys' statements, and his office earlier declined to comment on the motion. Thompson had said before the meeting Monday that he believed Vance was going to drop the charges. A grand jury indicted the then-IMF chief in May over allegations he sexually assaulted housekeeper Diallo in his New York hotel suite. He pleaded not guilty and, after several days behind bars, was ordered held on house arrest. But on July 1, a judge freed him after prosecutors learned Diallo had lied about the specifics of her whereabouts after the incident and past details of an asylum application and information on tax forms. Prosecutors said she admitted lying on the asylum application about having been a victim of a gang rape, even providing details of an attack and later admitting it never happened. Strauss-Kahn's attorneys have insisted that any sexual encounter was consensual. Diallo, who has conducted high-profile interviews about the case, and her attorneys have said Strauss-Kahn attacked her, and that her case should go to trial. Attorneys for Diallo complain she is being treated by prosecutors like a criminal defendant and not an alleged victim. And in a rally after the district attorney's court filing Monday, some of her supporters urged prosecutors to still pursue the case and warned about the message sent by dropping charges. ""Are we telling (sexual assault victims) that if they dare to name a powerful, politically connected man as their abuser, they will see their whole life laid out to be judged publicly?"" asked New York City councilwoman Letitia James. ""What does it take for a low-income immigrant -- a woman of color -- to publicly name one of the most powerful men in Europe as a sexual abuser?"" Diallo has filed a civil lawsuit against Strauss-Kahn, without specifying the financial damages she was seeking. Entering Monday's meeting, Thompson said he suspected -- based on the contents of a letter he received Friday -- that Vance intended to drop charges. That prompted the alleged victim's motion filed Monday, which cites allegations of ""abuse of confidence, unfair treatment and bias and prejudices"" by Vance that, Diallo's attorneys claim, should disqualify him from the case. This motion is Thompson's second effort to remove Vance from the case. In July, he asked Vance to step down and appoint a special prosecutor. Vance then declined. ""This is not a 'he said, she said' case,"" Thompson said Sunday. ""If you go back to the hearing on May 16, when (an assistant district attorney) called the evidence against Strauss-Kahn 'substantial' and he said the medical exam (of Diallo) supports her account, this is not a 'he said, she said' case. ""There is overwhelming evidence to support that a sex assault occurred,"" Thompson said. After Diallo took her case public, Strauss-Kahn's attorneys, William Taylor and Benjamin Brafman, put out a statement saying, ""Ms. Diallo is the first accuser in history to conduct a media campaign to persuade a prosecutor to pursue charges ... against a person from whom she wants money."" Attorney Douglas Wigdor, who is working on Diallo's behalf in Paris, said Monday that he was to meet with several people prior to a news conference scheduled for Tuesday. Wigdor would not reveal with whom he is talking Monday and Tuesday, however a source familiar with the meetings said one of them is a French journalist, Tristane Banon, who filed a formal complaint against Strauss-Kahn in France for an alleged attack in 2002. The accused has filed a counter-suit for slander. Banon's mother also claims she was attacked by Strauss-Kahn. CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin says that Strauss-Kahn should now be able to breathe easier and ""return to some semblance of his former life."" But he said that no one involved in the case ""comes out of it looking very good."" ""This is a case that looks like it has nothing but losers -- the alleged victim, the defendant, and the prosecutor,"" Toobin said. ""The conclusion is likely to be entirely satisfying to no one."""
"Rome (CNN) -- Mario Monti, the economist nominated to become Italy's new prime minister, began talks with political leaders Monday to discuss forming a government. The 68-year-old's talks with political parties will continue Tuesday. In comments after several meetings Monday, Monti said some of the delegations had discussed a ""temporal outlook"" for how long his government might last. The time for the government ""which I am trying to create is that period between today and the end of spring 2013,"" he said, according to a CNN translation. At any time the parliament could dissolve his government ""because of lack of trust,"" he said. It is ""obvious"" that the task at hand is an emergency, and that to achieve economic growth and social equity ""should be the priorities,"" Monti said. The new prime minister designate will face an arduous task, as Italy has one of the highest national debts in Europe at â‚¬1.9 trillion ($2.6 trillion) -- about 120% of GDP -- and has seen low growth in recent years. To take the helm, Monti needs the approval of the Italian Parliament, which is composed of multiple parties with diverse interests. Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom party remains the strongest force in parliament, and Berlusconi has said he plans to remain active in it. Those diverse political interests and the pain of austerity measures could weigh heavily on Monti as he steers Italy through economically troubled waters. Some politicians in Italy have already called for elections to take place sooner than their scheduled time of spring 2013. Italian party leaders spoke in support of the new prime minister designate on Italy's senate TV after exiting deliberations with Monti on the composition of a new government. Antonio Di Pietro, leader of the Values Party, said his group is ""happy that the Berlusconi government could be replaced by the Monti government."" His party will not block a Monti-led government, he said. But when asked specifically whether he would give Monti a vote of confidence, Di Pietro stressed that he would not answer until he learned more about Monti's plans and the composition of his Cabinet. Franceso Rutelli, leader of the Alliance for Italy, also told reporters his block will support Monti's government. Emma Bonino of the Radical Party expressed support for Monti as well. Speaking to reporters, Bonino called for reforms to address Italy's political and economic crisis. Monti was nominated Sunday to replace Silvio Berlusconi as Italy's prime minister. Berlusconi resigned Saturday amid the country's ongoing financial crisis. His role in Italy's political future is uncertain. ""For the time being he is waiting to see what is happening under the buildup of the new government under Mr. Monti,"" said Deborah Bergamini, a member of Italy's Parliament and former assistant to Berlusconi. On Monday, Bergamini said Berlusconi told her he wants to continue acting as the chair of his PDL party. Berlusconi's resignation was greeted with cheers and dancing in the streets, as people waved the Italian flag and sang the nation's anthem. If he becomes prime minister, Monti could bring a distinctly different approach to governing than Italy has experienced over the past three years. ""It may be that the strong opposition ... against Berlusconi that has been going on in these years maybe will disperse itself, maybe will finish, and then we'll have a cooperative approach on the part of all the political forces. ... Let's hope that the international credibility of Mr. Monti will be able to work in this direction,"" Bergamini told CNN. While the hot-blooded Berlusconi was for many years a master of forming political alliances, Monti is known for his achievements as a ""Eurocrat,"" at the heart of Europe's institutions. Dubbed Super Mario for his work in international finance, he served as a leading European Commission member for a decade -- including as commissioner for its financial services, market and taxation committee between 1995 and 1999 and as head of its competition committee from 1999 to 2004. In announcing Monti's nomination, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano said the former European Union commissioner is ""gifted, competent, experienced"" and well-respected in Europe and internationally. ""This is the moment of his test,"" Napolitano said. Monti must return to Napolitano within days to accept the nomination fully, at which point he would be sworn in and officially become prime minister. Within days of the oath of office, Monti would have to go to parliament to present his government -- essentially his Cabinet and his government plan. The upper and lower houses of parliament have 10 days from the time Monti is sworn in to hold separate votes of confidence on the new government. Berlusconi is the second prime minister to resign this month over the debt crisis sweeping across Europe. Greece's George Papandreou was replaced Wednesday by Lucas Papademos, a former European Central Bank official. Investors were watching Italian bond yields closely Monday, after â‚¬3 billion worth of five-year bonds generated decent demand. Yields on both the five-year and 10-year bonds still remain around 6.5%. Last week, the 10-year Italian yield spiked to a record high above 7% -- a level that eventually led to bailouts for Greece, Portugal and Ireland. Economists said Monday's bond yields could indicate that markets are still nervous about Italy's economic prospects, even with Monti in charge. ""Now what we are seeing today is that markets probably don't like so much politics being so effective and so active in financial matters. So my feeling is that the challenge today will be rebalancing ... politics and financial matters,"" Bergamini told CNN Monday. CNN's Hada Messia, Matthew Chance, Laura Smith-Spark and Zain Verjee and the CNNMoney staff contributed to this report."
"Lagos, Nigeria (CNN) -- Nigeria's ailing President Umaru Yar'Adua, who gave amnesty to armed militants in the troubled oil-rich Niger Delta region, died Wednesday, the country's information minister said. He was 58. Yar'Adua had not been seen in public since November, when he went to Saudi Arabia for treatment of an inflammation of tissue around his heart. He was diagnosed with that condition, acute pericarditis, last fall after he complained of chest pain. He returned to Nigeria in February but had remained out of sight. Vice President Goodluck Jonathan has served as the country's acting leader since Yar'Adua fell ill. Yar'Adua took office in 2007 in an election mired in controversy and accusations of vote-rigging. ""There was ballot snatching, voters were molested, voters were beaten ... and also payment inducement to vote for certain candidates,"" said Eneruvie Enakoko of the Civil Liberties Organization, a human rights group in Lagos. The president, a soft-spoken and unassuming figure who did not bask in the media spotlight like past leaders of the West African nation, pledged to fight to improve the country of 150 million people despite the accusations. ""Our collective goal is to deliver for our children a Nigeria better, stronger, more peaceful, more secure and more prosperous than we met it,"" Yar'Adua said. President Barack Obama issued a statement late Wednesday expressing his condolences to Yar'Adua's family and the Nigerian people. ""President Yar'Adua worked to promote peace and stability in Africa through his support of Nigerian peacekeeping efforts as well as his strong criticism of undemocratic actions in the region,"" Obama said in the statement. ""He was committed to creating lasting peace and prosperity within Nigeria's own borders, and continuing that work will be an important part of honoring his legacy."" His election followed wide support from his predecessor, leading critics to label him a puppet of the former president, Olusegun Obasanjo. After he was elected, Yar'Adua replaced some of Obasanjo's top officials, including the head of the army, a move analysts said was aimed at shedding off his predecessor's influence. One of Yar'Adua's biggest successes was offering amnesty to militants in the troubled oil-rich Niger Delta region, a move that brought fragile peace to the area after years of conflict. The well-armed Niger Delta rebels have been battling Nigeria's armed forces over oil profits, which they say are unequally distributed. While he has hospitalized in Saudi Arabia, the militants called off the truce, dealing a blow to plans to end violence that has crippled oil production in the nation. Analysts say he did little to institutionalize reform in a country where two-thirds of the population lives on less than a dollar a day. ""Because many people feel disillusioned economically and as long as they have those sentiments -- I think the risk of radical uprisings in places like northern Nigeria and certainly southern Nigeria in the Delta will continue regardless of who is in power,"" said Rolake Akinola, an analyst at Control Risks West Africa. Yar'Adua, a former chemistry teacher, was married twice and has nine children. CNN's Faith Karimi and Christian Purefoy contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Doctors at the Technical University of Munich have conducted the world's first double-arm transplant on a 54-year-old farmer who had lost both his arms in an accident, officials said. After transplant surgery, this farmer has new arms. His condition ""is very good under the circumstances."" The operation was conducted at the university's ""Klinikum rechts der Isar"" last week, the clinic said in a statement Friday, following several years of preparatory work. The man's condition ""is very good under the circumstances,"" the statement said. ""Now it is a matter of avoiding future wound healing disorders, infections, strong side-effects caused by the drugs and in particular any rejective reaction."" A team of 40 people participated in the transplant surgery, conducted July 25 and 26. The donor matched the host in sex, age, skin color, size and blood group, the statement said. The transplant subject had lost both his arms at the upper arm level six years ago, and two attempts with artificial limbs had been unsuccessful."
"LAGOS, Nigeria (CNN) -- At least 84 Nigerian children have died after ingesting teething medicine that contained a solvent typically found in antifreeze, the country's health minister said Friday. The My Pikin teething medicine has been reomved from shops in Nigeria. Some 111 babies and children have been sickened since November by the tainted batch of My Pikin, which was found to contain diethylene glycol, which is used in some antifreeze and brake fluid. Tests on the teething formula showed high concentrations of diethylene glycol, Health Minister Babtunde Osotimehin said in a statement released Friday. Exposure to the solvent can damage the kidney, heart and nervous system, Osotimehin said, and it can be fatal. The dead ranged from age 2 months to 7 years, he said. ""The death of any Nigerian child is a great loss to the nation,"" he said. Several officials with pharmaceutical company Barewa Pharmaceutical Ltd have been charged with negligence. And the Nigeria National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, which is investigating the issue with the Ministry of Health, has shut the drug maker down. Former officials of the company could not be reached for comment. The food and drugs agency has said it believes the company thought it was buying propylene glycol, a normal ingredient in the teething medicine. The government has asked that all My Pikin teething formula be returned; however, it was not immediately clear if that had been done. Symptoms of diethylene glycol exposure include: abdominal pain; nausea or vomiting; dizziness; drowsiness; confusion; and decreased or lack of production of urine."
"(CNN) -- As an American, I am appalled by Dick Cheney and his relentless, pathetic and ultimately doomed effort to revise the history of his failures. But as a Democrat, I am thrilled that an incompetent, dishonest and reviled figure is hell-bent on making himself the face of the Republican Party, hogging the spotlight from rising stars like Rand Paul, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio -- and eclipsing more honorable Republicans from the Bush era, like Colin Powell. Cheney's endless media appearances, including this remarkable interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, reveal a nearly sociopathic refusal to admit any error, express any remorse, apologize for any mistake. And so let us review the Cheney record: No vice president has done more damage to our country, not even Vice President Aaron Burr, who shot and killed Alexander Hamilton 210 years ago. In the first months of the Bush-Cheney administration, Cheney was ordered to convene a task force on terrorism. Instead, he ignored the problem, the Cheney terror task force never met, and the warnings about an impending terrorist attack were ignored. Later, instead of apologizing, Cheney cravenly blamed the White House counterterrorism czar (PDF), Dick Clarke, who had tried to warn anyone who would listen that an attack was coming. ""Richard Clarke was the head of the counterterrorism program in the run up to 9/11,"" Cheney said. ""He obviously missed it."" Blaming the guy who did his job when you're the one who didn't do yours. From there, it was off to the races, as Cheney did and said anything to drag America into a war with Iraq. The good folks at Vox have compiled a damning indictment of Cheney's deep dishonesty about Iraq. In the interest of brevity, let me focus on a few lowlights: . He said the lead 9/11 hijacker ""did go to Prague, and he did meet with a senior official of the Iraqi intelligence service ... several months before the attack."" Wrong, according to a Senate Intelligence Committee report. He said Saddam had ""an established relationship with al Qaeda."" Wrong (PDF). Cheney claimed there was ""irrefutable evidence"" Saddam had reconstituted his nuclear program. Wrong. He said Saddam ""had an established relationship with al Qaeda, providing training to al Qaeda members in areas of poisons, gases and conventional bombs."" Wrong (PDF). He said there was ""overwhelming"" evidence of ties between al Qaeda and Iraq. Wrong. He said that we'd be ""greeted as liberators"" and that the insurgency was in its ""last throes"" nine years ago. Wrong and wrong. And that's just on Iraq. Need I mention that, as CEO of Halliburton, Cheney opposed President Clinton's sanctions on the terrorist regime in Iran, calling the Clinton administration ""sanctions-happy""? And he breezily defended doing business with the terrorists in Tehran -- through an overseas-based subsidiary -- explaining that ""the good Lord didn't see fit to always put oil and gas resources where there are democratic governments."" Need I mention he told Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill that ""deficits don't matter""? One can debate whether Cheney's misstatements were the result of willful mendacity or incompetence. I believe the former. But at a deeper level, it does not matter. Regardless of whether Cheney is a liar or a fool, thousands of heroic American troops are dead. Tens of thousands are injured. Iraq is a disaster -- and will be for years to come. And America is weaker and poorer because of Cheney. I know that powerful people don't like admitting error. But Hillary Clinton did so in her new book, candidly admitting that in voting for the Bush-Cheney war in Iraq, ""I got it wrong. Plain and simple."" Cheney, however, has no room for such candid introspection. When he turned 70, he was asked his greatest regret. He did not mention the death and devastation he brought to Iraq or that he and others ignored the terror threat before 9/11. He didn't mention his votes in Congress against banning plastic guns or opposing the release of Nelson Mandela. He said, ""My misspent youth.""  Seriously. A three-word oblique reference to a couple of drunken driving incidents a half century ago are the biggest regrets of this man's life. Other than that, Cheney sees his life as a flawless, virtuous existence. Were it not for the tragedies of 9/11 and Iraq, perhaps the thing Cheney would be remembered for was that he was the second vice president to shoot a man, albeit Cheney's was in a hunting accident and Harry Whittington, thank God, survived. Still, as a longtime quail hunter, I have no doubt Cheney was in the wrong. Every hunter is responsible for knowing where his buddies are. And Cheney violated a cardinal rule: He was drinking before he picked up the gun. (He claims to have had only one beer, but even one is too many when you're hunting.) But here's the thing: Even after Cheney shot him in the face, there's no indication he ever apologized to Harry Whittington. I suppose being a sociopath means never having to say you're sorry. Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly indicated an affiliation between the Washington Post and the independent news website Vox."
"(CNN) -- David Bill isn't annoyed when Twitter gets so bogged down with traffic that he can't post a message. Twitter's ""fail whale,"" which appears when the site is overrun, is so popular it's on T-shirts and even tattoos. That's because in the moment when frustration would hit, he's greeted on the popular Web site by a cartoonish image he loves: a giant whale being lifted out of an ocean by a small flock of tweeting birds. The icon -- which Twitter users call it the ""fail whale"" because the creature appears only when the site has failed to load -- has gained a cult following as the social media site grows at breakneck pace. The conversational Web site, which lets users post 140-character microblogs, saw a 1,374 percent jump in unique visitors between February 2008 and February this year, up to 7 million from only 475,000, according to Nielsen NetView. By comparison, Facebook grew 228 percent, to 65.7 million users, during the same period. With all of those new Twitterers, fail whale sightings and site crashes seem more frequent. Bill (mr_bill on Twitter) and other fail-whale followers aren't bothered, though. The 36-year-old San Franciscan has organized parties in honor of the whale. The most recent, held in California in February, was attended by more than 300 people, including Yiying Lu, the artist in Australia who created the image. Bill says the whale represents a contrarian philosophy. ""It's sort of an adorable whale but also this thing that represents the Herculean tasks that we sometimes go about from day to day,"" he said. ""We're all trying to do a lot of things that seem pretty impossible,"" Bill said. ""It's nice to identify something positive with those failures."" Not every Twitterer is sympathetic to the site's troubles, though. Some users say Twitter has outgrown its core audience and is irrelevant to the technophiles who made it popular in the first place. Others are annoyed by the flood of spammers and profiteers who now use the site's popularity to make a buck. Celebrities and members of Congress have been jumping onto the site in recent months, adding to the site's mainstream popularity and, some users say, causing glitches in the system. ""I keep getting the fail whale. Twitter got too popular too quickly. I blame Shaq,"" wrote Jessica Roy, a 21-year-old New York University student who goes by suchamessica on Twitter. Basketball player Shaquille O'Neal, or THE_REAL_SHAQ, has more than 470,000 followers on the site. Nova Spivack, a blogger whose article ""Can Twitter Survive What is About to Happen to It?"" has been passed around the site, said a rift is developing between Twitter's original ""in crowd"" and its newer, more mainstream users. Early adopters find many of the new users annoying, he said. ""A lot of people come in, and they take that 'What are you doing?' question literally, and so they put very inane things on Twitter,"" he said. iReport.com: How do you feel about tweets and status updates? The site used to feel ""insulated"" from the mainstream, and now it doesn't, he said. But for all the complaints, there seem to be just as many people who are almost excited about Twitter's growing pains. It is inevitable that a Web site seeing Twitter-style growth would face some glitches and a backlash from early adopters, said Laura Fitton, a consultant and co-author of the book ""Twitter for Dummies."" ""There's going to be all kinds of people using it all kinds of different ways,"" she said. ""The purists can go pound rocks."" Major news such as the Mumbai terrorist attacks and the Hudson River plane landing has broken over Twitter, and that's added to the site's popularity, she said. Amy Gahran, who writes on social media at contentious.com, said the backlash against Twitter stems from the fact that people are uncomfortable with change. Early users see new people coming to the site, and that creeps them out, but it shouldn't, she said. ""Change is freaking good,"" she said. ""Roll with it."" As the site gets filled with fresh users, people are creating pieces of software to help Twitterers sort through the noise, Gahran said. She said Twitter is popular because it mimics real-life conversation and because it's easy to use. She also expects Twitter to expand, especially as people in developing countries use cell-phone text messages to communicate through the site. ""People talk. That's what we do,"" she said. ""We're social creatures. We're kind of wired for this."" Twitter says it is addressing breakdowns in that wired communication. ""We have made amazing progress from a technical perspective as far as accommodating this rapid growth goes and will continue to improve system and subsystem performance moving forward,"" Twitter co-founder Biz Stone wrote in a statement to CNN. Critter Gewlas of Cary, North Carolina, believes so much in the site's ability to overcome adversity that he recently got a tattoo of the fail whale on his leg. ""The site itself has suffered a few scrapes and bumps along the way, but for the most part, I definitely think it's a good thing,"" said the 36-year-old. The fail whale's account on Twitter has more than 2,265 followers. A Facebook group dedicated to the whale has more than 4,400 members. The whale has spawned art and merchandise, from coffee mugs to baby clothes. A Current.com parody of the whale has spun around the Internet, too. Bill, whose fail whale parties have featured an aquamarine martini in honor of the icon's color, said the whale's popularity comes from the idea that failures are worth celebrating and learning from. Twitter will use that philosophy to continue to grow, he said. ""Twitter is a powerful enough thing that it should succeed in a broad way, and I would like it to succeed in a broad way,"" he said."
"(CNN) -- Evan Lysacek became a household name in February when he won the Olympic gold medal in men's figure skating. Since his rise to fame, he has made it a point to get involved with charitable work. He currently works with Help USA, a nonprofit organization that provides housing and support services so the homeless and other people in need can become self-sufficient. Lysacek, a supporter of CNN Heroes, recently spoke to CNN producer Megan Clifford about the Heroes campaign and his humanitarian work. Below are excerpts from that interview. Megan Clifford: Why did you decide to get involved with Help USA? Evan Lysacek: Well, I've always looked up to -- in my lifetime and in my career -- athletes and people who are strong members of the community. As I've gained a little bit of success, I thought the most important thing to do, first and foremost, was to give back and help out. Homelessness can happen to anyone within the blink of an eye. Job loss is so prevalent in the country today with the state of our economy ... a lot of people have become homeless or jobless very quickly, and they did not see it coming. Help USA is the largest homeless advocate in the country. Knowing their reputation, I wanted to get involved immediately and asked how. They said, ""Come on down, we'll film a public service announcement."" Clifford: What exactly does Help USA do? Lysacek: Help USA helps [its] clients by teaching the skills that they're going to need to go out and reclaim their lives ... life skills, education, job placement and training, child care, as well as counseling. They provide a variety of services at their residences to help their clients get their lives back on track. Clifford: How has your work with Help USA affected you? Lysacek: It's inspired me more than I could have imagined. I thought I would be signing on to teach and give as much as I could ... but in turn, they've taught me so much about working and remaining positive with the circumstances that you're dealt. As gratifying as it was for me to work my entire life for my Olympic dream and somehow, someway achieve it in Vancouver by winning gold, I get so much more appreciation and I feel so much more heart when I can help more than one person. As memories of competitions, of medals and podiums, fade away, there are pictures that are embedded in my head with families in need that will really stick with me for the rest of my life. Clifford: You're a sports hero to many people. What is a hero to you? Lysacek: A hero to me is a person that leads by example, and they don't always take the easy road. Sometimes, they're the only one on a certain path, but they always do what they think is right and they're positive members of their community. Clifford: Why did you get involved with CNN Heroes? Lysacek: CNN Heroes honors everyday people who've given extraordinary things to their communities. It inspires everyone to get up, go out and do something -- take a stand for what you believe in, team up with an organization you really care about, help someone in need. That's something everyone in this world could learn from -- seeing a positive force within their community. It's sometimes difficult to comprehend how you can possibly make a difference, but when it's right there in front of your eyes through a program like CNN Heroes, it's easy to believe that you truly can. And that's why I feel like this is so important."
"SAN FRANCISCO, California (CNN)  -- Two light rail transit cars collided Saturday in San Francisco, causing multiple injuries, but none appeared life-threatening, a rail system spokesman said. Medical personnel treat the injured Saturday at West Portal Station, where a light rail car hit another. ""Apparently the conductor for one of the trains miscalculated a turn. It's still under investigation right now,"" a police officer told CNN. He would not provide his name. At least 44 people were injured, a fire official said. None of the injuries was extremely serious, said Leslie Dubbin, administrator for operations at San Francisco General Hospital. ""There were no fatalities and everybody looks good."" The cars are part of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, commonly called Muni. Initial reports indicated a one-car train traveling at low speed collided with a stopped one-car train, Muni spokesman Judson True said in a written statement. The accident occurred on the outbound platform of West Portal Station, he said. As of 2:57 p.m. (5:57 p.m. ET), all Muni Metro light rail service that travels through West Portal Station in either direction was halted, he said.  Watch scenes from the collision site » . ""There are reportedly multiple injuries as a result of the collision, but none of the injuries have yet been described as life-threatening,"" Judson said. Shuttle buses were providing substitute service between West Portal and Castro stations and West Portal Station and western destinations for the K/T, L and M Muni Metro lines. There was no estimated time for the resumption of normal Muni service."
