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japanese <tsp> ( cnn ) -- five of seven japanese women who disappeared during a diving excursion off the indonesian island of bali last week were found alive and rescued monday , bali 's search and rescue agency said . mission coordinator didi hamzah confirmed tuesday night that they had recovered the body of one of the divers . the body was found floating at 610pm local time near serangan island . it was retrieved at 635pm and brought to the bali sangla hospital for identification . photos distributed by getty images showed the survivors being transferred from a boat to ambulances on bali on monday , three days after they were reported missing . the women were being treated at two bali hospitals monday , the rescue agency said . fishermen found four of the women monday afternoon and alerted authorities , and a rescue boat was sent for them . a fifth survivor was later found in the same area , and a search and rescue helicopter picked her up , the rescue agency said . search and rescue agency official gede surya told cnn that the five divers were found just south of nusa penida island . four of them were grouped together on some rocks and the fifth was found nearby . they were dehydrated and in shock but they could still speak and walk , ' he said . the body of a sixth diver was found tuesday , and the search continues for the sole missing woman , authorities said . japanese media reported that the woman rescued separately was instructor saori furukawa , who had left the group on sunday in an attempt to hail the fishing boat for rescue . four of the rescued divers were taken to sangla hospital in bali , where psychologist retno kusuma told cnn they are in the same hospital room and are in good condition mentally [ and ] psychologically . ' she said that the group were laughing and joking , and that they will be assessed again in a few days but are currently only being treated for light burns . the seven japanese women -- two dive instructors and five tourists -- failed to return to the surface friday after a dive near the indonesian islands of nusa lembongan and nusa penida , just southeast of bali . the owner of the bali dive company yellow scuba told cnn that the captain who accompanied the seven hired a yellow scuba boat but did not work for the company . the captain , in a written statement given to police and published in local news reports , said the weather was good when the divers entered the water . but about 15 minutes later , it was cloudy . i tried to find them but my efforts produced no results , ' the captain 's statement reads . heavy rains were reported in the area friday . the period from october to april is monsoon season in bali , which sees strong winds and bursts of heavy rain . nuraki aziz and cnn 's james durston and contributed to this report .	five rescued japanese divers are being treated at hospitals in bali , rescue agency says
search and rescue <tsp> ( cnn ) -- five of seven japanese women who disappeared during a diving excursion off the indonesian island of bali last week were found alive and rescued monday , bali 's search and rescue agency said . mission coordinator didi hamzah confirmed tuesday night that they had recovered the body of one of the divers . the body was found floating at 610pm local time near serangan island . it was retrieved at 635pm and brought to the bali sangla hospital for identification . photos distributed by getty images showed the survivors being transferred from a boat to ambulances on bali on monday , three days after they were reported missing . the women were being treated at two bali hospitals monday , the rescue agency said . fishermen found four of the women monday afternoon and alerted authorities , and a rescue boat was sent for them . a fifth survivor was later found in the same area , and a search and rescue helicopter picked her up , the rescue agency said . search and rescue agency official gede surya told cnn that the five divers were found just south of nusa penida island . four of them were grouped together on some rocks and the fifth was found nearby . they were dehydrated and in shock but they could still speak and walk , ' he said . the body of a sixth diver was found tuesday , and the search continues for the sole missing woman , authorities said . japanese media reported that the woman rescued separately was instructor saori furukawa , who had left the group on sunday in an attempt to hail the fishing boat for rescue . four of the rescued divers were taken to sangla hospital in bali , where psychologist retno kusuma told cnn they are in the same hospital room and are in good condition mentally [ and ] psychologically . ' she said that the group were laughing and joking , and that they will be assessed again in a few days but are currently only being treated for light burns . the seven japanese women -- two dive instructors and five tourists -- failed to return to the surface friday after a dive near the indonesian islands of nusa lembongan and nusa penida , just southeast of bali . the owner of the bali dive company yellow scuba told cnn that the captain who accompanied the seven hired a yellow scuba boat but did not work for the company . the captain , in a written statement given to police and published in local news reports , said the weather was good when the divers entered the water . but about 15 minutes later , it was cloudy . i tried to find them but my efforts produced no results , ' the captain 's statement reads . heavy rains were reported in the area friday . the period from october to april is monsoon season in bali , which sees strong winds and bursts of heavy rain . nuraki aziz and cnn 's james durston and contributed to this report .	new : search and rescue recovered the body of one of the divers tuesday evening
bp <tsp> washington ( cnn ) -- with its well-killing effort reported to be going extremely well , ' bp plans to start pouring concrete into the crippled well in the gulf of mexico on thursday . the u.s. official overseeing the response to the spill , retired adm. thad allen , has given bp a green light to pour cement on top of the 2,300 barrels of heavy drilling mud already sent down the well . the mud drove oil back into the reservoir in an operation known as a static kill . ' but allen said bp should follow that with a second well-killing procedure that has been in the works as sort of an insurance policy -- pouring additional mud and cement through a relief well that 's expected to be ready in mid-august . based on the successful completion of the static kill procedure and a positive evaluation of the test results , i have authorized bp to cement its damaged well , ' allen said wednesday in a statement . i made it clear that implementation of this procedure shall in no way delay the completion of the relief well . ' earlier wednesday , senior vice president kent wells reported that the initial step in the static kill had gone extremely well . ' the company began pumping the mud tuesday afternoon , and the operation continued for some eight hours . bp pumped mud into the well from a ship on the surface mostly at the rate of five barrels a minute . that eventually increased to 10 and then 15 barrels a minute near the end of the operation , according to wells . everything proceeded exactly as we expected it to , ' he said . the move essentially sealed the well , which had poured oil into the gulf for nearly three months until a tight-fitting cap was placed on it in mid-july . wednesday marked the 107th day since the worst environmental disaster in u.s. history began with the explosion on the deepwater horizon that sank the rig and killed 11 workers . the government estimates that nearly 5 million barrels of crude oil spilled into the gulf . but wells noted that it has been 20 days since the well was fitted with a tightly-fitting cap , which stopped the oil from flowing and made it possible to permanently seal the well through the operations now under way . it 's getting very difficult to find any oil on the surface , but i want to emphasize that bp remains committed to getting this well permanently shut and cleaning up any pollution and restoring the gulf coast , ' wells said . that was our commitment from the beginning , and we 're just as committed to that today . ' while it may be difficult to find much oil on the surface for skimming ships to collect , local officials are quick to point out that coastal areas are still being affected . the louisiana department of wildlife and fisheries issued a report wednesday indicating that oil sheen and patches of oil are still being spotted in marshes and various coastal areas in st. bernard , paquemines and jefferson parishes . and in another development wednesday , louisiana wildlife officials and the state 's special investigations unit said two men had been arrested and accused of falsifying documents to file claims with bp . authorities said an ly , 36 , the owner of ly ly seafood , and samith huynh , 31 , falsified documents from january through april , reporting the sale of 6,347 pounds of crabs for $ 9,548.91 during that period -- in the months before the deepwater horizon explosion . according to the arrest warrant , huynh acknowledged receiving $ 5,000 checks from bp america in may and june . but the warrant said that when confronted by authorities , both men admitted they did not sell or purchase any crabs in the months leading up to the explosion , after it was pointed out that huynh did n't have a commercial fishing license during that time -- and only obtained one in may . the men , from the town of new iberia , louisiana , southwest of baton rouge , were booked tuesday in the east baton rouge parish jail . if convicted , they could face fines up to $ 5,000 and up to five years in jail . bp has promised to compensate people impacted by the spill , and in a meeting with president barack obama in june , bp executives agreed to set up a $ 20 billion dollar fund for that purpose . meanwhile , carol browner , director of the white house office of energy and climate change policy , talked about the well-killing efforts on cnn 's situation room . she told wolf blitzer , it 's not mission accomplished , but obviously , it 's an important day . ' we know the static kill worked , and we know we 're not going to have more oil leaking into the gulf , ' she said . but she noted the relief well operation lies ahead , and said , we also have the long-term restoration . so we 're just beginning one phase as we end one phase . ' looking ahead to that next phase , coastal parish leaders and state officials in louisiana submitted a transition plan to the coast guard on long-range cleanup efforts . the plan was developed after a meeting last week with gov . bobby jindal , coastal parish presidents , coast guard officials and bp chief operating officer doug suttles . the plan notes that federal , state and local authorities all must agree that shorelines are clean , before the effort will stop . on that cleanup front , a government report released wednesday indicated that 74 percent of the oil that leaked from the well over nearly three months has been collected , has dispersed or has evaporated . several agencies were involved in the study including the national oceanic and atmospheric administration , the u.s. geological survey and the department of the interior . of the total amount of oil that spilled in the gulf of mexico -- the most recent estimate is 205.8 million gallons -- just 26 percent remains in the water , either on or just below the surface as a light sheen and weathered tar balls . of the remaining 26 percent , much of that is in the process of being degraded and cleaned up on the shore , ' said jane lubchenco , noaa administrator . the tar balls are either washing ashore , being collected from the coastlines , or buried in sand and sediment and are in the process of being degraded , the report said . cnn 's vivian kuo contributed to this report .	new : u.s. says bp must still proceed with relief well
bp <tsp> washington ( cnn ) -- with its well-killing effort reported to be going extremely well , ' bp plans to start pouring concrete into the crippled well in the gulf of mexico on thursday . the u.s. official overseeing the response to the spill , retired adm. thad allen , has given bp a green light to pour cement on top of the 2,300 barrels of heavy drilling mud already sent down the well . the mud drove oil back into the reservoir in an operation known as a static kill . ' but allen said bp should follow that with a second well-killing procedure that has been in the works as sort of an insurance policy -- pouring additional mud and cement through a relief well that 's expected to be ready in mid-august . based on the successful completion of the static kill procedure and a positive evaluation of the test results , i have authorized bp to cement its damaged well , ' allen said wednesday in a statement . i made it clear that implementation of this procedure shall in no way delay the completion of the relief well . ' earlier wednesday , senior vice president kent wells reported that the initial step in the static kill had gone extremely well . ' the company began pumping the mud tuesday afternoon , and the operation continued for some eight hours . bp pumped mud into the well from a ship on the surface mostly at the rate of five barrels a minute . that eventually increased to 10 and then 15 barrels a minute near the end of the operation , according to wells . everything proceeded exactly as we expected it to , ' he said . the move essentially sealed the well , which had poured oil into the gulf for nearly three months until a tight-fitting cap was placed on it in mid-july . wednesday marked the 107th day since the worst environmental disaster in u.s. history began with the explosion on the deepwater horizon that sank the rig and killed 11 workers . the government estimates that nearly 5 million barrels of crude oil spilled into the gulf . but wells noted that it has been 20 days since the well was fitted with a tightly-fitting cap , which stopped the oil from flowing and made it possible to permanently seal the well through the operations now under way . it 's getting very difficult to find any oil on the surface , but i want to emphasize that bp remains committed to getting this well permanently shut and cleaning up any pollution and restoring the gulf coast , ' wells said . that was our commitment from the beginning , and we 're just as committed to that today . ' while it may be difficult to find much oil on the surface for skimming ships to collect , local officials are quick to point out that coastal areas are still being affected . the louisiana department of wildlife and fisheries issued a report wednesday indicating that oil sheen and patches of oil are still being spotted in marshes and various coastal areas in st. bernard , paquemines and jefferson parishes . and in another development wednesday , louisiana wildlife officials and the state 's special investigations unit said two men had been arrested and accused of falsifying documents to file claims with bp . authorities said an ly , 36 , the owner of ly ly seafood , and samith huynh , 31 , falsified documents from january through april , reporting the sale of 6,347 pounds of crabs for $ 9,548.91 during that period -- in the months before the deepwater horizon explosion . according to the arrest warrant , huynh acknowledged receiving $ 5,000 checks from bp america in may and june . but the warrant said that when confronted by authorities , both men admitted they did not sell or purchase any crabs in the months leading up to the explosion , after it was pointed out that huynh did n't have a commercial fishing license during that time -- and only obtained one in may . the men , from the town of new iberia , louisiana , southwest of baton rouge , were booked tuesday in the east baton rouge parish jail . if convicted , they could face fines up to $ 5,000 and up to five years in jail . bp has promised to compensate people impacted by the spill , and in a meeting with president barack obama in june , bp executives agreed to set up a $ 20 billion dollar fund for that purpose . meanwhile , carol browner , director of the white house office of energy and climate change policy , talked about the well-killing efforts on cnn 's situation room . she told wolf blitzer , it 's not mission accomplished , but obviously , it 's an important day . ' we know the static kill worked , and we know we 're not going to have more oil leaking into the gulf , ' she said . but she noted the relief well operation lies ahead , and said , we also have the long-term restoration . so we 're just beginning one phase as we end one phase . ' looking ahead to that next phase , coastal parish leaders and state officials in louisiana submitted a transition plan to the coast guard on long-range cleanup efforts . the plan was developed after a meeting last week with gov . bobby jindal , coastal parish presidents , coast guard officials and bp chief operating officer doug suttles . the plan notes that federal , state and local authorities all must agree that shorelines are clean , before the effort will stop . on that cleanup front , a government report released wednesday indicated that 74 percent of the oil that leaked from the well over nearly three months has been collected , has dispersed or has evaporated . several agencies were involved in the study including the national oceanic and atmospheric administration , the u.s. geological survey and the department of the interior . of the total amount of oil that spilled in the gulf of mexico -- the most recent estimate is 205.8 million gallons -- just 26 percent remains in the water , either on or just below the surface as a light sheen and weathered tar balls . of the remaining 26 percent , much of that is in the process of being degraded and cleaned up on the shore , ' said jane lubchenco , noaa administrator . the tar balls are either washing ashore , being collected from the coastlines , or buried in sand and sediment and are in the process of being degraded , the report said . cnn 's vivian kuo contributed to this report .	new : bp given green light to pour cement down well as part of static kill '
bp <tsp> washington ( cnn ) -- with its well-killing effort reported to be going extremely well , ' bp plans to start pouring concrete into the crippled well in the gulf of mexico on thursday . the u.s. official overseeing the response to the spill , retired adm. thad allen , has given bp a green light to pour cement on top of the 2,300 barrels of heavy drilling mud already sent down the well . the mud drove oil back into the reservoir in an operation known as a static kill . ' but allen said bp should follow that with a second well-killing procedure that has been in the works as sort of an insurance policy -- pouring additional mud and cement through a relief well that 's expected to be ready in mid-august . based on the successful completion of the static kill procedure and a positive evaluation of the test results , i have authorized bp to cement its damaged well , ' allen said wednesday in a statement . i made it clear that implementation of this procedure shall in no way delay the completion of the relief well . ' earlier wednesday , senior vice president kent wells reported that the initial step in the static kill had gone extremely well . ' the company began pumping the mud tuesday afternoon , and the operation continued for some eight hours . bp pumped mud into the well from a ship on the surface mostly at the rate of five barrels a minute . that eventually increased to 10 and then 15 barrels a minute near the end of the operation , according to wells . everything proceeded exactly as we expected it to , ' he said . the move essentially sealed the well , which had poured oil into the gulf for nearly three months until a tight-fitting cap was placed on it in mid-july . wednesday marked the 107th day since the worst environmental disaster in u.s. history began with the explosion on the deepwater horizon that sank the rig and killed 11 workers . the government estimates that nearly 5 million barrels of crude oil spilled into the gulf . but wells noted that it has been 20 days since the well was fitted with a tightly-fitting cap , which stopped the oil from flowing and made it possible to permanently seal the well through the operations now under way . it 's getting very difficult to find any oil on the surface , but i want to emphasize that bp remains committed to getting this well permanently shut and cleaning up any pollution and restoring the gulf coast , ' wells said . that was our commitment from the beginning , and we 're just as committed to that today . ' while it may be difficult to find much oil on the surface for skimming ships to collect , local officials are quick to point out that coastal areas are still being affected . the louisiana department of wildlife and fisheries issued a report wednesday indicating that oil sheen and patches of oil are still being spotted in marshes and various coastal areas in st. bernard , paquemines and jefferson parishes . and in another development wednesday , louisiana wildlife officials and the state 's special investigations unit said two men had been arrested and accused of falsifying documents to file claims with bp . authorities said an ly , 36 , the owner of ly ly seafood , and samith huynh , 31 , falsified documents from january through april , reporting the sale of 6,347 pounds of crabs for $ 9,548.91 during that period -- in the months before the deepwater horizon explosion . according to the arrest warrant , huynh acknowledged receiving $ 5,000 checks from bp america in may and june . but the warrant said that when confronted by authorities , both men admitted they did not sell or purchase any crabs in the months leading up to the explosion , after it was pointed out that huynh did n't have a commercial fishing license during that time -- and only obtained one in may . the men , from the town of new iberia , louisiana , southwest of baton rouge , were booked tuesday in the east baton rouge parish jail . if convicted , they could face fines up to $ 5,000 and up to five years in jail . bp has promised to compensate people impacted by the spill , and in a meeting with president barack obama in june , bp executives agreed to set up a $ 20 billion dollar fund for that purpose . meanwhile , carol browner , director of the white house office of energy and climate change policy , talked about the well-killing efforts on cnn 's situation room . she told wolf blitzer , it 's not mission accomplished , but obviously , it 's an important day . ' we know the static kill worked , and we know we 're not going to have more oil leaking into the gulf , ' she said . but she noted the relief well operation lies ahead , and said , we also have the long-term restoration . so we 're just beginning one phase as we end one phase . ' looking ahead to that next phase , coastal parish leaders and state officials in louisiana submitted a transition plan to the coast guard on long-range cleanup efforts . the plan was developed after a meeting last week with gov . bobby jindal , coastal parish presidents , coast guard officials and bp chief operating officer doug suttles . the plan notes that federal , state and local authorities all must agree that shorelines are clean , before the effort will stop . on that cleanup front , a government report released wednesday indicated that 74 percent of the oil that leaked from the well over nearly three months has been collected , has dispersed or has evaporated . several agencies were involved in the study including the national oceanic and atmospheric administration , the u.s. geological survey and the department of the interior . of the total amount of oil that spilled in the gulf of mexico -- the most recent estimate is 205.8 million gallons -- just 26 percent remains in the water , either on or just below the surface as a light sheen and weathered tar balls . of the remaining 26 percent , much of that is in the process of being degraded and cleaned up on the shore , ' said jane lubchenco , noaa administrator . the tar balls are either washing ashore , being collected from the coastlines , or buried in sand and sediment and are in the process of being degraded , the report said . cnn 's vivian kuo contributed to this report .	bp exec says well-killing efforts so far have gone extremely well '
louisiana <tsp> washington ( cnn ) -- with its well-killing effort reported to be going extremely well , ' bp plans to start pouring concrete into the crippled well in the gulf of mexico on thursday . the u.s. official overseeing the response to the spill , retired adm. thad allen , has given bp a green light to pour cement on top of the 2,300 barrels of heavy drilling mud already sent down the well . the mud drove oil back into the reservoir in an operation known as a static kill . ' but allen said bp should follow that with a second well-killing procedure that has been in the works as sort of an insurance policy -- pouring additional mud and cement through a relief well that 's expected to be ready in mid-august . based on the successful completion of the static kill procedure and a positive evaluation of the test results , i have authorized bp to cement its damaged well , ' allen said wednesday in a statement . i made it clear that implementation of this procedure shall in no way delay the completion of the relief well . ' earlier wednesday , senior vice president kent wells reported that the initial step in the static kill had gone extremely well . ' the company began pumping the mud tuesday afternoon , and the operation continued for some eight hours . bp pumped mud into the well from a ship on the surface mostly at the rate of five barrels a minute . that eventually increased to 10 and then 15 barrels a minute near the end of the operation , according to wells . everything proceeded exactly as we expected it to , ' he said . the move essentially sealed the well , which had poured oil into the gulf for nearly three months until a tight-fitting cap was placed on it in mid-july . wednesday marked the 107th day since the worst environmental disaster in u.s. history began with the explosion on the deepwater horizon that sank the rig and killed 11 workers . the government estimates that nearly 5 million barrels of crude oil spilled into the gulf . but wells noted that it has been 20 days since the well was fitted with a tightly-fitting cap , which stopped the oil from flowing and made it possible to permanently seal the well through the operations now under way . it 's getting very difficult to find any oil on the surface , but i want to emphasize that bp remains committed to getting this well permanently shut and cleaning up any pollution and restoring the gulf coast , ' wells said . that was our commitment from the beginning , and we 're just as committed to that today . ' while it may be difficult to find much oil on the surface for skimming ships to collect , local officials are quick to point out that coastal areas are still being affected . the louisiana department of wildlife and fisheries issued a report wednesday indicating that oil sheen and patches of oil are still being spotted in marshes and various coastal areas in st. bernard , paquemines and jefferson parishes . and in another development wednesday , louisiana wildlife officials and the state 's special investigations unit said two men had been arrested and accused of falsifying documents to file claims with bp . authorities said an ly , 36 , the owner of ly ly seafood , and samith huynh , 31 , falsified documents from january through april , reporting the sale of 6,347 pounds of crabs for $ 9,548.91 during that period -- in the months before the deepwater horizon explosion . according to the arrest warrant , huynh acknowledged receiving $ 5,000 checks from bp america in may and june . but the warrant said that when confronted by authorities , both men admitted they did not sell or purchase any crabs in the months leading up to the explosion , after it was pointed out that huynh did n't have a commercial fishing license during that time -- and only obtained one in may . the men , from the town of new iberia , louisiana , southwest of baton rouge , were booked tuesday in the east baton rouge parish jail . if convicted , they could face fines up to $ 5,000 and up to five years in jail . bp has promised to compensate people impacted by the spill , and in a meeting with president barack obama in june , bp executives agreed to set up a $ 20 billion dollar fund for that purpose . meanwhile , carol browner , director of the white house office of energy and climate change policy , talked about the well-killing efforts on cnn 's situation room . she told wolf blitzer , it 's not mission accomplished , but obviously , it 's an important day . ' we know the static kill worked , and we know we 're not going to have more oil leaking into the gulf , ' she said . but she noted the relief well operation lies ahead , and said , we also have the long-term restoration . so we 're just beginning one phase as we end one phase . ' looking ahead to that next phase , coastal parish leaders and state officials in louisiana submitted a transition plan to the coast guard on long-range cleanup efforts . the plan was developed after a meeting last week with gov . bobby jindal , coastal parish presidents , coast guard officials and bp chief operating officer doug suttles . the plan notes that federal , state and local authorities all must agree that shorelines are clean , before the effort will stop . on that cleanup front , a government report released wednesday indicated that 74 percent of the oil that leaked from the well over nearly three months has been collected , has dispersed or has evaporated . several agencies were involved in the study including the national oceanic and atmospheric administration , the u.s. geological survey and the department of the interior . of the total amount of oil that spilled in the gulf of mexico -- the most recent estimate is 205.8 million gallons -- just 26 percent remains in the water , either on or just below the surface as a light sheen and weathered tar balls . of the remaining 26 percent , much of that is in the process of being degraded and cleaned up on the shore , ' said jane lubchenco , noaa administrator . the tar balls are either washing ashore , being collected from the coastlines , or buried in sand and sediment and are in the process of being degraded , the report said . cnn 's vivian kuo contributed to this report .	new : louisiana officials submit long-term cleanup plan
roberts <tsp> ( cnn ) -- the gunman in last week 's oregon mall shooting acted weird ' and had talked about moving and selling his possessions , his roommate said . in court documents released monday , those and other details drew a rough sketch of the shooter , identified as 22-year-old jacob tyler roberts . investigators say he opened fire at the clackamas town center mall outside portland , killing two people and wounding a third , before taking his own life . oregon gunman on facebook :'i have lived one crazy life' hours after the deadly rampage , the roommate called a tip line and told a detective he thought roberts might be responsible . the roommate said he once found a box of ar-15 ammunition at the house . he told the detective roberts had acted weird ' recently and talked about moving to hawaii and selling his belongings on craigslist . roberts , in fact , had sold some things there , said the roommate . the documents also showed the weapon used in last tuesday 's shooting , a stag arms brand ar-15 style rifle , was legally purchased by a friend of roberts . the night before the shooting , roberts spent time with that friend , telling him he needed to get out town and needed a gun . when the friend awoke the next day , his rifle and roberts were missing , he told a detective . authorities have offered few other details about roberts , the man they say shot 54-year-old cindy ann yuille and 45-year-old steven mathew forsyth . both died of single gunshot wounds . shooting victims remembered roberts also shot kristina shevchenko , police say . the 15-year-old suffered a collapsed right lung and injuries to her liver after being shot in the chest , a doctor told reporters last week . she was listed in fair condition early monday , up from serious , at oregon health & science university hospital in portland . shoppers return to oregon mall after shooting portland police , u.s. agree on excessive force reform complete coverage of the newtown , connecticut , shootings	investigators have identified him as 22-year-old jacob tyler roberts
roberts <tsp> ( cnn ) -- the gunman in last week 's oregon mall shooting acted weird ' and had talked about moving and selling his possessions , his roommate said . in court documents released monday , those and other details drew a rough sketch of the shooter , identified as 22-year-old jacob tyler roberts . investigators say he opened fire at the clackamas town center mall outside portland , killing two people and wounding a third , before taking his own life . oregon gunman on facebook :'i have lived one crazy life' hours after the deadly rampage , the roommate called a tip line and told a detective he thought roberts might be responsible . the roommate said he once found a box of ar-15 ammunition at the house . he told the detective roberts had acted weird ' recently and talked about moving to hawaii and selling his belongings on craigslist . roberts , in fact , had sold some things there , said the roommate . the documents also showed the weapon used in last tuesday 's shooting , a stag arms brand ar-15 style rifle , was legally purchased by a friend of roberts . the night before the shooting , roberts spent time with that friend , telling him he needed to get out town and needed a gun . when the friend awoke the next day , his rifle and roberts were missing , he told a detective . authorities have offered few other details about roberts , the man they say shot 54-year-old cindy ann yuille and 45-year-old steven mathew forsyth . both died of single gunshot wounds . shooting victims remembered roberts also shot kristina shevchenko , police say . the 15-year-old suffered a collapsed right lung and injuries to her liver after being shot in the chest , a doctor told reporters last week . she was listed in fair condition early monday , up from serious , at oregon health & science university hospital in portland . shoppers return to oregon mall after shooting portland police , u.s. agree on excessive force reform complete coverage of the newtown , connecticut , shootings	roberts shot three people , killing two , before taking his own life , police say
roberts <tsp> ( cnn ) -- the gunman in last week 's oregon mall shooting acted weird ' and had talked about moving and selling his possessions , his roommate said . in court documents released monday , those and other details drew a rough sketch of the shooter , identified as 22-year-old jacob tyler roberts . investigators say he opened fire at the clackamas town center mall outside portland , killing two people and wounding a third , before taking his own life . oregon gunman on facebook :'i have lived one crazy life' hours after the deadly rampage , the roommate called a tip line and told a detective he thought roberts might be responsible . the roommate said he once found a box of ar-15 ammunition at the house . he told the detective roberts had acted weird ' recently and talked about moving to hawaii and selling his belongings on craigslist . roberts , in fact , had sold some things there , said the roommate . the documents also showed the weapon used in last tuesday 's shooting , a stag arms brand ar-15 style rifle , was legally purchased by a friend of roberts . the night before the shooting , roberts spent time with that friend , telling him he needed to get out town and needed a gun . when the friend awoke the next day , his rifle and roberts were missing , he told a detective . authorities have offered few other details about roberts , the man they say shot 54-year-old cindy ann yuille and 45-year-old steven mathew forsyth . both died of single gunshot wounds . shooting victims remembered roberts also shot kristina shevchenko , police say . the 15-year-old suffered a collapsed right lung and injuries to her liver after being shot in the chest , a doctor told reporters last week . she was listed in fair condition early monday , up from serious , at oregon health & science university hospital in portland . shoppers return to oregon mall after shooting portland police , u.s. agree on excessive force reform complete coverage of the newtown , connecticut , shootings	his roommate says roberts had talked about moving to hawaii
miss twyford <tsp> ( cnn ) -- the letter in the u.s. mail came as a surprise . not the return address -- cathy sadler had been corresponding with her old fifth-grade teacher for several years , so she recognized the address of the retirement community in dublin , ohio . but when sadler , who lives in north carolina , opened the envelope , she found something she was n't expecting . it was a photocopy of an old mother 's day card . there were many signatures on the card . she found her own name among them . she was cathy holt back then , a fifth-grader at montrose elementary school in bexley , ohio . miss twyford had been the teacher . that 's how all of her students , all of the 10- and 11-year-olds in that 1958 classroom , referred to her . geraldine twyford was her full name . she 's still miss twyford to me , ' cathy sadler , now 65 , told me the other day . she was such a wonderful teacher -- she brought such excitement and enthusiasm to her job . you could tell she was n't just going through the motions . she loved teaching . my own love of history started in that classroom . ' her admiration for miss twyford is what led sadler to seek her out and start writing to her . at 86 , miss twyford chooses not to use e-mail -- she writes her letters in elegant longhand . the old card -- the kind you would buy at a drugstore -- featured the embossed message : you 're such a sweet person , so thoughtful and kind , that days such as this , always bring you to mind . happy mother 's day . ' surrounding those words were all the signatures -- written neatly in fountain pen , in children 's script . the names were of the students in miss twyford 's class : arloa shultz , kent kellner , paula young , susan bryant , joe sebring , sherry lamp , maury topolosky , many more . there was the signature of one child -- alan ( peewee ) meyers , is what he wrote -- a sprightly , friendly boy who , three years later , would lose his life in an automobile accident . miss twyford , in 1958 , was unmarried and had no children . yet the boys and girls had decided to present her with the mother 's day card . and she had saved it for all these years . i called her last week at the retirement community in ohio . she has been a widow since 2011 ; at age 39 she married bob ferguson , an electrical engineer in the aeronautics field , and they remained wed for 46 years until his death . i 'm not mrs. ferguson to my old students , ' she said . i 'm always miss twyford . which is fine with me . ' i asked her about the card . i was surprised , and so touched , that they would give that to me , ' she said . she said that she had kept it in a treasure chest ' -- a footlocker where she has preserved all of her most precious memories . to me , the card meant that the boys and girls knew how much i cared for them , ' she said . as a teacher , you always hope that you mean something to the children , and you hope that they understand how much they matter to you . as i look at the card from time to time , i see also that it is a sign that we accomplished one of our goals that year . in the fifth grade , students were expected to learn how to write in cursive , in ink . when you use ink , in a fountain pen , there is no erasing , no way to cover your mistakes . so i think they were showing that to me , too . ' she told me that she grew up an only child in gratiot , ohio , a town of just 250 people . she said that a career teaching fifth grade -- she spent 30 years doing it -- was a full and satisfying way to spend her life . at montrose elementary , where she taught for 16 of those years , she said her classroom was on the top floor , overlooking main street . it was route 40 , ' she said . the old national road . i would tell the boys and girls to look out the window at the cars on the street , and to try to imagine the covered wagons moving west all those years ago , right there , carrying people who had left everything behind to start a new life . ' the main reason she has kept the mother 's day card , she said , was a simple one : ' i never had children of my own . it is the only mother 's day card i ever received . ' she said that , as a teacher , you sometimes look out into your classroom and silently think ,'i wonder what will happen to them when they grow up .' fifty-five years later , it is a sunday in may again . she is 86 , and on her own . in those 30 years of teaching , more than 700 boys and girls moved through her classrooms . i know every person who signed that card ; i know those who are living , and i knew those who have passed away . and on this , i think i can safely speak for all of them . the words on the card still hold true : ' . . .so thoughtful and kind , that days such as this , always bring you to mind . ' happy mother 's day , miss twyford . the opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of bob greene .	greene : miss twyford says she treasures card ; only mother 's day card she 's received
miss twyford <tsp> ( cnn ) -- the letter in the u.s. mail came as a surprise . not the return address -- cathy sadler had been corresponding with her old fifth-grade teacher for several years , so she recognized the address of the retirement community in dublin , ohio . but when sadler , who lives in north carolina , opened the envelope , she found something she was n't expecting . it was a photocopy of an old mother 's day card . there were many signatures on the card . she found her own name among them . she was cathy holt back then , a fifth-grader at montrose elementary school in bexley , ohio . miss twyford had been the teacher . that 's how all of her students , all of the 10- and 11-year-olds in that 1958 classroom , referred to her . geraldine twyford was her full name . she 's still miss twyford to me , ' cathy sadler , now 65 , told me the other day . she was such a wonderful teacher -- she brought such excitement and enthusiasm to her job . you could tell she was n't just going through the motions . she loved teaching . my own love of history started in that classroom . ' her admiration for miss twyford is what led sadler to seek her out and start writing to her . at 86 , miss twyford chooses not to use e-mail -- she writes her letters in elegant longhand . the old card -- the kind you would buy at a drugstore -- featured the embossed message : you 're such a sweet person , so thoughtful and kind , that days such as this , always bring you to mind . happy mother 's day . ' surrounding those words were all the signatures -- written neatly in fountain pen , in children 's script . the names were of the students in miss twyford 's class : arloa shultz , kent kellner , paula young , susan bryant , joe sebring , sherry lamp , maury topolosky , many more . there was the signature of one child -- alan ( peewee ) meyers , is what he wrote -- a sprightly , friendly boy who , three years later , would lose his life in an automobile accident . miss twyford , in 1958 , was unmarried and had no children . yet the boys and girls had decided to present her with the mother 's day card . and she had saved it for all these years . i called her last week at the retirement community in ohio . she has been a widow since 2011 ; at age 39 she married bob ferguson , an electrical engineer in the aeronautics field , and they remained wed for 46 years until his death . i 'm not mrs. ferguson to my old students , ' she said . i 'm always miss twyford . which is fine with me . ' i asked her about the card . i was surprised , and so touched , that they would give that to me , ' she said . she said that she had kept it in a treasure chest ' -- a footlocker where she has preserved all of her most precious memories . to me , the card meant that the boys and girls knew how much i cared for them , ' she said . as a teacher , you always hope that you mean something to the children , and you hope that they understand how much they matter to you . as i look at the card from time to time , i see also that it is a sign that we accomplished one of our goals that year . in the fifth grade , students were expected to learn how to write in cursive , in ink . when you use ink , in a fountain pen , there is no erasing , no way to cover your mistakes . so i think they were showing that to me , too . ' she told me that she grew up an only child in gratiot , ohio , a town of just 250 people . she said that a career teaching fifth grade -- she spent 30 years doing it -- was a full and satisfying way to spend her life . at montrose elementary , where she taught for 16 of those years , she said her classroom was on the top floor , overlooking main street . it was route 40 , ' she said . the old national road . i would tell the boys and girls to look out the window at the cars on the street , and to try to imagine the covered wagons moving west all those years ago , right there , carrying people who had left everything behind to start a new life . ' the main reason she has kept the mother 's day card , she said , was a simple one : ' i never had children of my own . it is the only mother 's day card i ever received . ' she said that , as a teacher , you sometimes look out into your classroom and silently think ,'i wonder what will happen to them when they grow up .' fifty-five years later , it is a sunday in may again . she is 86 , and on her own . in those 30 years of teaching , more than 700 boys and girls moved through her classrooms . i know every person who signed that card ; i know those who are living , and i knew those who have passed away . and on this , i think i can safely speak for all of them . the words on the card still hold true : ' . . .so thoughtful and kind , that days such as this , always bring you to mind . ' happy mother 's day , miss twyford . the opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of bob greene .	greene : she 's taught 700 kids ; all would surely say : happy mother 's day , miss twyford
miss twyford <tsp> ( cnn ) -- the letter in the u.s. mail came as a surprise . not the return address -- cathy sadler had been corresponding with her old fifth-grade teacher for several years , so she recognized the address of the retirement community in dublin , ohio . but when sadler , who lives in north carolina , opened the envelope , she found something she was n't expecting . it was a photocopy of an old mother 's day card . there were many signatures on the card . she found her own name among them . she was cathy holt back then , a fifth-grader at montrose elementary school in bexley , ohio . miss twyford had been the teacher . that 's how all of her students , all of the 10- and 11-year-olds in that 1958 classroom , referred to her . geraldine twyford was her full name . she 's still miss twyford to me , ' cathy sadler , now 65 , told me the other day . she was such a wonderful teacher -- she brought such excitement and enthusiasm to her job . you could tell she was n't just going through the motions . she loved teaching . my own love of history started in that classroom . ' her admiration for miss twyford is what led sadler to seek her out and start writing to her . at 86 , miss twyford chooses not to use e-mail -- she writes her letters in elegant longhand . the old card -- the kind you would buy at a drugstore -- featured the embossed message : you 're such a sweet person , so thoughtful and kind , that days such as this , always bring you to mind . happy mother 's day . ' surrounding those words were all the signatures -- written neatly in fountain pen , in children 's script . the names were of the students in miss twyford 's class : arloa shultz , kent kellner , paula young , susan bryant , joe sebring , sherry lamp , maury topolosky , many more . there was the signature of one child -- alan ( peewee ) meyers , is what he wrote -- a sprightly , friendly boy who , three years later , would lose his life in an automobile accident . miss twyford , in 1958 , was unmarried and had no children . yet the boys and girls had decided to present her with the mother 's day card . and she had saved it for all these years . i called her last week at the retirement community in ohio . she has been a widow since 2011 ; at age 39 she married bob ferguson , an electrical engineer in the aeronautics field , and they remained wed for 46 years until his death . i 'm not mrs. ferguson to my old students , ' she said . i 'm always miss twyford . which is fine with me . ' i asked her about the card . i was surprised , and so touched , that they would give that to me , ' she said . she said that she had kept it in a treasure chest ' -- a footlocker where she has preserved all of her most precious memories . to me , the card meant that the boys and girls knew how much i cared for them , ' she said . as a teacher , you always hope that you mean something to the children , and you hope that they understand how much they matter to you . as i look at the card from time to time , i see also that it is a sign that we accomplished one of our goals that year . in the fifth grade , students were expected to learn how to write in cursive , in ink . when you use ink , in a fountain pen , there is no erasing , no way to cover your mistakes . so i think they were showing that to me , too . ' she told me that she grew up an only child in gratiot , ohio , a town of just 250 people . she said that a career teaching fifth grade -- she spent 30 years doing it -- was a full and satisfying way to spend her life . at montrose elementary , where she taught for 16 of those years , she said her classroom was on the top floor , overlooking main street . it was route 40 , ' she said . the old national road . i would tell the boys and girls to look out the window at the cars on the street , and to try to imagine the covered wagons moving west all those years ago , right there , carrying people who had left everything behind to start a new life . ' the main reason she has kept the mother 's day card , she said , was a simple one : ' i never had children of my own . it is the only mother 's day card i ever received . ' she said that , as a teacher , you sometimes look out into your classroom and silently think ,'i wonder what will happen to them when they grow up .' fifty-five years later , it is a sunday in may again . she is 86 , and on her own . in those 30 years of teaching , more than 700 boys and girls moved through her classrooms . i know every person who signed that card ; i know those who are living , and i knew those who have passed away . and on this , i think i can safely speak for all of them . the words on the card still hold true : ' . . .so thoughtful and kind , that days such as this , always bring you to mind . ' happy mother 's day , miss twyford . the opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of bob greene .	students had given the card to miss twyford , beloved teacher who had no children
pentagon <tsp> ( cnn ) -- richard strandlof said he survived the 9/11 attacks on the pentagon . he said he survived again when a roadside bomb went off in iraq , killing four fellow marines . he 'd point to his head and tell people he had a metal plate , collateral damage from the explosion . richard strandlof says he did n't mean to cause harm when he lied about being a military veteran . none of it was true . on friday , the fbi arrested him on the rare charge of stolen valor . ' strandlof , 32 , was held for false claims about receipt of military decorations or medals , ' an fbi news release said . charges had been filed in denver , colorado , the week before , the bureau said . the penalty for his crime is up to one year incarceration and a $ 100,000 fine , ' it said . before his deception was revealed , crowds ate up his story . he canvassed colorado appearing at the sides of politicians . inspiring and seemingly authentic , he spoke on behalf of veterans at the state capitol . he formed a group called the colorado veterans alliance . the whole thing was a lie , he admitted to cnn 's anderson cooper earlier this year . watch strandlof discuss case in june . » he was n't at the pentagon . he was never a marine . he never served his country . he never graduated from the naval academy . he claimed his real name was rick duncan . where was he on 9/11 , the day he said he witnessed heroism firsthand ? i was in san jose , california , watching it in horror on tv with a few other people , ' strandlof told cnn . he was at a homeless shelter at the time . strandlof denies being a pathological liar . he says he suffered from some severely underdiagnosed mental illness ' and he got caught up in the moment around people who are passionate and loved what they did . ' he told cnn he had put on a production , which i 'm sorry for . ' hopefully the people that i hurt can in some way gain closure from that , and i myself do n't know what i can do , short of leaving them alone and not being in their lives , to make that happen , ' strandlof said . he said he 's not sure exactly how he 's hurt people . it 's not for me to say , and time will tell , ' he said . hal bidlack , a former air force lieutenant colonel , is one of those people . he ran for congress as a democrat and had strandlof appear with him . bidlack -- who lost to incumbent republican doug lamborn -- is n't too happy . once one lie fell apart , the whole series of things ... just cascaded into an ocean of lies , ' he said . bidlack was at the pentagon when it came under attack on september 11 , 2001 . he now realizes that strandlof stole portions of his own story . now that we know he 's a lying fraud , ' bidlack said , i think he was just parroting my own story back to me . ' there are an awful lot of things that he kept straight to try to fool an awful lot of people for an awful long time . ' doug sterner has catalogued hundreds of people claiming to be military veterans who never served in the military . he says it 's typical for those perpetuating the hoaxes to claim mental illness . i do n't buy that , ' sterner said . what he was doing was looking for a cause to promote himself . i see this repeatedly . i 've had a hundred cases just this year like rick strandlof 's . ... what they 're doing is building a kingdom of self and feeding their own ego . ' sterner has pushed for a federal database listing the names and citations of all decorated military veterans to help put an end to such cases . he said strandlof has robbed true veterans of their veracity . doing good does not take away from the bad that he did , ' he said . because of rick strandlof , the next global war on terrorism veteran that speaks in a school or talks to the media or gets involved in politics is going to be questioned . ' ryan gallucci , a spokesman for amvets , agreed . strandlof 's actions dishonor the actual sacrifices of veterans , ' he told cnn monday . second , by commissioning his own advocacy group , strandlof diverted philanthropy dollars for legitimate causes within the veterans community , ' gallucci said . personally , it just sickens me , ' gallucci added . as a veteran of the war in iraq , it 's unfathomable that someone would propagate such a lie at a time when american men and women are actually putting their lives on the line , and american families are coping with the loss of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice . ' according to the denver post , strandlof came to authorities'attention first in 1997 , when he was sentenced to five years on forgery and bad-check charges . the fbi was investigating him for fraud when he spoke to cnn -- a charge he denied . we did not take money to use on non-veterans projects . i did not enrich myself on this . i did not gain any money from this , ' he said . he has not been charged with fraud . that 's not the point , said sterner . the one thing he robbed from every veteran that comes out now is credibility . ' gallucci called strandlof a con man ' and the case morally repugnant . ' strandlof 's actions are exploitation plain and simple , and amvets is eager to see justice served , ' gallucci said . cnn 's joe johns contributed to this report .	richard strandlof said he survived 9/11 pentagon attack , iraq bombing
