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John Helinski's ID and Social Security cards had been stolen .
His case worker and a cop had to get foreign ID papers to get him a driver's license .
Then Helinski remembered a bank account he used to have . | (CNN)No identification, no Social Security card and only a box to live on. John Helinski was homeless and nameless for three years. Suddenly, he's set to buy his own place and collect a nice pension. Helinski hit it big thanks to the Social Security Administration, and a big-hearted cop and a case worker determined to untangle major bureaucracy. Charles Inman could not bear to see his 62-year-old ward land back on the street, he told CNN affiliate WFTS. The shelter where the case worker works set Helinski up with a bunk and a locker. But getting him into the system was hard, because Helinski's ID and Social Security cards had been stolen. "He needed to have an identification, but we couldn't get an identification without a birth certificate," Inman said. A hassle all by itself, except that Helinski was foreign born -- in Poland, as an American citizen. "We first had to figure out that we needed a consular record of foreign birth or something like that," said Tampa police Officer Dan McDonald, who pitched in to help Helinski. With those papers squared away, he and Inman got Helinski a driver's license and a Social Security card. Then, Helinski remembered that he used to have an account with a certain Landmark Bank. "Then it became Bank of America," he said. The account was still there, and the Social Security Administration hadn't forgotten about him. It had kept paying Helinski benefits for years, and they had stacked up high. Now Helinski is thinking of buying his own four walls. And he'll have monthly benefits to live on. "I guess I'm exhilarated, excited, you know," he said. McDonald said he and Inman were stunned. "We weren't quite sure what to say." | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
The cause of a gas line explosion in Fresno, California, is unknown .
Two of the injured were undergoing emergency surgery . | (CNN)A natural gas line explosion at a law enforcement shooting range in Fresno, California, injured 11 people, including some inmates who were on a work detail there. Others being treated include a county road worker and two sheriff's deputies, Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims said. The exact cause of Friday's blast is under investigation, Mims said, but it happened at the spot where a county worker was operating a front loader. The explosion sparked a fire that roared like a jet engine, Mims said. The operator of the front loader was injured but able to walk to an ambulance, the sheriff said. The most serious injuries were suffered by a group of inmates who were assigned to maintenance and cleaning work at the sheriff's firing range. There were 10 inmates near the blast site who were also injured, officials said. Three other inmates at the site were not hurt. Earlier, the sheriff's office included them in the injury count. After the blast, Mims said, two sheriff's deputies who were at the firing range ran toward the fire to move the injured. CNN affiliate KFSN posted a video of the scene that shows a tall ball of fire rising from near a highway. One inmate was airlifted to the hospital, the sheriff said. That inmate and the county worker were undergoing emergency surgery, she said. The others suffered mostly burns. The pair of deputies who provided aid also went for treatment for ringing ears and sunburn-like conditions, she said. Firefighters put out the blaze, revealing a crater at the blast site and a blackened front loader, Mims said. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Foreign fighters are increasingly signing up to fight ISIS on the front lines .
For some of the jihadist group's foes, foreign fighters are not welcome comrades .
Training and logistical support, some argue, is the best way to support the fight against ISIS . | (CNN)For Lt. Colonel John Schwemmer, the scenery is all too familiar. This is his sixth tour in Iraq, and he's back doing a job that he's been tasked with before: training Iraqi soldiers. Schwemmer and other active U.S. military personnel are on the ground in Iraq, whipping often ill-equipped government troops into shape. They've been here before, but this time, he feels, they're getting it right. But the U.S. military isn't the only contingent of Western forces in the region -- dozens of foreigners, including Americans, have volunteered to take the fight to ISIS. And increasingly, U.S. military training efforts are being supplemented by outside agencies, who are working with Kurdish government troops and even militia in Iraq and Syria. "Many of us do feel that we do have the skills and qualifications that can be used to benefit those in the region," said Ian Bradbury, a Canadian former soldier who is training Kurdish Peshmerga forces in northern Iraq. While it is difficult to say how many foreign volunteers are fighting ISIS, a spokesman for a Kurdish militia fighting against them in Syria -- known as the YPG -- told the New York Times their forces include more than 100 American citizens. U.S. law enforcement officials say it is illegal to join a Syrian militia. But some organizations have set up recruitment drives online, featuring applications for foreign fighters complete with checklists of what to bring and advice on bringing body armor across international borders. Jordan Matson, a 28-year-old former U.S. army soldier from the tiny town of Sturtevant, Wisconsin, volunteered with the YPG. He told CNN that after much soul searching he realized that he needed to help in the battle against ISIS' brutal, expansionist regime. "I got in contact with the YPG on Facebook and prayed about it for probably a month or two and asked, 'is this what I want to do?' and eventually, you know, decided to do it. "All my life I wanted to be a solider... so I guess this just fits well over here." But foreign fighters aren't universally welcomed by those opposing ISIS. The Peshmerga, the military wing of the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) that has been one of the most effective counterbalances to ISIS' expansion, has said they don't want or need foreign fighters, according to Bradbury. "The information I've been getting back is that there's very little use for (Western fighters) on the front lines, especially on the KRG side -- they have significant numbers of personnel -- it's a source of Kurdish pride for them to rise up in scenarios like this. They more need the development assistance." Peshmerga spokesman Helgurd Hekmat also told Kurdish news wire Rudaw that it was illegal for foreigners to join their ranks. While individual fighters are not always accepted, volunteers working as military trainers are sharing their expertise to support those on the front lines of the fight against ISIS forces. Bradbury set up 1st North American Expeditionary Forces (1st NAEF), a training body which, he says, is currently providing material support and training to the Peshmerga, whose name means "those who face death," in northern Iraq. "Internal capacity building is by far the solution that you can put into a region that is suffering instability from conflict," he told CNN by phone from his base in Ottawa, Canada. "Increasing their ability to maintain stability over the long term is far better than trying to influx it with a bunch of westerners who are going to leave within a short period of time." He was prompted to establish the group after seeing "fairly significant gaps" in the support provided by the coalition forces for the Kurdish, Iraqi regular and militia ranged against ISIS. The U.S. military is "confident" that its support of the forces battling ISIS on the ground is sufficient. "We're confident the U.S. military mission of degrading and ultimately defeating (ISIS) will be found by working through our Middle Eastern partners and the international community," Maj. Omar Villarreal, Communication Integration Planner, U.S. Central Command Communication Integration Directorate, told CNN. "The training element of the mission is no different. It relies on direct and comprehensive military cooperation with regional partner nations, who share a mutual interest in promoting security. One of the goals of the train and equip program, is to build the capabilities of the moderate Syrian fighters to defend the Syrian people. We are confident in our efforts." With coalition members keen to distance themselves from calls for Western boots on the ground -- and little political appetite from overseas for risking Western troops in what many see as a sectarian conflict, Bradbury contends that the best-case scenario is exactly the kind of logistical support that organizations like 1st NAEF are providing. ISIS is keen to play up religious and sectarian divisions in order to create the perception that they are the Sunni protectors of a persecuted underclass, sending non-Arab troops into the battlefield -- even in a support role -- could play into that divisive rhetoric. Bradbury downplays this risk, saying the threat is there, and is best contained in the region. Providing noncombat backing, such as medical, weaponry, logistical and training assistance would appear, he thinks, to be the best way of supporting those Kurdish and Arab troops on the front. "Regardless of perceptions of any kind of us-against-them scenario, it absolutely is a world-against-ISIS issue that needs to take place and there definitely needs to be a global response," he said. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
The film's cast is diverse .
EW points out that Hollywood still needs to catch up .
One of the stars says the franchise has evolved . | (CNN)It would be easy to laugh off Vin Diesel's prediction that his film "Furious 7" will win an Oscar next year, but not for the reason you might think. After all, the actor was serious when he recently told Variety "It will probably win best picture at the Oscars, unless the Oscars don't want to be relevant ever." But rather than ignore it because it's a glossy, blockbuster action film, some might argue that the movie goes against type for Academy Award nominated films because the cast is so diverse. "Furious 7" hits theaters Friday, months after controversy was stirred about the lack of diversity at the Oscars. There were no actors of color nominated and no women in the directing category, which was dominated by white males. Mexican filmmaker Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu went on to win best director for "Birdman." The lack of diversity was so glaring (even with the mostly black cast of the movie "Selma," which received a nomination for best picture) that it spurred the Twitter hashtag "#OscarsSoWhite." In contrast, "Furious 7" couldn't be more racially and ethnically inclusive. The cast includes Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson -- a Samoan/black man -- black actors Christopher "Ludacris" Bridges and Tyrese Gibson, Hispanic performer Michelle Rodriguez, Thai martial artist Tony Jaa, Beninese expatriate Djimon Hounsou and the late Paul Walker, a blue-eyed, blond-haired California native. The filmmakers even went so far as to make sure casting directors in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, where key scenes were filmed, found diverse extras. "We were mainly looking for the diverse look of the (United Arab Emirates)," Miranda Davidson, owner of the casting company, told The National. "They really wanted to make sure we reflected the international feel of the country." Almost since the beginning, the "Fast and Furious" films have had a diverse focus and appeal. The band of street racers, which encompassed white, black, Asian, Hispanic, male and female and bond as a family, has done well at the box office with each iteration. In 2011, then Boston Globe film critic Wesley Morris wrote, "Go on and laugh your Benetton, Kumbaya, Kashi, quinoa laugh, but it's true: The most progressive force in Hollywood today is the 'Fast and Furious' movies." "They're loud, ludicrous, and visually incoherent," he said. "They're also the last bunch of movies you'd expect to see in the same sentence as 'incredibly important.' But they are -- if only because they feature race as a fact of life as opposed to a social problem or an occasion for self-congratulation. (And this doesn't even account for the gay tension between the male leads, and the occasional crypto-lesbian make-out.)" According to the Motion Picture Association of America's 2014 Theatrical Market Statistics Report, while Hispanics make up 17% of the U.S. population they account for 25% of frequent moviegoers. Likewise, women make up 52% of moviegoers. Entertainment Weekly points out that the film franchise is doing a much better job of reflecting its audience than others in Hollywood. "Despite the films' cumulative worldwide gross of almost $2.4 billion, their racial inclusiveness remains an outlier; American movies are still overwhelmingly white," EW's Chris Lee writes. "According to UCLA's 2015 Hollywood Diversity Report, a mere 16.7% of 2013 films starred minorities in lead roles." At least one moviegoer tweeted that he appreciated the effort. Diesel told EW the franchise has come a long way from the original 2001 film, which featured segregated gangs of racers pitted against each other. "It doesn't matter what nationality you are," the star said. "As a member of the audience, you realize you can be a member of that 'family.' That's the beautiful thing about how the franchise has evolved." | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Officials say 131 Californians were affected by one strain, five by other strains .
About 70% of the people who could show health records were unvaccinated .
Outbreak began in December among visitors to two Disney theme parks . | (CNN)A measles outbreak that affected more than 130 Californians since December is over, the California Department of Public Health declared Friday. It has been 42 days since the last known case of B3 strain of measles, the equivalent of two successive incubation periods, said Dr. Karen Smith, director of the health department. The department said in its latest update that 131 people came down with the B3 strain, and five who had a different genotype than the outbreak strain. Of the 131 cases, the state was able to obtain the vaccination status for 81 patients. Of the 81, 70% were unvaccinated. "Prompt investigation of cases, interviewing hundreds of contacts of infected people, vaccinating hundreds of at risk people, and increasing awareness among health care providers about measles, helped to control this outbreak," Smith said. The outbreak began with dozens of visitors to two Disney theme parks in the state. The health department said 42 of the cases occurred from December 17-20. Two patients with rashes have been identified in April, but they have a different measles genotype. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on its website that 19 different strains have been discovered since 1990. Measles is a highly contagious respiratory disease. It causes fever, red and sore eyes, runny nose, cough and a rash. It can cause deadly health complications, including pneumonia and encephalitis. It is spread by contact with an infected person through coughing or sneezing. It can remain in the air and on surfaces for up to two hours. CNN's Debra Goldschmidt contributed to this report. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
More than 10,000 people marched in Durban against violence, officials say .
Twitter followers voiced their support through hashtag campaigns .
A Cape Town resident tweets his complaints against a Zulu King . | (CNN)As thousands of South Africans took to the streets of the city of Durban to rally against violence and xenophobia, an online community has joined the protests. The marches follow recent violent attacks on foreigners in the country that have claimed five lives. During the protest march Thursday, Twitter followers voiced their support through hashtag campaigns. #PeaceMarch and #SayNoToXenophobia were some of the most popular. South African Police Services said more than 10,000 people attended the march, including civil rights groups and nongovernmental organizations. Hashtags are now pouring out of South Africa. But many are asking, some via Twitter, is it enough to fight #xenophobia? Attacks this week in Durban alone have killed two immigrants and three South Africans, including a 14-year-old boy, authorities said. For South African Tim Flack, tweeting wasn't going to make a bit of difference. Flack, who lives in Cape Town, has brought allegations of hate speech and human rights violations against Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini, who he said referred to foreigners as "lice" and has said "they should pack their bags and go." "People listen to him," Flack said. "He is a monarch. The Zulu people in South Africa take him very seriously, they don't question what he says." Flack said he was motivated to make the allegations after seeing multiple complaints about xenophobic violence on social media and thinking they weren't enough. So he filed a complaint with the South African Human Rights Commission, and then tweeted about it. "The activists sit around feeling accomplished because they retweeted five times," Flack said. "I want to reach people who see that they can lay a charge and it won't cost them anything, but I will have done something to change the country and push it into a better state of being." Now, the Human Rights Commission must decide whether to investigate Flack's allegations against the King, who denies fueling any violence. Flack hopes others will also make complaints. Flack added that Zulus aren't the only people in South Africa who share in the xenophobic sentiment. "People are frustrated and unemployed, and people in South Africa pay foreign nationals a lot less," he said of the tension between nationals and immigrants. "A domestic worker would ask for 250 rand a day to clean a house, whereas a foreign national would ask for 150 rand, so it causes resentment." Imtiaz Sooliman, founder and chairman of the Gift of Givers Foundation in Durban, doesn't think most South Africans are against foreigners. "South Africans are against xenophobia," said Sooliman, who insists the majority of the country is providing an overwhelming amount of support for foreign nationals. Gift of Givers has been administering assistance at five refugee camps set up by the South African government that now hold roughly 8,000 foreign national refugees, he said, passing out things like clothing and hygiene packs. The organization posts its work at the camps online and tags it on social media with #xenophobia. Why? "In South Africa, everyone knows xenophobia," Sooliman said, "and the way a disaster agency works is we post what people understand. So if you say #tsunami or #war, people follow it. So here, people say #xenophobia, and they all know what it is -- it is a disaster, so you are going to post what people understand." He said South Africans also have been going to the camps, which are on sports fields with makeshift tents, bringing cooked food and other necessities. "This is different from what happened in 2008," Sooliman said. That year, scores were killed in attacks in the poorest areas of Johannesburg. Most of the victims were Zimbabweans who had fled repression and dire economic circumstances. Sooliman said that along with the government strongly condemning the violence, community engagement is happening now as it never happened before. It is a kind of national unity that can be best summed up with another hashtag that has emerged from this story: #WeAreAfrica. Only time, or, tweets will tell if it works. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Dr. Anthony Moschetto, 54, arrested for selling drugs and weapons, prosecutors say .
Authorities allege Moschetto hired accomplices to burn down the practice of former associate .
Attorney says client will "vigorously" defend himself . | New York (CNN)A suburban New York cardiologist has been charged in connection with a failed scheme to have another physician hurt or killed, according to prosecutors. Dr. Anthony Moschetto, 54, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to criminal solicitation, conspiracy, burglary, arson, criminal prescription sale and weapons charges in connection to what prosecutors called a plot to take out a rival doctor on Long Island. He was released after posting $2 million bond and surrendering his passport. Two other men -- identified as James Chmela, 43, and James Kalamaras, 41 -- were named as accomplices, according to prosecutors. They pleaded not guilty in Nassau County District Court, according to authorities. Both were released on bail. Requests for comment from attorneys representing Moschetto and Chmela were not returned. It's unclear whether Kalamaras has retained an attorney. Moschetto's attorney, Randy Zelin, said Wednesday that his client "will be defending himself vigorously," the New York Post reported. "Doctors are supposed to ensure the health and wellbeing of people, but Dr. Moschetto is alleged to have replaced that responsibility with brazen, callous and criminal acts," Acting Nassau District Attorney Madeline Singas said in a statement. Police officers allegedly discovered approximately 100 weapons at Moschetto's home, including hand grenades, high-capacity magazines and knives. Many of the weapons were found in a hidden room behind a switch-activated bookshelf, according to prosecutors. The investigation began back in December, when undercover officers began buying heroin and oxycodone pills from Moschetto in what was initially a routine investigation into the sale of prescription drugs, officials said. During the course of the undercover operation, however, Moschetto also sold the officers two semiautomatic assault weapons as well as ammunition, prosecutors said. Moschetto allegedly told officers during one buy that he needed dynamite to "blow up a building." He later said he no longer needed the dynamite because a friend was setting fire to the building instead. Kalamaras and Chmela are believed to have taken part in the arson, according to prosecutors. "The fire damaged but did not destroy the office of another cardiologist whose relationship with Dr. Moschetto had soured due to a professional dispute," according to the statement from the district attorney's office. Moschetto allegedly gave an informant and undercover detective blank prescriptions and cash for the assault and killing of the fellow cardiologist, according to prosecutors. He also requested that the rival's wife be assaulted if she happened to be present, authorities said. "He was willing to pay $5,000 to have him beaten and put in a hospital for a few months, and then he said he would pay $20,000 to have him killed," said Assistant District Attorney Anne Donnelly, reported CNN affiliate WCBS. The three men are to appear in Nassau County District Court on Friday. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Egypt, Saudi Arabia to launch joint military maneuvers inside Saudi borders .
The arms embargo applies to the Houthis and backers of ex-President Saleh .
Russia abstains from the U.N. Security Council vote over the inclusion of sanctions . | (CNN)The U.N. Security Council voted Tuesday in favor of an arms embargo on Houthis -- the minority group that has taken over large swaths of Yemen, including its capital, Sanaa -- and supporters of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The resolution "raises the cost" for the Houthis, according to Mark Lyall Grant, Britain's ambassador to the United Nations. In addition to the arms embargo, it also demands that the Shiite group pull back and refrain from more violence and includes sanctions aimed at controlling the spread of terrorism, according to Grant. Russia abstained from Tuesday's vote, saying it didn't like the inclusion of sanctions. In recent weeks, Saudi Arabia has led a coalition that is conducting airstrikes on targets associated with Saleh's supporters and the Houthis, who have emerged as Yemen's most dominant force in recent months. Also Tuesday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Saudi Arabian Minister of Defense Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz agreed to form a joint military commission to discuss the implementation of a major strategic maneuver inside Saudi Arabia, Egypt's state-run Ahram news agency reported. Egypt announced that it would dispatch several naval ships to help halt the rebels' advance. In response to media reports, Egyptian officials said no troops have yet been sent to Yemen. The Houthis forced President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi from power in January, though Hadi still claims he is Yemen's legitimate leader and is working with the Saudis and other allies to return to Yemen. Those allied with Hadi have accused the Iranian government of supporting the Houthis in their uprising in Yemen. They include Yemen's current ambassador to the United Nations, Khaled Mahfoodh Abdulla Bahah, who said Tuesday, "We refuse (the) influence of Iran in Yemen affairs." CNN's Richard Roth and Dominique Dodley reported from New York, and CNN's Greg Botelho wrote this report from Atlanta. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz contributed to this report. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
"Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice" trailer leaked Thursday before being yanked offline .
Film will be released on March 25, 2016 and stars Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill . | (The Hollywood Reporter)A trailer for Zack Snyder's upcoming "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice" leaked online on Thursday before quickly being taken down minutes later. A YouTube user uploaded the handheld or camera phone capture of the trailer, which had Spanish subtitles on the screen. The trailer begins with a commentator's voice asking, "Is it really surprising that the most powerful man in the world should be a figure of controversy?" As footage of Superman plays, numerous commentators' voices overlap one another with their opinions of the superheroes, including "We as a population on this planet have been looking for a savior" and "Maybe he's just a guy trying to do the right thing." Ryan Gosling in talks to star in "Blade Runner" sequel . A blurred image of Ben Affleck's face appears shortly before a masked Batman appears, followed by the two superheroes coming face to face. The highly anticipated footage was set to premiere in Imax theaters on Monday. On Wednesday morning, Snyder teased the trailer by releasing a short excerpt on Twitter. "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice" will be released on March 25, 2016 and stars Affleck as Batman and Henry Cavill as Superman. The film also stars Amy Adams. How much it costs to get Mark Hamill's autograph at "Star Wars" celebration . ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Female juror: "Everyone's life changed because of this"
The jurors said they didn't learn of the other charges against Hernandez until after the verdict .
For these jurors, the system worked: It's "designed to be fair to both sides" | (CNN)From late January, when New England was living through one of its bleakest and snowiest winters, to a warm and sunny afternoon in April, the jurors in the first-degree murder trial of former NFL star Aaron Hernandez have considered how a promising young athlete who earned millions came to take the life of his onetime friend and future brother-in-law, Odin Lloyd. The jury of seven women and five men listened to more than 130 witnesses and reviewed more than 400 pieces of evidence over the months-long trial. On Wednesday, they convicted Hernandez, who was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, after deliberating more than 35 hours over parts of seven days. After the verdict, jurors agreed to meet with reporters, at times laughing nervously while shedding light on what some described as the grueling deliberation process. Here are five things to know about what they said: . While declining to discuss specifics of what happened in the jury room, jurors said they came away satisfied with their decision. "It's a very big decision to make, and every one of us ... made sure we came to the best conclusion," one juror told reporters. At one point on Monday, jurors asked Judge Susan Garsh to allow smoking breaks, which were permitted during trial. Some observers thought this signaled weeks of deliberations. A male juror said some panel members had meticulously filled four to eight notebooks as they listened to testimony. "It was hard ... for everyone," said a woman on the jury. "Everyone's life changed because of this." Asked to elaborate, she told a reporter, "I've been here for as long as you have." "It's the hardest thing I've ever done in my life," she said later about serving on the jury. "Absolutely, by far." Asked whether they would say anything to Hernandez, one of the women on the panel said simply, "Nothing." Others nodded in apparent agreement. Do they have any feelings about the 25-year-old former star? "For me, Judge Garsh said, 'Keep your mind suspended,' " said a female juror. "We went in there every day with open minds. We listened to the evidence. We heard what they had to say. We got to go into a room and see and touch and feel all the evidence and that's when we came to our conclusion." Did they know anything about Hernandez or the case before the trial? One juror responded: "Nothing." "Very little," said another. About six jurors raised their hands when asked who among them was a New England Patriots fan. The jurors said they found out about Hernandez's other legal woes from Garsh only after they reached a verdict. Hernandez potentially faces three more trials, one criminal and two civil actions. Next up is another murder trial in which he is accused of killing two men and wounding another person near a Boston nightclub in July 2012. Prosecutors have said Hernandez fatally shot Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado when he fired into their 2003 BMW. Another passenger was wounded and two others were uninjured. Hernandez pleaded not guilty at his arraignment. The families of de Abreu and Furtado filed civil suits against Hernandez, and a judge froze his $5 million in assets, pending the outcome of the double-murder trial. The freeze includes the disputed $3.3 million signing bonus payment Hernandez claims he is owed by the New England Patriots. Hernandez is also being sued by a man who claims Hernandez shot him while they were in a limousine in Miami in February 2013. Alexander Bradley claims Hernandez wounded him after the two got into a fight at a Miami strip club. "It's amazing a lot of the information we learned today," a female juror said Wednesday. "I think we can all say we made the right decision." Some jurors admitted to not knowing who Patriots owner Robert Kraft was when he took the stand at the trial. But they agreed that Kraft's testimony was crucial. Kraft testified that Hernandez proclaimed his innocence to him and told the team owner that "he hoped that the time of the murder ... came out because I believe he said he was in a club." "To this day -- we just went through a three-month trial, and this is now two years later -- we still don't know the exact time of Odin's murder," a male juror said. "So I don't know how Aaron would have had that information two years ago." Another juror was struck by the emotional testimony of Lloyd's family and friends. "For me, it was in the beginning -- the pictures," a woman said of autopsy photos of Lloyd's bullet-riddled body. "You're told to be unemotional and to sit there and hold back tears ... (That) was hard." One man said his time on the case made him "appreciate how quickly life can end and how fleeting it can be." And that the justice system can work. "The system is designed to be fair to both sides," he said. "In fairness, you can't rush." The jurors did not find credible the defense team's contention that Hernandez's co-defendants -- Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz -- carried out the murder. The two men have pleaded not guilty and will be tried separately. In closing arguments, defense lawyer James Sultan for the first time placed Hernandez at the murder scene. Sultan described Wallace and Ortiz as a pair of drug dealers known to become crazed while on PCP, as men capable of killing someone in drug-induced fits of rage. "Did he make all the right decisions? No," Sultan said of Hernandez. "He was a 23-year-old kid who witnessed something, committed by somebody he knew. He really didn't know what to do, so he put one foot in front of another. Keep in mind, he's not charged with accessory after the fact. ... He's charged with murder ... and that he did not do." "We were all shocked about that," a female juror told reporters Wednesday. "It was very surprising," said another. Asked about post-trial fame or the possibility of book deals for their role in the sensational case, a female juror smiled. "None of us wanted to come into this room," she told the reporters gathered around her. The jurors said they expected to sleep peacefully Wednesday night. "After a beverage," one of them added. Asked whether they were leaving the experience as friends, they all seemed to say, "Yes." | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Third suspect identified as George Davon Kennedy of Murfreesboro, Tennessee .
Young woman was raped on a crowded beach in broad daylight, police say .
Some bystanders saw what was happening and didn't stop it, authorities say . | Panama City Beach, Florida (CNN)A third person has been arrested in the case of an alleged spring break gang rape that was videotaped on a crowded stretch of Panama City Beach, the Bay County, Florida, Sheriff's Office said Wednesday. Police arrested the suspect at 11 p.m. Tuesday. "After developing information that George Davon Kennedy was the third suspect seen in the video of the gang rape, BCSO Investigators obtained a warrant for his arrest," according to a news release. Investigators discovered that Kennedy had family in DeKalb County, Georgia, and reached out to the sheriff's office there. Deputies in DeKalb, in the Atlanta area, tracked down Kennedy and arrested him on a charge of sexual assault by multiple perpetrators, the Bay County Sheriff's Office said. Kennedy is from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and has been a student at Middle Tennessee State University, the sheriff's office said. Previously, Ryan Calhoun and Delonte Martistee were arrested and charged with sexual battery by multiple perpetrators, the sheriff's office said. Calhoun was released Saturday after posting $50,000 bond; Martistee remains in Bay County Jail, a county deputy said. Troy University in Alabama said the two are students and have been "placed on temporary suspension from school per the university's standards of conduct and disciplinary procedures. Martistee, a member of the track and field team, has also been removed from the team." Martistee is represented by a public defender. Calhoun's legal representation is unclear. No public statement has been made on either's behalf. The arrests come after a woman told police she may have been drugged and gang-raped on a beach behind a popular club in broad daylight as bystanders watched. The woman didn't recall the assault, police say, but she saw the video of her alleged assault on the news, and though the footage had to be blurred, she recognized her tattoos and contacted authorities. It's not the first time this has happened to a young woman in Panama City Beach, authorities say. Four young men were involved in the assault, Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen said, and while he previously said federal marshals were trying to track down a third suspect and investigators were seeking a possible witness, it's unclear if the person arrested Tuesday was someone the police had been looking for. "There's hundreds, hundreds of people standing there -- watching, looking, seeing, hearing what's going on," McKeithen said. "And yet our culture and our society and our young people have got to the point where obviously this is acceptable somewhere. I will tell you it is not acceptable in Bay County." Authorities have said they plan to interview the woman and show her the full video to see whether she knows the attackers and can help identify other suspects, said Ruth Corley, spokeswoman for the sheriff's office. Authorities are pressing charges, and the woman plans to cooperate, Corley said. Investigators were to meet with her this week. After interviewing witnesses, Bay County investigators determined the alleged rape took place between March 10 and March 12, behind Spinnaker Beach Club, a popular bar and dance club for spring breakers. She "does not remember the assault at all," Corley said. "She remembers taking a drink from a CamelBak and there is a strong possibility she was drugged." (CamelBak sells various products for transporting water or other drinks.) She was visiting Panama City Beach at the time of the assault, and is now home, authorities said. The Troy, Alabama, Police Department found the video during the course of an investigation into an unrelated shooting and turned it over to the Bay County Sheriff's Office. The video shows suspects pushing the victim's hand aside and holding her legs down, Corley said. "You can see in the video there are people two feet away. They were assaulting her, and we believe the people around her knew she was being assaulted." The suspects can be heard commenting about what they are doing to her, Corley said. Authorities have three sworn statements from witnesses stating that the assault happened, Corley said. The sheriff's office released part of the video to local TV stations, which blurred portions of it before airing. CNN is showing part of what was released. While the video is "one of the most disgusting, repulsive, sickening things that I've seen this year on Panama City Beach," it's not an isolated incident, McKeithen said. "This is not the first video we've recovered. It's not the second video. It's not the third video. There's a number of videos we've recovered with things similar to this, and I can only imagine how many things we haven't recovered." Corley said that through social media, "we have been able to find video of girls, incoherent and passed out, and almost like they are drugged, being assaulted on the beaches of Panama City in front of a bunch of people standing around." About 100,000 spring break revelers come to the beach community every year. This year, the Bay County Sheriff's Office made more than 1,000 arrests for various crimes -- about triple the number of arrests made in the same period last year. CNN's AnneClaire Stapleton, Josh Levs and Alexandra Field contributed to this report. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
USS Oklahoma was lost during Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 .
Hundreds of crew members were buried without identification . | (CNN)Remains of up to nearly 400 unaccounted for service members tied to the USS Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor will be exhumed this year, the Defense Department announced Tuesday. The hope is that most of the battleship's sailors and Marines can be identified. "The secretary of defense and I will work tirelessly to ensure your loved one's remains will be recovered, identified, and returned to you as expeditiously as possible, and we will do so with dignity, respect and care," Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work said in a statement. "While not all families will receive an individual identification, we will strive to provide resolution to as many families as possible." The USS Oklahoma sank when it was hit by torpedoes on December 7, 1941, during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. A total of 429 sailors and Marines on the ship were killed. Thirty-five crew members were positively identified and buried in the years immediately after the attack, according to the Defense Department. By 1950, all unidentified remains were laid to rest as unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. In 2003, five more service members were identified, with the help of historical evidence from Pearl Harbor survivor Ray Emory, 93. Emory, a native of Peoria, Illinois, was serving as a seaman first class on the light cruiser USS Honolulu that fateful day. After the war, Emory worked in Washington state before moving to Hawaii about 30 years ago. The retiree made it his mission to ensure graves are properly identified. "It's something I looked forward to for a long time," he told CNN about Tuesday's announcement. Speaking by phone from Honolulu, Emory said that proper identification means a lot to the families of those who lost loved ones -- and to him. Next of kin were being notified starting Tuesday. Service members who are identified will be returned to their families for burial, with full military honors. WWII pilot, 99, reunited with historic C-47 plane . CNN's Phil Gast contributed to this report. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Yarmouk is a refugee camp near Damascus in war-ravaged Syria .
Pierre Krähenbühl of the United Nations: Individual lives underscore need for humanitarian action . | (CNN)Thousands of Syrian and Palestinian refugees trapped in the Yarmouk refugee camp have suffered what can only be described as untold indignities. But while the story is in itself tragic, it is the individual lives at the heart of the camp that make the imperative for humanitarian action so compelling. I encountered two such individuals on my mission to Damascus -- Jihad and Mohammad -- tiny, vulnerable infants who were taken from Yarmouk in recent days, a place that was described last week by the U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as "the deepest circle of hell." The fact that they are alive truly make them miracle children. Looking into those bright young faces, touching their pristine hands, the logic of our humanitarian mandate -- the mission to protect -- never felt stronger to me. Like the wider Syrian conflict, Yarmouk has a human face; the faces of young Mohammad and young Jihad. I want to introduce you to them in the hope that you, too, will understand why I am firmly convinced that turning away is not an option -- and why the international community must act in a concerted manner to respond to the many tragedies in Syria. Jihad Ya'qoub, the youngest Palestinian refugee to flee Yarmouk, was born on March 30. His mother, Said Fatima, never imagined bringing a child into this world could be so tough. "I was hoping to drink milk and eat eggs during my pregnancy, but our financial situation did allow us to buy these expensive food items," she said. Said Fatima was living in a community where the average person survived on just 400 calories a day. Mohammad was born in Yarmouk on January 25 of this year. When ISIS -- Islamic State of Iraq and Syria -- entered the camp and tensions heightened, his mother, Nadia, fled in search of safety. Her only thoughts were to save the life of her newborn son. Yet she has not lost hope in the possibility of a dignified future. She hopes that if and when life returns to normal, she will be able to live once more with her husband and son in the family home in Yarmouk. These tales of courage and human dignity are a lesson for us all. When I next brief the Security Council, as I did a few days ago, I will tell them about Jihad and Mohammad. I will continue to press the case for humanitarian access to other children like them inside Yarmouk, other civilians who need help where they are. To do this, hostilities will have to subside. Pressure must be exerted on armed actors in Yarmouk to this end. Beyond that, those civilians wishing to temporarily leave must be allowed to do so safely. These things are all possible. But it takes the necessary political will -- nothing more, nothing less. Yarmouk must be a place where the politics of the possible begin to take hold. I believe they can. Because to abandon such belief would be to abandon Jihad, Mohammad and thousands of other civilians like them. And that is simply not an option. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Official: Girl, 15, "expressed an interest in joining a terrorist group called ISIS"
Authorities detain girl at Cape Town airport, release her into family's care, he says . | (CNN)Authorities detained a 15-year-old girl from Cape Town, South Africa, at the city's airport after receiving information she was leaving the country to join ISIS, State Security Minister David Mahlobo said. "We are still conducting further investigation. The girl over the past period has been using technology on social media platforms interacting with strange people and reading material that suggested she expressed an interest in joining a terrorist group called ISIS," he told broadcaster eNCA. Police and airport security located the girl on a Johannesburg-bound flight, and "we got our agencies to secure all the important exit points in the country. We got her at Cape Town International Airport," Mahlobo said. Virginia teen accused of being ISIS recruiter . It's not clear how the girl was recruited or how the airfare was arranged, he said. Officials debriefed the girl's family and released her into the family's care, Mahlobo said. "The recruitment and radicalization of particularly young people to take part in acts of terror is a growing global concern and local law enforcement agencies will continue to work hard in clamping these from materializing," the minister said in a statement Monday. Australia teens suspected of trying to join ISIS stopped at airport . | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Kenneth Morgan Stancil, charged with first-degree murder, swears at the judge .