"(CNN) -- Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the man behind the kingdom's committed policy to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has stepped down from his intelligence post, according to the country's official news agency. Considered one of the most familiar faces in the Saudi Royal House, Prince Bandar was relieved of his post as chief of General Intelligence on Tuesday ""upon his request."" General Staff Yousif bin Ali Al-Idreesi has been assigned to act as Chief of General Intelligence immediately, the Saudi Press Agency reported. Prince Bandar bin Sultan served as the Saudi ambassador to the United States for 22 years until 2005, and was appointed the chief of General Intelligence in 2012. ""Even though he was ambassador to the United States for 22 years and very close to the Bushes, he was no friend of the United States for the last three or four years,"" Christopher Dickey, foreign editor at The Daily Beast, said Wednesday in an interview on CNN. Bandar took on the thorny task of building and implementing Saudi Arabia's policy on Syria. He became a staunch supporter of the rebel cause, supporting the Syrian Free Army in trying to topple al-Assad's government, and leveraged his close ties with his traditional friends in the West, calling on them to arm the Syrian opposition. However, a lack of international action on Syria and a thawing of Western ties with Iran marked a watershed in Saudi's global orientation. Iran backs the al-Assad regime. ""Bandar was extremely hawkish on Iran even before he had this official position,"" said Dickey. ""One time or another he's tried to take on Iran, and he hasn't been very successful at that."" In October, Prince Bandar was widely quoted as saying the kingdom would be making a ""major shift"" in dealings with Washington. This new stance, analysts say, could signal a pendulum swing when it comes to Saudi Arabia's policy toward Syria. ""I think the American Saudi partnership in the region will probably be less rocky than when Bandar was running the show,"" Dickey said. U.S. President Barack Obama, who visited Riyadh in March for the first time since 2009, discussed ""tactical"" differences with Saudi Arabia over the question of the arming of the Syrian rebels. A senior administration official told reporters after President Obama's face-to-face meeting with Saudi's King Abdullah that the United States and Saudi Arabia are ""very much aligned"" despite recent policy differences over Syria and Iran. ""I think the moderates are coming in and they are going to set the agenda for the next stage,"" said Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, professor of political science at UAE University. The United States and Saudi Arabia have a longstanding history, an alliance forged most notably by oil and most recently by the rise of al Qaeda-affiliated networks in the region."
"(CNN) -- After nearly going to war last year over a Colombian military raid inside Ecuador, the two nations seemed to be patching relations when their foreign ministers met a few weeks ago. Then an Ecuadorian judge issued an arrest warrant this week for the head of the Colombian armed forces, pushing relations back one giant step. Colombian Gen. Freddy Padilla, the armed forces chief whose arrest is sought, canceled a meeting scheduled for Friday with Ecuadorian Gen. Fabian Varela. Padilla thought he might be arrested if he traveled to Ecuador. It's not the first pothole on the path to normalization. Ecuador previously issued an arrest warrant for former Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos, who held the post during last year's raid. Colombia has dismissed both warrants, saying Ecuador has no jurisdiction to investigate and judge Colombian officials. Analyst Patrick Esteruelas of the Eurasia Group consulting firm calls Ecuador's actions ""schizophrenic."" Two former U.S. ambassadors to the area agree this is par for Ecuadorian foreign policy. ""That's the history of Ecuador, unfortunately,"" said Peter Romero, ambassador to that nation from 1993 to 1996. ""One step forward, two steps back."" Myles Frechette, U.S. ambassador to Colombia from 1994 to 1997, said Friday that ""Ecuador is a specialist in bonehead plays. It has been for years. Nothing's changed much."" Former Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Heinz Moeller, who served from 2000 to 2003, called the arrest warrant ""lamentable."" ""It's absurd that these things happen,"" he said Friday. Tension between the two nations has existed for years. The latest enmity started in March 2008, when Colombia bombed a guerrilla base inside Ecuador. The raid killed a top leader for the Revolutionary Armed Force of Colombia, commonly known as the FARC. The Marxist guerrilla group has been waging war on Colombia since the 1960s and often takes refuge on the Ecuadorian side of the border. At least 25 people were killed, most of them said to be FARC guerrillas. Colombian President Alvaro Uribe hailed the attack, saying ""terrorism ... does not respect borders."" Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa called the attack ""aggression"" and a ""massacre"" and severed diplomatic relations with Colombia. Both nations went on war footing but stopped short of military action. Over time, tensions seemed to dissipate and Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez and his Ecuadorian counterpart, Fander Falconi, met last month. After the meeting, Colombia signed a statement saying it would never attack inside Ecuador again. Friday's meeting between the two nations' top generals was supposed to further repair the damage. Then came the arrest warrant. What happened? Perhaps politics. Definitely one branch of the government acting without the consent of the other. Falconi quickly pointed out that the nation's judicial branch, not Correa's administration, decided to issue the warrant. Analysts agree that it wasn't Correa's doing. ""That's not a very coordinated government,"" said Frechette, the former envoy to Colombia. ""The executive branch didn't issue that order."" Moeller, the former Ecuadorian foreign minister, said the judge who issued the arrest warrant is ""motivated by political criteria."" ""I don't have another explanation,"" said Moeller, who also served as president of the Ecuadorian Congress three times. Normalization of relations will be a slow process, Eurasia analyst Esteruelas said. ""We're going to see a lot of stops and starts,"" he said. Alejandro Santos, editorial director of La Semana weekly news magazine in Colombia, said relations will not improve until the two countries ""can close the chapter"" on last year's bombing raid. ""That chapter can be closed when the Colombian government promises not to do that. They have done that (promise),"" Santos said. ""Now Ecuador needs to start avoiding those types of judicial measures against Colombian officials."" Esteruelas said Ecuador felt justifiably aggrieved over the attack and wants to make sure it never happens again. But he also sees another issue at play: Ecuadorian President Correa's plummeting poll numbers and domestic problems with indigenous movements and other political issues. ""It's usually convenient to remind everyone that Correa is fighting for Ecuadorian sovereignty,"" Esteruelas said, adding that such nationalism ""resonates very broadly"" across the political spectrum. But Frechette said, ""Correa really does want to reach some kind of agreement."" The problems between the two nations are long-standing and have a lot to do with the 45-year-old war between Colombia and the FARC. From Ecuador's perspective, the war has displaced about 250,000 Colombians who have sought refuge in Ecuador. Those refugees need services and jobs, further straining a poor area that's already on the brink. Ecuador also resents that the FARC have set up camps inside the country, causing security problems for a nation that is not technically at war with the guerrillas. From Colombia's point of view, Ecuador is not doing enough to combat the FARC and is allowing the guerrillas to have a sanctuary that Colombian troops cannot reach. Further complicating the relationship, Ecuador's Correa is politically aligned with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who is no friend of Colombia and its leader, Uribe. Chavez threatened to attack neighboring Colombia after the military raid in Ecuador. ""This has been developing for many years,"" Moeller said. But there are great advantages to normalizing relations, most of them economic. Ecuador, for example, is Colombia's third-largest export market. Walter Spurrier, president of Grupo Spurrier and director of Weekly Analysis in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and Maria Velez de Berliner, president of the Latin Intelligence Corp. in Alexandria, Virginia, talked with the Inter-American Dialog policy institute last month about Colombia-Ecuador economic activity. ""Re-establishing relations could lead Ecuador to lift sanctions against Colombian products, which forced many small- and medium-sized businesses to collapse on both sides of the border,"" Velez told the Washington-based think tank. Said Spurrier, ""For Colombia, Ecuador is an important market. Not so the other way around. But the goods Ecuador sells Colombia are difficult to relocate to other markets. Ecuador now attempts to sell Libya and Iran the rice it would have otherwise sold Colombia. Also, Ecuadorian importers have to look for other sources."" Moeller, the former foreign minister, wants normalization to get back on track. ""We have to close the parenthesis,"" he said. ""I hope this passes ... and that they start talking again."""
"Hong Kong (CNN) -- Millions of Chinese netizens were prevented from accessing huge swathes of the Internet Tuesday, with many rerouted to a website owned by a U.S. company with ties to a group outlawed in China. The China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), a state-run department, blamed a ""malfunction in root servers"" that blocked access to top-level domain names in China such as .com and .net, according to a post on its Sina Weibo account, the Twitter-like micro-blogging service. Security analysts quoted by the official Xinhua news agency said this could have been the result of a cyber attack by hackers -- though this has not been proved. Dynamic Internet Technology (DIT) confirmed it owns the web address users were redirected to but denied any involvement. It said the company's IP address is already blocked in China so users would have been met by a blank web page. DIT President Bill Xia told CNN Wednesday that the Internet outage was likely caused by China's own web censorship system, more widely known by its infamous ""Great Firewall"" moniker, which controls access to content on the Internet inside China deemed unsuitable. China 'employs 2 million to police internet' ""Their DNS hijacking system is used to redirect visits to certain websites to the wrong IP address,"" he said. ""But this time it was likely a temporary misconfiguration that affected all domain names."" According to its website, the U.S.-based company provides a range of services including anti-censorship solutions and has worked ""to provide web access to forbidden sites for Internet users in China,"" with the Epoch Times, a newspaper run by the Falun Gong, listed among its clients. The Falun Gong is a spiritual movement that has been banned in China since 1999, accused of ""spreading fallacies, hoodwinking people, inciting and creating disturbances and jeopardizing social stability."""
"(CNN) -- Lake Urmia in Iran used to be a site to reckon with. Twenty years ago, it ranked as the sixth largest saltwater lake in the world, and the largest in the Middle East. Tourists would revel in the lake's buoyancy (like the Dead Sea, the salt level made it impossible to sink), and the flocks of flamingos, pelicans and yellow deer that once inhabited the surrounding areas. Today, Urmia is a shadow of its former self. Decades of poor water management, aggressive agricultural policies and drought have rendered it almost completely dried up (according to the United Nations Development Program, the lake has shrunk by two-thirds since 1997). Rusted boats lay abandoned in what is now essentially a giant salt flat. The tourists are long gone, as are many of the animals that once called the lake home. ""It's like seeing a scene from a different planet. I saw caterpillars and bobcats taking salt from the dead body of the lake,"" recalls Gary Lewis, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Iran. ""It's a testament to how rapidly we can break something."" It's a problem that President Hassan Rouhani is aware of, and one he wants to fix. Last month, he agreed to spend $500 million in the first year alone of a ten-year recovery plan (the total bill is $5 billion). ""If the lake dries up, this kind of threat will not be comparable to any other threat,"" he said in a public statement in January. It's not an overblown statement. According to experts, Iran is on the brink of a water crisis. ""In the year 1956, the per capita water available in Iran was 7,000 cubic meters. Today, it is 1,900 cubic meters. In the year 2020, it is likely to be only 1,300 cubic meters,"" says Lewis. The estimates fall far short of the 30 million cubic meters he believes will be needed to accommodate the burgeoning population -- which could reach 90 million in the next decade. Shortages are cited throughout the country, not just at Lake Urmia, but in the Hamoun Wetlands in the east of the country -- a one-time oasis surrounded by fishing villages that has since dried up. In 2012 alone, the Hamoun water crisis sent 600,000 environmental refugees into the north of the country. Lewis worries that as water shortages become the norm, not only will Iran face repercussions to the economy and public health, but that it will start to have a knock-on effect on the Middle East as a whole. ""People are vulnerable when they migrate. When they come crashing into someone else's neighborhood, they become a threat to those people's economic security. Add in ethnic or linguistic differences, and that can be a real source of conflict,"" he says. A new Iran? Iran is doing more than throwing money at the problem. In March, Iran's Department of Environment, together with the UNDP, held a conference with hundreds of international experts on how to solve Iran's water shortage problem, and ultimately approved 24 separate projects. ""When Rouhani took power, in the first government meeting, he ordered the formation of a special group to save Urmia and the other dying wetlands,"" recalls Naser Agh, a professor at the Artemia and Aquatic Animals Research Institute at Urmia University, and a member of the steering committee of the Lake Urmia restoration program. The mission to save the lake is complex, and Agh admits that even in ten years, it will only restore Urmia to half its original size. ""No single measure can help the lake. Lots of things have to be done at the same time,"" he says. The influx of money and manpower demonstrates a sizable shift in how the new administration is addressing the problem -- partly, in that they're willing to address it at all. Thus far, Iran's environmental record has been pretty poor. The country is the world's ninth top producer of greenhouse gasses, according to according to the US Energy Information Administration, and is home to the world's eighth most polluted city. ""The past government would say we needed to save the lake, and would even form a national committee and ministers would come together, but there was never a budget, and without a budget, you can't do anything,"" says Agh. ""This new government is very different. They also approved a large amount of money, so it can really help save the lake."""
"New York (CNN) -- New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg found himself facing questions Thursday about why the city was paying for more than 100 vacant hotel rooms when thousands were displaced after Superstorm Sandy. The rooms were reserved for storm victims who were pushed out of their homes by Sandy, which hit the area October 29. According to Bloomberg's office, a total of 1,014 people were housed in 416 rooms, while another 120 rooms designated as emergency housing were vacant. ""We've gone out and we've gotten housing for people in case they might need it, but the wonderful thing is we haven't needed it so far,"" Bloomberg said Thursday. ""We have hotel rooms in advance, particularly now because as you get toward the holiday season the hotel occupancy goes up, and if we need it -- and I hope we don't -- we're going to have those,"" he added. That's a surprise to Nicole Neal, whose whose apartment in the Queens neighborhood of Far Rockaway hasn't had heat or power since the storm hit. ""I would go to the hotel,"" Neal told CNN on Thursday. ""It's freezing in my apartment. I got to wear four pairs of socks every day."" Yisroel Schulman, president of the New York Legal Assistance Group, said scores of families are staying in cold, dark homes because they are concerned about looting or they don't want to pull their children from school. ""We believe strongly the minute that first snow hits, and it's really cold, these people are going to need housing,"" Schulman said. ""It's a very prudent move on apart of the city to have as much temporary housing as possible."" The city says canvassers have knocked on more than 12,600 doors to tell people that housing assistance is available for those who still lack heat, and they leave flyers on the doors of units where no one answers. Residents are being told about restoration centers where they can be connected with hotels if their heat is still out. Sandy victims outraged over business-as-usual power bills . Neal said she had not been contacted about the available hotel rooms. She has been staying with her mother in a crowded Brooklyn apartment while she awaits repairs to her apartment, where she said the walls are caving in and mold is growing on the walls. She said the Federal Emergency Management Agency has given her $1,700 and that the city took over responsibility for the housing complex she lived in because the landlord abandoned it. ""That's why I am so mad,"" she said. ""We still don't have lights. It's crazy."" Bloomberg's office said the city expects FEMA to reimburse it for the hotel rooms. FEMA spokesman Dan Watson told CNN that the agency would consider that, provided the city could provide some justification for the costs. As of Wednesday, 473,785 households in New York and New Jersey had applied for disaster relief assistance with FEMA. While not all of the families were requesting housing assistance, officials said they continue to work with state and local officials to help all victims of the deadly storm. Meanwhile, the agency started exploring the possibility of housing some displaced residents on boats, posting a request for information in hopes of finding rapid, cost-effective housing options on small vessels. Opinion: Let's not forget superstorm victims . FEMA said the purpose of the request was for market research only and to explore whether the maritime industry could offer viable options for residents who remain homeless. Officials said the vessels they requested ideally would sleep two to six adults, either as stand-alone boats or interconnected to create a single dwelling made of multiple units. The request for information specifically said the agency isn't looking for cruise ships as a solution to the crisis caused by the colossal storm that pounded the Northeast last month. FEMA faced criticism from residents and politicians for its decision to house first responders and emergency personnel on cruise ships docked in New Orleans and other cities after Hurricane Katrina. Sandy slammed ashore near Atlantic City, New Jersey after forming in the Caribbean and sweeping northward, killing a total of 182 people from Haiti to Canada. It caused widespread flooding and damage and destroyed or damaged more than 30,000 homes and businesses in New Jersey alone, state officials said. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said the latest estimates of Sandy-related storm costs in his state were $36.8 billion, while New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told reporters earlier this week the total cost in his state was $41 billion."
"(CNN) -- Within minutes of the news of his death, the backlash started. In the comments section of his CNN.com obituary, on Twitter feeds, in blog posts. Nelson Mandela shouldn't be revered as a civil rights icon, the statements screamed: He should be exposed for what he is: A communist. A terrorist. A racist. To be sure, Mandela can't be neatly grouped with Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Jr. Unlike them, he wasn't always the pacifist he was known for in his later life. But should that be grounds for such bile-spewing vitriol? We take a look at the three most common sentiments in these online accusations and put them in context. CONTENTION 1: . Nelson Mandela was a communist . What they're saying: . ""Before you go all wet and runny over Mandela, remember he was a communist, and he never changed his views."" ""So Nelson Mandela was a communist who supported Saddam Hussein and befriended Gadaffi apparently...."" What's the basis: . Mandela was branded a communist by the white apartheid government, which made it a crime to be one. And it was a label the United States was all too content to accept. The Cold War between the United States and the Russian Soviet Union was in full swing. The Soviets had constructed the Berlin Wall just months before, and the world was dividing up into opposing camps -- allies of the United States or allies of the Soviet Union and China. This included many African nations. South Africa's government came down on the side of the West -- and communist or not, Mandela was squarely on the other side. What's the truth: . Mandela's close association with Marxists goes back at least to the 1940s, when he was enrolled in law school. He began a life-long friendship with Joe Slovo, ""an ardent communist,"" the anti-apartheid icon wrote in his autobiography ""Long Walk to Freedom."" Mandela described Slovo as of the people, ""without whom I would have accomplished very little."" A watershed moment tightly bonded Mandela to Slovo and other communist allies. Police gunned down 69 unarmed protesters in the town of Sharpville in March 1960. Then the government banned the communist party and the African National Congress, which fought for the freedom of black South Africans. With Slovo and other Marxists, he co-founded the militia movement Umkhonto we Sizwe. It's meaning: ""Spear of the Nation."" On December 16, 1961, the group carried out its first attacks on government installations and handed out leaflets announcing its existence. But was Mandela a dyed-in-the-wool communist? Not really, believes South African historian Sampie Terreblanche. ""You must understand it all against the apartheid struggle."" Mandela found the ANC too tame and had begun to push for a violent struggle in the 1940s, when he headed its youth league, the former professor of economics at Stellenbosch University said. The communists were for the use of violence, and Terreblanche believes it led to the alliance. After his release from prison, Mandela made some high-profile appearances with communist leaders. He visited Fidel Castro in Cuba. And to commemorate the relaunch of South Africa's communist party in 1990, he gave a speech. But he also made a point of distancing his own party. ""The ANC is not a communist Party,"" he said. CONTENTION 2: . Nelson Mandela was a terrorist . What they're saying: . ""It's amazing we forget he was a terrorist"" ""Please explain how it is racist to point out that biographical articles about Mandela are leaving out his terrorist actions pre-1991."" What's the basis: . The United States government placed Mandela on a terror watch list, where he stayed until 2008 -- long after his term as President of South Africa, and even longer after his receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. He was placed on it because of his group's militant fight against apartheid. At the time that Umkhonto we Sizwe carried out its first attacks, Mandela was at its helm. The next year, in 1962, he left for Morocco and Ethiopia, where he secretly studied guerrilla warfare. When Mandela returned home later that year, he was arrested and charged with illegal exit of the country and incitement to strike. Undeterred, Umkhonto we Sizwe built a militia and in 1963 made plans to start a civil war. Police intercepted the plan and arrested Mandela and other ANC leaders. Mandela received a sentence of life in prison. What's the truth: . It's true that Mandela once believed that civil disobedience was not enough to vanquish racism and apartheid. He felt he had to decide between the better of two evils -- submit or fight. He may not have been directly behind the attacks, said Hermann Giliomee, a historian from South Africa. ""He was on the run, so I don't think he had time for the planning on this."" Giliomee finds the 1963 plan amateurish, not exactly the design of a master terrorist. ""I think it's a very naÃ¯ve plan with very little outlook for success,"" the former professor of political science at the University of Cape Town said. Mandela changed his views on violence during his 27 years of incarceration. The rebel transformed into a pacifist. ""As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison,"" Mandela said after he was freed. CONTENTION 3: . Nelson Mandela was a racist . What they're saying: . ""How convenient that we choose to ignore that he once sang, 'Kill white people'"" ""If apartheid was racist toward blacks, Mandela was equally racist towards whites"" What's the basis: . Umkhonto we Sizwe beat the war drum against the ""white supremacy"" and ""the white state."" Its members often sang a song called ""Bring Me My Machine Gun."" What's the truth: . Though he despised white minority rule that kept the black majority down, he didn't dislike whites. ""He was rather strong against racism,"" Terreblanche said. ""The day before he was sent to Robben Island, he made a speech in parliament that he was against all forms of racism."" He was prepared to die for non-racialism, the historian said. Joe Slovo, one of Mandela's best friends, was white -- as were many other revolutionaries who joined him in the militant group. ""Umkhonto we Sizwe is a new, independent body, formed by Africans, It includes in its ranks South Africans of all races,"" the group said in its manifesto. Mandela has long espoused the way of reconciliation and called for there to be no racial violence in retribution for apartheid. In transitioning from the segregationist regime to a non-racial democracy, he partnered closely with his white predecessor, former President Frederik Willem de Klerk, who shared the Nobel Peace Prize with him. At a sports match in 1995, as President, Mandela made a gesture of support to white South Africans that drew gasps. Rugby was the dominant sport of white South Africans of Dutch heritage -- Afrikaners -- and was reviled by blacks. During a world championship match against New Zealand, Mandela walked onto the pitch wearing the jersey of his team's captain. The scene inspired the 2009 Hollywood movie ""Invictus"" directed by Clint Eastwood. The crowd began chanting his name. They were almost all white."
"The national controversy over a surge of Central American immigrants illegally crossing the U.S. border established a new battleground this week in a Southern California small town where angry crowds thwarted detained migrants from entering their community. In a faceoff Tuesday with three buses carrying the migrants behind screened-off windows, the demonstrators chanted ""Go back home!"" and ""USA"" and successfully forced the coaches to leave Murrieta, CNN affiliate KFMB reported. The buses instead took the 140 or so undocumented immigrants to U.S. processing centers at least 80 miles away, in the San Diego and El Centro areas, federal officials say. Counter-protesters squared off with the demonstrators, and a shouting match erupted over the nation's immigration system, which recently has been overwhelmed with a tide of Central American minors illegally entering the United States alone or with other children. A mix of poverty, violence and smugglers' false promises is prompting the Central American inflow. Unlike undocumented Mexican migrants, who are often immediately deported, the U.S. government detains and processes the Central Americans, who are eventually released and given a month to report to immigration offices. Many never show up and join the nation's 11 million undocumented population, says the National Border Patrol Council, the union representing Border Patrol agents. The Latin American immigrants rejected by Murrieta protesters were initially held in Texas, where U.S. facilities are so overflowing that detainees are sent to other states for processing. The government doesn't have the room to shelter the children with adults: there's only one family immigration detention center, in Pennsylvania. To assist the unaccompanied children, President Barack Obama's administration opened shelters last month on three military bases because federal facilities more designed for adults were overrun with minors. Tuesday's busloads of detained Central American immigrants didn't include any unaccompanied minors, said Murrieta Police Chief Sean Hadden, who put the number of protesters at 125. The children on the buses were apparently in the company of relatives or other adults, said an official with the National Border Patrol Council. 'Deport! Deport!' The protesters, who shouted ""Impeach Obama!"" and ""Deport! Deport!"" confronted the buses a day after the town posted a notice on its website: ""Murrieta Opposes Illegal Immigrant Arrival."" ""This is a failure to enforce federal law at the federal level,"" Mayor Alan Long said in a statement Monday about the pending arrival of the 140 immigrants to the U.S. Border Patrol station. ""Murrieta continues to object to the transfer of illegal immigrants to the local border patrol office."" Long spoke to CNN's ""Anderson Cooper 360"" later Wednesday. ""It's not against the immigrants,"" he said. ""They're trying to leave a less desirable place and come to the greatest nation in the world. We can't blame them for that ... No one's protesting that. What we're protesting is the product of a broken system that finally reached the doorstep of our community."" Long said that neither side in the national debate is coming up with a solution: ""The problem still is there. The problem is in Washington, D.C."" The local controversy was to continue with a town hall meeting scheduled for 6:30 p.m PT Wednesday. The U.S. government is scheduled to send another group of undocumented immigrants to Murrieta for processing on Friday, the union official for Border Patrol agents said. Chief Hadden also said he was told to expect 140 immigrants every 72 hours, with the next group scheduled to arrive on Friday, the Fourth of July. Earlier Wednesday, immigration rights advocates denounced the protesters. ""It is deplorable that people espousing anti-immigrant hate language created unnecessary tension and fear for immigrant mothers and their children,"" Pedro Rios, a community representative of the San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium, said in a statement. ""Even more concerning is that elected officials in the City of Murrieta instigated this tension. Mothers and their children on these buses have suffered through enough trauma."" At a Murrieta City Council meeting Tuesday night, Long seemed more conciliatory than his statement posted a day earlier on the city's website. Long thanked police and others. ""Please remember these are human beings that are fleeing the violence in their home countries,"" Long said. ""The problem is that they need to come into this country the legal way."" Journey from Texas . The U.S. government earlier flew the 140 Central American immigrants from south Texas to San Diego. Federal agents were busing them to Murrieta for processing at the Border Patrol station when the standoff took place Tuesday, CNN affiliates reported. After the buses turned around, the 140 immigrants were taken to the U.S. Border Patrol's San Ysidro station in San Diego, said Ron Zermeno of the National Border Patrol Council . On Wednesday, Zermeno told CNN that at least 136 immigrants were fed and screened. Among the group, 10 children were taken to local hospitals, though it's unclear why, Zermeno said. Seven more children were diagnosed with active scabies, an itchy and highly contagious skin disease. Those children are being kept separate from the others at the San Ysidro station, he said. Seventeen of the immigrants were taken to the Boulevard station in eastern San Diego County, Zermeno said. The U.S. government is struggling to detain and accommodate an influx of undocumented immigrants, particularly a wave of unaccompanied children from the Central American countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. The U.S. government doesn't have enough beds, food or sanitary facilities. Authorities estimate 60,000 to 80,000 children without parents will cross the border this year in what the White House has called an ""immediate humanitarian crisis."" To help relieve crowded facilities in Texas, undocumented immigrants are now being sent elsewhere to be processed. But Zermeno contended that processing immigrants, rather than enforcing the borders, is only making the situation worse. ""My concern is they are going to be eating in the same holding cells as someone sitting five feet away using the bathroom,"" he said. Intense debate . The furor in Murrieta illustrated the conflict between protecting the borders and ensuring the safety of detained immigrants and children. Protester Ellen Meeks said the country's identity has eroded with an influx of undocumented immigrants. ""I just wish America would be America again because it's not, and it's not just pointed to the Hispanics,"" Meeks said. ""Everybody needs to go through the legal ways."" Other protesters told CNN affiliate KGTV said they wanted immigrants to follow the legal process to enter the United States. ""Everybody that wants to come to this nation is entitled to, but they should come the right way,"" Bob Cuccio told the news outlet. ""You bring in all these children and they're going to take over our schools,"" Bel Reeves added. ""What's going to happen to the kids that were born and raised here?"" But immigration rights advocate Enrique Morones likened the migration to a refugee crisis and suggested racial antipathy was motivating protesters. ""If these children were from Canada, we would not be having this interview,"" Morones said. ""The parents have had enough. They are saying, 'If I don't send my child north, they are going to die.'"" Last month, the Obama administration unveiled a plan to spend almost $100 million in aid to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to help reintegrate the undocumented migrants whom the United States will deport, and to help keep them in their home countries. The administration also will set aside $161.5 million this year for the Central American Regional Security Initiative (CARSI) programs in an effort to ""help stem migration flows as well as address the root cause of the migration,"" the White House said. The Obama administration has accused syndicates in Latin America of waging a deliberate campaign of misinformation about relocating to the United States that has caused people in poor Central American countries and Mexico to risk their lives to cross the U.S. border illegally. Obama to take executive action on immigration . Vargas: Undocumented and hiding in plain sight . Crossroads of hope and fear: Stories from a desert bus station ."
