(CNN)Here's a dog tale about a pooch with a literal "spring" in his steps. Brutus, a 2-year old Rottweiler, is walking again thanks to modern technology and months of training. He's said to be only the second dog ever known to have four prosthetic limbs. "You can't explain to an animal why you are putting these contraptions on their feet. You can't explain to them, that it's to help them," foster mom Laura Aquilina told CNN affiliate KDVR. The Loveland, Colorado, dog's paws suffered extreme damage from frostbite. His feet were then reportedly amputated by his trainer. Brutus has been adopted by Aquilina who's been walking and exercising the dog to learn balance. "He just has these little peg legs to get around on and he does a pretty good job inside the home," says Aquilina. But his challenge has been walking outside where his "high-stepping...resembles a bucking bronco." He was fitted with the devices last year, first in the rear and then front feet came 6 to 8 weeks later. His artificial limbs are made by Orthopets of Denver. "Brutus is an amazing case of a beautiful dog who was dealt a short hand," said Martin Kauffman, founder of the company that makes prosthetics for about 250 animals worldwide a year. New and improved prosthetics are on the way and he'll be undergoing physical therapy at Colorado State University's vet hospital. And soon enough, Aquilina hopes Brutus will be playing with other dogs and going on hikes. CNN's John Fricke contributed to this report .

Summary: Brutus' legs were amputated because of frostbite . He's learning to walk on the prosthetics with help from his foster mom .


(CNN)Just when you didn't think Republicans could top themselves in finding ways to disrespect the President of the United States, on Monday, 47 Republican Senators -- that is, all but seven -- sent a letter to Iran that appeared aimed at scuttling President Obama's diplomatic efforts to prevent Tehran developing nuclear weapons capacity. The move comes on the heels of House Republicans inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress -- without even informing the White House of the plan to issue an invitation. But this latest measure went a step further, seeing Republicans in Congress literally stepping on the constitutional toes of the executive branch and formally intruding on U.S. diplomacy. Under the Logan Act passed by Congress way back in 1799, U.S. citizens are prevented from influencing "disputes or controversies" involving the United States and a foreign government, without express authority to do so. Now, it appears the Iran letter was carefully drafted by Sen. Tom Cotton, a smart constitutional lawyer, to come as close as possible to the line of legality without crossing it, specifically by not explicitly taking a position against the Iran negotiations. Yet the intent to interfere with the executive branch is clear. It's one thing for Congress to demand it ratify such a deal (as Democrats did in 2002 when President Bush negotiated arms reductions with Russian President Vladimir Putin). But it's something else entirely to undermine the authority of the White House by sending a partisan letter to a foreign government (something Democrats didn't do with Russia). Sadly, this is only the most recent and extreme example of dishonor and disrespect. In the Washington Post, columnist Jonathan Capehart recently outlines what he sees as the top six instances of disrespect toward President Obama. His list includes the example of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani saying, "I do not believe that the President loves America." Also on Capehart's list are the time a reporter from the conservative Daily Caller website interrupted the President during remarks at the White House about immigration reform in 2012, and the time South Carolina congressman Joe Wilson, a Republican, heckled the President during his speech to a joint session of Congress about health care reform. (Wilson shouted "You lie!" in response to remarks by the President that, it should be noted, were in fact quite true). And there are plenty more examples of Republican slights against President Obama. Most famously, there was the widespread questioning of Obama's citizenship and academic credentials that included signs at conservative rallies describing Obama as a "lyin' African." And there was the Republican women's group that created an image of "food stamp dollars" with Obama's face on them (as well as a bucket of KFC and watermelon). There was also Republican presidential candidate and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich decrying Obama's "Kenyan, anti-colonial behavior." Plus there was then-Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer waving her finger at President Obama when she greeted Air Force One on the tarmac. Brewer later alleged she "felt a little bit threatened" by the President. Taken as a

Summary: On Monday, 47 Republican senators sent an open letter to Iran . Sally Kohn: Only most extreme example of dishonor and disrespect .


(CNN)You would be pressed to find a designer who appealed to the imagination as much as Alexander McQueen. A favorite with A-listers and fashion editors alike, he was renowned for his Gothic sensibilities, innovative textiles (think shells, horns and hair) and highly conceptual runway shows, as well as his bad boy antics behind the scenes. (Along with the usual drinks, drugs and parties, he once claimed to have stitched profanities into the lining of a jacket for Prince Charles.) Five years after his death, interest in the designer hasn't waned, least of all in his home town of London, where, starting this month, he's being commemorated with an extensive, expensive retrospective at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, a re-staging of the 2011 exhibition at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, summarizes and contextualizes McQueen's 18-year career through an elaborate display of 244 garments and accessories. "Savage Beauty at the V&A is the largest and most ambitious fashion exhibition the museum has ever staged," said curator Claire Wilcox at a press preview. The V&A has already sold 70,000 advanced tickets, and extended the exhibition by two weeks to meet demand. At the Met, Savage Beauty attracted over 660,000 visitors by the end of its four-month run, making it one of the museum's top 10 exhibitions of all time, up there with a King Tut stop in 1978 and a Mona Lisa loan in 1963. Bringing Savage Beauty to London can be seen as a "homecoming," as it was described by V&A director Martin Roth at the press preview, if not an act of repatriation. The son of cab driver and a school teacher, Alexander "Lee" McQueen grew up in London's East End. After dropping out of school at 16, he honed his tailoring skills on Savile Row, graduated with an MA in fashion design from the city's prestigious Central Saint Martins college, and used the V&A's archives to research his collections. He once said of London: "It's where my heart is, and where I get my inspiration." That love was largely reciprocated. In 2011, thousands of British devotees petitioned to have Savage Beauty brought to London after its spectacular New York debut. Fashion journalist Melanie Rickey was one of the most vocal proponents. A longtime fan, she has coauthored the upcoming release Inferno: Alexander McQueen (Laurence King), a coffee table book of interviews and images from photographer Kent Baker, which documents March 1996 collection Dante. "I was agitated because (Savage Beauty) really is meant to be in his hometown," Rickey says. "Everything about him is London, so to not have it in London would have been a crime." Along with hounding the brand's corporate honchos and the V&A itself, Rickey started an online petition to have the exhibition brought to the city, and instigated the Twitter hashtag #BringMcQueenExhibitionHome. "It's like the (Elgin) Marbles: They're probably a lot more powerful in Greece than they are sitting in the British Museum." Ultimately, such advocacy may have been unnecessary. According to Kate Bethune, senior exhibition research assistant for Savage Beauty, it had

Summary: Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty has arrived at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London . The exhibition showcases the late designers most memorable pieces . V&A director Mark Roth sees it as a "homecoming" for London-born McQueen .


Brisbane (CNN)Bras hang from the antlers of a pair of moose heads above the bar inside an old music hall. Dim red light shines on classic leather booths. You push through a crowd dancing to a live rockabilly band and head to the toilet, tipsy. Then something weird happens -- you exit the washroom and find yourself in a different bar. The early 1900s dance hall with chandeliers has vanished. Suddenly, you're in a whimsical bar with a pirate serving drinks. No, you haven't had too much to drink and the washroom isn't a passageway through a time-space continuum. You've simply stepped into the maritime-themed Mermaid Bar. Inside Lefty's Old Time Music Hall, the Mermaid Bar is an example of the latest nightlife trend in Brisbane -- hidden bars. Sultry old days . "We actually didn't mean to turn the Mermaid into a secret bar," says Mick Dwyer, general manager of Lefty's. "We were just lazy and didn't publicize it." The story behind the hidden bar takes in a bit of sultry local history. Before Lefty's moved in, the building was occupied by the Velvet Cigar, a longtime strip club. Jamie Webb, owner of local restaurant Peasant and Cabiria, took over the place and renovated it, preserving some of the old establishment's bawdy touches. "We loved the mirror too much to take it down," says Webb, referring to the long mirror that still runs the length of one wall. "It used to be in front of the dance floor for the girls, but we turned the dance floor into booths." "If you look at the floor, you can still see some of the holes where dancing poles used to be," says Dwyer. A list of prices for services rendered by different girls still hangs inside the toilet. The bar counter upstairs is where customers once paid for extra services from dancers before entering a small room (now the Mermaid Bar, which sells beer in cans). Mermaid Bar: Secret escape . "There are actually three entrances to the Mermaid Bar," says Webb of the hidden bar. "It's my favorite place. It's a lot of loud fun out there at Lefty's sometimes, and the Mermaid is like my escape." The small Mermaid is bright, with light shining through the windows. Sharks hang from the ceiling and paintings of mermaids adorn the walls. People love the Mermaid for different reasons. "Some like the bartender dressed up as a pirate," says Dwyer. "Some say it's the cannon on the pirate ship model behind the bar." That pirate bartender, Dean Moready, says the apple rum made from fresh-pressed apple juice is the real crowd-pleaser. About those bras on the moose antlers . While the Mermaid is a rum bar, Lefty's is a whiskey bar -- each has about 100 varieties of rum or whiskey, and a food menu. Three bands usually perform each night at Lefty's and the bar always gets busy after 9 p.m. So what's up with the bras on the moose heads? "I once dared a customer on a hen night to sling a

Summary: A door in the washroom of Lefty's Old Time Music Hall in Brisbane, Australia, leads to a completely different bar . Lefty's stocks about 100 whiskies, the Mermaid Bar has about 100 rums . Other secret bars in Brisbane are found beneath the Regatta Hotel and behind Kwan Brothers restaurant .