Deputies escort him from court after he tries to flip over a table .
Stancil is accused of killing an employee at Wayne Community College . | (CNN)Deputies rushed Kenneth Morgan Stancil III from court Thursday after the 20-year-old murder suspect swore at a judge and tried to flip over a table. Stancil is accused of killing an employee Monday at Wayne Community College in Goldsboro, North Carolina. Relatives have said victim Ron Lane was gay, CNN affiliate WNCN reported, and investigators are looking into whether the shooting was a hate crime. Authorities arrested Stancil after he was found sleeping on a Florida beach on Tuesday. Just a few minutes into Thursday's hearing on the first-degree murder charge he faces, Stancil snapped back at the judge after he was offered a court-appointed lawyer. "No, I don't need one," said Stancil, who stood before the judge with his legs shackled and his arms handcuffed in front of him. "You know what I'm saying? I knew I would get life anyway." Superior Court Judge Arnold O. Jones interjected, pointing out that the maximum sentence Stancil faces is the death penalty. "Yes, I know that," Stancil fired back. "But when I knew what I had to do and I knew when I got caught, you know, I knew in my mind that I could get life, I could get the death penalty. You know what I'm saying? Do you follow my topic? I would have killed you, you know what I'm saying, if you're a f---ing child molester." The judge told him not to swear. "I don't give a f--- what you want," Stancil said, lunging forward and lifting up the table in front of him. Deputies quickly corralled him and hustled him from the courtroom. The hearing resumed about 25 minutes later, when Stancil was brought back into the courtroom, this time with his arms handcuffed behind him. When asked again by Jones whether he wanted a lawyer, his response was quick -- and calm. "Yes, sir," he said. In an interview with CNN affiliate WRAL, Stancil described himself as a neo-Nazi and said he hates gay people "with a passion." Stancil had worked for Lane, the school's print shop operator, as part of a work-study program, but was let go from the program in early March because of poor attendance, college officials said. During the interview, and during a court appearance in Florida on Tuesday, Stancil said Lane deserved to die, accusing him of being a child molester who'd made advances in online messages to Stancil's 16-year-old brother. Lane's family has described those accusations as untrue and slanderous. His cousin, Steve Smith, told WRAL that Lane never made sexual advances toward children or anyone with whom he worked. He described him as a loving man who was dedicated to family and friends. "Yes, Ron was gay. But people need to get over it," Smith said. "That's between him and the Lord, him and his savior." | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
"I rate this as No. 1 on my list of things in my life that I regret," Robert Bates tells "Today"
He says he didn't mean to kill Eric Harris and rejects claims his training records were forged .
"I still can't believe it happened," Bates tells the NBC show . | (CNN)Robert Bates says he gets it, how you might wonder how a cop could confuse a pistol for a stun gun. Bates -- the Tulsa County, Oklahoma, reserve sheriff's deputy accused of manslaughter in the death of a fleeing suspect -- told NBC's "Today" show Friday that he used to think that, too. "Believe me," he told the show in his first appearance since being charged in the April 2 death of Eric Harris, "it can happen to anyone." Harris died after Bates shot him -- accidentally, he says -- after calling out "Taser! Taser!" in a tussle captured on a police body camera. Bates told investigators that he mistook his firearm for the stun gun. How easy is it to confuse a gun for a Taser? While Bates is at the center of the maelstrom over Harris' death, he isn't the only one under scrutiny. The Oklahoma NAACP wants charges against other officers involved in Harris' death, and a state and federal investigation into the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office's treatment of minorities. The sheriff's office also finds itself fending off allegations that supervisors were told to forge Bates' training records. In his interview Friday with "Today," Bates said he had the documentation to show he had completed the necessary training required of reserve deputies. "That is absolutely the truth. I have it in writing," he told the show. And on Thursday, a sheriff's office official denied to the Tulsa World newspaper that any records had ever been forged. As an advanced reserve deputy, sheriff's office policy calls for Bates to have completed 480 hours of the field training officer program, according to the Tulsa World. Bates would also have needed firearms certification training. Officials have yet to locate records showing what training Bates completed, said Maj. Shannon Clark of the sheriff's office. But Clark did say it's possible that some training requirements may have been waived. Sheriff Stanley Glanz has the authority to waive any department policies, Clark said. "The policies within our organization are signed off by the sheriff, but there are also policies that give the sheriff the ability to waive any policy within our organization. That's part of being a sheriff's office," Clark told the newspaper. Glanz told KFAQ radio this week that officials can't find records of Bates' firearms certification. The instructor who provided that training is now a U.S. Secret Service agent, and officials haven't been able to locate training records she was supposed to have turned in, Glanz told the station. Other discrepancies have surfaced about training that Bates claims to have attended, including questions about active shooter and homicide investigation instruction. Tulsa World reporter Dylan Goforth said the paper had been told by multiple sources that Bates' records had been falsified. The newspaper has not said who allegedly asked the supervisors to falsify the training records or why. But the orders apparently started years ago, "back when (Bates) was trying to get on as a deputy," reporter Ziva Branstetter told CNN's "New Day." Bates has donated equipment to the department and was also a donor to Glanz's re-election campaign, leading to allegations he had essentially paid to be a cop. He rejected that claim in the "Today" interview as "unbelievably unfair." Bates' attorney, Clark Brewster, also has rejected the allegations of poor training or forgery as unfounded. He said those making the accusations include fired sheriff's office employees represented by the law firm that also represents Harris' family. "His training is extensive and certainly adequate," Brewster told CNN on Thursday. Bates appeared on the "Today" show with his wife, two daughters and Brewster. He seemed composed but said he was still might be in shock over what had happened. "I can tell you it stayed with me for a number of days," Bates said. "I'm not at all sure it's not still with me today. Lack of sleep, inability to concentrate, all of those plus more. You know, I still can't believe it happened." In describing the events leading up to Harris' death, Bates said he was parked several blocks away from the site where an undercover deputy was conducting a sting operation to catch Harris in the act of illegally selling a gun. Bates said he had participated in "several hundred" such operations but always in a backup role where he would come in and "clean up" after deputies, taking photos and notes. But as deputies rolled up to arrest him after the sale, Harris bolted from the vehicle and ran toward Bates' position. As deputies were trying to subdue Harris, Bates told investigators he saw an opportunity to use his stun gun to help get the suspect under control. "I yelled, 'Taser! Taser!' as required in training. The deputy below me ducked, he pulled away from it so that I could," Bates said. "The laser light is the same on each weapon. I saw the light and I squeezed the trigger," Bates told "Today." The result was not the staccato click of a well-deployed stun gun. Instead, it was a gunshot. "I shot him! I'm sorry!" Bates is heard emotionally saying on video of the incident. Bates apologized to Harris' family, who have rejected allegations he was violent and on drugs. Harris' brother, Andre Harris, said this week that he didn't think the shooting was racially motivated. Instead, he said, "This is simply evil." But Bates,who is charged with second-degree manslaughter, said he didn't mean to kill Harris. His attorney has called it an "excusable homicide." "I rate this as No. 1 on my list of things in my life that I regret," said Bates, who is free on $25,000 bail. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
The attack at a Garissa university last week killed 147 people, mostly students .
Mohamed Mohamud taught at a Madrassa in the Kenyan town .
Authorities fear the rise of homegrown terrorists in the African country . | Garissa, Kenya (CNN)The desks of the small Madrassa are empty. Its 573 students, all male, are staying home after Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta announced three days of national mourning following last week's deadly attack at a nearby university. Only a few kilometers away, 147 people -- mostly students -- were brutally massacred when Al-Shabaab militants invaded the campus in Garissa, a town in northeastern Kenya. We've come to this particular Islamic religious school because the man suspected by Kenyan authorities of being the "mastermind" behind the atrocity -- Mohamed Mohamud -- once taught here. "He was someone who was very quiet, he didn't like too much talk," recalls Sheikh Khalif Abdi Hussein, the principal at the Madrassa. He says he also taught with Mohamud for two years. "When he left the Madrassa, he joined Al-Shabaab. But before, he was normal, just like me and other people." What worries authorities here is exactly that -- Mohamud was Kenyan. But now, say officials, Mohamud is in command of an Al-Shabaab militia based near Kenya's long, porous border with Somalia -- about 118 miles (190km) from Garissa -- who are believed to be responsible for numerous cross-border attacks into Kenya. The Islamist militant group, who are allied with al Qaeda, have been waging a bloody campaign for control of Somalia. With Kenyan troops part of an African Union force deployed in support of Somalia's United Nations-supported government, Kenya has now become a target. Last year, an attack by Al-Shabaab on a shopping center in the country's capital, Nairobi, claimed the lives of 68 people. Now Mohamud stands accused of being behind Thursday's attack -- the deadliest attack in the nation since al Qaeda killed more than 200 people at the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi in 1998. But Mohamud is not Kenya's only homegrown terrorist. The Kenyan Interior Ministry has said at least one of the four gunmen who carried out the attack on the university was also Kenyan. Abdirahim Abdullahi was in his 20s and the son of a government chief. His father says he lost contact with his son in 2013, shortly after he left university. The Kenyan government is concerned that Al-Shabaab is recruiting disaffected youth from inside the country. "Our task of countering terrorism has been made all the more difficult by the fact that the planners and financiers of this brutality are deeply embedded in our communities," President Kenyatta said during an address to the nation in the aftermath of the massacre. Meanwhile, Sheikh Khalif insists his Madrassa has nothing to do with Mohamud's extreme, violent ideas. "This man is a dangerous man, a killer, a criminal," he says. But he was also once a neighbor. And so Kenyans must now look within to tackle this very real threat to the country's -- and the region's -- stability. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Previous popes had finessed the question of whether the killing of 1.5 million Armenians was genocide.
Because he often shines such a smiley face on the world, it can be easy to forget the bluntness Francis sometimes brings to the bully pulpit . | (CNN)It's not easy being the Pope. Not only does he shepherd nearly 1 billion Catholic souls, he also leads a small but morally significant state with envoys and interests in nearly every country. As scholars like to say, the Vatican has walked the line between spiritual and worldly concerns for centuries. Sometimes, as when St. John Paul II stood up to Communist Poland, the church's moral and political clout have combined to pack a powerful punch. At other times, popes have to make a hard choice: Adopt the sharp tongue of a prophet or the discretion of a diplomat? This Sunday in Rome, Pope Francis faced just such a dilemma. First, the back story: . One hundred years ago, more than 1 million Armenians (some estimates run as high as 1.5 million) died at the hand of the Turks. Many of the victims were part of a branch of Christianity closely aligned with Catholicism. A slew of historians and at least 20 countries call the killings a "genocide." (A U.S. resolution to do the same has languished in Congress.) Turkish officials disagree, arguing that the deaths, while unfortunate, were part of a long-running war that witnessed casualties on all sides. For their part, previous popes had finessed the genocide question. John Paul II used the "g" word in 2001, but didn't dare speak it out loud. Instead, it was tucked into a document signed by the former pontiff and the head of the Armenian church, after they had celebrated Mass together. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI called the killings "a great evil" and "terrible persecution" in a speech 2006, but avoided labeling them genocide. (Benedict found other ways to tick off the Turks, initially opposing their entry into the European Union.) As Pope Francis prepared to celebrate a special Mass Sunday to commemorate a century since the slaughter, Vatican watchers were divided about whether he would use the word "genocide." He did, but in a roundabout way, by quoting John Paul's document. "In the past century, our human family has lived through three massive and unprecedented tragedies," Francis said. "The first, which is widely considered 'the first genocide of the 20th century,' struck your own Armenian people." The middle phrase comes directly from the document issued 14 years ago by John Paul. In citing his predecessor, Francis highlighted one of the Vatican's chiefest concerns, especially on matters of moral import: continuity. Whether holding the line against artificial birth control, declining to ordain female priests or dealing with diplomatic tensions, it sometimes seems as if the church considers inconsistency the most unforgivable of sins. "The Vatican and the papacy love continuity," said the Rev. Thomas Reese, a Vatican analyst for National Catholic Reporter. If Francis had not called the Armenian killings a genocide, particularly at such a high-profile event -- the audience included Armenia's President -- it might have been interpreted as a change in church policy, Reese said. At the same time, Francis didn't want to anger the Turks more than necessary, especially since they have become a key ally against the persecution of Christians by ISIS in the Middle East, which the Pope alluded to in his speech on Sunday. "The fact that he quoted John Paul is a sign that he's downplaying it," Reese said of the Armenian murders. "He's telling people: There's nothing new here." New or not, Turkey was not happy. The nation recalled its Vatican ambassador for "consultations" just hours after Francis' comments, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said. Turkey also promptly summoned his counterpart, the Vatican's ambassador, for a meeting, Turkish state broadcaster TRT reported. In a tweet Sunday, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called the Pope's use of the word "unacceptable" and "out of touch with both historical facts and legal basis." "Religious authorities are not places through which hatred and animosity are fueled by unfounded allegations," the tweet reads. "Hatred" and "animosity" are not words often used to describe Pope Francis. Because he often shines a sympathetic face on the world, emphasizing mercy over judgment, it's easy to miss the bluntness Francis brings to the bully pulpit. On matters of doctrine and diplomacy, he may be carrying on Catholic traditions, but in his willingness to engage in geopolitics and the tone that engagement often takes, this pope is decidedly different. He has helped broker a backroom detente between the United States and Cuba, and invited Israeli and Palestinian leaders for an unprecedented prayer service at the Vatican (after annoying some Israelis with an impromptu prayer at the wall that separates the West Bank from Jerusalem.) But Francis has also suggested that force may be justified to stop ISIS' slaughter of Christians, warned of the "Mexicanization" of Argentina and said that satirists who insult religion should expect a retaliatory punch. On Monday, the Pope addressed a roomful of priests at morning Mass. He must have heard the hubbub about his "genocide" remark, but he encouraged his charges to speak frankly, without fear, and to bear the courage of their convictions, just as the early apostles had. "We cannot keep silent about what we have seen and heard," Francis said. CNN's Gul Tuysuz and Jethro Mullen contributed to this report. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Adrian Peterson had been suspended after pleading guilty to misdemeanor reckless assault .
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell requires him to keep going to counseling, other treatment .
Minnesota Vikings, 7-9 last season, say they look forward to him rejoining the team . | (CNN)Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson will be reinstated as an active player by the NFL on Friday, the league said. The NFL suspended the 30-year-old football star in November over allegations that last May he disciplined his son, who was 4 at the time, too harshly with a "switch," or thin stick. In a letter, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told Peterson that his continued participation in the league was contingent on a number of requirements, including that he maintain "an ongoing program of counseling and treatment as recommended by medical advisers," the NFL said Thursday. Also required of Peterson: Avoiding "any further conduct that violates the (NFL's) personal conduct policy or other NFL policies." "Any further violation of the personal conduct policy by Peterson would result in additional discipline, which could include suspension without pay or banishment from the NFL," the league said in a statement. Peterson played in one game last season, a 35-6 win against St. Louis in September, before the league put him on an exempt list September 17 -- keeping him off the field with pay -- in light of his indictment that month in the case. Initially charged with felony child abuse, Peterson pleaded no contest to misdemeanor reckless assault in November in Texas. The NFL then suspended him without pay and he lost his appeal of that sanction the next month. In February, a Minnesota district court judge vacated the decision that upheld his suspension, making Peterson eligible for reinstatement. Bleacher Report: Latest details, comments, reaction . The Vikings issued a brief statement in which they said they "look forward to Adrian rejoining the Vikings." ESPN reported that the team will hold voluntary offseason workouts beginning Monday. The next Vikings' organized team activities begin in late May. It is unclear whether Peterson will attend. He has been unhappy with how the Vikings have handled the matter. Though Peterson dodged jail time with his no-contest plea, he received probation, community service and a $4,000 fine. He also will take parenting classes. "I truly regret this incident," Peterson said after accepting the deal. "I stand here and I take full responsibility for my actions. I love my son more than any one of you can even imagine." Peterson is considered one of the best running backs in the NFL. In 2011 he signed a seven-year contract worth more than $100 million with the Vikings, who were 7-9 last season and failed to make the playoffs. In eight seasons, including last year's abbreviated year, he has rushed for 10,190 yards and averaged a strong 5.0 yards per carry. CNN's Jill Martin and Eliott C. McLaughlin contributed to this report. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Police say Robert Bates, 73, thought he pulled out his Taser during an arrest .
Instead, he shot the suspect, who later died at a local hospital . | (CNN)A Tulsa County reserve deputy is on administrative leave after "inadvertently" shooting a suspect with his gun. Police say Robert (Bob) Bates, 73, thought he pulled out his Taser during an arrest, but instead shot the suspect, who later died at a local hospital. The shooting happened after an apparent drug and gun selling operation by the Tulsa Violent Crimes task force Thursday. Bates, a member of the task force, was part of a group of deputies trying to arrest Eric Courtney Harris, 44, in the parking lot of a Dollar General store. Police say Harris, a convicted felon, sold undercover officers a pistol. When confronted by an arrest team, he fled the scene on foot and police say they "observed him reaching for his waistband area ...causing concern for the deputies safety." After a brief pursuit, police say Harris was forced to the ground, where he continued to resist arrest and "refused to pull his left arm from underneath his body where his hand was near his waistband." It was during this portion of the arrest that police say "the reserve deputy was attempting to use less lethal force, believing he was utilizing a Taser, when he inadvertently discharged his service weapon, firing one round which struck Harris." Harris died at a local hospital and his cause of death is under investigation. Police say Harris admitted to medics at the scene that he may have been under the influence of Phencyclidine, a street drug commonly known as PCP. When asked if another gun was found on Harris, Shannon Clark of the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office says "The suspect was placed in the ambulance and transported so quickly. I have not been told there was a second weapon found on him yet." Deputy Robert Bates, who's been placed on administrative leave during the investigation, received his reserve status from the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office in 2008 and was assigned to the violent crime task force. He had also served as a Tulsa Police officer. When asked by CNN affiliate KTUL whether age may have played a factor in the "inadvertent" shooting, Clark says "did an accident happen? Sure. But is it accredited to his age? Or was it accredited to the rapidly evolving situation? I guess that will be determined in the investigation." CNN's AnneClaire Stapleton, Joe Sutton contributed to this report . | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Police arrest 133,000 people and seize 43.3 tons of narcotics in a six-month period .
China launches a new online campaign to crack down on online drug crimes .
Celebrities have been embroiled in the nation's intensifying anti-drug campaign . | (CNN)Chinese police have arrested more than 133,000 people and seized 43.3 tons of illegal narcotics during a six-month anti-drug campaign, the country's Ministry of Public Security has announced. Authorities also handled 115,000 drug-related crimes -- such as robbery -- and 606,000 cases of drug use during the nationwide campaign to "ban drugs in hundreds of cities," Liu Yuejin, Assistant Minister of Public Security, said Wednesday. The figures were nearly double the same period a year earlier, while the amount of narcotics seized was up by 44.9%, according to the ministry. Liu said drug trafficking groups have "suffered a heavy blow" and drug users have been "forcefully regulated." However, the police also paid a price, Liu said, in quotes carried by the state-run Xinhua news agency. Nine police officers died and another 657 were wounded in the mission, with 76 severely wounded. The ministry rewarded 60 units and 100 people. Liu said China's drug-related problems were still severe, with online drug trafficking an increasing problem. He said the ministry had launched a three-month online campaign starting in April targeting people engaged in drug-related Internet crimes. Over the past nine months, a string of movie and television stars, film directors and pop singers have been arrested and charged over drug related incidents, including Jaycee Chan, son of kung fu movie star Jackie Chan, who was convicted on a drug charge and sentenced to six months in prison by a Beijing court. In August last year, dozens of management agencies representing actors and singers signed an agreement with Beijing authorities banning drug use from the entertainment industry and pledging to sack any artists who broke the law. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Jack White taking a hiatus from touring after brief acoustic jaunt .
He'll play five states he has yet to get to, charge just $3 .
Places and times of shows are currently a mystery . | (Billboard)Fresh off his scorching performance at Coachella Saturday night (and days before his next one on the festival's second weekend), rocker Jack White announced he'll take a hiatus from touring. White will wrap his touring efforts in support of "Lazeretto" with a brief, first-ever acoustic tour that will hit "the only five states left in the U.S. that he has yet to play," according to White's website. Rounding out the acoustic quartet on tour will be Fats Kaplin, Lillie Mae Rische and Dominic Davis. The shows will be unannounced until day-of-show, with tickets priced at $3 and limited to one ticket per person, to be purchased only at the venue on a first-come, first-served basis. Billboard: Jack White on Not Being a 'Sound-Bite Artist,' Living in the Wrong Era and Why Vinyl Records Are 'Hypnotic' The purposely vague announcement surely has fans (and journalists) scouring the Internet for White's touring history. Unclear is whether White includes his work with The White Stripes, The Raconteurs and Dead Weather in his touring history, or just his solo road work. Presumably, he's including all of his touring, with all bands, as Billboard could find only 29 states in which he has performed as Jack White. Tour dates with White Stripes add another 12 states. That leaves nine states for which we could not find a show for White: Hawaii (where a show is scheduled for tomorrow, April 15), Arkansas, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Vermont, Iowa, and North and South Dakota. Billboard: Jack White Plays The Hits, Declares 'Music Is Sacred' at Coachella . Through the process of elimination (surely he has played Boise, Little Rock, and Salt Lake?), our guess as to which five "states" White will play on the brief acoustic run: South and North Dakota, Wyoming, Vermont and ... Puerto Rico? If that's the case, this tour is in for some long jumps, with Puerto Rico to Vermont being a potential beast. (Though shipping acoustic instruments and ribbon mics will be a lot less taxing than a full electrified stage setup.) ©2015 Billboard. All Rights Reserved. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Almost 16 million people in Yemen are in need of humanitarian aid, according to U.N.
Planeload of aid supplies including food and medicine was flown in to Sanaa on Tuesday .
A rare ceasefire was negotiated to allow the plane to land briefly . | Sanaa, Yemen (CNN)As the transport plane comes in to land at Sanaa Airport, the deep scars of the brutal conflict tearing Yemen apart are only too clear: wrecked aircraft line the runway, and nearby buildings lie in ruins. To most of the outside world, this war-torn country is off limits, the weeks-long battle between Houthi rebels and Saudi-led coalition forces making it too dangerous to visit, and a no-fly zone rendering its international airport all but obsolete -- but on Tuesday, CNN was granted rare access on a desperate aid mission by Unicef, the United Nations Children's Fund. The airport has previously been bombed. Hostilities are likely to resume before the day is out: a brief, peaceful window has been delicately negotiated following a special request from the U.N. -- but it won't last long. Unicef hopes there will be just enough time to deliver vital food and supplies, helping to ease the country's worsening humanitarian crisis. More than 100,000 Yemeni civilians have fled their homes since fighting began, and OCHA, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, estimates that 15.9 million people here are in need of assistance. The main terminal at El Rahaba Airport is under the control of the Houthi rebels. We can't get near it for fear of provoking trouble. But there is plenty to be done out on the tarmac. Within minutes of touching down, a small army of aid workers is busy unloading huge mounds of much-needed provisions. Gusts of wind blow dust across the runway, as crates and pallets of emergency nutrition and medical equipment pile up rapidly beside the plane. Unicef's team has overcome more than one hurdle just getting it this far -- now they'll have to work out how to distribute it to those most in need in a country paralyzed by a lack of resources. Even before Saudi airstrikes, most of the 25 million people in Yemen required humanitarian assistance to meet their most basic needs, according to the United Nations. As they work, an Air India plane is taxiing away from the terminal. Thousands have fled the country on evacuation flights in recent weeks as the situation in Yemen has deteriorated. But for those who have nowhere else to go and no chance of a flight out, mercy missions by Unicef and other NGOs like it are the only hope. READ MORE: 'A window into hell' - desperate Yemenis flee by boatREAD MORE: Civilian catastrophe looming in YemenREAD MORE: Yemen crisis - how you can help . Bryony Jones contributed to this report . | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
The Soviets invaded Poland in World War II and deported hundreds of thousands of people .
Tomasz Lazar photographed some of these Poles and listened to their stories . | (CNN)Their eyes reflect childhoods marked by tragedy. Their faces show wrinkles made deeper by pain and the passage of time. Tomasz Lazar spent hours photographing and interviewing adults who were ripped from their homes as children in the 1940s and forced to live thousands of miles away in Siberia. "For me those faces are like maps," Lazar said. "The more you look at them, the more you are discovering." Soviet authorities invaded Poland during World War II and deported hundreds of thousands of Poles. Some were sent to prison camps in the frozen wilderness of central Russia. Many were children. In effect, Moscow stole much of an entire generation of young Poles, a handful of whom Lazar has located seven decades later. During Lazar's interviews, many of the survivors broke down in tears. "It was very traumatic for them," he said. "Some lost mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters -- killed by the Soviets." Lazar remembers hearing 84-year-old Boguslaw Dokurno recall his grandfather's dying wish. Dokurno's grandfather asked his grandson to return home to Poland after his death to retrieve Polish soil and bring it back to his Siberian gravesite. Another exile, Sofia Bocian, told Lazar how her brother escaped their prison camp, leaving her with the horrifying experience of being interrogated by Soviet secret police. Lazar began his professional photography career in 2006 after fully realizing the medium's storytelling power. "For me when you're doing photography -- whether it's conventional journalism or other types -- you want to share something with people," he said. Social media . Follow @CNNPhotos on Twitter to join the conversation about photography. Lazar said the interviews surprised him. Despite his subjects' traumatic experiences, "they welcomed me with open arms," he recalled. "They really wanted to share their stories." Fearing for their safety, they couldn't tell their stories publicly until the fall of the Soviet Union. Now that they're in their 80s, time is running out for them to document their struggles. Look at Lazar's images. The faces fill each frame. Each portrait is unique. Before taking each photo, he waited "for the moment when they really started going inside themselves," he said. "Those people are really strong in their souls." Their stories should be documented for history, he said, to remind future generations "not to make the same mistakes." Tomasz Lazar is a Polish photographer. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Reserve deputy Robert Bates said he meant to use a Taser but accidentally shot and killed a man .
Lawyer for slain man's family says Bates wasn't qualified to be on the force and received preferential treatment .
"Robert Bates has met all the requisite training required by Oklahoma to be a reserve deputy," Bates' lawyer says . | (CNN)The lawyer for Robert Bates, an Oklahoma reserve deputy who fatally shot a man he meant to subdue with a Taser, on Saturday released documents that he says verify some of Bates' training as a law enforcement officer. The documents show Bates had one Taser training class over a six-and-a-half-year period, took three firearms training classes and qualified 10 times, from 2009 to 2014, to use a handgun. His evaluations say he got along with other officers and related well with the public. "Robert Bates has met all the requisite training required by Oklahoma to be a reserve deputy," said the lawyer, Scott Wood, in an interview with CNN. Read the documents . CNN could not independently confirm the documents were authentic. Wood said he got them from Bates, who asked the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office to provide his training records. The sheriff's office has turned down CNN's requests for the training documents, saying they are part of the investigation. Authorities did not reply Saturday to a request for comment on Wood's statements. The documents are important because Bates' training has become a central issue in the case. The lawyer for the family of the man who was killed claims that Bates, 73, wasn't qualified to be on the force, but received preferential treatment because he'd made donations to the agency and was a friend of the sheriff. The Tulsa World newspaper reported some supervisors in the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office were told to forge Bates' records and were reassigned when they refused. The Tulsa County Sheriff's Office has denied these allegations. The documents provided to CNN cover the period from July 22, 2008, to December 12, 2014. Bates had one Taser training class, on March 4, 2009, according to a document with a heading from The Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training, which sets the standards for training peace officers in the state. Wood said the council requires only one hands-on class on use of a Taser. Bates had weapons training once in September 2008 and twice in 2009, according to sheriff's office records that Bates obtained, Wood said. He scored high enough at the pistol range 10 times from September 24, 2009, to April 9, 2014, that he was allowed to carry a handgun while on duty, Wood said. Bates is charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of Eric Harris. Friends and family of Harris gathered in Tulsa on Saturday afternoon for a visitation and viewing. Bates is free on $25,000 bond. He says he meant to use his Taser on Harris during the April 2 arrest but accidentally fired his handgun instead. "I shot him! I'm sorry!" Bates is heard saying on video of the incident. Bates, an insurance company executive, has gone to his own defense. In an interview Friday with the "Today" show on NBC, Bates said he had the documentation to show he had completed the necessary training required of reserve deputies. "That is absolutely the truth. I have it in writing," he told the show. Questions have already been raised about Bates' training and when his service with the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office started. In his statement to investigators, Bates said he "became an advanced TCSO Reserve Deputy in 2007." Wood said Bates started working for the sheriff's office in late 2007 or 2008. But the sheriff's office has said Bates had been a reserve deputy since 2008. Bates, who worked as a police officer for one year in the 1960s, completed 300 hours of training and 1,100 hours of community policing experience since becoming a reserve deputy, according to the sheriff's office. The Tulsa World said 480 hours of field training are required to be an "advanced" reserve deputy, which Bates claimed to be. Questions have been raised about Bates' firearms qualifications scores. To be allowed to carry a pistol on duty, deputies need to score 72 while firing at a silhouette of a man at the firing range, Wood said. Documents with a heading "Firearms Qualification Record" show Bates scoring at least 72 on six different days. But firearms qualification records from four dates in 2012 and 2013 are missing for the entire sheriff's office, Wood said. The Tulsa County Sheriff's Office says it can't find the records. The department's summary of Bates' weapons training shows he scored 80-84 those four times. "If you're going to forge somebody's score why not give them a 90 or a 95," Wood said. CNN provided the documents to the Tulsa World. Ziva Branstetter, an editor with the newspaper, said the new information doesn't undercut the World's reporting. "These records back up the validity of our story and we stand by our story," she said Saturday. Another seeming oddity of the records is how many classes Bates took on two days. The Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training records show Bates took 14 training classes worth 20 credit hours on December 10, 2013, and 20 classes worth 31 credit hours on December 11, 2014. Wood said Bates may have been cramming in his required training before the end of the year by taking computer classes. "It's possible you could take a half-hour class and if you know the material you could finish it in 15 minutes," he said. Evaluations show supervisors had a good opinion of Bates. One from March 14, 2009, says of his strengths: "Works well with his fellow officers and relates to the public very well." His weakness: "Radio usage/geography." Remedial training: "Does not have a lot of radio usage time which will be worked on. Will have to work on his geography skills. Both will be remedied in time!" | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Abdirahman Sheik Mohamud pleads not guilty to charges of providing material support to terrorists and lying to the FBI .
The Columbus, Ohio, resident became a U.S. citizen in February 2014 .
In April 2014, he went to Syria for terrorism training, prosecutors say in a news release . | (CNN)A naturalized U.S. citizen pleaded not guilty in Ohio Friday to federal charges of providing material support to terrorists and lying to the FBI. Abdirahman Sheik Mohamud, 23, of Columbus, allegedly traveled to Syria for training and wanted to return home to kill Americans -- particularly U.S. soldiers, execution style, the U.S. Department of Justice said Thursday. Mohamud was remanded into custody on Friday. "I am confident in the system working fairly and (in) our client getting a vigorous and aggressive defense," said his lawyer, Sam Shamansky. Mohamud told someone that he wanted to target U.S. armed forces, police officers or other people in uniform, the indictment alleges, adding that "Mohamud's plan was to attack a military facility, and his backup plan was to attack a prison." "Mohamud talked about doing something big in the United States. He wanted to go to a military base in Texas and kill three or four American soldiers execution style," it says. Mohamud allegedly said he was happy that his brother, Aden, died fighting for al-Nusra Front, al Qaeda's largest affiliate in Syria. Mohamud told someone he planned to join Aden in death soon, the indictment says. He became a U.S. citizen in February 2014 and submitted a U.S. passport application days later, according to the indictment. Mohamud traveled to Syria in April 2014 "for the purpose of training and fighting with terrorists," prosecutors said in a news release. To get there, Mohamud bought a one-way ticket to Greece with a layover in Istanbul, Turkey, the Department of Justice said. He skipped the connecting flight "and instead completed pre-arranged plans to travel to Syria." Once there, he trained in shooting weapons, breaking into homes, using explosives and hand-to-hand combat, prosecutors said. Mohamud "also stated that, after completing this training, he was instructed by a cleric in the organization to return to the United States and commit an act of terrorism." CNN's John Newsome contributed to this story. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Les Abend: There were likely warning signs during the co-pilot's training .
