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(CNN) -- U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. is responding well to treatment for bipolar depression, the Mayo Clinic said Monday. The Rochester, Minn.-based clinic said Jackson is regaining his strength but offered no further information on his condition. In early July, the congressman's office announced he was "receiving intensive medical treatment at a residential treatment facility for a mood disorder." A few weeks later, his office said he was undergoing an "extensive inpatient evaluation for depression and gastrointestinal issues" at the Mayo Clinic. Jackson's wife, Sandi, said earlier this month her husband had "good days and bad days" and doctors were increasing his depression medication to "therapeutic levels." Wife: Rep. Jackson still 'very depressed' The Illinois Democrat and son of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader, has not been on Capitol Hill since late May. Jackson and his family have not said much about his ordeal, though his father told The Huffington Post that when he visited his son in Washington in June, he learned the junior Jackson hadn't slept in three days. What the family thought was exhaustion, the Rev. Jackson said, was "something much deeper, much broader, and it lasted much longer." Sandi Jackson has firmly denied her husband had attempted suicide or was receiving help for alcohol or drug addiction. She said earlier this month it was unclear when he might return to work -- including whether he would be at the Democratic National Convention in early September. What is bipolar II disorder? Jackson's illness comes as the House Ethics Committee is examining allegations that in 2008, he or one of his associates offered to raise money for then-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich in exchange for Jackson being appointed to the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama after he was elected president. The congressman has maintained his innocence and pledged to continue to cooperate with authorities. Blagojevich was convicted last year on corruption charges in connection with his efforts to profit from appointing the successor to the Senate seat. He began serving a 14-year sentence in March. Bipolar disorder is a treatable condition that affects parts of the brain controlling emotion, thought and drive, the Mayo Clinic says. Many Americans suffer from it, and it is most likely caused by a complex set of genetic and environmental factors, it says. Medical experts are still weighing whether gastric bypass surgery that Jackson underwent in 2004 for weight loss might have helped trigger his depression, his wife said. The Mayo Clinic said that type of surgery is increasingly common in the United States and can change how the body absorbs food, vitamins, nutrients and medications. Pelosi: Jackson should take the time he needs . What do we know about mood disorders? Jesse Jackson Jr.'s life shaped by history .
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Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. is undergoing treatment at the Mayo Clinic . Jackson's wife recently said he was suffering from depression . Jackson has not been on Capitol Hill since May .
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Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- The Obama administration's first high-level direct talks with North Korea yielded no promise by Pyongyang to return to six-party negotiations aimed at ending its nuclear program, but Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday nonetheless called the meeting "quite positive." In Washington, Clinton said she agreed with special envoy Stephen Bosworth that the talks were "very useful," adding, "It does remain to be seen whether and when the North Koreans will return to the six-party talks, but the bottom line is that these were exploratory talks, not negotiations." North Korea has refused to return to the talks conducted by the United States, Russia, China, South Korea and Japan, insisting that it wants to talk directly with the U.S. In April, Pyongyang declared the talks "dead" in anger over international criticism of its nuclear and missile tests this year. Clinton previously said the United States was willing to meet bilaterally with North Korea but only within the framework of the six-party talks. She also has warned the United States will not normalize ties with Pyongyang or lift sanctions unless North Korea takes irreversible steps toward dismantling its nuclear program. Of his three-day visit, Bosworth said, "My purpose ... was to facilitate the resumption of the six-party talks and to reaffirm the goal of fully implementing the September 2005 joint statement." Holding a news conference Thursday in Seoul after his visit to North Korea, Bosworth said, "I communicated President Obama's view that complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is a fundamental undertaking of the six-party process ... and that the absence of progress on denuclearization is an obstacle to improving our relations." As Obama "has made it clear, the United States is prepared to work with allies, partners in the region to offer ... North Korea a different future," he said. Bosworth said he held talks with North Korean officials, but not President Kim Jong Il, because "we did not ask" for a meeting with the leader. He said they did not make plans for a future meeting. Many observers are wondering what's behind the North's latest moves, and some said Bosworth's trip is a positive. "The visit gives North Korea a lot of 'face,' a sense of importance," said Wenran Jiang, political science professor at the University of Alberta in Canada. Some analysts said North Korea might be trying to buy time. Earlier reports in Seoul claimed that North Korea is in the final stages of restoring its Yongbyon nuclear plant, which Pyongyang had begun to disable before walking away from the six-party talks. Given the secrecy of the North, those reports could not be verified. Analysts said North Korea also is desperate to break out of its diplomatic isolation and ease its economic pain, especially after the U.N. Security Council imposed tougher sanctions on the country in response to Pyongyang's nuclear and missile tests. A joint statement issued by the six-party nations in September 2005 said North Korea had "committed to abandoning all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs." CNN's Jill Dougherty contributed to this report.
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NEW: Hillary Clinton describes North Korean talks as "very useful" Envoy Stephen Bosworth is first Obama administration official to hold direct talks with North . North Korea abandoned six-party talks in April after criticism over nuclear tests . U.S. says it's unclear if North will return to six-party talks .
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Las Vegas, Nevada (CNN) -- The Boxee Box, a cubelike device that shares Internet content with your TV, won the annual "Last Gadget Standing" competition Saturday at the International Consumer Electronics Show. The box narrowly beat out Plastic Logic's Que e-reader and the Intel Reader, a device that scans printed text and reads it aloud, in the annual product-demonstration contest, which is decided by audience applause. The Boxee Box plugs into your TV and allows you to search and store Web content, play it on your television and and share it with your friends on social networks via a keyboard in the device's remote control. The device is scheduled to go on sale this spring and cost about $200. "It's truly a game-changer," said Boxee marketing vice president Andrew Kippen, who presented the device. "We're really bringing the creativity of the Web onto your TV screen." The ninth annual "Last Gadget Standing" event pits 10 new products against each other in a lighthearted, "American Idol"-like competition for tech gear. Past winners have included the OnStar vehicle security system, the Roomba robotic vacuum and Eye-Fi wireless memory cards for cameras. The 10 finalists, all on display at CES, were chosen beforehand by a panel of judges. Company reps were given four minutes to demonstrate their products before a standing-room-only crowd. The freewheeling demos included a Dr. Evil character from the "Austin Powers" movies plugging a pocket projector and a "Star Wars"-inspired skit in which a Jedi knight battled Darth Vader over a smartphone. Tech geeks who couldn't attend the contest in person were encouraged to vote online. The online winner was the SHOW WX Pico Projector, a portable projector that's the size of a cell phone and can display a Power-Point presentation anywhere. The other finalists: . Motorola Droid, the new multitasking smartphone that runs on Google's Android system. Que proReader, Plastic Logic's forthcoming touchscreen e-reader that delivers newspapers and magazines wirelessly. Haier Ibiza Trainer, a Web-enabled workout gizmo that clips on your belt and combines an MP3 player, pedometer, heart rate monitor, stopwatch and calorie counter. Neato Vacuum Cleaner, a robotic vacuum with a square jaw for getting into corners and a mapping system that prevents it from wandering aimlessly. Acer Aspire 3D notebook, which combines portable computing power with a 3D display. Intel Reader, a handheld device that scans text, converts text to voice and reads it aloud -- a potential aid to the dyslexic or vision-impaired . Sony Dash Personal Internet Viewer, a small, Web-enabled device that seeks to replace the bedside alarm clock by offering news, weather, video, Internet radio and other services. Nvidia Ultra Android Tablet, which packs a gaming PC and a multimedia player into the body of a portable tablet less than an inch thick.
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Boxee Box plugs into your TV and allows you to search and store Web content . "Last Gadget Standing" pits 10 products against each other in "American Idol"-like competition . Boxee beat out Plastic Logic Que e-reader, Intel Reader and seven other finalists . SHOW WX Pico Projector, a portable projector the size of a cell phone, wins online contest .
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(CNN) -- Zambia coach Herve Renard has dedicated the country's first Africa Cup of Nations title to former player Kalusha Bwalya, who escaped a plane crash that killed the squad of 1993. Bwalya, regarded as one of Zambia's greatest players, is also head of the country's soccer federation. He was in the Gabonese capital Libreville to see the Copper Bullets beat Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in Sunday's final. It was in the same city 19 years ago that Zambia's coach and 18 players were killed in a plane crash on their way to Senegal for a World Cup qualifying match. Bwalya survived as he traveled to Dakar to meet up with the squad from his base in Europe, where he played for Dutch club PSV Eindhoven. Zambia win maiden Africa Cup of Nations title . Renard was Zambia coach between 2008 and 2010 before leaving to coach Angola, but Bwalya offered him a second stint last year. "He is the best Zambian player of the last century and he escaped the plane crash," Renard was quoted as saying on the Confederation of Africa's official website. "He was criticized for giving me the second chance. I dedicate the victory to him because he gave me the opportunity to coach. "We wanted to honor the dead players and that strengthened us. Our first game was against Senegal and the team was on its way to Senegal for a match when the plane crashed. "The plane crashed in Gabon and we won the final in Gabon. It is a sign of destiny." In a dramatic final, Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba missed a penalty before the game was decided by a tense shootout, with Stoppila Sunzu striking the decisive blow. Zambia striker Collins Mbesuma added: "I also believe the departed Zambian team of 1993 was with us in this final match. "When Drogba missed the penalty l just knew it that it was our night, the departed were making sure the Ivorians would not score." The Zambian squad flew back to the country's capital Lusaka on Monday to be greeted by thousands of cheering fans.
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Africa Cup of Nations champions Zambia dedicate victory to former player Kalusha Bwalya . Bwalya escaped 1993 plane crash that killed 30 people including 18 Zambian players . Zambia beat Ivory Coast in penalty shootout to claim first ever Cup of Nations title Sunday .
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Washington (CNN) -- A top Republican leader agreed Thursday with President Barack Obama and Democrats that extending the payroll tax cut would help the economy, but the parties remained divided over how to pay for the move. Later Thursday, the Senate blocked competing Democratic and Republican proposals from moving forward, setting up negotiations on a possible compromise. The Democratic plan to extend and expand the payroll tax cut set to expire at the end of the year would assess a 3.25% tax on income over $1 million to pay the cost of more than $200 billion for the extension. Taxpayers with an income of $50,000 would benefit by $1,500 a year. Senate Republicans prevented Democrats from getting the 60 votes needed to proceed on the measure, which was blocked on a 51-49 vote. President Barack Obama quickly blamed Republicans, saying in a statement that they "chose to raise taxes on nearly 160 million hardworking Americans because they refused to ask a few hundred thousand millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share." "It makes absolutely no sense to raise taxes on the middle class at a time when so many are still trying to get back on their feet," Obama said, adding he would "continue to urge Congress to stop playing politics with the security of millions of American families and small business owners and get this done." A Republican alternative that would freeze discretionary government spending and cut federal jobs, while also raising Medicare costs for Americans with incomes above $750,000 a year, also got blocked by opposition from both parties on a 20-78 vote. Despite the outcome of the votes, a softening of Republican opposition to extending the lower payroll tax rate raised expectations for eventual congressional passage of a compromise plan. House Republican leaders are working on their own proposal to extend unemployment benefits and the payroll tax cut, but several GOP aides told CNN it was unclear if these extensions would be rolled into one bill or end up as separate legislative proposals. GOP leaders planned a closed-door meeting Friday morning to discuss options with rank-and-file members on how to pay for the extensions. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, signaled his support for an eventual deal Thursday by telling reporters: "I don't think there's any question that the payroll tax relief, in fact, helps the economy." His stance represented a sharp shift from previous opposition by Senate Republicans to extending the payroll tax cut. On Sunday, conservative Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Arizona, said Republicans opposed extending the lower payroll tax rate because it didn't provide much help to the economy. "The payroll tax holiday has not stimulated job creation," Kyl said on "Fox News Sunday." "We don't think that is a good way to do it." The GOP opposition wavered Wednesday when Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said his party would support an extension of the payroll tax cut, but opposed a tax increase to pay for it. "Republicans will put aside their misgivings and support this extension, not because we believe, as the president does, that another short-term stimulus will turn this economy around ... but because we know it will give some relief to struggling workers out there who continue to need it nearly three years into this presidency," McConnell said on the Senate floor. A tax on wealthy Americans to pay for the plan would punish "the private sector businesses that the American people are counting on to help turn this economy around," McConnell said. The White House and Democrats have pushed back hard against the Republican argument. Alan Krueger, the new chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, told reporters this week that the proposed surtax on incomes above $1 million "would hit very few small businesses." "The vast majority -- one figure I saw was 99% of individuals with small business income -- would not be affected by this," Krueger said. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Thursday that the question is whether "it is worth giving 160 million Americans, taxpayers, a tax break of $1,500 by asking 300,000 Americans to pay a little more." Both Carney and Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer of New York noted that the issue is turning in their favor, with Republican opposition to the Democratic plan softening. "This would've been unheard of even six months ago," Schumer said of a possible break from the Republican anti-tax orthodoxy. "But we're changing the debate and the public is with us." However, two Democratic senators -- Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana -- and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who caucuses with the Democrats, opposed the party's proposal. The measure would have failed even if all three supported it, due to the near-unanimous Republican opposition. Only moderate Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine sided with Democrats in backing the proposal. Boehner's comments showed that both parties now publicly acknowledge the benefits of the payroll tax cut. According to the non-partisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 121 million families have benefited from the payroll tax break, with an increase in take-home pay of $934 for the average worker. Moody's Analytics estimated in August that letting the tax cut expire would reduce growth by as much as 0.5%. It called extending the cut one of the "most straightforward" ways to "reduce some of the coming fiscal restraint." Obama challenged Republicans on Wednesday to "fight as hard for middle-class families as you do for those who are more fortunate," a dig at the GOP refusal to consider the longstanding Democratic push for higher taxes on the wealthiest Americans. Speaking at a high school in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Obama evoked a loud cheer when he said the Democratic proposal to extend and expand the reduced payroll tax rate "is paid for by asking our wealthiest citizens to pay their fair share." The Democratic bill blocked in the Senate would extend and expand last year's tax break. Payroll taxes, cut to 4.2% from 6.2% last year, would be lowered to 3.1% to provide middle-class families with up to $1,500 more in their paychecks next year. The measure also would partially extend the break to employers, hoping that might spur hiring. The price tag of the bill is about $265 billion, which would be paid for by the 3.25% surtax on annual income above $1 million, according to Democratic aides. Meanwhile, the Senate Republican plan that also was blocked would continue the 4.2% payroll tax rate for a year and pay for it by imposing a three-year freeze on federal salaries and reducing the federal work force by 10% through replacing workers when they quit or retire. In addition, the plan would require Americans earning $750,000 a year or more to pay higher premiums for Medicare, and prevent millionaires from getting food stamps or unemployment compensation. According to a Republican aide, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that the Medicare, food stamp and unemployment provisions would save $9 billion over 10 years, mostly from Medicare. CNN's Ted Barrett, Kate Bolduan and Deirdre Walsh contributed to this report.
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NEW: The Senate blocks Democratic, Republican plans on a payroll tax cut extension . NEW: President Obama says Republicans voted for higher taxes on the middle class . House Speaker Boehner concedes the payroll tax cut helps the economy . Republicans differ with Democrats on how to pay for a one-year extension .
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(CNN) -- The Cleveland man accused of keeping three women captive in his home for a decade learned Wednesday the prosecution is seeking more indictments in the case. Shackled and wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, Ariel Castro, 52, kept his head down for the eight-minute hearing, often closing his eyes and speaking only to answer "yes" or "no" to the judge's questions. Cuyahoga County Judge Michael Russo set the next pretrial hearing for June 26 and told the prosecution and defense that any plea deal would need to be in writing. The defense has said in the past that it would be open to a plea deal if the death penalty was taken off the table. Castro's lawyers have also filed a speedy-trial motion, which would mean the case would have to begin by the date listed, August 4. However, that deadline could change if Castro's attorneys change course and ask for more time to prepare for the case. Prosecutor Timothy McGinty told Russo there is a possibility of more charges. "We are presenting additional evidence to the grand jury next week and the week after. We expect we are going to request further indictments to cover the additional period," he said. Castro faces 329 counts, including one count of aggravated murder for allegedly causing the unlawful termination of a pregnancy. This week, Castro entered a not guilty plea to all charges, including 139 counts of rape and 177 counts of kidnapping Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry and Georgina "Gina" DeJesus. Castro fathered a daughter with Berry, according to authorities. Police have alleged Knight was impregnated by Castro five times, but he would punch her in the stomach, resulting in miscarriages and termination of all the pregnancies. Authorities said last week they are conducting DNA tests on evidence to determine if additional victims were inside Castro's Cleveland home, and the state attorney general's office says the crime lab is reviewing additional evidence in the case. Since the case began, investigators have been looking for evidence of aborted fetuses and evidence of any other girls or women who may have been kidnapped or held captive in the house. CNN's Eliott C. McLaughlin and Mayra Cuevas contributed to this report.
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Ariel Castro keeps his head down, eyes closed through most of hearing . Judge sets tentative trial date for August 4; next hearing for June 26 . Prosecutor: More evidence headed to grand jury, more indictments possible . Castro faces 329 counts, including aggravated murder, rape and kidnapping .
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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Natasha Richardson, the Tony Award-winning stage actress and member of the famed Redgrave acting clan, died Wednesday from injuries suffered in a ski accident. She was 45. Comedian Joan Rivers says actress Natasha Richardson had "such a family." On Wednesday night's "Larry King Live," comedian Joan Rivers remembered Richardson for her marriage to actor Liam Neeson and used her sharp wit to recall her own skiing experience. The following transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity: . Larry King: You knew Natasha Richardson. What was your reaction? Joan Rivers: Oh, [it] shouldn't have happened. We were more acquaintances than friends. But we spent one amazing day on a boat with my whole family and she and Liam and the boys. And they were such a family. King: What was the occasion? Rivers: We were all in the Caribbean, and we all kind of knew each other from dinner parties and so forth. And we met at the airport, and we said, "Oh, let's get together, with the kids." And it was one of those wonderful days. We laughed and talked and had lunch, and the kids were jumping off the boat and we were drinking wine. She was just amazing and darling. King: Have you seen her work on Broadway? Rivers: I've seen her work. I love actresses who go back and forth. I always have such great respect for someone who goes to Broadway and then film and goes back again. I saw her in "The Philadelphia Story" years ago in London when she won an award. She was very young in a musical version of that. King: What was your read on them as a couple that day? Rivers: Totally happy, totally devoted to each other. That's what kills me. I mean [it] just shouldn't have happened. ... And they made such a good-looking couple, too. He doted on what she said, she doted on -- it was just perfect. King: How did you learn of this yesterday? Rivers: One of our mutual friends called me and said, do you know about -- I just saw them recently in the thing that Prince Charles gave in England, and a mutual friend said, did you heard about what happened to Natasha? I said, what are you talking about? And he said, she's brain-dead. Watch King talk to celebrities about Richardson » . King: So you knew yesterday? Rivers: I knew yesterday. And I knew yesterday that she was brain-dead. And I was told, which is, again, so dear, that they kept her alive purposely to bring her back to New York, so that the boys could say goodbye to her before -- . King: Really? Rivers: Yes. King: That's both beautiful and sad. Rivers: Look at this, it gets me crazy. It's sad. King: Do you ski? Rivers: I had a terrible fall about 12 years ago. And I lay there in the snow and I said to myself, "If I get up, I'm not coming back and I got up." King: You're like, "Goodbye." Rivers: Goodbye. And I swear to you, I laid on the ground and I go, "If everything works, that's it. That's it." King: You've heard the doctor. What do you make of this? There must have been something previously. It was a slight fall? Rivers: You don't know; you hit your head wrong. You walk out of your house and it's over. We all know that, especially at this age. You understand that it's over, it's gone. It's just not that [Richardson's] age, not with a good marriage, not with two young boys. It shouldn't be. King: John Kennedy said life isn't fair. Rivers: It isn't. It isn't. And anyone who doesn't get up in the morning and say, "How lucky I am," is an idiot.
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Joan Rivers says Natasha Richardson and her family sailed in Caribbean together . Stage actress and husband Liam Neeson were "totally devoted," Rivers recalls . Rivers says life can be taken in a flash: "You walk out of your house and it's over"
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(CNN) -- Zach Sobiech is dying with grace, love, joy and optimism -- the kind that somehow makes us all feel more alive. When he was 14, Zach was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer that mostly strikes children. His prognosis wasn't great. Last May, with no more treatment options, he was given just a year to live. Zach turned 18 on Friday. On Saturday he went to prom with his girl, Amy. His high school class graduates next month. Zach began writing music after his cancer was diagnosed. His mom, Laura, was cleaning the family room downstairs last year when she found a folded-up piece of paper. She unfolded it to make sure it wasn't a homework assignment. "I read through it and then I realized what I was reading," she says. It was his first song, "Clouds." Zach wrote it for himself and his family. He has since written many more. "I fell down, down, down into this dark and lonely hole," he sings at the beginning of the song. His voice is beautiful, mellow -- kind of reminiscent of Jack Johnson's. When Zach's song was posted to YouTube it quickly went viral, getting more than 2.6 million page views. Now there's a new video you ought to see. On Monday, dozens of celebrities posted a love letter response -- joining forces to lip sync to Zach's voice, singing "Clouds." "And we'll go up, up, up, but I'll climb a little higher," sing Jason Mraz, Anna Faris and Rainn Wilson. "Go up in the clouds because the view's a little nicer up here, my dear," sing Bryan Cranston and Rachel Bilson, Ashley Tisdale and Colbie Caillat. "It won't be long now," sing the Lumineers. "If only," sings Sarah Silverman, "I had a little bit more time." It's a hello to Zach, and a farewell. It's a collective expression of love and gratitude. The motley crew of celebrities on the video was assembled by Wilson, an actor, and director/actor Justin Baldoni, who directed a short documentary about Zach for his compelling online reality series, "My Last Days," which runs on Wilson's SoulPancake YouTube channel. "Going out to see Zach in Minnesota was one of the greatest experiences of my life," says Baldoni. "To make the choice to be happy despite whatever sad or tragic circumstances you may be living through ... he is this old soul who inspires everyone he meets. You leave and you think: 'I want to be a better person.'" Watch Baldoni's film and you can see why. There's Zach, a fresh-faced Minnesotan teenager, in one of the opening frames, saying: "I want everyone to know: You don't have to find out you're dying to start living." He tells us at the beginning of the film: "You know most people live kind of in the middle, in between 'all your dreams come true' and 'you're dying,' and it's a very comfortable place to live. I'm living on the two extreme ends, so you have really, really good days and you have really, really bad days." He has lived on those extreme ends for the better part of the past four years. And how gloriously. Zach's sleeping most of the day now. His evenings are better. The other night he was able to muster up enough energy to bring out his guitar and play. "It's those times when we remember how it used to be," says his mom. She tells me about a trip the family took last year, "a sort of pilgrimage to Europe," with 10 intense days of sightseeing. "We packed a lot into those 10 days," she recalls, "and maybe these past 3½ years have been like that pilgrimage. I haven't had the chance to let it sink in. I don't let myself go to that place of grief. There will be plenty of time to think about what we have lost later." "Right now ... right now I feel really grateful," she continues. "That is the core of what I feel. I still get up in the morning and look forward to the day." And maybe, she says, that is the lesson here: that no matter where you are in life, look at what you have and be grateful. It's the kind of thing you hear all the time. Putting it into action takes some work sometimes. But there are always things in life to be grateful for, no matter where you are. Being grateful is the doorway to all sorts of other good things, says Laura. "That's what Zach's always been really good at: recognizing what is good and being grateful for it. It's the first thing he seeks out, his starting point. He taught all of us how it's done." Taylor Engel, one of the YouTube commenters on Zach's video, writes: "Well, you got a 6', 220 pound man sobbing his face off here. Prayers and thoughts with you, Zach...I hope someday I can be half the man you've become." I swallow a sob. Me too, I think as I watch the video. At that moment, Zach sings: "And maybe someday I'll see you again. We'll float up in the clouds and we'll never see the end ..."
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Zach Sobiech was diagnosed at 14 with osteosarcoma, a bone cancer . Last May, Zach was given a year to live after doctors ran out of treatment options . Zach's song "Clouds" went viral on YouTube; now celebs have posted a response .
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(CNN) -- Don't count Carlos Danger out of the New York mayoral race just yet. He's still a contender. That's Anthony Weiner, for anyone who slept through the news that more X-rated photos and text messages apparently sent (under that nom de plume) by Weiner to a then-22-year-old woman have surfaced. The raunchy messages were reportedly sent via the social media website Formspring in August 2012, nearly a year after Weiner resigned from Congress after his first sex scandal. But this time around, Weiner is smarter. Instead of denials, Weiner has admitted communicating with the young woman and asked for forgiveness, again. "I want to bring my vision to the people of the city of New York. I hope they are willing to still continue to give me a second chance," Weiner said in his news conference Tuesday with his wife, Huma Abedin, a longtime Hillary Clinton adviser, standing by his side. I say Weiner should stay in the race and let the voters decide his fate. Opinion: The public humiliation of Huma Abedin . And it looks like he's planning to do just that. He's resisting all calls to step down and has promised, once again, to stop sexting. Just 10 days ago, polls showed him narrowly leading the race for the Democratic nomination over City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, according to USA Today. Everyone loves to chime in on a scandal. And while numerous people and publications, including the New York Times editorial board, profess outrage over latest Weiner's moral lapses -- and others are labeling him a sexual predator and demanding that he drop out -- it may be time for Americans to fess up. Anthony Weiner may be in the headlines today, but many American adults are using social networking to spice up their sex lives. Weiner's messages are raunchy. They read more like an erotica novel by the hugely successful author Zane. And one of the reasons voters may just grant Weiner the forgiveness he's asking for is because many of us can relate. Sexting between adults, both married and single, is on the rise. Nearly one in five adults in the U.S. says they use their smartphone for sexting, sharing explicit photos or text messages with others, says Lookout Mobile Security, which sponsored the Harris Interactive poll of 2,097 adults. The biggest age groups for sexting are 18- to 34-year-old men (32%) and 35- to 44-year-old women (25%). Even baby boomers are getting into the action, with one in 10 people age 55 and older sexting. All those parents who are admonishing their children about the dangers of sexting? Well, they speak from experience: The Harris survey found that 30% of parents with children under the age of 18 have also sexted. Like it or not, we have become a sexting nation, which may explain why some voters are willing to forgive politicians caught up in sex scandals and give them a second and even a third chance. If Eliot Spitzer, who resigned as New York governor in 2008 after a scandal involving prostitutes, can rehab his political career enough to compete for New York City comptroller in this election, then it stands to reason that Weiner, with all his faults, still has the right to have voters decide whether he's fit enough to become the city's next mayor. "New Yorkers have a forgiving attitude. If this was in another state, Weiner might not make it, but here, he has a chance," said Vincent Hurst, an educator in New York. For Hurst, who says Weiner won't get his vote, it's all about his politics. "I probably won't vote for him -- or Eliot Spitzer, either. Weiner wants to cut 1,400 parent coordinator positions from the Department of Education. That's a disgrace," Hurst said. Like many voters, Hurst is concerned that the Weiner story will take away from the critical issues facing voters in the coming election. Opinion: Hey Weiner, New York doesn't like to look stupid . "I'm almost betting that another allegation will come up. This is a very important election. The new mayor will likely reform the Department of Education and other important city agencies. We need to focus on those issues, not his sex life." Whether it's Weiner, Spitzer or one of the city's favorite sons, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, the political sex scandal has become a familiar story at every level of American politics. And after the headlines fade, it almost seems a non-issue at the polls. Voters today are more likely to forgive and even re-elect the candidate unless the scandal involved gross corruption or misuse of public funds, such as when Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was forced to leave office. Maybe the time has come to accept that American politicians are flawed, but that doesn't necessarily exclude them from a productive political career. These stories will not go away, not with the incredible access technology gives us into personal lives of our neighbors around the globe. "American attitudes are changing about sex because of evolving sexual norms and modernization," said Alison Dagnes, associate professor of political science at Shippensburg University. "We are a forgiving nation and will forgive the sinner if he is truly apologetic. If a politician can make the case that sexual impropriety is a personal matter, the public will likely give him a pass." "But the timing is a problem for Weiner," said Dagnes, also the editor of "Sex Scandals in American Politics: A Multidisciplinary Approach." "How many times is he going to apologize to the public?" Opinion: Why Weiner's problem is ours, too . We don't know what type of relationship Weiner has with his wife, but Abedin is standing by her husband for now. That's her choice. New York voters will also have an important choice about Weiner and Spitzer and whether we hold our politicians to a higher moral responsibility than we hold ourselves. The decision is ours. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Roxanne Jones.
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Roxanne Jones: Don't count out "Carlos Danger" yet; Weiner should still run for mayor . Calls for him to quit may not take into account Americans' growing tendency to "sext," she says . She says if Spitzer can run with his sex scandal, why not Weiner? Voters should decide . Jones: Maybe it's time to accept that flawed people can still govern productively .
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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Alex Trebek, the long-time host of the popular television quiz show "Jeopardy," suffered a minor heart attack at his home Monday night. Alex Trebek has hosted "Jeopardy!" for 23 years. Trebek, 67, was recovering at a local hospital, and it was not clear when he would be released, a representative of the show said. He is expected to resume taping the show in January. The representative added that Trebek did not have any previous known condition that would have led to the heart attack. Trebek, 67, is a native of Sudbury, Ontario. He has hosted "Jeopardy!" since 1984. Prior to becoming "Jeopardy!" host, he served as emcee for a number of game shows, including "High Rollers," "The Wizard of Odds" and "Battlestars." E-mail to a friend .
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Alex Trebek suffered heart attack at home Monday . Trebek has hosted "Jeopardy!" for 23 years . Trebek is recovering at L.A. hospital .
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Washington (CNN) -- Flight attendants who have OSHA protections on the ground -- but lose them the minute they board a plane -- may soon retain those protections in the sky. In a move that may also benefit airline passengers, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced Friday they plan to share responsibility for the flight attendants' safety on aircraft. Flight attendants would, for the first time, be able to report workplace injuries and illnesses to OSHA, ending a 37-year era in which the FAA claimed sole jurisdiction for cabin safety. Flight attendants applauded the proposal, saying it would not negatively affect passenger service, but instead would benefit passengers because they share the same environment. OSHA said areas of concern include exposure to noise and blood-borne pathogens and access to information on hazardous chemicals. The change would open the doors for OSHA to investigate complaints about air quality in aircraft, a condition sometimes referred to as "sick airplane syndrome." "This is a validation that the aircraft cabin is our workplace," said Veda Shook, president of the Association of Flight Attendants. "Any enhancement for flight attendants would also be an enhancement for passengers." As an example, Shook said, some airlines provide both training and equipment to deal with bleeding passengers, while others do not. Flight attendants who are not provided equipment or training could enlist OSHA's help to change airline practices and policies, she said. A spokesman for Airlines for America, an industry trade group, said that while workplace safety is a top priority for airlines, the current FAA oversight is effective. "A4A believes that expanding the regulatory process across multiple agencies is unnecessary, creates conflicting regulatory authority and a host of logistical problems throughout the industry," Victoria Day said. The FAA and OSHA said the unusual nature of flight attendant's workspace necessitates a system of cooperative oversight. When addressing OSHA noise concerns, for instance, several solutions might require the addition of thicker noise panels, which would affect aircraft design and safety. Under federal law, flight attendants are not currently covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Act. The act also excludes employees regulated by another federal agency -- for example, the Mine Safety and Health Administration and the Coast Guard -- as well as family farms and the self-employed. "The policy announced today with the FAA will not only enhance the health and safety of flight attendants by connecting them directly with OSHA, but will by extension improve the flying experience of millions of airline passengers," U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis said in a prepared statement. Friday's announcement opens up a 30-day public comment period on the proposed policy.
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Currently flight attendants are not covered by OSHA regulations on planes . The proposed change would extend OSHA's jurisdiction . "This is a validation that the aircraft cabin is our workplace," a fight attendant says . An industry trade group calls the change unnecessary .
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(CNN) -- Russia's anti-gay laws are "no problem whatsoever," according to a leading Olympic official. Lamine Diack, president of the International Association of Athletics Federations, has called for Russian law to be respected ahead of his sport's world championships, which begin in Moscow on Saturday. Russian President Vladimir Putin last month signed into effect a law which bars the public discussion of gay rights and relationships anywhere children might hear. It has been condemned by Russian and international rights groups as highly discriminatory. "I don't feel there is a problem whatsoever," Diack, a member of the International Olympic Committee, told reporters. "Russia has their laws. Each athlete can have their own private life, so we won't call upon people about this and that. "This law has to be respected. We are here for the World Championships and have no problem whatsoever and I'm not worried at all." The new laws have led to calls for the 2014 Winter Olympics, set to be held in the city of Sochi, to be taken away from Russia. A 320,000-signature petition protesting the country's stance on gay rights ahead of the Games was presented to Olympic bosses in Switzerland on Wednesday. Responding to the petition, International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge reaffirmed the Olympic movement's commitment to freedom of expression. "The Olympic charter is clear. A sport is a human right and it should be available to all, regardless of race, sex or sexual orientation," said Rogge in a statement. " As far as the freedom of expression is concerned, of course, this is something that is important." According to the IOC's statement, the Russian government has confirmed the new legislation will not apply to athletes and tourists during the Games. "This legislation has just been passed into law and it remains to be seen whether and how it will be implemented, particularly as regards the Games in Sochi. "As a sporting organization, what we can do is to continue to work to ensure that the Games can take place without discrimination against athletes, officials, spectators and the media. "To that end, the IOC has received assurances from the highest level of government in Russia that the legislation will not affect those attending or taking part in the Games." Rogge's words were welcomed by All Out, the gay rights group which delivered the petition to the IOC's headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. "This is the strongest and most direct statement we have received from the IOC,"All Out co-founder and executive director Andre Banks said in a statement. "It shows the IOC is listening to the global outcry against these laws and demanding real answers, not propaganda, from the Russian government. "When he mentions the importance of freedom of expression, Rogge is right. Fundamental freedoms are eroded for all Russians -- gay and straight -- under these laws. "Pierre de Coubertin created the Games with the dream of 'changing the world through sport'. In that spirit, we are calling for the IOC to clearly denounce the anti-gay law and do everything in its power to see that it is removed before the Olympics." Russia's sports minister Vitaly Mutko, speaking at the same press conference as Diack, urged journalists to "calm down" before defending the new law. "In addition to this law, we have a constitution that guarantees all rights to private life," insisted Mutko. "This law is not intended to deprive any people of any religion, of any race, of any sexual orientation, but to ban the promotion of non-traditional relations among the younger generations. "All sports athletes and organizations should be relaxed. All their rights will be protected. "You have to respect the laws of the country you are coming to. This is a sports festival and we only have to talk about it." U.S. President Barack Obama spoke out on the issue on Tuesday's Jay Leno show, condemning the laws as against the spirit of the Olympics. "I've been very clear that when it comes to universal rights, when it comes to people's basic freedoms, that whether you are discriminating on the basis of race, religion, gender or sexual orientation, you are violating the basic morality that I think should transcend every country," said Obama. Obama this week canceled a one-on-one meeting with Putin which had been scheduled for September. The reason given by the White House was Russia's decision to grant asylum to National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden and "lack of progress on issues such as missile defense and arms control," while also mentioning human rights issues. World Sport Presents: An uneven playing field . In June Obama visited Diack's native Senegal, where homosexuality is illegal. Obama called for all African citizens to be treated equally, but Senegal's president Macky Sall insisted the country is "not ready" to decriminalize homosexuality. British broadcaster Stephen Fry penned an open letter to his country's prime minister David Cameron, International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge and London 2012 chief Sebastian Coe calling for the Games to be taken away from Russia. There has been a groundswell of international concern over the anti-gay propaganda law and its potential impact on visitors to Russia for the Games. Protests have ranged from a number of bars around the world announcing a boycott of Russian vodka to calls from some quarters for a boycott of the Games themselves. However, some gay athletes insist the Games must go ahead in Sochi. "I'm fully against a boycott," New Zealand speed skater Blake Skjellerup told CNN. "The Olympics have been very important to me and I know that a lot of people like myself have worked very hard for these Games. "It's very important for the world to show up in Sochi and be united in this issue, to bring light to and start a conversation about what is going on." U.S. figure skater Johnny Weir, who is married to a Russian-American man, says the flamboyant nature of his sport means that he can make a stance in Sochi. "I'm quite well known in Russia so my sheer presence is a big statement against this anti-propaganda law," he told CNN. Former Olympic diving champion Greg Louganis says it is difficult to balance the sporting desires of athletes with the need to make a political point against the Russian law. "Boycotts hurt the wrong people, they hurt the athletes, but we can't ignore what's going on in Sochi," said the American, who missed the 1980 Moscow Olympics due to a boycott and was also affected by Eastern European retaliation in snubbing the 1984 Los Angeles Games. "It's a birthright to pursue love and not be incarcerated for loving and wanting to find love," he told CNN.
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IAAF president Lamine Diack has "no problem whatsoever" with Russia's anti-gay law . Diack was speaking in Moscow ahead of the World Athletics Championships . U.S. President Barack Obama has criticized the laws as against the spirit of the Olympics . A 320,000-signature strong petition protesting the law was handed to the IOC this week .
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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- In Pakistan's combustible Swat Valley, some girls refuse to wear uniforms so they can make it to school without being harmed. Shiza Shahid, left, a 20-year-old Stanford University student, is helping to teach young girls in Pakistan. Other girls hide textbooks in their shawls to escape harassment. School-age girls are among the victims in the fierce fighting between government soldiers and Taliban militants in the Swat Valley. The Pakistani government said it has flushed much of the Taliban out of the area, but some fighting persists. Many girls remain banned from schools. Dozens of their schools have been bombed, and militants have burned books. A new program has taken 26 girls out of the battle-scarred region to Islamabad for a 10-day retreat, where they can learn in safer surroundings. A group of college students of Pakistani background is helping the girls. Among them are Shiza Shahid, 20, from California's Stanford University, who organized the program called Shajar-e-llm, or Tree of Knowledge. Shahid said she was moved to help after hearing about how the girls struggled to get an education. "I think we were so angry, upset and emotional that we decided we have to do something," she said. Watch as Shahid says she had to act to help the girls » . Though well-intentioned, the program sometimes seems disorganized. "We need support. We need unfortunately more organization, more of the bureaucratic nitty-gritty that you don't want to do, but you have to," Shahid said. "We are young, and that does come with the burden as not being equally trusted or seen as capable." Nonetheless, the group has ambitions for a boys' learning retreat as well. The lessons are simple enough -- confidence-building exercises, critical-thinking lessons -- all framed in the context of Islamic values. The girls -- ages 11 to 14 -- spoke about their dreams. One wants to meet a poet; another wants to learn calligraphy. Another wants to grow up to lead Pakistan. "I want to become president and rule this country in a good way," said 12-year-old Malila. One day during the retreat, the girls were taught a song about freedom of speech. As a guitarist strummed, the girls sang that God gives everyone the right to free speech and no one can take it away. Free speech seemed to end with the song, however. The girls could not risk talking about Taliban harassment, because the militants' version of Islamic law lingers. Such Islamic law, or shariah, also keeps females from going to school or going outside without their husbands. The United Nations estimates that 375,000 Swat Valley residents fled their homes during fighting that started in April. In all, 2.5 million Pakistanis were displaced in what was said to be one of the largest human migrations in recent history. Many residents have returned to their homes, but peace has not been completely restored to the region. And soon, the girls at the learning retreat will return home to the Swat Valley as well. Organizers said they hope the girls will carry a new love for education. "There were tears and there were tough moments," said Madihah Akhter, a volunteer with the program. "But the girls surprised me. They were really resilient. They were beyond their years."
