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(CNN) -- A former Massachusetts crime lab chemist accused of mishandling evidence affecting hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of criminal cases was sentenced Friday to three to five years in prison after pleading guilty to 27 counts. Annie Dookhan, 36, was arrested last year, accused of cutting corners by visually identifying alleged drug samples instead of performing chemical tests, and then altering the samples to cover up the practice. More than 300 drug convictions involving Dookhan's tests -- conducted from 2003 to 2012 -- have been put on hold since last year in Suffolk County alone, Suffolk County District Attorney spokesman Jake Wark said. Dookhan also was accused of falsely claiming, while testifying as an expert witness at a criminal trial, that she had a master's degree in chemistry from the University of Massachusetts. A defendant's conviction was overturned because of this, and authorities allege he killed someone in May, after his release. "Annie Dookhan's egregious misconduct sent ripple effects throughout our entire criminal justice system," Attorney General Martha Coakley said in a statement. "Her deliberate decision to tamper with drug evidence and fabricate test results harmed the integrity of the system and put the public's safety at risk." Dookhan pleaded guilty Friday to tampering with evidence, perjury, obstruction of justice and falsely claiming to holding a master's degree. She said little during Friday's hearing in Boston, other than repeatedly saying, "Yes, your honor," to questions such as whether she understood the consequences of her guilty pleas. The judge also ordered that she serve two years of probation after serving the prison time. Governor: 40,000 defendants could be affected . In August, Gov. Deval Patrick's administration said the cases of more than 40,000 defendants could be affected by Dookhan's tampering. Reviews of all the cases she handled are under way. Dookhan worked as a state chemist testing drug evidence submitted by law enforcement agencies from 2003 until March 2012, when she resigned, according to the Massachusetts attorney general's office. The attorney general's office began a criminal investigation in July 2012, after Massachusetts State Police were tipped off by Dookhan's co-workers, who alleged her work at the William A. Hinton State Laboratory in Jamaica Plain might be unreliable. The investigation revealed that Dookhan allegedly had tampered with evidence by altering substances in vials that were being tested at the state lab, allegedly to cover up the practice of routinely "dry labbing" samples. "Dry labbing" is a term used for visually identifying samples instead of performing the required chemical test. Authorities arrested Dookhan at her home in Franklin in September 2012. Second Massachusetts state chemist accused of tampering . Authorities: Released man accused in killing . Dookhan's false testimony about her credentials in a Plymouth County drug trial led to the release of a man who went on to be accused of murder, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz said. Donta Hood was convicted of a cocaine charge in 2009, in a trial in which Dookhan -- as an expert witness -- falsely testified that she had a master's degree, authorities said. Hood was released in November 2012. Cruz said he wasn't able to retry Evans on the drug charge because the evidence in the case was destroyed. Storage space had been at a premium, he said, and no one thought it would be needed again. After his release, Hood was arrested twice -- first, on a gun possession charge. While out on bail for the gun charge, he allegedly shot and killed Charles Evans in Brockton, Massachusetts, in May, authorities said. "There's no bigger pain than somebody being released that goes out and kills somebody," Cruz told CNN. Evans' family declined to comment. Chemist in Massachusetts drug sample case lied about degree . Dookhan also declined CNN's request for comment about her case. At a court proceeding earlier this year, Dookhan's lawyer, Nicholas Gordon, said that she took shortcuts in the lab to get more cases done to help her career, never considering the negative consequences it could have for criminal cases. "The furthest thing from her mind is that this is going to ultimately cost millions of dollars, (And that) it's going to throw the entire Massachusetts criminal justice system into a tailspin," Gordon said in court. An investigation revealed that not only did Dookhan not have a master's degree, but she never took master's-level classes, prosecutors said. Some of the obstruction charges stem from instances in which authorities relied on tampered evidence in criminal proceedings, prosecutors said. CNN's Morgan Winsor contributed to this report.
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Annie Dookhan pleads guilty to tampering with evidence, perjury, obstruction of justice . 300 drug convictions have been put on hold in one county alone . Dookhan cut corners in criminal cases, altered samples to cover up . Authorities: One person set free because of Dookhan went on to kill someone .
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(CNN) -- Four minor boys are facing felony assault charges after a 13-year-old boy accused them of sexually assaulting him in the locker room of a Tampa, Florida, middle school, authorities said Friday. The alleged victim told school officials he was assaulted with a broomstick and hockey stick at Walker Middle School, in southern Tampa, on April 30, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said. Linda Cobbe with Hillsborough County Schools said police were contacted Wednesday afternoon after the boy reported the incident. The four teenagers, 14 and 15 years old, were arrested at school Wednesday and charged with sexual assault and false imprisonment, the sheriff's office said. The victim said two boys held him down on the ground while the other two sexually assaulted him, the sheriff's office said. The alleged victim had been "continually picked on and harassed by the suspects" before the incident, the sheriff's office said in a news release. All four suspects have been suspended from school, Cobbe said. On Thursday, the school's principal, Kathleen Hoffman, contacted students' parents through a recorded message, telling them the four would not be allowed to return to school "unless their legal issues are resolved." Cobbe said the 13-year-old is back in classes at the school. CNN's John Couwels contributed to this report.
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Boy, 13, says he was sexually assaulted at middle school . 4 teens, age 14 and 15, face felony charges in Tampa, Florida . All four suspects have been suspended from school .
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(CNN) -- Somalia needs international help to fight Islamist extremists battling for power in the lawless Horn of Africa nation, the country's moderate Islamist president said Monday. Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was recently appointed Somalia's transitional president. "I am calling on the international community to help Somalia defend against foreign militants who have invaded the country," President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed said. Speaking at a news conference in Somalia's capital city, Mogadishu, Ahmed called several times for international help in fighting foreign militants whom he claims are the same fighters who have fought the "international community" in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Wherever they come, they fuel violence," the president said. "The Somali people cannot and should not accept that their countries should be a launching pad for these militants to attack." Ahmed told local journalists that he feared these foreign fighters would turn Somalia into another Iraq or Afghanistan, where U.S.-led forces are fighting Islamic extremist groups. He also praised local militias in the two regions of Hiiran and Middle Shabelle for struggling against the foreign militias. Last week, al-Shabab militants advanced to the presidential palace in Mogadishu, sparking sporadic fighting and shelling in the Somali capital. The recent fighting has killed more than 40 civilians and wounded about 150 others, according to sources at the scene. Al-Shabab -- once the armed wing of the Islamic Courts Union -- has been designated as a terrorist group by the United States, which says it is affiliated with the al Qaeda terrorist network. Ahmed participated in seizing control of Mogadishu in 2006 along with the Islamic Courts Union before it was ousted by Ethiopian forces later that year. He has since split from Somali jihad movements and was recently appointed Somalia's transitional president through a process shepherded by the United Nations. Journalist Mohamed Amiin Adow contributed to this report.
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President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed speaking at a conference in Mogadishu . Ahmed fears foreign fighters will turn Somalia into another Iraq or Afghanistan . Fighting in past two days kills more than 40 civilians . U.S. says Al-Shabab militants are affiliated with al Qaeda network .
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(CNN) -- An estimated 1 million people turned out to hear Pope Benedict XVI preach a Mass in Angola on Sunday, the last major event of his first trip to Africa. Pope Benedict XVI celebrates Mass in Angola, where he told Angolans on Sunday to "trust in God's promises." He spoke of the need for reconciliation in a country that endured a brutal civil war lasting nearly three decades. "Look to the future with hope, trust in God's promises and live in his truth. In this way you will build something that will stand and endure ... a lasting heritage of reconciliation, justice and peace," Benedict said in English to polite applause. The service's Bible reading's "vivid description of the destruction wrought by war echoes the personal experiences of so many people in this country amid the terrible ravages of the civil war," Benedict said in the Mass, which was broadcast by TPA, a CNN affiliate in Angola. "How true it is that war can destroy everything of value: families, whole communities, the fruit of men's labor." Benedict also expressed "deep sorrow" at the death of two women killed in a stampede at one of his events in Angola on Saturday, papal spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said. Cardinal Tarciso Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state, earlier led a Vatican delegation to the hospitals where the bodies of two dead women are being kept, Lombardi said. They prayed over the dead bodies and met with the family of the one victim who has been identified, a catechism teacher in a parish in Luanda whose last class was Saturday morning. Midway through the Mass, a long line of worshippers brought offerings to the pontiff, as an electric organ and guitar played a joyous tune over the sound of percussion instruments and a choir, members of which were wearing matching white baseball caps. Women carried local produce on their heads in wide baskets or tall jugs, many dancing to the music as they waited to meet the pope. The 81-year-old pontiff mopped his face with a white handkerchief several times during the outdoor service, while many worshippers sought shelter from the sun under umbrellas. The pope spoke in English and Portuguese, the language of Angola's former colonial rulers, during the hour-long service, while local clergy read short passages in tribal languages. Benedict has been in Africa since Tuesday. He returns to Rome on Monday. Africa is the last continent that Benedict had left to visit, and one he could not avoid, said David Gibson, a biographer of the pope. "He knows he has to do this. He knows Africa is the future of the [Roman Catholic] Church, as it is for all of Christianity," said Gibson. Christianity, like Islam, is on the rise in Africa and Latin America, even as the northern hemisphere tends to become more secular. One in five of the world's Christians lives in Africa -- up from fewer than one in 50 in 1900, said Brian Grim, an editor of the World Religion Database. So Benedict is making the visit, although travel "is not his cup of tea," Gibson said, in contrast to his predecessor. "John Paul II loved the travel and loved the different cultures. Benedict is a European through and through." But Benedict understands that travel has become an essential part of a pope's duties, said Gibson, the author of "The Rule of Benedict: Pope Benedict XVI and His Battle with the Modern World." The trip opened with controversy, with the pope reiterating the Vatican's opposition to artificial birth control Tuesday while flying to Cameroon, the first stop on his journey. Sub-Saharan Africa has been hit harder by AIDS and HIV than any other region of the world, according to the United Nations and World Health Organization. There has been fierce debate between those who advocate the use of condoms to help stop the spread of the epidemic and those who oppose it. Gibson said this week's visit may be Benedict's only trip to Africa. "Knowing that the pope is older, he cannot travel as much -- he does not like to travel -- makes these trips more poignant. He may never come back to Africa again." CNN's Hada Messia in Rome contributed to this report.
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NEW: Pope expresses "deep sorrow" at deaths in stampede at his Saturday event . About 1 million gather in civil war-torn Angola to hear Pope Benedict XVI . Mass was in English and Portuguese, the language of former colonial rulers . Benedict, who has been in Africa since Tuesday, returns to Rome on Monday .
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(CNN) -- A quick look at Japan's nuclear industry and the problems faced at three plants since Friday's massive earthquake off northern Honshu, as compiled by the CNN Wire: . NATIONWIDE . Japan's electric power companies run 54 nuclear reactors, with two under construction, at 17 power plants, according to figures from the International Atomic Energy, the U.N. nuclear watchdog. They produced more than 280,000 gigawatt-hours of electricity in 2010 -- about 30 percent of Japan's total electricity generation. Most Japanese plants -- including the three facing emergencies since the earthquake -- use boiling-water reactors, in which water circulated through the reactor is converted to steam and used to drive a generator. Most U.S. reactors and about 40 percent of Japan's are pressurized-water reactors, in which reactor coolant is kept separate from the steam used to drive generators. Both types are far different than the Soviet design involved in the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, a reactor model now considered unsafe by the international nuclear industry. In addition, the Chernobyl plant lacked the kind of reinforced steel-and-concrete containment structure that U.S. and Japanese regulators require. Tokyo Electric Power Company is the largest of the nine utilities that operate Japan's nuclear plants and runs the two plants affected by Friday's quake. In 2002, its president, vice president and chairman resigned after a scandal in which TEPCO was accused of falsifying safety repair records in 29 cases. The company instituted reforms in September 2002 in an attempt to restore public confidence. FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI . The plant with the worst reported problems is TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi, about 65 km (40 miles) south of Sendai. Three of the plant's six reactors had already been shut down for inspection at the time of the quake, but two of the three that were in service at the time have been damaged, the utility said. An explosion caused by hydrogen buildup Saturday blew the roof off the No. 1 reactor's containment structure and injured four workers, but the reactor was not reported to have sustained damage. Workers have been pouring a mixture of seawater and boron into the No. 1 and No. 3 reactors in what experts have called a last-ditch attempt to prevent a meltdown -- a catastrophic failure of the reactor core, with a potential for widespread radiation release. Japanese nuclear regulators have said there is a "possibility" that at least a partial meltdown already has occurred in the reactors. The government has evacuated more than 200,000 residents from homes within a 20-km (12.5-mile) radius of the plant and tested 160 people for radiation exposure, authorities said Sunday. The six units at Fukushima Daiichi went into service between 1970 and 1979. FUKUSHIMA DAINI . Japanese authorities have detected cooling-system problems at TEPCO's Fukushima Daini plant, but have not expressed any concerns about possible meltdowns there. Nevertheless, those living within a 10-km radius of Fukushima Daini were ordered to evacuate as a precaution. TEPCO reported that cooling systems the three operational units at Fukushima Daini failed after the quake, but the IAEA, citing Japanese authorities, reported that all three had power Sunday afternoon. TEPCO reported one fatality at the plant. A crane operator who had been trapped at an operating console in the plant's exhaust stack was pronounced dead Saturday, the company reported. Fukushima Daini is about 80 km south of Sendai. The plant's four reactors went online between 1981 and 1987. ONAGAWA . Japanese officials declared an emergency Sunday at the Onagawa nuclear plant after finding radiation levels above allowed levels in the surrounding area. However, radiation levels had dropped to normal levels by early Monday, and the "current assumption" of Japanese authorities is that the increased radiation levels may have been caused by material released from Fukushima Daiichi, according to the IAEA. The plant reported smoke in a turbine house after Friday's earthquake, but Japan has told the IAEA that the three reactors at Onagawa are under control. Onagawa is about 70 km north of Sendai. It is owned by the Tohoku Electric Company, and its three reactors entered service between 1983 and 2001. Reactor No. 2 was shut down for a five-month inspection in November, according to the company.
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Japan's electric power companies run 54 nuclear reactors at 17 power plants . They produced more than 280,000 gigawatt-hours of electricity in 2010 . Most Japanese plants -- including the three facing emergencies -- use boiling-water reactors .
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(CNN) -- The world changes, but I'm not sure it's supposed to change this much: . Fritz von Goering is on Facebook. "Yeah," von Goering said the other day, "I'm on it. People told me that's the way to connect with people." Fritz von Goering on a social network ... something just seems wrong. He always seemed to be the most anti-social human being on the face of the Earth. At least he did from the vantage point of the third row on Saturday afternoons during the 1950s, which is where I always sat when I watched him work. I was 9, and my friend Kenny Stone and I would ride the bus to Old Memorial Hall in Franklin County, Ohio, where, for 50 cents, we purchased tickets to observe in person a weekly television broadcast called "Lex's Live Wrestling." Lex Mayers, a highly excitable local Chevrolet dealer, was the sponsor and host, and Fritz von Goering was the ultimate scowling villain. He did terrible things to his opponents. Just terrible. The hero of the telecasts was the blond, golden Buddy "Nature Boy" Rogers. In most of the country, he was promoted as a bad guy, but for whatever reason, in central Ohio, Rogers was as beloved as Woody Hayes. Nature Boy could do no wrong. "Don't even say that name to me," von Goering told me the other day. He is 82 now, and we were talking over a telephone line, but I instantly obeyed. "I hated Nature Boy's guts offstage as well as on," von Goering said. "Don't bring him up again." As it was, I could scarcely believe I was even talking to von Goering; it had been more than 50 years since those afternoons at Old Memorial Hall, with people screaming vile invective at him as he stepped between the ropes and into the ring, staring daggers at the audience and wearing a leather, military-type jacket. Out of curiosity this month I had decided to try to find out if he was still alive, and here he was, on the phone from his home in Northern California, sounding quite pleasant. So, Fritz ... why do you think people hated you so much? "Fans never did like me from day one, and I never knew why," he said. "I was a good-looking young kid when I was first getting started, and they put me in the ring against a bunch of ugly, hairy guys, and yet I was the one who got booed. The promoters said to me, 'You know, nobody likes you.' " Biting the inside of my mouth, not knowing whether I should offer an opinion, I said: . "Perhaps it had something to do with your name being Fritz von Goering?" "Yeah, I guess so," von Goering said. "But I didn't give myself that name. A promoter in Minnesota did." In the years after World War II, the most certain way to turn fans against a wrestler was to give him a German or Japanese name. Wartime wounds were still raw. "I wasn't even of German heritage," von Goering said. "I was born in Chicago to an Irish-American family." (In case you're wondering what von Goering's name was as a boy: I asked him, and he said he didn't feel like discussing it. Do you want to be the one to tell von Goering to do something he doesn't feel like doing? Be my guest.) "When I first started wrestling professionally, I was billed as Fritz von Ulm," he said. "But I guess that didn't sound like a bad-enough villain. So they changed it to Fritz von Goering." Made a certain sense, in the context of the times -- Hermann Goering, one of Adolf Hitler's henchmen, was not exactly a beloved figure in a 1950s United States filled with returning servicemen. "They told me, 'You're Fritz von Goering now,' and my attitude was, 'Fine, if you say so.' " He had never been outside the United States, but ring announcers from coast to coast proclaimed that he was "from Berlin, Germany," or "from Frankfurt, Germany," or "from Nuremberg, Germany" (they seemed to make it up as they went along), and thus he was able to make a pretty good living. Although it did have its downside. "I was wrestling one night in Marion, Ohio," he said. "Against Nature Boy Rogers. The fans found where I had parked my car on the street and smashed it to pieces. They knocked out all the windows, banged the fenders, cut the tires. I had no idea until after the match." "So what did you do?" I asked. "Lex Mayers had the car towed to his dealership, and he fixed it up, which was a nice thing for him to do seeing that he had a Chevy dealership and I drove an Oldsmobile." There were no pensions for the professional wrestlers of his day, so when he got too old for the job he found work as a truck driver, and for a while, perhaps inspired by Mayers, he sold cars. (Although it is difficult to imagine how, after spending a career persuading people to despise him, he could beckon them to purchase an auto from "your friendly neighborhood used-car dealer, Fritz von Goering.") He always seemed like a loner, but he told me that if there had been Facebook when he was competing, he would have accepted just about all of his fellow wrestlers, heroes or heels, as friends. Every name I threw at him -- all of the men who, when I was a boy, I witnessed sharing a "Lex's Live Wrestling" ring with him -- he said yes to. Buddy "Killer" Austin? "Yes." Oyama Kato? "Yes." Sweet Daddy Siki? "Yes." Frankie Talaber? "Yes." Handsome Johnny Barend? "Yes." The Magnificent Maurice? "Yes." I had to say it: . "Buddy 'Nature Boy' Rogers?" "Absolutely not. Not in a million years." In retirement and heading toward his 83rd birthday, von Goering said he does not miss the mayhem that once defined his life. And when he does find himself in the mood for unsuppressed anger, bellicose posturing and high-decibel insults, he knows where to turn. "I watch cable news," he said. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Bob Greene.
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Bob Greene says he found a wrestler he used to watch as a kid on Facebook . He says Fritz von Goering was scary, reviled, partly because of name promoter gave him . Greene interviewed the retiree, who was truck driver, car salesman after he left wrestling . Greene: Now von Goering says he'd happily friend his former wrestling rivals on Facebook .
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ROME, Italy (CNN) -- The Vatican said Tuesday it has worked out a way for groups of Anglicans who are dissatisfied with their faith to join the Catholic Church. The Vatican says more Anglicans have expressed an interest in joining the Catholic Church. The process will enable groups of Anglicans to become Catholic and recognize the pope as their leader, yet have parishes that retain Anglican rites, Vatican officials said. The move comes some 450 years after King Henry VIII broke from Rome and created the Church of England, forerunner of the Anglican Communion. The parishes would be led by former Anglican clergy -- including those who are married -- who would be ordained as Catholic priests, said the Rev. James Massa, ecumenical director of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. "This sets up a process for whole groups of Anglicans -- clergy and laity -- to enter in to the Catholic Church while retaining their forms of worship and other Anglican traditions," Massa said. The number of Anglicans wishing to join the Catholic Church has increased in recent years as the Anglican Church has welcomed the ordination of women and openly gay clergy and blessed homosexual partnerships, said Cardinal William Joseph Levada, the head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Their talks with the Vatican recently began speeding up, Vatican officials said, leading to Tuesday's announcement. "The Catholic Church is responding to the many requests that have been submitted to the Holy See from groups of Anglican clergy and faithful in different parts of the world who wish to enter into full visible communion," Levada said. Levada said "hundreds" of Anglicans around the world have expressed their desire to join the Catholic Church. Among them are 50 Anglican bishops, said Archbishop Joseph Augustine Di Noia of the Congregation for Divine Worship. While married Anglican priests may be ordained as Catholic priests, the same does not apply to married Anglican bishops, Levada said. "We've been praying for this unity for 40 years and we've not anticipated it happening now," Di Noia said. "The Holy Spirit is at work here." One interested group is the Traditional Anglican Communion, an association of churches that is separate from the Anglican Communion and has hundreds of thousands of members worldwide. The TAC in 2007 petitioned the Vatican for unity with the Catholic Church with the stipulation that the group retain its Anglican rites. The TAC's primate, Archbishop John Hepworth of Australia, said in a statement Tuesday that the Vatican's announcement "more than matches the dreams we dared to include in our petition two years ago." That is because the Vatican's move involves not only the TAC but other Anglican groups that want to unite with the Catholic Church, said the Right Rev. Daren K. Williams, bishop ordinary of the western diocese of the Anglican Church of America, which is part of the TAC. The Vatican has yet to release all details of the offer, and the TAC's leaders will meet and discuss how to respond when it does, Williams said. But Williams said he believes much of TAC will respond favorably. Williams, who also is rector of All Saints Anglican Church in Fountain Valley, California, said his parishioners have generally been "very warmly receiving" Tuesday's announcement. "It is encouraging for them to know their worship experience wouldn't be turned upside down by the Roman Catholic Church," Williams said. "The person in the pew should see very little difference in the way we pray. We might be asked to pray aloud for any pope who happens to be in office, in addition to praying for our primate. "Really, there'd be very little other difference." The parishes retaining the Anglican rites would answer not to Catholic bishops but to regional or nationwide "personal ordinariates" who would report to the pope, Massa said. Those officials often will be former Anglican clergy, Vatican officials said. The Church of England said the move ends a "period of uncertainty" for Anglican groups who wanted more unity with the Catholic Church. Both groups have a "substantial overlap in faith, doctrine and spirituality" and will continue to hold official dialogues, the archbishops of Canterbury and Westminster said in a joint statement. "Those Anglicans who have approached the Holy See have made clear their desire for full, visible unity in the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church," Levada said. "At the same time, they have told us of the importance of their Anglican traditions of spirituality and worship for their faith journey." Preserving Anglican traditions, such as mass rites, adds to the diversity of the Catholic Church, he said. "The unity of the church does not require a uniformity that ignores cultural diversity, as the history of Christianity shows," he said. "Moreover, the many diverse traditions present in the Catholic Church today are all rooted in the principle articulated by St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians: 'There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism.' " CNN's Hada Messia and Jason Hanna contributed to this report.
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Vatican opens door to disillusioned Anglicans wanting to join Catholic Church . Married priests and bishops to be allowed to "enter into full visible communion" Vatican says "hundreds" of Anglicans have expressed interest in joining . Anglicans can retain their rites while recognizing the pope as their leader .
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(CNN) -- NATO forces patrolling the Gulf of Aden foiled a pirate attack on a Norwegian tanker this weekend, a NATO spokesman said. The Canadian navy's HMCS Winnipeg helped foil a pirate attack on a Norwegian tanker Sunday, NATO says. Pirates attempted to capture the MV Front Ardennes at 6 p.m. Saturday and were apprehended seven hours later, Commander Chris Davies told CNN. A NATO-supported Canadian navy ship, the HMCS Winnipeg, was returning from escorting a World Food Program vessel in the gulf when it saw the Norwegian ship under attack, Davies said. A British Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel, the Wave Knight, was also in the area. The pirates were captured at 1 a.m. Sunday after they threw weapons, ladders and scaling equipment overboard, Davies said. Several rounds of ammunition were found on the pirates' boat. The pirates were detained, but allowed to go free after questioning. There is currently no formal procedure for NATO personnel to follow once they have apprehended pirates, Davies noted. Their weapons are confiscated and they are then typically given provisions and released. The Sunday incident is the latest in a string of hijackings off the Horn of Africa, which have received more attention since pirates attacked a U.S.-flagged cargo ship on April 8 and took its captain hostage. See a map of pirate attacks » . CNN's Carol Jordan in London, England, contributed to this report.
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Canadian, British vessels on NATO patrol prevent hijacking of Norwegian ship . Pirates captured after seven-hour chase, but then released, NATO says . Lacking formal procedure, NATO generally takes pirates' weapons but lets them go . Sunday attack latest in a long string of hijackings and attempts in Gulf of Aden .
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Editor's note: In our Behind the Scenes series, CNN correspondents share their experiences in covering news and analyze the stories behind the events. Here, Soledad O'Brien tells users about her work with young people who videotaped their stories in post-Katrina New Orleans. From left: Shantia Reneau, Deshawn Dabney, Soledad O'Brien, Amanda Hill and Brandon Franklin. NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- Eighteen-year-old Amanda Hill sits on a plastic lawn chair in a gutted home, talking straight into a camera. She looks shell-shocked, as if she has survived a war, and in a way that is exactly what has happened. Amanda and her grandmother lost their home and their livelihood as a result of Hurricane Katrina. "I know what it is like not to have the finer things in life," she says, "and I don't need that to be happy, but I wake up at 3 a.m. to hearing my grandma crying because she doesn't know if she'll have money to put milk in the fridge or bread on the table." Watch Amanda's story . Amanda speaks these words on the very first tape she sends to us in February of this year. She is one of 11 New Orleans-area students, age 12 to 20, who received cameras from me and filmmaker Spike Lee in January. Their mission: Take the cameras and tell us the story of your post-Katrina lives. For instance, Amanda tells us her grandmother, Dolores, has mentioned suicide. "All I could say was it's going to be OK, when in my heart I don't think it is." Dolores has raised Amanda since she was 11 years old. That was the year her mother died from cancer. Since returning to St. Bernard Parish, east of New Orleans, Dolores has tried to support the two of them while working at McDonald's. In early spring, 15-year-old Deshawn Dabney confides to his camera, "I don't want to be dead at 15. I have dreams, a whole life to live. I want to be this huge entertainer... and there is no way I can do that if I'm dead." He has reason to be concerned. He is speaking just days after a neighbor, 17-year-old Anthony Placide, was killed by a gunshot wound to the head. The shooting happened only a few hundred feet from Deshawn's front door. Watch Deshawn's story . On another tape we get a few days later, Deshawn is interviewing Anthony's 14-year-old brother, Jamell Hurst. "I was shocked," Jamell tells Deshawn about his brother's murder. By now, I'm a bit shocked too, by the emotions these kids are sharing on these tapes. Seventeen-year-old Shantia Reneau talks about her inability to afford the college of her dreams, Southeastern Louisiana University. All of the family's extra money is going toward rebuilding their damaged home in the 9th Ward. They're living in a FEMA trailer in a parking lot. "I really want to go to Southeastern, but if not, I'll have to stay down here," she says while walking along her damaged street. "I didn't want to. New Orleans has nothing to offer, nothing, not a thing." Watch Shantia's story . Nineteen-year-old Brandon Franklin is looking outside New Orleans, too. He wants to go away to college to study to become a band director. But it may be a tough road for him. He is raising a 1-year-old with his live-in girlfriend, Ivorionne, and they have another baby on the way. "I feel like we're a little bit too young for the responsibilities we have," he tells the camera in a strong, confident voice. "But I feel like I can do anything I put my mind to." Seeing and hearing him, you want to believe it. Watch Brandon's story . Amanda, Deshawn, Shantia and Brandon are among the approximately 30,000 students who attend public schools in Orleans and St. Bernard Parish nearly two years after the storm, down from more than 75,000 before Katrina hit. On the day we distributed the cameras, Spike Lee told the kids to "just go out and shoot, tape is cheap." With this cheap tape these kids have taught us all a powerful, infinitely valuable lesson that will stay with me forever. E-mail to a friend .
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Soledad O'Brien and Spike Lee gave kids cameras in January . One student's neighbor was killed by a gunshot . Student may not go to chosen college as family's money goes to rebuild home .
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(CNN) -- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a bill commemorating Harvey Milk, the first openly gay politician elected to public office in the state, a spokesman for the governor said Monday. Stuart Milk, nephew of Harvey Milk, sits next to a photo of the gay rights activist in March. "He really saw this signing as a way to honor the gay community in California," spokesman Aaron McLear told CNN in a telephone interview. Schwarzenegger vetoed a similar bill last year, saying he believed Milk should be recognized at the local level. But since then, "Milk has become much more of a symbol of the gay community," McLear said, citing the eponymous movie starring Sean Penn, Milk's posthumous receipt of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and his induction into the California Hall of Fame. Milk served briefly as San Francisco's supervisor before he and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated in 1978 by Dan White, a city supervisor who had recently resigned but wanted his job back. Under the measure, the governor each year would proclaim May 22 -- Milk's birthday -- as a day of significance across the state. The bill was one of 704 signed Sunday -- most of them near the midnight deadline -- by Schwarzenegger, said spokesman Aaron McLear. The legislation passed the state Senate in May and the state Assembly last month. The legislation has been divisive, with the governor's office receiving more than 100,000 phone calls and e-mails, most of them in opposition, spokeswoman Andrea McCarthy said last month. But she added that most of the Twitter posts the governor received were in favor of the bill. Schwarzenegger vetoed a similar bill last year, saying he believed Milk should be recognized at the local level. Milk was a "unique" historical figure who led a civil rights movement and then was "assassinated in his public office for being who he was," State Sen. Mark Leno, a Democrat, told CNN last month. The day of significance would not close schools or state offices, according to its text. However, Randy Thomasson, the president of SaveCalifornia.com, said the bill was vague and could allow for a number of things at schools, including gay pride parades or "mock gay weddings." "Harvey Milk was a terrible role model for children," said Thomasson, whose organization opposed the bill. "The reality is Harvey Milk is a hero to so many people and a great role model," said Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California, the group that backed the bill introduced by Leno. "It's very appropriate that the state he worked in and passed the first gay rights bill in the country should honor him." He said the bill marks the first time any state has officially honored an openly gay person. Leno said that claims that the bill would lead to schools holding gay-pride parades and similar activities were "hyperbole." The bill "mandates nothing," he said, although it "affords an educational opportunity." President Obama posthumously honored Milk with a Presidential Medal of Freedom this year, and Sean Penn portrayed him in the 2008 film "Milk," for which he received an Oscar for best actor.
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Bill commemorates Harvey Milk, the first openly gay politician elected in California . Each year, governor would proclaim May 22 as day of significance across state . Milk, a San Francisco supervisor, and Mayor George Moscone assassinated in 1978 . Schwarzenegger got more than 100,000 e-mails, phone calls about bill .
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ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- The Atlanta Falcons have "relinquished their contractual rights" to Michael Vick, one of the highest-paid players in professional sports before his conviction on dogfighting charges, the Falcons manager said Friday. Michael Vick will be confined to this Hampton, Virginia, house for the rest of his sentence. In a statement posted on the football team's Web site, General Manager Thomas Dimitroff said, "Michael remains suspended by the NFL [National Football League]. However, in the event NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell decides to reinstate Michael, we feel his best opportunity to re-engage his football career would be at another club. "Our entire organization sincerely hopes that Michael will continue to focus his efforts on making positive changes in his life, and we wish him well in that regard," Dimitroff said. The quarterback was drafted by the Falcons in 2001, and played six seasons with the team. Vick, who will turn 29 on June 26, pleaded guilty in August 2007 to a federal charge of bankrolling a dogfighting operation at a home he owned in Virginia. He was freed from the U.S. Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas, on May 20, and returned to his home in Hampton, Virginia, the following day. He will serve the last two months of his 23-month sentence in home confinement, his publicist, Judy Smith, said after his release. Vick could have returned to professional football as soon as September if reinstated by the NFL, said the sports agent who negotiated Vick's 10-year, $140 million contract with the Falcons. Now, however, he has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. A federal bankruptcy judge recently denied a plan presented by Vick and urged him to offer another plan to handle his debts. The original plan called for Vick to come up with $750,000 to $1 million in cash to be paid to creditors, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Frank Santoro said, but he said he saw no evidence Vick could come up with that much. Santoro suggested Vick's next plan not call for him to keep two houses and three cars, as did the rejected proposal. Vick, who acknowledged failing to handle his money well, told the judge he was earning 12 cents an hour as an overnight janitor in prison. He has offered to work with the Humane Society of the United States on anti-dogfighting campaigns, Humane Society President Wayne Pacelle has told CNN. He was to work on programs aimed at preventing youths from getting involved in dogfighting, and on programs to assist young people who have already been involved in the blood sport. In testimony before the bankruptcy judge, Vick acknowledged committing a "heinous" act and said he should have acted more maturely.
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Manager: Team has relinquished contractual rights to suspended pro football player . If Vick is reinstated, best NFL opportunity would be "at another club," manager says . Vick pleaded guilty in 2007 to a federal charge of bankrolling a dogfighting operation . He will serve last two months of 23-month term in home confinement, publicist says .
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London (CNN) -- A designer has come up with a unique and futuristic solution for speeding up rail travel: he doesn't want to change the engines, or the tracks -- he wants to get rid of the stations. Determined to take rail transport into the 21st century, Paul Priestman, director of British design group Priestmangoode, is the man behind the "Moving Platforms" concept, which he believes could potentially revolutionize the rail industry. His scheme would see travelers served by a carousel of trams and high-speed trains that would take passengers from their homes to their destinations without them ever having to use a bus, car or taxi. "The idea with Moving Platforms is that ... if you were going on holiday or on business for instance, you could get onto a tram on your street and then seamlessly travel from that onto the high-speed line and then get off at your destination in another city, then onto a tram and then end up at your destination without ever having gone in your car or perhaps got on a bus," says Priestman. "It's totally integrated into a sort of larger transport system," he adds. The idea is to have a city-wide network of trams that travel in a loop and connect with a high-speed rail service. Read more: How green is HSR? But instead of passengers having to get off the tram at a rail station and wait for the next HSR service to arrive, the moving tram would "dock" with a moving train, allowing passengers to cross between tram and train without either vehicle ever stopping. "The trams speed up and the high-speed train slows down and they join, so they dock at high speed," explains Priestman. "They stay docked for the same amount of time that it would stop at a station," he adds. "There are big doors, there are wide doors, they're all the same level so you can seamlessly go between the two vehicles quite peacefully; there's no hurry. "Then, when everyone's done that, the doors shut and then the trains separate and the tram then goes back into the city or town and picks up more passengers and drops off passengers." Instead of using paper tickets to pass through a barrier, passengers would used an RFID (radio-frequency identification) system to transfer from tram to train. Similar systems that let passengers scan pre-paid smartcards are already used on many public transport networks. While Priestman admits that it will be some time before his vision could be implemented, he says the time has come to rethink how we travel. "This idea is a far-future thought but wouldn't it be brilliant to just re-evaluate and just re-think the whole process?" he says.
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"Moving Platforms" is an integrated tram-to-train concept . Passengers would cross between tram and train without either vehicle stopping . It's the work of British designer Paul Priestman .
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(CNN) -- Roger Federer claimed his third title of the season with a 6-4 6-3 victory over Germany's Florian Mayer in the final of the Stockholm Open on Sunday. It was the world number two's 64th career ATP title, joining Pete Sampras in fourth on the all-time career list. American legend Jimmy Connors with 109 tournament wins heads the list, with Ivan Lendl (94) in second and John McEnroe (77) third. The 16-time grand slam winner was always in command as he bounced back from his defeat to Andy Murray in last week's Shanghai Masters final. His last visit to Sweden had been a decade ago when he was beaten in the second round, but this time around he made no mistake. "Ten years ago I came here with no expectations and now I'm back as the favourite,' Federer told AFP. "Anything but a win would be disappointing. I played a great event, it was a tough final. Florian played well a terrific final. I'm very happy to win." Federer's other two titles in 2010 have come in the Australian Open and Cincinnati Masters prior to the U.S. Open. Meanwhile, unseeded Serbian Viktor Troicki fought back from a set down to claim his maiden ATP title in the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, beating fourth seed Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 3-6 6-4 6-3. Troicki gained the decisive break of service in the decider to claim a 4-1 lead and he served out to win the match as he converted his first match point with a crisp volley. Earlier, second seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus won the WTA tournament being held at the same arena, beating home home hope Maria Kirilenko 6-3 6-4 in the final. Unseeded Roberta Vinci of Italy won the WTA tournament in Luxembourg with a 6-3 6-4 victory over eighth seed Julia Gorges of Germany in the final.
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Roger Federer wins Stockholm Open title for the first time . Swiss maestro beats Germany's Florian Mayer 6-4 6-3 in the final . Federer draws level with Pete Sampras with 64 ATP Tour titles . Viktor Troicki claims maiden ATP crown at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow .
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(CNN) -- A wheel from the main landing gear of a Colgan Airlines passenger plane fell off and rolled away as the aircraft was landing in Buffalo, New York, earlier this week. A wheel fell off the landing gear of Q400 Bombardier upon landing on Colgan Flight 3268 earlier this week. On Thursday night, The Toronto Sun posted a video of the incident shot by a passenger on the Q400 Bombardier -- the same type of plane involved in a fatal Colgan Airlines crash three months ago, also on approach to Buffalo Niagara International Airport. The video shows the wheel touch down on the ground and then roll away, followed by metal parts that are meant to keep the wheels in place. The plane was towed to the gate, where everyone on board "deplaned normally," said Joe Williams, a spokesman for Pinnacle Airlines, Colgan's parent company. "At no time was any passenger or crew member at risk, nor were any injuries reported," Williams said of the Tuesday incident. "The aircraft was properly maintained in accordance with the manufacturer and Federal Aviation Administration procedures." Williams said the incident "appears to have been caused by the failure of the outer wheel bearing ... the bearing was relatively new, having been on the aircraft for five weeks." Colgan Flight 3268 originated in Newark, New Jersey. "I was scared, and the other passengers looked worried, too," one passenger told the Toronto newspaper. "For a moment, I thought the worst in that we may not make it." Three months ago, Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashed in nearby Clarence Center, New York, killing all 49 passengers and crew members aboard. One person was killed on the ground. Hearings about the cause of that accident have been held in Washington this week. Investigators have focused on pilot fatigue as a possible cause of the crash.
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Wheel from main landing gear fell off as aircraft was landing earlier this week . Colgan Airlines spokesman says no one on Flight 3268 was injured . One person on flight: "I was scared, and the other passengers looked worried, too" Three months ago, Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashed, killing all 49 people aboard .
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(EW.com) -- No surprise, but now it's official: "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" will have a panel at Comic-Con next month, Lionsgate announced today. It's not clear who exactly from the movie will be in attendance (Paging Jennifer Lawrence!), but Lionsgate promises "talent" from the film will be there. The Lionsgate panel will also featuring actors from "I, Frankenstein, "which will star Aaron Eckhart, Yvonne Strahovski and Bill Nighy. The Saturday, July 20 panel will debut an exclusive new trailer for "Catching Fire" and new footage from "I, Frankenstein." Not heading to San Diego? You can tweet questions for the panel using the hashtag #CatchingFireComicCon. EW will also be bringing you reports from of all the happenings at Comic-Con, which will take place July 18-21. "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" hits theaters Nov. 22. See the original story at EW.com. CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly . © 2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved.
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Studio promises "talent" will appear at the panel . Panel will also debut an exclusive new trailer for "Catching Fire" The film will be in the theaters Nov. 22 .
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(CNN) -- Airlines around the world canceled flights to and from the northeast United States as a massive storm slammed into the coast of New Jersey and New York. Hurricane Sandy, now rated as a "post-tropical" superstorm, forced the closure of New York's JFK and LaGuardia airports and Newark in New Jersey "until further notice" as rising flood waters washed across parts of the city, while domestic and international flights were canceled at other major airports in the region. Middle Eastern, European, Asian and U.S. airlines prepared to take a financial hit, with the weather stranding their passengers in cities across the globe. "Every day this goes on you're seeing combined losses to the airlines of roughly $10 million," said Simon Calder, travel editor of the UK's The Independent newspaper. Sandy's impact: State by state . "The cost is actually much worse for European airlines like British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, because they have to pay for accommodation and meals for their customers who are stuck in the U.S. -- particularly in New York." European Union law says airlines have a "duty of care" to take care of stranded passengers. There is no such law governing U.S. airlines. "Delta and United can just say, 'Sorry, this is a weather event and you're not covered,'" Calder told CNN. At least 50,000 travelers between the UK and U.S. have been affected by the storm, Calder estimates. In Asia, airlines grounded more flights as the extent of the storm became clear. Australia's Qantas, Korean Airlines and Japan's JAL canceled all New York-bound flights on Tuesday and Cathay Pacific said Wednesday's departures to JFK would also be scrubbed. With 11 flights canceled to and from New York, Washington D.C., Philadelphia and Baltimore, British Airways has offered to rebook flights for its passengers. A statement on BA's website said: "We understand that customers may be disappointed, however their safety is our highest priority." The airline's flights to and from Boston were expected to operate normally. Britain's Virgin Atlantic also canceled all flights to New York, but announced that flights to Washington and Boston were scheduled to begin again on Tuesday. More than 80 flights from London's Heathrow Airport to the U.S. East Coast were canceled, including 47 arrivals and 37 departures. Sandy halts travel along East Coast . Karen Mackenzie from Essex, in southeastern England, was planning to fly Monday to New York on a Virgin holiday package, but the airline canceled her entire holiday due to the storm. While Virgin Atlantic gave Mackenzie a full refund, the elementary school principal says her schedule means she won't be able to rebook the holiday until next year. "I feel really horrible for those poor people in New York at the moment. It's disappointing to lose our holiday, but for them it's a much more hideous situation," she told CNN. Qatar Airways and the United Arab Emirates-based airlines Etihad and Emirates also canceled flights to the U.S. northeast. In a statement Emirates said the safety of their passengers "will not be compromised." Air France, Germany's Lufthansa, Ireland's Aer Lingus and Turkish Airlines have also scrubbed flights in and out of New York. Sandy claims 'Bounty' off North Carolina . Some 50 million people from Virginia to Massachusetts are expected to feel the effect of Sandy, which made landfall in New Jersey late Monday. The cost of potential wind damage alone could be up to $3 billion, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The storm has also prompted thousands of domestic flight cancellations across America. While all American Airlines flights to the east coast are canceled, the airline is operating a normal service to other parts of the country. United Airlines grounded roughly 3,700 flights between Sunday and Wednesday, and Delta said all flights from Washington to Boston, and out of New York and Philadelphia, were canceled. Both companies are allowing some customers to change their flight plans without paying any fees due to the storm. So how long will it take for airlines to get stranded passengers to their destinations once the hurricane subsides? Not long, according to CNN's Richard Quest, who said the problem should start being resolved from Wednesday. "All the airlines have exceptionally sophisticated recovery programs," he explained. "What they do is they don't make the flight to the first place. They don't send the aircraft into the bad areas, so they don't get stranded. They're now already starting to work out flights for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. You write off Monday and Tuesday, then you start to rebuild the schedule." "After the [Icelandic volcanic] ash cloud two years ago, airlines were able to restore the schedule quite quickly, simply because people canceled their flights [and didn't rebook]. And that's what the airlines are banking on. "I'm guessing that by the weekend everyone [will have] got where they need to be." How to help . Information from CNN Wires was used in this report.
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NEW: Airlines ground more flights as Sandy strikes Northeastern U.S. New York's JFK, LaGuardia airports and Newark in New Jersey all closed . Combined losses to airlines of roughly $10 million per day, estimates travel expert . Quest: Airlines' schedule systems could get stranded passengers home by weekend .
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New York (CNN) -- Authorities on Sunday released the name of a woman who turned up in New York this month saying she had no memory of her name or family. She is Kacie Aleece Peterson, 18, of Hansville, Washington, according to Paul Browne, deputy commissioner of the New York Police Department. Police a day earlier said a CNN viewer in Maryland identified the woman, who was found in Midtown Manhattan on October 9 outside a youth shelter. A photo of Peterson, who had been referred to as Jane Doe, was circulated by police and aired on CNN this week. Authorities didn't release Peterson's name until Sunday. Browne said Peterson's mother is dead and that her father is heading to New York. CNN affiliate KOMO-TV in Seattle, Washington, reported that her father went to New York on Sunday to bring her home. The family said it's not the first time she disappeared and then later was found with apparent memory loss, the station reported. Peterson is from Colville in eastern Washington, KOMO reported. She had been living with a friend in Hansville and attending Kingston High School. The father said the daughter had gone to live temporarily with a friend of her late mother, the station reported. Scott Wilson, spokesman for the Kitsap County Sheriff's Office, said Peterson was reported missing by her father on October 1, KOMO reported. Detectives later discovered bank activity and other evidence that she was alive, he said. The woman was found outside Manhattan's Covenant House youth shelter around 12:30 a.m. October 9. The organization said that she was not a resident at the time and did not appear as if she intended to seek refuge at the facility. A security guard for the shelter noticed the woman walking on the sidewalk near Covenant House and approached her. Finding her unresponsive, he called the New York City Police Department. Police officers interviewed the woman, but it became clear that she couldn't provide authorities with any information about herself. Police said she was wearing military green camouflage pants, a black shirt and a pair of black sneakers when she was discovered. The CNN viewer who identified her was familiar with her situation and knew she had been missing this month, police said. Police said they do not know how she lost her memory. "I just want to know who I am and what happened to me," the young woman said in a statement previously released by the New York City Administration of Children's Services. Evan Buxbaum, Susan Candiotti and Vanessa Juarez contributed to the report.
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KOMO-TV: Family says this isn't first time woman found with apparent memory loss . Kacie A. Peterson, 18, was found outside Manhattan youth shelter October 9 . Police: Woman claimed not to know her name, family . CNN viewer in Maryland identified the woman, police say .
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(CNN) -- Will Bunch's CNN.com tirade earlier this week against television host Glenn Beck and David Barton -- the founder and president of WallBuilders, a national pro-family organization that emphasizes history's "moral, religious and constitutional heritage" -- for allegedly creating "pseudo history" reveals more about Mr. Bunch than it does about what Mr. Beck and Mr. Barton are presenting. Mr. Bunch seems, above all, to be annoyed that many people are no longer staying on the liberal plantation of secularized American history. He offers little in the way of examples of error, just differences of opinion, such as his own assertion about "the much-debunked idea that America's creation was rooted in Christianity." Much debunked? That would have been news to many of the Founding Fathers, whose biblical understanding of man as created in the image of God informed their insistence in the Declaration of Independence that people have "unalienable rights" to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." This was tempered by the biblically informed idea that man is prone to sin. In the Federalist Papers, No. 51, for example, James Madison wrote, "But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary." Therefore, any government formed by men needs checks and balances to avoid tyranny. On a more elementary level, the signers of the Declaration and the Constitution were mostly Christian. You can look it up. Bunch complains that, "In April, Barton told Beck's 3 million TV viewers that 'we use the Ten Commandments as basis of civil law and the Western world [and it] has been for 2,000 years.' " Glenn Beck rewrites civil rights history . Perhaps this is why the Ten Commandments numerals are represented at the bottom of a door to the U.S. Supreme Court courtroom and why Moses, revered as the lawgiver to Jews in the Hebrew bible, and Christians in the New Testament, appears holding two tablets elsewhere in the Supreme Court building. He appears between the Chinese philosopher Confucius and Solon, the Athenian statesman -- at the center of a frieze of historic lawgivers on the building's East Pediment. Moses is also among an array of lawgiver figures depicted over the Court's chamber. Tellingly, Mr. Bunch does not dispute the accuracy of the quotes that Mr. Barton cites that spell out a Christian understanding of law and man among some of the Founding Fathers. In a letter to Thomas Jefferson, written 37 years after the Declaration of Independence, John Adams wrote: "The general principles, on which the Fathers achieved independence, were the only Principles in which that beautiful Assembly of young gentlemen could Unite. ... And what were these general Principles? I answer, the general Principles of Christianity, in which all these Sects were United: ... Now I will avow, that I then believe, and now believe, that those general Principles of Christianity, are as eternal and immutable, as the Existence and Attributes of God; and that those Principles of Liberty, are as unalterable as human Nature and our terrestrial, mundane System." John Jay, the first chief justice of the Supreme Court, wrote in a letter to a friend, "Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers." Mr. Bunch further complains that Barton "gives less than short shrift to the real achievement of the Founders in separating church and state." I would argue that their real achievement was elsewhere. Their real achievement was far larger: creation of a unique, limited government with protections for the freedoms of religion, speech, press and assembly and protection of property rights, without which no freedom exists. The result was the most prosperous and freest nation in history. And property rights are endorsed throughout the Bible. The "wall of separation between church & state," by the way, is not in the Constitution. It's from a letter from President Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury, Connecticut, Baptists, who were concerned that the national government would favor one Christian denomination over others. But Mr. Jefferson's phrase has become a sacred totem used by activist judges to drive Christian symbols from the public square. The real reason that Mr. Bunch is so exercised is that the truth about America's Christian founding is getting out, despite media hostility, politically correct schoolbooks and rising intolerance toward any public expression of faith -- unless it advances leftist goals. America is a unique beacon of freedom precisely because of its founders' Christian perspective, which has protected the right of conscience and thus freedom of religion for Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and nonbelievers. Try to identify another nation on Earth that similarly advanced individual rights without being influenced by Christianity. Beck and Barton are striking what Abraham Lincoln described in a different context as the "mystic chords of memory." It makes perfect sense that many Americans are tuning in. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Robert Knight.
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Robert Knight disputes ideas in opinion piece by Will Bunch about Glenn Beck, David Barton . Bunch rejected idea of U.S.' Christian roots, but there's evidence for it, Knight says . Moses shown on some Supreme Court friezes; some founders wrote of Christian principles . Knight: U.S. unique in advancing individual rights because of its Christian ethic .
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(CNN) -- Mitt Romney press secretary Rich Gorka's outburst in Warsaw, Poland, on Tuesday, during which he told a reporter to "shove it," is of a piece with the Barnumesque spectacle of his candidate's world tour. But to this veteran of many campaign tours, the incident raises a provocative question about modern campaign history: When and how did the Republicans become the championship party of whining? Rahm Emanuel brought it up earlier this month with his bracing instruction to Romney to quit complaining about Democrats' negative campaign ads. Such ads, deployed against Rick Santorum et al, were after all the instrument that brought Romney the GOP nomination. Any short history of the whining sweepstakes should start by noting that a tectonic shift is taking place when the candidates and handlers of one side begin asking, in some form, this question: Why are they being allowed to do to us what we've happily been doing to them since -- to choose a recent precedent to this partisan shift -- the swift boating of John Kerry? You see what's that led to? Why, these Obamians want to turn Romney's brilliant business career into an unpatriotic defect! News: Romney trip an 'embarrassing disaster,' Obama team says . The current situation is noteworthy because the Democratic Party seemed to have the exclusive franchise on piteous bleating dating back to Richard Nixon's victory in 1968 and throughout the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush years. Truth be told, the Democrats managed to keep whining throughout most of the triumphant Bill Clinton years. The game changer clearly has been Barack Obama, whose surprising taste for bloodying the noses of domestic critics and foreign adversaries seems to hark back to the last time the Democrats were unashamed political warriors. That would be 1960, when John F. Kennedy and his snarling little brother Bobby made political "ruthlessness," unrestrained campaign spending, Teamster support and Mayor Richard Daley's vote-counting techniques into virtues. The era of bullying Democrats pretty well ended with Jimmy Carter's cardigan sweater and "malaise speech." Video: Romney aide to media: 'Show respect!' Then, with the victory of Reagan in 1980, the Democrats' claimed the whining trophy outright. Walter Mondale sealed the Democratic ascendancy with his high-pitched complaints about Reagan's "compassion gap." And it has taken Romney to mount a full-scale effort to take back the title. (Pioneering credit, however, must be given to Sen. Bob Dole with his plaintive cries of "Where's the outrage?" in response to voters' apparently bottomless forgiveness for Clinton's shenanigans.) To find the wellsprings of 2012 Republican whining, I think one has to look at the party's setters of tone and themes. Start with Romney and his cries of foul over the Obama campaign's use of "Chicago-style" politics. The vibe of this complaint is that of a suburban prep schooler who has wandered into a playground where the mean city boys took his football and then twisted his arm really hard. News: Romney trip may not matter much to voters in November . The signature moment in this year's use of the W word came in early July when an Obama staffer said that Romney was either a "felon" or was "misrepresenting" in his Federal filing about the length of his tenure as head of Bain Capital. Like much of today's campaign talk, the accusation was hyperbolic, verging on the demagogic. In other words, it was well within the strike zone the Republicans institutionalized in 1988 when they turned the GOP's amiable hitman Lee Atwater loose with his "Willie Horton" ad against Michael Dukakis. But when the White House dared escalate the rhetorical arms race, Romney feigned outrage. Now he wanted an apology even though he had defended his own blistering attacks last spring on his primary rivals as a standard part of grown-up politics. Romney's campaign even piled one whine upon another by running a commercial showing a plaintive Hillary Clinton saying "Shame on you, Barack Obama" during the savage 2002 Democratic primaries. "Stop whining!" Chicago Mayor Emanuel, Obama's former chief of staff, demanded on the George Stephanopoulous Sunday show recently. ""If you want to claim Bain Capital as your calling card to the White House, then defend what happened at Bain Capital." There's something inescapably petulant about Romney's preference for critiquing all aspects of the economy—but not his role at Bain. The Democrats should turn a deaf ear to his pleas for mercy on his record as a businessman and tax shelterer. The new Quinnipiac poll figures showing Obama ahead in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania demonstrate that Republican-style attack politics work for anyone with the gumption to use them, including this year's pugnacious Democrats. For the rest of this election season, if Democrats are smart, they'll keep reaching into the Lee Atwater bad-boy trick bag and let the season's reigning choir of complaint blend its many voices: the charismatic duo of John Boehner and Mitch McConnell, the tea party, the anchors and panelists of Fox News and now the hapless Rich Gorka. They all seem to know the same tunes: Why don't voters believe what we do? Why isn't Obama the milquetoast he looks like? Why can't we change the photo-op rules for Mitt? The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Howell Raines.
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Howell Raines: Romney press secretary's outburst at reporters part of new GOP whining . He says you know political ground shifting when a party complains about mistreatment . He says Romney faces team more like tough Kennedys of '60s, not usual whiny Democrats . Raines: Romney cries foul when opponent uses his own attack tactics; Dems being effective .
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(CNN) -- The Pentagon took issue Friday with the Afghan government's claim that there was a lack of evidence against 65 prisoners released this week over staunch U.S. objections. "All of these individuals are people who should not be walking the streets," said Rear Adm. John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman. "And we had strong evidence on all of them, evidence that has been ignored, and that's unsatisfactory to us." He added that the prisoners posed threats not just to U.S. forces, but also civilians, as many of the prisoners were accused of killing innocent Afghans as well. The U.S. military in Afghanistan has said some of the men are linked to attacks that killed or wounded 32 American or coalition service members and 23 Afghan security personnel or civilians. "They're still very dangerous individuals who should have remained locked up," Kirby said. "There's not going to be an active targeting campaign ... to go after them. That said, if they choose to return to the fight, they become legitimate enemies and legitimate targets." Mohammad Ishaq Aloko, the Afghan attorney general, said Thursday that the decision to release the prisoners was made "according to our law," and Abdul Shukor Dadras, head of the Afghan Review Board, said the attorney general ordered the releases from the Parwan Detention Center -- formerly known as Bagram prison -- after a careful review of 88 cases. In a statement posted on its website, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul called the move "deeply regrettable," saying the Afghan government "bears responsibility for the results of its decision." Kirby suggested the move by the Afghan government endangers the military mission there and is "unhelpful to the relationship that, that we want to have with Afghanistan." He said that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel feels that this decision, along with other recent decisions made by Kabul "make it that much harder for many of those on the Hill in Congress to further support the Afghan missions." A 23-page document obtained by CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr from a U.S. military official who asked not to be identified said about 19 of the released men were associated with direct attacks that killed or wounded 60 U.S. or coalition force members. There was no immediate explanation for the discrepancy. According to the document, 25 of the men were linked to the production or placement of IEDs; 33 tested positive for explosive residue when processed after capture; and 26 were associated with attacks that killed or wounded 57 Afghan citizens and Afghan National Security Forces. Prior to the prisoners' release, U.S. authorities had repeatedly aired their displeasure over the plans. "We have made clear our judgment that these individuals should be prosecuted under Afghan law. We requested that the cases be carefully reviewed," the U.S. military said ahead of the release. "But the evidence against them was never seriously considered, including by the attorney general, given the short time since the decision was made to transfer these cases to the Afghan legal system." NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he was "gravely concerned" by the decision, "which appears to have been made based on political calculations and without regard for due process before the Afghan courts." In a statement, he called it "a major step backwards for the rule of law in Afghanistan." The U.S. military noted that the group included an alleged Taliban explosives expert, a suspected Haqqani network commander and a specialist accused of building and placing improvised explosive devices. Afghan President Hamid Karzai defended the releases and slammed the United States for criticizing them. "Afghanistan is a sovereign country," he said. "If the Afghan authorities decide to release a prisoner, it is of no concern to the U.S. and should be of no concern to the U.S. And I hope that the United States would stop harassing Afghanistan's procedures and judicial authority and I hope that the United States will now begin to respect Afghan sovereignty." CNN's Tom Watkins, Jethro Mullen, Catherine E. Shoichet, Qadir Sediqi, Elizabeth Joseph and Sara Mazloumsaki contributed to this report.
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Admiral: If prisoners return to the fight, "they become legitimate enemies" U.S. Embassy in Kabul says the prisoner release is "deeply regrettable" U.S. military says some of those freed are linked to attacks on U.S. troops . Afghanistan says it doesn't have enough evidence to keep them behind bars .
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Manama, Bahrain (CNN) -- The outspoken head of a Bahrain human rights group said Sunday that he was handcuffed, blindfolded and beaten when authorities detained him for about two hours. Nabeel Rajab of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights said about 25 people in about a dozen cars pulled up to his house early Sunday morning and took him to the offices of the interior ministry's investigative department. "They said that they were looking for a suspect who was armed and thought I might know him," Rajab said. "They beat me, punched me, kicked me, handcuffed me. Blindfolded me." The government confirmed Rajab was arrested but did not provide additional details. Rajab and his group have been vocal about the government's violent crackdown on anti-regime protesters. Thousands of people have been demonstrating in Bahrain since last month, part of a wave that has spread through North Africa and the Middle East. To quell the unrest, Bahrain called in troops from members states of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Police also arrested several prominent opposition figures in armed raids and without warrants, Amnesty International said. On Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on Bahrain to allow its people to demonstrate peacefully as opposition members reported the death of a fifth protester. "We have made clear that security alone cannot resolve the challenges facing Bahrain," Clinton said. "Violence is not and cannot be the answer. A political process is. We have raised our concerns about the current measures directly with Bahraini officials and will continue to do so." The demonstrators were killed when Bahraini security forces cleared protesters from the Pearl Roundabout in the capital, Manama, on Tuesday. The roundabout had been a rallying site for anti-government demonstrators since the unrest began. On Friday, the government demolished the landmark monument at the center of the traffic circle. Kuwait on Sunday dispatched a medical aid team to Bahrain, the nation's state Kuna news agency reported. CNN's Victoria Brown contributed to this report .
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NEW: Report: Kuwaiti medical aid team sent to Bahrain . Nabeel Rajab says about 25 people pulled up to his house . His group has been vocal about the government crackdown on demonstrators . Thousands have been demonstrating against the government .
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New Delhi (CNN) -- India's scandal-tainted government has come under fresh attack from opposition parties after a leading newspaper ran a front-page report alleging that auditors had found that the awarding of coal fields to private companies had deprived the treasury of $211 billion. As lawmakers from across the spectrum of opposition parties criticized Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's administration over the Times of India story on Thursday, his office issued excerpts of a letter to him from the federal auditor that described the news report as "exceedingly misleading." One of the country's most respected dailies, the Times of India cited what it said were the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG)'s draft estimates from the awarding of 155 coal blocks to some 100 firms without auction between 2004 and 2009. The newspaper said the government had allocated areas for coal production to commercial operators without putting them up for competitive auction. According to the CAG's calculations, the newspaper said, the authorities sold the rights to the mining areas for much less than they were worth, passing on "undue benefits" to the companies. The report claimed the loss to the government was six times the size of the amount lost by the allotment of telecommunications frequencies in 2008 at below market value. The telecommunications scandal, the result of a CAG report, put tremendous pressure on Singh's government, leading to the resignations of top officials and fueling a powerful grassroots protest movement against corruption. But the national auditor said the report on the coal blocks misrepresented its findings. "The details being brought out were observations which are under discussion at a very preliminary stage and do not even constitute our pre-final draft and hence are exceedingly misleading," read a portion of the CAG's letter made public by the prime minister's office. "The leak of the initial draft causes great embarrassment as the audit report is still under preparation. Such leakage causes very deep anguish," it read. The letter came after opposition leaders sought a discussion in parliament over what they claimed to be a huge scandal. "This is the worst scam," said Prakash Javadekar, spokesman for the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party. "This government has lost, forfeited its right to continue in power," he said. Left-wing politicians were equally scathing in their reaction. "It is a serious scam, a very big scam. In fact, all these scams are taking place because of the wrong policies pursued by the government, favoring all corporate houses, big business houses in the country," said D. Raja, a leader in the Communist Party of India. He asked why the government had not awarded the coalfields through an auction process. A lawmaker from the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Sitaram Yechury, called for a wide-ranging investigation. Before releasing the letter from the CAG, the government issued cautious comments on the matter. "I cannot comment on the basis of newspaper reports, until I have the actual report (of the CAG)," said Coal Minister Sri Prakash Jaiswal. He insisted that no coal blocks had been granted during the second term of Singh's government, which began in 2009. "If the CAG has raised any objections over any such allocations before that, we will be able to make a comment only after studying them," Jaiswal said. Singh's government has been hit by a series of corruption allegations, including a damning 2010 CAG report about the underselling of the cell phone permits. It put the cost to the government coffers of that affair at around $31 billion dollars in lost revenues. The telecommunications licenses issued under the sale have since been revoked by the Supreme Court. A number of politicians, bureaucrats and company executives are facing trial after the telecommunications scandal shook the government. All the defendants have denied any wrongdoing. Singh's Congress Party, headed by Italian born Sonia Gandhi, paid a political price this month when it suffered a heavy defeat in a key regional vote. Seen as a litmus test for the popularity of the national coalition, the recent elections in India's most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, gave a decisive majority to a provincial grouping. That was despite a rigorous campaign by the Congress Party to try to revive its fortunes in the region.
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An audit found billions in lost revenue from coal field allocations, says Indian paper . The auditor says the newspaper report is "exceedingly misleading" The government has already been damaged by a cell phone license scandal . "This is the worst scam," says an opposition leader .
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Washington (CNN) -- Voters have given Republicans a mandate to cut government and roll back the Obama administration's health care "monstrosity" in the next Congress, the incoming speaker of the House of Representatives said Wednesday. Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, is poised to lead the House following the GOP's massive gains in Tuesday's midterm elections. He told reporters that he and President Barack Obama have agreed to work together but called the results a vote for "a smaller, less costly, more accountable government." And the administration's hard-won overhaul of the U.S. health care system ultimately will be on the block. "The American people are concerned about the government takeover of health care," Boehner said. "I think it's important for us to lay the groundwork before we begin to repeal this monstrosity and replace it with common-sense reforms that will bring down the cost of health insurance in America." For his part, Obama blamed the anemic economy for the "shellacking" his fellow Democrats experienced, but he acknowledged that his policies hadn't done enough to bring down high unemployment. His administration has "stabilized" the economy and spurred private-sector hiring, "but people all across America aren't feeling that progress," Obama said. "I've got to take direct responsibility for the fact that we have not made as much progress as we need to make," Obama said. The president faced reporters a day after voters replaced at least 60 Democrats in the House of Representatives, handing control of the chamber to the Republicans for the first time since 2006, according to CNN projections. In the Senate, Democrats lost at least six seats but retained control of the chamber, according to the projections based on analysis of exit polling. In the latest result, Democratic incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado defeated Tea Party-backed Republican Ken Buck, CNN projected on Wednesday. Asked about claims by Republicans, especially Tea Party conservatives, that his policies are taking the country in the wrong direction, Obama cited the economy's reversal from monthly job losses to private sector job growth since he took office as proof that things were improving. But he also conceded, in reference to an auto-related campaign analogy, that the argument could be made that "we're stuck in neutral." Obama said he's looking at "all ideas that are on the table" to boost economic growth after the deepest recession since the 1930s and won't dismiss any proposal "because they're Democrat or Republican." At the same time, Obama said, it would be a "misreading" of the election results if anyone believed that the American people want to spend the next two years trying to "relitigate" his administration's overhaul of health care or other major legislation of his first two years in office. Republicans throughout the campaign blasted Obama's signature health care overhaul, the Affordable Care Act, after voting all but unanimously against it in Congress. Obama called the process of passing the bill "an ugly mess" and "something that I regret" but added: "The outcome was a good one." The health care law, parts of which are just taking effect, requires Americans to buy health insurance, provides subsidies to bring down the cost of those policies and bars insurers from denying coverage based on gender or pre-existing conditions. Despite the stated goal of Boehner and other Republicans to repeal the health care bill, the Democratic majority in the Senate makes it unlikely that will happen. More likely is legislative gridlock on health care and other issues, with the GOP-led House pushing for spending cuts, deregulation and other measures that will die in the Democratic-controlled Senate. In Tuesday's vote, Democrats were battered by an economy that is still struggling to create jobs, with unemployment at 9.6 percent, and an energized conservative electorate fueled by the anti-establishment Tea Party movement that emerged in 2009. Exit polling showed voter dissatisfaction with both parties, as each received a 53 percent unfavorable rating. Michael Steele, the head of the Republican National Committee, said Republicans were humbled by the opportunity for "a second chance" at power. "I heard that all across the country, people saying, you know, 'you guys better not screw this up, because you're next on the list if you do,' " Steele said. Obama called both Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, late Tuesday to offer his congratulations. On Wednesday, he called for unity and an "honest and civil debate." "What yesterday also told us is that no one party will be able to dictate where we go from here, that we must find common ground in order to make progress on some uncommonly difficult challenges," the president said. But McConnell, who led repeated filibusters of Obama administration efforts in the Senate over the past two years, told reporters that voters were rewarding GOP opposition. "It seems to me the best strategy for the other side would be to listen to the voters yesterday," he said. "They made a clear statement about what they'd like to see done. If the president comes in our direction, obviously we want to make progress for the country over the next two years." Andrew Card, who was White House chief of staff under former President George W. Bush, told CNN's "American Morning" that it was Obama's responsibility "to take the wake-up call that came yesterday." The rise of the Tea Party movement added a new element to the election cycle, roiling Republican races by boosting little-known and inexperienced candidates to victory over mainstream figures in GOP primaries across the country. "I don't think there's any question that if it were not for the Tea Party, the Republican margin in the House of Representatives would not be as high as it's going to be," CNN senior political analyst David Gergen said Tuesday night. "They gave a lot of enthusiasm and fuel to the Republican Party." Tea Party-backed Republicans Rand Paul in Kentucky and Marco Rubio in Florida won their Senate races, according to the projections, but other candidates backed by the group lost key Senate races, including Sharron Angle to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in Nevada, Buck to Bennet in Colorado and Christine O'Donnell to previously unknown Democrat Chris Coons in Delaware. Republican candidates were strong in governors' races, with at least 10 gubernatorial seats switching from Democrats to Republicans, CNN projected. Often overshadowed during midterm campaigns, governorships can affect national politics by their influence in the redistricting of state electorates. Conservative candidates also made strong gains in state legislatures. The Republican State Leadership Committee estimated that at least 16 state legislative chambers had moved from Democratic to Republican control in Tuesday's voting. Those changes have the potential to reverberate far beyond the state level. By seizing control of legislative chambers in several key states, the GOP significantly strengthened its hand heading into what promises to be contentious congressional redistricting process, where legislatures decide how congressional districts are drawn. That can mean the difference between an incumbent having an easy path to re-election -- or seeing his or her district drawn out of existence altogether. The long and bitter campaign season drew more than $3.5 billion in spending, making it the most expensive nonpresidential vote ever, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, a watchdog group. The economy was rated the most important issue by 62 percent of voters, far eclipsing health care reform (19 percent), immigration (8 percent) and the war in Afghanistan (7 percent), according to the exit polling. Most voters, 88 percent, rated economic conditions as not good or poor, and 86 percent said they were very worried or somewhat worried about the economy, the exit polling showed. High unemployment amid a slow recovery from economic recession has been a dominant issue, with Republicans accusing Obama and the Democrats of pushing through expensive policies that have expanded government without solving the problem. Obama has led Democrats in defending his record, saying that steps such as the economic stimulus bill and auto industry bailout were necessary to prevent a depression, while health care reform and Wall Street reform will lay the foundation for sustainable future growth. CNN's Tom Cohen, Michael Pearson, Dana Bash, Ed Henry, Ted Barrett, Deirdre Walsh, Paul Steinhauser, Rebecca Sinderbrand, Jessica Yellin, Alan Silverleib, Holly Yan, Forrest Brown, Catherine E. Shoichet, Rebecca Stewart and Jonathan Auerbach contributed to this report.
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Obama says voters haven't felt benefits of his policies . Democrat Bennet is the projected winner in the Colorado Senate race . McConnell says Obama should move "in our direction" Democrats battered by poor economy, energized conservatives .
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(CNN) -- South African mountain bike star Burry Stander, who narrowly missed out on a medal at the London Olympics, has been killed in a road accident. Stander, 25, was on a training ride when he was hit Thursday by a vehicle in Shelly Beach, on the country's southeast coast, according to Cycling South Africa, the national cycling body. Details of the accident are still being investigated, it said. "Not only is this a loss to South African sport, but we have lost a true gentleman who through his professionalism, modesty and humility, constantly showing sheer guts, represented our country with great pride," Cycling South Africa said in the statement released Thursday. The organization expressed its condolences to Stander's family, including his wife and parents. Stander finished fifth in the Men's Cross Country mountain bike event at the Olympic Games in London last year. It was the second Olympics for Stander, who had finished 15th in the same event at the Beijing Games. He rode a superb race to move through the field in a race won by Jaroslav Kulhavy of the Czech Republic from Nino Schurter of Switzerland. Italy's Marco Fontana was third, 25 seconds adrift, with Stander only missing out on the podium by four seconds in a close finish. He had won the 2011 African championships to book his place at the Games. Adrien Niyonshuti was fourth in the same race to become the first Rwandan to qualify for an Olympic competition. Stander had recently married the multiple South African road race champion Cherise Taylor. CNN's Jethro Mullen contributed to this report.
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Burry Stander is hit by a vehicle while on a training ride in South Africa . He was the country's most successful mountain biker . He finished fifth in his event at the Olympic Games in London last year . Stander missed out on a medal by just four seconds .
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(CNN) -- If you live in the Northeast, there is a good chance you used a snowblower this weekend. Mounds of snow are piled throughout New York and New England after a blustery storm swept through, leaving behind more than a foot of snow in some areas. Albany, New York, got at least 12 inches, said one iReporter. "We usually get these big snow storms in January and the snow on the ground usually stays until springtime since it's always cold here in Albany," Zeynep Rice said. "Last year was a bit weak in snow until end of February actually. So we're happy to have a solid snow covering on the ground earlier than usual this season." The storm spared major metropolitan areas like Boston and New York, but some areas in Maine and along the U.S.-Canada border saw significant snow, the National Weather Service said. The Maine cities of Biddeford (16.5 inches total) and Kennebunkport (14 inches) topped the list, while Exeter, New Hampshire, received 13.5 inches of snow over the weekend. The good news for New Englanders and New Yorkers was that the storm quickly moved out of the Northeast. Queens resident Lia Ocampo posted photos on CNN iReport showing a snow-covered subway platform at New York's Queensboro Plaza station Sunday morning. Ocampo told CNN she's braced for more snow and a colder Christmas than last year. "We can't do anything about the weather," she said. "Just bundle up, warm up with hot coffee, cocoa or tea and stay positive." By Sunday afternoon, 350 flights into, out of, or within the United States were canceled, according to flightaware.com. Highway traffic may be treacherous, with the problem compounded by high winds. CNN affiliate WCVB-TV reported that Massachusetts expects to use 10,000 tons of salt and 2,000 vehicles during the storm. Frank DePaola of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation told CNN that speed limits on major roads had been lowered to 45 mph. Those snowed in might watch the New England Patriots on TV -- they're in sunny Miami, facing the Dolphins on Sunday. The eastward-moving storm dropped snow earlier across the Midwest and western Pennsylvania, with 9 inches reported in Urbana, Illinois. Millions of people are experiencing the big chill as the system dropped snow along a swath more than 1,000 miles long. FedEx said winter weather and high winds caused major disruptions at the company's Memphis, Tennessee, hub that could delay shipments across the United States. Chicago has already been hit hard. The snow that fell Saturday afternoon was wet, making it heavy and difficult to shovel. How to protect your phone in cold weather . CNN's Adam Shivers contributed to this report.
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NEW: iReporter says big snowfall came earlier than usual . Maine city receives more than 16 inches of snow . Hundreds of flights have been canceled . FedEx: The weather could delay shipments .
