(CNN)More than two decades as a judge, prosecutor and defense lawyer could not prepare Susan Criss for the Texas murder trial of millionaire Robert Durst. The aftermath of the sensational 2003 trial of the scion of a New York real estate empire in many ways upended the life of the 54-year-old Galveston County-born lawyer who presided over the case. Durst admitted at trial that he killed neighbor Morris Black in Galveston and chopped up the body. There was the awkward encounter with Durst in an upscale Houston mall in 2005. Durst had already been acquitted after his attorneys argued that he killed Black in self-defense. Or the time, month's later, when the severed head of a cat was left near the doorstep of Criss' home. Criss said she believes Durst was behind it but admits police found no evidence. Fearing for her life, Criss said she stashed handguns throughout her house in case of a home intrusion. She put away the butcher knives in her kitchen. There was the strange instant message that she said brought FBI agents and surveillance cameras to her home. "I've been living with this," the former judge said in an interview Friday. "It's affected me in many, many ways." The emotions came rushing back when Durst -- the focus of HBO's true crime documentary series "The Jinx" -- was charged with first-degree murder this week in the 2000 killing of his longtime confidante, Susan Berman. Durst's lawyer has denied his client was involved in Berman's death. "Everything he does is totally unexpected," she said. Durst, 71, appeared to be preparing for life on the run when FBI agents arrested him in a New Orleans hotel on Saturday. In his room, agents found more than $40,000 in cash, a handgun, marijuana and a neck-to-head latex mask to alter his appearance. He's being held on drug and weapons charges in Louisiana as he awaits extradition to Los Angeles. The last time Durst was accused of murder was in Galveston. Though he was acquitted in the death of his neighbor, Durst later served nine months in prison on felony weapons charges stemming from that case. Days before Christmas 2005, Criss ran into the man whose real estate developer family is among New York's wealthiest at Houston's The Galleria mall. Durst, who was on parole at the time, was on his cellphone. He had his head down. "I was glad because I could get my composure," Criss recalled. It was the first time Criss had seen Durst outside court, "in the free world," as she put it. "I needed to not show any fear," she remembered thinking. "I got my poker face on." "Hey, I know you," she said Durst told her. He appeared startled and dropped his phone. Fumbling to pick up the pieces of his phone, Durst said, "You're Judge Criss. I did not recognize you without the robe," she recalled. "How are you doing, Bob." Durst told her that he couldn't believe she stopped to talk to him. "I have a job to do but it's not personal."

Summary: Former Texas judge says Durst case "affected me in many, many ways" Durst is charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of his longtime friend in 2000 .


(CNN)Two days after Odin Lloyd was found dead, New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez looked into the eyes of team owner Robert Kraft and said he was innocent, Kraft testified Tuesday in Hernandez's murder trial. Kraft, answering questions from a prosecutor and one of Hernandez's attorneys on the witness stand in a Massachusetts courtroom, recalled a private conversation that he had with the star Patriots tight end on June 19, at the Patriots' Gillette Stadium, as news spread that Hernandez was being investigated in Lloyd's death. "He said he was not involved," Kraft testified in the courtroom in Fall River. "He said he was innocent." Hernandez has been charged with murder and has pleaded not guilty to orchestrating the death of Lloyd, a semipro football player who was found dead in Massachusetts on June 17, 2013. Hernandez also has pleaded not guilty to a gun and ammunition charge. His co-defendants, Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz, also pleaded not guilty and will be tried separately. Kraft testified that he asked to speak with Hernandez in an office near a weight room in the stadium, and asked the player to look him in the eye and tell him if he was involved in Lloyd's death. According to Kraft, Hernandez told him during that meeting that he hoped the time of Lloyd's death "came out," because Hernandez had been at a club that night. According to testimony from Hernandez's fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins, the player had not been at a club, but was at dinner with her and some friends before the shooting. Mel Robbins, a CNN legal analyst, called Kraft's testimony "explosive." "What a great, great witness for the prosecution," she said. "Basically what happened is Aaron Hernandez lied to his boss. And the only way you rebut it is if you put him on the stand." How did Hernandez know when the murder happened, Robbins asked, unless he was there? The Patriots' owner also testified, when asked by a defense attorney, that he'd never had any problems with Hernandez, and that the player was always respectful to him. The billionaire magnate of The Kraft Group, a company with interests ranging from paper and packaging concerns to sports and entertainment, said Hernandez always greeted him with a hug and kiss. Asked by the defense why Hernandez was signed to a $40 million long-term contract, Kraft said simply: "He's a very good player." At times during his 30 minutes or so on the witness stand, Kraft seemed uncomfortable. "Do you work?" Bristol County District Attorney William McCauley asked Kraft. "I think so, yes." Asked where he worked, Kraft responded, 1 Patriot Place, or Gillette Stadium, where the Super Bowl champions play their home games. "What do you do for work?" "Whatever they ask me to do." Outside court, surrounded by cameras, Kraft expressed sadness over Lloyd's death. "A man died," he said. "This is about a man being killed. It's unfortunate." Later, Mark Briggs, head of security at Gillette Stadium, testified that he also asked Hernandez whether the former star was telling the truth about Lloyd.

Summary: Aaron Hernandez is charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of Odin Lloyd . Patriots' owner testifies that Hernandez was always respectful with him .


Boston (CNN)She knew something awful had happened. It was smoky and all she could hear were muffled screams. Her foot was turned sideways and her legs wouldn't work right. And her good friend, Krystle Campbell, was just lying there on the ground. Karen Rand -- she's Karen McWatters now -- dragged herself across the pavement. She wanted to get closer to Krystle so they could talk and take comfort from each other in the midst of so much chaos. "I got close to her, " she recalled. "For some reason, I got close to her head and we put our faces together." Krystle said that her legs hurt. They were the last words she'd speak. The two women held hands until Krystle's went limp. McWatters was the fifth witness of the first day of the terror trial of accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is accused of detonating pressure cooker bombs with his brother to punish the United States for policies they believe inflict suffering on Muslims. Three people were killed in the blasts: Campbell, a 29-year-old manager for a restaurant chain; Martin Richard, an 8-year-old boy; and Lingzi Lu, a 23-year-old grad student. More than 250 others were injured. And the first day of the trial -- after opening statements -- revolved around a number of survivors of the attack, who recounted in detail the chaos of that day. Prosecutors called them to the stand to paint a picture of the havoc and pain the bombings inflicted. Tsarnaev's attorneys chose not to cross-examine any of the survivors. McWatters fought her emotions as she looked at a photograph that showed her and her friend of eight years lying amid a heap of dazed and broken people. Their two faces, side by side, stand out among the jumble of limbs. Krystle's mouth is open, but she is very pale. "I was really scared," McWatters testified, "and I remember screaming for someone to help us. Everybody was screaming, everybody was screaming for help. It seemed like a long time before help got to us, but it probably wasn't." By the time first responders reached Krystle, it was too late. "They were doing CPR on Krystle and I started to think she didn't make it," McWatters said. She grabbed her friend's cell phone and tucked it in her pocket. By the time she arrived at the hospital, shock had set in. She was confused. For a while, that phone led hospital staffers to believe she was Krystle Campbell. When Krystle's parents rushed to her bedside and saw she wasn't their daughter, they were heartbroken, McWatters said. Krystle's boyfriend recognized her and called her parents. Two days later, doctors told her they were taking her leg. Her body was broken, and it hurt like crazy, she said. But not as much as losing her friend. Campbell's death was the first to be described in detail at Tsarnaev's trial. But descriptions of the other two deaths at the marathon and the death of a police officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will come soon. There

Summary: "I remember screaming for someone to help us," one survivor recalls . The first day of the Boston Marathon bombings trial focuses on the survivors . Several survivors testify about the sights, smells and pain of that day .


(CNN)It looks like the Republicans in Congress have failed again. House Republicans defeated a plan pushed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to fund the Department of Homeland Security, money that congressional Republicans have been holding hostage in their effort to overturn President Obama's executive order on immigration. McConnell proposed that there would be a separate vote on the immigration issue. When Speaker John Boehner proposed an even narrower compromise, funding the Department for only three more weeks, his caucus said no. The final bill provides funding for one more week, at which point Congress needs to take up the issue again. Yet from a different perspective, congressional Republicans are achieving their goal. Once again they are using up a valuable chunk of President Obama's political time. Congress has already squandered several months rather than addressing bigger questions, such as economic inequality or climate change, which the White House hoped to put at the center of political debate even if the Republicans refused to do anything about these problems. While the odds of the president making progress on key issues is extremely slim, President Obama has not even had a chance to introduce issues fully into public debate -- a key function of presidents who hope to build the groundwork for future legislative breakthroughs and shape the national conversation -- or to even to attempt to make progress on issues, like tax reform, where there is potential support for a bipartisan breakthrough. Using up the legislative clock has been central to the Republican strategy since the 2010 midterm elections, a tactic that the Democrats have found difficult to fight back against. The strategy has been pretty straightforward. Each time that President Obama tried to introduce a new issue to the nation, whether that has to do with immigration reform or economic inequality, Republicans have instantly shifted public attention elsewhere by threatening extreme action on some other area of policy. This is what Republicans did in 2010 and 2011 when they warned that they would not raise the debt limit ceiling if Democrats did not accede to their budget demands. Congress spent many months wrangling over the budget as they faced the real possibility of the federal government going into default. This was all that anyone in Washington was talking about. The GOP did the same with the threat of a government shutdown. Even though the possibility of repealing the Affordable Care Act is remote, Republicans keep bringing it up for a debate, forcing Democrats to defend the program and spending more time on a proposal that nobody really thinks stands a chance of passing. The "tea party" faction of the House Republicans has been pivotal to this strategy as was clear this week. Since they have shown repeatedly that they are willing to employ the most extreme measures to defend their principles, and that they won't allow Boehner to rein them in for "practical" political considerations, Democrats can't afford to take the threats lightly. Republican leaders can and have said to the White House they would like to find reasonable solutions to

Summary: Julian Zelizer: GOP hogs the spotlight with funding deadlines like the battle over money for the Department of Homeland Security. He says the continual crises deprive Obama of the chance to move his agenda forward even slightly .