"(CNN) -- Two U.S. spacecraft are set to crash on the moon Friday. On purpose. And we're all invited to watch. An artist's rendering shows the LCROSS spacecraft, left, separating from its Centaur rocket. NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite is scheduled to drop its Centaur upper-stage rocket on the lunar surface at 7:31 a.m. ET. NASA hopes the impact will kick up enough dust to help the LCROSS probe find the presence of water in the moon's soil. Four minutes later, the LCROSS will follow through the debris plume, collecting and relaying data back to Earth before crashing into the Cabeus crater near the moon's south pole. The LCROSS is carrying spectrometers, near-infrared cameras, a visible camera and a visible radiometer. These instruments will help NASA scientists analyze the plume of dust -- more than 250 metric tons' worth -- for water vapor. The orbiting Hubble Space Telescope and NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter will watch, and photograph, the collisions. And hundreds of telescopes on Earth also will be focused on the two plumes.  Watch animation of how the moon will be ""bombed"" » . NASA is encouraging amateur astronomers to join the watch party. ""We expect the debris plumes to be visible through midsized backyard telescopes -- 10 inches and larger,"" said Brian Day at NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, California. Day is an amateur astronomer who is leading education and public outreach for the LCROSS mission. Ames will host ""Impact Night,"" an event with music and food starting Thursday evening before a live transmission of the lunar impact will be shown around 4:30 a.m. PT Friday. Other science observatories and amateur astronomy clubs across the country will be hosting similar events. iReport: Are you planning to watch? ""The initial explosions will probably be hidden behind crater walls, but the plumes will rise high enough above the crater's rim to be seen from Earth,"" Day said. The Cabeus crater lies in permanent shadow, making observations inside the crater difficult.  Watch CNN's Jeanne Moos ask if lunacy is behind the moon ""bombing"" » . The impacts will not be visible to the naked eye or through binoculars. If you don't have a telescope, or you live in areas where daylight will obscure the viewing, NASA TV will broadcast the crashes live. Coverage begins at 6:15 a.m. ET Friday. The two main components of the LCROSS mission are the shepherding spacecraft and the Centaur upper stage rocket. The spacecraft will guide the rocket to its crash site. Data from previous space missions have revealed trace amounts of water in lunar soil. The LCROSS mission seeks a definitive answer to the question of how much water is present. NASA has said it believes water on the moon could be a valuable resource in the agency's quest to explore the solar system. LCROSS launched with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on June 18. Friday's lunar impact will be visible best in areas that are still dark, particularly in the Western United States. The Fremont Peak Observatory near Monterey, California, will open up its doors early Friday to allow people to watch the event through its 30-inch telescope. It's ""the most accessible public telescope in the [San Francisco] Bay Area,"" said Dave Samuels, the observatory's vice president. So far, at least 50 people have signed up, Samuels said, noting that number is ""really phenomenal, especially on a school night [and] work night. It's really incredible."" Students, retirees and board members are among those scheduled to attend. Samuels said a special low-light, infrared video camera will be hooked up to the telescope so that the audience can watch the rocket strike the moon. The observatory is in Fremont Peak State Park, which is on a list of California parks that could close because of recent budget cuts. Samuels said he hopes Friday's event triggers more interest in astronomy, particularly among young children, and possibly help the park to stay open. ""It's things like this that get kids interested [in science],"" he said. ""It will probably be a defining moment for them."" Darrick Gray, who teaches atmospheric sciences at Ray-Pec High School near Kansas City, Missouri, said he's planning to take 17 students -- all juniors and seniors -- to watch the lunar impact . ""This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime thing,"" Gray said. He said he's arranged for a school bus to pick up the kids early Friday and take the class to the Powell Observatory in Louisburg, Kansas. ""It's weather-dependent; we've got rain right now,"" Gray said. ""It's going to be a call I make at 5 a.m."" Gray, who is also the director of the Astronomical Society of Kansas City, said his students will try to take photos of the impact through the eyepiece of their telescopes. He said he hopes the event will influence his students to pursue careers in science. ""Being as we do live here in Missouri, we're away from the hub [of astronomy],"" Gray said. ""We're not in Florida, we're not in Texas, we're not in Silicon Valley -- it's not something they're used to seeing. ""So any time you can show them something that's never been done, and they say, 'Oh this is pretty cool,' I think they buy into that."""
"(CNN) -- Still reeling from the January earthquake, Haiti is now in the grip of a deadly cholera outbreak. Aid organizations, already struggling to provide the most basic necessities, now face the possibility of a catastrophic epidemic. With this health crisis unfolding, relief leaders shared with CNN their views of where Haiti stands today, and what the country needs to get through to tomorrow. The International Rescue Committee was concerned that a waterborne disease outbreak would occur. Workers stockpiled rehydration salts, cleared water channels, and dug hundreds of emergency latrines. Even with planning for the worst, the IRC's director of humanitarian affairs, Gerald Martone, was not surprised when the outbreak was identified as cholera. ""It is the most feared disease in disaster relief, because it spreads extremely quickly and is lethal. People can die in as short as four hours,"" he said. Much of the group's health staff is returning to Haiti for this outbreak, and the IRC is trying to help stop the spread of the disease by protecting water sources, educating about proper hygiene, and improving disposal of human waste. Martone's biggest concern is a possible outbreak of cholera in a crowded camp, which he likens to holding a match to a tinderbox.  Thousands of Haitians have lived in densely populated tent camps since the earthquake destroyed their homes. ""In addition to preventing the spread of this disease,"" Martone said, ""you have to aggressively treat the people affected, as you only have a few hours before someone can die. This challenge will overwhelm the Haiti health system."" For those wishing to help respond to the crisis, Martone suggests supporting charity medical organizations working in Haiti. The International Medical Corps is also responding to the outbreak, repositioning its doctors and nurses and setting up mobile clinics to create a perimeter around the contaminated zone. The group is calling for more nurses to volunteer and preparing its doctor and nurse networks abroad in case this becomes an epidemic. ""Cholera is not endemic to Haiti. It is a new disease and health professionals in Haiti do not have experience with it,"" said Margaret Aguirre, director of global communications for International Medical Corps. IMC's medical teams are teaching Haiti's health professionals how to identify, treat and prevent the disease, in addition to educating the community about proper hygiene and clean water. For Martone, the outbreak reflects the level of hygiene in Haiti. When he saw the squalid conditions in the camps in April, he realized that, despite the IRC's best efforts, the longer people were forced to live in these unhealthy, filthy conditions, the more likely it was that cholera would break out. Aguirre also sees the continual displacement of the Haitian people as a constant concern. ""Water and shelter has been the continuing problem, it is a health issue,"" she said. The IMC medical staff is trying to transition from the acute emergency phase to a transitional phase, with more emphasis on long-term care. ""There is less wound care and a great need for more mental health care and chronic disease care,"" Aguirre said. However, IMC is still addressing the struggles with nutrition and hygiene that were present immediately after the earthquake. CAN-DO founder Eric Klein finds advancing the relief process challenging, especially when the initial needs are still not met. ""Food, water, housing, jobs and medical -- those are still the same five things that they need,"" Klein said. ""But now we also have to look to the longer goals, more permanent housing and infrastructure. We have to move to another phase, but the first is still not finished, so we have two phases at once now."" His CAN-DO foundation is trying to do both. Workers are training Haitians to construct home, school and medical domes. ""You have so many camps with tents and tarps that have now rotted and are duct-taped together,"" Klein said. ""People will take anything. They need more tents, they will take them, tarps, anything, but that is like putting a Band-Aid on it. There needs to be a better solution."" While his team tackles housing and the CAN-DO Orphanage Revitalization Project, it is still trying to conduct water and food truck drops. On delivery runs, Klein said he finds areas that have not seen distribution in months. Charity organizations are in the midst of transitioning their work force to address the desperate need for jobs. The IMC staff has changed since the earthquake to a more local face. CAN-DO has been training Haitians for housing construction and plans to help bring a factory to the country. ""Jobs is the biggest thing -- every single person you talk to wants to work, they are looking for jobs,"" Klein said. Until now, IRC was focused on education and training programs, instead of direct aid. ""Creating self-reliance is the goal,"" Martone said."
"(CNN)The story of his selfless act went viral, but for Raymond Burse it was simply second nature. ""I'm not extraordinary,"" said Burse. ""I've assumed that people do those kinds of things all the time."" In summer 2014, Burse, who is president of Kentucky State University, gave up $90,000 of his almost $350,000 salary so that 24 of the university's lowest paid workers could earn $10.25 an hour. The move gave them a 40% pay increase. ""I don't mind giving up some of what I have been able to obtain through life in order to be a small help to them in their own lives,"" Burse said. Burse's help didn't end there. The 63 year-old later surprised KSU football player Deshon Floyd with the remaining $2,000 he needed to do an internship abroad.  In December, Burse offered high school shooting victim Javaugntay Burroughs a full scholarship. ""With all the things they had to deal with, one of the things they shouldn't have to deal with is whether this young man was going to be able to go to college,"" said Burse. Burse's actions spurred a pay-it-forward movement around the university, with an increase in small acts of kindness and donations to the school. ""I was amazed at how many people got involved,"" said Burse. ""It really mushroomed, so it has not stopped. We are still talking about paying it forward."" Did you have an inspirational coach? Share your story . It is not often you meet a person who is ingrained with a giving spirit. Burse said he has his mother and father to thank for grooming him to be both a giver and an achiever. ""My mother was very active in the community. We didn't have much, but she would always share a part of what we had,""  Burse said. A country boy at heart, Burse grew up as the youngest of 13 children in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. ""There wasn't a lot of money to go around,"" said Burse. ""Going through that process I learned a lot about sacrificing, waiting your turn and being thankful for what you have."" Although his father attended school only through the third grade and his mother the seventh, Burse was a Rhodes Scholar, a graduate of Harvard Law School and a university president by age 30. ""What they believed was if their children got an education, the education would serve them well for their entire lives,"" said Burse. That education did indeed serve Burse well. After serving as Kentucky State University's president for eight years in the '80s, he went on to have a highly successful career with General Electric as vice president and general counsel of GE Consumer & Industrial. After working at GE, Burse didn't have plans to come out of retirement. ""We would say that for every year you work at GE it is like working eight years somewhere else, just in terms of what GE required and demanded of you,"" said Burse. Burse remembers going into his retirement ""happy, content and enjoying"" himself. But when KSU President Mary Evans Sias announced her retirement in May 2014, Burse immediately got a call about filling her seat. At first, he said he wasn't interested. ""I did that for three to four weeks and finally I went to lunch with a couple of my friends, a couple of them Kentucky State graduates,"" said Burse. ""They played the guilt card on me."" Burse discussed it with his wife for a few weeks, and then decided he could come back for at least a year to help the university stabilize. Burse came in expecting to be at KSU for a year, but he's now signed on to be there another three-plus years. ""I think we are all placed on this Earth to do something, to do something good,"" Burse said. ""I consider Raymond Burse to be an ordinary individual who works hard, who believes in people and in the power of people. If you give and work with people, good things will happen,"" he said. Discover more Extraordinary People ."
"New York (CNN) -- An estimated 1 million people marked the passing of one year and the beginning of another in New York's Times Square with the descent of an iconic ball. With the help of Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Medal of Honor recipient Staff Sgt. Salvatore A. Giunta, the dazzling crystal ball began its 70-foot drop at 11:59 p.m. Friday to the harmonious chants of New Year's Eve revelers counting down the final seconds of 2010. More than one ton of confetti was released at midnight, with personal individual wishes written in more than 25 languages, a tradition from the past three years. Weighing in at 11,875 pounds with a diameter of 12 feet, the sparkling sphere is covered with 2,668 triangular crystals and is powered by 32,256 LED lights. By mixing red, blue, green and white light elements, the ball's lighting system is capable of producing a kaleidoscopic array of 16 million hues and colors, and billions of patterns, the event's website says. Each giant New Year's numeral making up ""2-0-1-1"" will stand seven feet high and the numerals will use a total 453 9-watt LED bulbs. As in the past three years, the numerals were designed to be more energy efficient, as Duracell Batteries set up a lab in which visitors rode stationary bikes to provide the stored battery power that will light the numbers on the ball Friday night. Times Square has served as one of the most popular sites of New Year's festivities since 1904, though the New Year's Eve ball made its inaugural drop down the flagpole at One Times Square in 1907. That first ball, built with iron and wood, featured one hundred light bulbs and was designed by Jacob Starr, a young immigrant metalworker. The New Year's Eve ball has beamed and dropped every year since with the exceptions of 1942 and 1943, when the United States was embroiled in World War II and New York City observed a city-wide ""dim-out"" to cut energy costs. According to New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, this New Year's Eve celebration, like years in the past, is a product of a lot of hard work and planning by many people. ""We don't ever take it for granted,"" Kelly said. ""The situation changes somewhat, we have sort of a core plan but we always add to it or change it -- we don't want to get stuck in a rut where we simply take a plan off the shelf."" As in previous years, security will be tight. Times Square will be closed to traffic at approximately 3 p.m. on Friday. Backpacks and alcohol are prohibited at the event and party-goers can expect a beefed-up police presence, according to the statement from the New York Police Department. ""It is a big complex operation and you know you always breathe a sigh of relief when it's over,"" Kelly said."
"(CNN) -- San Francisco police say they are investigating an allegation of sexual abuse against 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree. The inquiry comes as the San Francisco football team is preparing for an important playoff game. ""Michael Crabtree has been interviewed with his lawyer present and has cooperated in this investigation,"" a San Francisco police statement said. ""Michael Crabtree has not been detained or arrested and has agreed to make himself available to investigators in the future."" The complaint is about an alleged assault that occurred in a San Francisco hotel Sunday morning, police said. A day before, the 49ers scored a playoff victory, beating the Green Bay Packers at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Crabtree had two touchdowns in the game, continuing his sterling play that has propelled him to being the team's best wide receiver this year. ""We are aware of the allegation against Michael and understand that he has fully cooperated with authorities,"" 49ers General Manager Trent Baalke said. ""The 49ers take such matters very seriously. We will have no further comment at this time as the legal process is ongoing."" The 49ers will play the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday with the winner going to the Super Bowl."
"The video of Mitt Romney deriding the 47% of Americans ""who are dependent upon government"" re-ignited a debate about social class in America this week, exactly one year after the Occupy Wall Street movement first took to the streets to protest rising inequality. At a $50,000-a-plate fundraiser, Romney scoffed at that 47% ""who pay no income tax"" and ""believe they are victims."" Romney's comments bothered many Americans because he seemed to be attacking some of the most vulnerable members of our society. Aside from whether they actually ""believe they are victims,"" research has consistently shown that people lower on the social totem pole suffer significantly worse mental and physical health than those better off, including higher rates of heart disease, depression, suicide, several forms of cancer and death. Yet a new line of psychological research suggests there's another victim of inequality: the rich themselves. In fact, Romney's comments could make him the poster child for this research. Opinion: It's not all over for Romney . In a series of studies, researchers have found that attaining high social status impairs key social and emotional skills. For instance, a 2010 study published in Psychological Science  found  that people of higher socioeconomic status were worse at reading other people's emotions, a skill known as ""empathic accuracy,"" a basic part of empathy. In a follow-up experiment, the researchers -- including Dacher Keltner, my colleague at UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center -- made people feel higher or lower on the social ladder. Regardless of their actual socioeconomic status, people temporarily made to feel upper class had a harder time reading other people's emotions; people made to feel lower class showed better empathy. This suggests that there's something about the experience of high status that hurts our ability to connect with others emotionally. Other studies have suggested that high status makes people less compassionate, less generous and less interested in connecting with others in general . Here's why the people at that $50,000-a-plate dinner should care about this research: The skills that seem to be impaired by elevated status are the same skills that research has strongly linked to leading a happy, meaningful life. So as the super rich in this country assume an ever-loftier status above the 47% (or the 99%), they risk depleting their own reserves of happiness. ""Being compassionate, having empathic accuracy, being trusting and cooperative -- these are keys to social connection and, in turn, happiness,"" says UC Berkeley post-doctoral researcher Paul Piff, the lead author of a study that found that people of higher socioeconomic status were less willing to share money with a stranger or make charitable donations. (However, when they were made to feel lower status, they became more generous; the opposite was true for people made to feel high status -- they became stingier.) Opinion: Romney better off as a Latino? Indeed, perhaps the dominant finding to emerge from positive psychology research over the past decade is that our happiness (and health) is largely determined by the quality and quantity of our social connections. Perhaps that's why ""pro-social"" behaviors and emotions -- compassion, empathy, altruism -- have been so strongly linked to happiness. Consider: Research by Sonja Lyubomirsky, a leading happiness researcher, has consistently found that people report feeling happier after doing nice things for others. Several neuroscience studies have found that giving to others activates pleasure regions of the brain. Research by psychologists Lara Aknin and Elizabeth Dunn has even suggested that spending money on others makes you happier than spending on yourself. And a Canadian study published last year, led by Myriam Mongrain, found that after people supported others compassionately for just five to 15 minutes every day for a week, the compassionate people reported significant gains in happiness and self-esteem six months later. These findings suggest an explanation for why, once Americans attain an annual income of $75,000, more money doesn't seem to bring more happiness: Beyond that point, perhaps our elevated sense of status brings with it the harmful social and emotional effects that undercut the joys of more money. Sure enough, one recent study found that people who were wealthier, or were just temporarily made to feel wealthier, were worse at savoring everyday pleasures, a key to happiness, according to prior research. The research linking wealth and empathy certainly suggests one reason why Romney has seemed to demonstrate callousness and trouble connecting with voters on the campaign trail, with his comments about the 47% being just the latest example. In light of this research, the video of Romney carries another troubling implication: that inequality may be self-perpetuating, making the rich less likely to feel compassion for the poor, thereby increasing the economic gap between them. Opinion: Romney, Americans are not moochers . But we probably don't need to read too much research to appreciate how this empathy gap is bad for Romney's happiness. Just look at a new Pew Research Center poll , which shows that he trails President Obama by 8 percentage points, and 43 points in the area of ""connects well with ordinary Americans."" Follow CNN Opinion on Twitter. Join the conversation on Facebook."
"(CNN) -- The player tumbles to the ground, writhing around as if he has been mortally wounded. Television replays, however, show that his opponent has made no contact at all. It's an ever-increasing sight on football grounds around the world, and -- in the English Premier League, at least -- it's becoming an increasingly emotive issue. Santi Cazorla was labeled a ""con artist"" after his theatricals earned Arsenal a match-turning penalty kick in a game against West Brom on Saturday. Earlier this season, Liverpool's Luis Suarez was the subject of countless negative headlines as he went to ground in the penalty area, and Tottenham's Gareth Bale has been booked four times for diving -- double that of any other EPL player. The scourge of trying to win free-kicks, and especially penalties, in such a way has long been a thorn in football's side, with fans often outraged by what they see as sporting fraud. CNN's very own Arsenal fanatic Piers Morgan took to Twitter to decry Cazorla's actions, saying he was ""ashamed to see an Arsenal player cheat so badly."" One man who has also never been short of opinions on the subject of cheating is former World Anti-Doping Agency chairman Dick Pound. The Canadian lawyer presided over WADA from its inception in 1999 until 2007, a year when cycling's governing body tried to sue him for critical comments about its former chief Hein Verbruggen. Pound had earned the wrath of Union Cycliste Internationale for saying it could do more to target doping, but his words were comprehensively borne out years later by the U.S. Anti Doping Agency's report into Lance Armstrong, in which everyday items such as butter (apparently short-hand for the hormone EPO) and olive oil (the vehicle for absorbing testosterone) took on very different meanings. Pound believes there are five main reasons why athletes resort to performance-enhancing drugs -- considered by most sports fans to be the worst form of cheating. ""There are reasons but then there are also excuses,"" he told CNN. ""1. A desire to win at all costs -- even if that means lying. 2. For financial reasons -- with professionals trying to extend a career. 3. National pressures -- as exemplified by the old East German system. 4. Individual pressure from coaches -- who get paid better if they coach winners, and that can apply for administrations too. 5. Finally, they dope because they believe they will not get caught -- they believe they are invincible."" On the latter point, the sad truth is that many do successfully beat the drug testers, as did Armstrong and his former U.S. Postal teammate George Hincapie, who confessed all in a plea bargain in October. 'Leveling the playing field' ""Early in my professional career, it became clear to me that, given the widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs by cyclists at the top of the profession, it was not possible to compete at the highest level without them,"" said Hincapie, who decided to end his 18-year top-level career. His account tallies with the view of Ellis Cashmore, a professor of culture, media and sport at Staffordshire University in England who has conducted research into the use of drugs in sport. ""I don't think there's a conscious motivation when people dope to gain an unfair advantage. My strong belief is that they are trying to level the playing field, knowing that there are so many others doping that they will be disadvantaged if they don't,"" says Cashmore, whose low opinion of drug testers and high hopes for healthier athletes makes him that rarity -- a public advocate for the use of drugs in sports. ""I won't divulge names but one sprinter, who doped with impunity, told me: 'For several years, I was coming fourth or fifth despite training as hard as I could. Yet I knew that the people beating me weren't training as hard nor did they have the same athletic capacity.' "" So the sprinter doped -- with the ""leveling the playing field"" argument used by many sportsmen, including Ben Johnson's coach Charlie Francis, who said the disgraced Canadian was left with no alternative given the riddled nature of athletics at the time he was winning, then losing, the 1988 Olympic 100 meters final. The plunge into drugs is also tempting because it tends to lead to ever-increasing fortunes, with better performances leading to better results and hence greater earnings. ""If you use drugs, it's because you want a shortcut -- a shortcut to everything,"" says South African athlete Hezekiel Sepeng, a silver medalist at the 1996 Olympics whose career ended in controversy when he tested positive for an anabolic steroid. ""Once you start winning, sponsors will be attracted and then money will come. It is an easy way to make money. Some athletes will dope for four to five years without being caught and will make a lot of money in that time,"" the former 800m specialist, now 38, told CNN. ""The big problem in South Africa is that our sportsmen compare themselves internationally. They are young, they've heard about doping and their mind tells them that they need drugs to beat the rest -- it's all about meeting goals and people wanting quick money."" Pre-USADA, Armstrong had amassed a $70 million fortune according to Forbes magazine, while fellow American Marion Jones had several multimillion-dollar sponsorship deals before the sprinter's drug admission prompted her supersonic fall from grace. 'Sophisticated skulduggery' At the other end of the scale, lying to earn more money is rampant in African football, where countless ""promising"" players have concocted false -- and younger -- ages in a bid to appear more enticing to any potential Western suitors (and thus secure a way out of poverty). This year Somalia was thrown out of the 2013 African Under-17 Championship qualifiers, while Niger was disqualified from the 2009 tournament for fielding a 22-year-old and its host Nigeria dropped several of its squad following age tests. While that might seem an almost understandable form of cheating, the infamous actions of Soviet pentathlete Boris Onishchenko at the 1976 Olympics are anything but. The three-time Soviet world champion employed sophisticated skulduggery as he rewired his epee so that it would score points when it did not deserve to, as he tried to turn the silver medal he had won four years previously into gold. His ""desire to win at all costs"" earned him the nickname ""Dis-Onishchenko"" -- though little was heard of him after the Montreal Games. It is unclear whether Onischenko had acted with the help of the Soviet team, a subject that had great relevance at the time given the ideological battles -- and sporting subterfuge -- of the Cold War. Onischenko aside, the 1976 Olympics were also notable for the second-place finish in the medal table achieved by East Germany. A country of just 16 million, it was one of the dominant powers in sports such as swimming and track in the 1970s and early '80s -- which was later explained by the state-sponsored doping system that was uncovered after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Many athletes were unwittingly doped, with British newspaper The Guardian reporting in 2005 that an estimated 800 later suffered serious health issues. The most public face of the scandal was Heidi Krieger, a female shot-putter who was given so many steroids that she later opted to have a sex change and is today known as Andreas. While East Germany's rulers felt sporting glory suitably reflected the successes of their political ideology, so prompting their top-down approach, soccer star Diego Maradona did it the other way -- waging war, quite literally, single-handed. After his ""Hand of God"" goal in the 1986 World Cup helped Argentina beat England, one of football's all-time greats justified his deception by referencing his country's unhappiness over the 1982 Falklands War. Argentina lay claim to the islands, which it calls Las Malvinas, over which the British have sovereignty. As clearly seen, the pressure to succeed often takes sportsmen and women into unexpected territory. We are often told that tiny factors make the difference in top-level sports, yet the measures used to gain them are often anything but insignificant. Examples abound -- but how many can prove the point better than Nelson Piquet Jr.'s intentional crash in the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, following team orders, which enabled Renault teammate Fernando Alonso to win the race after the safety car came out? With F1 teams spying on one another, boxers loading their gloves with weights, marathoners crossing the finishing line without running the distance, rugby players using fake blood capsules to feign injury (and so enable a team substitution) and Spain's 2000 Paralympic basketball gold medalists later stripped of their title after nearly all their team were revealed to have no disability, arguably the very concept of ""sport"" has been defeated. There may even be a measure of sympathy for the international sports bureaucracy -- the men and women running global sport's governing bodies. They would seem to need a full-time investigation unit to weed out all the ingenious methods being used to cheat. With that in mind, is it any wonder that FIFA -- as it tackles the debilitating threat of organized match-fixing in soccer -- has enlisted the help of worldwide police agency Interpol in recent years?"
