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-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- His father and uncle fall to the ground , crying uncontrollably . After 11 years of not knowing , relief of finding a child they thought had been lost forever pours out of them . Christian Norris is reunited with his uncle and grandmother in Beijing . That child is Christian Norris -- he 's 17 now and he stood there unmoved as his father and uncle wept ; perhaps because to him both men are distant memories . `` I do n't really remember my dad that much , '' Christian said quietly `` I just remember my uncle , who raised me much of the time . '' His low-key , almost stone-faced demeanor was in stark contrast to his father Jin Gaoke . `` There are no words to describe the joy I felt when I saw him . He is like a piece of flesh from my own body . '' His uncle Jin Xiaowang chimes in . `` The hair on his arms makes him look American , he has lots of hair on his arms . '' Christian set this day in motion three years ago when he asked his adopted mother Julia Norris to find his Chinese family ; a search from Maryland in the United States , to a remote village in central China , which would eventually involve hundreds of China 's savvy Internet users . Despite her background as a federal and private investigator and her work on the TV show `` America 's Most Wanted , '' Julia 's search kept proving fruitless . Police and orphanage records were incomplete and Christian 's memories were vague . `` The first obstacle was that I was focusing on the wrong province . He remembered being from Shanxi province ... and he remembered the name of -LRB- his -RRB- village as Dongjiagou , and so I searched and searched . '' Both the village name and the province were wrong -- Julia was looking in the wrong place hundreds of miles to the east . Watch the emotional reunion '' Everything changed in April this year when she contacted lawyer Zhang Zhiwei , who works with volunteers in China , reuniting lost children with the parents . `` Based on Jiacheng 's -LRB- Christian 's -RRB- memories we did some analysis , like his eating habits , '' Zhang said . `` He likes vinegar , which should be in northern China and close to Shanxi . He also likes garlic ... and from his memory his family grew potato and corn , which gave us a hint of the region he used to live . '' But the search really took off after Zhang posted a blog . `` When I posted the story many Chinese netizens were also moved by the selfless love and actively participated , providing as much detail as possible , all hoping to fulfill her dream of finding her son 's hometown , '' he said . Through their Internet searches the netizens discovered that Christian 's birth parents were doctors and tracked them down to a city called Longde in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region through a medical essay they had written . But Christian 's birth parents were n't who he remembered ; for the first six years of his life he had been raised by his uncle Jin Xiaowang -- always thinking he was his father . `` My older brother wanted to have two children , an older one and a younger one . They broke the one-child policy . They were afraid it might affect their jobs -LRB- and -RRB- they brought him -LRB- Christian -RRB- to me once he was born , '' Jin said . So Christian grew up in a poor village called Donggou . When he was 6 years old his uncle says he was sent away to school in the city to live with his birth parents , but was told they were a foster family . After just a few months , Christian wanted to return to the village , so his father put him on a bus , and that was the last his family saw of him . Details are vague and records incomplete , but it could have been up to a year later when police found him hundreds of miles away from his home , then took him to a nearby orphanage in Luoyang , Henan Province . The orphanage and the place they found him were in the same city . That 's where he was adopted by Julia , who was doing volunteer work there . `` When I found out that the birth family actually lost him at a crowded bus station and did not mean to relinquish him , my heart was broken for both Christian and the family . It was just sad . '' Christian still has much to talk about with his Chinese family , `` but I 'm pretty clear that I was n't abandoned . '' But simply talking wo n't be easy -- he 's forgotten how to speak Mandarin , and his birth relatives do n't speak English . But this is just for a few days in China before returning to the U.S. where he has lived most of his life . His Chinese relatives all say they respect his decision about where to live but hope that just maybe he will want to stay . `` He has grown taller , he has grown bigger , but inside Chinese blood is still flowing in his veins , '' said his birth father Jin Gaoke . | Christian asked his adopted mother to find his Chinese family three years ago . Police and orphanage records were incomplete and his memories were vague . The search really took off after a blog was posted on the Internet . | [[952, 1019], [1392, 1426], [3604, 3644], [2299, 2353]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Jennifer Schuett 's search for the man who snatched her from her bed when she was 8 , sexually assaulted her and left her for dead on top of an ant hill ended Tuesday with the arrest of a suspect . Jennifer Schuett , 27 , was abducted and left for dead at age 8 . A suspect was arrested Tuesday . Now begins another chapter in Schuett 's 19-year quest for justice . Standing in front of the television cameras , Jennifer Schuett blinked back tears . `` This is a huge day for me , '' she later told CNN over the phone . `` And I want to see this through the end . The rest will come out during the trial . '' Schuett , 27 , joined a multi-agency team of investigators in her hometown of Dickinson , Texas , as they announced the arrest earlier in the day of Dennis Earl Bradford , a 40-year-old welder , in Little Rock , Arkansas . The arrest came after new DNA testing and other evidence made it possible to identify Bradford as the suspect . Schuett 's boyfriend and two police investigators who kept the case alive stood beside her . Fighting tears , she thanked them for their support . `` Throughout this journey , I 've had two main goals , '' she said . `` And they were to find the man who kidnapped , sexually assaulted and attempted to murder me 19 years ago so that he could not hurt anyone else . And to use my voice in telling my story to as many people as I possibly could over the years in hopes that I may encourage other victims of violent crimes to stand up and speak out against criminals . '' Watch Schuett explain why she 's speaking out '' She continued , `` Today , I can say very proudly that I have accomplished both of these goals . '' Schuett spoke with CNN two weeks ago about her 1990 ordeal . CNN normally does not identify victims of sexual assaults . But Schuett decided to go public with her story and her name to increase the chances of finding and prosecuting her attacker . Schuett was in her bed when a man crept in through a window on August 10 , 1990 . She remembers waking up in a stranger 's arms as he carried her across a dark parking lot . She said he told her he was an undercover cop and knew her family . He drove her through the streets of Dickinson , pulling into an overgrown field where , she said , he sexually assaulted her . She passed out . When she regained consciousness , she was lying on top of an ant hill with her throat slashed and her voice box torn . She spent about 14 hours in the field before she was found and rushed to the hospital in critical condition . `` Three days after the attack , I started giving a description . The doctors told me I would never be able to talk again , but I proved them all wrong , '' Schuett said . She believes she got her voice back so she could tell her story . At the news conference , a driver 's license photo of the suspect was shown next to the 1990 sketch based on her description . There was a clear resemblance . Watch the sketch artist 's memories of Schuett '' Shauna Dunlap , a spokeswoman for the FBI 's Houston office , said Bradford lived in North Little Rock , with his wife and two children -- a boy , 12 , and a girl , 15 . He also has three adult stepchildren . Bradford worked as a welder for United Fence in North Little Rock . A company representative said Bradford had been working there for 10 years and was a `` good guy '' who had mended `` his old ways '' and `` changed his life . '' He would n't go into specifics about what those `` old ways '' were . Court documents give some indication . In 1996 , Bradford was accused of kidnapping , sexually assaulting and cutting the throat of a female victim . He was initially charged with attempt to commit first-degree murder , but prosecutors amended the charges to rape and kidnapping . A Garland County Circuit Court jury found him guilty of kidnapping but was not able reach a verdict on the rape charges . Arkansas corrections officials said he entered prison in March 1997 , facing a 12-year-sentence , and was paroled in February 2000 . Investigators also found Bradford lived slightly more than two miles from Schuett 's residence and just a mile and a half from where she was found , according to an affidavit released Tuesday . `` It 's truly a rare occasion when we have the opportunity to prosecute a case like this , '' said Galveston County District Attorney Kurt Sistrunk . His office is charging Bradford with attempted capital murder . `` Jennifer has been a tremendous asset to this investigation from the beginning , an inspiration to all of us , and we are going to be very proud to have Jennifer by our side as we continue with our efforts to seek justice for you in the courtroom , '' said Sistrunk . The break in the case came after FBI agent Richard Rennison and Dickinson police Detective Tim Cromie persuaded the FBI 's Child Abduction Rapid Deployment -LRB- CARD -RRB- team to get involved . `` The main reason the CARD team picked this case was because she was alive , '' Rennison said . `` In cases of child abduction , it is rare that the child is recovered alive . Frequently , you recover a body . And most times , you never find them . '' In March 2008 , the investigators found evidence collected 19 years ago -- the underwear and pajamas Schuett was wearing , as well as a man 's underwear and T-shirt , which were found in the field where Schuett was left for dead . The clothes had been tested in 1990 , but the sample was n't large enough for conclusive results . But newer techniques allow DNA to be isolated from a single human cell . The FBI lab recently informed Rennison that the DNA in the man 's underwear matched Bradford 's DNA profile . He was entered into the database after the 1997 kidnapping conviction in Arkansas . Bradford was arrested on Tuesday morning on his way to work . He awaits extradition to Texas . CNN 's Mallory Simon contributed to this story . | Jennifer Schuett waited 19 years for arrest of man who allegedly attacked her . Welder Dennis Earl Bradford , 40 , arrested Tuesday in Arkansas . Schuett was grabbed from her bedroom and left for dead at age 8 . Advanced DNA tests provided a break in the case ; DNA was in clothing . | [[316, 384], [1187, 1191], [1197, 1283], [283, 315], [628, 635], [643, 715], [726, 797], [50, 57], [62, 102], [217, 233], [258, 282], [851, 907], [5568, 5677]] |
Tehran , Iran -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Iranian protesters are vowing to continue their anti-government demonstrations into Wednesday night , despite violent crackdowns and arrests . Witnesses in Tehran tell CNN the demonstrators number in the tens of thousands . The protests are timed to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the hostage crisis at the U.S. Embassy . Iran celebrates the embassy takeover as an official holiday , and tens of thousands showed up to hear anti-American speeches in front of the building that once housed the U.S. diplomatic corps . Many chanted `` Death to America . '' The anniversary was also an opportunity to reignite the anti-government protests that were sparked in June , following a disputed presidential election . Thousands of protesters ignored warnings from Iranian authorities to stay home , many chanting `` Death to the Dictator '' and others saying , `` Obama - Either you 're with us or with them , '' referring to the U.S. president . Riot police and pro-government Basij militia turned out in force to quash anti-government protests . `` We were running from the police in the alleys off of the main streets , '' said Soheil , an opposition protester , who gave only one name for security reasons . `` Strangers were opening up their garages so we could hide until the police went away . I ran into a garage for about 15 minutes . When I went back into the main street , I saw riot police arresting a group of young men , then putting them inside a bank and locking the door . `` Only God knows what will happen to them after that . '' iReport : Iranians take to the streets . Soheil , like many other of the demonstrators , took part in the protests this summer . As with previous demonstrations , many images of Wednesday 's protest were uploaded to the Internet on the site YouTube.com -- including video of protesters walking over an image of Iran 's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei . Another clip showed a group of women being beaten by what appeared to be Iranian security forces . Witnesses said many Iranian women took part in Wednesday 's demonstration , and were frequently targeted by the Iranian security forces -- which is what also happened during the summer protests . Video posted on YouTube showed many protesters beaten on the head with batons . Iranian reformists have chosen key anniversaries to protest the hardline government -- the same anniversaries chosen for government-sanctioned anti-American rallies . Wednesday 's was the biggest annual anti-American observance of all . On November 4 , 1979 , Islamic students stormed the U.S. Embassy . They held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days . There were also small pockets of protest on Wednesday in the southwest Iran city of Shiraz , according to a resident who witnessed the protests . Demonstrators marched down the main street of Shiraz , yelling `` Death to the dictator '' and `` We will not stand down to you , together we are united , '' according to Najmeh , who only gave her first name for security reasons . There was strong police presence on the streets , and the police force seemed much more organized than past occasions , she said . Earlier in the day , opposition supporters marched defiantly in Tehran 's Haft-e-Tir Square , witnesses said . Many held up their hands in V-signs . Others shouted `` Allahu Akbar , '' or `` God is great , '' which has become a slogan of protest . Police blocked all roads leading to the square , creating massive traffic jams . Witnesses described helmet-clad security personnel beating demonstrators with batons and firing tear gas at Haft-e-Tir Square and in a neighborhood a few kilometers north . `` I had never seen that many riot police and security personnel , '' a witness told CNN . `` They were brought in by the busloads . As soon as crowds gathered somewhere , riot police were there within minutes . '' The opposition showed Wednesday that even after five months of government crackdown , people were still willing to take risks . The disputed June 12 presidential election triggered Iran 's most serious political crisis since the Islamic revolution toppled the shah . Led by opposition candidate Mir Houssein Moussavi , thousands of Iranians protested what they believed was a rigged vote that returned hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to office for a second term . In the election aftermath , the Iranian government arrested more than 1,000 people and accused reformists Moussavi and Mehdi Karrubi of spreading anti-government propaganda and fueling anger among the public . But despite warnings from the government , Iran 's reformists have largely refused to back down . They released the names of 72 protesters they say were killed in the unrest that followed the election -- more than double the government 's official number . Both Moussavi and Karrubi were prevented from attending Wednesday 's rallies , according to a reformist Web site , Norooz News . Karrubi 's son told the Web site that his father tried to reach the Haft-e-Tir Square rally on foot , but he was blocked by anti-riot police , sparking clashes with his followers . Police fired tear gas toward Karrubi , hitting one of his guards on the head , and causing Karrubi and some of his supporters to fall to the ground , according to Norooz News . Karrubi and his followers returned to their vehicles and drove away when , at one point , security forces attacked and damaged Karrubi 's vehicle , the Web site said . Video posted on YouTube showed Karrubi briefly opening his car door to a crowd of cheering supporters , who chanted , `` Honorable Karrubi , help the people of Iran . '' Iranian authorities had warned Karrubi to not participate in the marches , saying he might be the victim of a suicide attack , according to Norooz News . Moussavi was unable to join the demonstration after his car was prevented from leaving his office , according to his Facebook page and a report on a reformist Web site . Cell phone and Internet connections were cut in the area where his office is located , and dozens of plainclothes motorcycle riders blocked the entrance and chanted slogans against Moussavi , the Web sites said . Read analysis from Hamid Dabashi , author of `` Iran : A People Interrupted '' In Washington , President Obama said the world continues to bear witness to the Iranian people 's `` calls for justice and their courageous pursuit of universal rights . '' `` Iran must choose , '' he said in a statement late Tuesday . `` We have heard for thirty years what the Iranian government is against ; the question , now , is what kind of future it is for . `` It is time for the Iranian government to decide whether it wants to focus on the past , or whether it will make the choices that will open the door to greater opportunity , prosperity , and justice for its people , '' he said . Obama noted how the embassy takeover reshaped U.S.-Iranian relations . `` This event helped set the United States and Iran on a path of sustained suspicion , mistrust , and confrontation , '' he said . `` I have made it clear that the United States of America wants to move beyond this past , and seeks a relationship with the Islamic Republic of Iran based upon mutual interests and mutual respect . '' Obama said America has demonstrated willingness to work with Iran over nuclear issues by recognizing its right to peaceful nuclear power and accepting a recent proposal by the watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency . `` We have made clear that if Iran lives up to the obligations that every nation has , it will have a path to a more prosperous and productive relationship with the international community , '' Obama said . CNN 's Reza Sayah , Sara Mazloumsaki , Mitra Mobasherat , and journalist Shirzad Bozorgmehr contributed to this report . | NEW : Reformist leaders stopped from attending anti-government rallies , Web site says . Marchers gather in Tehran on 30th anniversary of the U.S. Embassy takeover . Anti-American rallies mark 1979 hostage-taking after students stormed embassy . Protests by reformists followed disputed June presidential election . | [[4828, 4904], [4828, 4853], [4907, 4940], [5463, 5482], [257, 361], [257, 269], [280, 361], [1590, 1620], [3173, 3191], [3194, 3264], [257, 361], [257, 269], [280, 361], [2551, 2571], [2574, 2617], [595, 610], [635, 748], [4018, 4156], [4734, 4744], [4750, 4827]] |
Fort Lauderdale , Florida -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Three teens accused of setting a 15-year-old friend on fire pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges of attempted murder , a public defender for one of the boys said . Denver Jarvis and Matthew Bent , both 15 , and Jesus Mendez , 16 , are charged as adults with one count of attempted murder in the second degree in the October 12 attack in Deerfield Beach , Florida . They were arraigned in Broward County Circuit Court before Judge Dale Cohen and are being held without bond . Two other boys ages 13 and 15 have been charged as juveniles . Prosecutors say Jarvis , Bent and Mendez were in a gang that poured alcohol over Michael Brewer , 15 , then set him ablaze in a dispute over $ 40 , a video game and a bicycle . Brewer jumped into the swimming pool at his apartment complex to put out the flames , witnesses say . Brewer suffered burns over 65 percent of his body . He 's reported in guarded condition at the University of Miami 's Jackson Memorial Hospital Burn Center , where he 's been in a private room since the incident . Gordon Weekes , the attorney for Bent , denounced the fact that the teens were charged as adults . `` It 's been decided by society that a 15-year-old ca n't vote , ca n't join the armed forces and can not buy alcohol , because society has recognized that children do not have the ability to appreciate the long-term consequences of their actions , '' he said . `` But they can treat them as adults in court , when we have very capable remedies for them in the juvenile justice system , which is geared toward rehabilitation , '' he said . Weekes said he and the other two public defenders plan to make separate motions to the court asking that their clients be allowed to post bond . Detectives say witnesses told them that Mendez used a lighter to set fire to Brewer after Jarvis poured alcohol over him . They said Matthew Bent encouraged the attack . Authorities say Mendez admitted setting Brewer on fire , and that he made a `` bad decision , '' according to an arrest transcript . Detectives with the Broward County Sheriff 's Office have been unable to interview Brewer . Until last week , he had been on a ventilator to keep him alive . `` We hope that we can maybe get a statement this week , '' said sheriff 's spokesman Jim Leljedal . `` Detectives have been waiting for him to recover to the point where he 's strong enough to give us a complete statement , '' he said . Doctors say Brewer is improving but his condition is tenuous because of the severity of his burns and the possibility of infections . Most of his burns are on his back and buttocks ; his face and hands were largely spared , doctors say . Brewer 's doctor told CNN the teen faces several more months in the hospital and will need multiple skin grafts and surgeries . `` They still have to perform several operations on him for skin grafting , but his parents are with him all the time , '' said Lorraine Nelson , a hospital spokeswoman . `` I do n't tell him what happened , '' Brewer 's mother , Valerie , told CNN affiliate WFOR-TV . `` I just tell him he 's in the hospital and he 's safe and he 's getting better . `` And he 'll say , ` Am I going to be OK ? ' And I say ` Yes , Michael . You 're going to be fine . You 're going to be just fine , ' '' she said . Investigators believe Brewer owed Bent $ 40 for a video game . When Brewer did not pay , Bent stole Brewer 's father 's bicycle , police say . When Brewer reported him to the police , Bent was arrested . The next day , the group surrounded Brewer . The five boys called Brewer `` a snitch '' and set him on fire , witnesses said . The Brewer family told WFOR that none of the families of the accused boys have tried to contact them , but it does n't matter . `` We ca n't focus on it . They 'll get theirs is all we can say . I do n't focus on it , '' Michael Brewer 's father , also named Michael , told WFOR . If convicted they could face up to 30 years in prison . A court-appointed psychologist who has examined two of the five boys told CNN they are competent to take part in legal proceedings and assist their attorney . `` I can describe both of them as being afraid , being fearful , '' said forensic psychologist Michael Brannon , who did not identify the boys . `` I can describe both of them as being tearful at various times during the interview , especially when talking about the specific incident which led to the injuries of the victim , '' he said . Psychologists are often brought into cases involving teenagers and young adults to judge their mental capabilities and determine their competency to proceed . Psychologists also must evaluate whether the defendants can talk about what happened and communicate effectively with defense attorneys . `` I do n't think they expected to have happened , what happened , '' Brannon said . `` It 's a horrible event that occurred , but this was not their conceptualization , in my opinion , of what was going to happen . '' | NEW : Attorney denounces charging teens as adults , will seek bond . Michael Brewer has burns on 65 percent of his body after being doused with alcohol , set ablaze . Three teens charged as adults with one count of attempted murder in the second degree . Two other boys ages 13 and 15 have been charged as juveniles . | [[1078, 1091], [1118, 1176], [634, 640], [646, 685], [864, 915], [1815, 1885], [211, 270], [273, 275], [278, 399], [522, 551], [522, 584]] |
ATLANTA , Georgia -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The news on the housing market continues to be bleak as bleak can be . In just one example , the January numbers from the Case-Shiller index -- a popular collection of data about repeat sales of single-family homes -- show that home values in Phoenix are down almost 50 percent from their peak in July 2006 . Clark Howard has bought several foreclosures over the years and has his eye on another . There are similarly dismal numbers in Las Vegas and Miami -LRB- both down more than 40 percent -RRB- and San Francisco and San Diego -LRB- both down 40 percent -RRB- . But you 've got to realize that housing stats are skewed by bubble markets such as these , where people were trying to get rich quick on someone else 's money . Yet still , sometimes you can be left feeling like there 's no good news in all of this . Well , I have some for you . Half of all home purchases in February were by first-time homebuyers , according to The Financial Times of London . Those buyers were taking advantage of incredible interest rates and low housing prices , not to mention new tax incentives for first-time homebuyers . How about you ? If you want to get in the game , you 've got to look REO -- and I 'm not talking about the classic rock band REO Speedwagon ! REO stands for real-estate owned property . It 's where you buy directly from the bank after they foreclose on a property . Banks are notoriously bad property managers . It 's not uncommon for them to let a property go unloved and neglected for several months . Before long , the property starts looking like a haunted house on Halloween . The grass is unkempt , the shutters are falling off and windows may be broken . That 's when you can really swoop in and steal a deal . I 've bought a number of foreclosures over the years . My most recent purchase was last year , but I 'm thinking about buying another foreclosure I saw while filming with my HLN show crew . Watch Clark finding a bank-owned bargain '' I 'm particularly a fan of houses that smell ! The odors can usually be eliminated very easily . But buyers are quickly turned off by a stinky house , and that means I can really underbid on my offer . If you want to start looking for REOs in a specific part of town , try finding a real estate agent who farms that area . You can also try searching the web by visiting sites such as HUD.gov , HomeSales.gov , EmailForeclosures.com and Trulia.com . When searching for foreclosures or distressed property in the single-family home market , be on the lookout for several things : an established neighborhood that 's 10 years or older ; a neighborhood that is mostly owner-occupied ; and a house that is structurally sound with cosmetic damage only . My rule of thumb has always been that you want to buy 20 percent below fair market value for homes and 30 percent below fair market value for condos . Speaking of condos , the condo market in particular has a lot of hazards . When you buy a condo , you 're buying an obligation and a commitment in a condo association . Do not buy in a building that has been recently constructed . You want to look for established condo buildings that have been there six years or longer . With established buildings , you know that most people are paying their condo fees . And finally , remember that foreclosures and REOs are just part of a larger category of `` people problem '' houses . These are the kinds of houses that sit on the market as wounded ducks because the owners endured job loss , divorce , relocation or any other of a host of troubling scenarios . The real key to finding a deal is to know the local market conditions where you 're buying . Go after the properties that are REOs for 45 days or longer . Lenders are usually unrealistic about the pricing of properties on their books for about the first 6 weeks . Remember , out of adversity comes great opportunity . | Half of all home purchases in February were by first-time homebuyers . In REO , real-estate owned , you buy directly from bank after they foreclose on property . Clark is a fan of houses that smell , since he can really underbid his offer . The key to finding a deal is to know local market conditions . | [[883, 951], [883, 921], [954, 998], [1292, 1335], [1336, 1415], [1348, 1415], [2103, 2109], [2157, 2203], [3604, 3673], [3604, 3634], [3638, 3696]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Jacmel was the artsy town Kathryn Bolles would travel to on weekends , a respite from the bustle of Haiti 's capital , Port-au-Prince . But when a colleague with the Save the Children organization returned from once-scenic Jacmel on Friday , Bolles said he was traumatized . `` He said it 's horrible what 's happened there , '' said Bolles , the emergency health and nutrition director for Save the Children in Haiti . `` People are lost , dead , missing . Houses are down and facilities are down . It sounded similar to what we 're seeing here in Port-au-Prince . '' Attention has focused on Port-au-Prince since Tuesday 's 7.0-magnitude quake , as it is the country 's most populous city -- at more than 1.2 million people -- and has suffered tremendous devastation . Thousands of homeless victims have taken to sleeping in the streets , without food , water and medical attention . Others are buried beneath the rubble , and rescuers have miraculously pulled out survivors who were entombed by the debris . Elsewhere , though , preliminary reports are telling of how the crisis has gripped residents beyond the capital . `` What we 're hearing from text messages , from e-mails is that all along the coast going west and then down south , towns are absolutely destroyed , '' said Bolles , who has worked in Haiti since 1999 and spoke to CNN from Port-au-Prince . She learned of the extent of the damage from colleagues , people on the street and other aid groups . Just to the west of Port-au-Prince is Carrefour , a city of 442,000 that felt violent shaking during the quake , according to the U.S. Geological Survey . Damage there is expected to be heavy -- reports have yet to come in , the agency said . West of that is Leogane , a city , like Carrefour , that is passed on the road to Jacmel . More than 30 miles further west of the capital is Petit-Goave -- all towns , Bolles said that are reeling from the quake . Leogane 's main hospital was flattened , as were numerous other buildings , Bolles said . She said she heard the `` whole town had collapsed . '' Among the other areas , she said she was told an orphanage full of 1,500 children collapsed , and many people were dead or missing . CNN has yet to independently verify damage or casualties outside the capital , but reports continue to build in bits and pieces . About a three-hour drive south of the capital in Jacmel , there were reports of an orphanage that toppled , and of a hospital for women that collapsed , said Alana Salcer , spokeswoman for Cine Institute , a film school in Jacmel . Staff at the school and students there have written Salcer about the dire situation in that city , and even shot footage of buildings ripped open and survivors lying in streets . To keep the lights on and communication open , the school has had to rely on a generator after power lines went down . The home of the school 's editing teacher , Andrew Bigosinski , fell down a hill when the earth violently shook , and many others lost their homes , Salcer said . Just east of Port-au-Prince , makeshift camps have been erected in the public squares of the densely populated area of Delmas , Cine Institute founder David Belle told Salcer in an e-mail shared with CNN . Belle described a harrowing scene on the road to Port-au-Prince : . `` Moving into the city ... the destruction gets worse and worse and the street is lined with piles of swollen , rotting bodies . ... Periodic road blocks have been set up by residents , protesting the lack of any aid presence and angry at stench and indecency . Huge tractors and dump trucks were just beginning to arrive and load bodies as we passed thru . '' American Red Cross logistics expert and relief worker Colin Chaperone said the biggest obstacle outside the capital was getting medical treatment to the injured . Chaperone arrived in the capital Wednesday and had driven east toward the border with the Dominican Republic to escort an American Red Cross Emergency Response Unit into Haiti , said Red Cross spokesman Jonathan Aiken . Chaperone told Aiken that about 30 minutes out of Port-au-Prince , he was still seeing significant and widespread damage . Medical care was limited , as local clinics were overwhelmed by demand , he said . Makeshift treatment facilities were established for those who fled the capital , many of whom had broken bones and other serious injuries , Chaperone said . Exacerbating the dangerous situation was the reality that medical supplies were running out . Roads are slowly becoming easier to navigate , but aid is still slow to get outside the capital . Bolles said that her team plans to travel as far as they can to assess the situation and offer help . `` There really needs to be a humanitarian response and it needs to be immediate , '' she said . `` Outside of Port-au-Prince there really has n't been anything . '' | Jacmel , Leogane , Carrefour and Petit-Goave are towns that are reeling from earthquake . East of Port-au-Prince , makeshift camps have been erected in public squares . Humanitarian response `` needs to be immediate , '' says Kathryn Bolles of Save the Children . | [[3077, 3172], [4723, 4774], [4779, 4803]] |
Port-au-Prince , Haiti -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Haitian police shot and killed a man they suspected of stealing rice in earthquake-ravaged Port-au-Prince on Thursday , leaving his body on the sidewalk for hours as his family mourned . The dead man 's mother identified him as Gentile Cherie , a 20-year-old carpenter . A companion with him was wounded , and a third man nearby was hit by what he said was a stray bullet . Witnesses said no one was looting at the time . Josef Josnain , the owner of a shop near the city 's airport , said the five bags of rice the men were found with fell from a truck and passers-by picked them up . And Cherie 's wounded companion , who did not give his name , said a truck driver gave them the rice . `` A truck stopped and we jumped on , and the driver gave us the rice as a gift , '' he said . `` But the cops shot us . '' A CNN crew spotted police stopping the two men Thursday afternoon . They stopped to film the arrests , but while they were getting out of the car , they heard four gunshots and saw the men on the ground . Both had been shot in the back . A third man , Auxilus Maxo , was wounded by a stray bullet near the scene . He told CNN he was hit in the side while waiting for a bus -- after applying for a job as a police officer . Marc Justin , a senior police officer in the area , said he would investigate the killing and said there was no shoot-to-kill order for suspected looters . `` Nobody can do this in any country , '' Justin said . `` Even if somebody was stealing a bag of rice , nobody has a right to do this . '' Justin said he had called for an ambulance for the wounded man , but none appeared . Instead , the man was picked up by members of the U.N. peacekeeping mission MINUSTAH who happened on the scene after the shooting . Shopkeepers retrieved the rice left behind . CNN sought comment from the Haitian government about Thursday 's incident . There was no immediate response . Twitter updates l Full coverage . Sporadic looting has broken out in Port-au-Prince , where relief workers have struggled to get food , water and medical aid into the hands of survivors of last week 's magnitude 7.0 earthquake . Reports of police firing on looters have surfaced as well , but CNN has been unable to independently confirm them . The Haitian National Police have been criticized for alleged abuses for years . A 2009 report by Human Rights Watch criticized its officers for the use of `` excessive and indiscriminate force , '' including involvement in kidnappings , torture and arbitrary arrests . Meanwhile , the force `` is largely ineffective in preventing and investigating crime , '' it found . List of missing , found in Haiti . Reforming the national police is one of the major goals of the U.N. mission dispatched to Haiti after the 2004 revolt that forced then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide from office . But a 2009 report for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights concluded , `` The relationship between the population and the Haitian National Police is still characterized by suspicion , accusations of brutality , human rights violations and complicity with criminal and corrupt elements . '' Are you there ? l Impact Your World . An Amnesty International report last year found the number of reported abuses appeared to be on the decline -- but at least two people died in police custody , and reports of excessive force , fatal shootings and warrantless arrests continued . Two-and-a-half hours after the shooting Thursday , Cherie 's body remained on the sidewalk . | Dead man 's mother identified him as Gentile Cherie , a 20-year-old carpenter . Companion with him was wounded , and third man nearby says hit by stray bullet . A CNN crew spotted police stopping the two men Thursday afternoon . CNN crew heard 4 gunshots while getting out of the car , saw 2 men on ground , shot in back . | [[229, 284], [348, 415], [642, 659], [666, 687], [1093, 1104], [1115, 1168], [855, 922], [968, 1000], [962, 972], [1003, 1027], [1003, 1007], [1032, 1059], [1060, 1092]] |
NEW YORK -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A federal judge on Monday ruled against a Web site operator who was seeking to publish an encyclopedia about the Harry Potter series of novels , blocking publication of `` The Harry Potter Lexicon '' after concluding that it would cause author J.K. Rowling `` irreparable injury . '' Steven Vander Ark speaks to the media outside the U.S. District Court on April 15 , 2008 in New York City . U.S. District Judge Robert P. Patterson awarded Rowling and her publisher $ 6,750 in statutory damages and permanently blocked publication of the reference guide . Harry Potter fan Steven Vander Ark sought to publish the book , a reference guide to the Harry Potter series , through a small Michigan-based publishing house called RDR Books . Vander Ark operates a Web site called `` Harry Potter Lexicon . '' Rowling sued RDR Books in 2007 to stop publication of material from Vander Ark 's Web site . Vander Ark and RDR Books claimed the book should not be blocked from publication because it was protected by the `` fair use '' doctrine , which allows for commentary and critique of literary works . Patterson , in his ruling , said the defendants failed to demonstrate fair use . Rowling issued a statement after Monday 's ruling , saying , `` I took no pleasure at all in bringing legal action and am delighted that this issue has been resolved favorably . '' Vander Ark did not immediately return calls from CNN on Monday . `` We are obviously disappointed with the result , and RDR is considering all of its options , including an appeal , '' attorney David S. Hammer said . Rowling , who said she has long planned to publish her own encyclopedia , and Warner Brothers Entertainment , producer of the Potter films , filed suit to stop RDR from publishing the book . Warner Brothers is owned by Time Warner , CNN 's parent company . | Web site operator wants to publish encyclopedia about Harry Potter novels . Judge awards `` Harry Potter '' author J.K. Rowling and publisher $ 6,750 in damages . Rowling says she has long planned to publish her own encyclopedia . | [[68, 87], [92, 170], [584, 692], [420, 479], [1601, 1608], [1615, 1672]] |
TAMPA , Florida -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Some Florida minimum-security inmates want to know : Can you handle the heat ? Inmates work with peppers at the Hillsborough County Jail in Tampa , Florida . Hot sauce heat , that is -- Jail House Fire Hot Sauce , cooked up by inmates at the Hillsborough County Jail and now offered for sale . The idea to make Jail House Fire Hot Sauce came from a Cuban former inmate who thought food in the big house was bland . Allen Boatman , the head of the jail 's horticulture program , remembers what his former trusty said : `` We 're growing these peppers . Why do n't we use them ? '' Peppers are grown as part of the jail 's horticulture program , which is voluntary and offered only to minimum-security trusties . The inmates learn about growing plants , ornamentals , trees , herbs and vegetables -- including more than 1,200 varieties of peppers . `` I thought that was a great idea , so I started doing research on some of the recipes , '' says Boatman . The research led to a variety of hot sauces that can be bought for $ 7 a bottle at the jail in Tampa , Florida , or online at www.jailhousefire.org . There are three different sauces for sale : . Coming soon is a fourth sauce : Misdemeanor . Watch the inmates at work on hot sauce '' Orders for the Jail House Fire sauces have come in from as far away as Germany , England and even Australia . The inmates make no money from this product . The money goes back into an inmate fund that pays for things like the greenhouse where the peppers are grown . The horticulture program pays for itself , says Boatman , so no taxpayer money is used . Several times a year the program hosts a sale of its ornamentals , shrubs and trees , and the locals turn up to support the program . The money raised is used to purchase necessities like fertilizer and soil . A green thumb is not the only thing that inmate and program member Deline is developing , he says . `` We learn a lot about professionalism , respect , teamwork , ya know -- all that helps , '' Deline says . And working in the fields is good for the inmates ' self-worth , Boatman says . `` They actually see something growing that they 've been involved in . It gives them a lot of sense of pride and accomplishment , '' says Boatman . `` Possibly that 'll give them some momentum when they are released to go and get a job and start being a productive member of society . '' Boatman does n't just wish his trusties a good future ; he gives them an opportunity . When the inmates are released , they are given a certificate of completion in vocational horticulture . This certificate comes from the school board , with no mention of the program behind bars . Deline hopes this will work in his favor when he starts looking for a job . `` Florida is full of a lot of landscaping -LSB- and -RSB- landscaping companies , a lot of nursery companies , '' Deline says . `` Maybe I can use the experience to better myself in the future . '' | Florida minimum-security jail raises peppers , uses them in hot sauce . Three inmate-produced sauces available : `` Original , '' `` Smoke '' and `` No Escape '' Proceeds from sale of sauces goes back into jail 's horticulture program . Jail program also teaches job skills to soon-to-be-released inmates . | [[615, 676], [1140, 1181], [615, 676]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- If you 're on Facebook , Twitter or any other social networking site , you could be the next victim . Experts say cybercrooks are lurking just a mouse click away on popular social networking sites . That 's because more cyberthieves are targeting increasingly popular social networking sites that provide a gold mine of personal information , according to the FBI . Since 2006 , nearly 3,200 account hijacking cases have been reported to the Internet Crime Complaint Center , a partnership between the FBI , the National White Collar Crime Center and the Bureau of Justice Assistance . It starts with a friend updating his or her status or sending you a message with an innocent link or video . Maybe your friend is in distress abroad and needs some help . All you have to do is click . When the message or link is opened , social network users are lured to fake Web sites that trick them into divulging personal details and passwords . The process , known as a phishing attack or malware , can infiltrate users ' accounts without their consent . Once the account is compromised , the thieves can infiltrate the list of friends or contacts and repeat the attack on subsequent victims . Social networking sites show there is ample opportunity to find more victims ; the average Facebook user has 120 friends on the site . `` Security is a constant arms race , '' said Simon Axten , an associate for privacy and public policy at Facebook . `` Malicious actors are constantly attacking the site , and what you see is actually a very small percentage of what 's attempted . '' As some social networking sites experience monstrous growth , they are becoming a new -- and extremely lucrative -- frontier for cybercrime . Facebook says it has 300 million users , nearly the size of the U.S. population , and it continues to attract users outside the college student niche . From February 2008 to February 2009 , Twitter , a micro-blogging site where users post 140-character messages known as tweets , grew 1,382 percent to more than 7 million users . `` They -LSB- cybercriminals -RSB- are very adept to using social engineering , '' said Donald DeBold , director of threat research for CA , an Internet security company . `` Your friend is in trouble traveling in another country , ' I lost my wallet . I need help . ' They exploit the curiosity aspect out of human nature . '' A few decades ago , malicious software and viruses were usually the result of a prank , but Internet security experts say today 's attacks are profit-driven . A study from the Indiana University in 2005 discovered that phishing attacks on social networks operated with a 70 percent success rate . These users had fallen for the scam , opened the foreign link and released personal information . Cybercriminals are employing phishing and malware attacks for a number of reasons , including trying to redirect users to sites where profit is fueled by the number of visitors . They also try to elicit private information like passwords and bank account numbers to perform scams . Early this year , Twitter experienced several phishing attacks in which a Web page that looked identical to the widely recognized light blue Twitter page was a hoax . The company warned users to double-check the URL to ensure they were visiting the correct site . The Internet Crime Complaint Center received more than 72,000 complaints about Internet fraud in 2008 that were referred to law enforcement agencies for further investigation . These cases involved financial losses amounting to $ 264.6 million , an increase from 2007 . Each person lost an average of $ 931 . `` Most of us would want to help a friend in need , but if it 's an online friend , and they want you to wire money , you should double-check , '' FBI spokesman Jason Pack said . Security experts said it makes sense that cybercriminals are turning to social networking sites . Personal information is abundant on sites like Facebook and MySpace . Each time users give out valuable information like birth dates or addresses , they could be providing hints about their password , security experts say . The American Civil Liberties Union has expressed concern about the information visible through Facebook quizzes and applications . `` They 'll have access to all that information , so they can sell it , they can share it , they can do an awful lot with it , '' Chris Calabrese , legislative counsel for privacy-related issues with the ACLU , told CNN.com in September . Many Internet security experts consider the first virus attack on the PC to have occurred in 1986 . By the early 1990s , viruses transmitted on floppy disks became ubiquitous . When the World Wide Web became widely available that same decade , viruses , worms and malware became problems in e-mail accounts , frustrating users who clicked on messages thought to be legitimate . In the new millennium , the most common form of malware attack has become known as drive-by downloads . While surfing on Google or Yahoo , spyware or a computer virus is automatically and invisibly downloaded on a computer , requiring no user interaction for the computer to be infected . `` We are on the verge from shifting from the Web being the No. 1 victim of infecting to social network , '' said Mikko H. Hypponen , chief of research technology at F-Secure Corp. . His company sells anti-virus software and malware protection programs . `` It 's going to get a lot worse before it gets better . '' Social networks are fighting the aggressive attacks from cybercriminals . Most sites have information pages dedicated to educating users about the risks of Internet scams . Users can become a fan of `` Facebook Security '' and receive updates on how to protect their accounts . One of the most common pieces of advice given by security experts is to change passwords frequently . Facebook has also developed complex automated systems that detect compromised accounts . They spot and freeze accounts that are sending an unusually high number of messages to their friends . Company security officials said Facebook is a closed system , which can be helpful in erasing phony messages from all accounts . At News Corporation 's MySpace.com , the company creates blacklists of phony accounts to prevent people from clicking on a faulty link . Hemanshu Nigam , first chief security officer for MySpace , said the firm warns about suspicious links and educates users about the harm phishing and malware attacks can bring . `` We are prepared for them , '' he said . | The FBI reports nearly 3,200 account hijacking cases since 2006 . Online scam losses amounting to $ 264.6 million reported in 2008 . Facebook has automated systems that detect compromised accounts . MySpace.com creates blacklists of phony accounts . | [[385, 395], [398, 492], [3510, 3576], [5876, 5964], [5904, 5964], [6197, 6231], [6234, 6333]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- It 's doubtful there 's ever a perfect time or place to end a marriage , but for Dean McDermott , that time and place was in a Palm Springs , California , hotel room after playing a round of golf . Mary Jo Eustace said she 's been able to take her 2006 divorce from Dean McDermott and turn it into a positive . The actor told his then-wife , Mary Jo Eustace , that he 'd been having an affair with Tori Spelling and that he 'd found his soul mate , Eustace recalled Tuesday on HLN 's `` The Joy Behar Show . '' '' -LSB- He said -RSB- , ` I 'm leaving you -- she loves me unconditionally , ' '' Eustace said . Eustace replied that `` you 've known her -LSB- for -RSB- three weeks . I actually thought it was a joke . I thought I was being punked . But it was true , '' she told Behar . Eustace offers life lessons she learned from the 2006 split with McDermott in her book `` Divorce Sucks : What to Do When Irreconcilable Differences , Lawyers Fees , and Your Ex Husband 's Hollywood Wife Makes You Miserable , '' which arrived in bookstores Monday . Watch Eustace describe her shock '' Donald Trump 's ex-wife Marla Maples ; Dina Matos , ex-wife of former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey ; and Lance Armstrong 's ex , Kristen , also appeared on Behar 's show to break down what happens during and after very public breakups . When Eustace found out her 13-year marriage was ending , she said she was `` in a really ugly bikini -- missing like padding on one side , holding my daughter in my arms , '' but at least the bomb was n't dropped in front of news cameras . Matos was standing right next to her husband when he admitted at a press conference that he 'd had an affair with another man . `` I was in shock because I had only learned three days before that he had been involved in a relationship , '' Matos recalled on Tuesday 's show . `` I was there in the moment . I was there physically but mentally , you know ; I was just trying to maintain my composure and not fall apart in front of the cameras . '' When a marriage ends , `` you think this is the end of your life as you know it , '' Matos said . `` And in some ways it is . You feel powerless . '' Especially once the media picks up on the crumbling matrimony . `` The first week that my divorce was announced ... I saw a picture of my ex-husband with his new wife 's legs wrapped around his head , '' Eustace said . `` You 're in complete survival mode . '' Although Lance Armstrong 's post-marriage flame , Sheryl Crow , was n't the reason his five-year marriage to Kristen ended , she told Behar it was still difficult to watch . And yet the hardest part for Kristen Armstrong was disliking her former husband 's new love . `` I really wanted to dislike her , '' Armstrong said . `` I really did . -LSB- But -RSB- she 's beautiful . She 's smart . She 's funny . She was great with the kids . For as much as I wanted to dislike her and I tried , I could n't . '' Matos said it 's different when your husband leaves for another man . `` When your husband leaves you for another woman , at some point you know there was love in the marriage , and you had something , '' she said on Tuesday 's show . `` But when your husband is not the person that you think he is , you know , he 's an impostor -- then you start questioning every aspect of your life together . What was real ? Did he ever love me ? Why did he marry me ? Later I found out why , '' she said . After McGreevey announced his affair , Matos said she found papers that appeared to be the outline for a book that said McGreevey married her `` for political gain , '' she said . `` He married me because he wanted to become governor and perhaps president . That 's very painful . '' All of the ex-wives said they 've been able to use their divorces as a time to grow . `` You feel dehumanized , horrible , '' Eustace said of divorce . `` With lawyers and fighting and feeling unloved and unlovable , and the media thrown into it , you really have to take care of yourself and to take care of your kids , '' she said . `` It really can be life-affirming ... a wonderful second opportunity in your life . It can be actually , I think , very positive . '' | Joy Behar invited women who went through public divorces onto her HLN show . Mary Jo Eustace talked about how hard it was to watch Dean McDermott move on . Lance Armstrong 's ex-wife , Kristen , said she could n't hate her husband 's new love . Dina Matos said ex-New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey married her for political gain . | [[2567, 2615], [3564, 3607], [3627, 3701]] |