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Schoolgirls victims of fighting between Pakistani soldiers and Taliban in Swat Valley . A retreat in Islamabad gives 26 girls a safe haven to learn . A student from Stanford University is helping lead the retreat .
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(CNN) -- Emblazoned on a long, tall, concrete barrier in the midst of a rocky Middle Eastern landscape is this spray-painted message: "Mirror, mirror on the wall. When will this senseless object fall?" Messages of peace, marriage proposals and jokes are among the most popular graffiti requests. It's one of more than 900 graffiti messages that have been spray-painted by Palestinians on the controversial wall that separates Israel and the West Bank. The painters take orders through a Web site that lets customers get a message on the wall. For the equivalent of $40, a Palestinian will spray paint the message and send three digital photos of it. Anything goes -- marriage proposals, jokes, notes to friends -- as long as it isn't extremist, hate-filled, or pornographic, said Faris Arouri, one of the founders of the site. "Trying to imagine a clear view between Palestine and Israel," one message reads. "If all humans are equal, why do they have to live separated?" says another. And another simply shouts: "Get along with each other!" "This is an alternative way to send your message to whoever you're sending it to," Arouri told CNN from Ramallah. "It is there physically and it will stay there until someone sprays over it or someone decides to demolish that wall ... Hopefully it won't stay forever, because hopefully this wall will be removed sometime soon." The Israeli government began building the barrier in 2002, about two years after renewed violence erupted in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. In some areas, it takes the form of a tall concrete wall; in others, it is more of a fence. Israel says the barrier has been successful in preventing terrorist attacks by Palestinians. But Palestinians say it amounts to an illegal land grab of Palestinian territory because it does not match the line of Israel's border with the West Bank before the 1967 Six Day War. The barrier cuts so far into West Bank territory at some points that the West Bank settlement of Alfei Menashe and five Palestinian villages are actually now on the Israeli side of the wall. Palestinians in those villages contend they are cut off from both Israel and the West Bank because they are not allowed to travel into Israel and they must pass through military checkpoints to reach other West Bank villages. The Sendamessage Web site says other families cut off by the barrier are deprived of their livelihoods. The site describes how the wall separated a family from the hotel they owned and kept farmers away from their 500 olive trees. Israel's supreme court has twice ruled that the government must reroute sections of the barrier to avoid infringing on the lives of thousands of Palestinians. Arouri represents a Palestinian non-profit group, the Peace and Freedom Youth Forum, that works on the social and political issues facing young people in the West Bank. About two-thirds of the money raised through the site goes to the group, which uses it to pay for projects like building a playground, buying bicycles, or establishing laundry facilities for university students in Bir Zeit, near Ramallah. The group says it only works with organizations that are legal in the Palestinian territories and allowed to operate by the Israeli government. The rest of the money goes to the group's partners in the Netherlands, who maintain the Web site, accept payments, and manage the paperwork. First conceived at a Dutch-Palestinian workshop in Ramallah two years ago, the site has gone on to attract customers from around the world. There have been 910 orders so far, said Justus van Oel, a Dutch screenwriter who volunteers his time maintaining the site in the Netherlands. Spray-painting on the wall is a peaceful way for Palestinians to protest the barrier, Arouri said. "You're not only defying the existence of the wall, but you're also showing the international community our refusal, first of all, to such a structure," he said. "Also, it's an attempt to humanize the Palestinian society in the eyes of the world, showing that the Palestinians are not just militants who are violently resisting occupation." There are other benefits to the project, too, Arouri said. The rest of the world can get a glimpse, however small, into the Palestinians' lives behind the wall -- and the Palestinians get a sense that they're not forgotten, Arouri said. "There's no big concept," van Oel told CNN. "The wall won't fall because texts are on it, but the people behind the wall, they will have a face. It's also about beauty and poetry. It inspires people." Poetry is indeed on the wall, as are emotional pleas to take the wall down. Marriage proposals are a frequent order, Arouri said, but so are jokes and funny messages. "We had a series of obviously French (people) making silly jokes about each other, because the names were just being repeated and repeated," he said. "We also got a message supposedly from a dog, asking the neighbor's dog to come out and play in the sun." The diversity of the messages is something Arouri says he finds incredible. "We've covered most of the aspects of human life," he said. Caspar Nieuwenhuis, a Dutch theater director, used the site to propose to his girlfriend. His plan was to feature a picture of the spray-painted proposal on a Dutch news broadcast about the wall and make sure his girlfriend, a journalist, was watching -- but the picture never aired. "Then I thought, well, I have this photo of a Palestinian boy who's writing my proposal on the wall," Nieuwenhuis wrote to CNN. "I've got a notebook (computer). I could save the photo (onto) my desktop and show it to my girlfriend, just that plain and simple. "So I did. And when she saw this, she said 'yes' and cried," he said. Nieuwenhuis said he heard about the site through van Oel, a friend, and liked the idea right away. "I thought it was a brilliant idea to have something beautiful written on an ugly wall," he told CNN. The Sendamessage Foundation is also planning to spray-paint an entire letter written by South African human rights activist Farid Esack next month. It's looking for customers to sponsor a portion of the letter in exchange for having their name signed onto the end. In the letter, Esack compares the situation in the Palestinian territories to South Africa under apartheid, the Web site says.
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Web site takes orders for graffiti messages to be sprayed on Israeli barrier . Security barrier separates Israel from Palestinian West Bank . Messages of peace, marriage proposals, jokes among most popular slogans . Activists says spray-painting is a form of peaceful protest for Palestinians .
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New Orleans (CNN) -- A titanic courtroom showdown with billions of dollars in the balance opened in New Orleans on Monday, with oil giant BP arguing it shouldn't face the government's steepest penalties for the 2010 Gulf oil spill. BP already pleaded guilty to criminal charges and agreed to a record-setting $4 billion fine for the spill. But it could face more than $20 billion in additional environmental penalties if found to have committed gross negligence in the disaster. In a packed federal courtroom Monday afternoon, BP attorney Mike Brock said blame for the disaster wasn't the oil company's alone. A string of bad decisions by Transocean, the company that owned the doomed drill rig Deepwater Horizon; well cement contractor Halliburton; and BP all led to the blowout, he said. "We do not believe that men and women of BP behaved in willful misconduct," Brock said. "It was a multiparty event." But Halliburton attorney Don Godwin said BP ignored the contractor's recommendations about the cement job and that Transocean didn't move fast enough to contain the blowout. Transocean settled with the government last week for $1 billion in Clean Water Act penalties but could face additional additional liability in the case that started Monday. Transocean lawyer Brad Brian said that last week's settlement was not an admission of gross negligence and that last-minute changes to the well design by BP had the rig's crew "at wits' end" before the disaster. All three companies have been pointing fingers at each other since the April 20, 2010, blowout that sank the Deepwater Horizon, killed 11 men aboard and uncapped an undersea gusher that spewed for nearly three months. The spill's effects on the environment are still being cataloged. The plaintiffs in the civil case that opened Monday include five Gulf states, individuals, businesses and the federal government. "Evidence will show BP placed huge financial pressure to cut costs, cut corners, and rush the job," attorney James P. Roy, who represents the coalition of plaintiffs, said during opening arguments on Monday. And Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange said the oil giant "was blinded by their bottom line." "The spill was tragically inevitable due to BP's corporate culture," Strange said. "The evidence will show that, at BP, money mattered most." If it is found to have been "grossly negligent" under the Clean Water Act, it could be fined as much as $4,300 per barrel of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico. If it's found "negligent," the company could be fined about $1,100 per barrel. Attorneys will also likely square off over how much oil gushed into the gulf, another key figure that will be used to calculate how much money BP might owe. Officials have said 4.9 million barrels -- about 205 million gallons -- of oil spilled, while BP says that number is overblown and that authorities should use a maximum figure of 3.1 million barrels of oil when calculating the fine. The trial will also determine what fines the company faces under National Resource Damage Assessment, which aims to restore environmental damage caused by the spill. Environmental groups want to see those fines -- which will put a specific price tag on damage to plants and wildlife -- total around $25 billion. With so much money at stake, each side has brought an army of lawyers to the fight. With almost 60 lawyers filling the courtroom, the judge created a seating chart for all the attorneys. Lawyers representing the federal government and other plaintiffs sat on one side, while the BP lawyers and other companies' lawyers sat across the room. Three overflow courtrooms were also packed on Monday. BP says it has already paid billions in spill-related cleanup and compensation costs and has been barred from new federal contracts. Though Halliburton and Transocean could also face penalties, much of the criticism from environmentalists before the high-profile trial has focused on BP, the undersea well's owner. "The damage done here is real, both to the environment and to the people," said Brian Moore, of the National Audubon Society. "And BP should not have the chance to get off cheaply on this." In his statement before the trial began, BP General Counsel Rupert Bondy said the company would push for the court to consider lower penalties, arguing that BP made efforts to do the right thing and "immediately stepped up" and acknowledged its role in the spill. "To date we've spent more than $23 billion in response, cleanup, and payments on claims by individuals, businesses and governments," he said. "No company has done more, faster, to meet its commitment to economic and environmental restoration efforts in the wake of an industrial accident." CNN's Vivian Kuo and Catherine E. Shoichet contributed to this report.
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NEW: The Gulf oil spill was "a multiparty event," BP lawyer argues . Billions of dollars are at stake as a judge weighs negligence and financial penalties . BP is fighting to limit fines, while the company's critics hope to see a landmark punishment . A judge will weigh whether BP was grossly negligent and determine how much it owes .
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London, England (CNN) -- Like many people, widow Penny Lally plans to be buried alongside her family. But in her case, that includes a menagerie of family pets. Her husband, John, who died of cancer three years ago at the age of 64, is already buried with their horse Super Sam, Blot the cat, Muppet the dog, and even Brian the bird. "I often tell people that John has a canary singing in his ear, a cat purring at his feet, a dog at his side and a horse to ride on when he likes," Lally said. "I know some people might find this strange, but I loved my pets and wanted them all to be close to me and my husband and to each other." Lally, 66, runs a pet crematorium and woodland burial place in Penwith, Cornwall, in southwestern England. She has buried more than 30 owners alongside their animals and has over 100 more plots reserved for pets and their owners, she said. The idea of joint burials was first suggested to her by an elderly neighbor who died at the age of 77, a year before John's death, she said. "Mrs. Winchcombe had seven cats and wanted to be buried with all of them when she died. It was certainly an unusual request," Lally said. "We had to apply for permission to extend our license to burying humans as well as animals, but it was wonderful that we could carry out her last wishes." Since then, Lally has seen an increasing number of pet owners in the UK seeking joint burials. There are currently only half a dozen cemeteries in the UK that allow pets to be buried in the same plot as their owners, but in January, Lincolnshire council became the latest authority to grant planning permission for a joint site. "I think there has been more interest recently because people are starting to realize it is possible," Lally said. One of her customers is animal lover Carole Mundy, 54, who has reserved a plot for herself and her husband Robert next to their 17-year-old golden retriever, Dylan, who was buried at Penwith in 2008. "I know it isn't conventional, but I'm so sick of people saying that 'it was just a dog or a cat,'" Mundy said. "Animals give us unconditional love and I absolutely adore my pets. If people want to call me kooky I don't care." The UK regards itself as a nation of animal lovers, so perhaps it is not surprising that there has been an increase in joint burials, but the practice is also on the rise in the United States. "There has been a lot of interest from the public, who are asking funeral homes if they can have their pets buried with them," said Robert Fells of the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association in Virginia. "It's still a relatively new concept, so whether it's a fad or an emerging trend, I'm not sure, but it's definitely on the rise," he said. "We are seeing an increase in public interest," said Roberta Knauf, director of Hillcrest-Flynn Funeral Home in Pennsylvania. "The joint burial concept started in 2006, when a few people were interested -- but last year we had close to 70 joint burials in our cemetery." In fact, the practice of people being buried with pets isn't new. It dates far back into British history when Anglo-Saxon nobles were buried with their possessions, which included their horses. Even further back, the pharaohs of ancient Egypt would be buried with their mummified cats, dogs and monkeys, which they believed shared an afterlife with humans. But after centuries of affiliation with the pagan gods of Egypt and Rome, pet rituals found little tolerance in the new Christian era. "The more Christianity became institutionalized, the more animal practices were discouraged as it was accepted that humans were the only beings with souls," said Mary Thurston, a Texas-based anthropologist who specializes in the shared history of people and pets. The director of the UK's Association of Private Pet Cemeteries and Crematoria said people should be buried as they see fit. "When you pass away, it's important to have your wishes granted and people deserve to be buried in the manner they choose if they are not hurting anyone," Kevin Spurgeon said. "My horse was such a good friend and by my side through the ups and downs of life," pet cemetery owner Lally said. "Like me, many others see their pets as part of the family and want to be together with them even in death."
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People and their pets can be laid to rest together at cemetery in England . Owner: More than 30 people already buried with pets; 100 more plots reserved . Future customer: "I'm so sick of people saying that 'it was just a dog or a cat'" Anthropologist: Very old practice fell out when Christianity became institutionalized .
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Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Military officials Tuesday identified two sailors involved in a firefight in eastern Afghanistan last week that left one of them dead and the other in the hands of the Taliban. Afghan and coalition forces recovered the remains of Petty Officer 2nd Class Justin McNeley, 30, of Wheatridge, Colorado, on Sunday, the Defense Department said. Petty Officer 3rd Class Jarod Newlove, 25, of Renton, Washington, is listed as Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown, the Pentagon said. Newlove and McNeley were travelling in Logar province when they were attacked, the military said. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said Monday that one American died in a firefight and the other is being held by the group. Mujahid said the two Americans were driving in a civilian vehicle in the village of Dasht, in Charkh district. The Taliban wanted to take both men alive, but the firefight broke out, killing one of the Americans, Mujahid said. The other is alive and being held in a safe location, he said. Newlove's family released a statement through the Navy asking that the media release no details of the incident or information about the family. "The information in the wrong hands could certainly jeopardize Jerod's safety and well being," Navy spokesman Sean Hughes said. "The Newlove family and Navy appreciate as much privacy as possible during this difficult time which we all sincerely hope has a positive outcome." Provincial government officials confirmed McNeley's death on Sunday. Den Mohammad Darwish, the spokesman for the governor of Logar province, said he learned from locals that the American was killed. He said the body was found in the Patanak Mountains of Charkh district. He also said the vehicle the men were driving was located Sunday. There were no immediate demands from the Taliban for the return of the Americans because the group was still deliberating what its demands would be, Mujahid said. A U.S. military official confirmed that a $20,000 reward was being offered for information leading to the return of the two sailors. Posters were being distributed in the region. CNN's Atia Abawi and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.
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NEW: Family of missing sailor asks for privacy . NEW: Remains of one sailor are found on Sunday . American sailors went missing last week in eastern Afghanistan . The Taliban says it killed one American during a firefight and is holding the other .
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(CNN) -- Eight people were injured when a public bus crashed into a central Massachusetts home Monday evening, including a mother and her three children who were inside at the time. All were taken to the hospital for minor injuries, according to Chief Stephen Coleman of the Auburn Fire Department. Coleman told CNN that it took an hour and 15 minutes to free the driver, describing the extrication as "very lengthy and complicated." Lt. Richard Wolanski of the Massachusetts State Police said the home, which is at the intersection of two side streets, was "fully compromised." The cause of the crash is under investigation. In a bit of irony, the side of the bus that is visible from the street is emblazoned with a pitch for advertising opportunities that reads: "Drive Your Message Home with the Worcester Regional Transportation Authority."
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Eight people suffer minor injuries when a bus drives into a house . A mother and three children in the house were among those hurt . The house sustained major damage, Massachusetts State Police say .
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Fort Lauderdale, Florida (CNN) -- A Florida teenager attacked and set on fire last month, allegedly by five teenage friends, was undergoing skin graft surgery Friday, the first procedure in his recovery, a hospital spokeswoman said. Michael Brewer, who suffered burns over 65 percent of his body, will have his own skin transplanted onto the burned areas of his back and buttocks, said Lorraine Nelson, a spokeswoman at the University of Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital Burn Center. Brewer will return to the intensive care unit after the surgery. He has been heavily sedated since the October 12 incident and on a ventilator until last week to keep him alive. He is listed in guarded condition. On Thursday, three teens accused of setting Brewer on fire pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder, a public defender for one of the boys said. Each of the three -- Denver Jarvis and Matthew Bent, both 15, and Jesus Mendez, 16 -- is charged as an adult with one count of attempted murder in the second degree in the attack in Deerfield Beach, Florida. They were arraigned in Broward County Circuit Court before Judge Dale Cohen, and are being held without bond. Prosecutors say the three boys were in a gang that poured alcohol over Brewer, then set him ablaze in a dispute over $40, a video game and a bicycle. Gordon Weekes, Bent's attorney, denounced the fact that the teens were charged as adults. "It's been decided by society that a 15-year-old can't vote, can't join the armed forces and cannot buy alcohol, because society has recognized that children do not have the ability to appreciate the long-term consequences of their actions," he said. "But they can treat them as adults in court, when we have very capable remedies for them in the juvenile justice system, which is geared towards rehabilitation," Weekes added. The attorney said he and the other two public defenders plan to make separate motions to the court asking that their clients be allowed to post bond. Detectives say eyewitnesses told them that Mendez used a lighter to set fire to Brewer after Jarvis allegedly poured alcohol over him. They said Bent allegedly encouraged the attack. Authorities say that Mendez admitted setting Brewer on fire, and that he made a "bad decision," according to an arrest transcript. Two other boys who were allegedly involved -- a 13-year-old and a 15-year-old -- have been charged as juveniles. Witnesses say Brewer jumped into the swimming pool at his apartment complex to put out the flames. Detectives with the Broward County Sheriff's Office have been unable to interview Brewer. "We hope that we can maybe get a statement this week," sheriff's spokesman Jim Leljedal said. "Detectives have been waiting for him to recover to the point where he's strong enough to give us a complete statement." Doctors say Brewer is improving but his condition is tenuous because of the severity of his burns and the possibility of infections. Most of his burns are on his back and buttocks; his face and hands were largely spared, doctors say. Brewer's doctor told CNN the teen faces several more months in the hospital, and will need multiple skin grafts and surgeries. "They still have to perform several operations on him for skin grafting, but his parents are with him all the time," Nelson said. "I don't tell him what happened," Brewer's mother, Valerie, told CNN affiliate WFOR-TV. "I just tell him he's in the hospital and he's safe and he's getting better. "And he'll say, 'Am I going to be OK?' And I say 'Yes, Michael. You're going to be fine. You're going to be just fine,' " she said. Investigators believe Brewer owed Bent $40 for a video game. When Brewer did not pay, police say, Bent stole Brewer's father's bicycle. Brewer reported him to police and Bent was arrested, police say. The next day, the group surrounded Brewer. According to witnesses, the five boys called Brewer "a snitch" and set him on fire. The Brewer family told WFOR that none of the families of the accused boys have tried to contact them, but that it doesn't matter. "We can't focus on it. They'll get theirs is all we can say. I don't focus on it," Brewer's father, also named Michael, told WFOR. If convicted, each of the three teen suspects could face up to 30 years in prison. A court-appointed psychologist who has examined two of the five boys allegedly involved in the attack told CNN they are competent to take part in legal proceedings and assist their attorney. "I can describe both of them as being afraid, being fearful," said Michael Brannon, a forensic psychologist, without identifying the boys. "I can describe both of them as being tearful at various times during the interview, especially when talking about the specific incident which led to the injuries of the victim." Psychologists are often brought into cases involving teenagers and young adults to judge their mental capabilities to determine their competency to proceed. They must determine whether the alleged attackers understand the charges against them, the court proceedings and potential sentences. Psychologists also must evaluate whether the defendants can talk about what happened and communicate effectively with defense attorneys. "I don't think they expected to have happened, what happened," Brannon said. "It's a horrible event that occurred, but this was not their conceptualization, in my opinion, of what was going to happen."
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Hospital spokeswoman says Michael Brewer having own skin put onto burned areas . Brewer, 15, in guarded condition, will go back to intensive care after procedure . More surgeries to come; October 12 attack left burns over 65 percent of his body . 3 of the 5 teens accused of setting Brewer on fire plead not guilty to attempted murder .
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(CNN) -- To the devout, the concept of becoming "Muslim for a month" -- or any other religion, for that matter -- could verge on the sacrilegious. "It's a provocative title, 'Muslim for a Month,' so we were bracing ourselves for (criticism)," said Ben Bowler, who runs cultural exchange programs with that name. The tours take non-Muslims from around the world into Turkish mosques and homes for a first-hand experience of Islam. "There has been a little of that -- 'Being a Muslim is for life, not just a month," he added. But overwhelmingly, he said, the response from Muslims has been positive because the tours help to dispel negative stereotypes about the religion and leave participants with an enriched spiritual perspective. "People are very visibly moved," Bowler said. "There's lots of tears. It's a rich, multi-layered experience and people are coming out with changed ideas and changed perceptions -- they are more aware of the positive side of the religion than before." Muslim for a Month, run by Bowler's NGO World Weavers, is part of a new breed of cultural immersion tourism being dubbed "pray-cations." It promises travelers a rich, meaningful experience, by exposing them to religious beliefs and practices "in a country where spirituality is still very much alive," he said. Bowler, a Thailand-based Australian, has run half a dozen of the tours in recent years, during which participants are taught the basics of Islamic practice, study Islamic history and calligraphy, pray in mosques and live and eat with Muslim families. The itinerary also includes a day of fasting. During the 10-day or 21-day tours (the "month" in the tour name is slightly misleading, organizers admit), tour members stay in a 400-year-old Sufi lodge in Istanbul's Eyup district, visit the ancient city of Konya to visit the tomb of Sufi mystic Rumi, and admire the ecstatic services of the whirling dervishes who follow his teachings. See also: My Faith: How Hajj gave us a child . Those teachings set the tone for the course, said Bowler. Rumi, who lived in 13th century, was "somebody who, during a time of ethnic tensions, was able to hit a very high note of love and tolerance and acceptance that we want to hold up as relevant today," he added. Tina Reisman-Boukes, a 56-year-old Dutch social worker and convert to Judaism, took part in one of the tours on the recommendation of her son. He had been on one himself, and given her a book on Rumi, as he believed it would resonate with her. She said the course gave her a deeper understanding, both of Islam, "as a systematic way to get closer to God," and of herself. The rituals of Islam, she said, helped her in her quest to resolve the "inner conflict between individuality and community." It also emphasized the connections between all people -- whatever their faith. "Rumi loved people, not because of what they did or showed, but because he saw the little flame in their heart that waits to be illuminated," she said. "I was born in Holland, baptized Christian and converted to Judaism ... If I had been born in Turkey, I might have been Muslim. If I had been born in Thailand, I might have been Buddhist. Does it matter?" Reisman-Boukes's experience reflected the aims of the course, which were twofold, said Bowler: to correct the current "low PR of Islam itself, and religion in general." He hopes the tours will promote "global understanding" by establishing direct contact between outsiders and the Muslim world. "So many of our ideas are formed through second-hand information," he said. "We're wanting this to be an example of first-hand experience, which makes people's preconceptions fall away." Bowler also wishes for the tours to encourage participants in "the search for spirituality" in an increasingly secular world. "I'm from Australia, my wife is Dutch, so we're both from very secular backgrounds, and it feels like we might be missing out on something," he said. "It's (a) living, breathing religious experience just being on the tour. We hope they go away not just with a broader understanding of Islam, but with a broader personal spiritual perspective as well." No participants had converted to Islam, he said, although that was not something the tours particularly sought to encourage. He said that typically, the most challenging aspect of Islamic life for tourists was the segregation between the genders, particularly given that some tours were 70% women. "But most of our participants come away realizing it's part of the culture and that these women aren't subjugated -- they're often living their lives happily," he said. See also: The story of Mecca as it's never been told before . Religion is always a sensitive subject, and the tours have faced some resistance. The group's Facebook page has been targeted with derogatory anti-Muslim comments by the far-right British National Party, while some travel agents have been reluctant to promote the tours due to unease about Islam, said Bowler. Meanwhile, some Muslims have expressed discomfort with their all-encompassing faith being treated as something that can be dipped into as a touristic experience. But Bowler, who has also run "Monk for a Month" tours with Thai Buddhists, and is launching an "Interfaith Express" tour in Turkey focusing on the three Abrahamic faiths, believes there is nothing wrong with the tour's approach to religion. "We might be the first generation that gets to experience a variety of religions," he said. "I grew up in an Irish Catholic family where my dad was Catholic because his dad was Catholic and that was as much thought that went into it. "These days we're blessed to be able to experience Buddhism or Islam or Christianity or whatever it might be and to take the values and the meanings we find and apply them to life. "I see a remarkable opportunity we have being alive today to be able to go and benefit from the various traditions ... by taking what makes sense to the individual." Follow the Inside the Middle East team on Twitter: Presenter Rima Maktabi: @rimamaktabi, producer Jon Jensen: @jonjensen, producer Schams Elwazer: @SchamsCNN and writer Tim Hume: @tim_hume .
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'Muslim for a Month' is a tour giving non-Muslims an inside look at Islam . Participants live, pray and fast as Muslims in Turkish homes and mosques . The aim is to encourage global understanding and a deeper spiritual outlook . Some travel agents have been wary of the tours, say organizers .
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(CNN) -- Tottenham was made to endure a frustrating night at White Hart Lane after being held to a goalless draw by Lazio. In front of watching UEFA President Michel Platini, Tottenham had three 'goals' disallowed by Romanian referee Ovidiu Hategen during an enthralling contest. Clint Dempsey, Jermain Defoe and Steven Caulker all saw their efforts chalked off as Lazio escaped with a point following a dogged defensive performance. The Italians did hit the crossbar in the first-half when Alvaro Gonzalez's spectacular volley crashed against the woodwork. Spurs piled on the pressure after the break but failed to find a breakthrough. Liverpool, resting a whole host of big--name players, came from behind to defeat Young Boys 5-3 in a Group A thriller. Manager Brendan Rodgers gave youth its chance to shine with substitute Jonjo Shelvey scoring twice in the second--half to seal the win. Liverpool took a fourth minute lead through Juni Ojala's own--goal before Raphael Nuzzolo brought the hosts level. Andre Wisdom marked his Liverpool debut by heading his side back into the lead five minutes before the break, only for Ojala to atone for his earlier error by leveling the match. Gonzalo Zarate's sublime 63rd minute finish threatened to leave Rodgers regretting his decision to leave out the likes of Luis Suarez and Steven Gerrard. But Sebastian Coates equalized just three minutes later, before Shelvey came off the bench to score a classy double. In the group's other game, Antonio Di Natale grabbed a dramatic 92nd minute equalizer as Udinese claimed a 1-1 draw against big--spending Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala. Daniele Padelli's own--goal had given the Guus Hiddink's men the lea but Di Natale rescued the hosts at the death. Falcao on fire as Atletico Madrid win Europa League . Atletico Madrid began their defense of the Europa League with a comfortable 3-0 win at Hapoel Tel Aviv in Group B. Atletico, who defeated Athletic Bilbao in last year's final, eased past the Israeli side with goals coming from Cristian Rodriguez, Diego Costa and Raul Garcia . Viktoria Plzen came from behind to defeat Portuguese side Academica 3-1. Wilson Eduardo gave the visitors a 19th minute lead, but three second--half goals from Pavel Horvath, Michal Duris and Frantisek Rajtoral wrapped up with win for Plzen. Olympique Marseille scored twice in the final stages to rescue an unlikely point against Fenerbahce in Group C. The Turkish hosts appeared to be in line for a comfortable victory thanks to goals from Caner Erkin and Alex. Barton's English ban to apply in France . But Marseille, who gave a debut to midfielder Joey Barton, halved the deficit through Mathieu Valbuena, before Andre Ayew fired home a 94th minute leveller. In the group's other contest, Oscar Wendt missed an injury--time penalty as Borussia Monchengladbach were forced to settle for a goalless draw at AEL Limassol. Bordeaux claimed its biggest European victory in more than 10 years by defeating Club Brugge 4-0 in Group D. The French side took the lead through Ludovic Lamine's 13th minute strike with Yoann Goufrran making it 2-0 at the break. An own--goal by half--time substitute Bjorn Engels and a Jussie effort sealed the win. Maritimo and Newcastle both hit the woodwork as they played out a goalless draw in Portugal. Georg Niedermeier rescued a point for Stuttgart in a 2-2 draw against Steaua Bucharest in Group E. The home side had taken a fifth minute lead through Vedad Ibisevic only for Alex Chipciu and Raul Rusescu to give the visitors the advantage. But Niedermeier popped up with five minutes remaining to deny the Romanians and ensure matters ended even. Elsewhere in the group, FC Kobenhavn defeated Molde 2-1 thanks to goals from Claudemir and Andreas Cornelius. Eduardo Vargas scored a hat--trick as Napoli began its Group F campaign in style with a 4-0 win over Sweden's AIK Solna. Vargas' treble and a strike from Blerim Džemaili sealed the points for Napoli, who also had midfielder Marek Hamsik sent off. Dnipro claimed an impressive 2-0 win over Dutch side PSV Eindhoven courtesy of a Matheus Nascimento strike and an own--goal from Atiba Hutchinson. In Group G, Genk cruised to a 3-0 victory over Videoton, while Sporting Lisbon was held to a 0-0 draw by Basel. Yuto Nagamoto grabbed a late equalizer as Inter Milan recorded a 2-2 draw in their Group H opener against Rubin Kazan, while Partizan and Neftci ended goalless. In Group I, Hapoel Kiryat Shmona produced one of the most impressive results in its history after holding Athletic Bilbao to a 1-1 draw at San Mames. Minnows Kiryat Shmona clinch Israeli title . Lyon eased past Sparta Prague 2-1 with Bafetimbi Gomes and Lisandro Lopez on target for the French side. Bayer Leverkusen endured a frustrating night in Group K after being held to a 0-0 draw at home by Metalist Kharkiv, while Rosenborg went top with a 2-1 win at Rapid Wien. Levante lead Group L following a 1-0 home win over Helsingborgs, while Dutch side Twente were held 2-2 by Hannover. In Tottenham's group, Maribor defeated Panathinaikos 3-0 with Robert Beric, Agim Ibraimi and Marco Tavares on target. Racism remains "significant" problem in English football . Meanwhile, Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel has closed his Twitter account after receiving racist abuse online. Chelsea issued a statement condemning those responsible and have 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."
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Tottenham held 0-0 at White Hart Lane by Lazio . Spurs boss Andre Villas--Boas yet to win a home game . Liverpool come from behind to win 5-3 at Young Boys . Atletico Madrid begin title defense with victory .
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(CNN) -- The Polish president on Saturday signed his country's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, aimed at streamlining the workings of the European Union. Polish President Lech Kaczynski holds the EU's Lisbon Treaty in Warsaw on October 10. President Lech Kaczynski's approval of the treaty leaves the Czech Republic as the lone country that has not ratified the document. Kaczynski signed the treaty at a ceremony attended by EU officials in Warsaw. He had refused to sign the document until it was ratified by Irish voters in a referendum. They backed it by a wide margin on October 2. "I am certain that the union will function even better with the treaty of Lisbon," Kaczynski said Saturday, in an excerpt of his remarks provided by the Swedish presidency of the EU. The treaty would create an EU president and foreign minister and introduce rotating representatives for member countries in the EU Commission, the union's executive branch. All member states have to ratify the treaty before it can be adopted. "The Czech Republic must conclude their ratification process by the signature of President Klaus. Europe is waiting impatiently," Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said, according to the Swedish presidency. The Lisbon treaty is undergoing review in a Czech court, which will determine in a few weeks whether it is compatible with the nation's constitution. Czech President Vaclav Klaus must also sign it. On Friday, Klaus outlined his objections to the treaty, saying at a news conference that "the Lisbon Treaty constitutes a fundamental change for the Czech Republic. "As you know, I have always considered this treaty a step in the wrong direction," he said. "It will increase its democratic deficit, worsen the standing of our country and expose it to new risks -- among other things also because it endangers the legal status of the citizens and the stability of property rights in our country," he said. He said he was particularly concerned about one section of the treaty, called the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which concerns fundamental human rights, including property rights, for EU citizens. "On its basis, the Luxembourg Court of Justice of the EU will assess whether the legal provisions, customs and practices of the EU member countries comply with those of the charter," Klaus said. "The charter makes it possible to reexamine even those decisions of the Czech courts that are legally binding," he said. He said he feared the treaty would make it possible to raise property claims related to the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia following World War II. The last Czech government did not pay enough attention to this possibility, he said, and did not negotiate an exemption from the charter, which Poland and the United Kingdom have, he said. "Before the ratification, Czech Republic must at least ex post negotiate a similar exemption," he said. "I think this exemption can be solved quickly." Klaus spoke with Reinfeldt by phone on Thursday about the treaty. "This sends the wrong message at the wrong time," Reinfeldt said afterward, his spokeswoman, Roberta Alenius told CNN. Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer said in a Friday statement that he had seen Klaus' concerns, and said that he regretted that the president did not consult with the government beforehand. "I remain convinced that the Czech Republic will bring the ratification process of the Lisbon Treaty to a successful conclusion, so that it can enter into force by the end of the year," he said.
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Treaty undergoing review in a Czech court to determine its compatiblity . Czech president raises fears over property claims relating to World War II . Swedish presidency of EU calls on Czech Republic to clarify ratification comments . Only Czech Republic left to sign treaty that would reform the European Union .
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- The British government announced Friday that more than 4,000 former Gurkha soldiers are entitled to settle in Britain, but Gurkha supporters quickly denounced the measure as meaningless. Former Gurkha solider Tulbahadur Pun was awarded Britain's highest honor for bravery, the Victoria Cross. Supporters have fought for years for more rights for the Gurkhas, Nepalese soldiers who have been part of the British Army for nearly 200 years. Gurkhas have fought alongside the British Armed Forces in every conflict in that period, including both world wars, and are known for their ferocity and pride. Despite their centuries of service, Gurkhas were not given the right to settle in the United Kingdom until 2004. And even then the order applied only to those discharged after the British handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997, when the Gurkhas Brigade moved from Hong Kong to Britain. The government's announcement Friday applies to all Gurkhas, including those who left the army before 1997, if they meet one of five criteria. It also says around 6,000 of the Gurkhas' dependents may be able to apply for settlement in Britain as well. "The guidance honors the service, commitment, and gallantry of those who served with the Gurkhas Brigade," Border and Immigration Minister Phil Woolas said in a written statement. The Gurkha Justice Campaign, however, said the government's criteria for the Gurkhas' resettlement are unrealistic and too difficult for many of the soldiers to meet. "Only a tiny fraction of the Gurkhas who retired before 1997 will win settlement rights under the new policy," the campaign said. "The campaign for full Gurkha justice will now be taken back into Parliament and the courts. The government needs to know they will have a huge campaign against them who will commit to righting this wrong." The High Court ruled last September that the 1997 cut-off date was fair, but added that caseworkers needed revised guidance on deciding the cases of Gurkhas discharged before that date. Under the guidance, Gurkhas discharged before 1997 must meet one of five criteria to be considered for resettlement in Britain: . • Have three years' continuous residence in Britain, before or after service; • Have close family settled in the United Kingdom; • Have an award for gallantry, leadership, or bravery while in the brigade; • Have a chronic medical condition attributable to or made worse by army service; • Have served for 20 or more years. Actress Joanna Lumley, whose father served in the Gurkhas while she was a girl, has been an outspoken campaigner for their rights. She said the new criteria are harsher than she expected. "They've given five bullet points which virtually cannot be met by the ordinary Gurkha soldier," Lumley told reporters Friday. "This one page of criteria has taken the government four months to come up with. It has made me ashamed of our administration." She said most Gurkhas are allowed to stay in the United Kingdom for only two years, so three years of continuous residence is not possible. Most Gurkhas, she said, also have not been allowed to settle in Britain with their families. The requirement for having won an award discriminates against the ordinary soldier who has no award, she said. "This sends out not only to the Gurkha soldiers, but to our own men fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, the most appalling message: that unless you have been awarded a medal for gallantry, you're not a real soldier," Lumley said. Only officers are allowed to serve 20 or more years, she said, so most riflemen will not qualify for the service requirement. And proving that an injury is related to army service will be nearly impossible for most, she said. "How on earth are men who were injured in the 1940s, '50s, '60s going to be able to prove that their long-term chronic illness is attributable to injures received during their service?" she said. A Home Office spokesman said the government believes hundreds of Gurkhas will still be eligible to settle in Britain. "We would not accept that," the spokesman said of Lumley's criticisms. "We would say that the criteria as we see it is fair and balanced." The Gurkha brigade originated in the 19th century with Nepalese soldiers who impressed British imperial troops with their ferocity and military ability. The first Gurkha units were formed in 1815. They saw action in both world wars and were fundamental to the British military maintaining control of India in the 1800s. Today there are 3,400 troops in the Gurkha brigade, operating from bases in Great Britain. Most recently, Gurkha troops were used in the Persian Gulf War and the Balkan conflicts.
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British government unveils moves to let more former Gurkha troops live in the UK . Gurkhas are part of British armed forces made up of Nepalese fighters . Campaigners say qualifying criteria mean most will not be able to settle in UK . First Gurkha units formed in 1815 and they fought in every campaign since .
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(CNN) -- Just how controversial is Rihanna's new album? That depends on how worked up you get about rhyme schemes like this: ''Your love is infectious/Let's make out in this Lexus.'' 'Sons of Anarchy': See new EW cover! She might've stirred up headlines when she invited her ex Chris Brown to sing that line on ''Nobody's Business,'' which borrows its title (and its '80s R&B sound) from Michael Jackson's ''The Way You Make Me Feel.'' But the album is far less defiant than its title suggests, with just as many lovely moments by the piano (''Stay'') as there are dubstep-warped bangers (check out the massive club rave-up ''Jump,'' which nods to Ginuwine's equestrian-love classic ''Pony''). 'Pitch Perfect' extended scene: Watch . After last year's Eurodisco romp "Talk That Talk," the only thing shocking here is how vulnerable she sounds. B+ . 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.
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Rihanna stirred up headlines when she invited Chris Brown to sing on "Nobody's Business" "Nobody's Business" borrows its '80s R&B sound from Michael Jackson's "The Way You Make Me Feel" The album is less defiant than its title suggests, with many lovely moments by the piano .