cissy houston <tsp> atlanta ( cnn ) more family members are coming to atlanta to see bobbi kristina brown in the hospital . on friday , grandmother cissy houston arrived at emory university hospital , a source close the family told cnn . she 's the mother of the late musical superstar whitney houston , bobbi kristina 's mother . other family members , including bobbi kristina 's father , singer bobby brown , have been in atlanta for days . bobbi kristina , 21 , was found facedown in a bathtub full of water in her atlanta area home last saturday . the roswell police spokeswoman said brown was unresponsive , meaning not breathing , no heartbeat . ' doctors have placed her in a medically induced coma , a source close to the family said soon after she was hospitalized . the status of her brain function wo n't be known until sedatives are reduced , the source told cnn . a week after she was rushed to the hospital , details of her condition are scare . sources close to the family say she opened her eyes briefly last monday and also suffered seizures that same day . it was not immediately clear what medical significance these reported events have in brown 's case . meanwhile , the three-year anniversary of whitney houston 's death approaches . on february 11 , 2012 , she was found dead in a bathtub at the beverly hilton hotel near los angeles hours before she was to attend a pre-grammy awards party . a coroner ruled her death an accidental drowning , with heart disease and cocaine use listed as contributing factors . brown is her only child . after houston 's death , bobbi kristina talked of pursuing a career in acting and music , just like her mother . in 2012 , she reportedly lobbied for a role in a planned biopic of her mother 's life . lifetime 's whitney , ' which was directed by actress angela bassett , debuted in january 2015 , but the houston family was not involved . concerns that she may have substance abuse issues , as her mother did , intensified in july 2014 after a picture was posted on her instagram account showing a young woman who looked like brown appearing to be smoking from a bong . bobbi kristina brown was not breathing ' when nick gordon -- the man she has referred to as her husband -- and a friend , who 's been identified as maxwell lomas , found her inside her townhouse in the atlanta suburb of roswell . they called 911 and performed cpr until emergency crews arrived and took over , police spokeswoman lisa holland said . nobody knows what caused brown 's unresponsiveness , holland said , but police consider it a medical incident at this time . she said investigators had found nothing to indicate it was drug- or alcohol-related . bobbi kristina brown had said she was married to gordon , who had lived with houston and her daughter since he was 12 years old . however , bobby brown attorney christopher brown said the two were never married . cnn 's carolyn sung , lisa respers france , eliott c. mclaughlin , sunny hostin , nischelle turner and nick valencia contributed to this report .	cissy houston arrives to see granddaughter bobbi kristina brown , source says
gop <tsp> ( cnn ) -- virginia gov . bob mcdonnell on tuesday night tried to sell the american public on the virtues of having the gop in charge of states . in a speech at the republican national convention , mcdonnell said that unemployment was lower in states led by republican governors than in those headed by democrats . cnn fact check : santorum misleads on'dependence' the statement : ' in states with republican governors , the average unemployment rate is a full point lower than in states with democratic governors . it makes a difference . republican governors lead seven of the 10 states with the lowest unemployment rates . and 12 of the 15 states that have been ranked'best for business'have republican governors . ' the facts : a quick check of the governors'party affiliations shows 29 states with gop governors , 20 states with democratic governors , and one state headed by an independent . according to the bureau of labor statistics'preliminary , seasonally adjusted data for july 2012 , 7.84 % of the civilian labor in the 29 states with republican governors were unemployed ( 6,680,400 out of 85,155,600 ) . the same data set shows that 8.77 % of the 20 states with democratic governors were unemployed ( 6,032,500 out of 68,792,500 ) . the national unemployment rate was 8.3 % . cnn fact check : obama and romney 's energy policies the difference between 7.84 % and 8.77 % is n't a full point , though it is close . however , there 's nothing in the data itself to show a causal relation . it 's also worth noting that in 11 of the republican-led states , the party has had control of the governorship for less than 19 months . it is true that , according to the july 2012 bls data , seven of the 10 states with the lowest unemployment rates have republican governors , led by north dakota , with 3.0 % . : 1 ) north dakota ( r ) 3 % 2 ) nebraska ( r ) 4 % 3 ) south dakota ( r ) 4.4 % 4 ) oklahoma ( r ) 4.9 % 5 ) vermont ( d ) 5 % 6 ) iowa ( r ) 5.3 % 7 ) new hampshire ( d ) 5.4 % 8 ) wyoming ( r ) 5.6 % 9 ) minnesota ( d ) 5.8 % 10 ) virginia ( r ) 5.9 % in four of those republican-led states ( including mcdonnell 's virginia ) , republicans have held the governorship for less than 19 months . the same is true for two of the three democrat-led states . as for the best for business ' claim , a mcdonnell spokesman said the governor was referring to cnbc 's america 's top states for business 2012 ' list . the criteria include rankings for workforce , quality of life , economy , infrastructure and transportation , access to capital and cost of living . we 'll not go deeper into how cnbc arrived at its rankings , or how much governors'actions affected those rankings , but mcdonnell 's statement that 12 of the list 's top 15 states have republican governors is correct . in five of those states , republicans have held the governorship for less than two years . the same was true for democrats in one state . verdict : true , but incomplete . cnn fact check : romney 's welfare claims wrong cnn 's jason hanna , julie in and amy roberts contributed to this report .	seven of 10 states with lowest unemployment have gop governors , but party is new to office in four
gop <tsp> ( cnn ) -- virginia gov . bob mcdonnell on tuesday night tried to sell the american public on the virtues of having the gop in charge of states . in a speech at the republican national convention , mcdonnell said that unemployment was lower in states led by republican governors than in those headed by democrats . cnn fact check : santorum misleads on'dependence' the statement : ' in states with republican governors , the average unemployment rate is a full point lower than in states with democratic governors . it makes a difference . republican governors lead seven of the 10 states with the lowest unemployment rates . and 12 of the 15 states that have been ranked'best for business'have republican governors . ' the facts : a quick check of the governors'party affiliations shows 29 states with gop governors , 20 states with democratic governors , and one state headed by an independent . according to the bureau of labor statistics'preliminary , seasonally adjusted data for july 2012 , 7.84 % of the civilian labor in the 29 states with republican governors were unemployed ( 6,680,400 out of 85,155,600 ) . the same data set shows that 8.77 % of the 20 states with democratic governors were unemployed ( 6,032,500 out of 68,792,500 ) . the national unemployment rate was 8.3 % . cnn fact check : obama and romney 's energy policies the difference between 7.84 % and 8.77 % is n't a full point , though it is close . however , there 's nothing in the data itself to show a causal relation . it 's also worth noting that in 11 of the republican-led states , the party has had control of the governorship for less than 19 months . it is true that , according to the july 2012 bls data , seven of the 10 states with the lowest unemployment rates have republican governors , led by north dakota , with 3.0 % . : 1 ) north dakota ( r ) 3 % 2 ) nebraska ( r ) 4 % 3 ) south dakota ( r ) 4.4 % 4 ) oklahoma ( r ) 4.9 % 5 ) vermont ( d ) 5 % 6 ) iowa ( r ) 5.3 % 7 ) new hampshire ( d ) 5.4 % 8 ) wyoming ( r ) 5.6 % 9 ) minnesota ( d ) 5.8 % 10 ) virginia ( r ) 5.9 % in four of those republican-led states ( including mcdonnell 's virginia ) , republicans have held the governorship for less than 19 months . the same is true for two of the three democrat-led states . as for the best for business ' claim , a mcdonnell spokesman said the governor was referring to cnbc 's america 's top states for business 2012 ' list . the criteria include rankings for workforce , quality of life , economy , infrastructure and transportation , access to capital and cost of living . we 'll not go deeper into how cnbc arrived at its rankings , or how much governors'actions affected those rankings , but mcdonnell 's statement that 12 of the list 's top 15 states have republican governors is correct . in five of those states , republicans have held the governorship for less than two years . the same was true for democrats in one state . verdict : true , but incomplete . cnn fact check : romney 's welfare claims wrong cnn 's jason hanna , julie in and amy roberts contributed to this report .	government data backs this up , but in many states , gop is new to office
gop <tsp> ( cnn ) -- virginia gov . bob mcdonnell on tuesday night tried to sell the american public on the virtues of having the gop in charge of states . in a speech at the republican national convention , mcdonnell said that unemployment was lower in states led by republican governors than in those headed by democrats . cnn fact check : santorum misleads on'dependence' the statement : ' in states with republican governors , the average unemployment rate is a full point lower than in states with democratic governors . it makes a difference . republican governors lead seven of the 10 states with the lowest unemployment rates . and 12 of the 15 states that have been ranked'best for business'have republican governors . ' the facts : a quick check of the governors'party affiliations shows 29 states with gop governors , 20 states with democratic governors , and one state headed by an independent . according to the bureau of labor statistics'preliminary , seasonally adjusted data for july 2012 , 7.84 % of the civilian labor in the 29 states with republican governors were unemployed ( 6,680,400 out of 85,155,600 ) . the same data set shows that 8.77 % of the 20 states with democratic governors were unemployed ( 6,032,500 out of 68,792,500 ) . the national unemployment rate was 8.3 % . cnn fact check : obama and romney 's energy policies the difference between 7.84 % and 8.77 % is n't a full point , though it is close . however , there 's nothing in the data itself to show a causal relation . it 's also worth noting that in 11 of the republican-led states , the party has had control of the governorship for less than 19 months . it is true that , according to the july 2012 bls data , seven of the 10 states with the lowest unemployment rates have republican governors , led by north dakota , with 3.0 % . : 1 ) north dakota ( r ) 3 % 2 ) nebraska ( r ) 4 % 3 ) south dakota ( r ) 4.4 % 4 ) oklahoma ( r ) 4.9 % 5 ) vermont ( d ) 5 % 6 ) iowa ( r ) 5.3 % 7 ) new hampshire ( d ) 5.4 % 8 ) wyoming ( r ) 5.6 % 9 ) minnesota ( d ) 5.8 % 10 ) virginia ( r ) 5.9 % in four of those republican-led states ( including mcdonnell 's virginia ) , republicans have held the governorship for less than 19 months . the same is true for two of the three democrat-led states . as for the best for business ' claim , a mcdonnell spokesman said the governor was referring to cnbc 's america 's top states for business 2012 ' list . the criteria include rankings for workforce , quality of life , economy , infrastructure and transportation , access to capital and cost of living . we 'll not go deeper into how cnbc arrived at its rankings , or how much governors'actions affected those rankings , but mcdonnell 's statement that 12 of the list 's top 15 states have republican governors is correct . in five of those states , republicans have held the governorship for less than two years . the same was true for democrats in one state . verdict : true , but incomplete . cnn fact check : romney 's welfare claims wrong cnn 's jason hanna , julie in and amy roberts contributed to this report .	virginia gov . bob mcdonnell : unemployment lower in states with gop governors
trey ganem <tsp> edna , texas , is a small town , which means trey ganem knew the family that lost five children in a mobile home fire . his son played varsity football with 15-year-old noah ortiz , the oldest of the five children who died in the november 25 blaze . ganem 's daughter went to school with 11-year-old julian ortiz . their parents , annabel ortiz and johnny hernandez , lost their home and all but one of their children in the fire . the community was quick to rally , raising more than $ 28,000 online to help with funeral expenses and rebuilding their lives . ganem was more than willing to help out by doing what he does every day : designing custom caskets with a bit of personality . i just wanted to do something to help , ' ganem said . ganem made five caskets free of charge at the request of the family . instead of dressing them in a somber brown wood , ganem designed each casket to reflect the children 's personalities . for noah ortiz , that means a casket bearing his school colors and mascot , the cowboy , and his number-50 football jersey . julian ortiz , the wrestling fan , will be laid to rest in a black casket with his name in red letters and a w resembling the wwe logo . six-year-old nicholas ortiz loved video games . his black casket features the call of duty ' logo and the phrase , nicholas got called to duty . ' sisters areyanah hernandez , 6 , and lilyana hernandez , 5 , loved the movie frozen . ' their pink and blue glittered caskets are topped with princess crowns . ganem , an artist who spent most of his career designing hot rods , started applying his skills to caskets this year . it 's sad work , but he said it 's worth it to see how his caskets can change the mood of a room , especially at a child 's funeral . it 's heart-wrenching for me , but when i can provide just a little bit of comfort for the families , that 's all i 'm looking for , ' he said . every casket i work on , i treat it like it 's for my my son or my dad . '	casket maker trey ganem makes them caskets for free
japan <tsp> tokyo ( cnn ) -- authorities in japan raised the prospect friday of a likely breach in the all-important containment vessel of the no . 3 reactor at the stricken fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant , a potentially ominous development in the race to prevent a large-scale release of radiation . contaminated water likely seeped through the containment vessel protecting the reactor 's core , said hidehiko nishiyama of the japan nuclear and industrial safety agency . three employees working near the no . 3 reactor thursday stepped into water that had 10,000 times the amount of radiation typical for a nuclear plant , nishiyama said . an analysis of the contamination suggests some sort of leakage ' from the reactor core , signaling a possible break of the containment vessel that houses the core , he said . the workers have been hospitalized and work inside the reactor building has been halted , according to the agency . work inside two other reactor buildings also had to stop and workers had to be pulled back friday after the discovery of high levels of radiation in water at those locations , a tokyo electric power company official said saturday . water is still being pumped into the containment vessels , the utility official said . nuclear power experts cautioned against reading too much into the newest development , saying the workers exposed to radioactive water might not suffer injuries any more serious than a sunburn . moreover , evidence of radioactivity in the water around the plant is not necessarily surprising given the amount of water sprayed onto and pumped into the reactors , said ian hutchinson , professor of nuclear science and engineering at the massachusetts institute of technology . i am not particularly alarmed , ' he said . the reactor thought to be leaking contaminated water is the same one cited in the dramatic evacuation last week of a small crew of workers who had stayed behind after the plant 's owner pulled most employees from the area . the workers were pulled back march 16 after white smoke began billowing from the reactor and radiation levels spiked . at the time , the japanese nuclear safety agency said it suspected damage to no . 3 's containment vessel , but a government spokesman the next day said there had been no indication of a major breach of containment . ' that reactor is of particular concern , experts have said , because it is the only one at the plant to use a combination of uranium and plutonium fuel , called mox , that is considered to be more dangerous than the pure uranium fuel used in other reactors . plant workers were also carefully watching the plant 's no . 1 reactor , concerned that an increase in pressure noted inside that reactor could be a troublesome sign . earlier , buildups of hydrogen gas had driven up pressure that led to explosions at three of the nuclear plant 's reactors , including the no . 1 unit . nishiyama conceded that controlling the temperature and pressure has been difficult ' for that reactor , which on friday had been declared stable . the hospitalized employees were working to reconnect power to the no . 3 reactor building when they encountered water that was about 5 inches ( 15 centimeters ) deep . water rushed over the boots of two workers , who may have received what is called a beta burn . ' the third worker had taller boots but was hospitalized as a precaution , according to nishiyama . the men were exposed to the water for 40 to 50 minutes , said tokyo electric , which owns the plant . the workers may have ignored alarms on devices intended to measure radiation levels , believing the readings to be wrong , said the international atomic energy agency , citing japanese authorities . the two workers whose skin was exposed to the contaminated water had the highest levels of radiation recorded so far , the power company said . one , in his 30s , was exposed to 180.7 millisieverts and the other , in his 20s , tested at 179.37 millisieverts . nishiyama said the third man -- who was exposed to 173 millisieverts but at first did not go to the hospital because his boots were high enough to prevent water from touching his skin -- has also gone to the same research hospital out of an abundance of caution . ' beta rays given off by radioactive substances do n't penetrate deeply into materials , including flesh , said nolan hertel , a professor nuclear engineering at georgia tech . consequently , the danger is relatively limited , he said . basically , a beta burn would be akin to a bad sunburn , ' he said . some 17 people have been exposed to 100 or more millisieverts of radiation since the plant 's crisis began two weeks ago following a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami struck . a person in an industrialized country is naturally exposed to 3 millisieverts of radiation a year . but japan 's health ministry recently raised the maximum level of exposure for a person working to address the crisis at the nuclear plant to a rate of 250 millisieverts per year from the previous 100-millisievert standard . in the fukushima prefecture where the plant is located , officials had screened 87,813 people for radiation exposure as of thursday , nisa said in a news release . of those 98 people had tested above limits for exposure , but once their clothes were removed and other measures taken , the exposure levels dropped and there was no effect on health . the agency also said screeners have examined thyroid glands of 66 children ranging in age from 1 to 15 and found that the level of exposure of no problem . ' the thyroid gland , particularly in children , can readily absorb radiation , health experts say . it 's not entirely clear where the contaminants in the water came from , according to nishiyama . but he said that based on the composition of the radioactive material in the water , the likely source appears to be the reactor core and not the open-air spent fuel pool onto which workers have sprayed tons of water in recent days in an effort to keep it cool . he said it if the water is from the reactor core , the problem may not be a crack in containment vessel , but rather seepage from vents or valves . the containment vessel is still holding pressure , he said , a sign that it may not be cracked . the incident raised questions about radiation control measures at the plant as 536 people -- including government authorities and firefighters -- continued working there friday , according to an official with tokyo electric . the high measure prompted a top official with nishiyama 's agency to urge tokyo electric to improve its radiation management measures . ' workers are undertaking various measures to prevent the further release of radioactive substances into the air and beyond . nishiyama said officials hope to start pumping in fresh water -- rather than the corrosive seawater they have been using -- to cool the spent-fuel pool at the no . 1 reactor and other locations . such pools have nuclear fuel rods that can emit radiation if the water that normally surrounds them leaks out or boils off , which is more likely to happen without any functional cooling system in place . switching to fresh water , instead of seawater , is also a priority for the no . 2 reactor 's core ( as well as for its spent fuel pool ) , nishiyama said . the aim is to prevent further corrosion and damage inside , which may be worsened by the buildup of salt . a u.s. military barge loaded with fresh water to help cool the reactors left yokosuka navy base at 11 a.m. , said jose schmitt , commander of fleet activities at yokosuka . a japanese ship will escort the barge to the fukushima plant ; u.s. personnel are not involved in the escort or distribution of the water , according to maj. joseph macri , a spokesman for u.s . forces japan . the u.s. military assistance follows a request by japanese government and utility authorities for large amounts of fresh water . beyond the seawater/saltwater issue , water in and around the nos . 1 and 2 reactors had high radiation levels , ' nishiyama said friday -- though not as high as that of the no . 3 unit . thursday 's incident has further made the latter reactor a prime focus , and nishiyama said friday that radiation levels are high ' in some locales near that unit . he said that authorities were considering other routes ' to accomplish their goals of restarting the cooling systems around no . 3 , keeping its spent nuclear fuel pool in check and other aims . later in the day , nishiyama said authorities had n't yet determined how to get around the obstacle . firefighters from tokyo and kawasaki were expected to resume spraying toward the no . 3 reactor and its fuel pool on friday afternoon , according to nishiyama . efforts also continue at the nos . 4 , 5 and 6 reactors -- each of which have their own concerns , though less pronounced because the units were on scheduled outages when the quake struck . none of these three units had nuclear fuel inside their reactors , though efforts are ongoing to control temperatures inside the spent fuel pools . on friday morning , a concrete pump truck was used once again to inject seawater into the no . 4 unit 's fuel pool . cnn 's jennifer rizzo contributed to this report .	new : japan nuclear agency : screeners have examined 87,813 people for exposure
japan <tsp> tokyo ( cnn ) -- authorities in japan raised the prospect friday of a likely breach in the all-important containment vessel of the no . 3 reactor at the stricken fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant , a potentially ominous development in the race to prevent a large-scale release of radiation . contaminated water likely seeped through the containment vessel protecting the reactor 's core , said hidehiko nishiyama of the japan nuclear and industrial safety agency . three employees working near the no . 3 reactor thursday stepped into water that had 10,000 times the amount of radiation typical for a nuclear plant , nishiyama said . an analysis of the contamination suggests some sort of leakage ' from the reactor core , signaling a possible break of the containment vessel that houses the core , he said . the workers have been hospitalized and work inside the reactor building has been halted , according to the agency . work inside two other reactor buildings also had to stop and workers had to be pulled back friday after the discovery of high levels of radiation in water at those locations , a tokyo electric power company official said saturday . water is still being pumped into the containment vessels , the utility official said . nuclear power experts cautioned against reading too much into the newest development , saying the workers exposed to radioactive water might not suffer injuries any more serious than a sunburn . moreover , evidence of radioactivity in the water around the plant is not necessarily surprising given the amount of water sprayed onto and pumped into the reactors , said ian hutchinson , professor of nuclear science and engineering at the massachusetts institute of technology . i am not particularly alarmed , ' he said . the reactor thought to be leaking contaminated water is the same one cited in the dramatic evacuation last week of a small crew of workers who had stayed behind after the plant 's owner pulled most employees from the area . the workers were pulled back march 16 after white smoke began billowing from the reactor and radiation levels spiked . at the time , the japanese nuclear safety agency said it suspected damage to no . 3 's containment vessel , but a government spokesman the next day said there had been no indication of a major breach of containment . ' that reactor is of particular concern , experts have said , because it is the only one at the plant to use a combination of uranium and plutonium fuel , called mox , that is considered to be more dangerous than the pure uranium fuel used in other reactors . plant workers were also carefully watching the plant 's no . 1 reactor , concerned that an increase in pressure noted inside that reactor could be a troublesome sign . earlier , buildups of hydrogen gas had driven up pressure that led to explosions at three of the nuclear plant 's reactors , including the no . 1 unit . nishiyama conceded that controlling the temperature and pressure has been difficult ' for that reactor , which on friday had been declared stable . the hospitalized employees were working to reconnect power to the no . 3 reactor building when they encountered water that was about 5 inches ( 15 centimeters ) deep . water rushed over the boots of two workers , who may have received what is called a beta burn . ' the third worker had taller boots but was hospitalized as a precaution , according to nishiyama . the men were exposed to the water for 40 to 50 minutes , said tokyo electric , which owns the plant . the workers may have ignored alarms on devices intended to measure radiation levels , believing the readings to be wrong , said the international atomic energy agency , citing japanese authorities . the two workers whose skin was exposed to the contaminated water had the highest levels of radiation recorded so far , the power company said . one , in his 30s , was exposed to 180.7 millisieverts and the other , in his 20s , tested at 179.37 millisieverts . nishiyama said the third man -- who was exposed to 173 millisieverts but at first did not go to the hospital because his boots were high enough to prevent water from touching his skin -- has also gone to the same research hospital out of an abundance of caution . ' beta rays given off by radioactive substances do n't penetrate deeply into materials , including flesh , said nolan hertel , a professor nuclear engineering at georgia tech . consequently , the danger is relatively limited , he said . basically , a beta burn would be akin to a bad sunburn , ' he said . some 17 people have been exposed to 100 or more millisieverts of radiation since the plant 's crisis began two weeks ago following a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami struck . a person in an industrialized country is naturally exposed to 3 millisieverts of radiation a year . but japan 's health ministry recently raised the maximum level of exposure for a person working to address the crisis at the nuclear plant to a rate of 250 millisieverts per year from the previous 100-millisievert standard . in the fukushima prefecture where the plant is located , officials had screened 87,813 people for radiation exposure as of thursday , nisa said in a news release . of those 98 people had tested above limits for exposure , but once their clothes were removed and other measures taken , the exposure levels dropped and there was no effect on health . the agency also said screeners have examined thyroid glands of 66 children ranging in age from 1 to 15 and found that the level of exposure of no problem . ' the thyroid gland , particularly in children , can readily absorb radiation , health experts say . it 's not entirely clear where the contaminants in the water came from , according to nishiyama . but he said that based on the composition of the radioactive material in the water , the likely source appears to be the reactor core and not the open-air spent fuel pool onto which workers have sprayed tons of water in recent days in an effort to keep it cool . he said it if the water is from the reactor core , the problem may not be a crack in containment vessel , but rather seepage from vents or valves . the containment vessel is still holding pressure , he said , a sign that it may not be cracked . the incident raised questions about radiation control measures at the plant as 536 people -- including government authorities and firefighters -- continued working there friday , according to an official with tokyo electric . the high measure prompted a top official with nishiyama 's agency to urge tokyo electric to improve its radiation management measures . ' workers are undertaking various measures to prevent the further release of radioactive substances into the air and beyond . nishiyama said officials hope to start pumping in fresh water -- rather than the corrosive seawater they have been using -- to cool the spent-fuel pool at the no . 1 reactor and other locations . such pools have nuclear fuel rods that can emit radiation if the water that normally surrounds them leaks out or boils off , which is more likely to happen without any functional cooling system in place . switching to fresh water , instead of seawater , is also a priority for the no . 2 reactor 's core ( as well as for its spent fuel pool ) , nishiyama said . the aim is to prevent further corrosion and damage inside , which may be worsened by the buildup of salt . a u.s. military barge loaded with fresh water to help cool the reactors left yokosuka navy base at 11 a.m. , said jose schmitt , commander of fleet activities at yokosuka . a japanese ship will escort the barge to the fukushima plant ; u.s. personnel are not involved in the escort or distribution of the water , according to maj. joseph macri , a spokesman for u.s . forces japan . the u.s. military assistance follows a request by japanese government and utility authorities for large amounts of fresh water . beyond the seawater/saltwater issue , water in and around the nos . 1 and 2 reactors had high radiation levels , ' nishiyama said friday -- though not as high as that of the no . 3 unit . thursday 's incident has further made the latter reactor a prime focus , and nishiyama said friday that radiation levels are high ' in some locales near that unit . he said that authorities were considering other routes ' to accomplish their goals of restarting the cooling systems around no . 3 , keeping its spent nuclear fuel pool in check and other aims . later in the day , nishiyama said authorities had n't yet determined how to get around the obstacle . firefighters from tokyo and kawasaki were expected to resume spraying toward the no . 3 reactor and its fuel pool on friday afternoon , according to nishiyama . efforts also continue at the nos . 4 , 5 and 6 reactors -- each of which have their own concerns , though less pronounced because the units were on scheduled outages when the quake struck . none of these three units had nuclear fuel inside their reactors , though efforts are ongoing to control temperatures inside the spent fuel pools . on friday morning , a concrete pump truck was used once again to inject seawater into the no . 4 unit 's fuel pool . cnn 's jennifer rizzo contributed to this report .	discovery of contaminated water suggests nuclear core leak , japan officials say
inter milan <tsp> ( cnn ) -- french star franck ribery scored the only goal of sunday 's match as bayern munich went to the top of the bundesliga with a home win over fourth-placed sv hamburg . it ended a long wait for the bavarian giants who have not headed the german standings since winning the title in 2008 . their poor form last season led to the departure of former germany coach juergen klinsmann , but his replacement louis van gaal has also been under pressure after a slow start to the current campaign . but since the midwinter break , bayern have returned to winning ways and have been level on points with leaders bayer leverkusen , who had a better goal difference . leverkusen 's 0-0 draw at home to cologne on saturday extended their unbeaten bundesliga run to a record 24 games , but left the door ajar for bayen to take advantage . their three-point haul on sunday gives them a two-point cushion at the top but it was not until the 78th minute that they made the breakthrough with a fine goal from ribery . the influential playmaker left hamburg goalkeeper wolfgang hesl no chance with a fierce shot . visitors hamburg were still missing their new signing ruud van nistelrooy through injury and could create little up front . in sunday 's other game , hanover continued their slump with a ninth defeat in a row as defending champions wolfsburg secured a 1-0 away victory . bosnian midfielder zvjezdan misimovic scored the only goal of the match for wolfsburg to complete a fine week which saw them progress to the last 16 of the europa league on thursday . in the scottish league , rangers all but sealed the title with a last-gasp 1-0 win over 10-man celtic in the old firm derby . rangers'american substitute maurice edu struck in injury time to send the defending champions 10 points clear with a game in hand over their nearest rivals . celtic captain scott brown was sent off in the second half but they looked set to hold out for a point until edu scored with the last kick of the game . in the spanish primera , the battle for third place intensified as nine-man valencia lost 4-1 at athletico madrid . david silva grabbed the opener on 20 minutes but valencia defender carlos marchena was sent off for deliberate handball and diego forlan converted the penalty kick . sergio aguero and forlan scored further goals for atletico after the break before the visitors had luis miguel sent off in the 81st minute and jose jurado added the fourth . earlier , sevilla were held to a goalless draw by athletic bilbao and trail valencia by three points . in serie a , champions inter milan won 3-2 at udinese and maintained their four-point lead at the top over city rivals ac milan , who beat atalanta 3-1 in the san siro . a double from brazilian pato enabled milan to keep up the pressure on jose mourinho 's men while third placed as roma saw their title hopes slip away in a 2-2 draw at napoli , having led 2-0 .	inter milan and ac milan record victories in serie a title countdown
franck ribery <tsp> ( cnn ) -- french star franck ribery scored the only goal of sunday 's match as bayern munich went to the top of the bundesliga with a home win over fourth-placed sv hamburg . it ended a long wait for the bavarian giants who have not headed the german standings since winning the title in 2008 . their poor form last season led to the departure of former germany coach juergen klinsmann , but his replacement louis van gaal has also been under pressure after a slow start to the current campaign . but since the midwinter break , bayern have returned to winning ways and have been level on points with leaders bayer leverkusen , who had a better goal difference . leverkusen 's 0-0 draw at home to cologne on saturday extended their unbeaten bundesliga run to a record 24 games , but left the door ajar for bayen to take advantage . their three-point haul on sunday gives them a two-point cushion at the top but it was not until the 78th minute that they made the breakthrough with a fine goal from ribery . the influential playmaker left hamburg goalkeeper wolfgang hesl no chance with a fierce shot . visitors hamburg were still missing their new signing ruud van nistelrooy through injury and could create little up front . in sunday 's other game , hanover continued their slump with a ninth defeat in a row as defending champions wolfsburg secured a 1-0 away victory . bosnian midfielder zvjezdan misimovic scored the only goal of the match for wolfsburg to complete a fine week which saw them progress to the last 16 of the europa league on thursday . in the scottish league , rangers all but sealed the title with a last-gasp 1-0 win over 10-man celtic in the old firm derby . rangers'american substitute maurice edu struck in injury time to send the defending champions 10 points clear with a game in hand over their nearest rivals . celtic captain scott brown was sent off in the second half but they looked set to hold out for a point until edu scored with the last kick of the game . in the spanish primera , the battle for third place intensified as nine-man valencia lost 4-1 at athletico madrid . david silva grabbed the opener on 20 minutes but valencia defender carlos marchena was sent off for deliberate handball and diego forlan converted the penalty kick . sergio aguero and forlan scored further goals for atletico after the break before the visitors had luis miguel sent off in the 81st minute and jose jurado added the fourth . earlier , sevilla were held to a goalless draw by athletic bilbao and trail valencia by three points . in serie a , champions inter milan won 3-2 at udinese and maintained their four-point lead at the top over city rivals ac milan , who beat atalanta 3-1 in the san siro . a double from brazilian pato enabled milan to keep up the pressure on jose mourinho 's men while third placed as roma saw their title hopes slip away in a 2-2 draw at napoli , having led 2-0 .	franck ribery goal gives bayern munich 1-0 home win over hamburg to top bundesliga
nra <tsp> ( cnn ) -- the nation has struggled with addressing how best to reduce gun violence following last month 's tragic shooting in newtown , connecticut . responding to calls for gun control , the national rifle association attempted to shift blame for mass homicides away from guns to cultural influences such as video games or entertainment . no one can accuse the nra of not being clever . at least not until it released a gun-themed shooting game less than a month after condemning the video game industry . in fairness , practice range , ' rated for ages 4 and up and free on the iphone and ipad , is no blood-soaked , first-person shooter game . the trailer shows that it allows the player to engage in target practice using realistic-looking weapons . one of the weapon options appears to be an ar-15 , the same weapon used at newtown . the game also includes some gun safety tips . i have no objection to the game per se , although the nra 's app smacks of hypocrisy . releasing a gun-themed shooting video game a month after the newtown massacre reveals that the nra does n't even take its own claims seriously . as for the nra 's assertion that games create violence , it is nakedly self-serving . but , as queasy as the whole thing is , violent video games do not cause more violence . several researchers , including myself , met with vice president joe biden on friday to inform him that studies are unable to support the contention that violent video games contribute to societal violence . rather , it is untreated mental health symptoms that contribute to outcomes including youth violence , dating violence and bullying . as fareed zakaria aptly noted , nations that consume more video games per capita than the united states such as japan , or share our media culture almost identically such as canada , have much lower violence rates than our country . that 's true even if you exclude gun violence and consider only simply assaults . and mass homicide perpetrators are no more likely to be gamers than the rest of us . our society experiences confirmation bias , focusing on video games when the shooter is a young male , and ignoring video games when the shooter is an older male such as 62-year-old william spengler , who shot two firefighters the week after the sandy hook elementary school shooting . this confirmation bias creates the false impression of a correlation where none exists . the nra is apparently unaware that most theories of media effects make little distinction between a game such as practice range ' and one such as grand theft auto . ' according to such theories , seeing a picture of a gun or reading grimm 's fairy tales ' is as likely to stimulate aggression as a blood-soaked movie or game . granted , the u.s. supreme court did n't buy that argument in 2011 when it considered a california law regulating the sale of violent games to minors , and criticized the quality of the research attempting to link violent games with aggression more broadly . i do n't believe either practice range ' or grand theft auto ' harms minors , although of course some games may have morally objectionable content . but the nra ca n't claim , video games create mass killers . oh wait , hey , not this one ! ' there are reasonable things we could do to reduce gun violence while respecting the rights of law-abiding citizens to own guns . for example , better and more consistent background checks and required reporting by mental health professionals when patients make violent threats ( requiring the removal of firearm licenses from those individuals ) would go a long way . we can also put out public health campaigns to warn people of the risks of gun ownership so they could make informed decisions of their own without their constitutional rights being violated . sensible changes will not occur if the nation indulges in a moral panic about violent video games as it did after the columbine massacre . this , undoubtedly , would be exactly what the nra would like to see happen . the opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of christopher j. ferguson .	christopher ferguson : nra condemned video game industry less than a month ago
nra <tsp> ( cnn ) -- the nation has struggled with addressing how best to reduce gun violence following last month 's tragic shooting in newtown , connecticut . responding to calls for gun control , the national rifle association attempted to shift blame for mass homicides away from guns to cultural influences such as video games or entertainment . no one can accuse the nra of not being clever . at least not until it released a gun-themed shooting game less than a month after condemning the video game industry . in fairness , practice range , ' rated for ages 4 and up and free on the iphone and ipad , is no blood-soaked , first-person shooter game . the trailer shows that it allows the player to engage in target practice using realistic-looking weapons . one of the weapon options appears to be an ar-15 , the same weapon used at newtown . the game also includes some gun safety tips . i have no objection to the game per se , although the nra 's app smacks of hypocrisy . releasing a gun-themed shooting video game a month after the newtown massacre reveals that the nra does n't even take its own claims seriously . as for the nra 's assertion that games create violence , it is nakedly self-serving . but , as queasy as the whole thing is , violent video games do not cause more violence . several researchers , including myself , met with vice president joe biden on friday to inform him that studies are unable to support the contention that violent video games contribute to societal violence . rather , it is untreated mental health symptoms that contribute to outcomes including youth violence , dating violence and bullying . as fareed zakaria aptly noted , nations that consume more video games per capita than the united states such as japan , or share our media culture almost identically such as canada , have much lower violence rates than our country . that 's true even if you exclude gun violence and consider only simply assaults . and mass homicide perpetrators are no more likely to be gamers than the rest of us . our society experiences confirmation bias , focusing on video games when the shooter is a young male , and ignoring video games when the shooter is an older male such as 62-year-old william spengler , who shot two firefighters the week after the sandy hook elementary school shooting . this confirmation bias creates the false impression of a correlation where none exists . the nra is apparently unaware that most theories of media effects make little distinction between a game such as practice range ' and one such as grand theft auto . ' according to such theories , seeing a picture of a gun or reading grimm 's fairy tales ' is as likely to stimulate aggression as a blood-soaked movie or game . granted , the u.s. supreme court did n't buy that argument in 2011 when it considered a california law regulating the sale of violent games to minors , and criticized the quality of the research attempting to link violent games with aggression more broadly . i do n't believe either practice range ' or grand theft auto ' harms minors , although of course some games may have morally objectionable content . but the nra ca n't claim , video games create mass killers . oh wait , hey , not this one ! ' there are reasonable things we could do to reduce gun violence while respecting the rights of law-abiding citizens to own guns . for example , better and more consistent background checks and required reporting by mental health professionals when patients make violent threats ( requiring the removal of firearm licenses from those individuals ) would go a long way . we can also put out public health campaigns to warn people of the risks of gun ownership so they could make informed decisions of their own without their constitutional rights being violated . sensible changes will not occur if the nation indulges in a moral panic about violent video games as it did after the columbine massacre . this , undoubtedly , would be exactly what the nra would like to see happen . the opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of christopher j. ferguson .	nra releases shooting video game rated for ages 4 and up for free download
nra <tsp> ( cnn ) -- the nation has struggled with addressing how best to reduce gun violence following last month 's tragic shooting in newtown , connecticut . responding to calls for gun control , the national rifle association attempted to shift blame for mass homicides away from guns to cultural influences such as video games or entertainment . no one can accuse the nra of not being clever . at least not until it released a gun-themed shooting game less than a month after condemning the video game industry . in fairness , practice range , ' rated for ages 4 and up and free on the iphone and ipad , is no blood-soaked , first-person shooter game . the trailer shows that it allows the player to engage in target practice using realistic-looking weapons . one of the weapon options appears to be an ar-15 , the same weapon used at newtown . the game also includes some gun safety tips . i have no objection to the game per se , although the nra 's app smacks of hypocrisy . releasing a gun-themed shooting video game a month after the newtown massacre reveals that the nra does n't even take its own claims seriously . as for the nra 's assertion that games create violence , it is nakedly self-serving . but , as queasy as the whole thing is , violent video games do not cause more violence . several researchers , including myself , met with vice president joe biden on friday to inform him that studies are unable to support the contention that violent video games contribute to societal violence . rather , it is untreated mental health symptoms that contribute to outcomes including youth violence , dating violence and bullying . as fareed zakaria aptly noted , nations that consume more video games per capita than the united states such as japan , or share our media culture almost identically such as canada , have much lower violence rates than our country . that 's true even if you exclude gun violence and consider only simply assaults . and mass homicide perpetrators are no more likely to be gamers than the rest of us . our society experiences confirmation bias , focusing on video games when the shooter is a young male , and ignoring video games when the shooter is an older male such as 62-year-old william spengler , who shot two firefighters the week after the sandy hook elementary school shooting . this confirmation bias creates the false impression of a correlation where none exists . the nra is apparently unaware that most theories of media effects make little distinction between a game such as practice range ' and one such as grand theft auto . ' according to such theories , seeing a picture of a gun or reading grimm 's fairy tales ' is as likely to stimulate aggression as a blood-soaked movie or game . granted , the u.s. supreme court did n't buy that argument in 2011 when it considered a california law regulating the sale of violent games to minors , and criticized the quality of the research attempting to link violent games with aggression more broadly . i do n't believe either practice range ' or grand theft auto ' harms minors , although of course some games may have morally objectionable content . but the nra ca n't claim , video games create mass killers . oh wait , hey , not this one ! ' there are reasonable things we could do to reduce gun violence while respecting the rights of law-abiding citizens to own guns . for example , better and more consistent background checks and required reporting by mental health professionals when patients make violent threats ( requiring the removal of firearm licenses from those individuals ) would go a long way . we can also put out public health campaigns to warn people of the risks of gun ownership so they could make informed decisions of their own without their constitutional rights being violated . sensible changes will not occur if the nation indulges in a moral panic about violent video games as it did after the columbine massacre . this , undoubtedly , would be exactly what the nra would like to see happen . the opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of christopher j. ferguson .	ferguson says the nra does n't even take its own claims seriously
ferguson <tsp> ( cnn ) -- the nation has struggled with addressing how best to reduce gun violence following last month 's tragic shooting in newtown , connecticut . responding to calls for gun control , the national rifle association attempted to shift blame for mass homicides away from guns to cultural influences such as video games or entertainment . no one can accuse the nra of not being clever . at least not until it released a gun-themed shooting game less than a month after condemning the video game industry . in fairness , practice range , ' rated for ages 4 and up and free on the iphone and ipad , is no blood-soaked , first-person shooter game . the trailer shows that it allows the player to engage in target practice using realistic-looking weapons . one of the weapon options appears to be an ar-15 , the same weapon used at newtown . the game also includes some gun safety tips . i have no objection to the game per se , although the nra 's app smacks of hypocrisy . releasing a gun-themed shooting video game a month after the newtown massacre reveals that the nra does n't even take its own claims seriously . as for the nra 's assertion that games create violence , it is nakedly self-serving . but , as queasy as the whole thing is , violent video games do not cause more violence . several researchers , including myself , met with vice president joe biden on friday to inform him that studies are unable to support the contention that violent video games contribute to societal violence . rather , it is untreated mental health symptoms that contribute to outcomes including youth violence , dating violence and bullying . as fareed zakaria aptly noted , nations that consume more video games per capita than the united states such as japan , or share our media culture almost identically such as canada , have much lower violence rates than our country . that 's true even if you exclude gun violence and consider only simply assaults . and mass homicide perpetrators are no more likely to be gamers than the rest of us . our society experiences confirmation bias , focusing on video games when the shooter is a young male , and ignoring video games when the shooter is an older male such as 62-year-old william spengler , who shot two firefighters the week after the sandy hook elementary school shooting . this confirmation bias creates the false impression of a correlation where none exists . the nra is apparently unaware that most theories of media effects make little distinction between a game such as practice range ' and one such as grand theft auto . ' according to such theories , seeing a picture of a gun or reading grimm 's fairy tales ' is as likely to stimulate aggression as a blood-soaked movie or game . granted , the u.s. supreme court did n't buy that argument in 2011 when it considered a california law regulating the sale of violent games to minors , and criticized the quality of the research attempting to link violent games with aggression more broadly . i do n't believe either practice range ' or grand theft auto ' harms minors , although of course some games may have morally objectionable content . but the nra ca n't claim , video games create mass killers . oh wait , hey , not this one ! ' there are reasonable things we could do to reduce gun violence while respecting the rights of law-abiding citizens to own guns . for example , better and more consistent background checks and required reporting by mental health professionals when patients make violent threats ( requiring the removal of firearm licenses from those individuals ) would go a long way . we can also put out public health campaigns to warn people of the risks of gun ownership so they could make informed decisions of their own without their constitutional rights being violated . sensible changes will not occur if the nation indulges in a moral panic about violent video games as it did after the columbine massacre . this , undoubtedly , would be exactly what the nra would like to see happen . the opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of christopher j. ferguson .	christopher ferguson : nra condemned video game industry less than a month ago
