text
stringlengths 102
11.9k
| query
stringlengths 2
806
| summary
stringlengths 22
3.99k
|
|---|---|---|
(cnn) it was an exciting day for laura dominguez and her 11 year old daughter paulina they were summoned to their parish, the saint cosme and damian church in mexico city to pick up the equivalent of a jackpot for mexican catholics: tickets to attend a mass presided by the pope in gunajuato, about four hours from mexico city dominguez, a 40 year old mexican red cross paramedic was elated 'it's very exciting it's incredible i never imagined i was going to get the opportunity to attend,' dominguez said pope benedict xvi will travel to mexico for the first time friday this is also his first visit to spanish speaking latin america in his seven year pontificate mexico boasts the second largest population of catholics in the world after brazil, a country the pope visited in 2007 (brazil's predominant language is portuguese) he also visited the united states in 2008 but benedict's trip will likely be overshadowed by his deceased predecessor, pope john paul ii barely a week before benedict's arrival, an exhibit to honor john paul opened in mexico city the exhibit, entitled 'john paul ii in private,' is at mexico city's palacio de los deportes (sports palace) it includes 200 personal items used by john paul throughout his life and papacy exhibit organizer karla betanzo de la rosa says they're expecting as many as 300,000 visitors in the three months the exhibit will last it ends june 15 betanzo is also an admirer of the late pontiff, who first visited mexico in 1979 'it was such a magnetic energy that you could feel whenever he was around really it would just transform the people when he visited,' betanzo said john paul's shoes, which are also part of the exhibit, are indeed big shoes to fill mexico was the first country he visited in 1979, shortly after becoming pope he would visit four more times in 1990, 1993, 1999 and 2002, traveling to 12 of mexico's 31 states mexican catholics called the polish pontiff 'mexico's pope' john paul was an energetic 58 year old when he first arrived in mexico in 1979 the rev josã© de jesãºs aguilar, spokesman with the mexico city archdiocese, says it's just a matter of time before mexican catholics learn to love benedict 'when john paul came to mexico for the first time nobody knew him it was only after getting to know him that people started loving him therefore, we shouldn't jump to conclusions let us welcome benedict to this land and show him that mexicans are good hosts,' aguilar says a survey conducted by demotecnia, a national polling firm, found that more than three quarters of mexican catholics are not excited by the visit or less excited than they were when the previous pope visited one place the pope will not visit is mexico city benedict is 85 and the city's high altitude poses a risk to the pope's health, say vatican officials dominguez still treasures the previous pope's visits, including to her native mexico city, but adds, 'there's no comparison between them; they're very different' 'pope john paul loved being close to the people' of his decision not to visit mexico city, dominguez says, 'i know there's a lot of conflict right now, but we don't like the fact that he's not coming to mexico city but i'm sure he's a generous man as well' there's hope for a renewal of affection in the new generation dominguez's daughter paulina says she's really looking forward to the pope's mass 'it's like watching my favorite person, a superhero' cnn producer nick parker in mexico city contributed to this story | benedict xvi mexico spanish latin america mexican john paul ii | pope benedict xvi will travel to mexico for the first time friday . first visit to spanish speaking latin america in his seven year pontificate . barely a week before visit, a mexican exhibit opens to honor pope john paul ii |
washington (cnn) the us supreme court on monday allowed a controversial state dna testing law to remain in effect until the justices have time to consider the broader constitutional questions maryland's dna collection act permits police to collect genetic material from those who have been arrested, but not yet convicted chief justice john roberts issued the three page in chambers opinion, putting a state court's ruling favoring a criminal defendant on hold 'collecting dna from individuals arrested for violent felonies provides a valuable tool for investigating unsolved crimes and thereby helping to remove violent offenders from the general population,' roberts wrote 'crimes for which dna evidence is implicated tend to be serious, and serious crimes cause serious injuries that maryland may not employ a duly enacted statute to help prevent these injuries constitutes irreparable harm' the chief justice said there is a 'fair prospect' the supreme court would ultimately find in favor of the state on the search and seizure questions after more legal briefs are filed, the high court in coming weeks will decide whether to hear the case and issue a definitive, binding ruling oral arguments would likely not be held until early next year a 1994 federal law created a national database in which local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies can compare and share information on dna matches from convicted felons, but courts have been at odds on just when such samples can be collected and the information distributed the current case involves a maryland man convicted of a 2003 rape in wicomico county in the state's eastern shore region alonzo king jr had been arrested three years ago on an unrelated assault charge, and a biological sample was automatically obtained at that time king moved to suppress the use of the dna on fourth amendment grounds, but was ultimately convicted of the first degree rape offense a divided maryland court of appeals later agreed with king, saying suspects under arrest enjoy a higher level of privacy than a convicted felon, outweighing the state's law enforcement interests that court also said obtaining king's dna immediately after arrest was not necessary in identifying him, and that the process was more personally invasive than standard fingerprinting state officials then asked the justices to intervene now, saying the state court ruling 'has resulted in the loss of a valuable crime fighting tool relied upon by maryland' they said that from a law enforcement and forensic perspective, there is no difference between fingerprinting and collecting 'biometric information' roberts in his opinion tentatively agreed 'the (state court) decision below has direct effects beyond maryland: because the dna samples maryland collects may otherwise be eligible for the fbi's national dna database, the decision renders the database less effective for other states and the federal government,' roberts wrote the state dna collection law in maryland is set to expire at the end of next year, but the justices are likely to decide its constitutionality before then the case is maryland v king (12a48) | maryland roberts | maryland's law allows police to collect genetic material from those arrested . a lower court ruling favoring a criminal defendant is put on hold . chief justice roberts says there is a 'fair prospect' the high court will uphold the law |
(cnn) president elect barack obama, who in 10 days will be sworn in using the bible of his political hero abraham lincoln, visited the lincoln memorial in washington on saturday night with his family the obama family walks down the steps of the lincoln memorial in washington on saturday obama, wife michelle and daughters malia and sasha made the unannounced stop shortly after 7 pm et the family walked up the steps of the memorial on a chilly night in washington and then visited the museum at the site on the way out, they stopped at the edge of the reflecting pool the parents were seen pointing in the distance to the capitol and the washington monument the obamas spent about a half hour at the memorial before returning to the hay adams hotel, where they are staying watch the family at the memorial » obama will be the first president to use the lincoln bible for his inauguration since lincoln used it in 1861 inauguration organizers have said obama's inaugural theme, 'a new birth of freedom,' was inspired by lincoln's gettysburg address learn more about the lincoln memorial » the president elect also plans a train trip from philadelphia, pennsylvania, to washington three days before the inauguration, following the final leg of the train route taken by lincoln | ageusic amotions serious | no related information |
(cnn) in keeping with their vow to prevent any more of president barack obama's appeals court nominees from being confirmed until after the election, senate republicans successfully upheld monday their filibuster of judge robert bacharach's nomination to the 10th us circuit court of appeals, which is based in denver the filibuster came despite praise for bacharach from the two gop senators from oklahoma, where he is currently a federal magistrate judge, and the support of three centrist republicans who voted across the aisle the vote was 56 34, several votes short of the 60 the democrats needed to break the filibuster each oklahoma senator, torn between their support for the nominee and their desire not to undermine their senate leadership, voted present zelizer: why are tax increases radioactive? in upholding the filibuster, republicans invoked what is known as the thurmond rule, named after late south carolina republican sen strom thurmond, a former longtime judiciary committee member the informal rule, which has been practiced by both parties for decades, justifies the blocking of a president's pick for an appeals court judge months before a presidential election 'the rationale has been that this close to an election, whoever wins that election should be the one to pick these lifetime nominees who will run our judiciary system,' explained sen chuck grassley of iowa, the top republican on the judiciary committee republican leaders signaled last month they soon would block appointments to the powerful circuit courts, which are one level below the us supreme court democrats said they had hoped to get bacharach through before the rule took affect and argued that never before had a circuit court judge who was voted out of the judiciary committee with bipartisan support been filibustered republicans disputed that point tax vote is more about november vote senate majority leader harry reid, d nevada, called bacharach 'well qualified' and lamented that the pattern of gop filibusters would now extend to circuit court judges 'why should we be surprised, though?' reid said on the floor 'we've already had 85 filibusters, so just add another one to it' grassley said that democrats have used the thurmond rule in the past just as republicans are now in fact, republicans call it the leahy thurmond rule, because they said the democratic chairman of the judiciary committee, sen patrick leahy of vermont, has invoked the rule before 'now they don't want us to play by the same set of rules,' grassley said 'the democratic leadership doesn't want us to enforce the rules that they helped establish' democrats won't touch gun control in addition, grassley argued reid knew bacharach would be filibustered and put his nomination up for a vote anyway in an effort to paint republicans as obstructionist republican sens scott brown of massachusetts, olympia snowe and susan collins, both of maine, voted to end the filibuster republican sen orrin hatch, a longtime republican member of the judiciary committee, voted present | senate republicans obama the thurmond rule | senate republicans have vowed to filibuster obama's nominees until after the election . final tally was 54 36, several votes shy of the 60 votes needed to break filibuster . republicans said they were invoking an informal measure known as the thurmond rule |
denver, colorado (cnn) former virginia gov mark warner told the democratic national convention that the most important race facing the country is the 'race for the future and it won't be won with a president who is stuck in the past' 'this election is about the future vs the past,' former virginia gov mark warner said tuesday 'we need a president who understands the world today, the future we seek and the change we need we need barack obama as the next president of the united states' warner was delivering the keynote speech at the convention, the slot that obama himself filled four years ago he accused president bush of a failure of leadership at a critical moment in the nation's history 'folks always ask me, what's my biggest criticism of president bush? i'm sure you all have your own here's mine: it's not just the policy differences it's the fact that this president never tapped into our greatest resources: the character and resolve of the american people he never really asked us to step up' john mccain, he said, offered only 'a plan that would explode the deficit and leave that to our kids no real strategy to invest in our infrastructure and he would continue spending $10 billion a month in iraq i don't know about you, but that's just not right that's four more years that we just can't afford' watch warner say mccain is 'more of the same' » but much of his speech was devoted to the kind of bipartisan rhetoric obama has espoused on the campaign trail 'i know we're at the democratic convention, but if an idea works, it really doesn't matter whether it's got a 'd' or an 'r' next to it because this election isn't about liberal vs conservative it's not about left vs right it's about the future vs the past 'that's why we must elect barack obama as our next president,' warner said 'because the race for the future will be won when old partisanship gives way to new ideas when we put solutions over stalemates and when hope replaces fear' | mark warner america bush americans warner | mark warner says america needs leader who understands 'the future we seek'. bush never asked americans to step up, warner says . much of warner's address focused on bipartisan rhetoric |
(cnn) the 2010 nobel peace prize was awarded friday to liu xiaobo, a leading chinese dissident who is serving an 11 year prison term after repeatedly calling for human rights and democratization, the norwegian nobel committee announced liu was sentenced in 2009 for inciting subversion of state power he is the co author of charter 08, a call for political reform and human rights, and was an adviser to the student protesters at tiananmen square in 1989 liu's wife, liu xia, told cnn she could not wait to visit him in prison in northern china and tell him the news she said she was packing under the surveillance of police officers who promised to take her to visit her husband the next day 'i am totally shocked and feel so happy,' she said 'i've never dreamed about this friends have asked me to prepare for a speech, but i've only prepared one for xiaobo not winning the prize' liu xia said she regretted her husband couldn't share the moment with her she said he would be 'surprised and humbled' to find out, but would also feel 'a greater sense of responsibilities' because of the great honor 'it's an affirmation of what he has fought for,' she said liu xiaobo's longtime friend pu zhiqiang said he wasn't sure whether to be happy or cry when he heard the news 'i doubt the nobel will help xiaobo right this moment, but in the long run it will leave a legacy that is sure to help bring democratic reform and freedom to china, that will far outlast liu's life,' pu told cnn outside the gates of liu's apartment complex liu's lawyer, shang baojun, said the win may mean liu will have to be in prison longer 'i hope that he'd be released earlier because of the prize, but in reality, that will not happen,' shang told cnn a chinese foreign ministry spokesman said the awarding of the prize to liu was 'blasphemy against the peace prize' that could harm relations between china and norway 'liu xiaobo is a convicted criminal sentenced to jail by chinese justice his acts are in complete contradiction to the purpose of the nobel peace prize,' spokesman ma zhaoxu said the human rights group amnesty international called on the chinese government to release all 'prisoners of conscience' following the win 'liu xiaobo is a worthy winner of the nobel peace prize we hope it will keep the spotlight on the struggle for fundamental freedoms and concrete protection of human rights that liu xiaobo and many other activists in china are dedicated to,' said catherine baber, the deputy asia pacific director at amnesty international us president barack obama, who won the award last year, said liu had sacrificed his freedom for his beliefs liu, he said, is an 'eloquent and courageous spokesman for the advance of universal values through peaceful and non violent means, including his support for democracy, human rights, and the rule of law' obama also urged china to release liu as soon as possible it was unclear whether liu had learned of his prize from prison, but he was the favorite of many around the world to win the president of the norwegian nobel committee, thorbjoern jagland, said liu won for his 'long and nonviolent struggle for fundamental human rights in china' in announcing the prize, he said, 'the norwegian nobel committee has long believed that there is a close connection between human rights and peace such rights are a prerequisite for the fraternity between nations of which [prize founder] alfred nobel wrote in his will' liu's struggle has made him the 'foremost symbol' of the struggle for human rights in his country, jagland said despite the criticism from china, the committee stood by its choice and said it had expected china to react strongly 'we have a very strong tradition of awarding the prize to human rights activists of many different kinds,' geir lundestad, director of the nobel institute, told cnn the institute assists the committee in selecting the prize each year lundestad cited german pacifist and journalist carl von ossietsky in 1935, holocaust survivor elie wiesel in 1986, myanmar pro democracy leader aung san suu kyi in 1991, and iranian campaigner shirin ebadi in 2003 as examples of human rights activists who have won the prize 'this is a tradition we are very proud of, and this is a tradition for which the norwegian nobel committee has received much applause,' lundestad said 'we felt that if we were serious about this tradition, we did have to come to terms with the question of china in this perspective, and this is what we then did this year' the winner of the nobel peace prize receives 10 million swedish kronor ($15 million), to be picked up at the award ceremony in december liu spoke of his work in 2007, while he was between a series of house arrests 'from my personal angle, i feel in a dictatory society if you want to be a person with dignity, if you want to be an honest person, fight for human rights improvement, fight for free speech, being [in prison] is part of what you are undertaking, and there is nothing to complain,' he told cnn 'since you chose to do this, you must have a preparation for being in prison,' he said 'entering the prison you must face these things peacefully, not complain [about] others i even don't complain [about those] who arrested me, because this is their inevitable action i can also not let them arrest me if i chose other way' twitter users in china were unable to discuss liu or the nobel prize on the micro blogging site, but some still reacted to the award 'i am so excited when i heard this news! finally good people is recognized by the world!' wrote one twitter user 'they censored what i've just posted on micro blog! can you really stop people in this internet age!' wrote another at least two international television networks cnn and bbc were blacked out as the nobel committee announced the winner, and cnn remained blacked out for most of the day pu, liu's friend, was refused entry to the apartment complex by security guards when he went there friday night a human rights lawyer and partner in the huayi law firm in beijing where he focuses on defamation, press freedom and other public interest law pu said the prize is a step forward for chinese development 'liu's nobel prize shows that he will have an impact beyond how far the eye can see this will change the future long into the future,' he told cnn, adding that liu is 'like an older brother to me' liu's sentencing prompted a groundswell of support from former peace prize laureates and perennial contenders vaclav havel, the hero of czechoslovakia's 1989 velvet revolution (who never won the nobel prize), retired south african archbishop desmond tutu (who did, in 1984), and the dalai lama (1989) were among a group of intellectuals who publicly urged the nobel committee to give the prize to liu shortly after he was sentenced american writer kwame anthony appiah, the head of the american pen center, a literary and human rights organization, nominated liu in january, he said 'liu xiaobo is a hero among heroes,' said rep chris smith, r new jersey, who also nominated him 'this award will be a shot of adrenaline for all chinese human rights advocates and prisoners of conscience' the wall street journal reported in february that foreign ministry spokesman ma said that it would be 'totally wrong' for 'such a person' to win the nobel peace prize, and that the comment was later scrubbed from the official transcript of the briefing cnn's jo ling kent and steven jiang, and journalist tomas etzler, contributed to this report | animadverted uncomplacent pimpled | no related information |
(cnn) alex ferguson is the legendary manchester united coach who once sent a boot flying into the face of david beckham, but a british sculptor has revealed a softer side to the formidable scot ferguson recently celebrated 26 years as united's manager this week, during which time he has won trophies at home and abroad as well as gaining a fierce reputation for the 'hairdryer treatment' he dishes out to his players but that was not the man sculptor philip jackson encountered after being commissioned to produce a nine foot bronze statue of ferguson which was unveiled on friday with a host of united legends in attendance 'he's a very interesting character,' jackson, based in the english county of sussex, told cnn when asked about the 70 year old united boss 'he's much more than you seen on the television 'when he came down to the studio he said, 'did you know that gore vidal had died?' and 'have you read the new biography of charles de gaulle?' he's a very well read man' over the last quarter of a century, ferguson has overseen united's ascent to the top of english football the old trafford team has won 12 league titles under his stewardship, helping it to a record 19 english championships overall, in addition to two european champions league triumphs benign expression raised in the working class district of govan in glasgow, the 70 year old ferguson is a staunch supporter of the british labour party as a manager ferguson has a no nonsense reputation, letting go of top players like beckham, roy keane, jaap stam and ruud van nistelrooy when he senses they have outlived their usefulness to the united cause a long running spat with the bbc saw ferguson refuse to speak with the british broadcaster for seven years after a 2004 documentary made unproven allegations of wrongdoing against his football agent son jason but fellow scotsman jackson wanted to capture a different side of ferguson for the sculpture which was unveiled during a ceremony ahead of saturday's match with queens park rangers the team he faced in his first match in charge at old trafford in 1986 'i wanted him to have a slightly benign expression on his face, so that's what he's got he's wearing the sort of clothes he would wear at a match in the winter' amalgam jackson was already known to united's hierarchy after producing sculptures of former manager matt busby and the legendary playing trio of george best, bobby charlton and denis law 'i'd already done the matt busby sculpture for manchester united some 12 15 years ago,' said jackson, who in his role as royal sculptor has produced works ranging from the archangel gabriel and constantine the great to the young mozart 'i did the united trinity of best, charlton and law and when that was completed we talked about doing alex i didn't do anything immediately 'there was an opportunity when his 25th anniversary came up and they decided to name a stand after him so it was decided it should be done to go in front of that' in order to do justice to a man as respected as ferguson, jackson built up an in depth knowledge of his personality and appearance during several meetings 'i went up to see him, took a lot of photographs of him and spent some time watching him at a match,' explained jackson, who also produced a sculpture of england's world cup winning squad of 1966 which is outside wembley stadium 'i got a lot of photographs from the manchester united archives and also a lot of books that had been written about him 'to start of piece of sculpture is almost like researching for a book, you have to get to know the person very well 'it's an amalgam of everything i've seen of him and the meetings i've had with him i've done him fairly pensive he often stands on the edge of the pitch deciding on what's going to happen next that's the moment i've chosen to record' when capturing a character like ferguson, how did jackson select one stationary pose to epitomize a coach who is most often seen wildly gesticulating from the sidelines? 'i imagine him standing on the touchline in deep concentration, about to say something to the team which is going to change the tactics somewhat,' he replied 'one of the things he does is when the team has won or someone has scored a goal, he tends to put his hands in the air and wave them backwards and forwards 'that's a very good pose for film, but it's not a good pose for sculpture as it makes him look like he's surrendering' ancient tradition sports stars have long been the subject of works of art, with the athletes of ancient greece often honored with carvings and statues 'sports sculptures, the tradition goes back to greco roman times,' said jackson 'if you look at greek sculpture, it's all of athletes or people who took part in the games it is carrying on a very long tradition' there are practical advantages of depicting sportsmen for sculptors 'they have generally come to a job through being young, athletic sportsmen,' added jackson 'the theme of fitness continues throughout their life it makes them easier to sculpt because their bodies are well proportioned' the sculpture of ferguson will be the latest in a long line of monuments proudly displayed by english football clubs ferguson's fellow scot bill shankly has a tribute outside liverpool's anfield stadium for the three league titles he won for the club between 1964 and 1973 newcastle united unveiled a statue of much loved former manager bobby robson earlier this year robson, england's coach during the 1990 world cup, was a native of the north east and occupied the newcastle hotseat for five years | alex ferguson man utd's nine meter briton philip jackson jackson united | alex ferguson will be honored with a statue outside man utd's stadium . the nine meter bronze sculpture will be unveiled on november 23 . briton philip jackson is the artist commissioned to produce the artwork . jackson has worked with united on two previous commissions |
(cnn) as a comedic sidekick, brian fantana in 'anchorman' was golden the clueless ladies' man who sex panthered his way into fans' hearts paul rudd stars as danny donahue in 'role models,' which he helped write some might say the same about the man who played fantana, paul rudd, although this talented actor didn't need a secret cologne for his trip to stardom from 'anchorman' to 'the 40 year old virgin' to 'knocked up,' rudd has consistently played a hilarious second string but he's no longer just comedic backup in hollywood in his new movie 'role models,' which opens november 7, rudd and seann william scott star as a pair of energy drink representatives who end up with a choice: jail time or 150 community service hours in a local mentoring program as it turns out, the jail time might have been less painful cnn talked to rudd about the movie which he helped write how he chooses his roles and what he was like as a child the following is an edited version of that interview cnn: what attracts you to the roles you choose? paul rudd: well, you know, 99 percent of the time i just say i want to do it if i'd want to see it a lot depends on the people that are involved and if i feel there's something i can connect with a character in some way i kind of decided a long time ago that i was going to try to make a career work on my own terms as much as possible i mean, you know you don't always have the options you'd like, but i just decided however long or bumpy the route was, i would do it doing things that i liked and was genuinely interested in and wanted to do watch rudd talk about 'role models' » cnn: have there been any characters in particular that have been your favorite or you've felt you really connected with? rudd: there have been many that i've really liked brian fantana in 'anchorman' was a blast, just really, really fun 'role models' is the one that's coming out that was really, really enriching and fun and personal in many ways, because it's the first movie i co wrote i've been really lucky to have enjoyed the experiences as much as i have, working on movies, because it's not always the case you never know how they're going to turn out, but if they actually mean something to me if i think there's something in it that's genuinely interesting to me they've, so far, turned out pretty well cnn: can you tell me about the process of writing 'role models'? rudd: it had been around for a while in different forms, this film i thought that the premise was really, really funny, and the script was funny, but there were certain things that were being changed in talking with the producer, she wanted to know what was working and what wasn't working and i was hired to be one of the writers so i rewrote it, and then david wain, who is the director, he came on board, and then he and i worked on it together with another guy named ken marino, who is also a friend of mine it was really fun to work with friends, and it turned into a hybrid of a movie that's unique and funny and absurd it's a commercial film, but for people who are familiar with david wain's style which is a very specific kind of left of center approach and not so, i think, commercially appealing it's a kind of a weird marriage that works well [wain, a member of the comedy troupe the state, directed and co wrote 'wet hot american summer'] it is a commercial film, but there are some jokes in it that you just don't see in commercial movies it's got elements of a family film, but it's way darker than a family film it's a hard r, bizarre family adventure i don't know how exactly to describe it cnn: i have to ask, what was it like working with 'mclovin' (christopher mintz plasse from 'superbad'), who plays your mentor child in the movie? rudd: it was pretty great that kid is seriously smart and funny it blows my mind how much his life changed in the course of a couple years we didn't necessarily write that part for chris i imagined that role to be younger, but he's so good and kind of so perfect for it and he liked it and was into the idea of doing it, so that's how that happened cnn: is he as geeky in real life? rudd: no, the thing is, this is why he's so good; this is what impressed me about him he knows what he's doing michael cera is like this, too i'm shocked at the kind of self awareness of these kids, and they're 18 and really talented [they] know how to deliver a joke and don't ham it up cnn: this movie is all about role models, and as an actor, you are a role model to many people what do you think the most important qualities of a role model are? rudd: to be an actual role model? oh, god, i would hesitate to say we should be anybody's role models your role models are your parents but, i always think a good rule of thumb is to treat people the way you'd like to be treated; let the rest take care of itself you know, try to be nice to people, i suppose, and to treat people with respect and be polite but i haven't figured out nearly enough stuff to be an effective role model cnn: do you have any personal role models? rudd: you know who's a good role model? paul newman i just think he's an example of somebody who came into this world, and left this world, as a contributor in ways that are so huge even though the world has a lot of problems in it, it is better off by a mile for paul newman having lived in it he gave more than he got he got a lot, but he gave way, way more cnn: do you do any volunteering yourself? rudd: i try, and i do, but i want to start doing more it sounds so lame to say 'i want to start,' but i'm in the process to start setting up a foundation and i do work with certain charitable organizations and i'm on the board of a couple it's a daunting task for sure, but there are some things you just kind of have to make the time for cnn: what were you like as a child? rudd: i had a pretty happy childhood i loved goofing around in any way, shape or form i loved speech classes and making videos and comedy stuff i loved football i was into being a kid i didn't necessarily want to grow up i remember that a lot of kids my age wanted to get older, and i think i knew as a kid that it was going to get harder | subgelatinization jobmistress amicron | no related information |
london, england (cnn) two titans of showbusiness have come together in a perfect pairing: the rolling stones, the world's greatest band, play two nights at new york's intimate beacon theatre; capturing the night on camera is celebrated film director, martin scorsese shared history, mutual respect: the stones and scorsese the result is 'shine a light,' which records jagger, richards, watts and wood's performance at the end of 'bigger bang,' their monumental two year, record breaking, $558 million, 144 date global tour that saw 46 million ticket holders watch the rock giants the stones/scorsese combo is backed by a team of oscar winning cinematographers, more than 18 cameras, duets with the white stripes' jack white, pop starlet christina aguilera and blues granddaddy buddy guy, plus a cameo from a former us president: the stones juggernaut is well and truly in town scorsese is no stranger to the world of rock music he cut his teeth as an editor on seminal 1970 documentary 'woodstock' and aside from making some of the silver screen's finest movies ('goodfellas,' 'mean streets,' 'raging bull,' 'the departed'), he is also the master behind definitive rockumentaries 'the last waltz,' which captured the band's final performance, and bob dylan epic, 'no direction home' but apart from his musical collaborations, rock has underpinned many of the master's greatest moments and his relationship with the stones goes way back the stones themselves have provided the backing track for classic scorsese scenes: notably, jack nicholson's irish mobster's entrance in 'the departed' to the thumping sound of 'gimme shelter' and 'jumpin' jack flash' behind de niro's introduction in 'mean streets'; while 'goodfellas' features 'monkey man' and, again, 'gimme shelter' scorsese, who pioneered the use of rock music on 'mean streets,' has said that his use of eclectic soundtracks stems from new york, where all genres of music would blast from the brownstones around his neighborhood and for him, the stones provide the sound of the city, the sound of the streets: cool, dangerous, absolutely self assured, suffused with menace and gangster swagger he says, 'the stones were key i was creating scenarios in my head as i listened to their music' 'there is a drive and an authority to their music, and also an edge to it,' he continues 'i've used gimme shelter twice now in my pictures' (it's left to jagger to joke that shine a light is the first scorsese film not to feature the track) so when jagger decided he wanted a film of their live performance, who better to call 'it's good to start at the top,' he says initially, guitarist keith richards was reluctant to go ahead with the film he told cnn, 'i wouldn't have done this they said, 'we wanna shoot a show,' and i said, 'yeah, so?'' but richards, a film buff and longtime fan of scorsese's work, couldn't resist the chance to be shot by the director 'you go, whoah,' he said 'you can't f*** around with him i wanted to see what marty saw in the stones' and scorsese's response? one word: 'absolutely' but jagger's idea for the movie centered around the stones' biggest ever concert, in rio de janeiro scorsese wasn't convinced that the brazilian beach extravaganza would hit the right note 'i wanted to capture the music and their interaction on stage, i wanted people to feel like they were with them in the real film,' he explains eventually he persuaded jagger to forego the rio beach gig for a double date at new york's beacon theatre on the night of the performance, we see scorsese's painstaking preparation come up against the monster of spontaneity that is the rolling stones live as the clock ticks towards curtain time, the filmmaker still doesn't have the final set list, and is getting jittery 'it felt like the last minute it may actually have been an hour or so,' he recalls but as the song goes, you can't always get what you want: scorsese had to place his faith in his meticulous planning, and the hope that he would be able to respond to the performers jagger especially on the night scorsese believes that the band's live performances are the key to their long lived success 'the way they work off of each other and off of the audience it's fascinating to see that kind of power,' he explains 'they cast a spell, something primal but very orchestrated' when it came to the edit, scorsese ditched any thought of talking head interviews, choosing instead to splice vintage tv/archive footage between the live shots that puts the focus firmly on the music, while underlining the stones' longevity so where does 'shine a light' stand in relation to other rockumentary greats? sure enough, it's not the stones: the spectacle, mick jagger's original concept this is an intimate and illuminating look at the relationships in rock 'n' roll's greatest band it pays tribute to their longevity, highlights their rich repertoire and shows how, forty years on, their live shows still crackle with energy and while fans will decide whether scorsese has fulfilled his aim to make 'something that's as close as possible to a live performance,' keith richards believes scorsese got the gold 'he captured what we do,' he told cnn 'we are what we are we're a rock 'n' roll band' | the rolling stones martin scorsese shine a light rockumentary new york's beacon theatre scorsese | the rolling stones and martin scorsese team up for 'shine a light'. rockumentary shows their performance at new york's beacon theatre . director says the stones' music has been a key influence in his films . scorsese aimed to give an intimate view of the band onstage |
los angeles (cnn) 'desperate housewives' star eva longoria's divorce from nba star tony parker was finalized by a texas court, according to her publicist anderson group public relations issued a short statement confirming the divorce monday the couple filed for divorce in november after reports surfaced that she found evidence he was cheating with the wife of a fellow san antonio spurs player she filed in los angeles and he filed in bexar county, texas 'it is with great sadness that after seven years together, eva and i have decided to divorce,' parker said in a statement at the time 'we love each other deeply and pray for each other's happiness' longoria issued a similarly worded statement a day later cnn's brittany kaplan contributed to this report | longoria tony parker | longoria and tony parker both filed for divorce in november . both issued a statement at the time saying they still loved the other |
london, england (cnn) open any fashion magazine and you're instantly bombarded with a collection of blindingly beautiful celebrities, bedazzled with shimmering jewels and perfectly coiffed 'messy hair' anna boccia lewis has been a dvf fan since the 1970s do you own a wrap dress? tell us why they teeter on gorgeous stilettos strutting their perfectly toned figures in clothing that could cost as much as a typical mortgage close that same fashion magazine or maybe ever so gently hurl it at the wall and perhaps you're left feeling slightly inadequate and envious after all, why should we be left out of all the fun just because we can't afford the clothing in the magazine? but there is one fashion item that has arguably been bridging the gap for more than three decades between the wealthy elite and the average woman this item is diane von furstenberg's wrap dress just like the 'little black dress,' furstenberg's wrap dress is considered an essential in many womens' wardrobes diane von furstenberg, or dvf as she's known, sold her first wrap dress in the 1970s 'it has been a unique phenomenon, ' the belgian designer told cnn 'what was new about my wrap dress was that i did it in jersey and therefore it molded the body and it was very flattering to the body' technically speaking, a wrap dress is like a kimono 'it's a very traditional form of clothing, it's a dress that has no buttons and no zipper,' said von furstenberg since its inception, millions have flown off the racks but that isn't to say the dress didn't see its dark periods as well there was a time when the trend for wrap dresses was declared over, but like any good (or bad) fashion, it experienced a revival 'fashion changed completely and things went away,' said von furstenberg 'ten years ago i started again because i saw that very hip young girls were buying them in thrift shops' that trend continues today while the dresses are stocked in dvf stores, they are regularly bought and sold in vintage stores and through online auction sites, such as ebay 'my love affair with the dvf wrap dress began in the 1970s,' says anna boccia lewis, a self confessed 'dvf addict' from california 'one of my first purchases was a yellow floral vintage dvf shirtdress that i found at goodwill in south san francisco for $475 'i think what i love the most about diane's designs is that each one has its own special personality just like the woman who is wearing it,' anna said cnn asked other women to tell us what it is about dvf dresses that make them so special tell us your story 'sound off' below 'they make me feel not only sexy, but successful, sophisticated and timeless,' said carolyn yapp, a 24 year old dvf devotee from jamaica melissa calivis green from baltimore told us: 'for me, the iconic prints represent a sense of powerful femininity and the promise of endless possibilities' tracey jennings of the united kingdom has been wearing dvf dresses for the last ten years she said: 'like a lot of women, i have varied in size from year to year as a result, my wrap dresses range from size four to size 10' kirsty palmer, also from the united kingdom, recently sold one of her dvf dresses on ebay 'i like to change my selection,' she said 'buying vintage wrap dresses makes them more affordable for me, yet i still get the benefit as if i were buying new due to their classic cuts and their durability' do you own a wrap dress? if so, we want to hear from you why did you buy it and what does it mean to you? 'sound off' below or email us a picture or go to cnn's facebook page facebookcom/cnnintl | subinsert uninvigorative knubbly | no related information |
(cnn) she had come alone to the richmond high school homecoming dance, gorgeous in a sparkling purple dress and faux diamond baubles the dj played salsa, meringue, rap when the teenager disappeared, her friends thought she had gone home early except she never said goodbye 'we were going to go look for her,' said kami baker, 16, a junior at the school the next day, baker learned the ugly truth about what had happened to her friend according to police, she had been gang raped and beaten for almost 2½ hours and left unconscious under a bench shortly before midnight saturday night 'i busted up crying,' baker said the campus incident in the bay area city north of oakland has shaken students and their families baker was one of many people connected to the school and the community who lashed out at officials at a public safety hearing wednesday baker blamed school district officials for not doing enough to protect her school and her friend she said none of the four officers who were at the homecoming dance was patrolling the school premises even though there were a dozen young men hanging out just a few feet from the gym entrance she says school officials chose not to take any action 'i looked outside of the gym and i saw 12 to 15 guys, sitting there, with no ids,' baker said at the hearing 'the officers not only did they not check the ids of those students or men sitting outside of of our campus, but the security officers who are employed here did no checking either the assistant principal looked outside and actually saw those men, and did nothing about it' baker took the podium with her younger sister, barbie, a freshman at the school, who had spent a chunk of saturday evening with the rape victim 'this story has disrupted the school's morale greatly, including my own i am friends with the girl,' baker said 'when i started here, i felt extremely unsafe and so did she, due to the lack of police officers and security officers' baker later described the 15 year old girl as a churchgoer who struggled to fit in at richmond high four teenagers were arraigned thursday on charges connected to the incident cody ray smith, described by the court as over 14 years old, pleaded not guilty to charges of rape with a foreign object and rape by force two other juveniles, ari abdallah morales and marcelles james peter, appeared together with smith at the contra costa county superior court, but did not enter a plea the court described morales as under 16, and did not give an age for peter all three juveniles, who wore bulletproof vests at the hearing, were charged as adults a fourth individual, manuel ortega, 19, appeared separately without an attorney and did not enter a plea he did not wear a protective vest another adult who was arrested has a different court date as many as 10 people were involved in the assault in a dimly lit back alley at the school, police have said another 10 people watched, without calling 911, police said the victim was released from a hospital wednesday, police said | beethovenish authoress bloodlusting | no related information |
denver, colorado (cnn) sen hillary clinton introduced herself as a 'proud supporter of barack obama' at the democratic national convention on tuesday as she called on her party to rally behind her former rival sen hillary clinton, with daughter chelsea, receives a standing ovation from the democratic delegates 'whether you voted for me, or voted for barack, the time is now to unite as a single party with a single purpose we are on the same team, and none of us can sit on the sidelines this is a fight for the future and it's a fight we must win together,' she said leading up to her address, there was a lot of speculation about what she would say and whether she would make a strong enough call for unity but she made a very strident case for obama's candidacy 'no way no how no mccain barack obama is my candidate and he must be our president,' clinton said her speech, which was the last of the night, followed a line up of other democrats who used their time at the podium to attack president bush's record and mccain's policies appearing strong and energized, clinton thanked her voters for supporting her historic campaign as a female candidate and reached out to those wary of obama by telling them they weren't in this for her, but for her cause that cause, she said, is the same thing that obama and the rest of the democratic party are fighting for watch clinton's entire speech » many analysts said the speech would end speculation that clinton has not fully embraced obama as her party's candidate clinton mentioned obama by name more than twice as many times as she mentioned the party as a whole analysts weigh in on the night's speakers » 'i thought she was a class act,' said political analyst david gergen, who worked in the clinton administration 'i think it could well be said that nothing has so become her campaign as the way she has ended it here tonight' clinton also praised obama's newly tapped vice presidential candidate, sen joe biden of delaware the former first lady called biden 'pragmatic, tough and wise' watch clinton talk about the obama biden team » clinton was met with a standing ovation from an enthusiastic audience only a few pockets of the standing room only convention center weren't on their feet cheering for her observers said she had the biggest reception of the evening as soon as the speech ended, the mccain campaign issued a statement implying that clinton did nothing to dispel her previous criticism of obama 'sen clinton ran her presidential campaign making clear that barack obama is not prepared to lead as commander in chief nowhere tonight did she alter that assessment,' mccain spokesman tucker bounds said 'nowhere tonight did she say that barack obama is ready to lead millions of hillary clinton supporters and millions of americans remain concerned about whether barack obama is ready to be president' the mccain campaign has stepped up its effort to woo disaffected clinton supporters, running ads highlighting clinton's criticism of obama during the primaries obama called clinton after the speech and thanked her for her support and said she could not have done a better job earlier, former virginia gov mark warner appealed across party lines in his keynote address obama has been campaigning hard to win virginia, which hasn't voted for a democratic president since president lyndon b johnson in 1964 watch warner make his case for obama » according to cnn's electoral map, the state is a toss up going into the general election in order for obama to take the state's 13 electoral votes, he would need to win over some of virginia's independent and republican voters instead of tearing into the current administration, warner talked about ideas highlighting science and technology 'i know we're at the democratic convention, but if an idea works, it really doesn't matter if it has an 'r' or 'd' next to it,' warner said 'because this election isn't about liberal versus conservative it's not about left versus right it's about the future versus the past' his words echoed obama's own keynote speech of four years ago when the then little known senator from illinois spoke of what united rather than divided americans in 2004, before john kerry was nominated for president, obama said to delegates: 'there is not a liberal america and a conservative america there is the united states of america there is not a black america and a white america and latino america and asian america there's the united states of america' republican strategist alex castellanos said warner's address could do for him what obama's address did four years ago watch warner's entire speech » 'it's a very powerful speech he's going to come out of this convention the way barack obama came out of the last convention as the rock star, as the next guy,' he said 'it was an important speech because if this election is about experience and strength, mccain wins but if this election's about the past versus the future, republicans have a much tougher job' warner's most blunt criticism of president bush was that he has kept the country from living up to its potential tuesday's other speakers played up obama's message of change and tore into mccain, saying he would only bring about more of the same pennsylvania sen robert casey jr at one point feigned shock at the idea that the republican party was asking for four more years in the white house, promising the party of president bush and mccain 'not four more years, but four more months' in response, the delegates jumped to their feet shouting, 'four more months! four more months!' audience members also waved signs that said 'mccain more of the same' | nonpopulousness hery updated | no related information |
