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ASHEVILLE, North Carolina (CNN) -- Greg Melville's neighbors in Vermont looked at him like he was crazy 2½ years ago when he drove what he refers to as his "vegetable vehicle." It's a car that runs on vegetable oil instead of gasoline. Greg Melville converted a 1985 diesel station wagon to run on vegetable oil when his family needed another car. Back then, gasoline cost about $2.20 per gallon. Now that the cost of gas is nearly twice that, many Americans are starting to think that converting to a vehicle that runs on vegetable oil isn't such a bad idea. Melville, who now lives in Asheville, North Carolina, says the decision to convert a 1985 diesel station wagon to run on vegetable oil came about when his wife was in medical school and the couple needed a second vehicle. "We did some research and found out that the old Mercedes engines were very easy to convert, just because they are practically indestructible," Melville explained. After he found a good deal online, the couple purchased the car and found a conversion kit from a company in Massachusetts called Grease Car. The Melvilles then took the car and kit to an expert installer in their area and in no time, they were driving around -- with free fuel. The kit and installation cost about $1,000 each, and Melville says it took about 1½ years to recoup that cost. "We're kind of playing with house money, because we're driving on free gas, and it's paid for itself many times over," he said. Melville, who is a writer, has driven the gas-free vehicle more than 60,000 miles, including two cross-country trips he's written about in an upcoming book. Veggie car makes a cross-country road trip » . The converted car was outfitted with a 15-gallon tank. Melville says it gets about 20 miles per gallon, the same fuel economy it would have gotten with the original diesel system. But according to a recent editorial he wrote for The New York Times, Melville says his carbon footprint is cut in half while driving the car fueled by vegetable oil. But all is not golden -- or green, as the case may be -- in this veggie tale. Melville admits that there are a few downsides to having a vegetable-oil powered vehicle. The process of collecting and filtering the grease can be time-consuming and a bit messy. He's made arrangements to get most of his waste oil from local restaurants, and each week, his suppliers leave him five-gallon drums that he must pick up. But when he travels long distances, he has to find new restaurants on the road that are willing to give him their used grease. Once Melville gets the grease, he pours it into a large gas can that's been painted black. The dark color helps absorb the sun's rays, which heat the oil inside. The process helps thin the grease and makes it easier to filter bits of onion rings and other fried foods. "[It's] not always the cleanest thing. I've spilled it all over me a couple times," Melville said. Another side effect of using vegetable oil is the smell. The undeniable aroma of french fries and other deep-fried foods wafts up frequently from the exhaust. Depending on a person's palate, the aromatherapy could be a deal-breaker or a fringe benefit. Still, Melville says he would recommend a vegetable vehicle to anyone -- with the following caution: . "Make sure you have a supplier lined up, because suppliers are becoming harder to find." Even though many Americans love to eat fried food, there's not enough leftover oil to power all of the cars in the United States. The vegetable-oil powered cars have become so popular, there have been reports of cooking oil thefts from eating establishments across the country and talk of restaurants charging for the leftover oil. For now, Melville isn't concerned. "My hope is ... by the time that happens, some other alternative like plug-in hybrids will come along and make these cars obsolete," he said. "Then I won't have to be filling it up with vegetable oil, and I can have a plug-in hybrid and go to a regular gas station and not have to feel guilty or worry about it."

Greg Melville converted a 1985 diesel Mercedes to run on vegetable oil . A car kit and professional installation cost about $2,000 . Restaurants supply Melville with free five-gallon drums of used oil, which he filters . Collecting and cleaning oil, smelly fumes are a few downsides of veggie cars .

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(CNN) -- Hail stones the size of fists pummel the small sailboat lurching violently in the Pacific Ocean. Blanketed in darkness, Nik Brbora desperately tries to steer his 18-strong crew through 50-knot hurricane winds and waves three-storeys high. As dawn approaches, a monster wave flips the yacht, ripping out the steering and smashing Brbora against the deck. Falling in and out of consciousness, the 29-year-old is rescued by U.S. coast guards who take him to the closest hospital -- 900 kilometers away in San Francisco. It's a terrifying and ultimately death-defying moment for the IT engineer from London. Yet now, as he looks back three months after completing the year-long Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, Brbora says the journey was also the greatest experience of his life. He was one of 500 amateur sailors racing ten yachts 64,500 kilometers across the globe, battling everything from hurricanes in the Caribbean to the dreaded doldrums of South East Asia. It may seem like the sort of grand adventure only the most hardened sailor would be capable of. But in an unusual twist, the majority of people on board have never sailed a boat in their lives. The event organizers are now recruiting for next year's clipper race. Those who enter face the prospect of saying goodbye to their jobs, family and friends for a 12-month voyage on the high seas. Setting sail in July 2013 from Southampton in the UK, the 70-ft yachts will visit 15 ports on all six continents. The journey is made up of eight legs, with sailors able to join for one of these, or the full circumnavigation. Founded in 1996 by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston -- the first person to sail solo, non-stop, around the world in 1969 -- the Clipper Race revolves around the notion anyone can circumnavigate the globe, regardless of their experience. The only selection criteria is people must be over 18, pass a three-week sailing course and be physically fit enough to complete the epic voyage. At £43,000 ($69,000) per person for a full year-long voyage, it's not simply a huge physical undertaking, but a significant financial one. "A lot of people thought I was crazy. They said: 'You could be using that money to put a deposit on a house or a luxury holiday around the world,'" said Brbora. "But they're such boring, standard options. I saw this as a personal investment." Australian Lisa Blair, who also completed the full circumnavigation on a different yacht, raised part of the money for her trip through a sponsored 1,300 kilometer cycle ride from Sydney to the Sunshine Coast. After being selected from almost 800 applicants, the 27-year-old novice sailor quit her retail assistant job, packed up her house and moved to Britain for an intensive sailing course. Within months she was bunking down with 17 other strangers in a clipper headed for their first stop -- Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. "You're living with guys and girls in an open room with two rows of bunks on either side," Blair said. "Shifts are four hours long, so when you're up on deck you're steering the boat, dealing with rigging, making repairs. By the time you get into bed you might only have two hours sleep," she added. With limited access to phones and internet, the crew is essentially cut off from the outside world. "We only heard about the volcanic ash which shut down airports in Mexico because we were sailing past it," added Blair. "Instead, you learn a lot about the people on board -- it's human interaction on a really deep level," she said. Throughout last year's race, participants ranged from 18 to 73-years-old, hailing from 40 countries across the world. They included a NASA scientist, ballet teacher, TV weather girl, farmer, undertaker and London cabbie driver. For Brbora, the biggest challenge came just two months before the end of the race when his vessel was almost destroyed in a storm 900 kilometer off the coast of San Francisco. Brbora was flung against metal railing in the accident, suffering a strained hip, while fellow crew member Jane Hitchens, 50, also from Britain, broke her ribs. "The deck looked like a warzone. There was no steering left and everyone's life jackets had popped open," Brbora said. "I had a sharp pain in my hip -- I thought 'this is what it must feel like to be hit by a car.' They initially tried to airlift me and Jane out with a helicopter but it was too dangerous with the mast swinging about." The boat, still miraculously in one piece, was repaired in San Francisco, and the crew went on to finish sixth in a field of 10. But along with the challenges came moments of joy. "You might be sitting up on deck and hear this whistling sound and it's a pod of dolphins or whales or giant sea turtles," Brbora said. For self-confessed "ballsy" sailor Blair, her favorite memory was of gliding down waves the size of four-storey buildings in the Southern Ocean. "It's agony because it's so cold; around 3 degrees Celsius (37 Farenheit). But here you are surfing down the face of these mountains of water," she reminisced. The clipper race was a life-changing adventure for both Blair and Brbora. After all, why stress about a late train or rainy weather when you've survived the most brutal waves on the planet? "Not many people can say they've sailed around the world," Brbora said. "It's made me realize you shouldn't be afraid of things and it's definitely given me more confidence." Blair, whose boat won the race, now teaches sailing professionally and hopes to again sail around the world -- this time on her own. "I've started living my life by the quote: 'Just do, because the world is changed by doers,'" she said. "You're not going to change the world by sitting on the couch watching TV."

500 sailors, majority with no previous experience, will circumnavigate world . Part of Clipper Round the World race, 12 yachts compete in year-long voyage . Last year's competitors tell of harrowing rescues and heartwarming moments . "A life-changing experience" for sailors who learn to face fears .

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(CNN) -- The number of confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus has jumped nearly 30 percent with 331 people being infected so far, the World Health Organization said Friday. A young couple in Mexico City wear surgical masks in an attempt to avoid contamination from the virus. The WHO added that the virus had spread to 11 countries, but the hardest hit areas were in the western hemisphere. "We have not seen sustained human to human transmission anywhere outside the Americas region," said WHO spokesman Thomas Abraham. Two more countries, Denmark and China, reported cases of the 2009 H1N1 "swine flu" virus on Friday, but they were still to be confirmed by the WHO. The largest outbreak was in Mexico which had 156 confirmed cases, while there were 141 cases confirmed and one death in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The WHO said Mexico had 9 deaths attributed to the virus. But Mexican officials said the death toll had risen to 12. However, more than 150 deaths in Mexico are suspected to have been caused by the virus and are being investigated, officials there said. The higher totals do not necessarily mean that incidence of the disease is increasing, but rather that health investigators are going through their backlog of specimens, said Dr. Keiji Fukuda, assistant director-general of WHO. In addition to Mexico and the United States, the following countries have so far confirmed non-lethal cases: . Austria: 1 Canada: 34 China: 1 Denmark: 1 Germany: 3 Israel: 2 Netherlands: 1 New Zealand: 3 Spain: 13 Switzerland: 1 United Kingdom: 9 . An additional 642 cases are being investigated in the United Kingdom, and Spain has 84 suspected cases. Australia, which has had no confirmed cases, was investigating 114.

Largest outbreak was in Mexico which had 156 confirmed cases . The virus had spread to 11 countries, with western hemisphere hardest hit . Mexico suspects 150 deaths have been caused by H1N1 virus . U.S. and Mexico the only countries showing human-to-human spread so far .

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(CNN) -- As you might expect from a city that has districts called Little Havana and Little Haiti, there's no shortage of hearty Cuban and Caribbean cuisine in Miami, but the city's elaborate mix of immigrants has also resulted in some fascinating culinary fusions. The real deal: Cafe Cubano at Versailles. "Floribbean" cooking mixes elements of traditional Caribbean cookery with modern techniques and an emphasis on fresh produce, while the style known as "Nuevo Latino" revisits classic recipes from all over Latin America, using choicer cuts of meats, healthier ingredients and an added an North American sensibility. There's nothing "nuevo" about Versailles Restaurant (3555 SW. Eighth Street), which, in spite of the French allusions of its name, serves reassuringly traditional Cuban dishes. This Little Havana institution specializes in cheap hearty staples like "moros" (black beans and rice) and "vaca frita" (shredded fried beef with a garlic seasoning), but the real draw is people-watching in the heart of the Cuban exile community, as the émigrés reminisce about the old country. The Versailles bakery next door does great empanadas, fruit juices and Cuban coffee, which is an entirely different beast from the regular American filter variety. Café cubano, or "cafecito," is like a sweet espresso and is served in tiny, potent shots. Add a splash of steamed milk to get a delicious "cortadito." Outside Little Havana, David's Café (1058 Collins Avenue) in South Beach knows how to whip up a mean "café con leche." As with so many things in Miami, when it comes to fine dining, South Beach is the place to be. If you like to eat in the company of the glitterati and you've got the bank balance to back you up, take your meat-loving self to Prime One Twelve (112 Ocean Drive). It may be just a steakhouse, but this is the kind of steakhouse favored by A-list celebs. A filet mignon will set you back $52, and you'll love all 12 juicy ounces of it, while a dessert of fried Oreos is diet-wreckingly good. Do you agree with our Miami picks? Or have we missed out your favorite spot? Tell us in the sound-off box beow. Elsewhere in South Beach, Lincoln Road is home to some very chic eateries, many of which get away with charging ridiculous prices for very ordinary fare. Fortunately, there's Sushi Samba Dromo (600 Lincoln Rd), with its seafood-based fusion of Japanese, Brazilian and Peruvian cuisine. Think sashimi flavored with exotic fruits and you'll be on the right track. Kind of... For sushi of the more traditional kind, try Nobu at the Shores Club hotel (1901 Collins Ave, Miami Beach), which also does excellent tempura and teriyaki. Joe's Stone Crab (11 Washington Ave) is another South Beach favorite. Joe's doesn't take reservations and there are huge queues for its legendary crab, but if you've got better things to do than queue for two hours for your supper, you can always grab a takeout from the counter next door. If you want to impress that special someone, there's nowhere better than Casa Tua (1700 James Avenue). This secluded, romantic hideaway has superb Italian food and is suitably expensive. Vegetarians are well catered for at the Lost and Found Saloon (185 NW 36th Street) in the Wynwood neighborhood, a relaxed but stylish option for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Gourmet Carrot (959 West Avenue, Miami Beach) is another good spot for veggies, or anyone with a hankering for a deliciously healthy smoothie. ...................... Miami City Guide: . Where to stay | What to see | Where to be seen | Where to eat | Where to shop .

Versailles Restaurant is a bastion of authentic Cuban cuisine in Little Havana . Miami is the place for a Cafe Cubano -- a sticky sweet shot of espresso . Celebs flock to Prime One Twelve to devour succulent slabs of steak . Lost and Found Saloon is a great spot for a veggie breakfast -- or lunch .

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(CNN) -- A gunman believed to be an Afghan soldier killed a British service member Monday, when he opened fire on ISAF and Afghan soldiers, according to the UK Ministry of Defence. The "insider" attack occurred on a patrol base in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province. The victim was part of an engineer's regiment, MoD spokesman Tom Bennett said in a statement. Six other ISAF soldiers were wounded in the attack, another MoD spokesman said. The term "insider" refers to strikes by Afghan National Army soldiers, police or by militants wearing their uniforms on members of NATO, with whom they are working together. Read more: Baby's arrival surprises British base in Afghanistan . "Next of kin have been informed," Bennett said. The soldier's family has asked that no further details be released for 24 hours. More than 50 people were killed in Afghanistan in similar attacks last year. The Afghan government calls the killings acts of terrorism. Read more: NATO releases details of brazen raid on base in Afghanistan . Such attacks have triggered concerns about the stability of Afghan security forces ahead of planned NATO withdrawals in 2014. In early October, an attack by an Afghan solider in Wardak province turned into an exchange of fire between U.S. and Afghan troops. Read more: Britain's Cameron pays surprise visit to troops in Afghanistan . CNN's Alexander Felton contributed to this report.

NEW: Six other ISAF soldiers are wounded, official says . The attack occurred on a patrol base in Helmand . The deceased soldier's family has been informed . More than 50 died last year in similar attacks .

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(CNN) -- The Dakar Rally was hit by yet another death as a French motorbike rider was killed following a collision with a Chilean police car. Thomas Bourgin, 25, was on his way to start the seventh stage of the race when he was hit by the vehicle, which was traveling in the opposite direction. Bourgin, from Saint Etienne, was found dead at the scene by medical officers. Dakar Rally hit by deaths following road accident . An inquiry has been launched into the incident which comes after the deaths of two people following a crash between a taxi and a team support vehicle in the town of Tacna, close to the Chilean border. A statement on the race's website read: "Motorcycle rider no. 106 Thomas Bourgin (FRA) was the victim of a fatal traffic accident on the link route as he made his way to the start of the day's special stage. "The accident took place at 08.23 hours local time on the link route on the way up to the Chilean side of the mountain range. The 25-year-old rider collided with a Chilean police car that was travelling in the opposite direction. The exact circumstances of the accident are being subjected to an inquiry. "The rally's medical teams deployed on the ground were only able to certify the rider's death, probably instant. "Thomas Bourgin, from Saint Etienne, where he was born on December 23rd 1987, was in 68th place in the overall ranking of his first Dakar. He had realised his passion since 2009 when he took part in the Morocco Rally, followed by a 4th place in the 2011 Africa Race and a 7th place finish in the Tunisia Rally. "The organisers of the Dakar and everyone involved in it express their great sadness to his family and friends and offer their most sincere condolences." Since the inaugural race in 1978, 26 competitors have now lost their lives, while more than 50 have died overall. Only 74 of the original 182 participants made it to Dakar in the first year. Although the race used to be held in Europe with the climax in Senegal, Africa, it was moved to South America in 2009 following threats of terrorism.

French motorbike rider Thomas Bourgin killed in crash with police car . The 25-year-old is the third person to die during this year's Dakar Rally .

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Washington (CNN) -- A magazine designed for and by gay military members may soon be displayed at military installations worldwide, an advocacy group announced Monday. "Our first objective with the magazine is to let all the gay, lesbian, bi, and trans members currently serving know that they are not alone," an active-duty officer who goes by the pseudonym JD Smith said in a statement. Smith, along with co-director Ty Walrod lead the organization known as OutServe, the group describes themselves as an underground network of actively serving military members of the United States Armed Services who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. "Visibility is key," Smith said, who added that OutServe hopes to have its next version available in print at "some larger military bases." The magazine can currently be downloaded from the internet, the statement said. "We are not about highlighting our differences." Smith said the goal of the publication is to demonstrate "how LGBT troops are proud soldiers, sailors, airmen, Coasties, and Marines just like everyone else." The magazine will contain features about "Don't Ask Don't Tell" repeal implementation and OutServe chapters, as well as other information of interest to currently-serving LGBT military members, the statement said. "We also want to communicate to all troops that there are capable gay military members serving honorably, and that accepting that and moving on will make our military stronger," said Smith. On December 22, President Barack Obama signed the DADT bill repealing the 17-year-old law. The repeal "will strengthen our national security and uphold (America's) ideals," Obama said. "No longer will tens of thousands of Americans in uniform be asked to live a lie." "Don't ask-don't tell" became law in 1993, after opposition ballooned to then newly elected President Bill Clinton's plan to lift the military's complete ban on gay service members. The policy stopped the practice of asking service members if they are gay, but still called for the dismissal of openly gay service members.

Gay magazine to appear to selected military bases, statement from publisher said . Magazines objective is to support LGBT members in the military, said group's leader . OutServe says it is an underground network of actively serving members of the military .

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(CNN) -- The winter storm system that walloped the Midwest moved east Friday night, bringing with it not just snow but powerful winds -- all of which made travel perilous and last-minute Christmas shopping more complicated across several states. Earlier this week, blizzard-like conditions left many locales white less than a week before the holiday. Many communities in central Iowa, for instance, got about a foot of snow, and the city of Madison, Wisconsin, got 15.2 inches Wednesday and Thursday, according to the National Weather Service. This much snow generally isn't expected as the system moves east, hitting Ohio, Pennsylvania and upstate New York. But that doesn't mean there haven't been -- and won't still be -- plenty of headaches. Snow is hardly foreign to these areas. But the addition of strong winds, especially in mountainous areas and along the Great Lakes, makes staying on snow-slickened roads even harder. "It's scary," Esther Boyer told CNN affiliate WDTN, soon after her car slid into a ditch Friday in western Ohio. "I guess I was just driving too fast, and you should slow down a lot sooner." The lone blizzard warning, in effect Friday night through 6 p.m. Saturday, was for parts of northern West Virginia and north-central Maryland. The National Weather Service predicts 8 to 12 inches of snow and sustained winds of up to 35 mph, with gusts blowing up to 60 mph. "Strong winds will cause blowing and drifting of snow with blizzard conditions expected at times with visibilities of one quarter mile or less (and) wind chill temperatures in the single digits ... also possible," the agency's forecast said. "Downed trees and power lines could result from the strongest gusts on Saturday." More populated areas -- many of which, such as Buffalo, Cleveland and Erie, Pennsylvania, were seeing snow around 9 p.m. Friday -- are also expected to be hit hard. The latter two cities are among those facing a winter storm warning through 7 p.m. Saturday. The weather service's forecast calls for 5 to 7 inches of snow, with 10 inches possible in spots, plus regular winds approaching 30 mph and up to 45-mph gusts by Lake Erie. A similar warning applies to western Pennsylvania, where 5 to 9 inches of light to moderate snow -- some of it "heavier, lake-enhanced snow" -- and gusts as strong as 40 mph are expected. Even more snow, between 10 to 18 inches, is forecast farther south in Pennsylvania and in northern Maryland, with 50-mph gusts possible. "A winter storm warning means that snow will make travel dangerous," the weather service said. "If you must venture out at all, use extreme caution." These advisories follow severe weather farther west that caused major problems earlier this week. While the city itself was largely spared of snow, Chicago's two airports -- O'Hare and Midway -- were clogged with travelers due to flight cancellations. Blinding snow is blamed for a 30-car pileup on Interstate 35 near Fort Dodge, Iowa, that killed two people, said Iowa State Patrol Sgt. Scott Bright. It was one of close to 100 weather-related accidents reported around the state by Thursday morning, according to Bright. CNN's Stefan Simons, Jim Kavanagh, Jareen Imam, Laura Smith-Spark, Carma Hassan and Joe Sutton contributed to this report.

NEW: Cleveland, Buffalo and other locales see snow as the system moves east . NEW: The combination of snow and powerful winds will make driving difficult . NEW: Parts of West Virginia, northern Maryland have blizzard warning into Saturday . NEW: Ohio, upstate New York, eastern and central Pennsylvania may be hard hit .