ferguson <tsp> ( cnn ) -- the nation has struggled with addressing how best to reduce gun violence following last month 's tragic shooting in newtown , connecticut . responding to calls for gun control , the national rifle association attempted to shift blame for mass homicides away from guns to cultural influences such as video games or entertainment . no one can accuse the nra of not being clever . at least not until it released a gun-themed shooting game less than a month after condemning the video game industry . in fairness , practice range , ' rated for ages 4 and up and free on the iphone and ipad , is no blood-soaked , first-person shooter game . the trailer shows that it allows the player to engage in target practice using realistic-looking weapons . one of the weapon options appears to be an ar-15 , the same weapon used at newtown . the game also includes some gun safety tips . i have no objection to the game per se , although the nra 's app smacks of hypocrisy . releasing a gun-themed shooting video game a month after the newtown massacre reveals that the nra does n't even take its own claims seriously . as for the nra 's assertion that games create violence , it is nakedly self-serving . but , as queasy as the whole thing is , violent video games do not cause more violence . several researchers , including myself , met with vice president joe biden on friday to inform him that studies are unable to support the contention that violent video games contribute to societal violence . rather , it is untreated mental health symptoms that contribute to outcomes including youth violence , dating violence and bullying . as fareed zakaria aptly noted , nations that consume more video games per capita than the united states such as japan , or share our media culture almost identically such as canada , have much lower violence rates than our country . that 's true even if you exclude gun violence and consider only simply assaults . and mass homicide perpetrators are no more likely to be gamers than the rest of us . our society experiences confirmation bias , focusing on video games when the shooter is a young male , and ignoring video games when the shooter is an older male such as 62-year-old william spengler , who shot two firefighters the week after the sandy hook elementary school shooting . this confirmation bias creates the false impression of a correlation where none exists . the nra is apparently unaware that most theories of media effects make little distinction between a game such as practice range ' and one such as grand theft auto . ' according to such theories , seeing a picture of a gun or reading grimm 's fairy tales ' is as likely to stimulate aggression as a blood-soaked movie or game . granted , the u.s. supreme court did n't buy that argument in 2011 when it considered a california law regulating the sale of violent games to minors , and criticized the quality of the research attempting to link violent games with aggression more broadly . i do n't believe either practice range ' or grand theft auto ' harms minors , although of course some games may have morally objectionable content . but the nra ca n't claim , video games create mass killers . oh wait , hey , not this one ! ' there are reasonable things we could do to reduce gun violence while respecting the rights of law-abiding citizens to own guns . for example , better and more consistent background checks and required reporting by mental health professionals when patients make violent threats ( requiring the removal of firearm licenses from those individuals ) would go a long way . we can also put out public health campaigns to warn people of the risks of gun ownership so they could make informed decisions of their own without their constitutional rights being violated . sensible changes will not occur if the nation indulges in a moral panic about violent video games as it did after the columbine massacre . this , undoubtedly , would be exactly what the nra would like to see happen . the opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of christopher j. ferguson .	ferguson says the nra does n't even take its own claims seriously
danni legg <tsp> moore , oklahoma ( cnn ) christopher legg , a 9-year-old who loved football and was known to tackle people with a bear hug and a smile , huddled on top of a classmate as a tornado barreled through their elementary school here in central oklahoma one year ago this week . a wall crushed and killed christopher , his mother told me ; but he shielded the other student from the rubble and saved her life . in the year since that tornado , danni legg , 41 , has been working tirelessly to convince oklahoma lawmakers that the best way to honor her son 's legacy is to try to equip every school in the state with a tornado shelter or safe room . she 's given dozens of interviews and granted more than 100 speaking requests . she 's gathered signatures for a petition and walked the halls of the state capitol . her argument seems to fit the definition of reasonable : students are required to attend school ; therefore , schools should be required to ensure they are safe from violent storms . it also comes with an emotional gut-punch : her son 's elementary school , plaza towers , in moore , oklahoma , did not have a storm shelter . christopher 's life , and those of six other students who died in that ef5 storm , might have been spared if the state or school had protected them . something good 's got ta come out of this , ' danni legg told me . it should , but there 's little sign the state is listening . related : walking the 17-mile path of the tornado efforts to fund or require shelters statewide so far have been snarled in the political process , with republicans and democrats disagreeing about how to fund upgrades . republicans , in a plan endorsed by gov . mary fallin , want to let school districts hold local elections to decide if they should issue extra bonds to pay for construction . to legg and others , including a prominent democrat , that plan does nothing to actually create shelters . it only asks districts if they want to take out extra bonds to pay for improvements . they want a franchise tax on corporations to be used to fund improvements statewide . the bickering has done little to improve policy . frustrated , legg figures if you ca n't beat 'em , join 'em . she 's running for a seat in the state legislature on a pro-shelter platform . moore , the city hardest hit , updated its building codes to require new homes to be built with safer garage doors and with roofs that are fastened to the walls . that 's been heralded as a big improvement . better , however , would be requiring storm shelters with all new construction -- for both schools and residences . currently , far too many students in oklahoma remain unprotected . a survey commissioned by the office of oklahoma rep. joe dorman , a democrat who favors statewide shelter funding , found more than 60 % of the 1,804 public schools surveyed in oklahoma say they do not have a shelter or safe room . that leaves more than 500,000 students and staff in the state without shelter . efforts to improve school safety often have been criticized as overly expensive . the safe design group , an architectural firm that analyzed the survey , estimated it would cost up to $ 880 million to put safe rooms in the 1,109 unprotected schools . related : one block , two storms as legg and others see it , however , that money would save lives . and she 's not demanding all the improvements be made at once . when we met on sunday afternoon , legg arrived on crutches and was wearing the same leopard-print blouse she wore the day the tornado tore through central oklahoma , taking her son 's life and those of 23 others . we spent much of our time talking about her christopher -- about how he was larger than life , both in terms of his cheery disposition and because of a disorder that caused him to grow at an unnatural rate . as an infant , he was all arms and legs , ' impossible to contain . by third grade , christopher was 5-foot-6 and already dreaming big . he wanted to play football at oklahoma state -- wanted eventually to work as a fireman . he was so loving and vibrant and full of life . ' and he was too tall to fit into a child 's casket , she told me . when the tornado warnings came on may 20 , 2013 , legg did n't think much of it . she 'd lived through another killer tornado that hit central oklahoma in 1999 . she lost her house in that storm , which was located in a neighboring suburb of oklahoma city . she decided to rebuild in moore , she told me , because it had been at the epicenter of that 1999 storm . she figured storms that big would n't hit twice . related : remembering the victims she would never be so shortsighted again . the year since the tornado has been a living hell . ' she 's lost 40 pounds from stress and says her husband has gained that many . she does n't sleep through the night . her 12-year-old son gets panicky any time the sky is cloudy , as it was on sunday , or the wind blows hard , as it does almost every day in the great plains . the depths of her sorrow are almost impossible to explain . when a mother has a child , that is a little bit of her running around outside ' in the world , she said . outside of her body is this little piece of your heart . ... ' that was a part of me . that was my son . ' her coping mechanism has been to push for change . fed up with how little was happening to put shelters in schools , the mother and former school worker decided she 's going to run for the state house of representatives as a republican . the campaign actually is the reason she 's on crutches . she broke her foot stumbling on a tree root , she said , while she was putting up campaign signs in the zone hit by the tornado . the republican primary will be held in june . legg never planned to be a politician , and does n't like the attention of speaking so often in public about these issues , she told me . but maybe what the state legislature needs is a mom . we have misguided ourselves into thinking it 's not going to happen to us , ' she said . but the state needs to wake up and realize is that it can and will happen again . after the storm , legg considered leaving moore , avoiding it all . but she thought about her kids -- and others across the state . i wanted to prove to my children -- just like my daddy taught me -- if a horse kicks you off , you get back on , ' said legg , who grew up on a farm . i wanted them to understand this town did not kill their brother . ' this mom , who describes herself as competitive as snot , ' does n't plan to quit pushing for greater access to tornado shelters , whether she wins the race or not . she has the legacy of a hero to protect . and the state would be wise to listen .	danni legg is now devoting her life to getting storm shelters in schools
maher <tsp> ( cnn ) -- tv host bill maher started his career as a standup comedian . but students at the university of california , berkeley are n't laughing at his latest antics ; they 're petitioning to have him removed as their 2014 fall commencement speaker . bill maher is a blatant bigot and racist who has no respect for the values uc berkeley students and administration stand for , ' a petition on change.org states . in a time where climate is a priority for all on campus , we can not invite an individual who himself perpetuates a dangerous learning environment . bill maher 's public statements on various religions and cultures are offensive and his dangerous rhetoric has found its way into our campus communities . ' the petition points to a recent episode of maher 's hbo show real time ' as an example . ( hbo , like cnn , is a division of time warner . ) when actor ben affleck appeared on the program in early october , their conversation turned into a heated debate about islam that many in the muslim community found hurtful . islam is the only religion that acts like the mafia that will f * * * ing kill you if you say the wrong thing , ' maher said during the episode , which is cited on the students'petition as an example of maher 's hate speech . ' the change.org petition had more than 2,200 signatures as of tuesday morning . it appears to have been written by khwaja ahmed , an active member of the middle eastern , muslim and south asian coalition , according to berkeley 's student newspaper . this is n't the only petition on the site about maher . several have called for his firing from real time , ' though they do n't seem to have garnered much traction . maher has been on the show for 12 years and has become known for his controversial statements on a wide range of topics . one of maher 's favorite targets is organized religion . his 2008 documentary religulous ' grossed more than $ 13 million , according to box office mojo .	change.org petition says maher 's statements on religions and cultures are offensive
maher <tsp> ( cnn ) -- tv host bill maher started his career as a standup comedian . but students at the university of california , berkeley are n't laughing at his latest antics ; they 're petitioning to have him removed as their 2014 fall commencement speaker . bill maher is a blatant bigot and racist who has no respect for the values uc berkeley students and administration stand for , ' a petition on change.org states . in a time where climate is a priority for all on campus , we can not invite an individual who himself perpetuates a dangerous learning environment . bill maher 's public statements on various religions and cultures are offensive and his dangerous rhetoric has found its way into our campus communities . ' the petition points to a recent episode of maher 's hbo show real time ' as an example . ( hbo , like cnn , is a division of time warner . ) when actor ben affleck appeared on the program in early october , their conversation turned into a heated debate about islam that many in the muslim community found hurtful . islam is the only religion that acts like the mafia that will f * * * ing kill you if you say the wrong thing , ' maher said during the episode , which is cited on the students'petition as an example of maher 's hate speech . ' the change.org petition had more than 2,200 signatures as of tuesday morning . it appears to have been written by khwaja ahmed , an active member of the middle eastern , muslim and south asian coalition , according to berkeley 's student newspaper . this is n't the only petition on the site about maher . several have called for his firing from real time , ' though they do n't seem to have garnered much traction . maher has been on the show for 12 years and has become known for his controversial statements on a wide range of topics . one of maher 's favorite targets is organized religion . his 2008 documentary religulous ' grossed more than $ 13 million , according to box office mojo .	berkeley students post petition to remove bill maher as commencement speaker
mississippi <tsp> a tornado system touched down in portions of mississippi on tuesday afternoon , killing at least four people and leaving injuries , damage and power outages , said local authorities . two people died in jones county and two more in marion county , said state emergency management agency spokesman brett carr . two people died inside their mobile home that was completely destroyed , ' said jones county sheriff alex hodge . this was in the rural part of jones county . there were other brick and mortar homes that had major damage but we have no other injuries reported . ' the mobile home was not part of a mobile home park but on a property by itself , clarified hodge . in the town of sumrall , west of hattiesburg , a tornado hit a day care off highway 42 . got it pretty good , ' said police spokesman officer nick verner . verner said all the children have been accounted for and there were no injuries . they were moved to a nearby bank . in columbia , 27 miles southwest of sumrall , the tornado damage appeared to be centered off highway 98 near a walmart , according to marion county emergency management spokeswoman megan smith . smith confirmed reports of injuries and damaged or destroyed cars and structures . fifty patients were seen in the er today because of the storm , ' said marion general hospital spokesperson millie swan . eight of those were transported to forest general hospital in hattiesburg because they needed a higher level of care . we are operating on generator power . columbia is completely out of power . ' swan said most of the patients have been released . we may see more patients come in tomorrow though as search and rescue continues . maybe someone who broke their ankle or something and has waited to come in , ' said swan . about 6,300 households were without power , according to the mississippi governor 's office . also in marion county , a sheriff 's department operator reported people trapped and injured as a result of a tornado touchdown . authorities could n't provide an exact number of people affected . carr said multiple roads were closed due to damage including , highway 13 . in jones county , the mississippi emergency management agency reported damaged homes and power outages . hodge said there was major damage to a church , trees down and power lines down . right now , the system is pretty much forming a diagonal line across the southeast corner of the state , ' said spokesman greg flynn . there is a report that we have another one -- a tornado in jones county near the city of laurel . it was a dangerous system coming through . ' mississippi gov . phil bryant issued a state of emergency for marion and jones counties , along with other parts of the state affected by severe weather . the same storm system destroyed about 15 homes outside amite , louisiana , 47 miles northeast of baton rouge , according to tangipahoa parish emergency management spokeswoman vicki travis . photos obtained by cnn showed structures completely flattened . no injuries were reported in tangipahoa , but 1,750 households did not have power . flynn said the agency worked to prepare residents for the storm but the bad weather could not have come at a worst time of year . ' people are out scrambling to get their last-minute christmas shopping done . we have a lot of people moving around and traveling for the holidays . a lot of visitors that may not know where to go and what to do when the bad weather came through , ' said flynn . the national weather service extended its tornado watch to include louisiana , mississippi , alabama , georgia and florida . winter storm the tornado system compounded a rain-heavy storm that already soaked the area . you would n't think of december as a month which you would see severe weather , ' said cnn meteorologist karen maginnis . actually , this is a secondary peak for tornado activity . the first is during the spring months , but we got very warm , moist unstable air that is going to unload quite a bit of heavy rainfall all across the southeast . ' this is going to be very problematic -- not just for travelers , but now that the weather has turned very violent , ' said maginnis . the national weather service warned that 2 to 4 inches of precipitation are expected , with 6 to 8 inches possible , in parts of alabama , georgia and north florida by the time this storm rolls through . a flash-flood warning was issued for parts of tallahassee on tuesday evening , where over 6 inches of rain had fallen . the northeast also experienced its share of weather woes on tuesday . travelers in philadelphia were seeing average delays of almost two hours due to low clouds , the federal aviation administration reported . things were n't much better in boston 's airport and at laguardia and newark liberty airports in and around new york city . lower gas prices , more weather headaches ? a weather system spinning in the middle mississippi river valley is expected to move slowly toward the great lakes region . a weather system that formed in the gulf of mexico pushed moisture north , creating heavy rain and winds up to 30 mph in the southeast , cnn meteorologist michael guy said . on the gulf coast , at least , these storms could be accompanied by large hail and possibly isolated tornadoes . all this wetness could make for treacherous driving on the i-95 corridor , which runs up the east coast . and none of it is good news for the 98.6 million americans that aaa projects will be going 50 or more miles this holiday season , a 4 % increase from last year . they can take advantage of plummeting gas prices -- which , averaging $ 2.25 nationwide , are down 69 cents a gallon from a year ago . by christmas day , things should quiet down on the east coast , with most of the moisture having moved into and past canada . there may be a few lingering snow showers across the western appalachians and interior new england , ' he said . winds will be strongest christmas eve night into christmas morning for the northeast as the front and system passes . ' it 's not just the east the west will have its own travel problems , with precipitation forecast to hit the northwest on tuesday moving into the rockies -- in the form of snow -- christmas day . the national weather service says snow is likely in denver ; missoula , montana ; and jackson , wyoming . flight delays are possible in minneapolis ; st. louis ; and omaha , nebraska . even hawaii is n't immune , with flash flood watches in effect for all its main islands through wednesday night due to heavy rains .	tornado system touches down in parts of mississippi
mississippi <tsp> a tornado system touched down in portions of mississippi on tuesday afternoon , killing at least four people and leaving injuries , damage and power outages , said local authorities . two people died in jones county and two more in marion county , said state emergency management agency spokesman brett carr . two people died inside their mobile home that was completely destroyed , ' said jones county sheriff alex hodge . this was in the rural part of jones county . there were other brick and mortar homes that had major damage but we have no other injuries reported . ' the mobile home was not part of a mobile home park but on a property by itself , clarified hodge . in the town of sumrall , west of hattiesburg , a tornado hit a day care off highway 42 . got it pretty good , ' said police spokesman officer nick verner . verner said all the children have been accounted for and there were no injuries . they were moved to a nearby bank . in columbia , 27 miles southwest of sumrall , the tornado damage appeared to be centered off highway 98 near a walmart , according to marion county emergency management spokeswoman megan smith . smith confirmed reports of injuries and damaged or destroyed cars and structures . fifty patients were seen in the er today because of the storm , ' said marion general hospital spokesperson millie swan . eight of those were transported to forest general hospital in hattiesburg because they needed a higher level of care . we are operating on generator power . columbia is completely out of power . ' swan said most of the patients have been released . we may see more patients come in tomorrow though as search and rescue continues . maybe someone who broke their ankle or something and has waited to come in , ' said swan . about 6,300 households were without power , according to the mississippi governor 's office . also in marion county , a sheriff 's department operator reported people trapped and injured as a result of a tornado touchdown . authorities could n't provide an exact number of people affected . carr said multiple roads were closed due to damage including , highway 13 . in jones county , the mississippi emergency management agency reported damaged homes and power outages . hodge said there was major damage to a church , trees down and power lines down . right now , the system is pretty much forming a diagonal line across the southeast corner of the state , ' said spokesman greg flynn . there is a report that we have another one -- a tornado in jones county near the city of laurel . it was a dangerous system coming through . ' mississippi gov . phil bryant issued a state of emergency for marion and jones counties , along with other parts of the state affected by severe weather . the same storm system destroyed about 15 homes outside amite , louisiana , 47 miles northeast of baton rouge , according to tangipahoa parish emergency management spokeswoman vicki travis . photos obtained by cnn showed structures completely flattened . no injuries were reported in tangipahoa , but 1,750 households did not have power . flynn said the agency worked to prepare residents for the storm but the bad weather could not have come at a worst time of year . ' people are out scrambling to get their last-minute christmas shopping done . we have a lot of people moving around and traveling for the holidays . a lot of visitors that may not know where to go and what to do when the bad weather came through , ' said flynn . the national weather service extended its tornado watch to include louisiana , mississippi , alabama , georgia and florida . winter storm the tornado system compounded a rain-heavy storm that already soaked the area . you would n't think of december as a month which you would see severe weather , ' said cnn meteorologist karen maginnis . actually , this is a secondary peak for tornado activity . the first is during the spring months , but we got very warm , moist unstable air that is going to unload quite a bit of heavy rainfall all across the southeast . ' this is going to be very problematic -- not just for travelers , but now that the weather has turned very violent , ' said maginnis . the national weather service warned that 2 to 4 inches of precipitation are expected , with 6 to 8 inches possible , in parts of alabama , georgia and north florida by the time this storm rolls through . a flash-flood warning was issued for parts of tallahassee on tuesday evening , where over 6 inches of rain had fallen . the northeast also experienced its share of weather woes on tuesday . travelers in philadelphia were seeing average delays of almost two hours due to low clouds , the federal aviation administration reported . things were n't much better in boston 's airport and at laguardia and newark liberty airports in and around new york city . lower gas prices , more weather headaches ? a weather system spinning in the middle mississippi river valley is expected to move slowly toward the great lakes region . a weather system that formed in the gulf of mexico pushed moisture north , creating heavy rain and winds up to 30 mph in the southeast , cnn meteorologist michael guy said . on the gulf coast , at least , these storms could be accompanied by large hail and possibly isolated tornadoes . all this wetness could make for treacherous driving on the i-95 corridor , which runs up the east coast . and none of it is good news for the 98.6 million americans that aaa projects will be going 50 or more miles this holiday season , a 4 % increase from last year . they can take advantage of plummeting gas prices -- which , averaging $ 2.25 nationwide , are down 69 cents a gallon from a year ago . by christmas day , things should quiet down on the east coast , with most of the moisture having moved into and past canada . there may be a few lingering snow showers across the western appalachians and interior new england , ' he said . winds will be strongest christmas eve night into christmas morning for the northeast as the front and system passes . ' it 's not just the east the west will have its own travel problems , with precipitation forecast to hit the northwest on tuesday moving into the rockies -- in the form of snow -- christmas day . the national weather service says snow is likely in denver ; missoula , montana ; and jackson , wyoming . flight delays are possible in minneapolis ; st. louis ; and omaha , nebraska . even hawaii is n't immune , with flash flood watches in effect for all its main islands through wednesday night due to heavy rains .	mississippi governor issues state of emergency
mississippi <tsp> a tornado system touched down in portions of mississippi on tuesday afternoon , killing at least four people and leaving injuries , damage and power outages , said local authorities . two people died in jones county and two more in marion county , said state emergency management agency spokesman brett carr . two people died inside their mobile home that was completely destroyed , ' said jones county sheriff alex hodge . this was in the rural part of jones county . there were other brick and mortar homes that had major damage but we have no other injuries reported . ' the mobile home was not part of a mobile home park but on a property by itself , clarified hodge . in the town of sumrall , west of hattiesburg , a tornado hit a day care off highway 42 . got it pretty good , ' said police spokesman officer nick verner . verner said all the children have been accounted for and there were no injuries . they were moved to a nearby bank . in columbia , 27 miles southwest of sumrall , the tornado damage appeared to be centered off highway 98 near a walmart , according to marion county emergency management spokeswoman megan smith . smith confirmed reports of injuries and damaged or destroyed cars and structures . fifty patients were seen in the er today because of the storm , ' said marion general hospital spokesperson millie swan . eight of those were transported to forest general hospital in hattiesburg because they needed a higher level of care . we are operating on generator power . columbia is completely out of power . ' swan said most of the patients have been released . we may see more patients come in tomorrow though as search and rescue continues . maybe someone who broke their ankle or something and has waited to come in , ' said swan . about 6,300 households were without power , according to the mississippi governor 's office . also in marion county , a sheriff 's department operator reported people trapped and injured as a result of a tornado touchdown . authorities could n't provide an exact number of people affected . carr said multiple roads were closed due to damage including , highway 13 . in jones county , the mississippi emergency management agency reported damaged homes and power outages . hodge said there was major damage to a church , trees down and power lines down . right now , the system is pretty much forming a diagonal line across the southeast corner of the state , ' said spokesman greg flynn . there is a report that we have another one -- a tornado in jones county near the city of laurel . it was a dangerous system coming through . ' mississippi gov . phil bryant issued a state of emergency for marion and jones counties , along with other parts of the state affected by severe weather . the same storm system destroyed about 15 homes outside amite , louisiana , 47 miles northeast of baton rouge , according to tangipahoa parish emergency management spokeswoman vicki travis . photos obtained by cnn showed structures completely flattened . no injuries were reported in tangipahoa , but 1,750 households did not have power . flynn said the agency worked to prepare residents for the storm but the bad weather could not have come at a worst time of year . ' people are out scrambling to get their last-minute christmas shopping done . we have a lot of people moving around and traveling for the holidays . a lot of visitors that may not know where to go and what to do when the bad weather came through , ' said flynn . the national weather service extended its tornado watch to include louisiana , mississippi , alabama , georgia and florida . winter storm the tornado system compounded a rain-heavy storm that already soaked the area . you would n't think of december as a month which you would see severe weather , ' said cnn meteorologist karen maginnis . actually , this is a secondary peak for tornado activity . the first is during the spring months , but we got very warm , moist unstable air that is going to unload quite a bit of heavy rainfall all across the southeast . ' this is going to be very problematic -- not just for travelers , but now that the weather has turned very violent , ' said maginnis . the national weather service warned that 2 to 4 inches of precipitation are expected , with 6 to 8 inches possible , in parts of alabama , georgia and north florida by the time this storm rolls through . a flash-flood warning was issued for parts of tallahassee on tuesday evening , where over 6 inches of rain had fallen . the northeast also experienced its share of weather woes on tuesday . travelers in philadelphia were seeing average delays of almost two hours due to low clouds , the federal aviation administration reported . things were n't much better in boston 's airport and at laguardia and newark liberty airports in and around new york city . lower gas prices , more weather headaches ? a weather system spinning in the middle mississippi river valley is expected to move slowly toward the great lakes region . a weather system that formed in the gulf of mexico pushed moisture north , creating heavy rain and winds up to 30 mph in the southeast , cnn meteorologist michael guy said . on the gulf coast , at least , these storms could be accompanied by large hail and possibly isolated tornadoes . all this wetness could make for treacherous driving on the i-95 corridor , which runs up the east coast . and none of it is good news for the 98.6 million americans that aaa projects will be going 50 or more miles this holiday season , a 4 % increase from last year . they can take advantage of plummeting gas prices -- which , averaging $ 2.25 nationwide , are down 69 cents a gallon from a year ago . by christmas day , things should quiet down on the east coast , with most of the moisture having moved into and past canada . there may be a few lingering snow showers across the western appalachians and interior new england , ' he said . winds will be strongest christmas eve night into christmas morning for the northeast as the front and system passes . ' it 's not just the east the west will have its own travel problems , with precipitation forecast to hit the northwest on tuesday moving into the rockies -- in the form of snow -- christmas day . the national weather service says snow is likely in denver ; missoula , montana ; and jackson , wyoming . flight delays are possible in minneapolis ; st. louis ; and omaha , nebraska . even hawaii is n't immune , with flash flood watches in effect for all its main islands through wednesday night due to heavy rains .	four dead in two mississippi counties as a result of storm
kashmir <tsp> srinigar , indian-administered kashmir ( cnn ) -- the toll in the raging gunfights between the militants and indian army in the indian administered kashmir rose to 19 monday with the killing of four more indian army troopers and five militants . indian soldiers stand guard in srinagar . the ongoing fierce gun battles in the densely forested and foliaged mountain range of shamswari , the deadliest in recent months , entered its fourth day monday . the thorough combing operation is in progress , and it is expected that a few more terrorists may be holed up in the area including an isolated house , ' lt. col. j.s . brar , the spokesman of the indian army in srinagar said monday evening . four more soldiers of the army and five militants died monday in this raging encounter that has been going on in the densely forested shamswari mountain range in north kashmir kupwara border district today , ' brar told cnn . a major of the indian army 's 1-para regiment and three troopers were killed before yesterday in the gunfights during which six militants had also been killed . reports also said additional troops had been rushed in to augment the already heavy presence of the army in the area . the operation which commenced on march 20 has been on for the last four days and has witnessed intermittent gunfights between the terrorists ensconced in the higher reaches of the dense forests and the soldiers , ' the spokesman said . in a separate incident one militant was killed in an encounter with police in south kashmir 's shopian district monday . kashmir has been in the throes of a bloody secessionist campaign for nearly two decades in which , according to official figures , 43,000 people have been killed . various rights groups and non-governmental organizations here , however , dispute the official statistics claiming that the number killed here during the last two decades is twice the official figure .	kashmir has been in throes of separatist campaign for 20 years
kashmir <tsp> srinigar , indian-administered kashmir ( cnn ) -- the toll in the raging gunfights between the militants and indian army in the indian administered kashmir rose to 19 monday with the killing of four more indian army troopers and five militants . indian soldiers stand guard in srinagar . the ongoing fierce gun battles in the densely forested and foliaged mountain range of shamswari , the deadliest in recent months , entered its fourth day monday . the thorough combing operation is in progress , and it is expected that a few more terrorists may be holed up in the area including an isolated house , ' lt. col. j.s . brar , the spokesman of the indian army in srinagar said monday evening . four more soldiers of the army and five militants died monday in this raging encounter that has been going on in the densely forested shamswari mountain range in north kashmir kupwara border district today , ' brar told cnn . a major of the indian army 's 1-para regiment and three troopers were killed before yesterday in the gunfights during which six militants had also been killed . reports also said additional troops had been rushed in to augment the already heavy presence of the army in the area . the operation which commenced on march 20 has been on for the last four days and has witnessed intermittent gunfights between the terrorists ensconced in the higher reaches of the dense forests and the soldiers , ' the spokesman said . in a separate incident one militant was killed in an encounter with police in south kashmir 's shopian district monday . kashmir has been in the throes of a bloody secessionist campaign for nearly two decades in which , according to official figures , 43,000 people have been killed . various rights groups and non-governmental organizations here , however , dispute the official statistics claiming that the number killed here during the last two decades is twice the official figure .	19 dead in kashmir gunfights between indian troops , separatist militants
david cameron <tsp> davos , switzerland ( cnn ) -- a top european union official says there 's no need for britain to make threats to leave the union in order to reform its membership . in my mind it is only to the mutual benefit of britain and europe that britain stays as a member of the european union , ' eu economic and monetary affairs commissioner olli rehn told cnn 's richard quest . british prime minister david cameron sparked the debate in a speech wednesday in which he promised the british people a vote on european union membership if he wins the next general election in 2015 . but as i was listening to the speech of prime minister cameron yesterday concerning his policy agenda there are in fact many issues i can agree with and the commission is already working for those including how to increase the competency of european industry , how to complete the single market , how to pursue free trade agreements , ' rehn said . that 's all fine ... we work for common interest and growth of europe . but you do n't have to make threats of leaving the union to have a debate on those . ' cameron told cnn 's christiane amanpour that he has no regrets over the referendum promise , despite unhappiness among some european partners . it 's really important that we 've set out a plan for how we get change in europe that will benefit all of europe , making it more open , more competitive , more flexible , and how we secure britain 's place within that , ' he said . the european union is already changing to meet the needs of the 17 members who are part of the euro single currency , cameron said . britain is not in that group . on the eurozone debt crisis , rehn said the risk of the breakup of the euro has all but disappeared thanks to the actions taken by the member states and not least by the european central bank . however , of course , in the real economy we have a very difficult situation in many countries -- high unemployment , low growth -- and we have to use the better sentiment in the markets and restoration of confidence to bolster growth and job creation , ' rehn said . that 's the focus of 2013 . '	uk prime minister david cameron has pledged to hold a referendum on membership
bedtime stories <tsp> los angeles , california ( cnn ) -- packing on the pounds over the holidays ? adam sandler can sympathize . he recently put on some weight himself . adam sandler had to cope with more than just falling gumballs in his latest comedy , bedtime stories . ' the comedian got buff for the movie you do n't mess with the zohan ' ( in which he showed a lot of skin ) , but then he said he let himself go just a bit . [ for'zohan'] i worked out like a madman , ' he told cnn . and then i started getting fat again . ' concern over his physical conditioning led to an unintended consequence -- a broken bone . [ one saturday ] i ate so much food , that i was laying in bed . i was fat as heck and i said ,'i better play some ball .'i went out and played basketball , broke my ankle . i said ,'maybe i should have stayed fat .' the mishap occurred as he was filming his latest comedy , bedtime stories . ' in scenes that involved walking around , sandler needed a body double . i 'm shooting the movie with the cast on , ' he said . we did about six , seven weeks of shooting . if i was standing here and i had to walk to the door , i would stand up [ then the camera would cut to ] a guy with my outfit on that took the walk . ' sandler is on the mend , but he said his ankle is still a little swollen . bedtime stories ' opens christmas day .	adam sandler wore cast for part of bedtime stories ' filming
blaskiewicz <tsp> ( cnn ) -- mid-april marks the anniversaries of several horrendous attacks in recent u.s. history : -- april 19 , 1993 : the fbi 's siege of the waco compound leaves 76 dead . -- april 19 , 1995 : the bombing of a federal building in oklahoma city kills 168 people . -- april 20 , 1999 : a mass shooting at columbine high school leaves 15 dead . -- april 16 , 2007 : the virginia tech massacre kills 33 . the oklahoma city bombing was timed to coincide with the waco anniversary . and it 's unclear whether the columbine shooters timed that attack to mark adolf hitler 's birthday or possibly waco . is there something about this time of the year that makes these types of attacks more prevalent ? for an answer , cnn spoke with robert blaskiewicz , a professor at the georgia institute of technology in atlanta . he teaches a course examining conspiracy theories and runs a blog , called skeptical humanities . cnn : is there any evidence or are there any theories that suggest attackers are more likely to strike around this time of the year ? robert blaskiewicz : i have seen nothing to suggest that anything about april itself makes people violent . that said , the reason why we see certain types of political violence in mid- to late april is because of a few unhappy coincidences : that waco happened to fall on the anniversary of the battles of lexington and concord , the first battles in a war against a tyrannical oppressor . for many people who labor under the idea that the federal government is a tyrannical foreign oppressor like the british monarchy , waco symbolizes a war of a government against its people . [ timothy ] mcveigh chose to bomb the murrah building [ in oklahoma city ] on the anniversary of waco because of that symbolic importance ( indeed , the forged drivers license he rented the truck with had the date of issuance as 19 april 1993 , the date of the branch davidian fire ) . if you want to squint , you might also lump in the opening of the civil war to this part of the year , but the timing of that was chronologically tied to events following lincoln 's election , not the revolution . regarding the virginia tech shootings , my first impression is sheerest coincidence . now , by raising this question , i think that you illustrate an important principle behind the conspiratorial mindset ( something that actually undergirds even normal psychology ) , and that is seeing patterns in unrelated events . seeing a cluster of completely unrelated events fires up the conspiracy theorist 's mind . i have recently seen speculation about four different television personalities who recently have displayed incoherent speech during taping ( including a news reporter and judge judy ) . conspiracy theorists made the leap that they were all related and that there was probably some mind-control weapon being used . go figure . cnn : how strong are the beliefs/outrage surrounding the waco disaster , nearly 20 years after the siege ? blaskiewicz : i do n't have a sense of the strength of the feelings about waco specifically ; however , after oklahoma city , the numbers of militia groups dropped . following the election of [ barack ] obama , however , there was a steep rise in the number of hate groups , which has been ably tracked by the southern poverty law center and the political research associates . interestingly , last year on the 19th of april , gun advocates had a rally in washington ( a sort of bring your guns to the capitol day ' ) to rally behind the second amendment , even though the second amendment has not really been on the obama administration 's radar at all . for a while , it was difficult to even buy ammunition , since terrified gun owners started stockpiling it . nonetheless , in the mythology that has grown up around waco and oklahoma city among self-identified patriots , the 19th has become a sort of high holiday for those who think that they live under the thumb of a tyranny . cnn : what do you think is behind the need to see patterns in unrelated events , such as several attacks that happened all around the same time ? in other words , what purpose do conspiracy theories serve ? blaskiewicz : there are several possible answers , and i 'm not sure any one answer is better than any other answer . people are extremely social critters , and part of what makes that possible is the ability to perceive others as deliberately acting in the world , in other words to detect agency . it 's extremely useful in building respectful communities . sometimes that faculty does n't turn off when it should , and you associate agency ' with events and ideas that are unrelated . when a responsible agent is not easily discernible , that sense that something is still deliberate endures , and you are left wondering , well , who caused it , then ? ' you fill in the blanks . conspiracy theories are a contemporary mythology , not unlike the greek gods . everything that happens has a reason , and the gods affect the course of human events through direct intervention . the ill-defined they , ' whether referring to the u.n. , cia , international bankers , jews or interdimensional shapeshifting reptilian space aliens living in the hollowed-out artificial moon ( yeah , it 's a real one ) , really seem to me to be a secular version of religious mythology . on the other side , when you are already convinced that agents are working to manipulate world events , people tend to seek out information that reinforces what they already believe . it 's a tendency called confirmation bias , and it is a sort of perceptual filter for what you accept as evidence . even the apparent clustering of events , in itself , can serve as evidence for someone who is looking for things to confirm their worldview , and allows the conspiracy theorist to discount reams of information that directly refute that belief . each human brain comes equipped with a whole series of generally useful shortcuts to help us make sense of the immense amount of information that we have to process everyday . conspiracy theories , i suspect , are simply an interesting ( occasionally dangerous ) byproduct of those mental shortcuts .	while some are related , robert blaskiewicz says others are just a coincidence
blaskiewicz <tsp> ( cnn ) -- mid-april marks the anniversaries of several horrendous attacks in recent u.s. history : -- april 19 , 1993 : the fbi 's siege of the waco compound leaves 76 dead . -- april 19 , 1995 : the bombing of a federal building in oklahoma city kills 168 people . -- april 20 , 1999 : a mass shooting at columbine high school leaves 15 dead . -- april 16 , 2007 : the virginia tech massacre kills 33 . the oklahoma city bombing was timed to coincide with the waco anniversary . and it 's unclear whether the columbine shooters timed that attack to mark adolf hitler 's birthday or possibly waco . is there something about this time of the year that makes these types of attacks more prevalent ? for an answer , cnn spoke with robert blaskiewicz , a professor at the georgia institute of technology in atlanta . he teaches a course examining conspiracy theories and runs a blog , called skeptical humanities . cnn : is there any evidence or are there any theories that suggest attackers are more likely to strike around this time of the year ? robert blaskiewicz : i have seen nothing to suggest that anything about april itself makes people violent . that said , the reason why we see certain types of political violence in mid- to late april is because of a few unhappy coincidences : that waco happened to fall on the anniversary of the battles of lexington and concord , the first battles in a war against a tyrannical oppressor . for many people who labor under the idea that the federal government is a tyrannical foreign oppressor like the british monarchy , waco symbolizes a war of a government against its people . [ timothy ] mcveigh chose to bomb the murrah building [ in oklahoma city ] on the anniversary of waco because of that symbolic importance ( indeed , the forged drivers license he rented the truck with had the date of issuance as 19 april 1993 , the date of the branch davidian fire ) . if you want to squint , you might also lump in the opening of the civil war to this part of the year , but the timing of that was chronologically tied to events following lincoln 's election , not the revolution . regarding the virginia tech shootings , my first impression is sheerest coincidence . now , by raising this question , i think that you illustrate an important principle behind the conspiratorial mindset ( something that actually undergirds even normal psychology ) , and that is seeing patterns in unrelated events . seeing a cluster of completely unrelated events fires up the conspiracy theorist 's mind . i have recently seen speculation about four different television personalities who recently have displayed incoherent speech during taping ( including a news reporter and judge judy ) . conspiracy theorists made the leap that they were all related and that there was probably some mind-control weapon being used . go figure . cnn : how strong are the beliefs/outrage surrounding the waco disaster , nearly 20 years after the siege ? blaskiewicz : i do n't have a sense of the strength of the feelings about waco specifically ; however , after oklahoma city , the numbers of militia groups dropped . following the election of [ barack ] obama , however , there was a steep rise in the number of hate groups , which has been ably tracked by the southern poverty law center and the political research associates . interestingly , last year on the 19th of april , gun advocates had a rally in washington ( a sort of bring your guns to the capitol day ' ) to rally behind the second amendment , even though the second amendment has not really been on the obama administration 's radar at all . for a while , it was difficult to even buy ammunition , since terrified gun owners started stockpiling it . nonetheless , in the mythology that has grown up around waco and oklahoma city among self-identified patriots , the 19th has become a sort of high holiday for those who think that they live under the thumb of a tyranny . cnn : what do you think is behind the need to see patterns in unrelated events , such as several attacks that happened all around the same time ? in other words , what purpose do conspiracy theories serve ? blaskiewicz : there are several possible answers , and i 'm not sure any one answer is better than any other answer . people are extremely social critters , and part of what makes that possible is the ability to perceive others as deliberately acting in the world , in other words to detect agency . it 's extremely useful in building respectful communities . sometimes that faculty does n't turn off when it should , and you associate agency ' with events and ideas that are unrelated . when a responsible agent is not easily discernible , that sense that something is still deliberate endures , and you are left wondering , well , who caused it , then ? ' you fill in the blanks . conspiracy theories are a contemporary mythology , not unlike the greek gods . everything that happens has a reason , and the gods affect the course of human events through direct intervention . the ill-defined they , ' whether referring to the u.n. , cia , international bankers , jews or interdimensional shapeshifting reptilian space aliens living in the hollowed-out artificial moon ( yeah , it 's a real one ) , really seem to me to be a secular version of religious mythology . on the other side , when you are already convinced that agents are working to manipulate world events , people tend to seek out information that reinforces what they already believe . it 's a tendency called confirmation bias , and it is a sort of perceptual filter for what you accept as evidence . even the apparent clustering of events , in itself , can serve as evidence for someone who is looking for things to confirm their worldview , and allows the conspiracy theorist to discount reams of information that directly refute that belief . each human brain comes equipped with a whole series of generally useful shortcuts to help us make sense of the immense amount of information that we have to process everyday . conspiracy theories , i suspect , are simply an interesting ( occasionally dangerous ) byproduct of those mental shortcuts .	blaskiewicz teaches course on conspiracy theories at georgia institute of technology
hbo <tsp> ( cnn ) -- maybe it was just a case of delaying the inevitable during monday 's 66th primetime emmy awards ceremony . having showered an array of major nominations on cable , netflix and movie stars while seeming to further diminish the so-called big four ' broadcast networks , emmy voters in a sense recanted on the big night . eleven of the 25 trophies -- an unusually high percentage these days -- went to traditional over-the-air networks , while netflix and the marquee movie stars got shut out . as they 've tended to do in the past , voters instead rinsed and repeated by rewarding previous winners . the six main categories are instructive . amc 's breaking bad ' defended last year 's championship in the best drama series as it knocked off hbo 's much-heralded true detective , ' which won just one emmy all night . in the best comedy series , abc 's modern family ' prevailed for the fifth year in a row , tying the record set by nbc 's frasier . ' netflix 's drama-fueled orange is the new black , ' which entered itself in this category , did go to jail but did not collect any emmys . julianna margulies added to the broadcast network glow by winning a second lead actress in a drama series emmy , this time for her role in cbs' the good wife . ' for the first time at any of this year 's major awards ceremonies , matthew mcconaughey came away empty-handed in the lead actor in a drama series for his showy role in hbo 's true detective . ' bryan cranston out dueled him and won his fourth emmy for breaking bad . ' it was julia louis-dreyfus'night once more in winning lead actress in a comedy series . she won her third emmy for hbo 's veep , ' and now is the only actress to take home the lead prize in three comedy series -- including nbc 's seinfeld ' and cbs' the new adventures of old christine . ' cbs and jim parsons combined again in the lead actor in a comedy series category . parsons has now won four emmys for the big bang theory , ' which is still television 's runaway most popular comedy series on all platforms . ' for those of you keeping score , half of these marquee emmys went to the traditional broadcast networks and each winner was a repeater . in what seem like prehistoric times , abc , cbs , nbc and fox used to dominate television 's biggest night ' before flaunting their emmy wins as promotional springboards for the new fall season . nbc famously inserted commercials within the 1981 primetime ceremony touting the mounting number of emmy wins for its then ratings-starved first-year series , hill street blues . ' the classic cop drama ended up winning six of nbc 's eight emmys on that night . and in its second season , hill street ' vaulted from nearly dead last to a top 30 finish in the yearly primetime nielsen ratings . cable networks , led by hbo , began flexing muscles in the 1990s , though . series such as the sopranos ' and sex and the city ' became emmy darlings while hbo 's movies were perennial winners . at last year 's major emmy ceremony , hbo led all networks with seven wins , as other cable networks and netflix combined for another 12 statues . that left the broadcast networks with just six wins out of the 25 major emmys awarded . whether it carries over or not -- and chances are it wo n't -- monday night 's 11 broadcast network wins are an overall morale boost compared with recent outcomes . also left at emmy 's altar monday night was movie star billy bob thornton , an early favorite for his villainous lead role in fx 's fargo . ' but the lead actor in a miniseries or movie ' emmy went to benedict cumberbatch for his title role in pbs' sherlock : his last vow . ' emmy host seth meyers had measured the traditional broadcast networks for a coffin early in his opening monologue . mtv still has an award for music videos even though they no longer show music videos , ' he joked . that 's like network tv holding an awards show and giving all the trophies to cable and netflix . that would be crazy . why would they do that ? ' meyers could have been speaking for host network nbc , which was shut out monday night along with fox . but old-liner cbs ended up in a three-way tie for the most emmys , at five , with cable 's amc and fx . hbo , accustomed to walking away as emmy 's top dog , won just three emmys to tie it with broadcasters abc and pbs . the netflix shutout , following nominations in five of the six marquee categories , may be a message that emmy voters are not yet ready to swoon over the world 's leading television internet provider , ' as it bills itself . netflix still keeps its audience numbers secret for its streaming original series and also may have riled some voters by submitting orange is the new black ' as a comedy in what looked like a craven grab for emmy gold . indeed , meyers basked in sustained applause and cheers when he cracked , we had comedies that made you laugh and comedies that made you cry because they were dramas submitted as comedies . ' in this emmy year at least , the broadcast network contingent has something to cheer about , too . it might well be a last stand , with an increasing number of cable networks making original and praiseworthy drama or comedy series . but for one shining night , broadcasters cbs , abc and pbs can all say they matched or exceeded hbo . these days that 's no small feat .	broadcast networks won marquee categories , he said , matching or exceeding hbo