(CNN)Creflo Dollar's new scheme to raise $60 million to purchase a luxury Gulfstream G650 airplane is the latest chapter in a long and sordid history of televangelists exploiting their churches' tax-exempt status -- and their congregants -- to line their own pockets. Preaching the word of faith, or "prosperity gospel," and capitalizing on lax government oversight of his church's finances has enriched Dollar and his family to the detriment of his followers and the American taxpayer. World Changers Church International, Dollar's 30,000-member church, is a tax-exempt organization under the Internal Revenue Code. That means the church's donors receive a tax exemption for their donations (including for Dollar's new jet ambitions), and the church pays no tax on the revenue. What's more, because it is organized as a church, the federal government does not require World Changers to file a publicly available tax return, as other nonprofit organizations are required to do. Those tax returns provide at least some financial information to donors and the public about the organization, including its revenues, assets, expenditures and executive compensation. Dollar is known for his custom suits, luxury homes and private jets that ferry him, among other places, from his home base in College Park, Georgia, to his satellite church in Manhattan, where he and his wife reportedly have a $2.5 million apartment. For Dollar, though, these excesses aren't embarrassments. Instead, they are proof that his theology works, that God blesses the faithful with abundant riches. Dollar tells his congregants to "sow a seed" with him, promising that a plentiful harvest will be their own blessing and, essentially, a return on their investment. To promoters of the word of faith, or prosperity gospel, "sowing a seed" with your pastor is required for God's blessing, even if you're taking it out of your rent money or the last remaining cash in your wallet. Many Christians find word of faith a heretical theology, an embarrassing distortion of Jesus' teachings, not to mention a fraud on congregants. While the government cannot constitutionally mediate theological disputes or otherwise interfere in a church's internal affairs, it can use its oversight powers to ensure that preachers who use their pulpits for profit don't exploit the tax advantages afforded to ordinary houses of worship to pursue their legitimate charitable purposes. In 2007, the Senate Finance Committee, under the chairmanship of Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, launched an investigation into the financial practices of six televangelists, including Dollar. The committee requested documents from Dollar and his wife, Taffi, explaining that taxpayers "should be assured that their donations are being used for the tax exempt purposes of the organizations." The documents sought by the committee included audited financial statements for World Changers, information about related for-profit and nonprofit entities, and data on executive compensation and the church's real and personal assets. More than three years later, after an outcry from the televangelists, most visibly Dollar's mentor Kenneth Copeland, the committee opted to abandon its efforts to instigate any sort of regulatory changes. Instead, the committee called on the ministries to engage in "self-reform," even though

Summary: Sarah Posner: Televangelist Creflo Dollar asking congregants to help finance a $65 million Gulfstream G650 . She says government should oversee tax-exempt churches that essentially operate as for-profit enterprises . Posner: Senate committee took up this issue but dropped it; this seems to have emboldened Dollar .


(CNN)The Pueblo Chemical Depot will begin destroying the United States' largest remaining stockpile of chemical weapons Tuesday in southern Colorado. There are 2,611 tons of World War II-era mustard agent at the Pueblo depot. Here are nine things to know about these chemical weapons and how we got here: . 1. First use: April 22 marks the 100th anniversary of the first use of chemical weapons in modern warfare at Ypres in Belgium. 2. Huge production: From World War I to 1968, the United States produced nearly 40,000 tons of chemical weapons. These weapons were either nerve agents or blister agents. 3. Scary stuff: Mustard agent is a blister agent, which can cause skin redness and itching, eye irritation, scarring, and an increased risk for lung and respiratory cancer. 4. Into the sea: From 1967 to 1970, the U.S. Army disposed of thousands of chemical warfare agents and ammunition into the sea as part of Operation Cut Holes and Sink 'Em (CHASE). 5. No more: Congress passed a law in 1972 known as the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act prohibiting this kind of dumping. 6. Date of destruction: In 1997, the United States ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention Treaty and agreed to destroy all of its chemical weapons by April 29, 2012. 7. Work not done: 90% of the U.S. stockpile -- 30,500 tons -- was destroyed by the treaty date in 2012 at depots in Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Maryland, Oregon, Utah and Johnson Atoll in the Pacific. The remaining 10% -- close to 3,100 tons -- is at two sites in Colorado and Kentucky. 9. Don't burn it: Residents in Colorado and Kentucky protested the use of incineration to get rid of the chemical weapons stockpile. The process of neutralization was adopted. 8. Pueblo's stockpile: The Pueblo Chemical Depot has about 780,000 shells containing mustard agent. 9. The last one: The Blue Grass Army Depot in Richmond, Kentucky, will have the remaining chemical agent stockpile, which is a fifth of the size of the one at Pueblo Chemical Depot. But the Kentucky site has a larger variety of chemical weapons, including nerve agent.

Summary: On Tuesday, the Pueblo Chemical Depot will begin to destroy the largest stockpile of chemical weapons in the U.S. Here are nine facts to know about chemical weapons .


(CNN)"I will come to Tunisia." It's a bold pledge, some might say. But people across the globe are making that vow despite the deadly attack in the Tunis on Wednesday. Twenty-three people, most of them tourists, were killed after gunmen opened fire inside the Bardo Museum, a stone's throw from the parliament building. The "I will come to Tunisia" social media campaign is aimed at protecting the North African nation's tourism industry -- which is critical to the country's economy. The social media campaign features users holding up signs saying they will travel to the North African country. "I will travel to Tunisia this summer," reads a sign held up by a girl from China. A Dutch man's paper says: "Heroes! I will visit Tunisia and celebrate your Independence Day." Tens of thousands of people online have expressed support and solidarity with #JeSuisBardo ("I am Bardo"), #JeSuisTunisien ("I am Tunisian"), and #PrayForTunisia trending on Twitter. Some one in five Tunisians rely on tourism for their living, the nation's tourism minister said in 2013. Travel warnings in place in the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries could cripple Tunisia's economy. It's a fresh wound after a painful few years in the birthplace of the Arab Spring. Visits to the country dropped significantly after the unrest of the 2010-2011 Jasmine Revolution, but the numbers had been bouncing back before the museum attack. An online advertisement to visit Tunisia, posted long before the attacks, shows people holding hands at some of Tunisia's most treasured landmarks. Human chains form across beaches, mountains, ancient ruins, the desert. The message: "All united to welcome you." This week, those words were repeated in social media. A Tunisian woman, also part of the campaign, holds a sign: "Welcome To Tunisia. We are not terrorists," followed by the hashtag #notafraid. In this online campaign, fear itself is the enemy. A Tunisian lawmaker spoke to that this week, sharing with the world: . "We are not afraid."

Summary: Campaign to support Tunisian tourism takes hold on social media . Tourism official: One in five Tunisians depends on tourists to make a living . #JeSuisBardo and #PrayForTunisia are trending .


(CNN)Venezuela has given the U.S. Embassy in Caracas 15 days to downsize its staff from 100 personnel to 17. "With respect to bringing the number of staff at the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela to 17, a period of 15 days will be given to decide which staff will stay in our country," said Venezuela's Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez on Monday. Venezuela's official news agency AVN (Agencia Venezolana de Noticias) said the U.S. Embassy has been asked to reduce its personnel to a staff of 17 to match the number of Venezuelan personnel working in their embassy in the United States. Last month, the U.S. government approved a law under which Venezuelan officials allegedly involved in human rights violations are to have their visas revoked and their U.S. assets frozen. Following that decision, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced that that Americans will need visas to visit Venezuela. Moreover, a group of prominent U.S. officials, current and retired, will be banned from entering Venezuela because of what Maduro said was their involvement in "bombing Iraq, Syria and Vietnam" and other "terrorist" actions. The officials include George W. Bush, former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, former CIA Director George Tenet and several current members of Congress, including Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Bob Menendez and Mario Diaz-Balart. On Saturday, Maduro also said an unspecified number of Americans were arrested "a few days ago" for engaging in espionage and recruitment activities. The President said they included an American pilot of Latin American origin, arrested in the southwest border state of Táchira. He said the pilot was found in possession of "all kinds of documents" and was being interrogated by the authorities, though he did not identify him. The Venezuelan government has made many similar claims in recent years, without ever substantiating them. "There have been a lot of anti-American rhetoric again coming out of the Venezuelan Government with a lot of baseless allegations," said U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf on Monday.

Summary: President Maduro has said Americans will need visas to visit Venezuela . He also said several Americans were arrested for espionage . The State Department called the allegation "baseless"


(CNN)Dante Alighieri, the father of the Italian language, is turning in his grave. Believe it or not, the land where Latin originated and from which many other European languages descend is becoming "illiterate." Not only have Italians long forgotten the language of their Roman Empire, but they hardly know how to speak and write proper Italian. They've been negatively dubbed "asini" (donkeys), as in "stupid." If you take a look at Italian language forums and debate websites it's clear that many Italians are clueless on grammar and don't even know how to use verbs properly. At age 15, Italian students rank below the OECD average literacy level and Eurostat reports that Italy has the lowest percentage of university graduates aged 30-34 in the European Union. The media reflect society. Evening news bulletins are full of speakers and commentators making grammatical errors and even mispronouncing words. How could Dante's land become "ignorant" and will the government's plans to institute yet another education reform succeed in turning some donkeys -- if not into nerds -- at least into smart pupils? The decline in language skills is a trend affecting most of the Western world, but the fact that this is happening in Italy, home to some of the world's oldest universities, is quite alarming. The Romans built an empire united by the Latin language, but Italians seem to have lost such heritage. Italians were once "literate" -- as in "Latin-speakers and Latin-writers" -- grammar-savvy, poetry lovers, rhetoric freaks and great philosophers. Now they've forgotten what a conjunctive verb is, mistake adjectives for nouns and write Machiavelli with a double "c." Oh -- and they don't know how to break words into syllables. True, one could say Italian is a tough language, one of the most complex in the world. But that's not a good excuse. The Italian people's declining knowledge of their language is turning into a national emergency. It's not just lazy students who are responsible. The percentage of lawyers who every year flunk the written examination to become a judge is scary. When I attended university, the most dreaded exam of all was the essay on Italian literature and history. Few of my buddies passed it at the first go, others had to take it thrice and many just gave up. So how did we fall so low? Fine, ICT, smartphones and SMS are partly to blame. Abbreviations, misspellings and the introduction of many English words into Italian have impoverished language skills. Yet on its own that explanation is too reductive. The loss of Latin teaching in schools is at the root of the problem. Learning Latin assists in learning Italian and other languages as well as opening the mind to all fields of knowledge. It's been no secret across generations of scholars that being familiar with the complexity of Latin phrase structure and idioms is positive for students. Up until 1970, Latin was taught in primary and middle schools: kids learned to translate works by Virgil without using a dictionary and to recite chunks of the "Divine Comedy" and poems by

Summary: Italy, birthplace of the Latin and Italian, is becoming illiterate, writes Silvia Marchetti . Marchetti says Italians' declining knowledge of their mother tongue is becoming an emergency . The approach to teaching Latin in Italian schools needs a makeover, she says .