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(CNN) -- Authorities blocked U.S. Sen. Rand Paul at Nashville International Airport on Monday after the Kentucky Republican refused a pat-down at a security checkpoint, his spokeswoman said. Paul told CNN that he went through a scanner at the airport and set off an alarm. He wanted to go through the body scan again instead of getting a pat-down -- claiming that he showed Transportation Security Administration officers his knee and under his socks -- but the agents refused his request, according to the Kentucky senator. "When an irregularity is found during the TSA screening process, it must be resolved prior to allowing a passenger to proceed to the secure area of the airport," TSA spokesman Greg Soule said. "Passengers who refuse to complete the screening process cannot be granted access to the secure area in order to ensure the safety of others traveling." The senator said that he didn't think it was "appropriate" for him to have a pat-down, adding he should have been able to go through the scanner again. "Is it too much to ask to have a little dignity when you travel? And shouldn't an adult be able to get back in line and go through the scanner?" he told CNN. "I don't think that's too much to ask." A TSA official said Paul was "not detained at any point" and left the checkpoint willingly. The official was not authorized to speak for attribution. Paul said he was "ejected" from the screening area and told he may be subject to a "full body search" after he began talking on his phone. He was eventually rebooked on another Washington-bound flight, saying that time the screener did not go off when he went through it. "It tells me that either the machines are inadequate, or they are not telling us the whole story," said Paul, insisting that two TSA agents told him that the screeners go off randomly -- an assertion the federal agency denies. One of the most conservative members of the Senate, Paul is an outspoken critic of what he characterizes as an overly obtrusive federal government threatening to strip citizens of various rights and civil liberties. During a Senate hearing with TSA Administrator John Pistole in November, Paul argued that the TSA policy of letting children go through the full-body scanners twice -- rather then be subjected to a pat-down -- should apply to adults as well. He predicted that with such a policy, "you'll get rid of a lot of the anger and animosity towards the TSA." On Monday, the senator said he also supported some sort of "frequent traveler" program -- so that people who travel often aren't as likely to be subject to pat-downs -- and "selective risk assessments done on people are international travelers (and) people who have ties to groups that may be terrorists." He added that someone in the screening area should have "discretion" to decide, on a case-by-case basis, if a pat-down is necessary. "I think we've gone overboard ... I feel that our dignity is compromised, but I don't feel more safe," said Paul, noting he spoke with Pistole after the incident Monday. "Regular, ordinary citizens don't need to be put through this, particularly the frequent travelers." Rand Paul is the son of libertarian Texas Rep. Ron Paul, a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. Ron Paul weighed in on the controversy Monday afternoon, calling it an example of a "police state in this country" that "is growing out of control." "One of the ultimate embodiments of this (police state) is the TSA that gropes and grabs our children, our seniors, and our loved ones and neighbors with disabilities," the congressman said in a written statement. "The TSA does all of this while doing nothing to keep us safe." CNN's Alan Silverleib, Aaron Cooper and Mike Ahlers contributed to this report.
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NEW: Sen. Rand Paul says the scanner didn't go off the second time he went through . NEW: "Is it too much to ask to have a little dignity when you travel?" he says . Paul refuses a pat-down at a security checkpoint in Nashville after setting off an alarm . The TSA says those who set off alarms "cannot be granted access to the secure area"
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(CNN) -- Ecological and conservation groups are praising a move by the Environmental Protection Agency to impose new restrictions on rat poisons to help reduce the threat of accidental exposure to children and wildlife. The rules say only farmers, livestock owners and certified rodent control employees can buy rat poison in bulk. "We are very happy that the EPA has done all it can to get these products off of the consumer market," said Michael Fry, director of conservation advocacy for the American Bird Conservancy. "By putting these restrictions in place, they are allowing a compromise to be made between themselves and organizations who have been working on this problem for a long time." The EPA's new measures, which were handed down Thursday, require that rat poisons be kept in bait stations above ground and in containers that meet agency standards. Loose bait, such as pellets, and the four most hazardous types of pesticides, known as "second-generation anticoagulants," will no longer be sold for personal use. Under the new restrictions, only farmers, livestock owners and certified rodent control employees will be allowed to purchase rat poison in bulk. Bags larger than 8 pounds will no longer be sold at hardware and home-improvement stores. Children who come into contact with highly toxic pellets can experience terrible symptoms from digesting them. They include internal bleeding, nosebleeds, hair loss and extensive bruising. Between 2001 and 2003, rat poison was responsible for nearly 60,000 poisonings, according to a study done by the American Association of Poison Control Centers. About 250 of these yearly exposures result in serious injuries or death. The EPA said it believes the restrictions will not only keep the products out of children's hands, but also reduce the ecological and wildlife risks associated with exposure to rat poison. Bait blocks that are typically placed on the ground use fish and other flavors that attract endangered species, including mountain lions. "In California, almost every animal tested by the National Wildlife Service had residues of rodenticides," said Fry. "The rat baits are also very lethal to scavengers, because the toxins remain in the rodent's body long after they initially die." Although the EPA is receiving considerable praise for the initiative, this isn't the first time the agency has worked to combat the threat of rat poison. In 1998, the EPA established two standards for rat poison. The agency required manufacturers to include an ingredient that made the poison taste bitter and use an indicator dye that would make the ingestion of pesticides more recognizable. But regulations were revoked in 2001 after the agency came to a mutual agreement with manufacturers to rescind the requirements. "We determined that the dye wasn't effective in keeping children from being accidentally exposed and the bittering agent actually resulted in a loss of efficiency in controlling rodents," said Steven Bradbury, director of the agency's Division of Special Review and Re-registration. "In our decision Thursday, we felt that we needed an approach that would stop children coming in contact with the pesticides in the first place. That ultimately led to the implementation of bait stations," Bradbury said. The decision to revoke the requirements led the West Harlem Environmental Action, Inc. and the Natural Resource Defense Council to file a lawsuit three years later. Both organizations saw the retraction as a way to make it easy for consumers to purchase unsafe rodenticides over the counter. According to the West Harlem group, inner-city housing and park departments such as the New York City Housing Authority could continue laying rat baits in public areas that were easily accessible to children. "Studies show that the number of poisonings in minority children is much higher than others," said Aaron Colangelo, a staff attorney at the Natural Resource Defense Council. "Not only do we have an environmental health issue, but an environmental justice issue as well." New York State Health Department studies showed that 57 percent of children hospitalized for rat poisoning were black and 26 percent were Latino. The EPA said it is working to reduce those numbers in upcoming years with regulations like the ones it introduced this week. "We were frustrated that the EPA dragged their feet for three years before finally taking some productive steps," said Colangelo. "But, from our perspective, they are finally starting to do what needs to be done in order to protect children." After June 4, rat poison manufacturers will have 90 days to comply with the EPA's guidelines. They will then have the opportunity to design new bait stations and formulas for their poisons. All new products should be registered and certified by June 2011.
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EPA says new regulations will reduce rat poison exposure to children, wildlife . Environmental groups laud efforts to keep rat poison off consumer market . New restrictions prohibit sale of loose pellets, bulk bags for personal use . Bait blocks for rats that are used in the wild can attract endangered species .
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(CNN) -- Barack Obama's two daughters had another reason to high-five their dad's election to the presidency Tuesday night: they're getting a puppy. President Bush's dog Barney walks in the White House Rose Garden in 2007. "Sasha and Malia," Obama said in his victory speech at Chicago's Grant Park, "I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House." The new White House pet will follow in the paw-steps of a menagerie of animals that have had the run of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue over the years. The Bush family shared their eight years at the White House with a cat, a feisty English springer spaniel and two Scottish terriers -- all of whom have their own pages on the president's Web site. The Clintons' Washington stay included a cat, Socks, who did not get along with their chocolate Labrador retriever, Buddy. And Millie the springer spaniel's canine view of life in the White House -- as "told to" then-first lady Barbara Bush -- became a best-seller that outsold the memoirs of President George H.W. Bush. While many presidents took to heart President Harry Truman's admonishment -- "If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog" -- first pets have come in all shapes, sizes and species. Thomas Jefferson kept two grizzly bears in a cage on the White House lawn, while John Quincy Adams is said to have let his alligator use a bathtub inside. Calvin Coolidge walked his raccoons on a leash. Theodore Roosevelt's sons escorted their pet pony onto the White House elevator to cheer up a sick sibling. And perhaps the strangest of all: Martin Van Buren briefly owned two tiger cubs, a gift from the Sultan of Oman. Pets have sometimes been a boon to a president's image. But some have also taken a bite out of their popularity. Animal lovers howled in protest when Lyndon B. Johnson picked up his beagles, Him and Her, by the ears to provide photographers a better view. On the other hand, Richard Nixon -- running for vice president and accused of accepting illegal campaign contributions -- successfully defended himself in his famous "Checkers Speech." The only gift he ever accepted was "a little cocker spaniel dog" that his daughter named Checkers, Nixon said. "And I just want to say this, right now, that regardless of what they say about it, we are going to keep it," he added. Come January, the Obamas will make history by becoming the first African-American family to move into the White House. But if Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, get what they've been promised, the new tenants will keep one long-standing tradition alive ... and wagging.
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President-elect Obama promises his daughters a puppy . White House has a history of president pets -- from dogs to tiger cubs . President Bush had three dogs and cat, President Clinton a dog and cat .
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Bellevue, Washington (CNN) -- Just a year before turning 40, Judy Haley was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer that required an immediate mastectomy. The procedure and the treatments that followed left her fatigued, nauseated and in so much pain that she couldn't pick up her 1-year-old daughter or do simple household chores. She also struggled with depression because she needed constant child-care assistance. "It's really hard to ask for help," Haley recalled. "You want to be competent and independent. ... And then, all of a sudden, you have to acknowledge the fact that you can't take care of your daughter all by yourself." Haley and her husband were both full-time students, so there were also financial concerns. The couple cashed in their retirement to deal with the crush of medical bills. "I was really bottoming out emotionally," Haley said. That's when a friend recommended that she reach out to the Pink Daisy Project, a nonprofit that provides support to breast cancer patients under 45. Since 2008, the Pink Daisy Project has helped more than 150 women -- mostly in the form of house-cleaning assistance and gift cards for gas, groceries and restaurants. But according to Haley, it's so much more. "It's hope," she said. "Right when I would hit the (emotional) low, there was a gift card ... or the toilet was 'magically' clean. I can't overemphasize the value of that to somebody with cancer." The founder of the Pink Daisy Project, Debbie Cantwell, can relate to Haley's plight. She was 41 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006. "I could not even wrap my head around it," Cantwell said. "You're relatively healthy, and they tell you (that) you have a chance of dying. ... It just throws your world upside down." Cantwell underwent surgery to remove both breasts and 20 lymph nodes. She received eight rounds of chemotherapy and 37 radiation treatments before undergoing breast reconstruction surgery. She blistered, bled, lost all her hair and continued to work full-time as a copywriter and the sole provider for her husband and two young children. Throughout her treatment, however, Cantwell was supported by family, friends and co-workers who pitched in to help her with her daily responsibilities. Co-workers donated vacation and sick leave. Friends brought over meals and took on child-care duties. Relatives helped with mounting costs. "I just felt so grateful that all these people in my life were there for me and made it manageable," she said. "Once I was through with treatment, I couldn't possibly pay everybody back. So I decided I was going to pay it forward." Do you know a hero? Nominations are open for 2011 CNN Heroes . Through her ordeal, Cantwell met other young breast cancer patients who were struggling through their treatment but lacked the kind of support that she had. She found that many breast cancer foundations exist primarily to raise awareness and funding for research and treatment, not to offset the daily stress on patients' lives. "I'm all for research; I hope my daughter never has to go through this," Cantwell said. "But the Pink Daisy Project's biggest concern is helping the (young) women that can't wait for a cure. ... They're sick right now, and they need help today." Cantwell fields grant requests through her website. The grants average $400 in value and are designed to cover a woman's basic needs for about one month, but Cantwell will customize the level and type of support based on need and available resources. The money comes from small fundraisers and personal donations. "Right now, the Pink Daisy Project is helping women in these small ways," Cantwell said. "But eventually, I want to be able to help in larger ways with real practical, tangible things like helping with bills ... helping with the rent, helping with medical payments. It's so hard to focus on healing when you've got $12,000 in medical bills." The average age of women diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States is 61. But according to the Young Survival Coalition, there are more than 250,000 women living in the U.S. who were 40 or younger when diagnosed. "I think it's harder when you're younger," Cantwell said, "because you're a mom, or you're a college student, or you're working. You normally felt really good. And suddenly, you feel terrible all the time." Cantwell said older women also tend to have a larger support system. "Older women sometimes have grown children to help or a retired husband, or their friends don't work," she said. "Plus, there's a lot of senior services and Medicaid and disability and Social Security that, younger women, we often just don't have." In addition to providing young breast cancer patients with immediate assistance, the Pink Daisy Project has built an online community that connects them and offers emotional support during what can be a potentially isolating time. "I feel like they're my sisters, and I just want to do whatever I can to help them," Cantwell said. "I cry a lot. I always light a candle when I lose somebody I've helped. ... It's unbelievable and heart-wrenching, but it's just part of the job. ... "I'll probably die of breast cancer someday. But I don't feel sorry for myself. I never have. I want to really make the most of the time I have by doing some good in the world. ... And if the spirit of helping each other were to continue, I'd feel my efforts meant something." Want to get involved? Check out the Pink Daisy Project's website at pinkdaisyproject.com and see how to help.
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The Pink Daisy Project supports breast cancer patients under 45 . It was started in 2008 by Debbie Cantwell, a young breast cancer survivor . Cantwell said younger patients often find it harder to cope with the stress and lifestyle change . Do you know a hero? Nominations are open for 2011 CNN Heroes .
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(CNN) -- Caroline Wozniacki has regained the women's world number one ranking from Belgium's Kim Clijsters, after beating Shahar Peer to reach the semifinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships on Friday. The Dane eased past the ninth seed 6-2 6-4, and will now replace Australian Open champion Clijsters when the new WTA rankings are published on Monday. Clijsters, who skipped the hard-court event in the United Arab Emirates, will have held the number one ranking for just seven days. The 27-year-old rose to the top spot again -- having first done so in 2003 --when she reached the last four of the Paris Open, but left Wozniacki with a chance to reclaim the position when she lost to Petra Kvitova in the final. CNN Blog: Can Murray become a grand slam champion? The 20-year-old Wozniacki will now remain at the top of the rankings at least until after the U.S. tournament in Indian Wells which starts on March 23. However, the 2009 U.S. Open finalist -- who is yet to win a grand slam title -- insisted winning tournaments is more important to her than being No. 1. "I've said all along I wasn't sure about whether I could become number one this week, and that my focus really is not upon that," she told reporters. "For the moment it's more important to concentrate on what I have to do and try to win the tournament." Her achievement was marked in a much more low-key fashion then when she became the 20th woman in history to reach the summit in October last year. Due to fears over the safety of Peer -- who became the first woman from Israel to play in the Arab state in 2010 -- the match was played on a remote outside court with few spectators and heavy security, where there were no on-court celebrations. Next up for Wozniacki will be Serbian former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic, who defeated Australian fourth seed Sam Stosur of Australia in three closely-contested sets. Sixth seed Jankovic eventually triumphed 6-3 5-7 7-6 (7-4) against world No. 5 and French Open runner-up Stosur. In the other half of the draw, two-time grand slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia beat Polish eighth seed Agnieszka Radwanska 7-6 (9-7) 6-3 in the penultimate quarterfinal. The Russian will next face Italian 11th seed Flavia Pennetta, who thrashed Russia's Alisa Kleybanova 6-2 6-0 in the late match. Elsewhere, at the men's Marseille Open, Swedish top seed and world No. 4 Robin Soderling progressed to the semifinals with an easy straight-sets win over France's Michael Llodra. The two-time French Open finalist came through 6-1 6-4, and will next play Dmitry Tursunov after the Russian defeated Austrian fourth seed Jurgen Melzer 6-4 2-6 6-1 in Friday's closing match. In the other half of the draw of the ATP World Tour hard-court tournament, world No. 7 and Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych was knocked out by Croatia's Marin Cilic. The former world number nine swept aside his Czech opponent 6-3 6-4 to book his place in the semifinals of the French event, where he will face third seed Mikhail Youzhny. The Russian ended home hopes with a 6-4 2-6 6-4 win over sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
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Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki is set to replace Kim Clijsters as world No. 1 . Wozniacki reclaims top spot after reaching the last four of tournament in Dubai . Clijsters has been there for only a week after reaching final of Paris event . Top seed Robin Soderling reaches semifinals of the men's Marseille Open .
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(CNN) -- The posts show how quickly life can change. "Everyones dressing up as Batman, im going dressed as Bruce Wayne... Albeit a short stubby unsexy Bruce Wayne #CouldntFindBatmanMaskInTime," wrote one Twitter user, identified online as Zach Eastman. "Going to see the final batman tonight! So EXCITED!!!" wrote another Twitter user, @DjaylaRene. And, in hindsight, most chillingly: "Of course we're seeing Dark Knight ... people should never argue with me." Gunman kills 12 in Colorado theater shooting . Those posts surfaced before the shootings early Friday morning at a late-night showing in Aurora, Colorado, of the Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises," in which 12 people were killed and dozens more were injured. All three people who were quoted above appear to have been in the theater complex when a heavily armed gunman opened fire on moviegoers, according to police. The third post appears to be from Jessica Ghawi, who was reported dead in the shooting. Ghawi was a former sports-news intern at a television station in San Antonio, according to that station, Fox 29. "It's true, my former intern Jessica Ghawi was a victim in the shootings last night. She used @JessicaRedfield as her twitter handle," wrote a Twitter user identified as Mike Taylor. In the hours after the shooting, her friend mourned her death in real time. "Devastated," wrote a sports radio host in Denver, identified online as Peter Burns. "Lost a very close friend in the shooting last night. @JessicaRedfield came to Denver to pursue sports career. I'm shaking." Aspiring sports reporter Ghawi feared dead in shooting . The horrifying posts highlight a shift in the way our society tells the story of a tragedy, and also how we react to it. Before Twitter, smartphones and YouTube, it would have been impossible for an event like Colorado's "Batman Massacre" to have played out for the global public in real time. The shooting is just the latest instance of social media being used to document a tragedy or a news event even as it is unfolding. A Pakistani man last year unwittingly live-tweeted the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. And the war in Syria is being documented in large part by citizens and members of the opposition movement who risk their lives to post YouTube videos and photos of the violence. NRA tweeter was 'unaware' of Colorado shooting, spokesman says . But the social media posts about the Colorado shooting are a haunting reminder of the visceral power of first-person accounts of tragedy. And also a sign that society these days deals with grieving after an event like this in a much more public and immediate way than in years past. Reports of the 1999 Columbine school shooting, for example, which happened only 17 miles from Aurora, spread in a much different way. Thirteen years ago, witnesses talked to TV crews rather than uploading their stories instantly to the Internet with mobile phones. Shooting turns movie into surreal horror: 'This is real' Some reports from the Aurora movie theater appeared to come out as the shooting occurred. "Now I'm thinking it was bullets coming through the wall from 9 causing smoke and fire cracker sounds. #aurorashooting #batman #shootng," a Twitter user identified as Jamie Marshall wrote. "Never seen so many cop cars in my life. Its a parade of lights," wrote Isaac Ramos. "Everything keeps replaying in my head. It was so unreal," @DjaylaRene wrote. "I am getting ready to cry. So scared. I need a hug. I almost got shot 9 times. I had a chance to be like 50," wrote another Twitter user, @Abenistar. He later added: "I seen a person bleeding out their mouth and gasping for their last breath. This ain't right. #Century16Shooting. Thunk the world is ending." Shaky YouTube videos show people screaming, crying and rushing out of the theater after the shooting, some of them with bloody wounds. Another video, apparently taken outside the building by a person who was in the theater next to the shooting, offers a glimpse into the mindset of a person who has just witnessed tragedy. The amateur videographer sounds to be at a loss for words. "Oh Jesus. July 20th, 2012. Aurora Century 16," he says, in a sort of real-time confessional about the event. "There has been a massive shooting here. A lot of people wounded, a lot of people dead. I can't really take pictures, just because I'd rather (be) helping people than wanting to take pictures of some pretty ghastly (expletive). There's some guy in a gas mask apparently -- teargassed theater 9. We were in theater 8. Just lit it up. It hit a lot of people, a lot of younger people. Oh. It's pretty -- it's pretty bad." Timeline of worst mass shootings in U.S. Officials also turned to the Internet in an effort to make sense of the events. The Red Cross is asking people who witnessed the shooting to tell loved ones that they were OK over social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. "People don't know how close you were, so help alleviate that anxiety," spokeswoman Patricia Billinger told USA Today. And other officials used the Internet to offer sympathy. "We certainly appreciate the nation's thoughts and prayers as our police department continues to investigate the terrible theater shooting tragedy that occurred today," the city of Aurora wrote on its Facebook page. "Our condolences go out to the victims and their family members." Are you there? Share your story with us on CNN iReport and post your tributes to the victims. CNN's Doug Gross and Dorrine Mendoza contributed to this report.
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Shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, leaves 12 dead . Eyewitness reports unfold online in real time . People also turn to the Internet on Friday to grieve for victims . The event highlights a shift in the way society gathers and processes news .
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(CNN) -- As the Democratic National Convention gets underway in Charlotte, North Carolina, here's some trivia on memorable Democratic convention moments, as well as some fun facts about the oldest and youngest headliners and African American candidates. Memorable Democratic convention speeches . • In her keynote 1988 speech, Texas state treasurer and future governor Ann Richards declared that George H.W. Bush was "born with a silver foot in his mouth." • In his speech to the 1980 Democratic convention, Sen. Ted Kennedy said, "For me, a few hours ago, this campaign came to an end. For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die." Political 'Power:' A gallery . • In 1940, Eleanor Roosevelt became the first first Lady to address a national political convention. With war looming, she said, "We cannot tell from day to day what may come. This is no ordinary time, no time for thinking about anything except what we can best do for the country as a whole." African American convention firsts . • In 1976, Rep. Barbara Jordan of Texas was the first African American to give the keynote address at a Democratic convention (She also keynoted the 1992 convention). In 1884, Former Mississippi Rep. John Lynch became the first African American keynote speaker at a Republican convention. - Channing Phillips, a minister from Washington, D.C., became the first African American to receive a vote at a Democratic convention in 1968, with 67.5 delegate votes. Frederick Douglass, in 1888, became the first African American to receive a vote at a Republican convention with one delegate vote. Democrats to highlight Obama's tough decisions . • Barack Obama was the last African American to deliver a keynote address (2004). Republicans have not featured an African American keynoter since Lynch in 1884. Oldest and youngest convention facts . • Lewis Cass, 65 years, 226 days, was the oldest person to win presidential nomination for the Democratic Party at the 1848 Democratic convention. Ronald Reagan, at 73 years, 196 days, was the oldest Republican to do so, at the 1984 convention. • For the Democrats, former West Virginia Sen. Henry G. Davis was the oldest person to accept the vice presidential nomination. He was 80 years, 233 days old. On the Republican side, Charles Curtis was the oldest to do so. He was 72 years, 141 days old when he accepted the nomination at the 1932 Republican convention. • The youngest person to win presidential nomination for the Democrats was William Jennings Bryan at 36 years, 110 days old during the 1896 convention. For the Republicans, Thomas E. Dewey was the youngest at 42 years, 94 days during the 1944 convention. Obama expecting to get 'misty' during first lady's speech . • John C. Breckinridge was the youngest Democrat to win vice presidential nomination at 35 years, 138 days old during the 1856 convention. In 1952, Richard Nixon became the youngest Republican to take the VP nomination at 39. Convention Bounce . • After the 2008 Democratic convention, then-candidate Barack Obama experienced a two-point bounce in the polls, going from 47% before the event to 49% after the convention in Denver. Data comes from an average of surveys by CNN, USA Today and Gallup. Sen. John McCain, meanwhile, remained steady in the polls at 48% after the GOP gathering in Minneapolis-St. Paul. • In 1992, then-candidate Bill Clinton received a whopping boost of 16 points after the Democratic convention in New York City, going from 40% to 56%. His opponent, Republican incumbent President George H. W. Bush, saw a modest gain of five points, increasing from 37% to 42%. The GOP event was held in Houston in mid August, more than a month after the Democratic gathering. CNN's Keating Holland, Alan Silverleib and Robert Yoon contributed to this report.
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Memorable moment: future Texas governor Ann Richards said Bush '41' was born with a "silver foot in his mouth" DNC: Barack Obama was the last African American to deliver a keynote address in 2004 . RNC: John Lynch was the last African American to keynote a Republican convention in 1884 . In 1992, then-candidate Bill Clinton got a boost of 16 points after the DNC, going from 40% to 56% .
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(CNN) -- Special operations troops at a small military outpost in Afghanistan gave alcohol and steroid-like drugs to a U.S. Army sergeant accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians, the soldier's lawyer said Thursday. Attorney John Henry Browne said the special operations troops "pumped" Staff Sgt. Robert Bales with the substances. "He was provided all these things," Browne told CNN. "Special forces were in charge." Bales is accused of murder in the death of the 16 civilians, including children, in March 2012. Prosecutors say Bales slipped off the base after dark and went from house to house, shooting villagers. In addition to the dead, six people were wounded. Witnesses testified last year that Bales had consumed alcohol with other soldiers before the attack. He also was charged with illicit use of steroids and alcohol. Browne said last year that "steroid use is going to be an issue in this case, especially where Sgt. Bales got steroids and how he got steroids." Browne said Wednesday that Bales intends to plead guilty to the killings in exchange for elimination of the death penalty as a possible punishment. If the deal is approved by the military judge and a commanding general, Browne will mount the argument about steroids and alcohol at a penalty phase hearing to determine whether parole will be a possibility as part the life sentence he could receive. The Army would not comment on any potential deal Wednesday. A hearing in the case is scheduled for June 5. Browne has previously said the Army erred 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. Bales, he said Thursday, was a "broken man." "We broke him. He never should have been there," he said. Browne said he will bring experts in combat stress to the penalty phase hearing, despite the fact that the military has historically not accepted combat stress as the sole explanation for crimes committed by service members. The strategy outlined by Browne is one he has pursued since taking on the case last year. We think the Army is attempting to escape responsibility for the decision to send Sgt. Bales to Afghanistan for his fourth deployment, knowing that he had (post-traumatic stress disorder) and a concussive head injury," Browne said last year. "I think that the person who made the decision to send Sgt. Bales to the most dangerous area in Afghanistan in a small outpost is responsible for Sgt. Bales being in Afghanistan, and he should have never been there." The shooting spree strained already tense U.S.-Afghan relations and intensified a debate about whether to pull out American troops ahead of their planned 2014 withdrawal. Afghan authorities have called for swift action. "He committed a mass killing crime, and we would like the court in the United States to implement justice and punish him according to the crime," said Ahmad Zia Syamak, spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
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Special ops troops gave alcohol and steroids to soldier accused of killing Afghans, lawyer says . Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales is a "broken man," his lawyer says . He is accused of killing 16 and wounding six Afghans . Attorneys have said he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder .
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SAN DIEGO, California (CNN) -- Conditions that created what California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger dubbed "the perfect storm for fire" eased Wednesday, helping firefighters gain ground against devastating Southern California wildfires. A plane drops fire retardant on the fourth day of a wildfire pushed by winds through Pauma Valley, California. Winds that gusted as much as 101 mph on Sunday dropped to about 30 mph Wednesday evening. Meanwhile, the dry Santa Ana winds that have fanned the flames, changed direction and began blowing inland from the Pacific Ocean, increasing the humidity and easing the burden on almost 8,900 firefighters in the area. But the destruction was taking its toll on the men and women on the front lines of the fires. "It hurts us to have those homes lost. It hurts us to have those injuries. And it is frustrating for us to watch our community be devastated by this," said firefighter Andy Menshek. As conditions improved, officials allowed people to return to communities that had been off-limits because of intense flames and dense smoke. "It was home," said Mark Davis, whose two-story Rancho Bernardo house burned to the ground. "It was us. We had been there 28 years, and it had a lot of our flavor." The change in the weather also meant that firefighting aircraft -- grounded for most of the week by the winds -- could finally fly. California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Capt. Scott McLean called the droning sound of aircraft the "sound of joy." "Their drops are hitting their mark because the wind is not there," he said. The rate of burning had slowed significantly by Wednesday. Still, the fire damage increased to 434,543 acres, said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Watch Schwarzenegger give a progress report » . That amounted to 679 square miles, or about 10 times the size of Washington, D.C. By Wednesday evening, the largest fire -- the Witch in northern San Diego County -- was 10 percent contained. It burned about 196,000 acres before combining with the smaller Poomacha blaze. Seven fires among the 22 counted Wednesday were contained. See where the fires are burning » . Others, such as the Buckweed Fire in Los Angeles County, were as much as 94 percent contained. One large fire was a suspected arson. The FBI and the Orange County Fire Authority are investigating the Santiago fire that has burned more than 19,000 acres. All three of its points of origin have been declared crime scenes, said Jim Amornino, a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Department. A $70,000 reward is being offered for any information leading to the arrest of those responsible for setting the fire. The blaze was about 50 percent contained after destroying 17 structures. Watch the raging flames of the Santiago fire » . The smaller Rosa fire in Riverside County, 70 percent contained at just over 400 acres, was also a probably arson, state officials said. As the fire danger eased, residents were allowed to return to several neighborhoods surrounding San Diego: Del Mar Highlands, Encinitas, Solana Beach, Carmel Valley, Chula Vista and Otay Mesa. Helicopters were back in the air over the Lake Arrowhead, California, area after all air activity had been suspended because of extremely smoky skies. In nearby Running Springs, CNN's Ted Rowlands stood in the midst of charred, smoldering rubble strewn with potentially deadly power lines. "It will be a while before these people will come back. When they do come back, unfortunately they'll have this pretty much to look at," he said Wednesday. Watch Rowlands describe a major battle with the flames » . About 500 homes were lost in the mountainous region in San Bernardino County east of Los Angeles. See photos of the fires » . "Yesterday we couldn't be here, because just this little flame and smoldering pieces of wood would be thrown by the intense winds. ... Now you can see the flames just basically burning themselves out," said Rowlands. The fires have already destroyed 1,664 structures -- including 1,436 homes -- and they still threaten 25,000 more, Schwarzenegger said Wednesday. The blazes have killed three people and left 40 hurt, he said. The governor will fly over the area Thursday with President Bush, who signed a major disaster declaration Wednesday. Watch Bush emphasize the need to be responsive » . It'll speed federal dollars to people whose property losses aren't covered by insurance and will help local and state agencies pay for the emergency response. The cost of homes destroyed by the wildfires is likely to top $1 billion in San Diego County alone, an emergency official said. Federal help keeps arriving as officials promise a response based on lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina. People left homeless by the fires can go online to apply for federal help at FEMA.gov, he said. There were 76,000 people staying in the 42 shelters opened in San Diego County Wednesday morning, according to San Diego emergency spokeswoman Lynda Pfieffer. Qualcomm Stadium -- home to the NFL's San Diego Chargers -- housed 11,000 evacuees at the peak of the disaster, but that number dropped to 5,000 Wednesday morning. Watch how evacuees are being taken care of at the stadium » E-mail to a friend . CNN's Kate Bolduan contributed to this report.
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Local and federal officials probe suspected arson, offer $70,000 reward . Wind speeds drop, humidity increases after Santa Ana winds change direction . President Bush signs major disaster declaration for Southern California . Home losses will likely top $1 billion in San Diego County, official says .
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(CNN) -- It was a strange sight indeed -- one large aircraft carrying another large aircraft strapped on top. But that's exactly what skyward-looking folks in Washington saw Tuesday as Space Shuttle Discovery, atop a Boeing 747, made an inspiring pass over the capital in its final flight. It makes you wonder: How can the 747 transport something that big and heavy? Well, the shuttle-airliner combo is not as heavy as you might first think. In fact, it's a relatively easy load to hoist. When the shuttle missions started in the 1980s, NASA designated several places as landing strips for the orbiter, including Edwards AFB in California. Discovery taken its final destination, a Smithsonian museum . But all the launches were from Florida, so NASA needed a way to transport to Kennedy Space Center from Edwards. A shuttle can't fly itself after it leaves orbit, as it is basically a big glider. So NASA created the designed the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, which is a Boeing 747 designed to fly with a shuttle on top. All that's well-known, at least to space buffs. But what may surprise many people is that a Boeing 747 with a space shuttle strapped on its roof weighs less -- that's right, less -- than a 747 airliner full of passengers. At first that might seem counterintuitive, but Lisa Malone, a spokeswoman for NASA, says the 747 they use is stripped clean of anything in the main cabin. There's a cockpit and a big empty shell. But the 747s used by airlines have hundreds of seats, galleys, lavatories -- even a bar in some cases. Add 300-plus passengers, their luggage, food, water and assorted other cargo, and the weight adds up. Capturing Discovery's final flight . The 747 that carried Discovery weighed about 488,000 pounds. Jim Proulx, a spokesman for Boeing, says a commercial 747 airliner can weigh more than 800,000 when carrying passengers. There will be another chance to see the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft in action later this week. That's when it will carry Space Shuttle Enterprise, which was used for tests but never flew in space, will be flown from Dulles International Airport in Virginia to its new home on board the USS Intrepid, a retired aircraft carrier turned floating museum in New York City.
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Shuttle Discovery hitches ride atop a Boeing 747 to Washington . The load is not as taxing on the specially outfitted 747 as you might first think . A regular 747 carrying a full complement of passengers is much heavier .
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(CNN) -- Some of the world's top tennis stars will have the honor of carrying their countries' flags at Friday's opening ceremony for the London 2012 Olympics, but one of the sport's biggest names is taking a back seat. Not due to injury, like Beijing 2008 singles champion Rafael Nadal -- who has had to relinquish his role as Spain's flag bearer -- but because one of the game's renowned gentlemen thinks it's time to share the prestigious job. While former world No. 1s Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova will lead the way for Serbia and Russia, Switzerland's team will be led into the Olympic stadium by a gold medalist, and one of the European nation's finest tennis players -- though he's not the one that you'd expect to see in the limelight. Stanislas Wawrinka has spent his career in the shadow of Roger Federer, but on Friday the eyes of the world will be on the man known as "Stan" -- and not his great friend. Russian Olympic first for Sharapova . World No. 1 Federer, the most successful men's tennis player of any era, declined the chance to carry the Swiss flag for the third time. "I just felt it was important to give someone else a chance. In Switzerland we believe that," the 30-year-old said. "I told the Swiss Olympic Committee that they should choose someone else and they chose my partner, Stan Wawrinka. It's a great, great honor for him. I couldn't have won the gold without him, everybody knows that. I think they chose the right guy." A tale of two careers . Wawrinka has won three tournament titles to Federer's 75, and $5.5 million in prize money to the 16-time grand slam champion's $73 million, but they have one thing in common: an Olympic gold medal. Four years ago in Beijing, seeded only fourth, the Swiss duo overcame the odds to win the men's doubles competition -- cementing a partnership that began when they started practicing together in the late 1990s. Wawrinka, nearly four years Federer's junior, was just 16 at the time. "He was already number six in the world -- after 10 minutes I was completely red!" Wawrinka told CNN's Open Court of his first session with Federer. "I was dead tired, and so nervous to play with him. "He's the best, it's good for any player. We'll be practicing one week and then playing each other the next, but it's not the fact that we share nationalities that makes playing him hard, it's that he's the best in the world." American idol . Wawrinka, like Federer, idolized seven-time Wimbledon winner Pete Sampras when he was growing up. "I wasn't good until I was 17 -- I never even won the Swiss Championship," the 2003 French Open boys' champion said. "Sampras was a great athlete and I was a big fan. That's why I focus on being an allrounder." Federer matched Sampras' record tally at the All England Club when he beat Andy Murray in this month's final, and Wawrinka will face Britain's world No. 4 in the opening round of the Olympic singles competition. Despite slipping down the world rankings from a career high of ninth in 2009 to 25th ahead of London 2012, Wawrinka still holds hopes of success. "I feel I'm playing the best tennis of my career right now -- the top 40 is just so strong, the strongest it's ever been, maybe. With this top 40 you have to fight for every match. To break back into it is more mental than physical, for sure. It's about confidence," he said . "Sometimes I put too much pressure on myself. It's not good. I'm too tight, because I want to win. That's why I need to focus on what's going on on the court, not off of it." Family ties . His drop in form coincided with the birth of his first child, daughter Alexia, in 2010, while last year he separated from his wife Ilham Vuilloud. "Having a daughter and being a tennis pro changes everything. It's hard to train so much, but it's great to see she's interested in what I'm doing -- if I'm playing tennis, she wants to play tennis," he said. Wawrinka fondly recalls Beijing, where he and Federer beat top-ranked doubles duo Mike and Bob Bryan in the semifinals before winning gold. "We played our best tennis against the Bryan brothers -- it was the toughest and most important win. Whilst we talked strategy for the finals afterwards, it was made easier knowing we were playing great tennis," he said. "In the first game I wasn't playing well, but Roger really helped me to be comfortable. We've known each other for so long, but even we were surprised at how easy we found it on the court. It was so natural, and talking helped a lot -- we're very honest around the court." Their close relationship translated well off the court too, particularly in the Olympic Village. "At night all of the Swiss athletes would play cards. We played a lot against the soccer team -- we were the best though, you can ask them!" Togther for life . If Federer's inclusion for China was a foregone conclusion, Wawrinka's presence was anything but guaranteed. "Roger had a lot of great players to choose from (as a partner). It was a tough choice but in the end he chose me. We were having a great time and I think that's part of the reason we won -- I was happy for him and he was happy for me," he said. "I was almost crying at the medal ceremony. We had to joke around to stop the tears and start laughing instead. We used our friendship to stop from crying in front of everybody! "It was the best moment of my career because it wasn't just about tennis. It was about sport, it was about Switzerland, it's a dream for everyone and to share it with someone added to the enjoyment." Federer will go into London 2012 seeking the one major title that eludes him -- Olympic gold in the singles. He begins his campaign against Colombia's Alejandro Falla, the man who took him to five sets at Wimbledon in 2010. Federer reached the semifinals as a teenager at Sydney 2000 but lost in the playoff for the bronze, then crashed out in the second round in Athens and the last eight in Beijing. "The day before the (doubles) quarterfinals Roger lost to James Blake in the singles and I had to prove to him that he could trust me," Wawrinka said. "Once we started playing well I could tell he got over the loss and said to himself, 'Okay, let's do something in the doubles now.' That was the moment, and now we have a gold medal -- together, for life."
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Stanislas Wawrinka will carry Switzerland's Olympic flag for London 2012 . Fellow gold medalist Roger Federer declined role for opening ceremony . They won gold together as a doubles pairing at Beijing Games in 2008 . Wawrinka has spent most of his tennis career in shadow of his friend Federer .