-LRB- CNET -RRB- -- With its launch of iPhoto 09 , Apple has begun showing some reasons why it 's worth enduring the hassle of geotagging your photos . Phil Schiller , Apple 's senior vice president , unveils iPhoto 09 at Macworld Tuesday . It 's generally not easy right now to label your photos with information about where you took the pictures -- the process usually is done with special software to marry the photos with location data taken from a separate GPS receiver . Phil Schiller , Apple 's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing , demonstrated what you can do with iPhoto at the Macworld 2009 keynote Tuesday . iPhoto 09 works best with photos that already have been tagged . That 's getting more common , as GPS hardware support becomes less of a rarity . For example , Nikon 's Coolpix P6000 has a built-in GPS receiver , and Nikon has begun selling its GP-1 GPS receiver , which can plug into its SLR 's flash mount so location data is embedded in the photo . Apple 's iPhone can geotag its own photos , and camera manufacturers say GPS support in cameras has become a matter of when , not if . But the software also can help you tag your own images . Clicking a photo flips it over , letting you type in a location , then showing the spot using a map . -LRB- Google supplies back-end mapping services -RRB- . Helpfully , iPhoto then can spread that location data to other photos with similar time stamps , and they can be bundled together into a group called an event . OK , but what can you do ? Once you have geotagged photos , what can you do with them ? For one thing , sift through them geographically using iPhotos ' new Places interface . Viewing an iPhoto event can show an associated collection of pushpins on a map , and clicking each pin shows the photo . For another , you can search for photos based on where you took them , not on whatever filing system you might use . iPhoto can handle geographic hierarchies , so if you labeled a photo with `` Eiffel Tower , '' it 'll find it with a search for `` France '' or `` Paris . '' Last , you can create photo books based on location . For people who want to create albums of their travels , this is a good idea , especially since you can use the tags both for selecting photos to print and to add maps into the book itself . There 's no support for the painful part of geotagging , though : extracting location data from a GPS unit . There are other programs that can handle that chore , including Microsoft 's Pro Photo Tools , Breeze Systems ' Downloader Pro , or GPS Photo Linker . iPhoto is bundled with Macs , along with other members of the iLife suite : iMovie , Garage Band , iWeb , and iDVD . People who have earlier versions can upgrade to iLife 09 for $ 79 . Tag , you 're it . In some glorious future , computers might be able to understand the content of your photos just by `` looking '' at them , letting them retrieve just what you want when you ask . But for now , it 's mostly up to you to add metadata , textual information such as titles , captions , star ratings , and geotags . If you want to find pictures of the Sydney Opera House , you 'll have to know when you took them , what folder you tucked them into , or hope you labeled them with appropriate tags . iPhoto 09 , like Google 's Picasa Web Albums , adds another major tagging automation feature , though : face recognition . The software finds faces , lets you put a name to them , then offers other views of what it judges to be the same person . After you 're done , you can view photos of a specific person . And if you 've tagged people in Facebook , it 'll slurp up those tags through a synchronization process . Yahoo 's Flickr , which has extensive tagging and geotagging abilities , also benefits from this synchronization ability . So what 's the upshot here ? Good news and bad news . The good news is that the world of digital photography is moving to a new organizational scheme , finally shedding the filing-cabinet metaphor of a hard drive 's file system or the shoebox full of prints . The new tag-based world is more flexible and approachable in several ways , and it is still fully compatible with the older methods . The bad news is that in order for it to work , you have to do a little more work getting the tags right in the first place . I , for one , think that it 's worthwhile . Here 's an example why : my sister needed photos for an end-of-year letter , and because I am the de facto family photographer , she looked to my online shots . The way she found photos of her family members was simply by searching my photos by her family members ' names at Flickr . That 's far superior to clicking on every photo album for the year and seeing what 's within . © 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. . All rights reserved . CNET , CNET.com and the CNET logo are registered trademarks of CBS Interactive Inc. . Used by permission . | Software marries photos with location data taken from a separate GPS receiver . Apple 's iPhone can geotag its own photos . Geotagging lets you search for photos based on where you took them . Manufacturers say GPS support in cameras has become a matter of when , not if . | [[384, 439], [426, 476], [948, 988], [989, 1030], [1830, 1897], [1037, 1084], [1062, 1118]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The Pentagon on Wednesday identified two U.S. soldiers who disappeared in Afghanistan this month , announcing the death of one of the men and saying that the whereabouts of the other remain unknown . Both soldiers from the 4th Brigade Combat Team , 82nd Airborne Division disappeared in the Morghab River near Afghanistan 's border with Turkmenistan on November 4 . The Pentagon announced the death of Army Sgt. Benjamin Sherman , 21 , of Plymouth , Massachusetts . Army Sgt. Brandon Islip , 23 , remains missing . Islip is from Richmond , Virginia . Both men were on a resupply mission when they disappeared , the Pentagon said . Last week , military divers found Sherman 's body . Family members said he jumped into the river when he saw a fellow soldier struggling in the water . `` I know , that day , he jumped into the river to try to save his comrade was because he did n't just see another soldier in the water ; he saw his brother , '' Sherman 's sister , Meredith , said in a statement to CNN affiliate WCVB in Boston , Massachusetts . `` He did n't jump in because he was trained to but because that 's what his heart told him to do . '' | Two sergeants disappeared near border with Turkmenistan this month . Divers found body of one last week . Family said he jumped into river after seeing fellow soldier struggle . | [[56, 73], [78, 115], [650, 659], [662, 701], [702, 746], [722, 801], [825, 880]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A Rwandan accused of `` complicity '' in the massacre of students at the college he headed during the country 's genocide 15 years ago has been arrested in Italy , where he served as a clergyman , an international police agency said . Interpol hailed arrest of Uwayezu as a demonstration of effectiveness of international police co-operation . Officers from the Italian Carabinieri and Interpol 's National Central Bureau in Rome , Italy , arrested Emmanuel Uwayezu -- who had been wanted in Rwanda , the international police organization Interpol said Wednesday in a news release . Uwayezu , 47 , is accused of genocide , conspiracy to commit genocide , complicity in genocide and crimes against humanity . He is in Italian custody and is awaiting extradition to Rwanda . According to Interpol 's statement , the Rwandan arrest warrant says Uwayezu was alleged `` to have acted individually and as part of a conspiracy to plan and commit genocide by instigating Hutus to kill Tutsis in the area of Gikongoro , as director of the Groupe Scolaire Marie Merci college in Kibeho . '' He is accused of `` participating in meetings with government and military authorities which allegedly planned the extermination of the Tutsi ethnic group '' and `` complicity in the massacre of some 80 students in May 1994 in the college which he headed . '' Uwayezu arrived in Italy in 1997 , took an alias , and was working as a vicar at the Church in Empoli commune near Florence when he was seized , Interpol said . The man was identified after Interpol 's fugitives unit received information and pictures from Rwandan authorities . The Archdiocese of Florence issued a statement about the arrest two days ago , saying it hopes the justice system will come up with the truth about the case . But , it said , `` we stand by the fact that Don Emmanuel has always declared his estrangement to the events in question and we accompany him in prayers . '' One Italian news report noted that Uwayezu is a priest of Hutu ethnicity and lived and worked as vice-parish priest in Ponzano , part of the county of Empoli . Don Guido Engels , the head of the parish and a priest , told the ASCA news agency that `` Don Emmanuel never cultivated feelings towards another ethnic group . He always wanted peace . '' `` The arrest of Uwayezu demonstrates the power and effectiveness of international co-operation between police worldwide in obtaining information in relation to the identification , location and apprehension of fugitives around the world , '' said Jean-Michel Louboutin , Interpol 's executive director of police services . `` This operation is a credit to law enforcement officers and agencies in Italy and Rwanda . '' Two years ago , Interpol created a unit dedicated to searching for fugitives in the genocide who were wanted by Rwanda and the U.N.-sponsored International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda . So far , seven people wanted by Rwanda and five wanted by the tribunal have been arrested . Police in Uganda recently arrested and extradited a man who is among the most wanted suspects from the Rwandan genocide . Idelphonse Nizeyimana was picked up at a hotel in Rubaga , a suburb of the capital , Kampala . The arrest , by Ugandan police , was part of an operation between the tribunal , Ugandan authorities , and Interpol . Nizeyimana was transferred Tuesday to a U.N. detention facility in Arusha , Tanzania , where the tribunal is based . The 1994 Rwandan genocide left an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus dead over a 100-day period , the United Nations and Interpol say . Millions more were raped and disfigured , and nearly an entire generation of children lost their parents . | Emmanuel Uwayezu accused of genocide , crimes against humanity . Alleged to be part of a conspiracy to kill Tutsis in area of Gikongoro , Rwanda . Uwayezu arrived in Italy in 1997 , took an alias , and was working as a priest . Was identified after Interpol received information and pictures from Rwanda . | [[602, 609], [612, 614], [617, 639], [829, 938], [829, 832], [951, 966], [988, 1027], [967, 1027], [1151, 1186], [1193, 1263], [175, 180], [189, 213], [1360, 1392], [1360, 1367], [1395, 1408], [1360, 1367], [1409, 1483], [1550, 1637]] |
Port-au-Prince , Haiti -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Breathlessly , they came , carrying suitcases , plastic bags and just about anything that would hold the few belongings they still had . Thousands of Haitian people , most of them homeless , have flooded the port , hoping for a ticket to hope , on board a ferry , being paid for by the Haitian government . This ferry , the Trois Rivieres , is headed for Port Jeremie on Haiti 's far western tip , far away from the hopelessness that has become Port-au-Prince . `` The government gave us 1500 gallons of fuel to go back to Jeremie to evacuate more people , '' said Roger Rouzier , director general of Marinetec , the ferry boat owner . Anaika Clement has been here three days with her mother and her friend . Their homes have been destroyed . She and the others wait at a filthy wharf , littered with garbage and human feces , with cracks in the ground , from the day the earth moved in Haiti , last week . In creole , Anaika told CNN 's Ivan Watson that they came here after Wednesday morning 's 5.9 aftershock . `` I do n't know how many days we 're going to stay here , '' said Anaika . Wednesday 's seismic rattle appeared to have pushed desperate people into action . For some , it did n't matter where the ferry would take them , as long as it left Port-au-Prince . With the USNS Comfort , a hospital ship in sight of them , mothers , fathers , children , infants , and their belongings , packed themselves into small , overcrowded row boats . Latest updates l Full coverage l Twitter . In the words of one man , `` All of our hopes are with the international community . We are not able to sustain ourselves , '' he said . Many of the rowboats sat with too many people , too low in the water , and had the look of a potentially new tragedy . They would row about a mile , to the Trois Rivieres ferry , which was docked at the other end of the port . The owner docked it far away so that people could not board it , while it sat awaiting fuel from the government . iReport : Search list for missing and found . `` First of all I have to put fuel on board . And I would prefer to put fuel on board before the people get in , '' said Roger Rouzier , the ferry boat owner . `` It 's a little bit dangerous while you are refueling to have people on board , '' he said . Seeing the ferry boat , the people used the row boats to make their way out to the ferry , to board themselves . Once there , they climbed up the side of the boat , and designed their own assembly line of people to help pass luggage , and children , from one person to the other , on board the ferryboat . CNN witnessed one infant passed up along a sea of hands from their dinghy all the way to the top of the ferryboat . iReport : Are you there ? `` No one is helping us with crowd control here . No one . We do n't have any help from no one . Even from the government , '' said ferry owner , Roger Rouzier . `` The government gave us fuel and told us to evacuate people to Jeremie and that 's it , '' he said . CNN watched as one lone Haitian coast guard vessel tried to approach the ferryboat to curtail the rowboaters , but they were quickly overpowered by the sea of people fleeing . The ferry 's owner told CNN his ferry is licensed to carry 600 people , but on the last trip to Port Jeremie , there were over 3000 onboard . With no serious crowd control and no lifeboats on board , Rouzier 's only option to stop the crowds , is to leave . `` They 'll do anything to get on the boat . And then it becomes very , very dangerous , '' he said . CNN took their own rowboat onto the Trois Rivieres , and saw a boat , slowly filling with the desperate refugees . They all appeared to relax once onboard . Perhaps , now they can begin to have hope about tomorrow . | Thousands of Haitians try to board government ship to Port Jeremie on Haiti 's far western tip . Families packing themselves into small , overcrowded row boats to try and reach offshore ship . People climbed up sides of boat , passing belongings , children up the side . Ferry owner on desperate Haitians : `` They 'll do anything to get on the boat '' | [[179, 206], [257, 276], [349, 359], [372, 437], [1437, 1491], [1672, 1740], [2338, 2402], [2427, 2437], [2440, 2476], [2620, 2735], [2634, 2701], [2886, 2905], [3462, 3505]] |
New York -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- More than 80 Michael Jackson collectibles -- including the late pop star 's famous rhinestone-studded glove from a 1983 performance -- were auctioned off Saturday , reaping a total $ 2 million . Profits from the auction at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York 's Times Square crushed pre-sale expectations of only $ 120,000 in sales . The highly prized memorabilia , which included items spanning the many stages of Jackson 's career , came from more than 30 fans , associates and family members , who contacted Julien 's Auctions to sell their gifts and mementos of the singer . Jackson 's flashy glove was the big-ticket item of the night , fetching $ 420,000 from a buyer in Hong Kong , China . Jackson wore the glove at a 1983 performance during `` Motown 25 , '' an NBC special where he debuted his revolutionary moonwalk . Fellow Motown star Walter `` Clyde '' Orange of the Commodores , who also performed in the special 26 years ago , said he asked for Jackson 's autograph at the time , but Jackson gave him the glove instead . `` The legacy that -LSB- Jackson -RSB- left behind is bigger than life for me , '' Orange said . `` I hope that through that glove people can see what he was trying to say in his music and what he said in his music . '' Orange said he plans to give a portion of the proceeds to charity . Hoffman Ma , who bought the glove on behalf of Ponte 16 Resort in Macau , paid a 25 percent buyer 's premium , which was tacked onto all final sales over $ 50,000 . Winners of items less than $ 50,000 paid a 20 percent premium . Darren Julien , president and CEO of Julien 's Auctions , said people were hungry for such tokens of Jackson 's life , as evidenced by the 3,500 who registered as bidders for the auction . `` Michael was very generous , '' Julien said . `` If you were friends with Michael Jackson or an important part of his life , occasionally he would give something away , and that 's a very big reason that these things got out in the public . '' A signature black synthetic blend jacket from Jackson 's 16-month Bad World Tour , his first concert tour as a solo artist , sold for $ 270,000 . Featuring black straps with silver buckles and zippers , the jacket came to symbolize Jackson 's `` Bad '' era . Tori Renza , whose father bought her the Bad jacket when she was just 4 years old , said she grew up singing and dancing to Jackson 's songs around her house . `` It just became part of our family , '' said Renza , who planned to use the money from the auction to pay back student loans . Jackson 's famed fedora , which he sported at the 1995 MTV Music Awards , sold for $ 73,800 . It was one of three hats Jackson wore during a 10-minute medley before hurling it into the crowd . The hat was auctioned at a charity event that year , and the letter of verification is signed `` Lisa Marie Presley Jackson , '' the daughter of Elvis Presley who was married to Jackson for nearly two years . `` To my knowledge , there were not a lot of letters that she signed with her full name , '' Julien said . Handwritten lyrics of the 1983 smash hit `` Beat It , '' which Jackson scribbled on a piece of white paper , went for $ 60,000 . One of the more bizarre items up for bidding , an upper mold used to fit Jackson with animal fangs for the 1983 video for `` Thriller , '' sold for more than $ 10,000 . The auction also allowed the world to see photographs of Jackson engaged in simple activities , like driving . His 1985 Mercedes-Benz 500 SEL , which he ultimately gave to an aunt as a birthday gift , was auctioned for $ 104,500 . `` What 's even more significant is that we have photos of Michael driving the car , '' Julien said . `` When have you seen Michael driving a car ? He was always chauffeured or driven . '' There were also a number of autographed photos , as well as signed books , collectibles and artwork . Even Jackson 's doodles and sketches of the likes of Frankenstein , Mickey Mouse and Charlie Chaplin were up for sale . Lee Tompkins , a renowned pencil artist who said he came to know Jackson in the early 1980s and owns approximately 75 of Jackson 's artworks , auctioned two of Jackson 's pieces : one of a vagabond and the other of Charlie Chaplin . They sold for $ 20,000 and $ 33,280 respectively . `` He 's more than just a singer and dancer . He was an artist first , '' Thompkins said . Before Saturday 's auction , the items were exhibited in Santiago , Chile ; Dublin , Ireland ; and Tokyo , Japan , where crowds lined up for hours get a glimpse of them , Julien said . `` Michael Jackson is looking down and has to be happy , '' he said after the auction , adding , `` We lost an icon . '' | Among items auctioned Saturday : jacket , song lyrics , sketches , dental mold . Famous rhinestone-studded glove fetched $ 420,000 . Hat 's letter of verification signed by Jackson 's ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley . | [[0, 24], [148, 159], [163, 190], [602, 625], [665, 709], [2809, 2875]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- World champion race driver Jenson Button has joined the McLaren Formula One team , McLaren announced Wednesday . The jump to powerhouse McLaren -- already the home of previous world champion Lewis Hamilton -- creates the first team to start a season with the two previous world champions racing together , McLaren said . British media reports said the deal was worth $ 30 million over three years . Both Button , 29 , and Hamilton , 24 , are British . Button visited McLaren headquarters earlier this month as he was being lured to the team , he said in a statement Wednesday . `` It was n't simply the technical resources and the incredible standards of excellence that impressed me , '' Button said . `` I was equally struck by the ambition , the motivation and the winning spirit that flow through everybody there . And then there 's the team 's epic history : put it this way , the trophy cabinets seem to stretch for miles . '' The Guardian newspaper reported that Button 's former team , Brawn GP , offered to double Button 's salary to keep the driver for 2010 , but the terms were rejected . News of the decision coincides with an official announcement from German carmaker Mercedes-Benz that their allegiance has moved from McLaren to Brawn ; the current champion constructors will compete under the Mercedes banner next season . Button 's switch comes after news that former world champion Kimi Raikkonen will not race in Formula One in 2010 , after failing to secure a team . The Finn 's manager , David Robertson , told the BBC he had been trying to secure a deal with McLaren for the former Ferrari driver but the offer had not been enough for the 30-year-old to sign . It seems Raikkonen will now turn his attention to the World Rally Championship instead : `` It was n't in his interests to race for what -LSB- McLaren -RSB- were offering so he 's going to go rallying , '' Robertson said . What do you think of Button 's move ? Have your say in our Sound Off below . | Jenson Button signs a three-year deal with McLaren according to British media reports . Button visited McLaren headquarters earlier this month as he was being lured to the team . Former world champion Kimi Raikkonen will not race in Formula One in 2010 . | [[0, 15], [46, 99], [471, 559], [1358, 1470], [1397, 1470], [1473, 1505]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A controversial policy that limits the amount of time NATO troops can hold Afghan detainees is under review by U.S. Defense Department officials , a spokesman for the department told CNN . The review of what 's known as the `` 96-hour rule '' is under way as CNN questioned whether the policy was putting soldiers in danger . Under the rule , NATO troops have 96 hours to either turn over detainees to Afghan authorities or release them -- a rule put in effect to avoid Abu Ghraib-like offenses . `` We are currently reviewing the 96-hour rule , but have yet to make decisions about how we wish to proceed in light of some of the obvious problems associated with it , '' Geoff Morrell , deputy assistant secretary of defense , told CNN in a statement . `` As soon as we have something concrete to say about our way ahead with respect to this aspect of detainee operations , we will of course share it with the Afghan government , our allies in the fight and , of course , the public at large . '' NATO forces fighting in Afghanistan have operated under the 96-hour rule since December 2005 . But soldiers interviewed by CNN said it could put them in danger because it forces them to release detainees in a short time span . The rule , contained in a directive outlining International Security Assistance Force detention policies , resulted from consultations with U.S. military and Afghan commanders , said James Appathurai , spokesman for NATO . CNN 's Abbie Boudreau 's blog : At the 96th hour . `` We have to balance the requirement for protecting our soldiers with the reality that Afghanistan is a sovereign country , that there must be limits on the time we can detain Afghans before handing them over to Afghan authorities , '' Appathurai said . `` The Afghan authorities can also talk with detainees to extract information . It is not as though the interrogation needs to end when we hand them over to the Afghan authorities . '' Gen. David Petraeus , the commander of U.S. Central Command , however , said he was not convinced that 96 hours was enough time -- particularly for high-value targets . `` Ninety-six hours is not enough if you are going to ensure that they stay behind bars , obviously , '' he told CNN after a question and answer session in Atlanta . `` Again , there has to be a process by which the individuals that need to be detained are detained , or that if they 're handed off to Afghan officials that there 's confidence in the system working . '' Appathurai announced the rule in December 2005 . At CNN 's request , NATO compiled statistics on what has happened to detainees since the agency began keeping such records in 2006 . Under the 96-hour rule , about one in four detainees has been released . U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham , R-South Carolina , who was in Afghanistan last year and who is a colonel in the Air Force Reserve , said the rule puts soldiers in danger . `` The one story I hear told over and over and over again -LSB- is -RSB- ` Senator Graham , this policy makes no sense . It is putting our folks at risk for no higher purpose . It needs to change , ' '' Graham said . `` So the level of frustration is now turning to anger , and quite frankly , here 's what 's going to start happening -- we 're going to take less prisoners . They 're going to start shooting these folks . '' Graham said he is not satisfied about how the rule was first implemented . `` I 've been asking for months now , ` Who the hell made this rule up ? Why did you pick 96 hours versus 80 hours or a hundred hours ? What 's the source document ? What analysis went into whether or not this is an effective tool to deal with problems that we have in Afghanistan ? ' '' he said . `` I ca n't get anyone to tell me how this thing was formed , whose idea it was and how it became policy . '' The case of Roger Hill , a former Army captain who received a general discharge for his role in the questioning of 12 detainees , prompted CNN 's investigation of the 96-hour rule . Those 12 men had worked on his base in Afghanistan , including one who was his trusted interpreter . Hill was the commander in charge of the Wardak Province in eastern Afghanistan for much of 2008 . He said he feared the enemy was tracking his every move and suspected an inside threat . `` Out of a 90-man company , we had 30 wounded , to include two killed in action , '' he said . He told CNN that his headquarters sent a team to the base to detect possible spies . The team screened cell phone activity to find out which Afghan civilians working on the base might be working for the Taliban . `` It turned out that it was n't just one or two or three , but we actually had a full dozen , '' Hill said . Hill 's trusted interpreter was one of them . Angry and frustrated that the interpreter might be sabotaging missions , Hill detained all 12 men in a small building on the base . When he took the men in the building , the 96-hour countdown began . The rule is designed to give the Afghan government control over detainees and avoid abuses like what happened at the Iraqi prison Abu Ghraib in Baghdad . But Hill said the rule does not work , and many times dangerous suspects are released because there 's not enough time to gather evidence . The other problem , he said , was that the evidence against the 12 men was too sensitive to hand over to the Afghans . Hill was ordered not to share classified intelligence with the Afghans for fear it could be used against U.S. soldiers in future battles . `` So we 're in this Catch-22 , where they 're saying , ` Hey we 'll take these guys off your hands , but give us the evidence , ' '' Hill said . `` And I 'm saying , ' I ca n't do that because there are technologies and techniques utilized that I ca n't sacrifice for this one particular case that will be used again in a fight later on . ' ` Well , if you ca n't give us the evidence , then we ca n't take these guys off your hands . ' So , the clock continues to tick . '' As the clock ticked toward the 96-hour NATO deadline , Hill made a decision that would cost him his military career . `` I decided that I needed to break protocol and interrogate them myself , '' he said . `` I took three gentlemen outside , sat them down , walked away , and fired my weapon into the ground three times , hoping that the men inside , left to their own imagination , would think that they really needed to talk . '' Hill walked back inside . `` And sure enough , some of the detainees started to talk , '' Hill said . What the detainees told him was enough to convince the Afghans to take all 12 men into custody , including Hill 's interpreter . Hill said he felt he had made the correct decision to protect his soldiers , but the Army charged him with detainee abuse , leading to his discharge from the military . And the 12 men ended up being released , despite the confessions , according to Army investigators . No one knows where they are now and what they 're doing . | Roger Hill , a former Army captain , was discharged after a mock execution of Afghan detainees . NATO has 96-hour rule for detention of suspects . U.S. military is reviewing policy ; some say suspects get released too soon . The full investigation on AC 360 tonight at 10 p.m. ET . | [[6736, 6744], [6779, 6823], [208, 211], [222, 258], [208, 344], [345, 359], [362, 455], [1016, 1110], [5995, 6044], [94, 163]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Former `` Manson Family '' member Susan Atkins , who stabbed actress Sharon Tate to death more than 40 years ago and now is terminally ill , was denied parole Wednesday , prison officials said . Susan Atkins , shown here after her indictment in the Manson murders , was denied parole again Wednesday . The parole hearing was the 13th for Atkins , 61 , who is battling terminal brain cancer . Held at the Central California Women 's Facility in Chowchilla , California , the hearing stretched to more than six hours . The panel set another hearing for Atkins in three years , said Michele Kane , spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation . Atkins was 21 when she and other followers of Charles Manson participated in a two-night rampage that left seven people dead and terrorized the city of Los Angeles in August 1969 . She and the others -- Manson , Leslie Van Houten , Patricia Krenwinkel and Charles `` Tex '' Watson -- were initially sentenced to death in the slayings of five people , including Tate , and two additional deaths the following night . Their sentences were automatically commuted to life in prison when the Supreme Court struck down the nation 's death penalty laws in 1972 . Watch Atkins , victims ' kin speak '' By her own admission , Atkins , known as Sadie Mae Glutz within the Manson family , held Tate down as she pleaded for mercy , and stabbed the actress 16 times . Tate was eight months pregnant . In a 1993 parole board hearing , Atkins said Tate `` asked me to let her baby live . ... I told her I did n't have any mercy on her . '' After killing Tate , according to historical accounts of the slayings , Atkins scrawled the word `` pig '' in blood on the door of the home Tate shared with her husband , director Roman Polanski . Polanski was not home , but three of Tate 's house guests were also slain by the killers , as was a teenager who was visiting the home 's caretaker in his nearby cottage . In an interview scheduled to air Friday on CNN 's `` Larry King Live , '' Linda Kasabian , a former Manson follower who was the prosecution 's star witness against Manson and Atkins , recounted the Tate slayings . Watch Kasabian recall killings '' `` I started hearing like horrible screaming and I started running toward the house and Sadie came running out and I just looked at her and I said , ` Sadie , please make it stop , ' '' Kasabian said . `` And she said , ' I ca n't . It 's too late . ' ... It was unreal . It was so real that it was unreal . '' On whether she asked Atkins and the others why they were killing , Kasabian said , `` It was n't that kind of a scenario . All that I said was , ` Sadie , make it stop . ' '' For her safety , Kasabian asked to wear a disguise during the interview , which was conducted last month . As of earlier this year , Atkins was paralyzed over 85 percent of her body and could not sit up in bed or be moved into a wheelchair , according to a Web site maintained by her husband and attorney , James Whitehouse . She has been described as a model prisoner who has accepted responsibility for her role in the slayings and now shuns Manson . But Tate 's sister , Debra Tate , told CNN in an e-mail in March that she does not think any Manson family member convicted of murder should ever be set free , saying the slayings were `` so vicious , so inhumane , so depraved , that there is no turning back . '' `` The ` Manson Family ' murderers are sociopaths , and from that , they can never be rehabilitated , '' Tate said . `` They should all stay right where they are -- in prison -- until they die . There will never be true justice for my sister Sharon and the other victims of the ` Manson Family . ' Keeping the murderers in prison is the least we , as a society who values justice , can do . '' In a manuscript posted on her Web site , Atkins wrote that `` this is the past I have to live with , and I have to live with it every day . '' `` Unlike the reader , or the people who seem to think Charles Manson was cool , I ca n't think about it for an hour or so and then go on with my life . Just like the families and friends of the victims , this is with me every day . I have to wake up every day with this and , no matter what I do for the rest of my life and no matter how much I give back to the community , I will never be able to replace what my crime took away . And that 's not ` neat , ' and that 's not ` cool . ' '' Atkins ' brain cancer was diagnosed in March 2008 , Whitehouse wrote on his Web site . On May 15 , doctors predicted she would live less than six months . But she passed that deadline , he wrote , and celebrated her 21st wedding anniversary on December 7 . | Susan Atkins held Sharon Tate down and stabbed the pregnant actress 16 times . Parole hearing was the 13th for Atkins , who is battling terminal brain cancer . The panel set another hearing for Atkins in three years . | [[53, 65], [72, 87], [1309, 1315], [1416, 1446], [321, 363], [357, 363], [369, 370], [375, 410], [536, 591]] |
NEW YORK -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The son of the late Gambino family crime boss John Gotti is set to stand trial in federal court in New York on Monday on murder and racketeering charges that could put him in prison for life if he is convicted . ` Junior ' Gotti 's lawyer , Charles Carnesi , talks with reporters outside the federal courthouse . Three previous racketeering trials against John `` Junior '' Gotti , 45 , have ended in mistrials in New York . The government says it has learned since his previous trial , `` that Gotti had participated in three murders , that Gotti had run a multi-million dollar cocaine trafficking network , that Gotti had overseen a systematic effort to tamper with trial juries , grand juries and witnesses , and that Gotti had participated in various other violent crimes , '' according to court documents filed by prosecutors . The defense claims the newest round of charges is part of the government 's ongoing quest to convict Gotti . The current case was moved to New York in December from Florida , where the original indictment was handed up . A superseding indictment was filed in the case on August 3 . In the first indictment , Gotti was only charged with violating the federal Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act , or RICO . The superseding indictment formally charged Gotti with the drug-related murders of two men -- allegations mentioned as part of the first indictment -- along with the RICO charge . The RICO law is used to target organized crime groups -- in this case , the Gambino crime family . Gotti 's defense attorneys , however , allege in court filings that `` the prosecution has engaged in a ` win at all costs ' campaign riddled with misconduct . '' `` The prosecution charges the same conspiracy , albeit with new garnishments , '' said one filing from July . `` After having received frustrating results in three separate trials , the case was hijacked to the Middle District of Florida in a shameful attempt to forum shop or judge shop or both . '' Federal prosecutors , meanwhile , say in court filings that Gotti 's allegations he is a victim of a government vendetta are unfounded . Since Gotti 's previous trials , prosecutors maintain , they have `` uncovered extensive new evidence of Gotti 's criminal conduct in the course of investigating and prosecuting another Gambino family captain . '' The indictment alleges that Gotti was at times an `` associate , soldier , captain and de facto boss '' in the Gambino family , and also served on a `` committee of captains '' formed in the early 1990s to assist in family administration . `` The principal purpose of the GCF -LRB- Gambino crime family -RRB- Enterprise was to generate money ... for the GCF Enterprise members , '' the indictment says . `` This purpose was implemented , '' the indictment continued , `` through various criminal activities , including criminal acts involving the felonious manufacturing , importing , receiving , concealing , buying , selling and otherwise dealing in narcotics and other dangerous drugs , extortion , armed and unarmed robbery , armed home invasions , illegal gambling , extortionate credit transactions , theft and bribery . '' To further their activities , family members threatened and caused economic injury , the indictment says , as well as threatening and using physical violence `` ranging from simple assault to murder . '' The two murders Gotti is charged with are those of George Grosso , who died in December 1988 in Queens , and Bruce John Gotterup , slain in November 1991 in Queens . The indictment also accuses Gotti in connection with a third murder , that of Louis DiBono in October 1990 in the parking garage of the former World Trade Center , but does not allege that murder was drug-related . Although the murder charges carry a potential death sentence , prosecutors have said they will not seek the death penalty against Gotti . The trial will be the latest chapter in a long legal saga . In late 2006 , a third mistrial was declared in a federal case against Gotti on charges including racketeering and extortion . Prosecutors said they would not retry Gotti , who was accused of ordering attacks on radio talk show host Curtis Sliwa after the Guardian Angels founder criticized Gotti 's father on his program . Sliwa was shot three times but recovered and testified against the younger Gotti . At the time of Gotti 's arrest in August 2008 on the latest charges , his attorney , Charles Carnesi , told reporters he `` was very disappointed to have to go through all this again . '' Carnesi continued , `` You can imagine the toll it took on him and his family to have to fight three times in the course of a year , to feel that , OK , perhaps it 's over ... because the government itself came to the conclusion , no more . It 's very disheartening for him to be back here again . '' Gotti 's father , John Gotti Sr. , was nicknamed the `` Teflon Don '' because prosecutors had trouble making charges against him stick . He died in prison of throat cancer in 2002 . | Junior Gotti , son of late `` Teflon Don , '' set to go on trial in federal court . Gotti is accused of racketeering , participating in two drug murders . Original indictment was filed in Tampa , Florida ; case moved to New York . Gotti 's lawyers say case is part of government effort to convict him at any cost . | [[0, 24], [74, 180], [0, 24], [74, 180], [1278, 1368], [3407, 3471], [970, 1033], [1026, 1033], [1036, 1081], [861, 950], [919, 969], [1557, 1583], [1596, 1716]] |
Washington -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The White House on Friday began releasing the names of visitors as part of a Barack Obama campaign promise to run a more transparent administration . Last month , Norm Eisen , special counsel to the president for ethics and government reform , said records of White House visitors would be made available to the public on an ongoing basis beginning in December . `` We will achieve our goal of making this administration the most open and transparent administration in history not only by opening the doors of the White House to more Americans , but by shining a light on the business conducted inside it , '' he said . `` Americans have a right to know whose voices are being heard in the policymaking process . '' As part of that initiative , he offered to look back at records from before the announcement . Eisen said Friday that 110 disclosure requests from September have been processed , yielding nearly 500 visitor records that have been posted on the White House Web site . Since the release covers only those records that are at least 90 days old , the first records cover January 20 to July 31 . `` This first release is only the latest in a series of unprecedented steps by the president to increase openness in government , '' Eisen said . Given that up to 100,000 people visit the White House each month , the names published Friday included people with some very familiar names -- including William Ayers , Michael Jordan , Michael Moore , Jeremiah Wright and R. Kelly -- that did not belong to their more famous counterparts , he said . `` The well-known individuals with those names never actually came to the White House , '' Eisen said . The names can be seen at www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/disclosures/visitor-records . | During his campaign , Barack Obama promised to run a more transparent administration . Records of visitors will be available on an ongoing basis beginning in December . Up to 100,000 people visit the White House each month . | [[0, 26], [56, 128], [105, 179], [1216, 1264], [274, 368], [1283, 1314], [1300, 1347]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- It 's just one thing after another for Richard and Mayumi Heene . They 've caused such an uproar after last week 's alleged balloon boy hoax that Lifetime wo n't air a re-run of their `` Wife Swap '' episode . The Heene family 's `` Wife Swap '' episode has been pulled from Lifetime 's programming schedule . Those who pay close attention to TV Guide would have noticed that the Heene family 's first episode for the ABC reality show was scheduled to air on Lifetime on Thursday , October 29 , at 2 p.m. ET . `` It was on the schedule long before the incident , '' a Lifetime spokesperson said . The incident refers to the giant , homemade balloon that sailed over Colorado on Thursday , purportedly carrying 6-year-old Falcon Heene . The bubble burst when authorities discovered Falcon had been hiding in a box in the attic . During an interview with CNN 's Wolf Blitzer , the Heene 's asked Falcon why he did n't come out as they searched for him , and the boy replied , `` You guys said we did it for a show . '' That triggered an investigation that revealed the frightful incident was a hoax , police said . Richard and Mayumi Heene are now facing a number of local charges , and the Federal Aviation Administration has begun its own balloon boy investigation , officials said . As a result , Lifetime has decided to erase the family 's `` Wife Swap '' past from the network . `` Once we found out '' -LSB- it was allegedly a hoax -RSB- , the spokesperson said , `` we decided to pull it off the air . At this time , we do n't have any plans to air it in the near future . '' The episode depicted Karen Martel , whose husband runs a child-proofing business , as being shocked `` as the Heene kids jump off banisters and run wild , and appalled by Richard 's attitude to women , '' according to the description on ABC 's Web site . `` Wife Swap '' asks its participants to switch places for two weeks . `` Meanwhile , at the Martels ' , '' the description continued , `` Mayumi Heene sees safety gates everywhere and wonders how the family -LSB- has -RSB- fun . She asks the kids about their anxieties and confronts Jay about the climate of fear in his house . '' Lifetime plans on filling the time slot with a `` Wife Swap '' episode that features another family , but rest assured , the Heene 's reality TV debut can still be found on YouTube . | Lifetime had scheduled a Heene `` Wife Swap '' episode for October 29 . It was scheduled long before the balloon boy incident , a spokesperson says . Now that hoax allegations have surfaced , network removes the episode . | [[329, 528], [395, 498], [2187, 2257], [532, 579], [229, 328], [1317, 1400]] |
SANTO DOMINGO , Dominican Republic -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- You 've got your spot on a lounge chair angled into the hot Caribbean sun , with tall , slender palm trees jutting out over your head . As you gaze at the calm turquoise waters and sip that refreshing rum drink , you may ask yourself , `` What more could I possibly want ? '' Visitors can climb the tower at Fortaleza Ozama for a view over the rooftops and out to sea . For many travelers to the Dominican Republic , that chair -- usually secluded inside a mega all-inclusive resort complex -- is the sole destination . And do n't get me wrong , it 's a great one . The Dominican Republic 's stretches of sand are some of the best on the planet . But if you never leave the high walls of your tourist compound , you 're missing out on a gem of a capital city . Santo Domingo is the New World 's first city , with 16th-century buildings , quaint colonial streets , romantic ruins and a lively atmosphere . All you need is a full day to experience the city 's architecture , culture and food . Plus , it 's only a $ 9 coach bus ride from Punta Cana . So when you begin to tire of the antics of the `` animation team '' at the resort , and the color of your skin starts to resemble the papaya or watermelon you 're eating , consider a short trip to Santo Domingo . Founded soon after Christopher Columbus set foot in the New World , and run by his son Diego , the city became the colonial capital of the Americas and launch pad for further Spanish expeditions . Despite several raids by pirates , the oldest section of town remains largely intact . Known as the Zona Colonial , it contains many European `` firsts '' in the Western Hemisphere including the first street , cathedral , hospital and university . How to see it all in a day . Start at the heart of the zone , Parque Colón , a square that borders the cathedral and is always full of life . You can sit and watch children chase pigeons as you gaze up at the simple beauty of the oldest cathedral in the Americas . Next , head over to the oldest fortress in the New World , Fortaleza Ozama , built in the early 1500s . There you can climb the tower for a view over the rooftops and out to sea . Back on street level , walk up a couple blocks to the expansive Plaza España , site of two museums and a hangout for locals , especially in the evening , when kids crisscross the square on scooters or fly kites , and couples sit quietly together . The Museo de las Casas Reales and the Alcázar de Colón -- Diego Columbus ' palace -- show you how the wealthy Spanish lived when they came to the early colonies and provide some history of the island 's colonization -- all for a buck or two . Next , head over to a pair of impressive ruins . Gaze up at the towering walls and arches of the Americas ' first hospital , Hospital de San Nicolás de Bari . Then , just up a picturesque bend in the road lined with colorful houses , you 'll find the large ruins of Monasterio de San Francisco . Pirate attacks and earthquakes brought down the monastery . The hospital was merely abandoned in the 18th century , and later dismantled for safety . Now let yourself wander a bit through the streets , checking out the colorful surprises around every colonial corner . You 'll discover the varied architecture of people 's homes , and get a view into Dominican city life . In just a few blocks , I ran across a pickup game of baseball , the national sport and passion , in the middle of the street , with adults using just a broom handle and roll of tape ; several `` kiddie '' pools in the streets , where both children and adults were cooling off in the afternoon heat ; and a handful of corner parks alive with activity . After exploring , your final destination is the zone 's main drag , Calle El Conde . This pedestrian-only street is the place to shop . You 'll find street sellers hawking colorful artwork ; music stores to pick up that merengue and bachata music you 've heard blaring out of everyone 's stereos ; and jewelry shops featuring native amber and the sky-blue stone larimar found only in the Dominican Republic . By now , you 've certainly worked up an appetite walking in the hot sun . Parque Colón and Plaza España each have a row of chic sidewalk cafés , although they 're a bit pricey and touristy . Consider wandering a bit through some side streets to find a more local establishment , where you can feast on typical cuisine such as la bandera dominicana -LRB- a red beans and rice dish -RRB- , several stews , fried plantains or yucca and delicious tropical fruits . And if you still feel like dancing the night away , hop in a taxi to the Malecón , Santo Domingo 's seafront boulevard , where the large hotels have popular dance clubs pumping merengue until the wee hours of the morning . The bus ride . Getting to the capital city from the beach areas is cheap and relatively easy . Expreso Bávaro runs from the Punta Cana area for $ 9 in an air-conditioned and comfy coach bus . On your four-hour ride , you 'll get a glimpse of some smaller Dominican towns , a towering modern cathedral , distant mountains and vast sugarcane fields . Metro and Caribe Tours provide similar services from the beaches on the north coast around Puerto Plata . The buses to/from Punta Cana do n't run long into the evening -LRB- they leave each side at 7 a.m. , 10 a.m. , 2 p.m. , and 4 p.m. -RRB- , so you 'll want to make this an overnight trip . The Zona Colonial has several boutique hotels that are quaint , clean and reasonably priced . You could even arrange to fly out of Santo Domingo 's Las Americas airport , rather than Punta Cana . | Santo Domingo , the Dominican Republic 's capital , was the New World 's first city . Explore 16th-century buildings , colonial streets , romantic ruins and Dominican city life . Cheap , comfortable buses connect to the city from beach areas . | [[815, 958], [815, 958], [867, 889], [892, 958], [2697, 2701], [2704, 2745], [3143, 3192], [3262, 3265], [3328, 3365], [1046, 1050], [1053, 1102], [4826, 4874], [4826, 4905], [4906, 5002]] |