islamabad, pakistan (cnn) raja pervez ashraf ascended to prime minister of pakistan on friday after lawmakers approved his nomination in a majority vote in parliament ashraf, 61, a former minister and staunch loyalist of the ruling pakistan peoples party, replaces yousuf raza gilani, who was ousted by a supreme court ruling earlier in the week the lower house of parliament voted 211 89 in favor of ashraf, a confidant of president asif ali zardari who until recently served as minister of information and technology ashraf takes over running pakistan's government at a time when political tensions are high and relations with the united states are strained ashraf was the party's second choice to replace gilani minister makhdoom shahabuddin's candidacy was marred shortly after it was made public when a trial court issued an arrest warrant for him in connection with a drug scandal in 2010, when he served as health minister last year, shahabuddin resigned from the minister post amid allegations that he accepted kickbacks while in office the supreme court is hearing a case involving the allegations ashraf also has been accused of corruption in the past in 2011, he was accused of scheming to receive kickbacks from private power companies during his time as minister of water and power the corruption allegations earned him the nickname 'raja rental' among many pakistanis the case was also heard by the supreme court and a ruling is pending, said fawad chaudhry, a senior leader of the pakistan people's party chaudhry called the investigation 'politically motivated' gilani was ousted from office when the nation's top court disqualified him retroactive to april 26, the day he was convicted of contempt charges the charges stemmed from his refusal to call on swiss authorities to reopen old corruption charges against zardari journalists nasir habib and ayza omar contributed to this report | parliament raja pervez ashraf pakistan ashraf raja rental yousuf raza gilani | new: parliament elects raja pervez ashraf as pakistan's new prime minister . like the previous nominee, ashraf is also controversial . he was nicknamed 'raja rental' after he was accused of corruption . he replaces yousuf raza gilani, who was ruled ineligible to hold office |
(cnn) a somali terror leader implored his fellow countryman in california to send money 'to finance jihad,' triggering a chain of events that ended with four convictions us government agents recorded dozens of such calls a few years ago, according to the department of justice and on friday, a jury found four somali nationals guilty of supporting terrorism in their native country the verdict came after prosecutors played the recordings to jurors in a san diego federal court during weeks of trial the four, who included an imam and a cab driver, had raised $10,000 and wired it to the islamist terrorist group al shabaab, according to the original indictment cab driver basaaly saeed moalin had many phone conversations with former al shabaab leader aden hashi ayrow, before a us missile strike ended the latter's life in may 2008 investigators from the fbi, homeland security and a san diego anti terror agency recorded dozens of them federal prosecutors filed charges in november 2011 the group pleaded not guilty but the recordings convinced the jurors otherwise read the case file (pdf) the money wasn't coming fast enough for ayrow, who implored moalin in at least one recorded call to hurry it up 'you are running late with the stuff,' ayrow told him 'send some, and something will happen' ayrow pushed the cab driver to get his local imam to come up with some funds mohamed mohamed mohamud ran the city heights mosque in san diego, which many in the somali community attended together with a second cab driver, ahmed nasiri taalil mohamud, and an employee at a money transfer company, issa doreh, they raised the cash and wired it to al shabaab , the justice department said it wasn't the only favor moalin did for the terror group moalin had kept a house in somalia's capital mogadishu, one of the world's most embattled cities at the time he offered to let the terrorists use it, the department of justice said 'after you bury your stuff deep in the ground, you would, then, plant trees on top,' moalin told ayrow in a recorded conversation prosecutors argued he was 'offering a place to hide weapons' for months, they talked about 'bullets, bombing and jihad,' said u s attorney laura e duffy after hearing the recordings, the jury no longer bought the defendants' explanation that they 'were actually conversations about their charitable efforts for orphans and schools,' she said sentencing is scheduled for may 16 al shabaab is one of about 50 groups that have been designated by the state department as foreign terrorist organizations the islamist extremists have been waging a war against somalia's government in an effort to implement a stricter form of islamic law, or sharia in recent years, somali and african union troops, who have received funding from the us government, have won many battles against the terror group, pushing it back to a handful of strongholds for more than 20 years, somalia did not have a stable government, and fighting between the rebels and government troops added to the impoverished east african nation's humanitarian crisis in january, the united states granted official recognition to the somali government in mogadishu | asthmatics blousons gamophagia | no related information |
(cnn) us secretary of state john kerry arrived thursday in afghanistan to speed up a resolution to the country's election dispute, state department spokeswoman jen psaki said kerry will be meeting with presidential candidates abdullah abdullah and ashraf ghani and president hamid karzai the visit comes two days after maj gen harold greene a longtime officer who was leading efforts to train soldiers in afghanistan was killed at a military training facility in kabul kerry recently brokered an agreement between the nation's two presidential candidates to accept the outcome of an audit of the election preliminary results from the june runoff showed ghani in the lead, but abdullah alleged massive election fraud the inauguration of the president, originally scheduled for the first week of august, was postponed while the votes are recounted 'the secretary will follow up on his july visit to kabul and his subsequent phone calls to the candidates, encouraging both to help accelerate the audit process which they are both participating in, and make progress on the details of the political framework that they agreed to during the secretary's last visit,' psaki said in a statement 'the secretary will encourage both candidates to work together in the spirit of collegiality and statesmanship, to ensure national unity and the means to build on the progress the afghan people have achieved' also: why do some afghan forces turn and kill allies? also: profiles of ashraf ghani and abdullah abdullah | a day us kerry july afghanistan hamid karzai | visit comes a day after a us major general was killed in an insider attack . kerry is following up on his july trip to afghanistan . the secretary is to meet with both candidates and president hamid karzai |
(cnn) us president barack obama heads south of the border thursday to meet with mexican president enrique peña nieto in the country's capital here are three key topics that are likely to be on the table, and a look at how the leaders and mexicans have weighed in on those issues 1 trade and economic ties the situation: the united states is mexico's largest trading partner, and mexico is america's third largest trade partner, after china and canada imports and exports between the two countries totaled nearly $500 billion last year officials on both sides of the border have said they want economic relations to be a focal point during obama's visit obama's trip comes as peña nieto's government has said it's on the verge of pursuing reforms in the country's state run oil company a politically divisive issue in mexico and something us and global investors are watching closely obama's take: 'we spend so much time on security issues between the united states and mexico that sometimes i think we forget this is a massive trading partner, responsible for huge amounts of commerce and huge numbers of jobs on both sides of the border,' obama told reporters on tuesday 'we want to see how we can deepen that, how we can improve that, and maintain that economic dialogue over a long period of time' peña nieto's take: 'we should reconsider greater integration of north america to achieve a region that is more competitive and capable of creating more jobs,' peña nieto told obama during a meeting at the white house in november public opinion: most mexicans think the deep economic ties between the two countries are good for mexico, according to survey results released this week by the pew research center but when the 1,000 people surveyed in march were asked about the influence the united states currently has on economic conditions in mexico, views were mixed one third of mexicans say the united states is having a positive impact on national economic conditions in mexico, while 28% think the united states is having a negative impact 2 immigration the situation: the united states and mexico are bound by a border which has made for a dysfunctional relationship over the years, especially when it comes to immigration however, both governments have the issue high on their list of priorities in the united states, a bipartisan group of senators have proposed an immigration reform bill, with us mexico border security at its foundation there are more than 11 million mexicans living in the united states, including the 6 million estimated to be living there illegally as of 2010 but the migration rate from mexico fell to zero in 2012, meaning the number of mexicans coming to the united states and those going the other way was virtually identical obama's take: 'we've got to have more effective border security; although it should build on the great improvements that have been made on border security over the last four or five years,' obama said in a news conference this week 'we should make the legal immigration system work more effectively so that the waits are not as burdensome, the bureaucracy is not as complicated, so we continue to attract the best and the brightest from around the world to our shores in a legal fashion' peña nieto's take: 'we fully support your proposal for this migration reform,' peña nieto told obama in november 'more than demanding what you should do or shouldn't do, we do want to tell you that we want to contribute we really want to participate with you we want to contribute toward the accomplishment, so that of course we can participate in the betterment and the well being of so many millions of people who live in your country' public opinion: according to the pew research center, mexicans are divided on whether this is good or bad for their country; 44% say it's good for mexico that many of its citizens live in the united states, and an equal share say this is bad for mexico and, perhaps the most surprising find from the study said that 61% of mexicans would not move to the united states even if they had the means to do so however, 35% say they would move to the united states if they could, including 20% who say they would emigrate without authorization a little less than a third of the mexicans questioned (30%) say they personally know someone who went to the united states but returned to mexico because the person couldn't find work, according to the pew research center about a quarter (27%) know someone who has been deported or detained by the us government for immigration reasons in the last 12 months 3 security and the drug war the situation: the battle against drug cartels has played a dominant role in us mexican relations in recent years officials on both sides of the border have said that drugs traveling north from mexico to consumers in the united states and weapons traveling south from the united states to cartels in mexico are an increasingly deadly combination high profile cartel takedowns were a hallmark of former president felipe calderon's tenure peña nieto has vowed to take a different approach, focusing more on education problems and social inequality that he says fuel drug violence the details of his policies are still coming into focus, and analysts say his government has deliberately tried to shift drug violence out of the spotlight critics have expressed concerns that peña nieto's government will turn a blind eye to cartels or negotiate with them something he repeatedly denied on the campaign trail last year on tuesday two days before obama's arrival his government arrested the father in law of joaquin 'el chapo' guzman, head of mexico's sinaloa cartel and one of the country's most wanted drug lords while both obama and peña nieto have said they're committed to working together on security issues, it's unclear whether the us role will change as mexico's government shifts its strategy obama's take: the us president has repeatedly said the united states will work to reduce demand for drugs and to stop the illegal flow of weapons to mexico but there's one approach he says isn't on the table drug legalization speaking at the summit of the americas in colombia last year, obama said it was reasonable to debate alternatives in the war on drugs, but insisted legalizing drugs is not a valid option in the united states 'i think it is entirely legitimate to have a conversation about whether the laws in place are doing more harm than good in certain places,' obama said 'i personally, and my administration's position is, that legalization is not the answer' peña nieto's take: last year, peña nieto told cnn that creating more economic opportunities will be mexico's greatest weapon in the war on drugs 'that, i think, is going to be the best way my government can prevent organized crime,' he said without jobs and social programs, he added, 'millions of my countrymen have no other option than to dedicate themselves sometimes to criminal activity' public opinion: nearly a third of mexicans surveyed by pew say mexico's government is losing ground against cartels, while 37% say the government is making progress mexican public opinion is mixed over the us role in the fight against drug cartels, according to the pew survey nearly three quarters of mexicans surveyed said they would welcome us assistance in training mexican police and military personnel but support for the united states providing money and weapons to mexican forces has lost some support in recent years, pew said in 2011, 64% of those surveyed said they backed such a strategy this year, 55% said they supported that approach cnn's rafael romo contributed to this report | obama peña nieto this week us mexico mexican | obama and peña nieto have said they want to focus on the economy this week . security and immigration are also key issues between the us and mexico . a recent survey indicates mexican public opinion on the issues is mixed . it's unclear whether the us role will change as mexico's drug war strategy shifts |
washington (cnn) president bush lifted an executive order banning offshore oil drilling on monday and urged congress to follow suit if president bush can persuade congress, more oil rigs like this one off canada could appear off us shores citing the high prices americans are paying at the pump, bush said from the white house rose garden that allowing offshore oil drilling is 'one of the most important steps we can take' to reduce that burden however, the move is largely symbolic as there is also a federal law banning offshore drilling 'this means that the only thing standing between the american people and these vast oil reserves is action from the us congress,' bush said watch bush announce lifting of ban » bush has been pushing congress to repeal the law passed in 1981 'there is no excuse for delay,' the president said in a rose garden statement last month ireportcom: is drilling the answer? 'in the short run, the american economy will continue to rely largely on oil, and that means we need to increase supply here at home,' bush said, adding that there is no more pressing issue for many americans than gas prices bush's father, president george hw bush, signed the executive order in 1990 banning offshore drilling see where offshore drilling is allowed » the issue has gained prominence in the presidential race sen john mccain recently announced he supported offshore oil drilling, reversing his previous stance sen barack obama wants to keep the ban in place experts say offshore oil drilling would not have an immediate impact on oil prices because oil exploration takes years 'if we were to drill today, realistically speaking, we should not expect a barrel of oil coming out of this new resource for three years, maybe even five years, so let's not kid ourselves,' said fadel gheit, oil and gas analyst with oppenheimer & co equity capital markets division but it almost certainly would be profitable candida scott, an oil industry researcher at cambridge research associates, said oil needs to be priced at $60 a barrel or more to justify deep shelf drilling with oil now selling for $145 a barrel, companies are almost assured of profiting from offshore drilling, scott said in his statement last month, bush also renewed his demand that congress allow drilling in alaska's arctic national wildlife refuge, clear the way for more refineries and encourage efforts to recover oil from shale in areas such as the green river basin of colorado, utah and wyoming the white house estimates that there are 18 billion barrels of oil offshore that have not been exploited because of state bans, 10 billion to 12 billion in the arctic national wildlife refuge and 800 billion barrels of recoverable oil in the green river basin | bush congress john mccain barack obama | end to executive ban on offshore drilling does not affect separate federal law . president bush has been urging congress to repeal law banning offshore drilling . offshore drilling ban has become a campaign issue . john mccain supports ending ban on drilling; barack obama wants to keep it |
washington (cnn) president barack obama and republican challenger mitt romney step into a more free wheeling town hall style debate on tuesday night, a setting that has given the two coolly intellectual candidates some trouble in the past both will have to recalibrate their approaches from their first encounter on oct 3, which was won by romney 'i think obama assumes he will do better in town hall debates because he has an advantage on empathy,' said emory university political science professor andra gillespie, adding that obama is going to have to 'show a little more passion and fire in his belly' five things to watch for in tonight's debate romney could be less aggressive, which earned him points in the first debate, and focus more on trying to narrow the likability gap 'because romney is gaffe prone he is going to do everything he can to come across as warm and empathetic, gillespie said cnn chief political correspondent candy crowley will moderate the second debate at hofstra university in hempstead, new york she is first woman to do so in two decades the town hall format presents challenges and opportunities for the candidates, crowley said both have held a number of town hall forums during the campaign season — exchanges that haven't exactly sizzled, political experts say crowley on moderating town hall debate: 'it's harder to dodge' that's because obama tends to become professorial and romney stiff in such settings 'the danger of the town hall is that you're getting (questions) from the audience,' said melissa wade, a debate professor at emory university 'it's either because they're either not good or they are so rehearsed the responder has a hard time' other candidates have struggled in town halls television cameras caught then president george hw bush when he looked at his watch during a town hall debate in 1992 in 2000, vice president al gore got in gop rival george w bush personal space which made for an awkward moment the unpredictable nature of the questions also has perils, she said in 2004, president george w bush struggled to answer a woman's question on three wrong decisions that he'd made that debate was also full of testy back and forth — the types of exchanges that spell trouble for politicians, political experts say in the last presidential town hall debate, gop nominee john mccain wandered across stage while obama, then a senator, answered a question 'i worry for romney that this is where he gets excitable i wish someone would tell him to count to three before he opens his mouth informal leads to more quips,' wade said 'excitability is not likability' 10 debate moments that mattered though according to polls obama ranks higher in the likability department, he, too, struggles in town halls 'it's his worst format,' wade said 'it was not as pronounced as mccain wandering around obama in a town hall is more long winded he just can't help himself' obama came up against his long winded nature during a cnbc town hall event in 2010 when then obama supporter velma hart told the president she was 'exhausted' from defending him instead of answering hart's question directly, obama talked around it for four minutes the candidates also will have to work to connect with both the television viewing audience watching at home and the group of voters sitting in the room 'they are going to have roughly 80 people, as i understand it, looking at them in addition to me you know and i know it is very easy for politicians to run over a reporter — they don't care,' crowley said 'there is no price to be paid for being rude to a reporter, not answering the question but 80 undecided voters looking at you, and some of them getting up and going, 'well, what about this?' it's just harder to dodge' ireport: share your questions for candy a cnn/orc survey conducted just after the first debate suggests that it didn't change opinions of the president forty nine percent of debate watchers said they had a favorable opinion of obama before the event, and that number didn't change afterward it was pretty much a similar story for romney, whose favorable rating among debate watchers edged up two points, from 54% before to 56% after still, both could use the less predictable nature of the town hall setting to their advantage, political experts say 'this town hall forum offers president obama a chance to communicate in a different way than has been expected and more effectively everyone expects him to come out swinging i think it would be more creative and effective if he focuses on audience members and the middle class and his plans for the future and why they are more effective than his opposition,' said david gergen, a senior political analyst for cnn romney too could use his strengths to score points 'romney's strength is dignity,' gergen said, adding that the gop nominee seemed to relish and fare well when he was on the offensive during the first debate 'he's got to bring the same level of energy and go more indirectly with the president through the person he's talking to' get instant updates on cnn's live blog cnn political editor paul steinhauser contributed to this story | barack obama mitt romney obama romney | president barack obama and mitt romney struggle in settings that are less predictable . obama will have to squelch professorial tone romney will have to show he can relate to voters . previous presidential candidates have also tripped up in town halls . obama can use likability, romney can use dignity to gain edge |
(realsimplecom) unscientifically speaking, the number of times you're asked, 'are we there yet?' rises and falls in direct relation to how well you keep children engaged sharon bergen, senior vice president of education at kindercare learning centers, which oversees almost 2,000 early education programs nationwide, likes these games the leader game: everyone in the car gets to be the leader for an hour 'in charge of choosing the travel games, the radio station, the dvd, and, if you'd like, the seating arrangements,' says bergen i spy: for kids, run through the alphabet, such as 'i spy something that begins with the letter a' for adults, up the challenge with a line like 'i spy something german' realsimplecom: take the best road trip ever who are they?: choose another group on the road and make up stories about where they're from and where they're going license plate game: print out a map of the united states each time someone spots a license plate from a different state, mark the map vehicle count: have kids practice their counting skills with goals like 'find 25 green cars' older children can guess how many pickup trucks or police cars will pass in 10 minutes the winner chooses the music destination education: print out some fun facts about the areas you'll drive through and have children read them and find the relevant places on a map get a free trial issue of real simple click here! copyright © 2011 time inc all rights reserved | i spy the 'license plate game | keeping kids engaged is key to sanity during long road trips . expert suggests six games to keep kids busy in the car . games include 'i spy' and the 'license plate game' |
madrid (cnn) a 25 year old spanish man has been ordered by a judge to leave home and look for a job after he took his parents to court for stopping his allowance money the man from andalusia in southern spain had taken the court action demanding a monthly allowance of $588 after his parents stopped giving him his spending money unless he tried to find a job however, the judge told the man, who has not been named in court documents, that he must leave his parents' house within 30 days the judge said the man was studying law, albeit at a slow rate, and would probably not complete the degree for several years, but he thought he was still capable of finding some kind of work the family court in malaga says the situation at the home had seriously deteriorated with the parents claiming their son had physically and verbally assaulted them the man's mother works in a restaurant while his father works for a garbage collection firm the judge also ordered that the parents should pay a $292 monthly food stipend for 2 years the parents have also taken over the monthly repayments on their son's car in spain it is not unusual for offspring to remain living with their parents until well into their 30s, a trend strengthened by a tough labor market where the youth unemployment rate is 405%, the highest in the european union there are 46 million spaniards unemployed, and 13 million spanish homes with no one in work, according to government figures for the fourth quarter of 2010 | 588 292 spain 405% eu | 25 year old had taken parents to court demanding $588 monthly allowance . judge gave him 30 days to leave home and find work . parents ordered to pay $292 monthly food stipend for 2 years . spain youth unemployment rate is 405%, highest in the eu |
mogadishu, somalia (cnn) fresh fighting between ethiopian backed government forces and islamic insurgents in somalia's capital city of mogadishu reportedly killed at least 10 people sunday, eyewitnesses said a man walks past the rubble of a building destroyed in sunday's fighting the two sides pounded each other with artillery, sending children scurrying and bringing business at the city's main market to a standstill 'the fighting is so heavy and a barrage of mortar bombs is hitting many parts in bakara market, killing people and causing heavy damages of buildings ' said ali abdulkadir, a cloth trader at the city's main bakara market hawo abdi oman, another eyewitness at the market, said a shell landed in an area crowded with people, killing nine civilians among the dead, she said, were two children and four women the market, a rebel stronghold, has been the site of numerous clashes since early last year in a nearby neighborhood, geed jaceyl, a shell landed on a house, crushing it a woman who was inside was killed, witnesses said a second shell landed near a religious school, sending children running for cover no one was injured in that incident the presence of ethiopian troops trying to help defend a transitional government's hold on mogadishu has united islamic militant groups seeking to gain control of the city in 2006, the islamic courts union a militia group ousted somalia's transitional government from power but the icu was deposed in december of that year following ethiopia's military invasion since then, insurgent groups have been trying to destabilize the government somalia's current transitional government is trying to maintain control of the capital, with the help of the better equipped ethiopian forces the violence has displaced more than 40,000 civilians who have taken shelter in dozens of makeshift settlements west of mogadishu somalia has been mired in chaos since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator mohamed siad barre and sparked brutal clan infighting sunday's fighting came a day after suspected insurgents killed a local reporter, who freelanced for the bbc and reuters news agency the national union of journalists in somalia called the death of nasteh dahir farah a 'targeted assassination' he was the 10th reporter killed in the war torn nation since last year farah, 36, was gunned down on his way home from work in the southern city of kismayu, according to the national union of somali journalists journalist mohamed amiin adow contributed to this report | nonirritability repeg egocentrism | no related information |
(ewcom) sony pictures has started development on the fourth movie in the 'men in black' franchise, ew has confirmed the wrap first reported the news the 'men in black 3' ending makes no sense, no sense at all oren uziel, who is writing the upcoming 'mortal kombat' movie, has scored the screenwriting gig for 'mib 4' he is also writing sony's sequel to '21 jump street,' last year's hit comedy starring channing tatum and jonah hill that sequel will open on june 6, 2014 no release date has been set for 'mib 4' why will smith turned down 'django' 'men in black 3' was a box office success last summer, earning the franchise's highest worldwide gross the time traveling threequel brought back franchise stars will smith and tommy lee jones, and also starred josh brolin as an uncanny younger version of jones' agent k see the original story at ewcom click here to try 2 risk free issues of entertainment weekly © 2011 entertainment weekly and time inc all rights reserved | autecisms yarkee snitchers | no related information |
(cnn) calling his drug possession conviction a 'wake up call,' us rep trey radel says he is taking a leave of absence for an unspecified time and will enter an in patient drug treatment program 'i have no excuse for what i have done i have let down our country,' he said at a news conference wednesday night, hours after pleading guilty to possessing cocaine he said he will donate his salary to charity while he's away radel spoke to reporters after returning home to fort myers, florida, wednesday night earlier in the day, he was in a washington, dc courtroom answering to the misdemeanor charge he was sentenced to a year of probation 'i will be going into treatment, and i'm going to start with intensive, in patient treatment,' radel said 'that's what's next for me i have already begun the process sometimes in life you need a wake up call this is my wake up call' during the brief news conference, the 37 year old, first term republican from florida said he 'grew up with a mom who struggled with alcoholism' 'i don't want my son to struggle with that,' he said radel said he hopes he can win back the trust of the many people he hurt, including his wife 'my wife is my rock, and she has been so supportive through this,' he said 'i have to mend her heart which i've broken, and i've broken a lot of hearts' the hearing the plea and sentence were part of a deal that radel's attorney struck with federal prosecutors he could have received a maximum sentence of 180 days imprisonment or a $1,000 fine, or both instead, he was placed on one year probation, and if it is 'successfully completed,' his guilty plea will be cleared from his record 'your honor, i apologize for what i've done,' radel told judge robert tignor in court wednesday 'i think in life i've hit a bottom where i realize i need help' radel said he is aggressively pursuing that help, with the support of friends and loved ones the sting he was charged after he bought 35 grams of cocaine from an undercover police officer in washington's dupont circle area on october 29, court documents say who is trey radel? it was a sting that stemmed from a broader fbi/drug enforcement administration investigation of a drug trafficking organization in the nation's capital, law enforcement officials told cnn on condition of anonymity the targets of the investigation are dealers and high level people in the organization, not buyers and users but a dealer who was arrested last month told federal agents that one of his customers was a congressman, one of the law enforcement officials said so, deciding they couldn't turn away from that, agents set up the sting, the law enforcement officials said the admission court documents say radel gave the undercover officer $260 for the cocaine outside a restaurant, and the two got into the officer's vehicle, where the officer gave radel the cocaine federal agents approached radel after he left the vehicle, and radel dropped the cocaine to the street, according to court documents radel then agreed to talk to the agents in his apartment, where he admitted he bought cocaine, according to the documents 'the defendant also retrieved and provided to the agents a vial of cocaine that he had in his apartment,' the court documents say the background a tea party favorite, radel was elected last year to represent southwest florida's 19th congressional district he is a former journalist and tv news anchor, having worked for wink in fort myers, florida he also owned and eventually sold the naples journal newspaper, according to a biography on his congressional website radel is married with a young son he is active on twitter, where he posts about touring the capitol, listening to hip hop, playing guitar and opposing obamacare a spokesman for house speaker john boehner said in a prepared statement this week that members of congress 'should be held to the highest standards, and the alleged crime will be handled by the courts' 'beyond that, this is between rep radel, his family, and his constituents,' boehner's spokesman said cnn's jason hanna, deirdre walsh, alison harding and greg seaby contributed to this report | radel a year 35 grams last month | 'i have no excuse for what i have done,' radel says . he says he grew up with a mom who struggled with alcoholism . he pleads guilty to misdemeanor cocaine possession, gets a year of probation . authorities say he bought 35 grams of cocaine from an undercover officer last month |
los angeles (cnn) a lost interview of martin luther king jr recorded more than five decades ago, but recently found in a tennessee attic, will soon be heard in the last room where the civil rights leader slept illusionist david copperfield purchased the reel to reel tape wednesday and will donate it to the national civil rights museum, which is housed in the lorraine motel king was shot to death standing on a balcony of the memphis, tennessee, motel on april 4, 1968 'it gave me chills,' copperfield told cnn wednesday in a phone interview, explaining why he bought the tape for an undisclosed amount it was striking because the recording revealed king in a relaxed mood, copperfield said 'we've heard dr king talk about peaceful change in the public forum, but this is an audio tape of him talking conversationally,' he said 'i'm certainly no expert, but it's the first time i've ever heard him in that context and i was very moved by it' copperfield said he wanted to give the recording to the museum because it 'is just the right thing to do' 'he's certainly one of the great inspirational figures in history,' copperfield said 'so much of what i do, in my own little way, is making people dream, transporting them, making them think differently that's what magic does his dream was far greater than any entertainer can provide' keya morgan, a collector and expert on rare historical artifacts, authenticated the reel and appraised it at $100,000 last month 'when i heard it, i got goose bumps all over,' morgan said, 'it feels like he's sitting in your living room and talking to you' the museum will put the recording on exhibit in the motel room where king stayed his last nights in memphis, morgan said barbara andrews, the museum's director of education and interpretation, confirmed the donation and said museum officials 'look forward to its receipt and sharing it with our (150,000) plus visitors' 'we are extremely grateful for the generosity and high regard mr copperfield holds for the national civil rights museum,' andrews told cnn morgan arranged the sale by stephon tull, who found it in a dusty old attic in chattanooga, tennessee, while rummaging through dilapidated boxes left there by his father many years before in one of the battered boxes was an audio reel marked, 'dr king interview, dec 21, 1960' tull realized it was his father interviewing king about nonviolence and the civil rights movement tull's father had grown up in tennessee during the years of racial tension, oppression, and the so called 'jim crow' segregation laws 'he planned on writing a book on how bad things were back in that era,' said tull, but his father never finished the book 'he fell ill, and is now in hospice care' tull's father's recorded his conversation with king three years before the civil rights leader delivered his famous 'i have a dream' speech in washington, four years before president lyndon b johnson signed the civil rights act into law and eight years before king was assassinated in memphis, across the state from where tull's father lived in the interview, king can clearly be heard discussing his definition of nonviolence, and its importance in the civil rights movement 'i would say that it is a method which seeks to secure a moral end through moral means,' he said, 'and it grows out of the whole concept of love, because if one is truly nonviolent that person has a loving spirit, he refuses to inflict injury upon the opponent because he loves the opponent' king continued, 'i am convinced that when the history books are written in future years, historians will have to record this movement as one of the greatest epics of our heritage,' he said 'it represents struggle on the highest level of dignity and discipline' the rev joseph lowery, one of the founders of the southern christian leadership conference with king in 1957, said the tapes are a reminder of the work king started that is not finished 'one of the things that occurred back then, we effectively communicated that nonviolence as a tactic, as a technique, was very effective for civil rights protests,' said lowery 'what we failed to do was express it's not just a tactic, but a way of life' lowery went on, 'we're losing the battle of violence versus nonviolence as a means of resolving human conflict,' he said, 'i hope dr king's message, wherever it shows up will help us in the struggle' in another part of tull's recording, king describes a recent trip to africa he explains to tull's father the importance of the civil rights movement both in the united states and abroad 'there is quite a bit of interest and concern in africa for the situation in the united states african leaders in general, and african people in particular are greatly concerned about the struggle here and familiar with what has taken place,' he said, 'we must solve this problem of racial injustice if we expect to maintain our leadership in the world, and if we expect to maintain a moral voice in a world that is two thirds color' the recording is intriguing to clayborne carson, a professor of history and founding director of the martin luther king, jr, research and education institute at stanford university 'it's hard to know what we're dealing with,' he said, 'there are thousands of interviews with dr king, and it's hard to tell the historical significance of this (one)' 'what is interesting about this is rather than just a transcript, you can hear his voice,' he added in 1985, king's widow, the late coretta scott king, invited carson to direct a long term project to edit and publish the civil rights leader's works based on the dates, carson believes the african trip king mentioned in the recording was his trip to nigeria this is what carson and his colleagues are most interested in 'the trip to nigeria is something we don't have a lot of information about,' he said, 'in nigeria he didn't do press conferences, didn't do interviews or write letters we know of' cnn's joe sutton and chris boyette contributed to this report | trilinolenate straked wop | no related information |
(cnn) the biggest challenge was finding an edward robert pattinson and kristen stewart play edward and bella in 'twilight' 'the most perfect guy in the world,' 'twilight' director catherine hardwicke said, ticking off the characteristics of 'twilight's' vampire hero 'cannot be leo [dicaprio]; cannot be brad pitt they don't fit in high school anymore and there are a lot of cute guys, but do they really look like they've lived for 108 years?' probably not, but with a fan base as large as 'twilight's,' hardwicke had to search for one and if the thousands of screaming girls who show up at autograph signings are any measure, she found him in robert pattinson the actor, best known for playing cedric diggory in 'harry potter and the goblet of fire,' has faced mob scenes wherever he's appeared fans in dallas waited overnight in the rain for a chance to see him; an event in san francisco was delayed because of the crush pattinson is still surprised by the reaction though things started quietly during filming, by the time production was wrapping, 'there were like 200 people turning up to the set every day,' he said 'and now, if we were trying to shoot it now, it would be absolutely impossible to do anything because where ever there's a 'twilight,' anything mentioned about 'twilight,' thousands of people turn up' 'twilight's' many fans most of whom will get their first feature length glimpse of edward when the film opens with midnight showings friday can't wait for the witching hour they also haven't been afraid of letting kristen stewart, who plays bella swan in the film based on stephenie meyer's series of books, know about their feelings for 'twilight' and edward some have been downright disdainful, stewart told cnn at the los angeles interviews for the film 'very communicative looks,' stewart said 'like, 'i'm just letting you know with this look that you're nothing special i'm here for edward, and i hope you don't ruin the movie' it's really crazy' stewart doesn't let it bother her, though she's been focused on portraying bella, a clumsy, awkward 17 year old who moves into a small town that she finds quite boring boring, that is, until she meets and falls in love with edward(pattinson) watch pattinson greet a line of screaming fans » the vampires created by meyer are different from those of the past they dress fashionably, have good taste in art and music, and are very much human 'they are the main characters,' stewart said 'they are the people that you sympathize with they're not just the villains in the movie' edward is one of the cullen family of vampires, a clan that has stopped drinking human blood 'he made his world smaller and smaller so he never killed anybody,' pattinson said of his character 'and he didn't care about anyone else imagine, never having an emotion and then suddenly this girl comes into your life as well as breaking down all your self discipline, which you've had for 80 years, she also makes you feel everything again' edward and bella must overcome obstacles worthy of 'romeo and juliet' in their relationship (besides the differences in her background with edward, bella is also stalked by a vampire with fewer scruples than the cullen boy) but it's that sexual tension that makes the whole vampire culture so undeniably delicious, hardwicke said 'the idea of this incredibly seductive creature wanting to bite your neck,' she said 'and if he does, on one level it could be pleasurable if he goes too far, you could die that kind of razor's edge, that sexual tension, is incredibly seductive' that doesn't mean the film is all lovey dovey hardwicke and the movie's stunt coordinator spent hours trying to figure out how to keep the fight scenes true to meyer's books meyer's vampires can't be killed with stakes or holy water; they have to be ripped limb from limb and then what's left has to be burned 'how do you fight when you're trying to pull somebody's arms off or twist their head off?' hardwicke asked 'that makes for a different kind of fight' romance, seduction and violence are all well and good, elements that have fulfilled audience desires for decades but it's the vampires that give those characteristics an extra edge, whether it's in bram stoker's 'dracula,' 'buffy the vampire slayer' or 'twilight' ireportcom: are you planning to see 'twilight'? 'a vampire itself is just such a great template for making a mysterious character,' pattinson said 'they can only come out at night they have a dark secret, which by vampire law they're not allowed to tell anybody and the only people who find out, die' 'twilight' is based on the first of meyer's now four book series so will the movie 'twilight' follow in the footsteps of another book series with a huge audience, jk rowling's harry potter tales? hardwicke said she doesn't know 'stephenie went a little wild [in the sequel] and wrote all these visual effects and werewolves and italy and everything,' she said 'so the next book is going to be a lot more expensive [to make] but if this one makes enough, then we'll get to do it' cnn's jack hannah contributed to this story | atropamine actiniarian isodiazotate | no related information |