"Rockets flew between Israel and Hamas as tensions in the region continue their upward climb. Hamas security sources reported at least 60 Israeli airstrikes across Gaza on Monday night into Tuesday, including from F-16s, Apache helicopters and drones. The sources said at least 10 people were injured. ""Operation Protective Edge is underway. Targeting #Hamas capabilities that are terrorizing #Israel,"" Israel Defense Forces spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner tweeted. The position of the IDF has changed, the spokesman said at an earlier news briefing. Last week they were focused on de-escalation, but now Israel is preparing for a possible deterioration of the situation, he said. Lerner said the IDF has already called up several hundred reservists and is prepared to add 1,500 more. During the last offensive on Gaza in November 2012, 30,000 reservists were called up. Eight Palestinian militants were killed in more than 25 Israeli airstrikes and 39 rocket attacks across Gaza on Sunday night into Monday, said Ashraf Al-Qidra, a spokesman for the Health Ministry in Gaza.  At least 15 people were injured, he said. CNN originally reported nine killed but the death toll was lowered because one man believed to have been killed in a tunnel in Rafah was found to be alive and in critical condition. ""The enemy has crossed the red lines and will be made to pay the price for its crimes,"" Mushir Al-Masri, a Hamas leadership figure and member of the Palestinian parliament, wrote on his Facebook page. ""The blood of our martyrs is precious ... and is fuel for the intifada and the resistance."" After that statement, 70 rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel, with Hamas claiming responsibility. Israeli air raid sirens were heard near Yavne in central Israel as militants in Gaza stepped up their attacks. At least one person was wounded by shrapnel in Ashdod, according to Israeli rescuer services. In another tweet, Lerner said that all summer camps, kindergartens and schools within a roughly 25 mile (40 kilometer) radius of Gaza have been forbidden because of the threat of rockets. Suspects questioned . The escalation of military action comes after the slaying of a Palestinian teenager, which was perhaps an act of retaliation for the killing of three Israeli teens earlier. Israeli police have questioned six suspects about what they did ""before and during the murder"" of the Palestinian teen who was abducted and burned to death, Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. Naftali Schwartzburger, the lawyer of one of the six suspects, said on CNN affiliate Israeli Channel 2 on Monday that Israeli police conducted re-enactments of the killing of  Mohammed Abu Khedair. Flare-up in Israeli-Palestinian violence: Why now? The fallout from the slayings might damage Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's political future. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, head of Yisrael Beiteinu party, said in a press conference Monday that he told Netanyahu of his intention to dissolve his party's joint faction with Netanyahu's Likud party, saying it was ""not working."" Lieberman criticized Netanyahu's handling of Gaza. Netanyahu on Monday spoke with the father of the Palestinian teenager who was burned alive in Jerusalem last week, expressing shock at what he called an ""abhorrent"" murder. As anger continues to boil over the death of 16-year-old Abu Khedair, Netanyahu talked by phone with Hussein Abu Khedair, telling him that the killers will be brought to trial and ""will be dealt with to the fullest extent of the law."" Police have said there is a ""strong indication"" the attackers may have been motivated by a desire for revenge over the deaths of the three Israeli teenagers, whose bodies were found a week ago in a field in the West Bank. ""Israel stands thoroughly against this. We promised to investigate. We promised to bring the perpetrators of that crime to justice and guess what? We delivered. We've done exactly that,"" said Mark Regev, spokesman for Netanyahu. The teen's father said later Monday that he did not recall speaking with the Prime Minister. ""I was up until 5 a.m. this morning and tried to go to sleep around then,"" Hussein Abu Khedair said. ""Around 7 or 7:30, I started getting phone calls from many Hebrew speaking people. I was tired and could not make out what or who I spoke to. I can't recall speaking to Netanyahu.""​ . In a region that has experienced decades of fighting and mistrust, the past week's events have still managed to shock -- and to further embitter relations between Israelis and Palestinians. Israeli police also announced Sunday a confession in the killing of a Jewish Israeli teen a month ago. Shelly Dadon, 19, was kidnapped and stabbed to death by an Arab Israeli taxi driver, who has now provided details of the killing, according to Rosenfeld. 'Stop this disgusting cycle of violence' Meanwhile, the Abu Khedair family is irate over the treatment by Israeli police of one of the burning victim's cousins, an American high school student. Relatives say Tariq Abu Khdeir, a 15-year-old high school sophomore from Florida, was beaten while being detained amid protests over his cousin's death. (The American branch of the family uses a different spelling of the family surname.) Khdeir, who was in Jerusalem to visit family during his summer vacation, was released on bail Sunday. The magistrate court ordered that he stay under house arrest for nine days at a relative's house in a different neighborhood from the family home. ""We're extremely concerned that he's under house arrest right now without really facing any legitimate charges that have been made public, and that those who beat him apparently are walking free,"" his family attorney said Monday, speaking from Florida. Senior State Department officials told CNN that the United States was instrumental in securing the release of the youth. Senior officials in the Obama administration said they were shocked at two videos in which Khdeir was seen being held down and pummeled by men in the uniform of Israeli security forces, the officials said. The officials said they expect Tariq will be able to return home to Florida with his family in the next few weeks. Israeli authorities say Khdeir was part of a group of youths who attacked police. ""From what I understand about the facts of the case, this is not just an innocent bystander who was pulled off of a schoolyard,"" Israel's ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, told ""Fox News Sunday.""  ""He was with six other people. They were masked. They threw petrol bombs and Molotov cocktails at our police. Three of them had knives. ... That does not excuse any excessive use of force, and our Justice Ministry is opening an investigation."" But State Department officials questioned Dermer's remarks. ""They are investigating whether he was throwing rocks,"" another senior State Department official said. ""Even if he was, the question is, was this the right response to that? Obviously we don't think so."" Regev, Netanyahu's spokesman, agreed. ""This is no excuse for this sort of behavior and we're currently investigating it. It's not the police investigating themselves. We've initiated an impartial, objective, independent inquiry into exactly what happened,"" he said. 'Demolish their houses' Abu Khedair's mother, Suha, said she wants equal justice for the people who abducted him in the early morning as he was heading from his home to a mosque for prayers. He died after being burned alive and hit on the head with a blunt object, authorities say. ""If they sentence them and demolish their houses and give them life sentences, it might satisfy me a little,"" Suha Abu Khedair said. The Israeli military destroyed the homes of the two main suspects in the killings of the three Israeli teenagers. Those suspects are still at large. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has called on the United Nations to set up an international investigation into recent crimes against Palestinian people, including the killing of Abu Khedair, the Palestinian state news agency WAFA reported. Officials from both sides have called for restraint amid fears that the cycle of horrific violence could continue."
"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has sent out a warning to hospitals about a new antibiotic-resistant bacteria, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, or CRE. While this strain of bacteria is not new, it has become more common in the last 10 years or so and has now become prevalent enough to warrant a higher level of concern. It's worth backing up for a second to discuss what all of this means. We use antibiotics to treat bacterial infections. When we first started developing antibiotics, such infections were easier to cure. But over time, the bacteria evolved. They developed the ability to fight the antibiotics that we use. They pass on this ability to resist treatment to bacteria that follow. Over time, we are often forced to develop new antibiotics to beat infections that were previously treated easily. News: CDC: 'Nightmare bacteria' spreading . This is what has happened here with CRE. Over time, these bacteria have become harder and harder to treat. The old antibiotics don't work as well. In this case, CRE infections kill about half of patients who have bloodstream infections. This is more than twice as many people who die from similar infections with antibiotic-susceptible strains. Right now, CRE only are of concern to certain susceptible patients in the hospital. It's not common in the community, and most of the warnings are directed at hospitals, imploring them to take precautions to isolate patients and prevent spread in the inpatient setting. The nightmare scenario, though, is that this bacteria will get out into the community. This isn't fear-mongering. Years ago, Staphylococcus aureus infections were also relatively easy to treat. Over time, though, a strain of bacteria, known as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, became a problem in hospitals. The CDC issued warnings to hospitals to take precautions to prevent its spread. Over time, though, it got out into the community. A 2008 study of children who came into an emergency department with skin abscesses, or infections, found that about 75% of them were caused by MRSA. Luckily, we still have medications, such as trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, to treat these infections. When that fails, though, things will become even more concerning. Put another way, when I was training, we would have almost never considered MRSA as the cause of a skin infection. These days, though, we pretty much assume it's the cause, and treat with stronger drugs. Most people believe that the injudicious use of antibiotics is to blame for these developments. Every time we use antibiotics, we give bacteria a chance to evolve. We kill off those susceptible to the drugs and leave those that have developed resistance. Each time we use antibiotics unnecessarily, say to treat a virus, we make the problem worse. Each time we use them improperly, or for too short a period of time, we do the same. These days, we're putting them in everything, from soap, to lotion, to the food that animals eat. This is a real public health issue. Creating more resistant strains is a serious long-term problem. The new warning is panicking a lot of people, but for the wrong reasons. You're very, very unlikely to get a CRE infection anytime in the near future. It's important that hospitals work to prevent that problem from getting worse, but almost everyone reading about it this week will be unaffected by it. It's much, much more likely, though, that these same people will ask for antibiotics when they get a cold. That's the kind of thing that will lead to future problems. That's the kind of thing we need to stop now."
"(CNN) -- Hours after losing Victoria Azarenka to injury, organizers of the Dubai Tennis Championships were dealt another major blow on Wednesday when Serena Williams also pulled out of the event. The 31-year-old Williams, who became the oldest women's tennis player to be crowned world No. 1 on Monday, said she was forced out because of a back injury. ""I've just had some back problems the past couple of weeks,"" the American told an impromptu press conference. ""I thought it would get better as the week went on but it didn't. I don't want to keep pushing it and make it worse."" Williams took to the court to apologize to fans who had arrived for her second-round match with Marion Bartoli of France. The absences of both Williams and previous No. 1 Azarenka represent a severe dent to a popular $2 million tournament which had already been without the sport's two reported highest earners, Maria Sharapova and Li Na (according to Forbes magazine). It is also a blow to the Women's Tennis Association, which has worked hard to introduce incentives and regulations to reduce the number of withdrawals from its events. Wednesday's unexpected withdrawal follows that of second-ranked Azarenka, which ensured that Williams will hang on to top spot until the Sony Ericsson Open, which starts in Miami on March 18. Williams said her back also troubled her in last week's Qatar Open, where she was beaten in the final by the Belorussian, who withdrew from the Dubai championships with a foot injury. The 15-time grand slam winner added that, having returned to the pinnacle after two and a half years during which her life and career were threatened following a freak foot injury in 2010, being No. 1 is no longer her primary goal. ""OK, I have done it, let's focus on my next goals which are the grand slams,"" Williams said, admitting that she already had at least half an eye on the French Open in Paris, starting on May 26. ""I really want to continue doing really well in those."" After winning Wimbledon and the US Open last year, Williams' total of grand slam titles is only three fewer than Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, who together are second on the all-time list behind Steffi Graf with 22. Williams' absence increases the chances of world No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska making a successful defense of her title, which began with the Pole grinding out a 7-, 6-3 win over Yulia Putintseva, a promising 18-year-old wild card entry from Kazakhstan. Bartoli, who received a wild-card invite after making a late entry, will face former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in the quarterfinals. The Dane, now ranked 10th and a winner of the tournament in 2011, progressed with a 6-0 6-1 drubbing of China's former Wimbledon semifinalist Zheng Jie. ."
"(CNN) -- Inmates at a prison in Cuba have made a set of hidden-camera videos to expose the conditions there, publicizing the filth and decrepitude of the facilities despite the risk of retribution. ""The conditions here at Combinado del Este are subhuman, and the food is unfit for human consumption,"" says inmate Douglas Moore, who says he is an American convicted of a drug offense. Because he is an American, he says in the video, ""I am singled out for abuse. I cannot count all the times that I have been chained by my hands and legs and beaten mercilessly, then robbed of my meager possessions by the guardia frontera here at Combinado del Este."" He pulls up his pants to show bruises on his leg, and is seen walking with a cane. He points out his cracked and broken sink, and then shows how his toilet is too broken to sit on, so if he wants to use it he has to place a chair frame over it. The videos -- obtained by CNN through a dissident journalist -- show derelict cell blocks overlooking a seedy exercise yard. The grime on the walls is so thick that when an inmate wipes it with a napkin, the paper becomes blackened with filth. Some of the toilets shown are barely more than a hole in the floor. Prisoners, including the narrator, complain in Spanish of dubious food, meager rations, dilapidated cells, moldy walls, overcrowding, and limited exercise hours. They say sewage leaks are persistent. Combinado del Este is a Cuban maximum security prison about 10 miles southeast of Havana. It is believed to hold both ordinary prisoners, like violent criminals and drug runners, as well as political prisoners jailed for criticizing the ruling Castro brothers. Representatives of the Cuban government in Havana, Washington, and New York did not respond to requests from CNN for comment. The International Committee of the Red Cross said it is unable to investigate conditions at Combinado del Este. ""Unlike in many other countries in the region,"" said spokesman Steven Anderson, ""the ICRC does not have access to prisons in Cuba."" But photos from a media tour of the prison in 2004 depicted a far rosier picture, with inmates being taught computer skills and exercising on a lawn. CNN cannot verify the authenticity of the videos, obtained through Dania Virgen Garcia, a dissident journalist in Cuba whose blog is called Cuba por Dentro. Two of the 10 videos are posted on a YouTube channel associated with Cuban dissidents. Her blog address is shown on the videos. Garcia said the footage was shot in January using a camera smuggled into the prison. The prisoners who made the tapes may be in danger of retribution, according to Frank Calzon, a Castro critic who is executive director of the Center for a Free Cuba. But this month's visit to Cuba by the pope may shield them from retribution, at least in the short term, he said. And in the long term, he added, the prisoners may believe it is worth the risk to make the videos and publicize their conditions. ""The only hope a prisoner has,"" he said, ""is for the outside world to know about their plight. Getting attention is a way of forcing the government not to mistreat you."" CNN's Javier de Diego and Patrick Oppmann contributed to this report ."
"ABUSIR, Egypt (CNN) -- Today, I met Cleopatra's lawyer. Well, not her lawyer but someone who is determined to defend the legendary queen against centuries of bad publicity. Kathleen Martinez, an archaeologist from the Dominican Republic, wants to mend Cleopatra's tattered reputation. Kathleen Martinez is a young archaeologist from the Dominican Republic who has toiled for three years on a barren hillside overlooking the coastal highway linking Alexandria with the Libyan border. According to the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, it's here, at a spot known as Abusir, that the tomb of Marc Antony and Cleopatra might be located. I met Martinez in a dusty tomb full of bones at the excavation site. She recounted to me that, as a young girl, she listened in on a scholarly discussion in her father's library about Cleopatra. ""They were speaking very badly about her and about her image,"" she recalled. ""I got very upset. I said I didn't believe what they are saying, that I needed to study more about her."" Martinez went on to earn a law degree but continued to be fascinated by the saga of Cleopatra. Four years ago, she managed to convince Zahi Hawass, the untiring director of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, to allow her to start excavating at Abusir. Her fascination with -- and admiration for -- Cleopatra is intense. The last queen of Ancient Egypt, she told me, ""spoke nine languages, she was a philosopher, she was a poet, she was a politician, she was a goddess, and she was a warrior."" In short, Martinez believes, Cleopatra was a woman way ahead of her times. And given that history is written by the victors -- in Cleopatra's case, the Romans -- her press was somewhat less than complimentary. It was ""bad propaganda,"" in Martinez's words. For that reason, she told me, ""I want to be Cleopatra's lawyer."" With Hawass, Martinez is now working on a book about Cleopatra to repair all that damage. The tale of Antony and Cleopatra has fueled the popular imagination for centuries. Ill-fated lovers were a favorite theme for William Shakespeare, and the Roman noble and the Egyptian queen certainly fit the bill. Marc Antony was a no less fascinating character than Cleopatra. In his youth, he led a life of heavy drinking and womanizing. According to the Roman historian Plutarch, Antony accumulated debts of 250 talents, the equivalent of $5 million, before reaching 20. To escape his creditors in Rome, he fled to Greece, where he studied with the philosophers of Athens, before being called to join the Roman legions in the east, then serving under Julius Caesar. After Caesar's assassination, Marc Antony became embroiled in a series of power struggles and eventually ended up in Egypt. Egypt was the enemy of his former ally, Octavian, who would go on to become the Emperor Augustus, the first emperor of Rome. Octavian defeated Antony's forces at the battle of Actium in 30 B.C. Shortly afterward, Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide, he by his own sword, she by a poisonous asp. Octavian, according to Plutarch, allowed them to be buried together ""in splendid and regal fashion."" But no one knows where. The sudden focus on Antony and Cleopatra has also reignited an old debate over the latter's looks. Was Cleopatra a stunning beauty a la Elizabeth Taylor, or somewhat less spectacular? Researchers from Newcastle University in England claimed in 2007 that, based upon coins found from the period, she was quite homely, with ""a shallow forehead, long, pointed nose, narrow lips and a sharply pointed chin.""  See gallery of tomb that might be Cleopatra's » . The same researchers didn't have a very flattering assessment of Marc Antony either, saying he had ""bulging eyes, a large hooked nose and a thick neck."" No Richard Burton. This does contradict Plutarch's description of Marc Antony as having ""a noble dignity of form; and a shapely beard, a broad forehead, and an aquiline nose [that] were thought to show the virile qualities peculiar to the portraits and statues of Hercules""? Hawass hasn't had much to say in defense of Marc Antony, but he claims the coins found in Abusir show Cleopatra was ""beautiful."" At Abusir, he showed me one of the coins with Cleopatra's likeness. ""The only thing you can see here is her nose is a bit big."" That's because, Hawass insisted, ""when you draw a face on a coin you cannot draw the beauty of a queen, and therefore I think that the lady who captured the hearts of Julius Caesar and Marc Antony cannot have been ugly."" Egyptians, who are intensely proud of their country and its ancient heritage, may be forgiven for their insistence on this point. I tend to take the middle ground on this one. Beauty is more than skin deep, and what seems to have captivated Julius Caesar and Marc Antony was not physical but rather inner beauty.  Watch report from CNN's Ben Wedeman on Cleopatra » . Plutarch wrote in his ""Life of Antony"" that ""for her beauty was in itself not altogether incomparable, nor such as to strike those who saw her."" In other words, she was plain. Plutarch goes on to write, however, that she was intelligent, charming and has ""sweetness in the tones of her voice."" The mystery of what Cleopatra really looked like may never be solved. In any event, it's just one of many mysteries in Egypt. Others include the obvious ones: How were the pyramids built? Who built them? Why were they built? How old is the Sphinx? Hawass dismisses with lusty contempt the people who espouse the more fantastic theories (that aliens built the pyramids, that the Sphinx is more than 10,000 years old), labeling them ""pyramidiots."" But there are other historical mysteries out there that have yet to be answered. Some archaeologists are trying to find the tomb of Alexander the Great (who died in Babylon but, according to some ancient historians, was buried in Egypt). Others are searching for the remains of the lost army of Cambyses -- 50,000 soldiers dispatched on a mission by the Persian Emperor to attack the Oracle of Amon (today's Siwa Oasis in western Egypt) only to disappear during a sandstorm in the Sahara Desert. There has been plenty of excitement in the past few days over reports that Martinez and her team are about to find the long-lost tomb of Antony and Cleopatra. Alas, the enthusiasts are going to have to be patient. The summer residence of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is just down the road from the site. For security reasons, no one is allowed on the hillside where the excavations are taking place from May through November. So unless Mubarak decides to overrule his security detail, the solving of this mystery will have to be put on hold for at least another five months. We've waited 2,000 years. I guess we can wait a few more months."
"(CNN Student News) -- March 31, 2014 . This Monday on CNN Student News, step inside a tremendous facility where first responders get on-the-job training for potential disasters. We'll also cover a tense region near Ukraine's border with Russia, and we'll explain how NASA is turning to the public for its ideas on spacesuit style. And if you've ever asked, ""What does the fox say?"" we have your answer. On this page you will find today's show Transcript, the Daily Curriculum, and a place for you to leave feedback. TRANSCRIPT . Click here to access the transcript of today's CNN Student News program. Please note that there may be a delay between the time when the video is available and when the transcript is published. DAILY CURRICULUM . Click here for a printable version of the Daily Curriculum (PDF). Media Literacy Question of the Day: . How might media coverage of disaster training affect public perceptions of first responders? Key Concepts: Identify or explain these subjects you heard about in today's show: . 1. geopolitical . 2. epicenter . 3. prototype . Fast Facts: How well were you listening to today's program? 1. According to the video: Why are some Ukrainian citizens guarding the northeastern border of their country? What are these volunteer troops lacking? What evidence is there that they have popular support in this region? Why are Ukrainian troops on high alert along the border? Why is there a sense of disbelief among some Ukrainian troops over the current situation? How is the Russian government responding to the Ukrainians' concerns? 2. Where was the epicenter of a magnitude 5.1 earthquake that hit Southern California this weekend? About how many aftershocks have occurred? When was the last time that a major earthquake struck this area? 3. What is Guardian Centers? Where is this facility located? Who are some of its clients? What gave the facility's founder the idea to build it? According to the video, how has the center ""changed the game"" for disaster response training? 4. Why is NASA redesigning its spacesuits? How is the agency asking the public to participate in this redesign? What is the actual purpose of NASA's spacesuits? What has been the cost of previous suits? Discussion Questions: . 1. In the video, we hear the reporter refer to Russia and the U.S. as ""Cold War foes."" What do you know about the Cold War? What kind of event was it? When did it take place? What countries were involved? Why do you think that the Cold War has been referenced in some reports concerning the situation in Ukraine? Do you think this is appropriate? Why or why not? 2. Why do you think that a disaster training facility like Guardian Centers uses ""real props""? How might realistic settings and objects provide a better training experience for first responders? 3. Have you ever participated in a disaster drill at your school? What value do you think these kinds of drills have for students, staff and others who participate? Why? CNN Student News is created by a team of journalists and educators who consider the Common Core State Standards, national standards in different subject areas, and state standards when producing the show and curriculum. We hope you use our free daily materials along with the program, and we welcome your feedback on them. FEEDBACK . We're looking for your feedback about CNN Student News. Please use this page to leave us comments about today's program, including what you think about our stories and our resources. Also, feel free to tell us how you use them in your classroom. The educators on our staff will monitor this page and may respond to your comments as well. Thank you for using CNN Student News! Click here to submit your Roll Call request."
"(CNN) -- Teenage golf sensation Noh Seung-Yul has entered the sport's record books as the youngest player to top the Asian Tour's money list. The 19-year-old, who won $822,361 on his way to becoming the Asian Tour's No. 1, was honored for his achievements at an award ceremony in Thailand following the conclusion of the 2010 season. As well as claiming the Order of Merit trophy, the South Korean was also named the Players' Player of the Year, but was unable to accept the accolades in person after having recently undergone corrective eye surgery. ""I am honored becoming the youngest-ever Asian Tour champion in history,"" the world No. 66 said in a video message played at the event. ""It is also special for me to win the Players' Player of the Year Award as this is nominated by my fellow professionals."" Noh's season highlights include victory at the Malaysian Open in March and four other top-10 finishes on the Asian Tour, and he did not miss a halfway cut in all of its events that he played. He also made the weekend rounds in two of the three major tournaments in which he gained entry, finishing tied for 40th place at the U.S. Open and equal 28th at the PGA Championship. ""The Asian Tour has done so much in my career and I am thankful for the opportunities that I have enjoyed since coming through from qualifying school in 2008,"" he said. ""My game has become better over the years through the high level of competition and I will continue to represent the tour proudly."" Another qualifying school graduate, Rikard Karlberg of Sweden, was named Rookie of the Year after finishing third in the Order of Merit in his debut season. Japan's Tetsuji Hiratsuka finished fifth overall on $333,000 after winning Sunday's closing tournament, the Black Mountain Masters in Thailand. The 39-year-old claimed his third title this season as he beat young home hope Namchoak Tantipokakul in the first hole of a playoff in Hua Hin."