(CNN)The UK's Metropolitan Police has summoned five football fans to answer allegations of racism. It relates to an incident captured on camera, prior to Chelsea's European Champions League match with Paris Saint-Germain last month. In the French capital before the match an apparent group of Chelsea fans are caught on camera, appearing to prevent a black man boarding the Paris Metro. The video, widely shared on social media, also depicted the group of men chanting: "We're racist, we're racist and that's the way we like it." The man in the video was blocked several times from boarding the train and shoved off at least twice. He was later identified as Souleymane S, a 33-year-old Parisian on his way home from work. London's Met Police had appealed for help to identify those responsible but in a statement released Wednesday, said five men were due in court later this month. It read: "On 10 March and 11 March, the Metropolitan Police Service served summonses on five men involved in incidents on the Paris Metro before the Paris Saint-Germain v Chelsea Champions League fixture on Tuesday 17 February. "They have been summonsed to appear at Waltham Forest Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, 25 March regarding a police application for football banning orders." The authorities have not identified any of the alleged perpetrators. Chelsea were quick to condemn the group, saying in a statement after the incident that the chanting was "abhorrent" and something that "has no place in football or society." Manager Jose Mourinho said he was "ashamed" by the flashpoint, while the club moved quickly to suspend the five men involved. It said they faced a life ban should they be found guilty. "I watched the image the next day, I didn't want to watch again, I watched only once," Mourinho told reporters a few days after the match in Paris. "It is enough for me, it is sad enough for me. It is a humiliation for that gentleman, I imagine myself in that same situation, I want to go home after a day of work and a couple of guys they kick me out of my public transport." A club spokesperson also confirmed that Chelsea's Russian owner Roman Abramovich was "disgusted" by the incident whilst French President Francois Hollande personally spoke to Souleymane. Chelsea invited him to attend the return fixture at Stamford Bridge but he declined the offer. "I won't go," he was quoted as saying by French radio station RTL. "They can't buy me with a little piece of paper. I'm not a child. "I don't want to sit in that stadium next to those people who pushed me. I still hear the voices of those people who pushed me because of the color of my skin." Football banning orders can last for between three and ten years, and any breach can result in a criminal offense, with a prison sentence of up to six months.

Summary: UK's Metropolitan Police summon five people to answer allegations of racism . The group, believed to be Chelsea fans, abused a black man on Paris Metro . Video of the incident showed a black man being prevented from boarding a train . Chelsea has suspended five fans and will issue life bans if they are found guilty .


(CNN)Once again, the lure of ISIS may have ensnared another group of foreigners -- this time, medical students suspected of traveling to Syria to work in ISIS-controlled hospitals. The group of 11 people includes seven Britons, an American, a Canadian and two Sudanese, Turkish lawmaker Mehmet Ali Ediboglu told CNN on Sunday. Ediboglu, an opposition lawmaker, told The Observer that he had spoken with the students' families, who were convinced their loved ones wanted to work for ISIS, and were asking him for help tracking them down in neighboring Syria. "They have been cheated, brainwashed. That is what I, and their relatives, think," Ediboglu said, according to the newspaper. But he also stressed that the group did not travel with the intention of joining the battle. "Let's not forget about the fact that they are doctors," he told The Observer. "They went there to help, not to fight." In a joint statement, the students' and doctors' families said their children are humanitarians who went "to Turkey willingly to offer voluntary medical help to those refugees who are in need of medical care on Turkey's borders." They have since "disappeared," the statement said. "We have heard from the British, Turkish and Sudanese authorities that we have so far met, but we hope that the respectable governments of these countries would enforce, speed up and coordinate more effective measures to ensure the safety of our children wherever they are and bring them back to us as soon as possible," the statement said. Eight of the group are medical students who've just graduated, and the three others are in their final year of medical school, he said. They'd been studying in Khartoum, Sudan. At least seven of their mothers and fathers are living near the Turkey-Syria border, pleading for their return, according to The Observer. In an interview published Monday in Turkey's Hürriyet Daily News, the group of parents said they were worried and vowed not to leave Turkey without their children. Dr. Maumoon Abdulqadir said he was sending a message to his daughter, Lena, who is one of the students. "I know you want to help people and be of use. But you can do this in another way," he told the newspaper. "There are many who need your help. But this is not the way. Please, come back." British officials said they are aware of the report. "We are providing consular assistance to their families and we have informed the Turkish police to try and ascertain their whereabouts," the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office said in a statement. Officials have warned that a growing number of foreign fighters are traveling to join ISIS' ranks. Estimates about how many medical personnel the group has recruited are harder to come by. Last year, a 19-year-old Colorado woman was arrested at Denver International Airport as she was about to start a journey to an ISIS camp, where she hoped to be a nurse. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh, Nimet Kirac and Radina Gigova contributed to this report.

Summary: Families say the doctors and students went to Turkey to help refugees . "They have been cheated, brainwashed," parliamentarian Mehmet Ali Ediboglu says . The group is made up of Britons, Sudanese, an American and a Canadian .


(CNN)Flying with your cute little bundle of doggie love? Each airline has its own rules about how to bring a small dog in the cabin or a larger dog in its crate with the checked luggage. Not in the checked luggage, as an independent Chihuahua discovered on Tuesday. The dog was discovered in its owner's checked luggage by Transportation Security Administration officers at LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York. Luckily for the dog, the TSA screens all checked luggage. The officers in search of more dangerous items found the dog and called the owner, who had not intended to bring her darling dog on her Tuesday trip. The woman's husband took the misbehaving pooch home. The TSA's security procedures do not prohibit you from bringing a pet on your flight, but a more breathable crate is suggested. On the other hand, traveling with torch lighters that look like grenades? Those are always prohibited. Crazy things Americans tried to take on planes in 2013 .

Summary: A Chihuahua tries to travel with its owner via checked baggage . TSA officers at LaGuardia found the dog during the normal screening process .


(CNN)Igniting a live man in a cage; severing the heads of dozens; kidnapping, raping and selling women and children -- ISIS' shocking maltreatment of its captives has become regrettably predictable. But that has made their latest decision on the fate of 19 Christian prisoners all the more surprising to some. On Sunday, ISIS released them. Ten other Assyrian Christians are expected to join them in freedom after a short time in captivity. All but one of the Christians released were part of a group of 220 Assyrians captured last week during offensives on northern Syrian villages, said the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. In the shadow of its sadistic mercilessness, the sudden reversal leaves many asking: Why? The group has not explained its decision. Here are some possible answers. It was not a militant commander but an ISIS Sharia judge, said Osama Edward, who heads the Assyrian Human Rights Network, based in Sweden. Some of Edward's family members are among the captured Christians. His rights group keeps contact with local people, via phone and Internet, and has a field team in Syria, he said. The Sharia judge asked the Christians if they were part of any militia, Edward said. Then he pronounced them not guilty of violating Sharia law and ordered them released. The Assyrian Christians were all from the village of Tal Goran. They have returned home but are keeping quiet for now. Can Christianity survive in the Middle East? "They were so tired," Edward said. They had a closed meeting with a bishop, and then ate and went home. "They were treated well," contacts in Tal Goran passed on to Edward. "Nobody was tortured." Not to Graeme Wood, who published a detailed analysis on ISIS' religious inner workings this week in The Atlantic. He was pleased to hear about it, but he felt it fit into ISIS' plans. "ISIS has claimed for a long time to follow rules, and it claims that these Sharia courts will impose limits," he told CNN. "They can attempt to get credibility by showing that they follow rules and that they have some kind of transparent process that follows their particular implementation of Sharia law." It's possible. It did win them points with Assyrian activists. "It's a good sign to show that 'we can talk,'" Edward said. ISIS has taken heat even from other Islamists who accuse it of rogue justice, especially against Muslim civilians they've condemned as "infidels" out of hand. It's part of the reason al Qaeda has rejected the group, Wood wrote. That reduced some of ISIS' chances of receiving international moral and financial support, leaving the terror group to make up the gap with other funding. And it has led to a violent split with another jihadi group in Syria, the al-Nusra Front, according to The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Other Islamist groups in Syria have frowned on ISIS for not submitting to decisions from Sharia courts. The main issue drawing anger from other Islamist groups revolves around Muslim civilians, who are ISIS' most common victims. And the

Summary: ISIS released 19 Assyrian Christians on Sunday and plans to release 10 more . The sudden reversal has puzzled many .