Esfahan, Iran (CNN)If you're looking for the Jewish community in the Iranian town of Esfahan, you won't have to search for long. The main synagogue is on Palestine Square, right in the heart of Iran's third largest city. There are public prayers several times a day -- sometimes with more than a hundred people in attendance. The Jewish community in Iran does not hide its heritage. At the synagogue, Michael Malakon leads the prayer service. He says he is proud of his Jewish identity. And even in a country that is so hostile towards Israel, Malakon says he can practice freely and that he has many Muslim friends. "I hang around with all kinds of young people and I have a lot of Muslim friends," Malakon tells CNN after finishing the noon prayer on a Monday. About 20 people were in attendance, usually from local businesses around the synagogue. None of them tried to hide the fact that they were Jewish -- and inside the synagogue the Star of David is proudly displayed in many places, alongside passages from the Torah. There have been Jews in Iran for more than 2,500 years. Many left the country after the Islamic Revolution in 1979 that brought Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to power. Khomeini said Iran wanted to destroy Israel, but he also issued a fatwa, a religious decree, saying that Iranian Jews were different to those in Israel and should be considered an integral part of the Islamic Republic. Sion Mahgrefte is the head of the Jewish community in Esfahan. He declined to comment directly on political matters, especially in the current heated environment, but he did say that the members of his community felt very much at home in Iran. "Israel and Iran are countries," he said. "And we consider ourselves Iranian Jews, not Israeli Jews. So the hostilities between Israel and Iran do not affect us." There is even a Jewish representative in Iran's parliament. And aside from the vibrant Jewish community in Esfahan -- there are 13 synagogues in the city -- there are also several Orthodox Cathedrals representing a sizable Christian community. Most of Esfahan's Jews are business people. In the center of town there is a shopping mall, known to people here as the "Jewish Passage" because so many businesses are Jewish-owned. When our crew arrived there they found Muslim and Jewish shop owners joking around. One of them is Said Shemyon, who owns a clothing store. His friends call him "Mordechai," and he showed us some Hebrew prayer books he always keeps in the store. Like most others, Shemyon was not keen to talk about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's recent address to U.S. Congress, or the problems between Israel and Iran. He says those politics have no place here. "We just want peace," he said. "We really hope that all these problems can be solved one day, God willing. We are just hoping for unity and peace." There are about 1,500 Jews in Esfahan these days. The community's leaders conduct religious studies for the younger members of the

Summary: Jews have been living in Iran for more than 2,500 years . 1,500 Jews call Esfahan home despite tensions between Iran and Israel . Community leader: "Israel and Iran are countries, and we consider ourselves Iranian Jews"


(CNN)As a youngster, Rohana Rozhan had a nickname that summed her up perfectly: "Rohana the Piranha." Even as a little girl growing up in Malaysia, the future CEO of a $4.6 billion media company was small but deadly. "I was born independent, fiercely so," 51-year-old Rozhan told CNN's Kristie Lu-Stout. "I always had a chip on my shoulder that I had to prove to everyone that I'm independent." Today she's proved it -- and then some. Rozhan heads Astro Malaysia, one of the biggest media and entertainment firms in the region. She's in charge of producing over 9,000 hours of original content a year -- ranging from radio broadcasts to hits on the silver screen. "We have 52% women working at Astro, but one of the things we are very very passionate about, is that each woman has to be the best person for the job." "If you grow up a good Muslim, Malay girl, one of the things you have to learn is you can be the smartest kid on the block, but you have to be respectful." "You have to want it, but you can't just want it without the work. You have to want it, yet understand, that it's not going to be easy." Inspire: Patricia Arquette's rallying cry . Get involved: International Women's Day events you'd be crazy to miss .

Summary: Meet Rohana Rozhan, boss of multi-billion dollar Astro Malaysia . Says secret to success is reflecting audience within workforce .


(CNN)"A picture of horror." That's how German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier described the site where a Germanwings Airbus A320 plane crashed in the French Alps on Tuesday. "The grief of the families and loved ones is immeasurable," Steinmeier said, after flying over the area in the Alps in southeastern France. "We must stand with them. We are all united in great grief." Departure: Barcelona, Spain, at 10:01 a.m. (26 minutes late) Destination: Scheduled to land in Dusseldorf, Germany, at 11:39 a.m. Passengers: 150 (144 passengers, six crew members) Airplane: Airbus A320 (twin-jet) Airline: Germanwings (budget airline owned by Lufthansa) Flight distance: 726 miles . Last known tracking data: 10:38 a.m. Last known speed: 480 mph . Last known altitude: 11,400 feet . Last known location: Near Digne-les-Bains, France, in the Alps . Sources: CNN and flightaware.com . Flight 9525 took off just after 10 a.m. Tuesday from Barcelona, Spain, for Dusseldorf, Germany, with 144 passengers -- among them two babies -- and six crew members. It went down at 10:53 a.m. (5:53 a.m. ET) in a remote area near Digne-les-Bains in the Alpes de Haute Provence region. All aboard are presumed dead. Helicopter crews found the airliner in pieces, none of them bigger than a small car, and human remains strewn for several hundred meters, according to Gilbert Sauvan, a high-level official in the Alpes de Haute Provence region who is being briefed on the operation. Authorities were not able to retrieve any bodies Tuesday, with the frozen ground complicating the effort. Wednesday may not be much easier, with snow in the forecast. Spanish and German officials moved to join hundreds of French firefighters and police in the area, working together to help in the recovery effort and try to figure out exactly what happened. As of Tuesday evening, there were few clues. One of the aircraft's data recorders, the so-called black boxes, has been found, according to French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, but it was too early to tell what it would say about the crash. "We don't know much about the flight and the crash yet," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said. "And we don't know the cause." Relatives of those believed to be on the flight, fearing the worst, gathered at the Barcelona airport, where a crisis center was set up. French authorities set up a chapel near the crash site. Lufthansa Group said the company will look after the relatives of those on board. "There will be a contact center established in France; relatives who would like to take advantage of this will be transferred to the contact center at no cost -- and their accommodation paid for -- just as soon as the center has been established," Lufthansa said. Those aboard included a "high number of Spaniards, Germans and Turks," according to Spain's King Felipe VI. Germanwings CEO Thomas Winkelmann said it's believed 67 people, or nearly half those on the plane, are German citizens. Germanwings crash: Who was on the plane? Sixteen students and two teachers from one German high school, called Joseph Koenig Gymnasium, were among

Summary: The plane reached 38,000 feet, and then dropped for eight minutes, Germanwings says . Victims from Germany, France, Spain, Turkey, Belgium, Holland, Colombia, Australia . One data recorder found from Germanwings plane that crashed in Alps .


Washington (CNN)House Speaker John Boehner said Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is "innocent until proven guilty" after the U.S. military charged him with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, but emphasized in an exclusive interview with CNN's Dana Bash that he was more concerned about the circumstances of his release. Bergdahl's attorney also released a statement on Wednesday, outlining his defense of the soldier and containing a two-page letter from Bergdahl describing the torture he endured, which included months spent chained to a bed and further years spent chained on all fours or locked in a cage. Shortly after the charges were announced, Bergdahl's attorneys released a lengthy statement that includes a letter sent to Milley earlier this month outlining their defense of the soldier. "In light of the nearly five years of harsh captivity Sgt. Bergdahl endured, the purpose of his leaving his unit, and his behavior while a prisoner, it would be unduly harsh to impose on him the lifetime stigma of a court-martial conviction or an other than honorable discharge and to deny him veterans benefits," attorney Eugene R. Fidell writes in the letter. The statement includes a two-page accounting from Bergdahl of his time in captivity, in which he recounts months spent chained to a bed, then further years spent chained on all fours or locked in a cage. Read the statement and Bergdahl's letter . Bergdahl said for years his body and health declined due to malnourishment, and sores on his wrists and ankles from the shackles grew infected. "My body started a steady decline in constant internal sickness that would last through the final year," he said. Bergdahl was frequently beaten, at times with copper wire or a thick rubber hose, and forced to watch Taliban videos, he said. He had no concept of time, and was repeatedly told he would be killed and would never again see his family. "I was kept in constant isolation during the entire five years, with little to no understanding of time, through periods of constant darkness, periods of constant light, and periods of completely random flickering of light and absolutely no understanding of anything that was happening beyond the door I was held behind," he wrote. Bergdahl tried a dozen times to escape, he wrote. In his interview with Bash, Boehner said "like any American, you're innocent until proven guilty." "And these charges are coming. There will be a trial," Boehner said in an interview taped Wednesday to air Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union." Boehner said the "more troubling part" of Bergdahl saga is the fact that the U.S. government traded five Taliban fighters for Bergdahl's release, and that recent reports indicate one has returned to the battlefield. He expressed concerns about other detainees held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, which President Barack Obama is working to close, "ending up back on the battlefield and threatening Americans here and abroad." Obama "violated the law" in failing to alert Congress before the prisoner swap occurred, Boehner added. "And I still believe that's the more troubling part

Summary: House Speaker says his problem with Bergdahl case is the way prisoner swap was handled . Attorney releases Bergdahl's account of his time as a prisoner .