He says Andreas Lubitz had to go through many challenges to qualify to be a co-pilot . | (CNN)Most airline pilots have an above average ability to compartmentalize personal problems. The cockpit is our "safe" place. The flight deck is a structured world of black and white. Checklists. Procedures. Standardization. Stress from the job is an accepted part of our career. However, sometimes during the course of an airline pilot's career, or anyone's career for that matter, stress issues may manifest as depression. Depression is treatable. And for airline pilots, it is no longer debilitating to our livelihood. The Federal Aviation Administration now approves certain prescribed medication, allowing us to continue flying until depression is no longer a factor. As the world learns more about Andreas Lubitz, the co-pilot on Germanwings Flight 9525, it is readily apparent that this young man had psychiatric issues far beyond clinical depression. He reportedly was administered a series of injections to mitigate his problems, an absolute reflection on the serious nature of his illness. But Lubitz's illness didn't just appear out of thin air. Its effects had to be apparent to others. Lubitz's girlfriend made her concerns public knowledge -- unfortunately after events took their course. Considering the hoops Lubitz had to jump through to have established himself as a Germanwings co-pilot, it's curious to me how the red flags of his illness were missed. To what hoops am I referring? First, let's start with his passion for gliders. Glider flying is one of the purest forms of aviation. Although it is mostly an individualistic endeavor, the sport involves teamwork. Interaction among fellow enthusiasts is paramount to both enjoyment and safety. I'm a glider pilot. Participation among the members of my club uncovers the personalities and idiosyncrasies of each pilot. Behaviors not quite conducive to the activity are readily apparent. Second, Lubitz had to compete successfully in a selection process just to have the opportunity to train through Lufthansa's flight program, a requirement of Germanwings employment. The selection process is most likely highly competitive, requiring above-average aptitude. Is the selection process flawed to the extent that a serious mental disorder would go unnoticed? Regardless, the process had to be a stressful experience. Opinion: Germanwings and the stigma of mental illness . Once accepted into the flight program, a rigorous training period began. For primary training, Lufthansa utilizes an ab initio (from the beginning) program based at a facility the airline owns in Goodyear, Arizona, near Phoenix. The training is geared toward a multi-crew pilot license, or MPL, recognized by the International Civil Aviation Organization. The purpose of an MPL is to funnel airline pilot candidates having little or no flight time into the right seat as first officers. Countries that don't have the luxury of selecting from a large pool of experienced pilots use this license. Airline pilots in the United States are not licensed in this manner, requiring as much as 1,500 hours to qualify as a co-pilot. This is a fairly recent change in FAA regulations, initiated as a result of the 2009 Colgan Airlines crash in Buffalo, New York. Lubitz had barely over 600 hours of flight time when he committed his act of horror. As a 21-year-old flight instructor, I had that much flight time; it hardly qualified as a lot of experience. As with all of the MPL programs, the training involves an intense period of airline-specific instruction. And to add insult to injury, candidates are not paid during the training until such time as they pass a final check ride. Regardless, the cost is borne by the student to the tune of about $76,000. Using both actual flight experience in a single-engine airplane and simulator time, the student receives about 250 hours of training. It is a period of almost constant supervision. Aside from observing and checking performance criteria, wouldn't at least one instructor have noticed behavioral issues in such an intense environment? And wouldn't a fellow trainee have noticed also? According to reports, Lubitz took a leave from his training -- a very untypical behavior. Was that not in and of itself a red flag? Wouldn't a manager in Lufthansa's flight department consider it prudent to reconsider a candidate with an indication of potential issues? After all, the selection process was most likely highly competitive, with other qualified candidates readily available. Once the primary training in Arizona was complete, Lubitz would have returned to Germany and completed more specific schooling on the Airbus A320 he was about to fly. Again, no one observed issues. But even more curious, according to reports, Lubitz disclosed a diagnosis of previous depression to Lufthansa. Over the course of a career, an airline pilot spends thousands of hours sharing the confined space of the cockpit with colleagues. Even if we have never flown with a particular individual, experience allows us the intuition to know when something isn't quite right. That determination can be made through performance observation of typical routines, or perhaps through a simple conversation. In that regard, I find it difficult to believe that none of Lubitz's colleagues made a less than positive assessment at some point in time. As supplemental background, Germanwings had been established as the low-cost, alter ego carrier of Lufthansa. Depending upon a pilot's monthly flight time, salary for pilots can be as much as 20% lower than the mainline carrier. In addition, more days on duty were part of a Germanwings crew member's schedule. Apparently as late as March 20, Lufthansa pilots had been on strike, one of the main disputes being an early retirement option and less desirable working conditions for new hires. Perhaps enough of a disparity existed for Germanwings pilots such that medical leave benefits would not have covered Lubitz's absence. Regardless, all of these factors combined to add a perfect storm of stress to one sick 27-year-old man. The world knows the end result. It just seems to me that this was an accident waiting to happen. Could it have been prevented? Well, this is the primary purpose of accident investigation: Never allow the same tragedy to occur again. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Here's a roundup of the week's trending pop-culture stories .
They include a new "Star Wars" trailer and an ill-advised, on-camera rant . | (CNN)Han and Chewie are back. An ESPN reporter went on a regrettable rant. And we all taxed our brains trying to deduce the date of Cheryl's damn birthday. Here are pop culture's most talked-about stories of the week. Producers of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" unveiled a nearly two-minute trailer for the upcoming movie, arriving in December. When Harrison Ford shows up with Chewbacca at the end, you can almost hear the Internet's collective squeals. A logic problem from a Singapore math test somehow spread across the Web, leaving millions trying to figure out the hypothetical birthday of someone named Cheryl. We're guessing that most of us cheated and peeked at the answer. Who retires at age 34? Supermodel Gisele Bundchen, who walked what she says was her last fashion-show runway this week in her native Brazil. She'll still keep modeling, though -- and hanging out with her husband, who is apparently a football player of some kind. Oh, Britt McHenry. We all hate having our car towed. But for someone who's on air at ESPN, you don't seem to understand how to behave on camera. Speaking of McHenry, a new book by Jon Ronson explores how social media may go too far in encouraging haters to shame people who make public missteps. Ronson told CNN, "It's so corrosive to create that kind of society." The first set of female quintuplets in the world since 1969 was born in Houston, Texas. Just imagine how fun it'll be for their parents 16 years from now when they all start dating. Fire department, I need you now . Singer Hillary Scott of country band Lady Antebellum had to vacate her tour bus when it caught fire outside of Dallas. Most of her stuff was burned, but her Bible survived. To infinity and beyond . Famed physicist Stephen Hawking, known for his sense of humor, partnered with the silly lads of Monty Python to recreate the "Galaxy Song" from their 1983 film "The Meaning of Life." Duckie dances! Remember Duckie from "Pretty in Pink?" Of course you do. Actor Jon Cryer charmed fans on CBS's "Late Late Show" by reprising his character's record-store dance to Otis Redding's "Try a Little Tenderness," right down to the wall-dancing and counter-bashing. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Michelle MacLaren is no longer set to direct the first "Wonder Woman" theatrical movie .
MacLaren left the project over "creative differences"
Movie is currently set for 2017 . | (CNN)Wanted: film director, must be eager to shoot footage of golden lassos and invisible jets. CNN confirms that Michelle MacLaren is leaving the upcoming "Wonder Woman" movie (The Hollywood Reporter first broke the story). MacLaren was announced as director of the movie in November. CNN obtained a statement from Warner Bros. Pictures that says, "Given creative differences, Warner Bros. and Michelle MacLaren have decided not to move forward with plans to develop and direct 'Wonder Woman' together." (CNN and Warner Bros. Pictures are both owned by Time Warner.) The movie, starring Gal Gadot in the title role of the Amazon princess, is still set for release on June 23, 2017. It's the first theatrical movie centering around the most popular female superhero. Gadot will appear beforehand in "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice," due out March 25, 2016. In the meantime, Warner will need to find someone new for the director's chair. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
The young boy's face appeared on milk cartons all across the United States .
Patz's case marked a time of heightened awareness of crimes against children .
Pedro Hernandez confessed three years ago to the 1979 killing in . | (CNN)When Etan Patz went missing in New York City at age 6, hardly anyone in America could help but see his face at their breakfast table. His photo's appearance on milk cartons after his May 1979 disappearance marked an era of heightened awareness of crimes against children. On Friday, more than 35 years after frenzied media coverage of his case horrified parents everywhere, a New York jury will again deliberate over a possible verdict against the man charged in his killing, Pedro Hernandez. He confessed to police three years ago. Etan Patz's parents have waited that long for justice, but some have questioned whether that is at all possible in Hernandez's case. His lawyer has said that he is mentally challenged, severely mentally ill and unable to discern whether he committed the crime or not. Hernandez told police in a taped statement that he lured Patz into a basement as the boy was on his way to a bus stop in Lower Manhattan. He said he killed the boy and threw his body away in a plastic bag. Neither the child nor his remains have ever been recovered. But Hernandez has been repeatedly diagnosed with schizophrenia and has an "IQ in the borderline-to-mild mental retardation range," his attorney Harvey Fishbein has said. Police interrogated Hernandez for 7½ hours before he confessed. "I think anyone who sees these confessions will understand that when the police were finished, Mr. Hernandez believed he had killed Etan Patz. But that doesn't mean he actually did, and that's the whole point of this case," Fishbein has said. But in November, a New York judge ruled that Hernandez's confession and his waiving of his Miranda rights were legal, making the confession admissible in court. Another man's name has also hung over the Patz case for years -- Jose Antonio Ramos, a convicted child molester acquainted with Etan's babysitter. Etan's parents, Stan and Julia Patz, sued Ramos in 2001. The boy was officially declared dead as part of that lawsuit. A judge found Ramos responsible for the boy's death and ordered him to pay the family $2 million -- money the Patz family has never received. Though Ramos was at the center of investigations for years, he has never been charged. He served a 20-year prison sentence in Pennsylvania for molesting another boy and was set to be released in 2012. He was reportedly immediately rearrested upon exiting jail in 2012 on failure to register as a sex offender. Since their young son's disappearance, the Patzes have worked to keep the case alive and to create awareness of missing children in the United States. In the early 1980s, Etan's photo appeared on milk cartons across the country, and news media focused in on the search for him and other missing children. "It awakened America," said Ernie Allen, president and chief executive officer of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. "It was the beginning of a missing children's movement." The actual number of children who were kidnapped and killed did not change -- it's always been a relatively small number -- but awareness of the cases skyrocketed, experts said. But the news industry was expanding to cable television, and sweet images of children appeared along with destroyed parents begging for their safe return. The fear rising across the nation sparked awareness and prompted change from politicians and police. In 1984, Congress passed the Missing Children's Assistance Act, which led to the creation of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Former President Ronald Reagan opened the center in a White House ceremony in 1984. It soon began operating a 24-hour toll-free hot line on which callers could report information about missing boys and girls. Joe Sterling and CNN's Lorenzo Ferrigno contributed to this report. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
"The Muppets" might return to television on ABC .
"The Big Bang Theory" co-creator Bill Prady is co-writing a pilot script .
The old Muppet gang would return for the variety show . | (The Hollywood Reporter)It may be time to light the lights. ABC is filming a proof of concept for a revival of "The Muppets," The Hollywood Reporter has learned. "The Big Bang Theory" co-creator Bill Prady is co-writing the script for a pilot presentation that sources say could be unspooled at May's upfront presentation to Madison Avenue advertisers. Sources tell THR that the project, if all goes well, could go straight to series. Bob Kushell ("Anger Management," "3rd Rock From the Sun") will also co-write and is attached to serve as showrunner, with Wilfred's Randall Einhorn attached to exec produce and direct the presentation. ABC's "Muppets" revival is being produced by ABC Studios and The Muppet Studios, which Disney owns. The presentation is set to film next weekend on the Disney lot in Burbank with some of the original Muppet performers returning. Sources say the concept for the presentation includes the regular cast of characters created by Jim Henson — Kermit the Frog, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo and Animal, among others — gathering at ABC Studios for a meeting about the new "Muppet Show." However, the show won't move forward unless Miss Piggy signs on, and her current relationship with frequent love Kermit is on the rocks, preventing the show from getting off the ground. Early plans call for two celebrity cameos — including Miss Piggy's current co-star — as well as new roles including Fozzie's girlfriend and her parents. For Prady, the revived "Muppets" — which landed at ABC after initial interest from Netflix — marks a return to his roots. The producer, who currently does not have an overall deal, started his career working for Henson in 1982 and ultimately started writing for "The Jim Henson Hour," remaining on the series until a year after Henson's death in 1990. This marks the second time Prady has attempted to revive "The Muppets." The writer-producer shot some test footage before CBS' "The Big Bang Theory" that Disney ultimately passed on. For his part, Prady earned an Emmy nomination in 1991 for writing tribute "The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson" in 1990 and has contributed writing to Disney's Muppet-themed attractions. Should ABC order "Muppets" to series, Prady would juggle both that project and CBS' "The Big Bang Theory," which he exec produces. Created in 1955 by Henson, the original Muppet characters appeared on "Sam and Friends" from 1955-61 before going on to appear on late-night talk shows and commercials and becoming a regular part of "Sesame Street" in 1969. "The Muppet Show" launched on its own as a comedy-variety series and ran from 1976-81, with Kermit serving as the de-facto showrunner on the syndicated series that was produced out of the U.K. The franchise has spawned multiple movies (1979's "The Muppet Movie," 1981's "The Great Muppet Caper," 1984's "The Muppets Take Manhattan") as well as NBC's 1989 series "The Jim Henson Hour." Following Henson's death, the franchise continued with "Muppets Tonight" airing on ABC in 1996 with reruns airing on sibling Disney Channel from 1997-2000. That was the last television series to feature the Muppets characters. On the feature side, the franchise featured 1992's "The Muppet Christmas Carol," 1996's "Muppet Treasure Island" and 1999's "Muppets From Space," the latter two of which were co-produced by Disney, who acquired rights to the Muppets in 2004 and formed The Muppets Studio. The company rebranded the franchise in 2008 with Jason Segel's "The Muppets," with an eighth feature in the franchise, "Muppets Most Wanted" bowing in 2014. For ABC, the Muppets revival comes as variety shows are in the midst of a resurgence on the broadcast networks. NBC has made the format a priority, unspooling Marlon Wayans-hosted celebrity variety series "I Can Do That!" in the summer and has Neil Patrick Harris entry "Saturday Night Takeaway" in the works. The decision to revive "The Muppets" also comes as remakes and reboots are having their moment in the sun on the small-screen, as broadcast networks look to fan bases for existing franchises to help cut through the clutter and draw eyeballs in an increasingly crowded scripted space. On the comedy side, "The Muppets" arrives as it has become increasingly challenging to launch original scripted half-hours. Prady is repped by Rothman Brecher and Lichter Grossman; Kushell is with ICM Partners; Einhorn is with WME, Odenkirk Provissiero and Bloom Hergott. ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Women in India are street harassed, primarily in crowded areas like trains and railway platforms .
Elsa Marie D'Silva: It's time we speak up; we cannot accept harassment as part of our daily routine . | (CNN)I remember traveling one day in the local train in Mumbai with my mother, my younger sister and brother. The compartment was extremely crowded. As we prepared to disembark, I felt my skirt being lifted and someone groping my private parts. It was terrible. I wanted to scream, but my voice would have drowned in the noise of the crowd. I wanted to push the hands away, but my arms were pinned to my body. I wanted to cry but could only think to myself, "Stop it! Please stop touching me." I was 13 years old. I never told anyone about that day until recently. Twenty-five years later, I continue to hear similar stories of women and girls being harassed on local transportation and other public spaces. The stories can be stomach churning: men masturbating on buses and at bus stops, boys stalking young girls -- both physically and online, men taking pictures of women without permission and uploading them on the Internet. Then there are just the everyday, uncomfortable stares, frequently accompanied by comments with sexual connotations. This isn't all simply anecdotal. A study by We the People found that 80% of women in Mumbai had been street harassed, primarily in crowded areas like trains and railway platforms. Most people, including women, only think of sexual violence as rape and tend to overlook touching, groping and stalking, not to mention the "milder" forms of ogling, leering, catcalling and whistling, even though all of this can be intimidating. Indeed, many women choose to limit their hours outside, select more conservative clothes, or opt for a longer but safer route home. It was only recently that I realized my phobia of trains likely originated with that bad experience I had as a child. I still avoid trains when I can. Most people are silent when inappropriate sexual behavior occurs to women. It was depressing to hear one young college student tell me in a recent sexual harassment workshop I led that "staring and commenting by men is normal and I've learned to ignore it." The reality is that sexual harassment in India is pervasive in all aspects of life. It hits you in the face every day when you walk down the street, take local transport, go about your daily routine or at the workplace. According to U.N. Women's report, 1 in 3 women around the world face some form of sexual violence at least once in their lifetime. This statistic is likely even higher in India. Out of the 2,000 women who have attended workshops I've conducted, only a handful of them have never been at the receiving end of harassment in some setting of their daily lives. Shockingly, less than 10 of them had reported harassment to any official channel. Why are we constantly limiting our options rather than confronting sexual harassment? Over the past two years, I have been working to encourage women to talk about their experiences and realize the tremendous potential power they hold within themselves through acknowledging the problem and being a part of the change to shift the culture around sexual harassment in India. It is not always easy speaking up about sexual harassment. I know firsthand. But acknowledging that it is unacceptable is an important first step. India has laws for sexual violence in public spaces as well as at the workplace, and knowing these rules gives women the power to confront her harasser. But is it enough? Women still have to confront the cultural challenge of not feeling "ashamed" and bringing "disrepute" to their families while overcoming their fear of dealing with the police, who too often file complaints in the wrong categories to reduce the number of official cases on which their performance is judged. However, despite the barriers, two recent cases in India provide proof that even when the perpetrator is in a position of immense power, coming forward to report sexual harassment can make a difference. There is, for example, the young employee from an environmental research organization who alleged that her boss Rajendra Pachauri made unwelcome advances to her through text messages. Her bold and persistent quest for justice resulted in Pachauri stepping down from his position as chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Pachauri denied the allegations and insisted his computer and phone were hacked. His counsel stated in court that Pachauri's inbox was not hacked, but he had shared the password with several people who could have sent inappropriate emails to the employee under his name. Similarly, last year, Tarun Tejpal, founder of one of India's leading media companies, was arrested for sexually assaulting his employee in an elevator. She first told her female editor who reportedly did not take her seriously. She then spoke about it to her male colleagues who encouraged her to report the incident to the police. Tarun Tejpal, who explained the incident as a "bad lapse of judgment," was let out on interim bail while the case is still ongoing. Women have allies -- both male and female -- who are willing to help clear the barriers. Women everywhere just need to find the courage to speak up. The alternative to speaking out is a world where women feel less able to live full lives, restricted and disempowered. We cannot accept harassment as part of our daily routine. We cannot ignore it -- for our own sake and the next generation of women. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Jonathan Crombie is best known for playing Gilbert Blythe in "Anne of Green Gables"
Book, movies about girl sent to live on Canadian farm . | (CNN)Canadian actor Jonathan Crombie, who co-starred in the "Anne of Green Gables" TV movies, died this week at age 48. Crombie died Wednesday from complications of a brain hemorrhage, "Anne of Green Gables" producer Kevin Sullivan said. "It's a real tragedy to see someone at age 48 go like that," he said. "I will remember him as someone who worked extremely hard to make the roles he played onscreen come to life." Based on Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery's children's books, "Anne of Green Gables" debuted in Canada on CBC TV in 1984 and became a cultural touchstone. The plot focused on the adventures of fiery orphan Anne Shirley, played by Megan Follows, who is sent to live on a farm in Prince Edward Island. Crombie played Gilbert Blythe, who evolves over time from Anne's pigtail-tugging tormentor to friend to husband. Follows and Crombie reprised the roles in the sequels "Anne of Avonlea" (1987) and "Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story" (2000). The movies were carried in the United States by the Disney Channel and PBS, drawing a cult following beyond Canada and extending to Japan, which made its own animated series based on the books. Crombie, son of former Toronto Mayor David Crombie, was cast in the role at 17, beating out other aspiring Canadian actors of the era, including Jason Priestly, Sullivan said. Despite his lack of acting experience, Crombie's boy-next-door looks and cool demeanor made him the perfect actor to star opposite Follows, Sullivan said. "It was an amazing chemistry between him and Megan Follows," Sullivan said. "There was a lot of affection, but they kind of grounded each other." The movies spawned various spinoffs, including "Road to Avonlea," starring child actor Sarah Polley, and turned Anne's fictional home on Prince Edward Island into a popular tourist destination. The role made Crombie a heartthrob of his time, a sentiment expressed by many fans in the wake of his death. As one person said on Twitter, "I don't know any female Canadian from my generation that *didn't* have at least a little bit of a crush on Jonathan Crombie as Gilbert." Crombie went on to play roles in other American and Canadian TV shows, including "21 Jump Street" and "The Good Wife," but even his Facebook page acknowledges he is best known for his portrayal of Gilbert Blythe. Crombie's sister told CBC News that her brother happily answered to the name Gil when greeted by fans in public. "I think he was really proud of being Gilbert Blythe," she said. "He really enjoyed that series and was happy, very proud of it -- we all were." People we've lost in 2015 . | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Al-Shabaab's attack on Garissa University College is the group's deadliest so far in Kenya .
Authors: The group is under pressure from African Union forces and a covert U.S. war . | (CNN)This week's attack on Garissa University College is Al-Shabaab's fifth major assault in Kenya in the past year and a half. The Thursday massacre was the most deadly assault so far, with 147 dead, easily eclipsing the terrorist group's most notorious attack, a four-day siege in late September 2013 at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi in which 67 people were killed. After the Westgate attack, Al-Shabaab unleashed a string of attacks in Kenya that have killed more than 100 people -- assaulting the coastal town of Mpeketoni on June 16, 2014; shooting bus passengers who could not recite the Quran on November 22, 2014; and then, days later, executing Christian quarry laborers. Why is Al-Shabaab, a Somali nationalist, Islamist group affiliated with al Qaeda, targeting Kenya? Al-Shabaab says its attacks are to protest the more than 3,500 Kenyan soldiers participating in the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia. But if that is the case, why doesn't Al-Shabaab target Kenyan military bases rather than attacking undefended so-called soft targets such as Kenyan malls and universities? In fact, Thursday's attack on the university is one more sign of the weakness of Al-Shabaab, which has steadily been losing ground for years in Somalia as a result of the African Union forces fighting them there, as well as a covert U.S. drone and Special Operations Forces campaign that has also degraded the group's capabilities. In 2006, Al-Shabaab controlled the Somali capital of Mogadishu and, in the following years, much of central and southern Somalia. Six years later, African Union forces had recaptured Mogadishu, parts of southern Somalia and critical cities such as Kismayo. The loss of Kismayo, Al-Shabaab's last city stronghold and an important port, took a financial toll on the group. Ground battles with African Union forces have decimated Al-Shabaab's rank-and-file, while U.S. drone strikes and Special Operations raids have killed some of the group's leaders. In the past four years, according to a count by New America, the U.S. has launched a dozen drone strikes and six Special Operations raids against Al-Shabaab. These strikes and raids -- almost all occurring in southern Somalia -- have targeted the terrorist group's training camps and leaders. American drones or special operators have killed 10 leaders: Aden Hashi Ayro, the top commander; Ahmed Abdi Godane, Ayro's successor; a top commander, Sheikh Muhidin Mohamud Omar; Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a senior official who operated training camps; commander Jabreel Malik Muhammed; Bilal al-Berjawi, the deputy of military leader Fazul Abdullah Mohammed; chief bomb-maker Ibrahim Ali Abdi; intelligence chief Tahlil Abdishakur; Yusef Dheeq, the chief of external operations and planning for intelligence and security; and Adan Garar, who was involved in planning the Westgate Mall attack. Al-Shabaab has been unraveling for years. Thursday's attack should remind the world that the group is a pale shadow of the organization that once dominated much of Somalia but now is reduced to high profile attacks against undefended civilian targets. . | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Former rap mogul Marion "Suge" Knight will be tried for murder in a videotaped hit-and-run .
His bail is reduced to $10 million from $25 million .
A judge dismisses one of four charges against Knight . | Los Angeles (CNN)Former rap mogul Marion "Suge" Knight was ordered Thursday to stand trial for murder and other charges stemming from a deadly hit-and-run confrontation on the movie set of the biopic "Straight Outta Compton" earlier this year. In addition to that ruling, Judge Ronald Coen also lowered Knight's bail to $10 million from $25 million, a figure that defense lawyers called excessive. The judge also dismissed one of the two counts of hit-and-run against Knight. In all, Knight will stand trial on one count of murder, one count of attempted murder and one count of hit-and-run, the judge ruled after holding a two-day preliminary hearing this week that ended Thursday. Knight, 49, faces up to life in prison if convicted. Knight suffers diabetes and blot clots, and the case has clearly strained him: He collapsed in court last month after learning of the $25 million bail and he was taken to the hospital for treatment. Knight was in court Thursday. At the end of hearing, he turned around and looked at his family in the gallery, and he smiled to his fiancee as deputies led him handcuffed out of the courtroom. In a press conference after the hearing, fiancee Toi Kelly said regarding Knight's health that he is "doing much better." The judge dismissed the other hit-and-run count because California law says no more than one charge of hit-and-run should be brought against a defendant when the same weapon, in this case the vehicle Knight was driving, is used against several people. Knight is accused of running over two men, killing one of them, during an argument. Killed was Terry Carter, 55. The survivor is Cle Sloan, 51, who in testimony this week declined to identify Knight as his attacker because Sloan doesn't want to be a "snitch" who sends Knight to prison, according to CNN affiliates KABC and KTLA. Prosecutors offered Sloan immunity, but he still refused to testify against Knight on Monday, the affiliates reported. The deadly incident happened on January 29, after a flare-up on the set of the biopic "Straight Outta Compton," a film about the highly influential and controversial rap group N.W.A. The alleged argument spilled over to the parking lot of Tam's Burgers in Compton. At the time, Knight was out on bail in a separate robbery case. The hit-and-run was captured on videotape and allegedly shows Knight inside a red truck. In the video, the truck pulls into the entrance of the Compton restaurant, and he is then approached by Sloan, who was working security on the site. The two men appear to talk for a few moments, with Knight still in his vehicle. Suddenly, the vehicle backs up, knocking Sloan to the ground. While still in reverse, the truck moves out of range of the security camera. The vehicle is then seen zooming forward, back into camera range, running over Sloan a second time, and then running over a second man, Carter, a former rap music label owner. Carter later died. In closing arguments prior to the judge's ruling, Knight's attorney Matthew Fletcher argued that Knight was the victim. Knight was only defending himself against Sloan, whom the defense attorney accused of possessing a gun at the time. "Mr. Sloan is the initial and consistent aggressor," Knight's attorney argued. "There's no intent to kill, there's an intent to survive." "Even without a gun, we know Mr. Sloan was brave enough to attack in broad daylight," the defense attorney said. Fletcher added that Knight's defense was to stand his ground. Sloan "needed immunity because he was the actual aggressor," Fletcher said. "He is the person who got Terry (Carter) killed." Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Cynthia Barnes argued, however, told the judge that Knight was engaged in "mutual combat situation" where he used his car as deadly weapon. If Knight "ever had the right of self-defense, the moment he backed-up and Mr. Sloan was ran-over, he lost the right of self-defense," Barnes said. "There was pre-mediation and intent when he (Knight) ran over him a second time." Knight is scheduled to be arraigned on April 30. The incident is the latest run-in with the law for Knight, who founded the wildly successful Death Row Records in 1991 and signed artists such as Snoop Doggy Dogg (now known as Snoop Lion) and Tupac Shakur. Knight was driving the car in which Shakur was a passenger when the rapper was shot to death in Las Vegas in 1996. Shortly afterward, Knight spent several years in prison for violating parole on assault and weapons convictions. That prison time -- along with Shakur's death, feuds between Knight and a number of rappers, and desertions by Dr. Dre, Snoop and others -- contributed to the label's bankruptcy in 2006. In August, Knight and two other people were shot while inside a celebrity-filled Sunset Strip party hosted by singer Chris Brown on the eve of the MTV Video Music Awards. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
It's National Park Week, and that means the parks are free April 18-19 .
Stargazing, Revolutionary War programs and other fun happens this week . | (CNN)From the giant sequoias of Yosemite to the geysers of Yellowstone, the United States' national parks were made for you and me. And for Saturday and Sunday, they're also free. Though most of the National Park Service's 407 sites are free year-round, the 128 parks that charge a fee -- like Yellowstone and Yosemite -- will be free those two days. It's all part of National Park Week, happening April 18 through April 26, and it's hosted by the National Park Service and the National Park Foundation. Check out night-time astronomy parties, daytime Revolutionary War programs, Earth Day parties and family-friendly Junior Ranger activities at national park sites across the country. Not sure how to start? Go to FindYourPark.com to learn more about park sites near you. Go to www.nationalparkweek.org for more ideas on how to explore. Then the park service wants people to share their stories using the hashtag #FindYourPark and at FindYourPark.com. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
CNN's John Sutter told the story of the "Poor kids of Silicon Valley"
HUD Secretary Julián Castro: Our shortage of affordable housing is a national crisis that stunts the economy . | (CNN)Can you imagine paying $1,000 a month in rent to live in a one-car garage? Nicole, a 30-year-old woman, doesn't have to imagine this scenario because it's her everyday reality. The small and unusual living space is all that this employed, single mother can afford in her high-cost community in San Mateo, California. Nicole isn't alone in her struggles. CNN recently published a powerful piece called "Poor kids of Silicon Valley" that documents the affordable housing challenges facing families in the Bay Area. One aspect featured a house that is home to 16 people, including 11 children. Another chronicles a husband and wife named Rich and Stacey, both of whom have jobs, who are living in a San Jose homeless shelter with their two kids because they don't have the money to go anywhere else. Although Silicon Valley has unique characteristics, it isn't the only community confronting these challenges. Our entire nation is in the midst of an affordable housing crisis. The agency I lead, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, recently released a report estimating that 7.7 million low-income households live in substandard housing, spend more than half their incomes on rent or both. These are families who are dedicating $1 out of every $2 they earn just to keep a roof over their head. And the more they spend on housing, the less they have to invest in their children's education, build up savings and shop at local businesses. These are outcomes that hurt our nation's economy and require us to respond with swift and bold action. HUD is working with local partners across the country to do just that. First, we're focusing on preserving the affordable housing that already exists. Since the mid-1970s, we have directed and insured loans for multifamily properties that have resulted in more than 700,000 affordable units. But by 2020, we're in danger of losing more than 125,000 because these mortgages are maturing, ending agreements to control rents in these units. So we've launched a preservation effort with private partners to keep these properties affordable for generations to come. We're also doing the same with public housing. Right now, the nation is losing 10,000 units of public housing every year, mainly because of disrepair, HUD created the Rental Assistance Demonstration initiative to bring private investment into the fold for the public good. It's cost neutral for the federal government and making a big impact for communities such as Lexington, North Carolina, where the local housing authority is making 58 years' worth of repairs in just 22 months, including new lighting, modern windows and better insulation to help residents stay warm and cut energy costs. RAD has allowed local communities to raise more than $733 million in new capital to date. That's why we're asking Congress to give every community the chance to participate by lifting the restrictions on this program. No American should ever have to wait six decades to have a decent and healthy place to call home. In addition to preservation, HUD is also working to create new affordable housing. A Harvard study revealed that in 2012, there were 11.5 million extremely low-income households and only 3.3 million affordable units available. It's clear that we can't preserve our way out of this problem. We've got to grow the supply to meet demand, so HUD is taking a multifaceted approach. For example, our HOME Investment Partnerships Program is leveraging $4 in private and other public resources for every $1 in HOME funds and leading to more than 1 million new and rehabilitated units for rent or sale to lower income families. This is more than just a statistic: It is progress for people, from the families living in the Broadway Crossing development in Washington to the seniors living in the Woodcrest Retirement Residence in Pennsylvania. To keep this momentum going, we've asked Congress to increase HOME funding by 16% to keep building affordable homes, prosperous partnerships and strong communities across the nation. We are also asking Congress to expand our Housing Choice Voucher Program, which allows recipients of modest means, the elderly, and people with disabilities to find housing in the private market. This includes restoring 67,000 vouchers that were lost to sequestration. And we're targeting our resources where they can have a big impact. For instance, HUD awarded $94 million in targeted homelessness assistance to 274 programs across the San Francisco Bay Area, including Silicon Valley, in January. And we continue to work with local partners to encourage private investment. To empower communities, President Barack Obama has also requested $300 million for new Local Housing Policy Grants to help them increase housing affordability, economic growth and access to jobs. All of this work is making a significant contribution to families and communities from coast-to-coast. Our nation's affordable housing challenges won't be solved overnight, and we still need to do more to make sure that more folks are able to prosper. Let's not squander this chance to make real progress for American families. Incredible things can happen when a wide variety of leaders come together for the common good. By leveraging private investment and increasing collaboration with state, local and tribal governments and other traditional housing partners, I know we can build a future where affordable housing is available to all. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Debra Lobo, 55, is unconscious but is expected to survive after being shot Thursday, police say .
