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(cnn) maria sharapova landed the toray pan pacific open title in tokyo on saturday as her final opponent jelena jankovic was forced to retire injured in the first set sharapova was winning her first title of 2009 after returning from injury unseeded russian sharapova was leading 5 2 when jankovic pulled out with a right wrist injury it is sharapova's first title since returning to the wta after being sidelined for 10 months after shoulder surgery serbian jankovic claimed the opening two games, but sharapova stormed back to claim the next five before the seventh seed signaled she could not continue 'it was a tough start today jelena started off so strong,' admitted tennis icon sharapova 'it was my second final of the year and i was a bit nervous 'but i played well enough this week to know i could give her a good match i just wanted to keep fighting out there and unfortunately jelena had to stop,' the 22 year old added sharapova has taken advantage of a series of shocks in the $2 million tournament which saw world number one dinara safina and venus williams exit in the first round venus williams was back in action in her opening round match at the china open in beijing on saturday, but was made to fight hard by russia's vera dushevina before coming through 6 2 7 6 the seven time grand slam winner trailed 4 0 in the second set before claiming the next five games dushevina hit back to force a tiebreak which williams claimed comfortably to reach the second round the tournament is being held in conjunction with an atp men's event with rafael nadal, novak djokovic and andy roddick in action when it gets underway on monday sunday will see top seed safina and second ranked serena williams in action in the women's tournament with sharapova granted a first round bye after her tokyo heroics | supertonic chymia covens | no related information |
(cnn) with 1 billion tourists in 2012, it's little wonder the last 12 months have drummed up some juicy fodder for aviation reporters london's olympic games were a success the expected tourism boon not so much 'dark tourism' (travel to sites of death, disaster or the macabre) became a phrase and various climatic events conspired to wreak havoc on travel plans across the world but which were the stories that really stood out to those who are involved in the industry every day? these are the top 10: 10 sas on its last legs 'a new comprehensive plan will pave the way for a new, strong and competitive sas,' read the statement from sas last month 'the plan needs to be fully implemented and new collective agreements must be signed in a very short space of time in order for sas to have access to necessary funding' one of europe's oldest airlines and one that still knows the meaning of passenger service is in dire straits sas faces aggressive competition from low cost carrier norwegian air shuttle, which has hundreds of aircraft on order from airbus and boeing the pioneer of polar flights, fully 40 percent of sas's workforce is to be chopped if the airline fails, and it's been on the brink before, this will continue the trend in europe toward consolidation that included the acquisition by british airways of struggling iberia not that this consolidation under the international airline group (iag) banner has gone well, either 9 iberia on the brink iag's iberia will lose 4,500 jobs in a cost cutting effort after losing €262 million (us$340 million) through september iag characterizes iberia in a 'fight for survival' nearly 25 percent of its aircraft will exit the fleet and pay might be cut by 35 percent there's a january 31, 2013, deadline for labor to reach an agreement with iag, which is negotiating to buy spain's vueling airlines, which is based in barcelona iberia cuts jobs in survival bid 8 a380 loved by passengers, but continues to be a profit drag on airbus the airbus a380, a technological marvel and by all accounts a passenger delight, continues to be a thorn in the profit and loss statements of airbus and parent eads discovery of wing rib bracket cracks in 2011 after the november 2010 high profile engine failure on qantas flight 32 required costly refits never a safety of flight issue and affecting only a handful of the thousands of brackets on the a380's wings, the retrofits and airline compensations cost airbus nearly €300 million (us$3948 million) airline schedules all over the globe were disrupted as fixes took aircraft out of service the ad wars that broke out between boeing and airbus in late november 747 8 versus the a380 only add another dimension to the long running rivalry how do you pick up an airbus a380? 7 boeing roars back with 737 max in 2011, airbus stunned boeing by announcing orders and commitments for about 1,500 re engined a320neos this year, boeing came roaring back, expecting to finish with firm orders for around 1,000 re engined 737 max aircraft boeing still trails market share, and the max will enter service two years later than the neo but any way you look at it, this was boeing's year boeing unveils futuristic 'swallowtail' wingtip for 737 max 6 airasia continues to become major force airasia and its ceo tony fernades are leading the low cost carrier revolution in asia taking a page from sir richard branson's book with the virgin brand, fernandes is leveraging the airasia name and logo to bring low cost travel to hundreds of millions of people fernandes likes to point out asia (excluding china) has a larger popular base than the united states or europe and that island and mountainous geography make flying the best (and sometimes the only) way to get around airasiax, the long haul, low cost operator, floated an initial public stock offering this year fernandes has major expansion plans in mind for this airline a word of caution: citi research in hong kong thinks airasia is expanding too rapidly, has too many aircraft on order and faces over capacity in malaysia from lionair airasia inks huge airbus deal 5 boeing dithers on 777x while boeing moved ahead with the 787 10, it dithered on enhanced revisions to the highly profitable 777 300er when jim albaugh was ceo of boeing commercial airplanes, he wanted authority to offer (ato) by the end of this year albaugh is gone, retiring unexpectedly ato for the 777x is put off for perhaps a year, say people familiar with boeing's current thinking the 777x is boeing's answer to the airbus a350, which promises to be far more economical than the 777 300er but boeing figures it has more time because 4 airbus delays a350 the composite a350 was already some 18 months behind schedule when airbus announced a new delay this year for its planned entry into service (eis) from mid to late 2014 many expect a further slip into 2015 first flight is still planned for mid 2013 in time for the paris air show in june? but technical issues at airbus' plant in broughton, wales, will delay assembly for the test aircraft needed for certification, thus delaying eis airbus' challenges with the program prompt questions over whether the smallest family member, the a350 800, will be canceled and whether the largest, the a350 1000, is sufficient airbus says the 800 won't and the 1000 is, but market doubts remain first look at the airbus a350 xwb 3 boeing launches 787 10 sort of the 787 program's problems have become legendary in the industry and boeing won't make money on it for years the ato of the third member of the family, the high capacity, 6,800 nautical mile range 787 10 is a key bright spot although official ato didn't come in october as expected, a 'soft' ato did and boeing is talking with potential customers a formal launch of this program is now said to be expected by mid 2013 this sub type should be a real winner for boeing and a profitable member of the 787 family 2b china expands aerospace role china's ambitions to become a major global aerospace player draws skepticism from many quarters the avic/comac arj21 regional jet is essentially a chinese copy of the old mcdonnell douglas dc 9 10 built in 1965 and it's yet to enter service and is already five years behind schedule many think the comac c919 will be similarly disappointing but the c919 has 380 orders and commitments (albeit entirely from chinese airlines and lessors) even though it's not expected to be up to airbus and boeing standards the government wants the c919 to take half the home market, about 2,000 aircraft over 20 years, and this comes out of airbus' and boeing's market share but this isn't all there are more than 20 chinese companies that want to play in the aircraft leasing field, though fewer than a dozen are active so far many are affiliated with chinese banks, which are becoming bigger players in financing aircraft anyone who thinks china won't be a major global player for aircraft, lessors and finance needs to think again it's just a matter of when, not if it might take a generation, or even two, but china will become a viable, global aerospace presence 2a china leads the way to block europe's emission trading scheme the european union announced plans to implement its emission trading scheme (ets) that requires airlines to buy and sell carbon credits airlines and several countries, led by china, objected to this unilateral action, saying it should be a global accord reached through the international civic aviation organization trade group china was the first to tell its airlines not to comply others followed but china uses aircraft orders from airbus and boeing as political leverage and refused to ratify an order for us$14 billion worth of airbus product this would cost jobs in november the eu blinked and put off implementing ets we'll see if airbus lands the stalled orders by year end nothing demonstrates the powerhouse clout china has on the global stage more than this 1 merger between eads and bae systems collapses barely in office after assuming the slot in mid 2012, eads ceo tom enders proposed a merger between eads and britain's bae systems word leaked prematurely in september and under british takeover law, a decision to move forward or not had to be made the next month the combination would have created a global defense behemoth rivaling the boeing co it would have positioned eads north america to bid more credibly on future us defense contracts it would have balanced eads' over reliance on subsidiary airbus for revenues and profits it would have diversified bae's sole reliance on defense, a shrinking market it would have, at long last, diminished the government ownership (and meddling) of france and germany in eads and airbus affairs fat chance the highly parochial french surprised everyone by going along but germany's government objected to losing sway over airbus jobs britain's government feared losing influence over bae, a stock company, but which is one of britain's major employers and a top defense contractor german opposition killed the deal, and with it enders' dreams of eads becoming a 'real' public company free of government influence bae, eads $45 billion deal collapses what was the biggest aviation story for you? let us know in the comments section below | sas iberia boeing airbus china eads bae systems | sas, iberia among airlines on the brink . boeing and airbus both suffer setbacks and delays . china expands its aerospace industry ambitions . highly anticipated eads and bae systems merger collapses |
(cnn) arsenal forward robin van persie has accused former teammate emmanuel adebayor of deliberately trying to injure him with a stamp during their english premier league defeat to manchester city robin van persie has accused emmanuel adebayor of trying to deliberately injure him adebayor, who left arsenal for city in july for a fee in the region of $40 million, seemed to lunge at the dutch international who sustained a cut on the side of his head which required treatment match referee mark clattenburg did not get a clear view of the incident in a match which city won 4 2 at eastlands and adebayor escaped punishment following the van persie incident, although he was booked for his goal celebration in front of the arsenal fans after he ran the full length of the pitch football association chief executive ian watmore has confirmed the governing body will take a 'good close look' at the two incidents involving adebayor who scored in the 80th minute but van persie directed his ire towards togo international adebayor, who spent three and a half years at the emirates stadium before his move to city, with a statement on the official arsenal web site do you think the fa should punish adebayor for his conduct? sound off below 'i am sad and disappointed by my former team mate emmanuel adebayor's mindless and malicious stamp on me,' van persie said 'he set out to hurt me and i feel lucky that i have not suffered a greater injury the contact was only centimeters from my eye we are both professional footballers and i know that the game is physical i, too, have made hard and sometimes mis timed challenges but never with the intention of hurting an opponent he set out to hurt me today 'i knew he was aiming for a collision because he changed the angle of his body to allow contact to be made he moved backwards when his natural momentum would have taken him forward i find that deeply disrespectful he has shown a real lack of class today, to me and the fans 'i do feel lucky that i have not received a greater injury the contact was only centimeters from my eye i have not received an apology from him, there were no words exchanged afterwards he had his own agenda today and that is bad for football it's bad for the game we all love 'i want to make it clear that this has nothing to do with the result of today's match we do not hide from that disappointment but i need to speak out about this behavior' adebayor later apologized for his goal celebration in front of the arsenal supporters as it later emerged that a match steward needed hospital treatment after being hit by a flying object in the wake of the reaction by the gunners fans city manager mark hughes called for the authorities not to come down too hard on the 25 year old togo international for the celebration 'we have to cut emmanuel a bit of slack he is an emotional guy and was caught up in the moment it was a fantastic goal and great finish,' hughes told the club's web site 'he has already apologized on camera and that is the right thing to do because obviously it can be provocative 'we just have to understand that he is an emotional guy and he wanted to share the moment with the fans in the corner with whom he has a special affinity it is the same area that the arsenal fans were in so there is the potential for people to see it as the wrong thing to do we recognize that and so does ade' | emmanuel adebayor arsenal robin van persie van persie adebayor man city's fa english premier league | emmanuel adebayor appears to stamp on arsenal forward robin van persie . van persie says that adebayor deliberately set out to injure him in the match . adebayor also celebrated his goal in man city's 4 2 win in front of arsenal fans . fa set to investigate adebayor's conduct in the english premier league clash |
london (cnn) british ministers had a special guest in their midst during their cabinet meeting tuesday: queen elizabeth ii it was a historic occasion because it is thought to mark the first time a monarch has attended such a session since queen victoria more than a century ago read more: diamond jubilee complete coverage the monarch, wearing blue, was greeted at the door of 10 downing street by prime minister david cameron the queen has not attended a cabinet meeting before now because her involvement in britain's political life is generally formal or ceremonial her role is clear: 'as head of state the queen has to remain strictly neutral with respect to political matters, unable to vote or stand for election,' according to the british monarchy's website her presence as an observer tuesday coincides with the end of the yearlong celebration marking her 60 years on the throne during that time, the united kingdom has had 12 prime ministers the session lasted 90 minutes, during which ministers presented her with a gift they personally paid for to mark her diamond jubilee the queen also visited the foreign and commonwealth office on tuesday, where she was paid a rather unusual tribute: the naming after her of 169,000 square miles of the antarctic foreign secretary william hague said the southern part of the british antarctic territory had been designated 'queen elizabeth land' in honor of her 60 year reign the previously unnamed territory is nearly twice the size of the united kingdom and about a third of the whole land mass of the british antarctic territory, hague said the queen's visit to the foreign office, only her second in the past six decades, is the final official engagement of her busy jubilee year | the british antarctic territory elizabeth ii cabinet 10 downing street | new: a large part of the british antarctic territory is named for queen elizabeth ii . she attends her first cabinet meeting at 10 downing street . as head of state, the queen has to remain strictly neutral . the visit is part of her diamond jubilee celebrations |
london, england (cnn) there is a mathematical reason why the french open is so different to any other of the grand slam tennis tournaments clay courts require a different type of game to grass and hard court surfaces the roland garros tournament is currently being contested, with rafael nadal looking for his fifth win in a row, and world number two roger federer searching for his first ever french open title • get the latest french open news what has brought problems to federer, and to other greats like pete sampras and boris becker who never won a french open, is the clay surface on which it is contested the maths of the clay surface are distinctly different to grass or hard court surfaces all officially recognized courts have a court pace rating (cpr), which rates the 'speed' of the court and clay courts are at the bottom the crushed brick mixture that constitutes the base of a clay court produces a the highest bounce and most friction of the three surfaces, meaning they have the lowest cpr of all three surface types and are considered as the 'slowest' grass courts are generally have the highest cpr numbers, and are the 'fastest' courts the cpr numbers give a hint as to whether a ball will bounce higher or lower on a specific surface, and how much friction there is to either slow the ball or allow it to skid on an example court pace rating for each surface may be 23 for a clay court, 35 for a hard court and 46 for a grass court • try our special interactive to see how tennis ball bounce on different surfaces » this number is calculated by considering both horizontal speed and vertical bounce of a tennis ball off a court the equation used is cpr = spr + 150 x (081 e) to make more sense of this, the international tennis federation, the game's law makers, have produced a chart which simply matches the coefficient of friction (friction) and coefficient of restitution (bounce) to produce a court pace rating but it's not just the bounce and speed of the ball off the clay surface that sets it apart from other courts, and makes the french open an elusive tournament for some players head of women's tennis at britain's lawn tennis association (lta), nigel sears, told cnn the slippery nature of the clay surface also set it apart from other types of court 'the main factor that makes it different is that it's a loose surface that allows players to slide on it' the loose surface and different clay characteristics meant the crushed brick surface required a different game plan, he said 'players are a lot further back on the clay surface if you look at nadal, his return of service points of contact are different to other surfaces on clay he can sit back' the slower pace and higher bounce also meant big servers like sampras were negated on clay and certain types of players were better suited to it, sears said 'clay magnifies spin so the slice is effective on clay and you can also produce a lot of top spin one of the problems federer has on clay is that he has a single handed backhand, and nadal can get so much spin so federer is trying to hit single handed shots up around his shoulder' the clay approach was slightly different in women's tennis, however, as some players tended to approach clay matches similar to hard court games, he said sears said endurance was also a crucial advantage on clay, particularly at roland garros 'you tend to have longer rallies on clay the french open is so physical with five set matches when somebody faces nadal to five sets no one can compete with him physically,' he said | clay cnn | clay, grass and hard tennis court surfaces all produce different bounces . the speed and bounce of certain courts can adversely affect a player's game . use the cnn interactive to see how the bounce differs on each surface |
(cnn) winter weather complicated travel for many americans on wednesday and left six dead in weather related accidents, and even forced one nba team to take the rare step of postponing a game due to the conditions six people, including two young children, have died in weather related incidents since tuesday a 1 year old and 2 year old child were killed in a car accident in arkansas, an official with the state's department of emergency said tommy jackson also said a man was killed in his home in saline county by a falling tree a 53 year old man in rayville, louisiana, was killed when a tree fell on his house, richland parish sheriff lee harrell said snow totals in parts of indiana ranged from 6 to 12 inches, cnn affiliate wrtv in indianapolis reported about 350 snowplows were clearing roads throughout the city 'it's pretty bad you get a lot of drifting out there that's what's killing us, mainly,' said plow driver david white the indiana pacers said their game against the chicago bulls was rescheduled due to severe weather in indianapolis no makeup date was announced new york gov andrew cuomo told residents they should avoid nonessential travel 'winter weather has arrived for many parts of the state, so as a precaution we have opened the emergency operation center to coordinate response efforts using all state and local resources,' cuomo said 'i also urge new yorkers to closely watch local news reports for weather updates and adjust their travel plans accordingly' new york state police said long sections of interstate 84 and the taconic state parkway were closed for several hours while crews cleared snow wind was causing major delays at airports, including philadelphia international airport at one point, it had delays of more than four hours, the longest setbacks in the country, the federal aviation administration said several other airports in the northeast experienced delays of more than two hours on wednesday cnn meteorologist alexandra steele said wind was the primary problem '(many of) the big cities aren't seeing snow accumulation, they're seeing very heavy rain with the wind, ' she said one gust in new york reached 31 mph, and gusts could become stronger as the night progressed, she said airlines cancel hundreds of flights drivers in pennsylvania were traversing ice and snow covered streets and highways in pittsburgh, which was seeing its first major snowfall of the season, travelers battled the elements one said a trip from her mother's house that normally could be done in 30 minutes took her three hours cnn affiliate wtae reported the speed limit of some sections of the pennsylvania turnpike were lowered to 45 mph and big rigs with empty trailers or two trailers weren't allowed on the road a cnn photojournalist who traveled from ohio to washington, dc, said one two mile stretch of the turnpike took 30 minutes to navigate as many people tried to get home, others were surveying the results of the storms that began in the midwest and surged east a white christmas is rare for little rock, arkansas, but a powerful winter storm took it to a new level: the 9 inches that fell broke a december 25 snowfall record that stood for 86 years in areas where the storm has passed, officials were assessing the damage more than 25 storm related injuries were reported in mississippi, the state's emergency management office said no fatalities were reported in addition to the injuries, about 70 homes were damaged, most in the southern portion of the state on tuesday, gov phil bryant declared a state of emergency for several battered mississippi counties, a declaration that helps get support to victims he said that at least eight counties reported damage and injuries arkansas gov mike beebe declared a statewide disaster 'our main priority is focused on recovery,' said john kilcullen, director of operations for emergency management in mobile, alabama officials at the national weather service gave a preliminary ef2 rating to a tornado that struck downtown mobile on christmas day other tornadoes one that went though parts of choctaw county, alabama, and ones than struck stone, lawrence and jones counties in mississippi also were ef2's, which have wind speeds (for three second bursts) between 111 and 135 miles per hour the weather service said an even stronger ef3 rated tornado struck pearl river county in mississippi cnn's devon sayers, chuck johnston, carma hassan, todd sperry, jeremy moorhead, mariano castillo, joe sutton, and david close contributed to this report | national weather service mobile northeast little rock | new: at least six dead from weather related incidents, including two children . new: national weather service says mobile tornado was an ef2 . airports, drivers see lengthy delays as snow, wind affect northeast . little rock digs out from a christmas record snowfall |
london, england (cnn) if manchester united and liverpool fans are expecting the arrival of superstar players ahead of the new season then they had better think again, as the cost of refinancing debt could significantly curb the club's spending power according to industry experts liverpool co owners george gillett and tom hicks took over the club in february 2007 financial prudence will be the watchword for the majority of the english premier league in the transfer market as clubs look to consolidate their financial position in a move that could see a shift of power in europe to spain's la liga united have received $130 million for the sale of cristiano ronaldo to real madrid, but the glazer family owners will not sanction anywhere near that amount for new players according to professor rogan taylor at the university of liverpool's football industry group the americans' takeover of the red devils placed the club in $1,100m of debt, according to the holding companies' accounts of 2009; a situation that requires careful management 'the refinancing at manchester united is structured in a very complex way but ultimately the economic difficulties now mean that there will be a reduction in alex ferguson's transfer budget,' he told cnn 'although some of the funds from the ronaldo transfer will go back into the club's coffers there will be a tightening of the purse strings which will seriously impact on united's capacity to go after the top players 'certainly, ferguson would have wanted a top class replacement for ronaldo but with the need to keep the debt in order and being unable to compete with real madrid and manchester city the funds available and the pool of players from which they can sign is a lot smaller' liverpool's situation is even more acute as american co owners george gillett and tom hicks, through their company kop holdings, struggle to secure the finances to fund the club's proposed new stadium a deal to refinance their $570m royal bank of scotland loan appears to have been secured, but the long term sustainability of the idea used to purchase liverpool is serious under question will liverpool and manchester united splash the cash in the transfer market despite the financial problems? who would you like to see them sign? let us know your comments in the 'sound off' box below professor taylor added: 'the whole model on which hicks and gillett bought liverpool is flawed and rafael benitez may have to sell javier mascherano or xabi alonso before he can go out and spend during the close season 'even then there is no certainty he will get the whole amount from the sale of either of those players back in the transfer kitty so it promises to be a difficult period for liverpool as obviously expectation has been raised following last season's second place finish 'the need to refinance the debt remains key to the american owners remaining in control of the club so that will be their priority at the expense of matters on the pitch' jon keen deputy chairman of the football supporters federation, and an expert in the field of club governance and ownership, admitted the situation at both clubs will stir up further resentment among fans towards their owners 'the current refinancing situation in the top flight is like a financial house cards which could come crashing down at any time,' he told cnn 'we have already seen a situation unravel with the banking system which has angered a lot of people and something similar could well happen with football in the near future 'ultimately fans want to see money raised from sales of players either put back into the transfer pot or levied against their own costs of attending matches, not simply servicing huge amounts of debt as is the case with manchester united and liverpool at the moment 'there needs to be a reality check about the way these clubs are operating certainly, i think the current economic climate will drastically reduce the spending power of clubs in the premier league with the exception perhaps of manchester city' of course, this contrasts with spain's real madrid who have recently splashed almost $300m on ronaldo, kaka and karim benzema and are not finished yet if president florentino perez is to be believed the construction magnate and his powerful board are able to wield influence with banks and allow real to secure credit on favorable terms which, combined with a lucrative domestic television rights deal, puts them in a stronger financial position ultimately this appears to have precipitated a shift away from the english premier league to la liga for the world's best players as spain becomes the preferred destination of choice whether real can convert this into a challenge to the recent english domination of the uefa champions league on the pitch remains to be seen | manchester united liverpool premier league real madrid $300 million ronaldo kaka benezma spanish english europe | refinancing has left manchester united and liverpool short of transfer funds . an new era of premier league prudence reigns according to finance experts . real madrid have spent $300 million on ronaldo, kaka and benezma . spanish clubs present serious challenge to english domination in europe |
(cnn) jim nicholson could've just handed over the cash instead, he gave the would be robber a run for his money and paid for it the 30 year old bank teller said the suspect, dressed in black and wearing sunglasses, walked up to his counter at the key bank branch in suburban seattle, washington, demanding he fill the man's bag with cash 'so i grab the bag i threw it on the floor,' nicholson told cnn radio he said he demanded the robber show him a weapon when he realized there was none, nicholson said, he lunged at the robber, chased him down the street, pinned him down and waited for the police that was tuesday of last week he lost his job thursday why? 'policy violation,' nicholson said 'basically, we are supposed to comply with any robber that would come in we're supposed to just give him the money and let him go and obviously i did not do that' key bank spokeswoman anne foster declined to comment on the incident, saying it's under investigation, and nicholson's termination, saying it's a personnel matter 'what i can say is key's highest priority is to protect the safety of our employees and our clients,' she said 'our policies and procedures are in the best interest of public safety and they're consistent with industry standards' 'money, after all, is insurable and it's replaceable,' she added 'lives are not' nicholson said he knew about the company's robbery policy before the incident, but said he acted on instinct he found his dismissal a bit harsh, but said he doesn't plan to challenge it 'i think that they probably wanted to set an example,' he said 'i don't think they want other tellers to do the same thing' | jim nicholson 30 year old nicholson key bank seattle washington | jim nicholson, 30 year old bank teller said suspect demanded cash . nicholson demanded robber show him a weapon, then chased him down the street . pinned him down and waited for the police . key bank branch in suburban seattle, washington, later fired him |
(cnn) five time defending champion roger federer is bidding to match the record of a controversial tennis legend who dominated the sport in the 1920s but died in disgrace tilden dominated tennis in the 1920s with his own trademark style american bill tilden achieved fame and fortune through his tennis exploits and befriended hollwyood stars such as charle chaplin, but he spent over a year in jail in the 1940s on a morals charge, which ruined his reputation before his untimely death in 1953 tilden won his six straight us open titles from 1920 1925 a record since the tournament abolished the challenge system where the champion automatically qualified for the final in 1911 under that system, richard sears won the first seven editions of the us open (then the us national tennis championships) in the 1880s tilden, who claimed his seventh us open title in 1929 as well as being twice a losing finalist, goes down in the history books as one of the greatest tennis players of all time a relatively late starter, tilden struggled to get into his college tennis team in pennsylvania, but years of dedicated practice started to bear fruit after the first world war as he reached the us open finals of 1918 and 1919 he reached his peak in the 1920s, winning his first us open title and holding the world number one spot for seven straight years tilden also led the united states to a record seven straight davis cup titles as well as claiming three wimbledon titles his famed 'cannonball' services worked particularly well on the fast grass surfaces on which the us open and wimbledon were staged tilden never won the french open being losing finalist in the last year it was held on grass courts, in 1927, and 1930 on clay he won the last of his 10 grand slam titles at wimbledon in 1930 before deserting the amateur ranks for the fledging professional circuit eventually joined by the likes of ellsworth vines, fred perry and don budge, tilden remained a star attraction until well into his 40s, filling arenas such as madison square garden in big money matches but off the court, tilden was a controversial figure, battling with tennis officials as his amateur status was called into question and being accused of being arrogant and inconsiderate tilden, who never married, saw his reputation destroyed in the 1940s when he was found guilty of a morals charge in connection with a minor he served seven and a half months of a year jail term but was arrested again in 1949 after picking up a 16 year old male hitchhiker tilden served a further 10 months for his probation violation and was shunned by the tennis community his friendship with hollywood stars such as chaplin and a love of the theatrical world saw tilden pour much of his riches into less than successful broadway productions he died a tragic figure in 1953, having a stroke in los angeles as he prepared for a trip to play in the us pro championships despite his 60 years of age tilden was inducted into the international tennis hall of fame in 1959 and in any polls of all time great tennis players always features in the top order federer, who won a record 15th grand slam title at wimbledon, is top seed at flushing meadows, the venue since 1978 | roger federer us bill tilden tilden american | roger federer seeking to match the six straight us open wins of bill tilden . tilden dominated tennis in the 1920s, winning 10 grand slam titles . the american legend served two prison sentences on morals charges in the 1940s . tilden was shunned by the tennis comminty and died at the age of 60 |
(cnn) italian champions inter milan have handed a new three year contract to veteran defender marco materazzi marco materazzi now seems set to end his playing career with inter milan the 35 year old world cup winner's existing deal had been due to run out at the end of next summer, but he is now set to stay at the san siro until 2012 a statement on the inter web site read: ''fc internazionale and marco materazzi announce the agreement for an extension which will bind the player to the club until 30 june 2012'' the center back has made almost 250 appearances for the nerazzurri since joining inter in 2001, winning four serie a titles however, last season he was restricted to just 15 outings under new manager jose mourinho 'i'll be inter for life,' he wrote on his official web site, goalcom reported on thursday 'and it's not just a figure of speech i could not have been more satisfied before leaving for my holidays i have extended my contract with inter until 2012, hence until the end of my career 'that's what i have always desired, since i am an inter fan as much as i am one of their players 'i will quit football wearing this shirt, and now i only want to try and win as much as we can both in italy and in europe we'll see each other on july 10 for the start of the new season i will be fired up' materazzi is still best known for his antics in the 2006 world cup final, when his comments to zinedine zidane led to the france playmaker being sent off for a vicious headbutt in his farewell international which ended with the italians being crowned world champions meanwhile, inter have also completed the signing of genoa midfielder thiago motta on a four year contract the 26 year old, who resurrected his career last season after moving from barcelona, has finalized a deal that was agreed earlier in the summer and also saw argentine striker diego milito move to the san siro on tuesday inter confirmed that midfielder francesco bolzoni, defender leonardo bonucci and striker riccardo meggiorini will join the grifoni on a permanent basis in an overall package including the five players worth a reported $42 million | marco materazzi three year italian 35 year old inter milan the summer of 2012 year inter brazilian thiago motta genoa | marco materazzi handed new three year contract by italian champions . the 35 year old defender now tied to inter milan until the summer of 2012 . the center back's existing deal was due to expire in a year's time . inter complete signing of brazilian midfielder thiago motta from genoa |
los angeles (cnn) a homeless man included in a mock video produced by a friend of justin timberlake's for the actor singer's wedding celebration wants timberlake to visit him on skid row lawyer gloria allred, known for representing clients with high profile complaints, held a news conference on skid row in downtown los angeles monday to publicize the demands of the man, identified only as eddie 'i just want justin timberlake to come and talk to me about the things he can do to help us people that's down and out and that's lost things in our lives and not back on track,' said 'eddie,' who appeared at the news conference with allred allred also challenged timberlake and his friends to 'take action to provide meaningful assistance to eddie and others like him' 'this issue is not just about fans being upset or anyone being offended by a video,' allred said 'it is about people being down on their luck and in desperate need of help by those who are in a position to provide it mr timberlake, you, and your friends and others are in a position to provide that help' mr and mrs timberlake help bring sandy relief the short video titled 'greetings from your hollywood friends who just couldn't make it' was not shown at the wedding of timberlake an jessica biel, which took place in italy in october but allred said it was produced for a related event eddie was one of several people who live on the streets of los angeles who are seen wishing the celebrity couple well in their marriage 'jessica and justin, i haven't seen y'all in a long time my gift is in the mail,' eddie said in his clip while he was paid $40 to appear on the video, eddie said he had no idea it would make fun of him or his friends 'we're human beings and we need to be noticed and appreciated, just like other people,' he told reporters 'not just to take a video of a person and put it in a rich wedding and everybody laugh about it, or whatever, like it was a joke on the homeless people' timberlake posted a letter on his website apologizing for the 'silly, unsavory' video, which he said was produced by a 'knucklehead' friend without his cooperation or knowledge 'i don't live my life making fun of people (unless, of course, i'm making fun of myself on snl) especially, those who are less fortunate or those in need,' timberlake wrote 'i grew up with a family and community that instilled ideals in me like hard work, honesty and empathy' while timberlake said he had no involvement in making it, 'by association, i am holding myself accountable' eddie, who has lived on the streets for 'six or seven years,' said he was hoping for a job as a clerk, custodian, caretaker or construction worker 'once upon a time, i did have a job and was living good, and my mother passed and a lot of things hurt me within myself and by me not having a job, i kind of fell short of money,' he said 'and you know, if you don't have any finances, you don't have nothing to pay rent or anything like that you become on the street' next friday is his 58th birthday, but he'll spend it on the street, just like this christmas, he said his only family members are two daughters who live in another state, he said timberlake's representative did not immediately respond to cnn's request for comment on eddie's call for help cnn's jack hannah contributed to this report | justin timberlake gloria allred timberlake eddie | 'i just want justin timberlake to come and talk to me,' homeless man tells reporters . lawyer gloria allred challenges timberlake to help eddie and other homeless get jobs . timberlake apologized for the 'silly, unsavory' video, which a 'knucklehead' friend made . 'i don't live my life making fun of people,' timberlake says |
copenhagen, denmark (cnn) thousands of protesters took to the streets and hundreds were detained saturday in copenhagen as they demanded a climate change agreement that would curb greenhouse gas emissions and aid developing countries harmed by pollution they marched to the bella center in the danish capital, where the global climate change summit is being held more than 900 protesters were detained, police told cnn, but nearly all were released only five were charged and will go to court sunday, police said countries are expected to end negotiations in copenhagen on an ambitious new climate deal by next friday, the end of the two week summit environment ministers came to copenhagen this weekend for talks, and world leaders are to arrive late next week considerable progress has been made in areas including technology, adaptation and the prevention of deforestation, yvo de boer, executive secretary of the un framework convention on climate change, told reporters on friday 'it is now also time to begin to focus on the big picture' de boer hailed the european union announcement to provide 72 billion euros, or $106 billion, over the next three years to help developing countries take action on climate change eu climate pledge: full story all 27 eu member states will pledge money in what is regarded as a major effort to reach a climate change deal that deal was struck on the second day of a eu summit in brussels, belgium, and leaders plan to make the money available in a 'fast start' fund for poor nations dealing with rising sea levels, deforestation and other problems related to climate change cnn's carol jordan contributed to this report | bella center danish friday | thousands march to bella center in danish capital, where global climate change summit being held . around 900 people were detained in the throng, which was demanding 'climate justice'. countries expected to end negotiations friday on an ambitious new climate deal |
(cnn) officials rescued a 19 year old new york university student who was stuck between two buildings near his dorm in lower manhattan sunday night, new york police said the new york fire department received the emergency call around 5:07 pm and found the man stuck in a space about six to 12 inches wide, according to firefighter michael madison it took about 90 minutes to break through three layers of cinder block and pull the man out from the tight space, he said after being rescued, the man was transported to bellevue hospital center and is in serious condition, madison said authorities do not know how the man became trapped he was was conscious as officials removed him from the space between the two residential buildings at 80 lafayette street, according to police det kellyann ort this type of emergency situation is uncommon, and officials are still investigating how the man managed to get stuck, madison said | datively evicke boodle | no related information |
(cnn) a deadly shooting at a checkpoint at los angeles international airport emphasizes airport security vulnerabilities, according to analysts and a union chief a gunman opened fire on friday at a transportation security administration checkpoint at lax, killing a tsa officer the suspect was eventually shot and taken into custody, police said the slain officer was the first tsa employee killed in the line of duty, according to j david cox sr, president of the american federation of government employees, a union that represents many tsa workers the tsa's checkpoint officers are not law enforcement and are not armed while friday's tragedy was a first, 'assaults of officers occur on a daily basis,' said cox, in a telephone conference call asked what could be done to improve security at the airport, cox said he would like 'our officers to be able to make arrests that would be a big improvement if they had arrest power' instead, they have to turn to local law enforcement when assaulted even with the most highly trained tsa officers, some incidents can't be prevented, said richard bloom, director of terrorism, intelligence and security studies at embry riddle aeronautical university if security officials choose to focus on terrorism in a post 9/11 world, 'other threats to security may not be attended to as much as they should be,' he said bloom suggested that training and better pay would go a long way in developing more sophisticated security 'are they paid as much as they should be, trained appropriately and recognized and rewarded for doing a good job?' he asked 'do you want a highly paid security and intelligence officer or a rent a cop?' american airports are not prepared for violence on the ground, said rafi ron, president of virginia based new age security solutions most of the measures taken since 9/11 are aimed at protecting aircraft from attack 'in the united states, we don't have vehicle checkpoints and we don't have people watching who comes into the terminals and the presence of armed personnel is very, very thin,' said ron, a former head of security of ben gurion airport near tel aviv, israel vehicles driving into ben gurion airport must clear a vehicle checkpoint, and there are security personnel at all terminal entrances, he said 'it would be almost impossible to walk into the terminal with a gun if he started shooting, he would probably be dead in a matter of seconds because of the heavy presence of security personnel' the gunman on friday approached a checkpoint at terminal 3 at 9:20 am and began shooting at the tsa employee, according to an ex lapd officer who happened to be at the scene the shooting was not the first at the airport in 2002, an egyptian national killed two people and wounded four others at the ticket counter of israel's el al airlines before a security guard shot and killed him despite these violent incidents, unauthorized guns at the airport are often discovered in passenger carry on bags as they pass through checkpoints the tsa screens about 18 million passengers every day the total number of guns seized by the tsa at airports around the country has been on the rise since 2007 the agency seized 1,556 guns in 2012, nearly double the 803 guns confiscated in 2007, according to agency figures in 2013, the agency seized 1,343 guns through the end of september, 13 of which were confiscated at lax the los angeles airport is the sixth busiest in the world based on total passengers (637 million in 2012), according to airports council international | tsa 2012 2007 friday los angeles international airport daily | tsa seized 1,556 guns in 2012, nearly double the amount in 2007 . gunman opens fire friday at los angeles international airport . tsa screens about 18 million passengers and their luggage daily for prohibited items |
