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200 | (CNN) -- A Colorado prosecutor Friday asked a judge to dismiss the first-degree murder charge against Tim Masters, who spent nine years in prison until new DNA evidence indicated someone else might have committed the crime. Tim Masters, center, walks out of a Fort Collins, Colorado, courthouse Tuesday with his attorney David Wymore. Court papers filed by District Attorney Larry Abrahamson cited "newly discovered" evidence, but took pains to state that evidence didn't clear Masters. "While the newly discovered DNA evidence does not exonerate Timothy Masters, it clearly warrants a complete re-examination of all the evidence related to the murder of Peggy Hettrick," the court papers state. The motion seeks dismissal of the charges "in the interest of justice." It points out the DNA testing used to uncover the new evidence wasn't available when Masters was investigated and tried. On Tuesday a judge threw out Masters' 1999 murder conviction, and he was freed -- also "in the interest of justice." Although the motion signals that Abrahamson is dropping the Masters case, he did not rule out future prosecution. In a statement, the prosecutor cautioned: "Contrary to news reports, the DNA testing results only suggest that there may be others, along with Timothy Masters, who should be investigated. These test results do not provide us with enough information to completely exonerate anyone." Abrahamson said he has asked Colorado Attorney General John Suthers to appoint a special prosecutor to continue the investigation of Hettrick's slaying. The attorney general will announce his decision early next week, Abrahamson said. Masters, 36, has been investigated for Hettrick's murder since he was 15. He has insisted he had nothing to do with her death, and no physical evidence ties him directly to the crime. Watch Masters describe his anger at police » . A jury convicted Masters 12 years after the discovery of Hettrick's stabbed and sexually mutilated corpse in a field near his trailer. Among the evidence jurors considered were a collection of knives found in Master's bedroom, gruesome sketches and testimony from a prosecution expert that he fit the psychological profile of a killer. Masters' defense team said he was framed, and that police and prosecutors sat on evidence that could have raised doubt about his guilt. The significance of Friday's motion to dismiss is largely procedural, but Abrahamson indicated earlier this week that it might be unnecessary to try Masters again. "In light of newly discovered evidence revealed to me on Friday," Abrahamson said in a statement a week ago, "I will be moving as expeditiously as possible to make the determination of whether all charges against Timothy Masters will be dismissed." Abrahamson also has vowed to review all "contested convictions" in which advances in DNA testing may prove useful. He said he wanted to examine the legal discovery process and that he had met with the Fort Collins police chief and his officers "to discuss the critical flow of information with assurance that all information is available to our office and the defense." Special prosecutor Don Quick filed a motion earlier this month citing four instances in which police and prosecutors should have handed over evidence to Masters' original defense team. See the key players in the case » . Among them was a police interview with a plastic surgeon who said it was improbable that a teen could have made the meticulous cuts necessary to remove Hettrick's body parts. Also, according to Quick's motion, police failed to divulge that a renowned FBI profiler warned police that Masters' penchant for doodling gruesome horror scenes did not tie him to the crime. Investigations into how police and prosecutors handled the case continue. E-mail to a friend . | NEW: D.A. seeks dismissal of Tim Masters murder case .
Masters was released Tuesday; conviction was tossed .
Masters convicted in 1999 of murder, sexual mutilation of 37-year-old woman .
He spent nearly nine years in prison . | 736 | 54 |
201 | NEW DELHI, India -- Police covered up the murder of a British teenage girl in Goa last month to protect the tourist industry, a state minister and local media said Monday. Scarlett Keeling stands on Anjuna beach in Goa a few days before her death. Officers had initially said Scarlett Keeling had drowned on Anjuna beach after taking drugs, but changed their story when the 15-year-old's mother protested and a second autopsy suggested she had been raped and murdered. A suspect in the case was arrested Sunday but Fiona MacKeown said she did not believe he was the man who killed her daughter. "This is a clear case of murder and it has gone out of proportion because the police tried to cover it up," Francisco X. Pacheco, Goa's Tourism Minister told Reuters.com. Indian media suggested the cover-up was an attempt to protect Goa's tourism industry. "They should have arrested this man a long time ago and this issue would have got diluted, but now because of the tainted image of some police officers in the case, things have gone out of hand," Pacheco said. Police said they were investigating allegations of a cover-up and the actions of junior officers. "There are certain things under my scrutiny and I have taken cognizance of all these issues, specially these officers," Kishan Kumar, a senior police officer overseeing the probe told Reuters. Keeling's mother said she also believed police were trying to cover up the truth behind her daughter's murder, and that they had arrested Samson D'Souza, 29, to make it look like they were making progress in the case. "We've had an awful lot of contact with people that have been in this situation before, and they've warned us to be careful (that) the police will try and find someone immediately to try and put a front on it that they're actually doing something," Fiona MacKeown told BBC radio on Monday. Kumar described D'Souza as a "local Anjuna boy" who was a bartender at Liu's, a beachfront bar. He said police had confirmed D'Souza's role in Keeling's rape and were now trying to find evidence that he killed the teenager. "We have sufficient evidence to show that he was involved in rape," Kumar told CNN. "So far as murder is concerned, we are investigating further." Scarlett and her family arrived in November for an extended vacation in Goa, known for its white sandy beaches and dance music scene. Beachfront shacks house the bars that fuel the nightlife. MacKeown said Scarlett was left in the care of a trusted male friend and his aunts while the rest of the family traveled to an adjoining Indian state, but she told the BBC that she has had no contact with the family since her daughter's death. The mother said Monday she sent a letter to Goa's chief minister asking for India's Central Bureau of Investigation to look into the case. Goa is popular with Western tourists but several tourists have died from drug overdoses in recent years while women have been attacked and sexually assaulted. The Times Of India said 126 foreigners have died in Goa over the last two years and in January this year a 30-year-old British woman was raped. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Tess Eastment contributed to this report. | Indian police covered up murder of UK girl in Goa, state's tourism minister said .
Police arrest one man over the death of the 15-year-old .
Mother of Scarlett Keeling says she thinks police have arrested wrong man . | 687 | 49 |
202 | (CNN) -- A mine exploded Monday on a road in southern Somalia, killing four people -- three members of the medical humanitarian group Medecins Sans Frontieres and a journalist. Ongoing violence in Somalia has devastated the capital Mogadishu. The incident occurred Monday along a road in Kismayo, the group said. Victor Okumu, 51, a Kenyan doctor; Damien Lehalle, 27, a French logistician; and a Somali driver named Billan were the MSF workers who were killed. Another member of the team was slightly wounded, the group said in a posting on its Web site. "The exact circumstances of this fatal incident are not yet clear," the posting said. Also killed was journalist Hassan Kafi Hared, 36. The remote-controlled mine erupted as he was walking to a news conference in Siyad Village in northern Kismayu, said the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ). He was working for the government-run Somali National News Agency and a Somali Web site called gedonet.com. He is survived by a wife and three children. "This is a targeted attack and we declare that this brutal killing on the journalist and the aid workers is an attack on the society itself," said NUSOJ Secretary General Omar Faruk Osman, in a news release. "We demand that transitional government and the authorities in Kismayu to identify the culprits of this crime and bring them to justice" he said. The medical humanitarian organization said it was evacuating remaining international members of it staff from Kismayu. Hared is the second journalist to be killed this year, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The first, 38-year-old Norwegian reporter Carsten Thomassen, died Jan. 15 in a suicide bomb attack in Kabul. In a written statement, a representative of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said he condemned the killings and "demands a thorough investigation by the authorities." E-mail to a friend . | Journalist and two doctors were among those killed .
Remote-controlled mine went off in southern Somalia .
Somali driver also died in the attack .
Journalist is the second to die in conflict situation this year . | 417 | 46 |
203 | (CNN) -- A bus carrying members of a Marine Corps Reserve unit overturned at an Alabama military base Sunday, leaving 23 Marines injured, four of them critically, the military said in a news release. A bus overturned Sunday in Alabama, injuring 23 Marines, the military said. The passengers, members of E Company, Anti-Terrorism Battalion, 4th Marine Division, had been taking part in a training exercise at Fort Rucker, an Army post outside Ozark, Alabama. They were departing the range at 9:20 a.m. when the accident occurred. The unit is made up of reservists from Tallahassee, Florida, and Bessemer, Alabama. The injured were from First and Headquarters Platoons out of Bessemer, a Birmingham suburb. By mid-afternoon, 11 of the injured had been released to their unit from the hospital. Pictures of the wreck were provided to the news media by the military. Ozark is about 175 miles south of Birmingham. E-mail to a friend . | Bus carrying Marine Corps Reserve unit overturned at Alabama military base .
23 Marines have been injured; four critically, the military says .
E Company, Anti-Terrorism Battalion, 4th Marine Division, was involved .
The accident happened Sunday morning, officials said . | 207 | 54 |
204 | (CNN) -- Despite the obvious claims of younger rivals Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, few can really argue with the 96 football journalists who voted Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite as the 2007 World Footballer of the Year. Brazilian genius Kaka fully deserves winning the 2007 World Footballer of the Year award. The prestigious Ballon d'Or award is widely regarded as the most prestigious individual prize in football and Kaka's inclusion on its coveted roll of honor is a testament to the 25-year-old Brazilian's current standing in world football. When AC Milan defeated Liverpool in the Champions League final in Athens, avenging their heartbreaking loss to the same team in Istanbul two years previously, it enabled Kaka to fulfill his dream of holding aloft Europe's premier trophy -- a winner's medal he fully deserved after a sublime 90-minute performance. Kaka's stock for both club and country has risen steadily since his move to the San Siro from Sao Paulo for a fee of just $8.5 million in the summer of 2003. Unlike many a Brazilian sporting genius, Kaka did not hone his skills on the beach or the streets of a favela shanty town. He was born into a comfortable middle class Brasilia family, where football was not the only hope of a bright future. However, it soon became clear that this particular boy had a very special skill and he was signed by Sao Paulo, after his family had moved there, at just eight years of age -- making his first team debut as an 18-year-old. Kaka's progress was soon picked up by his national team coach and Felipe Scolari named the graceful midfielder in his 23-man squad for the 2002 World Cup finals, earning him a winners' medal despite playing only 19 minutes of the tournament in a group match against Costa Rica. A year later, and Kaka was on his way to Milan. Within a month he had made the starting line-up and his 10 goals helped the Rossoneri lift the Scudetto and the European Super Cup. Throughout his career, Kaka has always possessed the innate ability to score goals -- his record for both club and country sees him average roughly a goal every three games. Yet to describe Kaka merely as a goalscoring midfielder would be doing him a massive injustice. Tall, elegant and blessed with astonishing skill, Milan and Brazil utilize Kaka's ability superbly. Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti soon recognized Kaka's genius, changing his team's system to a 4-4-1-1, playing the Brazilian behind a main target man. With Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso holding the central midfield area, Kaka has a license to roam in behind the lone striker, be it Filippo Inzaghi, Ronaldo or Alberto Gilardino. And Kaka does this with devastating effect, running at the opposition with pace and power, finding defense-splitting passes or shooting from range with deadly accuracy be it from a dead-ball situation or open play. The fly in the ointment for Milan comes in the shape of their poor form this season. Although they have already reached the last 16 of the Champions League, the club are floundering in Serie A and face the unthinkable prospect of not qualifying for next season's competition unless they win the trophy. Real Madrid have coveted Kaka for the last two years -- expect the world transfer record to be smashed if Milan don't secure a place among Europe's elite. E-mail to a friend . | Kaka deservedly named World Player of the Year for the first time in his career .
The Brazilian beats Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in the journalists' vote .
The 25-year-old averages one goal in three games for both AC Milan and Brazil . | 719 | 54 |
205 | MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Four men have been arrested in connection with the shooting death of NFL player Sean Taylor, authorities announced Friday evening. Police have more than one confession in the case and the individuals will be charged with murder, said Robert Parker, director of the Miami-Dade Police Department. The suspects were identified as Venjah K. Hunte, 20; Eric Rivera Jr., 17; Jason Scott Mitchell, 17; and Charles Kendrick Lee Wardlow, 18. Additional arrests are possible, Parker said. "The key to solving this case was citizen's tips," he said. Taylor, 24, died Tuesday, a day after he was shot during an apparent burglary at his Miami home. The police investigation revealed the suspects thought the house was empty, Parker said. "They were certainly not looking to go there and kill anyone," he said. "They were expecting a residence that was not occupied, so murder or shooting someone was not their initial motive. ... Their obvious motive was to go there and steal the contents of the house." The men knew Taylor lived at the house, Parker said. At 1:45 a.m. Monday, Taylor's girlfriend, Jackie Garcia, called 911 and said someone had been shot. Authorities have said she told police she was hiding under the bedding during the attack. Garcia did not see what happened and could not provide a suspect description, Parker told reporters on Wednesday. Police said Garcia and Taylor were awakened by noise in the living room, and that Taylor got up and locked the bedroom door, but the door was kicked in and two shots were fired, one striking him in the leg. Garcia tried to call 911 but was unable to, and used her cell phone instead, police said. There was no evidence the line had been cut, Parker said Wednesday. A break-in was also reported eight days earlier, Miami-Dade police said. A police report said someone forced a window open and left a kitchen knife on a bed. Several drawers and a bedroom safe were searched during the break-in, according to the report. Taylor was home unexpectedly because of an injury, his former attorney, Richard Sharpstein, told reporters Tuesday. "I think he was surprised or they were surprised to find him there," he said. Taylor spent four years with the Washington Redskins, but had been out with a sprained right knee. He did not play in Sunday's game against Tampa Bay. Taylor was a first-round pick in the 2004 draft, according to his team's web site. He played at the University of Miami, where he was an All-American in 2003, and was also a high school standout in the city. Dubbing him "the prototype NFL free safety," the Redskins credited Taylor's team-leading tackling prowess for sending him to his first Pro Bowl after 2006. He was regarded as one of the hardest hitting players in the league. Taylor recorded 257 tackles (206 solo) during his brief career, two sacks and seven interceptions. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Rich Phillips contributed to this report. Copyright 2007 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report. | NEW: Police say they have more than one confession in the case .
NEW: Investigation reveals the men thought the house was empty, police say .
Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor died Tuesday .
Taylor shot during an apparent burglary at his Miami home . | 649 | 51 |
206 | COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (Reuters) -- Humble woodcutter Mohammed Sultan Nafeek's teenage daughter moved to Saudi Arabia to work as a housemaid to support her family after they were displaced by the 2004 tsunami. Now she is on death row, and all he can do is pray. Razeena Mohammad (left) and Mohammad Sultan Nafeek, parents of Rizana Nafeek. Rizana, who was 17 when she started work in Saudi Arabia, was convicted of killing a 4-month-old baby boy in her care just two weeks into her job. Nafeek says the child died accidentally, choking on milk. His daughter was sentenced to beheading in a case rights groups say underlines the vulnerability of many of the 1.5 million Sri Lankans who work abroad -- nearly 400,000 of them in Saudi Arabia alone. "Our family was suffering hardship, and so our daughter volunteered to go and work abroad to send money home," Nafeek told Reuters by telephone from his modest home in Mutur in Sri Lanka's war-torn northeast. After the December 2004 tsunami forced them from their home, the family was displaced again by renewed civil war between the state and separatist Tamil Tiger rebels. Nafeek visited Saudi Arabia with Sri Lanka's deputy foreign minister this month in a bid to secure clemency and met with relations of the dead child's parents but came away empty handed. Under Saudi law, a pardon is the gift of the family of the victim, and so far the parents of the dead child have refused to meet either the family or Sri Lankan officials. "The cops told us: 'Go and pray to Allah. If you can get the forgiveness of the parents, your daughter will be free,' " he said. "So I am praying all the time." "If we had been able to meet the parents, we are sure they would have been willing to forgive our daughter after seeing our situation." The Sri Lankan government is investigating the agency that sent Rizana to work abroad when she was technically still a child but remains hopeful she will be pardoned or exonerated. "I am fairly confident," said Deputy Foreign Minister Hussein Bhaila. "We have spoken to tribal leaders of their particular tribe, we have spoken to area officials... It is they who will now have to speak (to the parents)." "His Excellency the President (Mahinda Rajapaksa) has been following this case very keenly. This is an exceptional case because of her tender age," he added. Rights groups accuse the government of failing to protect its expatriate workers -- one of the main sources of foreign-exchange revenues for the $23 billion economy -- with legal aid. They also decry Saudi Arabia's legal system. "This case raises many troubling questions about the treatment of children and foreigners in Saudi Arabia's criminal-justice system," Human Rights Watch said in a statement issued overnight. "International law prohibits the death penalty for crimes committed before the age of 18." Saudi Arabia executed four Sri Lankans convicted of armed robbery earlier this year, and did not inform Sri Lankan authorities beforehand. Sri Lanka reinstated its own death penalty in 2004 after the murder of a high court judge, but it has been dormant since 1976. There is no indication any of the dozens of convicted murderers, rapists and drug smugglers on death row in Sri Lanka and effectively serving life prison terms will actually be executed. E-mail to a friend . Copyright 2007 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. | Girl convicted of killing baby in her care in Saudi Arabia when she was 17 .
Nafeek says the child died accidentally, choking on milk .
Girl's family displaced by December 2004 tsunami, renewed civil war in Sri Lanka . | 728 | 47 |
207 | LONDON, England (CNN) -- Leaving school at 16 is not normally the route to success. But Richard Branson did just that, setting up a magazine and then entering the record business. Now his brand is behind more than 300 companies -- from cola to trains, from phones to planes making Virgin a global name. Soon Virgin will reach galactic proportions. In 2009 Richard Branson hopes to take tourists into space. CNN's Todd Benjamin caught up with the billionaire in London and asked what drives him to create such a diverse enterprise. Branson: What drives me to create a lot of different businesses is simply a feeling that we can, most likely, do it better than other people in particular areas. We won't create a business if somebody else is doing it really well, the only time we'll create one is if it's not being done well. Benjamin: How would you describe your own personality? Branson: I love people, I love to learn. I never went to university so I see my life as one long university education I never had. I'm very inquisitive, hence the fact we've gone to 350 different businesses, which is quite unusual for a western company. Benjamin: You run your companies as a series of independent companies. What do you look for in your key lieutenants? Branson: Number one, the Virgin brand is absolutely paramount, they must do nothing to damage the reputation of the brand. And the second thing is to look after their team of people. Benjamin: Your headmaster when you left high school said to you ''Branson, congratulations, I predict you'll either go to prison or become a millionaire.'' What was it in your character that you think made him make that observation? Branson: Well I suspect the fact that at age 13 I'm writing him letters on how he could organize the catering better and how the school could save money, and if they save money they could then put it into better facilities for the students. And I managed to persuade him to give me a study to start my magazine and it was only when he actually finally came to me and said "Look, you're either going to have to do your school work or your magazine," that I said "Well, goodbye. I'm off to do the magazine, but thanks very much." Benjamin: In your autobiography you write about being four-years-old and your mother stops the car and makes you get out and what does she make you do? Branson: We were on the way to my grandmother's house in Devon, and I think about three miles before we got there she made me get out and told me to find my own way to my grandmother's house. Basically, her approach was to try and get us to stand on our own two feet and she went to extreme measures sometimes to do so. Benjamin: Without your persona do you think the Virgin brand could have ever become what it became? Branson: I think the particular Virgin brand perhaps needed me, in the past, to get out there and be adventurous, and therefore to give the brand an adventurous feeling; take on the big guys, which we did, and beat the big guys and that's what's created the Virgin brand. I think now if my balloon pops, or the space ship just continues to go into space, or whatever, I think the brand is strong enough to withstand all that and it'll continue to grow. E-mail to a friend . | Richard Branson, founder of Virgin, talks to CNN's Todd Benjamin .
Branson left school at 16 to work on a magazine he had set up .
He is now responsible for over 300 businesses under the Virgin brand . | 699 | 46 |
208 | PARIS, France (CNN) -- As a look, it is about as quintessentially French as it gets. All the same, from the New Year enjoying a cigarette while you sip on your cafe au lait will become a thing of the past. From January 1 it will be illegal in France to smoke in cafes as well as clubs, casinos and hotels. France is extending its ban on smoking to include bars, discotheques, restaurants, hotels, casinos, as well as its fabled cafes. In a country renowned for its fondness for romance, smoking has never quite shaken off its romantic associations with smoky Left Bank cafes and waifish Parisienne beauties clutching on a Gauloises. In spite of the health dangers, about 13.5 million people smoke out of a population of 60 million with around 26 percent of 15 year olds estimated to smoke, according to 2002 figures from the World Health Organization. A smoking ban was first introduced in France in February this year to cover workplaces, schools, airports and hospitals. The new restrictions will only apply to the inside of premises, meaning smokers are still free to light up on the terraces. Even so, enforcing the ban may prove tricky in a country well known for its cafe culture. To soften the blow, the authorities have agreed to an amnesty over the New Year holiday and will not fully enforce the new arrangements until Wednesday. After that time, any smoker caught will face a fine of €450 ($662), while hotel and bar owners who fail to prevent smokers from lighting up on their premises will be fined €750 ($1,100). France has lagged behind many of its European neighbors in bringing in legislation to curb smoking in public places. Ireland became the first European country to introduce a comprehensive smoking ban in 2004. Since then Italy, Spain, Belgium and Britain have followed suit with similar bans. E-mail to a friend . | Smoking ban in France extended to bars, clubs, restaurants, cafes from Jan 1 .
Smoking ban first introduced in February 2007 for public buildings, workplaces .
About 13.5 million people in France smoke out of a population of 60 million .
Similar bans now exist in Ireland, Italy, Spain, Belgium and Britain . | 383 | 67 |
209 | (CNN) -- The toddler whose body washed ashore in Texas last month has been tentatively identified as a 2-year-old girl, and her mother and a man identified as her boyfriend were arrested Saturday, the Galveston County Sheriff's office said Sunday. Police believe two-year-old Riley Ann Sawyers may be "Baby Grace." Investigators believe the child they dubbed "Baby Grace" is actually 2-year-old Riley Ann Sawyers, the Galveston County Sheriff's office said Sunday. DNA analysis is still in progress to confirm that identification. The child's mother, Kimberly Dawn Trenor, 19, and a man identified as Royce Clyde Zeigler II, 24, were arrested Saturday on charges of injuring a child and tampering with physical evidence, the sheriff's department said. The couple lives in Spring, Texas, a Houston suburb about 75 miles north of Galveston. Their bonds were set at $350,000 each. The arrests followed searches conducted Saturday after a November 7 tip, the sheriff's department said. Deputies and FBI agents plan to release more information at a news conference Monday, Galveston County Sheriff's Maj. Ray Tuttoilmondo said. The girl's grandmother, Sheryl Sawyers, of Cleveland, Ohio, told CNN affiliate WKYC that Riley Ann has been missing since June. Watch Sawyers family describe their fears before child was identified » . On October 29, a fisherman discovered the body in a blue Sterilite plastic container on an uninhabited island in Galveston's West Bay. Police dubbed the dead girl "Baby Grace," and asked the public for help in identifying her. A medical examiner said the child's skull was fractured, and a forensic dentist estimated her age at 2 to 3 years. In composite sketches, the girl is wearing a pink skirt and matching top -- clothing authorities said she was wearing when she was found. The other sketch, a close-up rendering of the child's face, shows a fair-skinned toddler with long blond hair. "She is more to us than just a case number, more to us than just an unidentified body. She is very much a human being," Tutoilmondo said last month. "She is someone's child, someone's grandchild, someone's cousin, someone's best friend, and to us, that is the most important part about this case." "We have adopted the name of Baby Grace because, there again, that is part of the emotional part of this case for us," he said, holding a tiny sneaker identical to one of those the child was wearing when she was found. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Hank Bishop contributed to this story. | Woman, boyfriend arrested after a tip led to search .
Police believe child found dead in box is Riley Ann Sawyers, 2 .
Body of little girl was found in box that washed ashore last month .
Police asked public for help identifying girl they dubbed "Baby Grace" | 552 | 56 |
210 | MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Four suspects indicted on murder and burglary charges in the slaying of Washington Redskins star Sean Taylor begin their journey through the courts on Wednesday. A grand jury identified Eric Rivera Jr. as the shooter in the death of NFL star Sean Taylor. Court documents say the youngest is alleged to have fired the fatal shot. He is identified as Eric Rivera Jr., 17. He appeared briefly on Wednesday morning before a judge in Miami, Florida. Rivera has been indicted as an adult and Judge John Thornton found probable cause to support charges of first degree felony murder and burglary with assault or battery with a firearm. Three other suspects -- Venjah K. Hunte, 20, Jason Scott Mitchell, 19, and Charles Kendrick Lee Wardlow, 18 -- appeared Tuesday in court via videoconference. They wore thick green vests, which defense attorneys said were suicide safety smocks. They were ordered held without bail at the Pre-Trial Detention Center in Miami, Florida, where Corrections Officer Janelle Hall said they are under suicide watch. All four suspects are expected to make initial appearances later this morning before Circuit Judge Dennis Murphy. Watch CNN's Rick Sanchez speak to attorneys for two of the suspects » . Rivera was armed during the alleged burglary, and "during the course of the commission of the offense ... discharged a firearm and as a result of the discharge, death or great bodily harm was inflicted upon Sean Maurice Taylor, a human being," the indictment says. The four men were arrested Friday, officials said. Taylor, 24, died a day after he was shot during an apparent burglary at his home. Miami-Dade police investigators said they believe the burglars thought the house was empty. Thousands of mourners attended Taylor's funeral Monday at Florida International University's arena. See photos from the funeral » . Police said Taylor and his girlfriend, Jackie Garcia, were awakened by noise coming from the living room early November 26. Taylor got up and locked the bedroom door, but the door was kicked in and two shots were fired, police said. One struck Taylor in the leg. Garcia and the couple's 18-month-old daughter were not hurt. Authorities have said Garcia told police she was hiding under the bedding during the attack, did not see what happened and could not provide a suspect description. A break-in had been reported at Taylor's residence eight days earlier. A police report from that incident said someone forced a window open and left a kitchen knife on a bed. Several drawers and a bedroom safe were searched during the break-in, according to the report. Taylor spent four years with the Redskins, earning his first Pro Bowl selection in 2006. He suffered a sprained right knee in a November 11 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles and had not played since. The 2004 first-round draft pick played at the University of Miami, where he was an All-American in 2003. He was regarded as one of the hardest-hitting players in the NFL. E-mail to a friend . CNN's John Couwels, Kim Segal, and Patrick Oppmann contributed to this report. | NEW: 17-year-old alleged shooter appears in Miami courtroom .
NEW: Eric Rivera Jr. will be tried as an adult .
Three adult suspects in Sean Taylor slaying on suicide watch .