ISLAMABAD , Paksitan -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- At least 41 people were killed and dozens wounded in a blast Monday at a security forces checkpoint in northwest Pakistan , authorities said . A girl places flowers at a shrine to army soldiers killed by militants who stormed Pakistan 's army HQ . About 45 people were injured in the explosion in the Shangla district in the volatile Swat Valley , said Syed Altaf Hussein , a senior government official in the area . The explosion targeted a military vehicle , officials said . The blast is the latest in a string of attacks in the country . On Saturday , militants attacked the army headquarters in Rawalpindi , killing 11 military personnel and three civilians , according to the Pakistani military 's press office . Nine militants died in the attack . A total of 39 hostages were freed Sunday morning after being held by five militants at the army headquarters . In a news conference Monday , the top spokesman for the Pakistani military said Saturday 's attack was planned by the Taliban based in South Waziristan . Gen. Athar Abbas said intelligence agents intercepted a phone call in which Pakistani Taliban commander Wali-ur Rehman was informed about the start of the attack . Rehman responded by calling for a prayer for the operation to succeed , Abbas said . Abbas said the leader of the operation , who was captured alive , is from Pakistan 's Punjab province . Four other militants were from Punjab as well . Five others were from South Waziristan . During the standoff , two of the militants held 22 hostages in a small room , Abbas said . One of the militants wore a suicide vest connected to a mine and a bomb . He sat in the middle of the 22 hostages . Abbas said this room was the focus of the operation and security forces were successful in storming the room and killing the militant with the suicide vest before he could detonate his bombs . Military officials said they have tightened security around army headquarters . The attacks will not deter Pakistan from launching an offensive in South Waziristan , the Interior Ministry said . South Waziristan is one of seven districts in Pakistan 's tribal region along the Afghan border . Intelligence analysts consider it a haven for Islamic militants who have launched attacks in Pakistan and targeted U.S. forces in neighboring Afghanistan . A date for the offensive in the area has not been announced . The Shangla district east of Mingora is one of the areas where the military conducted search-and-destroy operations earlier this year . Troops targeted terrorist hideouts and reported the arrest of one militant leader and the death of another . Mingora is the largest city in the Swat Valley , where the Pakistani military is battling Taliban militants for control . CNN 's Reza Sayah contributed to this report . | 41 killed in blast at security checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan . Explosion occurs in the Shangla district in the volatile Swat Valley . Intercepted phone call tipped officials to Saturday 's attack , general says . Swat Valley has been scene of clashes with Taliban militants . | [[0, 9], [12, 36], [43, 70], [75, 161], [288, 385], [1060, 1121]] |
Dubai , United Arab Emirates -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Police announced 15 new suspects in the January killing of a Hamas leader at a Dubai hotel , bringing to 26 the number of people suspected of involvement in his death . Authorities previously had released a list of 11 suspects in the killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh , a founding member of Hamas ' military wing . Al-Mabhouh was found dead in his hotel room January 20 . Police believe he was killed the night before and suspect the Mossad , the secretive Israeli foreign intelligence unit , was behind his killing . Among the new suspects are six more people who allegedly used British passports in the commission of the crime , four others using Irish passports , two other French passport holders and three people , including a woman , traveling on Australian passports , police said in a statement Wednesday . The total number of suspects using British passports is now at 12 , police said , along with six Irish passport holders and four French passport holders . Another suspect using a German passport was announced earlier this month . The three Australian passports are new . `` Friendly nations who have been assisting in this investigation have indicated to the police in Dubai that the passports were issued in an illegal and fraudulent manner , adding that the pictures on the travel documents did not correspond to the original owners , '' the police statement said . Dubai authorities have informed Australia of the possible use of the three Australian passports , Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Thursday -LRB- Wednesday ET -RRB- in a statement to Parliament . The passports were issued in 2003 to Joshua Bruce , Adam Korman and Nicole McCabe , he said , adding that Australian officials have been cooperating with Dubai authorities . `` The Australian government is very gravely concerned that these Australian passports appear to have been used fraudulently , '' he said . Preliminary analysis shows that the passports `` appear to have been duplicated or altered , '' he said . `` At this stage , Australian officials have no information , no information to suggest that the three Australian passport holders were involved in any way , other than as victims of passport or identity fraud . '' He said he had told the Israeli ambassador to Australia , Yuval Rotem , that Australia expected Israeli authorities `` to cooperate fully and transparently with the Australian Federal Police investigation into this matter . '' The European Union earlier this week said it `` strongly condemns '' the use of false EU passports in connection with al-Mabhouh 's slaying . Officials have said the passports are not fake or forged but were authentic passports meant for other people . While authorities have not said how he died , al-Mabhouh 's family was told there were signs of electric shocks on his legs , behind his ears , on his genitals and over his heart . Blood on a pillow led police to believe he was suffocated , the family was told . The killers left some of al-Mabhouh 's medicine next to his bed in an apparent effort to suggest his death was not suspicious , police said . Police said Wednesday they have traced the suspects ' travel routes and their destinations before and after al-Mabhouh 's death . `` The suspects gathered in Dubai and dispersed to various locations before pairing up again in different teams and heading off to other destinations , '' the statement said . The Australians , for instance , are believed to have departed Dubai in a boat for Iran . Police released a diagram showing the travel routes . The suspects are believed to have departed Dubai for places including Paris , Hong Kong and Rome following al-Mabhouh 's death . In addition , police said in a statement that 14 of the suspects used credit cards issued by MetaBank , based in the U.S. state of Iowa , to book hotel rooms and pay for air travel . Payoneer , an online payment distribution service , issues the types of cards the suspects are said to have used through MetaBank . Someone `` loads '' the cards by paying Payoneer , which then contacts MetaBank to issue the card , according to Payoneer . `` We are aware of the news reports , '' Mary Kae Marinac , a spokeswoman for Payoneer , said Wednesday . `` We are cooperating with -LSB- MetaBank -RSB- and the authorities to explore the matter '' and identify the accounts . A spokeswoman for MetaBank confirmed the bank 's relationship with Payoneer and said the company is investigating the allegations . Meanwhile , the new list of 15 suspects `` includes people who offered prior logistical support and preparations to facilitate the crime and others who played a central role , '' police said . `` Dubai police investigators are not ruling out the possibility of involvement of other people in the murder . '' The 26 do not include two Palestinians arrested in Jordan earlier and returned to the UAE . In an interview Wednesday , Khairi Aloridi , the Palestinian ambassador to the United Arab Emirates , called al-Mabhouh 's death `` a major terrorist crime . '' The European Union is concerned the killers acquired passports and credit cards by swiping the identities of EU citizens , Baroness Catherine Ashton said Monday . She did not name Israel , although foreign ministers in countries whose passports were doctored called in Israeli ambassadors last week to discuss the issue . In Israel , as many as seven people whose names were on the travel documents said they have no knowledge of al-Mabhouh 's death . The British Foreign Office said Wednesday it was planning to contact the British citizens named by Dubai authorities as suspects -- because the passports bear their names -- and `` we will be offering them counselor services . `` We continue our investigation into this matter and repeat that we expect full cooperation from Israel in relation to this matter , '' the office said in a statement . Dubai 's police chief said Thursday he was `` 99 percent '' certain that the Mossad , the secretive Israeli foreign intelligence unit , is behind al-Mabhouh 's slaying . Hamas has called al-Mabhouh 's death an `` assassination . '' Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman , meanwhile , has said there is nothing more than `` media reports '' linking Israel to al-Mabhouh 's death . Asked if he believed the Mossad was responsible , Aloridi said Wednesday , `` All the evidence and the clues point to an Israeli involvement . '' In a report from the information office of the Ezzedeen al-Qassam Brigades , the armed wing of Hamas , senior Hamas leader Ismail Radwan said he believes Israel was behind the killing and called for `` the Zionist war criminals '' to be held accountable . CNN 's Paula Hancocks , Caroline Faraj , Saad Abedine and Hugh Williams contributed to this report . | NEW : Australian officials cooperate with Dubai authorities over passports . NEW : Police say MetaBank issued credit cards to suspects ; company says it 's investigating . NEW : Senior Hamas leader reported to say he believes Israel is behind killing . Dubai police name 15 new suspects in murder of Hamas official . | [[1721, 1728], [1731, 1810], [3788, 3837], [3930, 4050], [4402, 4428], [4482, 4533], [474, 484], [537, 561], [6286, 6328], [6338, 6376], [6475, 6549], [6578, 6662], [48, 95]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Manchester United are now just one point behind leaders Chelsea at the top of the English Premier League , after a double from in-form Wayne Rooney helped them to a comfortable 3-0 home win over West Ham on Tuesday evening . England striker Rooney , who is enjoying the best goalscoring run of his career , has now scored 27 goals this season , as well as finding the net in United 's last six league matches at Old Trafford . Former England striker Michael Owen added a late third goal , to ensure that United head into Sunday 's League Cup final against Aston Villa at Wembley in good heart . Rooney opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time , superbly converting a diving header from Antonio Valencia 's cross . And the 24-year-old doubled his advantage in similar vein in the second half , again finding space to head home another pin-point Valencia cross . West Ham arrived at Old Trafford on the back on consecutive victories that had seen them move away from the relegation zone , but they were always second best here and their fate was sealed when Owen netted his eighth goal of the season from a Paul Scholes through-pass . | Wayne Rooney scores twice as Manchester United defeat West Ham 3-0 . Michael Owen scores the other goal to help United claim a comfortable win . The result leaves United just a point behind Premier League leaders Chelsea . | [[132, 233], [446, 505], [508, 613], [0, 5], [19, 96]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- They say that breaking up is hard to do , especially when millions of eyes are there to witness every caustic comment and verbal volley . Kate and Jon Gosselin are going through a very public and contentious divorce . No one knows that better than Jon and Kate Gosselin , whose divorce is playing out on a world stage , complete with tabloid covers , he-said-she-said television appearances and court orders . Such public spats can do a great deal of harm , said divorce attorney Randall M. Kessler , who 's handled several celebrity cases . `` I just gave a presentation where I said , ` When can press hurt you ? It 's when clients start talking , ' '' Kessler said . `` The hard thing for -LSB- famous people -RSB- to do is to not speak out , because they are so used to everything they say being quoted and helping them , but this is the opposite . Talking about a divorce is never good . '' The Gosselins join a growing list of celebrities whose marital woes have been well-documented by the media and paparazzi . See a gallery of celebrity custody battles '' Kessler has represented quite a few clients involved in celebrity divorce cases , including Tameka Foster Raymond -LRB- who is in the midst of a divorce with superstar singer Usher -RRB- and rapper Mack 10 -LRB- ex-husband of TLC member Tionne `` T-Boz '' Watkins -RRB- , as well as some high-profile paternity and child support lawsuits . Celebrities often want to protect their reputations and the wrong sound bite can ruin that , Kessler said . Yet , at the same time , it can be difficult for the famous to take direction , he said . `` They are so used to being in charge of their own destiny and being able to decide what 's best for them that it 's very hard for them to listen to attorneys , accountants or anyone that is trying to advise them , '' Kessler said . Viewers have questioned who , if anyone , Jon and Kate Gosselin are taking cues from in their very public marital battle . In May , Kate defended her husband against rumors that he had been cheating on her and stepping out while she stayed home with their twins and sextuplets . Weeks later they used their enormously popular TLC reality show , `` Jon & Kate Plus 8 '' , to admit what fans had begun to suspect : Their marriage was on the rocks . Soon they announced that they were divorcing , but would continue filming -- albeit separately -- their series , which for four seasons had chronicled the highs and lows of their family life . It all appeared to be relatively civil until Jon began stepping out with his new girlfriend , moved to a bachelor pad in New York and appeared to be living the high life with shopping sprees and designer duds . Jon took to the airwaves to reveal that he `` despised Kate . '' Kate lamented that she missed `` the Jon I knew . '' TLC announced in October that the reality show would continue as `` Kate Plus 8 '' and Jon immediately called a halt to filming , claiming the series was doing damage to their children . Within days , Kate accused Jon of making off with more than $ 200,000 from their joint bank account . A judge ordered him to return $ 180,000 to the account . Watch a discussion about the Gosselin 's money madness '' Through it all , both have maintained they each have the best interests of their children at heart . Child psychologist Joanne Pedro-Carroll said the Gosselins are in a precarious position . `` It 's very concerning , especially given how public this is and the children 's young ages , which makes them especially vulnerable , '' Pedro-Carroll said . `` One of the things we know with really young children is that they are prone to misconceptions about the reasons for the breakup . '' While Jon and Kate have n't so far added a bitter custody dispute to their matrimonial melee , Pedro-Carroll said she worries about the long-term effect on the young Gosselins . `` Sadly , the things that are happening now , with all of this conflict and having it be so public , puts these children very much at risk for having problems , '' said Pedro-Carroll , author of the forthcoming book `` Putting Children First : Proven Parenting Strategies for Helping Children Thrive After Divorce . '' `` I worry about the children being pulled into loyalty conflicts , thinking about who the good person here is and who 's the bad person , when children very much need two loving , responsible parents in their lives . '' Kessler said he advises his celebrity clients to , when possible , keep the children out of the media and receive training in cooperative parenting . Lisa Pecot-Hebert , an assistant professor at the College of Communication at DePaul University , said she believes many viewers can relate to the Gosselins ' divorce drama . Fans can also view the family 's situation as a cautionary tale , she said . `` I think viewers can learn that sometimes when people let cameras into their personal lives for our entertainment , oftentimes it ruins what was theirs to begin with , '' Pecot-Hebert said . | Jon and Kate Gosselin 's divorce is playing out before the public . They join a growing list of celebs whose marital woes have been documented . Celebrity lawyer says it is sometimes hard for stars to listen to advisers . Professor : Gosselins can be a cautionary tale for viewers . | [[157, 236], [267, 288], [305, 367], [1889, 1978], [915, 963], [952, 963], [970, 1037], [4761, 4824]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Bad weather , poor planning , a lack of safety equipment . Any one could put a boater in the kind of peril that befell two NFL players and their two friends off the coast of Florida last weekend , Coast Guard officials say . Ex-college football player Nick Schuyler clings to an overturned boat Monday in this Coast Guard photo . And such incidents happen all too often . The capsizing of the 21-foot fishing boat carrying the four men to a favorite fishing spot in the Gulf of Mexico was the latest of 200 such incidents reported to the U.S. Coast Guard in the past five months . `` The oceans are an unforgiving environment , '' said Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Chris O'Neil . `` Weather can be unpredictable . Any time you are in an open environment , you are taking a certain amount of risk . '' That risk includes being lost at sea like Victor `` Marquis '' Cooper , an Oakland Raiders linebacker ; Corey Smith , a Detroit Lions free-agent defensive end ; and their friend William Bleakly . The fourth member of the group , Nick Schuyler , a former University of South Florida football player , was found around noon Monday clinging to the upturned boat in rough seas about 35 miles west of Clearwater , Florida . The four men had left for a fishing trip from Seminole Boat Ramp in Clearwater Pass on Saturday . The U.S. Coast Guard is unable to provide specific numbers of how many people go missing from boating accidents like this past weekend 's , but officials say that since last fall there have been three people who have not been found after triggering Coast Guard searches . Those incidents can range from an unaccounted swimmer to a passenger gone missing after a boat sinks , said O'Neil , at the Coast Guard headquarters in Washington D.C. Capsizing is one of the leading boating accidents , according to the Coast Guard 's most recent report on recreational boating in 2007 . Officials report there were 398 accidents from capsizing , causing 204 deaths and 284 injuries in 2007 . Capsized boats cost nearly $ 1.8 million a year in property damages , officials say . Collision with vessels or fixed objects and falling overboard are other major boating accidents . Last weekend , Florida state officials recovered the bodies of a 48-year-old man and his 7-year-old granddaughter after their 15-foot bass tipped over in Lake Okeechobee , according to CNN affiliate WPTV-TV in West Palm Beach , Florida . `` The steering cable broke and the boat went out of control , '' family member Isabelo Santiago Jr. told WPTV . To remain safe on any body of water , Coast Guard officials stress having the proper safety equipment and being wary of changes in the weather . The NFL players ' boat capsized off Florida in waves up to 10 feet high while being buffeted by winds up to 45 miles per hour , Coast Guard officials said . They reported 110 cases since this fall where a boat has been beset by weather . Boaters should wear a life jacket at all times , officials say , because an accident can occur so quickly that passengers may not have time to put their life jackets on . A life jacket that is bright or has deflecting tape to help catch the eyes of rescuers is recommended . Boaters should also keep a bag with flotation and communication devices , officials said . The Coast Guard encourages boaters to purchase Emergency Position Indicating Radiobeacons -LRB- EPIRBs -RRB- that can cost between $ 200 to $ 1,500 . This technology enables emergency signals to be sent out automatically or manually when a boat sinks . Some EPIRBs have global positioning devices that can help provide the rescuers with a more exact location . After a boat capsizes , passengers should always stay near the vessel to make it easier for rescuers to find them , especially in waves and high winds . Whitecaps on waves can also confuse Coast Guard searches . Schuyler , who was rescued on Monday , was easier to find because he was near the boat , Coast Guard officials say . Wayne Cathel says he and six of his friends were in a similar situation in 1993 when their boat capsized during a spear fishing trip in John 's Pass in South Florida , according to CNN affiliate Bay News 9 in St. Petersburg . The group was stranded for 18 hours before being rescued by a helicopter . `` We all had to cling on to the hull of the boat for the whole time until we were finally rescued , '' Cathel said . `` You never leave the largest object in the water , '' he said . `` I mean that 's what you stick with . '' Sticking with the overturned vessel also helps the Coast Guard use advanced computer technology to find it , officials said . Called SAROPS , or Search and Rescue Optimal Planning Systems , the program takes into account external conditions such as weather , ocean patterns and information available about the case such as which dock the boaters departed from to map locations in the ocean where officers can search . The program , which has been used by the Coast Guard 's Seventh District for nearly two years , helps officers narrow down the location , especially critical during the beginning of a search , said Petty Officer Jennifer Johnson of the Seventh District . For the program to work best , Coast Guard officials say , boaters need to be sure to tell people where are they leaving from and their final destination . Even with the technology , a sea rescue is no easy feat , Johnson said . `` It 's very difficult to locate someone ... . It 's like trying to find a basketball in the ocean . '' | Officials report capsized boats caused 204 deaths and 284 injuries in 2007 . Coast Guard recommends boaters carry beacons and emergency devices . Two NFL players and another boater remain missing ; one boater was found Monday . `` It 's like trying to find a basketball in the ocean , '' says Coast Guard official . | [[1770, 1779], [1822, 1906], [1949, 1963], [1966, 1992], [1907, 1923], [1966, 2011], [2585, 2648], [3296, 3404], [2820, 2848], [5464, 5517]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- At least 51 people have died and at least 21 others are missing after torrential rains and subsequent flooding pummeled the Philippines on Saturday , the government said . Filipino pedestrians in Quezon City , a suburb of Manila , brave Tropical Storm Ketsana 's floodwaters . Tropical Storm Ketsana spawned the flooding , which caused at least six of the deaths in Manila , the nation 's capital . Manila and the nearby province of Rizal bore the brunt of the downpour , said Gilberto Teodoro , secretary of national defense and chairman of the National Disaster Coordinating Council . Two of the dead in the capital city were victims of a wall that collapsed , he said . Five thousand people were rescued without boats , and another 3,688 were rescued with boats , he said . Another governmental official reported four injuries . `` My neighborhood rarely gets a bad flooding and I guess this is the worst , '' said CNN iReporter Jv Abellar from Quezon City , Philippines . `` Traversing through the flood is like walking through rapids . '' In all , 41,205 people had sought refuge in 92 evacuation centers , Teodoro said . By 8:30 a.m. Sunday -LRB- 8:30 p.m. Saturday ET -RRB- , the torrential rains ended and slight rainfall was reported . Some roads in the capital metropolitan area had reopened , but `` we do not encourage people to travel these roads , '' Teodoro told CNN in a telephone interview . `` They can be a hindrance to efficient relief and rescue operations . '' The federal government began massive relief efforts to aid the local governments , and set up aid centers addressing pressing problems such as sanitation and water purification . President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has ordered pay parking lots at malls in Manila to be opened so motorists can leave their cars there without charge , Teodoro said . iReport.com : Share images of Philippines flooding . Manila 's Nino Aquino International Airport and nearly all of the country 's other international airports had reopened , he said . Though the Philippines is no stranger to floods , Saturday 's downpours approached a record , with 341 mm -LRB- 13.4 inches -RRB- falling between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. , he said . The average rainfall for the entire month of September is 391 mm -LRB- 15.4 inches -RRB- , he said . | NEW : . More than 50 are dead in Philippines in flooding from Tropical Storm Ketsana . 5,000 rescued without boats , another 3,688 rescued with boats , official says . In all , 41,205 people sought refuge in 92 evacuation centers , official says . | [[0, 15], [28, 47], [52, 138], [110, 166], [296, 391], [692, 739], [742, 783], [1063, 1069], [1072, 1128]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Three U.S. researchers have won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for solving `` a major problem in biology , '' the Nobel Committee announced Monday . Jack Szostak , from left , Carol Greider and Elizabeth Blackburn will share the $ 1.4 million prize . Elizabeth H. Blackburn , Carol W. Greider and Jack W. Szostak are credited with discovering how chromosomes are protected against degradation -- a field that could shed light on human aging and diseases , including cancer . `` The award of the Nobel Prize recognizes the discovery of a fundamental mechanism in the cell , a discovery that has stimulated the development of new therapeutic strategies , '' the committee said in a news release . The three will share the $ 1.4 million prize . It is the 100th year the prize will be awarded , and the first time that any Nobel in the sciences has gone to more than one woman . The work that won them the prize took place in the late 1970s and early 1980s . It centers on structures at the end of chromosomes called telomeres and an enzyme that forms them , called telomerase . As cells divide , chromosomes need to be replicated perfectly . Work by the researchers determined that telomeres protect DNA from degradation in the process , and that telomerase maintains the telomeres . Though there had been some speculation that the three scientists were being considered for the Nobel , the committee keeps its work top secret -- and all three researchers said they were surprised . Szostak told CNN he got the news in `` that classic early morning phone call from Stockholm . '' He described it as `` surprising and exciting '' -- perhaps particularly for him because he has not worked on the subject for the past 20 years . `` I 've been working on other things , '' he said . `` It started off as a collaboration with me and Liz -LSB- Blackburn -RSB- -- Carol -LSB- Greider -RSB- was a student of hers . '' The work began as `` a long-standing puzzle that we were interested in solving , '' he said . `` It was only over later years that it emerged , through the work of many people , that this was probably important for aging and cancer . '' How it might help fight such diseases is not yet known , Szostak said . `` It will take a while yet for that to be figured out . '' Blackburn and Greider did not immediately return calls from CNN . In a telephone conversation with the editor-in-chief of the Nobel Prize Web site nobelprize.org , Greider said she had been attracted to the field of research because `` it seemed like the unanswered question . '' She also said telomere research has a higher proportion of women than other fields because in its early days , the lead researchers brought women into the field . She called it a situation in which `` you have someone that trains a lot of women and then there 's a slight gravitation of women to work in the labs with other women . '' She added , `` I think actively promoting women in science is very important because the data has certainly shown that there has been an underrepresentation . And I think that the things that contribute to that are very many ... subtle , social kinds of things . '' Blackburn , in a separate conversation posted on the Web site , said the proportion of women in telomere research is `` fairly close to the biological ratio of men and women . '' `` It 's all the other fields that are aberrant , '' she added , laughing . The field of study intrigued her because `` it 's so intricate and complicated , and you want to know how it works , '' she said . Blackburn was Greider 's supervisor at the University of California , Berkeley . Now Blackburn is at the University of California , San Francisco . Greider is a professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore , Maryland . Szostak was previously at Harvard Medical School and is currently professor of genetics at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston , Massachusetts . Married with two children , he told CNN he has `` no idea '' what he 'll do with his portion of the monetary prize -- about $ 467,000 . CNN asked whether he thinks his children , ages 9 and 12 , will suddenly think dad 's work is `` really cool . '' `` Well , '' Szostak said , laughing , `` maybe . '' CNN 's Josh Levs contributed to this report . | NEW : Nobel Committee says prizewinners solved `` a major problem in biology '' Winners studied structures at the end of chromosomes called telomeres . Their research relates to understanding aging , diseases including cancer . Elizabeth Blackburn , Carol Greider and Jack Szostak will share $ 1.4 million prize . | [[93, 134], [985, 1035], [423, 433], [439, 483], [459, 483], [486, 504], [179, 191], [206, 280], [725, 771]] |
PARIS , France -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand said Thursday he will not resign over accounts in a book he wrote in 2005 about paying to have sex with `` boys '' in Thailand . Frederic Mitterrand admitted to paying for sex with `` boys '' in his 2005 autobiography , `` The Bad Life . '' In an interview with French television network TF1 , Mitterrand said he `` absolutely condemn -LSB- s -RSB- sexual tourism , which is a disgrace , and ... pedophilia , '' in which he insisted he has never participated . Despite the use of the French word `` garcon '' in his 2005 book `` The Bad Life , '' Mitterrand , 62 , has previously said the term did not mean `` little boys . '' He said the males he paid for sex were his age , or maybe five years younger , but not underage -- and the relations were consensual . `` Anyway , you can recognize someone who 's 40 years old ... '' he told TF1 . A 40-year-old man `` does n't look like a minor , '' he added , suggesting that his partners were middle-aged men . His actions , Mitterrand said , were `` without a doubt , an error , '' but `` a crime , no , '' he said in the interview . Despite recent calls to resign from the far-right National Front and the left-leaning Socialist Party , Mitterrand , who is openly gay , vowed to stay in his job . He said he met Thursday morning with French President Nicolas Sarkozy , and that the president supports him . In a July interview with the weekly French news magazine Le Nouvel Observateur , Sarkozy said he had read Mitterrand 's book , and found it `` courageous and talented . '' The controversy over the revelations in his book -- which he called neither autobiography nor memoir -- erupted anew after Mitterrand deplored the arrest last week of filmmaker Roman Polanski , who fled the United States in 1977 after pleading guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl . The culture minister told TF1 that he was `` too emotional '' when he denounced the filmmaker 's arrest in Switzerland as `` horrifying . '' `` To see him thrown to the lions for an old story that really has no meaning , and to see him alone , imprisoned , when he was going to attend a ceremony where he was to be honored , that is to say , he was trapped , it 's absolutely horrifying , '' he said October 4 , according to Agence France Presse . The far-right National Front organized an anti-Mitterrand demonstration in Paris on Thursday evening . `` Send this message on to everyone who will not put up with this indecency ! '' the party 's Web site said . The party 's vice president , Marine Le Pen , has demanded Mitterrand 's resignation for what she termed his sexually deviant acts . Mitterrand responded , saying , `` It 's an honor to be dragged through the mud by the National Front . '' Mitterrand 's acts of `` sexual tourism '' have left `` a dark smudge '' on the government , Le Pen said . The group is also gathering signatures on a petition , online and on paper , from those who want Mitterrand to step down . `` We really hope he will resign , '' National Front communications director Julien Sanchez told CNN . `` It 's an embarrassment for our country , that our culture minister has done this . It affects our international image . It 's not right , '' he added . Watch report on the controversy surrounding French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterand '' On the other side of the political spectrum , the left-leaning Socialist Party suggested Sarkozy should consider Mitterrand 's position . `` It 's up to President Sarkozy to decide whether or not we can be involved in the fight against child prostitution and sexual tourism , and whether or not the acts written in an autobiography -- written by a minister -- are acts of sexual commerce , '' said party spokesman Benoit Hamon . `` If everything is relative and Mr. Mitterrand can be excused because he 's famous , well , I do n't excuse his behavior , '' Hamon said . Martine Aubry , the leader of the Socialist Party , said she would wait until she had read the book before making any judgment . Mitterrand said on TF1 that he had had sexual relations with boys -- using the French word `` garcons '' -- but added , `` you must not confuse pedophilia with homosexuality . '' He also described his book as a mixture of his life and the life of others , and denied accusations that it was a glorification of sexual tourism . The minister said he never had sex with `` young boys '' and denounced those who accused him of such acts , saying that maybe they were confusing their own fantasies with what the book was really about . Mitterrand told an interviewer in 2005 that assertions that he liked `` little boys '' were untrue . `` It 's because when people say ` boys ' we imagine ` little boys , ' '' he said then . `` How to explain that ? It belongs to this general puritanism which surrounds us , which always makes us paint a black picture of the situation . It has nothing to do with that . '' Mitterrand was a television personality , not a government minister , when the book was published . It caused a stir upon its publication , as well , and has been the subject of heated debate several times since then . In one passage , published by the French newspaper Le Monde on Thursday , Mitterrand describes in detail a sexual encounter with a `` boy '' he said was called Bird . `` My boy did n't say a word , he stood before me , immobile , his eyes still straight ahead and a half-smile on his lips . I wanted him so badly I was trembling , '' he wrote . Mitterrand also wrote about visiting clubs to choose young male prostitutes in Thailand -- where prostitution is illegal and sexual intercourse with a minor is statutory rape and is punishable by imprisonment . `` Most of them are young , handsome and apparently unaware of the devastation that their activities could bring them . I would learn later that they did n't come every night , that they were often students , had a girlfriend and sometimes even lived with their families , who pretended not to know the source of their breadwinner 's earnings , '' the book said . `` Some of them were older and there was also a small contingent of heavier bruisers , who also had their fans . It was the artistic side of the exposition : Their presence made the youthful charm of the others stand out . '' He also wrote that while he had read reports and seen documentaries on the evils of `` le commerce des garcons '' -LRB- the boy trade -RRB- -- the misery , the piles of money from which `` les gosses '' -LRB- the kids -RRB- got only a few crumbs , the ravages of drugs -- `` all of these rituals of the fair of the youths , the slave market , excited me enormously . '' `` The profusion of very attractive boys , immediately available , put me in a state of desire that I no longer had to restrain or conceal . '' Mitterrand -- the nephew of the Socialist former president Francois Mitterrand -- joined Sarkozy 's center-right government this summer . Wikipedia , the user-edited online reference Web site , has locked down Mitterrand 's entry , preventing changes to it , in a possible sign of the intensity of the debate surrounding him . CNN 's Jen Carswell in Paris , France and Alanne Orjoux in Atlanta , Georgia , contributed to this report . | Culture minister condemns sexual tourism , denies he is a pedophile . Frederic Mitterrand , in 2005 book , wrote of paying for sex with `` boys '' in Thailand . Le Monde on Thursday published steamy excerpts from `` The Bad Life '' Mitterand came to the defense of Roman Polanski after the filmmaker 's arrest . | [[0, 5], [8, 134], [319, 369], [372, 441], [4252, 4254], [4333, 4399], [128, 134], [138, 206], [207, 295], [5196, 5210], [5270, 5333], [5199, 5210], [5213, 5258], [1605, 1653], [1709, 1796]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- An American who founded a home for needy children in Haiti more than 10 years ago has been accused of sexually abusing some of the same boys he set out to help , the U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday . Project Pierre Toussaint operated on this street in Cap-Haitien , Haiti . An American allegedly abused boys there . Douglas Perlitz , 39 , who was indicted this week by a grand jury in Fairfield County , Connecticut , faces 10 counts related to the sexual abuse of nine boys for about a decade , the Justice Department said . Seven of those counts are for traveling outside of the United States with the intent to have sex with minors , and three counts are for engaging in sexual conduct with minors in a foreign place , according to the indictment . Perlitz was arrested Wednesday morning at his home in Colorado , but he had lived for years in Haiti , the Justice Department said in a news release . The Haiti Fund Inc. , the nonprofit fundraising arm of his project , was incorporated in Connecticut , where Perlitz had attended Fairfield University . A U.S. magistrate ordered Perlitz detained pending a federal court hearing Friday in Denver . Perlitz was in custody Thursday , and it was not clear whether he had retained an attorney . The Justice Department said Perlitz used his position as director of the Project Pierre Toussaint in Haiti to manipulate and abuse the boys . He allegedly enticed the nine boys with promises of food and shelter and with gifts such as cell phones and cash , the indictment states . If convicted , Perlitz faces a maximum of 30 years in prison and fine of $ 2.5 million , according to the department . Haiti 's abject poverty , threadbare social-service network and barely functioning legal system combine to make the country 's street kids particularly vulnerable to exploitation . Despite its lush tropical setting , the country is the poorest in the Western Hemisphere and has the highest rates of mortality among infants and children under five years of age . One-third of Haitian children under five suffer chronic malnutrition , according to United Nations statistics ; just over half of school-age kids are enrolled in schools . With the state unable to alleviate those ills , private foreign charities work hard to fill the void . Perlitz -- and his Project Pierre Toussaint -- were seen as bright young examples of how outside agencies could make a difference in the lives of destitute Haitian children , offering food , education and sanctuary from the perilous life on the streets . In 2002 , Fairfield University , Perlitz 's alma mater , honored his efforts by making him its commencement speaker . One volunteer who traveled twice to Project Pierre Toussaint to run a soccer and basketball camp there said the charges against Perlitz were shocking . `` I do n't believe one ounce of it , '' Matt Pawlick of Miami , Florida , told CNN . `` He had a passion and love to help those kids grow . '' According to the indictment , Perlitz first traveled to Haiti as a student at Fairfield University and became inspired to build a school there . In 1997 , he received a grant from the Roman Catholic Order of Malta to start a center to help street children , which grew into a boarding school for boys that provided meals , sports activities and classroom instruction , the indictment states . The school was in Cap-Haitien , Haiti . Once the Haiti Fund was created , it raised more than $ 2 million between 2002 and 2008 , funds that were transferred to Perlitz to run the project , the indictment said . According to the court document , Perlitz would take some of the minors to a restaurant , give them food and alcohol and then encourage them to spend the night with him . The indictment alleges that Perlitz showed homosexual pornography to some of the youths as well . In 2007 , Haitian journalist Cyrus Sibert was the first to report about rumors of sexual abuse at the school . `` I found many children who told me the situation at the project , '' Sibert told CNN , referring to the allegations . His reports spurred investigations by Haitian authorities as well as by the board of directors of the Haiti Fund . The indictment alleges that `` Perlitz used his relationship with a religious leader and influential board members to continue to conceal , and attempt to conceal , illegal sexual conduct , '' in one instance by barring investigators from entering his room , and by helping remove two computers that were locked in a safe . As attention over the allegations grew , the board ultimately dismissed Perlitz in 2008 , Paul Kendrick , an advocate for victims of abuse by clergy familiar with the case , told CNN . Kendrick , a fellow Fairfield University graduate who met Perlitz during a visit to Haiti , said the removal proved controversial among the backers of Project Pierre Toussaint . By early 2009 , the school was closed , Sibert said . Board members referred questions from CNN to an attorney , who was not immediately available . | Feds : Douglas Perlitz , 39 , faces 10 counts in alleged abuse of nine boys . Perlitz was arrested at his home in Colorado , but had lived for years in Haiti . Perlitz was director of the Project Pierre Toussaint in Haiti . If convicted , Perlitz faces up to 30 years in prison and fine of $ 2.5 million . | [[307, 348], [349, 364], [367, 371], [376, 398], [349, 364], [451, 526], [785, 847], [850, 885], [1276, 1382], [2313, 2356], [2488, 2567], [1572, 1643]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Seth Meyers will remain the lone talking head on the `` Saturday Night Live '' Weekend Update desk , at least in the near future , according to the comedian . Seth Meyers is thankful that politicians `` did not stop being crazy '' after the 2008 elections . `` It looks like for right now , we 're going to stick with doing it solo , '' Meyers said Monday in New York as he was getting ready for the show 's 35th season premiere on September 26 . Meyers , SNL 's head writer , hosted the popular sketch alone after Amy Poehler left the show last season . Last week , several online sites were reporting that featured player Kristen Wiig was set to become Meyers ' partner on the show 's longest-running recurring segment . `` I 'm so heartbroken that the Internet , for the first time , was wrong about something , '' Meyers joked . `` How are we ever going to trust the Internet again ? '' Meyers called Wiig `` almost too valuable , '' saying making her a full-time co-anchor would mean she could never play guest characters during the segment . Poehler reportedly will join Meyers for some segments of `` Weekend Update Thursday , '' a 30-minute , prime-time version of the skit that debuted during the 2008 presidential election and that the network hopes will have similar success during the upcoming season . `` I owe a big thanks to politicians , '' said Meyers . `` They did not stop being crazy and disingenuous after the election . So we have that going for us . '' Poehler wo n't be the only cast member from last year missing on the September 26 premiere , hosted by actress Megan Fox with musical guest U2 . Fans were surprised last week about news that regulars Michaela Watkins and Casey Wilson had been sacked . Both said they were surprised that their contracts were not renewed . `` I think that the two who are leaving are going to be incredibly successful wherever they go , '' Meyers said , declining to elaborate on his thoughts about the decision by creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels . In their places will be Jenny Slate and Nasim Pedrad , both veterans of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre . `` They came and auditioned and were outstanding , '' Meyers said . `` We looked at them a couple of times this summer . I think they 're both great writers as well as performers . '' While change can be unsettling , Meyers said turnover among the `` SNL '' cast helps keep its humor fresh . `` It 's always nice to have new people , '' he said . `` They 'll give new looks at things and see things in new ways . Any time you get new voices in , that tends to help . '' | `` SNL '' is `` doing it solo '' on Weekend Update , Seth Meyers says . Internet was wrong about Kristen Wiig rumor , according to Meyers . SNL 's Watkins , Wilson to be replaced by Upright Citizens Brigade members . 35th season premieres September 26 , with Megan Fox and U2 . | [[0, 15], [19, 117], [770, 782], [806, 831], [353, 465], [1560, 1585], [1588, 1634]] |