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(CNN) -- Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville believes Sunday's trip to Arsenal on Sunday is "the most difficult" away game of the season for the English Premier League leaders. Alex Ferguson's United team lead third-placed Arsenal by nine points after Javier Hernandez's late goal earned a 1-0 win over Everton on Saturday, while Arsene Wenger's side slipped to a 2-1 defeat at Bolton Wanderers 24 hours later. Defeat at the Emirates Stadium would end Arsenal's hopes of securing the EPL title and a first major honor since victory over United in the 2005 FA Cup final. Victory would put the Red Devils within touching distance of a record 19th English league title. Has time run out for Arsene Wenger? "Going to Arsenal is probably the most difficult game, and has been for many, many years," Neville, who announced his retirement in February aged 35, told CNN. "Along with Liverpool and Chelsea, those games you can never tell if you're going to win. Anything can happen and, while we've had some good results there in the last couple of years, we've some bad experiences down there as well." Former team captain Neville won eight league championships during a 19-year career with United, and the 85-cap England international said a draw against Arsenal would represent a good result for Ferguson's side. "I think if we can get a point on Sunday, come out of there with something, it would be really important for us." Neville, who was part of the 1999 European Champions League-winning squad and also won the FA Cup on three occasions, claimed the midfield area could be where the match is won or lost. "The key battle against Arsenal is midfield. We've always gone into the games over the last five or six years making sure we dominate midfield. It's Arsenal's strongest area," he said. "We always make sure we pack our midfield with strength, power and make sure we can get physical against them. If you let Arsenal play, they are the best football team in the country playing through midfield. "If you win that battle, towards the end of the game you can start to show your strength." Hernandez, also known as "Chicarito," has enjoyed a successful debut season in England after arriving in Manchester from Mexican side Guadalajara. The Mexico striker has hit 12 goals in 24 league matches, and Neville has been impressed with the form shown by the 22-year-old. "I don't think anyone had heard of him when we signed him at the end of last season. But then he played for Mexico at the World Cup and everyone started to think 'This kid doesn't look bad.' "I think you'll see that United are developing a new young team, with the likes of Rafael (Da Silva), Fabio (Da Silva), Darron Gibson, Jonathan Evans, Chicarito, Chris Smalling ... That's what the manager does, he integrates young players. "He lets them get the hunger for winning, see the work ethic, and I think Chicarito is an unbelievable example of how that's happened. Someone who cost $11.5 million and looks like one of the best center-forwards in the league."

Gary Neville has described Manchester United's trip to Arsenal as their toughest test . The former United defender is confident Ferguson's team can secure at least a draw . Neville has also hailed the form of United's Mexican striker Javier Hernandez .

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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Denzel Washington's new movie, "The Taking of Pelham 123," is not a remake, even though Walter Matthau starred in a film by the same name in 1974, the actor told CNN. Denzel Washington plays a transit official, once demoted, in "The Taking of Pelham 123." Moreover, Washington's character is not like the hostage negotiator he played three years ago in "Inside Man," although the movie is about his negotiation with a deranged ex-con hostage-holder, played by John Travolta, Washington said. And he's right. The updated "The Taking of Pelham 123" is a riveting movie about a subway dispatcher confronted by a former Wall Street trader seeking revenge -- not just a ransom, as in the 1974 film -- from the city of New York for sending him to prison. The movie opens nationwide Friday. It's essentially a two-character play, with much of the dialogue delivered over a two-way radio between Washington, in the train control center, and Travolta, on a hijacked train, director Tony Scott said. The drama is paced and punctuated by a dramatic above-ground sequence, including plenty of crashes, as police rush to deliver a $10 million cash ransom before a deadline. Travolta's character is "a contradiction of what you normally expect in a bad guy," Scott said. "He's funny, he's smart, and he's got a big heart." While Travolta, who is mourning the loss of his teenage son earlier this year, did not participate in interviews, he issued a written statement that called his character "the ultimate evil mastermind." "This role as an actor gave me the chance to dispense with all moral and ethical limitations, and explore just how bad this character could really be," Travolta said. Washington said his character, a transit official demoted to dispatcher because he was suspected of taking a bribe, is a new twist on the familiar hostage negotiator role. "I was concerned a little bit about 'Inside Man' where I was a cop and a hostage negotiator," he said. "I just liked the idea when they hand him a gun that he'd never held one before, that he was an ordinary guy in an extraordinary situation and with this cloud over his head. He didn't come to work knowing he was going to get an opportunity to redeem himself." Washington, who looks younger and more fit than his character, said to prepare for the role he "ate a lot and kept getting smaller and smaller sweaters to wear." James Gandolfini's role as New York's mayor is a combination of current and former mayors -- Michael Bloomberg and Rudy Giuliani. While he has Bloomberg's Wall Street savvy, he carries himself like Guiliani on September 11, 2001. New York City is also a major character, Scott said. Many scenes were shot below ground in subway tunnels and a closed down transit station in lower Manhattan, mostly at night, Scott said. It took four weeks of tedious shooting, he said. "It's just a whole other world down there," said Washington. An old train car was rebuilt to accommodate cameras and placed on a sound stage in Queens for scenes that couldn't be shot underground, Scott said. The same person who designed the Metropolitan Transit Authority's (MTA) high-tech control center was hired to build a replica on a sound stage in Queens, he said. Brian Helgeland, who wrote the screenplay, revealed the secret about why he would use an older movie title for a film they do not want seen as a remake. Since Sony Pictures already owned the rights to "The Taking of Pelham 123," it made it an easier sell to the studio, he said. The original film, whose title had the number spelled out -- "One Two Three" -- was based on a best-selling 1973 novel by John Godey, and starred Robert Shaw as the villain opposite Matthau. "The start was using that as a title, something the studio would feel comfortable making rather than just a nameless, orphan idea that you might have on your own, to try to put that together and use 'Pelham' as a springboard to make your own crime movie," Helgeland said. iReport.com: Share your review of "Pelham" He tried to stay away from the original "Pelham" particulars "but we had the same situation as the core, which was a hostage situation with one guy in the train with the hostages and another guy outside dealing with him over the radio." Putting the movie together, he said, was "a little bit like trying to pull off a heist, putting the pieces together, with a getaway car driver and a safecracker and all that stuff."

"The Taking of Pelham 123" is re-imagining of 1974 film . Denzel Washington stars as N.Y. transit official negotiating with villain John Travolta . Washington: I wanted to make the character distinct from negotiator in "Inside Man"

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Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) -- Walking through the downtown hotels hosting Dragon*Con, it's remarkable how many costumes on display are influenced by Japanese animation. Dynamic hairdos, gravity-defying clothes and exotic weapons are the hallmarks of the dedicated anime fans who proudly dress up as their favorite characters. Such detailed imagery was not always a part of anime, but in 1988, Katsuhiro Otomo's movie "Akira" ushered in a wave of creativity that has inspired fans ever since. This supernatural tale of two troubled teenagers caught in the middle of a military coup impressed audiences around the world with its cinematic approach to chase scenes and explosions. "When the theater version arrived in America, I forced my father to drive me two hours to Athens, Georgia, to see the screening -- which was in Japanese, with no subtitles. And I was blown away," said Joe Peacock, an author and passionate "Akira" fan. Peacock travels to fan conventions and animation companies such as Pixar to give lectures about the art and influence of "Akira." Peacock is at Dragon*Con in Atlanta this weekend to show off his collection of more than 12,000 original production cels, backgrounds and layouts from "Akira." Instead of dressing up like his favorite "Akira" characters, Peacock has tattooed scenes from the movie on his arms and leg. His devotion to "Akira" started with an unassuming, purple-hued background cel that opened his eyes to the level of art that is possible through anime. "That piece is the lynchpin to this whole exhibit," said Peacock. "When I found it, I didn't even realize it was part of 'Akira' at first because it was hidden behind all those layers of great art." Peacock said that because of this one picture, he realized, "there are pieces of that film that you never, ever clearly see that rival any of the foreground visuals." Before "Akira," anime seen in America was cheaply produced and relegated to Saturday morning cartoons, said Joe Wos, founder of Toonseum, a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, museum and website devoted to the art of comics and animation. By offering mature art and story lines, "['Akira'] saved anime," said Wos, who is collaborating with Peacock on the "Art of Akira" exhibit. "When you see the film, your jaw drops. It's beautiful; it's an astounding feat. But you miss so much because there's fantastic art on top of fantastic art on top of fantastic art. When it's pulled apart and each layer is presented to you individually, you have a chance to fully appreciate the magnitude of the artistic effort that went into this. To look at one cel gives you an idea of how much work went into each and every cel. "Akira" is "considered the pinnacle of animated art by a lot of aficionados," said David Kramer, co-founder of the Nichibei Anime Club. "[The artists creating 'Akira'] actually hand-painted 160,000 cels to make the film. And a huge number of backgrounds, probably at least 10,000 backgrounds, I'm going to guess. The art was spectacular. It was a stunning film; it had a huge budget," he said. People visiting the exhibit tell Peacock and Wos that "Akira" has dramatically influenced their lives. "For some of them, it introduced them to the fact that cartoons could be art, and then they began to pursue cartoons as an art form. For others, it really did speak to them on a different level, of these teen characters and the angst they were going through. And it spoke in a true voice. "These weren't Disney teenagers who were waiting to be kissed by a prince. These were teenagers who were troublesome youth and needed an outlet to express themselves," said Wos. " 'Akira' blew my head apart when I saw it. It quite literally changed my life," said Yuri Lowenthal, a voice actor best known for his work on the animated series "Ben 10" and on English versions of anime such as "Afro Samurai." "I had never really seen anything like it, but after I did, you'd better believe I started looking for anything else like it I could find," he said. "It was a game-changer for a lot of people, I think." "Akira" made it possible for anime to thrive in the United States, said Kramer. Before "Akira," anime "was exclusive, there were no major distributors, so fans would hand down third- or fourth-generation VHS copies with blurry subtitles," he said. But as entertainment companies began lucrative distribution operations in the 1990s and 2000s, the anime fan base became as diverse as the genre itself. One especially popular practice now is cosplay, in which fans dress up as their favorite anime characters, taking great pains to get the costume details exactly right. "I think right now cosplay is the most active segment of anime. Fans love to go to the anime conventions and meet up with people from all over the country," said Kramer. "Many people from Japan also go to these conventions, and they love to dress up as their favorite characters."

"Akira" ushered in a new wave of sophisticated and diverse anime . Many backgrounds created for "Akira" can be appreciated as standalone works of art . Joe Peacock is exhibiting his personal collection of "Akira" cels at Dragon*Con . Says one follower: "Akira" is "considered the pinnacle of animated art .

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(CNN) -- A Canadian firetruck responding with lights and sirens to a weekend fire in Rouses Point, New York, was stopped at the U.S. border for about eight minutes, U.S. border officials said Tuesday. The U.S.-Canadian border is more than 5,000 miles long. Fire officials battling the blaze called for help from fire departments in nearby Quebec, using a longstanding and often-used mutual aid agreement. But the first truck that arrived at the small Rouses Point border crossing was delayed as officials checked documentation of the firefighters and their truck, officials confirmed. Two other trucks that arrived at the crossing next were cleared in less than two minutes each, a time that one fire official said was still too long considering the situation. "It's embarrassing," said Chris Trombley, chief of the Champlain [New York] Volunteer Fire Department and deputy fire coordinator for Clinton County Emergency Services. "We're calling for help from another country and the first roadblock they hit is at our border." The Canadian firefighters "were asked for IDs," Trombley said. "I believe they even ran the license plate on the truck to make sure it was legal." In the past, firetrucks on emergency calls cleared border checkpoints in 30 seconds or less, Trombley said, although he said identification is sometimes checked upon their return. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection official said the eight-minute delay at the Rouses Point crossing was caused "when one of the firefighters' admissibility was brought into question." He declined to elaborate, citing immigration and privacy laws. A government source familiar with the case said one firefighter had a criminal record, raising questions about whether he could enter the United States. Kevin Corsaro of the border protection's Buffalo field office said the agency's primary responsibility is to protect the homeland. He called the event an "isolated incident" and said agency officials were meeting with local fire officials to "develop a plan to prevent the possibility of any delays." No one was seriously injured in the fire, but The Anchorage Inn restaurant -- a landmark in the village of Rouses Point -- was destroyed. A firefighter who suffered minor smoke inhalation was treated at the scene, said Michael LeBlanc, chief of the Rouses Point Volunteer Fire Department. The cause of the blaze has not been determined, he said. Ten fire departments, including the Canadian departments, responded to the fire. "Would it [quicker passage at the border] have changed the outcome of the fire?" Trombley asked. "Would the building have been burned? Of course it would." But he said firefighters were getting fatigued fighting the fire and relief was delayed. "Just the fact that it could happen and it could happen again is what has us worried," he said. Clinton County has mutual aid agreements with fire departments in Vermont and Quebec, Trombley said, and the county requests help from Quebec fire departments about 30 times a year. It sends help to Canada a similar number of times, he said. Trombley and LeBlanc said they planned to meet with authorities on Wednesday to discuss the incident. LeBlanc declined to comment. "I don't have all the facts and I don't want to mistake what happened," he said. "We've had a mutual aid system in place since the '50s and I can't remember anything like this happening," said Trombley. E-mail to a friend .

Upstate New York firefighters asked nearby Canadian units for help with blaze . Firetruck that responded held up at U.S. border for eight minutes . Government source says one firefighter's criminal record caused the delay . U.S. firefighter calls it embarrassing, says it delayed relief for tired firefighters .

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(CNN) -- Federal authorities are reviewing concerns from a Massachusetts sheriff who is threatening to reject federal detainees at her jail. In an August 13 letter to the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea Cabral noted a "staggering lack of communication and respect" from the federal agency. She told CNN Radio that if her concerns aren't addressed, ICE "would no longer be allowed to house federal detainees at the Suffolk County Sheriff's Department. They would have to take them to a different facility." ICE is reviewing Cabral's letter and will offer a direct response to her concerns, said Harold Ort, a spokesman for the agency. "We remain committed to reforming the nation's civil detention system and will continue to work closely with our state and local partners to ensure that these necessary reform measures are successfully implemented," he said. Cabral received $8 million this year to house about 260 federal detainees at a time. She says the amount is much less than it seems after costs are weighed in. "The state allows us to have a retained revenue account, and that simply means that you're getting revenue from a source other than state appropriation," she said. "Your state appropriation is then diminished by the amount of money you may bring in from an outside source, and in this case that's a federal reimbursement," she said. "Our retained revenue account is $8 million a year. We spend more than $6 million a year staffing the building." Cabral said her department is specifically frustrated with ICE not sending documentation about the Suffolk jail, including federal audits and complaints from detainees. Most recently, she said she was unaware of the findings of a federal investigation into the October death of a federal detainee until they were reported by Boston media. "There hasn't been that level of communication and information sharing, and it's very important that we're able to be very consistent with issues in this department," she said. CNN Radio's Ninette Sosa contributed to this report.

Sheriff is warning feds that their detainees will be turned away . Sheriff Andrea Cabral is calling for more respect and communication . ICE officials are reviewing her concerns .

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(CNN) -- In a speech to a wounded nation, presidential hopeful Mitt Romney returned to his roots of faith in the face of a national tragedy. It was a rare public expression of faith for the candidate who has kept much of his faith private. Romney, who was the head of a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints congregation in Boston, quoted heavily from the Bible and the Book of Mormon as he stood before a small crowd in New Hampshire. Romney calls for unity following Colorado shooting . "We can offer comfort to someone near us who is suffering or heavy laden," he said, a reference to the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus tells a crowd, "Come to me all ye who are heavy laden and I will give you rest, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Romney continued, "And we can mourn with those who mourn in Colorado." That phrase "mourn with those who mourn" is found in the New Testament and is also found in the Book of Mormon. "Our prayer is that the comforter might bring the peace to their souls that surpasses understanding," he said, evoking the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Philippians. Romney also left no doubt about his source material in his next line when he said, "The Apostle Paul explained - "Blessed be God who comforteth us in all our tribulations, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble." He was quoting from 2 Corinthians 1:4 using the King James Version of the text, a translation favored by Mormons. Romney also said grieving families could know they were being lifted in prayer by "people in every part of our great nation." In Aurora, the agonized seek answers through faith . The Bible-laden references in Romney's speech also signal to evangelicals who worry about his Mormon faith that he is drawing from a familiar text. "I think he's growing more comfortable and today's speech is further evidence of that, talking about his faith in the public arena," said Tony Perkins, the head of the Family Research Council. Perkins said that on Monday he had a wide-ranging face-to-face meeting with Romney in Baton Rogue. He said he told the candidate to be more open about his faith and the shared values he has with evangelical voters. "I encouraged him to do it a little more," Perkins said. For Perkins, Romney was able to strike the right balance in his speech. "I think it was more a reflection of who Mitt Romney is, rather than who he has been," Perkins said. There are still undoubtedly theological tensions between Mormons and evangelicals that won't be resolved in the presidential campaign. "Most of the evangelicals think Mormons are going to hell and they aren't Christians," said Clyde Wilcox, a political science professor at Georgetown University who co-wrote "Onward Christian Soldiers?: The Religious Right in American Politics." "What he's saying is there is a commonality of faith and shared values." According to a Gallup Poll in June, bias against a Mormon presidential candidate hasn't budged in 45 years, with 18% of Americans saying they would not vote for a well-qualified candidate who was Mormon. Some evangelical students balked when Romney was chosen to give a commencement speech at Liberty University in Virginia in May. The school was founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell. CNN's Belief Blog: The faith angles behind the big stories . In response, Romney gave an address in which he addressed his faith head on. "...People of different faiths, like yours and mine, sometimes wonder where we can meet in common purpose, when there are so many differences in creed and theology," Romney told those gathered for the commencement. "Surely the answer is that we can meet in service, in shared moral convictions about our nation stemming from a common worldview," he continued. "The best case for this is always the example of Christian men and women working and witnessing to carry God's love into every life." Since then, Romney has kept a low profile in matters of faith. Earlier this month, Romney, dressed in a suit jacket despite the sunny morning warmth, clasped hands with his wife, Ann, as they entered the Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints with their two sons and grandchildren. In an impromptu moment after his remarks on Friday, Romney stood just outside the seating area for his event, shaking hands and sharing hugs with nearly all the supporters who stood in line to meet him. "Moments like these call for our commander in chief to act as a theologian in chief, and Romney did that today," said Stephen Prothero, a religion professor at Boston University and the author of the American Bible. "He offered a theology of comfort, compassionate conservatism if you will, consistent both with the biblical witness and with the needs of the country on tragic days like today," Prothero said. Prothero said both Romney's speech and Obama's speech struck him in the same line of civil religion speeches as Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address or Ronald Reagan's speech after the Challenger shuttle exploded. To Prothero, Obama's speech sounded more pastoral and Romney sounded more presidential. He said Romney was trying to "bind the nation together" and the Romney speech was more "self evidently a theological speech." "The speech would be completely at home in a Mormon meeting and yet was carefully ecumenical," added Kristine Haglund, the editor of Dialogue, a quarterly journal on Mormon thought that is independent of the church. Haglund noted that "mourn for those who mourn," which is found in the Book of Mormon in Mosiah 18:9, "is in the top 10 passages for Mormons." The speech also struck Haglund as more optimistic than President Obama's speech. "Mormons are pretty relentlessly cheerful. [Romney] doesn't mention any Mormon ideas of the afterlife, but certainly those ideas make such optimism possible in the face of such tragedy." "The communities of family we build here are created in similar fashion in heaven. It's not unusual for Mormons to seem especially optimistic in the face of death or certain of the life to come. The views of afterlife are quite defined," she said. "Mormons really do expect families and communities to continue in heaven." Haglund also said she heard an olive branch to evangelicals in the phrase, "lifting up in prayer." "That's very evangelical language that Mormons don't say. That was striking."

Mitt Romney makes several references to the Bible and Book of Mormon . The GOP candidate has tended to avoid biblical references in past speeches . Romney was the head of a Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints congregation .

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(CNN) -- They're tall, they're historic and they're one of the most significant collections of freestanding treasures of ancient China. No, they're not the Terracotta Warriors of Xi'an. They're the "diaolou" of Kaiping, more than 1,800 centuries-old watchtowers that dot the rice fields around the city of Kaiping in the Guangdong Province. Despite the city's gorgeous landscape and a UNESCO World Heritage Site listing, Kaiping sees relatively few visitors each year -- for China, anyway. Last year's record 600,000 visitors was disappointing for local officials, who lament that Kaiping is more deserving of visitors than more well known cities in China, which can hit that number in a week. China's official desire to raise Kaiping's profile is understandable -- the city offers a rare and tranquil travel experience that doubles as a history lesson on unique Chinese architecture. Fusion architecture . The multistory watchtowers were built in the beginning of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) as a defensive response to incessant bandit raids. Heavy flooding in the area also played into the need for towers and three types of diaolou emerged over the centuries; defensive, residential and communal. "Most diaolou were designed with reinforced structures, thick walls and small windows," explains Liwen Huang, marketing manager for the Tourism Administration of Kaiping Travel Resource Development Center. At the beginning of the 20th century, Kaiping became a major source of overseas emigres. Many Kaiping natives eventually returned to the homes with newly acquired wealth, and built diaolou with Western touches incorporated into the architecture. Residential diaolou became a way for owners' to display their wealth via flamboyant designs. Along with the ancient diaolou's historic significance, the unique fusion of Chinese and Western architecture was a major factor in UNESCO's 2007 decision to confer World Heritage Site designation upon the structures. China's ancient donut-like homes: Where to see the tulou . Baroque, Roman and Gothic influences are clearly visible in many of the watchtowers. "Chinese who went overseas brought these exotic elements back home, as they found Western architecture splendid while they were abroad," says Huang. In some cases, local builders worked from images on postcards that were sent from abroad, creating unique designs. Li Garden . The best example of a luxurious diaolou can be found at Li Garden, in the Beiyi Xiang district. Built in 1936 by wealthy Chinese emigrant businessman Weili Xie (he had four wives and more than 20 children), the 11,000-square-meter complex is composed of one diaolou, six villas, two gardens, waterways and bridges. The luxurious interior was built with materials imported from overseas. Quanzhou: China's forgotten historic port . The complex was equipped with then-modern Western elements, such as flushing toilets, sinks, marble tile and fireplaces -- this at a time when most Chinese were living in tiny cottages with outdoor toilets. The garden has 20-meter steel pillars, a huge golden pavilion shaped like a birdcage and a green pond for turtles. Each window was built with at least four panes of glass to protect against firearms. What to eat while in town . Sweets are a specialty of Kaiping street stalls. Grass jelly: Made of mesona chinensis, a Chinese herb, grass jelly is one of Kaiping's most popular summer snacks. The jelly tastes best when served with shaved ice, syrup, honey or condensed milk. The sweetness balances the mild bitterness of the herb. Tofu pudding: A popular local dessert, tofu pudding has a delicate, creamy texture. Locals add a little sugar to make it more flavorful. Maltose sticks: A short wooden stick is used to stir, then mount melted maltose -- turning it into a delicious golden, sticky snack. How to get there . Fly to Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, take a taxi to Tianhe Coach Terminal Station, which should cost about RMB120 ($20); buses depart from Tianhe Coach Terminal Station to Kaiping from 7:30 a.m. to 7:15 p.m.; tickets cost RMB38 ($6).