Taylor died after being shot in home invasion last week . | 628 | 52 |
211 | LONDON, England -- Football will pay its tribute to the legend of Manchester United's Busby Babes on Wednesday in moments of remembrance on the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster. A memorial stone recalls the place of the Munich air disaster in Kirchtrudering near Munich. Eight players lost their lives on February 6, 1958, when Flight 609 ZU crashed on the third attempt to take off after re-fuelling in Germany as United returned from knocking Red Star Belgrade out of the European Cup. Sir Matt Busby's side, back-to-back English champions and well positioned for a hat-trick attempt, were arguably on course to become the best United team. The United players killed at Munich were Geoff Bent, aged 25, Roger Byrne(28), Eddie Colman (21), Mark Jones (24), David Pegg (22), Tommy Taylor (26), Liam Whelan (22) and 21-year-old Duncan Edwards who died in hospital 15 days after the crash. They and the other 15 people who lost their lives will be remembered with a commemorative service at Old Trafford while a short ceremony, organised by supporters, will also take place at the memorial site in Kirchtrudering, on the outskirts of Munich. In keeping with tradition, United supporters will also gather under the memorial plaque at Old Trafford where the clock is fixed at the exact time of the final fateful take-off attempt. Later in the day, a minute's silence will take place ahead of England's friendly with Switzerland at Wembley as a further mark of respect. As he bows his head during this week's Munich commemorations, survivor Harry Gregg's mind will understandably flash back to that snow-laden runway, but only briefly. The 75-year-old Ulsterman prefers not to remember the afternoon he lost so many friends among the victims, but instead the days when the dream of the 'Busby babes' was still vibrant and alive. Goalkeeper Gregg, hailed a hero in the wake of the crash after returning to the wreckage to pull out survivors, is adamant those are the times which always burn brightest in his memory. "I was part of something that was a very, very beautiful thing at that time," said Gregg, who cost United a record 23,000 pounds sterling when he joined from Doncaster Rovers two months before the disaster. "I'll always be proud of that. The fact there's going to be a minute's silence after 50 years is a tribute to the people I played with, but one must remember as well there were other people on board that aircraft, a lot more people. "I want the minute's silence to be over and then I want to remember the happy times, that's what I want the world to remember, that's what I want the families to remember." E-mail to a friend . | Football pays tribute on the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster .
Eight Manchester United players died when plane crashed on take-off .
A total of 23 people were killed as Utd returned from cup tie in Belgrade . | 582 | 47 |
212 | (CNN) -- The presidents of Sudan and Chad signed a non-aggression agreement late Thursday, aiming to halt cross-border hostilities between the two African nations. Chad President Idriss Deby, right, and Sudan's President Omar al-Beshir, left, shake hands after signing the pact. The signing came after nearly two full days of talks in Dakar, Senegal, between Sudan President Omar al-Beshir and Idriss Deby, the president of Chad. Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade facilitated the talks, and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon met with officials from both nations and witnessed the signing of the agreement at about 10 p.m. "The idea is to get the governments of Sudan and Chad to normalize their relations with each other and to halt any action that would allow for the cross-border movement of rebel factions or armed factions of either side that could hurt the other country," said United Nations spokesman Farhan Haq. Each country accuses the other of supporting armed rebel groups that cross the border to attempt to destabilize the government. The rival nations' armies have skirmished several times. The United Nations says refugees and armed groups have been regularly crossing the border between the troubled Darfur region of Sudan and Chad. They allegedly include many of the rebels that attacked N'Djamena, the capital of Chad, in early February. As recently as Thursday, just hours before the agreement was signed, Chad issued a communique saying rebels from Sudan had crossed the border. Chad is still recovering from a failed attempt last month by rebels to overthrow Deby's regime. The United Nations says the swelling number of Darfur refugees and other displaced people living in eastern Chad is causing serious strain on the region. Kingsley Amaning, the U.N.'s humanitarian coordinator for Chad, said more than 10,000 people from Darfur, in Sudan, have fled into 12 official refugee camps in eastern Chad. They join some 240,000 Darfurians who have lived in Chad since 2004 because of fighting in their homeland and an estimated 180,000 displaced Chadians also living there. The number of displaced Chadians is growing because of the recent fighting there, Kingsley said. Haq said the United Nations, which has peacekeeping troops in the Darfur region, will work to assure Sudan and Chad carry out the terms of Thursday's deal. The countries have signed several peace agreements in the past, only to see renewed violence flare up. E-mail to a friend . | Sudan, Chad presidents sign agreement aiming to halt cross-border hostilities .
Signing came after nearly two days of talks between presidents of Sudan and Chad .
Each accuses other of supporting rebels that attempt to destabilize the government .
Just hours before agreement, Chad claimed rebels from Sudan had crossed border . | 511 | 63 |
213 | LONDON, England (CNN) -- Queen Elizabeth helped launch Heathrow's $8.6 billion new Terminal 5 on Friday as part of the British airport's rejuvenation plan to maintain its status as one of the world's most important transport hubs. A general view of the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport prior to its official opening on Friday. The British monarch, who also opened Heathrow's first passenger terminal in 1955, was present under strict security a day after a man carrying a backpack was arrested for running onto a runway at the airport. The first flights from the new terminal are scheduled for March 27. Its opening has come after 15 years of planning and construction by its owners BAA -- and protests by local residents and environmental groups. It is part of a strategy which could lead to passenger numbers almost doubling to 122 million a year, with a sixth terminal and a third runway in the pipeline despite some vociferous opposition. Spanish-owned BAA, which also runs Gatwick and Stansted in Britain, also plans to eventually demolish Terminals 1 and 2 and replace them in a project called Heathrow East. Watch Queen Elizabeth meet airport staff. » . Residents were once told by BAA that there would be no fifth terminal, but the company is planning to forge further ahead despite the concerns of environmental groups. "Terminal 5 stands as a monument to the binge-flying culture this Government has done so much to encourage," Greenpeace transport campaigner Anita Goldsmith told the UK Press Association. "It's part of an obsession with expansion which can only mean more flights, more emissions and more climate change." Richard Dyer of Friends of the Earth added: "If the Government is serious about tackling climate change, the opening of Terminal 5 must mark the end of airport expansion in Britain. "Further expansion of Heathrow would be environmentally irresponsible and isn't necessary for the economy of London." However, business groups welcomed the expansion at Heathrow. "Thriving, growing airports are vital to help maintain Britain's economic competitiveness," Neil Pakey, chairman of the Airport Operators' Association, told PA. "Domestic air links to Heathrow are particularly valuable for the regional economies, and this new terminal will undoubtedly provide them with a much-needed boost. The passage of the current Planning Bill must ensure that this is the last airport which has to endure such an absurdly protracted planning process." See British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh's views on the terminal. » . Visit London chief executive James Bidwell said: "T5 will provide visitors to London and the UK with a spectacular first impression and alleviate the pressure experienced at Heathrow, the world's busiest airport. "The terminal's smoother check-in process and state-of-the-art baggage management system will certainly better the tourist experience and should help improve the airport's international reputation." E-mail to a friend . | Queen Elizabeth opens Heathrow Airport's $8.6 billion new Terminal 5 .
The new building took more than 15 years to complete following protests .
Launch a day after security scare at one of world's busiest international airports .
A lone man ran onto a Heathrow runway carrying a backpack on Thursday . | 584 | 62 |
214 | WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States imposed stiff sanctions against Iran on Thursday, targeting two Iranian military groups and a number of Iranian banks and people it accuses of backing nuclear proliferation and terror-related activities. "What this means is that no U.S. citizen or private organization will be allowed to engage in financial transactions with these persons and entities," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said. "In addition, any assets that these designees have under U.S. jurisdiction will be immediately frozen." Rice and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson made the announcement in a brief appearance before reporters on Thursday morning. Rice accused Iran of "pursuing nuclear technologies that can lead to a nuclear weapon; building dangerous ballistic missiles; supporting Shia militants in Iraq and terrorists in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories; and denying the existence of a fellow member of the United Nations, threatening to wipe Israel off the map." Watch Rice tell why sanctions are being imposed » . "Many of the Iranian regime's most destabilizing policies are carried out by two of its agencies: the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or the IRGC, and the Quds force, an arm of the IRGC," she said. She said the sanctions were being imposed "because of the Revolutionary Guard's support for proliferation and the Quds force support for terrorism." The United States also designated three Iranian state-owned banks for sanctions, two of them "for their involvement in proliferation activities" and the other "as a terrorist financier," Rice said. "Iran funnels hundreds of millions of dollars each year through the international financial system to terrorists," Paulson said. "Iran's banks aid this conduct using a range of deceptive financial practices intended to evade even the most stringent risk management controls." The Revolutionary Guard Corps, he said, "is so deeply entrenched in Iran's economy and commercial enterprises, it is increasingly likely that, if you are doing business with Iran, you are doing business" with the corps. "We call on responsible banks and companies around the world to terminate any business with Bank Melli, Bank Mellat, Bank Saderat, and all companies and entities" of the corps, Paulson said. The move marks the first time the United States has attempted to punish another country's military through sanctions. Previous sanctions imposed by the United States have been tied to Iran's nuclear program. The United States has been working with other world powers to halt what they believe is Iran's intent to develop a nuclear arsenal. Iran says it is pursuing nuclear power for peaceful reasons. Mohamed ElBaradei, director-general of the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency, said last month that Iran's declared nuclear material has not been diverted from peaceful use and criticized U.S. rhetoric regarding Iran. The Quds Force is blamed by the U.S. military for training and arming Shiite militias in Iraq and smuggling highly lethal explosives into Iraq, where they are used to attack coalition forces. Iran denies the charge. "If the Iranian government fulfills its international obligation to suspend its uranium enrichment and reprocessing activity, I will join my British, French, Russian, Chinese and German colleagues, and I will meet with my Iranian counterpart any time, anywhere," Rice said. "We will be open to the discussion of any issue. But if Iran's rulers choose to continue down a path of confrontation, the United States will act with the international community to resist these threats of the Iranian regime." Last month, representatives of world powers announced that unless a November report shows a "positive outcome" of talks with Iran about its uranium enrichment program, they will move ahead with plans for a resolution imposing additional sanctions on the country. The U.N. Security Council has repeatedly demanded that Iran suspend enrichment of uranium and has imposed limited sanctions on Tehran for refusing to comply. The European Union is weighing its own unilateral sanctions. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Kathleen Koch and Elise Labott contributed to this report. | U.S. puts sanctions on Iran's Revolutionary Guard, banks, individuals .
Revolutionary Guard accused of supporting nuclear proliferation .
Guard's Quds force said by U.S. to support terrorism .
Sanctions mean financial assets of Revolutionary Guard, others, are frozen . | 801 | 57 |
215 | (CNN) -- Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is "ready to cooperate" with the government and is committed to pursuing a dialogue with the ruling junta, according to a statement the United Nations' special envoy to Myanmar read Thursday on her behalf. Activists display a portrait of detained democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, in Myanmar. "It is my duty to give constant and serious considerations to the interests and opinions of as broad a range of political organizations and forces as possible," Ibrahim Gambari said, reading the statement from Suu Kyi. On Friday Suu Kyi was able to meet with three executive members of her National League for Democracy and a party spokesman -- the first time they have met in more than three years. Members of her party said Suu Kyi was "very optimistic" about prospects of the process for reconciliation, the Associated Press reported. The Nobel Peace Prize winner has said she will continue to be "guided by the policies and wishes" of the opposition political party she heads -- the National League for Democracy. In the statement, Suu Kyi also welcomed the appointment of Aung Kyi as the minister of relations, a position the junta created last month to be a liaison between government and Suu Kyi, whom the junta has under house arrest in Yangon. She has been confined to her home for the better part of almost two decades. Aung Kyi -- viewed as a moderate -- was appointed as the liaison officer amid international pressure following September's bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations. As many as 110 people are believed to have been killed in the violence, including 40 Buddhist monks. Video smuggled out of the country showed unarmed protesters being beaten by the military regime's security forces, and one man -- believed to be a Japanese journalist -- was shot and killed at close range. The protests were sparked by a huge fuel price increase imposed by the military government, and quickly escalated. Myanmar's military junta said in mid-October that it had detained more than 2,900 people during the crackdown. Many of them are still believed to be in custody. Suu Kyi described her October 25 meeting with the liaison officer as "constructive," said the statement read by Gambari. "I look forward to further regular discussions." Gambari said he will return this week to New York to brief U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the five-day trip to Myanmar, also called Burma. The situation in the secretive Asian nation is not what it was "a few weeks ago," said a U.N. statement released in conjunction with the end of Gambari's trip. "We now have a process going which would lead to substantive dialogue between the government and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi," the statement said. "The sooner such a dialogue can start, the better for Myanmar." During his trip, Gambari met with Myanmar's prime minister, Gen. Thein Sein, and other government officials, as well as Suu Kyi, the United Nations reported. E-mail to a friend . | Aung San Suu Kyi says she's committed to pursuing a dialogue with the ruling junta .
Suu Kyi meets with three executive members of her political party .
Crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators set off international outrage .
As many as 110 people were killed in the September violence . | 631 | 63 |
216 | PANAMA CITY, Panama (CNN) -- The sole survivor of a plane crash that killed two Americans and a Panamanian pilot was awake and talking Wednesday, a doctor said. Francesca Lewis, 13, apparently fell out of the plane or was ejected on impact, her mother, Valerie Lewis, told CNN on Wednesday. The girl endured two days in the rugged mountains of Panama, in frigid temperatures and heavy rain, before rescuers stumbled upon her in the wreckage on Christmas Day. "She's doing all right," Valerie Lewis said. "She is having tests done at the hospital right now, and so far things seem good -- kind of miraculous. "The fact that she so far doesn't seem to have any major damage seems incredible." Dr. Alexander Quidano at the Mae Lewis Medical Center in Boquete, Panama, said Francesca was in stable condition, awake and speaking. She was being treated for a fractured arm and several cuts, but tests, including a CAT scan, were under way to make sure nothing else was wrong, Quidano said. Francesca apparently was disoriented when her rescuers saw her under a wing of the wrecked plane, her mother said. She thought she was at home and wondered why an airplane wing was in her house, her mother said. Rescuers carried the girl on a stretcher for three and a half hours in torrential rain over rugged terrain to a helicopter. "We're so relieved to have her with us," her mother said. The small plane disappeared Sunday in a mountainous area of Panama. Authorities found the bodies of pilot Edwin Lasso, American businessman Michael Klein and Klein's 13-year-old daughter, Talia, about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to a statement posted on the Web site of Panama's civil protection agency. Francesca and Talia were friends. Watch latest from school the girls attended » . Rescuers planned to retrieve the three bodies Wednesday, said Thomas Mesa, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Panama City. Klein, a 37-year-old hedge fund manager, was vacationing with the two girls when they took the flight Sunday to photograph a volcano in Chiriqui province, about 285 miles west of Panama City. Authorities think the small single-engine Cessna ran into bad weather. Radio contact with the flight was lost about noon Sunday. Authorities and hundreds of volunteers spent the last two days searching the dense jungles and mountainous terrain, but heavy rain in the area had hampered recovery efforts. "I just want to thank all of the people that cared so much about trying to help us," Valerie Lewis said. "So many people tried to help, and at great effort and sacrifice, and through the Christmas holiday. "I mean, the most important family holiday, people were giving up that to go and trudge through the mud. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack. We really appreciate everything that was done." Klein was president and CEO of eGroups Inc. in 1999 and 2000, when Yahoo! acquired the company, merging it with its own e-mail services and changing its name to Yahoo! Groups, which now serves more than 100 million users worldwide. "My heart goes out to everyone," Valerie Lewis said. "We all have been through a tremendous trauma together." E-mail to a friend . | NEW: Girl, 13, was disoriented when found under wing, mother says .
NEW: Lack of major injuries "seems incredible," mother says .
NEW: Rescuers carried girl 3.5 hours over mountains in heavy rain .
Girl was only survivor in Panama crash that killed three . | 687 | 62 |
217 | ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan election officials on Monday disqualified opposition party leader and former former prime minister Nawaz Sharif from participating in January parliamentary elections. Election officials say Nawaz Sharif's previous convictions bar him from standing for reelection. A spokesman for Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League told CNN Monday that Sharif had been barred by the election commission because of a previous criminal conviction. Sharif filed paperwork for his candidacy last week, although he had left open the possibility that he would boycott the election in protest of a state of emergency imposed by President Pervez Musharraf. Sharif, an outspoken critic of Musharraf, who ousted him from power in 1999, had said he wanted to keep all options open. Sharif returned to Pakistan last month, ending seven years in exile in Saudi Arabia. He had first returned in September, but Pakistani authorities deported him within hours of his arrival. Sharif was convicted of terrorism, hijacking and tax evasion after Musharraf seized power in 1999. He was released in 2000 in exchange for agreeing to 10 years of exile in Saudi Arabia. He retained his Pakistani citizenship, but has not been allowed to travel to Pakistan or directly take part in Pakistani politics. Musharraf, who quit as military leader and took office for a third term last week, has pledged to lift the state of emergency by December 16. He was criticized of using the emergency to crack down on political rivals and to purge the judiciary of those likely to block the approval of his reappointment as leader. E-mail to a friend . -- CNN's Zein Basravi contributed to this report. | Former Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif has his candidacy papers rejected .
Had submitted nominations papers for Pakistan's parliamentary election .
Returning officer in Lahore upheld ineligibility objections from other candidates . | 322 | 40 |
218 | PARIS, France -- AC Milan's Brazilian midfielder Kaka has been named European player of the year, lifting France Football's Ballon d'Or award. Kaka has already claimed all of the game's major prizes. His success comes two years after his fellow countryman, Barcelona's Ronaldinho, claimed the award . The 25-year-old Kaka was a major factor in AC Milan's triumphant Champions League campaign. The runner-up was Manchester United's Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo with Barcelona's Argentinian midfielder Lionel Messi finishing third. "This is very special for me - it culminates an astonishing year for me," Kaka said. "It's the top prize around and the only way to win something like this is to play for a team like AC Milan. It's great to be part of a team that wins." At 25 years old, he has already won all the game's major prizes, individually and collectively. He was part of Brazil's 2002 World Cup winning squad, although he was limited to just 19 minutes as a substitute against Costa Rica. He was top scorer in last season's Champions League, helping Milan to avenge their loss to Liverpool in the 2005 final. He won the Italian domestic title in his first season at Milan having joined from Brazilians Sao Paulo for$ 8.5 million, a sum that Milan president Silvio Berlusconi then described as peanuts. E-mail to a friend . | Brazilian Kaka is named European player of the year .
The AC Milan player is chosen ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester Utd .
Argentine Lionel Messi of Barcelona finishes third . | 290 | 40 |
219 | BRUSSELS, Belgium (CNN) -- European leaders agreed Friday to send an 1,800-strong security force to maintain stability in Kosovo, although they stopped short of backing independence for the province. French soldiers at the NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Kosovo last month. Kosovo is expected to declare independence from Serbia early in the new year. Serbia, however, insists the region should remain autonomous within its borders. Speaking at the end of a one-day summit of European heads in Brussels, Jose Socrates, the Portuguese prime minister currently holding the European Union presidency, said that sending the security mission was a "political decision." The police and security force is expected to be deployed to the Balkan state ahead of an announcement of independence. "This is the clearest signal that the EU could possibly give that it intends to lead on the whole issue of Kosovo's future, its status and its role in the region," Socrates said. According to CNN's Robin Oakley in Brussels, European leaders are trying to balance an obvious readiness to back Kosovan independence with incentives to Serbia, which is seeking membership of the EU. EU leaders are deeply conscious of their failure in the early 1990s to move early enough to prevent the bloodletting in the Balkans over the break-up of the former Yugoslavia, he said. Although most EU leaders support Serbia becoming a member state to boost stability in the Balkans, French President Nicholas Sarkozy said that Serbia's membership is dependent on it recognizing Kosovo's independence and handing over war criminals. Socrates confirmed to CNN that any fast-tracking of Serbia into the EU could only be considered if it agreed to hand over Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb general wanted at the The Hague for suspected war crimes. Two years of negotiations on the future status of Kosovo ended in failure earlier this week, when talks mediated by Europe, the United States and Russia ended without an agreement. The disputed province is dear to the Serbs, Orthodox Christians who regard it as Serbian territory. But it is equally coveted by Kosovo's ethnic Albanians, Muslims who have a 90 percent majority. Since 1999 the United Nations has been running the province with NATO peacekeepers, who still number 16,000. Oakley said the EU mission to Kosovo would help to ease the handover from the U.N. to local authorities. E-mail to a friend . | European leaders agree to send 1,800-strong security force to Kosovo .
Kosovo expected to declare independence from Serbia in new year .
Serbia insists region should remain autonomous within its borders . | 476 | 41 |
220 | (CNN) -- Thousands of Chileans may have to sleep in the streets Wednesday night after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake rattled the north part of the country, killing at least two people, injuring dozens and destroying hundreds of homes. Valentina Bustos shot this photo Wednesday of earthquake damage at a hotel in Antofagasta, Chile. "There are more than a thousand, 1,200 houses, at least, that were totally flattened, and others in bad shape," Tocopilla Mayor Luis Moyano said in an interview that aired on Radio Cooperativo. Tocopilla, Chile, north of Santiago, is about 35 km (21 miles) from the quake's epicenter. "Tonight, people are going to have to sleep in the street, because there are a great number of houses that are uninhabitable," said Moyano. Places that could be used as shelters, such as schools and gyms, were damaged in the quake, the mayor said. Moyano put the number of people without shelter at 4,000. Tocopilla's population is 24,000. Moyano described going through the damaged city and running into people asking, "Mayor, my house collapsed. What do I do? Mayor, I don't have water. What do I do?" "It gets to you," he said. Paula Saez with the aid organization World Vision told CNN she was on a treacherous drive attempting to reach Tocopilla. "There's no electricity and there's a lot of landslides" covering the road in spots, she said, and the highway was spotted with holes. Once in Tocopilla, Saez said, she was prepared to offer tents, blankets and medicine to citizens and assess additional needs. The government's Office of National Emergency reported that two women had died and others were injured in the city. Officials identified one of those killed as 54-year-old Olga Petronila Ortiz Cisternas. The other fatality was an 88-year-old woman. Watch what a 7.7 earthquake can do » . Municipal official Ljubica Ukurtovic, in an interview with Chilean TV station TVN, said that "approximately 100 people" had sought treatment at a Tocopilla hospital. The quake collapsed a roadway tunnel, temporarily trapping about 50 construction workers. See where the quake struck » . High-level government sources said the workers had been rescued. Repair work on the 793-meter (2,600-foot) Pedro Galleguillos tunnel, completed in 1994, began on October 1 and was to be finished early next year. Tocopilla is about 1,245 km (780 miles) north of Santiago and the quake was felt in Peru and Bolivia, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor was centered at a depth of 60 km (37 miles), the USGS said. A tsunami warning was issued for the South Pacific coast after the quake hit, but was canceled within an hour. Chile has been the scene of hundreds of strong earthquakes throughout history, including the largest one of the 20th century on May 22, 1960. The quake that struck southern Chile that day registered a magnitude 9.5 and launched a tsunami that caused damage as far away as Hawaii, Japan and the Philippines. Nearly 6,000 people died as a result of the quake and its tsunami. A magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck southern Chile on January 25, 1939, killed 28,000 people. A magnitude 9.0 earthquake in what was then southern Peru but is now northern Chile killed 25,000 people in 1868. E-mail to a friend . | NEW: Tocopilla mayor: More than 1,200 homes flattened, shelters damaged .
Dozens of workers freed from collapsed roadway tunnel, officials say .
Chilean Navy is moving heavy equipment into the area to help with rescue .
7.7 quake north of Tocopilla happened at 12:40 p.m. (10:40 a.m. ET) | 750 | 80 |
221 | LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- No charges will be brought against a 10-year-old boy accused of accidentally starting an October wildfire that scorched more than 38,000 acres north of Los Angeles, California, prosecutors announced Tuesday. Firefighters battle the Buckweed Fire October 22, 2007. "There is no evidence of intent on the part of the minor," the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said in a written statement issued Tuesday afternoon. "The district attorney's office is referring the matter to the Department of Children and Family Services for evaluation of the minor's situation to determine if other intervention is necessary." The boy had faced possible charges in juvenile court after admitting to sheriff's deputies that he had started the Buckweed fire by playing with matches, investigators said. The blaze eventually destroyed 21 homes and 42 other structures. The fire started October 21 in the Agua Dulce community north of Los Angeles. It was one of nearly two dozen wind-whipped wildfires that swept across southern California in late October, forcing hundreds of thousands of people from homes near Los Angeles, San Diego and San Bernardino and leaving 14 people dead. E-mail to a friend . | There is no evidence that the boy intended to set the fire, prosecutors say .
He had faced possible charges in juvenile court after admitting to setting blaze .
The boy was playing with matches; the blaze destroyed 21 homes .
The Buckweed fire started October 21 north of Los Angeles . | 236 | 58 |
222 | WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Investigators with bomb-making components in their luggage and on their person were able to pass through security checkpoints at 19 U.S. airports without detection, according to the Government Accountability Office. Passengers pass through security at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois. GAO officials are expected to testify about the investigation Thursday before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The investigators reported that most of the time security officers followed Transportation Security Administration policies and procedures, but investigators were able to take advantage of "weaknesses in TSA procedures and other vulnerabilities." "These weaknesses were identified based on a review of public information," the planned GAO testimony says. Investigators concluded that if they had attempted the same test at other airports, they would have evaded detection. But the GAO did not detail the weaknesses because they "are sensitive security information." The investigators obtained the bomb-making components at local stores and over the Internet for less than $150, according to testimony. Watch a tester point out a TSA mistake » . The GAO said its investigators also tested the devices that could be built with the components they smuggled and discovered that "a terrorist using these devices could cause severe damage to an airplane and threaten the safety of passengers." The GAO investigators devised two types of devices: an "improvised explosive device" made of a liquid explosive and a low-yield detonator, and an "improvised incendiary device" that could be created by combining commonly available products prohibited in carry-on luggage. The GAO said it found the instructions for creating the devices "using publicly available information," including Internet searches. According to the testimony, a transportation security officer barred one of the investigators from bringing an unlabeled bottle of medicated shampoo through the checkpoint. But the security officer allowed a liquid component of the improvised explosive device to pass through undetected, although that item is prohibited by the TSA. In another test, the investigator put coins in his pockets to assure he would get a secondary inspection. But the officer, using a hand-wand and a pat-down, failed to detect any of the prohibited items the investigator was carrying. The GAO said it had briefed the TSA on its findings "to help them take corrective action." In testimony to be provided to the same congressional committee, TSA chief Kip Hawley defends the administration's policies and procedures, saying that the screening checkpoints are but one of a "multilayered approach to security." "We recognize that, despite our efforts to make each layer as strong as possible, a concerted effort may target any one layer," according to the testimony. "Our ongoing success is a result of the tremendous power in the reinforced, multiple layers. Truly, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts -- and together, they are formidable." Hawley sketches for members of Congress 19 security steps the TSA employs before, during and after checkpoint screening. "Each and every one of these 19 security layers is important and strong in its own right," he says. "Linked together, they are effective and daunting." Although it would not discuss the specific nature of its recommendations, the GAO said it recommended establishing special screening lines based on risk and passengers with special needs. The TSA should introduce more "aggressive, visible and unpredictable" measures to detect concealed items and develop new technology for screening at checkpoints. Hawley's said the TSA concurs with the GAO's recommendations and specifically discussed several "new technology" items that he said were "greatly improving our effectiveness in detecting prohibited items." Among the new technology, he said, were whole body imagers, bottled liquids scanners, hand-held explosives scanners and advanced technology X-rays. And, he added, "our pursuit of new technology is not limited to what I described today." He also said the TSA is constantly conducting covert tests of the screening process, including detection of prohibited liquids and IEDs. "The nation's aviation system remains secure," he said, "but requires ongoing improvement and vigilance to stay ahead of the threat of terrorism." E-mail to a friend . | GAO: Investigators took advantage of "weaknesses in TSA procedures"
GAO: Those "weaknesses" were not detailed for security reasons .