(CNN)Dropping red meat, and sticking to a plant-based diet that incorporates fish may be the key to preventing colorectal (colon and rectum) cancers, according to a seven-year study published Monday. Pescetarians, as they are commonly referred, had a 43% lower chance of getting the cancer compared to people with omnivorous diets. Why focus on colorectal cancer? It is the third most diagnosed cancer, and the third leading cause of cancer-related death in the US in 2014, according to American Cancer Society statistics. The disease is particularly dangerous because it is usually asymptomatic in its early stages, making it more difficult to detect when it's less deadly. Only 59% of those recommended for screenings receive procedures that are in line with the American Cancer Society's standards. The study, which followed nearly 78,000 people and was published in the Journal of American Medical Association, adds to the growing body of evidence touting the health benefits of a plant-based diet. Another study, reviewing data from 39 separate studies showing that a plant based diet leads to an average drop in blood pressure similar to 30-60 minutes of exercise per day. Yet another study from last year found an average weight loss of nearly 7.5 pounds for vegetarians. While evidence shows the health benefits of reducing red meat consumption, the recent study highlights the differences between even a fully vegetarian diet and a pescetarian diet. Within the sample group there was a 27% drop in the risk of contracting colorectal cancer if you switch from fully vegetarian to eating fish. The authors of the study suggest that omega-3 fatty acids may be the key to such a low risk of cancer in the pescetarian group. Nutritionist Lisa Drayer agrees. "In addition to other dietary factors, fish may provide added protection from its high content omega-3 fatty acids. This is consistent with previous research that has found omega-3s have anti-cancer activity and that they may be helpful in the prevention and treatment of colorectal cancer." Some questions can be raised though, from observing the recent study's participants Seventh Day Adventists, a group that typically avoids alcohol and tobacco. But despite the caveat, Drayer is optimistic. "While the study is observational and cannot prove a cause/effect relationship, it is exciting to think that in addition to regular screenings, a diet rich in fish and fiber-rich foods may play an important role in reducing the risk of colorectal cancer."

Summary: A new study shows a 43% lower risk of contracting colorectal cancer with a pesco-vegetarian diet . Colorectal cancers are the third most diagnosed cancers in the U.S. Plant-based diets may also contribute to greater weight loss and lower blood pressure .


(CNN)Sen. Harry's Reid's perfunctory announcement on Friday that he won't seek re-election next year -- leaving a vacancy for leadership of the Senate Democrats -- was followed, hours later, by a matter-of-fact statement in an interview with The Washington Post: "I think Schumer should be able to succeed me." That would usher in a whirlwind of activity on Capitol Hill in the next year as New York's senior senator prepares to seize the reins of power -- and retool the party as a center-left powerhouse that can win and hold a majority in 2016 and beyond. Left-leaning activists have begun scrambling to block Chuck Schumer's rise. The progressive organization Democracy for America is calling for Sen. Elizabeth Warren to seek the leadership post, and the left-leaning Daily Kos website is circulating a poll seeking other challengers and denouncing Schumer as too close to the "Wall Street wing" of the Democratic Party. With more than a year to go before Senate Democrats will choose a new leader, anything can happen. But after watching Schumer in action for more than 20 years, I'd be surprised if he gets outsmarted in a political moment he has literally been working for a generation to create. With more than $13.4 million on hand in his campaign coffers, Schumer has more money than all but one member of the Senate -- and is the only Democrat in the top 10 in that category. He ran the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee when it took the majority in 2006 -- and while Democrats lost the majority during his second stint in the job in 2012, the field looks far more promising for them in 2016: Republicans must defend 24 seats, while Democrats need to protect only 10. Schumer brings an extraordinary level of personal political skill to the leadership fight. Even among the 100-member Senate -- home to a great many ambitious politicians with big egos -- Schumer has long operated at a high-octane level of smarts and media-savvy brashness that impress and occasionally startle his colleagues. Republican Bob Dole, a longtime lion of the Senate, once quipped that the most dangerous place to be in the Capitol is between Schumer and a television camera. The joke stuck -- but behind the gag is a sign of grudging respect for a man who excels at the basic block-and-tackle necessities of political life. Schumer is attuned to television and radio (growing up in the world's media capital will do that). In fact, he popularized a practice of holding press conferences on Sunday, a slow news day guaranteed to draw reporters -- and ensure him prominent placement in the Monday newspapers. But he is also a consummate street politician: At 64, he maintains a habit of biking around New York City neighborhoods without fanfare or an entourage, quietly noting local problems and occasionally inviting himself into a block party or parade. When a reporter once casually asked him to name all 62 counties of New York state, Schumer did her one better, and hand-sketched a map of the state with all the

Summary: Harry Reid wants Chuck Schumer to succeed him as Senate minority leader . Errol Louis: But some on left want to block Schumer's rise to leadership post . Louis says Schumer is tuned into middle-class voters, could create new Democratic era .


(CNN)Astronauts on the International Space Station completed a spacewalk Sunday despite the appearance of water inside an astronaut's helmet, NASA reported. In a tweet, the space agency said astronaut Terry Virts experienced water inside his helmet, just as he did Wednesday, but "it's a known issue; no concern." The spacewalk lasted five hours and 38 minutes, NASA said. "Crews have now spent a total of 1,171 hours and 29 minutes conducting space station assembly and maintenance during 187 spacewalks," the agency said in a release. NASA previously said the suit worn by NASA astronaut Virts has a history of "sublimator water carryover." Water in the sublimator cooling component can condense when the suit is repressurized after a spacewalk, causing a small amount of water to push into the helmet, NASA said. NASA said International Space Station managers had "a high degree of confidence" in the suit. On the upcoming spacewalk, Virts and Barry Wilmore installed antennas to provide data to visiting vehicles and deploy 400 feet of cable along the edge of the station. Virts said he first noticed traces of fluid and dampness in his helmet Wednesday while he was waiting for the crew lock cabin to repressurize. He and Wilmore had been outside the space station for nearly seven hours working on the station's robotic arm and performing some maintenance. Virts immediately alerted fellow astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti about the water, and she alerted Mission Control in Houston. Cristoforetti helped Virts out of his helmet and examined it. She confirmed the presence of moisture, mostly in the helmet absorption pad, or HAP, describing it as "wet and cold." At the request of Mission Control, Anton Shkaplerov used a syringe to draw as much water as he could from the top of the helmet. Water had collected in the white plastic at the top and around both ear cups. Shkaplerov estimated there was 15 milliliters of water in the helmet. That's a far cry from the amount of water that accumulated in Luca Parmitano's suit during a spacewalk in July 2013. Between 1 and 1.5 liters of water backed up in the suit and helmet, prompting fears Parmitano could drown in his own helmet. The spacewalk was cut short, and NASA implemented some changes to its suits, including the addition of absorbent padding in helmets. There was another intrusion of water into the helmet during another spacewalk on December 24, 2013. NASA commentator Rob Navias said it was noticed at the same point in the mission as Wednesday's leak -- during the repressurization of the crew lock, the area from which astronauts enter and exit ISS while in space.

Summary: Spacewalk last more than five hours; crews have spent more than 1,171 hours spacewalking . Astronaut Terry Virts found a small amount of water inside his helmet .


(CNN)Closed for over a decade, a trail that's been described as "the world's most dangerous path" will no longer be off limits to the public thanks to a massive reconstruction project. Due to reopen March 26, Spain's stunning Caminito del Rey features a cliff face boardwalk that hangs 100 meters above the Guadalhorce River. The trail, which begins in the village of El Chorro in southern Malaga province, has been around since the early 1900s, originally built to provide access to two waterfalls for hydroelectric workers. Over the years, the boardwalk deteriorated and, following a string of fatal accidents in 1999 and 2000, the government demolished the access points to the walkway. The reopening, which comes over a year since reconstruction efforts kicked off, coincides with Spain's annual Holy Week celebrations. According to the Spanish daily El Pais, the provincial government allocated 5.5 million euros ($5.8 million) to the project. The entire route is 7.7 kilometers long, with boardwalks covering 2.9 kilometers of the trail. The most famous section includes the Balconcillo de los Gaitanes bridge, which spans the Gaitanes Gorge. Tourism officials say it takes between four and five hours to walk the entire route, which includes some steep slopes. Entry will be free for the first six months after the attraction reopens on March 26. Visiting hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. from April 1 to October 31, and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. from November 1 to March 31. Those who want to visit need to book a spot on the official website, Caminitodelrey.info.

Summary: Spain's '"most dangerous path" due to reopen this month after extensive reconstruction efforts . Originally built in the 1900s, the trail's boardwalks deteriorated over time, forcing the local government to close it .