london (cnn) a roman sculpture of an eagle with a writhing serpent firmly gripped in its hooked beak was unveiled wednesday in london, where archaeologists found it on a site earmarked for a hotel development archaeologists in london say the statue is one of the very best examples surviving from roman britain 'the skill of the craftsman is apparent; with the forked tongue of the snake and the individual feathers of the eagle still clearly discernible,' a news release from museum of london archaeology said the archaeologists were 'at first hesitant to announce the discovery and to proclaim its roman origins, owing to its almost unbelievable preservation,' it said but the limestone statue, which stands nearly 26 inches tall, has now been dated by experts to the first or second century it was dug up at a site in the city of london, the uk capital's financial center, which is known once to have been home to a roman cemetery according to the museum, the symbolism of the statue can be understood 'as the struggle of good, the eagle, against evil, the snake,' a common theme in relation to funeral sites archaeologists believe the sculpture may once have sat in an alcove on a fancy mausoleum whose foundations were also uncovered in the dig the statue will be on display at the museum of london for the next six months a number of discoveries highlighting london's roman past have been made in recent months in connection with major construction projects they include about 20 roman era skulls found beneath london's liverpool street station by workers digging a new rail tunnel read more: london dig turns up slice of roman life read more: rail excavation unearths suspected 'plague pit' | the city of london first | archaeologists says the statue is in an 'almost unbelievable' state of preservation . the sculpture of an eagle grasping a snake was found in a dig in the city of london . the limestone statue may once have graced a mausoleum, archaeologists say . it's been dated by experts to the first or second century |
(cnn student news) november 7, 2013 as cnn student news reports on some election results from tuesday, we examine what one governor's statewide electability might indicate about a potential white house run we also discuss a us supreme court case concerning government and religion plus, we cover stories about recovered art in germany and reflected sunlight in norway on this page you will find today's show transcript, the daily curriculum, maps pertaining to today's show, and a place for you to leave feedback transcript click here to access the transcript of today's cnn student news program please note that there may be a delay between the time when the video is available and when the transcript is published daily curriculum click here for a printable version of the daily curriculum (pdf) media literacy question of the day: if you were producing a news story involving individuals who were hesitant to comment to the media, where would you go for information? how could you verify that the information you found was correct? key concepts: identify or explain these subjects you heard about in today's show: 1 electability 2 first amendment to the constitution 3 masterpiece fast facts: how well were you listening to today's program? 1 what were the results of yesterday's elections in new york city, virginia and new jersey? 2 what portion of the year is rjukan, norway in the shade? why? how did the town recently address this issue? 3 what new details have emerged about alleged player misconduct involving some members of the miami dolphins football team? what did people in the report say about these allegations? discussion questions: 1 can local or state elections be considered good predictors for future national elections? why or why not? in your view, what qualities are most important in a candidate for public office? 2 how do you interpret the first amendment as it pertains to religion? what do you think might be some different perspectives on having a prayer before a public meeting? 3 what are some possible outcomes for recovered artwork that was lost or stolen during world war ii? in your view, what should happen to this art? cnn student news is created by a team of journalists and educators who consider the common core state standards, national standards in different subject areas, and state standards when producing the show and curriculum we hope you use our free daily materials along with the program, and we welcome your feedback on them maps download pdf maps related to today's show: north america new york city; virginia; new jersey europe munich, germany; norway feedback we're looking for your feedback about cnn student news please use this page to leave us comments about today's program, including what you think about our stories and our resources also, feel free to tell us how you use them in your classroom the educators on our staff will monitor this page and may respond to your comments as well thank you for using cnn student news! click here to submit your roll call request | the daily curriculum the day key concepts | this page includes the show transcript, the daily curriculum, and maps . use the transcript to help students with reading comprehension and vocabulary . the daily curriculum offers the media literacy question of the day, key concepts, fast facts and discussion questions . at the bottom of the page, please share your feedback about our show and curriculum |
washington (cnn) the environmental protection agency advised employees last month not to answer questions from journalists, the government accountability office or the agency's inspector general, according to an epa e mail made public monday california sen barbara boxer has said the epa is becoming a 'secretive, dangerous ally of polluters' 'please do not respond to questions or make any statements,' the june 16 e mail said, advising staff to direct questioners to senior staff members cleared to answer questions from outside the agency robbi farrell, chief of staff of the epa's compliance assurance division, sent the e mail to 11 managers in the department the e mail was posted on a web site of the public employees for environmental responsibility the group, an alliance of state and federal environmental professionals, labeled the communication a 'gag order' 'the order reinforces a growing bunker mentality within an epa that is the subject of a growing number of probes into political interference with agency operations,' the group said epa press director roxanne smith rejected that characterization, saying the e mail was about efficiency, not secrecy the memo was a response to a may 2007 audit by the inspector general's office that found the epa did not respond earlier to ig reports on problems with water enforcement and other issues, the associated press reported the audit, however, did not make any recommendations governing communication between staff and the inspector general's office 'a senior staffer in the enforcement office sent out an e mail to simply help her office efficiently respond to requests from the press, gao and epa's inspector general,' smith told cnn 'there is nothing in the procedure that restricts conversation between enforcement staff, the press, gao and the ig,' she said, adding it is 'consistent with existing agency polices' smith is one of the people to whom recipients of the memo were told to direct journalists' questions in a written statement, the epa's office of inspector general said it did not approve the language of robbi's warning and advised, 'all epa officials and employees are required to cooperate' with the office 'this cooperation includes providing the oig full and unrestricted access to epa documents, records, and personnel,' the statement read 'we are currently engaged in discussions with oeca [office of enforcement and compliance assurance] to assure that oig and oeca interpretations are consistent in this matter' and sen barbara boxer, a california democrat who has long battled with the agency's administrator, stephen johnson, said the instructions showed that johnson is 'turning the epa into a secretive, dangerous ally of polluters, instead of a leader in the effort to protect the health and safety of the american people' last week, johnson denied a request to appear before two senate committees to talk about whether the epa's decisions comply with its staff's legal and technical recommendations the committee's chairman, sen patrick leahy, d vermont, has asked the inspector general's office to assess the administration's claims of executive privilege as it tries to keep documents related to epa decisions from congress boxer chairs the senate committee on the environment and public works she is expected to hold a news conference tuesday to talk about what she calls 'political interference in recent epa decisions' and discuss 'apparent contradictions between the sworn testimony' of johnson and accounts given by other sworn witnesses | honeysuckles coeline charade | no related information |
editor's note: paul begala, a democratic strategist and cnn political contributor, was a political consultant for bill clinton's presidential campaign in 1992 and was counselor to clinton in the white house begala is not a paid political consultant for any politicians or candidates click here for a rival view paul begala says mccain's vp choice, alaska gov sarah palin, is completely unqualified to be president (cnn) john mccain needs what kinky friedman calls 'a checkup from the neck up' in choosing alaska gov sarah palin to be his running mate, he is not thinking 'outside the box,' as some have said more like out of his mind palin a first term governor of a state with more reindeer than people, will have to put on a few pounds just to be a lightweight her personal story is impressive: former fisherman, mother of five but that hardly qualifies her to be a heartbeat away from the presidency for a man who is 72 years old and has had four bouts with cancer to have chosen someone so completely unqualified to become president is shockingly irresponsible suddenly, mccain's age and health become central issues in the campaign, as does his judgment in choosing this featherweight, mccain passed over tom ridge, a decorated combat hero, a cabinet secretary and the former two term governor of the large, complex state of pennsylvania ireportcom: 'mccain pick might be a gimmick' he passed over mitt romney, who ran a big state, massachusetts; a big company, bain capital; and a big event, the olympics he passed over kay bailey hutchison, the texas senator who is knowledgeable about the military, good on television and obviously a woman he passed over joe lieberman, his best friend in the senate and fellow iraq kool aid drinker he passed over former congressman, trade negotiator and budget director rob portman and he also passed over mike huckabee, the governor of arkansas for months, the mccainiacs have said they will run on his judgment and experience in his first presidential decision, john mccain has shown that he is willing to endanger his country, potentially leaving it in the hands of someone who simply has no business being a heartbeat away from the most powerful, complicated, difficult job in human history the opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer | begala mccain alaska sarah palin | begala: mccain's vp choice unqualified to be heartbeat from the presidency . choice of alaska gov sarah palin is 'shockingly irresponsible,' he says . begala says choice makes mccain's age, health, and judgment central issues |
(cnn) pictures of brad pitt and angelina jolie's newborn twins have been published for the first time after a magazine bidding war which news agencies claim topped $14 million hola! magazine, the spanish sister publication to hello!, has also published images of the jolie pitt twins hello! magazine, which won international rights to the images, and people magazine, which took us rights, published the photographs in their latest editions, which hit newsstands monday the two publications, which have previously secured image rights to the couple's elder children, are believed to have shared the costs, the associated press reported over the weekend the agency quoted an unnamed source, not authorized to speak about the deal, as saying the pictures had fetched $14 million the images show the couple, newborns knox leon and vivienne marcheline and the rest of the jolie pitt family maddox, 7, pax, 4, zahara, 3, and shiloh, 2 the twins were born by cesarian section at the lenval hospital in the french riviera resort of nice on july 12 hello! magazine, which heralds its coverage as the 'biggest exclusive of the year,' devotes 17 pages of coverage to the twins' arrival in an interview published in the magazine, jolie says: 'wanting a big family is one of the things that brought brad and i together' pitt adds: 'when ange and i were told we were having twins we burst into hysterics we didn't see this one coming' watch why the photos went for so much money » larry hackett, the managing editor of people said that it was 'thrilled' to have carried the images people, like cnn, is owned by time warner jonathan klein, co founder and ceo of getty images, which organized the photo shoot, said that all the proceeds would go toward the jolie pitt foundation, which earlier this year donated $1 million to help children in iraq copyright 2008 cnn all rights reservedthis material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed associated press contributed to this report | angelina jolie brad pitt first ap vivienne marcheline knox leon july 12 nice france | magazines publish images of angelina jolie brad pitt twins for the first time . ap: rights to images secured after $14m joint bid by hello! and people magazines . vivienne marcheline and knox leon born july 12 in nice, southern france |
buenos aires, argentina (cnn) president cristina fernandez de kirchner repeated her call this week to decriminalize personal drug use and crack down on traffickers and dealers president cristina fernandez de kirchner says she doesn't like to 'condemn someone who has an addiction' 'i don't like it when people easily condemn someone who has an addiction as if he were a criminal, as if he were a person who should be persecuted,' she told a meeting of the national investigation into the consumption of alcohol, tobacco, psychopharmaceuticals and illegal drugs 'those who should be persecuted are those who sell the substances, those who give it away, those who traffic in it' a poll shows 2 percent of argentines have tried cocaine, but some people believe decriminalization of drugs could result in wider drug use regardless, the argentine government is pushing congress to pass the decriminalization legislation by the end of the year 'decriminalization of the consumer should include what are called second generation human rights, but at the same time there should be a strong policy of prevention, so that no one falls in the situation of consuming any substance,' said anibal fernandez, the minister of security and justice ethan nadelmann, founder and executive director of the new york based drug policy alliance, said such policies have been adopted throughout europe and other parts of latin america 'the evidence generally shows that the decriminalization of possession is not clearly associated with any increase in illicit drug use,' he said a few years ago, then mexican president vicente fox proposed decriminalizing possession of drugs combined with a crackdown on traffickers, but a harsh reaction from the bush administration caused him to retreat, nadelmann said brazil and colombia have passed laws decriminalizing drug use in an effort to combat the spread of hiv among injecting drug users, he said politicians recognize that 'you basically need to get those people out of the underground and into health systems,' nadelmann said 'this would be part of a growing number of countries in latin america where there is, either for political or judicial reasons, a push toward decriminalization of personal possession, sometimes combined with initiatives to crack down harder on bigger drug traffickers,' he said 'it typically involves both lessening the criminal sanction for possession of cannabis while also providing for alternatives to incarceration for people addicted to drugs who are arrested for drug possession or other minor offenses' the concept has gained followers in the united states, too, he said, citing statistics that show two thirds of americans support drug treatment instead of jail time for first time drug offenders on wednesday, rep barney frank announced a proposal to end federal penalties for americans carrying fewer than 100 grams, or almost a quarter pound, of marijuana 'the vast amount of human activity ought to be none of the government's business,' frank said on capitol hill 'i don't think it is the government's business to tell you how to spend your leisure time' cnn's javier doberti contributed to this story | cristina fernandez de kirchner argentine congress end of year barney frank this week capitol hill | president cristina fernandez de kirchner says addicts should not be persecuted . argentine government wants congress to pass legislation by end of year . measures could lessen sentences for users, crack down on dealers and traffickers . rep barney frank proposes similar legislation this week on capitol hill |
editor's note: this post was created for your reading pleasure as a collaborative effort between the editorial staffs of buzzfeed and cnn (buzzfeed/cnn) edward snowden, a 29 year old former technical assistant for the cia, revealed himself as the source behind one of the most notorious intelligence leaks in recent us history snowden's leak revealed the shocking amount of information the national security agency was collecting as a way to track down foreign targets and while the nsa's tactics may be unsettling, it's not just the us government that is messing with your data it's a brave new world of information mining here are a few ways your data are already being collected and put to use, even if you don't know it 1 facebook knows what you're buying facebook purchased data in 2012 on 70 million us households from a data mining firm called datalogix facebook then revealed in february what many users were already noticing: the social network was, in fact, tracking users' behavior to better advertise to them the backlash from creeped out users has since led facebook to become even more transparent about its targeting programs users now also have the ability to opt out 2 your facebook likes reveal personality traits liking something on facebook is a simple, almost mindless way to pass time on the social networking site but choosing to 'like' beer, crappie or 'real housewives' allows researchers to extrapolate far more intimate details about you, such as sexual orientation, political leanings and religion, according to a university of cambridge study released in march if you're curious, you can visit youarewhatyoulikecom and see exactly how much your facebook can predict 3 ad firms watch your tweets to better market to you twitter, not to be outdone by facebook's ad targeting, came up with its own version leading advertising firm wpp announced last week that it was partnering with twitter in what the two companies are calling a 'global strategic partnership' what does that mean for you? twitter is allowing wpp to analyze twitter data to set up a way to better monitor real time consumer behavior 4 companies use retina trackers to see how your eyes move in the store social media companies are not the only ones scrambling to use your data for more precise targeting marketers and consumer products companies have come up with an effective and very science fiction y method to better monitor how you interact with products, according to a wall street journal report using computer simulations of product designs and store layouts, companies like procter & gamble and kimberly clark corp are experimenting with eye tracking technology to better understand how things like how shelf placement or logo size affects consumer behavior 5 department stores can track your smartphone similarly, a denver news station learned that some nordstroms were using their wifi network to track customers' smartphones and create a heatmap of their movements and how long they stayed in each section of the store the wifi tracking program does have an opt out, which you can learn more about here 6 amazon has ads that watch what you look at online amazon was one of the first major companies to use what's now a commonly known practice: cookie tracking in the most basic sense, cookies track and analyze where you're browsing and what you're looking at and then advertise amazon products that match up it was one of the first mainstream uses of cookie tracking and definitely ruffled a few feathers amazon still tracks users' cookies, but there are also a lot of resources available to help people turn trackers off 7 target can tell if you're pregnant before you do target made news last year when it was revealed that its mailer system tracks purchase history and mails coupons based on those purchases the system got a little too accurate for comfort when a target in minneapolis determined that a teenager was pregnant before she did the mailer system analyzed her previous purchases and noticed that what she was buying in terms of groceries and toiletries fit a trend that usually meant a customer was in the early stages of pregnancy unfortunately, the girl and her family didn't know that yet sure enough, though, the mailer system was right, the girl was pregnant, and target's purchase analysis figured it out before the humans it was monitoring did 8 qantas airlines flight attendants carry ipads with up to the minute data on frequent flyers in the same way target's algorithms were creeping people out with how much they revealed about their customers, qantas airlines learned that too much data can backfire according to the harvard business review, when qantas armed its flight attendants with real time, data tracking ipads to better accommodate frequent flyers, the customers started getting a little uncomfortable qantas decided that the flight attendants needed more training if they were going to incorporate that level of information into customer service but said nothing about the ethics of using it in the first place 9 an app can use data from your smartphone pictures to pinpoint where you took the photo chances are, if you have a smartphone, you've used it to take photos and upload them to share with family, friends and followers what you may not know is that all of those photos have specific digital fingerprints known as exif data, which reveals where they were taken, when they were taken and how they traveled online so what might an online stalker want to do with all that data? the aptly named creepy is an app that can aggregate geo located photos from all over the web there are other sites that can do it too, and it's very often what anonymous uses to track targets down 10 dna databases are not just for the fbi anymore local law enforcement agencies across the country are building unregulated dna databases under the radar, the new york times reported this week new york's database has 11,000 crime suspects in it, while the version in orange county, california, has a whopping 90,000 profiles the dna is usually taken from low level defendants who give their dna to law enforcement in exchange for having charges against them dropped so if you've given dna to police in recent years, there's a chance they might still have it | gorgonacean ineligibility rotch | no related information |
seoul, south korea (cnn) a disgraced south korean scientist who gained fame in 2004 when he claimed to have cloned human embryonic stem cells on monday was convicted of embezzling money and illegally buying human eggs, state media reported the seoul central district court sentenced hwang woo suk, 56, to a two year prison term, suspended for three years, the yonhap news agency reported the scientist in 2006 admitted faking his findings, after questions of impropriety had emerged reports of his studies had attracted worldwide attention and enthusiasm from researchers and patients excited about their potential for treating diseases such as cancer, diabetes and alzheimer's disease in 2006, prosecutors said hwang masterminded the process of creating false studies on stem cell technology they also backed up his assertion that assistant researcher kim sun jong deceived him with fake data that became part of the research prosecutors said kim smuggled in vitro fertilized stem cells into hwang's lab to make it look as though the scientist was successful in creating stem cells through cloning hwang was charged with accepting 2 billion won ($21 million at the time of charges) in private donations based on falsified research, prosecutors said they also accused him of embezzling about 800 million won ($856,000 at the time of charges) in private and government research funds hwang apologized publicly in january 2006 after a panel of scientists from seoul national university found he had not derived human stem cells from eggs, as he claimed 'it is true that the research papers had fabricated data, and i will take full responsibility i acknowledge this and apologize,' he said at the time he acknowledged that much of the data and photographs published in the us based journal science in 2004 and 2005 had been fabricated the university panel's report said hwang did produce the world's first cloned dog, snuppy | hwang 2004 2006 two year yonhap | hwang claim in 2004 to have cloned human embryonic stem cells . in 2006, the scientist admitted faking his findings . he get two year prison sentence, yonhap reports . reports of his studies had attracted worldwide attention |
(cnn) carlos tevez is wanted by clubs in spain and italy as well as england's premier league should manchester united choose to show him the door when his loan deal expires at the end of the month argentine striker tevez is still hoping manchester united will offer him a new deal at the end of the month argentine international striker tevez is clearly frustrated at united manager alex ferguson's failure to open talks regarding a permanent transfer to the defending champions league finalists on sunday tevez ran in the direction of ferguson and united chief executive david gill and cupped his hands to his ears after scoring in the 2 0 win over manchester city that left the club on the brink of another premier league title the 25 year old still hopes for a positive response, but said at the weekend that he expects to leave the club at the end of his two year loan contract tevez's agent adrian ruocco told argentine newspaper ole: 'he might move to spain, italy or stay in england there are interested clubs from all those countries 'he already said he would like to stay in the premier league because he likes football in the country, so he fortunately will decide where he will play he is lucky to have the chance to choose' ruocco said: 'there was no will from the directors and the coach to sign a new contract on may 31, he will have no club and no contract i don't know why, but manchester (united) have not asked for any renewal (of the loan) nor signing him for next season' he added: 'the directors and the coach do not seem to want him, while on the other hand fans love him' however, tevez's adviser kia joorabchian stressed the striker would not rush to a decision over his future before the season ends although a permanent move to united remains a possibility, joorabchian is also aware of interest in the former west ham frontman 'there's a lot of interest in carlos, but carlos has always been very focused and very concentrated,' joorabchian told sky sports news 'for the respect of the team, the manager, the club, and the fans, we have to stay focused on finishing the season on a high 'this is how he's always been he wants to do the best he can he will let the season finish and then sit down and evaluate the situation' joorabchian indicated tevez would 'move on and think about his own future' if there is no movement by united to sign him permanently, with a move to another english club a desirable option 'what he wants to do is to go to a club which has real ambition, a real focus, to be champions of england, champions of europe, champions of everywhere,' joorabchian said 'obviously leaving united he would have to go to a rival in order to achieve that target but he understands it's not in his control' 'i don't want to direct, saying it's going to be liverpool, city, chelsea, arsenal, everton, tottenham whoever you can pick out milan, real madrid, barcelona, juventus 'the key is that at the present moment carlos is a united player and he's focused on being a united player for the rest of the season' | predriving mealywing pienaar | no related information |
(cnn) english premier league leaders chelsea smashed seven goals past hapless sunderland on saturday, while second placed manchester united kept up the pressure with a 3 0 victory at home to burnley chelsea lost four key players to the africa cup of nations, but showed they still have plenty of firepower following a 7 2 demolition of visiting sunderland england midfielder frank lampard scored two goals, as did france striker nicolas anelka on his return from injury, while germany midfielder michael ballack, france winger florent malouda and defender ashley cole also netted coach carlo ancelotti was delighted as his team, missing strikers didier drogba and solomon kalou plus key midfielders michael essien and jon obi mikel, remained one point ahead of united having played one less game than last season's champions 'i think that was maybe the best performance this season,' the italian told reporters 'we played very well until the end of the match we started the game very well i'm very happy because it's an important time for us 'without the african players we maybe could have some problems i always said i have a fantastic squad and today other players played very well, especially juliano belletti in a new position for him, so it is a good moment for us' the win was slightly tarnished by an ankle injury to england fullback cole, whose goal was the 18,000th in premier league history, while captain john terry was taken off at halftime as a precaution with the londoners already 4 0 up sunderland scored two consolation goals through substitute bolo zenden, a former chelsea player, and prolific striker darren bent, but steve bruce's side were left in 12th place after eight league games without a win manchester united moved onto 44 points from 21 games after a 14th league victory this season, but burnley's defense held out for more than an hour in new manager brian laws' first game in charge bulgaria striker dimitar berbatov finally broke the deadlock in the 64th minute as he atoned for several earlier misses with a clever flick for his seventh goal of the season he was also involved in the second goal five minutes later, with england forward wayne rooney following up after his strike partner was denied by burnley goalkeeper brian jensen new signing mame biram diouf marked his home debut with a goal at the end as he headed antonio valencia's cross past jensen united manager alex ferguson later revealed that berbatov, who has been struggling with knee problems, may need to have surgery 'he played through it today but he could have come off at half time we will have to look at it again on monday and see what the situation is,' ferguson said fourth placed manchester city failed to close the gap on arsenal, who travel to bolton on sunday, after losing 2 0 at mid table everton city manager roberto mancini suffered his first defeat in five games since taking over from the sacked mark hughes blog: man city take huge gamble on mancini south africa midfielder steven pienaar scored for the second successive match with a superb free kick in the 36th minute, while france striker louis saha then doubled the lead in first half injury time with a penalty after city defender micah richards was ruled to have pulled his shirt everton hit the woodwork twice in the second half through midfielders marouane fellaini and tim cahill as city pressed forward in search of a goal tottenham remained in fifth place after being held 0 0 at home by second bottom hull, who had goalkeeper boaz myhill to thank for a series of superb saves spurs boss harry redknapp, who faces court action by tax authorities next month, was left frustrated in his 500th premier league match as a manager though his team equaled their club record of five consecutive clean sheets liverpool's under pressure manager rafael benitez also suffered a disappointing end to a miserable week as his team, who were knocked out of the fa cup by second division strugglers reading, were held 1 1 at 10th placed stoke blog: how long can liverpool keep faith with rafa? the visitors, missing the injured key trio of steven gerrard, fernando torres and yossi benayoun, led in the 57th minute through greece defender sotirios kyrgiakos' first goal for the club, but german center back robert huth snatched a point for stoke with seconds remaining last season's runners up were left in seventh place on 34 points, struggling to qualify for next season's champions league let alone mount a title challenge wigan moved out of the relegation zone with a 2 0 victory at fellow strugglers wolverhampton, as both teams ended the match with 10 men second half goals from new signing james mccarthy and charles n'zogbia came after wolves goalkeeper marcus hahnemann saved hugo rodallega's penalty home defender richard stearman and wigan midfielder hendry thomas were sent off in either half bottom club portsmouth's home clash with in form birmingham was called off due to a waterlogged pitch | english premier league chelsea sunderland nicolas anelka frank lampard manchester united second burnley roberto mancini first manchester city everton | english premier league leaders chelsea smash seven goals past sunderland . nicolas anelka and frank lampard score twice each in 7 2 home victory . manchester united stay one point back in second place after beating burnley 3 0 . roberto mancini suffers first defeat as manchester city boss, losing 2 0 at everton |
(cnn) central african republic rebels and government officials will meet early next week for talks, a minister said saturday, after a spate of violence that has left the fate of the inland african nation in limbo the upcoming discussions will be in gabon, on africa's western coast, said the central african republic's minister of territorial administration and decentralization josue binoua he did not specify the date when the discussions would begin central african republic diplomatic adviser honore nzessiwe had indicated thursday that the government was then trying to arrange a meeting with rebel leaders in libreville, gabon the development comes as officials from various nations take steps to protect their citizens and interests in the central african republic, amid fears of more violence us president barack obama wrote a letter saturday to congress informing them that about 50 us troops were sent to chad on thursday 'to support the evacuation of us embassy personnel and us citizens from the central african republic' 'although equipped for combat, this stand by security force was deployed solely for the purpose of protecting us citizens and property, if necessary,' obama wrote the rebels were reported earlier this week to be about 190 miles from bangui but there's been a lull in rebel attacks in recent days, which margaret vogt, a special representative of the un secretary general, said might be evidence that they are respecting an earlier promise to halt their advance on the capital the volatile situation which has spurred demonstrations in bangui, the country's capital and largest city, urging foreign intervention amid concerns rebels could soon enter the city prompted government authorities to set an 8 pm (2 pm et) curfew sunday, binoua said already, the lingering unrest has prompted the united nations to relocate dependents and nonessential staff from the country and the us embassy in bangui to shut down operations the us state department said thursday the same day us troops were sent to chad its ambassador and diplomatic team left the capital, but that the united states is not cutting off diplomatic relations with the turbulent african nation read more: us diplomats leave central african republic president francois bozize on thursday asked for other nations' help in staving off rebel advances that threaten his rule bozize specifically called on france which ruled his country, then as a colony known as ubangi shari, until it gained independence in 1960 and the united states to help ensure 'the rebels return home instead of destroying and killing central africans' un efforts have focused on calling for a disarmament process, but a lack of funding from the european union meant such a program could not be carried out in the country's northeast, where there is fighting, vogt said france has a permanent presence of 200 to 300 military personnel at bangui's airport under the mandate of the economic community of central african states, and french president francois hollande ordered them to safeguard his nation's embassy earlier this week but hollande said thursday that his nation's troops are not there to 'protect a regime,' but instead protect french nationals and interests france will not 'interfere in the internal affairs of a country, in this case, car,' hollande said, adding, 'that time is over' read more: cnn inside africa cnn's bharati naik, stephanie halasz and saskya vandoorne contributed to this report | pensy gymnophobia complete | no related information |
(cnn) after meeting a number black couples in crisis, nisa muhammad and dr rozario slack were inspired to create basic training for couples nisa muhammad, who founded national black marriage day, co created the basic training for couples program the eight week program educates dating, engaged or married couples about the value of commitment, responsibility to the black community, psychological differences between the sexes, sexual intimacy and conflict resolution slack created the male friendly portion while muhammad, who founded national black marriage day and the wedded bliss foundation, created the female friendly portion in the program, couples also learn about the history of the african american marriage and many for the first time plot their own family tree to trace marriage and divorces the following is rundown of the eight week course: class no 1: why marriage? this class teaches the benefits of marriage for men, women, children and the community it gives the history of marriage in the black community from slavery when marriage was illegal to today's trends icebreaker: q & a: how couples met? homework: 1 choose songs to reflect their love for each other 2 marriage family tree class no 2: from i to we; the sweetness of surrender this class helps couples transition from 'i thinking' to 'we thinking' it helps them understand the value of making their marriage a priority in their lives class no 3: communication; getting your message understood this class helps couples take responsibility for their communication and teaches skills to improve their communication techniques main lessons: • respecting differences between men and women • learning to talk to each other and not at each other • format: teaching session with dialogue • activity: the talking stick, during conversation only the individual holding the stick can speak class no 4: conflict management this class helps couples understand that conflict needs to be managed, or it will manage you it helps to normalize some conflict that couples experience with the understanding that some conflict cannot be resolved and can only be managed lessons: • this class targets biases when there's a difference of opinions, generally the stronger spouse wants his or her way • how to bring closure to old issues instead of combining them into new issues/conflict • agree to disagree and not degrade your spouse for having a difference of opinion activity: break up into gender groups to discuss current conflicts the group works out ways to solve the issue class no 5: let's make love when the sex is good in a marriage, it's only about 20 percent of what's going on when it's bad, it's a significant problem this class helps to solve some of those problems the approach was from a physiological and biological perspective of the differences between the male's and female's body discussion included chemical bonding effect in women and men class no 6: from yours and mine to ours many couples in the black community bring children from other relationships to their marriage this class helps to blend the family into one cohesive unit it also talks about preventing in laws from becoming outlaws class no 7: keeping the fire burning fire is an acronym for faithful, intimacy, responsibility and excitement this class helps couples maintain the fire in their relationship class no 8: from this day forward this class helps couples understand the value of commitment in their marriage and never to make divorce an option they create their own place for success recap of all the lessons together: • remembering people gravitate to the applause • ways to appreciate and affirm your spouse • setting time for just the two of you • learning to communicate, getting your message heard and understood bonus class: hot monogamy gets couples comfortable to discuss sex with their spouse graduation a ceremony of new beginnings, couples testify what the class brought to their marriage over the eight week period lots of emotions and bonding during this time between husbands and wives graduating couples are encouraged to bring a couple from their community or family who needs help | nisa muhammad rozario slack eight week muhammad | nisa muhammad and rozario slack created a basic training for couples . the eight week program helps dating, engaged and married couples stay on track . unhealthy relationships give kids inaccurate views of marriage, says muhammad |
(cnn) the annual report of national college rankings published by us news & world report is, regrettably, one of the most powerful forces in american higher education i say 'regrettably' because the list of rankings, although comprising data, surveys and statistics, doesn't even begin to express the quality, comprehensiveness and special character of the more than 4,000 colleges and universities in the country the report is so powerful that an administrator at claremont mckenna college, a small, elite liberal arts school in california, submitted inflated data in order to enhance the college's standing is anyone surprised by this revelation? just as athletes use steroids and gambling happens at rick's, colleges and universities succumb to their own set of pressures, including the desire to be on top in the rankings us news & world report has been highly successful at inducing far too many high school students and their families to think that there are only a handful of colleges worth attending in the entire country, and by extension saying that if a student doesn't get into one of the 'select' few, then life will never be worth living attending a tier 3 school doesn't make you a tier 3 person, nor does enrolling at princeton make you a prince ironically, we know from a survey of human resource managers (these are the people who actually hire college graduates) that the colleges they recruit from most enthusiastically are not necessarily the same as the ones us news implies students should strive to enter a college degree has become a 21st century economic necessity getting into the 'best' college is a national obsession many believe it's a passport to a golden future let's play a numbers game: 100 high school seniors each apply to 10 colleges; 1,000 applications are now in play each college hopes to enroll 10 students; 100 freshman spots are in the air all of the 100 students will have a place to go to college but not every one will get into his or her first choice, nor will every college get its highest ranked applicant students strive to make themselves extremely attractive to specific colleges, and colleges work hard to make themselves more appealing to specific students the game is afoot to stand out from the crowd of applicants, students try to game the system they take prep courses to improve their sat scores; enroll in 'easy' classes to get higher grades; search out exotic internships; and play sports or music, or master additional foreign languages not because they necessarily want to but because they believe they have to in order to look outstanding this is an unfortunate outgrowth of an overwrought system and it should not be surprising to learn that schools also game the system by slicing and dicing their numbers in a fashion that makes them appear more appealing in one or more us news category, and thus more attractive to potential students and their families but gaming the system and providing enhanced data are two entirely different things the first is, as i said before, regrettable, and the later providing inflated information is 'extremely regrettable' my mother would call it lying americans love lists and rankings and if a person can start out at the top, then all the better for many people, scarcity breeds adoration: everyone wants to go to harvard because not everyone can go to harvard (nor should they) as super bowl season comes to a close, we will sneak up on march madness there is an inexplicable correlation between the ncaa final four participants and increases in applications to those four schools everyone loves a winner this is parallel to product placement in tv shows or movies see james bond drive an aston martin and perhaps you'll come in to the showroom for a test drive see duke play basketball and perhaps you'll come to campus to meet coach k the rankings aren't going away us news & world report has a highly profitable mare in its stable: the rankings are about making money the business of us news is to sell magazines online and in print it is secondly about mission: providing consumers with a public service product in return for money colleges must do a better job of educating applicants to the limits (and some values) of the rankings 'racket' the public must remember that there is no 'best' college for any one student after an hour's conversation, i'll give a student a list of 20 schools where he or she will (a) get an excellent education (b) have a wonderful time (c) be able to afford the tuition, and (d) graduate and i'm pretty sure my list of 20 and us news' list of 20 are not necessarily the same is vichyssoise better than chicken soup with matzoh balls or just more satisfying to some people than to others? frequently, it's a matter of taste more than nutrition follow cnn opinion on twitter join the conversation on facebook the opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of stephen joel trachtenberg | stephen trachtenberg magazine trachtenberg americans | stephen trachtenberg: magazine's college rankings are powerful . one college submitted inflated data in order to enhance standing . trachtenberg: americans love rankings; these aren't going away . he notes there is no 'best' college for any one student |