athletic bilbao <tsp> ( cnn ) -- real madrid could be without star striker cristiano ronaldo for the next three weeks due to the portugal captain 's hamstring injury . the world 's most expensive player started in saturday 's madrid derby despite coming off with an injury against lyon in midweek , but left the field in the second half of the 2-1 win over atletico . he had returned against the french team after sustaining a thigh injury during real 's 7-0 defeat of malaga on march 3 . coach jose mourinho admitted he had taken a risk by playing the club 's 26-year-old top scorer , saying : i did n't want the championship to end today and cristiano ronaldo is very important to us . ' a statement on real 's website revealed that the former manchester united player will miss portugal 's home friendly games against chile on march 26 and finland three days later , both in leiria . he is likely to miss madrid 's next la liga game against sporting gijon the following weekend , and is battling to be fit to face english club tottenham in the first leg of the european champions league quarterfinal on april 5 . after a medical control and scan at the sanitas hospital , cristiano ronaldo is suffering from a first-grade lesion to the hamstring in his left leg . the player will be out for three weeks , ' the club said on sunday . meanwhile , villarreal moved up to third place in la liga with a 1-0 victory at athletic bilbao on sunday . marco ruben 's 58th-minute header put the yellow submarine above valencia on goal difference ahead of the visit by league leaders barcelona on april 3 . valencia remained on 54 points , 24 points behind barca , after suffering a third successive defeat , losing 1-0 at home to sevilla . croatian midfielder ivan rakitic fired in a left-foot volley in the 70th minute to boost seventh-placed sevilla 's hopes of qualifying for europe , leaving the club behind bilbao on goal difference . valencia , beaten 4-0 by zaragoza last weekend following the club 's champions league exit , went close to scoring as brazilian striker jonas goncalves hit the post and juan mata had an effort pushed onto the bar by sevilla goalkeeper javi varas . fifth-placed espanyol suffered a seventh defeat in nine games as malaga moved off the bottom with a 2-0 home victory . venezuelan striker jose rondon scored both goals to move to 12 this season as his team won back-to-back matches for the first time in 2010-11 . hercules dropped to the bottom after a 4-0 home loss to 10th-placed osasuna , with the promoted club left level on 26 points with almeria -- who lost 1-0 to fellow strugglers sporting gijon . racing santander stayed a point above gijon after beating real sociedad 2-1 . levante joined osasuna and sociedad on 35 points with a 1-0 win at deportivo la coruna thanks to a last-minute winner by striker ruben suarez .	villarreal claim third place in spain after winning 1-0 against athletic bilbao
green <tsp> ( cnn ) -- the u.s. senate , the world 's greatest deliberative body , ' with a reputation for gridlock that surpasses even that of my native los angeles , on thursday passed an immigration reform bill by a bipartisan majority . please thank the senate . as the fight moves to the house of representatives , it 's a good time to reflect on just what this bill will mean for america and to redouble our efforts to pass it . the last major immigration reform bill was in 1986 under president reagan . i was 3 , my parents had just bought their first computer and the world wide web was a dream . many of today 's great tech companies were not yet on the radar screen . our country has changed a lot during those 27 years , but not -- so far -- our immigration policy . suffice it to say , if we can pass our generation 's immigration reform , it will be a really big deal . america 's greatest asset has always been its people , drawn here from all over the world . in the 21st century , our economic future depends on immigrants more than ever . the fastest-growing sector of our economy is the knowledge economy , where the main competitive difference is people . how immigration reform would affect 3 families in a globalized world where people and businesses have their choice of countries to locate in , continuing to have the best trained , hardest-working and most productive people in the world will keep the united states at the forefront of global competitiveness . we have some huge advantages : the top universities in the world , the top scientific researchers , and -- right alongside these -- our identity as a nation of immigrants and descendants of immigrants . at fwd.us , a nonprofit advocacy group , we are entrepreneurs , and we believe that one of the main reasons america is the leading entrepreneurial nation is that we are a nation of immigrants . leaving behind your home country and everything you know to create a better life for your family is the essence of the risk-taking that characterizes the entrepreneurial ethos . i think back to my ancestors in the shtetls of eastern europe in the 19th century . they had probably never been more than two miles from their village , and got on a steamship to go to a country they had never even seen in a picture , knowing they would never return home . that is truly putting it all on the line to make a better life . it is not random , who chooses to emigrate , and the work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit of these immigrants have shaped the character of our country . entrepreneurs in silicon valley do not just identify with the experience of computer programmers coming to america to work at tech companies , but with everyone who comes here to make a better life . it 's why we are working for comprehensive immigration reform . there are talented young people in america who were brought here by their parents who now can not go to college or work because they are undocumented . these dreamers are just waiting to contribute , and their parents , with the right accountability measures , should be able to join them by coming out of the shadows and contributing fully to their communities . opinion : on immigration , gop offers fear , not ideas in addition , we know that the best and the brightest come here to study , start companies and create jobs that grow our economy ; millions more are caught in limbo navigating a complex and broken system that is totally outdated for a modern economy and modern american families . we need to pass comprehensive immigration reform to unlock those contributions and by doing so change millions of lives . fwd.us has been visiting college graduations , talking with some of the smart young international graduates who have the potential to expand american businesses and create new innovations here . many are returning home despite job offers in the united states , for one reason -- they ca n't get visas . a loss for them and a loss for us -- collateral damage of an outdated immigration policy . over our history , the united states has often been good at welcoming immigrants . in fact , it 's part of what defines america . reagan said it well , recounting the sentiments in a letter he received from a man before he left office : you can go live in france , but you can not become a frenchman . you can go to live in germany or italy , but you ca n't become a german , an italian . he went through turkey , greece , japan and other countries . but he said anyone , from any corner of the world , can come to live in the united states and become an american . ' comprehensive immigration reform is a big deal , but it is not a done deal . the house comes next . we are at a hinge moment for america . do n't hold back -- the time is here to be heard as the fight continues to pass meaningful comprehensive immigration reform . the opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of joe green .	joe green : immigration reform heads for tough fight in house after passing in senate
green <tsp> ( cnn ) -- the u.s. senate , the world 's greatest deliberative body , ' with a reputation for gridlock that surpasses even that of my native los angeles , on thursday passed an immigration reform bill by a bipartisan majority . please thank the senate . as the fight moves to the house of representatives , it 's a good time to reflect on just what this bill will mean for america and to redouble our efforts to pass it . the last major immigration reform bill was in 1986 under president reagan . i was 3 , my parents had just bought their first computer and the world wide web was a dream . many of today 's great tech companies were not yet on the radar screen . our country has changed a lot during those 27 years , but not -- so far -- our immigration policy . suffice it to say , if we can pass our generation 's immigration reform , it will be a really big deal . america 's greatest asset has always been its people , drawn here from all over the world . in the 21st century , our economic future depends on immigrants more than ever . the fastest-growing sector of our economy is the knowledge economy , where the main competitive difference is people . how immigration reform would affect 3 families in a globalized world where people and businesses have their choice of countries to locate in , continuing to have the best trained , hardest-working and most productive people in the world will keep the united states at the forefront of global competitiveness . we have some huge advantages : the top universities in the world , the top scientific researchers , and -- right alongside these -- our identity as a nation of immigrants and descendants of immigrants . at fwd.us , a nonprofit advocacy group , we are entrepreneurs , and we believe that one of the main reasons america is the leading entrepreneurial nation is that we are a nation of immigrants . leaving behind your home country and everything you know to create a better life for your family is the essence of the risk-taking that characterizes the entrepreneurial ethos . i think back to my ancestors in the shtetls of eastern europe in the 19th century . they had probably never been more than two miles from their village , and got on a steamship to go to a country they had never even seen in a picture , knowing they would never return home . that is truly putting it all on the line to make a better life . it is not random , who chooses to emigrate , and the work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit of these immigrants have shaped the character of our country . entrepreneurs in silicon valley do not just identify with the experience of computer programmers coming to america to work at tech companies , but with everyone who comes here to make a better life . it 's why we are working for comprehensive immigration reform . there are talented young people in america who were brought here by their parents who now can not go to college or work because they are undocumented . these dreamers are just waiting to contribute , and their parents , with the right accountability measures , should be able to join them by coming out of the shadows and contributing fully to their communities . opinion : on immigration , gop offers fear , not ideas in addition , we know that the best and the brightest come here to study , start companies and create jobs that grow our economy ; millions more are caught in limbo navigating a complex and broken system that is totally outdated for a modern economy and modern american families . we need to pass comprehensive immigration reform to unlock those contributions and by doing so change millions of lives . fwd.us has been visiting college graduations , talking with some of the smart young international graduates who have the potential to expand american businesses and create new innovations here . many are returning home despite job offers in the united states , for one reason -- they ca n't get visas . a loss for them and a loss for us -- collateral damage of an outdated immigration policy . over our history , the united states has often been good at welcoming immigrants . in fact , it 's part of what defines america . reagan said it well , recounting the sentiments in a letter he received from a man before he left office : you can go live in france , but you can not become a frenchman . you can go to live in germany or italy , but you ca n't become a german , an italian . he went through turkey , greece , japan and other countries . but he said anyone , from any corner of the world , can come to live in the united states and become an american . ' comprehensive immigration reform is a big deal , but it is not a done deal . the house comes next . we are at a hinge moment for america . do n't hold back -- the time is here to be heard as the fight continues to pass meaningful comprehensive immigration reform . the opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of joe green .	green says immigrants are group of risk-takers who define america 's entrepreneurial ethos
green <tsp> ( cnn ) -- the u.s. senate , the world 's greatest deliberative body , ' with a reputation for gridlock that surpasses even that of my native los angeles , on thursday passed an immigration reform bill by a bipartisan majority . please thank the senate . as the fight moves to the house of representatives , it 's a good time to reflect on just what this bill will mean for america and to redouble our efforts to pass it . the last major immigration reform bill was in 1986 under president reagan . i was 3 , my parents had just bought their first computer and the world wide web was a dream . many of today 's great tech companies were not yet on the radar screen . our country has changed a lot during those 27 years , but not -- so far -- our immigration policy . suffice it to say , if we can pass our generation 's immigration reform , it will be a really big deal . america 's greatest asset has always been its people , drawn here from all over the world . in the 21st century , our economic future depends on immigrants more than ever . the fastest-growing sector of our economy is the knowledge economy , where the main competitive difference is people . how immigration reform would affect 3 families in a globalized world where people and businesses have their choice of countries to locate in , continuing to have the best trained , hardest-working and most productive people in the world will keep the united states at the forefront of global competitiveness . we have some huge advantages : the top universities in the world , the top scientific researchers , and -- right alongside these -- our identity as a nation of immigrants and descendants of immigrants . at fwd.us , a nonprofit advocacy group , we are entrepreneurs , and we believe that one of the main reasons america is the leading entrepreneurial nation is that we are a nation of immigrants . leaving behind your home country and everything you know to create a better life for your family is the essence of the risk-taking that characterizes the entrepreneurial ethos . i think back to my ancestors in the shtetls of eastern europe in the 19th century . they had probably never been more than two miles from their village , and got on a steamship to go to a country they had never even seen in a picture , knowing they would never return home . that is truly putting it all on the line to make a better life . it is not random , who chooses to emigrate , and the work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit of these immigrants have shaped the character of our country . entrepreneurs in silicon valley do not just identify with the experience of computer programmers coming to america to work at tech companies , but with everyone who comes here to make a better life . it 's why we are working for comprehensive immigration reform . there are talented young people in america who were brought here by their parents who now can not go to college or work because they are undocumented . these dreamers are just waiting to contribute , and their parents , with the right accountability measures , should be able to join them by coming out of the shadows and contributing fully to their communities . opinion : on immigration , gop offers fear , not ideas in addition , we know that the best and the brightest come here to study , start companies and create jobs that grow our economy ; millions more are caught in limbo navigating a complex and broken system that is totally outdated for a modern economy and modern american families . we need to pass comprehensive immigration reform to unlock those contributions and by doing so change millions of lives . fwd.us has been visiting college graduations , talking with some of the smart young international graduates who have the potential to expand american businesses and create new innovations here . many are returning home despite job offers in the united states , for one reason -- they ca n't get visas . a loss for them and a loss for us -- collateral damage of an outdated immigration policy . over our history , the united states has often been good at welcoming immigrants . in fact , it 's part of what defines america . reagan said it well , recounting the sentiments in a letter he received from a man before he left office : you can go live in france , but you can not become a frenchman . you can go to live in germany or italy , but you ca n't become a german , an italian . he went through turkey , greece , japan and other countries . but he said anyone , from any corner of the world , can come to live in the united states and become an american . ' comprehensive immigration reform is a big deal , but it is not a done deal . the house comes next . we are at a hinge moment for america . do n't hold back -- the time is here to be heard as the fight continues to pass meaningful comprehensive immigration reform . the opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of joe green .	green : immigrants needed to feed nation 's fast-growing knowledge economy
jenson button <tsp> ( cnn ) -- sebastian vettel became the youngest-ever back-to-back formula one world champion with his third place finish in sunday 's japan grand prix and the german now has an unassailable lead with four races of the season still remaining . vettel finished behind jenson button and fernando alonso at suzuka , a result more than enough to retain his crown following a dominant season which has seen him claim nine victories and four second places from the 15 races so far . with just four races still remaining , vettel has an unassailable lead of 114 points over button and can not now be overtaken , although the battle for the minor placings is still likely to go down to the final race of the season in brazil . in fact , there were no changes in the top nine of either the drivers'or constructors'championship after suzuka with the formula one circuit now moving onto next weekend 's korean grand prix at yeongam , the 16th race of the season drivers'standings after round 15 in japan : 1 . sebastian vettel ( ger ) red bull 324 points 2 . jenson button ( gb ) mclaren 210 3 . fernando alonso ( spa ) ferrari 202 4 . mark webber ( aus ) red bull 194 5 . lewis hamilton ( gb ) mclaren 178 6 . felipe massa ( bra ) ferrari 90 7 . nico rosberg ( ger ) mercedes 63 8 . michael schumacher ( ger ) mercedes 60 9 . vitaly petrov ( rus ) renault 36 constructors'standings : 1 . red bull 518 points 2 . mclaren 388 3 . ferrari 292 4 . mercedes 123 5 . lotus renault 72 6 . force india 48 7 . sauber 40 8 . toro rosso 29 9 . williams 5	jenson button won in suzuka to consolidate second place with fernando alonso third
sakirin mosque <tsp> istanbul , turkey ( cnn ) -- there is a shiny addition among the ottoman mosques and palaces that make up istanbul 's stunning skyline : the metallic , mirrored dome of the new sakirin mosque , a muslim place of worship built with a woman 's touch . when sun reflects off sakirin mosque 's dome , light can be seen across the bosphorus strait . for what may be the first time in history , women have been at the forefront of the construction of a mosque in turkey . one of the project 's leaders is zeynep fadillioglu , an interior decorator who has designed restaurants , hotels and luxury homes from new delhi , india , to abu dhabi in the united arab emirates , and london , england . she helped organize a team of traditional mosque artists specializing in islamic calligraphy , along with craftsmen in glassworks , metal-casting and lighting who , like fadillioglu , have built careers working in exclusively secular architecture and design . i want people to feel peaceful and be left with themselves as much as possible and yet have beautiful art and artistic symbolism around them , ' she said . istanbul has a venerable tradition of mosque architecture , dating back centuries to when ottoman sultans declared themselves caliph , or spiritual leader of the muslim world . watch zeynep fadilioglu show off her work and inspirations » the shores of the bosporus strait are studded with 16th century masterpieces such as the suleymaniye mosque , built by the ottoman empire 's most famous architect , mimar sinan , and ornate , neo-baroque jewels designed by the armenian balyan family in the 19th century . but istanbul 's most senior muslim cleric laments that mosque design suffered a decline after the collapse of the ottoman empire in the wake of world war i . in the last 70 , 80 years , we have built mosques that are copies of ottoman architecture , ' said mustafa cagrici , the mufti of istanbul . this was n't a good development , because the copy can never be as good as the original . ' fadillioglu and her team of artists are hoping to change that . look at photos of the mosque » the sakirin mosque was commissioned by a wealthy turkish arab family and built in one of istanbul 's oldest cemeteries . the designers put a number of contemporary touches on the structure , giving it plate glass walls etched with gold-leaf verses from the quran , framed by giant cast-iron grids . the mihrab -- the alcove that points worshippers in the direction of mecca -- is made of asymmetrical ovals , similar to a design used by fadillioglu to decorate a restaurant in london . and the chandelier is a multi-layered series of metal and plexiglass rings , carrying quranic inscriptions and dripping with scores of delicate glass teardrops . the glass chandelier brings the high dome down to the people , ' fadillioglu explained . so when they pray and kneel they do n't feel lost with the light and it shelters them . ' many of the artists here never worked on a mosque before . it 's special that a woman 's hand is involved in this , ' said one of them , a male carpenter named metin cekeroglu . if you think about it , a home is made by woman . and if we think about this place as a home of god , we can also say women will make this place much better . ' fadillioglu said one of her goals was to bring extra attention into the design of the women 's section of the mosque , an area that she says is often neglected by architects . according to islamic tradition , worshippers are segregated by gender at mosques . i have seen mosques where women have been pushed to the worst part of stairs , cramped area . sort of as if ( they are ) unwanted in the mosque , ' she said . that is not what islam is about . ... women are equal in islam to men ' five minutes'drive from the sakirin mosque stands the mihrimah sultan mosque , a 16th century structure built by sultan suleiman the magnificent in honor of his favorite daughter . unfortunately , female worshippers do not get to enjoy its stunning stained glass windows the way the men do . they have to pray in a small women 's section , hidden behind a bank of chest-high shelves that store shoes . at the sakirin mosque , fadillioglu said , she gave women praying on the balcony an unobstructed view of the dome , the ornate chandelier , and the area on the floor where the imam will lead prayers . i would like to come here to pray , ' said elif demir , an 18-year old art student with a funky , orange-dyed haircut who was working on the chandelier . this mosque is completely different because of the light that 's coming through the walls , through the glass . ' fadillioglu 's role in the sakirin mosque is all the more surprising because she comes from a jet-set side of turkish society not normally associated with islam . it is unusual , ' she conceded , because first of all not many modern people have been commissioned to design a mosque . ' she spoke in a recent interview at ulus 29 , the expensive istanbul hilltop restaurant and bar that is owned by her husband . amid the ottoman- and selcuk-inspired flourishes she has sprinkled around the restaurant are echoes of designs seen at the sakirin mosque . a glass chandelier made of hundreds of crystal tear drops hangs above the bar , similar in style to the mosque 's chandelier . fadillioglu said being a night club owner does not prevent her from also being a muslim . you might be surprised in turkey to find some very modern-looking people being very religious at the same time , ' she said . religion is a hot-button political issue in turkey , a predominantly muslim country with a strict secular system of government . for the past eight years a fierce power struggle has been under way between an urban secular elite and a rising new class of religiously conservative turks from the anatolian heartlands . unlike the wives of turkey 's islamic-rooted president and prime minister , fadillioglu does not wear the islamic headscarf that is often seen as the symbol of this new class of turks . fadillioglu said politics have polarized society . in my childhood ... you did n't differentiate between who was religious , ' she explained . whoever wants to worship or visit this mosque , its open , its ready for them . ' on may 8 , turkey 's prime minister attended an inauguration ceremony for the sakirin mosque . afterward , in an interview with cnn , the mufti of istanbul called it the start of a new era of mosque design in turkey . it is in islamic tradition for women to commission mosques ... and now we have women who are building mosques as well , ' cagrici said . god willing , i hope the world will see more of these beautiful mosques , touched by women 's hands . '	one of leaders of project to build sakirin mosque is decorator zeynep fadillioglu
sakirin mosque <tsp> istanbul , turkey ( cnn ) -- there is a shiny addition among the ottoman mosques and palaces that make up istanbul 's stunning skyline : the metallic , mirrored dome of the new sakirin mosque , a muslim place of worship built with a woman 's touch . when sun reflects off sakirin mosque 's dome , light can be seen across the bosphorus strait . for what may be the first time in history , women have been at the forefront of the construction of a mosque in turkey . one of the project 's leaders is zeynep fadillioglu , an interior decorator who has designed restaurants , hotels and luxury homes from new delhi , india , to abu dhabi in the united arab emirates , and london , england . she helped organize a team of traditional mosque artists specializing in islamic calligraphy , along with craftsmen in glassworks , metal-casting and lighting who , like fadillioglu , have built careers working in exclusively secular architecture and design . i want people to feel peaceful and be left with themselves as much as possible and yet have beautiful art and artistic symbolism around them , ' she said . istanbul has a venerable tradition of mosque architecture , dating back centuries to when ottoman sultans declared themselves caliph , or spiritual leader of the muslim world . watch zeynep fadilioglu show off her work and inspirations » the shores of the bosporus strait are studded with 16th century masterpieces such as the suleymaniye mosque , built by the ottoman empire 's most famous architect , mimar sinan , and ornate , neo-baroque jewels designed by the armenian balyan family in the 19th century . but istanbul 's most senior muslim cleric laments that mosque design suffered a decline after the collapse of the ottoman empire in the wake of world war i . in the last 70 , 80 years , we have built mosques that are copies of ottoman architecture , ' said mustafa cagrici , the mufti of istanbul . this was n't a good development , because the copy can never be as good as the original . ' fadillioglu and her team of artists are hoping to change that . look at photos of the mosque » the sakirin mosque was commissioned by a wealthy turkish arab family and built in one of istanbul 's oldest cemeteries . the designers put a number of contemporary touches on the structure , giving it plate glass walls etched with gold-leaf verses from the quran , framed by giant cast-iron grids . the mihrab -- the alcove that points worshippers in the direction of mecca -- is made of asymmetrical ovals , similar to a design used by fadillioglu to decorate a restaurant in london . and the chandelier is a multi-layered series of metal and plexiglass rings , carrying quranic inscriptions and dripping with scores of delicate glass teardrops . the glass chandelier brings the high dome down to the people , ' fadillioglu explained . so when they pray and kneel they do n't feel lost with the light and it shelters them . ' many of the artists here never worked on a mosque before . it 's special that a woman 's hand is involved in this , ' said one of them , a male carpenter named metin cekeroglu . if you think about it , a home is made by woman . and if we think about this place as a home of god , we can also say women will make this place much better . ' fadillioglu said one of her goals was to bring extra attention into the design of the women 's section of the mosque , an area that she says is often neglected by architects . according to islamic tradition , worshippers are segregated by gender at mosques . i have seen mosques where women have been pushed to the worst part of stairs , cramped area . sort of as if ( they are ) unwanted in the mosque , ' she said . that is not what islam is about . ... women are equal in islam to men ' five minutes'drive from the sakirin mosque stands the mihrimah sultan mosque , a 16th century structure built by sultan suleiman the magnificent in honor of his favorite daughter . unfortunately , female worshippers do not get to enjoy its stunning stained glass windows the way the men do . they have to pray in a small women 's section , hidden behind a bank of chest-high shelves that store shoes . at the sakirin mosque , fadillioglu said , she gave women praying on the balcony an unobstructed view of the dome , the ornate chandelier , and the area on the floor where the imam will lead prayers . i would like to come here to pray , ' said elif demir , an 18-year old art student with a funky , orange-dyed haircut who was working on the chandelier . this mosque is completely different because of the light that 's coming through the walls , through the glass . ' fadillioglu 's role in the sakirin mosque is all the more surprising because she comes from a jet-set side of turkish society not normally associated with islam . it is unusual , ' she conceded , because first of all not many modern people have been commissioned to design a mosque . ' she spoke in a recent interview at ulus 29 , the expensive istanbul hilltop restaurant and bar that is owned by her husband . amid the ottoman- and selcuk-inspired flourishes she has sprinkled around the restaurant are echoes of designs seen at the sakirin mosque . a glass chandelier made of hundreds of crystal tear drops hangs above the bar , similar in style to the mosque 's chandelier . fadillioglu said being a night club owner does not prevent her from also being a muslim . you might be surprised in turkey to find some very modern-looking people being very religious at the same time , ' she said . religion is a hot-button political issue in turkey , a predominantly muslim country with a strict secular system of government . for the past eight years a fierce power struggle has been under way between an urban secular elite and a rising new class of religiously conservative turks from the anatolian heartlands . unlike the wives of turkey 's islamic-rooted president and prime minister , fadillioglu does not wear the islamic headscarf that is often seen as the symbol of this new class of turks . fadillioglu said politics have polarized society . in my childhood ... you did n't differentiate between who was religious , ' she explained . whoever wants to worship or visit this mosque , its open , its ready for them . ' on may 8 , turkey 's prime minister attended an inauguration ceremony for the sakirin mosque . afterward , in an interview with cnn , the mufti of istanbul called it the start of a new era of mosque design in turkey . it is in islamic tradition for women to commission mosques ... and now we have women who are building mosques as well , ' cagrici said . god willing , i hope the world will see more of these beautiful mosques , touched by women 's hands . '	sakirin mosque was commissioned by wealthy turkish arab family
obama <tsp> on march 10 , 1968 , sen. robert f. kennedy made a pilgrimage to the central california farm town of delano to attend a catholic mass and to help cesar chavez break a 25-day fast intended to draw attention to the plight of farmworkers . some of kennedy 's advisers had warned him not to go . he was thinking about entering the race for president , and his inner circle worried that the gesture to chavez , president of the united farm workers , might antagonize farm groups , a powerful political force in the san joaquin valley . kennedy went anyway , citing his fondness and respect for chavez , whom he called one of the heroic figures of our time . ' weakened by his fast , chavez still managed to write a powerful statement that was read by a union supporter , the rev . jim drake . it went : it is my deepest belief that only by giving our lives do we find life . i am convinced that the truest act of courage , the strongest act of manliness is to sacrifice ourselves for others in a totally nonviolent struggle for justice . to be a man is to suffer for others . god help us to be men ! ' obama to honor iconic latino activist with new monument kennedy responded by telling those who had gathered : when your children and grandchildren take their place in america , going to high school and college , and taking good jobs at good pay , when you look at them you will say ,'i did this , i was there at the point of difficulty and danger .'and though you may be old and bent from many years of hard labor , no man will stand taller than you when you say ,'i was there . i marched with cesar !'' president obama made his own pilgrimage monday to the farmland of central california . in his first visit there as president , obama will formally establish the cesar e. chavez national monument on a piece of property in keene , east of bakersfield . known as nuestra senora reina de la paz , or our lady queen of peace , the property served as the national headquarters of the united farm workers . kennedy made his visit despite the politics of the day , but obama 's visit is all about politics . the chavez dedication is some campaign aide 's bright idea of how to turn out latino voters -- 70 % of whom support obama over mitt romney -- on election day . it 's a rookie mistake -- the kind you expect from people whose knowledge of america 's largest minority is limited to mariachis and margaritas . i have studied and written about chavez and the united farm workers for more than 25 years . i was also born and raised in the san joaquin valley , where so much of the ufw drama played out . i had a confrontation with chavez in 1990 over the union 's failures , and i 've had a few run-ins since then with ufw vice president delores huerta . and i can tell you this much : politically , obama hit a foul ball . chavez has significance as a historical figure . it is because of the ufw that farmworkers now have clean water and toilets in the fields , collective bargaining , lunch breaks and other legal protections . but chavez was never a leader for all latinos . mexicans and mexican-americans might represent more than two-thirds of the u.s. latino population , but the other third is made up of puerto ricans , cubans , dominicans and others . to them , chavez probably means nothing . even mexican immigrants do n't have a stake in the legend of cesar chavez ; they hear the name , and most of them probably think of the great mexican boxer , julio cesar chavez . the group that chavez has the strongest hold on is mexican-americans , but not all of them . he matters to baby boomers , but not to generation x or the so-called millennial generation . and given that most mexican-americans now live in the cities -- los angeles , phoenix , denver , san antonio , dallas -- how are they supposed to relate to the memory of someone who was focused on the farms ? in the end , the small sliver of latinos who will be impressed by obama 's gesture -- mexican-american lefties over 50 -- was going to vote for him anyway . so where 's the benefit ? last , most latinos disapprove of the president 's heavy-handed immigration policies and record number of deportations . it 's immigration , stupid , say latino voters in nevada chavez earned many titles in his life , but champion of immigrants ' was not one of them . he was primarily a labor leader who was concerned about illegal immigrants undercutting union members , either by accepting lower wages or crossing picket lines . he never pretended to be anything else , and he resisted attempts by others to widen his agenda . when he pulled workers out of the field during a strike , the last thing he wanted was to see a crew of illegal immigrant workers take away his leverage . according to many historical accounts , chavez ordered union members to call the immigration and naturalization service and report illegal immigrants who were working in the fields so that they could be deported . some ufw officials were also known to picket ins offices to demand a crackdown on illegal immigrants . in the 70s , the ufw set up a wet line ' to stop undocumented mexican immigrants from entering the united states . under the supervision of chavez 's cousin , manuel , ufw members tried at first to persuade mexicans not to cross the border . one time when that did n't work , they physically attacked and beat them up to scare them off , according to reports at the time . the village voice said that the ufw was engaged in a campaign of random terror against anyone hapless enough to fall into its net . ' a couple of decades later , in their book the fight in the fields , ' journalists susan ferris and ricardo sandoval recalled the border violence and wrote that the issue of illegal immigration was particularly vexing ' for chavez . ufw loyalists will never admit to this ugly history . but that does n't change it . and this is the person obama is honoring today with a national monument ? one immigration hardliner paying his respects to another . i guess , in some perverse way , that makes sense . but it wo n't make most latino voters any more enthusiastic about re-electing barack obama . follow @ cnnopinion on twitter .	today , president obama goes to opening of cesar e. chavez national monument
california <tsp> on march 10 , 1968 , sen. robert f. kennedy made a pilgrimage to the central california farm town of delano to attend a catholic mass and to help cesar chavez break a 25-day fast intended to draw attention to the plight of farmworkers . some of kennedy 's advisers had warned him not to go . he was thinking about entering the race for president , and his inner circle worried that the gesture to chavez , president of the united farm workers , might antagonize farm groups , a powerful political force in the san joaquin valley . kennedy went anyway , citing his fondness and respect for chavez , whom he called one of the heroic figures of our time . ' weakened by his fast , chavez still managed to write a powerful statement that was read by a union supporter , the rev . jim drake . it went : it is my deepest belief that only by giving our lives do we find life . i am convinced that the truest act of courage , the strongest act of manliness is to sacrifice ourselves for others in a totally nonviolent struggle for justice . to be a man is to suffer for others . god help us to be men ! ' obama to honor iconic latino activist with new monument kennedy responded by telling those who had gathered : when your children and grandchildren take their place in america , going to high school and college , and taking good jobs at good pay , when you look at them you will say ,'i did this , i was there at the point of difficulty and danger .'and though you may be old and bent from many years of hard labor , no man will stand taller than you when you say ,'i was there . i marched with cesar !'' president obama made his own pilgrimage monday to the farmland of central california . in his first visit there as president , obama will formally establish the cesar e. chavez national monument on a piece of property in keene , east of bakersfield . known as nuestra senora reina de la paz , or our lady queen of peace , the property served as the national headquarters of the united farm workers . kennedy made his visit despite the politics of the day , but obama 's visit is all about politics . the chavez dedication is some campaign aide 's bright idea of how to turn out latino voters -- 70 % of whom support obama over mitt romney -- on election day . it 's a rookie mistake -- the kind you expect from people whose knowledge of america 's largest minority is limited to mariachis and margaritas . i have studied and written about chavez and the united farm workers for more than 25 years . i was also born and raised in the san joaquin valley , where so much of the ufw drama played out . i had a confrontation with chavez in 1990 over the union 's failures , and i 've had a few run-ins since then with ufw vice president delores huerta . and i can tell you this much : politically , obama hit a foul ball . chavez has significance as a historical figure . it is because of the ufw that farmworkers now have clean water and toilets in the fields , collective bargaining , lunch breaks and other legal protections . but chavez was never a leader for all latinos . mexicans and mexican-americans might represent more than two-thirds of the u.s. latino population , but the other third is made up of puerto ricans , cubans , dominicans and others . to them , chavez probably means nothing . even mexican immigrants do n't have a stake in the legend of cesar chavez ; they hear the name , and most of them probably think of the great mexican boxer , julio cesar chavez . the group that chavez has the strongest hold on is mexican-americans , but not all of them . he matters to baby boomers , but not to generation x or the so-called millennial generation . and given that most mexican-americans now live in the cities -- los angeles , phoenix , denver , san antonio , dallas -- how are they supposed to relate to the memory of someone who was focused on the farms ? in the end , the small sliver of latinos who will be impressed by obama 's gesture -- mexican-american lefties over 50 -- was going to vote for him anyway . so where 's the benefit ? last , most latinos disapprove of the president 's heavy-handed immigration policies and record number of deportations . it 's immigration , stupid , say latino voters in nevada chavez earned many titles in his life , but champion of immigrants ' was not one of them . he was primarily a labor leader who was concerned about illegal immigrants undercutting union members , either by accepting lower wages or crossing picket lines . he never pretended to be anything else , and he resisted attempts by others to widen his agenda . when he pulled workers out of the field during a strike , the last thing he wanted was to see a crew of illegal immigrant workers take away his leverage . according to many historical accounts , chavez ordered union members to call the immigration and naturalization service and report illegal immigrants who were working in the fields so that they could be deported . some ufw officials were also known to picket ins offices to demand a crackdown on illegal immigrants . in the 70s , the ufw set up a wet line ' to stop undocumented mexican immigrants from entering the united states . under the supervision of chavez 's cousin , manuel , ufw members tried at first to persuade mexicans not to cross the border . one time when that did n't work , they physically attacked and beat them up to scare them off , according to reports at the time . the village voice said that the ufw was engaged in a campaign of random terror against anyone hapless enough to fall into its net . ' a couple of decades later , in their book the fight in the fields , ' journalists susan ferris and ricardo sandoval recalled the border violence and wrote that the issue of illegal immigration was particularly vexing ' for chavez . ufw loyalists will never admit to this ugly history . but that does n't change it . and this is the person obama is honoring today with a national monument ? one immigration hardliner paying his respects to another . i guess , in some perverse way , that makes sense . but it wo n't make most latino voters any more enthusiastic about re-electing barack obama . follow @ cnnopinion on twitter .	chavez was a labor leader who worked for california migrant farmworkers'rights
i long for kansas morning <tsp> piers morgan tonight ' airs weeknights on cnn/us at 9 p.m . et and on cnn international at 0200 gmt ( live simulcast ) , 1200 gmt , and 2000 gmt and hkt . cnn -- andrew lloyd webber told cnn 's piers morgan that michael jackson wanted to play the title role in the film version of the phantom of the opera . ' according to webber , the king of pop came to see the broadway show multiple times -- years before the film came out -- and he and jackson had spoken about a potential phantom ' movie role . however , webber said , people in those days were very worried that a film , if it was made , would destroy the broadway or the west end show , and everybody would just go and see the movie . in fact , it 's been proven to be completely the other way around . if you make a movie , it 's just a great help for the theater . but goodness knows what it would 've been like . ' the seven-time tony-winning , four-time grammy-winning composer of musicals including phantom , ' cats , ' evita ' and jesus christ superstar , ' among others , is a guest on friday 's piers morgan tonight . ' webber also recalled another legend who had an interest in portraying the phantom -- sammy davis jr. webber recalled being introduced to davis by liza minnelli while in the south of france . i have never felt so ashamed in my life , ' said webber , who said he was skeptical about davis'ability to fill the role at first . for 2½ hours i heard one of the most consummate performances i 've ever heard , and he ended up doing'the music of the night .'' webber told morgan he had hoped to get davis to open the production on the toronto stage but it did not work out . webber also told morgan the story of how phantom , ' which is billed as the most successful musical of all time , came to be . webber 's fiancee at the time , performer sarah brightman , had been offered a role in a theatrical farce based on the phantom ' novel by gaston leroux . several months later , webber bought a used copy of the novel at a book fair in new york . today , webber 's musical version of the phantom of the opera ' is coming up on its 25th anniversary . a celebration concert in london is planned . the musical that catapulted webber and lyricist tim rice to fame , jesus christ superstar , ' was called blasphemous ' when it hit the stage in the 1970s . we never wrote'superstar'to be in any way shocking , ' said webber . we wrote it because we wanted to write the story of the man . and in fact , we really wanted to write a love triangle , because the whole thing was -- did judas iscariot have god on his side ? ' morgan pointed out the irony of jesus christ superstar ' causing a controversy when the book of mormon ' -- a musical that takes a cynical look at faith -- has just won multiple tonys . webber also told morgan that superstar 's ' breakout song , i do n't know how to love him , ' was originally entitled i long for kansas morning . ' when morgan suggested that narrative was the key to the longevity of his productions , webber agreed , and pointed out that cats ' was a collection of poems by t.s . eliot about cats that he wrote for his godchildren . well , that was quite different , and we stitched them together with a vague story that we discovered that his widow had that he wrote , which was a sort of , forgive the pun , cat 's cradle . ' webber told morgan that the moment in his career that remains in his mind the most and that he would re-live if possible is actress betty buckley 's performance of the song memory ' on opening night of cats ' on broadway . webber 's current project is a stage revival of the wizard of oz . ' he and lyricist tim rice have written several new songs for the production , which will also include the songs from the film . the musical will star michael crawford in the title role . a longtime colleague of webber 's , crawford originated the phantom role on stage . when morgan asked webber why he selected oz , ' and how he knew it would fare well with a modern audience , the composer said , the trick with those is you 've got to find a character to cast that the public knows . and of course , the role of dorothy is something that everybody knows . and that 's why we started with that . but interestingly with'oz ,'it 's never really worked in the theater before . and we looked at it very carefully , and came to the conclusion that what people had been trying to do was to stage the film , whereas what you really had to do is to go back and rethink it . ' webber said if he were casting his all-time dream ' musical , it would star elvis presley , but of all the people he 's worked with in real life , glenn close as norma desmond in his production of sunset boulevard ' would be the hardest act to follow . watch piers morgan tonight weeknights 9 p.m . et . for the latest from piers morgan click here .	his song i do n't know how to love him , ' was first named i long for kansas morning '
u.s. special forces <tsp> london , england ( cnn ) -- a british aid worker who died during an operation to rescue her from kidnappers in afghanistan may have been killed by a grenade thrown by american forces trying to free her , british prime minister david cameron said monday . gen. david petraeus , the top u.s. commander in afghanistan , will launch an investigation into the failed attempt to rescue linda norgrove , 36 , cameron said . nato and british officials had said earlier she was killed by her captors , who detonated an explosive . but cameron said monday that statements made about norgrove 's death over the weekend were highly likely to have been incorrect , ' although they were made in good faith . ' petraeus contacted him monday morning , he said , with new information . but cameron said he could not make a firm statement about the cause of her death until the investigation is complete . it will be a joint investigation between the united states and united kingdom , he said . u.s. president barack obama called cameron on monday to offer condolences for norgrove 's death , according to a statement from the downing street press office . the prime minister and the president agreed that it was now essential to get to the bottom of what had happened in the course of the rescue operation . they looked forward to close co-operation between the uk and us authorities on the investigation and agreed to stay in close touch as it moved forward , ' it read . the investigation will start in the next day or two and will be led by a senior officer from u.s. central command , an international security assistance force official told cnn . one of the key components in determining what went wrong will be the autopsy , which will be carried out by british officials , the isaf officer said . cameron and petraeus are to meet thursday in london . it 's a long-standing meeting and has been in the diary for a number of weeks , ' the downing street press office said in a separate statement , adding that the discussion will center on the strategy in afghanistan . petraeus also will meet with british defense secretary liam fox to talk about afghanistan , it said . the initial report on the rescue mission by the troops who carried it out did not mention throwing a grenade , but a follow-up report raised a lot of questions about what killed ' norgrove , u.s. navy capt . gary kirchner told cnn after cameron spoke . the mission commander called petraeus as soon as he learned a grenade had been thrown , kirchner said , without naming the commander . the investigation will be done with all due haste , ' kirchner said . it will review the mission plan , communications and video from the operation , he said . a review of surveillance footage and discussions with members of the rescue team do not conclusively determine the cause of her death , ' the u.s. military said in a statement monday . the british government aims to share as much of the final report as possible with lawmakers , british foreign secretary william hague said monday . cameron said he believed profoundly ' that it had been the right decision to try to rescue her , although he looked shaken at times during his statement to reporters . the rescue operation was planned and carried out by u.s. special forces , hague told the house of commons monday after cameron spoke . he personally authorized efforts to rescue her by military action within a few hours ' of her being captured , hague said . he said intelligence and weather conditions played a role in determining the timing of the operation . norgrove , who had been held hostage since late last month , worked for dai , an agency that provides various services to developing nations . she spent much of her career managing projects for farmers and rural workers . cameron said in a statement saturday that norgrove was doing valuable work for the afghan people . ' hague said in a written statement saturday that his forces received information about where she was held and decided that , given the danger she was facing , her best chance of safe release was to act on that information . responsibility for this tragic outcome rests squarely with the hostage takers , ' hague said . from the moment they took her , her life was under grave threat . given who held her , and the danger she was in , we judged that linda 's best chance lay in attempting to rescue her . ' norgrove was being held by two taliban commanders , mullah basir and mullah keftan , who were both killed in the raid , an afghan intelligence official said . an afghan official said last month that the british woman , two afghan drivers and a security guard had been kidnapped after an exchange of gunfire september 26 in the chawkay district of eastern kunar province . abdul marjan adel , a local provincial official , had said that the four were being held in a very remote area , ' and that afghan and international forces were looking for them . he said they were healthy and located in the dewcar valley . the three afghans kidnapped with norgrove had been released days ago , according to another afghan intelligence official and a local provincial government official . james boomgard , dai president and chief executive officer , called the news of her death devastating ' and said his operation is saddened beyond words by the death of a wonderful woman whose sole purpose in afghanistan was to do good . ' linda loved afghanistan and cared deeply for its people , and she was deeply committed to her development mission . she was an inspiration to many of us here at dai , and she will be deeply missed . ' he was speaking before cameron 's statement about the confusion over the cause of her death . after cameron spoke , boomgard said : throughout this ordeal , we were satisfied that both the british and american authorities were doing everything in their power to secure linda 's release . ... we have neither the information nor the inclination to second guess the decisions made . ' cnn 's adam s. levine , barbara starr , ivan watson and joe sterling contributed to this report .	u.s. special forces planned and carried out the failed rescue operation , official says