denver, colorado (cnn) it was classic clinton it was sen hillary clinton's big night but before her speech even began, former president bill clinton reached out in his box and firmly embraced a young african american man clinton gripped the young man tightly; to millions watching on television, it was clear he could feel mervyn jones jr's pain as he sat down for his wife's headlining address, bill clinton's silent embrace of the 25 year old son of recently deceased ohio rep stephanie tubbs jones resonated loudly rep tubbs jones, of course, was a solid and loyal clinton supporter, standing by the clintons even when many other black leaders were shifting their support to barack obama then, in her speech, sen clinton herself took a moment to mention tubbs jones and her son 'steadfast in her beliefs, a fighter of uncommon grace, she was an inspiration to me and to us all,' clinton said 'our heart goes out to stephanie's son, mervyn jr' the public moment of recognition was the result of years of friendship ' i remember the first time president clinton ran for office [in 1992],' jones jr told cnn 'he came to cleveland i must have been 8 years old 'my mother got the chance to meet him they have been best of friends ever since,' he said and, perhaps, it was also a reminder that if you stand by the clintons, the clintons will stand by you tubbs jones endorsed hillary clinton for president in april 2007 but with sen barack obama's success during the primaries, many african american superdelegates came under pressure to back obama instead tubbs jones, however, held steadfast even as others in her position switched their allegiance 'i'm going to be with her until she says, 'stephanie, i'm no longer in this fight you're free to do something else,'' tubbs jones told cnn's wolf blitzer in march 'in politics, all you have is your word,' she added she passed that same sense of commitment on to her son 'if you give somebody your word, you're going to go ahead and do it,' jones jr said the day after hillary clinton's address to the democratic national convention 'otherwise, it's not worth anything' 'the same goes in politics,' he added 'if you don't have your word, you don't really have anything to stand on in politics so, that's one thing i did learn [from my mother] at a very early age' when sen clinton asked jones jr to sit with her husband during what was perhaps her most important speech to date, he agreed 'she always said that if you don't stick by somebody in the bad times, you never know how good the good times are going to be,' jones jr said, explaining his mother's view of loyalty tubbs jones, 58, died suddenly a week ago of a brain aneurysm she was in her fifth term in the house of representatives and was the first african american woman to represent ohio in the house what would tubbs jones have thought of sen clinton's call tuesday for democrats to unify behind obama? 'she would've been standing up, hooting and hollering saying, 'wow that's exactly what we needed way to be a team player,'' jones jr said in what some political analysts were calling the first speech of her second campaign for president, hillary clinton did her part on stage and, in the box, her husband held on tightly to the son of an old friend and sent a message of his own that may resonate as an important moment in the long term resurrection of the clinton brand in american politics | bill clinton's stephanie tubbs jones' tubbs jones 58 a week ago years | bill clinton's silent embrace of rep stephanie tubbs jones' son resonated loudly . tubbs jones, 58, died suddenly a week ago of a brain aneurysm . the public moment of recognition was the result of years of friendship |
(cnn) radical islamist fighters seized control of the seat of somalia's un backed transitional government monday, raiding the parliament building and demanding that several lawmakers publicly surrender, according to a journalist who witnessed the spectacle members of the somali transitional federal parliament are meeting in the neighboring country of djibouti al shabab fighters took over the parliament building and the presidential palace in baidoa, in the southwestern part of the country, a day after the ethiopian troops who had backed up the transitional government left the country the insurgents captured five members of parliament and paraded them through the city streets, with hundreds of residents looking on, the reporter said the five were released after publicly surrendering the situation left somali lawmakers stranded in the neighboring country of djibouti, where they often convene and where talks on forming a new government are under way 'we have nowhere to return to,' parliament speaker aden mohamed nur told fellow lawmakers there somalia's un backed transitional government took office after ethiopian troops invaded the country at its request in december 2006 the ethiopian invasion ousted the islamic courts union, an islamist movement that had claimed control of the capital mogadishu earlier that year ethiopia's invasion had the blessing of the united states, which accused the islamic courts union of harboring fugitives from al qaeda but various islamist groups including the hard line al shabab, which the united states has designated a terror organization rejected the presence of ethiopian forces and mounted an insurgent campaign against the ethiopians and the transitional government ethiopia announced on sunday that all its forces have left somalia last week, as ethiopian troops began pulling out of the somali capital, forces from different islamist groups including al shabab took control of bases the ethiopians abandoned around mogadishu the transitional government maintained very little control outside of baidoa, even with the support of the ethiopian forces it has also been wracked by an internal power struggle between prime minister nur hassan hussein and president abdullahi yusuf ahmed, who resigned in december in washington, the state department said us officials are working to independently confirm the reports from baidoa but state department spokesman gordon duguid said members of one of the major islamic factions, which signed a peace agreement in october in djibouti, are already joining the transitional government duguid said the alliance for the re liberation of somalia, another offshoot of the icu, will choose up to 200 new members of the transitional parliament another 75 members will be drawn from other opposition groups, and the expanded parliament is expected to elect a new president soon 'we remain deeply concerned about the ongoing violence in southern somalia, which continues to claim innocent lives,' duguid said 'lasting peace and stability in somalia can only be established through the reconciliation process underway through the djibouti agreement and rejection of extremism' with monday's takeover of baidoa, the transitional government only has control of the presidential palace in the somali capital of mogadishu and the road to the airport in the capital city, which it holds with the help of african union forces cnn's ben brumfield and journalists mohamed amiin adow and omar faruk osman contributed to this report | islamist baidoa somalia town djibouti | islamist fighters seize control of baidoa, somalia . baidoa is headquarters of somalia's un backed government . town's seizure leaves country's lawmakers stranded in nation of djibouti |
new york (cnn) pfizer is near a deal to buy rival drugmaker wyeth for $68 billion, according to news reports late sunday citing people familiar with the deal pfizer's world headquarters is in new york a deal was imminent and likely to be announced monday, the wall street journal and the new york times reported 'it is our policy not to comment on rumor or speculation,' said michael lampe, a wyeth representative pfizer was not immediately available for comment pfizer, the world's leading drugmaker in terms of sales, has been in talks to buy wyeth pfizer's stock slipped 1 percent on the news friday, while wyeth gained about 8 percent on january 13 pfizer said it was cutting up to 8 percent of its r&d staff, about 800 jobs spokesman raymond kerins said that was to 'raise productivity' but analysts say pfizer is clearly trying to beef up its drug pipeline through an acquisition, adding that the company seems to have given up on its own r&d staff coming up with a blockbuster to replace lipitor this cholesterol cutting drug peaked in 2006 with nearly $13 billion in annual sales but will lose its patent protection in 2011, when generic versions will become available les funtleyder, pharma analyst for miller tabak, said pfizer is 'not feeling that they're getting the efficiency out of their r&d unit' he said pfizer would probably rather do a deal with wyeth over other competitors, because there is less overlap in the companies' pipelines funtleyder said pfizer already has a diabetes franchise, which would overlap with eli lilly & co and bristol myers squibb, both of which also focus on diabetes treatments pfizer probably has its eyes on wyeth's alzheimer's drug pipeline, he said but he cautions that a merger won't be a success unless wyeth's pipeline is successful, which remains to be seen, he said 'if wyeth comes out with an alzheimer's drug that works, then the deal works,' he said pfizer is probably also focused on wyeth's blockbuster children's vaccine prevnar, as well as its experimental biotech drugs, said michael krensavage of krensavage asset management sales of prevnar, which combats meningitis and blood infections, jumped 12 percent in the first nine months of 2008 compared with the same period the prior year, to $21 billion if a deal does go through, funtleyder warns, wyeth staffers should brace for layoffs 'i can say with pretty good confidence that this is going to lead to some head count reduction,' he said | wyeth pfizer up to 8 percent | 'it is our policy not to comment on rumor or speculation,' wyeth rep says . pfizer was not immediately available for comment . pfizer said this month it was cutting up to 8 percent, or 800 jobs, of its r&d staff |
(cnn) longtime character actor pat hingle, a veteran of early television dramas, westerns and four 'batman' films, has died at age 84, his family announced sunday pat hingle was a familiar face to moviegoers and tv watchers for his many roles hingle died saturday evening at his home in carolina beach, north carolina, after a two year battle with the blood disorder myelodysplasia, his cousin, lynn heritage, told cnn 'he was awake one moment, and in the next breath, he was gone,' heritage said hingle began his acting career in the 1950s, appearing in numerous television theater shows his first movie role was an uncredited appearance in 1954's 'on the waterfront,' which won eight academy awards; he played the by the book judge opposite clint eastwood's vengeful marshal in 1968's 'hang 'em high,' and appeared as sally field's father in 1979's 'norma rae' in 1989, he appeared as gotham city's commissioner gordon in tim burton's 'batman,' carrying on the role through three sequels his last film role was in 'talladega nights: the ballad of ricky bobby,' released in 2006 he also guest starred in countless tv series, including a memorable turn as a character named col daniel webster tucker in a 1980 'm*a*s*h' episode in the episode, called 'april fools,' hingle's tucker antagonized the unit's surgeons with surprising consequences hingle's other tv series included 'hawaii five o,' 'the streets of san francisco,' 'hart to hart,' 'st elsewhere,' 'magnum, pi' and 'cheers' hingle is survived by his wife of nearly 30 years, julia, and their five children | pat hingle gordon '90s batman st elsewhere cheers | pat hingle appeared in many tv series, movies . hingle played commissioner gordon in '90s 'batman' films . hingle also had roles in 'm*a*s*h,' 'st elsewhere,' 'cheers' |
colombo, sri lanka (cnn) sri lankan soldiers have seized a key rebel stronghold after launching a surprise attack early sunday morning, the head of sri lanka's army announced sri lankan army chief sarath fonseka says a key tamil town has been taken in a national tv broadcast sunday troops crossed a lagoon and entered the town of mullaittivu before encountering heavy resistance from tamil fighters, according to the government run news agency 'our troops fought their way through a 40 km (25 mile) thick jungle track,' lt gen sarath fonseka said in a televised address on sunday 'this is the long awaited victory and i am happy to say that our heroic forces today captured the mullaittivu town after 12 years,' the sri lanka army chief said there is no confirmation from the rebels that the strategic garrison has been overtaken the liberation tigers of tamil eelam (ltte) commonly known as the tamil tigers have fought for an independent homeland for the country's ethnic tamil minority since 1983 the civil war has left more than 70,000 people dead the rebels gained control over mullaittivu in 1996 and established a military garrison there, according to the government in recent days, the military has made significant progress in its campaign to recapture rebel strongholds earlier this month, troops regained control of the northern town of elephant pass, the point at which mainland sri lanka links to the northern jaffna peninsula it had been in rebel hands for more than nine years the re capture enabled the government to use a highway linking the mainland to the peninsula to move troops and supplies previously, it was done by air and sea 'the area that the ltte has dominated has shrank phenomenally,' sri lankan high commissioner to india, cr jayasinghe, told cnn 'they lost about 90 percent of what they had' despite major government gains, critics point to ongoing civilian casualties resultant from the conflict 'this is an important strategic success for the army, but literally tens of thousands of people, children, are in the line of fire,' united nations spokesman james elder said in a phone conversation sunday 'some sri lankan un staff are trapped there,' he added 'convoys are going to the area, delivering emergency supplies, but these are not sufficient for the number of people in need' sri lankan authorities are barring journalists and humanitarian aid workers from areas where heavy fighting is taking place amnesty international spokesman shuransu mishra estimated that 'over a quarter of a million of the population, mostly tamils, are trapped between the two sides' the organization says greater access and protection for aid workers and journalists are needed as news agencies struggle to report an accurate picture of the conflict 'the sri lankan authorities are doing little to ensure the safety of the country's media, or to prosecute those responsible for murdering or attacking them,' amnesty international spokeswoman yolanda foster said in a written statement on friday 'they (sri lankan authorities) are also directly responsible for subjecting journalists to harassment and interrogation,' she said at least 14 journalists have been killed since the start of 2006, according to the statement others have been driven from the country by death threats, or in fear of detention and torture by government authorities, it said | mullaittivu elephant pass tamils | rebels gained control over mullaittivu in 1996, established a military garrison there . military making significant progress to recapture rebel strongholds . earlier this month troops regained control of key northern town of elephant pass . tamils want independent homeland, war since 1983 has left more than 65,000 dead |
(cnn) when john lennon remarked in 1966 that the beatles were then 'more popular than jesus' his comments prompted outrage in the united states but this weekend the vatican's newspaper paid tribute to the band on the 40th anniversary of the release of the 'white album' in an article interpreted by some as a papal pardon for lennon john lennon appears with wife yoko ono in 1968, two years after he made his 'more popular than jesus' comments cnn's alessio vinci spoke to steve turner, author 'the gospel according to the beatles,' about the controversy that helped to end the beatles' touring career q: was lennon surprised by the storm his comment generated? a: i think john lennon was surprised because it had been said in a casual way to a journalist who was a personal friend of his and he had no idea it would cause that sort of controversy when it did happen he was actually quite frightened because they were about to go off on tour and there were these threats to their lives and a clairvoyant made some predictions that their plane would crash it was really quite frightening and they wanted to cancel the tour but they knew they couldn't they were under obligation to the tour promoters and when he made his apology in chicago, (the band's) press officer told me that john was actually in tears before he went in to make the apology q: was his apology sincere? watch as vatican pardons lennon » a: his apology was very carefully worded he never said 'i didn't mean that;' he kind of said, 'if it was taken that way, that's not what i meant,' but he never actually retracted it the reason it happened that way, in america particularly, is that people thought the beatles were getting too big, too proud and it was a way of putting them down and i think people grabbed that opportunity q: did they care at all what the vatican newspaper had to say at the time? a: i don't know that the beatles had any particular concern about what the vatican said i know the vatican did say something at the time but by that time, everybody was pitching in with their opinion, and it just kind of gathered pace q: if he were alive, what would he say about his 'rehabilitation?' a: it's very hard to say what john lennon would say now if he knew that the pope had forgiven him or the catholic church had forgiven him because on the one hand he wrote to an american evangelist called oral roberts and said he had been very sorry but in a book he said he was very glad that it had happened because it effectively ended the beatles because that tour was so bad that it became the last tour the beatles ever did so he thought, 'thank you jesus for causing this to happen because you gave me a solo career' q: how spiritual were the beatles? a: the beatles started out as atheists and agnostics and i think as everybody knows they became more interested in spiritual things they went out to india in 1968 and i think in a way the beatles became a spiritual force themselves and i think that john actually saw that he saw christianity and rock 'n' roll as competitors only three years later, after 1966, you had the woodstock festival and you get rock music almost performing a religious function so i think in a way he was aware of what was happening the beatles were almost becoming a religion and exerting a spiritual force over people | john lennon lennon vatican 40th white album | author: john lennon never meant 'more popular than jesus' comment to offend . lennon never actually retracted the controversial remark . vatican newspaper paid tribute to the beatles on 40th anniversary of 'white album'. beatles author says band were a 'spiritual force' themselves |
(cnn) a man walks into a thrift store a new zealand man finds confidential us military files on a used mp3 player he bought at a thrift store for $9 it sounds like the opening line to a bad joke and this case was a bad joke for the pentagon chris ogle of new zealand was in oklahoma about a year ago when he bought a used mp3 player from a thrift store for $9 a few weeks ago, he plugged it into his computer to download a song, and he instead discovered confidential us military files 'the more i look at it, the more i see, and the less i think i should be,' ogle said with a nervous laugh in an interview with tvnz the files included the home addresses, social security numbers and cell phone numbers of us soldiers the player also included what appeared to be mission briefings and lists of equipment deployed to hot spots in afghanistan and iraq most of the information appears to date to 2005 the new zealand journalist who first reported the story was able to contact at least one of the soldiers by dialing a phone number found in the files he hung up once she explained why she was calling watch how man discovered secret military files » pentagon officials told cnn that they are aware of the mp3 player, but can't talk about it until investigators confirm that the information came from the us department of defense 'the government isn't doing a good job of protecting the information that it collects,' said marc rotenberg of the electronic privacy information center in washington despite government efforts to protect sensitive information, this is a growing problem, privacy experts say two years ago, the department of veterans affairs lost track of a laptop with the personal information of millions of soldiers and computer hard drives with classified military information have been found for sale at street markets in afghanistan 'when you can identify american personnel, when you have their names, their home address, their cell phone numbers, you put people in a dangerous position,' rotenberg said in this case, the personal information for several hundred soldiers landed in friendly hands ogle told cnn the mp3 player is being kept in a safe place and he will happily turn it over to us military officials if they ask for it | us 9 a year ago oklahoma owner | new zealander finds confidential us military files on a used mp3 player . man bought player for $9 a year ago at an oklahoma thrift store . owner says he'll happily hand over the player to the us military if he is asked |
mexico city, mexico (cnn) a suspect in police custody calls himself a 'stewmaker' for a mexican drug lord, saying he disposed of about 300 bodies by dissolving them in acid santiago meza lopez has asked for forgiveness from the families of those he says he targeted santiago meza lopez was arrested thursday in ensenada, baja california, but it took police 24 hours to identify him he says he works for drug lord teodoro garcia simental, also known as 'el teo,' a powerful drug trafficker meza, who is shown handcuffed and flanked by guards in video released by the government, calls himself 'teo's stewmaker' and says he was paid $600 a week for his macabre duties the victims, he said, were men who owed garcia something or had betrayed him a native of guamuchil, sinaloa, meza was arrested along with three other people, including a minor female who said she was contracted for a social event other people sought by police were in the area at the time but were able to escape, officials said now, meza is asking for forgiveness 'to the families, please forgive me,' he said in the video mexican police have not specifically said whether they believe that all elements of meza's story are credible he has told police where he buried some of the bodies now authorities, along with citizens groups and the families of the disappeared, are searching for them they hope meza could have information about the location of their friends and relatives authorities say garcia formed part of the arellano felix cartel but is currently said by intelligence sources to be operating with the sinaloa cartel officials say seven brothers and four sisters of the arellano felix family inherited the tijuana, mexico based drug cartel from miguel angel felix gallardo in 1989, after his arrest for drug trafficking today, the notorious cartel is split into two factions that have engaged in brutal fighting that has accounted for nearly all the violence in tijuana, according to the us drug enforcement administration more than 400 people were killed last year in drug related violence eduardo arellano felix, who police said was the last remaining brother to have an active role in the cartel, was arrested in october cnn's carolina sanchez and cnn en espanol's krupskaia alis in mexico city contributed to this report | mexican 600 | suspect says he worked for powerful mexican drug trafficker . he says he got $600 a week to deal with those who owed drug lord . police have not said whether they find man's story credible . families hope he could have information on their missing loved ones |
london, england (cnn) a blossoming of cinematic creativity has swept argentina in recent years, bringing about a second golden age of film pablo trapero's latest movie 'lion's den' stars martina gusman (left) and was in competition at cannes in argentina, the renaissance marks a return to form for a cinematic tradition that was prolific and highly successful until creativity was stifled by a succession of military regimes that began with the ascendancy of juan peron in the 1940s a revival occurred after the country returned to democracy in 1983 as filmmakers focused on life under the military dictatorship luiz puenzo's 'the official story' (1985) won an oscar for best foreign language film but an economic malaise ensued, turning off the taps to film financing an economic boom in the 1990s quickly turned unstable, resulting in a crippling financial crisis earlier this decade that plunged argentina into its worst recession ever out of the chaos, a new group of argentina filmmakers emerged the leaders of the so called 'new argentine cinema' have become critical contributors to the wider latin american film movement that has captivated international critics and audiences alike what's fueling new argentine cinema? argentina's economy has recovered remarkably since its collapse in 2001, and the national film institute, instituto nacional de cine y artes audiovisuales (incaa), has been keen to foster the industry's development the combination of cheap production costs and a flourishing artistic community has made buenos aires a hub of creativity already one of the most cosmopolitan cities in south america, the city is attracting everyone from local bohemians to big hollywood names francis ford coppola, the most recent notable to tap into the vibrant scene, opened an argentine unit of his zoetrope production company last year to film his buenos aires set family drama 'tetro,' which is anticipated to be released next year what movies are creating buzz? pablo trapero's 'lion's den' about a woman who gives birth and raises her child in prison was nominated for the palme d'or at cannes this year trapero is best known for his depiction of ordinary people he gained acclaim with 'crane world' (1999) a gritty look at argentina's working class and is widely considered one of argentina's leading directors also in competition at cannes this year was 'the headless woman' from the ever subtle lucrecia martel the film focuses on a woman's guilt after a hit and run accident and like martel's other works, offers up a dose of social criticism martel burst on the scene with her first movie 'the swamp' (2001), winner of the alfred bauer award at the berlin international film festival lucia puenzo stirred debate with 'xxy' (2007), an exploration of adolescent sexuality centered around the life of a teenage hermaphrodite the daughter of award winning luiz puenzo, lucia took home the critic weeks grand prize at cannes last year are you excited about argentine cinema? what is your favorite movie or director? enough with the dramas who makes argentines laugh? daniel burman has cited woody allen as one of the auteurs he most admires, and the influence is quite clear in his work, in which his identity as a jew in argentina figures prominently 'waiting for the messiah' (2000), 'lost embrace' (2004) and 'family law' (2006) make up the trilogy of films about fatherhood for which he has gained praise the young director's latest film 'empty nest' (2008) takes a touching and comedic look at married life what's this i hear about a hollywood in argentina? you're referring to palermo hollywood no, it's not a las vegas casino but rather a neighborhood in buenos aires where many film and tv studios are based a bohemian spirit distinguishes the neighborhood from its more polished cousin to the south, palermo soho once occupied by desolate factories and warehouses, the area is now humming with activity an abundance of hip lounges, cafes and trendy restaurants keep the buzz going all day and through the night how does argentina figure in the latin american film scene? as the latin american film renaissance has gained stride, filmmakers across the region have become more interested in collaborating on projects the end of military dictatorships which ruled latin america in the 1970s and 1980s 'created really interesting national cinemas that blossomed a little bit everywhere but also created a correlation between directors from different countries,' brazilian director walter salles told cnn earlier this year salles works frequently with argentine directors he co produced trapero's 'lion's den' and julia solomonoff's 'sisters' (2005) meanwhile, eduardo constantini jr, of the philanthropic constantini family in argentina, recently launched a fund with the weinstein co aimed at backing latin american movies he is also behind the auteurs, an 'online movie theater' where web users can watch and discuss film is this boom going to run out of steam? the renaissance in argentina has been building for some time, but it's only just hitting its stride now earlier films were mainly art house successes but now with the spotlight shining on latin america cinema, argentine films may start to connect more with international audiences the country continues to attract productions, and there is a vast pool of talent that is being groomed to lead the next generation of auteurs more than 12,000 undergraduates are currently studying film directing, scriptwriting and technical production, according to the incaa five other must see argentine films 1 'the night of the pencils' (hector olivera, 1986) 2 'nine queens' (fabian bielinsky, 2000) 3 'son of the bride' (juan jose campanella, 2001) 4 'the dog' (carlos sorin, 2004) 5 'the holy girl' (lucrecia martel, 2004) | middlebuster featherhead skiagrams | no related information |
(cnn) ingrid betancourt has been reunited with her children for the first time in six years since her abduction by farc rebels in colombia ingrid betancourt, center, with her daughter melanie and son lorenzo betancourt, 46, who was rescued wednesday in a daring operation by the colombian army, met with her daughter, melanie delloye, and son, lorenzo delloye betancourt, on the steps of a plane that had just arrived from france at a colombian airport the three tearfully clung together, hugging and kissing each other fervently before disappearing inside the plane 'they look so different, but they look so much the same at the same time; they are so beautiful,' betancourt told reporters 'the last time i saw my children, lorenzo was very small i could lift him up, he looked like my nephew who is right here,' betancourt said later, as she stood between her children, both now taller than she there are 'many dreams i want to share with them i have so many things that i want to say to them,' she added her children, now adults, were accompanied on the plane by french foreign minister bernard kouchner betancourt, a dual french national who grew up in paris, is a cause celebre across europe, where scores of cities had adopted her since her abduction in february 2002 she will travel to paris thursday night, said colombian defense minister juan manuel santos her release dominated the pages and broadcasts of french newspapers, web sites and television stations french president nicolas sarkozy had made her rescue a priority and in a televised address after her release expressed his happiness and thanks to the colombian government, while urging farc members to 'stop this absurd combat, this fight' 'there were a lot of deceptions, but they always believed and they always had confidence,' sarkozy said 'there is always a small glimmer of hope and today the joy is huge all of france is happy to welcome back ingrid betancourt' watch sarkozy thank the colombian government » dominique paille, a leading political figure in france, told the newspaper le monde her release was 'extraordinary news' and a 'grand day' for france, humanitarian works, and the government segolene royal, sarkozy's opponent in last year's presidential election, said it was a joyous moment, particularly for betancourt's children 'they have never lost hope they have always believed the liberation of their mother was possible,' she told le monde watch betancourt talk about her release » the french newspaper liberation hailed betancourt as a 'national symbol,' saying her long imprisonment had become a tragic example of the effects of the war between farc and the colombian government le figaro praised the 'coup' of the colombian army's bluff in freeing betancourt and the 14 other hostages, saying it was also a personal victory for sarkozy read more about the rescue operation french justice minister rachida dati told the newspaper the result was without precedent former french president jacques chirac told le figaro it was a 'true relief' for all of betancourt's family and those close to her | ingrid betancourt french nicolas sarkozy sarkozy farc betancourt france colombia | new: ingrid betancourt reunited with her children for the first time in six years . french president nicolas sarkozy leads celebrations with tv address . sarkozy calls on farc to lay down their weapons and end 'absurd combat'. betancourt to visit france after meeting with children in colombia |
madrid, spain (cnn) one of osama bin laden's sons has left spain after he was denied asylum in the country, an interior ministry spokeswoman told cnn saturday omar bin laden pictured earlier this year during a television interview in rome, italy omar bin laden left madrid saturday afternoon en route to cairo, egypt, she said the ministry did not divulge why his request was denied spain's decision came after bin laden appealed the country's initial decision wednesday to deny him asylum the man, who is married to a british citizen, previously was denied asylum in britain he holds a saudi passport bin laden, who is in his late 20s, stepped off a plane from cairo at madrid's barajas international airport during a stopover late monday and informed authorities that he planned to request asylum, the spokeswoman said he was taken to a secure area of the airport for asylum seekers while his request was processed he prepared his formal asylum request tuesday at the airport with the help of a translator, the spokeswoman said it was not known on what grounds bin laden based his request he has publicly called on his father who is the leader of al qaeda and the world's most wanted man to abandon terrorism last year, 7,664 people requested asylum in spain the government granted that status to only 570, the spokeswoman said | osama bin laden's spain omar bin laden british uk | osama bin laden's son leaves spain after he was denied asylum . omar bin laden, who is married to british citizen, was denied asylum in uk . he has publicly called on his father to abandon terrorism |
(cnn) iran is more than a year away from developing a nuclear weapon, but that does not mean the united states will wait for it to become a reality, president barack obama said in an interview that aired thursday on an israeli television station 'i have been crystal clear about my position on iran possessing a nuclear weapon that is a red line for us it is not only something that would be dangerous for israel it would be dangerous for the world,' obama told cnn affiliate israeli channel 2 tv before a scheduled visit next week to the country 'i've also said there is a window not an infinite period time, but a window of time where we can resolve this diplomatically' israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has repeatedly called on obama to establish a clear line that iran cannot cross with its nuclear program, if it wants to avoid war obama has resisted such a move, and netanyahu has shown growing impatience with what he has previously called a lack of clarity by the obama administration on articulating red lines over iran's nuclear ambitions us intelligence officials have said they do not believe iran has decided to develop a nuclear weapon, even as evidence continues to mount that the country is improving its ability to do so no 'chest beating' on iran, but obama issues challenge iran denies that it aims to build a nuclear bomb, saying that its nuclear program is for energy and medical use 'right now, we think that it would take over a year or so for iran to actually develop a nuclear weapon,' obama told channel 2 the interview was conducted wednesday in washington, the channel said 'but obviously, we don't want to cut it too close what we are going to do is to continue to engage internationally with iran' obama also said he believes that the international economic sanctions, some of the 'strongest' ever imposed against tehran, are having an effect on the country 'they are not yet at the point, i think, where they've made a fundamental decision to get right with the international community,' the president said 'but i do think they are recognizing that there is a severe cost for them to continue down the path they are on and that there's another door open' obama said his message to netanyahu during his visit to israel would be much the same as it has previously been 'if we can resolve it diplomatically, that's a more lasting solution if not, i continue to keep all options on the table,' he said when pushed during the interview to define those options, the president responded: 'when i say all options are on the table, all options are on the table the united states obviously has significant capabilities' he said the goal is to ensure that iran does not develop a nuclear weapon that could threaten israel or trigger a possible arms race in the region official: cyberattacks top us threats united states israel relationship obama's three day visit to israel next week is widely viewed as an opportunity for the president to relay the united states' commitment to israel and its security it is his first trip to israel since being elected president he has visited the country three times, the last as a us senator the relationship between netanyahu and obama has been reportedly tense in large part because of their differences over major issues such as iran's nuclear development and the israeli palestinian peace process obama downplayed the tension between the two leaders but conceded that relations between his administration and netanyahu's government have not always been sunny 'there are conservative views both here in the united states and in israel that may not jibe with mine, particularly when there is an election season coming up,' he said during last year's presidential election, netanyahu and other israeli officials painted obama's challenger, mitt romney, as a stronger proponent of israel and its security israel's new government excludes ultra religious israeli palestinian peace obama said he plans to meet not only with netanyahu and israeli government but also with the palestinian authority's president, mahmoud abbas, and its prime minister, salam fayyad obama has repeatedly said he backs a two state solution 'it's not a matter of unilateral concessions it's a matter of both parties coming together and recognizing that their futures will be inextricably linked and that israel will be safer, more secure, more prosperous, if the issue can be resolved,' he said 'and, obviously, israel can't resolve it by itself but it can't stop trying' us commander says iran sanctions not working american spy obama also is likely to face questions during his visit about the possible release of convicted spy jonathan pollard, a us citizen sentenced to life in prison for giving american military secrets to israel pollard was a civilian intelligence analyst for the us navy when he was arrested in 1985 on charges that he provided secrets to the israelis he pleaded guilty to one count of espionage the israeli government, which has acknowledged that pollard was its spy, granted him citizenship and has been lobbying for his release but while he is considered a patriot by the israeli government, pollard has been turned down for clemency by presidents bill clinton and george w bush 'i have no plans of releasing jonathan pollard immediately,' obama said during the interview the president also did not commit to reviewing the case other than to ensure that pollard, as a us citizen, is 'accorded the same kind of review' given to all americans iran, world powers agree to expert talks on tehran's nuclear program | safecracker sharped synchronizer | no related information |
(cnn) when flight attendants needed help with a disruptive passenger, mets pitcher latroy hawkins didn't balk the lanky right hander and fellow passengers pitched in, restraining the passenger while the plane was diverted to a nearby airport hawkins, 40, tweeted about the experience, which he said interrupted his american airlines flight from dallas fort worth to santiago, chile, where the ballplayer planned to go dove hunting hawkins said a passenger became upset when a flight attendant told him he couldn't sit in an open seat in business class 'they started to wrestle and landed in my lap,' hawkins tweeted it was the wrong lap to land in apparently hawkins is 6 feet 5 inches and weighs 220 pounds hawkins and fellow passengers subdued the man, and the plane was diverted to lima, peru, where the passenger was removed american confirmed that flight 945, carrying 206 passengers, was diverted early monday because of an unruly passenger 'the plane was met by local law enforcement when it arrived' in lima, spokesman matt miller told cnn 'other passengers on the flight helped our flight attendants escort the individual off the plane' the plane was on the ground for about two hours before departing for santiago 'long day but we finally made it to our hunting lodge,' hawkins tweeted tweeted one hawkins fan: 'your new nickname should be air marshal' | committal unrepresentedness nugify | no related information |
washington (cnn) a team of engineers will delay until wednesday their plans to rappel down the sides of the washington monument, a photographer for the contractor said tuesday, citing bad weather as the cause 'they plan to start first thing in the morning,' photographer ryan pratzel told cnn as rain and possible thunderstorms approached the engineers will be looking for damage caused by the august earthquake 'the engineering team and the rappelling team, a combination of people from denali national park in alaska as well as from an engineering firm, will come out of the windows at the 500 foot level,' said bill line, spokesman for the national park service 'what they will do is do a very close visual inspection to check to see if there are any smaller cracks that were sustained during the earthquake,' line said engineers will work 'to determine whether those cracks could, in the next couple of years, grow' officials need to 'get up close' and search for possible damage, line said the concerns stem from the august 23 earthquake, which shook much of the east coast the park service said monday that the interior assessment found the monument is structurally sound 'the heaviest damage appears to be concentrated at the very top of the monument, in what is called the pyramidion, where large cracks of up to 1 1/4 inch wide developed through stone and mortar joints,' said bob vogel, superintendent of the national mall and memorial parks daylight is visible through some of the cracks, and rain water has gotten into the monument, which could cause further damage the difficult access rappelling team which includes members of the firm of wiss, janney and elstner will scale the outside of the structure to get a closer look they will install climbing ropes and safety lines on all four sides, then clip onto those lines, vogel said weather permitting, they will climb up the pyramidion and then descend the length of the monument looking for exterior damage on monday, the park service put on its web page video of the interior of the monument that was shot during the earthquake it shows park rangers and tourists rushing down the stairs as debris falls onto the observation deck the video also shows a ranger, niki williams, helping visitors and remaining calm 'she had the presence of mind, she had the composure, to make certain that she got people down to the 490 foot level and started walking down the stairs,' said line 'she showed a lot of courage, in fact, by coming back up to the 500 foot level to collect the last remaining visitors and to ensure their safety and put their safety ahead of her own in order to get everybody out safely so we're extremely proud of the work she has done' in a few weeks, after the exterior assessment is completed, the park service expects to come up with a timeline to reopen the monument to the public the washington monument, built between 1848 and 1884, is 555 feet, 5 1/8 inches tall its walls, 15 feet thick at the base and 18 inches at the top, are composed primarily of white marble blocks, according to the park service the monument 'is not going anywhere,' vogel said 'it is a testament to the original builders that the monument has withstood not just this earthquake but an even larger one in the late 1800s' cnn's sally holland and josh levs contributed to this report | wednesday the national park service | new: weather delay means the team will try again wednesday . video from the quake shows a ranger guiding people out calmly, the national park service says |
(cnn) in 2012, turkish prime minister recep tayyip erdoğan defended the highly divisive renovation of taksim square in central istanbul by invoking history referring to the plan to build a replica of a monumental 19th century ottoman army barracks that once stood there, he said: 'we are working to bring back history that has been destroyed we will unite taksim with its history' as it turned out, erdoğan's attempt to unite taksim with its history has revealed very deep fissures in turkish culture starting at the end of may, more and more opponents of the renovations began gathering in the square protests evolved into a general condemnation of the government, becoming more chaotic, with police attacking protesters with water cannons and tear gas thousands have been injured and at least two protesters and one police officer have died the demonstrations have spread to other cities although erdoğan has claimed to be open to 'democratic demands,' he has denied the legitimacy of all the public unrest a day after the prime minister proposed talks with protesters, bulldozers and riot police swept through the square and blanketed the area with tear gas chaos and standoffs between police and protesters continue turkey looks for 'legitamite protestors' debating the causes of the conflict, some commentators focus on the role of islam in turkey; others emphasize disagreements about the nature of turkish democracy, the lack of civil liberties, or the nascent environmentalist movement, which was stirred by plans to take down trees in the square's gezi park all these played a role in igniting unrest, but the issues surrounding the reconstruction of the ottoman taksim military barracks in particular point to deep unresolved historical tensions within the republic of turkey the protesters and the government are engaging not only in a battle for their park and perhaps their country's future, but also for control over the past when mustafa kemal atatürk founded the republic of turkey in 1923, after years of war, he was embraced by a population eager to return to the days of the great caliphs but atatürk chose, instead, to modernize, westernize, and secularize the country he disbanded the caliphate, secularized the education system, outlawed sufi islam, enforced gender equality, westernized the turkish alphabet, and famously banned the fez but these radical and sometimes ruthless steps, especially those that ran counter to perceived islamic mores, engendered deep resentment and resistance opinion: from victim to villain, erdogan's unfinished transformation in the last decade, erdoğan and his justice and development party, known as akp, have exploited that resistance as an element in their rise to power under akp rule, the ottoman past has re emerged in a culturally powerful way the movie 'fetih 1453,' a highly dramatized account of the ottoman conquest of constantinople in 1453, had the biggest budget in the history of turkish cinema, an investment handsomely rewarded by its box office returns turkish television is full of ottoman era dramas and soap operas, including the wildly successful 'magnificent century,' set in the era of the famous emperor suleiman the magnificent more and more aspects of elite turkish culture embrace ottoman architecture, fashion and even food but according to some opponents of the akp, the cultural embrace of ottoman history promotes a political agenda of regional domination the decision to rebuild a symbol of ottoman militarism, the taksim military barracks, like the decision to name the new bosphorus bridge after sultan selim i, conqueror of the arab world, feeds this speculation in popular turkish culture, the taksim barracks are associated with the killing of christian army officers in 1909, while the alevis a large minority group in turkey remember selim i as the murderer of their people thus, both bridge and barracks pit one view of history against another but the ottomans were not merely expansionary conquerors, nor were they generally devoted to islamic purity at their best, the sultans ruled over a surprisingly pluralistic society that enabled people of diverse religions and ethnicities to flourish and live in relative autonomy both non turkish muslims and non muslims rose to great heights of political power jews fled from christian persecutions into ottoman territory in the wake of the riots, elements of this ottoman legacy have begun to emerge as well devrim evin, who played sultan mehmet ii in 'fetih 1453,' declined to join istanbul's formal celebration of the 560th anniversary of the conquest of constantinople instead, joining actors from 'magnificent century,' he went to gezi park to support the protests thus, the protesters were treated to actors playing mehmet the conqueror and suleyman the magnificent marching and tweeting alongside them evin, like erdoğan, invoked ottoman history he said, just before the violence began, that mehmet preserved the orthodox basilica hagia sophia when he took the city 'such were our ancestors,' he said 'they preserved things, did not destroy or tear down' as with any turbulent situation, it's hard to predict what will happen in gezi park or within the broader cycles of social unrest emerging in turkey erdoğan looks unlikely to back down, at least not without a huge loss of face because the akp has enjoyed broad popular support for its agenda, it will require internal pressure from within the movement to push erdoğan toward a consensus settlement but even if issues involving taksim square are eventually resolved without greater riots and brutality, the question of the meaning and relevance of the ottoman past remains powerful in 'fetih 1453,' mehmet proclaims, 'making history is no job for cowards' the events unfolding in taksim remind us that remembering history can be just as dangerous as making it the opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of david perry | david perry ottoman taksim square atatürk turkey islamic perry akp | david perry: plan to reconstruct ottoman era barracks in taksim square revealed deep divisions . when atatürk modernized turkey, he says, many resented parting with old islamic ways . perry: prime minister and his akp party exploited that resentment in their rise to power . the meaning and relevance of the ottoman past remains a powerful question, he says |