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(CNN) -- A storm system that produced a number of tornadoes in the Midwest was blamed for at least seven deaths in two states, officials said Wednesday. At least three people were killed when a tornado touched down in Harrisburg, Illinois, early Wednesday, the Saline County Sheriff's Office said. About 100 others were injured. The number of fatalities in Harrisburg could rise, the city's mayor said, in the wake of the twister that appeared to have been on the ground for several miles, said the city's mayor, Eric Gregg. The path of destruction was about three or four football fields wide, he said. The scene in the southern part of Harrisburg, where the tornado struck, was one of debris and collapsed houses. Commercial and residential buildings were crushed. A tractor-trailer could be seen laying on its side, off the highway. Crews were searching "piece by piece" for survivors, Gregg said. It was "a path of destruction that is absolutely devastating," he said. "It's a very difficult day for a very good community in southern Illinois." At least five people were killed in Harrisburg because of the storm, he said. According to the sheriff's office, some 100 people were injured and between 250 and 300 houses were damaged or destroyed. Some 25 businesses were also damaged or destroyed, the sheriff's office said. Crews were also examining some structural damage to the Harrisburg Medical Center, to judge whether any patients must be moved, Gregg said. "It's like nothing I've ever seen, and something I don't care to see again," he said. Earlier, two deaths were reported in Missouri as a result of the storms. A woman was killed overnight in Dallas County, Missouri, the coroner there said, without giving further details. An apparent tornado near Cassville, Missouri, left another person dead, the Barry County Sheriff's Office said. That person was thrown out of a mobile home, the sheriff's office said. Tornado in Kansas captured on video . The pounding rain and swirling, destructive winds raking several Plains states injured others in Kansas, as well. That state was socked Tuesday night and Gov. Sam Brownback declared a state of emergency for a small town hit badly by the severe weather. The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center issued tornado watches through noon for parts of Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Arkansas, Illinois and Missouri. Along with tornadoes, the center warned of the possibility of golf-ball-sized hail, winds up to 75 miles per hour and "dangerous lightning." The state of emergency was declared for the tiny Kansas town of Harveyville, about 20 miles southwest of Topeka. Emergency teams combed the community to assess damage. Authorities said they believe a tornado hit the town Tuesday night. Some homes and a church were damaged, and there were numerous reports of trees and power lines down throughout the area, according to the Kansas Adjutant General's Department. At least one person was critically injured and transported to a hospital in Topeka while four others were briefly trapped in a structure. "It is quite hectic," said Bill Beasley of the American Medical Response for Shawnee and Wabaunsee counties, who said nine ambulances were dispatched to the scene. The American Red Cross is assisting and officials have set up a shelter at a local high school. There were also reports of a tornado touchdown in Kansas' Reno County, near Hutchinson, and another in central Nebraska. The same powerful winter storm system spawned the severe weather in Dallas County, Missouri, and along the Missouri-Arkansas border. A path of destruction cut six to seven miles through Taney County, Missouri, damaging homes and businesses, according to Sheriff Jim Russell, who said there were "some injuries," but no reports of fatalities. The resort community of Branson is in the county. Russell said he had no specific information about damage in the town. CNN's Samuel Gardner, Scott Thompson and Alta Spells contributed to this report.
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NEW: A total of seven deaths have been reported . NEW: Five are killed in Illinois when a tornado strikes . NEW: The tornado was "absolutely devastating," mayor says .
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(CNN) -- Palestinian Authority leaders renewed calls for unity with their Hamas-led rivals after the latest Israel-Gaza conflict, but the fighting may have left Hamas with the upper hand. The West Bank-based Palestinian Authority announced Thursday that the leadership of Hamas and its allies in the Islamic Jihad movement had decided to support the Palestinian Authority's bid for recognition as an independent state at the United Nations. But that statement was quickly contradicted by leaders of both Gaza-based factions, which have long opposed the gambit that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas launched last year. The Palestinian Authority, led by Abbas' Fatah party, has accepted Israel's right to exist, engaged in peace talks with the Jewish state and plans to renew its quest for the U.N.'s recognition of a Palestinian state this month. But the results of the recent fighting leave Abbas facing a "cruel paradox," Middle East analyst Aaron David Miller told CNN. With conflict stopped, Israeli military touts successes . "It was Hamas' rockets, not Abbas' diplomacy, that has once again put the Palestinian issue on center stage," said Miller, a longtime U.S. State Department adviser and a scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center in Washington. Abbas may want to reach a negotiated settlement with Israel to end the decades-old conflict, but he's unlikely to do that "if he can't preside over a unified Palestinian national movement." Palestinian Authority spokeswoman Nour Odeh disputed any suggestion that the conflict has left Abbas with a diminished role. Abbas "was in direct contact" with the leaders of the rival factions during the Egyptian-brokered talks that led to Wednesday's cease-fire, she said, "and being consulted on the details of this agreement, which we have to remember affects 1.6 million Palestinians that the president is still responsible for." "The idea of competition right now is really not on the national agenda," Odeh said. Winners and losers in wake of conflict . Hamas, an Islamist movement, does not recognize Israel's right to exist and has been branded a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union and Israel. It won legislative elections in 2006 and wrested control of Gaza from Fatah in 2007, effectively ruling the territory on its own. "The Palestinian national movement looks like Noah's Ark right now. There are two of everything -- two constitutions, two presidents, two security services, two mini-states," Miller said. But after the most recent battle with Israel, "It is Hamas's stock that is rising," he said. Israel and the United States refuse to deal with Hamas. But Daniel Ayalon, Israel's deputy foreign minister, told CNN late Wednesday that Israel would be "very happy to talk to Hamas" as long as it renounces terrorism and recognizes Israel's right to exist. But Rashid Khalidi, a Columbia University professor of Middle Eastern history and a one-time adviser to the Palestine Liberation Organization, said Israel's continued expansion of settlements in the West Bank "has made the Palestinian Authority look weak, feeble, unable to advance the Palestinian cause." "Most Palestinians are sick to death of this split," Khalidi told CNN. "They understand that they are the weaker party, and that the split weakens them further." He said the Palestinians need to unite to negotiate with Israel, and both Israel and the United States need to drop the "fiction" that they won't negotiate with Hamas. "The world is dealing with Hamas," he said. "The secretary of state is going to go to Cairo, and she's going to talk to the Egyptians and they will talk to Hamas. Israel is dealing with Hamas. Israel negotiated a deal for the release of Gilad Shalit," the Israeli soldier held captive in Gaza for more than five years. Israel treated the PLO the same way until the 1990s, when then-Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin "was able to overcome that taboo," Khalidi said. "It's time to overcome that taboo." Arrest announced in Tel Aviv bus bombing .
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Hamas gains credibility after conflict with Israel, analysts say . Palestinian Authority calls for factions to unite behind U.N. statehood bid . Palestinian leadership looks like 'Noah's Ark ... there are two of everything," analyst says .
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Oslo, Norway (CNN) -- Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo will be represented Friday at the ceremony bestowing the honor by an empty chair, the second time such a symbol has been used in the event, the chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee said Thursday. Thorbjorn Jagland told reporters that the gesture is not a protest. "It is a signal to China that it would be very important for China's future to combine economic development with political reforms and it is support for those people in China who are struggling for basic human rights," Jagland said at a news conference. Liu, a professor of literature, is serving an 11-year sentence in a Chinese prison for what the government called "inciting subversion of state power." He was not allowed to travel to Norway to accept the prize, nor was his wife, Liu Xia. China has responded furiously since the Nobel committee announced its peace prize winner on October 8. Officials have repeatedly called Liu Xiaobo a common criminal and declared the award a Western plot against China. Beijing also put pressure on its allies and other countries not to attend the peace prize ceremony, and it hastily announced its own honor -- the Confucius Peace Prize, which was awarded Thursday to former Taiwanese Vice President Lien Chan. That award was accepted by a 6-year-old girl on Lien's behalf. Lien did not know about the prize, his office said. Jagland said the pressure from China was not a surprise, and that it was up to Beijing to decide on its own behavior. "There are several peace prizes in the world," he said. "If someone wants to compete with the Nobel Peace Prize, I welcome that competition, it only makes us better." The last time an empty chair was used to represent an absent winner was when German peace activist Carl von Ossietzky won the 1935 award, according to Geir Lundestad, director of the Nobel Institute. Ossietzky was under "protective custody" in Nazi Germany and could not come to accept the award in person, nor was he represented by anyone. Three other Nobel peace laureates were also unable to attend their ceremonies due to political reasons -- human rights activist Aung San Suu Kyi, Polish trade union leader Lech Walesa, and Russian Cold War dissident Andrei Sakharov -- but spouses or other relatives were able to accept the awards on their behalf. As for China's pressure on other countries to boycott the ceremonies, Jagland said the committee expected a "harsh reaction" from Beijing. But "we are very glad to see that two-thirds of the nations that have embassies in Oslo will be attending the ceremony, and most of them are very big, very important countries," he added. Lundestad said of the 19 countries that declined to come to the ceremony Friday -- including China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iraq and Iran -- two had now reconsidered: Ukraine and the Philippines. The ceremony will include songs by a children's choir -- a special request made by Liu through his wife, according to Lundestad. And Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann will read one of Liu's "most interesting and beautiful texts," Jagland said. He predicted that keeping Liu, 54, in prison for the entirety of his 11-year sentence may prove to be impossible for China once the prize is awarded. "The pressure from the outside world will be on China to release him. In today's world, it is totally impossible to close a country. We already know that a lot of Chinese know about the prize, and this is creating a huge pressure on China," Jagland said. "I believe this is one of the most influential Nobel Peace Prizes that have been awarded through the years." "The demand now from the world community must be that these economic reforms (by China) are being followed up by political reforms," he added. Several foreign news websites -- including CNN and BBC -- were blocked in mainland China Thursday. Broadcasts of CNN International are being blacked out intermittently, when news of the peace prize is reported, according to CNN Beijing Bureau Chief Jaime FlorCruz. "We are required to beam our signal through a Chinese satellite station before it is broadcast to mainland China. That creates a 12-second delay. Authorities use that time to black out specific parts of the signal," he explained. FlorCruz said most Chinese are likely not aware that Liu has been awarded the prestigious award. "Whatever they may have read about him has been through official talking points and state commentary," he said. Amnesty International said it had received report that Chinese diplomats in Norway have been pressuring Chinese residents into joining anti-Nobel demonstrations when the award ceremony is held Friday. The human rights group did not say how it learned of this, only offering that it has been "informed by reliable sources." Answering critics who claim that the award is based on the Western standards of human rights, Jagland said the criteria are from the universal rights and values described in the United Nations International Declaration of Human Rights. "All the dissidents in China, they are advocating over common universal rights," he said. "Yes, there are different parts to a democracy, but one thing is absolutely clear: You cannot have democracy without freedom of expression, and that is clearly stated in the declaration of human rights." CNN's Alanne Orjoux contributed to this report.
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The last time an empty chair was used was for the 1935 prize . Two countries that initially declined to attend now say they will . The Nobel Institute director says it's a signal to China for political reform . China created its own peace prize, which was awarded Thursday .
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(CNN) -- A fast-moving storm system struck parts of the Upper Midwest hard on Wednesday evening, delivering blows to Chicago and many other communities before moving quickly to inflict damage farther east. The Windy City itself experienced gusts that measured about 50 mph around 6 p.m. (7 p.m. ET), in addition to dime-size hail, the National Weather Service's Chicago branch said. Cities and towns near Chicago were affected as well. About 50 miles southwest, in Kendall County, residents were urged to hunker down after storm spotters "reported wall clouds" that suggest a possible tornado, according to weather service. In DeKalb County, some 60 miles west of Chicago, straight-line winds downed power lines, and some large trees appeared to be damaged, Chief Deputy Gary Dumdie of the country sheriff's department said. To the east in Lake County, Indiana, a severe thunderstorm warning advised residents to brace for 80 mph wind gusts and pingpong-ball-size hail. Some 35 miles south near Crete, Illinois, radar showed winds were blowing up to 80 mph. All this commotion was thanks to a swift and, at times, powerful storm system that moved across the Upper Midwest and into the Ohio Valley on Wednesday evening. One of the first indications that it would be tumultuous day came around 4:30 p.m., when a "confirmed tornado" touched down about 8 miles east of Belmond in Wright County, Iowa. Several businesses and one home in Belmond were destroyed, while three other homes suffered significant damage, said Iowa emergency management spokeswoman Stefanie Bond. Thankfully, there were no reports of fatalities or injuries. The storm's impact wasn't unexpected: The Storm Prediction Center had warned that Indiana, Ohio and much of Illinois, including the city of Chicago, faced a "high risk" -- the most perilous category -- of severe weather through Wednesday night. The portion of the United States under a moderate risk for severe weather extended farther and included the cities of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Columbus, Ohio. The threat of tornadoes was particularly high in southwest Wisconsin and northwest Illinois, thanks to severe thunderstorms capable of producing a twister. There was a possibility they could strike well beyond that, though, with the weather service issuing tornado watches through midnight Wednesday for much of Ohio, southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia. Russ Schneider, director of the Storm Prediction Center, explained that the type of severe weather that hit the Upper Midwest was a derecho. Derived from the Spanish word for "straight ahead," derechos are a weather phenomenon that traditionally happens only a few times a year. It is defined as a line of storms that produces a swath of damage more than 240 miles long with gusts of at least 58 mph. A derecho forms thanks in large part to warm, humid air, instability in the atmosphere and jet-stream winds, which can organize the storms into isolated storms called super cells. Those super cells rotate among themselves, then cluster into powerful wind systems that can become derechos, Schneider said. A line of such storms travels quickly, often at around 50 to 60 mph, which is much faster than most other types of storms. "(So) what looks like a very dark cloud on the horizon very rapidly becomes an imminent threat," explained Schneider. "(People should) make sure they know where they go to seek shelter, and what actions they need to take as warnings are issued." Calmer conditions should return to the Upper Midwest on Thursday: Chicago's forecast, for instance, calls for a breezy, mostly sunny day with temperatures reaching a high of around 65. By then, the greatest severe weather threat will have shifted east. The Storm Prediction Center is forecasting that severe weather will be possible Thursday in the mid-Atlantic, an area that includes that includes Richmond, Virginia; Washington; Baltimore, Maryland; Philadelphia and the southern half of New Jersey. A much bigger chunk of the eastern United States -- from Alabama and Georgia extending north up the Appalachian Mountains to New York City -- has a slight chance of severe weather, likely in the form of strong thunderstorms. CNN's Tom Watkins, Joe Sutton and Cristy Lenz contributed to this report.
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NEW: The mid-Atlantic will most likely have severe weather Thursday . NEW: Trees and power lines are downed west of Chicago . 50 mph wind gusts, dime-sized hail in Chicago; stronger winds seen elsewhere . Tornado watches extend as far east as Pennsylvania, West Virginia .
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(CNN) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Wednesday that those behind the deadly blast at Moscow's busiest airport were hoping, in part, to prevent him from attending the World Economic Forum. Speaking at the gathering of business and political leaders in Davos, Switzerland, Medvedev said, "Those who committed the heinous act by aiming their blow against the citizens of various countries expected that their act would bring Russia to its knees, would force us to be defensive. They expected and hoped that the president of Russia would not come here to attend to this forum, among other things, of course. This is the criteria used to choose the time and place for committing that act of terrorism. "But they miscalculated. Russia is aware of its place in the world, Russia is aware of its responsibilities to its citizens and will comply with them, and its responsibility to the world community. This is the reason why on this day I'm speaking from this rostrum." The bombing Monday killed 35 people. Earlier Wednesday, Medvedev fired top airport security officials. He accused transport police of "taking an absolutely passive position. At best, they are examining migrants, to check their registration and display their authority," in comments carried on Russian state TV. Among the people he dismissed was Andrei Alexeyev, the head of the Interior Ministry's transport administration for the Central Federal District, he announced in his televised remarks. "If people don't understand how to work, we'll find other people," Medvedev said, according the RIA-Novosti news agency. Moscow is observing a day of mourning for the victims Wednesday, with flags flying at half staff. The government asked television stations to cancel entertainment programs as a mark of respect, RIA-Novosti said. "We have to do all we can to influence, if not the ideology, then at least the social and economic roots of terrorism -- poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, parentlessness," Medvedev said in Davos. "And we have to be sure that global development is stable, safe, and just and fair." At the end of his speech, he announced that he was cutting short his previously planned stay in Davos to head back to Moscow. The blast occurred around 4:30 p.m. Monday at the entrance of Domodedovo Airport's international arrivals section. A day later, authorities were still trying to tally the exact number of people injured in the blast. RIA-Novosti said as many as 180 were hurt. The Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations said there were 110 wounded people still in hospitals. Medvedev blamed security violations. "What happened at Domodedovo shows the airport lacked security," he said Tuesday. "It's unbelievable that such a huge amount of explosives were brought into the terminal. Those officials responsible for security at Domodedovo must be punished for their decisions. This is a terror attack, a grief, a tragedy." It is not yet clear what impact a recent decision to shake up the Russian Transport Police, which is charged with protecting train stations and airports, may have had on the security perimeter at the airport Monday. In August, Medvedev fired at least 12 generals in the Transport Police branch of the Ministry of Interior, as part of a broader reform of the Russian security services. Domodedovo is 22 kilometers (14 miles) southeast of Moscow and is the largest of Moscow's three airports, as well as the busiest in terms of passenger traffic. It was still not immediately clear who was responsible for Monday's blast. Previous terror attacks in Russia have been blamed on militants from the North Caucasus region. Over the past decade, bombers have hit trains and planes operating in and traveling out of Moscow at least four times, with a combined death toll of more than 100 victims. In 2004, two planes blew up nearly simultaneously after taking off from Domodedovo airport. That attack was linked to Chechen suicide bombers. An explosive device derailed an express train in November 2009, killing at least 26 people. Chechen rebels were blamed again. Medvedev has called on his government to do "everything in order for the criminals who committed this crime to be established, found and brought to justice. And the nest where these bandits are hiding, whatever their name is, should be exterminated." CNN's Maxim Tkachenko and Ivan Watson contributed to this report .
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NEW: Medvedev says the Davos forum was considered in the attack's timing . The Russian president says transport police were "absolutely passive" Moscow is observing a day of mourning for the bomb victims . Thirty-five people died in the bombing of Moscow's busiest airport Monday .
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(REAL SIMPLE) -- The summers of my youth were filled with the kinds of activities that were common to every kid in the 80s but are considered almost death-defying these days: tree climbing, bike riding without a helmet, and daylong road trips spent in the backseat of the family car, where we bounced around like Super Balls, nary a seat belt in sight. Kate Simonson and her dad, Mike Fieseler, at her home in Iowa. Still, my mother was safety-obsessed about some things, like swimming lessons. Year after year, she forced me to take them at our local pool in Iowa City. Having to go against my will seemed all the more unfair to me, since my mother could not swim and was actually afraid of the water. But my mother reasoned that if water came between her children and their safety, she would be helpless. "I can't save you," she would calmly state in answer to my pleas to bow out of the lessons. "So I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure you can save yourself." Real Simple: Mother-daughter relationships . It's no wonder she embraced this philosophy of self-reliance. She knew how unexpectedly life can rob you of someone you care about. My parents adopted me as an infant and went on to have a biological child -- my brother, Jason -- a couple of years later. My dad was an electrician, and he died in an accident on the job when I was three. After his death, my mother had to raise us alone, and she was acutely aware that she was truly on her own, with no backup plan. She was fiercely strong and yet constantly fearful. I have almost no memories of my father. Instead I remember Mike Fieseler. He was a former industrial-arts teacher whom my mother dated off and on for much of my childhood. Jason and I weren't his biggest fans. He was a man of strict rules, while my mom's approach could be more properly deemed overindulgent leniency. iReport.com: Share your bonding with dad memories . We resented having to share the spotlight with him -- a sentiment that was particularly strong every Christmas morning, when we had to wait for him to arrive before we could open gifts. (There is little a man can do to endear himself to children less than delaying Christmas-morning gratification.) And when they stopped dating, when I was 15, I wasn't unhappy to see him go. Real Simple: Small, helpful gestures with big impact . Then, on February 18, 1991, when I was 17, my mother suddenly died of a brain aneurysm. One minute she was laughing with friends, enjoying an evening out; the next, she was unconscious on the floor. She never woke up. Just 19 hours later, she was dead, leaving my 15-year-old brother and me orphans. In the moments of shock and horror that followed, my relatives all gathered in the hospital, and I went home with only a close friend for company (Jason followed a while later). We spent that night on our own. I was numb; it had all happened so fast. I could barely think beyond the immediate moment. The next morning, my grandfather, aunts, and uncles were still immersed in their own mourning. Shell-shocked as I was, I knew I had to let people know what had happened. I saw my mother's address book lying where she had set it only days before and started dialing. One of the phone numbers I found was Mike's. Even though he lived about an hour away, it felt like he was there in an instant. As soon as he walked in, he took charge -- and took care of Jason and me. Among other small kindnesses, he gave me a credit card and said, "Why don't you buy something to wear to the funeral?" He gave me permission to be a 17-year-old -- to focus on the more mundane issue of what I was going to wear instead of weighty adult concerns. Real Simple: Father's Day gift ideas . Generally, when children are orphaned, a family member comes forward to take them in. This didn't happen in our case. Everyone had a good reason, I suppose. My mom's father was too old to assume responsibility for us; my mother's sister and her husband had three kids of their own and weren't able to take in any others; her other two siblings were both single and worked long hours. The guardian named in my mother's will was a babysitter that none of us had seen in 15 years. But I can tell you this: Abandonment, even for very good reasons, feels awful. It was heartbreaking and terrifying to have lost the person we loved most and then to be set adrift. Months passed and it felt like our relatives could offer no reassurances. The only news we got was that if Jason and I remained without a guardian, we would have to enter foster care. Our mother was gone, and there was nothing we could do to save ourselves. And, once again, there was Mike. After the funeral, he was a constant presence. He made sure that food filled the cupboards, the bills were paid, and the lawn was mowed. (Mike's adult daughter, Linda, pitched in and took care of his house.) He made sure I went back to school even when it was the last thing I wanted to do. His overbearing personality -- the trait I had hated the most -- is what comforted me the most and got me through those difficult days. Mike says that Linda came up with the idea to make his role with Jason and me official -- he could become our guardian. He was on board right away. Mike still says he never considered not doing it; caring for us was simply the right thing to do. One day he made us his offer. In a moment where the grief of loss and the pain of being unwanted threatened to capture my very breath, this man, whose only tie to us was having dated my mother, said he would be honored to take us in. From that moment on, everything was different. His girlfriend, Patty, threw us a "guardian party" when the paperwork became official. It was just a small gathering, but it made us feel special. I received a key chain with my initials, and I remember thinking that the idea behind it was so lovely. Over the years, Mike has become not merely a legal guardian but a real father to me. When I fell into depression in college, unable to get past thoughts of my mother and all I had lost, he was there to listen. When my husband, Eric, and I bought our first house, Mike spent weekends installing insulation and repairing our gutters. He never wrote me off as a good, mature kid who could handle everything herself. He walked the line between trusting me and recognizing when I might need help. And what more could you want from a father than that? His was an unconventional path to parenthood, to say the least. It is not by birth or adoption that I consider this man to be my father; it isn't even through his presence in my childhood. It is rather by sheer good luck on my part. Before he made that generous offer, I felt as though I had lost my mooring and the waters were flooding in; afterward, I simply felt rescued. If my mother had taught me to be strong and depend on myself, Mike imparted his own lesson -- that the world will provide for you, even when you least expect it. Eight years after Mike stepped forward, he walked me down the aisle. Four years after that, I gave birth to his first granddaughter, Emily Michl Simonson. (Mike's legal name is Michl.) The name is a reminder of my saved past and a promise for the future, and I hope one day Emily will see that as well. Because as much as I plan to teach her to swim (indeed, she's now six and enrolled in lessons), I also want her to know this: No matter how fast the waters rise, no matter how hard it may be to keep her head above the waves, someone will throw her a line. Get a FREE TRIAL issue of Real Simple - CLICK HERE! Copyright © 2009 Time Inc. All rights reserved.
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Kate Simonson wasn't so fond of Mike Fieseler when he was dating her mother . After her mom died, Mike came for the funeral and helped Kate and her brother . He eventually adopted the kids, helped Kate get through college . Kate considers Mike her father and he walked her down the aisle at her wedding .
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Washington (CNN) -- Like a couple renewing their vows, U.S. President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron once again reaffirmed the "special relationship" between the United States and the United Kingdom during a joint press conference at the White House on Tuesday. Calling it an "opportunity to renew the relationship with my partner, Prime Minister Cameron," Obama also claimed the U.S. has "no closer ally, no stronger partner." "We can never say it enough, the United States and the United Kingdom enjoy a truly special relationship," Obama said at that the start of the press conference calling the meeting a "brilliant start as partners who see eye-to-eye on virtually every challenge before us." Cameron, on his first visit to the White House, had similar sentiments, saying the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom is not just "an extraordinary special relationship. "To me, it is also an absolutely essential relationship if we are going to deliver the security and the prosperity that our people need." The two men appear serious about this commitment. In fact, Obama has used the term "special relationship" with only one other country, Israel. In addition to the formalities of the day, the president and first lady presented gifts to the prime minister and wife, Samantha, and their children. According to the White House, "President and Mrs. Obama gave the Prime Minister and Mrs. Cameron a framed and signed color lithograph by Edward Ruscha titled 'Column with Speed Lines.' The First Lady gave Mrs. Cameron a gift basket including a baby blanket. Gifts for the children are a silver charm necklace featuring 8 White House charms for [Cameron's daughter] Nancy and a custom D.C. United Soccer jersey for [Cameron's son] Elwen."
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Obama: "The United States and the United Kingdom enjoy a truly special relationship" Obama has used the term "special relationship" with only one other country, Israel . Cameron describes the U.S.-U.K. link similarly, calling it "an absolutely essential relationship"
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Havana, Cuba (CNN) -- Cubans are used to the mundane inconvenience of brief, localized power outages that regularly hit the country's aging electricity grid, but the large blackout that plunged the western part of the Caribbean island into darkness Sunday night was unusual. More than 2 million residents of the capital, Havana, lost electricity, except for those at hospitals and other places with generators, a government spokesman, who was not identified per government policy, said late Sunday. Residents elsewhere in the socialist-ruled nation, including in Ciego de Avila in central Cuba, also said they didn't have any power, except for a few pockets of light. By early Monday, power began to return to homes in Havana and elsewhere after several hours of outage. The website of the state-run newspaper Trabajadores reported an outage on a 220,000-volt transmission line between Ciego de Avila and Santa Clara that affected service from Pinar del Rio -- the area on the western tip of the long, slender island -- as far east as Camaguey. The brief report late Sunday said that the incident was under investigation and that workers were trying to restore power. The streets of Havana lost electricity around 8 p.m. Residents of the capital took the outage in stride, congregating on the stoops of buildings in search of cooler air on a warm, humid night. The dark streets were quiet early Monday, save for the hum of loud generators every few blocks. Massive outages on this scale are rare in Cuba, unless a big storm passes over the island. Weather reports for Havana indicated partly cloudy conditions on Sunday night with temperatures in the high 70s. Temperatures were forecast to hover around 90 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday.
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NEW: Power begins to return to Havana and other areas early Monday . State media report an outage on a transmission line . The outage affects a region from the western tip of the island to near the center . Havana residents gather outside, seeking cooler air on a humid night .
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Pascagoula, Mississippi (CNN) -- A lack of screening of oil spill cleanup workers meant a sex offender got a job, and left him free to rape a colleague according to a Mississippi county sheriff. A CNN investigation into the incident reveals that basic background checks were not done on those hired to remove oil from the beaches in and around Pascagoula. Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd told CNN he was shocked when he met with the head of BP security for the area several weeks before the alleged rape took place. He said the BP representative told him that only drug screenings, not background checks, were being conducted on the cleanup workers. "I said, 'You're kidding me.' He said, 'No.' He said, 'There's so many of them, we were told to do drug screens and that was it.' And I said, 'Well, that's not good at all.' " Byrd said he told the BP official that "you're going to have every type of person coming in here looking for a job, and you're going to have the criminal element in here, and we're not going to know who we're dealing with if we don't do background checks on these people." "It's sad because you got a victim now by a sex offender, and he's in our jail. Had we have known this, he would have been arrested before the crime could have been committed," said Byrd, who also said that if asked, his department would have done the background checks for free. Rundy Charles Robertson, 41, who faces charges of sexual battery and failure to register as a sex offender, is in the Jackson County, Mississippi, jail with bail set at $505,000. He told police that he had consensual sex with the woman. He has not yet entered a plea. Robertson has a criminal history dating back to 1991, according to police records. He was put on the national sex offender registry for a 1996 conviction for contributing to the delinquency of a minor in Louisiana. He is also on probation after being convicted in 2003 in Georgia for cruelty to children. Read Boudreau's blog post on background checks for spill workers . Robertson had been supervising a crew of cleanup workers, including the alleged victim. She told CNN he offered to take her home one day in June because she was not feeling well. However, she said, when he dropped her off, he asked to use the bathroom in her motel room. When he came out, she said, he raped her. The woman told CNN she is scared and angry that this happened. "If they would have ran the background checks, they wouldn't have a man like that working," she said. "Emotionally, it's really, really messed me up. I get real upset at times, I go through anxiety. I feel angry, I feel dirty. I don't understand what gave him the right to take something -- or felt he could do what he wanted. ... I'm scared. I'm real scared." She said she was laid off and is now unemployed. "I find it unbelievable because BP and their subcontractors had relationships with all local law enforcement," said Adam Miller, the woman's attorney. "They had the opportunity and the ability to clearly check all of these people that they were hiring and bringing in to ensure the safety of the public." He said since the incident happened in June, it's been "a living hell for her." "She gave up her housing where she was living to come here," Miller said. "Now she's been raped, she doesn't have a job, and everybody walked away." BP hired a company called Miller Environmental Group for the beach cleanup project. Miller hired Aerotek to find workers. In a statement to CNN, BP spokesman Robert Wine said, "BP does conduct full checks on its employees, and under normal business conditions can make it a part of the contract for full backgrounds to be conducted by our long-term contractors. This was not done for all contractors in this response; the responsibility lies with the employing company for their own staff. The requirement on sub-contractors to BP's contractors is one further step beyond BP's scope of control." Jeff Reichert, the general counsel for Aerotek, the company that hired Robertson, said his company was only following the contract it had with Miller Environmental Group, which did not require background checks. "We are a staffing company. Our policy is at the client's request," Reichert said. He said only drug screenings and physicals were done. "We are not liable for anything that happens," he said. "Once we deliver the people to be supervised by our client, we don't have anything to do with them anymore." He said, "I don't know what Miller [Environmental Group's] obligation to BP is. It's BP's project. We are providing them the people they asked for per the contract." In a statement sent to CNN on Thursday afternoon, Aerotek said that about 23 days after the incident, Miller "informed Aerotek that it wanted criminal background checks conducted on current and future temporary employees assigned to the oil spill clean-up effort." However, a tropical storm hit the area, and "all Aerotek temporary workers assigned to the clean-up efforts at this site were terminated." "Aerotek's thoughts and support continue to go out to the alleged victim and her family," the statement said. CNN contacted Miller Environmental Group but did not get an immediate response. Leonard Nelson, who was Robertson's manager at Aerotek, said, "There were quite a few, quite a few drug dealers from what I saw, people from all walks of life. There was no way that there was any kind of comprehensive background checks done. There's no way. You had guys walking in who actually had collars on, you know, the bands for house arrests. ... I don't know about you, but that strikes me as people you don't want working here." Several other police departments on the Gulf Coast contacted by CNN said they conducted background checks. Euris Dubois, chief of police in Grand Isle, Louisiana, said he contacted BP and contractors about background checks. "My residents in Grand Isle were concerned about these people," Dubois said. "Everybody was kind of scared. So we started running background checks." He said about one-fourth of the workers had a criminal history, but most of the crimes were misdemeanors. He said there were three registered sex offenders who were closely supervised by his officers. In LaFourche Parish, Louisiana, the sheriff's office screened about 1,500 workers and found 20 sex offenders and others with active arrest warrants, Sgt. Lesley Hill said. "Many workers who heard of the screenings did not show up for work," she said. Watch Anderson Cooper 360° weeknights 10pm ET. For the latest from AC360° click here.
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Oil spill worker charged with raping a co-worker never had a criminal background check . BP says responsibility for the background checks is with contractor it hired . Suspect is jailed in Mississippi, charged with sexual battery, not registering as sex offender .
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(CNN) -- I've always found amusement parks very unamusing, for it's hard to justify standing in a hot, 40-minute roller-coaster line so I can promptly lose my car keys and barf up a churro. That's what whiskey is for. But lots of people dig this kind of entertainment. And it seems all the theme parks around the world try to out-amuse each other with technologically advanced new rides promising wild and exciting fun. "Hey kids! Come try The Agonizer! It will literally give you second-degree steam burns to the face!" You see, when it comes to roller coasters these days, they have to be super-über extreme to stand out. And, right now, thrill seekers on the Web are all talking about Full Throttle at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Southern California. The ride opened last weekend to rave reviews, and it's being touted as the "world's tallest and fastest looping coaster." Which sounds pretty amazing, save for the part about it being tall and fast and looping. My ideal roller coaster is a hammock. Nevertheless, this thing goes up to 70 mph, reaches a height of 160 feet and uses something called a linear synchronous-motor magnetic launch system. I don't know what that means, but I'm fairly certain it causes diarrhea. "Did anybody else just ...?" "Yes. Get the kids. We're going home." Full Throttle also prides itself on having the world's first ever "top hat" loop, allowing riders to fly across the outer rail of the circle as well as the inside. Everything I've read suggests that this is actually a rather big deal when it comes to roller-coaster engineering. Though, to be fair, I'm still trying to figure out button-fly jeans. So, in my book, pretty much anything more sophisticated than a ballpoint pen counts as an major scientific accomplishment. Hell, my ceiling fan is certifiably magic. Anyway, never mind all the wild technology. Just know that Full Throttle is really big and really fast, and if the train ever flies off the rails, there's a pretty good chance you'll end up somewhere near Pittsburgh. "Ha-ha. Now that's what I call being thrown for a loop!" "Shut up, Dave." And if the overall speed and height weren't wild enough, Full Throttle also minimizes the protective harnessing that prevents you from dropping painfully to your death. Which, to some, might be slightly concerning. Here, there's nothing covering your chest -- just a simple lap bar to keep you and your bladder snugly in position. But it's said to be very advanced, and the limited upper-body protection totally enhances the fear factor when, at one point during the ride, you apparently almost slow to a stop along a curve. It's a terrifying pause that lasts just long enough to make a deathbed confession to the stranger sitting next to you. "Hi. I'm Jim. I like Nickelback." These are the dirty secrets we share when roller-coaster technology rises to the next level. Tim Burkhart, director of maintenance, construction and engineering for Six Flags Magic Mountain, was the project lead for creating Full Throttle, and told Theme Park Insider that, "Anyone can take a track and flip it. I've done it a million times -- it's easy to do. But to build an actual loop, with all the supporting structure, and the dynamics you have to do to be at 160 feet, that is a much (more) difficult thing." If this all sounds completely amazing, it is. Roller-coaster engineering continues to test the limits of your lunch, and Six Flags Magic Mountain has quite literally raised the bar. So, if you're an adrenaline junkie and you make it out to California, make sure you head over to Six Flags to give this thing a shot. Do it for me. Because I'll be in my hammock, confidently eating a churro.
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Full Throttle coaster goes 70 mph and up to 160 feet in the air . The coaster opened at Six Flags Magic Mountain in California on June 22 . Full Throttle prides itself on having the world's first ever "top hat" loop .
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Editor's note: For 85 years, Yankee Stadium has hosted some of the greatest moments in sports. On Sunday, the Yankees will play their last game before the stadium is torn down. Former Yankee pitcher Jim Bouton played on the 1963 American League All-Star team and in two World Series. He wrote the classic baseball book, "Ball Four," named as one of the "Books of the Century" by the New York Public Library, and has been a sportscaster and actor. For Bouton's web site, click here . Jim Bouton was photographed as a rookie in 1962 at Yankee Stadium, before the renovation of the ballpark. EGREMONT, Massachusetts (CNN) -- I'll never forget my first day in The House that Ruth Built: April 9, 1962, the day before opening day. I made the team that spring as a non-roster player, having pitched in the Texas League (AA) the year before. And I had just turned 23. The Yankees had scheduled an afternoon workout, but I was so excited that I couldn't sleep and I drove in from my parents' house in New Jersey at 7 in the morning. After introducing myself to a skeptical guard, he led me down two flights of stairs and through a hallway, where I was greeted by the clubhouse man Pete Sheehy (who died in 1985 and for whom the room is now named). The Yankee clubhouse in 1962 was like a large subterranean living room. A wall-to-wall grayish green carpet muffled all sound, and the overhead lighting was subdued. Three walls of walk-in wood lockers faced a wall of large frosted windows that cast shafts of light from the street above. Everything was painted a muted gray green to match the carpet, including the exposed ductwork in the ceiling above. A cleat-dented wooden stool sat in front of each locker. And hanging in the lockers, with military precision, were the classic Yankee uniforms. "Your locker is right here by the door," said Pete. I couldn't help smiling when I saw Whitey Ford's nameplate just one locker away. I asked Pete if this was the same room that Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig and all those guys used. He pointed to a locker across the room where he used to bring "a bi-carb and coffee" each day to the Babe. Pete returned to his duties and I touched my uniform reverently. With no one around, I decided to try it on. Perfect fit. I adjusted my hat in a mirror. That looked good, too. iReport.com: Share your memories of Yankee Stadium . Then I grabbed my glove and went out to the field -- you know, just to get oriented. After sitting in the dugout a few minutes, I trotted out to the mound. Looking up at the three tiers of stands was like being in the Roman Coliseum. Of course, I had to toe the rubber and look in for the sign. Fortunately, at that hour of the morning, it was just me and the pigeons. What would it be like to pitch there when the stands were filled with people? My big chance came on May 7, 1962, in the second game of a double-header against the Washington Senators, in front of a real crowd that included my Mom and Dad, my brothers and a whole bunch of neighbors from New Jersey. I was thrilled and scared at the same time -- maybe a little more on the scared side. I walked the bases loaded with nobody out. Then I fell behind 3 and 1 on the fourth hitter. My next pitch was a little bit high and manager Ralph Houk stepped out of the dugout - either to calm me down or remove me from the premises. But the umpire, bless him, called it a strike and Houk stepped back into the dugout. The inning seemed to last forever, but I finally got out of it and ended up pitching a complete game shutout. Maybe the worst shutout in history - 7 walks and 7 hits. After the game Houk said to me, "any more shutouts like that and we're going to need a new bullpen." The best part was when I walked into the clubhouse after the game. I arrived a few minutes late because I'd done a TV interview in the dugout. And when I opened the door, there was a path of white towels leading to my locker -- and Mickey Mantle was laying down the last towel. This is my favorite memory of Yankee Stadium. Unless it was Mantle's 9th inning walk-off home run in '64 World Series that beat the Cardinals 2-1, which also happened to be my first World Series win. After that it was all down hill. In 1968 a sore arm got me traded to the Seattle Pilots for a bag of batting practice balls. That's the year I kept a diary that became Ball Four -- a book that also mentioned Mantle hitting a home run with a hangover -- which got me banned from Old Timers Day at Yankee Stadium for 28 years. My eventual return to Yankee Stadium came after my son Michael wrote a letter to the New York Times, saying the Yankees should let bygones be bygones and invite me back. It was such a beautiful letter the Yankees were embarrassed into inviting me. After 28 years, Yankee Stadium was a different place -- a strange and garish place. A makeover in 1973-75, under the new owner George Steinbrenner, added cantilevered stands that destroyed the elegant upper façade, and exterior elevators which spoiled the view of the of the lower facade. Inside, the grayish green carpet was now bright blue and featured a giant Yankee logo. The honest ceiling with its exposed pipes was now a dropped ceiling with stark white tiles. Everything was painted blue and white -- the Yankee colors, get it? Now, instead of restoring the stadium, they're going to tear it down. Raze the clubhouse where Pete Sheehy made coffee for Ruth. Destroy the dugout where Stengel slept. Bulldoze the field where Mantle roamed and level the mound where Larsen pitched the only perfect World Series game. And they're going to build an underground parking garage on the site! This will no doubt be "The Garage that Ruth Built" -- which could produce a reverse "Curse of the Bambino." If you check the current standings, you'll see this may already be happening. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer.