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(CNN) -- Brazil has formalized its offer of asylum to Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, an Iranian woman convicted of adultery and sentenced to death by stoning, Brazilian state-run media said Tuesday. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had made a previous offer for asylum, raising Ashtiani's hopes for survival. Brazil's ambassador in Tehran has now officially made the offer at Iran's foreign ministry, according to the state-run news service Agencia Brasil. Brazilian Minister of Foreign Relations Celso Amorim told reporters Tuesday that he spoke last month with his Iranian counterpart, Manouchehr Mottaki, about Ashtiani's sentence. "I called my Iranian colleague ... to say that the action hurt the sensibility of the Brazilian people and that therefore I was making an appeal, I was asking to reconsider the hypothesis. In that moment, actually, the news we had was more about the stoning, which was based on a highly debatable crime in our view of the world." Amorim described Ashtiani's threatened punishment as "something that is really baffling to our culture and to the way we see the world." On Saturday, Lula addressed the matter in Bogota, Colombia, where he said he had asked Amorim to ask the Brazilian ambassador in Tehran to talk to Iranian authorities about it. "I can't imagine someone being stoned," Lula said. "I can't imagine. That's why I made the request. If there was condition to send her to Brazil, we would receive her with arms wide open." Lula added that he opposes the death penalty under any circumstances. "I don't think the state has the right to kill a person," he said. Iran rejected a previous, informal offer, saying Lula lacked sufficient information about the case. Last month, Malek Ajdar Sharifi, who is the head of the judiciary of East Azerbaijan province, said Ashtiani's crimes were "numerous" and said she was "convicted of adultery and murder and was sentenced to death," according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency. Ashtiani's lawyers said Iranian authorities are mischaracterizing the status of the adultery and murder charges against her. Attorney Hootan Kian said that, though Ashtiani was cleared of her husband's murder five years ago, Iran continues to insist she was found guilty. Ashtiani has said she was "grateful" for Brazil's offer and would "graciously" accept, according to a statement from her son, Sajjad Ashtiani, who has visited his mother in a Tabriz prison. Ashtiani, 43, was convicted of adultery in 2006 and was originally sentenced to death by stoning. But after international pressure, Iranian authorities said the sentence has been put on hold. A decision could come any day on whether the courts will reinstate Ashtiani's sentence of death by stoning, execute her by other means or possibly even grant her a reprieve, according to human rights groups. Mina Ahadi, spokeswoman for the International Committee against Stoning, said if Ashtiani is executed, "it is entirely political. It has nothing to do with the case itself." Ahadi wrote a letter to Lula last week, saying that his offer was an "important step" in saving Ashtiani from undue punishment. Brazil's relations with Iran have improved in recent years and it recently participated in talks with Tehran aimed at restarting negotiations about Iran's nuclear program. In May, Brazil helped broker a deal with Iran that would provide the government with enriched uranium for medical research. It also abstained from a United Nations Security Council vote on tougher sanctions for the Islamic republic. One of Ashtiani's attorneys, Mohammad Mostafaei, is seeking asylum for himself in Norway. Mostafaei's wife and brother-in-law were arrested and imprisoned in Iran but have since been released. In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she was "troubled" by Ashtiani's case. "The United States is deeply concerned that Iran continues to deny its citizens their civil rights and intimidate and detain those Iranians who seek to hold their government accountable and stand up for the rights of their fellow citizens," she said in a statement. Clinton also expressed concern about the fate of protesters who were arrested in anti-government demonstrations after the June 2009 elections and about Ebrahim Hamidi, an 18-year-old man charged with homosexuality and facing "imminent execution despite the fact that he is currently without legal representation." She urged Tehran "to halt these executions in accordance with its obligations to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights" and called for the release of political prisoners and human-rights defenders. Journalist Luciani Gomes contributed to this story.
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NEW: "I was asking to reconsider the hypothesis," says Brazil's foreign minister . "The United States is deeply concerned" about the case, Clinton says . Iran says Lula lacks enough information about the case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani . Brazilian President Lula: "We would receive her with arms wide open"
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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Subtlety may not be in Kevin Smith's vocabulary, but a lot of off-color words are. They're sprinkled liberally throughout the writer-director's new movie, "Zack and Miri Make a Porno." Kevin Smith can't understand why the word "porno" is still a hot button for some people. The comedy stars Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks as roommates and longtime friends who decide that the solution to their money problems is to make a porn film. Strong language is nothing new for Smith, whose first film, "Clerks," put him on the map with its merrily scatological musings. Though the film had little violence or exposed skin, it was initially given an NC-17 rating by the MPAA based on the language. "Zack and Miri" was also a possibility for an NC-17, considered the kiss of death by studios because of distributing and marketing challenges, until Smith argued its merits to the ratings board and received an R. Since "Clerks," Smith's films have been almost wistfully romantic ("Chasing Amy," "Jersey Girl") or as joyfully profane as "Clerks" ("Dogma," "Clerks II"). "Zack and Miri," which opens Friday, is a blend of the two Smiths: full of sex and colorful language, but with a sweet side. Indeed, Banks told CNN not to be fooled by the film's tawdry talk. "Kevin Smith is a huge romantic," she said. "He likes to wrap up the romance in profanity, but the guy is more sweet than spicy." Watch why "Zack and Miri" is so controversial » . In an interview with CNN, Smith, 38, cheerfully acknowledged that this is not a film for prudes. The following is an edited version of the conversation. Kevin Smith: There's a bit of language in this picture. I'm not going to lie to you. ... I don't even think of it as salty. To me, it's just like part of a lexicon. CNN: Well, you do hear it a lot. Smith: Yeah, yeah, yeah, no doubt. We're raising our kid in a household where people curse, as an experiment. And I think our experiment is working, because I don't tame my language around the kid. I don't run up to her and yell [expletive] in her face, but I don't go out of my way to like not curse in front of her. And honestly, ironically, she doesn't curse. And I've tried to get her to curse for like friends and family, because it's always entertaining to hear a child curse, and she doesn't do it. CNN: Well ... I almost hesitate to ask, but tell me what the genesis was of the film. Smith: It's a movie I've been researching since I was like 12 years old, to be honest with you. And sometimes three or four times a day. ... But it only really came together when I saw Seth Rogen in "40-Year-Old Virgin" and instantly fell in love with him and was like, "I got to work with this guy." ... So I started thinking about this movie, and immediately it kind of crystallized. Seeing Seth and thinking about porn, I was like, boom, "Zack and Miri Make a Porno." I wrote the script with him in mind. And by the time I finished with it, "Knocked Up" was about to open, and the word was it was going to be huge, so I was like, we missed our window. This guy's going to be famous, and he'll want nothing to do with this movie. But I sent him an e-mail anyway where I said, "Look, man, I wrote this flick with you in mind. Please give it a read." ... And I got an e-mail back within five minutes that said, "When I first came to Los Angeles, an agent asked me what I wanted to do with my career. I said I wanted to be in a Kevin Smith movie. That has not changed. Please send me the script; I would be honored to read it." And I was, I was like cha-ching! You know, my God, it worked out. CNN: You're working with some professionals here, and by that I don't mean Seth and Elizabeth. I mean working with actual people with porn experience. Smith: We got ourselves a former pro. ... Traci Lords, man. Who, for the last 20 years, has not made an adult film. Has been keeping that industry at arm's length as she concentrates on a mainstream career and her musical career and stuff like that. But you know, it just seemed like if we're going to make this movie, Traci Lords would just fit into it so well. We approached her agent, and her agent was like, I don't know, it's got "porno" in the title, she ain't going to want to do it. Then she heard that Seth was in it, and she heard that I was making it, and so she was like, well, I'll at least read it. She came over to my house and read it. And I remember, I was sitting downstairs while she was upstairs reading it, and I was like, if I could go back in time and tell the 16-year-old version of me that Traci Lords is going to be hanging out in your living room ... my 16-year-old head would explode. First, the 16-year-old would be like, where'd you get a time machine, and then the 16-year-old would be like, does she want to have sex with us, and then I'd have to break it to the 16-year-old that, no, Traci Lords -- even many years from now -- [is] still not interested in your fat ass. So, she loved the material. ... Maybe it's time to embrace it and make fun of it. I said yeah, please do it. Katie Morgan is still active in the adult film industry, and she brought a kind of a current vision to it. She was able to kind of tell me where to put the camera to make things look as convincing as possible. So I was like, wow, man, this chick who most people know from porn has taught me how to direct. So if the movie looks any better than my normal stuff, it's probably because of Katie Morgan. iReport.com: Will you see 'Zach and Miri'? CNN: The title has created some challenges in terms of the marketing, that some newspapers are not taking ads for it and some buses and what have you. What do you make of that? Smith: I think it's strange that in this day and age, the 21st century, that people are hung up on a word, and the word is "porno." It's not like we put salacious posters out there. ... The poster is literally stick figures. ... People are afraid like, what if my kid asks what porno is? Just tell them. Tell your kid that the porno's not for you. My kid asked me what a porno is, I'm going to be like, guess what? Hannah Montana is not in it. Not yet. Are you still interested? Of course she's not interested in it, because it has nothing to do with her world. So I just think its kind of sad that like some people lobby against it. Like, based on the dude who called in, or the many people that called in after the Dodgers ran a spot. ... Just tell your kid, man; just be honest with them. It's like, look, [the] movie's not for you. ... It's crazy to me, because it's like, some people think that it's real porn that's being advertised. Can you tell me the last porno that you saw that had the word "porno" in the title? Like, it doesn't exist. I don't think it's ever existed. CNN: I understand that you were able to convince the MPAA to give you an R rating. Did that require any cuts? And if not, were you surprised? Smith: Initially, I was kind of surprised that they gave us the NC-17. Especially because the two areas they focused on were easily addressed: one ... they felt [was] gratuitous thrusting in the first porno sequence between Katie Morgan and Jason Mewes, and the other was what we'll call the egregious bodily fluid shot. ... I was able to go to the appeals process with the film, where you show it to a different audience. ... [You] screen it for [theater owners], and then you get up and do 15 minutes on why you feel it should be an R. Joan Graves [of] the MPAA gets up and does 15 minutes on why she feels it's an NC-17, then you get 10 minutes to rebut, she gets 10 minutes to rebut. You leave the room, and that audience makes the vote. ... You have to win by a two-thirds majority [to have the rating changed]. And they changed the rating. [The] appeals group that we screened for ... flipped it, gave us an R. And I didn't have to make a single cut, so everything I wanted in the movie is in the movie. That's kind of cool as a filmmaker. CNN: Your own presidential debate. Smith: A little bit. ... It was kind of like "Inherit the Wind," but about porn, not the Scopes Monkey Trial.
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Kevin Smith is a fan of being bluntly honest . Writer-director can't understand why some words, profanity bother people . New movie "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" has rough language but sweet side .
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(CNN) -- A fast-moving brush fire burning just south of Reno, Nevada, on Thursday prompted evacuations, closed a major highway and led the governor of Nevada to declare a state of emergency. The more than 3,000-acre fire began burning around 1 p.m. Thursday in North Washoe Valley, according to a press release from county officials. At least 10,000 people have been evacuated. There was no containment on the blaze, said Nancy Leuenhagen, Washoe County press Iinformation officer. Video from CNN Reno affiliate KOLO showed dark smoke plumes, fueled by heavy wind and dry vegetation, pushing toward U.S. Highway 395. A 12-mile stretch of the highway remained closed late Thursday, according to Dan Lopez of the Nevada Highway Patrol. Several flights at the Reno airport have been canceled or diverted, CNN affiliate KTVN reported. "Our thoughts and prayers are with those who have been and are being affected by this fire," Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval said in a statement. "Declaring a state of emergency ensures that every resource from the local, state and federal level is available to assist." The Nevada Division of Forestry and the Department of Public Safety were aiding local firefighters and emergency personnel, Sandoval said. The National Guard was on standby and the state of California was also providing assistance, according to the governor's website. About 12 families displaced by the fire were receiving assistance at an evacuation shelter at a local high school, said Karli Epstien, Red Cross press information officer. CNN's Nigel Walwyn and Leslie Tripp contributed to this report.
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Fire affects 3,000 acres in North Washoe Valley . At least 10,000 people have been evacuated, officials say . There has been no containment of the fire, official says .
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Ashkelon, Israel (CNN) -- It's become a daily routine for Israelis living near Gaza: a casual conversation interrupted by an air-raid siren, then a furious rush to find cover, and finally -- if all goes well -- a flash in the sky indicating an incoming rocket has been intercepted. While Israelis are protected by the relatively new Iron Dome missile interceptor system, it hasn't abated the fear that one of the dozens of rockets fired from Hamas-controlled Gaza into Israel in recent days will strike nearby. More details on Iron Dome . Schools and businesses in southern Israel near the Palestinian territory of Gaza are closed, as Hamas militants and the Israeli military mull their next move. Just a few miles from Gaza in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon -- which has been repeatedly targeted by militants in recent days -- Effie and Andi Moradian decided to move their family into their parents' apartment building to protect their three kids from incoming rocket strikes. "It (has) a safe room, it's got thicker walls and it's more or less blast resistant," explained Effie Moradian. His two daughters pass the time on their grandparents' sofa, reading books and drawing flowers and colorful butterflies. The monotony is constantly interrupted by the sound of explosions outside. Effie Moradian says it's unclear if the rocket landed or if it was intercepted. Victims in Gaza too young to understand . Either way, the fear is the same. "It's really frightening especially when we're in school and hear a 'boom' and there's bombing," said 11-year-old Shiraz Moradian. Wedged between a crowded bookcase and the metal door to the apartment's small safe room is pile of cushions and blankets heaped on the floor. That's where all three children will sleep for the foreseeable future. The Moradians, like many other Israeli families, are taking no chances that their family will be protected by the Iron Dome -- which has shot down approximately half of the nearly 600 rockets that have struck Israel since the conflict began Wednesday. "We can't go on like this," said Ashkelon Mayor Benny Vaknin, who drives the streets of his city checking on residents. "We have 131,000 people here and 26,000 children. They are constantly under threat." Rafel Moshe, who was playing backgammon at a pizza place downtown, echoed the mayor's thoughts. "They don't want peace," said Moshe, speaking of the people in Gaza. "How would you feel if your children were constantly scared?" The city's residents have experience dealing with how to quickly move to air raid shelters and some, like Moshe, have a "Red Alert" app for their smart phones that tracks rocket attacks. Israel and Hamas: How the conflict reignited . "We don't want war but there are people all the time shooting at Israel and we are quiet -- we stay quiet -- and the world doesn't see the truth," Moshe said. And it's not just in southern Israel where nerves are frayed. In Jersualem -- some 50 miles away from Gaza -- sirens went off on a calm Friday evening, startling James Cheatham who sent video to iReport. Cheatham said people ran for safety -- most apartments in Jerusalem are equipped with bomb shelters -- and later, the distant sound of a rocket exploding could be heard. "You feel very vulnerable and you're really not sure where to go, because you don't know where they will land," he told CNN. "I'm a Christian, so we do a lot of praying." In Israel's second most populous city, Tel Aviv, life was relatively normal last week as explosions could be heard from the current conflict. "Tel Aviv is quite in a routine mode. There's no panic, but the streets are half empty," explained Shachar Laudon, who submitted photos to iReport. "Many are in their homes. There is tension over the city and many are confused. "Many still don't know what to do in case of an attack." Frederik Pleitgen reported from Ashkelon and Tricia Escobedo from Atlanta.
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Israel-Gaza conflict has created widespread fear across the Jewish state . Israeli family in Ashkelon has moved three kids into grandparents' apartment . Rocket fire can be seen, heard as far away as Jerusalem, Tel Aviv . 'Iron Dome' shield has busted half of incoming rockets so far .
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(CNN) -- Typhoon Morakot dumped heavy rain on Taiwan early Saturday and threatened to further soak the recently drought-stricken island. A man fights against strong winds in Hsintien, Taipei county, Taiwan, on Friday. As of 3 a.m. local time, the storm's eye was over the northern part of the island, CNN forecaster Kevin Corriveau reported, although he noted that slow-moving Morakot is so large it encompassed the entire island. Journalist Andrew Lee in Taipei, citing local media, said the storm had blown off roofs and washed out some bridges. Corriveau said the island has received more than 39 inches (99 centimeters) of rain from the storm, which he said was expected to dump another 39 to 47 inches (99 to 119 centimeters) of rain on Taiwan. The storm made landfall carrying winds of up to 92 mph (148 km/h), with gusts up to 115 mph (185 km/h), the Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. iReport.com: See balcony view of heavy rains . Corriveau said the storm was expected to linger over the island for several more hours, and the southern portion of Morakot would likely be passing over Taiwan for hours after that. The storm's impact had already been felt by Friday morning, with mudslides and landslides occurring on the island. The area has been severely affected by drought in recent months, leaving the ground so hard that it does not absorb the rainfall, Corriveau said. Taiwan's Central News Agency, acknowledging the drought, cited the Water Resources Agency as saying that the storm had replenished the island's reservoirs and would put an end to water rationing in several areas. Watch more about the typhoon's impact » . The storm prompted airlines to cancel flights. Schools and government offices were closed ahead of Morakot's arrival, according to Taiwan's Central News Agency. Trading at the Taiwan Stock Exchange was also postponed until Monday, the news agency reported. In China, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported that governments in coastal provinces were readying themselves for the storm and had ordered fishing boats to seek shelter before Thursday night. In Fujian province, about 8.4 million text messages had been sent to citizens warning them to prepare for the typhoon, Xinhua reported. More than 900 people, including Chinese and foreign tourists, have been evacuated from the resort of Nanji Island off east China, the news agency reported. CNN's Brandon Miller contributed to this report.
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Island gets more than 39 inches of rain; 47 inches more possible . Airlines cancel flights; schools, government offices, stock exchange closed . More than 900 people evacuated from resort of Nanji Island off east China .
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(InStyle.com) -- The holiday season is also the engagement season! A gorgeous cushion-cut stunner by Daniel K. Yes, you read that right. It's been said that nearly 40 percent of all marriage proposals occur between Thanksgiving and Valentine's Day. If you're one of the lucky ladies hoping for a ring this season (or one of the nervous gentlemen contemplating popping the question), use this guide to popular diamond shapes and cuts -- and the stars who sport them -- to get acquainted with the dazzling world of engagement rings. Emerald . No shape more aptly fits the diamond nickname "ice" than the emerald, a rectangular cut with lean facets extending down the sides. This elegant art deco shape received its confusing name during the 1920s, when it was typically used for emeralds. Characterized by a flat top and step-shaped side facets, an emerald cut cries out for a clean setting. Star Power: Eva Longoria, Ellen Pompeo, Melania Knauss . Asscher . The Asschers of Amsterdam, gem cutters for the British royal family, designed this striking, dramatic shape in 1902. A square with diagonally cropped corners and stepped sides, it features a high crown and sheds a gentle light. Star Power: Tameka Foster, Ashlee Simpson, Christine Costner . Cushion . A square with curved sides and rounded corners, this stone shines softly instead of sparkling. Cushion-cut center stones surrounded by tiny diamonds are especially in vogue. Star Power: Jeri Ryan, Courtney Ford, Guiliana DePandi . Princess . Think of this flirty, flashy option as the "Yeah, baby!" stone, and not only because it was dreamt up in London during the swinging sixties. The arrangement of the gem's many (49 to 144) facets produces a hall-of-mirrors effect. Star Power: Stephanie March, Kara Janx, Sarah Michelle Gellar . Oval . Ovals have been enjoying a high profile since Tom Cruise placed a gorgeous one on Katie Holmes's finger. The cool cousin of the round, the oval shares many of that stone's features, with plenty of sparkle and versatility when it comes to settings. The long shape is especially flattering. Star Power: Bridgette Wilson, Toni Braxton, Rebecca Romijn . Pear . Made to sit with the point facing up, this lusciously feminine (and unusual) cut frequently goes solo because few wedding bands fit easily beneath the large underside of this stone. Star Power: Katherine Heigl, Lela Rochon, Tiffany Fallon . Marquise . The name for this cut comes from 18th-century Versailles, where courtiers wore ship-shaped rings as a sign of their rank. Today the marquise can be worn lengthwise or sailing sideways across the finger. Star Power: Catherine Zeta Jones, Victoria Beckham, Portia de Rossi . Round . Created by Marcel Tolkowsky in 1919, the round diamond is the most popular shape for engagement rings. It's often called the round brilliant because it has triangular facets, arranged to direct light from the bottom of the stone up through the top for maximum sparkle. Star Power: Katherine McPhee, Roselyn Sanchez, Mary J. Blige . Radiant . This rectangular stone, introduced in the seventies, lives up to its name: By combining long, lean, step-cut and triangular facets, it refracts lots of light. So if you decide on this shape, keep the setting simple. Star Power: Heidi Klum, Leslie Grossman, Anna Chlumsky . Rose-Cut . Most diamonds have a flat top with facets on the edges and bottom, but a rose-cut diamond is domed and covered with facets. Carat for carat, rose-cut diamonds, which cast a mellow, soft light, are typically less expensive than other shapes. Star Power: Melissa Akey . Get a FREE TRIAL issue of InStyle - CLICK HERE! Copyright © 2009 Time Inc. All rights reserved.
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Think of the flirty, flashy Princess cut as the "Yeah, baby!" stone . The name for the Marquise cut comes from 18th-century Versailles . A rose-cut diamond is domed and covered with facets . The round diamond is the most popular shape for engagement rings .
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NEW YORK (CNN) -- Academy Award-winning actress Tatum O'Neal was released after an arraignment at a Manhattan courtroom Monday after her weekend arrest for buying crack cocaine. No bail was set, and none was requested by the prosecutor. The 44-year-old actress, who penned a 2004 memoir about her long road to sobriety, was arrested around 7:30 p.m. Sunday on the Lower East Side of Manhattan after she was seen making a purchase from a drug dealer, police said. Investigators charged her with criminal possession of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor that carries a maximum one-year sentence. The Monday afternoon arraignment took about 15 minutes, during which the actress was read her charge. O'Neal did not enter a plea, which is not necessary at an arraignment. Her next court date is scheduled for July 28. At 10, O'Neal won an Oscar for best supporting actress in the movie "Paper Moon." She is the daughter of actor Ryan O'Neal, who starred in the 1973 film, and the ex-wife of tennis star John McEnroe, with whom she has three children. CNN's Cheryl Robinson and Rupa Mikkilineni contributed to this report.
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NEW: Tatum O'Neal arraigned Monday, released . O'Neal arrested Sunday after she was seen making a purchase from drug dealer . Investigators charged her with criminal possession of a controlled substance .
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Washington (CNN) -- At its essence, the presidential inaugural symbolizes American democracy's peaceful transition or extension of power. Every four years, the winner of the preceding November election swears to defend the Constitution. Cannons boom and bands play. It all unfolds outside in public, usually before a massive throng that thunders its approval. The simple practice and symbolism of inaugurating a president has remained consistent throughout American history -- 56 times before Sunday -- although the date, the pomp and the ceremony have changed since George Washington took the first oath 224 years ago. 13 reasons to follow the inauguration on CNN's platforms and nowhere else . The first . Thirteen years after the Declaration of Independence and more than a year and a half after the Constitution was ratified, Washington was sworn in on April 20, 1789, at Federal Hall in New York. The capital city later named for Washington was just a swamp at the time. He set the precedent of kissing the Bible after the oath. Champagne glasses and buttons galore: Obama swag at Inaugural store . Franklin Pierce broke the tradition of kissing the Bible. He placed his left hand on it instead in 1853. Washington is also credited with creating other traditions. For instance, he started the inaugural parade when government officials, members of Congress, Army units, and prominent citizens escorted him to the ceremony. The oath . The oath of office is specified in Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution. The oath for other federal officials, including the vice president, is not in the Constitution. The oath of office reads, "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. All dressed up and nowhere to go: The date night that Ticketmaster messed up . The "(or affirm)" allows the president-elect to choose to affirm or to swear the oath of office. Only Pierce and Herbert Hoover chose to affirm rather than swear their oath. The words "so help me God" do not appear in the Constitutional oath. That phrase was supposedly ad-libbed by Washington, setting a precedent for future presidents. President Barack Obama has requested his oath include the phrase. The Bible . A personal aspect of the inauguration is the Bible. John F. Kennedy was the first Catholic president -- his religious identity was a contentious issue in his run for office. By the Numbers: Presidential inaugurations . Only three presidents did not use a Bible: John Qunicy Adams opted for a volume of law; Theodore Roosevelt used no Bible or book at his first inauguration in 1901. Lyndon Johnson used John F. Kennedy's Roman Catholic Missal during his hastily arranged swearing-in aboard Air Force One en route to Washington following Kennedy's assassination in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. The speech . Like fingerprints, no inaugural address is the same -- they come in all lengths, tones and with all kinds of different motives. Some aim to set the agenda for the president's term, others aim to define how the president will govern. Washington delivered the shortest address at his second inauguration in Philadelphia. It totaled 135 words. The longest was about 8,500 words and delivered by William Henry Harrison, who refused to wear coat on the cold March day in 1841. He caught a cold and died from pneumonia a month later. Memorable lines . Some memorable lines from inaugural addresses: . "With malice toward none, with charity for all." - Abraham Lincoln, March 1865. "Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." - Franklin . D. Roosevelt, March 1933. "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country." - John F. Kennedy, January 1961. Second inaugural address puts Obama in select company . Pastor backs out of inauguration . Double Take . January 20 falls on a Sunday this year as it did in 1917, 1957 and 1985. As a result, Obama will take the official oath in a private ceremony that day at the White House. He will follow up with the public ceremony on Monday at the Capitol. Obama will be the first president to have two oaths administered publicly and privately. In 2009, Chief Justice John Roberts flubbed the oath as he read it Obama during the public ceremony. They did it again the next day at the White House to leave no question . iReport: I hope Obama will... Other facts: . Thomas Jefferson was the first president inaugurated in Washington, March 1801. The first inauguration on January 20 by decree of the 20th Amendment was in 1937. Andrew Jackson was the first to take the oath on the East Front of the Capitol. Ronald Reagan of California was the first to be inaugurated on the West Front of the Capitol in 1980. Jimmy Carter, in 1976, was the first to walk from the Capitol to the White House. The first inaugural streamed live on the Internet was Bill Clinton's second ceremony in 1997. 13,000 troops to descend on D.C. for inauguration . CNN's Connor Finnegan and Robert Yoon contributed to this report .
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George Washington's first inauguration took place on April 30, 1789, and not in the city named for him . As allowed by the Constitution, only two presidents chose to "affirm" rather than swear their oaths . Obama will be sworn-in twice; once on Sunday in private and again on Monday in public . Inaugurations were predominantly on March 4 until 1937. Since, January 20 is the date .
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(CNN) -- If the U.S. election race conjures up images of mud flying through the air for many Japanese, campaigning politicians in the Land of the Rising Sun evoke visions of a more white-gloved affair. Japan's politics are as Machiavellian as anyone else's behind closed doors, but their public campaigns are demure compared to the United States -- and many in Tokyo are aghast at the negative campaign tactics used on the road to the White House. Japan has plenty on its mind these days. The country is wrangling with questions about how to rebuild its tsunami-devastated coast, what to do with its idled nuclear reactors, and whether a tax hike will solve its economic woes, so it's no surprise if people in Tokyo aren't riveted to the lead-up to the U.S. elections. But the U.S. is important to Japan's economy and to Japan's increasingly rocky relationship with North Korea, so people are not ignoring it completely -- even if U.S. politics falls somewhere below the 'retirement' of a young pop idol in the morning shows' news order. For those not up on their Japanese pop, Atsuko Maeda's surprise announcement that she was leaving mega-pop idol group AKB48 in March got as much breathless coverage in Tokyo, maybe more, than Rick Santorum garnered in the U.S. press for his decision to exit stage right of the 2012 Republican primaries. In the 2008 Democratic primaries, Japanese observers saw Hillary Clinton as a powerful and intriguing former first lady, but it was Barack Obama's historic run that got even more attention when a small coastal city that happened to bear his name formed the "Obama for Obama" support group. Japan watched the group cheer as the Super Tuesday election results came in 2008. They still make sweet steamed bean buns, called manju, with Barack Obama's picture on them and have announced plans to erect a statue of him in town. The idea that whoever won the 2008 Democratic nomination would make history was exciting for the Japanese. This time around, most people see the current field of Republican hopefuls as a noisy blur, an only-in-America phenomenon -- or a "matsuri," as one woman described it, in reference to Japan's colorful, oft-chaotic outdoor festivals. The notion that American campaigning is a complicated "show" was mentioned repeatedly by the people I spoke to, and Twitter is filled with Japanese observers likening U.S. politics to "watching a movie". One thing that adds to the unreality of it is the issues at play. While there are right-wing parties in Japan, their focus tends to be a noisy brand of nationalism, rather than the emphasis on religious values embraced by Republican candidates like Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum. The major newspapers have recently carried election primers on the role of Mormonism and evangelical Christianity in the election. One such piece asked: "What is this 'evangelical Christianity' we hear about in the U.S. elections?" Religion simply isn't as loud a voice in Japanese politics as it is in the American election race. Read more: Election postcard from Paris . Not that the U.S. has any kind of monopoly on noise. Rules dating back to the 1950s heavily restrict how Japanese politicians can campaign. These laws prevent candidates from taking to Twitter or updating their websites during the 12-day campaign period. In that short time, white-gloved candidates drive around waving from their campaign cars, repeating their names and asking for votes over loudspeakers attached to the car roofs. Japanese candidates park their cars at intersections with heavy foot traffic and make speeches with microphones plugged into portable amps in front of some of the busiest train stations in the world. While small crowds do gather, people generally tolerate the racket only grudgingly. When a British man was arrested last spring for grabbing a microphone from a candidate in front of a train station in a Tokyo suburb and shouting, "Japanese elections are too noisy," he found an outpouring of support online from Japanese people who were also quietly fed up with the racket. Many Japanese are intrigued by the idea of the U.S. candidates' debates. The handyman in my Tokyo flat complex told me the debates are the reason that he thinks the US election process is "better than Japan's." "The debates are on TV, right? That gives everyone a chance to listen to the candidates, understand what they believe, and then make up their minds," he said. "We don't have anything like that, so we don't know as much about who the candidates actually are before we vote." Those who watch the elections more closely view the debates and the hoopla around them more warily. One Japanese student told me: "What's good about the 'show' side of the debates is that it gets more people to watch. But ultimately you don't know if you're getting the candidate's own views or just hearing what his team of strategists came up with. It's easy for people to be manipulated by the politicians and the people behind them." Many Japanese people say that they don't fully understand the U.S. election system, and I am quick to reassure them that many of us Americans wouldn't want to be tested on it, either. But they have the sense that the American elections are more direct, and that the U.S. is therefore a more representative democracy. Read more: Election postcard from Cairo . Japan has a symbolic emperor and a parliament, and citizens do not directly elect their leader. There are no primaries; party leaders choose candidates. Since the campaign season is so short, they often look for candidates who will have good name recognition. This is why the less-powerful Upper House of the Diet often hosts a cast of minor celebrities including TV anchors, talk show commentators -- and even a handful of pro-wrestlers. The most colorful of these was Atsushi Onita, who didn't shy from mentioning his signature "thunder fire powerbomb" move in the Diet. The need for name recognition is one reason why political seats are seemingly passed down within families. The handyman explained, "When a politician's son or daughter runs for office, we say, 'Oh, that's so-and-so's kid, he'll do,' without giving it too much more thought." He's clearly not the only one who thinks this way -- a study in 2009 found that a quarter of Diet members and almost half of the LDP legislators at the time were the children of former politicians. Even if the American election itself seems inscrutable to Japanese voters, the result -- a leader who is in office for at least four years -- looks good. Japan has had four prime ministers since Obama won the 2008 election, and the margin for error is thin. The Ph.D. student says, "Fixed terms in the U.S. mean that even a sloppy start can be redeemed, but in Japan, they dissolve the Diet easily, so they can't recover from mistakes." As Japan slowly rebuilds after the earthquake, calls are growing for a system with a stronger, more directly elected leader and a more efficient system of government. Japan will be looking at what parts of the U.S. system it might want to draw from and what it could improve. And until then, Tokyo will be looking up from its smartphones once in awhile at the American political matsuri.
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While Japanese campaigns are more civilized, the Japanese enjoy the more boisterous U.S. election race . The Japanese city of Obama formed the "Obama for Obama" group in 2008 . Religion isn't as loud a voice in Japanese politics as it is in America, reports Barron .
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(CNN) -- Singer-impressionist-comedian Danny Gans died early Friday at his Las Vegas, Nevada, home, according to the hotel where he was based. Danny Gans was one of Las Vegas' top entertainers and recently moved to the Encore Theatre. Gans, 52, was voted Las Vegas "Entertainer of the Year" for 11 of the 13 years he was based there. There was no immediate word on the cause of death. "Everybody knew that when they came to Vegas, the one show they had to see was Danny Gans," said Robin Leach, who covers the Vegas entertainment scene on his Web site. Hotel mogul Steve Wynn, who signed Gans to star in his Encore Theatre in February, said he was "devastated at the loss of our brilliant, talented and loving friend." "One of the most unique human beings and entertainers in the world has been taken from us in an unexpected moment," Wynn said. "A profoundly tragic event that leaves us all sad and speechless." Gans is survived by his wife, Julie, two daughters and a son. "When he landed the residencies here in Vegas, he was thrilled that he would be able to go home every night to Julie and the three kids," Leach said. His long Vegas run began in 1996, when he gave up his one-man Broadway show and a tour schedule of 200 shows a year for a three-month gig at the Stratosphere Hotel. He signed a nine-year deal to play in his own 1,250-seat theater at the Mirage Hotel starting in 2000. Some reports put the contract at $200 million. When that expired early this year, Gans moved to the Encore Theatre, which sits between the Encore Hotel and the Wynn Las Vegas hotel. "He was an absolute genius with the art of impersonation," Leach said. "There was nobody that he couldn't imitate, and he was uncanny." Gans was working on an impersonation of President Obama, which he considered a tough assignment, Leach said. Watch Gans speak with Larry King » . The easiest voice to imitate, Gans told Leach, was TV host Regis Philbin. "When Regis came to see the show, Regis said, 'I thought I was talking out loud,' " Leach said. Being great at being other people can limit your own fame, Leach said. "Impersonating other stars doesn't give you too many opportunities out there in mainstream show business, to be honest," he said. "But what he did was the best there was in the business, and Vegas was the ultimate place to perform that act." Gans released an album of his musical impersonations this year, but his records have not sold well outside Las Vegas, Leach said. Gans, however, never aspired to be a global household name, he said. "There was no lust for fame outside the fame he had here in this valley," Leach said. "I think he would have been very successful if he jumped on that treadmill of insanity." The biography on his personal Web site says that out of college, Gans played minor league baseball for two years, until a career-ending injury. He then turned to entertainment, traveling for 15 years before landing in Vegas.
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NEW: "One show [Vegas visitors] had to see was Danny Gans," said Robin Leach . Danny Gans was Las Vegas singer-impressionist-comedian . Gans was named Vegas "Entertainer of the Year" 11 times . Gans had own theater at Mirage, later moved to Encore .
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PARIS, France (CNN) -- Friends and relatives of the 216 passengers and 12 crew members on Air France Flight 447 are coming to terms with the news that wreckage from the flight was found in the Atlantic Ocean. Eithne Walls, who danced with Riverdance on Broadway, was aboard Air France flight 447. Among those on board were a member of Brazil's former royal family, a one-time performer with the Riverdance troupe, a Rio city official, executives from major international companies and an 11-year-old British schoolboy. Pedro Luis de Orleans e Braganca, 26, was a descendant of the family that ruled Brazil until 1889, a branch of the former Portuguese royal family. The Orleans and Braganca family considered him to be fourth in line to the throne. Pedro Luis was the oldest son of Prince Antonio and Princess Christine, the family said. He was the only member of the family on the flight, his relatives said. Eithne Walls, who danced with Riverdance on Broadway, was also on the plane, said Julian Erskine, senior executive producer of the troupe. "I never saw her without a smile on her face," Erskine said in a statement. "It is hard to believe that such a bright light could be quenched so early and while burning so brilliantly." She joined the Irish dance troupe in 1998 and performed with them for most of a decade, studying medicine at the same time, Erskine said. Watch CNN's Paula Newton report on families awaiting news of Air France Flight 447 » . "Anyone who traveled with Eithne will remember the medical books always on the go and her constant attention to her studies," he said. "Without doubt she was someone with a rich future stretching out ahead of her." The wife one passenger said Tuesday she was only beginning to come to grips with the likelihood that he is dead. "I have to say, maybe today I'm realizing he might not come back," Patricia Coakley told a reporter about her husband, Arthur. The structural engineer and designer had completed a business trip to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and was flying to Paris, France, on his way back to their home in Whitby, North Yorkshire, near England's northeast coast. Coakley said her husband hated his cell phones and usually left them switched off. "But yesterday it was ringing, so maybe they're not at the bottom of the sea. That's my hope. But I think it's maybe fading today." He had originally planned to return home on May 19, but his boss asked him to stay in Brazil until Sunday, she said. "He shouldn't have been on that flight," she said. "He should have been on the earlier flight." In a telephone call he told her he was excited about returning to see their three children and their plans to go on vacation Friday to the Greek island of Corfu, she said. "All his stuff's ready should he turn up," she added. "We had so many plans, and they've taken it all away, haven't they?" she asked rhetorically, without identifying "they." "God wouldn't be so cruel." She described her husband as a religious man. "It used to drive me mad. He used to read the Bible every night. And if he thought he was going to get pissed [drunk], he used to read it before he left the house." The two loved to travel, and he would ask her, "Where should we go next, darling?" she recalled. But they had been based in England for 25 years to give their children a sense of stability, she said. "His priority was sea view and mine was trees and we found it," she said, pointing to both, her eyes welling. "It was just going to be repainted next week." Thinking about the moment when an apparent catastrophic failure caused the jet and its 228 occupants to plunge into the ocean, she said, "I hope Art was asleep and I hope he wasn't frightened." "I know if he was awake, he would have been thinking of us." The passengers on Flight 447 also included Marcelo Parente, chief of staff in the office of Rio de Janeiro's mayor. Two executives of Michelin, one of the world's leading tire manufacturers, also were aboard the plane, a Michelin spokeswoman said. They were Luiz Roberto Anastacio, president of Michelin Latin America, and Antonio Gueiros, another top regional executive. Michelin employee Christine Pieraerts was also among the passengers, the company said. The spokeswoman said that Michelin was saddened by the tragedy. Alexander Bjoroy, 11, was on his way home to England after a vacation in Brazil, the headmaster of his school said. He was a "well-liked and respected boarder who will be sorely missed by his fellow pupils and staff," said John Milne, the head of Clifton College Preparatory School in Bristol, England. Milne expressed the school's "deepest sympathies" to the boy's family. The passengers included 61 people from France, 58 Brazilians, 26 Germans and people from 29 other countries, Air France said. An official list of victims by name was not available early Tuesday, but two Americans -- Michael Harris, 60, and his wife, Anne, 54 -- were identified by the couple's family and his employer. "Anne and Mike were indeed a beautiful couple inside and out, and I miss them terribly already," said Anne Harris' sister, Mary Miley. Michael Harris was a geologist in Rio de Janeiro for Devon Energy, a U.S.-based natural gas and oil producer, according to a company spokesman. The Harrises were traveling to Paris for a training seminar and vacation, Miley said. CNN's Isa Soares, Helena DeMoura, Alysen Miller and Lianne Turner contributed to this report.
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Member of Brazil's former royal family among 216 passengers on missing plane . One-time performer with Riverdance troupe, British schoolboy also aboard . Air France flight disappeared over Atlantic after taking off from Brazil . Majority of the presumed dead came from Brazil, France and Germany .