baghdad, iraq (cnn) iraq and the united states are close to reaching a deal under which us combat troops would leave by december 2010 and the rest would leave by the end of 2011, two iraqi officials said thursday us soldiers patrol a street in baghdad, iraq, last week one of the officials, deputy foreign minister mohammed al haj mahmoud, said the two governments probably will reach a final deal within days he and haider al ababdi, a shiite parliament member from prime minister nuri al maliki's dawa party, said that under the deal, us troops would be restricted to their bases by june 30 instead of patrolling iraq's streets mahmoud, the head of iraq's delegation negotiating a deal on how us troops will operate there, also said the iraqi government would be able to request that some troops stay longer two senior us officials said negotiators have made progress and are close to a deal but they also said that some issues are unresolved and that troop withdrawals would be tied to conditions on the ground watch what hurdles remain before a troop withdrawal » the us military presence is spelled out by a un mandate, which is to expire by the end of this year iraq and the united states want to replace that mandate with a status of forces agreement governing how us troops will operate in iraq the us officials said us secretary of state condoleezza rice spoke with al maliki on wednesday to try to resolve the issue of legal immunity for us contractors working in iraq the officials described the phone call as tense under a provision put into place in the early days of the us led occupation of iraq, security contractors have had immunity from iraqi law the iraqi government has criticized the blanket immunity because of incidents such as the fatal shootings of 17 people in baghdad's nusoor square on september 16 iraqi officials say blackwater worldwide contractors killed the 17 sunni politician killed also thursday, a senior member of a sunni political party that recently rejoined iraq's government was fatally shot in the northern city of mosul, the party said gunmen assassinated mahmoud younis fathi, a senior member of the iraqi islamic party in nineveh province and the director of religious schools for the sunni endowment, the party said fathi's bodyguard also was killed as the pair traveled to work mosul police confirmed the slayings near fathi's house in the western part of the city sunni insurgents have targeted sunnis who cooperate with the us backed iraqi government american and iraqi troops have been fighting al qaeda in iraq in mosul and surrounding nineveh province in northern iraq the iraqi islamic party is the largest party in the iraqi accord front bloc, which recently rejoined prime minister nuri al maliki's government after bolting last year over disagreements with the leadership the accord bloc which includes 44 lawmakers in the 275 member parliament pulled six ministers from the cabinet last summer for several reasons, including what it called the monopolization of power by shiites and kurds and what it regarded as the unjust detention of sunnis but sunnis have been more friendly toward the al maliki government because of its efforts this year in promoting prisoner amnesty, sharing power and taking on militants in shiite regions such as basra, amara and baghdad's sadr city neighborhood the leader of the iraqi islamic party is tariq al hashimi, one of iraq's two vice presidents 'the assassination of mahmoud younis fathi is a cruel crime targeting the national voices and mission of taking care of youths in mosul,' the iraqi islamic party said, adding that it 'condemns and denounces' the killing in other violence thursday in mosul, insurgents killed three police and wounded six people by rigging a cart with explosives about 8 pm thursday, a suicide bomber's car exploded after iraqi police shot at it, an interior ministry official said the explosion happened before the car reached a police station in al wahda neighborhood in southern mosul, but eight policemen were wounded, the official said in another restive area of northern iraq, salaheddin province, a roadside bombing critically wounded a police chief, authorities said gen hamed namis al jabouri, police commander in salaheddin, and seven other police officers were wounded when the bomb struck a convoy, police in tikrit said they were evacuated to a military hospital in tikrit meanwhile, the us military said coalition troops in iraq detained 25 people in raids targeting al qaeda in iraq militants the raids took place in baghdad, salman pak, mosul, bi'aj and baiji cnn's mohammed tawfeeq and arwa damon in baghdad and elise labott in washington contributed to this report | pirouetter guss woodknacker | no related information |
(cnn) was 1962 the year classic, post '50s rock was hatched? let's make that case fifty years ago, the beatles recorded their first session at london's emi (later abbey road) studios, cutting an early version of 'love me do,' and bob dylan and the beach boys released their first albums and it was exactly 50 years ago that the first incarnation of the rolling stones mick jagger, keith richards, and brian jones, along with pianist ian stewart, bassist dick taylor and drummer tony chapman played their first concert, at london's marquee club the band was still so embryonic that they called themselves the rollin' stones of course, being reminded that the stones have been around for five decades is almost unnecessary the band hasn't had a top 10 hit in over 20 years, but whether we want it to or not, it never seems to have gone away from keith richards' garrulous best selling 2010 memoir, to maroon 5's 'moves like jagger,' to jagger himself hosting 'saturday night live' this year, the culture always seems to circle around to the stones just when you'd think we'd all had enough of them part of that is intentional: to some degree, the stones have always been driven to be competitive in the pop marketplace 'absolutely,' richards told me in an interview in 1997 'it gets in the blood, man arrogant, elitist sons of bitches that we are, we still think we're getting better' but part of their eternal appeal is out of their hands, too why do we still care about the stones after a mind boggling 50 years? a few possible reasons: their songs and catalog as obvious as it is to say, it really is about the music there's a reason pop church lady susan boyle could cover 'wild horses' or that 'saturday night live' could send off kristen wiig with 'ruby tuesday' and 'she's a rainbow': the best stones songs, meaning ones written before roughly 1980, are eternal and built on impeccable melodies for all their bad boy images, jagger and richards seem, in retrospect, like one of the last of the great songwriting teams lerner and loewe, or bacharach and david, with more groupies and pharmaceuticals even work that seemed lesser at the time 1973's beautiful stupor, 'goats head soup,' for instance holds up better than you'd expect the way the stones continually paid homage to black music from covering muddy waters and solomon burke to a disco era hit like 'miss you' also gave them a broader fan base than many of their peers the mick and keith dynamic little in old or new rock comes close to the testy yin yang relationship between the band's two founding members and longtime rock 'em sock 'em duo over the years, they've publicly sniped at each other, culminating in richards' dishy depictions of jagger as a preening diva in his memoir, 'life' see never before seen photos of the stones those comments and the way much of the media used richards' words to pile on jagger themselves missed the point, though what always made the stones so magnificent was the way richards' crusty musical conservatism was balanced by jagger's pop chart driven opportunism, and vice versa they need each other, and in so doing, they've become their own endlessly watchable rock 'n' roll reality show stones as metaphor the stones embody a time when rock 'n' roll wasn't just 'outlaw' culture; it propelled the culture that's no longer the case, as a recent conversation with a teenage music fan confirmed to me an avid pop lover, she doesn't listen to any 'rock' (that is, music made by men or women who play guitars) for her, edm which used to be called techno or electronica is the new rock; its big beats, drug allusions, and the way its bombastic thump offends anyone over 40 (or anyone who prefers traditional verse chorus pop songs) make it the modern day version of rock factor in pop, hip hop, and country, all major genres these days, and you can see how rock is now one small slice of the cultural pie for many, the stones are a vivid, last gasp reminder of a time when rock and white males dominated the landscape they don't make rock stars like that anymore with a few glorious exceptions, like jack white, many of today's major rock bands are charisma challenged or nondescript onstage, they're uptight almost asexual contrast that with the sight of jagger at least year's grammy awards, working the stage in best rock preacher mode and singing solomon burke r&b classics in a green suit the performance should have been hokey, but it was shockingly spellbinding after all these years maroon 5's adam levine can't move like that, either rolling stones celebrate 50 years of raucous rock'n'roll the opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of david browne | david browne 20 years jagger richards browne | david browne: rolling stones haven't had top hit in 20 years, yet they are enduring presence . he says the band has been willing to shape shift to compete in pop marketplace . he says jagger, richards great songwriting team with tense, compelling personal dynamic . browne: in stones' era, rock propelled culture; they don't make stars like that now |
(cnn) gas prices dropped nearly 33 cents in the past two weeks, dipping below $2 for the first time since march 2005, a national survey said sunday this station in rio vista, california, had gas prices below $2 on november 19 the average price of self serve, unleaded gasoline on friday in the united states was $197, said trilby lundberg, publisher of the lundberg survey the last time the price was below $2 was on march 4, 2005, she said the all time high average was $411, set on july 11, according to lundberg, and prices have been dropping ever since 'the rate of decline has slowed somewhat, but it is still dramatic at 33 cents in two weeks,' she said diesel prices averaged $293 on friday, slumping under $3 for the first time since september 2007, she said lundberg attributed the price reductions to a drop in crude oil prices and demand, and also because of low refining margins watch thrilled customers enjoy cheaper gas » 'crude oil remains [the] main driver,' for the decline, she said, noting that crude oil futures settled on friday below $50 demand is always low in november, she said, but the weakening economy is reducing it further however, lundberg said that if crude oil prices do not fall further, 'then the end of this [gasoline] price crash is either here or near' the lundberg survey is based on responses from more than 5,000 service stations nationwide on friday, drivers in st louis, missouri, paid the least at the pump $161 while drivers in honolulu, hawaii, and anchorage, alaska, paid the most, at $281 here are average prices in other cities: • detroit, michigan $176 • houston, texas $178 • atlanta, georgia $188 • boston, massachusetts $201 • chicago, illinois $210 • washington $219 • los angeles, california $222 | symbolize rodential unavoidal | no related information |
(cnn) ethnic uyghur residents in urumqi, capital of china's far west xinjiang region, took to the streets sunday afternoon in a rare public protest that prompted a police lockdown of the city china's official xinhua news agency said protesters attacked passersby, burned public buses and blocked traffic the report did not say how many people took part in the protest or what their grievances were but a witness in urumqi told cnn that, soon after the protest started around 5 pm, 'hundreds [of protesters] grew into easily over a thousand men, women and children, all ethnic uyghurs, screaming and chanting' local police arrived quickly and tried to control the swelling crowd by erecting barriers in the street, but 'people pushed them over,' the witness said 'they were throwing rocks at passing cars and buses' as the violence escalated, hundreds of anti riot police arrived on the scene, the witness said 'they used tear gas and fire hoses to disperse the crowd i saw fire trucks, ambulances, armed personnel carriers, and what looked like tanks i heard random gunshots' late sunday, the witness said urumqi was in a lockdown, with hundreds of people's liberation army soldiers in the streets he reported seeing riot police chasing protesters into alleyways and rounding up 'many' of them the witness speculated that the protest, which took place in the predominantly uyghur populated bazaar district, may have been a reaction to racial violence in southern guangdong province the racial violence reportedly happened at a toy factory in guangdong province, where many migrants, including uyghurs, have moved in search of work a massive brawl reportedly broke out between workers of uyghur and han nationalities two uyghurs reportedly died in the violent clash xinjiang is home to many uyghurs china's constitution guarantees ethnic minorities equal rights and limited autonomy however, ethnic tensions run deep minority groups like the uyghurs complain that they are treated as second class citizens and are subjected to discrimination by the majority han nationalities 'what was clear was the uyghur protesters were not happy,' the witness in urumqi said 'they broke windows of public buses, threw bottles and rocks at the police and harassed what looked like chinese of han or hui nationalities i saw a uyghur man kick a han woman in the behind as she tried to get away from the crowds' it was not clear, from official reports or the witness' account, if there were any casualties a spokesman for the world uyghur congress, a dissident uyghur group based in munich, germany, told cnn that local uyghur people in urumqi and xinjiang had told him by telephone that they had seen bodies thrown into military vehicles dilxat raxit added that tens of thousands of demonstrators had gathered in every uyghur neighborhood in urumqi to protest peacefully against what he described as the government's ethnic cleansing in guangdong shaoguan after about 40 minutes during which the crowd shouted slogans, calling the incident in guangdong shaoguan a planned ethnic cleansing, the chinese military began to crack down by sending more than 50 military vehicles including tanks carrying troops into urumqi all uyghurs were ordered off the street, he said sources in kashgar said a 'massive number' of chinese pla forces entered that city as well, and that students were ordered to remain inside people were also arrested along roads leading to urumqi, he said 'according to the chinese law, people have the right to protest peacefully,' the world uyghur congress said in an appeal 'we call for attention to this kind of ethnic discrimination' | hepatectomized proponer misrecital | no related information |
(cnn) bayer leverkusen moved within eight points of german bundesliga leaders borussia dortmund after a 2 0 victory over hannover first half goals from arturo vidal and simon rolfes settled the outcome and saw leverkusen go five points clear of hannover who sit third but dortmund can extend the gap at the top to 11 points if they win at wolfsburg on saturday the home side nearly fell behind inside two minutes when norwegian striker mohamed abdellaoui was denied by leverkusen keeper rene adler but after that early scare leverkusen took control of the match and vidal put them in front on 21 minutes the chilean midfielder pounced on a loose ball on the edge of the penalty area after hannover failed to clear from stefan kiessling's blocked shot and his volley flew into the net german international and former chelsea midfielder michael ballack should have doubled leverkusen's advantage moments later but he headed wide of the target adler was called upon to preserve the home side's lead after a rare breakaway from hannover as lars stindi capitalized on former liverpool defender sami hyypia's mistake but his shot was right at the keeper but just before the interval rolfes made it 2 0 he collected gonzalo castro's pass and curled his effort into the net hannover piled on the pressure in the second half but couldn't cut the deficit | chacmas bespew unrequiter | no related information |
miami, florida (cnn) miami police issued a plea for information saturday after at least one person with an assault rifle opened fire on a crowd of people on a streetcorner friday night, killing two teens and wounding seven other people evidence markers dot the miami street where nine people were gunned down with an ak 47 friday night 'we need the community to come together, someone come forward and give us a tip,' miami police officer kenia alfonso told cnn 'there are a lot of people in that area someone must have seen something, someone must know who could've done this horrific crime' alfonso said two teens, ages 16 and 18, died in the attack, which broke up a game of craps in front of a grocery store about 9:50 pm friday in the city's liberty city neighborhood five of the shooting victims were still in the hospital saturday night, according to cnn affiliate wsvn others told wsvn that a masked man with an ak 47 burst onto the scene and ordered everyone to the ground 'boy came round the corner; he was like, 'get down,' and he just started shooting,' 16 year old victim andrew jackson told wsvn watch as resident describes scene as 'war zone' » six of the nine shot were current or former northwestern senior high school students, alfonso said 'it was like a war zone,' resident joan rutherford told wsvn 'i witnessed this guy laying there with his face, looked like it was completely tore off his eyes was all i could see, and he had a grip on some money and gasping and trying to lift his head up to say something' police chief john timoney said that at least one man with an ak 47 'discharged numerous rounds, then ran around the corner there were some more rounds discharged there from an ak 47 and another weapon' one of those wounded was in critical condition saturday and undergoing surgery, timoney said 'we are convinced that because of the amount of people out here last night that there is somebody that knows the individuals or individual involved, and we need them to come forward,' timoney said, according to wsvn 'these are weapons of war, and they don't belong on the streets of miami or any other street in america,' mayor manuel diaz said watch miami residents call for stricter laws » alfonso said police did not know the motive for the shooting and had no suspects cnn's patty lane contributed to this report | wsvn northwestern senior high school streetcorner | new: teen tells wsvn that masked gunman ordered victims to ground, opened fire . 'someone must know who could've done this horrific crime,' officer says . six victims are students, graduates of northwestern senior high school . crowd of people standing at streetcorner was fired upon friday night, police say |
(cnn) before he died, heath ledger had two films in production: 'the dark knight,' the latest chapter in the batman saga, and 'the imaginarium of doctor parnassus,' the latest film from director terry gilliam heath ledger's joker character, here on the 'dark knight' poster, is the focus of the film's marketing effort ledger's death has affected both of them in different ways the actor, who died tuesday of unknown causes at age 28, had finished filming 'the dark knight' late last year it's due to be released in july but marketing of the film, currently in post production, has been thrown into turmoil, the trade paper variety notes the early push for the film has focused on ledger's villainous joker character, including a poster with a shrouded joker scrawling 'why so serious?' in blood on misty glass the film's studio, warner bros, recently restructured its marketing department, variety reports, after the departure of the executive who helped create the 'dark knight' campaign (warner bros, like cnn, is a unit of time warner) the trade paper speculates that the marketing campaign will be changed abruptly the studio put out a statement tuesday saying it was 'stunned and devastated' by the news of ledger's death 'the entertainment community has lost an enormous talent heath was a brilliant actor and an exceptional person our hearts go out to his family and friends,' the statement said watch colleagues' memories of heath ledger » with the joker, ledger was taking on a role that jack nicholson had rendered indelibly in 1989's 'batman' but 'dark knight' director christopher nolan said the actor had more than measured up to nicholson 'to be perfectly honest what he's doing is indescribable he's figured it out,' nolan told the crowd at an august comic book convention in chicago interactive: the life of heath ledger » the role as arch villain the joker disturbed ledger, according to the associated press he called the character a 'psychopathic, mass murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy' although unusual, ledger's death does not mark the first time a major star has died while a film has been in production perhaps the most famous example is james dean, who died in september 1955, before post production on 'giant' had finished dean's dialogue in the film's final scene had to be re recorded, variety observes, because he had mumbled in the shot (dean and director george stevens famously clashed during filming) dean was nominated for an oscar for his performance, his second posthumous oscar nomination after 'east of eden' brandon lee died during filming of 1994's 'the crow,' prompting director alex proyas to use a stunt double and special effects oliver reed had a heart attack during the making of 2000's 'gladiator'; technology made it possible for director ridley scott to use a double as a stand in with reed's face computer generated in gilliam's film, which concerns prime gilliam material such as a magic mirror, a traveling show, the devil and a rougish character played by ledger, is more problematic the cast had just completed filming in london, which actor christopher plummer characterized as 'cold as bejesus' to entertainment weekly 'you know how damp it gets in london and at night the temperature drops horribly, and that little breeze gets up you have to wear tons of stuff,' he said plummer said that ledger had a 'terrible, lingering bug in london, and he couldn't sleep at all we all i thought he'd probably got walking pneumonia,' he told ew gilliam has had challenges before during the making of his film 'the man who killed don quixote,' the monty python troupe member coped with filming near a nato shooting range, a flash flood and a star with a herniated disc, a final indignity that prompted financiers to pull the plug but nothing approaches ledger's death indeed, part of the reason gilliam was able to obtain the film's relatively paltry $30 million financing was because of ledger's agreement to star, according to variety ledger and gilliam had become close during the making of gilliam's 'the brothers grimm' and ledger had plans to become a feature director himself, several sources have reported the actor had directed a handful of music videos, including one for ben harper, with whom he formed a record company last month, gilliam told variety, 'he's going to be a much better director than i will ever be' plummer told ew that 'parnassus' had 'an enormous amount left to do' after a short break, the cast was going to re convene in vancouver, british columbia, primarily for technical and special effects work 'god knows what's going to happen now,' plummer said e mail to a friend | heath ledger dark knight terry gilliam gilliam ledger | heath ledger was subject of 'dark knight' marketing campaign . ledger was filming new terry gilliam film when he died . gilliam said ledger was going to be a fine director |
(cnn) borussia dortmund opened up a massive 10 point lead in the german bundesliga with a 2 0 win at nuremberg on sunday, their 13th win from 15 games it gives dortmund an excellent chance of claiming their first title in nine years, particularly with defending champions bayern munich struggling in seventh spot, fully 17 points behind the pacesetters dortmund made light of a snow blizzard and a hard pitch as goals either side of halftime by germany defender mats hummels and poland striker robert lewandowski were enough for a comfortable victory it leaves them on 40 points with second placed mainz on 30 points mainz lost 2 1 to eintracht frankfurt on saturday coach jurgen klopp is trying to keep his young team grounded despite their big lead 'i have never been able to, or even had to, consider the fight for the championship, so i don't think it is relevant with so much of the season left to play,' he told afp 'it is more important we keep playing well every game is like a final for us, the next game is always the most important for me' but even bayern coach louis van gaal has all but conceded the championship 'lots might still happen but i think (dortmund) are too far ahead,' van gaal told afp after his side's disappointing 2 0 defeat at schalke 04 on saturday bayer leverkusen stay third after a 3 2 win over cologne earlier sunday to take them to 29 points goals by patrick helmes, swiss midfielder tranquillo barnetta and defender stefan reinartz sealed the win which leaves them just a point behind mainz, who lost 2 1 to eintracht frankfurt on saturday with two rounds to go before the midwinter break, leverkusen will welcome the return of germany star michael ballack from injury when the bundesliga resumes in january in spain's la liga, villarreal reclaimed third place with a 1 0 home win over champions league rivals sevilla brazilian striker nilmar scored his ninth league goal of the season after 29 minutes to leave his side seven points adrift of leaders barcelona slumping sevilla are 10 points further back after a third straight defeat | borussia dortmund nuremberg bundesliga mats hummels poland robert lewandowski each half bayern louis van gaal villarreal third spain la liga sevilla | borussia dortmund beat nuremberg 2 0 to lead bundesliga by 10 points . mats hummels and poland star robert lewandowski score the goals in each half . bayern boss louis van gaal all but concedes title to dortmund . villarreal cement third place in spain's la liga with 1 0 win over sevilla |
islamabad, pakistan (cnn) barack obama's election as president of the united states won't see a change in american relations with the taliban, a senior taliban leader in pakistan says a taliban leader says barack obama's election will bring little change 'for us, the change of america's president we don't have any good faith in him,' said muslim khan, a grizzled taliban spokesman who is one of the most wanted men in pakistan, in a rare interview with cnn 'if he does anything good, it will be for himself' with an assault rifle on his lap, khan answered 10 written questions, sharing his view on a range of topics from slavery to obama's middle name hussein he spoke in the remote swat valley of northwestern pakistan, the site of frequent and fierce clashes between pakistani troops and taliban and al qaeda militants there was no opportunity for follow up questions khan said obama's election may change conditions for black americans 'the black one knows how much the black people are discriminated against in america and europe and other countries,' he said 'for america's black people, it could be that there will be a change that era is coming' he said he doubted obama's victory would lead to changes in relations between the united states and the taliban watch the taliban spokesman on barack obama » us forces dislodged the taliban rulers of afghanistan shortly after the september 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on new york and washington america and its allies have battled the taliban and al qaeda in afghanistan ever since, with fighting spreading across the border into pakistan 'american should take its army out of the country,' khan said 'they are considered terrorists' obama has minced no words in describing how he would administer us policy toward the islamic extremists in afghanistan and pakistan when he accepted the democratic presidential nomination in august, obama pledged to 'finish the fight against al qaeda and the taliban' and the president elect included a blunt warning in remarks on the evening of his election victory: 'to those who would tear the world down,' he said, 'we will defeat you' khan noted that obama's middle name was fairly common in the muslim world, referring to him at times as 'hussein barack obama' 'if he behaves in the way of a real hussein, then he has become our brother,' he said 'if barack obama pursues the same policies as bush and behaves like bush then he cannot be hussein he can only be obama' | taliban barack obama us obama al qaeda | taliban leader: we have no faith in barack obama . taliban not expecting change in relationship with us. obama has committed himself to defeating the taliban and al qaeda |
(cnn) imagine that you wake up tomorrow morning and discover that during the night israeli planes had conducted a bombing raid on iran how would your world have changed? apart from the sensational headlines and breathless reports, the initial change might not be very significant you would probably want to know whether the united states approved or assisted in the attack on iran's nuclear sites in fact, it doesn't really matter just about everyone in the world will assume that the us was complicit, regardless of what washington says let's assume that israel notified the obama administration about the same time the planes were taking off, if only to ensure that us aircraft and missiles in the persian gulf region would not interfere with the bombers and refueling aircraft as they passed over one or more arab countries but for iran and just about everyone else, the fact that most of the israeli aircraft and bombs were made in the us would be all they needed to know on that first morning, the un security council would convene in emergency session to consider a resolution denouncing the israeli raid if the united states vetoed the resolution, that would remove any lingering doubt of us complicity perhaps more significant, however, would be european support of the resolution this would signal the beginning of the collapse of the sanctions coalition against iran that had been so laboriously assembled over the past several years both the europeans and the americans had operated on the tacit belief that crippling sanctions were an alternative to war with the outbreak of war, that assumption would no longer be valid what would iran do? everyone would be poised for a massive military response they might be surprised iran would almost certainly give the required 90 days notice of its intention to quit the nuclear non proliferation treaty and terminate inspections by the international atomic energy agency iranian officials would not necessarily announce that they intended to proceed with development of a nuclear weapon, but they would certainly make clear that as a nonnuclear state that had been attacked by another state with nuclear weapons, that was a decision that was entirely up to them all enriched uranium stocks would be removed from iaea seal, and all monitoring cameras would be removed a different twist would be introduced if iran had succeeded in shooting down one or more of the israeli planes one or more israeli pilots in iranian hands would sharply increase the risk of further escalation by either the united states or israel of more general significance, the markets would realize that some two million barrels a day of iranian oil were now removed from the world market for an indeterminate period of time, and the price of oil would jump the head of the imf has suggested that an immediate increase of 20% to 30% could be expected but that could be just the beginning it is not hard to imagine that, in the days following the attack, there would suddenly be unexplained pipeline explosions in iraq, possibly by pro iranian militias, which might remove another million barrels per day from the market the baku tbilisi ceyhan (btc) pipelineâ from the caspian sea to the mediterranean might also be attacked moreover, one might expect disruptions in oil delivery and loading in arab ports up and down the gulf, some because of sabotage but others from cyberattacks on the control systems iran would attribute these to 'the hand of god,' but the more pragmatic effect would be a very substantial portion of the world's oil suddenly removed from world supply if sustained over more than a few weeks, the scramble to replace large volumes of persian gulf and caspian oil would drive up the price of oil, and gasoline, to unprecedented heights that would constitute a huge tax on the world's economies, just at the moment when they were showing signs of recovery from the great recession extremely vulnerable economies, such as the southern european states, could be tipped into bankruptcy, but all states would face significant challenges as a surge in transportation and manufacturing costs rippled through all aspects of their industries this is iran's true weapon of mass destruction regardless of whether iran should choose to retaliate openly against us forces or israel, it would be extremely difficult for the united states to avoid entering into a third middle east war most of the top security officials in the pentagon have warned against such a war, so the internal opposition in the administration is likely to be great the combination of widespread opposition to iran, however, and the appeal of self defense would be difficult to resist, particularly in an election year most experts agree that the iranian nuclear program cannot be eliminated ultimately without an actual military presence on the ground and forcible regime change the american public, showing real signs of war weariness after two ground wars over more than a decade, is unlikely to be enthusiastic about a military confrontation with iran that is likely to be far more costly and indeterminate than either iraq or afghanistan that could prompt a public debate about the extent of us and israeli common interests the danger of such an outcome was hinted by israeli defense minister ehud barak when he suggested to the knesset that 'israel should increase its sensitivity, awareness and attentiveness to requirements based on the reality in the united states and adopt a policy that strengthens the special relationship between the two countries' the biggest threat, however, would not be the first day or even the first week after an israeli attack the greatest threat might well be the first year or more after an attack, particularly if a major economic crisis was accompanied by growing evidence that iran had proceeded underground and out of sight of the international community to produce a nuclear weapon that would make our present situation, before any attack, look wonderfully attractive by comparison the opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of gary sick | gary sick israel iran us europe un mideast | gary sick: if israel bombed iran nuclear sites, most of the world would believe us was involved . sick: europe would support a un resolution condemning it and likely end iran sanctions . iran would be justified in having nukes, he says; us would likely enter another mideast war . fragile world economies would collapse under skyrocketing oil and gas prices, he writes |
burlington, vermont (travel + leisure) on a recent afternoon along church street in burlington, vermont, young aspiring actors recited passages from shakespeare's henry v as jugglers, break dancers, and blowers of didgeridoos displayed their skills nearby, creating a visual and aural cacophony just another day in a thriving college town this one happening to be home to the university of vermont there are notable distinctions between college towns and other american cities in the student centric spots, bicycles seem to outnumber cars affordable restaurants serve up authentic cuisines from all around the world the streets are densely packed with businesses, making for a highly pedestrian friendly environment nature is usually accentuated: the shimmering lake champlain, backdropped by a sawtooth silhouette of peaks, forms the western edge of burlington madison, wisconsin, is situated on an isthmus between two lakes that draw hordes of hikers and bikers boulder, colorado, is an outdoor enthusiast's dream and don't forget the bars each of these locales offers plenty of opportunities for imbibing, many of them ideal for both people watching and soaking in the scenery it's hard to beat sunset cocktails at austin's oasis, where tiered decks jut from a 450 foot high cliff over lake travis these attractions are mainly geared toward the students, naturally, but they can be readily enjoyed by those with no homework assignments or college connections after all, few sports experiences can top the rafter shaking raucousness in chapel hill, north carolina, during a tar heels basketball game many schools benefit from world class art collections in glittering facilities designed by marquee architects; chapel hill's ackland art museum, featuring a wing by polshek partnership, tempts visitors with warhols, titians, and dalís in a way that many university less cities cannot the performing arts also abound most campuses host an array of dance, theater, and performing arts to rival a season at lincoln center not to mention rock this fall, for instance, the boulder theater, near the university of colorado, will host the psychedelic furs, aimee mann, and dinosaur jr so, as students zip up their backpacks for a return to the classroom, it's a good time for any traveler to pack up a trunk and visit one of these bustling campus locations just don't count on peace and quiet if you go to bed early oxford, mississippi (university of mississippi) on autumn saturdays when vaught hemingway stadium is packed with 65,000 whooping fans, it may be tough to associate oxford with anything but football but in a place named for a scholarly english city and that is home to william faulkner's columned retreat, rowan oak, paperbacks take precedence over quarterbacks, especially at square books its tens of thousands of volumes include autographed copies of works by southern authors like eudora welty when not reading, residents pedal the city's fast growing network of bike trails 'i was surprised to learn mississippi could be so progressive,' says kevin stuart of oxford bicycle company local taste: act the southern gentleman on the upstairs porch at city grocery by ordering a 'just north of south' bourbon mojito olympia, washington (evergreen state college) state capitals and colleges fit together seamlessly in a number of locales (see austin and madison) olympia nicely mixes buttoned up government workers and dreadlocked students it's hard to miss the capitol campus you can see the legislative building's sandstone dome from almost anywhere in the city take a guided tour, and then stroll through the lovely conservatory and gardens every earth day, the procession of the species parade, with participants colorfully dressed as birds, turtles, killer whales and more, weaves through downtown near where harlequin productions draws theatergoers to its unconventional shows at the state theater local taste: though vegetarians are plentiful in olympia, shellfish fans are, too; find them slurping fanny bays, from the british columbia bay of the same name, at the oyster house charlottesville, virginia (university of virginia) the music scene was fertile here bdmb that is, before the dave matthews band, which formed in charlottesville in the early 1990s these days, alternative rock, country, and reggae acts as well as, of course, jam bands get crowds moving at the charlottesville pavilion, the paramount theater, and even scott stadium, where u2 arrives in october but the best performances may lurk along the brick sidewalks of the postcard perfect downtown, in tiny venues like miller's, a former drugstore that's now known for jazz and blues when the music's over, be sure to get a good look at the thomas jefferson planned campus and explore a blue ridge mountain trail local taste: matthews, who was born in johannesburg, might enjoy the 'boerie burgers' at the shebeen, a south african restaurant austin, texas (university of texas) texas's retro stylish capital prides itself on turning out offbeat characters willie nelson and matthew mcconaughey, for starters but for something truly batty, check out the ann richards/congress avenue bridge, where 15 million mexican free tailed bats hang out quite literally at dusk, from march through october, they flap off to chase insects viewed from a lawn below next to lady bird lake, the swarm will blot out the sunset austin, the so called live music capital of the world, turns into a music fanatic's dream each march during the sxsw festival local taste: go for some texas barbecue at the low key artz rib house, where for $1699 you can get messy with a full rack of baby back ribs sip alfresco drinks and take in the sunset at oasis, where tiered decks jut out from a 450 foot high cliff over lake travis burlington, vermont (university of vermont) college towns don't get more scenic than burlington, where a 75 mile bike path on old railroad beds provides wind riffled views of lake champlain it's understandable, then, that outdoor activities figure prominently here rent a kayak from umiak to explore bays fringed with pines, or hike burrow's trail to the summit of nearby camel's hump, whose bald faced 4,083 foot summit offers living map panoramas local taste: dine on local delicacies at the green room, which offers locavore favorites like vermont lamb braised with green peppercorns boulder, colorado (university of colorado) in a town that always pops up on 'healthiest cities in america' lists, bike trails are abundant and outdoor options are endless the wild west begins along baseline road in boulder, in the foothills of the rockies known as the flatirons, for their sharply angled faces rent climbing shoes from neptune mountaineering, whose in store museum features dozens of ice axes and an early pair of rossignol skis local taste: the chautauqua national historic landmark, built in the 1800s as a methodist retreat, now serves up salmon with salsa verde on a wraparound porch the on site summer camp type cottages provide eagle eye views toward the flatlands berkeley, california (university of california) if coffee shops define a good college town, berkeley has the competition beat some host bands, others show art, many sell fair trade blends, and most offer a space where it's okay to relax for hours 'it's kind of a universal hangout place, not just for professors and students,' says erik hvezda, a barista at brewed awakening many residents prefer the crackle of vinyl to mp3s; pick up some lps at the well stocked amoeba music on telegraph avenue, berkeley's festive commercial strip in the heart of campus, the 61 bell carillon provides the tunes atop 307 foot sather tower, which also offers stunning panoramas of san francisco bay local taste: for brunch, fit in with the crunchy crowd by ordering a tofu scramble at venus for some local suds, stop in for pints at the festive pyramid brewery ann arbor, michigan (university of michigan) if a town's name references trees, it's a good bet nature will figure prominently at the lush, 123 acre nichols arboretum, gravel paths wind past blazes of yellow, pink, and white peonies and the occasional reclining student the 'arb' is also frequently the setting for shakespeare stagings slake your thirst amid more flora at dominick's, whose garden is ideal for enjoying any of the 10 local microbrews on tap local taste: apart from the various wolverines sports teams, the pride of ann arbor is zingerman's roadhouse, where the rooftop vintage neon sign reads 'really good american food' and that's what you'll get, of every type, from new mexican chiles to oysters from apalachicola, fl madison, wisconsin (university of wisconsin) like oases in deserts, college towns in the midwest can be refreshing splashes of hustle and bustle amid the plains the wisconsin capital squeezes cafés, art galleries, and the césar pelli designed madison museum of contemporary art onto an invigorating pedestrian only thoroughfare in warm weather, the museum's roof is the setting for concerts and films elsewhere are found lively neighborhood block parties, like the atwood summerfest, which annually offers rock bands on multiple stages and there's no shortage of aquatic fun: the city is located on an isthmus between a pair of glittering lakes local taste: l'etoile restaurant is the region's slow food mecca chapel hill, north carolina (university of north carolina) yes, there's a fine clutch of georgian classroom buildings around a shaded, picturesque quad, but during the winter months, everyone's attention is fixated on the dean dome, home to the powerhouse tar heels basketball team come november, tickets that haven't been snapped up by students are available to the public die hards check out the 8,000 square foot, year old carolina basketball museum, which doubles as a de facto shrine to alum michael jordan (old jerseys included) still, nothing beats game time, says ticket director john miller: 'it's really just electric' during the off season, browse for art at red window, owned by elizabeth edwards, wife of former senator john edwards local taste: though the building's a flyspeck, the long lines of cars at the drive through window of the sunrise biscuit kitchen testify to the restaurant's celebrated sweet tea and fried chicken 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 | berkeley the carolina basketball museum michael jordan the ann richards | if coffee shops define a good college town, berkeley has the competition beat . check out the carolina basketball museum also a shrine to michael jordan . hang out at the ann richards/congress avenue bridge, with 15 million bats |
(cnn) tuesday's virginia earthquake triggered the shutdown of a nearby nuclear power plant and spurred declarations of 'unusual events' at plants as far away as michigan, us authorities reported dominion virginia power said both reactors at its north anna plant, less than 20 miles from the epicenter of the magnitude 58 quake, shut down automatically after the first tremors amanda reidelbach, an emergency management spokeswoman for louisa county, said the plant vented steam, but there was no release of radioactive material david heacock, the utility's chief nuclear officer, said the 1,800 megawatt plant was operating on emergency power and the two pressurized water reactors were safely deactivated 'the plants are designed for this kind of a seismic event,' heacock said 'there is no apparent damage to anything at the plant right now' crews were working to restore off site power to the plant tuesday evening, the utility said dan stoddard, senior vice president of nuclear operations for dominion, said some power from the grid had been restored to the reactors and it was possible full power could be achieved late tuesday it was not clear if a 42 magnitude aftershock tuesday evening would affect the operation stoddard said there was no damage to the spent fuel pool the diesel generators supplying backup power have enough fuel to operate 30 days and more can be brought in, if needed, stoddard told cnn 'the power plant is safe,' stoddard said one of those generators failed a few minutes after it kicked in, said joey ledford, a spokesman for the nuclear regulatory commission's regional office in atlanta but only one generator is required to supply power to each reactor unit, leaving another unit in reserve, ledford said 'they're in good shape at this point,' he said stoddard said even with the failure of one generator, dominion has four others in use or available the north anna plant is about 50 miles northwest of richmond and about 90 miles southwest of washington operators declared an alert the second lowest level of emergency reporting under us nuclear regulations after the quake struck shortly before 2 pm, the nuclear regulatory commission said nrc inspectors went over the north anna plant as part of a review of us nuclear facilities after the disaster at japan's fukushima daiichi, where three reactors melted down following the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck the plant march 11 they found that diesel generators needed to provide emergency power were functional and 'readily available for short term actions,' and the utility moved quickly to replace one portable generator that was not working at the time, according to the nrc's inspection report at fukushima daiichi, the worst nuclear accident since chernobyl, cooling systems and backup generators were knocked out by the 15 meter (48 foot) tsunami that swamped the plant shortly after the magnitude 9 earthquake dominion virginia said reactors at its other nuclear station, the surry plant near newport news, were still running surry and 11 plants in five other states issued an 'unusual event' declaration, the lowest level of emergency notice, according to the nrc they are the shearon harris plant in north carolina; the calvert cliffs plant in maryland; pennsylvania's susquehanna, three mile island, limerick and peach bottom plants; the oyster creek, hope creek and salem plants in new jersey; and the dc cook and palisades plants in michigan 'all these plants continue to operate while plant personnel examine their sites,' the nrc said cnn's emily smith, brian todd, jeanne meserve, scott bronstein, shawn nottingham and matt smith contributed to this report | north anna nrc | new: some electricity restored to nuclear power plant . inspection shows no damage to spent fuel pool . one of four backup generators failed at the north anna plant, the nrc says . one nuclear plant shuts down; 11 others declare 'unusual events' after quake |