GAO said terrorists using same items could seriously compromise a flight .
Transportation Security Administration: Checkpoints only part of total security . | 831 | 58 |
223 | (CNN) -- The orgy of violence that has greeted Kenya's disputed election result has led to hundreds of deaths and forced tens of thousands to flee their homes. But away from the tragic human cost, the unrest has also provoked concerns about the stability of the east African country's economy, until now seen as a model for the region. Businesses have been destroyed and looted and supply routes disrupted after the opposition accused incumbent president Mwai Kibaki of election fraud after he was declared winner Sunday. Investors are watching events closely in the country, fearful of how it could affect one of Africa's few economic success stories. And the early signs have been worrying. The equity market on the Nairobi Stock Exchange lost 40 billion Kenyan Shillings ($591 million) in value on its first day of New Year trading Wednesday, the Kenyan financial newspaper Business Daily Africa reported. And business leaders said that the government was losing around 2 billion Shillings ($29.5 million) a day in lost revenue as a result of the political violence, the paper reported. "We do seem to be in a new place, there's a lot of uncertainty about where we go from here. And a lot depends crucially on how long-lasting this is," said Razia Kahn, an analyst specializing in Africa at Standard Chartered bank. Kenya has attracted a large number of multi-nationals and is home to one of the world's fastest growing stock exchanges. Its relative economic success has been helped in part by its thriving tourist sector, with visitors attracted by its abundant wildlife and pristine beaches. Provisional figures for 2006 from the Kenya's tourist board said the country had received 1.5 million visitors for the year, a growth of 5.2 per cent. However, fears that the tourist industry could take a heavy hit from the unrest grew with the British Federation of Tour Operators announcing Thursday it was suspending all holidays to the country departing up to and including this Saturday. Watch an aid worker describe fears that crisis may resemble Rwanda's » . British tourists already in the country have been advised by the British Foreign Office to stay indoors and to stay away from the major cities. There are also worries about the knock-on effect for the region, since around 40 percent of Kenya's exports go to other African nations, Kahn said. Of even greater concern is the effect on Kenya's lucrative agriculture industry. Exports of tea, coffee, vegetables and flowers are big earners for the country, with agriculture making up about a fifth of the total economy. There have been media reports of tea and coffee auctions being halted by the violence as well as widespread disruption to transport routes as rioters blockade major roads across the country. Arun Shah, who runs a coffee import business based in London, told CNN his livelihood depended on a stable Kenya. "We have had absolutely reliable supply," he said. "We have had reliable quality and the quantities that we need for our trade." E-mail to a friend . CNN's Jim Boulden in London contributed to this report . | Kenya's once-stable economy faltering due to violence following disputed election .
Equity market on Nairobi Stock Exchange lost $591 million on first day of 2008 .
Business leaders say the government losing $29.5 million a day in revenues .
Thriving tourist industry also hit, with British tour operators calling off flights . | 613 | 70 |
224 | LONDON, England (CNN) -- Fantasy author Terry Pratchett has admitted that he has been diagnosed with a rare form of Alzheimer's disease -- but says he plans to continue writing his multi-million selling Discworld books. Terry Pratchett, whose books have sold more than 45 million copies worldwide in 33 languages. Pratchett, 59 -- whose books have, according to his Web site, sold more than 45 million copies worldwide in 33 languages -- suffered what he called a "phantom stroke" earlier this year. In a statement titled "an embuggerance" on the Web site of Discworld illustrator Paul Kidby, Pratchett says that he has been diagnosed with what he terms "a very rare form of early onset Alzheimer's." "I would have liked to keep this one quiet for a little while, but because of upcoming conventions and of course the need to keep my publishers informed, it seems to me unfair to withhold the news," says Pratchett, who has a strong following among fans of fantasy fiction. "All other things being equal, I expect to meet most current and, as far as possible, future commitments but will discuss things with the various organisers," he continues. "Frankly, I would prefer it if people kept things cheerful, because I think there's time for at least a few more books yet." Pratchett adds that work is continuing on his next book "Nation" and that the "basic notes are already being laid down for Unseen Academicals." In a P.S. he adds that "I would just like to draw attention to everyone reading the above that this should be interpreted as 'I am not dead'. I will, of course, be dead at some future point, as will everybody else. "I know it's a very human thing to say 'Is there anything I can do', but in this case I would only entertain offers from very high-end experts in brain chemistry." Pratchett's Discworld novels, of which 36 have been published to date, are set in a fantasy universe through which the author satirizes modern-day life. He says in a statement on his own Web site that the series "started out as a parody of all the fantasy that was around in the big boom of the early '80s, then turned into a satire on just about everything, and even I don't know what it is now." Pratchett, who began writing while a provincial newspaper journalist in the 1960s, received the Order of the British Empire "for services to literature" from the Prince of Wales in 1998. E-mail to a friend . | Multi-million selling writer has "a very rare form of early onset Alzheimer's"
Terry Pratchett says work continuing on books, plans to honor commitments .
Discworld novels are set in a fantasy universe but satirize modern day life .
Received the Order of the British Empire from the Prince of Wales in 1998 . | 534 | 67 |
225 | BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi forces detained the suspected leader of a terrorist cell network believed to be funded by Saddam Hussein's eldest daughter, who is wanted by Iraqi authorities on terrorism charges, the U.S. military announced Monday. Raghad Hussein is currently living in Jordan under the protection of the royal family. The raid happened Sunday in Hussein's hometown of Tikrit. It was carried out by Iraqi forces, advised by U.S. Special Forces, the military said. The network, believed to be funded by Raghad Hussein, has been "linked to a series of attacks on coalition forces" using rocket-propelled grenades and roadside bombs, the military said. "These attacks have claimed the lives of numerous Soldiers and Airmen," a military statement said. Other leaders of the network have been detained in previous raids, the military said. The international police organization Interpol last year issued an alert to authorities across the world that Raghad Hussein is wanted by Iraqi authorities. The Iraqi government has issued an arrest warrant for the 38-year-old daughter of the late Iraqi leader on charges of inciting terrorism and crimes against life and health. Interpol -- based in Lyon, France -- issued a Red Notice in the case. That is a request to police anywhere to help track her down and extradite her to Iraq. She has been living in Jordan under the protection of the royal family. E-mail to a friend . | Iraqi forces detain the suspected leader of a terrorist cell network .
Cell is believed to be funded by Saddam Hussein's eldest daughter, Raghad .
Raghad, wanted in Iraq on terrorism charges, currently living in Jordan . | 294 | 48 |
226 | PORTSMOUTH, New Hampshire (CNN) -- Hillary Clinton became visibly emotional at a New Hampshire campaign event Monday after a friendly question from a voter. Sen. Hillary Clinton's eyes welled with tears as she spoke in New Hampshire Monday. At the close of a Portsmouth campaign stop, Marianne Pernold-Young, 64, asked Clinton: "How do you do it? How do you keep up ... and who does your hair?" Clinton said she had help with her hair on "special days," and that she drew criticism on the days she did not. Then she added: "It's not easy, and I couldn't do it if I just didn't, you know, passionately believe it was the right thing to do. "You know, I have so many opportunities from this country, I just don't want to see us fall backwards," she said, her voice breaking a bit. The audience applauded. "This is very personal for me, it's not just political, it's [that] I see what's happening, we have to reverse it," she said emotionally, adding that some "just put ourselves out there and do this against some pretty difficult odds. "But some of us are right and some of us are wrong. Some of us ready and some of us are not. Some of us know what we will do on day one, and some of us really haven't thought that through enough." "So as tired as I am and I am. And as difficult as it is to try and keep up what I try to do on the road, like occasionally exercise and try to eat right -- it's tough when the easiest food is pizza -- I just believe so strongly in who we are as a nation. So I'm going to do everything I can and make my case and you know the voters get to decide." Watch Clinton become emotional as she's answering a question » . The New York senator is under pressure after some weekend surveys show opponent Barack Obama with a sudden almost double digit lead, with less than a day to go until the New Hampshire primary. At a New Hampshire campaign event, presidential rival John Edwards told reporters he was unaware of Clinton's emotional reaction and would not respond to it. But he did say, "I think what we need in a commander in chief is strength and resolve, and presidential campaigns are a tough business, but being president of the United States is also a very tough business. "And the President of the United States is faced with very, very difficult challenges every single day, difficult judgments every single day." E-mail to a friend . | Clinton begins talking about how others have criticized her, gets emotional .
She was with mostly female voters in New Hampshire on a campaign stop .
"It's not easy," she told them .
The New York senator is trailing Sen. Barack Obama in polls . | 528 | 53 |
227 | PARIS, France -- Goals from Juninho and Sidney Govou gave Lyon a 2-0 home win over Valenciennes and enabled the six-time champions to stay four points ahead at the top of the French league. Juninho opened the scoring for Lyon five minutes before the break. Brazilian midfielder Juninho nudged in a Karim Benzema cross five minutes before the break and Govou lobbed in the second three minutes from time. Lyon, who are at home to German champions VfB Stuttgart in the Champions League group stage on Wednesday, have 31 points from 13 matches. Second-placed Nancy celebrated their 40th anniversary with a 1-0 win over Girondins Bordeaux. Nancy, who have a game in hand, scored in the 29th minute when midfielder Chris Malonga headed in a cross from Youssouf Hadji. Bordeaux stay fourth with 22 points from 13 games after their first away defeat of the season. Third-placed Stade Rennes slumped to a 1-0 home defeat against Monaco, who had only picked up a point from their six previous league outings. Frederic Piquionne headed home from a Nene corner kick for the visitors two minutes into the second half. Troubled Paris St Germain clinched a 2-1 victory at Racing Strasbourg thanks to a Rodrigo own goal and 20-year-old midfielder Loris Arnaud's effort after 19 minutes. Olympique Marseille were held to an embarrassing goalless draw by Lorient and remain third from bottom. Coach Eric Gerets said:"The public have a right to be unhappy as the level of play in the second half wasn't worthy of Marseille. "Taking the match as a whole you can have a harsh judgement. We made a few chances in the first half but we had a problem constructing moves from the back. "In the second half we should have lost the match with the counter-attacks. "We have to look at ourselves in the mirror, fight and work." E-mail to a friend . | Lyon beat Valenciennes 2-0 to stay four points clear on top of the French table .
Nancy stay second by beating Bordeaux 1-0 .
Third-placed Rennes flop to a 1-0 home defeat against struggling Monaco . | 419 | 55 |
228 | UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is "urgently dispatching" a special envoy to Myanmar, a statement from his office said Wednesday, following reports of violent clashes in that country between security forces and protesters. Protests at the crackdown have taken place overseas, including one outside the Myanmar embassy, London. "He calls on the senior leadership of the country to cooperate fully with this mission in order to take advantage of the willingness of the United Nations to assist in the process of a national reconciliation through dialogue," said a U.N. statement. The envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, is scheduled to lead a briefing on the situation in Myanmar for the U.N. Security Council Wednesday afternoon. "Noting reports of the use of force and of arrests and beatings, the secretary-general calls again on authorities to exercise utmost restraint toward the peaceful demonstrations taking place, as such action can only undermine the prospects for peace, prosperity and stability in Myanmar," Ban's statement said. There's been no official word yet if the military junta ruling Myanmar will accept the offer from the U.N. secretary-general. Speaking at the Labour Party conference Wednesday, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown underscored that any trampling on human rights would not be accepted. "The whole world is now watching Burma and this illegal and oppressive regime should know that the whole world will hold it to account," he said. U.S. President George W. Bush, speaking to the U.N. General Assembly's annual session Tuesday before the crackdown, said his administration would impose stiffer sanctions against the country's military regime. "The United States will tighten economic sanctions on the leaders of the regime and their financial backers. We will impose an expanded visa ban on those responsible for the most egregious violations of human rights, as well as their family members," he said. "We will continue to support the efforts of humanitarian groups working to alleviate suffering in Burma (the country's traditional name) and urge the United Nations and all nations to use their diplomatic and economic leverage to help the Burmese people reclaim their freedom." His comments were echoed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, also at the U.N. General Assembly. "I'm deeply concerned about the situation in Burma and Myanmar, and I would like to appeal for the peaceful, spontaneous demonstrations which are expressing just political and social concerns that they not be repressed by force in any way," Sarkozy said. Soe Aung, National Council of the Union of Burma spokesman, called for the world to take action. "There should be some action -- decisive action -- taken by the international community. At least there should be an urgent meeting of the Security Council level," he said. Aung also commented that the demonstrators do not seem content to back down. "The monks are very determined that they are going to go ahead with the demonstrations unless their demands are met," he said. Such demands include an apology from ministry authorities for the mistreatment of monks in central Myanmar, a reduction in the price of gasoline -- which originally sparked protests in late August -- and the release of protesters detained since demonstrations began, Aung said. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad. "We are concerned about the situation, particularly now, because we see a worsening of the political situation and that is affecting the well-being of the people of Burma. "We have urged Mr. Gambari and he plans to visit Burma as soon as possible," Khalilzad said, referring to Ibrahim Gambari, the U.N. special envoy to Burma. E-mail to a friend . | U.N. to send special envoy to Myanmar amid reports of crackdown .
World leaders condemn events in Myanmar, call on regime to desist from force .
UK PM Brown underscores that any trampling on human rights not acceptable .
Pres. Bush says Tuesday that the U.S. will increase sanctions . | 743 | 63 |
229 | MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CNN) -- Buses that carry women only are experiencing a smooth ride with passengers in Mexico's capital. A woman rides on a bus exclusively for female passengers last month in Mexico City. Fans of the new service call their daily commutes more pleasant now that bus rides steer clear of too-close-for-comfort contact with men. "We're not just talking about sexual harassment, about rapes or about incidents of violence," said Ariadna Montiel, director of the Network of Passengers' Transportation for the Government of the Federal District. "But also about touching, staring, which is what generally occurs on public transport." The single-sex service, which started in January, is available on four major lines in the city, and it's expected to expand to another 15. Other plans include replacing male drivers with women. One woman described the service as "excellent," saying it's "more comfortable too because it doesn't make as many stops." Another passenger said she feels more comfortable and safer. Last year, the government received seven complaints of sexual abuse aboard the city's buses, which provide 200 million rides each year, officials said. Authorities said that a single complaint is enough to justify taking such measures. Juan Flores, who has driven buses in Mexico City for 15 years and now steers one for women only, said he even notices a difference. "I feel more tranquil, I work more peacefully and the interior of the bus is cleaner," he said. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Mario Gonzalez contributed to this report. | Passengers on female-only buses describe their commutes as more pleasant .
Seven complaints of sexual abuse aboard Mexico City buses made last year .
Single-sex service is available on four major lines in Mexican capital . | 320 | 44 |
230 | (CNN) -- Kuwait's leader dissolved parliament on Wednesday and called for early elections, after the Cabinet resigned this week following a power struggle with the government. Kuwait's emir has dissolved parliament following conflict between the Cabinet and govenrment. The emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, said he was forced to dissolve parliament to safeguard Kuwait's national unity, citing the fragile political situation in the region and his primary concern for internal security and stability. New elections have been set for May 17, according to Kuwait's state-run news agency, KUNA. According to Kuwait's constitution, elections must be held within 60 days of dissolving parliament. Kuwait's parliament, made up mostly of opposition politicians, has been locked in a feud with the government which it accuses of corruption and abuse of power. Parliament has continuously called for some government members to be investigated, which is what prompted the Cabinet to resign this week. Al-Sabah said he tried to get lawmakers and government ministers to reconcile their differences, but they only inflamed the situation through their statements to the media. E-mail to a friend . CNN Senior Arab Affairs Editor Octavia Nasr contributed to this report . | Kuwait's leader dissolves parliament and calls for early elections after conflict .
Cabinet resigned earlier this week after a power struggle with the government .
The emir said he was forced to act to safeguard Kuwait's national unity .
New elections have been set for May 17 according to state-run news agency . | 245 | 65 |
231 | (CNN) -- Investigators have found the bodies of three small children and the father who allegedly abducted them from their home in Columbus, Georgia, two weeks ago, the FBI said Wednesday. Eddie Harrington threatened to kill his children before disappearing with them, police say. "It is my sad duty to report that deceased bodies of these children and Eddie Harrington were located this afternoon," said FBI Special Agent Gerald Green. A coroner would confirm the identities, he added. The remains were discovered in a wooded area of Columbus by a person walking nearby, Green said. Watch the FBI say the bodies were in a car » . Eddie Harrington, 28, whom police described as depressed, took the children March 5, police said. Before he left, Harrington sent a letter indicating his intent to kill his twin 23-month-old girls, Aliyah and Agana Battle, and his son, Cedric Harrington, 3, officials said. The day before Wednesday's grisly discovery, the children's mother told CNN's Nancy Grace that Harrington had threatened them before. "He's just told me he'll do anything to keep me at that time, and he said that he was going to take them and ... kill himself and the kids," Agena Battle said. "But then later on, he told me that it was just to prove to me that, you know, what he'll do for me." Battle also described the moment earlier this month when she knew something was wrong. "I got home and I realized that the kids weren't there, and Eddie wasn't there either, and when I looked on the dresser and read the note, that's when I realized that my kids are in trouble," she said. A week ago, a tearful Battle publicly begged her boyfriend not to harm the children. "I am asking the public to please help me. I want my children home where they belong, with me," she said at an FBI news conference. "Please, if you see Eddie, the car or the children, please call 911. Please help me and keep them in your prayers." Watch the mother's tearful plea » . A child abduction alert was issued in Georgia after the children disappeared. "We have great concern for the safety of these children," Green said at the time. It was unclear what sparked Harrington's decision to take the children, authorities said. E-mail to a friend . | NEW: Children's mother says Eddie Harrington had threatened the kids before .
Harrington was last seen in Columbus, Georgia, March 5 .
Police say he was depressed, threatened to kill kids .
He took twin girls, 23 months, and boy, 3, from their home . | 490 | 58 |
232 | (CNN) -- It wasn't Tibet's subzero temperatures that nurse practitioner Arlene Samen found so chilling on a 1997 medical trip, but the haunting stories she was told about mothers and newborns on the brink of death after childbirth. Arlene Samen, right, helps provide childbirth education and equipment to those in need through One H.E.A.R.T. "When I came to Tibet I heard of so many tragic stories of women dying -- no access to care in remote areas, no history of trained birth attendants, and no knowledge about pregnancy and childbirth," Samen recalls. It is a problem that stretches well beyond Tibet's borders. According to the World Health Organization, more than 500,000 women worldwide die each year as a result of complications during pregnancy and childbirth, and nearly 7 million babies are either born dead or die within 28 days of their life. Almost all these deaths occur in the developing world. Upon her return from Tibet, and in association with the University of Utah Health Services Center, Samen, 54, created One H.E.A.R.T. (Health Education And Research in Tibet) to combat the high infant and maternal mortality rates in Tibet and around the world. Through One H.E.A.R.T., Samen's mission is to reach remote areas where women have limited access to a safe delivery, distribute the organization's training model, and debunk any fears toward safe, sanitary birthing practices. "It's not uncommon for babies to die from basic things like not cleaning their mouth out to breathe," says Samen. "In surveys we've done, more than 50 percent of babies that died were born alive. This is due to lack of education." Watch Samen talk about the organization's work » . Since 1998, One H.E.A.R.T has worked to set up centers that teach and educate local nurse practitioners, villagers and expectant mothers on how to deliver and care for newborn babies. A huge part of the organization's instruction includes hands-on birthing demonstration and distribution of community-tailored birth kits. "I witnessed deliveries where the infant did not even have a blanket," says Samen. "I put a kit together with very simple items and anyone, anywhere can use this kit to keep infants and mothers alive during and after childbirth." Watch home video of Samen in Tibet, where she delivered a baby » . The birth kit typically includes a sterilized razor blade, a clean sheet, three towels for the baby, three fleece blankets, a string to tie around the umbilical cord, gloves for the person delivering the baby and soap for hand washing. Over the last 10 years, Samen's team has supplied more than 3,400 safe birthing kits to pregnant women and has trained more than 1,000 people in life-saving techniques. For 2008, One H.E.A.R.T.'s education outreach program has targeted Nayarit, Mexico, a mountainous terrain in Mesoamerica and the native land of more than 50,000 indigenous Cora and Huichol Indians. This past February, accompanied by a team of doctors and translators, Samen spent three days embedded within Nayarit's Santa Theresa communities, using an instructional newborn doll for childbirth training sessions and discussing safe birthing techniques and procedures. "The traditional birth attendants told us they don't like to bring the women to the hospital because there's a fear of C-section and complications. [The women] would rather die than to come in and get help," Samen says. Watch Samen describe the rigors of bringing a child birthing center to a remote area of Mexico » . "I found that really astounding and would like to look into that further to see if there's ways that we can cross that barrier and really help them so that they don't have that kind of fear." Samen lives in Salt Lake City, but currently spends several months of the year in Tibet. Future plans for One H.E.A.R.T. include training local partners on the ground in Nepal and Ecuador. E-mail to a friend . | Utah nurse practitioner helps fight high childbirth mortality rates in Tibet .
One H.E.A.R.T. conducts birthing demonstrations, distributes birth kits .
Group is working in Mexico this year; future plans include Nepal, Ecuador . | 847 | 50 |
233 | (CNN) -- Two graduate students were found shot to death Thursday night in an apartment a block off the Louisiana State University campus, officials said. LSU Chancellor Sean O'Keefe briefs reporters on the fatal shootings of two international graduate students. No suspects have been identified in what police are investigating as a double homicide. Neighbors told police three strange men were seen in the area. The bodies of Chandrasekhar Reddy Komma and Kiran Kumar Allam, both Ph.D. candidates from India, were found inside Allam's apartment at the Edward Gay complex near the LSU band's practice field. The complex houses graduate and married students. A task force of LSU campus police and the Baton Rouge Police Department is investigating, university Chancellor Sean O'Keefe said. "If anybody can find them, they can," O'Keefe told reporters Friday. Watch O'Keefe discuss "a tragic situation" » . O'Keefe said campus police responded to a 911 call at 10:37 p.m. and encountered "a very, very tragic scene." Both men had been shot in the head. One was bound with phone cable and the other was lying near the door. The apartment was cluttered and items were strewn about, so it has been difficult to determine whether anything was taken, O'Keefe said. Emergency text messages were sent to students and faculty across the LSU campus late Thursday, but the campus remained open on Friday. O'Keefe said officials decided against a campus lockdown after police determined that the slayings were not part "an escalating pattern." People were warned in the text messages to use caution, but not all of the 8,000 students who had signed up for them received them, O'Keefe said. Officials are looking into what went wrong. The Associated Press reported that Allam's pregnant wife found the bodies and called 911. Although police have indicated they suspect the slayings occurred during a home invasion robbery, O'Keefe told reporters no motive has been determined. E-mail to a friend . Copyright 2007 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report. | Pregnant woman reportedly found husband, other man dead in apartment .
Slain students were international Ph.D. candidates .
Apartment is on edge of university campus .
In text-message alert, campus officials urge students to be careful . | 439 | 51 |
234 | (CNN) -- Danish authorities said Tuesday they have arrested three people who allegedly were plotting a "terror-related assassination" of a cartoonist whose drawing of the Prophet Mohammed sparked rage in the Muslim world two years ago. The cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed provoked widespread outrage in the Muslim world two years ago. The Danish Security and Intelligence Service said police arrested a 40-year-old Dane of Moroccan origin and two Tunisians. The Danish citizen is charged with a terrorism offense, the intelligence service said, and the Tunisians will be deported. Police have not yet released the names of the three. The operation took place in the Aarhus area of western Denmark at 4:30 a.m. local time following lengthy surveillance, the intelligence service said. The target of the plot, the intelligence service said, was the cartoonist for the Danish newspaper Morgenavisen Jullands-Posten, which first published the controversial drawings in September 2005. The paper identified the cartoonist as Kurt Westergaard. Watch how threats have targeted cartoonists » . "Not wanting to take any undue risks [the intelligence service] has decided to intervene at a very early stage in order to interrupt the planning and the actual assassination," the statement by Jakob Scharf, the agency's director general, said. "Thus, this morning's operation must first and foremost be seen as a preventive measure where the aim has been to stop a crime from being committed." The uproar over the cartoons ignited after the Danish newspaper published caricatures of Islam's Prophet Mohammed. Some Muslims believe it is forbidden by the Quran to show an image of the prophet. Demonstrations erupted across the world in early 2006 after other newspapers reprinted the images months later as a matter of free speech. Some turned deadly. Many protesters directed their ire at Denmark, prompting the closure of several Danish embassies in predominantly Muslim countries, including Indonesia and Pakistan. Westergaard's cartoon depicted the prophet wearing a bomb as a turban with a lit fuse. Westergaard said he wanted his cartoon to say that some people exploited the prophet to legitimize terror. However, many in the Muslim world interpreted the drawing as depicting their prophet as a terrorist. "Of course I fear for my life after the Danish Security and Intelligence Service informed me of the concrete plans of certain people to kill me," Westergaard said in a statement posted on the newspaper's Web site. "However, I have turned fear into anger and indignation. It has made me angry that a perfectly normal everyday activity which I used to do by the thousand was abused to set off such madness." CNN's Paula Newton said the arrests reinforced growing fears in Europe that radical Islam was trying to suppress free speech. "More and more Europeans feel that Islam is a threat to their way of life," Newton said. A recent Gallup poll for the World Economic Forum showed a majority of Europeans believed relations between the West and the Muslim world were worsening. According to the poll this sentiment was strongest held among Danish. Westergaard remains under police protection and does not know whether it will continue. "I could not possibly know for how long I have to live under police protection; I think, however, that the impact of the insane response to my cartoon will last for the rest of my life," he said. "It is sad indeed, but it has become a fact of my life." Carsten Juste, the paper's editor-in-chief, said staffers have been "deeply worried" for several months. "The arrests have hopefully thwarted the murder plans," he said on the newspaper's Web site. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Saeed Ahmed contributed to this report . | Danish police say several arrested for plotting "terror-related assassination"
Agency reports that suspects include two Tunisians and a Dane of Moroccan origin .
Newspaper says the target was its cartoonist Kurt Westergaard .
Prophet Mohammed drawings sparked protests in the Muslim world two years ago . | 737 | 61 |
235 | (CNN) -- Scientists have discovered the remains of a rodent the size of a small car which used to forage the South American continent. The 1-ton creature is believed to have been about 3 meters in length and 1.5 meters tall. The fossilized skull of the new giant rodent . The giant rat's skull, which measures an impressive 53 centimeters in diameter was found by Andrés Rinderknecht and Ernesto Blanco, two scientists from Montevideo, Uruguay. The two paleontologists stumbled upon the fossilized remains in a broken boulder in San Jose along the coast of Uruguay. By looking at the size ratios of the skulls and bodies of existing rodents, scientists determined the bodyweight of the rodent must have approached 1,000 kilograms or a ton, making it the world's largest rodent to have been discovered to date. The relatively small size of its teeth however, suggests it fed mainly upon soft vegetables and fruit. "We can give an educated guess that the rodent would have been 3 meters long -- assuming that it was similar to a Capybara (the largest rodent alive today) and taking it into account that large mammals generally have relatively smaller heads. It's tail probably was closer to the one of capybara or guinea pig (very short) and not like a rat," Ernesto Blanco says. The scientists believe the rodent, named Josephoartigasia monesi, roamed the earth about four million years ago at the same time as other giant creatures, such as terror birds, saber-toothed cats, ground sloths and giant armored mammals. During this period, the now arid region was forested and rich in vegetation. The largest living rodent is the capybara, a 50 kilogram guinea pig found in South America. E-mail to a friend . | Rodent the size of small car discovered in Uruguay .