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(CNN) -- Italian newspapers, an archbishop and civil liberties campaigners expressed shock and revulsion on Monday after photographs were published of sunbathers apparently enjoying a day at the beach just meters from where the bodies of two drowned Roma girls were laid out on the sand. Photographs of the dead Roma girls on a beach caused outrage in Italy. Italian news agency ANSA reported that the incident had occurred on Saturday at the beach of Torregaveta, west of Naples, southern Italy, where the two girls had earlier been swimming in the sea with two other Roma girls. Reports said they had gone to the beach to beg and sell trinkets. Local news reports said the four girls found themselves in trouble amid fierce waves and strong currents. Emergency services responded 10 minutes after a distress call was made from the beach and two lifeguards attended the girls upon hearing their screams. Two of them were pulled to safety but rescuers failed to reach the other two in time to save them. Watch why the photos have generated anger » . The Web site of the Archbishop of Naples said the girls were cousins named Violetta and Cristina, aged 12 and 13. Their bodies were eventually laid out on the sand under beach towels to await collection by police. Photographs show sunbathers in bikinis and swimming trunks sitting close to where the girls' feet can be seen poking out from under the towels concealing their bodies. A photographer who took photos at the scene told CNN the mood among sunbathers had been one of indifference. Other photos show police officers lifting the bodies into coffins and carrying them away past bathers reclined on sun loungers. "While the lifeless bodies of the girls were still on the sand, there were those who carried on sunbathing or having lunch just a few meters away," Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported. Corriere della Sera said that a crowd of curious onlookers that had formed around the bodies quickly dispersed. "Few left the beach or abandoned their sunbathing. When the police from the mortuary arrived an hour later with coffins, the two girls were carried away between bathers stretched out in the sun." The incident also attracted condemnation from the Archbishop of Naples, Cardinal Crecenzio Seppe. "Indifference is not an emotion for human beings," Seppe wrote in his parish blog. "To turn the other way or to mind your own business can sometimes be more devastating than the events that occur." Recent weeks have seen heightened tensions between Italian authorities and the country's Roma minority amid a crackdown by Silvo Berlusconi's government targeting illegal immigrants and talk by government officials of a "Roma emergency" that has seen the 150,000-strong migrant group blamed for rising street crime. That has provided justification for police raids on Roma camps and controversial government plans to fingerprint all Roma -- an act condemned by the European Parliament and United Nations officials as a clear act of racial discrimination. Popular resentment against Romanies has also seen Roma camps near Naples attacked and set on fire with petrol bombs by local residents. In a statement published on its Web site, the Italian civil liberties group EveryOne said Saturday's drowning had occurred in an atmosphere of "racism and horror" and cast doubt on the reported version of events, suggesting that it appeared unusual for the four girls to wade into the sea, apparently casting modesty aside and despite being unable to swim. "The most shocking aspect of all this is the attitude of the people on the beach," the statement said. "No one appears the slightest upset at the sight and presence of the children's dead bodies on the beach: they carry on swimming, sunbathing, sipping soft drinks and chatting." CNN's Jennifer Eccleston contributed to this report.
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Italian outrage over photos of sunbathers at a beach where two Roma girls drowned . Photos showed girls' bodies lying on sand covered in beach towels . Newspapers report beach goers eating lunch, sun bathing as bodies carried away . Incident occurred amid heightened tensions between authorities, Roma minority .
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Washington (CNN) -- You may drive a hybrid car, eat organic food, use "green" beauty products and design your home according to the latest environmentally friendly standards. But if you haven't considered "greening your love life, you are still a total environmental disaster," according to Stefanie Iris Weiss, author of the recently released book, "Eco-Sex." How should it work? Should you envision melting glaciers during a romantic dinner with your significant other? Well, not quite. It could be as simple as where you choose to go on a date. "How about going to a restaurant where you can eat a seductive menu based on organic, local food, which has produced less carbon dioxide before it ends up on your plate?" Weiss suggested. She is hoping to steer people away from "dirty" sex toward eco-sex. That means: . • Hop on your bike for your next date and leave your car at home. (That means saying "adieu" to long-distance relationships.) • Stop excessive spending on Valentine's Day. (It produces way too much trash anyway.) • Wear comfy bamboo underwear. • Don't be so keen on having babies. How about adopting a child instead or implementing a one-child policy? Weiss' theory is not entirely new. Greenpeace published a guide to "environmentally friendly sex" in 2002, which includes "switching off the lights during romance" or "if you want to see your partner, have sex during the day." But Weiss goes further: She covers everything from your first date to raising your kids "green." She also suggests keeping the environment in mind when your sex drive is fading. Viagra, she says, is overrated. "People should eat oysters as an aphrodisiac instead," Weiss says. "They are a full of zinc, a precursor of testosterone. Casanova himself was known to eat them in great quantities before sex." On the streets of Washington, the idea of an eco-friendly love life is met with laughter. "How green is my love life? Are you serious? Don't be absurd!" were the most common reactions from people on the street. But the concept is in full display at a local sex shop. "We sell organic oils, edible underwear and toys that are completely recyclable," says Luis Cadillos, a salesman at Georgetown's "Pleasure Place." "The problem is our customers are embarrassed to dispose their toys properly." He says he thinks promoting an eco-friendly sex life could be "big business." "We should have an extra shelf for our green-conscious customers," Cadillos suggests. His colleague, Paula Kov, is less enthusiastic about the idea. "I try to live environmentally friendly, but it goes way over the top to think about [carbon dioxide reduction] in my love life," she says. Climate activist Mike Tidwell disagrees. "I never thought about how green my love life is. But in fact this is about reducing our extensive consumption and that should concern every part of our life," he says. Tidwell, who is the director of Chesapeake Climate Action Network in Washington, decided long ago to have only one child. "But I am glad the book doesn't prohibit making love outdoors," Tidwell joked. "That produces zero carbon dioxide." It's clear in Weiss' 200-page book that she is using sex to promote a completely green lifestyle. But is that such a bad thing? "With sex anything sells. Even the environment," Weiss says. She says she is hoping that, in the midst of the global climate crisis debate, her book "may finally approach those green-grumps, who don't know the basics about living an environmentally friendly life." That doesn't seem likely after reading conservative blogger William Teach's post on her book: . "I actually hope the climate alarmists, consisting of mostly liberals, take her advice on how to have eco-friendly sex without getting pregnant," Teach posted on rightwingnews.com. "The world could use a whole lot less unhinged liberals taught by their unhinged liberal parents." John Bargh, who teaches psychology at Yale University, sees a different problem with the eco-sex theory. Thinking about the environmental impact of your love life, he says, goes against human nature. "Human beings are irrational," he says. "We make decisions based on our desire, especially when it comes to love."
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Author Stefanie Iris Weiss wants you to make your love life green . She says couples should go for a bike ride and leave their car at home . She suggests older men eat oysters instead of taking Viagra .
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(CNN) -- The stepfather of a missing Maryland boy was charged Thursday with first-degree murder after the boy's mother was found dead, police said. Curtis Lopez, 45, was arrested Thursday morning in Charlotte, North Carolina, after a warrant was issued, said Chief Tom Manger of the Montgomery County, Maryland, police. An Amber Alert has been issued for the boy, 11-year-old William McQuain, who remains missing, police said. Homicide detectives from Montgomery County were on their way to Charlotte on Thursday. "Our focus and our priority now is locating William McQuain," Manger told reporters Thursday. He held up two pictures of the sixth-grader, one a class picture and the other showing him in a baseball uniform. The case began Wednesday afternoon when a friend of the boy's mother reported her missing, saying he had not seen her for about two weeks and that he was concerned for her welfare, Manger said. Police learned her son had not been in school since Sept. 30. When detectives arrived at the woman's home in Germantown, they found Jane McQuain, 51, dead in her bedroom with evidence of trauma to her upper body, Manger said. Her son was not there and the woman's vehicle, a Honda CRV, was gone. Lopez was McQuain's husband and had been known to frequent her residence but did not appear to live there, Manger said. Witnesses told police they saw him recently at the home, removing property and loading it into McQuain's Honda, he said. The car was found Thursday morning, but police would not reveal where. Detectives contacted Lopez on Wednesday night, before they found McQuain's body, Manger said. Once the body was found and the case was ruled a homicide, Lopez, based on his inconsistent statements, became a person of interest, he said. "We were hoping that we would find (William) with Mr. Lopez and we did not, so we are asking for the public's help in locating 11-year-old William McQuain," Manger said. "My hope is that he may be with a family member or a friend that perhaps has no idea what's occurred with his mother, but as time goes on it becomes, I guess, more and more of a long shot that that's the case," he said. Jane McQuain was probably dead for 10 to 12 days before police found her, Manger said. Police believe Lopez may have had a residence in North Carolina, Capt. Paul Starks of the Montgomery County police told CNN, but they have few other details linking him to the area. William McQuain is described as a light-skinned African-American, about 5 feet tall and weighing about 85 pounds. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is urged to call 911, police said. CNN's Brittany Kaplan contributed to this report.
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NEW: Police charge boy's stepfather with murder of his mother . Amber Alert has been issued for William McQuain, 11 . The sixth-grader was last seen at school September 30 . His mother was found dead in the home Wednesday, police say .
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Editor's note: Jameel Jaffer and Amrit Singh are attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union and co-authors of "Administration of Torture: A Documentary Record from Washington to Abu Ghraib and Beyond". Jaffer is counsel to the plaintiffs in ACLU v. Department of Defense, a lawsuit that has forced the release of more than 100,000 pages of government documents concerning the abuse of prisoners. Singh is lead counsel in the suit seeking disclosure of photographs of U.S. personnel abusing prisoners at overseas locations. Jameel Jaffer says the courts have ruled that refusal to disclose the abuse photos was unlawful. (CNN) -- Last week President Obama announced that he would suppress prisoner abuse photographs that he earlier said he would release. Given the president's stated commitment to government transparency, this reversal was both surprising and profoundly disappointing. The ACLU has sought release of these photos for almost six years. In October 2003, we filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act for records -- including photographs -- relating to the abuse of prisoners in U.S. detention facilities overseas. In 2005, a federal judge in New York ruled that the Bush administration's refusal to disclose the photographs was unlawful, and in 2008 a federal appeals court unanimously affirmed that decision. The Bush administration continued to suppress the photos, and now President Obama has vowed to do the same. The photos are a critical part of the historical record. The government has acknowledged that they depict prisoner abuse at locations other than Abu Ghraib, and it's clear that the photos would provide irrefutable evidence that abuse was widespread and systemic. The photos would also shed light on the connection between the abuse and the decisions of high-level Bush administration officials. As the district court recognized, the photos are "the best evidence of what happened." In explaining his change of heart, President Obama said that the release of the photos "would not add any additional benefit" to the ongoing public debate about the abuse of prisoners. But the ongoing public debate is rife with false claims, and the photos would expose the truth. The Bush administration told the public that abuse was aberrational and isolated, and many media organizations adopted this fraudulent narrative as their own. But even President Obama, in explaining his reversal, perpetuated the myth that the abuse of prisoners "was carried out in the past by a small number of individuals." President Obama's statement was meant to explain why the photos would not inform the public debate, but it only underscored why the release of the photographs is so important. Many Americans still believe that abuse took place in spite of policy rather than because of it. The truth is that senior officials authorized the use of barbaric interrogation methods that the U.S. once prosecuted as war crimes, and even abuse that was not expressly authorized was traceable to a climate in which abuse was tolerated and often encouraged. The photos would help tell this story. President Obama's other rationale for suppressing the photographs is that they would "inflame anti-American opinion and put our troops in greater danger," an argument that was repeatedly rejected by the courts when made by the Bush administration. Nobody, of course, wants to see anyone get hurt by the release of this or any other information. But the fundamental problem with the government's argument is that it lacks a limiting principle. Any photograph of prisoner abuse, civilian casualties in Afghanistan, or U.S. military operations in Iraq could be used to "inflame anti-American opinion"; indeed, the same is true of any news article that discusses (for example) torture, Guantanamo, or the CIA's secret prisons. iReport.com: Did Obama make the right decision on photos? To give the government the power to suppress information because it might anger an unidentified set of people in an unspecified part of the world and ultimately endanger an ill-defined group of U.S. personnel would be to invest it with a virtually unlimited censorial power. And by investing it with such power, we would effectively be affording the greatest protection from disclosure to records that depict the worst kinds of government misconduct. President Obama has inherited a legacy of lawlessness and abuse, and it's not easy to untangle that. But the idea that suppressing the photographs will help the country turn the page on the last eight years is misguided. We cannot make a clean break with the past until the public knows what happened in the detention centers and why. Blinding ourselves to the ugly consequences of the Bush administration's policies only deprives us of the opportunity to learn from recent history. And if we fail to learn from this history, we are bound to repeat it. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Jameel Jaffer and Amrit Singh.
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ACLU lawyers: We filed Freedom of Information request for abuse records . They say courts have ruled that government can't withhold the photos . Lawyers: Release of photos would show extent of prisoner abuse . They say government shouldn't stop release because of possible negative reaction .
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(CNN) -- The United States' top male tennis player John Isner will miss the Australian Open with a knee injury. Isner crashed out in the second round of the Sydney International warm-up event -- where he was top seed -- to fellow American Ryan Harrison and complained of a recurrence of the injury which kept him out the recent Hopman Cup tournament in Perth. "I am extremely disappointed to announce that I have to withdraw from the Australian Open," Isner, who had been seeded 13th for the year's first grand slam, told the ATP Tour's official website on Thursday. "I have been feeling some discomfort in my knee and have recently learned that I have a bone bruise. "My doctors have told me that continuing to play on the knee could result in a more serious injury, so I have regrettably decided not to compete in Melbourne and use the time to fully recover." Isner, a winner of five titles since turning pro in 2007, has never advanced beyond the fourth round of the Melbourne grand slam. He will be replaced in the draw by a lucky loser from one of the qualifying competitions. The 27-year-old's best performance in one of tennis' four marquee tournaments came in 2010 when he reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open. Harrison chalked up his first ever win over an opponent ranked inside the world's top 15 with his 6-4 6-4 success against Isner on Wednesday, but he lost his quarterfinal match 6-4 6-2 to Frenchman Julien Benneteau. Benneteau, the 2012 Sydney runner-up, will now be seeded at the Australian Open following Isner's withdrawal. He will play big-serving Kevin Anderson in the Sydney semifinals after the 36th-ranked South African beat Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin 6-4 6-3. World No. 35 Benneteau holds a 2-0 winning career record over Anderson and he is confident of extending that in their last four contest. "He's playing good," said the 31-year-old. "He's a dangerous player with a very big serve but I know I can beat him." Australia's Bernard Tomic also reached the last four, with the 20-year-old beating veteran Finn Jarkko Nieminen 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 6-2. He will face either Italian third seed Andreas Seppi or Spanish No. 8 Marcel Granollers.
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U.S. No. 1 John Isner will miss the Australian Open due to a bruised bone in knee . World No. 13 complained of the injury after his loss to Ryan Harrison in Sydney . Compatriot Harrison beaten in quarterfinals by Julien Benneteau on Thursday . World No. 35 Benneteau will now be seeded for Melbourne grand slam in Isner's absence .
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Washington (CNN) -- Firings and charges against Justice Department officials who oversaw the agency's flawed gun-running operation are likely to come in the next six months, Attorney General Eric Holder said Thursday. Holder was speaking before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on the controversial sting operation called Operation Fast and Furious. Asked what steps he had taken since the controversy came to light 13 months ago, Holder said he is awaiting the conclusions of an internal investigation. Regarding people found culpable in that inquiry, he said, "I can assure you those people will be removed from federal service." Any possible charges will not be filed until the department has the evidence to get a conviction, he said at the hearing. The operation, designed to monitor the flow of weapons, allowed illegally purchased firearms to be taken from U.S. gun stores across the Mexican border to drug cartels. However, hundreds of weapons were lost or unaccounted for, and a storm of outrage erupted when two of the missing weapons were found at a site where Border Patrol agent Brian Terry was killed in December 2010. Terry's family filed a $25 million wrongful death claim Wednesday against the federal government, charging that U.S. investigators allowed murder weapons into the hands of criminals. "The murder of Agent Terry and other acts of violent crimes were the natural consequence of (the) decision to let dangerous weapons designed to kill human beings 'walk' into the hands of violent drug-trafficking gangs," the claim said. Democrats and Republicans have been at odds over who knew what about the operation and when. At the outset of the hearing, new information on the operation was scarce, and the back-and-forth between members of the two parties dominated. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-California, threatened to begin a contempt proceeding against Holder to force him to release more documents and pressed him for proof that such gun-running will not happen again. Republicans are investigating how high up the operation was sanctioned, while Democrats defended Holder's testimony that he did not know about it. The showdown comes after Issa and the Justice Department exchanged sharp letters in recent days. The Justice Department sent a pointed letter to Issa late Wednesday, rejecting his demand on Tuesday that certain documents be turned over by next week. In his letter to Holder, Issa blasted the Justice Department for dumping -- after the close of business Friday -- important, long-sought documents that disclosed that Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer had discussed with Mexican officials a plan to allow illegal guns "to walk" into Mexico, where Mexican officials would arrest the gun-runners. Issa said an e-mail showed that "Breuer suggested allowing straw purchasers cross in Mexico so (Mexican authorities) can arrest, prosecute and convict." "These new documents show that Breuer made this statement on February 4, 2011, the same day Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich wrote to Congress denying that the department allowed guns to walk," Issa said. The Justice Department fired back Wednesday, claiming that Issa's letter showed "significant misunderstanding both of the documents we recently produced and of the Department's position on the issues you raise." The five-page letter signed by Deputy Attorney General James Cole strongly rejected the claim that the documents show that Breuer supported letting illegal guns make their way to Mexican cartels. "Assistant Attorney General Breuer proposed to his Mexican counterparts a scenario in which those carrying illegal weapons across the border would be arrested at the border by Mexican officials and charged in Mexico. While these officials ultimately did not pursue that strategy, it is neither fair nor accurate to say that this was advocacy of 'gunwalking'. It was not." Republicans have pressed to learn whether top Obama administration officials were aware of the controversial tactics, but to date, Breuer is the highest-ranking official shown to have any awareness of any possible gun-running operation. Democrats have released documents suggesting that the U.S. attorney's office in Phoenix and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives field office in Phoenix were at the heart of the decision-making in developing sting operations, including Operation Fast and Furious. Issa said in his letter to Holder that, "if the department continues to obstruct the congressional inquiry by not providing documents and information, this committee will have no alternative but to move forward with proceedings to hold you in contempt of Congress." The Justice Department response Wednesday rejected Issa's February 9 deadline to produce all demanded documents. Cole called the deadline "impossible" to meet because of the broad scope of the request. He did not directly refer to the threat of a contempt charge by Issa.
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NEW: Slain agent's family filed a $25 million wrongful death claim . Attorney General Eric Holder says consequences for the operation are near . Republican Rep. Darrell Issa is demanding documents from the Justice Department . Issa has threatened Holder with contempt if a deadline for the documents is not met .
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(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 .
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Earth has warmed one degree in past 100 years . Majority of scientists say greenhouse gases are causing temperatures to rise . Some critics say planets often in periods of warming or cooling .
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(Ars Technica) -- Bloomberg is reporting that Microsoft will cease development of its family of Zune-branded music players due to weak demand and a desire to focus on its smartphone platform. Zune will live on as a software and services platform, according to Bloomberg's source. Windows Phone 7 embeds the Zune player for media playback on the phone, uses the Zune Marketplace for online music sales, and the Zune PC software for media syncing and firmware updates. These uses will be unhindered by the cancellation of the standalone Zune hardware. Since their introduction in 2006, the Zune players always played second fiddle -- if that -- to Apple's iPod line. The 2009 Zune HD model was a well-received, well-designed, and supremely elegant device, but it was a case of too little, too late. It was competing against Apple's iPod touch, with its enormous App Store advantage. Microsoft also did little to promote the Zune brand beyond US borders; the original models were also available in Canada, but until recently, the Zune HD was US-only. As a result, Microsoft failed to threaten Apple's dominance, leaving Cupertino to take 77% of the digital music player market last year. Ars Technica: Zune marketplace going to Europe, Down Under . Over the past couple of months, rumors have been swirling around that Zune would either be killed off or rebranded, and Microsoft has yet to officially confirm the hardware's demise. The apparent decision to cancel the standalone hardware may be the fact behind the rumors, or this could be the first step in a complete overhaul and rebranding of the platform, possibly codenamed "Ventura." The decision to end Zune hardware production also means that it's unlikely that Microsoft will ever mimic Apple and produce an iPod touch equivalent for Windows Phone 7 -- the phone platform without the phone part. COPYRIGHT 2010 ARSTECHNICA.COM .
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Microsoft will cease development of its family of Zune-branded music players . It is due to weak demand and a desire to focus on its smartphone platform . Since their introduction in 2006, the Zune players always played second to Apple's iPod line .
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(CNN) -- A powerful magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck off the coast of El Salvador late Sunday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported . The epicenter of the quake was about 177 kilometers (110 miles) southeast of the capital, San Salvador, and took place nearly 33 miles underground. Some minor shaking was reported. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. A tsunami warning was issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center for El Salvador and the neighboring countries of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Panama and Mexico. A small wave caused by the quake was recorded at Acajutla, El Salvador, measuring about 10 centimeters (4 inches). El Salvador is on the so-called Ring of Fire, an arc of fault lines circling the Pacific Basin that is prone to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. CNN's Jessica King, Merlin Delcid and Norman Powell contributed to this report.
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NEW: A small wave of about 10 centimeters (4 inches) was recorded at Acajutla, El Salvador . The earthquake took place nearly 53 kilometers (33 miles) underground . There were reports of minor shaking, but no damage or injuries . The region is prone to earthquakes .
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Washington (CNN) -- The Obama administration is putting the final touches on a security assistance package totaling as much as $2 billion over five years to help Pakistan fight extremists on its border with Afghanistan, senior U.S. officials and diplomatic sources tell CNN. The aid is expected to be announced later this week when Pakistani officials are in Washington to hold high-level talks. The package aims to address Pakistan's insistence it does not have the capability to go after terrorists, and needs more support from the United States, the sources said. The aid will help the Pakistanis purchase helicopters, weapons systems and equipment to intercept communications. It falls under the United States' Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program, which provides grants and loans to countries to purchase weapons and defense equipment produced in the United States. It also includes more counterinsurgency assistance to Pakistani troops and a program allowing members of the Pakistani military to study at American war colleges. The $2 billion package is on top of billions of dollars the United States already gives Pakistan in military aid and a $7.5 billion aid package over five years in non-military counter-terrorism assistance approved by Congress last year. "They key is to beef up their ability to go after militants, it can't be diverted to other threats," one senior U.S. official said. Pakistan has long claimed its military is geared toward defending itself against threats from countries like India, and does not have the kind of equipment it needs to fight insurgents. U.S. officials said they recognize Pakistan's current military hardware is not perfectly suited toward such operations, but made clear the new aid must be directed toward fighting extremists, rather than India . "We recognize they need different kinds of capacities and more of them to handle extremists form within their own border," one official said. "They do need more capacity and the kinds of capabilities that are geared toward fighting extremists, rather than a major land conflict." U.S. officials acknowledge the Pakistani military is stretched thin since this summer's devastating floods, and has had to divert resources from the fight against extremists to conduct relief efforts. They hope the new security assistance will address the military's resource limitations so they can redouble efforts to go after militants. "There is an expectation with that capacity comes a greater effort," a senior official said. The aid comes on the heels of a White House report sent to Congress earlier this month which uses unusually tough language to suggest the ally is not doing nearly enough to confront the Taliban and al Qaeda, despite repeated Obama administration claims in public that Pakistan is working hard to crack down on militants . The White House assessment, obtained by CNN, is particularly tough on Pakistan's inability to make gains in South Waziristan, where many analysts believe key al Qaeda leaders have gained a safe haven to use as a base to plot terror attacks against Western targets. The report notes that from March to June, the Pakistani military "continued to avoid military engagements that would put it in direct conflict with Afghan Taliban or [al Qaeda] forces in North Waziristan. This is as much a political choice as it is a reflection of an under-resourced military prioritizing its targets." "The capacity issue is very real," another senior official said. "It's not like they could just go into North Waziristan if they wanted to and succeed. There is an issue of political will but the capacity issue remains extremely important." The official said the multi-year assistance package is designed to provide the Pakistanis with "an issue of predictability and consistency" in U.S. military assistance, which has typically been done on a year-to-year basis. Pakistan has long voiced concerns the United States is not going to remain engaged with the region over the long term. "We need to demonstrate we are in it for more than six months to a year. This offers a time horizon and allows them to chill out about that," the official said. Even with the harsh White House report, U.S. officials do acknowledge that Pakistan has made some progress in combating terrorism, noting the country has suffered thousands of casualties as a result of its campaign against extremists in its tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. Suspected U.S. drone strikes have also increased in Pakistan, killing dozens of high-level militants in the tribal areas. Although the U.S. does not comment on drone strikes, Pakistani officials have said they could not be done without Pakistani cooperation. While in Pakistan in July, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the Pakistani government has become "very serious" about fighting the violent extremist organizations within its borders. At the time, Clinton alluded to the security assistance being announced this week, while telling reporters the United States was "working on a multi-year package with the Pakistanis." Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Pakistan's military chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, are leading a Pakistani delegation arriving Tuesday for the U.S.-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue, three days of meetings starting Wednesday with Clinton, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The talks address all facets of the relationship between Washington and Islamabad, but counterterrorism cooperation will be a major aspect of the talks. "Pakistan has taken aggressive action within its borders. But clearly, this is an ongoing threat and more needs to be done," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Monday. "That will be among the issues talked about."
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The aid package could total as much as $2 billion . An announcement is expected when Pakistani officials are in Washington this week . The aid is to help Pakistan fight extremists on its border with Afghanistan . A senior official: "There is an expectation with that capacity comes a greater effort"
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(CNN) -- For desperately ill patients with serious, life-threatening antibiotic-resistant infections, access to new antibiotics is a matter of life and death. All across America, people are dying from bacterial infections that we used to be able to cure with antibiotics. Just this March, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned the public about a four-fold increase in one group of "nightmare bacteria," carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, which kills up to 50% of the people infected, and is on the rise. The annual impact of antibiotic resistant infections on the U.S. health care system is estimated to be $21 billion to $34 billion in excess health care costs and more than 8 million additional hospital days. At the same time, we are not making new antibiotics fast enough to prevent these deaths. Without new antibiotics, things we all take for granted, including surgery, chemotherapy, organ transplantation and premature infant care, will be in jeopardy. A streamlined but targeted approach that speeds regulatory approval of new antibiotics -- and limits their use to the sickest of the sick -- is an appropriate way to balance the safety risks of these new drugs with the lifesaving benefits they can offer patients who have no other treatment options. As a practicing infectious disease physician, my colleagues and I are seeing firsthand the devastating effects that resistant infections have on patients. Consider Addie Rerecich, who was a healthy, athletic 11-year-old in 2011 before she spent five months in an Arizona hospital battling several serious drug-resistant infections that her doctors did not have antibiotics powerful enough to treat. Addie ultimately needed a double lung transplant to save her life. The health care costs from her hospital stay alone totaled $6 million, and she will need medical attention and therapy for the rest of her life. As resistant infections like those that nearly took Addie's life continue to increase, the antibiotic pipeline is nearly dry, with few drugs in development that will work against the most alarming pathogens our patients face. A proposal from the Infectious Diseases Society of America aims to address a key part of the problem by reducing the obstacles to regulatory approval of new antibiotics for use in a distinct, narrow group of people: Patients with serious resistant infections that have no effective treatment options left. How will this make a difference? The current regulatory environment in the U.S. discourages drug companies from antibiotic research and development, and few firms are active in this area today. Antibiotics also aren't as profitable as other drugs, such as those for chronic conditions like heart disease or diabetes, which patients often take for years. A more direct path for regulatory approval can encourage more companies to get involved in antibiotic development again. IDSA's approach -- the Limited Population Antibacterial Drug -- would speed patients' access to new, lifesaving antibiotics by allowing the Food and Drug Administration to approve them for narrow use based on smaller clinical trials than required for more widely used antibiotics. Under LPAD, drug companies will still have to show that a drug's benefits outweigh the risks in patients with serious infections. It's an idea modeled after the successful Orphan Drug Program, which encourages the development of drugs for rare diseases. Promoting the appropriate use of these new antibiotics is critical, because we know antibiotic misuse and overuse are significant drivers of drug resistance. Special labeling will ensure narrow marketing of these drugs. Educational efforts should be put in place to send a strong signal to health care providers, facilities and insurers that these drugs are only for patients who need them most. These drugs will also likely be priced higher, commensurate with their value as life-saving medicines, than traditionally approved antibiotics, another factor that will help limit their wider use. Antibiotic stewardship programs, which encourage appropriate antibiotic use by providers and health facilities, will play a key role. These programs provide much needed support and guidance to clinicians and ensure that our precious resource of antibiotics will be used wisely. Professional medical groups -- including the American Medical Association -- public health organizations, patient groups and pharmaceutical manufacturers have voiced their support for IDSA's proposal. FDA and several members of Congress are also interested in the concept and in moving it forward. To be sure, developing new antibiotics and speeding their approval process to treat seriously ill patients is just one way to grapple with this complex public health crisis. IDSA also promotes enhanced public health efforts, including better data collection and surveillance of drug resistance and the use of antibiotics, improved infection prevention, antimicrobial stewardship, and stronger efforts to encourage the appropriate use of antibiotics in humans and on the farm. Increased research funding to explore how antibiotic resistance develops and spreads is just as vital, along with additional economic incentives and regulatory clarity to boost antibiotic development. Patients like Addie need our help. We must take action now. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Helen Boucher.
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Obama administration is considering streamlining the approval process for antibiotics . Helen Boucher: For patients with life-threatening infections, access to new antibiotics is vital . She says by limiting their use to the sickest of the sick, we can minimize risks of new drugs . Boucher: We need to encourage more companies to do antibiotic research and development .
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Los Angeles (CNN) -- Jurors began deliberations Thursday in the Michael Jackson wrongful-death trial, potentially bringing the contentious case to a close after five months of testimony and three days of closing arguments. The 12 jurors spent two hours in the jury room Thursday afternoon before ending their day; they will return Friday morning for more deliberations. Katherine Jackson's lawyer delivered his final arguments in the AEG Live trial Thursday morning, delivering his rebuttal to defense closing arguments. AEG Live's Marvin Putnam had asked jurors to find Michael Jackson responsible for his death, not the company that promoted and produced his comeback concerts in 2009. Jackson's mother and three children are suing AEG Live, contending the company was liable in the pop icon's drug overdose death because its executives negligently hired, retained or supervised Dr. Conrad Murray. "Plaintiffs want you to hold a concert promoter liable for Michael Jackson's overdose in his bedroom at night, behind locked doors on June 25, 2009," Putnam told jurors. "An overdose of the drug administered to Mr. Jackson by his longtime doctor -- Dr. Murray -- who he'd been seeing for years, a doctor he brought to Los Angeles from Las Vegas." "How dare they come up here and accept no responsibility and blame it all on Michael," Jackson lawyer Brian Panish said in his rebuttal. Panish suggested that Jackson's share of blame was 20%, "but the rest goes on AEG." When the trial began five months ago, Putnam warned he would show "ugly stuff" and reveal Jackson's "deepest, darkest secret." The revelations that jurors heard from 58 witnesses over 83 days of testimony spanning 21 weeks included details of Jackson's drug use and his shopping for a doctor to give him the surgical anesthetic propofol that he thought would give him sleep. "He was nearly half a billion dollars in debt," Putnam argued Wednesday. "His mother's house was near foreclosure, we didn't know that then. What else do we know now? That Mr. Jackson spent decades shopping for doctors to give him the painkillers he wanted. Mr. Jackson made sure we didn't know that." Panish, the lead Jackson lawyer, conceded in his closing Tuesday that the singer may have some fault for his own death, but said "it's about shared responsibility." Jackson did use prescription painkillers and was warned that using propofol at home to sleep was risky, "but he never had a problem until Dr. Conrad Murray was working and until Conrad Murray negotiated with AEG Live," Panish argued. Who's to blame for Michael Jackson's death? The AEG Live lawyer argued Wednesday that Jackson should take the full blame. "The sad truth is Mr. Jackson's death was caused by his choices and it would have happened no matter what -- with or without AEG Live." The Jackson lawyer urged jurors to award the family between $1 billion and $2 billion in damages for what he called AEG Live's share of liability in Jackson's death -- to replace what Jackson would have earned touring, had he lived, and for the personal suffering from the loss of a son and father. Putnam told jurors Wednesday that was "an absurd number." Katherine Jackson testified that she filed the wrongful death lawsuit three years ago against AEG Live "because I want to know what really happened to my son." Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Jackson's propofol overdose death. The judge is allowing a television camera in court for the closing arguments and verdict. Lawyer: Blame Jackson for his death, not AEG Live . Burden of "Poof" Panish -- a former college football player who has a reputation for winning large damage awards -- appeared more aggressive in his rebuttal than in his initial closing arguments delivered Tuesday. In what may become a much-repeated video highlight, Panish joked about how his AEG LIve counterpart had accused him of making up the estimate of $59 million that MIchael Jackson could have been expected to have given his mother and children in support had he lived. "Poof! Poof! I just made it up!" Panish said dramatically as he pointed to Putnam, sitting at the AEG Live defense table. The line and gesture drew a laugh from some jurors. Panish showed jurors that the figure was actually from a opinion provided by a financial expert that AEG Live hired to analyze the issue. Putnam, in his closing Wednesday, referenced the expert's lower-end estimate of $21 million. The numbers could be important in guiding the jury if it decides to award damages to the Jacksons. AEG Live's defense . Murray treated Michael Jackson and his children for minor illnesses while they lived in Las Vegas for three years, before the singer returned to Los Angeles to prepare for his "This Is It" comeback tour. It was Jackson -- not AEG Live executives -- who chose Murray to be his full-time doctor for his tour, the company's lawyers contend. AEG Live Co-CEO Paul Gongaware negotiated to pay Murray $150,000 a month only because of Jackson's request to have his doctor with him as he performed 50 shows at London's O2 Arena, they argue. "He told them 'We're bringing this doctor,' " Putnam said. "This was a choice Mr. Jackson made. He was a grown man." AEG Live executives tried to talk Jackson out of taking an American doctor with him on tour, suggesting he could save money by using a physician in London, Putnam said. "But Mr. Jackson was undeterred," he said. "Ultimately, it was his money, his doctor, his choice. He certainly wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer." There was no need to check Murray's background because he was a licensed, successful doctor who was known to Jackson, Putnam said. "All AEG Live knew was Dr. Murray was Mr. Jackson's longtime doctor." A key argument in the Jackson case is that AEG Live was negligent by not ordering a financial background check of Murray, which would have revealed he was in a dire financial situation and not successful. His desperation to keep his lucrative job led Murray to violate his Hippocratic Oath to do no harm by using the dangerous propofol infusions to put Jackson to sleep each night for two months, Jackson lawyers argue. AEG Live executives had no way of knowing Murray was treating Jackson's insomnia with propofol in the privacy of his bedroom, their lawyers contend. Jackson was a secretive addict, adept at keeping family, friends and other doctors in the dark about his medical treatments, they argue. But two doctors testified that they told Gongaware about Jackson's abuse of painkillers and his insomnia during tours in the 1990s, when the AEG Live executive served as tour manager. Jackson lawyers argue Gongaware, who was the top producer on the new tour, should have known that Jackson could suffer the same problems in 2009. The deterioration of Jackson's health over the two months he was being treated by Murray was a red flag that there was a problem, but AEG Live executives negligently ignored the warning, Jackson lawyers argue. By June 19, he was frail, suffering chills, unable to do his trademark dances and paranoid, according to testimony. "Everyone believed at the time that a 50-year-old man, who hadn't performed in a decade was tired, out of shape and very nervous," Putnam argued Wednesday. "That's what they believed at the time and it makes sense." AEG Live would avoid a negative verdict if it is able to convince at least four of the 12 jurors that it did not hire Murray. It is the first of 16 questions on the jury verdict form. If jurors answer it with a "no" -- that AEG Live did not hire the doctor -- they would end their deliberations and the trial. An AEG Live lawyer e-mailed an employment contract to Murray on the morning of June 24, 2009. Murray signed it and faxed it back to the company that day. But the signature lines for AEG Live's CEO and for Michael Jackson were never signed since Jackson died the next day. But Panish, the lead Jackson lawyer, told jurors Tuesday that all the elements of an oral contract -- "just as valid as a written contract" -- were in place when Jackson died. Murray had been treating Jackson for two months and the written contract stated that his start day was May 1, 2009. A series of e-mail exchanges involving Murray and AEG Live executives and lawyers support this argument, Panish said. A look at the life of Michael Jackson . Blame and damages . If the jury concludes AEG Live has liability, it would have to decide how much the company should pay in economic and personal damages to Jackson's mother and children. They can use estimates of Jackson's "lost earnings capacity" -- the amount of money he could reasonably be expected to have earned if he had lived -- to guide them. AEG Live expert Eric Briggs testified it was "speculative" that Jackson would have even completed another tour because of his drug use, damaged reputation and history of failed projects. He suggested the star may never have earned another dime. Putnam's closing argument about damages must overcome the impression left on jurors Tuesday, when Panish played a video montage of Jackson performances. "That is, I think, the best evidence of if Michael Jackson could have sold tickets -- not what Mr. Briggs would tell you," Panish told jurors. Panish suggested jurors pick a number between $900 million and $1.6 billion for economic damages. They should add on another $290 million for non-economic damages -- or personal damages, he said. Putnam argued that the number, if the jury finds AEG Live liable, should be closer to $21 million, the amount of money AEG Live's expert calculated Jackson would have given his mother and three children over the next 16 years. He couldn't have given them more because he had a $400 million debt that was getting deeper, he said. "If Mr. Jackson had lived, it's hard to see how he would ever have dug himself out of that whole," Putnam said. The last question on the verdict form asks jurors to assign a percentage that they believe represents Michael Jackson's share of blame in his death. The total damages owed by AEG Live would be reduced by that percentage. While AEG Live lawyers did not suggest a percentage, Panish suggested jurors reduce the damage award by 20% to reflect Jackson's share of blame. Michael Jackson's mom remembers her 'sweet little boy'
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NEW: The jury will resume deliberations Friday . AEG Live's Marvin Putnam asked jurors to find Michael Jackson responsible for his death . Family lawyer: "How dare they accept no responsibility and blame it all on Michael" The Jacksons are asking for $1 billion to $2 billion in damages from AEG Live .