The watchtowers in Kaiping, China, were originally built for defense against bandit raids . They received a UNESCO World Heritage Site listing in 2007 . In the early 20th century, wealthy emigrants returned to Kaiping and built more towers with Western influences .

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(CNN) -- You can call 18-year-old Marc Davis a veteran of the racetrack. On everything from BMX bikes and Bandolero cars to Legends and Late Models, Davis has steadily moved up the ranks of competitive racing. Marc Davis, left, talks strategy with crew chief Billy Venturini in Concord, North Carolina. "I've been racing for 13 years. Started out when I was 6 years old," said Davis, who is set to race this month as NASCAR's only current African-American driver/owner. Two years ago, Davis signed a six-year contract with the Joe Gibbs Race team as a developmental driver. But then the economy went south, and Davis was let go in a cost-cutting move. He was another casualty of the recession. "We got bit by the economy," Davis said. Mike Herman Jr. has worked as Davis' coach for the past two years and feels that NASCAR could be in store for even rougher financial times. "In my honest opinion, I feel like motorsports is a year away from feeling the brunt of the recession." Davis' father, Harry, breaks it down further and says it's all about sponsorship money. "Sponsors are harder to find. Teams want more money. So now instead of being unemployed, Marc is now self-employed, moving forward and racing his own team." Watch Marc Davis at the track » . Davis formed his own two-car team to compete in this year's Nationwide Series, with his first entry set for Bristol, Tennessee, on March 21. His team is being funded by family and a few sponsors, not an easy feat when it costs a minimum of $75,000 to enter a Nationwide Series race. In fact, a two-car team is considered a skeletal operation by NASCAR standards. Some of the better-funded racing teams have 12 to 20 cars at their disposal. But Davis' crew chief, Billy Venturini, says a two-car team can work for the time being. "It's a start-up deal, but I think with the short schedule he's got, I think we'll be in fine shape." Several NASCAR teams have scaled back on their budgets, and Davis feels that it actually levels the playing field a bit. "With a lower-budget team, you have a better shot of making races and winning races to be more competitive, since a lot of the higher teams have cut back their budgets as well." NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston agrees with Davis and goes one step further. "Several teams are watching their spending, and that brings more parity in the sport, with the result being a more competitive and enjoyable product for race fans." Davis plans to compete in a number of Nationwide Series races before moving on to the Sprint Cup Series. "I want to progress through the Nationwide Series and enter the Sprint Cup Series and win championships and hopefully be a full-time owner years down the road, so I think everything's going in the right direction," Davis said. With a strong family and a nuts and bolts crew behind him, Marc Davis could be on the cusp of something special.

NASCAR racer Marc Davis,18, lost driver's contract and became owner . His father says recession has cut sponsorship money . Family and friends sponsor Davis' 2-car team in Nationwide Series . Teen is only current African-American racer and owner in NASCAR .

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(OPRAH.com) -- Her name was Margaret. She had an answer for everything, even questions I didn't ask her. She dominated team meetings, nearly jumping out of her chair with "Look at me!"--type comments aimed directly at the boss. There are some tactics to help you survive team destroyers. The rest of us sitting there, jaws slack with amazement and disgust -- we were merely a load she had to carry on her back. His name was Mike, and he hadn't done a full day's work in years, but he sure knew how to draw us into his life of woe. One night at 10 p.m., I found myself finishing his report on deadline. He couldn't be there, he said, because his father was sick. By that point, I wasn't even sure he had a father. But there I was, alone, frustrated, and exhausted, in a state of loathing for work so intense I wished I could ditch it all. Oprah.com: The truth about saying no at work . And that is exactly where a dysfunctional co-worker --or as I call them, an "un-teammate" -- can put you. It's a crying shame, because working alongside a good team player is one of life's most fulfilling experiences. She makes work enjoyable; she makes it feel like something bigger than a paycheck. Working with team destroyers, well, destroys all that. They slow work down; they sap its fun, trust, and creativity. And in the process, they invariably undermine the candid and energized debate that characterizes any successful group. So why aren't they all sent packing? In good organizations, most are --eventually. But many team destroyers are like workplace Houdinis, escaping damage to their own careers while making everyone else look bad. These are the people you must survive. But how? The answer depends on the type of un-teammate you're dealing with. Generally speaking, there are five: Boss Haters, Stars, Sliders, Pity Parties, and Self-Promoters. Each species has its own way of poisoning the environment and its own antidote. The first thing you can do is start with the assumption that virtually every team destroyer is an unhappy person. No one tries to damage co-workers, a team, or an entire organization without being a bit emotionally damaged themselves. Oprah.com: 6 signs you're in the wrong job . Boss haters, stars and sliders . Let's start with the boss haters -- you know the type. Harry will tell you his disdain for authority is a reasonable reaction to the tyranny of incompetent bosses. Elizabeth will tell you she refuses to be oppressed by corporate lackeys. Other Boss Haters have personal issues behind their nitpicking resistance to every directive from above. I once met a manager who told me, "For a long time, I hated all my bosses because my father was a cruel authoritarian --I almost ruined my own career. Thank God I came to my senses." Such conversion experiences are rare, however. Most Boss Haters persist, using every kind of subterfuge from eye-rolling to outright belligerence, until management loses patience and ousts them. Some Boss Haters are hard to extricate because of union rules or special skills. If that's your situation, your best approach as the peer of a Boss Hater is a freeze-out. Don't belabor Harry's resistance or try reasoning with Elizabeth. Simply isolate; refuse to listen to their ongoing complaints. Once they're cut off from the group, Boss Haters tend to lose their energy. Now for Stars. Make no mistake -- organizations could not survive without their results. Fortunately, many key players are Stars largely because they are the best kind of employee, inclusive and inspiring, but some Stars can develop into real bullies. My team at a consulting firm had to endure Chad, an articulate (and, yes, brilliant) economics major from M.I.T. whom our clients adored. (Like other people in this piece, his name has been changed.) Sensing he was untouchable, Chad would bulldoze his ideas through the team process and ridicule anyone who dared to disagree. Another group I worked with suffered through Gwen, a marketing "guru" who'd been stolen away from another firm to bestow her genius on us. She passively disrupted our discussions by not participating, her silence sending the message "This nonsense is beneath me." We didn't have much recourse. Few bosses want to hear nattering about a goose that's laying golden eggs. Your best option in terms of self-preservation is to accept Stars for the good they do and ignore the bad. I've seen only one other approach work, but it's hard to recommend. This technique involves playing to a Star's weakness -- the need for constant praise. As strange as it may seem, many Stars are deeply insecure and cannot receive enough ego stroking from bosses. Co-workers can play the same game, thereby drawing a Star back into the team process. But don't try this unless you really feel the love for your own Chad or Gwen; a phony intervention won't work. Sliders are former Stars, resting on their laurels and undermining their teams with apathy. Their unspoken excuse is "I've proven my worth around here; I don't need to scramble anymore." Take John Smith, a crusty old newsman who had won the Pulitzer Prize for his reporting in Vietnam. I met him when we were both assigned to the same investigative team 20 years ago. The young reporters, myself included, fairly trembled in John's exalted presence, but within weeks, it became obvious to us that he had no interest in interviewing sources or late-night stakeouts. He preferred to sit around the office drinking coffee and telling war stories to his in-house fan club. Fast-forward to the end of the project: a front-page article under the byline -- you guessed it -- John Smith and the newspaper team. The editors knew John had done minimal work, but in the newspaper business, one way of keeping score is by the number of Pulitzer Prize winners on staff. My solution at the time was to moan and groan with my teammates about the injustice of it all. What a waste. Sliders will always live inside a protective bubble that no peer can pierce, because they deliver tangible value to an institution. Don't bother griping; instead, buck up and join the Slider's fan club, respecting him for contributions you can only imagine making. With that mind-set, you might even be able to turn your Slider into a mentor. To this day, I remember what John Smith taught me about reporting -- when I finally dumped my pointless indignation and asked him. Oprah.com: 10 ways to love your job right now . Pity parties and self-promoters . Pity Parties are those un-teammates who have an excuse for every act of inaction. Their computer melted down. Their elderly aunt came to visit or, like Mike, their father is sick. The most expert Pity Parties concoct long-running sympathy stories: bad backs, bad marriages, bad childcare, and so on. I don't want to sound harsh. Sometimes people really do need time off or special accommodations, but Pity Parties make an art form of wriggling out of responsibility, and you're left wondering if you're a heel for resenting them -- or a dupe for helping them. Your best strategy is to steer clear of Pity Parties and their appeals for help. You'll need to steel yourself to say no as often as humanly possible, even if they promise you, "This is the very last time." The line I ended up using with Mike was "I'm in a bind too. Did you ask Rory for help?" (Rory was our boss.) That response did not put an immediate end to Mike's ways; he went looking for other enablers. Still, it sent the signal -- both to Mike and my co-workers -- that I would not cut side deals. When enough of us started saying no, he left us alone. The final form of dysfunctional coworker is the Self-Promoter, like "Look at Me" Margaret, who saw every team assignment as an opportunity for personal advancement. In their pursuit of fame and glory, Self-Promoters occasionally sabotage peers. I once had a co-worker who used staff meetings, with the boss in attendance, to vociferously attack every other writer's work as "hackneyed" or, her favorite word, "superficial." If we pushed back against her critiques, she accused us of being competitive with her. There was no way to win. Usually, that's the case with Self-Promoters. They can drub you with their narcissistic "logic" -- they're right; you're just defensive -- and wear you down with their egocentric career campaign. But they can't smite everyone forever. After a few promotions, the moment comes for every Self-Promoter when they need a favor or help, and there is no one left to ask. So keep your head down and wait. And most important, keep overdelivering, even if your local weasel tries to steal all the credit. Self-Promoters might get more praise than they deserve, but in any good organization, real team players ultimately get what they deserve: respect and admiration. If you have any doubt about that, you might ask Margaret. I stopped working with her years ago, but I recently heard that the company asked her to move on -- just when she thought she had achieved the position of vice president, the goal she'd been gunning for. Colleagues tell me she interviewed for jobs for a year afterward, but with less than enthusiastic references, she couldn't land one. She ended up going out on her own as a consultant, and I just learned she's a tireless and admired mentor for young women in a leadership program in Boston. I don't know what she tells them, but I can venture a guess: Do everything you can at work to be a great team player, and learn to survive (and thrive) around those who are not. By Suzy Welch from O, The Oprah Magazine © 2009 . Subscribe to O, The Oprah Magazine for up to 75% off the newsstand price. That's like getting 18 issues FREE. Subscribe now! TM & © 2009 Harpo Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

There are five common dysfunctional co-workers you may encounter . Types: Boss Haters, Stars, Sliders, Pity Parties, and Self-Promoters . Refuse to listen to a Boss Hater; steer clear of Pity Parties; turn Slider into a mentor . Praise will draw Star back to team but only if you can say it conviction .

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Glasgow, Scotland (CNN) -- There is a feeling of palpable shock in the Merchant district of Glasgow after a police helicopter crashed into a the Clutha bar, which was packed with about 150 people. The accident, which killed at least nine people and left at least 14 seriously injured, happened in a bustling part of the city, where the drinks are served strong and the nightlife goes late. What's been remarkable are the stories of how people behaved on the night. There are no tales of people pushing and climbing over each other to get out. Rather the opposite is true -- those inside set up chain gangs to move debris, helping the injured get out. Passerby including a local Member of Parliament rushed towards the danger to help out. Next to the crash site is the local Holiday Inn, which has remained open throughout. It makes an odd sight: cranes and rescue workers digging through the debris of the collapsed pub while guests at the hotel drag their bags up and down the closed roads passing the media and having their names checked by the police to get back in the hotel. The Clutha was a pub everyone knew and loved with a feeling of community. One man who was there on Friday night came to lay flowers, his head fully bandaged, and with cuts on his face from injuries he received in the crash. Moira, who turned up to lay flowers at the scene of the crash, told me she would regularly go there to hang out and hear music. She had decided not to go last Friday night. All weekend Glaswegians have been coming to get as close as they can to see the crash site with the helicopter rotors just sticking out from the roof. And in the streets around the pub the police continue to go door to door asking finding out what people may have seen. The locals are calling this unthinkable and even those who were nowhere near the site are dazed when they come here and see what happened. There is now the slow, painstaking work of removing the helicopter from the pub, piece by piece. So far the rotors have been dismantled and now they are planning how to lift the body of the aircraft out of the building. It is dangerous since the slightest wrong move could bring down the rest of the building and potentially injure the rescuers. The Chief Constable of Police Scotland summed up this tragedy. Paraphrasing he said imagine the scene, you are having a drink and a good night out when a helicopter crashes through the roof. This is the awfulness of what happened here: the very ordinary suddenly became out of this world.

Locals in Glasgow stunned by crash of a police helicopter into a busy pub . Accident killed at least nine people and left at least 14 seriously injured . Richard Quest says no one pushed to escape; instead they set up human chains . Rescue is dangerous since wrong move could bring down the rest of the building .

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(CNN) -- Allen H. Neuharth, who revolutionized American newspapering by founding USA Today with its colorful layouts and concise storytelling that influenced many media empires, died Friday in his home in Cocoa Beach, Florida, the newspaper said. He was 89. "The longtime newspaperman, media executive and columnist died after sustaining injuries in a fall at his home," USA Today said. Neuharth was a former chairman of Gannett, the publisher of USA Today and 81 other newspapers, who made journalistic history when he took a bold risk launching a daily in 1982 that declared itself the first general interest national newspaper. He battled his own board of directors in championing the publication. Some traditionalists of American journalism criticized USA Today for its emphasis on shorter articles -- calling it "McPaper" -- but the paper developed into an extraordinary success financially and journalistically. The newspaper is now the nation's second-largest daily. The iconoclastic Neuharth was fond of saying that "the editors who called us McPaper stole our McNuggets." "Al Neuharth reinvented news,'' USA Today Publisher Larry Kramer said in the newspaper's obituary. "Even in our recent efforts to translate his vision into the modern world of digital journalism, we relied on him to tell us if we were going in the right direction." Neuharth "was, is and always will be USA Today," Dave Callaway, the editor-in-chief, added. "He holds a remarkable place in the history of American journalism, and the spirit and passion which he brought to our industry will never be extinguished." People we lost in 2013: The lives they lived .

Allen H. Neuharth championed USA Today against a skeptical board . His bold risk paid off as a journalistic success . "The editors who called us McPaper stole our McNuggets," he liked to say . He died after suffering injuries in a fall at his Florida home .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Supreme Court delayed a decision on whether to accept an appeal from a Georgia death row inmate who has gained international support for his claims of innocence in the the murder of a Savannah police officer two decades ago. Troy Davis' case has earned the support of leaders including the pope and former President Jimmy Carter. The justices were scheduled to announce Monday whether they would take the case of Troy Davis, but no order was released. The court is expected to take up the matter again in September. Last fall, the Supreme Court granted Davis a stay of execution two hours before he was to be put to death. A month later, the justices reversed course and allowed the capital punishment to proceed, but a federal appeals court issued another stay. The high court's latest delay means Davis will continue to sit on death row. Watch a report on Davis' long fight » . His supporters Monday delivered about 60,000 signatures in petitions to Chatham County, Georgia, District Attorney Larry Chisolm, calling for a new trial. "This delay is an indication that the Supreme Court is concerned by the gravity of Troy Davis' innocence claims," said Laura Moye, director of Amnesty International USA's Death Penalty Abolition Campaign. "We will continue to call on all authorities, including the Supreme Court, to finally hear the evidence that has motivated hundreds of thousands of people worldwide to raise their voices and demand justice." Davis has always maintained his innocence in the 1989 killing of Officer Mark MacPhail. Witnesses claimed Davis, then 19, and two others were harassing a homeless man in a Burger King restaurant parking lot when the off-duty officer arrived to help the man. Witnesses testified at trial that Davis then shot MacPhail twice and fled. But since his 1991 conviction, seven of the nine witnesses against him have recanted their testimony. No physical evidence was presented linking Davis to the killing of the police officer. The Georgia Pardons and Parole Board last year held closed-door hearings and reinterviewed Davis and the witnesses. The panel decided against clemency. MacPhail's mother, Annaliese, told CNN at the time, "This is what we were hoping for, and I hope pretty soon that we will have some peace and start our life, especially my grandchildren -- my grandson and granddaughter. It has overshadowed their lives." After the justices in October refused to grant a stay of execution, Davis' sister, Martina Correia, told CNN she was "disgusted" by the decision. "It doesn't make any sense," she said. "We are praying for a miracle or some kind of intervention. We will regroup and fight. We will never stop fighting. We just can't be discouraged. The fight is not over 'til it's over." Ten days after the high court refused last October to intervene, a federal appeals court in Georgia granted a temporary stay of execution. Since then, further appeals by Davis' legal team have dragged on for eight months. Prominent figures ranging from the pope to the musical group Indigo Girls have asked Georgia to grant Davis a new trial. Other supporters include celebrities Susan Sarandon and Harry Belafonte; world leaders such as former President Jimmy Carter and former Archbishop Desmond Tutu of Cape Town, South Africa; and former and current U.S. lawmakers Bob Barr, Carol Moseley Braun and John Lewis.

Supreme Court ends session without hearing Troy Davis' appeal . Davis is on Georgia's death row; says he's innocent . Davis was convicted in 1991 of murdering of off-duty Savannah police officer . Seven of the nine witnesses against Davis have recanted .

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(CNN) -- Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who is serving a life sentence for his role in the killings of peaceful protesters during the revolution that eventually deposed him, will get a new trial. Mubarak and his former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly had appealed their life sentences. A judge agreed, the state-run al-Ahram newspaper reported Sunday. Mubarak's lawyer said Mubarak will remain in jail as he awaits his next court date, which will likely be in April. The judge also said that others facing charges should also be retried, including six interior ministry deputies, the state-run MENA news agency said. Essam El-Erian, a senior adviser to Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy, said that they looked forward to a second trial, the Freedom and Justice Party stated on its website. "God willed the retrial would take place under Morsy's rule, with new evidence and new defendants," El-Erian said. Mubarak. who ruled Egypt for 30 years, was found guilty last June of ordering the killing of protesters and was immediately transferred to Tora prison in southern Cairo to serve his life sentence. The 84-year-old has suffered a range of physical problems since he was driven from office in February 2011, following weeks of protests by Egyptians demanding more freedom and reforms. He attended his trial later that year on a gurney. Last month, Mubarak was transferred to a military hospital after suffering a head injury and a bruised chest when he slipped in a prison hospital bathroom, Egyptian state-run media reported. Journalist Sarah Sirgany contributed to this report.

NEW: Adviser to current president said they're looking forward to second trial . Hosni Mubarak was found guilty last June of killing protesters . Former president to remain in custody, lawyer says . The court also accepted appeals by Mubarak's co-defendants .

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(CNN) -- Your kids deserve better. Because Congress failed to pass the Child Nutrition Bill last week, bad school lunches will remain bad. While the bill wasn't perfect, it would have created stronger nutritional standards and provided more money for the school lunch program -- adding six cents per lunch for the first time in 30 years. This was the first step on the long ladder to fresh food, and now it's a missed opportunity. Among other things, this bill would have banned the junk food that is served in schools and competes with the fresh food your kids need. Eating this junk every day will take 10 years off their lives and cost you a fortune -- adding thousands of dollars to the family health care tab. When Congress returns, members should not only support these new standards but also give people the necessary dollars to get on the path to fresh food. At the moment, $4.5 billion is attached to the bill, which only works out to six cents on the plate -- not much, but better than nothing if it can buy an apple for each child's breakfast or lunch tray. Over the last two years, more than 700 advocacy groups have been working to get these important changes written into law. Yet Congress could not bring enough support to pass the bill. Do members not value the health of America's kids? Since I've been working in America, I've been overwhelmed by the number of people who write to me. More than 600,000 people have signed the Food Revolution petition for better school food. They are really worried about the quality of food their kids are served in school -- the soda, chocolate milk and pizza for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It's not just me who thinks we need change. Parents deserve to know what their kids are being fed at school. If Congress won't put the regulations in place, then Americans are going to have to take things into their own hands. Here's how you do it: . Drop into school and eat lunch with your child. See for yourself what is being served on the breakfast and lunch trays. If you don't like what you see, find other parents in your school who are as frustrated and disgusted as you are. Band together and go to your school board and demand change. Love your lunch ladies. Go visit them and thank them. Let them know you appreciate that they take care of your kids and that you want to help them get better equipment, training and information to make their jobs easier. Make noise. Send e-mails, meet your school nutrition director, go to PTA meetings, get your kids involved. Take every opportunity to keep school food change front and center. If this bill doesn't get passed when Congress comes back in November, then it's going to be another five years before we have another shot at fixing these regulations. Five years is too long to wait. Without this legislation, school food will stay in the Dark Ages of nutrition and your kids are going to suffer. They deserve better. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Jamie Oliver.

Jamie Oliver: Child Nutrition Bill failed, which means same old unhealthy school lunches . Schools serve junk food like chocolate milk, soda and pizza at each meal, he writes . 700 groups want this kind of law, he writes. Does Congress not value children's health? Parents should see what kids are eating, Oliver says, and if disgusted, push for healthy food .