"German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative party won Sunday's parliamentary elections, but appeared to fall just short of obtaining a super majority, according to preliminary results released early Monday. Merkel's bloc -- the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU) -- garnered 41.5% of the vote, according to semi-official results released by the Federal Election Office. Merkel's party was within two seats of obtaining a super majority, a majority greater than a simple majority of half-plus-one. The results appeared to validate Merkel's policies and leadership style as she has guided Germany through the Eurozone's economic crisis amid criticism that she has held back bailout help to struggling EU nations. ""This is a super result,"" Merkel, who was running in her third election, said in remarks to supporters at CDU headquarters that were televised. Read more: Angela Merkel: Europe's Mrs. Nein . ""It's too early to say how we will proceed,"" she said. ""But today we should celebrate."" It's a far cry from her first election in 2005, when Merkel's pre-election musings about tax increases went down badly with voters. She took office with a small plurality after her party was forced to build a coalition with her opponent's party, the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD). Merkel also took a hit in the 2009 elections amid German discontent over the country's role in Afghanistan. The only hiccup of the night Sunday appeared to be for Merkel's junior coalition party, which appeared to be coming up short with 4.8% of the 5% needed to remain in parliament, according to the preliminary results. Read more: Merkel: World's most powerful woman? If Merkel fails to pull a super majority, she will be forced to build a coalition with an opposition party. Merkel's CDU consistently polled in the lead up to nationwide balloting between 40% and 42% -- a 10-year high for CDU -- while the SPD, her closest competitor, dipped at one point to a historic low of 23%. The last time a party had a super majority in Germany was in 1957 with Konrad Adenauer, the country's first post-World War II chancellor. Merkel is only the third post-war chancellor to win three successive elections. Read more: Why the German election matters ."
"Three speeches, three days. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is starting to look a lot like someone who is picking up the pace of a presidential campaign -- complete with the perks and the challenges that come with it. On Wednesday, she spoke to the University of Buffalo. Thursday, she returned to Washington for her place in the lineup of high-profile public figures at a conference the Center for American Progress was hosting. Friday night she did Colgate University's ""distinguished speakers"" series in upstate New York. Asked in Buffalo what her ideal presidential candidate in 2016 would look like, she said: ""I'm not as interested in what the candidate looks like as what the candidate stands for and what the candidate really believes needs to be the agenda for America's future, particularly as it relates to young people like students at this great university."" Three big takeaways from Hillary Clinton's return to politics . And in what could be interpreted as either a slight dig at President Barack Obama -- or at least a way of differentiating herself -- she added, ""and what the candidate brings to the table in terms of being able to not only present the agenda but have a very specific set of plans of implanting the agenda and bringing the country along."" Candidate Obama, of course, was viewed by critics as a powerful speaker with less experience and less of a vision to implement, and Clinton could be playing on buyer's remorse. But the tests she might face on the left and the right were in play this week. Clinton on possible presidency . She didn't veer far to the left in her remarks before the wonky liberal crowd at the St. Regis in Washington for the Center for American Progress gathering, but her presence was notable. CNN contributor Ron Brownstein cautioned that if she faces a challenge in a Democratic primary, it's likely to be from the liberal left. ""It is very hard to imagine somebody beating Hillary Clinton from the center of the party,"" he said. ""If there is going to be anybody who could even give her a tough time, it would be somebody coming from more of a fringe of the party, something kind of a tangent of the party -- either a generational argument or a populist argument."" Brownstein specifically mentioned Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who has become a hero to the populist wing of the party, as a potential challenge to Clinton. How long can Hillary wait? And yet, advantages come for politicians who are considered overwhelming frontrunners like Clinton. Just this week, liberal billionaire George Soros said he's jumping on the bandwagon to draft Clinton into the 2016 race by becoming a co-chair of the ""Ready for Hillary"" super PAC's finance team. Even though Clinton is not exactly lining up donors and bundlers for her own campaign just yet, the commitment to her is a significant one in what could be a quest to sew up her left flank. But she'll have other issues on the right, if she reaches the general election. On Wednesday, a protestor in Buffalo heckled her over the biggest black mark on her record, the death of four Americans at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, during her tenure as Secretary of State. Democrats and Republicans alike say it could be her biggest weakness if she becomes her party's nominee. ""Benghazi. You let them die,"" the protestor said. And that weakness leads some to wonder why Clinton is sticking her neck out so far so soon. Brownstein said he's surprised by how visible and vocal she's been this fall. ""I think a lot of people thought that she would basically go under the radar for as long as possible to stay out of the fray, kind of shorten the race,"" he said. ""So it is a somewhat different strategy -- maybe they are trying to sort of avoid the sense that she is kind of an imperial candidate who believes that this is hers by birthright or succession."" Opinion: Hillary, don't run for president ."
"Isa Saharkhiz and his son Mehdi haven't seen each other in nearly a decade. But the dream of a reunion between the dissident journalist and his 32-year-old son came one step closer to fruition when Iranian authorities unexpectedly released the elder Saharkhiz last week after imprisoning him for more than four years. ""Yes, it was a surprise,"" said Saharkhiz, speaking by phone to CNN from his home in Tehran. The longtime critic of the Iranian regime described how last Thursday, a prison official made an unannounced visit to the hospital room where he had been detained for months due to his deteriorating health conditions. ""He told me that 'you are released now,'"" Saharkhiz said. Within hours, he was back at his home surrounded by his wife and daughter and friends. Mehdi was at the design company in northern New Jersey where he works as a production manager when his relatives in Iran called with news of his father's release. ""I was really shocked,"" he recalled. Father was rounded up during 2009 unrest in Iran . Since 2009, the younger Saharkhiz has led a one-man digital campaign from his home in New Jersey aimed at liberating his father. ""I confess that I am not ashamed that my father is in prison. And I am proud of him...his bravery has made life harder for the cowards in power,"" Mehdi announced on camera in Farsi, in a 2009 video he posted on YouTube. The young man appeared in the video wearing a T-shirt printed with his father's portrait. Iranian security forces first arrested Isa Saharkhiz, 59, during the summer of 2009. The former journalist had been working as an international spokesman for the campaign of Mehdi Karroubi, a moderate politician who ran for president in June 2009. Huge street protests erupted that month after Iranian authorities declared the firebrand incumbent candidate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad winner of the election. Opposition groups accused the Iranian regime of rigging the results in favor of Ahmadinejad, a claim Tehran vehemently rejected. In the ensuing crackdown on what became known as the Green Movement, Karroubi and another opposition presidential candidate, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, were placed under house arrest. Security forces used brute force and widespread arrests to crush the street protests, while also rounding up top officials from Mousavi and Karroubi's political campaigns, including Isa Saharkhiz. ""They tortured me,"" he said, describing how officers beat him and broke his ribs during his initial detention. Iranian authorities justified the 2009 crackdown by frequently accusing opposition leaders of being part of a foreign conspiracy aimed at overthrowing the government.  Iranian officials also accused some protesters of being mohareb, or enemies of God. Chinese journalist Shi Tao released after 8 years in prison . Saharkhiz later received a sentence of three years in prison for conspiring against the government and insulting the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Singled out as a former insider? During his incarceration, the writer said he was subjected to physical and emotional abuse, while also being held in solitary confinement for long periods. ""In January, in the winter, they sent me on the roof of the jail for two hours when the weather was very cold,"" Saharkhiz said.  ""They put me out without any shoes, any socks, and very few clothes."" Experts say Iranian authorities reserved especially harsh treatment of well-known intellectuals such as Saharkhiz because he was a former regime insider, who had risen to prominence after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. For a decade, he worked as a reporter for one of the main state news agencies. He also founded a free-speech advocacy group called the Society for the Defense of Freedom on the Press. ""Saharkhiz is not an outsider to the regime. Like others in the reformist movement that emerged from within the ranks of the government of the Islamic Republic, Saharkhiz angered many, including the Supreme Leader,"" said Behzad Yaghmaian, an Iranian-American academic and author of ""Social Change in Iran."" Yaghmaian commended Saharkhiz for his ""principled resistance to the government and the supreme leader."" ""People like Saharkhiz are considered even more dangerous than those opposing the regime from outside,"" he added. As the elder Saharkhiz languished in prison in 2009, his son Mehdi became an opposition activist from the relative safety of exile in New Jersey. Using Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, Mehdi distributed amateur videos smuggled from Iran showing Iranian security forces beating and arresting demonstrators. ""The least I can do is get their voices out,"" he said, in a 2010 interview with CNN. Election of Rouhani may have had impact . Mehdi has lived in the United States for many years, and last year became a naturalized American citizen. His father was stationed in New York for several years in the 1990s while working for IRNA, the official Iranian news agency.  During that time, Mehdi attended high school in suburbs outside New York City. Four years after his arrest, the elder Saharkhiz said there was no formal reason given for his release.  But he said the move was likely linked to the recent election of Hassan Rouhani to the post of president. Several other dissidents detained during the 2009 crackdown were released last month, according to the English-language daily Tehran Times.  The Iranian government never issued a formal explanation for why these political prisoners were freed. Rouhani campaigned on a platform of reform and an end to Iran's international isolation. Last month, he called for a negotiated end to Tehran's long feud with Washington over its nuclear program.  His charm offensive during a visit to the United Nations General Assembly climaxed with a brief phone conversation with Barak Obama.  It was the first direct contact between American and Iranian presidents in more than 30 years. ""Not the system, but the situation has changed,"" explained Isa Saharkhiz, during his interview with CNN. Though optimistic about Rouhani's presidency, Saharkhiz warned that Iran was a ""double state,"" where true power lies in the hands of Supreme Leader Khamenei and senior military commanders. He argued that expanded relations with Washington and the removal of crippling economic sanctions would help moderate figures such as Rouhani engaged in policy and power struggles with Iranian hard-liners.  Removal of American embargoes would also help ordinary Iranians who could no longer afford life-saving foreign phamaceuticals, he said. Saharkhiz's note of cautious optimism was echoed by his son. ""There's a lot of hope from what Rouhani did in the U.S. and there's a lot of good response from the people,"" Mehdi said. ""But then you have a lot of people who were in charge before the election and are still in charge and don't like it."" Son not sure when he can travel to Tehran . For now, Mehdi says it is not safe for him to return to Iran to visit his father. He has yet to fulfill his mandatory Iranian military service, and he fears he could be detained due to his own outspoken criticism of the regime. ""Maybe in a few years I will be able to go back, but it's a really big risk,"" he said. Meanwhile, his father predicted he is still at risk of being thrown back in prison. ""I will support freedom in Iran, and maybe criticize the leadership in Iran,"" he said. ""So it is possible that they will come here and capture me again."" Both father and son hope, however, that the authorities will lift an earlier travel ban that prevented the veteran journalist from leaving Iran. If so, the two hope to reunite for the first time in more than a decade in a third country such as the United Arab Emirates or Turkey. ""It will be a very emotional time,"" Isa Saharkhiz said. It would be, his son said, a dream come true. In April: Four Italian journalists released from captivity in Syria ."
"(CNN)The measles outbreak in California is growing. The number of cases has increased to 68, with 48 of those cases linked to an outbreak at Disneyland, state health officials reported Friday. Two days ago, the health department reported 59 cases, 42 with a Disney connection. In addition, nine cases have been reported in Arizona, Utah, Washington, Colorado, Oregon and Mexico. A new case was reported in Nevada, but the Southern Nevada Health District said it's unknown whether that case is Disney-related. The disease outbreak apparently surfaced when visitors reported coming down with measles after visiting the park December 15-20. At least five Disney employees have been diagnosed with measles, Disney said. Measles is a highly communicable respiratory disease caused by a virus and spread through the air, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Measles starts with a fever, runny nose, cough, red eyes and sore throat, the CDC said. Dr. Gil Chavez, deputy director of the state's Center for Infectious Diseases, recommended  that children under 12 months and people who've never had a measles vaccination stay away from the park while the disease event continues. He made the same recommendation for other places where large numbers of people congregate, such as airports and shopping malls. However, Chavez said Disneyland would be ""perfectly safe"" if you've been immunized. Opinion: Heed the lesson from Disneyland measles outbreak . When asked for a comment, Suzi Brown of Disney media relations said, ""We agree with Dr. Chavez's comments that it is safe to visit Disneyland if you have been vaccinated."" For the most part, measles spreads among those who have not been vaccinated against the virus. The California Department of Public Health said Orange County had the most measles cases with 21, followed by San Diego County with 13. 5 things to know about measles ."
"(WIRED) -- Hackers who commandeer your computer are bad enough. Now scientists worry that someday, they'll try to take over your brain. Scientists can use brain signals to control computers -- hands free. In the past year, researchers have developed technology that makes it possible to use thoughts to operate a computer, maneuver a wheelchair or even use Twitter -- all without lifting a finger. But as neural devices become more complicated, and go wireless, some scientists say the risks of ""brain hacking"" should be taken seriously. ""Neural devices are innovating at an extremely rapid rate and hold tremendous promise for the future,"" said computer security expert Tadayoshi Kohno of the University of Washington. ""But if we don't start paying attention to security, we're worried that we might find ourselves in five or 10 years saying we've made a big mistake."" Hackers tap into personal computers all the time. But what would happen if they focused their nefarious energy on neural devices, such as the deep-brain stimulators used to treat Parkinson's and depression, or electrode systems for controlling prosthetic limbs? According to Kohno and his colleagues, who published their concerns July 1 in Neurosurgical Focus, most devices carry few security risks. But as neural engineering becomes more complex and more widespread, the potential for security breaches will mushroom. ""It's very hard to design complex systems that don't have bugs,"" Kohno said. ""As these medical devices start to become more and more complicated, it gets easier and easier for people to overlook a bug that could become a very serious risk. It might border on science fiction today, but so did going to the moon 50 years ago."" Some might question why anyone would want to hack into someone else's brain, but the researchers say there's a precedent for using computers to cause neurological harm. In November 2007 and March 2008, malicious programmers vandalized epilepsy support Web sites by putting up flashing animations, which caused seizures in some photo-sensitive patients. ""It happened on two separate occasions,"" said computer science graduate student Tamara Denning, a co-author on the paper. ""It's evidence that people will be malicious and try to compromise peoples' health using computers, especially if neural devices become more widespread."" In some cases, patients might even want to hack into their own neural device. Unlike devices to control prosthetic limbs, which still use wires, many deep brain stimulators already rely on wireless signals. Hacking into these devices could enable patients to ""self-prescribe"" elevated moods or pain relief by increasing the activity of the brain's reward centers. Despite the risks, Kohno said, most new devices aren't created with security in mind. Neural engineers carefully consider the safety and reliability of new equipment, and neuroethicists focus on whether a new device fits ethical guidelines. But until now, few groups have considered how neural devices might be hijacked to perform unintended actions. This is the first time an academic paper has addressed the topic of ""neurosecurity,"" a term the group coined to describe their field. ""The security and privacy issues somehow seem to slip by,"" Kohno said. ""I would not be surprised if most people working in this space have never thought about security."" Kevin Otto, a bioengineer who studies brain-machine interfaces at Purdue Universty, said he was initially skeptical of the research. ""When I first picked up the paper, I don't know if I agreed that it was an issue. But the paper gives a very compelling argument that this is important, and that this is the time to have neural engineers collaborate with security developers."" It's never too early to start thinking about security issues, said neural engineer Justin Williams of the University of Wisconsin, who was not involved in the research. But he stressed that the kinds of devices available today are not susceptible to attack, and that fear of future risks shouldn't impede progress in the field. ""These kinds of security issues have to proceed in lockstep with the technology,"" Williams said. History provides plenty of examples of why it's important to think about security before it becomes a problem, Kohno said. Perhaps the best example is the Internet, which was originally conceived as a research project and didn't take security into account. ""Because the Internet was not originally designed with security in mind,"" the researchers wrote, ""it is incredibly challenging -- if not impossible -- to retrofit the existing Internet infrastructure to meet all of today's security goals."" Kohno and his colleagues hope to avoid such problems in the neural device world, by getting the community to discuss potential security problems before they become a reality. ""The first thing is to ask ourselves is, 'Could there be a security and privacy problem?'"" Kohno said. ""Asking 'Is there a problem?' gets you 90 percent there, and that's the most important thing."" Subscribe to WIRED magazine for less than $1 an issue and get a FREE GIFT! Click here! Copyright 2009 Wired.com."
"Editor's Note: Matthew Continetti is the associate editor of The Weekly Standard. His book ""The Persecution of Sarah Palin"" is slated for publication by Penguin Sentinel in the spring of 2010. Sarah Palin's charisma is such that she doesn't need to hold an office to wield influence, Matthew Continetti says. (CNN) -- ""Everything changed on August 29 in politics in Alaska,"" Sarah Palin told NBC's Andrea Mitchell this week. The reference was to the day last year when John McCain announced that Palin, a 44-year-old mother of five who became Alaska's governor only in December 2006, would be his presidential running mate. McCain's surprise pick altered the trajectory of the 2008 campaign -- for a few weeks, at least -- and launched Palin, until then an unknown political neophyte, on the path to global celebrity. But it also set in motion a chain of events that, a little more than 10 months later, would culminate in Palin's surprise announcement that she would leave her office effective July 26. Before the day she joined the 2008 Republican presidential ticket, Alaskans saw Sarah Palin as a champion of ethics in government who had twice defeated oil interests, governed with Democrats in a bipartisan manner and brought down powerful members of her own party. She enjoyed record approval ratings, and her major initiatives had all been signed into law. But the good times didn't last. By the following July, Palin's approval numbers had sunk to the mid-50th percentile, the coalition on which she governed had collapsed, and most of her time was spent combating a hostile media and frivolous ethics complaints. What happened? The campaign. The reaction to Palin's nomination was as visceral as it was unhinged. Knowing almost nothing of the feisty hockey mom turned political dragon-slayer, some in the media turned rumors -- had Palin supported Patrick Buchanan? Had she been a member of the Alaska Independence Party? Did she believe that dinosaurs were around a couple thousand years ago? -- into established facts. Not content to examine Palin's actual record, the press did its best to transform the unconventional, pragmatic politician into a fire-breathing social conservative who was outside the American mainstream. Democratic partisans committed to Barack Obama's election demonized Palin until she became the emblem for everything liberals think is wrong with America. Comedians lampooned her accent, her looks, her religion, her education and her family. The same McCain aides who championed Palin for vice president later turned on her and leaked damaging (and false) information to a press eager for any tidbit confirming its view that the governor was unqualified and reckless. One lousy interview with Katie Couric didn't help. Something about Sarah Palin riles people up. After the McCain-Palin ticket lost the election and the governor returned to Alaska, the onslaught against her did not cease. The Democrats in the state legislature who once had been Palin's allies turned on her. Her opponents, continuing their never-ending search for dirt, inundated the governor's office with 150 Freedom of Information Act requests for documents relating to Palin's schedule and contacts. The Anchorage Daily News counts 18 ethics complaints filed against Palin. All of them have been dismissed, but at great cost to the state in man-hours and wasted resources. The Palin family's personal legal liability is around half a million dollars. Meanwhile, the father of her grandchild went on a publicity tour flacking ""intimate"" details about her family, and David Letterman joked on national television about Alex Rodriguez impregnating her underage daughter Willow. (He later apologized, saying he intended for the joke to be about Palin's 18-year-old daughter, Bristol. As if that would make it any more tasteful.) And McCain sources kept providing ridiculous insinuations about her to reporters (all on background, of course). Palin did nothing to deserve the acrimonious venom that has been flung at her non-stop since she first appeared onstage with McCain. The professional, emotional and financial toll on her has been incredible. Partisan agendas and personal animosities have left her with few friends and many opponents in Alaska. And so, last week, she did what she is used to doing. She shook up the playing field. On July 26, Palin will be a free woman. No longer will she have to juggle official responsibilities, a national political following and her children. She can travel freely to the Lower 48 without worrying about how it may affect her standing back home. She can defend herself and her family against slander without the controversy distracting from the duties of high office. She can make money to pay the bills. She can pick her battles without being hemmed in by the state legislature and bureaucracy. Palin is impulsive. Her charisma is such that she does not need to hold an office to command attention or wield influence. She resigned from the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission all of a sudden in 2004, plunged into a Republican gubernatorial primary in October 2005 and joined McCain's campaign without hesitation. Two of these three dizzying moves ended up in victory, and one did not. Two out of three isn't bad. Why shouldn't Palin think another gamble might pay off? Palin herself may not know her next move. Speculation about her presidential ambitions is premature, though it will be much easier for her to build a national organization now that she has no professional ties to Alaska. Whatever she does will be noticed, that's for sure. Because the attention lavished on Palin's decision is further evidence of her unwitting ability to bring out deep-seated feelings of admiration -- and loathing -- in people. We will be hearing from Palin, and from the Palin-haters, for a long while to come."
"(CNN) -- Holders Bayern Munich equaled the record for successive Champions League wins held by their manager Pep Guardiola's former side Barcelona as they reached the knockout stages Tuesday. Bayern eased past Czech champions Viktoria Pilsen 1-0 for a ninth straight victory and a perfect record in Group D with 12 points from four games. They were joined in the last 16 by Manchester City, who thrashed CSKA Moscow 5-2 to remain in second place in the same group with nine points. Bayern had won the home match against Pilsen 5-0, but made harder work of it on the road and had to wait until Mario Mandzukic's 62nd minute headed winner. He connected with a Philipp Lahm cross, only six minutes after coming on as substitute, helping the Bundesliga giants to maintain their remarkable winning streak in Europe's premier club competition. It was the sixth successive time Bayern have made it to the last 16, while City were making it for the first time after two previous attempts. Having beaten Norwich 7-0 in an English Premier League match at the City of Manchester Stadium Saturday, Manuel Pellegrini's team again ran riot against their Russian opponents. Sergio Aguero provided the initial impetus with an early penalty and then a delightful second before setting up Alvaro Negredo for the third. Negredo went on to complete his hat-trick in the second half, but defensive frailties saw Seydou Doumbia twice pull back goals for CSKA, the second from the penalty spot. CSKA, who were given a partial stadium ban by UEFA for racist chanting aimed at City midfielder Yaya Toure in the reverse fixture in Moscow, which the visitors won 2-1, have only a Europa League place to play for now. The thumping victory was particularly sweet for Toure. ""I think today is a special day for the club to go through to the second round for the first time,"" he told Sky Sports. City's neighbors Manchester United stayed top of Group A after a goalless draw at Real Sociedad, but had Marouaune Fellaini sent off in the second half. Robin van Persie also missed a penalty after coming on as a late substitute for United. Shakhtar Donetsk and Bayer Leverkusen shared a goalless draw in the Ukraine in the other match played in the group. In Group B, Juventus kept their qualification hopes alive as they held Real Madrid to a 2-2 draw in Turin. Juve led through Arturo Vidal's first half penalty before Cristiano Ronaldo and the world's most expensive player Gareth Bale scored fine goals to put Real ahead. Fernando Llorente scored a crucial leveler for Antonio Conte's men to deny Real for now their passage into the last 16. With FC Copenhagen's 1-0 home win over Galatasaray, Juve dropped to last in the group, but trail the Danes and the Turks by just one point with two rounds to play. Galatasaray must also next travel to Real, who are all but mathematically assured of their place in the knockout stages. Paris Saint Germain must also wait to progress from Group C and needed Zlatan Ibrahimovic's equalizer to secure a 1-1 home draw against Anderlecht. Olympiakos beat Benfica 1-0 to improve their chances of going through, moving to within three points of PSG in the standings."
"(CNN) -- After 18 months of terror and grave devastation, Syrian children are plagued with trauma from witnessing the horrors of war firsthand, an international aid group says. Save the Children released a report on Tuesday called ""Untold Atrocities,"" a collection of accounts from Syrian refugee children. ""A massacre took place in my village. Around 25 people were killed -- I witnessed it with my own eyes,"" said Mohamad, 15, who has fled to Jordan with his family. ""They used different ways to kill people -- electric shocks, throwing machinery and cement blocks on people's heads."" Hassan, 14, described the use of children as human shields, echoing reports from opposition activists that the Syrian regime had done so. He said his cousin and uncle died when a rocket ""caused a massacre."" ""Almost every child we've spoken to has seen family members killed,"" Save the Children said. Even those who survive attacks face dire circumstances. ""When we were being bombed, we had nothing. No food, no water, no toys -- nothing. There was no way to buy food -- the markets and shops were bombed out,"" Ala'a, 10, said. ""My father went without food for days because there wasn't enough. I remember watching him tie his stomach with rope so he wouldn't feel so hungry."" Wael, 16, summarized the trauma this way: . ""I have seen children slaughtered. I don't think I'll ever be OK again."" In other developments: . Diplomatic front: Obama pledges support, Qatar offers a new plan for Syria . U.S. President Barack Obama used his keynote speech at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday to pledge American support for those working for a ""common good"" for Syria -- and sanctions against those doing harm. ""In Syria, the future must not belong to a dictator who massacres his people,"" he said. ""If there is a cause that cries out for protest in the world today, it is a regime that tortures children and shoots rockets at apartment buildings. And we must remain engaged to assure that what began with citizens demanding their rights does not end in a cycle of sectarian violence."" French President Francois Hollande also had strong words on Syria, saying that areas ""liberated"" by opposition forces should be protected by the United Nations. ""There have been almost 30,000 deaths in the last 18 months -- how many more deaths will we wait for before we act? How can we allow the paralysis of the United Nations to continue?"" he asked. Hollande said France would recognize an opposition government once it is formed, and that the current regime had lost its right to represent the country on the international stage. France has been at the forefront of international efforts to bring about a resolution in Syria. In his address to the General Assembly, Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani said the violence in Syria had reached ""an unacceptable phase"" and urged fellow Arab nations to intervene. ""We have used all available means to get Syria out of the cycle of killing, but that was in vain,"" he said. In light of the U.N. Security Council's failure to act effectively, he said, ""It is better for the Arab countries themselves to interfere out of their national, humanitarian, political and military duties and do what it necessary to stop the bloodshed in Syria ... in order to guarantee a peaceful transition of power in Syria."" His words come a day after he proposed a ""Plan B"" for solving the Syrian crisis, saying a nonviolent solution is still possible despite more than a year of relentless bloodshed. In an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Monday, Al Thani said the plan would include havens -- which would require a no-fly zone -- and greater humanitarian aid. ""We wish and we believe that we can solve it peacefully,"" Al Thani said. But, he said, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has only one solution: ""killing his people to win the war."" ""I believe within weeks, we should have a Plan B. And there is a responsibility among us,"" he said. ""We are talking about saving the people of Syria."" UK Foreign Secretary William Hague, who spoke to Amanpour on Tuesday, described the situation in the U.N. Security Council with respect to Syria as being at a ""diplomatic impasse."" ""We are blocked in the United Nations Security Council from the world being able to put its full weight behind a transitional government in Syria, something that it is obvious solution, obviously part of the solution,"" he said. Hague was referring to Russia and China, which have repeatedly blocked draft resolutions that would take stronger action against al-Assad's regime. The secretary is scheduled to meet with Russian leaders this week to discuss the ongoing crisis. On the ground: Blasts strike a Damascus compound . Dual attacks rattled a Syrian intelligence security compound in Damascus, the regime and opposition activists said Tuesday. The compound was also the site of a major explosion in March. Syrian state-run TV said the two improvised explosive devices were ""planted by terrorists"" in a school building and caused seven injuries. Opposition activists said the Syrian military was using the school building as a base. The new school year has not yet started, Syrian state TV said, so it seems unlikely that children would have been at the site. In June, Human Rights Watch described cases of ""sexual torture"" at the compound, reported by male and female detainees -- many of whom were political activists or simply attended protests. At least 148 people were killed across Syria on Tuesday, according to the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, an opposition group. The highest number of deaths, 44, was reported in Damascus and its suburbs, where regime forces and rebel fighters are engaged in fierce clashes and communities are under aerial bombardment, the LCC said. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz, Saad Abedine, Holly Yan, Samuel Burke and Claire Calzonetti contributed to this report."