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Former Yankee Jim Bouton recalls his debut at Yankee Stadium in the 1960s . Bouton played alongside stars Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford . Bouton: Now the legendary sports venue is going to be torn down .
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New Haven, Connecticut (CNN) -- A judge in New Haven sentenced a 31-year-old man to death Friday for his role in a deadly home invasion that killed a woman and her two daughters in 2007. Jurors convicted Joshua Komisarjevsky in October on six capital felony charges. The 12-member jury had recommended death by lethal injection on each of the counts. "The task of sentencing another human being to death is the most sober and somber experience a judge can have," said Superior Court Judge Jon Blue. Komisarjevsky responded Friday, saying that he "came into this trial angry and defiant." It's a "surreal experience to be condemned to die," he said. "Our apathetic pursuits trampled the innocent." He said, "I did not rape. I did not pour that gas or light that fire." "I will never find peace again and my soul is torn," Komisarjevsky added. The family of his victims left the courtroom before Komisarjevsky spoke. Richard Hawke, in a victim's statement prior to the sentencing, said the killings of his daughter and granddaughters had left him "half-past dead." "They offered to give you everything you asked for, you didn't have to take their lives," he told Komisarjevsky. "You will from now on be known as a prison number in the book of death. You are now in God's hands." The man convicted of being Komisarjevsky's accomplice, Steven Hayes, was sentenced to death in 2010. Juries convicted the pair on charges that they beat and tied up Dr. William Petit Jr., raped and strangled his wife, molested one of their daughters and set the house on fire before trying to flee. Petit is the sole survivor of the attack that killed his wife and two daughters. "I lost my family and my home," said Petit. "My wife, my friend, my partner. I miss our late night chats and our partnership in raising the girls." Before assaulting and killing Jennifer Hawke-Petit, Hayes forced her to go to a bank and withdraw $15,000 from an account after finding evidence that the account held between $20,000 and $30,000, authorities said. The two daughters, who were both tied to their beds, died of smoke inhalation, while William Petit managed to escape from the basement, where he had been held. Hayes had been charged with third-degree burglary in 2003 and sentenced to five years in prison. He was released three years later to a halfway house, where he met Komisarjevsky. Komisarjevsky's attorneys had asked for leniency, arguing that he had no prior history of violence, was abused as a child and had been committed to a mental hospital for depression.
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A judge sentences Joshua Komisarjevsky to death . The 12-member jury voted for death by lethal injection on each of the six counts . Another man also has been sentenced to death in the case . A jury convicted Komisarjevsky in October on six felony charges .
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(CNN) -- Strange things happened in a small courtroom in the Russian city of Kirov last week. Moscow mayoral candidate, and my colleague in the Russian opposition, Alexei Navalny, was convicted July 18 on concocted embezzlement charges in the type of political show trial that Josef Stalin favored long before his spiritual successor President Vladimir Putin embraced them. Then, the very next morning, the same prosecutor asked for Navalny's release pending his appeal. It was a move so unexpected that an incredulous Navalny asked the court to make sure the prosecutor had not been swapped for an identical twin overnight. That something surprising happened in a Russian courtroom is itself surprising. As with our so-called elections, important trial outcomes are decided well in advance and with little need for evidence. (When the Kirov judge went to his chambers to deliberate over Navalny's release, one wit tweeted "the Skype connection to Moscow must be particularly slow today.") The judicial process and the democratic process in Russia are both elaborate mockeries created to distract the citizenry at home and to help Western leaders avoid confronting the awkward fact that Russia has returned to a police state while they stood by or, in many cases, while they eagerly did business with the repressive Putin regime. That this strange occurrence happened to the most prominent member of the anti-Putin opposition movement is therefore shocking and meaningful. In Putin's Russia, political dissidents simply do not get out of jail. Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once Russia's wealthiest man, has been imprisoned since his October 2003 arrest for the "crime" of disloyalty to Putin. Everyone knows his jail term is exactly as long as Putin's stay in power, no shorter and no longer. It is no coincidence that Navalny's sentence will leave him in prison safely beyond the 2018 presidential elections. The motivations for Navalny's brief respite are unclear, and will likely always remain so, but it likely reflects factional infighting inside the Kremlin. Putin's main allies, the security and intelligence forces known as the siloviki, advocate ever-greater repression. They want to jail every opposition leader and activist and prevent any legitimate expression of democracy. Former Putin classmate Alexander Bastrykin is the leader and symbol of the siloviki camp. As former top prosecutor and current chief of the powerful Investigative Committee, Bastrykin is the administration's main weapon against political and social resistance. Apparently Bastrykin is not all powerful, however, and Navalny's hurried release counts as a defeat for his authority. But it is not clear for whom it was a victory. Navalny is running for mayor in Moscow in what was expected at the start to be another electoral charade. But incumbent mayor Sergey Sobyanin -- worried about a repeat of the 2011 protests against the blatantly fraudulent parliamentary elections which brought hundreds of thousands onto the streets, actually helped Navalny get on the ballot. It is likely Sobyanin and those in the Kremlin sympathetic to his position on social unrest were behind Navalny's release. Sobyanin craves the legitimacy of retaining his prestigious position as the mayor of Moscow in a relatively fair contest against Navalny. He believes this would position him as a leading contender to succeed Putin when the dictator inevitably falls. Sobyanin is hardly a democrat, but his selfish interests may work to bring democracy back to Russia. Conjecture aside, Navalny's quick release was either incompetence or high-level internal sabotage -- and neither possibility is good news for Putin. The siloviki live in a pseudo-Soviet bubble, working to keep the lid of repression down as tightly as possible for as long as possible. But others, including Sobyanin, look ahead and realize that taking this path will make the eventual explosion of opposition even stronger. Some of them are ambitious enough to chafe at Putin's obvious intent to hold power for life. They are far from liberal reformers, of course, and are seeking to advance their own interests. But at the moment those interests are leading them to undermine Putin's iron grip on every lever of power. This matters, because the policeman on the Moscow street gets his strength from the knowledge that his superiors will support him unconditionally. He can crack open a protester's skull knowing his captain will defend his action. The captain knows the colonel will defend him because the general will protect him, the judges will protect them, and so on all the way up to the plushest chair in Putin's office. This unbroken chain is critical and a public weakening of the links at the top means Red Square moves a bit closer to Tahrir Square. The protests that erupted after Navalny's conviction were the largest unsanctioned rallies since 2011 and the police let them happen nearly without incident. (The prosecution's request to release Navalny was made immediately after the verdict was read.) There is doubt in the ranks because they sense doubt at the top. If Navalny is set free, wonders the police captain, should he give the order to beat those protesters demonstrating in his name? This may be only a brief moment of hesitation, but it is real. Cracks are appearing in the façade elsewhere as well. Mikhail Prokhorov, the oligarch who pretended to be an opposition candidate in last year's presidential election without saying a word against Putin, is now openly supporting Yaroslavl mayor Yevgeny Urlashov after he was arrested on bribery charges. (Kremlin partners do not suffer such indignities.) Another Prokhorov ally, Yevgeny Roizman, is running for the mayoralty of Russia's third-largest city, Yekaterinburg. The most popular slogans during last week's spontaneous rallies were "Svoboda!" ("Freedom!") and "Putin vor!" ("Putin's a thief!") The situation looks increasingly unbalanced. A new wave of mass protests could force the Putin regime to find out how loyal its security forces really are. Navalny is still convicted and he may be allowed to run for mayor only to attempt to discredit him before jailing him. If he gains too much support he can be locked up at any time, or worse, as he well knows, although this would create just the sort of scandal Sobyanin would like to avoid in his quest to appear to be a legitimately elected official. But the election might not be as easy as they think. In last year's presidential election Putin received 47% of the vote in Moscow -- and those are the official numbers, not real ones -- despite epic fraud and despite facing no real opposition. Can Sobyanin then be expected to surpass the 50% needed to avoid a second ballot without resorting to the same tactics that spawned outrage in 2011? Navalny is a real fighter and he has thousands of enthusiastic volunteers to campaign for him and to closely observe the election process on September 8. There are only bad choices for the Kremlin at this point. Their fear of Navalny and the movement he represents is provoking conflict and confusion. In the movie "Groundhog Day", Bill Murray's character wakes up in Andie MacDowell's arms after an eternity of repeating the same day over and over. "Something is... different," he says. "Good or bad?" she asks. "Anything different is good," he answers. Something different happened in Kirov last week and my optimism tells me it was a positive sign. After more than 13 years of predictable repression under Putin, anything different is good. We should not let avid speculation distract us from the cruel reality of Navalny's situation -- and of Putin's Russia. The lives of opposition members and journalists are worth very little. A man will spend five years in a labor camp for nothing more than speaking openly his opposition to Vladimir Putin. Navalny's former colleague, Pyotr Ofitserov, refused to testify against him and got a four-year sentence. He has five young children. And for every case you hear about, there are dozens of others forming this new generation of political prisoners under Putin. The big picture is important, but we lose our humanity if we lose sight of the real people whose stories make up that picture. Success for Navalny's campaign in Moscow, any demonstration that he has substantial popular support, would change the atmosphere of the country and give these prisoners hope. And it would give us all hope that real change is on the way.
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Important trial outcomes are decided well in advance and with little need for evidence, writes Garry Kasparov . The motivations for Navalny's brief respite are unclear but it likely reflects factional infighting inside the Kremlin, he says . Kasparov believes success for Navalny's campaign would change the atmosphere of the country .
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(CNN) -- Joseph Maraachli, the infant who became the center of an international end-of-life debate, died peacefully in his sleep at his Windsor, Ontario, home, a spokesperson for the family said Wednesday. Widely known in the media as "Baby Joseph," the 20-month-old boy spent the last several months with his family and died Tuesday afternoon. "Obviously, it's been a very difficult day for the family today," said spokeswoman Emma Fedor. "In some ways, it was a bit of a relief for the family." Joseph's family had refused to accept a recommendation by a Canadian hospital to remove the boy's breathing tube and allow him to die. In March, the infant received a tracheotomy at a children's hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. He was able to go home April 21. "By providing him with this common palliative procedure, we've given Joseph the chance to go home and be with his family after spending so much of his young life in the hospital," said Dr. Robert Wilmott, chief of pediatrics for SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center in St. Louis. A London, Ontario, hospital where Joseph was receiving care for a progressive neurological disease refused to perform a tracheotomy, a surgical procedure in which an opening is made into the airway through an incision in the neck to allow for suction of fluid out of the lungs. In court papers, doctors in Canada said there was no hope for recovery. They would not perform a tracheotomy because they considered it to be invasive and not recommended for patients who require a long-term breathing machine. Parents Moe and Sana Maraachli refused to accept the recommendation. The Maraachlis' daughter, Zeina, had died at home in 2002 after a tracheotomy after suffering similar complications, and the family wanted to offer the same care to their son. "To go through it once is enough for a lifetime, to go through it twice, it's just ... unbelievable," Fedor said. Joseph was "very peaceful, in no pain whatsoever, no distress," when he died, Fedor said. He was buried Wednesday next to his sister. The family was thankful for those who helped and prayed for Joseph, she added. "The heart of the issue would come down to the mix between respecting the parents' rights ... to be in comfort of (their) own home, to die on God's time," said Fedor. The family countered assertions that Joseph was nonresponsive, blind and deaf, she said. Instead, the boy could hear the parents' voices and look for them, Fedor told CNN. The family believed that, after a tracheotomy, Joseph could be freed from machinery. The parents said that they, rather than physicians, should make a judgment on quality of life, Fedor said. The Maraachli case caught the attention of the group Priests for Life, which funded Joseph's transfer and treatment at the SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center. That hospital deemed the procedure medically appropriate and Baby Joseph underwent a tracheotomy there on March 21. In April, Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, said he considered this a "victory over the culture of death." He says "(Joseph) has gained benefit from his tracheotomy, is breathing on his own, and is going home to live with his parents." Priests for Life is a Catholic pro-life organization that functions as a network to prevent abortion and euthanasia. The group often is noted for the graphic images depicting abortion its members and supporters use to make their case. The London Health Sciences Centre -- the hospital where Joseph was initially treated -- in March said that "there are clearly differences in the approach of these centres to the management of end-of-life care in this tragic situation" and that "the medical judgments made by LHSC physicians remain unchallenged by any credible medical source." Nurses helped the family provide 24-hour care for Joseph in his final months. "There was always somebody by his side," Fedor said. The child was on almost no medication and apparently was in no pain, Fedor said. "When he was in the arms of his parents, you could tell," she said. "He was settled when he was in their arms."
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Joseph Maraachli suffered from a progressive neurological disease . A hospital in London, Ontario, refused to insert a tracheotomy tube . The infant received a tracheotomy at a hospital in St. Louis . "Baby Joseph" died Tuesday in his sleep .
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- A British adventurer has overcome sea sickness to complete his around the world trip relying only on the goodwill of people using social networking site Twitter. Paul Smith poses in New York in a picture posted on his Flickr page. Paul Smith aimed to travel to Campbell Island in New Zealand, the opposite side of the planet to his home in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in 30 days. In the end he fell just short -- reaching Stewart Island at the foot of New Zealand's South Island. There was not another boat to the more southerly Campbell Island -- a UNESCO World Heritage site -- until November. During his trip Smith visited the Netherlands, France, Germany and the U.S. -- where he was given a free flight to New Zealand -- and had his photo taken with Hollywood actress Liv Tyler. He also raised more than $7,000 for a water charity. More on his journey . His self-imposed golden rule was that he could only accept offers of travel and accommodation from people who use Twitter, a micro-blogging service that allows people to "tweet" what they're up to (or what they're thinking about) in 140 characters or less. Smith was also banned from making any travel plans more than three days in advance and has to leave each location within 48 hours of arriving. In his latest updates, he reveals a battle with sea sickness on the crossing to Stewart Island. "Oh god, I'm rocking back and forth. Still got motion sickness. Curse you, Stewart Island! "Yesterday's ferry crossing was calm according to local, but it managed to turn me inside out." Smith, who was flying out of New Zealand Tuesday, has more than 11,00 people following his progress on his Twitter page on which he has posted 1,300 updates this month. Comment on Paul Smith's journey .
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British man travels around the world using only contacts made on Twitter . Paul Smith traveled to New Zealand from Newcastle-upon-Tyne . He managed to get his photo taken with actress Liv Tyler on the way .
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(CNN) -- Government officials and health experts from around the world are meeting this week in South Korea to discuss a series of proposals that could put restrictions on tobacco growing. The fifth session of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) is taking place in Seoul, where representatives from over 170 international parties will focus on reducing the demand for tobacco. High up the agenda are pricing and tax measures, proposals on limiting tobacco-growing areas, as well policies on economically viable alternatives to the crop. Delegates kick-started the proceedings Monday by adopting a new treaty setting the rules for fighting illegal trade in tobacco products. The procedures are being watched closely by the tobacco farming industry across the world. In the southeastern African country of Malawi, where tobacco is the top exports earner, many farmers are worried that some of the restrictions could be devastating for them and their communities. "To stop growing tobacco would be like killing me and my whole family," said Steve Msambira, a Malawian farmer who has been growing tobacco for over four decades. "I have been raised through this business -- I went to school, even my children, my brothers and sisters went to school because of growing tobacco," he added. Read: Oil search fuels tension over Lake Malawi . WHO says that the FCTC proposals are designed to help governments around the world deal with an expected decline in demand for tobacco. Some welcome the move. "The point of the WHO convention is to say 'how do we help farmers?'" said Yussuf Saloojee, from the National Council Against Smoking in South Africa. "This provision is forward looking. It's saying, as fewer and fewer people smoke the demand for tobacco leaf will reduce and we will need to then provide farmers with an alternative way of earning a livelihood. "The treaty does not wish to harm farmers -- in fact the treaty wants agriculture in Africa to prosper." Watch: Creative solutions for Africa's farmers . But the International Tobacco Growers' Association (ITGA), which represents an estimated 30 million tobacco growers, sees the move by the WHO as a part of a wider anti-smoking campaign aimed at cutting tobacco production. "Tobacco is an easy scapegoat," said Francois van der Merwe, Africa Chair of the ITGA. "It's an industry where they can go in and regulate and tax and try to show the world that they are doing good and we do not accept that. "We will keep on doing what we believe is right to do. It's a legal product with harmful effects so governments should rather focus their attention on educating people rather than going and trying and demonize the industry, drive extreme regulation, drive extreme taxation and now even right down to the most vulnerable in value chain, which are the farmers, the soft underbelly of the sector." In Africa, it is estimated that there are more than one million tobacco farmers. Last May, farmers from across the continent declared their opposition to the plans, saying that they could hurt local economies and threaten jobs in many countries. In Malawi, seven out of 10 workers are either directly or indirectly employed by the sector and tobacco represents 70% of the landlocked country's foreign exchange earnings and 15% of its total GDP, according to the ITGA. This reliance on one export makes Malawi vulnerable, particularly when production levels decline. Last year, the country's export revenues fell as tobacco earnings declined 5.5% to $410 million as a result of lower prices and a poor quality crop, according to data from African Economic Outlook. The government is trying to reduce its dependence on tobacco by encouraging farming diversification into other crops and bolstering the tourism industry. "My government is already on the program of diversifying away from tobacco," said Malawi's agriculture minister Peter Mwanza. "But this is not something you can do overnight." Malawi's head of state: 'Why I'm selling presidential jet' Commenting on the tobacco controls discussed at the Seoul convention, Mwanza said: "Our view is the FCTC protocol, particularly Articles 17 and 18 ['Provision of support for economically viable alternative activities' and 'Protection of the environment and the health of persons' respectively], are rather unfair to Malawi and other tobacco-growing countries. He added: "The best they could have done was to consult the farmers and also put up measures that would help for them to diversify away from tobacco. "We are not opposed to people being protected from tobacco but if people are going to be hungry then they will die even faster than smoking because people would starve and they would have no income." But for the anti-smoking lobby, growing tobacco only compounds the economic and social ills of countries like Malawi. "Malawi has been growing tobacco for over 100 years and yet it is one of the poorest countries in the world," said Saloojee. "Tobacco farming in Africa and in particular in Malawi is in crisis. It perpetuates poverty, it harms the environment, harms workers and is based on unfair labor practices -- child labor is rife on the tobacco farms in Malawi." Read: Bin Laden bread a hit for Malawi bakers . The industry acknowledges child labor is used in the tobacco sector but says it is a problem being addressed. Bruce Munthali, chief exeutive of the Tobacco Control Commission of Malawi, said the practice is not only confined to tobacco growing. "Child labor occurs in other commodities, mining, other commodities you can think of," he said. "As an industry we have taken some corrective measures to address some of the concerns relating to child labor." Msambira, who employs about 50 people, said he never uses children in his fields but relies on workers from nearby villages and Zimbabwe. He said he knows that tobacco offers him and his country an uncertain future, but for now he sees no alternative and doesn't believe the WHO is offering one. "This is a good business," he said. "No tobacco, no life in Malawi."
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WHO proposals to restrict tobacco farming threaten the industry, say farmers . It is estimated that there are more than one million tobacco farmers in Africa . In Malawi, tobacco is the top exports earner . Government officials from around the world meeting this week to discuss tobacco restrictions .
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- A royal chauffeur was suspended Sunday after he allegedly allowed undercover reporters from a British tabloid to enter Buckingham Palace in exchange for cash. Buckingham Palace has been the subject of high-profile security breaches before. Mazher Mahmood, of the London-based News of the World, claimed he was allowed to enter the London residence of Queen Elizabeth II without security checks after paying a man identified as a Buckingham chauffeur £1,000 ($1,591). Footage of the incident filmed undercover showed the chauffeur giving Mahmood, whose face was blurred, a tour of the royal garage and, at one point, allowing him to sit in one of the vehicles. A palace spokesperson told CNN that the chauffeur "has been suspended pending further investigation." British media named the chauffeur, but CNN could not independently confirm his identity. Meanwhile, Mahmood's editor, Robert Jobson, told ITN: "Nobody stopped him, nobody actually challenged him. It actually exposes a serious lapse in security at Buckingham Palace." Jobson added that even senior members of the royal family and longtime staffers are required to present photo identification cards upon entry to the palace. "Our investigator is sitting where the queen sits in the royal limo," Jobson said, referring to the video. "And the fact is, we've been told that security has been tightened up, that these things wouldn't happen again, new rules and regulations were brought in -- they simply haven't worked." A spokesman for Scotland Yard told CNN, "We are naturally concerned about the issues raised by this story and are liaising with palace officials about their staff security arrangements." A police statement issued to CNN later Sunday said: "We are naturally concerned about the issues raised by this story and are liaising with palace officials about their staff security arrangements." Buckingham Palace has experienced a number of high-profile security lapses in the past. In 2003 an investigation was launched after "comedy terrorist" Aaron Barschak gatecrashed Prince William's 21st birthday party at Windsor Castle, PA reported. Wearing a dress, beard and sunglasses, Barschak climbed on stage as the prince addressed the crowd, and kissed him on both cheeks. That same year, a journalist with the Daily Mirror newspaper spent two months "working undercover" as a palace footman.
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Reporter claims he entered palace after paying a "Buckingham chauffeur" News of the World reporter filmed being allowed to sit in one of the royal vehicles . Palace spokeswoman says officials are investigating the tabloid's allegation .
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SPRING HILL, Tennessee (CNN) -- General Motors idled its Spring Hill, Tennessee, facility as part of its bankruptcy plan Monday, leaving hundreds of employees -- and thousands of residents who rely on the plant's economic thrust -- in limbo. Johnny Miranda is trying to stay positive about the plant where he has worked for 16 years. Spring Hill, about 35 miles south of Nashville, is a town built on the jobs that the plant provides. The town has seen its population jump more than 1,600 percent in the almost 20 years since GM sent the first Saturn down the assembly line in June 1990. "I want to think positive," said autoworker Johnny Miranda, who left a GM plant in Van Nuys, California, 16 years ago to work in Spring Hill. "It could bring you down. It could really mess you up if you be thinking they're going to close it and you're going to lose your job." The future is uncertain for the plant's 3,000 employees. GM could shut down, phase out or sell the plant. Local media outlets report that the plant will end production toward the end of this year and that assembly of the Chevrolet Traverse will be moved to Lansing, Michigan. Watch Spring Hill residents share concerns » . The Spring Hill facility ceased building Saturns more than two years ago as sales slumped. After a yearlong retooling, it started pushing out Chevy's crossover sport utility vehicle instead. Saturn had originally billed itself as a "different kind of car company," and GM had hoped the business plan and fuel-efficient vehicles would allow it to snatch sales away from its Japanese rivals. Watch GM workers ponder future » . GM made Saturn a separate division, built an innovative plant, embraced no-haggle buying, opted for plastic over metal for many of the vehicles' parts and brokered an agreement with the United Auto Workers that fostered teamwork between the union and management. For years the company enjoyed a cult-like following. Self-confessed "Saturnistas" attended "homecomings" on the Spring Hill campus. Web sites and fan clubs popped up across the country. One of the sites, saturnfans.com, garnered thousands of signatures on its "Save Saturn" petition in the months leading up to GM's bankruptcy. Ultimately, GM's aspiration to sell a half million of the cars a year didn't pan out. It sold only 8,000 Saturns in November 2008 and fewer than 200,000 for the entire year. Watch what drove GM to this point » . But Saturn's waning popularity was just one of a litany of problems facing the auto giant, which filed for bankruptcy and announced specifics of its restructuring Monday. In addition to shedding the Saturn brand, GM also plans to end its Pontiac, Saab and Hummer lines, as well. The company shut down a dozen facilities and put three, including the Spring Hill plant, on standby. It also will cut ties with about a third of its 6,000 U.S. dealerships. See which plants are closing » . Visit Spring Hill and it's tough to find anyone not affected by the plant's suspension. Every resident appears to know at least one person whose job is on the line. "My father-in-law works for GM. He's worked for GM ever since the day he graduated college," Will Barnes said at a T-ball game Sunday. See GM's history » . Barnes' father-in-law is anxious, like thousands of GM employees, and has resorted to yardwork to calm his nerves, he said. "He's cut his yard five times this week because this is the level of uncertainty for him, and I hate to see him in that situation," Barnes said. John Stansbury, 55, told The Daily Herald in Columbia, Tennessee, he has been working for GM since he was 18. His father spent 40 years with the automaker. Watch how the U.S. auto industry has risen, fallen » . Because of the Spring Hill plant's flexibility following its recent revamp and the competitive local labor agreement, Stansbury said he remains optimistic but uneasy. "The mood of the whole plant is really unsure," he told the newspaper. "We are all tense." iReport.com: What next for GM? When the Spring Hill plant opened in 1990, the town's population was 1,464, according to the Census Bureau. The latest count, from 2007, is closer to 24,000. In that time, numerous subdivisions have been constructed to accommodate the plant's workers. Economic officials told The Daily Herald that at least 5,000 jobs are tied to the plant. That's in addition to the restaurants, shops and other businesses that rely on autoworkers' dollars. Watch how the bankruptcy will have a ripple effect » . The Spring Hill plant also gives local governments more than $2 million in lieu of taxes, the newspaper reported. Though the fate of the plant remains contingent on market conditions, few are under the illusion that GM employees and Spring Hill residents will remain unscathed by changes to the city's lifeline. "It's going to hurt," Miranda, the autoworker, said. "No question, it'll hurt." CNN's Jim Kavanagh and Eliott C. McLaughlin contributed to this report.
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Spring Hill population jumped 1,600 percent since GM facility opened there . Future uncertain for about 3,000 workers; GM could close, sell or phase out plant . Facility began building Chevy Traverse SUV instead of Saturn about two years ago . Resident says anxious father-in-law mowed lawn five times last week .
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Oak Creek, Wisconsin (CNN) -- Two young children have emerged as heroes after warning others of a gunman on a rampage at their Sikh house of worship in suburban Milwaukee. Abhay Singh, 11, and his sister, Amanat, 9, were sitting outside the gurdwara Sunday morning when the shooter, identified as Wade Michael Page, first opened fire on two people. "We ran as fast as we could inside to warn everybody in the kitchen and everybody else there is a man outside with a gun," Abhay -- whose name means "fearless" -- told CNN's "AC360" on Wednesday. "We were a little bit scared." The children said they hid with others in a pantry after sounding the alarm. Their mother, Kanwal Singh, and father had told them to stay inside while they went to a store to get supplies for a meal at the gurdwara. But the children said the inside was hot. The horrified parents could not immediately reach the children. Shooting victims put others first . "We were worried and praying like hopefully we will see them again," KanwalSingh said. The FBI, meanwhile, said Wednesday that Page died from a self-inflicted wound to the head and not from a shot fired by a responding officer. Police previously said Page died after being shot by the officer. That shot in the stomach was potentially fatal, but Page died from the self-inflicted wound, said Teresa Carlson, special agent in charge for the FBI in Milwaukee. Carlson revealed few other details about the investigation of Sunday's shooting in Oak Creek. Six people were killed. She said that no clear motive has been established and that Misty Cook, Page's former girlfriend who was arrested Sunday on an unrelated weapons charge, is probably not linked to the shooting. "We do not believe she had anything to do with it," Carlson said. After authorities went to Cook's home to interview her, she was charged with possessing a gun, which is illegal because she is a felon. Page, a 40-year-old Army veteran who neighbors say played in a so-called hate-rock band, was the lone gunman, Carlson said. Police have not found any notes or other clues as to why Page went on a killing spree at the Oak Creek temple, and his family members have not reported observing warning signs. "This is a guy who moved around a lot," Carlson said. "We are zeroing in on any possible motives, but right now, we don't have one." Authorities have conducted more than 100 interviews nationwide with people including Page's family members, associates and neighbors, she said. They also are reviewing his e-mails and other electronic records. The investigation continued as a community reeled from the carnage. Explainer: Who are Sikhs? For a fourth consecutive night, mourners held vigils Wednesday to remember the dead and pray for the wounded. One gathering was held near the White House. Many of the estimated 200 or so people wore ribbons colored orange and blue to symbolize the identity of the Sikh community. Many wrote notes on a sign that had the names of the victims and read "United Against Hate." The sign will be sent to the Wisconsin temple. Authorities received tips that Page might have links to the white supremacist movement, but nothing has been confirmed, according to Oak Creek Police Chief John Edwards and the FBI. Officials said that the 9 mm semiautomatic handgun with multiple ammunition magazines used by the attacker had been legally purchased. According to a man who described himself as Page's old Army buddy, the attacker talked about "racial holy war" when they served together in the 1990s. Christopher Robillard of Oregon, who said he lost contact with Page more than a decade ago, added that when Page would rant, "it would be about mostly any non-white person." Page, born on Veterans Day in 1971, joined the Army in 1992 and left the service in 1998, according to Army spokesman George Wright. The Sikh turban: At one personal and extremely personal . Page's service was marked by "patterns of misconduct," and he received a general discharge because of "discreditable incidents," according to a Pentagon official. Robillard said Page was pushed out for showing up to formation drunk. An Iowa-based trucking company, which employed Page from April 2006 to August 2010, said it fired him as a driver for violating company policy regarding impaired driving, which also applied to personal vehicles. Barr-Nunn Transportation, in a statement Monday, said Page was dismissed after he received an impaired-driving citation in North Carolina while driving a personal vehicle on his own time. "Additional documentation indicates he refused to submit to a chemical analysis to determine alcohol concentration or presence of an impairing substance at the time of the citation," the company said. Page lived in Fayetteville, North Carolina, for several years. He owned a modest house on a country road, but he ran into financial trouble and the home was foreclosed on, according to Wells Fargo bank. John Tew, manager of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle store in Fayetteville, told CNN he fired Page from his parts coordinator job in 2004 because Page "had a big problem with authority" and with working with women. Tew said he found an application for the Ku Klux Klan on Page's desk the day he was dismissed. Two neighbors of Page identified him in photos that showed him playing in the far-right punk band "End Apathy" with Nazi flags hanging near him. The six victims of Sunday's attack were identified by police as five men -- Sita Singh, 41; Ranjit Singh, 49; temple president Satwant Singh Kaleka, 65; Prakash Singh, 39, and Suveg Singh, 84 -- and one woman, 41-year-old Paramjit Kaur. Remembering the victims . CNN's Moni Basu, Brian Todd, Ted Rowlands, Carol Cratty, Mike Mount, Ed Payne, Scott Bronstein, Tom Cohen, Shawn Nottingham, Susan Candiotti, Deborah Feyerick, Phil Gast and Ben Brumfield contributed to this report.
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NEW: Two children talk about warning others at temple . NEW: Vigil held near White House . FBI says gunman Wade Michael Page shot himself in the head . It says Page's ex-girlfriend was arrested on a weapons charge, probably isn't linked to shooting .
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(CNN) -- In the second such incident in three days, fighter jets escorted a diverted commercial flight on Friday after an unruly passenger caused alarm onboard. The military sent up two F-16s in response to reports of an unruly passenger aboard AirTran Flight 39, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said in a statement. The passenger had become belligerent and refused to leave the restroom, airline spokesman Tad Hutcheson told CNN on Friday. The passenger appeared to be intoxicated, he said. The flight, bound for San Francisco, California, left Atlanta, Georgia, at 9:48 a.m. ET, according to AirTran's Web site. NORAD dispatched the fighters at 1:44 p.m. ET, escorting the aircraft to a safe emergency landing in Colorado Springs, Colorado, officials said. The passenger was detained there and FBI agents from Denver, Colorado, were called to question passengers, Hutcheson said. The other passengers were scheduled to continue their trip at 4:30 p.m. ET, he said. On Wednesday, NORAD escorted a Hawaii-bound plane back to its origination city of Portland, Oregon, after a passenger gave a flight attendant a note that was interpreted as being threatening, the federal complaint and supporting affidavit said Friday. The passenger, Joseph Hedlund Johnson, 56, told the FBI he hadn't intended to scare anyone with the note, which began, "I thought I was going to die," and referenced the television show "Gilligan's Island."
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NORAD: Two F-16s dispatched Friday on reports of unruly passenger aboard AirTran flight . Passenger was belligerent, wouldn't leave bathroom, airline spokesman says . Atlanta-to-San Francisco flight was diverted to Colorado Springs, Colorado . Fighters escorted jet bound for Hawaii back to Oregon on Wednesday in similar scenario .
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Baghdad (CNN) -- A car bomber who penetrated Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone this week was targeting the Iraqi prime minister, authorities said Saturday. The attack Monday left two people dead and seven others injured in the Green Zone, which houses the nation's government offices as well as U.S. and other embassies. Police said the blast occurred at an outdoor parking lot that belongs to the Iraqi parliament. No more details were available immediately on whether lawmakers were among the casualties. Initial inquiries revealed an attempt to kill Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, according to Major Gen. Qassim Atta, the Baghdad security operations manager. The black car was loaded with explosives and had three ways to detonate: manual, electric and by cell phone, he said. "The intelligence information we have indicates that the vehicle was supposed to enter the building and park there until the arrival of the prime minister," Atta said. Terrorists confessed that the car bomb was targeting the prime minister when he visits parliament in an upcoming session, according to Atta, who did not name the group behind the attacks. The prime minister was not there at the time of the attack, he said. The attacker was in a black Dodge with 20 kg (44 lb) of explosives, and was driving toward parliament when security forces stopped him because he did not have a proper badge. The driver parked at the parliament compound, where the car exploded. The attack comes amid a U.S. military withdrawal from the Middle Eastern country. All American troops are scheduled to be out by the end of the year. Iraqi security forces, including army and police officers, are to assume full responsibility after the withdrawal. CNN's Hamdi Alkhshali contributed to this report .
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Police: The blast occurs at the Iraqi parliament's parking lot . Terrorists confess that the car bomb was targeting the prime minister, official says . The attack Monday kills two people and injures seven others .
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(CNN) -- Florida authorities are investigating the death of a custodian whose body was found at a launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday afternoon, NASA reported. The man, whose identity was not released, was found in a storage building near a liquid oxygen tank at pad 39A, one of the sites from which Apollo and space shuttle missions were launched, the space agency said. The pad leader discovered the body, and paramedics were unable to revive the man, NASA said. No cause of death was released Tuesday afternoon. The man worked for the Brevard Achievement Center, which has a contract at the Cape Canaveral site. The center, which places people with disabilities in jobs, said it was "deeply saddened" by the news and extended its sympathy to the man's family.
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The man was found dead at NASA's Kennedy Space Center . Neither his identity nor a cause of death was released Tuesday . NASA says the pad leader discovered the body .