New York -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A leading Muslim-American group lashed out at the federal government Friday for moving to seize assets -- including four mosques -- that belong to a foundation and a corporation believed linked to Iran . `` The American Muslim and faith communities must not allow houses of worship to become pawns in geopolitical struggles , '' said Imam Mahdi Bray , executive director of the Muslim American Society 's Freedom Foundation . `` The tension between the United States and Iran must not be played out in the mosques of America . '' Federal prosecutors say their actions against assets belonging to the Alavi Foundation and the Assa Corp. , which also include a Manhattan skyscraper , are not an effort to target mosques . `` There are no allegations of any wrongdoing on the part of any of these tenants or occupants , '' said Yusill Scribner , a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney 's Office for the Southern District of New York in a written statement Thursday . `` The tenants and occupants remain free to use the properties as they have before today 's filing . '' A senior Justice Department official told reporters that the government is moving against the Iranian landlords of the buildings , not seizing mosques as religious-oriented facilities . The mosques -- in New York , Maryland , California and Texas -- just happen to be among the tenants of the buildings in question , the official said . But the Muslim American Society 's Freedom Foundation called the actions an `` unprecedented encroachment of religious freedom . '' The group said `` it is an abiding concern among the American Muslim community that this action is just the beginning of a backlash after last week 's Fort Hood shooting tragedy . '' A Muslim-American soldier is accused in a Fort Hood , Texas , shooting spree that left 13 people dead and dozens injured . The Council on American-Islamic Relations , another leading Muslim-American group , issued a statement Thursday saying the government 's actions may have First Amendment implications . `` Whatever the details of the government 's case against the owners of the mosques , as a civil rights organization we are concerned that the seizure of American houses of worship could have a chilling effect on the religious freedom of citizens of all faiths and may send a negative message to Muslims worldwide , '' said Ibrahim Hooper , the national communications director for the council . The controversy erupted after prosecutors in New York filed an amended civil complaint seeking forfeiture of all assets of the Alavi Foundation and Assa Corp. . They include properties owned by the foundation in several states . A 36-story office tower in midtown Manhattan is owned by the 650 Fifth Avenue Company , a partnership between Alavi and Assa , the Justice Department said . The complaint alleges that the Alavi Foundation provided services to the Iranian government and transferred money from 650 Fifth Avenue Company to Bank Melli , Iran 's largest state-owned financial entity . U.S. and European Union officials last year designated Bank Melli as a proliferator for supporting Iran 's nuclear and ballistic missile programs and funneling money to the Revolutionary Guard and Quds Force , considered terrorist groups by the United States . Bank Melli issued a statement last year denying involvement in deceptive banking practices . Prosecutors allege the properties at issue were `` involved in and -LSB- were -RSB- the proceeds of money laundering offenses , '' and that the owners violated the International Emergency Economic Powers Act , executive orders and U.S. Department of Treasury regulations . `` As today 's complaint alleges in great detail , the Alavi Foundation has effectively been a front for the government of Iran , '' Preet Bharara , U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York , said on Thursday . `` For two decades , the Alavi Foundation 's affairs have been directed by various Iranian officials , including Iranian ambassadors to the United Nations , in violation of a series of American laws . The Alavi Foundation 's former president remains under investigation for alleged obstruction of justice , and both the criminal and civil investigations are ongoing . '' John Winter , a New York lawyer representing the Alavi Foundation , said his client would challenge the complaint . `` We 're obviously disappointed that the government brought this action because we have been cooperating with the government since this investigation began about a year ago and we intend to litigate this matter , '' he said . `` It may take some time , but at the end of this litigation , we 're of the mind that we 're going to prevail here . '' The buildings remained open and were continuing to operate as usual . When a CNN reporter arrived at one of the seized mosques -- in Queens , a New York City borough -- he found it to be operating normally . There was a copy of the federal complaint taped to the front door of the building , but the doors were open and people were coming and going . Calls to the Iranian Mission for comment were not immediately returned . A report Friday on the Web site of Iran 's state-run Press TV did not contain any responses from Iranian officials . CNN 's Terry Frieden , Brian Todd , Deb Feyerick , Eddie DeMarche and Ross Levitt contributed to this story . | Group says houses of worship should not be `` pawns in geopolitical struggles '' Alavi Foundation , Assa Corp. accused of transferring money to Iran . Government seizing assets of Alavi , including four mosques . U.S. Attorney : `` Alavi Foundation has effectively been a front for the government of Iran '' | [[232, 351], [454, 554], [188, 231], [2833, 2990], [0, 24], [60, 156], [3718, 3794]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A multiagency search is under way for the killers of two U.S. citizens in northern Mexico , according to Chihuahua state officials . A girl stands at the coffin of Mormon church leader Benjamin LeBaron in Chihuahua State . Benjamin LeBaron , 32 , and his brother-in-law , Luis Widmar , in his mid-30s , were beaten and shot to death after armed men stormed into their home in Galeana on Tuesday morning . The killers have yet to be identified , but the case seems to be connected to local drug lords , said Arturo Sandoval , a spokesman for the Chihuahua state attorney general 's office . Sandoval said a note was found on LeBaron 's body , but he could not confirm the contents . Local media reported that the note indicated the slayings were in retribution for the capture of 25 drug suspects in a nearby town . LeBaron 's younger brother , Eric , was kidnapped in May and returned unharmed after a week . The incident prompted LeBaron to become a nationally recognized anti-crime activist who moved the local community to take a stand . `` There are no leaders here , or we are all leaders , '' LeBaron 's brother , Julian LeBaron , told CNN television affiliate KINT in El Paso , Texas . `` If they kill my brother another three will take his place , and if they kill us , another hundred will take their place . We are not giving up . No way . '' The LeBaron brothers belonged to the `` Community of LeBaron '' in the Municipality of Galeana , a township founded by ex-communicated Mormons . | Benjamin LeBaron and his brother-in-law are shot dead in their home . The killers have yet to be identified , but the case seems tied to local drug lords . Local media : Slayings retribution for capture of drug suspects in town nearby . LeBaron was a nationally recognized anti-crime activist . | [[242, 288], [291, 302], [338, 423], [424, 435], [445, 461], [468, 518], [701, 833], [727, 833], [928, 1011], [950, 1059]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Varsha Vinod 's exceptional abilities are hard to spot at first . She 's an adorably cute 5-year-old girl from southern India , small , pretty with big brown eyes . To gain her black belt , Varsha had to learn up to 15 karate moves . When we meet for our interview , her hair is tied up in two pigtails , with bright hair clips and a glittering headband . She is as shy as most kids her age would be when confronted by a strange man and a television crew . Some child stars can be precocious but Varsha does n't act like one . In fact , it would have been impossible to imagine her as a karate black belt if it was n't for her white martial arts outfit and her actual black belt . Like many young girls she would love to be a dancer and she smiles when I tell her that we are doing the interview in a dance studio . It 's got varnished wooden floors and ceiling-high mirrors . The venue was chosen because it looks a bit like a dojo , or martial arts school . I 'm not sure Varsha understands what a dance studio is and it 's hard to discover her thoughts on many things . She only speaks a few words of English and , even when we use an interpreter , she has to be prompted by her father before whispering short , quiet responses to my questions . At first I was concerned her dad was feeding her the answers rather than helping her say what she really thinks . However , it soon becomes clear that this is a healthy father-daughter relationship instead of a case of `` pushy parents . '' Vishwas Vinod can be stern with his daughter but she clearly worships him , hanging on his every word and happy to follow his instructions . When the pair practice karate together their movements are surprisingly well synchronized despite the huge difference in size . Varsha 's father is her inspiration . He was India 's karate champion for four successive years from 1999 to 2002 . His daughter started watching him teach the sport and , at the age of 2 , she asked to try . Vinod insists it was Varsha 's idea not his . Initially , he only gave her some small training and stretching exercises but Dad soon realized that his daughter possessed what he describes as a God-given talent . Vinod says what Varsha has done in 3 1/2 years takes most people eight years to learn . To gain her black belt , Varsha had to learn up to 15 katas . A kata is a sequence of complicated karate moves . Varsha can punch , kick and wield different weapons : the Chinese stick , which is almost as big as she is , and a nunchaku , two short sticks connected by a metal chain . There is no doubt that Varsha 's abilities are impressive . You only have to enter the phrase `` nunchaku accidents '' into YouTube to see how easily things can go wrong . However , she is no freak of nature . Her karate is a feat of memory and technique more than agility and power . To be frank , she could n't beat me up -- although I was obviously far too proud to find out by taking her on in a sparring session . Varsha trains for at least two hours every day but says she still has time for other games . As well as her dancing , she likes to play football and badminton . She tells me that her friends have all started taking up karate after seeing how good she has become . Unlike her friends , Varsha 's gift has given her the chance to see London . She was invited to England by a PR company to promote a new video game . Her trip appears to have been handled carefully , with as much time set aside for sightseeing as media work . The day after we filmed with Varsha she was due to go on the London Eye and was very excited about it . Varsha says she would like to continue her karate in the years ahead . She is a black belt first dan , or grade , and there are 10 grades in total . She is already a mini master but if she makes it to second dan she can start teaching -- just like her father . | She 's an adorably cute 5-year-old girl from southern India , small and pretty . She is as shy as most kids her own age especially when being interviewed . To gain her black belt , Varsha had to learn up to 15 katas . Varsha trains for at least two hours every day but has time for other games . | [[85, 183], [375, 409], [389, 475], [184, 206], [209, 252], [2287, 2309], [2312, 2348], [2991, 3037], [2991, 2997], [3042, 3083]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Deposed Honduran President Jose Manuel Zelaya will not be reinstated as head of state , an overwhelming majority of the Honduran congress voted Wednesday . In an hours-long process , 111 lawmakers voted in favor of a motion not to return Zelaya to office . A majority of 65 votes in the 128-member body was required to reject his reinstatement . Zelaya was removed from office in a military-led coup on June 28 and replaced by congressional leader Roberto Micheletti . On Wednesday , lawmakers voted one by one and addressed the chamber as they cast their vote , making for a slow process . The vote was a key part of a U.S.-brokered pact that representatives for Zelaya and Micheletti signed October 29 , giving Congress the power to decide Zelaya 's fate . The United States expressed disappointment Thursday over the latest rebuff to its diplomatic efforts to end the political crisis in Honduras . U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela continued to call on the Honduran government to allow Zelaya 's return and to create a unity government in the interim period before the new president takes office next month . `` We are disappointed by this decision since the United States had hoped the -LSB- Honduran -RSB- Congress would have approved his return , '' Valenzuela said in a conference call with journalists in Washington . `` Our policy since June 28 has been consistently principled . It has condemned the coup d'etat and continued to accept President Zelaya as the democratically elected and legitimate leader of Honduras throughout this political crisis . '' The United States continues to call for Honduras to engage in national reconciliation and creation of a truth commission to investigate the crisis , in addition to the unity government . `` The absence of democratic , constitutional order is the unacceptable status quo , '' a senior U.S. administration official said on the conference call , remaining anonymous under the ground rules of the call and because of the sensitivity of the situation . `` The election is a step toward a day where Honduras will have an electorally legitimate government in place . '' Zelaya , who says he does not recognize the election , also has said he would not accept the post even if Congress voted him back in . Accepting the job , he said , would legitimize the coup . Many nations said before the Sunday 's election they would withhold recognition if Zelaya were not returned to power . Some countries , such as the United States , Colombia and Costa Rica , have said they will recognize Lobo . Others , such as Argentina , Brazil and Spain , have said they will not . Despite the diplomatic pressure from abroad , lawmakers were voting the will of the people , Congressman Juan Angel Rivera Tabora said . `` History will judge us , and I 'm certain it will judge us positively , '' he said . `` Congress did n't make this problem . The problem came to us . '' Those voting against Zelaya echoed those sentiments . After the coup , the same body voted to install Micheletti as interim president . Wednesday vote only happened because the agreement between the two sides called for it , many lawmakers repeated . Zelaya 's supporters argued that the coup was an illegal act that only restitution could heal . Congress sought opinions from the nation 's Supreme Court and other bodies before holding the vote . The court ruled last week that Zelaya can not return to office without facing trial on charges that he acted unconstitutionally when he tried to hold a vote that could have led to the removal of presidential term limits . The Supreme Court ruled before the coup that the vote was illegal and Congress had forbidden it . The coup came on the day the term-limits vote was to have been held . Micheletti and his supporters have insisted that Zelaya 's removal was a constitutional transfer of power , not a coup . But the United Nations , the Organization of American States , the European Union and most nations -- including the United States -- condemned the coup and demanded that Zelaya be reinstated immediately . He was n't . Zelaya , who was flown out of the country while still in his pajamas on the day of the coup , has been staying at the Brazilian Embassy in Honduras ' capital since secretly returning to the country September 21 . | 111 of 128 lawmakers vote against reinstating ousted leader Jose Manuel Zelaya . Vote part of U.S.-brokered pact between Zelaya , de facto President Roberto Micheletti . Zelaya was removed as president in June 28 military-backed coup . Hondurans elected a new president , Porfirio Lobo Sosa , on Sunday . | [[276, 321], [335, 364], [610, 657], [365, 429]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Murder and rape charges will be filed against a North Carolina man in the death of 5-year-old Shaniya Davis , police said Thursday . Mario Andrette McNeill had already been charged with kidnapping the Fayetteville , North Carolina , girl . She was reported missing last week , and her body was found Monday beside a road near Sanford , about 30 miles northwest of Fayetteville . Preliminary autopsy results indicate the child was asphyxiated , Fayetteville Police Chief Tom Bergamine told reporters Thursday , but testing is still being completed and a final report has not been issued . McNeill will be charged with first-degree murder and rape of a child , Bergamine said . The new arrest warrants were being served Thursday night . The girl 's mother , Antoinette Nicole Davis , has been charged with human trafficking and other offenses . Police have said they believe Davis was prostituting the child . According to police , surveillance video taken November 10 from a hotel in Sanford , North Carolina , shows Shaniya in the company of McNeill . Authorities had said Wednesday they would need to determine where Shaniya was killed before filing additional charges . Fayetteville is in Cumberland County , while Sanford is in Lee County . Bergamine said Thursday jurisdiction in the case would remain in Cumberland County . `` We started it from the beginning and wanted to finish it out , '' he said . Police still are not sure exactly where Shaniya was killed , Bergamine said . Police earlier had said they believe the child was alive when she left the hotel . `` Current charges on Ms. Davis are standing as they are right now , '' Bergamine said . But he told reporters the investigation was ongoing . He and other officers spoke about the emotional toll the investigation has taken on them . Grief counseling has been under way for officers at the department , he said . `` It 's been a tough case , '' said Fayetteville Police Capt. Charles Kimball , the toughest in his 14 years , he said . `` Our mission was to find Shaniya and we did it . '' `` This case here has reached out and touched all of us , '' Bergamine said . Shaniya 's father , Bradley Lockhart , made a tearful appeal before reporters Tuesday afternoon , asking that `` everybody makes it a point not to ignore , to look past a situation where a person , a child , or anybody might be in danger ... so that we do n't have another tragedy like Shaniya . '' The girl went to her mother 's last month , he said . CNN 's Gabriel Falcon contributed to this report . | Mario Andrette McNeill will be charged with murder , rape , police say . Shaniya Davis ' mother also has been charged in North Carolina case . The girl 's body was found about 30 miles from where she was reported missing . | [[0, 126], [607, 675], [754, 772], [793, 861], [296, 352]] |
-LRB- Wired -RRB- -- The early hours of `` Call of Duty : Modern Warfare 2 '' take gamers around the world and back again , but the new game 's story hits close to home . Military scenarios , violent police actions and straight-from-the-big-screen massive firefights take place in such far-flung locales as Afghanistan , Kazakhstan and Brazil . But things do n't really get interesting until the action moves to Russia and the player is embedded in a squad of terrorists . And then , inevitably , the fight comes to U.S. shores . `` Modern Warfare 2 , '' a first-person shooter released Tuesday for the Xbox 360 , PlayStation 3 and PC , is a greatly immersive experience that embeds players in the battlefield . Limited edition of Xbox 360 . There 's no place in the world where a skirmish ca n't go down , from airport security lines to the neighborhood burger joint to your own backyard . It 's an unsettling notion and one sure to inspire plenty of parental hand-wringing , particularly for those who buy their kids the live-the-action box set that includes a pair of night-vision goggles . Night-vision goggles experience . -LRB- Spoiler alert : The moments I 'm about to relate describe the plot of `` Modern Warfare 2 '' -- not where the game finally goes , but the early incidents that establish the conflict and tension of the game . Some readers may consider these to be spoilers . -RRB- . Russia is where the already-controversial `` No Russian '' scene goes down . As Army Ranger Pvt. Allen , players go undercover with Vladimir Makarov -- an underling of the villain from `` Call of Duty 4 : Modern Warfare . '' Along with Makarov and other terrorists , the player finds themselves in the midst of a terrible situation . The fully armed Makarov and crew waltz into a Russian airport and open fire on civilians standing in a security line . As Allen , the player can take part in the bloodshed or simply walk alongside the cold-blooded killers as they execute hundreds of innocents . Either way , the scene is powerful . It 's also the oldest trick in the book : The quickest way to turn audiences against your villain is to show them doing dirty deeds , and Makarov 's murderous spree is a doozy . Allen does n't walk away from the bloodbath . Once outside the terminal , players must fend off waves of incoming SWAT teams . If there 's any kind of karmic debt that Allen owes for his role in the slayings , the guy pays it : At the end of the tarmac firefight , Makarov puts a bullet in Allen . He knew all along that the Ranger was a rat . Allen 's body at the scene of the tragedy triggers Russian outrage and , eventually , a `` Red Dawn '' - style invasion of the United States . Subscribe to WIRED magazine for less than $ 1 an issue and get a FREE GIFT ! Click here ! Copyright 2009 Wired.com . | Military scenarios , violent police actions , firefights play out in ` Modern Warfare 2 ' Locales in game include Afghanistan , Kazakhstan , Brazil and Russia . The player in ` Modern Warfare 2 ' is embedded in a squad of terrorists . In the game , fighting comes to shores of United States . | [[171, 344], [423, 472], [473, 481], [497, 529]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Brazil has confirmed 657 fatalities caused by the H1N1 flu , the highest number of deaths in the world , the nation 's Health Ministry said . Brazil registered 7,569 new cases of the virus also known as swine flu from August 25 to 29 , the Health Ministry said . However , new cases of the virus had dropped in the past three weeks . In terms of mortality rate -- which considers flu deaths in terms of a nation 's population -- Brazil ranks sixth and the United States is 12th , the Brazilian Health Ministry said in a news release this week . Argentina ranked first per capita , Brazilian health officials said . | Brazil has 7,569 new cases of the virus from August 25 to 29 , Health Ministry says . However , new cases of the virus had dropped in the past three weeks . In terms of mortality rate , Argentina ranks sixth , Brazil sixth and the U.S. is 12th . | [[124, 160], [161, 207], [198, 207], [213, 252], [255, 281], [499, 563], [600, 633], [292, 352], [448, 470], [471, 496]] |
Buenos Aires , Argentina -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Argentina 's capital city was beset by strikes Thursday , with teachers , doctors and transit employees refusing to work over money matters . Teachers and doctors in Buenos Aires went on strike Wednesday and are scheduled to go back to work Friday , the government-run Telam news agency and other outlets reported . Subway workers will go on strike Thursday night for a few hours , they said . This is the fourth work stoppage in the past six months for doctors . Only emergency cases are being treated . The doctors are not only seeking better salaries , but also improvements to the public health system . They are protesting `` the lack of money in the public system , the possibility that the health budget will be reduced by 500 million pesos -LRB- about $ 130 million -RRB- , the lack of professionals , the lack of labor to solve the problems in Argentina 's public health , '' said Alicia Kobylarz of the Federal Syndicate of Health Workers . The nation 's public hospitals treat the poor and needy . Health professionals want the government to employ more doctors to meet rising patient loads and an increase in diseases and epidemics such as H1N1 flu and dengue fever . The hospitals depend on funding from the provinces , leading to major differences in each area 's needs and what local health care facilities can offer . `` Provinces that have petroleum income , for example , are provinces that have better budgets , that have better hospitals '' said Aldo Neri , a former national health minister . `` There is much inequality in the treatment that the poor receive in Argentinean public hospitals depending on which province they live in . That 's why I say the inequalities have increased . '' The current health minister , Juan Manzur , said next year 's health budget will have an increase of more than 15 percent , greater than the national budget , which will have a 12.4 percent increase . Teachers also want greater pay and announced Thursday they would go back on strike Tuesday because of failed talks with Buenos Aires Education Director Mario Oporto . The teachers say they want their raises by year 's end . Oporto said there 's no money for raises now , the official Telam news agency reported . `` The province 's posture is very clear : There wo n't be raises in 2009 because there already have been , '' Oporto told a radio station , according to Telam . `` We 're sorry about the work stoppage , and we are ready to keep working . This time we are very firm : There will be no raises in 2009 . '' Daniel Scioli , governor of Buenos Aires Province , said public education `` is our top priority '' but also emphasized there would be no raises this year , the news agency reported . Teachers ' union leaders complained Thursday that government officials went to schools Wednesday to find out which teachers were there and which had joined the work stoppage , Telam said . Subway workers in Buenos Aires announced they will walk off the job at 7 p.m. Thursday . They , too , want pay raises . Educators also are on strike in neighboring Chile , where professors say they are owed a `` historic debt . '' The indefinite strike entered its fourth day Thursday and negotiations are scheduled to resume Friday . Jaime Gajardo , president of Chile 's College of Professors , told a local TV station there has been improvement in negotiations with the government and the talks could advance noticeably in the next few days . Pablo Zalaquett , the mayor of Santiago , the capital of Chile , said the two sides are closer on a pay bonus the professors want . CNN 's Javier Doberti contributed to this report . | Teachers , doctors in Buenos Aires scheduled to go back to work Friday . Subway workers were set to go on strike Thursday night for a few hours . Doctors seek better salaries , improvements to public health system . Argentina 's neighbor Chile also seeing strikes by educators . | [[186, 222], [238, 247], [252, 291], [360, 423], [2947, 3035], [2988, 3035], [549, 560], [609, 651], [3036, 3040], [3049, 3066]] |
KABUL , Afghanistan -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The British journalist recently freed in a NATO military operation described his Taliban hostage-takers as `` hopelessly inept , '' and praised his Afghan colleague who died in the rescue . Journalists carry flowers to the grave of Afghan journalist Sultan Munadi in Kabul on Thursday . New York Times reporter Stephen Farrell described his four days in captivity in a blog on the newspaper 's Web site , posted late Wednesday just hours after he was freed . Taliban militants kidnapped Farrell and Afghan journalist , Sultan Munadi , on Saturday . During a pre-dawn raid Wednesday , NATO 's International Security Assistance Force plucked Farrell to safety , but did not retrieve the body of Munadi , who died during a fierce firefight between troops and Taliban militants . A British commando was also killed , as were a woman and child . There has been criticism about the rescue operation as well as the initial decision to go into the region which Farrell points out in his blog , `` was becoming more troubled by insurgents . '' International troops , including British forces , have expressed their unhappiness about having to extract a Western journalist from the area , a Western military source in Kabul told CNN . Meanwhile , NATO has come under fire from a coalition of Afghan journalists working for foreign news outlets who called the pre-dawn raid `` reckless and double-standard behavior . '' The Media Club of Afghanistan issued a statement Thursday saying it `` holds the international forces responsible for the death of Mr. Munadi because they resorted in military action before exhausting other nonviolent means . '' `` There is no justification for the international forces to rescue their own national , and retrieve the dead body of their own soldier killed in action , but leave behind the dead body of Sultan Munadi in the area . The MCA deems this action as inhumane . '' British Prime Minister Gordon Brown intends to send a `` private '' letter of condolences to Munadi 's family , a spokeswoman for his office told CNN . In his first-hand account of the kidnapping , Farrell praised Munadi for `` trying to protect me up to the last minute . '' The two had gone from Kabul to the northern Afghan city of Kunduz on Friday to investigate reports of a NATO airstrike in a Taliban-controlled area . Farrell said he and his colleagues believed the attack , which destroyed two tankers , would be `` a major controversy involving allegations of civilian deaths against NATO claims that the dead were Taliban . '' He said they took precautions , including waiting until the next day to drive along the main highway in daylight . While they were interviewing locals about what happened along the riverbank , Farrell said `` a crowd began to gather , time passed , and we grew nervous . '' `` I do not know how long we were there , but it was uncomfortably long , '' he said . `` I am comfortable with the decision to go to the riverbank , but fear we spent too long there . '' All of a sudden , some of the villagers shouted , `` Taliban '' and their driver fled with the keys , he said . Farrell and Munadi tried to escape too , but they were captured . Munadi was struck with a Kalashnikov rifle , but Farrell said apart from that incident , the two were not `` subjected to any beatings , torture or ill-treatment over the next four days . '' Their Taliban captors operated freely in the area southwest of Kunduz , and appeared to be the only armed presence , Farrell wrote . `` It became a tour of a Taliban-controlled district of Afghanistan , and that control appeared total , '' he said . `` At no point did we see a single NATO soldier , Afghan policeman , soldier or any check to the Taliban 's ability to move at will . '' Farrell said he and Munadi were `` paraded '' around by their captors . `` We were paraded to the children in the street : the infidel and his translator , to be laughed at and mocked , '' he wrote . The captors operated with relative impunity and , at times , `` their operational security was hopelessly inept '' -- using Farrell 's name over their mobile phones `` heedless of who was , almost certainly , monitoring the calls . '' They even played songs on the radio that praised the Taliban , he said . `` They were not making it hard , '' Farrell wrote . At one point , he said they drove near what they said were watchtowers , manned by the Afghan government and NATO , `` gleeful at their daring . '' `` They drove with headlights full on at night as they moved us from house to house , at least three different buildings a day , '' according to Farrell . He said the Taliban captors seemed to be welcomed by some Afghan villagers , while others appeared `` more wary and formally polite . '' During their captivity , Farrell said `` there were good hours , and bad ones , '' as well as `` progress and setbacks . '' It became harder for the captors to find safe houses , he said . On the third night , there was what appeared to be an attempt to free them , but their captors took them to another refuge within minutes . Then , on the next night , the aerial activity increased and their Taliban captors grabbed their weapons and headed outside -- leaving Farrell and Munadi behind . They ran out later , Munadi in front , and then became separated . Then , Munadi appeared again , holding out his hand to steady a faltering Farrell and they ran across a narrow ledge on the outer wall of the compound . `` I could hear Taliban voices shouting and shooting from trees to our left , I thought , '' Farrell wrote . `` I could also hear indistinct voices ahead . We continued 20 yards along the wall until it suddenly reached the corner . '' Munadi walked beyond that corner , out into the open , raising his hands and shouting , `` Journalist . '' `` There was a burst of gunfire and he went down immediately , '' Farrell wrote . `` In the dark , with firing all around , trees everywhere and my view obscured by him and the wall , I did not know whether the bullets came from in front , to his right or to his left . '' At the sound of gunfire , Farrell reared back and dived into a wet ditch . After a few minutes , he heard British-accented voices and then screamed , `` British hostage , '' flashing a camera light from the ditch . He said he told the soldiers that Munadi was lying behind him , and had possibly been shot . `` The body was lying motionless in the ditch where I had seen him go down , '' Farrell said . `` I hoped he had dropped and was lying still . I knew it was n't the case . '' The soldiers told him that `` they had his picture and would look for him , then dragged me away . '' `` It was over , '' he wrote . `` Sultan was dead . He had died trying to help me , right up to the very last seconds of his life . '' Farrell said he was then taken onboard the aircraft , as the soldiers , most of them British , carried on some celebrations . But they fell silent after learning one of the rescuers died from the wounds sustained in the raid . `` His blood-soaked helmet was in front of me throughout the flight , '' Farrell wrote . `` I thanked everyone who was still alive to thank . It was n't , and never will be , enough . '' CNN 's Ingrid Formanek in Kabul , Afghanistan contributed to this report . | Freed British journalist : Taliban hostage-takers were `` hopelessly inept '' New York Times reporter Stephen Farrell was freed by NATO forces in Afghanistan . Afghan journalist killed with British commando ; woman , child die in crossfire . Media Club of Afghanistan : Action `` reckless and double-standard behavior '' | [[8, 35], [106, 170], [39, 105], [815, 849], [852, 879], [1264, 1273], [1276, 1339], [1352, 1372], [1377, 1444]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A controversial Colombian senator who has obtained the release of 16 hostages held by Marxist guerrillas is the leading candidate to receive this year 's Nobel Peace Prize , which will be announced Friday , said an independent research institute in Norway . Sen. Piedad Cordoba , right , of Colombia reportedly is one of three top contenders for the Nobel Peace Prize . Sen. Piedad Cordoba is the most likely recipient among three leading contenders , said the Oslo-based International Peace Research Institute . The others the institute named are Jordanian Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad , a philosophy professor in Islamic faith at Jordan University , and Afghan physician and human rights activist Sima Samar . Though the institute considers Cordoba the front-runner , no single candidate has emerged as the clear-cut favorite , as sometimes happens , said Kristian Berg Harpviken , director of the peace institute . `` It really is quite open this year , '' Harpviken said . This year 's peace prize nominees include 172 people and 33 organizations . The committee does not release the names of the nominees . The 50-year-old peace institute , which is often called PRIO , has no connection with the Nobel committee that awards the peace prize . Harpviken said he believes the prize will go to an individual or organization engaged in the resolution of a protracted armed conflict . `` This is a -LSB- Nobel -RSB- committee that will perhaps be more proactive and will award somebody involved in a standing process rather than rewarding someone for past accomplishments , '' he said . Cordoba , 54 , heads Colombians for Peace , a group trying to end to the 45-year-old war between the government and the guerrilla Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia , known as the FARC . Since 2007 , she has obtained the release of 16 hostages held by the FARC and has gotten commitments from the rebels for the release of several more . Colombian officials have said the guerrillas are holding about 700 captives . A government critic and longtime peace activist , Cordoba was kidnapped by a right-wing paramilitary group in 1999 . She was released after several weeks and then fled to Canada with her family , where she stayed for 14 months before returning home . There have been at least two assassinations attempts against her . `` While it is the hostage releases that have brought Cordoba and her organization the most attention , her role as a principal proponent of peace negotiations and of long-term reconciliation is probably more important to her candidacy for the Nobel Peace Prize , '' PRIO said in a release . Harpviken said he had received many complaints because of his prediction about Cordoba , whom critics accuse of being too close to the rebels . `` I do realize that this created some debate in Colombia , '' he said . `` That 's not terribly surprising . '' Cordoba was nominated by Argentinean human rights activist Adolfo Perez Esquivel , winner of the 1980 Nobel Peace Prize . Harpviken said Muhammad , an Islamic scholar known for trying to bridge gaps with other faiths , also is a leading candidate . `` Certainly , the purpose ... he stands for makes him very strong , '' Harpviken said . A member of the Jordanian royal family and educated at Princeton and Cambridge universities , where he received a doctorate , Muhammad , 42 , `` is playing an increasingly central role as an advocate of interfaith dialogue , '' PRIO said . In 2005 , the prince brought together 170 Islamic scholars from 40 countries for the Amman Initiative to work out what they called a `` theological counter-attack against terrorism . '' Two years later , Muhammad and other prominent Islamic scholars wrote a letter called `` A Common Word Between Us and You '' that urged mutual understanding and peace with Christians . The letter , PRIO said , was partly a response to Pope Benedict XVI 's 2006 lecture that many saw as an attack on Islam . Backing his words with his deeds , Muhammad gave what was considered a broadly accommodating welcoming speech when the pope visited Jordan this year . `` The importance of Prince Ghazi 's initiatives to date lies first and foremost in the way he engages Islamic theology , institutions and leaders in a debate on the relationship between Islam and other faiths , thereby contributing a wider platform for interreligious dialogue for Muslims in general , '' PRIO said . `` A prize to Prince Ghazi would also be recognition of the long-standing efforts of the Jordanian royal family , including King Abdullah , who have been long-standing proponents of peace and reconciliation in the Middle East . '' If Muhammad does not win , Harpviken said , it could be because his work is not done . `` He still has a way to go so that his ideas have an impact , '' Harpviken said . The third PRIO front-runner is Samar , head of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission and the U.N. special envoy to Darfur in Africa . A medical doctor , Samar also established the Shuhada Organization , which focuses on health care , particularly for Afghan women . After obtaining her medical degree in 1982 , Samar and her son fled to Pakistan in 1984 when the communist regime then ruling Afghanistan arrested her husband . Samar , 52 , remained in exile until 2002 when she was appointed as a women 's affairs minister in Afghan President Hamid Karzai 's transitional administration . `` She has been under frequent attacks both from conservative religious leaders and from Islamist radicals , and she is a prominent voice for the rights of women , '' PRIO said , adding that she `` does invite respect by being a principled and outspoken proponent of human rights and the need for a true reconciliatory process . '' According to other published reports , another possible pick is monk Thich Quang Do , head of the outlawed United Buddhist Church of Vietnam . He has been under house arrest since 2001 and has been in and out of jail since his first detention by communist authorities in 1977 . Quang Do , 80 , was awarded the annual human rights prize by the Rafto Foundation of Norway in 2006 . Four recent Rafto winners have gone on to garner the Nobel Peace Prize : Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar -LRB- also known as Burma -RRB- , Jose Ramos-Horta of East Timor , Kim Dae-jung of South Korea and Shirin Ebadi of Iran . Azerbaijani journalist and human rights activist Malahat Nasibova was awarded the Rafto this year and also is considered a possible Nobel prize winner . Chinese dissidents Hu Jia , Gao Zhisheng and Wei Jingsheng also are contenders , other observers said . After months of house arrest , Hu , 36 , was detained in December 2007 during a crackdown on dissidents and sentenced to 3 1/2 years in April 2008 for `` inciting subversion of state power . '' Hu started his activism focusing on HIV/AIDS in 2001 and co-founded a grassroots organization dedicated to helping children from AIDS families . The international human rights group Amnesty International said Hu 's focus broadened and he began reporting on a wider human rights violations in China , even giving interviews to international journalists . Amnesty said Hu has been repeatedly beaten and harassed by police for his outspokenness . Before being arrested , he had publicly expressed concerns over human rights abuses by police in Beijing . Gao , who was born in 1966 , is a self-taught lawyer and People 's Liberation Army veteran who was a Nobel Peace Prize candidate last year . He disappeared in February after being taken away by Chinese police . Fellow activists say he is believed to still be alive . In 2007 , he wrote a letter to the U.S. Congress urging the United States to boycott the Olympic Games held in Beijing the following year . In it , he described a wide array of human rights violations by the Chinese government -- from lack of property and religious rights to environmental disasters to Tibet . `` I ask to you to seriously consider the true value of morality , justice , and humanity , as well as to what extent such values are undermined in China , '' he said . Wei , 59 , was first arrested in 1979 and sentenced to 15 years . He was released in 1993 but arrested again within six months and sentenced to 14 years . In 1997 , Chinese authorities put him on a plane to the United States , where he has lived since . Perhaps the best known of the Chinese dissidents , Wei has been awarded the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Human Rights Award , the European Parliament 's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought , the National Endowment for Democracy Award and the Olof Palme Memorial Prize . He has been nominated seven times for the peace prize . Harpviken said he doubts the Nobel committee will choose any Chinese or Russian dissidents this year because they `` do n't want to anger powerful governments . '' `` Although the committee takes pride in being independent , '' he said , `` there are certain limitations on their being independent . '' That does not mean he does n't expect the committee to `` take daring decisions . '' Harpviken said he believes that `` the most likely expression of the committee 's courage this year will be to award the prize either to an unconventional kind of candidate or to somebody whose work is likely to be directly helped by a prize award . '' The peace prize is one of five awarded annually since 1901 by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm , Sweden . The other four prizes are for physiology or medicine , physics , chemistry and literature . Starting in 1969 , the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel also has been awarded . While the other prizes are awarded by committees based in Sweden , the peace prize is determined by a five-member panel appointed by the Norwegian parliament . The Nobel recipient receives a prize of 10 million Swedish crowns , or about $ 1.4 million . CNN 's Arthur Brice contributed to this report . | Independent research institute cites three top contenders for Nobel Peace Prize . No candidate emerges as clear-cut favorite ; winner to be announced Friday . Colombian senator , Jordanian prince , Afghan rights activist among contenders . Vietnamese Buddhist monk , Chinese dissidents also could be awarded prize . | [[0, 15], [226, 276], [277, 388], [170, 223], [784, 843], [277, 388], [389, 468], [532, 602]] |
Las Vegas , Nevada -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- To most people these days , an `` app '' is something you download on your smartphone to help you do a specific task -- say , find a good nearby restaurant . But big tech companies , seeing how applications have boosted the appeal of gadgets such as Apple 's iPhone , are starting to view apps as low-cost enhancements for a broader range of products , from netbooks to TVs and beyond . At the International Consumer Electronics Show here this week , microchip maker Intel launched an app store geared towards netbook computers . Not to be outdone , Samsung announced it will open its own app store for HDTVs , Blu-ray players and mobile phones . Even unlikely players such as Ford Motor Co. are getting in on the app act . Ford announced Thursday that several applications , including one that will read aloud Twitter tweets while you 're driving , will be available on many of its vehicles later this year . What 's driving this sudden app movement ? `` Mobile computer chips have gotten so powerful and affordable , and it 's so easy to get on the Internet , that it does n't make much sense to ship a gadget with dedicated , stagnant functionality , '' said Brian X. Chen , who covers technology for Wired.com . `` Add an Internet connection and a software platform open for third-party programmers to develop for -- i.e. , open an app store -- and you can enhance the capabilities of a gadget , thus future-proofing it , at no cost . '' Sales of the apps , which typically cost a few dollars apiece , also create a new source of revenue for the device 's manufacturer , Chen said . And consumers win , too : They get more value out of their product without having to keep buying new hardware . Software applications have been around for decades , but it took the recent success of the iPhone and Apple 's App Store -- with their can-do slogan , `` there 's an app for that '' -- to make apps sexy on the consumer level . Developers have created more than 100,000 apps for the store -- at no cost to Apple , which takes a cut of revenues . Less than 18 months after the store launched in 2008 , owners of the iPhone and iPod Touch have downloaded more than 3 billion applications . Rival smartphone makers such as Palm and Research in Motion soon followed with app stores of their own . It 's now standard for Web properties such as Facebook , Google and eBay to have mobile apps that let users share updates or make purchases on the go . The number of people who use Internet-enabled mobile devices is expected to pass 1 billion by 2013 , according to industry analysts , meaning that demand for apps will only grow . And as more people grow accustomed to using apps to quickly check the weather or send a tweet on Twitter , more manufacturers will develop apps-ready products , experts say . On Thursday Intel launched a beta version of its app store , called the Intel AppUp center , for netbooks , the smaller , simpler cousins of laptops . About 100 apps , in such categories as entertainment , games , health , social networking , are now available for download at www.intelappup.com . The beta store will host apps for both Microsoft Windows and the open-source Moblin operating system , which target the popular netbook computer category powered by Intel 's Atom processor . `` Apps have been defined in people 's minds as these little things that run on the iPhone . Our focus is on getting lots of smart people to think of the netbook as a device they can target -LSB- for developing apps -RSB- , '' said Peter Biddle , who run 's Intel 's Atom software program . Eventually , Intel and its partners expect to expand the store to include applications for smartphones , TVs and even consumer electronic appliances . Meanwhile , Samsung is betting that as television merges with the Internet , more channel-surfers will enjoy being able to order a movie from Netflix or scroll through photos on Picasa without having to leave their couch . Samsung is calling Samsung Apps `` the world 's first HDTV-based application store , '' although it 's not expected to launch until later this year . Samsung has opened the store to third-party developers and hopes to have more than 150 apps available for download by the end of 2010 . Many content partners have already signed up . `` There 's going to be an application for everything , '' said Samsung product training manager Jermain Anderson , who envisions guys sitting around a living room , playing Texas hold 'em poker on a big-screen TV while holding their virtual cards on their smartphones . Suddenly , a TV becomes more than a TV -- it 's also a computer screen and a gaming console . `` The idea is to make everyone 's life more convenient without them having to go to more than one place to do it , '' Anderson said . `` Down the road , the app store will bring a lot of different Samsung products together . '' Soon , apps will even be coming to the highway . Ford has signed agreements with three partners : the Pandora music service , Stitcher Internet radio and OpenBeak , which helps users send and receive messages via Twitter . Drivers will not be able to read the tweets on the dashboard -- instead , a computer voice will say them aloud . The three apps would live on users ' smartphones but would be controlled in the vehicle through Ford 's SYNC system , which allows motorists to operate mobile devices through voice commands or steering-wheel controls . The apps will be available later this year for any Ford vehicle with a SYNC system . `` When we saw the apps craze ... -LSB- we realized -RSB- there 's a consumer demand there , '' said Alan Hall , a technology communications manager at Ford . Hall was quick to say that Ford would not approve apps -- such as video games -- that might distract the driver . `` Apps are becoming the norm for how people quickly and easily access the information they want , '' Hall added . `` People are used to getting information on demand . They have a digital life outside the car -- they should have a digital life inside the car . '' | Companies are opening app stores and bringing applications to TVs , netbooks and even cars . Intel launched an app store for netbooks at the Consumer Electronics Show this week . Samsung will launch an app store later this year for HDTVs and Blu-ray players . Ford Motor Co. will make select apps available for new vehicles later in 2010 . | [[200, 218], [221, 424], [425, 486], [489, 567], [588, 684], [791, 827], [870, 947], [3616, 3626], [3629, 3766], [4917, 4921], [4924, 4965], [425, 486], [489, 567], [2836, 2894], [588, 684], [4087, 4089], [4093, 4139], [715, 761], [791, 827], [870, 947], [5472, 5535]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Manny Pacquiao returned home to a hero 's welcome in his native Philippines on Friday after wresting the WBO welterweight title from Miguel Cotto on a 12th round technical knockout in Las Vegas . ` Pacman ' has a fanatical following in the Philippines which has been further enhanced by his record breaking victory as he claimed his sixth world title at a different weight by beating Cotto on Saturday night . `` Welcome home , the world 's bext boxer of all time , '' read a banner as thousands of fans greeted the 30-year-old . Following his hard-fought victory over Puerto Rican Cotto , all the talk is of a cash-rich superfight with American Floyd Mayweather Jr. next year . Leading promoter Bob Arum said he is ready to put the pay-per-view extravaganza at the 147-pound welterweight class , with Las Vegas the preferred venue . Pacquiao played down the possibility as he talked to reporters on his return . `` We are not forcing a fight with him . It is right that he is the one challenging me , because my fights score more on pay-per-view , '' he said . Pacquiao has greatly enhanced his reputation with successive wins over Oscar de la Hoya , Britain 's Ricky Hatton and Cotto . Mayweather returned to the ring with a comfortable win over Juan Manuel Marquez and has the reputation for grossing massive receipts from his pay-per-view appearances . For the moment , Pacquiao will spend time at home with his wife , Jinkee , and three children and is also set to pursue his ambition to enter Filippino politics , standing for a congressional seat in his home island of Mindanao . | Manny Pacquiao returns home to Philippines after Las Vegas triumph . Pacman won world title at sixth different weight after beating Miguel Cotto . Cash-rich fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the offing in the United States . | [[19, 214], [19, 214], [0, 15], [105, 214], [252, 270], [277, 428], [549, 606], [609, 697]] |