(cnn) federal authorities arrested a 37 year old bronx woman on thursday after she allegedly concocted a ruse in the wake of the connecticut mass shooting and posed as a relative of one of the slain children nouel alba is accused of using her facebook account to solicit money from those wanting to donate to victims' families, claiming that the money was to be used for a 'funeral fund,' according to a us justice department statement the donors apparently transmitted the money to a paypal account controlled by alba, who later allegedly lied about the scam to federal investigators, prosecutors said newtown: no more gifts, please 'this arrest should serve as a warning to anyone who attempts to profit from this tragedy by contriving fraudulent schemes that exploit the many victims, their families and individuals who sincerely want to help,' said connecticut us attorney david fein in a statement on december 14, a 20 year old gunman opened fire in newtown's sandy hook elementary school, killing 26 people just after he killed his mother in their newtown home alba has since been charged with lying to federal agents and was released on $50,000 bond if convicted, she faces up to five years in jail and a maximum $250,000 fine on december 19, cnn's 'ac360' broadcast a story about the alleged ruse and interviewed alba, who denied her involvement in the alleged scam 'this says this has your e mail on it right there,' said cnn investigative producer david fitzpatrick 'this is about noah pozner's funeral' 'i never sent that,' alba replied later, in the interview alba identified one of her e mail accounts presented by fitzpatrick 'yeah, that's one of my gmails yeah, my personal account,' she said during the interview 'but i never set up any funds for anybody' geneticists studying connecticut shooter's dna pozner's family issued a statement saying, 'we are pleased that law enforcement has pursued this matter so diligently we hope that this dissuades other scammers from trying to take advantage of this horrible tragedy' | nouel alba woman | nouel alba has been arrested . donors allegedly transmitted money to a paypal account . criminal complaint accuses her of lying to federal agents . woman says she never set up funds |
editor's note: marian wright edelman is president of the children's defense fund, a nonprofit organization that advocates for policies to help children escape poverty, abuse and neglect and gain access to health care and education edelman was the first black woman admitted to the mississippi bar and was a leader in the civil rights movement her latest book is 'the sea is so wide and my boat is so small: charting a course for the next generation' marian wright edelman says many black babies enter the world with multiple strikes against them (cnn) one of the most dangerous threats facing black america right now is quietly stealing our children at a young age incarceration is becoming the new american apartheid, and poor children of color are the fodder so many poor black babies in rich america enter the world with multiple strikes against them: born without prenatal care, at low birthweight and to a poor, and poorly educated, teenage single mother and an absent father at crucial points in their development after birth through adolescence, more risks pile on, making a successful transition to productive adulthood significantly less likely and involvement in the criminal justice system significantly more likely this is america's pipeline to prison, a trajectory that is funneling tens of thousands of youths down life paths that lead to marginalized lives, imprisonment and, often, premature death nationally, one in three black boys and one in 17 black girls born in 2001 is at risk of imprisonment during their lifetime it's time to sound a loud alarm about this threat to american unity and community, act to stop the growing criminalization of children at younger and younger ages, and tackle the unjust treatment of minority youths and adults in the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems with urgency and persistence we must reduce detention and incarceration by increasing preventive supports and services children need, including access to comprehensive child health and mental health coverage, quality early childhood development programs like early head start, and supports for parents including home visitation programs and every child has to get an education that prepares him or her to succeed in the 21st century economy the failure to act now will reverse the hard earned racial and social progress for which the rev martin luther king and so many others died and sacrificed the urgent challenge for each of us and for our nation is to prevent this waste of our children's lives and our nation's future capabilities who are some of the black leaders coming up with solutions for saving our children? people like geoffrey canada, president and ceo of the harlem children's zone, who recently spoke about his work to cnn's soledad o'brien for the 'black in america' series the harlem children's zone project is a holistic system of education, social service and community building programs designed to help the children and families in a 97 block area of central harlem from birth on, from classes on baby care and child development through preschool, intensive public charter schools and after school activities right up to job training and college success programs the hcz project's two fundamental goals are to help children as early in their lives as possible and to create a critical mass of adults around them who understand what it takes to help them succeed the evidence including new research on the success of hcz's promise academy charter schools in closing black white student test score achievement gaps shows that hcz's comprehensive approach to saving harlem's children is working i applaud the obama administration's plans to create 20 additional 'promise zones' across the country connie rice is another visionary leader working on solutions to the pipeline to prison crisis in los angeles and california she is co director of the advancement project, a policy, communications and legal 'action tank' committed to racial justice rice is known for her unconventional approaches to tackling problems of inequity and exclusion, and she works on education, gang and violence prevention, and other serious concerns affecting the healthy development of young people during her long career as a civil rights lawyer, including serving as co director of the los angeles office of the naacp legal defense and educational fund inc, she won billions of dollars in policy changes and remedies, including a 1999 lawsuit that gained $750 million for school construction in los angeles that had been set to go to suburban school districts rice and her colleagues are finding innovative ways of dismantling some of the persistent structural inequalities that exist in america, and their successes help level the playing field for poor children of color we need to celebrate, support and replicate the work of these kinds of leaders child poverty and neglect, racial disparities in systems that serve children, and the pipeline to prison are not acts of god they are our nation's immoral political and economic choices that can and must be changed with strong political, corporate, community and family leadership the opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of marian wright edelman | marian wright edelman harlem children's zone edelman | marian wright edelman: black youths at higher risk of going to prison . she says innovators like harlem children's zone are showing strong results . edelman: investing in children from birth can break the pipeline to prison |
(cnn) novak djokovic began his abu dhabi title defense talking about donkey cheese, but he ended it with the perfect start to his preseason preparations the world no 1 retained his title in the middle east exhibition event on saturday, beating 11th ranked nicolas almagro in a three set final that should have blown away any remaining rustiness following his demolition of another spaniard, david ferrer, in the semis djokovic will now head to australia for another warmup event, the mixed teams hopman cup, where he will line up with glamor girl ana ivanovic in serbia's opening rubber against italy's andreas seppi and francesca schiavone on monday the 25 year old on thursday denied claims that he has bought the world's entire supply of donkey cheese for his restaurant business back home 'i did not expect this story was going to get so much attention, and everywhere in the world too,' he told the gulf news ahead of his first match at the mubadala world tennis championship 'there is a certain farm in serbia that produces it and, as i understand it, it is the only farm in the world to do so, which is very interesting 'they came to our restaurant and offered co operation, so that is all we are now thinking and seeing what we can do with that, but it is not true that i already bought the whole supply' australian open champion djokovic had to fight hard against almagro who was a late replacement for the ill rafael nadal he finally triumphed 6 7 (4 7) 6 3 6 4 in two hours and 35 minutes against the 27 year old, who beat serbian janko tipsarevic in another three set match on friday 'nico played an amazing game he was hitting strong from the baseline and he wasn't giving me much time,' djokovic said 'it was a close match and i am very satisfied with how i played this is a top level event and we all want to see where we are in readiness for the season hopefully i'll be back to defend my title' world no 9 tipsarevic finished the six man tournament in fourth place after losing 7 6 (7 4) 6 2 to fifth ranked ferrer in saturday's playoff the hopman cup began in perth on saturday, with australia beating germany 3 0 in group a and spain defeating south africa 2 1 in group b australia's win was helped by a knee injury suffered by germany's former world no 9 andrea petkovic, who has slipped out of the top 100 after suffering a series of physical problems in 2012 she led australian 16 year old ashleigh barty 6 4 in their singles match before retiring, and was then unable to play in the mixed doubles and is a major doubt for the season's opening grand slam in melbourne next month in the opening men's match, bernard tomic beat veteran tommy haas 7 6 (8 6) 3 6 7 5 haas, ranked 31 places higher at 21st in the world, blew a 6 1 lead in the tiebreak and failed to serve out for victory at 5 4 ahead in the decider kevin anderson gave south africa an early lead when he beat fernando verdasco in straight sets, but anabel medina garrigues leveled the tie with victory over chanelle scheepers and the spaniards then won the doubles 6 4 6 7 (3 7) 10 8 | novak djokovic nicolas almagro abu dhabi perth hopman cup serbian ana ivanovic saturday australia south africa germany andrea petkovic australian open | world no 1 novak djokovic beats nicolas almagro in final of abu dhabi exhibition . he will now head to perth to play in hopman cup with fellow serbian ana ivanovic . mixed teams event began on saturday, with australia and south africa winning . germany's andrea petkovic in doubt for australian open after suffering knee injury |
(cnn) it's thousands of square miles wide, virtually devoid of oxygen and it has been blamed for an increase in shark attacks: the gulf of mexico 'dead zone' is getting bigger and forcing marine life including sharks into shore signs warn the public in an area harboring high bacteria near a drain at will rogers state beach, california the zone has been caused by a flood of nutrients, such as agricultural fertilizers, which boost algae production in the sea these growths consume huge amounts of oxygen creating a 'marine desert' almost devoid of life the 'dead zone' varies in size each year, but in 1999 it was 7,728 square miles that's nearly the size of delaware and connecticut combined the huge size of the 'dead zone' is due to the increase in nutrient pollution flowing down rivers, including the mississippi, which is estimated to have risen threefold in the last fifty years as chemicals become more and more common on farms environmentalists fear that the drive to radically increase the amount of corn based biofuels produced in the us from 15 billion gallons to 36 billion by 2022 could increase pollution in the mississippi by 19 per cent but the problem is by no means limited to us waters similar 'dead zones' are being discovered across the world and a major united nations report in 2003 found that the number had doubled each decade since the 1960's the un report also warned that the number will continue to increase as intensive agriculture spreads around the world and that they are already having a significant impact on commercial fish stocks all of this can come as quite a surprise growing water demands, more pollutants think about pollution and you tend to imagine tall smoking chimneys or pipes pouring industrial effluent into our rivers and lakes but the use of chemicals in agriculture is increasingly becoming a concern for environmentalists across the world agriculture, including livestock and poultry farming, can be a source of a wide range of pollutants that find their way into our water supplies through run off and leaching this happens when rainfall exceeds the capacity of the ground and it flows into watercourses and groundwater supplies taking dissolved pollutants with it these can include sediment from eroded land, as well as phosphorus and nitrogen compounds from chemical fertilizers and animal waste, which can also harbor disease pathogens these pollutants can have a serious effect on water sources by depleting oxygen levels, stunting the growth of plants and even suffocating fish as in the gulf of mexico 'dead zone' the concentration of pollutants can be particularly high in drought years, when heavy water demand can reduce the flow rate in rivers and cut their ability to dilute chemicals the effects of this can be acute in the developing world, where the pressure to feed a growing population combined with a low level of regulation can cause serious problems a huge increase in the amount of synthetic chemicals being used in the philippines over recent years has caused substantial environmental damage to the country's water supplies, according to a 2008 report by greenpeace between 1961 and 2005 fertilizer use in the philippines increased by 1000 percent 'this model of agricultural growth is fatally flawed because of declining crop yields and massive environmental impacts,' says greenpeace campaigner daniel ocampo 'aside from causing land degradation and losses in soil fertility, agrochemicals cause water pollution that directly and indirectly affects human health' according to greenpeace, analysis of groundwater in the benguet and bulacan provinces in the philippines, found that 30 percent of tested wells had nitrates levels above the world health organization (who) drinking water safety limit the philippine national economic and development authority (neda) says that 37 per cent of water pollution in the country originates from agricultural practices as well as causing an increase in the algal blooms that can cause 'dead zones,' agricultural nitrates have been identified as a factor in the growth of toxic 'red tide' algae and high levels in drinking water can also pose a health risk to humans, especially children agriculture's impact on water pollution clearly there is a need to shift away from the current industrial agriculture system which promotes the reliance on agrochemicals while neglecting to consider their negative effects on human health, the environment, and the economy of local communities the problem is particularly serious in china, where a combination of rapid development, a growing population and intensive agriculture has led to widespread pollution and even water shortages scientists studying information from monitoring stations have said that 44 per cent of chinese rivers are polluted 'many lakes and water courses contain an excess of nutrients and need treatment before they are suitable as freshwater sources,' the organization for economic cooperation and development said in 2005 according to chinese state officials 10 per cent of farm land in the country is polluted posing a 'severe threat' to food sources, with excessive agricultural chemical use being blamed, along with industrial effluent and solid waste but controlling water pollution from agricultural run off presents many challenges: it occurs over a wide area, goes across borders and often the source is hard to identify it also varies over time and can increase or decrease depending on changes in land use and ownership lax local law enforcement, corruption and inefficiency can all compound the problem legislators around the world are calling for a closer integration of environmental and agricultural policies, and more help for farmers in managing potentially hazardous substances but many environmentalists see a solution with increased incentives for organic farming, which uses fewer chemicals and, argue groups such as the uk soil association, with no appreciable decrease in yields but while the solution remains a matter of debate, the scale of the problem continues to grow and grow e mail to a friend | monoclinic nitrobenzole sigloi | no related information |
(cnn) while hotels and resorts have long leaned on mother nature to enhance their guest experiences, few wild assets rival that of prime waterfront real estate be it on a sugary sand beach or a dramatic rocky bluff fortunately for travelers, there's a lot of choice for those seeking a great coastal getaway culled from travel + leisure's annual world's best awards, the top 10 hotels listed here were rated highly by readers and come with ocean breezes, water views and ultra scenic shores asked to evaluate properties for categories including rooms/facilities, location and service, survey takers made it clear that a coastal location can be one of a hotel's greatest features no matter your definition of what makes a great coastal hotel, from the florida keys to oregon, there's one clear characteristic that all of the properties flaunt: location, location, location adrien glover travel + leisure: see all of america's best coastal hotels 1 the lodge, sea island, georgia this is a genteel lodge with 40 country style rooms and on site access to a legendary golf course a bagpiper roams the grounds every evening room to book: numbers 2 and 3 have enormous balconies that overlook the 18th hole at plantation golf course insider tip: guests have access to the amenities of the lodge's sister property, the cloister, including its 65,000 square foot spa and the georgian room restaurant 2 the cloister, sea island, georgia this historic 1928 mediterranean style resort has four pools and is set on a secluded beach room to book: beach club suites have kitchens, fireplaces and balconies insider tip: take a 90 minute tour ($100 per person) of the salt marsh onboard the cloister belle, a restored antique yacht you'll see oyster beds and live shrimp travel + leisure: america's best little beach towns 3 elizabeth pointe lodge, amelia island, florida off the coast of florida, the elizabeth pointe lodge has configurations for every type of traveler each of the four suites of the nearby ocean house opens onto a private deck the miller cottage is built for families or groups, with two bedrooms and bathrooms, a living room and a patio and the 20 room main house's lawn fans out into beachgrass tufted sand dunes room to book: number 16 is a corner room with a rainforest shower for two and ocean views from the king bed insider tip: set aside a day to tee off amelia island has 117 holes of championship golf, including a pga tournament course 4 market pavilion hotel, charleston, south carolina charleston's newest luxury hotel delivers the best skyline and harbor views in town, plus a charming rooftop bar and pool from which to take them in room to book: even numbered rooms on the second floor with balconies insider tip: enjoy one of many taste experiences: sipping a sunset cocktail at the chic rooftop pavilion bar; savoring a center cut strip steak, wet aged for 42 50 days at the hotel's grill 225; tasting pastry chef gerry elliot's flamed baked carolina 5 grand del mar, san diego, california this is an opulent 2007 property swathed in italian marble and european refinement plus hiking trails, golf and a family friendly pool room to book: most of the veranda rooms look out over the grand golf club insider tip: check out the list of the resort's outdoor tours (for a fee) from a sea cave kayaking trip to a guided coastal hike travel + leisure: america's best outdoor restaurants 6 cavallo point the lodge at the golden gate, sausalito, california with a prime location in the golden gate national recreation area, cavallo point blends old and new to great effect the restored buildings of fort baker, a former us army base, house its 142 rooms and suites and there's plenty to do on site, beginning with a healing arts center & spa, an organic tea bar, a cooking school and yoga classes room to book: the historic deluxe with view rooms in the contemporary building have just that sweeping panoramas of the san francisco bay along with gas fireplaces, buttery leather armchairs and vintage crown molding insider tip: try the hotel's healing arts services, which range from acupuncture to clinical massage, hypnotherapy to energy work 7 four seasons resort hualalai at historic ka'upulehu, hawaii the four seasons resort hualalai is made up of a string of two story bungalows built upon ancient lava rock the updated hualalai spa now has 10 outdoor treatment rooms room to book: each deluxe ocean view suite comes with a concierge, a private beach cabana and daily delivery of fresh tropical fruit insider tip: locals give lessons about hawaiian history, lei making and the art of hula at the resort's hualalai cultural center travel + leisure: america's most dangerous bridges 8 sunset key guest cottages, a westin resort, key west, florida there are white washed cottages with a spa of individual suites and a todd holender run restaurant on a secluded island near key west room to book: one of the two luxury cottages fronting the beach they have full gourmet kitchens, private plunge pools and sunken bathtubs insider tip: fish caught off the resort's own pier can be prepared at latitudes restaurant 9 white elephant, nantucket, massachusetts this is one of nantucket town's plushest resorts, on a prime spot on the edge of the harbor, with an expansive waterfront patio and chaise dotted green lawns room to book: harbor view rooms cost quite a bit more than standard doubles (about $150 more in high season) but the stunning views over passing sailboats are worth it travel + leisure: america's most dangerous bridges insider tip: try the brant point grill's new england little neck clams, peppered with vine ripened tomatoes and lathered with champagne butter 10 stephanie inn hotel, cannon beach, oregon this is a shingled sanctuary overlooking haystack rock all 41 rooms are equipped with fireplaces and private balconies room to book: nab the oceanfront king rooms on the second and third floors for the best views of haystack rock insider tip: the hotel provides everything you need for a crackling bonfire on the sand see more of america's best coastal hotels planning a getaway? don't miss travel + leisure's guide to the world's best hotels copyright 2012 american express publishing corporation all rights reserved | south lodge sea island georgia the four seasons resort hualalai | travel + leisure readers ranked hotels in the south among the nation's best coastal hotels . the lodge and the cloister in sea island, georgia, received top marks . at the four seasons resort hualalai, an updated spa has 10 outdoor treatment rooms |
(cnn) a french filmmaker who recently finished a documentary about a violent street gang in el salvador was found shot dead in the town of tonacatepeque, about 10 miles northeast of the capital city of san salvador, authorities said french documentary filmmaker christian poveda was found shot dead 10 miles northeast of san salvador christian poveda, 52, was shot at least four times in the face, according to local reports poveda's documentary, 'la vida loca,' which follows the lives of members of the mara 18 street gang, had been screened at a handful of film festivals and is slated for wider release later this month his body was found in an area controlled by that same gang, local reports said a motive of poveda's murder wednesday was being investigated, national civil police director carlos ascencio giron said in a statement citing the pending investigation, police did not immediately give any details, but ascencio giron said that the homicide and organized crime divisions of his department were handling the case jointly with the attorney general's office salvadoran president mauricio funes said he was 'very shocked' by the news of the murder according to a statement by the president's office, poveda first arrived in el salvador in the 1980s to cover the civil war as a photojournalist he left to report from other war zones, but returned to research and film the gangs in el salvador ireportcom: magazine editor remembers poveda poveda on wednesday was traveling in his car after filming in a town called soyapango when unknown assailants intercepted him and then shot him, according to the statement the homicide sector chief for the national civil police, marco tulio lima, told the newspaper el diario de hoy that police detained one person in connection to the killing, but did not say if the person was a suspect 'christian poveda's recent film about el salvador's street gangs provided a powerful inside look into youth violence in one of central america's most dangerous regions,' said carlos lauria of the committee to protect journalists 'we urge the authorities to conduct a prompt and exhaustive inquiry into his murder and bring all those responsible to justice' in march, 'la vida loca' was a hit with audiences at the guadalajara international film festival in mexico, the organization told cnn through a spokesman poveda gave himself fully to his work and spent years following the mara 18, the festival spokesman said 'creating documentary implies working for the love of the profession, and that was what our friend christian showed us in the short time that we had the opportunity to know him,' the film festival said in a statement the producer of poveda's documentary, carole solive, told the guardian newspaper that, 'he went out alone to get back in touch with the gang whose story he had filmed' 'but their boss was in prison and he found himself in the middle of very restless young capos who, for the first time, asked him for money,' she said | french christian poveda 52 el salvador wednesday salvadoran mauricio funes | french filmmaker christian poveda, 52, shot at least four times in the face . he recently finished a documentary about a violent street gang in el salvador . motive in poveda's slaying wednesday is being investigated . salvadoran president mauricio funes said he is 'very shocked' |
(cnn) meat is murder? well, perhaps not for much longer artist banksy has satirized modern farming and meat production; could in vitro meat be a better option? a pioneering group of scientists are working to grow real animal protein in the laboratory, which they not only claim is better for animal welfare, but actually healthier, both for people and the planet it may sound like science fiction, but this technology to create in vitro meat could be changing global diets within ten years 'cultured meat would have a lot of advantages,' said jason matheny of research group new harvest 'we could precisely control the amount of fat in meat we could make ground beef with an ideal fatty acid ratio a hamburger that prevents heart attacks instead of causing them' but it isn't just the possibility of creating designer ground beef with the fat profile of salmon that drives matheny's work meat and livestock farming is also the source of many human diseases, which he claims would be far less common when the product is raised in laboratory conditions 'we could reduce the risks of diseases like swine flu, avian flu, 'mad cow disease', or contamination from salmonella,' he told cnn 'we could produce meat in sterile conditions that are impossible in conventional animal farms and slaughterhouses and when we grow only the meat we can eat, it's more efficient there's no need to grow the whole animal and lose 75 to 95 percent of what we feed it' conventional meat production is also hard on the environment the contribution of livestock to climate change was recently highlighted by the united nations' report, 'livestock's long shadow', while groups such as greenpeace and friends of the earth have demonstrated how soy farming for animal feed contributes to the destruction of the amazon in this context matheny believes his project could significantly cut the environmental impact of meat production using much less water and producing far fewer greenhouse gases 'we could reduce the environmental footprint of meat, which currently contributes more to global warming than the entire transportation sector,' says matheny preliminary results from a study by hanna tuomisto, at the wildlife conservation research unit, university of oxford, suggest that cultured meat would reduce the carbon emissions of meat production by more than 80 percent making cultured meat in vitro meat is made from samples of animals conventionally slaughtered for example, 'pork' is made from pig ovaries retrieved from slaughterhouses, which are fertilized with pig semen, transforming them into embryos they are then placed in a nutrient solution, where they grow and develop it's a long way from the popular image of animals wandering round the farmyard in the sunshine, but then so is modern intensive farming the factor that could take the research from the lab to the store and into refrigerators around the world is its remarkable commercial potential according to new harvest, meat is already estimated to be a $1 trillion global market, and demand is expected to double by 2050 with concerns about health, animal welfare and the environment growing the appeal of in vitro meat is obvious matheny told cnn that venture capitalists kleiner perkins caufield & byers have shown an interest in his technology, while stegman, a sausage subsidiary of food giant sara lee, is a partner the netherlands' government has also invested around $4 million in dutch research into in vitro meat production but it isn't just the suits who are circling with their checkbooks out campaign group people for the ethical treatment of animals (peta) have announced a $1 million prize for the first commercially viable in vitro chicken product the humane society of the united states has also been supportive 'we think that a technology to produce cultured ground meats burgers, sausages, nuggets, and so forth could be commercialized within ten years,' said matheny 'as with most technologies, successive generations should improve in price, quality, and acceptance we don't think that matching the taste and texture of ground meats will be very difficult both conventional and cultured meat is made of muscle tissue and conventional ground meat is typically highly processed chicken nuggets for instance, are made of something called 'meat slurry' it would be hard not to do better!' public attitude but the public doesn't always blindly buy what companies believe they should, and acceptance of what is a very radical proposition certainly isn't a foregone conclusion there are bound to be claims of 'frankenfoods,' and reaction against the work 'social acceptance isn't guaranteed, but we all want meat that's safer and healthier,' he said 'if cultured meat looks, tastes, and costs the same as regular meat, then i think acceptance will be high the more we learn about the health and environmental impact of conventional meat, the more cultured meat looks like a good alternative' one obvious touchstone for how in vitro meat will be received by the public is perhaps the way gm crops were or were not accepted around the world, something that matheny draws encouragement from 'what's interesting about the gm issue is that it has been controversial in some places, but is a non issue for most consumers,' he said 'most americans are regularly eating gm foods in any case, it's not necessarily the case that cultured meat would involve gm foods 'we all want meat that's safer and healthier if cultured meat looks, tastes, and costs the same as regular meat, then do we care that it's produced in a steel tank, rather than in an animal farm? 'take hydroponic vegetables we like the idea that they're produced in sterile water instead of dirt and manure it's true that in vitro meat isn't natural nor for that matter are hydroponic vegetables, or bread, or cheese, or wine raising 10,000 chickens indoors and pumping them full of drugs isn't natural, either, and it isn't healthy or safe the more we learn about how meat is produced now, the more in vitro meat looks like a better alternative' lab produced meat also raises some ethical considerations kate mcmahon, friends of the earth energy and transport campaigner, believes more attention should be paid to improving livestock conditions rather than developing in vitro meat 'at a time when hundreds of small scale, sustainable farming operations are filing for bankruptcy every day, it is unethical to consider purchasing petri dish meat rather, we should be making it easier and more affordable to raise livestock in a safe, humane and ecologically sensitive manner,' she told cnn gillian madill, genetics technologies spokesperson for friends of the earth, thinks that clear parameters for in vitro development need to put in place: 'if we can successfully develop these products, what is the defining line between lab grown meat and natural animals?' she told cnn 'that is an especially important question since a high level of differentiation and tissue complexity is required to replicate muscle tissue that we use as meat we need to draw clear lines in order to prevent the commodification of all life' ultimately the success of in vitro meat may be less about consumer sensibilities and more about the hard realities of feeding a growing global population in a finite world 'with india and china doubling their meat consumption every decade, there's no sustainable way to satisfy the growing global appetite for meat without a significant improvement in technology,' said matheny 'cultured meat offers one solution improved plant based meat substitutes offer another i expect both will be needed' test tube burgers? it seems you could be eating them sooner than you might expect what do you think of in vitro meat? do you think it could be a solution to the problems connected to meat production and climate change? let us know in the sound off box below | a decade jason matheny | ongoing research into in vitro meat; grown in a lab using animal samples . advocates say in vitro meat is better for health of humans and environment . lab made meat could be served in a decade, says research scientist jason matheny |
(cnn) houdini wouldn't speak to me he refused to say one word he hasn't spoken to anyone for 87 years since he died every halloween, harry houdini fans try to prize a few words out of the world's greatest escapologist before he died, houdini promised to send a message back from the other side after his death in detroit on october 31, 1926, his wife, bess, inaugurated the official houdini séance he hasn't been heard from yet this year's séance will be held at the halifax citadel national historic site the citadel is a 19th century fort the catacombs are supposedly haunted houdini played nova scotia and toured the canadian maritimes in 1896 the séance will feature performances by local magicians some proceeds will go to the 'feed nova scotia' initiative, a province wide food bank seating is limited admission is $45 guests this year include escape artist lucas wilson, holder of three guinness world records, and the daughter of jacques price, one of the three men in the dressing room when houdini received the fateful punches to his stomach the medium charged with getting through to houdini is alan hatfield of pictou landing first nation a former truck driver, hatfield has been a professional psychic since 1988 and has helped on several missing persons inquiries he claims to have spoken with victims of the titanic disaster buried in halifax's fairview cemetery 'i don't know much about houdini any more than the casual observer interested in magicians,' he says 'i like to have no preconceived information but to begin all endeavors with spirit dialogs from ground zero status it's a privilege to be asked to be part of the séance' spirit hotline remains dead in 2001, i had the honor of sitting at the séance table in milwaukee, the first journalist to do so sadly, houdini didn't show up or pick up the line to the other side remained dead hatfield is more confident of success 'i'm not a traditional trance medium, but have had great results, using sweet grass and prayer to open doorways,' he says 'and employing evp (electronic voice phenomena) recordings in communion with disembodied souls' among those joining hands around the table will be historians, collectors and experts such as bill radner, whose late father sid owned the world's largest houdini collection this included the only recording of the magician's voice the memorabilia was sold at auction in 2004 'we always have the séance handcuffs on the table,' says radner 'only houdini knew how to open them they are similar to those he escaped from in a 1904 challenge in london staged by britain's daily mirror newspaper' houdini said he would open the handcuffs from the afterlife, if he could 'they were very important to my father,' says radner 'he bought them from harry's brother, theodore, who performed as hardeen, and were first used in a séance in 1948' until 1995, the official houdini séance was held at his graveside in new york's machpelah cemetery it has since taken place around the united states as well as in london and montreal great escapologist, but he couldn't drive 'harry was an amazing guy,' says fan and 'inner circle' member tom boldt, a construction executive from wisconsin 'there wasn't much he couldn't do except perhaps drive he was the first man to fly a plane in australia in 1910 he even toured in russia 'the séance has become part of americana it's an opportunity to retell houdini's incredible rags to riches story and another serious attempt to honor houdini's claim that if anyone could return from the hereafter, it would be him' fellow table member and séance host bruce macnab from dartmouth, nova scotia, wrote an award winning book, 'the apprenticeship of harry houdini,' about the metamorphosis, houdini's tour of eastern canada he spent five years researching it 'houdini spent a month in the area and stayed in the carleton house in halifax,' says mcnab 'he discovered the straitjacket on the tour 'his show at yarmouth was his first one outside of the us and the one in dartmouth his first international one as a headliner' along with frank lloyd wright, senator eugene macarthy and liberace, houdini is one of wisconsin's favorite sons his hometown of appleton, two hours north of milwaukee and one hour south of green bay, offers self guided walking tours around houdini related sites, like the houdini elementary school the school motto is 'the magic of learning the magic begins here' there are the houdini escape gastropub and the stone cellar brewpub, which serves 'houdini honeywheat' or 'weiss' beer from shoe shiner to crowd pleaser born ehrich weiss in budapest in 1874, houdini spent the first nine years of his life in the wisconsin town now famous for dairy farming and a fire engine factory appleton boasted the united states' first enclosed shopping area and the country's first hotel with electrified lighting and first hydroelectric plant houdini's father, samuel, was the town rabbi he preached above heckert's saloon, now a carpet shop and bridal outfitter the family home is now a shopping plaza the only physical landmark left from houdini's boyhood is the wooden temple zion synagogue at 320 north durkhee street, which was built around the time rabbi weiss was sacked from his $750 a year job for not being able to preach in english the family moved to milwaukee in 1883 houdini and his brothers shined shoes and worked as newspaper boys for the milwaukee journal their father became a kosher butcher houdini took his name from the french illusionist, robert eugene houdin his first professional performance is thought to have been at the pasadena athletic club in new york there's a small houdini museum in scranton, pennsylvania the library of congress in washington, dc and the university of texas in austin hold collections there are commercial museums at houdini's magic shop in las vegas and fantasma magic in new york magician david copperfield has a private collection the museum at the castle in appleton also has exhibits its gift shop sells straitjackets but no butter churns or manacles 'we hope to hear from harry soon,' says boldt 'he might make his comeback if he knows it's a sellout crowd 'he was the ultimate showman he once said that only when people were sure he was licked would he appear he was a master of suspense' this year's houdini séance takes place october 31 at the halifax citadel national historic site and is open to the public; entrance fee $45; more information at this leading houdini fan site numerous houdini artifacts can be seen at the history museum at the castle in appleton, wisconsin | harry houdini halifax nova scotia houdini | harry houdini died in 1926, having said he would speak from the afterlife . he also said he'd open a pair of handcuffs, but to date neither has occurred . this year's seance takes place in halifax, nova scotia, on october 31, the anniversary of houdini's death |
donetsk, ukraine (cnn) a frail irene famulak clutched her brother on the airport tarmac, her arm wrapped around him in a tight embrace, tears streaming down their faces it was the first time since 1942 they had seen each other, when she was 17 and he was just 7 siblings wssewolod galezkij and irene famulak were separated in 1942 when nazis took her to a labor camp that was the night the invading nazis came to take her away from her ukrainian home 'i remember it well because i kissed him good bye, and he pushed me away,' she said of her brother 'i asked, 'why did you do that?' and he said that he doesn't like kisses' 'the nazis told my mother that i was being taken to work in a german labor camp for six months but it was, of course, much longer i was there for years' both siblings survived the holocaust and grew up on different sides of the iron curtain, not knowing the fate of the other but after 66 years apart, famulak, 83, was reunited with her long lost 73 year old brother, wssewolod galezkij they held each other close this time, cherishing the moment watch siblings hug for first time in seven decades » 'i don't believe anyone has ever known such happiness now, i truly believe i can die satisfied,' galezkij said famulak made the long journey to donetsk in eastern ukraine from philadelphia, pennsylvania, after being contacted by the american red cross the organization told her they had located her only surviving sibling famulak said she spent world war ii in a labor camp in munich, germany, working in the kitchens she had been taken to the camp with her older sister when it was liberated in 1945, famulak stayed in germany for several years, eventually emigrating to the united states in 1956 she never saw her parents again after that day in 1942 when nazis separated her from her family she and her brother still have no idea what happened to their mother and father some of their siblings lived through the war, but later died; others, they never heard from again after being separated but her younger brother never gave up hope of tracking his sister down he, too, was sent to a german labor camp, but after the war, he moved back to ukraine, then a republic of the soviet union see photos of the 'needle in haystack' reunion » under soviet leader josef stalin, information on lost relatives was kept sealed, and galezkij said it wasn't until reforms in the late 1980s, followed by the soviet collapse, that he started making progress in finding his sister even then, it took him more than 17 years to locate her in the united states he broke down in tears as he spoke of his overwhelming happiness at finding her 'when the red cross told me they had found her in america, it was such a joy,' he said, sobbing in fact, he had to be taken to the hospital because he was so overcome when he first learned she was alive at this week's reunion, there was a doctor on hand at the airport as a precaution back in the united states, there were tears, too linda klein, the director of the american red cross holocaust and war victims tracing center, said the volunteer who helped the siblings find each other got caught up in the emotion herself 'when i showed her the picture, she stood there and wept,' klein said 'she was beside herself' klein's group has reunited 1,500 families since it began work in 1990 she said the former soviet union released records in 1989 of concentration camps it liberated, greatly helping organizers find information on holocaust victims the organization has 100 volunteers a third of them holocaust survivors, klein said the group also helps families find information about their loved ones who died during the holocaust they have brought together more than 50 families this year all of their work is free she says it's often like 'looking for a needle in a haystack' 'we're playing beat the clock right now,' she said, adding, 'it's about families that one day they were together and then they were apart' 'when a connection is made, there are just smiles all around' that was the case for this family in ukraine years of trauma, of separation, of not knowing what happened to loved ones, have been replaced by celebration in a picturesque orchard overlooking rolling fields, galezkij, his wife and their neighbors laid out a feast for his american sister as the vodka flowed, he told her how he had survived for a lifetime without her 'he says he always thought he'd see me someday he dreamt lots about me,' famulak said, as she sat next to her brother 'and he wrote a song for me when he went to sleep, he sang every night and cried' with that, galezkij, weakened by illness and age, burst into song but this time, he sang the words with pure joy cnn's michael sefanov and wayne drash contributed to this report | belayed airframe meurtriere | no related information |