Scientists say the rodent must have weighed 1,000 kilograms .
Small size of its teeth suggests it fed mainly upon soft vegetables and fruit . | 372 | 40 |
236 | (CNN) -- Disgraced former NFL star Michael Vick declared that "I am not the bad person or the beast I've been made out to be" in a letter to a judge asking for leniency. Michael Vick wrote he was "forever a changed man." "I have been talked about and ridiculed on a day to day basis by people who really don't know Michael Vick the human being. They only knew the football player which is unfair," Vick said in a handwritten letter released this week. U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson sentenced Vick on Monday to serve 23 months in prison for financing a dogfighting ring and helping to kill pit bulls that did not fight aggressively. Vick wrote the judge that he had accepted responsibility for his actions, would pay restitution and never again use "a single dollar that I have earned for anything but to help people." Read letters from Vick, his mom, sports stars » . The former Atlanta Falcons quarterback said he grew up not knowing the severity of the crime of dogfighting and asked Hudson for "a second chance." Other letters supporting Vick were sent by his mother, his seventh-grade teacher and children he had met since becoming a star and one of the NFL's most highly paid players. Brenda Vick Boddie said her son fell victim to friends who took advantage of Vick's inability to "say no." "PLEASE Your HONOR give my baby Michael another chance. [H]e's never been in trouble with the law before, PLEASE! PLEASE! one more chance," she pleaded in her own handwritten letter. Former Falcons teammate Warrick Dunn, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin and two sporting legends -- former home-run king Hank Aaron and former two-time boxing heavyweight champion George Foreman -- also wrote letters on Vick's behalf. E-mail to a friend . | Michael Vick wrote five-page letter to judge seeking leniency .
Former NFL star said he was wrong and promised to make amends .
Vick's mom, Atlanta mayor and sports legends also sent letters to judge .
Vick sentenced Monday to 23 months in prison in dogfighting case . | 369 | 60 |
237 | MACAU, China -- Pete Sampras rolled back the years to upset current world number one Roger Federer in an exhibition match in Macau on Saturday. Sampras enjoyed the spoils of victory in Macau after two previous defeats to Federer. Federer had one the two previous clashes in an Asian series in straight sets but was handed a 7-6 6-4 defeat in the finale. American ace Sampras downplayed his victory, noting Federer was coming off a long season and that he was helped by his big serve and the fast indoor carpet surface. He had only aimed to win one set during the three-match series. "Let's not get carried away," he said at a news conference. Sampras ruled out a comeback from retirement, telling the audience after the match, "I had my time in the 90s." Federer tried to put on a positive spin on the loss, saying he wasn't embarrassed to lose to his idol, but still showed some disappointment. "It's been tough beating my idol the last two times. I'm happy that he got me at least once," he said, but adding, "I hope we can do it again in the future. I'd like to get him back." The two players have won a combined 26 Grand Slam titles, but Sampras, 36, retired five years ago after winning the U.S. Open in 2002. Federer is coming off another outstanding season in which he won three grand slams and last week's Masters Cup in Shanghai. "I'm sort of surprised. This guy can play tennis, you know," the Swiss player said after his loss Saturday. Federer beat Sampras 6-4 6-3 in Seoul on Tuesday and edged the American 7-6 7-6 in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. In Macau, Federer was never able able to force a break point on the powerful Sampras serve, but had set points at 6-5 and 8-7 in the tiebreak. But Sampras saved both and a run of three points, capped by a forehand winner, gave him the opener. The ninth game of the second second proved vital as a forehand error by Federer gave Sampras a break point which he gratefully took with another fine forehand. Sampras closed out the match as a Federer backhand return sailed long. Federer said he thought Sampras could still beat the world's top five players on a fast surface. Sampras then predicted that Federer could beat his record of most grand slam wins (14) "if not next year, pretty soon." "He's a great, great player. He's got things in his game that I couldn't do," he said. E-mail to a friend . Copyright 2007 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report. | Pete Sampras beats world nunber one Roger Federer in exhibition in Macau .
Sampras wins 7-6 6-4 but rules out comeback to main ATP tour .
Federer had won their two previous exhibition matches on Asian tour . | 587 | 52 |
238 | LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Alex Trebek, the long-time host of the popular television quiz show "Jeopardy," suffered a minor heart attack at his home Monday night. Alex Trebek has hosted "Jeopardy!" for 23 years. Trebek, 67, was recovering at a local hospital, and it was not clear when he would be released, a representative of the show said. He is expected to resume taping the show in January. The representative added that Trebek did not have any previous known condition that would have led to the heart attack. Trebek, 67, is a native of Sudbury, Ontario. He has hosted "Jeopardy!" since 1984. Prior to becoming "Jeopardy!" host, he served as emcee for a number of game shows, including "High Rollers," "The Wizard of Odds" and "Battlestars." E-mail to a friend . | Alex Trebek suffered heart attack at home Monday .
Trebek has hosted "Jeopardy!" for 23 years .
Trebek is recovering at L.A. hospital . | 193 | 36 |
239 | MEXICO CITY, Mexico (Reuters) -- Archaeologists have discovered what they think are ruins of an Aztec pyramid razed by vengeful Spanish conquerors in what is now one of Mexico City's most crime-ridden districts. Construction workers unearthed ancient walls in the busy Iztapalapa neighborhood in June, and government archeologists said Wednesday they believe they may be part of the main pyramid of the Aztec city, destroyed by conquistador Hernan Cortes in the 16th century. Iztapalapa, now infamous for violent crime and drug dealing, has grown into a sprawling, poor district of the capital, obscuring the ruins. "We knew the general location but couldn't explore because it's a big urban area," said government archeologist Jesus Sanchez, who is director of the site. Iztapalapa's ruler, Cuitlahuac, nearly annihilated Cortes and his Spanish troops in 1520 in what became known as the Sad Night. After eventual victory, Cortes destroyed the city. Sanchez hopes he has found the city's main pyramid just below the neighborhood's central plaza and garden. He and his team will spend more than a year investigating before deciding whether to excavate. Mexico City is littered with pre-Hispanic ruins. In October, archeologists in the city's central Zocalo square unearthed a 15th century Aztec altar and a 12-ton stone idol just yards from choking downtown traffic. The Aztecs, a warlike and deeply religious people who built monumental works, ruled an empire stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean and encompassing much of modern-day central Mexico. E-mail to a friend . Copyright 2007 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. | Ruins of an Aztec pyramid uncovered in Iztapalapa neighborhood, Mexico City .
Iztapalapa is a sprawling, crime-ridden district .
The Aztecs ruled an empire stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean . | 364 | 52 |
240 | SANTIAGO, Chile (Reuters) -- Chile called home its ambassador in Peru on Monday, as a dispute flared over disputed maritime territory between the South American neighbors. They have bickered over the rich Pacific coast fishing waters for years, and Peru published a new map on Sunday that pushes its bid to negotiate a new sea border. Chile's government protested the move and said it was calling home its ambassador in Peru, Cristian Barros, for consultations. "We feel that this type of publication (map) and this position certainly make more difficult a fluid bilateral relationship with the Peruvian government," spokesman Ricardo Lagos Weber said on Monday. "Chile will continue to fully exercise its rights and competencies over Chilean territory," he said. Peruvian President Alan Garcia said in June his country would take Chile to the International Court at The Hague to resolve the case. Peru's foreign minister, Jose Antonio Garcia Belaunde, sought to downplay the row. "It is an absolutely common diplomatic practice in novel situations like this that garner attention that ambassadors are called (back to report)," he said. "The channels of dialogue and communication must be kept open, and the countries must work toward a positive agenda," Garcia Belaunde said. The sea border, set in the 1950s, starts close to the land border and cuts due west across the ocean. But Peru says it was non-binding and rob it of 14,630 square miles (37,900 sq km) of fishing waters. Its proposed border is a southwestern sloping line that follows the diagonal land border into the Pacific Ocean. Analysts say Peru will have its day in court and the Hague is the only venue for the issue to be resolved, unless something happens to escalate the debate. "The only thing that could happen, which would be very worrisome, would be if some autonomous group carried out some kind of act of sovereignty (in those waters) now that Peru officially claims them. That would be a shame," said Ricardo Israel, a political analyst in Chile. Chile defeated Peru in the 1879-1883 War of the Pacific and seized a chunk of mineral-rich territory from its northern neighbor. The two countries have strong economic ties but relations are still rocky. The dispute over their sea border has bubbled anew over the past two years and comes in addition to less serious disputes over the origins of everything from a dessert and a fruit to pisco, a grape liquor. Peru and Chile are the world's top producers of fish meal, a cattle feed, and fishing is one of the engines of Peru's economy. E-mail to a friend . Copyright 2007 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. | Peru's foreign minister sought to downplay the row .
Sea border dispute has bubbled anew over past two years .
Less serious disputes involve dessert, fruit and a grape liquor . | 551 | 38 |
241 | WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush vetoed an expansion of the federally funded, state-run health insurance program for poor children for a second time Wednesday, telling Congress the bill "moves our country's health care system in the wrong direction." In his veto message, President Bush calls on Congress to extend funding for the current program. In his veto message, Bush said the bill is almost a duplicate of the proposal he spiked in October. "Because the Congress has chosen to send me an essentially identical bill that has the same problems as the flawed bill I previously vetoed, I must veto this legislation, too," he said in a statement released by the White House. The bill would have expanded the State Children's Health Insurance Program by nearly $35 billion over five years, the same as the measure Bush vetoed October 3. Track recent and historical presidential vetoes » . The president had proposed adding $5 billion to the program and said the version he vetoed would have encouraged families to leave the private insurance market for the federally funded, state-run program. Democratic leaders said the new version addressed Republican objections by tightening restrictions on illegal immigrants receiving SCHIP benefits, capping the income levels of families that qualify for the program and preventing adults from receiving benefits. Though the measure had strong bipartisan support, it fell short of the two-thirds majorities needed to override a presidential veto in the House and Senate. House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Democrats were more interested in scoring political points with the veto than in reaching a compromise with Republicans. "We could have resolved the differences in his program in 10 minutes, if the majority had wanted to resolve the differences," Boehner said. "This has become a partisan political game." The program currently covers about 6 million children whose parents earn too much to qualify for Medicaid -- the federal health insurance program for the poor -- but who can't afford private insurance. Democrats wanted to extend the program to another 4 million, paying for it with a 61-cent-per-pack increase in the federal tax on cigarettes. "What a sad day that the president would say that rather than insuring [millions of] children, 'I don't want to raise the cigarette tax,' " said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She called for a January 23 vote on whether to override the veto. Meanwhile, Bush called on Congress to extend funding for the current program to keep the 6 million now covered on the rolls. E-mail to a friend . | President Bush: Measure is "essentially identical" to the proposal he vetoed before .
Bill would have expanded the State Children's Health Insurance Program .
Bush: Measure "moves our country's health care system in the wrong direction"
Program covers 6 million children whose parents don't qualify for Medicaid . | 495 | 62 |
242 | WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Two U.S. Air Force F-15s escorted two Russian Bear long-range bombers out of an air exclusion zone off the coast of Alaska, U.S. military officials said Wednesday. Two U.S. Air Force F-15s were dispatched to meet the Russian bombers. U.S. radar picked up the Russian turbo-prop Tupolev-95 planes about 500 miles off the Alaska coast. The U.S. fighters from Elmendorf Air Force Base were dispatched to meet the bombers and escorted them out of the area without incident, the officials said. The United States maintains the air exclusion zone off the coast of Alaska, barring unidentified aircraft or aircraft that don't file flight plans inside that area. The last case of Russian aircraft approaching the U.S. coastline or ships in the Pacific was in February. Then, four Bear bombers flew near the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, with one of them flying about 2,000 feet from the Nimitz's deck. Russia's Defense Ministry said at the time there was no violation of flight regulations during the incident. A ministry official described the flights as standard operating procedure for air force training. Meanwhile, U.S. military officials say the incidents are not a concern. They say it's the Russian military flexing its ability and presence. E-mail to a friend . | U.S. radar picks up the Russian planes about 500 miles off the Alaska coast .
The Russians entered an air exclusion zone .
They are escorted out of the area without incident .
Russian planes last came near the U.S. coastline in February . | 276 | 53 |
243 | COLUMBIA, South Carolina (CNN) -- Oprah Winfrey delivered her "favorite" candidate in the presidential race something his campaign hoped for Sunday: the largest crowd yet of any event in the race to '08, according to the Obama campaign. Oprah campaigned with Obama this weekend in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Although exact figures were not immediately available, campaign officials estimated more than 30,000 people packed into Columbia, South Carolina's Williams-Brice stadium to hear the talk-show queen explain why she believes Obama is the man with the "vision" for America. "Dr. King dreamed the dream. We get to vote that dream into reality by supporting a man who knows not just who we are but who we can be," she told the crowd. South Carolina is one of the first states in the nation to hold its presidential primary, making it key to the success of any presidential candidate. Winfrey gave a similar speech Saturday in the first stop of a two-day, three-state tour with her fellow Chicagoan. She discussed on Sunday stepping out of her "comfort zone" by entering the political scene on behalf of a candidate, and praised Obama's "ear for eloquence and tongue for unvarnished truth. We need politicians to tell the truth and be the truth." Watch what issues are important to Iowans » . She also said Obama would bring "a sense of statesmanship" to the White House. Watch Winfrey endorse Obama » . After extensive thank-yous to his wife Michelle and to Winfrey -- and acknowledging that the crowd was largely there to see Winfrey, not him -- Obama launched into his stump speech. "I am running because of what Dr. King called 'the fierce urgency of now,' " he said. Covering ground from the Iraq war to the economy to health care, he said, "there is such a thing as being too late -- and that hour is almost upon us." His campaign worked the crowd, passing out cards to sign up supporters and verifying that those who showed up are registered to vote. They handed out cards asking fans to provide their mailing addresses and phone numbers. The cards also featured an "optional" pledge to vote for Obama on January 26. In his speech, Obama did not mention his chief rival by name. But he clearly referred to Sen. Hillary Clinton, saying that if he gets the Democratic nomination, his Republican competitor won't be able to say he ever "supported the Iraq war." Watch how Winfrey's campaigning could give Obama a boost » . Clinton was among the Democrats who supported a resolution authorizing force in Iraq in 2002, though in a speech on the Senate floor she said she believed supporting the resolution could ultimately make war itself less likely. Obama was not in the Senate at the time, but gave a speech opposing the possibility of war with Iraq. Clinton has held a lead over Obama in South Carolina, where the Democratic primary consists largely of African-American voters. Clinton had a star of her own on the campaign trail for her Sunday in South Carolina -- her husband, former president Bill Clinton, who addressed a church in the morning. Check out some other celebrities who are endorsing candidates » . "She has the best combination of mind and heart and strength of leadership and feeling for ... the problems of ordinary people of anybody I've ever worked with," the former president said Sunday. Clinton was on the campaign trail with her mother and daughter. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Peter Hamby and Suzanne Malveaux contributed to this report. | NEW: Largest crowd yet in the race to '08, said Obama campaign .
NEW: Officials estimate more than 30,000 people attended event in S. Carolina .
"Oprah-bama" hit Iowa on Saturday; South Carolina, New Hampshire on Sunday . | 720 | 57 |
244 | KHARTOUM, Sudan (CNN) -- In an effort to shut down Khartoum's Unity High School, a disgruntled former employee alerted Sudanese officials that a British teacher had allowed her class to name a teddy bear "Mohammed," a British source and Sudanese presidential palace source told Time magazine's Sam Dealey. An undated amateur photo shows Gillian Gibbons, who was jailed for allowing children to name a teddy bear "Mohammed". Gillian Gibbons, 54, was convicted last week of insulting religion and sentenced to 15 days in jail and deportation. Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir pardoned her from her prison sentence on Monday and she later left on a flight for England. The two sources said Sarah Khawad was fired as the school's secretary in November after an employment spat and threatened to shut down the school. The sources said Khawad did not appear to have a vendetta against Gibbons, but hoped that by bringing the teddy bear incident to the education minister's attention, he would close down the school for anti-Islamic teachings. Watch Time magazine's Sam Dealey's report on the pardon » . The private school was shut down after the controversy came to light last week. It is unclear if it will reopen. Although there is no ban in the Quran on images of Allah or the Prophet Mohammed, Islam's founder, some Muslims consider likenesses highly offensive. The sources said they have confirmed the account with Gibbons. Defense attorneys confirmed that it was Khawad who launched the initial complaint against Gibbons, not a parent as originally thought. Khawad also testified at Gibbons' trial. Before approaching Sudan's education minister, the two sources said Khawad tried to enlist two parents, who were also teachers at the school, to join in her protest against the teddy bear's name, but they declined. Gibbons had been working at the school -- popular with wealthy Sudanese and expatriates -- since August, after leaving her position as deputy head teacher at a primary school in Liverpool this summer, said the head of Unity High School, Robert Boulos. She had asked her class of 7-year-olds to come up with a name for the toy as part of a school project, he said. Classmates took turns taking the teddy bear home with them, accompanied by a diary with the bear's name written in the front of it, he said. She was taken into custody on November 25 and tried days later in a Sudanese court. She was cleared of other charges of inciting hatred and showing contempt for religious beliefs. Gibbons had initially faced the possibility of 40 lashes and a six-month jail term for insulting Islam. The incident sparked a diplomatic row, with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband calling on his Sudanese counterpart to dismiss the charges. Two British lawmakers, both Muslims, traveled to Khartoum to help secure her release. It also resulted in angry protests in Khartoum, with some calling for the British woman's execution. E-mail to a friend . | Disgruntled ex-employee said teacher let class name teddy "Mohammed"
Sources: Sarah Khawad trying to shut down Khartoum's Unity High School .
Briton Gillian Gibbons convicted of insulting religion released from jail .
Gillian Gibbons taken to British Embassy in Khartoum to await flight home . | 624 | 72 |
245 | (CNN) -- Debra Lafave, a former Florida middle school teacher convicted of having sex with a student, was arrested Tuesday for "inappropriate but non-sexual contact" with a teenage coworker, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said. Debra Lafave was arrested after talking with a teenager. She is not allowed to have contact with anyone under 18. The association violated the terms of Lafave's probation, which forbade her to have contact with anyone under 18, the sheriff's office said. She was released on her own recognizance. Lafave and her mother, Joyce Beasley, had no comment as they left the jail. "I can only characterize this as somewhat of a bizarre and unusual violation," said Lafave's attorney, John Fitzgibbons. Lafave, 27, pleaded guilty in November 2005 to having sex with a 14-year-old boy and was sentenced to three years under house arrest and seven years of probation. Lafave was also required to register as a sex offender and abide by numerous conditions. She was arrested after corrections officers interviewed a 17-year-old girl, who worked at a restaurant where Lafave had been employed since January 2006, according to the violation report from Florida's Corrections Department. Watch Lafave's ex-husband discuss the allegations » . The teenager told the officers that Lafave discussed "non-work related issues such as family problems, friends, high school, personal life, boyfriend issues and sexual issues in both private one-on-one conversations" with her and in group settings, according to the report. "I would characterize this simply as 'girl talk,' or 'guy talk,' if you will, among fellow employees, that all of us do every day," Fitzgibbons said. "This is it. There's no more, there's no less. ... I would describe it as simply a workplace friendship." The co-worker will turn 18 on January 2, Fitzgibbons said. Lafave refused to make a statement regarding the allegations, the document said. She was ordered to quit the restaurant job and now works as a receptionist in her mother's barber shop, the report said. Lafave says she suffers from bipolar disorder and is receiving treatment. Fitzgibbons said his client has done everything required of her, living with her parents and leaving only to go to work. She has done so well on two years of house arrest, he said, that he has been planning to ask that the third year be waived. Fitzgibbons said he still intends to make that request, and hopes Lafave's arrest will not hurt that effort -- "I would hope that the court would be understanding." "She's really tried hard, so it's upsetting to her," he said of the arrest, but noted it was "unheard of" for someone on probation for a sexual offense to be released on her own recognizance. E-mail to a friend . | Debra Lafave's probation forbids her to have contact with anyone under 18 .
Florida's Corrections Department: Lafave talked with 17-year-old coworker .
The two discussed family problems, sexual issues, report says .
Lafave was ordered to quit the job because of the allegations . | 603 | 62 |
246 | (CNN) -- Delta Air Lines and American Airlines announced Thursday the cancellations of hundreds of flights so the companies can conduct inspections on bundles of wires in some of their jets. Delta cancellations will affect flights up until early Friday, according to a statement from the airline. The cancellations will affect flights through Friday, according to statements by both companies. A spokeswoman for Delta earlier said 325 flights would be canceled Thursday, but later said 275 flights were cut. "Delta apologizes in advance for any inconvenience this may cause and is working to proactively contact and reaccommodate affected customers. Customers should call ahead to check flight status," a Delta statement said. Wednesday, American Airlines canceled 318 flights, said company spokesman Tim Wagner. The airline canceled 132 of its estimated 2,300 flights scheduled for Thursday, Wagner said, about 6 percent of the daily schedule. The cancellations forced dozens of people to spend the night in the atrium of Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. They slept wherever they could -- on couches, on the floor, some on non-moving baggage carousels. Kelly said the airline rebooked flights and covered the cost of hotel and food for passengers on canceled flights. It was initially believed that Delta's MD-90 planes were part of the inspection but it was determined that the MD-88 planes were the only ones that needed to be inspected, a spokeswoman said. The airline said the checks are voluntary and are expected to be completed by week's end. American Airlines, meanwhile, is examining wiring secured to its MD-80 aircraft. In Atlanta, the cancellations caused grousing among passengers who missed job interviews, connecting flights and the comfort of their beds, CNN affiliate WXIA reported. "They told us 6:45 (p.m.). Then they told us 7:30. Then 8, so on and so forth and they just canceled," passenger Fred Billizon told WXIA. "So they had about 200 people just waiting on flights. And that's not a lot of happy people." This latest round of inspections was prompted by questions raised by the FAA and American safety officials about how a certain bundle of wires is secured to the MD-80 aircraft. The MD-80 is the workhorse of the American fleet. American's Web site says the aircraft accounts for 300 of the airline's fleet of 655 jets. The jet debuted in 1980 from McDonnell-Douglas, which was purchased by rival Boeing in 1997. Boeing discontinued production of the aircraft in 1999. E-mail to a friend . | NEW: Delta cancelations only related to MD-88, not MD-90s .
NEW: 275 Delta flights were canceled Thursday for safety inspections .
American Airlines canceled 318 flights Wednesday to inspect MD-80 aircraft .
American cancels 132 of its estimated 2,300 flights scheduled for Thursday . | 516 | 61 |
247 | (CNN) -- Four crew members died and one was missing in the frigid waters off Alaska's Aleutian Islands after their fishing vessel sank Sunday, the U.S. Coast Guard reported. A crew member of the Alaska Ranger is taken on board the Coast Guard Cutter Munro. The Seattle, Washington-based Alaska Ranger was in 10-foot seas and winds of 30 to 35 miles per hour when it reported water was leaking into its steering gear compartment about 2:50 a.m. Sunday. The trawler had 47 people on board, said Chief Petty Officer Barry Lane, a Coast Guard spokesman. Four of those had been confirmed dead by late morning, Lane said. One person is still unaccounted for, said another Coast Guard spokesman, Lt. Eric Eggen. Watch a report from Lt. Eggen » . The 180-foot processing trawler was about 120 miles west of Dutch Harbor, in the remote Aleutian Islands, when the crew reported being "overwhelmed by water" and abandoned ship, Eggen said. Most of the crew had survival suits to protect them from water that was near-freezing, said Cmdr. Todd Trimpert, a Coast Guard spokesman. No cause of death was immediately known for the four crew members who died, but "certainly, they were in the water a long time," Trimpert said. "Without a survival suit, generally your survival time is less than 30 minutes," he said. The company that owned the ship, The Fishing Company of Alaska Inc., identified the four who did not survive as Captain Eric Peter Jacobsen, Chief Engineer Daniel Cook, Mate David Silveira and Crewman Byron Carrillo. "They were incredibly brave, hard-working men," the company said. "Our hearts are broken." A nearby ship, the Alaska Warrior, rescued 25 crew members while the Coast Guard retrieved the rest of the crew, the company said. "We do not have sufficient information to determine why the vessel foundered," the company said. "We will do everything possible to find out what occurred with the hope that something can be learned that will be of value to the fishing community." Amy Roman, a niece of Daniel Cook, told CNN affiliate KING-TV that her uncle "died how he wanted to. "If you're a fisherman, you want to die out at sea," she said. "If you're a true fisherman, this is how you want to go." Survivors were being taken aboard the Coast Guard cutter Munro. A helicopter and a C-130 transport plane were also taking part in the effort, the Coast Guard reported. The sinking left an unknown amount of diesel fuel on the surface of the Bering Sea, Lane said. The fishing industry is perennially among the most deadly in the United States. In 2005, 48 fishermen died, up from 38 the year before, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That made it the nation's most dangerous occupation for the year, with a fatality rate of 118.4 per 100,000 -- nearly 30 times higher than the rate of the average worker. E-mail to a friend . | Four crew members of Seattle-based Alaska Ranger died, Coast Guard says .
Others were rescued, but one person is still unaccounted for, spokesman says .
Boat was about 120 miles west of Dutch Harbor in remote Aleutian Islands . | 640 | 50 |
248 | WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Four people said to have acted on behalf of the Earth Liberation Front have been indicted on a charge of setting fire to an agriculture research building on the Michigan State University campus more than eight years ago, authorities announced Tuesday. Three Detroit, Michigan, residents and a Cincinnati, Ohio, resident were named in conspiracy and arson counts for a fire at a campus facility that housed federally funded plant genetic research. Officials said the December 31,1999, fire on the East Lansing campus caused more than $1 million in damage to facilities and the loss of research records. They also are accused of setting fire the next day to commercial logging equipment near Mesick, Michigan, in order to sabotage lumbering activity. "This investigation has been ongoing for almost a decade, and it should be a reminder to all that the FBI does not allow the passage of time to thwart our ability to apply our full resources to a case," said FBI Special Agent in Charge Andrew Arena. Michigan State Police Chief James Dunlap called the case "a significant act of domestic terrorism." "This was more than an attack on a building and the destruction of valuable property," MSU President Lou Anna Simon said. "It was an assault on the core value of free and open inquiry at a research university." Officials said those named in the indictment are Marie Mason, 46, of Cincinnati; and Frank Ambrose, 33, Aren Burthwick, 27, and Stephanie Fultz, 27, all of Detroit. E-mail to a friend . | 3 Michigan residents and an Ohio resident named in conspiracy, arson counts .
They are said to have set fire to an agriculture research building at Michigan State .
Fire nine years ago caused $1 million in damage and loss of research records .