She is vice principal of the Jinnah Medical and Dental College in Karachi .
Police: She was on her way to pick up her daughters from school when she was shot . | (CNN)An American citizen was wounded by gunfire Thursday as she drove from the medical school in Karachi, Pakistan, where she works, police said. Debra Lobo, a 55-year-old California native, was shot in the right cheek and left arm and is unconscious but expected to survive, according to Mohamad Shah, a Karachi police spokesman. Police found pamphlets that the assailants had thrown into Lobo's car, written in Urdu, saying "America should be burnt," Shah said. Lobo had left the Jinnah Medical and Dental College, where she works as vice principal, to pick up her two daughters from school. Two assailants on a passing motorcycle shot her while she was driving, Shah said. "Our U.S. Consulate General in Karachi is in close contact with Pakistani authorities and is working to obtain more information," said a U.S. Embassy spokesperson. Lobo is being treated at the Karachi's Aga Khan Hospital, said Shah. She has lived in Pakistan since 1996 and is married to a Christian Pakistani who is a librarian at the American School in Karachi. Karachi police are investigating, Shah said. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Columbia journalism school team finds major lapses in Rolling Stone's University of Virginia rape story .
Errol Louis: Incredibly, the magazine isn't holding its staff accountable or changing procedures . | (CNN)A jury of Rolling Stone's media peers has dissected the magazine's disastrous, discredited story about rape on the campus of the University of Virginia, and the emerging consensus is that Rolling Stone's lapses and sloppy blunders amount to journalistic malpractice -- made all the worse by the magazine's head-in-the sand reaction to the thorough, devastating report released by a panel of investigators from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Rolling Stone's egregious mistakes of reporting and editing are regrettable but understandable. The magazine's decision not to fire anybody or reorganize its newsroom operation is not. Before the original story, "A Rape on Campus," was pulled from the Rolling Stone website, it registered 2.7 million hits following its publication in November -- more than any noncelebrity story in the magazine's history. An anonymous undergraduate, given the name "Jackie," told Rolling Stone writer Sabrina Rubin Erdely she had been invited to a party thrown by Phi Kappa Psi fraternity in 2012 -- only to end up beaten and gang-raped by seven boys, who were allegedly coached along in the attack by the same student, a casual acquaintance, who had invited Jackie to the party. The horrific allegations sparked protests against the fraternity, a police investigation, the temporary suspension of all fraternities at the school and a nationwide debate about the prevalence of sexual violence on college campuses. But the story began to unravel almost immediately when Washington Post reporter T. Rees Shapiro took a closer look, leading Rolling Stone to back away from the story and request a review by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. That review, which is considerably longer than the original article, reveals startling lapses in basic journalistic practice. Rolling Stone writer Erdely never verified the identity of the attacker and therefore never confronted him with the allegations; she never spoke to three of Jackie's friends who allegedly talked with Jackie immediately after the attack, and she never gave the fraternity a fair chance to respond, refusing to provide specific information about what happened and when. And at every step of the way, when Jackie began acting flaky -- refusing to provide basic information needed to verify her story or vanishing for weeks at a time without returning calls from the reporter -- neither Erdely nor her editors or the magazine's fact checkers made the hard but necessary decision to hit the pause button and decline to run the story. Having worked part time as a journalism professor for a decade (including one semester at Columbia), I would agree with colleagues who call Rolling Stone's lapses the kind that would be unacceptable in a freshman classroom. I've told students for years: You should never print allegations without giving people a fair chance to respond. And you should never take a source's word about important facts without verifying the truth. (There's a reason we call it reporting and not dictation.) Most of all, I tell students, remember that you're writing about human beings, who are complicated creatures: The good guys are never all that good, and the bad guys usually aren't completely bad. People can be mistaken or deceitful, I tell young reporters, they frequently forget and often lie to themselves. That doesn't make a source useless, but it must make you extra careful. Unfortunately, the early word from Rolling Stone is that they've absorbed none of these lessons. Publisher Jann Wenner has apparently decided not to fire, demote or discipline anybody at Rolling Stone, provoking expressions of disbelief among seasoned journalists. "No one fired at Rolling Stone. Really?" wrote CNN media critic Brian Stelter. "What would Rolling Stone in its heyday write about an institution that screwed up unbelievably, damaged people's lives, but punished no one?" tweeted John Bresnahan, the Capitol bureau chief of Politico. "Rolling Stone outsources its investigation to Columbia and proceeds to do nothing in terms of individual accountability afterward? OK...," tweeted pundit Joe Concha. Worse still, the editors who committed the blunder seem unprepared to revamp their operation to prevent a repeat of the debacle, framing the error as an earnest but misguided attempt to believe the word of a sexual assault victim. "Rolling Stone's senior editors are unanimous in the belief that the story's failure does not require them to change their editorial systems," the Columbia report says. And check out this amazing conclusion from Will Dana, the managing editor who presided over the disaster. Dana told the Columbia team: "It's not like I think we need to overhaul our process, and I don't think we need to necessarily institute a lot of new ways of doing things. We just have to do what we've always done and just make sure we don't make this mistake again." That smug attitude pretty much ensures Rolling Stone's newsroom managers will commit another goof in the future. At a minimum, they should heed the wise counsel of my friend Bill Grueskin, an executive editor at Bloomberg who formerly served as dean of academic affairs at the Columbia J-school. "When doing big, investigative stories, reporters face many challenges: recalcitrant sources, complex numbers, buried records. Editors, whose labors are usually cloaked in anonymity, are spared most of those hurdles. But they face their own internal newsroom challenges, particularly when handling a potential blockbuster story," Grueskin writes. "They must keep their star reporters happy, trim verbiage that interrupts the narrative, and deal with the expectations of bosses hungry for prizes and traffic." The problem could be, says Grueskin, that Rolling Stone had too many chefs in the kitchen, instead of "a single, talented editor with an intact set of vertebrae." Until Wenner and his team learn that basic lesson -- and revamp their hiring, editing and fact-checking process accordingly -- the Rolling Stone fiasco will eventually be followed by another, one made less forgivable because we all saw it coming. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Jon Cryer revives "Pretty in Pink's" Duckie dance routine for "The Late Late Show"
Host James Corden tweets that the bit "fulfilled a childhood dream" | (CNN)Duckie's still got moves. On Tuesday night's "Late Late Show" on CBS, actor Jon Cryer reprised the character's record-store dance to Otis Redding's "Try a Little Tenderness," right down to the wall-dancing, the counter-bashing and, of course, the trademark white shoes. In the original scene, one of the best-loved bits from the 1986 John Hughes film, Cryer dances around a record store, lip-syncing the song as he tries to win the affection of Molly Ringwald's Andie. In Tuesday's recreation, he dances in tandem with host James Corden, who tweeted that he'd "fulfilled a childhood dream" by re-creating the scene with Cryer -- who turned 50 on Thursday. "I watched that 'Try a Little Tenderness' dance routine so many times, the tape on the VHS wore out," Corden said on the show. Like Cryer, who has most recently appeared on "Two and a Half Men," many of the film's original fans are well into middle age. But still some may have squealed like teenagers when they saw the routine. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Stephanie Coontz: Indiana, Arkansas governors caught off guard by outrage, boycotts over anti-LGBT law .
She says religious conservatives who discriminate no longer hold sway in a culture comfortable with diversity, including same-sex marriage . | (CNN)The public outrage over the "religious freedom" bills recently passed in Arkansas and Indiana caught the governors of those states completely off-guard, judging by their confused and contradictory responses. As poll watchers, they surely knew that most Americans now oppose the discriminatory laws and practices they accepted as normal only a dozen years ago. But the politicians underestimated the pushback organized by local and national businesses, including companies with no previous record of public support for social equality. They had better adjust to a new reality. For the past three decades, socially conservative evangelicals and pro-business interests have been powerfully allied against government regulations, environmental initiatives and social welfare programs, while supporting lower taxes for the wealthy and pushing back against the growing diversity in America's population. For many, this alliance been puzzling: Other, equally devout Christians who place more emphasis on Jesus Christ's message of unconditional love and on his denunciations of excessive wealth and neglect of the poor, have been uncomfortable with it, as have many business leaders. Their priorities, after all, are based on the bottom line. And companies that sell goods and services to the public are learning that support for discrimination -- or even passive acceptance of it -- threatens that bottom line. Hence, after Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signed a law that opened a new door for discrimination against same-sex couples, the threat of boycotts and other retaliation was swift, from groups as diverse as the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the Indiana Pacers, Walmart, Eli Lilly, Apple and even the Marriott International hotel chain. Marriott International was founded by J.W. Marriott, a dedicated Mormon, and is now run by his son Bill, also a Mormon who fully accepts his church's teachings about traditional marriage. Yet in June, Marriott International launched a "#Love Travels" marketing campaign, aimed at attracting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender travelers with an assurance of "the company's commitment to make everyone feel comfortable about who they are." Asked about the discrepancy between his religious rejection of same-sex marriage and his marketing overtures to same-sex honeymooners, Marriott pointed to the Bible's injunction of unconditional love, but added "beyond that, I am very careful about separating my personal faith and beliefs from how we run our business." In 2014, global spending by LGBT travelers was estimated at more than $200 billion, and spending by this market segment is rising much faster than overall spending on travel. So Marriott worries when states start to make such travelers feel unwelcome. Businesses seeking to develop brand loyalty among younger consumers have a special incentive to highlight their rejection of anti-gay bias. A CNN poll taken in February found that 72% of millennials nationwide believe that same-sex couples have the right to have their marriages recognized as valid. Even among white evangelical Protestants, 43% of millennials support same-sex marriage, compared with less than 20% of those their grandparents' age, 68 and older. It used to be that businesses could close their eyes to discrimination in areas geographically isolated from the more liberal coasts, but that is no longer possible. According to researchers for MTV's "Look Different" anti-bias campaign, 90% of youths aged 14 to 24 agree that it is important to make their communities a less biased place, and almost 80% say that everyone has a responsibility to help tackle bias. So who's the "moral majority" now? For media-savvy millennials, following that moral imperative means spreading the news about discrimination wherever it occurs and reaching beyond geographic boundaries to mobilize against it. In the first 24 hours after Arkansas passed its version of the "religious freedom" bill, the Twitter hashtag #BoycottArkansas was used 12,000 times. It then snowballed after celebrity blogger Perez Hilton tweeted it to his 5.9 million Twitter followers. America has crossed a threshold where it is no longer a good business model or political strategy to be intolerant of diversity, whether that pertains to race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation. Since 2011, the majority of children that have been born in the United States each year are members of racial or ethnic minorities. Hispanics are projected to account for most of the growth in the labor force between now and 2060. Women now lead men in educational attainment. And more than half of Americans live in states where same-sex marriage is legal. Business leaders and politicians who ignore or offend these constituencies do so at their own peril. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Ines Dumig's photo series "Apart Together" follows a Somali refugee living in Germany .
The underlying themes include isolation and "otherness" and the search for human dignity . | (CNN)Editor's Note: Ines Dumig was recently announced as a CENTER Grant Recipient. Sahra, a Somali refugee, left her home at 14 years old. Throughout her journey in search of asylum, she managed to overcome dangers and discomforts. But she never gave up, and she continuously reminded herself to keep going. She's the focus of Ines Dumig's photo series "Apart Together." Dumig met Sahra through a photo workshop at Refugio, a shelter in Munich, Germany, for refugees and torture victims. What drew Dumig to Sahra specifically was her strength and her ability to effectively reflect on all of her experiences. "It really impressed me how she deals with everything," Dumig said. "She's strong in her way of connecting with the culture here and also reflecting on what happened, the culture where she comes from." The number of refugees seeking asylum in the European Union increased by 25% last year, with Germany receiving the most applications. One of the reasons Dumig decided to photograph Sahra is because growing up in Germany made Dumig realize that she lived a fortunate lifestyle. Another reason has to do with Dumig's interest in people's emotions and finding one's identity. "I realized so many people want to come to Europe, and I always had the feeling to disappear or to go away," Dumig said. "Seeing how people live in other parts of the world made me realize how privileged I am." "Apart Together" serves not only as a documentation of Sahra, but as a far-reaching story about people from all backgrounds. The title of Dumig's work refers to the fact that although people may be physically apart from one another, the comparable feelings they experience are what link all people together. "Sometimes we feel strong, sometimes we feel lost -- that's kind of universal, I think," Dumig said. "That's why I want to universalize (Sahra's) story as well, not only make it about her." The underlying themes of "Apart Together" include the feelings of isolation and "otherness" and the search for a valuable human dignity. Social media . Follow @CNNPhotos on Twitter to join the conversation about photography. "Every one of these (refugees) have strong stories, and in the bureaucratic system, they are just a number or a document," Dumig said. "But they are a person, they are people with emotions and lives." Sahra is currently under the status of "suspension of deportation," meaning German immigration officials may grant her discretionary relief from deportation. Dumig describes Sahra as someone living through an unresolved situation. Regardless of the challenges Sahra faces as a refugee in Germany, she is a survivor and the embodiment of resilience, determined to establish a new life for herself. She has learned to speak German fluently, and she has started working in the nation as well. Like an unsolved photographic puzzle, each photo within "Apart Together" provides a piece of insight into Sahra's experiences. There is no certain and clear way in which to arrange the pieces, because they are a representation of the fragmented nature of Sahra's life. Many of Dumig's photos are not of Sahra herself, but instead show her surroundings. This makes "Apart Together" rich in symbolism and challenges viewers to develop their own perceptions. The photos are powerful because of this symbolic nature, as there are infinite interpretations attached to each one. "I think everyone interprets by themselves, by however way they perceive it through their own experience. That's up to the viewer," Dumig said. "It depends on who looks at the pictures. ... Everyone will see something different." "Apart Together" allowed Dumig to share various special moments with Sahra, and they were both able to learn from each other. "It was just something we both got something out of," Dumig said. Ines Dumig is a photographer based in Germany. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Stoll is a center who has played for the Kings since 2008 .
He is reportedly involved with sportscaster and "Dancing with the Stars" host Erin Andrews . | (CNN)Hockey player Jarret Stoll of the L.A. Kings was arrested Friday at the swimming pool of a Las Vegas resort on a drug-possession charge, CNN affiliate KSNV reported, citing a police spokesman. Stoll, 32, was charged with possession of controlled substances, including cocaine and ecstasy, according to KSNV. He was released from the Clark County Detention Center late Friday on $5,000 bail. The Kings said in a statement, "We are aware of police reports out of Clark County, Nevada regarding Jarret Stoll. Our organization is concerned and has begun conducting a thorough internal investigation. While we continue to actively gather facts, we are withholding further comment at this time." The Canadian player is a center and has been with the Kings since 2008. The Kings, who won the Stanley Cup two of the past three seasons, did not make the NHL playoffs this season. He is reportedly involved with TV personality Erin Andrews, who is a Fox Sports reporter and co-hosts "Dancing with the Stars." CNN contacted the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department to confirm details on Stoll's arrest, but according to the dispatcher no information was available until the beginning of the week. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Before he was slammed into by a police car, Mario Valencia fired a rifle with a loosened lock .
He shoplifted the gun and ammo from a Walmart, where a saleswoman who showed him the weapon alerted security .
Walmart says the lock was properly installed but police say it was loose when it was found . | (CNN)At first police in Marana, Arizona, thought the shoplifted gun Mario Valencia held as he walked through a busy office park was locked and unable to fire. The cable through the lever and trigger couldn't be taken off, an officer was told by an employee of the Walmart where Valencia took the gun and some rounds of ammunition. But just 10 seconds after the worker told police that ... a shot. Valencia had fired into the air, and less than a minute later a police car slammed into him in a move that ended a crime spree and sparked nationwide discussion on the officer's unusual tactic. The 36-year-old Valencia was hospitalized and within a few days transferred to jail where he faces 15 charges, including shoplifting the .30-30 rifle. That February morning, police have said, Valencia committed several crimes in nearby Tucson before stealing a car and driving to the Walmart in Marana. There he went to the sporting goods department, asked to see a rifle, then told an employee he wanted the ammunition. Officer who drove into suspect justified, chief says . The woman told police she gave Valencia the rounds because he told her he would break the case with the bullets inside. He also told her not to do anything stupid. In spite of that she also said she didn't feel threatened, leading police to charge him with shoplifting and not armed robbery. Walmart told CNN's Miguel Marquez that the store clerk acted appropriately, even using a code to alert security to call police. Valencia took the gun and ammo and fled into a nearby business park where he encountered an officer in a slow-moving patrol car. At one point he pointed the weapon at an officer and at another he pointed it at his head. The officer told him several times to put down the gun, police have said. The officers that were tailing him assumed that he likely couldn't shoot anyone because of the store's lock. Marana police on Thursday said the cable gun lock was still on the rifle when it was recovered. But the wire that goes through the trigger and the lever to reload the gun were loose enough to allow it to still be used, police said. It also should have been wrapped through the lever twice, not once, police said. A Walmart spokesman told CNN that the rifle had been properly locked and might have been affected by the hard blow caused by the police car. Valencia, who is in Pima County Jail, will appear in court again on May 18. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
A Delaware family becomes ill at the Sirenusa resort in the U.S. Virgin Islands .
Preliminary EPA results find methyl bromide was present in the unit where they stayed .
The U.S. Justice Department begins a criminal investigation into the matter . | (CNN)Two Delaware boys are in a coma and their father still is unable to talk or move two weeks after they became sick -- perhaps from pesticide exposure, federal officials say -- during a trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands, their lawyer said Saturday. Steve Esmond, his teenage sons and the teens' mother fell ill more than two weeks ago in St. John, where they were renting a villa at the Sirenusa resort. The family was airlifted to hospitals in the United States. The boys, 16 and 14, were in critical condition at a Philadelphia hospital on Saturday, the family's lawyer, James Maron of Delaware, said. "The boys are in rough shape," Maron said. "The family are all fighters," he added. "They're fighting for everything right now. I understand it's a long recovery." Esmond, also being treated at a hospital, is conscious but cannot move, Maron said. The teens' mother, Theresa Devine, was treated at a hospital but released, and is now in occupational therapy, Maron said. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Friday that the presence of a pesticide at the rented villa in St. John may have caused the illnesses, which were reported to the EPA on March 20. Paramedics were called to the villa, which the family began had been renting since March 14. Esmond was found unconscious; the boys and their mother were having seizures, Maron said. The lawyer did not say who called the paramedics. Elias Rodriguez, an EPA spokesman, said the agency's preliminary test results "do show that there was a presence of methyl bromide in the unit where the family was staying." Exposure to methyl bromide can result in serious health effects, including central nervous system and respiratory system damage, according to the EPA. The use of the pesticide is restricted in the United States because of its acute toxicity. It's not allowed to be used indoors. Only certified professionals are permitted to use it in certain agricultural settings. "It's an ongoing investigation; we're still on the island doing our assessment," Rodriguez said. "We have been doing different types of air sampling and wipe sampling." Final test results were expected next week. The EPA said it is working with local government agencies to investigate whether the family was made ill after a fumigation at the resort on March 18 and whether any environmental regulations or laws were violated. Maron, the family's attorney, declined to comment on the investigation. Depending on the season, the luxury villa where the family stayed rents between $550 and $1,200 per night. Sea Glass Vacations, which acts as a rental agent for several units at Sirenusa, said the unit directly below the one where the family stayed was recently treated for pests, but their unit was not treated. The company said it licensed an outside company, Terminix, for the pest control services. "Sea Glass Vacations does not treat the units it manages for pests but instead relies on licensed professionals for pest control services," the company said in a statement. The U.S. Department of Justice has initiated a criminal investigation into the matter, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing made Monday by ServiceMaster Global Holdings, the parent company of Terminix. In an email to CNN, a spokesman for Terminix wrote that the company is "committed to performing all work ... in a manner that is safe for our customers, employees, the public and the environment" and is "looking into this matter internally, and cooperating with authorities." "We're thinking about the family, and we join the community in wishing them a speedy recovery," Terminix wrote. The SEC filing described the injuries to the family members as "serious." | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
All U.S. Consulate personnel safe after blast, State Department spokeswoman says .
Suicide bombers blow up car near the U.S. Consulate in Irbil, Iraq . | (CNN)ISIS claimed responsibility for a suicide car bomb attack Friday near the U.S. Consulate in the Kurdish Iraqi city of Irbil, according to several Twitter accounts linked to the terror group. The U.S. Consulate was the target of the attack, ISIS said. At least four people were killed and 18 injured, police said. All U.S. Consulate personnel were safe and accounted for following the explosion, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said. Irbil is the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government. Police said the incident began with an explosion of a small improvised bomb in the area. After that blast, a car moved in the direction of the consulate. Security personnel fired at the car, which exploded but did not reach the consulate, a police official said. It appeared that people inside the car detonated explosives that the vehicle was carrying, according to the police official. A separate official, B.G. Hazhar Ismail, said three civilians were killed and five others were injured. Ismail is a spokesman for the Peshmerga, the force that defends Iraq's Kurdish region. The blast sent a huge fireball into the sky on a street parallel to the consulate. Dark smoke filled the air, and gunfire was heard intermittently for the next hour. One witness said he saw attackers in a gunbattle with consulate security and police. Helicopters circled the neighborhood where the blast occurred, and a loudspeaker at the consulate building warned people to stay indoors and away from windows. In addition to the U.S. Consulate, the blast occurred immediately across the street from a strip of bars, cafes and shops popular with expats and consulate employees. The State Department thanked the response by the Kurdish government and will investigate the bombing together with them. "The United States will continue to stand with the people of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region and all Iraqis as we work together in confronting these terrorist acts and towards our shared goal of degrading and defeating (ISIS)," the department said in a statement. CNN's Kareem Khadder and Jason Hanna and journalist Mat Wolf contributed to this report. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
South Africa is battling xenophobic violence after some said foreigners are taking jobs away .
A 14-year-old boy is among those killed after a mob with machetes targeted foreigners . | (CNN)More than 300 suspects have been arrested in South Africa in connection with deadly attacks on foreigners that have forced thousands to flee, the government said Sunday. "We once again unequivocally condemn the maiming and killing of our brothers and sisters from other parts of the continent," the government said. "No amount of frustration or anger can justify these attacks and looting of shops." Thousands sought refuge in temporary shelters after mobs with machetes attacked immigrants in Durban. The attacks in Durban killed two immigrants and three South Africans, including a 14-year-old boy, authorities said. Heavily armed police have scrambled to stop clashes after local residents accused immigrants from other African nations of taking their jobs. The government praised law enforcement agencies for stopping further bloodshed in Durban. "We believe that their commitment to duty has prevented injuries and even deaths that could have happened if they security forces had not acted," it said. The xenophobic sentiment is certainly not representative of all South Africans. "There has been an outpouring of support from ordinary South Africans who are disgusted with the attacks not only because they are foreign, or African, but because they are fellow human beings," said Gift of the Givers charity, which is helping those seeking refuge. The charity said last week that about 8,500 people had fled to refugee centers or police stations because of the violence. South Africa's government implored citizens to remember the country's history of overcoming challenges with the support of African neighbors. "During the Apartheid many South Africans fled persecution and death at the hands of the Apartheid government," it said in its statement. "Africa opened its doors and became a home away from home for many South Africans." President Jacob Zuma has canceled a trip to Indonesia and visited displaced foreign nationals in Chatsworth to express his support, the government said. The Gift of the Givers charity assured immigrants that it has a facility in Johannesburg to help those who might need shelter there. "We have tents and all essential supplies on standby but pray that sanity prevails and this does not become necessary," it said. In the past, Johannesburg has been the epicenter of anti-immigrant tensions. In 2008, scores were killed in attacks in the poorest areas of Johannesburg. Most of the victims were Zimbabweans who had fled repression and dire economic circumstances. In that attack, police arrested more than 200 people for various crimes including rape, murder, robbery and theft. CNN's Larry Register contributed to this report. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Davion Only took to the pulpit to find a forever home .
After some setbacks, his family is set to make it official in April . | (CNN)The boy who asked a church to help him find a forever parent finally has one. Desperate for a home in 2013, Davion Navar Henry Only dressed up in a suit and borrowed a Bible from the boys home where he lived. Then he headed to a St. Petersburg, Florida, church to make a plea for his own adoption. Now 16 years old, he had lived his entire life in foster care, bouncing from one home to another. The older he got, the less likely it was that he would be adopted. But the Tampa Bay Times documented his journey, and a video of his plea went viral. Thousands of calls came into his agency, and a minster's family in Ohio asked him to come live with them. But he got into a fight with one of their sons, and they sent him back to Florida. Forever wasn't forever in that case. And to the people who asked what went wrong, his social worker had the answer. "That boy spent his whole life in the system, that's what went wrong," Connie Going told the Tampa Bay Times. Photo helps gets teen adopted . For a year, he went through four more foster homes and wouldn't speak about what happened in Ohio. Finally, he reached out to Going, the woman who had been there for him since he was 7. Only had repeatedly asked her to adopt him, but she didn't think that she could be enough for him. She already had three children, ages 21, 17 and 14. But something changed in that latest call, and she knew she would finally say yes. So did her three children. Going rented a larger house, and Only moved into the home after his new mom passed the home study. His official adoption date is April 22. "I guess I always thought of you as my mom," Only told her before Christmas. "Only now I get to call you that for real, right?" | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Julian Zelizer: Elizabeth Warren was defiant about Wall Street, but Hillary Clinton likely won't be .
Zelizer: The Democrats need Wall Street's campaign donations to be competitive in 2016 . | (CNN)In response to reports of big banks threatening to withhold campaign funds from Senate Democrats, Sen. Elizabeth Warren last week offered a defiant response: "Bring it on." Warren said she isn't going to slack off on her calls for breaking up banks and other measures to rein in Wall Street. As Hillary Clinton prepares to officially launch her presidential campaign this month, she will need to make a choice about how much to highlight issues relating to economic inequality. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, who is also running for the Democratic nomination, is trying to steal Clinton's thunder by talking about the problems of disproportionate wealth. In other words, there are many signs that Democrats are planning to take on the big issue of economic inequality. But in other recent news, the likelihood that New York's Chuck Schumer will replace Harry Reid as leader of the Senate Democrats means the dreams of a more economically leftward party are crashing into political reality. While Schumer has been a very effective Democrat and skilled legislative leader, he is also a Wall Street Democrat who has spent much of his time courting and protecting powerful financial interests who run one of the dominant industries in his state. He is not alone. Even at his most progressive moments, President Barack Obama relied on Wall Street donations for both of his campaigns. Despite all the talk from conservatives about left-wing "socialism" in the White House, the financial community has been willing to open its coffers to Democrats without much concern, even in the 2012 election. Democratic populism can't really work within the current campaign finance system. The enormous pressures for parties to raise funds in campaigns has for many decades created pressure on Democrats, despite their political base, to court big donors. During the 1980s, California Democrat Tony Coelho, serving as the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and then as majority whip, made a strong appeal to savings and loans executives before the crash of the industry to catch up to Republicans who had been outflanking them in raising money. The Democrats were, and have continued to, losing their traditional base of campaign support --organized labor -- which had been a central source of campaign muscle since the 1930s, providing money and campaign assistance during campaigns. Without organized labor to serve as their foundation and with the pressure for raising private funds increasing, many Democrats concluded they needed business by their side. Democrats running for president have made the same kind of choices. In 2008, Obama disappointed many supporters upon becoming the first president to abandon the post-Watergate public finance system for campaigns altogether, preferring to raise money himself for the general campaign. While small donors were enormously important to his victories, so too were business and Wall Street executives. At the height of the financial crash, when public sentiment had clearly turned against Wall Street, the administration agreed to a financial regulation bill (Dodd-Frank) that was structured in such a way as to give powerful interests more than enough opportunity to limit the bite over the coming years. Wall Street, with an army of counsel, succeeded in eroding the impact of the legislation. Not only does the acceptance of our campaign finance system limit the policy choices Democrats can make, but it also greatly damages the party's brand name. As The Washington Post reported, the scandal that might bring down New Jersey Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez is the first involving large scale super PAC donations. At the heart of the story is almost $600,000 that physician Salomon Melgen gave to Senate Majority PAC, possibly in exchange for favors. This is not simply some sort of accommodation of Democrats to the corporate system. They don't have much of a choice. Without these funds, they won't be able to compete. In this election cycle, independent campaign donors are causing a huge stir. In conservative circles, the Koch brothers and their allies are throwing around enormous amounts of money to candidates who will support their deregulatory agenda. Individual donors such as Las Vegas gambling magnate Sheldon Adelson are causing ripples every time candidates speak, pressuring them to adjust their agenda. Democrats have found their own magnates for political support, such as Tom Steyer and George Soros. This is why campaign finance reform is so important, Without Congress changing the fundamental dynamics, there won't be much room for populism to thrive. Even if Democrats select someone like a Elizabeth Warren as their candidate or Hillary Clinton decides to move sharply to the left on economic policy, there won't be much room for reform when the time of governance actually starts. The Democratic Party needs Wall Street more than it needs to take a stand against Wall Street. Those are the facts on the ground. If Democrats really want to take on Wall Street and tackle economic inequality, they first have to bring about reform of the campaign finance system. If campaigns were publicly funded or there were more stringent limits on independent expenditures, Wall Street would have much more trouble achieving disproportionate influence. Reform could level the playing field. More often than not, campaign finance reform is an issue that gets sidetracked with little more than some pro forma words of support. A more populist economic agenda that revolved around progressive taxation and substantial public assistance to strengthen the middle class can only work in a different kind of political system. If things stay the same, Democrats can only continue to win elections by turning to their corporate and financial base of support. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Saudi officials say 500 Houthi rebels killed, but signs of progress appear scant .
Civilian casualties continue to mount .
U.N. Security Council favors Houthi arms embargo . | (CNN)Thursday will mark three weeks since Saudi Arabia began airstrikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen. But there is as yet little sign that the rebels are being driven back, that the fighting in Yemen is dying down or that lives there are being saved. To the contrary, increasingly more Yemenis appear to be fleeing the country, attempting the dangerous trip in rickety fishing boats across the Red Sea to the Horn of Africa -- a trip historically made by people fleeing Africa rather than the other way around. Hopes for stability, not only in Yemen but in the Middle East in general, are fading as fears grow that Saudia Arabia and Iran are fighting a proxy war in Yemen for regional domination. And the number of dead continues to mount. Yemen's health ministry said over the weekend that 385 civilians had been killed and 342 others had been wounded. The World Health Organization has put a higher figure on both tolls -- 648 killed and 2,191 wounded -- but includes militant casualties in the totals. The Houthis forced Yemeni President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi from power in January, though Hadi still claims he is Yemen's legitimate leader and is working with the Saudis and other allies to return to Yemen. Those allied with Hadi have accused the Iranian government of supporting the Houthis in their uprising in Yemen. Like the Iranians, the Houthis are Shiites. And like the Saudis, Hadi and his government are Sunni. Since it began on March 26, Saudi Arabia has launched more than 1,200 airstrikes. Saudi officials claim to have killed more than 500 Houthi rebels. The U.N. Security Council voted Tuesday in favor of an arms embargo on Houthis -- the minority group that has taken over large swaths of Yemen, including its capital, Sanaa -- and supporters of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The resolution "raises the cost" for the Houthis, according to Mark Lyall Grant, Britain's ambassador to the United Nations. In addition to the arms embargo, the resolution also demands that the Shiite group pull back and refrain from more violence and includes sanctions aimed at controlling the spread of terrorism, according to Grant. Russia abstained from Tuesday's vote, saying it didn't like the inclusion of sanctions. Why is Saudi Arabia bombing Yemen? | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
20-year-old American dancer makes $240 a month at Kremlin Ballet Theatre .
Joy Womack studied at Bolshoi Ballet Academy but left in cloud of controversy . | Moscow (CNN)Joy Womack is taking part in her first ballet class of the day at the Kremlin Ballet Theatre, kicking her legs up to her head, jumping and spinning across the room. After class, she eats boiled sweets, one after another -- they are a cheap form of energy. The dancer, raised in California and Texas, left her parents and eight brothers and sisters behind when she arrived in Russia six years ago, aged 15, speaking no Russian. She studied at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy and was one of the first Americans accepted from the school into the company. But in 2013 she left under a cloud -- media reports suggested she had claimed she was asked by an unnamed Boshoi official to pay $10,000 to dance in even small roles. The Bolshoi still stands by comments made at the time by its general director, Vladimir Urin. He asked the dancer to make an official complaint and defend her position legally, saying the theatre was ready to assist the law enforcement agencies to investigate the case and that "if the facts are legally established, those responsible should be punished accordingly." The dancer did not pursue a case against the Bolshoi. When she left the Bolshoi in 2013, Womack joined the Kremlin Ballet Theatre where she still works, aged 20, as a principal ballerina; dancing close to the Russian president's office, next to the cathedrals inside the red walls of the Kremlin. The surroundings may be opulent but her pay packet is not: for her role as a principal dancer Womack says she is paid around $240 a month -- which works out at around $8 a day. The dancer says the amount of money she makes in dollars each month has fallen as the Russian ruble has weakened -- the currency has suffered, in part, from a low oil price and international sanctions imposed on Russia over its annexation of Crimea last year. Womack says a friend helps her with accommodation and she says she has to make the money stretch in order to buy food. "For anyone paid a salary in rubles, especially since the crisis, it is extremely difficult. You have to decide what is worth more for you - experience or financial stability. I'm at a point in my life where experience is worth more." Sitting in the wings of the stage, chatting in Russian to the other dancers and stretching before her rehearsal for Swan Lake, she says she has to make the $185 in her bank account last for the next few weeks. To earn extra money she dances bigger roles or takes part in events abroad. The Kremlin Ballet Theatre says Womack's salary corresponds to her job title as a principal dancer and that, "on average, the salary [principal] dancers are paid is significantly higher" than $240 a month but that Womack could have been paid that equivalent in dollars "depending on the exchange rate on the day and depending on how much she danced in productions the previous month." As an American, Womack says she is paid the same as her contemporaries and is treated just like the Russians. But she says that is not always the case offstage. "It's extremely difficult to watch the deteriorating relationships between the United States and Russia. The great thing about working for a Russian company is that we are focused on creating art but...outside the ballet world it is difficult for foreigners; the general tendency tends to be more nationalistic and they unfortunately judge foreigners by their cover." Although relations between the U.S. and Russia have taken a nosedive since Russia's annexation of Crimea last March, Womack says she is "very loyal" to the Kremlin Ballet Theatre. "I love the Russian system and I'm very patriotic in that sense," she says. And despite the political situation -- and the money -- she says, "Russia has a lot to offer, it is a beautiful place that creates stars and that itself is worth investing one's career in. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Six young Minnesotans conspired to sneak into Syria and join ISIS "by any means necessary," prosecutors say .