(cnn) just ten miles south of the polish city of krakow is a remarkable place carved from salt hidden 1,000 feet (305 meters) underground lies a dimly lit labyrinth of subterranean chambers, with saline lakes, horses' stables, a chapel and even a salt sculpted hall decorated with elaborate sculptures the most astounding perhaps being 'the last supper' carved into a rock salt wall even the crystals of the chapel's chandeliers are hewn from salt, dissolved and reconstituted to resemble glass it might sound like something out of a jules verne novel, but the wieliczka salt mine is not science fiction but one of poland's 13 unesco cultural world heritage sites, many of which date back to the medieval period warsaw's old town (meticulously reconstructed after 85% of the capital's historic center was destroyed during the war) and auschwitz birkenau concentration camp are must visit spots but beyond them, you can find hundreds of years' worth of fairytale like medieval history deeper underground few places capture the imagination like the salt mine at wieliczka, believed to have been completed in 1280 tourists can delve into its depths on guided tours 'you see a little more than 1% of the mine on the tourist route,' said marek strojny, a guide for more than 20 years consider that the tourist route is three kilometers (18 miles) long and takes three hours to explore 'it would take years to see all of the mine,' said strojny 'there are nine levels, with 300 kilometers (186 miles) of tunnels and more than 3,000 chambers' tourists view the mine at just over 300 feet (91 meters) below the surface, but its intricacies continue down for more than double that depth mining here was dangerous work; there were cave ins, and occasional methane explosions this accounts for why the miners built the chapel in the 14th century they prayed constantly for their safety, and carved religious figures in their spare time (strojny estimated 'the last supper' alone would have taken a year to complete) however, the job came with its perks 'there was great respect for the miners among the community on the surface,' he noted 'and they were given privileges by polish kings for example, each worker was allowed to carry three kilograms of salt to the surface with them each month and sell it salt was (a valuable) preservative and was almost as expensive as silver' 'vampires' in krakow the salt would doubtless have been traded at krakow's rynek glowny, the largest medieval market square in europe and the site of another intriguing underground voyage in 2005, an archaeological dig in the square was intended to last six months, but stretched into five years, such was the volume of treasures exhumed the result is rynek underground, a subterranean museum built under the square 'the square has risen about four meters since early medieval times,' said dominik lulewicz, an archaeologist at the museum 'over the years, the debris from earlier phases (of the square's history) was spread across its surface' read more: krakow becomes world center for literature while the entire historical center of krakow is a unesco site, the 40,000 square meters of rynek glowny is its beating heart in the 14th and 15th centuries it was a major center of european trade, abuzz with merchants selling everything from luxury goods (such as silks and spices) to cloth and lead as well as seeing some of those treasures, visitors to the museum can also see reconstructions of burial sites that were discovered during the dig, including what lulewicz called 'anti vampiric burials' 'there are a few with tied hands and legs, probably due to the remains of pagan beliefs,' he said choosing their religion diversity of belief is a uniting facet of poland's unesco heritage sites among the prettiest listed monuments are the wooden churches of malopolska winding through the looming mountains and sprawling fields of this picturesque pocket of south east poland, are 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) of trails that take hikers past striking examples of timber churches in everything from roman catholic to greek orthodox styles read more: bison thrive in poland's wild woods 'the multicultural history of poland is marked by the variety of houses of worship from different periods,' said maå‚gorzata trelka, of the national heritage board of poland she pointed to the 18th and 19th century wooden mosques that can be found in north east poland by way of example indeed, trelka revealed that a 14th unesco site has been approved wooden eastern orthodox and greek catholic churches, dating from the 16th to the 19th centuries, in the carpathian mountain range and yet another enduring example of poland's long tradition of religious tolerance is the unesco listed churches of peace in jawor and swidnica these 17th century protestant churches were permitted by a catholic emperor following the thirty years war, which had sprung from those very religions' rivalry but maybe what unites these sites most of all is that, whether deep underground or spread throughout the countryside, poland is rich in a tangible cultural landscape | cockneyland nepotistic ommatidial | no related information |
(cnn) if you've read suzanne collins' 'hunger games' trilogy, then the odds are ever in your favor when it comes to cocktail party conversations about katniss, the mockingjay and the quarter quell if you haven't, then that was all gibberish but it doesn't have to be as 'catching fire,' the second movie in the series, comes to theaters november 22 we've got all the information you need to dazzle friends with your talk of effie trinket and caesar flickerman in our 'hg 101' as well as some insider facts about the movie that'll make even the most hardcore fans feel a little more informed before heading into the arena happy 'hunger games'! the games hg 101: every year in post apocalyptic panem, two tributes, aka children, from each district are selected in a public reaping to compete in the win or die hunger games but every 25 years, there's a quarter quell, where a dark twist makes the games even more treacherous as punishment to heroine katniss everdeen (jennifer lawrence) who not only outwitted the hunger games, but also ensured her partner peeta mellark (josh hutcherson) survived too (unprecedented!) the quarter quell finds them back in the arena, competing against other past winners as if that weren't enough, there's also a love triangle, family drama, a score to settle, several districts to save and an uprising that can't be quieted with evil monkeys and even more evil victors from previous games to battle, it's a lot for one movie to tackle, but the tributes in 'catching fire' are more fully formed characters, and they help set the story apart and keep the conflict interesting expert tip: these games are getting darker and sexier yes, the very premise of kids fighting to the death for the public's amusement ensures that there's a dark thread throughout the entire story, but the look and feel of 'fire' is darker as well, with new director francis lawrence amping up the action and suspense and while costume designer trish summerville didn't allow tributes to be nearly nude as in the books, she did pull some form fitting designer duds for them to wear the fandom is growing up, and the movies are following suit the big question: with several big names joining the cast, are there any new standouts? sam claflin shines as cocky tribute finnick odair, and jenna malone makes an equally splashy (and equally clothing free) entrance as johanna, who's good with an axe, but takes a bit to warm up to both have great moments with katniss 'hunger games' theme park? we have some ideas the love triangle hg 101: so there's this girl katniss and she's a total badass, and she's basically best buds with the male version of her, gale (liam hemsworth), but she gets sent off to the hunger games with peeta, saves his life a million times and now all the viewers want them to be an item so they sort of are besides fighting for basic survival, the quarter quell gives them more time together to explore their relationship, for real and for the cameras the love triangle is what grounds the entire series in reality, and it ain't over until it's over, so don't expect anything to be decided halfway through the series' four movie run expert take: peeta might not be such a bad option for katniss after all! fans of the books were outraged that spoiler alert! katniss ended up with peeta after so clearly having a stronger connection with gale peeta always seemed like too much of a damsel in distress for our katniss, but in 'catching fire,' peeta is stronger and more independent and he can swim, so thankfully you won't have to see a near drowning when they enter the water filled arena we wish he'd get a skill a little more exciting than painting his body with mud to be camouflaged, but we'll take any improvement on the character we can get the big question: what about gale? while gale is once again on the sidelines for most of the movie, he does have a particularly haunting scene in 'catching fire' that stays somewhat true to the book the big difference? this time the changes leave the door open for gale to really make his presence (and his intentions with katniss) known in the two part 'mockingjay' final installments they've got hemsworth they're going to use him! a brief history of young adult literature the capitol hg 101: while the tributes from the districts must compete to take their next breath, residents of the capitol are the 1% their excess knows no bounds, but they're still human while they felt like caricatures in the first movie, 'catching fire' reveals some chinks in the otherwise bedazzled armor, all thanks to katniss and her act of rebellion that's now sparked a revolution expert tip: yes, cinna (lenny kravitz) is still the most stylish tribute sympathizer, but effie trinket is more lovable than ever in 'the hunger games,' effie (elizabeth banks) epitomized everything the capitol stood for: fashion, material things, excess and an obliviousness to the real issues in the districts around them but as the stakes of the games are raised, so are effie's concerns, and seeing cracks in her very colorful faã§ade helps make her more than a one note character we saw glimpses of her conscience in the books but, onscreen, banks takes her from unemotional escort to compassionate cog in the wheel the big question: who's the new big bad? after the execution of 'hunger games' gamemaker seneca crane (wes bentley), who ignored orders and let both katniss and peeta win, plutarch heavensbee (philip seymour hoffman) steps in and he's not going to make the same weak mistakes as his predecessor with direct orders from president snow (donald sutherland) to make sure katniss doesn't survive the 75th games, he becomes the scariest new villain in the capitol and the biggest potential threat the role feels tailor made for hoffman with the panem rebellion in full swing, and katniss as their poster child, there's more to prove in this 75th hunger games than ever before alliances will be tested and monkey mutts and jabberjays will terrorize the returning victors, all while the clock is ticking to save their families, their districts and themselves jennifer lawrence was josh hutcherson's first | catching fire katniss hunger games peeta gale | 'catching fire' finds heroine katniss back in the hunger games arena . the movie further explores the love triangle between katniss, peeta and gale . the film is darker and sexier than the first |
(cnn) much like president obama, the occupy movement is alive and well and entering its second term, thank you very much it's no longer about squatting in public parks, getting on the news, or in some cases getting arrested no, instead this decentralized, bottom up, anti wall street effort is taking aim at your medical, student and other loans: it aims to relieve your debt just as obama appears to have left the lofty rhetoric of 'being the change' behind him as he confronts the more practical realities of working a financial plan through an intransigent congress, the occupiers have given up on winning media mindshare or public support and have turned instead to direct action that helps real people in its act 2, occupy is just occupying the space where it's needed remember, occupy does not have leaders, an administration or some central office it's not a single body with a mission control that makes particular decisions it began as a one day demonstration in new york, 'occupy wall street,' spawned by an announcement from the anti corporate adbusters magazine, and then mushroomed into similar encampments around the united states and in other parts of the world although police eventually shut down these demonstrations, the social and internet infrastructure of the movement remained intact people met one another over the course of the demonstrations, forged relationships online and continued working in their own ways different members in different places have chosen to concern themselves with particular problems those that resonate with others in the loose collective end up getting support from the various websites and facebook pages already associated with the occupy movement while there is no 'official' occupy movement, when an effort gains support from enough of the trusted occupy networks, it can be considered a de facto occupy action most recently, the movement came to the rescue of hurricane victims with occupy sandy a bottom up, people driven recovery effort that rivaled fema for its ability to bring aid to the people who needed it the occupy brand credibility, so to speak, as well as its existing networking infrastructure gave activists a great head start in connecting donors, organizers and providers to victims in the worst hit areas now, a growing contingent within the greater movement is refocusing on occupy's original victims, the hundreds of thousands of people burdened with all sorts of debt many of the debtors owe many times the original amounts they charged up on their credit cards, medical bills or student loans such debt is bought and sold on a debt market for pennies on the dollar by debt collection agencies and others capable of pressuring the debtors most effectively (the reason debt is sold for such a small fraction of its acute value is that most collectors will not be able to recoup the money they might buy $10,000 of credit card company from a bank or reseller, but most likely only be able to collect a tiny portion of it from the debtors, who either go bankrupt or simply broke) in the belief that much of this debt is comprised of unjustified fees, inappropriate credit products or even outright fraud, an offshoot of occupy called strike debt is working to erase it allby purchasing it, and then forgiving it yes, seems it's that easy: buy debt for a tiny fraction of its face value in the same way that credit agencies buy debt but then, instead of attempting to collect that money, simply erase it families struggling to pay for the compound interest on their 1990s medical bills, for example, simply find out that it's been relieved the whole debt rolling operation, known as rolling jubilee, begins on november 15, with a variety show and telethon in new york city entitled the people's bailout occupy friendly celebrities from comedian janeane garofalo and daily show writer lizz winstead to music legends such as sonic youth's lee ranaldo and fugazi's guy picciotto will perform for a live and of course streaming audience while the website accepts donations according to their estimates, every $25 will abolish an estimated $500 worth of debt according to david rees, one of the founders of strike debt and a leading voice in the rolling jubillee, 'as a test run, we spent $500, which bought $14,000 of distressed debt we then erased that debt' of course, in a perfect world, debtors would have the opportunity to erase their own debt at this rate or, at the very least, on hearing that their debt has been relieved, the rescued debtors would want to pay back the movement so that more debt could be relieved currently, legal restrictions and privacy policies prevent this sort of traction from developing but if you're in a tight debt situation and learn that it has been mysteriously and anonymously forgiven, you might want to consider doing the same for someone else by contributing i understand why people might object to this scheme and can already envision the comments forming below this piece as i write isn't this moral hazard? didn't those people get in their own debt? why should we bail out people who have gotten into trouble like this? the best answer, of course, is that we already bailed out the banks and creditors with tax money why not bail out the actual people? and the occupiers are not focusing on home loans taken out by aggressive real estate speculators, but the personal debt that has already been well documented to be ripe for abuse and fraud by lending institutions and their agents (the easier answer is that if you don't like this idea, simply do not take part if you find your debt occupied and relieved, you can surely find banks and credit agencies willing to accept your payments) more significant, at least from my perspective, is how actions such as occupy sandy and strike debt reflect a movement coming of age true to form, occupy is making no demands of government, of banks or of anyone else the occupiers did not involve themselves in the recent elections as if electoral politics were just too many steps removed from getting anything done instead, they simply occupy the space around those in the greatest need and fill in for what's missing the opinion expressed in this commentary are solely those of douglas rushkoff | douglas rushkoff superstorm sandy rushkoff occupy | douglas rushkoff: the occupy movement, in its second term, aims to relieve your debt . he says occupy involved itself on the ground with superstorm sandy, providing needed relief . now, he says, the movement is holding telethon to raise money to buy, and then forgive, debt . rushkoff: banks were bailed out with tax money, occupy aims to bail out the people |
santa barbara, california (cnn) berkeley breathed answers the door to his santa barbara home, a tall, slender figure in suede cowboy boots berkeley breathed has left comic strips behind to focus on his writing particularly children's books but before he can extend a hand in greeting, he's nudged aside by a canine companion eager to introduce herself 'pickles' offers a hearty welcome, vigorously shaking a tail that seems powerful enough to whack a lamp from an end table the pit bull is one of a number of dogs that breathed and his wife, jody, have rescued over the years his affection and concern for dogs form the heart of 'flawed dogs: the shocking raid on westminster' (philomel books), breathed's new illustrated novel, whose hero is a resilient dachshund with a soup ladle for a leg gallery: the art of berkeley breathed » it's the latest children's work from breathed, the pulitzer prize winning cartoonist behind 'bloom county' and 'opus,' who's had great success with the genre the earlier 'mars needs moms!' is set to be made into a movie produced by robert zemeckis breathed invited cnn to his mountainside home for a rare interview, which touched on topics ranging from his book to michael vick, charles schulz and his famous pen pal, harper lee watch breathed read from 'flawed dogs' » the following is an edited version of the conversation: cnn: the hero of your book is quite an unusual dog berkeley breathed: sam the lion he's called, by heidi [the girl] who finds him the central part of the story is the fall of sam from heidi's life and into the depths of horrors that dogs can sometimes experience in our world everything from being shot at, to research labs, to the worst dog shelters amongst the world of otherwise nice dog shelters, and he comes for revenge upon cassius [a rival] and cassius is going to appear at the westminster dog show coming up, so sam has got to find a team of commandos to help him infiltrate and destroy the westminster dog show cnn: what was the inspiration for the story? breathed: the book happened because i came across both a picture and a quote at about the same time a picture of one of michael vick's fight dogs it was set to be put down, but a shelter in utah decided to take the dog and a few others at the same time and try to rehabilitate them this was the first time the dog had ever received any affection in its life it's the most moving picture of a dog i've ever seen, having gone through an impossible transition and fallen back to where dogs naturally go, which is just loving people cnn: 'flawed dogs' is put out by the 'young readers' division of the publisher breathed: i notice it's getting a little bit of controversy in that people are coming to it assuming that it's for the same audience that my picture books are for and 'flawed dogs' the novel is definitely not it's perfect for an 8 year old, 9, 10, 11, 12, but i wouldn't read this in the evening to my 5 year old and there is a difference it's revealed an issue that i'm surprised about, which is the new preciousness that's been brought to literature for children now there is an abject fear of instilling any sort of dramatic trauma, of sadness, on the children who are receiving a story and of course that was never a great concern in the past the great children's stories that we all grew up with, there are always moments of great tragedy and moving moments of loss in the book that we weren't afraid of as long as you bring them [young readers] back by the end and bring them to where a reader should be, a child should be cnn: you don't do a daily or a weekly comic strip anymore how has that transition been? breathed: if this was still 1985 and everything that means it would still be deeply appealing to be a cartoonist but not now i'm happy to leave that behind the level of political rancor powered and driven by web comment and cable news to a degree affects me like everybody else, and i get angry and i get annoyed and i get frustrated and that always translates into mediocre cartoons historically i was getting too angry the last couple of years of cartooning, and it doesn't do the art any good i'm very happy to let that go cnn: when did you first discover, 'wow, i can actually draw'? breathed: i could never really draw something it was, 'wow, i can actually draw or write something that amuses somebody' and that was a dawning that didn't happen until college the greatest cartoonists ever have really been very mediocre artists charles schulz was always quick to admit that his skills in artistry were limited at best and in his case it served the strip perfectly if 'peanuts' had been drawn with the artistry of 'pogo' and a disney animator, it wouldn't have worked cnn: animals were an integral part of your comic strips breathed: i knew that i wanted a strip with people but the focus on an animal, and an incongruous animal so i looked around largely at an animal that hadn't been done before in comic strips, an animal that is generally attractive to people and people feel immediately warm to and that just would be funny you end up with a penguin pretty fast plus, he's already standing, and he's kind of got clothes on cnn: who are your heroes? breathed: 'to kill a mockingbird' was a huge influence on my work harper lee and i have over the years exchanged letters, which has been a massive delight i can tell you that when i announced the end of my comic stripping career and that opus [the penguin] was not only going to fade away but fade away permanently, i got a letter from harper urging me to reconsider letting opus go away forever i should have written back and said, 'the moment you bring scout back, i'll bring opus back is that a deal, harper?' of all the people who should not be chastising me about stopping my career early, it would be harper lee opus really is a bit like scout in that he's circulating around in his world, and he's surrounded by a lot of insanity, a lot of hatred, a lot of intolerance and he's the ultimate innocent at the center of it and that's how scout worked in that story i suppose i needed an atticus finch for opus, but i never had time to develop one i'm not an artist who is trying to be a novelist i've always been a writer and the art was the way to sell the writing and it's been convenient in that way i'd be happy to leave that all and just be a writer if i could get away with it i don't think i can at this point they [readers] expect the pictures i'm happy to oblige | recession skein unguessed | no related information |
london (cnn) a female saudi arabian judo fighter will be allowed to compete while wearing a hijab, a saudi olympic committee spokesman said monday razan baker told cnn that international olympic committee, international judo federation and saudi officials had agreed that wojdan shaherkani could wear a headscarf during her matches shaherkani had signed an agreement with saudi olympics officials that she could compete only if she wears 'correct and approved' clothing that 'sticks to islamic principles,' baker said this year is the first time every nation competing in the olympics is sending women as well as men saudi arabia was the last country to announce that it would send female athletes read more: london olympics breaks new ground for women her father, ali, was adamant that he would not let his daughter compete if she must remove her hijab, he told the saudi newspaper al watan on monday shaherkani, 16, is scheduled to compete friday her photo on the saudi team's olympics website shows her with a scarf that covers her hair but not her face middle distance runner sarah attar is the only other woman on the 19 member saudi team read more: historic break through or false dawn? cnn senior international correspondent nic robertson and cnn's schams elwazer contributed to this report | wojdan shaherkani saudi this year first saudi arabia olympics shaherkani 16 friday | judo competitor wojdan shaherkani has been told she can wear her headscarf . her father and saudi officials insist she must wear it . this year is the first time saudi arabia has sent women to the olympics . shaherkani is 16 and competes in her first match friday |
(cnn) the fairy tale of a cancer survivor from austin, texas, who beat the odds to win the tour de france a record seven times, has morphed into a parable about telling a lie lance armstrong has been revealing in his two part exclusive interview with oprah winfrey thursday and friday night, but critics say he is leaving out important details there has been a lot to learn from armstrong and from those watching him as he starts to tell the truth getting caught is just the beginning this is the reason for his confession after retiring from the tour in 2005, he made a comeback in 2009 'we wouldn't be sitting here if i didn't come back,' armstrong told winfrey cycling colleague floyd landis went public in 2010 with his own doping and leveled allegations at armstrong as well this eventually led to investigations against armstrong alternative steps for redemption the us anti doping agency, which tests olympic athletes for performance enhancing drugs, praised his televised interview as a 'small step in the right direction' but it still would like a full confession of all of his doping activities, under oath at the usada the agency had started an investigation against armstrong, who sued to try to stop it he told winfrey he wishes he'd cooperated freely back then, but now that he has a second invitation to do so, he is approaching it with a caveat armstrong said he would participate if the agency forms a broad 'truth and reconciliation commission,' involving doping across the sport of cycling blaming yourself is not the same as telling it all 'i deserve this,' were his comments on his fall from grace to public disgrace in the interview he disparaged his own character for hours, calling himself 'deeply flawed,' 'ruthless' and 'arrogant' 'i was a bully,' he told winfrey of how he treated others who might expose his doping and lies 'i want to compete again' armstrong admitted to personal guilt but was careful not to implicate others things escalated to the level they did 'because of my actions and because of my words, and because of my attitude and my defiance,' he said but he also blamed the culture of cycling during the time he doped, saying the practice was widespread and just as much 'part of the job' as water bottles and tire pumps there were also allegations he still denies, like coercing teammates to dope as well people will believe a lie armstrong cheated for years, and no one in the sport of cycling stopped him he lied under oath about his use of performance enhancing drugs 'hundreds of millions,' as armstrong has put it, believed him, adored him, and many wore yellow bracelets, because he inspired them source: federal probe unlikely to reignite the fairy tale image was 'one big lie that i repeated a lot of times,' armstrong said it became impossible to live up to and it fell apart he publicly derided those trying to expose him, ruining some of their lives 'we sued so many people,' armstrong told winfrey people who were telling the truth and lost to him in court in spite of it it was about controlling the narrative of his heroic story 'if i didn't like what somebody said i tried to control that and said that's a lie; they're liars,' armstrong said 'now the story is so bad and so toxic, and a lot of it is true,' he said be nice to people on your way up you may meet them on your way down lance has and now the tables have turned why we cheat 'this was a guy who used to be my friend, who decimated me,' said betsy andreu, the wife of one of armstrong's former teammates, who went public with doping allegations against armstrong andreu, author daniel coyle, journalist david walsh, whom armstrong attacked for writing about his doping for over a decade, former teammates and others he has discredited and sued have now gained plausibility they are already critiquing his confession and casting doubt on its completeness andreu and coyle have called armstrong out over his denial of allegations that he coerced teammates to use performance enhancing drugs it's hard to regain trust armstrong's lies and bullying rattled his fans, former friends and teammates, even his own children 'i will spend the rest of my life trying to earn back trust and apologize to people,' armstrong told winfrey sunday times journalist walsh believes the cyclist's bullying was worse than his lies and left behind deeper scars cancer survivors' mixed feelings 'he never showed any compassion during his years or any sense that it troubled him to destroy other people,' walsh said armstrong said he had been ruthless because he 'expected to get whatever he wanted and to control every outcome' 'there will be people who hear this and never forgive me,' he said 'i understand that' the emotional damage to his children seemed to touch him the most appearing to hold back tears, armstrong said he confessed to the three oldest children over the recent holiday break 'the older kids need to not be living with this issue in their lives,' the athlete said 'it isn't fair' speaking specifically about his 13 year old son, whom he had heard defending him, armstrong said he told the youth: 'don't defend me anymore' hindsight is 20/20 the former tour de france icon said he did not think there was anything wrong with what he was doing at the time he did it something he today finds 'scary' that he didn't feel guilty was in retrospect 'even scarier' that he did not think it was cheating is the 'scariest' part 'i viewed it as a level playing field,' he said, where most everybody doped livestrong likely to survive armstrong also does not believe he could have won cycling's most prestigious race seven times in a row without performance enhancing drugs and his success was not synonymous with contentment 'that wasn't the happiest time of my life,' armstrong said of his championship years he told winfrey he felt happier giving her his confession but his doping and bullying years also weren't the worst in his life, he said the time of his cancer diagnosis was worse the bigger they are, the harder they fall armstrong would like to compete again but has no interest in returning to the tour de france he'd like to be able to run in the chicago marathon when he's 50, but the punishment he's been slapped with won't allow it 'i can't run the austin 10k,' he said 'anything that is sanctioned' by an official governing body is ruled out 'this may not be the most popular answer, but i think i deserve it (being allowed to compete), maybe not right now,' armstrong said a six month suspension is customary for doping he said, but he received a 'death penalty' now that he has been caught and has confessed, lawsuits he won could be reviewed, and his victims could come after him, tearing away at his fortune but the nadir, armstrong says, was his departure from his cancer awareness charity livestrong, which distributed the iconic plastic yellow bracelets it happened in two phone calls they first asked him to resign as chairman of the board the second call was less to the point 'we need you to consider stepping down for yourself,' armstrong said he was told he got out of the way and hopes the charity, which was built on his debunked fairy tale legacy, can carry on without him 'it hurt like hell,' armstrong said 'that was the lowest' armstrong's golden halo in the sport's annals has decayed to a black mark no other cyclist was awarded the victories he was disqualified from in place of a record seven wins by lance armstrong, the chronicles of the tour de france bear seven record vacancies no one won cycling, facing an uphill climb, hopes next hero just around bend | the us anti doping agency armstrong | the us anti doping agency still wants an official confession under oath . armstrong destroyed people on the way up, who are waiting for him on the way down . the cyclist cheated for years, but nobody stopped him . armstrong told his own son not to defend him |
washington (cnn) in a congratulatory letter to president elect barack obama, french president nicholas sarkozy writes, 'your election raises in france, in europe, and beyond throughout the world, immense hope' president elect barack obama faces a litany of foreign policy problems when he takes office january 20 similar statements from dozens of world leaders and images of people around the world celebrating his election make clear barack obama will enjoy a good deal of international goodwill when he takes office on january 20 obama's election offers a monumental transformation of america's face to the world many see him as the epitome of the american dream but his appeal is not solely based on the fact that he is black or that his middle name is hussein or that his father was kenyan or that he spent part of his childhood in indonesia the global excitement over obama's election is as much about the fact that he isn't president bush in his victory speech tuesday night, obama said, 'to all those watching from beyond our shores, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of american leadership is at hand'' watch cnn's zain verjee report on the world's reaction to obama's election » those were welcome words to those who resented what they viewed as eight years of 'unilateralist' bush policies his words spark hope that an obama administration will repair america's relations with the rest of the world but as high as those hopes are, so too are the sky high expectations the world has been seduced by obama's vision of change but will 'obamamania' survive the realities of governing? it is difficult to think of a us president who has come to power with a more complex and pressing web of domestic and international burdens he inherits a global financial meltdown, wars in iraq and afghanistan, a global struggle against terrorism, and a military already stretched to its limits add to that, a simmering crisis with iran, renewed tensions with russia, and the rise of china as a global economic powerhouse, and obama's plate starts to get pretty full obama also takes the reins at a time of enormous anti american sentiment after the stains of abu ghraib, guantanamo and, closer to home, hurricane katrina us power is declining, and not entirely by fault of its own the concept of a single superpower world no longer fits developing countries like china, brazil and india, coupled with a stronger european union belong to a new world where many players call the shots globalization requires more cooperation with a wider range of countries and organizations obama's speech in europe this summer about the need for reconciliation, signaled he wants to strengthen ties with europe damaged during the bush administration, especially over iraq his pledge to withdraw from iraq and his promise for strong action on climate change is bound to make european allies happy but issues like trade and increased troops for afghanistan could spark new differences with europe obama has pledged to make middle east peace a priority from day one arabs are already calling for a more even handed approach, while israel is expecting obama to stay true to the pro israel posture he showed during the campaign and there are other complications like politics on the ground israeli elections early next year could bring hawkish former prime minister benjamin netanyahu back to power and if moderate palestinian president mahmoud abbas is unable to win support from hamas next year to extend his term, his re election is far from certain obama has promised to engage iran's leaders on a multitude of issues, but it remains to be seen if iran would accept any deal to give up its pursuit of nuclear weapons obama could be forced into a devil's choice between military action (or supporting an israeli strike) and living with a nuclear iran there is a long list of other pressing issues obama is likely to continue the bush administration's policy of going after extremists in pakistan and in africa, conflicts in sudan, somalia and the democratic republic of congo continue to churn this is by no means an exhaustive list countries around the world will compete for obama's attention africa, elated over the election of america's first black president, may expect increased attention and aid from the united states additionally, muslims familiar with obama's kenyan father and middle name, 'hussein,' may think he will be more understanding of their concerns will he embrace them or distance himself from them, in an effort to prove he does not hold any bias? the president elect must navigate this minefield of expectations once the gloss of this historic election wears off, the world will find obama cannot be president to the world he can only be president of the united states and americans will expect him to protect their interests first and foremost | obama american bush americans first | analysis: many see obama as the epitome of the american dream . analysis: global excitement over obama's election is also about bush's exit . analysis: obama faces complex foreign policy issues when he takes office . analysis: americans will expect obama to protect their interests first and foremost |
(cnn) a residential building in spokane valley, washington, was being decontaminated after police removed a half pound of highly sensitive explosives from one of the apartments, a sheriff's spokesman said john d raymond, 53, is being held on a civil bench warrant and is likely to face charges in district court tuesday of illegally manufacturing and possessing explosives, said sgt dave reagan of the spokane county sheriff's office raymond uses a wheelchair to get around and lived in a ground floor apartment of the 10 unit building he was transported to jail by ambulance, reagan said a police robot removed a half pound of tatp, or triacetone triperoxide, from raymond's apartment, reagan said tatp is extremely sensitive to impact, temperature change and friction, according to the defense and military web site globalsecurityorg it has been used by suicide bombers in israel and was chosen as a detonator in 2001 by the thwarted 'shoe bomber' richard reid the tatp in raymond's apartment was placed in a bomb proof container and taken to a county owned gravel yard for detonation 'it is too unstable to save as evidence,' reagan said a secondary sweep of the apartment did not turn up any more tatp, but authorities were concerned about material found in the kitchen sink as a precaution, the spokane fire department hazmat unit has been called in to decontaminate the scene before residents are allowed to return to their apartments reagan said raymond was angry about how his divorce case was being handled cnn's greg morrison contributed to this report | a half pound triacetone triperoxide john d raymond hazmat | police remove a half pound of highly sensitive explosives . triacetone triperoxide is sensitive to impact, temperature change, friction . john d raymond, 53, is being held on a civil bench warrant . hazmat unit called in to decontaminate the scene before residents can return |
(cnn) as gov rod blagojevich's impeachment trial proceedings got under way monday, the embattled illinois governor hit the media circuit, answering questions about oprah, foul language and why he isn't resigning gov blagojevich appeared on cnn's larry king live monday night blagojevich appeared monday on abc's 'good morning america' and 'the view,' and gave his first live prime time interview on cnn's 'larry king live' 'i'm not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing,' blagojevich, who is accused of trying to sell president obama's former senate seat, told king 'i'm entitled to a presumption of innocence' blagojevich also further explained comments that he channeled major political figures who overcame adversity as he was being arrested 'i've been criticized for this, but i'm not comparing myself to dr king or nelson mandela or mahatma gandhi, but i tried to reach in to history and imagine some inspiring figures that would have gone through something like i was going through for sustenance and inspiration' blagojevich also said that he looks forward to the day when he can tell his story in full, rather than people judging him by snippets of conversation released to the media watch blagojevich tell larry king he's done nothing wrong » the governor said he is the victim of political enemies who want to raise taxes in illinois 'snippets of conversations out of full context is unfair,' blagojevich told cnn 'if the full context, all of the tapes are heard, you hear the story of someone trying to make decisions and maneuver for the best intentions of the people of illinois' however, blagojevich said he has not listened to the tapes in their entirety he addressed the news that his lead attorney, ed jenson, is leaving his defense team 'look, i think lawyers like that want you to simply say nothing, and i'm champing at the bit, dying to show my innocence' blagojevich said his legal fees will be paid through campaign funds blagojevich did say he looked forward to calling witnesses including white house chief of staff rahm emanuel; sen dick durbin, d illinois; and senate majority leader harry reid who had conversations with him about who should replace barack obama as the junior senator from illinois blagojevich maintained the goal of the conversations was to get the best senator for the people of illinois 'there was a lot of exchanging of ideas, asking questions, exploring options including oprah winfrey but never, not ever did i have any intention of violating any criminal law,' blagojevich said 'never was this about selling any senate seat for any kind of personal gain' on both of his abc appearances and on cnn, blagojevich explained why talk show host oprah winfrey was a contender to fill barack obama's former senate seat 'i was trying to think outside of the box the idea came to me from a friend who suggested oprah it wasn't my idea,' blagojevich told cnn 'i threw it around in conversation with senior staff and political advisers, who were all involved in this whole adventure we're on 'and among the things we talked about was the, you know, the unlikelihood she would be interested in it, because she has a bully pulpit that's worldwide and more influence that us senators combined all 100 of them' winfrey said that she had no idea she was under consideration she said she found out from best friend gayle king, who called to tell her on monday morning watch oprah's reaction » winfrey said she was 'amused by the whole thing' but would have turned down the proposal had it been made blagojevich also said he was worried about how to present the offer to winfrey without it looking like a gimmick the governor said the talks never got to that point 'partly because i was interrupted on december 9' blagojevich and his chief of staff were arrested then on federal corruption charges, including allegations that the governor tried to trade or sell the senate seat that became vacant after obama was elected president blagojevich ended up picking former illinois attorney general roland burris to replace obama ireportcom: share your questions for blagojevich the governor's impeachment trial began monday in the illinois senate the illinois house of representatives impeached him earlier this month blagojevich has denied any wrongdoing a 76 page criminal complaint against blagojevich includes snippets of intercepted phone calls involving the governor's alleged efforts to benefit from the senate vacancy those conversations are laced with expletives asked on 'larry king live' about his foul mouth, blagojevich said, 'had i known someone was listening, i wouldn't have used language like that for those who might have been offended, i apologize again, i didn't know you were listening' he also defended his wife, patti, saying he takes responsibility for any recordings of her using foul language because he may have rubbed off on her 'i was raised in a big city in a tough neighborhood, and when you're a kid growing up in a neighborhood like that, you would never say words like that in front of your mother but when you're out there at the schoolyard it's just sort of the thing you do,' he said 'unfortunately, you try to get rid of some of those habits; you may have left the neighborhood, but part of that neighborhood never left you' in each of his media appearances monday, blagojevich maintained his innocence he said the impeachment proceedings are unfair because he is unable to call witnesses the governor said he is the victim of political enemies who want to raise taxes in illinois asked by 'the view's' barbara walters why he doesn't step down for the sake of his state and his dignity, blagojevich said resigning would be 'the worst thing i could do' 'i'm an innocent man who has not done anything wrong and when you're wrongfully accused and you're not given the chance to properly defend yourself for me to resign would be to admit that i did something wrong, which i did not do' blagojevich said resigning also would be a way for him to 'disgrace' his children ireport: your questions for the governor 'so i'm going to fight to the finish because there's a bigger principle here and it's this: can a legislature take out a governor elected by the people two times without giving that governor a chance to confront witnesses, bring witnesses in and prove his innocence? that's what they are doing in illinois, and that's why i'm here in new york because this is much bigger than me or illinois' | kiloblock zoonotic paleographist | no related information |