London (CNN)Britain's Royal Mint has unveiled a new portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, which will gradually appear on coins in the United Kingdom. It is the fifth portrait of the British monarch to be used on coins during her 63-year reign. Production of the new coins began Monday, and they will appear in circulation later this year, the Royal Mint said. The new design depicts the Queen wearing the royal diamond diadem crown from her coronation. Artist Jody Clark said he researched images online when deciding which crown to use. "I think it's the most familiar and I wanted to make some clear distinctions between the (most recent) portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley FRBS, as Her Majesty really hasn't aged too much in the years since." "FRBS" refers to Rank-Broadley's fellowship in the Royal British Society of Sculptors, a professional organization that advances the art of sculpture. A panel selected Clark's design from a number by specialist designers across Britain invited to submit anonymous work. The design was then submitted to the British chancellor and the Queen for final approval. Clark is a member of the Royal Mint's team of designers and engravers. He is the first mint engraver to produce a definitive royal coinage portrait in more than a century, the organization said. "Jody's achievement is something that we can celebrate as a proud moment for The Royal Mint. Capturing a portrait on the surface of a coin demands the utmost skill, and is one of the most challenging disciplines of the coin designer's art," chief executive Adam Lawrence said. "This change of royal portrait will make 2015 a vintage year for UK coins, and it will be hugely exciting for us all to see the new design appear on the coins we use every day." Royal coinage portraits are usually updated every 15 to 20 years, the Royal Mint said. The last portrait was created by sculptor Rank-Broadley in 1998.

Summary: Britain's Royal Mint unveiled a new coinage portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on Monday . Production of coins with the new image has begun, and they will be in circulation this year . The portrait was designed by Royal Mint engraver Jody Clark .


March 23, 2015 . Yemen, Russia and India are three of the countries we're reporting on this Monday. Find out which controversial world leader may be headed to Moscow, discover how conservation efforts aim to help tigers in the world's second-most populated country, and watch one of the short films that won a young moviemaker a trip to the White House. Also featured: a newly named catfish. On this page you will find today's show Transcript and a place for you to request to be on the CNN Student News Roll Call. TRANSCRIPT . Click here to access the transcript of today's CNN Student News program. Please note that there may be a delay between the time when the video is available and when the transcript is published. CNN Student News is created by a team of journalists who consider the Common Core State Standards, national standards in different subject areas, and state standards when producing the show. ROLL CALL . For a chance to be mentioned on the next CNN Student News, comment on the bottom of this page with your school name, mascot, city and state. We will be selecting schools from the comments of the previous show. You must be a teacher or a student age 13 or older to request a mention on the CNN Student News Roll Call! Thank you for using CNN Student News!

Summary: This page includes the show Transcript . Use the Transcript to help students with reading comprehension and vocabulary . At the bottom of the page, comment for a chance to be mentioned on CNN Student News. You must be a teacher or a student age 13 or older to request a mention on the CNN Student News Roll Call.


(CNN)Early Intervention changes lives. Respite care keeps families together. Both save states money over time. Alas, both -- along with a huge swathe of other vital services -- are under attack by the administration of Bruce Rauner, the new Republican governor of Illinois. This is happening for two reasons. First, Rauner has a problem. He promised to lower taxes despite a $6.2 billion structural budget deficit. Unwilling to think about new revenue, all he can do is cut programs. Second, Rauner's cuts are taking place against the backdrop of a bigger attack on disability. Too many right-wing politicians and pundits see disability as a wedge issue with which they can divide interest groups, pit people who need help against each other and rip apart the core social safety net. Meanwhile, they reassure their base, which is filled with individuals who also need help from the state, that only they really deserve benefits. Like Rauner, other governors are cutting services in the name of austerity. Kansas, under Sam Brownback, has pushed disabled people off Medicaid, making services less effective and efficient. Scott Walker, in Wisconsin, has proposed cutting long-term care services in such a way as to limit individual choice of caregivers and service providers, empowering the healthcare industry and not disabled Americans. Florida has gutted benefits to severely disabled individuals in workers' compensation cases and eliminated countless positions in the Department of Health. And that's all just at the state level. Nationally, the new Congress began the year with a sustained attack on Social Security Disability Insurance, which some analysts see as a way to threaten the whole foundation of Social Security. Last December, House Republicans insisted that the ABLE act, a bill intended to help people with disabilities and their caregivers save money, only be offered to those who were disabled before the age of 26, a limitation aimed at excluding people who become disabled through work, disease, accident or age. Now Bruce Rauner is adding to this troubling pattern. The Rauner budget slashes state spending by over $4 billion, much of the savings gleaned by eliminating or reducing eligibility for programs based in the Department of Human Services (DHS). Each cut will come with costs to families and individuals who need the state's help most. Moreover, many of the cut programs actually save the state money over time. Take, for example, Early Intervention, which provides services to children with developmental delays from birth to age 3 at little cost to the parents (there are means-tested co-pays). At their best, these therapies not only help children with disabilities learn new skills, but also teach parents to better understand their children. Right now, a child who is at least 30% delayed in any category -- for example being at least 30% less able to use speech than a typical child of their age -- is eligible for services. Now, as explained to me by a spokesperson for DHS, the program has to save $23 million (they did not explain how this number was picked). The plan is to take every child who

Summary: David Perry: Governors are making the wrong choice by aiming to cut disability programs and benefits . He says new Illinois governor is among those making short-sighted decisions .


Los Angeles (CNN)Federal agents on Tuesday raided more than three dozen "maternity hotels" in Southern California where foreign women give birth, allegedly for the sole purpose of having a U.S.-citizen baby, authorities said. The "maternity tourism" sites included apartment complexes in Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties where authorities believe the businesses housed the foreign nationals about to give birth, federal officials said. Those targeted residences are believed to have catered largely to women from China, who paid $15,000 to $50,000 for lodging, transportation and food, according to a statement by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Those fees don't necessarily include medical care, authorities said. Authorities are looking for evidence of bringing in and harboring of undocumented visitors; conspiracy, fraud and misuse of visas and permits; tax evasion and false tax returns; and willful failure to file report of foreign bank and financial accounts, court papers said. "Based on the results of the investigations to date, it appears the women pay cash for prenatal visits and the actual delivery," U.S. authorities said. "As part of the package, clients were promised they would receive Social Security numbers and U.S. passports for their infants, which the mothers would take with them when they left the U.S." Some of the packages included recreational trips to Disneyland, shopping malls and even to a firing range, authorities said. "Any women encountered at the search locations will be interviewed and those identified as potential material witnesses will be directed when and where to report for further questioning," authorities said Tuesday. Investigators weren't expected Tuesday to comment further on the outcome of the raids, said ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice. In all, authorities obtained warrants for 37 locations and ended up searching more than 50 sites, including consensual searches, Kice said. The purported tourism businesses promoted themselves on the Internet and through social media, authorities said. One firm in Rancho Cucamonga, California, advertised in Chinese and branded itself as "You Win USA Vacation Resort." Operators of that firm couldn't be immediately reached for comment Tuesday. Chinese women have been flocking to the United States to give birth, lured because the country grants American citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil, CNN Money reported last month. That CNN Money account was cited in an affidavit filed Monday in a federal California court by Homeland Security Investigation agent Eric Blair, who asked a judge for a warrant to search Rancho Cucamonga apartment buildings for large sums of cash and evidence of contraband and a crime. The judge granted the warrant. Read one affidavit . "Perpetrators of visa fraud schemes typically charge $40,000 to $60,000, which is a fee able to be paid by the wealthy in China," Blair stated in court papers. In 2012, about 10,000 Chinese women gave birth in the United States, more than double the 4,200 in 2008, according to Chinese state media. Blair alleged that the birthing houses "will generally advise foreign national clients to fly to tourism points of entry such as Hawaii or Las Vegas and to avoid traveling directly to Los Angeles International Airport.

Summary: Authorities get warrants for 37 sites, search more than 50 locations in California . The "maternity tourism" sites are apartment complexes catering largely to pregnant women from China .


(HLN)Nick Gordon, romantic partner of Bobbi Kristina Brown, sat down recently with Dr. Phil McGraw for his first on-camera interview since Whitney Houston's daughter was rushed to the hospital in January after being found face down in her bathtub. The interview aired Wednesday on NBC. When his team traveled to Atlanta and initially approached Gordon about the interview, Dr. Phil says they found him in a hysterical state. Video showed an intoxicated Gordon crying and mumbling about missing Krissy, as Brown's family calls her. Brown was found unresponsive in her Roswell, Georgia, home on January 31 and remains hospitalized. Authorities say they're approaching her case as a criminal investigation. See more: Who's who: Bobbi Kristina's small family circle . Dr. Phil first spoke with Nick Gordon's mother, Michelle Gordon, who said her son had admitted to her his desire to take his own life. Even though she's never known him to abuse drugs or alcohol in the past, she said she has recently spoken to her son on the phone when he appeared to be drunk or high. "He has blamed himself for [Krissy] being in the condition that she's in, he's torn up by that," Michelle Gordon told Dr. Phil. "He's dealing with it by drinking. I've begged him to stop." She said repeatedly that Nick Gordon is at a breaking point and that he's even attempted to kill himself by taking Xanax and Unisom. "Left to his own devices, he'll be dead inside a week," Dr. Phil told her. That's when Dr. Phil went up to Nick Gordon's hotel room to persuade him that he needs an intervention. On the way back to the interview room, Gordon admitted that he'd had two shots of alcohol earlier that morning and later started crying in the elevator while showing Dr. Phil his new tattoo: Bobbi Kristina's name on his forearm. Read more: Bobbi Kristina Brown's life in the public eye . Throughout the interview, Gordon appeared distracted and distraught. He stood up and walked out of the room multiple times, only to come back to continue the interview. He constantly interrupted both Dr. Phil and his own mother with random interjections about Krissy's engagement ring or how much he hates Bobby Brown. "I miss Krissy and Whitney so much!" Gordon repeated several times, adding that he's lost "the most legendary singer ever" and that he cannot lose Krissy, too. Gordon kept switching from crying in his mother's arms, to laughing at Dr. Phil's multiple requests to go to rehab, to agreeing that he needs to get sober in order to help Krissy. He admitted to drinking too much and taking too many pills, only to say he's fine and doesn't care about rehab later in the interview. He told Dr. Phil he hasn't been sleeping and has been waking up in the middle of the night, praying for Krissy. He also explained to the host how much emotional pain he's in, saying, "My heart hurts. I have panic attacks." At one point, Gordon broke down crying, uttering, "I'm going to seem so

Summary: Originally set up as an interview to tell the world his side of the story, Nick Gordon's time with Dr. Phil turned into an intervention . An unfocused Gordon pleaded to see Bobbi Kristina Brown before finally agreeing to attend rehab .