The men, ages 19 to 21, were arrested Sunday .
They plotted for 10 months, the U.S. attorney for the District of Minnesota says . | (CNN)A group of six young Minnesota men conspired to sneak into Syria and join ISIS "by any means necessary," federal prosecutors said Monday. The group of friends, ages 19 to 21, were arrested Sunday. "What's remarkable about this case was that nothing stopped these defendants from plotting their goal," said U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger of the District of Minnesota. "They were not confused young men. They were not easily influenced. These are focused men who are intent on joining a terrorist organization by any means possible." Recruiting for the ISIS terrorist network is a particular problem in Minnesota's community of Somali immigrants. "People often ask who is doing the recruiting and when will we catch the person responsible," Luger said. "But it is not that simple. In today's case, the answer is that this group of friends is recruiting each other. They're engaged in what we describe as peer-to-peer recruiting." Zacharia Yusuf Abdurahman, 19; Adnan Farah, 19; Hanad Mustafe Musse, 19; and Guled Ali Omar, 20, were arrested in Minneapolis. Abdirahman Yasin Daud, 21, and Mohamed Abdihamid Farah, 21, were arrested in San Diego after driving there in hopes of crossing into Mexico, Luger said. They plotted for 10 months, Luger said. "Even when their co-conspirators were caught and charged, they continued to seek new and creative ways to leave Minnesota to fight for a terror group." Another friend, who was part of the group, changed his mind and became a cooperating witness for the FBI, even tape recording some meetings, Luger said. The FBI investigation has previously netted Abdullahi Yusuf, who has pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support to ISIS, and Hamza Ahmed, who has been indicted on charges of conspiring and attempting to provide material support to ISIS and is now pending trial, according to the criminal complaint. The complaint describes a man, identified only as "Nur," who has spent time in Syria and allegedly helped the six accused men. Four of the men who were arrested appeared in federal court on Monday but did not enter a plea. The judge ordered they all be held without bail, and a detention hearing was scheduled for Wednesday. CNN's Tony Marco contributed to this report. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta answers questions about medical marijuana .
Readers wanted to know how medical marijuana could ease symptoms of illnesses . | (CNN)In case you haven't noticed, we're in the midst of a medical marijuana revolution. Given the amount of questions and mystery surrounding the science behind it, Dr. Sanjay Gupta wanted to provide some insight. He's been investigating medical marijuana for the last couple of years. His research has resulted in three CNN documentaries, culminating with "Weed 3: The Marijuana Revolution," airing at 9 p.m. ET/PT Sunday. Gupta opened up to questions on Twitter. Here's what you wanted to know: . How does this affect me? Readers were curious about the effects of medical marijuana in easing symptoms of various ailments, asking how it could help with everything from life-threatening illnesses and neurological conditions to chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder. Gupta pointed out the 10 diseases where medical marijuana research could have an impact and how it helped to stop one young girl's severe seizures, and he also referenced other studies. He said that the potential benefits of medical marijuana for people suffering from PTSD is actually the subject of a federally approved study. The belief: It could suppress dream recall and allow those sufferers to focus on the present. There is also research into how the drug might affect the spasms associated with people who have multiple sclerosis. Medical marijuana could also be an important option for those who rely on painkillers, as painkiller overdose is the greatest preventable death in the United States, Gupta said. Why don't other doctors talk about it? Many of the questions around medical marijuana can be tied back to the fact that it's just not discussed much. Teaching about medical marijuana remains taboo in medical school. But Gupta also presented the science directly, showing what your body on weed looks like. Readers also wanted to know why people are so against the legalization of marijuana. Decades of misinformation, Gupta said. What are the drawbacks? With medical marijuana so misunderstood, there naturally is a fear of potential side effects. There are legitimate, long-term concerns with the developing brain, Gupta said, and suggested that readers seek out the research of Dr. Staci Gruber, who has conducted numerous studies on marijuana use and brain function. Isn't it dangerous? When confronted with questions rooted in fear about the dangers of medical marijuana, Gupta confessed that he used to believe the same thing -- that marijuana is dangerous without proven benefits. After extensive research, he said he changed his mind on weed. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Nepal civil war aftermath inspired Maggie Doyne to help children .
Doyne's BlinkNow Foundation supports a home for 50 children and a school that educates hundreds more.
Do you know a hero? Nominations are open for 2015 CNN Heroes . | Surkhet, Nepal (CNN)Ten years ago, with her high school diploma and a backpack, Maggie Doyne left her New Jersey hometown to travel the world before college. She lived in a Buddhist monastery, helped rebuild a sea wall in Fiji, then went to India and worked with Nepalese refugees. There, she met a young girl who wanted to find her family in Nepal. Doyne went with her. That's when Doyne's life took an unexpected turn. Do you know a hero? Nominations are open for CNN Heroes 2015 . A decade-long civil war had just ended in the country, and Doyne witnessed its effects firsthand. She met women and children who were suffering, struggling to survive. "It changed me," said Doyne, now 28. "There were children with mallets that would go into the riverbed, pick up a big stone and break it into little, little pieces (to sell). And they were doing that all day, every day." Doyne called her parents and asked them to wire her the $5,000 she had earned babysitting. In 2006, she purchased land in Surkhet, a district in western Nepal. She worked for two years with the local community to build the Kopila Valley Children's Home. Today, Kopila -- which means "flower bud" in Nepali -- is home to about 50 children, from infants to teenagers. Doyne started the BlinkNow Foundation to support and grow her efforts. In 2010, the group opened its Kopila Valley School, which today educates more than 350 students. Doyne lives in Nepal year-round, traveling to the U.S. a few times a year. See more CNN Heroes . The CNN Heroes team traveled to Surkhet and talked to Doyne about her work and the community she supports. Below is an edited version of their conversation. CNN: How does it work, raising nearly 50 kids? Maggie Doyne: It's communal living, for sure! We're a family of almost 50 kids ages 8 months to 16 years. Everybody just pitches in and helps each other. They all have their chores. They all have their duties. And everybody cooks the meals together and makes sure that they do their part to make the home run smoothly. The staff at the home, we call them the aunties and the uncles. We wake up in the morning and go off to school. And then come home and do homework and eat our meals together, and everybody goes to bed at night. CNN: How does a child come to live in your home? Doyne: Our first priority as an organization is to keep a child with their family if at all possible. In order to come into the home, you need to have lost both parents, or in some rare cases have suffered extreme neglect, abuse or have a parent who's incarcerated. We have to conduct a full investigation. So usually that involves going to the child's village, making calls, doing police checks, getting documentation and paperwork. We have to dig up birth certificates, death certificates, make sure that everything lines up the way that they say it does. CNN: Meanwhile, you have 350 children attending your school. What is their background? Doyne: Every single year we'll get from 1,000 to 1,500 applicants. And we choose the ones who are the most needful and really won't be in school without us. Most of them live in one room, a mud hut. A lot of them are just in survival mode. We try to relieve the burden from the family, so that the child has food, medical care, books, zero fees for education. CNN: What have you learned working with the local community in Nepal? Doyne: I learned very early on, from the beginning, that I couldn't come in and just be like, "Here, I have a vision. This is what we're going to do." That doesn't work. It has to be slow; it has to be organic. And it has to come from the community and be a "we" thing. It's really important to me that this is a Nepali project, working for Nepal, for the community. So the faces that you see are strong Nepali women and amazing Nepali role-model men. CNN: How does the project continue to grow? Doyne: We started with the home and then school. We run the school lunch program. Then we needed to keep our kids really healthy, so we started a small clinic and then a counseling center. From there we started getting more sustainable and growing our own food. And then from there we decided to start a women's center. We just bought a new piece of property to create a totally green and sustainable off-the-grid campus. This year we converted to solar energy. So we'll have a high school and then a day care, preschool, elementary, all the way up, and a vocational center where kids can become a thriving young adult with everything they need to succeed moving forward. It's become so much more than just a little girl with a backpack and a big dream. It's become a community. And I want to teach and have other people take this example and hope this sets a precedent for what our world can be and look like. Want to get involved? Check out the BlinkNow Foundation website at www.blinknow.org and see how to help. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Jason Warnock rescued a man whose SUV was dangling off the edge of a cliff .
Warnock: "I don't feel like I deserve any credit ... I just did what anyone would do" | (CNN)A freshly fallen tree in the roadway was Jason Warnock's first clue. Warnock was driving through a canyon in Lewiston, Idaho, on Wednesday when he saw the tree, then looked up to see an SUV dangling over the edge of a cliff. The only thing holding the GMC Yukon and its terrified driver from a 30-foot drop was a crumpled chain-link fence, still clinging to the earth above Bryden Canyon Road. "I seen that guy hanging there and he was trying to beat the window out or the door open and I was like 'Oh man,' 'cause only like five links were hanging there," Warnock told KXLY, a CNN affiliate. "I was like, I gotta do something and no one was doing anything." What Warnock did next, captured in a dramatic photo by Lewiston Tribune photographer Barry Kough, made headlines around the world. Warnock dashed from his car and scrambled up a hill to the Yukon and its driver, 23-year-old Matthew Sitko, who appeared to be in shock. "I got up there and I was like, 'Are you alright man?' He shook his head, yeah. I grabbed my Snap-on multi-tool and it had jagged edges on each end. I hit the window three times and it didn't break. Every time I hit it, the thing rocked like it was going to fall off," Warnock told KXLY. Sitko was finally able to get the passenger-side window down. Warnock then reached in and pulled Sitko out to safety -- a moment recorded by Kough's camera. Then Warnock disappeared. "I left and got out of there before anyone knew who I was," he said. He remained an unknown good Samaritan, his identity a mystery, until Kough's picture of the daring rescue appeared in the Lewiston paper and spread across the Internet. "I don't feel like I deserve any credit or anything," Warnock said. "I just did what anyone would do, went right back to work." Thanks to Warnock, Sitko went to the hospital with just minor injuries. "The Lewiston Police Department would like to thank Jason Warnock for his quick and decisive actions in helping Mr. Sitko and preventing the situation from worsening," said Roger Lanier, the interim police chief. Warnock told KXLY he didn't want or expect all the attention and would rather be fishing in the mountains than reading about himself. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Tom Brady to Gisele Bundchen: "You inspire me every day"
Bundchen had last runway show Wednesday .
She'll be focusing more on family, "special projects" | (CNN)It's obvious that Tom Brady's love for his wife, model Gisele Bundchen, will never go out of fashion. Bundchen walked the runway for the last time Wednesday, and the New England Patriots quarterback wasn't just there to support her in person, he expressed his emotions to the world on Facebook. "Congratulations Love of my Life," Brady wrote. "You inspire me every day to be a better person. I am so proud of you and everything you have accomplished on the runway. I have never met someone with more of a will to succeed and determination to overcome any obstacle in the way. You never cease to amaze me. Nobody loves life more than you and your beauty runs much deeper than what the eye can see. I can't wait to see what's next. I love you." He followed the text with two hashtags, #GOAT ("greatest of all time") and #thebestisyettocome. Bundchen, 34, announced her retirement from the catwalk last weekend. "I am grateful that at 14, I was given the opportunity to start this journey. Today after 20 years in the industry, it is a privilege to be doing my last fashion show by choice and yet still be working in other facets of the business," the Brazilian-born model wrote on Instagram. Supermodel Gisele Bundchen struts her stuff a final time . Bundchen was the highest-paid model in 2014, according to Forbes magazine, with a total $47 million in contracts. She is the face of Chanel and Carolina Herrera and has her own line of lingerie. Bundchen and Brady have been married since 2009. The couple has two children. What's next for Bundchen? Based on an interview she did with Brazil's Estado de S. Paulo newspaper, sounds like more quality time with Brady and their children. "I want to be with my family more and focus on special projects," she said. CNN's Shasta Darlington contributed to this story. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Photographer Timothy Bouldry spent time at a massive landfill in Guwahati, India .
About 100 families live inside the Boragaon landfill, but Bouldry said they are "content" | (CNN)The greater adjutant stork is a majestic bird. Standing about 5 feet tall with an average wingspan of 8 feet, it soars over the Boragaon landfill like a great protector. It knows the residents and shies away from strangers. "They are intelligent birds. Every time I got close to them they would fly away," photographer Timothy Bouldry said. The dirty, wet conditions of the landfill attracted the endangered stork, and the stork attracted Bouldry. Through a series of photos taken within a day, he captures what it's like to live inside one of the largest dumping grounds in India. The Boragaon landfill is located in the city of Guwahati, about 300 miles from Bangladesh near the Bhutanese border. It's 94 acres of mostly fresh waste, surrounded by swamplands. (Other landfills, Bouldry says, contain older, compacted trash.) For the past seven years, Bouldry has traveled the world photographing landfills. He's visited places such as Haiti, Venezuela and Colombia. The greater adjutant stork initially drew Bouldry to Boragaon, but he became connected with the people. About 100 families live inside the Boragaon landfill. Every day, they search the area for treasure -- a tiny scrap of metal, a bit of plastic, maybe a bone. They use large hooks to sort through the garbage, which sometimes reaches two or three stories high. They work in teams, and more than often they are barefoot. "They don't look at the things they're doing as being unsanitary or unhealthy or unsafe," Bouldry said. They collect plastic, metal and wires and sell it by the pound. The families make around $2 per day. Their homes are constructed by recycled materials, with sometimes several families living in one shanty at a time. With no electricity, no running water -- and an overabundance of trash -- they are experts at repurposing. "You might see a refrigerator being used as a closet," he said. Social media . Follow @CNNPhotos on Twitter to join the conversation about photography. Some of the children living in Boragaon go to school on scholarship, but most of them work in the landfill to provide for their families. But don't be deceived: The people living here feel anything but destitute. Bouldry uses words such as "love," "hope" and "spirituality" to describe them. "I found that the landfill community is content," Bouldry said. "They are not jaded by modern civilization." Bouldry lives and works inside the La Chureca landfill in Nicaragua, one of the largest landfills in the world. He helps the people living there grow gardens fertilized with compost he makes with organic waste from local smoothie shops. In addition to his photography, he teaches English and yoga classes a few times per week. But why? Bouldry went to art school in Boston. He's no stranger to sophisticated civilization. He said he found humanitarian photo projects to be the most fulfilling, and he became especially intrigued by landfills even though they are "scary, dirty and kind of grotesque." "This is my 'thank you' to the informal recyclers of the world," he said. Timothy Bouldry is a photographer based in New Hampshire. You can follow him on Facebook and Twitter. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Lawsuit says scientists infected hundreds of Guatemalans with sexually transmitted diseases .
A similar lawsuit filed against the U.S. government was dismissed . | (CNN)Remember the Tuskegee syphilis experiment from the 1930s? Scientists studied poor African-Americans in Alabama who'd contracted the venereal disease but didn't tell them they had the disease or do anything to cure them. A lawsuit filed this week alleges Johns Hopkins University and the Rockefeller Foundation helped conduct a similar study in Guatemala from 1945 to 1956. Orphans, inmates, psychiatric patients and prostitutes were deliberately infected with sexually transmitted diseases to determine what drugs, including penicillin, worked best in stopping the diseases, the lawsuit says. The subjects of the experiments weren't told they'd been infected, the lawsuit says, causing some to die and others to pass the disease to their spouses, sexual partners and children. The suit seeks more than $1 billion in damages and has 774 plaintiffs, including people who were subjects in the experiments and their descendants. This is the second attempt to collect damages. In 2012, a class-action federal lawsuit was filed against the U.S. government over the Guatemala experiments conducted by the U.S. Public Health Service. A judge dismissed it, saying the Guatemalans could not sue the United States for grievances that happened overseas. The new lawsuit was filed in the Baltimore City Circuit Court. Johns Hopkins and the Rockefeller Foundation filed statements on their websites condemning the experiments, but denying responsibility. "The plaintiffs' essential claim in this case is that prominent Johns Hopkins faculty members' participation on a government committee that reviewed funding applications was tantamount to conducting the research itself and that therefore Johns Hopkins should be held liable," the Johns Hopkins statement said. "Neither assertion is true." The lawsuit alleges the Rockefeller Foundation funded Johns Hopkins' research into public health issues, including venereal disease, and employed scientists who monitored the Guatemala experiments. The lawsuit, the Rockefeller Foundation statement said, "seeks improperly to assign 'guilt by association' in the absence of compensation from the United States federal government." The suit says Johns Hopkins and the Rockefeller Foundation designed, supported and benefited from the Guatemala experiments. Bristol-Myers Squibb pharmaceutical group and that company's owner, Mead Johnson, also are defendants. The pharmaceutical company supplied drugs for the experiments, the suit says. On Saturday, a spokeswoman for Bristol-Myers Squibb sent this statement to CNN: "We've only just received the complaint in this matter. Bristol-Myers Squibb played an important role in the development of penicillin in the past and today we continue to focus our work on developing breakthrough medicines for serious disease. As a company dedicated to patients, we take this matter very seriously and are reviewing the allegations." Nobody doubts the experiments happened. In 2010, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton apologized to Guatemala for the experiments, saying they were "clearly unethical." In the 1930s and 1940s, the government followed a policy of funding scientific medical research but not controlling individual doctors, the suit says. The lawsuit says John Hopkins controlled and influenced the appointed panels that authorized funding for research into venereal disease. The lawsuit says prostitutes were infected to intentionally spread the disease and that syphilis spirochetes were injected into the spinal fluid of subjects. A woman in a psychiatric hospital had gonorrhea pus from a male subject injected into both her eyes, the suit says. The lawsuit doesn't say why the experiments ended. The results were never published and were not revealed until 2011, when the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues wrote a letter to President Barack Obama telling of its investigation, the suit says. CNN's Deanna Hackney contributed to this report. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Deputies reassigned after threats, sheriff says .
The two deputies pinned Eric Harris to the ground and one yelled "F*ck your breath" at him after he was shot . | (CNN)Two deputies involved in the fatal attempt to arrest Eric Harris in Tulsa, Oklahoma, have been reassigned because of threats against them and their families, Sheriff Stanley Glanz said Monday in a news conference. The deputies were trying to arrest Harris when Reserve Deputy Robert Bates shot him. Unlike Bates, they are not charged with a crime, but have come under criticism for pinning Harris' head to the ground as he said, "I'm losing my breath." Police appear on video saying, "F*ck your breath," apparently in response. Sheriff Stanley Glanz didn't specify the nature of the threats, but said he was "very concerned" for their safety and that of their families. He did not say what the deputies had been assigned to do. Another sheriff's official said the office has temporarily suspended operations of the agency's drug unit pending the review of the April 2 shooting of Harris following a weapons sting. Glanz indicated he has not yet decided how to proceed with a review of their actions, saying any action may be delayed until after the court case involving Bates has been settled. Bates is charged with second-degree manslaughter in Harris' death. Bates, who is free on $25,000 bond pending trial, shot Harris with his handgun after calling out, "Taser, Taser," -- an indication he planned to use a stun gun to subdue Harris following a brief foot chase with the other deputies. Amid questions about his age -- 73 -- training and friendship with Glanz, Bates has said the shooting was accidental, and has apologized to the family. Lawyer releases training records for Tulsa deputy charged in killing . On Monday, Glanz also apologized to Harris' family. "We are sorry Eric was taken from you," he said. But he said his office holds itself to the highest national standards of policing, and said Monday that the FBI had cleared the agency of any civil rights violations in the shooting. Bates is white. Harris was black. There have been allegations, first reported by the Tulsa World newspaper, that some of Bates' training records had been forged, or that he was unqualified to be serving on the force. The sheriff denied those allegations, saying he was certain Bates had qualified on the gun range and had extensive additional training. He said he was unaware of any forgery involving training records, and said he had not issued any training waivers for Bates, with whom he has been friends for more than two decades. But he said he supported prosecutor's decision to proceed with the case. He also said he had brought in a Dallas police consultant who had previously examined the office's policies and procedures for another look. Harris' family has said the shooting reveals "a deep-seated problem" within the department and has demanded justice, and changes in policy. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
#firebrittmchenry has become a popular hashtag on Twitter .
Britt McHenry is a reporter for the sports network, and she is based in Washington .
She apologized on Twitter for losing control of her emotions, not taking the high road . | (CNN)ESPN suspended reporter Britt McHenry for a week after a video of her berating a towing company employee surfaced Thursday. The sports network announced her suspension on Twitter. McHenry posted an apology on Twitter, saying she allowed her emotions to get away from her during a stressful situation at a Virginia business. "I ... said some insulting and regrettable things." "As frustrated as I was, I should always choose to be respectful and take the high road. I am so sorry for my actions and will learn from this mistake," she wrote. On the roughly one-minute long video that was captured by a surveillance camera, McHenry says to an employee at a register: "I'm in the news, sweetheart. I will (expletive) sue this place." The employee tells McHenry she's being recorded, but it doesn't stop her from continuing her rant. "That's why I have a degree and you don't," she says. "I wouldn't work at a scumbag place like this. Makes my skin crawl even being here." Later McHenry says, "maybe if I was missing some teeth they would hire me, huh?" The employee apparently says something about McHenry's hair and the color of her roots. McHenry sasses back, saying, "Oh, like yours, 'cause they look so stunning, 'cause I'm on television and you're in a (expletive) trailer, honey. Lose some weight, baby girl." CNN reached out to the Arlington towing company for comment but didn't hear immediately back. The edited video was first posted on the website LiveLeak, which said the incident occurred April 5. The video inspired the Twitter hashtag #firebrittmchenry. The reporter is one of several ESPN on-air talents to be suspended in the past 12 months. In February, anchor Keith Olbermann was not on the air for most of a week after a Twitter spat that the anchor had with fans of Penn State University. Bill Simmons was suspended in September for three weeks for calling NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell a liar. Commentator Stephen A. Smith was suspended in July for a week for widely criticized remarks about domestic abuse that referred to possible "provocation" by victims. How McHenry could have responded . McHenry is based in Washington and the incident happened across the Potomac River in Arlington. McHenry joined ESPN in 2014. At the time of her hiring, ESPN's senior vice president and director of news, Vince Doria, praised her knack for getting interviews with major sports celebrities. "In a relatively short time, Britt has established a reputation for strong, aggressive reporting in the D.C. area, and an ability to land big interviews," said Doria. "Her presence there will be a great benefit to ESPN's newsgathering and, as with all of our bureau reporters, she will be assigned to high-profile stories around the country." Before ESPN, she was with WJLA in Washington. McHenry joined the station in 2008 and the sports staff in 2010. She went to Stetson as an undergraduate and Northwestern for graduate studies in journalism. Opinion: Who's worse: Britt McHenry, or us? | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Chancey Luna convicted of murder for gunning down Oklahoma college student as he jogged .
Police: Luna and his friends "were bored" so they decided to kill somebody . | (CNN)The bored teenager who gunned down a college baseball player in Oklahoma simply because he and his two friends "had nothing to do," is now a convicted murderer. Chancey Allen Luna was found guilty of first-degree murder Friday for his role in the August 2013 drive-by shooting of Christopher Lane, a 23-year-old college student in Duncan, about 80 miles south of Oklahoma City. Luna was 16 at the time of the shooting. Lane, an Australian attending East Central University, was jogging when he was shot in the back by a gun fired by Luna. A jury recommended Friday that Luna spend life in prison without the possibility of parole, according to court records. Because he was under 18 when the crime was committed, he is not eligible for the death penalty. He'll be formally sentenced in June. The vehicle's driver, Michael Jones, pleaded guilty in March to second-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison. Jones, who was 17 at the time of the murder, will be eligible for parole starting in 2051, according to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. Prosecutors dropped first-degree murder charges filed against the third suspect, then only 15, after he agreed to testify against Luna and Jones, according to CNN affiliate KSWO. He will now be tried as a juvenile with accessory to murder after the fact. Duncan police Chief Danny Ford told Australian radio station 3AW that when police arrested the teens, Jones offered a motive that made clear that Lane, a baseball player on scholarship, was chosen at random. "We were bored and didn't have anything to do, so we decided to kill somebody." After the verdict, Luna appeared to be crying as deputies led him out of the courtroom in handcuffs, whimpering "I'm sorry" to a reporter. CNN's Greg Botelho contributed to this report . | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
The new "Star Wars: Episode VII -- The Force Awakens" trailer is released .
A fan gathering in Los Angeles featured the cast and a droid .
The movie comes out December 18 . | (CNN)Here you go, galaxy. The Force is back. At an emotional event in Anaheim, California, director J.J. Abrams and the "Star Wars: Episode VII -- The Force Awakens" cast showed off for the audience and then capped the presentation with the trailer for the new film. The audience gasped, cheered and applauded. The cast was appreciative of the welcome. "You're more than fans. You're family," Mark Hamill told the crowd. Carrie Fisher was also there, though without her trademark Princess Leia hair buns. They're "retired," she said. Airline unveils 'Star Wars' 787 Dreamliner painted like R2-D2 . Also introduced: "Star Wars" emoji, some new Stormtroopers and the BB8, the soccer-ball-like droid that rolled around the stage, to the delight of the audience. It wasn't CGI, either, as much of the movie, Abrams said, was filmed on actual sets. Twitter erupted with near-instantaneous reaction, most of it enthusiastic. CNNMoney: 'Star Wars' teaser sends Twitter into lightspeed . The new "Star Wars" is due out December 18. CNN's Henry Hanks was in the audience. Here are his five top takeaways from the event: . 1. Han flies again . The trailer ended in a big way, with Han Solo and Chewbacca having apparently arrived after a flight on the Millennium Falcon. The reaction in the room of fans was nothing short of rapturous upon seeing Harrison Ford back in character as Han. A few burst into tears at the end of the the 110-second teaser. 2. That's not Tatooine . Abrams revealed that their shooting location was not meant to represent the Skywalker ancestral home of Tatooine, as many believed. Instead, it's a planet called Jakku, where much of the early action of the movie takes place. Daisy Ridley's Rey meets up with a stromtrooper, Finn (John Boyega) and that's where the adventure begins. 3. Hints of Luke and Leia . Oscar Isaac dropped a major hint that his pilot character of Poe is sent on a mission by "a princess," and we're fairly certain which one he meant. Leia and Luke aren't seen in the trailer, but we hear Luke's unmistakable voice as he passes along a lightsaber, presumably to other Skywalker family members. Carrie Fisher also teased her new wardrobe, and promised no metal bikini. 4. There's less CGI than in the prequels . Abrams said he was proud that "you can watch the movie and see what it is" before the effects wizards at Industrial Light and Magic did their work. And yes, the new droid BB-8 (who was a fan favorite at the panel) is not CGI. 5. The ruins of the Empire are all around . A crashed Star Destroyer can be seen at the opening of the trailer, as well as a look at Vader's charred helmet. Chills. Creating the sounds of 'Star Wars' CNN's Henry Hanks contributed to this story. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
The city with most multimillionaires in Africa is Johannesburg .
However a crop of new pretenders have been expanding their millionaire count . | (CNN)Wealthy Nigerians used to travel abroad to get their fix of luxury goods. However these days, they can take a stroll around Victoria Island, an exclusive neighborhood in Lagos where brands like Porsche, Hugo Boss and Ermenegildo Zegna line the streets. The Nigerian city is among African metropolises which have seen some of the highest growth in the number of millionaires on the continent. Others include Luanda, Dar es Salaam and Accra, which is predicted to nearly double its millionaire count from 800 in 2012 to 1,500 in 2020. If the growth continues, these cities could join an existing club of African wealth hubs hosting the so-called ultra-high net worth individuals, typically those with over $30 million of net assets excluding their primary residence. These centers of affluence are spread from Johannesburg in the south, through Lagos in the west and Nairobi in the east, to Cairo in the north. This emerging class of Africa's new millionaires has been pushing the demand for luxury products across the continent, with sales of high-end products growing by a third between 2008 and 2013. However, they are no longer concentrated in southern Africa, traditionally the wealthiest part of the continent. Nigeria is now one of the fastest growing markets for French Champagne and digital televisions according to a report by Deloitte, and in 2013 LVMH's seven Nigerian branches outsold its 600 South African stores. "Africa is one of the fastest growing regions in terms of middle class," says Fflur Roberts, head of luxury at Euromonitor, a market research provider. "It's due to a mix of rising incomes, rising population but also growth slowing in other emerging markets." Luxury brands tend to enter country markets through distributors, benefiting from local knowledge of their partners but still retaining a significant amount of control over how their name is marketed in that country. "Getting a new brand in a new market where they don't fully understand the operating environment would be very dangerous for that brand," explains Roberts. She warns that in spite of potential, the future of luxury in Africa is dependent on reforms taking place: "It will rely on infrastructure and the operating environment such as security and how trading is done," she says. When it comes to what they choose to splash their cash on, Africa's rich like to stick to well-known global labels that carry an automatic badge of status. "Generally the brands they buy will be more ostentatious compared to somebody in the more developed, mature markets. It's going to be the Louis Vuitton, the Gucci, the Prada," says Roberts. She adds that this could be down to the fact that typical a luxury consumer in Africa is much younger than those in mature markets such as Western Europe, who tend to be in their 50s and 60s. "They are in their late twenties or thirties so it's very much new wealth, and they will be looking towards luxury as a means of showing status and success," says Roberts. However, in spite of mainstream brand's dominance, smaller home-grown labels also see the growth in appetite for luxury goods as a valuable opportunity. "Africa has all the foundations that are needed to create a real vibrant luxury industry," says Swaady Martin Leke, Ivorian entrepreneur and founder of the Johannesburg-based luxury tea brand Yswara. "We have the craftsmanship, we have the heritage, we have a very rich culture that doesn't date just 20 years, but centuries, thousands and thousands of years of know-how and craftsmanship. So here is this continent where you have all the raw material and the know-how, but what is missing is the link to luxury. "Now is the time and you need to start positioning yourself, because Africa is getting richer, that's for sure," she adds. More from Africa View . Read this: Ethiopia - a land where coffee meets tradition . Read this: Why Kenya is the flower garden of Europe . | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
"Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star Kim Richards was arrested early Thursday morning .
Beverly Hills police say Richards wouldn't leave a hotel when asked and later struck an officer . | (CNN)"Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star and former child actress Kim Richards is accused of kicking a police officer after being arrested Thursday morning. Richards was taken into custody by police at the Beverly Hills Hotel on accusations of trespassing, resisting arrest and public intoxication after security personnel complained that she was bothering hotel guests about 1:30 a.m. 'Real Housewives of Atlanta' cast member's mother dies . A police representative said Richards was asked to leave but refused and then entered a restroom and wouldn't come out. Hotel security made a "private persons arrest," then police entered the restroom and took Richards into custody. "Ms. Richards was displaying symptoms of alcohol intoxication including slurred speech and belligerent insolent behavior, cursing at the officers and passively resisted arrest," police said in a statement. "After being transported to the station for booking, Richards kicked one of the officers in the leg; however the officer was not injured." Richards is expected to face misdemeanor charges, according to Lt. Lincoln Hoshino of the Beverly Hills Police Department. She has been released from custody. A call to Richards' representatives has not been returned. Richards reportedly entered rehab in 2011 for "serious issues" after what watchers deemed erratic behavior on the reality show, which also features her sister Kyle Richards. The Richardses are the aunts of former TV star Paris Hilton. 'Real Housewives of Atlanta' husband gets prison . Kim Richards appeared in Disney's "Escape to Witch Mountain" and "Wonderful World of Color" as a child and was a frequent guest star on television series, though her acting career later stalled. She had a significant role in the 2006 film "Black Snake Moan." Bravo, the network that airs the "Real Housewives" franchise, declined to comment on her arrest. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
The Shariya refugee camp opened around six months ago, made up of 4,000 tents and counting .
The vast majority of the camp's occupants are from the town of Sinjar and fled an ISIS assault .