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Seoul (CNN) -- Oh Kil-nam refuses to keep a single photo of his family in his home. He says it's just too painful. For more than 25 years, Oh has lived with the guilt of knowing his wife and two daughters are being held against their will in North Korea because of a choice he made. "I made such a foolish decision," Oh says, "which has caused my family to suffer such hardship in the hands of an outrageous criminal organization. It doesn't help even if I repent, my heart is torn with sorrow." Oh, a native of South Korea, moved his family to Pyongyang in 1985 despite his wife's reservations on the promise of a good job and free medical treatment for his wife's hepatitis, but when they arrived he realized he had been tricked. He says there was not a job nor medical help for his wife, just three months of what he calls, "lectures from day to night on North Korea ideology, history and brainwashing." He was then forced to work in a radio station broadcasting propaganda. Oh was sent to Denmark the following year to lure more South Koreans to the communist state. But when he arrived at customs, Oh handed them a piece of paper asking to defect. Held for two months in detention in Germany, he was questioned by different intelligence agencies, including he says the CIA. He was then freed and moved to South Korea. But his nightmare had only just begun. Oh learned his wife and daughters, only aged 6 and 9 when they first moved to North Korea, were sent to a concentration camp as punishment for his defection. In 1991, he received the first and last message from them. Three black and white photos and recorded messages from his family. Oh and the human rights workers believe they were recorded by North Korean officials as a trap to lure him back. His youngest daughter says, "I miss you dad, I don't know you and I need to grow up fast so I can help mum and I feel regret but now I can lift water buckets and wood very well." Studying the photos, some defectors have told Oh they believe they were taken in the notorious Yodok concentration camp. His eldest daughter tells him, "Hi dad, it's Haewon, I dreamt the other day that I was celebrating my birthday with you. I miss you. It's been a while since I said the word father and my tears are falling." On the tape, his wife wonders when she will see him again. Oh looks at the photos of his family. Thinking back to when he first received them he shakes his head. "I am ... psychologically and physically, totally destroyed," he says. "I have literally no feeling." He says he feels helpless and all his hopes now rest with the United Nations and the South Korean President. The UN body on arbitrary detention has petitioned North Korea to release the family, saying their detention is "arbitrary," but the response has not been positive. Pyongyang claims Oh's wife has already died from her hepatitis and his daughters want nothing to do with him as they say he deserted them. Oh refuses to believe either claim. South Korea has increased diplomatic pressure on Pyongyang. President Lee Myung bak asked the Swedish King, Carl Gustav for assistance. Sweden has an embassy in Pyongyang and has, in the past, acted as a neutral broker for countries with no presence there. All Oh can do now is wait -- as he has for the past quarter of a century. And hope he will live to see his daughters freed. "Every night I have nightmares,' he says. "I'm more than 70 years old now and exhausted but I will stay alive until I can hold my two daughters again." CNN'S K.J. Kwon contributed to this report .
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Oh Kil-nam defected from North Korea 25 years ago, but his wife and two daughters remain behind . South Korean and Swedish governments have tried to intercede on his behalf . First and only communication from family was in 1991; believed held in notorious prison camp . "I made such a foolish decision which has caused my family to suffer such hardship"
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(CNN) -- Branden Grace duly completed his front running victory at the Dunhill Links Championships Sunday after coming under last round pressure from Denmark's Thorbjorn Olesen at St Andrews. Grace, winning for the fifth time in a superb 2012, four coming on the European Tour, ended two ahead of Olesen after carding a final round 70 for a record 22-under total in the tournament. "It feels awesome," the South African told the official European Tour website after a victory that has lifted him to third in the The Race to Dubai. He has now targeted No.1 Rory McIlroy in the battle for the overall honors in Europe. "It's definitely in my sights," he said. Grace, who is yet another graduate of the Ernie Els Foundation, led from the first round at Kingsbarns where he shot a stunning 12-under 60. But when Olesen carded two straight birdies around the turn and Grace three-putted the short 11th for a bogey, they were level. But Grace pulled away with a stunning hat-trick of birdies only interrupted by a bogey on the Road Hole 17th. He still had a two-shot lead playing the last which they both birdied. Alexander Noren of Sweden finished third, four shots back, with Joel Sjoholm of Sweden in fourth. Scot Stephen Gallacher, a former Dunhill winner, was making superb last day progress until he accidentally played the ball of an amateur partner Steve Halsall on the 16th fairway. It cost him a two-shot penalty and he ended up running up a quadruple bogey to slip back into a tie for fifth. European Ryder Cup heroes Martin Kaymer and Peter Hanson finished in a tie for 34th.
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Branden Grace wins Dunhill Links Championship . Final round 70 at St Andrews give South African two-shot win . Fourth European Tour title of season for Grace . Thorbjorn Olesen of Denmark pushes him all the way .
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(CNN) -- English club Chelsea have complained to the Malaysian Football Association about alleged racist abuse of Israel captain Yossi Benayoun last week. The Premier League side said constant jeers directed at the 31-year-old midfielder during a pre-season match against a Malaysian XI were anti-Semitic. Malaysia, a mainly Muslim country, does not recognize the state of Israel. The Malaysian FA has yet to respond to the allegations. "Such behavior is offensive, totally unacceptable and has no place in football," said a statement on Chelsea's website. Blog: Team spirit makes Uruguay a World Cup contender . "The club did not make representations at the time as it was initially unclear as to the nature of the abuse Yossi received, as several players from both teams experienced similar treatment, sometimes louder and longer. "However, having taken time to consider the issue fully, it has become apparent that a formal complaint was necessary. "Our stay in Malaysia was, on the whole, a very positive experience for all the team traveling on the pre-season tour. It is a shame, therefore, that the behavior of a minority of supporters is also a memory we take away." The match in Kuala Lumpur on July 21 was watched by almost 85,000 spectators, with Chelsea winning 1-0 thanks to a second-half own-goal from the home team. The 2010-11 Premier League runners-up will conclude the pre-season tour against English rivals Aston Villa in Hong Kong's Asia Trophy on July 30, before another friendly away to Scottish champions Rangers on August 6. New manager Andre Villas-Boas will face his first competitive match in charge when the domestic campaign begins with a trip to Stoke on August 14.
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Chelsea lodge complaint with Malaysian FA over abuse aimed at Yossi Benayoun . The Israeli was constantly jeered during a pre-season match in Kuala Lumpur . English club took a week to take action after reviewing the July 21 incident . Malaysian FA has yet to respond to the Premier League team's allegations .
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(CNN) -- The former Arizona congresswoman who survived a mass shooting in her district roughly two years ago paid a visit Friday to Newtown, Connecticut, where last month a gunman killed 27 people and himself in one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history. Gabrielle Giffords made the trip with her husband, Mark Kelly. The couple met with local and state leaders to discuss gun control legislation, mental health identification and treatment, and "concerns for the erosion of our societal values such that we are increasingly desensitized to violence," according to Newtown First Selectman Pat Llodra. "There is an agreed-upon sense of urgency that we need to take action while we have the world's attention," Llodra said of the meeting. Giffords retired from Congress last year to focus on her recovery after she was shot in the head in January 2011. Giffords was one of 19 people shot at a political event at a shopping plaza in Tucson, Arizona, and spent months relearning how to speak and walk. Six people died in the encounter, including a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge. After the Newtown shooting on December 14, her husband vented his frustrations on Twitter. "When will we address this problem as a nation? The time is now!" Kelly wrote. Giffords' visit came one day after Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy set a two-month deadline for a special commission to address the state's gun laws, mental health policies and public security issues. He called for recommendations to be brought to the state legislature by March 15. "We don't know the underlying cause of this tragedy, and we probably never will," Malloy said, but that is "no reason for inaction." Friday's visit also coincided with the second day of school for students from Sandy Hook Elementary, where 20 of their classmates -- all ages 6 or 7 -- were killed last month. The gunman, Adam Lanza, also gunned down six adults after killing his mother, an avid gun collector, in her Newtown home. Authorities say security measures have been increased at Chalk Hill Middle School in the nearby Connecticut town of Monroe, where Sandy Hook students are currently attending class. Their former school remains part of an active police investigation. Giffords met earlier this week with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to discuss gun control, a topic that the three-term mayor has pressed on the national stage, urging tighter restrictions on high-capacity magazines and assault rifles. Despite emotions, little happens legislatively after mass shootings . CNN's Joe Sutton contributed to this report.
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NEW: She discussed gun control and mental health treatment with local leaders . Gabrielle Giffords makes a private visit to the Connecticut town . After the Newtown shooting, Giffords' husband, Mark Kelly, vented his frustrations . The former Democrat lawmaker retired from Congress last year to focus on her recovery .
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Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (CNN) -- Through hours of outbursts and objections in military court, Eddie Bracken said he had one image in his mind: that of a plane smashing into the World Trade Center tower where his sister worked. Anger surged inside him, Bracken told reporters Sunday, a day after he sat among a group of victim family members who watched the arraignment of accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others at Guantanamo Bay, the U.S. naval base where the men are being tried before a military court. "Just listening to that rhetoric, how they perceive themselves -- it's hurtful, because they have no remorse. I don't think they even have any souls," he said. Bracken's sister, Lucy Fishman, worked as a secretary on the 105th floor of the south tower of the World Trade Center. She was one of the nearly 3,000 people killed when the towers were brought down by hijacked jetliners on September 11, 2001. Outside the courtroom Sunday, Bracken read a statement he said was a message for Mohammed and the other men. "I came a long way to see you, eye to eye. ... If you would have this in another country, it would be a different story. They would have given you your wish to meet your maker quicker than you would realize. But this is America, and you deserve a fair and just trial, according to our Constitution, not yours. That's what separates us Americans from you and your ideology," he said. But still, he told reporters, hearing the defendants and their attorneys criticize the proceedings was difficult. "They're complaining, and our families can't complain no more. They took their lives. ... I wouldn't care if they were on a bed of nails. ... But it's our justice system, and they have rights," he said. Earlier Sunday, an attorney representing one of the defendants said prolonged silence and occasional outbursts during their arraignment were signs of "peaceful resistance to an unjust system." "These men have endured years of inhumane treatment and torture," James Connell, who is representing defendant Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, told reporters at Guantanamo Bay. U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Mark Martins, the chief prosecutor in the case, declined to discuss the defendants' behaviors but said the military trial process is just and impartial. "You all saw them. You saw their reactions. I saw a process that was moving forward methodically," he told reporters Sunday. The attorneys' comments came after a 13-hour court session on Saturday -- the first appearance in a military courtroom for Mohammed and four others since charges were re-filed against them in connection with the attacks. The hearing, which wrapped just before 10:30 p.m., offered a rare glimpse of the five men who have not been seen publicly since January 2009, when they were first charged by a military tribunal. Mohammed, Ali and the others -- Walid Muhammad Salih, Mubarak bin 'Attash, Ramzi Bin al-Shibh and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi -- appeared to work together to defy the judge's instructions, refusing to speak or cooperate with courtroom protocol. On Sunday, attorneys representing them told reporters that the proceedings had been unfair to their clients. They criticized restrictions that they said prevented them from discussing topics like torture. "We are hamstrung ... before we ever start," said David Nevin, who is representing Mohammed. "The system is a rigged game to prevent us from doing our jobs." Martins said he strongly disagreed with that assessment. "They can talk to their clients about anything," he said. On Saturday, silence from the defendants -- some of whom ignored the judge, while others appeared to be reading -- slowed the proceedings to a crawl. Bin 'Attash was wheeled into the courtroom in a restraining chair. It was unclear why he was the only defendant brought into court in that manner, though he was allowed out of restraints after he promised not to disrupt court proceedings. Toward the end of the day, he took off his shirt while his attorney was describing injuries she alleged he sustained while in custody. The judge told bin 'Attash, "No!" and warned that he would be removed from the courtroom if he did not follow directions. At one point, bin 'Attash made a paper airplane and placed it on top of a microphone. It was removed after a translator complained about the sound the paper made against the microphone. Hours into Saturday's proceeding, one of the defendants broke his silence with an outburst. Bin al-Shibh shouted in heavily accented English: "You may not see us anymore," he said. "They are going to kill us." During recesses, the five men talked amongst each other and appeared relaxed. They passed around a copy of The Economist. Bin al-Shibh appeared to lead the group twice in prayer in the courtroom, once delaying the resumption of the hearing. Mohammed, whose long beard appeared to be dyed red by henna, was much thinner than the last time he was seen publicly in a courtroom. The judge, Col. James Pohl, needed the five to vocally confirm their desire to be represented by the attorneys who accompanied them to court. Because the defendants refused to cooperate, Pohl ruled the men would continue to be represented by their current military and civilian attorneys. All five men are charged with terrorism, hijacking aircraft, conspiracy, murder in violation of the law of war, attacking civilians, attacking civilian objects, intentionally causing serious bodily injury and destruction of property in violation of the law of war. If convicted, they face the death penalty. There were so many allegations behind the charges, it took more than two hours for officers of the court just to read into the record the details of the 9/11 hijackings. The reading of the charges "provided a stirring reminder of the importance of the case," Martins said Sunday. "For so many people involved in this trial, the pursuit of justice is worth every moment spent," he said. The next hearing is scheduled for June 12. It will likely be at least a year before the case goes to trial, Pohl said. The charges allege that the five are "responsible for the planning and execution of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, in New York, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pa., resulting in the killing of 2,976 people," the Defense Department said. Though Mohammed confessed to organizing the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, his confession could be called into question during a trial. A 2005 Justice Department memo -- released by the Obama administration -- revealed he had been waterboarded 183 times in March 2003. The technique, which simulates drowning, has been called torture by President Barack Obama and others. The military initially charged Mohammed in 2008, but Obama stopped the case as part of his effort to close the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay. Unable to close the center, Obama attempted to move the case to federal court in New York in 2009, only to run into a political firestorm. The plan was dropped after complaints about cost and security, and Attorney General Eric Holder announced in April 2011 that the five would face a military trial at Guantanamo Bay. The decision was met with some criticism, including from the American Civil Liberties Union. ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero said last month that the administration is making a "terrible mistake by prosecuting the most important terrorism trials of our time in a second-tier system of justice."
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A 9/11 victim's brother says the arraignment "brought up all the old memories" of the attacks . The chief prosecutor says the military trial process is just and impartial . An attorney says the defendants "have endured years of inhumane treatment and torture" Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and others drag out arraignment for 13 hours .
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(CNN) -- It's his first trip to South America, one that many doubted would happen at all. President Obama's five-day tour to Brazil, Chile and El Salvador happens as a nuclear and humanitarian crisis unfolds in Japan after a powerful earthquake and tsunami hit the island. And a civil war rages on in Libya, threatening stability in the Middle East. The United States is getting involved in a third conflict in the region in addition to Afghanistan and Iraq. That's why many speculated that Obama would either cancel or postpone his Latin American trip. In his weekly internet and radio address, Obama spoke about the reasons why he's looking south. "As we respond to these immediate crises abroad, we also will not let up in our effort to tackle the pressing, ongoing challenges facing our country, including accelerating economic growth," he said as he made the case for economic opportunities for U.S. businesses in Latin America. Analysts say the United States can't afford to ignore Latin America in spite of the challenges in Asia and the Middle East. China, not the United States, is now the largest destination for Brazilian exports. And former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva defied most countries on the U.N. Security Council last year (and certainly the United States) on the issue of sanctions against Iran for its nuclear program. In recent years, Brazil has discovered oil reserves off the coast of Rio de Janeiro that could be the largest in the world if the estimates of Petrobras (the state-owned Brazilian oil company) are right. Add to that the fact that Brazil is hosting the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016, and it becomes a logical choice for a country to be visited by an American president. That's why Cynthia Arnson, director of the Latin American program at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, calls Brazil "the obvious country on the itinerary." She said Brazil "is, depending on whose numbers you use, anywhere from the fifth to the eighth economy in the world. It is a global player on issues like climate change, environmental preservation, innovation and biofuels development. It's also seeking a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council." Chile, considered an economic Latin American success, will be Obama's second stop. A devastating earthquake that hit the country in February of last year had little effect, if any, on its booming economy. Gross domestic product grew more than 5% in 2010, in spite of the catastrophic 8.8-magnitude temblor, one of the 10 most powerful earthquakes on record. Chile signed a free trade agreement with the United States on January 1, 2004, and its government claims to have more such agreements than any other country in the world, with pacts signed with the European Union, Mercosur, China, India, South Korea, and Mexico. (Mercosur, or the Southern Common Market, is an economic agreement that promotes free trade among Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.) With a mixture of open market policies and strong economic institutions, Chile has dramatically reduced poverty. Only 18.2% of the population lived below the poverty line in 2009, compared with nearly 40% 20 years ago. "The center-right government of [President] Sebastian Piñera has by no means done away with the social programs put in place under the Concertación [a coalition of center-left political parties] that were so successful in reducing poverty in Chile," Arnson said. El Salvador, Obama's third stop of the tour, is also a success story, although on a much lesser scale. Arnson says that in a relatively short period of time, the Central American country has managed to professionalize and downsize its army and establish a system of political competition in which everyone agrees on the rules of the game (a great achievement when one takes into account that El Salvador was ravaged by a civil war that lasted from 1979 to 1992). "They are not the only success stories, but they're very important success stories in all three countries. El Salvador came out of civil war, Brazil and Chile came out of decades of military dictatorship, and there's been significant progress in all three countries in moving away from that past," Arnson said. For Kevin Casas-Zamora, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, El Salvador is important for the White House for other reasons as well. "In El Salvador converge in a very clear way three issues that are crucial when it comes to the relation between the United States and Latin American countries: migration, trade and security," Casas-Zamora said. More than 2.5 million Salvadorans live in the United States, and the government of President Mauricio Funes wants a resolution on their immigration status. As Mexico has scored important victories against major drug cartels, these criminal organizations have moved into Central American countries, including El Salvador. According to Casas-Zamora, El Salvador is looking for a closer partnership with the United States to increase its security. "So far, the U.S. government has earmarked $100 million [to boost security] for fiscal year 2011, which is quite limited. This amount of money for the Central American region is minuscule, compared to the magnitude of the drug trafficking problem they face," Casas-Zamora said.
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Obama visiting Brazil, Chile, El Salvador amid war in Mideast, post-quake crisis in Japan . Analysts say the U.S. can't afford to ignore Latin America despite those challenges . Obama makes case for economic opportunities for U.S. businesses in Latin America . Despite their problems, Latin American countries have made economic, political strides .
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(CNN) -- Vacationers at Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks this summer should make extra efforts to wash their hands, the National Park Service urged Wednesday, after noting a spike in sicknesses among visitors so far. In a news release, the park service noted "greater than normal reports of gastrointestinal illness" among those visiting the park in northwestern Wyoming as well as areas in Montana outside the two parks. That includes an incident June 7, when members of a tour group visiting Mammoth Hot Springs -- a part of Yellowstone that's located on the Montana/Wyoming border -- began complaining of stomach and other issues. Park employees who had been in contact with this group reported similar symptoms within 48 hours. Subsequent tests indicated that they were suffering from norovirus, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes is "a very contagious virus that (can be contracted) from an infected person, contaminated food or water or by touching contaminated surfaces." In addition to visitors, there have been more than 100 suspected cases of norovirus among Yellowstone employees and another 50 suspected cases among Grand Teton workers, the National Park Service said in a press release. The park service and businesses servicing visitors are taking special steps given the surge in illness, including more frequent cleaning and disinfection of public areas. As part of these measures, park employees showing signs of infection must be symptom-free for 72 hours before returning to work. News of the spate of norovirus cases spurred a wide range of comments on Yellowstone's Facebook page, including some offering appreciation for the update and others expressing concern to hear of the illness before their planned trip to the park. One woman said she was among the visitors who got sick around June 7, calling it "the worst pain I have ever had." "I'm going this weekend and will be washing my hands like crazy, not to mention using disinfecting wipes after leaving public areas," another woman wrote. "This sounds like a quick way to ruin a trip hope everyone is ok!" This isn't the first time that illnesses have plagued national parks out west. Last summer, at least eight visitors to Yosemite National Park contracted hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. Three of them died. Another Yosemite camper dies in hantavirus outbreak . Officials at that park, which receives about 4 million visitors a year, reached out to all people who stayed between mid-June and the end of August at the "signature tent cabins" that quickly became the epicenter of the investigation. Rare but serious, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome has symptoms that mimic a cold or the flu and can be spread through contact with the urine, droppings or saliva of infected rodents, primarily deer mice. This year, national parks are saddled with another problem: $113 million in budget cuts tied to the federal government "sequester." But there's been no indication lower funding will have any impact on how officials from Yosemite and Grand Teton parks tackle the rise in norovirus cases.
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NEW: Some commenters on Yellowstone's Facebook are concerned; others are thankful . The National Park Service notes "greater than normal reports of gastrointestinal illness" They have occurred in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks and other areas . A group visiting Mammoth Hot Springs showed symptoms this month .
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(CNN) -- A shark bit a 16-year-old boy across both legs as he was surfing in Hawaii on Sunday, CNN affiliate KHON reported. The attack came four days after a shark severed the right arm of a German tourist while she was snorkeling. In the Sunday incident, the teen was surfing in Pohoiki Bay when an 8-foot gray shark attacked him, the affiliate reported. He was taken to a hospital, but his condition was not known. Authorities brought in helicopters to survey the area for sharks, but were unsuccessful. Shark found on New York subway car . Shark attack claims Brazilian teen's life . This shark attack is the fourth in the last month, and 9th for the year in Hawaii, the affiliate said. Last year, Hawaii had 11 shark attacks. While shark attacks have been on the uptick in recent years, according to the University of Florida, the fatality rate in the United States is just 2%. Discovery Channel defends dramatized shark special . Best places to swim with sharks .
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This is the fourth shark attack this month . Hawaii has seen 9 attacks this year .
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(CNN) -- Two months ago, Emad Ghavidel turned on the television in Tehran and saw graphic footage of an injured Syrian child crying out in pain. The 24-year-old Iranian rapper was horrified by the violence and the government's brutal crackdown on Homs. The more Ghavidel learned about it, the angrier he became. He decided to channel his frustration into his music. He wrote a song, "The Battle of Homs," expressing support for the Syrian protesters and lashing out against the regime of Bashar al-Assad. "I swear to the laments of grieving mothers, I swear to the tears of grieving mothers, you will pay for it, Bashar al-Assad," raps Ghavidel. "Even if I am drowned in my own blood, I will not shut up." Within weeks, the song went viral on YouTube and was an instant sensation in the Middle East. "I received many encouraging messages from both Syrians and Iranians," said Hamed Fard, an Iranian who helped Ghavidel produce the song. Many Iranians sympathize with the Syrian people, and the two peoples share a common bond, said Ahed al-Hendi, a Syrian who now serves as Arabic Programs coordinator at cyberdissidents.org. In 2009, many Iranians were arrested and tortured -- and some were even killed -- as they protested the disputed presidential election. "When the Green Revolution was sparked in Iran, we stood with the Iranian people and supported their cause," Al-Hendi said. "Now, lots of Iranians are supporting our cause. "We are all facing one enemy. The mullah's regime in Iran and the Assad regime (in Syria) support each other openly, and their alliance is very rooted. But we need an alliance between a democratic Iran and Syria, not an alliance of dictatorship." Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad recently praised Syrian officials for how they "are managing" the yearlong uprising in Syria. Also, activists claim to have found a series of e-mails that showed al-Assad took advice from Iran on how to handle the unrest. Throughout the uprising, the Syrian government has described opposition leaders as terrorists looking to destabilize the country. To date, more than 9,000 people have been killed in the conflict, according to the United Nations. "As a human and a journalist, it is unbearable to witness this crime," said Sasan Aghai, an Iranian who works for the Sobh-e Azadi newspaper. "Everyone around the world who cares about human rights should be bothered by what it happening in Syria. It's genocide." This is not Aghai's first foray into political activism. As an active supporter of the Green Movement, he was arrested for "activity against the country's security" and spent time in Evin prison, the notorious prison for Iran's political dissidents. Artists were also among those arrested. Aria Aramnejad, a young Iranian pop singer, was taken into custody after he posted a song on YouTube in support of the Green Movement. Ghavidel is keenly aware of the risks he faces as a rapper. Iran's Ministry of Islamic Guidance does not consider rap an art form, so no Iranian rapper can get government permission to record a song. "All Iranian rappers work underground," he said. "We all have difficulties recording and distributing our songs, but I don't let these problems stop me. "People ask me if I'm worried about the consequences of my song, but I don't believe I've said anything wrong. I want to hope that there is enough freedom of speech in my country that I can criticize a mass murder." Such support has not gone unnoticed by the Syrian opposition. The Syrian National Council recently published a letter thanking the citizens of Iran. "It is important for all of us to know that we share one region and that our struggles and freedoms are connected," the letter said. "The Syrian and Iranian regimes have cooperated very closely throughout the years to oppress their own people and to destabilize the region around them. We believe that the only way that our people can prosper is by cooperation and mutual respect to each other's past, present and future aspirations." Would a Syrian revolution have an effect on Iran? Aghai thinks it is unlikely. "I don't think the Syrian revolution will result in an Iranian revolution as well," he said. "But after losing one of its good allies in the region, we can say that the power of the Iranian regime will start to fade."
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Many Iranians sympathize with the Syrian people and the violence they are dealing with . The roles were reversed in 2009 when Iran was in turmoil after a disputed election . Meanwhile, the governments of Iran, Syria are also very supportive of each other .
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PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- Leaders representing 90 percent of the world's economic output were gathering Thursday in a U.S. city that has reinvented itself, hoping to bolster the global economy. Police boats pass under Greenpeace activists as they hang from a bridge near the G-20 summit. The Group of 20 will meet for two days to focus on the worldwide financial crisis, and plot how to avoid a repeat in the future. The White House is using the economic summit to showcase Pittsburgh -- a city that President Obama says has exhibited an innovative 21st-century recovery after a well-publicized downfall following the shuttering of much of the city's steel industry. Pittsburgh "has transformed itself from the city of steel to a center for high-tech innovation -- including green technology, education and training, and research and development," the president said. Watch what summit means for Pittsburgh » . Most of the world leaders have come from New York, where they attended the start of the U.N. General Assembly. The G-20 gathering is Obama's first time hosting a major international summit. "As the leaders of the world's largest economies, we have a responsibility to work together on behalf of sustained growth, while putting in place the rules of the road that can prevent this kind of crisis from happening again," the president said in a statement ahead of the gathering. The tightening of global financial regulations is expected to top the summit's agenda and comes as some major economies are beginning to recover. Germany, France and Japan have announced that they have emerged from recession, prompting hopes that the worst of the financial crisis may have passed. Watch city's preparations for protesters » . G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors agreed at a meeting this month not to start cutting back just yet on stimulus efforts. They fear it would put economies at risk for plunging back into recession. However, the economic outlook has improved enough that countries are being encouraged to start working on exit strategies, which will vary by nation. The ministers also have proposed a change in how bankers' bonuses are awarded. They said financial rewards should be based on long-term merit, instead of short-term risk-taking. Because of that, ministers oppose paying large bonuses upfront. A proposed bonus control mechanism would pay for results over a longer window for measuring profits. Bonuses would be forfeited if initial success doesn't hold up. The economic summit will be the third time in a year that the world's top industrial powers have gathered. They met in November in Washington and followed up with an April session in London. As the leaders headed to Pittsburgh, four people attached to a massive banner dangled from a Pittsburgh bridge Wednesday to protest the global economic meeting. iReport.com: Pittsburgh braces for protests . The banner hung from the West End Bridge over the Ohio River and read like a road sign: "Danger: Climate Destruction Ahead. Reduce CO2 Emissions Now." Greenpeace, the environmental activist group, claimed responsibility for the stunt. On its Web site, the group said it wanted to send a message to G-20 leaders with the nearly 80-by-30-foot sign, calling for more attention to the issue of global climate change.
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Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, plays host this week to G-20 summit . President Obama says city is example of how to weather recession . Pittsburgh has reinvented itself from steel plant roots to new focus on green jobs .
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Cap-Haitien, Haiti (CNN) -- The Christian Motorcyclists Association came to Haiti to distribute motorcycles to pastors. Instead, angry Haitians, some of them on motorbikes, ended up attacking the 11 American missionaries when they tried to flee this city aboard a big, yellow bus. "We almost made it out of town," team member Kerry Gibson told CNN in a phone call after his team survived the attack unharmed. Until Wednesday morning, Gibson and his fellow volunteers had been holed up in a hotel on a hilltop overlooking Cap-Haitien, after demonstrators put up networks of barricades through the streets and began attacking the bases of United Nations peacekeepers with rocks, bottles and petrol bombs. The demonstrators have accused peacekeepers of starting the cholera outbreak. The motorcyclist team is part of an American organization that has hundreds of branches across the country. One of its goals, Gibson said, is to donate motorcycles to Christian leaders. "We put wheels under indigenous local pastors," Gibson explained. "We were presenting seven here in Cap-Haitien. Obviously, that won't happen now." Given the violence that has led to the death of at least one protester, the team decided Wednesday to cut their trip to Haiti short by a week. A Haitian pastor informed Gibson that the road out of town was open, so the missionaries climbed aboard a commercial bus and tried to make it into nearby Dominican Republic. But on the outskirts of Cap-Haitien, the bus suddenly ran into trouble. "We saw one guy with a machete raised up and he's running and yelling and screaming and pointing up ahead. We suspect they put a blockade up in front of us. That's when we stopped and they busted out the glass on the door," Gibson recalled. "Our driver, he was like a NASCAR driver. He started backing up," Gibson said. "But they put out two burned-out cars on the road in an effort to block us." Gibson said protesters began hurling rocks at the bus and smashed the windshield. The bus was incapacitated and started spraying oil. At some point, demonstrators dragged a Haitian employee of the bus company out of the vehicle and began beating him. Gibson said the driver then maneuvered the bus onto the sidewalk and lurched the vehicle forward toward the gate of a nearby U.N. peacekeeping base. "I feel like God protected us," Gibson said. "Just the fact that the bus stopped, died right in front of the U.N. compound, is confirmation that he's looking out for us." Peacekeepers from Chile opened the gate and ushered the bus and its passengers inside the compound. The 11 CMA representatives were preparing to spend the night with the Chilean military and pondering their next step for escaping Cap-Haitien. Gibson insisted that, throughout the adrenaline-packed attack on the bus, he never felt he was in danger. The man who was dragged off the bus escaped without serious injury, Gibson said. "Of course it's a nerve-wracking situation, but I never got the impression that there was any real effort to do physical harm to us." Asked what he planned to do Thursday, he said, "Pray a lot." Journalist Dmitri Fourcand contributed to this report.
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"We almost made it out of town," says Christian missionary . Protesters broke the windshield of the bus . Vehicle made it to the safety of a U.N. peacekeeping camp .
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Washington (CNN) -- Congressional Republicans are seeking more details on President Barack Obama's plan to reduce gun violence in schools. In letters to members of Obama's Cabinet, they requested information about the president's time frame and funding plans for the implementation of 23 executive actions on gun control enacted in mid-January in response to the elementary school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, in December. Additionally, they want to know how the president's Congressional proposals will relate to mental health programs currently in place for students. The leaders of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce sent letters to Attorney General Eric Holder, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Housing and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. "While we agree we cannot stop every senseless act of violence, we share the president's commitment to reviewing the facts and evaluating proposed and existing policies and programs intended to help teachers, principals, and parents protect their children," the letter to Holder says. Signed by Committee Chairman John Kline, R-Minnesota, and Subcommittee Chairmen Todd Rokita, R-Indiana, and Virginia Foxx, R-North Carolina, the letter also asks what "legislative authority the department is expected to invoke to carry out the executive actions." In his January speech, Obama said, "To make a real and lasting difference, Congress, too, must act -- and Congress must act soon." He called on the legislative branch to pass laws requiring universal background checks for anyone trying to buy a gun, to restore a ban on military-style assault weapons and to limit magazine rounds and to help law enforcement be tougher on people who buy guns with the purpose of selling them to criminals.
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House Education Committee seeks more information on Obama's school safety plan . Members want to know the time line and cost of the executive actions . Obama called on Congress to act in wake of Newtown school shooting .
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(CNN) -- Alvaro Quiros triumphed at the Qatar Masters on Sunday when the Spaniard finished three shots clear of former champion Henrik Stenson and Louis Oosthuizen. Spaniard Quiros clinched his third European Tour title and now looks set for a first appearance at the Masters. The 26-year-old survived a late scare to card a final-round of three-under-par 69 and finish at 19-under 269 -- a showing that sends him into the world top 30 and opens the door for his Masters debut at Augusta in April. Swede Stenson's three-putt bogey at the last for a 68 allowed South African overnight leader Oosthuizen to share second with the 2006 champion after a final round of 71. Stenson, last year's runner-up to Adam Scott, snatched the lead at 16 under with an eagle at the 10th, but Quiros and Oosthuizen -- playing a group behind -- responded with birdies of their own to leave all three tied through 11. The momentum swung Quiros' way as he birdied the 12th and Oosthuizen dropped a shot to fall two off the pace before the Spaniard extended his lead as he converted from eight feet a hole later. Stenson put pressure on with birdie of his own at 15 to move within one at 17 under before Quiros wobbled as he sent his three-wood approach from the rough into the water. Quiros eventually holed from 15-foot putt for bogey, but then birdied 16 and 17 to take a two-stroke lead down the last and claim a third European Tour title. Oosthuizen had birdied the last to record a second successive runner-up finish, which sees him move up to fifth on the season money list -- a place ahead of Stenson. Ireland's Damien McGrane carded a bogey-free 67 for fourth at 13 under, while Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez's three birdies earned him a 69 and a share of fifth with Dutchman Maarten Lafeber (72). World number two Sergio Garcia (70) had a share of seventh place at 11 under.
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Spaniard Alvaro Quiros triumphed by three strokes at the Qatar Masters . Former champion Henrik Stenson and Louis Oosthuizen shared second . Quiros is in line for his Masters debut after climbing into the world top 30 .
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(CNN) -- Scientists have discovered the first confirmed Earthlike planet outside our solar system, they announced Wednesday. An artist's impression shows what the planet may look like in close orbit with its sun. "This is the first confirmed rocky planet in another system," astronomer Artie Hatzes told CNN, contrasting the solid planet with gaseous ones like Jupiter and Saturn. But "Earthlike" is a relative term. The planet's composition may be similar to that of Earth, but its environment is more like a vision of hell, the project's lead astronomer said. It is so close to the star it orbits "that the place may well look like Dante's Inferno, with a probable temperature on its 'day face' above 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit (2,000 degrees Celsius) and minus-328 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 200 degrees Celsius) on its night face," said Didier Queloz of Geneva Observatory in Switzerland, the project leader. Hatzes, explaining that one side of the body is always facing the star and the other side always faces away, said the side "facing the sun is probably molten. The other side could actually have ice" if there is water on the planet. "We think it has no atmosphere to redistribute the heat," Hatzes told CNN from Barcelona, Spain, where he is attending the "Pathways Towards Habitable Planets" conference. The astronomers were stunned to find a rocky planet so near a star, he said. "We would have never dreamed you would find a rocky planet so close," he said. "Its year is less than one of our days." The planet, known as CoRoT-7b, was detected early last year, but it took months of observation to determine that it had a composition roughly similar to Earth's, the European Southern Observatory said in a statement. Astronomers were able to measure the dimensions of the planet by watching as it passed in front of the star it orbits, then carried out 70 hours of study of the planet's effect on its star to infer its weight. With that information in hand, they were able to calculate its density -- and were thrilled with what they found, Hatzes said. "What makes this exciting is you compare the density of this planet to the planets in our solar system, it's only Mercury, Venus and Earth that are similar," Hatzes, of the Thuringer observatory in Germany, told CNN. They were helped by the fact that CoRoT-7b is relatively close to Earth -- about 500 light years away, in the constellation of Monoceros, the Unicorn. "It's in our solar neighborhood," Hatzes said. "The thing that made it easier is it's relatively close, so it's relatively bright. If this star was much much farther away, we wouldn't have been able to do these measurements." At about five times Earth's mass (though not quite twice as large in circumference), it is the smallest planet ever spotted outside our solar system. It also has the fastest orbit. The planet whizzes around its star more than seven times faster than Earth moves, and is 23 times closer to the star than Mercury is to our sun. The planet was first detected early in 2008 by the CoRoT satellite, a 30-centimeter space telescope launched by the European Space Agency in December 2006, specifically with the mission of detecting rocky planets outside the solar system. At least 42 scientists at 17 institutions on three continents worked on the project. They are publishing their findings in a special issue of the Astronomy and Astrophysics journal on October 22 as "The CoRoT-7 Planetary System: Two Orbiting Super-Earths."
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The planet, known as CoRoT-7b, was detected early last year . It took months to determine that it had a composition roughly similar to Earth's . The planet is about five times more massive than Earth . Astronomer: It is so close to the star it orbits that it may "look like Dante's Inferno"
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(CNN) -- A March storm, its eyes set on Washington, D.C., broke a snowfall record in Chicago and prompted the cancellation of more than 1,000 flights for Wednesday. The system was expected to dump up at least 4 inches in Pittsburgh beginning Tuesday evening as it moved toward the District of Columbia and Baltimore, which braced for potentially significant accumulations, according to the National Weather Service. Chicago's O'Hare International Airport had 6 inches of snow by Tuesday afternoon, besting a 1999 record for the date by 2.2 inches. It was the first 6-inch snowfall in the Windy City since the Groundhog Day blizzard of 2011, the National Weather Service said. United Airlines said about 650 flights systemwide for Wednesday were canceled, most to and from Dulles International Airport near Washington. "They will try to get as many aircraft out of Dulles today (Tuesday) as possible so they are not sitting in a snow storm," United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy told CNN. "This helps speed up the resumption of flights after the storm is passed. " Track the late-winter storm . U.S. Airways reported 350 cancellations for Wednesday, and American Airlines called off 20 flights, down from 360 on Tuesday. Southwest Airlines said it made no major adjustments for Wednesday. Delta Air Lines reported 120 cancellations on Tuesday. Airlines advised passengers to check their flight status before heading to airports. O'Hare canceled 900 flights on Tuesday and reported delays, while Chicago's other major airport, Midway, canceled 240 flights, according to the city's aviation department. The storm deposited heavy snow on portions of the Ohio Valley and upper Midwest on Tuesday. By midafternoon Tuesday, Lake City, Minnesota, had been blanketed with 11.5 inches of snow since Sunday morning. New Hampton, Iowa, had 8.6 inches and the level stood at 15 inches in Langdon, North Dakota. The storm will intensify in the mid-Atlantic and parts of the Northeast on Wednesday, said CNN meteorologist Dave Hennen, with a rain-snow line from Washington to Boston. West of the line will see significant snowfall, particularly in the higher elevations of Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia. One weather model predicts that the snow won't make it to the District of Columbia, said CNN meteorologist Ivan Cabrera. Another says Washington, Philadelphia and Boston could see a foot of snow. The Washington suburb of Alexandria, Virginia, is prepared to deploy scores of trucks and snow plows, CNN's Weather Center said. Washington and Baltimore were under a winter storm warning Tuesday evening. Arlington National Cemetery put in place inclement weather plans for Wednesday. Amtrak said it expected to operate as scheduled Wednesday. Interstate 95, connecting the capital with Philadelphia, could see heavy snow, the weather service warned. Severe weather hit Gordon County, Georgia, on Tuesday afternoon, more than a month after a fierce system caused widespread damage in the area. Officials reported downed power lines, trees and damage to homes, said Cpl. Andrew York of the county's dispatch center. About 10 homes were damaged, officials told CNN. No injuries have been reported so far. CNN's Joe Sutton, Aaron Cooper and Carma Hassan and CNN meteorologist Sean Morris contributed to this report.