(cnn) an indiana judge monday froze the assets of marcus schrenker, a suburban indianapolis financial manager who authorities say tried to fake his own death by crashing his private plane into a florida swamp marcus schrenker exited his small plane before it crashed, and investigators are looking for him, police say investigators looking into his business dealings for possible securities violations requested the temporary restraining order in hamilton county superior court, said jim gavin, spokesman for the indiana secretary of state he said the order, which also applies to schrenker's wife, michelle, and to his three companies, is aimed at protecting investors, and is related to a receivership filing he didn't elaborate heritage wealth management, heritage insurance services and icon wealth management are 'the subjects of an active investigation by the indiana securities division,' gavin said public documents list schrenker as president of heritage wealth management in fishers, indiana a search warrant related to the inquiry was served december 31, gavin said according to the herald bulletin in anderson, indiana, michelle schrenker filed for divorce in hamilton superior court on december 30 a hearing was set for february 5 schrenker, 38, took off alone sunday night in a corporate plane, a piper pa 46, from anderson, indiana, en route to destin, florida authorities said the fisher, indiana, businessman parachuted to the ground before letting the plane crash in the florida panhandle the craft came down near the blackwater river, only 50 to 75 yards from homes, said sgt scott haines of the santa rosa county sheriff's office watch more about the mysterious flight » 'it is a neighborhood some very nice waterfront property,' he said military aircraft from whiting field, which were dispatched to intercept the plane after schrenker reported an emergency, witnessed the crash about 9:15 pm ct the crews fired flares and noticed the plane's door was open and the cockpit was dark, haines said in a news release they got no response haines said the plane appeared to have been put on autopilot at around 2,000 feet, over the birmingham, alabama, area, before the pilot parachuted to the ground schrenker had contacted air traffic controllers, saying that the windshield imploded 'the pilot stated that he was bleeding profusely,' the news release said 'radio contact with the plane was not able to be established after that point when deputies located the plane at the crash site, no blood was present and the door to the plane was open' the childersburg, alabama, police department reported that schrenker approached one of its officers shortly before 2:30 am, 'and said that he had been in a canoeing accident with some friends,' a news release said childersburg is about 35 miles southeast of birmingham childersburg officers, unaware of the plane crash, took schrenker to a hotel in nearby harpersville after hearing about the crash, they went back to the hotel, where they found that schrenker had checked into the hotel under a fictitious name 'when authorities entered schrenker's room, he was not there,' the release said authorities said schrenker checked in under a fake name, put on a black cap and fled into a wooded area hotel manager yogi patel, who identified schrenker on surveillance video, told cnn that schrenker was the only guest overnight he signed in as jason galouzs of bolingbrook, illinois, patel said a hotel employee said schrenker went up to his room, but didn't enter before leaving the building ireportcom: are you near the crash site? tell us about it steve darlington, manager of anderson municipal airport, told cnn the plane was in fine condition at takeoff, and said schrenker is 'an accomplished pilot' who owns 'a couple of airplanes' and flies regularly no agency has come forward to lead the probe 'the fbi is looking into the matter, along with other agencies,' said paul draymond, of the birmingham fbi office kathleen bergen, spokeswoman for the federal aviation administration, said several factors indicated the pilot likely left the plane before the crash: a 'detailed review of radar data,' the fact that the plane was switched to autopilot before it crashed, the sighting by military jet crews and the fact that the cockpit was found mostly intact with no one inside after the pilot alerted air traffic controllers about the alleged problems with his plane, authorities tried to persuade him to land in pell city, alabama, east of birmingham, haines said schrenker also flew an acrobatic plane, and made a video featured on a youtube site a message preceding the video warns, 'no pilot should attempt this stunt you will get yourself killed pilot specially trained to fly unlimited acrobatics and shows' cnn's josh levs contributed to this report | electronarcosis coleopterous menage | no related information |
(cnn) a un official said monday that the global economic crisis is hurting efforts to clear land mines in afghanistan, one of the world's most heavily mined countries an afghan soldier inspects a land mine in herat, western afghanistan haider reza, program director of the un mine action center for afghanistan, said more than 82,000 anti personnel mines were cleared in afghanistan last year but he said the $500 million needed to meet the goal of clearing all mines by 2013 is under threat 'we are at a very critical point, and this country and people cannot afford to see a devastating situation where not much money will come,' reza said, in remarks included in a un news release more than 4 million people live in 'mine contaminated' areas in afghanistan, the un says the clearance of explosives is considered of key importance for the country's development the anti personnel mines and 900 anti tank mines cleared this past year constitute more than 20 percent of mines cleared from the country since 1989, the united nations said the ottawa convention on land mines specifies that afghanistan must be completely cleared of mines and unexploded ordnance by 2013 the afghanistan compact, the partnership between the afghan government and the international community, is calling for '70 percent of explosive infested land to be cleared by 2011' 'if the resources flow into the program, we have the technical capacity and we can do the job,' said reza, who is reaching out to new donors, such as persian gulf nations 'god forbid that the security situation throughout the country, especially in areas where we have to do the job, deteriorates to the extent that would not allow our de miners to do their job otherwise, i am very confident we will make it,' he said | $500m 2013 un afghanistan last year | $500m needed to meet the goal of clearing all mines by 2013, official says . un: 82,000 anti personnel mines were cleared in afghanistan last year . more than 4 million people live in 'mine contaminated' areas in afghanistan . un official: 'if the resources flow into the program, we can do the job' |
london, england (cnn) china executed at least 470 people last year more than any other country in the world, according to an annual report on the death penalty by the human rights group amnesty international a woman is shown being taken to her execution in beijing, china, in 2001 the group said that five countries carried out 88 percent of all known executions worldwide: china (470 people), iran (317), saudi arabia (143), pakistan (135) and the united states (42) exact figures for how many people were put to death in china are difficult to come by because the country considers the death penalty a 'state secret,' amnesty said 'as the world and olympic guests are left guessing, only the chinese authorities know exactly how many people have been killed with state authorization,' the group said last year, china reformed the way capital cases are handled, with the supreme court deciding all cases this led to a drop in the number of executions, with 'half of the cases changed to a reprieve in the end,' according to an article last week in china's state run news agency, xinhua in december, the united nations general assembly called for a global end to the death penalty but for now, the amnesty report said, many countries continued to execute people for offenses that trigger much less severe sentences in other countries in iran, for example, a father of two was stoned to death for adultery an egyptian national was beheaded in saudi arabia for practicing sorcery and a factory manager in north korea was shot by a firing squad because he appointed his children as managers and made international phone calls e mail to a friend | china iran amnesty united states | china executed at least 470 people in the last year, says human rights group . iran had second highest level of executions in 2007, amnesty says . united states recorded fifth highest number of executions, report finds |
(cnn) in the shadows of mount redoubt, alaskans are calmly waiting for the volcano to erupt an event that could occur at any time alaska's mount redoubt volcano spews ash and steam during an eruption in 1989 'the level of seismic activity' has 'increased markedly' in recent days at the 10,197 foot peak located about 100 miles southwest of anchorage, the state's most populous city, according to the alaska volcano observatory 'we don't have a crystal ball,' said peter cervelli, a research geophysicist with the observatory, which is aggressively monitoring the volcano but 'we expect based on the past behavior of this volcano that this activity is going to culminate in an eruption' the activity has consisted 'of a combination of discrete, relatively small earthquakes and periods of more continuous volcanic tremor,' cervelli said scientists raised the alert status sunday to a 'watch' level, the second highest, based on seismic activity detected january 23 popscicom: predicting eruptions the 'watch' status means the 'volcano is exhibiting heightened or escalating unrest with increased potential of eruption, time frame uncertain, or eruption is under way but poses limited hazards,' according to the us geological survey maureen burke, 29, a coffee shop manager in anchorage, said she remembers the last eruption and isn't too worried this time popscicom: prehistoric explosions wiped out ocean life and created petroleum she said living in alaska and being close to nature, residents just laugh such events off, dealing with them as they come falling ash is a potential problem the best way to protect yourself from the harmful showers of ash is to wear a mask, missy moore, 33, said as an administrator and supervisor of starbright early learning center in anchorage, moore said, 'it's really not anything to worry about just yet' popscicom: google earth environment guide if mount redoubt covers nearby cities with ash, moore said the school will adhere to the public school district's guidelines 'if the [public] school district closes schools, our school closes too the city of anchorage advises citizens to stay indoors,' moore said 'the ash can get into your engines and mess up your car' shana medcoff, 17, a barista in kenai, about 50 miles from the volcano, said residents are encouraged to buy air filters for their cars popscicom: spying on a hostile landscape mount redoubt last erupted nearly 20 years ago, in december 1989, and that lasted until april 1990 geologists think there could be an eruption 'similar to or smaller than the one that occurred in 1989 90' learn more about redoubt and its history » that eruption spread ash in kenai and anchorage, where it disrupted air traffic operations cervelli said the ash plumes caused engine failure on a jet 'it's not the closest volcano to anchorage,' cervelli said, but 'it has the potential to disrupt air traffic at anchorage' the 1989 90 volcano also spurred volcanic mudflows, or lahars, that flowed east down the drift river the ash fall was seen as far away as fairbanks and the yukon territory border the observatory has set up a web camera near the summit of the volcano and another within cook inlet it plans to do continuous visual surveillance, measure gas output and analyze satellite and weather radar data | second 10,200 foot mount redoubt about 100 miles anchorage alaska december 1989 | new: scientists raise alert level to 'watch,' the second highest state of alert . the 10,200 foot mount redoubt is about 100 miles southwest of anchorage, alaska . volcano last erupted in december 1989 . eruption could spawn huge mudflows, disrupt flights with ash |
london, england (cnn) a number of filmmakers have looked to golf for inspiration for their movies but it is not often a professional golfer does the reverse padraig harrington defends his british open championship title at turnberry, scotland in july three time major winner padraig harrington has broken the mould after experimenting with a devastating ice hockey swing as used in the cult us comedy sports film happy gilmore the film's plot centers of the fortunes of failed ice hockey player happy gilmore, played by adam sandler, who masters a powerful and dangerous slap shot which he converts to golf with devastating effect the result is that gilmore is able to whack a golf ball over 400 yards, and now irishman harrington has copied gilmore's breathtaking run and smash technique and amazingly has added an extra 30 yards to his drive! but is the spectacular swing legal? the royal and ancient (r&a), who along with the united states golf association (usga), produce and revise the rules of golf, can see no problems with the method a spokesperson at the rules department of the r&a told cnn: 'there is nothing in the rules as such to prevent the swing as performed in the film happy gilmore from being used by golfers you do not have to be standing still over the ball when playing a shot, so striking the ball with a run up is okay 'the major concern we do have is regarding the whether it fits in with the etiquette of the game as defined in the rules players must have respect for the course itself and perhaps this shot lends itself to increased likelihood of damage to the course' while harrington may not necessarily be ready to unleash the eye catching swing when he goes in search of his third consecutive british open championship title at turnberry, scotland next month, the technique may still have a place in the game dr mark smith, who is part of the golf education and research group at the university of lincoln, england, believes that, with development, the swing could become part of the range of shots used by the modern golfer 'golfers are always looking for ways to improve their game which might give them an edge on their rivals so it wouldn't surprise me if some professionals start to experiment with the swing used by happy gilmore,' smith told cnn 'one of the obvious benefits of the swing is that it allows you to generate more power and subsequently more distance on the shot as padraig harrington has shown 'certainly the scientific principles behind the swing and the technology used are credible as well, although golf is just as much about accuracy as power' dr smith does have some reservations about the possible risk of injury with the swing particularly if it is not executed properly 'the main drawback of the 'happy gilmore technique' from a physiological point of view is that it does place much more stress on the spine, lower back and the shoulders,' he added 'therefore the likelihood of injury is increased so certainly i would be cautious of amateur players rushing down to their local club and trying to copy him thinking it might drastically improve their game 'perhaps a player might use when he feels has nothing to lose in a match, but when it comes to pressure situations players tend to fall back on tried and trusted methods' certainly harrington's use of the 'happy gilmore technique' has got golf talking, but perhaps a copy of the film will not be found on the shelves next to coaching manuals just yet | padraig harrington r&a mark smith | padraig harrington experiments with swing used in movie happy gilmore . r&a confirms devastating technique is legal under the rules of golf . golf science expert dr mark smith believes method could catch on |
new delhi, india (cnn) lorna irungu sits on a hospital bed looking extremely frail she has lupus and her kidneys continue to fail lorna irungu, 35, had to travel from kenya to india to receive her third kidney transplant 'at some point i just wanted it to be over,' said irungu, 35 'i was just tired i was really, really tired of the fighting, of the struggling, of being sick' but irungu did decide to fight, with the help of a very giving family three times she has needed a kidney transplant, and three times her family members insisted on donating first her father donated, then her sister, and then her brother irungu says what she couldn't find was a doctor who would do the tricky third transplant in her own country of kenya when she checked in neighboring countries, the cost was impossibly high irungu, who's single and has no children, has no insurance so the former television host was paying for the surgery and medicines out of her own pocket 'when we looked at the price of getting things done in south africa i'm like, 'we're never gonna get there' it's $45,000 where do i even begin?' the cost of a kidney transplant in the united states can be $25,000 to $150,000, also out of irungu's price range watch more on lorna irungu's odyssey » so she began looking elsewhere, sending out e mails and making phone calls to hospitals in other countries doctors at fortis hospital in new delhi, india, were the only ones who responded to her somewhat complicated case dr vijay kher, the hospital's director of nephrology, first talked to irungu by phone 'when she called me from kenya, she was very sick,' kher said 'she had uncontrolled blood pressures, and she was having fever she had been in icu for about three weeks' but irungu made it to india once her condition was stabilized, doctors performed the third transplant, which is a rare operation in india of the 1,500 kidney transplants performed at fortis hospital, doctors remember having done only two in which the patient was having a third transplant doctors had to remove one of the previously transplanted kidneys to make room for the new kidney, kher said doctors said it was unnecessary to remove the three other kidneys because they were not causing harm and they didn't want to subject her to more surgery than was necessary even with the complications that can arise during a third transplant, the cost of it and the weeklong hospital stay in india came to about $8,000 it's a fraction of the price she was quoted elsewhere, as is the cost of the post transplant medication 'this last surgery, i keep saying, has been remarkable' irungu said 'i haven't felt as good post transplant as i did this time around' after three months in india, irungu is leaving with four kidneys inside her irungu says for now the newly transplanted kidney seems to be working great 'from my experience, the cost here and the quality of care is worth it,' irungu said 'it's worth it because instead of you sitting wherever you are, thinking, 'this is the end for me,' or just getting depressed or getting into this struggle, (you can) just pack up and go' | kenya india lorna irungu irungu | woman travels from kenya to india for a tricky third kidney transplant . lorna irungu suffers from lupus and already has received two previous transplants . one kidney was removed during the surgery to make room for the new kidney . irungu now has four kidneys, but only one works properly |
(cnn) the evidence that people are getting tired of 3 d continues to pile up the latest bad news comes from nintendo president satoru iwata, who in an interview with the independent admitted that interest in 3 d is 'perhaps slightly on the wane again' although nintendo will continue to offer 3 d in its handheld gaming devices, it won't be a major selling point, says iwata: 'so, now we've created the 3ds and 3ds xl and also have some games out there that are really using that 3 d effect that we can see, from my point of view, that it's an important element but as human beings are this kind of surprise effect wears off quickly, and just [having] this 3 d stereoscopic effect isn't going to keep people excited' iwata's view that 3 d is 'slightly on the wane' seems like an understatement you needn't look far for other signs that 3 d is failing consider the box office although studios released 19 more 3 d movies in 2011 than the year before, 3 d box office revenue fell by 18% in the us, or about $400 million, according to the motion picture association of america last month, 3 d attendance hit a record low for the opening weekend of pixar's 'brave,' with just 32% of revenues coming from 3 d, says the hollywood reporter while 'the avengers' fared better, with a little more than half of sales coming from 3 d tickets, it's not even close to the 83% 3 d revenue that 'avatar' enjoyed in december 2009 the days where you absolutely had to see a hit movie in 3 d are over the 3 d tv situation isn't much better sales of 3 d televisions are on the rise in the us according to the npd group, but only 14% of consumers who might buy a tv in the next six months say 3 d is a 'must have' feature most people just think of it as future proofing — something that might be nice to have even samsung, the world's largest tv maker, admits that 3 d tv hasn't lived up to the hype, and the company is now exalting web connected smart tvs as its next big source of growth it's easy to guess why 3 d is struggling in movies and television sets: people don't want to be burdened with 3 d glasses, or worry about eye strain, and pay a premium for the privilege but nintendo's cooling attitude toward glasses free 3 d signals a deeper problem: even once you remove the pesky glasses, the novelty of 3 d wears off that's a pretty staggering admission from a company that put the term '3d' in the name of its handheld at least with 3 d hype deflated, media and tech companies can focus on more important things samsung can put more effort into smart tv nintendo can work on adding more features and new entertainment apps to the 3ds i know this is a stretch, but maybe hollywood can stop putting out so many bad movies those all seem like better alternatives than fooling your eyes into seeing another dimension this article originally appeared on timecom: the 3 d hype bubble is now completely busted | enfatico machiavellic presubmit | no related information |
(cnn) a bus carrying chinese tourists overturned friday near hoover dam, killing at least seven people and injuring at least nine, an arizona department of public safety spokesman said authorities work on the crash scene friday on us 93 in white hills, arizona, near hoover dam the accident happened at 4 pm on us 93 at mile marker 27, about 27 miles south of hoover dam, said lt james warriner the dead lay in body bags on the roadway near the bus, which was on its side across both lanes and onto the shoulder of the highway initial reports from the scene indicated rescuers had difficulty communicating with the passengers, all of them chinese nationals five of the injured were taken to kingman regional medical center, where one was in critical condition and four were in serious condition, said ryan kennedy, executive director of operations rick plummer, a spokesman for university medical center in las vegas, said the hospital received five victims by helicopter, one who died, two in critical condition and two in serious condition watch authorities work the crash scene » the north south highway at the crash scene in white hills, arizona, was shut in both directions officials said the bus was heading from las vegas to arizona hoover dam is near the border of the two states view a map of the crash site » among the injured was a motorcyclist who was hurt avoiding the bus, said national park service spokesman andrew munoz | chinese us route 93 las vegas arizona hospital | bus passengers were chinese nationals, officials say . the dead lay in body bags on the roadway near the overturned bus . tour bus overturns on us route 93, heading from las vegas to arizona . hospital says as many as 15 victims being flown to las vegas |
london, england (cnn) police on the picturesque island of jersey in the english channel detained a 68 year old man tuesday as part of their investigation into alleged abuses at a long closed government run children's home a woman walks past the haut de la garenne children's home spokeswoman louise nibbs said the man was helping authorities with their inquiries into 'a number of historic rapes and indecent assaults' but, nibbs added, the man's detention was not 'directly related' to the haut de la garenne children's home rather, he is part of a wider inquiry into abuses that authorities are investigating, she said 'we can now also confirm that the alleged offenses in question took place in the 1960s and 1970s,' she said 'we are not able to say at this time where the offenses took place' nibbs did not release the man's name or disclose any other details the man has not been charged with a crime, nibbs said jersey is a british crown dependency, located 14 miles off the coast of normandy near france in january, police arrested another man a former warden who was charged with three counts of indecent assault on underage girls in the late 60s and early 70s the man, 76 year old gordon wateridge, has not entered a plea yet, nibbs said the announcement in january that fragments of a child's skull had been discovered under a stairwell in the building has sparked more than 160 allegations of child abuse there dating back to the 1960s, authorities say the building opened in 1867 and housed up to 60 children at any one time it underwent several renovations and closed in 1986 only to reopen as a youth hostel in 2004 possible clues to the abuse alleged to have occurred inside include writing found on a wall that 'refers to somebody being bad,' jersey deputy police chief lenny harper said in february 'we have no idea at the moment who put it there or, indeed, how long it's been there' police said much of what they found, including shackles, matches accounts given by witnesses several former residents allege they suffered physical and sexual abuse in a storeroom police suspect there could be four bricked up chambers underground several alleged victims have talked about abuse occurring in a large concrete trough in the basement, which was originally the first floor of the building in february, authorities said they had compiled 'well over 40' suspects who are alive, and a number of others who are dead the investigation has taken officials to australia, thailand, germany and the british mainland some of those who have reported abuse have taken their complaints to the news media 'there was one occasion, in the sick bay, where i was made to fondle another boy if you didn't, you were threatened you wouldn't come out alive,' said carl denning, who said he was taken to the home at the age of 5 and said one of his friends committed suicide after being raped there 'you'd go to bed at night, sleeping, and all of a sudden your arms would be held down and the next thing you know you're getting raped,' recalled peter hannaford, who spent the first 12 years of his life there 'you were subject to constant abuse it was every night, and you were scared to go to bed' stuart syvret, a local politician, told cnn the building had long been known 'as a place where young boys were punished severely, where they suffered' he alleged a 'long established culture of covering up alleged abuses' a claim the local government denies the investigation began in 2006, when police were alerted to the possibility that pedophiles had worked at the institution that led to the discovery of the skull fragment the institution housed wards of the state primarily neglected and abandoned children a remand wing housed children who had been convicted of crimes the allegations mar the carefully cultivated image the island's elite have tried to project jersey's beaches have made it a big tourist destination, and its offshore banks have made it a tax haven and a playground for the rich eleven miles long and 9 miles wide, the island is populated by about 80,000 mostly white, affluent residents heavily influenced by the french, the largely autonomous island has its own legal system and its own currency london manages only its defense and foreign policy matters e mail to a friend | jersey 68 year old haut de la garenne | jersey police say 68 year old man arrested in children's home abuse probe . man being questioned about a number of alleged rapes . more than a 100 people claim they were abused at haut de la garenne home |
(cnn) pending final approval from the centers for disease control, princeton university is preparing to provide a vaccine targeting a strain of meningitis in the wake of a campus outbreak, the school said monday the cdc was preparing to recommend that all princeton undergraduates and graduate students living in dormitories receive the vaccine, the ivy league school said in a statement other members of the university community should be vaccinated if they have conditions where the spleen is compromised or immune system disorders, the statement said the recommendations are still pending the review of the cdc's independent review board, the cdc said monday 'pending final cdc approval, the university is prepared to accept these recommendations and make arrangements to provide access to this vaccine as soon as possible,' the princeton statement said princeton has seen seven cases of meningitis, a potentially fatal illness, since march only one vaccine exists to target meningococcal bacteria known as type b, the strain that appears responsible for the outbreak this vaccine is called bexsero and is made by novartis it has not been licensed for use in the united states, but it was approved this year in europe and australia the princeton situation is the first outbreak of this strain since the vaccine was licensed in those countries the necessary doses would need one to two months to get to princeton, according to novartis spokeswoman julie masow bexsero is manufactured in italy, masow said the university would cover the cost of the vaccine for all students who receive it two doses are required to protect individuals against this rare disease princeton hopes to make the first two doses of the vaccine available in early december, and the second in february the meningococcal vaccines already available in the united states to college students would not protect them against this serogroup b bacteria the university, the new jersey department of health and the national centers for disease control and prevention are discussing options to control the outbreak, cdc spokeswoman sharon hoskins said monday before the news of the possible cdc recommendation on monday afternoon, princeton's board of trustees had met over the weekend to consider whether to offer students the vaccine on a voluntary basis princeton sophomore joshua zuckerman, a politics major, said in an e mail he hasn't seen a lot of serious worry or obsessive hygiene among his classmates, but he has observed 'an abundance of caution when it comes to sharing drinks and food' since media coverage began, the meningitis outbreak has been a hot topic of conversation, said lauren morera, a junior majoring in operations research and financial engineering morera and zuckerman both said they would take the vaccine if it becomes available 'if the vaccine is offered, i see no reason not to take it,' zuckerman said 'if the europeans and australians have claimed it is safe, i have no doubt it is so' steps to get the vaccine more decisions must be made before vaccinations can begin, said barbara reynolds, a spokeswoman for the centers for disease control and prevention last week, the us food and drug administration told the cdc it would allow for the importation of the vaccine for this limited use, the center said 'we have been allowed to have the option to import the vaccine, but the decision to vaccinate has not been made,' reynolds said 'we're in discussions' the final decision, which would come in concert with medical staff and university administrators, could be made sometime this week, reynolds said if the university gives a nod to the vaccine, another set of decisions will need to be made about how and when vaccinations will take place, reynolds said informed consent forms would also need to be approved before the vaccine could be offered to students, she said the cdc is asking the fda how quickly the vaccine can be imported into the united states and whether it will require label changes, reynolds said what is meningitis group b? there are two forms of meningitis: bacterial and viral the bacterial form is rare in the united states, and the group b bacterial strains are even more rare symptoms can include stiff neck, headache, fever, vomiting, rashes, sensitivity to light and confusion untreated, the disease can lead to complications such as hearing impairment, brain damage, limb amputations and death antibiotic treatment of the most common types of bacterial meningitis 'should reduce the risk of dying from meningitis to below 15%, although the risk remains higher among young infants and the elderly,' according to the cdc meningitis is an infection of the membranes that cover the brain and the spinal cord, known as the meninges in 2012, there were 480 cases of bacterial meningitis in the united states, according to the cdc of those, 160 were group b 'usually, when you see this kind of meningitis on the campus, it's meningitis c,' said dr william schaffner, professor of preventive medicine at vanderbilt university, in a telephone interview with cnn 'this is very, very unusual' schaffner added that, in the united states, group b meningitis typically strikes infants and only rarely adolescents and young adults though the mechanism needed for health officials to administer an unapproved vaccine in the united states is 'very elaborate,' it would be justified in this case, schaffner said 'if i were around the table with the board of trustees, i would be gently encouraging them to do this' no common link among cases the first reported case at princeton developed in a student who had returned to the campus after spring recess in march, according to the state health department two months later, after several other students and one visitor had contracted the disease, an outbreak was declared all have recovered except for the most recent case, a student who began experiencing symptoms november 8 and was taken to a hospital two days later, officials said no common link has been identified among the cases, new jersey health officials said but five cases have the same strain, according to the department, and a sixth case is similar test results on the seventh and most recent case were not yet available the disease is not wholly understood cases of meningococcal disease, including group b, have dropped in recent years to the lowest levels since the 1930s 'nobody knows why,' schaffner said and cases sometimes occur more frequently in oregon 'we've never understood that, either' the new jersey outbreak is also puzzling 'why this is occurring is not clear, but the trick everybody is working on is how to stop it, how to prevent further cases,' he said if the princeton board approves, as many as 8,000 undergraduate and graduate students at the school could be offered the vaccine meningitis can spread via the exchange of saliva and other respiratory secretions through kissing, coughing, sharing drinks and living in close quarters, such as in dormitories, according to the health department the bacteria can reside for months in the back of the throat before causing symptoms, schaffner said princeton's latest health advisory on the situation tells the university community that 'increasing hygienic practices, and not sharing drinking glasses, eating utensils, smoking materials and other items' can help prevent the spread of the disease in the meantime, classes are continuing, and so are football games per a tradition dating back to the late 1800s, princeton will celebrate this season's football victories over harvard and yale with a bonfire cnn's miriam falco, alexandra field, chris welch, tom watkins and haley draznin contributed to this report | heliological palestrae luncheonettes | no related information |
washington (cnn) texas republican congressman roger williams was especially stunned as he sat in school on november 22, 1963, and heard president john f kennedy was assassinated in dallas earlier that morning, he stood outside the fort worth hotel with his mother and shook the president's hand right before he got on a plane and flew to dallas 'i literally was the last person to shake his hand as he left the hotel,' williams told cnn he was 14 years old at the time now a 64 year old freshman member of the house of representatives, williams sat in his capitol hill office on wednesday and recounted in vivid detail the day he said he would never forget, and a moment that would later spark his own interest in public service boy who witnessed jfk assassination recalls the day 'it was pouring rain, it was cold on november 22nd,' williams said, describing the morning he headed to a breakfast for the president and the first lady at the fort worth hotel williams and his mother sat inside the ballroom with 1,000 others he told cnn he recalls seeing mrs kennedy's 'bright pink suit' and listening to the president talk about the economy, the need for a strong military, and his idea for a man to reach the moon his father, jack williams, an owner of car dealerships, was asked by his friend jim wright, the democratic congressman from the area, to supply several cars for the president's motorcade for his visit to fort worth in return for his help, williams' father asked wright if his wife and son could meet the president after the speech, he and his mother were approached by someone and ushered to the front of the hotel where jacqueline kennedy emerged 'she came around the corner in that pink dress and she shook my mother's hand and shook my hand and stood right next to me' williams said but then the 'moment:' williams says the president appeared, took a puff of his cigar, discarded it, and then grasped his mother's hand and turned to him 'he came to me and shook my hand and did not let it go, and looked back at my mother and said 'it was a pleasure to meet your son' ' kennedy then left for dallas 50 years on, the enduring lessons of jfk's presidency williams remembers wanting to know what kind of shoes the president of the united states would wear, and inspected them that morning, describing them as 'black cat toe shoes' after he met kennedy, his mother took him to school later as he sat in latin class, the principal handed his teacher a note, and williams watched as his teacher's head fell to his desk and he wept 'i couldn't fathom it frankly because i had just seen him an hour and half ago,' williams said the texas republican said after kennedy was killed 'the world changed' his generation was never the same and the country shifted from a 'happy society' to one that experienced a series of events like the shootings at kent state and the assassination of robert kennedy an emotional williams told cnn, 'john kennedy he touched my heart and soul' jfk assassination a collective memory for american children though he's now an ideological opposite of the democratic president he praised and admired, williams said meeting kennedy was part of his journey to run for office 'it eventually empowered me to do something for my country, like he did,' recalling kennedy's famous line from his inauguration speech, 'ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country' williams played baseball for the atlanta braves after college but after an injury, he followed his father into the car business, running a string of dealerships in texas he became involved in politics when george w bush served as governor of texas he later served as texas secretary of state under gov rick perry 5 things you might not know about jfk's assassination he admits his conservative leanings differ from jfk's, but williams believes he has a lot in common politically with things kennedy pushed in office, citing tax cuts, a strong military, and a message that the us is the dominant world power kennedy's great nephew, massachusetts democratic rep joe kennedy iii, was elected in the same class as williams the congressman told cnn he's talked to kennedy about other experiences but never what it was like to meet his great uncle that day 50 years ago after telling his story of november 22, 1963, he said, 'i think i'm going to reach out to him and just kind of let him know my story' | texas williams fort worth john kennedy | 'i literally was the last person to shake his hand as he left the hotel,' texas congressman recalls . williams' father had lent cars from his dealership for presidential motorcade through fort worth . in return, williams and his mother got to meet the president and first lady . 'john kennedy he touched my heart and soul,' and emotional williams says |
london (cnn) keepers at london zoo are 'distraught' after a newborn tiger cub the first sumatran tiger born there for 17 years drowned in a pool at its enclosure the animal was born to five year old first time mom melati just three weeks ago, and its arrival was greeted with huge excitement and celebration at the zoo, where experts were 'over the moon' about the birth but on saturday, keepers raised the alarm when they could no longer see the young tiger on cameras inside its den; a search of the enclosure revealed the animal's body it is thought melati carried the cub out into the paddock area of the zoo's 'tiger territory,' where it fell into the pond and drowned 'we're heartbroken by what's happened,' said london zoo's malcolm fitzpatrick melati is said to be a very nervous tiger who prefers routine, and experts at the zoo had opted to allow her full access to the whole enclosure fearing that any changes to her environment might cause her to injure or abandon her cub 'at the time we thought it was in the best interests of melati and her cub to allow her continued access to the full enclosure as normal,' fitzpatrick said 'we didn't want to put her on edge by changing her surroundings or routines, in case she abandoned or attacked the cub' london zoo is to carry out a full review of the circumstances which led to the cub's death 'we would do anything to turn back the clock, and nobody could be more upset about what's happened than the keepers who work with the tigers every day,' said fitzpatrick they are devoted to those tigers and are distraught' the zoo had kept melati's pregnancy a secret for about 105 days before her cub was born on september 22 hidden cameras were installed in her enclosure to keep watch over her throughout, and the speedy birth, which lasted just six minutes, was also caught on video | london zoo three week old sumatran 17 years | keepers 'heartbroken' as tiger cub found dead in enclosure at london zoo . newborn animal believed to have drowned in pond after mother carried it outside . three week old cub was first sumatran tiger to be born at zoo in 17 years |
baghdad, iraq (cnn) at least 41 people were killed and 106 others wounded monday in a suicide bombing that targeted shiite pilgrims in northeastern baghdad, iraq's interior ministry said the female bomber detonated her explosive vest in the middle of a procession of pilgrims in boob al sham, in a predominantly shiite area of the iraqi capital, according to an interior ministry official the detonation took place in a tent set up to search females, according to the baghdad operations command three volunteer female searchers were among those killed the attack took place amid tight security as thousands of shiite worshipers are making their way to the holy city of karbala, south of baghdad, to mark the arbaeen the end of the 40 day mourning period at the close of ashura ashura commemorates the martyrdom of hussein, the grandson of the prophet mohammed who was killed in battle in karbala in 680 ad that event helped create the schism between sunnis and shiites, the two main muslim religious movements there have been a number of roadside bomb and grenade attacks on pilgrims over the past few days iraqi officials have warned of attacks during the pilgrimage ahead of national elections on march 7 cnn's jomana karadsheh contributed to this report | aeolia shikra preadapted | no related information |
(cnn) if you're looking to unload your current iphone or other smartphone, now's the time beating the potentially millions of folks who will be buying a new iphone and selling their old one could put more money in your pocket with apple virtually certain to announce a release date for the next generation iphone next week, lots of current iphone owners (always an excitable bunch) are no doubt counting down the minutes and wondering what to do with their current phones while some retailers offer discounts for a trade in (radio shack was offering $100 for some previous models when the iphone 4 was released), apple stores and their designated carriers generally don't give back as much cash, or credit, as an owner might earn outside the store but a growing online resell market has emerged to give folks another option between now and monday, the day before apple has scheduled an iphone related event, one of those sites, nextworth, is offering $250 for 16gb and 32gb iphone 4s that are in good shape the company, which also has trade in programs at some retail stores, bills itself as a way to get value out of your aging electronics while keeping the products out of landfills, where they can cause environmental problems the services wipe all data from your phone as soon as they get it, they say nextworth, and others like them, refurbish used electronics and resell them in the case of items like the iphone, they sell them in countries where the items are typically unavailable, presumably bringing a healthier price gazellecom is offering $250 for a 32gb iphone 4 in 'flawless' condition and $169 for one in good condition got a busted model? it'll give you $85 for one even if it won't turn on or is physically damaged of course, there are always the direct sale sites like ebay and craigslist you might earn more in exchange for the hassle of posting, selling and delivering the phone yourself folks were selling 32gb iphone 4s on ebay on friday for prices ranging from $245 to $634 in atlanta, people had listed 32gb iphone 4s for prices ranging from $290 to $450 (we're using prices on that model because it's the top of the line older phones, like the 3gs, and 16gb and 8gb models obviously have a market as well, generally at lower prices) of course, the low effort way to deal with a phone upgrade is to buy the new one at full price and just hold on to your current model even retired, your current phone can be a music player or internet surfing device when you have a wi fi connection | nextworth up to $250 ebay craigslist ipod | as iphone 5 nears, resell market for current models emerges . sites like gazelle, nextworth offer up to $250 for used iphone 4s . there's always ebay, craigslist, etc price might be better, but it takes more work . worst case, you can always make your current phone an ipod and wi fi web device |
washington (cnn) democratic presidential front runner sen hillary clinton is being taken to task by her two closest rivals for accepting $400,000 in campaign contributions from washington lobbyists sen hillary clinton dismissed criticism that she took money from lobbyists, saying it would not influence her over the weekend, clinton was booed by an audience of liberal bloggers in chicago when she defended taking money from washington lobbyists, something both sen barack obama and former sen john edwards have vowed not to do 'i don't think, based on my 35 years fighting for what i believe in, anybody seriously believes i'm going to be influenced by a lobbyist or a particular interest group,' clinton said 'a lot of these lobbyists, whether you like it or not, represent real americans they actually do they represent nurses, they represent social workers yes, they represent corporations that employ a lot of people' the former first lady said that she welcomed the debate on the issue 'i've been waiting for this this gives us a real sense of reality with my being here,' clinton said, prompting a loud rumble from the audience at a candidates' forum sponsored by the daily kos edwards' response was to ask, 'how many people in this room have a washington lobbyist working for you?' 'you are not represented by washington lobbyists we need to cut these people off,' he said, to cheers however, while eschewing contributions from washington lobbyists, edwards has accepted about $10,000 in contributions from lobbyists in his home state of north carolina, according to the center for responsive politics the edwards campaign said there is no inconsistency because his pledge did not extend to lobbyists representing local interests monday, the edwards campaign also said it would return a $4,600 donation from the credit suisse bank, which is registered to lobby in washington according to the center for responsive politics, lobbyists actually provide less campaign cash than political action committees or donors directly affiliated with large corporate interests 'but they do get a lot of attention because it's very easy to point at them and say, well, these are the special interests, these are the people who most represent these big moneyed interests that are trying to influence policy,' said massie ritsch, a spokesman for the center and while the grassroots interests of many ordinary americans are represented by washington lobbyists, as clinton noted, some political experts think that could be a hard case for her make stu rothenberg of the rothenberg political report said that while clinton is making an 'analytical argument' about the way the political system works, edwards 'is simply getting the emotional advantage of portraying her as somebody who is close to lobbyists and big business and the establishment' e mail to a friend | wolfskin obviative piation | no related information |