"(CNN)  -- A journalist who was interviewing a key political protest leader in Bangkok said the sniper bullet that struck the man came so close that it ""felt like it grazed my head."" Describing a chaotic scene on the streets of the Thai capital Thursday night, Thomas Fuller of the International Herald Tribune described to CNN how Maj. Gen. Khattiya Sawasdipol was shot in the head as he was interviewing the opposition figure. ""I was facing him, he was answering my questions, looking at me and the bullet hit him in the forehead, from what I could tell,"" Fuller told CNN's Michael Holmes. ""It looks like the bullet came over my head and struck him. I don't have any way of confirming this beyond what I remember from the scene, but it felt like it grazed my head."" Thomas Fuller describes scene in Bangkok . Fuller and other journalists were interviewing the general -- better known as Seh Daeng -- in makeshift barricades that protesters have set up in downtown Bangkok. The United Front for Democracy (UDD) has turned the posh commercial center of Bangkok into a makeshift fortress, as they continue to demand that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva dissolve the lower house of Parliament and call new elections. The protesters' barricades appear as a combination ""of 'Mad Max' and some medieval scene,"" Fuller said. Bamboo pikes and rubber tire barricades have been formed as a makeshift camp by the protesters, Fuller said. iReport: Are you there? Send your images, video . Fuller said he was just inside the barricades when he was interviewing Seh Daeng. The opposition figure was facing out of the barricades and into Bangkok's business district of tall office buildings. ""He was standing in the same location for a while when I was talking to him but he was moving around, he was gesticulating,"" Fuller said. ""He wasn't standing still, he was bobbing his head."" Seh Daeng did not appear to be armed or have bodyguards but was dressed in camouflage jacket and a floppy hat, Fuller said. The opposition leader was listed in critical condition from the shooting, his guards said. Violence erupted after Thai authorities set a new deadline to seal off the Bangkok intersection where protesters have gathered by the thousands for the past month. Escalating violence in Bangkok . The government said it has been forced to take action after demonstrators disregarded an ultimatum by Abhisit to vacate the intersection by Wednesday. The Red Shirts support former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a bloodless military coup in 2006. What are the protests about? Seh Daeng -- or Red Commander -- is a controversial public figure, even within the protest movement, Fuller said. Some Thai opposition leaders see him as an impediment to a peaceful resolution to the political stalemate that has gripped Thai politics, Fuller said. ""He's a renegade in all sense,"" Fuller said. ""He's a renegade from the army, a hardliner within the protest movement. He told me today he thought they (other opposition leaders) were being cowardly, and he wanted to carry on."" More than two dozen civilians and military personnel have died in police-protester clashes in the ongoing unrest."
"(CNN) -- Manchester United returned to the top of the Premier League on Sunday after a 0-0 draw against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane. A close fought affair -- which marked the 600th league appearance of Ryan Giggs -- ended with honors even despite United defender Rafael Da Silva being sent off for two bookable offences in the 74th minute. His second yellow for a trip on Assou-Ekotto was adjudged to be deliberate, but a clearly incensed Rafael thought otherwise as he remonstrated with referee Mike Dean about the decision. Spurs had the better chances to win the match with Rafael Van der Vaart missing a glorious opportunity to claim three points in the 80th minute after a mistake in the United defence gave him a unopposed shot on goal. But the Dutch international could only curl his shot narrowly over the bar. Kenny Dalglish earned the first point of his second spell in charge of Liverpool as the Merseyside derby against Everton ended in a 2-2 draw at Anfield. Raul Meireles' first goal for Liverpool gave the Reds a deserved lead after 30 minutes in a half in which they dominated. But Everton hit back after the break with two goals in six minutes to take the lead. Sylvain Distin headed home after 46 minutes and Jermaine Beckford stunned the home supporters as he drilled home past Jose Reina to hand the Toffees the lead. But when Tim Howard brought down Maxi Rodriguez following a corner in the 66th minute, Dirk Kuyt made no mistake from the penalty spot. Liverpool and Everton both have 26 points, with Everton one place above their rivals thanks to a superior goal difference. In the other two matches played Sunday, the Tyneside derby ended in a 1-1 draw as Sunderland's Asamoah Gyan scored four minutes into injury time to deny Newcastle the three points and a season double over their arch rivals. A neat backheel by Kevin Nolan had given the Magpies the lead seven minutes into the second half. Newcastle looked destined to win the match until the Ghanaian striker put the ball in the net after a shot from Phil Bardsley shot had been saved by Steve Harper. Sunderland stay in sixth place, while Newcastle are ninth. Aston Villa have moved out of the relegation zone after salvaging a 1-1 draw with local rivals Birmingham at St Andrews. Roger Johnson volleyed home early in the second half to give the home side the lead but James Collins squared things up after 73 minutes when he drove a shot home after Gabriel Agbonlahor had flicked the ball onto him. Birmingham remain in 16th place with 23 points on points, one place and one point ahead of Villa."
"(CNN) -- When your grandmother is one of the most famous cosmetics moguls in history, it might put a little pressure on you to succeed. But for Aerin Lauder, the 44-year-old granddaughter of Estée Lauder, who founded the eponymous make-up company, the legacy has been an inspiration rather than a burden. Lauder worked her way up through the ranks of the billion-dollar family company for 25 years to the position of style and image director. In 2012, she decided to combine her passion for home décor with her knowledge of beauty, to launch her own lifestyle brand, called AERIN. The businesswoman spoke to CNN's Kirstie Lu Stout about her drive, the importance of saying ""no,"" and how beauty transcends borders or race. CNN: Are you living out your dream today with your own brand, AERIN? Aerin Lauder: I'm definitely living my dream. As a little girl, I've always loved beauty and I loved home, so I've managed to combine the two into a brand. CNN: What is it like to live up to the heritage of Estee Lauder? AL: It is an amazing legacy and I think she is always looking down at me very proud. She taught me the importance of excellence; so has my uncle, my cousin and my aunt, everyone who works at the company as a family member has really re-emphasized the importance of excellence and perfection. CNN: You had a very international upbringing, growing up in Vienna, Austria, where your father was the U.S. ambassador, then moving to Manhattan. How did that shape who you are today? AL: It shaped a tremendous amount of my vision, style and taste. When we moved to Europe when I was a teenager I really did not want to go. I was happy in my school, with my friends, but looking back on it, it was the best experience I've ever had. We traveled every weekend, I experienced incredible new cultures, museums, cities and it really opened up my eyes. CNN: You worked your way through the ranks of Estee Lauder and managed to extend the reach of the brand to all corners of the world, partially through casting diverse models. In 2003 you hired the Ethiopian model Liya Kebede, then in 2011, models Liu Wen and Joan Smalls from China and Puerto Rico. Why is that an important thing to do in this business? AL: Because beauty is global. It's the idea that every woman can be beautiful, which is a concept Estée has which is still so modern today. It's the idea of beauty from all over the world. CNN: Are you a detail-oriented person? AL: I'm very detail-oriented, which is good and bad. Because I will wake up in the middle of the night, thinking about something or seeing a mistake, thinking about it and I immediately send an email -- I'm very focused on details. But I think that is really important because it is my name on that product, and I think it should be the best it can possibly be. CNN: What has been the biggest mistake you have made in your career and how did you overcome it? AL: I think it is very important to learn to say ""no."" I think it is sometimes important for brands or the creative director to learn to say ""this might be on trend but it is not right for us."" I launched products and campaigns which I thought might bring in new consumers but in reality would make the existing Estée Lauder one maybe discouraged. CNN: In your business schedule you are balancing work and family. How do you find time and get inspired? AL: I think you can get inspiration from anything. It can be a walk on the beach, it can be a moment with your children, and also the Internet has been a wonderful source for inspiration. You can Google it, search it, look at the beaches for the sensibility of there and feels like you are there. I think the Internet is a great way to get inspiration. CNN: Is luxury attainable? AL: Luxury is definitely attainable. I think it could be anything from a beautiful little gold bowl on your desk, to a very glamorous chandelier, and everything in between. Inspire: Building a billion-dollar empire the Tory Burch way . Learn: Iconic fashion designs, from Coco Chanel to DVF ."
"(CNN)  -- Actress Natasha Richardson was hospitalized after she fell on a ski slope at a Quebec resort, a resort spokeswoman said in a statement Tuesday. Actress Natasha Richardson was transferred Tuesday to an undisclosed location in the United States. Richardson was taken to a hospital near Station Mont Tremblant before she was transferred to Hopital du Sacre-Coeur in Montreal following her fall on Monday, according to the statement. However, she was transferred Tuesday to an undisclosed location in the United States, according to Michelle Simard, spokeswoman for Hopital du Sacre-Coeur. Simard said she had no further details. Richardson fell on a beginners' trail Monday during a ski lesson at Station Mont Tremblant, said the statement from the resort, located about 80 miles northwest of Montreal. She was not wearing a helmet, the resort said. At the time, Richardson was accompanied by a veteran female ski instructor, who called the ski patrol, the statement said. The ski patrol members examined her and found no visible sign of injury, according to the statement. ""As standard protocol, the ski patrol insisted that Ms. Richardson be transported to the base of the hill in a rescue toboggan,"" the resort statement said. Once at the base of the hill, staffers advised Richardson to seek additional medical attention, but she declined. Accompanied by the instructor, Richardson went to her hotel, where she was again advised to see a doctor, the resort said. As a precautionary measure, the instructor stayed with her, the statement said. The statement offered no details on Richardson's condition or injuries, but said resort staffers and police were providing support to Richardson's family and friends. Richardson, 45, has appeared in many television, film and stage roles, including the movies ""Nell"" and ""The Parent Trap."" She won a Tony award in 1998 for her performance as Sally Bowles in ""Cabaret."" She is married to actor Liam Neeson and is the daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave. The Montreal Gazette reported that Richardson's two sons with Neeson were skiing with her at the time of her fall, and that Neeson flew to Montreal from a Toronto film set to be with her at the hospital."
"(CNN) -- Is the ring the thing? Rumors are flying that Lady Gaga and her boyfriend, ""Chicago Fire"" actor Taylor Kinney, either have made things ""official"" with a commitment ceremony or are soon to head down the aisle. The talk heated up two weeks ago after actress Sophia Bush shared a photo on Instagram of Kinney wearing a ring on a significant finger. The post came complete with the hashtags #ThatsHisPersonalRing #NotForTheShow #EveryoneCalmDown. The Daily Star reported this week that Gaga and Kinney gathered friends and family for a small ceremony pledging their devotion to each other. Citing unnamed sources, the publication claims the couple plan to officially wed next year. Neither the singer nor the actor has commented on the reports. The singer and her beau -- who have dated since 2011 -- have managed to keep their relationship out of the limelight. She told Howard Stern in a 2013 interview that the pair are ""very protective"" of their romance. ""We treat each other with a lot of care, and we're good to one another,"" she said."
"(CNN) -- Reports of rapes, killings and other horrors are growing in the Central African Republic. Rights groups accuse security forces and militia gangs of torturing civilians as world leaders warn that the nation is on the verge of a genocide. Here's a quick primer to get you up to speed on the escalating situation. 1. First things first. Tell me about the Central African Republic . The tiny, landlocked nation in central Africa is home to about 5 million people. It declared independence from France in 1960, and has since been led by presidents or emperors. Some have been elected while others seized power by force. Despite vast resources, including gold, timber, diamonds and uranium, it's among the poorest nations in the world. The riches from the minerals don't trickle down to the population, fueling resentment. Lack of good governance does not help, either. 2. So what's going on with all the chaos? It started off as anti-government resentment. A coalition of rebels named Seleka ousted President Francois Bozize in March, the latest in a series of coups since the nation gained independence. They accused the president of reneging on a peace deal, and demanded that he step down. Months before his ouster, both sides had brokered a deal to form a unity government led by the president. But that deal fell apart as the rebel coalition pushed its way from the north toward the capital of Bangui, seizing towns along the way. Rebels infiltrated the capital in March, sending Bozize fleeing to Cameroon. 3. What happened after the president left? The nation plunged into complete chaos. Political turmoil raged. Looters hit the main cities. Violence became the order of the day. Aid agencies warned of a humanitarian crisis as fear of the rebels prevented critically injured patients from going to health facilities. An unknown number of people have been killed in remote rural areas that are too risky to access. More than 400,000 people have been internally displaced, according to the United Nations. That's nearly 10% of the population. 4. Who's in charge of the nation now? After the president fled, Seleka named its commander, Michel Djotodia, as the new leader. He took over and integrated some of the rebel fighters into the army, analysts say. 5. Was this the nation's first instance of instability? No. Political turmoil is nothing new for the Central African Republic. About a decade ago, Bozize led a coup that deposed his predecessor. Though he later won elections in 2005 and 2011, he did not have full control of the nation. Rebel groups ran amok for years, especially in rural areas. In fact, four of the nation's five presidents since independence have been ousted through unconstitutional means. 6. OK, the President left and the rebels got their wish. Why's the fighting ongoing? Some say say greed is a factor. Ousted government officials have long accused Seleka of going after the country's vast minerals. Then there's the reprisal aspect. When the president fled, the poorly-trained national army didn't stand a chance against the rebels. Rebels capitalized on the army's weakness and went on a rampage, human rights groups say. The list of horrors is endless: rape, torture, kidnappings, looting. To counter the attacks, vigilante groups formed. Reprisals led to more mayhem. The country descended into anarchy and the United Nations warned that ""the seeds of a genocide are being sown."" 7. What role does religion play in the tensions? Good question. Rights groups say Seleka is a predominantly Muslim coalition. As history has shown over and over, religious loyalties can breed contempt and escalate conflicts. In addition, the conflict has exposed years of marginalization and discrimination against the northern, predominantly Muslim population, the United Nations says. Left uncontrolled, militia groups are banding along religious lines. Most of the vigilante groups fighting back are Christian, leading to fears of a full-blown conflict between the country's Christians and Muslims. 8. All this is happening a world away. Why should I care? The Central African Republic is surrounded by countries struggling to emerge from years of conflict. South Sudan, Sudan's Darfur region, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Chad are barely stable. Any instability is sure to have ripple effects that'll be hard to ignore worldwide. CAR is also believed to be one of Joseph Kony's hideouts. The United States sent special forces to the region last year to help hunt down Kony, the brutal leader of the Lord Resistance Army. In a sign of a potentially expanded role, the Pentagon recently said it's considering sending aircraft to assault the Kony militia. The chaos not only risk destabilizing the region, they could complicate the Kony mission. 9. What's the current government doing? The current president has tried to distance himself by disbanding Seleka, Human Rights Watch says.  Djotodia, the president, has denied assertions that his country is on the brink of a genocide. ""I don't think there's a genocide, there's not even a religious war, all of this is made up, it's to manipulate, to manipulate the opinion of the international community,"" he told Reuters. He accused the former regime of fueling the rebellion. ""They want to create a religious war by all means possible,"" he says. ""That's what Bozize wants."" 10. What is the international community doing? Though world leaders have warned of mass atrocities if nothing is done, the response has been limited. Last month, France pledged to send 1,000 more troops to add to the 400 it already has there. The current troops in the nation, it says, are there in a noncombat mission to protect French nationals and help secure the airport in the capital. An African Union force is already in the nation. The United Nations has suggested its peacekeeping force should eventually replace the African-led mission known, as MISCA. That potential force could number about 6,000 troops and 1,700 police personnel. Turning it into a U.N. peacekeeping operation would boost financial and logistical support."
"Rome (CNN) -- Amanda Knox's ex-boyfriend and murder trial co-defendant revealed in a new book that he sometimes questioned her innocence because of her ""bizarre behavior"" the day a British student was found dead in their apartment. Raffaele Sollecito's memoir, ""Honor Bound: My Journey to Hell and Back with Amanda Knox,"" is the first book written by anyone directly involved in the Meredith Kercher murder trial in Perugia, Italy. Kercher, a 21-year-old British student, was found stabbed to death in the Italian apartment she shared with Knox, now 25, of Seattle. Sollecito and Knox were convicted of Kercher's murder in 2009 but set free on appeal in 2011. They face a final high-court decision in March. Judge explains murder acquittal . Italian prosecutors appeal decision . Rudy Guede of Ivory Coast was convicted separately in 2008. His conviction was upheld on appeal in 2009. Sollecito's book draws heavily on diaries he kept and letters he wrote to friends, family and his hometown newspaper during his years in prison, the preface says. He chronicles the day of the murder, admitting that he and Knox smoked marijuana that afternoon, which he says he regretted because it clouded his memory of what happened. While maintaining his innocence, he says he does not clearly remember even if Knox spent the night with him. He and Knox made mistakes the morning of the discovery, including trusting police investigators, he writes. Sollecito writes that at times, he was uncomfortable with Knox's ""bizarre behavior,"" which he says prosecutors used against both of them. ""Of all the things that Amanda did that day, nothing attracted more criticism than her failure to raise the alarm as soon as she saw so many things out of place,"" he writes. ""It wasn't just the police who attacked her. Many Italians, including most of my family, could not fathom how she could go ahead with her shower after finding blood on the tap, much less put her wet feet on the bath mat, which was also stained, and drag it across the floor."" Neither he nor Knox had solid alibis for the night of Kercher's murder, Sollecito writes. ""We had no real alibi for the night of November 1 except each other, and we did not have lawyers to protect us, and we seemed to have a propensity for saying things without thinking them through,"" he says. Sollecito describes his doubt about Knox's innocence at times, referring to the night the two were arrested. ""When I first found out about what Amanda had signed her name to, I was furious,"" he writes. ""Okay, she was under a lot of pressure, as I had been, but how could she just invent stuff out of nowhere?"" He gives an account of his life inside several Italian prisons, where he befriended rapists and murderers, played with cockroaches and scrubbed the cells of dirt and mold. While sharing his family's personal stories and sagas during the lengthy trial, the book gives very little attention to the evidence presented in court. The revelations include how he distrusted the lawyers his father hired for him. They were intent on getting Sollecito to abandon Knox and accuse her of the murder, he wrote. 'Foxy Knoxy': Sex, violence and media hysteria . At one time after the first conviction, Sollecito's father sought the help of a private lawyer not connected to the case, who spoke to Perugia prosecutor Giuliano Mignini about striking a plea deal to cut Sollecito's sentence in exchange for evidence against Knox. Sollecito's lead attorney, Giulia Bongiorno, a prominent parliamentarian, almost walked off the case because of the backroom deal. Mignini declined to comment about the book or the case until the high court appeal is completed. Sollecito's book is especially hard on Mignini, whom he accuses of concocting a ""conspiracy-laden plotline from Umberto Eco"" instead of a normal investigation. He laments the star treatment Knox received, saying the prosecution focused squarely on his co-defendant. He wrote that he believed he was arrested as a way to get to Knox. ""I don't think the prosecution or police ever seriously thought of me as a murderer,"" he wrote. ""They had one overriding reason to arrest me, throw me into solitary confinement, and threaten me with life imprisonment, and that was to pressure me into rolling over and testifying against Amanda."" Sollecito condemns his treatment by Perugia police who, he says, would not give him food or access to a lawyer during the questioning, even though it was clear to him that they were treating him as a suspect and not just a person informed of the facts of the case. Sollecito gave several spontaneous declarations during both the original and appellate trials, but he never took the stand in his own defense. The book offers many details from behind the scenes during the four years between when Kercher was killed and when the two were released, but it does not answer all the questions about what happened that night. Sollecito wrote that he believed that Guede acted alone in killing Kercher. In the epilogue, Sollecito recounts how he went to visit Knox in Seattle last fall, but how he was nervous to see her. ""I wasn't at all sure it was a good idea and I continued to waver back and forth even after I booked my ticket. We had been through so much; perhaps we owed it to each other to live our lives and leave each other in peace."" Guede is writing a book but does not have a publisher, according to his lawyers. Knox's book is due to be released in the spring. Knox signs book deal with Harper Collins ."
"(CNN) -- Federal agents and local police arrested 16 suspected gang members and associates in Greeley, Colorado, on Tuesday on drug and gun charges, according to a Department of Justice release. Those arrested were among 46 people indicted on federal charges of drug distribution and illegal gun possession, the release said. Eight people are considered fugitives and the others have been arrested since April or were in custody on other charges, Jeff Dorschner, a spokesman for the justice department said. During the 30-month investigation more than $500,000 worth of amphetamines (6.3 pounds of 100 percent pure meth) was seized. Cocaine, marijuana and mushrooms were also involved, according to the statement, which said 21 weapons also were seized. FBI Special Agent in Charge James Davis called those indicted ""some of the nation's most  notorious violent street offenders."" Officials didn't identify the gang affliations of those charged in the indictments but said most of the people charged were from Greeley while three were from California and one was thought to be in Mexico. Four of the people indicted have been charged with distribution in a school zone, and three have been charged with  distribution while a child under 18 is present. One person was charges with dealing drugs from home. ""The indictment of 46 people responsible for distributing meth and other dangerous drugs and illegally possessing firearms should have a serious negative impact on the drug trade in Greeley,"" U.S. Attorney David Gaouette said. The indictments listed 205 counts, one of which could lead to a life sentence. The Tuesday morning raids involved members of the the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and  Explosives; the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Greeley Police Department and the Weld County Sheriff's Department. Some of those who were arrested were taken Tuesday for their initial appearances at the U.S. District Court in Denver, while others will be taken there Wednesday. Greeley, a city of 90,000 residents, is about 60 miles north of Denver."