WASHINGTON -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Bernie McDaid was an 11-year-old altar boy when his priest began molesting him , one of 50 boys who have said they were molested by the same man . Olan Horne , from left , Faith Johnston and Bernie McDaid met with the pope Thursday . Like with so many victims of abuse , McDaid 's young life spiraled . He turned to drugs and alcohol in his teen years , struggling to cope with what `` Father B '' had done to him . On Thursday , he finally got a chance to do something he 'd hoped for decades : He met with the Holy Father and told him about the abuse he had suffered . `` I basically told him that I was an altar boy ... a young boy praying to God at the time that I was abused , '' McDaid said . `` It was n't just sexual abuse , it was spiritual abuse , and I want you to know that . '' `` And then I told him that he has a cancer growing in his ministry and needs to do something about it . And I hope he hears me right , and I touched his heart . And he nodded . '' Watch victims describe abuse and pope 's apology '' McDaid was part of a small group of victims of the sexual abuse scandal that rocked the Roman Catholic Church who met with Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday . They shared their stories with the pope in a Washington chapel in what the victims called an emotional , frank and ultimately hope-filled meeting . Faith Johnston clutched her mother 's rosary beads as she tried to speak to the pope . But her emotions took over . `` I did n't end up saying anything . I got up to him , and I burst into tears , '' said Johnston , who at 14 was molested by her priest . `` I think just my tears alone spoke -- just spoke so much . '' She added , `` I hope that other survivors can hear about this , see this and get the same hope that we 've gotten from it . '' Olan Horne said the pope first apologized to them in what he called an `` unscripted '' and `` free-flowing '' meeting . `` We were all able to answer all of the questions that needed to be asked and for him to respond to . And he did -- and he did forthright , '' Horne said . `` He seemed to intrinsically understand what we were talking about . And he spoke to those issues to each one of us in a spiritual way , in a pastoral way . And he also was very respectful of where and what we wanted to talk about . '' Horne added , `` My hope was restored today from what I heard . And I believe we received a promise . '' Horne and McDaid both accused the same priest , the Rev. Joseph Birmingham , of molesting them . Birmingham died in 1989 . The Rev. Federico Lombardi , a papal spokesman , said the pope listened to everyone 's `` personal accounts and offered them words of encouragement and hope . '' The surprise meeting came during the pope 's visit , the first trip to the United States by the Holy Father since the abuse scandal rocked the church in the early 2000s . The meeting is believed to be the first between a pope and the victims of clergy sexual abuse . The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests , the nation 's oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims , said it was pleased that the pope met with the victims but hopes the church will do more . `` This is a small , long overdue step forward on a very long road . We 're confident the meeting was meaningful for the participants , and we 're grateful that these victims have had the courage to come forward and speak up , '' the group said . `` But fundamentally , it wo n't change things . Kids need action . Catholics deserve action . Action produces reform , and reform , real reform , is sorely needed in the church hierarchy . '' Earlier Thursday , celebrating Mass in center field at Washington 's new ballpark , the pope gave a 20-minute homily that focused on hope , repentance , unity and reconciliation among the 70 million Catholics in the United States . `` It is in the context of this hope , born of God 's love and fidelity , that I acknowledge the pain which the church in America has experienced as the result of sexual abuse of minors , '' Benedict said . `` No words of mine could describe the pain and harm inflicted by such abuse . It is important that those who have suffered be given loving pastoral attention . '' McDaid was sitting in the audience with his mother when he heard those words . Watch pope 's apology ` blew me away ' '' `` I had tears in my eyes that I was n't ready to have . It was an incredible moment for me , '' he said . Now , he hopes the church will follow through . `` We 're at the beginning of a new start , and there 's real hope this time . It 's not just words . I think there 's going to be action following this moment now . '' E-mail to a friend . | Victim : I was `` a young boy praying to God at the time that I was abused '' Group of sex abuse victims met with pope Thursday ; pope apologized . `` He seemed to intrinsically understand what we were talking about , '' victim says . Victim support group says `` real reform is sorely needed in the church hierarchy '' | [[30, 108], [653, 691], [1554, 1611], [1002, 1050], [1138, 1163], [1168, 1208], [1804, 1924], [1820, 1924], [2085, 2151], [3563, 3569], [3586, 3628]] |
KAMPALA , Uganda -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Police in Uganda have arrested and extradited a man who is among the most wanted suspects from the Rwandan genocide . The 100-day killing rampage led to the loss of an estimated 10 percent of Rwanda 's population . IIdephonse Nizeyimana was picked up at a hotel in Rubaga , a suburb of the capital , Kampala , by the National Central Bureau of Interpol , according to a news release from the U.N.-sponsored International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda -LRB- ICTR -RRB- on Tuesday . He was transferred Tuesday to a U.N. detention facility in Arusha , Tanzania , where the tribunal is based . Top officials who allegedly took part in the genocide , such as army generals and politicians , are tried by the tribunal . `` Nizeyimana is one of the four top accused who are earmarked by the prosecutor to be tried by the tribunal in Arusha after their arrest as part of the ICTR completion strategy , '' the tribunal 's news release said . Of a list of 13 fugitives , he is the second to be arrested in less than two months , it said . In the attacks that started in April 1994 , Hutu militias and members of the general population sought out Tutsis and moderate Hutus , and went on a 100-day killing rampage . Civilians and children got incentives to take part in the atrocities , including promises of land belonging to their Tutsi neighbors . It was one of the most brutal genocides in modern history . Some figures put the number of dead at 1 million -- 10 percent of the population of the central African nation . Millions more were raped and disfigured . A whole generation of children lost their parents . Nizeyimana was a captain the Rwanda Armed Forces , the tribunal said . He is accused of exercising authority over soldiers and personnel through a chain of command , and allegedly sent a section of soldiers to execute of Rosalie Gicanda , a former queen of Rwanda who was a `` symbolic figure for all Tutsis , '' it said . The tribunal noted this marks the second time Uganda has cooperated with it to make an arrest . `` The tribunal has commended the Interpol and the Ugandan authorities for their close cooperation , '' the news release said . Samson Ntale contributed to this report for CNN . | IIdephonse Nizeyimana was picked from a hotel north of Ugandan capital . Extradited to Tanzania , where International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda based . Police : He -LRB- Nizeyimana -RRB- is among the top three most-wanted suspects . Some figures put number of dead from attacks on ethnic tutsis at 1 million . | [[251, 307], [1434, 1482]] |
ISTANBUL , Turkey -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The governments of Armenia and Turkey will sign a peace agreement in Zurich on Saturday that would normalize relations after nearly a century of animosity between the neighboring nations , the Swiss government said Friday . The Swiss-mediated peace deal would also open the border between the countries , which has been shut since 1993 . The signing ceremony comes more than a month after Armenia and Turkey announced they had agreed to start six weeks of `` internal political consultations '' on two protocols aimed at establishing diplomatic and bilateral relations . The Swiss-mediated peace deal would also open the border between the countries , which has been shut since 1993 . The border was closed after Turkey objected to Armenia 's war with Turkish ally Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabagh . Neither country has an embassy in the other 's capital . Turkish-Armenian relations have often been overshadowed by the dispute over the massacre of ethnic Armenians in the final days of the Ottoman Empire , more than 90 years ago . Armenians accuse Ottoman Turks of committing genocide , killing more then a million Armenians starting in 1915 . Modern-day Turkey vehemently rejects the allegations . The proposed protocols for normalizing relations call for creating a committee of international experts to research archives and `` restore mutual confidence between the two nations . '' There is no mention of the disputed territory of Karabagh , which Armenian troops have controlled since the 1993 Armenian-Azerbaijan war . But the success of the protocols is still uncertain , as the parliaments of both countries still must ratify the agreement . A senior U.S. State Department official -- authorized to brief reporters without attribution because of diplomatic sensitivities -- said the situation remains `` difficult . '' `` There 's opposition both in Turkey and in Armenia , '' the senior official said Thursday , `` but both governments realize ultimately it 's in their interest to have normalized relations and an open border after years of tension and the economic isolation , particularly of Armenia . '' U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will attend the signing , along with dignitaries from several other countries , including the European Union , according to the Swiss government . | Swiss-mediated deal would normalize relations between rival nations . Accord also open the border , which has been closed since 1993 . Animosity dates back to Ottoman Empire and massacre of ethnic Armenians . Both countries still must ratify the protocols , and difficulties remain . | [[116, 124], [130, 223], [261, 339], [608, 686], [261, 339], [318, 374], [608, 686], [665, 721], [920, 1068], [1096, 1149], [1594, 1641], [1715, 1754], [1847, 1888]] |
TEHRAN , Iran -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A Newsweek journalist accused of making false accusations against the Iranian government in the wake of the disputed presidential election in June was released from prison Saturday , Iranian media reported . Various organizations and individuals signed petitions asking for release of journalist Bahari , Newsweek says . Maziar Bahari , an Iranian-Canadian correspondent based in Tehran , was among the more than 100 journalists , reformist leaders and former government ministers who went on trial in August in Iran 's Revolutionary Court . Bahari was released from Evin prison on nearly $ 300,000 bail after spending four months behind bars , a revolutionary court spokesman told the news agency . The conditions of his release were not disclosed . Newsweek , which has firmly rejected the allegations against Bahari , reported Saturday that authorities did not specify why the journalist was released . Bahari , 42 , is expecting his first child October 26 , and `` the mother has experienced serious health complications , '' Newsweek said in an article on its Web site . `` Humanitarian considerations were presumed to have played a role in the decision , '' the article said . `` We are relieved that Newsweek journalist Maziar Bahari is home with his family today . We would like to thank all of those who supported Maziar through this long and uncertain period , '' the magazine said in a statement . Newsweek said various organizations and individuals signed petitions asking for his release . Bahari 's case was among those raised at recent talks between the United States and Iran in Geneva . The government of Iran arrested more than 1,000 people in a massive crackdown following the June 12 election . Iran 's election commission declared President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the overwhelming winner of the race , prompting hundreds of thousands of Iranians to fill the streets of Tehran in protest , contending the election was fraudulent . Bahari was accused of propagandizing against Iran , favoring opposition groups ; sending false reports through the foreign media ; and disturbing the peace by participating in the post-election demonstrations , according to Fars . The Iranian Labour News Agency said the reporter also was accused of possessing classified documents . According to Fars , Bahari confessed after his arrest at a news conference . CNN was unable to confirm the agency report . Human rights groups have accused prison guards of coercing false confessions among other forms of detainee mistreatment . | Maziar Bahari was accused of making false accusations against Iranian government . The Newsweek journalist stood trial in August in Iran 's Revolutionary Court . `` Humanitarian considerations '' thought to play role in release , Newsweek says . Thousands arrested , more than 100 stood trial after disputed presidential election . | [[33, 179], [1981, 2030], [338, 353], [1109, 1191], [1637, 1747], [1695, 1747]] |
Fort Hood , Texas -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Pvt. Joseph Foster was filling out routine paperwork for his upcoming deployment to Afghanistan on Thursday when he heard a shout quickly followed by a burst of gunfire from just a few feet away . `` I was sitting in about the second row back when the assailant stood up and yelled ` Allahu akbar ' in Arabic and he opened fire , '' Foster said Monday on CNN 's `` American Morning . '' Foster , 21 , did not forget his basic training , which may have saved his life and the lives of others . '' -LSB- I -RSB- got down on the floor , moved to cover . One soldier had peeked his head around the cubicle I was hiding in ... and I pulled him in , '' Foster said . Foster realized he had been shot in the hip but was too consumed by adrenaline to think about his injury . `` Another soldier had come in as soon as the assailant had moved away from us , '' he said . `` Those two got up and got out , and I got out shortly behind him . '' Once outside , Foster said , he hid behind a military shipping container `` and started doing what I was trained to do . '' '' -LSB- I -RSB- started helping get people into the next building and get them under cover , '' he said . Despite his injury , Foster , who has a wife and two young children , said he still plans to deploy to Afghanistan in January . `` I 'm still a soldier day in and day out , '' he said . `` I 'll do my job . '' Authorities are trying to figure out what prompted the gunman to begin shooting at Fort Hood Army Post , killing 13 people and wounding 42 . Fifteen soldiers are still hospitalized , including eight patients in intensive care , Fort Hood commander Lt. Gen. Robert Cone said Monday . Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan , a 39-year-old licensed Army psychiatrist who worked at a hospital on the post , is the suspected shooter . He was shot several times , ending the attack , and is now conscious and talking , a spokesman at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio said Monday . It is unclear if Army investigators have spoken to Hasan . The intense investigation into the mass shooting remains largely shrouded in silence . Army officials have voiced concern about jumping to any conclusions about the motive , warning about a possible backlash against Muslim soldiers . Several bystanders , like Foster , reported Hasan shouted `` Allahu akbar , '' Arabic for `` God is great , '' which terrorists have used as a battle cry . The Army leadership at Fort Hood will `` take a very hard look at ourselves and look at anything that might have been done to have prevented this , '' Cone said Monday . `` Hasan was a soldier , and we have other soldiers ... that might have some of the same stress and indicators that he has , '' Cone said . `` We have to look across our entire formation , not just in a medical community , but really look hard to our right and left . That 's the responsibility for everybody , from the top to the bottom , to make sure we 're taking care of our own . '' Cone said Monday that he has instructed commanders at Fort Hood to `` immediately take a hard look and make sure if there 's anybody out there struggling -LSB- that -RSB- we 're going to address their issues . '' Sen. Joe Lieberman said he plans a Senate committee hearing into whether the shootings were a terrorist act and whether the Army should responded to reported signs of Islamic extremism by the suspected gunman . If Hasan was showing signs of being an Islamic extremist , the Army should have acted on that earlier , and `` he should have been gone , '' said Lieberman , a Connecticut independent and chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee . He spoke on `` Fox News Sunday . '' The shooting , on the nation 's largest military base , sparked outrage . In his Saturday radio address , President Obama said it was `` an act of violence that would have been heartbreaking had it occurred any place in America . '' But , he said , `` it 's all the more heartbreaking and all the more despicable because of the place where it occurred and the patriots who were its victims . '' All but one of those who were killed were soldiers . Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will attend a Tuesday memorial service for the victims . Defense Secretary Robert Gates will also participate in the memorial service , but he will not speak , Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said . Gates on Monday night will go to Fort Hood , where he will meet with the victims ' families as well as Fort Hood Police Sgt. Kimberly Munley , the civilian officer who confronted and disabled Hasan as they shot at each other . Gates will also meet with military officials at the Army base , including Fort Hood 's commanding general , Lt. Gen. Robert Cone , and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen , according to Morrell . CNN 's David Mattingly and Victor Hernandez contributed to this report . | Pvt. Joseph Foster was doing paperwork when he heard a shout , then gunfire . Shooter `` stood up and yelled ` Allahu akbar ' in Arabic and he opened fire , '' he says . He says he was too consumed by adrenaline to think about being shot in the hip . Foster , who has a wife and two young children , said he still plans to deploy to Afghanistan . | [[42, 144], [150, 233], [237, 318], [285, 298], [312, 320], [2274, 2306], [2309, 2347], [698, 704], [746, 804], [1210, 1220], [1236, 1269], [1223, 1229], [1272, 1329]] |
-LRB- OPRAH.com -RRB- -- When the first book of the `` Twilight '' series was released in October 2005 , no one could have guessed the phenomenon it would become . Four years later , 70 million copies have been sold worldwide . The books have spent 143 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list , and the first movie in `` The Twilight Saga '' grossed $ 380 million at the box office . The story , a love triangle between a vampire , a human and a werewolf , has ignited an international frenzy , and the woman behind it all is 35-year-old author Stephenie Meyer . Once a stay-at-home mom , Stephenie says the idea for `` Twilight '' came to her in a dream . `` It was two people in kind of a little circular meadow with really bright sunlight , and one of them was a beautiful , sparkly boy and one was just a girl who was human and normal , and they were having this conversation . The boy was a vampire , which is so bizarre that I 'd be dreaming about vampires , and he was trying to explain to her how much he cared about her and yet at the same time how much he wanted to kill her , '' Stephenie says . `` It really captured my imagination . '' That dream became Chapter 13 of `` Twilight . '' Oprah.com : Get your Twilight '' primer . Before the night of the dream , Stephenie says she had lost herself a little in the work of motherhood . `` I was really burned out . I really had gotten into that zombie mom way of doing things where I was n't Stephenie anymore , '' she says . '' -LSB- Writing `` Twilight -RSB- was a release . That was the dam bursting . I 'd been bottling up who I was for so long , I needed an expression . '' Though she 'd been married for 15 years , Stephenie says she did n't tell her husband at first about her new passion . `` My husband thought I 'd gone crazy . I 'd barely spoken to him because I had all these things going on in my head , and I was n't telling him about this weird vampire obsession because I knew he 'd freak out and think I 'd lost my mind , '' she says . At first , Stephenie was documenting her dream only to make sure she would remember it , she says . `` The dream was just something I was so interested in , and it was so different from what my everyday was at the time , '' she says . `` I just wanted to remember it so badly . That 's why I started writing it down -- not because I thought this would be a great story for a novel . '' Oprah.com : Read an excerpt from `` Twilight '' Though Stephenie had been an avid reader all her life , she says she was never a writer before `` Twilight . '' `` It seems kind of presumptuous to me -LSB- to think -RSB- anyone else would want to read the things that are in my head , '' she says . `` I did n't think of it -LSB- as a book -RSB- . I did the dream . And then I wanted to see what would happen with them . It was just me spending time with this fantasy world , and then when it was finished it was like , ` This is long enough to be a book ! ' '' Before `` Twilight , '' Stephenie says she read every type of book except for horror . `` That was the genre I just knew I was too chicken for , '' she says . `` I read a little bit of everything . ... When I was 8 , I was reading `` Gone with the Wind '' and `` Pride and Prejudice '' and all that , not knowing it was n't my reading level . '' Oprah.com : Gift ideas for every reader on your list . Now that `` Twilight '' is a huge success , it 's hard to imagine any literary agent rejecting it . But Stephenie says she 'd submitted it to plenty of people before she was signed . `` I got nine rejections , five no answers and then one ` I 'd like to read more , ' '' she says . Stephenie says it was her sister who really pushed her to keep submitting it to more agents . `` She was the only one in the world who knew what I was doing , '' she says . These days , the `` Twilight `` series is more than just a literary hit . The first two movies have also created a stir and catapulted three young stars into the limelight . British actor Robert Pattinson , who plays the lead vampire Edward Cullen , is now an international heartthrob . `` I knew that the problem was going to be Edward , because he 's the perfect vampire , '' Stephenie says . `` How do you cast that from your pool of human actors ? '' When producers found Robert , Stephenie says it was a perfect fit . `` He 's got something about him . He does n't look like everybody else . There 's something unusual , '' she says . `` There are moments where he looks exactly like he did in my head . '' Stephenie says casting Bella , the book 's protagonist , was a bit easier . `` There 's plenty of people who look like the girl next door , '' she says . `` We were really lucky -LSB- to cast -RSB- Kirsten Stewart , who is a phenomenal actress . I did n't know if we were going to get that caliber . '' Though Twi-hards , as fans are called , know most everything about the series , Stephenie says there is one secret she 's never revealed before . `` There was a different ending to `` New Moon '' originally , '' she says . `` It was a much quieter book . It was very much all in Bella 's head . '' Oprah.com : Are you a Twi-hard ? Take the quiz ! Stephenie says fans have her mother to thank for `` New Moon 's '' current dramatic ending . `` My mom 's like : ` You know , Stephenie , maybe a little more action at the end would be a good idea . Maybe you need that , ' '' Stephenie says . `` And she was right , as usual . '' Find out more about `` New Moon '' Her mother 's suggestion prompted Stephenie to introduce the Volturi , an all-powerful coven of vampires living in Italy , sooner than she 'd planned . `` That 's kind of my favorite part now , and it 's there because my mom told me it would be better that way . '' From The Oprah Winfrey Show © 2009 . Subscribe to O , The Oprah Magazine for up to 75 % off the newsstand price . That 's like getting 18 issues FREE . Subscribe now ! TM & © 2009 Harpo Productions , Inc. . All Rights Reserved . | `` Twilight '' author Stephenie Meyer reveals her inspiration for the book . `` I really had gotten into that zombie mom way of doing things ... '' before a dream . Nine people rejected her book , five ignored it , one said `` I 'd like to read more '' Coven of vampires added to `` New Moon '' after her mom suggested more action at end . | [[1245, 1274], [1277, 1349], [1379, 1439], [3551, 3572], [3606, 3628], [5308, 5380], [5497, 5565]] |
Guangzhou , China -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- In a new book , the half brother of President Obama claims the father they shared was often drunk and physically abusive . `` My father beat me , '' Mark Obama Ndesandjo told reporters in China , where he lives . `` He beat my mother . You just do not do that . I shut these thoughts in the back of my mind for many years . '' Ndesandjo , who took the last name of the man his mother remarried , has dodged the media in the year since his half brother was elected U.S. president . However , he spoke out Wednesday regarding his semi-autobiographical book , `` Nairobi to Shenzhen . '' An engineer by trade , Ndesandjo moved to Shenzhen , China , after losing his job in the United States seven years ago . He owns a small chain of restaurants in Shenzhen and teaches piano to orphans . Watch as the president 's half brother instructs kids on the piano . He said that he struggled with the name Obama for years , telling few about his family . But he said something happened to change that after he watched Obama 's victory celebration in Chicago , Illinois ' Grant Park following the 2008 election . His own despair turned into hope , he said . `` I saw millions of people who loved or supported my brother Barack , and in the process , in some weird way , I came to terms with many things that I had shut out of my life , including the Obama name , '' he said . In his book , `` Dreams of My Father : A Story of Race and Inheritance , '' Obama writes that he grew up in Hawaii , raised by his mother and her parents , after his father , Barack Obama Sr. , returned to Africa . He recalls a monthlong visit with his father when he was 10 and going to Kenya after the elder Obama 's death . In the book , Obama acknowledges his father was an alcoholic . There was no immediate reaction from the White House to Ndesandjo 's comments . Ndesandjo said he has met with Obama infrequently over the years but said he would like to introduce his half brother to his Chinese wife when Obama makes his first official visit to China this month . Presidential brothers , such as Billy Carter and Roger Clinton Jr. , historically have not had an easy ride . However , Ndesandjo said he wants to live his life and tell his own story , not have others tell it for him . CNN 's John Vause contributed to this report . | Mark Obama Ndesandjo is President Obama 's half brother . In a new book , Ndesandjo says their father was abusive . `` My father beat me , '' he tells reporters in China . President has said in earlier book that his father was an alcoholic . | [[0, 9], [53, 159], [832, 891], [0, 9], [53, 159], [0, 9], [53, 159], [163, 180], [183, 230], [1728, 1739], [1742, 1790]] |
NEW YORK -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Police in Connecticut say they have arrested a woman suspected of robbing at least six banks in the past week . Police released photos of a suspect in the robberies of six New England banks . Detectives from the Major Crimes division of the Connecticut State Police took Heather Brown into custody at about 3:15 p.m. . The 34-year-old resident of Norwich , Connecticut , will be formally charged with robbery in the first degree , police said . Investigators believe Brown robbed the banks , often while claiming to have a bomb . `` When she goes into the banks , she gives the teller information through a note or verbally that she has a bomb , '' said Sgt. Jim Keeney of the Connecticut State Police . `` However , there have n't been any reports of an actual bomb . '' Authorities say they believe the woman has held up banks in the Connecticut towns of Middletown , Montville , East Hartford and Windsor , as well as banks in West Springfield , Massachusetts and Westerly , Rhode Island . Women commit 6.2 percent of bank robberies nationwide , up from 4.9 percent in 2002 , according to recent FBI figures . The one-woman crime wave in New England apparently began September 21 at the Citizens Bank in Montville , Connecticut . State police said `` a lone white female ... entered the bank with a bag in her possession . The suspect approached the teller indicated she was in possession of a bomb and demanded cash . '' The woman left the bag on a counter and bolted , police said . Four days later , a woman entered a branch of the New Alliance Bank in East Hartford , Connecticut . Investigators with the East Hartford Police Department said she `` left a note indicating that she had a bomb and demanded $ 1,000 . She fled the bank with an undisclosed amount of money . '' Police suspect she struck again the next day in Windsor , Connecticut . | Police say they have Heather Brown , 34 , in custody . Investigators say she held up at least six banks in the past week . She informs teller she has a bomb , but no actual bomb has been seen , police say . Police : Suspect lives in Norwich , Connecticut , has served time for bank robbery . | [[0, 24], [50, 139], [140, 219], [473, 525], [800, 1020], [816, 1020], [473, 486], [495, 500], [532, 557], [745, 796], [1354, 1429], [1377, 1449], [1677, 1749]] |
MEXICO CITY , Mexico -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Mexican federal police have arrested a fugitive on the FBI 's 10 Most Wanted list , Mexican authorities said . Jorge Alberto Lopez Orozco allegedly murdered his girlfriend and her two young sons . Jorge Alberto Lopez Orozco is wanted in Elmore County , Idaho , on charges that he shot and killed three people , the FBI said . The charred remains of a woman and her sons , ages 2 and 4 , were found inside a burned-out vehicle on August 11 , 2002 , it said . Each victim had been shot in the head or chest . The FBI was still working Friday to confirm the identity of the man in custody , said Debbie Dujanovic , a spokeswoman in the agency 's Salt Lake City , Utah , field office . The Salt Lake City office has jurisdiction in the case . An extradition order was issued in January 2007 , the Mexican attorney general 's office said in a news release Thursday . A reward of up to $ 100,000 was being offered , the FBI said . Lopez , 33 , was captured in Zihuatanejo , a city northwest of Acapulco on the Pacific Coast in southern Mexico , the Mexican attorney general 's office said . Zihuatanejo is in Guerrero state , but Lopez was transferred to a jail in neighboring Michoacan state , officials said . The arrest came about after investigation and intelligence work by Mexican authorities , the attorney general 's office said . According to the FBI , Lopez abducted his girlfriend , Rebecca Ramirez , and her two young sons from her father 's house in Nyssa , Oregon , on July 30 , 2002 . The car he had been driving was found nearly two weeks later on a rural road near Mountain Home , Idaho , officials said . It had been torched with the three bodies inside . The suspect 's brother , Simon Lopez Orozco , and Simon 's wife , Maria Cruz Garcia , have been charged with accessory to first-degree murder , the FBI said . Garcia was arrested in California three years ago , but Simon Lopez Orozco is believed still at large . Mexican officials captured another FBI Top 10 fugitive on July 17 . Emigdio Preciado Jr. was wanted in connection with the shooting of two Los Angeles County , California , sheriff 's deputies in September 2000 . He had been charged with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution , attempted murder of a police officer . | Jorge Alberto Lopez Orozco is wanted in Elmore County , Idaho , . FBI was still working Friday to confirm the identity of the man in custody . Wanted on charges he shot and killed three people , the FBI said . Charred remains of woman and her sons , ages 2 and 4 , were found August 11 , 2002 . | [[237, 290], [547, 564], [573, 625], [547, 554], [559, 625], [317, 319], [329, 348], [351, 365], [950, 964], [1373, 1393], [1852, 1866], [151, 236], [366, 409], [423, 478]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- When the Connecticut Huskies take to the field to play West Virginia on Saturday , their helmets will carry the initials of cornerback Jasper Howard , who was stabbed to death over the weekend . The incident happened at 12:33 a.m. , shortly after a sponsored student dance on campus . `` It 'll be good to get on the practice field tomorrow , '' UConn head football coach Randy Edsall told reporters Monday . Asked whether the team considered postponing the game , he said , `` I know Jasper would n't want us to do that . I just know that . '' Howard , a 20-year-old cornerback who started in every game for the team last season , was killed in a fight after a student dance on campus Saturday night , authorities said . Edsall said two other UConn players were with Howard at the time of the incident , but declined to identify them . On Monday , the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said Howard died of a stab wound to the abdomen . The death has been classified as a homicide , said Bill Farrell , an investigator in the medical examiner 's office . During the dance at the university 's student center , a fire alarm was pulled at 12:26 a.m. , campus police Maj. Ron Blicher told reporters . More than 300 people who were attending the dance left the building and spilled out into the street . A fight broke out between two groups , and Howard and another person were stabbed , police said . Watch family , friends react to loss '' The incident happened at 12:33 a.m. Howard and the other victim were taken to a local hospital . Howard was then airlifted by helicopter to St. Francis Hospital in Hartford , where he later died , police said . The second victim , who was treated and released , was 19-year-old Brian Parker , a redshirt freshman on the UConn football squad , according to CNN affiliate WTNH . Johnny F. Hood , 21 , was arrested in connection to the fight -- not for the stabbing -- and charged with interfering with an officer and breach of peace , according to a police report . He was released on $ 100,000 bond . Hood 's attorney said his client was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time , WTNH reported Monday . UConn police and the Connecticut State Police are investigating the incident . They do n't have a suspect in the stabbing , but they `` do n't believe it was a random act , '' Blicher said . Both students and nonstudents were in the area at the time . Authorities are investigating whether alcohol was involved and what the altercation was about , he said . Anyone with information is asked to contact UConn police . Howard , a father-to-be , was a cornerback for the Huskies , who are 4-2 this season . The team 's Web site says he started in every game last year and led the Big East conference in punt returns . On Saturday , the Huskies beat Louisville 38-25 . Howard was awarded the game ball after the game , Edsall said . Howard 's mother , Joangela , said her son called her after the game , which she watched from her Miami home . Just hours after that chat , she received another call from Edsall , who told her Howard had been stabbed . `` He was a good child , a wonderful , sweet , loving child , '' Joangela Howard told CNN affiliate WSVN . `` I just hope whoever did it turns himself in . -LSB- Jasper -RSB- did n't deserve this . '' Edsall said Howard 's family would be arriving in Connecticut Monday afternoon . CNN 's Gabriel Falcon contributed to this report . | Jasper Howard , 20 , killed after a sponsored student dance on campus . Howard 's death has been classified as a homicide . No suspects , but police `` do n't believe it was a random act '' Slain football player a `` wonderful , sweet , loving child , '' his mother says . | [[214, 249], [252, 303], [564, 570], [573, 597], [642, 719], [971, 1014], [2257, 2299], [2306, 2348], [3129, 3185], [3173, 3185], [3188, 3190]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Within weeks of British student Meredith Kercher 's death in the vibrant college town of Perugia , Italy , prosecutors and police declared the case closed . They 'd seized two knives in their search for the murder weapon . They took DNA from the room where Kercher was killed . And at least one suspect had confessed to being at the murder scene . Or so they said . Kercher had been stabbed in a sexual misadventure , officials said . And they knew the killers . American Amanda Knox , Kercher 's roommate ; Italian Raffaele Sollecito , Knox 's boyfriend ; and Ivory Coast native Rudy Guede , a drifter known in the area , had their pictures splattered across the world 's media . Knox 's photo was even hung in the police plaza alongside Italy 's most infamous mobsters and criminals . The prosecution case seemed a sensational slam-dunk , almost too good to be true . Knox 's supporters say that 's because it is . `` In the beginning , all of this supposed evidence was being leaked , showing what sounded like a pretty convincing case , '' Anne Bremner , a lawyer and former prosecutor working with the group Friends of Amanda , told CNN . The case could n't look more different depending on where you stand . Knox 's murder trial is entering its final stages , with closing arguments beginning November 20 . The jury will begin deliberating December 4 . But there is still no agreement on the key pieces of evidence that prosecutors say convict her and the defense says clear her . Behind the Scenes : How we examined the evidence . In Knox 's corner : her friends and family from Seattle , Washington . For them , she is the victim - railroaded by an overzealous Italian prosecutor , who faces charges of prosecutorial misconduct in another case . Knox 's supporters say he 's tried to force the evidence to fit his theory of what happened . And with negative and often false details about the case appearing in the press - all for the jury to read - Knox supporters fear she could be convicted regardless of the facts . On the other side : Perugia 's prosecutor Giuliano Mignini . For him and his colleagues , the answer is simple - Guede , Knox and Sollecito are all responsible for leaving Kercher partially clothed , strangled and with her throat cut on November 2 , 2007 . See a timeline of the case . The knife . The crime scene was gruesome . The 21-year old British student was found under a duvet on the floor by her bed , covered in blood . A bloody handprint was streaked on the wall above her . A source close to the prosecution says Kercher was held down while she was strangled and stabbed . The source says Sollecito 's 6 1/2 - inch kitchen knife was used to slit her throat and then taken back to his apartment . It is perhaps the biggest piece of evidence the prosecution has presented against Knox . Knox 's DNA is on the handle and that of Kercher is on the blade , said a source close to the prosecution who did not wish to be identified discussing an ongoing case . Kercher had never been to Sollecito 's apartment and would n't have come in contact with the knife , he said , yet there was her DNA . Those `` unmistakable facts '' show the knife played a role in the murder , the source said . Bremner and experts testifying for the defense say there is no way the knife could be the murder weapon . Dr. Carlo Torre , a leading forensics expert in Italy , testified that the knife taken from Sollecito 's apartment would n't have made the wounds on Kercher 's body . `` It does n't match the size or shape -LSB- of the wounds , -RSB- '' Bremner told CNN . `` And Sollecito 's knife also does n't match a bloody outline of a knife left on the bedding . '' Bremner , who offered her legal advice pro bono to the Knox family , questioned the validity of the DNA evidence , saying the knife had been `` improperly transported in a shoe box . '' Watch Amanda Knox 's parents discuss the case . Furthermore , Bremner said the jury heard from defense expert Sarah Gino , a geneticist and private coroner in Italy , who said that the DNA sample was too small to be definitive . Bremner said the presence of Knox 's DNA on the knife handle was no surprise , as the couple had dinner at his house occasionally . Prosecutors say just because the knife does n't match everything does n't mean it was n't used . The source close to the prosecution said it was possible , based on the wounds , that several different items made them . Damning DNA or ` Fellini Forensics ' On the night Kercher was killed , Knox and her boyfriend say they were at his house watching a movie and smoking hashish . Their recollection of events , they admitted , was hazy from the drugs , but both swore they went back to the house the next morning . Knox says she was unable to gain entry - and called police . For their case , prosecutors had to prove that Knox and Sollecito - who had recently started dating - were lying and place them at the home when Kercher was killed . Some reports spoke of a scurry of people - more than one - on the night of the murder around the house . It was a positive lead for prosecutor Mignini - but came to nothing in court . But the prosecution had more evidence in the form of a bra clasp , one that fell to the floor after the murderer cut Kercher 's bra in half before she was killed . And on it was Sollecito 's DNA . Bremner says that evidence on the clasp is fundamentally flawed , like much from the crime scene collection , calling the work `` Fellini forensics . '' `` In the -LSB- crime scene -RSB- video , you can see it went from being white in color to nearly black because it got so dirty being moved around , '' Bremner said of the clasp , noting that tainted the only evidence that placed Sollecito at the scene . Bremner described other errors she saw on the crime scene video . `` They were putting their fingers in Kercher 's wound , they were shaking out evidence , picking up hairs and dropping them , '' she said . `` Some people did n't wear gloves or had their hair draping on the floor , they crashed into a window at one point and threw aside evidence . It was just wrong on all levels . '' The prosecution source maintains the crime scene was handled properly , and the evidence shows what it shows . The source says it 's up to the defense to prove otherwise . Biggest case for Italy or the ` greatest travesty ' ever ? Knox 's introduction to the world came in a whirlwind of tabloid headlines . The prosecution touted hard evidence early that they said unquestionably showed they had their killers . There was a footprint in Knox and Kercher 's bathroom that was attributed to Sollecito - though later analysts admitted it belonged to Guede , who was convicted of Kercher 's murder in 2008 . The prosecution also presented what they called a confession by Knox , but Knox later said any apparent admission she was at the scene was made when investigators told her to imagine what she might have seen if she had been there . The argument became moot when a higher court ruled the alleged confession could not be used because the statement was made without an attorney or translator present . The tabloid headlines continue as the trial closes . Media around the world focus on Knox 's sexual history , what clothes she wears to court and whether a bump on her lip means the girl they dubbed `` Foxy Knoxy '' has herpes . It 's all a distraction from the lack of evidence , Bremner said . `` It 's the greatest travesty of a prosecution ever , '' Bremner said . `` It 's so ludicrous . You 've got to have a theory , or a motive , but the theory has to fit the facts somehow . And in this case , there 's no solid evidence , no motive and no match whatsoever . '' Knox 's supporters maintain that the prosecution did get one thing right - putting Guede behind bars . He chose a fast-track trial , separate from Sollecito and Knox , and was convicted of murder and attempted sexual assault and sentenced to 30 years . They believe he was Kercher 's sole killer . He is appealing the verdict . They believe Knox and Sollecito are only being prosecuted because they were flaunted so publicly as the killers , and it would look bad for officials to admit they got it wrong . The prosecution source rejects that , and portrays Knox , Sollecito and Guede as three people who together ended the life of the young British woman . And they say the way Knox originally pointed the finger at another man - who was cleared with an alibi - shows she had something to hide . Both sides agree the truth is in the evidence , and it will soon be for the jury to decide which version they believe . CNN 's Hada Messia and Amy Sahba contributed to this report . | Trial of Amanda Knox , accused of murdering fellow student in Italy , is nearing end . Key pieces of evidence that once seemed to signal closed case are disputed by defense . Opposing sides argues over what is revealed by alleged murder weapon , DNA evidence . | [[1233, 1282], [1233, 1253], [1285, 1331], [7204, 7222], [1382, 1472], [1382, 1472]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A suspect has been arrested in the slaying of a 19-year-old Puerto Rican man found Friday decapitated , dismembered and partially burned , police said Tuesday . Members of the U.S. gay community are asking authorities to investigate whether the slaying was a hate crime because the victim , Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado , was gay , said Pedro Julio Serrano of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force . `` The brutality of the slaying and the fact that he was openly gay leads us to believe it was very possibly a hate crime , '' Serrano said . Authorities are investigating whether the killing involved sex , Guayama police Commander Hector Agosto Rodriguez told CNN affiliate WLII TV . Guayama prosecutor Jose Bermudez identified the suspect as Juan A. Martinez , 26 . Police had earlier described him as a 27-year-old man from the interior Puerto Rican town of Cayey . Martinez was scheduled to attend a court hearing Tuesday night at which charges would be lodged , said Luis Bernier , a spokesman for the Guayama police district , which has jurisdiction in the case . The hearing was postponed several times throughout the day . Officials were waiting for a prosecutor from a nearby district , causing the delay , Bernier said . The FBI was not directly involved in the investigation Monday , said FBI Agent Harry Rodriguez of the San Juan office . `` The FBI is monitoring this investigation by police in Puerto Rico , '' Rodriguez said . `` Any assistance that the police requests or requires , we would be more than happy to provide . '' Puerto Rican authorities may ask for help with forensics or other advanced investigative tools the FBI could provide , Rodriguez said . The U.S. attorney 's office , in consultation with local officials and other agencies , would determine if the slaying was a hate crime , which is a federal offense . `` It 's at a very preliminary stage , '' said Lymarie Llovet , a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney 's office in San Juan , Puerto Rico 's capital . Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory , which means federal agencies have jurisdiction . `` There 's the potential for a federal investigation , '' Rodriguez said . The suspect was arrested Monday around 11:30 p.m. AST -LRB- 10:30 p.m. ET -RRB- at his home in the Mogote de Cayey neighborhood , said Wilson Porrata Mariani , another spokesman for the Guayama police district . Police impounded two cars and also are investigating a home in another neighborhood , Huertas del Barrio Beatriz de Cidra . Lopez Mercado 's body was found on Puerto Rico Road 184 in another part of town , Barrio Guavate de Cayey , police said . The slaying has reverberated throughout the gay and lesbian community in the United States , where supporters started a Facebook page called `` Justice for Jorge Steven Lopez -- End Hate Crimes . '' The group demands an investigation by Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuno and prosecution of the slaying under the Federal Hate Crimes Law . The law was enacted in 1969 to guard the rights of U.S. citizens engaged in any of six protected activities , such as voting , going to school , applying for a job or attending a public venue . Last month , President Obama signed into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. . Hate Crimes Prevention Act , which extends federal protection against illegal acts motivated by a person 's actual or perceived gender , sexual orientation , gender identity or disability . Gay activist Serrano said he does not believe anti-gay sentiment is any stronger in Puerto Rico 's Latin culture than anywhere else . `` That 's a long-debunked myth , that our culture is more homophobic , '' Serrano said . Instead , he attributed any ill will toward gays to `` hate rhetoric '' by some religious and political leaders . One politician , he said , recently referred to gays as `` twisted and mentally ill . '' `` That 's the kind of rhetoric that incites violence against gays , '' Serrano said . Equality Forum , an international gay , lesbian , bisexual and transgender rights organization , asked for a federal investigation . `` Equality Forum calls on U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to have the FBI investigate , '' said former federal prosecutor Malcolm Lazin , the group 's executive director . `` The Matthew Shepard Amendment empowers and requires the federal government to prosecute this horrific murder . '' Serrano said Lopez Mercado was a `` very , very dear friend '' he had met through a mutual acquaintance . `` Jorge was a person who you only needed one minute to fall in love with , '' Serrano said . Lopez Mercado often volunteered for gay causes , Serrano said . The teen 's family is coping , considering the circumstances . `` It has been horrible , but they are very grateful that it has come to a quick resolution , '' Serrano said . | NEW : Activist attributes ill will toward gays to some religious , political leaders ' `` hate rhetoric '' Puerto Rican gay community wants police to see if slaying was a hate crime . FBI is monitoring investigation and is prepared to offer help , agent says . Suspect , 27 , was to attend Tuesday court hearing , which was postponed several times . | [[3669, 3772], [180, 288], [1250, 1257], [1314, 1369], [1373, 1438], [1516, 1558], [787, 805], [816, 887], [787, 793], [806, 887], [888, 950], [888, 896], [911, 953], [1089, 1149]] |
Miami , Florida -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- From the custom-made , hand-beaded white dress to silver-studded high-heeled shoes , diamond jewelry and tiara , Jenny Ferro is preparing for a day she 's dreamed about since she was 3 years old . `` I 'm really excited , '' says Jenny , eagerly nodding her head . `` Really , really , a lot ! '' She is n't getting married . The 15-year-old is preparing for her quinceañera , a coming-of-age ritual in Latin culture , marking a young girl 's entrance into womanhood . The centuries-old tradition began as a ceremony to introduce girls to society on their 15th birthday and signified that they were ready for marriage . Today , many quinceañeras have become much more elaborate . Jenny and her mother , Marlene Ferro , have worked out every detail of the party well in advance , from the rehearsal to the reception to the flower girl and the music . The theme of the party is bedazzled . First , there is the dress , which Marlene had designed specially for her daughter . It cost about $ 800 . Then there are the shoes , high-heeled and silver to match the dress . During the party , the high heels will be ceremoniously slipped onto her feet to replace her flat shoes -- a symbolic transition of her journey from childhood to womanhood . `` It makes her look like a princess , '' gushes Marlene Ferro . Quinceañeras are becoming increasingly popular in the United States . One reason for their popularity is a greater acceptance of Latin culture in America , according to Michele Salcedo , author of `` Quinceañera ! '' a comprehensive guide to the celebration . `` The 15th birthday , culturally , is a milestone . It does n't have to be celebrated with a party at all , but it is generally marked by something quite special , '' Salcedo says . Experts believe the quinceañera is rooted in Mayan , Aztec and European traditions . Today , many coming-of-age ceremonies resemble lavish `` Sweet 16 '' celebrations . Beyond the elaborate apparel , food and festivities , modern quinceañeras often feature a court of 15 people , typically consisting of family and friends . As the event continues to grow in popularity , the makeup of the court has also changed . `` It has gone beyond Latinos , so that a lot of Latino girls will have not only family members in court but they will reach out to non-Latino friends , '' says Salcedo . `` So it 's a way of reaching out and extending social ties and bringing people in who might not otherwise have an opportunity to know a Latino family and to know the culture . '' Family plays the largest role in the quinceañera , leading up to and during the party . Mothers , fathers , grandparents and godparents can spend years preparing a night to remember for the young girl . The tradition is just as important to the family as it is to the young woman . The large , extravagant celebrations often symbolize a family 's hard work and success . How has America changed Latinos ? Marlene Ferro , who emigrated from Cuba as a child with her parents , says Jenny 's quinceañera was a gift to both of them . The 43-year-old , single mother of three , saved for years and estimates that she spent at least $ 20,000 on her daughter 's quinceañera . `` I was able to accomplish something that I had been looking forward to for 15 years , '' says Marlene Ferro . The parties can be as big and expensive as a family can imagine and costs can escalate into the hundreds of thousands of dollars , according to Salcedo . She recommends that families manage expectations before the party planning even begins . iReporter Alexis Fernandez 's quinceañera was a big event in Alaska . `` Sometimes people go way overboard and -LSB- spend -RSB- much more on the celebration than they can afford and that 's the downside of the quinceañera , '' says Salcedo . `` Because when it 's done right it can be a beautiful family celebration and a celebration of a milestone that a young girl goes through . '' Quinceañeras have changed over the years . Even though her tiara was taller than her daughter 's , Marlene says her quinceañera was simple . It was a small gathering at her sister 's apartment with family and friends . She wore borrowed jewelry from a family member , had a homemade cake and danced with her father . Marlene Ferro 's 15th birthday present was a telephone in her bedroom . `` I did n't have a big quince party . I chose to have a small party with my friends , '' she remembers . `` My dress was really easy ... I did n't have an option . It was this one or that one . Now , we give our kids the option . '' iReporter Diamond Ramirez 's mother , grandmother never had quinceañeras . There 's a spiritual element to these celebrations as well , says Salcedo . The church plays a role in helping to prepare teenage girls for this transition to womanhood . Ceremonies and classes before the coming-of-age celebration teach the young women that with adulthood come certain responsibilities , both physical and spiritual . `` When it 's done in the spirit that it probably should be , the girl has certain responsibilities and by the end of the process , she 's met them and she has showed her mother that she can , in fact , be responsible and she does acquire ... a bit more maturity then she -LSB- had -RSB- before , '' says Salcedo . As the celebrations become more popular in the United States , they also offer an opportunity for more Americans to participate . `` It 's a way to push back a lot of the negativity that a lot of Latinos feel is directed at Latinos , '' says Salcedo . `` It is a way for people who have recently arrived , or maybe not so recently arrived , to say ' I have done well here ' ... I 'm throwing this party for my daughter and I 'm inviting all of you to partake of my generosity so that you can see exactly how well we 've done . '' | Quinceañeras , or 15th birthday celebrations , mark a girl 's transition to womanhood . Jenny Ferro , 15 , has been preparing for her celebration since she was 3 years old . Marlene Ferro estimates she spent $ 20,000 on her daughter 's quinceañera . Expert : The elaborate parties are a way for Latinos to say ' I have done well here ' | [[361, 376], [454, 503], [177, 182], [190, 231], [361, 409], [3079, 3094], [3122, 3217], [2831, 2919], [5629, 5645], [5648, 5678], [5648, 5654], [5657, 5734]] |