But Ahlam, her children and their grandparents were taken captive . | Duhok, Iraqi Kurdistan (CNN)The children laugh and shriek, as some of them seem to always have the capacity to do no matter how depressing the circumstances. Their bright clothes provide splashes of color against the otherwise drab monotone white of the endless rows of tents. A small group plays with rocks, replacements for the toys they left behind when they fled, while others clamber through a jagged tear in the wire fence surrounding the refugee camp. The Shariya refugee camp opened around six months ago, made up of some 4,000 tents and counting. Thousands of Yazidis now call this corner of Iraqi Kurdistan home, about 18 miles (30 kilometers) from one of the front lines with ISIS, where one can hear the occasional reverberation in the distance of what we are told are airstrikes. The vast majority of the camp's occupants are from the town of Sinjar, which is near the border with Syrian Kurdistan, and fled the ISIS assault there back in August. But not everyone escaped. ISIS took thousands of Yazidis captive. The fighters separated the young women and girls, some as young as 8 years old, to be sold as slaves, for their "masters" to use as concubines. Men faced a choice: Convert to Islam or be shot. Mahmoud was out running errands when ISIS fighters arrived, taking his wife, Ahlam, their three children -- the youngest of which was just a month old -- and his elderly parents. "They took our phones, jewelry, money," Ahlam recalls. "They had guns. They forced us at gunpoint into big trailer trucks." They were taken to a school turned prison in Tal Afar. From there, the family was moved from village to village -- and at one stage taken to Mosul. "They wrote everyone's name down and they asked where we want to work, in the fields, as cleaners or as herders," she says. Ahlam and her family chose to herd goats. They were then taken to a Shia village whose residents had fled, where they were part of a group of around 40 living in one house. In the home, Ahlam found a cell phone left behind by its former occupants and called her husband. "I said we are alive but we are prisoners." Ahlam's husband, who up until that moment had lost the will to live, thinking his family was dead, says he cried out of happiness despite his pain. Ahlam would call when she could, briefly, after midnight, hiding under her bedcovers. If she was caught with a phone, she would be killed. The village itself was a massive prison, its entrances guarded by ISIS fighters. She recalls that two men, in their late 40s or 50s, tried to escape. When they were caught, their bones were broken, their bodies tied to the back of a truck and then driven through the streets. The Yazidi captives were forced to watch the gruesome spectacle. The men's corpses were then tossed into a ditch and an order given not to bury them. One night, some of the Yazidi men risked their lives to toss dirt onto the bodies, to give those slain what dignity they could. Ahlam tells us that about a week before we met, ISIS fighters came by and took away her in-laws and the other elderly people living in the house. "We didn't know where they were taking them, we thought we would be next," she remembers. So she and the rest of the group realized that they had to try to flee. "We decided that either we survive or we don't." They left at midnight. Ahlam cradled the baby, as her two other children, ages 3 and 4 years old, clutched at her clothes. She prayed the baby wouldn't cry, that the children could keep walking. They knew the general direction to take, but not the exact route, and they could only hope it was toward freedom. "When the sun started to come up, I thought that's it, we are going to get caught," Ahlam says. "And what am I going to do with the kids? I can't carry all three of them and run." Luckily, Ahlam never had to answer that impossible question. The group made it into Iraqi Kurdistan. The couple can't put into words their emotions when they were reunited. Mahmoud, gently caressing his daughter's palm, says he could hardly believe that the woman whose stunning eyes and gentle words he had fallen in love with, and their three children, were by his side again. It had been eight agonizing months. But their joy was tainted by fear for Mahmoud's parents. A few days after Mahmoud and Ahlam were reunited, ISIS released 217 captives. No one is disclosing exactly why. Among them were 60 children, a handful of men and women, and the rest were elderly -- including Mahmoud's parents. "We didn't know if they were going to slaughter us or what they were going to do with us," Mahmoud's father says. "They moved us around a lot, and at one stage we stayed in in one place for three days." But Ahlam's parents are still with ISIS. Vian Dakhil, a Yazidi member of Iraq's parliament, speculates that the Yazidis ISIS released are individuals they were struggling to care for. Dakhil is part of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's delegation to the United States this week. She will be addressing the United Nations -- pleading for more international support for Iraq and more airstrikes to help defeat ISIS -- and she will address the plight of the Yazidis. "We sometimes say that we wish we had been massacred. This would be better than being kidnapped and raped. We prefer death now over the fate of what is happening to these girls and women," Dakhil says. "It is now on the government and on the international community to focus on this. How to get these captives back. It's inconceivable that in the 21st century, something like this is happening as if we were living in the Stone Age." Ahlam says she was spared because she was breastfeeding and she had young children, which, we're told, makes her impure and therefore unable to be used as a sex slave. For Ahlam, what she went through was not the hardest part of her ordeal. It's the moment when the ISIS fighters began taking away the girls and young women. She's haunted by their screams, the image of them being dragged away sobbing and screaming. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
The reopening of two nuclear reactors has been blocked by a Japanese court over safety fears .
The reactors had previously been cleared to reopen by the country's nuclear watchdog .
Japan's 48 nuclear reactors have been offline in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster . | Tokyo (CNN)A Japanese court has issued a landmark injunction halting plans to restart two nuclear reactors in the west of the country, citing safety concerns, a court official told CNN. Japan's nuclear watchdog, the Nuclear Regulation Authority, had previously given a green light to the reopening of reactors 3 and 4 of the Kansai Electric Power Company's Takahama nuclear plant. But locals successfully petitioned the court in Fukui Prefecture, where the plant is located, raising concerns about whether the reactors would survive a strong earthquake. Japan's 48 nuclear reactors are offline in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in 2011, when a tsunami triggered by a massive earthquake sent a wall of water crashing into the power plant. Since then, the island nation has imported greater amounts of expensive natural gas and coal to meet its energy needs. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pushed for a return to nuclear energy, arguing it is essential to the country's economic recovery to reduce the skyrocketing utility bills associated with energy imports. But opinion polls have consistently shown public opposition to a nuclear restart. Keith Henry, managing director of Tokyo-based Asia Strategy, which advises businesses on Japanese public policy issues, says the decision will force Abe to rethink the economics of his energy policy. "That was a body blow [for Abe] because it's no longer a political issue, it's a legal issue. It changes the calculus and the dynamics," he said. "It's now in the courts. And the government is powerless to do anything about it." READ MORE: Power company abandons robot stranded inside Fukushima plant . Anti-nuclear activists celebrated following the Fukui District Court's decision in their favor Tuesday. The nuclear plant operator had argued in court that the plant was safe, meeting heightened safety regulations introduced by the nuclear watchdog following the Fukushima disaster. It said in a statement that "scientific and professional findings" showed that the safety of the reactors was assured. But the court ruled that the new safety standards were "loose," lacked rationality and could not guarantee the safety of the plant, an official said. The power company said it would appeal the decision. "We deeply regret that our assertion was not well comprehended, and cannot accept it at all," it said in a statement. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters Tuesday that the country's nuclear watchdog had deemed the plant safe according to the "world's strictest" safety standards. The government had no intention to change course on its planned nuclear restart, he said. Takahama was one of two nuclear facilities granted approval to resume operations. Sendai nuclear power plant in Kagoshima Prefecture has been granted approval to reopen by the prefecture's governor, although local residents are seeking to challenge this in court. Analyst Henry said the renewable energy sector could benefit from the Takahama decision, as the country weighed solar and hydro power as alternatives. Prior to the Fukushima disaster, about 30% of Japan's energy was nuclear generated. CNN's Junko Ogura contributed to this report from Tokyo. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
ISIS is using past Western transgressions in Iraq to justify its brutality .
Lack of accountability following 2003 invasion paved way for abuse -- and for sectarian tensions . | (CNN)The jailing of four Blackwater security guards, eight years after they killed 17 Iraqi civilians in a shooting in Baghdad, is a positive step for justice -- but is also not enough. The kind of horror represented by the Blackwater case and others like it -- from Abu Ghraib to the massacre at Haditha to CIA waterboarding -- may be largely absent from public memory in the West these days, but it is being used by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to support its sectarian narrative. In its propaganda, ISIS has been using Abu Ghraib and other cases of Western abuse to legitimize its current actions in Iraq as the latest episodes in over a decade of constant "Sunni resistance" to "American aggression" and to "Shiite betrayal"—as phrased in an ISIS publication from late 2014 titled "The Revived Caliphate," which chronicles the rise of ISIS since 2003. As the Iraqi government today struggles to regain the support of Sunnis in its fight against ISIS -- or even renew intra-Sunni trust -- this invocation of American transgressions by ISIS should be a sobering reminder of the importance of good governance in the pursuit of a solution to the unrest in Iraq. The lack of accountability in the aftermath of the American intervention in Iraq not only paved the way for abuses like Abu Ghraib and Blackwater, it also fuelled sectarian tension in the country -- and today ISIS is reaping the benefits. The U.S. poured money into Iraq after the 2003 invasion, but it did not make this support contingent upon a fair distribution of power and resources by the Iraqi government. This enabled the Shiite-dominated government of former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to discriminate against the Sunni community. The United States was also sloppy in relying on private security firms like Blackwater without implementing rigorous measures to regulate their behavior. It also turned a blind eye to the way its own troops were treating Iraqis. All those factors contributed to a rising sense of injustice that is now being conveniently packaged by ISIS to push its own version of Iraqi history. In "The Revived Caliphate," Abu Ghraib is invoked three times as the place where Iraqi Sunnis who resisted the U.S. ended up as a result of their betrayal by Shiites who collaborated with the Americans. The publication first recounts attacks on Abu Ghraib at the height of the American intervention by al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) -- ISIS' predecessor -- to free imprisoned "Sunnis" who had been detained by the Americans. It then presents the Sahwa (Awakening) of 2007 -- when Sunni tribes collaborated with the U.S. to fight AQI -- as a case of intra-Sunni resentment that led the tribes to hand over AQI members "to the Americans, where they were put through severe torture in the likes of the prisons of Abu Ghraib," according to the publication. It then links those two stories to the storming of the prison by ISIS in 2013 to free those who had been tortured by "the Americans and Shi'a" (as the publication puts it) over ten years. In bridging a decade of history and in placing the Shiites squarely in the category of "enemy," ISIS is sending a strong message that its current fight in Iraq is about reversing longstanding injustices against Sunnis and restoring a sense of Sunni belonging under the umbrella of the "caliphate." The civilians killed by the Blackwater guards, like the Abu Ghraib prisoners, were both Sunni and Shiite. But the repackaging of history by ISIS -- in which the Saddam Hussein regime is reinvented as a "Sunni" regime that tried to stand up to the United States and its Shiite allies -- glosses over those nuances. The reproduced images of Abu Ghraib prisoners in the aforementioned ISIS publication, juxtaposed with images of civilian deaths as a result of U.S. airstrikes against ISIS targets, are presented as "proof" of the group's narrative. And they are reinforced with text that frames America today as "the air force of the Shi'a." It is becoming clear that ISIS cannot be defeated in Iraq without buy-in from the country's Sunnis. Without Sunni help, ISIS will continue to frame the conflict as one where Sunnis are once again being attacked by the U.S. and the Shiites -- particularly as Shiite militias have become a key part of the fight against the terror group in places like Tikrit. To balance out this Shiite involvement, the U.S. and Iraqi governments are counting on the establishment of a cross-sectarian Iraqi national guard, and hoping to resurrect the "awakening" to re-engage and unify the Sunnis under a nationalist umbrella. But those plans will not succeed unless serious steps are taken to ensure that good governance measures are in place to hold both Iraqis and all those affiliated with the anti-ISIS coalition to account. This should not just apply in the context of the current conflict -- so that scenarios like Abu Ghraib and Blackwater are not repeated -- but also when the dust settles. Good governance is the most effective antidote to sectarianism. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Attorney: Robert Bates assumed the gun was a Taser because he saw a laser sight on it .
Harris family lawyers say there are stark differences between the gun and Taser used .
In 2009, an officer in California also said he mistakenly used his gun instead of a Taser . | (CNN)On the surface, the mix-up seems incomprehensible: How can a volunteer sheriff's deputy accidentally fire a handgun instead of a Taser, killing a man? That's apparently what happened in Tulsa, Oklahoma, when a 73-year-old reserve deputy, Robert Bates, killed Eric Harris. Bates said he meant to use his stun gun but ended up firing his handgun instead. "Oh! I shot him. I'm sorry," Bates said in a video of the shooting. But it's happened before. In a well-publicized 2009 case, a Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer fired his gun instead of his Taser, killing 22-year-old Oscar Grant in Oakland, California. The former officer, Johannes Mehserle, testified that he had meant to use his Taser but drew his gun instead. Mehserle was sentenced to two years in prison for involuntary manslaughter but was released early due to good conduct. So how easy -- or hard -- is it to draw and fire a handgun mistakenly instead of a Taser? Here are some factors to consider: . Law enforcement experts say the gun should be holstered on the officer's dominant side of the body, and the Taser should be placed on the nondominant side. So if an officer is left-handed, the gun should be on the left side. Bates' attorney said his client is left-handed. But the reserve deputy said his gun was holstered on his right side -- his nondominanant side. "I shoot long guns left handed and handguns right handed," Bates said in a written statement to investigators. After Bates announced at the scene he was going to use his Taser, he "used his nondominant hand, and it was the gun," said Clark Brewster, Bates' attorney. "He said that he saw the laser sight on the shoulder, assumed it was the Taser," Brewster said. "Both the gun and the Taser have a laser sight, and he just made a mistake." Brewster also said his client's left hand was holding a pepper gun. In his statement to investigators, Bates said he had grabbed a "pepper ball launcher" to try to slow or stop Harris, who was running away. Bates did not say explicitly where the Taser was on his body. But he admitted to grabbing the wrong device and said he was "startled" by the recoil of the gun. "After realizing what had happened I was in a state of shock and disbelief," he told investigators. Bates is now charged with second-degree manslaughter. If convicted, he faces up to four years in prison. Deputy who shot Eric Harris turns himself in . Bates was carrying his personal gun, a Smith & Wesson .357 five-shot revolver, and a Model X26 Taser, he said in his statement to investigators. Attorneys representing the Harris family said there are stark differences between the two devices. One held up a small black .357 revolver, followed by a mostly bright yellow Taser that was noticeably larger than the gun. "There's no way an officer can get this confused with this," said one of the attorneys from the law firm of Smolen, Smolen & Roytman. Taser's X26 model comes in different designs. Some are mostly yellow, while others are mostly black with a yellow panel in the middle. But all appear to be larger than Smith & Wesson .357 five-shot revolvers. Sgt. Jim Clark of the Tulsa Police Department -- which is separate from the county sheriff's office for which Bates volunteered -- said Bates was the "victim" of something called "slip and capture." That's when a person intends to do one thing but instead does another in a high-stress situation. But a criminal justice expert told CNN the claim amounts to "junk science." "There's no peer-reviewed articles that would support this. ... It's not generally accepted by the scientific community," said Phil Stinson, an assistant professor of criminal justice at Bowling Green State University. "So it's something that in most courts would not be admissible as evidence." An attorney for the Harris family said the "slip and capture" theory hasn't held up in court. "The only time slip and capture has ever been used as a defense was in the shooting in Oakland (of Oscar Grant)," the attorney said. And that defense failed. Tasers are built to feel and look different than guns, according to Taser International. Steve Tuttle, vice president for strategic communications at Taser, noted some of those differences to CNN: A gun is heavier. A Taser has a different grip and feel. When you take the safety off on a Taser, an LED control panel lights up. There's more: Tasers can be different colors (yellow or black), and the holster is different from a gun's. But in the field, where an officer reacts on instinct, there are other distinctions outside of the product itself that are important, Tuttle said. Taser's training calls for the stun gun to be placed on an officer's nondominant side, as law enforcement experts say. And its training suggests that officers shout aloud, "Taser! Taser! Taser!" as they prepare to deploy it. These guidelines are designed so that in the moment -- when an officer's muscle memory kicks in -- the body reflexively knows which weapon it is reaching for. It is up to each law enforcement department, however, in how it trains personnel and what regulations it requires as far as placement on the body. The company declined to comment on the Tulsa shooting in particular. The stun guns, or conducted electrical weapons, manufactured by Taser have been used more than 2.7 million times, Tuttle said, and are designed to be used in situations that are not considered life or death. CNN's Catherine E. Shoichet, Brooke Baldwin, Ed Lavandera and Mariano Castillo contributed to this report. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
The value of the drugs is estimated at more than $105 million .
Officers arrested one Venezuelan and two Spanish citizens on board the vessel . | (CNN)French customs officers say they have seized more than 2 tons of cocaine aboard a sailboat that was falsely flying an American flag in the Caribbean. The drugs, whose value is estimated at more than $105 million, are the biggest cocaine seizure ever carried out by French authorities, said Michael Lachaux, director of customs operations in Martinique. Officers arrested one Venezuelan and two Spanish citizens who were on board the vessel off the coast of Martinique on Wednesday, Lachaux said in an interview with the radio station France Info on Saturday. Martinique is an overseas department of France. In November, French customs officials seized nearly 250 kilograms (550 pounds) of cocaine on a vessel that was also off the coast of Martinique, according to authorities. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Iraqi and U.S.-led coalition forces say they retook a key refinery from ISIS .
Peshmerga forces also report retaking terrain from ISIS . | (CNN)Iraqi and U.S.-led coalition forces have successfully ousted ISIS from the nation's largest oil refinery, the coalition said Sunday. Iraqi security forces regained full control of the Baiji refinery, the Combined Joint Task Force said. A week ago, ISIS claimed it controlled part of the facility, posting images online that purported to back up the claim. Iraq is working to fortify the facility's defenses, the task force said in a statement. Over the past nine days, the coalition conducted 47 airstrikes in the area, the statement said. Meanwhile, Peshmerga forces -- also with the assistance of coalition strikes -- cleared 84 square kilometers (32 square miles) of ISIS-occupied territory in Iraq on Saturday, the Kurdistan Region Security Council said. The Peshmerga are the national military force of Kurdistan. "Front-line reporting indicates at least 35 ISIS terrorists were killed during the offensive," the council said in a statement. The goal was to push back ISIS and "diminish its ability to threaten the security of Kirkuk province," the statement said. "This success follows an offensive south and west of Kirkuk" last month in which 100 square kilometers (39 square miles) of terrain was cleared, the council said. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Presidential hopeful's video, featuring gay couple, gets mature rating in Russia .
Russian TV channel feared airing it would break the country's anti-gay propaganda law .
Clinton announced her support for same-sex marriage in 2013 . | Moscow (CNN)A Russian TV channel aired Hillary Clinton's first campaign video with a rating stamp that means it's for mature audiences, because of fears it might run afoul of the country's anti-gay propaganda law. A clip of the video, which features a gay couple holding hands, got the 18+ rating from the independent TV Rain channel in Russia on Monday. The channel told CNN that it didn't want to break the controversial law, which bans "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations around minors" and bars public discussion of gay rights and relationships within earshot of children. "There are no legal precedents for this law, so we just don't know what comes under this law and (what) doesn't," a TV Rain spokesperson told CNN. "Therefore, fearing to break the law -- especially given the high attention to TV Rain from the supervising authorities -- we decided to put a marker (on the video)." Clinton's video was released over the weekend to announce the start of her 2016 U.S. presidential campaign. It features about five seconds of two men holding hands. One of the men says, "I'm getting married this summer to someone I really care about." The former senator and first lady first declared her support for same-sex marriage in early 2013, saying that "gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights." Russia's controversial law caused an international outcry after it was passed by the Russian Parliament and signed by President Vladimir Putin in July 2013. Human Rights Watch described the anti-gay propaganda law as "a profoundly discriminatory and dangerous bill that is bound to worsen homophobia in Russia." Rights campaigners called for a boycott of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, and a number of bars around the world stopped serving Russian vodka in protest. U.S. President Barack Obama -- Clinton's former boss -- said at the time that he found the legislation offensive. "I have no patience for countries that try to treat gays or lesbians or transgendered persons in ways that intimidate them or harmful to them," Obama told Jay Leno in 2013. Putin defended the law, noting that unlike other countries, Russia decriminalized homosexual relationships (in 1993). "We don't outlaw anything and don't nab anyone," he said before the 2014 Games. "That's why you can feel safe and free here," he added, "but please leave our children in peace." The rights group ILGA-Europe said in a May 2014 report that Russia was the worst place in Europe (out of 49 countries) for LGBTI people to live. READ MORE: Social media react to Hillary Clinton logo . | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab claims responsibility for the attack .
The explosion happened across the street from a hotel that was attacked two months ago .
Mogadishu has been the site of frequent attacks by Al-Shabaab . | Mogadishu, Somalia (CNN)A car bomb exploded at a restaurant near the presidential palace in the heart of Somalia's capital Tuesday, killing at least 10 people, including a woman and a boy, police said. Somalia-based Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack. Group spokesman Sheikh Abdiaziz Musab, speaking to pro-Al-Shabaab outlet Andalus radio, said the blast targeted and killed several Somali intelligence agents. Somali police spokesman Qasim Mohamed Roble told reporters that the car bomb killed no government official or soldier. Among the dead, he said, was a boy who shined shoes. The area is not a new target for Al-Shabaab, which has battled Somalia's government for years with the goal of establishing a fundamentalist Islamic state. The restaurant is across the street from the Central Hotel, where Al-Shabaab killed at least 15 people in a bombing and gun attack in February. The streets outside the restaurant were "littered with debris and human body parts" after Tuesday's explosion, witness Mohamed Ali said. The blast damaged nearby buildings and vehicles at a parking lot, according to Ali. Ambulances took wounded people to a nearby hospital for treatment. Tuesday's bombing is at least the third high-profile attack near or at a Mogadishu hotel since February. On February 20, militants attacked the Central Hotel, blowing up a car bomb outside before shooting people and detonating another bomb inside. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack. More than a month later, on March 27, gunmen detonated explosives and shot people at a different Mogadishu hotel -- the Makka Al Mukarama -- leaving at least 20 people dead. The attack stretched into the next day before security personnel killed all the assailants. Al-Shabaab also said it was responsible for the Makka Al Mukarama attack, claiming it targeted the hotel because its guests were spies and government officials. Among those killed in the March 27 assault was Yusuf Mohamed Ismail Bari-Bari, Somalia's permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, the Somali government said. Journalist Omar Nor reported from Mogadishu. CNN's Jason Hanna wrote in Atlanta. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
David Perry: Robert Kennedy Jr. compared autism to the Holocaust, wrongly tied it to vaccines .
He says it's sad such a prominent Kennedy demeans people with autism . | (CNN)Recently, Robert Kennedy Jr. was in Sacramento, California, to campaign against Senate Bill 227, which makes it harder for parents to opt out of vaccinations. In his remarks at an anti-vaccination movie screening, he decided to compare "vaccine-induced" autism to the Holocaust. He said, "They get the shot, that night they have a fever of a hundred and three, they go to sleep, and three months later their brain is gone," Kennedy said. "This is a holocaust, what this is doing to our country." A few days later, he apologized to people who were outraged on behalf of the memory of the Holocaust. To many, it's sacrilege to compare any lesser issue to the horrors perpetrated by the Nazis. In a statement, Kennedy said, "I want to apologize to all whom I offended by my use of the word to describe the autism epidemic. I employed the term during an impromptu speech as I struggled to find an expression to convey the catastrophic tragedy of autism, which has now destroyed the lives of over 20 million children and shattered their families." Robert Kennedy Jr. has apologized for the wrong things. First and foremost, vaccines do not cause autism. The two have nothing to do with each other. Second, he seems to think people with autism are "gone," their lives "destroyed" and their families "shattered." Autism is not a death sentence. People with autism are not missing or destroyed. They are everywhere, trying to live their lives in a society that too often demeans them as subhuman, missing or worthless. Kennedy's rhetoric is a problem, even beyond the fraudulent basis for his claims about vaccines. People who believe autism is an environmental disease try to cure kids with quack treatments like giving them bleach-based enemas. Others, believing autism functions as a death sentence, even kill their children. I am worried about the effect of having such a powerful, high-profile member of our political class endorse this demeaning depiction of life with autism. I reached out to a number of autistic activists for comment. Ari Ne'eman, president of the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network, wrote, "Robert Kennedy Jr, who has engaged with autism only to spread lies, misinformation and dehumanizing rhetoric, has never meaningfully engaged in efforts to improve the lives of autistic Americans. While his father, uncle and many others in the Kennedy-Shriver family championed the rights of people with disabilities, he has instead cast his lot with those who use pseudo-science to question our humanity." These are harsh words, but try to see the situation through Ne'eman's eyes. Not only is Kennedy perpetuating a discredited theory, but he's also suggesting that it's better to let your children get preventable and sometimes fatal diseases than risk becoming autistic. The usual response to people like Ne'eman is that he is "high functioning," but what of the burden to families who are struggling to care for less able individuals? Henry Frost, an autistic teenager and writer, is devastated by this focus on burden. Last year, he wrote a post to other autistic children: "Know you are not a burden or trouble for being. You are a person who has every right to be. A family that is saying love but saying you are so hard so wrong for not being as they wanted. The family is wrong. Not You." Meanwhile, Amy Sequenzia, an autistic activist and blogger, wrote, "I am very disabled, have most of the usual not autism but co-occurring conditions, seizures almost every day, but am happy, proud and accomplished, with the human supports I have. That's what is missing. Acceptance." As children, Sequenzia and Frost might well have been just the kinds of people labeled as "gone," by Kennedy. Clearly, both are very much present. The solution lies in understanding autism and related conditions as part of human diversity. Michael S. Monje Jr., an autistic writer and editor with Autonomous Press, wrote, "The neurodiversity movement is a direct counter to this kind of attitude. It is a way for autistic people, as well as anyone else who experiences the world differently due to their neurology, to assert that these natural divergences in human development are just that -- natural. The fact that they are largely unsupported by our society as it is currently configured does not make them in any way less natural, less worthy, or less beautiful than other ways of being in the world." I wish Kennedy realized how much his apology demeaned people with intellectual disabilities, even as he defended the sacred status of the Holocaust. There is, though, one story from the Holocaust that he might do well to consider. The first group the Nazis systematically exterminated, in the infamous Action T4, were people with intellectual and other kinds of disabilities. Thousands of children, adolescents and adults were sent to gas chambers, laying the groundwork for the later, larger scale acts of genocide. Underlying Action T4 was the belief that people with disabilities were devoid of value. We fight those beliefs by celebrating neurodiversity, not by fearmongering. Kennedy owes a lot of people another apology. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
President Obama attends Howard University roundtable on climate change and public health .
Linking climate change to how it affects a person's health is a new way to talk about the subject . | (CNN)Debates on climate change can break down fairly fast. There are those who believe that mankind's activities are changing the planet's climate, and those who don't. But a new way to talk about climate change is emerging, which shifts focus from impersonal discussions about greenhouse gas emissions and power plants to a very personal one: your health. It's easy to brush aside debates involving major international corporations, but who wouldn't stop to think -- and perhaps do something -- about their own health, or the health of their children? This new way of talking about climate change -- and linking it to public health issues -- was part of a roundtable discussion Tuesday at Howard University's College of Medicine. President Barack Obama joined U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy and EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy for a roundtable discussion on the topic as part of National Public Health Week. "I think we've always known -- or at least in the 20th century we've understood -- that environment has an impact on public health," the President told CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta. "I remember when I first went to college in Los Angeles in 1979, the air was so bad that you couldn't go running outside," Obama said. "You'd have air quality alerts, and people who had respiratory problems or were vulnerable had to stay inside. We took action, and the air's a lot better." "There are a whole host of public health impacts that are going to hit home, so we've got to do better in protecting vulnerable Americans," Obama continued. "Ultimately, though, all of our families are going to be vulnerable. You can't cordon yourself off from air or climate." Murthy revealed to the group that asthma is a personal issue for him, as a favorite uncle died from a severe attack when he was younger. "It's also personal to me because I've cared for many patients over the years who have suffered from asthma and have seen firsthand how frightening it can be to suddenly be wheezing and fighting for every breath," Murthy said. "Asthma can be very difficult for patients, but also for their families. The impacts of climate change could make the situation worse." "This is not just a future threat -- this is a present threat," said Brian Deese, a senior adviser to the President. Deese cited a recent study by the American Thoracic Society that found seven out of 10 doctors reported climate change is contributing to more health problems among their patients. "The good news is that, in addition to having doctors and nurses, public health officials, schools of medicine joining together to raise awareness -- and to in some cases impact their practice -- they anticipate, for example, increased asthma instances, and plan ahead of time to deal with those," Obama told Gupta. "What we have is companies like Google and Microsoft that are going to take data we're releasing and start developing apps so that, potentially, individual families are going to be able to monitor the air quality in their communities in a real-time basis." "Communities can start planning for prevention and mitigation efforts more effectively, and hopefully the other thing that happens is that families and parents join with these doctors and nurses to start putting some pressure on elected officials to try to make something happen to reduce the impacts of climate change," said Obama. The impacts of climate change on health will depend on a multitude of factors, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. "These factors include the effectiveness of a community's public health and safety systems to address or prepare for the risk and the behavior, age, gender, and economic status of individuals affected," the EPA says on its website. "Impacts will likely vary by region, the sensitivity of populations, the extent and length of exposure to climate change impacts, and society's ability to adapt to change." The World Health Organization estimates climate change will cause an additional 250,000 deaths per year between 2030 and 2050. "Most will likely perish from malaria, diarrhea, heat exposure and under-nutrition." "Around the world, variations in climate are affecting, in profoundly diverse ways, the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink," writes Dr. Maria Neira, director of the WHO's public health and environment department. "We are losing our capacity to sustain human life in good health." "Consider air pollution, the single greatest environmental health risk we face. In 2012 alone, exposure to indoor and outdoor pollutants killed more than 7 million people -- one in eight deaths worldwide. Under-nutrition already accounts for 3 million deaths each year in the world's poorest regions. Rising temperatures and more variable rainfall patters are expected to reduce crop yields, further compromising food security. Floods are increasing in frequency and intensity, creating breeding grounds for disease-carrying insects. Mosquito-borne diseases, like malaria, are particularly sensitive to heat and humidity. What will happen if rising temperatures accelerate the lifecycle of the malaria parasite?" "Children and the elderly will be among the most vulnerable," writes Neira. "Areas with health infrastructure will be least able to cope. Developing countries will be hardest hit. The health gaps we have been trying hard to close may grow even wider." Earth's average temperature has risen by 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit over the past century, and is projected to rise an additional 2 degrees over the next hundred years, according to the EPA. "Small changes in the average temperature of the planet can translate to large and potentially dangerous shifts in climate and weather," the agency warns. "Many places have seen changes in rainfall, resulting in more floods, droughts, or intense rain, as well as more frequent and severe heat waves." Still, there exists a sizable group of people who doubt climate change is happening. "Although climate scientists have been in the news describing this winter as a strong signal that global warming is producing extreme weather, Americans are no more likely today (55%) than in the past two years to believe the effects of global warming are occurring," according to a March Gallup poll. A 2013 TIME magazine article makes the case that medical professionals may be the best messengers for global warming. "Framing global warming as a public health issue rather than as an environmental or national security one produces the most emotionally compelling response among people, since it focuses on the immediate implications a warmer climate would have on people's lives," the article says. "This strategy also has the benefit of providing a sense of hope that the problems can be addressed and avoided, if action is taken early enough." The President said what happened with Los Angeles' air proved that point. "When the Clean Air Act was passed, not only was there a terrible smog in Los Angeles, it was true in most metropolitan areas across the country," Obama said. "The fact is that air quality has dramatically improved and it's been much cheaper than anybody expected, because technology advanced and people figured out how to do it. As a consequence, the American people are a lot healthier, in addition to being able to, you know, see the mountains in the background because it's not covered in smog." "We know how to do this," Obama said. "We just have to be bold and recognize and trust the kind of innovative spirit that the American people have always displayed." | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
A selection of notes from British artist's 1,500-note collection goes on display in London .
Artist spent six years trawling streets finding scraps of paper detailing people's lives .
In era of smartphones and social media, notes provide reminder of power of handwritten word . | London (CNN)Ever written yourself a note, stuffed it in your pocket and headed out into the world only to discover that, somewhere along your journey, the piece of paper has disappeared? If you live in the UK, there's a small chance that note has found its way into the hands of 23-year-old Daisy Bentley. For the past six years, the London-based artist has scoured the streets of cities and towns looking for those odd bits of paper that flutter to the ground when their owners aren't looking. Her quest has uncovered a fascinating, if idiosyncratic, collection of shopping lists, reminders, requests, love notes and motivational musings, all poignant pieces of others' lives. And now a gallery in London has put a selection on display for the public. "I wasn't intending to start a collection," she told CNN. "I always naturally collected things -- as many artists do -- and it got to the point that I was picking up every one I saw. Now I can barely walk down a street without picking up a scrap of paper." Bentley began collecting them six years ago after a note caught her eye one rainy night on a walk in her home town of Norwich, England. It's something she confesses has been a lifelong love -- keepsakes ranging from her mother's cutlery to her own dead goldfish have ended up carefully preserved in her collection for posterity. The notes project, she says, is a culmination of keeping her eyes on the sidewalk and spotting the little things that most people wouldn't notice as they walked down the street. "I get very odd looks from strangers," she admits, "but since I've made friends and families aware of the project, they get very excited when I find one while out with them." And while some dismiss such behavior as hoarding, Bentley feels it is part of human nature to hold on to items, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem. "Humans want to collect and show to others," she says. "They want to share and learn from the things they have found." She says her collecting has led to interesting anthropological insights into the human condition. One of her favorite observations is the evolution of handwriting over the past few decades, from the beautiful copperplate penmanship of the '70s to modern teen girl love notes with hearts dotting i's and multiple exclamation marks. More recently, the note collection has led to an exhibition at Stour Space gallery in London's Hackney Wick, where Bentley works as a shop and studio manager. It showcases a small part of her 1,500-strong collection. The decision to display the notes came in part from a desire to put them back into the public space. "I always wanted to showcase them, to see what people's reactions were and if anyone would come forward," she said. So far two note owners -- one a colleague from the gallery and one an employee from a pub whose beer coasters she had found on her quest -- have revealed themselves as owners of notes. Bentley gave them framed prints as a thank you. And while some may find the notion of handwritten notes quaint, as social media and smartphones begin to replace handwriting, Bentley says she finds the note collection an interesting way for an artist to explore people's lives. "Technology is useful, but sometimes the simplest ways are still the best," she said. "I still usually draw a map rather than relying on technology to get to a place -- and many people are just the same." | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Nitrogen gas causes a quick loss of consciousness and then death from lack of oxygen, Oklahoma says .