Washington (CNN)In a strongly worded letter, the White House Saturday told Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker (R-TN) a bill he is drafting would likely have a "profoundly negative impact" on the ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and Iran over Tehran's nuclear program. Corker is working on legislation that would force the Obama Administration to submit any deal reached with Iran for a vote by Congress. The White House earlier threatened to veto such a measure. White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, in the three page letter released publicly Saturday evening, told Corker his legislation could be detrimental to the talks with Iran by "emboldening Iranian hard-liners, inviting a counter-productive response from the Iranian majiles (Majles, the Parliament); differentiating the U.S. position from our allies in the negotiations; and once again calling into question our ability to negotiate this deal." As the U.S. and Iran prepare for the next round of negotiations this coming week, there has been a growing debate between Republicans on Capitol Hill and the Obama Administration about how much authority Congress has regarding the fate of the agreement. "The legislation you have introduced in the Senate goes well beyond ensuring that Congress has a role to play in any deal with Iran. Instead, the legislation would potentially prevent any deal from succeeding by suggesting that Congress must vote to 'approve' any deal and by removing existing sanctions waiver authorities that have already been granted to the President," McDonough wrote. The chief of staff said that only Congress can terminate the existing Iran sanctions that are included in laws, but the President can relax some sanctions put into place by executive order unilaterally. One of the major issues between the U.S. and Iran is the timetable for lifting of the sanctions. "If congressional action is perceived as preventing us from reaching a deal, it will create divisions within the international community, putting at risk the very international cooperation that has been essential to our ability to pressure Iran. Put simply, it would potentially make it impossible to secure international cooperation for additional sanctions, while putting at risk the existing multilateral sanctions" now in place, McDonough said in his letter. For his part, Corker on Sunday released a statement: "On this issue where Congress has played such a vital role, I believe it is very important that Congress appropriately weigh in before any final agreement is implemented." Corker also urged the President not to go to the United Nations for a vote regarding lifting of the sanctions on Iran, as Reuters reported was being considered. "Enabling the United Nations to consider an agreement or portions of it, while simultaneously threatening to veto legislation that would enable Congress to do the same, is a direct affront to the American people and seeks to undermine Congress' appropriate role," he wrote. The chief of staff told Corker, "The Administration's request to the Congress is simple: let us complete the negotiations before the Congress acts on legislation" and added "we will aggressively seek public and congressional support for a deal -- if we

Summary: A Republican senator is drafting legislation to allow Congress to vote on negotiations with Iran . The White House sent a letter saying it would further threaten talks over Tehran's nuclear program .


(CNN)Gunmen killed 19 people and sent tourists scrambling for cover in a siege at a museum in Tunisia's capital on Wednesday. The North African nation's Prime Minister called it a cowardly terrorist attack and warned that three suspects were still on the loose. Tunisian security forces killed two attackers as they ended the hostage siege at the Bardo Museum in Tunis, Prime Minister Habib Essid said. But the death toll, which included 17 tourists and at least one Tunisian security officer, could climb. Polish, Italian, German and Spanish tourists were among those killed, Essid said, with another 20 foreign tourists and two Tunisians wounded in the attack. "It's a cowardly attack mainly targeting the economy of Tunisia," the Prime Minister said. "We should unite to defend our country." The scene played out at a popular tourist destination in the heart of Tunisia's capital in a building linked to where the nation's parliament meets. Lawmakers there were in the middle of a committee meeting when they heard gunfire erupt. "The tourists were frightened and they were running in different directions. We opened the doors and we got them to enter to the Parliament," lawmaker Mehrezia Labidi told CNN's Christiane Amanpour. An administrator told lawmakers to lay down on the ground as a gunbattle broke out between terrorists and police, said Sabrine Ghoubatini, a member of parliament. It wasn't long before the building was evacuated. Photos on Twitter showed security forces in bulletproof vests and black helmets and masks, guns drawn, in the area. Authorities set up a large security cordon around the targeted museum. Rescuers carried wounded tourists away on stretchers. Essid didn't specify where the attackers came from. Interior Ministry spokesman Mohamed Ali Aroui called them Islamists in remarks on national radio. The museum, housed in a 19th century palace, bills itself as "a jewel of Tunisian heritage." Its exhibits showcase Tunisian art, culture and history, and it boasts a collection of mosaics, including one of the poet Virgil, as well as marble sculptures, furniture, jewels and other items. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. But it happened just days after a Tunisian jihadist tweeted that a pledge of allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was coming soon, according to the SITE Intelligence Group. In his message, the jihadi claimed to belong to Jund al-Khilafah in Tunisia, a group that in December pledged allegiance to ISIS, even though that vow didn't seem to have fully registered with the Islamist extremist group. His post comes after an ISIS fighter in Raqqa, Syria, recently appeared in a video questioning why jihadis in Tunisia had not pledged fealty. "This raises the possibility that the museum attack could be ISIS' debut on the Tunisian stage, timed to precede a pledge of allegiance from Tunisian jihadis for maximum impact," CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank said. Tunisia has seen far less militant violence than other nations in the region that were part of the Arab Spring uprisings, like neighboring Libya. But it hasn't been immune to it. The government has been battling a jihadist presence

Summary: 17 tourists are killed in an attack at a museum in Tunisia's capital . Three gunmen remain on the loose, Tunisia's Prime Minister says . An Interior Ministry spokesman calls the attackers Islamists; no one has claimed responsibility .


(CNN)The irrepressible Mario Balotelli has a message for his critics: "shut up!" Liverpool's Italian international has started only one game since November, scoring just four goals in 24 appearances for the Anfield club after his $23 million move from AC Milan. He missed their 1-0 away win over Swansea City on Monday due to illness. Perhaps a bit fed up, he posted a video on his Instagram page giving the world a piece of his mind. "Do you know me?" asks the 24-year-old Balotelli, looking directly into the camera. "Did you ever talk to me, personally? "Do you know what I've been through in my life? "You just saw me play football on the pitch so, man, shut up." In December, Mario Balotelli was banned for one match and fined £25,000 after being found guilty of breaching English Football Association rules by posting a controversial image of Super Mario on Instagram. Balotelli's had reposted a Nintendo character Super Mario image that underneath had the words "jumps like a black man and grabs coins like a jew."

Summary: Mario Balotelli asks "Do you know me? Did you ever talk to me personally?" Balotelli has scored four goals in 24 appearances at Liverpool .


(CNN)Waiting for Benjamin Netanyahu to arrive at Ben Gurion Airport, there was a whole Winston Churchill aspect to it all. Many Israeli analysts believe Netanyahu sees his speech to Congress warning of the dangers of a nuclear Iran akin to that of the late British Prime Minister's famous address to parliament in 1939 warning of the pending danger of Nazi Germany. Indeed on the tarmac, Netanyahu, with his wife, Sara, at his side, somberly declared his visit to Washington a "crucial" and "historic" trip and himself the "messenger" of all the Israeli people, even those who don't agree with him. "I fear for the fate of the State of Israel and therefore I will do everything I can to ensure the security of our future," he told reporters before boarding. 6 questions about Netanyahu's trip . In the days leading up to the trip, Netanyahu laid the symbolism for embarking on what aides believe he views as his date with destiny, starting with a visit to the grave of his father, who he often says warned him about the dangers of missing threats to the Jewish people before it is too late. On the eve of his trip, he vistied the Western Wall, the holiest site of Judaism. There Netanyahu declared his solemn obligation to protect Israel, saying "we must unite" against the nuclear deal shaping up with Iran "that could endanger our very existence. " On board the El-Al 767 to Washington, Netanayhu holed himself up with aides working on his speech. A pilot told us he heard the Prime Minister several times yelling from the cabin, "No, no -- stronger, stronger." I sat in the back cabin with about 50 journalists -- print reporters, TV correspondents and crews and photographers. I'm told that's about double the number of press who normally travel with him. Obama and Netanyahu: A clash of world views . With 12 hours to kill, the journalists chatted about Bibi, the visit and how his planned address to Congress has morphed into an international showdown of mythic proportions. We even found the movies on the plane steeped in symbolism: "The Imitation Game" -- an Academy Award-winning story about how a lone genius mathematician defeated all odds to crack Nazi codes and help save Europe from Hitler's grasp. Then there was "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1" a tale of a group of oppressed people led by a brave revolutionary who hopes good will triumph over evil. Okay, maybe that"s a stretch. I did say it was a very long flight. Bibi, as he is called, never came back. Officials traveling with him said it was because he was busy with the speech. I never thought I would come to appreciate the access the American diplomatic press corps gets aboard the Secretary of State's plane. A senior official did come back to brief the reporters just before landing, telling us the Prime Minister would be laying out the details he understands to be part of the nuclear deal shaping up with Iran and urge Congress to press the

Summary: Netanyahu worked on his speech while on the way to Washington . Official said Netanyahu sees speech as "last chance" to avert bad deal with Iran . Netanyahu has called this trip "historic"


(CNN)The only thing crazier than a guy in snowbound Massachusetts boxing up the powdery white stuff and offering it for sale online? People are actually buying it. For $89, self-styled entrepreneur Kyle Waring will ship you 6 pounds of Boston-area snow in an insulated Styrofoam box -- enough for 10 to 15 snowballs, he says. But not if you live in New England or surrounding states. "We will not ship snow to any states in the northeast!" says Waring's website, ShipSnowYo.com. "We're in the business of expunging snow!" His website and social media accounts claim to have filled more than 133 orders for snow -- more than 30 on Tuesday alone, his busiest day yet. With more than 45 total inches, Boston has set a record this winter for the snowiest month in its history. Most residents see the huge piles of snow choking their yards and sidewalks as a nuisance, but Waring saw an opportunity. According to Boston.com, it all started a few weeks ago, when Waring and his wife were shoveling deep snow from their yard in Manchester-by-the-Sea, a coastal suburb north of Boston. He joked about shipping the stuff to friends and family in warmer states, and an idea was born. His business slogan: "Our nightmare is your dream!" At first, ShipSnowYo sold snow packed into empty 16.9-ounce water bottles for $19.99, but the snow usually melted before it reached its destination. So this week, Waring began shipping larger amounts in the Styrofoam cubes, which he promises will arrive anywhere in the U.S. in less than 20 hours. He also has begun selling a 10-pound box of snow for $119. Many of his customers appear to be companies in warm-weather states who are buying the snow as a gag, he said. Whether Waring can sustain his gimmicky venture into the spring remains to be seen. But he has no shortage of product. "At this rate, it's going to be July until the snow melts," he told Boston.com. "But I've thought about taking this idea and running with it for other seasonal items. Maybe I'll ship some fall foliage."