Kuala Lumpur (CNN)The initial hours after the disappearance of flight MH370 were characterized by confusion and chaos, as air traffic controllers struggled to comprehend the situation and radar operators failed to take notice, according to data contained in an interim report. The report -- released one year after the disappearance of the Boeing 777 and its 239 passengers and crew --- provides a detailed picture of delays and protocol violations before the launch of the search and rescue. An astonishing five hours and 13 minutes passed between the last communication from the flight crew and Kuala Lumpur's first distress signal concerning the missing plane. And it was another five hours before the first search flights took off to try to find it. CNN's aviation correspondent Richard Quest said he believes the delayed response was the most disturbing thing revealed by the interim report -- "the lack of somebody pushing the big red button that says crisis and panic." A year later after the plane's disappearance, not a single trace of Flight MH370 has been found despite extensive search efforts. Investigators believe the wreckage lies somewhere on the bottom of the Indian Ocean, based on the analysis of satellite communications data. The first sign that something was wrong with flight MH370 came after plane failed to check in with Vietnamese Air Traffic Controllers after leaving Malaysian airspace. According to protocol, Ho Chi Minh ATC should have informed their Kuala Lumpur counterparts (KL ATCC) about this within five minutes. Instead they waited 20. When Ho Chi Minh finally did inform Kuala Lumpur, the confusion was evident, as seen in transcripts of the conversation released Sunday. KL ATCC asked three times at what point Ho Chi Minh lost contact, then went on to express concern at the delay, asking "Why you didn't tell me first? Within five minutes you should be (sic) called me." The confusion only got worse after Malaysia Airlines mistakenly told Kuala Lumpur Air Traffic Controllers they could see the flight somewhere over Cambodia. It took an hour and a half to clear this up, after Malaysia Airlines admitted to controllers they were only looking at the projected flight track. Malaysia Airlines CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said the misinformation was a momentary lapse by a company employee. "Our information was only to be as a guide. We are not an ATC per se. We don't have radar," he told CNN. The watch supervisor then waited another two hours to activate the rescue coordination center. Still another hour went by before before Kuala Lumpur issued the distress signal. No explanation for the delay is given in the interim report, which is composed of factual data and provides no conclusions or recommendations. After the air traffic controllers lost contact with MH370, the plane continued to fly within the range of multiple radar systems belonging to four different countries. Yet little seems to have been done with the data in the immediate hours after the plane disappeared. The interim report says that "for unknown reasons" Indonesia's Medan Radar did not see the flight. And Thailand

Summary: Interim report exposes delays and inaction after MH370 disappeared . Flight carrying 239 people and crew has not been found, one year later . Took 10 hours for the first search flights to take off, according to report .


Karachi, Pakistan (CNN)Suicide bombers attacked a Christian community in eastern Pakistan on Sunday, setting off two blasts that killed at least 14 people and wounded dozens more, officials said. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the deadly attack and warned of more to come. The explosions, which struck the Nishtar Colony area in the city of Lahore, wounded at least 78 people, said Dr. Muhammed Saeed Sohbin, medical superintendent at Lahore General Hospital. Video from the scene aired by CNN affiliate GEO News showed twisted metal, shattered glass and panicked residents outside a church compound. Ambulance and security personnel were seen moving in. Later footage showed water cannons arriving to disperse the crowd. Ehsanullah Ehsan, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, said by telephone that his group was responsible for the suicide bombings, declaring that such attacks would continue until Sharia law is implemented in Pakistan. After a period of disunity, the terrorist group's three major splinter groups announced last week that they were joining forces again under the name Tehrik-i-Taliban, or TTP. The Pakistani military has been waging a campaign against the militant group in North Waziristan, one of the loosely governed tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, whose government held unsuccessful peace talks with the TTP last year, strongly condemned Sunday's attack, according to a statement from his office. Sharif asked provincial governments to tighten security and "take all possible measures" to protect people and property, the statement said. The last major attack on Pakistan's Christian community took place in 2013, when suicide bombers struck a church in the northwestern city of Peshawar, killing more than 80 people. More recently, a Christian couple were burned to death in November by mob that accused them of blasphemy. "The Christian community is a soft target for militant outfits in Pakistan," said Rabia Mehmood, a researcher at the Jinnah Institute, a Pakistani think tank. "But generally Christians and other religious minorities are under a constant threat by the extremist elements in the society and rampant religious intolerance." On Sunday, Pope Francis said he learned of the attacks "with pain, with much pain." He called for peace in Pakistan and said that persecution of Christians doesn't get the attention it deserves. The Pope prayed that "this persecution against Christians, which the world tries to hide, might end, and that there be peace." Other minorities in the predominantly Sunni Muslim nation have also been targeted this year. Last month, an attack on a Shiite mosque in Peshawar killed at least 19 worshipers and injured dozens of others. The Pakistani Taliban reportedly claimed responsibility for that attack, too. CNN's Sophia Saifi reported from Karachi, Pakistan, and Jethro Mullen wrote from Hong Kong. CNN's Brian Walker and journalists Saleem Mehsud and Adeel Raja contributed to this report.

Summary: The Pakistani Taliban claims responsibility for the suicide bombings . At least 78 people were wounded in the attack, hospital official says .


(CNN)Forget the pyramids, Tahrir Square and the Nile. Egypt is ready to ditch Cairo and build a shiny new capital if the government has its way. Fed up with pollution, traffic gridlock, a packed population with soaring rents and creaking infrastructure, Egypt is teaming up with a developer in the United Arab Emirates to build a city in what could be one of the world's most ambitious infrastructure programs. The yet-to-be-named city will spread out over 150 square miles, or roughly the size of Denver, and could eventually be home to 7 million people, the developers and government announced Friday. The current capital of Cairo, while full of history and vibrant charm, is home to more than 18 million people, and living in and getting around the city can be maddening and frustrating. The government says the idea is to reduce congestion in Cairo, which is projected to double in population in the coming decades. An exact location was not announced, but the city is expected to be built east of Cairo. It will be closer to the Red Sea -- between two major highways -- the Suez and the Ain Sokhna roads. The ambitions are big. In addition to the new embassies and government buildings, it plans to have an international airport bigger than Heathrow, solar energy farms, 40,000 hotel rooms, nearly 2,000 schools and 18 hospitals -- all linked together by over 6,000 miles of new roads. But if the dream is big, the bill will be bigger. The total cost is estimated at U.S. $45 billion, Minister of Housing Mostafa Madbouly announced at an economic development conference in Sharm el-Sheikh. The unveiling of the new capital was paired with a glitzy website with renderings showing a lush and technological urban scape of glass towers and pools. The plan is backed by a group that describes itself as "a private real estate investment fund by global investors focused on investment and development partnerships" led by Emirati developer Mohamed Alabbar. Alabbar made his name as the founder of Dubai's Emaar Properties, primarily known for developing the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. Egypt is not the first country to plan on moving its capital from established big cities to rural greener pastures. Myanmar has only recently completed its move from crumbling Yangon to the new city of Naypyidaw. Nigeria moved to Abuja in the 1990's, and Brazil carved its capital Brasilia out of the wilderness over 50 years ago. And then there was another crazy idea of building a capital on a square of swampland that seemed mainly to be a boondoggle for wealthy land speculators at the time. That city? Washington, D.C.

Summary: The yet-to-be-named city will be roughly the size of Denver . Developers say it could eventually be home to 7 million people .


Washington (CNN)Updates on Scott Walker, Marco Rubio and John Kasich, an economic twist on the old adage "All politics is local," and an overseas vote where President Obama would love to see an anti-incumbent backlash -- those stories filled our Sunday trip around the "Inside Politics" table. The official White House line will be something like this: The Israeli people are making their choice, the United States admires their vibrant democracy and looks forward to a close friendship and strategic partnership with the next Israeli government no matter who wins. But it's no secret President Obama is no fan of Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Israeli prime minister's recent address to a joint meeting of the Congress exposed the rawness of the relationship. So as the votes are counted and the coalitions debated in the week ahead, the White House has both a personal and professional interest. NPR's Steve Inskeep took a firsthand look at the Israeli campaign in the final days and offered his take on the uncertainty. "Now, Israel's political system is so complicated that even if (Netanyahu's) party ends up not being the leading party, there are scenarios where he could end up in a governing coalition," said Inskeep. "But it's interesting to note that Isaac Herzog, the Labor Party leader, who's his biggest challenger, wants to change Israel's approach to the world -- has been talking about trying to end Israel's isolation in the world, which would suggest changing a lot of policies that have infuriated this White House or frustrated this White House over the last several years." Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush tend to be at the top of GOP presidential polls these days, and a good deal has been written of late about a growing rivalry. But Maggie Haberman of The New York Times took us inside some recent big-money conversations during which Walker took a more diplomatic approach when asked about his potential nomination rival. Walker was in New York City last week for fund-raising meet and greets, and he met with some hedge fund executives who were very impressed by him. New York Observer owner Jared Kushner was also on hand. "He was asked how he would beat Jeb Bush, and he surprised a bunch of people by saying Jeb Bush is the front-runner," said Haberman. "Now, that's contrary to a lot of other things he said publicly last week." "But that is his sell to people who could give him money, which is: 'No, no, (Bush) is the front-runner but I'm the slow and steady guy who's going to come up behind, just like when I ran track when I was younger.'" Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida at times appears to be the odd man out in the early GOP presidential rankings. Jeb Bush's aggressive entry into the race raised some questions about whether there would still be space for Rubio to tap Florida's deep fund-raising well. Then came the Scott Walker boomlet, and talk among some conservatives that the Wisconsin governor -- not Rubio -- might be

Summary: Scott Walker plays diplomat in big money conversations about Jeb Bush . Marco Rubio courts Mitt Romney and his former staffers . John Kasich gets support from some important N.H. Republicans .