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(Time.com) -- Here's another reason to log off at a reasonable hour: exposure to dim lighting at night — such as that generated by a TV screen, computer or night-light — may lead to depressive symptoms, new animal research suggests. A study from Ohio State University Medical Center found that hamsters with chronic exposure to dim light at night showed signs of depression within just a few weeks: reduced physical activity compared with hamsters living in normal light-dark conditions, as well as less interest in sugar water (a treat for the hamsters), greater signs of distress when placed in water, and changes in the brain's hippocampus that are similar to brain changes seen in depressed people. "The results we found in hamsters are consistent with what we know about depression in humans," Tracy Bedrosian, the first author the on the new study, told reporters. Time.com: TV, video games at night may cause sleep problems in kids . Mood disorders are by no means the only health condition linked to artificial lighting and screen time at night. Earlier this year, the American Medical Association (AMA) put out a disturbing summary of adverse health effects from nighttime lighting, noting that artificial lights disrupt circadian rhythms and alter the body's normal hormonal responses. In particular, when people spend too little time in darkness, it seems that the body suppresses release of the hormone melatonin, which — among other things — is thought to fight tumor growth and cancers. Other health conditions affected by changes in circadian rhythms, according to the AMA report, may include obesity, diabetes and reproductive problems. "The good news is that people who stay up late in front of the television and computer may be able to undo some of the harmful effects just by going back to a regular light-dark cycle and minimizing their exposure to artificial light at night," Bedrosian says. "That's what the results we found in hamsters would suggest." Those animals' depressive symptoms, at least, went away once the hamsters returned to a schedule that included eight full hours of total darkness per day. Time.com: 5 ways to survive daylight saving time . Bedrosian and her colleagues say that, among humans, exposure to artificial lighting at night has surged over the past 50 years, a trend that happens to coincide with large increases in depression prevalence. Light pollution can come from TV and computer screens, other electronic displays and ambient sources such as streetlights, passing traffic and neighboring buildings, in addition to overhead lighting within the home. For their study, the Ohio State researchers also investigated molecular mechanisms that may cause the brain changes associated with nighttime lighting. The scientists found that a cell-signaling protein, or cytokine, known as a hippocampal TNF (tumor necrosis factor) played a limited role. They demonstrated that by inhibiting TNF signaling, some of the depressive effects of light at night could be reversed in the hamsters. The results are published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry. Time.com: Is 'social jet lag' making you fat? This story was originally published on Time.com. Unplug! Too much light at night may lead to depression . &copy 2012 TIME, Inc. TIME is a registered trademark of Time Inc. Used with permission.

Dim lighting at night may lead to depression, research suggests . AMA: Nighttime lighting may lead to adverse health effects . In animals, depression eased with a return to 8 hours of darkness .

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(CNN) -- Henry Olszewski was stoked in 2008 when he, along with millions of Americans, drafted New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady to his fantasy football team. Tom Brady's season-ending knee injury last year sparked an idea at Intermarket Insurance. About eight minutes into the season, a 220-pound safety was blocked into Brady's knee, tearing two of the quarterback's ligaments. Brady's season ended, as did Olszewski's. "That Monday, [Olszewski] came in the office, and he was bummed out," said Anthony Giaccone, president of Intermarket Insurance. "He asked, 'Why can't we buy insurance for fantasy team players?' " Thus spawned the brainchild for Fantasy Sports Insurance, which guarantees that NFL players won't miss a certain number of games. FSI will reimburse a fantasy player's entry fee if they do. It's one of a blitz of bizarre businesses cropping up in the $800 million industry of turning quarterback stats to greenbacks, said Paul Charchian, president of the Fantasy Sports Trade Association. See fantasy football's top 10 prospects » . Charchian is familiar with the wellspring of offbeat companies fueled by the fantasy football craze; he owns LeagueSafe, which stores league entry fees in a bank until it issues a payout to the winner at season's end. Other specialty businesses, he said, range from the obvious, such as trophy companies, to the esoteric, such as fantasy dispute resolution. You read the last one correctly. Web sites like fantasydispute.com and sportsjudge.com offer to mitigate fretful fantasy feuds. Think there was collusion in a trade or your league commissioner is playing favorites? Write up your dispute and send it to one of the sites. For $15, a lawyer will settle your quibble. For the uninitiated: Fantasy football players generally "draft" NFL quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, tight ends and team defenses and use their statistics each week to score points in head-to-head matchups. Countless variations have proliferated, as have magazines and Web sites beholden only to fantasy players. Sort the top picks by position at SI.com . The NFL has introduced the RedZone Channel, which flips between games where a team is on the verge of scoring, CBSsports.com has launched a live Web show called "Fantasy Football Today," and cable's FX is scheduled to air a sitcom based on a fantasy football league this year. The stakes have skyrocketed as well. The World Championship of Football offers a $300,000 top prize. The Fantasy Football Open Championship's is $1 million. The Wall Street Journal reported last year that a group of well-heeled financiers has a 10-team league with a $100,000 entry fee. A June study by the research company Ipsos says three in 20 American men (and one in 20 women) play some fantasy sport. "It takes the fans of one sports team and makes them interested in every game that's happening," said Jason Kint, senior vice president and general manager for CBSsports.com. "It's a welcome escape, as much of sports is right now." Not all fans are enamored, however. ESPN's Colin Cowherd explained his aversion on his radio show last month, saying fantasy football was too time-consuming and, in his experience, for "total nerds and geeks." "I'm a gambler, lived in Vegas. My friends are gamblers. We don't play fantasy football," he said. "We're busy. We have jobs. We have careers. We have lives. We don't have time for three-hour draft parties and an hour or two on the computer every week to update our fullback situation." But more than 22 million Americans and Canadians do, Charchian said, and the economic downturn doesn't seem to be sacking the industry. "It's hard to get out. It's enmeshed in your social circle," he explained. Also, with most leagues costing less than $10 a week and with the average player spending nine hours weekly researching and tweaking his or her roster, "the dollar-per-entertainment value is really advantageous," Charchian said. Fantasy players at CBSsports.com spent an average of 102 minutes per visit on the site, according to Nielsen data from last year. The site has more users willing to pay to play, whereas competitors like NFL.com and Yahoo! host predominantly free games, "so it's more meaningful to them," Kint said. Kint could not divulge specific figures but said "millions" play CBSsports.com's free and pay games. Entry fees and related fantasy products make up about 30 percent of the site's non-advertising revenue, he said. Advertisers are getting wise to the "coveted market," comprised largely of young, educated males, Kint said, as evidenced by the site's partnerships with Ford, Snickers, Buffalo Wild Wings and Dave & Buster's. "When people are down and depressed, they look for escapes. Fantasy football fills that void like booze and anything else that kind of distracts you," said Ed Reichow, owner of Titlecraft, which builds custom trophies only for fantasy footballers. Reichow had the idea after a decade of making trophies for his personal fantasy league. He sold 70 trophies in his first year and is on track to sell more than 100 this year. They are handcrafted from materials such as cherry, Carpathian elm and Swarovski crystal and range in price from $129 to $799, he said. "It's something you can really pass down if you want to," he said. "And the wife isn't going to get upset if you put it on the mantle, because it's nicer than some of the furniture in the room." But what would the wife think about buying insurance policies on your fantasy football players? Some spouses must be OK with it because, FSI's Giaccone reported, business has been threefold what he expected -- this, despite that it costs considerably more, percentagewise, to insure a fantasy quarterback than it does a real quarterback. Chris Nash, an underwriter with Australia-based Sportscover, which insures athletes, said the average U.S. football player pays up to 4 percent of the sum insured. FSI's products range between 10 percent and 15 percent of the league entry fee. Despite the contrast, Giaccone described fantasy insurance as a must-have for fantasy die-hards. He went so far as to question the sanity of some fantasy players who might ignore his product. "If you are playing fantasy sports and you have Tom Brady on your team, you'd be crazy not to insure him," he said.

Magazines, Web sites, TV shows spin off $800 million fantasy football industry . Two sites offer real lawyers to settle fantasy-sports disputes for $15 each . Experts: Game provides cheap entertainment, "welcome escape" from hard times . Prizes include $1 million, trophies made of Carpathian elm, Swarovski crystal .

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(CNN) -- From scavenging for food through garbage and sleeping in the streets, to becoming an international fashion model and a Hollywood A-lister, Djimon Hounsou's journey to stardom has been an astonishing one. The Benin-born actor, one of the most prominent film stars to come out of Africa, has appeared in blockbusters such as "Gladiator," "Amistad" and "Blood Diamond," and has worked with Hollywood royalty like Steven Spielberg and Leonardo DiCaprio. His role in the film "In America" made him the first black African man to be nominated for an Oscar, while his performance in "Blood Diamond" earned him a second nomination. See also: The best of African film . It's a long way from where the soft-spoken actor imagined he would be while growing up under difficult conditions in the West African country of Benin. "I was just a very torn child, very wounded in so many areas, with no family support," recalls Hounsou, who grew up without his parents, who had moved to Ivory Coast. "I happened to the be the fifth child of my family," he explains, "so everybody was already grown and had left home already." For Hounsou, who finally met his father for the first time around the age of 10, this was a "very lonely" period of his life. "The dream was to escape that surrounding," he says. At the age of 13 he left Benin to move to Paris with his older brother -- but the hardship continued. "The rocky time came right after I left school," remembers the acclaimed actor. "I spent a lot of time at night navigating the streets of Paris trying to find something to eat," he says. "I was not anymore legal because I'm no more a student and I could not work. So I was left out on the street, I couldn't walk around too much because obviously if you get caught, noticed or get stopped by the police you're deported immediately." Hounsou's good looks, however, did get noticed by a Paris photographer, who invited him to audition as a fashion model. There, Hounsou met famous French designer Thierry Mugler and soon established himself as a successful high-fashion model. The collaboration with Mugler also took Hounsou to the United States for the first time, where he quickly started working toward realizing his dream of becoming an actor. See also: The evolution of African cinema . He made his foray into the industry by appearing in music videos and went on to feature in Roland Emmerich's 1994 film "Stargate." But the break-out moment in Hounsou's acting career came three years later with Steven Spielberg's "Amistad," where he appeared alongside Hollywood legends Anthony Hopkins and Morgan Freeman. "It was one of the most powerful stories about Africans that define African Americans' legacy and that a lot of people were shy about wanting to hear, wanting to see," says Hounsou of the film. Another defining moment for Hounsou was his performance in 2006's "Blood Diamond," where he won rave reviews for portraying a fisherman forced to work in a diamond mine after being captured by rebels. The film was set in Sierra Leone in the 1990s -- a time of civil war and a period when more than 4% of all African diamonds were sold on the black market. "My passion is more about bringing the stories out from the African continent mixed with the West," says Hounsou. Hounsou, who is married to former fashion model Kimora Lee Simmons, is also an outspoken activist and a prominent campaigner in the fight against climate change. His desire to make a difference has seen him working with charities such as Oxfam and SOS, while in 2009 he spoke at the United Nations' Summit on Climate Change in New York -- a far cry from his early days as a lonely child in Benin. But despite all he's achieved so far, Hounsou says his remarkable life journey is just starting. He says: "It was a great journey, but I strongly feel like I'm still at the beginning of that journey".

Djimon Hounsou is a critically acclaimed film star from Benin, West Africa . He first captured the world's attention with his performance in 1997's 'Amistad' Before becoming an actor, Hounsou was a successful model in Paris . Hounsou is also an outspoken campaigner in the fight against climate change .

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(CNN) -- A Drug Enforcement Administration agent was killed in an apparent robbery attempt in Colombia, the agency announced Friday. Special Agent James "Terry" Watson, assigned to the DEA unit in Cartagena, was on temporary duty in Bogota. Watson died after being stabbed in a taxi cab Thursday night after leaving a Bogota restaurant, a law enforcement official said. Investigators believe Watson's cab stopped at a traffic light and his assailants jumped out of two other cabs which pulled up on either side of the vehicle in which he was riding, the official said. The official said taxi vehicle robberies are part of what are called "millionaire ride" thefts. There's no suggestion the suspected robbers knew they had set upon a DEA agent. According to the official, Watson managed to escape from the cab and was taken to a hospital, where he died. Patrick Ventrell, a State Department spokesman, said earlier Thursday evening Watson watched the last game of the NBA finals at a restaurant with colleagues from the U.S. Embassy. The United States is working in close cooperation with Colombian authorities to find those responsible, Ventrell said. "This is really a profound tragedy for our embassy community and indeed for our government." "These are the worst days for anyone in law enforcement and we grieve Terry's loss," said DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart. The DEA said Watson was a 13-year veteran of the agency. He had been sent to Afghanistan three times on counter-narcotics trafficking assignments and had previously served in the Army and worked for the U.S. Marshals Service.

DEA mourns loss of special agent . He died in Bogota during apparent robbery try . Assailants stopped cab, law enforcement official says .

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(CNN) -- Not content with dominating the world of golf, Rory McIlroy showed off his tennis skills at an exhibition in Madison Square Garden featuring his girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki. The Dane was struggling at a set and 5-4 down to Maria Sharapova when she lightheartedly asked McIlroy, who was among the audience, for his help. The 22-year-old from Northern Ireland needed no second prompting and to the delight of the sell-out 18,000 crowd took up her offer. Addressing the tennis ball as if playing a golf shot, McIlroy tried surprise tactics on Sharapova by quickly starting a rally with a top-spin forehand. Love all: The top 15 tennis romances . It came back with a bit of interest and McIlroy had to produce a nifty backhand slice to stay in the rally. After trading a couple more gentle shots, Sharapova sent a backhand volley wide and McIlroy quickly ran back to his seat before the world number two could get her inevitable revenge. Unfortunately for fourth-ranked Wozniacki, her Russian opponent was not so generous to her and closed out a 6-3 6-4 victory. McIlroy, who went to the top of the golf rankings after his superb win at the Honda Classic on Sunday, was besieged by autograph hunters and told onlookers it was "nice to take a little break from golf". He is back in action to defend his top spot in the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral Thursday. Meanwhile, Andy Roddick had some rare cheer in a disappointing season as he beat Roger Federer 7-5 7-6 in the other match played at the star-studded exhibition.

Rory McIlroy turns his hand to tennis at an exhibition event in New York . New golf no.1 'wins' rally against Russian superstar Maria Sharapova . Sharapova beats McIlroy's girlfriend 6-3 6-4 . Andy Roddick beats Roger Federer 7-5 7-6 at Madison Square Garden .

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(CNN) -- A Florida woman has been arrested in connection with the death of a lottery millionaire, whose body was found buried under recently added concrete at a home, authorities said. Dorice Donegan Moore, 37, was arrested Tuesday evening on charges of accessory after the fact regarding a first-degree murder in the death of Abraham Shakespeare, 43, said Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee. Moore befriended Shakespeare after he won a $31 million Florida lottery prize in 2006 and was named a person of interest in the case after Shakespeare went missing, authorities said. Before her arrest, Moore proclaimed her innocence during a tearful, impromptu news conference outside her home. She said was planning to help Shakespeare write a book about the challenges of winning millions and that she was helping him manage the money. "Abraham had a life of drama because of the money," she told CNN affiliate WTSP. "The money was like a curse to him. And now it has become a curse to me." Moore might have committed fraud to obtain parts of Shakespeare's fortune, and she bought lime to deal with his body and was trying to find someone to move the corpse to another location, Gee said. Shakespeare was killed on April 6 or April 7, and Moore has admitted trying to convince Shakespeare's family members that he was still alive, Gee said. "In December 2009, Dorice Moore wrote a letter to the victim's mother, claiming to be the victim and to be all right," Gee said. "Dorice Moore also used the victim's cell phone and sent text messages to the victim's family." Deputies found Shakespeare's body outside a home in Plant City late January after receiving a tip from an associate of Moore, Gee said. Moore could face more charges, and authorities are looking for other suspects, Gee said. Reporters were at the scene during Moore's arrest Tuesday and she again denied having anything to do with Shakespeare's death as she was led to a police cruiser in handcuffs, WTSP reported. "I'm deeply saddened for his family," Moore said.

Dorice Moore says she helped manage Abraham Shakespeare's lottery winnings . Shakespeare's remains were recently found buried under concrete slab . Authorities: Moore tried to convince Shakespeare's family that he was still alive .

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(Oprah.com) -- My childhood home-four-bedroom colonial in a Washington, D.C., suburb-had an exquisite exterior. But inside there was too much furniture crowding every room; too many Sears receipts spilling from end tables with too many drawers; too many televisions, with their confusing array of remotes, making too much noise; too many boxes of yellow cake mix aging in the overstuffed pantry; too many shoes and coats crammed into the hall closet, making it impossible to find the ones I needed in a hurry. Don't get me wrong: Ours was never one of those unsanitary houses you see on hoarding shows. It was just uncomfortably full, like a belly straining against a belt while its owner made room for one more pie and seven more mini-muffins. The problem was my mother, who had trouble parting with anything she thought someone she loved might someday need from her (in other words, anything). My father vacillated between resister and accomplice. In my more enlightened moments, I imagine that if I had grown up as they did, in a poor village in Pakistan, I, too, might have held on a little too tightly once fortune finally favored me. But as a child, I felt as though I were drowning. I remember coming home from school to find things in my closet-wrapping paper, extra blankets-that didn't belong there. In protest, I'd toss these intruders into the hall. Then as now, clutter had a physical effect on me. The sight of knickknacks caused my left shoulder to rise and fall, tic-like, as if trying to shake something off. Oprah.com: Break your bad habits for good . Since leaving home for college, I've been making up for lost space. The home I currently share with my two sons looks from the outside like the one I grew up in-gorgeous redbrick, huge yard-but inside, there are no walk-in closets. No kitchen pantry. And gloriously, no garage. There are no coffee tables, because with them comes coffee-table clutter. No televisions, because their sidekicks are remote controls and piles of DVDs. If a decorator walked through my home, she'd recommend an ottoman here and there, a decorative accessory for the hallway, or end tables to cradle the telephones that sit on the hardwood floor in front of the jacks. She'd suggest art for my untouched walls. She might wonder why there's no dining table in the dining room. It's not that I dislike decorations; I truly admire beautifully appointed homes. My laundry room holds tightly taped boxes full of mementos from my travels. I just can't figure out how to put them up without turning into a woman who has animal statues flanking her front door. I fear that if I start, my DNA strands-with their broken C gene-might eventually strangle me, leaving me writhing in a pile of throw pillows. Surely children of alcoholics are just as careful about taking that first drink. Oprah.com: What Oprah knows for sure about finding the fullest expression of yourself . Though my home is empty of the extraneous, it never feels empty enough. I frequently walk around with a cardboard box hunting for donation targets. For me, de-cluttering is an itch that pleads, then demands, to be scratched. If something's not being used this very moment, or on the cusp of being used, it's out. There's no ill-fitting clothing in my home, save the two onesies I held on to from my sons' baby days-and one small box of prepregnancy pants that keep me jogging. I purge my closet seasonally, tossing anything that isn't earning its keep. What have you done for me lately, red sweater? When they've sat unused too long, mocking me, I've evicted my hair dryer, curling iron, patio furniture, any coffee mug with words on it, and my broiler pan. I understand that most ovens come with a broiler pan. What I don't understand is, why? Why don't we get a choice in the matter? I have no baking pans, either. In an emergency, tinfoil is quite foldable and durable. I adore items with multiple uses, especially paper towels. In my house, these magic little squares moonlight as dinner napkins, place mats, sponges, dishrags, sometimes toilet paper, and, occasionally, ambitiously, maxipads. But even paper towels I cannot stand to stock up on. Since I discovered Amazon's Subscribe & Save service, they arrive on my doorstep monthly, in a perfectly synchronized dance of use and replacement. One thing I've been unable to get rid of is the outdoor garbage can that my home's previous residents left behind. Do you know how hard it is to throw away a trash can? I've tried cute notes with smiley faces; I've stuck the can inside my own, but the garbage collectors refuse to take the thing. It grates on me daily to see that green monstrosity leaning against my house. Sometimes I force myself to use it, to justify its existence. To me, making do with less-almost to the point of deprivation-feels like a slightly demented badge of honor, a silent scream that says, Look, Mom, no extras! But more often than I'd like to admit, it turns out that I actually do need an item that I've given away, and I'm forced to repurchase it. Two years ago, I donated my treadmill because I joined a gym. A year later, I quit the gym because I wasn't spending enough time there-and paid $1,400 for a new treadmill. Two springs ago, I donated my space heaters to my children's school, because... well, it wasn't cold anymore. As it turned out, the frost returned the following winter, and I had to shell out $70 a piece for four new heaters. I once donated a Pakistani cookbook to Goodwill because I had the distressing feeling there might be another one somewhere in my house. I realized later that I'd written some family recipes on the back, so I had to repurchase my own book. Oprah.com: Organizing solutions for every room . My greatest de-cluttering challenges are Zain, 11, and Zach, 8, who adore useless stuff just as much as I abhor it. On some days, I fantasize about tossing all their toys and books and papers, the daily avalanche that flows from their backpacks. It's a pipe dream I know I will regret entertaining once they are grown. And grow they will, into men who will tell their balanced, bewildered wives that their mom never let them bring home stuffed animals or pogo sticks or water guns from their grandparents' house. They'll recount that they owned one pair of sneakers at a time, plus dress shoes for holidays, because I didn't want the hall closet cluttered. That their desire to display Lego creations and chess trophies buttressed against my obsessive resistance to blemished surfaces. "I can't stand so much stuff everywhere," I recently blurted, surveying the four books and magic wand strewn atop Zach's nightstand. "Stand it, Mom,"he replied, not unkindly. Zain, meanwhile, defiantly displays a framed photo of his fourth-grade Wizard of Oz cast party on his desk. I once hid it in the laundry room, hoping he would forget about it. A year later, I felt guilty enough to return it to him. Now he is lobbying to put up a Harry Potter poster. I have engineered a compromise: He can put up whatever he wants, but on the inside of his closet doors. Oprah.com: 3 smart new ways to kick pessimism to the curb . Occasionally, I worry that I'm depriving my sons of the same sense of control over their environment that I longed for as a child. I cringe at the thought that they might not want to come home for spring break to a house with no television to watch the hockey game on, and no coffee table to prop their feet on while they watch it. My former husband, who recycled himself two years ago, never shared my fear of clutter but kindly kept his collection of African masks at the office. The first thing I noticed about his new digs was the decorative table that existed solely to display photos of our boys: dozens of pictures of their fully frame-worthy faces. He also had flat-screen TVs. For a moment, I admired his ability to balance his own aesthetics with the needs of others. I doubted that, with his full larders and healthy attitude, he'd ever have trouble drawing anyone into his home to lean against a throw pillow and watch the game. Then I retreated to my own gloriously uncluttered home, whose clarity rises up to embrace me as I enter the front door. I picked up a stray sneaker and admired a drawing poking out from a backpack. Eventually I sat, with a mug of coffee that had no words on it, on a couch with just enough pillows to make a decent nest. I thought about how lucky I am to live in this perfect, unencumbered space with my two perfect, if cluttery, children. I thought about how everything in this house is here because of a carefully considered decision. Myself included. Ironically, I've lived for the past two years in my parents' real estate clutter, an extra home in a great school district they purchased when I was 3 and held on to for the absurd reason that someday, someone they loved might need it. Oprah.com: 10 things you can officially stop worrying about . Subscribe to O, The Oprah Magazine for up to 75% off the newsstand price. That's like getting 18 issues FREE. Subscribe now! TM & © 2011 Harpo Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Her childhood with a hoarder mother has defined a dramatic decluttering lifestyle . Her greatest de-cluttering challenges are her sons Zain, 11, and Zach, 8 . She worries her fear of clutter is depriving her sons a sense of control over their environment .