Washington -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- State visits to the White House are full of show and symbolism , and Tuesday 's visit by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is no exception . But Singh 's visit , the first state visit hosted by the Obama administration , reflects India 's growing political and economic importance to the United States and the deepening partnership between Washington and New Delhi . The 2005 civil nuclear cooperation deal between the two countries symbolized a new status in U.S.-India relations . But that deal , yet to be ratified by the Indian parliament , was not in a vacuum . The Bush administration followed that up with agreements for increased cooperation on security , science and technology and education . Singh 's visit this week will build on that , with announcements expected on a range of areas from the economy and defense to climate change and energy . India is a fellow democracy , and there is a strong Indian-American community in the U.S. . So as it rises to power , India is a natural U.S. ally . On every big global issue today -- from the economy to climate change to fighting terrorism and curbing nuclear proliferation -- Washington needs New Delhi 's cooperation . India is one of the biggest donors in Afghanistan , with $ 1.2 billion in aid . Although this has been met with suspicion in Pakistan , it has helped the United States , sharing some of the burden of stabilizing Afghanistan and providing civilian support . India is also considered a critical U.S. partner in dealing with other instability in the region , in places like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka . Even as the U.S. deepens its cooperation with China on global issues , both Singh 's government and the Obama administration want to manage China 's meteoric rise . Strong U.S.-India ties help both countries ensure that the `` Asian century '' is not merely the `` Chinese century . '' India has also become a major trading partner with the U.S. , with $ 61 billion in trade in 2007 . The U.S. is India 's second-largest trading partner . And India is a major exporter of technology software and services to the U.S. , and that 's expected to increase as India strengthens its role as a global leader in technology . The relationship is not without its irritants , however , the biggest one being India 's nuclear neighbor , Pakistan . India believes the U.S. has failed to curb Islamabad 's backing of anti-India extremists based in Pakistan , and tensions between India and Pakistan remain high , especially with Pakistan 's slow progress on the investigation into last year 's Mumbai attack that killed 166 people . Before coming to Washington , Singh said that Pakistani objectives in Afghanistan are n't necessarily those of the U.S. Pakistan has long seen instability in Afghanistan as critical to its war strategy against India . India is also nervous about a possible integration of some Taliban into power in Afghanistan . Climate change is another point of friction . The U.S. wants India , one of world 's the largest emitters of greenhouse gases , to accept limits on its carbon emissions . India maintains it is still a developing country and wants developed nations , like the U.S. , to assume the lion 's share of burden in dealing with climate change . Another potential difference looms over Iran . India has been careful not to support Iran 's government , but if U.S. diplomacy with Iran fails , it remains to be seen if New Delhi will support tougher sanctions if the U.S. decides to go that route . As India 's economy grows , so will its capability to be one of the U.S. ' great partners . But as its international position strengthens , New Delhi 's interests may not always be aligned with Washington 's . Obama must work to convince India that the U.S. sees it as an important ally and that its rise to power is in the U.S. ' strategic interest . The symbolism of giving Singh the administration 's first state visit will be a good start . | Visit by Indian PM reflects India 's growing political , economic importance to the U.S. Visit will build on deals for unity on security , nuclear , science , technology , education issues . U.S. wants good relations with India as it seeks stability , influence in Asia . Nations ' frictions include relations with Pakistan , climate change legislation . | [[178, 192], [254, 399], [600, 735], [646, 735], [736, 779], [2459, 2506], [2942, 2987]] |
LOS ANGELES , California -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Like all zombie movies , `` Zombieland '' has hundreds of zombies doing awful things , such as attacking and eating humans , but you could argue it 's not a zombie movie . Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson find themselves battling the undead in `` Zombieland . '' Zombie hordes do chase the main characters in a post-apocalyptic world , but the focus is on the comedy 's stars , including two Oscar nominees -- Woody Harrelson and Abigail Breslin -- along with Jesse Eisenberg and Emma Stone . -LRB- Spoiler alert : A third Oscar nominee makes a remarkable cameo appearance , but this story will avoid spoiling the surprise by naming him . -RRB- . `` We wanted to make a cool , kick-ass road movie about a dysfunctional family traveling across the country and zombies provide us the antagonists , the threat that our characters need to come together , '' said Paul Wernick , who wrote the screenplay with partner Rhett Reese . In fact , Wernick had only seen one zombie film before writing this script . Reese , who is a fan of the genre , kept the story on a track that would feed zombie fans ' hunger for blood-and-guts action . '' -LSB- The -RSB- zombie genre is so well traveled , there is really no reason to get into it unless we could do it in a fresh , different way , '' Reese said . `` We were almost forced to think outside the box to make it an entertaining zombie movie . '' `` Zombieland '' is set in the United States months after a fast-moving virus begins turning most people into flesh-eating zombies . A handful of survivors come together to fight back . Wernick and Reese literally rewrote the rules for zombie films in this movie . Eisenberg 's character is an obsessive-compulsive man who developed 47 rules -- such as `` fasten your seat belt '' -- designed to help him survive in Zombieland . While Eisenberg journeys to find his parents , he joins Harrelson , a zombie killer who is searching for the last Hostess Twinkie before its expiration date . Stone and Breslin play sisters who survive on their con artist skills . Their goal is to reach a California amusement park , which they think could be free of zombies . The cross-country trip these four characters share resembles `` National Lampoon 's Vacation '' -- if written and directed by Quentin Tarantino . Watch the stars of the film talk about zombie fans '' Wernick said they wanted to be `` very freewheeling . '' The movie `` gives the audience the thrill of the journey , '' he said . `` We wanted to take some wild turns . '' `` The rules that we lived by when writing this is in fact that there are no rules , '' he said . `` Zombieland '' may be to zombies what Tarantino 's `` Inglourious Basterds '' is to Nazis . Wernick and Reese , who have been close friends since high school , often finish each other 's sentences as if they were an old married couple . `` When we were trying to get ` Zombieland ' off the ground back in the early days , we ... '' Wernick said . '' ... assaulted Tarantino at an awards show , to try to get him to read the script , '' Reese said . `` That did n't work out , '' Wernick said in conclusion to their joint thought . `` He thought we were zombies coming after him . '' `` Zombieland , '' directed by Rubin Fleischer , offers many of the same elements as a Tarantino film . '' -LSB- Tarantino -RSB- is all about dialogue , character , irreverence , pop culture and we love all those things over the years , '' Reese said . `` We have always been inspired by him . '' The writers had to run through a number of actors before finding the person for the 10-minute cameo . Among them was Patrick Swayze , the writers ' first choice . Swayze , who died just two weeks before the movie 's release , turned down the role because of ill health earlier this year . Also asked : Joe Pesci , Steven Seagal , Jean-Claude Van Damme , Dwayne `` The Rock '' Johnson , Matthew McConaughey , Mark Hamill , Kevin Bacon and Sylvester Stallone . They were asked , but either did n't want the role or were not available , according to Wernick and Reese . With just a few days before filming the scenes , they asked Harrelson to look in his cell phone for names and numbers . He came up with a man who 's been an Oscar nominee and Emmy winner . And now , he 's got a key role in a zombie film . | In new movie `` Zombieland , '' focus is on the stars and the comedy . Movie 's performers include Woody Harrelson , Abigail Breslin . One of film 's writers had seen just one zombie film in his life . Among movie 's surprises : a cameo from an Oscar-nominated actor . | [[387, 492], [387, 492], [983, 1049], [540, 559], [562, 619]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Keith Felch is admittedly a big guy , but more than a few super-fit cyclists in Southern California have been left wondering how that dude just went flying by . Keith Felch calls his electric bike a `` hill eraser '' because he can ride it to work without breaking a sweat . And then his wife , Mary , comes motoring past . `` They stare , like how can a girl go past me , '' she says , laughing . It takes the other riders a few seconds but then they figure it out . They have electric motors . The Felches , who live in Aliso Viejo , California , used to drive everywhere , except when they used their bikes for recreation . That changed when they got their new e-bikes , made by a company called Optibike . Now , they ride to go shopping and to go to breakfast -- but mostly they ride to work . Keith Felch says the couple has cut 50 percent of their car-use since they started electric biking . And there are other benefits . Keith Felch dropped 30 pounds and his blood pressure fell 10 points in the first six months he owned the bike , he says . The Felches do n't exactly classify themselves as `` environmentalists , '' although Mary said it is important to have a positive effect on the planet . `` I learned that the worst amount of smog that you put out -LSB- in an automobile -RSB- is in the first mile , so if we can make even some of those shorter trips on our bicycles , it makes a big difference , '' she says . Who wants one ? Brent Meyers , director of sales for Ultra Motor US , says electric bikes attract different types of buyers . Many are looking to make a green imprint . Some are `` active adults '' who have ridden bicycles for years who -- as they get older -- are unable to do the same kind of riding they did when they were young . Other buyers want to ride their bikes to work quickly -- and avoid a sweaty entrance into the office . Oddly -- or perhaps not -- Ultra Motor US sees its strongest sales when the price of oil skyrockets , says Meyers . Two wheels , a motor and 100 million riders . Electric bikes are still somewhat of a novelty in the United States , but in China they 're everywhere . In fact , Chinese electric bikes number more than 100 million -- which is about four times the number of Chinese private cars , according to Electric Bikes Worldwide Reports . The bikes are popular in Europe as well . Sales figures for the United States are hard to pinpoint . In the United States , about 200,000 electric bicycles were sold last year , said Ed Benjamin of the Light Electric Vehicle Association -- about twice the number sold in 2005 . But the industry has hit a bump in the road from the recession , as sales were down about 10 percent in 2009 , he said . E-bikes are mostly made by specialty companies , but the growing sales trend has been noticed by the big boys . Trek , a worldwide leader in bike sales , has been making electric bikes for three years , but only introduced them in the United States in the past year . Other well-known companies like Schwinn and Giant are increasing their presence in the e-bike field . At Interbike , the biggest bicycle industry convention in the United States , there were more than 20 companies displaying e-bikes this year . Meyers said only a few years ago , it was about five . Prices range from a few hundred dollars -- the E-Zip Trailz Hybrid costs $ 398 at Wal-Mart -- to more than $ 13,000 for OptiBike 's top-end model . Prices increase as battery technology and components get better . Steve Roseman of The Electric Bike Network in San Francisco , California , said most buyers he sees do n't balk at the price , which can be as much as a good road or mountain bike . They are mostly concerned with how far they can go on a battery charge and how fast . What 's an ` e-bike ' ? By law , electric bikes must have no more than 1 horsepower and go no faster than 20 mph -LRB- on motor power alone -RRB- . Basically they are much like traditional bicycles with small motors that power the bike or assist a rider with pedaling . Many have gears like a regular bike . `` It 's just adding the throttle aspect , other than that it handles like a regular bicycle , '' Keith Felch said . He says he uses the throttle all the time , choosing one of two modes -- eco -LSB- half power -RSB- or fast -LSB- full power -RSB- . He says he once tried a regular bike for his 4 1/2 - mile ride to one of his music studios where he teaches jazz improvisation . But the hills nearly got him . He calls his electric bike a `` hill eraser . '' It also makes the ride to his farthest studio -- 22 miles away -- seem much closer . He says he gets about 35 miles on his primary battery and has an additional one for long rides . Shifting views . But as they tout the virtues of electric bikes , advocates also realize that there will have to be a shift in the way Americans view them before they become as popular as they are in Europe or China . `` There are two possible sides to the equation , '' Roseman said . `` One would be a change in the way people view transportation . There are still a lot of SUVs out there . ... People still have a hard time thinking about riding a bicycle unless they are 10 years old , it seems . So there needs to be a little shift in mentality . '' `` But having said that , I think there is a growing awareness about health and transportation and environmental issues so it could be that we are just reaching a juncture where things will change -LSB- for e-bikes -RSB- . '' Meyers says people also have a preconceived notion about electric bikes . Some view them as expensive or poor quality or uncomfortable . And Meyers admits , e-bikes are not for everybody . As Roseman says , people who live in Spandex will probably always prefer a really good road bike and hard-core city cyclists may well stick to their fixed-gear bikes . Meyers says Ultra , which sells its bike for $ 2,700 , is n't for those kinds of people . `` That 's not our customer , '' he says . `` Our customer is someone who wants some form of electric transportation , green transportation , that can get them from Point A to Point B comfortably . '' The Felches say taking a test drive will change a skeptic 's attitude . `` If you ride one , it will blow your mind , '' Keith Felch says . `` When you get on one it 's like being in a flying dream you 've had . It 's like everything you 've dreamed your bicycle should do in your wildest dreams -- it 's doing it . '' | Electric bikes can run either on pedal-power or their tiny motors . `` It 's like being in a flying dream ... it will blow your mind , '' says rider . E-bike commuters like saving gas and arriving at work without breaking a sweat . China has more than 100 million electric bikes -- four times the number of cars . | [[3979, 3991], [3997, 4011], [3979, 3991], [4015, 4045], [6245, 6269], [6313, 6351], [180, 293], [236, 293], [1781, 1883], [2201, 2212], [2222, 2276], [2161, 2212], [2279, 2326]] |
Brussels , Belgium -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- European Union leaders named Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy as the first `` president of Europe '' Thursday , edging out former British Prime Minister Tony Blair for a still-vaguely defined job . `` I did not seek this high position , and I did n't take any steps to achieve it , '' Van Rompuy said in accepting the job . `` But tonight , I take on this task with conviction and with enthusiasm . '' Van Rompuy , a 62-year-old , soft-spoken fan of Japanese poetry , will become the face of European Union and represent its 27 member nations at summits overseas . His conservative government took office in December 2008 . The Belgian is `` well known as a consensus builder , '' said British Prime Minister Gordon Brown , who added the selection was unanimous . And Jose Manuel Barroso , the president of the European Commission -- the executive arm of the EU -- called Van Rompuy 's selection `` a tribute to Belgium , '' the EU 's host country . '' I think the European Union also expressed its gratitude for the work of Belgium and the constant support that this country at the heart of Europe has given to our common project , '' he said . In his speech , Van Rompuy pledged to lead the EU through a process of `` dialogue , unity and action . '' `` A negotiation that ends with a defeated party is never a good negotiation , '' he said . `` As president of the council , I will listen carefully to everyone , and I will make sure that all deliberations turn into results for everyone . '' The presidency was created by the European Union 's Lisbon Treaty , which came into force this month after years of torturous negotiations . Van Rompuy will serve a two-and-a-half-year term , replacing the six-month presidency of the bloc that rotated among the heads of its member states . But while the EU prides itself on being a club of democracies , the process of choosing its new leader was far from transparent or open . The people of Europe are getting no say , not even through their parliamentarians . Van Rompuy 's new job was announced after a closed-door dinner for the EU 's heads of state and government . The Belgian defended the process , telling reporters the selection was made by leaders `` who were all democratically chosen . '' `` I was chosen on the basis of a treaty , '' he said . `` The treaty stipulates the procedure . The treaty was democratically approved by 27 member states . '' The EU leaders also named Catherine Ashton , a British trade commissioner and member of the House of Lords , as the union 's High Commissioner -- its equivalent of a foreign minister . Unlike Van Rompuy , who was chosen by leaders of the EU 's member states , Ashton must be confirmed by the European Parliament . Blair , who led Britain from 1997 to 2007 , is currently the EU 's Mideast envoy . He had been the early favorite for the presidency in recent weeks -- but Brown , his successor , realized that he lacked support among key decision-makers for new post , a Brown representative told CNN earlier . According his backers , who at first included French President Nicolas Sarkozy , he was just the sort of world-renowned figure to win attention for the EU and enable it to exercise its weight in world affairs . One Indian official told CNN before the announcement , `` If the EU chooses as its worldwide representative the prime minister of Belgium or Luxembourg , I am not sure our leaders will have the time to meet him . '' But others were soon arguing that Blair 's support for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and his close alliance with former U.S. President George W. Bush made him a divisive figure in Europe . And as the one man who might have been able to take Britain into the European single currency , he had not even attempted to do so while he was Britain 's prime minister . Public backing from Italy 's Silvio Berlusconi , a joke figure to much of Europe and another Bush ally , did not help . Brown had realized earlier that Blair did not have enough support among key decision-makers to snag the new post , a Brown representative told CNN earlier . CNN Political Contributor Robin Oakley contributed to this report . | Belgian PM Herman Van Rompuy appointed first `` president of Europe , '' British PM Gordon Brown says . Tony Blair ruled out after his successor as UK PM realized Blair had insufficient support . President of EC will be first permanent chief of the European Council of Ministers . Selection conducted by heads of state and government , not by Europe 's parliamentarians . | [[38, 155], [724, 767], [732, 767], [774, 809], [11, 34], [158, 243], [2925, 2930], [2949, 3019], [3972, 4084], [1971, 2054], [2164, 2175], [2199, 2253]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Elizabeth McCutchen and a friend were walking to book club two weeks ago in quaint Farmville , Virginia , when they strolled by a home on First Avenue . `` Something smells dead , '' her friend said . Richard Samuel McCroskey has been arrested in connection with the killings of four people in Virginia . They were thinking animal . A dog , a cat , something like that . They never imagined they were smelling the remains of massacred humans . It was Thursday , September 17 . But another 24 hours would pass before police made the gruesome discovery . Richard Samuel McCroskey III -- a 20-year-old rapper in the underground genre of `` Horrorcore '' who sang of chopping people into pieces -- has been arrested in connection with the slayings . The crime scene was so horrifying police would not even describe it , saying only that the victims died of blunt force trauma . The victims were Mark Niederbrock , 50 , the beloved pastor at Walker 's Presbyterian Church ; his 16-year-old daughter , Emma Niederbrock ; Melanie Wells , Emma 's 18-year-old friend from West Virginia ; and Niederbrock 's estranged wife , Debra Kelley , 53 , a professor at Longwood University . McCroskey has been charged only in the killing of Mark Niederbrock . Police and the prosecutor 's office did not return repeated phone calls from CNN . But in late September , authorities said more charges are pending . Emma was described as a fan of Horrorcore and had met McCroskey through their mutual affection for the little-known music genre . Police said she invited McCroskey to fly from his northern California home , stay with her in Virginia and then attend the Strictly for the Wicked Festival , a Horrorcore fest in Michigan featuring bands with names like Dismembered Fetus and Phrozen Body Boy . Nobody saw what would come next . The slayings have been the talk of Farmville , a town of 7,000 that is home to Longwood University and nearby Hampden-Sydney College . Senseless is the word you hear most . It 's not just the macabre nature of the killings that has people talking . It 's the grotesque lyrics of the Horrorcore singer ; it 's that it happened under their noses . McCroskey is a young man with no criminal record who took delight in the blend of horror hip-hop that celebrated macabre killings . He went by the name Syko Sam . In one YouTube video , he holds a hatchet and sings about killing people and putting their remains in black bags : `` Last night I was the murderous rage . Now , I got ta get rid of the bodies before the corpses start to get to rotting . '' ` Stinkiest rascal I 've ever smelled ' Authorities have not specified when the Virginia killings occurred , but at 4 a.m. on Friday , September 18 , tow-truck driver Elton Napier was called out to Poor House Road to help McCroskey , whose car was stuck . Napier said McCroskey was wearing a black-hooded sweatshirt and `` was really smelling bad , like real bad . I ca n't describe it . '' McCroskey was driving Mark Niederbrock 's Honda . Napier said two sheriff 's deputies were at the scene and McCroskey was ticketed for driving without a license . At the time , authorities did n't know the pastor had been slain . When McCroskey hopped into Napier 's flatbed , the tow-truck driver said he started gagging from the odor and immediately rolled down the windows . `` I just held my head out the window so the wind would hit me in the face , '' he said . `` That was the stinkiest rascal I 've ever smelled . '' Napier drove McCroskey about four miles to a convenience store . McCroskey told Napier he was visiting his girlfriend and her father lent him the car . McCroskey fetched a black bag from the Honda before they parted . Napier went inside to get a cup of coffee . According to police , McCroskey eventually caught a cab to Richmond International Airport . By mid-afternoon that same day , police found the bodies at the home on First Avenue . McCroskey was arrested the next day at the airport , where he had spent the night . When he was being led to jail , McCroskey told reporters , `` Jesus told me to do it . '' Suspect 's family , community grieve . Sarah McCroskey of California told CNN-affiliate WWBT that her brother had been looking forward to his visit to Virginia for weeks . She mourned his arrest and struggled with the accusations against him . `` I want to hear his voice . I am so concerned , so worried -- not just for him -LSB- but -RSB- other people , other families involved dealing with this loss , '' she said . Read WWBT 's special coverage . Defense attorney Cary Bowen told CNN , `` I do n't want to say he 's in shock . That 's a medical term , but it 's a big experience for him . ... I 'm not sure he gets the severity of everything right now . '' The community is still devastated by the events as it struggles to move forward . Memorial services were held over the weekend for Emma Niederbrock and her mother , Debra Kelley . The Rev. Sylvia Meadows of Farmville United Methodist Church baptized Emma at age 5 and her father when he was an adult . The pastor said the church has invited an occult specialist to speak with members of the community to help them come to grips with the dark side of humanity . `` We have looked evil in the face and can not deny that it exists , '' Meadows said . `` God is stronger than evil . God is bigger . '' Luther Glenn , a member of Walker 's Presbyterian Church where Niederbrock was pastor , took issue with McCroskey 's comment about Jesus telling him to act . `` I think it 's deeply rooted in Satan , if you want to know the truth . '' Elizabeth McCutchen , who passed the First Avenue home some time after the slayings , said the killings have affected every fabric of the community : the churches , the colleges , and their youth . `` This is the kind of town that goes to the rescue of survivors , but there 's nobody -LSB- left -RSB- -- we ca n't do anything about it , '' she said . `` It 's been really , really upsetting . '' CNN 's Gary Tuchman and Susan Chun contributed to this report . | 20-year-old rapper of `` Horrorcore '' accused of Virginia slayings . Little known underground music genre celebrates macabre killings . Tow-truck driver gave suspect a lift ; said he was `` stinkiest rascal I 've ever smelled '' Defense lawyer said he 's unsure Richard McCroskey `` gets the severity of everything '' | [[220, 323], [1510, 1520], [1521, 1540], [2264, 2278], [2284, 2313], [2842, 2950], [2906, 2932], [3448, 3477], [3457, 3477], [3484, 3498], [3499, 3501]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Alanis Morissette was the definition of `` fierce '' when she arrived on the American music scene with one of the big break-up songs of the '90s , `` You Oughta Know . '' But behind that tough exterior were secrets of a difficult past . `` As a teen , I was both anorexic and bulimic , '' Alanis Morissette recently told Health magazine for its December issue . `` I was a young woman in the public eye , on the receiving end of a lot of attention , and I was trying to protect myself from men who were using their power in ways I was too young to know how to handle . '' By the time Morissette was 14 , she had already starred in a popular Canadian children 's show , started her own record label and had a publishing contract with MCA Canada , according to her Web site . `` Disappointment , sadness and pain hit me hard , and I tried to numb those feelings through my relationship with food . For four to six months at a time , I would barely eat . I lived on a diet of Melba toast , carrots , and black coffee , '' she said . `` I began recovering at 18 , when a sweet friend confronted me . '' Now that she 's older , Morissette , 35 , said she 's no longer starving herself and has begun to look at eating as `` a sort of spiritual practice . '' Her healthier view of food and nutrition is thanks in no small part to a book she discovered a few years ago called `` Eat to Live . '' `` It 's become my bible , pushing me to completely reorient my thinking about what to put into my body . ... Now I concentrate on eating high-nutrient foods like fruit , nuts , collards , kale and spinach . I 'm obsessed with them . I even put spinach in my smoothies , '' the Canadian musician admitted . The seven-time Grammy Award winner has also sworn off dairy , on a tip from Woody Harrelson , no less . `` Woody Harrelson -LSB- told -RSB- me I needed to get rid of the dairy in my fridge to clear up my skin , '' she said . It 's had a positive effect : Morissette said her skin `` looks great now . '' But all of that health consciousness does n't mean Morissette has lost appreciation for the more delectable things in life . `` Do n't get me wrong , '' she said in the interview , `` I still indulge in a glass of wine or chocolate -- treats are mandatory . Without deviating from the day-to-day healthy diet once in a while , it would n't be sustainable for me , and that 's what I wanted : an approach to eating to last my entire life . '' Resolving her issues with food and body image has helped Morissette to develop clarity in other areas of her life as well . `` I 'm really clear about what my life mission is now . There 's no more depression or lethargy , and I feel like I 've returned to the athlete I once was . I 'm integrating all the parts of me -- jock , musician , writer , poet , philosopher -- and becoming stronger as a result , '' she said . `` I hope my effort shows any woman battling an eating disorder or poor body image that she 's not alone -- support is out there -- and inspires her to discover her inner athlete . It does n't matter what your fitness-skill level is . '' Health magazine 's December issue hits newsstands November 24 . | Alanis Morissette told Health magazine that she had an eating disorder as a teen . Morissette now is focusing on her diet as `` a sort of spiritual practice '' Her new outlook has spread to the way she views balancing all aspects of her life . She hopes to be a role model for other girls struggling with eating disorders . | [[305, 380], [1118, 1139], [1160, 1267], [2460, 2576], [2884, 2963], [2891, 2968]] |
New York -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- More than 80 Michael Jackson collectibles -- including the late pop star 's famous rhinestone-studded glove from a 1983 performance -- were auctioned off Saturday , reaping a total $ 2 million . Profits from the auction at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York 's Times Square crushed pre-sale expectations of only $ 120,000 in sales . The highly prized memorabilia , which included items spanning the many stages of Jackson 's career , came from more than 30 fans , associates and family members , who contacted Julien 's Auctions to sell their gifts and mementos of the singer . Jackson 's flashy glove was the big-ticket item of the night , fetching $ 420,000 from a buyer in Hong Kong , China . Jackson wore the glove at a 1983 performance during `` Motown 25 , '' an NBC special where he debuted his revolutionary moonwalk . Fellow Motown star Walter `` Clyde '' Orange of the Commodores , who also performed in the special 26 years ago , said he asked for Jackson 's autograph at the time , but Jackson gave him the glove instead . `` The legacy that -LSB- Jackson -RSB- left behind is bigger than life for me , '' Orange said . `` I hope that through that glove people can see what he was trying to say in his music and what he said in his music . '' Orange said he plans to give a portion of the proceeds to charity . Hoffman Ma , who bought the glove on behalf of Ponte 16 Resort in Macau , paid a 25 percent buyer 's premium , which was tacked onto all final sales over $ 50,000 . Winners of items less than $ 50,000 paid a 20 percent premium . Darren Julien , president and CEO of Julien 's Auctions , said people were hungry for such tokens of Jackson 's life , as evidenced by the 3,500 who registered as bidders for the auction . `` Michael was very generous , '' Julien said . `` If you were friends with Michael Jackson or an important part of his life , occasionally he would give something away , and that 's a very big reason that these things got out in the public . '' A signature black synthetic blend jacket from Jackson 's 16-month Bad World Tour , his first concert tour as a solo artist , sold for $ 270,000 . Featuring black straps with silver buckles and zippers , the jacket came to symbolize Jackson 's `` Bad '' era . Tori Renza , whose father bought her the Bad jacket when she was just 4 years old , said she grew up singing and dancing to Jackson 's songs around her house . `` It just became part of our family , '' said Renza , who planned to use the money from the auction to pay back student loans . Jackson 's famed fedora , which he sported at the 1995 MTV Music Awards , sold for $ 73,800 . It was one of three hats Jackson wore during a 10-minute medley before hurling it into the crowd . The hat was auctioned at a charity event that year , and the letter of verification is signed `` Lisa Marie Presley Jackson , '' the daughter of Elvis Presley who was married to Jackson for nearly two years . `` To my knowledge , there were not a lot of letters that she signed with her full name , '' Julien said . Handwritten lyrics of the 1983 smash hit `` Beat It , '' which Jackson scribbled on a piece of white paper , went for $ 60,000 . One of the more bizarre items up for bidding , an upper mold used to fit Jackson with animal fangs for the 1983 video for `` Thriller , '' sold for more than $ 10,000 . The auction also allowed the world to see photographs of Jackson engaged in simple activities , like driving . His 1985 Mercedes-Benz 500 SEL , which he ultimately gave to an aunt as a birthday gift , was auctioned for $ 104,500 . `` What 's even more significant is that we have photos of Michael driving the car , '' Julien said . `` When have you seen Michael driving a car ? He was always chauffeured or driven . '' There were also a number of autographed photos , as well as signed books , collectibles and artwork . Even Jackson 's doodles and sketches of the likes of Frankenstein , Mickey Mouse and Charlie Chaplin were up for sale . Lee Tompkins , a renowned pencil artist who said he came to know Jackson in the early 1980s and owns approximately 75 of Jackson 's artworks , auctioned two of Jackson 's pieces : one of a vagabond and the other of Charlie Chaplin . They sold for $ 20,000 and $ 33,280 respectively . `` He 's more than just a singer and dancer . He was an artist first , '' Thompkins said . Before Saturday 's auction , the items were exhibited in Santiago , Chile ; Dublin , Ireland ; and Tokyo , Japan , where crowds lined up for hours get a glimpse of them , Julien said . `` Michael Jackson is looking down and has to be happy , '' he said after the auction , adding , `` We lost an icon . '' | Among items auctioned Saturday : jacket , song lyrics , sketches , dental mold . Famous rhinestone-studded glove fetched $ 420,000 . Hat 's letter of verification signed by Jackson 's ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley . | [[0, 24], [148, 159], [163, 190], [602, 625], [665, 709], [2809, 2875]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Fort Hood , Texas , is -- for all intents and purposes -- a city . With as many as 30,000 residents , it has all the trappings of an American metropolis : malls , softball fields , subdivisions and as many as nine schools . But in other ways , Fort Hood is like no American city . It is a transition point for troops who have served overseas , soldiers who have seen the worst that war has to offer and are returning to life at home . At least 13 people were killed and 30 wounded in shootings on the post Thursday , officials said . The alleged gunman , identified as Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan , 39 , was wounded . Some of those killed or wounded were at the Readiness Center , a soldier 's last stop before deployment , said Army Lt. Gen. Bob Cone . It is also one of the first places a soldier goes after returning from war . Officials : Gunman opens fire at Fort Hood . Lt. Gen. Russel Honore , who served at Fort Hood in the late 1990s , said the nearly eight years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq have created difficulties for the U.S. armed forces . `` This is a very complex situation , a situation we have not dealt with in the Army before . We have never been at war this long before in modern history , '' he said . `` And many of these soldiers have been deployed multiple times , so this has put a lot of stress on these soldiers and their families . `` One of the biggest things on re-entry that the Readiness Center does is to help those soldiers cope with being back home and dealing with the extremes of -LSB- post-traumatic stress disorder -RSB- , '' Honore said . It is also where soldiers `` do everything from finalizing your next of kin , inspect your immunization record , as well as make a will , '' he said . Fort Hood is the largest U.S. military installation in the world by size , and on any given day , it is home to 25,000 to 30,000 people , according to an Army spokesman at the Pentagon . The post also houses the families of service members and other civilians . iReport.com : Are you there ? Send pics , video . `` Some of these soldiers have lost some of their closest friends , seen some of the horrific things associated with warfare including these roadside bombs , '' Honore said . `` They 've seen and experienced -- many of them -- some very horrific events . '' Services and programs offered on the post range from helping troops who are leaving the armed services find employment or pursue education to helping soldiers deal with combat-related illnesses like post-traumatic stress disorder . One such program , called the Warrior Stress Reset Program , is `` designed to help address those common and normal reactions to war experiences , '' says a military Web site . `` It is well documented that participation in a major conflict ... has a way of leaving its mark on the psyche of our soldiers , '' the Web site reads . The program lasts three weeks and provides counseling and treatment . U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison , R-Texas , said the post has a robust support system for families of deployed troops , which would help troops and civilians there handle Thursday 's violence . `` The people who are there will surround the families and take care of them , the ones who have had loved ones who were killed , '' she said . The Army 's 1st Cavalry Division and elements of the 4th Infantry Division , as well as the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment and the 13th Corps Support Command , are based at Fort Hood . Fort Hood measures about 340 square miles across and is approximately 160 miles south of Dallas/Fort Worth , Texas . CNN 's Barbara Starr , Adam Levine , Mike Mount and Chris Lawrence contributed to this report . | General says ongoing wars have put stress on troops and their families . Fort Hood is largest U.S. military installation in the world by size . On any given day , there can be at least 25,000 to 30,000 people . It is also a transition point for troops returning to civilian life . | [[890, 893], [894, 912], [959, 1071], [1308, 1378], [2728, 2855], [1828, 1844], [1847, 1884], [300, 335], [363, 371], [422, 453]] |
Vilseck , Germany -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The wives of three Army sergeants in prison for premeditated murder say their husbands are war heroes who should not be in prison . `` I can sympathize with them that they felt like there was nothing else they could do , '' said Jamie Leahy , wife of Sgt. Michael Leahy , a 28-year-old medic . She said her husband and the other two sergeants were heroes for protecting other soldiers . Leahy , 1st Sgt. John Hatley and Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Mayo killed four Iraqi men whom they had taken into custody at a canal in Baghdad , Iraq . During the investigation of the killings , Leahy told Army investigators that the same men they had captured would be shooting at them again if they had released them . `` It 's like somebody keeps coming and breaking into your house , and you told the cops , ` This is who it is , I saw them , they were in my house , ' '' Jamie Leahy told CNN 's `` AC 360 ° . '' `` And that 's not enough , and they are able to keep coming in and breaking into your house . `` I know it 's more severe than that , but I mean if somebody kept coming in and breaking into your house , I think that the person would either want to get a gun or something to protect themselves because you feel like in your own home , you ca n't even be safe . '' Earlier this year , Leahy , Hatley and Mayo were convicted of premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit premeditated murder in the killings of the four Iraqi detainees in March 2007 . Documents obtained by CNN , as well as Army interrogation tapes , reveal that Hatley believed that if the men were taken to a detainee holding area , they would be released because there was not enough evidence to hold them . `` It 's like you 're letting somebody go so they can come back and terrorize you again and try and kill you and maybe be successful next time , '' Jaime Leahy said . Kim Hatley made a video in a field in Schweinfurt , Germany , where she and her husband lived before he was sent to the U.S. military prison at Fort Leavenworth , Kansas . In the video , she holds up cards asking for help in freeing `` three American heroes . '' `` They served their country , and they 've been through a lot , and so have the family members , '' she told CNN . `` But , in life , with any challenge , you ca n't just look at one incident . This does not define who these soldiers are . '' Kim Hatley says her husband is a `` good man . '' `` I do n't think my husband should have gone to prison , '' she said . `` I do n't think that was fair . I do n't think any of our soldiers should have gone to prison . '' And Johana Mayo said her husband has been punished enough . `` I think that he 's given and sacrificed a lot , '' she said . `` I think he 's a war hero . He 's not a criminal and he 's ... being treated as a criminal , and he should n't be . '' The Mayos have three children , ages 15 months , 6 and 11 . Johana Mayo is legally blind and can not drive . `` I was used to relying on my husband for everything , '' she said . `` You know , and he was the one that drove the kids around . He was the one that took care of their homework and anything -- grocery shopping -- everything . I relied on him for everything , and now I feel like I have to turn to my daughter a lot , and she 's only 11 . '' All three wives have set up Web sites to support their husbands : defendjohnhatley.com , defendjosephmayo.com and supportsgtleahy.com . Hatley , who was sentenced to life imprisonment , got clemency with his sentence reduced to 40 years . Both Leahy , who also received a life sentence , and Mayo , who got 35 years , had their sentences reduced to 20 years . All three sergeants were reduced in rank to private and sent to Fort Leavenworth . `` I think that what happened was done to protect the soldiers , to keep our soldiers safe from getting harmed or killed , '' Johana Mayo said . | Wives say three Army sergeants convicted of murder should not be in prison . They say their husbands were heroes for protecting other soldiers in Iraq . All three wives have set up Web sites to support their husbands . Watch Saturday , Sunday at 8 and 11 p.m. ET ; read blog posts : Abbie Boudreau ; Scott Zamost . | [[0, 7], [10, 33], [105, 138], [356, 423], [3308, 3371]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Thousands of fans , many weeping , packed a Hannover , Germany , stadium Sunday to pay their last respects to Robert Enke , captain of the Hannover 96 soccer club , who died last week in what police believe was a suicide . Footage from the event showed Enke 's flower-bedecked coffin carried through the stadium to the accompaniment of Bette Midler 's song `` The Rose '' as the crowd cheered . Many of the spectators waved Hannover 96 banners as they wiped tears from their eyes . Enke , 32 , was the goalkeeper for both Hannover 96 and the German national soccer team . He died Tuesday about 6:25 p.m. after he apparently stepped in front of a train . He had played in eight games for the team and was widely expected to be the German team 's goalkeeper in the 2010 World Cup . `` Preliminary police investigations indicate a suicide , '' Hannover 96 spokesman Stefan Wittke said last week . The stadium funeral service followed another memorial in a church and a mourning march through Hannover initiated by fans , the team said in a statement on its Web site . `` Robert 's wife Teresa has expressed the wish to have all his friends and fans of her deceased husband bid farewell to him in the AWD Arena , '' the statement said . `` Hannover 96 supports Teresa Enke in her wish to have Robert and his friends , fans and teammates part with one another in an appropriate and worthy setting . '' `` A few days have passed since Robert 's tragic death , but our inner shock remains , '' the team said . `` One thing is certain : We are not alone in our sadness . Robert Enke was not only perceived by you as a successful football player but above all as a special human being . '' Funeral speakers included German football league president Theo Zwanziger , the team said , as well as team chairman Martin Kind and other dignitaries . Afterward , the team said Enke would be laid to rest `` in the presence of -LRB- his -RRB- closest family members . '' Teresa Enke told reporters following Enke 's death that her husband had been battling depression for six years , but had kept his condition from being public knowledge . He left a suicide note , she said . The Enkes ' biological daughter , Lara , died in 2006 at the age of 2 from a heart condition . The couple recently had adopted an 18-month-old girl they named Leila . `` I tried to be there for him , said that football is not everything , '' Teresa Enke said . `` There are many beautiful things in life . It is not hopeless . `` We had Lara , we have Leila , '' she said . `` I always wanted to help him get through it . He did n't want -LRB- the depression -RRB- to come out because of fear . He was scared of losing Leila . '' Have you lost a loved-one to suicide ? Share your story . Fellow players said they knew Enke had been struggling . `` He was unstable , '' Kind said just after his death . `` But he kept it under wraps . In the wake of Enke 's death , the German national soccer team canceled its friendly match with Chile on Saturday . Hannover 96 is currently 10th in Germany 's Bundesliga top division . Enke had been capped by his national side eight times since making his debut at age 29 . The shot-stopper had also appeared for teams including Carl Zeiss Jena , Borussia Monchengladbach , Benfica , Barcelona , Fenerbahce and Tenerife in Spain . -- CNN 's Frederik Pleitgen contributed to this report . | Thousands flock to Hannover 96 football stadium to play tribute to goalkeeper . Stadium service followed another memorial in church , mourning march through Hannover . Robert Enke , 32 , was expected to start for Germany in 2010 World Cup . Enke 's wife says he suffered from depression for six years . | [[0, 15], [54, 140], [0, 15], [54, 140], [913, 993], [673, 675], [719, 798], [1972, 2082]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A jury Thursday acquitted a former Louisville , Kentucky , high school football coach of all charges connected to the heat-related death of a player last year . David Stinson leaves the courtroom Thursday after being found not guilty in the death of a high school player . The jury found former Pleasure Ridge Park football coach David Jason Stinson not guilty of reckless homicide and wanton endangerment in the death of 15-year-old Max Gilpin , who collapsed during a practice on August 20 , 2008 . The teenager died three days later . Gilpin 's body temperature reached 107 degrees , officials say . Stinson also was acquitted on a charge of wanton endangerment . Watch Stinson after his aquittal '' Prosecutors said Stinson ran a tough practice on a hot day that made several of his players sick . `` The defendant said to his kids , ` We 're going to run until someone quits , ' '' prosecutor Jon Heck alleged in his closing argument . `` A young man given that ultimatum , he ran until he collapsed . He turned white , his eyes rolled back . He could no longer support himself . ... He lost his consciousness , was ultimately taken to the hospital where his body temperature exceeded 107 degrees , '' Heck said of Gilpin . The defense argued that nothing was wrong with the practice and that other factors may have contributed to Gilpin 's heat stroke . `` We 're the first place in this country to indict a coach for a homicide or a felony involving a practice that nobody says they would have stopped , '' defense attorney Alex Dathorne said in his closing argument . `` There 's nothing wrong with the practice ; there 's nothing wrong with it . '' The defense presented witnesses who said Gilpin had complained that he was n't feeling well the day he collapsed . Gilpin 's parents have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against six coaches at the school . The suit claims they were negligent in their actions and that more than 20 minutes passed between the time Gilpin collapsed and the time one of the coaches called paramedics , according to CNN affilliate WHAS . Stinson is the only person who has been charged with a crime . Days after he was charged , Stinson told supporters that his `` heart is broken . '' `` Part of my life has been taken away , '' he said , according to WHAS . `` I no longer teach , and I no longer coach at the school that I love . ... `` The one thing people keep forgetting in this is that I lost one of my boys that day , '' he said . `` It was a boy that I loved and a boy that I cared for and a boy that meant the world to me . That 's the thing that people forget . And that 's a burden I will carry with me for the rest of my life . '' | Jury found Jason Stinson not guilty of all charges in the death of Max Gilpin . Stinson , ex-coach at Pleasure Ridge Park was charged with reckless homicide . Gilpin , 15 , collapsed during practice in August 2008 and died several days later . Gilpin 's death was determined to be related to heat exhaustion , authorities said . | [[0, 15], [35, 119], [180, 291], [180, 185], [201, 204], [224, 291], [441, 463], [470, 519], [520, 556]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The family of a Chicago teenager whose beating death was caught on video hope that the attention the incident has garnered will spur healing locally , a relative said at a news conference Wednesday evening . Derrion Albert , 16 , was beaten to death last week . His death was captured on video . `` It should 've never happened , but it 's never too late , '' said Rose Braxton , great-aunt of 16-year-old Derrion Albert . `` It 's time for healing to start getting our communities together so this wo n't happen to anyone else 's child ever again . '' Four suspects have been charged with first-degree murder in the September 24 killing of Albert , and police say they are looking for three more people in connection with the beating captured on videotape . Prosecutors said that Albert , an honors student , was an innocent bystander who ended up in the middle of a street fight between two factions of students from Fenger High School . The incident caught the attention of the White House , too . The footage of the incident , which shows Albert being hit by a railroad tie , `` is `` chilling '' and one of the most shocking things `` you can ever see , '' White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Wednesday . President Obama 's concern over the killing did n't provide additional comfort to the family , `` but I 'm glad that it 's out there so everyone can see it and they know that , yes , this is happening , '' Braxton said . `` This was vicious . How do you just come out and decide that you 're going to attack someone with a two-by-four ? '' Braxton said . She spoke to reporters together with area community and church leaders . `` Maybe this will wake up and shake up people , '' the Rev. Jesse Jackson said at the press conference , noting that three teens were killed in Chicago this week . Braxton said her message to the White House was simply , `` Do something . '' `` We need to get to our children , '' she said . `` Why are they so angry , so full of venom , that you would even consider doing something like that to another human being ? '' Albert 's funeral was scheduled for Saturday at 10 a.m. at Greater Mount Hebron Baptist Church in Chicago . An amateur videotape shot by a witness , which has been broadcast widely , showed the attack unfolding . A local TV station that received the tape turned it over to police . When school let out at 2:50 p.m. on Thursday , Albert was on his way to a bus stop when two groups of students converged on the street , said Tandra Simonton , spokeswoman for the Cook County States Attorney . The factions , one that lived near the Altgeld Gardens housing development and one in an area known as `` The Ville , '' began fighting after an earlier shooting that police called gang-related . According to Simonton , Albert was approached by two members of `` The Ville '' faction and struck in the head with a long wooden railroad tie , then punched in the face . After being briefly knocked unconscious , Albert regained consciousness and tried to move from the fight , but was then attacked by a second group of five members from the opposing faction , Simonton said . Albert was taken to Roseland Community Hospital and then to Advocate Christ Hospital and Medical Center , where he was pronounced dead . Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis said he asked the U.S. Secret Service to try to enhance the video so that others involved in the fight can be identified . Weis pleaded with anyone who may have information not to withhold it . `` The culture of ` no-snitch ' is unacceptable , '' he said . `` On Thursday , a young man with a promising future lost his life to senseless violence , yet few have come forward . '' Authorities are also considering charging people who participated in the fight but did not come into contact with Albert , he said . Asked about the killing as Obama prepares to travel to Copenhagen , Denmark , to lobby the International Olympic Committee to award Chicago the 2016 Games , Gibbs described the videotape of the attack as `` among the most shocking that you can ever see . '' `` The killing of an honor student ... who 's beaten to death , is chilling , chilling video , '' Gibbs said . Obama has emphasized parental responsibility in addressing chronic problems in low-income urban communities including school dropouts , drug use , gang activity and violence . Gibbs offered no explanation for the Chicago killing , saying , `` in many ways a lot of these crimes are amazingly hard to explain . '' Whatever led to this specific attack , `` you ca n't regulate the hard issue , '' Gibbs said . `` This is not a problem that government alone , as the president often says , at any level is going to be able to solve , '' Gibbs said . `` This is going to take community involvement , it 's going to take parental involvement , it 's going to take the involvement of everyone to address what is obviously a sad and shocking problem . '' | Victim 's great-aunt : Stop this from happening to `` anyone else 's child ever again '' `` Maybe this will wake up and shake up people , '' the Rev. Jesse Jackson says . Derrion Albert , 16 , was beaten to death last week ; beating was captured on video . Police still seeking other suspects related to Albert 's death . | [[513, 568], [1670, 1674], [1692, 1707], [0, 15], [33, 51], [58, 91], [227, 241], [244, 246], [249, 280], [281, 314], [742, 777], [2191, 2229], [2266, 2295], [4115, 4133], [4143, 4158]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- CNN has learned from two senior Democratic sources that former President Bill Clinton will attend the Senate Democrats ' weekly luncheon Tuesday to address the caucus about health care . A notice obtained by CNN went out to Senate Democrats saying , `` All Senators should be aware that former President Clinton will be making a presentation on Health Care at tomorrow 's caucus lunch . Senator Reid has requested that all Democratic Senators attend . '' A constant refrain from Democratic leaders is that wavering Democrats must heed what they say is a lesson of the Clinton administration : fail to pass a health care reform bill , and congressional Democrats will suffer on Election Day . With this visit at a critical time for health care in the Senate , the former president will be able to deliver that message in person . Democrats in the House of Representatives approved a health care bill over the weekend . If the Senate passes a bill , a congressional conference committee will need to merge the House and Senate proposals into a consensus version requiring final approval from each chamber before moving to President Obama 's desk to be signed into law . The House bill is more expansive -- and hence more expensive -- than the Senate Finance Committee bill . The House bill , projected to guarantee coverage for 96 percent of Americans , will cost more than $ 1 trillion over the next 10 years , according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office . CNN 's Dana Bash , Brianna Keilar , Ted Barrett and Alan Silverleib contributed to this report . | Clinton will attend Senate Democrats ' weekly luncheon Tuesday , sources tell CNN . Clinton will push message that failure to pass health bill will have election consequences . House of Representatives passed health care bill over the weekend . | [[16, 69], [82, 205], [848, 936]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The man who accused pop star Michael Jackson of molesting his son in 1993 killed himself in his New Jersey condo earlier this month , police said . Evan Chandler , 65 , was found by the building 's concierge November 5 after a doctor , who was treating him for cancer , said he missed an appointment , the Jersey City , New Jersey , police report said . Chandler was `` extremely ill '' with cancer , the report said . He was working as a dentist in Beverly Hills , California , in 1993 when he said his son , who was 13 at the time , told him that Jackson had molested him . His son revealed it , he said , when he put him under anesthesia to pull a tooth . The Los Angeles County district attorney did not pursue criminal charges against Jackson , but Chandler and his son reached a confidential financial settlement with the singer after filing a lawsuit . Reports at the time said the Chandlers got between $ 16 million and $ 20 million from Jackson 's insurance company . The Chandler accusation became a key part of the prosecution 's case when Jackson was tried and acquitted of molestation a decade later in Santa Barbara County , California . The elder Chandler was found `` on his bed in a lifeless state with a gun in his hand , '' the investigator 's report said . `` The victim had a silver revolver in his right hand which was pressed against the right side of his head , '' Officer J.S. Sielski wrote . Chandler , who was estranged from most of his family , owned the .38 - caliber pistol he used to kill himself , Jersey City spokesman Stan Eason said . No suicide note was found , Eason added . Chandler 's brother -- a lawyer in Santa Barbara County -- told CNN in 2003 that Chandler feared for his life because of threats made by angry Jackson fans . `` There 's a hard-core group , there was and probably still is , of fanatical fans who see him as a deity , '' Ray Chandler told CNN 's Larry King . `` Some of them will go to any lengths that , you know , there 's some who will just go as far as threatening , there 's some who will go -- who will be violent , and you know , you never know how far it is going to go . '' Ray Chandler has not responded to calls from CNN for comment about his brother 's death . | In 1993 , Evan Chandler said Michael Jackson had molested son . Chandler , a dentist , and son reached undisclosed financial settlement with Jackson . Accusation was part of case in 2003 when Jackson was tried , acquitted of molestation charges . Chandler , who was ill with cancer ; apparently shot himself . | [[19, 26], [31, 76], [438, 440], [554, 594], [773, 878], [1070, 1077], [1092, 1155], [373, 417]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Country music artist Taylor Swift has told CNN she never dreamed she would shoot to stardom so quickly . At just 19 years old , she is one of the most successful recording artists of the decade in the United States . Her album `` Fearless '' is certified quadruple platinum , and her 60-date tour of the U.S. , UK and Australia sold out in minutes . Talking to CNN 's Becky Anderson , she said : `` I think for me the most satisfying thing is going out with my first headlining tour and having every show sell out . That was something that I never dreamed would be so quick to happen . `` Putting Madison Square Garden on sale and having it be sold out in 59 seconds . Like I ca n't believe that . I 'm still completely blown away by that . `` And I think my parents are most proud of the moment when where we were all sitting in the crowd at the CMA Awards and they heard my name announced as entertainer of the year . `` I think my parents cried more for that moment than any other moment . '' She has had two number one albums in the Billboard Charts , and in 2009 , Swift became the first country music artist ever to win an MTV Video Music Award . Asked what she would have thought had someone told her 10 years ago that she would be famous by the age of 18 , she said : `` I thought I was going to do what my parents did . They went to college . They went into business and I loved music and I never imagined that I would actually get to do that as a job . It 's wonderful . '' Asked why it is that her songs are considered country music , she said : `` I think that what categorizes country music , to me , in my head . I think a country song is when you are singing about being proud of your life . `` I sing about love and boys and that 's my life . So that 's what fascinates me , feelings , and so I think if you are singing and writing songs about the way that you live your life , that 's a country song . '' On reports that she is dating teen heartthrob Taylor Lautner , Swift said : `` He 's a great guy and we 're really close . '' But she refused to be drawn on her thoughts about Kanye West , who cut her off as she accepted the award for Best Female Song at the MTV Music Video Awards ceremony . `` I just have n't really changed my mind and that I do n't like to talk about it , '' she said . | Most satisfying thing is having every show in her tour sell out , she tells CNN . At 19 she is one of the most successful U.S. recording artists of the decade . On teen heartthrob Taylor Lautner , she says : `` We 're really close '' | [[404, 412], [415, 534], [124, 144], [147, 235], [2004, 2014], [2018, 2063]] |
WASHINGTON -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- An extensive federal report released Monday concludes that roughly one in four of the 697,000 U.S. veterans of the 1990-91 Gulf War suffer from Gulf War illness . A U.S. soldier wears protection against chemical weapons during the Gulf War in a February 1991 photo . That illness is a condition now identified as the likely consequence of exposure to toxic chemicals , including pesticides and a drug administered to protect troops against nerve gas . The 452-page report states that `` scientific evidence leaves no question that Gulf War illness is a real condition with real causes and serious consequences for affected veterans . '' The report , compiled by a panel of scientific experts and veterans serving on the congressionally mandated Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans ' Illnesses , fails to identify any cure for the malady . It also notes that few veterans afflicted with Gulf War illness have recovered over time . `` Today 's report brings to a close one of the darkest chapters in the legacy of the 1991 Gulf War , '' said Anthony Hardie , a member of the committee and a member of the advocacy group Veterans of Modern Warfare . `` This is a bittersweet victory , -LSB- because -RSB- this is what Gulf War veterans have been saying all along , '' Hardie said at a news conference in Washington . `` Years were squandered by the federal government ... trying to disprove that anything could be wrong with Gulf War veterans . '' The committee 's report , titled `` Gulf War Illness and the Health of Gulf War Veterans , '' was officially presented Monday to Secretary of Veterans Affairs James Peake . Noting that overall funding for research into Gulf War illness has declined dramatically since 2001 , it calls for a `` renewed federal research commitment '' to `` identify effective treatments for Gulf War illness and address other priority Gulf War health issues . '' Watch CNN 's Elizabeth Cohen report more on Gulf War illness '' According to the report , Gulf War illness is a `` complex of multiple concurrent symptoms '' that `` typically includes persistent memory and concentration problems , chronic headaches , widespread pain , gastrointestinal problems , and other chronic abnormalities . '' The illness may also be potentially tied to higher rates of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis -LRB- ALS -RRB- -- more commonly known as Lou Gehrig 's Disease -- among Gulf War veterans than veterans of other conflicts . The illness is identified as the consequence of multiple `` biological alterations '' affecting the brain and nervous system . iReport.com : Do you know someone affected by Gulf War illness ? While it is sometimes difficult to issue a specific diagnosis of the disease , it is , according to the report , no longer difficult to identify a cause . The report identifies two Gulf War `` neurotoxic '' exposures that `` are causally associated with Gulf War illness . '' The first is the ingestion of pyridostigmine bromide -LRB- PB -RRB- pills , given to protect troops from effects of nerve agents . The second is exposure to dangerous pesticides used during the conflict . The report does not rule out other possible contributors to Gulf War illness -- including low-level exposure to nerve agents and close proximity to oil well fires -- though it fails to establish any clear link . The report concludes there is no clear link between the illness and a veteran 's exposure to factors such as depleted uranium or an anthrax vaccine administered at the time . `` Gulf War illness is n't some imaginary syndrome , '' said Ken Robinson , the senior intelligence officer for the initial Department of Defense investigation into Gulf War illness in 1996-97 . `` This is real , and it has devastated families . Now is the time to restore the funding cuts that have been made in the Veterans Administration . Our mission has to be to ensure that these veterans get help and become whole again . '' Robinson noted that soldiers in the field today are not at risk for Gulf War illness , because the military is no longer using the PB pills or pesticides that led to the illness in 1990 and 1991 . The report backs Robinson 's conclusion , noting that no problem similar to Gulf War illness has been discovered among veterans from the conflict in Bosnia in the 1990s or in the current engagements in Afghanistan and Iraq . The committee report also backs Robinson 's call for more effective treatments among veterans suffering from Gulf War illness . Noting that overall funding for research into Gulf War illness has declined dramatically since 2001 , it calls for a `` renewed federal research commitment '' to `` identify effective treatments for Gulf War illness and address other priority Gulf War health issues . '' Specifically , the report calls for at least $ 60 million in new annual federal funding on research committed to improving the health of Gulf War veterans . | NEW : Officer who investigated illness : `` This is real , and it has devastated families '' One in four Gulf War veterans suffer from Gulf War illness , report says . Pesticides , drug used to thwart effects of nerve gas called most likely to blame . Illness termed `` a real condition with real causes and serious consequences '' | [[482, 663], [514, 663], [3738, 3753], [3756, 3788], [0, 26], [74, 192], [2754, 2756], [2762, 2785], [4482, 4524], [297, 430], [424, 481], [482, 663], [514, 663], [3738, 3753]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa denied Saturday that a Colombian guerrilla group donated money to his 2006 presidential campaign , asking his country 's civil commission to investigate the allegation . Ecuador 's President Rafael Correa , as pictured in June , says a probe into FARC 's claims will clear his name . Colombian media broadcast a 2008 video Friday in which guerrilla leader Víctor Julio Suarez Rojas , better known as Mono Jojoy , said the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia donated money to Correa 's campaign . The guerrilla group , known by its Spanish acronym FARC , also has had conversations with Correa 's emissaries and has reached `` some accords , according to documents that we have , '' Suarez said in a videotape . Correa denied the allegations and said he wants the nation 's civil commission to see `` if the Ecuadorian government , if the Alianza PAIS -LSB- political party -RSB- has received 20 cents from any foreign group , not just from the FARC . '' The leftist president said that during the campaign , some opponents accused him of receiving money from leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez , from drug cartels and from the FARC . `` They just do n't know what else to say , '' Correa said . `` It is up to you to decide who to believe : the same people as usual or those who endanger their lives to save the country . '' | President Rafael Correa strongly denies Colombian guerrilla group 's claims . Correa calls for investigation to prove FARC did not donate to his 2006 campaign . Leader of Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia -LRB- FARC -RRB- makes claims in video . Correa : Probe will find if he `` received 20 cents from any foreign group , not just FARC '' | [[0, 15], [19, 150], [768, 797], [0, 15], [19, 150], [224, 258], [283, 337], [338, 464], [736, 767], [224, 258], [283, 337], [888, 980]] |
Port-au-Prince , Haiti -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Six Haitian orphans , seized by national authorities last week as they prepared to journey to the United States , will be able to leave the earthquake-devastated country Wednesday . The U.S. Embassy retained custody of the children Tuesday and they were handed over to three American women who have been trying to escort them out . The women had attempted to leave Saturday when angry Haitians demanded to see their paperwork . Police suspected that a key document the women were carrying -- a permission signed by Haiti 's prime minister -- was a fake , something the women and U.S. officials deny . There is no chance the paperwork is fake , said Sarah Thacker , one of the three women . Thacker , from Minnesota , was in Haiti to bring home her newly adopted son . Police did not arrest the women , but temporarily placed the children under government custody at a local orphanage . The women said Tuesday that they had been given permission to take the children to the United States . The women were staying with the children at a friend 's house in Port-au-Prince . Full coverage of Haiti earthquake . The incident came nearly a month after the arrest of 10 U.S. missionaries accused of trying to take 33 Haitian children out of the country without proper paperwork . Eight of them have been released on bail and have returned to the United States . The question of Haitian children being removed from the country illegally came to the foreground after a magnitude-7 .0 earthquake devastated parts of the country on January 12 . Authorities feared that children left on their own -- because their parents died or they were separated from them -- would be targeted by child traffickers . Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar has backed Thacker 's efforts . `` They have filled out all the paperwork , '' she said . `` This is a legitimate orphanage that has brought other children to America . And I feel like these little babies are just caught up in this international dispute , and it 's just not fair . '' CNN 's Gary Tuchman and Ismael Estrada contributed to this report . | Haitian orphans set to leave for United States on Wednesday . U.S. women say they were given permission to leave country with orphans . Police had suspected a permission signed by Haiti 's prime minister was a fake . | [[108, 153], [0, 38], [147, 223], [928, 1030], [951, 1030], [470, 625]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Don Shows was a computer geek until he lost his job and took a road trip . JetBlue promises to refund some tickets purchased before a traveler is laid off from a job . While the 56-year-old from Dayton , Ohio , was away on his eight-day post-layoff adventure , he decided he really wanted to be a photojournalist . `` I ran into some interesting situations when I was out touring around the backcountry '' of the Midwest , he said . `` The road map is handy , but sometimes the road you 're looking for is not there . '' Stories like Shows ' are more common these days . The unemployment rate was at 7.6 percent in January , and , strange as it may seem , at least one travel company , an airline and a travel-bag maker are now catering to the layoff crowd -- both the recently let go and the future unemployed . For those who buy a plane ticket before they get the ax , JetBlue is offering to refund fares . The JetBlue Promise promotion is good for customers laid off on or after February 17 and applies to ticket purchases made between February 1 and June 1 . The program is designed to appeal to people who have n't been downsized but worry they might be , said Alison Croyle , a spokeswoman for the airline . `` It 's something that we felt would provide an advantage to customers who otherwise might be too stressed to book future travel plans , '' she said . Then there 's the already-laid-off demographic . On some packages , Intrepid Travel is giving a 15 percent discount to people who 've recently been let go . The deal , with the tongue-in-cheek title , `` Laid off ? How about taking off ? '' has gotten a few dozen takers in the two months it 's been offered , said Leslie Cohen , spokeswoman for the travel company . Cohen said the discount is designed to give people a chance to clear their heads during a tough transition . Some of the deals start at less than $ 1,000 , she said . The company is `` not suggesting you use your life savings , '' she said . `` It 's really just a chance to catch your breath and see something else and come back in a little bit of a different frame of mind . '' For those looking to hit the skies on the job hunt rather than escape it , SkyRoll , maker of a $ 149.99 garment bag , says it 's giving a discount . `` If you recently lost your job and need to travel for an interview , we will take 50 percent off the price of a SkyRoll to help you arrive looking your best , '' the company says on its Web site . To get the discount , SkyRoll requires customers to e-mail the company a layoff notice . Travel discounts like the one from Intrepid may be great for unemployed people who have hefty savings accounts or large severance packages , but the program also could prey on the unemployed , said Madeline Hughes , who runs a consulting and outplacement group in Denver , Colorado . The cost of a big trip `` could be lunch money for somebody for the next six months , '' she said . Hughes tells her clients who are laid off they need to come up with a career plan -- and quickly -- because the job market is so competitive . If a person truly has a thick enough checkbook to afford a post-layoff vacation , Hughes said she would tell the person to send out plenty of resumes before hitting the beach . `` If you really do want to get away , then at least get somewhat of a plan so when you 're on vacation you 're not fretting about what you 're going to do when you get back , '' she said . `` People ca n't relax if they 're afraid and they do n't have a plan and they 're sort of panicked . '' Daphne Domingo , a life coach in Seattle , Washington , said people who 've been laid off should take vacations so they have time to reassess their lives -- but they should gauge the scope of their travel on their savings account . `` Be a tourist in your own town '' if you do n't have the money to travel , she said . `` That way , you can save money on accommodations . '' Domingo and Hughes said all job seekers should weigh their situations individually . Jonathan Hagelstein , a 32-year-old from New York , plans to use Intrepid 's package to travel to Africa and Europe for nearly a month . This is the second major trip he 's taken since being laid off from a finance job in June . But Hagelstein says he 's a `` compulsive saver '' and wants to make use of the free time while he has it . `` Time is something that you can never get back . You can always earn more money , '' he said . `` I 'm not getting any younger . ... This is an opportunity -- I feel -- of a lifetime . '' With each trip , he hopes the job market will be better when he returns . He said he has no leads on a job . Shows -- the man from Ohio , who first shared his story on iReport.com , CNN 's user-submitted content site -- took off on a road trip as a way to reanalyze his life . See Shows ' story on iReport.com . He said he had n't taken a substantial trip during the decade or so he worked in information technologies at LexisNexis , a database and information company . So he saw the layoff partly as a gift of free time . Shows said he has a stable enough income since he is also a retired police officer . But he said his car trip was relatively cheap . The adventure took him to six states and cost less than $ 1,000 , he said . Plus , it helped him reconnect with his passion . `` If I could do anything I wanted to do in life , it would be to take the camera out and go out to talk to people and get stories , '' he said . Shows said he plans to take photojournalism classes at a local community college this spring . | Travel companies and an airline are catering to the layoff crowd . JetBlue will refund some tickets if you get laid off after you purchase them . Intrepid travel offers a 15 percent discount for people recently laid off . Consultant : Trip costs `` could be lunch money '' for the unemployed . | [[661, 672], [675, 702], [705, 746], [756, 775], [705, 738], [743, 775], [2570, 2648], [3569, 3583], [3625, 3683], [94, 186], [832, 841], [890, 927], [1434, 1450], [1453, 1510], [2570, 2648], [2854, 2937]] |
Washington -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- In the tight circle that surrounds President Obama , White House spokesman Robert Gibbs is in the inner bubble . He 's the 3 a.m. wake-up call when North Korea fires a test missile , or when the Nobel committee picks the president for the top award . `` Trust me , it is a job I would gladly give to anybody who would volunteer , '' Gibbs said . Or would he ? After all , he 's an adviser , a friend and a mouthpiece for the administration with more access than recent press secretaries . `` I can walk in and ask him a question at any given time , pick up the phone and talk to him about anything at any given time . I think -LSB- that -RSB- makes my job easier , '' Gibbs said in an exclusive interview with CNN . The president and the press secretary first connected in 2004 when Obama was a virtual unknown outside of Chicago , Illinois , and was campaigning for the U.S. Senate . They clicked and grew close , leading Obama to tell the Wall Street Journal in a 2008 interview , `` Robert is the guy I want in the foxhole with me during incoming fire . If I 'm wrong , he challenges me . He 's not intimidated by me . '' Gibbs chuckled while recalling the comment and quipped , `` That is when we called him ` Senator ' or by his first name . '' While challenging Obama when he was on a campaign bus is much different than pushing back in the Oval Office , Gibbs insists that Obama still seeks opposing opinions and dislikes an atmosphere where everyone tells him he 's right . Ten months into his job in the White House , Gibbs , who grew up in Auburn , Alabama , says he 's finally starting to get more comfortable , even though he admits that the 24/7 pace `` is certainly a challenge . It can wear you down . '' Especially when it comes to the daily main event . Gibbs briefs the White House press corps , usually for about 45 minutes . He rarely shows up on time , but he 's always ready to spar . The mouthpiece for the president often uses humor or sarcasm to deflect a tough question . In one exchange about the tit for tat over cable chatter and radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh , Gibbs uttered , `` I 'll plead guilty to counterproductivity . '' In another about managing the message , Gibbs said , `` Is there any evidence currently going on that I 'm controlling the press ? Poorly , I might add ! '' Is this an effective strategy to handle the media ? `` You tell me , '' Gibbs said . `` Look , there 's no doubt that using a little humor to get out of a series of bad questions is n't an altogether bad technique . '' Watch Gibbs talk about his job . Especially since he 's involved in a daily high-wire act , as he calls it . The cameras are always rolling . A bad day for the White House spokesman usually means a bad day for the administration . `` My father likes reminding me he always thought my mouth would get me into sizable trouble , which it can on any given day , '' Gibbs said . Before starting his job , Gibbs studied former press secretaries and sought out their advice . He still relies on their guidance `` fairly frequently , '' he said . For example , Gibbs revealed that just last week he reached out to former Clinton spokesman Mike McCurry to get `` feedback on a question that was sort of nagging me a little bit . '' When probed on what that question was , Gibbs replied , `` I 'm not going to get into that , but good try . '' Even with the major policy issues the White House is juggling , from Afghanistan to health care to the economy , Gibbs says he 's still having fun . `` If you did n't enjoy the job that I have , it would be the worst job in all of Washington , '' he said . What he does n't like , he said , is the fact that he 's now a celebrity . `` People that I do n't know recognize you walking down the street . It 's awkward , '' he said . | White House spokesman has more access to president than recent predecessors . Robert Gibbs says he can walk in or call Obama any time he has a question . Obama has praised Gibbs ' willingness to challenge him , tell him he 's wrong . Gibbs known for using humor to deflect tough questions from media . | [[522, 523], [540, 576], [1937, 2027], [1981, 1986], [1998, 2027], [2444, 2527]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Out-of-shape swimming superstar Michael Phelps again struggled as an unprecedented 16 records were set at the World Cup short-course event in Berlin this weekend . Six new marks were set on Saturday and another 10 on Sunday , but the American could only manage a second in the 200 meters individual medley and a fifth in the 200m butterfly while failing to reach the final of the 200m freestyle . The 14-time Olympic champion chose to wear an old-style suit as he did with a similar lack of success in the previous leg in Stockholm during the week , and took a back seat to those wearing high-tech outfits -- which will be outlawed from January 1 . `` I prefer not to lose , but I knew coming in that it would be very , very hard to win anything , '' the bearded Phelps told reporters . `` I raced as hard as I could , I 've gotten some racing under my belt , and that 's what we set out to do . Maybe it 's better for me that I lost today . It gives me better motivation for the future . `` I am pleased with the week as much as I can be , with how much training I 've done -- which is little , and it shows . '' He performed better on Sunday as he finished runner-up in the medley behind South Africa 's Darian Townsend , who set a world-record time of one minute 51.55 seconds -- beating Phelps by 1.85 seconds . On Saturday , his much-anticipated showdown with world 200m freestyle champion Paul Biedermann never eventuated as he finished 12th in the heats , while the supersuit-clad German set a new record in the final and also smashed Grant Hackett 's seven-year-old milestone in the 400m freestyle . Among the women 's records to be broken , Australia 's Liesel Jones followed up her two gold medals from the Beijing Olympics by setting a new mark on each day . The 24-year-old won the 200m breaststroke on Sunday in a time of 2:15.42 , shaving more than a second off the previous record , while the day before she topped her own leading time in the 100m breaststroke . | An unprecedented 16 records fall at the World Cup short-course event in Berlin this weekend . Swimming superstar Michael Phelps again struggles as he chooses to use an old-style suit . High-tech suits will become illegal from January 1 as officials seek to stem tide of new marks . | [[0, 15], [66, 112], [82, 182], [183, 242], [416, 566], [593, 667]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Real Salt Lake sealed an upset win over the Los Angeles Galaxy on Sunday night with a 5-4 penalty victory , after extra-time in the Major League Soccer Cup final that ended with the score at 1-1 . Robbie Russell netted the vital spot kick after Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando made two saves and MLS Most Valuable Player , and LA Galaxy captain , Langdon Donovan sent his shot sailing over the crossbar . Salt Lake 's win at the Qwest Field arena in Seattle , ended David Beckham 's bid to claim a third national title in as many different nations , having previously won the English Premier League with Manchester United and La Liga with Spain 's Real Madrid . The Galaxy struck first , with midfielder Mike Magee drilling a 41st-minute shot into an open net . His strike came after Beckham passed to Donovan , who set-up Magee at the far post . Seattle : America 's soccer city . Real Salt Lake hit back with 25 minutes left when Robbie Findley reacted first after Yuri Movsisyan 's attempt on goal was blocked , tying the match and setting up the penalty shootout . Beckham got the Galaxy off to a good start in the shoot out as he scored with confidence , but his team could not follow in the same manner . Jovan Kirovski 's shot was blocked by Rimando , but Saunders followed by stopping the effort of Salt Lake captain Kyle Beckerman before Donovan blazed over the crossbar to leave the score 5-4 . Galaxy came into the game as favorites , but flattered to deceive as it was revealed Beckham had played with an injured right ankle . `` We all want to win titles and personally I 'd love to be successful but I think we have been successful this year without winning tonight , '' Beckham told reporters after the game . `` We have quietened a few people along the way which is always nice but we could n't finish it off . `` I would n't say it 's tougher to lose on penalties but it 's Russian roulette , that 's just the way it is . It 's not a nice way to lose . `` The people that step up are brave enough to step up and if you score , great and if you miss it 's hard to take , but it just was n't our night , '' Beckham added . Beckham is due to return to AC Milan in January for another loan spell as he bids to secure a place in England 's World Cup squad for next year 's finals in South Africa . The English midfielder 's future in the U.S. had appeared in doubt earlier in the season when his commitment was called into question following a loan spell with the Italian club during which he had indicated an apparent desire to continue playing in Italy . Beckham had earlier said that playing in Sunday 's final ranked alongside winning the Primera Liga title with Real Madrid in 2003 and a trophy-laden spell at Manchester United that included six English Premier League titles and the 1999 Champions League crown . `` Anytime you reach a certain part of the season , whether it 's being in a cup final or winning leagues , it 's always special , '' Beckham said . `` Being involved in finals never gets old . '' | Galaxy strike first , with Mike Magee scoring in the 41st minute . Robbie Findley nets Real Salt Lake 's only goal as games ends 1-1 . Beckham scores in shootout but Galaxy lose 5-4 . Beckham is due to return to AC Milan in January on loan . | [[688, 711], [719, 787], [147, 180], [186, 215], [2164, 2237], [2164, 2171], [2179, 2245]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A major investor in convicted swindler Bernie Madoff 's Ponzi scheme drowned in his swimming pool in Florida after a heart attack , his attorney said Monday . The medical examiner 's office confirmed the report . Jeffry Picower , 67 , was found unconscious in his pool shortly after noon Sunday at his Palm Beach , Florida , , home by his wife , Palm Beach police said . He was pronounced dead at Good Samaritan Hospital . Picower 's attorney , William Zabel , told CNN that Picower drowned after suffering a massive heart attack . Sue Jaffe , spokeswoman for the Palm Beach County medical examiner , confirmed those details . In September , Forbes magazine ranked Picower No. 371 among the 400 richest Americans , with a net worth of $ 1 billion . In March , Madoff was convicted of operating a Ponzi scheme and defrauding thousands of investors . He was sentenced to 150 years in prison after pleading guilty to 11 felony counts of fraud , money laundering and perjury . Prosecutors have said it was the largest investor fraud ever committed by a single person , totaling billions in losses to investors . When the Picower Foundation of Palm Beach announced it was shutting down early this year because of Madoff losses , it initially appeared that the prominent philanthropist had been an unfortunate victim of Madoff 's Ponzi scheme . Picower 's 2007 tax return had valued his foundation 's portfolio at $ 955 million . However , in May , court filings by Madoff trustee Irving Picard changed the picture . The trustee 's complaint claimed that Picower had been a key beneficiary of Madoff 's Ponzi scheme for more than 20 years , and `` knew or should have known that -LSB- he -RSB- was profiting from fraud because of the implausibly high rates of return '' on his accounts . Those `` anomalous and astronomical rates of return '' -- as high as 500 percent in one year and 950 percent in another year -- `` were neither credible nor consistent with legitimate trading activity , and should have caused any reasonable investor ... to inquire further , '' the court filings said , referring to Picower as `` a sophisticated investor , accountant and lawyer . '' Citing backdated account filings and other bogus paperwork , the complaint contends that `` Picower and the other defendants also knew or should have known that they were reaping the benefits of manipulated purported returns , false documents and fictitious profit . '' The Picowers recently told The New York Times that the publicity and controversy surrounding their connection to Bernie Madoff had been a great source of heartache . `` We always have been private people , and having all this play out in the media has taken a big toll on our health , '' the couple wrote in response to questions posed by reporters . `` We feel stunned , betrayed , angry , sickened , devastated , '' they said , and were only able to draw strength and consolation `` from each other and from the knowledge that we did nothing wrong . '' | Jeffry Picower , 67 , found unconscious in his pool in his Palm Beach , Florida . Picower drowned after having a heart attack , his attorney and medical examiner say . Picower had invested with Bernie Madoff , who was convicted in Ponzi scheme . Forbes magazine ranked Picower No. 371 among the 400 richest Americans . | [[49, 148], [232, 246], [249, 313], [49, 148], [151, 177], [178, 231], [442, 461], [480, 550], [0, 15], [36, 87], [768, 776], [779, 867]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Two people were killed and 21 others were injured Wednesday when a tour bus went out of control and overturned on a freeway outside Austin , Minnesota , state authorities said . The bus , which was carrying senior citizens , overturned on Interstate 90 about three miles west of Austin , landing in a ditch off the right side of the roadway . At least 10 ambulances and several medical helicopters were called to the scene . `` All 23 people on board were either injured or killed , '' said Andy Skoogman , spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety . Weather conditions were good when the bus , headed east , crossed the highway median , crossed over westbound lanes and overturned , Skoogman said . Watch video of tour bus crash site . The cause of the accident was not immediately known , he said . Investigators talked with some passengers , he said , but had not yet talked with the driver . CNN affiliate KAAL reported the bus was returning to Rochester , Minnesota , from a trip to a casino in Northwood , Iowa . | Bus carrying senior citizens returning from casino trip in Iowa overturns in Minnesota . Minnesota official : `` All 23 people on board were either injured or killed '' At least 10 ambulances , several medical helicopters rush to the scene . Weather conditions were good when the bus lost control on Interstate 90 near Austin . | [[197, 204], [213, 241], [444, 499], [362, 443], [197, 204], [244, 304], [584, 714]] |
CAIRO , Egypt -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Egypt is suspending ties with France 's famous Louvre museum until the latter returns artifacts that it knew were stolen when it purchased them , the head of the country 's antiquities council said Wednesday . Egypt accuses the Louvre museum of failing to make good on promises to return antiquities . Zahi Hawass , director of the Supreme Council of Antiquities , said he wrote a letter seven years ago to major museums around the world asking them to consult with Egyptian authorities before buying any ancient Egyptian artifacts from outside sellers . Hawass said the Louvre had bought five murals chipped off the walls from a tomb in Thebes and been stolen by antiquities robbers in the 1980s . He sent a letter to the Louvre a year ago asking that the stolen paintings be returned , he said . The museum promised to return the items but has not followed through , he said . Until it does so , Egypt will suspend its cooperation with the Louvre , Hawass said . A Louvre spokesman declined to comment on Egypt 's claims . Egypt maintains antiquities exchange programs with museums around the world . The Louvre is one of the biggest repositories of ancient Egyptian antiquities in the world , much of it treasure taken during the time of the French and British occupation of the country . Egypt 's position is that artifacts taken by European powers during that period are a fait accompli , but anything taken illegally since Egypt 's independence must be returned . This has been one of the major emphases of Hawass since he became head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in 2002 . Egypt took similar steps against museums in England and Belgium in the past . Those ties were restored after the artifacts in question were returned , Hawass said . | Egypt suspends ties with France 's famous Louvre museum . Country accuses museum of failing to return stolen antiquities . Louvre is one of world 's biggest repositories of ancient Egyptian antiquities . | [[8, 128], [929, 981], [243, 310], [831, 841], [875, 899], [1136, 1226]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- David Beckham believes the furore that followed his return to the LA Galaxy from his loan spell with AC Milan earlier this year has galvanized the team . The Galaxy won the MLS Western Conference Championship with a 2-0 win at home to Houston Dynamo on Friday night , Beckham setting up Gregg Berhalter 's 102nd-minute opener . They will face Real Salt Lake , who upset the favored Chicago Fire 5-4 in a penalty shootout to win the Eastern Conference title on Saturday to reach the MLS Cup final in Seattle next Sunday . Beckham had been subjected to abuse by his own fans after missing the start of the MLS season when he was in Italy , while Galaxy captain Landon Donovan questioned his commitment to the LA franchise . However , the England midfielder -- who missed Saturday 's 1-0 friendly defeat by Brazil in Qatar to play for his club -- thinks the situation helped bring the team together . `` There 's nothing wrong with a bit of controversy in a club , it brings players and teams together and it 's done that , '' Beckham told ESPN in a post-match interview . `` I do n't have to say anything about myself , I leave that down to other people to decide . `` I love playing soccer . I work hard for my teammates , myself , my manager , the fans and I hope that 's enough for people . '' Beckham joined the Galaxy from Real Madrid in 2007 but they struggled to make an impact during the Englishman 's time with the team until the arrival of former USA national team coach Bruce Arena . Beckham , who returns to Milan in January as he bids to win a place in England 's World Cup squad , believes this season 's achievements have already gone some way for making up for the previous two seasons . `` We want to win next week but reaching it is the biggest thing , '' he told the UK Press Association . `` We 've done that , done the hard work and this team deserves it . '' | LA Galaxy beat Houston Dynamo 2-0 to win the MLS Western Conference Championship . Beckham believes controversy over his first loan spell with AC Milan brought team together . The Galaxy can win their third MLS Cup when they face Real Salt Lake in Seattle next weekend . | [[173, 250], [19, 146], [751, 773], [863, 916], [447, 450], [488, 539]] |