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NEW: More than 1,000 Wednesday flights canceled . Chicago sets snowfall record for the day . Wednesday will be crunch day for mid-Atlantic . Heavy snow possible in upper elevations in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia .
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(CNN) -- BP officials have turned to a new source for help with their oil cleanup efforts: actor Kevin Costner. The oil giant announced Monday that it had ordered 32 machines from Costner's company, the actor told CNN in an exclusive interview on "AC360." The machines use a centrifuge mechanism to separate oil from water and recycle the crude at the same time, Costner said. "This is the key, it's the linchpin to people going back to work. It's certainly a way to fight oil spills in the 21st century," he said. "It creates an efficiency where there are no efficiencies out there, and it's been a long time coming." Costner said he had been working on developing the machine since 1992 or 1993 with the help of his brother, a scientist. Each machine weighs about 4,000 pounds, he said, and will allow crews to collect more oil. "Skimmers are picking up 90 percent water, 10 percent oil, and they throw it into a barge ... What this machine simply does, in that particular case, will give a pure payload. Suddenly a barge will be coming back to shore with 99 percent oil as opposed to the other way around," he said. Got an idea to fix the oil disaster? Share solutions and views . Costner described the machine to a congressional committee last week. "It may seem an unlikely scenario that I'm the one delivering this technology at this moment in time, but from where I'm sitting, it is equally inconceivable that these machines are not already in place," he said. CNN's Anderson Cooper contributed to this report.
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Actor Kevin Costner says BP has ordered 32 of his company's oil cleanup machines . Costner began developing machine with brother in early '90s . Devices use centrifuge to separate oil from water, recycle crude .
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Washington (CNN) -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced some far-reaching proposals Monday for restructuring the massive budget at his agency, including getting rid of the U.S. Joint Forces Command. The cuts could mean a loss of thousands of jobs. The current Defense Department budget totals more than $530 billion a year, and defense officials believe they need increases of 2 to 3 percent a year to sustain the force structure and meet modernization needs. However, the recession caused the department to propose a 1 percent budget increase for next year, and the cuts announced Monday were intended to help hold down overall costs. "We must be mindful of the difficult economic and fiscal situation facing our nation," Gates told reporters at the Pentagon. "As a matter of principle and political reality, the Department of Defense cannot expect America's elected representatives to approve budget increases each year unless we are doing a good job, indeed, everything possible to make every dollar count." Gate's acknowledged the plan was "politically fraught," and congressional criticism began even before Gates was finished announcing the moves. The proposal to eliminate the Joint Forces Command, which is based in Norfolk, Virginia, met with opposition from both the state's U.S. Democratic senators. Sen. Jim Webb released a statement saying getting rid of it "would be a step backward and could be harmful" to the military, while Sen. Mark Warner said: "I can see no rational basis for dismantling" the Joint Forces Command. The command, which has an annual budget of $240 million and 2,800 military and civilian employees, is one of the department's 10 "combatant commands." Unlike most of the others, it does not have a particular global region of responsibility, such as Central Command that is responsible for the Middle East. The command is made up of soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who are trained and equipped to work together in response to the needs of other combatant commands. It grew out of the old Atlantic Command and became the Joint Forces Command in 1999. Gen. James Mattis had been commander until he was recently picked to become Centcom commander. Gen. Raymond Odierno, currently head of U.S. forces in Iraq, has been picked to run the Joint Forces Command. "I told Ray that his assignment at JFCOM is essentially the same as his assignment in Iraq, and that is working himself out of a job." Gates said. Eliminating the Joint Forces Command is just one of a wide-ranging series of proposals presented by Gates. Others include: . -- Eliminating some of the 65 military boards and commissions to cut the budget for them by 25 percent in fiscal year 2011; . -- A review of all Defense Department intelligence to eliminate needless duplication; . -- Eliminating the Defense Department's Business Transformation Agency, which has day-to-day oversight of acquisition programs that would be handled by others in the department; . -- Reducing funding for service support contractors by 10 percent a year for each of the next three years; . -- Freezing the number of jobs in the Officer of the Secretary of Defense, the Defense Agencies and Combatant Commands at current levels; . -- Seeking to stop "brass creep," a term former Sen. John Glenn used for situations when higher-ranking officers were doing jobs that lower ranking officers could handle. To address that problem, Gates is ordering a freeze on the number of generals, admirals and senior civilian officials at current levels. Gates was adamant that the Pentagon must change its way of thinking about money. "The culture of endless money that has taken hold must be replaced by a culture of savings and restraint," Gates said. "Toward this end, I am directing that any new proposal or initiatives, large or small, be it policy, program or ceremony, come with a cost estimate. That price tag will help us determine whether what we are gaining or hope to gain is really worth the cost."
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Defense Department budget cuts could mean the loss of thousands of jobs . Virginia senators oppose possible elimination of Joint Forces Command . Recession leads to lower proposed increase for next year . Defense Secretary Robert Gates announces cuts to hold down overall costs .
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Paris (CNN) -- French presidential frontrunner Francois Hollande vowed Friday to crack down on illegal immigration, as he and incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy battle to win over the public ahead of a second-round vote. Hollande, of the center-left Socialist party, will hold a rally in the central city of Limoges Friday evening, while Sarkozy addresses supporters in Dijon, to the east. The pair face a run-off vote for the presidency on May 6. Sarkozy received 27.2% of the vote in the first round of voting last Sunday, just behind Hollande's 28.6%. Speaking to French radio station RTL Friday morning, Hollande said that the number of legal economic migrants should be limited and that he wants to "fight against" illegal immigration. Immigration has been a key election issue, alongside the struggling economy and high unemployment figures. Hollande's comments came hours after the two rivals were quizzed on television channel France 2 Thursday night, taking turns to answer journalists' questions. Hollande, who was first to be put on the spot, said he feels "confident" and the political left's results had been even better than hoped for. "Nothing is decided until the people have spoken. I have three duties: to put things right in France, to apply justice where it has been missing, and to bring together the French around a great cause -- the young people." Sarkozy, who leads the center-right UMP party, defended his record, saying: "I have been president for five years. I've tried to protect France with all my might." He said predictions of a landslide for the left in the first round had not been borne out, with the far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen coming third, well ahead of far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon. Since Sunday, both Sarkozy and Hollande have sought to reach out to the 6.5 million people who voted for the National Front, giving it 18% of the vote. "They are not from the extreme right, they are expressing themselves through a vote of crisis or of loyalty," Sarkozy said on France 2. "I would like to say to them that I respect them. When someone suffers or protests, we must listen to them in order to be able to provide them with responses." However, Sarkozy rejected any notion of striking a deal with the far-right group in remarks Wednesday. The National Front's tough line on immigration appears to have struck a chord with many voters. Responding to a question on Thursday's TV show, Hollande said, "There are too many foreigners" in France. "But that does not mean that we must expel those who are here on our territory." Hollande, who has previously avoided that question, said those who are in France legally would be able to remain -- but those who do not have the right to live there would be driven out. Sarkozy said he wanted to cut by half the number of foreigners allowed into the country over the next five years. The reason, he said, is that he wants to welcome them in the right way, "with housing and employment, and that from now on, before all entries onto French national soil ... an exam on the French language and republican values should be passed." Immigrants should have rights and responsibilities equal to those born in France, he said, even if he is opposed to extending them the right to vote. Hollande also addressed France's position in Europe, saying Germany would have to negotiate on a fiscal pact agreed by the eurozone in order to permit growth. "It's not Germany who will decide everything for all of Europe," he said. "We are not just any country in Europe. We are one of the leaders of Europe." The two contenders will take part in their first head-to-head televised debate next Wednesday. If elected, Hollande would be France's first left-wing president since Francois Mitterrand left office in 1995. Sarkozy has been president since 2007. CNN's Saskya Vandoorne contributed to this report.
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Election frontrunner Francois Hollande says he wants to combat illegal immigration . President Nicolas Sarkozy says he wants to halve the number of foreigners entering France . Both are reaching out to people who backed a far-right candidate in first-round voting . Hollande and Sarkozy appeared on TV to answer journalists' questions .
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(CNN) -- It's been three weeks since two little girls in Iowa went missing while riding their bicycles near a lake. On Sunday, two cars in the NASCAR Sprint Cup race will sport a special decal bearing the images of the cousins to raise awareness in the case. The beaming faces of Elizabeth Collins, 8, and Lyric Cook, 10, will be on the deck lid of cars No. 83 and 93 at the Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono Raceway. A telephone number for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children will also be on the decal of the two Toyotas, said BK Racing, which owns both cars. "Being from Iowa, and having some other folks in the sport from Iowa, we're all pulling together to raise as much attention as possible to help locate the two missing girls," said Landon Cassil of Cedar Rapids and driver of No. 83 . "I really want to do as much as possible and this is one step." Travis Kvapil, who drives No. 93, is a father of three and hopes the team's efforts will aid in the search. "As a parent, I want to do anything I can to help the families locate their children," he said. Lyric and Elizabeth were last seen by their grandmother on July 13. Authorities investigating their disappearance believe they are still alive. "We believe these girls are alive and we are not discouraged by the passage of time since their disappearance," FBI spokeswoman Sandy Breault told reporters in Evansdale, Iowa, last month. She declined to discuss exactly what evidence investigators might have that pushed them toward that conclusion. Breault said she believes someone knows something, and she urged anyone with information to step forward. Grandmother: 'We will fight' A $50,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the successful recovery of the girls and the prosecution of the person, or people, responsible, she said. "Cooperation with law enforcement is the key factor in discovering the whereabouts of Lyric and Elizabeth. Unfortunately, in this case law enforcement has not received total cooperation from all family and close friends. It's important to note that the majority of the family has cooperated 100%," Breault said. "We believe there's someone out there and we would urge them to come forward." Family of missing Iowa girls 'bracing for the worst, but hoping for the best' The girls' bicycles and a purse were found near Meyers Lake hours after they were reported missing. A search of the 25-acre lake turned up nothing, and the FBI is confident the girls aren't in the lake, said Breault. Authorities are now calling their disappearance an abduction.
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Elizabeth and Lyric's pictures will be on the deck lid of two cars . "I really want to do as much as possible," says Landon Cassil . The girls are last seen on July 13 . Authorities believe they are still alive .
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(CNN) -- A British woman beheaded in an apparently random supermarket attack in Spain's Canary Islands has been identified as grandmother Jennifer Mills-Westley. She was retired and living between Tenerife in the Canary Islands and France, where a daughter and grandchildren live, her family said in a statement Saturday. "She was full of life, generous of heart, would do anything for anyone," said her daughter, who was only identified as Sarah. The family is "devastated by the news of her death," her daughter said. "We now have to find a way of living without her love and light," she added. Mills-Westley was a retired county council worker in Norfolk, eastern England, council leader Derrick Murphy told CNN. Murphy said he did not know her personally, having joined the council after she retired, but that he planned to have current and former council employees put together a tribute to her. A knife-wielding man attacked a Mills-Westley in a supermarket, eventually cutting off her head and running away with it, government officials in Tenerife said Friday. The man entered a shopping center in the town of Arona, in the Cristianos area of Tenerife, and stole a knife from the supermarket before attacking the apparent stranger, a central government spokeswoman said. Shopping center security guards were alerted and chased the man, subduing him until police arrived. The man, whom national police in Tenerife identified as a Bulgarian, was apparently known in the shopping area, the government spokeswoman said. The British Foreign Office confirmed Friday that a British national had died in Tenerife. British officials there are in contact with Spanish authorities about the incident, the Foreign Office said. CNN's Al Goodman, Per Nyberg and Bharati Naik contributed to this report.
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Jennifer Mills-Westley was "generous of heart," her daughter says . She was killed in an apparently random attack in Spain . A man stole a knife, then cut off her head with it .
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New York (CNN) -- As snow fell across New York Harbor, Isabel Belarsky clutched her mother, Clara, aboard a passenger ship that puttered toward Ellis Island and wondered what their new lives would bring. The year was 1930. About a week earlier, the 10-year-old girl from what is now called St. Petersburg, Russia, had embarked on a transatlantic journey with her Ukrainian parents from the French port city of Cherbourg, escaping what she described as Jewish persecution at the start of Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union. On an island near Manhattan stood the copper colossus that would etch her first memories of the new world. "It was a wonderful sight," she said of the Statue of Liberty, which marked its 125th anniversary Friday. The idea for the monument is thought to have been conceived at a 19th-century dinner party among French aristocrats, historians say, who sought to pay tribute to American liberty. And while the French gift is also widely believed to have at least in part catered to domestic politics, for many, it quickly became a symbol of hope and promise in America's post- Civil War period. "The arrival on Ellis Island is the fulfillment that you know something good is going to happen to you," said Belarksy, now a 91-year-old widow living in a Russian enclave of Brooklyn, New York. Her family became part of the more than 12 million immigrants processed through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954, according to the U.S. National Park Service. Adjacent to Ellis towers Lady Liberty, measuring more than 305 feet from base to torch. Originally, the statue was supposed to be an Egyptian peasant girl that would have stood at the entrance of Egypt's then-new Suez Canal, but plans would evolve into the Roman goddess who would instead adorn New York Harbor. "The sculptor, (Frederic) Bartholdi, was very clever," said Edward Berenson, professor of history and director of the Institute of French Studies at New York University. "He put (the statue) where he did because it's right at the narrows of New York Harbor, so he knew that every boat that came into New York would have to come really close to it. People felt like they could reach out and touch it," he said. Inspired perhaps by Egypt's colossal statues during his own travels to Cairo, Berenson noted, Bartholdi sought to build a monument of his own in a tribute to American liberty and its newfound emancipation of the slaves. The statue rests atop a sculpted wrangling of broken chains on New York's Liberty Island. Only years later, Berenson argues, did the monument come to symbolize immigration to the broader public, despite the structure's engraved plaque bearing the now-famous poem by Emma Lazarus, asking for the "huddled masses yearning to breathe free." Like many who made the perilous journey, Belarsky said, she had often wondered what kind of life was waiting for her on the shores behind the monument. "It was quite frightening," she recalled. "The three of us, my father, my mother and I, wanted for someone to come with money or to tell us what's next." And though a U.S. law passed six years earlier had largely restricted immigration, her father, Sidor, had managed to secure three tickets to America by way of a talent scout who visited the Leningrad conservatory where he had performed as an opera singer. "He had such a beautiful voice," she said. Their travel permit, however, was only temporary. Sidor had acquired a six-month visa to teach at Brigham Young University, Belarsky said. The young family would nonetheless settle more permanently in a west Manhattan apartment. And unlike many who eventually returned to their homelands in Europe, the Belarskys decided to leave St. Petersburg -- then known as Leningrad -- behind. "Authorities were starting to clamp down and consolidate the social state and Soviet power around Stalin," said Fiona Hill, a Russia expert at the Washington-based Brookings Institution. "As an opera singer, you might not have wanted to start singing Soviet anthems." So the young family left Russia without plans to return, Belarsky added. And though many immigrants entered the United States through Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, New Orleans and Miami, historians say steamship companies most often cruised into New York Harbor, commonly making the Statue of Liberty the first land sighting for new arrivals. "Everybody spoke of the golden land," Belarksy said. " 'Come to America, where there's gold on the streets,' until they came here and they had to live in walk-up tenement houses," she said, referencing hardships often endured in overcrowded city buildings. Immigrants also commonly faced unsanitary and unsafe work conditions on docks and in factories as America's need for industrial labor grew. "If you think immigration is unpopular now," Berenson said, "if anything, it was even more unpopular in the 1890s and the first part of the 20th century." Successive immigrant waves, however, still rushed to America's shores through Ellis Island and past the Statue of Liberty, often buoyed by the prospect of economic opportunity. "I think it took a while for people to think of themselves as Americans," Berenson said. "For an awful lot of people, what they wanted was to think of themselves as whatever they were originally and as Americans too." Anniversary celebrations of the Statue of Liberty were marked Friday by a series of official speeches and an array of webcams, provided by Earthcam, that streamed video footage from the torch. The statue will close for renovations starting Saturday, though Liberty Island will remain open, according to the National Park Service.
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Friday marks the 125th anniversary of the unveiling of the Statue of Liberty . A Russian immigrant recalls her Ellis Island passage in 1930 . The Statue of Liberty was a French gift . Webcams stream video footage from the torch on anniversary .
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Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- North Korea has reacted angrily to the use of its flag during live-fire drills by South Korea and the United States, calling it "a grave provocative act." The comments from Pyongyang on Sunday came after the allies held military drills last week less than 50 kilometers (30 miles) away from the North Korean border, involving more than 2,000 military personnel. An unidentified North Korean foreign ministry spokesman accused South Korea and the United States of firing "live bullets and shells" at the flag, according to a report by the state-run Korean Central News Agency. The act was "the most vivid expression of their hostile policy," the spokesman said. The North Korean flag was put on an elevated hill but was not directly used as a target during the exercises, an official for the South Korean Defense Ministry said, declining to be identified. "It was used only as a symbol of North Korean territory and the drill was a defensive one," he added. More than 230 military weapons were used in the U.S.-South Korean exercises on Tuesday and Friday last week, including newly upgraded attack helicopters and artillery. The use of the flag is clearly a provocation for North Korean officials, who will take it as an insult to their identity and dignity, said Choi Jong-kun, a professor at Yonsei University. North Korea slams joint drill among U.S., Japan and South Korea . "They are not likely to respond physically, but they will definitely capitalize this opportunity for the future," he added. Pyongyang nonetheless used the military drills as an opportunity to remind Seoul and Washington of its nuclear weapons program. The North "will further bolster up its nuclear deterrent for self-defence as long as the U.S., the world's biggest nuclear weapons state, persists in its hostile policy," KCNA cited the Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying. South Korea said last month that satellite images suggested that North Korea was ready to carry out a fresh nuclear test but that the reclusive state was awaiting a "political decision" on whether or not to go ahead. Many analysts assume an atomic test by North Korea is just a matter of time following the failure of a controversial rocket launch in April. Two previous rocket launches in 2006 and 2009 were followed weeks or months later by nuclear tests. The two Koreas are still technically at war since the 1950-53 conflict that left the Korean Peninsula divided along a heavily militarized border. The United States has tens of thousands of troops stationed in South Korea. The live-fire drills were part of a series of military exercises last week, including a trilateral naval drill between the United States, South Korea and Japan. Clinton says young North Korean leader 'has a choice'
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The United States and South Korea hold a joint military exercises . A North Korean flag is used in the live-fire drills . Pyongyang says that constitutes a grave provocation . South Korea says the flag was to mark territory and was not used as a target .
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(BudgetTravel.com) -- We know, you and your credit card have been through a lot together. You used it to buy your new laptop and your vacation to France, to pay the electricity bill and support your weekly Whole Foods habit. There have been good times, like the time your card covered your car rental insurance, or the time you got a $50 gift card in the mail from the company's rewards program. But ask yourself, what has your credit card really done for you lately? Hiked its Annual Percentage Rate, added mysterious fees, punished you for 'foreign transactions' on your trip to Mexico? Accept it: this relationship isn't going to work out. It's time to put your spending power into a credit card program that values your thirst for traveling. Budget Travel: 10 gorgeous pools you won't believe are public . Citi Gold/AAdvantage Visa Signature Card . Best for: Domestic travelers who often fly to the same destination . So you visit your grandmother twice a year in Cincinnati and fly home to Santa Barbara on all major holidays? This Visa card features a 'Reduced Mileage Awards' program that allows cardholders to fly to select AA destinations for 7,500 fewer miles] on a round-trip ticket. If you spend just $750 on the card in the first four months, American Airlines will award you 20,000 bonus miles. You'll earn one AAdvantage mile for every dollar spent, and there are no blackout dates for travel. Annual fee after first year - $50 . Chase Sapphire Preferred . Best for: Globetrotters . Let's say it together now: no foreign transaction fees. That means you won't be charged extra for using your card anywhere overseas, a crucial benefit for international travelers. The Chase Sapphire Preferred also lets you turn your points into miles with a 1:1 exchange into Continental/United Airlines and British Airways. The introductory offer is tempting: spend $3,000 in the first three months and you'll earn 50,000 miles. Annual fee after first year - $95 . Budget Travel: 12 restaurants with spectacular views . Starwood Preferred Guest/American Express . Best for: Hotel connoisseurs and travelers to Latin America . Always wanted to stay at the W Barcelona or the St. Regis New York? Starpoints earned on this card can be redeemed at over 1,000 hotels in nearly 100 countries. The first time you use your card, you'll earn 10,000 Starpoints, enough for a free night at a 4-star property You can also transfer your Starpoints on a 1:1 basis into more than 30 frequent flier programs. Travelers to Central and South America win especially big with this card - Starpoints are instantly doubled if you transfer them into LAN's frequent flier program. Annual fee after first year - $65 . American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card . Best for: Big spenders . Do you put more than $2,000 a month on your credit card? This program will triple your points when you buy a plane ticket and double your points when you spend on gas and groceries. Because the annual fee is on the steep side, this card is a much better deal if you rack up a lot of charges on your card each month. Your earned points never expire; use them on any airline, anytime, by reserving a flight through American Express Travel, or transfer them into your preferred frequent flyer program. Annual fee after first year - $175 . Continental Airlines OnePass Plus Chase MasterCard . Best for: Continental/United frequent flyers . The Continental/United frequent flyer program is widely considered one of the easiest to use-it often charges fewer miles to qualify for a free ticket than other programs do and there are fewer blackout dates. The OnePass Plus offers cardholders a free checked bag on any flight in the system (Continental charges $25 for the first checked bag), flexibility to change your reward travel dates for free up to 21 days in advance of travel, and a 25,000-mile bonus when you make your first purchase. Annual fee after first year - $95 . Budget Travel: 4 most common reasons airlines lose luggage . Get the best travel deals and tips emailed to you FREE - CLICK HERE! Copyright © 2011 Newsweek Budget Travel, Inc., all rights reserved.
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Put your spending power into a credit card program that values your thirst for traveling . Chase Sapphire Preferred is best for globetrotters . Continental Airlines OnePass Plus Chase MasterCard suits those flying United/Continental .
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(CNN) -- Harvard University moved Thursday to allow ROTC programs to set up on campus, after years of restricting the U.S. military's access because of its "don't ask, don't tell" policy. The Cambridge, Massachusetts, school barred Reserve Officers' Training Corps programs from being based on its campus 40 years ago, at the height of the Vietnam War. For more than a decade, university leaders -- among them, former law school dean and current U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan -- have cited the military's policy prohibiting gays and lesbians from serving openly as the chief rationale for continuing the ban. Harvard President Drew Faust cited the recent decision to overturn that policy as the genesis for the university's new tact. She will sign an agreement Friday with Navy Secretary Ray Mabus to re-establish a home for ROTC on campus, the school announced in a press release. "Our renewed relationship affirms the vital role that the members of our armed forces play in serving the nation and securing our freedoms, while also affirming inclusion and opportunity as powerful American ideals," Faust said in the statement. The full, formal recognition will take effect once repeal of the so-called "don't ask, don't tell" law, which had made it against military policy for homosexuals to serve openly, is complete this summer, according to the release. Harvard will appoint a director for the Navy ROTC program and take over direct financial responsibility for the cost of students to participate in the program. Congress voted to repeal the policy in December, setting off a three-part process. Last month, for instance, all four branches of the U.S. military began training required as part of the repeal. The university is setting up a committee, to be chaired by professor Kevin "Kit" Parker, a U.S. Army Reserve captain who served three tours in Afghanistan, to look into a host of issues, including bringing other military branches back onto campus. Harvard was one of the first six educational institutions, in 1926, to host Naval ROTC programs, the Navy noted in a release. Once the change goes into effect, active-duty Navy and Marines personnel will meet on campus with students participating in the ROTC program. "(Navy) ROTC's return to Harvard is good for the university, good for the military, and good for the country," said Mabus, in a statement from the Navy. "With exposure comes understanding, and through understanding comes strength." Harvard's own policy regarding ROTC on campus was the subject of national attention eight months ago, when Kagan -- who was then a nominee for the high court -- came under criticism by Republican senators who complained that she actively tried to block military recruiters from Harvard Law School when she was dean. Kagan and the White House strongly defended her actions, saying that while she opposed the military's policy, Kagan never kept recruiters off the university. Four months after taking the job as Harvard's dean, in October 2003, Kagan sent a campus-wide email to students saying that to give recruiters equal access to the campus "causes me deep distress. I abhor the military's discriminatory recruitment policy." She called the "don't ask, don't tell" policy "a profound wrong -- a moral injustice of the first order." CNN's Greg Botelho contributed to this report.
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NEW: The Navy secretary calls the move "good for the university, good for the military" Harvard's president and the Navy secretary will sign a deal to return ROTC to campus . The school had banned ROTC, in part due to opposition to the "don't ask, don't tell" policy . Change will take effect this summer, once the repeal is implemented by the military .
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Bangkok, Thailand (CNN) -- Thai police said Tuesday that they would seek court permission to extend the detention of a Lebanese man they have charged with illegal possession of explosive materials. The move comes amid tension after the United States and Israel warned their citizens in Bangkok on Friday of the possibility of an imminent terrorist attack. The police charged the man, Atris Hussein, on Monday after finding "initial chemical materials that could produce bombs" in an area just outside Bangkok. The police said Hussein, who also holds a Swedish passport, led them to the location. The authorities are accusing Hussein of trying to attack spots in Bangkok that are popular with Western tourists and say he is believed to belong to Hezbollah, the Shiite Muslim group active in Lebanon that the United States views as a terrorist organization. Hussein will be brought to the criminal court Tuesday, so that the police can request authorization to continue to hold him as they pursue their investigation, said Piya Uthayo, a police spokesman. The charges of illegally possessing explosives carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Thai authorities said Sunday they were still looking for another suspect of Middle Eastern origin in the case, providing a sketch of his face. The materials found Monday in Samutsakorn, southwest of Bangkok, included 400 boxes of fertilizers weighing a total of more than 4,000 kilograms and 1,500 liters of liquid ammonia nitrate, together with 400 electric fans, according to CNN affiliate MCOT. They were found in a shop house, a type of store common in Southeast Asia that gives onto the sidewalk and also serves as the owner's residence. Based on comments from Hussein, the authorities believe that "Thailand is only a transit point to send these initial explosive materials to other regional countries," said Police General Priewpan Damapong. A U.S. Embassy statement on Friday spoke of "foreign terrorists" who may be planning attacks "in the near future." It urged U.S. citizens to exercise caution when visiting public areas where large groups of Western tourists gather in Bangkok. Israel issued a similar alert later Friday. Thailand is a highly popular tourist destination, and Bangkok serves as a major transport hub for the Southeast Asian region. The country has undergone periods of unrest in recent years. It experienced a spate of political violence during anti-government demonstrations in 2010. And Muslim separatists in southern Thailand have long battled government forces in a country that is overwhelmingly Buddhist, with a number of bombings taking place last year.
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Thai police have charged a Lebanese man with illegally possessing explosives . They will ask a court to extend the period of his detention for further investigation . The move comes after the U.S. and Israel warned of a terrorist threat in Bangkok . Thai authorities are accusing the suspect of plotting attacks .
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(CNN) -- Two of the richest organizations in sport announced Tuesday that they have partnered to buy a Major League Soccer franchise in New York. English Premier League side Manchester City will be the majority owner with MLB giants New York Yankees also claiming a stake in the team -- which will be named New York City FC (NYCFC). The MLS currently has 19 clubs -- including the New York Bulls -- with NYCFC looking to join the league for the 2015 season. "This is a transformational development that will elevate the league to new heights in this country," said MLS Commissioner Don Garber. "The New York area is home to more than 19 million people -- and we look forward to an intense crosstown rivalry between New York City Football Club and the New York Red Bulls that will captivate this great city," he added. Abu-Dhabi owned Manchester City will take the lead on recruiting the management team, staff and players for the new franchise, which will be on the hunt for a permanent home in the Big Apple -- with the Flushing Meadows area of Queens identified as a possible location. "New York is a legendary sports town, as well as a thriving global city with a rapidly expanding soccer fan-base," Ferran Soriano, the Chief Executive Officer of Manchester City said. City, who saw their own cross city rivals Manchester United wrest the EPL title from them this season, have already expanded their activities in the United States by setting up community programs in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington D.C. They have an existing marketing deal with 27-time World Series champion Yankees and the Manchester City squad will be in New York to play a friendly against fellow EPL giants Chelsea at the Yankee Stadium Saturday. "We are pleased to be associated with this major move by MLS to increase its presence in the New York market," said Hal Steinbrenner, managing general partner of the Yankees. Steinbrenner said they wanted to work with City to "create something very special for the soccer fans of New York." The Red Bulls, who are owned by the soft drinks company bearing that name, have recruited the likes of former Arsenal, Barcelona and French international star Thierry Henry and have a growing fan base. Watch video: Henry enjoys life at the Bulls . They have a purpose built stadium in New Jersey, while the New York Cosmos have also reformed and will join the second-tier of the MLS later this year. In the 1970s the Cosmos boasted a legendary line-up which included Brazil's Pele and former German international captain Franz Beckenbauer. They even played for two seasons at the Yankee Stadium but they folded in 1984 -- the same year the then North American Soccer League (NASL) collapsed. Since the formation of the MLS in 1996, football has enjoyed steady growth in the United States -- boosted by the arrival of David Beckham to Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007. Beckham, who helped Galaxy to the MLS championship for the past two seasons, retired after a brief spell with Paris Saint-Germain and is reported to want to set up his own franchise in the league.
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New York City FC to become 20th club in Major League Soccer . EPL Manchester City and MLB giants New York Yankees to partner in franchise . Abu-Dhabi owned Man City will be majority owner . Club hope to enter the MLS in 2015 .
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(CNN) -- SeaWorld's "Bands, BBQ and Brew" concert series may be down to just food and beer soon as Trisha Yearwood joins the list of artists canceling shows. Willie Nelson, Heart, Barenaked Ladies and Cheap Trick previously withdrew amid pressure from fans who signed online petitions, tweeted and posted on Facebook pages demanding they not play at the Orlando theme park. Fans became upset after watching the CNN documentary "Blackfish," which first aired on CNN in October. The film tells the story of the killing in 2010 of a SeaWorld trainer by an orca. It raises questions about the safety and humaneness of keeping killer whales in captivity. Learn more about CNN Films 'Blackfish' "In light of recent concerns, Trisha has decided to remove the February 22 date from her upcoming tour plans," the country singer's representative told CNN Thursday. The news quickly lit up Twitter. "We expect that other artists will be targeted in this campaign," SeaWorld spokesman Nick Gollattscheck told CNN after Cheap Trick canceled Wednesday. Joan Jett to SeaWorld: Stop rockin' the whales . The park's concert schedule -- which also previously listed REO Speedwagon, Martina McBride, 38 Special, Justin Moore and Scotty McCreery -- has disappeared from SeaWorld's website. It now simply promises "incredible concerts with top artists in classic rock and country music." SeaWorld is working to book replacement acts, Gollattscheck said. "We'll announce the full lineup of bands when all artists have been confirmed. We'll repost the schedule on our site then." Filmmaker: Why I made 'Blackfish' The Canadian rock band Barenaked Ladies was the first to cancel, reacting to a petition posted on Change.org. "This is a complicated issue, and we don't claim to understand all of it, but we don't feel comfortable proceeding with the gig at this time," the band said on its Facebook page. Sisters Nancy and Ann Wilson of Heart did not elaborate last week when they announced their decision to cancel at SeaWorld, although they acknowledged it was "due to the controversial documentary film." "While we're disappointed a small group of misinformed individuals was able to deny fans what would have been great concerts at SeaWorld," Gollattscheck said. SeaWorld said it would like the musical artists to learn for themselves about SeaWorld. "The bands and artists have a standing invitation to visit any of our parks to see firsthand or to speak to any of our animal experts to learn for themselves how we care for animals and how little truth there is to the allegations made by animal extremist groups opposed to the zoological display of marine mammals," Gollattscheck said. SeaWorld says the documentary ignores the park's conservation efforts and research. SeaWorld challenges ban limiting interaction between whale and trainer . CNN's Jane Caffrey and Carolyn Sung contributed to this report.
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Trisha Yearwood cancels SeaWorld gig "In light of recent concerns," rep says . Willie Nelson, Heart, Barenaked Ladies and Cheap Trick previously canceled . Fans became upset after watching the CNN documentary "Blackfish" SeaWorld says it would like the artists to learn for themselves about SeaWorld .
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(CNN) -- European champions Spain beat Honduras 2-0 in Group H to get their World Cup campaign back on track. Striker David Villa scored twice and missed a penalty in Johannesburg as the Spanish bounced back from their shock defeat to Switzerland in their opening game. Earlier, Chile beat the 10-man Swiss 1-0 in Port Elizabeth, a victory which puts the South Americans top of the group. Mark Gonzalez headed the only goal of the game shortly after the Swiss had set a new World Cup record for time without conceding a goal, surpassing Italy's mark of 549 minutes midway through the second half. Spain 2-0 Honduras . Spain came into their Group H clash with Honduras knowing that only a win would suffice after their surprise 1-0 loss to the Swiss. Villa had already rattled the crossbar from long range when he gave the Europeans the lead with one of the goals of the tournament so far. Picking the ball up on the left flank, the Barcelona-bound front man cut between two Hondurans, went round another and smashed a shot into the top corner. Liverpool striker Fernando Torres, recalled to the starting line-up following knee surgery, missed a string of straightforward chances and looked frustrated when he was taken off in the second half. Villa's second goal arrived six minutes after half-time when his left-footed shot from outside the area deflected off a Honduran defender and looped over goalkeeper Noel Valladares. Villa was handed a golden opportunity to score his hat-trick when Emilio Izaguirre brought down Jesus Navas in the box. But the former Valencia frontman rolled his penalty wide of the post. Spain continued to dominate, with substitute Cesc Fabregas and Villa coming close in the final stages. But Vicente Del Bosque's side may live to regret their failure to add to the score-line should the final placings in Group H come down to goal difference. Chile 1-0 Switzerland . Chile had to work hard for their victory over 10-man Switzerland in Port Elizabeth which means the five South American teams are still to be beaten at this World Cup. The Chileans made the brighter start and Swiss goalkeeper Diego Benaglio had to be at his best to keep out powerful efforts from Arturo Vidal and Carlos Carmona. In a fiery first half, Switzerland were reduced to 10 men after half an hour when West Ham's Valon Behrami was shown a red card for an elbow on Vidal. Chile had welcomed Humberto Suazo, the top scorer in South American qualifying, back to their starting line-up following a hamstring injury, but he looked short of full fitness, and was replaced at half-time after heading his best chance over the bar. The second half was a Chilean onslaught and the South Americans looked to have taken the lead from a set-piece early in the second half when Alexis Sanchez's deflected shot flew into the net, but the goal was ruled out because two Chilean players were offside. Switzerland, who pulled off one of the biggest shocks of the tournament by beating Spain 1-0, looked on course for another impressive result before their defense was finally breached with just over 15 minutes to go. A precise pass sent substitute Esteban Paredes clear down the right flank and his center found the unmarked Gonzalez, whose header bounced and struck the underside of the bar before going into the net. Paredes wasted two clear chances to extend the Chilean lead and Marcelo Bielsa's side were almost made to pay the ultimate price in the last minute. A brisk Swiss counter-attack found its way to Eren Derdiyok, whose side-footed shot went narrowly wide. Chile meet Spain and Switzerland face Honduras in the final round of group games on June 25.
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Spain defeat Honduras 2-0 to get their World Cup campaign back on track . Barcelona-bound David Villa scores both goals for the European champions . Chile top Group H after defeating 10-man Switzerland 1-0 in Port Elizabeth . Swiss set a new record for consecutive minutes without conceding a goal .