mali <tsp> ( cnn ) -- french president francois hollande will travel to mali on saturday , where his nation 's troops have been battling islamist militants for three weeks alongside african forces . hollande will be accompanied by his defense and foreign ministers , the president 's office said in a statement friday . in addition to major cities , he will also visit the historical city of timbuktu , which french and malian troops seized from militants who had controlled it since last year . his office did not provide any other details . the visit comes as troops make major gains in the battle to push out militants in northern mali . france , mali 's former colonial power , is leading the offensive after militants captured the vast northern desert region , raising fears they would turn it into a haven for terrorists . french-led troops now control the cities of timbuktu and gao , along with a swath in between that was an islamist stronghold for almost a year , the french defense ministry said . france sent troops at mali 's request after islamists seized the strategic town of konna on january 10 . the town is now back in malian control . islamic extremists carved out a large portion of the north last year , taking advantage of a chaotic situation after a military coup . they banned music , smoking , drinking and watching sports on television , and destroyed historic tombs and shrines in the region . but with the french-led offensive sending the militants on the run , residents are once again roaming the streets without fear . france has 2,150 soldiers in mali and 1,000 more troops supporting the operation from elsewhere . west african forces are expected to battle the militants alongside french troops . nato said it does not plan to join the offensive . the united nations security council has decided that it should be an african-led mission , ' said anders fogh rasmussen , the nato secretary-general . and this is also a reason why i do n't see a role for nato as an organization in mali or in the region . but obviously , i welcome that individual nato allies have taken action and decided to support the french operation in mali . ' malian interim president dioncounda traore has said his nation will hold elections by the end of july . cnn 's sarah jones contributed to this report .	the french-led offensive to flush out militants in northern mali started on january 10
switzerland <tsp> ( cnn ) -- more than 30 arrests have been made in the diamond heist last february at brussels airport and some of the stolen diamonds have been recovered , a spokesman for the brussels prosecutor 's office said wednesday . police arrested 24 people tuesday in belgium , eight in switzerland , and one in france , said jean-marc meilleur , the office 's spokesman . police in belgium raided about 40 houses in brussels on wednesday . authorities discovered some of the stolen diamonds in switzerland , and money in belgium , switzerland and france , meilleur said . luxury cars were seized in belgium , he said . read more : security questions at brussels airport after $ 50 million diamond heist at this point , all those arrested are being questioned by the police locally , he said . the slick theft of $ 50 million in rough and polished diamonds in a dramatic heist grabbed the headlines in february . authorities said then that eight masked , heavily armed men in clothing resembling police uniforms had burst through a hole in the perimeter fence onto the airport tarmac in two vehicles . the men swiftly removed the diamonds from the hold of a zurich-bound aircraft before speeding off the way they came . read more : diamond heists are forever while no one was hurt , the pilot , co-pilot and a transport security guard were all threatened at gunpoint , the brussels prosecutor said . antwerp , the city known as the world 's diamond-cutting capital , lies only about 25 miles away from brussels . read more : drag queens , fake beards and chocolates : notable diamond heists	people are detained in belgium , switzerland and france , brussels prosecutor 's office says
trapani <tsp> san francisco , california ( cnn ) -- web sites come and go , but the short bursts of text you publish on one web site in particular -- twitter.com -- may end up having a longer shelf life than the company itself . the library of congress announced this week that it will archive the billions of tweets published since twitter launched in march 2006 . yes , that twitter , the social networking site mocked and trash-talked in the press , late-night talk shows and by retro-minded pundits as 21st-century navel gazing for fidgeting geeks ( david letterman : you know what it reminds me of ? oh yeah , a waste of time . ' ) but that 's not the way the library sees it : if you use twitter and your status updates are public , they should be in the archive . twitter haters can go on scoffing that tweets are only ephemeral bits of frivolous information , but the library of congress has just ratified the importance of social media in recording history . what else does this mean ? only that future generations will have an unprecedented amount of firsthand data ( in 140-character bites ) about what people from every corner of the world were doing , thinking and feeling at every moment starting four years ago . there will be a record , for example , of the torrent of tweets that brought news from street demonstrations during the iranian elections last year , when internet and mobile lines were cut off . there will be a record of the devastation and the relief efforts out of haiti and chile after the earthquakes ; and of a certain historic presidential inauguration . ( http : //twitter.com/barackobama/status/992176676 we just made history . all of this happened because you gave your time , talent and passion . all of this happened because of you . thanks ' ) more on the library of congress plan to archive tweets thoughts and ideas written by people who would n't necessarily be in a position to write them into books ( some for good reason ) will be immortalized just the same . current and future academics , historians and anthropologists will have a simple but deep dataset to analyze in new ways they have n't thought of yet . the library of congress is the nation 's oldest federal cultural institution . its mission is to sustain and preserve a universal collection of knowledge and creativity for future generations . ' it does n't sound like the right place to archive messages thumbed on a cell phone or dashed off in the web page text box of a web site . or as one of my own twitter followers put it : since when does banality & frivolity warrant cultural preservation ? ' - @ matty_g http : //twitter.com/matty_g/status/12187504242 but amidst the craving a chocolate bar ' or watching my cat throw up a hairball ' tweets , there is a serious reflection of historical context -- a real-time timeline written by regular people . even a small sampling of archived tweets yields insights . breaking : healthcare reform just passed ! ! ! ! this is one small step for health care , one giant leap for america ! http : //twitter.com/jason_pollock/status/10852088956 another , when shaun white won the olympic gold : ' oh my god ! shaun white was amazing in the half pipe ! landing the double mctwist/big mac/white snake/ giant tomato ! sweet ! ' http : //twitter.com/swiftsfan/status/9268595586 and this week the white house ( @ whitehouse on twitter ) solicited ideas from citizens about what the united states'next major technological or scientific achievement should be . the archive of tweeted replies is intended to help prioritize the president 's to-do list . finally , three things about twitter 's dataset particularly suit it for the library 's archive : 1 . a tweet is small and has a simple structure . 2 . most tweets are public . 3 . billions of public tweets are already available , and millions of new tweets go into the system every day . while twitter itself and certain partners maintain copies of the data created with the service , the library will preserve that data regardless of what becomes of those businesses . perhaps the most amazing thing is that the tweet archive gives many more people entrée into a collection historically reserved for a select few . getting your words and ideas included in such an important cultural archive is a privilege . twitter users may cringe at the thought that their tweet about the cat getting sick will outlive them like this , but they should celebrate , then make their next tweet really good . it will be around for awhile . or as a twitter follower put it : « lc archiving tweets should remind us all that once it is in the ether , it 's forever. » - @ itwalkabout http : //twitter.com/itwalkabout/status/12187791303 the opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of gina trapani .	the move , gina trapani says , validates social media 's role in recording history
trapani <tsp> san francisco , california ( cnn ) -- web sites come and go , but the short bursts of text you publish on one web site in particular -- twitter.com -- may end up having a longer shelf life than the company itself . the library of congress announced this week that it will archive the billions of tweets published since twitter launched in march 2006 . yes , that twitter , the social networking site mocked and trash-talked in the press , late-night talk shows and by retro-minded pundits as 21st-century navel gazing for fidgeting geeks ( david letterman : you know what it reminds me of ? oh yeah , a waste of time . ' ) but that 's not the way the library sees it : if you use twitter and your status updates are public , they should be in the archive . twitter haters can go on scoffing that tweets are only ephemeral bits of frivolous information , but the library of congress has just ratified the importance of social media in recording history . what else does this mean ? only that future generations will have an unprecedented amount of firsthand data ( in 140-character bites ) about what people from every corner of the world were doing , thinking and feeling at every moment starting four years ago . there will be a record , for example , of the torrent of tweets that brought news from street demonstrations during the iranian elections last year , when internet and mobile lines were cut off . there will be a record of the devastation and the relief efforts out of haiti and chile after the earthquakes ; and of a certain historic presidential inauguration . ( http : //twitter.com/barackobama/status/992176676 we just made history . all of this happened because you gave your time , talent and passion . all of this happened because of you . thanks ' ) more on the library of congress plan to archive tweets thoughts and ideas written by people who would n't necessarily be in a position to write them into books ( some for good reason ) will be immortalized just the same . current and future academics , historians and anthropologists will have a simple but deep dataset to analyze in new ways they have n't thought of yet . the library of congress is the nation 's oldest federal cultural institution . its mission is to sustain and preserve a universal collection of knowledge and creativity for future generations . ' it does n't sound like the right place to archive messages thumbed on a cell phone or dashed off in the web page text box of a web site . or as one of my own twitter followers put it : since when does banality & frivolity warrant cultural preservation ? ' - @ matty_g http : //twitter.com/matty_g/status/12187504242 but amidst the craving a chocolate bar ' or watching my cat throw up a hairball ' tweets , there is a serious reflection of historical context -- a real-time timeline written by regular people . even a small sampling of archived tweets yields insights . breaking : healthcare reform just passed ! ! ! ! this is one small step for health care , one giant leap for america ! http : //twitter.com/jason_pollock/status/10852088956 another , when shaun white won the olympic gold : ' oh my god ! shaun white was amazing in the half pipe ! landing the double mctwist/big mac/white snake/ giant tomato ! sweet ! ' http : //twitter.com/swiftsfan/status/9268595586 and this week the white house ( @ whitehouse on twitter ) solicited ideas from citizens about what the united states'next major technological or scientific achievement should be . the archive of tweeted replies is intended to help prioritize the president 's to-do list . finally , three things about twitter 's dataset particularly suit it for the library 's archive : 1 . a tweet is small and has a simple structure . 2 . most tweets are public . 3 . billions of public tweets are already available , and millions of new tweets go into the system every day . while twitter itself and certain partners maintain copies of the data created with the service , the library will preserve that data regardless of what becomes of those businesses . perhaps the most amazing thing is that the tweet archive gives many more people entrée into a collection historically reserved for a select few . getting your words and ideas included in such an important cultural archive is a privilege . twitter users may cringe at the thought that their tweet about the cat getting sick will outlive them like this , but they should celebrate , then make their next tweet really good . it will be around for awhile . or as a twitter follower put it : « lc archiving tweets should remind us all that once it is in the ether , it 's forever. » - @ itwalkabout http : //twitter.com/itwalkabout/status/12187791303 the opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of gina trapani .	trapani : many more people will have entrée into a collection usually reserved for select few
twitter <tsp> san francisco , california ( cnn ) -- web sites come and go , but the short bursts of text you publish on one web site in particular -- twitter.com -- may end up having a longer shelf life than the company itself . the library of congress announced this week that it will archive the billions of tweets published since twitter launched in march 2006 . yes , that twitter , the social networking site mocked and trash-talked in the press , late-night talk shows and by retro-minded pundits as 21st-century navel gazing for fidgeting geeks ( david letterman : you know what it reminds me of ? oh yeah , a waste of time . ' ) but that 's not the way the library sees it : if you use twitter and your status updates are public , they should be in the archive . twitter haters can go on scoffing that tweets are only ephemeral bits of frivolous information , but the library of congress has just ratified the importance of social media in recording history . what else does this mean ? only that future generations will have an unprecedented amount of firsthand data ( in 140-character bites ) about what people from every corner of the world were doing , thinking and feeling at every moment starting four years ago . there will be a record , for example , of the torrent of tweets that brought news from street demonstrations during the iranian elections last year , when internet and mobile lines were cut off . there will be a record of the devastation and the relief efforts out of haiti and chile after the earthquakes ; and of a certain historic presidential inauguration . ( http : //twitter.com/barackobama/status/992176676 we just made history . all of this happened because you gave your time , talent and passion . all of this happened because of you . thanks ' ) more on the library of congress plan to archive tweets thoughts and ideas written by people who would n't necessarily be in a position to write them into books ( some for good reason ) will be immortalized just the same . current and future academics , historians and anthropologists will have a simple but deep dataset to analyze in new ways they have n't thought of yet . the library of congress is the nation 's oldest federal cultural institution . its mission is to sustain and preserve a universal collection of knowledge and creativity for future generations . ' it does n't sound like the right place to archive messages thumbed on a cell phone or dashed off in the web page text box of a web site . or as one of my own twitter followers put it : since when does banality & frivolity warrant cultural preservation ? ' - @ matty_g http : //twitter.com/matty_g/status/12187504242 but amidst the craving a chocolate bar ' or watching my cat throw up a hairball ' tweets , there is a serious reflection of historical context -- a real-time timeline written by regular people . even a small sampling of archived tweets yields insights . breaking : healthcare reform just passed ! ! ! ! this is one small step for health care , one giant leap for america ! http : //twitter.com/jason_pollock/status/10852088956 another , when shaun white won the olympic gold : ' oh my god ! shaun white was amazing in the half pipe ! landing the double mctwist/big mac/white snake/ giant tomato ! sweet ! ' http : //twitter.com/swiftsfan/status/9268595586 and this week the white house ( @ whitehouse on twitter ) solicited ideas from citizens about what the united states'next major technological or scientific achievement should be . the archive of tweeted replies is intended to help prioritize the president 's to-do list . finally , three things about twitter 's dataset particularly suit it for the library 's archive : 1 . a tweet is small and has a simple structure . 2 . most tweets are public . 3 . billions of public tweets are already available , and millions of new tweets go into the system every day . while twitter itself and certain partners maintain copies of the data created with the service , the library will preserve that data regardless of what becomes of those businesses . perhaps the most amazing thing is that the tweet archive gives many more people entrée into a collection historically reserved for a select few . getting your words and ideas included in such an important cultural archive is a privilege . twitter users may cringe at the thought that their tweet about the cat getting sick will outlive them like this , but they should celebrate , then make their next tweet really good . it will be around for awhile . or as a twitter follower put it : « lc archiving tweets should remind us all that once it is in the ether , it 's forever. » - @ itwalkabout http : //twitter.com/itwalkabout/status/12187791303 the opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of gina trapani .	library of congress will archive all twitter messages since site started in 2006
new york times <tsp> ( cnn ) -- a new york times article has reported that the united arab emirates and egypt have launched airstrikes in libya against militias , without coordinating with their ally , the united states of america . both egypt and the united arab emirates continue to deny that they were responsible for the strikes , while american officials insist otherwise . yet , political cover could have been fairly easily provided if egypt and the uae had wanted to strike with less fallout . allegations they carried out the strikes come against backdrop of international concern over radical islamism in iraq and syria , which have led to u.s. airstrikes already , in co-ordination with the iraqi government . some of the libyan islamist militias openly express sympathy for isis counterparts in iraq and syria , and a newly elected libyan government already calling for at least some kind of international intervention to restore order , although they 've stopped short of openly calling for military strikes . any airstrikes , however , taking place without the consent of the national government of a country , could only be described as violating state sovereignty . of course , the libyan state has been characterized as close to , if not already in the throes of , complete failure for the last three years . the gadhafi regime over three decades ensured there was no state to speak of , but only institutions closely associated with him and his coterie . when he fell , the revolutionary forces had the awesome challenge of building a state where there had been none -- and in the past three years , they have been unable to succeed in accomplishing that fundamental goal . in the midst of that void , different groups have tried to acquire as much power on libyan territory as possible . it is difficult to describe the differences in simple terms -- there are regional and tribal divides , as well as support for islamist militants and conservative , non-secularist but also non-islamist , opposition to them . secularist groups , unlike in tunisia , for example , do not particularly exist in libya -- libyan society at large is tremendously religiously conservative . some of that conservatism expresses itself in support for islamist groups that range from the libyan chapter of the muslim brotherhood , and more extreme groupings like ansar al-sharia who have articulated sympathy for isis . representatives of non-islamist groups swept recent parliamentary elections , which indicate they have substantially more popularity than the pro-islamist camp at present . unfortunately , both islamists and non-islamists alike have given rise to militias , which only deepens the difficulty for taking libya through its transition to democracy . the void of a popularly supported state has also made it easier for outside powers to engage in libyan affairs . from early on in the libyan uprising , qatar and turkey have built alliances and provided support for particular groupings within the country -- and the emiratis and others did the same . three years on , the country remains tremendously unstable -- but it now exists in a region where a truly radical islamist movement has shown itself capable , if only temporarily , taking control of swathes of iraq and syria . the fears of a similar movement taking over libya are genuinely felt in cairo , abu dhabi and elsewhere in the region -- and after the u.s. engaged so openly in striking against a radical islamist movement in iraq , it would perhaps be unsurprising if others in the region had felt they were within their rights to do the same in libya . there is another aspect , however , to american involvement in the region . on the one hand , american airstrikes in iraq may have emboldened advocates of a more interventionist approach in libya . on the other hand , american non-involvement in syria , which arguably contributed to the rise of isis , may have done the same -- providing support for the narrative that if you leave radical islamists alone , they 're likely to develop into far more powerful actors as isis has become . u.s. influence the rising of the stakes of the conflict in libya may not necessarily signal a waning of american influence -- if washington wanted to engage more forcefully in the region , either unilaterally and multilaterally , it possesses enough political capital in the region to do so . in the absence of political will to proceed in that fashion , others will step into the vacuum -- and others have . since at least 2012 , qatar and turkey have consistently supported islamist groups such as the muslim brotherhood and their allies in countries like egypt , libya , syria and elsewhere . the uae and saudi led the charge in supporting non-islamist groups , although at times there was common cause , such as against bashar al-assad 's regime in syria . they were joined by egypt after the military removal of mohamed morsy in 2013 , and most other arab governments after that point seem to have either tacitly or openly joined the non-islamist axis . much of this has less to do with ideology than it appears , and more to do with the fear of any type of change from the status quo that could devolve into mass instability . at present , that fear is most associated with islamist movements . mideast polarization what needs to happen in libya is perhaps what needs to happen , in another fashion , across the middle east . the polarization of the region into these two camps has taken place at the worst of times -- when the region is facing some of its greatest challenges in decades . the polarization between these two sides has repercussions and consequences , which are likely to take a very deep toll in countries like libya , but also elsewhere , in terms of blood and chaos . it has never been more important than for these two camps to work together , as much as possible , to support libya 's newly elected government , and to use their combined influence and capital to reinforce a political process in libya that does not rely on the use of arms . unfortunately , that does not seem to be likely in the interim -- and it will be the libyan people , who have already suffered so much in the past three years , who will pay the price . the effects of gadhafi 's rule still haunt them .	the new york times reports the uae and egypt launched air strikes in libya
westinghouse <tsp> ( cnn ) -- america is heading toward an energy cliff in the next 20 years , and the impacts could be much worse than those of the recent recession . simply put , we can not keep out of economic downturn without a readily available supply of clean and abundant energy -- from sources that are affordable , scalable to meet long-term demand and that do not compound the problem of global climate change . cnn films'documentary pandora 's promise ' correctly suggests that nuclear power is the safest , most stable and most secure option for achieving that goal . the u.s. nuclear fleet is robust , but even with license extensions , plants soon will reach the end of their design life . and an aging fleet of coal-fired power plants has numerous challenges with environmental compliance . combined , these two sources represent approximately 60 % of this nation 's electricity supply . the u.s. department of energy forecasts that somewhere between 35 to 60 gigawatts of coal-fired power plants , or one-fifth of the u.s. energy supply , will be shut down by 2018 because of today 's lower gas prices and rigorous enforcement of clean air standards . electricity use at the same time is expected to grow by nearly 30 % through the year 2040 . energy-efficient products have helped to reduce consumption , but they have been outpaced by new demand from other energy-consuming lifestyle choices . as pandora 's ' director robert stone rightly points out about the weakness of renewables , carbon sources of generation are needed to supply the intermittent electricity capacity when the sun is n't shining or when the wind is n't blowing . nuclear power has been proven to be the safest form of energy since the first reactor went online in the u.s. more than 50 years ago . what 's more , the new plants being built today by westinghouse feature advanced technology and design that take safety to new levels and are being built around the world . for more than 35 years , the nuclear industry has provided over 20 % of the electricity that powers the u.s. economy , creating jobs and fueling economic growth . many thought the 1979 accident at three mile island would mean the end of the nuclear industry . in fact , the industry , with the oversight of government regulators , learned a great deal from that event and over the next decade reinvented itself . in the years that followed , the u.s. nuclear fleet and its suppliers developed , embraced and set the highest standards of nuclear plant safety in the world . improvements in technology , design , plant maintenance , and operations enabled the nuclear industry to do more than survive -- it actually grew . existing nuclear plants improved safety and were uprated , adding the equivalent of many new reactors without actually building a new one . today the u.s. nuclear industry consists of about 200,000 highly trained employees and is the world 's leading exporter of advanced nuclear technology . while the building of new nuclear power reactors in the u.s. was slowed , the world increased its nuclear fleet to more than 430 reactors . even today more than 70 new reactors are in some phase of project development and construction globally . in 2010 , two forward-thinking utilities in the southeastern u.s. made an investment in the future to protect stable pricing and hedge against pending environmental regulations that penalize carbon emissions . they committed to building four new westinghouse advanced-generation nuclear power plants -- the first in the u.s. in 30 years . the utilities understood that a balanced fuel portfolio creates stability , predictable costs , and hedges price and supply volatility in the natural gas market . for most of the last three decades , nuclear generating costs have been lower than those for natural gas or coal . today we are realizing the benefits of low-priced natural gas , but history tells us that over time and increased use , price volatility will return . it is important to remember that large-scale energy infrastructure investments typically have a life span of 60 years or more . investors trade off between higher construction costs and the long-term price and supply security of nuclear versus a lower construction cost and high exposure to long-term supply and price volatility . in my lifetime , i have been assured at least twice of a new 100-year supply of natural gas , only to have those hopes dashed as increasing demand repeatedly burst the natural gas bubble . in the u.s. , concern over high natural gas prices , global natural gas shortages and potential carbon taxes gave rise to the so-called nuclear renaissance ' of just a few short years ago . but the financial crisis and economic downturn that followed reduced the number of planned new nuclear plants from 25 to just five that actually started construction . related story : nuclear renaissance ' others have extended planned starts due to economic conditions . in addition to the eight new units westinghouse currently has under construction around the world , we have another 30 units that will begin construction within the next 10 years . our new advanced nuclear power capacity will help fuel global industrialization without long-term environmental impacts . and these new plants are designed with features that can withstand the kind of natural disaster that happened in japan . one thing is certain -- we need the power that these new nuclear plants can provide in order to meet the expected shortfall that will occur in the years ahead . the industry and government policymakers alike recognize that nuclear energy must be part of any national energy policy and is the most certain environmental solution to keep us from going off the energy cliff without taking away our clean air . the opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of danny roderick .	coming energy cliff ' could be worse than recession , says westinghouse 's danny roderick
usa <tsp> ( cnn ) -- they 're hardly a global soccer powerhouse , but iran 's world cup run has president hassan rouhani tweeting pictures of himself watching a game in a t-shirt . if the iranians can beat bosnia convincingly on wednesday , they might make it to the knockout stage of the world cup for the first time ever . that 's one of five things we 'll be watching for and talking about wednesday : 1 . group f showdowns trying to get through : a ) bosnia-herzegovina vs. iran if iran can beat bosnia by more than one goal , and nigeria loses to argentina , iran goes through to the knockout stage as the second-ranking team in group f. the middle easterners have a good record against bosnia . they 've won four , tied one , and never lost . they 've also put on an impressive display in brazil this year . they have n't managed to win a match yet , but they held nigeria to a 0-0 draw and kept argentina from scoring for 90 minutes . only a magically curving goal from lionel messi in injury time denied the iranians a draw for the history books . b ) argentina vs. nigeria sitting at the top of the group , argentina is guaranteed a place in the round of 16 , while nigeria will be battling to hang onto second place . if the africans win , they go top of the group . if they pull off a draw , they get a point and hang onto second place . if they lose , they have to hope it 's close , and that iran does n't score a big win over bosnia . 2 . group e matchups free for all : a ) honduras vs. switzerland honduras is out of the running , but any of the other teams in group e could go through to the knockout stage , or , theoretically , be knocked out . switzerlandwill be aiming for a big win to steal that second-place spot for themselves . the two sides played to a draw the only previous match they played against each other . b ) france vs. ecuador france is the safest , with six points and a six-point goal difference . so it would take a tremendous victory by ecuador to knock the french out of the top spot . but the south americans will be fighting hard , because they are struggling to hang onto their second place spot in the group . france beat ecuador the only previous time they faced each other . 3 . luis suarez the fangs come out : uruguay 's luis suarez is without doubt one of the best football players in the world . he 's also the most controversial . twice banned from games for biting opponents in the netherlands and england , no one thought he would be dumb enough to bite someone on the biggest football stage of all . but he might have done just that in uruguay 's decisive match against italy . he definitely went face-first into giorgio chiellini , and the italian defender quickly pulled his shirt off his shoulder , claiming he 'd been bitten . suarez said after the match that he just collided with his shoulder . ' world soccer 's governing body fifa is looking into the incident and could ban suarez for up to two years . the internet went nuts over the incident , with people comparing suarez to jaws and dracula -- and worse . 4 . colombia group of death -- but whose ? with three former world cup champions , group d was always sure to be the group of death , but the victims were hardly the ones anyone expected . costa rica was the only team in the group that has never won the tournament , but far from being sacrificial lambs , they turned out to be giant-killers , beating italy and uruguay . tuesday they finished their unbeaten run by holding hapless england to a 0-0 draw . and that was the end of england 's world cup run . 5 . usa v germany bring it : team usa is looking ahead to a make-or-break duel against germany on thursday , hoping to go through to the knockout stage with a win or a draw . if they lose , ghana ( or , less likely , portugal ) could sneak into second place in group g. the trash talk has already begun at the very highest levels : u.s . ambassador to the u.n. samantha power is ready to put a bet down on the game with her german counterpart . at stake - beer ! .	usa and germany are trash talking on twitter ahead of thursday 's match
costa rica <tsp> ( cnn ) -- they 're hardly a global soccer powerhouse , but iran 's world cup run has president hassan rouhani tweeting pictures of himself watching a game in a t-shirt . if the iranians can beat bosnia convincingly on wednesday , they might make it to the knockout stage of the world cup for the first time ever . that 's one of five things we 'll be watching for and talking about wednesday : 1 . group f showdowns trying to get through : a ) bosnia-herzegovina vs. iran if iran can beat bosnia by more than one goal , and nigeria loses to argentina , iran goes through to the knockout stage as the second-ranking team in group f. the middle easterners have a good record against bosnia . they 've won four , tied one , and never lost . they 've also put on an impressive display in brazil this year . they have n't managed to win a match yet , but they held nigeria to a 0-0 draw and kept argentina from scoring for 90 minutes . only a magically curving goal from lionel messi in injury time denied the iranians a draw for the history books . b ) argentina vs. nigeria sitting at the top of the group , argentina is guaranteed a place in the round of 16 , while nigeria will be battling to hang onto second place . if the africans win , they go top of the group . if they pull off a draw , they get a point and hang onto second place . if they lose , they have to hope it 's close , and that iran does n't score a big win over bosnia . 2 . group e matchups free for all : a ) honduras vs. switzerland honduras is out of the running , but any of the other teams in group e could go through to the knockout stage , or , theoretically , be knocked out . switzerlandwill be aiming for a big win to steal that second-place spot for themselves . the two sides played to a draw the only previous match they played against each other . b ) france vs. ecuador france is the safest , with six points and a six-point goal difference . so it would take a tremendous victory by ecuador to knock the french out of the top spot . but the south americans will be fighting hard , because they are struggling to hang onto their second place spot in the group . france beat ecuador the only previous time they faced each other . 3 . luis suarez the fangs come out : uruguay 's luis suarez is without doubt one of the best football players in the world . he 's also the most controversial . twice banned from games for biting opponents in the netherlands and england , no one thought he would be dumb enough to bite someone on the biggest football stage of all . but he might have done just that in uruguay 's decisive match against italy . he definitely went face-first into giorgio chiellini , and the italian defender quickly pulled his shirt off his shoulder , claiming he 'd been bitten . suarez said after the match that he just collided with his shoulder . ' world soccer 's governing body fifa is looking into the incident and could ban suarez for up to two years . the internet went nuts over the incident , with people comparing suarez to jaws and dracula -- and worse . 4 . colombia group of death -- but whose ? with three former world cup champions , group d was always sure to be the group of death , but the victims were hardly the ones anyone expected . costa rica was the only team in the group that has never won the tournament , but far from being sacrificial lambs , they turned out to be giant-killers , beating italy and uruguay . tuesday they finished their unbeaten run by holding hapless england to a 0-0 draw . and that was the end of england 's world cup run . 5 . usa v germany bring it : team usa is looking ahead to a make-or-break duel against germany on thursday , hoping to go through to the knockout stage with a win or a draw . if they lose , ghana ( or , less likely , portugal ) could sneak into second place in group g. the trash talk has already begun at the very highest levels : u.s . ambassador to the u.n. samantha power is ready to put a bet down on the game with her german counterpart . at stake - beer ! .	costa rica proves to be the mouse that roared
real madrid <tsp> ( cnn ) -- spain striker fernando torres faces a race against time to be fit for the start of the world cup after being ruled out for the rest of the european soccer season . torres'english club liverpool announced that the player was to have knee surgery on sunday night and would be sidelined out for about six weeks . that means the 26-year-old will miss the last four games of the english premier league campaign , with liverpool battling to qualify for next season 's champions league . he has scored 22 goals this season , but had a month out after a knee operation in january . top scorer torres will also sit out both legs of the europa league semifinal against spanish side atletico madrid , with the second-tier european club tournament being liverpool 's only hope of winning a trophy this season . fernando saw a specialist in spain earlier today and it was decided that he would need surgery on a torn cartilage in his right knee , ' liverpool 's web site reported on sunday . this will be carried out later tonight . we can not comment ahead of the operation , but as a guide , the usual rehabilitation period for this type of procedure is around six weeks . ' the world cup in south africa kicks off on june 11 , with spain 's first match against switzerland five days later -- which gives torres a two-week window to return to match fitness . spain coach vicente del bosque must name his final 23-man squad by june 1 . european champions spain will have pre-tournament friendlies in austria against saudi arabia on may 29 and south korea on june 3 , then play poland in murcia on june 8 . meanwhile , arsenal 's english premier league title hopes are over after the third-placed london club conceded three goals in the last 11 minutes to lose 3-2 at struggling wigan . arsenal led with goals by england winger theo walcott and french defender mikael silvestre either side of halftime , but ben watson pulled one back with 10 minutes to play and a howler by polish goalkeeper lukasz fabianski gifted titus bramble a headed equalizer and charles n'zogbia curled in a superb injury-time winner . it was arsenal 's second defeat in five days following the 2-1 reverse at fourth-placed tottenham , and left arsene wenger 's team six points behind leaders chelsea with three games to play . wigan moved seven points clear of the relegation zone to almost guarantee another season in the top flight . aston villa moved above liverpool into sixth place with a 2-1 win at relegated portsmouth as substitute nathan delfouneso scored the winner with his first touch after norway striker john carew leveled and then missed a first-half penalty . in spain , real madrid closed the gap on leaders barcelona with a 2-0 victory at home to third-placed valencia . argentina striker gonzalo higuain coolly slotted his 25th league goal of the campaign after turning onto guti 's threaded pass in the 25th minute , while fellow top scorer cristiano ronaldo sidefooted home marcelo 's low cross with 12 minutes to play to also have 27 this season . real trail champions barca by one point with five matches to play , while valencia are another 24 points adrift . mallorca can move up to fourth place above sevilla with victory at home to osasuna on monday . in sunday 's other games , athletic bilbao stayed seventh after a 0-0 draw at home to struggling zaragoza , third-bottom tenerife won 3-2 against eighth-placed getafe , deportiva la coruna drew 0-0 with almeria , while malaga were also held goalless by fellow relegation battlers valladolid . in italy , roma returned to the top of serie a with a 2-1 victory against rome rivals lazio on sunday . montenegro forward mirko vucinic scored both goals , the second a fine free-kick , after tommaso rocchi 's 14th-minute opener for lazio as roma went one point clear of champions inter milan with with games to play . lazio should have led 2-0 but sergio floccari missed a penalty just after halftime , while teammate cristian ledesma was sent off at the end . third-placed ac milan lost 2-1 at sampdoria , with defender daniele bonera sent off after 53 minutes with his team 1-0 up thanks to a first-half goal from marco borriello . antonio cassano leveled from the penalty resulting from bonera 's dismissal and giampaolo pazzini headed an injury-time winner to put his side fourth , seven points behind milan . in germany , borussia dortmund failed to overtake fourth-placed bayer leverkusen after conceding a late equalizer in the 1-1 draw with visiting strugglers hoffenheim . bottom club hertha berlin earned a 2-2 draw at eintracht frankfurt but are still six points from safety with three games to play .	real madrid close to within a point of spanish leaders barcelona , beating valencia 2-0
villa <tsp> ( cnn ) -- jose mourinho is the king of football gamesmanship , but his constant declarations that chelsea 's english premier league lead is fake ' appear to be becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy . saturday 's controversial defeat at aston villa allowed manchester city to close to within six points , with three games in hand on the london club and a vastly superior goal difference . city bounced back from the midweek european champions league exit in barcelona by winning 2-0 at hull , despite having influential captain vincent kompany sent off in just the 10th minute . mourinho was also sent to the stands at villa park , following second-half red cards to chelsea midfielders willian and ramires . willian 's second booking seemed harsh , but -- after fabian delph put villa ahead with a delightful backheel flick -- his fellow brazilian deserved to go after a vicious tackle on karim el ahmadi . referee chris foy has now issued six red cards to chelsea players in the last eight of the club 's matches in which he has officiated -- and mourinho was fighting to keep his feelings hidden afterwards in fear of being punished by the authorities . i prefer not to speak about the decisions . if i speak i am in big trouble , ' he said after his team 's 14-match unbeaten run was ended by a villa side that moved up to 10th place . the referees do what they do . they go home and they do n't talk to the press , and they refuse even to exchange a couple of words , when one person like me -- that is in football for so long -- asks politely ,'can you speak with me for five seconds ?' i ask five seconds to make one simple question and i had no chance because i was sent to the stands . it 's difficult to close the mouth , it 's very difficult but i have to do it because i do n't want to bring the game into disrepute . ' manchester city moved up to second place , but liverpool and arsenal could trim chelsea 's lead to four points on sunday with victories in crunch clashes against rivals manchester united and tottenham respectively . it was a difficult start to a big week for chelsea , whose european champions league hopes will be tested by tuesday 's visit of galatasaray ahead of next weekend 's home clash with arsenal . city host the epl 's bottom team fulham next saturday ahead of the manchester derby at old trafford and a trip to arsenal . i think it was a very good response from the team . it was a very difficult week , ' city boss manuel pellegrini said of his team 's win after kompany was dismissed for bringing down nikica jelavic . i thought before it was clear foul by jelavic before vincent did his foul -- but the referee did n't see it , he saw the foul of kompany and he sent him off . ' everton closed to within two points of fifth-placed tottenham with a 2-1 win at home to second-bottom cardiff , and roberto martinez 's team have a game in hand on the londoners . southampton moved up to eighth with a 4-2 win over norwich , while newcastle dropped down after losing 1-0 at fulham . stoke joined villa on 34 points with a 3-1 win at home to west ham , as former nigeria striker peter odemwingie scored twice . sunderland stayed in the bottom three after drawing 0-0 with fellow strugglers crystal palace , but west brom moved three points away from the relegation zone by winning 2-1 at swansea . the previous day west brom sacked nicolas anelka after the former france international said he had terminated his own contract in reaction to the club 's response to his fine and ban for performing a controversial quenelle ' gesture during a match in december .	ramires also departs after a studs-up challenge on villa 's karim el ahmadi
villa <tsp> ( cnn ) -- jose mourinho is the king of football gamesmanship , but his constant declarations that chelsea 's english premier league lead is fake ' appear to be becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy . saturday 's controversial defeat at aston villa allowed manchester city to close to within six points , with three games in hand on the london club and a vastly superior goal difference . city bounced back from the midweek european champions league exit in barcelona by winning 2-0 at hull , despite having influential captain vincent kompany sent off in just the 10th minute . mourinho was also sent to the stands at villa park , following second-half red cards to chelsea midfielders willian and ramires . willian 's second booking seemed harsh , but -- after fabian delph put villa ahead with a delightful backheel flick -- his fellow brazilian deserved to go after a vicious tackle on karim el ahmadi . referee chris foy has now issued six red cards to chelsea players in the last eight of the club 's matches in which he has officiated -- and mourinho was fighting to keep his feelings hidden afterwards in fear of being punished by the authorities . i prefer not to speak about the decisions . if i speak i am in big trouble , ' he said after his team 's 14-match unbeaten run was ended by a villa side that moved up to 10th place . the referees do what they do . they go home and they do n't talk to the press , and they refuse even to exchange a couple of words , when one person like me -- that is in football for so long -- asks politely ,'can you speak with me for five seconds ?' i ask five seconds to make one simple question and i had no chance because i was sent to the stands . it 's difficult to close the mouth , it 's very difficult but i have to do it because i do n't want to bring the game into disrepute . ' manchester city moved up to second place , but liverpool and arsenal could trim chelsea 's lead to four points on sunday with victories in crunch clashes against rivals manchester united and tottenham respectively . it was a difficult start to a big week for chelsea , whose european champions league hopes will be tested by tuesday 's visit of galatasaray ahead of next weekend 's home clash with arsenal . city host the epl 's bottom team fulham next saturday ahead of the manchester derby at old trafford and a trip to arsenal . i think it was a very good response from the team . it was a very difficult week , ' city boss manuel pellegrini said of his team 's win after kompany was dismissed for bringing down nikica jelavic . i thought before it was clear foul by jelavic before vincent did his foul -- but the referee did n't see it , he saw the foul of kompany and he sent him off . ' everton closed to within two points of fifth-placed tottenham with a 2-1 win at home to second-bottom cardiff , and roberto martinez 's team have a game in hand on the londoners . southampton moved up to eighth with a 4-2 win over norwich , while newcastle dropped down after losing 1-0 at fulham . stoke joined villa on 34 points with a 3-1 win at home to west ham , as former nigeria striker peter odemwingie scored twice . sunderland stayed in the bottom three after drawing 0-0 with fellow strugglers crystal palace , but west brom moved three points away from the relegation zone by winning 2-1 at swansea . the previous day west brom sacked nicolas anelka after the former france international said he had terminated his own contract in reaction to the club 's response to his fine and ban for performing a controversial quenelle ' gesture during a match in december .	jose mourinho sent off along with two chelsea players in 1-0 defeat at aston villa
chelsea <tsp> ( cnn ) -- jose mourinho is the king of football gamesmanship , but his constant declarations that chelsea 's english premier league lead is fake ' appear to be becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy . saturday 's controversial defeat at aston villa allowed manchester city to close to within six points , with three games in hand on the london club and a vastly superior goal difference . city bounced back from the midweek european champions league exit in barcelona by winning 2-0 at hull , despite having influential captain vincent kompany sent off in just the 10th minute . mourinho was also sent to the stands at villa park , following second-half red cards to chelsea midfielders willian and ramires . willian 's second booking seemed harsh , but -- after fabian delph put villa ahead with a delightful backheel flick -- his fellow brazilian deserved to go after a vicious tackle on karim el ahmadi . referee chris foy has now issued six red cards to chelsea players in the last eight of the club 's matches in which he has officiated -- and mourinho was fighting to keep his feelings hidden afterwards in fear of being punished by the authorities . i prefer not to speak about the decisions . if i speak i am in big trouble , ' he said after his team 's 14-match unbeaten run was ended by a villa side that moved up to 10th place . the referees do what they do . they go home and they do n't talk to the press , and they refuse even to exchange a couple of words , when one person like me -- that is in football for so long -- asks politely ,'can you speak with me for five seconds ?' i ask five seconds to make one simple question and i had no chance because i was sent to the stands . it 's difficult to close the mouth , it 's very difficult but i have to do it because i do n't want to bring the game into disrepute . ' manchester city moved up to second place , but liverpool and arsenal could trim chelsea 's lead to four points on sunday with victories in crunch clashes against rivals manchester united and tottenham respectively . it was a difficult start to a big week for chelsea , whose european champions league hopes will be tested by tuesday 's visit of galatasaray ahead of next weekend 's home clash with arsenal . city host the epl 's bottom team fulham next saturday ahead of the manchester derby at old trafford and a trip to arsenal . i think it was a very good response from the team . it was a very difficult week , ' city boss manuel pellegrini said of his team 's win after kompany was dismissed for bringing down nikica jelavic . i thought before it was clear foul by jelavic before vincent did his foul -- but the referee did n't see it , he saw the foul of kompany and he sent him off . ' everton closed to within two points of fifth-placed tottenham with a 2-1 win at home to second-bottom cardiff , and roberto martinez 's team have a game in hand on the londoners . southampton moved up to eighth with a 4-2 win over norwich , while newcastle dropped down after losing 1-0 at fulham . stoke joined villa on 34 points with a 3-1 win at home to west ham , as former nigeria striker peter odemwingie scored twice . sunderland stayed in the bottom three after drawing 0-0 with fellow strugglers crystal palace , but west brom moved three points away from the relegation zone by winning 2-1 at swansea . the previous day west brom sacked nicolas anelka after the former france international said he had terminated his own contract in reaction to the club 's response to his fine and ban for performing a controversial quenelle ' gesture during a match in december .	jose mourinho sent off along with two chelsea players in 1-0 defeat at aston villa