"(CNN) -- The thing about North Korea is that once in a while, it does something that sends the international community into a flurry of talk about the hermit nation, even though little is known about what's really going on. This week, Pyongyang fired a long-range Unha-3 rocket and sent a satellite into orbit. Nervous world leaders quivered as the rogue country defied a United Nations ban on developing nuclear- and missile-related technology. Was the world a more dangerous place after Wednesday's event? What would it mean for North Korea's young leader as he is about to mark the first anniversary of the death of his father, Kim Jong Il? When the son ascended to power, concerns surfaced over an inexperienced, mysterious heir taking charge of North Korea's nuclear weapons program, its hardcore and cultish communist society and a population of the hungry. His eldest half brother said in his book that he was concerned Kim Jong Un would fail to satisfy North Koreans. Now, the new ""Dear Leader"" can claim not just a public relations victory but also a tangible accomplishment as he prepared for Monday's anniversary of Kim Jong Il's death. Amid the dearth of information, one thing was clear: Kim Jong Un can now stand proud before his people on that big day. ""The question is what does Kim Jong Un intend? said Leon Sigal, director of the Northeast Asia Cooperative Security Project at the Social Science Research Council in New York. ""It's been an interesting first year but as with most things in North Korea, we simply don't know,"" he said. Few nuclear experts saw the launch as a tremendous technological advancement, but the perceptions were great and gave Kim a big boost in clout. He can say he fulfilled a promise that has kept his family dynasty in power for decades; that the nation's persistence to move on -- despite international isolation and internal hardship -- has paid off. In that sense, the satellite launch was proof of progress and power, said Bill Richardson, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who traveled to North Korea in 2010. ""He wants to show his people after one year in leadership, North Korea is a strong military, technological, space, nuclear power (with) nuclear weapons,"" Richardson said. ""I think that was partly to shore up the military, to shore up his support,"" he said. James Schoff, a North Korea specialist with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, agreed. ""I think this is very important to Kim Jong Un to build political legitimacy and bolster the spirits of his people,"" he said. ""He is doing this despite the fact that he knows he is going to come into a lot of criticism in the region for it."" The launch was a continuation of Kim Jong Un's father's project and it was important to achieve success days ahead of the death anniversary, especially after a failed rocket launch in April. That launch had been timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the birth of founding leader Kim Il Sung, the grandfather of Kim Jong Un. ""Then, it was a major embarrassment,"" said Han Park, director of the University of Georgia's Center for the Study of Global Issues who was in North Korea at the time of the failed launch. ""So they tried to rectify that. ""This is a tremendous psychological boost vis-a-vis the South,"" Park said referring to the fact that South Korea has not yet put a satellite in space. North Korea's ruling politburo is sure to spin the story as national dreams coming to fruition under the initiative of Kim, Park said. Sure enough, the state-run news agency KCNA said the launch was ""a desire at the behest"" of Kim. ""All the people across the country are greatly excited at the news of the successful launch and progressives are extending sincere congratulations to them,"" it said. The sentiment was echoed at a snow-dusted celebratory rally Friday. ""The successful launch was the result of Kim's ""unique will, courage and boldness,"" said Jang Chol, head of the State Academy of Sciences. The rocket launch allows Kim to establish military security for North Korea, said Park, and allows him to move forward with another priority: economic progress. ""This is an important game changer,"" Park said. Park, who has been visiting North Korea for decades, said conditions for ordinary North Koreans remain bleak, though there is not the mass starvation the country suffered in the 1990s. ""Kim Jong Un's primary objective is to improve the economy by participating in the international market,"" Park said. That's a feat that is not possible without U.S. cooperation. ""So he realized he has to improve relations with the outside world,"" Park said. ""In the big scheme of things, Kim Jong Un must have thought that North Korea would be taken more seriously (after a rocket launch)."" Sigal said Kim has been consolidating his power for some time by sacking unwanted people from his Cabinet. ""Purge is too strong a word but there have been all sorts of changes,"" Sigal said. ""That's telling me that this guy is taking charge and setting up for economic policy changes. Kim Jong Un staked his personal prestige on economic growth."" Sigal warned that at the moment, there were no signs of any economic changes. Park, however, said he could see some evidence of the North Koreans boosting agricultural production, building hydraulic power plants and other infrastructure and inviting foreign investors. The Chinese, in particular, have taken advantage of that, Park said. Sigal agreed that Kim Jong Un has shown signs that he wants to stimulate economic growth but the problem is that means he has to make a change from his father's military-first policy that devoted billions of dollars into weapons development. ""The question is does he have the political muscle and the political will to do that?"" Sigal said. ""He has certainly positioned himself to do that."" In the world's most totalitarian state, it's difficult to predict the future. But the rocket launch this week certainly cast the spotlight back on the enigmatic nation and served as a reminder to global powers that the North Korean problem isn't just going to slither sway. ""He's saying to the world, 'Look, I'm back,'"" Richardson said about Kim Jong Un. ""You can't keep me off the headlines. I have to be dealt with. This is the capability I have."" Richardson believes the main message this week has to be that the United States and the four other countries that have been involved in talks with North Korea -- China, Japan, South Korea and Russia -- have to come up with a new approach in their dealings with Pyongyang. ""These guys are serious; they've got missiles now,"" Richardson said. ""It's uncertain about the new leader,"" he said. ""I'm disappointed, because I thought maybe there's a positive political opening with him."" Maybe there still is. Sigal said the only way to get what Washington wants on the nuclear front is to come to the table. It's also the only way to know more about North Korea. Sigal likes to say that there is only one thing tougher than negotiating. And that's not negotiating. CNN's Jamie Crawford contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Louisiana authorities said Tuesday they found the body of a missing 6-year-old girl, stabbed and stuffed in a trash can down the street from her home. Ahlittia North had been missing since Saturday morning. Her mother awoke to find her gone from their apartment in the New Orleans suburb of Harvey. Late Tuesday night, authorities charged Matthew Flugence, the nephew of Ahlittia's stepfather, in the girl's death. The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office said Flugence, 20, often babysat for her. Flugence was arrested after he was spotted walking along a road in the area. He had a knife on him, Sheriff's Col. John Fortunato said. Witnesses told authorities that Ahlittia was a friendly, outgoing child who always wanted to be first at the door when the doorbell rang, Normand said. After she was reported missing Saturday, investigators spent all day combing her neighborhood, looking in alleys, Dumpsters and boarded-up fourplexes. They found a pool of blood in one of the buildings, Normand said, and when DNA results came back Monday evening showing the blood belonged to Ahlittia, investigators searched the area again. That's when they found the girl's body in a garbage can, wrapped in a blanket from her house and covered in a garbage bag, Normand said. Investigators looked at the garbage can during their first search of the neighborhood, so they know the body was put inside sometime after Saturday -- but they still don't know when, he said. It's possible Ahlittia's body was placed there so the garbage trucks would take it away. Normand said garbage collection in the neighborhood happens Tuesday mornings. Ahlittia suffered four stab wounds -- two to her neck, likely the fatal wounds, and two to the abdomen, Jefferson Parish Coroner Gerald Cvitanovich said. She also had bruises to the front and back of her head, shoulder, lower back, and lower extremities. Cvitanovich said were no obvious signs during an autopsy of sexual assault. Flugence's brother Russell, 21, was arrested for obstruction of justice in the case, Normand said. Russell Flugence had information about the crime that he didn't come forward with, and he also had information implicating his brother, the sheriff added. CNN's Joe Sutton contributed to this report."
"A two-shot swing on the final hole of the final women's major of the season saw South Korean teenager Hyo-Joo Kim clinch a remarkable victory in the Evian Championship at the expense of Karrie Webb of Australia Sunday. Webb chasing an eighth career major, but first since 2006, was one ahead going into the 18th hole, but took three shots from the edge of the green for a bogey five, missing her final effort from 12 feet. By contrast, the 19-year-old Kim, playing her first major, showed no sign of nerves as he rolled home a 15-foot birdie putt to finish on 11-under 273. It left her a shot clear and the third youngest winner of a major behind U.S. pair Morgan Pressel and Lexi Thompson. Speaking through an interpreter, Kim admitted: ""I was flying like a bird."" Webb, who would have become the first player to win six different majors, with the Evian Championship a recent addition to the roster, said she had misjudged her first effort from the edge of the green. ""It was a rush of adrenaline with the belly wedge and the putt was faster than I thought. It was a very poor putt and I knew I had to make it for a play-off. ""I had a lot of good shots and hit every green bar the second hole and it's obviously disappointing, but I gave myself a good chance."" Kim, who stunned the golf world with her opening 10-under 61 in France, closed with a final round of 68 to clinch the 350,000-euro first prize ($487,500). She has the added bonus of winning her full playing rights to next season's LPGA Tour without having to qualify. Webb also shot a 68 for 10-under with two more South Koreans, Jang Ha-Na (66) and Hur Mi Jung (68) tied for third on nine-under. To complete its domination, another Korean Choi Na Yeon, was fifth on eight-under after a fine closing 67. Kim first came to attention at the 2012 Evian Masters -- the last event before it became a major --  finishing fourth as an amateur that year. In 2013 she was Rookie of the Year on the Korean Tour and has already won three times this season. U.S. star Michelle Wie had to pull out of the first round with a hand injury, but had some consolation by sealing the inaugural Annika (Sorenstam) Major Award. It is for the player who has won at least one major and has the best overall record. Wie claimed her first major at the U.S.Women's Open champion and was runner-up to Thompson in the Kraft Nabisco Championship."
"BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Consumers in Beijing's malls and shops are shunning the milk and poultry sections -- for good reasons. Poultry products, including eggs, may be contaminated with melamine through animal food. They are shocked and scared by the news headlines: some food produced in China is tainted with melamine. ""Of course I'm worried,"" says a woman shopping in Nanxiaojie Market. Stop eating eggs? ""That's not possible,"" she tells CNN. ""If there's a problem with eggs, it should be solved fundamentally."" Chinese premier Wen Jiabao says China will take steps to win back consumers. ""We will use our actions and high quality of our food products to win the trust and confidence of Chinese people and people around the world,"" he told reporters at the end of a two-day summit of Asian and European leaders in Beijing last weekend.  Watch more about the tainted food scandal » . ""Three minister-level officials have resigned and a government investigation is going on. Whoever is responsible must be brought to justice. We need to protect the Made in China brand,"" said Chinese analyst Victor Gao. But the problem could be more pervasive. The state-run Nanfang Daily published an investigative story saying that adding melamine into animal feed has become an ""open secret."" The report said adding melamine into feed started in the aquatic farming industry five years ago, as a way of faking higher protein levels.  Learn more about chemical melamine » . It then spread into other agro-industries such as poultry. Even more shocking is the allegation that the melamine added is from industrial waste material. CNN contacted the Ministry of Agriculture about the story, but got no immediate response. Two years ago, reports revealed pet food exported from China to the United States was spiked with melamine and had sickened and killed dogs. Several weeks ago, the food scandal spread to milk, biscuits and candies. Now, it is tainted eggs. So far, no illnesses or deaths have been linked to eggs. Tests in Hong Kong last week showed eggs exported by a Chinese company are contaminated with excessive levels of melamine. In recent days three other brands of eggs have also been found to contain the chemical. Small wonder egg sales at the Xinfadi, a wholesale market in Beijing, dropped by 10 percent this week, according to the state-run China Daily. Chinese officials say the source of the problem is melamine, an industrial chemical used to produce plastics and fertilizer. Melamine is high in nitrogen. Unscrupulous milk suppliers would water down milk and spike it with melamine -- but in amounts that allowed it to still pass quality tests. Agriculture experts speculate that eggs tainted with melamine may be the result of tainted feed given to hens. That begs the question: if melamine was in the animal feed, will it make into the meat, and into consumers' bodies? Ingesting melamine in large doses over an extended period of time could cause kidney stones and other illnesses, agriculture and health experts say. But taking in a small amount of melamine poses no such danger. ""If it's taken over a long period of time, maybe, but if it's ingested only for short period of time it does not pose harm on animals,"" says He Jiguo, a professor of food science and nutrition at the China Agriculture University. He says the animals that end up being slaughtered do not live that long and do not actually ingest enough melamine for it to build up in their systems. The dogs and cats that were sickened in the United States were probably eating treats and meals tainted with melamine over a long period of time, he explains. Until the situation is resolved, worried grocery shoppers in Beijing say they'll just have to eat fewer eggs and more bean-products, like soybeans."
"(CNN) -- The New York Times Co. will sell The Boston Globe to sports magnate John W. Henry for $70 million, a fraction of the price it paid for the paper two decades ago. The company paid $1.1 billion for the properties. The impending sale to the owner of the Boston Red Sox is for 6.3% of the price it paid. Both The Times and The Globe reported the deal Saturday. Henry's Fenway Sports Group owns the baseball club, Fenway Park, 80% of a regional sports television network and the giant Liverpool Football Club in England. The sale includes the Telegram & Gazette newspaper of Worcester, Massachusetts. As advertising losses and new reader habits afflicted newspapers nationwide, The Times began looking to shed The Globe and even threatened to close the paper in 2009 amid disputes with unions. Henry said he would disclose details about his plans for the newspapers soon, The Globe said. ""This is a thriving, dynamic region that needs a strong, sustainable Boston Globe playing an integral role in the community's long-term future,"" The Globe quoted Henry as saying."
"(CNN) -- The celebratory champagne should be well-chilled by now. After years of manufacturing delays and cost overruns, the state-of-the-art Boeing 787 Dreamliner makes its North American debut Sunday morning, toting more than 200 eager United Airlines passengers from Houston to Chicago. It promises to be a morning full of festivities, starting with a ribbon-cutting before the plane departs Bush Intercontinental Airport at 7:20 a.m. The aircraft touches down two and a half hours later at O'Hare International Airport, greeted by a water cannon salute. United says the 787 -- the airline has ordered 50 -- will ""revolutionize the flying experience for our customers and crew while delivering unprecedented operating efficiency, comfort and lower emissions."" The Dreamliner saves airlines money on fuel because its body is made from lightweight composite materials. It features passenger comforts such as bigger windows, larger overhead bins and better ventilation. U.S. routes announced for 'sports car in the sky' Sunday's flight crew won't need to kick the nose gear tires, size 40x16.0 R16/26PR to be exact, before taking off. United received the Dreamliner flying Sunday on September 28. It was put through the paces in October before earning Federal Aviation Administration certification. ""Everyone's very excited, even people who aren't in the industry,"" Phil Derner, founder of the aviation news site NYCAviation.com, told CNN in August. ""There's a ton of new technology on the 787. It's efficient and performs well, and it's also a very good-looking aircraft. It's kind of like a sports car in the sky."" In September 2011, Japan's All Nippon Airways became the first carrier to receive the plane, which was three years overdue at that time. Because of unexpected delivery delays, during November and December some domestic flights originally scheduled to use the 787 will operate with a different aircraft type, United said. United says its Dreamliners will include 36 first-class seats, 70 premium-economy seats and 113 economy seats. It recently received its second 787. CNN's Thom Patterson and Patrick Oppmann contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- Sometimes, when you least expect it, the good guys win. Sometimes, the good guy is a woman -- a strong, wise and extraordinarily brave woman, such as Aung San Suu Kyi. Suu Kyi, 67, has led her people in a decades' long quest for democracy in Burma, the country renamed Myanmar by a brutal military dictatorship, which now appears ready to usher in democratic reform. At a time when the struggle against dictatorships elsewhere in the world seems to bring nothing but disappointment and bloodshed, Suu Kyi's freedom and the richly deserved accolades she is receiving are a welcome reminder that nonviolence, smartly deployed and backed by powerful international supporters, can become a most powerful weapon. This week, Suu Kyi made a triumphant and stirring return to the world stage, traveling to the West, her home for 24 years before she became an accidental leader of the revolution and the regime's prisoner in her home in Yangon, the generals' new name for Rangoon. Suu Kyi was received as a hero in world capitals. She spoke to the British Parliament and received an honorary degree at Oxford University. But the most poignant moment of her five-country trip came when she delivered the Nobel Peace Prize lecture in Oslo, Norway. She gave the speech more than 20 years after her chair had stood empty on the stage during awards ceremony in 1991, the year she won the prize, as she languished in isolation, enduring years of house arrest. ""The Lady,"" as she is known among her countrymen and women, stands as one of the few genuine heroes of our time, someone in the mold of Nelson Mandela and Mohandas Gandhi, who not only inspired by their ideals and sacrifice but, just as importantly, who prevailed in achieving their goals against powerful foes. There was always something mystical about the way the small, willowy woman struck fear in the hearts of the generals -- humorless men in starched uniforms, leading one of the world's largest armies and most ruthless regimes. Her family name was well-known at home before she became an activist. Her father, Gen. Bogyoke Aung San, was the hero of Burma's battle against British colonial rule and a revered statesman. During the first quarter-century after the military took power, Suu Kyi lived abroad, as a mother, wife and academic. But then her mother became ill. She traveled to Burma from her home in Oxford to care for her. Suddenly, she was in the middle of a revolution. When anti-junta protests broke out in August 1988, she addressed a crowd of hundreds of thousands at the iconic Shwedagon Pagoda Buddhist shrine in Yangon. She unexpectedly became the movement's leader and her life changed forever. She would spend 15 of the next 22 years as a prisoner in her own home. The regime put down the uprising (known as 8-8-88) killing some 3,000 protesters. Suu Kyi found herself as a top target of the regime. Even under arrest she managed to lead efforts to topple the dictatorship. The West looked to her for guidance. She looked to her Buddhist faith, learning to understand and endure her own suffering and keep her focus not on herself but on the larger goals of human rights and freedom for all. She told the West to maintain strict sanctions. She feared the world would forget her, as she lived out her life in isolation under heavy guard on Yangon's University Avenue. In 1999, when her husband was dying of cancer in Britain, the junta refused to let him come to Burma to say goodbye, offering instead to let her leave. She knew if she traveled abroad she would never be allowed to return. She stayed a prisoner in Burma and never saw her husband again. Suu Kyi's unique brand of ""realistic idealism"" appears to have succeeded in pressuring the junta to start relinquishing power. She won a seat in parliament in April elections, part of a slow process of promised democratization. She is preparing her party, the National League for Democracy, for general elections in 2015. Her personal story, closely braided with that of her country, proves that nonviolence is not just a philosophy, not just a moral stance. Instead, it is a tool that can bring heavily armed opponents to their knees. The technique worked because her charisma, spirituality and moral courage inspired not only her people, but the rest of the world. That created the pressure to build international economic sanctions that eventually forced the regime to fold. There's more to it, of course. China, the junta's protector, overplayed its hand in exploiting Burma's vast natural resources. But the bottom line is that without international support, the strategy probably would not have worked. Without Suu Kyi, the world would not have known about the misery and repression that the junta had foisted on the Burmese people. Nonviolence is not always a viable course of action -- its slow methods can run out of time, or simply fail against despotism -- but sometimes it can work. I had counted myself as a skeptic -- until I traveled to Burma during the days when it all seemed hopeless and finally understood what her presence there meant to the Burmese people. In Burma and in the Burmese refugee camps on the Thai side of the border, I discovered just what Suu Kyi's strength and personal sacrifice meant to her people. She had become their only source of solace, their only reason for hope. She was also their movement's brilliant strategist. In recent months, the generals who have ruled Burma since 1962 have declared their commitment to democratic change and have started loosening restrictions on political activity. The world is taking its cue from the woman who has become a moral compass. For years she was the one who insisted the West should not lift economic sanctions, even when that meant more hardships for her and her people. But now she says she cautiously believes the generals are serious about reform. Ever the realist, Suu Kyi has warned against overconfidence, calling for ""healthy skepticism"" about reforms. But if she and her supporters do, in fact, forge democracy in their country, as now seems probable, it is because she was able to leverage her appeal to bring harsh international sanctions against Burma. Suu Kyi has proven her wisdom. She has proven she is one of the few people who truly deserve to become a hero, an icon of their time. And she has shown, just when we needed it most, that even in a time of grim realities, heroes can win in the end. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Frida Ghitis."
"(CNN)  -- The search continued Tuesday for as many as 67 people missing after a boat carrying about 200 Haitians capsized, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The U.S. Coast Guard intercepted this crowded boat last week and repatriated its occupants to Haiti. The boat overturned Monday off Turks and Caicos, a British territory about 550 miles southeast of Miami, Florida. Searchers aboard boats and aircraft have rescued 118 passengers and found 15 bodies, said Petty Officer Jennifer Johnson, a Coast Guard spokeswoman, on Tuesday morning. The Coast Guard described the boat's occupants as migrants from Haiti. The overcrowded vessel was believed to have set sail from the Haitian port of Cap Haitien, the Turks and Caicos Sun newspaper reported. The search resumed at dawn Tuesday after being suspended because of darkness Monday night, Johnson said. The Coast Guard is contributing one boat, the 210-foot cutter Valiant, and three aircraft to the search, Johnson said. The aircraft are a Falcon jet out of Miami, an HH-60 helicopter and a slow-flying C-130 cargo plane out of Clearwater, Florida.  Watch Coast Guard rescue Haitians after boat capsizes » . ""If the weather and conditions are right, [the C-130] can fly really low,"" Johnson said. ""It makes a fantastic search aircraft."" Turks and Caicos authorities are using small boats in the search, she said. About 70 people were plucked Monday from a reef near the island group, authorities said. Four other bodies were found, though it was unclear which authorities located them. A nurse at Myrtle Rigby Hospital in the Turks and Caicos said that about 70 people were brought there, including four who had died. Five people were admitted to the hospital, and the others had minor injuries, the nurse said. The Coast Guard said it intercepted another ""grossly overloaded"" boat, with 124 Haitians aboard, late last week in the same region. Those migrants were returned to Cap Haitien on Monday. Overloaded vessels can quickly lose stability and capsize, sending migrants into the water, a Coast Guard release said. CNN's Jim Kavanagh and Lateef Mungin contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- NATO troops in Afghanistan have been ordered to halt some joint operations with Afghan security forces after a spate of attacks by their local allies and amid fallout from a controversial anti-Islam video. ""Most partnering and advising will now be at the battalion level and above,"" White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters Tuesday. ""This does not mean there will be not partnering below that level. The need for that will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis."" But Carney stressed that the broader strategy of handing security over to local and national forces would continue and that the new policy will not effect NATO's planned withdrawal for 2014. ""In response to an increased threat situation as a result of the 'Innocence of Muslims' video, plus the recent insider attacks, ISAF forces are increasing their vigilance and carefully reviewing all activities and interactions with the local population,"" Maj. Lori Hodge, a spokeswoman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, said earlier Tuesday. 4 NATO troops killed in 'insider' attack . ""We adjust our force protection measures based on the threat. If the threat level goes down, we could see a rolling back on this decision."" The ""Innocence of Muslims"" video, which was privately produced in the United States, mocks the Prophet Mohammed as a womanizer, child molester and killer. The U.S. government has condemned the video, which spurred deadly protests in several countries, including Afghanistan. On Tuesday, for example, an insurgent group carried out a suicide attack that killed 12 people, including eight foreigners in Kabul, saying it was in response to the film. The other factor behind the partial joint operations suspension is the number of ""green-on-blue"" attacks in the country. More than 50 coalition troops were killed between January and mid-August in instances where uniformed Afghans turned their guns on allied troops. Why asylum-seekers are fleeing Afghanistan . NATO's senior civilian representative in Afghanistan, Simon Gass called the need for the new policy a ""bump in the road,"" adding that ""people in all of our countries would expect us... to make sure that our soldiers are kept out of harms way as much as possible."" ""The circumstances in which we have reduced our partnership operations are not ideal by any means at all, they are not what we would have wanted,"" he said. ""Nor are they a great strategic set back."" On Monday, the Pentagon said that NATO commander Marine Gen. John Allen had ordered commanders ""to review force protection and tactical activities."" ""While some partnered operations are temporarily suspended, many continue, and regional commanders have the authority to approve more,"" Pentagon press secretary George Little said. Allen's guidance was given at the recommendation of key Afghan leaders, Hodge said. ""This will likely lead to adjustments in exactly how, when and where ISAF troops operate, especially during the current period of heightened tension,"" she said. British Defence Secretary Philip Hammond, meanwhile, insisted Tuesday that, ""There has been no change of policy in Afghanistan"" for British forces. Speaking to the House of Commons, Hammond cited a press release issued by the ISAF commander saying ""some prudent, but temporary, measures to reduce our profile and vulnerability to civil disturbances or insider attacks"" have been put into place. Hammond echoed Carney's statement from the White House, saying ""partnering and advising"" would take place at the battalion level and above. ""The change does not mean that where will be no partnering below that level. The need for that will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis and approved by the regional commanders,"" Hammond added. Over the weekend, four Americans and two British troops were gunned down in attacks believed to involve Afghan police. In addition, insurgents disguised in U.S. Army uniforms launched a coordinated assault Friday at the joint American-British base Camp Bastion, raising concerns that the attackers had inside knowledge. That attack killed two U.S. Marines and destroyed six AV-8B Harrier jets, international forces said. Camp Bastion is also where Britain's Prince Harry is based. Harry was taken to a secure position after the perimeter at Bastion had been breached, British Defense Secretary Philip Hammond told the BBC. How insurgents entered Prince Harry's base . U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Monday that he is ""very concerned"" about insider attacks. ""This is an approach that the Taliban is resorting to, similar to the use of (improvised explosive devices),"" Panetta said. ""We think, very frankly, that it is kind of a last-gasp effort to be able to not only target our forces but to try to create chaos because they have been unable to regain any of the territory that they have lost."" The halt in some joint operations with Afghan forces comes weeks after U.S. Special Operations forces suspended the training of some Afghan Local Police recruits while it double-checks the background of the current police force. ""Green-on-blue"" refers to a color coding system used by the military, in which blue refers to the friendly force and green refers to allied forces. The spate of green-on-blue attacks comes as American and NATO troops are training Afghan soldiers and police to maintain security within the country ahead of the planned end of allied combat operations in 2014. It's unclear what impact, if any, the earlier suspension in training and the temporary halt of some joint operations will have on the timetable to withdraw. U.S. facing growing 'green-on-blue' challenge . In August, Allen estimated that about a quarter of the attacks were being carried out by infiltrators from the Taliban, the Islamic militia that ruled most of Afghanistan before the U.S.-led invasion in 2001. An earlier Pentagon review that said that about 10% were by Taliban forces that had sneaked into Afghan military and police ranks. ""It's less about the precision of 25 versus 10 than it is acknowledging that the Taliban are seeking ultimately to have some impact in the formation,"" Allen said. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has blamed the attacks on foreign spy agencies hoping to undermine Afghan security institutions, but he did not specifically identify any countries. NATO admits killing civilians in strike . CNN's Masoud Popalzai, Alexander Felton and Chelsea J. Carter contributed to this report."
"(CNN) -- An eastern Pennsylvania police chief who went on profanity-laced video rants against those who disagreed with him on gun laws has been suspended for 30 days without pay. The punishment wasn't for his diatribe though. The borough council in the coal town of Gilberton said that police Chief Mark Kessler used ""borough property for non-borough purposes without prior borough permission"" when he made the video where he's seen shooting semiautomatic and automatic weapons. Thousands of gun-rights activists descended on the town of 750 for the meeting, openly sporting firearms, CNN affiliate WPMT reported. ""I make no apologies and I have no regrets,"" a defiant Kessler told the council after its 5-1 vote, according to CNN affiliate WFMZ. He added he would be back ""30 days from tonight."" Soon afterward, Kessler posted a statement on his website saying that Mayor Mary Lou Hannon and two council members -- Eric Boxer and Daniel Malloy -- ""are conspiring behind closed doors for full termination. "" ""They needed to suspend first to allow themselves time to look for or make up any reason or lie,"" he said. Then, he added in all uppercase letters: ""HEY BOXER, MALLOY , HANNON, YOU'RE COWARDS, YOU'RE HACKS, YOU PRETEND TO UPHOLD THE CONSTITUTION,YOU SICKEN ME !"" For her part, Mayor Hannon said the police chief has her backing. ""He has the right to freedom of speech,"" she told WPMT. ""I am a big supporter of the Constitution."" Kessler posted his videos to YouTube in mid-July. They went viral, generating a heated online debate that appeared to gain renewed traction last month when he posted a backhanded apology. Kessler did not respond to repeated requests by CNN for comment, but he told WFMZ at the time that he was not in uniform in the videos and was exercising in his First and Second Amendment rights. In the videos, Kessler rails against liberals for attempting to curb gun rights and Secretary of State John Kerry over his support of a recent U.N. arms treaty. At one point in the video, he dares Kerry to come and take his guns. ""It wasn't a threat. It was, 'if you want them come and take them,'"" Kessler told the television station by telephone. Kessler has been the town's police chief for 14 years ""without a mark against him,"" Hennon said. Kessler, an outspoken gun rights advocate, has a history of making provocative statements. He has been featured in a number of online videos discussing his views, given numerous interviews and helped organize gun rights rallies. The police chief also has claimed in a number of interviews to be the founder of the Constitutional Security Force, a gun rights advocacy group. In the video, Kessler wears a T-shirt with CSF emblazoned on it. On the CSF Web page, Kessler is identified as the group's president and is featured in his Gilberton police uniform. The latest videos have been picked up and copied on YouTube, with titles such as ""America's scariest police chief"" and ""Patriot police chief."""