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(Rolling Stone) -- The digital archivist who restored the singles catalogs of the Smiths, Joy Division and New Order in a series of blog projects is being strongly discouraged from starting a similar project collecting R.E.M.'s earliest work. In a blog post on the nascent R.E.M.cycle site, the blogger known as Analog Loyalist explained that Universal, the record company that owns the band's IRS Records catalog, issued a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notice for an R.E.M. post on the writer's sister site The Power of Independent Trucking featuring a restored version of the band's first cassette demo, with early renditions of "Radio Free Europe," "Sitting Still" and "White Tornado." "Tell me, what role does the IFPI (of which Universal is obviously a member) have to do with unreleased material recorded when the band had no record contract?," Analog Loyalist writes, referring to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. "These were demos freely given away by the band. On low-fi C45 cassettes. And the IFPI thinks it's their business how?" The blogger is now reconsidering the wisdom of pursuing the project. "So you can see why I'm very hesitant to move forward with this blog, only because I don't want to see my efforts as a writer/archivist/engineer wasted," he writes. The site would in fact be a very labor-intensive process. As explained in the sidebar for the R.E.M., Smiths and Joy Division/New Order sites, the tracks used are "taken from the best/earliest possible sources to avoid modern mastering techniques which crush the dynamics," and the artwork is "scanned at the highest possible resolution and the type was reset when possible using the original fonts." All works featured in these projects are from out-of-print sources, and some tracks have never been commercially released or reissued. See the full story at RollingStone.com. Copyright © 2011 Rolling Stone.

A digital archivist is being discouraged from posting restored version of R.E.M's first cassette demo . Universal issued a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notice for on Analog Loyalist's site . "These were demos freely given away by the band. On low-fi C45 cassettes," the writer said .

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(CNN) -- Roger Federer began his bid for a record-equaling seventh Wimbledon title with a straight-sets victory in his opening match in windy conditions in England on Tuesday. The Swiss world No. 3, seeded outside the top two for the first time since his first success in south-west London in 2003, beat Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 6-2. Federer will next play France's 55th-ranked Adrian Mannarino as he seeks to join Open Era record-holder Pete Sampras and William Renshaw (1881-1889) at the top of the grass-court event's roll of honor. "The first rounds here at Wimbledon on Centre Court are never easy," he told the ATP Tour website. Isner wins rematch of 2010 Wimbledon marathon . "They're somewhat nerve-wracking because you don't get a chance to practice on the Centre Courts here. So I'm happy I was able to come through in three sets this time around." Federer was playing his first event since ending Novak Djokovic's 43-match winning run at the French Open, where he then lost in the final to Rafael Nadal. "It feels like if things go well for me I can go extremely far here, whereas at Roland Garros I feel it's a bit more on other opponents' rackets," the 16-time grand slam champion said. "But here I feel it's a bit more on mine. That's why I'll always play with some pressure here at Wimbledon just because of the occasion and what it means to me. I was nervous going out in today's match." Federer: I can beat Djokovic anywhere . World No. 2 Djokovic bounced back to winning ways in his first match since his Paris disappointment, beating unseeded Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-4 6-1 6-1 in one hour and 20 minutes on Centre Court after Federer's match. The Serbian, seeking to reach his first Wimbledon final, won 14 of the last 16 games to set up a second-round clash with big-serving South African Kevin Anderson or Ukraine's Illya Marchenko. "When this streak ended in Paris, it was kind of a relief because it's been a very successful five or six months for me, but very long as well and exhausting," Djokovic said. "I've played so many matches. So I needed some time to relax, and I'm happy to see that I'm playing well again and that I'm mentally really fresh to have more success. "I'm very satisfied with the way I started the tournament. This performance was great. My serve was very accurate in quite difficult conditions for both of us because we had to face the strong wind." Fifth seed Robin Soderling won his opening match, beating Germany's Philipp Petzschner 6-4 6-4 2-6 7-6 (7-5) to set up a clash with 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt of Australia -- who defeated Japan's Kei Nishikori in four sets. Seventh seed David Ferrer also progressed, beating France's Benoit Paire 6-4 6-4 6-4, and the Spaniard will next face American Ryan Harrison -- who beat Croatia's Ivan Dodig 7-6 (7-5) 6-0 7-5. Eighth-seeded American Andy Roddick battled past German qualifier Andreas Beck. The three-time Wimbledon runner-up won 6-4 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 in a match delayed by Monday's rain to earn a meeting with Romania's Victor Hanescu. Former U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro continued his successful comeback this year from long-term injury with a 6-1 6-4 6-3 win over Italy's Flavio Cipolla. The 22-year-old Argentine will next face Belgium's Olivier Rochus as he seeks to reach the third round for the first time. His compatriots Juan Ignacio Chela and David Nalbandian also went through along with other seeded players in Austrian No. 11 Jurgen Melzer, France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gilles Simon, Serbia's Viktor Troicki, Russia's Mikhail Youzhny, Germany's Florian Mayer plus Spaniards Fernando Verdasco and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. Croatia's 27th seed Marin Cilic crashed out along with Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic, who suffered an injury, and Russia's Nikolay Davydenko.

Six-time champion Roger Federer beats Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin at Wimbledon . Second seed Novak Djokovic also wins his opening match of grass-court event . Seventh seed David Ferrer progresses along with three-time runner-up Andy Roddick . Former world No. 4 Juan Martin del Potro also reaches second round in England .

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Editor's note: The staff at CNN.com has recently been intrigued by the journalism of VICE, an independent media company and website based in Brooklyn, New York. VBS.TV is Vice's broadband television network. The reports, which are produced solely by VICE, reflect a transparent approach to journalism, where viewers are taken along on every step of the reporting process. We believe this unique reporting approach is worthy of sharing with our CNN.com readers. Brooklyn, New York (VBS.TV) -- Throughout the 1990s, São Paulo's House of Detention contained about 8,000 of Latin America's most violent criminals. Better known as Carandiru, it was once the largest prison on the continent. On October 2, 1992, a massive fight broke out in the Brazilian complex among the prisoners. It ultimately resulted in 111 inmate deaths. That day, there were 84 state military police officers present, and 102 bullets were fired. The nine guys who weren't shot in their vital organs got knifed, but the cops (none of whom were killed, by the way) swore that the prisoners were already carved up by the time guards arrived. In the archival images we collected, we see one inmate partially decapitated and another with a hole in his chest the size of a tennis ball. That doesn't exactly scream self-defense. (The footage is graphic, so be warned.) See the rest of Carandiru's Bloody Memories at VBS.TV . Ronaldo Mazotto de Lima worked at the prison for over a decade. He was also one of the first people to witness the aftermath of the carnage that's now referred to as the Carandiru Massacre. After the jail's destruction, Mazotto de Lima transferred to a minimum-security prison in Serra Azul. He brought more than his experience to the new job. He also took along some of the only surviving evidence of the massacre: More than 2,000 photos, 300 personal effects and 10 hours of grisly video footage. It was all taken shortly after the violence subsided, and he wants to be sure that history doesn't forget what he witnessed. So we asked him to help us understand. An edited version of this article originally appeared in Vice magazine.

Witness to 1992 deadly prison revolt documented bloody aftermath . Ronaldo Mazotto hopes photos, video, personal effects will help preserve history . VBS travels to Brazil to see the evidence, meet Mazotto .

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Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- A massive car bomb tore through the heart of a bustling marketplace in Peshawar, Pakistan, Wednesday, killing at least 100 people -- including many women and children -- and injuring at least 200 others, officials said. A vehicle packed with 150 kilograms (330 pounds) of explosives detonated at the Meena Bazaar, a labyrinth of shops popular with women. The impact destroyed buildings, burying people underneath the rubble, and sparked massive fires in the shops, mosques, and homes. In a year of seemingly endless militant attacks in Pakistan, this was the deadliest. Those who survived described a narrow escape: . "I ducked quickly and when I looked up it was complete darkness," said Imdad. "I couldn't see anyone. The cars and the van were lying upside down." Are you there? Send your photos and videos to iReport . Fareed Ullah, a student at a nearby mosque, was injured when he fell from the second floor as he tried to escape a fire ignited by the blast at the Meena Bazaar. "We only saw a red blaze and nothing else," he said from his hospital bed. "My friends and I fell from the second floor. We didn't know where we were." The remote-controlled detonation killed at least 100 people and injured as many as 200 others, hospital and government officials said. The deaths include 68 males and 32 females, including 10 children, the head of the main hospital in Peshawar said. The car bomb left a 10-foot-wide crater, and the flames spread quickly through stores selling highly flammable fabric. Residents and shopkeepers expressed outrage that militants were able to carry out the attack in broad daylight, the latest in a string of militant attacks targeting civilians in Peshawar. "What kind of security alert is this? It was an explosives-packed car," a middle-aged shopkeeper at Meena Bazaar said. "Look at the mosque, it ceases to exist anymore. For God's sake, do something!" "Increasing chaos" in Pakistan . The Peshawar car bombing was the deadliest terrorist attack on Pakistan since the October 2007 attack on a homecoming rally for former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. More than 135 people were killed in the suicide bombing in Karachi. Bhutto escaped harm, but she was assassinated two months later. Wednesday's bombing happened hours after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, to shore up U.S. support in nuclear-armed Pakistan, as it battles a rising Taliban insurgency. Clinton condemned the strike, and dared the militants who were responsible to put down their arms and appeal to the Pakistani people through the political process. "If the people behind the attacks were so sure of their beliefs, let them join the political process, let them come forth to the people and make their case that they don't want girls to go to school, that they want women to be kept back, that they believe they have all the answers," Clinton said in a joint news conference with her Pakistani counterpart in Islamabad. "They know they are on the losing side of history but they are determined to take as many lives with them as their movement is finally exposed for the nihilistic, empty effort that it is," she said of those responsible for the car bombing in Peshawar. Read more about Clinton's comments on blast . Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi also condemned the deadly attack, offering his condolences to the victims and their families and directly addressing the attackers. "We will not buckle, we will fight you because we want stability and peace in Pakistan," Qureshi said. "You are on the run and we know that. We defeated you in Swat and Malakand. You think by attacking innocent people and lives you will shake our determination? No, sir, you will not." The attack is the deadliest terrorist attack carried out in Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province which has been the site of five militant strikes this month alone. A suicide car bombing on October 9 in Khyber Bazaar killed at least 49 people and injured 135 others. And, just last Friday, a car bomb exploded outside a banquet hall in Peshawar, wounding at least 15 people. The massive casualties in Wednesday's bombing prompted a state of emergency at Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar, where most of the injured were treated. The hospital appealed to other medical centers -- and to the public -- to donate blood, hospital officials said. North West Frontier Province is bearing the brunt of the massive civilian displacement from Pakistan's military offensive in the neighboring tribal region along the Afghan border. More than 180,000 civilians have fled to North West Frontier Province from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, according to the United Nations. Pakistan's military offensive is currently focused on South Waziristan, where the government believes the Pakistani Taliban has masterminded numerous attacks, including the October 10 siege of Pakistan's army headquarters in Rawalpindi, outside Islamabad. That siege and other attacks outside the tribal region have raised concerns about the ability of government forces to maintain control. President Obama signed legislation this month providing an additional $7.5 billion in assistance to Pakistan over the next five years. The White House is working on a comprehensive review of U.S. strategy in Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan. Peshawar is a strategic city for both Taliban militants and the U.S. and NATO military, who are waging a battle against Taliban militants in neighboring Afghanistan. Located about 100 miles (167 kilometers) northwest of the capital, Islamabad, Peshawar sits on the main supply route into Afghanistan and is the gateway to Pakistan's ungoverned tribal regions. Journalists Nazar al Islam, Nasir Habib and CNN's Samson Desta and Reza Sayah contributed to this report.

Explosion hits bustling marketplace in Peshawar killing at least 100 people . 10 children among those killed at Meena Bazaar . More than 200 people injured in the blast which left a 10-foot-wide crater . Incident comes as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits Islamabad .

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(CNN) -- Former captain Imran Khan says Pakistan should not abandon their tour of England despite allegations that members of their national team were involved in a betting scam. Cricket legend Khan told CNN that he was "shocked and embarrassed" by the scandal which has left preparations for the team's upcoming one-day international series with England in disarray. "The tour should definitely continue but if some players have indulged in wrongdoing or committed a crime they should be punished and sent back (home) and replaced. Can cricket survive in Pakistan ? "But a tour should never be abandoned because this reflects as if the whole team is involved or the whole cricket structure," added the former all-rounder who led Pakistan to World Cup triumph in 1992. Khan appeared to have been greeted his wish when International Cricket Council (ICC) president Sharad Pawar appeared to rule out any immediate action against Pakistani players. "We have discussed it within the ICC and have decided to wait for the police investigation report," Pawar, an Indian cabinet minister, told AFP Monday. "After that we have to take a viewpoint of the two boards, in this case the Pakistan Cricket Board and the England and Wales Cricket Board. "If anything is established, it will be viewed very seriously by the two boards and the ICC." Khan, who is at home in Pakistan helping with flood relief efforts, said the reports which surfaced Sunday in the British tabloid newspaper The News of the World had left people around him "upset and demoralized." The paper claimed it paid agent Mazhar Majeed $230,000 for advance information about three no-balls by bowlers Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif in the fourth and final Test between Pakistan and England at Lord's. It went on to further claim that the players colluded in the alleged betting coup. Khan added: "There was a feeling of shock and embarrassment especially for Pakistanis living in Britain. "I guess I went through all those sentiments, but I have to say these are still allegations which I hope turn out not to be true." Khan, who has forged a political career since retiring from cricket, said he had never been approached by betting syndicates during his 21-year career, 10 of them as Pakistan captain. "It seemed so impossible a team would throw a match," he said. Meanwhile, betting expert Mark Davies told CNN that illegal bookmakers in Asia were behind such scandals and that calls to limit legal betting on cricket were wide of the mark. "This is about transparency in betting of which there is none on the sub-continent," he said. "Ultimately, it's about fraud and corruption and these people have no place in sport," he added.

Imran Khan urges Pakistan to complete their England tour despite betting scam allegations . Khan "shocked" by reports players had deliberately bowled no-balls in Test series . Former captain Khan says if allegations are true players should be severely punished . NEW: ICC president Sharad Pawar says they will wait for police reports before acting .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Private military contractor Blackwater USA "delayed and impeded" a congressional probe into the 2004 killings of four of its employees in Falluja, Iraq, the House Oversight Committee said Thursday in a report. Family members of the slain Blackwater employees listen during a congressional hearing earlier this year. Blackwater contractors Jerry Zovko, Scott Helvenston, Mike Teague and Wesley Batalona were ambushed, dragged from their vehicles and killed on March 31, 2004. The burned and mutilated remains of two of the men were hung from a bridge over the Euphrates River, an image that fueled American outrage and triggered the first of two attempts to retake the city from Sunni Arab insurgents. The company stalled the committee's investigation into the incident by "erroneously claiming" documents related to the incident were classified, trying to get the Defense Department to make previously unclassified documents classified and "asserting questionable legal privileges," according to a report from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee's Democratic staff. According to Blackwater's reports on the killings, the men killed in Falluja had been sent into the area without proper crew, equipment or even maps. One company document found a "complete lack of support" for its Baghdad, Iraq, office from executives at the company's headquarters in North Carolina, the committee report states. "According to these documents, Blackwater took on the Falluja mission before its contract officially began, and after being warned by its predecessor that it was too dangerous. It sent its team on the mission without properly armored vehicles and machine guns. And it cut the standard mission team by two members, thus depriving them of rear gunners," the report states. In a written response to the report, Blackwater called it "a one-sided version of this tragic incident." "What the report fails to acknowledge is that the terrorists determined what happened that fateful day in 2004," the company said. "The terrorists were intent on killing Americans and desecrating their bodies. Documents that the committee has in its possession point out that the Blackwater team was betrayed and directed into a well-planned ambush." The report notes that members of the now-defunct Iraqi Civil Defense Corps "led the team into the ambush, facilitated blocking positions to prevent the team's escape, and then disappeared." Blackwater did not discuss details of the report's findings, noting the incident is still the subject of a lawsuit by the slain contractors' families. The committee's chairman, California Democrat Henry Waxman, has scheduled a hearing Tuesday on Blackwater's operations in Iraq. The company's chairman, Erik Prince, is scheduled to testify at that hearing. The committee previously disclosed that the day before the fatal mission, the manager of Blackwater's Baghdad office warned his bosses he lacked armored vehicles, radio gear and ammunition. During February's hearing and in a subsequent written response, Blackwater general counsel Andrew Howell told the committee that documents on the attack had been classified by the U.S. government. But the Pentagon later told the committee the documents had not been classified. In addition, Blackwater made "multiple attempts" to get the Defense Department to declare company and Coalition Provisional Authority reports on the incident classified, the report states. The Pentagon refused. The families of the slain men have sued Blackwater Security Consulting, one of the most familiar of hundreds of private military contractors operating in Iraq. The families allege the company failed to provide their relatives with adequate gear and weaponry. Blackwater has denied the allegations and argued the men agreed to assume the risks of working in a war zone. Thursday's report adds to the intense scrutiny the company has faced since it was involved in shootings September 16 in western Baghdad. Iraqi authorities said Blackwater guards protecting a U.S. Embassy convoy opened fire indiscriminately, killing as many as 20 civilians. Blackwater said its employees responded properly to an insurgent attack on the convoy. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte on Thursday told a Senate committee that "something went tragically wrong" in the Baghdad incident, and that the State Department and Iraqi authorities are conducting a thorough investigation. He said Blackwater guards had fired their weapons on 56 of the 1,873 escort missions they have conducted in Iraq in 2007, "And each such incident is reviewed by management officials to ensure that procedures were followed." "I personally was grateful for the presence of my Blackwater security detail, largely comprised of ex-Special Forces and other military, when I served as ambassador to Iraq," Negroponte told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday in response to questions. "Their alert and controlled posture kept me safe -- to get my job done." E-mail to a friend .

House probe: Blackwater tried to delay, impede investigation into 2004 killings . Four Blackwater employees ambushed, killed in Falluja in 2004 incident . Company said unclassified documents were classified, report says . Blackwater calls report "a one-sided version of this tragic incident"

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The Iraqi Presidency Council approved a resolution Sunday that will allow non-U.S. foreign troops to remain in Iraq after a U.N. mandate expires at year's end. British troops talk in Basra last week. Iraq on Sunday OK'd foreign troops to remain in the country after the new year. It was the last step for final adoption of the resolution, which won parliamentary approval Tuesday. Iraq's main political parties hammered out the resolution a week ago, after an impasse among parliamentary factions threatened to continue beyond the December 31 deadline. A separate, previously approved agreement authorizes U.S. troops to remain. Britain has about 4,100 troops in Iraq, the second-largest contingent after the United States, which has about 142,500. Other countries covered under the resolution -- El Salvador, Australia, Romania and Estonia -- have a total of several hundred troops in the country. The resolution authorizes Iraq to negotiate bilateral agreements with the countries, Kurdish lawmaker Mahmoud Othman said. If it had not been approved by year's end, their troops would have been in Iraq illegally. In November, the United States concluded a separate agreement with the Iraqi government authorizing the continued presence of its troops. U.S. combat forces plan to pull back from population centers in Iraq by July and to withdraw from Iraq by the end of 2011. The British government says its forces will complete their mission of training Iraqi troops by May 31 and withdraw from the country by July 31. In other developments: . • Four people were killed and 20 wounded Sunday when a suicide bomber targeted a demonstration in Mosul against Israeli military operations in Gaza, a Mosul police official said. About 30 minutes into the rally, a suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest detonated after riding his bicycle into a crowd of protesters, police said. • One of three al Qaeda in Iraq prisoners at large after a Friday jail break in Ramadi was killed in a gun battle with police Saturday, and the remaining two were arrested early Sunday, according to Ramadi police and an Iraqi Interior Ministry official. Amad Ahmed Farhan was among 40 al Qaeda in Iraq prisoners who escaped from jail at al-Fursan police station. An Iraqi police patrol drove by Farhan's sister's home and Farhan began shooting at officers, a police official said. He then fled, jumping from the roof of one house to another before a police sniper gunned him down. The remaining two prisoners, Abdul Aleem Abdulwahab and Lazem Mohammed Ali, were found hiding in water tanks Sunday at a home where they had threatened two women and several children with weapons, the Interior Ministry said. Of the 40 who escaped, 24 were taken into custody, six were killed in the clashes and seven others were wounded. Ten Iraqi police also were killed. • A car bomb killed at least two civilians and wounded four others Sunday near the western entrance to the city of Falluja, an Interior Ministry official said. Falluja is a Sunni town located about 35 miles (60 kilometers) west of Baghdad. • A U.S. soldier was killed by a bomb Sunday in northern Baghdad, the U.S. military said. The soldier was with Multi-National Division - Baghdad. No further details were given. The death brings the U.S. toll in the Iraq war to 4,217. CNN's Jill Dougherty and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.

NEW: Suicide bomber kills 4 in Mosul at protest against Israel's Gaza airstrikes . Resolution approved by Presidency Council replaces U.N. mandate set to expire . After U.S.'s 142,500 troops, Britain has second-largest contingent: 4,100 . Authorities capture two al Qaeda in Iraq escapees, kill another from Friday jailbreak .