(CNN)Sen. Rand Paul, who is expected to announce on April 7 that he will be running for the presidency, is garnering a great deal of attention as he travels around the country promoting his brand of libertarian conservatism. The Kentucky senator's widely publicized appearance this month at the South by Southwest festival at Austin, Texas, was one opportunity he used to appeal to a tech-savvy audience. His particular blend of ideas -- a combination of libertarianism and Republican conservatism -- stands out from the rest of the pack. Younger Republicans, the much-desired millennial vote, seem attracted by what they are hearing. What accounts for his appeal? In an era when so many Americans seem frustrated with shallow, personality-based politics, there seems to be genuine interest in a candidate who is fighting for a set of ideas. For many disaffected younger Republicans, Paul offers a version of the conservative agenda that seems foreign to the modern GOP. For almost half a century, "big government conservatism" has ruled the party. Although conservatism is theoretically about limited government, the historical reality has been much different. On national defense, the hawks of the GOP have been victorious. Even while railing against the dangers of a big federal government, Republicans have lined up to support higher defense spending and a massive military-industrial complex. Though the GOP has little tolerance for many social safety net programs, the party has accepted sizable government support to industry, such as the financial bailout known as TARP in 2008 and subsidies for certain economic interests. Paul has been a vocal critic of the neoconservative turn that the GOP has embraced in recent decades, during which the party moved beyond support for high national security spending and toward a bolder vision of aggressive nation-building and regime change. For some Republicans, including Paul, these policies were at the heart of the failures of George W. Bush's presidency and a sharp departure from the party's principles. Similarly, Paul has been one of the few Republican voices to argue that post 9/11 surveillance policies have dangerously curtailed civil liberties. At the local level, he has criticized the militarization of police forces and the treatment of African Americans by law enforcement officers. Paul has also backed away from some tenets of social conservatism that don't sit well with a growing number of Republican voters. He has been an outspoken advocate of giving states the right to legalize marijuana. He has been attuned to the ways in which younger generations of Republicans are not on board with the evangelical fervor of the 1970s conservative movement and want to move in a different direction. While many Republicans have talked about the need for their party to tackle issues involving race and inequality in ways that are different from Democrats, most have been unwilling to offer any substantive ideas. Indeed, the recent budget blueprint from congressional Republicans exposed how thin discussions of a Republican anti-poverty program are. Their budget centers around cuts to key social safety net programs such as Medicare and regressive supply side tax cuts. But Paul, who

Summary: Julian Zelizer: Rand Paul, due to announce for presidency, has attracted a lot of attention . He says the Kentucky senator can appeal to younger Republicans with a libertarian brand of conservatism .


(CNN)Deep within the Amazonian rainforest of Ecuador live the Huaorani. Photographer Trupal Pandya traveled about 30 hours by air, water and land to reach this native community and take their portraits. The Huaorani, which means "the people" or "human beings," are believed to have inhabited the rainforest for thousands of years. Until about the 1960s, they never had any contact with the outside world. Pandya said there is a contrast between the modernization of the younger generation, who travel to areas outside of their community, and the older generation, who make efforts to maintain their traditional ways of living. Diverse changes have taken place within the community: the introduction of radios within many Huaorani homes, the consumption of food from cities and the adoption of Westernized clothing. For Pandya, these changes were a significant factor in his decision to photograph the Huaorani. "The biggest (reason) was to just go out there and photograph the change before everything changes," Pandya said. "I think if I would have (photographed the Huaorani) 10 years back down the line or a little later than that, I don't think I would have got what I just got." Another aspect of modernization has to do with language. Many Huaorani, who for years have only communicated using a regional dialect, now speak the Ecuadorian native language of Spanish. Pandya speaks English, so he needed translators to interact effectively. But it is apparent from his experiences with the Huaorani that actions can certainly not only speak louder than words, but be more effectual than words when attempting to convey one's intentions. "I never started photographing when I (first) saw (the Huaorani)," he said. "I didn't even have my camera. I waited to let them get used to me around them. I gave myself time to get a little easier around them. Even if you cannot talk in the same language, I feel that you definitely connect to them as a human being." Social media . Follow @CNNPhotos on Twitter to join the conversation about photography. Prior to creating formal portraits using his professional camera equipment and lighting, Pandya took Polaroid photos of the Huaorani that they were then able to keep. "I think some of them saw the Polaroid for the first time, so they were really happy to see themselves like that," Pandya said. For his formal portraits, Pandya placed his subjects in front of a solid white background in order to portray the Huaorani in a very direct and concise manner, eliminating the presence of any distractions. "The main reason was to have the focus only on the people and their clothes and nothing else but them as an individual, them as a human being," he said. Pandya's decision to use a white background also proved effective in highlighting the coexistence between the Huaorani and the different kinds of animals they encounter daily in their natural environment. Creating portraits of the Huaorani has been a "fascinating, challenging" experience for Pandya, who is studying photography in New York at the Fashion Institute of Technology. After witnessing firsthand the simplicity

Summary: Photographer Trupal Pandya took portraits of the Huaorani people in Ecuador's rainforest . The community is beginning to modernize, but it still maintains its traditional ways of living .


Dhaka, Bangladesh (CNN)Bangladesh authorities say they have arrested the prime suspect in the murder of American blogger Avijit Roy who was hacked to death on a Dhaka street last week. The person, Farabi Shafiur Rahman, had called for Avijit Roy's death in numerous Facebook posts, according to Roy's parents. And within minutes after the Thursday attack, Rahman posted photos of the crime scene, said Col. Ziaul Ahsan of Bangladesh's elite anti-crime unit, the Rapid Action Battalion. In a Facebook comment last year, Rahman allegedly wrote, "Avijit Roy lives in America. So it's not possible to kill him now. But when he returns home, he will be killed then." In an earlier post, the same person wrote, "It's a Bengali Muslims holy duty to kill Avijit." Extremists resented Roy for openly and regularly criticizing religion in his blog. They threatened to kill him if he came home from the United States to visit. As usual, Roy defied the threats and departed his home in suburban Atlanta for Dhaka, where he appeared at a speaking engagement about his latest books -- one of them titled "The Virus of Faith." He has written seven books in all. Roy was killed Thursday as he walked back from a book fair with his wife. Assailants plunged machetes and knives into Roy and his wife, killing him and leaving her bloodied and missing a finger. Witnesses said no one came to the couple's aid as they were hacked down. Rahman, the man in custody, also allegedly posted threats against the owner of the online bookstore, Rokomari.com, forcing it to stop selling Roy's books. And last year, he was detained -- then released -- for comments he allegedly made in support of the death of another blogger, Ahmed Rajib Haider. Like Roy, Haider too was hacked to death. He too had written critically about religion on his blog. CNN's Ray Sanchez, Lonzo Cook, Greg Botelho, Farid Ahmed and John Couwels contributed to this report.

Summary: Police say the suspect posted photos of the crime scene . He also threatened Roy in social media posts, his family said .


Atlanta (CNN)Nearly 30 years after the first U.S. stealth bomber took flight, the Air Force's aging fleet is primed for a makeover; albeit an expensive one. The Pentagon is looking to upgrade its stealth aircraft for the first time since the 1970s, developing a high-priority, super-classified, next-generation bomber. The Air Force plans to award a contract to build and develop the Long Range Strike Bomber to one of the industry's most powerful firms later this year and hopes to integrate them into the fleet by the mid-2020s. Competing for the prize are Northrop Grumman, the developer of the Air Force's current bomber, the B-2, and a partnership between aeronautic juggernauts Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Before the House Armed Services Committee earlier this month, William LaPlante, assistant secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, suggested the Air Force will offer a "cost-plus" contract to the winning firm, meaning the government will take on the risk of any cost overrun. "My belief on the LRS-B (Long Range Strike Bomber) is it's going to be more traditional in the sense that we are doing a little bit more cutting edge" development, LaPlante said. The Air Force has said it plans to leverage existing technologies to help keep the LRS-B affordable. However The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, an independent, nonpartisan research group, warns "near-sighted, build-for-today acquisition strategies may render the issue of 'affordability' moot, as affordability must also be assessed in the context of a capability's mission effectiveness over its projected lifespan." Along with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the KC-46 tanker, the LRS-B is one of the Air Force's top modernization priorities, and some experts say its development will go far beyond simply upgrading an aging bomber fleet. Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. David Deptula told CNN this week that it is inaccurate to label the LRS-B as simply a "bomber" and that officials need to shed the "old think" way of categorizing airplanes into different mission areas. The new "Long Range Sensor Shooter," as Deptula calls it, will have the ability to create a self-forming, self-healing "combat cloud" capable of sharing information with other aircraft and conducting a diverse array of operation types. Pentagon officials have stressed the importance of developing the new long-range strike bomber calling it critical to national security and nuclear deterrence. It is "absolutely essential for keeping our deterrent edge," former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in January. "We need to do it. We need to make the investments. We'll have it in the budget." Deptula said the No. 1 reason to upgrade the long-range sensor force is to counter the constantly evolving threats around the world. "The Chinese, Iranians and Russians ... have built advanced anti-air systems and long-range fighters, to attack our bases and aircraft carriers," he said. Adm. William Gortney, commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, expressed similar security concerns to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Thursday, telling lawmakers Russia is continuing to work on its program to deploy "long-range conventionally armed cruise missiles," that can be launched from its bomber aircraft,

Summary: Pentagon to upgrade its stealth aircraft for first time since 1970s, developing a classified, next-generation bomber . Air Force plans to award contract to build Long Range Strike Bomber later this year . Air Force suggested it will offer a "cost-plus" contract, meaning government takes on risk of any cost overrun . Indications are that new bomber will carry conventional and nuclear weapons and could possibly operate with or without a pilot .