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CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) -- At a debate in front of thousands of labor union activists Tuesday, Sen. Barack Obama's Democratic presidential rivals blasted him for his remarks about Pakistan. Last Wednesday, the Illinois senator said that if it were necessary to root out terrorists, he would send U.S. forces into Pakistan without the country's approval. "You can think big, but remember, you shouldn't always say everything you think if you're running for president, because it has consequences around the world," Sen. Hillary Clinton said during a 90-minute Democratic presidential forum in Chicago sponsored by the AFL-CIO. Chicago is Obama's hometown, and Clinton's statement drew boos. The New York senator responded, "We don't need that right now." Despite the frosty reception, Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd joined Clinton in criticizing Obama. He said Obama's stance could undermine Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, the country's military ruler, who has been a U.S. ally in the fight against al Qaeda. "While General Musharraf is no Thomas Jefferson, he may be the only thing that stands between us and having an Islamic fundamentalist state in that country," Dodd said. "So while I would like to see him change, the reality is, if we lose him, then what we face is an alternative that could be a lot worse for our country." Obama jumped into the fray. "I find it amusing that those who helped to authorize and engineer the biggest foreign policy disaster in our generation are now criticizing me for making sure that we are on the right battlefield and not the wrong battlefield in the war against terrorism," he said. "If we have actionable intelligence on al Qaeda operatives, including [Osama] bin Laden, and President Musharraf cannot act, then we should," Obama said. "That's just common sense." He also said Americans had the right to participate in the debate over such a key aspect of American foreign policy. But Clinton countered by saying that while U.S. forces might have to pursue action inside Pakistan "on the basis of actionable intelligence," it was "a very big mistake to telegraph that and to destabilize the Musharraf regime, which is fighting for its life against the Islamist extremists who are in bed with al Qaeda and the Taliban." "Remember, Pakistan has nuclear weapons. The last thing we want is to have al Qaeda-like followers in charge of Pakistan and having access to nuclear weapons." Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware responded later in the debate, noting that the strategy Obama outlined was already U.S. policy. "Everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts," Biden said. "It's already the policy of the United States -- has been for four years -- that there's actionable intelligence, we would go into Pakistan." E-mail to a friend .
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Sen. Hillary Clinton booed when she criticizes Sen. Barack Obama at debate . Clinton, Sen. Chris Dodd slam Obama's stance on Pakistan . Obama: U.S. should go into Pakistan if intelligence warrants it . Debate sponsored by AFL-CIO drew thousands of labor activists .
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(CNN) -- In some ways, a catastrophe of this magnitude could not have happened in a worse place. Or at a worse time of year. We're hearing a lot about the economic dislocation of thousands of Gulf fishers and their families -- and rightly so. But the oil disaster is a much larger calamity than the Gulf itself. It's not just a regional disaster. It has hemispheric implications. The Gulf is a large region, but its natural importance is even more outsized, disproportionate to its area. The Gulf is the hourglass pinch-point for millions of migrating creatures that funnel into, breed in, migrate through and then fan out of it to populate an enormous area of the continents and coasts. Anything that affects living things inside the Gulf affects living things far outside it. Certain animals that normally inhabit the open Atlantic travel to the Gulf to breed. Two such species, both endangered, breed nowhere else. The world's most endangered sea turtle, the Kemp's ridley turtle, ranges throughout the west Atlantic as far north as New England. But it breeds only in the Gulf. Many are now heading there to lay their eggs on remote beaches. Turtles are showing up on beaches debilitated by oil. Oil kills sea turtles by both ingestion and direct toxicity, and by stressing and suppressing their immune systems. Adults are vulnerable, but hatchlings will have an even harder time. Atlantic bluefin tuna -- the most high-priced ocean fish in the world -- have declined by about 90 percent since the 1960s due to overfishing. Their west Atlantic population ranges the East Coast of the U.S. and Canada and far out to sea, but the Gulf of Mexico is the giant fish's only known breeding area. Spring is their breeding season. According to a web tool that puts the slick over your home region, the vast area of surface oil is now bigger than Massachusetts, Connecticut and Long Island combined. It overlaps the tracked movements of breeding bluefin tuna. Consequently, their eggs and larvae are presumably being bathed in a toxic soup of oil and dispersant. Dispersant, which is toxic by itself, also makes the petroleum more toxic. Instead of remaining concentrated at the surface, dispersed oil pollutes the entire water column. Instead of evaporating, the toxic components remain in the water. And because it's dissolved, it passes more easily across gills and into digestive systems. Planktonic animals become disoriented or die. Meanwhile, of course, mats of oil are washing ashore. No amount of boom will protect waterbirds like pelicans, gulls and terns, because diving into the water for fish is how they eat. In the Gulf in May, with the oil gushing, were loons, gannets, various kinds of herons and terns. Also there were black skimmers that had spent the winter there but would soon leave to migrate north and, depending on species, breed all along the coast from the southern states to as far north as the Maritimes, and lakes across much of Canada. Some of the longest-distance migrants on Earth are various sandpipers, plovers and other shorebirds, many of which winter as far south as Patagonia and breed as far north as the high arctic. Perhaps a million cross the Gulf in May, and when they reach the U.S. coastline, they must stop to rest and feed. Problems with habitat and food supply have reduced many of their populations 50 to 80 percent in the past 20 years. And now this. When oil was just starting to smudge some of the birds on beaches now thick with it, I saw sanderlings, ruddy turnstones, black-bellied plovers and other such northbound birds. Even among those that do not get heavily oiled, many will not make it. The birds' energy budgets operate on thin margins of food intake against exhaustive expenditure in long-distance flight. They will not bear the additional cost of feathers sticking and functioning inefficiently, and many such birds will drop out on their way north. Migrating peregrine falcons traveling north from South American wintering areas, destined for nesting areas as far as Greenland, are also crossing the Gulf's marshes. Preferentially picking off birds whose flight seems compromised, falcons will be getting disproportional doses of oil. All these birds can live decades and take years to mature, so adult birds killed by oil this year will mean populations reduced for years to come. This is a calamity not just in space but in time as well. Some animals may be rescued. Less possible to cleanse is the anguish on the faces and in the hearts of fishing families. Oil companies can drill, and they can buy votes in Congress, but apparently they can't do much else. Now that the reckoning is here, it becomes a little easier to see that we fool ourselves with the apparent cheapness of subsidized oil and that a healthy environment is priceless beyond reckoning. Why do we fail to know this always, in our bones? The Gulf is not a thing unto itself. Neither is the oil eruption. We are all Gulf victims now. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Carl Safina.
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Gulf is huge area that is crucial for migrating species, says Carl Safina . Because many breed in or travel through Gulf, impact of oil spill will be spread out, he says . Safina: Endangered species such as Kemp's ridley turtle breed only in Gulf . He says, "a healthy environment is priceless beyond reckoning"
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Colombo, Sri Lanka (CNN) -- Sri Lanka's opposition presidential candidate accused the incumbent of intimidation, as early returns reported by state-run TV SLRC showed President Mahinda Rajapaksa leading the race. Candidate Gen. Sarath Fonseka accused Rajapaksa of intimidation during the country's first peacetime presidential election in more than two decades and said his staff had received threatening phone calls . Army soldiers and commandos tried to enter the Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel shortly after Fonseka and opposition party members arrived Tuesday, the former general told CNN. His security forces told the soldiers they could not enter the building, so they stayed outside, Fonseka said. Fonseka said he was not leaving the hotel, citing the armed soldiers outside. Several dozen armed soldiers lined the street of the Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel and surrounding area, checking cars driving up to the building in the nation's capital, Colombo. "He's ignoring the constitution to remain in power," Fonseka said of ally-turned-rival Rajapaksa. There was no immediate reaction from Rajapaksa's government in response to Fonseka's claims. The presidential election is the first since government forces put down a 26-year insurgency by Tamil Tiger rebels. And controversy mounted as vote tallying began. Earlier Tuesday, top politicians vowed to block Fonseka from taking office if he won because he is not eligible to vote. The government will fight the commissioner of elections in the Supreme Court on the issue of Fonseka's eligibility, Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama vowed. Fonseka admits he is not registered to vote; 14 million Sri Lankans are eligible. What will Sri Lankan election mean? Rajapaksa and Fonseka have waged a bitter battle against each other. Both men say they are winning the election. But early returns showed Rajapaksa was leading in the race, state-run television SLRC reported. Fonseka broke ranks with the Rajapaksa administration after he was elevated to the largely ceremonial post of chief of defense staff in July, following his retirement as army commander. After Fonseka announced his presidential bid, the main opposition parties -- with widely diverse political ideologies -- closed ranks behind him to make him their common candidate. The general is riding a wave of popularity after he led a military campaign to crush Sri Lanka's Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The Tamil Tigers, as they are known, fought a brutal war for decades against the government and controlled large swathes of territory at the height of their power. Rajapaksa also claims war-hero status with the win against the Tamil Tigers last May. He is seeking a fresh mandate for his government, advocating for more development programs and jobs. And in his revised booklet, "Mahinda Chinthanaya" ("Thoughts of Mahinda"), he campaigns to ensure a "better tomorrow." But in the lead-up to the election, the island nation just south of India has become host to escalating violence. Three and a half hours before Sri Lankans headed to the polls, explosions that residents said sounded like mortar fire were heard. While it was unclear what Tuesday's explosions were, there have been more than 700 reports of violence ahead of the election, and at least our deaths reported, said Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu of the Center for Policy Alternatives, a branch of the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence. There have been allegations of interference with mail-in ballots, according to the group. Most of the complaints have been against members of Rajapaksa's government, the center said. The spokesman for United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said last week that the U.N. chief was "concerned about the growing violence in the lead-up to the presidential election." "The peaceful conduct of the first post-conflict national election is of the highest importance for long-term peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka," he added. CNN's Sara Sidner and Iqbal Athas contributed to this report.
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NEW: Early returns show Rajapaksa leading, state-run TV SLRC reports . Fonseka accuses Rajapaksa of intimidation . Politicians vow to block Fonseka, saying he is not registered to vote . Presidential election is first since government forces put down 26-year insurgency .
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(CNN) -- Below is a list of murder victims whom authorities linked to a string of killings in the Atlanta, Georgia, area from 1979 to 1981. A jury found Wayne Williams guilty of murdering: . Nathaniel Cater, 28 Jimmy Ray Payne, 21 . Police attributed these deaths to Williams (closed cases): . Alfred Evans, 13 Yusef Bell, 9 Eric Middlebrooks, 14 Christopher Richardson, 12 Aaron Wyche, 10 Anthony Carter, 9 Earl Terrell, 11 Clifford Jones, 13 Charles Stephens, 12 Aaron Jackson, 9 Patrick Rogers, 16 Lubie Geter, 14 Terry Pue, 15 Patrick Baltazar, 11 Curtis Walker, 13 Jo Jo Bell, 15 Timothy Hill, 13 Eddie Duncan, 21 Larry Rogers, 20 Michael McIntosh, 23 John Porter, 28 William Barrett, 17 . These cases remain open: . Edward Smith, 14 Milton Harvey, 14 Jefferey Mathis, 10 . Missing person whose body was never found: . Darron Glass, 10 . Deaths were initially part of the official investigation, but police found insufficient evidence to link to a serial killer or anyone else: . Angel Lanier, 12 LaTonya Wilson, 7 . Source: Homicide Task Force . Return to interactive map .
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One of the 30 victims disappeared and a body was never found . Wayne Willliams was convicted in two murders; five cases remain open . Police blamed 22 murders on Williams, but he was never charged in connection with them . Return to interactive victims' map .
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Queens, New York (CNN) -- Kellie Phelan doesn't mince words when she looks back at herself five years ago. "I was basically a crackhead," Phelan said. "I literally was getting arrested every other week. I got pregnant by a drug dealer. ... I was seven months pregnant, and I was still smoking crack." When she finally gave birth to her daughter, Phelan was behind bars, serving a 90-day jail sentence for possessing crack cocaine, violating her probation. It was a wake-up call. "That was the most traumatizing experience of my life," Phelan said. "To go see my beautiful, healthy baby girl in an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs and shackles ... I was embarrassed that was the way I brought her into this world. "I knew I was changing my life. I just didn't know how I was going to change my life." Fortunately, Phelan connected with Hour Children, a nonprofit that reaches out to convicted mothers at five correctional facilities in New York. Now, at 38, she says she is drug-free, has a job she loves and is raising her daughter in an apartment of her own. "When you see what (these women) can do with support and love and education, it's miraculous, really," said Sister Teresa Fitzgerald, who founded Hour Children. "They don't believe in a future and are hung up on the mistakes of their life. And life is not about a mistake. We all get a gift of life, and we have to live it." Over the past 25 years, Fitzgerald's group has provided life-changing assistance to more than 9,000 mothers both behind and beyond bars. Its goal is to reintegrate former inmates into society by helping them with common post-release stumbling blocks, such as reuniting families and finding safe, affordable housing. It also provides the women with free counseling, education and employment support. "Everybody loves children, and they're an easy sell," Fitzgerald said. "But the mothers, for many of them, their lives were so horrific growing up, and they didn't have what children deserve. They ended up on the negative side of life. "If you don't get the support and tools, you can't give it to your child. ... It's a dead end all around." Hour Children -- named in part because jailed mothers get only an hour at a time to visit with their children -- begins counseling women at least three months before their release. Women are referred to the group by corrections workers, or they can reach out directly. Most have family histories of substance abuse, physical abuse, mental illness and other types of trauma, Hour Children says. According to the New York Department of Corrections, 29% of the state's female ex-convicts are eventually re-arrested. But Hour Children says that for women in its program, that rate drops to 3%. "No woman comes out of prison and says 'Gee, I really want to mess up again,' " said Fitzgerald, 65. "You talk with these women ... about the skills that they need and the perspective and the possibilities of change. That's the key here: that change can happen." Do you know a hero? Nominations for 2012 Heroes close August 31 . Phelan admits she initially had little faith that Hour Children would live up to its promise to meet her upon her release from Rikers Island in New York. But the organization picked up her and her baby and brought them to one of its transitional homes in Long Island City. "From the moment I walked through the doors, it was like home," Phelan said. "I knew I was going to be OK from that point on. ... "If I hadn't found this organization ... my family would have taken my baby. ... I'd be dead, in prison, smoking crack or doing heroin. No doubt about it." In Long Island City, the group maintains several affordable, sober-living transitional homes as well as permanent homes and offices. Hour Children also offers affordable day-care and after-school programs, a food pantry, a community garden, thrift stores and a salon -- all of which are open to the general public. These opportunities can mean a great deal, because women leaving prison have limited options. Reuniting with children who've been in foster care can be contingent upon the mother finding income and a stable home, but some ex-offenders aren't eligible for public housing in New York. And offenders on state work-release programs have eight weeks to find work. "Employment and housing can be daunting because so many doors are closed to our mothers," Fitzgerald said. "We all know who they are, so they don't have to defend the fact that they have been in prison. Women without that help, going out there on their own, have a huge challenge." Fitzgerald knew nothing about the prison population in 1985, when a fellow nun asked her to escort a young child to Rikers Island so she could visit her mother. Witnessing the consequences of the forced separation on the child, mother and family moved Fitzgerald to rededicate her life to repairing and strengthening broken bonds. She and four other nuns began taking in children who were born behind bars and raising them until their mothers' release. This work continues today, with children regularly placed with Hour Children community members who coordinate regular visitations with moms inside. Each visit an inmate receives offers her greater incentive to make a change. "Little steps matter," Fitzgerald said. "They sit in prison, and they can hardly imagine how to get from here to there. "Nothing happens in isolation. When you come out and you have a community of support that encourages you to use your time well to make little steps that turn into big steps, you see the hope there. ... They show each other they can do it." Women applying for housing are required to enroll in the group's employment and training program. They must also be willing to comply with sober and communal living restrictions and responsibilities. They're welcome for as long as they feel they need support and continue to progress. Some have stayed for a few months, others as long as 15 years. "We welcome people in," Fitzgerald said. "When they are here and it's clear they are not using the services and progressing, then you can say to them: 'We invited you. If you're not utilizing what we offer, you have to move on.' We hold them to their commitment." The group functions on private donations and small grants and says that more than 60% of its staffers, including Phelan, have come through the program themselves. Phelan runs the group's youth mentoring program. She says that thanks to Fitzgerald, she's proud of who she is today. "I want people to admire me, and I want to help people the way she's helped me," Phelan said. "If I could know I'd change a life like she changed mine, it gives purpose to the years I ran the streets. ... It makes it all understandable then. Because God put me through it for a reason." That's precisely the dignified spirit that Fitzgerald says carries this population forward. "They admit to their mistakes, and I admire that because I know a lot of people on the outside who don't," she said. "But they want to move beyond the mistake. And they want to rise up almost from the ashes and say: 'Wow! Look at me. I can do it.' " Want to get involved? Check out the Hour Children website at www.hourchildren.org and see how to help.
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For 25 years, Sister Teresa Fitzgerald has been reaching out to mothers behind bars . Her nonprofit helps the women turn their lives around after their release . Fitzgerald: "If you don't get the support and tools, you can't give it to your child" Do you know a hero? Nominations for 2012 CNN Heroes close August 31 .
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(CNN) -- One person was killed and as many as two dozen were injured Thursday when a commercial bus crashed into an overpass pillar on a southern Illinois interstate, authorities said. The Megabus coach line said there was one fatality, a woman, among the 81 ticketed passengers aboard its Chicago-to-St. Louis bus. The wreck happened on southbound Interstate 55 near Litchfield, about 55 miles northeast of St. Louis, the Illinois State Police told CNN. Illinois State Police identified the victim as 25-year-old Aditi Avhad of India. "The thoughts and prayers of our entire staff go out to everyone involved, particularly the family of the person who has died," the company said in a statement. The injured were being taken to hospitals in Litchfield and nearby Staunton. Paula Endress, a spokeswoman for St. Francis Hospital in Litchfield, said the 13 patients taken there had injuries ranging from minor to grave. And Susan Campbell, chief executive of Staunton's Community Memorial Hospital, said that facility had taken in three patients and expected as many as nine more. The bus driver was among the injured, but his injuries were not believed to be life-threatening, Megabus said. The uninjured passengers were taken to the Litchfield Community Center, and Megabus said arrangements were being made to get them to their destinations. The cause of the crash was under investigation, police said. Are you there? Share your images and video with CNN iReport. CNN's Rich Porter and Amanda Watts contributed to this report.
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NEW: The victim is a 25-year-old woman from India . The bus driver suffered nonlife-threatening injuries . The Megabus coach crashed near Litchfield, Illinois . The cause of the crash is under investigation, police say .
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(CNN) -- Serena Williams could have been banned from her home U.S. Open after Sunday's final outburst, but the three-time champion has escaped with a $2,000 fine from the United States Tennis Association. The American, on a two-year probation after a similar attack on a match official at the same tournament in 2009, verbally lashed out at umpire Eva Asderaki at the start of the second set of her defeat by Australia's Samantha Stosur on Sunday. The 29-year-old was penalized for "intentional hindrance" after celebrating winning a point before it was over, and then remonstrated with the Greek official. Tournament officials ruled that Williams' comments did not constitute a major offense. Has Serena Williams been judged too harshly? "U.S. Open Tournament Referee Brian Earley has fined Serena Williams $2,000 following the code violation issued for verbal abuse during the women's singles final. This fine is consistent with similar offenses at Grand Slam events," the U.S. Tennis Association said in a statement on Monday. "After independently reviewing the incident which served as the basis for the code violation, and taking into account the level of fine imposed by the U.S. Open referee, the Grand Slam Committee Director has determined that Ms. Williams' conduct, while verbally abusive, does not rise to the level of a major offense under the Grand Slam Code of Conduct." Williams earned $900,000 for her runner-up finish in New York, with the final taking place on the 10th anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks in the city which left almost 3,000 people dead. Stosur stuns Serena in final . She refused to apologize for her outburst in the post-match press conference, but applauded Stosur on winning her first major title. Williams was fined $82,500 for her foul-mouthed tirade in the 2009 semifinal defeat by Kim Clijsters, whose bid for a fourth title at Flushing Meadow this year was ended by a pre-tournament stomach injury.
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Serena Williams fined $2,000 for verbally abusing a match umpire in U.S. Open final . American could have been banned due to a suspended punishment from 2009 . Tournament officials rule that Williams' outburst did not amount to a major offense . The 29-year-old was beaten by Australia's Sam Stosur, who won her first grand slam .
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(CNN) -- Attention, holiday shoppers: Put away your wallets and credit cards. If you're looking for a gift that will please someone close to you, there's one that won't cost you a cent, and that you won't find on any store shelf. This thought occurred the other day when, on a visit to the west coast of Florida, I was walking through a crowded outdoor mall and the familiar voice of Frank Sinatra wafted out of the loudspeaker system: . "If I don't see her each day I miss her. . . ." I recognized the song immediately. "Believe me, I've got a case, . "On Nancy, with the laughing face. . . ." It's one of the songs Sinatra cherished most. And what does that have to do with the most meaningful present you can give to a loved one this holiday season? There's a story behind the song: a story with a lesson. In the early 1940s, when Sinatra was a relatively young man, he and his wife were having a birthday party for their firstborn child, Nancy. Among the invited guests were two good friends of Sinatra: the wonderful musical composer Jimmy Van Heusen, and the brilliant comedic actor Phil Silvers. Van Heusen and Silvers wanted to bring a gift. But what could they purchase that Sinatra himself could not provide for his daughter? What the two men did was revise a song they'd been working on. Van Heusen had written the melody; Silvers was the writer of the lyrics. (He would go on to immense fame in the 1950s playing Army Sgt. Ernest Bilko on CBS television, but his talents extended to many fields.) Their song, in an early version, had featured the words "Bessie, with the laughing face," referring to the wife of a colleague. Now they worked some more on it, and fashioned the lyrics for Sinatra's young daughter. They played and sang it at the birthday party. Sinatra adored it; by some accounts, he was so moved by the gesture from his friends that he began to cry. Talk about a gift for the man who has everything: What are you going to give to Frank Sinatra that he will remember? A tie? A car? A bottle of liquor? He needed nothing. But that song, and the effort his two friends had put into it, touched him so deeply that, until his dying day, it signified something achingly personal to him. And now it's the holiday season. We've all read about the mobs of people at door-buster sales, the fights in the aisles of stores. Yet there is a way that each of us, if we are willing to invest the hours, can come up with a gift that will mean more than any flat-screen television or video game. If you're good with words, write the best and longest letter you've ever written to a family member who maybe doesn't know just what he or she means to you. That letter will be kept, and treasured, long after gifts bought in a store have worn out or been thrown away. If you're artistic, paint a picture with a special significance that the person you love will understand. If you're the organized type, gather family photos from over the years, select them carefully, and put them together in an album that will mean everything to the person who receives it. If you're musical ... well, do for the person you care about what Phil Silvers and Jimmy Van Heusen did for Frank Sinatra and his family. Will the effort be time-consuming? Yes, and that's the point. It will certainly be time better spent than standing in line for hours before some big-box store opens its doors for midnight bargains. Because I'd heard about the Sinatra story for so many years, I called his younger daughter Tina the other afternoon to ask her about its veracity -- and its meaning to her family. "All of it is true," she said. She said that her dad, Silvers and Van Heusen were dear buddies who loved to spend time together: "There would be New Year's Eve parties where they'd set up a stage, and play charades games. Everyone had to participate. They just liked being around each other." When the two men presented the song at the birthday party, she said, "It was done out of pure friendship." Her father and her mother -- whose name was also Nancy -- couldn't have been more moved by the personal nature of the gift. Tina had not yet been born, but the reason she is certain of this, she said, is that her dad talked about it, from time to time, for the rest of his life. And for him, the song -- and the memories of his friends who wrote it -- never diminished in emotional power. She recalled one time in Paris when her dad was in a brittle mood over some things that were going on in his life. He was angry and irritable; at a concert, as he worked his way through his song list, his agitation was evident to everyone who knew him. But then he got to "Nancy (with the Laughing Face)". "His entire physicality changed," Tina said. 'He relaxed. He calmed down. The gentleness of the song, and the meaning of the story behind it, did that to him. You could see it. He went from being tense and on edge to being like an at-ease sergeant." The gift from his buddies did that for him, all those years later. The best gifts are like that. Here's hoping you'll find the right one. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Bob Greene.
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Bob Greene: In 1940's, Jimmy Van Heusen, Phil Silvers gave personal gift to Frank Sinatra . He says it was song "Nancy With the Laughing Face" for Sinatra's daughter. He prized it . Greene: Mulling a good holiday gift? Consider homemade: letters, a photo album . Greene: Nancy Sinatra said her dad moved by gift his whole life. The best gifts are like that .
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(CNN) -- In Sao Paulo's affluent Butanta neighborhood, a green haven in the heart of the notoriously polluted megalopolis, Guilherme Amaral Nunes, 25, and partner Luiz Ramirez, 51, enjoy a brief respite from the limelight. While trying to seem tranquil while playing with their "children," two rescued dogs and a cat, excitement is building as news of their plans to become the first married gay couple in Sao Paulo goes viral. On Monday, court papers are set to publish their names as the first couple to petition for a marriage license in this conservative-leaning state, two weeks since Brazil's Supreme Tribunal ruled unanimously that the nation should recognize gay marriages. "We feel anxious until we hear the results," Ramirez said. "We hope we won't receive a legal challenge to block our dreams." Nearly two weeks ago, Brazil's highest court voted on behalf of gay marriages by 10-0. The court ruled that the same rights and rules that apply to the "stable union" of heterosexual couples will apply to same-sex couples, including the right to joint declaration of income tax, pension, inheritance and property sharing. Argentina became the first Latin American nation to approve same-sex marriages in 2010. Mexico City recognized same-sex marriages in 2009. Several other countries in the region now recognize same-sex unions. Brazil's ruling, however, does not allow same-sex marriage. It leaves it to judges to evaluate on a case-by-case basis. "It's not like Argentina, where the law is more evolved, Nunes said. "But it's a step ahead," he said. On Friday, Ramirez and Nunes took the first legal step to legalize their union. Holding hands and brushing off some curious onlookers in one of the city's busiest public registries, the two delivered a petition to convert their civil union document into a marriage certificate. Next stop, the Sao Paulo courts, Ramirez said. That is where the fate of their legal bond will be decided by a judge. "This is not really about us," said Nunes, who added that his job as an IT consultant for HP already allows them to have very good same-sex benefits. "It will be a victory for many of us, many of my friends who suffered discrimination." According to many gay rights groups in Brazil, discrimination and bullying is rampant in Brazil, despite generational and cultural changes. Ramirez, president of CORSA, a large gay-activist group, said government studies show that 260 people die a year in Brazil as a result of homophobia. Gay people in Brazil, as in other Latin American nations heavily influenced by the Catholic Church, continue to encounter strong resistance. "On one hand, we have made some considerable judicial strides," said Ramirez, who helped turned Sao Paulo's gay parade into one of the world's largest. "On the other, the intensity and frequency of homophobia in Brazil is alarming," he said. Ramirez was referring to a hotly contested issue by Brazilian lawmakers on the proposal to distribute the so-called "homophobia-kit" in public schools, an educational packet that includes a DVD and other information distributed through Brazil's Ministry of Education to address homophobia among Brazil's youth. Ultraconservative lawmaker Jair Messia Bolsonaro of Rio de Janeiro, has led the outcry against the ministry's move to deliver the packets, joining hands with evangelist lawmakers, who are growing in numbers. "I have now seen the most scandalous thing I have ever seen in my 20 years in politics, and of course I am not talking about corruption, which is a daily matter here in our circles," he said. "Attention parents of 7-, 8-, 9- and 10-year-olds in public schools! Next year, your children are going to receive educational kits titled, 'Combating homophobia," Bolsonaro told Brazil's House of Deputies in November. "But what this is is an incentive to enforce homosexuality and promiscuity," he said. Bolsonaro claimed that in one of the videos, a boy named Ricardo goes to the bathroom to urinate when he sees another boy and falls in love. "Listen here lawmakers, this was published in our congressional papers. This could be your son one day," he said. Brazilian Minister of Education Fernando Haddad denied that the so-called "kit homophobia" circulating among lawmakers was created by his office. During a meeting Thursday with evangelical and other conservative lawmakers, Haddad said the kit was still being put together by his ministry. "Yesterday, this material was delivered to the Ministry of Education from hired NGOs," Haddad told Agencia Brasil. "Now, we will have an internal debate within the ministry," he said. While the debate heats up in conservative circles, throughout Brazil, gay couples are trickling into local courts to fight for their marriage rights. "This is not about making people gay. This is about letting people who are gay live respectfully and in peace," Ramirez said. "There won't be any more gays in Brazil as a result," he said. "But there will be happier ones." CNN's Marilia Brocchetto and journalist Luciani Gomes contributed to this report.
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Nearly two weeks ago, Brazil's highest court overwhelmingly voted to allow gay marriage . Judges to decide on case-by-case basis . Homophobia still rampant, kills 260 a year, a study says . Conservative lawmakers lash out against anti-homophobia kits to be distributed in public schools .
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Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (CNN) -- The death toll from flooding and mudslides in Brazil continued to climb Thursday, with official reports of at least 154 fatalities. Thousands of people have been left homeless, said the government-run Agencia Brasil news service. The Rio de Janeiro mayor's office placed that figure at 5,000. At least 161 people have been injured, the Rio de Janeiro state government said Thursday on its Web site. A record 11.3 inches (287 millimeters) of rain fell in Rio within 24 hours Tuesday, Mayor Eduardo Paes said, according to the news service. The downpour continued Wednesday. iReport: Share your photos, video, stories with CNN . More than 30 homes were destroyed in a mudslide Wednesday in metropolitan Rio, Agencia Brasil said. About 200 people could be buried or trapped in the mud, emergency officials said. The cities of Niteroi and Sao Goncalo are among the hardest hit, with more than 80 dead and dozens missing, the news service said. CNN affiliate TV Record showed firefighters, military personnel and other rescuers using heavy machinery to dig for buried residents.
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Death toll climbs to more than 150; thousands left homeless . Mayor: Record-breaking 11.3 inches (288 millimeters) of rain fell in Rio Tuesday . 200 could be trapped following another mudslide, Brazilian media reports .
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(Health.com) -- People who take vitamin E supplements regularly for years -- whether they are smokers or nonsmokers -- may lower their risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the lung condition that is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. COPD includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis and is often, but not always, caused by smoking. While the risk reduction is relatively small, 10 percent, COPD is a common and life-threatening condition in which a decline in lung function can be slowed down but not reversed. COPD symptoms include shortness of breath, coughing, and fatigue. "The effect appears to be modest. But for something for which there isn't really any effective therapy and tends to be a degenerative condition, anything that would reduce the risk even somewhat is not an insubstantial benefit," says Jeffrey B. Blumberg, Ph.D., a professor of nutrition at Tufts University in Boston who was not involved in the study. The research, from the government-funded Women's Health Study, included 39,876 women 45 years and older who were free of COPD before they were randomly assigned to take a placebo, vitamin E supplements (600 IU every other day) or aspirin (100 mg per day), either alone or in combination. At the end of 10 years, 760 of the 19,937 women who took vitamin E alone or with aspirin developed COPD compared with 846 of the 19,939 who took a placebo or aspirin alone -- a 10 percent risk reduction. Vitamin E did not lower the risk of asthma, a condition associated with a higher risk of COPD. Health.com: 10 ways to have cleaner air at home . The researchers took into account factors such as cigarette smoking and age, which can affect COPD risk. The study, conducted by Cornell University and Brigham and Women's Hospital researchers, is to be presented this week at the annual American Thoracic Society meeting in New Orleans. The idea that vitamin E can reduce the risk of developing COPD is "biologically plausible," says Yvonne Kelly, Ph.D., an associate professor in the department of epidemiology and public health at University College London. Experts believe vitamins A, C, and E -- the so-called ACE antioxidants -- combat oxidative stress in the lungs that can lead to COPD. Health.com: Eight causes of a chronic cough . Several studies have shown that these vitamins, as well as vitamin D, may help improve lung health. In a 2003 study, Kelly and her collaborators found that men and women with diets high in vitamins C and E had greater lung capacity and produced less phlegm, respectively. Phlegm production and wheezing are also COPD symptoms. One limitation of the study is that the researchers relied on the women to report whether or not they had a diagnosis of COPD, says Michael Sims, M.D., an assistant professor in the pulmonary critical care division at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center. He points out that people with asthma may think they have COPD, or vice versa, since the symptoms are similar. In addition, early diagnoses can be inconclusive or due to lung problems that don't turn out to be COPD. Health.com: How to buy the right air cleaner . In future studies, Sims says that the researchers should diagnose COPD using a breathing test called spirometry. "If you showed in a similar study with a gold standard outcome [like spirometry], among smokers and nonsmokers, that you could affect the incidence of COPD, I would imagine the committees that meet on this would take a serious look at increasing daily recommended intake [of vitamin E] for the general population," he says. Currently, no vitamin supplements are recommended to prevent or treat COPD. The best way to prevent the disease is to quit smoking, says Dr. Sims. About 24 million people in the U.S. have COPD -- 12 million who've been diagnosed with the disease and another 12 million who have COPD but don't know they have it. In the study, women who smoked were four times more likely than nonsmokers to develop COPD. Health.com:12 best COPD blogs and Web sites . The daily recommended intake of vitamin E is about 22 international units for those 14 and older, and is relatively easy to obtain from oils such as sunflower, almonds, peanut butter, and spinach. The vitamin E intake in the study was far higher, at 300 IU per day. However, Blumberg says this is within the range of most over-the-counter vitamin supplements, which deliver 100 or 400 IU daily. "This study is still five times below the highest dose at which no adverse effect has been found," he says. Vitamin E intake is generally a concern only at very high doses, above 1500 IU per day. Several studies have suggested that these levels promote hemorrhaging and interfere with normal blood clotting. For this reason, high doses of vitamin E are not recommended for people taking blood-thinners such as warfarin (Coumadin) and aspirin. Health.com: Eight breathing tips for people with COPD . For people concerned about their lung health, taking vitamin E and C is not a bad idea, says Blumberg. "If I were talking to somebody who was a former smoker and who was concerned about minimizing their risk of not only lung disease but also heart disease and cancer, then taking a supplement of C and E would be a reasonable thing to do," he says. In fact, anyone who thought he or she was at increased risk of COPD could potentially benefit from these supplements, he adds. Supplements of beta-carotene, which is a precursor of the antioxidant vitamin A, should be used with caution, however. While a 2006 French study found that people with diets high in beta-carotene had a slower decline in lung function over an eight-year period, heavy smokers and drinkers may not benefit. Two studies found that beta-carotene supplements increased the risk of lung cancer in people who smoked more than one pack a day and drank heavily. According to Sims, the new study offers an incentive to look closer at the potential to use vitamin E or other antioxidants to help prevent COPD. "If it could be done with something like vitamin E, that's a relatively low-risk intervention, that would be the Holy Grail." Enter to win a monthly Room Makeover Giveaway from MyHomeIdeas.com . Copyright Health Magazine 2010 .
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Vittamin E can cut chronic obstructive pulmonary disease risk in smokers and nonsmokers . COPD includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis; often, but not always, caused by smoking . Several studies have shown that vitamins A, C, E and D may help improve lung health .
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(CNN) -- Inter Milan's new coach Leonardo has revealed how he consulted with former Nerazzurri boss Jose Mourinho before deciding to take on the job. The Brazilian has spent much of his playing and coaching career at city rivals AC Milan but after his chat with Mourinho was convinced he was ready to take over from the sacked Rafael Benitez. "I called him because I don't think you could come to Inter without going through him," Leonardo told the Italian club's official website. "We exchanged ideas on lots of things and I now share his opinions on lots of things. "He knows everything about this place, because he's still here in spirit -- he left everything here. I'm very happy about what he told me. I rate Mourinho as a true world-beater," he added. Football's heroes and villains of 2010 . Mourinho left in late May for Real Madrid after leading Inter to the Champions League, Serie A, Italian Cup treble. Despite Inter's faltering league performances this season under Benitez, Leonardo is convinced that he does not need to make wholesale changes. "Inter are a ready-made team, there's no need to start over. This side has won everything, but in its own way," the 41-year-old former World Cup winner said. "It has its own identity and the players know what to do, when to play and how to play. My job is to create the right conditions for them to be able to do that well." Benitez went after complaining, in the aftermath of Inter's Club World Cup triumph, that club president Massimo Moratti had not given him the funds to strengthen his injury-hit squad. Leonardo believes there is enough quality at Inter to repeat last season's successes. "I've noticed that all the players here, and not only the players, are hugely motivated," he said. "We don't have to invent anything here, just get back to doing the great things that Inter has already shown it can do over the last few years." Inter go into the second half of the Serie A season 13 points behind leaders AC Milan, but with two games in hand, and into the last 16 of the Champions League where they will play Bayern Munich in a repeat of the 2010 final.
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Leonardo reveals he took advice from Jose Mourinho before taking Inter job . Leonardo took charge after Rafael Benitez was sacked in the week before Christmas . Mourinho led Inter to a historic treble last season before going to Real Madrid .
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(CNN) -- After nearly five years as Homeland Security Secretary, former Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano surprised the nation and many of her friends with last week's announcement that she was being nominated for appointment as the 20th president of the University of California. But no one who knows her (I have, personally and professionally for more than 30 years) is at all surprised at why the UC system wants her, or why she emerged as the nontraditional but consensus choice for the job among a pool of talented and qualified candidates. Napolitano will leave her Cabinet post as one of the most respected, trusted and personally admired figures of Barack Obama's presidency. Her new job will be another first in Napolitano's career: She was the first woman valedictorian at the University of Santa Clara; the first woman to be elected governor of Arizona by popular vote; first woman to head the mammoth, sprawling and unwieldy Department of Homeland Security. And now the first woman president of the nation's largest public university system. Her positions have involved widely different subject portfolios, but there are common threads which reveal and reinforce her strengths. Napolitano knows how to herd cats. As governor and as DHS secretary, she presided over many disparate organizational fiefdoms. Her great success in both jobs was to know how to play to their strengths to achieve common goals. In Arizona a $1 billion deficit became surplus, without a tax increase. At Homeland Security, she helped transform 22 agencies from across the federal government into what most now view as a single integrated Cabinet Department. In the process, she has overseen the maturation of that department's "one-size-fits-all" security approach to one that matches the strategy to the threat: intelligence-driven and risk-based. FEMA -- the Federal Emergency Management Agency -- was a late-night talk show joke before she took office. Remember Hurricane Katrina and "heckuva good job, Brownie"? Napolitano worked together with a top-notch professional, FEMA Director Craig Fugate, to lead the federal response to historic natural disasters ranging from Hurricanes Sandy, Isaac and Irene to record flooding in the Midwest and major forest fires in the West. In the process, FEMA turned from a talk-show joke into a top-performing disaster response agency. Napolitano is not a limelight-seeker. She's a results-obsessed lawyer and public servant who sets priorities. At the Arizona border discussing immigration, on Gulf Coast beaches taking stock of daily progress in dealing with the BP Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill, visiting tornado-devastated communities in the Midwest and hurricane-ravaged New Jersey beach towns, she walked beside those who were directly affected and ceded the key camera shots to them. She assumed responsibility and when she did take center stage it was as a public figure unafraid to deal with hostility and criticism -- as she did as the administration's sole witness during the recent Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on the immigration reform bill. She brought years of front-line experience to the immigration debate and was a central figure in the ongoing discussions of reform. Her approach was not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. It was to focus on getting rid of criminals and threats to national security, while understanding that immigrants -- like her own Italian family -- have contributed much to this nation's prosperity and security. She has been was willing and ready to roll up her sleeves and work with all sides to construct an approach on immigration that works -- one that addresses both national security needs and immigrant potential. She applied her experience and expertise in many ways and behind the scenes, including in the final days of Senate debate on the "Gang of Eight" initiative, to remove roadblocks and move the process forward. Janet Napolitano is also one of the warmest and most caring individuals I know. Few are aware of the time she has devoted to help staff, family and friends in need. One example among many: A longtime mutual friend who served as director of constituent services in her Arizona office was unexpectedly stricken with illness. The woman lingered in ill health for many weeks before her untimely passing. Away from public and press attention, Napolitano went daily to her bedside, de facto family for an employee and friend who had lost most of hers long ago. In announcing the death, Napolitano paid tribute not only to the professional accomplishments but to the person with whom she had connected and befriended. "[She] played a critical role in the Governor's Office," Napolitano wrote. "What people may not know is that she was also an author, a hospice volunteer and a woman of deep faith. We're only beginning to grasp how much we will miss her." Napolitano has done exemplary work at the Department of Homeland Security, most of it away from the spotlight. She played a critical role in helping this administration succeed in areas where previous administrations had not. What people may not know is that she is a fan of football and opera and a friend who has your back. The students, faculty, administrators and regents who make up the University of California system are about to find all this out. I suspect that as the administration looks to replace her, it will begin to grasp how much it will miss her. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Douglas Wilson.