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(CNN) -- Spec. Shaun Gopaul woke up at 4 a.m. on May 12, 2007, and waited at a battle position south of Baghdad for members of his company to pick him up. Sgt. Alex Jimenez, left, and Spc. Shaun Gopaul had served in the military together since 2005. One of those he expected to see was the larger-than-life figure of Sgt. Alex Jimenez, who cared so much about his fellow soldiers that he made sure every one was comfortable and who cared so much about the Iraqis he was fighting for that he learned Arabic on his own so he could talk with them. "He was a good guy, you know. He had a big heart," Gopaul said. But Jimenez and the other soldiers never came. While he was waiting, Gopaul heard on the radio that Sgt. Alex Jimenez -- the first person he met in the company and also his best friend -- and other members of his company had been ambushed and captured by insurgents in a section of Iraq known as the Triangle of Death. Gopaul said Friday that during the time Jimenez and other members of the company were missing, he tried to keep upbeat and hoped that his best friend would come home safely. But on Friday the military confirmed they found the bodies of Jimenez and 19-year-old Pvt. Byron W. Fouty and returned them to the United States. "In a way, I'm glad that he's home," Gopaul said. "It's just not in the way that we wanted." The body of a third soldier who was captured -- Pfc. Joseph J. Anzack Jr., 20, of Torrance, California -- was pulled from the Euphrates River in Babil province 11 days after the attack. After they began serving together in 2005, Gopaul said he and Jimenez were inseparable. When Gopaul arrived, Jimenez offered to let him bunk with him because many of the servicemen were younger than he. It was Gopaul's first tour in Iraq and Jimenez, who was on his second tour, took it upon himself to help new soldiers from Company D, 4th Battalion, 31st Regiment -- nicknamed the polar bears -- learn the ropes. "He grabbed all the new guys and put us where we needed to be and showed us how to do our jobs," Gopaul said. "He saved our lives by showing us the right way to do things and where to be so we wouldn't be hurt." Jimenez, 25, even took it upon himself to start learning Arabic, Gopaul said. He studied the language until he eventually became fluent. Then, he taught the entire platoon and company so they would have an easier time talking to locals. "It was awesome, because if we didn't have an interpreter we had him to help out," Gopaul said. During their free time the two soldiers wrote and sang music -- often reggaeton -- sometimes about being in the Army. Above all, Gopaul said, Jimenez was known for his sense of humor and always being there for anyone who needed it. "I've been getting a lot of calls from a lot of people across different battalions who knew him and knew the size of his heart, Gopaul said. The last time he spoke to Jimenez, Gopaul was returning from time off and Jimenez called to let him know what was going on in Iraq and see how his good friend was doing. "I told him 'I'll see you in a couple days,' " Gopaul said. "But that was it. I never saw him again." Gopaul said he has taken a 14-day leave from service and will go to visit members of the Jimenez family who live in New York and Boston, Massachusetts. Black ribbons of mourning replaced the yellow ribbons around the Jimenez home Thursday afternoon. A POW/MIA flag that had been hanging from the home for more than a year was also replaced by a U.S. flag. "This has all been pretty hard," Gopaul said. "But one thing is for sure -- we'll never forget him."

Shaun Gopaul, Alex Jimenez served together in military starting in 2005 . Gopaul: "He saved our lives" by showing us what to do . Bodies of Jimenez, another soldier found in Iraq after a year . Jimenez learned Arabic and taught others so they could talk to locals .

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(CNN) -- The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing Wednesday on the circumstances surrounding the release of convicted Pan Am Flight 103 bomber Abdelbasset al-Megrahi from a Scottish prison last year. The Scottish government released al-Megrahi just over a year ago on the grounds that he had cancer and was not likely to live more than three more months. Al-Megrahi is the only person convicted in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, which exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, in December 1988, killing 259 people on the plane and 11 on the ground. Most of the dead were Americans. The flight was heading to New York from Frankfurt, Germany, via London, England, when it blew up. A special Scottish court in the Netherlands convicted al-Megrahi in 2001. Al-Megrahi is "a very sick man," but there is no way to tell how long he will live, according to the father of one of the people who died in the 1988 bombing. Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora died in the terror attack, said earlier this month that he recently saw al-Megrahi in Libya. Swire criticized U.S. senators who tried to hold hearings this summer into questions surrounding the release of al-Megrahi. He said he had written to them to say it was more important to let Scottish legal proceedings run their course, because a review commission had found possible miscarriages of justice in the case. "They didn't want to know about that," he said of the senators. Swire, who said he does not think that al-Megrahi is guilty, defended the decision. "At three months, just over half [of people with his cancer] would be dead," Swire said. Doctors have said al-Megrahi has terminal prostate cancer. But after three months, mortality rates level off, and there is no way to predict how long cancer patients will live, said Swire, a retired general practitioner. "He can walk a few steps," Swire said of al-Megrahi. He did not ask al-Megrahi or his doctors about the Libyan's medical condition out of respect for his privacy, he said. But he said the fullness of his face suggested that he was on steroids to slow the cancer. Al-Megrahi was appealing his conviction when he was freed on compassionate grounds in August 2009. He then dropped the appeal. Swire said he thinks al-Megrahi feels guilty about having withdrawn his appeal, because it leaves him with no way to clear his name and no way for those -- like Swire -- who think he is innocent, to have the case reviewed. But al-Megrahi's death could change the legal playing field, Swire speculated. "If he were to die, the the situation would change," and Swire might be able to get the case reopened, he said. Swire is in the minority among victims' families in thinking that al-Megrahi is innocent. American officials have blasted officials for releasing al-Megrahi. "As we have expressed repeatedly to Scottish authorities, we maintain that al-Megrahi should serve out the entirety of his sentence in prison in Scotland," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a written statement. President Barack Obama's assistant on homeland security and counter-terrorism, John Brennan, called the release "unfortunate and inappropriate." Democratic Sens. Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg noted that al-Megrahi was given three months to live when he was released, but is still alive. Menendez noted that on August 20, 2009, al-Megrahi stepped off a plane into the arms of a cheering throng in Libya. "A mass murderer tasted freedom, experiencing joy," Menendez said. "It was a scene that made the stomach turn ... that made old wounds fresh again in the hearts of those whose family members died at the hands of that man." "Al-Megrahi ... is very much free, living in the lap of luxury by all accounts," Menendez said. Lautenberg said: "It is the families of those victims who deserve compassion, not this terrorist." The case has outraged many on both sides of the Atlantic and led U.S. senators to demand answers from Scotland about the details of his release. CNN's Melissa Gray contributed to this report.

270 people died in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Scotland in 1988 . Al-Megrahi was freed last year on the grounds that he was likely to live only a few months . The father of a bombing victim says he doesn't think al-Megrahi is guilty .

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (CNN) -- Inspired by images of Iranians taking to the streets to support the opposition presidential candidate, Michelle May decided to head to Tehran. Michelle May, an American and Irish national, was detained and forced to leave Iran. "I just felt a real need to be there with my friends, and I just wanted to be a part of what could possibly be history," May told CNN's "American Morning" on Wednesday. "So I made arrangements at the last minute." May, who is an American and Irish national, used her Irish passport to travel to Tehran just days before the street demonstrations turned violent as Iranian authorities cracked down on those protesting the results of the June 12 election. "I had been there two times before, and I feel very connected to the country and the people there," she said. "I have a lot of friends." Her third visit took a terrifying turn Saturday shortly after she checked for the latest news at an Internet cafe in Tehran. "This young man befriended me. I was trying to download CNN to find out -- this was the day after the ayatollah gave his prayer on Friday," May said. Afterward, the man helped her hail a taxi outside the cafe to meet one of her friends for lunch, she said. "About half an hour into that ride, the next thing I know, there are two motorbikes on either side of my taxi," she said. "He's on the back of one of them, and three big Basij guys are on the other, and they pull me over. I knew what was happening." The Basij, Iran's feared volunteer paramilitary group, has cracked down on the thousands of protesters in the bloody aftermath of the Islamic republic's disputed presidential election. "I was terrified, and I immediately started screaming, saying no, no, no," May said. The young man climbed into the taxi and told her to go with him and the three other men. "So I stood up to get out of the taxi, but then I thought I'll make a scene on the street, maybe they'll leave me alone," she said. "However, that didn't work. I think because everyone's just terrified of the Basij right now." She was forced into a car and held for more than an hour. Her captors accused her of spying, and after much back-and-forth they drove by a police station where about 50 Iranian police were hanging out. "I actually trust the police there so I banged on the window, and the guy next to me, the one who spoke English, said, 'OK, we'll stop.' "They brought me into the police station where I was questioned there. And I had a pretty good idea at that time that everything was going to be OK because they really had nothing on me," May said. "I'm not a terrorist; I'm not a spy. So they really had nothing to go on." She was told to leave the country, and she headed for Dubai where she spoke to CNN. May said she admires the bravery of the Iranians protesting in Tehran. "I don't even know how they're doing it, because honestly everyone I know there is just scared," she said. "They know that they're risking their lives, but they are so fed up that they're willing to do that."

Michelle May, an American and Irish national, had been to Iran before . Basij picked up May after she looked at news at an Internet cafe . May: 'I immediately started screaming, saying no, no, no'

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(CNN) -- Cheryl Bradshaw shivered under a big brown coat as she made her way through a line of people waiting along an icy road in Wilmington, Ohio. She was among about 5,000 residents who accepted food from the nonprofit Feed the Children. The nonprofit Feed the Children delivers boxes of food and other items to families Thursday in Wilmington, Ohio. "A lot of this people in this town ... it's day to day, dollar to dollar," Bradshaw said of the town of about 12,000 between Cincinnati and Columbus. Wilmington is still reeling from news that delivery giant DHL would close its hub there. About 3,000 of the 8,000 people who faced layoffs lived in or around Wilmington. One in three families in Wilmington had someone employed at DHL, according to an economic task force created by Mayor David Raizk. A crowd gathered Thursday as 12 loaded semitrailers cautiously parked on slippery roads. Each family got two boxes. One had 25 pounds of canned food and vegetables. Another contained 10 pounds of personal care items. Watch as townspeople describe tough times » . Bradshaw said she appreciated the help. She got laid off in December from ABX Air, a Wilmington-based air cargo services company that worked with DHL. "We are raising two grandkids, and we only have one income, so it's a big, big blessing," she said. Tony Sellars, the nonprofit's director of communications, said, "This is the largest distribution we have had in such a small town." Sellars said the organization is monitoring layoff conditions in various cities and identifying critical locations where it can be of assistance. "We have been around since 1979, and this is unprecedented in terms of need," Sellars said. "In Wilmington, the residents are proud and confused; they are resilient and trying to solve their problems on their own, but they don't know where to turn." Feed the Children distributed the food and other items in conjunction with partners that include Avon Products and the local Sugartree Ministry Center. Larry Jones, founder and president of Feed the Children, urged communities to reach out to one another. "If we are going to solve the problem, it's not going to be the government; it's going to be churches and charities and colleges, literally everyone working together," Jones said. "We are not the total answer, but we are part of the answer, and hopefully when people see us doing what we are doing, they will join in to help." Ohio is facing one of the highest jobless rates in the country -- 7.8 percent in December. The nation's unemployment rate is 7.6 percent. DHL's decision to close its hub in Wilmington has had a ripple effect. Sharon Testa, 48, who owns the Mediterranean Restaurant in downtown, has lived in Wilmington for 20 years. "Our business opened two years ago because we had a lot of international people coming in to work for DHL or companies affiliated with them," Testa said. "Everyone is concerned. We don't want our city to shrivel up; people who still have jobs are trying to come in to keep the business running." Helen Keech, 50, who works at the Arby's near where DHL was located, said that the restaurant used to open early for the DHL employees. She said there were many businesses in that building, including ABX and DHL, and now that there are less employees, things will change. "It's gonna be a ghost town I can tell you that," Keech said. CNN's Amy Sahba contributed to this report.

Closing of delivery giant DHL leaves Ohio town of Wilmington reeling . About 5,000 in town of 12,000 accept food from nonprofit Feed the Children . Official: "This is the largest distribution we have had in such a small town" Resident says she fears loss of jobs will turn Wilmington into a "ghost town"

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(CNN) -- A federal appeals court in San Francisco has temporarily halted the forced medication of Tucson shooting defendant Jared Loughner until a three-judge panel can hear competing arguments from his lawyers and prosecutors by mid-week. Loughner is charged with seriously wounding U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in a January rampage that also left six others dead. The brief order from a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals set a tight deadline for lawyers from both sides to file more detailed legal briefs. The federal government has until 5 p.m. PT Wednesday to argue the involuntary medication should continue. Loughner's lawyers had appealed Friday an earlier ruling allowing prison doctors to forcibly medicate him with strong drugs. The appeals judges will decide whether to issue a permanent order that could extend the ban on forced medication, or allow the procedure to resume. There was no indication how soon the panel would rule. Last week, a federal judge in San Diego rejected a motion by lawyers for Loughner to prevent prison doctors from forcibly medicating the Arizona shooting suspect. "I defer to medical judgment," U.S. District Judge Larry Alan Burns said in ruling that prison doctors were within their rights to force Loughner to take mind-altering psychotropic drugs against his will. "I have no reason to disagree with the doctors here." Burns also ordered that sensitive medical and legal documents relating to Loughner's treatment for mental illness remain sealed. Loughner has already started receiving the powerful drugs, and lawyers representing Loughner contend that forcing him to take the drugs against his will violates his rights. Authorities at the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri, where Loughner is being held, should have tried lesser restraints such as milder tranquilizers, argued Reuben Camper Cahn, one of Loughner's lawyers. Prosecutors responded in last week's hearing that prison officials acted properly in ordering the medication, which they said was necessary for Loughner to control his mental illness. "This is a person who is a ticking time bomb," prosecutor Wallace Kleindienst said. "He's lunged at his defense counsel and spits at her." Loughner, 22, is charged in the January mass shooting in which six people were killed and 13 wounded, including Giffords, in front of a Safeway grocery story in Tucson, Arizona. A federal judge ruled last month that Loughner was not competent to stand trial, and he was sent to the federal facility in Springfield. Loughner's lawyers said prison officials held a deficient hearing process and used faulty reasoning in deciding to drug Loughner against his will. For example, Loughner had no attorney present at the June 14 hearing, the lawyers said in their motion, and officials failed to state the drug and dosage he should receive. According to the emergency motion filed last month, authorities had earlier assessed Loughner as dangerous because of incidents before his transfer to the Springfield prison: He threw a chair against a door and spat at an attorney. However, the reasoning by prison officials in Springfield for deciding to administer the drugs was to treat Loughner's mental illness, rather than to subdue any dangerous behavior, the motion said. Prosecutors had argued in their response that Loughner received a proper administrative hearing on the matter, and the medication prescribed was necessary to prevent him from being a danger to himself and others. CNN's Bill Mears and Michael Martinez contributed to this report.

Last week, Loughner's attorney lost a motion asking for a halt to the forced medication . But a federal appeals court on Tuesday temporarily halts the forced medication . Loughner should have received milder tranquilizers, his attorneys argued . Loughner suffers from mental illness .

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(CNN) -- You've heard of hybrids, electric cars and vehicles that can run on vegetable oil. But of all the contenders in the quest to produce the ultimate fuel-efficient car, this could be the first one to let you say, "fill it up with air." The compressed air car planned for the U.S. market would be a six-seater, a New York company says. That's the idea behind the compressed air car, which backers say could achieve a fuel economy of 106 miles per gallon. Plenty of skepticism exists, but with many Americans trying to escape sticker shock at the gas pump, the concept is generating buzz. The technology has been the focus of MDI, a European company founded in 1991 by a French inventor and former race car engineer. New York-based Zero Pollution Motors is the first firm to obtain a license from MDI to produce the cars in the United States, pledging to deliver the first models in 2010 at a price tag of less than $18,000. The concept is similar to how a locomotive works, except compressed air -- not steam -- moves the engine's pistons, said Shiva Vencat, vice president of MDI and CEO of Zero Pollution Motors. Gas still plays a role . The six-seater planned for the U.S. market would be able to reach speeds of more than 90 mph and have a range of more than 800 miles thanks to a dual energy engine, Vencat said. Watch what a prototype looks like and why the cars may take off in cities » . The design calls for one or more tanks of compressed air under the car's floor, as well as a tank holding at least 8 gallons of fuel. Whether the engine uses just air or both air and fuel would depend on how fast the car is going. It would run purely on compressed air at speeds less than 35 mph, Vencat said. Since the car could only go a short distance when using just air, fuel is needed to get the full range, he explained. "Above 35 mph, there is an external combustion system, which is basically a heater that uses a little bit of gasoline or biofuel or ethanol or vegetable oil that will heat the air," Vencat said. "Heating the air increases its volume, and by increasing its volume, it increases [the car's] range. That's why with one gallon of gasoline or its equivalent we are able to make over 100 mpg." See what the engine looks like » . Vencat said an on-board compressor would refill the air tank while the car is running, or owners could refill it by plugging it into a power outlet for four hours. Is it for real? Experts aren't sure Americans will be zipping around in air cars and getting 106 mpg, or more than twice the fuel economy of hybrid-electric vehicles such as the Toyota Prius. It is possible to power a car with compressed air, but the mileage claim is "at the edge of possibility," said John Callister, director of the Harvey Kinzelberg Entrepreneurship in Engineering program at Cornell University's College of Engineering. He noted that such dramatic fuel efficiency is associated with tiny experimental cars, not bigger mainstream ones. "No one's really proven a six-seater passenger car [can get] any better than 75 miles to the gallon. So this would represent a big step forward," Callister said. "They would have to prove that before they can throw rocks at the Prius." Another expert expressed concern about the amount of energy it would take to generate the required air pressure: 4,500 pounds per square inch, or more than 120 times the pressure inside the tires of a typical four-door sedan. "That is above what you normally find even in an industrial setting," said William Bulpitt, senior research engineer at the Georgia Institute of Technology's Strategic Energy Institute. "That takes quite a compressor to do. ... It takes horsepower to compress the air up to that pressure." If you count that energy, it's hard to believe the car would be that much more efficient than an electric vehicle, Callister said. India shows interest . The compressed air car will get a chance to prove itself next year when it competes for the Automotive X Prize. The multimillion-dollar award will go to the team that "can win a stage race for clean, production-capable vehicles that exceed 100 mpg equivalent fuel economy," according to the X Prize Foundation. The air-car concept has also drawn the interest of Tata Motors, India's largest automaker. The company announced an agreement with MDI last year to further develop and refine the technology. However, the cars have yet to hit the streets in India or anywhere else. "The project is under progress. We do not yet have any timeframe for launch," said Debasis Ray, the head of corporate communications for Tata Motors. Only prototypes exist at this point, Vencat said. Light design . The body of the car planned for the United States would be built with fiberglass and injected foam. The chassis, composed of aluminum rods, would be glued together, not welded. The design allows the car to be as light as possible, Vencat said. For anyone who has doubts about its safety, he insisted computer simulations show that the vehicle would pass crash tests and meet all U.S. safety standards. "Do you think somebody would actually put millions of dollars into making a car that will not pass safety regulations? There's no point in doing that," Vencat said. Callister pointed out that there haven't been any lightweight, 100-plus mpg cars to pass crash tests but said it could be done through a "very clever design" of a lightweight frame. A good prototype could dispel many of the doubts about the compressed air car, he added. "I don't think we should discount this advance if it happens," Callister said.

The car would be powered by a combination of compressed air and fuel . A New York company is pledging to build the first models in the U.S. in 2010 . The mileage claim is "at the edge of possibility," an engineering expert says . India shows interest in the technology; car to compete for the Automotive X Prize .

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(CNN) -- Iran is to send a female skier to the Winter Olympics for the first time at next year's Games in Vancouver, Canada, the head of the Islamic Republic's ski federation told state media Monday. Fatemeh Kiadarbandsari, competing at last month's World Ski Championships, in France. The chosen competitor will ski in "full Islamic dress," Iran's National News Agency reported. Three women Fatemeh Kiadarbandsari, Mitra Kalhor and Marjan Kalhor are vying for the place on the national team alongside three male skiers, said Iranian Ski Federation head Isa Saveh-Shemshaki. Trials for the team will be held in December, two months ahead of the event. Iran has sent male athletes to every Winter Games since 1956. Skiing is hugely popular in Iran with some of the region's best slopes in the Zagros Mountains just a two-hour drive from the country's capital Tehran. At weekends during the seven-month ski season it is common to see long queues of traffic on routes to resorts. With a growing ski tourism industry, the price of the sport has steadily increased. But with fewer social restrictions on the pistes than in other areas of Iranian life, the sport remains a popular pursuit for the country's youth. Until recently, many slopes were strictly segregated with men and women skiing on different sides of the mountain. But while it is still illegal to travel in the same chair lift or gondola, the country's strict religious laws are visibly more lax at 3,000 meters. Iran took just three women among 53 athletes to last year's Beijing Olympics but the choice of 19-year-old female rower Homa Hosseini to carry the flag during the opening ceremony infuriated strict Islamists. Current president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who faces an election this year, was forced to back down from an initiative ealry in his current term to encourage female participation in sport because of criticism from the country's religious leaders. One mullah reportedly said that women should not ski because the movement of their knees looked "more like dancing than sport."

Iran set to send female athlete to next year's Winter Olympics for the first time . One female skier, three male skiers will be selected for Iranian Olympic team . Skiing is hugely popular in Iran with resorts just a two-hour drive from Tehran . Male, female skiers allowed to share slopes though not chair lifts, gondolas .