rudd <tsp> sydney ( cnn ) -- backpacking across india in 1981 as a young man fresh out of sydney university , tony abbott found what he called a country of contrasts , where bullock carts would take supplies into nuclear power stations . ' now the man who opinion polls predict will be australia 's next prime minister after the september 7 national election is prepared to see those power stations run on australian uranium -- a position that goes down well in new delhi . abbott , a religious man whose time in india included six weeks at the australian jesuit mission in bihar , leads the conservative liberal-national opposition that is locked in a struggle for power with labor , led by abbott 's political rival and incumbent australian prime minister , kevin rudd . australian pm announces new elections for september 7 uranium is the key energy commodity that differentiates how rudd and abbott approach relations with india . on paper , a bipartisan position australia , which has about a third of the world 's recoverable low-cost uranium resources , sells the nuclear fuel to china , japan , south korea , taiwan , the united states , canada and the european union , but not so far to india . how australian political rivals view china both the labor and liberal parties have a policy that they will sell australian uranium to energy-starved india . so on paper , it looks like a bipartisan position . but rudd is a reluctant helmsman for his party 's policy , believing india must accept stringent conditions before it gets australian uranium for its power plants . in his first stint as prime minister in 2007-2010 , he was adamant that because india was not a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty , uranium sales to it were precluded . he said this was not a policy directed against india , but one that applied globally . when julia gillard , the deputy prime minister who overthrew rudd for the leadership in june 2010 ( before herself being ousted in june this year by rudd ) , decided to push through a labor party policy change on the uranium issue in late 2011 , rudd was not consulted . rudd has said that india does not need to source uranium from australia . it gets most of its supply now from russia , france and kazakhstan . abbott 's indian ambitions in contrast , abbott is happy to see australian uranium shipped to indian nuclear power plants . at the india australia friendship fair in sydney last year , he said : yes , we will sell uranium to india because we know that india is one of the world 's great democracies . ' in reality , any uranium sales are years away , so the australia-india nuclear trade is more symbolic than substantial . new delhi views it as a touchstone for the state of the bilateral relationship . in march this year , the first official-level talks were held on a civil nuclear cooperation agreement that is the first step towards uranium sales . a prerequisite is an undertaking by india that it will not use australian uranium in any weapons-related capacity . when rudd addressed the indian council of world affairs in delhi in november 2009 , he harked back to his days at canberra 's australian national university , where he studied indian civilization and its impact on china . but rudd 's primary focus has always been china . he is a chinese speaker , a former diplomat in beijing and a lifelong student of all things chinese . for his part , abbott , a rhodes scholar at oxford university , maintains that if he becomes prime minister he will take india seriously , as i have always done . ' china'not the only superpower' in an address to the australia india business council in sydney last december , abbott said that as prime minister he would treat india as one of the key countries helping to shape the future of australia and the wider world . it 's important to note that china is not the only emerging superpower of asia , ' abbott said , pointing to the quadrupling of india 's gross domestic product ( gdp ) in two decades and high economic growth rates . what 's more , india is the emerging democratic superpower of asia , and also the emerging english-speaking super power . as far as i am concerned , this means it should never be the emerging superpower that 's taken for granted or neglected . ' abbott said india fell into all three categories of countries that were particularly important to australia : our neighbors , our major trading partners and our key strategic allies . ' he said that by 2050 , india was forecast to be the world 's most populous nation . unlike china , which is tipped to grow old before its citizens grow rich , india is tipped to grow rich before it goes gray . ' australia-india relations in general , relations between australia and india are good , up from a low point in 2009-10 when the uranium issue and a series of attacks on south asian students in melbourne sparked heated discussion . india in some years is the largest source of new immigrants to australia , and indian student numbers continue to be strong . trade and investment flows are increasing -- india is now australia 's fourth biggest export market , taking mainly coal , gold and copper , and it has made substantial investments in australia 's mining sector . a strategic partnership ' launched in november 2009 by rudd during his meeting with the indian prime minister manmohan singh was given a further push by gillard during her visit to india in october 2012 . negotiations for a free trade agreement began in 2011 and reached a fifth round of talks in canberra in may . no indian prime minister has visited australia since rajiv gandhi in 1986 . since then , six australian prime ministerial visits to india have taken place . singh was invited to the commonwealth heads of government meeting ( chogm ) held in perth in october 2011 , but sent vice president hamid ansari instead . in the view of some political observers , singh 's no-show reflected annoyance over the uranium issue . there is also a sense that australia strategically is not really all that important to india , which must contend with a neighborhood made up of china , pakistan , bangladesh , burma and sri lanka . in contrast , india ranks as a top-five priority for australia in asia , along with china , indonesia , japan and south korea . if abbott wins office on september 7 , expect australia to give even more priority to india . if rudd retains office , it will be a case of steady as she goes . ' ahead of his last visit to india in 2009 , rudd noted that like most of australia 's relationships , the one with india has some bumps in the road ' occasionally . but we can work our way through them , ' he said . uranium likely will continue to be one of those bumps .	hiscock : if elected , abbott and rudd will likely adopt different positions towards india
rudd <tsp> sydney ( cnn ) -- backpacking across india in 1981 as a young man fresh out of sydney university , tony abbott found what he called a country of contrasts , where bullock carts would take supplies into nuclear power stations . ' now the man who opinion polls predict will be australia 's next prime minister after the september 7 national election is prepared to see those power stations run on australian uranium -- a position that goes down well in new delhi . abbott , a religious man whose time in india included six weeks at the australian jesuit mission in bihar , leads the conservative liberal-national opposition that is locked in a struggle for power with labor , led by abbott 's political rival and incumbent australian prime minister , kevin rudd . australian pm announces new elections for september 7 uranium is the key energy commodity that differentiates how rudd and abbott approach relations with india . on paper , a bipartisan position australia , which has about a third of the world 's recoverable low-cost uranium resources , sells the nuclear fuel to china , japan , south korea , taiwan , the united states , canada and the european union , but not so far to india . how australian political rivals view china both the labor and liberal parties have a policy that they will sell australian uranium to energy-starved india . so on paper , it looks like a bipartisan position . but rudd is a reluctant helmsman for his party 's policy , believing india must accept stringent conditions before it gets australian uranium for its power plants . in his first stint as prime minister in 2007-2010 , he was adamant that because india was not a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty , uranium sales to it were precluded . he said this was not a policy directed against india , but one that applied globally . when julia gillard , the deputy prime minister who overthrew rudd for the leadership in june 2010 ( before herself being ousted in june this year by rudd ) , decided to push through a labor party policy change on the uranium issue in late 2011 , rudd was not consulted . rudd has said that india does not need to source uranium from australia . it gets most of its supply now from russia , france and kazakhstan . abbott 's indian ambitions in contrast , abbott is happy to see australian uranium shipped to indian nuclear power plants . at the india australia friendship fair in sydney last year , he said : yes , we will sell uranium to india because we know that india is one of the world 's great democracies . ' in reality , any uranium sales are years away , so the australia-india nuclear trade is more symbolic than substantial . new delhi views it as a touchstone for the state of the bilateral relationship . in march this year , the first official-level talks were held on a civil nuclear cooperation agreement that is the first step towards uranium sales . a prerequisite is an undertaking by india that it will not use australian uranium in any weapons-related capacity . when rudd addressed the indian council of world affairs in delhi in november 2009 , he harked back to his days at canberra 's australian national university , where he studied indian civilization and its impact on china . but rudd 's primary focus has always been china . he is a chinese speaker , a former diplomat in beijing and a lifelong student of all things chinese . for his part , abbott , a rhodes scholar at oxford university , maintains that if he becomes prime minister he will take india seriously , as i have always done . ' china'not the only superpower' in an address to the australia india business council in sydney last december , abbott said that as prime minister he would treat india as one of the key countries helping to shape the future of australia and the wider world . it 's important to note that china is not the only emerging superpower of asia , ' abbott said , pointing to the quadrupling of india 's gross domestic product ( gdp ) in two decades and high economic growth rates . what 's more , india is the emerging democratic superpower of asia , and also the emerging english-speaking super power . as far as i am concerned , this means it should never be the emerging superpower that 's taken for granted or neglected . ' abbott said india fell into all three categories of countries that were particularly important to australia : our neighbors , our major trading partners and our key strategic allies . ' he said that by 2050 , india was forecast to be the world 's most populous nation . unlike china , which is tipped to grow old before its citizens grow rich , india is tipped to grow rich before it goes gray . ' australia-india relations in general , relations between australia and india are good , up from a low point in 2009-10 when the uranium issue and a series of attacks on south asian students in melbourne sparked heated discussion . india in some years is the largest source of new immigrants to australia , and indian student numbers continue to be strong . trade and investment flows are increasing -- india is now australia 's fourth biggest export market , taking mainly coal , gold and copper , and it has made substantial investments in australia 's mining sector . a strategic partnership ' launched in november 2009 by rudd during his meeting with the indian prime minister manmohan singh was given a further push by gillard during her visit to india in october 2012 . negotiations for a free trade agreement began in 2011 and reached a fifth round of talks in canberra in may . no indian prime minister has visited australia since rajiv gandhi in 1986 . since then , six australian prime ministerial visits to india have taken place . singh was invited to the commonwealth heads of government meeting ( chogm ) held in perth in october 2011 , but sent vice president hamid ansari instead . in the view of some political observers , singh 's no-show reflected annoyance over the uranium issue . there is also a sense that australia strategically is not really all that important to india , which must contend with a neighborhood made up of china , pakistan , bangladesh , burma and sri lanka . in contrast , india ranks as a top-five priority for australia in asia , along with china , indonesia , japan and south korea . if abbott wins office on september 7 , expect australia to give even more priority to india . if rudd retains office , it will be a case of steady as she goes . ' ahead of his last visit to india in 2009 , rudd noted that like most of australia 's relationships , the one with india has some bumps in the road ' occasionally . but we can work our way through them , ' he said . uranium likely will continue to be one of those bumps .	rudd , a former diplomat to beijing , is seen as more reluctant to sell uranium to india
india <tsp> sydney ( cnn ) -- backpacking across india in 1981 as a young man fresh out of sydney university , tony abbott found what he called a country of contrasts , where bullock carts would take supplies into nuclear power stations . ' now the man who opinion polls predict will be australia 's next prime minister after the september 7 national election is prepared to see those power stations run on australian uranium -- a position that goes down well in new delhi . abbott , a religious man whose time in india included six weeks at the australian jesuit mission in bihar , leads the conservative liberal-national opposition that is locked in a struggle for power with labor , led by abbott 's political rival and incumbent australian prime minister , kevin rudd . australian pm announces new elections for september 7 uranium is the key energy commodity that differentiates how rudd and abbott approach relations with india . on paper , a bipartisan position australia , which has about a third of the world 's recoverable low-cost uranium resources , sells the nuclear fuel to china , japan , south korea , taiwan , the united states , canada and the european union , but not so far to india . how australian political rivals view china both the labor and liberal parties have a policy that they will sell australian uranium to energy-starved india . so on paper , it looks like a bipartisan position . but rudd is a reluctant helmsman for his party 's policy , believing india must accept stringent conditions before it gets australian uranium for its power plants . in his first stint as prime minister in 2007-2010 , he was adamant that because india was not a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty , uranium sales to it were precluded . he said this was not a policy directed against india , but one that applied globally . when julia gillard , the deputy prime minister who overthrew rudd for the leadership in june 2010 ( before herself being ousted in june this year by rudd ) , decided to push through a labor party policy change on the uranium issue in late 2011 , rudd was not consulted . rudd has said that india does not need to source uranium from australia . it gets most of its supply now from russia , france and kazakhstan . abbott 's indian ambitions in contrast , abbott is happy to see australian uranium shipped to indian nuclear power plants . at the india australia friendship fair in sydney last year , he said : yes , we will sell uranium to india because we know that india is one of the world 's great democracies . ' in reality , any uranium sales are years away , so the australia-india nuclear trade is more symbolic than substantial . new delhi views it as a touchstone for the state of the bilateral relationship . in march this year , the first official-level talks were held on a civil nuclear cooperation agreement that is the first step towards uranium sales . a prerequisite is an undertaking by india that it will not use australian uranium in any weapons-related capacity . when rudd addressed the indian council of world affairs in delhi in november 2009 , he harked back to his days at canberra 's australian national university , where he studied indian civilization and its impact on china . but rudd 's primary focus has always been china . he is a chinese speaker , a former diplomat in beijing and a lifelong student of all things chinese . for his part , abbott , a rhodes scholar at oxford university , maintains that if he becomes prime minister he will take india seriously , as i have always done . ' china'not the only superpower' in an address to the australia india business council in sydney last december , abbott said that as prime minister he would treat india as one of the key countries helping to shape the future of australia and the wider world . it 's important to note that china is not the only emerging superpower of asia , ' abbott said , pointing to the quadrupling of india 's gross domestic product ( gdp ) in two decades and high economic growth rates . what 's more , india is the emerging democratic superpower of asia , and also the emerging english-speaking super power . as far as i am concerned , this means it should never be the emerging superpower that 's taken for granted or neglected . ' abbott said india fell into all three categories of countries that were particularly important to australia : our neighbors , our major trading partners and our key strategic allies . ' he said that by 2050 , india was forecast to be the world 's most populous nation . unlike china , which is tipped to grow old before its citizens grow rich , india is tipped to grow rich before it goes gray . ' australia-india relations in general , relations between australia and india are good , up from a low point in 2009-10 when the uranium issue and a series of attacks on south asian students in melbourne sparked heated discussion . india in some years is the largest source of new immigrants to australia , and indian student numbers continue to be strong . trade and investment flows are increasing -- india is now australia 's fourth biggest export market , taking mainly coal , gold and copper , and it has made substantial investments in australia 's mining sector . a strategic partnership ' launched in november 2009 by rudd during his meeting with the indian prime minister manmohan singh was given a further push by gillard during her visit to india in october 2012 . negotiations for a free trade agreement began in 2011 and reached a fifth round of talks in canberra in may . no indian prime minister has visited australia since rajiv gandhi in 1986 . since then , six australian prime ministerial visits to india have taken place . singh was invited to the commonwealth heads of government meeting ( chogm ) held in perth in october 2011 , but sent vice president hamid ansari instead . in the view of some political observers , singh 's no-show reflected annoyance over the uranium issue . there is also a sense that australia strategically is not really all that important to india , which must contend with a neighborhood made up of china , pakistan , bangladesh , burma and sri lanka . in contrast , india ranks as a top-five priority for australia in asia , along with china , indonesia , japan and south korea . if abbott wins office on september 7 , expect australia to give even more priority to india . if rudd retains office , it will be a case of steady as she goes . ' ahead of his last visit to india in 2009 , rudd noted that like most of australia 's relationships , the one with india has some bumps in the road ' occasionally . but we can work our way through them , ' he said . uranium likely will continue to be one of those bumps .	sales of uranium , which india seeks , is a touchstone issue in the australia-india relationship
india <tsp> sydney ( cnn ) -- backpacking across india in 1981 as a young man fresh out of sydney university , tony abbott found what he called a country of contrasts , where bullock carts would take supplies into nuclear power stations . ' now the man who opinion polls predict will be australia 's next prime minister after the september 7 national election is prepared to see those power stations run on australian uranium -- a position that goes down well in new delhi . abbott , a religious man whose time in india included six weeks at the australian jesuit mission in bihar , leads the conservative liberal-national opposition that is locked in a struggle for power with labor , led by abbott 's political rival and incumbent australian prime minister , kevin rudd . australian pm announces new elections for september 7 uranium is the key energy commodity that differentiates how rudd and abbott approach relations with india . on paper , a bipartisan position australia , which has about a third of the world 's recoverable low-cost uranium resources , sells the nuclear fuel to china , japan , south korea , taiwan , the united states , canada and the european union , but not so far to india . how australian political rivals view china both the labor and liberal parties have a policy that they will sell australian uranium to energy-starved india . so on paper , it looks like a bipartisan position . but rudd is a reluctant helmsman for his party 's policy , believing india must accept stringent conditions before it gets australian uranium for its power plants . in his first stint as prime minister in 2007-2010 , he was adamant that because india was not a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty , uranium sales to it were precluded . he said this was not a policy directed against india , but one that applied globally . when julia gillard , the deputy prime minister who overthrew rudd for the leadership in june 2010 ( before herself being ousted in june this year by rudd ) , decided to push through a labor party policy change on the uranium issue in late 2011 , rudd was not consulted . rudd has said that india does not need to source uranium from australia . it gets most of its supply now from russia , france and kazakhstan . abbott 's indian ambitions in contrast , abbott is happy to see australian uranium shipped to indian nuclear power plants . at the india australia friendship fair in sydney last year , he said : yes , we will sell uranium to india because we know that india is one of the world 's great democracies . ' in reality , any uranium sales are years away , so the australia-india nuclear trade is more symbolic than substantial . new delhi views it as a touchstone for the state of the bilateral relationship . in march this year , the first official-level talks were held on a civil nuclear cooperation agreement that is the first step towards uranium sales . a prerequisite is an undertaking by india that it will not use australian uranium in any weapons-related capacity . when rudd addressed the indian council of world affairs in delhi in november 2009 , he harked back to his days at canberra 's australian national university , where he studied indian civilization and its impact on china . but rudd 's primary focus has always been china . he is a chinese speaker , a former diplomat in beijing and a lifelong student of all things chinese . for his part , abbott , a rhodes scholar at oxford university , maintains that if he becomes prime minister he will take india seriously , as i have always done . ' china'not the only superpower' in an address to the australia india business council in sydney last december , abbott said that as prime minister he would treat india as one of the key countries helping to shape the future of australia and the wider world . it 's important to note that china is not the only emerging superpower of asia , ' abbott said , pointing to the quadrupling of india 's gross domestic product ( gdp ) in two decades and high economic growth rates . what 's more , india is the emerging democratic superpower of asia , and also the emerging english-speaking super power . as far as i am concerned , this means it should never be the emerging superpower that 's taken for granted or neglected . ' abbott said india fell into all three categories of countries that were particularly important to australia : our neighbors , our major trading partners and our key strategic allies . ' he said that by 2050 , india was forecast to be the world 's most populous nation . unlike china , which is tipped to grow old before its citizens grow rich , india is tipped to grow rich before it goes gray . ' australia-india relations in general , relations between australia and india are good , up from a low point in 2009-10 when the uranium issue and a series of attacks on south asian students in melbourne sparked heated discussion . india in some years is the largest source of new immigrants to australia , and indian student numbers continue to be strong . trade and investment flows are increasing -- india is now australia 's fourth biggest export market , taking mainly coal , gold and copper , and it has made substantial investments in australia 's mining sector . a strategic partnership ' launched in november 2009 by rudd during his meeting with the indian prime minister manmohan singh was given a further push by gillard during her visit to india in october 2012 . negotiations for a free trade agreement began in 2011 and reached a fifth round of talks in canberra in may . no indian prime minister has visited australia since rajiv gandhi in 1986 . since then , six australian prime ministerial visits to india have taken place . singh was invited to the commonwealth heads of government meeting ( chogm ) held in perth in october 2011 , but sent vice president hamid ansari instead . in the view of some political observers , singh 's no-show reflected annoyance over the uranium issue . there is also a sense that australia strategically is not really all that important to india , which must contend with a neighborhood made up of china , pakistan , bangladesh , burma and sri lanka . in contrast , india ranks as a top-five priority for australia in asia , along with china , indonesia , japan and south korea . if abbott wins office on september 7 , expect australia to give even more priority to india . if rudd retains office , it will be a case of steady as she goes . ' ahead of his last visit to india in 2009 , rudd noted that like most of australia 's relationships , the one with india has some bumps in the road ' occasionally . but we can work our way through them , ' he said . uranium likely will continue to be one of those bumps .	hiscock : if elected , abbott and rudd will likely adopt different positions towards india
india <tsp> sydney ( cnn ) -- backpacking across india in 1981 as a young man fresh out of sydney university , tony abbott found what he called a country of contrasts , where bullock carts would take supplies into nuclear power stations . ' now the man who opinion polls predict will be australia 's next prime minister after the september 7 national election is prepared to see those power stations run on australian uranium -- a position that goes down well in new delhi . abbott , a religious man whose time in india included six weeks at the australian jesuit mission in bihar , leads the conservative liberal-national opposition that is locked in a struggle for power with labor , led by abbott 's political rival and incumbent australian prime minister , kevin rudd . australian pm announces new elections for september 7 uranium is the key energy commodity that differentiates how rudd and abbott approach relations with india . on paper , a bipartisan position australia , which has about a third of the world 's recoverable low-cost uranium resources , sells the nuclear fuel to china , japan , south korea , taiwan , the united states , canada and the european union , but not so far to india . how australian political rivals view china both the labor and liberal parties have a policy that they will sell australian uranium to energy-starved india . so on paper , it looks like a bipartisan position . but rudd is a reluctant helmsman for his party 's policy , believing india must accept stringent conditions before it gets australian uranium for its power plants . in his first stint as prime minister in 2007-2010 , he was adamant that because india was not a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty , uranium sales to it were precluded . he said this was not a policy directed against india , but one that applied globally . when julia gillard , the deputy prime minister who overthrew rudd for the leadership in june 2010 ( before herself being ousted in june this year by rudd ) , decided to push through a labor party policy change on the uranium issue in late 2011 , rudd was not consulted . rudd has said that india does not need to source uranium from australia . it gets most of its supply now from russia , france and kazakhstan . abbott 's indian ambitions in contrast , abbott is happy to see australian uranium shipped to indian nuclear power plants . at the india australia friendship fair in sydney last year , he said : yes , we will sell uranium to india because we know that india is one of the world 's great democracies . ' in reality , any uranium sales are years away , so the australia-india nuclear trade is more symbolic than substantial . new delhi views it as a touchstone for the state of the bilateral relationship . in march this year , the first official-level talks were held on a civil nuclear cooperation agreement that is the first step towards uranium sales . a prerequisite is an undertaking by india that it will not use australian uranium in any weapons-related capacity . when rudd addressed the indian council of world affairs in delhi in november 2009 , he harked back to his days at canberra 's australian national university , where he studied indian civilization and its impact on china . but rudd 's primary focus has always been china . he is a chinese speaker , a former diplomat in beijing and a lifelong student of all things chinese . for his part , abbott , a rhodes scholar at oxford university , maintains that if he becomes prime minister he will take india seriously , as i have always done . ' china'not the only superpower' in an address to the australia india business council in sydney last december , abbott said that as prime minister he would treat india as one of the key countries helping to shape the future of australia and the wider world . it 's important to note that china is not the only emerging superpower of asia , ' abbott said , pointing to the quadrupling of india 's gross domestic product ( gdp ) in two decades and high economic growth rates . what 's more , india is the emerging democratic superpower of asia , and also the emerging english-speaking super power . as far as i am concerned , this means it should never be the emerging superpower that 's taken for granted or neglected . ' abbott said india fell into all three categories of countries that were particularly important to australia : our neighbors , our major trading partners and our key strategic allies . ' he said that by 2050 , india was forecast to be the world 's most populous nation . unlike china , which is tipped to grow old before its citizens grow rich , india is tipped to grow rich before it goes gray . ' australia-india relations in general , relations between australia and india are good , up from a low point in 2009-10 when the uranium issue and a series of attacks on south asian students in melbourne sparked heated discussion . india in some years is the largest source of new immigrants to australia , and indian student numbers continue to be strong . trade and investment flows are increasing -- india is now australia 's fourth biggest export market , taking mainly coal , gold and copper , and it has made substantial investments in australia 's mining sector . a strategic partnership ' launched in november 2009 by rudd during his meeting with the indian prime minister manmohan singh was given a further push by gillard during her visit to india in october 2012 . negotiations for a free trade agreement began in 2011 and reached a fifth round of talks in canberra in may . no indian prime minister has visited australia since rajiv gandhi in 1986 . since then , six australian prime ministerial visits to india have taken place . singh was invited to the commonwealth heads of government meeting ( chogm ) held in perth in october 2011 , but sent vice president hamid ansari instead . in the view of some political observers , singh 's no-show reflected annoyance over the uranium issue . there is also a sense that australia strategically is not really all that important to india , which must contend with a neighborhood made up of china , pakistan , bangladesh , burma and sri lanka . in contrast , india ranks as a top-five priority for australia in asia , along with china , indonesia , japan and south korea . if abbott wins office on september 7 , expect australia to give even more priority to india . if rudd retains office , it will be a case of steady as she goes . ' ahead of his last visit to india in 2009 , rudd noted that like most of australia 's relationships , the one with india has some bumps in the road ' occasionally . but we can work our way through them , ' he said . uranium likely will continue to be one of those bumps .	abbott has stated that india is the emerging superpower australia will never take for granted '
india <tsp> sydney ( cnn ) -- backpacking across india in 1981 as a young man fresh out of sydney university , tony abbott found what he called a country of contrasts , where bullock carts would take supplies into nuclear power stations . ' now the man who opinion polls predict will be australia 's next prime minister after the september 7 national election is prepared to see those power stations run on australian uranium -- a position that goes down well in new delhi . abbott , a religious man whose time in india included six weeks at the australian jesuit mission in bihar , leads the conservative liberal-national opposition that is locked in a struggle for power with labor , led by abbott 's political rival and incumbent australian prime minister , kevin rudd . australian pm announces new elections for september 7 uranium is the key energy commodity that differentiates how rudd and abbott approach relations with india . on paper , a bipartisan position australia , which has about a third of the world 's recoverable low-cost uranium resources , sells the nuclear fuel to china , japan , south korea , taiwan , the united states , canada and the european union , but not so far to india . how australian political rivals view china both the labor and liberal parties have a policy that they will sell australian uranium to energy-starved india . so on paper , it looks like a bipartisan position . but rudd is a reluctant helmsman for his party 's policy , believing india must accept stringent conditions before it gets australian uranium for its power plants . in his first stint as prime minister in 2007-2010 , he was adamant that because india was not a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty , uranium sales to it were precluded . he said this was not a policy directed against india , but one that applied globally . when julia gillard , the deputy prime minister who overthrew rudd for the leadership in june 2010 ( before herself being ousted in june this year by rudd ) , decided to push through a labor party policy change on the uranium issue in late 2011 , rudd was not consulted . rudd has said that india does not need to source uranium from australia . it gets most of its supply now from russia , france and kazakhstan . abbott 's indian ambitions in contrast , abbott is happy to see australian uranium shipped to indian nuclear power plants . at the india australia friendship fair in sydney last year , he said : yes , we will sell uranium to india because we know that india is one of the world 's great democracies . ' in reality , any uranium sales are years away , so the australia-india nuclear trade is more symbolic than substantial . new delhi views it as a touchstone for the state of the bilateral relationship . in march this year , the first official-level talks were held on a civil nuclear cooperation agreement that is the first step towards uranium sales . a prerequisite is an undertaking by india that it will not use australian uranium in any weapons-related capacity . when rudd addressed the indian council of world affairs in delhi in november 2009 , he harked back to his days at canberra 's australian national university , where he studied indian civilization and its impact on china . but rudd 's primary focus has always been china . he is a chinese speaker , a former diplomat in beijing and a lifelong student of all things chinese . for his part , abbott , a rhodes scholar at oxford university , maintains that if he becomes prime minister he will take india seriously , as i have always done . ' china'not the only superpower' in an address to the australia india business council in sydney last december , abbott said that as prime minister he would treat india as one of the key countries helping to shape the future of australia and the wider world . it 's important to note that china is not the only emerging superpower of asia , ' abbott said , pointing to the quadrupling of india 's gross domestic product ( gdp ) in two decades and high economic growth rates . what 's more , india is the emerging democratic superpower of asia , and also the emerging english-speaking super power . as far as i am concerned , this means it should never be the emerging superpower that 's taken for granted or neglected . ' abbott said india fell into all three categories of countries that were particularly important to australia : our neighbors , our major trading partners and our key strategic allies . ' he said that by 2050 , india was forecast to be the world 's most populous nation . unlike china , which is tipped to grow old before its citizens grow rich , india is tipped to grow rich before it goes gray . ' australia-india relations in general , relations between australia and india are good , up from a low point in 2009-10 when the uranium issue and a series of attacks on south asian students in melbourne sparked heated discussion . india in some years is the largest source of new immigrants to australia , and indian student numbers continue to be strong . trade and investment flows are increasing -- india is now australia 's fourth biggest export market , taking mainly coal , gold and copper , and it has made substantial investments in australia 's mining sector . a strategic partnership ' launched in november 2009 by rudd during his meeting with the indian prime minister manmohan singh was given a further push by gillard during her visit to india in october 2012 . negotiations for a free trade agreement began in 2011 and reached a fifth round of talks in canberra in may . no indian prime minister has visited australia since rajiv gandhi in 1986 . since then , six australian prime ministerial visits to india have taken place . singh was invited to the commonwealth heads of government meeting ( chogm ) held in perth in october 2011 , but sent vice president hamid ansari instead . in the view of some political observers , singh 's no-show reflected annoyance over the uranium issue . there is also a sense that australia strategically is not really all that important to india , which must contend with a neighborhood made up of china , pakistan , bangladesh , burma and sri lanka . in contrast , india ranks as a top-five priority for australia in asia , along with china , indonesia , japan and south korea . if abbott wins office on september 7 , expect australia to give even more priority to india . if rudd retains office , it will be a case of steady as she goes . ' ahead of his last visit to india in 2009 , rudd noted that like most of australia 's relationships , the one with india has some bumps in the road ' occasionally . but we can work our way through them , ' he said . uranium likely will continue to be one of those bumps .	rudd , a former diplomat to beijing , is seen as more reluctant to sell uranium to india
mexican <tsp> mexico city ( cnn ) -- mexican president enrique peña nieto underwent thyroid surgery wednesday . the operation to remove a nodule was successful , said aurelio nuño mayer , head of the president 's office . the president is already awake , and he is already in the room , ' nuño told reporters . everything went very smoothly , as planned .. ' gen. fernando arcaute velazquez , director of mexico 's central military hospital , said doctors found no evidence of malignancy ' during the procedure . officials said peña nieto will spend half of his four-day recovery period at the hospital , and the rest in his official residence . peña nieto , 47 , assumed mexico 's presidency in december . fast facts : enrique peña nieto thyroid nodules are lumps that form within the gland , which is located at the base of the neck , according to the mayo clinic . the great majority of thyroid nodules are n't serious and do n't cause symptoms , ' the clinic says on its website . thyroid cancer accounts for a small percentage of thyroid nodules . ' last week , peña nieto said that doctors had detected the small cyst seven or eight years ago . the doctors tell me that it is not a serious matter or anything , ' the president said , according to mexico 's state-run notimex news agency . simply i have been postponing it and according to medical recommendations it is a good moment to do it . ' cnn 's marysabel huston-crespo and catherine e. shoichet contributed to this report .	doctors have removed a nodule from the mexican president 's thyroid
kenya <tsp> ( cnn ) -- kenya 's david lekuta rudisha has broken the 13-year-old men 's 800 meter world record at berlin 's diamond league meeting on sunday . rudisha clocked a time of one minute 41.09 second to shave two hundredths of a second off the time set by compatriot wilson kipketer in august 1997 . the 21-year-old had gone close to breaking the record last month in huesden- zolder , belgium , when he clocked 1:41.51 , the second fastest time in history behind kipketer . now that i have run that time , i can say i have the ability to improve and go faster , ' rudisha told reporters . meanwhile , in the women 's 800m , world champion caster semenya continued her comeback with victory in a time a season 's best time of one minute 59.90 seconds . the 19-year-old south african -- returning to the scene of her world title victory last year -- was running for only the third time since being cleared to race again following gender tests . it feels good to be back in berlin . my goal was to run under two minutes and i achieved that , ' semenya told reporters . this brought back memories of the 2009 final for me .	kenya 's david lekuta rudisha sets a new world record in the men 's 800 meters
boyd <tsp> albuquerque police shot a homeless man in the back and killed him , and it was all caught on gruesome detail in a police video . it is just one more in a long line of police killings that has the city 's police department on the verge of federal oversight . james boyd , a mentally disturbed man who friends say was attempting to camp out in the foothills above albuquerque one night in march because city homeless shelters had closed , was holding two small camping knives . officers negotiated with him for five hours , eventually winning agreement from boyd to leave the makeshift -- and illegal -- campsite . then a police stun grenade went off , boyd , 38 , turned his back and three shots were fired . police video shows boyd on his stomach on the ground , wheezing for breath as officers sic a dog on his legs and fire bean bag rounds at him . he was already mortally wounded . an autopsy on boyd found he was shot in the back . the medical examiner ruled the death a homicide . the horrific encounter , routinely recorded as part of police protocol , is now a key part of an ongoing drama in new mexico 's largest city -- a series of protests against the police and city officials . federal officials are close to a deal that would have them supervising the albuquerque police department . records show that 26 people have been killed by city police in albuquerque since 2010 , a per capita rate of officer-involved deaths higher than new york city and chicago . forty people have been wounded by police over the same period of time . so far , the city has paid out $ 30 million in settlements and officials acknowledge that amount will grow . in a report written before boyd 's shooting , the u.s. department of justice blamed the police department for poor training and said we find that the department engages in a pattern or practice of using excessive force during the course of arrests and other detentions in violation of the fourth amendment . ' boyd 's death has been added to the list of questionable killings . in april 2011 , a young albuquerque man -- whose parents had contacted police because he had mental health issues -- was killed in his own backyard by two plainclothes police . the officers had come to the home of christopher torres on an arrest warrant issued the month before . they said he was armed and shot him in the back as they wrestled on the ground . torres'parents , stephen and renatta torres , say he was holding a broomstick , which he laid down when police approached . they sued police , and a judge awarded them $ 6 million in a civil judgment , saying the police testimony was not credible . ' the albuquerque district attorney , kari brandenburg , cleared the two officers in the torres killing . she has cleared every other police officer involved in a killing during her last 13 years in office . police chief gordon eden has been on the job for only about three months . initially , he called boyd 's shooting justified ' but tells cnn that he spoke prematurely , and i should n't have . ' eden says he is holding people to a higher degree of culpability , ' but he is also facing justice department oversight . report : albuquerque police have'pattern'of excessive , deadly force	james boyd , 25 others killed by albuquerque police since 2010
boyd <tsp> albuquerque police shot a homeless man in the back and killed him , and it was all caught on gruesome detail in a police video . it is just one more in a long line of police killings that has the city 's police department on the verge of federal oversight . james boyd , a mentally disturbed man who friends say was attempting to camp out in the foothills above albuquerque one night in march because city homeless shelters had closed , was holding two small camping knives . officers negotiated with him for five hours , eventually winning agreement from boyd to leave the makeshift -- and illegal -- campsite . then a police stun grenade went off , boyd , 38 , turned his back and three shots were fired . police video shows boyd on his stomach on the ground , wheezing for breath as officers sic a dog on his legs and fire bean bag rounds at him . he was already mortally wounded . an autopsy on boyd found he was shot in the back . the medical examiner ruled the death a homicide . the horrific encounter , routinely recorded as part of police protocol , is now a key part of an ongoing drama in new mexico 's largest city -- a series of protests against the police and city officials . federal officials are close to a deal that would have them supervising the albuquerque police department . records show that 26 people have been killed by city police in albuquerque since 2010 , a per capita rate of officer-involved deaths higher than new york city and chicago . forty people have been wounded by police over the same period of time . so far , the city has paid out $ 30 million in settlements and officials acknowledge that amount will grow . in a report written before boyd 's shooting , the u.s. department of justice blamed the police department for poor training and said we find that the department engages in a pattern or practice of using excessive force during the course of arrests and other detentions in violation of the fourth amendment . ' boyd 's death has been added to the list of questionable killings . in april 2011 , a young albuquerque man -- whose parents had contacted police because he had mental health issues -- was killed in his own backyard by two plainclothes police . the officers had come to the home of christopher torres on an arrest warrant issued the month before . they said he was armed and shot him in the back as they wrestled on the ground . torres'parents , stephen and renatta torres , say he was holding a broomstick , which he laid down when police approached . they sued police , and a judge awarded them $ 6 million in a civil judgment , saying the police testimony was not credible . ' the albuquerque district attorney , kari brandenburg , cleared the two officers in the torres killing . she has cleared every other police officer involved in a killing during her last 13 years in office . police chief gordon eden has been on the job for only about three months . initially , he called boyd 's shooting justified ' but tells cnn that he spoke prematurely , and i should n't have . ' eden says he is holding people to a higher degree of culpability , ' but he is also facing justice department oversight . report : albuquerque police have'pattern'of excessive , deadly force	new police chief first called boyd 's death justified , ' then said that was premature
ian thorpe <tsp> london ( cnn ) -- far from home , competing against the best in the world , with the eyes of billions of people on them , olympic athletes are under the kind of pressure that few of us can imagine . but they 're only human and they have needs just like everyone else . some of the world 's biggest sports stars from the past and the present told cnn what they just ca n't do without when they 're at the olympics . justin gatlin , u.s. sprinter and 2012 100m bronze medal winner : ' communication with my son . i have a two-year-old boy and obviously he does n't know what 's going on now , the magnitude of it , but he knows that daddy runs ... to hear him talk to me and tell me he loves me before i go out and compete , that gives me the mojo to go out there and do the best i can do . ' michael phelps , u.s. swimmer and winner of the most medals in olympic history : ' cell phone . ' elena isinbaeva , russian pole vaulter . world record holder and 2012 bronze medal winner : ' people who support me and love me . ' gabby douglas , two-time gold medal winning u.s. gymnast : ' my bible . ' jackie joyner-kersee , three-time gold medal winning u.s. athlete whose heptathlon world record has stood since 1988 : ' this is probably a strange answer , but i 'm an asthmatic and i had to have my inhaler with me all the time because i was always afraid i might have an attack . the weather might change wherever i am so i kept it inside my sports bra . i could n't live without it . ' ian thorpe , five-time swimming gold medalist , the most golds of any australian : ' i actually had a bag of licorice that no matter how i felt , whether it was a good swim or bad swim , it was my go-to . so bizarre ... probably the worst thing to have as a thing at the olympics . ' felix sanchez , two-time gold medal winning 400m hurdler , representing the dominican republic . sanchez won gold in the 400m hurdles in 2004 , but as he was preparing to run his heat at the beijing olympics in 2008 , he learned his grandmother had died . he cried the whole day and ran terribly , ' he says , and did not qualify for the semi-finals . this year he ran with a photograph of himself and his grandmother tucked inside his running vest -- and regained his gold medal . i made a promise , ' he says . i wanted to win one more championship for her . ' cnn 's caroline paterson , jo shelley , becky anderson , erin mclaughlin , amanda davies and alex thomas contributed to this report .	ian thorpe kept a bag of licorice handy
michelle <tsp> ( cnn ) -- some generations get american graffiti ' as a monument to their youthful folly : gleaming hotrods , drive-ins and booker t. & the mgs . others get saturday night fever , ' fast times at ridgemont high ' or dirty dancing . ' but if you were graduating high school around the summer of 1999 , chances are your collective cinematic talisman involves horny jason biggs pleasuring himself with an apple pie . american pie ' spawned two sequels in rapid succession , taking sex-mad jim , oz , stifler and pals through college and even into matrimony ( american wedding ' ) , but it 's a surprise to reconnect with the old gang nine years later , older , milder , but still hungering for a bigger slice . the reunion is the brainchild of jon hurwitz and hayden schlossberg , the writers-turned-directors who made their name on a different but not dissimilar series , harold and kumar . ' the original director , paul weitz , has long since graduated to bigger , not necessarily better , things such as little fockers ' and being flynn . ' it 's not a bad idea at that , even if adam sandler 's recent grown ups ' covered many of the same bases . hurwitz and schlossberg respect the formula : whackily contrived sex gags sugared with sentimentality and a sliver of feminist sanity ; multiple humiliations for the nice but naughty jim ; worse still for the cocky stifler ; and embarrassingly crude heart to hearts with jim 's loveable dad ( caterpillar-browed comedian eugene levy ) . fans will appreciate the filmmakers'dedication , and if they 're not particularly adept in the execution , maybe they do n't have to be : nostalgia is the most forgiving mistress . jim ( jason biggs ) is still married to michelle ( alyson hannigan ) , but both are mired in parental sexual frustration . oz ( chris klein ) is now a cable tv celebrity with a model for a girlfriend . kevin ( anyone remember thomas ian nicholas ? ) is terminally boring . and finch ( eddie kaye thomas ) has been around the world twice and has the scars to prove it . as for perpetual bad boy stifler ( seann william scott ) , he 's assistant to a bullying business executive , but still a legendary jerk in his own puerile imagination . some of the girls are back too ( tara reid , mena suvari , even natasha lyonne in an afterthought of a cameo ) , but predictably , the movie only pays lip service to gender equality . younger , hotter newcomers ali cobrin , katrina bowen and dania ramirez get more screen time . where ramirez picked up her strong dominican accent is a mystery , but along with john cho , she 's one of east great falls'few concessions to ethnic diversity . the hard truth is time has not been kind to most of the cast . they were always a funny looking bunch . many of them were in their mid-20s but able to pass for teenagers back when the first film was shot . today , they seem pale , pinched or gaunt -- thoroughly ordinary-looking in a way that would normally have casting agents glazing over . only the effortlessly egregious seann william scott still has a viable career in leading roles , and it 's hard to see stifler as anything more than a step backward for him . of course , this is the film 's greatest weakness and its secret strength : the unspoken appeal of a reunion is the chance to go back , measure up your peers and perhaps find that they 're not doing any better than you are . it 's certainly the most endearing aspect of a spotty , crude but affectionate sex comedy that 's been thoroughly superseded by the rude sophistication of the judd apatow comedies american pie ' inspired in the first place .	jim is still married to michelle , but both are mired in parental sexual frustration