(cnn) president obama's economic stimulus plan cleared its first hurdle, but it was hardly the bipartisan victory he hoped for not a single house republican broke ranks to support it the stimulus bill now moves to the senate, where gop members want less spending and more tax cuts in fact, 11 democrats also voted against the $819 billion package but a win is a win, and so the white house strategy is to take the long view: maybe the senate will take out more of the controversial pork projects and tweak the tax cuts to win over more republicans the full senate will vote on its version next week should the senate and house pass different versions, the two bills would have to be conferenced together then both chambers would have to vote on the new conference version in the coming weeks watch what's next for the stimulus » 'i do think it is so important that we slow this bill down in order to do it right,' said sen kay bailey hutchison, r texas senate gop sources report that there is a 'real split' in the gop caucus about the best way to proceed in the wake of wednesday's vote in the house the sources say sen mitch mcconnell, the senate minority leader, wants a 'smaller, narrower' bill another group of republicans including sen john mccain of arizona and sen susan collins of maine is working to craft a larger package that would include more infrastructure spending generally, the sources say, the party is looking for more concessions from the white house on spending the senate has already made some changes in its version of the bill, which is approaching $900 billion the senate finance committee added about $70 billion to fix the alternative minimum tax, which was intended to place a tax on the wealthy but now hits many middle class families the senate bill adds more direct money for seniors, with a plan to send $300 checks to social security recipients and disabled veterans smaller changes in the senate version include $108 million to extend worker retraining programs and a provision to block any taxes on the first $2,400 of unemployment benefits aides say housing relief is also going to be a big issue for some republican senators the main concerns are similar to those of their house counterparts they want more tax cuts and less spending 'we look forward to offering amendments to improve this critical legislation and move it back to the package president obama originally proposed 40 percent tax relief, no wasteful spending and a bipartisan approach,' mcconnell said obama has made it clear that he's not willing to budge on some of the big ticket items, like how the tax cuts are structured the version passed in the house is two thirds spending and one third tax cuts much of the $550 billion in spending is divided among these areas: $142 billion for education, $111 billion for health care, $90 billion for infrastructure, $72 billion for aid and benefits, $54 billion for energy, $16 billion for science and technology and $13 billion for housing those opposed to the bill say it includes too much wasteful spending, pointing to things like $335 million in funding for education on sexually transmitted diseases and $650 million for digital tv coupons watch why some say there's too much pork » a growing number of republicans and democrats say measures such as those don't create jobs the democratic rationale is that healthier americans will be more productive and on the millions for digital television coupons, the hope is that money will go to new call centers explaining how the technology works 'there's something in there for literally every interest it's a pent up wish list of spending programs that many around here have wanted to implement for a really long time,' said sen john thune, r south dakota congressional leaders did drop some of the controversial provisions, like one that provided $200 million worth of contraceptives to low income families obama personally called some house democratic leaders to urge them to remove the family planning provision in hopes of winning bipartisan support the white house is hoping that some republicans will come on board in the senate, where there already has been a little more compromise and a greater sense of bipartisanship some house republicans have left the door open to being more receptive to changes made on the senate side, and then perhaps voting yes if they get those changes when the final bill comes up for a vote david gergen, a senior political analyst for cnn, said that while there will be disagreements, some version will likely pass in the coming weeks 'i think both sides are approaching this with some qualms, but they also feel especially the democrats feel they have no choice the economy is in urgent need to be addressed with a stimulus package,' he said 'we have got a very popular president they're going to support him and go forward and this package is going to pass a version of this package is going to pass here in the next two or three weeks' the president hopes to have the plan passed by congress and on his desk for signing by mid february cnn's jim acosta, lisa desjardins, gloria borger, ed henry, kristi keck and brianna keilar contributed to this report | microscopal semiglobe slavi | no related information |
london, england steve forbes has fired floyd mayweather jr's uncle ahead of his may 3 clash with oscar de la hoya and replaced him as trainer with another member of the flamboyant world boxing council welterweight champion's family floyd mayweather jr was furious that his uncle was training his former sparring partner steve forbes mayweather was furious that his father roger was training forbes for a fight which could scupper his own hopes of a lucrative rematch with de la hoya, who he beat by a split decision last may in the richest fight in boxing history forbes moved quickly to hire jeff mayweather, roger's younger brother, after hearing floyd air his grievances in the media 'i asked roger not to train forbes,' mayweather said during a conference call to promote his foray into wrestling at wwe's wrestlemania 24 on march 30 'i'm upset with my uncle roger i disapprove of roger if he continues to train forbes, i have to get another trainer 'it's taking money out of my pocket i told him on numerous occasions not to train steve forbes and he's training him at my gym 'he's taking money out his own mouth forbes is making $1 million, so he's jeopardizing (the trainer's share of) $80,000 for millions i could get him that a ton of times over again hopefully it will be worth it' forbes had been working with mayweather for only three weeks 'i thought it was funny trainers should be able to train anyone they want but it didn't really surprise me i just wondered why it didn't happen three or four weeks ago when my fight with oscar was announced' 'steve's a pro, and it doesn't bother him,' jeff wald, forbes' promoter, told the associated press 'he respects the mayweather family, and he's trained with all three brothers, so it's not going to be a problem' forbes has previously been trained by roger, jeff and floyd mayweather sr, who has been estranged from his world champion son for years, and sparred with mayweather jr 'it's more (a problem) with floyd because he is roger's boss he pays him a nice salary,' forbes said 'i'm not upset with roger this is just another little story to my story it doesn't affect me one bit but it's just bizarre' floyd sr has trained de la hoya for all of his recent fights except the bout against his son last year but has said he might cross that line for the rematch 'i may have to pay my dad more than oscar is paying him,' floyd jr said the 31 year old mayweather, considered pound for pound the best boxer in the world, has not fought since knocking out britain's previously unbeaten ricky hatton in las vegas in december e mail to a friend | insitiency patroclus relicmonger | no related information |
washington (cnn) ready for your super bowl party? sure, you have drinks, hot wings, maybe even a favorite jersey but do you have an m 16, a kevlar helmet and body armor? pittsburgh steelers fan sheresa coleman will watch the super bowl from the uss mahan in the gulf of aden not everybody is watching the game from the comfort of the family den hundreds of thousands of us troops will be deployed in remote war zones, on lonely oceans and at overseas bases all far away from an nbc affiliate so the military is going out of its way to make sure that many soldiers, marines, airmen and sailors can watch super bowl xliii live 'super bowl day has really become a holiday, military wise, over the last couple years,' said petty officer 1st class grant shannon shannon is from a town about an hour north of pittsburgh, pennsylvania, but is on board the uss mahan, a destroyer deployed to stop pirates working off the coast of somalia when they finish their duties, sailors like shannon can head to the ship's mess to watch the pittsburgh steelers take on the arizona cardinals the same is true for soldiers, marines and airmen in combat zones 'we can broadcast to every forward operating base in iraq and afghanistan,' said andreas friedrich, the deputy director of armed forces radio and television services, which has been sending the super bowl to troops overseas since the first super bowl, broadcasting it live since 1981 watch how troops will be able to watch big game » all told, about 1 million american military personnel and civilians overseas will be able to watch the big game some of those watching will be benefiting from the same technology that makes predator unmanned aerial vehicle missions possible a global broadcast system will beam the game to ships and submarines far out in the pacific ocean gbs is how pilots in the united states can watch and fly an unmanned vehicle over a battlefield halfway around the world, and then feed what they see to the battlefield commanders on the ground below raytheon, the company that runs the system, will use one of its video channels to feed the game to several us navy submarines and ships in the pacific tens of thousands of sailors will be able to see the game via gbs, which first broadcast a super bowl in 2003, according to guy dubois of raytheon 'it's a pretty amazing feeling, when you get to do that, to watch it on the ship and knowing that everybody else is back home having a good time, just like we will be,' said petty officer 3rd class ryan wright, a cardinals fan from arizona wright is on board the uss san antonio, an amphibious transport dock that is part of the anti piracy task force a steelers fan on board the uss mahan agrees 'it would be nice to be home and watch the game in my hometown,' said seaman sheresa coleman of pittsburgh 'but it's a great honor to support and defend the constitution of the united states' one thing wright and the other overseas super bowl viewers will miss is the legendary super bowl commercials friedrich said the armed forces radio and television services would have had to pay high fees for the rights to broadcast the super bowl commercials to an international audience instead, the multimillion dollar ads that some people consider the best part of the game will be pre empted in favor of department of defense produced ads and public service messages still, even without seeing football playing clydesdales or movie shilling monsters, those in uniform appreciate being part of america's unofficial midwinter holiday 'we have lots of sailors and marines on board who have followed the season,' said cmdr eric cash, the commander of the uss san antonio 'any time we can enjoy some traditional american sports like the super bowl, it's always a great time for us, a good mental break and also a good time for people to get together and socialize' just like home but you have to wonder does the ship's galley have nachos or pigs in a blanket? | american department of defense super bowl the pacific ocean | about 1 million american military personnel, civilians overseas could catch game . troops get department of defense ads instead of super bowl commercials . global broadcast system will beam game to ships, submarines in the pacific ocean . 'it's always a great time for us, a good mental break,' commander says of game |
(wired) few games live up to 11 years of anticipation, but 'starcraft ii's' slick upgrades mean the sequel's got a shot at midnight july 27, blizzard switched on the servers for 'starcraft ii: wings of liberty' the original 'starcraft,' released in 1998, became an overnight success, selling 15 million copies in its first year on the way to more than 11 million copies sold in its lifetime a decade on, the sci fi game which pits human terrans against alien zerg and protoss races in a real time strategy war that spans the galaxy is still revered for its precise balance and easy to learn, hard to master game mechanics 'starcraft' became especially popular in south korea, where professional players can earn upward of $100,000 a year and expert matches get televised nationwide at first glance, it seems blizzard has taken an if it ain't broke approach to 'starcraft ii's' gameplay the biggest improvements to the single player campaign have been in the presentation in the original game, you were simply flung from one mission to the next with nothing but a short mission briefing, or perhaps a brief cinematic scene once in a blue moon in the sequel, you spend your downtime hanging out inside the spaceship owned by series protagonist jim raynor inside raynor's ship, you can spend the money you make from missions on upgrades for your army many upgrades consist of simple stat enhancements, but some unlock new abilities for your units it's a fun way of introducing rpg elements that provides a tangible feeling of progression another change from the original 'starcraft': you can now choose the order in which you tackle certain missions it's not as if you have complete freedom: you will usually be presented with two missions to choose from this means the game follows a branching storyline of sorts, although so far i have always been able to go back and complete missions i skipped optional objectives within the missions themselves range from rescuing oppressed villagers to collecting a number of doodads strewn across the map this idea is very similar to blizzard's 2002 game 'warcraft iii' (the last real time strategy game the company released) the rewards are usually worth the trouble if you rescue hapless villagers, they'll join your ranks if you collect doodads, you'll be given more money with which to upgrade your units eleven years of technological progress means 'starcraft ii's' storytelling methods aren't as primitive as they were in 1998 the first 'starcraft' employed mid mission dialogue, but the animation was limited to a few pictures of talking heads 'starcraft ii,' on the other hand, benefits from the fully rendered cinematic scenes we've come to expect of modern gaming these scenes are excellent: the facial expressions, character movement, sound direction and art design all come together to make a gripping plot, at least from what i've seen so far it helps that blizzard boasts some of the best artists in the business 'starcraft ii' might be somewhat low tech compared to graphics juggernauts like crysis or metro 2033, but because of its excellent art direction, it is arguably more visually appealing than either of those games 'starcraft ii' uses a wide range of colors, and the attention to detail on things like marines' mechanized moving parts or the fluorescent glow of laser beams is spectacular as well i haven't yet played 'starcraft ii's' final multiplayer mode, but i did play a great deal of the multiplayer beta and came away impressed blizzard's overhaul of its classic battlenet service is geared toward helping strategy newbies become competent, offering an array of challenges designed to teach important multiplayer skills 'starcraft ii' is a long time coming, and with fans currently caught in the throes of launch ecstasy, it's still too early to tell if it will ultimately prove to be worth the wait but based on my first impressions, it would have to screw up pretty hard to not be subscribe to wired magazine for less than $1 an issue and get a free gift! click here! copyright 2010 wiredcom | starcraft starcraft ii | original 'starcraft' sold 15 million copies in first year and over 11 million in its lifetime . biggest improvements to single player campaign have been in the presentation . 'starcraft ii' uses wide range of colors and the attention to detail is spectacular |
(cnn) a rash of inclement weather shut down dallas fort worth international airport tuesday morning, raising questions as to whether super bowl fans will face travel problems ahead of sunday's big game icy road conditions on tuesday forced schools and some government offices to close, while 60 municipal trucks salted and scraped their way through dallas, texas, said mayoral spokesman frank librio but forecasters expect the blustery winter weather to leave the region and much of the country by thursday, just as the first wave of pigskin enthusiasts are due to arrive 'we have been planning for this for a whole year,' librio said of sunday's match up between the green bay packers and pittsburgh steelers 'we'll be ready' both teams and their fans are cold weather clubs, accustomed to the frozen tundra of lambeau field in green bay, wisconsin, and heinz field in pittsburgh, pennsylvania ireport: planning for a super bowl road trip? but as a massive winter storm sweeps across the nation's heartland, up to 500 dallas flights are expected to be canceled, said airport spokesman david magana, making re bookings difficult for those with early travel plans with more than 30 states under winter storm warnings or blizzard warnings, air traffic came to a halt in some places dallas and houston in texas and chicago, illinois, are feeling the most impact, said faa spokeswoman tammy jones transport personnel had reopened one runway at dallas fort worth airport by tuesday afternoon, authorities said meanwhile, dallas love field airport was down to one open runway, according to the faa forecasters say the sub freezing temperatures will let up friday, reaching highs of 42 degrees but super bowl xlv, scheduled to begin sunday at 6:30pm et, is expected to draw thousands of fans to the texan gridiron in search of warmer weather forecasters say dallas temperatures will bump up to a high of 61 degrees by game day while not exactly balmy conditions, the warm weather super bowl tradition could more abruptly end three years from now the new meadowlands stadium, co owned by the new york giants and jets, won the bid to host super bowl xlviii in east rutherford, new jersey fans may be forced to don winter gloves underneath their foam fingers in what could be the nation's first true cold weather classic in 2014 the big game is customarily played in either domed stadiums or warm weather states the 1967 'ice bowl,' in which the packers edged out a 21 17 win over the dallas cowboys, was played in frigid temperatures at lambeau field in the 35th national football league championship game green bay then traveled to los angeles to defeat the kansas city chiefs 35 10 in the very first super bowl | dallas super bowl winter thursday tuesday 61 degrees | icy weather in dallas is raising questions over whether super bowl fans will face travel problems . forecasters expect the blustery winter weather to leave the region by thursday . up to 500 dallas flights are expected to be canceled tuesday, airport officials said . forecasters say dallas temperatures will bump up to a high of 61 degrees by game day |
london, engand (cnn) the experience of minority and coalition governments worldwide shows the advantages and risks for the uk as the conservative and liberal democrat parties build an alliance that can command a parliamentary majority following an election that produced no clear winner some people in britain, including conservative leader david cameron, had feared that a hung parliament would leave the country with a government too weak to be able to cut its massive deficit, potentially sparking panic on financial markets cameron's party have been most vocal on the need to slash public spending quickly to help reduce the deficit, while labour strategists argue huge cuts in spending over a short period would slow recovery william hague, the new foreign secretary, told reporters after the weekend talks with the lib dems that 'the central part of any agreement will be economic stability and a reduction of the budget deficit' but many countries where voting systems regularly produce minority or coalition governments seem to manage their economies perfectly adequately and some calmer westminster and city voices have pointed out that britain managed to run its affairs during world war ii with a coalition government germany, europe's largest economy, is perhaps the best example of a country with a long tradition of stable coalition administrations chancellor angela merkel currently leads a coalition between the conservative christian democrats (cdu), its bavarian sister party, the christian social union (csu) and the liberal free democrats (fdp) though this has come under strain recently as a result of merkel's support for a huge financial rescue plan for greece grand coalitions between the two largest parties also occur, but these are relatively rare discussions between parties often take place prior to an election because of a general acceptance that no one party is capable of an outright majority this is seen as a key factor in helping to make a coalition stable coalition and minority governments are also the norm in much of scandinavia where elections nearly always result in protracted discussions between two or more parties over the composition of the next government canada has had a conservative minority government led by pm stephen harper since 2006, and is opposed by center left liberals and left wing new democrats harper's conservative party was formed following a merger of the center right progressive conservative and right wing canadian alliance parties in a 2008 election, he increased his party's representation but must still govern as a minority administration, with just 143 out of 308 seats in ireland, no single party has ruled since 1989 coalitions are typically formed by one of the two biggest parties, fianna fáil and fine gael, and one or more of the smaller parties the current ruling alliance between brian cowen's fianna fáil and the greens has endured despite the country's ailing economy belgium's experience has been less positive its political system is organized around the need to represent the main cultural communities: flemish or dutch speaking flanders in the north, french speaking wallonia in the south and the german speaking cantons in the east this has often resulted in a weak coalition government, with a number of parties vying for control last month prime minister yves leterme was forced to resign after a flemish liberal party withdrew from the five party coalition government after a dispute over electoral boundaries around the nation's capital, brussels bizarrely brussels is the only electoral district where votes are not cast purely on linguistic lines belgium's political system insists that you can't vote for a french speaking party in flanders and vice versa italy also has a history of fractious coalitions, with 61 governments taking office since 1945 its political landscape has been characterized by chronic squabbling between numerous parties across the political spectrum, which has thwarted attempts to form stable governments and reform its political system elsewhere in the world, israel has always been governed by alliances between its various parties, with power traditionally alternating between a center right led likud government in coalition with several right wing and religious parties and periods of rule by the center left labor in coalition with several left wing parties | britain labour conservatives liberal democrats conservative germany | fears in britain that a hung parliament will leave the country with a weak government . labour and conservatives have been negotiating with liberal democrats to form coalition . economic stability key to any agreement, according to senior conservative lawmaker . germany has a history of successful and stable coalition governments |
(cnn) a trial date has been set for may for an alabama man accused of killing his new bride during their honeymoon in australia david gabriel 'gabe' watson is scheduled to face murder and kidnapping charges on may 23 in an alabama courtroom, court officials said he has pleaded not guilty to the charges australian media dubbed watson 'the honeymoon killer' after his 26 year old wife, tina, died october 22, 2003, while the two were diving at a historic shipwreck off the great barrier reef the incident occurred about 9,000 miles from birmingham, alabama, where the couple had married 11 days earlier watson returned to the united states after his wife's death and, five years later, remarried in that same year, 2008, he pleaded guilty in australia to criminally negligent manslaughter he finished his sentence there in early november and was subsequently held in immigration detention then, in late november, watson was arrested in los angeles after a grand jury in alabama indicted watson on two counts murder for pecuniary gain and kidnapping where a felony occurred, authorities said those charges are based on the premise that watson hatched the plot to kill his wife while in alabama watson's lawyers have contended that authorities in alabama manipulated a grand jury to get an indictment against their client the lawyers have claimed that authorities based the indictment on testimony from tina watson's immediate family and a sole helena, alabama, investigator, saying of the witnesses 'none could offer more than emotional testimony and hearsay' the doctrine of double jeopardy which says that a person cannot be tried or punished twice for the same crime does not apply in watson's case, according to established legal precedent, legal experts have said double jeopardy does not apply because two separate sovereigns, a state government and a foreign government, were seeking to prosecute, said john lentine, a birmingham criminal defense attorney and law school professor australian authorities investigated tina watson's death for years, according to inquest findings in june 2008 townsville, queensland, coroner david glascow pressed for charges after determining that the drowning couldn't be deemed accidental according to the inquest, watson told glascow that his new bride appeared to panic while 45 feet underwater in the reef, 42 miles off the coast of townsville but glascow cited inconsistencies in watson's statements, saying that investigators found that 'some of gabe's explanations lacked credibility' glascow noted that tina watson's father, in a sworn statement, said watson asked her to maximize her life insurance and make him a beneficiary shortly before their wedding the insurance company confirmed watson asked about his wife's insurance policy after her death, according to the coroner watson's attorneys have said that their client pleaded guilty in australia only 'for failing to rescue his wife (because) he merely did not do enough to save her' | david gabriel 'gabe' watson tina 2003 the great barrier reef watson alabama | david gabriel 'gabe' watson faces murder and kidnapping charges . his then wife, tina, died in 2003 while the two were diving near the great barrier reef . watson's attorneys have said alabama authorities 'manipulated a grand jury' |
(cnn) mychal bell, a black teenager accused of beating a white classmate and who was the last of the 'jena 6' behind bars, was released from custody thursday after a juvenile court judge set his bail at $45,000 supporters surround mychal bell on thursday after his release at the lasalle parish courthouse bell's release followed an announcement from lasalle parish district attorney reed walters, who said he would not appeal a higher court's decision moving bell's case to juvenile court wearing a blue striped golf shirt and jeans, bell walked out of the lasalle parish courthouse a week after an estimated 15,000 plus demonstrators marched through jena a town of about 3,000 to protest local authorities' handling of the teens' case 'we do not condone violence of any kind, but we ask that people be given a fair and even chance at the bar of justice,' the rev al sharpton said outside the courthouse 'tonight, mychal can go home, but mychal is not out of the juvenile process he goes home because a lot of people left their home and stood up for him,' he said 'let america know we are not fighting for the right to fight in school we're not fighting for the right for kids to beat each other we're fighting to say that there must be one level of justice for everybody and you cannot have adult attempted murder for some, and a fine for others, and call that equal protection under the law two wrongs don't make one civil right' demonstrators at last week's march were protesting how authorities handled the cases of bell and five other teens accused of beating fellow student justin barker many said they were angry that the students, dubbed the jena 6, were being treated more harshly than three white students who hung nooses from an oak tree on jena high school property the white students were suspended from school but did not face criminal charges the protesters said they should have been charged with a hate crime bell's attorney lewis scott said the teen was moved from jail to a juvenile facility earlier thursday walters said his decision not to appeal was based on what he believed was best for the victim in the case 'while i believe that a review would have merit i believe it is in the best interest of the victim and his family not to delay this matter any further and move it to its conclusion,' walters told reporters watch the rev al sharpton discuss the teen's release » he said last week's march, which included sharpton and martin luther king iii, did not influence his decision bell, now 17, was the only one of the jena 6 behind bars his bond previously was set at $90,000 a district judge earlier this month tossed out bell's conviction for conspiracy to commit second degree battery, saying the matter should have been handled in juvenile court the 3rd circuit court of appeal in lake charles, louisiana, did the same with bell's battery conviction in mid september prosecutors originally charged all six black students accused of being involved in beating barker with second degree attempted murder and conspiracy walters reduced charges against at least four of them bell, robert bailey jr, carwin jones and theo shaw to battery and conspiracy bryant purvis awaits arraignment charges against jesse ray beard, who was 14 at the time of the alleged crime, are unavailable because he's a juvenile wednesday, gov kathleen blanco announced that louisiana state police officers will protect the families of the jena 6 and investigate any threats they have received a white supremacist web site posted the names and addresses of the six black teens after last week's march, calling on followers to 'let them know justice is coming' thursday, the fbi said it had been made aware of allegations of threats 'threats are taken seriously, and as these investigations are ongoing we cannot comment further,' said sheila thorne of the fbi's office in new orleans, louisiana the december 4 attack on barker came after months of racial tension, including at least two instances of fighting in the town, sparked originally when three white teens hung the nooses walters has said there was no direct link between the hanging of the nooses and the schoolyard attack, and defended the prosecutions ahead of last thursday's peaceful march blanco defended the prosecutor wednesday, saying, 'he has a solid record and is highly respected among his peers' walters also addressed the stress and notoriety the town has been subjected to, saying the only way he and other residents 'have been able to endure the trauma that has been thrust upon us is through the prayers of the christian people who have sent them up in this community' he also suggested that some kind of 'disaster' was averted when thousands of marchers came to jena last week 'i firmly believe and am confident of the fact that had it not been for the direct intervention of the lord jesus christ last thursday, a disaster would have happened,' walters said 'the lord jesus christ put his influence on those people, and they responded accordingly,' he said, without explaining exactly what he meant soon after the district attorney spoke, a local reverend took issue with his comments 'obviously, we are serving two different gods here,' the rev donald sidley said 'my bible says that we should do we should be loving, love your neighbor as yourself 'for him to try and separate the community like he is and then using christ jesus to influence the people that jesus is working on their side, well, that's that's absurd god is god of the human race,' said sidley, of the new evergreen church e mail to a friend | bell 45,000 justin barker | bell released from custody after juvenile court judge sets bail at $45,000 . prosecutor won't appeal ruling in bell case . bell and five other black teens are accused of beating white student justin barker . beating followed white students hanging nooses from a tree on school grounds |
(cnn student news) october 22, 2013 several years after he signed it, president obama's health care reform law remains a topic of intense debate in tuesday's program, cnn student news explores the history of this law and the controversy surrounding it plus, we examine some of the science behind hurricane season, and we consider how smog affects cities in china and mexico 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: what challenges might the news media face in covering a wide ranging, controversial piece of legislation? how might they address these challenges? key concepts: identify or explain these subjects you heard about in today's show: 1 health insurance 2 hurricane season 3 smog fast facts: how well were you listening to today's program? 1 what problems have been associated with the enrollment website for the affordable care act (obamacare)? what different perspectives do elected officials have on these problems? 2 when does hurricane season officially end? how does the number of hurricanes so far this year compare to that of previous years? 3 what is unique about the mexico city hospital building described in today's program? discussion questions: 1 what do you know about the debate over obamacare? who do you think might be in favor of this health care reform law? who do you think might oppose it? what are your thoughts on obamacare? what do you think are some possible outcomes for the future of this law? 2 why do you think that meteorologists identify an annual hurricane 'season'? what might be the benefits and drawbacks of doing so, if hurricanes can form at any time? 3 why do you think officials in places like harbin, china and mexico city are concerned about smog? how do you think polluted areas could address the issue? what challenges might come with addressing it? 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: asia harbin, china north america mexico city 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 | precelebrant fourfold christened | no related information |
(cnn) as an athlete, i enjoy competition but there is a battle happening off the field that is more important: the fight to end polio this fight is personal to me i grew up in nigeria, where i contracted polio at the age of 3 it was tough being the only kid on the playground in a wheelchair for years i watched the other kids play, and when i tried to participate, they moved away from me thanks to the encouragement of my father, i persevered after a lot of hard work and practice, i eventually regained full mobility in my right leg and have gone on to compete in track and field in the paralympics no child should have to go through what i did, especially when we have a vaccine to prevent it yet today, polio continues to cripple children in some parts of the world there is good news polio is more than 99% eliminated worldwide, and there are fewer cases than ever before in 1988, 125 countries were fighting polio, and more than 350,000 children contracted the disease each year today, we have fewer than 200 cases, and polio remains endemic in just three countries: nigeria, pakistan and afghanistan as we commemorate world polio day on wednesday, eradication is within reach why polio hasn't gone away yet this progress did not happen by accident it happened because the global community launched an unprecedented effort called the global polio eradication initiative, a partnership that includes the world health organization, rotary international, the us centers for disease control and prevention, unicef and the bill & melinda gates foundation thanks to this initiative and the work of many others, we are closer than ever to shutting the door on polio but we can't stop now the last percent is always the toughest, and if we don't finish the job, polio could return with a vengeance according to who, if we don't end polio now, more than 10 million children under the age of 5 could be paralyzed by the disease in the next 40 years that's a risk too big to take we owe it to our own children and to all children to seize this moment and end this disabling disease polio anywhere is a threat to children everywhere our progress to date shows that when the world acts, we can achieve big things that's why world leaders came together last month at the united nations to reaffirm their commitment to ending polio and to issue an urgent call to fill a funding gap that threatens to undo the progress that has been made the united nations foundation's shot@life campaign is carrying this message forward and empowering individual americans to join the fight against polio through shot@life, americans can raise awareness and funds to help the united nations immunize children in developing countries against polio and other diseases unicef and others are doing amazing work delivering polio immunizations, including in hard to reach places where the fight against polio will be won or lost they need our support we have a once in a generation opportunity to make history and finally eradicate polio from our planet each of us can make a difference this world polio day to this very day, my mother gets tears in her eyes when she describes the moment she found out that i was paralyzed together, we can wipe out polio and ensure that one day no parent has to share that same fate opinion: don't fall at the finish line in the race to eradicate polio the opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of dennis ogbe | dennis ogbe age 3 nigeria ogbe | paralympian dennis ogbe contracted polio at age 3 in his native nigeria . he eventually regained full mobility in one leg and went on to compete in track and field . eradication of polio is within reach, ogbe says |
(cnn) riyo mori is a classically trained ballet dancer who won the 2007 miss universe beauty pageant she talks to cnn about tokyo, dancing and baseball trained ballet dancer riyo mori was crowned miss universe in 2007 cnn: what made you decide to enter the miss universe competition? riyo mori: my grandmother japan, 50 or 60 years ago, was very conservative women had to stand behind men and never talk, never give an opinion and my grandma was different i love her so much she found out that there was miss universe japan and that's how everything started she said, 'riyo, you're young, you can dance, you can teach dancing, you love it, it's good but maybe you should see a different world just go for it' and i said, 'ok' and now i'm here cnn: what's it like for you to be back in shizuoka? riyo mori: it's so nice to be back home i can relax, i can sleep this is my first vacation, i think just having fun with my family, my friends, and talking to my friend in a café that was my normal life before and since i became miss universe it suddenly stopped i always have to be in the mood, and i have to be miss universe, so this is just perfect for me to be in my hometown of shizuoka cnn: how would you describe your relationship with tokyo? riyo mori: i love tokyo, like i love new york; i love big cities the first time i came to tokyo was even before becoming a finalist for miss universe japan i was so excited also i was scared too, because people look so fashionable and people look so confident here and i was just a tourist from the countryside i was very nervous people from all over the world come to see tokyo, and so that's why you can see very unique people here people speak spanish, french, german, english, and japanese; there's a very mixed culture here cnn: how would you define tokyoites? riyo mori: i feel like people are so energetic here, so different from shizuoka people keep moving they never stop tokyo never sleeps tokyo people are so busy all the time i wouldn't say they are cold, they're just busy; they don't have time to talk to others i need a balance, i have to be in shizuoka for maybe 50 percent of the year and i have to be in tokyo too, because i need this energy cnn: how did you become a dancer? riyo mori: i started to learn dance in mother's dance school my mom is my best friend, of course, my mother and teacher so we have very unique relationship we are not just mom and daughter, we're also teacher and student my mom teaches jazz dance, tap dance, modern dance, but she doesn't teach ballet i thought i should learn how to teach ballet, so i can have different class than she has so i went to canada when i was 16 i went to high school and professional ballet school in canada it was very, very tough, but it was worth it now that i can teach ballet now i want to teach young people, through dancing, how to be positive, patient and happy these three things are very important to me dancing means a lot to me, because dancing is my life, part of my life i have been dancing for a long time maybe 17 years dancing is great because this is how i express myself; this is where i learned how to be confident cnn: what was your mum's reaction to you winning miss universe? riyo mori: she was very happy when i won miss universe 'my daughter can travel the world and see people' see the culture that she couldn't so she was very happy cnn: outside dancing, what else do you enjoy? riyo mori: i'm a huge fan of baseball baseball fans here in japan are very supportive and crazy they can go crazy too, but that's a good part of japanese people if you like something, you're very into it and support it cnn: what else do you love about the city? riyo mori: i think tokyo is the best place to shop ginza is a great place and i like the atmosphere too when i became finalist for miss universe japan, almost every week i went to harajuko to shop also, this is very close to miss universe japan's office, so i was back and forwards to the office almost all the time maybe you have heard about harajuku girl; there is a very famous street in harajuku takeshita dori and here you can find very crazy people, who dress up like dolls there's a very crazy, unique fashion code that's why people like it | workhand boastingly ischemic | no related information |
(travel + leisure) with airports from new york to sydney getting upgrades, travel + leisure picks our favorite restaurants, bars, lounges, shops and spas travelers can tuck into skirt steak tacos at bonfire, a todd english restaurant in terminal b of boston's logan international airport restaurants boston: bonfire, logan international airport todd english continues to expand his empire with the third outpost of his south american inspired steak house, bonfire, at terminal b grilled chicharrones (crispy pork in chimichurri sauce) and skirt steak topped with chipotle aioli and avocado crema are standouts bonfiresteakhousecom london: plane restaurant, heathrow airport gordon ramsay's first airport restaurant opens this month in terminal 5 in addition to a michelin star worthy menu (braised pork cheeks with honey and cloves and brioche french toast with treacle cured bacon in the mornings), travelers can opt for special 'picnics' to go baacom stockholm: max, arlanda airport a cross between in n out burger and mcdonald's, max is a family run swedish fast food chain that dates back to 1968 now it has brought its brand of trans fat free, made to order swedish burgers and crispy fries to the capital's airport (terminal 4) for those trying to stay fit while on the road, there's the delifresh menu, including a chicken burger served with fresh fruit salad maxse bars copenhagen: nørrebro bryghus, copenhagen airport denmark has experienced an artisanal beer resurgence in the last few years with the opening of 25 new microbreweries ushering in a new era is the nørrebro bryghus, whose owner anders kissmeyer recently opened a branch between terminals 2 and 3 (before security) always on tap: four different danish seasonal, handcrafted beers served at its stainless steel bar cphdk new york: vino volo, jfk this contemporary wine bar recently launched a fifth airport location at american airlines' terminal 8 the dimly lit, cream and brown tinged venue stocks bottles from around the world, including little known vintages from the hudson river valley vinovolocom singapore: post bar, changi airport taking design cues from its namesake older sibling in the fullerton hotel, the just opened post bar in terminal 3 mixes traditional and modern design elements (retro artichoke lamps; an illuminated honey onyx bar) the best part? it's open 24 hours a day fullertonhotelcom lounges geneva: swiss lounges, geneva international airport when it came to designing new lounges for geneva airport, swiss air stuck to what it knows best being swiss more than 10 tons of limestone from the jura mountains were used in the construction, the menu consists of national dishes such as älplermakkaroni (alpine style macaroni and cheese), and the chocolate leather chairs and sofas were produced by vitra (though designed by londoner jasper morrison) swisscom los angeles: oneworld, lax san francisco based gensler architects (currently at work on jfk's new jetblue terminal) have created a 15,000 square foot eco lounge that evokes a contemporary california cool vibe, with sea grass resin panels, chiseled limestone walls, b&b italia chairs and walnut wood partitions first and business class passengers can freshen up in one of nine shower suites lawaorg/lax munich: lufthansa, munich airport international passengers at the new lufthansa first class lounge in munich can expect red carpet treatment: in lounge security and separate passport control (no long lines), and a chauffeured mercedes benz s class or porsche cayenne to take travelers directly to their aircraft the two story, 9,000 square foot lounge also includes a white marble and oak bathroom with three showers, a jacuzzi and dr hauschka products lufthansacom sydney: qantas, sydney airport australia's premier interior and furniture designer, marc newson, has put his futuristic feng shui touch on the carrier's new first class lounge a brilliant wall of 8,400 plants offsets a striking all white entrance once inside, you'll find a 48 seat neil perry restaurant sydneyairportcomau shops london: harrods, heathrow international airport among the 30 plus new shops at terminal 5 will be an 11,000 square foot harrods the outpost of this shopping institution plans to stock high end labels such as anya hindmarch, pucci and luella when it opens in march baacom tokyo: fifth avenue, narita international airport don't expect traditional sake sets at fifth avenue, the latest duty free mall to open at japan's international airport instead, spend your leftover yen at one of eight designer boutiques: bulgari, burberry, cartier, coach, gucci, hermès, salvatore ferragamo and tiffany & co narita airportjp/en spas amsterdam: xpresspa, schiphol the us based spa has made its first foray into europe, bringing signature massage loungers and manicure stations to level 2 of schiphol indulge in a quick manicure or pedicure, or try an olive oil and leaf mask there's also a full range of waxing and uv nail enhancements and gentleman's facials xpresspacom hong kong: om spa, hong kong international airport a long layover in hong kong is now a blessing in disguise, thanks to the opening of the om spa at the regal airport hotel the contemporary space is equipped with mosaic steam rooms and outdoor massage beds choose from more than 30 treatments, including seed scrubs and jasmine milk baths and take a dip in the hotel's 70 foot long indoor and outdoor pools regalhotelcom london: elemis travel spa, heathrow international airport british airways passengers at terminal 5 need just 15 minutes to be fully reinvigorated london based elemis has partnered with british airways at their new lounges (or, as ba calls them, 'galleries') the four signature treatments (including a scalp, hand and foot massage, and a facial) start with a lime infused compress and take place in a state of the art heated massage chair elemiscom e mail to a friend planning a romantic escape? don't miss travel + leisure's guide to the 50 best romantic getaways copyright 2009 american express publishing corporation all rights reserved | gordon ramsay's first london heathrow vino volo new york's jfk airport om spa hong kong's regal airport hotel | gordon ramsay's first airport restaurant opens soon in london's heathrow . vino volo, in new york's jfk airport, stocks wines from around the world . om spa at hong kong's regal airport hotel offers more than 30 treatments |