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Doug Wilson: People who know Janet Napolitano not surprised she's to head UC system . It's another "first woman" nod for her. She was first UC Santa Clara valedictorian, first AZ governor . He says as governor, DHS chief brought organizational fiefdoms to common cause . Wilson: She expertly handled emergency response, reviving FEMA reputation; is humane .
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- The most lucrative match in world football took place at Wembley Stadium on Monday -- with Burnley defeating Sheffield United 1-0 to collect a prize which is estimated to be worth nearly $100 million -- more than any Superbowl or World Cup final. $100m smiles? Hull City players celebrate after winning last year's Championship play-off match. In fact, international accountancy firm Deloitte say the English Championship play-off final is the richest single game in any sport. The financial jackpot for Burnley includes a $53m payment towards the coming season, and a minimum of $18m in each of the following two seasons. Dan Jones, partner in the Sport Business group at accountancy firm Deloitte, told CNN the difference between the $100m reward for the winner and what the loser receives is larger than in any other single event of any sport. "I can't think of a bigger one. People started talking about the Twenty20 for $20m cricket match when it came out -- but this is much bigger," he said. The massive injection of money to the victor is largely due to the lucrative television rights deals for Premier League football matches. Earlier this year the Premier League secured a new set of television deals for the 2010-2013 seasons worth a record $2.70 billion (£1.782b). The financial comparison between this match and the Champions League final -- which will be contested between Manchester United and FC Barcelona -- is remarkable. While a 2008 study funded by MasterCard found that the winner of the Champions League could earn as much as $149m (€110m), Jones said the financial difference between winning an losing the final would be only around $6m. "In terms of financial pressure -- if a player from Sheffield or Burnley steps up to take a penalty in that match -- they have a lot more riding on it than anyone in the Champions League would," he said. There is also potential for the guaranteed $100m to get even sweeter for the victor. Jones told CNN that in addition to the direct pay-out benefits, most clubs also experience greater ticket-sales and can attract higher advertising and sponsorship revenue. A club which managed to avoid relegation from the Premier League in the next season could gain a total of more than $100m as a result of winning the match. A club that did drop back down would still receive the "parachute payment" of $18m for two further seasons, Jones said. It's not an easy road for the team that wins this match, however. Of all the play-off match winners in the last decade, only three -- Bolton, West Ham and Hull City -- remain in the top flight. Last year's winner, Hull City, sit on the brink of relegation this weekend, and the challenge they face to stay up is the same one either Burnley or Sheffield United will get to face next season: global giant Manchester United before 80,000 people at Old Trafford. Good luck.
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English football's Championship play-off final is the richest game of any sport . Winning the match is worth nearly $100 million to victorious club Burnley . Losers Sheffield United receive only profits from the gate-takings at Wembley .
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(CNN) -- Honda has expanded an airbag recall worldwide, covering 2001 and 2002 Accord, Civic, Odyssey, CR-V, and selected 2002 Acura TL vehicles, the automaker said. The recall also includes the Honda Pilot and Acura CL in the United States, and the Honda Inspire, Saber and Lagreat in Japan for the same model years. On its Web site late Tuesday, Honda said the driver's airbag inflators might expand with too much pressure, which can cause the inflator casing to break and could lead to injury or death. There have been 12 incidents related to an airbag inflator problem, Honda said. The original recall was issued in July 2009, and included 2001 and 2002 Accords and Civics, as well as some 2002 model year Acura TL vehicles. The global recall now covers more than 950,000 vehicles. Honda said it will notify affected customers by mail and phone with instructions on how to have their vehicles inspected and updated at an authorized dealer. Last month, Honda announced a separate recall of 646,000 2007 and 2008 Fit, City and Jazz models worldwide, after a fire hazard involving a power window switch resulted in a death in South Africa.
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Honda has expanded an airbag recall worldwide to more than half a million vehicles . The global airbag-related recall now covers 514,000 vehicles . Last month, Honda announced a separate recall of 646,000 for power window problems .
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(CNN) -- A centuries-old copy of a 500-year-old map that christened the New World as "America" has been discovered at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich -- folded and wedged inside of an old book, according to a release on the university's website. The original map, created in 1507 by cartographer Martin Waldseemüller, according to the release, shows the continent of America isolated from Europe by a vast ocean and as a much smaller, banana-shaped landmass than what is mapped today. The ancient map was based on a variety of research expeditions, with Amerigo Vespucci's voyages at the beginning of the 16th century featuring heavily, according to the U.S. Library of Congress. Shipwreck found on Gulf floor while thousands watched . The map itself is made up of globe segments, each containing different parts of the world that when cut out and folded together create a small globe. The university's website says the "new" map -- printed some time after the original -- was found inside a rebound 19th century book, unrelated in subject matter, by a bibliographer going through a routine revision of catalogs. The U.S. Library of Congress currently houses the only known full-size surviving copy of the original ambitious 1507 World Map by Waldseemüller, after receiving it from German Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2007. The Library of Congress says that this was the first world map to recognize the new-found American landmass, completely transforming the understanding of a world originally thought of until then as Europe, Asia and Africa. America celebrates Independence Day . Photos: Celebrating the Fourth of July .
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The original map was created in 1507 by a German cartographer . It was the first world map to recognize the new-found American landmass . A centuries-old copy of that map was found at a German university .
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(CNN) -- Britain will have four representatives on the Formula One grid next season after Marussia F1 announced they have signed Max Chilton for the 2013 campaign. The 21-year-old has completed just two F1 tests for the team and was their reserve driver for the final six races of 2012. Chilton's deal with Marussia means there will be a British quartet on the grid when the teams line up in Australia. He joins Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, of McLaren, and Paul Di Resta, who drives for Force India. It is the first time there have been four Brits in F1 since 2008 when Button and Hamilton were joined by David Coulthard and Anthony Davidson. "It's hard to put into words how I'm feeling today, with the announcement that I will be racing for the Marussia F1 Team in 2013," Chilton said in a statement on Marussia's official website. "I am very fortunate to have spent the last six races with the Marussia F1 Team as reserve driver, which means that instead of a standing start, I am already up to speed and at ease with the people, the culture, the systems and of course, the 2012 package. "During the period since the Japanese Grand Prix, I have watched at very close quarters the incredible commitment and determination to succeed that saw everyone in the team pushing until the very last race. "I feel very lucky to be able to embark on my F1 racing career with this group of people. "Pre-season testing is just a few weeks away, so my focus now is to continue my physical preparation whilst spending as much time as possible working with the technical team to help develop the car I will drive in my debut F1 season." Chilton finished fourth in the GP2 series, which acts as a feeder competition for F1, and showed promise in his two performances in the Marussia car, in a young driver test and in free practice at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. John Booth, Marussia's team principal, said Chilton had shown enough potential to earn his chance, as Marussia try to improve on their 11th-place finish in last year's constructors' championship. "We felt confident enough in his ability and potential to appoint him to the role of reserve driver in September and since that time his development has been rapid in all aspects," Booth explained. "First and foremost, he has shown himself to be extremely capable in the car. Most recently, in Abu Dhabi, he was put to the test in a competitive environment which included providing him with an opportunity to demonstrate his outright pace and consistency over a single lap. "Not only that, Max very quickly embedded himself within the team, thanks in no small part to the fact that he is a lively and affable character who we've enjoyed having around. "Having been integral to our race weekend engineering environment for the past three months already - as well as having undertaken a significant part of our simulator programme - Max has already found his feet."
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Briton driver Max Chilton selected to drive for Marussia in the 2013 Formula One season . Chilton's deal means there will be four British drivers on the F1 grid in 2013 . The 21-year-old has only had two F1 test drives and moves from GP2 series . Chilton joins Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Paul Di Resta in the sport .
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(CNN) -- At least 40 bodies -- all of them wearing uniforms identifying them as army officers -- have been found in a mass grave inside the headquarters of the Bangladesh Rifles paramilitary in the capital, Dhaka, authorities said Friday. Bangladeshi army soldiers gather near the Bangladesh Rifles headquarters in Dhaka Thursday. The discovery brings to at least 62 the number of army officers who have been found dead after mutinous paramilitary forces took dozens of superiors hostages at the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) headquarters on Wednesday. The Rifles laid down their arms after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina agreed to grant them amnesty. The bodies were found in a grave behind the mortuary building inside the BDR compound in the Pilkhana area of Dhaka, said Cmdr. Abdul Kalam Azad with the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), an elite internal security team that is helping with the recovery effort. "It's a bad scene," Azad said. "You can only see their legs. We're carrying away only as many as we can fit in ambulances. Then we're going to go look for more." Earlier, 22 bodies had been recovered from the Buriganga River after the rebelling troops dumped them down a sewer during the standoff, authorities said. The Rifles took their superiors -- all military men -- hostage Wednesday morning after a rebellion they said was spurred by years of their grievances not being addressed. Discontent had been bubbling for years among the ranks of the BDR troops, a 65,000-strong paramilitary outfit primarily responsible for guarding the country's borders. Watch how the paramilitary revolt spread » . The recruits complained their army superiors dismissed their appeals for more pay, subsidized food and opportunities to participate in U.N. peacekeeping operations. Bangladesh and its South Asian neighbors contribute the most troops to such U.N. operations. And the pay is far greater than the meager salary the jawans -- as the BDR troops are called -- make.
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Mass grave found with bodies of at least 40 Bangladesh army officers . At least 62 officers found dead since mutiny by paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles . Rifles laid down arms Thursday after PM agreed to offer them amnesty .
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New York (CNN) -- Lawyers for ex-International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit by his accuser in a now-dismissed sexual assault case Monday, arguing his job gave him immunity from civil cases. As head of the IMF, Strauss-Kahn had the same protections as diplomats, his attorneys wrote in court papers. U.S. courts recognize those protections as "customary international law" even though the United States has not signed the U.N. convention that specifically includes IMF officials, they wrote. Though Strauss-Kahn resigned as IMF managing director after his arrest in May, his immunity continued while he was under house arrest in New York, they told a New York state judge in the Bronx, where the lawsuit was filed. Manhattan prosecutors dropped sexual assault charges against him in August amid questions about the credibility of his accuser, Nafissatou Diallo, who sued Strauss-Kahn as prosecutors prepared to dismiss the case. Prosecutors later disclosed that Diallo had made false statements "in matters great and small," undercutting their case against the 62-year-old banker. Diallo, a Guinean immigrant who worked as a maid at the Sofitel Hotel, accused Strauss-Kahn of sexually assaulting her in his hotel room and of smearing her reputation as he fought the charges against him. Strauss-Kahn was considered a possible contender for the French presidency before his arrest. In a television interview following his return to Paris, he confessed to a "moral weakness" and an "inappropriate relationship" with Diallo, but denied any violence or aggression. In their filing Monday, his attorneys also asked a judge to bar other allegations of improper sexual acts if the lawsuit is allowed to stand. French journalist Tristane Banon has filed a complaint against Strauss-Kahn in France, alleging he attempted to sexually assault her in 2003; he has filed a counter-suit alleging slander.
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Ex-IMF chief says he had immunity similar to diplomats . His lawyers have asked a New York judge to dismiss his accuser's lawsuit . Criminal charges against Strauss-Kahn were dropped in August .
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(CNN) -- Football's lawmakers have taken the historic step of unanimously approving goal-line technology systems for use in the sport. World soccer's global governing body FIFA and the International Football Association Board (IFAB) made the announcement following a meeting in Zurich on Thursday. FIFA intend for goal-line technology to be used at December's Club World Cup in Japan, and if successful it will also be implemented at the 2013 African Cup of Nations and the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Two systems, designed by technology companies GoalRef and Hawk-Eye, have been approved after going through two phases of FIFA testing. UEFA chief opposed to goal-line technology . FIFA president Sepp Blatter had previously opposed the move but said the turning point had been an incident at the 2010 World Cup involving a second round clash between England and Germany. Blatter was present when midfielder Frank Lampard's shot bounced well over the goal-line but was not awarded by the officials in a match England went on to lose 4-1. "It is a real approach of modern times in football," he told reporters. "It is so important because the objective in football is to score goals. It's a help for the referee. "I'm happy, I'm pleased we are able to go forward. When it comes to high level competition and you have the technology and you don't use it something is wrong. "I have changed my attitude towards technology because of Lampard's kick in South Africa. That was the moment for me to say 'You are the president of FIFA and you cannot afford that in the next World Cup something similar will happen.'" The English Premier League welcomed the news, expressing its intention to bring in goal-line technology in the near future. "The Premier League has been a long-term advocate of goal line technology," read a statement on the organization's website. "We will engage in discussions with both Hawk-Eye and GoalRef in the near future with a view to introducing goal-line technology as soon as is practically possible." The IFAB is comprised of FIFA and the four UK-based football associations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is a body which decides on any proposed changes to the rules of soccer. Blog: Will FIFA regret opening technology can of worms? The announcement follows Blatter's recent calls for goal-line technology to be introduced in reaction to an incident that occurred during Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine. Co-hosts Ukraine saw a goal not given during a must-win group-stage match with England, when John Terry cleared Artim Milevskiy's shot after it looked to have crossed the line. Following the game on June 19, Blatter used his official Twitter account to declare: "After last night's match #GLT is no longer an alternative but a necessity." But his stance on the issue is at odds with Michel Platini, the president of European football's governing body UEFA. The UEFA chief told CNN in May: "I'm against the technology. If you say OK to goal-line technology, then it is offside technology, then penalty area technology, and we stop the football. "I want human people -- it's easy. I understand the fans because they want justice but with an additional referee we have the same justice." In addition to Milevskiy's "goal" at Euro 2012, England have been involved in one other high-profile goal-line controversies. In the 1966 World Cup final, England were awarded a goal against West Germany when Geoff Hurst's shot in extra-time rebounded off the underside of the crossbar. England went on to win the match 4-2 at Wembley. At the same meeting, FIFA also confirmed it would permit the wearing of headscarves during a trial period. As there was no medical risk to wearing headscarves when playing a game of football, it has decided to relent on a ban introduced in 2007. Soccer's governing body had prevented teams wearing the traditional headscarves -- which protect the modesty of Islamic girls and women -- for safety reasons and to prevent political or religious statements.
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Goal-line technology approved for use in football on Thursday . Global governing body FIFA and IFAB unanimously agree on decision . FIFA intends for goal-line technology to be used at December's Club World Cup . Two systems, Hawk-Eye and GoalRef, approved by soccer's lawmakers .
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(CNN) -- Militants who control parts of Somalia's capital city are beating women in broad daylight for violating their radical brand of Islamic law, according to local officials and witnesses in Mogadishu. "Just today, Al-Shabaab dispatched men with whips to the streets around Bakara market and they are flogging any woman who is found not wearing socks," according to a female maize trader at the Mogadishu market, who spoke Thursday. She did not want to be named for security reasons. In the past two days, more than 130 people, including women who were not wearing headscarves and men chewing dried khat leaves, have been detained for violating Al-Shabaab's interpretation of sharia, or Islamic law, according to witnesses and officials. Hooded Al-Shabaab gunmen rounded up 50 women on Wednesday from Mogadishu's Bakara market for not wearing the veil that is required for women under some interpretations of Islamic law, according to the maize trader. "Most of these women were vegetable traders, so they are poor and can't afford to buy veils for 600,000 shillings [about $23 U.S.]," she said. She said she saw more women being detained Thursday. Another 80 Somali civilians were detained in the southwestern town of Luuq, near the Kenyan and Ethiopian border, "because they turned deaf ear to orders we imposed on the town," said the local Al-Shabaab commander Sheikh Hussien al-Iraqi. Al-Shabaab is considered a terrorist organization by the United States because of its ties to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network. It has been imposing stricter rules on Somali civilians living in the areas it controls. Earlier this month, Al-Shabaab militants whipped women for wearing bras in an area of northern Mogadishu that they control, shocking residents who have been besieged by the ongoing insurgency. The militants believe the female undergarments are a deception to men.
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Militant group Al-Shabaab imposes strict interpretation of law in areas it controls . Women violate law by not wearing socks, headscarves and by wearing bras . "Al-Shabaab dispatched men with whips to the streets," witness says . Al-Shabaab is considered a terrorist organization by the United States .
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(CNN) -- File this under the "wouldn't it be cool if ...?" category. IBM is developing a computer system that could theoretically customize healthy recipes based on your personal taste buds. An outline of the project was presented as part of the company's annual 5 in 5 list -- five inventions that could change the world in five years. "At the end of the day, taste is about chemistry," Bernie Meyerson, vice president of innovation at IBM, told Fast Company. So how would it work? IBM's Watson takes on lawmakers in game effort . "The system analyzes foods in terms of how chemical compounds interact with each other, the number of atoms in each compound, and the bonding structure and shapes of compounds," wrote IBM research scientist Lav Varshney. "Coupled with psychophysical data and models on which chemicals produce perceptions of pleasantness, familiarity and enjoyment, the end result is a unique recipe, using combinations of ingredients that are scientifically flavorful." Let's rephrase. Our brains determine a food's flavor by how chemicals in the food react with our nose sensors and taste buds. IBM's system would break down the chemical components of each meal, then collect taste data based on your feedback. It would then use that information to create recipes that would appeal to you on a molecular level. Basically, "in five years, a computer system will know what I want to eat better than I do," Varshney said. Watson's win doesn't make humanity obsolete -- yet . Varshney and his team hope that by optimizing flavor, they will be able to reduce health issues related to nutrition. A person could program the computer to personalized taste (hold the mushrooms!) and medical necessities (low sodium, please). "The best recipes will start with the right molecules," Varshney said. IBM will go all Watson on your commute .
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IBM is developing computer system to analyze food based on molecules . The system could potentially create personalized, healthy recipes . "At the end of the day, taste is about chemistry," an IBM innovation expert says .
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(CNN) -- Authorities imposed curfews and limited access to city centers across Iraq as thousands of protesters demanded economic progress and an end to corruption, police said. Demonstrators were reported to be gathering in Baghdad, Basra, Nineveh, Anbar and Salaheddin. The developments follow weeks of demonstrations across the country by protesters angry about unemployment, poor basic services, corruption and a lack of freedom. At least 13 people died in protests on February 25. "Liar, liar, Nuri al-Maliki," some protesters were heard shouting in Baghdad. "Al-Maliki has become like Saddam," others said, referring to former leader Saddam Hussein. "We have elected you to protect us and not to kill us," one banner said. After an emergency cabinet meeting on Sunday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki gave government ministers 100 days to deliver results and eliminate corruption or be fired. "We live in a country rich with oil, yet we don't have jobs," demonstrators said. "The oil for the people and not for thieves." In Baghdad, police imposed a ban on the movement of vehicles across the city, forcing protesters to walk several kilometers to Tahrir Square. Still several thousands gathered there after Friday prayers.
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Demonstrators gather in Iraqi cities after Friday prayers . Authorities impose curfews to limit access to city centers . At least 13 people died in protests a week ago .
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(CNN) -- It was supposed to be the Copa del Rey semifinal showdown between Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo and his Barcelona nemesis Lionel Messi. But the two superstars, who have scored 77 goals between them in all competitions this season, were overshadowed by a man making his very first start in a Clasico matchup in Madrid Wednesday. Real defender Raphael Varane might only be 19, but he capped a hugely impressive performance with a dramatic equalizer to ensure his side will travel to the Camp Nou next month level at 1-1 with every chance of making the final. Messi sets up 'El Clasico' clash . The Frenchman, playing at the heart of the Real defense, made a whole host of challenges and tackles to help Jose Mourinho's side claim a draw from an enthralling first leg encounter. That result looked in doubt for some time once Cesc Fabregas had fired the visitor ahead early in the second half with the Catalans going on to create a whole plethora of chances. Xavi Hernandez hit the crossbar in the first half and had another effort brilliantly blocked on the line by Varane as Barcelona threatened to take control of the 223rd clasico. Austerity gives El Clasico new twist . But the league leaders finally made the breakthrough six minutes after the interval when Cesc Fabregas latched onto Leo Messi's pass and slotted the slotted the ball home. Real, which is 15 points behind Barcelona in La Liga, had chances of its own and Ronaldo somehow headed wide from three yards when he looked certain to score. Pedro should have punished Real further when he burst clear with 17 minutes remaining, but he inexplicably prodded his effort wide of the far post with just the goalkeeper to beat. Messi trumps Ronaldo . And Real took full advantage of Barcelona's wasteful nature as Varane headed home Mesut Ozil's cross with nine minutes remaining. There was still time for stand-in goalkeeper Diego Lopez to deny Jordi Alba a late winner but Barca was forced to settle for a draw and a crucial away goal. "These games are always very tough," Fabregas told Spanish television. "Considering how the march went the result could have been more favourable from our point of view. "But we will be at home for the return leg in front of our own fans. We are in a good rhythm and having a spectacular season." The two teams will contest the second leg at Camp Nou on February 26. More woe for Chelsea boss Benitez . In the English Premier League, Chelsea manager Rafael Benitez was forced to watch on in horror as his side threw away a two goal lead to draw 2-2 at relegation threatened Reading. Juan Mata and Frank Lampard had put the visitor in a commanding position with just 24 minutes of normal time remaining. But Reading's super sub Adam Le Fondre scored twice in the last three minutes to snatch a point for his side. Manchester United extended its lead at the top of the Premier League to seven points with a 2-1 win over Southampton. After falling behind early on at Old Trafford to Jay Rodriguez's effort, United hit back thanks to two goals from Wayne Rooney. Real Madrid, Barca or Manchester United: Which is the biggest club? Arsenal came from two goals down to claim a point in a thrilling 2-2 draw against Liverpool. Luis Suarez and Jordan Henderson had give Liverpool at two goal lead in London but strikes from Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott ensured the spoils were shared. But there was bad news for Arsenal after it was confirmed that defender Kieran Gibbs will be out of action for up to three weeks with a thigh injury. Elsewhere, Tottenham was held to a 1-1 draw at Norwich, Fulham defeated West Ham 2-1 and Everton saw off West Bromwich Albion by the same scoreline. Lazio charged with racist fan behavior . Meanwhile, Italian club Lazio has been fined $190,000 by UEFA after its Europa League games with Tottenham and Maribor were marred by racist chanting. Lazio was hit with a $122,00 punishment after sections of its support sang "Juden Tottenham" ("Tottenham Jews" in German) at the visiting fans, whose club has a historical Jewish connection. They also held up a banner which read "Free Palestine" during the game on November 22 last year. Tottenham was also fined $13,500 for crowd disturbances in the same fixture. Lazio had previously been fined $54,500 by UEFA after monkey chants were directed at Tottenham players during the reverse fixture in London in September. Anti-semitic chanting mars Lazio game . UEFA also punished Lazio after their fans threw missiles and fireworks on to the pitch while the team was sanctioned for their late arrival at the stadium. The Italians also received a suspended one-match stadium ban and a further $68,000 fine for their supporters' racist conduct in the Europa League group stage game against Maribor in Slovenia on December 6. Maribor were fined $23,000 for poor match organization and the throwing of missiles and fireworks by their supporters at the same Group J game.
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Real Madrid and Barcelona draw 1-1 in first leg of Copa del Rey semifinal . Raphael Varane heads 81st minute equalizer to cancel out Cesc Fabregas' opener . Two teams will meet again at Camp Nou for second leg on February 26 . Manchester United extends lead at top of English Premier League .
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Jerusalem (CNN) -- Palestinian leaders privately agreed to accept a very limited return of the 6 million Palestinian refugees and their descendants to previous homes in what is now Israel, leaked documents showed Tuesday. The leaked documents dealing with the sensitive issue of the "right of return" for Palestinian refugees comes a day after the Arab news network Al-Jazeera began releasing documents revealing details of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. The leaks have prompted protests and outrage in the West Bank and Gaza. According to the minutes of a meeting in January 2010 Palestinian Chief Negotiator Saeb Erakat told U.S. State department official David Hale that the Palestinians had accepted a "symbolic number" of refugees returning to Israel. In minutes from a meeting the year before with his own negotiating team Erakat said that the former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had accepted the return of a 1,000 refugees annually for a period of ten years. Speaking to negotiators in 2009 Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said, "On numbers of refugees it is illogical to ask Israel to take 5 million or indeed 1 million -- that would mean the end of Israel." The "right of return" is a highly sensitive topic for both Palestinians and Israelis and remains one of the core sticking points in achieving a peace deal. Any concession on the issue of refugees by either side poses huge difficulties with their political constituencies. For most Palestinians the eventual return to their former homes in what is now Israel remains a fundamental requirement while Israelis argue that the large-scale return of refugees would spell the end of the Jewish majority state. Complicating matters for the Palestinian Authority in dealing with the issue of refugees return are comments attributed to Erakat from the minutes of a 2007 meeting with the Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht in which the chief Palestinian negotiator suggested that refugees would not have the right to vote on a peace deal. "I never said the Diaspora will vote. It's not going to happen. The referendum will be for Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Can't do it in Lebanon. Can't do it in Jordan." In a statement Monday, Erakat said that "a number of reports have surfaced regarding our positions in our negotiations with Israel, many of which have misrepresented our positions, taking statements and facts out of context. Other allegations circulated in the media have been patently false." He added, "Our position has been the same for the past 19 years of negotiations: We seek to establish a sovereign and independent Palestinian state along the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital and to reach a just solution to the refugee issue based on their international legal rights", adding any proposed agreement "would have to gain popular support through a national referendum." Other revelations from the second day of leaked document include: . -- The suggestion by then Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a 2008 tri-lateral meeting with Israeli and Palestinian officials that refugees could be sent to outside countries such as Chile and Argentina; . -- the suggestion in 2008 meetings by then Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni that future land swaps should include Israeli Arab villages; . -- the refusal of the Obama White House to accept a Bush administration decision to use 1967 borders as a baseline for negotiations between Israeli and Palestinians about any proposed land swap agreement. On Sunday Al-Jazeera began its release of over 1,600 documents dubbed "The Palestine Papers." The first release of papers suggested that Palestinian negotiators offered to give up large swaths of East Jerusalem to Israel during negotiations dating back to 2008 and that they had been willing to offer much larger concessions in private than they were acknowledging public. The leaked papers brought a furious reaction form Palestinian Authority officials with President Abbas calling the release "shameful." "The report aired by Al-Jazeera is an intentional mixing between the many Israeli proposals and the Palestinian positions," Abbas said in Cairo, Egypt, in comments published by the Palestinian news agency Wafa. Yasser Abed Rabbo, a senior Abbas adviser went further, accusing Al-Jazeera of a "smear campaign." "What happened is a manipulation of the documents and a misrepresentation of the facts and a true distortion, just for mockery and defiance," Abed Rabbo told reporters. Contacted by CNN, al-Jazeera declined to comment on the criticisms from the Palestinian Authority. Dozens of Palestinians gathered Monday in central Ramallah, burning banners for Al-Jazeera and holding posters comparing the channel to Israel. Several demonstrators also attempted to storm the offices of the al-Jazeera office but were turned back by Palestinian police personnel. U.S. State department spokesman P.J. Crowley refused to comment on any of the specific documents, but told reporters that their release complicated the efforts to get Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table. "We don't deny that this release will, at least for a time, make the situation more difficult than it already was," Crowley said. "We continue to believe that a framework agreement is both possible and necessary." The papers, some of which were posted on the Al-Jazeera network's website, shed new light on the details of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from 1999 through last year. CNN could not immediately verifiy the documents.
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New documents show Palestinian leaders agreed to accept a "symbolic" return of Palestinian refugees to Israel . The "right of return" is a very sensitive issue for Palestinians . The leaked documents, which have prompted outrage, cover negotiations over a number of years .
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Princeton, New Jersey (CNN) -- If Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are staying up late worrying about whether they can win the election, they should ponder another, ultimately more important, question: Will their campaign rhetoric make it impossible for them to be effective if elected president? The decisions that each man makes in his effort to defeat the other will shape the political environment in January 2013. Although we often consider the campaign phase of a presidency to be entirely separate from governing, the truth is that the two are intimately connected. Whoever takes office in January will face many difficult challenges that will force him to compromise, adjust and move away from campaign promises that no longer fit the reality of the times. The Bush tax cuts expire at the end of the year, along with the payroll tax cut designed to boost the economy. The pressure will be on for the president and Congress to make deep spending cuts and revenue increases. The president's health care law will either need to be implemented and funded, or it will have been ruled unconstitutional, thus pushing to the forefront once again the skyrocketing costs of health care. In foreign policy, the Middle East, Iran, North Korea and China all point to hot spots that are volatile and unpredictable. And these are just the known challenges, let alone the crises we can't yet see coming. For Obama, the dangers are significant. To keep Democrats excited about a second term, it appears that he will continue to focus on the rhetoric of economic populism as well as on attacking the do-nothing Congress. Although he has governed like a moderate, his speeches have increasingly stressed the liberal themes of progressive economic policy, criticism of Wall Street and big business and, to some extent, laments about the growing inequality in American life. In his State of the Union Address, Obama castigated Wall Street with populist rhetoric, saying that the problems in the economy had stemmed from the fact that "Wall Street was allowed to play by its own set of rules." He promised that this time around, "It's time to apply the same rules from top to bottom: No bailouts, no handouts and no copouts." The danger for Obama is twofold. One the one hand, if the president veers too far to the left on the campaign trail, he will offer more fodder to his opponents who want to paint his every move as being those of a left-of-center Democrat. This will be even more problematic than it was in 2009 and 2010, when Obama still enjoyed political capital from his election, which allowed him to rebuff some of these charges and push through his legislative agenda. After his re-election, Republicans wouldn't have any fears about retribution and they wouldn't have any reason to compromise. As with every second-term president, he would be a lame duck from day one. Just as important, many moderate Democrats could be leery about supporting him unless they were sure that doing so wouldn't hurt their chances for re-election. At the same time that a rhetorical shift to the left could alienate possible legislative support, it could also create inflated expectations within the Democratic base. Just as many of Obama's supporters have been disappointed in his decisions after a campaign that promised transformation, liberals would be doubly dejected if his populism proved to be pure posturing. He could leave many Democrats deeply disappointed over the dim chance of ever delivering on these core ideas. Finally, in the coming months, Obama will continue to succumb to the lure of big money. With all his talk about change, this election looks awfully familiar. The Obama campaign has embarked on an aggressive fundraising project, including relying on super PACS. The kind of fundraising and interest group mobilization that will occur might very well define Obama by the end of this season as much as any of the bills that Congress has passed. Romney has challenges of his own. Romney's most obvious campaign struggle will be what to do about the right. The tea party Republicans will continue to pressure Romney to play to the base so he can prove he is not the Etch A Sketch candidate his critics present him to be. Romney will face a strong temptation to echo their positions as he looks to the tea party to mobilize supporters to vote in swing states. But if Romney pushes too hard in this direction, trying to overcompensate for his perceived centrism, he would make it difficult to appeal to moderate Democrats in a first term. Without the support of at least a handful of moderates, persuading Congress to pass legislation will be extraordinarily difficult. Romney will also face growing pressure to promise that he will oppose any kind of revenue increase, including an assurance that he would support an extension of the Bush tax cuts for wealthier Americans. Given the size of the deficit, such promises would put him in a difficult bind, setting him up for the kind of challenge with the Republican base that faced George H.W. Bush in 1990 when he had to settle for revenue increases after promising in his campaigning that he wouldn't agree to any new taxes. The enormity of the deficit will require revenue increases in addition to spending cuts. If the next president and Congress decide that they must significantly lower the deficit, these painful choices would be on the table.. He will need to keep bargaining room to raise taxes so that this doesn't haunt him. Some presidents have faced trouble as a result of the way they campaigned. Most famously, President Harry Truman pulled off a stunning upset against Thomas Dewey in 1948 by running against a "Do Nothing Congress." Although Truman's victory is often recounted, what is usually forgotten is that his relationship with Congress was terrible over the succeeding few years. Many of the Republicans who had worked closely with the Democratic Truman in 1947 and 1948 were furious at the campaign theme. Sen. Arthur Vandenberg of Michigan, who had been Truman's key ally in the creation of the national security system, complained to one Republican operative that, "Not even Wallace [third party candidate Henry Wallace] is saying things better calculated to split the country into snarling vendettas at a moment when our destiny cannot afford these soap box luxuries." The result was bitter conflict over domestic issues such as civil rights and the war against communism . Yet there have been times when campaigning and governance went hand in hand. In 1964, Lyndon Johnson of Texas used his campaign to define his agenda broadly, contrasting himself with right-wing Sen. Barry Goldwater of Arizona and extolling the virtues of liberalism. During the campaign, Johnson took part in staged events extolling programs that Congress had passed. The election increased the Democratic majority in the Congress, giving him needed support for passing bills such as Medicare and federal aid to education, and became a platform to govern. Obama and Romney will have to navigate this difficult path. As they focus on each other and the kinds of tactics that will be needed for victory, they must also consider what happens if they do win and how the campaign will help or hinder their chances as president. The decisions that give Romney or Obama the best chance to win in the Electoral College may make success almost impossible to achieve in the White House. .   . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Julian Zelizer.
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Julian Zelizer: Rhetoric by Obama, Romney on campaign trail could be risky . He says the positions they take could weaken their eventual time in the White House . Next president will face major challenges at home and overseas, he says . Zelizer: Promises to left or right could make governing very difficult .
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(CNN) -- The good news is that you'll still be allowed to look out the window. The melancholy news is that you probably won't want to. Both Amtrak and Greyhound are in the midst of aggressive programs to install and expand free Wi-Fi service on their trains and buses. According to figures provided by officials of both companies, Amtrak and Greyhound, between them, carry around 50 million passengers a year on intercity routes. "Our passengers tell us that they love to be able to use their computers for free as they travel," said Amtrak spokeswoman Barbara Petito. "Our passengers enjoy it a lot," said Greyhound spokesman Timothy Stokes. Petito and Stokes undoubtedly are being truthful. For generations, it was taken as an article of faith that baseball was the national pastime. But several decades ago a wise social observer noted that baseball wasn't the national pastime at all; watching television had become the national pastime. And now -- it's difficult to argue with this -- gazing at computer (or mobile telephone) screens has become the national pastime, whether we want it to be or not. It's how we pass the time. "All of our new coaches have Wi-Fi, and it's our plan to make it systemwide," said Greyhound's Stokes. (Various discount-priced bus lines have featured Wi-Fi for some time.) Amtrak's Petito said the Acela Express trains on the East Coast already have free Wi-Fi, as do the Downeaster trains (between Boston, Massachusetts, and Portland, Maine), the Coast Starlight (between Seattle, Washington, and Los Angeles, California) and the Pacific Surfliner (between San Luis Obispo, California, and San Diego, California). "It is Amtrak's vision to outfit all of its services with Wi-Fi over the next few years as funding becomes available," she said. There is an undeniable logic to that. Jet airliners are a much faster way to get from one part of the United States to another; trains and buses take considerably longer, and passengers can grow weary and bored. Allowing them to connect to the internet, especially when it's free, would seem to be a way to make the miles zip by. So what will be lost? Journeys on Amtrak and Greyhound have, by default, been the last, best way to really look at America block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood, mile by mile. If you were driving your own car on a long trip, you mostly had your eyes on the highway ahead; if you were flying, you were above the clouds. But on the train or on the bus you had little choice but to look out the window and take in the country as it rolled by. You could read a magazine or work on a crossword puzzle or knit, but those were things you could just as easily do at home. Moving from state to state at ground level felt different. On Amtrak especially, if you booked a compartment in one of the sleeper cars, your window had the approximate relative dimensions of a television screen: You could lean back and let the nation unfurl in front of you. It was like a visual novel, a freeform silent movie; it was like passing through America's endless backyard. It was the United States in a way you had allowed yourself to almost forget about. The one-of-a-kind storefronts, the people talking on small-town corners, the meticulously tended gardens, the lights in the windows waiting for someone to come home at the end of an evening -- they have always been there, but in our hurried daily lives we sometimes cease to pay attention. On the train or on the bus, paying attention was often the ideal option, the best way to deal with the tedium, and the whole thing could be unexpectedly lovely. It was the nicest traveler's perk of all. It still can be, of course; as Greyhound's Stokes said, "You always have the choice." But if recent social history has taught us anything, it's that the actual world around us is frequently no match for the seductiveness of a screen. If you need proof of that, it's right in front of you on any city street, as people stroll along oblivious to their immediate surroundings, their eyes locked on the information being delivered to them on their phones and handheld devices. We seem to have become hopelessly addicted. So you can bet that, as the trains and interstate buses eventually are all fitted for complimentary Wi-Fi, and as the technical kinks are worked out and the connectivity becomes close to seamless, passengers will become accustomed to logging on to the internet from before they even pull out of the station until the moment they arrive at their destination. There's no disputing that, in a fundamental way, this is progress; it will make the miles and hours seem to go by more quickly, it will allow passengers to feel they have not really left the world from which they have just departed, it will keep them tethered and productive. It will give the welcome illusion of shortening the journey. And maybe once in a while, as they look up from the computer for a moment and glance out the window -- at a Friday night football game in a town they've never passed through before and will never pass through again, at a diner whose owner is unlocking and opening the front door as the first tentative rays of one more dawn have just begun to glow, at the tired expression on the face of a motorist alone in his car at a railroad crossing, waiting patiently for the Amtrak train to speed by so he can get to wherever he needs to be. ... Maybe, once in a while, the people on the train or on the bus will gratefully take in the greatest free show of all, the one that isn't delivered out of the ether and onto a screen, the one that once was referred to as life. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Bob Greene.
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Bob Greene says Amtrak and Greyhound are bringing Wi-FI to their 50 million passengers . Trains and buses need a way to compete with planes; Wi-Fi may be an answer, writes Greene . Trains and buses were a way to experience "America's backyard," writes Greene . He says we have become oblivious to our surroundings due to technology .