st paul, minnesota (cnn) after rubbing shoulders with susan sarandon, danny glover, charlize theron and charles barkley at the democratic national convention in denver, colorado, new york post celebrity gossip columnist cindy adams jetted off to 'one of the dullest towns in america,' according to her latest column, to sniff out politically inclined celebs in st paul 'i wouldn't know [sarah palin] from an alaskan salmon!' columnist cindy adams says what does john mccain running mate sarah palin have in common with an alaskan salmon? and who will win november? just a few of the five questions we put to the woman famous for knowing famous people over dinner at the cnn grill cnncom: first things first: celebrity wise, does the republican convention compare to denver? adams: it doesn't it can't compare, because hollywood is very left wing and there were so many celebrities in denver everywhere you looked, you fell over somebody who thought they were important here, not cnncom: is that a good or bad thing? adams: it makes for more excitement it makes for more media attention jlo, you got spike lee, you got ashley judd they're all schlepping around thinking they're saving the world, see, thinking they're saving mankind you don't have that here cnncom: what do you hope to accomplish by attending this convention? adams: i would like to help mccain have a fine election i would like to wave my flag i'm a patriotic red, white and blue flag waving american if this is our system, then i want it to work and i just want mccain to have an equal shot just like [barack] obama did cnncom: what are your thoughts on mccain's running mate, sarah palin? adams: i don't know! i don't know this woman! i mean i wouldn't know her from an alaskan salmon none of us knew her it's going to take six months to figure out what she does other than make mooseburgers! i do not know this lady i'm sure she's wonderful i'm not bright enough to have made a vice presidential pick but it's going to take us six months to know who she is right now, i don't like the fact that she mispronounces 'i' raq and 'i' ran if she would say iraq and iran, i would be happier cnncom: any thoughts on who will win in november? adams: of course, i'm right here at the republican convention, and i'm picking up [on] what they're saying, obviously i sort of think that when it finally gets down to it, not everybody in middle america is going to press the lever for obama i just don't think he's ready i sort of think there will be upset but i'm picking up the vibes from the republican convention | gossip denver mccain obama adams sarah palin | gossip columnist says too many people 'thought they were important' in denver . 'i just want mccain to have an equal shot' like obama, adams says . adams also shares her thoughts on sarah palin and the election's outcome |
tehran, iran (cnn) twenty nine people convicted of various crimes, ranging from murder to being a public nuisance while drunk, were hanged in iran, state tv said a convicted iranian drug dealer is hanged from a crane in the southern city of shiraz in september iran's semi official fars news agency reported earlier that 30 people would be put to death it was not immediately clear if the last person's life was spared the iranian judiciary's statement said that all 30 were convicted of various crimes, which included: murder, murder in commission of a crime, disturbing public safety and security, being a public nuisance while drunk and being involved in illegal relationships relationships between men and women who are not married to each other kidnapping and using weapons while committing a crime were also among the charges the statement also said that 20 of the convicts were convicted of drug and alcohol dealing, armed robbery and smuggling arms the judiciary statement said that the convicts had their cases tried by the highest judicial authorities and were found guilty of the charges brought against them the verdicts were final with their sentences carried out on sunday the judiciary said the hangings should serve as a warning to those who are contemplating committing such crimes, the agency reported the statement also said that several other individuals are currently awaiting trial and their sentences will be carried out as soon as the verdicts are pronounced by the courts according to amnesty international, iran executed 317 people last year, second only to china's 470 iran's government launched a campaign march 20 to increase public security and bring the crime rate down police cracked down on alleged drug dealers, whom they called criminal gang members, and alleged habitual criminals who use guns in the commission of their crime alleged weapons smugglers and people who break social and religious laws, including adulterers, were also targets national television showed scenes of what were described as criminals being paraded publicly in chains as a deterrent to others the wave of arrests has now subsided, as officials are now prosecuting the alleged criminals and sentencing those convicted journalist shirzad bozorgmehr contributed to this report | iranian judiciary | twenty nine convicts were hanged, according to iranian state tv . convicts were found guilty of murder, rape, armed robbery and other charges . judiciary said hangings should serve as warning to those contemplating crimes |
london, england (cnn) king abdullah of saudi arabia has begun his visit to the uk as controversy continues over issues related to the middle eastern kingdom king abdullah is greeted by britain's prince charles at heathrow airport queen elizabeth and british prime minister gordon brown met the king at london's horseguards parade parade ground, ahead of a full state banquet at buckingham palace brown will hold talks with king abdullah at downing street wednesday before the king's departure thursday the uk government regards the state visit, the first in two decades, as being of fundamental importance due to saudi arabia's involvement in hot issues such as the war on terror, the situation in both iran and iraq and the attempt to broker peace between israel and the palestinians but the visit has attracted controversy in the uk from activists on a number of issues human rights groups have called on the uk government to react to allegations about the treatment of women and the gay community in the saudi kingdom, while other protesters have attacked the failure of the serious fraud office investigation into alleged bribes surrounding arms deals the press association reported that around 100 demonstrators lined the mall, the approach to buckingham palace, shouting at the procession as it passed by peter tatchell, a human rights campaigner, told the agency that the uk government was showing 'incredible hypocrisy' for making no comment about alleged abuses in saudi arabia while condemning events in myanmar and zimbabwe 'it just shows oil and arms sales seem to have bought the government's silence,' the agency reported him as saying there have also been allegations by policy exchange, a think tank, that organizations linked to the saudi authorities have promoted islamic fundamentalist literature in uk mosques watch how royal visit has stirred anger » vince cable, acting leader of opposition party the liberal democrats, has already announced he will not attend events associated with the visit, while several ministers from brown's ruling labour party are expected to join a human rights protest outside the saudi embassy wednesday king abdullah stirred controversy ahead of his visit monday, accusing british authorities of ignoring intelligence that could have prevented the 2005 london bombings in an interview with the british broadcasting corporation, the saudi king said britain failed to act on information provided by saudi security services ahead of the suicide bombings on london's transport network in july 2005 that killed 52 people and injured more than 770 'we sent information to great britain before the terrorist atrocities in britain, but unfortunately no action was taken and it may have been able to avert the tragedy,' the monarch told the bbc he refused to elaborate on the details of the intelligence, saying that disclosing specific information 'may cause sensitivities' between the two countries' security services a british home office spokesman strenuously denied that any intelligence from saudi arabia had been overlooked in the run up to the atrocities and that information provided by the saudis 'was materially different from what actually occurred on 7 july and clearly not relevant to those acts' 'we have made it clear that if we had intelligence that could have prevented the attacks we would have acted upon it,' the spokesman told cnn he also cited a parliamentary investigation last year that found no evidence that intelligence, passed on by the saudis, could have prevented the bombings british foreign secretary david miliband pulled out of a meeting with his saudi arabian counterpart in london monday, but the foreign office insisted it was for personal reasons and not a snub miliband has just adopted a baby son and is taking time off to look after him, the british foreign office confirmed to cnn miliband's duties were being carried out by junior ministers in his absence e mail to a friend | frustulose irremission indubitable | no related information |
(cnn) it's as red as blood and, for the traditional hungarian chef, no less essential for a healthy life but humble paprika national spice and integral to all the most treasured hungarian dishes has been having a rough time hungarian paprika production has slumped as buyers across the world have turned to cheaper supplies from spain, china and latin america and two years of unpredictable weather in hungary may mean this year's crop of capsicum annuum peppers the raw ingredient of paprika is the poorest in 50 years horror of horrors, hungary may even resort to importing the crop but despite these trials, and past upsets such as the communists nationalizing paprika production, the spice remains as crucial as ever to the hungarian soul to understand hungarians, you need to know a little bit about their favorite ingredient and if all else fails, this paprika primer will make for good talking points if you're stuck in a budapest goulash restaurant on a rainy afternoon 1 it's mexican well, from around those parts, anyway paprika peppers aren't indigenous to europe the spice was among the treasures collected by christopher columbus on his expeditions around southern mexico, central america and the antillies in the 15th century it made its way to hungary via the balkans a little later, where it was grown in the gardens of the aristocracy its name is the diminutive of a slavic word for pepper: 'papar' 'we believe columbus's mission was a success because he came back to europe with a marvelous spice,' says gyula vegh, of the szeged paprika museum, in southern hungary 'he discovered america on the way' more: 11 things to know before visiting hungary 2 there are two yes, two paprika museums and two paprika festivals one in the town of kalocsa (hungarian site only) and another in szeged, which has been the center of the hungarian paprika industry for more than a century and, no, szeged doesn't have a huge fiberglass paprika pepper on a pole just outside town the two museums are also both working production plants the szeged paprika museum (felső tisza part 10, szeged 6721, hungary; +36 20 980 8000) shares a building with the pick salami factory visitors get three varieties of salami to taste and a 10 gram sampling of paprika visitors to the paprika molnar (hungarian site only) factory, in the village of roszke, get a guided tour from the company's ceo, anita molnar, as well as a spice sample 'when people see how much work paprika growing takes, they appreciate what they get in their little takeaway bag,' molnar says dried paprika peppers resemble red potato chips and can be eaten like that they're a big hit among kids visiting the molnar factory 3 hungarian paprika is super sweet it takes seven months, from seed to ground powder, to produce paprika hungarian paprika peppers are sweeter than others because of the country's cool growing season, which retains sugar in the spice the weather also affects the color of the paprika 'in hotter regions such as peru or western china, the sun makes the paprika dark red,' molnar says 'as the sugar content decreases, the red color is enhanced' but hungarian paprika wasn't always so sweet in the 1920s, the peppers were of such a hot variety they could only be used after the pith had been removed, typically by women workers 'however, women with little babies couldn't do the job because they'd have to touch the children afterward,' molnar explains 'so unmarried women, or those with older children, picked the peppers instead' more: guide to hungary's signature dishes 4 it's not just for goulash try cake early last century, 830 workshops in szeged alone processed peppers for paprika but after a hungarian botanist cultivated a new naturally sweet variety, large scale farming became possible and the artisans were replaced hearty and cheap, the classic paprika rich dish goulash was originally considered peasants' food but paprika's good for more than goulash: it's liberally dispensed in the dishes served at sotarto halaszcsarda (roosevelt tér 14, szeged, hungary; +36 62 555 980) fish restaurant in paprika central, szeged in budapest, the upmarket zeller bistro (izabella utca 36 38, budapest 1077, hungary; +36 30 651 0880) gets rave reviews for its wide range of paprika rich offerings it sounds strange but hungarian paprika's also sweet enough to use in desserts 'even i didn't know that paprika could be used for sweets and not only savory dishes,' says lajos kossar, a hungarian food writer and chef 'then i tasted my grandmother's paprika cake' 5 the communists traded it for hard currency after world war ii, paprika production in hungary was nationalized by the communist government local growers were prohibited from milling their own paprika powder and had to hand over all their peppers to state owned mills 'the old lady who looked after me when i was a child was sent to prison for four months for being caught selling two kilos of paprika,' molnar says 'paprika was strategic each year several thousand tonnes were exported for deutschmarks or dollars 'the communists needed the foreign currency' 6 paprika's bursting with vitamin c the hungarian scientist albert szent györgyi won the nobel prize in 1937 partly for the discovery of vitamin c he also found a high vitamin c content in paprika peppers and learned to extract it szent györgyi sent vitamin c crystals from paprika peppers to parts of the world where people were suffering from scurvy more: budapest's best 'ruin bars' london based journalist howard swains's work has appeared in the sunday times magazine, the guardian and wired, among other publications he is the author of the 'spectacular slovakia' travel guide cnn travel's series often carries sponsorship originating from the countries and regions we profile however, cnn retains full editorial control over all of its reports read the policy | columbus america | columbus discovered america and paprika . it's a spice but can be used in desserts . not too long ago, you could be arrested for selling it |
washington (cnn) a 19 year old virginia teenager who says he was kidnapped and tortured by kuwaiti authorities and placed on a 'no fly' list that prevented him from going home has returned to the united states and been reunited with his family fbi agents questioned gulet mohamed after his plane landed at dulles international airport in suburban washington early friday, said his attorney, gadeir abbas that questioning ended, and the teen was subsequently cleared through customs mohamed's family greeted him with balloons and a dozen roses mohamed's lawyers argued that as a us citizen, mohamed had a right to be in the united states, and that the government had provided no reason for including him on the no fly list federal prosecutors later told a judge they were making arrangements to allow the teenager to return to the united states mohamed, a muslim american from alexandria, virginia, is suing the us government over the alleged detention mohamed had been trapped in kuwait for nearly a month, according to a lawsuit filed tuesday in federal court in virginia no fly lists were set up to protect americans against potential threats they are designed to prevent terrorist suspects from boarding planes to and from the united states but abbas says in the lawsuit that the united states impeded his client's basic right to return and live freely in the country abbas is a staff attorney for the council on american islamic relations 'mohamed, who was previously prevented from boarding a flight to the united states, has alleged that he was tortured while in detention in kuwait and has faced unconstitutional coercion to answer questions by fbi agents who ignored his repeated requests for legal representation,' the statement also said mohamed's return came after a hearing tuesday in us district court in alexandria judge anthony j trenga told the government that it should make arrangements to allow mohamed to return unless it could produce evidence against him the lawsuit says mohamed came to the united states from somalia with his family when he was 3, grew up in virginia and is now a naturalized citizen in march 2009, mohamed's curiosity led him halfway around the world to visit relatives living overseas and to learn arabic, according to the lawsuit he started his journey in sanaa, yemen, but then moved to somalia, where he stayed with relatives for several months by august he was on his way to kuwait where an uncle took him in so he could continue his arabic studies, the suit says mohamed followed proper travel procedures, according to the lawsuit, renewing his visitor's visa twice during his stay in kuwait but when he went to kuwait's international airport last december to get another 90 day extension, he waited several hours the lawsuit says mohamed wrote an e mail to his brother in virginia while he waited, saying the process was taking longer than usual that was the last time anyone heard from him for a week, the suit says according to the lawsuit, mohamed says he was approached at the airport by two men who handcuffed and blindfolded him they drove him to another location in an suv mohamed claims he was beaten, tortured and interrogated over the next week the lawsuit describes him being whipped, threatened with electrocution and questioned by captors who had private information about his family in the united states they also questioned him about his relationship with anwar al awlaki, an american born muslim cleric who has close ties to al qaeda and who is believed to be in yemen mohamed's lawyer says mohamed denies any link to al awlaki mohamed was transferred to a deportation facility in kuwait on december 28, the lawsuit says he used a fellow detainee's hidden cell phone and was able to contact his family and retain a cair attorney according to the lawsuit, kuwaiti officials told mohamed's family they were holding him on behalf of the united states his lawyers say kuwaiti officials tried to deport mohamed but were unable to do so because the united states had placed him on the no fly list a us official confirmed to cnn that mohamed is on the list, but would not explain why us state department spokesman philip crowley denied mohamed was detained at the behest of the united states cnn's laurie ure contributed to this report | jockey scribatious rumbelow | no related information |
(cnn) russia's upper house of parliament has approved a controversial measure banning adoption of russian children by us families, russian media reported wednesday the legislation now goes to president vladimir putin to be signed into law, the semiofficial ria novosti news agency said read more: russia's lower house approves bill to ban us adoption the legislation could affect hundreds of american families seeking to adopt americans adopted close to 1,000 russian children last year, according to us state department figures though the number has been dropping in recent years, russia remains the third most popular country for us citizens to adopt after china and ethiopia the us ambassador to russia michael mcfaul tweeted that passage of the bill 'saddens' him, but said he's open to dialogue the bill also bars any political activities by nongovernmental organizations receiving funding from the united states, if such activities could affect russian interests, the news agency said the legislation also imposes sanctions against us officials thought to have violated human rights read more: russian lawmakers eye adoption ban to us the vote in the federation council, russia's upper house, was unanimous, but foreign minister sergei lavrov has criticized the bill it is expected to be signed by putin in coming days lawmakers in the state duma, russia's lower house of parliament, adopted the bill last week the move by russian politicians is widely seen as retaliation for a law that us president barack obama signed on december 14 that bill, called the magnitsky act, imposes us travel and financial restrictions on human rights abusers in russia 'the united states is concerned by measures in the bill passed in the russian duma today that, if it becomes law, would halt inter country adoptions between the united states and russia and would restrict the ability of russian civil society organizations to work with american partners,' us state department spokesman patrick ventrell said last week the magnitsky act is named in honor of russian lawyer sergei magnitsky, who uncovered the largest tax fraud in the country's history in the form of rebates claimed by government officials who stole money from the state magnitsky died in 2009 after a year in a moscow detention center, apparently beaten to death the russian bill's implementation would nullify a recent agreement between the united states and russia in which the countries agreed to additional safeguards to protect children and parties involved in inter country adoptions 'american families have welcomed more than 60,000 russian children into american homes over the past 20 years,' ventrell said last week 'just last month we implemented a bilateral adoptions agreement with russia to improve safeguards for adopted children and their families if russian officials have concerns about the implementation of this agreement, we stand ready to work with them to improve it and remain committed to supporting inter country adoptions between our two countries' only china has more adoptions to the united states than russia backers of the russian bill said american adoptive parents have been abusive, citing 19 deaths of russian children since the 1990s in 2010, an american woman caused outrage after she sent her adopted son back to russia alone on a one way flight, saying the boy, then 7, had violent episodes that made her family fear for its safety konstantin dolgov, russian foreign ministry's special representative for human rights, said on twitter that russia is 'well aware of, and have pointed out more than once, the inadequate protection of adopted russian children in the us' he also noted that the united states is one of three nations that has not signed the 1989 un convention on the rights of the child anthony lake, un children's fund executive director, touted the importance of 'inter country adoption' 'while welcoming prime minister dmitri medvedev's call for the improvement of the child welfare system, unicef urges that the current plight of the many russian children in institutions receives priority attention,' lake said unicef asked that russia let children's 'best interests' guide the 'design and development of all efforts to protect children' 'we encourage the government to establish a robust national social protection plan to help strengthen russian families alternatives to the institutionalization of children are essential, including permanent foster care, domestic adoption and inter country adoption,' he said the united states has signed but not ratified the convention, which has sparked concerns from conservatives over its impact on us sovereignty and parental rights groups such as amnesty international and human rights watch had urged lawmakers to reject the bill 'this bill hits back at russia's most vulnerable children and could deprive them of the loving families they desperately need,' hugh williamson, europe and central asia director at human rights watch, said last week john dalhuisen, amnesty international's europe and central asia program director, has said, 'this bill is frankly a childish response to the magnitsky act' | pedologic titlist cogways | no related information |
(cnn) the curtain is coming down on the new york city opera after it failed to raise the $7 million it needed to stave off bankruptcy on top of that money, the opera company also needed to raise an additional $13 million by the end of 2013 to put toward future seasons, it said in a news release because it 'did not achieve the goal of its emergency appeal,' it said in a statement monday, 'the board and management will begin the necessary financial and operational steps to wind down the company, including initiating the chapter 11 (bankruptcy) process' the company had hoped to raise $1 million of the $7 million through an online site, kickstartercom, in a campaign that ended monday it raised only $301,019 from more than 2,000 donors the organization raised $15 million outside of the kickstarter campaign, according to risa heller, spokeswoman for the new york city opera 'the odds have been against us for a long time,' george steel, general manager and artistic director for the company, said in a video for the failed online campaign, 'but in the face of that difficulty we have made tremendous progress' the company, dubbed 'the people's opera' by former new york city mayor fiorello laguardia, was founded on the principle that every new yorker should be able to afford to go to the opera, steel said he explained that in order for the company to break even, it would have needed to sell every ticket for $600 instead, the starting ticket price was set at $25 to make the experience affordable the new york city opera received critical praise in the past for its world premieres of works including robert ward's 'the crucible' and anthony davis' 'the life and times of malcolm x' it opened its current season on september 17 with the opera 'anna nicole,' which turned out to be the company's last production 'we need the help of the people we were founded to serve to put on our season this year,' steel had said, speaking to new york residents and opera fans everywhere 'we need you to come together and carry it forward into the future i hope we can count on you' in a statement from the american federation of musicians, president tino gagliardi said that despite the musicians making great sacrifices in wages and benefits to keep the city opera afloat they long feared this would happen 'nyco management's reckless decisions to move the new york city opera out of its newly renovated home at lincoln center predictably resulted in financial disaster for the company,' gagliardi said the opera company left lincoln center in 2011 in an effort to save money since then it had staged performances at various venues this year marked the 70th anniversary of the new york city opera, which opened in 1943 as the second opera house in the city the metropolitan opera was founded over 60 years earlier, in 1880 | xeromyrum etuvee traipses | no related information |
san diego (cnn) introducing a new word: 'cultuphobia' it means the fear that another person's culture is taking over your own the word may be new, but the concept is ancient america is a land of immigrants that has, in truth, never liked immigrants no matter where they came from and whether they came with the proper documents or a letter of reference from the queen of england part of the reason that we don't like immigrants is because they frighten us and one way in which they frighten us is because we worry that with the changes they bring they'll wind up marginalizing us and making us less important and less relevant there is a name for that fear: cultuphobia for an example, look at what happened this week to mark the launch of the new english language, latino targeted television network fusion, founded by abc and univision the parent companies came up with what they thought was the cute idea of swapping anchors on their top rated morning shows the spanish language show, 'despierta america,' which is based in miami, sent hosts raul gonzalez and karla martinez to new york for some early morning chitchat with george stephanopoulos and robin roberts, the hosts of 'good morning america' meanwhile, gma sent lara spencer and sam champion to miami to visit with the 'despierta america' crew come to think of it, this was a pretty good idea and no one seemed to enjoy it more than the hosts who switched places in new york, gonzalez and martinez were on the 'good morning america' set on the same day as enrique iglesias, who sang a new song everyone seemed comfortable with one another, and there was a lot of laughing and dancing in miami, spencer told the huffington post that she 'had no idea how much fun it was' to be on spanish language television and implored producers to 'please have me back' champion proclaimed that he loved the experience and didn't want to go back to new york 'i'm staying,' he told the website more laughing and dancing, this time to mariachi music it is no wonder that it all went so well, proclaimed mexican actor eugenio derbez, who was also a guest on 'despierta america' that day his hit movie 'instructions not included' is in limited release in the united states after all, these days, the language barrier is just a puddle jump and, he said, among latinos in the us, 'everyone speaks both english and spanish' here is where the story gets interesting judging from the reaction on the 'good morning america' page on facebook and the comment section following news stories about the switch, many regular viewers of 'good morning america' did not appreciate the gimmick in fact, many of them were furious some said they changed the channel others vowed to never watch the show again if there is a repeat performance 'this had better be a one time thing,' wrote one disgruntled viewer one woman complained that, when she tunes in to her favorite morning news show, she expects to get what she always gets the news of the day 'in english' there's the giveaway for many of those angry 'good morning america' viewers, it might just have been a case of them preferring to stick with what they like but for others, it was a case of cultuphobia these viewers aren't just protecting their favorite show, but as they probably see it their language, culture and civilization this is the other side to cultural marketing, and it's ugly a corporation or in this case, a media company such as abc might vie for a larger market share by going after a new set of viewers and alienate its core audience members, who feel slighted, ignored or insulted when that happens, the core isn't quiet the core speaks up maybe next time, the company decides it isn't worth it i hope that doesn't happen here i hope abc will stand its ground and continue down this road of trying to reach latino viewers still, i'm not sure how fusion will perform in the long run i have concerns, and i'm not alone while the new network is marketed to younger viewers who speak english, it doesn't seem that they've thought deeply about how to reach their viewers that's not an easy demographic group to tap into, for either marketers or media plus, fusion would be better off not becoming simply an english language, hipper version of univision, where as i would put it the anchors are white and the politics are blue the liberal spanish language network is all about advocacy journalism and protecting what it sees as the interests of latino immigrants especially the undocumented yet, on most of its telenovelas, which are produced in mexico, the lead actress is european looking with light skin so, at univision, they seem to believe that dark skinned immigrants should have the full pallet of rights except, apparently, the right to appear in a starring role on spanish language television that's evidence of a different kind of phobia, and a depressing reminder that in either language, and either of side of the border people are the same, and prejudice is alive and well join us at facebook/cnnopinion the opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of ruben navarrette | ruben navarrette navarrette spanish good morning america | ruben navarrette: 'cultuphobia' is fear that another culture is taking yours over . navarrette: we worry that new cultural changes will marginalize us . when spanish hosts came to 'good morning america,' some viewers were upset . navarrette: either they didn't like their morning routine changed, or they were 'cultuphobic' |
(cnn) rafael nadal sealed a remarkable comeback in 2013 by beating stanislas wawrinka at the atp world tour finals on wednesday to ensure he will finish the year as world no 1 the spaniard also qualified for the semifinals of the only major tennis tournament he has never won, with the 27 year old boasting a career grand slam in addition to an olympic gold medal since returning to the sport in february after seven months out with a knee injury, the 13 time grand slam champion has won 10 titles in a year which he has described as one of his best beating wawrinka in london confirmed that he finishes on top of the world for the third time in his career, with novak djokovic now forced to settle for second place the serbian had held the honor the past two years, while nadal is the first player to win it back twice 'a lot of emotions today,' nadal said following his 7 6 (7 5) 7 6 (8 6) over the swiss eighth seed 'it's the perfect scenario to be finally the year end no 1 in this fantastic stadium, in front of this unbelievable crowd, so many thanks for making me feel like this 'this has been an unbelievable comeback year' it certainly has when he returned to action in chile in february, nadal moved so gingerly at times that he felt it better to leave some points as he attempted to protect his troublesome knee a first title since the 2012 french open followed later that month in brazil, and these were soon followed by further triumphs in mexico and indian wells comprehensive confirmation of the fact that 'the king of clay' had fully recovered his abilities came at the french open when he beat djokovic in a compelling semifinal before defeating compatriot david ferrer to claim a record eighth title at roland garros humiliation followed at wimbledon as the former champion was beaten by belgium's 135th ranked steve darcis, the first time nadal had exited a grand slam in the first round yet he recovered to clinch the us open in september, beating djokovic in the final, and before a packed crowd at london's o2 arena on wednesday, nadal said his extraordinary return would have been impossible without his family 'the team is everything for me,' he explained 'without them, i would never have the chance to be back where i am today being the no 1 at the end of the season when there are such unbelievable competitors in front of me 'without my family team behind me, it is impossible to think like this, especially after what happened last year' swiss finals debutant wawrinka now has a win and loss ahead of his final round robin match against ferrer, while nadal will close against tomas berdych third ranked ferrer lost out to czech berdych in wednesday's late game 6 4 6 4 | rafael nadal spaniard switzerland stanislas wawrinka atp world tour finals london nadal | rafael nadal will be the year end world no 1 for the third time in his career . spaniard beats switzerland's stanislas wawrinka at atp world tour finals in london . nadal also books place in semifinals of biggest competition he has yet to win |
london, england (cnn) proving that records are meant to be broken, even after 114 years, a british led rowing team saturday won bragging rights for crossing the north atlantic the four men, who left new york city on june 17, completed their journey at st mary's harbour on the isles of scilly after rowing, rowing, rowing and more rowing for almost 44 days, the ocean rowing society international reported the artemis ocean racing team, led by leven brown, finished in 43 days, 21 hours, 26 minutes and 48 seconds, knocking more than 11 days off the 55 day record set by a pair of norwegians in 1896, according to the uk press association dozens of people lined up at the dock and crowded on to boats in the harbor to witness the team's arrival other members of the crew are ray carroll of ireland, don lennox of britain and livar nysted of faroe islands 'the funniest thing for me was walking up the quayside after more than six weeks of not walking, my legs felt more than a bit unsteady,' brown, 37, of edinburgh, scotland, told the bbc | artemis ocean rowing team north atlantic new york england | the four man crew from artemis ocean rowing were in their boat for six weeks . team broke north atlantic rowing record set in 1896 . boat traveled from new york to islands off england |
(cnn) the head of pakistan's ruling coalition announced thursday that the government will move to impeach president pervez musharraf president pervez musharraf took control of pakistan in a military coup in 1999 'the coalition reaffirmed the resolve of democracy and democratic forces will work jointly to make a transition to genuine democracy,' the head of pakistan people's party asif ali zardari said, reading a joint communique with his coalition partners before pursuing impeachment proceedings, pakistani lawmakers will demand musharraf take a vote of confidence in the newly elected parliament, which he had vowed to do last year, zardari said 'the people of pakistan gave a clear mandate in favor of democracy and democratic forces and voted for the change to oust gen musharraf by defeating his party,' zardari added 'in spite of his clear commitment that if his party was defeated in the election he would resign, he continues to cling to the office of the president' watch an expert talk about the impact of a possible impeachment » if musharraf does not request a vote of confidence, the national assembly will meet on monday to consider impeachment proceedings, ppp spokesman capt wasif syed told cnn speaking a short time before thursday's announcement, syed said there are enough votes in parliament right now to impeach the president but musharraf may still have one card up his sleeve: he could move to dissolve parliament and dismiss the prime minister amid the political upheaval, prime minister yousaf raza gilani will replace musharraf at the opening ceremony of the olympics on friday in beijing, pakistan's state run news agency reported musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 bloodless military coup, has seen his power erode significantly since he stepped down as the country's military ruler last year and since the opposition parties' victory in february's parliamentary elections the new civilian government is under a lot of pressure to control taliban and al qaeda militants in its tribal region along the afghan border the cia recently accused pakistan's intelligence service of providing support for the militants who bombed india's embassy in kabul, afghanistan last month fighting on thursday between pakistani paramilitary troops and taliban forces killed 25 taliban and five soldiers along the afghan border, an army spokesman told cnn asked about the situation, dr ishtiaq ahmad an islamabad based political analyst told cnn on wednesday that he believes musharraf 'will fight back' against any attempt to remove him from power 'before they impeach the president, he might pre empt them by using article 58(2b),' he said, referring to the constitutional article that gives the president power to dissolve parliament and dismiss the prime minister ahmad, a professor of international relations at islamabad's quaid i azam university, said any attempt to remove musharraf would be a 'next to an impossible task' because the president still has support 'the army doesn't want him to be eliminated the americans are still favoring him,' he noted cnn's reza sayah contributed to this report | viral nontrigonometrical urochord | no related information |
washington (cnn) control tower tapes reveal that the pilot of presidential hopeful barack obama's plane told air traffic controllers there was an emergency when he made an unscheduled landing last month in st louis, missouri barack obama's plane had to make an unscheduled landing on july 7 in st louis, missouri on july 7 the midwest airlines md 81 made an unscheduled landing during the flight from chicago, illinois, to charlotte, north carolina the owner of the plane initially said the landing was not caused by an emergency however the tapes, released to abc news through a freedom of information act request, contradict that report abc first reported on the tapes on thursday federal aviation administration spokeswoman laura brown told cnn thursday evening that preliminary information for incidents is often incomplete or incorrect watch what the tapes revealed » according to the tapes, the pilot told an faa air traffic controller that he had limited ability to move the plane's nose up and down 'we have limited pitch authority at flight levels; we're descending to see if we can regain pitch authority,' the pilot told the air traffic controller 'at this time we would like to declare this an emergency and also have cfr (fire and rescue equipment) standing by in st louis,' the pilot said the pilot remained calm throughout the recording midwest airlines acknowledged at the time that the pilot had detected a control problem in the pitch of the plane after an emergency evacuation chute opened in the aircraft's tail cone while in flight normally, the chute deploys only after landing and after the tail cone pops off the pitch, or angle of the nose of an airplane, affects the pilot's ability to control the plane the airline said the pilot had 'full authority of the aircraft' according to the tapes, the pilot said he regained control as the plane began to descend into st louis 'we had a pitch authority problem, now that we have come down to a lower altitude it seems to have rectified itself we do have pitch control of the aircraft at this time,' he said fire trucks met the aircraft when it landed at lambert st louis international airport after the plane landed, obama told reporters the plane landed because of a mechanical problem and noted it marked the first time he had had to do so 'just thought we'd spice things up a little bit today,' he joked 'anytime a pilot says that something's not working the way its supposed to, then, you know, you make sure you tighten your seat belt everything seemed under control, the pilots knew what they were doing' the national transportation safety board, which is investigating the incident, said last month that there was no evidence of tampering an 'examination of the hardware did not reveal any evidence of missing components, nor any evidence of tampering,' the board said cnn's jeanne meserve and mike ahlers contributed to this report | abc st louis | on tape pilot says he has limited ability to move plane's nose up and down . abc obtained audio tape in freedom of information act request . when incident occurred, officials had said it was not an emergency . pilot says on tape he was able to regain control during descent into st louis |
dubai, united arab emirates (cnn) a helicopter crashed into an oil drilling platform off the coast of dubai, killing all seven people on board, officials said thursday the helicopter which crashed was a bell 212, the same model as pictured above among the victims were an american and a briton, said hanan moussa of the united arab emirates' general civil aviation authority also killed were two indians, a pakistani, a filipino and a venezuelan, moussa said the bell 212 helicopter crashed wednesday on the deck of an oil rig, then broke up and fell into the sea, said a spokesman for aerogulf services which operated the chopper a fire broke out aboard the rig, located about 43 miles (70 km) off the coast of dubai the fire was quickly contained, the aerogulf spokesman said authorities have launched an investigation into the cause of the crash cnn's ammar ben aziz and caroline faraj contributed to this report | dubai american british indian pakistani filipino venezuelan bell 212 | helicopter crashes into an oil drilling platform off dubai, killing seven people . victims were: american, british, indian, pakistani, filipino and venezuelan . bell 212 helicopter crashed on the deck of the oil rig |
columbus junction, iowa (cnn) this rural community in the southeast corner of iowa is one of the last places you would expect to find a large number of students who don't speak english, yet english language learners have had a huge effect on the schools there, according to columbus community schools superintendent rich bridenstine nationally, 9% of students in the us are considered to have limited proficiency in english, according to the national center for education statistics about 11% of those students attend school in rural settings like columbus junction a quarter of the columbus community school students are english language learners, a large enough number to have an impact on the classrooms bridenstine sees a difference between a child who can speak general english and one who has the academic english skills required to get through school 'the english language learners don't have vocabularies big enough to learn at the rate and speed they need to that their native english speaking counterparts do,' bridenstine said columbus community schools is a majority minority school district that pulls in students from columbus junction and four other nearby communities bridenstine says 66% of the 895 students are hispanic and 31% are white the largest employer in columbus junction is a tyson fresh meats pork processing plant, which employs a high number of hispanics, and more recently some burmese the children of those employees attend the schools there 'many of our young people come to us academically behind their vocabularies are very limited,' bridenstine said 'their parents often don't have high school educations either' english language learners put a strain on school systems, according to elena silva of education sector, a think tank in washington, dc 'teachers across the board are not trained or well prepared for this population,' she said 'we need a population of teachers that are prepared to teach students who are in the process of developing their language skills' rural schools in particular have difficulty with english language learners, according to silva 'they simply don't have the resources, training, funding and infrastructure to support english language learners,' she said the ell students also have different cultural experiences, so teachers in columbus junction have adapted by teaching more background 'it's taking what you know about a subject as a teacher and not presupposing that other kids have the same background that you think they should have,' bridenstine said to help with the language skills, the teachers in columbus junction are encouraged to have students explain what they have learned to a student partner using english 'we are making gains, but it isn't enough with what no child left behind is requiring of us,' bridenstine said under no child left behind, schools are required to reach 100% proficiency in math and english by the year 2014 the immigrants do provide some definite advantages, according to bridenstine 'the immediate benefit is financial without our hispanics and coming burmese, we would be a school district probably around 300 or 400, looking at consolidation,' he said columbus is currently the largest school district in its county 'we are blessed with a tapestry of diversity and there are a lot of people in the community that treasure that,' bridenstine added | molybdic syenitic ketonimide | no related information |