(CNN)The death of the founding father of Singapore last Monday is an appropriate occasion to reflect on nation building. As prime minister for its first three decades, Lee Kuan Yew raised a poor port from the bottom rungs of the third world to the first world in a single generation. As it prepares to mark its 50th anniversary as a nation, Singapore is today an ultra-modern metropolis of almost six million people with higher per capita GDP than the United States, according to the World Bank. Lee's achievement in building a successful nation contrasts sharply with the results of Washington's expenditure of over $4 trillion and nearly 7,000 American lives in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past decade. Some say Singapore's story is sui generis: Something that could only happen in that time and place. But its remarkable performance has less to do with miraculous conditions than with Lee's model of disciplined, visionary leadership. Leaders of other aspiring-to-develop nations, and even the U.S., should take pages from Lee Kuan Yew's playbook to address current challenges. We know many of Lee's lessons on the role of government leadership in development because my co-authors and I asked him directly two years ago to reflect on them -- points we captured in our book, Lee Kuan Yew: The Grand Master's Insights on China, the United States, and the World. Five stand out. First, Lee insisted that governance was first and foremost about results. In his words, "the acid test of any legal system is not the greatness or the grandeur of its ideal concepts, but whether, in fact, it is able to produce order and justice." About the core purposes of government, he was crystal clear. In terms America's founding fathers would recognize, he believed that "the ultimate test of the value of a political system is whether it helps that society establish conditions which improve the standard of living for the majority of its people, plus enabling the maximum of personal freedoms compatible with the freedoms of others in society." Second, superior performance requires superior leadership. Lee demanded of leaders both intellectual and moral superiority. Contrary to modern Western democratic theory that emphasizes citizens' participation in governance, his views were closer to Plato's conception of the "guardians," or China's historical Mandarins. Good government requires most of all leaders who put the public good unquestionably above their own personal interests. He was disappointed by many of his counterparts who failed that test. Third, successful societies guarantee strict equality of opportunity for all individuals, but are realistic about the fact that this will yield substantial inequalities in outcomes. For Lee, the essence of a successful society was intense competition on a level playing field that allows each individual to achieve his or her maximum. Few things offended him more than denial of equality of opportunity on the basis of caste (India), class (Europe), race (the U.S. during segregation), sex, or other irrelevant attributes. As he put it, the leader's objective was to "build up a society in which people will be rewarded not according to the

Summary: In Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew had remarkable success in creating a prosperous modern state . His lessons should prove instructive to other leaders in a time of great instability, writes Graham Allison . Lee passed on his insights on the role of government leadership in development to Allison .


(CNN)The white-haired woman's face beams as the camera gets closer to her face. She's sitting on a couch, with a University of Oklahoma shirt draped behind her and a rap song playing in the background. Suddenly, the words spew from her pink-painted lips: "Ni****, ni****, ni****, ni****, ni****, ni****, ni*****!" The release of the Vine video, featuring the house mother of the campus' Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter, couldn't come at a worse time -- just days after video surfaced of frat members singing a racist song. But Beauton Gilbow, the fraternity's house mother, insists she's not racist. And two black alumni of the fraternity house agree with the woman they call "Mom B." "I have been made aware that a video of me that is circulating on social media and in the news," Gilbow said in a statement. "I am heartbroken by the portrayal that I am in some way racist. I have friends of all race and do not tolerate any form of discrimination in my life. The song in the background was the sound of "All Gold Everything" from Trinidad James -- a black, Atlanta-based rapper. "I was singing along to a Trinidad song, but completely understand how the video must appear in the context of the events that occurred this week." William Bruce James II, the most recent black member at the fraternity chapter, said no one should use the n-word in any context -- even if it's just a song. "That word needs to die," James told CNN Tonight. "With that being said, I don't believe that Mom B. has hatred in her heart. I was there with her for four years. She took great care of me ... she cared about me, she cares about my family. She had pictures of me, my wife, my children on the entryway table in that house. Mom B means a lot to me." James said he has reached to Mom B. after the Oklahoma Daily newspaper posted the clip, which was shot in 2013. "I essentially said, 'Hey, don't ever use that word again, even in a song. But from me, you're forgiven.' " Black OU SAE alumnus: 'They are not my brothers' Jonathon Davis, the first African-American member of the campus' SAE chapter, also defended "Mom B." "I wouldn't even hesitate for a split second to say that Mom B. is undoubtedly not a racist," Davis said. "I see her as being caught up in the moment. She does like to mix it up socially, and she likes to have fun with the guys and their dates they bring over to the house. And I see this as maybe her getting caught away with the moment." OU's Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter unraveled this week after video showed frat brothers singing about excluding black students and alluding to lynching. "There will never be a ni**** SAE," some chanted. "You can hang him from a tree, but he can never sign with me. There will never be a ni**** SAE." Two students expelled over racist chant . After the fraternity chapter

Summary: Beauton Gilbow says she was singing along to a song but understands how the video must appear . 2 African-American alumni of the chapter say "Mom B" is not a racist . "I am heartbroken by the portrayal that I am in some way racist," house mom Gilbow says .


(CNN)The police may have found the missing dress. You know, the white custom Calvin Klein gown that adorned actress Lupita Nyong'o when she attended Sunday's Academy Awards. The one encrusted with 6,000 white Akoya pearls that Fortune estimated was worth $150,000. The dress that Nyong'o, who won a best supporting actress Oscar last year for "Twelve Years a Slave," reported stolen Wednesday from her room in the swanky London Hotel off Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Yes, that old thing. The L.A. Sheriff's Department got a tip Friday and looked in an abandoned bathroom on the second floor of the same London Hotel, the department said in a press release. The tip, they said, came from "a media representative" who got a call from an anonymous caller. The investigators went to the hotel and found a black garment bag underneath the bathroom counter. Inside the bag they found a white dress "resembling the one" worn by Nyong'o. Sounds like it would be hard to mistake the dress, but the sheriff's department is working with the dress owners to find out if it's the real thing. Calvin Klein also expressed guarded enthusiasm over the dress's potential return. "All of us at Calvin Klein are thrilled to know that the dress has potentially been located. This was an amazing collaboration between the brand and Lupita and the dress looked truly exquisite on her," Francisco Costa, Women's Creative Director of Calvin Klein Collection, said in a press release. "Once it's returned to us, we will be able to have the dress restored and archived, as it now represents an important moment for the brand." CNN's Deborah Doft and Vivian Kuo contributed to this report.

Summary: Actress Lupita Nyong'o said the dress she wore to the Sunday Oscars had been stolen . Los Angeles authorities got a tip and found a dress that looked like hers in a hotel bathroom .


(CNN)Two extremists who attacked a landmark museum in Tunisia, killing 23 people, got weapons training at camps in Libya, an official said Friday. The suspects were activated from sleeper cells in Tunisia, Security Minister Rafik Chelly said. He did not say which group activated them, or with whom they trained. "They left the country illegally last December for Libya, and they were able to train with weapons there," he told private broadcaster AlHiwar Ettounsi TV. Like Tunisia, Libya saw its longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi ousted during the regional wave of revolutions known as the Arab Spring. But unlike its neighbor to the west, Libya has been fraught with more instability and violence -- much of it perpetrated by Islamist militants, like those behind the 2012 Benghazi attack that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. Such violence has been rare in Tunisia, at least on the scale of what happened Wednesday at the Bardo Museum in Tunis. Still, it is not a total shock, given that up to 3,000 Tunisians have left to fight as jihadists in Iraq and Syria, according to the International Centre for the Study of Radicalization in London, not to mention others who have joined radical groups closer to home. Already, authorities have arrested nine people in connection with the attack, including four directly linked to it, according to a statement from Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi. And in an audio message posted online Thursday, ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, which it said targeted "crusaders and apostates" with "automatic weapons and hand grenades." CNN cannot independently verify the legitimacy of the audio statement. That bloodshed is "just the start," the ISIS message warned -- a threat that may or may not be hollow, but nonetheless adds extra urgency for Tunisian investigators. The nation's security forces are working to break up other cells like those behind the recent Bardo Museum attack. But that's not necessarily going to be fast or easy. "We know they can launch operations, but we must piece together clues in order to conduct an arrest," Chelly said. As investigators continued their work, Tunisians turned out Friday to mark the North African nation's independence from France. Those commemorations were more somber this year, but they were also in many ways more significant. "I'm here to celebrate 59 years of our independence," said Adib Adela, 38, a school inspector in Tunis. "The most important thing now is to properly investigate and to find those responsible." Tunisia has been shaken by the terrorist attack, though it was foreigners -- 19 of them tourists who'd been on two cruise ships that docked in Tunis -- who made up the vast majority of victims. Fifteen victims' bodies are at a morgue in the capital, a forensic official said. Some of them haven't been identified two days after the attack, according to the official, and all are foreigners. The fear is that many other tourists won't come back. Already, the parent companies of the two ships that had most of the victims, Costa Cruises and MSC Cruises, have

Summary: Two cruise ship companies cancel 2015 stops in Tunisia after the Bardo Museum attack . The museum attack suspects were activated from sleeper cells in Tunisia, security minister says . Tunisians gather to celebrate independence day .