Michigan State Police chief called fire 'a significant act of domestic terrorism' | 302 | 63 |
249 | (CNN) -- A man who is accused of trying to board an Air Jamaica flight at Orlando International Airport with apparent bomb-making materials was taken into custody Tuesday. Witnesses say the man arrested Tuesday was "rocking left and right and up and down." Officials said Kevin Brown, a Jamaican national, was acting strangely and caught the attention of an air safety officer at the Florida airport. Brown was arrested on charges of carrying a weapon or explosives onto a plane, according to the FBI. The bureau said Brown, who is in his early 30s, had baggage that concealed two galvanized pipes, end caps, two containers of BBs, batteries, two containers with an unknown liquid, a laptop and bomb-making literature. "He looked rather crazy," a passenger told CNN affiliate WKMG. "He was rocking left and right and up and down." Transportation Safety Administration officials said Brown caught the eye of a "behavior identification officer" about noon Tuesday as Brown approached a ticket counter for his planned flight to Jamaica. Lee Kair, the TSA's federal security director in Orlando, said the materials in his bags posed no danger to other travelers. Initial record checks indicate that Brown was in the United States legally, the FBI said. The FBI and the Orlando Police Department are investigating, Kair said. Airport officials say several ticket counters were shut down during the incident and 11 flights were delayed. Airport spokeswoman Carolyn Fennell said Air Jamaica, Air Canada, West Jet and Frontier flights were among those delayed. "Things are slowly returning to normal," Fennell said, adding that the terminal where Brown was apprehended was operating normally by 3 p.m. Kair said that behavior identification officers like the one who spotted Brown are plain-clothes officers trained to watch for suspicious behavior at airports. "When people are doing things that are deceptive, they exhibit behaviors that are involuntary," he said. "Our officers are very well trained to identify these behaviors." Brown is scheduled for an initial appearance in federal court in Orlando on Wednesday. E-mail to a friend . | NEW: FBI: Kevin Brown accused of carrying a weapon or explosives onto a plane .
The Jamaican national tried to board an Air Jamaica flight at Orlando airport .
Official says suspicious items posed no immediate danger to other travelers .
Some ticket counters were shut down, and 11 flights were delayed . | 415 | 60 |
250 | (CNN) -- An A380 superjumbo bound for Sydney came loose from a tow truck and partially rolled onto grass at Singapore airport. Singapore Airlines was the first carrier in the world to operate the double-decker aircraft. No-one was injured in the incident involving the world's biggest airliner, a Singapore Airlines spokesman said, but passengers were taken off so the plane could be repositioned and inspected for any damage. A truck being used to push back the plane in preparation for the flight "experienced some form of failure" causing it disconnect from the aircraft, a Singapore Airlines spokesman said. "As a consequence of the failure on the truck, the aircraft ... came into contact with the grass verge off the airport tarmac. The aircraft was not under its own power at the time," he said. "It is too early at this time to know the cause of the incident but Singapore Airlines will investigate this quickly, and is filing reports with the appropriate Singapore authorities," the spokesman said. An airline spokesman told CNN's Richard Quest that four wheels had ended up on the grass. All four tires had now been replaced. "As far as Singapore Airlilnes is concerned, the plane is ready to fly again," Quest said. The airline made arrangements for as many customers as possible to continue on their journey from Changi Airport to Sydney aboard a Boeing 747-400. Most passengers departed for Sydney on a new flight early Friday morning, while some others flew to alternate destinations such as Melbourne and Brisbane on existing flights. "The remaining customers, about 10 of them, have left, or will be leaving, for Sydney today," the spokesman said. Singapore Airlines received its first A380 in October last year to become the first carrier in the world to operate the double-decker aircraft, which it is currently using for the Singapore-Sydney route. Changi Airport, which is home to the Singapore Airlines A380 fleet, has declared itself ready to handle the plane. It widened and lengthened existing runways and widened runway shoulders to allow the plane to maneuver. Airports around the world have had to make changes to accommodate the A380, such as enlarging runways and gates and bringing in vehicles which can tow the plane and lift high enough to reach its upper decks. E-mail to a friend . | Four wheels of A380 superjumbo roll onto grass at Singapore airport .
Truck being used to push the plane experienced "some kind of failure"
No-one injured in the incident; passengers transferred to other flights .
Singapore Airlines was first carrier in the world to operate the A380 . | 470 | 62 |
251 | (CNN) -- The Dalai Lama Friday rejected a series of allegations from the Chinese government, saying he does not seek the separation of Tibet and has no desire to "sabotage" the Olympic games. Chinese authorities have blamed followers of the Dalai Lama for instigating the unrest that has swept Tibet. Issuing a statement while traveling in New Delhi, India, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists called on China "to exercise wisdom and to initiate a meaningful dialogue with the Tibetan people." Beijing has blamed the Dalai Lama and his followers for violence that erupted amid protests for Tibetan independence earlier this month, but China has drawn international criticism for its crackdown on the protests that began peacefully. President Bush said Friday he "urged restraint" during a phone conversation with Chinese President Hu Jintao earlier this week, and noted "that it's in his country's interest" for the government to have representatives "sit down again with representatives of the Dalai Lama." Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, appearing with Bush at the White House, also called for meetings between the two sides. "It's absolutely clear that there are human rights abuses in Tibet. That's clear-cut. We need to be up-front and absolutely straight about what's going on. Shouldn't shilly-shally about it," Rudd said. Tibet's government in exile has said the death toll from the protests has reached about 140 over the past two weeks, but China's government restrictions have made it difficult to confirm that number. Chinese authorities put the death toll at 19 and said most of those killed were "innocent victims" -- Han Chinese targeted by Tibetans. "I am deeply saddened by the loss of life in the recent tragic events. I am aware that some Chinese have also died. I feel for the victims and their families and pray for them," the Dalai Lama said in his written statement Friday. He added that there is an "urgent need to seek a peaceful and mutually beneficial solution through dialogue. Even at this juncture I have expressed my willingness to the Chinese authorities to work together to bring about peace and stability." He noted repeatedly that he is not a "separatist." "Chinese brothers and sisters, I assure you I have no desire to seek Tibet's separation. Nor do I have any wish to drive a wedge between the Tibetan and Chinese peoples," he wrote. Instead, protesters seek "meaningful self-rule" while remaining a part of China, he added. And, he said, "despite my repeated support for the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese authorities, with the intention of creating a rift between the Chinese people and myself, the Chinese authorities assert that I am trying to sabotage the games." The protests -- which began on the 49th anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising -- have threatened to overshadow Beijing's role as host of the Summer Olympic Games in August. In his statement, the Dalai Lama complained the Chinese state-run media's coverage "of the recent events in Tibet, using deceit and distorted images, could sow the seeds of racial tension with unpredictable long-term consequences. This is of grave concern to me." China's state-run media, however, have accused some Western news agencies -- including CNN -- of distorting coverage of the riots to make China look bad and the protesters look like innocent victims. A headline Friday on the English Web site of China's official Xinhua news agency read "'Anti-CNN' Web site reflects Chinese people's condemnation." The article offered a link to a site in which Chinese bloggers criticize CNN's coverage. In a statement, CNN said, "We have provided comprehensive coverage of all sides of this story," adding that the network's "reputation is based on reporting global news accurately and impartially." Read the full statement . Earlier this week, China offered some media organizations -- not including CNN -- a carefully managed tour of Tibet's capital, but ran into a public-relations roadblock when a group of Buddhist monks began screaming protests at a holy shrine. E-mail to a friend . | Dalai Lama: "I have no desire to seek Tibet's separation"
Dalai Lama: Protesters seek "meaningful self-rule" while remaining a part of China .
Violence erupted amid protests for Tibetan independence earlier this month .
Bush says he "urged restraint" during a phone call with China's president . | 810 | 69 |
252 | YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Montana (CNN) -- The gray wolf was officially removed from the Endangered Species Act's "threatened" list Friday after three decades -- a decision that has stoked controversy among environmentalists and ranchers. Federal officials estimate there are 1,500 gray wolves in Yellowstone National Park. It means the wolves can be shot and killed once they step out of Yellowstone National Park as soon as the affected states establish a hunting season. However, state Fish and Wildlife officials can shoot the animals whenever they deem the wolves to be a problem. The government delisted the wolves -- which were eliminated from Yellowstone decades ago before being reintroduced in the 1990s -- because they are now thriving in the park that is dominated by bison, elk and bighorn sheep. "They're back here in the Northern Rockies; they're back here in Yellowstone," said Doug Smith, a biologist for the National Park Service in Yellowstone. "That's something to celebrate given their history of human hatred." But not everyone is happy about the animal being removed from the endangered list. Conservationists believe hundreds of gray wolves straying from Yellowstone in search of prey could soon be killed by hunters and ranchers. Watch rancher say no wolf is "sacred" » . "We're not ready to pop the champagne corks and have a party," said Doug Honnold, the managing attorney for Earthjustice, a non-profit environmental law firm based in Oakland, California, that has threatened to sue the government. "My biggest fear is we're going to go backwards instead of forwards." It wouldn't be the first time. In the early 20th century, wolves were the targets of a massive government extermination campaign. "It's harder to find an animal more persecuted than wolves. ... We did wolf extermination with a vengeance," said Smith. But attitudes began to change in the 1980s. Elk and bison populations increased dramatically because there was no natural predator to keep their numbers in check. In 1995, Smith led a team to bring wolves back to the Rocky Mountain landscape. They transplanted dozens of wolves to Yellowstone from Canada. See photos of Yellowstone's animals » . The project has been regarded as an overwhelming success. There are now more than 1,500 wolves across Wyoming, Idaho and Montana, according to the government. That number convinced federal wildlife officials to remove them from the endangered species list. Federal officials require each of the three states to maintain a population of 100 wolves, meaning a total of 300 wolves across all three states. The states have actually pledged to keep the population higher than that, at a rate of 150 wolves per state. "We did a thorough analysis," said Ed Bangs, the wolf recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "The consensus [for recovery] is a population of 300 wolves and 30 breeding pairs." He added, "The wolf population is fully recovered. We have more wolves than we ever predicted and we have fewer problems than we ever predicted." Earthjustice says that's not nearly enough to ensure a viable population and they want to stop the delisting. "We're going to have hundreds of wolves die needlessly," said Honnold. But many ranchers in the region just don't understand the fuss about the animals. They have complained for years that the wolves eat their livestock. "There's nothing about a wolf that's sacred," said Bruce Malcolm, a cattle rancher and Republican member of Montana's House of Representatives. He said he's lost nearly two dozen cows to the wolves in recent years. "I would have preferred that they never came here," he said. If there's a winner with the controversy, it's Yellowstone. The wolves have pushed up attendance by more than a 100,000 visitors per year, according to a park study. Smith, who has dedicated his life to the wolves, is philosophical about the debate. "No one says living with wolves is easy," said Smith. "Living with wolves is a compromise." E-mail to a friend . | Gray wolves officially no longer considered endangered .
Environmentalists fear hundreds of wolves could soon be killed by ranchers .
Rancher tells CNN the animals threaten his way of life .
Federal Wildlife official: "The wolf population is fully recovered" | 819 | 50 |
253 | WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The Democratic-led Congress yielded to President Bush on Saturday and approved legislation to temporarily expand government's power to conduct electronic surveillance without a court order in tracking foreign suspects. President Bush demanded Congress expand his surveillance authority before leaving for vacation. Civil liberties groups charged the measure would create a broad net that would sweep up law-abiding U.S. citizens. But the House of Representatives gave its concurrence to the bill, 227-183, a day after it won Senate approval, 60-28. The action came amid warnings of possible attacks on the United States. "After months of prodding by House Republicans, Congress has finally closed the terrorist loophole in our surveillance law -- and America will be the safer for it," declared House Minority Leader John Boehner, an Ohio Republican. "We think it is not the bill that ought to pass," said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. But he conceded he and fellow Democrats were unable to stop the measure in this national security showdown with the White House. "Protecting America is our most solemn obligation," Bush said earlier in the day in urging Congress to send him the bill so he could sign it into law. Watch Kelli Arena's report on what some call an intelligence gap » . The measure would authorize the National Security Agency to intercept without a court order communications between people in the United States and foreign targets overseas. E-mail to a friend . Copyright 2007 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. | Secret court ruling prompted push for updating the program .
President Bush had urged the House to pass the bill without delay .
Measure expands government's power to eavesdrop on foreign suspects . | 307 | 37 |
254 | (CNN) -- Researchers have discovered the oldest piece of gold jewelry ever found in the Americas, an academic journal reported Tuesday. A gold and turquoise necklace, made 4,000 years ago, was found in a burial site near Lake Titicaca. A team found the gold necklace near Lake Titicaca in Peru, according to the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It's 4,000 years old -- 600 years older than any other gold jewelry discovered in the Western Hemisphere. The anthropologist who discovered the gold, Mark Aldenderfer, told CNN on Tuesday night that he sensed the importance of his find after noticing a glint while excavating a site with human remains. "It appeared to be gold. That's when I knew we had something special," he said. "This was a complete shock." He found the necklace about seven years ago, he said, but researchers kept quiet for fear that looters would raid the site. They also wanted to allow time for chemical analysis before announcing their discovery on Tuesday. Video footage from Peru shows a necklace of nine gold tubes separated by 10 stones. The find is important, Aldenderfer said, because it signals the early emergence of a desire for status among people who lived as relative equals without a formal leadership system. The Andean people of that time, Aldenderfer said, had recently settled down after many generations as hunter-gatherers. Formal kings would not emerge for hundreds of years. The person who wore the gold necklace may have sought to distinguish himself with a status symbol, Aldenderfer said. The artifact is in the custody of the National Institute of Peru and may be displayed in a museum, he said. E-mail to a friend . | A team finds the gold necklace near Lake Titicaca in Peru .
Find is important because it signals the emergence of societal status systems .
The artifact is in the custody of the National Institute of Peru . | 350 | 42 |
255 | (CNN) -- Bolivian President Evo Morales plans to sign legislation Friday scheduling a May 4 referendum on a new constitution, the Bolivian Information Agency reported. Bolivians celebrate Thursday in La Paz after Congress decides to call for a referendum on a new constitution. The move comes after the Bolivian Congress decided Thursday in a raucous session to let people nationwide vote on the controversial plans. The proposed constitution would strengthen the country's indigenous majority but has faced fierce opposition from nonindigenous Bolivians, including those in four provinces whose governors have declared autonomy. Hundreds jammed streets Thursday outside the congressional building in La Paz to prevent opposition legislators from entering. Video footage broadcast on CNN en Español showed people pushing, shoving and hitting others. Watch as the crowds block the opposition » . Congress made its decision to hold a referendum "with a reduced presence of opposition lawmakers," the Bolivian news agency said. Opposition legislators decried the move as "illegal," the agency said, but supporters of Morales welcomed it. "Now it is the Bolivian people who will decide with their vote whether to approve or reject the new constitution," said Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera, according to the Bolivian Information Agency. E-mail to a friend . | Bolivian Congress decides to let people vote on new constitution on May 4 .
Proposed constitution would strengthen Bolivia's indigenous majority .
Bolivian President Evo Morales is set to sign the legislation .
Opposition lawmakers with "reduced presence" in Congress decry move as "illegal" | 263 | 63 |
256 | (CNN) -- A B-2 stealth bomber crashed early Saturday morning local time in Guam, according to the Air Force. A B-2 stealth bomber taxis at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, in a 2005 photo. Two pilots who were aboard during the crash, at Andersen Air Force Base, ejected from the bomber and were in good condition afterward, according to an Air Force statement. The pilots were from the 509th Bomb Wing. The military didn't release their names. Emergency responders were on the scene of the crash. A board of officers will investigate its cause. The crash is the second in three days of an Air Force craft. Watch smoke rise from crash site . An Air Force fighter pilot was killed Wednesday after two F-15C jets collided during a training exercise over the Gulf of Mexico. The planes were from the 33rd Fighter Wing, a combat-flying unit out of Eglin Air Force Base near Pensacola, Florida. E-mail to a friend . | Air Force says 2 pilots in good condition after ejecting from plane .
Emergency responders on scene of crash at Andersen Air Force Base .
Crash is the second in three days involving an Air Force craft . | 199 | 41 |
257 | BEIJING, China (Reuters) -- A Chinese couple tried to name their baby "@," claiming the character used in e-mail addresses echoed their love for the child, an official trying to whip the national language into line said on Thursday. The unusual name stands out especially in Chinese, which has no alphabet and instead uses tens of thousands of multi-stroke characters to represent words. "The whole world uses it to write e-mail, and translated into Chinese it means 'love him'," the father explained, according to the deputy chief of the State Language Commission Li Yuming. While the "@" symbol is familiar to Chinese e-mail users, they often use the English word "at" to sound it out -- which with a drawn out "T" sounds something like "ai ta," or "love him," to Mandarin speakers. Li told a news conference on the state of the language that the name was an extreme example of people's increasingly adventurous approach to Chinese, as commercialisation and the Internet break down conventions. Another couple tried to give their child a name that rendered into English sounds like "King Osrina." Li did not say if officials accepted the "@" name. But earlier this year the government announced a ban on names using Arabic numerals, foreign languages and symbols that do not belong to Chinese minority languages. Sixty million Chinese faced the problem that their names use ancient characters so obscure that computers cannot recognize them and even fluent speakers were left scratching their heads, said Li, according to a transcript of the briefing on the government Web site (www.gov.cn). One of them was the former Premier Zhu Rongji, whose name had a rare "rong" character that gave newspaper editors headaches. E-mail to a friend . Copyright 2007 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. | Chinese couple try to name baby "@"
Father claims character translates as "love him"
Officials have not revealed if the name has been allowed . | 376 | 30 |
258 | (CNN) -- In a television interview, the mother of a man charged in the murder of an Auburn University freshman repeatedly says she's sorry about the suffering the victim's family is enduring. Courtney Larrell Lockhart was arrested Friday in Phenix City, Alabama, about 35 miles from Auburn. "I never thought Courtney would do this. I never, never thought," Courtney Larrell Lockhart's mother Catherine Williams told CNN affiliate WRBL on Saturday. "But I'm sorry for that family and I'm sorry. I'm just sorry," she said. "I got nothing else to say. I'm just sorry for the loss of that family." Police announced Saturday that they had arrested Lockhart, 23, of Smiths, Alabama, in connection with the shooting death of Lauren Burk, 18, of Marietta, Georgia. Watch the mother cry and apologize » . Lockhart faces charges of capital murder during a kidnapping, capital murder during a robbery and capital murder during an attempted rape, police said. Also, Lockhart is facing robbery charges in the Phenix City, Alabama, area, said William Clanton of the Phenix City Police Department. Clanton did not know how many robberies Lockhart was suspected of committing. Lockhart is being held in the Russell County jail, but is expected to be moved to Lee County soon, where Auburn University is, Clanton said. Burk was found shot Tuesday night on North College Street, a few miles north of campus. She died later at a hospital. Minutes after police responded to a call reporting an injured person and found Burk, they received a report of a car -- which turned out to be Burk's -- on fire in a campus parking lot. Authorities believe gasoline or another accelerant was used to ignite Burk's car, Auburn Assistant Police Chief Tommy Dawson said Friday. Police were investigating whether a gas can found in downtown Auburn was related to the case. Memorial services for Burk were held Saturday and Sunday at a Marietta church and synagogue. A campus-wide memorial service will be held Monday. A memorial service was held Sunday in Athens, Georgia, for another slain university student Eve Carson, the Athens Banner Herald reported. Carson, 22, the student body president for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was found shot to death in a suburban neighborhood not far from campus about 5 a.m. Wednesday. Her car was found Thursday, in another neighborhood to the west, about a block or two from where she lived with roommates. On Saturday, police released two surveillance photographs of a "person of interest" taken by an ATM camera in the Chapel Hill area, Chapel Hill Police Chief Brian Curran said. The person appeared to be using one of Carson's ATM cards and was driving a vehicle that was possibly hers. Curran called the photographs the "biggest break" in the case, which he said still appears to be random. Reminders of the popular student president appeared on the jerseys of the university's men's basketball team Saturday night as they took on Duke University's Blue Devils in Durham, North Carolina. The top-ranked Tar Heels wore jersey patches that read "Eve." Many of Duke's fans donned small light-blue ribbons as a show of support. There was a moment of silence for Carson before tip-off. The ribbons and moment of silence say "a heckuva lot about Duke University," UNC Coach Roy Williams told reporters after the game. The Tar Heels won 76-68. E-mail to a friend . | Courtney Larrell Lockhart's mother says she's sorry for suffering of victim's family .
"I never thought Courtney would do this," mother tells television station .
Lockhart charged in Tuesday slaying of Auburn University freshman Lauren Burk .
Lockhart is being held in the Russell County jail, authorities say . | 713 | 63 |
259 | MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- A cult member who spent several months holed up in a cave with dozens of other people anticipating the end of the world claimed Wednesday that two women died and were buried inside. An above-ground kitchen used by the doomsday cult in the Penza region during the summer. The former cave-dweller, Vitaly Nedogon, relayed his claims to Russian TV journalists, according to Anton Sharonov, a spokesman for the administration of Penza, a region southeast of Moscow. The official said Nedogon did not report the information to police or authorities. Once the rest of the apocalyptic sect leaves the cave, investigators will move in to try to confirm Nedogon's report, Sharonov said. Nedogon and others left the cave, said to be near the village of Nikolskoye, about 700 kilometers (435 miles) from the Russian capital, about a week ago, after part of its ceiling collapsed. He claimed two women died at different times during the cult's seclusion, which began in November 2007. One woman died of cancer and the other from excessive fasting, he told the media. "However," Sharonov told the Russian news agency Interfax, "the Penza regional administration is of the view that these deaths must be proven legally, which is possible only if all the people leave the cave so that investigative officials can examine it." Sharonov said those who remain in the cave told Penza officials during negotiations that they would come out by the Russian Orthodox Easter, on April 27. He said officials believe 11 people are left in the cave, but only nine will be alive if Nedogon's report is true. According to Interfax, Penza Deputy Governor Oleg Melnichenko, who is leading the local effort to resolve the situation, said he was unaware of any deaths in the cave. The cave ordeal began when Kuznetsov, the group's leader, told his followers to hide themselves to await the end of the world, which he predicted would take place in May. They had threatened to commit mass suicide if authorities tried to intervene. Thirty-five sect members are believed to have entered the cave initially, Interfax said. E-mail to a friend . From CNN's Maxim Tkachenko in Moscow. | Claims that one woman died from cancer, another from fasting in cult's cave .
Russian cult leader told followers world would end in May .
Sect members threatened to commit suicide if authorities tried to intervene . | 467 | 43 |
260 | (CNN) -- Presidential candidates have been wooing voters in Iowa for months, but who wins Thursday may simply come down to where the caucus-goers live, where they meet and the weather. Iowa is a mixed bag politically, and one of the most evenly divided states in the nation. But the candidates will likely watch two regions more closely than others. The central part of the state -- including industrial Des Moines -- is Iowa's most Democratic area. Western Iowa, on the other hand, is home to the most Republicans -- especially the rural counties in the northwest. The Mississippi River city of Davenport is expected to be one of the most significant battlegrounds, with Linn County -- dominated by the university town of Cedar Rapids -- also attracting lots of attention from both parties. Past Iowa caucuses have been nail-biters for the candidates. Democrat Al Gore won the state by a margin of just 0.3 percent in 2000, while President Bush carried it in 2004 by 0.7 percent. In fact, Bush was the first GOP presidential candidate to carry Iowa in 20 years. Important endorsement . The support of Iowa's largest newspaper, the Des Moines Register, may also play a role in Thursday's caucuses. The paper's presidential endorsements began in 1988 and have become a highly sought-after prize in Iowa presidential politics. George W. Bush was the Register's pick in 2000 and went on to win Iowa, the GOP nomination and the White House. Republican presidential hopeful Bob Dole won the state in 1996 and 1988 after receiving the paper's support. Democratic candidates haven't had as much success with the Register's endorsement. John Edwards finished in second place in Iowa in 2004, while Paul Simon was also a close second in 1988. The paper endorsed Sen. John McCain and Sen. Hillary Clinton for their respective parties' nominations. The candidates have to appeal to voters with strong opinions. On the Republican side, 37 percent of participants in the 2000 Iowa GOP caucuses identified themselves as members of the religious right and 73 percent described themselves as conservatives. Meanwhile, 56 percent of the participants in Iowa's 2004 Democratic caucuses described themselves as either very or somewhat liberal. About 37 percent said they were moderates. The weather . Iowans who take part in the caucuses must traditionally brave freezing temperatures and lots of snow. Presidential candidates know bad weather may affect how many people turn out, but 1972 was the only time rough winter conditions played a role in the caucuses, according to Drake University's Hugh Winebrenner -- the nation's leading expert on Iowa caucus history. Caucus-goers that year encountered heavy snowdrifts from a blizzard the previous day. Temperatures dipped below zero across most of the state. The weather forced about one-fourth of Iowa's 99 counties to postpone their Democratic caucuses up to two days after the scheduled date. The forecast for Thursday is much better. Temperatures will be in the 20s during the day and dip just below that as the caucuses begin, according to the Des Moines Register. E-mail to a friend . | The central part of Iowa is the state's most Democratic area .
Western Iowa is home to the most Republicans .
Support of Iowa's largest newspaper, the Des Moines Register, highly sought .
Weather may affect how many people turn out . | 608 | 49 |
261 | AMSTERDAM, Holland -- Ajax lost ground on Dutch league leaders PSV Eindhoven after being held to a 2-2 draw at Vitesse Arnhem on Sunday. Ajax's Leonardo, front in blue, duels for the ball with Sebastien Sansoni and Abubakari Yakubu of Vitesse. The Amsterdam side led 2-1 with two goals in four minutes just after half-time from Urby Emanuelson and Luis Suarez following Mads Junker's early opener, but Harrie Gommans rescued a draw. Ajax are now five points adrift of PSV, who beat Excelsior 2-1 on Saturday, with Heerenveen, Feyenoord and Groningen just one point further back. Feyenoord were held 1-1 at home by Groningen on Sunday, with Marcus Berg putting the visitors on course for a 13th win of the season until an own goal by Mark-Jan Fledderus on the stroke of half-time gave the Rotterdam side a point. At the other end of the table, Heracles registered their first away win of the season with a 5-0 thumping of fellow strugglers Venlo. Relegation-threatened Sparta Rotterdam and NEC Nijmegen both picked up vital victories. Sparta won 2-1 at sixth-placed Twente Enschede as goals from Yuri Rose and Charles Dissels on 28 and 51 minutes kept the visitors above of second-bottom Nijmegen on goal difference. NEC won 2-0 at home to ninth-placed Utrecht, the club's first victory since early November, as Jhonny van Beukering and Brett Holman netted in the second half. E-mail to a friend . | Second-placed Ajax held 2-2 at home by Vitesse Arnhem in Dutch Eredivisie .
The Amsterdam side now trail league leaders PSV Eindhoven by five points .