(cnn) real madrid forward cristiano ronaldo has been included on the shortlist for the fifa world player of the year award the 2008 winner is one of five contenders for the honor alongside real madrid team mate kaka and barcelona trio andres iniesta, lionel messi and xavi ronaldo transferred from manchester united to the bernabeu for a world record fee in the region of $130 million in july, while brazil playmaker kaka joined from ac milan in the summer argentina's messi and spain midfield duo iniesta and xavi were at the forefront of barcelona's treble winning success, which saw the catalan club claim the champions league, the primera division title and the copa del rey messi is favorite to land the gong after recently winning the ballon d'or award for the european player of the year the nominees were confirmed following a poll of national teams' captains and coaches from a list drawn up of fifa football committee experts the winnerswill be announced at the fifa world player gala on december 21 in zurich, switzerland also at the gala the best 11 players of the year, as chosen by over 50,000 professional players from all over the world, will be honored in the fifa/fifpro world xi while the fifa puskas award will be presented to the player who has scored the 'most beautiful goal' during the past year | bucconinae canidae satirisation | no related information |
(cnn) british police are investigating the death of a man who was found unconscious at a soccer match on saturday a 30 year old, who has not yet been named, died in hospital in the early hours of sunday morning following stoke city's premier league match at home to blackburn rovers he was treated at the britannia stadium for a head injury and cardiac arrest before being taken to the university hospital of north staffordshire, stoke's web site reported 'a 30 year old man was pronounced dead at 155 am this morning,' staffordshire police said in a statement on sunday 'the circumstances are being fully investigated and a 25 year old man remains in custody and is helping police with their inquiries' stoke's web site reported that the dead man was one of 1,300 blackburn supporters to attend the match, which city won 3 0 he was found on the concourse of the stadium's seat stand at about 4 pm during the halftime break 'this is the tragic loss of a young man our thoughts and deepest sympathies go to his family,' stoke's chief executive tony scholes said blackburn also released a statement of condolence to the man's family | british 30 year old the early hours of sunday morning stoke blackburn | british police investigating death of man who found unconscious at a soccer match . a 30 year old man died in hospital in the early hours of sunday morning . he was found collapsed in a stand at halftime in match between stoke and blackburn . stoke report that he was treated at the scene for a head injury and cardiac arrest |
(cnn) on a day of national celebration in pakistan, the country's cricket team provided the perfect present for quaid day by defeating archrival india in its twenty20 encounter in bangalore, india on the 136th anniversary since the birth of father of the nation, quaid e azam muhammad ali jinnah, pakistan's players marked the day in style with a hugely impressive performance the quaid e azam was the man who helped secure the formation of the state of pakistan on august 14, 1947, and went on to become the nation's first ever governor general he is highly revered and his memory was not forgotten by pakistan captain mohammad hafeez, who dedicated the victory to the national hero 'it is a gift for the whole nation, it is quaid day back home,' said hafeez following his team's five wicket victory india pakistan cricket series hit by media blackout pakistan's joy came following an enthralling contest during the first bilateral series between the two teams in five years needing to surpass india's 133 9, pakistan fought back from a nightmare start to snatch victory with just two deliveries remaining pakistan's hope of trumping its fierce rival appeared to have faded when india reduced the visitor to 12 3 but shoaib malik, who is married to indian tennis star sania mirza, hit 57 from 50 balls, which included a giant six to win the game it was a game which india had looked set to run away with as openers gautam gambhir (43) and ajinkya rahane (42) put on 77 for the opening wicket tendulkar quits one day internationals but a huge collapse, which accounted for nine wickets and just 47 runs, allowed pakistan back into the contest umar gul took 3 21 and saaed ajmal 2 25 as india finished on 133 9 from its 20 overs india's low total looked less than formidable but an early crisis almost left pakistan facing an embarrassing defeat bhuvneshwar kumar produced a blistering spell on debut, taking 3 9 as the top order was ripped apart it was only when malik and hafeez finally got themselves into the contest with a 106 run partnership that pakistan finally looked to threaten when hafeez fell for 61, the tourist needed 16 from the remaining 17 deliveries to win and despite a few nervous moments, it was left to malik to seal victory, smashing the ball for six with three balls to go before sparking scenes of celebrations amongst his teammates malik said: 'we were struggling when the debutant bowler, i don't remember his name, took those early wickets, hafeez played a brilliant innings 'you are playing against india, pressure is always there, but you have to play according to the situation' | barnmen caproyl millenaries | no related information |
(cnn) pakistan's first cricket tour of india in five years is set to be hit by a news blackout in an escalating row over press freedom the high profile tour kicks off with a twenty20 international in bangalore on christmas day, but all the leading news agencies, such as thomson reuters and associated press, have decided against filing match reports the disagreement stems from an earlier decision by the board of control for cricket in india (bcci) to exclude photographic news agencies from covering games, including the recent test series between india and england 'it is regrettable that the politically charged pakistan tour will be affected by the bcci's failure to recognize the long standing importance of photographic news agencies in the flow of sport and news images every day,' said the news media coalition, which represents a group of media organizations 'as a direct result of the bcci stance, great sporting moments from the cricket tours to india are going unrecorded and therefore lost forever england's first four games were the hidden series and the pakistan tour is heading for the same fate that's not good for cricket nor for the image of india abroad,' andrew moger, executive director of the nmc, was quoted on its website the bcci offered it's own photographic content for the india england series, but newspapers and leading websites outside of india declined to use them the bcci is arguing that international news agencies such as getty images use the pictures for commercial as well as strictly editorial purposes and should pay a license fee the world association of newspapers (wan ifra), said in statement: 'all publishers, including those in india are concerned that the bcci has decided to act against the photographic agency sector which has for years provided images for editorial customers in every country without problem this is denying the ability of editors to select from the best of photography for the benefit of readers' as the row over media coverage escalated, security has been stepped up at the m chinnaswamy stadium ahead of the opening game police bomb squad officers with sniffer dogs have undertaken a painstaking search amid fears that the game could be disrupted by protests from indian nationalist organizations it is the first time pakistan has visited india for a series of matches since the 2008 mumbai attacks which led to a breakdown in diplomatic relations between the two sub continent nations but they did meet in the semifinal of last year's world cup in the northern indian city of mohali when the prime ministers of both countries shook hands indian cricket fans are still digesting the news that their iconic batsman sachin tendulkar has retired from one day internationals with immediate effect the 39 year old tendulkar had already retired from twenty20 internationals, but was expected to have been available for the three 50 over one day international matches against pakistan over the new year period over 3,000 pakistan fans are expected to watch the opener and 60 year old mohammed bashir, who lives in chicago, told afp that the fact the matches were going ahead at all was good news 'that the teams are playing each other on indian soil is in itself a big thing we should not expect anything more to come out of this encounter,' bashir, who cut a colorful figure in the green and gold of pakistan, said | india pakistan first mumbai 2008 m chinnaswamy bangalore | news blackout for india v pakistan cricket series . coverage boycotted in a row over press freedom . first time pakistan has visited india since mumbai attacks in 2008 . tight security in place at m chinnaswamy stadium in bangalore |
(cnn) roma's hopes of a record extending 11th successive italian serie a victory were thwarted sunday by a team that hadn't won in six matches torino's streak was stretched to seven by the 1 1 draw, which gave turin rival juventus a boost in its bid to win a third successive title the result left league leader roma three points clear of juve and napoli, who both won on saturday the capital club, seeking a first title since 2001 under the guidance of new french coach rudi garcia, seemed on course for another routine win when dutch midfielder kevin strootman fired a 28th minute opener but torino hit back in the 63rd minute through striker alessio cerci, whose eighth league goal this season the second best behind fiorentina's giuseppe rossi moved his team up to 12th place it was only the second goal scored against roma in the top flight this season, the other being by parma in september the visiting side, which had the only 100% record in the major european leagues, again missed the attacking presence of captain francesco totti and ivory coast forward gervinho, both sidelined by injury inter milan reclaimed fourth place with a 3 0 win at udinese that kept walter mazzarri's team above verona on goal difference verona beat cagliari 2 1, while roma's seventh placed city rival lazio lost ground with a 2 0 home defeat by genoa in france, former roma coach claudio ranieri suffered his first ligue 1 defeat this season with monaco, which lost 2 0 at lille lille climbed above the principality club into second place behind champion paris saint germain, which has a two point advantage following friday's 4 0 win over lorient nolan roux scored both goals to inflict monaco's second successive reverse, having also lost in the league cup in midweek in spain, atletico madrid kept the pressure on la liga leader barcelona with a 2 0 win at home to fifth placed athletic bilbao diego costa joined cristiano ronaldo at the top of the scoring charts with his 13th goal this season, while strike partner david villa added the other his sixth since leaving barca the victory put atletico a point behind the unbeaten champion and five clear of third placed city rival real madrid, which struggled to a 3 2 win over bottom club rayo vallecano on saturday valencia moved into the top half of the table with a 1 0 win at getafe, while malaga climbed clear of the relegation zone with a 3 2 victory at home to third bottom real betis in england, tottenham and everton both failed to claim second place in the premier league after playing out a goalless draw visiting spurs moved up to fourth, on goal difference behind liverpool and chelsea, and five points adrift of london rival arsenal it left everton a point further back in seventh, below manchester city and southampton tottenham goalkeeper hugo lloris played the last half an hour after receiving a heavy blow to the head which required nine minutes of injury time to be added the france international refused to go off the pitch despite medical advice 'hugo still doesn't recall everything about the incident,' spurs manager andre villas boas said 'i made the call to keep him on the pitch because of the signs he was giving the saves he did after the incident proved that right' promoted cardiff won the first welsh derby to be played in the epl, triumphing 1 0 against swansea whose former defender steven caulker headed the only goal | botargo barbing mesotonic | no related information |
atlanta, georgia (cnn) air traffic delays began to clear up tuesday evening after computer problems left travelers across the united states waiting in airports, the federal aviation administration said flights at atlanta's hartsfield jackson international airport were delayed tuesday afternoon airports experienced hours of flight delays tuesday afternoon after a communications breakdown at a federal aviation administration facility, the administration said the facility south of atlanta had problems processing data, requiring that all flight plan information be processed through a facility in salt lake city, utah, overloading that facility the two facilities process all flight plans for commercial and general aviation flights in the united states, faa spokeswoman kathleen bergen said delays had begun to clear by 5 pm et by 6 pm, the administration said minimal delays remained as the salt lake facility began processing requests closer to normal speed 'the situation is pretty much resolved,' faa spokeswoman diane spitaliere said at about 9:30 pm et, most major airports were reporting flights departing on time or with less than 15 minute delays newark international was still reporting delays of up to 1 hour and 45 minutes and laguardia airport in new york reported 45 minute delays although weather problems were cited as the main problem john f kennedy international in new york and hartsfield jackson atlanta international were reporting delays of up to 30 minutes, although both of those airports also had experienced thunderstorms and other weather related difficulties the administration said there were no radar outages and said it had not lost contact with any planes during the computer glitch the roughly 5,000 flights that were in the air when the breakdown happened were not affected, just those that were waiting to take off ireporter stuck in philadelphia 'this is really not a safety issue, this is an aggravation issue,' cnn aviation expert miles o'brien said watch miles o'brien track the delays » the problem appeared similar to a june 8, 2007, computer issue that caused severe flight delays and some cancellations along the east coast ireportcom: are you stuck at the airport? ireporter stephanie mccauley sat on the tarmac for more than an hour at baltimore/washington international airport on tuesday on a flight bound for albany, new york 'it happens it's just weird, because you're sitting, and you don't know if it's going to be 20 minutes or 2 hours,' mccauley said cheryl stewart, spokeswoman for baltimore/washington international airport, said that as of about 3:40 pm, some flights were being allowed to take off, but the faa was no longer accepting new flight plans 'we're just kind of waiting for further word,' stewart said on the faa's web site, delays were being reported at all 40 airports on the administration's primary flight information map the worst delays were in the northeast, bergen said chicago's midway and o'hare airports in illinois were reporting delays of up to 90 minutes the web site, which normally lists the length of expected flight delays, was no longer listing that information tuesday afternoon the total number of flights affected was unknown, although it was believed to be in the hundreds mark biello, a cnn photographer sitting on a delayed flight at hartsfield jackson international airport in atlanta on tuesday afternoon, said flights there were being cleared for takeoff one at a time watch mark biello at the airport » 'they're releasing the planes but on a one by one basis, so it's really backed the whole system up, at least in the atlanta area,' biello said at philadelphia international airport in pennsylvania, ireporter randy hehn and his wife were on their way home to denver, colorado, after a trip to europe he said he'd left stockholm, sweden, 11 hours earlier 'i don't really want to spend the rest of the evening in the airport; i'm hoping they get this fixed,' hehn said in a video posted on ireportcom 'i see planes moving around, but i don't know 'we're just coming back from europe, we're really tired, and this is bad news' | farcie areologic clancular | no related information |
(cnn) a worldwide network of fraudsters conned thousands of people into buying fake golf clubs on ebay, a london court has heard ebay was hit by a massive worldwide fraud in counterfeit golf clubs in allegedly the largest fraud uncovered by the online auction site, the counterfeit clubs, as well as clothing and other golf accessories, were sold 'on a scale, it is believed, has never been seen before,' prosecutors told snaresbrook crown court the mastermind behind the million dollar operation, greg bellchambers, from east london, has already admitted fraud and conspiracy his six co defendants, who deny playing a 'crucial role' in the plot, are said to have assisted bellchambers in managing accounts and acting as distributors in the scam bellchambers sourced the 'below par' clubs in china and then marketed them on ebay as the original top of the line brands the fraud only came to light when a disgruntled customer complained to a local trading standards office in london about sub standard acushnet clubs and an investigation was launched when bellchambers' home was raided, 'a large quantity' of clubs were seized, with all of them fake apart from those which belonged to the 45 year old adam davis, for the prosecution, said: 'nearly every major golf brand has been affected by the sale of counterfeit goods through the ebay accounts 'it is the belief of the fraud investigation unit at ebay that this case represents the single largest counterfeiting conspiracy yet uncovered on their web site' prosecutors claimed that many other people were involved, but proceedings have not been brought against them as they live abroad or there is insufficient information to identify them the trial of bellchambers' six co defendants is expected to last three months all deny conspiracy | resaddles itemization tourbillion | no related information |
jakarta, indonesia (cnn) about 50 students broke into a dutch consulate compound in indonesia wednesday to protest a film by a dutch lawmaker that many muslims consider anti islamic protesters demonstrate against an anti islamic film in front of the dutch embassy in jakarta the protesters tore off the gate of the embassy in the city of medan and ripped down a flag, said dutch embassy spokeswoman gonneke de ridder local television carried pictures of police dispersing and rounding up demonstrators there were no immediate reports of injuries indonesia is the world's most populous muslim nation the 15 minute film, 'fitna,' features disturbing images of terrorist acts juxtaposed over verses from the quran to paint islam as a threat to western society it has been posted on several web sites, including google video and youtube dutch prime minister jan beter balkanende has said his government worried that geert wilders' film could provoke a violent backlash the film has prompted protests in other parts of the muslim world soon after its release last month, hundreds of angry muslims rallied in pakistan, where the government temporarily blocked access of youtube over a trailer for wilders' film the protesters burned the dutch flag and called on pakistan to cut ties with the netherlands the dutch government and others, including the european union and the organization of the islamic conference, have rejected the film the oic has 57 member states over four continents and claims on its web site to be the second largest inter governmental organization, after the united nations in its statement, it urged the international community to condemn the showing of the film and asked the dutch government to prosecute the author of the documentary under dutch law wilders has stood by his project 'my intention was not to offend in any way, but to show the truth at least the truth as i see it,' wilders told cnn 'and if the truth hurts and could be offensive, well, this of course is not my problem' wilders is a member of the dutch parliament from the conservative party for freedom and an outspoken critic of islam he said he has 'big problems' with islam's prophet mohammed, the quran and 'everything that is stated inside this terrible book' the title, 'fitna,' translates in arabic to 'strife' or 'conflict' of the type that occurs within families or any other homogenous group the film opens with passages from the quran, interspersed with graphic images of the september 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the united states the video also includes disturbing images of other terror attacks bloodied victims; beheadings of hostages; executions of women in hijab, the traditional muslim attire; and footage, with subtitles, of islamic leaders preaching inflammatory sermons against jews and christians e mail to a friend from cnn's kathy quiano | dutch indonesian medan cnn quran geert wilders | protesters break into dutch consolate compound in indonesian city of medan . flag pulled down, gate ripped off embassy, dutch spokeswoman tells cnn . protests prompted by a film juxtaposing images of terrorism with verses from quran . filmmaker geert wilders is a conservative member of dutch parliament |
melissa harris lacewell is associate professor of politics and african american studies at princeton university she is the author of the award winning book 'barbershops, bibles, and bet: everyday talk and black political thought' and writes a daily blog titled the kitchen table melissa harris lacewell says african americans remain skeptical about racial progress in the us princeton, new jersey (cnn) america was proud of itself for electing barack obama the pride was not just partisan and ideological; it was also specifically and clearly racial the morning after obama's win, the new york times declared 'racial barrier falls in decisive victory' the los angeles times asserted that 'for the first time in human history, a largely white nation has elected a black man to be its paramount leader' some black commentators openly wept on election night, thrilled with witnessing the election of our first black president even sen john mccain, conceding defeat, pointed to the greatness of the american promise fulfilled in the election of his opponent obama's victory offered the possibility that the scars of america's racial legacy were healed or, at least, that they were less raw for many african american citizens, the election of the first black us president was cause for celebration and open mouthed wonder about an outcome that seemed so unlikely just two years earlier, when obama announced his bid despite this joy, many black citizens were dubious that his victory represented the destruction of any particular racial barrier african americans were both proud of and excited about obama, but in the 45 years since the passage of the civil rights act, black americans had seen doors to power, influence and wealth open just enough to admit just a few without fundamentally altering opportunities for the majority indeed, responses to a recent cnn/essence magazine/opinion research corp survey indicate that black enthusiasm about obama exists side by by side with deep skepticism about america's racial progress this atmosphere of both enthusiasm and doubt has sparked discussion about whether we have entered a post racial era in american politics it is a difficult debate, because the term 'post racial' is not clearly defined race itself is a slippery idea typically, we treat race like a fixed, unchanging, biological category but race is none of these things race is a social construct though it is based in physical traits, race is a category developed through social practice, law and history as a nation, we made blackness through our politics, developing a category of people who could be enslaved and later segregated so when we talk of a post racial america, we are not pointing to the massive demographic shifts that are unalterably changing the racial, ethnic and linguistic landscape of america instead, 'post racial' is an expression of social and political longing for most, this means an america free of racism and discrimination, but others seem to hint at a society entirely free of racial identity or recognition the idea of a post racial america has been upheld as an achievable ideal where people would receive equal treatment and fair outcomes regardless of their race it has been critiqued as an impossible dream unlikely to exist in a nation with a history of slavery and legal discrimination it has been denounced as an unworthy goal that would require black americans to reject their cultural specificity and unique social and political concerns undoubtedly, the 2008 election broke formerly entrenched racial trends obama was elected just as the depth and breadth of the american economic crisis was becoming clear some suggested that his victory could be explained by the nation's fiscal difficulties because he was the candidate of the out party, which often wins when times are hard but this analysis forgets the cross cutting history of race when the economic pie shrinks, americans rarely form multiracial political coalitions led by minority candidates obama's victory countered the trend toward racial balkanization more typical in tough economic times the changing dynamics of racial politics were further evidenced when obama won both virginia and north carolina in these southern states and in many blue states throughout the country, obama shattered the 'bradley effect,' often getting a higher percentage of the white vote than polls predicted there was little evidence that white voters rejected obama based on his race, and few white democrats crossed party lines to vote for mccain for these reasons, obama's win offers evidence of a post racial american electoral politics and if not post racial, these data at least point to a much less racist american voting public than what existed 40 years ago still, the election of a black president has not changed the material realities of racial inequality african americans are significantly more distressed than their white counterparts on every meaningful economic indicator: income, unemployment, wealth, education, home ownership and home foreclosures african american social realities are equally grim blacks are far more likely to be arrested and more harshly sentenced than whites african americans are less likely to marry, more likely to divorce and more likely to live in single parent households compared with whites, blacks are more likely to suffer infant mortality, cancer, diabetes and premature death substantial evidence shows that the economic, social and even political gains made by african americans in the 1960s and 1970s have leveled off or reversed in the past decade in areas such as urban education, the number of black elected officials and the racial wealth gap the murder of a security guard at the national holocaust museum by a racist anti semite reminded the nation that old fashioned, violent bigotry still has life in america these sobering realities indicate that race still vastly over determines the life chances of americans these differences cannot be explained away by class alone, because most of these inequalities persist even when controlling for income to be born black in america is still a tremendous disadvantage compared with being born white in this country herein lies the challenge facing americans in this new racial era for much of the 20th century, the battle for civil rights rested on a belief that political equality would translate into social and economic justice there can be little doubt that many of the substantive battles for political power and representation have been won in that sense, obama's election is the fulfillment of a post racial political promise it is equally clear that this political arrival has not ushered in the other substantive racial changes that the civil rights movement hoped to achieve in many ways, political equality is just the beginning of the process the work of politics is to collectively craft the nation we want to have the election of obama does not indicate the realization of post racial america, but it does allow us the opportunity to engage in renewed, collective questioning of what a racially just nation is like having achieved so much politically, there is still real debate about how to end overt racism, structural discrimination and persistent inequality some want a country where the black kids don't sit together in the cafeteria, while others hope black kids being together will provoke neither comment nor anxiety some want a nation where no one notices race, while others hope that their racial identity can be both recognized and appreciated some worry that eliminating racial barriers will only solidify economic differences, while others suspect that economic justice cannot be achieved without grappling with race some want the end of all inequality, while others simply hope disparities will be based on 'merit' rather than race as citizens in a democracy, we can choose the future of our racial politics not all at once and not without struggle, but we can make new choices and this time, african americans participate in the process of remaking america's racial story from a very different position than we have occupied in the past rather than being solely on the margins of national power, black americans, through the person of obama, have achieved a new kind of citizenship more empowered to recreate american race this does not mean black people have equal political or economic power, but it does mean that the election of obama encourages black americans to even more loudly and clearly articulate our varied aspirations for our country in november, we did a marvelous thing now, the work begins the opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of melissa harris lacewell | unthematic androclinia overmoralizingly | no related information |
(cnn) frank lampard underlined his continued value to chelsea by scoring both goals in their 2 1 win at everton sunday as they went third in the english premier league south african steven pienaar gave everton a second minute lead but former england international lampard turned the game around for the visitors the 34 year old is out of contract at the end of the season and reports have been linking him with a move away from the west london giants, even as early as the january transfer window 'i know there is a lot of speculation and talk but i just want to continue playing,'' lampard told sky sports after the match 'i will always have chelsea in me for life' during his 12 years at the club, lampard's goal tally from midfield has always proved a key factor in chelsea's success and his well placed 42nd minute header canceled out pienaar's earlier opportunist effort everton, who are challenging strongly for a champions league berth, hit the woodwork three times in a fine match, but came unstuck late on tim howard saved from juan mata, but lampard was in the right place to turn in the winner sylvain distin made a last ditch saving tackle to deny fernando torres a third for chelsea before nikica jelavic wasted a chance for everton to equalize he shot straight at goalkeeper ross turnbull, a halftime replacement for petr cech, who has an injured ankle the victory lifted chelsea above tottenham hotspur into third place in the standings, still 11 points behind leaders manchester united, but with a game in hand in the later kickoff, liverpool left queens park rangers in deeper problems at the bottom of the table with a 3 0 win at loftus road liverpool manager brendan rogers did not travel with the team after going down with an infectious virus but it was harry redknapp's qpr who were left feeling under weather after a sorry performance luis suarez took advantage of defensive frailties to score twice in the opening 16 minutes, taking his epl tally for the season to 13 danish defender daniel agger headed the third near the half hour mark and the game was effectively over as a contest liverpool move up to ninth with qpr on 10 points from 20 games, eight points adrift of safety | plasticised niacinamide millionairedom | no related information |
(cnn) was this the real rory mcilroy or an imposter? given it's halloween, it's a fair question the former world no 1 hasn't won a title all year but led shanghai's hsbc champions the fourth and final world golf championships event of 2013 after the first round and then proclaimed it was his finest 18 holes this season it bodes well for the northern irishman, who is chasing a spot at the season ending event on the european tour, the world tour championship in dubai perhaps beating tiger woods in an exhibition this week in china gave sixth ranked mcilroy an added boost after a difficult year in which he failed to qualify for the pga tour's 30 man finale mcilroy said thursday's seven under par 65 bettered his 64 at the deutsche bank championship in boston at the end of august 'that was a good round of golf,' the 24 year old told reporters 'but this is probably better just because it was a little trickier conditions there was a bit of breeze and you've got to play good golf to shoot seven under around this place 'it's only one round of golf, but it's definitely the way i wanted, and needed, to start this week, keeping in mind that i obviously want to play myself into dubai and try to pick up my first win of the season, as well 'it's one of the best rounds i've played this season' mcilroy struck eight birdies and only one bogey, on the 11th hole 'it felt good to be out there and be in control of my golf ball,' he said 'it's a great start, but it's only 18 holes 'i've tried to stay patient the entire season, and i know that if i believe that i'm working on the right things and i am working on the right things then things will start to fall into place sooner or later' mcilroy was two shots clear of spain's gonzalo fernandez castano and wales' jamie donaldson us open champion justin rose and former masters winner bubba watson were another shot back british open champion phil mickelson was tied for 28th, six shots behind mcilroy although he finished at one under par 71, his round was undone by a quadruple bogey on the eighth when he twice found the water, and he dropped another shot at the following hole his last, having started on the back nine recently crowned fedex cup champion henrik stenson struggled, with the swede finishing at two over par 74 to be tied for 57th in the 78 man field at sheshan international | conserves unfoodful gerusia | no related information |
(cnn) john drury is a 6 foot 7 truck driver with tattoos on his head, neck and arms not surprisingly, he's known as 'big john' during the week, drury spends 50 hours behind the wheel but on weekends, the 43 year old is a certified dance fitness instructor who breaks it down to rihanna and justin bieber living by the ti song lyrics permanently tattooed on his head 'the old me is dead and gone' drury has danced away 97 pounds since february 2011 'the main purpose of that tattoo is exactly what it says,' he said 'that 400 pound man was the old me and who i am today is the new me' check out this video of big john's dance fitness class 'big john' wasn't always big drury grew up on the west side of cincinnati in a poverty stricken area where sports, music and dancing kept him out of trouble 'i grew up in the hood,' he said 'i was poor growing up, and that's what we did we danced it was our culture' drury participated in break dancing competitions with his high school friends and often attended community dance functions some of his favorite places to visit in the '80s were the clubs in downtown cincinnati a year after drury graduated from high school in november 1989, he was at a club showing off his moves on the dance floor at that moment, his future wife, lori, spotted him from across the club 'i saw him dancing, and that's what attracted me to him,' said lori drury, 42 'i told my friend somewhat jokingly, 'that's the guy i'm going to marry'' and in january 1994, that's exactly what happened but as they settled down and had two kids, drury picked up more and more shifts at the trucking company, until he found himself working 70 hours a week with little time to exercise or sit down and eat a proper meal, his motto became 'grab and go' when he did stop, he ate the fast and greasy food offered at truck stops 'i was big on sweets and eating doughnuts for breakfast,' he said 'everything about my eating habits was just out of whack' 9 ways to keep it healthy when eating out from 'big john' to 'biggest loser' prior to becoming a truck driver, drury weighed 260 pounds after more than a decade of truck driving, drury had piled on 140 pounds and his health was deteriorating doctors prescribed medications to control his high blood pressure and cholesterol but the seriousness of his situation didn't hit home until a fellow truck driver, who was taking the same medications as drury, died from complications of diabetes in late 2010 the truck driver weighed 450 pounds only 50 more pounds than drury at the time a few months after his friend passed away, drury heard a commercial for a local radio station that was hosting a 'biggest loser' competition he entered the competition and was selected to participate for three months, drury had a gym membership, a personal trainer and a nutritionist he began drinking a lot of water, preparing his meals and walking around the truck stop area 'i'm a very competitive person,' drury said 'i would just do whatever i had to do to get to the top i decided there weren't going to be any more excuses' with his new attitude, drury not only finished in second place, he also lost 54 pounds 'for a person who says 'no excuses' now, i used to be the first person to make an excuse,' he said 'i used to say, 'i'm too busy with my job' it's just so empowering to know that regardless of my situation, i made it happen' journal helps woman lose half her body weight paying it forward now it was time to make some of his own dreams a reality through the gym membership, drury discovered zumba he realized he could lose weight through his passion for dance 'when they say, 'feel the music,' i really feel the music i get lost in it,' he said 'even though i was the only man in the class, it didn't stop me' thinking back on his early days of break dancing, drury thought he could make the idea of weight loss through dancing relevant to the public 'i just thought i could help people, because i think people can connect with me and my story,' he said after entering yet another room full of women, drury decided to get certified as a dance fitness instructor in april 2011, he created his own dance fitness company called big john's dance fitness drury helps people dance off their weight through routines set to the songs of usher, rihanna, flo rida and other pop and hip hop music he thinks people can recognize and move to they sometimes even do the 'chicken dance' he holds hour long classes every saturday and saturday starting at 9 am for a fee of $5 per class he's had as many as 30 attendees 'i have people who can't afford it, and i'm never going to turn anyone away,' he said 'i have a longing for helping people and paying it forward i care about the people, not the dollars' but drury is having some financial challenges of his own to accommodate his new lifestyle, drury now works 50 hours a week rather than 70, and it's sometimes difficult to make ends meet at the moment, he teaches his classes in his home because he's trying to find an affordable dance studio 'ultimately, my dream is to make a dance fitness dvd, because the obese public can relate to me,' he said 'in these zumba videos, there's no big people in those videos how can the obese people relate to that?' open road ahead drury's target weight is 260 pounds he's gained a few pounds back since he first lost the weight and now weighs in at about 315 pounds 'it's still hard,' he said 'i'm not going to sit here and say i'm perfect it's still a battle for me, and everyone knows that' drury is now inspiring others by leading through example not only does he encourage his wife and sons to dance with him, but he and his wife prepare much healthier meals for the entire family they have replaced the french fries and fast food with baked chicken and fish drury no longer gets greasy meals at the truck stops; instead, he brings his food from home he allows himself to consume up to 2,000 calories per day as a result of his new lifestyle, drury has come out of his shell, his wife said believe it or not, he used to be a shy and reserved man 'he has so much more drive and just ambition for life,' she said 'it seems like he wants so much more out of life and he's more confident because he knows he can do it' drury's mission is to inspire overweight people to 'just get out there and move' and despite the laughs and jokes he hears from fellow truck drivers about his passion for dance, drury isn't hitting the brakes anytime soon 'i can't think of a male truck driver anywhere out there doing what i'm doing,' he said 'i'm breaking all the stereotypes i'm so passionate about dance fitness this is my calling in life' do you have a weight loss story to share? upload it to ireport | hydrofluate nonexposure pathomania | no related information |
(cnn) since a temporary radiologic technologist was accused of stealing drugs from a new hampshire hospital and giving patients hepatitis c through infected syringes, troubling reports of his past have emerged casting a spotlight on the staffing industry as a whole david kwiatkowski worked in 13 hospitals in eight states between january 2007 and july 2012, when he was arrested in a massachusetts hotel room 'in an intoxicated state,' according to court documents during that time he was employed by at least two staffing firms: triage staffing and springboard healthcare staffing a surge of contract employees have entered the work force since 2009, according to the us bureau of labor statistics businesses turned to staffing firms to handle their workload until they were more certain of their company's future more than 25% of all new jobs created were temporary the health care industry was especially affected by the economic downturn in recent years, said american staffing association spokesman steve berchem patients put off elective procedures amid hospital uncertainty over effects of the affordable care act 'many health care professionals were seeking the flexibility that contract work allowed and were leaving hospitals with vacancies,' berchem said 'hospitals are turning to staffing firms to fill those vacancies to make sure they have the employees and staff and skills they need to ensure quality care' approximately 17% of the health care industry's work force is now composed of temporary or contract workers, according to asa data that's about 240,000 employees, compared to the nearly 14 million full time health care workers in the united states lack of evidence for man accused in hepatitis c case? but those temporary employees play an important role in hospitals, berchem said they fill in gaps in almost every field from nurses to physicians to med techs and administrators while the hepatitis c infections have prompted concerns about whether contract workers are providing substandard care, research shows the opposite is generally true a 2007 study conducted by the center for health outcomes and policy research at the university of pennsylvania showed that temporary nurses are often better educated and more recently trained berchem said hospitals that do not use temporary workers tend to have more negative patient outcomes because they have fewer staffing resources overall still, the kwiatkowski case raises questions about the hiring process for both temporary and permanent health care workers the case is not the first regarding a health care worker accused of harming patients during a career punctuated by troubling incidents in 2005, a new jersey law took effect requiring health care professionals or companies to notify the state division of consumer affairs of concerns or misconduct of health care workers who could endanger patients it was passed after nurse charles cullen was accused of killing more than 20 people in the state cullen reportedly was hired at a number of hospitals during his career in spite of what officials said was a questionable employment record two years ago, kwiatkowski was fired from arizona heart hospital in phoenix when a fellow employee found him passed out in the men's bathroom, according to documents obtained by cnn a few weeks later, he was working at temple university hospital in pennsylvania the staffing agency that employed kwiatkowski at the time, springboard, reported the incident to the american registry of radiologic technologists, according to a spokeswoman for the agency the arrt said this week that they did not punish kwiatkowski because they did not have firsthand evidence of the 2010 incident and the director of the arizona radiation regulatory agency said officials stopped their investigation when kwiatkowski moved out of state confused? so are investigators, who are still working to sort out all the facts scott schnierer, vice president of business development for comforce staffing services, said that most staffing firms conduct a seven year background check on potential employees they will also do on site drug tests and verify a candidate's credentials 'we're the legal employer of record,' schnierer told hln last week 'we insure them, we pay their payroll taxes so while 'temporary' or 'contract worker' may have a certain reputation or connotation, we take them very seriously we take the full hr responsibility as any direct employer would' did registry know man accused in outbreak was earlier fired? if there is a problem with an employee, hospitals are asked to report it to the staffing firm, he said either party can take disciplinary action 'basically, it really falls down to the department level,' schnierer said 'if they want to put it under the rug, things can happen but it's up to the department manager to report it to hr hr should inform the staffing firm that's the only way we'll know' one of the biggest problems, schnierer and berchem agree, is that former hiring managers are often unwilling to disclose the reason for a past employee's termination, creating holes in a background check and it's not just a problem for staffing firms kwiatkowski was charged with stealing drugs from exeter hospital, where he was hired as a full time employee 'many employers are fearful of litigation and will verify employment dates only,' berchem said 'the system is only as good as the information available' hln's allison rampley contributed to this report | david kwiatkowski between january 2007 july 2012 approximately 17% | david kwiatkowski worked in 13 hospitals between january 2007 and july 2012 . approximately 17% of the industry's employees are temporary or contract workers . contractors fill in gaps in almost every field from nurses to physicians to med techs |