(CNN)Back in 2010 Britain's politicians broke new ground. They were long used to haranguing each other in the UK's rowdy House of Commons -- but they'd never had American style pre-election head-to-head debates. It is necessary and long-established political fare in the U.S. -- but over here in the UK, it was novel. It seemed to go well -- political points were scored, and polls were commissioned looking for advantages gained or lost. It was a drama of sorts, even though no knock-out punches were landed. Prime Minister David Cameron and his Conservative party won the election, but not by enough to go into government alone. For the past five years he's been governing in coalition with the UK's third party, the Liberal Democrats. And their leader, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, has mostly backed Cameron in Parliamentary debates against the opposition Labour leader Ed Miliband. Britain's broadcasters, keen to channel lively politics onto prime time TV and boost ratings, have been working the corridors of power themselves over the past year to try to nail down a repeat -- or two -- of the 2010 knockabout. What's at stake isn't just the proposed debates ahead of May's general election -- but the enshrining of such debates permanently into Britain's political architecture -- just like in the U.S. But while Cameron and Miliband have hired former White House election advisers to edge them in to the lead, no one can agree on what form a debate should take, how many there should be, or even who should be invited. Cameron has insisted on just one debate involving the leaders of seven leading UK parties -- giving equal airtime to the Greens, the Scottish Nationalists and the upstart rightwing UK Independence Party (UKIP), among others. But Miliband's Labour party is holding out for at least one head-to-head debate with Cameron. No one seems to be budging but both of the UK's largest parties could use the bump in the polls such a debate might bring. Part of the problem is the British electorate, which has changed since 2010, boosting the fortunes of some of the country's former political outliers. The rightwing UKIP, which has pledged to take the UK out of the European Union, has made massive gains in the past year -- mostly at the expense of Cameron's Conservatives. In Scotland, the September independence referendum (which narrowly failed) so reinvigorated the Scottish National Party that they could hit what is usually a key Labour stronghold, undermining Miliband's bid for power. All of this has made the whole process of nailing down precisely who will be allowed in the debate that much more tortuous. For the big leaders who drive that conversation, it is about how each outlier can help them -- and hinder their rivals. It once looked like it would become as much of a British institution as rain, or fish and chips, but now the election debate seems in danger of not happening at all. On the upside, you can still tune in to House of Commons TV most days

Summary: Election TV debates only arrived in the UK in 2010 . Broadcasters are keen to repeat the head-to-head format in the run-up to the 2015 poll . But factional politics and arguments about who is invited may derail a TV debate .


Moscow (CNN)Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared in public Monday for the first time in about 10 days as he met with Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev in the Russian city of St. Petersburg. Putin isn't generally one to shy away from the limelight -- posing with a (tranquilized) tiger, riding a horse while shirtless, earning a karate black belt. So his unexplained absence fueled speculation about his health, grip on power and even his love life. Although the Kremlin and the Russian state media released photos and video footage of Putin last week, they did not quell the rumors about his whereabouts, because it was unclear when they were taken. So all eyes were turned to St. Petersburg on Monday for Putin's scheduled meeting with Atambayev of Kyrgyzstan. His appearance before the press, looking healthy and relaxed, should help put some of the rumors at least to rest. And he made light of his absence, saying: "It would be boring without gossip." In another sign Putin has a firm hand on the tiller, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said the President had ordered Russia's Northern Fleet to be placed on full combat alert from Monday morning for snap checks, Russia's state-run Tass news agency reported. The checks are intended to test the fleet's capacity to ensure Russia's military security in the Arctic, Tass said. Also on alert are Russia's Western Military District and certain airborne units, with some 38,000 military personnel involved in total. Here's what gave some doubters grist for the rumor mill: On Friday -- three days before the scheduled meeting -- a Russian state media broadcaster prematurely aired a report that Putin had a meeting with Atambayev -- although the event had not yet occurred. The station acknowledged the error, but it only heightened the speculation over Putin and his whereabouts. Social media has been swirling with questions, with hashtags such as #Putindead and #putinmissing. Was he ill? Was he holed away somewhere with his girlfriend and a new baby, as some in the European media speculated? There were even dark rumors of a palace coup in which various Kremlin factions vying for power might have ousted him. The Kremlin vigorously denied that anything was amiss, with Putin's spokesman saying the President was healthy and that his handshake "can break a hand." But his absence came at an uneasy time as the country deals with economic turmoil and strained international relations over the war in Ukraine. "Does Putin ever catch a cold? Does he ever get sick? The Kremlin doesn't want to allow Putin's image of virility and strength to become tarnished by the weaknesses of mere humans," CNN analyst Frida Ghitis wrote. "Putin rules in the old-fashioned style of a personality cult. The system requires propaganda and image control. It needs Putin to be larger than life." Last week, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov sought to allay questions, telling Russian radio station Echo of Moscow that people should not worry and that Putin was "absolutely" healthy. "No need to worry, everything is all right. He has working meetings all the time,

Summary: Official: Vladimir Putin has put Russia's Northern Fleet on alert to check its capacity . Putin makes light of his absence, saying, "It would be boring without gossip" The Russian President meets with President of Kyrgyzstan in St. Petersburg, Russia .


(CNN)Jordan Spieth has Rory McIlroy and the world No.1 spot firmly in his sights after winning the Valspar Championship on Sunday. Spieth won a three-way play-off with a 28-foot birdie on the third extra hole to become only the fourth player since 1940 to win twice on the PGA Tour before turning 22. It is a feat that not even McIlroy mastered with Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia and Robert Gamez the only players to have achieved that particular accolade in the past 75 years. But it is the Northern Irishman that is within Spieth's focus heading towards Augusta. "I like studying the game, being a historian of the game," Spieth told the PGA Tour website. "It's really cool to have my name go alongside those. "But right now currently what I'm really focused on is Rory McIlroy and the No.1 in the world. That's who everyone is trying to chase. "That's our ultimate goal to eventually be the best in the world and this is a great, great stepping stone. But going into the four majors of the year, to have closed one out in this kind of fashion is going to give me a lot of confidence." Spieth has long been heralded as the next big thing in golf -- shining in the amateur ranks with two U.S. junior titles and leading last year's Masters after the third round before eventually finishing tied for second, three shots behind Bubba Watson. On Sunday, he held his nerve at the Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, Florida, to hold on for the victory. He first rescued par on the 16th with a 60-foot bunker shot and needed a 32-foot putt to ensure his place in the playoff, which he duly holed. It was a putt of similar length that ensured a second Tour win to add to his John Deere Classic success in July 2013, which he also won courtesy of a playoff making him the youngest PGA Tour winner for 82 years at the time.

Summary: Jordan Spieth only the fourth player since 1940 to seal two PGA Tour wins under age of 22 . Golfing's newest star sets his sights on usurping Rory McIlroy as the world's No.1 . Confidence is high going into the Masters, in which he finished second a year ago .


(CNN)The odds seemed almost impossibly stacked against baby Lily, but she survived. Rescuers found the toddler Saturday, hanging upside down in her mother's car, which had flipped into a frigid Utah river a day before. If the wreck occurred when police believe it did, she may have been there for as many as 14 hours. Lily's mother, Lynn Jennifer Groesbeck, died in the crash. She was 25 years old. How did her 18-month-old survive? One of the biggest factors was the car seat. Lily was in the proper car seat for her age and the seat appears to have been properly attached. Even though the child was trapped and upside down, her body remained in the seat and above the frigid water. Doctors say that such low temperatures are dangerous, but would be even more so if the baby were wet. Dry cold temperatures are more survivable than wet cold temperatures. Ironically, the cold might have actually helped Lily survive, said Dr. Barbara Walsh, with the University of Massachusetts Medical School. "She's going to have a lower heart rate. She's going to have a lower metabolism. She's going to need less sugar," Walsh said. "It's almost like the body is sort of knowing that it needs to shut down to protect itself." A variety of other factors were also likely at play. "We don't know what time the child was last fed, when she drank. Given that it's wintertime and she was in her car seat, she was probably wearing mittens, a hat. We tend to over bundle our children, so the fact that she was dry, she probably had on multiple layers because it's winter, and there's always a chance that she had just been sort of fed right before this happened probably all played a role," Walsh said. A final factor may have been that the girl, as a toddler, has baby fat -- a little extra insulation. If she had been an infant, it might have been a different story. "It's amazing. Children are very resilient, and I think sometimes we don't realize how much they actually can withstand," said Walsh. CNN's Ben Brumfield and Nadia Kounang contributed to this report.

Summary: Lily's 25-year-old mother, Lynn Jennifer Groesbeck, died in the crash . "Children are very resilient ... sometimes we don't realize how much they actually can withstand," says doctor .


(CNN)For decades, no one has been able to convict millionaire Robert Durst. Not after his wife's disappearance. Not after his friend's suspicious death. Not even after he admitted he killed and dismembered his neighbor. But it may be Durst who does himself in with 11 words he muttered in a restroom: . "What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course." Those comments were picked up on a microphone he was wearing for the HBO documentary series about him called "The Jinx." Apparently, the real estate heir didn't turn his microphone off when he went to the bathroom. Durst now sits in a New Orleans jail after his arrest Saturday in connection with the 2000 death of his longtime friend Susan Berman in Los Angeles. On Monday, California prosecutors said Durst was "lying in wait" when he shot and killed Berman because she "was a witness to a crime." She had been shot in the head shortly before investigators were supposed to come ask her about the disappearance of Durst's first wife in 1982. Durst will be transferred to Los Angeles to face a first-degree murder charge. If convicted, he could face the death penalty. When he goes to trial, could those 11 words be admitted in court? Here, several legal experts weigh in: . Yes: . His lawyer could argue that he absolutely did. "Here's what his attorneys are going to say: They are going to say that he had an expectation of privacy," HLN legal analyst Joey Jackson said. "And as a result of that, putting this in context, he excused himself and went into a private bathroom." No: . That argument might not fly, CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said. "That whole theory of the Constitution is that you have an expectation of privacy under certain circumstances when you're dealing with the police. But here, he's dealing with filmmakers." Furthermore, Toobin said, Durst had a microphone on. "You can't have an expectation of privacy when you're wearing a microphone. Yeah, he maybe forgot, but that's not good enough." Yes: . The defense very well could, said Jackson, the HLN analyst. "The attorneys are going to further argue that there was governmental action in as much as HBO was working very closely with the authorities. And they're going to say, isn't it coincidental how his arrest comes on the heels of the final episode of this HBO documentary?" No: . CNN legal analyst Paul Callan doesn't think that defense will work. "In criminal law, the police can't wire somebody up. They have to give you Miranda warnings if they're going to take a statement from you," he said. "However, if a civilian is tape-recording you, as was the case here with HBO, that's admissible in court if it's relevant to the crime committed." Yes: . He could. Susan Criss was the judge during Durst's 2003 murder trial in which he admitted to shooting an elderly neighbor and then dismembering him. She remembers how prosecutors didn't use many of his admissions. "In our trial, he had been recorded on

Summary: Real estate heir Robert Durst has been investigated in two deaths and a disappearance . A microphone catches Durst saying he "killed them all" Legal experts debate whether that audio can be used against him in court .