(cnn) the supreme court on monday took away some of the government's power to tighten emission standards, but preserved the majority of its authority under federal law to regulate greenhouse gases in a 5 4 decision, the justices affirmed conclusions by much of the scientific community that greenhouse gases blamed for global warming are pollutants although it concluded that the environmental protection agency could not completely extend its regulatory authority for limiting the expansion or building of new facilities like power plants the ruling, on a case seen as a major test of executive authority, gave both sides of the politically charged debate some reason to celebrate but it also may have the longer term effect of extending legal fights for years many conservative groups have characterized president barack obama as misusing his power and ignoring the will of congress industry has complained that the administration has used its power to include the development of power plants and other stationary infrastructure businesses worry any unchecked expansion of rules could someday apply to millions of other small carbon emitters schools, small businesses, and shopping malls the court agreed to some extent justice antonin scalia said the 'epa's rewriting of the statute was impermissible' but the court majority said the administration was not being hampered too greatly in the end, since epa can still regulate all but 3 percent of the 86 percent of sources responsible for greenhouse gases 'epa is getting almost everything it wanted in this case,' said scalia the agency responded positively to the decision 'today is a good day for all supporters of clean air and public health and those concerned with creating a better environment for future generations,' it said in a statement the government is now expected to continue pushing for authority over emissions from coal fired plants and the court's action will not end what are expected to be further court fights between the administration and industry obama earlier this year announced new rules to extend carbon emission standards to larger trucks and buses the white house said ongoing stalemates on capitol hill prompted him to act republicans in congress and their allies have expressed similar concerns over discretionary executive branch changes and delays in implementing obamacare reforms, a tepid federal response to recent state marijuana legalization, and a refusal to defend a law that did not recognize legally married same sex couples for federal purposes the high court last summer struck down that provision in the federal defense of marriage act the justices in 2007 agreed with epa and many environmentalists that greenhouse gasses, including carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide emissions, cause air pollution, but that case dealt with emissions from motor vehicles defining 'air pollutant' within the context of greenhouse gases and the ability of the epa to exercise its regulatory authority absent what it says was a clear congressional mandate was the issue here 'today the us supreme court delivered a stern rebuke to the president,' said texas attorney general greg abbott 'it is a resounding defeat for those, like the president, who would use unelected bureaucracies to override the will of the people' texas and 16 other the states in the south and midwest were among the parties whose cases were reviewed by the court a coalition of 15 states backs the white house some progressive groups worry the conservative majority supreme court has been overly friendly to corporate interests in recent years this is the second major environmental regulation case that will be heard this term the justices earlier this year allowed the epa to measure emissions from an upwind state that is polluting a downwind state, and requiring upwind states to pay for greenhouse gas reductions many business groups had hoped the conservative majority would limit the reach of government in this and a range of regulatory areas, which the chamber of commerce and others say is hurting the economy and stifling innovation | disownment osteria glossectomy | no related information |
(cnn) on the eve of his second inaugural, president obama appears smarter, tougher and bolder than ever before but whether he is also wiser remains a key question for his new term it is clear that he is consciously changing his leadership style heading into the next four years weeks before the november elections, his top advisers were signaling that he intended to be a different kind of president in his second term 'just watch,' they said to me, in effect, 'he will win re election decisively and then he will throw down the gauntlet to the republicans, insisting they raise taxes on the wealthy right on the edge of the fiscal cliff, he thinks republicans will cave' what's your plan b, i asked 'we don't need a plan b,' they answered 'after the president hangs tough no more mr nice guy the other side will buckle' sure enough, republicans caved on taxes encouraged, obama has since made clear he won't compromise with republicans on the debt ceiling, either foreman: my last letter to the president obama 20 stepped up this past week on yet another issue: gun control no president in two decades has been as forceful or sweeping in challenging the nation's gun culture once again, he portrayed the right as the enemy of progress and showed no interest in negotiating a package up front in his coming state of the union address, and perhaps in his inaugural, the president will begin a hard push for a comprehensive reform of our tattered immigration system leading gop leaders on the issue sen marco rubio, r florida, for example would prefer a piecemeal approach that is bipartisan obama wants to go for broke in a single package, and on a central issue providing a clear path to citizenship for undocumented residents he is uncompromising after losing out on getting susan rice as his next secretary of state, obama has also shown a tougher side on personnel appointments rice went down after democratic as well as republican senators indicated a preference for sen john kerry but when republicans also tried to kill the nomination of chuck hagel for secretary of defense, obama was unyielding an 'in your face appointment,' sen lindsay graham, r south carolina, called it, echoing sentiments held by some of his colleagues will obama's second inauguration let america turn the page? republicans would have preferred someone other than jack lew at treasury, but obama brushed them off hagel and lew both substantial men will be confirmed, absent an unexpected bombshell, and obama will rack up two more victories over republicans strikingly, obama has also been deft in the ways he has drawn upon vice president joe biden during much of the campaign, biden appeared to be kept under wraps but in the transition, he has been invaluable to obama in negotiating a deal with senate minority leader mitch mcconnell on the fiscal cliff and in pulling together the gun package biden was also at his most eloquent at the ceremony announcing the gun measures all of this has added up for obama to one of the most effective transitions in modern times and it is paying rich dividends: a cnn poll this past week pegged his approval rating at 55%, far above the doldrums he was in for much of the past two years many of his long time supporters are rallying behind him as the first democrat since franklin d roosevelt to score back to back election victories with more than 50% of the vote, obama is in the strongest position since early in his first year smarter, tougher, bolder his new style is paying off politically but in the long run, will it also pay off in better governance? perhaps and for the country's sake, let's hope so yet, there are ample reasons to wonder, and worry avlon: gop's surprising edge on diversity ultimately, to resolve major issues like deficits, immigration, guns and energy, the president and congress need to find ways to work together much better than they did in the first term over the past two years, republicans were clearly more recalcitrant than democrats, practically declaring war on obama, and the white house has been right to adopt a tougher approach after the elections but a growing number of republicans concluded after they had their heads handed to them in november that they had to move away from extremism toward a more center right position, more open to working out compromises with obama it's not that they suddenly wanted obama to succeed; they didn't want their party to fail house speaker john boehner led the way, offering the day after the election to raise taxes on the wealthy and giving up two decades of gop orthodoxy in a similar spirit, rubio has been developing a mainstream plan on immigration, moving away from a ruinous gop stance one senses that the hope, small as it was, to take a brief timeout on hyperpartisanship in order to tackle the big issues is now slipping away zelizer: second term obama will play defense while a majority of americans now approve of obama's job performance, conservatives increasingly believe that in his new toughness, he is going overboard, trying to run over them they don't see a president who wants to roll up his sleeves and negotiate; they see a president who wants to barnstorm the country to beat them up news that obama is converting his campaign apparatus into a nonprofit to support his second term will only deepen that sense and it frustrates them that he is winning: at their retreat, house republicans learned that their disapproval has risen to 64% conceivably, obama's tactics could pressure republicans into capitulation on several fronts more likely, they will be spoiling for more fights chances for a 'grand bargain' appear to be hanging by a thread two suspicions are starting to float among those with distaste for the president the first is that he isn't really all that committed to bringing deficits under control if he were, he would be pushing a master plan by now instead, it is argued, he will tinker with the deficits but cares much more about leaving a progressive legacy health care reform, a stronger safety net, green energy, and the like politics: second inaugural address puts obama in select company second, the suspicion is taking hold that he is approaching the second term with a clear eye on elections ahead what if he can drive republicans out of control of the house in 2014? then he could get his real agenda done what if he could set the stage for another democrat to win the presidency in 2016? then he could leave behind a majority coalition that could run the country for years, just as fdr did democrats, of course, think the real point is that obama is finally showing the toughness that is needed we are surely seeing a new obama emerge on the eve of his second term where he will now lead the country is the central question that his inaugural address and the weeks ahead will begin to answer will you be attending president obama's inauguration weekend? be a part of cnn ireport and instagram's special inauguration project! the opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of david gergen | david gergen obama gop gergen conservatives | david gergen: since re election, obama seems smarter, tougher, bolder . he says president outmanuevered opponents on taxes, key appointments . did obama miss an opportunity to work cooperatively with gop, gergen asks . gergen: conservatives fear obama is trying to run over them |
tehran, iran (cnn) a nuclear scientist was killed in a blast in tehran on wednesday morning, an iranian news agency reported, in the latest in a string of attacks that iran has blamed on israel a motorcyclist placed a magnetic bomb under mostafa ahmadi roshan's peugeot 405, the state run irna news agency said the blast also wounded two others, irna said state television channel press tv reported later wednesday that roshan's driver, reza qashqaei, had died in a hospital from his injuries mohammad khazaee, iranian ambassador to the united nations, condemned what he called 'cruel, inhumane and criminal acts of terrorism against the iranian scientists' 'based on the existing evidence collected by the relevant iranian security authorities, similar to previous incidents, perpetrators used the same terrorist method in assassinating iranian nuclear scientists, ie, attaching a sticky magnetic bomb to the car carrying the scientists and detonating it,' khazaee said in a statement 'i would like to emphasize, once again, that the islamic republic (of) iran would not compromise over its inalienable right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and any kind of political and economic pressures or terrorist attacks targeting the iranian nuclear scientists, could not prevent our nation in exercising this right,' khazaee said lawmaker kazem jalali blamed the intelligence agencies of the united states and israel for the latest attack, saying the united nations' nuclear watchdog, the international atomic energy agency, also bore responsibility for passing on information about iran's nuclear scientists to other countries, irna reports us secretary of state hillary clinton, speaking alongside the qatari foreign minister in washington, rejected the claims 'i want to categorically deny any united states involvement in any kind of act of violence inside iran,' she said 'we believe there has to be an understanding between iran, its neighbors and the international community that finds a way forward for it to end its provocative behavior, end its search for nuclear weapons and rejoin the international community and be a productive member of it' israel does not normally comment on such claims however, brig gen yoav mordechai, a spokesman for the israel defense forces (idf), said on his facebook page wednesday: 'i have no idea who targeted the iranian scientist but i certainly don't shed a tear' roshan, 32, was a deputy director for commercial affairs at the natanz uranium enrichment facility in isfahan province and a graduate of iran's oil industry university, according to the semi official news agency fars natanz, which is said to have 8,000 centrifuges in operation, is one of two facilities that is enriching uranium in the country this week, the iaea identified the second in the mountains of qom province western diplomats at the un on wednesday criticized iran over the recent revelation that tehran is enriching uranium beyond the level needed for civilian use, saying that the actions flaunt security council resolutions the security council discussed the issue in closed consultations 'we have very serious concerns about this blatant disregard for fulfillment of their international obligations,' said rosemary dicarlo, deputy us ambassador to the un 'the location, the size and the clandestine nature of the facility at qom raise serious doubts about what its ultimate purposes are,' added philip parham, deputy british ambassador to the un the iaea announced on monday its finding that iran is enriching uranium at a previously secret facility to 20% purity diplomats said that further security council sanctions were possible but they indicated that they are focusing on ensuring that the sanctions already in place are enforced they emphasized the need for a negotiated solution to the standoff 'a year ago we passed very strict sanctions on iran, the most comprehensive ever,' dicarlo said 'those sanctions are being implemented, and president ahmadinejad himself has acknowledged to his own parliament that they're having an impact' officials in the united states and other western nations have ratcheted up sanctions against tehran since a november report by the iaea said the iranian government was developing the technology needed to build a nuclear weapon last month, us president barack obama announced sanctions against iran's central bank tehran maintains its nuclear program is for civilian energy purposes only but the iaea has said it cannot verify whether the intent of tehran's nuclear program remains peaceful the attack comes at a time when relations between iran and the united states have rarely been as strained iran sentenced iranian american and former marine amir hekmati to death tuesday for alleged espionage, prompting strong condemnation from the us state department iran also aggravated tensions in the past month with its threat to close the strategically important strait of hormuz if western nations carry through with sanctions on its oil industry to punish tehran's lack of cooperation on its nuclear program in comments wednesday, russian deputy foreign minister sergei ryabkov urged western nations and iran to avoid escalating the situation further, russia's official itar tass news agency reported responding to wednesday's bombing, iran's first vice president mohammad reza rahimi said the attacks against scientists would not stop the country from achieving its goals, irna reported 'iranian scientists become more determined to take steps in line with the aspirations of the islamic republic in spite of terrorist operations,' rahimi told the news agency the attack followed a similar mode of operation as others that have killed nuclear scientists in iran's capital city and on january 12, 2010, iranian university professor and nuclear scientist massoud ali mohammadi died in a blast when an assailant stuck a bomb under his car majid jamali fashi, an iranian, reportedly confessed to the bombing and was sentenced to death in august, irna reported at the time prosecutors accused him of working for israel's spy agency mossad and said he was paid $120,000 by israel to carry out the hit, fars news agency reported israel does not comment on such claims in november 2010, nuclear scientist majid shahriari was killed in a blast where, again, a bomb was stuck under a car by someone on a motorcycle another nuclear scientist, prof fereydoun abbasi davani, and his wife were injured in a similar attack abbasi is now director of the iran atomic energy organization 'the bomb used in the (wednesday) explosion was a magnetic bomb, the same kind that were used in previous assassinations of iranian scientists and the fact is that this is the work of the zionists,' fars news agency quoted tehran's deputy gov safarali baratloo as saying iran uses the term 'zionist' to refer to israel iran has been engaged in a war of words with israel, whom it accuses of trying to destabilize the republic mickey segal, a former director of the iranian department in the idf intelligence branch, told israel army radio that wednesday's attack was part of broader pressure being brought to bear on president mahmoud ahmadinejad's regime 'many bad things have been happening to iran in the recent period iran is in a situation where pressure on it is mounting, and the latest assassination joins the pressure that the iranian regime is facing,' segal said the jerusalem post reported wednesday that the israeli military chief of staff benny gantz, speaking at a knesset foreign affairs and defense committee meeting, warned that '2012 will be a critical year in the connection between iran gaining nuclear power, changes in leadership, continuing pressure from the international community and events that happen unnaturally' ali ansari, a professor at the institute for iranian studies at scotland's university of st andrews, said more information is needed about the victims to help determine who's perpetrating the attacks some have speculated that the victims were members of the opposition movement and could have been targeted by internal forces, ansari said 'but if it is true that israel is behind it, iran should make a formal complaint to the un so they can get an answer from israel,' ansari said 'because if they really think some other country is killing their nuclear experts, why are they not giving them more protection?' cnn's shirzad bozorgmehr, kevin flower, elise labott, jill dougherty, lateef mungin, mick krever and michael martinez contributed to this report | iran state hillary clinton us israeli mostafa ahmadi roshan's irna news agency | new: magnetic bombs were used in other iran assassinations, ambassador says . secretary of state hillary clinton categorically denies us involvement in the killing . an israeli military spokesman says he does not know who carried out the attack . a bomb was put under mostafa ahmadi roshan's car, state run irna news agency says |
washington (cnn) the us consumer product safety commission announced a voluntary recall of 223,000 popular strollers following the death of an infant eight years ago and the near strangulation of another in 2006 the heads of the two infants became entangled between the tray and seat but officials didn't link the cases to a specific brand and model of stroller until recently the recall involves venezia and pliko p3 strollers made by peg perego, usa inc in 2004, a 6 month old california boy died after his head was trapped between his stroller's seat and the tray in the 2006 incident, a 7 month old new york girl nearly died from similar circumstances 'entrapment and strangulation can occur, especially to infants younger than 12 months of age, when a child is not harnessed,' the cpsc said 'an infant can pass through the opening between the stroller tray and seat bottom, but his/her head and neck can become entrapped by the tray infants who become entrapped at the neck are at risk of strangulation' manufactured between january 2004 and september 2007, in a variety of colors, the strollers were sold nationwide at retail outlets, according to the cpsc since the stroller models involved in tuesday's recall were manufactured, newer models have been developed that don't pose the same risks 'this recall is part of a larger effort by cpsc to address fatalities that occurred prior to new and better stroller standards being in place,' cpsc spokesperson patty davis told cnn in 2008, a voluntary industry standard went into place addressing the height of the opening between the stroller's tray and the seat bottom because used strollers are a popular item on many auction and aftermarket websites, customers are advised to check the model number used stroller they buy to make sure it isn't part of a recall a complete list of recalled model numbers can be found on the cpsc website: http://wwwcpscgov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml12/12232html | peg perego usa inc between 2004 and 2007 2004 california 7 month old new york | recall involves two models made by peg perego, usa inc between 2004 and 2007 . in 2004, a california infant died after becoming entangled between the seat and tray . a 7 month old in new york nearly died from similar circumstances . newer models have been developed that don't pose the same risks |
(cnn) chelsea owner roman abramovich has lost his position at the top of football's rich list but david beckham remains the wealthiest player abramovich set a trend with his massive cash injection into premier league chelsea russian billionaire abramovich has slipped to third place behind manchester city's new owner sheikh mansour bin zayed al nahyan sheikh mansour, a member of the abu dhabi royal family, has a fortune of £15 billion ($2204b), according to the football rich list, researched and published by fourfourtwo magazine abramovich has also been overtaken by indian industrialist lakshmi mittal, who is the joint owner of second flight english side queens park rangers with formula one's bernie ecclestone and flavio briatore abramovich has seen his fortune cut by over £3 billion to £7 billion ($1029b) in the global economic downturn, the magazine estimated have wealthy owners benefited english football ? his billions gave chelsea massive spending power to win two successive premier league titles under jose mourinho and accelerated the trend of foreign ownership in english football beckham, currently on loan to ac milan from los angeles galaxy, has personal assets valued at £125 million ($18366 million), well ahead of michael owen (£40 million $5877m) and wayne rooney england head coach fabio capello is 73rd on the list, boosted by his own private art collection, with manchester united manager sir alex ferguson at number 78 english football had dominated comparable rich lists for several seasons but many financial experts fear the good times may be coming to an end as the global economic crisis bites | gigahertzes uayeb mullioned | no related information |
(cnn) world number two roger federer stepped up his preparations for the australian open with an easy win over spaniard carlos moya in the kooyong classic in melbourne on wednesday federer plays a backhand during his straight sets win over moya in melbourne federer, who will be looking to tie pete sampras with his 14th grand slam, opened with a 6 2 6 3 win in the eight man invitational tournament the swiss has begun the year with successive defeats to world number four andy murray in abu dhabi and dubai, but made no mistake against former french open champion moya he needed just 57 minutes to progress at the former home of the australian open 'i was a little rusty in the beginning, missed quite a few forehands, but i thought it was a good match overall,' he told the press association 'there were a few gusts of wind, which makes it not easy to play, but i felt like i was playing ok' earlier, federer's compatriot stanislas wawrinka also had an easy win over cypriot marcos baghdatis 6 2 6 2 federer's next opponent will be spanish davis cup hero fernando verdasco, who swept past young croatian star marin cilic 6 2 7 5 second seed fernando gonzalez of chile also went through as he beat ivan ljubicic of croatia 6 4 6 3 | roger federer the kooyong classic melbourne carlo moya spain fernando verdasco fernando gonzalez chile | roger federer wins his opening match at the kooyong classic in melbourne . the world number two sweeps past carlo moya of spain in straight sets . fernando verdasco of spain and fernando gonzalez of chile also go through |
kabul, afghanistan (cnn) afghanistan is postponing its presidential elections until august 20 due to security and logistical concerns, the country's election commission said thursday afghan president hamid karzai's five year term is coming to an end this year the balloting was originally scheduled for late may, but the independent election commission laid out several reasons for the delay security is a factor, the commission said it also cited a lack of trained staff, incomplete voter registration and the weather it is difficult to campaign or distribute ballots during the rough winter months in the rugged landscape the elections are a critical moment for afghanistan as president hamid karzai's five year term ends he was elected in december 2004 in largely peaceful polling but since then, the taliban militant movement has regrouped, international troop deaths have increased and there has been an increase in terror attacks, mostly in eastern and southern afghanistan afghanistan has already registered 3 million voters and is holding voter drives to register more the united states will deploy additional troops in coming months to provide much needed security in the run up to the election the country expects to hold parliamentary elections in 2010 meanwhile on wednesday coalition forces fighting in southern afghanistan killed four militants, the us military said coalition soldiers were targeting a taliban leader in the zabul province when militants fired on them, according to a military statement soldiers returned fire, killing the four militants soldiers then searched their compound and confiscated several assault rifles this operation comes as the us military is contemplating adding three brigades to the war effort in afghanistan defense secretary robert gates said tuesday that the troop build up could happen by this summer cnn's atia abawi contributed to this report | afghan hamid karzai five year afghanistan us | afghan presidential elections come as president hamid karzai's five year term ends . afghanistan has registered 3 million voters, holding voter drives to register more . us troops will deploy extra troops to provide security in run up to the election |
editor's note: campbell brown anchors cnn's 'campbell brown: no bias, no bull' at 8 pm et mondays through fridays she delivered this commentary during the 'cutting through the bull' segment of monday night's broadcast campbell brown says president bush can't seem to see the failure of his administration's response to hurricane katrina (cnn) much of president bush's news conference today was a defense of the many controversial decisions of his presidency, it was also reflective, with the president showing a willingness to admit and talk about the serious mistakes made by this administration but on one topic in particular, he seemed almost entirely disconnected from what really happened: hurricane katrina as someone who spent many days in new orleans, louisiana, after hurricane katrina, i was taken aback listening to the president talk about the government's response president bush: 'people said, 'well, the federal response was slow' don't tell me the federal response was slow when there was 30,000 people pulled off roofs right after the storm passed i remember going to see those helicopter drivers, coast guard drivers, to thank them for their courageous efforts to rescue people off roofs thirty thousand people were pulled off roofs right after the storm moved through it's a pretty quick response could things have been done better? absolutely absolutely but when i hear people say, the federal response was slow, then what are they going to say to those chopper drivers, or the 30,000 that got pulled off the roofs?' it is impossible to challenge what so many of us witnessed firsthand what the entire country witnessed through television day and night: new orleans was a city for a time abandoned by the government; where people old and young were left at the new orleans convention center for days with no water or food people will disagree over aspects of the bush legacy, but on the government's handling of katrina? we were there watch campbell brown's reaction to president bush's news conference » the whole country saw what happened people stuck on roofs were one part of a massive catastrophe but there was so much else the government didn't do to this day that city is fighting for its life mr president, you cannot pat yourself on the back for that one we will debate the war in iraq, national security, the economy and the rest of your legacy those debates will continue for years to come but on how you handled katrina, there is no debate the opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of campbell brown | campbell brown bush brown hurricane katrina katrina america | campbell brown: bush defended many decisions at monday news conference . brown: bush disconnected from what really happened with hurricane katrina . brown: people will disagree over aspects of the bush legacy, but not katrina . brown: katrina response was catastrophe that america watched on tv |
(cnn) author john updike, regarded as one of the greatest and most prolific writers in modern american letters, died tuesday, his publicist said he was 76 john updike won many literary awards his books, such as 'the witches of eastwick,' were also best sellers updike passed away tuesday morning after battling lung cancer he lived in beverly farms, massachusetts 'he was one of our greatest writers, and he will be sorely missed,' said nicholas latimer, vice president of publicity at updike's publisher, alfred a knopf updike was a rarity among american writers: a much esteemed, prize winning author whose books including 'rabbit, run' (1960), 'couples' (1968), 'the witches of eastwick' (1984) and 'terrorist' (2006) were also best sellers updike won the pulitzer prize twice: for 'rabbit is rich' (1981) and its successor, 'rabbit at rest' (1991) ireport: share your tributes to john updike the 'rabbit' series, about an angst ridden car dealer in a town much like updike's hometown of shillington, pennsylvania, spanned four novels, a novella and four decades in the books which also included 1971's 'rabbit redux' and a 2001 novella, 'rabbit remembered' onetime basketball star harry 'rabbit' angstrom negotiates marriage, divorce, wealth and health problems, never quite understanding the larger forces shaping his life 'rabbit is not a character calculated to inspire affection, but he is an unflinchingly authentic specimen of american manhood, and his boorishness makes his rare moments of vulnerability and empathy that much more heartbreaking,' wrote time's lev grossman in naming 'rabbit, run' to time's 'all time 100 novels' list updike was incredibly prolific, penning essays, reviews, short stories, poetry and memoirs his works frequently appeared in the new yorker, including a famed 1960 essay about ted williams' final game, 'hub fans bid kid adieu' 'no writer was more important to the soul of the new yorker than john,' said david remnick, the editor of the magazine, in a statement 'even though his literary career transcended any magazine he was obviously among the very best writers in the world he still loved writing for this weekly magazine, loved being part of an enterprise that he joined when he was so young 'we adored him,' remnick continued 'he was, for so long, the spirit of the new yorker and it is very hard to imagine things without him' the magazine said that updike had written 862 pieces for it over the years, including 327 book reviews, 170 short stories and 154 poems he was well regarded in his adopted home state of massachusetts 'john updike's place among america's literary greats is forever secure, as is his special place in every red sox fan's heart for his magnificent 'hub fans bid kid adieu,' ' sen john kerry (d massachusetts) said in a statement 'we honor his memory and his contributions, and massachusetts today bids him a sad and wistful adieu of our own' updike never won a nobel prize, but one of his characters, henry bech, received one in 'bech at bay' (1998) his works, particularly given their sexual content, could be as divisive as they were poetic many critics accused him of misogyny, and others accused him of using his graceful prose to cover thin subject matter and updike put out his prose by the ream 'it seems to be easier for john updike to stifle a yawn than to refrain from writing a book,' the literary critic james wood wrote in the london review of books in 2001 but his frank discussion of sex also garnered him many readers, the cover of time magazine (for 1968's 'couples') and a lifetime achievement bad sex in writing award from great britain's literary review he was criticized by norman mailer, hailed by fellow author (and updike obsessive) nicholson baker in 'u and i' and even appeared as an animated version of himself on a 'simpsons' episode as the ghostwriter of a krusty the klown book '[i] was flattered to be asked to be one of the many voices that they worked into the endless saga of springfield,' updike said, noting that the hardest part of his performance was 'producing a chuckle' john hoyer updike was born march 18, 1932, in reading, pennsylvania, and grew up in shillington from an early age he took to reading and writing, and earned a full scholarship to harvard, where he headed the harvard lampoon upon graduation, he accepted a one year fellowship to oxford university in england by the time he was 23, he had been offered a position at the new yorker, which was to become his literary home over the next 50 plus years updike's first novel, 'the poorhouse fair,' came out in 1959 the next year, in 'rabbit, run,' he introduced angstrom, who was to become one of the most famous characters in american fiction when introduced, rabbit is a man fleeing his pregnant wife, the songs on the car radio reflecting both the era and his life over the course of the 'rabbit' books, the character would routinely infuriate his spouse, mistresses and offspring, try to make things right, and never quite succeed his attitude didn't help 'men are all heart and women are all body i don't know who has the brains god maybe,' the character said in 'rabbit, run' 'rabbit, run' was successful, as were updike's other '60s books, including 'the centaur' (1963), which featured a teacher much like updike's father, and the short story collection 'the music school' (1966) but it was 'couples' that made updike a household name the book, about a group of spouses engaging in the sexual revolution in suburban massachusetts, became a no 1 best seller updike's interests ranged widely he wrote about an african state in 'the coup' (1978) he discussed the relationship between science and religion in 'roger's version' (1986) he revisited 'hamlet' in 'gertrude and claudius' (2000) and he created a group of promiscuous witches in 'the witches of eastwick' (1984), which became a hit movie in 1987 starring jack nicholson as the devil though updike's work routinely sold well, he was painfully aware of the decline of what's come to be called 'literary fiction' in a 2000 interview with salon, he lamented its difficulties 'when i was a boy, the best selling books were often the books that were on your piano teacher's shelf i mean, steinbeck, hemingway, some faulkner faulkner actually had, considering how hard he is to read and how drastic the experiments are, quite a middle class readership,' he said 'but certainly someone like steinbeck was a best seller as well as a nobel prize winning author of high intent you don't feel that now' and yet, updike himself never lost his zest for the written word, and the pleasure brought by jotting, tuning, refining creating a new story, even as the years drifted by 'an aging writer has the not insignificant satisfaction of a shelf of books behind him that, as they wait for their ideal readers to discover them, will outlast him for a while,' he wrote in aarp the magazine late last year 'the pleasures, for him, of book making remain, and retain creation's giddy bliss among those diminishing neurons there lurks the irrational hope that the last book might be the best' updike's most recent novel, 'the widows of eastwick,' came out in 2008 a collection of stories, 'my father's tears and other stories,' is due out later this year | john updike the witches of eastwick updike pulitzer prize american | john updike, author of 'rabbit' books and 'the witches of eastwick,' dies . updike, 76, had been suffering from lung cancer . pulitzer prize winner was titan of american letters |
cnn senior producer sasha johnson traveled to coaldale, pennsylvania, to talk to voters, including some members of her extended family, about how a typical small town like coaldale might vote in 2008 and what issues are on their minds coaldale mayor claire remington and her husband, otis, talk politics in their kitchen coaldale, pennsylvania (cnn) coaldale is a borough of 2,200, nestled in the anthracite rich mountains in the northeastern part of pennsylvania it's exactly the type of place sen barack obama referenced last week when he said some pennsylvanians were 'bitter' over their poor economic situation obama said he regretted the word choice but continued to argue that some voters feel desperate after spending a day talking with coaldale voters, it seems to me the anger obama described in his now controversial comments might not have been too far off the mark 'it's time for the politicians to come down to our level,' said ruth weiss during the lunch hour at tommy's, coaldale's only casual eatery among a row of shuttered shops and next to a 60 year old movie theater that has survived 'people can't afford food i'm paying for oil for the restaurant out of my own social security check' ruth and her husband, tommy, describe their small pizza and sub restaurant on east phillips street as a 'country store,' a place where the regulars can gather to talk, share a meal or as is the case lately sip a cup of coffee 'this is my business, but people can't afford it,' said ruth she detailed the myriad of problems she and others are facing rising gas prices, increased taxes, out of control food and prescription costs it is no wonder, she said, people can't afford lunch or dinner at the restaurant they've owned for 25 years coaldale's history i did not find coaldale's quiet streets by accident my russian orthodox grandmother was born here and some family still lives in and around the house on fisher avenue where she and her nine siblings grew up while their father worked the mines coaldale, like many other small pennsylvania communities, has seen better times back in the 1930s, when the surrounding hills were bustling with anthracite mining, around 7,000 people lived here by the 1950s, the mines were closing in the 30 years that followed, the garment factories in and around town shut down today, many of coaldale's residents are elderly and on fixed incomes the cost of living is low, so there is the occasional new neighbor, but the shrinking population and tough economic times could force the closure of several churches, forcing people to worship elsewhere without a grocery store or a single stoplight, my great uncle john zenzel frequently jokes, 'coaldale is more boring than mayberry' coaldale and the '08 election claire remington, coaldale's mayor since 2001 and lifelong resident, said her constituents are 'tightlipped' about who will get their vote in the primary on a drive through town, only a 'ron paul for president' yard sign could be found remington says the town is roughly split between democrats and republicans, a change from past elections historically, coaldale like schuylkill county at large has leaned republican this election season, however, the county has mirrored trends across the state more voters switching to the democratic party and more new voters registering as democrats 'i'm a die hard republican, but i have to say this year things are going to be a little different for me,' said remington, who is part of the town's tight knit russian orthodox community 'the party is going to be upset with me, but i feel that we need a change' at this point remington plans to cast a write in vote for obama in the primary she joins her husband, otis, in supporting obama 'this time around i'm dead set against voting for hillary clinton,' said otis, a longtime democrat and retired navy reservist 'as far as barack goes, he's young, he's inexperienced, he's new, but i think given a chance he could be a good president' claire said she is reluctant to advertise her support for obama in the form of a yard sign because she fears her neighbors would think she is supporting him because otis is african american claire is white the two conceded race is an underlying factor in voters' decisions, and both cited the state's rainbow of immigrant ethnic groups and gov ed rendell's comment that an african american might have trouble winning statewide 'i do think he's right,' she said 'i hope he's wrong, though' both otis and claire describe a visceral reaction to clinton they say they can't shake the memories of whitewater or the belief that president bill clinton could have done more for the military during his time in the white house back down the hill at tommy's, ruth and tommy weiss will gladly cast their primary ballot for clinton tommy says obama is an unknown and believes clinton will be a 'good start, although we don't expect her to do everything' they are both comforted by the fact that bill clinton would play some role in his wife's administration but they want her to have the final say 'she'll hold him at bay when she needs to,' said tommy neither of the weisses could say for sure they would vote for obama if he were their party's nominee in november john zenzel, a world war ii navy veteran, has been waiting 'a long time' to vote for clinton he believes she deserves 'another chance' to revamp health care, something he is banking on as his yearly health insurance costs approach $3,000 zenzel, 82, still lives in the house where he was born and raised as the april 22 primary approaches, he is not banking on any of the candidates paying a visit to his sleepy town but that doesn't diminish his excitement or hope that a new president will ease the daily hardships that he and his neighbors face the last time zenzel remembers a white house aspirant coming anywhere near the borough was in 1960 when john f kennedy drove through nearby hometown and tamaqua zenzel remembers waiting on the street and jumping through the crowd to shake kennedy's hand e mail to a friend | robbers unenfeebled succinctory | no related information |
(cnn) in the wake of an online video in which soldiers returning from afghanistan complained that delta air lines charged their unit more than $2,800 in bag check fees, two rival carriers on thursday said they will loosen their checked bag restrictions for active duty military members american airlines announced it will allow military personnel to check an extra two bags with no out of pocket expense, and airtran airways said later thursday it will waive baggage charges for 'members of the military who are traveling on active duty orders' the airline's policy is identical to that of southwest airlines, which acquired airtran in a merger last september, airtran spokesman christopher white told cnn american airlines airline will have policy fully implemented 'in the next few days,' spokeswoman dori robau alvarez said in a statement released thursday the airlines were the latest of the major us carriers to change their policies delta and continental/united announced wednesday they were loosening their checked bag policies for military personnel previously, american airlines allowed three bags to be checked free, 'with full government reimbursement to military personnel on any bags above that number,' but the carrier decided to increase the free bag limit to five, 'given the potential confusion with different military units carrying different amounts of bags depending on their mission,' according to the statement the statement continued: 'both our revised 5 bag policy as well as the previous policy allowed active military personnel traveling either on orders or on personal travel to utilize our military bag policy in addition, american also allows military personnel traveling on orders to have one of their free bags weigh up to 100 pounds and (to be) 126 linear inches in size without penalty this greatly helps with the typical, large military duffel bags' its limits on other bags are 50 pounds and 62 linear inches, it said airtran's fee waiver also comes with some size and weight restrictions: 'as long as each piece of baggage does not exceed 100 pounds in weight and 80 inches in size (length plus width plus height), you will be exempt from baggage charges, and will not be subject to excess, oversized, or overweight baggage charges,' white said in an e mail to cnn the delta incident got instant notoriety after servicemen spoke out about their experience in a video posted on youtube in the clip, which the men say was recorded on board a delta flight from baltimore to atlanta on tuesday, a day after they returned from afghanistan, the soldiers explain they had 'a little issue with the bags' cnn affiliate wxia in atlanta identified the soldiers as us army staff sgts fred hilliker and robert o'hair the men, who were bound for fort polk, louisiana, said their military travel orders allowed them to carry up to four bags, but when they arrived at the airport in baltimore, delta told them it allowed military personnel to check only three bags for free members of the unit who were traveling with four bags ended up paying out of pocket for their extra luggage, the soldiers said in the video they were charged $200 per extra bag, so the 34 member unit ended up paying more than $2,800 in bag fees, the soldiers said any extra bag fees charged by an airline will be reimbursed by the government, a military spokeswoman told cnn affiliate wgcl in atlanta one of the soldiers in the video said the bag he had to pay for was a weapons case that contained 'the tools that i used to protect myself and afghan citizens while i was deployed in the country' the other man then looked into the camera, exasperated 'good business model, delta,' he said sarcastically 'not happy not happy at all,' he added, shaking his head on wednesday, delta changed its policy: effective immediately, us military personnel traveling on orders are now allowed to check up to four bags for free in coach and five bags in first class and business class delta spokeswoman susan elliot on thursday said the airline will reimburse the complaining soldiers for any fourth bag fees that the military will not cover, and is giving them travel vouchers good for future trips united/continental also announced wednesday it will allow more bags 'united and continental are waiving the fourth checked bag fee for military personnel traveling on orders in recognition of their sacrifice and service to our country,' christen david, a spokeswoman for united/continental airlines, said in an e mail the two airlines closed a merger deal in october delta said it deeply respects and admires men and women in uniform and added that it has worked hard to ensure that us military personnel get 'additional flexibility' when they travel on the carrier the carrier said it's 'continuing to work with the soldiers individually to make this situation right for each of them' the soldiers may have been misinformed about how many bags traveling active duty military personnel can check for free, according to stars and stripes, the independent news organization focusing on the military cnn's a pawlowski and aaron cooper contributed to this report | spendless exobiological munichism | no related information |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.