PSV defeated Excelsior 2-0 on Saturday to open up six-point gap at top . | 366 | 64 |
262 | LONDON, England (CNN) -- Queen Elizabeth helped launch Heathrow's $8.6 billion new Terminal 5 on Friday as part of the British airport's rejuvenation plan to maintain its status as one of the world's most important transport hubs. A general view of the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport prior to its official opening on Friday. The British monarch, who also opened Heathrow's first passenger terminal in 1955, was present under strict security a day after a man carrying a backpack was arrested for running onto a runway at the airport. The first flights from the new terminal are scheduled for March 27. Its opening has come after 15 years of planning and construction by its owners BAA -- and protests by local residents and environmental groups. It is part of a strategy which could lead to passenger numbers almost doubling to 122 million a year, with a sixth terminal and a third runway in the pipeline despite some vociferous opposition. Spanish-owned BAA, which also runs Gatwick and Stansted in Britain, also plans to eventually demolish Terminals 1 and 2 and replace them in a project called Heathrow East. Watch Queen Elizabeth meet airport staff. » . Residents were once told by BAA that there would be no fifth terminal, but the company is planning to forge further ahead despite the concerns of environmental groups. "Terminal 5 stands as a monument to the binge-flying culture this Government has done so much to encourage," Greenpeace transport campaigner Anita Goldsmith told the UK Press Association. "It's part of an obsession with expansion which can only mean more flights, more emissions and more climate change." Richard Dyer of Friends of the Earth added: "If the Government is serious about tackling climate change, the opening of Terminal 5 must mark the end of airport expansion in Britain. "Further expansion of Heathrow would be environmentally irresponsible and isn't necessary for the economy of London." However, business groups welcomed the expansion at Heathrow. "Thriving, growing airports are vital to help maintain Britain's economic competitiveness," Neil Pakey, chairman of the Airport Operators' Association, told PA. "Domestic air links to Heathrow are particularly valuable for the regional economies, and this new terminal will undoubtedly provide them with a much-needed boost. The passage of the current Planning Bill must ensure that this is the last airport which has to endure such an absurdly protracted planning process." See British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh's views on the terminal. » . Visit London chief executive James Bidwell said: "T5 will provide visitors to London and the UK with a spectacular first impression and alleviate the pressure experienced at Heathrow, the world's busiest airport. "The terminal's smoother check-in process and state-of-the-art baggage management system will certainly better the tourist experience and should help improve the airport's international reputation." E-mail to a friend . | Queen Elizabeth opens Heathrow Airport's $8.6 billion new Terminal 5 .
The new building took more than 15 years to complete following protests .
Launch a day after security scare at one of world's busiest international airports .
A lone man ran onto a Heathrow runway carrying a backpack on Thursday . | 584 | 62 |
263 | (CNN) -- Coca Cola was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 8, 1886. Dr. John Stith Pemberton, a local pharmacist, produced the syrup for Coca-Cola. It was put on sale at the nearby Jacobs' Pharmacy for five cents a glass as a soda fountain drink. An international organization, The Coca-Cola Company's first soda fountain sales to Canada and Mexico were recorded in 1897. Its first international bottler -- in Panama -- was established in 1906. The company entered China in 1927 and its 100th country -- Sierra Leone -- in 1957. Today, The Coca-Cola Company is the world's largest beverage company with the most extensive distribution system in the world, operating in more than 200 countries across the world. The company currently has over 400 different brands under its control, and is one of the most recognizable names in the commercial world. The Coca-Cola Company, including the bottling entities it owns, employs approximately 71,000 people. More than 58,000 of those employees work for the company outside of the U.S. They are the largest private-sector employer across all of Africa. And in South Africa, for every one job created by the Coca-Cola system, 16 jobs are created in the informal retail sector. The company was placed in the top 25 places to work by Essence magazine and was named Wal-Mart's International Supplier of the Year in 2006. E-mail to a friend . | Coca-Cola was invented in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1886, by a U.S. pharmacist .
Today it is the largest beverage company in the world .
The company has operations in over 200 countries, employs 55,000 people . | 296 | 51 |
264 | LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- A 24-year-old gang member was arrested Thursday in connection with a shooting at a Los Angeles bus stop in which eight people were wounded, city officials said. Bystanders express shock after a shooting at a bus stop in Los Angeles Wednesday. Billy Ray Hines is believed to have fired into a crowd of people at the bus stop. Hines was apprehended Thursday afternoon as he was walking down the street, about a half-mile from the scene of the shooting, Police Chief William Bratton told reporters. Hines will face 10 counts of attempted murder -- one for each of the eight victims, and two more for what authorities believe to be his two intended victims, who were still being sought Thursday, Bratton said. Authorities are also seeking the gun used in the incident, he said. The shootings took place Wednesday afternoon at the intersection of Central and Vernon avenues, in an area where police are concerned about gang violence. Five of the victims were children. An 11-year-old girl was shot in the chest, and another girl, age 11, was shot in the right arm. Three boys were wounded -- ages 10, 12 and 14. One was shot in the leg, one in the buttocks and the third in the ankle, police said. One man was wounded in the leg and another in the ankle, and a woman was shot in the face. "While no one died yesterday, the bullets unleashed shot through the core of the entire community," Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said in announcing the arrest Thursday. "The decent people of this community responded with force." Watch mayor, authorities discuss arrest of gunman » . Witnesses came forward after the incident to identify the gunman as Hines, Bratton said. The shooting was believed to stem from a dispute between the gunman and the two intended victims, he said. E-mail to a friend . | Billy Ray Hines is believed to have fired into a crowd, police say .
Eight people, including five children, were shot, authorities say .
Shooting happened Wednesday near a middle school, but not on school grounds .
Hines will face 10 counts of attempted murder, police say . | 386 | 60 |
265 | MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Russian space officials say the crew of the Soyuz space ship is resting after a rough ride back to Earth. A South Korean bioengineer was one of three people on board the Soyuz capsule. The craft carrying South Korea's first astronaut landed in northern Kazakhstan on Saturday, 260 miles (418 kilometers) off its mark, they said. Mission Control spokesman Valery Lyndin said the condition of the crew -- South Korean bioengineer Yi So-yeon, American astronaut Peggy Whitson and Russian flight engineer Yuri Malenchenko -- was satisfactory, though the three had been subjected to severe G-forces during the re-entry. Search helicopters took 25 minutes to find the capsule and determine that the crew was unharmed. Officials said the craft followed a very steep trajectory that subjects the crew to gravitational forces of up to 10 times those on Earth. Interfax reported that the spacecraft's landing was rough. This is not the first time a spacecraft veered from its planned trajectory during landing. In October, the Soyuz capsule landed 70 kilometers from the planned area because of a damaged control cable. The capsule was carrying two Russian cosmonauts and the first Malaysian astronaut. E-mail to a friend . | Soyuz capsule lands hundreds of kilometers off-target .
Capsule was carrying South Korea's first astronaut .
Landing is second time Soyuz capsule has gone awry . | 253 | 38 |
266 | NEW YORK (CNN) -- The daughter of a man who died after falling four stories at Shea Stadium said her father was not sliding down the escalator when the accident happened, as police reported. A statement from the New York Police Department on Tuesday said witnesses saw 36-year-old Antonio Nararainsami of Brooklyn sitting on the banister of the escalator when he lost his balance and fell. Nararainsami's daughter, Emily, told CNN affiliate WABC on Tuesday that her father was walking down the escalator, not sliding on its banister, as fans left the stadium after the New York Mets-Washington Nationals game. She said she and another relative saw what happened. "He wasn't moving or nothing; he was just walking down. I guess he tried to say something to us or something, and I guess he just lost his balance and flipped over," she said. Nararainsami died at Booth Memorial Hospital about 25 minutes after the 10 p.m. incident. Police are investigating the death as an accident. E-mail to a friend . | Police said man lost his balance on an escalator as fans left the stadium .
He died about 25 minutes later at Booth Memorial Hospital .
Police are investigating the death as an accident . | 217 | 38 |
267 | WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A man at the center of a mysterious case of exposure to the deadly biological agent ricin has been arrested, FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said Wednesday. Ricin was found in a room in this Las Vegas, Nevada, extended-stay hotel in February, police say. Roger Bergendorff was taken into custody Wednesday morning in Las Vegas, Nevada, Kolko said. Bergendorff, 57, was hospitalized with what was diagnosed as ricin exposure after the agent was discovered in his hotel room off the Las Vegas Strip. Tests conducted by the FBI determined that the substance contained 2.9 percent active ricin. Its preparation was characterized as "crude," according to the U.S. attorney's office in Las Vegas. According to a press release from the Department of Justice office, a search of Bergendorff's hotel room turned up "an 'Anarchist's Cookbook,' a collection of instructions on poisons and other dangerous recipes, including instructions on the preparation of ricin," two semiautomatic pistols, a rifle and a pistol with a silencer. "FBI searches of Salt Lake City [Utah] storage units rented by Von Bergendorff resulted in the discovery of castor beans, various chemicals used in the production of ricin, a respirator, filters, painter's mask, laboratory glassware, syringes and a notebook on ricin production," the Justice Department release said. Bergendorff is charged with possession of a biological toxin, possession of unregistered firearms and possession of firearms not identified by serial number, according to the U.S. attorney's office. If convicted of all charges, he would face a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a fine of $750,000. Bergendorff is scheduled for an initial court appearance at 3 p.m. Wednesday. It is illegal under federal law to possess a biological agent and toxin unless it is used for bona fide research or other peaceful purpose, U.S. Attorney Gregory Bower said in a written statement. Bergendorff's cousin, Thomas Tholen of Riverton, Utah, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Salt Lake City this month, accused of failing to report production and possession of ricin. Ricin is a poison that can be made from the waste of castor bean processing, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It can come in the form of a mist or pellet and can be dissolved in water or weak acid, the agency said. Bergendorff was hospitalized February 14 in Las Vegas after he complained of difficulty breathing. He slipped into a coma and awoke March 14. Bergendorff, 57, is an artist who neighbors said had lived in his cousin's basement before moving to Las Vegas. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Kevin Bohn, Karan Olson and Carol Cratty contributed to this report. | Roger Bergendorff is charged with possession of toxin, firearms .
He was hospitalized for ricin exposure after it was found in hotel room .
His cousin is charged with failing to report production and possession . | 584 | 42 |
268 | (CNN) -- A Lonely Planet author says he plagiarized or made up portions of the popular travel guidebooks and dealt drugs to supplement poor pay, an Australian newspaper reported Sunday. Lonely Planet publishes more than 500 titles and employs 300 authors, according to its Web site. Thomas Kohnstamm, who has written a book on his misadventures, also said he didn't travel to Colombia to write the guidebook on the country because "they didn't pay me enough," The Daily Telegraph reported. "I wrote the book in San Francisco [California]," he is quoted as saying in the Telegraph. "I got the information from a chick I was dating -- an intern in the Colombian Consulate." The 32-year-old Seattle, Washington, native also claims he accepted free travel, which is a violation of the company's policy. Kohnstamm has worked on more than a dozen books for Lonely Planet, including its titles on Brazil, Colombia, the Caribbean, Venezuela, Chile and South America. An e-mail from Lonely Planet said Kohnstamm's book were being reviewed, the newspaper reported. "If we find that the content has been compromised, we'll take urgent steps to fix it. Once we've got things right for travelers as quickly as we can, we'll look at what we do and how we do it to ensure as best we can that this type of thing never happens again," the e-mail said, according to the newspaper. The book's publisher, Piers Pickard, told the paper that an "urgent" review of Kohnstamm's books did not reveal any inaccuracies. The Lonely Planet series publishes 500 titles, updated every two to four years, and employs 300 authors, according to the company's Web site. It sells more than 6 million guides a year, the newspaper reported. Kohnstamm's book, "Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?: A Swashbuckling Tale of High Adventures, Questionable Ethics and Professional Hedonism," is set for release next week. On his MySpace page, Kohnstamm says the book "is about the decision to abandon Manhattan to try to make it as a travel writer and the good, the bad and the really surreal that I experienced on the road." E-mail to a friend . | Author tells paper he got data for Colombia guidebook "from a chick I was dating"
Author's works include guides on Brazil, Venezuela, Chile, paper reports .
Lonely Planet tells paper it wants to ensure "this type of thing never happens again"
"Urgent" review of author's books reveals no inaccuracies, publisher tells paper . | 468 | 73 |
269 | SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) -- The chairman of the Samsung Group plans to resign, according to a report published Tuesday by Yonhap, the South Korean news agency. Chairman of the Samsung Group Lee Kun-hee has been indicted for tax evasion and breach of trust. The decision of Lee Kun-hee to step down comes a few days after his indictment amid an investigation into corruption allegations. Lee was indicted for tax evasion and breach of trust. Samsung is South Korea's largest conglomerate. It has annual sales of nearly $160 billion and accounts for 18 percent of South Korea's economic output. The company's exports -- valued at about $70 billion -- account for a fifth of all South Korean exports. Lee was indicted for breach of trust in connection with a plan to transfer control of the company to his son, a prosecutor said. He was also indicted for tax evasion. Investigators started looking into Samsung in January, after a former company lawyer said the company created slush funds worth $200 million. Last week, however, a prosecutor said an investigation found no evidence supporting an allegation that the company bribed government officials and prosecutors. Samsung has apologized for "causing concerns" and said it would outline plans for reform this week. E-mail to a friend . | Samsung Group chairman, Lee Kun-hee, plans to resign, Yonhap reports .
Lee's decision comes a few days after his indictment amid corruption investigation .
Lee was indicted for tax evasion and breach of trust .
Prosecutors say indictment relates to a plan to transfer control of the firm to his son . | 254 | 62 |
270 | (CNN) -- It's been 30,000 years since Neanderthals walked the earth, but now we can hear what they sounded like, according to a Florida anthropologist. Neanderthal man apparently sounded like a frog croaking or a human burping when talking. Robert McCarthy of Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton reconstructed Neanderthal vocal tracts to simulate their voice with a computer synthesizer. The result is a single syllable that sounds strange and unremarkable: part croaking frog, part burping human. But McCarthy says that's because Neanderthals lacked the "quantal vowels" modern humans use. "They would have spoken a bit differently," McCarthy said at the annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists in Ohio this month. "They wouldn't have been able to produce these quantal vowels that form the basis of spoken language." New Scientist magazine discussed McCarthy's findings and linked to his vocal simulation on its Web site. Listen to Neanderthal man speak . McCarthy used 50,000-year-old fossils from France to make his reconstruction, New Scientist said. He plans to simulate an entire Neanderthal sentence, the magazine reported. To reconstruct the vocal tracts, McCarthy teamed with linguist Phil Lieberman, who worked in the 1970s to deduce the dimensions of a Neanderthal larynx based on its skull. E-mail to a friend . | Anthropologist reconstructs Neanderthal vocal tracts to simulate their voice .
Result sounds like a part croaking frog or a human burping .
Plan is to eventually simulate an entire Neanderthal sentence . | 279 | 41 |
271 | ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- A Georgia military contractor tricked law enforcement agencies into buying faulty stun grenades, ultimately leaving three FBI agents injured, federal prosecutors announced Monday. "Flash-bang" grenades were relabeled and sold to police after the Navy deemed them faulty, an indictment says. Pyrotechnic Specialties Inc. is accused of relabeling and selling "flash-bang" grenades that the U.S. military rejected after its personnel were injured. The company also mixed defective grenades with others that had been fixed "to camouflage the defective devices from receiving personnel" at the FBI, the indictment says. Last week's indictment alleges that company officials bribed a federal official and paid for a visit to a strip club. The officials are accused of conspiracy, money laundering, mail fraud and defrauding the government. Watch how the grenades work » . The company, known as PSI, did not immediately respond to calls for comment. The indictment names three company officials -- CEO David J. Karlson, sales representative F. Brad Swann and production manager Daniel Ramone -- as taking part in the conspiracy. The indictment does not say whether they still hold those titles. PSI had a multimillion-dollar contract with the Defense Department to provide stun or "flash-bang" grenades, referred to as "MK141 diversionary charges" in the indictment. From 1996 to 2007, the Navy awarded three contracts to PSI for the MK141, according to the indictment. The devices are designed to produce a bright flash and loud bang, disorienting their targets. They're considered nonlethal weapons, though they can be dangerous. The indictment alleges, "On or about March 2003, a flaw in the original Navy design of the MK141 diversionary charge became apparent." A plastic piece would sometimes crack, which "could result in a hazardous situation to those in close proximity." "Improper detonation could, and did, cause serious injuries to personnel using the device," according to the indictment. The indictment says that the Department of Defense issued a "stop work order" on the devices, and PSI "developed a procedure to correct the defect" that cost about $3.72 per unit. PSI officials later engaged in a scheme to sell the defective devices by claiming that they had met the department's standards, the indictment alleges. The defendants sold and attempted to sell the devices "to the Department of Defense and to federal law enforcement agencies, as well as to state and local law enforcement agencies," the indictment says. At one point, some of them prematurely detonated, "causing serious injuries" to three FBI agents who were on a SWAT team investigating a kidnapping, the indictment says, adding that the interior of their government vehicle was damaged. "To further implement the scheme and artifice to defraud, the defendants provided gratuities and additional compensation to a Department of Defense employee," the indictment adds. The devices were sold to more than a dozen FBI offices between 2003 and 2004, as well as to the San Rafael Police Department in San Rafael, California, and the Orange County Sheriff/Coroner's Department in Santa Ana, California, the indictment says. The Department of Defense said it could not comment because the case is under investigation. "Our understanding is that the Naval Criminal Investigative Service is supporting the FBI in this investigation," Lt. Geraldine Carey of Marine Corps Systems Command said in a written statement. Carey added that it is "against DOD policy to discuss matters under investigation prior to the requested official or government agency receiving a formal report." According to the company's Web site, PSI supports "the U.S. and many foreign military services with custom compositions, pellets and devices." Automotive airbag products are atop the list of commercial products it manufactures, according to the Web site. The company employs 160 people at its manufacturing facility near Byron, Georgia, the Web site says. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Scott Zamost and Abbie Boudreau contributed to this report. | Indictment accuses Georgia company of relabeling stun grenades .
Devices sold to at least 12 FBI offices; Defense Department declines comment .
3 company officials charged with money laundering, defrauding the government .
Indictment: FBI agents injured when stun grenades detonated prematurely . | 812 | 58 |
272 | TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- The U.S. military in Japan has charged a Marine with rape and other violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice in the alleged sexual assault of 14-year old girl in Okinawa. A civic group member protests against Hadnott near the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo on February 13. Staff Sgt. Tyrone Luther Hadnott, 38, has been charged with the rape of a child under 16, abusive sexual contact with a child, making a false official statement, adultery and kidnapping, the Marines said Friday. No dates for the court-martial have been set. In February, Japanese authorities released Hadnott after the girl dropped the allegations against him, but the Marine Corps conducted its own investigation to see if Hadnott violated codes of military justice. It held him at a Marine facility. The rape accusation against Hadnott stirred memories of a brutal rape more than a decade ago and triggered outrage across Japan. Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda deplored as "unforgivable" the allegations against Hadnott. The incident also led to tight restrictions, for a time, for American troops and their families at the U.S. base on Okinawa. The U.S. military in Japan also formed a sexual assault prevention task force after the incident. More than 40,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Japan, most of them on Okinawa. The troops were placed there under a security alliance after Japan was defeated in World War II and was renounced its right to a military. The U.S. military presence has at times bred resentment among some Japanese, who have long complained about crime, noise and accidents. Anti-American sentiments boiled over in 1995 after three American servicemen kidnapped and gang-raped a 12-year-old Okinawan schoolgirl. Two years ago, a U.S. civilian military employee was jailed for nine years for raping two women. E-mail to a friend . | No date set for the court-martial .
U.S. military charges Marine after girl dropped charges in February .
Most of U.S. troops in Japan are stationed in Okinawa . | 401 | 40 |
273 | BERLIN. Germany -- Germany striker Kevin Kuranyi fired Schalke up to joint second in the Bundesliga, while Bayern Munich have a golden chance to put one hand on the league title if they beat Stuttgart on Sunday. Kuranyi's early goal was enough to give Schalke a vital victory over Champions League rivals Hamburg. Kuranyi's 15th league goal of the season -- after just two minutes -- gave Schalke the three points with a 1-0 win in Hamburg to go level on 54 points with Werder Bremen, who shared a thrilling 3-3 draw at Karlsruhe. After Schalke sacked coach Mirko Slomka a fortnight ago, caretaker coach Mike Bueskens was delighted with the victory over their rivals. "I am very, very pleased with the win," he said. "We beat a direct competitor for a Champions League place and the early goal worked very well for us. Hamburg played well, but they didn't take their chances." Schalke and Bremen, who remain second on goal difference, are now nine points behind Bayern with four games left. A Bayern win will send them 12-points clear with a vastly superior goal difference and only a mathematical miracle would prevent them being crowned German champions for the 21st time. But Bayern are without internationals Miroslav Klose and Philipp Lahm against Stuttgart, while Oliver Kahn is a huge injury doubt for the clash against Stuttgart who welcome back Mario Gomez back from injury. The draw in Karlsruhe was a blow to Bremen, who were shocked by an early goal when home striker Sebastian Freis drilled home his 15th minute shot. Werder hit back when midfielder Diego equalised eight minutes later and former Schalke midfielder Mesut Oezil scored his first goal of the season to put Bremen 2-1 ahead on 29 minutes. But Freis added his second on 59 minutes before Kapllani put Karlsruhe ahead only for Bremen striker Boubacar Sanogo to level the scores in the 86th minute. "It was a very entertaining game and the fans got their money's worth," said Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf. "But we can't be happy with the result, because it was possible for us to keep the pressure on." Further down the table, striker Mike Hanke gave Hanover an early goal at home to Hertha Berlin before Czech striker Jiri Stajner enjoyed the simplest of tap-ins to make it 2-0 after 26 minutes. But Berlin clawed a goal back with a second-half penalty to make it 2-1 before Lukasz Piszczek equalised in the 66th minute to make it 2-2. At the bottom of the table, Slovakian striker Marek Mintal netted a first-half goal for Nuremberg and Russian striker Ivan Saenko made it 2-0 against Arminia Bielefeld after 39 minutes with a superb strike. But Bielefeld hit back as Artur Wichniarek and Markus Bollmann scored second-half goals to make it 2-2. Energie Cottbus pulled themselves further from the relegation battle with a 2-1 win over Hansa Rostock, while Duisburg have gone bottom of the table with a 1-1 draw against Bochum. On Friday night, mid-table sides Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Dortmund drew 1-1 while on Sunday Bayer Leverkusen can break into the top five if they beat Wolfsburg at home. E-mail to a friend . | Kevin Kuranyi's early goal gives Schalke a 1-0 home victory against Hamburg .
Schalke now level in second position with Bremen, who draw 3-3 at Karlsruhe .
Bayern Munich will all but clinch the title with a win over Stuttgart in Sunday . | 741 | 65 |
274 | WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A pair of tornadoes struck suburban Washington on Sunday, mangling trees and stripping siding off several homes, the National Weather Service confirmed. No injuries were immediately reported. The first tornado hit St. Charles, Maryland -- about 30 miles south of Washington -- just after 2 p.m. It uprooted several trees, many of which fell onto cars and homes. The strongest wind from that touchdown was 80 mph -- enough force to blow out windows. A second tornado followed about 30 minutes later outside Hyattsville, Maryland -- about 10 miles northeast of the capital. The high-speed winds, peaking at 100 mph, hit the George E. Peters Adventist School especially hard, tearing off a portion of the roof and flinging it and mounds of debris into the parking lot. A nearby construction trailer was also knocked over. E-mail to a friend . | First tornado hit St. Charles, Maryland, about 30 miles south of Washington .
Second tornado struck 30 minutes later outside Hyattsville, Maryland .
No injuries were immediately reported . | 180 | 37 |
275 | (CNN) -- Storms that killed two people in northern Georgia spread Saturday night into South Carolina, where possible tornadoes downed trees, blew roofs off homes and broke power lines, weather forecasters said. There was heavy damage in Prosperity, South Carolina, where residents reported seeing a tornado touch down, said Newberry County sheriff's Capt. Todd Johnson. Prosperity is 40 miles northwest of Columbia. A woman was severely injured when a tree fell on her trailer, trapping her inside, Johnson said. About 56,000 customers remained without power Sunday morning after storms swept through Savannah knocking out power while the coastal Georgia city was in the midst of its St. Patrick's Day celebrations, said Carol Boatwright of Georgia Power. Damage was reported Saturday night in the counties of Newberry, McCormick, Edgefield, Lexington, Aiken and Kershaw. "We have numerous reports of tornadoes touching down. There is a lot of damage, and we are unable to respond to all of the calls," a dispatcher for the Aiken County Sheriff's Department said. Meanwhile, the storm danger passed in the Atlanta, Georgia, area. A Friday night tornado packing winds of up to 135 miles per hour cut a path 6 miles long and 200 yards wide through downtown in less than 30 minutes. Watch a flyover of a damaged area in Georgia » . There was heavy damage to many structures, including the CNN world headquarters. On Saturday, windows were still popping out from a high-rise nearby. Heavy rain and hail passed through in the afternoon. Watch video of storm damage in Georgia » . Two people died in northern Georgia on Saturday as waves of dangerous thunderstorms pounded the area, and storms continued into Saturday night. A possible tornado destroyed mobile homes in Jefferson County, and another possible tornado was reported in Clarke County, where Athens is located, the weather service reported. A woman died and her husband was seriously injured when a tornado leveled their home in the Live Oak community, just north of Aragon, Polk County officials said. Aragon is about 50 miles northeast of Atlanta. Watch damage in Polk County » . Aragon police were assessing damage when they found the house about 12:30 p.m., Polk County Police Chief Kenneth Dodd said. The part-brick, part-frame home was reduced to rubble. The injured man was taken to a Rome, Georgia, hospital, Dodd said. Five dead dogs were found in a nearby field, and other injured animals were taken to an animal control agency, he said. A family across the street from the couple's home lost part of their roof. Another person was seriously injured elsewhere, said Thomas Wilson, Polk County's 911 director. The second fatality was in Floyd County, about 7 miles southeast of Lindale in the Wax community, where a possible tornado struck about 4:30 p.m., said Scotty Hancock, the county emergency management director. Watch damage in Floyd County » . The National Weather Service estimated that 20 homes were destroyed in the area. Damage was also reported in Taylorsville and Cartersville, about 40 miles northwest of Atlanta, and suspected tornado touchdowns were reported in Gainesville in Hall County, near Homer in Banks County and near Maysville in Jackson County. A tornado was also reported in northern Forsyth County, sheriff's Capt. Michael Honiker said. At least one structure fire was reported, he said. Hail nearly 3 inches in diameter was reported in Dawsonville, the National Weather Service said. There were 41,000 people without power statewide Saturday evening, according to Georgia Power. Saturday's severe weather followed an EF-2 tornado, with top winds of up to 135 mph that ripped through downtown Atlanta on Friday night. There were no fatalities, and only one serious injury was reported. Rain, wind and hail caused additional power outages Saturday in the Atlanta area and triggered delays of more than an hour for flights leaving Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, according to an airport spokesman. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Audrey Irvine contributed to this report. | Sheriff: Possible tornado caused heavy damage in Prosperity, South Carolina .
"We are unable to respond to all of the calls," dispatcher says .
Deaths reported in Polk and Floyd Counties in Georgia on Saturday .