(cnn) sen john mccain's campaign rebuked sen joe biden on tuesday, saying the democratic vice presidential nominee had 'sunk to a new low' by raising a debate over who cares more for special needs children sen joseph biden embraces a supporter during a campaign stop in columbia, missouri, on tuesday the republican camp's sharp response came after biden said gop advocates for children with birth defects should support stem cell research during a campaign event in columbia, missouri, biden did not mention his republican counterpart by name but said, 'i hear all this talk about how the republicans are going to work in dealing with parents who have both the joy and the difficulty of raising a child who has a developmental disability, who were born with a birth defect' biden's support of stem cell research is at odds with the position taken by the republicans' vice presidential nominee, alaska gov sarah palin, whose 5 month old son, trig, has down syndrome palin, an evangelical christian, opposes stem cell research because it involves the use of human embryos, but her running mate, gop presidential nominee mccain, does support stem cell research 'well, guess what, folks? if you care about it, why don't you support stem cell research?' asked biden, the running mate of democratic presidential nominee sen barack obama those comments brought a sharp response 'barack obama's running mate sunk to a new low today, launching an offensive debate over who cares more about special needs children,' mccain palin spokesman ben porritt said 'playing politics with this issue is disturbing and indicative of a desperate campaign' biden spokesman david wade insisted that the delaware senator's comments were not directed at palin 'this is a clash of policies, not a clash of personalities,' wade said 'we've heard not a dime's worth of difference between the mccain palin ticket and the bush administration on medical breakthroughs that millions of parents and doctors believe could save lives and transform the quality of life for countless americans' during her acceptance speech at the republican national convention last week, palin told parents of children with disabilities that she would be 'a friend and advocate in the white house' but the alaska governor's support for the disabled has come under scrutiny since mccain chose palin to be his running mate nearly two weeks ago before her run for the vice presidency, advocacy for special needs programs had not been a central part of her political campaigns or during her administration, despite her sister's autistic son watch more on palin's budget priorities » palin signed a bill this year increasing special needs funding but frustrated some of the bill's co sponsors by stepping in only at the last minute sonya kerr, an anchorage attorney specializing in disability rights, filed a lawsuit against the state and palin, alleging that there are not enough services for kids with special needs, specifically a child with autism 'i would say, welcome, gov palin, to our reality and what we've been trying to deal with for a long time,' kerr said 'i hope that it means that there will be support on a bipartisan basis for what people with disabilities need so we are not a bargaining chip in the political process' cnn's deb feyerick, alexander mooney and rachel streitfeld contributed to this report | bassly elvet washers | no related information |
pottsville, pennsylvania (cnn) a fomer pennsylvania high school football player was acquitted of murder friday in the beating death of a mexican immigrant last summer luis ramirez died of blunt force injuries after a confrontation with a group of pennsylania teens however, a schuylkill county jury found brandon piekarsky and derrick donchak guilty of simple assault stemming from the death of luis ramirez, who died of blunt force injuries to the head after a fight with the defendants and their friends donchak, 19, was also found guilty of providing alcohol to the group of teens that encountered ramirez the night of july 12 on a residential street in the rural mining town of shenandoah both teens were acquitted of ethnic intimidation charges prosecutors alleged the teens baited the undocumented mexican immigrant into a fight with racial epithets, provoking an exchange of punches and kicks that ended with ramirez convulsing in the street, foaming from the mouth he died two days later in a hospital in danville piekarsky, 17, had faced a charge of third degree murder for allegedly delivering a fatal kick to ramirez's head after he was knocked to the ground he also was found not guilty of ethnic intimidation, aggravated assault and attempting to solicit a cover up an all white jury of six men and six women heard from several prosecution witnesses, including a juvenile co defendant and another teen who pleaded guilty in federal court for his role in the fight while the jury heard conflicting accounts about who initiated the encounter or delivered the final kick to ramirez's head, defense lawyers attempted to place the blame on another co defendant, who is facing charges in juvenile court, and colin walsh, who has pleaded guilty to violating ramirez's civil rights the juvenile admitted on the stand to shouting 'go home you mexican [expletive]' after the first fight dispersed, prompting ramirez to turn back and attack him the juvenile's testimony was corroborated by walsh, who admitted to punching ramirez and knocking him to the ground after he charged the juvenile both witnesses said piekarsky delivered the final blow to ramirez's head while he was on the ground, but others testified that they couldn't be certain who had actually kicked him the incident drew national attention to the small town of shenandoah, highlighting issues of race relations cnn's emanuella grinberg contributed to this report | aliferous vacuo immortalized | no related information |
(cnn) oprah winfrey, who was pregnant at 14 and lost the baby, said she thought about killing herself and saw the loss of the child as a second chance in a wide ranging interview that aired monday during the premiere of cnn's 'piers morgan tonight,' the talk show queen also spoke about love, her long term partner, stedman graham, and what she plans to do with all her money once she's gone winfrey, 56, said she was sent to live with her father in nashville when she was a young teenager he laid down the rules of his house early, and without knowing she was pregnant ''i would rather see a daughter of mine floating down the cumberland river,' he said, 'than to bring shame on this family and the indecency of an illegitimate child,'' winfrey said, quoting her father 'he's saying that to me, and i know that i am pregnant so i'm thinking, well, i'm just going to have to kill myself,' she said winfrey did not attempt suicide, though she said she tried things that were cries for help like drinking detergent 'when the baby died, i knew that it was my second chance,' she said winfrey, best known for the 'the oprah winfrey show,' now runs her own channel, appropriately titled own she described her longtime partner, stedman graham, as someone who is 'willing to stand in and stand up' for her 'the reason this relationship has worked as well as it has is because we each got to define ourselves in it and not in a traditional form there's nothing about it that's traditional,' winfrey said 'i am a different kind of woman in that i am pretty assured that had i married i wouldn't have remained married' 'i'm just not the marrying kind,' she said the talk show queen said she's had her heart broken twice winfrey also discussed what she plans to do with her massive fortune once she dies 'when i'm gone, everything that i have is going to go to charity because i don't have children and i believe that that's what you should do,' she said 'to whom much is given, much should be given back' | winfrey | winfrey recalls thinking about killing herself . 'i'm just not the marrying kind,' she says . winfrey says she's had her heart broken twice |
memphis, tennessee (cnn) when james earl ray bought a white mustang in the summer of 1967, he stood on a streetcorner in downtown birmingham, alabama, and pulled the cash out of his shirt pocket, $2,000 in all james earl ray paid $2,000 cash for a white mustang, similar to this one, the seller told the fbi 'mostly twenties, with some $100 bills,' the seller would later tell the fbi about the sale to ray, later convicted of assassinating the rev martin luther king jr 'he must have had a roll of twenties, if he paid that guy $2,000 in twenties, that'd be a lot of money,' said jerry ray, james earl ray's brother police capt john light, who was chief of detectives that year in ray's hometown of alton, illinois, suspects the wad of money came from a still unsolved bank robbery while ray was on the run as a prison escapee from missouri that summer, two men walked into the bank of alton with a pistol and a sawed off shotgun both wore stocking masks the leaner man went behind the counter, scooped up the cash and fled with close to $30,000 ray, king crossed paths before shooting » within a day or two of that robbery, ray would leave the area and head to canada just as he did almost a year later when he fled the scene in memphis, tennessee, after king's murder light told cnn the stolen bank money consisted mainly of $20 bills the partially burned shotgun and the stocking masks were found abandoned in a wooded area near a cemetery where ray's mother is buried ray returned from canada and bought the mustang after seeing a classified ad in birmingham the month after the robbery in the months to come, ray would keep spending $20 bills when ray underwent plastic surgery in los angeles 30 days before king's death, he paid in cash denomination unknown when he drove back to birmingham six days before the murder to buy a 30 06 high powered hunting rifle for just under $250, the gun store salesman later told investigators, 'i remember he paid for the gun with $20 bills, paid cash' on april 4, 1968, only hours before king would die, the landlady at the boarding house where ray rented a room told police, 'he gave me a $20 bill' when he paid for a week's rent just across the street from the lorraine motel in the sporting goods store where ray went to buy binoculars, the salesman told police, 'he gave me two twenties; i think he had two twenties left the bills came out of his right pocket, neatly folded, and nothing but bills' for light, the bank holdup is the most likely answer to the question of where ray got the money to travel as a fugitive to canada and mexico, then to flee again to canada and finally london, england, after king's murder 'thirty thousand dollars back in 1967 was a lot of money,' light said in london, ray ran short of money four days before he was caught, he robbed a bank his thumbprint was found on the holdup note he got little more than $200 enough to buy an airline ticket to brussels, belgium, where he hoped to join mercenaries fighting to keep white rule in southern africa he was stopped at a london airport when a police sergeant spotted his phony canadian passport ray lived very cheaply on the run he got change back for his $20 bill at the memphis boarding house a week's rent there was $850 the original prosecutors in the memphis case decided it would not have cost that much for all of ray's travels 'he was living on a dollar to two dollars a day,' said current prosecutor john campbell 'he was even darning his own socks to be able to save money' | james earl ray ray mustang king | police: james earl ray's money came from a bank robbery in his hometown . gun, masks used in robbery found near burial plot of ray's mother . ray bought a mustang and underwent plastic surgery before king's death . prosecutors believe he lived very cheaply on the run |
(cnn) the head of the company at the center of a toxic spill in hungary has been arrested, accused of public endangerment and harming the environment, authorities said monday earlier, executive zoltan bakonyi had been questioned by authorities hungary's prime minister, viktor orban, told cnn affiliate mtv that he favored strong government intervention against bakonyi's aluminum company, mal co 'i proposed appointing a state commissioner to exercise control over the company who should manage the company and its assets until the tasks stemming from the disaster have been fulfilled,' he said 'i ask the parliament to accept the proposal the company should be put under state control and its assets under state closure' much of the red sludge has been removed or diluted in the town of devecer residents watched monday as emergency workers and soldiers walked past in full biohazard suits military trucks and cars used to decontaminate the area came through the streets, spraying away the dark red dust that accumulates workers told cnn that they have been diluting the mud and removing it constantly meanwhile, an eighth victim of the sludge has been found, said gyorgyi tottos, an official with hungary's emergency services department 'we have found a body near kolontar that is likely to be the missing person, who would be the eighth victim,' she told cnn 'the identification process is ongoing, but we think this is the person who's been missing' five european union experts are due to arrive in hungary on monday to find out how badly toxic sludge has damaged the environment and advise on decontamination, the european union said and hungarian authorities continue frantically building dikes in case the dam holding the sludge breaks further, the government said monday a 'large section' of the dam is still showing signs of ruptures, the government said in a statement, meaning there is a 'continuing risk of a possible spill' the area has been evacuated, and soldiers were on standby sunday, an official said the cracked wall is expected to collapse, tottos told cnn on sunday 'we know that it will happen,' she said, although when is unknown about 800 people have been evacuated from the village of kolontar, leaving it essentially empty, she said hundreds of soldiers were ready to rescue inhabitants of a nearby village if the wall collapses a 50 centimeter (19 inch) crack has developed in the wall of the aluminum plant reservoir if the wall collapses, 500,000 cubic meters of toxic red sludge could spill out that's about half the amount that spilled last monday, inundating kolontar and two other villages in addition to the eight people known to have been killed, more than 100 were injured hungary's state owned mti news agency quoted zoltan illes, state secretary of environment, as saying the damaged wall could not be saved specialists had tried to reinforce the wall saturday orban, the prime minister, who was visiting the stricken area saturday, said it was 'very likely' the reservoir wall will collapse 'it's in very bad shape, and our estimation is that that wall could fall down,' orban told reporters in the town of ajka 'one consequence is that human lives could be in danger that's the reason why we pulled out all human lives from that area, in order not to have more loss in human life' the sludge from last monday's spill reached europe's mighty danube river thursday, raising fears of wider contamination in hungary and countries downstream, including croatia, serbia, bulgaria, romania and the ukraine but water test results released friday indicated the sludge may not harm the danube after all the ph, or acidity, level of the danube water was 85 friday slightly above normal but not dangerous and able to sustain life, tottos said readings of ph range from 0 to 14 levels lower than 7 characterize acids, and levels higher than 7 denote bases; highly acidic or highly basic water can harm living things the 85 ph level and fast moving currents made officials optimistic that a natural disaster can be avoided, tottos said however, on sunday she said that while saving lives is the priority, officials remain concerned about the long term effects of the spill and want to protect europe's waterways but, she said, it's too soon to tell what those effects might be 'what happened on monday has never happened before in europe, so we will see,' she said, 'and we will try to avoid a bigger new catastrophe' the environmental disaster occurred near ajka, nearly 100 miles west of budapest the sludge covered the villages of kolontar, devecser, and somlovasarhely, in some places reaching several feet high, leaving dead animals such as fish and frogs in its wake the aluminum company, mal co, said in a statement saturday it was doing its utmost 'to avoid further damages and to reinforce the injured deposit' the company maintains it has performed extensive maintenance work and renovations in the past decade and had followed safety regulations the company was working to construct dams and defense lines in an attempt to minimize damage, it said it has also established a relief fund for victims of the spill and was attempting to help in finding accommodations for evacuated people more than 1,100 residents of ajka and the surrounding towns are mal employees, it said orban warned saturday of the 'toughest possible consequences' for those responsible for the spill and said human error was the cause 'behind this tragedy, some human errors and mistakes must exist,' he said 'we will reveal all of that, and the consequences will be very serious as much as you can imagine' the exact chemical composition of the sludge has not been revealed, but aluminum processing normally involves compounds that include cyanide, cadmium and chromium emergency workers have been pouring plaster and fertilizers on the sludge in hopes that it will counter its alkalinity dust from sludge that dries may also pose a threat, hungary's interior ministry has said it said some workers involved in damage cleanup may need filtering masks cnn's antonia mortensen, eileen hsieh, diana magnay, brian walker and bharati naik, and journalist flora hevesi contributed to this report | zoltan bakonyi european union | zoltan bakonyi accused of public endangerment, harming the environment . official believes eighth victim found is body of missing person . european union experts will investigate how badly the environment has been damaged . the dam holding back more sludge is expected to collapse, a disaster official says |
los angeles (cnn) the alleged us operative of a mexican cartel was known as 'the pretty one' that was her alias in mexico 'la bonita, ' according to mexican officials this week the fugitive is back in mexico in custody following her capture by us authorities in the los angeles area on immigration violations anel violeta noriega rios, 27, was the subject of a 5 million peso (about $375,000) reward by mexican authorities and is charged in a 64 page criminal warrant issued in january 2010 in the mexican state of tamaulipas for alleged organized crime and drug trafficking, authorities said noriega rios is an alleged member of the la familia cartel based in the mexican state of michoacan, and she was one of its main us based operatives, authorities charge the cartel is known to be 'extremely violent,' us immigration and customs enforcement officials said mexican authorities charge that noriega rios helped oversee the cartel's methamphetamine distribution activities in california and washington state, ice officials said the cartel also is allegedly engaged in cocaine and marijuana trafficking, kidnapping, extortion and producing methamphetamine for export to the united states, us officials said ice officers and us marshals arrested noriega rios without incident last week at her el monte, california, residence, about 14 miles east of downtown los angeles, authorities said noriega rios was arrested on 'administrative immigration violations,' and two days later she was turned over to mexican authorities at the border crossing in san ysidro, california, us officials said us and mexican authorities exchanged 'strategic information' that led to her capture, ice officials said 'mexican officials note the case also demonstrates the ongoing commitment between ice and the office of the general attorney of mexico (pgr) to address matters of mutual concern,' an ice statement said this week us department of homeland security databases show that noriega rios had been arrested and repatriated to mexico five times between 2004 and 2005 by us customs and border protection and border patrol agents, and she had no us criminal convictions, ice officials said she was delivered to mexican authorities last week after ice officers reinstated a prior order for her removal from 2004, ice officials said in a statement, david marin, acting field office director of ice's enforcement and removal operations in los angeles, said us authorities 'will continue to work closely with its law enforcement counterparts in mexico to assure the safety of law abiding citizens in both nations' feds: mexican cartel launders money in us horse racing in small town usa, business as usual for mexican cartels | farrage broadbrim nonloyalty | no related information |
(cnn) holders chelsea stayed on course for the domestic double in england with a 3 0 win over aston villa at wembley on saturday to reach the fa cup final a didier drogba goal midway through the second half and further late strikes from florent malouda and frank lampard secured victory for carlo ancelotti's men in a game of otherwise few chances they will face either tottenham hotspur or now relegated portsmouth, who play the second semifinal at wembley on sunday portsmouth will go into that match as massive underdogs and hardly encouraged by west ham's 1 0 win over sunderland in english premier league action on saturday, which confirms their demotion after a season of financial turmoil whoever reaches next month's showpiece will face a chelsea side, who are leading the premier league and playing with renewed vigor since their shock champions league exit to inter milan it was the 32nd goal of the season in all competitions for ivory coast star drogba and one of his most important as he reacted quickly to divert home john terry's shot which was going wide terry had been given the chance to shoot after a poor headed clearance from a corner by villa center back richard dunne the victory was sealed when substitute michael ballack crossed to the far post for the excellent malouda to fire past brad freidel before lampard scored a third with one of the final kicks of the match it proved another wembley letdown for martin o'neill's villa, who were beaten in the english league cup final by manchester united they started the match the brightest and had strong appeals for a penalty turned down by howard webb as norway striker john carew appeared to be pulled down by jon obi mikel but in the second half chelsea, who thrashed villa 7 1 in the premier league last month, took command and although the margin of victory was flattering underlined their growing confidence at the business end of the english season lampard, who rounded off the win with his last minute goal, said their confidence had increased after drogba's opener 'the double is still on, it'll be very tough but we want to go all the way,' he told itv sport in the other premier league game played on saturday, burnley beat fellow strugglers hull city 4 1 to re energize their survival hopes, but both sides remain in the bottom three after west ham's win | chelsea aston villa 3 0 the english fa cup didier drogba florent malouda frank lampard second half tottenham portsmouth next month's wembley vital english premier league west ham burnley | chelsea beat aston villa 3 0 to reach final of the english fa cup . didier drogba, florent malouda and frank lampard score in second half for blues . tottenham or portsmouth will face them in next month's final at wembley . vital wins in english premier league for west ham and burnley in relegation battle |
atlanta, georgia (cnn) christine king farris was sewing an easter dress for her daughter in their atlanta home one rainy april evening when the nightly news was interrupted by a special report a lone survivor, farris, 80, is writing a memoir about life with her brother called 'through it all' the newscaster announced that farris' younger brother, the rev martin luther king jr, had been shot in memphis, tennessee another update came minutes later: king was in critical condition 'it was a horrible moment,' farris said of that night in 1968 'i tried to call my sister in law; the lines were busy i tried to call my parents; the lines were busy i couldn't get anybody' while boarding a plane for memphis, farris learned that her brother was dead it was the beginning of a string of family tragedies her only surviving sibling, younger brother ad, drowned the next summer her mother, alberta, was shot dead five years later while playing the 'lord's prayer' on an organ in church on sunday morning farris raises her hands in bewilderment when she contemplates the losses 'i think of the things that i've faced in my life, and sometimes i question how i'm still here,' farris, 80, said in her office at spelman college, surrounded by photographs of her famous brother and other civil rights leaders she once knew 'i'm the lone survivor in my family,' farris said this year, the civil rights community will gather in memphis on april 4 to mark the 40th anniversary of king's assassination, but farris will not join them she is talking publicly about the death of her younger brother for the first time, but a return to memphis is not part of her agenda 'i can't go,' she said 'i've not been there since the time we went to gather my brother my memory of memphis is not a pleasant one it's one that i cannot erase' farris is remembering her brother in another way she is writing a memoir about her life with him called 'through it all' a formal and reserved woman, farris has spent the past year delving into her ugliest memories 'it's been a real challenge,' she said 'i've had to relive those moments sometimes it affects me more than others i try to live with it' she says it's important for her to push past those painful memories, because she wants to humanize her younger brother everyone has heard about king, the civil rights icon she wants to strip away those platitudes to reveal the playful brother she knew 'he was normal as a person could be,' she said 'i really want people to understand that i want people not to think of him as some mythic character from out of space' the mythic nature of king's ministry, though, is palpable in farris' roomy office at spelman, the predominantly black women's college where she has taught education for 49 years farris stores photos of her brother on her desktop computer as screensavers as each image shifts to another, her computer plays highlights of her brother's most famous public speeches isaac n farris jr, her only son, says his mother still plays recordings of her brother's speeches and reads his manuscripts at home they weren't just siblings they were friends 'she was the first one to meet mrs coretta [king's wife, coretta scott king] she lent him money for his engagement rings,' he said 'over the years, she's especially talked about missing the friendship they had' the resemblance to her brother is obvious up close she has the same square face and the same measured, baptist preacher's drawl she says she's accustomed to people staring at her when they encounter her in ebenezer baptist church, the atlanta church her brother once led that she still attends 'sometimes people will point me out and say, 'that's dr king's sister,' ' she said 'and, of course, i'm immediately surrounded by people sometimes, it's a little uncomfortable i try to be as cordial as i can people come up and ask, 'are you dr king's sister?' i can't say no' farris says she had no inkling that her brother would become such an iconic figure she remembers the little brother who loved playing pool, doing the jitterbug dance and telling jokes she also recalls his nickname as a young man: tweed 'he had this tweed suit, and he loved it,' she said, smiling 'he would wear it so much so the boys nicknamed him tweed' farris' son says his mother still retains some of that playful side herself he occasionally catches her dancing around the house to contemporary r&b music 'i've seen her do the electric slide,' he said 'she gets a kick out of it' when farris' brother was thrust to the forefront of the civil rights movement, both were aware of the danger to him but they never talked about it 'when you are a part of it, you don't really take the time to sit down and think,' she said 'it didn't really bother us too much we were conscious that it could happen, but it didn't occupy front space, so to speak' when april 4, 1968, did come, farris says, others stepped in to help her shoulder her grief sen robert kennedy dispatched a plane to atlanta to take her and king's widow to memphis her voice remains level as she talks about the plane ride then her eyes start to mist she says she never left the plane when it arrived she watched her brother ad come on the plane with the rev andrew young and the rev ralph abernathy, two of king's closest aides 'they were crying like babies,' she said she says she has tried to remember when she last talked to her brother, but it's frustrating 'i've been trying to think about that he had a meeting with his staff the saturday before he went to memphis, but i didn't get to talk to him then ' farris halts herself in mid sentence then her voice trails off her only son says his mom has been a 'rock' for the family he says he's never seen her cry about the loss of his famous uncle the only time he remembers seeing her cry is when her remaining brother, ad, drowned in 1969 'my mother let out a yell that still to this day brings tears to my eyes,' he said farris has carved out her own life of distinction she married and has two children with isaac n farris sr, an entrepreneur she's written a children's book on her brother titled 'my brother martin: a sister remembers growing up with the rev martin luther king jr' she's also dabbled in public speaking and served as an executive at the king center, the atlanta based center devoted to the teaching of king's nonviolent philosophy only recently, though, farris experienced another series of losses her brother's widow, coretta scott king, died two years ago from cancer and yolanda king, her brother's oldest child, died from an apparent heart condition last year yet she and her son shrug off any suggestion that her family, like the kennedy clan, is somehow marked for tragedy 'god never puts on us what we can't bear,' she said 'we never embraced that; others have,' added her son, who is ceo of the king center 'we have felt through it all, we're still blessed that's the way we were taught' forty years after her brother's untimely death, farris will return to memphis, but only through her memories as she sits in her office surrounded by those memories, she says it's now more urgent than ever that she add her own chapter to his story she's the only one left 'i thought about all that i've been through and all these memories and sometimes it gets tough,' she said 'by being the lone survivor, if i don't do this, a part of history will be left out' | king's farris memphis | king's sister was sewing an easter dress when she saw tv report he was shot . farris: memory of memphis 'not a pleasant one it's one that i cannot erase'. she remembers her brother loved playing pool, doing jitterbug and telling jokes . despite loss of loved ones, farris says, 'god never puts on us what we can't bear' |
london (cnn) it would be a mistake to write off threats of war against syria from turkish prime minister recep tayyip erdogan as mere bluster, assuming that turkey will maintain the status quo in valuing its relationship with the united states on one hand, while resisting iran's hegemonic ambitions on the other the recent cross border confrontation could ignite regional convulsions as turkey is sucked into syria, leading to belated actions on the part of the international community the assad regime knows its time is limited as the rate of military and intelligence officers defecting to jordan and turkey increases in momentum rebel attacks are inching closer to the heart of the assad regime, such as the recent attack on the syrian air force intelligence compound in the damascus suburb of harasta this contributes to the regime's recklessness in firing upon turkey with impunity ankara may also be emboldened by the fact that iran, a key assad ally, could be limited in its ability to intervene due to its economic woes at home this week its currency the rial plummeted in value due to a combination of sanctions and tehran's own mismanagement of the economy turkey has less to lose by responding to syrian aggression this rationale is supported by recent reports that iran has withdrawn from syria 275 members from a special operations unit attached to its elite quds force the conflict in syria is no longer considered a purely internal matter it clearly has regional ramifications thus i believe turkey's aim to secure its border is inextricably linked with regime change its increased military operations may stem from a calculus that it would accelerate the assad regime's demise the turkish parliament's assent for its troops to conduct operations inside syria is not merely a symbolic attempt to bolster turkish pride while responding to domestic political pressure over the syrian attacks it gives its armed forces the ability to do more than defend its borders it is also likely that nato may assist turkey a member state with the defense of its 560 mile border, creating a de facto humanitarian buffer zone, where the syrian opposition could have a command post however, this risks escalating the conflict into a nato led mission outside the framework of the un security council the kind of interventionist measure russia and china would oppose as they did in libya the shift towards conflict with syria is characterized by the kind of strategic shift in the region that we've seen before with turkey erdogan was initially reluctant to impose sanctions on iran and is now embracing eu sanctions on tehran the turkish premier was also supportive of iran's nuclear ambitions all the while seeking to downgrade relations with tehran's nemesis, israel now it is aligning itself with the sunni bloc, including gulf states and jordan against iran and its syrian proxy this could prompt an iranian military response and in turn instigate another spike in oil prices the longer the syrian civil war continues, the greater the prospect of regional sectarian tensions emerging along sunni shiite fault lines this could result in a middle eastern cold war between regional powerhouses saudi arabia, with its mainly sunni population, and the shiite dominated iranians meanwhile, the obama administration's apparent strategy of 'leading from behind' is an excuse for its dithering over the syrian humanitarian crisis similarly, the united nations' inaction over the crisis results from a deadlock at the security council, with china and russia opposed to any intervention implausibly advocating that the rebels conduct dialogue with a murderous regime yet with the un's extensive history of paying lip service to upholding the values of human rights while ignoring genocide in rwanda, sudan, balkans and iraq, its dismissive manner towards the current massacres taking place on a daily basis in syria should come as no surprise there are estimates that up to 50,000 people have been killed, with up to two million people internally displaced since the conflict started the un claims that 300,000 syrians have fled the country the us, realistically the only nation with the necessary military and logistical capability, could easily have prevented the refugee crisis that has heightened the prospect of conflict with turkey its wariness to arm rebels was to prevent blowback from the syrian muslim brotherhood and other empowered islamists in syria yet the protracted conflict there has generated a kaleidoscopic civil war and vacuum of governance across much of syria that has attracted islamists, and even revived al qaeda, enabling it to infiltrate the ranks of the opposition and gain support in the wake of its attacks on syrian military and government installations the us and its nato allies could also have prevented much bloodshed by using air power to target the assad regime's military apparatus syria's military concentrated in damascus, aleppo and northern raqqa province are strained and would be overstretched if forced to respond to external military pressure yet washington and its nato allies could now be forced to place a significant number of troops on the ground to prevent the proliferation of syria's stockpile of chemical and biological weapons the obama administration has resigned itself to wishful thinking assuming, as defense secretary leon panetta has done, that syrian security forces could be held together to secure chemical weapons sites in the wake of the toppling of the assad regime in a vacuum of governance dominated by islamists, this may become a proliferation nightmare while the us is keen on winding down its involvement in the middle east to refocus its attention on asia, syria may be the instigator that sucks it back into the region for another decade to manage a second cold war the opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of barak seener | turkey syria turkish us | turkey's military retaliated against syria attacks on turkish border town recently . turkish parliament has authorized its troops to enter syria if necessary . seener: confrontation could ignite regional convulsions as turkey is sucked in to syria . us could have prevented much bloodshed by using air power to target regime, he says |
(cnn) thousands of demonstrators marched through cities across europe on saturday, calling for an immediate end to israel's attacks on gaza a protester swings a club at a police horse saturday night near london's israeli embassy up to 20,000 people were gathered outside the israeli embassy in london, england, at the peak of protests there, london metropolitan police said a police officer was knocked unconscious saturday night as the protests turned unruly, the police said the london crowd dismantled barriers placed in front of the embassy and began pelting officers with sticks, rocks and pieces of the metal barriers, police said three people were arrested organizers including the stop the war coalition and the palestine solidarity campaign expected more than 100,000 people to join the london march to protest israel's ongoing attacks on gaza celebrities including musician annie lennox and bianca jagger, musician mick jagger's ex wife, spoke at a rally before the procession, which went from hyde park to the israeli embassy in kensington, west london watch demonstrators throw bottles, metal at police » lauren booth, the sister in law of former prime minister tony blair, also spoke at the rally, the times newspaper reported during her speech, booth criticized blair over his attempts to bring about a resolution to the conflict 'tony blair's only comment regarding the cease fire has been to say that it can only take place after the tunnels in gaza are destroyed,' the times quoted her as saying 'what he is suggesting means that after the massacre, people will have no access to food, kerosene and medicines that came through those tunnels that is not a cease fire; that is a slow agonizing death,' she said, according to the times former london mayor ken livingstone issued a statement backing the demonstration 'every day, we see appalling pictures of children slaughtered by israeli bombs, missiles and other sophisticated weapons,' he said 'yet with more than 700 dead and thousands more seriously wounded, the international community is allowing israel to continue its completely disproportionate onslaught accompanied by an orwellian litany of lies' meanwhile, the british press association reported that similar demonstrations took place in other british cities, including newcastle and edinburgh thousands took part in a rally through the center of edinburgh calling for an end to the military campaign about 300 shoes and red paint were thrown toward the us consulate in the scottish capital, the pa said thousands demonstrated in other european cities, according to local media reports, including innsbruck, austria; paris, france; milan, italy; berlin, germany; and oslo, norway ireport: protests in paris in washington, pro palestinian activists rallied outside the temporary residence of president elect barack obama on saturday and called on the incoming leader to stop the violence in gaza about 3,000 people carrying signs and chanting 'free palestine' flooded lafayette park between the white house and the hay adams hotel, where the president elect is living with his family carrying a flag and wearing a palestinian keffiyeh head scarf, abdel kader elkabil exhorted the president elect to take action 'please, mr obama, do something we love you we voted for you,' he said 'i'm expecting you to do something you're the only one who can do something' asma mobin uddin drove to washington with a group of 500 activists from ohio she said she voted for obama because she believed he could 'make a difference' 'president obama, look in the eyes of your kids and look in the eyes of the kids in that region,' she said at the rally 'please, stop the violence, stop the hate, stop the occupation' israelis say their gaza military operation, which started december 27, is targeting rocket launching sites, hamas infrastructure and the movement's leaders in an effort to stop militants from sending rockets into southern israel palestinian medical sources said that more than 800 palestinians have been killed in the attacks, including 235 children, and about 3,300 people have been wounded thirteen israelis, including 10 soldiers, have died since the operation began cnn's rachel streitfeld and mona larijani contributed to this report | london israeli embassy european us obama | three arrested after london protest becomes unruly; officer knocked out . police say 20,000 gathered outside israeli embassy in london . similar demonstrations take place in other european cities . 3,000 protest outside temporary residence of us president elect obama |
concepcion, chile (cnn) aid and increased security were flowing wednesday into hard hit areas of chile, but some residents complained that they still had not received food or water since saturday's massive earthquake killed more than 800 people president michelle bachelet urged residents wednesday to remain calm despite the shortages and lawlessness in concepcion, talcahuano and other areas of central and southern chile for the second consecutive day, she also warned that looting will not be tolerated 'nobody can argue that taking a refrigerator is an act of survival,' bachelet said 'that is simply vandalism and delinquency' an overnight curfew remained in effect for the third day in concepcion, the scene of the worst looting authorities said they would take whatever steps are necessary to keep order, and 35 people were arrested for curfew violations a military presence and citizen patrols appeared to maintain order in the nation's second largest city, though cnn's sara sidner said that about 10 percent of the stores in the downtown business district appeared to have been looted 'there was a moment when this was no man's land,' one resident said 'this place was like the wild west' some supermarkets were open, though checkout lines lasting two to three hours were common the death toll increased to 802, with nearly 600 of those fatalities occurring in the maule region, the national emergency office said wednesday nineteen people were missing, said patricio rosende, the assistant interior secretary thirty trucks loaded with food and water arrived late tuesday in concepcion the supplies were being distributed wednesday the city's mayor, jacqueline van rysselberghe, said it was a good start but not nearly enough the aid, she told cnn chile, would be distributed in areas where there has been little or no looting concepcion is less than 10 miles inland from talcahuano, but the two towns suffered far different fates in concepcion, the fatalities and injuries were largely the result of buildings that collapsed in coastal talcahuano, the damage was caused by a tsunami that roared into town about an hour after the quake when the waters receded, they left large boats stranded inland in spot, four shrimping vessels lay in a heap, stacked on top of each other much of the gritty port city looked as if a bomb had exploded in it: its buildings reduced to rubble, which was covered with debris see scenes of devastation from the quake the greatest number of deaths occurred in the maule region, where disaster visited two cities in different ways in the central city of talca, an ancient municipality, the earthquake wiped out many of the older adobe structures, crushing hundreds of residents in the coastal city of constitucion, a large wave caused most of the deaths; officials said half of the city was damaged many maule area residents said they had received no help 'we have not received any aid from anyone nothing nothing,' said carlos basoaldo, one of 6,000 residents of the coastal hamlet of pelluhue 'they are only concerned about the big cities,' basoaldo told cnn chile security, too, remained a concern the mayors of concepcion, hualpen and talcahuano had urgently requested military help, and bachelet said that more than 13,000 soldiers were being dispatched many of those soldiers started to reach their destinations tuesday but world vision's emergency operations manager said the situation was safe enough for the non governmental organization to distribute aid in two villages near concepcion 'fortunately enough, we had the collaboration of the government and the army,' michael black said from santiago he credited the extension of the curfew from 6 pm until noon 'what emergency operations are doing is, they're trying to arrive with supplies through the city of concepcion during the curfew,' he said 'that has worked really well' among the items distributed by the christian humanitarian group were 10,000 blankets, 5,000 liters of water, 3 tons of food and thousands of sleeping bags, he said santiago, which suffered damage from the quake but was well on its way to recovery wednesday, is about 270 miles (435 km) northeast of concepcion concerns about the safety of those buildings that were damaged in the quake were heightened wednesday afternoon, when a 56 magnitude aftershock struck 30 miles south southwest of valparaiso, according to the us geological survey residents in coastal cities in chile started to evacuate wednesday after officials in the fishing village of dichato and in the city concepcion warned of a possible tsunami and said they had one hour to leave low lying areas the evacuations were halted minutes later when the national emergency office said there was no tsunami warning since saturday's 88 magnitude earthquake, the region has suffered more than 120 aftershocks of 50 magnitude or greater, usgs geophysicist don blakeman said eight of them have been 60 or stronger, he said the aftershocks further stressed a frightened population 'the vast majority of the population, if not everyone at this moment, has some symptoms like anxiety, fear, depression,' said dr graciela rojas, a psychiatrist at the university of chile's clinical hospital 'i would say that the next three months will be a time of fear and sadness' 'basically, we are all under great stress,' dr matias gonzalez, a psychiatrist at the university of chile 'people are afraid; they want to protect their families, and they function emotionally, not rationally' the minister of public works said the country's major highways are open and no part of the country is isolated in addition, sergio bitar said, air connections were being re established, ports were being fixed, and food and fuel supplies were sufficient 'there is public order,' he said 'it was a giant earthquake, but we are handling it well' but chile's economy, considered by many the most competitive in latin america, also has taken a hit about 70 percent of the nation's economic production has been affected, particularly fruit and mining sectors, cnn chile said, citing analysts' observations but officials said wednesday that they are working to fix some sectors affected by lack of electricity and other necessities for example, treasury minister andres velasco said, about 60 percent of the nation's banks are open 'our economy has dealt very well with this situation,' velasco said he and bachelet tried to reassure chileans that there were sufficient supplies of food, fuel and other goods and urged residents not to hoard cnn's david ariosto and tom watkins contributed to this report | third day concepcion 70 percent chile | new: 19 people remain missing, official says . curfew remained in effect for third day in concepcion, scene of worst looting . 70 percent of chile's economy affected by quake, particularly fruit and mining sectors |