Cleveland , Ohio -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The niece of the mayor of Cleveland , Ohio , once lived with murder suspect Anthony Sowell , a registered sex offender charged with murder after the remains of 11 victims were found at his home , a spokeswoman for the mayor said Monday . Lori Frazier , niece of Mayor Frank Jackson , had a relationship with Sowell that ended two years ago , said Andrea Taylor , a spokeswoman for Jackson 's office . Taylor said it is unclear whether the relationship was romantic . `` I just want to know why , why he would do this , '' Frazier told CNN affiliate WOIO on Friday . `` He took care of me , good care of me . I never would have thought there were some bodies in the house . '' `` I lived with him from 2005 to 2007 and he did n't kill me , but he killed all these girls , '' she said . Sowell , 50 , is facing five counts of aggravated murder , rape , felonious assault and kidnapping in connection with the deaths . All the victims were African-American women . All that remains of one of them is a skull , wrapped in a paper bag and stuffed into a bucket in the basement . Sowell served 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to attempted rape in 1989 . He was released in 2005 . So far , nine of the 11 victims found at Sowell 's home have been identified . The latest two were identified Monday by the Cuyahoga County Coroner 's Office , police said . They are Janice Webb , 49 , and Kim Yvette Smith , who was 43 when last seen . Both women were from Cleveland . Webb was last seen on June 3 and was reported missing on August 2 , police said . Smith was last seen January 1 , but was not reported missing until November 2 . A grand jury on Monday returned an indictment against Sowell in connection with an alleged assault and rape of a 36-year-old woman September 22 , Cuyahoga County prosecutors said in a news release . The investigation into that incident was what led police , armed with a search warrant , to Sowell 's home , where they discovered the bodies late last month . The alleged victim encountered Sowell while walking in the neighborhood , and he took her back to his home , where he became violent and raped her , prosecutors said . `` While raping her , he strangled her with a cord until she lost consciousness , '' the statement said . `` When she regained consciousness , he led her out of the house . '' Sowell faces a charge of attempted murder in the incident , along with two counts of rape , two counts of kidnapping and two counts of felonious assault , authorities said . Sowell will be arraigned on the new charges Friday , authorities said . The charges are first-degree felonies except for the assault charges , which are second-degree felonies , prosecutors said . If convicted , he would face a sentence of up to life in prison . The investigation into the homicides continues , prosecutor Bill Mason said in the news release . `` Upon completion of the investigation , the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor 's Office working with the Cleveland Police Department will present evidence to the grand jury seeking the death penalty for these heinous murders committed by Sowell . '' Residents of the area near the home said they had noted a smell in the neighborhood , but assumed it was from nearby Ray 's Sausage Company . Asked whether she had noticed a foul odor , Frazier told WOIO , `` Yeah , I smelled stuff , but he always told me that -- at first he said it was his stepmother downstairs . And then I guess after she left , he told me that it was Ray 's Sausage . '' Frazier said Sowell brought other women to the home when she was not there . `` I love my niece very much and while she has made some decisions that have not been in her best interest , she has my full support , '' Jackson said in a written statement . `` As a family , we are extremely fortunate that she was not a victim in this case as she did have a prior relationship with the suspect that ended approximately two years ago . My focus continues to be on making sure the loved ones of the victims get the attention , closure and justice they deserve and it is my hope that everyone remains committed to that goal . '' Hundreds of Cleveland residents gathered outside the house Sunday night to remember the victims . `` It 's hard , because I want to burn it down , '' said Inez Fortson , whose daughter Telacia , 31 and a mother of three children , is among the dead . Sowell has been placed on a suicide watch at the request of his attorney , according to Sowell 's public defender , Kathleen DeMetz . A psychiatric evaluation has been ordered but it 's unlikely to happen until after the case goes before a grand jury , the next expected step . Police recovered the first bodies after they went to Sowell 's home to follow up on a rape accusation . In a separate incident , neighbors on October 20 reported seeing a naked woman fall from the second floor . Firefighters and paramedics responded , and later notified police . But the woman told officers that she was at the home `` partying , '' when she fell off the roof , and no charges were filed . Agents from the FBI 's Behavioral Science Unit are assisting Cleveland police , Cleveland FBI spokesman Scott Wilson has said . The agents are preparing a profile of Sowell for police , tracing his life and habits , and his DNA will be entered into a national database to see whether it can be linked to any unsolved crimes . `` Our experts tell us it 's likely he 's done this before , '' said Frank Figliuzzi , special agent in charge of the FBI 's Cleveland office . `` He 's probably done it elsewhere , and so we need to determine whether or not he 's responsible for other unsolved murders and rapes around the country . '' In addition , the FBI is investigating whether Sowell might be linked to crimes abroad , Figliuzzi said . `` We know , for example , he was a Marine , he was assigned to California , he served in Okinawa , Japan , and we 'll be matching all the facts from these crimes here in Cleveland with the crimes that remain unsolved in our database , and we 'll specifically be looking at those locations where he 's previously lived . '' Allen Sowell , the suspect 's half-brother , told CNN he last saw his brother more than 20 years ago . Their stepmother , who lived in the house after Anthony Sowell got out of prison , said she knew of nothing odd going on at the time , Allen Sowell said . The stepmother tried to get Anthony Sowell evicted from the house in 2007 because he was n't paying rent , Allen Sowell said . Anthony Sowell said he should n't have to pay rent on a house that belonged to his father , who died in 2004 . Anthony Sowell remained in the house when his stepmother had to be hospitalized in 2007 , his half-brother said . Allen Sowell said he was aware of his half-brother 's prison record , but `` just could n't fathom '' the accusations now facing him . `` I did n't think he was in that bad of a mental state , '' Allen Sowell said . `` You never think it would happen to your family . It 's a horrible feeling . '' At 66 , Allen Sowell is 16 years older than his half-brother , and the two did n't meet until Anthony Sowell was 9 . He added , `` He deserves whatever he gets from the justice system . '' CNN 's Susan Candiotti , Edmund Demarche and Ross Levitt and CNN Radio 's Brendan Gage contributed to this report . | NEW : Mayor Frank Jackson : `` I love my niece very much ... she has my full support '' NEW : FBI says it 's likely suspect has `` done this before ; '' looking at places he lived in past . Lori Frazier , mayor 's niece , says she lived with Anthony Sowell from 2005 to 2007 . Sowell charged with murder , rape , other crimes after 11 bodies found at home . | [[3623, 3638], [3729, 3752], [5427, 5485], [5574, 5606], [5745, 5817], [6077, 6126], [6111, 6126], [6133, 6149], [6158, 6160], [6111, 6126], [6133, 6157], [12, 32], [81, 126], [274, 286], [320, 350], [715, 749], [129, 229], [821, 827], [835, 951], [1236, 1274]] |
Washington -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- President Obama huddled with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other top military advisers at the White House on Friday as the administration continued its sweeping review of U.S. strategy in Afghanistan . Each branch of the armed services was given a direct opportunity to tell Obama the effect on the military if a large number of additional forces are sent to Afghanistan , two military sources told CNN 's Barbara Starr . The meeting was the seventh in a series of high-level discussions being held in part to forge a consensus on how best to confront Taliban and al Qaeda militants threatening the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan . `` The president wants to get input from different services , '' White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said earlier this week . `` It 's a chance to consult with uniformed military leadership as a part of his -LSB- Afghanistan-Pakistan -RSB- review . '' The potential for a major expansion of the number of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan comes with some misgivings from the military chiefs . The Army and Marine Corps have expressed concerns that it could make it tougher to give troops promised time at home with their families between overseas tours . The White House strategy review is being conducted against a backdrop of rising U.S. casualties in Afghanistan and increased Taliban violence . October has already become the deadliest month for U.S. forces since the war began in late 2001 , with the deaths of 56 American troops . Taliban militants have become increasingly bold . This week , they attacked a U.N. guesthouse in central Kabul , killing five U.N. staff members . There also is political turmoil surrounding a planned November 7 Afghan presidential election runoff . On Friday , a source close to the Afghan leadership told CNN that President Hamid Karzai 's runoff opponent , Abdullah Abdullah , would withdraw from the race . The presidential campaign has become increasingly contentious as Abdullah demanded the removal of the country 's election chief and 200 other staffers of the election commission to ensure a fair runoff . Abdullah and others have charged that massive fraud occurred in the first round of voting on August 20 . The initial results gave Karzai the win , but a subsequent review by a U.N.-backed panel of election monitors threw out nearly one-third of Karzai 's votes because of `` clear and convincing evidence of fraud . '' The result left Karzai short of the 50 percent needed to avoid a runoff . After a flurry of meetings with U.S. and U.N. officials , the Afghan president agreed to the runoff . | Obama meets with national security advisers on Afghanistan . Obama weighing whether to send additional troops to war zone . Army , Marine Corps say increase will affect promised time off for troops . Meeting comes amid rise in U.S. troop casualties , political turmoil . | [[1058, 1219], [1108, 1219], [1220, 1363], [1293, 1315]] |
LOS ANGELES , California -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Burt Reynolds checked into a drug rehab clinic `` to regain control of his life '' after becoming addicting to painkillers prescribed following back surgery , his manager said . Reynolds won Golden Globe for his role as a porn producer in the 1997 hit movie `` Boogie Nights . '' A short statement , issued by manager Erik Kritzer on Wednesday , did not say when or where Reynolds entered rehab . `` After a recent back surgery , Mr. Reynolds felt like he was going through hell and after a while , realized he was a prisoner of prescription pain pills , '' Kritzer said . `` He checked himself into rehab in order to regain control of his life . `` Mr. Reynolds hopes his story will help others in a similar situation , '' Kritzer said . `` He hopes they will not try to solve the problem by themselves , but realize that sometimes it is too tough to do on their own and they should seek help , as he did . '' Reynolds was an Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner for his role as a porn producer in the 1997 hit movie `` Boogie Nights . '' His film career , which started in 1961 , also included starring roles in the classic movies `` Deliverance , '' `` Smokey and the Bandit '' and `` Cannonball Run . '' | Reynolds is addicted to painkillers prescribed after back surgery , manager says . Not clear where or when the legendary film and television actor entered rehab . `` He checked himself into rehab in order to regain control of his life , '' manager says . His film career includes starring roles in `` Deliverance , '' `` Smokey and the Bandit '' | [[94, 166], [155, 200], [203, 221], [444, 471], [474, 540], [324, 387], [390, 440], [0, 11], [44, 90], [203, 221], [324, 387], [390, 440], [620, 658], [659, 690], [1093, 1110], [1140, 1185]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A self-help expert said Tuesday that he has hired his own investigators to determine what happened at his Arizona retreat last week , when two people died after spending considerable time in a sweat lodge . Self-help author James Arthur Ray has hired investigators to investigate two deaths at an Arizona sweat lodge . Tuesday 's tearful speech before about 200 supporters was the first time that best-selling self-help author James Arthur Ray had publicly discussed the case . Authorities said James Shore of Milwaukee , Wisconsin , and Kirby Brown of Westtown , New York , died Friday at the Angel Valley Resort after spending up to two hours in the sauna-like sweat lodge . Nineteen others were treated for injuries . `` I have no idea what happened . We 'll figure it out , '' Ray said , adding that he had hired investigators . `` I 've lost people I love and really care about . '' Police are also investigating the incident at the central Arizona resort , located in a secluded valley 20 minutes from Sedona . Ray is the author of the best-selling book `` Harmonic Wealth : The Secret of Attracting the Life You Want . '' Ray , described on his Web site as a `` personal success strategist , '' has appeared on CNN 's `` Larry King Live '' and the `` Oprah Winfrey Show , '' and is featured in the self-empowerment film `` The Secret . '' On Tuesday , Ray told the crowd that he is struggling with the deaths . `` These are challenging times , '' he said . `` I 've faced many ; none like this . I do n't know how to deal with it really . '' The use of sweat lodges for spiritual and physical cleansing is a part of several Native American tribes ' cultures . A traditional Native American sweat lodge is a small dome-like structure made up of willow branches carefully tied together and covered in canvas . Rocks are heated in a nearby fire pit and placed inside the lodge , and water is poured over them to create steam . CNN 's Sara Weisfeldt contributed to this report . | James Arthur Ray says he hired investigators to look into sweat lodge deaths . Two dead , 19 injured at Ray 's retreat meant to provide for spiritual cleansing . Ray : `` I have no idea what happened '' | [[0, 15], [38, 90], [51, 150], [226, 337], [270, 337], [797, 808], [811, 851], [158, 225], [226, 337], [270, 337], [696, 739], [743, 773]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Authorities on Saturday released the names of three more victims found last week in or around the home of a registered sex offender in Cleveland , Ohio . The Cuyahoga County Coroner 's Office identified the bodies of Amelda Hunter , 47 ; Crystal Dozier , 38 ; and Michelle Mason , 45 , all of Cleveland . Anthony Sowell , who served 15 years after pleading guilty to attempted rape in a 1989 case , was arrested last week , two days after police discovered the first bodies at his home . He faces five counts of aggravated murder , rape , felonious assault and kidnapping , police said , and was denied bond at a hearing Wednesday . Police have discovered the bodies of 10 people and skull of an 11th victim at or near Sowell 's home . Authorities have identified seven of the victims . Remains of six victims were found inside the home . police said , and five outside . The skull was wrapped in a paper bag and stuffed into a bucket in the basement , police said . Hunter was not reported as a missing person at the time of the discovery of the victim 's bodies at Sowell 's residence , according to the Cleveland Police Department . Her family reported her missing on November 3 , telling police that she was last seen on or about April 18 . Dozier also was never reported missing to police . She was reportedly last seen in October 2007 , police said . Mason was reported missing on October 12 , 2008 . She was last seen earlier that month , according to police . At the time , it was reported that Mason suffered from bipolar disorder and was not taking her prescribed medications , police said . Sowell has been placed on a suicide watch at the request of his attorney , according to his public defender , Kathleen DeMetz . A psychiatric evaluation has been ordered but it 's unlikely to happen until after a grand jury files an indictment , she said . Sowell is being held in a solitary cell in the Cuyahoga County jail , wearing a white paper gown , County Jail Warden Kevin McDonough told CNN . Every 10 minutes , a guard checks on him to make sure he does n't hurt himself . Occasionally , Sowell is allowed out of his cell under escort to shower and use a dayroom with books and magazines , but no television , McDonough said . He gets three meals a day . Lights are out at 10 p.m. `` He 's been quiet and compliant , '' McDonough said . `` He understands what incarceration is like . '' Sowell was released from jail in 2005 . According to court documents , Sowell completed several programs while in jail , including `` Living Without Violence , '' `` Positive Personal Change '' and `` Cage your Rage . '' In another court document filed shortly before his release and obtained by CNN , handwritten notes state Sowell `` would be likely to re-offend because he still denies the rape . '' Previously , the coroner 's office said it had identified the bodies of Nancy Cobbs , 43 ; Tonia Carmichael , 52 ; Telacia Fortson , 31 ; and Tishana Culver , 31 . Police initially went to Sowell 's home last week to follow up on a rape accusation . Last month , neighbors reported seeing a naked woman fall from the second floor , but no charges were filed . Neighbors called 911 after the October 20 incident . Firefighters and paramedics responded , and later notified police . The woman told officers that she was at the home and `` partying , '' when she fell off the roof . `` They were doing coke , drugs , getting high , '' Cleveland Police Chief Michael McGrath said . A man described as her boyfriend -- Sowell -- told police the same story . CNN 's Susan Candiotti and Ross Levitt contributed to this report . | Police have discovered 10 bodies and a skull at home of sex offender Anthony Sowell . Authorities identify Amelda Hunter , 47 , Crystal Dozier , 38 , Michelle Mason , 45 on Saturday . Two of the three women had not been reported missing before bodies discovered . Sowell is on suicide watch in jail after being denied bond on charges of murder , rape , assault . | [[65, 163], [652, 754], [806, 857], [0, 83], [173, 249], [755, 805], [986, 1105], [507, 590], [507, 509], [593, 599], [605, 651], [1621, 1693]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The $ 410 billion budget President Obama signed Wednesday will make it easier for U.S. residents to travel to Cuba and to send money to family members on the island . It also could facilitate the sale of agricultural and pharmaceutical products to Cuba . The residents of Havana , Cuba , often rely on bicycle taxis for transportation . Three provisions attached to the omnibus spending bill loosened restrictions enacted by then-President George W. Bush after he came to office in 2001 . Analysts see the move as a way for the new Obama administration to start thawing relations with Cuba one month before the Fifth Summit of the Americas brings together the U.S. president and 33 other leaders from the Western Hemisphere in Trinidad and Tobago . '' -LSB- Cuba -RSB- is the issue of greatest symbolic importance , '' said Peter Hakim , president of the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue policy institute . `` It will be seen as a test of real U.S. readiness to change in the hemisphere . What he says about Cuba will make headlines . '' Hakim testified about Latin American policy Wednesday before the House Foreign Affairs Committee . Cuba and the United States have had a troubled relationship since Fidel Castro came to power in 1959 . The United States broke off diplomatic relations in 1961 and imposed a trade embargo in 1962 . Bush tightened some of those restrictions in recent years , most notably limiting travel to the island to once every three years for a limit of 14 days . Under the new provisions , relatives will be able to go once a year and stay for an unlimited time . In addition , the definition of relatives has been broadened to include uncles , aunts , nephews and nieces . The new measures also increase the amount of money visitors can spend . Otto Reich , who served presidents Reagan and both Bushes in a number of high-level Latin American posts , also testified Wednesday before the House Foreign Affairs Committee . Reich and Hakim have different perspectives on how far Obama should go on improving relations with Cuba , but they agree that attaching the latest measures to the spending bill was the wrong way to do it . `` It 's important to open up Cuba , but it should be done systematically , '' Hakim told CNN . `` This is very important for the Cuban American community . It ought to be done with them at the table . If they 're not involved , they 're going to push back . '' Initial opposition from two Democratic senators with large Cuban American communities in their states put the spending bill in jeopardy . Senators Bill Nelson of Florida and Bob Menendez of New Jersey voted for the budget Tuesday after receiving personal letters from Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner assuring them that the new provisions will not alter U.S. policy . Reich said he did not like the Cuba provisions in the budget because the United States gets nothing in return . `` I 'm opposed to it because of the way it was done , '' he said . `` There 's a way it can be done to advance the conditions of the people in Cuba . I do n't approve of the unilateral way it 's being done . The embargo is a negotiating tool . We should not negotiate with ourselves , and that 's what we 're doing . '' Hakim warns that too much should not be read into the new measures , saying , `` The fact is that this is very minor . '' Larry Birns , director of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs , said in a policy statement Wednesday that the new provision `` suffers from being too little and too late . '' Similar measures have been attached to previous spending bills in the past eight years but Bush threatened to veto the legislation , so the language was scrapped . Senators Nelson and Menendez were most concerned with the provision that allows cash advance sales of agricultural and pharmaceutical products to Cuba . Before Bush , `` cash advance '' used to mean that money would have to be paid as soon as the goods reached Cuba . But the Bush Administration said `` cash advance '' had to mean money was sent before the cargo was loaded on ships in the United States for Cuba . The language in the new spending bill reverts the meaning to the previous `` cash-on-delivery '' method favored by U.S. farmers and exporters . Some members of Congress also were concerned the new provisions would allow credit sales , which would poke major holes in the economic embargo . But Geithner 's letters to Nelson and Menendez assured them this would not happen . He did tell the senators , though , the Obama administration is reviewing its policies toward Cuba . CNN State Department Producer Elise Labott contributed to this report . | Three provisions are attached to $ 410 billion spending bill signed by Obama . Travel restrictions to Cuba from U.S. loosened ; it will be easier to send money there . Sales of U.S. agricultural and pharmaceutical products could be easier now . Some critics say measures should not have been attached to spending bill . | [[356, 473], [0, 15], [60, 185], [186, 188], [194, 273], [2086, 2090], [2112, 2181]] |
LOS ANGELES , California -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Gertrude Baines , the world 's oldest person , has died in Los Angeles , California , at the age of 115 , according to the home where she lived and Guinness World Records said Saturday . Gertrude Baines said she attributed her longevity to not drinking or smoking . Gertrude Baines passed away at the Western Convalescent Hospital at 7:25 a.m. -LRB- 10:25 a.m. ET -RRB- Friday , Guinness World Records said . Born in 1894 , Baines became the world 's oldest person in January after the death of another 115-year-old , Maria de Jesus , from Portugal , Guinness World Records said . At her 115th birthday party in April , Baines shook her head in disbelief when presented with the certificate saying she was now in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world 's oldest person . `` She told me that she owes her longevity to the Lord , that she never did drink , never did smoke , and she never did fool around , '' her doctor , Dr. Charles Witt , said in April . Baines , whose grandparents were slaves , worked as a maid in Ohio State University dormitories until her retirement , and lived at the Los Angeles convalescent home for more than 10 years . Last November , she became the oldest African-American to vote for President Obama and received a letter from him on her 115th birthday , Guinness World Records said . Witt said Baines planned to vote for Obama again in 2012 . Asked why she voted for Obama , Baines said it was because `` he 's for the colored people , '' according to footage from The Los Angeles Times . She said she never thought a black man could become president . `` Everybody 's glad for a colored man to be in there sometime , '' Baines said . `` We all are the same on the skin . It 's dark , and theirs is white . '' Baines had few complaints , her doctor said . She fussed about the bacon not being crisp enough and the arthritis in her knees , Witt said . The smooth skin on Baines ' face belied her 115 years , but she did n't attribute that to any anti-wrinkle cream or miracle product , according to her best friend , Lucille Fayall . She said Baines simply washed her face in cold water . | Gertrude Baines dies at age 115 , was world 's oldest person . Baines credited longevity to God , not drinking or smoking . Baines was oldest African-American to vote for President Obama . | [[0, 40], [82, 114], [130, 147], [231, 309], [252, 309], [827, 878], [1216, 1282]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Kitty Kelley , biographer of the rich and famous , is getting ready to release an unauthorized biography on talk show queen Oprah Winfrey . The 544-page book , `` Oprah : A Biography , '' will be released on April 13 , with a first printing of 500,000 copies , according to the Crown Publishing Group . `` We are excited to be publishing the first comprehensive biography of one of the most influential , powerful and admired public figures of our time , by the most widely read biographer of our era , '' said Tina Constable , a vice president with Crown . The author spent three years researching for the book and conducted 850 interviews , Crown said . Kelley 's previous books have chronicled the Bush family political dynasty , the British royal family , Frank Sinatra , Elizabeth Taylor , Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Nancy Reagan . Winfrey 's Harpo Productions had little to say about the book . `` Oprah has n't participated in or read Kitty Kelley 's book , so she is unable to comment , '' said Winfrey spokeswoman Lisa Halliday . | Unauthorized tell-all on Oprah Winfrey set to hit store shelves on April 13 . Biography will be written by famed biographer Kitty Kelley . Kelley had written prior biographies on Frank Sinatra , Elizabeth Taylor . | [[0, 15], [70, 131], [204, 235], [675, 859]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Arizona police are looking for an Iraqi man who they allege ran down his daughter and her friend because he believed his daughter had become `` too Westernized . '' Police say they 're looking for Faleh Hassan Almaleki , who they say struck two people with a vehicle Tuesday . Peoria , Arizona , police said Wednesday that Faleh Hassan Almaleki , 48 , struck his 20-year-old daughter , Noor Faleh Almaleki , and her friend Amal Edan Khalaf with a vehicle he was driving in a parking lot Tuesday afternoon . Faleh Hassan Almaleki was angry with his daughter `` as she had become too ` Westernized ' and was not living according to -LSB- the family 's -RSB- traditional Iraq -LSB- i -RSB- values , '' Peoria police said in a statement released Wednesday . Noor Faleh Almaleki is hospitalized with life-threatening injuries , according to the statement . Khalaf , 43 , received injuries that are not life-threatening but is still in the hospital , police said . Noor Faleh Almaleki lives with Khalaf , police said but did not elaborate on how the two women knew each other . Faleh Hassan Almaleki was last seen in a gray or silver Jeep Grand Cherokee , police said . No further details were immediately available . Peoria is about 13 miles northwest of Phoenix . | Police : Man struck daughter , her friend with vehicle on Tuesday in Arizona . Man thought daughter , 20 , was n't living according to family 's Iraqi values , police say . Woman has life-threatening injuries , police say . Police seek Faleh Hassan Almaleki , 48 . | [[50, 62], [79, 180], [216, 237], [249, 295], [296, 302], [315, 441], [582, 585], [621, 674], [773, 839], [195, 237]] |
Lima , Peru -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Peru will turn over to Chilean authorities all evidence into allegations that a Peruvian air force officer was spying for the neighboring country , Peruvian President Alan Garcia said Monday . Garcia ordered his foreign minister and justice department to hand over all details of the investigation so Chile could `` give the corresponding explanations , '' he said in a televised address . The alleged spying by Chile , Garcia declared , was the result of fear and an inferiority complex by the Chileans . He added that Peru will not let the incident become a full-blown crisis between the two nations . The suspect , Victor Ariza Mendoza , remained imprisoned at a maximum security facility north of Lima , authorities said . Two other Peruvian air force officers , accused of being collaborators , also were detained , as were two Chilean military officers who were alleged accomplices , CNN en Español reported . Mendoza could face charges of treason , which carry a minimum sentence of 25 years . News of the spy case caused Garcia to prematurely end a trip to Singapore for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation . Garcia and his Chilean counterpart , Michelle Bachelet , had planned to attend a workshop Saturday with other world leaders , but the Peruvian leader canceled his agenda to return to Lima . Chile has dismissed the espionage allegations . `` Chile has nothing to do with this case , '' Chilean Foreign Minister Mariano Fernandez told reporters after a meeting with his nation 's ambassador to Peru . According to local media , the suspected spy once worked at the Peruvian Embassy in Chile and sold secrets to the Chileans since 2002 , CNN en Español reported . Chile and Peru have a history of animosity , having fought in the War of the Pacific from 1879 to 1883 . Hard feelings linger to this day . The two nations nearly came to war in 1975 , when left-wing Peruvian leader Juan Velasco , who was backed by Cuba , wanted to invade Chile , which was led by right-wing Gen. Augusto Pinochet . The invasion was called off , and Velasco was deposed in a coup a short while later . Tensions rose again when Peru discovered a Chilean spy mission , but war was averted . More recently , tensions between the two South American nations flared in December after the revelation that Peru 's top army general said at a party that Chileans in Peru would be sent back in coffins or body bags . Both countries said they would work to heal relations after the general 's comments . Journalist Gisu Guerra contributed to this report . | Peruvian president says Chile spied on neighbor because of inferiority complex . Peruvian officials ordered to turn over evidence of espionage to Chile . Spy suspect , Peruvian air force officer , remains in prison north of Lima . Chile has dismissed allegations . | [[421, 448], [469, 536], [0, 4], [31, 73], [224, 328], [109, 176], [635, 646], [672, 736], [1340, 1387]] |
WASHINGTON -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The Supreme Court offered unanimous support for police Wednesday by allowing drug evidence gathered after an arrest that violated state law to be used at trial , an important search-and-seizure case turning on the constitutional limits of `` probable cause . '' The Supreme Court unanimously gave police broader powers to search for and seize evidence . `` When officers have probable cause to believe that a person has committed a crime in their presence , the Fourth Amendment permits them to make an arrest , and to search the suspect in order to safeguard evidence and ensure their own safety , '' Justice Antonin Scalia wrote . David Lee Moore was stopped by Portsmouth , Virginia , officers five years ago for driving his vehicle on a suspended license . Under state law in such incidents , only a summons is to be issued and the motorist is to be allowed to go . Instead , detectives detained Moore for almost an hour , arrested him , then searched him and found cocaine . At trial , Moore 's lawyers tried to suppress the evidence , but the state judge allowed it , even though the court noted the arrest violated state law . A police detective , asked why the man was arrested , replied , `` Just our prerogative . '' While some of the justices expressed concern about that level of discretion at oral arguments in January , their 9-0 ruling raised few such doubts . `` The arrest rules that the officers violated were those of state law alone , '' Scalia said . `` It is not the province of the Fourth Amendment to enforce state law . '' The state had argued an arrest is constitutionally reasonable if officers have probable cause to believe a suspect has committed a crime . `` This standard represents the best compromise between the needs of the citizens and the duty of the government to combat crime , '' Stephen McCullough , Virginia 's deputy solicitor general , had told the high court . But Moore 's attorney , Thomas Goldstein , called an `` extreme proposition '' the idea that it would be reasonable `` to go out and arrest someone for a non-arrestable offense and not only do that , but having committed that trespass at common law , to further search them . '' There has been widespread judicial confusion over how such police searches should be handled . Some lower courts had ruled that when state arrest law is violated , the Constitution provides a remedy in the suppression of any evidence resulting from the arrest and a related search . But the justices agreed with the majority of courts that said constitutional requirements are satisfied when an officer has probable cause to make an arrest , even if some provision of state law was violated in the process . Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote a concurring opinion suggesting Virginia change its law to make driving on a suspended license an arrestable offense . During arguments , Ginsburg spoke for several colleagues when she pointed out that if a summons had been issued in Moore 's case , any incriminating evidence would have been excluded . `` Would you explain the logic to saying that when the police violate state law , then the evidence can come in , but when they comply with state law , it ca n't , '' she asked . The ruling means Moore 's original jury conviction and 3 - 1/2 year prison term will stand . E-mail to a friend . | Case involves Virginia man stopped for driving with suspended license . Instead of issuing ticket , police detained him and searched his car . Arrest violated state 's law , but trial judge allowed evidence of drugs . Justices ruled that officers had probable cause for search . | [[663, 704], [727, 790], [663, 678], [718, 790], [910, 920], [957, 969], [2437, 2498], [95, 145], [136, 145], [151, 169], [151, 189], [1075, 1101], [1116, 1163], [1431, 1476], [1485, 1501], [2663, 2723]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- He is perhaps the most recognizable man in fashion , almost never seen without his dark glasses , a silver ponytail and fingerless gloves . And while the German-born fashion designer has been the creative force behind fashion house Chanel for more than a quarter of a century , he 's still thriving on new ideas , designs and what the future may hold . `` I do n't look back ... Life is not something made by order , we have to fit in the pattern of what life is all about now , and I 'm a person who fits easily into this kind of situation because I like change , '' he told CNN in Shanghai . While his own image is enduring , he is the creative force of the Chanel fashion house , whose eponymous designer , Coco Chanel created some of the most iconic outfits of the 20th century . He may have upset the traditionalists when he first took over the reins , but for the forward-thinking Lagerfeld , it was not a concern . `` My job is to put in people 's brain the idea what Chanel was all about , even if it was not about such a large choice of things ... I pushed -LSB- Coco Chanel 's -RSB- symbol , like the change of pearls , in a way much more than she did herself . I could play with everything and mix it with everything that 's going on in fashion because fashion is about that . It 's not retrospective , it has to be something you want to wear now , '' he said . As for the notoriously harsh world of fashion , Lagerfeld sees it merely as a reflection of the way the world works . `` This is a world with no pity or that you can complain , ' I could n't do it because things are against me . ' No , things are against nobody , if you have something to offer , or if you can be something , '' he said . `` If you want to be successful in the fashion world , as well as the movie world and music world , it 's something else that you need , but you can not decide that you have it . It 's up to you to sew it , but it 's up to the others to use it . In a way it 's the worst of worlds , but if you made in the world , it 's beyond pleasant . '' Confident and unabashed Lagerfeld is looking forward to more creative inspiration and hard work . His contracts with Chanel and Fendi are for life . `` Chanel died doing her last collection in her 90s , so I have time . I do n't think like this . It 's my projection , always six months , six months , six months . I do n't know . People laugh at me to disappear but I 'm not ready for that one . `` I am born for the battlefield . Competition is healthy you know . Some people would like the idea of no competition so they can keep the position for the rest of their lives , but no , there has to be a kind of danger all the time . I think it 's very healthy , it makes you better . '' Watch the full Talk Asia show with Karl Lagerfeld on CNN from Wednesday , December 23 . | German-born fashion designer is one of the most recognizable figures in fashion . Has been creative force behind Chanel for over 25 years . Told CNN he thinks little of the past , successes or failures , focused on the present . `` I am born for the battlefield . Competition is healthy , '' he told CNN . | [[163, 294], [163, 294], [613, 644], [647, 699], [375, 395], [2472, 2503], [2504, 2537]] |
BEVERLY HILLS , California -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Here 's what happens when you go to interview Aretha Franklin : Her publicist will e-mail the cell phone number of her security man to your BlackBerry . Once you reach the lobby of the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills , you call the cell phone . Someone will come down to get you and bring you up to her suite , where you 'll be greeted by Carlton , her longtime makeup artist . Aretha Franklin was voted the No. 1 singer of all time in a Rolling Stone survey . Then you look around , and you notice Aretha -- the Queen of Soul and recipient of 18 Grammys -- is quietly padding around the room in jeans , a turquoise T-shirt and flip-flops . She 'll offer you `` a seat and Cokes '' -- then proceed to shoot the breeze , while you and your camera crew invade her room to set up for the interview . Then it hits you . You may be an Aretha Franklin groupie , but Aretha is a groupie of CNN . She loves to talk politics , and she 's up-to-the-minute in terms of information . President-elect Barack Obama is her man . After seeing his keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in 2004 , she invited him to be her honored guest at an event in her hometown of Detroit , Michigan . He could n't come , but she 's been a loyal supporter since then . She 'll sing at his inauguration in January . In the meantime , Rolling Stone magazine , in a poll of music industry heavyweights , just named her the No. 1 singer of all time . And there 's her new holiday album , `` This Christmas , Aretha . '' In a career that 's spanned more than 50 years , it 's the first seasonal CD she 's ever made . Aretha helps us set the stage for Santa -LRB- eggnog optional -RRB- . Aretha Franklin : The snow is lightly falling -- you get the picture -- you 're by the fireside with your sweetie , and no Aretha ! There 's no Aretha in the music ! What 's going on ?! So I had to do an album . CNN : You 've been wanting to do a holiday album for a long time . Franklin : For many years , I 've wanted to do one , and I 've always mentioned it to the chieftains , and they would say things like , `` Oh well . Christmas albums do n't sell , '' and things like that . But that 's not the point . Christmas albums are important . The music is important . The season is important . CNN : On `` This Christmas , Aretha , '' there are some traditional songs and some more contemporary tunes . Franklin : We did `` Silent Night , '' `` Angels We Have Heard on High , '' `` 14 Angels '' -- which comes from the classic `` Hansel and Gretel , '' the opera . What else did we do ? `` This Christmas '' by Donny Hathaway and `` Christmas Ai n't Christmas -LRB- Without The One You Love -RRB- '' by the O'Jays . Those two are my favorites . They 're the first two records that are going to play in the Franklin household every Christmas . CNN : What was Christmas like for you growing up ? Franklin : Christmases past , my sister , Carolyn , and I -- we 'd been waiting for Santa all night . Nothing ! Where is this man ? And we 're looking all up in the sky all night long , until I guess about 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning . Finally , we just fell out . We could n't take it anymore . -LSB- We 'd wake up in the morning and -RSB- come downstairs , and everything was under the tree ! We could n't believe it ! Where did these things come from ? You know , we just could n't believe it . CNN : Did you believe in Santa Claus for a long time ? Franklin : For a while , I did . And then I started getting the idea that it was n't Santa -- it was Dad . CNN : What 's Christmas like now ? Do you cook , or do you have someone help you cook ? Franklin : Oh absolutely , puh-leeze ! Nobody else better cook on the holidays except me ! I do everything -- the traditional fare . You have the turkey , the baked ham with the brown sugar glaze . We have the mixed greens , we have fried corn , we have the sweet potato pies , you have the potato salad -- the whole nine yards is on the table . Everything is from scratch . Men do n't like eating out of cans . And I do n't like eating out of cans too much , either . CNN : Have you ever done a cookbook ? Franklin : No , I have n't , but I plan to . CNN : Do you gather ` round the piano and sing Christmas carols ? Franklin : After dinner , we do . We sing a little bit . We might be playing cards , we might be playing Monopoly . The children are just running in and out of the rooms , and up and down the steps . They love the workout room . CNN : How many people do you generally have over ? Franklin : Usually , about 15 or so . My neighbors , my friends and family . My nieces , my grandchildren . CNN : On election night , I hear you all got together to watch the presidential returns . Franklin : We had an Obama pajama party -- and it was really cool -- at one of the casinos in Detroit . We sat there and watched the returns . Started at 6 o'clock , and we had like three or four screens going -- and , of course , we had CNN going , and I 'm not just sayin ' that because I 'm sitting here . At that magic moment , the room just erupted . It was like , `` Whoa ! '' All of the screaming and just -- I can imagine what people thought outside in the hallways ! CNN : Did you ever think you 'd see a black man elected president in your lifetime ? Franklin : Absolutely . Absolutely , I did , yes -- after Reverend -LSB- Jesse -RSB- Jackson made his run , and Shirley Chisholm , so long before . I thought maybe even Colin Powell might run after Reverend Jackson . I did . CNN : Do you already have your dress for the inauguration ? Franklin : Honey , I 've had my dress for months ! CNN : I hope you have a hotel reservation -- otherwise , you 'll be begging for a bed at a youth hostel . Franklin : Oh , no . I do n't stay at those places . CNN : You want a job in Barack 's Cabinet ? Franklin : Yeah , I want a job in Barack 's Cabinet . How about a job , Mr. Obama ? Please ?! PLEASE ?!! -LRB- She cracks up . -RRB- . | Aretha Franklin 's new holiday album is `` This Christmas , Aretha '' Franklin had never done a Christmas album , thought it was about time . Famed singer will be performing at Barack Obama 's inauguration . | [[1600, 1633], [1298, 1343]] |
KABUL , Afghanistan -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A suicide car bomb blast near a voter registration site killed 16 people , 14 of them children , and wounded 58 in southeastern Afghanistan on Sunday morning , according to a senior police official and the U.S. military . The U.S. military released this photo of the blast near a voter registration site . A Taliban spokesman said one of his group 's fighters carried out the attack . When security guards stopped the car at the entrance to the Mandozai district headquarters , the driver detonated the explosives inside the car , Khost provincial security chief Mohammad Yaqoub said . A security guard and an Afghan National Army soldier were among the dead . There were no military casualties , said U.S. Col. Gregory Julian . Coalition and Afghan forces worked together to evacuate the wounded to military and civilian hospitals , he said . The military released photos of the incident , saying they `` provide further proof the Afghan militants are not interested in the welfare nor benefit of the Afghan people . '' Dozens of tribal elders were meeting nearby in the district administrative office at the time of the bombing , the police official said . The Mandozai district is in the Khost province . Zabiullah Mujahid , a Taliban spokesman speaking by phone from an undisclosed location , said the suicide bombing was carried out by Qari Hameedullah , a Taliban fighter . Elsewhere , a rocket attack in Kabul killed three teenage sisters and injured four other people Saturday night , Afghan President Hamid Karzai 's office said in a statement . The girls died when one of two rockets fired on Kabul crashed into a house in the southern part of the city . In the statement , Karzai called those who fired the rockets `` enemies of Afghanistan '' who `` ca n't achieve anything by firing rockets but the killing of innocent civilians . '' The president called the suicide bombing an `` un-Islamic act '' and said those behind it `` are not aware of the Islamic teachings which outlaw the killing of innocent people . Those who ordered and executed this attack can not escape the revenge of Afghans and God 's punishment . '' Journalist Farhad Peikar contributed to this report . | Suicide car bomb in southeastern Afghanistan kills 16 , including 14 children . Taliban says it carried out attack near voter registration site . Rocket attack in Kabul also killed three teenage sisters . | [[8, 35], [69, 133], [1419, 1428], [1431, 1484], [1431, 1455], [1489, 1529], [1594, 1692]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Four suspects are sought in connection with the shooting death over the weekend of a Houston , Texas , doctor , Austin County authorities said Monday . Dr. Jorge Mario Gonzales was found shot to death at his ranch in rural Texas on Saturday , police say . Dr. Jorge Mario Gonzalez , 56 , was chief of the critical care section at Houston 's Methodist Hospital and `` a pulmonary medicine leader , '' according to the hospital system 's Web site . He was found dead Saturday when deputies responded to a 911 call of a burglary in progress shortly after noon , said Austin County Sheriff 's Office spokesman Sgt. Paul Faircloth . The responding officer was met by vehicles leaving the location , Faircloth said , and a person in one vehicle fired on the officer . The officer and his car were not struck , and the officer did not return fire , Faircloth said . The officer was able to provide a detailed description of the vehicles , he said . At the home , which Faircloth said is in a rural , wooded and isolated area , officers found Gonzalez shot to death and another person wounded . The second victim was airlifted to an Austin , Texas , hospital . Watch Dr. Gonzalez 's son talk about his father '' Gonzalez 's wife and small child were found unharmed inside the home , Faircloth said . CNN affiliate KHOU identified the woman as Charleen Gonzalez , 29 , and the couple 's 2-year-old son , and reported the two hid in a closet . Authorities do not know whether the incident was a burglary or an intended home invasion , Faircloth said , and `` we do not know if this is random or targeted . '' Several leads were being followed Monday morning , he said , and numerous agencies were involved in the investigation . The motive for the killing had not been determined on Monday . The slaying took place at Gonzalez 's ranch outside Bellville , Texas , said Lisa Block , spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Public Safety . Gonzalez , his wife and child arrived at the ranch about 11 a.m. Saturday , she said , and `` the suspects were at the house when they arrived . '' Gonzalez 's wife ran inside with the child and called 911 , she said . Ranch worker Noel Galvan was the second victim , Block said . He was listed in critical condition , she said . Faircloth said earlier Monday five suspects were being sought , but later said police were seeking four . The vehicles seen leaving the home were a late '90s white Ford F-150 pickup , occupied by two Hispanic males , Faircloth said , and a red Honda or Acura with dark tinted windows sitting low to the ground , with one Hispanic male inside . The shots were fired from the white pickup , he said . Another vehicle mentioned earlier Monday was a two-toned silver and black Ford F-150 that had two Hispanic males inside . Faircloth said Monday afternoon that vehicle had been located and was not thought to be involved . However , police released a video of a gray Lexus on Monday , and would like to question its owners , Faircloth said . The drivers are believed to be an older couple . The car was seen before the officer encountered the white and red vehicles . `` The manhunt continues on the ground , '' Faircloth said . The suspects are considered armed and dangerous , he said . Faircloth said he had no information on whether the home had surveillance equipment . Family members told KHOU that Gonzalez went to the ranch nearly every weekend . `` It 's deeply saddening for all of us , '' an older son of Gonzalez , Juan Mauricio Gonzalez , told KHOU . `` We are a tight-knit family and he was just a perfect man , a perfect father and a great physician . '' The Methodist Hospital System said Gonzalez will be missed , `` both as a friend and an outstanding clinician and researcher . Our prayers and thoughts go out to his family during this tragedy . '' `` This man had nothing to do with anybody , '' Juan Gonzalez told KHOU . `` He was a peaceful man . He was a wise man . He was just here to make people better and nothing else . '' A reward totaling $ 26,000 was offered for information in the case leading to an arrest . CNN 's Melanie Whitley contributed to this report . | Suspects were at doctor 's house when he , wife and child arrived , police say . Police responded to 911 call of burglary at rural home of Houston , Texas , doctor . Police found Dr. Jorge Mario Gonzalez shot to death and a ranch worker badly injured . Gonzalez 's wife and toddler found unharmed ; they reportedly hid in a closet . | [[2038, 2091], [466, 575], [171, 247], [961, 972], [1039, 1105], [2166, 2212], [1223, 1291], [1311, 1329], [1418, 1452]] |
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A man accused of screaming racial slurs while beating an Army reservist in front of her daughter outside a restaurant in Morrow , Georgia , was jailed and held without bond Wednesday after being indicted on felony charges . Troy Dale West Jr , of Poulan , Georgia , is being held without bond on new felony charges . Troy Dale West Jr. , of Poulan , Georgia , is facing one count of aggravated assault , two counts of battery , two counts of disorderly conduct , false imprisonment and cruelty to children for allegedly beating Tashawnea Hill outside a Cracker Barrel restaurant on September 9 , according to a Clayton County Court online docket . West had been arrested on misdemeanor charges following the incident , but Clayton County District Attorney Tracy Graham Lawson took the the case to a grand jury asking for more serious charges . Hill 's attorney Kip Jones told CNN that several hundred supporters , believed to be with the NAACP , Al Sharpton 's Political Action Network and Rainbow Push , gathered outside the courtroom Wednesday morning in support of more serious charges against West . Jones said he and Hill were pleased with the new indictment . `` We look forward to a conviction as Tasha and her 7-year-old daughter move forward to recover from this heinous incident , '' he said . West 's lawyer , Larry King , had no comment about the indictment , according his assistant . Hill , 35 , said the attack occurred after she warned West to be careful after almost hitting her 7-year-old daughter with the restaurant 's door as she was leaving . West , according to a police report , admitted striking Hill `` after she spit on me and accused me of trying to hit her daughter with a door . '' During an interview on CNN following the attack , Jones denied that she spat on West or did `` anything to provoke the attack . '' Hill , an African-American , told police that West , 47 , yelled racial epithets at her during the attack . Police said witnesses confirmed her account . `` He did punch me with a closed fist repeated times . My head is still hurting today . I have knots on my head , '' Hill told CNN . She also said she was kicked . Police say Hill stated that `` West punched her in the left cheek , forehead , kicked her body in several places , and punched her head in many areas several times . '' Hill 's attorney said he was `` convinced this was a hateful , racist attack ... based on the N-word , the B-word , etc. '' `` The language was vile . It was racist . It was sexist . It was completely offensive , completely unprovoked , '' Jones said . Morrow is a racially diverse city in the southeast suburbs of Atlanta , Georgia , with a population of about 4,900 , according to the 2000 census . | Man accused of racially charged attack at restaurant held without bond . Grand jury on Wednesday indicted Troy Dale West Jr. on new felony charges . Army reservist said West yelled racial slurs , beat her in front of her child . Charges against West include aggravated assault , battery , false imprisonment . | [[19, 146], [243, 272], [285, 306], [0, 15], [174, 178], [202, 242], [187, 242], [19, 146], [0, 15], [33, 58], [0, 15], [65, 146], [2391, 2469], [336, 366], [379, 524]] |
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