Saturday's storms followed EF-2 tornado that tore through Atlanta on Friday . | 821 | 62 |
276 | BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- An Iraqi report on last month's shootings involving security contractor Blackwater USA called the incident "pre-meditated murder" and is calling for $8 million in compensation for each of the 17 Iraqis who died, a senior Iraqi government official said Monday. Lawyer Hassan Jabbar lies in a hospital after being injured in a shooting involving Blackwater contractors. The results of the Iraqi investigation into the shootings is complete and will be presented to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government for review, the official said. The report calls for the payments to go to the families of each of those killed in the shootings, he said. Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Sunday that the Iraqi commission investigating the shootings has accused the company's guards of firing indiscriminately and without provocation on citizens and violating the rights of Iraqis. Blackwater said its contractors "acted lawfully and appropriately in response to a hostile attack," and "the civilians reportedly fired upon by Blackwater professionals were, in fact, armed enemies, and Blackwater personnel returned defensive fire." The September 16 shooting also left 27 other people wounded, al-Dabbagh said. Seven vehicles were also destroyed in the incident, which occurred around Nusoor Square in western Baghdad. Al-Dabbagh said the commission, formed September 22, determined there was no evidence the Blackwater convoy was under direct or indirect fire. "Not even a stone was thrown at them," al-Dabbagh said. He added the contractors violated the rules of conduct and regulations for private security firms operating in Iraq. "They must be held accountable according to the law," he said. However, security contractors have immunity from Iraqi law under a provision put into place in the early days of the U.S.-led occupation. Watch how supervision has been tightened on contractors » . Blackwater security contractors were guarding a State Department convoy. The company is one of a number of private security contractors in Iraq. Last month's shooting has sparked fury in both countries and led to a series of new steps reviewing the role of U.S. contractors in Iraq. The Iraqi-American joint committee met for the first time Sunday to begin reviewing security operations. It plans to issue a report offering recommendations to the Iraqi and U.S. governments. Border crossings reopen . Five border crossings between Iran and Iraq's Kurdish region have been reopened, an Iraqi Kurdish regional government spokesman said. Iran closed its border with the Iraqi region nearly two weeks ago to protest the U.S. military's incarceration of an Iranian arrested September 20 in Sulaimaniya. The U.S. military maintains that Mahmoud Farhadi was posing as a businessman with a trade delegation and was in charge of Zafar Command, one of three units of the Ramazan Corps of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani blasted the United States for the arrest, saying Farhadi is an Iranian civil servant who was on an official trade mission in the region. The U.S. military has long accused Quds Force agents of training and equipping Iraqi insurgents, an allegation Iran vehemently denies. Other developments . CNN's Jomana Karadsheh contributed to this report. | "Not even a stone was thrown at them," Iraqi official says of Blackwater guards .
Iraq says 17 Iraqis killed by Blackwater guards in Baghdad square .
Blackwater, Iraqi officials have starkly different accounts of what happened .
Iraqi panel is calling for $8 million per victim in the September 16 shooting . | 660 | 65 |
277 | PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- Former President Bill Clinton denied Tuesday he had accused Sen. Barack Obama's campaign of "playing the race card" during an interview Monday. Bill Clinton is facing tough questions Tuesday over an interview with a Delaware radio station. A recording of the former president making the comment is posted on the WHYY Web site. It says he made the comment in a telephone interview with the Philadelphia public radio station Monday night. Clinton was asked whether his remarks comparing Obama's strong showing in South Carolina to that of Jesse Jackson in 1988 had been a mistake given their impact on his wife Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign. "No, I think that they played the race card on me," said Clinton, "and we now know from memos from the campaign and everything that they planned to do it all along." Listen to the full interview . "We were talking about South Carolina political history and this was used out of context and twisted for political purposes by the Obama campaign to try to breed resentment elsewhere. And you know, do I regret saying it? No. Do I regret that it was used that way? I certainly do. But you really got to go some to try to portray me as a racist." After the phone interview, a stray comment of his on the issue was also recorded before he hung up: "I don't think I should take any s*** from anybody on that, do you?" Watch Bill Clinton respond to controversy » . But outside a Pittsburgh campaign event Tuesday, a reporter asked Clinton what he had meant "when you said the Obama campaign was playing the race card on you?" Clinton responded: "When did I say that and to whom did I say that?" Watch more of the Clintons on the trail in Pennsylvania » . "You have mischaracterized it to get another cheap story to divert the American people from the real urgent issues before us, and I choose not to play your games today," Clinton added. "I said what I said -- you can go back and look at the interview, and if you will be real honest you will also report what the question was and what the answer was. But I'm not helping you." Clinton did not respond when asked what he meant when he charged that the Obama campaign had a memo in which they said they had planned to play the race card. Meanwhile, at a Pittsburgh press availability on Tuesday, Obama was asked about Clinton's charge that his campaign had drawn up plans to use "the race card." "Hold on a second,'' he said. "So former President Clinton dismissed my victory in South Carolina as being similar to Jesse Jackson and he is suggesting that somehow I had something to do with it?" Watch Obama's full comments » . "You better ask him what he meant by that. I have no idea what he meant. These were words that came out of his mouth. Not words that came out of mine.'' Clinton commented just before the South Carolina primary that "Jesse Jackson won South Carolina in '84 and '88. Jackson ran a good campaign. And Obama ran a good campaign here." E-mail to a friend . CNN Associate Political Editor Rebecca Sinderbrand, CNN political producers Alexander Marquardt, Ed Hornick and Chris Welch contributed to this report. | Bill Clinton in interview Monday: Obama camp "played the race card on me"
On Tuesday he denied he had accused Obama's campaign of it .
Clinton: "When did I say that and to whom did I say that?"
A recording of former president's comment is posted on WHYY Web site . | 660 | 63 |
278 | KARBALA, Iraq (CNN) -- A female suicide bomber apparently targeting Shiite worshippers killed at least 40 people and wounded at least 65 in Karbala on Monday, according to an Interior Ministry official. Iraqi security forces gather around the site of a car bomb explosion in Baghdad on Monday. The incident occurred one-half mile from the Imam Hussein shrine of Karbala. Karbala is a Shiite holy city, and the Imam Hussein shrine is one of Shiite Islam's holiest locations. The shrine marks the burial spot of Hussein bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, who was killed in battle nearby in 680. No more information was immediately available about the blast southwest of the capital city, Baghdad. Earlier Monday, in Baghdad, a roadside bomb exploded near an Iraqi police patrol, killing one officer and wounding another, the Interior Ministry told CNN. A short time later, another roadside bomb exploded near an Iraqi police patrol on Palestine Street in eastern Baghdad, wounding four bystanders, a ministry official said. The first attack took place about 8:30 a.m. in the upscale Mansour neighborhood, where law enforcement officials have come under frequent attacks in recent weeks. Also Monday, two American soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb north of Baghdad, officials said. The incident occurred about 12:20 p.m. as the soldiers were "conducting a route-clearance combat operation north of Baghdad," according to a news release. The names of the soldiers were not immediately released. Meanwhile, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney arrived in the Iraqi capital Monday on an unannounced visit. Cheney told reporters that the five years in Iraq since the war's start has been "well worth the effort." He said he met with top Iraqi officials. He appeared at a news conference with Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to the country. Cheney began a trip to the Middle East on Sunday with an official itinerary that listed stops in Oman, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Israel and the West Bank, according to the White House. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report. | NEW: 2 U.S. soldiers killed by roadside bomb in Baghdad on Monday, U.S. says .
NEW: Other roadside bombs in Baghdad kill one police officer, injure four people .
Death toll rises to 40 in explosion in Karbala, official says; 65 injured .
Explosion was near holy shrine for Shiite Muslims, burial spot of Hussein bin Ali . | 449 | 77 |
279 | (CNN) -- For two weeks in 1976, Nadia Comaneci was probably the most recognizable person on the planet. Comaneci scored seven perfect 10s in Montreal in 1976. Just 14-years-old and standing less than five feet tall, the elfin Romanian was the undisputed star of that year's Games in Montreal after becoming the first gymnast in history to score a perfect 10. Comaneci finished up with three gold medals and -- just to prove that her initial effort had been no fluke -- seven perfect scores. Her initial performance on the uneven parallel bars was greeted with uproar as the three-digit scoreboard, struggling to cope with what had been considered an unachievable feat, flashed up 1.00. Comaneci finished with four perfect 10s and the gold medal on the bars, but it was on the balance beam, one of gymnastics' most dangerous disciplines, that Comaneci truly dazzled. Seemingly fearless, Comaneci pirouetted and back-flipped her way to two more perfect 10s and her second gold. Her final perfect score came in the floor routine as she also collected first place in the overall competition. Comaneci's transformation into an international celebrity -- she appeared on the front covers of Time, Newsweek and Sports Illustrated in the same week -- had been as unexpected as it was sudden. Yet Comaneci had been working towards the Olympics ever since she had been picked out as a gymnast of rare talents as a six-year-old growing up in the industrial town of Onesti. The reality of life as an Olympic champion at home in Nicolae Ceausescu's Romania however, was not easy. Constant surveillance Comaneci was honored as a Hero of Socialist Labor on her return home, yet the regime -- terrified that Comaneci would defect after enjoying her taste of western celebrity -- kept its greatest star under constant surveillance. Four years later, a very different Comaneci returned to Olympic competition in Moscow. As an 18-year-old, she was four inches taller, 20 pounds heavier and suffering from sciatica -- a teenage starlet already starting to fade. Still, Comaneci was able to retain her gold medal on the balance beam, and collected another one in the floor exercises. But she was also involved in one of the bitterest incidents of the Games when she was controversially beaten in the all-round competition by the Soviet gymnast Yelena Davydova. It took the judges 28 minutes to decide the result and, ultimately, it was a lower score from the Soviet judge -- perhaps reflecting the worsening relations between the Soviet Union and its formerly loyal satellite -- that denied Comaneci her second straight gold in the event. Comaneci retired in 1984, traveling to Los Angeles that year as a team coach, yet she found it difficult to adjust to a life out of the spotlight. In 1989, a few weeks before the collapse of the Ceausescu regime, she defected to the United States, finally settling in Norman, Oklahoma to run a gymnastics school after marrying U.S. gymnastics star Bart Conner in 1996. In 2000 Comaneci was named as one of the athletes of the century by the Laureus World Sports Academy. E-mail to a friend . | Olympic gymnast record: 5 gold medals, 3 silver medals, 1 bronze medal .
The first gymnast in history to score a perfect 10 .
Comaneci was honored as a Hero of Socialist Labor .
Gymnast born on November 12, 1961 in Onesti, Romania . | 688 | 64 |
280 | (CNN) -- The most compelling action during Michigan's primary Tuesday will be on the Republican side. The Democratic Party has stripped the state of its delegates for moving up its primary date so early, and top-tier Democratic candidates have taken their names off the ballot, except for Sen. Hillary Clinton. The struggling auto industry has been a drag on Michigan's economy. In many ways, the Republican battle for Michigan will be similar to last week's New Hampshire contest. The primary is open, and any registered voter -- including independents and Democrats -- can participate. Sen. John McCain won New Hampshire with the help of independent voters, and he is campaigning hard to re-create that success in Michigan. In 2000, McCain defeated then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush in the Michigan primary. In that vote, more than half -- 52 percent -- were either independents or Democrats. Among Republican voters, McCain lost to Bush 29 percent to 66 percent. In that contest, almost three out of every 10 voters identified themselves as members of the religious right. Overall, Michigan is a swing state, producing narrow margins of victory for presidential candidates and statewide officeholders. However, voting trends favor the Democrats. Michigan's governor, Jennifer Granholm, is a Democrat, as are the state's two U.S. senators -- Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow. The Democratic presidential nominee has carried Michigan in the last four elections. Sen. John Kerry, the Democrats' 2004 standard bearer, won Michigan 51 percent to 48 percent over President Bush. The state's economy is powered by the automotive industry, which has experienced its fair share of struggles. Michigan's unemployment rate, 7.4 percent, is higher than the national average of 5 percent. Region by region . Wayne County, in the southeastern corner of the state, contains the economically depressed Detroit, Michigan's largest city. Detroit is predominantly black and solidly Democratic. North of Wayne County are the more-affluent suburban counties of Oakland and Macomb, which have grown in population in the last two decades. These two counties have been the state's central political battleground in recent elections. West of Wayne is the "university belt," home to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and Michigan State University in East Lansing. The area also includes the industrial cities of Saginaw and Flint, where unions remain strong, as well as Jackson and Bay City. The state's capital, Lansing, and the sparsely populated upper peninsula are also part of this region. The southwest part of the state is dominated by Grand Rapids, Michigan's second-largest city. Grand Rapids is traditionally Dutch-American and has many Christian conservatives and generally votes Republican. The area also contains smaller industrial cities and farming communities. The economy of the sparsely populated north and northwest is based on agriculture, tourism and timber. It traditionally votes Republican. Endorsements . The Detroit Free Press has endorsed McCain. "While the Free Press differs with McCain on a number of issues, the Arizona senator is a smarter, more tested and pragmatic leader who has shown since 2000 that he knows how to build bipartisan alliances around issues," the newspaper said in an editorial. The Detroit News also endorsed McCain, citing his fiscal conservatism and command of military and foreign affairs, over Michigan native Mitt Romney. "Other GOP contenders, most notably former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, are capable figures with impressive resumes and a solid grasp of the issues. But McCain's longtime presidential ambitions are at last aligned with the needs of the nation," the newspaper said. E-mail to a friend . | Independents, Democrats can vote in Michigan's open Republican primary .
No Democratic delegates at stake, and most top-tier candidates aren't on ballot .
Economic woes top concern for Michigan primary voters . | 712 | 42 |
281 | ADELAIDE, Australia -- World record-breaking wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist has announced he will retire from cricket at the end of the Australian summer. Adam Gilchrist takes a spectacular catch off Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the third Test against India. The 36-year-old chose Australia Day to make his decision public, coming at the end of the third day of the fourth and final Test against India in Adelaide. Gilchrist said he would retire from Tests at the end of the current match, and then hang up his gloves in one-day internationals after the upcoming tri-series with Sri Lanka and India. "It is with great pride and happiness that I make the decision to retire from Tests and one-day internationals," he said in a statement on Saturday. "I've come to the decision after much thought and discussion with those most important to me. "My family and I have been fortunate to have had an amazing journey full of rich experiences throughout my career and are sincerely grateful to all who have helped make this stage of our lives so fulfilling. "I am now ready and excited to move into the next phase of my life which will, of paramount importance, include much more time with my family." Gilchrist broke the world record for the most wicketkeeping dismissals in Tests with 414 on Friday, overtaking South Africa's Mark Boucher in his 96th outing in the five-day game. Boucher, by comparison, played in 109 Tests. Gilchrist took over the gloves from Ian Healy -- third on the list with 395 dismissals from 119 Tests -- in November 1999, and went on to establish himself both as a wicketkeeper and as a batsman of brutal hitting capabilities. He has scored 5,556 runs to date, at an average of 47.89, with a highest score of 204 not out and having made 17 centuries. He has been similarly prolific in 277 one-dayers, scoring 9,297 runs at an average of 36 and reaching three figures 15 times. Gilchrist's revelation came as Australia put themselves in a strong position to win the series against the touring Indians, reaching 322-3 at stumps. Captain Ricky Ponting, whose team lead 2-1, was unbeaten on 79 after adding an unbroken 81 for the fourth wicket with Michael Clarke (37). Resuming the day on 62-0 in reply to India's imposing first innings of 526, Matthew Hayden and Phil Jaques took their opening stand to 159. Jaques was the first to fall, bowled by India captain Anil Kumble for a patient 60 off 159 deliveries. Hayden, on his return after missing the defeat in Perth due to a hamstring injury, reached his 30th Test century before being bowled by 19-year-old seamer Ishant Sharma for 103 off 200 balls. Ponting, who came in at first drop, added another 55 with Mike Hussey before the left-hander was also castled by fast bowler Irfan Pathan for 22 to leave the home side teetering a little at 241-3. But Ponting, who has struggled for form so far in the series, ground out his 40th half-century in Tests and Clarke provided able support to take Australia through to the close of play with no further loss of wickets. E-mail to a friend . | NEW: Adam Gilchrist to retire from cricket at end of this Australian summer .
The wicketkeeper set new world record of 414 Test dismissals on Friday .
He has played 96 Tests for Australia and 277 one-day internationals .
Australia reached 322-3 on third day of final Test against India, Gilchrist's last . | 680 | 69 |
282 | ROME, Italy -- Captain Javier Zanetti saved Inter Milan's unbeaten Serie A record as he rifled home a stunning late volley to earn a 1-1 draw against second-placed Roma at the San Siro on Wednesday. Zanetti celebrates his late strike as Inter retained their unbeaten Serie A record with a 1-1 draw against Roma. Roma captain Francesco Totti had given the visitors a deserved first-half leadbut Zanetti's strike two minutes from time maintained Inter's nine-point lead at the top. Roma needed to win to breathe new life into the title race but they were dealt a cruel blow as French defender Philippe Mexes was sent-off late on for two bookings in quick succession. Inter capitalised and they have now lost only once in their last 65 league matches. The home side had the first clear-cut chance of the match and were within centimeters of taking the lead when Hernan Crespo met a cross from Patrick Vieira with an acrobatic volley, but saw his effort cannon back off the post. The defending champions were made to pay for that miss on 38 minutes as the visitors orchestrated a sublime goal. Neat footwork from Macedonia international Mirko Vucinic released Max Tonetto down the left and his pin-point cross was flicked home at the near post by Totti from six meters out as he stole in front of defender Cristian Chivu. Inter center-back Nicolas Burdisso should have restored parity in first-half stoppage time but his header from Luis Figo's corner flew over the bar. Figo himself had a great chance on 54 minutes but after having time to set himself up for an attempted volley, he skewed his effort so badly that it did not even go out of play. After Mexes' dismissal 10 from time, Inter laid siege to Roma's goal. Goalkeeper Doni had to be alert to tip over Crespo's header three minutes from time but he could do nothing about Zanetti's volley a minute later. Meanwhile, AC Milan slipped to fifth place as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Catania. Brazilian teenager Pato gave them the lead early in the second half with a skimming long-range shot but substitute Gionathan Spinesi's header earnt the Sicilians a point. Fiorentina are up to fourth after they defeated Livorno 1-0 at home thanks to a goal from Senegal forward Ndiaye Papa Waigo. E-mail to a friend . | Javier Zanetti scores a late goal to earn Inter Milan a 1-1 draw against Roma .
The result keeps Inter nine points clear and retains their unbeaten league run .
AC Milan slipped to fifth position as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Catania . | 513 | 56 |
283 | GLASGOW, Scotland -- Jean-Claude Darcheville and Nacho Novo both scored twice to fire leaders Rangers to a 4-0 win at Hearts, their 10th consecutive Scottish Premier League victory. Jean-Claude Darcheville scored two first-half goals as Rangers cruised to a 4-0 victory at Hearts. Hearts found themselves ripped apart by a rampant Rangers side, who sent out a clear message to rivals Celtic by maintaining their four-point advantage at the summit. Darcheville claimed the opener after 25 minutes, cutting inside from the left and squeezing his shot inside the far post from a tight angle. The same player added a second two minutes before the break, scoring from close range after a Barry Ferguson corner was not cleared. Darcheville was withdrawn for Novo at the interval, but if Hearts thought the departure of the Frenchman meant some much-needed respite, they were sadly mistaken. Novo was on the pitch for seven minutes when he helped himself to a goal of his own. Charlie Adam set up the shot with a low ball across goal and all that was required from the striker was to bundle home from close range. The same two players combined again to supply Rangers with their fourth goal with 69 minutes gone. Adam was again the provider and this time Novo produced a cheeky back-heel finish from five meters. Meanwhile, goals by Scott McDonald and Georgios Samaras gave Celtic a hard-fought 2-1 win at home to Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Australian international McDonald's 25th goal of the season right on the interval gave the champions the lead and his Greek team-mate bulleted an Aiden McGeady cross past goalkeeper Michael Fraser on the hour mark. But the final minutes were needlessly fraught for Celtic after Caley striker Marius Niculae took advantage of Scott Brown's misplaced pass to pull a goal back in the 70th minute. E-mail to a friend . | Rangers remain four points clear in Scotland after a superb 4-0 win at Hearts .
Jean-Claude Darcheville and Nacho Novo both net twice for the league leaders .
Celtic remain second in the table following 2-1 victory against Inverness Caley . | 399 | 60 |
284 | BOGOTA, Colombia (CNN) -- Colombian police have killed a drug trafficker who the government says is one of the most sought-after fugitive outside the country's rebel leaders. Victor Manuel Mejia Munera was a drug lord with ties to paramilitary groups, the Colombian government says. Victor Manuel Mejia Munera and two bodyguards were killed Tuesday when police tracked them down on a farm in the northwestern province of Antioquia, according to a statement on the Colombian presidency Web site. Three people also were arrested, according to the statement. Mejia Munera was wearing an American-style, desert-camouflage uniform when he was killed, said Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos. Mejia Munera also had short- and long-range weapons with ammunition, the presidential statement said. "This is a great strike of the Public Force against the criminal structures of the country," Santos said, warning that drug traffickers who do not turn themselves over to the government will "end up in the jail or in a tomb." In terms of the country's most-wanted list, Mejia Munera was one of Colombia's most sought-after criminals and ranked just below the leaders of Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the statement said. The leftist guerilla group, which goes by its Spanish acronym FARC, holds about 750 hostages in the jungles of Colombia and has justified hostage-taking as a legitimate military tactic in a long-running civil war involving government forces, drug traffickers and right-wing paramilitaries. Mejia Munera is not alleged to have ties to FARC, but he had been involved with a right-wing paramilitary group known as United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, according to the U.S. State Department. Mejia Munera and his brother, Miguel Angel Mejia Munera, known as "Los Mellizos," or "the Twins," have been accused of running major drug rings in Colombia. The brothers also have faced narcotics-trafficking charges in the United States. Santos initially told reporters that police had killed Miguel Angel Mejia Munera. The Colombian presidency later said the slain drug lord was actually Victor Manuel Mejia Munera. Fingerprints confirmed that the dead man was Victor Mejia Munera, Colombian-based Caracol Radio reported. The brothers sometimes exchanged identities, the radio station said, and identity documents belonging to Miguel Mejia Munera were found near Victor Mejia Munera. In 2004, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia indicted the twins on narcotics-trafficking charges. The U.S. Justice Department at one point offered a $5 million reward for "true and effective information" on the whereabouts of a dozen suspects it wanted extradited to the United States. One of the 12 men wanted was Miguel Mejia Munera. The State Department said Wednesday there was no reward for Victor Mejia Munera. The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control reported that the brothers have been involved in narcotics trafficking since the early 1990s, when they were guarding ships carrying cocaine from western Colombia to Mexico. "Over time," OFAC said in a news release last year, the brothers "rose through the ranks to lead their own narcotics trafficking organization." "Recent reports indicate that Los Mellizos may be funding their own illegal armed groups to facilitate their narcotics trafficking activities," the release said. The Colombian prosecutor general's office had indicted Victor Mejia Munera for his role in a 2004 paramilitary massacre of 11 farmers in Tame in the eastern Colombian province of Arauca, according to the State Department. E-mail to a friend . | NEW: Weapons, ammunition found with dead drug lord, Colombian government says .
NEW: Defense minister warns drug dealers will "end up in the jail or in a tomb"
Victor Manuel Mejia Munera linked to paramilitaries, also wanted in the U.S.
The slain man was originally thought to be brother Miguel Angel Mejia . | 754 | 74 |
285 | (CNN) -- Rescue teams on Friday found the wreckage of a plane that crashed Thursday night in the mountains of Venezuela, but none of the 46 people aboard survived, a searcher said. "The impact was direct. The aircraft is practically pulverized," firefighter Jhonny Paz told Globovision, a privately owned Venezuelan television station. "There are no survivors." There was no word on the cause of the crash. Witnesses saw the Santa Barbara Airlines plane go down, according to Antonio Rivero, Venezuela's national director of civil protection. Harsh weather and rough terrain in the Andes Mountains likely will make the job of emergency workers difficult, Rivero said on a state-run television station. The plane went missing while flying from Merida to the international airport near Caracas, an official said. The pilot did not check in with controllers 20 minutes into the flight, as scheduled, suggesting the plane encountered problems shortly after takeoff. Nelson Marquez, chief of civil defense for Merida, said the plane was carrying 43 passengers and three crew members. Media reports said the Santa Barbara Airlines plane was supposed to land about 7 p.m. local time Thursday. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Guillermo Arduino and Adrian Criscaut contributed to this report. | NEW: Searcher says plane "practically pulverized" in Venezuela mountains .
Plane with 46 people on board crashes in the Andes Mountains .
Aircraft was flying from Merida to airport near Caracas .
There were no survivors, official says . | 259 | 55 |
286 | (CNN) -- A man dressed as a priest caught at Amsterdam's airport with three kilos of cocaine under his vestments claimed to police that his packages contained "holy sand", Dutch police said. Security officials conducting a normal security check at Schiphol airport last year. Police stopped the man at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport as he was transiting on a flight from South America, Robert Van Aapel, a spokesman for the Dutch Royal Military Police told CNN by phone Saturday. "He refused to be searched saying that he was a religious person and it was not allowed," Van Aapel said. "However, this is normal procedure so our officers insisted. They asked him again and after the second time they carried out the search and discovered the man had packs strapped to his legs below his priest's clothes. He told us they contained holy sand," he said. He said the man, who is aged around 40 and a Bolivian national, was arrested Thursday after arriving in to the airport on a flight from Lima, Peru. He was attempting to transit on a flight to Milan when he was apprehended with the cocaine, worth around €105,000 ($155,000). The Bolivian appeared in court Friday on charges of drug smuggling, Van Aapel said. Dutch police are trying to establish if the man is a real priest after he claimed to be a senior member of the clergy in the Bolivian capital La Paz, he added. E-mail to a friend . | Police: Man stopped at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport dressed as a priest .
Initially refused to be searched, saying that he was a religious person .
Found to have $155,000 worth of cocaine strapped to his legs under his vestments .
Officers trying to establish whether the man, on flight from Peru, is a priest . | 304 | 69 |
287 | (CNN) -- Two anti-whaling activists who were seized by a Japanese whaling vessel two days ago have been handed over to Australian government officials on a ship in the Antarctic, Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Thursday. Australian citizen Benjamin Potts and British citizen Giles Lane, both members of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, jumped on board the Yushin Maru No. 2 Tuesday to deliver a letter saying the vessel was violating international law and Australian law by killing whales. The anti-whaling group accused the crew of the Japanese vessel of kidnapping the men based on a video that showed Potts and Lane tied to the ship's railing. In the video, Japanese fishermen pace back and forth in front of them. Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith Wednesday did not answer questions about whether the men would be charged for their actions, stressing instead that the immediate priority was to retrieve them. "I'm not going to give a running commentary on who's done what to whom and the various allegations and counter allegation," he said. Smith said the Japanese government -- which formally approached Australia to assist in the transfer -- did not lay out any conditions for the transfer, in which the men were brought on board the Australian ship, the Oceanic Viking. Watch the anti-whaling activists board the Japanese vessel » . Capt. Paul Watson, founder of Sea Shepherd, had said earlier that the men were seized by the Japanese crew and assaulted. Watch Watson describe the incident » . Sea Shepherd claims Japan's Institute for Cetacean Research, which is backing the operations, had said it would release the two activists if Sea Shepherd agrees to stop interfering in its whaling operations. The group says it will not agree to that demand. The Japanese Fisheries Agency said Thursday it would readily hand over the two men. But the agency charged that the Sea Shepherd members were the terrorists. At a news conference earlier, the agency released pictures of broken bottles they claim group members threw at the ship. They also released a photo of the two activists relaxing and drinking tea aboard the Yushin Maru. "For some time, for 10, 15 minutes, I understand, they were tied to a GPS mast," Tomohiko Taniguchi of Japan's Foreign Ministry told CNN. "The Japanese crew members feared that two crew members from Sea Shepherd might do something violent." He said Potts and Lane boarded the vessel without permission. Watson said the two boarded only after attempts to contact the ship by radio were unsuccessful. Japan has been hunting whales in the Antarctic and apparently plans to kill as many as 1,000 this winter. The killings are allowed under international law because their main purpose is scientific. "We regard them as poachers," Watson said. E-mail to a friend . CNN Correspondent Kyung Lah contributed to this report. | Two anti-whaling activists handed over to Australian government officials .