uk <tsp> london , england ( cnn ) -- britain 's prime minister on tuesday defended the mission in afghanistan as vital ' to protecting his country from terrorists , following the death of the 100th british serviceman in afghanistan this year . the soldier , from the 1st battalion the royal anglian regiment , was killed monday by small arms fire in the nad-e ali area of afghanistan 's southern helmand province , britain 's ministry of defence said . his name was not released , but the soldier 's next of kin were informed , the ministry said . the soldier was the 100th member of the british armed forces to die in afghanistan this year , the ministry said . britain has lost more than 200 service personnel in the country since the start of fighting in 2001 . british prime minister gordon brown emphasized the real impact ' of the afghan mission as he offered his condolences to the soldier 's family . our military presence in afghanistan means that al qaeda can not use the country as a base from which to plot terrorist attacks against britain , ' brown said in a statement monday . and the work of our armed forces in the next stage of the campaign , the training and partnering of the afghan security forces to do this job for themselves , along with the political and civilian development of the country , will be vital in ensuring the british people are safer for generations to come . ' british defence secretary bob ainsworth also defended the importance of the mission to security at home . i believe we must keep at the forefront of our minds why our people are in afghanistan , ' ainsworth said in a statement . our presence in afghanistan is vital in preventing it from once again becoming a haven for terrorists who would seek to threaten the uk . ' ainsworth said taking the fight to the insurgents ' -- along with providing security and training afghan security forces -- will help afghanistan become stable and independent . the death came a week after brown announced that the uk would send an extra 500 troops to afghanistan in early december , bringing the british contingent there to more than 9,500 . brown regularly links british security to events in afghanistan and pakistan , saying attacks on london and other british targets have been planned in south asia . he announced in october the decision in principle to boost force levels but said certain conditions -- including proper equipment for the british troops and more troop commitments from other countries -- had to be met first . the uk has the largest contingent in afghanistan after the united states . the figure of 9,500 does not include special forces , said brown , who declined to say exactly how many of those were there , but indicated it is more than 500 .	uk has largest contingent of troops in afghanistan after united states
united states <tsp> london , england ( cnn ) -- britain 's prime minister on tuesday defended the mission in afghanistan as vital ' to protecting his country from terrorists , following the death of the 100th british serviceman in afghanistan this year . the soldier , from the 1st battalion the royal anglian regiment , was killed monday by small arms fire in the nad-e ali area of afghanistan 's southern helmand province , britain 's ministry of defence said . his name was not released , but the soldier 's next of kin were informed , the ministry said . the soldier was the 100th member of the british armed forces to die in afghanistan this year , the ministry said . britain has lost more than 200 service personnel in the country since the start of fighting in 2001 . british prime minister gordon brown emphasized the real impact ' of the afghan mission as he offered his condolences to the soldier 's family . our military presence in afghanistan means that al qaeda can not use the country as a base from which to plot terrorist attacks against britain , ' brown said in a statement monday . and the work of our armed forces in the next stage of the campaign , the training and partnering of the afghan security forces to do this job for themselves , along with the political and civilian development of the country , will be vital in ensuring the british people are safer for generations to come . ' british defence secretary bob ainsworth also defended the importance of the mission to security at home . i believe we must keep at the forefront of our minds why our people are in afghanistan , ' ainsworth said in a statement . our presence in afghanistan is vital in preventing it from once again becoming a haven for terrorists who would seek to threaten the uk . ' ainsworth said taking the fight to the insurgents ' -- along with providing security and training afghan security forces -- will help afghanistan become stable and independent . the death came a week after brown announced that the uk would send an extra 500 troops to afghanistan in early december , bringing the british contingent there to more than 9,500 . brown regularly links british security to events in afghanistan and pakistan , saying attacks on london and other british targets have been planned in south asia . he announced in october the decision in principle to boost force levels but said certain conditions -- including proper equipment for the british troops and more troop commitments from other countries -- had to be met first . the uk has the largest contingent in afghanistan after the united states . the figure of 9,500 does not include special forces , said brown , who declined to say exactly how many of those were there , but indicated it is more than 500 .	uk has largest contingent of troops in afghanistan after united states
velasquez <tsp> ( cnn ) -- john jairo velasquez -- the top hit man for notorious drug lord pablo escobar in the '80s , known in colombia as the narcoterrorism era ' -- is a free man for the first time in 22 years . the 52-year-old velasquez , also known as popeye , ' was released tuesday night from a maximum-security prison in the colombian province of boyaca , northeast of bogota , the capital . he left the prison under heavy police protection . velasquez surrendered to authorities in 1992 , telling a reporter at the time , i do n't owe anything to anybody . i have n't done anything wrong . ' but in jailhouse interviews , he admitted several times to killing about 300 people , including soldiers , police officers , rival cartel members and civilians . he also confessed to masterminding the killings of more than 3,000 other people , most of them civilians . some of his victims died in car bombings in cities across colombia including bogota ; medellin , his cartel 's home base ; and cali . velasquez was also responsible for a number of high-profile kidnappings , among them that of attorney general carlos mauro hoyos in january 1988 . velasquez confessed that he killed hoyos in captivity . also in january 1988 , velasquez kidnapped bogota mayoral candidate andres pastrana . pastrana survived the ordeal and went on to become the 57th president of colombia , serving from 1998 to 2002 . the victim and his kidnapper met again in 2012 . still in prison , velasquez apologized to pastrana and his family . i ask you for forgiveness from the bottom of my heart , ' he told pastrana , for what the medellin cartel did , for risking your very important life . ' he also told pastrana he dismembered some of his victims , something he says he deeply regrets as a man who 's turned his life to god . velasquez spent 22 years in prison , three-quarters of his sentence for the murder of presidential candidate luis carlos galan in 1989 , the only murder for which he was convicted . the victim 's family has forgiven him . he was sentenced for my father 's murder , ' said juan manuel galan , the victim 's son and a liberal senator . he gave us the truth and asked for forgiveness . in my case , i forgive him . ' velasquez told local media that he fears for his life as a free man and that there 's an 80 % chance that his many enemies will kill him , especially those members of the medellin cartel whose names and crimes he disclosed to authorities . relatives of many of his victims angrily protested velasquez 's release , saying that 22 years in prison was not punishment enough for the countless atrocities he committed during the narcoterrorism era and cocaine turf wars of the '80s and '90s . but colombian sen. armando benedetti said that velasquez was being freed for good conduct , as any other prisoner would , and that his release complied with the law . the debate about his release has to center on the fact that in colombia , we respect the rule of law , and we abide by the constitution , even in those cases where we are in disagreement with the consequences of some decisions , ' benedetti said . medellin reborn : colombian city moves out of escobar shadow why some travelers seek out the world 's most dangerous locales	john jairo velasquez was the top hit man for colombian drug lord pablo escobar in the '80s
velasquez <tsp> ( cnn ) -- john jairo velasquez -- the top hit man for notorious drug lord pablo escobar in the '80s , known in colombia as the narcoterrorism era ' -- is a free man for the first time in 22 years . the 52-year-old velasquez , also known as popeye , ' was released tuesday night from a maximum-security prison in the colombian province of boyaca , northeast of bogota , the capital . he left the prison under heavy police protection . velasquez surrendered to authorities in 1992 , telling a reporter at the time , i do n't owe anything to anybody . i have n't done anything wrong . ' but in jailhouse interviews , he admitted several times to killing about 300 people , including soldiers , police officers , rival cartel members and civilians . he also confessed to masterminding the killings of more than 3,000 other people , most of them civilians . some of his victims died in car bombings in cities across colombia including bogota ; medellin , his cartel 's home base ; and cali . velasquez was also responsible for a number of high-profile kidnappings , among them that of attorney general carlos mauro hoyos in january 1988 . velasquez confessed that he killed hoyos in captivity . also in january 1988 , velasquez kidnapped bogota mayoral candidate andres pastrana . pastrana survived the ordeal and went on to become the 57th president of colombia , serving from 1998 to 2002 . the victim and his kidnapper met again in 2012 . still in prison , velasquez apologized to pastrana and his family . i ask you for forgiveness from the bottom of my heart , ' he told pastrana , for what the medellin cartel did , for risking your very important life . ' he also told pastrana he dismembered some of his victims , something he says he deeply regrets as a man who 's turned his life to god . velasquez spent 22 years in prison , three-quarters of his sentence for the murder of presidential candidate luis carlos galan in 1989 , the only murder for which he was convicted . the victim 's family has forgiven him . he was sentenced for my father 's murder , ' said juan manuel galan , the victim 's son and a liberal senator . he gave us the truth and asked for forgiveness . in my case , i forgive him . ' velasquez told local media that he fears for his life as a free man and that there 's an 80 % chance that his many enemies will kill him , especially those members of the medellin cartel whose names and crimes he disclosed to authorities . relatives of many of his victims angrily protested velasquez 's release , saying that 22 years in prison was not punishment enough for the countless atrocities he committed during the narcoterrorism era and cocaine turf wars of the '80s and '90s . but colombian sen. armando benedetti said that velasquez was being freed for good conduct , as any other prisoner would , and that his release complied with the law . the debate about his release has to center on the fact that in colombia , we respect the rule of law , and we abide by the constitution , even in those cases where we are in disagreement with the consequences of some decisions , ' benedetti said . medellin reborn : colombian city moves out of escobar shadow why some travelers seek out the world 's most dangerous locales	velasquez served 22 years in prison for the murder of presidential candidate
obama <tsp> national harbor , maryland ( cnn ) -- it would be a mistake to read too much into the speeches , breakout sessions and late-night parties that took place at the annual conservative political action conference . thousands of right-leaning activists made the pilgrimage here this year , to a convention hall outside the nation 's capital . they were greeted , as they are every year , by a bevy of candidates , bloggers , political operatives and more than a few hucksters out to make a buck . but it 's tough to glean any sweeping insight into the state of the conservative movement just by hanging out at cpac for a few days and talking to its most rock-ribbed and outspoken partisans . and yet : the confluence of big name republican speakers -- many of them potential white house contenders -- makes the three-day event impossible to ignore . cpac crowd chants ,'run , sarah , run !'here are five big takeaways from cpac 2014 : 1 . this is rand 's house : rand paul 's blowout win in the presidential straw poll saturday -- he won more than a third of the vote , easily besting second-place finisher ted cruz -- cemented his place as the king of cpac . rand paul convincingly wins cpac straw poll paul 's address here on friday , unapologetically heavy with libertarian sentiment , was far and away the best-received speech of the weekend . the room was packed and paul , wearing jeans , was interrupted repeatedly by standing ovations . after his appearance , he joined his wife , kelley , across the street from the convention center at a packed restaurant for an open bar happy hour with fired-up supporters . does his showing mean that paul will be the gop nominee in 2016 ? no . but it does affirm what reporters here had been saying all week : that cpac is now , without question , his turf . cpac crowd treats paul like a rock star the face of cpac has become younger in recent years -- it feels a little like spring break for college republicans -- and more libertarian in the process . paul also won the straw poll in 2013 , and his father , ron paul , won in 2010 and 2011 . the younger paul was aided in his win this year by young americans for liberty , which boasted that it recruited almost 500 activists to come to the event and cast ballots . almost half of the straw poll vote came from 18- to 25-year-olds . paul 's showing this weekend will only add to the perception that he 's a top-tier republican presidential contender who should be taken much more seriously than his father if he runs ( and no one thinks he is n't running ) . the downside ? the dominant straw poll raises expectations for his performance next year , when the gop race for the white house will be in full swing . 2 . obama still conservative enemy no . 1 : the national political conversation is already drifting toward 2016 . but at cpac , president barack obama was anything but a lame duck . obama foreign policy target of opportunity at cpac speaker after speaker listed obama 's unforgivable sins : taxes , spending , obamacare , the irs scandal , nsa surveillance , and on and on . strikingly , hillary clinton -- the democratic party 's apparent nominee-in-waiting for 2016 -- went mostly unmentioned until friday afternoon , the conference 's second day . former arkansas gov . mike huckabee criticized the former secretary of state 's handling of the 2012 attack on the u.s. mission in benghazi , libya . her name popped up twice more from the main stage on saturday . rep. michele bachmann said clinton will face tough questions ' if she runs in 2016 . former house speaker newt gingrich called clinton a prison guard ' of the past . but obama was far and away the chief bogeyman of cpac . even as pundits scrutinize clinton 's every move in the context of the next presidential campaign , conservatives are n't yet ready to look beyond the man who still occupies the white house . perry : time for a little rebellion 3 . pragmatists vs. purists : there 's always a lot of chatter at cpac about the various wings of the republican party that seem at odds with one another : the free market adherents , the national security hawks , the social conservatives . the growing influence of libertarianism has scrambled how the conservative movement sees itself . but political parties in this country have always been uneasy coalitions of various interests and ideologies . squabbling is to be expected . the biggest battle in the republican party is the one between its pragmatists and its purists . there were hints this year that the pragmatists were gaining ground . in the obama era , cpac has earned a reputation for fire-breathing rhetoric and divisive commentary , but some of this year 's biggest speeches had a softer edge . new jersey gov . chris christie led the charge in calling for party unity in pursuit of winning elections . he was well received . perry hoping for a second chance from voters paul has called on the party to reach out to minorities and has proposed policy ideas -- including sentencing reform and economic freedom zones ' for low-income areas -- to achieve that goal . in a session about libertarianism , one panelist said children would be better raised by gay couples than single parents . no one booed . even utah sen. mike lee , a tea party darling , urged the conservative faithful to be more open-minded . we as conservatives have got to be far more engaged in finding converts than discarding heretics , ' lee said on thursday . but the happy talk could n't paper over the fact that conservative hard-liners , including several eyeing a 2016 presidential run , do n't want conservative ideology to take a back seat to anything . and cpac still booked a number of divisive and provocative speakers like donald trump and bachmann . former sen. rick santorum inveighed against win-at-all-costs republicans -- a comment widely seen as a jab at christie . and sen. ted cruz of texas warned republicans against compromise , painting former gop presidential nominees bob dole , john mccain and mitt romney as moderate squishes who lost nationally because they veered from conservative principles . his words drew a stern rebuke from mccain -- and a rare statement from dole telling cruz to check his facts . 4 . christie 's move to the right has begun : we did n't learn anything new about christie from his thursday speech . but it was how he presented himself that mattered -- and the christie who showed up at cpac was a far cry from the christie who ran for re-election in blue-leaning new jersey last year , winning in resounding fashion . christie gets warm reception from gathering of the right that christie was all about bipartisan legislative compromise , post-sandy healing , and outreach to voters who do n't traditionally feel comfortable with the gop . his invitation to last year 's cpac was lost in the mail . christie did n't mind . this year 's christie more resembled the tea party hero of 2009 , when he first won the governorship , and 2010 , when he traveled the country in rock star fashion campaigning for gop candidates . christie reminded the crowd of his opposition to abortion , calling himself proudly pro-life . ' he bashed unions and the media . he praised the koch brothers . his speech should put to rest any doubts about his willingness to pivot to the right as he mounts a republican presidential bid , even as he continues to be dogged by multiple controversies and investigations back home . christie and his team took his cpac showing seriously . his top political advisers made the trip with him -- and they presumably left happy . christie placed fourth in the cpac straw poll , a finish that beat expectations and made for a nice talking point as he begins the work of repairing his tarnished relationship with conservatives . 5 . what 's wrong with cpac ? the question popped up again and again in conversations with veteran conference-goers : what 's wrong with cpac this year ? the stakes at this year 's event felt low -- and so did the energy . there were , of course , the usual hordes of earnest , lanyard-wearing 20-somethings brimming with youthful enthusiasm . but the main ballroom at the gaylord convention center in suburban maryland was rarely full . something felt off . cpac'las vegas'for young conservatives maybe it 's because the conference is at its most exciting during presidential campaign years , when gop candidates are jostling for attention from the conservative base . cruz 's comments draw fire from dole , mccain or maybe it 's because the tea party activists who arrived here in 2009 and 2010 as conquering insurgents are now just the regular cast of characters and movement hangers-on who show up every year , hawking their wares , snapping pictures with conservative celebrities , recording their podcasts and delivering a familiar litany of warmed-over attacks on obama . whatever the reason , there were still plenty of journalists on hand to drink it all in . thanks to cpac 's proximity to washington , there always are . but the diplomatic standoff in ukraine snuffed out the event 's usual ability to command the beltway news cycle . and when democrats tried to make hay of some of the wackier comments made by speakers , few reporters seemed to care . the headlines instead focused on the potential 2016 candidates who came here road-testing their messages . but aside from paul , with his happy hour for young activists , the white house wannabes were n't doing much behind-the-scenes to court activists . this year is more subdued and does n't have the kind of vibrant atmosphere of past confabs -- a result of conservatives being lost in the political wilderness for six years without a unifying conservative leader , ' said dennis lennox , a gop activist and operative from michigan who helped mitt romney line up support for the cpac presidential straw polls in 2007 and 2008 . it does n't help that there is not a concerted effort by a likely presidential candidate , especially a dark horse who needs a boost in their profile among the foot soldiers who would be critical to carrying their candidacy in a primary that will be fully under way a year from now , ' he added .	even as clinton is scrutinized as 2016 contender , obama still cpac 's top bogeyman
yani tseng <tsp> ( cnn ) -- american golfer stacy lewis banished the ghosts of her nightmare final round at the 2008 u.s. open when she clinched the kraft nabisco championship by three shots on sunday . the 26-year-old , whose grandfather died on the eve of the tournament at mission hills in california , claimed the first title of her professional career in the first of four major events in the 2011 women 's season . everybody in the family knew that he would have wanted me to finish out this week , ' she told the lpga website . i mean , he lived via my golf . he loved watching it on tv . he recorded it every week so he could keep watching it over and over again . but him and my grandma , they both got to see me play the whole round today and they were out there with me , for sure . ' lewis , who won an unofficial rain-shortened lpga tour event as an amateur in her native arkansas in 2007 , had looked set to follow that up three years ago when she led the u.s. open heading into the last day , but a final-round 78 ended her hopes of glory . it was a different story this time , though , as the world number 28 overhauled top-ranked defending champion yani tseng of taiwan to finish on 13 under par after a round of 69 . it does n't even feel real yet , ' said lewis , who turned pro in 2008 four years after having a titanium rod and five screws put in her back to cure her teenage problems with scoliosis . i do n't know . i 'm still trying to figure out if i actually won , but i played so good today and i was just proud of the way i hung in there . ' the victory was all but assured for lewis on the 17th hole , when she held a tricky putt while three-time major winner tseng recorded a bogey . probably the look on my face was i was shocked it went in , too , honestly , ' said lewis of her finish on the penultimate hole . it was a putt you had to hit on the perfect line with the perfect speed for it to go in . ' tseng , who has won four titles already this year , closed with 74 to finish three shots back . i did my best . i tried my best today , and i did n't give her any shots today . so i hung in there until the last putt and smiled the whole way , whole day . so it was good and it was very good experience for me this time , ' the 22-year-old said . golf is golf , so this is normal . i just did n't play well . and hopefully next tournament will be good , and i just really want to congratulate stacy . she did really awesome . ' american michelle wie achieved her first top-10 finish at a major since 2006 after ending the weekend sixth on three-under following a closing 69 , leaving the 21-year-old one shot behind third-placed compatriots katie futcher , morgan pressel and angela stanford .	the 26-year-old american overhauled world number one yani tseng of taiwan
american <tsp> ( cnn ) -- american golfer stacy lewis banished the ghosts of her nightmare final round at the 2008 u.s. open when she clinched the kraft nabisco championship by three shots on sunday . the 26-year-old , whose grandfather died on the eve of the tournament at mission hills in california , claimed the first title of her professional career in the first of four major events in the 2011 women 's season . everybody in the family knew that he would have wanted me to finish out this week , ' she told the lpga website . i mean , he lived via my golf . he loved watching it on tv . he recorded it every week so he could keep watching it over and over again . but him and my grandma , they both got to see me play the whole round today and they were out there with me , for sure . ' lewis , who won an unofficial rain-shortened lpga tour event as an amateur in her native arkansas in 2007 , had looked set to follow that up three years ago when she led the u.s. open heading into the last day , but a final-round 78 ended her hopes of glory . it was a different story this time , though , as the world number 28 overhauled top-ranked defending champion yani tseng of taiwan to finish on 13 under par after a round of 69 . it does n't even feel real yet , ' said lewis , who turned pro in 2008 four years after having a titanium rod and five screws put in her back to cure her teenage problems with scoliosis . i do n't know . i 'm still trying to figure out if i actually won , but i played so good today and i was just proud of the way i hung in there . ' the victory was all but assured for lewis on the 17th hole , when she held a tricky putt while three-time major winner tseng recorded a bogey . probably the look on my face was i was shocked it went in , too , honestly , ' said lewis of her finish on the penultimate hole . it was a putt you had to hit on the perfect line with the perfect speed for it to go in . ' tseng , who has won four titles already this year , closed with 74 to finish three shots back . i did my best . i tried my best today , and i did n't give her any shots today . so i hung in there until the last putt and smiled the whole way , whole day . so it was good and it was very good experience for me this time , ' the 22-year-old said . golf is golf , so this is normal . i just did n't play well . and hopefully next tournament will be good , and i just really want to congratulate stacy . she did really awesome . ' american michelle wie achieved her first top-10 finish at a major since 2006 after ending the weekend sixth on three-under following a closing 69 , leaving the 21-year-old one shot behind third-placed compatriots katie futcher , morgan pressel and angela stanford .	the 26-year-old american overhauled world number one yani tseng of taiwan
senate <tsp> ( cnn ) -- nearly 600 soldiers have been disqualified from being army sexual assault counselors , recruiters and drill sergeants for a variety of infractions that mean they can not serve in those positions of trust , ' according to an army official . the 588 disqualifications come as the result of an internal review , conducted by the army at the behest of defense secretary chuck hagel , that began last august . the disqualifications were first reported by usa today , which found that the troops involved were barred as a result of infractions ranging from sexual assault to child abuse to drunken driving . ' this development came the same day a senate armed services subcommittee held a hearing on the impact of sexual assaults in the military . during that hearing , victims of sexual assault testified to the backlash they faced from fellow service members and commanders after coming forward and the difficulties they had in securing mental health counseling . even years later , ' said retired marine lance cpl . jeremiah arbogast , the constant stigmatization , personal attacks , ostracism and ptsd was never ending . choosing death was my way of taking responsibility for my circumstances . ' arbogast survived a suicide attempt that left him paralyzed in his lower body . his attacker was discharged from the marine corps but did not receive any jail time . subcommittee chairwoman sen. kirsten gillibrand is leading an effort to reform the way sexual assaults are addressed in the military and has proposed removing prosecutorial decision making out of the chain of command . if you listen to the survivors of sexual trauma and sexual assaults , ' gillibrand told cnn 's jake tapper in an interview wednesday , they will tell you what needs to be done is the decision making has to be taken out of the chain of command in order to create transparency and accountability and have that decision maker be objective . ' that proposal has met with resistance , notably from gillibrand 's fellow democratic senator , claire mccaskill , d-missouri , who introduced a competing set of reforms . instances of unwanted sexual contact and sexual assault increased by 36 % in 2012 , according to a report by the military 's sexual assault prevention and response office . in that same time period , the number of incidents reported to commanders decreased to just 9.8 % during wednesday 's hearing , gillibrand , d-new york , contradicted a senior sapro adviser , dr. nathan galbreath , who said the military has made progress encouraging greater reporting since that time . please do not say we 're succeeding , ' gillibrand fired at galbreath . if eight out of 10 victims stay mum because they do n't believe justice is possible or they fear retaliation , we are failing eight out of 10 severely . '	the senate also held a hearing on sexual assault in the military
somalia <tsp> ( cnn ) -- recent threats and attacks from militant groups have made it almost impossible for the world food program to get food to hungry people in southern somaila , the aid agency said tuesday . the actions by militant groups have led to a partial suspension food distribution in much of southern somalia , the agency said in a statement . this has left more than 1 million people in the area in peril , the united nations food agency said . wfp is deeply concerned about rising hunger and suffering among the most vulnerable due to these unprecedented and inhumane attacks on purely humanitarian operations , ' the agency said in a statement . one of the recent threats to the food agency occurred in late november when islamist militants in somalia warned the agency to buy food from somali farmers or stop sending aid to the impoverished african country . that threat came from al-shabaab , a group that has waged a bloody insurgency against the u.n.-backed government of transitional president sheikh sharif sheikh ahmed . four of the agency 's staff members were killed in somalia between august 2008 and january 2009 . despite difficulties in southern somalia , the agency says it is still dispensing food in the capital city mogadishu and several other areas . the agency says it is still able to reach more than 60 percent of those in need or about 1.8 million people .	recent attacks make it near impossible for aid agencies to deliver food in southern somalia
israel <tsp> ( cnn ) -- israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu apologized friday to turkey for a 2010 raid on a gaza-bound flotilla , both nations said , signaling a potential major thaw after three years of chilly relations between the two key middle east nations . the israeli leader phoned his turkish counterpart , recep tayyip erdogan , while sitting with u.s. president barack obama in a trailer on a tel aviv airport tarmac . in the call -- which turkey 's foreign minister said lasted for nearly 30 minutes -- netanyahu acknowledged operational mistakes ' during the raid , which ended with eight turks and an american of turkish origin dead . ( netanyahu ) made it clear that the tragic results regarding the mavi marmara were unintentional and that israel expresses regret over injuries and loss of life , ' the israeli government said . erdogan accepted the apology , which came shortly after he talked with the leaders of egypt and qatar . turkish foreign minister ahmet davutoglu said later on state tv , according to the semiofficial anadolu news agency , that all turkey 's demands had been met . it was n't immediately clear what impact the conversation might have on a region that is already home to numerous crises -- such as the deadly , two-year-long civil war in syria and tensions over iran 's nuclear programs . at the least , the movement toward mending a rift between two of washington 's top allies appeared to be a boon for obama , who said he 's been appealing to netanyahu and erdogan for the last two years ' for them to fix this rupture . ' there are obviously going to still be some significant disagreements ... but they also have a wide range of shared interests , and they both happen to be extraordinarily strong partners and friends of ours , ' obama said at a press conference with jordan 's king abdullah ii . so it 's in the interest of the united states that they begin this process of getting their relationship back in order . ''an important step' while there was little public indication ahead of a time that there would be a breakthrough thursday , davutoglu said it actually came after three years of tough negotiations . the talks picked up steam in the past week , spurred by u.s. secretary of state john kerry and other officials , the turkish foreign minister added . on thursday , obama said he talked with netanyahu about his reaching out to erdogan , and both of us agreed that the moment was right . ' the u.s. president at one point got on the call between the two middle east leaders , said two senior administration officials who labeled the call an important step ' in normalizing turkish-israeli ties . during my visit , it appeared that the timing was good for that conversation to take place , ' obama said , without elaborating . turkey and israel have been two pro-western political , economic , and military linchpins in the middle east , and their falling out has hurt initiatives to tackle problems in the region , such as the syrian civil war and tensions relating to iran 's nuclear aspirations . a muslim member of nato , turkey long had been israel 's most significant muslim friend , and the deterioration of relations between the two nations intensified the jewish state 's isolation in the region , more unstable in light of the arab spring and other ferment in the middle east . erdogan 's critical rhetoric toward israeli policies in gaza have been hailed by many in the arab world . it 's not clear when and if such steps as fully normalizing relations and returning ambassadors to their posts will be taken . earlier israel had sent out a statement saying those steps had been agreed upon , but it later amended its statement by removing those points . there also was no word on whether the once-close nations would resume the joint military exercises that were suspended after the mavi marmara incident . turkey had been prosecuting four israeli soldiers in absentia , and israel initially said the two leaders agreed to the cancellation of legal steps against the troops . later , however , its amended statement omitted that action as well . agreeing to work together in thursday 's conversation , erdogan told netanyahu that he thought the deterioration of ties between the countries was regrettable , especially given the shared history and centuries old ties of strong friendship and cooperation between the jewish and turkish peoples . ' according to a statement released by the turkish government , erdogan discussed with his israeli counterpart the importance of a just , lasting and comprehensive resolution of the israel-palestine conflict on the basis of the two-state vision . ' the two leaders agreed to work together to improve the humanitarian situation in the palestinian territories , ' the turkish statement said . the israeli government said in a statement the two sides would work to improve the humanitarian situation in the palestinian territories , ' with netanyahu noting israel has substantially lifted the restrictions ' on entry of civilian goods into gaza . helping the palestinian people had long been a concern for turkey , and was the reason ostensibly that the flotilla set sail for gaza in the first place . israel long has voiced concerns about arms smuggling to gaza militants intent on attacking the jewish state . gaza is controlled by hamas , an anti-israel group regarded as a terrorist organization by the united states and israel . but activists say israel 's embargo of goods into gaza from land and sea punishes civilians in the tiny and densely populated strip of land along the mediterranean coast . israel has said any organization or state that wants to give humanitarian aid to gaza can do so in coordination with israeli authorities via existing land crossings into the palestinian territory . all that said , the highlight of the conversation dealt with the 2009 raid . israel has long stood by the operation , though its tune publicly changed friday . in light of israel 's investigation into the incident , which pointed out several operational mistakes , prime minister netanyahu expressed israel 's apology to the turkish people for any mistakes that might have led to loss of life or injury and agreed to conclude an agreement on compensation/nonliability , ' the israeli government said . asked to confirm whether netanyahu called and apologized and offered compensation , as ankara had long demanded , a senior turkish official told cnn : yes . ' erdogan only said they agreed to conclude an agreement on compensation/nonliability . ' one palestinian-israeli lawmaker does n't like it hanin zoabi , a palestinian activist who was on the mavi marmara and also is a palestinian member of israel 's parliament , said she does not accept netanyahu 's apology . she wants an international court to try the people involved in the political decision that gave a green light to kill the political activists on the marmara . ' she said netanyahu 's push to improve israeli-turkish ties is undermining the palestinians'demands -- such as ending israeli occupation of the west bank and the israeli military and economic strictures on gaza . she said netanyahu is trying to evade that and other issues . the issue is not only marmara , marmara was the small crime . the big crime was the siege on gaza , ' she told cnn . gulden sonme -- a spokeswoman for ihh , the muslim aid agency that operated the mavi marmara == called the apology a positive political development . ' but in terms of the need for the blockade on gaza to end and in terms of the ongoing case to punish those who are responsible for the crimes committed during the raid , the legal process will continue , ' she said , referring to the case against the soldiers . suat kiniklioglu , a turkish political analyst and former parliamentarian from erdogan 's party , said the apology is important because it shows to the world that there is a political price to kill turkish citizens in international waters . ' probably in the middle east , as well , it will be seen as political victory for the erdogan government . but what matters more is the normalization itself , the obvious benefits to turkey and israel as well as the palestinians . ' the prospect of an israeli-turkish reconciliation is bad news , kiniklioglu said , for syrian president bashar al-assad and iran . as syria is entering into its third year of uprising , ankara and tel-aviv will have to coordinate policy and may need to work together to contain potential risks to both countries , ' he said . cnn 's tom cohen , greg botelho , kareem khadder and gul tuysuz contributed to this report	obama says he and israel 's netanyahu agreed the moment was right ' to call turkey
israel <tsp> ( cnn ) -- israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu apologized friday to turkey for a 2010 raid on a gaza-bound flotilla , both nations said , signaling a potential major thaw after three years of chilly relations between the two key middle east nations . the israeli leader phoned his turkish counterpart , recep tayyip erdogan , while sitting with u.s. president barack obama in a trailer on a tel aviv airport tarmac . in the call -- which turkey 's foreign minister said lasted for nearly 30 minutes -- netanyahu acknowledged operational mistakes ' during the raid , which ended with eight turks and an american of turkish origin dead . ( netanyahu ) made it clear that the tragic results regarding the mavi marmara were unintentional and that israel expresses regret over injuries and loss of life , ' the israeli government said . erdogan accepted the apology , which came shortly after he talked with the leaders of egypt and qatar . turkish foreign minister ahmet davutoglu said later on state tv , according to the semiofficial anadolu news agency , that all turkey 's demands had been met . it was n't immediately clear what impact the conversation might have on a region that is already home to numerous crises -- such as the deadly , two-year-long civil war in syria and tensions over iran 's nuclear programs . at the least , the movement toward mending a rift between two of washington 's top allies appeared to be a boon for obama , who said he 's been appealing to netanyahu and erdogan for the last two years ' for them to fix this rupture . ' there are obviously going to still be some significant disagreements ... but they also have a wide range of shared interests , and they both happen to be extraordinarily strong partners and friends of ours , ' obama said at a press conference with jordan 's king abdullah ii . so it 's in the interest of the united states that they begin this process of getting their relationship back in order . ''an important step' while there was little public indication ahead of a time that there would be a breakthrough thursday , davutoglu said it actually came after three years of tough negotiations . the talks picked up steam in the past week , spurred by u.s. secretary of state john kerry and other officials , the turkish foreign minister added . on thursday , obama said he talked with netanyahu about his reaching out to erdogan , and both of us agreed that the moment was right . ' the u.s. president at one point got on the call between the two middle east leaders , said two senior administration officials who labeled the call an important step ' in normalizing turkish-israeli ties . during my visit , it appeared that the timing was good for that conversation to take place , ' obama said , without elaborating . turkey and israel have been two pro-western political , economic , and military linchpins in the middle east , and their falling out has hurt initiatives to tackle problems in the region , such as the syrian civil war and tensions relating to iran 's nuclear aspirations . a muslim member of nato , turkey long had been israel 's most significant muslim friend , and the deterioration of relations between the two nations intensified the jewish state 's isolation in the region , more unstable in light of the arab spring and other ferment in the middle east . erdogan 's critical rhetoric toward israeli policies in gaza have been hailed by many in the arab world . it 's not clear when and if such steps as fully normalizing relations and returning ambassadors to their posts will be taken . earlier israel had sent out a statement saying those steps had been agreed upon , but it later amended its statement by removing those points . there also was no word on whether the once-close nations would resume the joint military exercises that were suspended after the mavi marmara incident . turkey had been prosecuting four israeli soldiers in absentia , and israel initially said the two leaders agreed to the cancellation of legal steps against the troops . later , however , its amended statement omitted that action as well . agreeing to work together in thursday 's conversation , erdogan told netanyahu that he thought the deterioration of ties between the countries was regrettable , especially given the shared history and centuries old ties of strong friendship and cooperation between the jewish and turkish peoples . ' according to a statement released by the turkish government , erdogan discussed with his israeli counterpart the importance of a just , lasting and comprehensive resolution of the israel-palestine conflict on the basis of the two-state vision . ' the two leaders agreed to work together to improve the humanitarian situation in the palestinian territories , ' the turkish statement said . the israeli government said in a statement the two sides would work to improve the humanitarian situation in the palestinian territories , ' with netanyahu noting israel has substantially lifted the restrictions ' on entry of civilian goods into gaza . helping the palestinian people had long been a concern for turkey , and was the reason ostensibly that the flotilla set sail for gaza in the first place . israel long has voiced concerns about arms smuggling to gaza militants intent on attacking the jewish state . gaza is controlled by hamas , an anti-israel group regarded as a terrorist organization by the united states and israel . but activists say israel 's embargo of goods into gaza from land and sea punishes civilians in the tiny and densely populated strip of land along the mediterranean coast . israel has said any organization or state that wants to give humanitarian aid to gaza can do so in coordination with israeli authorities via existing land crossings into the palestinian territory . all that said , the highlight of the conversation dealt with the 2009 raid . israel has long stood by the operation , though its tune publicly changed friday . in light of israel 's investigation into the incident , which pointed out several operational mistakes , prime minister netanyahu expressed israel 's apology to the turkish people for any mistakes that might have led to loss of life or injury and agreed to conclude an agreement on compensation/nonliability , ' the israeli government said . asked to confirm whether netanyahu called and apologized and offered compensation , as ankara had long demanded , a senior turkish official told cnn : yes . ' erdogan only said they agreed to conclude an agreement on compensation/nonliability . ' one palestinian-israeli lawmaker does n't like it hanin zoabi , a palestinian activist who was on the mavi marmara and also is a palestinian member of israel 's parliament , said she does not accept netanyahu 's apology . she wants an international court to try the people involved in the political decision that gave a green light to kill the political activists on the marmara . ' she said netanyahu 's push to improve israeli-turkish ties is undermining the palestinians'demands -- such as ending israeli occupation of the west bank and the israeli military and economic strictures on gaza . she said netanyahu is trying to evade that and other issues . the issue is not only marmara , marmara was the small crime . the big crime was the siege on gaza , ' she told cnn . gulden sonme -- a spokeswoman for ihh , the muslim aid agency that operated the mavi marmara == called the apology a positive political development . ' but in terms of the need for the blockade on gaza to end and in terms of the ongoing case to punish those who are responsible for the crimes committed during the raid , the legal process will continue , ' she said , referring to the case against the soldiers . suat kiniklioglu , a turkish political analyst and former parliamentarian from erdogan 's party , said the apology is important because it shows to the world that there is a political price to kill turkish citizens in international waters . ' probably in the middle east , as well , it will be seen as political victory for the erdogan government . but what matters more is the normalization itself , the obvious benefits to turkey and israel as well as the palestinians . ' the prospect of an israeli-turkish reconciliation is bad news , kiniklioglu said , for syrian president bashar al-assad and iran . as syria is entering into its third year of uprising , ankara and tel-aviv will have to coordinate policy and may need to work together to contain potential risks to both countries , ' he said . cnn 's tom cohen , greg botelho , kareem khadder and gul tuysuz contributed to this report	israel cites mistakes ' in a 2010 raid on a gaza-bound ship that killed 9 , vows compensation '
abigail hernandez <tsp> ( cnn ) -- federal and state authorities wo n't say specifically why , but they think a letter purported to be from a new hampshire teenager missing for nearly two months might in fact be the real thing . abigail hernandez was last seen on october 9 , according to the fbi , as she headed home from her high school in the town of conway , and officials fear she might be held against her will . we are concerned for her safety , ' new hampshire associate attorney general jane young said friday at a news conference called to discuss the search for the girl . she is not out there alone . she has somebody who is either helping her , whether that be a friend or what we fear is a foe . ' at the news conference , authorities revealed that abigail 's mother , zenya hernandez , received a letter on november 6 that appeared to be from her missing daughter . that letter was kept secret until friday , said young , because law enforcement had to take every possible step to verify its authenticity . and at this juncture , we believe in fact that it was written by abby and was sent to her mother , ' young added . neither federal nor state authorities would discuss the contents of the letter beyond young saying the writing is in a tone abby would have used , ' and that the letter underwent expert analysis ' before its existence was announced publicly . officials also said revealing details about the letter could potentially trigger copycat ' letters that would slow down the investigation . the letter was written on october 22 , and postmarked on october 23 , according to young , and it was turned over to authorities for investigation after zenya hernandez received it nearly two weeks after it was postmarked . when we received this letter i will tell you it was unprecedented . we have not seen anything like that in recent times in other investigations , but most importantly , it gave us hope , ' fbi special agent kieran ramsey said at the news conference . neither the girl 's mother nor the rest of her family has had any contact with abigail since the letter 's arrival , said young . authorities said abigail had no source of income , and on the day she disappeared she did not have winter clothes with her . police released photos of a pocketbook and a necklace that were believed to be with the teen when she went missing . officials from several law enforcement agencies asked that members of the community be vigilant and pay attention to their surroundings , in the hopes that someone will spot abigail and alert authorities . we are asking you look at your neighbor . look at the girls next door . look at your church . is there somebody that you have n't seen before ? ' young said on friday . initially authorities believed abigail 's disappearance may have been an abduction , and continue to believe that she may be being held against her will , but nevertheless they are continuing to classify it as a missing persons case , as all possibilities have not yet been ruled out , according to ramsey . information and tips on abigail 's disappearance are still flowing in from members of the community and law enforcement officials asked that anyone with knowledge of abigail 's whereabouts contact authorities . we need to reunite this child with her family , ' concluded young .	15-year-old abigail hernandez was last seen walking home from school on october 9
williams story <tsp> ( cnn ) -- the floral , serene surrounds of london 's chelsea flower show seem a million miles from the screeching , full-throttle action of formula one . but the two worlds have merged in a unique and award-winning way thanks to the williams f1 team and a british tree nursery . the williams story ' is a topiary display which depicts the history of the nine-time constructors'champions , from their origins in 1977 to pastor maldonado 's historic victory at the spanish grand prix earlier this month . and , in keeping with the green shoots of recovery which were visible during williams'first race win in eight years , the piece features a life-sized topiary formula one car . the eye-catching display , which also boasts a pit crew sculpted from living trees , has been handed a gold medal at the prestigious annual british horticultural event . winning the gold medal is a fantastic achievement , ' williams founder and team principal frank williams said . i saw it for the first time ( this week ) and was taken aback by its scale and attention to detail . the chelsea flower show is a uniquely british occasion and to be successful at this illustrious event is a great honor . i hope the public enjoy the display as much as the judges . ' the topiary took over three years to complete and was sculpted using a fast-growing plant native to south-west china . the honor provides williams with a timely boost ahead of this weekend 's monaco grand prix , with the team looking to build on maldonado 's win -- the first by a venezuelan in the history of the sport . williams'celebrations were cut short by a fire in the team garage , a blaze which left seven people in hospital . the incident also resulted in williams losing vital parts and equipment , but the team 's chief operations engineer mark gillan moved to thank the other f1 manufacturers for the support they have shown . the team 's preparations for monaco have been somewhat hampered by last sunday 's garage fire , ' gillan said on the official f1 website . but the impact of the fire has been mitigated by what can only be described as a herculean effort by the factory and our suppliers to restock both the damaged equipment and car parts . we would also like to thank the generous offers of help from the other teams , highlighting once more the excellent sportsmanship that exists in formula one and high levels of camaraderie throughout the pit lane . '	the williams story ' features a life-size topiary formula one car and pit crew
williams <tsp> ( cnn ) -- the floral , serene surrounds of london 's chelsea flower show seem a million miles from the screeching , full-throttle action of formula one . but the two worlds have merged in a unique and award-winning way thanks to the williams f1 team and a british tree nursery . the williams story ' is a topiary display which depicts the history of the nine-time constructors'champions , from their origins in 1977 to pastor maldonado 's historic victory at the spanish grand prix earlier this month . and , in keeping with the green shoots of recovery which were visible during williams'first race win in eight years , the piece features a life-sized topiary formula one car . the eye-catching display , which also boasts a pit crew sculpted from living trees , has been handed a gold medal at the prestigious annual british horticultural event . winning the gold medal is a fantastic achievement , ' williams founder and team principal frank williams said . i saw it for the first time ( this week ) and was taken aback by its scale and attention to detail . the chelsea flower show is a uniquely british occasion and to be successful at this illustrious event is a great honor . i hope the public enjoy the display as much as the judges . ' the topiary took over three years to complete and was sculpted using a fast-growing plant native to south-west china . the honor provides williams with a timely boost ahead of this weekend 's monaco grand prix , with the team looking to build on maldonado 's win -- the first by a venezuelan in the history of the sport . williams'celebrations were cut short by a fire in the team garage , a blaze which left seven people in hospital . the incident also resulted in williams losing vital parts and equipment , but the team 's chief operations engineer mark gillan moved to thank the other f1 manufacturers for the support they have shown . the team 's preparations for monaco have been somewhat hampered by last sunday 's garage fire , ' gillan said on the official f1 website . but the impact of the fire has been mitigated by what can only be described as a herculean effort by the factory and our suppliers to restock both the damaged equipment and car parts . we would also like to thank the generous offers of help from the other teams , highlighting once more the excellent sportsmanship that exists in formula one and high levels of camaraderie throughout the pit lane . '	williams the subject of a topiary display at the chelsea flower show