The state's executions are on hold while the U.S. Supreme Court reviews the state's use of lethal injections . | (CNN)Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin signed a bill on Friday that would allow the state to perform executions with nitrogen gas if lethal injection is ruled unconstitutional or becomes unavailable. Nitrogen causes a quick loss of consciousness and then death from lack of oxygen, Fallin's office said in a press release. CNN affiliate KFOR says it's never been used in an execution in the United States. "The person will become unconscious within eight to 10 seconds and death a few minutes later. In other words, a humane, quick and painless death," said Rep. Mike Christian, one of the bill's authors, according to KFOR. Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, told the Washington Post that the same "painless" argument had been used to advance the use of lethal injections. "The hasty manner in which this bill sped into law reflects the same lack of care with which Oklahoma has managed its execution process historically," he said. Oklahoma's executions have been put on hold while the U.S. Supreme Court reviews its use of lethal injections. Last year, the state came under scrutiny when it took 43 minutes to kill convicted killer Clayton Lockett. Fallin reaffirmed her support for the death penalty. "Oklahoma executes murderers whose crimes are especially heinous," Fallin said. "I support that policy, and I believe capital punishment must be performed effectively and without cruelty. The bill I signed today gives the state of Oklahoma another death penalty option that meets that standard." The governor's office said the first alternative for execution is lethal injection, followed by nitrogen gas, the electric chair and the firing squad. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
The American Pharmacists Association passed a new policy banning members from participating in lethal injections .
Pharmacists say role as health care providers conflicts with participation in lethal injection .
The pharmacy association first adopted a policy against lethal injection in 1985 . | (CNN)The American Pharmacists Association is discouraging its members from participating in executions. On Monday, the group voted at its annual meeting to adopt a ban as an official policy, stating that "such activities are fundamentally contrary to the role of pharmacists as healthcare providers." This bolsters the association's previous positions to oppose the use of the term "drug" for chemicals used in lethal injection and to oppose laws that require or prohibit pharmacists from participation in lethal injection cases. The group acted this week because of increased public attention on lethal injection, said Michelle Spinnler, spokeswoman for the American Pharmacists Association. That spotlight includes a January Supreme Court decision to stay the execution for three death row inmates in Oklahoma. This was prompted by Clayton Lockett's execution by lethal injection nearly one year ago in which he writhed on a gurney for 43 minutes before he died from a heart attack. In Georgia last month, the execution of female death row inmate Kelly Renee Gissendaner was postponed as a precaution when the execution team checked the medications and discovered they looked cloudy. Thirty-two sates allow capital punishment, and lethal injection is still the most common method. Last month, Utah Gov. Gary R. Herbert signed a law reinstating firing squads as a method of execution in cases in which lethal injection medications are not available. Of the eight inmates currently on death row in Utah, three opted for the new choice of death by firing squad. Pentobarbital is the preferred drug used for lethal injection. In Texas, the department of criminal justice told CNN in March they are running out of their supply. In July 2011, Lundbeck Inc., the manufacturer of pentobarbital, decided to no longer provide the drug to prisons for use in capital punishment. The companies that manufacture the products traditionally used in executions almost unilaterally decided to stop selling to institutions that used the products for that purpose, so states then turned to compounded preparations, Spinnler said. "Pharmacists should not be involved in preparation of these products or involved in executions in any other way." she says. The new declaration by the American Pharmacists Association aligns with positions held by other professional medical organizations such as the American Medical Association, the American Nurses Association and the American Board of Anesthesiology. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
A robotic probe into the Fukushima nuclear plant released crucial information on conditions inside the reactor .
TEPCO: Recorded radiation levels and temperatures are lower than expected .
The robot was sent into the plant after the first one broke down . | Tokyo (CNN)A second robotic probe sent into the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant has captured images of a strange green glow. Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) deployed the second remote-controlled robot last week after the first one broke down. The robot detected lower radiation levels and temperature than expected, an indicator that cooling systems were working effectively, according to a statement released by TEPCO. "It is a great step forward towards the decommissioning work as we can earn necessary data for the next investigation," said Akira Ono, the chief of Fukushima Daiichi plant. TEPCO said the yellow seen on the images seemed to suggest a discoloration of the grating, though the cause was unknown. It said the green glow could not be seen when filmed from other angles. The shape-shifting robots were sent in to assess the damage in one of the reactors that suffered a meltdown after a devastating earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. TEPCO says the site's still too dangerous for workers to enter. The first robot, which was sent in on April 10, stalled after moving about 10 meters, according to a statement released by TEPCO. A report and footage from the robot shows that a fallen object had blocked its path and left it stranded. TEPCO decided to cut off the cable connected to the device on April 12 as it had already collected data on radiation levels in 14 of the 18 targeted locations, completing around two-thirds of the originally planned route. The second robot was sent in on April 15 and collected data from all 11 points, as scheduled. Four years after the devastating nuclear crisis, the radiation levels inside the three damaged reactors are still extremely high and remain unsafe for people to enter. Decommissioning work is estimated to cost $50 billion and will take years to complete. TEPCO called the robotic probe an "unprecedented" experiment. CNN's Yoko Wakatsuki and Junko Ogura reported from Tokyo, Japan and Naomi Ng wrote from Hong Kong. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Chad Pregracke was the 2013 CNN Hero of the Year .
Mike Rowe visited Pregracke for an episode of "Somebody's Gotta Do It" | (CNN)Mike Rowe is coming to a river near you. "Sometimes, you hear about a person who makes you feel good about humanity, but bad about yourself," Rowe says. On Thursday's episode of "Somebody's Gotta Do It," Rowe meets up with Chad Pregracke, the founder of Living Lands & Waters, who does just that. Pregracke wants to clean up the nation's rivers one piece of detritus at a time. His quota? Always "more." Read Mike Rowe's Facebook post on how to break our litter habit. Since he founded the nonprofit in 1998 at the ripe age of 23, Pregracke and more than 87,000 volunteers have collected 8.4 million pounds of trash from U.S. waterways. Those efforts helped him earn the 2013 CNN Hero of the Year Award, along with numerous other honors. "Wherever you are, no matter if there's a stream, a creek, a lake, whatever, that needs to be cleaned up, you can do it. Just organize it and do it," he told CNN's Anderson Cooper after his win. Pregracke also gives Rowe a tour of the 150-foot, solar-powered barge that the Living Lands & Waters staff calls home during lengthy cleanups. The part-home, part-office, part-dumpster has seven bedrooms, two bathrooms, a classroom and a kitchen -- and just happens to be made from a recycled strip club. According to the organization's latest annual report, Pregracke has made it his mission in 2015 to remove 500,000 more pounds of trash. If you'd like to help achieve this goal, visit his website to learn how to help: LivingLandsAndWaters.org/Get-Involved/ . | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Josh and Vanessa Ellis, a couple in their 20s, were youth pastors in a suburban Seattle church .
They and their 8-month-old son, Hudson, are killed when a highway barrier falls on their car .
"We are stunned! Shocked!" the church's lead pastor writes on Facebook . | (CNN)A couple in their 20s, who led a youth ministry, and their baby boy were driving underneath a highway overpass in Bonney Lake, a Seattle suburb, when other motorists heard the crackle of a pending collapse. Concrete from a construction project crashed onto the family's car, killing Josh and Vanessa Ellis and their 8-month-old son, Hudson, authorities said. "The damage was so severe it was impossible to tell how many victims were in the vehicle. The only thing we had was we could tell there was one victim," said Officer Todd Green of Bonney Lake Police Department, according to CNN affiliate KOMO. It took nine hours Monday for crews to remove enough debris to discover the death toll on Angeline Road underneath State Route 410, authorities said. Authorities continued their investigation Tuesday, but initial findings were that there was an ongoing construction project on the highway and a side jersey barrier "came loose and fell onto the roadway," Green told the station. "When it fell off the overpass, it landed square on the roof of the vehicle," Green added. Josh and Vanessa Ellis were youth pastors at the EastPointe Foursquare Church in Puyallup, near Bonney Lake, the church said. The couple earlier wrote a short autobiography on the church website: "We love to laugh. We are passionate about seeing young people discover the love and grace that Jesus abundantly pours out on them. "We get really excited about good coffee, quality time with friends and Seattle welcoming an NBA basketball team back to our city," the couple wrote. "We love drive-in movies, frozen yogurt, dates to IKEA and trips to the beach." Lead Pastor James Ludlow said his church was reeling. "We are stunned! Shocked! Wounded, broken and dismayed. But we know one thing for sure ... they are in glory in the loving arms of our King Jesus!" Ludlow said on the church's Facebook page. Motorist Dawn Nelson was driving behind the Ellis' vehicle. "I was just a second or two behind him," Nelson told KOMO. "I could hear the three crunch sounds and then it just came down." Neighbors recounted a violent collapse. "I thought a semi had come down the guardrail here in front," neighbor Katie Vance told the station. She felt the crash inside her home. "It was a metal sound and a very heavy sound ... it was through your feet - like a guttural. It shook the whole house," she told the affiliate. CNN's Amanda Watts contributed to this story. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Ford Vox: Florida law keeps doctors from talking gun safety with patients; Arizona law forces doctors to promote disputed abortion claim .
He says doctor organizations are failing to defend medical profession against politically motivated interference by clueless lawmakers . | (CNN)There are two paths to practicing medicine in America. There's the traditional, time-tested way, where new doctors graduate from medical school and then pass a series of national exams while training for years as resident physicians. Then there's the approach being forged in Florida and Arizona: getting elected to a state legislature. Lawmakers in those states are too often donning the white coats to orchestrate medical practice. In 2011, Florida enacted the Firearm Owners' Privacy Act, which threatens prosecution and loss of licensure for any physicians who dare ask their patients about gun ownership and gun safety. Guns are a scientifically uncontested health risk. Asking about them is standard practice in pediatrics and psychiatry. I treat brain injuries, and it's part of my job to talk with patients about things that might be unsafe for them, like driving. And handling weapons. Some of those I treat suffered their injuries by bullets, typically fired by family members or themselves. Does anyone really believe I shouldn't talk about gun safety in these cases? It's a good thing I don't practice in Florida. Florida's gun censorship law was dragged into court soon after the governor signed it, and while a three-judge appeals panel upheld the law last summer, doctors can still ask about guns while the full 11th Circuit Court of Appeals decides whether it will take up the case, a decision that could come down any day, the president of the Florida chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Dr. Tommy Schechtman, told me. He is a plaintiff in the case. In Arizona, another assault on physician free speech is scheduled to go into effect this summer. Bill 1318 goes a step beyond silencing doctors. It requires them to lie. The bill was originally a hum-drum attempt to block health plans from covering abortion services, a common state and federal strategy. But legislators slid in a last-minute provision mandating that physicians who prescribe the abortion pill RU-486 tell patients the pill is reversible. That's the opinion of a particular San Diego doctor who says this can be done through risky, large doses of progesterone. But the doctor hasn't proven his case, and his regimen is not recommended by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists or the Food and Drug Administration. Any doctor is certainly within his or her rights to review the limited information available about the San Diego regimen and decide whether to discuss it with patients, but actually requiring physicians to make claims most believe to be untrue and unsafe means the legislators are overstepping their bounds and interfering with the patient-doctor relationship. I cannot imagine anyone attempting to put words into the mouth of a lawyer privately consulting with a client. Why are physicians putting up with a professional assault the American Bar Association would never permit? Dr. Ilana Addis, chairwoman of the Arizona chapter of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, told me the amendment was added shortly before she was scheduled to testify about the bill before the Arizona House. While Planned Parenthood and the ACLU joined her organization in criticizing the provision, the bill passed both chambers and was recently signed by the governor. There's a common relationship shared by these laws, beyond turning doctors into government spokespeople. These laws capitalize on controversial issues to divide and conquer. Physicians don't all share the same opinions on abortion and guns any more than they all vote Republican or Democrat. This is part of the reason the key state physicians' associations aren't taking the lead in battling these laws. The battle is left to the specialties most affected. In Florida, that's the state's chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, since pediatricians are most likely to ask about guns in the home. In Arizona, it's the state chapter of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists carrying the torch for physician free speech. The Florida Medical Association didn't provide me with details about whether it has a lobbying effort against the gun law, and the Arizona Medical Association told me in a statement that "ArMA's policy is to take no position on abortion." Representing physicians as a whole, the state medical associations have the most political clout in statehouses. The Massachusetts Medical Society (MSS) tried to utilize that power recently when it decided to dedicate "Doctor's Day" to the issue of physician free speech, highlighting the threat posed by Florida's gun law in particular. Members are concerned about the precedent being set. Arkansas enacted a law similar to Arizona just days later. The American Medical Association can do more. It did file a friend-of-the-court brief as part of the Florida legal challenge, but at this writing hasn't weighed in on Arizona. The AMA didn't sign on to a statement released last week by the Coalition to Protect the Patient-Provider Relationship that hits hard on the new abortion laws as an affront to good medical care. Its huge lobbying operations are tied up in Washington, while states are the main battleground over the integrity of medical practice. Now that the AMA has won the age-old "doc fix" battle, ending automatic Medicare payment cuts to doctors, perhaps it will consider assigning some of its $18 million lobbying team to stand in for lackluster state affiliates who've abdicated their responsibility to vigorously defend the medical profession. We have a Surgeon General now, Vivek Murthy, and he is on a national listening tour while he prepares to announce his areas of policy focus on April 22, Jonathan Beeton, a Health and Human Services spokesman told me. I hope Murthy will see beyond the bluster of abortion and gun politics and zero in on a key issue affecting public health -- free and unfettered communication between patients and doctors. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Shipping company representative denies cargo ship caused the capsizing .
UNHCR spokeswoman tells CNN that a cargo ship may have touched the migrant boat .
Italian authorities have arrested two survivors on suspicion of human trafficking . | Catania, Italy (CNN)The boat that sank in the Mediterranean over the weekend with hundreds of migrants on board may have capsized after being touched or swamped by a cargo ship that came to its aid, a U.N. official said. Carlotta Asami, a spokeswoman for the United Nations' refugee agency, made the comments to CNN early Tuesday after she and two of her colleagues had spoken to multiple survivors from the disaster who arrived in Catania, Italy. "They say that there was a point in which they were very close and probably what happened is that, you know, a big ship creating a big wave -- they were approaching in a very strong manner and they lost balance," Asami said. The account she offered differs from that provided by Italian authorities on Sunday. They said that as the cargo ship King Jacob approached late Saturday, migrants on the smaller boat moved to one side, hoping to be saved, and caused the vessel to capsize. Mark Clark -- a communications executive representing OSM Maritime Group, the company that manages the King Jacob -- denied that the cargo ship caused the migrant boat to capsize. He said he also believed that people on the migrant boat rushed to one side, causing many to fall off. The cargo ship was going very slowly as it approached, hardly making any waves, Clark told CNN. It deployed rescue boats, a gangway, nets and life rings, he said. The conflicting accounts of the chaotic events highlight the challenges faced by commercial vessels that are often called upon to help in the escalating migrant boat crisis in the Mediterranean. Asami said the survivors whom she and her colleagues spoke to were "consistent" in what they were saying. She said their accounts made it "credible to think" that between 800 and 850 people were on board the boat that capsized roughly 110 kilometers (70 miles) north of Libya. Previous estimates had put the number of people aboard anywhere between 700 and 950. Italian authorities, who have been coordinating the rescue effort, say only 28 survivors were rescued and 24 bodies have been recovered. The King Jacob, whose crew members are all from the Philippines, saved 22 of the survivors, according to Clark. The cause of the shipwreck is part of Italian authorities' investigation, said Giovanni Salvi, Catania's public prosecutor. Investigators want to study the King Jacob's voyage data recorder and find the wreck of the sunken boat, he told a news conference Monday. The likely toll makes the sinking the deadliest known disaster involving migrants crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa. Many of the victims are feared to be still trapped inside the sunken boat. Asami said the survivors told her and her colleagues that they were all on the highest part of the overcrowded boat, while many people were down in the lowest area. Italian authorities said Sunday that an unidentified Bangladeshi survivor had told them that the smugglers had locked many people inside the lower levels of the vessel. Two of the survivors were arrested on suspicion of human trafficking upon arriving in Sicily on Monday, according to Italian police officer Maria Guia Federico. They were the boat's Tunisian captain and a Syrian crew member, said Salvi, the Catania prosecutor. Italian police identified the two suspects through questioning survivors aboard the coast guard vessel that brought them to Catania, Salvi said, according to Italian media. The sinking appears to be the worst among an intensifying spate of migrant boat disasters in the Mediterranean to which European governments are struggling to respond. Vast numbers of people fleeing violence and poverty have been setting out on the risky journey across the Mediterranean to southern Europe for years, but authorities have reported a sharp increase this month in the numbers in need of rescue. The number of deaths has also skyrocketed. The International Organization for Migration said Monday that more than 1,100 people were estimated to have drowned in the waters between Libya and Italy just in the past week. It reported Monday that three other migrant boats could be in distress in international waters. Shipping companies recently warned that European governments are putting what they say is an unfair burden on their vessels to come to the aid of migrant boats in trouble. "We believe it is unacceptable that the international community is increasingly relying on merchant ships and seafarers to undertake more and more large-scale rescues, with single ships having to rescue as many 500 people at a time," the European Community Shipowners Associations said in a letter to EU leaders last month. "Commercial ships are not equipped to undertake such large-scale rescues, which also create serious risks to the safety, health and welfare of ships' crews who should not be expected to deal which such situations," the letter said. Commercial ships rescued more than 40,000 people in the Mediterranean last year, according to the International Organization for Migration. That's higher than the more than 35,000 people saved by the Italian Coast Guard but lower than the 80,000 rescued by the Italian Navy, which was running a special program, Mare Nostrum, for most of the year. European Union ministers met Monday in Luxembourg and proposed a 10-point plan to help address the crisis. "We are not yet working on numbers, but what we have agreed on today is, for sure, the need to increase significantly the resources at sea, and the level of the operation, doing more search and rescue and doing it more together," said Federica Mogherini, the EU high representative for foreign affairs and security police. Mogherini told CNN that the European Union must fight human traffickers, strengthen Europeans' duty to save lives at sea and share responsibility when it comes to the resettlement and relocation of refugees. "We need to fight the organizations that are trafficking and smuggling people, so that we can prevent desperate people from leaving in desperate conditions," Mogherini said. "My pain is that it was a reaction coming too late after so many people died." But some groups said European officials were offering too little too late. "What we needed from EU foreign ministers today was life-saving action, but they dithered," said Justin Forsyth, the chief executive of Save The Children. "With each day we delay we lose more innocent lives and Europe slips further into an immoral abyss," Forsyth said in a statement. "Right now, people desperately seeking a better life are drowning in politics." CNN's Karl Penhaul reported from Catania, and Jethro Mullen reported and wrote from Hong Kong. CNN's Hada Messia, Isa Soares and Atika Shubert contributed to this report. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
The plane might have hit an object on the runway, the Japanese transportation ministry says .
23 people have minor injuries, officials say .
The Airbus A320 overshot the Hiroshima Airport runway at 8:05 p.m. Tuesday, officials say . | (CNN) An Asiana Airlines plane overran a runway while landing at Japan's Hiroshima Airport on Tuesday evening, prompting the airport to temporarily close, the Japanese transportation ministry said. Twenty-three people had minor injuries after Flight 162 landed at 8:05 p.m., according to fire department and ministry sources. There were 73 passengers and eight crew members -- including five cabin attendants, two pilots and a maintenance official -- aboard when the flight took off from South Korea's Incheon International Airport at 6:34 p.m. local time, Asiana said in a statement late Tuesday. Authorities are investigating initial reports that the Airbus A320 may have hit an object on the runway during landing, causing damage to the rear of its body and the cover of the engine on the left wing, the ministry said. Video of the scene showed the aircraft's body turned around, with its nose pointing in the direction that the plane had come from. Hiroshima Airport closed because of the incident Tuesday night while fire department officials worked at the scene. Airbus, the plane's manufacturer, is aware of the incident and is working to gather more information, Airbus regional media relations manager Marie Caujolle said. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Italian Navy's "Mare Nostrum" mission to rescue would-be migrants in peril rescued an estimated 100,000 people .
Operation ended in October 2014, but the tide of people trying to cross the Mediterranean has not abated .
Italy has borne brunt of task of picking up, sheltering and providing food and medical help to illegal migrants . | (CNN)On October 31, 2014, the Italian government announced the end of "Mare Nostrum" -- a naval mission that rescued would-be migrants in peril as they tried to cross the Mediterranean to seek security and a new life in Europe. In the operation's year-long existence, the Italian Navy and Coastguard had rescued an estimated 100,000 people. But it proved expensive and politically contentious, and Europe was not prepared to help Italy shoulder the burden of the crisis. Without European support, the Italian government cut back the naval assets dedicated to rescuing migrants. Mare Nostrum, which had been launched after some 600 people died when two migrant ships sank in 2013, was replaced by the more modest "Operation Triton," under the auspices of the European Union's border agency, Frontex. Triton has about one-third of the funding of Mare Nostrum, with just six ships and patrol boats, two planes and one helicopter. It was designed as a policing rather than a humanitarian mission. At its inception, Klaus Rosler, operations director for Frontex, said "Triton is not a replacement for Mare Nostrum." Nor was Frontex "a coordinating body for search and rescue operations." Six months later, the argument about how to handle unprecedented numbers of desperate people heading for Europe continues unabated. Contributors to Triton include Portugal, the Netherlands, Finland and Iceland. Britain -- for example -- is not. It argues that search and rescue operations in international waters are "an unintended 'pull factor,' encouraging more migrants to attempt the dangerous sea crossing and thereby leading to more tragic and unnecessary deaths." It's perhaps no coincidence that immigration is a hot-button issue in Britain, with the UK Independence Party attacking the Conservative-led coalition government for being soft on allowing foreigners into the country. Similarly, the opposition Northern League in Italy opposed Mare Nostrum, accusing it of enticing migrants. If the first few months of this year are any guide, demand has not diminished even if the prospect of being rescued has. People from Syria, Mali and Eritrea are among the tens of thousands trying to escape repression, violence and abject poverty. Despite the danger, the great majority head first for Libya, where the collapse of authority allows smuggling operations to go unhindered. Italy -- the European state whose territory is closest to Libya -- has borne the brunt of the task of picking up, sheltering and providing food and medical help to the illegal migrants. In 2014, 170,000 migrants arrived in Italy by sea. Italian ships have picked up about 11,000 migrants in the past week alone. The islands of Sicily and of Lampedusa (which is closer to Tunisia than to mainland Italy) see an almost daily influx of human misery. And at this time of year, there is a surge in the illegal trafficking as the weather and sea conditions improve. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has said the Mediterranean is a sea, not a cemetery. On Sunday, in the wake of the latest disaster, he complained that Italy had been coping with the crisis in "near solitude, sometimes assisted by some other international presence." Italy has also led calls for an international peacekeeping issue to help restore stability in Libya, not least in an effort to tackle the flow of migrants, many of whom set out from around Misrata and other ports in the west of the country. According to some human rights groups, the danger to migrants on the high seas has been accentuated by merchant ships turning a blind eye to boats in distress -- despite a maritime obligation to come to the aid of vessels in peril. After the latest sinking, the European Commission called an urgent meeting of foreign and interior ministers, saying that "the reality is stark and our actions must therefore be bold. These are human lives at stake, and the European Union as a whole has a moral and humanitarian obligation to act." EU Foreign Policy chief Federica Mogherini, who is Italian, said Sunday: "We need to save human lives all together, as all together we need to protect our borders and to fight the trafficking of human beings." The task could not be "left only to the southern countries," she insisted. But bold action is rarely a hallmark of the EU. The recently installed head of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Junker, has set out his priorities -- but they are yet to be acted upon. Junker said the current budget of Frontex - some 90 million euros ($97 million) - was "a good start but does not yet equal the task of protecting Europe's common borders." That money has to cover all Frontex's roles -- and it's not only the Italian coast that is being targeted by migrants. Further east, thousands of migrants are trying to reach Greece by land and sea. According to the UN's refugee agency, 219,000 refugees and migrants crossed the Mediterranean last year. Junker has also argued for greater assistance to the European Asylum Support Office, which is based in Malta, arguing for "more thorough risk assessments to spot problem areas before they become overloaded." Most controversially, Junker is proposing Europe adopt a common asylum system, saying that "one and the same applicant for asylum can have a 70-75% chance of being granted asylum in one country of the European Union and less than 1%, with the same reasons, in another country." But progress toward a Europe-wide approach on migration is painfully slow. The European Commission plans to publish a policy document next month, but member states are in no hurry to grapple with such a politically explosive and costly subject. In the meantime, the argument in European meetings is likely to focus on priorities, with some (the UK and Germany) likely to argue that more resources must be devoted to cracking down on the lucrative people-smuggling racket. "We must target the traffickers who are responsible for so many people dying at sea and prevent their innocent victims from being tricked or forced into making these perilous journeys," said British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond Sunday. Others, including Italy, Greece, Spain and France, are expected to seek more concerted action in handling and funding the influx. But the hundreds of migrants being herded onto barely seaworthy boats from Libyan beaches will be oblivious to the debate. READ MORE: Migrant deaths at sea - what is Europe going to do?READ MORE: Why migrants are risking their lives to reach ItalyREAD MORE: 'I enter Europe or I die' - desperate migrants rescuedREAD MORE: How do illegal immigrants get into Europe? | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Keith Crandall: Five years after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, we are only beginning to understand its effects on the Gulf .
A crab species may be a key indicator of the impact, he says . | (CNN)Five years after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and unleashed the largest marine oil spill in the nation's history, we are still experiencing -- yet only beginning to truly understand -- its profound environmental and economic repercussions. The immediate aftermath of the oil spill has been well documented, with declines in tourism and the seafood industry, as well as the significant destruction of wildlife in the region. Since then, the amount of oil in the area has dissipated and communities have started to show signs of recovery. In fact, reports indicate that the Gulf of Mexico's seafood industry, which supplies the United States with roughly 40% of its seafood, is finally starting to rebound. However, profound challenges remain, in part because so many questions about the long-term consequences remain unanswered. To this day, it's still unclear where all of the oil went, exactly how much remains or whether the reappearance of wildlife is a result of adaptation or a signal that the crisis is truly abating. One of the populations that can provide insight into these questions is the Gulf crab. Crabs play an important role in the region: Roughly 60 million pounds were fished in the Gulf in 2012, earning tens of millions in revenue. Yet in the aftermath of the spill, changes to crustacean communities in the area were quite apparent to the naked eye. Researchers documented substantial differences in appearance, and deformities in crabs that were affected by the spill including lesions so numerous they ate through the joints, forcing limbs to fall off. These traits have affected not only the crabs' market value but also likely their ability to survive. While these changes in outward appearance have dissipated in the short-term, the health of these crabs could still be precarious. I have been working with colleagues at Florida International University and University of Louisiana at Lafayette to better understand what might be happening biologically inside the crab when it is exposed to oil and the dispersant used to respond to the spill. Using the power of genomics and computational biology, we analyzed the genes of flat back mud crabs that were exposed to oil from the Macondo Prospect where the Deepwater Horizon rig was drilling when it exploded or to a combination of oil and dispersant in the lab. By studying gene expression, the process that turns information from a gene into a product that functions within a cell, we searched for indicators that might signal exposure to oil and, based on the types of changes we might see, clues as to how the crabs respond. Although we are still in the early stages of our research, we are seeing significant differences in gene expression connected to exposure -- meaning the crabs are turning some genes on or off in response to oil and dispersant. We are still working to determine whether these changes impact their ability to survive and reproduce. It's not just Gulf crabs that are experiencing changes. Research on different species and other aspects of the regional environment is starting to show that there could be long-term effects resulting from the oil spill and the response to the spill. This not only has consequences for the Gulf area, where oil drilling continues, but also for communities along the Atlantic Coast, where the Obama administration has recently announced a plan to open unprecedented oil and natural gas exploration. (BP's vice president of communications, Geoff Morrell, told CNN that wildlife species in the Gulf have "bounced back and "there is no data that suggests there are any long-term population-level impacts to any species.") With the virtual certainty of more spills, we need a lot more information on the consequences of these disasters and how we can combat them effectively and efficiently. The U.S. Department of the Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency are making some progress. In coming months, they are releasing changes to regulations and response plans based on the early lessons learned from the Deepwater Horizon spill. But government agencies cannot just rely on the short-term data to determine the best response for the next oil spill crisis. Instead, the government and oil companies should work together to support ongoing, long-term ecological research so that we have a better grasp of what "normal" looks like and what factors are important in maintaining those conditions even after a disastrous oil spill. Only then will we truly understand the impact of offshore drilling and the best ways to respond to crises to protect our most important natural resources. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
The Mu Du Bong was detained after it ran aground off Mexico's coast in July .
North Korea says there's no reason to hold the ship and accuses Mexico of human rights violations .
Mexico says it followed proper protocol because the ship's owner skirted U.N. sanctions . | (CNN)North Korea accused Mexico of illegally holding one of its cargo ships Wednesday and demanded the release of the vessel and crew. The ship, the Mu Du Bong, was detained after it ran aground off the coast of Mexico in July. Mexico defended the move Wednesday, saying it followed proper protocol because the company that owns the ship, North Korea's Ocean Maritime Management company, has skirted United Nations sanctions. "Because the company has avoided the sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council, the Mexican government is acting on the basis of its international obligations as a responsible U.N. member state," the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the United Nations said. The Security Council blacklisted Ocean Maritime Management in July, saying it "played a key role in arranging the shipment of concealed arms and related materiel" on another ship, the Chong Chon Gang, which was detained by Panama in 2013. But An Myong Hun, North Korea's deputy ambassador to the United Nations, said there was no reason to hold the Mu Du Bong and accused Mexico of violating the crew members' human rights by keeping them from their families. "Mu Du Bong is a peaceful, merchant ship and it has not shipped any items prohibited by international laws or regulations," An told reporters at the United Nations headquarters Wednesday. "And we have already paid full compensation to Mexican authorities according to its domestic laws." According to Mexico's U.N. mission, the 33 North Korean nationals who make up the vessel's crew are free, staying at a hotel in the port city of Tuxpan and regularly visiting the ship to check on it. They will soon be sent back to North Korea with help from the country's embassy, Mexican authorities said. In the case of the Chong Chon Gang, Panamanian authorities found it was carrying undeclared weaponry from Cuba -- including MiG fighter jets, anti-aircraft systems and explosives -- buried under thousands of bags of sugar. Panama seized the cargo and held onto the ship and its crew for months. North Korea eventually agreed to pay a fine of $666,666 for the vessel's release. CNN's Jethro Mullen contributed to this report. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Heather Mack jailed for 10 years over mother's murder in Bali .
Boyfriend Tommy Schaefer sentenced to 18 years in prison for the attack .
Mack gave birth to the couple's daughter last month . | (CNN)An American teenager who helped her boyfriend stuff her mother's lifeless body into a suitcase at an upmarket hotel in Bali has been sentenced to 10 years in prison. Heather Mack, 19, who gave birth to her own daughter just weeks ago, was found guilty with her 21-year-old boyfriend, Tommy Schaefer, of killing Sheila von Wiese-Mack on the Indonesian island last August. Schaefer was sentenced to 18 years in prison for battering von Wiese-Mack to death in room 317 of the St. Regis Bali Resort. Schaefer had claimed he killed his girlfriend's mother in self-defense after a violent argument erupted over the young couple's relationship. The beaten body of von Wiese-Mack was found in a large silver suitcase that the couple had loaded in a waiting taxi outside the resort. They told the driver they'd be back soon, but after a lengthy wait he alerted hotel staff who inspected the bag, noticed blood and called police. The lovers were arrested after being found the following morning at another hotel about 15 kilometers (nine miles) away. Inside the bag, von Wiese-Mack's body had been wrapped in hotel bedding. A forensic examination determined that she had died from a blunt force to the face that fractured her facial bones and caused her to suffocate. Described as a Chicago socialite, von Wiese-Mack was reported to have a troubled relationship with her teenage daughter. Schaefer denied that the murder was premeditated. He told the court that he acted in self-defense when his girlfriend's mother started strangling him during an argument in the Bali hotel room. "She squeezed my neck for about 20 to 30 seconds. I couldn't breathe. I had blood going to my head and my eyes were so watery," Schaefer told the court. He said he reached for a nearby bowl "before she could." "I couldn't see for a moment because my eyes were so watery and I was distraught, I was in a state of mind, I had no idea what was happening. I was almost about to black out. And I grabbed it and I started swinging," he told the court. Mack told the court her mother had threatened to kill the couple's unborn baby, according to local media. The prosecutor alleged that the two planned the murder, because Mack's mother disapproved of their relationship. After being detained by police, the couple initially claimed they'd been taken captive at the resort by an armed gang, whose members killed Heather's mother, and from whom they managed to escape. The two were tried separately, though both trials were heard by the same court, with the same prosecutors. Prosecutors had sought a prison sentence of 18 years for Schaefer and 15 years for Mack. Under Indonesian law, Mack will be allowed to keep her baby with her in prison for two years, after which she can nominate who should take custody. Journalists Fairuz Husaini and Ragil Lestari and CNN's Kathy Quiano contributed to this report. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Drake thanks Madonna and says he "got to make out with the queen"
Singer Madonna kisses rapper Drake onstage at Coachella .