"(CNN) -- Investors of Russian assets have had their first real chance to assess the situation in Ukraine and they didn't like what they saw. The two major indices in Moscow, the MICEX and the RTS, slumped more than 8% on opening Monday and worsened as they day carried on. Investors do not like uncertainty and they were delivered more than their fair share over the weekend. With the ruble hitting a record low of about 37 to the dollar, central bank governor Elvira Nabiullina surprised the market by pushing interest rates to 7% to buffer a run on the currency. The reality is quite simple: Russia's economy has seen a dramatic slowdown for the past year. After growing 3.4% in 2012, it came in at about a third of that level last year with an expansion of just 1.3%. The forecast of 2.5% growth in 2014, many suggest, looks ambitious with incursions into Ukraine part of the equation. While this is being positioned domestically in Russia as a move by President Vladimir Putin on behalf of Russians in the east of Ukraine, the military action probably will not sit well with those in the middle class who took to the streets over the past year. They have been frustrated by slow growth, a lack of transparency within government, and a lack of oil and gas revenues trickling down to those with higher aspirations and expectations. During the height of the global financial crisis, Putin, whether at a G8 or G20 Summit, took the opportunity to criticize western powers for not being vigilant enough with their commercial bankers -- whether on Wall Street or within the City of London. He proudly predicted Russia would continue to grow at 4% with ample reserves of a half trillion dollars saved for a rainy day. That day may have arrived. Strategists I have interviewed complain that Putin relied on one asset -- energy -- for far too long. At the World Energy Congress in South Korea late last year, the energy minister Alexander Novak spelled out plans for Russian reserves to expand handsomely over the coming years. Gas pipelines, like the South Stream, are being constructed to bypass Ukraine and provide Europe with ample supplies for the next generation. Russia also has inked strategic energy partnerships with China and South Korea. But as the world is finding out, one cannot live on energy alone with an economy of 140 million people. Government ministers I have spoken with admit they are well behind the curve when it comes to infrastructure investment. Another worrying sign for the economy is that it is expanding only modestly -- despite the projected $50 billion that was spent on the Sochi Winter Games and projects earmarked for the 2018 World Cup. So where does dispute over Ukraine lead us? There are a number of tricky questions that need to be answered. Executives at Gazprom, Russia's state-run gas giant, have declared that Ukraine is one and a half billion dollars in arrears on payments and that discounts given to the previous, pro-Moscow government expire at the end of the month. It is not clear whether Russia will turn off the taps as it has done twice before. Ukraine is carrying an unmanageable amount of debt -- nearly $30 billion comes due by the end of 2015, about half of that this year. The IMF is sending a team over for an initial consultation this week, but until the political situation is sorted out before elections, it is not clear whether the fund will step in. There is a co-dependency between Russia and Europe. While major European Union members like Germany and France have reduced their reliance on Russian gas, about a quarter of all supplies still comes from pipelines filled by Moscow. About a third of Russia's daily oil output of nearly ten million barrels a day goes to Europe as well. Finally, the U.S. may be suffering from military fatigue after years in Iraq and Afghanistan and the European Union from expansion fatigue. With 28 members after of an era of enlargement and sluggish growth of just a 0.5% projected for this year, Brussels can ill afford to jump into a political mess on its eastern flank. Read more: Why Ukraine crisis matters to world economy . Watch more: Yulia Tymoshenko exclusive: Draft bill would annex Crimea from Ukraine ."
"NEW YORK (CNN) -- More than two years after her death, Carol Anne Gotbaum's children are expected to receive a $250,000 settlement from an insurance company on behalf of the city of Phoenix, Arizona, and its police department. Carol Gotbaum, shown in an undated family photo, died accidentally, a medical examiner said. The 45-year-old Gotbaum accidentally strangled herself while in police custody after behaving erratically in a terminal at Phoenix's Sky Harbor airport when she missed her connecting flight, according to both family and police accounts. Gotbaum, the stepdaughter-in-law of New York City Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, was traveling alone and unescorted on her way to an alcohol rehabilitation center in Tucson, Arizona. Gotbaum's family had originally sought $8 million but subsequently reduced that to $5.5 million. They accused the city and its police department of negligence in leaving Gotbaum chained and unattended in an airport police cell. Her three children, all still under age 10, will be the beneficiaries of the settlement once it is approved by a New York surrogate court, whose duties are to deal with issues concerning the deceased. According to the Phoenix Police Department, its insurance carrier had spent $500,000 so far on the case and anticipated spending another $750,000 in litigation. It was a financial decision by the insurance carrier to settle in order to minimize further costs, the department said. Witnesses reported that Gotbaum may have been drinking on her flight and had been drinking heavily in an airport bar just before the altercation with police. She had missed her connection and was bumped from another one after airline personnel would not allow her to use a boarding pass given to her by another passenger. She grew incensed, threw her phone and started running down the concourse yelling, ""I am not a terrorist,"" according to witness accounts. Police said they had no information regarding her physical or psychological state when they responded to a call from gate agents. In a security video she is seen struggling with officers as they drag her down a concourse. An internal police investigation and one by the city found that the police did not violate any laws. But Gotbaum's husband, Noah, filed suit claiming the officers were negligent in leaving her unattended in a disoriented state."
"(CNN) -- African warlord Joseph Kony and his struggling militia are poaching elephant ivory across central Africa to get funds for weapons, ammunition and food, a report says. Kony is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes. He is accused of recruiting underage boys as fighters and girls as sex slaves, and is the subject of a massive manhunt aided by U.S special forces. His militia, the Lord's Resistance Army, has been butchering elephants for years, according to a report released Tuesday by various groups, including the Enough Project and the Satellite Sentinel Project. ""Greater investments are needed to combat the LRA across central Africa,"" said co-author Kasper Agger, an Enough Project field researcher. ""Governments in Asia and elsewhere who fail to regulate the illegal ivory trade share responsibility for atrocities committed by the LRA and other armed groups engaged in poaching."" The report includes accounts by former captives, who say that the militia trades ivory with customers who land in the vast forest in helicopters. U.S. offers $5 million for information leading to Kony . Africa's elephants are facing higher risks as demand for ivory grows in Asia. Over the last decade, conservationists say poachers have reduced Africa's forest elephant population by 62%, threatening the magnificent mammals with eventual extinction. Unlike decades past when poachers across the continent ran down elephants using spears, attackers are now highly organized and armed with sophisticated weapons. In northern Cameroon, heavily armed poachers are known to swoop in on horseback in the vast forests. The vast Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of the areas mostly targeted by the militia, the report said. Kony and his militia are wanted men. The United States is offering $5 million for information leading to the arrest, transfer or conviction of three top leaders of the Lord's Resistance Army, including Kony. A small number of U.S. special forces are advising and assisting regional military efforts to hunt him down."
"(Mental Floss) -- In his victory speech on Tuesday night, Barack Obama promised his daughters Sasha and Malia that they'd get to bring a new puppy with them to the White House in January. President Bush's dog Barney, left, plays in 2001 with Spot, the offspring of George H.W. Bush's dog Millie. It's a good thing Obama said ""Yes, we can"" to the girls' request to getting a dog; for all of his charm, ability, and oratorical flair, he could never be our nation's chief executive without a White House pet. Counting Obama, the country has had 44 Presidents, and only two of them -- Chester A. Arthur and Franklin Pierce -- left no record of having pets. Like Obama himself, the family pooch will have some big shoes to fill. Previous White House pets have set the bar pretty high. iReport.com: What pet would you want if you lived in the White House? Here are a few of our favorites:  Watch Obama on ""mutts like me"" » . 1. Billy: Calvin Coolidge's pygmy hippopotamus . Calvin Coolidge may have been known for his reticence, but he showed little of his trademark reserve when it came to acquiring pets. After taking over the presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding, Coolidge assembled a menagerie that would rival most zoos' collections. He had six dogs, a bobcat, a goose, a donkey, a cat, two lion cubs, an antelope, and a wallaby. The main attraction in his personal zoo, though, was Billy, a pygmy hippopotamus.  Watch new baby pygmy hippo » . Billy was born in Liberia, but was captured at a young age. He came into the possession of tire mogul Harvey Firestone, who gave Billy to President Coolidge as a gift, possibly because Firestone didn't want to feed the critter. (Even a pygmy hippo is still quite rotund; Billy was six feet long and weighed upwards of 600 pounds.) Coolidge donated Billy to the Smithsonian National Zoological Park. Because there were only a handful of pygmy hippos in the U.S. at the time, Billy quickly went to work as a stud, an endeavor at which he found some success. He sired 23 little hippos, and many of the pygmy hippos you see in American zoos today are his offspring. Mental Floss: 7 crafty zoo escapes . 2. The White House gators . Herbert Hoover wanted to put a chicken in every pot, a car in every garage, and ... a gator in the Oval Office? It's true. Hoover owned a slew of dogs, but those weren't his only pets. His second son, Allan Henry Hoover, owned a pair of gators that were occasionally allowed to wander around the White House grounds. Sound crazy? Blame John Quincy Adams for setting the precedent. The sixth president also had a pet gator. His was a gift from the Marquis de Lafayette; it lived in a bathroom in the East Room of the White House. According to some reports, he enjoyed using the gator to scare his guests. 3. Fala: FDR's traveling companion . What do you get the Depression-conquering president who has everything? A lapdog. In 1940 Franklin Roosevelt received a Scottish Terrier puppy named Big Boy as an early Christmas gift from a family friend. FDR immediately realized that Big Boy was no name for a presidential companion and rechristened the pooch Murray the Outlaw of Falahill, after a Scottish ancestor. For the sake of simplicity, though, he called his new pal Fala. After that, Fala became FDR's inseparable companion and traveled everywhere the President went. The dog ""gave"" $1 a day to the war effort, generosity that earned him the rank of honorary private in the Army. Each morning when FDR's breakfast tray came in, it included a bone for Fala. Fala also made a famous appearance in one of his master's speeches. When FDR was decrying personal attacks from his political opponents, he jokingly said that it was okay to mock him, but leave Fala alone. ""You know, Fala is Scotch, and being a Scottie, as soon as he learned that the Republican fiction writers in Congress and out had concocted a story that I had left him behind on the Aleutian Islands and had sent a destroyer back to find him -- at a cost to the taxpayers of two or three, or eight or 20 million dollars -- his Scotch soul was furious. ""He has not been the same dog since!"" Fala stayed with FDR until the President's death in 1945 and lived in the care of Eleanor Roosevelt until his death in 1952. Mental Floss: 6 utterly loyal dogs . 4. Millie: Literary sensation . When George H.W. Bush took office in 1989, he brought his pet springer spaniel Millie to the White House. The bubbly canine won over the nation's heart so completely that she even collaborated with the First Lady on Millie's Book: As Dictated to Barbara Bush. Millie brought further joy to the Bush family when she gave birth to a litter of six presidential puppies in 1989. Just as her master helped slip one of his boys into the White House, so did Millie: when George W. Bush moved into the Oval Office, so did his dog, Millie's son Spot Fetcher. 5. Barney, Miss Beazley & India: The current residents . Sadly, Spot Fetcher had to be put down in 2004, but the Bushes aren't pet-deprived now. They have a pair of Scottish Terriers named Barney and Miss Beazley, both of whom have websites and appear in White House-produced web videos. (Your tax dollars adorably at work!) The Bushes also have a black cat named India, who also goes by ""Willie.""  Watch Barney bite a reporter » . The name India rankled some citizens of the country of the same name to the point that many Indians supposedly named their dogs ""Bush."" The name wasn't meant to be controversial, though; the Bushes merely named their cat after Ruben ""El Indio"" Sierra, who played for the Texas Rangers while George W. owned the team. Spot Fetcher was similarly named after former Rangers middle infielder Scott Fletcher. Other first pets of note: . Mr. Reciprocity and Mr. Protection -- Benjamin Harrison's two opossums. Harrison's son Russell also had a pet goat named Old Whiskers. Pauline -- The last cow to live at the White House. She made milk for President Taft's consumption. Old Ike -- To save cash during World War I, Woodrow Wilson brought in a flock of sheep to take care of the White House's groundskeeping duties. Old Ike, a ram, supposedly chewed tobacco. Laddie Boy -- Warren G. Harding's beloved Airedale who had his own seat at Cabinet meetings and gave a 1921 ""interview"" with The Washington Post in which he talked about Prohibition and shortening the workday for guard dogs. Liberty -- Gerald Ford's golden retriever hung out in the Oval Office and could supposedly read a sign from Ford that she should go be affectionate to guests -- a cute and cuddly way to gracefully end the President's conversations. Socks and Buddy -- President Clinton's faithful cat and the chocolate lab he acquired while in office. Socks didn't like Buddy's youthful friendliness, so the two pets had to be kept separated at all times. The tensions were so bad that the family couldn't keep both pets at the end of Bill's second term, so Socks went to live with Clinton's secretary, Betty Currie. Gamecocks -- Ulysses S. Grant supposedly kept some gamecocks at the White House. Two tiger cubs -- Martin Van Buren received the cats as a gift from the Sultan of Oman. Congress supposedly made him give the gift to a zoo. Satan -- One of Abigail Adams' unfortunately named dogs. She called the other one Juno. Jonathan Edwards -- Theodore Roosevelt received this black bear cub as a gift from supporters in West Virginia who gave the bear the name, he wrote to a friend, ""partly because they thought they detected Calvinistic traits in the bear's character."" Dr. Johnson, Bishop Doane, Fighting Bob Evans, and Father O'Grady -- Teddy Roosevelt's kids also had these tremendously named guinea pigs. Josiah -- Roosevelt also had a pet badger, of course. Bonus trivia: Checkers . Nixon's dog was immortalized in the ""Checkers speech,"" which Nixon gave while facing allegations of illegal campaign contributions. He said the only gift he'd accepted was a cocker spaniel named Checkers for his daughters. Mental Floss: Why was the 'Checkers speech' so important? Checkers, however, was never the White House dog. This scandal bubbled up while Nixon was Eisenhower's running mate in the 1952 election, and Nixon gave the Checkers speech to convince Republicans to keep him on the ticket. Although the speech was a success and Nixon later made it to the White House, Checkers never got to be First Dog; he passed away in 1964. For more mental_floss articles, visit mentalfloss.com . Entire contents of this article copyright, Mental Floss LLC. All rights reserved."
"(CNN)The election of a new anti-austerity government in Greece is raising questions about how the debt-laden state will satisfy its creditors and citizens weary of cost-cutting measures. The leader of the left-wing Syriza party, Alexis Tsipras, was sworn in as Greece's new Prime Minister on Monday after forming a coalition with the right-wing Independent Greeks party. Tsipras has vowed to end austerity measures and renegotiate the terms of Greece's European Union bailout. Since 2010, Greece has received bailouts totaling 240 billion euros. In return, the International Monetary Fund, European Commission and European Central Bank demanded tax hikes, a freeze on state pensions, bans on early retirement and deep cuts in government salaries. Syriza's pledges to try to get some of Greece's colossal debt written off and roll back unpopular austerity measures appealed to exasperated members of the electorate -- even if they potentially jeopardize Greece's place in the eurozone. The party's victory could lead to a dramatic showdown with the debt-laden nation's lenders. Syriza's message is one that has also resonated in other southern European countries under the restrictions of international bailouts. Its victory could boost other populist parties, such as Beppe Grillo's anti-euro Five Star Movement in Italy and the Podemos Movement in Spain. Declaring victory for Syriza on Sunday after polls showed it winning at least 149 seats in the 300-seat parliament, Tsipras, 40, appeared to brace for a bigger battle. ""We are regaining our lost dignity. ... Now that we are heard by all of Europe, we will fight with the same passion, the same confidence,"" he told cheering supporters. ""So let's go and let's all continue this beautiful and tough fight,"" he said. ""Greece leaves behind the austerity that ruined it, leaves behind the fear, leaves behind five years of humiliation, and Greece moves forward with optimism and hope and dignity,"" he told the crowd. New anti-austerity government worries markets . European Central Bank Executive Board member Benoît Cœuré told CNN on Monday that Greece  would still have to pay its debt. ""They have to pay; those are the European rules of the game. There is no room for unilateral action in Europe, that doesn't exclude a discussion, for example, on the rescheduling of this debt. But I would like to underline that it's not the ECB's money -- it's the governments' money; it's a discussion between Mr. Tsipras and the European governments."" Chief EU Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said it respected the ""sovereign choice of the Greek people."" ""We are ready to engage with the new government once it is formed. Greece has made remarkable progress in recent years, and we stand ready to continue to assist Greece in addressing the remaining reform challenges,"" he said. The austerity imposed by Greece's international creditors has cut deep. Unemployment has soared to 28%, and many people who still have jobs have seen drastic decreases in wages, pensions frozen and the retirement age pushed back. The governing New Democracy party had pointed to recent improvements in economic indicators as signs that things were getting better. After conceding defeat Sunday, outgoing Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said his conscience was clear. ""I got a country on the verge of ruin.  I was asked to try and save it, and I did it,"" he said. ""Most people did not believe we could stand strong, but we did."" Now, he said, Greece is secure and ""slowly walking away from the crisis."" ""And more than anything,"" he said, ""I give back a country that is a member of the European Parliament and the euro."" On Monday, the CEO of one of Greece's largest banks, Piraeus, said Syriza was coming to power at a ""fortunate time."" ""The tide is changing in Europe, the macro is improving in Greece, the European Central Bank is launching an unprecedented easing, and that will have a significant bearing on the fortunes of Greece going forward,"" Anthimos Thomopoulos said. Opinion: Syriza shows the failure of 'cartel politics' ""Greece has already gone through massive adjustment, much of the hard work has already been completed, the green shoots of recovery are already there, so this is a great opportunity for Greece, a great opportunity for a new government."" In his victory speech Sunday, Tsipras noted that Greece's election could have an impact far beyond his country's borders. ""Our victory is, at the same time, it's a victory for all the people of Europe that are fighting against austerity that's ruining the common European future,"" he said. But it's unclear how Syriza's plans to renegotiate the bailout would play out. Is Alexis Tsipras man of the moment?"
"San Francisco, California (CNN) -- Just after Apple CEO Steve Jobs debuted the next version of his company's iPhone to the world, the tech luminary had a bit of technical trouble. ""Well jeez,"" Jobs said, struggling to get the spanking new iPhone 4 to do much of anything without a connection to a Wi-Fi network. The technical faux pas came during Jobs' keynote address at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, California. At one point, Jobs turned toward the audience and seemed to ask a question of one of his technical directors: ""Got any suggestions?"" he asked. ""Verizon!"" shouted an audience member, in reference to the fact that AT&T, the sole cellular network that carriers the Apple iPhone, gets notoriously bad reception in San Francisco. Many tech bloggers and writers have called for Apple to open the iPhone to other networks, including Verizon Wireless. That didn't happen on Monday. The new iPhone will remain an AT&T-only device. It goes on sale on June 24 to AT&T customers for $199 or $299, depending on the amount of storage. Any AT&T customer eligible for a phone upgrade this year can get the iPhone 4 on its debut date at those subsidized prices, Jobs said. After the event, tech industry analysts warned against reading too much into the network glitches during Jobs' presentation. But, if nothing else, they do symbolize the growing frustration some phone consumers have over the lack of choice among wireless carriers. In a recent interview, for instance, Kevin Tofel, a blogger in the GigaOm network, said it is smartest for consumers to pick a wireless carrier first, rather than get the coolest phone. Otherwise, they're buying an ""expensive brick,"" he said. Analysts said Jobs was having trouble connecting to a Wi-Fi network during his presentation, not AT&T's troubled 3G network. ""It's Wi-Fi,"" said Carolina Milanesi, research director for mobile devices at Gartner. ""You had so many people in there using Wi-Fi. I didn't read too much into it."" Of AT&T, she laughed and said, ""It's not always their fault."" Van Baker, research vice-president for Gartner, said the ""Verizon!"" comment from the audience was ""totally unfair ... because it's not going over the 3G network."" Jobs eventually resolved the issue himself. In a joking yet stern tone, he asked reporters and conference attendees to stop using Wi-Fi networks so that he could finish the presentation. Some 570 Wi-Fi stations were clogging up the connection he needed to complete the presentation, he said. If the attendees didn't comply, he said, he would simply not be able to show off the rest of the iPhone 4's new features, including its higher-resolution screen, improved camera and video chat functionality -- which, by the way, is only available over Wi-Fi."
"(CNN) -- Melissa McCarthy is one of the hottest actresses in Hollywood right now, so it's no wonder that Elle magazine named her one of their top 2013 ""Women in Hollywood,"" and even put the plus-size comedian on the cover. However, some critics are crying foul at the cover shot, decrying it as fat-shaming. In an article for Slate.com, writer June Thomas laments, ""McCarthy's hair covers a quarter of her gorgeous face, and with her hands stuffed deep into her coat pockets, the only visible flesh is a tiny triangle between the coat's lapels and the briefest glimpse of calf."" Why Elle magazine got McCarthy right . McCarthy is seen wearing a large green coat that covers nearly her entire body, with unruly hair that also covers a portion of her face. In contrast, other actresses who had their own covers, such as Reese Witherspoon, showed off their bodies in figure-hugging outfits. People on Twitter expressed their outrage and disappointment: ""#Elle Put Melissa McCarthy In A Big Coat To Hide Her Body - The coat is gorge, but the difference in shots is sad,"" tweeted Curvy Exchange, a community that buys and sells plus-sized fashion. Elle responded to the controversy by releasing a statement about the November issue: ""On all of our shoots, our stylists work with the stars to choose pieces they feel good in, and this is no different,"" a spokesperson for the magazine said. ""Melissa loved this look, and is gorgeous on our cover. We are thrilled to honor her as one of our Women in Hollywood this year."" See the original story at HLNTV.com."
"Baghdad (CNN) -- The bodies of 14 men shot dead -- and with some signs of torture -- were found in an area north of Baghdad on Thursday, police said. The men were taken Wednesday by armed men in military uniforms who raided the mainly Sunni town of Mashahda, police said. Iraq has been engulfed by sectarian violence for many months. According to police, eight of the men were from one family. In other parts of the country, at least 11 people died Thursday in shootings and explosions, police said. The incidents occurred in Mosul, Ramadi, Tikrit, Baquba, as well as Baghdad, police said. In Anbar province, to the west of Baghdad, mortar shells hit the city of Falluja on Thursday night . Details about casualties, if any, weren't immediately available. Iraq's government has said its security forces have been fighting al Qaeda-backed militants in the city for days."
"A great many filmmakers â€” too many â€” use handheld cameras to evoke a sensation of raw, this is really happening immediacy. But director Paul Greengrass is unique. At a glance, his live-wire, ragged-camera method may seem overly familiar, but the way he employs it, that method is as expressive as the style of a superb novelist. The note of authenticity he strikes isn't just about how he holds the camera. It's about what the camera is shooting: Greengrass sets up and stages organically detailed situations that he then films as if he were making a documentary. He pioneered that method in ""Bloody Sunday"" (2002), his spectacular drama about the 1972 Northern Ireland massacre, and he carried it into his two Bourne films (making the most far-fetched espionage potboilers seem genuine) and, of course, into United 93, the galvanizing post-9/11 dramatization that let you feel like you were right on board that doomed plane. Greengrass keeps you off balance â€” he's a jittery poet of reality. And he proves that yet again in ""Captain Phillips,"" his suspensefully spiky thriller based on a shattering incident from April 2009, when the crew of a U.S. cargo ship, the MV Maersk Alabama, was held hostage for several days by a band of Somali pirates armed with machine guns. Early on, Greengrass echoes what he did in ""United 93,"" letting us peek separately into the lives of both the victims and their attackers before the vehicle in question takes off. Capt. Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks), a veteran merchant mariner, still lives in his native New England, and he's a plainspoken family man full of anxiety about the economically bleak new world his kids are facing. When his wife (Catherine Keener) drops him off at the airport, we can see he reveres her. The film then cuts to Somalia, a land of dust and poverty, where the pirates are recruited for their mission as if they were migrant farmworkers lining up to be chosen for that day's labor. Greengrass doesn't have to fill in much about the violent, chaotic breakdown of Somalia to let us know that these men have little choice in life: Taking up arms to steal, or even to kill, is the central option their society has handed them. When the giant cargo liner rounds the Horn of Africa, Captain Phillips realizes he's in dangerous waters. A radar that detects the pirates as they zoom toward the ship on two motorboats gives you a sickening feeling. As soon as they climb aboard, evading the spray of water hoses that are the crew's only ''weapons,'' we know we're seeing a clash of two cultures: the privileged Western world, with its power and bounty (all symbolized by the vastness of that ship), and the desperate quarters of the Third World, locked outside the loop of technological progress and hope. One of the pirates, a young fellow named Muse, is played by Barkhad Abdi, who has the ravaged, bone-hungry face of a starving child all grown up. That face haunts the movie, and so does Abdi's extraordinary acting. Muse is ruthless, forlorn, street-smart, naive (he wants millions of dollars, even though there's only $30,000 on the ship), and even compassionate, all at the same time. In dramatic terms, he's the enemy, yet Abdi's performance inspires us to ask: How, in the modern world, did the violence Muse embodies become part of the family of man? Phillips must guard his crew, negotiate with the pirates, and keep his own fears in check, and Hanks acts with a minimalism that speaks volumes: We're wired into his every glance. Phillips sends the pirates on a wild goose chase throughout the massive ship, and Captain Phillips becomes a gripping life-or-death chess game: Who will survive? Who will outwit whom? But in the second half, when Phillips is forced to board an enclosed lifeboat along with the pirates, the film's suspense begins to ebb. It's not that Greengrass' electrifying style fails him. It's that the movie, tethered for close to an hour to the strategies and tensions aboard the lifeboat, keeps giving us things to observe, but maybe not so much to discover. Grade: B+ . See the original at EW.com. CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly . © 2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved."