Summary: A man in suburban Boston is selling snow online to customers in warmer states . For $89, he will ship 6 pounds of snow in an insulated Styrofoam box .


(CNN)Are your heroes disappointing you? You're not alone. Most people yearn for role models, for someone to admire and emulate. But then sometimes: Crash! Unless the superheroes perform their awe-inspiring work in the comic books or the movies, they eventually slide off the pedestal; or perhaps they get smashed down to the ground, breaking into too many pieces to repair. The admirer is left heartbroken or disillusioned. If you want to admire someone fully, you should not look too closely. If you want to admire them smartly, you should brace yourself for at least some measure of disappointment. In the political arena, the season of scrutiny and revelations is just getting started with Hillary Clinton and her email practices as secretary of state under the microscope. After a press conference at the United Nations on Tuesday, worries that she is too secretive and calculating are emerging again. For some diehard supporters, this is all about Clinton-hating Republican politics. But to people who may have held Clinton as a model and inspiration, it may raise doubts. Is Hillary a hero or is she not to be trusted? Or, is there an altogether different answer? For me, two individuals in particular were once important heroes. A couple of weeks ago, during a trip to the Middle East, I had the unexpected good fortune to meet someone I have admired for many years: the Liberian President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. I had the opportunity to chat with her, and the conversation left me even more impressed with her. She's a truly inspiring woman. I tweeted a picture of the President and me, calling her "my hero," a word I seldom use. Moments later, I received a reply (since deleted) from a Twitter connection informing me that Sirleaf has a dismal record on gay rights and had very publicly announced she would refuse to sign a bill to end prison sentences for gay Liberians. The incident reminded me of what has happened with another woman I have admired greatly over the years, the Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, also a Nobel Peace Prize winner. Suu Kyi endured decades of house arrest and great personal hardship to help gain freedom for her people from a harsh military dictatorship that entrenched itself for half a century. It seemed a hopeless quest, but she persisted courageously. Then, four years ago, the situation changed. The government of Myanmar (also known as Burma) freed her from arrest and she became a member of parliament and an influential political leader. The woman who stood firm for her principles has suddenly gone silent on one of the worst abuses still occurring in her country: the brutal treatment of Myanmar's Rohingya minority. This disappointed many of her admirers. Like Sirleaf on LGBT issues, Suu Kyi is making cold political calculations on the issue of the Rohingya, weighing cost against benefit, and setting aside principles in the process. Does that mean we should ignore these women's incredible track records? Should we ignore the fact that Sirleaf became the first

Summary: Frida Ghitis: Are your heroes disappointing you? You're not alone . Leaders like Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Aung San Suu Kyi are admirable, but not perfect .


(CNN)Michael Douglas' son Dylan had a run-in with anti-Semitism -- and the actor wants to do something about it. In an opinion column for the Los Angeles Times, the producer and "Wall Street" Oscar winner described an incident last summer in an unidentified country in "southern Europe." The older of his two children with actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, 14-year-old Dylan, came to his father in tears. "A man at the pool had started hurling insults at him," Douglas writes. It wasn't because of anything Dylan did, he continued: "Suddenly I had an awful realization of what might have caused the man's outrage: Dylan was wearing a Star of David." Douglas went to talk to the man -- "it was not a pleasant discussion," he writes -- and the incident has stayed in his mind. The 70-year-old actor, who was raised by a Jewish father, Kirk Douglas, and a non-Jewish mother, said he didn't identify as Jewish while growing up but noticed anti-Semitic remarks others made. "With little knowledge of what it meant to be a Jew, I found myself passionately defending the Jewish people. Now, half a century later, I have to defend my son," he writes. "Anti-Semitism, I've seen, is like a disease that goes dormant, flaring up with the next political trigger." Douglas, who is also a United Nations messenger of peace, observes that anti-Semitism has been on the rise due to a number of factors, including income inequality, religious extremism and hatred of Israel. "Some find Jews to be a convenient scapegoat rather than looking at the real source of their problems," he says. He praises leaders such as Pope Francis, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls and Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York for their efforts at reconciliation and community-building. But it isn't enough, he adds. "All of us" must fight anti-Semitism, he says. "If we confront anti-Semitism whenever we see it, if we combat it individually and as a society, and use whatever platform we have to denounce it, we can stop the spread of this madness," he writes. "My son is strong. He is fortunate to live in a country where anti-Semitism is rare. But now he too has learned of the dangers that he as a Jew must face. It's a lesson that I wish I didn't have to teach him, a lesson I hope he will never have to teach his children." Douglas received the 2015 Genesis Prize for "exceptional people whose values and achievements will inspire the next generation of Jews."

Summary: Michael Douglas' son was insulted at a pool because of his Judaism . Douglas warns that anti-Semitism is on the rise . The award-winning actor wants more action to "confront anti-Semitism"


(CNN)There is only one likely outcome for Baghdad's current military offensive to reclaim Tikrit: defeat for ISIS. The campaign to restore central government authority over the restive Salahudin province is seen as both symbolic and strategic for Baghdad which has invested too much already for it to afford losing this battle. ISIS are said to have booby-trapped much of the city in an attempt to slow down the government assault. However, the task at hand has been made easier for Baghdad given that most civilians in Tikrit have already fled -- both to Kurdistan in the north as well as south to Baghdad -- leaving behind mostly ISIS jihadists who defend the city, according to Iraqi constitutional specialist Zaid al-Ali, who is from the city. Initial reports of the multi-pronged attack on Tikrit have been encouraging. Iraqi forces have already cleared a number of areas on the outskirts and are expected to continue advancing towards the city center as both heavy artillery and helicopter gunships pound ISIS militants who have taken up defensive positions. Another crucial element for the success of this battle will be the varied make-up of the groups involved in the fight. The joint Iraqi forces fighting to retake Tikrit include Iraqi troops, members of the mainly Shia Hashd al-Shabi paramilitary force, members of the Sunni Sons of Salahuddin brigades, and other Sunni tribal fighters. The offensive involves around 30,000 fighters in all. Although the campaign is Iraqi-led, help from outside is also going to play an important role. Though the United States has not conducted any airstrikes in this campaign yet, this may well change as the battle develops. Iran, in stark contrast to the U.S., provided Iraq with immediate and much-needed military assistance when the security crisis escalated last June. The Iranians are heavily invested in this current campaign and are also not going to let the Iraqis lose. Unlike in Syria, the Americans and Iranians both share a common enemy and a common friend in Iraq, but due to wider political considerations neither Washington nor Tehran will admit that there is any form of tacit cooperation in Iraq. However, the campaign for Tikrit is just another front where such cooperation is likely to be already happening behind the scenes. Baghdad will make use of U.S. intelligence that will almost certainly be shared with the Iranian officers who are advising the Iraqi army. General Qasim Suleimani, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Quds Force, who has played a key role in the fight against ISIS, was reported to be near Tikrit just hours after the military campaign was officially launched. Iran provides military advice, support and weapons not just through the central government in Baghdad but also directly to a number of increasingly powerful Shia militia groups that now operate under the state-sponsored paramilitary committee, the Hashd Al-Shabi, known as the "Popular Mobilization Units." The two key Iraqi leaders of this paramilitary command, Hadi al-Ameri and Abu Mehdi al-Mohandis, were also pictured together with General Fadhil Barwari, the commander of Iraq's elite Special Operation Forces. Though

Summary: Likely outcome for Baghdad's current offensive to reclaim Tikrit is defeat for ISIS, writes Hayder al-Khoei . Al-Khoei: Crucial element for success will be varied make-up of the groups involved in the fight . Both Shia and Sunni groups view ISIS as a common threat and enemy that must be defeated, he adds .