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(CNN) -- Retired basketball icon Michael Jordan bought a majority share of the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats, officials said Saturday. Jordan, who was already a minority owner of the team, headed a group that bought a majority share of the team from businessman Robert Johnson, Johnson said in a statement. Johnson said he has signed a "definitive agreement" to sell majority interest of Bobcats Sports and Entertainment to Michael Jordan and MJ Basketball Holdings, LLC. The deal is subject to NBA approval. Details on the purchase price were not available. Jordan has overseen the team's basketball operations in recent years. He won six NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls. Johnson, who founded BET and sold it to Viacom for $3 billion in 2001, announced that he had been looking for someone to buy earlier this year. His fortune was depleted by an expensive divorce, but in a 2009 interview with CNN, Johnson estimated his net worth was still $1.1 billion. Johnson's resume is full of firsts: BET was the first African-American owned company traded on the NYSE. He was the first African-American billionaire in the United States. And, in 2002, he became the first African-American majority owner of a professional sports franchise.
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Michael Jordan buys controlling stake in Charlotte Bobcats franchise . Jordan has been running team's basketball operations . Businessman Robert Johnson had been looking to sell team .
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(CNN) -- This month, the Road to Rio is making a stop in the U.S. state of California to discover what cities are doing there to cut carbon emissions. CNN's Isha Sesay, Thelma Gutierrez and special correspondent Philippe Cousteau seek out the best green innovations in Los Angeles, including variety of new car technologies, a bicycle kitchen and smog eating tile. From there, Philippe Cousteau heads to northern California to check out how artists are giving garbage a whole new form and sense of respect. Then he heads to a community that is producing as much energy as it's using in Davis, California. Finally, his assignment really gets tough as he heads to Napa Valley to see how wineries are getting a green makeover. Meanwhile, Thelma Gutierrez visits one of the largest landfills in the country to see first hand exactly where our garbage is going. And Isha Sesay gets a behind-the-scenes tour of Warner Brothers studios to witness the newest green innovations they're implementing. Watch the show at the following times: . Wednesday, April 18: 0930,1630, . Saturday, April 21: 0430, 1130, 1830, . Sunday, April 22: 0430, 1130, 1830 . Saturday, April 28: 1130, . Sunday, April 29: 0430,1830 . (all times GMT)
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Road to Rio travels to California, U.S to see what they are doing to cut carbon emissions . Philippe Cousteau goes north to see how refuse transforms into art and wineries going green . The team visits Warner Brothers studios to see the green innovations they are using .
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(CNN) -- President Obama on Wednesday will assume the delicate role of comforting a nation still in shock in the aftermath of the Arizona shootings while also transcending the tragedy to move a grieving nation forward. As difficult and unique as the task may be, Obama needs to look no further than his role model Ronald Reagan and his Democratic predecessor Bill Clinton for a lesson in how to console the country. Both presidents were praised for the leadership they showed in the aftermath of two domestic disasters -- the Challenger explosion in 1986 and the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. "This is Obama's Challenger-Oklahoma City moment," presidential historian Douglas Brinkley said. Reagan and Clinton each paid tribute to the victims, gave support to the survivors and struck a tone of healing, as Obama will likely do when he speaks at the memorial service at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Were you affected by the shootings? Share your memories, tributes . The White House hasn't released details of what the president will say except that he will devote most of his remarks to memorializing the victims. A 9-year-old girl, a federal judge and four others were killed in the weekend shooting. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords remains in critical condition after being shot in the head. "Obama's speech will be a vigil with rhetoric that doesn't soar, but touches the heart," Brinkley said. "We want him to be our empathizer-in-chief. He's our representative at the memorial service for how we collectively feel. And that's what powerful rhetoric from presidents can do." Reagan and Clinton both delivered speeches that were brief yet poignant when they addressed a grieving public. Reagan encouraged the country to find "the courage to look for the seeds of hope." In the aftermath of a bombing that killed 168 people, Clinton told mourners, "You have lost too much, but you have not lost everything. And you have certainly not lost America, for we will stand with you for as many tomorrows as it takes." Brinkley calls Clinton's memorial remarks "the finest speech" he ever gave. "If [Obama] can get anywhere near the perfect tone touched after Oklahoma City, the country will be deeply grateful to him," he said. But whether Obama's speech serves as a pivotal unifying moment in his presidency depends on his ability to put the tragedy in a larger context, said Michael Wagner, a professor in the political science department at the University of Nebraska. "Typically the shelf life of presidential speeches is pretty short," Wagner said. "On the other hand, he is somebody who ran for office as someone who wanted to change the tone in Washington, so it certainly could galvanize his efforts with respect to that particular goal." Although there is no indication that the heated political atmosphere played a part in the shooter's motive, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have called on their colleagues to tone it down. Goodwill, however, evaporates quickly in politics. "To expect that this speech is going to change things is a pretty high expectation," Wagner noted. Jeff Shesol, a Clinton speech writer, said there is a need for the president to be heard in moments such as these. Shesol worked with Clinton on the remarks he gave in the aftermath of the massacre at Columbine High School in 1999, among other speeches. "You are stopping to reflect on this loss, what has been lost and then all you can do is suggest the possibility of moving on. We are a ways from that moment ... but you can suggest that possibility of transcending this moment and finding some sort of peace in your grief," said Shesol, founding partner of the speech writing and strategy firm West Wing Writers. Obama began working on his speech Monday night. The president is expected to speak at the memorial service at 6 p.m. local time. While the service is open to the campus and the Tucson community, Obama's words will be heard by the nation. "He is speaking first and most immediately to the families who are grieving, he is speaking to the local community which is badly shaken, and of course he is speaking to the national audience because we are all caught up in this together," Shesol said. And no matter what approach he takes, the president can expect his words to be scrutinized. "It should not have the feel of politics to it at all, but there is no question that these are political moments," Shesol said.
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Obama to speak at memorial service for victims of Arizona shooting . "This is Obama's Challenger-Oklahoma City moment," historian Douglas Brinkley says . Impact of speech depends on if Obama puts tragedy in broader context, professor says . Speech writer says no matter what he says, Obama's words will be scrutinized.
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(CNN) -- Paul Scholes came out of retirement for a shock return as Manchester United beat FA Cup holders Manchester City 3-2 in Sunday's dramatic third-round tie between England's top two teams. The 37-year-old former England international quit at the end of last season, but was named as a substitute by manager Alex Ferguson after agreeing to return for the rest of this season. He came off the bench just before the hour mark to be cheered by the visiting United fans at the Etihad Stadium, with the Premier League champions already 3-0 ahead. Scholes' return was not entirely successful as his mistake led to City's second goal, scored by Sergio Aguero, but United held on for a hard-fought victory. Who are January's top transfer targets? Premier League leaders City had captain Vincent Kompany sent off after 12 minutes and were 3-0 down at halftime before forging a comeback. The defender's red card could cost him a four-match ban, which would be a blow to City's hopes of a first league title since 1968 given that Yaya and Kolo Toure are away for a month at the African Cup of Nations. City manager Roberto Mancini said the club would appeal Kompany's second straight red this season, which came for a two-footed lunge on United winger Nani in the 12th minute at 1-0 down. "We will appeal. I am sure we will win," Mancini said. Wayne Rooney scored twice for United, either side of Kompany's controversial red card, as he returned to form following reports that the club wanted to sell him. He said Scholes' recall had been a big surprise. Blog: Who are the top 10 transfer targets ? "It was a bit of a shock to be honest, we didn't know until we were in the dressing room, but he's a great player," Rooney told ITV Sport. Ferguson opted for Scholes, who has been working with the reserves at United, with his squad hit by an injury crisis. "It's fantastic that Paul has made this decision," Ferguson said before the match started. "He has kept himself in great shape and I always felt that he had another season in him. It's terrific to have him back." Rooney's 10th-minute header put United ahead, then Kompany was dismissed by referee Chris Foy soon after. Fellow striker Danny Welbeck made it 2-0 with a superb volley before earning the spot-kick to give Rooney the chance to score his second. Rooney saw his effort saved by City's stand-in keeper Costel Pantilmon -- who replaced rested England No.1 Joe Hart -- but then headed home the rebound. Aleksandar Kolarov gave Roberto Mancini's men an early second-half lifeline with a free-kick from the edge of the area before the entry of Scholes. His mistake let James Milner cross for Aguero's goal, but otherwise he gave an assured display in his return to the big time. United's reward for beating their local rivals is a mouthwatering fourth-round tie at Liverpool, who beat Oldham 5-1 Friday. Liverpool decide against appeal in Suarez race ban case . It will be the first clash between the two sides since the October league clash which led to an eight-game ban for Luis Suarez for racially abusing United's Patrice Evra. Everton-Fulham is another confirmed all-Premier League tie, while Arsenal, if they beat Leeds on Monday, will be at home to Aston Villa. In Sunday's other third-round action Sunday, Ramires scored twice as Chelsea enjoyed a 4-0 victory over Portsmouth at Stamford Bridge. His late double and an added time fourth for Frank Lampard were hard on Pompey, who had restricted Chelsea to a goal by Juan Mata in the 48th minute. Chelsea will face the winners of the MK Dons-QPR replay, while Sunderland who won 2-0 at Peterborough Sunday to continue their remarkable revival under Martin O'Neill, will play Middlesbrough in a north-east derby.
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Manchester United beat FA Cup holders Manchester City 3-2 in the third round . United veteran Paul Scholes comes out of retirement to play in the second half . City captain Vincent Kompany sent off after only 12 minutes, which the club will appeal . Wayne Rooney scores twice in first half as United set up fourth-round clash with Liverpool .
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Busan, South Korea (CNN) -- A South Korean court on Thursday sentenced the captain of a Chinese fishing boat to 30 years in prison for murdering a South Korean coast guard officer during a confrontation in the Yellow Sea last year. The court in the port of Incheon also handed down prison terms to several other crew members of the Chinese vessel, which the South Korean coast guard officials boarded on December 12 because they suspected it of fishing illegally. The skipper of the fishing boat, Cheng Dawei, was convicted of stabbing the coast guard officer, Lee Cheng-ho, several times with a knife. Lee later died of his injuries and another coast guard official was wounded in the encounter. Prosecutors had sought the death penalty for Cheng, 43, but the court chose to give him a lengthy prison term and a fine of 20 million won, or about $17,500. Nine other Chinese sailors received sentences of one and a half to five years for their roles in the clash, according to Judge Rho Jong-chan, a spokesman for the court. Liu Weimin, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Thursday that China and South Korea had not agreed upon the demarcation of exclusive economic zones in the Yellow Sea. As a result, he said, China "does not accept" South Korea's application of its law to reach "such a verdict." Speaking at a regular news conference, Liu said China would continue to follow the case closely and "provide necessary assistance to the Chinese citizens concerned to protect their legitimate rights and interests." At the time of the confrontation, Seoul asked Beijing to "strictly clamp down on illegal fishing and the illegal acts of Chinese fishermen." The Yellow Sea, which contains important fishing and crab grounds, has been a point of contention for several Asian countries, most notably North and South Korea who have long disagreed on whose waters end where. The South Korean coast guard stopped hundreds of Chinese boats last year on suspicion of illegal fishing in the sea. Disputes over fishing rights have resulted in dozens of boat seizures. CNN's Chi-Chi Zhang in Beijing contributed to this report.
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NEW: China says it doesn't accept South Korea applying its law in this area . Chinese fishermen clashed with South Korean coast guards last year . The captain of the Chinese boat stabbed a coast guard officer to death . A South Korean court has sentenced the captain to 30 years in prison for murder .
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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Michael Jackson's publicist wants you to know that, despite a tabloid report to the contrary, the 50-year-old singer "is in fine health." Michael Jackson's spokesman says reports of the singer's ill health "are a total fabrication." The United Kingdom's Sun newspaper started a stir Monday morning when it quoted the author of an upcoming book about Jackson saying he was battling a potentially fatal disease that required a life-saving lung transplant. Other papers echoed the Sun's thinly-sourced story and the rumor spread quickly through Internet message boards. By Monday afternoon, Jackson's spokesman issued a response that said "The writer's wild allegations concerning Mr. Jackson's health are a total fabrication." "Mr. Jackson is in fine health, and finalizing negotiations with a major entertainment company & television network for both a world tour and a series of specials and appearances," said Dr. Tohme Tohme, identified as Jackson's "official and sole spokesperson." The original report quoted writer Ian Halperin saying Jackson's illness had robbed him of 95-percent of the vision in one eye and that he needed a lung transplant "but may be too weak to go through with it." Jackson's reclusive lifestyle -- and a photo earlier this year of him being pushed in a wheelchair -- created a fertile ground for the planting of the rumor. Tohme suggested Halperin's motive was to get attention for his book about Jackson. "Concerning this author's allegations, we would hope in the future that legitimate media will not continue to be exploited by such an obvious attempt to promote this unauthorized 'biography,'" Tohme said. The Sun's report attempted to bolster its source's credibility by calling Halperin "an award-winning investigative journalist" who has "written for respected Rolling Stone magazine." Halperin's biography on his publisher's Web site claimed he was the winner of the "Rolling Stone magazine Award for Investigative Journalism." Rolling Stone magazine responded Monday afternoon by denying Halperin ever won that honor, but did note he was on a school newspaper staff in 1985 that collectively received the "College Journalism Award" from the magazine. Halperin has made a career writing about Hollywood scandals and the trouble lives of various celebrities, often claiming to have gone undercover to penetrate their inner-circles. The Jackson story was off the Sun's online front page by Monday evening. Instead, the paper featured a shirtless photo of President-elect Barack Obama on a Hawaii beach with the headline: "As President Elect Goes Topless, How Do World Leaders Shape Up?"
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UK's Sun newspaper ran report saying Jackson battles a potentially fatal disease . Report quoted writer Ian Halperin saying Jackson needed lung transplant . Jackson story was off the Sun's online front page by Monday evening .
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Some $700 million in economic stimulus money intended to upgrade baggage screening systems at airports will go further than originally expected, Department of Homeland Security officials said Wednesday. The new systems can process up to 500 bags an hour, compared to the 150 to 160 bags per hour on the older machines, the TSA said. The DHS said the money will now upgrade systems at 10 additional airports. Earlier this year the DHS announced funding for baggage screening at airports in 15 cities. The money will be used to speed up construction of in-line baggage screening systems, which take advantage of the airline's existing conveyor belt systems to check bags, eliminating the need for minivan-size bomb detection systems now found in many airport lobbies. Government auditors have long complained about existing systems, which the Transportation Security Administration rushed into place to meet congressional deadlines after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. At airports with in-line systems, airline workers at the ticketing counters place the bags on conveyor belts, which pass through explosive detectors on their way to the aircraft. That is more efficient than stand-alone systems, which the TSA employees must staff. In addition, in-line systems can process up to 500 bags an hour, compared to the 150 to 160 bags per hour processed by stand-alone machines, the TSA said. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a statement that DHS was able to "stretch our resources" by managing the recovery money and by negotiating with airports. In addition to the $700 million intended for checked baggage systems, $300 million is being allocated for checkpoint technology, such as new X-ray machines, "whole body imaging" technology and bottled liquid scanners. The new airports expected to get stimulus money for in-line explosive detection systems are: . • Washington Dulles International Airport (Chantilly, Virginia) • Lambert-St. Louis International Airport (St. Louis, Missouri) • Yellowstone Regional Airport (Cody, Wyoming) • William P. Hobby Airport (Houston, Texas) • St. Petersburg/Clearwater International Airport (St. Petersburg, Florida) • Gallatin Field Airport (Bozeman, Montana) • Little Rock National Airport (Little Rock, Arkansas) • Tulsa International Airport (Tulsa, Oklahoma) • Charlotte Douglas International Airport (Charlotte, North Carolina) • Colorado Springs Airport (Colorado Springs, Colorado) Earlier this year, DHS announced funding for airports in the following cities: Atlanta, Georgia; Columbus, Ohio; Dayton, Ohio; Honolulu, Hawaii; Huntsville, Alabama; Jackson, Wyoming; Maui, Hawaii; New Orleans, Louisiana; Orange County, California; Orlando, Florida; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Portland, Maine; and Sacramento, San Francisco and San Jose, California. To learn more about the DHS Recovery Act projects, visit www.dhs.gov/recovery.
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Department of Homeland security says stimulus money can be stretched . DHS identified 10 additional airports to receive in-line baggage screening systems . Updated screening process is more efficient than stand-alone machines .
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London, England (CNN) -- Fernando Alonso insists he can still drive Ferrari to the Formula One world title, despite losing ground on his rivals after a disappointing Belgian Grand Prix. The Spaniard is 41 points behind the current leader in the drivers' championship standings, McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, after he span out in the latter stages at Spa. But with six races left in the season, Alonso is convinced he can still force his way into the reckoning -- starting with the Italian Grand Prix at Monza on September 12. "With this points system and the way races swing one way or another, I am convinced we still have a significant chance," Alonso wrote on his Ferrari blog. "There are 150 points up for grabs, enough to turn the situation around. We must remain calm and concentrate, to try and make up the difference as soon as possible. "Clearly, there are now three of us who need to make up for ground lost in Spa. It was not the Belgian Grand Prix we were expecting, that's for sure." Alonso is now focusing on the Italian Grand Prix as a chance to close the gap on Hamilton, and the other three in front of him -- Red Bull pair Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, as well as Jenson Button, of McLaren. But he admits his first trip to the famous Monza track as a Ferrari driver will add extra pressure on him to deliver the goods and that a bad result could deliver a fatal blow to his championship hopes. "There is no denying that the Monza race will be very important," he added. "At our home circuit we will have to do everything to avoid losing any more points. "A good result here would be a great boost. If things go badly, it won't be over but it would be a hard knock for team morale. "Racing at Monza for the first time as a Ferrari driver will definitely be a nice feeling. Our team is made up of 95 per cent Italians and you can feel the passion and the will to do well for this special event. "I can't wait to be there and look forward to seeing the grandstands packed with fans -- we need their support."
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Fernando Alonso says he can still win the Formula One drivers' championship . Ferrari driver is currently 41 points behind leader Lewis Hamilton with six races left . The Spaniard is targeting a good result in his first Italian Grand Prix with Ferrari .
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New York (Financial Times) -- BP has put in place safety systems for offshore drilling that are ahead of any other company's, the UK oil group has said as it prepares for the trial over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. The company has set out for the first time details of how it has restructured its operations and invested in new technology in an attempt to show that the mistakes that led to the fatal explosion and huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will not be repeated. Richard Morrison, who is about to take over as president of the company's operations in the Gulf of Mexico, said changes brought in since the disaster represented a greater investment in safety than for any of BP's competitors, and were "laying the foundations for a very safe company". BP's new safety procedures will have no direct bearing on the civil trial over the spill, which is scheduled to start on February 25. However, the company has been talking about what it sees as profound changes in its practices in order to improve its image in the US, and with other governments and companies worldwide. Mr Morrison highlighted changes such as a new unit in Houston focused on monitoring wells being drilled offshore to watch for signs of trouble: a function that he said had no parallel in other companies. BP is also setting up its own training facility to teach engineers and supervisors how to manage possible leaks of oil and gas of the kind that caused the Deepwater Horizon disaster, which an instructor described as aiming to be "the Harvard of well control". BP is now more active in the Gulf of Mexico than ever, with seven rigs drilling wells, and was the region's largest producer of oil and gas last year. Facing challenges in other parts of the world, and having sold its Russian joint venture TNK-BP, it sees the US as central to its plans for future growth. However, the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon still overshadows the company's prospects. In its settlement last year with the US Department of Justice of the criminal charges against it, BP admitted that negligence on the part of its employees -- along with other companies -- was a "proximate cause" of the accident. That led to debarment from new federal contracts, which means that BP cannot take out any new drilling leases in the gulf until the ban is lifted. The DoJ said last year in a memo filed to the court in New Orleans hearing the civil case over the spill that it planned to prove BP had acted with "gross negligence or wilful misconduct" that had caused the accident. BP denies this gross negligence. The Deepwater Horizon disaster followed other failures including a leak from a pipeline in Alaska in 2006 and the Texas City refinery explosion in 2005, which killed 15 people in one of the US's worst industrial accidents of recent years. After those accidents Tony Hayward, who took over as chief executive in 2007, promised to restructure the company to focus on safety "like a laser". Mr Morrison said the company had been pushing ahead with those changes, which had not been fully implemented at the time of the Deepwater Horizon accident, and introducing new systems and technologies as a result of the lessons it had learnt from its investigation of the disaster. For example, he said staff of BP's new Safety and Operational Risk organisation, set up by Mr Hayward's successor Bob Dudley in 2011, now had the authority to order that an operation be stopped, when the previous safety body had more of an advisory role. Another change was that the importance of process safety -- focusing on an operation as a whole, rather than small individual accidents -- was one of the lessons of the Texas City disaster and has now been emphasised in the drilling operations as well as BP's refineries, Mr Morrison said. © The Financial Times Limited 2013 .
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UK oil group claims it has drilling safety systems ahead of any other company's . BP blamed in large part for 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in Gulf of Mexico . BP has new unit monitoring wells being drilled offshore, training facility . DoJ: BP acted with "gross negligence" for its part in Deepwater Horizon spill .
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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- The Pakistani military says security forces have taken back the city of Mingora from the Taliban, calling it a significant victory in its offensive against the Taliban. Pakistani solders escort a suspected Taliban militant inside an army base in Mingora. Mingora is the largest city in Pakistan's Swat Valley where security forces have been fighting the Taliban in a month-long offensive. "It is a great accomplishment," said Pakistani Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas. "This is the largest city in Swat and for all practical purposes, Mingora has been secured." Abbas said militants put up a stiff resistance, but their resistance weakened as troops moved in. Abbas told CNN pockets of militants remain just outside Mingora. The fighting has uprooted about 2.4 million Pakistanis from their homes in the northwestern region of the country, according to the latest data from the United Nations. Of those displaced, about 10 percent -- or 240,000 -- are living in refugee camps, according to the U.N. The announcement that the military has pushed the Taliban out of Mingora comes after days of Taliban attacks in other areas in the country. The military issued a press release on Saturday saying that 25 militants and a soldier were killed in fighting across the region over the last 24 hours. Pakistani authorities increased security throughout Islamabad on Friday after a string of deadly bombings in Lahore and Peshawar, and a threat by the Taliban to carry out further attacks. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for Wednesday's suicide attack in Lahore on a building housing police, intelligence and emergency offices. Twenty-seven people were killed. The militant group also threatened to continue attacking cities in Pakistan until the military ends its operations against Taliban militants in the country's northwest.
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Pakistani military says it has taken back key Swat Valley city of Mingora . Army spokesman says operation is a "great accomplishment" Fighting in northwestern region has displaced about 2.4 million Pakistanis . Pakistan raises security levels after deadly blasts in Lahore, Peshawar .
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(CNN) -- A chorus of whoops and cheers greeted Steven Bridges and Michael Snell as they exited City Hall in Portland, Maine, early Saturday as the first same-sex couple to wed under a new law. Supporters of the law allowing same-sex marriage -- passed by a referendum in November -- jumped up and down, flashed their cameras and sang the Beatles' "All You Need Is Love." "It's very surreal still," Snell said. The couple did not know they would be the first to take advantage of the new law. "We finally feel equal, and happy to live in Maine," Bridges said. Same-sex marriage rights have been denied in many states in the past, but last month, voters in Maine, Washington and Maryland decided to change that. The Maine measure states that men and women, "relating to the marital relationship or familial relationships must be construed to be gender-neutral for all purposes." The measure also mentions the right of clergy to refuse to wed gay and lesbian couples if it goes against their religious convictions. The governments of Maine and Maryland had passed laws permitting same-sex marriage, but activists opposed to the laws collected enough signatures to put them on November's ballot. In 2009, a similar referendum in Maine failed when voters rejected the governor's decision to allow same-sex marriage. This year's results represent a remarkable turnaround. A similar scene of jubilation took place in Seattle this month, when same-sex couples were able to exchange vows for the first time. Newly married same-sex couples in these three states have expressed hope that the U.S. Supreme Court will issue rulings favorable to their marriages. This month, the justices said they would hear two constitutional challenges to state and federal laws dealing with the recognition of gay and lesbian couples to legally wed. Oral arguments will probably be held in March, with a ruling by late June. One appeal to be heard involves the federal Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, which denies federal benefits to same-sex couples legally married in their own states. The second is a challenge to California's Proposition 8, a voter-approved measure that took away a right of same-sex marriage that had been approved by the state's courts. CNN's Ben Brumfield and Phil Gast contributed to this report.
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Maine voters approved same-sex marriage in November . The first couples were able to wed Saturday . A large crowd cheered the first couple .
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(CNN) -- Two goals in five minutes at the start of extra-time helped defending champions Egypt book their place in the African Nations Cup semifinals with a battling 3-1 victory over Cameroon. The game, though, was marred by a controversial third goal by midfielder Ahmed Hassan which was allowed to stand by referee Jerome Damon despite replays showing the ball had clearly not crossed the line. By that time the Pharaohs' captain, who was winning a record 170th cap for his country, had already scored an own goal to put the Indomitable Lions ahead after 26 minutes. Hassan scored again at the other end to pull his side level with a powerful long-range strike before half-time which eventually forced the game into an additional 30 minutes in Benguela. Substitute Mohamed Gedo then capitalized on an error from Geremi Njitap to put Egypt ahead in extra-time, before Hassan's controversial strike handed them a two-goal cushion. To make matters worse for Paul Le Guen's Cameroon, Aurelien Chedjou was sent off late on as the north Africans set up a tantalising last-four clash with old foes Algeria. Cameroon took the lead following a spell of intense pressure. A succession of Achille Emana corners had the Egyptian defence wobbling -- and the seventh one resulted in Hassan's weak-header on the line dropping into his own net. Cameroon pressed for a second goal but were taken by surprise when Hassan unleashed a fierce 35-yard strike in the 37th minute that deceived goalkeeper Carlos Kameni before finding its way in. Emad Moteab could have won the game for Egypt right at the death after he was picked out at the back post by a sweeping pass from Hassan, but the Al-Ahly forward could only find the side netting as the game entered extra-time. However, Hassan Shehata's side wasted no time in killing off the tie going 3-1 up after 95 minutes -- after being gifted both goals. The first came when Geremi's poor back-pass from the right was intercepted by Gedo, who and tucked away with ease through the legs of Kameni two minutes after the resumption. The second seems certain to land South African referee Damon in the spotlight after Hassan's free-kick from the left was pushed onto the underside of the crossbar by the Espanyol goalkeeper and did not cross the line when it hit the ground. However, it was still allowed to stand much to the dismay of the Cameroon players. It also seemed to knock the stuffing out of Le Guen's men as they failed to create any major openings in the closing 25 minutes. To add insult to injury, Chedjou was shown a straight red for hauling down last-man Gedo midway through the second period of extra-time with Egypt going on to seal a memorable win. Meanwhile, Nigeria became the fourth team to reach the semifinals after defeating Zambia in a dull final quarterfinal showdown in Lubango. Neither side could find the net after 90 minutes and 30 minutes of extra time, but Nigeria progressed 5-4 on penalties and will now face near-neighbors Ghana in the last four on Thursday. Goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama scored the decisive penalty for Nigeria after Thomas Nyirenda had missed for Zambia. Enyeama dived to his right to stop Nyirenda's penalty after Sikombe Chivhuta and Christopher Katongo and Emmanuel Mayuka had all scored for Zambia. Obefemi Martins, Victor Nsofor, Peter Odemwingie, and John Obi Mikel all scored for Nigeria.
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Defending champions Egypt book their place in the African Nations Cup semifinal in Angola . Egypt score two goals in extra time to secure a battling 3-1 victory over Cameroon on Monday . Nigeria become the fourth team tor each the last four stage, setting up a clash with rivals Ghana .
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(CNN) -- A violent crash on a dirt track in New Jersey has claimed the life of race car driver Jason Leffler, a NASCAR veteran lauded by fellow racers as a fierce and versatile competitor. Leffler, 37, died Wednesday, a little more than three months after returning to the world of short-track open-wheel racing after focusing on NASCAR circuits for more than a decade, according to his website. "Sitting here in disbelief. ... All I can think about is Charlie," NASCAR racer Elliott Sadler said, referring to Leffler's 5-year-old son. Leffler's death at Bridgeport Speedway in Swedesboro, New Jersey, came during a qualifying race during the Night of Wings event, a 25-lap race for sprint cars equipped with stabilizing wings. Sprint cars are high-powered cars that usually run on dirt or paved oval tracks. Leffler was on the fourth turn of the preliminary heat when his car left the banked dirt track and flipped several times down the front straightaway, the South Jersey Times newspaper reported, citing witnesses. He had to be pulled from the vehicle, the newspaper said. "NASCAR extends its thoughts, prayers and deepest sympathies to the family of Jason Leffler who passed away earlier this evening," NASCAR said Wednesday in a statement. "For more than a decade, Jason was a fierce competitor in our sport and he will be missed." Condolences poured in from fellow drivers. "Lost a good guy tonight in Jason Leffler. Prayers with your family!" racer Bobby Labonte said in a Twitter post. "My thoughts and prayers are with Jason's family and friends," driver Jeff Burton posted. "Breaks my heart thinking of his little boy." Leffler began racing when was 12 years old, according to his website, and went on to win four U.S. Auto Club racing championships -- including three back-to-back championships from 1997 to 1999 -- and a place in the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame. In 2000, he finished 17th in the Indianapolis 500. He switched his racing focus that same year to NASCAR's Nationwide Series and later to the Camping World Truck Series in 2002, according to his website. The Long Beach, California, native won two Nationwide Series races and finished in the top 10 in points for six consecutive years, according to his website. He decided to return to dirt racing for 2013, planning to compete in up to 65 sprint car races. "I've got a lot of learning to do," he was quoted as saying on his website in March. "It's cool to be able to race 3 times a week and figure things out." Sprint car racing can be a dangerous sport, and accidents are not infrequent. A 22-year-old driver died three weeks ago in a crash at Bloomington Speedway in Monroe County, Indiana, CNN affiliate WTHR reported. In March, two spectators died when a car veered off-track at Marysville Raceway Park, outside Sacramento, California. In that incident, a car hit two tractor tires, sending it airborne and striking two spectators, a 68-year-old man and a 14-year-old boy. The driver was uninjured. In 2012, a 20-year-old driver died when his sprint car hit the wall at Calistoga Speedway in Napa County, California, according to the Napa Valley Register. CNN's Michael Pearson contributed to this report.
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NEW: NASCAR veteran Jason Leffler had just returned to dirt-track racing . He died Wednesday in a crash at a New Jersey dirt track . NASCAR calls Leffler a "fierce competitor" who will be missed . "Lost a good guy tonight," racer Bobby Labonte tweets .
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(CNN) -- Mention DR Congo, Sub-Saharan Africa's largest country, and what comes to mind? Probably conflict minerals, proxy wars, the rape capital of the world, or the trigger for the 19th century "Scramble for Africa." But beyond the despair, there is another country; a country not like any other country in the world -- a country with rich ancient traditions, a colorful cultural energy and creativity, amazing potential and much, much more. Read this: Africa's new skyscraper megacities . Ask historians or archaeologists -- one of the earliest known mathematical objects, the Ishango bone, was not made in Ancient Greece, Mesopotamia or Renaissance Europe but around Congo's Lake Edward around 18,000 BC. It is certainly difficult to picture this today: thirty-two years of dictatorship followed by wars, invasions and bad governance reduced Congo from being a potential economic powerhouse to one of the world's poorest countries. But little by little, individuals and organizations in and outside Congo are creating glimmers of hope. The future of Congo still looks more exciting than its past and with a bit more push we can tilt the balance and awaken the world to a century, if not centuries, of "Made in Africa." Below are six reasons why saving the Congo is critical. Congo's strategic position in the continent . Congo's unique geo-strategic position, more than its gold, diamonds and coltan reserves, makes it of interest to anyone with a keen eye for Africa's future. Neighboring nine other countries at all four cardinal points, Congo sits right at the crossroads of African democratization and development, as well as the intersection of a series of real and potential security dilemmas. This means whatever happens in Congo could have an impact across the continent. And a stable and functioning Congo could trigger prosperity and development throughout Africa, and most critically, play a role in assuring security in the Horn of Africa and elsewhere in the continent. Helping to make famine in Africa history . Congo's vast, fertile agricultural land has tremendous potential to make it the breadbasket for the entire African continent. If Congo's fertile land were used effectively it could lift millions out of extreme poverty in a continent where malnutrition and food insecurity are rife. But this potential has barely been tapped. In spite of climatic conditions favorable for farming and abundant water resources, only a small proportion of Congo's arable land and pasture lands is under cultivation. Bad governance and decay of the transportation infrastructure -- in particular the road networks through which production could be distributed around the country -- continue to prove a challenge and the consequences have not been short of a disaster. The Global Hunger Index lists Congo as the world's hungriest country in its 2009, 2010 and 2011 reports, and UNICEF says Congo has the highest rate of malnutrition in Central and West Africa, affecting 43% of children under five. Congo Rainforest . The Congo Basin rainforest, one of the natural wonders of the world, is sometimes described as one of the Earth's lungs -- the other being South America's Amazon. Home to 10,000 species of plants (of which 3,000 are found nowhere else), it features mesmerizing scenery, restless landscapes, waterfalls, a mosaic of savannahs, swamp forests and some of the most spectacular and endangered wildlife in the world. The forest plays a crucial role in regulating climate, both locally and globally, but recent industrial logging, resource extraction and proxy wars are threatening this fragile ecosystem. As things stand, there are 20 million hectares of logging titles in Congo -- an area the size of Ghana. For more than half of Congo's population who rely on the forest for food, medicine, fresh water, shelter and customary tradition, this is humanitarian havoc in slow motion. For the global climate, it could be a catastrophe. Read more: Fight to save Africa's rainforests . Fishing and tourism . If Congo could be known by a different name, that name, I think, should the country of lakes. Rich in aquatic biodiversity and holding more than half of Africa's water reserves, including four of the continent's great lakes, as well as Africa's longest and deepest freshwater lake -- Lake Tanganika -- Congo's lakes and rivers, if coupled with the needed infrastructure to fulfill its potential, could be a breadbasket for the region. With more than 700 species of fish recorded in the Congo Basin -- the world's second-largest river basin -- the potential for commercial fishing in these lakes and rivers is great. However, the ripple of potential does not stop there; tourism is another side of the coin. Congo's lakes and rivers, along with its rolling lush hills and valleys, could potentially transform Congo into a huge tourist attraction, creating jobs and businesses for the region. Lighting up Africa, from Cape to Cairo . Electricity is said to be the lifeblood of human society and economic development, but 550 million Africans have no access to electricity. They rely on wood, dung and crop waste for their daily energy needs -- and that costs lives. Burning dirty fuels in poorly ventilated homes causes 1.6 million people around the world to die prematurely each year. Yet, astonishingly, the Congo River has the potential to light up the entire African continent from Cape to Cairo, without further polluting the planet or worsening climate change. Wildlife . Congo's unspoiled wildlife diversity is perhaps the country's most fascinating feature. Whether by 4x4 drives or river tours by pirogue, Congo offers an ideal wildlife destination for nature lovers. Home to big cats as well as 1,000 bird species, 900 species of butterflies, 400 species of mammals (including more than 80% of African primates), half of the continent's remaining elephants, 280 species of reptiles, 216 species of amphibians, forest antelopes and forest pigs -- with more species being discovered -- the Congo Basin is by any measure an essential feature of a healthy planet. But instability, industrial logging and poaching are threatening the very existence of some of these animals, including some of the country's most famous residents such as the shy, endangered okapi, the owl-faced monkey, the beautifully patterned bongo, the sliverback gorilla, the bonobo and the dazzling Congo peacock. Nonetheless, it's not too late to save these species. And it's not too late to save the Congo, and help it realize the potential it has always had. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Vava Tampa.
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DR Congo has a reputation for conflict and violence . Campaigner and Congo native Vava Tampa says there's another side to the country . It has immense natural beauty thanks to its rainforests and wildlife . The country's farmland and rivers could help feed the continent, he says .
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(CNN) -- The truth about the bombing of a PanAm airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 will come out "one day, and hopefully in the near future," the only man convicted the bombing told Reuters in an interview aired Monday. "In a few months from now, you will see new facts that will be announced," Abdelbeset al-Megrahi told Reuters. "I don't want to speak about that because there are people who are looking after that themselves." Al-Megrahi's comments come about five weeks after CNN's Nic Roberston visited al-Megrahi's home, where his family said he was in a coma and near death from terminal prostate cancer. At the time of his late August visit, Robertson found al-Megrahi in a metal hospital bed, attached to an IV drip and cared for by an elderly woman that the family said was his mother. He was, Robertson said, "paper-thin, his face sallow and sunken." Reuters: Megrahi says his Lockerbie role exaggerated . "Clearly he is in a better condition than when I saw him a month ago," Robertson said Monday. In the Reuters interview, which the news agency said was recorded Sunday, he remained in bed and at one point was given an oxygen mask to wear, but he appeared lucid. He spoke about his disease and Libyan affairs, and appeared to claim innocence by protesting that he was the victim of the Scottish court that set up at Camp Zeist, a former U.S. military base, as part of an international agreement to try him and a second man. "Camp Zeist Court is the smallest place on earth that contains the largest number of liars," he told Reuters. "I suffered from the liars at Camp Zeist Court more than you can imagine." Robertson said al-Megrahi's family told him they believe al-Megrahi was the victim of both international justice and the regime of ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, who they say used him as a scapegoat. While al-Megrahi told Reuters that he had been treated badly since his return to Libya, Robertson said Monday that his family is building a "huge new house in a very upmarket part of Tripoli." Given Gadhafi's ouster, Robertson said, it's not clear why al-Megrahi isn't speaking out now about what he knows about the bombing, but it's clear he has answers that many people would like to hear. The court convicted al-Megrahi of murder in the 1988 bombing of PanAm Flight 103, which fell from the sky after the explosion, killing 259 people on the airplane and 11 people on the ground. Prosecutors said al-Megrahi, the former chief of security for Libyan Arab Airlines in Malta, brought the bomb to Malta. A second man was accused of placing the bomb aboard the plane. The court acquitted him. The Scottish government granted al-Megrahi a compassionate release in 2009 for medical reasons. He was said to have had only months to live when he was released two years ago. His family told Robertson that al-Megrahi hadn't seen a doctor since they rescued him from a hospital before Tripoli fell to rebel forces, whom he said looted the medicine from their home. "We just give him oxygen," his son, Khaled, told Robertson in August. "Nobody gives us any advice. And some food by injection (drip). ... If you see, his body he is weak." In the Reuters interview, al-Megrahi said he is still having trouble obtaining the medicine. He also said that he hopes the violence in Libya ends soon. "I wish from God that I will see my country united, with no fighting or war," he told Reuters.