(cnn) his journey started in nigeria, a taunted teenager with large tumors on his face, driven into deep despair eleven years later, victor chukwueke has undergone numerous surgeries and is a step closer to achieving his dream of becoming a doctor in a rare act, the united states congress passed a private bill last week granting chukwueke permanent residency after years of his living in michigan on an expired visa the bill is awaiting president barack obama's signature 'the day congress passed the bill was one of the happiest days of my life,' says chukwueke, who left nigeria as a teen in 2001 to get treatment for the tumors private bills which only apply to one person and mostly focus on immigration seldom pass his is the only private bill to pass in congress in two years 'i was overwhelmed with joy; it was nothing less than a miracle,' the 26 year old says 'only in this country can so many miraculous and wonderful things happen to someone like me' before coming to the united states at age 15, chukwueke lived in the southeastern nigeria town of ovim he suffers from neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder that causes massive life threatening tumors on his face treated as an outcast because of his deformed face, he was depressed and humiliated, he says his family abandoned him at an orphanage nuns from the daughters of mary mother of mercy rescued him from the orphanage more than a decade ago and arranged for a michigan doctor to perform surgery on him he says he considers himself lucky to have developed the tumors 'without them, i would not have met the nun, left nigeria, arrived in the us and had the miracle to attend medical school,' he says he lives with the nuns in oak park, michigan they have cared for him since he came to the us, where he has undergone seven surgeries, including one that left him blind in the right eye doctors performed chukwueke's surgeries over a period of time, he says, which contributed to his expired visa despite the obstacles, he remains committed to getting an education 'my own personal struggles to receive treatment have motivated and encouraged me to pursue a medical career to alleviate the pain and suffering of others,' he says 'a medical career will allow me many gratifying years of making a difference in the health and lives of others i strongly believe one can make another person's life worthy of living i have experienced it' he finished his ged the equivalent of a high school education while undergoing treatment and enrolled at a community college a benefactor later helped him attend wayne state university, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in biochemistry and chemical biology last year he had a 382 gpa and gave the university's commencement speech 'should i call myself a victim, or should i press forward to my dreams?' he asked during the speech amid thunderous applause soon after his graduation, the university of toledo in ohio admitted him to medical school the only hurdle: the program requires him to have permanent residency status, also known as a green card though he qualifies for the dream act, which gives immigrants who came to the united states as minors temporary residency, the measure would not give him the permanent status mandated by the university, according to his attorney and so began chukwueke's journey to get legalized, a quest that has seen strangers rally to his help his attorney thomas k ragland took his case pro bono 'victor's story is remarkable,' says ragland, who is based in washington dc 'here is this kid who comes from nigeria, he was taunted and teased for his diseases, and he comes to this country and excels, despite so many surgeries it is a testament of not letting anything get in the way' sen carl levin, a michigan democrat, sponsored the bill, s 285 the measure passed the senate in the summer and the house last week 'already, his example has enriched michigan and our nation, but i know that his contributions to our country are only beginning,' levin said in a statement the number of illegal immigrants in the united states was estimated at 115 million last year if obama signs the bill, the state department will reduce by one the number of immigrant visas available to nigerians that signature, chukwueke says, will be his favorite holiday gift | victor chukwueke's us michigan bill congress last week | victor chukwueke's visa expires after he comes to the us for treatment of tumors . michigan senator introduces a private bill to grant him a green card . bill comes after he's admitted to a medical school that requires students to have a green card . in a rare act, congress passes the bill last week |
london, england (cnn) a legal battle has put the future of skype in jeopardy, according to ebay, which owns the online communications system skype's online phone and video communication service has been incredibly popular if skype loses the right to use a key part of its software and can't create an adequate replacement, 'skype's business as currently conducted would likely not be possible,' ebay said in its quarterly filing with the us securities and exchange commission there is no sign of skype disappearing soon a relief to the more than 480 million registered users who have video or telephone conversations online through the technology but the battle with joltid, the company that created the piece of technology at issue, shows no sign of being resolved anytime soon, either joltid complains that skype broke its licensing agreement to use the technology skype filed suit against joltid in britain, saying it could not terminate the license agreement; joltid struck back with a counterclaim saying skype had broken the agreement a trial is scheduled for june 2010, ebay said in the sec filing 'although skype is confident of its legal position, as with any litigation, there is the possibility of an adverse result if the matter is not resolved through negotiation,' ebay writes 'skype has begun to develop alternative software to that licensed through joltid however, such software development may not be successful, may result in loss of functionality or customers even if successful, and will in any event be expensive' in an e mail to cnn, joltid said skype 'accessed joltid's source code and modified it joltid then claimed a breach of license' skype denies any breach 'joltid is enforcing its rights in the courts,' joltid said in the e mail 'like any member of the creative industries, joltid will defend its innovations with determination' cnn's diana magnay and josh levs contributed to this report | skype ebay | a legal battle puts the future of skype in jeopardy, according to owner ebay . skype in legal battle with company behind some of its software . ebay says without software skype's 'business would likely not be possible' |
(cnn) the man suspected to be at the center of the plot to send bombs from yemen to the united states is a saudi national who authorities believe has been living in yemen for the past three years ibrahim hassan al asiri is one of saudi arabia's most wanted men, according to a list published by the government last year the saudi government described al asiri as an explosives and poison expert on friday, authorities in the united arab emirates and britain found two packages with explosives that were destined for synagogues in chicago, illinois us investigators believe al qaeda bomb maker al asiri, 28, is linked to the packages the explosive found in the packages, petn, is the same as the material found in the december 2009 foiled underwear bomb attack in the united states it's a highly explosive organic compound that belongs to the same chemical family as nitroglycerin six grams of petn are enough to blow a hole in the fuselage of an aircraft al asiri was also suspected in the earlier attempted bombing case, where a nigerian man, umar farouk abdulmutallab, is accused of trying to set off a bomb hidden in his underwear on a flight al asiri's brother, abdullah, also appeared on the saudi arabia's most wanted list according to press accounts, it was ibrahim al asiri who lured his brother to the jihadist movement in 2009, abdullah al asiri died when he detonated a bomb on his body with the intent of assassinating saudi prince muhammed bin naif, a top security official the suicide bombing attempt failed to kill its target a few days after that attempt, the watan newspaper in saudi arabia interviewed al asiri's mother and sisters their mother described ibrahim and abdullah as regular teenagers growing up 'they were not religious boys at the time they used to listen to music and had a wide variety of friends, friends not like the ones they had later when they became more religious,' she told watan one of their sisters told the newspaper that the death of their brother ali in a car accident in 2000 was a turning point in ibrahim and abdullah's attitude 'it was after that that they started swapping video tapes and cassettes on the mujahedeen in chechnya and afghanistan, and they became at times distant,' the sister said 'abdullah started to go out a lot with his new friends to camps known as 'preaching camps'' ibrahim at one point was arrested in 2003 while trying with others to enter iraq to wage jihad, his family told watan he was held in prison for nine months also shortly after the attempt against the saudi prince's life, the saudi gazette newspaper spoke with ibrahim and abdullah's father, who shed some more light on the young men's upbringing the family grew up in the al jazira district of east riyadh, he said, describing theirs as a pious family 'we were living in makkah two years ago and were planning to move back to riyadh, but abdullah and ibrahim said they wanted to go to medina before coming back with us,' the father, hassan, told the newspaper last year 'abdullah later contacted us to say he was out of the country, but didn't say where, and from that day on we had no more news of him until we saw his and his brother's pictures a few months ago in the media as on the list of wanted people' cnn's tim lister contributed to this report | ibrahim hassan al asiri yemen riyadh saudi arabia | ibrahim hassan al asiri is believed to be in yemen . he grew up in riyadh, saudi arabia . he recruited his brother into a terrorist movement |
pyongyang, north korea (cnn) at russia's urging, the un security council will hold an emergency meeting sunday morning aimed at defusing simmering tensions in the korean peninsula the meeting will take place at 11 am et on sunday, a day after russia had originally wanted to meet, its ambassador to the united nations vitaly churkin said in a statement churkin blamed the us delegation which this month heads up the security council for the one day delay, adding, 'we assume that nothing will happen in the interim that would bring about further aggravation' new mexico gov bill richardson, a former prominent us diplomat now in the middle of an unofficial four day trip meeting with high level pyongyang officials, applauded the development as something that could help skirt further military escalation 'it's a very, very tense situation, a crisis situation,' richardson told cnn's wolf blitzer from pyongyang 'this is when the un security council can be most effective' the former us energy secretary and ambassador to the united nations met sunday morning for one and a half hours with maj gen pak rim su, who leads north korean forces in the demilitarized zone along the south korean border he called it a 'very tough meeting' that included 'some progress' richardson told cnn that pak was receptive to his proposal that a military hotline be set up between north korean and south korean forces, in order to address issues should an incident occur pak was also open to the governor's idea for a military commission with representatives from north korea, south korea and the united states to monitor disputed areas in and around the yellow sea the goal, richardson said, would be to address issues before they flared into larger confrontations the north korean general, separately, told richardson that the remains of several hundred us servicemen killed about six decades ago during the korean war had recently been recovered, showing the governor pictures of some of them and a dog tag from one soldier pak then offered to resume joint recovery efforts with the united states 'it was a positive gesture,' richardson said still, the governor said that the un security council's meeting on sunday might be an even more significant development when it comes to the regional crisis he called china's recent statements on and russia's leadership on the issue a positive saying he hoped that the council might issue a statement 'urging all sides to exercise maximum restraint (and to) cool things down' the security council has five permanent members in china, france, russia, the united kingdom and the united states there are also 10 rotating members, which are currently austria, bosnia and herzegovinia, brazil, gabon, japan, lebanon, mexico, nigeria, turkey and uganda the united states, as well as russia and japan, have been key international players in the crisis, and chinese officials have also conducted a series of high level talks with north korean and south korean officials on saturday, chinese foreign minister zhang zhijun reiterated his nation's strong desire to avert war, which he said would be devastating for both korean nations and the region as a whole, according to state run news agency xinhua richardson came to north korea at the invitation of its top nuclear negotiator as a private citizen with the knowledge of but not as a representative of the us government amidst one of the region's most serious crises since the 1953 korean war armistice north korea says that its south korean counterparts are instigating tensions with planned live military exercises on and around the disputed yeonpyeong island seoul cited bad weather as its reason for pushing back the drills a day or two, which were originally scheduled between december 18 and 21, south korea's official yonhap news agency reported saying the exercises would be in 'the inviolable territorial waters' of north korea, the north's state run korean central news agency warned saturday that its forces 'will deal the second and third unpredictable self defensive blow' if the drills proceed such strikes, according to the agency, would be 'deadlier in terms of the powerfulness and sphere' than its november 23 shelling of yeonpyeong island that left four south koreans dead noting that north korea is 'very, very provoked by this potential incident,' richardson said he hoped that a strong statement from the united nations council might spur seoul to cancel the drills and 'give both sides cover' to tamp down their rhetoric and actions pak was the first non political official to talk to richardson, who earlier said he had a 'good meeting' with the north's chief nuclear negotiator kim gye gwan and also met with the vice minister of north korea's ministry of foreign affairs on friday both koreas have traded tough talk and conducted aggressive military drills in the weeks after the yeonpyeong island incident the us military has said it is concerned that south korea's scheduled exercises could spark an uncontrollable clash with the north, but the state department said the exercises are not meant to be threatening or provocative cnn's jiyeon lee contributed to this report watch the situation room with wolf blitzer weekdays at 5pm to 8pm et and saturdays at 6pm et for the latest from the situation room click here | bill richardson us n korean the un security council sunday morning korean south korean | new: bill richardson, who is not a us envoy, says a n korean general was open to his ideas . new: they include a military hotline and a commission to settle disputes in the region . the un security council will meet sunday morning about the korean crisis . planned south korean military exercises have been delayed due to bad weather |
(cnn) tuvalu, the fourth smallest nation on the planet, has announced it aims to be totally powered by renewable energy sources by 2020 tuvalu hopes to set an example to bigger nations by relying totally on clean energy by 2020 located between hawaii and australia, the tiny pacific nation is one of the world's climate change hotspots and many believe it is already seeing the negative affects of rising sea levels the highest elevation on the island is just 45 meters (148 feet), and king tides have become increasingly damaging over the past 10 years, threatening the homes and livelihoods of its 12,000 inhabitants the government of tuvalu is working with the e8, a consortium of 10 energy firms from the g8 nations that was set up after the 1992 rio earth summit as a non profit organization the tuvalu government estimates that it will take around $20 million in investment to reach the goal of 100 percent clean energy by 2020 the first stage of the project has seen the roof of the country's largest football stadium covered in solar panels, which supplies 5 percent of the electricity needed by the nation's capital, funafuti according to e8 figures, after 14 months in operation the solar stadium has reduced consumption of generator fuel shipped from new zealand by 17,000 tons and saved 50 tons of co2 from being released in the atmosphere a further benefit is the reduced risk of diesel spills around the atoll's reefs 'there may be other larger solar power installations in the world, but none could be more meaningful to customers than this one,' said takao shiraishi, general manager of the kansai electric power company that helped implement the scheme 'the plight of tuvalu versus the rising tide vividly represents the worst early consequence of climate change for tuvalu, after 3,000 years of history, the success of un climate talks in copenhagen this december may well be a matter of national survival,' he said in a press statement the next scheme is building a solar power system for a secondary school on vaitupu, one of the outer islands 'we thank those who are helping tuvalu reduce its carbon footprint as it will strengthen our voice in upcoming international negotiations and we look forward to the day when our nation offers an example to all powered entirely by natural resources such as the sun and the wind,' said kausea natano, tuvalu's minister for public utilities and industries | pacific ocean g8 pacific island less than one meter | tuvalu in pacific ocean threaten by rising sea levels from climate change . with consortium of g8 energy companies plan to use only renewables by 2020 . most of pacific island nation is less than one meter above sea level |
(cnn) one of the most surprising moments of this year's oscars came at the very end, when first lady michelle obama showed up on video to help announce the best picture winner if you're anything like us, you immediately wondered what the significance could be, especially since she was announcing the award from the white house but when you think about it, having obama help draw the oscars ceremony to a close was a fitting way to end this politically saturated awards season the real life drama of dc politics can be absorbing enough on its own, but mix in hollywood machinations and you could create a must see movie political themes have been popular at the academy awards in the past, but this year's list of best picture contenders was rife with them there was 'zero dark thirty,' which was nominated in a number of big categories on sunday and ended up in a tie for the best sound editing oscar regardless of its lack of statues, kathryn bigelow's project remains one of the most talked about movies of 2012 thanks to its plot centered on the hunt for osama bin laden the script, written by mark boal, lit the match for fiery debates on torture steven spielberg's 'lincoln,' a recounting of how the 16th president brought the civil war to an end and passed the 13th amendment, was a giant in the walk up to the oscars daniel day lewis' portrayal of abraham lincoln won him the best actor oscar, and day lewis was sure to thank the man who inspired his role (his beard in the film, by the way, was real) and of course there was 'argo,' the year's best picture winner, which followed a secret cia operation to rescue six american diplomats during the iranian hostage crisis in 1980 the film was not only a critical success, but it was thought provoking, too since its release last fall, its historical accuracy has been called into question and its depiction of jimmy carter's term has been picked apart (the los angeles times' ran a cartoon of a shocked lincoln memorial after the oscars ceremony 'argo?!' the cartoon read 'you mean i lost to the carter administration?!') that's not to mention 'argo's' international reach, as it sparked criticism from iranian authorities we know hollywood's version of politics well which celebrity said what, when, and to whom but it seems this awards season shifted our focus somewhat to grander themes these 'best picture contenders,' wrote cnn contributor john avlon, 'have managed to pay off at the box office even as they brought politics and history to the big screen proof that we'll take smart over stupid as long as we're entertained while educated' | broadcasted episthotonos ideologist | no related information |
washington (cnn) when president obama raises his hand, i will put down my pen or rather, i will step away from my computer keyboard inauguration day will signal the culmination of an effort i launched on january 20, 2009, to write a letter to the white house every single day of barack obama's first term and i do mean every day weekends, holidays, when he was on vacation, and when i was on vacation i wrote in my office, at home, in moving airplanes, cars, trains and even while running through the woods i wrote early in the morning, in the middle of the day and late at night i wrote about things that were important, like unemployment, afghanistan and women's rights i also wrote about things that were trivial, like sports, favorite foods and my yearly battle with christmas lights the tally: 1,460 letters, well over a half million words, or enough to fill about seven novels laid out as one line of text, these letters would stretch almost 3â½ miles or considerably longer than the inaugural parade route i did not intend to get in this deep read tom foreman's latest letter to obama and all the others the first letter, written on that cold inauguration day four years ago, was a bit of a lark some weeks earlier, barack obama had suggested he wanted to hear from citizens about how to run the country i thought it would be funny to post a series of letters for his first 10 days on the ac360 blog people liked it, i decided to go for a month, and bob's your uncle here we are the first year was easy we all have ideas about what we would do if we were in charge bad ideas usually, but ideas nonetheless i prattled on about the economy, security, bipartisanship, foreign affairs and his bowling technique the second year grew a bit harder by thinking every day about the presidency, i became more aware of how many intractable, repetitive issues press down upon any person who takes that job it's biden time in the third year, i surged ahead having accepted that my fountain of easy ideas had run dry, i dedicated more serious thought to what i would say to be sure, the letters became less entertaining, but i liked to imagine that they had more substance, although in retrospect i was probably wrong and in this fourth year, i struggled it seemed many days as if i'd already said everything i had to say and then some at one point i had considered writing letters to the white house for the rest of my life the fourth year convinced me that this would be a bad idea i found myself counting the days to january obama's new term resolutions along the way it occurred to me that being president is probably much harder than most of us suppose after all, if it is this exhausting just thinking about the job, imagine what it is like actually punching the oval office clock truthfully, i offered very little advice more often i presented general notions about how one approaches problems; the same notions i would pass on to anyone in any position who faces daily challenges which, i guess, is pretty much all of us i don't know if he ever read a single line all i know is that in almost every missive, i invited the president to give me a call he never did and i don't blame him beware the tortoise whether a democrat or republican fills that office, answering to the needs of 311 million people is a magnificent and daunting challenge, let alone answering their letters so i will close my series with the same letter that started it all, by far the shortest of the bunch dear mr president, congratulations! watching you on that podium today, surrounded by so many hundreds of thousands of americans, i could not help but feel inspired by the miracle of democracy and the greatness of our nation i also have a question: do you have any idea what you've gotten yourself into? i know you are busy today, but call when you can regards, tom | tom foreman obama foreman | tom foreman wrote 1,460 letters to president obama . he did not intend to get in this deep . letters included a simple request: 'please call'. foreman is still waiting on obama's call |
(cnn) an afghan delegation plans to travel to pakistan to hold talks with one of the founding members of the taliban, the afghan president's office said wednesday the planned visit plays into efforts to pursue peace in war torn afghanistan, where nato and afghan troops have been fighting the taliban for more than a decade the delegation of the afghan high peace council will hold talks with mullah abdul ghani baradar, a former taliban leader who was released last month from detention by pakistani authorities a date for the trip has not yet been announced baradar, who had been held in a secret location, used to be the taliban's second in command, after mullah mohammed omar he was captured in 2010 in karachi, pakistan's largest city, which is known to be a haven for many militants from across the country and its bordering regions afghan president hamid karzai has long pushed for baradar's release his government was suspected to be in secret talks with the militant when he was captured baradar had been under united nations sanctions since february 2001, with his assets frozen and travel banned the un had forbidden selling weapons to him the agreement for the afghan delegation to meet baradar was made tuesday in london where british prime minister david cameron held talks on the afghan peace process and other issues with karzai and pakistani prime minister nawaz sharif it is the latest gesture by sharif's government, which took office this year, to improve ties with neighboring afghanistan on september 7 before baradar's release it freed seven taliban figures to facilitate the peace process two weeks earlier, karzai had visited the pakistani capital of islamabad and stressed the importance of pakistan's assistance in any path to peace | pakistan mullah abdul ghani baradar taliban afghanistan afghan pakistani london | a delegation will travel to pakistan to meet mullah abdul ghani baradar . the former taliban second in command was recently freed by pakistan . the visit plays into efforts to pursue peace in war torn afghanistan . the plan is announced after the afghan and pakistani leaders meet in london |
(cnn) us inspectors are investigating a possible leak at the hanford nuclear site after an elevated contamination reading was found in a leak detection pit, washington gov jay inslee said friday the elevated reading, however, doesn't pose an immediate public health threat, inslee said 'this is most disturbing news for washington,' the governor said in a statement 'the discovery was made during a routine pumping outside the tank when pumps are also surveyed for radioactivity' the leak detection pit is located outside and adjacent to a double shell tank identified as ay 102, the governor said 'it is not clear yet whether that contamination is coming directly from the outer shell of the ay 102 but it must be treated with the utmost seriousness,' inslee said in february: 6 tanks leaking radioactive waste at washington nuclear site the us department of energy has assigned engineers to analyze the source of contamination through sampling and video inspection, a process that could take several days, the governor said the hanford site, which once produced plutonium for atomic weapons, borders the columbia river 'given the relatively early detection of this potential leak, the river is not at immediate risk of contamination should it be determined that a leak has occurred outside the tank,' inslee said secretary of energy ernest moniz just paid his first visit to the hanford site on wednesday even before learning of a possible leak, inslee told moniz he has 'serious concerns regarding the pace of addressing the leaking tanks,' inslee said 'we will be insisting on an acceleration of remediation of all the tanks, not just ay 102 usdoe has a legal obligation to clean up hanford and remove or treat that waste, and we ensure that legal obligation is fulfilled,' the governor said | signposting octahedrons gabelle | no related information |
(cnn) two 15 year olds broke into a denver middle school armed with what appeared to be bb guns and ransacked several rooms before being taken into custody, police chief robert white said tuesday authorities believe the two wanted to steal items from the school, white said no students were in the building at the time of the late night burglary at rachel b noel middle school, and classes were expected to go on as usual tuesday, he said an employee saw the students enter the school around 10 pm with what appeared to be rifles officers surrounded the school before taking the boys into custody while authorities have not moved the weapons the boys were spotted carrying, investigators who looked at them think they are bb guns, white said one of the teens was also carrying a computer in a backpack the other suspect's backpack has not yet been examined, he added the teenagers, whose identities have not been made public because they are juveniles, were being interviewed by investigators early tuesday, white said 'preliminarily, the intent appeared to be burglary,' white said white said the same pair attempted to break into greenwood elementary school earlier in the evening, but weren't successful cnn's chuck johnston contributed to this report | denver bb 15 year olds | new: the teens spotted in a denver school had bb guns, not rifles, police chief says . new: police believe the 15 year olds were intent on burglary . officers surrounded the school before the arrests |
(cnn) egyptian security forces arrested a senior leader of the muslim brotherhood early wednesday, the interior ministry said, the latest move in an extended crackdown on the islamist movement essam el erian, the vice chairman of the group's political wing the freedom and justice party was found in a cairo suburb and was subsequently arrested and booked, the ministry said in a statement before his arrest, he was one of the most senior muslim brotherhood leaders still at large the military and police have detained large numbers of brotherhood officials and supporters since the ouster of former president mohamed morsy in july a court banned the movement in september egypt's general prosecutor had issued an arrest warrant for el erian, the former leader of the majority party in egypt's upper house of parliament, accusing him and other party members of 'inciting violence' and 'aiding criminal acts,' the interior ministry said the military's overthrow of the democratically elected morsy, amid widespread demonstrations calling for his resignation, has plunged egypt deeper into turmoil hundreds of people have been killed in clashes between security forces and supporters of morsy and the brotherhood, many of them when the military used force to clear two pro morsy sit in sites in cairo in august the us government said earlier this month that it was suspending hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to the egyptian military over the bloody crackdown on the brotherhood | essam el erian cairo the muslim brotherhood's islamist el erian brotherhood | essam el erian is detained by security forces in a suburb of cairo . he is the vice chairman of the muslim brotherhood's political wing . authorities have arrested large numbers of the islamist movement's leaders . el erian was one of the most senior brotherhood officials still at large |
(cnn) zahra baker had been an international symbol of strength and hope: a freckle faced girl who lost part of her left leg at age 5 and her hearing while being treated for cancer, she kept smiling and fighting through it all yet zahra's life ended violently in fall 2010 that's when her stepmother, elisa baker, told police in hickory, north carolina, that the girl, then 10, was killed and dismembered, according to search warrants the youngster's body parts were then disposed of in various locations, the stepmother told police while police found some of zahra's remains in the weeks after she was reported missing, some parts hadn't been accounted for but authorities took a major step forward on this count thursday, with the confirmation that a skull found in april 2012 in caldwell county, north carolina, belonged to the girl 2010: north carolina community remembers zahra baker 'the life and death of zahra baker profoundly impacted those who came to know this brave young lady through her tragic story,' said district attorney james gaither jr, whose district includes the section of central north carolina where the crime occurred and whose office confirmed the finding about zahra's skull 'zahra and her life will be forever in our thoughts, and 'team zahra' will forever be connected through her spirit' members of the north carolina state bureau of investigation, the north carolina medical examiner's office and the marshall university forensic science center in huntington, west virginia, analyzed the skull and told gaither's office it belonged to zahra but the analysis did not establish the cause of the girl's death police began looking for zahra on october 9, 2010, after her stepmother reported her missing and authorities found a ransom note that was later determined to be fake at the time, authorities said that no one other than a relative had seen the girl since september 25 elisa baker was arrested the next day on several charges unrelated to zahra's disappearance, including writing worthless checks 2011: stepmother charged with murder meanwhile, the search for the young girl grabbed national and international headlines given her story, her age and the fact both of her biological parents are from australia a prosthetic leg thought to belong to the missing girl was found in a brushy area off a north carolina road in late october 2010 some of her other remains were found november 11 of that year zahra's stepmother eventually told police the girl had been killed two weeks before she was reported missing in september 2011, she pleaded guilty to second degree murder with aggravating factors and was sentenced to 18 years in state prison, according to the district attorney's office according to an indictment, elisa baker 'desecrated the victim's body to hinder detection, investigation and prosecution of the offense' she is now in federal custody awaiting sentencing on drug conspiracy charges after pleading guilty in january 2012 to one count of conspiracy to sell drugs 2011: search warrants provide grisly details in zahra baker's death | zahra baker age 5 10 2010 north carolina zahra 2011 | zahra baker lost her left leg at age 5 and her hearing as she battled cancer . she was 10 when she was reported missing in 2010 in north carolina . some parts were found; a prosecutor says tests show a skull found was zahra's . in 2011, her stepmother pleaded guilty to killing, dismembering zahra |
brownsville, texas (cnn) hurricane dolly weakened to a tropical storm wednesday night after it made landfall on south padre island, texas, leaving a trail of battered buildings and flooding police patrol the streets of south padre island, texas, on wednesday as hurricane dolly approaches by 9 pm ct, dolly's sustained winds had dipped to about 70 mph with higher gusts, according to the national hurricane center a category 1 hurricane has winds of at least 75 mph a tropical storm warning remained in effect from brownsville to port aransas, texas tropical storm warnings for other areas were lifted the eye of the storm made landfall as a category 2 hurricane on south padre island, texas, about 1 pm ct, tearing roofs off homes, flooding streets and sending residents scrambling for safety from wind gusts reaching 120 mph by 2 pm, the hurricane was downgraded to category 1, but in many areas along the southwest coastal region, the damage was already done watch cnn's gary tuchman brace against dolly's high winds » at least one person was injured as sustained winds up to 100 mph downed power lines and tore observation decks off homes and condos, cnn affiliate kprc reported a 17 year old fell from a seventh story balcony, sustaining head injuries, a broken leg and a broken hip he is alert and receiving treatment on the island while authorities wait for the first opportunity to get him to the mainland, kprc reported 'when we heard the first bang, i thought it was one of the air conditioners flying,' said jacqueline bell, who lives on south padre island 'then we went outside, and we saw the debris, and we saw the neighbors leaving' cnn meteorologist chad myers said persistent rainfall could cause flooding upstream in the rio grande as long as the storm stalled over the mountains of mexico watch myers explain the threat of flooding upriver » myers said it could take two days for the rainwater to flow upstream and challenge the natural levees, which were holding for now 'the levees are holding up just fine,' said johnny cavazos, emergency coordinator for cameron county, the associated press reported 'there is no indication right now that they are going to crest' even before dolly made landfall, driving rain and wind gusts from its outer rings flooded streets and threatened to pour into homes while wind gusts shattered windows on the island popular with tourists the 2,400 residents began bracing for the storm tuesday night, when strong winds forced the closure of south padre island's causeway to the mainland officials said the causeway is closed any time winds reach 39 mph some chose to remain on the island and wait out the storm steven murphy took shelter with his girlfriend in his 65 foot double decker fishing boat, murphy's law, and hoped for the best read about why murphy decided to wait out the storm murphy, who owns a charter fishing company with his brother on the island, lived through a more powerful hurricane, where he saw boats bigger than his tossed onto land 'i had nightmares about that last night,' he said from his boat wednesday he said the wind outside sounded like a tornado and added that he'd seen several items blow past the windows of his vessel 'it's starting to tear it up real good,' murphy said see images and videos from affected areas » on the mainland, people in the path of the storm stacked sandbags around their homes, nailed plywood over windows and prepared generators to keep power going in the event of a blackout ireportcom: are you in dolly's path? brownsville mayor pat ahumada said that the storm downed trees and dumped 6 to 8 inches of rain but that emergency workers were ready to respond once the wind and rain died down ahumada said reports that the city's levees are in danger of breaching were exaggerated watch mayor ahumada explain the situation on the ground » he said it would take 20 inches of rain to top nearly all of the city's levees, which had been reinforced to federal standards or above 'people think we're facing a katrina,' he said 'that's not the case' more than 13,000 customers were without power in cameron county, where brownsville is, utility company aep texas told the associated press dolly's arrival also had the military scrambling the navy moved 89 aircraft from its corpus christi post to other locations in texas and new mexico see dolly's projected path » texas gov rick perry issued a disaster declaration for 14 counties before dolly arrived the declaration 'allows the state to initiate necessary preparedness efforts,' according to a statement from perry's office more than two dozen state agencies and organizations, including the red cross, are on standby to help with evacuations and other needs the national guard has set up staging areas in houston, austin and san antonio, officials said as many as 1,200 national guardsmen have been called to help, and 700 are deployed to targeted areas an incident management team has been pre positioned in south texas, including six uh 60 helicopters, to provide support to first responders cnn's alex walker, barbara starr and ed lavandera contributed to this report copyright 2008 cnn all rights reservedthis material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed associated press contributed to this report | expellee hillberry nagasaki | no related information |
las vegas, nevada (cnn) polygamist sect leader warren jeffs was released from a hospital in las vegas, nevada on wednesday, a source close to the case told cnn jailed polygamist sect leader warren jeffs, seen in september, has been hospitalized in las vegas authorities took jeffs from an arizona jail to a nevada hospital on tuesday after he saying he looked feverish and was 'acting in a convulsive manner, and looked in a very weakened state' doctors there determined he should go to a larger facility, so jeffs was flown to the sunrise medical center in las vegas sheriff tom sheahan of mohave county, arizona said before jeffs' release that his condition was not believed to be life threatening further details about his release on wednesday were unavailable sheahan said he is trying to get information about jeffs' condition watch how authorities are mum about jeffs » jeffs' attorney in arizona, michael piccarreta, also declined comment on his client's hospitalization the 52 year old is the leader and so called prophet of the estimated 10,000 member fundamentalist church of jesus christ of latter day saints, an offshoot of the mainstream mormon church the flds openly practices polygamy at its yearning for zion ranch outside eldorado, texas, along with two towns straddling the utah arizona state line hildale, utah, and colorado city, arizona the charges against jeffs are class 6 felonies under arizona law, piccarreta said, meaning that a judge upon conviction will determine whether the charges are misdemeanors or felonies other charges jeffs initially faced in arizona have been dismissed, said piccarreta in november, jeffs was sentenced in utah to two consecutive terms of five years to life in prison after his conviction on two charges of being an accomplice to rape in connection with a 2001 marriage he performed between a girl, 14, and her cousin, 19 according to unsealed court documents, jeffs refused food and drink for a month in january 2007 and developed ulcers on his knees from kneeling in prayer for hours as he awaited trial on january 28, 2007, he attempted to hang himself in his cell, the documents said in the days afterward while on suicide watch, jeffs on separate occasions banged his head and threw himself against a wall he has been in custody since august 2006, when he was arrested during a routine traffic stop after spending months on the fbi's 10 most wanted fugitives list in april, authorities removed more than 400 children from the yfz ranch child protection officials said they found a 'pervasive pattern' of sexual abuse on the ranch through forced marriages between underage girls and older men in june, however, the texas supreme court ruled the state had no right to remove the children the court also said the state lacked evidence to show that the children faced imminent danger of abuse the children were returned to their families cnn's saeed ahmed and gary tuchman contributed to this report | warren jeffs las vegas wednesday polygamist arizona tuesday court jeffs the fundamentalist church of jesus christ latter day | new: warren jeffs was released from a las vegas hospital on wednesday . polygamist sect leader flown to las vegas hospital from arizona jail on tuesday . court documents say jeffs previously has tried to hurt, hang and starve himself . jeffs is leader of the fundamentalist church of jesus christ of latter day saints |