(CNN)Thick fog forced authorities to suspend the air search Wednesday for seven Marines and four Army aircrew, feared dead after their Black Hawk helicopter crashed into waters off the Florida Panhandle. The helicopter was first reported missing at about 8:30 p.m. (9:30 p.m. ET) Tuesday. Hours later, searchers found debris around Okaloosa Island near Eglin Air Force Base, base spokesman Andy Bourland said. This debris washed up on both the north and south sides of Santa Rosa Sound, which connects mainland northern Florida and a barrier island. The air search is expected to resume midday Thursday, the spokesman said. A spokeswoman for the Coast Guard said that boats will continue scouring the waters throughout the night Wednesday, weather permitting. Human remains have washed ashore in the area near Eglin. Base spokeswoman Jasmine Porterfield didn't specify what was found, noting the search-and-rescue mission remained underway. Still, there was little hope for a miracle, with Gen. Martin Dempsey -- chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff -- expressing his condolences. He said the crash was "a reminder to us that those who serve put themselves at risk, both in training and in combat." "We will work with the services to ensure that ... their family members will be well cared for." The Air Force, Coast Guard and civilian agencies participated in the intensive search focused on where they believe the aircraft went down, in waters east of the town of Navarre and the Navarre Bridge and near Eglin testing range site A-17. Porterfield said approximately 100 people were involved in canvassing the ground and the waters, looking for debris: "It's a huge effort underway." "We're working closely with all the parties involved to locate our Marines and the Army crew that were onboard," added Capt. Barry Morris, a spokesman for the U.S. Marines Corps Special Operations Command. "And, really, just our thoughts (and) prayers are with the Marines, the soldiers and the families of those involved in the mishap." No one is saying what caused the accident, with Eglin spokeswoman Sara Vidoni indicating only that there's no indication of anything suspicious. There was heavy fog in the area when the aircraft went missing, though the Eglin spokeswoman said it's too early to tell whether that had anything to do with the crash. "There is training in all conditions -- that's part of the military mission," Vidoni said. "They were out there doing what the military does." According to Morris, the service members -- all men -- were involved in a seven-day training exercise of amphibious operations. It involved small boats and inserting and extracting Marines from the water via helicopter. Morris would not say in which phase of the training the Marines were on Tuesday night. The UH-60 helicopter wasn't alone when it went down. A second Black Hawk -- assigned to 1-244th Assault Helicopter Battalion based in Hammond, Louisiana -- safely returned to the base, some 40 miles east of Pensacola. The aircraft were both assigned to the Louisiana Army National Guard out of Hammond and taking part in what the U.S. military

Summary: Heavy fog is complicating efforts; the search is expected to resume Thursday . Four air crew members, seven Marines were on board the helicopter . The service members have not been identified .


Hong Kong (CNN)Australia's transport safety chief has always described himself as a pessimist. But Martin Dolan, Chief Commissioner of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, says that as search teams scour the depths of the Indian Ocean for any sign of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, he is confident they will find the plane, if the aircraft is in the areas where they are looking. "If anything, I'm slightly more optimistic than six months ago, because we have more confidence in the data, and we have proven the search equipment and techniques work to the necessary standards," Dolan said. But as the first anniversary of MH370's disappearance approaches, with no trace of the missing plane found, not everyone shares his outlook. That includes many of the relatives of the 239 passengers and crew on board, who say not a single day goes by without wondering what happened to their loved ones. And for many, the decision in late January by Malaysia to officially declare MH370 an accident, enabling the insurance payout process to begin in accordance with international protocol, was painfully premature. "How can they say that, when there is no proof that the plane has crashed?" asked Wen Wang Cheng, whose son Wen Yung Sheng was one of 153 Chinese nationals on board. "We have to get the facts," Wen said. What families have been told, they say, simply isn't good enough. Anger, frustration, and distrust pushed some relatives, including Wen, to fly from China to Kuala Lumpur last month, to demand more. But when families submitted a letter to Malaysia Airlines asking for authorities to explain the declaration and status of the investigation, a written response from the company's CEO revealed little that hadn't already been said. At 12:41 a.m. local time on March 8, 2014, Malaysia Airlines MH370 took off from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, en route to Beijing. Less than an hour later, the Boeing 777-200ER was flying over the South China Sea. Air traffic controllers in Malaysia radioed the crew to contact controllers in Ho Chi Minh City for its onward journey through Vietnamese airspace. The crew acknowledged the request, thanking Kuala Lumpur controllers with a routine reply: "Good night, Malaysian Three-Seven-Zero." Minutes later, the plane disappeared from radar. Malaysian authorities revealed days later that military radar had tracked the plane as it turned back to the west, flew across the Malay Peninsula, and up the Strait of Malacca, before flying out of radar range and vanishing once again. The search area widened, then shifted off the coast of Western Australia, when it was determined through careful analysis of a series of messages or "handshakes" between the plane and an Inmarsat telecommunications satellite, that MH370 eventually turned south, and flew for hours into the Indian Ocean. Roughly a week's sail from the coast of Western Australia, ships with specialists and equipment capable of searching depths that regularly exceed 4,000 meters (13,123 feet), work around the clock, methodically ticking off sections of sea floor. In early February a new ship, the Fugro Supporter, joined the search carrying the HUGIN 4500,

Summary: Ahead of one year anniversary, search chief says he's confident Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 will eventually be found . Not all share Martin Dolan's optimism . Families angry at the lack of information concerning their loved ones lost on board .


(CNN)They were known for their quiet professionalism and dedication. One recently received a high military honor for rendering aid to a wounded comrade in Afghanistan while under enemy fire. One had served a tour in Kosovo. The 11 service members who died in an Army Black Hawk helicopter crash Tuesday off the Florida Panhandle weren't only a loss to their country. They leave behind wives, fiancees, parents, children and friends. They will be missed. And remembered. Seven of those on the helicopter were Marines based at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Four served with the Louisiana National Guard. A 21-year member of the Guard, Griffin had served in Iraq in 2004-05 and 2008-09. He'd also been deployed during Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Isaac, said Maj. Gen. Glenn Curtis, adjutant general of the Louisiana National Guard. "G. Wayne Griffin was born to be an Army aviator," said Chief Warrant Officer 5 Reggie Lane on the state Guard's website. "He had a tremendous passion for flying." Griffin, a resident of Delhi, is survived by his wife and four children. The Alexandria resident was known for his outsized personality. "He was more like a force of nature," said Maj. Andre Jeansonne of the 135th Aviation Regiment. "His huge heart touched the lives of all he met." Strother had deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and just last year to Kosovo. He also served during Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Isaac. He commissioned as a warrant officer but went on to become an instructor pilot with more than 2,400 flight hours, including more than 700 combat hours. Strother leaves behind a wife, a son and a stepdaughter. Bergeron enlisted in the Marines in 1998 and joined the National Guard in 2001. He'd deployed to Iraq twice and served during state deployments for Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Isaac. Sgt. 1st Class Brian Marquez called Bergeron one of the most qualified crew chiefs in the Guard, with more than 1,300 flight hours, including 377 combat hours. "He was a subject matter expert in his job," Marquez said. The Thibodaux resident is survived by his wife and two children. Florich came from Fairfax County, Virginia, and enlisted in the Louisiana National Guard in 2007 as a Black Hawk repairer. He served during state deployments for Operation Deepwater Horizon and Hurricane Isaac, the Guard's website said. "Tom was full of life, and his personality could light the room," Marquez said. "He will be greatly missed by the unit and the flight facility." Florich is survived by his wife, father and stepmother. He was posthumously promoted from sergeant to staff sergeant. Theresa D. Hipple was thrilled her stepdaughter, Erika, planned to marry Bawol this October. After all, the Warren, Michigan, Marine "was an all-around wonderful guy -- the kind of guy you would want your daughter to marry," Hipple told The Macomb Daily in Michigan. High school chums told the newspaper they jokingly called Bawol "The Patriot" because he always seemed to do the proper thing. He was a stand-up guy you could depend on. Friends said Bawol enjoyed hunting trips and was in peak

Summary: Eleven service members died in helicopter crash last week off Florida Panhandle . Seven were Marines; four served with Louisiana National Guard .


(CNN)Earlier this month, Shahindokht Molaverdi, Iran's Vice President for Women and Family Affairs, led an official delegation to the United Nations in New York to attend the 59th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. In her March 11 speech to the commission, Molaverdi said that "the Islamic Republic of Iran has always had the empowerment of women and improving their status...on its agenda." Molaverdi described the significant progress Iranian women have made in education and science, citing unilateral economic sanctions and violence against women as factors that have impeded the full realization of women's rights. There was little in her speech to suggest that domestic factors -- including Iran's laws and policies -- play a significant role in depriving Iranian women of real gender equality and empowerment. Unfortunately, Molaverdi's comments stood in sharp contrast to reality. On the day she delivered her speech, Amnesty International released a report raising concerns about the possible passage of two bills before Iran's parliament that would further restrict women's rights. One would prohibit voluntary sterilization as part of the country's efforts to boost population growth and strengthen the place of what are deemed "traditional" families in society. The other would "further entrench gender-based discrimination, particularly against women who choose not to or are unable to marry or have children," Amnesty said. A day later, the U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, Ahmed Shaheed, released his fourth report to the U.N. Human Rights Council describing the dire state of human rights in the country. His report cited the concerns about gender discrimination that Human Rights Watch and others had raised during Iran's 2014 Universal Periodic Review, a review of every U.N. state's human rights record every four years by the Human Rights Council. The sobering reality, all too familiar to Molaverdi, is that Iranian women face discrimination in many aspects of their lives, ranging from issues related to marriage, divorce, inheritance and child custody, to restrictions on dress and even access to sports stadiums as spectators. The proposed passage of more restrictive legislation in the name of protecting the family is just the latest step in the rollback on women's rights in recent years. To many, the discrepancy between what Molaverdi said in her speech, and what women face in Iran, smacked of diplomatic subterfuge. Activists and journalists rightly responded by highlighting the many violations of women's rights in Iran, and called out Molaverdi for failing to present an accurate and complete picture of the challenges that Iranian women face. Yet there was little acknowledgment by critics of the behind-the-scenes struggle that Molaverdi, who is often an outspoken critic of regressive measures restricting women's rights at home, and many others are waging every day as they try to carve out much-needed space for Iran's beleaguered rights activists. Just two days before the U.N. session, Iran's conservative Kayhan daily, thought to be close to the Office of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, published an article that showed just what Iran's women's rights activists are up against. The author questioned the wisdom

Summary: Faraz Sanei : Women's groups in Iran have remained adaptable . Those hostile to women's rights in Iran remain unrelenting, she says .