Drake's reaction was priceless, according to the Web . | (CNN)Madonna has a thing for making out with fellow performers on stage. First it was Britney and Christina, and now rapper Drake has been on the receiving end of a little lip action from Madge. While the blondes had fun with it, Drake appeared less than enthused after Madonna's prolonged smooch onstage at the Coachella music festival in California on Sunday. In an update Monday from "champagnepapi" himself on Instagram, the rapper clarified his reaction: "Don't misinterpret my shock!! I got to make out with the queen Madonna and I feel 100 about that forever. Thank you @Madonna." After the kiss, though, he seemed dazed. "Oh, s***. What the f*** just happened?" he asked moments later from the stage. It all went down after Drake performed "Madonna," a song named for the megastar off his new mixtape "If You're Reading This It's Too Late," according to Billboard. He welcomed Madonna onstage as a special guest to perform a few songs. While wrapping up "Human Nature," the Material Girl, 56, planted one on the seated Drake, 28, who began to flail his arms after a while in an apparent attempt to escape. His sour face after the encounter led many to speculate that he didn't enjoy the kiss. Of course, Drake and Madonna's little makeout sesh got the web talking and meme-ing: . "So @Drake proves that kissing @Madonna is about as ghastly as I always imagined it would be," wrote former CNN personality Piers Morgan. "Grandma: give Nana some suga . Drake: no no noooooo!!!" wrote another Tweeter. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Dan Kennedy: After Boston Marathon bombing guilty verdict, now real trial -- the sentencing -- can begin. What justice should Tsarnaev get?
He says a plea might have been better, to keep bomber out of the news and let him fade into obscurity in maximum security cell .
Kennedy: The people who deserve to be remembered are victims and MIT officer who was killed . | Boston (CNN)Now the real Boston Marathon trial can begin. A federal jury's decision to convict Dzhokhar Tsarnaev of 30 charges related to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings was the most anticlimactic of anticlimaxes. The 21-year-old's lawyers admitted from the beginning that their client had participated in the horrific terrorist attack, which both scarred and strengthened this city. The outcome of this first phase may have been preordained, but nearly two years after the bombing, the trial has held Boston and the region in thrall — more so than I might have imagined. The case regularly lands on the front pages of our two daily newspapers, the Globe and the Herald, and often leads the local television newscasts. The Twitter feeds of reporters covering the trial are avidly followed. We haven't learned much new, although harrowing details about the deaths of the Tsarnaev brothers' four victims have come out. More than anything, many people find something cathartic in seeing the seemingly insolent, unrepentant Tsarnaev being brought to justice. The only issue to be decided is whether Tsarnaev should be executed. Which is why the second phase of his trial is the one that really matters. Was Tsarnaev so thoroughly under the sway of his radicalized older brother, Tamerlan, that he should be spared lethal injection? Or had this seemingly typical teenager transformed himself into a hardened jihadist who obsessed over al Qaeda propaganda such as the article "Make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom"? What kind of justice should Tsarnaev receive? There is no death penalty in Massachusetts, and in September 2013, according to a Globe poll, 57% of respondents supported life in prison for Tsarnaev; just 33% said he should be executed. By moving the case into federal court, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder made it likely that Tsarnaev would receive the death penalty. Keep in mind that no members of the jury were deemed eligible to serve unless they stated beforehand that they were willing to consider putting Tsarnaev to death. But imagine a different scenario in which Tsarnaev had been allowed to plead guilty in return for a life sentence. He would have been denied the public stage he has been granted; although he has not testified (so far), his terrorist actions have been replayed over and over again for people to see the world over. The 2015 Boston Marathon will take place in less than two weeks, on Monday, April 20. Thousands of runners will clog the 26.2-mile route, and tens of thousands will cheer them on — as they did last year, proving to the world that we will not be intimidated. And Tsarnaev's lawyers will still be fighting for their client's life. It is a natural if disturbing reaction to events like this that it's easier to remember the names of the perpetrators than of their victims. But Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is a loser and a nobody. He should be allowed to fade away into the obscurity of a maximum-security prison cell. The people who deserve to be remembered are those he and his brother killed on Marathon Day — Martin Richard, Krystle Campbell and Lingzi Lu — and Sean Collier, the MIT police officer they executed in cold blood. It is they who should live on in our collective memories. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Gisele Bundchen walked the runway for the last time Wednesday night in Brazil .
The supermodel announced her retirement from runway modeling over the weekend .
She plans to continue working in other facets of the industry . | Sao Paulo, Brazil (CNN)Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen sashayed down the catwalk at Sao Paulo Fashion Week on Wednesday night in an emotional farewell to the runway. Bundchen announced over the weekend that she would be retiring from the catwalk, though not the fashion industry. The 34-year-old, who is married to New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and has two children, has said she wants to spend more time with her family. On Wednesday night, Brady had a front-row seat at what was hailed as a historic moment in Brazil's fashion world. Bundchen wrote about her fashion career on her Instagram account: "I am grateful that at 14, I was given the opportunity to start this journey. Today after 20 years in the industry, it is a privilege to be doing my last fashion show by choice and yet still be working in other facets of the business." | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
"The Americans" ends a critically acclaimed third season Wednesday .
Academy of Country Music Awards holds its 50th ceremony Sunday on CBS . | (CNN)The TV season is winding down, and the finales are starting. Those endings lead off this week's six things to watch. 1. "The Americans," 10 p.m. ET Wednesday, FX . Critics continue to praise "The Americans" as one of the best series on TV, and every finale has delivered in a big way. Season 3 has seen a battle for the soul of daughter Paige, the return of fan favorite Margo Martindale and Soviet agent Nina getting back in the game. The finale is titled "March 8, 1983." That's the date when President Reagan called the Soviet Union an "evil empire." We shall see what surprises lie in store for the season ender. 2. "Fresh Off the Boat," 8 p.m. ET Tuesday, ABC . Critics and viewers seem to have taken to "Fresh," the first sitcom with an Asian-American cast since the 1990s. It hasn't been picked up for a second season, but the signs are looking good. 3. "Vikings," 10 p.m. ET Thursday, History . The first History Channel scripted series, which been renewed for a fourth season, wraps up on Thursday. 4. "Scorpion," 8 p.m. ET Monday, CBS . This based-on-a-true-story show, about a ragtag band of geniuses sent on secret missions, got a lot of hype for CBS in the early going, and that was enough to get it a second season. With the producers safe in that knowledge, we could get a surprising season finale. 5. "Broadchurch," 10 p.m. ET Wednesday, BBC America . Fox's American remake, "Gracepoint," didn't last, but the British mystery series starring David Tennant continues. Another murder could be solved -- and the trial based on the events of season 1 resolved -- by the end of this finale. 6. Academy of Country Music Awards, 8 p.m. ET Sunday, CBS . Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton return to host the 50th annual awards. Christina Aguilera is set to perform a "surprise duet" (yes, that Christina Aguilera). | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Expert: Decision "doesn't look very urgent," but it appears "well-timed" for Pope Francis .
Robert Finn remained a bishop after a 2012 conviction for failure to report abuse .
Leader of watchdog group calls the Pope's decision "a good step but just the beginning" | (CNN)Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop Robert Finn, who remained on the job for years after becoming the highest-ranking U.S. Catholic official convicted in connection with the church's long-running sex abuse scandal, the Vatican announced Tuesday. Finn, who led the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri, was found guilty in 2012 of failure to report suspected child abuse. The case was tried by a judge instead of by jury because prosecutors wanted to protect the young victims' anonymity. Finn was convicted of one count but not a misdemeanor charge he'd also faced. He was put on two years' probation but was not forced to spend time in jail or pay a fine, according to the Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. Two charges against his diocese were dropped. At the time of his conviction, Finn said, according to CNN affiliate KCTV: "I truly regret and am sorry for the hurt these events have caused." Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said the conviction and penalty, which included starting a $10,000 fund for sexual abuse counseling and mandatory training for church officials on how to report abuse, would have positive ramifications. "We can be assured now that if an allegation of child abuse comes to the attention of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, there will be no hesitation to report it immediately to the proper authorities," Baker said. The case against Finn revolved around his diocese's dealings with Shawn Ratigan, an Independence, Missouri, priest who pleaded guilty in August 2012 to five child pornography charges. Church officials found disturbing images on Ratigan's computer but didn't notify police until nearly five months later, prosecutors said. In those interceding months, the priest kept on working. And Finn kept his job as bishop, even after his 2012 conviction. The official website of the Catholic diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph still listed him as its bishop Tuesday morning. Cardinal Sean O'Malley, who took over the abuse-shaken Boston archdiocese and has become one of the Pope's point men in the United States, has acknowledged the inconsistency that someone who wouldn't be allowed to teach Sunday school was still running an American diocese. "It's a question that the Holy See needs to address urgently," O'Malley said in a "60 Minutes" interview in November. "There's a recognition of that ... from Pope Francis." Candida Moss -- a professor at Notre Dame, a Catholic university in Indiana -- said it "doesn't look very urgent" that a decision came down only now, nearly three years after the conviction and five months after O'Malley's comments. Several factors may have played a role in the delay, including views from lawyers or power players at the Vatican, who may be reluctant to cast blame at high-level officials who don't report allegations quickly enough to government authorities. But the timing of the announcement may make sense given that it comes weeks after Francis came under fire for the installation of a new bishop in Chile, Juan Barros, despite protesters' claims he was complicit in sexual abuse cases there. "It kind of shook Francis' reputation," said Moss. "Having this resignation and putting right one of the more visible injustices on this, especially in the U.S., I think this is a typical Francis way to reinstall confidence." Now that the case has been addressed, the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese has a new leader: Kansas Archbishop Joseph Naumann. Under the Pope's directive, Naumann will be the Kansas City diocese's apostolic administrator, in addition to his regular responsibilities in Kansas, until a permanent bishop is appointed, according to an announcement on the diocese's website. "I pray that the coming weeks and months will be a time of grace and healing for the Diocese," Naumann said in an open letter to parishioners. "All of us, who are privileged to serve in leadership for the Church, do so for only a season. It is not our Church, but Christ's Church." Moss, the Notre Dame professor, predicted that the shuffling at the western Missouri diocese will be "very well received," though some may question why it took so long. "It's not just that it's late," Moss said, "but it's that Francis could have been more explicit." To that point, the co-director of BishopAccountability.org asked for more elaboration than the Vatican's one-line announcement that Francis accepted the resignation "in accordance with ... Canon Law." Anne Doyle, from the watchdog group that documents the Catholic church's abuse crisis, called Finn's removal "a good step but just the beginning." "The pope must show that this decision represents a meaningful shift in papal practice -- that it signals a new era in bishop accountability," Doyle said. "... What no pope has done to date is publicly confirm that he removed a culpable bishop because of his failure to make children's safety his first priority. We urge Pope Francis to issue such a statement immediately." CNN's AnneClaire Stapleton contributed to this report. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Videos of the week include drone footage of Oklahoma City .
NASA has a car that drives sideways -- and a spacecraft headed for Pluto . | (CNN)A look at Oklahoma City, 20 years later. A fly-by of Pluto, 4 billion miles away. And the struggle to save the last male northern white rhino in the world. These are your best videos of the week: . On April 19, 1995, the Alfred R. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, was bombed by two disaffected young Americans. One hundred sixty-eight people died in the terrorist attack, including 19 children. As the 20th anniversary of the tragedy approaches, CNN captured video of the memorial that stands on the site today. The video is at the top of this story. The use of marijuana as a medicinal treatment actually dates back millennia, to at least 2730 B.C. CNN's Sanjay Gupta looks at the history of the herb in medicine -- including its prescription by Queen Victoria's doctor. Watch the video: . Just because you're a politician doesn't mean you come naturally to glad-handing. From the "swing and miss" to the "smile, the cameras are rolling," the video age has captured a number of strange attempts by politicians attempting to look socially casual. Watch the video: . Just as Jimmy Fallon become the go-to guy for viral video, newly minted "Late Late Show" host James Corden began staking his claim. CNN's Lisa France addresses the latest late-night matchups. Watch the video: . On Thursday, a video of ESPN reporter Britt McHenry insulting a tow company clerk came out -- and immediately went viral. McHenry was suspended for a week. Watch the video: . There are just four countries in the entire world that don't guarantee any form of paid maternity leave. The U.S. is one of them. This and other details of women's status in the United States are examined in this video, as well as a remarkable series by CNN's Jessica Ravitz. Watch the video: . Five northern white rhinoceroses are left in the entire world. All are in captivity -- and just one is male. He's now being protected by armed guards around the clock. Watch the video: . TEPCO, the Japanese utility, sent a robot in to examine the remains of the Fukushima nuclear plant, destroyed in a 2011 tsunami. What it recorded was startling. Watch the video: . Leave it to NASA to create a car that might make the problems of parallel parking a thing of the past. Oh, and it'll also probably work well on space missions. Former NFL player Aaron Hernandez was found guilty of murder earlier this week. What happened at his trial? Watch the video: . This summer, after nine years traveling through space, the New Horizons spacecraft is scheduled to reach Pluto. What will we learn? Some new pictures offer clues. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
An author says "Avengers" director Joss Whedon and "Cabin" director Drew Goddard stole his idea .
Peter Gallagher alleges similarities to his "The Little White Trip: A Night In the Pines" from 2006 . | (The Hollywood Reporter)The author of a 2006 novel has accused the "Avengers" director and "Cabin" director Drew Goddard of stealing his idea. With just weeks until his box-office victory lap for "Avengers: Age of Ultron," Joss Whedon is now facing a lawsuit accusing him of stealing the idea for the 2012 meta-horror movie The Cabin in the Woods. Whedon produced and co-wrote the script for Cabin with director Drew Goddard, a writer on Whedon's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and a fanboy favorite in his own right, with credits that include Netflix's "Daredevil" (and reportedly may soon include Sony's upcoming Spider-Man projects). Whedon and Goddard are named as defendants, along with Lionsgate and Whedon's Mutant Enemy production company, in the complaint filed Monday in California federal court. Joss Whedon Slams 'Jurassic World' Clip as "'70s-Era Sexist" In the complaint, Peter Gallagher (no, not that Peter Gallagher) claims Whedon and Goddard took the idea for "The Cabin in the Woods" from his 2006 novel "The Little White Trip: A Night In the Pines." He's suing for copyright infringement and wants $10 million in damages. Gallagher is basing his claim on the works' similar premises: Both feature a group of young people terrorized by monsters while staying at a cabin in what is revealed to be (spoiler alert) a horror-film scenario designed by mysterious operators. Read the full complaint. Gallagher also alleges similarities between the characters' names and personalities -- his book's blond Julie and shy Dura and the film's Jules (Anna Hutchison) and Dana (Kristen Connolly), and handsome and scatterbrained men in both works -- and certain scenes involving the characters finding strange items in their respective cabins and discovering hidden cameras. 'Age of Ultron': Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch Are "Massively Important," Says Joss Whedon (Video) In the complaint, Gallagher describes how he self-published the novel and "began grassroots efforts" to sell it on the Venice Beach boardwalk and on Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade. "[The defendants] currently reside and operate out of Santa Monica, California, a short distance from where the Book was sold," the lawsuit claims. Gallagher alleges that he "was contacted by multiple credited entertainment industry producers who expressed interest in the Book," but he doesn't specify Lionsgate or Mutant Enemy. A Lionsgate spokesman declined to comment. The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to representatives for Whedon and Goddard. ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
A fan re-edited "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice" trailer with classic scenes from older "Batman" and "Superman" TV and film .
Adam West and Christopher Reeve replace Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill in the re-imagined trailer . | (CNN)The much-discussed trailer for "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice" just got a makeover. Soon after the trailer went up late on Friday, YouTuber Bobby Burns got to work on doing his own version using classic superhero footage. Instead of Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill facing off, this version wonders what it would be like if comics' classic characters Adam West and Christopher Reeve took their places. CNN spoke to 18-year-old Burns about what motivated him to make his now-viral video. (Warner Bros. Pictures, the studio behind "Batman v. Superman," is owned by Time Warner, as is CNN.) CNN: When did you start making YouTube videos like this? Burns: At age 11. I work for the Made In Network in Nashville, Tennessee. CNN: Where did this idea come from? Burns: I'm pretty hyped for "Batman v. Superman." As soon as I saw the trailer, my brain immediately went to the classic "Batman" [TV series] and I thought how funny it would be if this film was made at the time. CNN: What were you looking to accomplish? Burns: I wanted to contrast the old with the new. CNN: What kind of reaction have you received? Burns: Within an hour of the trailer going up, I went to work on the edit. Within four hours, my edit was finished and up on the Internet. The reaction has been great! It's awesome to see so many people enjoying what I made. Take a look at the fan trailer below: . | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Paul McCartney honors Ringo Starr at Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony .
Green Day, Lou Reed, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts also honored . | (Billboard)The key to rock's longevity is it never defines itself into irrelevance. So while there were some loud, dirty guitars at the 2015 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cleveland on Saturday night, there was as much recognition for rock's antecedents in soul and blues, speaking less to a particular taxonomy than a spirit that's beyond words. It's easy to talk of such spirit when Paul McCartney is there to honor Ringo Starr, and Yoko Ono is on hand as well. Speaking briefly backstage, Ono expressed feeling that it was wonderful for Starr to be honored, "just sad John and George aren't here," referring to her late husband John Lennon and Beatles guitarist and fellow songwriter George Harrison. Starr was certainly happy to be there — after a long wait, he's the final Beatle to be inducted as a solo act. "I've finally been invited, and I love it," said the 74-year-old drummer. "I got lucky, and it was actually in Cleveland," he said to enormous applause. Fifty-one years earlier, Starr had been in town to play the very same Hall; he admitted backstage that he didn't remember the cops stopping the show during "All My Loving" and making the Beatles return to the dressing room for ten minutes until the fans could be calmed. Starr said in a backstage interview that he couldn't recall the incident specifically, but admitted that there had been a lot of shows in between. "I'll remember this one," he promised. Others receiving Rock Hall honors included Paul Butterfield Blues Band, early soul act The 5 Royales, singer Bill Withers, punk rockers Green Day, Lou Reed, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts and Stevie Ray Vaughan. It was a night for the young to honor the old and perhaps prepare for a later visit. John Mayer hailed his longtime idol, the late Vaughan, in a heartfelt speech. John Legend came out to honor Bill Withers with a performance of "Use Me" backed by Stevie Wonder, who inducted Withers. The two then shared "Lean on Me," until Legend went and pulled Withers to the front of the stage to join them. Beck, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Bill Withers, Seymour Stein hit Rock Hall's weekend festivities . The 76-year old soul legend hasn't performed live in many years but had hinted in the months leading up to the induction ceremonies that he might sing once more. Withers sounded great, though he may have an even brighter future in stand-up. "This has got to be the biggest AA meeting [in the] Western hemisphere," said Withers, alluding to an earlier moment in the show when Jimmie Vaughan confessed, "I taught my brother guitar, and he taught me how to get sober." He called being inducted by Wonder, "A lion holding the door for a kitty cat." The moment of relative levity was welcome after moving tributes paid to the late Lou Reed by Patti Smith and Reed's widow, music artist Laurie Anderson, who shared the three rules for life that they came up with: "One: don't be afraid of anyone; Two: get a really good b------t detector and learn how to use it; Three: be really, really tender." Smith had to push back tears on at least three occasions. She recalled a night when they wound up in the same hotel and Reed invited her up. She found him in the tub dressed in black and she sat on the toilet and talked with him. Green Day was inducted by Fall Out Boy, who referenced the length of some of the speeches. Cracked Fall Out Boy frontman Patrick Stump: "I feel like I'm in a line at the DMV." As one of the youngest acts, it's not surprising they gave one of the two most exciting performances of the evening. Rock Hall induction ceremony: Lou Reed 'would be amused,' says sister . The other belonged to Tom Morello, Doyle Bramhall II and Zac Brown with harmonica player Jason Ricci performing "Born in Chicago" in tribute to the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Not only did Ricci slay, but Morello played a nasty scabrous solo that raised the hairs on your arm, it was so alive. Miley Cyrus inducted Joan Jett in her own inimitable way, recalling a time she walked in on Jett smoking pot and being so turned on by her strength, wisdom and soul that the young pop star wanted to have sex with the legendary rocker. Jett joined the Blackhearts and Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl for a mini-set that include such classics as "Bad Reputation," the Runaways' "Cherry Bomb" and "Crimson and Clover," the Tommy James & the Shondelles cover that Jett took to No. 1. It was that kind of a night, and it closed with a rousing version of the Beatles' "I Want to Be Your Man," where just about everybody who could make it out on stage did, including a near-end guitar scrum/lead-off between Gary Clark Jr., Morello, Zac Brown and Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Nick Zinner. ©2015 Billboard. All Rights Reserved. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Dr. Doom is seen for the first time in the trailer for the "Fantastic Four" reboot .
Chris Pratt takes the lead in the new trailer for "Jurassic World" | (CNN)How will the new "Fantastic Four" differ from the original movie of a decade ago? For starters, as a new trailer shows, Sue and Johnny Storm's father initiates the project that ends up giving the foursome their powers. They also end up in another dimension, and we see the early flirtation between Sue Storm and Reed Richards as well. The movie, due out August 7, promises a very different take on the classic Marvel comics characters, played this go-round by Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Bell. We also get our first glimpse of the villainous Dr. Doom in this new trailer, released Sunday. Fans on Twitter had mixed reactions. Check out the trailer here: . The trailerpalooza of "Star Wars," "Batman v. Superman" and "Fantastic Four" kept sci-fi and superhero fans chattering all weekend. Not to be outdone, the new trailer for "Jurassic World" came out Monday morning. It features even more of star Chris Pratt. Pratt's scientist character knows dinosaurs better than anyone. After a genetically modified mutant dinosaur escapes from an island theme park along with others, he takes charge of a mission to contain the dangerous creatures. (The trailer also includes part of a scene that caused controversy after Joss Whedon called it "sexist" last week.) The movie is first in the rampaging-dino franchise since "Jurassic Park III" in 2001. And, as we see for the first time, the dinosaurs have learned to communicate with each other. Uh-oh. Early word on Twitter was pretty good. Here's the new trailer for the movie, out June 12: . | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Gray was arrested on a weapons charge April 12; he was dead seven days later .
Gray was placed inside a police van after his arrest; it's unclear if anything happened inside the van .
Gray has a criminal history but it's unclear whether that had anything to do with his arrest, or death . | (CNN)The arrest and death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore has stoked protests and accusations of police brutality. But it's unclear how Gray, arrested on a weapons charge April 12, suffered a severe spinal cord injury that led to his death seven days later. Here are the big questions surrounding this explosive case: . Gray's arrest . What we know: Gray was arrested on a weapons charge in a high-crime area of Baltimore known for drugs. He "gave up without the use of force," according to Baltimore Deputy Police Commissioner Jerry Rodriguez. An officer apparently took his Taser out, and was prepared to use it on Gray, but he never deployed it, Rodriguez said, and none of the six officers involved in the arrest describe using force against the 25-year-old. Gray was placed inside a police van and was able to talk, said Rodriguez who described Gray as upset. "And when Mr. Gray was taken out of that van, he could not talk, and he could not breathe," according to Rodriguez. What we don't know: It's unknown what caused the spinal cord injury that led to his death a week after the arrest, and it's also unknown what, if anything, happened inside the van. The knife . What we know: Court documents allege that Baltimore Police Department Officer Garrett Miller arrested Gray after finding a switchblade in his pocket. The Gray family attorney called the allegation a "sideshow." Gray was carrying a "pocket knife of legal size," attorney William Murphy told CNN. Police never saw the knife and chased Gray only after he ran from them, the attorney said. The court documents also say that Gray "fled unprovoked upon noticing police presence." "The officer noticed a knife clipped to the inside of his front right pants pocket. The defendant was arrested without force or incident," the documents say. "The knife was recovered by this officer and found to be a spring assisted, one-hand-operated knife." Maryland law makes it illegal to "wear or carry a dangerous weapon of any kind concealed on or about the person," including switchblades. What we don't know: It's not clear that simply having a knife is a crime, said Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. "It is not necessarily probable cause to chase someone. So, we still have questions," she said. What can be seen on the released video . What we know: Segments of cell phone video shot from two different positions appear to begin after Gray has been arrested and show officers dragging Gray, who is handcuffed, to a van. He can be heard screaming. "He was dragged a bit," said Rawlings-Blake, "but then you see him using his legs to get into the van, so he was able-bodied when he was in the van, and we know that when he was finally taken out of the van, he was unresponsive." Officers placed more restraints on Gray inside the van, police said, while surveillance video recorded him conscious and talking. That was at 8:54 a.m. At 9:24 a.m., police called an ambulance for Gray. Police say Gray requested medical attention, including an inhaler, and an ambulance later took him to the University of Maryland Medical Center's Shock Trauma Center. What we don't know: It's unknown why Gray screamed, and the video doesn't capture the entire incident, start to end. It's unclear what happened between 8:54 a.m. and 9:24 a.m. Police response . What we know: In the wake of Gray's death, six police officers have been suspended. Their names were released Tuesday, a standard procedure after an "in-custody death," said Baltimore Police Department spokesman Capt. Eric Kowalczyk. It doesn't mean the officers did anything wrong or that they were the only officers involved, he said. They are: Lt. Brian Rice, 41, who joined the department in 1997; Officer Caesar Goodson, 45, who joined in 1999; Sgt. Alicia White, 30, who joined in 2010; Officer William Porter, 25, who joined in 2012; Officer Garrett Miller, 26, who joined in 2012; and Officer Edward Nero, 29, who joined in 2012. Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said that authorities plan to conclude their investigation by May 1. Their findings will go to the state's attorney's office, where prosecutors will decide whether charges should be filed. What we don't know: The officers say they didn't use force against Gray, but that's not certain. Gray's past run-ins with authorities . What we know: According to court documents CNN obtained, there were more than 20 criminal court cases in Maryland against Gray, and five of those cases were still active at the time of his death. The cases involve mostly drug-related charges, but there are charges from March for second-degree assault and destruction of property. Gray was due in court on a possession charge on April 24. He had been in and out of prison since 2009 for various drug cases, said Maryland Department of Corrections spokesman Gerard Shields. In February 2009, he was sentenced to four years in prison for two counts of drug possession with intent to deliver. Shields said he could not determine from records what kind of drug was involved. Gray was paroled on June 30, 2011. On April 4, 2012, Gray was arrested for violating parole but he didn't go back to prison, Shields said, reasoning that whatever Gray allegedly did, it "was something minor." Gray went back to prison again in May 2013 for drug possession and served a month. He was released in June. What we don't know: It's not known whether Gray's criminal past had anything to do with his arrest, or his death. CNN's AnneClaire Stapleton, Stephanie Gallman and Eliott C. McLaughlin, Dana Ford and Ben Brumfield contributed to this report. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
Climbers are returning to Everest after 2014 season on Nepal side was canceled .
Climbing permits increase in Tibetan and Nepalese side this year .
16 Nepalis died in Khumbu Icefall on Everest last year . | (CNN)Mountaineers have returned to Mount Everest for this year's climbing season, resuming the quest to summit the world's highest peak after a deadly season last year. In 2014, the Nepal climbing season ended after a piece of glacial ice fell, unleashing an avalanche that killed 16 Nepalis who had just finished their morning prayers. The April 18 accident was the single deadliest incident to ever occur on Mount Everest. The deaths launched fierce debates about the enormous risks faced by the Sherpas and the dangers of climbing Everest. In order to reduce risks, the route through Khumbu Icefall, the notoriously treacherous path where the 16 were killed, has been changed to one that takes longer but is expected to be safer. "They're going in the icefall and, as we found out on April 18, it's the most dangerous place," said Conrad Anker, a veteran climber who has been to Everest three times. "They're exposed to the tumbling ice, hanging seracs above it. It's very, very dangerous. It's the most dangerous place I've been in the mountains." At this point in the season, climbing teams have not yet entered Khumbu Icefall, which is essentially a frozen river rapid with jagged pieces breaking off and moving. Nepal has issued 347 permits this year to climb Mount Everest, with 125 of them from the previously shortened season, according to the Nepal Ministry of Tourism. It's a slight increase from the 334 who were given permission last year. The local Nepalese committee that determines the path up Everest announced in February that a different route had been selected. The climbers will now take a central route through the Khumbu Icefall, avoiding the area where the deaths occurred. The committee comprised of Sherpas voted to return to the central route for safety reasons. "There will be little risk of avalanche than in the right or left," said Yangji Doma Sherpa, the spokeswoman for the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee. The central route had been used in the 1990s, but was abandoned in favor of a quicker route, she said. The new path means climbers will have to cross more crevasses, and use more vertical and horizontal ladders. The committee issued a recommendation that the weight of workers' gear be limited to avoid overloading the ladders. "I think it will be an hour longer on the icefall," said Alan Arnette, who is blogging from Everest base camp this season. "I don't think it will be game changer." But one company, Alpenglow Expeditions, said it would stop climbing from the Nepal side, where the climbers have to go through the icefall, in favor of the northern route from China. "We've seen it get progressively more dangerous over the last few years," said Adrian Ballinger, the company's founder and CEO. "We believe the risk is too great for our workers." According to the China Tibet Mountaineering Association, 320 people have been registered to climb the northern route to Everest this year. That's 136 more than last year. The Chinese side of Everest has typically been less popular than its Nepal counterpart, because of concerns of government closures. Some Everest observers say the northern route has harsher weather and more rocky terrain, but it also doesn't have an icefall. The increasing popularity of the northern route has caused concern amongst Nepali companies that climbers will divert to the Chinese side. "I can already see the shift with mountaineers I speak to," said Dawa Steven Sherpa, who is based in Nepal. "More people are going to go to Tibet than Nepal. Nepal needs the tourism far more than China does. China has incredible wealth of resources and Nepal does not." Leading expeditions is how Sherpas feed their families and send their children to school. Nepal depends heavily on tourism dollars. Many of the guides had to bury their friends after the accident last year, and while they may be ready to return to the summit, their families are not. Many of them are "leaving behind nervous, stressed-out wives and children," whose memories of what happened last year are fresh, said Dawa Sherpa, managing director of Asian Trekking. "They do say they don't want to put them through that again," he said. "They're not fearful for their own lives, it's what they're putting their family through." Several mountaineers are also returning this year. One of them is Jon Reiter, who spoke to CNN last year after the tragedy. When the icy avalanche thundered down, Reiter was shoved behind an ice block by his Sherpa guide. Reiter, who is making his way to base camp this year, could not be reached directly. But he explained why he's heading back to Everest this year on his blog. "I can't quite find the words to tell you why, or what really pulls me back to the mountains," he wrote. "When we were in the midst of last year's events it was hard to see the big picture. It was hard to remember that people die in the mountains but that it's more rare than not. "It was hard for me to remember that I'm not choosing between my life at home and dying in the mountains. I like to think it's similar to surviving a plane crash or a major pile up on the freeway." CNN's Sugam Pokharel contributed to this report. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
3rd "Tron" is coming together with "Tron: Legacy" stars returning .
Olivia Wilde and Garrett Hedlund will reprise their roles .
"Tron: Legacy" grossed $400 million worldwide, after the 1982 original gained fans online . | (CNN)Olivia Wilde and Garrett Hedlund are set to return for Disney's "Tron 3." The pair will reprise their characters from 2010's "Tron: Legacy" in the sequel, which is being directed by Joseph Kosinski. "Legacy" was the sequel to the 1982 sci-fi film that took place inside a computer world known as the Grid and starred Jeff Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner. While not a hit at the time, it later drew a big cult following and became an influence on filmmakers and pop culture. Decades later, Disney revisited the world with "Legacy." The story revealed that the computer-programmer character played by Bridges had a son (Hedlund) who jumped into the Grid to find his father. Wilde was Quorra, an algorithm-made-flesh who also happened to kick butt. How Warner Bros. can differentiate itself in the Marvel vs. DC battle (Analysis) Disney has been developing a sequel to "Legacy" since the movie grossed $400 million worldwide. Hedlund in 2012 said he would return to the visual-effects-heavy franchise, but that was when the project was circling a 2014 start. The project is now looking to shoot this fall, likely in Vancouver, British Columbia. Plot details are being kept offline. When will 'Star Trek' get a cinematic universe? Justin Springer will be involved as a producer. Wilde is coming off starring in the Blumhouse-produced horror movie "The Lazarus Effect." She is repped by WME, Untitled and Ziffren Brittenham. Why more 'Star Wars' actors haven't vecome stars . Hedlund just boarded Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk and will be playing "Hook" in Pan, Warner Bros.' retelling of "Peter Pan." He is repped by WME, Brillstein Entertainment and Sloane Offer. ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved. | Provide a summarization for the given article while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and race, and reducing stereotypes. |
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