detroit, michigan (cnn) a defiant mayor kwame kilpatrick addressed detroit on thursday night listing what he said the city had accomplished under his leadership just hours after announcing his resignation amid a sex and perjury scandal detroit mayor kwame kilpatrick has agreed to resign from office, a prosecutor said thursday 'the city is much better shape than the city i received seven years ago,' said kilpatrick 'we in detroit have done amazing things together' during the speech kilpatrick also jabbed city officials and michigan's governor, telling them to continue to work for the people of detroit as hard as they did to get him out of office kilpatrick told the crowd his marriage is better than it has ever been and kissed his wife to end the speech, an act that brought thunderous applause kilpatrick said he decided to step down so the city could continue to move forward 'sometimes standing strong means stepping down,' kilpatrick said 'but detroit you have set me up for a comeback' the embattled kilpatrick pleaded guilty thursday to charges resulting from a sex scandal and submitted his resignation to the governor effective in two weeks under a plea deal, kilpatrick will serve four months in the wayne county jail and the rest of his five year sentence on probation, said wayne county prosecutor kym worthy he will enter jail on the day of his formal sentencing, october 28, she said kilpatrick, 38, also agreed not to run for public office during his probation, to pay $1 million in restitution and to forfeit any future pension he was accused of blocking a criminal investigation into his office and firing a police deputy to cover up an extramarital affair and other possible illicit activities after the deputy, gary brown, lost his job, a mayoral bodyguard, officer harold nelthrope, left his job voluntarily when the atmosphere became too tense, said his attorney in the whistle blower suit trial walt harris, another former mayoral bodyguard, filed his own whistle blower suit, contending he was punished for supporting nelthrope's reports of wrongdoing by kilpatrick and his bodyguards the city of detroit paid $84 million to settle the lawsuits, but legal fees have pushed that figure to at least $9 million prompted by the judge to recount his wrongdoing, kilpatrick admitted thursday, 'i lied under oath in the case of gary brown and harold nelthrope versus the city of detroit i did so with the intent to mislead the court and the jury and to impede and obstruct the fair administration of justice' watch kilpatrick in court » when circuit court judge david groner asked kilpatrick if he understood that by pleading guilty he was giving up the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, the mayor said, 'i think i gave that up a long time ago, your honor yes' kilpatrick had faced eight felony counts as part of the agreement, six counts related to misconduct in office were dropped, and a perjury count was changed to a second obstruction of justice charge in a separate case against kilpatrick, groner on thursday accepted a no contest plea on an assault charge brought against the mayor in july after he allegedly shoved a police officer trying to serve a subpoena on a friend of kilpatrick's who was a potential witness in his perjury case groner set an october 28 sentencing date for both cases also thursday, michigan gov jennifer granholm adjourned a hearing on whether to remove kilpatrick from office after he notified her of his pending resignation 'today, this sad but historic story is coming to an end,' granholm said 'it's very important for us as a state and as a city to turn this page together there is much work to do it is my profound hope that we can now write a new history for this great but embattled city' watch granholm call for a new chapter » the governor set the hearing after the detroit city council voted in may to ask her to remove kilpatrick, alleging he had misled the council by not revealing the affair when he urged it to approve settlements with the people who had filed the whistle blower suits against the city if kilpatrick doesn't resign as promised, granholm said the hearing would reconvene on september 22 the detroit city council president, who becomes mayor when kilpatrick steps down september 18, vowed to make the transition as seamless as possible kilpatrick will be replaced in two weeks by city council president ken cockrel jr, who vowed thursday to make the transition 'as seamless as possible' | kilpatrick kwame kilpatrick four months five year | new: kilpatrick tells officials to work as hard on city as they did to oust him . kwame kilpatrick pleads guilty to charges resulting from a sex scandal . he is to resign from office and will serve four months in jail . kilpatrick also agrees not to run for public office during his five year probation |
to celebrate our 20th year of publication, cooking light wanted to know what places best fit our philosophy to eat smart, be fit, and live well using statistics from such organizations as the centers for disease control and prevention, the us department of agriculture, and the zagat survey, we ranked major metropolitan areas on 15 criteria the result, we think, is a ranking of us cities that best provide the resources people need to live healthful lives seattle appears to be a place where healthful living comes easily and naturally, cooking light says 'each city reflects the full spectrum of living well in its own unique way innovative restaurants and markets with nutritious local foods, abundant spaces for walking and other exercise, and a population that takes advantage of both,' says senior editor phillip rhodes, who headed up the project 'it's great to know that so many people all over the country have the tools they need to eat smart, be fit, and live well,' rhodes says click on each city link below to learn why the city made our list and find details about the healthiest restaurants, freshest markets, and liveliest activities in the area 1 seattle, washington an abundance of fresh local foods, walker friendly streets, and inclusive attitudes helps make seattle america's best city for healthy living 2 portland, oregon life is good in our second ranked city, thanks to its seemingly endless supply of outdoor activities, cutting edge restaurants, and vibrant environmental consciousness watch more on cooking light's top 20 » 3 washington, dc our capital city sets an accommodating agenda with farm fresh dining, diverse cultures, and ample opportunity for exploration on foot 4 minneapolis, minnesota in our fourth ranked best city, lush parks and shimmering lakes provide a natural backdrop to a rich cultural landscape 5 san francisco, california our fifth ranked city steps up with one of the world's most unforgettable settings along with great cuisine and an energetic spirit 6 boston, massachusetts strolling historic parks and swanning around the water are but two of the pastimes that make summer prime time to enjoy our sixth ranked city 7 denver, colorado the mile high city ranked seventh on our list for an outdoorsy western lifestyle that makes living well accessible and irresistible 8 milwaukee, wisconsin our eighth ranked city proves a worthy destination for food lovers, adventure seekers, and culture aficionados alike 9 philadelphia, pennsylvania in america's fifth largest city, the historic past provides a backdrop for a present that's healthful and happening 10 tucson, arizona tucson offers a taste of the authentic southwest in a desert setting that's ideal for a warm winter getaway 11 baltimore, maryland baltimore, it turns out, has lots of people who eat five or more servings of fruits and veggies a day 27 percent 12 colorado springs, colorado graced with bountiful trail systems, no wonder 91 percent of the city's population claims to be in good health 13 pittsburgh, pennsylvania skies, once dark with factory smoke, open above crystal towered downtown pittsburgh, bound on three sides by the rivers monongahela, allegheny, and ohio 14 st louis, missouri a love for local produce and healthful activities keeps this urban center well fed and on the move 15 new york, new york new yorkers walk far more than most americans, and they do it quickly but they slow down for green markets 25 in manhattan alone 16 atlanta, georgia approximately 55,000 people gather on the fourth of july at the peachtree road race, the largest 10k in the world 17 austin, texas you can't swing a yoga mat in austin without hitting a cool place to exercise whether it's inside a gym or outdoors in a natural, spring fed pool 18 chicago, illinois the city's environmentally friendly mentality is one of the reasons why it is home to the 2007 cooking light fithouse 19 las vegas, nevada in our list, the city ranks third in restaurants rated 'extraordinary to perfection' and third in nominations for james beard awards 20 kansas city, missouri a recent study revealed kansas city has the purest water of any major city in the country e mail to a friend enter to win a monthly room makeover giveaway from myhomeideascom copyright 2008 cooking light magazine all rights reserved | 20th us seattle | cooking light magazine marks 20th anniversary by naming top 20 us cities . 15 criteria were grouped into categories eat smart, be fit, live well . seattle tops list with lots of fresh local foods, pedestrian friendly streets |
(cnn) a year ago thursday, i report was born cnncom launched its i report initiative august 2, 2006, in an effort to involve citizens in the newsgathering process numerous milestones later, i report has grown and developed its ability to be an integral component of the network's coverage mark lacroix photographed the collapsed bridge from his apartment window on the eve of its anniversary, i reporters responded to yet another major news event: the deadly collapse of a bridge over the mississippi river in minneapolis, minnesota mark lacroix sent photos of the scene immediately after the disaster as the story developed, he provided information about the situation to viewers live on television lacroix's photos were among the more than 450 i report submissions sent to cnn within the first 24 hours of the bridge's collapse the biggest response in one day to a single news event in i report history cnncom readers have long been submitting photos and video, as well as speaking with cnn reporters, during major breaking news events (check out our timeline of i report milestones) » on april 16, jamal albarghouti sent cell phone video of the virginia tech shooting in blacksburg, virginia, as the dramatic events were unfolding more recently, when fireballs began exploding from an industrial gas facility in dallas, texas, in july, i reporters wasted no time in recording video as smoke and debris rose into the air justin randall was in a convertible during the incident and tried to drive around blast debris on a highway he sent video of the explosions, showing flames rising high into the air during a steam pipe explosion in new york, jonathan thompson sent video of a powerful surge of steam rising from the ground and rescuers scrambling to secure the area he followed up later that month by sending footage of repairs being made to the crater left behind e mail to a friend | cnncom cnn | i report initiative launched august 2, 2006, on cnncom . citizen journalists have participated in cnn's newsgathering . more than 6,000 i report submissions last month |
st paul, minnesota (cnn) cindy mccain praised her husband, republican presidential nominee john mccain, as 'someone of unusual strength and character' in a speech to the republican national convention on thursday cindy mccain speaks at the republican national convention on thursday night 'you can trust his hand at the wheel,' she said, adding: 'but you know what i've always thought it's a good idea to have a woman's hand on the wheel as well so how about gov sarah palin!' delegates erupted in cheers at the mention of mccain's running mate, the governor of alaska cindy mccain said her husband's run for the white house 'is not about us it's about our special and exceptional country' she called americans the most generous people in history, and said 'our hearts are still alive with hope and belief in our individual ability to make things right if only the federal government would get itself under control and out of our way,' prompting cheers from the delegates watch cindy mccain speak at the convention » cindy mccain wore jewelled pins reading 'usmc' and 'navy' and a flag with a star in honor of her two sons in military service, jimmy and jack she introduced a rwandan genocide survivor she identified only as ernestine to illustrate the importance of forgiveness, and said john mccain also exemplified the virtue 'forgiveness is not just a personal issue: it's why john led the effort to normalize relations with vietnam; to retrieve the remains of our mias; to bring closure to both sides,' she said 'that's leadership national leadership and it's leading by example,' she said 'this is a good man, a worthy man, i know,' she said 'i have loved him with all my heart for almost 30 years and i humbly recommend him to you tonight as our nominee for the next president of the united states' she left the stage to the strains of 'johnny b goode,' which mccain often uses on the campaign trail | cindy mccain america mccain washington | cindy mccain: america needs someone of unusual strength and character to lead . cindy mccain: 'someone exactly like my husband'. mccain served in washington without becoming a washington insider, she says |
miami, florida (cnn) hurricane ike grew from a category 1 into a menacing category 4 storm in about six hours wednesday as it fed on the warm waters of atlantic, the national hurricane center said an infrared image from a noaa satellite shows ike swirling in the atlantic on wednesday night 'ike is an extremely dangerous category 4 hurricane' with 135 mph sustained winds, the center said in its 11 pm et advisory although it is likely to lose some strength during the next few days, ike is forecast to regain category 4 status by monday, the center said 'it is too early to determine what, if any, land areas might be affected by ike,' the hurricane center said but the center's potential four to five day track for ike puts it anywhere from north of jamaica to the coast of south florida on monday ireportcom: are you in ike's path? at 11 pm et monday, ike was moving west northwest through the atlantic ocean the storm will be over open water for two days, forecasters said earlier wednesday, ike intensified into the fifth hurricane of the 2008 atlantic season when its winds reached 80 mph but before ike can reach into the caribbean or threaten florida, tropical storm hanna was getting more organized in the bahamas, according to the hurricane center at 2 am, hanna was about 325 miles east southeast of nassau in the bahamas, with winds of 65 mph hanna was drenching the bahamas and haiti with torrential rains haitian officials put the nation's death toll in the wake of hanna and hurricane gustav at 61, said abel nabaire, the deputy coordinator of the civil protection service eight of the country's 10 departments underwater, he said more rainfall, up to 15 inches in some places, was possible in the caribbean, the hurricane center said hanna was forecast to return to hurricane strength by friday as it shot up the east coast of the southern us, with landfall predicted on the south carolina or north carolina coast late friday or early saturday 'a hurricane watch may be required for a portion of the southeastern united states coast early thursday and interests in this area should monitor the progress of hanna,' the hurricane center said florida could begin seeing rainfall from hanna on friday, forecasters said watch as florida also keeps an eye on hanna » swells from hanna are expected to bolster the number of rip tides along the southeastern us coast this week, the hurricane center said ireportcom: hanna makes waves in bahamas hanna passed over the northern haitian city of gonaives on tuesday night, leaving water more than 12 feet deep in some places, an official said see hanna's impact on haiti » many people were still cut off amid floodwater 'it's a very grim picture,' dr jean pierre guiteau of the red cross said wednesday 'we can't reach those people; they are standing on rooftops, waiting for help' in line behind ike in the atlantic is tropical storm josephine, with top winds near 50 mph, the hurricane center said josephine was about 425 miles west of the southernmost cape verde islands off western africa | ike 80 mph 135 mph hanna bahamas us | new: ike goes from 80 mph winds to 135 mph winds in six hours . hanna to pound bahamas, could regain hurricane strength . hanna expected to make us landfall by friday or saturday |
(cnn) lionel messi scored his 91st and final goal of 2012 on saturday as barcelona enjoyed a comfortable 3 1 win over real valladolid at the estadio jose zorrilla the argentine forward's 60th minute goal courtesy of his trusty left boot doubled the league leaders' lead after xavi had opened the scoring two minutes before halftime the home side halved the deficit in the 89th minute when javi guerra scored before cristian tello added a third for barcelona in injury time the result leaves barcelona nine points clear at the top of the table with 49 points from 17 games as la liga heads into a christmas break the win followed an announcement by the catalan club on saturday that coach tito vilanova had been released from hospital following an operation to remove a tumor from a salivary gland read: vilanova recovering after cancer op 'given a quick post surgery recovery tito vilanova has been allowed to leave hospital on saturday afternoon the barca coach was operated on thursday according to plan,' a statement from the club said the 44 year old will now undergo a course of radiotherapy and chemotherapy caretaker boss jordi roura, who watched barcelona beat valladolid, will continue in vilanova's absence real madrid crashed to their fourth league defeat of the season at malaga the reigning champions went down 3 2 at the estadio la rosaleda with all five goals coming in the second half blog: will guardiola return to barcelona? isco opened the scoring for the home side four minutes after the break before a sergio sanchez own goal made the scores level in the 66th minute but two goals in three minutes from substitute roque santa cruz consigned madrid to defeat the paraguayan striker on loan from manchester city tapped in his first in the 73rd minute after joaquin had flicked on a gamez cross before firing home again three minutes later karim benzema gave traveling fans hope when he pulled one back eight minutes from the end but madrid's search for an equalizer went unrewarded the win takes malaga who have been banned from playing in uefa club competitions next season after falling foul of the european governing body's financial fair play regulations to within two points of third placed madrid read: malaga handed ban for financial irregularities elsewhere in la liga, struggling mallorca came from behind to beat fifth place real betis at the estadio benito villamarin benat gave the home side the lead in the fifth minute before strikes from victor on the half hour mark and a 47th minute penalty from javi marquez sealed three points to lift mallorca out of the relegation zone granada also lifted themselves free of relegation trouble with a 2 1 win at fellow strugglers osasuna | thrustors inlike hoplomachist | no related information |
washington (cnn) growing up, heather davis wasn't the kind of kid people would have called fat or even chubby heather davis weighed 250 pounds and wore a size 22 at her heaviest she lost 110 pounds and wears a size 4 like many children, heather studied hard, did her homework and played sports after school during elementary school, she remembers being thin but things started to change as she approached adolescence 'my bad eating habits began during my 'latchkey kid' years,' says davis 'in high school and middle school, i played sports, but with a diet of doritos and soda for lunch large family dinners i became overweight' during her senior year in high school, davis, who is 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighed 200 pounds 'we had a meat and potatoes family we had dessert every night and i was a member of the 'clean your plate club,' remembers davis 'it caught up with me' by the time she was 22 and attending graduate school, davis' weight had ballooned to 250 pounds davis says her weight gain was caused by major life transitions triggered by emotional eating, a junk food diet and lack of exercise davis dreaded shopping for clothes and said she found it hard to find stylish, age appropriate clothing for her bigger body she says it was a struggle to look neat and put together as most of her shirts 'hugged every roll' looser fitting clothing, she says, made her feel as if she were wearing a tent the additional weight also began to take a physical toll everyday tasks such as walking up stairs or in the shopping mall started to become difficult davis says she was constantly hot and any physical exertion would cause her to sweat, even in below freezing temperatures life became a constant struggle 'i would get hot a lot because of the extra weight i was carrying picture yourself with a 100 pound backpack on,' says davis 'that was what it was like climbing the escalator my knees hurt my back [and] shoulders hurt a lot' davis, who lives in washington, says she had tried everything to lose weight, such as low carb and low fat diets and even starvation but one day, something clicked 'i was on the campus shuttle and saw the gold's gym,' davis says, 'and, i said 'i can go down into the metro and go home and eat my ben & jerry's [ice cream] or, i can go over there and really do this just do this!'' watch davis' dramatic weight loss transformation davis remembered her grandmother with whom she'd been extremely close who had died from heart failure brought on by years of unhealthy eating and lack of exercise 'she will never get to see my wedding, children or experience other joys in her life,' davis says davis says there wasn't any defining experience or 'lightbulb' moment that forced her to make a change it was the realization that after years of failed diets and the physical toll of obesity, she'd had enough during her first visit to the gym, davis says she could barely handle 15 minutes on the treadmill but she stayed on track by reminding herself that weight loss was going to be hard work and there was no easy way out she did cardio exercise for two weeks and began modifying her diet by cutting out starches, ice cream and pizza within the first two weeks, she had lost 8 pounds she was motivated by the positive results and gradually increased her cardio, incorporated weight training and continued to change her diet davis remained determined, and over the next 12 months, with the support of her family and regular check ins with a gym trainer, she lost 110 pounds she went from wearing a plus size 22 to wearing a size 4 or 6 the weight loss and healthier lifestyle boosted the 31 year old's self confidence and gave her access to a richer, fuller life 'my days of treating my body badly are over,' says davis 'i focus on things i enjoy such as european travel, language classes and beach vacations' staying healthy for davis means eating in moderation and incorporating fun forms of exercise into her daily life she no longer owns a vehicle and enjoys long walks in downtown washington she's also set another goal for herself a second graduate degree which she hopes will allow her to help others 'i'm working on my master's in public health because all of this health awareness has made me want to help other people,' davis says 'obesity is reaching epidemic proportions and i will take pleasure using both experience and scientific knowledge toward planning and evaluating programs designed to help people incorporate healthy behaviors into their lives' davis is training to run a half marathon and is running up to 6 miles she says even though she's lost 110 pounds, she's still the same person outgoing, and more importantly happy she's also become an inspiration for people who desperately want to lose weight 'if i can do it, anybody can do it,' says davis ireportcom: have you lost weight? send your story, photos and video e mail to a friend matt sloane contributed to this report | heather davis 250 pounds fed davis 110 pounds 12 months | heather davis weighed 250 pounds and wore a size 22 at her heaviest . fed up with obesity, she started working out regularly and modified her diet . the healthy regimen helped davis lose 110 pounds in 12 months . now wearing a size 4, she wants to help other people battle obesity |
new york (cnn) a helicopter that crashed into the east river, killing two of the five people aboard, was over its weight capacity when it went down in october 2011, the national transportation safety board said in a report released thursday the initial aviation accident report from the ntsb did not specify the exact cause of the crash however, it stated the weight of the helicopter at takeoff was over its capacity by more than 250 pounds the report said the bell 206 chopper had a capacity of 3,200 pounds, based on the manufacturer's specifications when the helicopter was weighed two days after the accident by a company that specializes in aircraft weight and balance services, that company said 'the takeoff weight at the time of the accident was calculated to be 3,4612 pounds' it was reported at the time of the crash that the flight was to take friends visiting from abroad on a sightseeing flight around new york city shortly after takeoff, the helicopter, its pilot and his four passengers went down into the east river and sank in 35 feet deep water in addition to the two killed in the crash, a third passenger died about a month afterward from injuries suffered in the incident, the ntsb said the pilot paul dudley, 56, reported that he had calculated the total load at takeoff to be 1,131 pounds however, the ntsb report cited a post accident interview in which the front seat passenger said dudley did not ask for anyone's weight nor did he execute any paperwork, or perform any calculations before takeoff dudley released a statement thursday noting 'several inconsistencies' in the ntsb report and claiming the cause of the crash was due to an unanticipated 'loss of tail rotor effectiveness' the statement went on to mention dudley's 'unblemished' 28 year aviation record and said that he is still recovering and mourning the loss of his friends every day the final report from the ntsb is expected to be released within the next few months and it will officially state the probable cause of the crash, according to keith holloway, public affairs officer of the agency | october 2011 third ntsb | the helicopter crash in october 2011 killed two of five people aboard . a third person died later from injuries, the ntsb says . the ntsb says the chopper was over its weight limit . the pilot says the crash was due to an unanticipated 'loss of tail rotor effectiveness' |
sydney, australia (cnn) in ireland it took years to weed out the details of systemic sexual abuse of children by catholic clergy in australia, prime minister julia gillard has put no time limit on what will be the most wide ranging inquiry into child sex abuse in the nation's history one that will not be confined to the catholic church as she announced the establishment of a royal commission into institutional responses to instances and allegations of child sex abuse, gillard said the inquiry would not target any one church but would encompass all religious institutions, state institutions, schools and not for profit groups like scouts and sports clubs 'there have been too many revelations of adults who have averted their eyes from this evil,' she said the evil of which she speaks is said by the mother of one victim to be endemic pat feenan's son, daniel, is now 36 years old 'every morning he opens his eyes, he walks with that pain,' she told cnn daniel was an 11 year old altar boy at st patrick's church in maitland in the hunter valley, north of sydney, when the abuse began at the hands of father james patrick fletcher, who died in prison after being found guilty of child abuse including that of daniel the family were devout catholics when fletcher was assigned to the parish and to the feenan family, who opened their home to him soon after, the grooming began, and in time, the family says, so did the abuse according to court evidence, throughout daniel's high school years fletcher forced him into violent oral and anal sex, often in open spaces and always under threat fletcher would tell daniel their 'special time' together should be kept secret lest fletcher hurt one of daniel's brothers the abuse ended when daniel was 17 seven years later he went to the police though he was later contrite, the archbishop of the diocese tipped off the abuser, moving him to another parish, according to a police investigation 'i am ready and willing to help the royal commission in any way i can,' pat feenan told cnn 'and so is my courageous son he's brave he was the first in the maitland archdiocese who had to testify in court my daniel had to go through the pain of the inquisition and the media and the reporting of the horrible details 'he knows he has played a part in this, and he knows i fought really hard for this royal commission and for justice he feels vindicated,' she added vindication is not something the royal commission can deliver chrissy and anthony foster of victoria 'our girls were assaulted at school by the local catholic priest,' anthony foster told cnn 'they were five years old and up, raped multiple times over many years it went on for several years we think about five years with emma and with katie probably about three or four years,' he said when emma was 14, parish priest kevin o'donnell, now deceased, was convicted of the sexual assault of 13 others during his trial, testimony was offered that he had abused consistently from 1946 until he was brought before the courts when emma heard news of his conviction, she began to harm herself, the family says 'we saw her with blood pouring out of her wrists,' said foster, 'taking heroin to dull the pain' when she was 26, emma killed herself katie's story is equally tragic when she 14, her parents found a suicide note she had written along with her diary in which she had detailed how o'donnell had abused her the fosters were alarmed when they saw their daughter had begun to binge drink a year later, just before her 16th birthday, tragedy struck 'she was at a friend's house,' foster told cnn 'she was drunk, crossed the road and was hit by a car she has severe brain injuries,' he said 'she has pre accident memory but she can't run her life she has a five minute window on life,' added foster katie and emma foster's abuser is buried in the catholic church crypt at melbourne cemetery prime minister gillard insists the inquiry with the power to compel witnesses, offer indemnities and seize documents is not aimed at the catholic church 'this is a royal commission which will be looking across religious organizations as well as state based care and the not for profit sector it is not targeted at any one section or religion,' she said however, the only religious leader gillard consulted after she decided on the royal commission was the catholic archbishop, cardinal george pell a divisive figure, cardinal pell defended himself and his church against claims last week of systemic cover ups by the church hierarchy as calls for a national inquiry grew louder in the wake of explosive claims by a senior police officer that the church was complicit in the crimes by moving offending priests and destroying crucial evidence to stymie prosecutions, cardinal pell said the catholic church was being disproportionately targeted 'we have to answer up for what we've done,' cardinal pell told his congregation on the weekend 'but any suggestion that we are the only culprit or only community producing culprits is entirely misleading,' he preached but others disagree 'this is really an inquiry into the catholic church and the cover up,' foster told cnn 'it's all the revelations of abuse in the church that brought this to a head we know there is other sexual abuse, but this has come about because of rampant sexual abuse by catholic church clergy,' he said for pat feenan and her son daniel, the royal commission is most certainly about the sins of the catholic church and what he sees as the lack of compassion shown to its victims 'we went through the whole trial with no support from the church,' she told cnn 'the priests supported fletcher, to see how he was, to pray with him we were in the same courthouse, and no one came near us the church community were not encouraged to be mindful of the victim there were prayers for the priests and not for the victim that's not fair,' she said as for the police officer who blew the whistle on both fellow officers and the church for covering up the abuse, the announcement represents an opportunity 'now we're going to start listening to the victims and start listening to their families,' said detective chief inspector peter fox 'and we're going to start doing something about the problem the big problem is denial, when you're not prepared to sit down and actually start to acknowledge that there's a problem and look at ways of fixing it,' he said gillard said her government will consult with victims' support groups, religious organizations and state and territory governments to determine the royal commission's terms of reference | australia country's catholic church julia gillard the catholic church | australia to investigate institutional responses to allegations of child sex abuse . country's catholic church facing claims of systemic cover ups by church hierarchy . senior police officer: church complicit by moving offending priests, destroying evidence . prime minister julia gillard says the inquiry will not be limited to the catholic church |
(cnn) japan's prime minister conceded defeat in parliamentary elections sunday, signaling the return to power of the liberal democratic party and ending the brief rule of the disappointing upstart democratic party of japan prime minister yoshihiko noda pledged to step down as party president after exit polls showed a smashing loss in lower house voting the party, once seen as a breath of fresh air in japanese politics, came to be regarded as increasingly ineffective 'we got a regrettable result,' noda said 'the result is everything in the politics the biggest responsibility lies on me i will quit as the partly leader of dpj' the move clears the way for the return to power of former prime minister shinzo abe, the current leader of the conservative leaning liberal democratic party, or ldp 'the japanese people will be keenly looking whether the ldp can meet with their expectations,' abe said in interviews after the polling the ldp ruled the country almost continuously since its establishment in 1955 until it was forced from power three years ago by the dpj public broadcaster nhk said the ldp and its coalition partner, the new komei party, gained at least 302 seats in the 480 seat lower house cnn's main affiliate, tv asahi, reports the ldp/komei coalition gained at least 312 seats the official count is expected to be released monday the ldp is inheriting a struggling economy, regional tensions and questions over japan's role in asia 'the economy is at the bottom it's our first mission to turn it around,' abe said abe said plans to take a strong stand japan's territorial disputes with china and its other neighbors but also seek to improve relations with beijing the ldp didn't necessarily regain all japanese voter confidence, abe said, adding that voters rejected the 'political confusion' spawned by the dpj but the results of the poll show voters decided to again embrace the ldp and its many years of governing 'because the liberal democrats have been in power traditionally for quite a long time they're seen as more a competent governing party,' said john lee, an adjunct associate professor at the center for international security studies at sydney university 'the day to day business of the current party is seen as pretty dismal' read more: shinzo abe 20:china's economic hope? noda's dpj was expected to receive a pounding after disappointing the electorate during its three years in power in 2009, hopes were high that the party could reverse the rigor mortis that had taken hold of the country's economy then in march 2011, a monstrous earthquake and tsunami swamped large regions of the country's north, adding a hefty reconstruction bill to the government's growing debt figures out friday show business confidence is sliding as the high yen restricts export earnings and worried consumers curb their spending it follows figures released last week showing the country has slipped into recession the leading contenders in japan's national election started their 12 day campaign in fukushima, the coastal prefecture that became the focal point of last year's disaster after the quake and tsunami crippled a nuclear plant there, causing the world's worst nuclear disaster since chernobyl in 1986 in ukraine the devastated landscape is a reflection of the economic woes that successive japanese leaders have tried and failed to contend with for years a shrinking economy that's no longer competitive on the world stage in close proximity to a rising economic powerhouse, china read more: back to the future in japan in his first official campaign speech in fukushima, abe focused on economic arguments, saying he would act to counter deflation, weaken the yen and promote economic stability 'we'll regain economic power in japan,' he said he has promised to tackle deflation, calling for monetary easing by the bank of japan to achieve an inflation rate of 2% abe also wants the bank of japan to buy government bonds to fund a range of public works to stimulate the economy 'he wants to effectively throw credit at the economy again, which a lot of economists say will just deepen japan's problems and deepen japan's debt but abe's priority is to reverse deflation, which is obviously a crippling phenomenon in the japanese economy,' lee said read more: could 'abe trade' be justified? since assuming power in september 2011, noda has struggled to contend with the country's economic struggles his deal making over a financial bill effectively ended his term, forcing him to dissolve the lower house in exchange for opposition support he seized on a popular backlash against nuclear energy after the fukushima meltdown and promised to phase out nuclear power by 2040 however, noda faced fierce resistance to his plan to raise government revenue by doubling the 5% sales tax by october 2015 now that that's done, noda's likely successor is set to inherit a smoother ride, said keith henry, founder of the consulting firm asia strategy 'when you think about it, the consumption tax is through all (abe) has to do is put a budget together for next year, which should not be that difficult and if he can, then they have upper house elections in july, and it could be fairly smooth sailing for him for at least a year, maybe two' cnn's yoko wakatsuki reported from tokyo, brian walker reported from atlanta, and hilary whiteman reported from hong kong | ldp shinzo abe dpj | new: ldp's shinzo abe says dpj caused 'political confusion'. winner faces task of reviving the economy, making a decision on nuclear power . pm noda blames himself for the 'regrettable result' |
berlin (cnn) a german lawmaker who met edward snowden in moscow on thursday said friday that the national security agency leaker offered to testify in front of the us congress 'he didn't present himself as an enemy of america, quite the opposite,' german member of parliament hans christian stroebele told reporters in berlin friday stroebele said he had suggested snowden testify before german lawmakers and that the former nsa contractor responded that in fact he wants to testify in washington snowden said he might go to germany, if he gets assurances that he could stay in a safe place afterward without being deported to the united states, said stroebele, a well known leftist legislator in germany however, snowden's attorney, anatoly kucherena, told reporters in moscow that his client would not be leaving russia to testify on the us spying allegations kucherena said he would advise snowden not to testify at all if it is not in his client's best interest snowden has been in moscow since june, having fled there from hong kong in august, after he spent five weeks holed up at moscow's sheremetyevo international airport, russia granted him asylum for one year snowden: 'heartened by the response' stroebele returned from the meeting with snowden on thursday with a letter from the nsa leaker to german authorities, which was distributed to the media in the letter, snowden says he is 'looking forward to speaking' with german authorities in germany 'when the situation is resolved' a reference to the current efforts by the united states to extradite him snowden also wrote that he was 'heartened by the response to my act of political expression, in both the united states and beyond 'citizens around the world as well as high officials including in the united states have judged the revelation of an unaccountable system of pervasive surveillance to be a public service' the benefits of this knowledge to society are becoming increasingly clear, and the 'claimed risks are being shown to have been mitigated,' he added stroebele said he didn't know if snowden had sent a similar letter to other governments in latin america or elsewhere the united states has charged snowden with espionage and theft of government property the 30 year old collected information on spy programs in which the national security agency mined phone and internet metadata from thousands of people inside and outside the united states and exposed the programs to the media, prompting uproar at home and abroad german outrage snowden's letter to german authorities comes amid outrage among many german leaders about claims that an nsa surveillance operation targeted german chancellor angela merkel's cell phone snowden 'is an important witness for germany,' said stroebele but asked if snowden could testify to german authorities via video link from moscow, stroebele said that could be problematic for several reasons he suggested snowden would be more limited in what he could say if he were in moscow than if he were in germany so long as snowden has asylum in russia, he needs to avoid doing anything that would negatively affect his status there, the lawmaker said in his closing remarks, stroebele said that although the united states believes that snowden has committed a serious offense, he believes he should not be penalized because his revelations have benefited the world stroebele also said snowden, who was due to start a new job in russia on friday, appeared to be in good health kucherena told cnn on thursday that the job was with a major russian website but declined to give the employer's name for security reasons he told russian state run news agency ria novosti that snowden would perform maintenance for the site cnn's frederik pleitgen reported from berlin and laura smith spark wrote and reported in london cnn's alla eshchenko, diana magnay and richard allen greene contributed to this report | brights overfanciful pauperism | no related information |
london, england (cnn) a group of african scientists last week called on rich nations to help stem the tide of african talent leaving the continent's universities dr francess ayaebene, who runs a clinic in rural nigeria, wanted to update her knowledge of tropical medicine in a statement the network of african science academies (nasac) urged developed nations to establish training programs that would allow african research students to stay in africa or study in other developing countries one program that may prove key to curbing the flight of the skilled health professionals from the developing world is the distance learning course at the uk's london school of hygiene and tropical medicine the school, a world leader in global health education and research started the course to allow health professionals to enhance their skills and knowledge at their own pace and in their own country dr francess ayaebene, a physician in rural nigeria, earned a diploma through the distance learning course offered dr ayaebene directs a clinic in shendam, a rural area in central nigeria where nurses and health services are in short supply she wanted a refresher on tropical medicine and also hopes the additional training will help her gain entry into the world of government 'i want to improve my country and go into politics to influence policy making when it comes to health matters,' she told cnn some 2,500 students are enrolled in the london school's distance learning program, which offers master's degrees and graduate diplomas in infectious diseases, public health and clinical trials 'we don't train people for the brain drain we train people very much to make a contribution to their own countries,' said andrew haines, the director of the london school a complex set of factors contribute to brain drain, and while it's too early to say that distance learning has had an impact on the trend, haines believes it can make a contribution to retaining people in their home countries 'when i speak to distance learning students, many of them say this has opened up an opportunity that otherwise wouldn't have come to them to stay in their own countries and at the same time access teaching materials of an international quality,' he said the program offers a flexibility that meets the wide range of needs of learners these days, providing access to specialized training to those who cannot leave their home country due to financial constraints or professional commitments a sign of the course's popularity: nearly three times as many students participate in the distance program than actually come to study at the school in london the program also is getting a boost from the bill and melinda gates foundation, which awarded the london school a $1 million prize for excellence in global health this year the gates award for global health, which is awarded annually to an organization that makes exceptional contributions to international health, will be used partly to developing new courses, providing scholarships and offering support for distance learning students distance education is by no means novel, but instructors say the london school program is particularly enhanced for students in the developing world and unique in its international audience students from around the world participate in the program, with roughly 40 percent of students based in countries in africa and a good proportion in southeast asia, said sharon huttly, the dean of studies while internet access has improved considerably since the distance learning program began in 1998, many students enrolled in the program still live in areas where bandwidth is poor and connections are slow 'one of our biggest challenges is trying to deliver something that is still accessible and suitable to a student who is sitting somewhere that's got very poor internet access but also is suitable for a student sitting somewhere who's got every gadget and high speed bandwidth available to them,' huttly said at the core of the program are self study materials which students follow at their own pace these materials are complemented with electronic mechanisms like web chat boards that allow students to interact with each other and tutors dr ayaebene hopes that as well as distance learning programs, governments will encourage more doctors to practice in rural areas to improve public services 'there are not enough nurses and ambulance services,' she said about the region where she works 'the government needs to push more doctors to rural areas the hospitals they will not run themselves' | challenge unquestionable immunizing | no related information |
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