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(CNN) -- Jose Mourinho has admitted that he is likely to take over at Real Madrid, in an attempt to become the first coach in history to win the Champions League with three different clubs. In the aftermath of Inter Milan's 2-0 victory over Bayern Munich on Saturday, Mourinho made a point of going over to the Inter fans, appearing to wave goodbye to them in the process, and the Portuguese later confirmed to reporters that he is expecting to be at the Santiago Bernabeu on a more regular basis next season. Although Manuel Pellegrini continues to be coach of Real, speculation surrounding Mourinho's probable appointment intensified in the days leading up to the Champions League final -- and the former Chelsea manager finally revealed that all the speculation had been true. "The 2004 Champions League was my last game for Porto and this will almost certainly be my last game for Inter," Mourinho told Italian TV station RAI. World Sport blog: Mourinho will bring magic to Madrid . "I want another challenge in my career. I want to become the only coach to win the Champions League with three different clubs. "It's not definite that I'll go but I want new risks, new experiences, and now is the moment to decide." Although he stopped short of saying he will definitely be charge in of Real Madrid next season, Mourinho then added: "I don't know the (Madrid) project yet, so I have to hear the project, but at the moment I am not the coach of Real Madrid; I am the coach of Inter and a very proud coach of Inter. "Inter remains an option and I have a fantastic family here, but Real is the best option I have. The percentage of me leaving is higher than that of staying." "Madrid is an enormous club, a club that wants the same as me; I want to win, I want to feel important, I want to keep winning." Real Madrid have been forced to play second fiddle to Spanish rivals Barcelona in recent seasons -- going out of the Champions League at the last 16 stage six years in a row and winning just two trophies in seven seasons.
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Jose Mourinho admits he is set to leave Inter Milan to take over at Real Madrid . Mourinho was speaking after Inter beat Bayern Munich 2-0 to win the Champions League . The Portuguese wants to win the Champions League with three different clubs .
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(CNN) -- One of two convicted murderers who allegedly used forged documents to walk out of Franklin Correctional Institution in North Carrabelle, south of Tallahassee, was ordered Wednesday held without bond on an escape charge and sent back to the prison. Wearing a dark jumpsuit, Charles Walker nodded several times in response to questions during his 65-second appearance in the 9th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida, in Orlando. No hearing has been announced for the second man, Joseph Jenkins. After days on the lam, Walker and Jenkins were recaptured Saturday night at Panama City's Coconut Grove Motor Inn, some 360 miles northwest of the Orlando area. Friend tipped off police to whereabouts of escaped inmates . They were booked Tuesday in Orange County, Florida, the place from which both men hail and where the murders they are responsible for took place. Walker and Jenkins, both 34, had been serving life terms without parole at Franklin for unrelated killings. Jenkins escaped on September 27, while Walker left October 8. Both men used legal-looking documents bearing bogus signatures, including those of the Orlando-area state attorney and Judge Belvin Perry, plus the seal of the Orange County clerk of court's office, officials said. Courts, corrections deflect blame . State officials have been investigating such scams for about a year and had warned prosecutors about the schemes over the summer, said Jerry Bailey, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's commissioner. On Tuesday, Bailey's agency announced that a reward of up to $10,000 was being offered for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of those involved in the forgeries or the escapes. Florida attorney general's office is offering another reward of up to $10,000. Fake papers for Florida cons called 'cottage industry' CNN's Greg Botelho contributed to this report.
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NEW: Charles Walker ordered held without bond and sent back to prison . Walker and Joseph Jenkins used forged documents to walk out of prison, authorities say . They were serving time for having committed murders years ago in Orange County, California .
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(CNN) -- A Philadelphia judge sentenced a faith healing couple to up to seven years in state prison Wednesday for failing to seek medical care for their 7-month-old son, who died last year. Catherine and Herbert Schaible turned to prayer rather than medicine to treat their son Brandon, who died in April from bacterial pneumonia, dehydration and strep, according to the district attorney's office. The pneumonia and strep are treatable with antibiotics. The couple were sentenced to 3½ to seven years at the Criminal Justice Center in Center City. The Schaibles are lifelong members of the First Century Gospel Church in Philadelphia, one of several religious groups in the U.S. that believes God alone heals the sick. "Catherine is a completely devoted mother. While her way of caring for her children is clearly different than many, it doesn't mean she cares for them any less," Mythri Jayaraman, the Schaibles' attorney, told CNN. This is the second of their children to die because of their beliefs. The Schaibles were already on probation for the 2009 death of another son, Kent, who also died from untreated bacterial pneumonia. A jury convicted the couple of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced them to 10 years probation. Six of the couple's seven remaining children will be in foster care, according to Jayarman. CNN's Sarah Hoye contributed to this report.
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Catherine and Herbert Schaible turned to prayer rather than medicine to treat their son . The 7-month-old died from untreated bacterial pneumonia last year . Another son also died from untreated bacterial pneumonia in 2009 .
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(CNN) -- Powered by the same energy produced by a toaster, this weekend 39 solar-powered cars are preparing to race across the Australian outback reaching speeds in excess of 100 kilometers per hour (62 miles per hour) along the way. Setting off from Darwin on Saturday, many of the cars taking part in the biennial, 3,021-kilometer (1,877-mile) Veolia World Solar Challenge to Adelaide look more like ping-pong tables on wheels rather than conventional cars. However, the spirit of adventure and quest for more energy efficiency is what drives the teams of volunteers, university students and organizers. "We think about it in terms of the land-based version of ocean yacht racing," says Chris Selwood, the event director. "Really it's about how much you can do with how little. We're looking for the ultimate efficiency in electric cars." This year is the 11th race and Selwood is happy to point out that while most of the cars don't resemble anything else that will be rumbling down the Australian highways this weekend, some of the innovations pioneered by the vehicles over the years have made it into the mainstream. Energy-efficient, "low-rolling resistance" tires that are on the market now were used by Michelin in World Solar Challenge events of the early 1990s, and since the inaugural event in 1987 the electric motors have improved in efficiency by at least 30%, says Selwood. Some of the motors being used by teams have been engineered to work at 98% efficiency in turning electricity into motor power. "That could drive a washing machine, ceiling fan or even electric vehicle," says Selwood. "There are many uses for a motor like that in our daily lives across a range of applications." For the top teams, though, the aim is to get to Adelaide first and worry about the legacy of the technology later. Nuon Solar Team's Nuna6 car is one of the favorites to win this year's competition. As winners of the events from 2001 to 2007, Nuon Solar Team, made up of students from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, hope to claim back the crown they lost in 2009 to Japan's Tokai University's team. To aid their attempt, Nuna6 is made of a carbon fiber also used by some Formula 1 cars, making it 10% lighter than its predecessor in 2009. And like Formula 1, strategy is expected to be important in giving each team the edge. Each team has to extract enough power from a battery with just 5 kilowatt hours of capacity (10% of the power competitors are anticipated to need to complete the race), while also judging when to charge it up for the next day. "The biggest challenge is to drive non-stop, but we've got a good chance," says Nuon Solar Team's Nadine Rodewijk. For others, making a solar car more appealing to the public is a greater priority than seeing the checkered flag first. To highlight that solar cars are getting closer to the real thing, Bochum University in Germany's SolarWorldGT has shunned the sleek, aerodynamic design seen by Nuna6 and others in favor of something more recognizable with two doors and two seats. That the SolarWorldGT can still effectively compete the race is thanks in part to improvements in solar and motor technology in recent years, and a new competition rule that has reduced the solar panel capacity allowed on each car by 25% compared to 2009. "They've got to use that energy wisely to get up hills and get out from under clouds," says Selwood. "By keeping some reins on some of these keys factors, we're seeing some very clever ways in addressing them." But for all the goodwill and innovation on offer, when the rubber hits the road it will still be a race. "Our aim as a team is to win," says Nadine Rodewijk from Nuon Solar Team. "Although personally, for each of us, it's about the experience and adventure, learning and preparing for the future."
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Solar-powered car race from Darwin to Adelaide . Aim is to highlight the ultimate in renewable energy-efficiency . Teams from 21 countries compeiting in the 11th competition . Cars will reach speeds over 100kmph using same power that runs a toaster .
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(CNN) -- The father of the woman who was dragged away by officials loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi after telling journalists that some of his troops had beaten and raped her said Monday that his daughter is in Qatar. Eman al-Obeidy, who garnered worldwide attention for her vocal allegations against Gadhafi's regime, had told CNN she fled Libya, fearing for her safety. Her father declined to provide further details about her whereabouts, but said he spoke to her Monday and she told him she is in Qatar. Al-Obeidy told CNN in a previous interview that she crossed into Tunisia on Thursday with the help of a defecting military officer and his family. She said she left Tripoli in a military car, wearing a head cover that hid everything except one eye. Al-Obeidy said she entered at the Dahibah border crossing disguised "in the local manner" and was not challenged. She described the trip from Tripoli as "very tiring." Along the road to Tunisia, the car she was in was stopped several times at checkpoints, al-Obeidy said. The military officer would show his permit and they would be allowed to continue, she said. Al-Obeidy said she was able to make the crossing by using a refugee document. European diplomats drove her from the border region to Tunis, and gave her sanctuary there while she considered her future, according to Western diplomatic sources. She said she was afraid she was being followed and might still be in danger, adding that she hoped she could obtain protection from a Western government. "I still do not know what I am going to do. Of course I'd like to see my family," she said, speaking in Tunisia. Al-Obeidy's mother learned about her daughter's escape after seeing news reports on TV, her father told CNN from the family's hometown of Tobruk, Libya, on Sunday. Atiq Al-Obeidy said that his wife then called him, and both parents were overjoyed. Atiq Al-Obeidy admitted he was "not optimistic" that his daughter would be able to safely leave Libya, thinking forces loyal to Gadhafi "would do the worst to her, given his past." "I am extremely delighted, and I will be looking forward to more information about how she was able to escape," the woman's father said Sunday. Eman al-Obeidy received worldwide attention on March 26, when she burst into the Rixos Hotel in Tripoli while international journalists staying there were having breakfast. She told reporters she had been taken from a checkpoint east of Tripoli and held against her will for two days while being beaten and raped by 15 men. In an interview with CNN last month, she said she felt defeated and lived in fear that she would be punished gravely for her words. "I usually get harassed when I have to show my Identification card to government officials somewhere and they find out who I am and that I have put complaints forward against Gadhafi's people," she said. "They humiliate me to the point where other people gather around and start saying that it is shameful to treat a Libyan woman that way." The legal proceedings in her rape case have not gone far, she said last month. She also had not been able to go home. CNN's Khalil Abdallah, Nic Robertson, Amir Ahmed and Sara Sidner contributed to this report.
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Eman al-Obeidy accused Libyan security forces of rape in March . She crossed into Tunisia on Thursday, she tells CNN . She is hoping for protection from a Western government . Her father says she is now in Qatar, declining to provide more detail .
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(CNN Student News) -- March 23, 2012 . Media Literacy Question of the Day . To what extent should news organizations consider audience interest when selecting stories for broadcast? Explain. * . * . Know Your News -- The following questions relate to events that were covered this week on CNN Student News. Write your answers in the space provided. Click here for a PDF version of this Newsquiz. 1. What is the name of the proposed oil pipeline that would stretch 1,700 miles from Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast? * . * . 2. What natural resource is the focus of U.N. conservation efforts every year on March 22? * . * . 3. Who currently has the most delegates in the Republican presidential race? * . * . 4. What is the world's largest rainforest? * . * . 5. Who is the longest-serving woman in the U.S. Congress? * . * . 6. What organization establishes rules and organizes athletic events for American colleges and universities? * . * . 7. What U.S. territory, located in the Caribbean, held its Republican presidential primary on Sunday? * . * . 8. What Washington, D.C. festival, which started this week and runs through late April, is marking its 100th anniversary? * . * . 9. What African country's Rift Valley has produced a number of Olympic champions in middle- and long-distance running? * . * . 10. What female aviator disappeared in 1937 while trying to fly around the world? * . * .
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Use the weekly Newsquiz to test your knowledge of stories you saw on CNN Student News . Write your answers in the space provided . Today's Newsquiz includes the Media Literacy Question of the Day .
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Editor's note: CNN.com has a business partnership with CareerBuilder.com, which serves as the exclusive provider of job listings and services to CNN.com. Salt Lake City, Utah, ranks 21st with an unemployment rate of 3.5 percent. Job seekers with no ties to any particular location often seek jobs in big cities like New York, Chicago, Illinois, Los Angeles, California, or San Francisco, California. But are these the places where they're most likely to find a job? Not according to the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Job seekers are better off looking in such cities as Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Idaho Falls, Idaho; and Rapid City, South Dakota. All of these cities registered some of the lowest unemployment rates in September 2008. Low unemployment rates seem harder to come by in today's economy. Unemployment rates were higher in 349 of the 369 U.S. metropolitan areas surveyed, which means 92 percent of cities have seen an increase in their unemployment rates . Only 25 areas reported lower rates, while six areas had no change. The national unemployment rate in September, 6 percent, was up 1.5 percent from 4.5 in September 2007 . Ten cities recorded jobless rates of at least 10 percent and nine areas registered rates below 3 percent. Eighty-four metropolitan areas posted unemployment rates of at least 7 percent, up from only 17 areas the year before. Only 46 cities had jobless rates below 4 percent, down from 133 areas at the same time last year. In total, Among the 310 metropolitan areas for which nonfarm payroll data were available in September 2008, 140 areas reported over-the-year employment gains, 164 reported losses, and 6 had no change.iReport.com: Looking for a job? Share your story . Despite these startling figures, several cities have low unemployment rates. Here are 30 cities (and their Metropolitan Statistical Areas) with the lowest unemployment rates, according to the September 2008 numbers released by the BLS.* . 1. Bismarck, North Dakota Unemployment rate 2.5 . 2. Casper, Wyoming Unemployment rate 2.5 . 3. Logan, Utah Unemployment rate 2.5 . 4. Sioux Falls, South Dakota Unemployment rate 2.5 . 5. Morgantown, West Virginia Unemployment rate 2.6 . 6. Ames, Iowa Unemployment rate 2.7 . 7. Fargo, North Dakota Unemployment rate 2.8 . 8. Iowa City, Iowa Unemployment rate 2.8 . 9. Rapid City, South Dakota Unemployment rate 2.9 . 10. Lincoln, Nebraska Unemployment rate 3.0 . 11. Provo-Orem, Utah Unemployment rate 3.0 . 12. Billings, Montana Unemployment rate 3.1 . 13. Charleston, West Virginia Unemployment rate . 14. Midland, Texas Unemployment rate 3.2 . 15. Salt Lake City, Utah Unemployment rate 3.2 . 16. Idaho Falls, Idaho Unemployment rate 3.3 . 17. Lafayette, Louisiana Unemployment rate 3.3 . 18. Santa Fe, New Mexico Unemployment rate 3.3 . 19. Charlottesville, Virginia Unemployment rate 3.4 . 20. Farmington, New Mexico Unemployment rate 3.4 . 21. Grand Forks, North Dakota Unemployment rate 3.4 . 22. Lawton, Oklahoma Unemployment rate 3.4 . 23. Madison, Wisconsin Unemployment rate 3.4 . 24. Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, Arkansas-Missouri Unemployment rate 3.5 . 25. Harrisonburg, Virginia Unemployment rate 3.5 . 26. Ogden-Clearfield, Utah Unemployment rate 3.5 . 27. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Unemployment rate 3.5 . 28. Omaha-Council Bluffs, Nebraska-Iowa Unemployment rate 3.5 . 29. Portsmouth, New Hampshire Unemployment rate 3.5 . 30. Sioux City, Iowa Unemployment rate 3.5 . *Based on preliminary September numbers accessed October 31, 2008. Copyright CareerBuilder.com 2009. All rights reserved. The information contained in this article may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority .
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Bismarck, North Dakota, registers lowest unemployment rate in Sept. 2008 . Most of the lowest unemployment rates were found in west, midwest . Jobless rates were higher in 92 percent of U.S. cities surveyed this Sept. Only 25 areas reported lower rates while six areas had no change .
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San Francisco (CNN) -- The America's Cup, the most prestigious yachting race in the world and its oldest at 162 years, will seemingly join the aviation age this weekend when a new design of boat sails as fast as 52 mph. The sight of these modern catamarans -- whose mainsail is even called a "wing" -- has been described as "flying" sailboats because the hulls will rise out of the water and ride on hydrofoils, moving faster than the wind itself. As one race skipper said in the race's promotions, "once the boat foils, it's like hitting a turbo button in a car." If this spectacle seems mind-boggling, it's intended: The America's Cup is better known for its old-fashioned sailboats -- the sloop, which has one hull with a fabric mainsail -- that in 2007 reached a top average speed of 14 mph, or 12 knots. Now the organizers of America's Cup -- led by Silicon Valley executive Larry Ellison, whose Oracle team won the last championship in 2010 -- have transformed the sport into "a new-age speedster" event, designed to draw new audiences to international sport's oldest trophy, which predates the modern Olympics by 45 years. To lure spectators, the America's Cup is being held for the first time inshore, not offshore, in San Francisco Bay, where gusty winds and a scenic shoreline are part of a strategy to make the regatta a sensational made-for-TV sport. As to be expected with such grand plans, however, the new America's Cup is roiling in controversy and concerns that its thrill-seeking is just too deadly. One sailor was killed in May while practicing for the race in the bay aboard the Swedish Artemis Racing team's boat when it capsized in winds only a little above normal at 25 to 35 mph. Andrew Simpson, 36, was a double Olympic medalist. The race has a high financial price, too -- scaring off some racers. "We've had our issues, we've had our accidents, we've had a tragic loss of life," acknowledged Iain Murray, regatta director of the 2013 America's Cup. The cost to field a team -- around $100 million-- is being blamed for a smaller-than-expected field of challengers. The regatta begins Saturday and could end September 14 at the earliest. Entry requires a specially designed sailboat, called the AC72, the shorthand for the 72-foot-long America's Cup catamarans. As such, it has become a billionaire's pastime to build a boat and assemble a crew. The four boats vying for the Cup -- the smallest fleet in history -- mirror such wealth. Ellison, the world's fifth richest man, has again funded Oracle Team USA in this year's finals. Team Artemis of Sweden belongs to Torbjorn Tornqvist, an oil entrepreneur in that country. Italy's Luna Rossa is backed by the head of the fashion house Prada, Patrizio Bertelli, who is worth $6.7 billion. And the New Zealand team is financed by its government and Emirates Airlines as well as other sponsors. Critics say the 21st century marketing strategy of the race tarnishes the grand ol' Cup, founded in 1851. "It was big money before. This time it's mega-money, and that's one of the failings of this edition of the America's Cup. This one has just been too expensive for the times and too complicated in terms of the technology needed," said Jack Griffin, an expert on sail racing who's regarded as a historian of the America's Cup. Enthusiasts such as Griffin were expecting as many as 15 teams, including from China, Korea and Australia, to seek the Cup. That number didn't materialize. "I think people just said this is too hard for me. I can't win," Griffin said. Race officials acknowledge how an expensive sport is getting more expensive, but that's true for other sport teams, whether it's baseball or football. "Well, I think you can look at many sports -- you can look at a NASCAR team, a Formula One team, you can look at a polo team -- you can spend that amount of money on a lot of different teams," said regatta director Murray. Even so, he said he wished more boats sought this year's Cup. But the payoff could be legions of newcomers fascinated by speed and technology -- as well as the coastal vistas. America's Cup sailboats can reach 35 knots, or 40 mph, in winds of almost half that amount, at 18 knots or 21 mph. Hydrofoils reduce drag and boost speed. "There's no denying that the hundreds of millions being spent are bringing a new excitement to the sport and perhaps some new fans as the final series of the Cup is about to get underway," Murray added. A new era is unfurling in sailing, Murray said. Though it's strongly criticized, Murray defended the modernization of a world classic. "We have boats sailing around 50 mph -- which is unheard of in the history of sailing," Murray said. "The way these guys are pushing these boats, it's quite remarkable and a huge test of the competency of putting a crew together to race in the America's Cup. So I look back and say it was the right decision."
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The America's Cup will feature a new design of boat, a catamaran with hydrofoils . The boat can sail 52 mph, "an unheard of" speed in sailboat racing . But fewer teams are entering the race because it's now so expensive . Race organizers defend their strategy to seek new audiences for the race .
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(CNN) -- The campus of Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia, was locked down for several hours Sunday morning after a former student shot two people in a dormitory and then shot himself, university and police officials said. A former Hampton University student allegedly shot two people and himself, locking down the campus Sunday. The former student entered Harkness Hall shortly before 1 a.m. by following a pizza deliveryman, said the university's president, Dr. William Harvey, at an afternoon news conference. The former student shot the deliveryman and the night manager of the dorm, who came into the hall after he heard shots, Harvey explained. The man then shot himself. No one was killed in the incident, which prompted the evacuation of the dorm and a lockdown of the campus, the president said. The three wounded were taken to area hospitals, Harvey said. The dormitory night manager was treated and released, he said. Hampton city police said they had the shooter in custody. The motive for the shootings is not clear, university and law enforcement officials said. Harvey praised the first-responders to the incident, saying their quick action likely averted further tragedy. He also lauded the school's system of text messages, e-mails and phone messages that warned students about the situation and the campus lockdown. Hampton is about 70 miles southeast of Richmond, Virginia.
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Alleged shooter, a former student, entered Harkness Hall shortly before 1 a.m. Alleged shooter gained entry by following a pizza deliveryman . Alleged shooter shot deliveryman, dorm night manager and self . Hampton city police said they had the shooter in custody .
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(CNN) -- Costa Rica's first female candidate held a two-to-one lead in the country's presidential election, as the second-place candidate, Otton Solis of the Citizen's Action Party, conceded defeat. If the PLN -- the Spanish acronym for the ruling National Liberation Party party -- wins, Laura Chinchilla would become the nation's first female president. Polls showed Chinchilla garnering 47.3 percent of the vote, with 24.9 percent of election sites reporting. Solis had 23.3 percent, while Otto Guevara of the Libertarian Movement had 21.9 percent. Before noon Sunday, all three leading candidates had cast their votes in events broadcast live by local media. If none of the candidates gain 40 percent of the vote, a runoff election will be used to select the next president. In addition to president, Costa Ricans also cast ballots Sunday for two vice presidents, 53 congressmen and 495 councilmen. Video footage showed flag-waving supporters of the main presidential candidates dressed in their respective campaign colors throughout the country. International observers interviewed on CNN affiliate Teletica compared the election scene to a festival. The festivities included election sites where children could vote in a mock presidential vote. The educational outreach let the children pick their candidate on a digital ballot not unlike the ones the rest of the electorate cast their votes with. Some 2.8 million Costa Ricans are eligible to vote. The legacy of outgoing President Oscar Arias -- a Nobel laureate who leaves office a popular, if polarizing leader -- has in many ways shaped the presidential race. Although he has given Costa Rica a larger role in foreign affairs through his involvement in seeking resolution to the political crisis in Honduras, but his style has rubbed some the wrong way. After casting his vote Sunday, Arias called the electoral process transparent and trustworthy. "I would like to thank the Costa Rican people for filling the streets with color," he said. CNN's Roberto Pazos contributed to this report.
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NEW: Solis bows out with 23.3 percent of the vote so far . NEW: Polls show Chinchilla with 47.3 percent of vote, with a quarter of sites reporting . Chinchilla represents ruling National Liberation Party . If no one takes 40 percent of the vote, a runoff election will be necessary .
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Washington (CNN) -- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has been fined $70 for allegedly rear-ending an automobile in a minor four-car collision, a United States Park Police spokesman confirmed Wednesday. Scalia was not injured in the accident, which occurred Tuesday when the 75-year-old high court justice's car rear-ended another vehicle on the George Washington Memorial Parkway in suburban Virginia, according to Sgt. David Schlosser of the Park Police. The narrow and winding four-lane divided parkway travels along the Potomac River past the nation's capital, and is popular among both commuters and tourists. Scalia was driving himself to work when the accident occurred. He was charged with being at fault for the fender-bender by the investigating officer, Schlosser said. It was not known whether Scalia will pay or contest the fine. The accident didn't prevent Scalia from arriving at court on time Tuesday. Scalia was on hand when oral arguments began at 10 a.m. Tuesday in one of the biggest cases of the term, a discrimination claim by female workers against Wal-Mart Stores. The case has the potential of becoming the largest class-action lawsuit in U.S. history. No public mention was made of the accident, and Scalia, as usual, was an active questioner from the bench. CNN's Bill Mears contributed to this report .
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Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is fined $70 after a traffic accident . Scalia found at fault in four-car collision . No one was injured .
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a4011cad35fd472f9353fbf52ff70069a73c7ea4
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ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Lets face it: All the information around cholesterol makes it something of a confusing topic. Not only do we make our own cholesterol, but we also must have it to produce other important body assets, such as cell membranes and certain types of hormones. "Good" cholesterol vs. "bad" cholesterol and all the associated numbers can be confusing. So it's a bodily must-have. But we also augment that inner cholesterol machine by eating foods high in saturated fats such as whole dairy products and red meats and probably half the offerings at any fast-food spot. Add to that the fact many people simply overproduce or underproduce cholesterol because of their genes -- and that is just the beginning of the conundrum over cholesterol. But while many can't quite wrap their brain around it, the reality is many of us are affected by it, and not in a good way. According to the American Heart Association, almost half the adult female population in the United States suffers from high cholesterol. Add in the good vs. bad cholesterol and all the different numbers for the different levels and it starts making my head spin. Fortunately I was able to speak with two very smart cardiologists for guidance. Dr. Nieca Goldberg, a cardiologist in New York, set me straight. She explains it's all about the balance. "Cholesterol is an important substance and has many benefits for our bodies, but only a set amount keeps your body in a nice situation." Our bodies make the good and the bad kind of cholesterol, and according to Goldberg, who is also a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association's "Go Red for Women" campaign, they are pretty efficient machines. "The system is set up so that the HDL high density lipoproteins, or artery-cleaning or 'good' cholesterol, cleans out the LDL low density lipoproteins, or 'bad' cholesterol," she explains. So, basically the good ushers out the bad by dragging it to the liver, and the liver gets rid of it. But when the bad outweighs the good, that's when the trouble begins. Dr. Nanette Wenger, chief cardiologist at Atlanta's Grady hospital, paints a cheery picture for us. "Cholesterol is this fatty gruelly substance that builds up in the arteries, and when those obstructions have high levels of fat they are much more likely to burst." OK, got it: Buildup bad, burst worse! According to the American Heart Association, the bad cholesterol, with a little help from some other substances in your body, join together and form a united front (that is, a hard deposit inside your arteries) that could block the flow of blood to the heart, causing a heart attack. Or it could block the flow to the brain, causing a stroke. So, it seems that bully bad cholesterol really needs to be shut down. Health for Her: Watch to learn more about cholesterol in women » . But how do you do that? First you have to be informed. Wenger says, "I've always said that women should know three numbers and there are so many numbers tossed around I think all of us can get confused. But I want my women patients to remember three numbers: 50, 100 and 150. Fifty is the good cholesterol, the HDL -- that should be above 50. One hundred is the LDL, the bad cholesterol. And 150 is the triglycerides, another blood fat, and your triglycerides should be below 150. So be sure that your physician tells you your numbers. If they are fine, do what you do to keep them fine, and if they are abnormal, work with your doctor to change them." The first two steps, says Goldberg, are about changing your lifestyle. "You have to adopt a healthy diet and you have to exercise," she says. "People with mild cholesterol problems can usually bring their numbers down just by doing those two things. Exercise is one of the most effective measures for raising good cholesterol." A low-fat diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids -- found in foods Including salmon, walnuts and flax seeds -- is also a good bet for boosting the good stuff. However, sometimes that is not enough. Wenger says, "Some people have genetic predispositions and have very abnormal cholesterol. Some just make more cholesterol than others, so if your cholesterol is high, it is not that you are a failure. It's that your lifestyle interventions have not been adequate to get cholesterol to the levels we want." Sometimes, if warranted, those lifestyle changes need to be helped with medicine. But, cautions Goldberg, "I've said to my patients, medications alone can't do everything. They need to help themselves by modifying their lifestyles with a low-fat diet and exercise, less stress, more sleep," all things that we know will keep us healthier longer. So, while in the beginning the cholesterol issue was a conundrum, in the end it's really a simple story about equipping the good to fight the bad (on a molecular level) and making the right choices so my blood won't get held back on its travels through my veins. OK, that I get! E-mail to a friend .
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Heart association: Almost half U.S. adult females suffer from high cholesterol . Mild cholesterol problems can usually be controlled through diet and exercise . People who have genetic predispositions to higher cholesterol may also need meds .
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dba45f939932914ae372765dcbd76608034fa9ee
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(CNN) -- A day on ... not a day off. These words are written on posters that fill the gymnasium of the King Center in Atlanta. They sit beside the image of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and are meant to inspire others to devote themselves to their "beloved communities" on the upcoming holiday. Young leaders from across Atlanta gathered this month during a celebration of the holiday to talk about how they are seeking change in their schools, homes and communities. "The legacy of Dr. King is oneness in the community, everyone treating each other as they would want to be treated," said Monique Barashango, founder of Atlanta's ViZion Dance company. "Living a life full of love, giving a helping hand wherever you see fit." Barashango doesn't set aside one Monday a year to give back. The former substitute teacher tries to live in the spirit of King. Passionate yet soft-spoken, Barashango started the performance group when she spotted immense talent in a group of otherwise marginalized youth. "Some of our children have gone through unimaginable circumstances, and our young adults as well," Barashango said. "But they use their lives as living testimony so that others can live productive lives." Chaz Wright is one of those offering testimony. A teen poet who started writing in the fifth grade, Wright believes in the power to change his community through spoken word. "I realized that poetry is really something that people listen to, and I want to get the message out as many ways as I can," Wright said. From his poem "Maturity": . See now I'd rather have respect then some diamonds around my neck. I want to graduate top of my class. What most don't understand is high school isn't going to last forever. As president of the Stewart Foundation, which Wright says works to build leaders of tomorrow, this teen also lives the legacy of King. "If you really want to make a change, you have to go out and make it happen yourself. You can't expect somebody else to do it." What does he hope for Monday? "I would encourage everybody on this holiday to go out and actually try to make a difference in the world," Wright said. Princess Starr encounters talented teens like Wright as co-founder of the Young Voices United Performing Arts School in suburban Atlanta. The former Spelman College music major says her family helps give back to the community in the tradition of King. "We can bring our youth in and actually teach them life skills through a performing art," Starr said. "We are helping to carry on the dream that Dr. King articulated to let our kids know that they can do anything, they can be anything." Her words of advice: "Go out and do something for someone. Be a light to somebody." Looking for inspiration for your day on? For more ways to change the world in your own area on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, visit www.serve.gov/mlkday.
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Arts organizations gathered in Atlanta to celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. Teen leader Chaz Wright encourages others to make the King holiday a day of service . For more ways to change the world, visit www.serve.gov/mlkday .
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e742d946d058bb7e5ebe8618d5e13aa78279348e
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Jyoti is the Hindi word for light. It's something Pranav Mehta has never had to live without. And he is lucky. Near where he lives in Gujarat, one of the most prosperous states in India, thousands of rural villages lack electricity or struggle with an intermittent supply at best. Massive solar satellites would beam power back to ground-based receivers on Earth. "We need to empower these villages, and for empowerment, energy is a must," Mehta said. "Rural India is suffering a lot because of a lack of energy." By 2030, India's Planning Commission estimates that the country will have to generate at least 700,000 megawatts of additional power to meet the demands of its expanding economy and growing population. Much of that electricity will come from coal-fired power plants, like the $4 billion so-called ultra mega complex scheduled to be built south of Tunda Wand, a tiny village near the Gulf of Kutch, an inlet of the Arabian Sea on India's west coast. Dozens of other such projects are already or soon will be under way. Yet Mehta has another solution for India's chronic electricity shortage, one that does not involve power plants on the ground but instead massive sun-gathering satellites in geosynchronous orbits 22,000 miles in the sky. The satellites would electromagnetically beam gigawatts of solar energy back to ground-based receivers, where it would then be converted to electricity and transferred to power grids. And because in high Earth orbit, satellites are unaffected by the earth's shadow virtually 365 days a year, the floating power plants could provide round-the-clock clean, renewable electricity. "This will be kind of a leap frog action instead of just crawling," said Mehta, who is the director of India operations for Space Island Group, a California-based company working to develop solar satellites. "It is a win-win situation." American scientist Peter Glaser introduced the idea of space solar power in 1968. NASA and the United States Department of Energy studied the concept throughout the 1970s, concluding that although the technology was feasible, the price of putting it all together and sending it to outer space was not. "The estimated cost of all of the infrastructure to build them in space was about $1 trillion," said John Mankins, a former NASA technologist and president of the Space Power Association. "It was an unimaginable amount of money." NASA revisited space solar power with a so-called "Fresh Look" study in the mid-90s but the research lost momentum when the space agency decided it did not want to further pursue the technology, Mankins told CNN. By around 2002 the project was indefinitely shelved -- or so it seemed. "The conditions are ripe for something to happen on space solar power," said Charles Miller, a director of the Space Frontier Foundation, a group promoting public access to space. "The environment is perfect for a new start." Skyrocketing oil prices, a heightened awareness of climate change and worries about natural resource depletion have recently prompted a renewed interest in beaming extraterrestrial energy back to Earth, Miller explained. And so has a 2007 report released by the Pentagon's National Security Space Office, encouraging the U.S. government to spearhead the development of space power systems. "A single kilometer-wide band of geosynchronous Earth orbit experiences enough solar flux in one year to nearly equal the amount of energy contained within all known recoverable conventional oil reserves on Earth today," the report said. The study also concluded that solar energy from satellites could provide power for global U.S. military operations and deliver energy to disaster areas and developing nations. "The country that takes the lead on space solar power will be the energy-exporting country for the entire planet for the next few hundred years," Miller said. Russia, China, the European Union and India, according to the Pentagon report, are interested in the concept. And Japan, which has been pouring millions of dollars into space power studies for decades, is working toward testing a small-scale demonstration in the near future. But a number of obstacles still remain before solar satellites actually get off the ground, said Jeff Keuter, president of the George C. Marshall Institute, a Washington-based research organization. "Like any activity in space, there are enormous engineering challenges," he said. One major barrier is a lack of cheap and reliable access to space, a necessity for launching hundreds of components to build what will be miles-long platforms. Developing robotic technology to piece the structures together high above Earth will also be a challenge. Then there is the issue of finding someone to foot what will be at least a billion-dollar bill. "It will take a great deal of effort, a great deal of thought and unfortunately a great deal of money," Keutersaid. "But it is certainly possible." And Miller, of the Space Frontier Foundation, said he thinks it will be possible in the next 10 years. "We could see the first operational power satellite in about the 2020 time frame if we act now," he said. ........................... Do you think beaming solar power down from space is feasible? Who should be responsible developing the technology? Why has it not been done before? Leave your views and comments in the Sound Off box below and we'll publish the best.
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Concept to beam solar power from satellites gains new global momentum . Massive satellites would beam solar energy back to ground-based receivers . Pentagon study says could be used for military operations, developing nations .
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5d38cbbd31c624779fb06e60c04331c884cbf671
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(Sunset) -- The first thing Laura Slipak says when I drag my stressed self into the chill lobby of the Mod Resort, her Austin Powers-chic hotel in Palm Desert: "Oh, dear." The mood is mod and the art is amazing. And you don't even need a car to enjoy it. The second thing she says: "I think someone needs a Mod-tini." Yeah, baby. I've just suffered through two-plus hours of Inland Empire gridlock so that I can unwind in the desert, and I plan to ditch my car for the weekend (if not, alas, forever). Which is why I've come to Palm Desert. Not only does it do the whole midcentury modern thing perfectly, but of all California's desert resorts, it's also probably the most pedestrian- and bike-friendly. Sunset.com: Top 10 dream towns . The Mod is just a three-minute walk to the glittery shopping and dining street El Paseo, and a short bike ride away from everything else I'm interested in checking out this weekend. That includes galleries, a recently unveiled collection of California landscape paintings at the Living Desert museum, and the new Eric Johnson Memorial Gardens (named after the "desert landscape guru of the Coachella Valley," who was also a former garden editor for Sunset). Then again, if Laura offers me one more of her mood-altering apple martinis, I might just park myself beside the salt-water pool and spend the rest of the afternoon meditating on the cerulean water. Sculptures, cycles and cactus . Not to worry. After a mind-clearing dip in the pool, it's a sunset walk to downtown Palm Desert to scope out the town's public art, beginning with freshly installed sculptures rising out of the El Paseo median against a backdrop of rust-colored mountains. The air is as dry as chalk, the fading desert light gallery-perfect for pondering a 25-foot-long piece pairing an iridescent hummingbird with a damselfly. In the morning, it's a five-minute stroll to Funseekers to rent a bike. Okay, it would have taken five minutes if I hadn't diverted up the block to take a look at the black-and-white midcentury modern house of William Boyd (better known as Hopalong Cassidy) and then dropped in at the Desert Art Collection & Sculpture Garden, a very cool gallery with a large courtyard set with sculptures amid palm trees, cactus and bougainvillea. At Funseekers, I'm feeling conflicted. Not only does it have all sorts of bikes to rent, but it also offers Segways and mopeds. Still, I've pledged to be fume-free this weekend, so I opt for a hybrid bicycle and power a mile and a half up a bike lane along Portola Avenue to the Living Desert, where I'm just in time for the docent-led tour of paintings of woodlands, seascapes and deserts. My favorite: Granville Redmond's "Cloudy Day at Monterey," from the early 1900s. Later, I ride the length of El Paseo to the Eric Johnson Memorial Gardens, an oasis of curving paths that take you past gurgling waterfalls, cactus-covered sand dunes and a shaded rock-wall canyon. If I could somehow get Laura to deliver one of her Mod-tinis here, I could just chill out all afternoon. No matter. After dropping my bike off, I hoof it to Pacifica Seafood Restaurant, known for its fresh fish and its vodka bar -- 130 kinds from 19 countries -- where vodka martinis are $6 all night long. Perfect. Even better, it's a short walk back to the resort. 48 hours in Palm Desert . Friday: Check into the Mod Resort (from $169), owned by a fashion designer from Malibu. Enjoy a killer margarita on the patio at Armando's Dakota Bar & Grill (average entrées $13-$20; 73-260 El Paseo; 760/346-0744). Saturday: Check out the Desert Art Collection & Sculpture Garden (free; 45350 San Luis Rey Ave.). Then rent a bike (from $25 per day) or a moped (from $62 per day) at Funseekers (73-865 State 111; 760/340-3861) and ride down El Paseo, making a stop at Imago Galleries (45-450 State 74; 760/776-9890), which, with its blue-chip artists, is practically the MOMA of the desert. The nearby Palm Desert Visitor Center (72-567 State 111; 760/568-1441) is a good place to pick up bike-trail maps and explore the surrounding Eric Johnson Memorial Gardens (free), a multisensory setting of desert plantings. The Gardens on El Paseo (73-545 El Paseo), an open-air shopping plaza, has a number of excellent dining spots, including Sullivan's Steakhouse (average entrées over $31; 760/341-3560), for steaks and jazz, and Pacifica Seafood Restaurant (average entrées $21-$30; 760/674-8666), for oysters on the half-shell and cheap martinis. Sunday: At the Living Desert ($13; 47900 Portola Ave.; 760/346-5694), mornings are a good time to catch the young animals -- like Maliki, a giraffe calf born in May -- at their most active. But first check for the next docent-led tour (11--3; no set times) of 50 California landscape paintings. Enter to win a monthly Room Makeover Giveaway from MyHomeIdeas.com . Copyright 2004-2008 Sunset magazine. All rights reserved.
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Palm Desert is a pedestrian- and biker-friendly town . The Living Desert museum holds a collection of California landscape paintings . Pacifica Seafood Restaurant is known for its fresh fish and its vodka bar .
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23a51888c1fb23167edf711914de35256af12501
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