Japan contacting Australia to help secure release of activists, reports say .
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society says ship's crew kidnapped 2 of its members .
The activists boarded the Japanese whaling vessel to deliver a letter . | 566 | 56 |
288 | (CNN) -- Ever find yourself struggling to craft the perfect sentence for a loved one who's, um, serving a sentence? Now, you have a friend in the greeting card business. Terrye Cheathem has created a line of greeting cards geared toward prison inmates. A Los Angeles, California, lawyer has come up with a series of cards geared toward prison inmates, a rapidly growing segment of the U.S. population. Some express simple good wishes: "We are all praying for you while you do your time." Others celebrate holidays: "You had the choice to be 'naughty or nice.' And you chose ... Now you have to do your time. But, Christmas won't be the same without you here." Others dole out tough love: "When you called last time, I was not very sympathetic. I guess that I have heard your promises to change too many times. Please - stop promising to change. Just do it." Creator Terrye Cheathem said the cards let family members say "Look, things need to be different when you get out." She came up with the idea a few years ago while looking -- without success -- for a birthday card to send her brother-in-law, who was serving an 11-month sentence. "There are so many people who have mixed feelings about communicating with their loved ones in prison," Cheathem said Thursday. "They are unhappy, oftentimes profoundly embarrassed. People don't know what to say." So she created Three Squares Greetings to capture the sentiments for a captive audience -- one that seems to be getting larger each year. More than 2.3 million people were in jails or prisons in the United States at the beginning of 2008, according to a study released last month by the Pew Center on the States. The center is a private organization that advocates for alternative programs to alleviate prison populations. For the first time in the nation's history, the center says, more than one in 100 Americans are behind bars, a higher proportion than any other country. Cheathem is selling her cards online and through stores. She also wants jails and prisons to carry cards designed for inmates to send their relatives. "They're 'Thank You' cards," she said. " 'Thank you for visiting,' 'Thank you for bringing the kids,' 'Thank you for coming to court.' " Like many, bookstore owner James Fugate was at first reluctant to carry the line in his Los Angeles shop, Esowon Books. "I have some issues of being nice to criminals," Fugate said. "And in my 20 years in business, I've seen some relatives who don't seem to realize the gravity of what (their family members) have done." Fugate said he changed his mind when he realized that most of the cards carried messages asking inmates to turn their lives around. Cheathem understands the hesitation of shoppers and sellers. "I can't think of any other product that anyone wants to receive and certainly no one wants to be in the position to buy one," she said. "But there is a need for this." Cheathem points to Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick of Detroit, Michigan. He was charged this week with perjury, obstruction of justice and misconduct of office. He was released on a $75,000 bond. "I have a card that says, 'I'm sorry to hear about your arrest,' " she said. "Right now , there are probably 50 people or more who would send it to him." E-mail to a friend . | New series of greeting cards is geared toward prison inmates .
Study shows the U.S. prison and jail population is rapidly growing .
Card creator is selling her cards online and through stores . | 716 | 39 |
289 | (CNN) -- Police have arrested a man in the killing of Auburn University freshman Lauren Burk, who died this week, according to the Auburn, Alabama, assistant police chief. Courtney Larrell Lockhart, 23, of Smiths, Alabama, is charged with capital murder during a kidnapping, capital murder during a robbery, and capital murder during an attempted rape, Tommy Dawson said Saturday. The Phenix City Police Department took Lockhart into custody on Friday, police said. Phenix City is about 35 miles southeast of Auburn. Burk, 18, from Marietta, Georgia, was found shot on North College Street, a few miles north of campus, on Tuesday night. She died later at a hospital. Minutes after police responded to the call reporting an injured person and found Burk, they found a car -- which turned out to be Burk's -- on fire in a campus parking lot. Dawson told reporters Friday that authorities think gasoline or another accelerant was used to ignite Burk's car, and police were investigating whether a gas can found in downtown Auburn was connected. Police want to investigate every possible lead, Dawson said. Authorities were still on patrol in the east Alabama campus, he said. The university's Web site said a campus-wide memorial service will be held Monday. The site carried a message from Burk's father, James, which said: "The Burk family was so proud to have Lauren as an Auburn University student. We want to extend our deepest gratitude and appreciation for Auburn University, the city of Auburn and the Auburn Police Department. We feel very close to your community. We appreciate what everyone is doing for us and Lauren." Also on Friday, police released pictures of a 2001 Honda Civic similar to Burk's car. Authorities asked anyone who thinks they might have seen the car on Tuesday to contact them. Police are continuing to interview people, Dawson said. A student at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill -- Eve Carson, 22, of Athens, Georgia -- was also shot to death this week, on early Wednesday. Authorities in Chapel Hill said Friday they had been in contact with Auburn police but did not believe the two cases were connected. Watch CNN's Nancy Grace discuss the two killings of college women from Georgia » . Burk's family, in a statement read Friday to reporters by family friend Kathy Singleton, expressed their gratitude for the thoughts and prayers offered, but asked for privacy "so that they may grieve for their loss as well as celebrate Lauren's life." Those wishing to honor Burk could do so by donating to her favorite charities, Singleton said -- The Invisible Child and the American Kidney Foundation. Donations can be made at any Wachovia Bank to the Lauren Burk Memorial Fund. E-mail to a friend . | Courtney Larrell Lockhart, 23, charged with three counts of capital murder .
Auburn University student Lauren Burk found shot Tuesday, died at hospital .
Burk's car found minutes later engulfed in flames in campus parking lot . | 554 | 49 |
290 | (InStyle.com) -- How many closets does it take to make a "Desperate Housewife" happy? Just one, if it's anything like Parker's. We got a guided tour--and learned a lot more about the fashion-savvy star than her taste in shoes. "I love my new name. In Texas people are formal, so now it's 'Mrs. Parker.' I feel old! But I love it." Best dress . A "gorgeous 1950s-style cocktail dress by Gustavo Cadile is my absolute favorite. It's fun, but classic too," says Parker. Treasured keepsake . A clutch that belonged to her aunt: "She was the glue of our family. It's so beautiful and so impractical -- nothing fits in it." Watch what else is in her closet » . First Christmas gift from Tony Parker . A necklace designed by Monique Lhuillier. "It's his Spurs number. I love it." Loves, but doesn't know what to do with . A "quirky lip-shaped purse by Judith Leiber. I can't figure out how to wear it!" Fashion faux pas . "One time, my mom and aunt Didi were helping me clean out my closet. Aunt Didi had taken off her jacket. I grabbed it and was like, 'What is this? Who would give me this ugly thing?' And she was like, 'That's mine!' " Go-to outfit . "A thermal top, a scarf, and I'm not just saying this because she's my friend, but I love my Victoria Beckham DVB jeans. She sent me three pairs--they're perfect." First splurge . "I'd always wanted Uggs, but I always had the impostors--the Muggs, the Thuggs, the everything but. I still wear [them]." Owns in multiples . "Christian Louboutin espadrille wedges. They're so high! I have them in every color. I've sprained my ankle walking on the cobblestones in Paris wearing them. They're a beautiful pain." Cool freebie . "Richard Tyler mules. I did a photo shoot and they said I could keep them. I simply could not believe someone would give me a $300 pair of shoes. I was fascinated!" Most expensive item . "My hot-pink crocodile Hermès Birkin bag. Robert Verdi, my stylist, told me, 'Wear it with everything--even to bed. This is going to be handed down in your will.' " E-mail to a friend . Get a FREE TRIAL issue of InStyle - CLICK HERE! Copyright © 2007 Time Inc. All rights reserved. | "Desperate Housewives" actress Eva Longoria Parker gives peek into closet .
Says she has Christian Louboutin espadrille wedges in every color.
Her most-expensive item is a hot-pink crocodile Hermès Birkin bag . | 566 | 57 |
291 | LONGYEARBYEN, Norway (CNN) -- A vast underground vault storing millions of seeds from around the world took delivery of its first shipment Tuesday. The inside of one of the vaults at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, on a remote island near the Arctic Ocean. Dubbed the "Doomsday Vault," the seed bank on a remote island near the Arctic Ocean is considered the ultimate safety net for the world's seed collections, protecting them from a wide range of threats including war, natural disasters, lack of funding or simply poor agricultural management. Norwegian musicians performed Tuesday as part of an elaborate opening ceremony marking the opening of the vault, located 130 meters (427 feet) inside a frozen mountain. Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan environmental and political activist who won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize, placed the first seeds inside the vault, followed by other dignitaries. The inaugural shipment represent 268,000 distinct samples of seeds, with each sample containing a hundred-plus seeds and originating from a different farm or field around the world. In all, the shipment of seeds secured in the vault Tuesday weighed approximately 10 tons, filling 676 boxes. The shipment amounts to a 100 million seeds in total, ranging from major African and Asian food staples like maize, rice, and wheat to European and South American varieties of eggplant, lettuce, barley, and potato, according to the Global Crop Diversity Trust, which is paying to collect and maintain the seeds. Watch as "Doomsday" seed vault opens » Eventually the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, as it is officially known, will hold as many as 4.5 million distinct samples of seeds -- or some 2 billion seeds in total -- encompassing almost every variety of most important food crops in the world, the Global Crop Diversity Trust said. The Norwegian government paid to build the vault in a mountainside near Longyearbyen, in the remote Svalbard islands between Norway and the North Pole. Building began last year. The United Nations founded the trust in 2004 to support the long-term conservation of crop diversity, and countries and foundations provide the funding. "The seed vault is the perfect place for keeping seeds safe for centuries," said Cary Fowler, executive director of the trust. "At these temperatures, seeds for important crops like wheat, barley and peas can last for up to 10,000 years." The vault's location deep inside a mountain in the frozen north ensures the seeds can be stored safely no matter what happens outside. "We believe the design of the facility will ensure that the seeds will stay well-preserved even if such forces as global warming raise temperatures outside the facility," said Magnus Bredeli Tveiten, project manager for the Norwegian government. The vault sits at the end of a 120-meter (131-yard) tunnel blasted inside the mountain. Workers used a refrigeration system to bring the vault to -18 degrees Celsius (just below 0 degrees Fahrenheit), and a smaller refrigeration system plus the area's natural permafrost and the mountain's thick rock will keep the vault at at least -4 C (25 F). The vault at Svalbard is similar to an existing seed bank in Sussex, England, about an hour outside London. The British vault, called the Millennium Seed Bank, is part of an scientific project that works with wild plants, as opposed to the seeds of crops. Paul Smith, the leader of the Millennium Seed Bank project, said preserving the seeds of wild plants is just as important as preserving the seeds of vital crops. "We must give ourselves every option in the future to use the whole array of plant diversity that is available to us," Smith told CNN. The idea for the Arctic seed bank dates to the 1980s but only became a possibility after the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources came into force in 2004, the Norwegian government said. The treaty provided an international framework for conserving and accessing crop diversity. Svalbard is designed to store duplicates of seeds from seed collections around the world. The Norwegian government says it has paid 50 million Norwegian Kroner ($9.4 million) to build the seed vault. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Becky Anderson contributed to this report. | Ultimate safety net for the world's seed collections has opened in Norway .
The vault received inaugural shipments of 100 million seeds .
Norwegian govt. built vault in glacial mountain between Norway and North Pole . | 854 | 43 |
292 | (CNN) -- A tornado swept through parts of Tupelo, Mississippi, on Thursday, damaging trees, power lines and overturning a 18-wheel truck, a law enforcement official said. iReporter Graham Hancock saw damage Thursday at the Tupelo Furniture Market in Tupelo, Mississippi. "Just a little earlier this morning, we began to get reports of damage starting from the west side of Tupelo," said Chief Deputy John Hall of the Lee County Sheriff's Department. Hall said the storm moved north across the city to the Mall at Barnes Crossing. Nearby on U.S. 45, an 18-wheel truck was overturned, he said. There were no reports of injuries, and Hall said authorities were assessing damages. Watch as a Tupelo resident describes the storm » . Jeff Snyder, general manager for the Mall at Barnes Crossing, said the shopping center sustained "minor property damage." Terry Anderson, executive director of Tupelo Regional Airport, said the facility had minor damage, including some broken windows. He said the airport was closed for about 10 minutes while the taxiway and runway were cleared. No flights were delayed, he said, and the airport is "up and running." Mark Waddle, who works at the airport, said he saw the storm form. "It was real small at first," said Waddle, an employee at the airport's Budget Car Rental counter. "All the clouds were twirling around." Waddle said he watched as the tornado touched down near the airport. "It looked like it hit some kind of transformer because the whole sky lit up blue," he said. "Then it kind of blew through the Tupelo airport. ... It was blowing so hard the trees were touching the ground." Waddle said he was not aware of any significant damage to the airport apart from overturned trash cans and debris in tree branches. "All of the people and all the vehicles and everything are fine up here at the airport," he said. Bobbye Jones, who works at the Mississippi Department of Transportation in Tupelo, said the roof blew off the lab at the agency. She said fallen tree branches also had damaged vehicles outside her office. "Everything just got real dark," Jones said. . A tornado watch, which denotes favorable conditions for tornadoes, is in effect until late Thursday afternoon for parts of northwestern Alabama. | NEW: Tornado watch in effect for parts of northwestern Alabama .
Law enforcement official reports tornado damage in Tupelo, Mississippi .
Storm damages trees, power lines, overturns 18-wheeler on U.S. 45 .
No injuries reported in Mississippi town . | 475 | 54 |
293 | (CNN) -- One thing Saudi people should not have to worry about is money. Oil money is paying for Saudi Arabia's growth but it is also the main cause of rising prices . The kingdom is awash in cash which keeps pouring into the world's largest oil producer as prices rise. Last year alone, Saudi is estimated to have raked in about $200 billion from oil. It is this influx of money which is paying for Saudi Arabia's economic growth -- but it is also the main cause of rising prices across the country. "There is no free lunch. If you want to grow at that base, you have to swallow a price every once in a while in the form of high inflation," said Abdulrahman Al Harithi, CEO of investment bank, MENA Financial Group. Saudi people are certainly paying the price. Inflation is currently running at 9.6 percent -- a 30-year high. At the beginning of the year, rental costs went up nearly 17 percent. In March, the cost of fuel and water increased almost 16 percent and other everyday staples also saw double digit gains. The kingdom's business community is also concerned about the adverse effects of inflation. A recent survey of Saudi Arabia's business confidence by financial services company, SABB, found that while confidence remains robust, over half of respondents were concerned that inflation would lead to rising business costs. Prices in the kingdom will continue their upward trend, according to the analysts at SABB. What's more, there is not much the Saudi government can do to combat it. The riyal, like many other Gulf currencies, is pegged to the U.S. dollar and while the Gulf is booming, the U.S. is heading towards recession. As the economic fortunes of the two countries continue to diverge it is hard to see what can be done to combat inflation. The main problem is that whenever the U.S. Federal Reserve cuts interest rates, like it did this week, the kingdom must follow suit. In a booming economy like Saudi's, low interest rates push prices through the roof. The government is studying whether remedies like a minimum wage could ease the pain but some in the kingdom, like Al Harithi, say there is no quick solution. "Honestly, I don't' think there is an answer for such a question. I don't think there is a magical formula that could fix this issue," he told CNN. E-mail to a friend . | Last year, Saudi Arabia brought in around $200 billion from oil .
The huge profits are fueling growth but inflation is at a 30 year high .
Food and water costs have rocketed by 16 percent .
The Saudi government is looking at remedies like a minimum wage . | 499 | 55 |
294 | (CNN) -- A man, incensed that a 6-year-old girl chose to walk through a path reserved for upper caste villagers, pushed her into burning embers, police in north India said Wednesday. She was seriously burned. Dalits, or "untouchables," are victims of discrimination in India despite laws aimed at eliminating prejudice. The girl is a Dalit, or an "untouchable," according to India's traditional caste system. India's constitution outlaws caste-based discrimination, and barriers have broken down in large cities. Prejudice, however, persists in some rural areas of the country. The girl was walking with her mother down a path in the city of Mathura when she was accosted by a man in his late teens, said police superintendent R.K. Chaturvedi. "He scolded them both and pushed her," Chaturvedi said. The girl fell about 3 to 4 feet into pile of burning embers by the side of the road. The girl remained in critical condition Wednesday. The man confessed to the crime and was charged with attempted murder, Chaturvedi said. The assault took place in India's Uttar Pradesh state, about 150 km (93 miles) south of Delhi. The state is governed by Mayawati, a woman who goes by one name and is India's most powerful Dalit politician. Her Bahujan Samaj Party seeks to get more political representation for Dalits, who are considered so low in the social order that they don't even rank among the four classes that make up the caste system. Hindus believe there are five main groups of people, four of which sprang from the body of the first man. The Brahmin class comes from the mouth. They are the priests and holy men, the most elevated of the castes. Next is the Ksatriyas, the kings, warriors and soldiers created from the arms. The Vaisyas come from the thighs. They are the merchants and traders of society. And the Sudras, or laborers, come from the feet. The last group is the Dalits, or the "untouchables." They're considered too impure to have come from the primordial being. Untouchables are often forced to work in menial jobs. They drink from separate wells. They use different entry ways, coming and going from buildings. They number about 250 million in India, about 25 percent of the population, according to the Colorado, U.S.-based Dalit Freedom Network. "Dalits are seen to pollute higher caste people if they come in touch with them, hence the 'untouchables,'" the group says on its Web site. "If a higher caste Hindu is touched by, or even had a Dalit's shadow fall across them, they consider themselves to be polluted and have to go through a rigorous series of rituals to be cleansed." Recent weeks has seen a rise in violence against Dalits in Uttar Pradesh, CNN's sister network, CNN-IBN, reported Wednesday. E-mail to a friend . | Girl pushed into pile of burning embers by man in his late teens .
Man charged with attempted murder .
Assault took place in India's Uttar Pradesh state . | 625 | 34 |
295 | (CNN) -- Battling blustery weather, a Lufthansa Airlines flight scraped its wing on the ground during a landing attempt in Hamburg, Germany, over the weekend. Internet footage of the Lufthansa A320 as it attempts a landing Saturday at Hamburg, Germany. The plane recovered and landed safely the second time around, the spokesman said. Dramatic amateur video of the incident that appeared on the Internet showed the Airbus A320 teetering as it tried to land during the brutal winter storm on Saturday. As it nears the tarmac, one wing visible scrapes the ground. Watch the plane try to land as a passenger describes experience » . "As we were about to touch down, a gust of wind pressed the left wing towards the ground," a Lufthansa pilot identified only as Oliver A. said in a statement. "We pulled up immediately. A maneuver we practice in training very often." The airline said the pilot has been flying for Lufthansa for 17 years. Watch as plane avoids crash » Airline spokesman Wolfgang Weber said the left winglet, a fin at the end of the wing scraped the ground after a gust of wind tipped the plane. Damage to the plane was minimal and not structural. He said the plane is already back in service. • Were you on board? Send us an iReport E-mail to a friend . | Amateur video of the moment the Lufthansa flight scraped its wing .
Strong winds blamed for the near miss at Hamburg airport .
The plane recovered and landed safely the second time around . | 289 | 42 |
296 | (CNN) -- An explosion destroyed a home in suburban Pittsburgh on Wednesday, killing an elderly man and severely injuring his grandchild, authorities said. A house exploded Wednesday, killng one person and injuring a second, in the Pennsylvania borough of Plum. The explosion was reported about 1:30 p.m. on Mardi Gras Drive in Plum Borough, about 15 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. Several neighboring homes were damaged, fire officials said. Richard Leith, 64, was babysitting his grandchild in the home, according to John J. Smith, an investigator with the Allegheny County medical examiner's office. Both were transported to local hospitals, though Leith died later in the afternoon. The condition of the child, who was treated at Children's Hospital, was unknown, Smith said. Leith's autopsy would be conducted on Thursday, he added. It is unclear what caused the explosion. Dave Heiser, a neighbor, told CNN that he was home when he heard the explosion. "I thought my house blew up. My windows were blown out. I went outside and debris was falling from the sky," he said. Watch the neighbor describe hearing the blast » . He said he ran three houses down and saw a woman running with a little girl and screaming. "The little girl was apparently in the house when the explosion happened and was blown outside," Heiser said. "That house was leveled to the ground. There is nothing left." Several families who were displaced by the explosion were directed to Red Cross officials to make arrangements for shelter Wednesday night, authorities said. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Ninette Sosa contributed to this report. | Officials: 1:30 p.m. explosion kills grandfather, severely injures grandchild .
It's unclear what caused the blast, authorities say .
Investigator: 64-year-old Richard Leith died at hospital .
Neighbor says he saw a woman running down street with a little girl after blast . | 335 | 65 |
297 | (CNN) -- A Dutch tourist says she recently spotted missing 4-year-old Madeleine McCann at a French restaurant near Montpellier, McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said Wednesday. A handout photo, released September 16, 2007, of missing child Madeleine McCann. The tourist said she recognized Madeleine from the many media reports about the child's May 3 disappearance and may have even seen the well-publicized defect in the little girl's eye, Mitchell said. "She and a friend saw a child that they immediately took to be Madeleine," said Mitchell. "They actually called out her name. "A man who was with the child scooped the child up and took her out of the cafe before the girls could take a photograph with their mobile phones," he said. Mitchell said there is a surveillance tape of the girl in the L'Arche restaurant and Madeleine's parents are hoping to be able to use it to determine if it is their missing daughter. Mitchell explains how the sighting came about » . But The Associated Press, quoting an unnamed police official, is reporting that investigators have determined it was not the missing child. Police watched the closed-circuit video footage, and despite the child looking like Madeleine, it was not her, said the official, who did not want his name published because he is not authorized to speak to media about the case. Madeleine disappeared May 3, days before her fourth birthday. Her parents, who were vacationing with her in Portugal, have said she disappeared from their room at a resort while they dined in a nearby restaurant. Despite a global search and the attention of celebrities like Virgin Chairman Richard Branson, author J.K. Rowling and soccer star David Beckham, there have been no major breaks in the case. Portuguese investigators in September named the McCanns official suspects in their daughter's disappearance. The McCanns deny involvement, saying they believe Madeleine may have been abducted by pedophiles and taken to North Africa. A few months ago, there was a reported sighting of Madeleine in Belgium, but nothing came of that report. Last year, excitement grew when a video surfaced of a Moroccan woman carrying a child on her back who looked very similar to Madeleine. Authorities determined that it was the woman's child. E-mail to a friend . | Madeleine McCann possibly seen at roadside restaurant near Montpellier .
AP: Police say girl on surveillance tape is not Madeleine .
Man takes girl from restaurant after Madeleine's name called, spokesman says .
McCann has been missing since May 3; her parents named official suspects . | 477 | 62 |
298 | (CNN) -- Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega said Thursday that the nation is breaking relations with Colombia "in solidarity with the Ecuadoran people." Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega said the nation is breaking diplomatic relations with Colombia. The move comes after the Organization of American States passed a resolution Wednesday in hopes of easing tensions stemming from an attack by Colombian military on a rebel camp in neighboring Ecuador on Saturday. Since that attack, Ecuador has broken off relations with Colombia, and Venezuela says it has moved troops to its border with Colombia. Ortega made his televised remarks in Managua, where he was flanked by Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa. Colombian forces killed at least 17 members of the leftist group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia on Saturday. FARC is estimated to be holding at least 700 hostages in the jungles of Colombia and has been accused by the United States of being a terrorist organization. "This rupture of relations isn't with the people of Colombia," Ortega said. "We are breaking with the terrorist policies that the government of [Colombian President] Alvaro Uribe is practicing." In its resolution, the OAS called the attack "a violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ecuador and of principles of international law." It ordered a commission, headed by OAS Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza and composed of four ambassadors designated by him, to visit both countries to investigate the matter, "and to propose formulas for bringing the two nations closer together." Colombian officials have apologized for taking their attack against the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia into Ecuador but said it was necessary to counter a threat to their national security. Colombian officials also said they discovered evidence after the attack that Ecuadoran and Venezuelan government officials were collaborating with the group -- namely that Chavez allegedly gave $300 million to the rebels and that a senior Ecuadoran official met with them. "[They] are making things up and there's no limit to what they'll make up," Chavez said at a news conference on Wednesday. Correa has said his country would only be satisfied when the OAS issues a "clear condemnation" against Colombia for the raid. OAS foreign ministers are to meet March 17 in Washington "to examine the facts and make the pertinent recommendations," the resolution concluded. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday that he saw little chance of war erupting between Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela. Learn more about the countries » . Gates added that the United States would not need to assist its Colombian allies should armed conflict break out. "My personal view is that there is relatively little likelihood of a military conflict between them, and my further impression is that the Colombians can take care of themselves," he said at the Pentagon. E-mail to a friend . | NEW: President Daniel Ortega said move "in solidarity" with Ecuador .
On Saturday, Colombia's military attacked a rebel camp in Ecuador .
U.S. official: Small chance Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador will fight . | 556 | 47 |
299 | (CNN) -- Five young men died Saturday when the car they were in drove off the end of a private airstrip near Ocala, Florida, became airborne for 200 feet and slammed into an oak tree, authorities said. The 2008 BMW was split in two in the violent wreck. All of the victims died at the scene. "This had to be the worst vehicle crash that I have ever seen during my career," said Randy Robinson, a spokesman for the Emergency Medical Services Alliance with 27 years on the job. The 2008 BMW was split in two in the wreck, which happened at 3:45 a.m., said Lt. Mike Burroughs, a spokesman for the Florida Highway Patrol Troop B. He told CNN the victims -- 18 to 20 years old and all from the area -- were declared dead at the scene. Burroughs said it was not clear how the car got onto the private Greystone community airstrip -- the same one actor John Travolta uses for his aircraft -- but the car was driving north on Runway 36, which is 1.5 miles long. "It is evident that the driver of the vehicle saw he was approaching the end of the runway," Burroughs said. "He attempted a braking maneuver and the vehicle slid sideways off the end of the runway." The car flew through the air for 200 feet, he said, and struck an oak tree 15 feet off the ground, splitting the vehicle in two. Three of the occupants were ejected -- one landing 40 feet away, Burroughs said. The engine block of the BMW was completely dislodged and wreckage from the car was found over a 200-square-foot area, the FHP spokesman said. It was not known if the victims were wearing seat belts and the agency was awaiting the results of toxicology tests from the medical examiner's office to find out if alcohol or drugs played a role, Burroughs said. The airstrip's private taxiways back up to homes in the Jumbolair and Greystone gated communities. E-mail to a friend . | The car was driving on a runway at 3:45 a.m. when the driver hit the brakes .
The 2008 BMW flew through the air for 200 feet and struck an oak tree .
All of the victims were declared dead at the scene .
The car was split in two by the force of the crash . | 421 | 65 |
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