(CNN)Hillary Clinton is back in the middle of an unfolding controversy. The revelation that as secretary of state she maintained a private email account, and that she had a private computer server in her New York home, sent shock waves through the world of politics last week. Questions arose about whether Clinton conducted her official business on private email, possibly violating regulations that were written to ensure that the activities of government officials remain accessible to the public. Republicans jumped on the story. "It makes you wonder," said Reince Preibus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee. "Did she use the private emails so she could conduct diplomacy and fund-raising at the same time?" Even many Democrats are worried about the implications of this recent story. Their front-runner, their "inevitable" nominee for 2016, now seems vulnerable. Many in Washington are anticipating that the scandal is only getting started. This is not the first time that Hillary Clinton has found herself in this situation. She has spent much of her political career battling scandals. When her husband, Bill Clinton, was president of the United States, she was one of the first targets of the earliest investigations into the administration -- "Travel-gate," "File-gate" and the Whitewater affair. She stood by her husband's side later in his presidency when House Republicans moved to impeach him for having lied about his sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern. Although Clinton enjoyed a bit of a break when serving in the Senate, the controversies resumed once she became secretary of state under President Obama. During her tenure, Republicans became consumed with multiple investigations into her role in the tragic Benghazi attacks. Although the investigations failed to find any evidence of wrongdoing, the issue became a rallying point for conservative activists and fund-raisers. Some Republicans now claim that the emails will provide the data that they have been looking for to prove what they were saying. But those observers who are predicting her demise should remember that Hillary Clinton has proven to be remarkably resilient over the years. Each time she or her family has been hit with a scandal, she has survived. She has proven to be an extraordinarily tough fighter who turns these challenges into opportunities to become stronger. As Kate McKinnon, playing Hillary Clinton on "Saturday Night Live" said, "Nice try. ... This is NOT how Hillary Clinton goes down." Based on her history, what can we expect from the Clinton scandal playbook? Attack the accuser and the investigative process: Nobody has done this better than Hillary Clinton. When her husband first confronted charges about his affair, Clinton famously went on television and spoke about a "right-wing conspiracy" that she claimed was driving the scandal. Although the revelation that the affair did occur brought her family great embarrassment, her charge became part of a larger counterattack from the administration that proved to be extremely effective. The Clintons zeroed in on the hyperpartisanship of some members of the GOP, such as House Speaker Newt Gingrich, claiming that the Republicans in Congress were on a

Summary: Zelizer: The former secretary of state has decades of experience in managing controversy . He says Clinton and her husband know how to turn controversy into a tool to energize Democrats .


Peshawar, Pakistan (CNN)A former lawyer for the doctor who helped the CIA look for Osama bin Laden has been shot dead in northwest Pakistan, police said. Unidentified gunmen attacked the lawyer, Samiullah Afridi, in his car near the city of Peshawar on Tuesday, said Mian Saeed, a police superintendent in Peshawar. Two different militant groups claimed responsibility for the killing. The lawyer had represented Dr. Shakeel Afridi, who was convicted of treason in 2012 by a Pakistani tribal court and is now serving a 23-year prison sentence. The two men are not related. The doctor helped the CIA set up a fake vaccination campaign in an attempt to collect DNA samples from relatives of Bin Laden in an effort to verify his presence in a compound in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad. The Qaeda leader was killed in a U.S. raid on the compound in May 2011. It was unclear which of the two groups claiming responsibility for the attack was actually behind it. Fahad Marwat, a spokesman for the militant group Jundallah, told CNN that Afridi was on the group's hit list. But Ehsanullah Ehsan, a spokesman for a faction of the Pakistani Taliban, said his group had carried out the assassination because Samiullah Afridi defended the doctor, whom he described as "a friend" of bin Laden's killers. CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen said Jundallah is "kind of a splinter group" of the Pakistani Taliban that's "been around for a long time." "They're extremely violent," he said. "They've been killing all sorts of religious minorities in Pakistan." Last month, the group claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing outside a Shiite mosque in the city of Rawalpindi. Bergen said Dr. Afridi is "a very unpopular figure in Pakistan" because of the perception that he was involved in helping find Bin Laden. "And his lawyer, by extension, would also be seen as an unpopular person because of that perception," he said. But Bergen said he didn't think the doctor played a key role in the hunt for Bin Laden. "The idea was the doctor and his staff would take DNA samples from the Bin Laden kids as part of this 'vaccination program,'" he said. "That never happened because the kids never came out." Although Dr. Afridi was working for U.S. intelligence, "the CIA wasn't telling the doctor, you're helping us find bin Laden," Bergen said. After the killing of bin Laden, health workers administering polio vaccinations have come to be viewed with suspicion by many Pakistanis. The vaccination teams have repeatedly been targeted by militants. The latest instance came Wednesday when unidentified attackers killed one polio vaccination worker and wounded another in Bajaur agency in northwestern Pakistan, local authorities said. Journalist Zahir Shah reported from Peshawar, and CNN's Jethro Mullen wrote from Hong Kong. CNN's Sophia Saifi and journalist Saleem Mehsud contributed to this report.

Summary: A second militant group claims responsibility for the killing . Samiullah Afridi had represented Dr. Shakeel Afridi, who was convicted of treason .


(CNN)A crowd of tens of thousands filled Yitzhak Rabin Square in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening, calling for a change in Israeli leadership amid growing discontent with the current administration. The rally, called "Israel Wants Change," was put on by One Million Hands, a grassroots movement that focuses its efforts on two major issues: a two-state solution and a reduction in the cost of living. On both of these topics, founder Dror Ben-Ami says, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has failed. "We think that the only way to go forward on that account is to change government and to get this current government out of office. To get Bibi out of office," says Ben-Ami. Organizers are not promoting any specific candidate or pushing voters toward any political party in the March 17 balloting. Instead, they are encouraging voters to change the current administration. Police estimated the crowd at 40,000 people. Headlining the rally was Meir Dagan, the former head of Mossad, Israel's spy agency, and a vocal critic of Netanyahu. In recent weeks, Dagan criticized Netanyahu's decision to speak before the U.S. Congress, and he continued his criticism at the rally, saying that he has never seen such stagnation in Israeli politics. Netanyahu still has broad support in Israel, and his Likud party is doing well in the polls. The Zionist Union is Likud's primary challenger. In the initial round of polling immediately following Netanyahu's speech before Congress, the Zionist Union was expected to win 24 seats in the Knesset while Likud was expected to win 23 seats. The poll comes from CNN affiliate Channel 2 Israel. Because of the nature of Israeli politics, Netanyahu's Likud party could lose the election while Netanyahu still becomes prime minister. In many ways, this rally was reminiscent of a similar social movement that began in the summer of 2011. Hundreds of thousands of protesters packed the streets of Tel Aviv, demanding improvements in the cost of housing, education, and health care. What started as a small social media campaign turned into a nationwide movement that spread to other major cities. This time, the issues are different. But the growing sense of discontent and the calls for change remain.

Summary: Group One Million Hands sponsors event in Tel Aviv . They want to see a new prime minister . Israeli elections come March 17 .


(CNN)Samuel Eto'o wanted to buy a watch. It was in London that he decided to purchase one particular model, one which cost $15,000. For a former Premier League footballer, a hero in his native Cameroon, and one of the most successful African footballers of all time, the prospect of buying a watch was hardly the most daring of ordeals. So after taking a glance at the watch and getting out his credit card, he says he asked the sales assistant for some help. "I asked the saleswoman -- who was also black like me -- 'Could you show me that watch please?' "First, I saw her turn and look at her coworkers like, 'Uh, what should I do?' "Eventually, she let me see the watch. I looked at it and said, 'OK, I'll buy it.' "I took out my credit card and when she went to go run it through the machine, she came back and said that it was declined. "I asked her, 'Was it declined or did you not want it to be accepted?' because this has happened to me many times and she told me, 'No, it was declined.'" Eto'o, who played in London with Chelsea last season, called his brother who was nearby and it was he who brought a new credit card so the transaction could be completed. While Eto'o does speak English, his brother has a far wider vocabulary and was able to ask just what had occurred moments earlier. "My brother can afford this and the way you're treating him shows that you think just because he's black, he can't afford this watch," said the sibling. Eto'o then takes up the story, saying the lady in the store said she was wary of him because "we had some Nigerians in the store the other day who came with fake credit cards." "If one of my own makes a mistake, they judge us all. Tomorrow, if a white man in Africa makes a mistake, we should judge all white people? No! "The security guard from Senegal kept trying to justify what the lady said and I asked him where he's from. When he told me, I said, 'Ahh. If I gave you my name, you will recognize who I am?' "He shrugged and I said, 'I'm Eto'o.' He went, 'Nooooo! Just yesterday, my wife and I were talking about you! Can I take a picture with you and send it to my wife?' "I said, 'Yes, we can take a picture, but you made a mistake because you can't judge people by the color of their skin,' so he told me it wasn't because of our color. "I told the lady, 'In my next interview, I'm going to tell them about this and I'll name the store so everyone can know that you treat people differently here,' added Eto'o referring to the saleswoman. "She then realized that I could have reported what she had just done, but it was a mistake. It was a mistake of her to categorize. "I don't think she's a racist person,

Summary: Samuel Eto'o determined to rid football of racism . He says award for fighting racism the "biggest" of his career . Eto'o says he does not expect problems at 2018 World Cup in Russia .