williams <tsp> ( cnn ) -- the floral , serene surrounds of london 's chelsea flower show seem a million miles from the screeching , full-throttle action of formula one . but the two worlds have merged in a unique and award-winning way thanks to the williams f1 team and a british tree nursery . the williams story ' is a topiary display which depicts the history of the nine-time constructors'champions , from their origins in 1977 to pastor maldonado 's historic victory at the spanish grand prix earlier this month . and , in keeping with the green shoots of recovery which were visible during williams'first race win in eight years , the piece features a life-sized topiary formula one car . the eye-catching display , which also boasts a pit crew sculpted from living trees , has been handed a gold medal at the prestigious annual british horticultural event . winning the gold medal is a fantastic achievement , ' williams founder and team principal frank williams said . i saw it for the first time ( this week ) and was taken aback by its scale and attention to detail . the chelsea flower show is a uniquely british occasion and to be successful at this illustrious event is a great honor . i hope the public enjoy the display as much as the judges . ' the topiary took over three years to complete and was sculpted using a fast-growing plant native to south-west china . the honor provides williams with a timely boost ahead of this weekend 's monaco grand prix , with the team looking to build on maldonado 's win -- the first by a venezuelan in the history of the sport . williams'celebrations were cut short by a fire in the team garage , a blaze which left seven people in hospital . the incident also resulted in williams losing vital parts and equipment , but the team 's chief operations engineer mark gillan moved to thank the other f1 manufacturers for the support they have shown . the team 's preparations for monaco have been somewhat hampered by last sunday 's garage fire , ' gillan said on the official f1 website . but the impact of the fire has been mitigated by what can only be described as a herculean effort by the factory and our suppliers to restock both the damaged equipment and car parts . we would also like to thank the generous offers of help from the other teams , highlighting once more the excellent sportsmanship that exists in formula one and high levels of camaraderie throughout the pit lane . '	the williams story ' features a life-size topiary formula one car and pit crew
williams <tsp> ( cnn ) -- the floral , serene surrounds of london 's chelsea flower show seem a million miles from the screeching , full-throttle action of formula one . but the two worlds have merged in a unique and award-winning way thanks to the williams f1 team and a british tree nursery . the williams story ' is a topiary display which depicts the history of the nine-time constructors'champions , from their origins in 1977 to pastor maldonado 's historic victory at the spanish grand prix earlier this month . and , in keeping with the green shoots of recovery which were visible during williams'first race win in eight years , the piece features a life-sized topiary formula one car . the eye-catching display , which also boasts a pit crew sculpted from living trees , has been handed a gold medal at the prestigious annual british horticultural event . winning the gold medal is a fantastic achievement , ' williams founder and team principal frank williams said . i saw it for the first time ( this week ) and was taken aback by its scale and attention to detail . the chelsea flower show is a uniquely british occasion and to be successful at this illustrious event is a great honor . i hope the public enjoy the display as much as the judges . ' the topiary took over three years to complete and was sculpted using a fast-growing plant native to south-west china . the honor provides williams with a timely boost ahead of this weekend 's monaco grand prix , with the team looking to build on maldonado 's win -- the first by a venezuelan in the history of the sport . williams'celebrations were cut short by a fire in the team garage , a blaze which left seven people in hospital . the incident also resulted in williams losing vital parts and equipment , but the team 's chief operations engineer mark gillan moved to thank the other f1 manufacturers for the support they have shown . the team 's preparations for monaco have been somewhat hampered by last sunday 's garage fire , ' gillan said on the official f1 website . but the impact of the fire has been mitigated by what can only be described as a herculean effort by the factory and our suppliers to restock both the damaged equipment and car parts . we would also like to thank the generous offers of help from the other teams , highlighting once more the excellent sportsmanship that exists in formula one and high levels of camaraderie throughout the pit lane . '	williams have thanked other f1 teams for their help following garage fire in spain
obama <tsp> washington ( cnn ) -- president barack obama announced wednesday night that all the 33,000 additional u.s. forces he ordered to afghanistan in december 2009 will be home within 15 months . in a nationally televised address from the east room of the white house , obama said 10,000 of the surge ' forces would withdraw by the end of this year , and the other 23,000 would leave afghanistan by september 2012 . u.s. troop levels calling the deployment of the surge one of the most difficult decisions that i 've made as president , ' obama said the military campaign was meeting our goals ' in afghanistan and the drawdown would begin from a position of strength . ' al qaeda is under more pressure than at any time since 9/11 , ' obama said . together with the pakistanis , we have taken out more than half of al qaeda 's leadership . and thanks to our intelligence professionals and special forces , we killed osama bin laden , the only leader that al qaeda had ever known . this was a victory for all who have served since 9/11 . ' at the same time , obama said the afghanistan drawdown and the simultaneous winding down of the war in iraq would help the united states begin to refocus attention and resources on efforts to resolve economic and other problems and to unify a politically divided nation . america , it is time to focus on nation building here at home , ' the president said . the troop withdrawals from afghanistan will begin next month , as obama promised when he ordered the surge in a speech 18 months ago at the u.s. military academy at west point , new york . after the departure of all the surge forces , the total u.s. military deployment in afghanistan will be slightly fewer than 70,000 troops . obama 's time frame will give u.s. commanders another two fighting ' seasons with the bulk of u.s. forces still available for combat operations . it also will bring the surge troops home before the november 2012 election in which obama will seek a second term . initial reaction was varied , with outgoing defense secretary robert gates supporting obama 's decision while congressional leaders were divided between those who wanted a faster withdrawal and others calling for caution in leaving afghanistan . it 's important that we retain the flexibility necessary to reconsider troop levels and respond to changes in the security environment should circumstances on the ground warrant , ' said house speaker john boehner , r-ohio , in a statement . it is my hope that the president will continue to listen to our commanders on the ground as we move forward . congress will hold the administration accountable for ensuring that the pace and scope of the drawdown does not undermine the progress we 've made thus far . ' sen. john mccain , r-arizona , was more blunt , saying : this is not the'modest'withdrawal that i and others had hoped for and advocated . ' democratic colleagues of obama expressed support for starting the withdrawal but said more troops should be included and they should depart faster than the president announced . it has been the hope of many in congress and across the country that the full drawdown of u.s. forces would happen sooner than the president laid out -- and we will continue to press for a better outcome , ' house minority leader nancy pelosi , d-california , said in a statement . trepidation about what 's next two candidates for the republican presidential nomination to run against obama next year expressed reservations about the withdrawal strategy , but differed in their reasoning . we all want our troops to come home as soon as possible , but we should n't adhere to an arbitrary timetable on the withdrawal ' from afghanistan , former massachusetts gov . mitt romney said in a statement . this decision should not be based on politics or economics . ' in his own statement , former utah gov . jon huntsman , who was obama 's ambassador to china until recently , called for shifting the afghanistan mission to a focused counterterror effort which requires significantly fewer boots on the ground than the president discussed tonight . ' we need a safe but rapid withdrawal , which encourages afghans to assume responsibility , while leaving in place a strong counterintelligence and special forces effort proportionate to the threat , ' huntsman said . what happens to civilian surge ' as troops return home ? according to senior administration officials , the troop surge fulfilled a strategy to refocus the u.s. war effort from iraq to afghanistan . due to the surge , the officials told reporters , the military mission in afghanistan has made great progress toward its objectives of dismantling and defeating al qaeda in the region while stabilizing the country to prevent it from again providing a safe haven for the planning of terrorist attacks on the united states . the killing of bin laden in early may and the success in reversing taliban momentum in the southern provinces of helmand and kandahar enabled the beginning of a troop withdrawal that will culminate with handing over security responsibilities to afghan forces in 2014 , the senior administration officials said on condition of not being identified . in the speech , obama announced that chicago will host a nato summit in may 2012 to review the afghanistan mission and strategy going forward . gates -- along with afghan war commander gen. david petraeus -- had pushed for an initial drawdown of 3,000 to 5,000 troops this year , according to a congressional source . gates also urged the president to withdraw support troops only -- not combat troops . obama , however , ultimately decided to adopt the more aggressive withdrawal plan . the senior administration officials said obama 's withdrawal schedule fell within the range of options presented to him by petraeus . the general has been nominated to become cia director to succeed leon panetta , who will take over as defense secretary when gates steps down at the end of the month . in a statement after obama 's speech , gates said it was critical ' that u.s. forces continue to aggressively ' carry out the surge strategy of degrading the capability of the taliban while bolstering afghan security forces . i support the president 's decision because it provides our commanders with enough resources , time and , perhaps most importantly , flexibility to bring the surge to a successful conclusion , ' gates said , signaling pentagon control in deciding which u.s. forces to withdraw . this week , gates acknowledged that the president must take into account public opinion and congressional support for further military engagement . sustainability here at home ' is an important consideration , gates said , noting that people are tired of a decade of war . ' cnnmoney : the cost war in afghanistan public exhaustion with the conflict is reflected in recent public opinion polls . nearly three-quarters of americans support the united states pulling some or all of its forces from afghanistan , according to a june 3-7 cnn/opinion research corp. survey . that figure jumped 10 points since may , likely as a result of the death of bin laden , pollsters said . republicans -- who have been the strongest supporters of the u.s. military presence in afghanistan -- are shifting their opinion on the conflict . in may , 47 % of republicans said they favored a partial or full withdrawal of american troops . that figure rose to 60 % this month . the sharp divisions have been reflected in congress , where democrats and republicans are increasingly split . sen. joe manchin , d-west virginia , called tuesday for a substantial and responsible reduction ' in troop levels , arguing the war has become fiscally irresponsible and more resources need to be focused on domestic problems . the united states has spent roughly $ 443 billion on the war in afghanistan , according to budget analysts . according to travis sharp , a researcher at the center for a new american security , the troop reductions obama announced would bring a savings of about $ 7 billion in fiscal year 2012 . until wednesday , obama had said publicly only that troops would begin coming home in july , and he recently indicated the initial number withdrawn would be significant . ' senior administration officials told cnn that planning for the announcement began in january , when the president summoned top members of his national security team into the oval office and tasked them with coming up with a plan for the drawdown . the calculations that went into the drawdown decision included the fact that remarkable ' and unexpected ' progress had been made degrading al-qaeda 's infrastructure in its bases in the tribal regions of pakistan over the prior 18 months , one of the officials said . additionally , the taliban have been rolled back from their heartland regions in southern and southwestern afghanistan , both in northern and southern helmand province and around the key city of kandahar , which had been their de facto capital . this progress fulfilled the administration 's pledge to reverse the momentum of the taliban , which had been one of the key rationales for the surge . another factor favoring the drawdown was the growth in afghan army and police forces of 100,000 men in the past year , the officials said . the military progress has enabled some political progress , with afghan security forces preparing this year to take over seven areas in afghanistan that are home to some 20 % of the population . special forces operations against the taliban middle management ' in afghanistan have put significant pressure on them and have opened up more opportunities for reconciliation ' with the taliban , the officials said . a white house official said the administration is not starry eyed ' about the prospects of discussions with the taliban and does not anticipate anything like the treaty of versailles , ' which ended world war i . however , the official said , there are now between 10 and 20 leads ' that the united states is aware of that may lead to substantive talks with the taliban . the official said the leads are in the exploratory ' phase and that the united states has briefed afghan president hamid karzai about them . the deployment of u.s. forces has n't been popular with many afghan leaders , who criticize the presence of the americans in their country . it 's a message that 's not lost on karl eikenberry , the u.s. ambassador to afghanistan . when we hear ourselves being called occupiers and worse , our pride is offended , and we begin to lose our inspiration to carry on , ' eikenberry said sunday during a speech at herat university in western afghanistan . at the point your leaders believe that we are doing more harm than good , when we reach a point that we feel our soldiers and civilians are being asked to sacrifice without a just cause ... the american people will ask for our forces to come home . ' cnn 's aliza kassim , barbara starr , ted barrett , deirdre walsh , tom cohen , alan silverleib and brianna keilar and cnn national security analyst peter bergen contributed to this report .	romney , huntsman question obama 's decision
obama <tsp> washington ( cnn ) -- president barack obama announced wednesday night that all the 33,000 additional u.s. forces he ordered to afghanistan in december 2009 will be home within 15 months . in a nationally televised address from the east room of the white house , obama said 10,000 of the surge ' forces would withdraw by the end of this year , and the other 23,000 would leave afghanistan by september 2012 . u.s. troop levels calling the deployment of the surge one of the most difficult decisions that i 've made as president , ' obama said the military campaign was meeting our goals ' in afghanistan and the drawdown would begin from a position of strength . ' al qaeda is under more pressure than at any time since 9/11 , ' obama said . together with the pakistanis , we have taken out more than half of al qaeda 's leadership . and thanks to our intelligence professionals and special forces , we killed osama bin laden , the only leader that al qaeda had ever known . this was a victory for all who have served since 9/11 . ' at the same time , obama said the afghanistan drawdown and the simultaneous winding down of the war in iraq would help the united states begin to refocus attention and resources on efforts to resolve economic and other problems and to unify a politically divided nation . america , it is time to focus on nation building here at home , ' the president said . the troop withdrawals from afghanistan will begin next month , as obama promised when he ordered the surge in a speech 18 months ago at the u.s. military academy at west point , new york . after the departure of all the surge forces , the total u.s. military deployment in afghanistan will be slightly fewer than 70,000 troops . obama 's time frame will give u.s. commanders another two fighting ' seasons with the bulk of u.s. forces still available for combat operations . it also will bring the surge troops home before the november 2012 election in which obama will seek a second term . initial reaction was varied , with outgoing defense secretary robert gates supporting obama 's decision while congressional leaders were divided between those who wanted a faster withdrawal and others calling for caution in leaving afghanistan . it 's important that we retain the flexibility necessary to reconsider troop levels and respond to changes in the security environment should circumstances on the ground warrant , ' said house speaker john boehner , r-ohio , in a statement . it is my hope that the president will continue to listen to our commanders on the ground as we move forward . congress will hold the administration accountable for ensuring that the pace and scope of the drawdown does not undermine the progress we 've made thus far . ' sen. john mccain , r-arizona , was more blunt , saying : this is not the'modest'withdrawal that i and others had hoped for and advocated . ' democratic colleagues of obama expressed support for starting the withdrawal but said more troops should be included and they should depart faster than the president announced . it has been the hope of many in congress and across the country that the full drawdown of u.s. forces would happen sooner than the president laid out -- and we will continue to press for a better outcome , ' house minority leader nancy pelosi , d-california , said in a statement . trepidation about what 's next two candidates for the republican presidential nomination to run against obama next year expressed reservations about the withdrawal strategy , but differed in their reasoning . we all want our troops to come home as soon as possible , but we should n't adhere to an arbitrary timetable on the withdrawal ' from afghanistan , former massachusetts gov . mitt romney said in a statement . this decision should not be based on politics or economics . ' in his own statement , former utah gov . jon huntsman , who was obama 's ambassador to china until recently , called for shifting the afghanistan mission to a focused counterterror effort which requires significantly fewer boots on the ground than the president discussed tonight . ' we need a safe but rapid withdrawal , which encourages afghans to assume responsibility , while leaving in place a strong counterintelligence and special forces effort proportionate to the threat , ' huntsman said . what happens to civilian surge ' as troops return home ? according to senior administration officials , the troop surge fulfilled a strategy to refocus the u.s. war effort from iraq to afghanistan . due to the surge , the officials told reporters , the military mission in afghanistan has made great progress toward its objectives of dismantling and defeating al qaeda in the region while stabilizing the country to prevent it from again providing a safe haven for the planning of terrorist attacks on the united states . the killing of bin laden in early may and the success in reversing taliban momentum in the southern provinces of helmand and kandahar enabled the beginning of a troop withdrawal that will culminate with handing over security responsibilities to afghan forces in 2014 , the senior administration officials said on condition of not being identified . in the speech , obama announced that chicago will host a nato summit in may 2012 to review the afghanistan mission and strategy going forward . gates -- along with afghan war commander gen. david petraeus -- had pushed for an initial drawdown of 3,000 to 5,000 troops this year , according to a congressional source . gates also urged the president to withdraw support troops only -- not combat troops . obama , however , ultimately decided to adopt the more aggressive withdrawal plan . the senior administration officials said obama 's withdrawal schedule fell within the range of options presented to him by petraeus . the general has been nominated to become cia director to succeed leon panetta , who will take over as defense secretary when gates steps down at the end of the month . in a statement after obama 's speech , gates said it was critical ' that u.s. forces continue to aggressively ' carry out the surge strategy of degrading the capability of the taliban while bolstering afghan security forces . i support the president 's decision because it provides our commanders with enough resources , time and , perhaps most importantly , flexibility to bring the surge to a successful conclusion , ' gates said , signaling pentagon control in deciding which u.s. forces to withdraw . this week , gates acknowledged that the president must take into account public opinion and congressional support for further military engagement . sustainability here at home ' is an important consideration , gates said , noting that people are tired of a decade of war . ' cnnmoney : the cost war in afghanistan public exhaustion with the conflict is reflected in recent public opinion polls . nearly three-quarters of americans support the united states pulling some or all of its forces from afghanistan , according to a june 3-7 cnn/opinion research corp. survey . that figure jumped 10 points since may , likely as a result of the death of bin laden , pollsters said . republicans -- who have been the strongest supporters of the u.s. military presence in afghanistan -- are shifting their opinion on the conflict . in may , 47 % of republicans said they favored a partial or full withdrawal of american troops . that figure rose to 60 % this month . the sharp divisions have been reflected in congress , where democrats and republicans are increasingly split . sen. joe manchin , d-west virginia , called tuesday for a substantial and responsible reduction ' in troop levels , arguing the war has become fiscally irresponsible and more resources need to be focused on domestic problems . the united states has spent roughly $ 443 billion on the war in afghanistan , according to budget analysts . according to travis sharp , a researcher at the center for a new american security , the troop reductions obama announced would bring a savings of about $ 7 billion in fiscal year 2012 . until wednesday , obama had said publicly only that troops would begin coming home in july , and he recently indicated the initial number withdrawn would be significant . ' senior administration officials told cnn that planning for the announcement began in january , when the president summoned top members of his national security team into the oval office and tasked them with coming up with a plan for the drawdown . the calculations that went into the drawdown decision included the fact that remarkable ' and unexpected ' progress had been made degrading al-qaeda 's infrastructure in its bases in the tribal regions of pakistan over the prior 18 months , one of the officials said . additionally , the taliban have been rolled back from their heartland regions in southern and southwestern afghanistan , both in northern and southern helmand province and around the key city of kandahar , which had been their de facto capital . this progress fulfilled the administration 's pledge to reverse the momentum of the taliban , which had been one of the key rationales for the surge . another factor favoring the drawdown was the growth in afghan army and police forces of 100,000 men in the past year , the officials said . the military progress has enabled some political progress , with afghan security forces preparing this year to take over seven areas in afghanistan that are home to some 20 % of the population . special forces operations against the taliban middle management ' in afghanistan have put significant pressure on them and have opened up more opportunities for reconciliation ' with the taliban , the officials said . a white house official said the administration is not starry eyed ' about the prospects of discussions with the taliban and does not anticipate anything like the treaty of versailles , ' which ended world war i . however , the official said , there are now between 10 and 20 leads ' that the united states is aware of that may lead to substantive talks with the taliban . the official said the leads are in the exploratory ' phase and that the united states has briefed afghan president hamid karzai about them . the deployment of u.s. forces has n't been popular with many afghan leaders , who criticize the presence of the americans in their country . it 's a message that 's not lost on karl eikenberry , the u.s. ambassador to afghanistan . when we hear ourselves being called occupiers and worse , our pride is offended , and we begin to lose our inspiration to carry on , ' eikenberry said sunday during a speech at herat university in western afghanistan . at the point your leaders believe that we are doing more harm than good , when we reach a point that we feel our soldiers and civilians are being asked to sacrifice without a just cause ... the american people will ask for our forces to come home . ' cnn 's aliza kassim , barbara starr , ted barrett , deirdre walsh , tom cohen , alan silverleib and brianna keilar and cnn national security analyst peter bergen contributed to this report .	president obama announces all 33,000 surge ' troops to leave by september 2012
romney <tsp> washington ( cnn ) -- president barack obama announced wednesday night that all the 33,000 additional u.s. forces he ordered to afghanistan in december 2009 will be home within 15 months . in a nationally televised address from the east room of the white house , obama said 10,000 of the surge ' forces would withdraw by the end of this year , and the other 23,000 would leave afghanistan by september 2012 . u.s. troop levels calling the deployment of the surge one of the most difficult decisions that i 've made as president , ' obama said the military campaign was meeting our goals ' in afghanistan and the drawdown would begin from a position of strength . ' al qaeda is under more pressure than at any time since 9/11 , ' obama said . together with the pakistanis , we have taken out more than half of al qaeda 's leadership . and thanks to our intelligence professionals and special forces , we killed osama bin laden , the only leader that al qaeda had ever known . this was a victory for all who have served since 9/11 . ' at the same time , obama said the afghanistan drawdown and the simultaneous winding down of the war in iraq would help the united states begin to refocus attention and resources on efforts to resolve economic and other problems and to unify a politically divided nation . america , it is time to focus on nation building here at home , ' the president said . the troop withdrawals from afghanistan will begin next month , as obama promised when he ordered the surge in a speech 18 months ago at the u.s. military academy at west point , new york . after the departure of all the surge forces , the total u.s. military deployment in afghanistan will be slightly fewer than 70,000 troops . obama 's time frame will give u.s. commanders another two fighting ' seasons with the bulk of u.s. forces still available for combat operations . it also will bring the surge troops home before the november 2012 election in which obama will seek a second term . initial reaction was varied , with outgoing defense secretary robert gates supporting obama 's decision while congressional leaders were divided between those who wanted a faster withdrawal and others calling for caution in leaving afghanistan . it 's important that we retain the flexibility necessary to reconsider troop levels and respond to changes in the security environment should circumstances on the ground warrant , ' said house speaker john boehner , r-ohio , in a statement . it is my hope that the president will continue to listen to our commanders on the ground as we move forward . congress will hold the administration accountable for ensuring that the pace and scope of the drawdown does not undermine the progress we 've made thus far . ' sen. john mccain , r-arizona , was more blunt , saying : this is not the'modest'withdrawal that i and others had hoped for and advocated . ' democratic colleagues of obama expressed support for starting the withdrawal but said more troops should be included and they should depart faster than the president announced . it has been the hope of many in congress and across the country that the full drawdown of u.s. forces would happen sooner than the president laid out -- and we will continue to press for a better outcome , ' house minority leader nancy pelosi , d-california , said in a statement . trepidation about what 's next two candidates for the republican presidential nomination to run against obama next year expressed reservations about the withdrawal strategy , but differed in their reasoning . we all want our troops to come home as soon as possible , but we should n't adhere to an arbitrary timetable on the withdrawal ' from afghanistan , former massachusetts gov . mitt romney said in a statement . this decision should not be based on politics or economics . ' in his own statement , former utah gov . jon huntsman , who was obama 's ambassador to china until recently , called for shifting the afghanistan mission to a focused counterterror effort which requires significantly fewer boots on the ground than the president discussed tonight . ' we need a safe but rapid withdrawal , which encourages afghans to assume responsibility , while leaving in place a strong counterintelligence and special forces effort proportionate to the threat , ' huntsman said . what happens to civilian surge ' as troops return home ? according to senior administration officials , the troop surge fulfilled a strategy to refocus the u.s. war effort from iraq to afghanistan . due to the surge , the officials told reporters , the military mission in afghanistan has made great progress toward its objectives of dismantling and defeating al qaeda in the region while stabilizing the country to prevent it from again providing a safe haven for the planning of terrorist attacks on the united states . the killing of bin laden in early may and the success in reversing taliban momentum in the southern provinces of helmand and kandahar enabled the beginning of a troop withdrawal that will culminate with handing over security responsibilities to afghan forces in 2014 , the senior administration officials said on condition of not being identified . in the speech , obama announced that chicago will host a nato summit in may 2012 to review the afghanistan mission and strategy going forward . gates -- along with afghan war commander gen. david petraeus -- had pushed for an initial drawdown of 3,000 to 5,000 troops this year , according to a congressional source . gates also urged the president to withdraw support troops only -- not combat troops . obama , however , ultimately decided to adopt the more aggressive withdrawal plan . the senior administration officials said obama 's withdrawal schedule fell within the range of options presented to him by petraeus . the general has been nominated to become cia director to succeed leon panetta , who will take over as defense secretary when gates steps down at the end of the month . in a statement after obama 's speech , gates said it was critical ' that u.s. forces continue to aggressively ' carry out the surge strategy of degrading the capability of the taliban while bolstering afghan security forces . i support the president 's decision because it provides our commanders with enough resources , time and , perhaps most importantly , flexibility to bring the surge to a successful conclusion , ' gates said , signaling pentagon control in deciding which u.s. forces to withdraw . this week , gates acknowledged that the president must take into account public opinion and congressional support for further military engagement . sustainability here at home ' is an important consideration , gates said , noting that people are tired of a decade of war . ' cnnmoney : the cost war in afghanistan public exhaustion with the conflict is reflected in recent public opinion polls . nearly three-quarters of americans support the united states pulling some or all of its forces from afghanistan , according to a june 3-7 cnn/opinion research corp. survey . that figure jumped 10 points since may , likely as a result of the death of bin laden , pollsters said . republicans -- who have been the strongest supporters of the u.s. military presence in afghanistan -- are shifting their opinion on the conflict . in may , 47 % of republicans said they favored a partial or full withdrawal of american troops . that figure rose to 60 % this month . the sharp divisions have been reflected in congress , where democrats and republicans are increasingly split . sen. joe manchin , d-west virginia , called tuesday for a substantial and responsible reduction ' in troop levels , arguing the war has become fiscally irresponsible and more resources need to be focused on domestic problems . the united states has spent roughly $ 443 billion on the war in afghanistan , according to budget analysts . according to travis sharp , a researcher at the center for a new american security , the troop reductions obama announced would bring a savings of about $ 7 billion in fiscal year 2012 . until wednesday , obama had said publicly only that troops would begin coming home in july , and he recently indicated the initial number withdrawn would be significant . ' senior administration officials told cnn that planning for the announcement began in january , when the president summoned top members of his national security team into the oval office and tasked them with coming up with a plan for the drawdown . the calculations that went into the drawdown decision included the fact that remarkable ' and unexpected ' progress had been made degrading al-qaeda 's infrastructure in its bases in the tribal regions of pakistan over the prior 18 months , one of the officials said . additionally , the taliban have been rolled back from their heartland regions in southern and southwestern afghanistan , both in northern and southern helmand province and around the key city of kandahar , which had been their de facto capital . this progress fulfilled the administration 's pledge to reverse the momentum of the taliban , which had been one of the key rationales for the surge . another factor favoring the drawdown was the growth in afghan army and police forces of 100,000 men in the past year , the officials said . the military progress has enabled some political progress , with afghan security forces preparing this year to take over seven areas in afghanistan that are home to some 20 % of the population . special forces operations against the taliban middle management ' in afghanistan have put significant pressure on them and have opened up more opportunities for reconciliation ' with the taliban , the officials said . a white house official said the administration is not starry eyed ' about the prospects of discussions with the taliban and does not anticipate anything like the treaty of versailles , ' which ended world war i . however , the official said , there are now between 10 and 20 leads ' that the united states is aware of that may lead to substantive talks with the taliban . the official said the leads are in the exploratory ' phase and that the united states has briefed afghan president hamid karzai about them . the deployment of u.s. forces has n't been popular with many afghan leaders , who criticize the presence of the americans in their country . it 's a message that 's not lost on karl eikenberry , the u.s. ambassador to afghanistan . when we hear ourselves being called occupiers and worse , our pride is offended , and we begin to lose our inspiration to carry on , ' eikenberry said sunday during a speech at herat university in western afghanistan . at the point your leaders believe that we are doing more harm than good , when we reach a point that we feel our soldiers and civilians are being asked to sacrifice without a just cause ... the american people will ask for our forces to come home . ' cnn 's aliza kassim , barbara starr , ted barrett , deirdre walsh , tom cohen , alan silverleib and brianna keilar and cnn national security analyst peter bergen contributed to this report .	romney , huntsman question obama 's decision
pakistan <tsp> islamabad , pakistan ( cnn ) -- the chairman of the u.s. joint chiefs of staff arrived in pakistan on tuesday amid tensions between the two countries about u.s. military incursions into pakistan 's tribal areas . adm. michael mullen will meet with pakistan 's new prime minister and its military chief . adm. michael mullen will meet with pakistan 's newly elected prime minister , yousaf raza gilani , and pakistan 's military chief , gen. parvez kayani , mullen 's office said . relations between the united states and pakistan have been tense since the u.s. military sent ground forces into pakistan 's tribal regions earlier this month without islamabad 's permission . the incident prompted the pakistani government to summon the u.s. ambassador to voice its disapproval , as well as deliver a demarche ' ( a diplomatic petition or protest ) through its ambassador in washington . last week , kayani announced no foreign forces will be allowed to conduct operations inside pakistan in light of the reckless ' u.s. military ground operation . kayani said pakistan 's territorial integrity ... will be defended at all cost and no external force is allowed to conduct operations ... inside pakistan . ' his announcement came amid media reports that several months ago , president bush authorized u.s. special forces to carry out ground assaults inside pakistan without first seeking islamabad 's permission . meanwhile , a suicide attack late tuesday evening in the restive area of swat killed three soldiers and wounded six others , the pakistani military told cnn . pakistan army spokesman major murad khan said the driver of the suicide car bomb tried to ram the gate of a military checkpoint at a school in the swat district . troops shot from the check-post before the attacker reached his target , khan said . the car exploded , and militants shot back as they ran away . the incident happened at a time when muslims break their fasts in the month of ramadhan . swat militants loyal to banned religious leader maulana fazlullah have claimed responsibility for the attack , according to the military . the suicide attacker in the car was killed . a few others were also believed to have been killed or injured , but khan said there were no confirmed numbers because it was dark and the militants removed the bodies of their dead and wounded . the explosion occurred at the tutano bandai school of tehsil kabal in swat district in the north west frontier province . a military spokesman offer no additional details . cnn 's jamie mcintyre and zein basravi contributed to this report .	relations between u.s. and pakistan tense since u.s. raid in pakistani tribal region
pakistan <tsp> islamabad , pakistan ( cnn ) -- the chairman of the u.s. joint chiefs of staff arrived in pakistan on tuesday amid tensions between the two countries about u.s. military incursions into pakistan 's tribal areas . adm. michael mullen will meet with pakistan 's new prime minister and its military chief . adm. michael mullen will meet with pakistan 's newly elected prime minister , yousaf raza gilani , and pakistan 's military chief , gen. parvez kayani , mullen 's office said . relations between the united states and pakistan have been tense since the u.s. military sent ground forces into pakistan 's tribal regions earlier this month without islamabad 's permission . the incident prompted the pakistani government to summon the u.s. ambassador to voice its disapproval , as well as deliver a demarche ' ( a diplomatic petition or protest ) through its ambassador in washington . last week , kayani announced no foreign forces will be allowed to conduct operations inside pakistan in light of the reckless ' u.s. military ground operation . kayani said pakistan 's territorial integrity ... will be defended at all cost and no external force is allowed to conduct operations ... inside pakistan . ' his announcement came amid media reports that several months ago , president bush authorized u.s. special forces to carry out ground assaults inside pakistan without first seeking islamabad 's permission . meanwhile , a suicide attack late tuesday evening in the restive area of swat killed three soldiers and wounded six others , the pakistani military told cnn . pakistan army spokesman major murad khan said the driver of the suicide car bomb tried to ram the gate of a military checkpoint at a school in the swat district . troops shot from the check-post before the attacker reached his target , khan said . the car exploded , and militants shot back as they ran away . the incident happened at a time when muslims break their fasts in the month of ramadhan . swat militants loyal to banned religious leader maulana fazlullah have claimed responsibility for the attack , according to the military . the suicide attacker in the car was killed . a few others were also believed to have been killed or injured , but khan said there were no confirmed numbers because it was dark and the militants removed the bodies of their dead and wounded . the explosion occurred at the tutano bandai school of tehsil kabal in swat district in the north west frontier province . a military spokesman offer no additional details . cnn 's jamie mcintyre and zein basravi contributed to this report .	suicide attack kills 3 soldiers , wounds 6 others in pakistan region of swat
pakistan <tsp> islamabad , pakistan ( cnn ) -- the chairman of the u.s. joint chiefs of staff arrived in pakistan on tuesday amid tensions between the two countries about u.s. military incursions into pakistan 's tribal areas . adm. michael mullen will meet with pakistan 's new prime minister and its military chief . adm. michael mullen will meet with pakistan 's newly elected prime minister , yousaf raza gilani , and pakistan 's military chief , gen. parvez kayani , mullen 's office said . relations between the united states and pakistan have been tense since the u.s. military sent ground forces into pakistan 's tribal regions earlier this month without islamabad 's permission . the incident prompted the pakistani government to summon the u.s. ambassador to voice its disapproval , as well as deliver a demarche ' ( a diplomatic petition or protest ) through its ambassador in washington . last week , kayani announced no foreign forces will be allowed to conduct operations inside pakistan in light of the reckless ' u.s. military ground operation . kayani said pakistan 's territorial integrity ... will be defended at all cost and no external force is allowed to conduct operations ... inside pakistan . ' his announcement came amid media reports that several months ago , president bush authorized u.s. special forces to carry out ground assaults inside pakistan without first seeking islamabad 's permission . meanwhile , a suicide attack late tuesday evening in the restive area of swat killed three soldiers and wounded six others , the pakistani military told cnn . pakistan army spokesman major murad khan said the driver of the suicide car bomb tried to ram the gate of a military checkpoint at a school in the swat district . troops shot from the check-post before the attacker reached his target , khan said . the car exploded , and militants shot back as they ran away . the incident happened at a time when muslims break their fasts in the month of ramadhan . swat militants loyal to banned religious leader maulana fazlullah have claimed responsibility for the attack , according to the military . the suicide attacker in the car was killed . a few others were also believed to have been killed or injured , but khan said there were no confirmed numbers because it was dark and the militants removed the bodies of their dead and wounded . the explosion occurred at the tutano bandai school of tehsil kabal in swat district in the north west frontier province . a military spokesman offer no additional details . cnn 's jamie mcintyre and zein basravi contributed to this report .	adm. michael mullen to meet with pakistan 's new prime minister and military chief
robin thicke <tsp> ( cnn ) -- for the 2013 mtv europe music awards , miley cyrus was as attention-grabbing as ever . the 20-year-old singer , who was a two-time performer during sunday 's ceremony in amsterdam , netherlands , lit what appeared to be a joint on stage during her acceptance speech for best video with wrecking ball . ' wearing a white leotard and a furry shrug , cyrus carried a chanel purse on stage with her as she accepted the award . although her ema would n't fit in the clutch , she did try to make a little more room by fishing out what looked like a spliff and then proceeded to smoke it . the puff was n't shown during the emas'airing on mtv 's flagship channel , and cyrus has been quiet about her action on twitter . on sunday night , she simply instructed her twitter followers to stay in school & be kind . other than that have fun . ' regardless , cyrus'smoking was a slightly more risque act during a relatively tame event , which featured performances from snoop dogg , icona pop , the killers , kings of leon and bruno mars . yet , given that this was an mtv event , the night would n't have been complete if it did n't include a little twerking . that came courtesy cyrus , who , for the second time in three months , took the stage at an mtv awards ceremony to perform her hit we ca n't stop . ' while some might 've been expecting something just as scandalous as her now-infamous set at the 2013 mtv video music awards , cyrus went in a different direction . instead of giant teddy bears , the 20-year-old singer was accompanied by alien figures dressed in head-to-toe black , and she herself wore a skintight , knee-length silver dress rather than a onesie . cyrus also swapped her vmas dancing partner , robin thicke , for a little person in a black latex catsuit . the twerking stayed more or less the same and was completely absent from her later performance of wrecking ball . ' cyrus was clearly one of the night 's big draws -- she even came out first , ahead of the night 's mc , lmfao 's redfoo -- but she did n't lay claim to the entire show . thicke followed cyrus with a rendition of blurred lines ' that had a cameo from australian rapper iggy azalea , and the night 's best female award winner katy perry soon followed with a performance of unconditionally ' that found her suspended in the air . like the singers who went before her , perry fully embraced the night 's theme of an out of this world ' space party , ending her performance in a glowing silver bodysuit . throughout the event , held at amsterdam 's ziggo dome , awards were handed out in obligatory categories such as best pop , rock and alternative , as well as emas-specific honors such as top worldwide act and world stage . eminem , one of the emas'top nominees , took home the award for best hip-hop act , and was also named the global icon of the year . in between awards and performances , will ferrell 's ron burgundy made some comedic appearances , showing just how much can go wrong when his overly confident newscaster character is unleashed in the netherlands . this year 's show marked the emas 20th anniversary .	miley cyrus , robin thicke and more performed
newport <tsp> ensenada , mexico ( cnn ) -- it 's what every sailor remembers : the fear of the first overnight race . the moment takes on bigger meaning when the seaman is a mere 9 years old . it 's really cool having a shift overnight , ' said jake mayol , a third-grader from aliso viejo , california . frightening too . it was pretty scary because when the adults went up on the bow , you were worried that they were going to fall in , ' said jake , whose long blonde hair casts him as a year-round boy of summer . he and three other youngsters -- including two girls , both 13 -- joined their fathers on a 46-ft bluewater cruiser in a 125-mile sailrace along the pacific coast that describes itself as the world 's largest international yacht race . ' the newport to ensenada international yacht race makes that claim because it begins in california and ends in mexico . the regatta offers vistas of mountains meeting the sea and ends in mexico 's wine country , where ensenada produces 90 % of the nation 's wine . the race fielded 204 boats this april -- an increase over recent years but still well below the almost 700 boats that competed in the 1980s . past participants included celebrities and great sailors alike , such as actors humphrey bogart and buddy ebsen , the late steve fossett , america 's cup winner dennis conner , and walt disney co. scion roy disney . nautical memories for 9-year-old jake , his achievement marked the third generation of mayols completing the race , said his father , erik , 48 , a tile and stone contractor . jake 's grandfather completed the race 20 times , said erik mayol . it was really special for me to be able to share it with him , ' recalls father erik mayol , who added he 's raced the event 35 times . there were a few moment when they were not completely comfortable , which is completely normal , and it 's our job to make them feel safe . ' those moments arose when overnight winds hit 17 knots , and the boat turns knocked the sleeping youths to the cabin sole . it 's really hard to go down and sleep for a couple of hours and then get back up for your next shift , ' said cole pomeroy , 12 , a 6th grader from newport beach . his father , karl , 48 , an executive with an air conditioning manufacturer , described the experience as a lifetime memory -- a great thing to share with your son . ' or daughter . one girl , lolo foster , 13 , a 7th grader from corona del mar , california , said the parents entertained the youngsters with ghost stories , creating a playful banter on the stella maris . i saw this boat at night in silhouette , and it looked like a pirate ship , ' lolo recalled . another girl , sammy pickell , 13 , also a 7th grader from corona del mar , marveled at the marine life . we saw a lot of dolphins and they were doing tricks for us close to the boat , ' sammy said . they were jumping up and going in front of us and crossing in front of the bow . ' safety at sea the fathers of the four children said their parental anxieties were allayed by how skipper tom madden outfitted his sailboat with redundancies for safety . those concerns are understandable as of late . the perils of sail racing have been on the mind of many pacific sailors as the past year has been particularly tragic on the california coast . in last year 's newport-to-ensenada regatta , four sailors were killed when their 37-foot boat , named aegean , struck the north end of the unlighted north coronado island off the mexican coast at night , according to authorities and race organizers . and just last month british sailracer andrew bart ' simpson , 36 , was killed training for the america 's cup aboard the 72-foot artemis racing , which capsized in san francisco bay . the risks of coastal sailing carry the reward of thrills , adventure , and a coastal horizon that can mesmerize the sailor for the entire journey . this is one of the more prominent races in the world , ' said chuck iverson , commodore of the newport ocean sailing association , which has hosted the sailrace since its inception in 1947 . we have had world-class sailors in this race . ' race organizers work with the governor and tourism official in baja california , mexico , to make sure everybody has a good time , ' said vice commodore dave shockley . the post-race party recently went upscale , moving to the elegant hotel coral and marina from a downtown ensenada motel in need of a coat of paint . the old motel was a longtime sentimental favorite , where race organizers maintained a tradition of using a bucket to pass results and notes up and down the outdoor floors . economics of sailing in the 1980s , the competition lured about 680 boats , its peak . the more than 200 boats in this year 's race marked an increase from recent years , especially since the recession hit in 2008 . in 2011 , the race experienced its lowest turnover ever , 175 sailboats , iverson said . when the downturn came in 2008 , it really affected us , and the number of boats declined , ' iverson said . some sailors and their families had also dropped from participation because of the intense u.s.-mexico security and lengthy border checks , prompted by cartel violence and smuggling . no one wants to drive down here anymore , ' said sailracer peter bretschger , past commodore of the balboa yacht club , a regatta co-sponsor . however , he and several hundred partiers were n't daunted , evidenced in the after race celebration in the hotel courtyard . this year 's contest , with its finish line now located off the hotel marina , enjoyed extraordinary winds : a 60-ft trimaran , the loe real from san diego , did n't even have to sail overnight and finished just before sunset , setting a race record for second fastest time ever for a multi-hull , at 7:03:51 . the multi-hull record still belong to adventurer fossett , whose 60-ft stars and stripes catamaran completed the course in 6:46:40 in 1998 . it was n't just children showing a trailblazing spirit in the race . rhonda toller was among the small but growing number of women racers . i grew up power boating my entire life and i always dreamed of sailing , ' she said . she 's now been sailing for six years and owns a 57-ft sailboat . it 's just really fun to come to mexico , ' she added . under a full moon , cnn newsdesk editor michael martinez cruised the newport-to-ensenada course in the 50-ft bluewater sailboat permanent waves , courtesy of skipper j. scott huston and his crew .	newport to ensenada international yacht race dubbed the world 's largest international yacht race

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