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"New facts" will come out within months, the convicted Lockerbie bomber tells Reuters . Abdelbeset al-Megrahi was said to be in a coma in August when CNN visited his home . In the interview taped Sunday, he remains in bed but appears lucid .
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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi police and soldiers on Saturday launched major raids in a once-notorious insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad. Saturday's raids in Falluja by Iraqi forces were similar to U.S.-led sweeps in the city in 2004, shown here. A police official in the Anbar province city of Falluja told CNN that a large number of security forces were scouring its Sinaie district for an array of weapons -- machine guns, mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms. The Sinaie area, in Falluja's southeastern section, is an industrial district with factories, scrap yards and large, abandoned yards. The area used to be a stronghold of the insurgency in Falluja until the militants were driven out in major military operations five years ago. At that time, the U.S.-led offensive was largely in response to the brutal ambush, killing and mutilation of four U.S. security contractors. Their charred bodies were left dangling from a bridge over the Euphrates River in spring 2004. In November of that year, U.S. and Iraqi forces attacked insurgents in Falluja, killing about 1,200 militants. Eight Iraqi soldiers and 51 U.S. troops, mostly Marines, died in urban combat, according to the Pentagon. About 95 percent of Falluja's population was displaced. Falluja is about 37 miles, or 60 kilometers, west of Baghdad . After the city was pacified, the United States committed more than $200 million to reconstruction projects there, and changes became evident. Small cafes and grocery stores lined the streets once dusty and abandoned. Iraqis in Falluja got back to the rhythms of everyday life: They worked, shopped -- and rebuilt. As fragile security gains took root, American military officials marveled at the resurgent city of several hundred thousand. On Saturday, a police official denied reports that armed groups were trying to re-establish a foothold in the area. The U.S. military said Marines and police in the nearby town of Karma were also participating in a combined cache sweep. Violence has dropped in Iraq, and President Obama's administration has been gearing up to withdraw U.S. troops. The U.S. military continues to be on guard for flare-ups in violence and insurgent activity. The vast and predominantly Sunni Arab Anbar province was a battleground between the U.S. military and al Qaeda in Iraq during the earlier years of the Iraq war. But the insurgents eventually lost ground when a grass-roots movement called "the awakening" emerged. The tribe-based awakening forces rejected al Qaeda in Iraq and turned their allegiances toward the U.S. and Iraqi government. While the awakening doesn't have clout in Falluja, there are pockets of support just outside the city, as well as in the rest of the province. Al Qaeda in Iraq's strongest presence in the country is now in the Mosul area, in Nineveh province, north of Baghdad.
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Iraqi police official says security forces were scouring Sinaie district of Falluja . U.S. military: Marines and area police assisting in combined cache sweep . Anbar province is vast and violent scene of U.S. and al Qaeda in Iraq encounters .
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Cairo (CNN) -- Egyptian authorities released Suzanne Mubarak, the wife of ousted President Hosni Mubarak, on bail Tuesday after she relinquished assets to the state. Suzanne Mubarak, 70, gave up bank accounts worth $3.4 million, said Aly Hassan, a spokesman for the department overseeing a corruption probe. Mubarak also signed an affidavit allowing further investigation into her fortunes both in Egypt and abroad, Hassan said. She also gave up a villa, reported the state-owned Al Ahram newspaper. Mubarak and her husband, who was ousted from power February 11 after 18 days of uprising, face allegations of illegally acquiring wealth. Hosni Mubarak is also being investigated for culpability in the deaths of protesters. He remains in detention. Mohamed Fathalla, a doctor at the Sharm el-Sheikh hospital, said Suzanne Mubarak's blood pressure was extremely high and she should not be detained any more, Al Ahram said. Her psychological state was also volatile, said Adel Adawy, assistant to the health minister, and she will be treated at Sharm el-Sheikh hospital, the newspaper said. She was hospitalized after suffering a heart attack last week and was treated in the intensive care unit. Assem al-Gohary, the assistant justice minister for the Illicit Gains Authority, had ordered her detained for "obtaining illegal wealth using her husband's position and political authority." A team of investigators from the authority, a separate investigative unit under the Ministry of Justice, had questioned the former president in the same hospital for three hours last Thursday regarding "using his political position as president to acquire illegal wealth." "Hosni Mubarak was also questioned about his luxury mansion in Sharm el-Sheikh," al-Gohary said. Last month, the former president suffered a heart attack during questioning over possible corruption charges, Egyptian state television reported. But the head doctor from a Ministry of Justice team assisting with the questioning disputed the diagnosis, saying later that the former leader had heart palpitations and was able to walk with assistance. He was deemed stable enough to allow prosecutors to resume questioning at the hospital, according to Al Ahram. Hosni Mubarak has said the state inquiry is aimed at tarnishing his reputation and that of his family. Journalist Mohamed Fadel Fahmy contributed to this report.
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Suzanne Mubarak gave up bank accounts worth $3.4 million . A doctor says her blood pressure is extremely high . She and her husband are accused of amassing wealth illegally .
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(OPRAH.com) -- Don't confuse Katey Sagal for Peg Bundy -- it's a common mistake. Katey Sagal says being a mother has been her greatest teacher -- for all her roles. While her infamous alter ego was uneducated, Katey is thoughtful and well-spoken; Peg's fashion is time-warped (hello, bouffant!), Katey's is earthy; for every ounce of laziness in Peg's body, Katey has a multitasking one to match. It may have taken years for the actress to shake her TV counterpart, but watch Katey as fierce matriarch Gemma Morrow on FX's motorcycle drama "Sons of Anarchy" (which was released on DVD Tuesday), and you'll start to wonder, "Peg who?" Rachel Bertsche: You're known for playing three very different mothers -- "Married with Children's" Peg Bundy, Kate from "8 Simple Rules" and now Gemma. Plus, you have three kids of your own, two teenagers and a 2 1/2-year-old. Given all that on- and off-screen mothering experience, is there any universal quality that you would say all moms have? Katey Sagal: Being a mother has been my greatest teacher and also the most self-sacrificing thing I've ever done. I've never loved anybody the way I love my children. It's an experience I was surprised by. You have your boyfriend, your husband, your friends, but it's a different thing. It's deeper, and it's a fantastic -- and risky -- commitment to love that deeply. I think the characters I've played all have that quality, even Peg Bundy. She was devoted and loyal to her children in her own wacky way. But Gemma is intensely dedicated to her family and would do anything to protect her son and her extended family, which is the club. In my personal life, I don't know that I would go to the lengths for my kids that Gemma does, but close. Bertsche: You were Peg Bundy before you were actually a mom. Once you had your first child, id having firsthand experience change the way you played her? Sagal: Well, I've always been a maternal type, but yes, everything was different once I had kids. Your whole perspective on the world changes -- I love how I wasn't so self-obsessed anymore! I can't say my characterizations of Peggy necessarily changed much. I just understood more what I was doing. Bertsche: You mentioned your husband, Kurt Sutter, who is also the creator of your show. What's it like to mix family with business? Sagal: Most of the time it's super great. There are moments when it's not, of course, but most of the time it's nice because we actually get to see each other. His job is intense, so he doesn't get a day like I have today where he can stay home from work. When I'm there, we can sometimes have lunch together, stuff like that. The hard part gets to be like "OK, maybe we should talk about something else." It becomes the constant topic of conversation, the show and the kids, and we have to make a conscious effort to say, "Let's not talk about it tonight." Bertsche: People used to say that women of "a certain age" -- over 40 -- couldn't find any roles in Hollywood. That's certainly not true anymore, especially on cable, and you might be playing one of the toughest women out there. Why do think that has changed? Sagal: I don't know why it's changed, but I'm really grateful it has. Maybe it has to do with the fact that we're all living longer and suddenly it's okay to get older. Maybe there's a broader audience for these characters. The stories you can tell about older women are deeper. Plus, cable has opened up enormous possibilities. In feature films, you're still lucky if you're not the girlfriend or the wife. But I just read yesterday that Dianne Keaton is going to be on television now, she's doing a series with HBO, so TV is where our stories are being told. Bertsche: Gemma's a pretty controversial character. How do you feel about her? Sagal: I really like her. I like that she's flawed but she doesn't think that she is. She's survived a lot, and people like that tend to live in a lot of denial. She knows how to get through life in her way, and she doesn't question it. It's just, "This is how it is." For instance, I don't think Gemma's ever been to therapy. She's not that girl. What you see is what you get. Bertsche: What's on tap for her this season? Sagal: Something very dark happens. The club is going to go through some turmoil -- when you live an outlaw lifestyle, that's the risk you take. As my husband says, this season is all about loyalties. Henry Rollins and Adam Arkin are on the show this year, and they ... well, I don't want to say too much, but they're not really good guys. Bertsche: I promised a co-worker I'd ask you about "Lost." She's dying to know if your character, Helen, is really dead. Even though we saw the grave, she doesn't believe it's the full story. Got anything on that? Sagal: I was just reading an article this morning at the gym about how they were going to bring back people who were dead on "Lost," and they didn't mention me! Nobody tells me anything. I'm always thinking that Helen should come back and show up on the island, but as of today, no one's sent me a plane ticket to Hawaii. So I don't think it's going to happen, but I don't know. They're very close to the chest with all that stuff. Oprah.com: Get up close with all the hottest celebrities! Subscribe to O, The Oprah Magazine for up to 75% off the newsstand price. That's like getting 18 issues FREE. Subscribe now! TM & © 2009 Harpo Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Katey Sagal's series about cyclists, "Sons of Anarchy," is out on DVD . Sagal says being a mother has given her insight into her major roles . She hears rumors about "Lost," but nobody's told her anything personally .
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(CNN) -- Dallas Cowboys nose tackle Josh Brent was arrested on suspicion of intoxication manslaughter after a Mercedes he was driving in Irving, Texas, flipped and caught fire early Saturday morning, killing teammate Jerry Brown Jr., police said. Brent's car was allegedly traveling at a high speed when it hit a curb, according to Irving police, who said officers on the scene "believed alcohol was a contributing factor in the crash." The car traveled about 900 feet after hitting the curb, said police spokesman John Argumaniz. When officers came upon the scene, Brent was dragging Brown from the car, he said. The 25-year-old passenger was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Brent, 24, in his third season with the team, was booked into the Irving City Jail on one count of intoxication manslaughter -- considered a second-degree felony that carries a potential two- to 20-year prison sentence with a maximum $10,000 fine. Brent pleaded guilty to a DUI charge in 2009, according to court records in Champaign, Illinois. The records list Brent, who played football with Brown at the University of Illinois, as Joshua Price-Brent, the same name listed in the Irving police report. The athlete got a 60-day sentence, a fine and 200 hours of community service. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Saturday, "We are deeply saddened by the news of this accident and the passing of Jerry Brown." "At this time, our hearts and prayers and deepest sympathies are with the members of Jerry's family and all of those who knew him and loved him," he said in a statement. Brown was an outside linebacker on the Dallas practice squad, having been released by the Indianapolis Colts in October. News of Brown's death prompted a flurry of online comments from former classmates and coaches at Illinois. Arrelious Benn tweeted: "Prayers go out to the family of my former classmate, teammate Former Illini Jerry Brown. RIP. #Illini" Illinois coach Tim Beckman posted: "Sad News for the illini family today. Jerry Brown, former illini and current NFL player has passed away. Keep him in your prayers." The incident occurred shortly after 2 a.m. Saturday, one day before Dallas is scheduled to play the Bengals in Cincinnati. According to the Cowboy's website, Brent has 22 tackles in the 12 games that he's played in this year, starting in five of them. In an effort to keep intoxicated players from taking the wheel, the NFL Players Association runs a "Safe Rides" program for $85 per ride, taking it over from the NFL due to confidentiality concerns. CNN's Chandler Friedman and Jason Durand contributed to this report.
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Josh Brent was arrested in 2009 on DUI charges . Jerry Brown, a passenger was pronounced dead at a hospital . Brent, 24, in his third season with the team, was booked into the Irving City Jail . The incident occurred one day before Dallas plays Cincinnati .
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(CNN) -- In the game of chess, one woman has dominated all others for more than 20 years. Judit Polgar has defeated nine world champions including Garry Kasparov, Boris Spassky and Viswanathan Anand, and is the only female ever to join an exclusive coterie of players rated above 2700 by the World Chess Federation. Although she is the only woman ranked among the World Chess Federation's Top 100, Polgar has never won the Women's World Championship. By 14, she had so outstripped her female peers that she ceased competing in women's tournaments. "I have no problem with other women," she said, "but if I had played against ladies there would be a huge gap between the two of us." "I played against men because it was challenging, it was interesting, and I felt I could improve the fastest and the best (against them). It's very important to know what your aims and ambitions are." In chess, women's tournaments are only open to females, but women may compete in tournaments for men. It was Polgar's older sister Susan who broke this gender barrier, becoming the first woman to qualify for the men's world championship in 1986, and the first woman to earn a men's grandmaster title in 1991. Younger sister, Sofia, is an International Chess Master, too. The family's success ignited an ongoing debate about whether genius is born or created, the sexual politics of professional sport, and the value of mixed gender competition. After Polgar became a mother in 2004, she posed another challenge to the establishment: She didn't retire. Currently ranked 44th in the world with a rating of 2698, and a mother of two, Polgar is competing at the Chess Olympiad, which begins in Istanbul this week, and in the London Chess Classic in December. Hothoused in chess . By the time she was five, Judit could beat her father at chess. She and her sisters were home schooled as part of an educational experiment by their father, Laszlo, who believed any child could excel at an early age if given the right schooling. Besides learning Esperanto, they were hothoused in the game of chess. More from Leading Women: Late comic Phyllis Diller's funniest gags . Judit played her first international tournament aged nine, winning the New York Open. "It was a special feeling, you can imagine, for a nine-year-old girl to beat an adult, or even to be in competition," she said. Aged 11, she beat her first grandmaster, and became one herself in 1991, at the age of 15 -- relieving American Bobby Fischer of his record as the youngest-ever grandmaster. Polgar's father firmly believed that, since chess is a purely mental competition, women ought to be able to perform at the same level as men. By the time she was 14, Polgar had so outstripped her female peers that she saw little point in competing in women's tournaments. "I played against men most of my life because our goal was that I wanted to reach the highest potential to be an absolute world champion," she said. "There was a very big difference, even bigger than now, between the best male and the best female players in chess. "My father believed that the higher you put your goal, the higher you reach. That was the main reason me and my sisters were playing mostly against male competitors." Tigress at the board . It might not have been Polgar's explicit intention to challenge male domination in chess -- but a challenge was nevertheless perceived. Media attention focused heavily on the spectacle of a young girl competing against men sometimes four decades her senior. More from Leading Women: The brains behind the most viral ad ever . No great chess player ever likes to lose, but losing to a girl was seen as particularly humiliating. When Polgar won the Boys Under 14 section of the World Youth Chess Festival in 1990, one columnist wrote approvingly that it was easy to forget that Polgar was " just a girl." But by 2001, the New York Times reported that, "In the highly masculine world of top-level chess, it is no disgrace to lose to Judit Polgar ... In person, Miss Polgar gives no hint that she is a tigress at the chessboard. She is soft-spoken, modest and very feminine ... " Today, Polgar says that, if it was strange for chess pundits to see a young girl catapulted to the top, it was strange for her too. "There was a point when it was a bit much for me, and I couldn't handle the journalists' questions and all the fuss about my results ... I had to realize that I was a role model for other girls and their parents -- they wanted them to follow in my footsteps. But I focused on chess," Polgar said. "I didn't think about other things." In 2002, Polgar finally defeated Garry Kasparov, who had previously described her as "talented but not greatly talented,'' explaining that "women by their nature are not exceptional chess players ... not great fighters," in a 1990 interview with The New York Times. But in a game Polgar described as "one of the most remarkable moments" of her career, she won in 42 moves. Kasparov later credited the Polgars' career success in a chapter on anti-complacency tactics in his book, "How Life Imitates Chess." "By seeking out and often besting the toughest competition," he wrote, "the Polgars showed that there are no inherent limitations to their aptitude -- an idea that many male players refused to accept until they had unceremoniously been crushed by a twelve-year-old with a ponytail." In 2003, Polgar enjoyed one of her best results. At a tournament in the Netherlands, she finished half a point behind current World Champion Viswanathan Anand, a point ahead of Vladimir Kramnik (who Polgar has yet to beat), and beat Karpov. The following year, her son Oliver was born, and she took time out from chess. In 2005, she competed in two tournaments which brought her to her highest spot on the rankings board -- world number eight. Things fall apart . "Being professional means 100% is not enough," she said. "Number one, two and three in my life was chess. The reality for women is, when a child comes into the picture, priorities change." More from Leading Women: At last, it's Zaha Hadid's time to shine . After her daughter was born in 2006, Polgar says, "things in my career dropped, pretty much. Not only my rating points but I was not happy with the way I was playing." Her ranking dropped from 10th to 50th in the world and in 2008 she finished last in the World Chess Blitz Championship. "Everything really kind of fell apart," she told Chess magazine, "even though I have had help with my children from day one from grandparents and nannies. "First of all, my priorities in life and in my mind definitely changed. I didn't have the same interest in chess as I had before." As she reveals in an upcoming book, "How I Beat Fischer's Record" it wasn't until she played an opening gambit that had been a childhood favorite (the King's Gambit) against the eventual winner of the 2009 World Cup, that she felt like devoting herself to chess again. "It felt like for a moment the Judit from 1988, who many (including myself) had forgotten, had come back to deliver her trademark brilliancies," she wrote. Polgar has decided to continue with her professional career despite the juggling she now has to do. "I'm a maximalist and I like to do things in a maximal way," she said. "It's extremely difficult to admit to myself that maybe I cannot, because there are too many fields in my life that I'm covering: Being a mother, being a wife, being a professional player, coordinating chess events and writing books. "(But) I started to play chess when I was five and ever since, I liked the game. And after all, I can still do things which give me a lot of pleasure." "When I got married, many of my colleagues thought my life was going to go in a different direction and I probably wouldn't care about my game anymore. Actually, it was the contrary. Somehow I became more balanced and my life became more complete."
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Polgar became the youngest ever grandmaster at 15, taking title from Bobby Fischer . She is the only women ranked in World Chess Federation's top 100 players . Birth of first child forced Polgar to reassess: "Everything really fell apart" Now she balances professional chess with writing, motherhood and marriage .
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(CNET) -- The imagined inventions of Victorian-era French novelist Albert Robida may be coming closer to reality. Who, you ask? Robida was an illustrator and writer for popular science-fiction magazines, and is sometimes compared to Jules Verne. In his 1890 novel "Le Vingtieme siecle. La vie electrique," he described something called a "telephonoscope." Since then, we've seen telephonoscopes -- basically videophones -- in everything from "The Jetsons" to "Blade Runner." What we haven't seen is the videophone in our living rooms. That may finally be changing. The common use of videophones could happen through three technologies that separately aren't exactly considered bleeding edge today: high-speed Internet, a television, and Skype. Samsung says it will put the VoIP calling service Skype as an application on its televisions, allowing phone calls to be made on camera right from a couch, just like Jane Jetson talking into her TV set. The Samsung Skype-enabled TV follows similar announcements from Panasonic and LG at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. The models will range from to $1,200 to $2,000 for Panasonic's set. Samsung and LG have not yet announced how much they will charge. The Skype on TV application should work similarly on all three models, which in turn should closely mimic the version of the application that many people use to make free PC to PC calls, or for a fee, PC to landline. Skype accounts are free to set up and can be activated using the TV's remote control right on the screen. The video calls will also be free, as will voice calls between Skype users. Using Skype to call traditional landline and mobile phones is a few cents per minute. Calls can be answered while watching a program, but it's not yet possible to both talk and continue to watch uninterrupted. By the time these models actually hit stores in late spring there should be three TV makers offering Skype on their TVs. And not just any three TV makers, but the world's largest overall (Samsung sells practically one of every five TVs sold), the leader in plasmas (Panasonic), and LG, which is close behind Samsung, selling 15 percent of all TVs. While Robida wrote about the idea, AT&T did the most to advance the idea from the pages of Victorian sci-fi to actuality. Unfortunately its 1960s videophone system, known as the Picturephone, was a bust. Few ever signed up for the service because you had to reserve call times and pay a whopping $16 per minute. The idea, however, was at least on the right track: making videophones accessible to normal folk. Today teleconferencing is a common tool for companies to put employees in different locations virtually, if not physically, in the same conference room. But the high cost of the fancy systems from companies like Cisco and Hewlett-Packard doesn't make them consumer-friendly. Cisco also announced at CES it would be offering a home version of its telepresence software sometime this year, and did not yet mention a price. Videophones for the home have never really caught on in the way they have at businesses. Even versions of the concept built into a corded telephone didn't really generate much excitement. Usually this was a small screen attached to a phone base station and conversations had to take place wherever the phone was plugged in, which tended to be places like a dresser or a kitchen counter. Video calls today can be made online. They're easy and cheap, and of course don't require the purchase of an pricey new TV. A computer with a built-in Webcam and a voice-over-IP service like Skype or a chat application like Yahoo Messenger usually suffice, but it is still an activity that's attached to a computer, and therefore going to be intimidating to people who either don't like or have trouble with technology. TVs are far more accessible though. Now with major companies like Samsung, Panasonic, and LG pushing the idea of the TV as videophone, the concept does at least have the chance to catch on. Consumer surveys show that people are beginning to buy Internet-connected TVs, which allow not just Skype calls, but also other activities on the TV that are normally confined to the computer. That includes accessing Internet radio and video streaming from services like Pandora and Netflix, and social sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr. A survey of 800 U.S. consumers who bought TVs in January found that 27.5 percent of them have connected their new sets to the Internet, either through the TV itself or via an external device such as a game console or digital video box, according to iSuppli. And of those, almost 42 percent recently purchased a Web-connected TV. And Skype likely won't be a brand new concept to a lot of those new TV owners. Skype already has over 521 million registered accounts, so there's a built-in audience who is already signed up and knows how to use it. But the quality may not be what some people expect, says DisplaySearch analyst Paul Gagnon. "Teleconferencing is inherently kind of a low-quality experience, especially in a consumer home. On a computer it works OK, but blown up to the size of the TV, I wasn't terribly impressed with some of the demos at CES," he said. And quality aside, even in terms of logistics, there's a lot to consider. Even with an Internet-connected TV, you still need a decent Internet connection, and for a two-way video call, you have to have people on the other end with the same set up. In other words, "it's really early," Gagnon said. Time will tell if videophones are just a fad or about to become an integral part of the modern idea of the "connected living room." The tools are there, but it's entirely possible that people don't want to use their TVs like that. Either way, even if the latest incarnation of Robida's telephonoscope doesn't gain widespread acceptance, he still has a decent track record for his prognostications. Other things he predicted in the same 1890 novel? The use of submarines, helicopters, and biological warfare. © 2010 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. CNET, CNET.com and the CNET logo are registered trademarks of CBS Interactive Inc. Used by permission.
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High-speed Internet, television and Skype could combine to create videophone . Samsung says it will put VoIP calling service Skype as application on its televisions . "Teleconferencing is inherently kind of a low-quality experience," analyst says .
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(CNN) -- In an effort to galvanize support for a new pair of rail tunnels connecting New York and New Jersey, two U.S. senators from the Garden State announced Monday that Amtrak would bear some of the costs. The $13.5 billion Gateway Tunnel project would add high-speed and commuter rail service between the two states by 2020, replacing an earlier project that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, rejected after citing budget concerns. "New Jersey is facing a transportation crisis," Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg said Monday. He said residents were "fed up" with train delays and "endless traffic" on New Jersey highways. Lautenberg joined fellow Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez and Amtrak President Joseph Boardman at the Pennsylvania Rail Station in Newark, New Jersey, saying the government-owned rail corporation would spend $50 million to begin preliminary engineering and design, according to a press release from Lautenberg's office. "It is a critical first step that we can take now to bring 220 mph Amtrak high-speed service to the Northeast Corridor," said Boardman, according to the release. Amtrak was not immediately available to verify the proposed spending plan. Christie rejected a similar project in October after "no agreement was reached on terms that would assure New Jersey's taxpayers would not pay more than $2.7 billion for a completed Trans Hudson Express ARC project." "The question is who's going to pay for it," said New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. "Gov. Christie said that there was obligations potentially for the taxpayers of New Jersey that he didn't feel they should shoulder." "That's his decision to make," Bloomberg added. The Access to the Region's Core project, also known as the Trans Hudson Express ARC project, would have created 6,000 jobs, with federal cost estimates ranging between $9.8 billion and $12.7 billion. Lautenberg was among its proponents and led public criticism against the governor's decision to put the project on hold and ultimately cancel it. "The critical difference to ARC is that Gateway will add far less capacity for New Jersey Transit, though still a considerable amount," said Martin Robins, a former director of New Jersey Transit's Waterfront Transportation office. "The operators would be a lot happier having ARC-lite than nothing." But the state also is facing a projected budget gap of $10.5 billion for the next fiscal year. The New Jersey governor has made deficit reduction a cornerstone of his administration, pushing cuts to education, local governments and mass transit and tackling state pension plans and benefits packages for public-sector workers. Christie is expected to deliver his annual budget presentation February 22. CNN's Raelyn Johnson contributed to this report.
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Senators say Amtrak would spend $50 million for $13.5 billion tunnel project . Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg: "New Jersey is facing a transportation crisis" New Jersey governor rejected a similar project in October, citing budget concerns . New Jersey is facing a projected $10.5 billion deficit .
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(CNN) -- Japanese protesters took to the streets Saturday to demand safer energy as the nation marked the three-month anniversary of an earthquake and tsunami that sparked the worst nuclear crisis in 25 years. The massive quake on March 11 triggered a nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, forcing the evacuation of thousands. Months later, crews are still working to control radioactive emissions. "We need electricity, but we cannot put lives at risk," said Kentaro Morisawa, a railway worker who took part in the Tokyo protest. "We have the responsibility to protect our children's lives as much as our lives. Safer energy, such as fuel and water, is what we need today. Crowds sang, chanted and beat drums in protests held nationwide. "Because we are letting radioactive material leak into the environment, we are getting a bad reputation from overseas," protester Mamoru Matsuda said. "So we need to end this Fukushima crisis as soon as possible." Some of the protesters gathered near the headquarters the Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the nuclear plant. The protests comes three months into the crisis, which is the worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. One of three operating reactors at the plant melted down after the March earthquake and tsunami, and others suffered extensive damage to their radioactive cores. The resulting contamination has forced authorities to evacuate more than 100,000 people from towns surrounding the plant. In addition, restrictions on various agricultural and fisheries products have devastated Japanese farmers and fishermen since the disaster started, though some of those bans have been lifted in recent weeks. The protests are the latest show of discontent for embattled Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who survived a no-confidence vote in this month.
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They take to the streets as the nation marks the three-month anniversary of a massive quake . The March 11 earthquake triggered a nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi plant . "We need electricity, but we cannot put lives at risk," Kentaro Morisawa says .
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(CNN) -- The father of a 12-year-old Virginia girl, who police say was abducted and taken on a week-long, cross-country trek by the man considered a prime suspect in her mother's death, on Monday thanked law enforcement, the media and the California woman who alerted police after spotting the girl. Calling what had happened "nothing short of a miracle," Benjamin Smith said he was eagerly looking forward to reuniting with his daughter, Brittany Mae Smith, later Monday night or soon thereafter. "I thought that the happiest day of my life was when my daughter was born," said Smith, addressing reporters in Virginia for the first time since his daughter was reported missing a week ago. "Tonight has taken that number one spot." Benjamin Smith said he spoke with his daughter on Friday, shortly after she was recovered by San Francisco police. Not sure if it was her -- and knowing "there's probably 100 Brittany Smiths between here and California" -- he said he asked her his dog's and then her dog's name, before being convinced and overcome with emotion. "I don't think I said another word after that," he said, with a wide smile. The girl's father expressed gratitude to numerous people who worked on the case and who publicized the names and faces of Brittany and her alleged abductor, Jeffrey Scott Easley. He singled out Theresa Shanley, who recognized the pair outside a San Francisco supermarket, as "my hero." "There's not anything I could say to describe ... the way my heart feels about you," said Benjamin Smith, adding he hadn't yet spoken with Shanley though he wanted to. "A simple thank you and God bless you." Despite Amber Alerts being issued in several states, authorities had no positive sightings of the girl and Easley until Shanley pulled last Friday into a Safeway parking lot in the Richmond district of San Francisco -- about 2,500 miles from where they were last seen together, in a Walmart in Salem, Virginia. Shanley told HLN's Nancy Grace she saw a man begging for money outside the store. But what most got her attention was a girl sitting on a nearby cement ledge. "The hair on my arms stood up," recalled Shanley of that damp, cool afternoon. "She spotted me, and I spotted her. And we never took our eyes off each other. (I felt) something is wrong here, something isn't right." Shanley said she went inside the store, and asked a supermarket clerk to call police and tell them about the two. She told authorities that the girl might a missing child from Virginia and her alleged abductor. She said she believed she recognized the couple from pictures broadcast the previous night on "Nancy Grace." Shanley said she went back outside briefly, thinking she'd left her cell phone in the car, and again locked eyes with the girl, though the two never spoke. Later, after police arrived, she found out the girl was Brittany Smith, and the man was Easley. "Sure enough, it was her and him," Shanley said. "My intuition was right." Two detectives from Roanoke County escorted the girl from California back to Roanoke, Virginia, on Monday, Roanoke County spokeswoman Teresa Hall said in a statement. The girl was to be released to her family. Easley, 32, remains in custody near San Francisco after being charged with abduction, credit card theft and credit card fraud charges. And Roanoke County police Chief Ray Lavinder has called him a "very good suspect" in the death of Tina Smith, Brittany's mother. Police believe that 41-year-old Smith, who was Easley's girlfriend, was killed between the morning and evening of December 3, Lavinder said. On that day, surveillance video shows Easley and Brittany Smith shopping for a blue domed tent at a Wal-Mart in Salem. Lavinder said authorities believe that the two left Virginia, heading toward California, that night or early the next day. They traveled cross country in Tina Smith's silver 2005 Dodge Neon sedan, which was found in a parking lot adjacent to San Francisco International Airport after authorities had found Brittany Smith and Easley. The pair were holding up a cardboard sign and asking for money when they were spotted, Lavinder said. The Safeway was within walking distance of the makeshift campsite containing the tent in which Easley and Brittany Smith had been staying. Easley did not resist when police arrested him shortly after 2 p.m. Friday, San Francisco police Officer Albie Esparza said. And Brittany Smith had no visible injuries, according to Lavinder. The chief added Monday that the girl was told, after being recovered by San Francisco police, that her mother was dead. The chief has said Easley met Tina Smith online this summer and moved into the family home in October. Police issued an Amber Alert for Brittany on Monday after finding the body of her mother. Tina Smith's co-workers had called to express concern that she hadn't shown up for work. Authorities in Florida and Alabama followed suit with Amber Alerts in subsequent days, and notices went out to law enforcement nationwide. Authorities said they do not know whether the girl went willingly with Easley. Regardless, with Brittany Smith safe, Virginia authorities say, they have now turned their focus to the homicide investigation. They are also trying to get Easley back east, though an extradition hearing hasn't taken place in California courts. He could go to Virginia relatively soon if he waives extradition, or the process may be delayed weeks if he contests his return.
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NEW: Benjamin Smith says he's excited to reunite with his daughter . A California woman says she locked eyes with Brittany Smith outside a store . The girl has headed back to Virginia, while her alleged abductor is in custody . The man is a "very good suspect" in the girl's mother's death, police say .
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Oakland Township, Michigan (CNN) -- The FBI on Tuesday spent a second day digging in a Detroit-area field in the latest search for the remains of former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa -- an effort spurred by information from an aging reputed mobster. Agents began digging Monday in waist-high grass in Oakland Township north of Detroit, a location determined in part from information provided by alleged mobster Tony Zerilli. Media and curious onlookers gathered some distance from the private property. The search was stopped for the night as evening approached but will resume Wednesday at 8 a.m. Nothing yet has been found, two law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation said Tuesday afternoon. Oakland Sheriff Mike Bouchard said investigators are using probes to determine what the ground makeup is, but have not found samples that would require lab analysis. Two concrete slabs have been removed during the dig. It's unclear whether the slabs were foundations for a barn that once stood there. Scientists from Michigan State University were at the site Tuesday to help with soil analysis. Agents are expected to finish the search this week, possibly in the next 48 hours, Bouchard said. This is the latest chapter of the nearly four-decades-long search for Hoffa. It was sparked by "highly credible" information from Zerilli, according to a law enforcement source with direct knowledge of the investigation. Earlier this year, Zerilli, now in his 80s, told New York's NBC 4 that Hoffa was buried in a Michigan field about 20 miles north of where he was last seen in 1975. Hoffa, then 62, disappeared after being seen on July 30, 1975, outside a Detroit-area restaurant. The FBI said at the time that the disappearance could have been linked to Hoffa's efforts to regain power in the Teamsters and to the mob's influence over the union's pension funds. The FBI spent months looking into Zerilli's claims before seeking court authorization to excavate the field and look for evidence of a shallow grave, according to a law enforcement source. Contrary to what's been thought for years, Zerilli said he was told Hoffa's disappearance was not connected to Anthony "Tony Pro" Provensano, the New York City-area Genovese family crime boss who allegedly wanted to get rid of Hoffa. Instead, according to the source, Zerilli -- convicted years ago of crimes in connection with organized crime in Detroit -- told the FBI that Detroit mobsters wanted Hoffa dead. At the time, Hoffa was thought to be trying to get back into a power position with the labor movement after his release from prison. He was convicted in 1967 for jury tampering and fraud. President Richard Nixon pardoned him in 1971. Zerilli was in prison himself when Hoffa disappeared. Zerilli, according to the law enforcement source, said that when he was freed, he asked a mob enforcer what happened to Hoffa. The mobster allegedly told Zerilli that Detroit's crime bosses ordered the Hoffa hit. They lured him to a meeting and then drove him to a farm owned by a mob underboss. The enforcer allegedly told Zerilli that Hoffa was killed and buried on the property, which covers several acres. Zerilli's attorney, David Chasnick, told reporters Monday that Zerilli was told Hoffa was hit with a shovel and buried alive. Zerilli published a manuscript about the Hoffa claim online that includes details of the alleged hit. "He wasn't shot, he wasn't stabbed, nothing like that. A cement slab of some sort was placed on top of the dirt to make certain he was not going to be discovered. And that was it. End of story," Zerilli's manuscript says. The area being searched was described as relatively small -- about the size of a small party tent, according to the source. Aerial video showed a somewhat larger area had been cleared of grass. Zerilli has been to the site more than once, said Chasnick, who declined to elaborate. Hoffa's daughter, Barbara Crancer, told CNN by phone Tuesday that she is always appreciative when the FBI follows credible leads in the case. But, she said, she doesn't want to get her hopes up. "We've been through it too many times," she said. FBI Special Agent Bob Foley, head of the agency's Detroit office, told CNN at the scene that the information leading to the search "reached the threshold of probable cause, which was sufficient to allow us to obtain a search warrant." The paperwork supporting the search warrant is under seal. "If it didn't rise to that level then, certainly, we wouldn't be out here," Foley said. Hoffa's disappearance and presumed death have vexed investigators. As recently as October, soil samples were taken from a home in a suburban Detroit community after a tipster claimed he saw a body buried in the yard a day after Hoffa disappeared. The soil samples were tested, and showed no evidence of human remains or decomposition. Zerilli was freed in 2008 after his last prison sentence. Keith Corbett, a former U.S. attorney, told CNN earlier this year that Zerilli headed a Detroit organized crime family from 1970 to 1975, but was in prison when Hoffa vanished. In an interview with CNN affiliate WDIV-TV, Zerilli denied playing any role in Hoffa's disappearance. Zerilli told CNN affiliate WXYZ on Tuesday that he hoped authorities would find the remains of his "good friend," to put Hoffa's family at ease and put this story to rest. "I'd like to see him exhumed and be buried properly, like he deserves to be," he said. Man convicted in mob crimes says he's 'certain' where Hoffa is buried . CNN's Yon Pomrenze, Laura Batchelor, Sheila Steffen, Poppy Harlow and Jason Hanna contributed to this report.
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NEW: Alleged mobster who tipped off police says he hopes his "good friend" is exhumed . Search has ended for the night, will resume Wednesday morning . Concrete slabs are removed during the dig, a source says . Hoffa, then 62, was last seen on July 30, 1975, outside a Detroit-area restaurant .
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