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(CNN) -- Some of the world's largest airlines are conducting safety checks after debris fell from the engine of a Qantas Airbus A380 as it flew over Indonesia. Australia's national airline has now grounded its Airbus A380 fleet indefinitely. How serious is the incident -- and what does it mean for the aviation industry? What do we know about the Qantas engine incident? One of the four engines on the Qantas A380, which was carrying 440 passengers and 26 crew Thursday, shut down shortly after it left Singapore's Changi Airport. The most obvious sign of damage to the plane is that part of one engine cowling, or covering, had been blown away. Debris was later found on the Indonesian island of Batan. Why is this being taken so seriously? This type of incident is known as an "uncontained engine failure," explains Richard Quest, CNN's aviation correspondent. "Probably something happened at the front of the engine, it ingested into the engine, out the other side and that's where the explosion or non-containment happened." Quest highlighted damage to the wing above the engine, including puncture marks. "Whatever event took place in engine number two, the debris from that event exploded outwards, removing part of the cowling and, it seems, going upwards through the wing." Quest said the debris hit the wing by the forward slats, several meters away from critical areas such as the fuel tanks and fuel lines. "Any form of debris that leaves an engine and has upward momentum sufficiently that it can go through the wing in that sort of mode has to be taken very seriously indeed," Quest said. "That is why, in this case, Qantas has decided to ground the fleet." Quest highlighted other signs of damage on the engine casing, including the presence of soot marks where the fan and combustion chambers meet the exhaust. "That suggests there was clearly some sort of an event, some sort of fire," he explained. Were the passengers and air crew in any danger? While the incident was serious, the plane landed with no reported injuries. Quest said the pilot would have faced a challenging landing: one of his reverse thrusters would not work and he would be carrying too much fuel. But air crews practice for such eventualities. "This was not even a difficult landing for him." How common is this type of incident? An uncontained engine failure is extremely uncommon, said Quest -- but it has happened on several occasions before. In 1985 a British Airtours Boeing 737-236 at Manchester International Airport in northern England, caught fire as it readied for take-off. Debris from the engine punctured an underwing fuel tank access panel, according to a later Air Accident Investigation Branch report into the incident. The resulting blaze engulfed the fuselage in a matter of minutes, killing 55 passengers and crew. What do we know about the engine itself? The engine used on the Qantas Airbus A380 is the Rolls Royce Trent 900. All A380s -- save those flown by Emirates -- are fitted with it, accounting for more than half the 37 A380s in operation before Thursday's incident. In a statement to CNN, a Rolls-Royce spokesperson said: "Safety is always our highest priority. We are currently analyzing the available information and working with our customers to support their operations." Shares in Rolls Royce dropped more than five percent Thursday in trading on the London Stock Exchange. What's the safety record of the Airbus A380? The plane involved in this incident would be about two years old, with the engine of a similar age. The Airbus A380 has a 100 percent safety record, Quest explained. "There have been niggles with the fuel systems and engines but nothing like this, they have more been operational issues. It is an extremely complicated airplane. The plane is designed for an uncontained engine failure." "The airlines love it," adds Quest. "Everyone who flies on the A380 says it's quiet, it's roomy, it's comfortable." The incident happened in the same region as Indonesian volcano Mount Merapi, which is now active. Could this have been a factor? Investigators will look at all possibilities. Earlier this year, no-fly zones were imposed across Europe due to ash clouds from Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull. It was feared that dust and ash from the volcano might damage airplane engines. However, while Mount Merapi is also in Indonesia, it is located several hundred miles from where the incident took place. IVolcanic activity has not yet been flagged as a serious possible cause of the engine failure. What is Airbus saying about the incident? In a statement to CNN company spokesperson Justin Dubon confirmed that "a Qantas A380 returned safely back to Singapore. The Singaporean authorities have launched an official investigation and these will be led by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB). "Airbus is providing full technical assistance and is dispatching a technical team to Singapore where Airbus already has resident technical personnel." Has there been any comment from other operators of the A380? Singapore Airlines said in a statement on its website that it would delay all its A380 flights for the time being. "Our engine manufacturer Rolls Royce and aircraft manufacturer Airbus have advised us to conduct precautionary technical checks on our A380 aircraft, following today's incident involving another operator's A380." Lufthansa, which operates three A380s, including to Tokyo, said: "Our operations are as normal. We are on standby to go further but no decisions have been made." CNN's Richard Quest contributed to this report .

Incident, known as an "uncontained engine failure" is rare but not unknown, says CNN's Richard Quest . Engine type is fitted to more than half the 37 A380s currently in operation . Quest: There have been niggles with the fuels systems and engines but nothing like this .

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(CNN) -- London is bracing itself for a deluge of sporting egos as the best athletes in the world descend on the British capital for the Olympic Games. But an hour away, in the sleepy town of Newmarket, Suffolk, the biggest diva of all has already landed. When the best sprinter in the world rolls into town, you would expect a hefty entourage to follow. But even Usain Bolt doesn't come with an official traveling party of 150. However, Jamaica's Olympic champion is not Black Caviar. Black Caviar is the epitome of a modern sporting superstar: athletic, invincible, marketable. The only thing out of the ordinary about this athlete is that she is a horse. The world's most popular racehorse has arrived in England to compete at this month's Royal Ascot -- arguably the world's most recognizable race meeting and avidly watched by the Queen of England. The queen of the turf made the long journey off the back of an undefeated career of 21 wins in 21 starts in her native Australia. She has inspired a fanatical following in the sports-mad country, where she has her own Twitter account, Facebook page, blog and shop, where fans can purchase such necessities as Black Caviar's own-brand shampoo (How do you keep your tail so shiny?) As such, the horse has been accorded VIP status for her first trip away from her home country; most "air stables" (the adapted cargo pallets which routinely transport racehorses around the world) accommodate three animals. Sometimes, just two horses travel together, a sort of equine business class. One horse per stall is considered first class. Black Caviar made the 30-hour journey solo, the only horse on the plane. Royal approval: Will unbeatable Black Caviar grace Ascot? Boarding the jet in her now-famous body suit (inspired by the compression suits used by human athletes such as Aussie hurdler Sally Pearson), Black Caviar -- who is affectionately known as "Nelly" -- was accompanied on the flight by her personal track rider and veterinary surgeon to make sure she remained relaxed during transit. The overseas tour has inevitably drawn comparisons with Phar Lap, the legendary New Zealand-born stayer who became one of the earliest stars of the television age when he traveled to the Americas to seek his fortune after dominating Australian racing in the early 1930s. But even Phar Lap never commanded the frenzied attention that accompanies Black Caviar's every move. When she took her first tentative steps off the Singapore Airlines 747 at Heathrow last week she was probably only dimly aware that she had flown into the biggest media circus the racing world has seen since the days when the Francois Boutin-trained Arazi drew crowds of reporters from both sides of the Atlantic when embarking on his three-year-old campaign in Europe in 1992. Black Caviar cannot be said to be unaccustomed to the attention; thousands of fans flock to see the wonder mare every time she races, many dressed in her signature salmon and black silks (the distinctive black dots represent the "caviar" in her name). It's a scene that is likely to be repeated when she makes her English debut in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot on June 23, when a record crowd of 80,000 people is expected to pack the Queen's racecourse. A sizable Australian contingent will be out in force, but for once it won't be the ubiquitous gold and green colors that accompany Australian athletes of every stripe as they exert their sporting dominance around the world, but salmon and black. Get ready, Royal Ascot -- the queen of racing is coming to you.

Black Caviar arrives in England to compete in Royal Ascot next week . Set to make English debut run in Diamond Jubilee Stakes on June 23 . Australian mare has undefeated career statistics of 21 wins from 21 starts . Overseas trip has drawn comparisons with Phar Lap .

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Malibu, California (CNN) -- Many people are struggling just to provide the basics these days. The big question is, how do you find joy and fulfillment during lean holiday times like these? For the answer, I look back upon the philosophy by which my mother, Mieke Frankenberg, led her life, through both its brightest and darkest hours. Her philosophy originated during World War II through her experiences as a prisoner of war in a Japanese concentration camp in Indonesia. She had lived in that country with an abusive husband, whom she left before the war broke out and the Japanese captured her. Through the bleakest times, she reached out to her fellow prisoners to provide them with comfort and care. The lack of medical supplies meant care wasn't much more than holding someone's hand or sharing some of her starvation rations. While not a nurse, she gave of herself and drew a sustaining love in return. Returning to England after the war, my mother remarried and started a family, which grew to include me and my two sisters. With the camp behind her, my mother's philosophy remained to always keep an open heart. She volunteered with the Red Cross and regularly provided emotional support for friends. She found that when love flows with no boundaries from an open heart, love also finds its way back in. She gave and gave, and received love in return. This "open heart" philosophy has sustained me, as well, through the most difficult of times, including a painful divorce about 20 years ago that left me near penniless. At that point in my life, I attended a fundraiser for ChildHelp USA. I donated some of the last money I had, and in return, I secured a session where an artist drew a picture of my two children at the time. At that sitting, the artist saw potential in some finger paintings I'd made for my children and offered to give me free painting lessons. As I started painting, I discovered my emotional outlet. I began creating images of hearts that were always open, never closed. These hearts may have appeared unfinished in a way. But they brought me back to the lessons of my mother, a reminder to live as she lived -- openhearted. Soon, I changed from a frantic, terrified and angry person into someone who was able to let go of the past. I began to let other people into my life and to give back emotionally. Around that same time, I landed the TV role of "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" and was back on my feet. I now embody my mother's belief that only when you can love yourself and keep your heart open can you best give and receive love. My family continues my mother's tradition at Christmas, when we open our home to relatives, neighbors, my six children and even their friends -- extending our family to include those unable to head home for the holidays. Some years, there are as many as 50 people at the dinner table. Living with an open heart can be a path to rewarding holidays for many people this year, even if budgets tighten and troubles mount. The holiday table may be less bountiful. There may be fewer presents under the tree. But an open heart can bring a wealth of love, hope and inspiration. You might think these are shaping up to be your gloomiest holidays ever. But remember, as my mother taught me, someone is always worse off than you. Find a way to give, even if you're in need yourself. Find the place where you can provide comfort, care or love. Volunteer at a food bank or a shelter. Reach out to elderly neighbors to find out how you might make their lives a little easier. By opening your heart to others, good things will come to you, too. With that approach, I hope you'll find that 2009 could become the most fulfilling of holiday seasons. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Jane Seymour.

Jane Seymour says her mother's spirit of openheartedness is instructive in lean holiday times . Her mother formed her philosophy while helping other POW's in WWII, she says . She says that open hearts allow love to flow freely between people . Seymour: People should find a way to give, even if they are in need themselves .

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(CNN) -- Thailand and Cambodia have called for dialogue as tensions continued to escalate over an ancient border temple on disputed land. Cambodian soldiers stand guard near Preah Vihear temple, close to the Thai border. The countries agreed to meet Monday even as each side deployed more troops to the site of the Preah Vihear temple, the national Thai News Agency reported Thursday. Both Cambodia and Thailand lay claim to the 11th century temple, which sits atop a cliff on Cambodian soil but has its most accessible entrance on the Thai side. The International Court of Justice awarded the temple to Cambodia in 1962, but the 1.8 square mile (4.6 sq. km) area around it was never fully demarcated. Last week, the United Nations approved Cambodia's application to have the temple listed as a World Heritage Site -- places the U.N. says have outstanding universal value. The decision re-ignited tensions, with some in Thailand fearing it will make it difficult for their country to lay claim to disputed land around the temple. Opposition parties in Thailand used the issue to attack the government, which initially backed the heritage listing. Watch Thai villagers block anti-government demonstrators » . A Thai court overturned the pact, prompting the resignation of Thailand's foreign minister, Noppadon Pattama. He had endorsed the application. Cambodia, meanwhile, is preparing for general elections on July 27. And Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has been in power since the mid-1980s, has portrayed the U.N. recognition as a national triumph. The current flare-up began Tuesday, when Cambodian guards briefly detained three Thais who crossed into the area. Once they were let go, the trio refused to leave the territory, the Thai News Agency said. The Cambodian state-run news agency, AKP, said that Thailand sent troops to retrieve the men and gradually built up their numbers. Thailand denies the charge, saying its troops are deployed in Thai territory. The standoff continued Thursday, with each side asking troops to withhold fire unless they are fired upon, the news agencies said. Thailand has put its Air Force on standby to evacuate its nationals from Cambodia if tensions worsen, TNA said. So far, the only casualty has been a Thai soldier who was injured Tuesday by a landmine -- possibly left over from the time the Khmer Rouge occupied the area. The Khmer Rouge, a radical communist movement that ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, won power through a guerrilla war. It is remembered for the deaths of as many as 1.5 million Cambodians.

Both agreed to meet as each side deployed more troops to Preah Vihear temple . Both Cambodia and Thailand lay claim to the 11th century temple . The International Court of Justice awarded the temple to Cambodia in 1962 . Current row began when Cambodia briefly held 3 Thais who crossed into the area .

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(CNN) -- A soldier suspected of fatally shooting 12 and wounding 31 at Fort Hood in Texas on Thursday is not dead as previously reported by the military, the base's commander said Thursday evening. A civilian officer who was wounded in the incident shot the suspect, who is "in custody and in stable condition," Army Lt. Gen. Robert Cone told reporters. "Preliminary reports indicate there was a single shooter that was shot multiple times at the scene," Cone said at a news conference. "However, he was not killed as previously reported." The suspect, identified as Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, opened fire at a military processing center at Fort Hood around 1:30 p.m., Cone said. Three others initially taken into custody for interviews have been released, Cone said. Hasan, 39, is a graduate of Virginia Tech and a psychiatrist licensed in Virginia who was practicing at Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood, according to military and professional records. Previously, he worked at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. A federal official said Hasan is a U.S. citizen of Jordanian descent. Military documents show that Hasan was born in Virginia and was never deployed outside the United States. In a statement released Thursday, Hasan's cousin, Nader Hasan, said his family is "filled with grief for the families of today's victims." "Our family loves America. We are proud of our country, and saddened by today's tragedy," the statement said. "Because this situation is still unfolding, we have nothing else that we are able to share with you at this time." Hasan was scheduled to be deployed to Iraq "and appeared to be upset about that," Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said. "I think that there is a lot of investigation going on now into his background and what he was doing that was not known before," Hutchison said. Hutchison said she was told that the soldiers at the readiness facility "were filling out paper processing to go to Iraq or Afghanistan," according to CNN affiliate KXAN in Austin, Texas. The readiness center is one of the last stops before soldiers deploy. It is also one of the first places a soldier goes upon returning to the United States. The base reopened Thursday night after being under lockdown for more than five hours. At a news conference earlier in the day, Cone said at least 10 of the dead were soldiers. The shooter had two weapons, both handguns, Cone said. iReport.com: Are you there? Send pics, video . A witness in a building adjacent to where the shooting happened said soldiers were cutting up their uniforms into homemade bandages as the wounded were brought into the building. "It was total chaos," the witness said. Cone said a graduation ceremony was being held in an auditorium just 50 meters from where the shooting took place. "Thanks to the quick reaction of several soldiers, they were able to close off the doors to that auditorium where there were some 600 people inside," he said. Peggy McCarty of Missouri told CNN affiliate KSHB that her daughter, Keara Bono, was among Thursday's wounded. She said she briefly spoke to Bono, who told her she had been shot in her left shoulder but was doing well. "She's being deployed to Iraq on December 7," McCarty said. "I thought I was more worried about her going over to Iraq than here, just doing training in Texas. She just got there yesterday." A woman who lives on base, about eight blocks from the shooting, said she and her daughter were at home when her husband called and told them to stay inside. "And I asked him why, what was going on. He said that there was a shooting," said the woman, Nicole, who asked that her last name not be used. She said her husband called her back about 20 minutes later and told her to go upstairs, stay away from doors and windows and keep the doors locked. "It's just been crazy," she said. "Sirens everywhere." A soldier who asked not to be identified told CNN that an e-mail went out to all base personnel instructing them not to speak to the media. President Obama called the shootings "tragic" and "a horrific outburst of violence." He expressed his condolences for the shooting victims. "These are men and women who have made the selfless and courageous decision to risk, and at times give, their lives to protect the rest of us on a daily basis," Obama said. "It's difficult enough when we lose these brave Americans in battles overseas. It is horrifying that they should come under fire at an Army base on American soil." Scott & White Memorial Hospital in Temple, Texas, posted an online appeal for blood as it began receving victims. "Due to the recent events on Fort Hood, we are in URGENT need of ALL blood types," it said. Fort Hood, with about 40,000 troops, is home to the Army's 1st Cavalry Division and elements of the 4th Infantry Division, as well as the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment and the 13th Corps Support Command. It is located near Killeen, Texas. The headquarters unit and three brigades of the 1st Cavalry are currently deployed in Iraq. At least 25,000 people are at Fort Hood on any given day, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon said. Fort Hood is home to the Warrior Combat Stress Reset Program, which is designed to help soldiers overcome combat stress issues. In June, Fort Hood's commander, Lt. Gen. Rick Lynch, told CNN that he was trying to ease the kind of stresses soldiers face. He has pushed for soldiers working a day schedule to return home for dinner by 6 p.m., and required his personal authorization for anyone working weekends. At the time, two soldiers stationed there had committed suicide in 2009 -- a rate well below those of other posts. Nearby Killeen was the scene of one of the most deadly shootings in American history 18 years ago when George Hennard crashed his truck into a Luby's Cafeteria and began shooting, killing 23 people and wounding 20. Hennard's spree lasted 14 minutes. He eventually took his own life.

Suspect in shootings wounded but alive, Army official says . Army: Suspect is Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, a psychiatrist . Senator: Hasan was "upset" about scheduled deployment to Iraq . Shooting happened in building that is one of last stops before soldiers deploy .

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(CNN) -- An estimated 40,000 people in the United States are involved in professional dogfighting, an illegal blood sport with fight purses as high as $100,000. The latest accusations against Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick and three other people highlight the problem. They are accused in an indictment that describes dogs being routinely executed if they didn't fight fiercely. The indictment was handed down Tuesday by a federal grand jury in Richmond, Virginia. The nightmare of dogfighting is growing, according to the Humane Society of the United States. John Goodwin, an expert on animal fighting with the Humane Society, says there are an estimated 40,000 professional dogfighters in the United States, involved in putting on fights and buying and selling fighting dogs. Watch what goes on at a high-stakes dog fight » . But, Goodwin adds, there could be as many as 100,000 additional people involved in "streetfighting" -- informal dogfighting, often involving young people in gangs. "It's far more pervasive than people think and it's definitely been on the upswing in the past five to 10 years," he told CNN. See how dogfighters operate and have their own language » . Statistics from animal shelters give another indicator of the rise in dogfighting, Goodwin said. Fifteen years ago, 2 to 3 percent of the dogs coming into animal shelters were pit bulls; now, he said, pit bulls make up about a third. At one shelter in Jersey City, New Jersey, Goodwin said, the figure is 65 percent, with 20 percent of them showing the scars that indicate they have been fighting dogs. A database run by animal advocacy group Pet-abuse.com, which collects reports of animal abuse, shows reports of dogfighting cases increased from 16 in 2000 to 127 in 2006. The group has found 74 cases reported so far this year. Dogfighting is illegal in all 50 states. It's a misdemeanor in Idaho and Wyoming, and a felony everywhere else. But in some states where dogfighting is a felony, it's still perfectly legal to own a fighting dog or be a spectator at a dogfight. See where it's legal to be a spectator » . A bill signed by President Bush in May made the federal law against dogfighting tougher, by strengthening penalties to felony level. The law bans interstate commerce, import and export related to animal fighting activities. Violators can now be sentenced to three years in jail and a $250,000 fine. Previously the maximum sentence was a year in jail. Despite the laws, dogfighting is big business. Goodwin said it's impossible to estimate the amount of money involved, but the purse for a top-level professional fight could be $100,000. "There are about a dozen underground dogfighting magazines, and about half a dozen ... registries that are exclusively used by either dogfighters or people that are fighting dog enthusiasts," Goodwin said. "You have an organized infrastructure for what is a criminal industry." E-mail to a friend .

Humane Society estimates 40,000 "professional" dog fighters in U.S. Official says there could be an additional 100,000 "street" dog fighters . Purses at top-level dogfights may be $100,000 . Dogfighting a felony in 48 states, a misdemeanor in Idaho and Wyoming .

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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- When Michael Jackson collapsed at his rented mansion last month, the singer's arms were riddled with marks and their veins had collapsed -- both characteristics found in intravenous drug users, sources told CNN on Tuesday. A source says Michael Jackson had "paper white skin. As white as a white T-shirt." The revelations add to the speculation that prescription drugs played a part in Jackson's death on June 25. The exact cause is pending toxicology results that aren't due for at least another week. A source involved with the investigation into Jackson's death told CNN that Jackson had "numerous track marks" on his arms -- and that those marks "could certainly be consistent with the regular IV use of a drug, like Diprivan." The sources did not want to be identified because the investigation is ongoing. The source said investigators found numerous bottles of prescription drugs in the singer's $100,000-a-month rented mansion in Holmby Hills, but he would not confirm whether Diprivan was among them. Watch what sources say on condition of Jackson's body » . He also cautioned that it was too soon to say whether an intravenous drip of Diprivan caused the track marks. Some appeared fresh; others older, he said. The new ones could have resulted from the IVs that paramedics used when they tried to revive Jackson after he was found unconscious. Another source with knowledge of the case said Jackson's veins were collapsed in both arms, suggesting frequent intravenous drug use. The first source said Jackson's body was "lily white from head to toe," perhaps the result of vitiligo -- a condition that causes the skin to lose melanin and produce slowly enlarging white patches. The second source said Jackson had "paper white skin. As white as a white T-shirt." The singer also did not have any hair -- a lingering effect, possibly, of an accident in 1984 when Jackson suffered burns to his scalp while shooting a commercial for Pepsi. Also, said the second source, Jackson was emaciated -- despite the vigor he's seen displaying in a taped rehearsal clip shot two nights before his death. The drug Diprivan, known by its generic name Propofol, is administered intravenously in operating rooms as a general anesthetic. Last week, a nutritionist -- Cherilyn Lee -- said Jackson pleaded for the drug despite being told of its harmful effects, because he had difficulty falling asleep. Sources close to Jackson told CNN that the insomniac singer traveled with an anesthesiologist who would "take him down" at night and "bring him back up" during a world tour in the mid-'90s. The California state attorney general's office is helping the Los Angeles Police Department in Jackson's death investigation. The office confirmed it is investigating some doctors who treated Jackson over the years. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is also looking into the role of drugs. Los Angeles police have interviewed Jackson's cardiologist, Dr. Conrad Murray. They impounded Murray's car, saying it might contain evidence, possibly prescription medications. Police did not say whether they found anything. Through his lawyers, Murray has released several statements, saying he would not be commenting until the toxicology results from Jackson's autopsy are released. Dr. Neil Ratner, the anesthesiologist who accompanied Jackson during the HIStory tour in the mid-'90s, also refused to comment, although he acknowledged Jackson suffered from a sleep disorder. CNN's Susan Chun contributed to this report.

Source cites "numerous track marks" on Jackson's arms when medics came . 2nd source says Jackson's veins were collapsed in both arms . Sources also say Jackson was emaciated, didn't have any hair . Toxicology reports are at least a week away .