(CNN)It was an act of frustration perhaps more commonly associated with golf's fictional anti-hero Happy Gilmore than the world's reigning No 1. player. But when Rory McIlroy pulled his second shot on the eighth hole of the WGC Cadillac Championship into a lake Friday, he might as well have been channeling the much loved Adam Sandler character. Before continuing his round with a dropped ball, the four-time major winner launched the 3-iron used to play the offending shot into the water as well. "(It) felt good at the time," a rueful McIlroy later said of the incident in comments carried by the PGA Tour website. "I just let frustration get the better of me. It was heat of the moment, and I mean, if it had of been any other club I probably wouldn't have but I didn't need a 3‑iron for the rest of the round so I thought, why not." The club "must have went a good 60, 70 yards," he joked. McIlroy composed himself to finish with a second round of 70, leaving him one-under for the tournament and eight shots off the pace set by leader JB Holmes. While an improvement on last weeks performance at the Honda Classic event, where he failed to make the cut, the Northern Irishman's frustration with elements of his game was still clear. "I think every golfer feels it because I don't hit shots like the one I hit on 8 on the range," he said. "That's what really bothers me, the fact that I get out on the course and I hit shots that I'm not seeing when I'm in a more relaxed environment. "So it's a little bit of mental, a little bit of physical. It's just everything is not quite matching up." Elsewhere on the course, Ryan Holmes scored a two-under-par 71 to remain in second position overall, two shots behind Holmes. Former world No 1., Adam Scott carded an impressive 68 to finish the day three shots off the pace at six-under while Bubba Watson and Henrik Stenson are tied for fourth on four-under.

Summary: Rory McIlroy throws club into water at WGC Cadillac Championship . Northern Irishman frustrated after pulling shot into water hazard .


(CNN)A North Carolina man facing murder charges in the death of a "Food Network Star" contestant had human remains in his woodstove, authorities say. Robert Jason Owens is accused of killing former contestant Cristie Schoen Codd, 38, and her husband, Joseph Codd, 45. Cristie Codd was five months pregnant, according to CNN affiliate WHNS in Greenville, South Carolina. Owens was a contractor and had worked at the couple's home in Leicester, a community 15 miles west of Asheville, authorities said Friday. Relatives reported the Codds missing Sunday after they could not reach either of them. When authorities went to their home, some things looked out of place, which prompted an investigation, according to Buncombe County Sheriff Van Duncan. He did not elaborate on what was unusual, but authorities had said earlier that the couple's cars and dogs were at home. A day after they were reported missing, authorities received a call about suspicious activity around Owens' home in Candler. "They (caller) identified that someone had come out and very suspiciously had left things in a Dumpster," Duncan said. "We responded and were able to locate items that we knew belonged to Cristie Schoen Codd." When investigators did an initial interview with Owens, he confessed to taking items from the victims' home, authorities said. Duncan said they obtained a warrant to search Owens' home and found human remains. "Parts of those were recovered from a woodstove at that residence," Duncan said. Those remains, he said, are undergoing a forensic analysis to determine whether they belong to the Codds. In addition to the remains, Owens' wife told investigators that her husband confessed to killing Joseph Codd, according to the sheriff. Duncan declined to provide details on the motive or whether the suspect confessed to killing Cristie Schoen Codd as well. "From that point, there's not really a whole lot of detail we can get into," he said, citing an ongoing investigation. Owens faces various charges, including two counts of first-degree murder, murder of an unborn child and breaking and entering, according to WHNS. It said Owens allegedly broke into the couple's house and stole a laptop, gun and jewelry, citing investigators. It's unclear who his attorney is. Cristie Codd was a finalist on season eight of "Food Network Star," which airs on the Food Network.

Summary: Cristie and Joseph Codd were reported missing Sunday . The suspect had done odd jobs for the couple, authorities say .


(The Hollywood Reporter)It's official: AMC is moving forward with its "Walking Dead" companion series in a major way. The top-secret drama, which went through the pilot process with the title of Cobalt, will join the flagship series on the network as the cabler continues to focus on scripted fare. In addition to ordering the pilot to series, AMC has preemptively renewed the drama for a second season. The first season will consist of six hourlong episodes — just like the flagship series did. The drama will premiere on AMC in the "late summer," with season two set for 2016. Robert Kirkman, who created The Walking Dead comic series, co-wrote the pilot with Dave Erickson ("Sons of Anarchy"). Kirkman and Erickson exec produce alongside "Walking Dead's" Gale Anne Hurd and Dave Alpert. Erickson serves as showrunner, while Adam Davidson directed the pilot. "Walking Dead" VFX guru Greg Nicotero will also exec produce the series. While AMC has been tight-lipped on its premise, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that the series is a prequel that takes place in Los Angeles at the onset of the zombie outbreak. AMC on Monday confirmed that the companion series is set in Los Angeles but revealed nothing more beyond that it will focus on new characters and storylines. The drama is still untitled. Read more: AMC's 'Walking Dead' Prequel: All the Details (So Far) Cliff Curtis ("Gang Related") stars as Sean Cabrera, a teacher who shares a son with his ex-wife. "Sons of Anarchy's" Kim Dickens is set to co-star as Nancy, a guidance counselor who works at the school with Sean and is seeing him romantically. Frank Dillane ("Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince") co-stars as Nancy's son Nick, who has battled a drug problem; and Alycia Debnam Carey ("Into the Woods") is set as Nancy's ambitious daughter Ashley, who is the polar opposite of Nick and has dreams of leaving L.A. for Berkeley when the apocalypse strikes. See more: 'Walking Dead' Comes to Life: From Comics to the Small Screen . The "Walking Dead" companion — first announced in September 2013 — could give AMC a zombie drama in every quarter, given the six-episode freshman season's summer bow. The flagship, which resumes production in the summer, airs the first half of its season in October and the second half in February. The off-shoot series comes as "The Walking Dead" evolved to mega-hit status. The zombie drama, overseen by showrunner Scott M. Gimple, ranks as TV's No. 1 drama series among the advertiser-coveted adults 18-49 demographic. "We take incredibly seriously the notion of building a satisfying companion series to the No. 1 show on television. From the beginning of 'The Walking Dead' on AMC, we've been asked questions about what was going on in other parts of the zombie apocalypse, and what it looked like as the world really did 'turn.' Through this new series, we're going to find out," AMC president Charlie Collier said in making the announcement Monday. "Robert Kirkman, Dave Erickson and their writing team, along with an incomparable set of producers, cast and

Summary: A pilot is in the works for a 'The Walking Dead' spinoff . A second season has already been ordered for companion series .


(CNN)Serena Williams had a big decision to make earlier this year, and she wanted to run it by her parents. She was nervous. She wanted to see whether they would support her going back to Indian Wells, California, to play in a tournament she had skipped 13 times since winning in 2001. The last time she was there, she had been booed loudly and lustfully. The fans were upset and sensed some sort of conspiracy that she didn't have to face her talented older sister in the semifinals. Venus Williams had withdrawn 10 minutes before their match with a knee injury. Many fans didn't buy it and thought it was orchestrated to give the younger Williams a chance for extra rest. Two days later, during the championship match, Serena Williams, 19 at the time, was jeered when she did well and cheered when she fared poorly. Then days after the tournament, which she won, her father, Richard, told USA Today that as he and Venus walked down the stairs to their seats, people kept calling him the N-word and one man said: "I wish it was '75; we'd skin you alive." Neither Serena nor Venus has played in the tennis tournament since. That will end Friday when Serena Williams, the world No. 1, faces Monica Niculescu, the 68th-ranked player in a second-round match. The end of the boycott took a lot of conversations with a lot of people, Williams told reporters Thursday. Two of the most important were with her parents. "It was a really emotional time for me," she said, saying the prospect of the talks made her a little nervous. She told them she wouldn't go back if they didn't want her to go. But they both said to play. Her dad said it would be a big mistake not to come back, she said. Williams said her mother said, "I will be there for you." Venus Williams, the No. 11 singles player, isn't playing in the tournament, but Serena Williams said her older sister was 100% behind her. She is "very happy that I am here. And even encouraged me to come," Serena Williams said. Serena Williams announced her return to the event in a TIME magazine first-person piece in February, writing she would ended her boycott in the spirit of forgiveness. She said Thursday that she didn't just have to forgive the fans at Indian Wells. "In order to forgive, you have to be able to really let go of everything. I kind of let go a long time ago, and I kind of forgave, but I wasn't at point where I was ready to come back," she said. The timing seemed right this year, she said. She added that she will be a little nervous in her first match at the BNP Paribas Open. Still she was "looking forward actually to kind of stepping out on center court and letting the whole world know that it doesn't matter what you face -- whether it's something that wasn't right, something that hurt you, hurt your family. You can

Summary: In 2001, her father said the family was the subject of racial slurs . Neither Serena or Venus Williams has played in the tournament since . Serena Williams says playing shows the world you can be strong in the face of intolerance .