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Hong Kong (CNN) -- A third man in China has died from the H7N9 virus, a strain of avian flu not previously detected in humans, the Zhejiang provincial department of health said Wednesday, according to state-run media outlet Xinhua. The disclosure of the third death comes only days after Chinese authorities announced the first three known cases of humans infected with the H7N9 bird flu virus on Sunday. The total number of people infected with H7N9 in China has risen to nine, Xinhua reported Wednesday. The death reported Wednesday was that of a 38-year-old man who passed away on March 27 in his home province of Zhejiang in eastern China, Xinhua reported. He worked in nearby Jiangsu province, where at least four other cases of humans infected with H7N9 were reported Tuesday. Two other people who died -- men aged 27 and 87 -- lived in nearby Shanghai, according to Xinhua. The World Health Organization confirmed those deaths Monday. Chinese authorities are trying to find the source of the human infections. They have so far said there are no signs of transmission of the H7N9 virus between any of the victims or people they have come into close contact with, suggesting the virus isn't highly contagious among humans. They have also dismissed suggestions linking the infections with the discovery of thousands of pig carcasses from the Huangpu River which runs through Shanghai. The Shanghai Animal Disease Prevention and Control Center on Monday tested 34 samples of pig carcasses pulled from the river and found no bird flu viruses, Xinhua reported. On Tuesday, the Jiangsu provincial health bureau reported four cases of H7N9 in humans: a 45-year-old woman from Nanjing, a 48-year-old woman from Suqian, an 83-year-old man from Suzhou, and a 32-year-old woman from Wuxi. The Nanjing woman worked culling poultry, it said. Malik Peiris, a professor at Hong Kong University's School of Public Health, said Monday that the H7N9 strain of avian flu, already known to exist in wild birds, had probably been transmitted to poultry, and it infected the humans. "It's really important to understand where this virus is coming from," he said. Authorities in Shanghai are gathering daily data on cases of pneumonia resulting from unknown causes and will set up a team of experts to assess the "severity and risk" of H7N9, Xinhua reported Tuesday. Since the transmission of these types of viruses from animals to humans is usually "extremely inefficient," there are often tens of thousands of infected birds for every human case, according to Peiris. As a result, "it is very likely that there is a quite widespread outbreak happening" among the animals from which it came, he said, underscoring the urgent need to track down the source. The World Health Organization said Monday it was "in contact with the national authorities and is following the event closely." Because there are so few cases of H7N9 detected so far, little research has been done, according to Xinhua. There are no known vaccines against this virus, it said. But Peiris said it was likely that existing anti-flu drugs, such as Tamiflu, are likely to work against the H7N9 strain. He also noted that the WHO has identified the H7 virus family as a potential threat and earmarked possible vaccine candidates. He said other strains from the H7 family had caused previous outbreaks in poultry in countries including the Netherlands, Britain, Canada, the United States and Mexico. Human infection was documented in all of those cases except the Mexican one. The outbreak of the H7N7 strain in the Netherlands in 2003 infected 89 people, one of whom died, according to Peiris. The better known H5N1 avian flu virus has infected more than 600 people since 2003, of which 371 have died, according to the WHO. In February, China reported two new human cases of H5N1 in the southern province of Guizhou, both of whom were in a critical condition, the WHO said. A spike in H5N1 deaths, many of them children, has been reported in Cambodia, prompting concern among health authorities. READ MORE: 2 dead in China from unusual bird flu strain . READ MORE: New killer strain of bird flu in China not previously found in humans .

NEW: Third man to die lived in Zhejiang in eastern China, but worked in Jiangsu province . Announcement comes days after the first three other cases -- and first two deaths -- were announced . Officials are trying to find the source of the infections .

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(Mental Floss) -- How well do you know your margarine history? Let's take a look at the origins of the butter substitute, and the dairy lobby's attempts to defeat it. Where did the name "margarine" originate? In a chemist's lab. French scientist Michel Eugene Chevreul discovered a new fatty acid in 1813 that he dubbed acide margarique. Chevreul's discovery contained lustrous, pearly deposits, so he named it after the Greek word margarites, for "pearly." Did Chevreul take his margaric acid and head straight for the toaster? Not quite. If you enjoy margarine, tip your cap to Emperor Napoleon III. Napoleon III saw that both his poorer subjects and his navy would benefit from having easy access to a cheap butter substitute, so he offered a prize for anyone who could create an adequate replacement. Enter French chemist Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès. In 1869, Mège-Mouriès perfected and patented a process for churning beef tallow with milk to create an acceptable butter substitute, thereby winning the Emperor's prize. Mental Floss: 10 foods that (thankfully) flopped . So Mège-Mouriès became the first margarine tycoon? Far from it. Despite Napoleon III's high hopes for Mège-Mouriès' product, which the scientist had dubbed "oleomargarine," the market didn't really take off. In 1871, Mège-Mouriès showed his process to a Dutch company that improved on his methods and helped build an international market for margarine. The Dutch entrepreneurs realized that if margarine were going to become a substitute for butter, it needed to look like butter, so they began dyeing margarine -- which is naturally white -- a buttery yellow. Mège-Mouriès didn't get a princely sum for his invention; he actually died a pauper in 1880. The Dutch company that improved upon his recipe did pretty well for itself, though. The company, Jurgens, eventually became a world-renowned maker of margarines and soaps and later became a part of Unilever. How did the dairy world react to margarine's sudden popularity? They were predictably more than a little irked. Butter was big business, and the notion that a cheaper substitute, even one made in part with milk, might storm the market terrified dairy farmers. They didn't take the threat lying down, though, and convinced legislators to tax margarine at a rate of two cents per pound -- no small sum in the late 19th century. Dairy farmers also successfully lobbied for restrictions that banned the use of yellow dyes to make margarine look more appetizing. By 1900, artificially colored butter was contraband in 30 U.S. states. Several states took even more extreme measures to turn consumers away from margarine -- they required the product to be dyed an unappealing pink color. Mental Floss: How Temperance Movement almost killed root beer . Did other countries enact similar restrictions? If you think taxes and dyes are tough, then the Canadian government's anti-margarine campaign seems downright draconian. From 1886 until 1948, Canadian law banned any and all margarine. The only exception to this rule came between 1917 and 1923, when World War I and its aftermath left butter in short supply and the government temporarily gave margarine the thumbs up. Margarine didn't necessarily have an easier time after the ban was relaxed, either. Quebec's strong dairy lobby ensured that rules against dyeing remained in place in the province until 2008. Was there any way around these color restrictions? Sure. It sounds almost laughable now, but if you wanted to eat margarine on your toast without having to stare at its natural white color, there was a solution. As the coloring restrictions became widespread around the turn of the 20th century, margarine producers accepted that they couldn't dye their wares yellow. There was no reason why they couldn't simultaneously sell consumers margarine and yellow dye, though. When you bought a block or tube of margarine, you also got a packet of food coloring that could be kneaded into the margarine by hand. What helped margarine stay competitive with butter? More restrictions, of course. Paradoxically, the pure foods movement of the 1920s helped undermine natural butter and elevate the status of margarine. In 1923 Congress passed a law that made it illegal to add any other ingredients to butter, even additives that would help make the butter more spreadable. As any toast aficionado knows, margarine is a heck of a lot easier to spread than butter. Suddenly, butter makers couldn't tweak their products to make it easier to slather on breakfast, but margarine manufacturers could. Margarine's popularity skyrocketed. Margarine also got a bit bump from World War II. When wartime butter scarcity forced consumers to switch to margarine, lots of margarine holdouts realized that the improved product wasn't so bad after all. In 1950, the U.S. government repealed the heavy margarine tax, and the market continued to grow as individual states reversed their bans on colored margarine. The last state to repeal the ban on dyes? You guessed it: Wisconsin. America's Dairyland didn't allow dyed margarine until 1967. Mental Floss: 9 tasty foods named after people . For more mental_floss articles, visit mentalfloss.com . Entire contents of this article copyright, Mental Floss LLC. All rights reserved.

Butter was big business, and margarine, a cheaper substitute, terrified dairy farmers . Lawmakers put a tax on margarine, banned dyeing it yellow . From 1886 until 1948, Canadian law banned any and all margarine . Wisconsin didn't allow dyed margarine until 1967 .

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(CNET) -- Ceatec didn't officially start until Monday, but Toshiba was already getting the lion's share of the buzz here on the show floor, with its glasses-less 3D TV. The device was announced Sunday night, and people flocked to the demonstration in a dark makeshift theater Monday, where the wait was nearly an hour. The reason? Because finally, mercifully, a TV maker has come up with a way to watch 3D at home without those ridiculous plastic glasses. There were three sizes on display: 12 inches, 20 inches, and 56 inches. While the smaller size models are destined for the Japanese market in December, the 56-incher is just a prototype and there are no imminent plans to make it into an actual product, according to a Toshiba representative here. The 3D Regza TV uses the Cell Broadband Engine that takes a 2D image and then simultaneously creates nine images of it from nine different directions, in real time. It's displayed on a high-definition LED TV. CNET: Watch an explanation video of how the technology works . After spending some time in the theater, we found the TV works surprisingly well. It's not a 3D cinema-quality experience, and there's clearly room to improve, but again, you don't have to wear any glasses. Still images fare better than moving images. And you have to sit (though we stood during the demo) very close to the center of the screen to get the effect. With the 12-inch version, move more than a few inches to the left or right and the 3D effect is lost. However, the viewing angle was better on the 20-inch model, and the best on the 56-inch one. And there's another matter of practicality: to get the best effect, you have to stand pretty close to the LED TV, closer than any normal person would want to for fear singeing their retinas. That's why the glasses-less 3D laptop, a Toshiba Dynabook, is a far more realistic application of the glasses-less technology: It's the same size as the 12-inch TV, but since it's natural to sit very close to a laptop and look at it straight on, the aforementioned problems are negated. The 12-inch 3D TV goes on sale in Japan at the end of this year for 120,000 yen, or $1,500. The 20-inch will have a 240,000 yen price tag, or about $2,900. Sorry, rest of the world, you'll have to wait, since there's no timetable for bringing either to other markets. © 2010 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. CNET, CNET.com and the CNET logo are registered trademarks of CBS Interactive Inc. Used by permission.

Toshiba is getting lion's share of buzz at Ceatec with glasses-less 3D TV . Device was announced last night and people flocked to demonstration . You have to sit very close to the center of the screen to get the effect . The 12-inch 3D TV goes on sale in Japan at the end of this year for $1,500 .

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Brooksville, Florida (CNN) -- Freda Green thought the battle was over when her husband returned from the Vietnam War. But more than seven years after his death in 2003, she says the U.S. Defense Department is demanding she repay more than $41,000 in benefits the government shelled out as part of an insurance policy he paid into. "They gave me 45 days to pay it back," said Green, 74, who claims the federal government began garnishing her benefit payments when she couldn't pay it all back at once. "They said 45 days, and two weeks later they started taking it out of my check," she said. Green says $577 is now being deducted from her military benefit check each month. The reason: She got remarried last year. It is a confusing section of a federal law that affects some 57,000 military spouses -- and their children -- who receive military benefits and are now being forced to pay Uncle Sam back after walking down the aisle again, according to Norb Ryan, a retired Navy vice admiral and president of the Military Officers Association of America. "Here we are taxing the groups that have done the most for this country," said Ryan. "If I were in the Pentagon, I'd be awfully embarrassed by this situation." A Pentagon spokesman declined to comment on Green's case. Green's first husband, Jerry, a 33-year Air Force veteran who served during World War II, Korea and Vietnam, elected to pay monthly premiums on an insurance policy for supplemental survivor benefit coverage, she said. The program is a Department of Defense plan, similar to an annuity, that provides the benefit to the surviving spouse. When her husband died from heart and lung problems that the Air Force determined were military-related, Green had to choose between collecting his pension or a separate monthly benefit from the Veterans Administration. She chose the latter. In addition to the monthly benefit, the Pentagon sent her more than $41,000 from the government-sponsored insurance policy her husband purchased. Green said she received the lump-sum check shortly after his death. It prompted her to call the Defense Department for an explanation, she said. "I called Air Force finance, and they said, 'No. That's your money.' I was afraid the money wasn't mine and they made a mistake." The letter from the Air Force reads: "Because Jerry died from 100 percent service connected disabilities, all of the money he paid for survivor's benefits is to be refunded." "That's what they told me," she recalled. Green said she then cashed the check, paying more than $6,000 in taxes. In 2009, a federal judge ruled survivors could get both of the original benefits if they remarry after the age of 57. Green -- who was remarried last April -- then became entitled to collect her husband's pension in addition to the separate Veterans Administration benefits. Uncle Sam is now paying both, but wants the $41,000 back from the supplemental insurance policy, plus 6% interest -- all because of her marriage. A bill that Rep. Joe Wilson, R-South Carolina, introduced last week is meant to fix the issue. "A cost of war is not just guns and ammunition and tanks and airplanes," said Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida. "A cost of war is taking care of veterans and also taking care of the deceased service members widows, widowers, and orphans." The issue may be cost. In congressional testimony, Pentagon officials have opposed eliminating the offset because they believe it would create an inequity as some spouses would receive two benefits while others would receive only one. Ryan said it will cost more than $600 million each year to fully cover all 57,000 remarried military spouses. "The military gave her the money back when he died," said Suzanne Gerstner, a spokeswoman for Gold Star Wives of America, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping military widows. "Now they want it back." Gerstner also said it is unfair that Green, and others like her, have to repay the full amount, including the $6,000 she lost in government taxes. "She paid taxes (and) she's going to pay taxes again," Gerstner said. "This isn't right under anybody's book." Green says Congress needs to change the law. "They need to fix it now," she said, saying she feels as though Pentagon and elected officials are "waiting for the military widows to die off."

Widow says the Defense Department demanded she repay $41,000 in benefits after she remarried . Green says $577 is being deducted from her military benefit check each month . A Pentagon spokesman declines to comment .

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(CNN) -- Salvador Cabanas remains in a critical condition in hospital as doctors admit they are having difficulty treating the Paraguay international due to increased swelling on his brain. The Club America striker was shot in the head in Mexico City during the early hours of Monday morning after an incident in a city bar. Cabanas was transported to an intensive care unit at a local hospital and was rushed into theatre where doctors made an attempt to remove the bullet lodged in his skull before deciding it would be too dangerous. Doctors revealed he showed favorable signs when they attempted to bring him out of an induced coma but have now been forced to increase the sedation as the swelling on his brain worsens. "Salvador remains clinically stable, nevertheless we have had certain problems because the excess accumulation of water on his brain has grown," Ernesto Martinez Duhart, who operated on Cabanas, told reporters. "We will have to keep him sedated a bit more to protect and improve cerebral function. It could get worse, he continues to be in the same serious condition. The risk of death has not yet passed." Cabanas is one of Paraguay's top players and was part of their World Cup squad in Germany four years ago. The 29-year-old is a prolific goalscorer and was expected to lead Paraguay's attack in South Africa this summer. He has scored over 100 times in the Mexican top flight and has netted 18 goals in 24 matches this season. Around 10,000 Paraguayan fans gathered at the the Estadio Defensores del Chaco, the country's national stadium in Asuncion, to hold a vigil for Cabanas on Tuesday evening.

Paraguay international striker Salvador Cabanas remains in a critical condition in hospital . Doctors admit they are having difficulty treating the player because of swelling in his brain . The Club America striker was shot in the head in Mexico City during the early hours of Monday morning .

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Paris, France (CNN) -- Five paintings, including a Matisse and a Picasso, were stolen overnight from a Paris museum, the Paris mayor's office said Thursday. The paintings were stolen from the Museum of Modern Art and included works by Georges Braque, Ferdinand Leger and Amedeo Modigliani, French police said. The artworks are worth a total of just less than 100 million euros ($123.7 million), said Christophe Girard, an aide to the mayor of Paris. The city runs the museum. But the prosecutor's office estimated the value of the lost works at 500 million euros ($617 million.) The city of Paris Web site named them as "Le Pigeon aux Petits Pois" (Pigeon with peas) by Picasso, "La Pastorale" (The Pastoral) by Matisse, "L'Olivier pres de l'Estaque" (Olive Tree near the Estaque) by Braque, "La femme a l'eventail" (Woman with Fan) by Modigliani, and "Nature morte aux chandeliers" (Still Life with Candlesticks) by Leger. Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe said he was "particularly saddened and shocked by this theft which is an intolerable affront to the universal cultural heritage of Paris." Delanoe said in a statement that part of the museum's security system -- the part that detects movement and body heat -- had been broken at least since March 30. The museum notified the service provider that day and asked for replacement equipment, but it still has not been provided, the mayor said. Video surveillance of the museum was working normally, and three guards were on duty, he added. Delanoe called for an administrative investigation in addition to the criminal one, he said, to determine if "technical or human failures helped make this security breach possible."

Five paintings stolen overnight from Paris museum . Works are worth about 100 million euros ($123.7 million) Security systems apparently disabled, official says .

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(CNN) -- China is facing its worst wave of labour unrest since a series of wildcat strikes at Japanese-owned car plants last year, as declining export orders force factories to reduce worker pay. More than 10,000 workers in Shenzhen and Dongguan, two leading export centres in southern Guangdong province, have gone on strike over the past week. The latest protests broke out on Tuesday at a Taiwanese computer factory in Shenzhen. "There has been an intensification of labour unrest in the past week that is probably the most significant spike in unrest since the summer of 2010," said Geoffrey Crothall of China Labour Bulletin, a Hong Kong-based labour advocacy group that monitors unrest in China. The strikes come amid mounting concerns about the global economy, which is suffering from the European sovereign debt crisis and a weak recovery in the US. Fears about the Chinese economy grew on Wednesday after a manufacturing index compiled by HSBC fell to levels not seen since March 2009. Last week, Guangdong's acting governor said the province's exports dropped 9 per cent in October from the previous month. Provincial leaders are also contending with widespread protests by farmers over land seizures. On Monday nearly 5,000 residents in the town of Wukan marched on government offices in a peaceful protest. Factories are cutting the overtime that workers depend on to supplement their modest base salaries, after a drop in overseas orders. According to CLB, the average basic wage for electronic workers is about Rmb1,500 ($236) a month, but rises to Rmb2,500 with overtime. "Their basic wage is never enough on its own without overtime," Mr Crothall said. Tuesday's protests followed a bigger demonstration last week at a shoe factory in Dongguan that supplies footwear to Nike and Adidas. About 7,000 workers at the Taiwanese factory, owned by Pou Chen, objected to a cut in their overtime and management's decision to shift some work to other factories in the Chinese hinterland and Vietnam, where labour costs are lower. "We were forced to return to the factory," one worker told the Financial Times. "But we just sit there. No one is operating machines." The worker, who did not want to be identified, said the local government had taken a tough stance during negotiations and sided with the management. With additional reporting by Zhou Ping .

China is facing its worst wave of labor unrest since a series of wildcat strikes last year . More than 10,000 workers in Shenzhen and Dongguan have gone on strike the past week .

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(CNN) -- Three San Jose State University students in California have been charged with racially bullying their black roommate by clamping a bicycle lock around his neck and decorating their four-bedroom suite with a Confederate flag, Nazi symbols, photos of Adolf Hitler and a white board with a racial epithet, prosecutors said Thursday. The three students -- Logan Beaschler, 18, of Bakersfield; Joseph Bomgardner, 19, of Clovis; and Colin Warren, 18, of Woodacre -- are charged with misdemeanor hate crime and battery, the Santa Clara district attorney's office said. Neither the three students nor their attorneys could be immediately reached for comment. Beaschler was booked in the Santa Clara County Jail on Thursday, with bail set at $15,000. The defendants face a maximum sentence of one year in county jail if convicted, prosecutors said. The 17-year-old roommate who was the alleged victim wasn't named by prosecutors. He suffered a minor injury when he fought off the bike lock around his neck, prosecutors said. "I can't believe in the year 2013 that we're talking about an African-American student being treated this way," District Attorney Jeffrey F. Rosen told CNN. "We're taking this case very seriously." The defendants are accused of nicknaming their black roommate "Three-Fifths," an apparent reference to a U.S. constitutional provision that counted slaves as "three-fifths of all other persons," prosecutors said. When the African-American student objected to that name, the three roommates in the campus housing began calling him "Fraction," the prosecutor's office said. The alleged harassment began in August and lasted through October, prosecutors said. Are we too quick to cry 'bully'? San Jose State's president, Mohammad Qayoumi, said in a letter to the student body Thursday that the three students have been suspended. "Let me be clear: I am outraged and saddened by these allegations. They are utterly inconsistent with our long cherished history of tolerance, respect for diversity and personal civility," Qayoumi's letter said. Members of the alleged victim's family released a statement saying they were "deeply disturbed by the horrific behaviors that have taken place against our son." "Our immediate focus is his protection," the family said. "We have taken a stand on this matter. Our response prompted the community to be alerted of the appalling conduct of the students involved." A total of eight men were living in the four-bedroom suite, but the remaining four students turned their back on the racial harassment, the prosecutor said. "The other four were aware of this (but) ... did not stand up" and allowed the harassment, Rosen said. Parents saw the Confederate flag in the dorm suite and "the N-word scrawled on a white board," Rosen said. When friends become bullies . At least one of the defendants tried to downplay the harassment, and the three defendants then wrote a note to the African-American roommate, asking him to join their group, Rosen said. But the black roommate objected to the harassment and sometimes "barricaded" himself in his room, Rosen said. "The young man in this case was terrorized. It was difficult for him to study," Rosen said. "He told them not to do this to him." Qayoumi said the university police immediately began investigating the allegations "the day our housing staff learned of the situation." The same day the investigation began, two of the roommates were moved to other residence halls and placed in single rooms. "A third suite-mate, originally believed to be a bystander, was identified yesterday as an offender. We regret he was not removed from the victim's suite before today," Qayoumi said. Bullying among boys easily dismissed? CNN's Joseph Netto contributed to this report.

The three students have been suspended . One man booked into county jail on Thursday . 3 San Jose State University students shared a four-bedroom suite with black roommate . The three are accused of using racial epithets and posting Confederate flag, Hitler photos .

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- "There are the bloodstains on the wall, and here it is dried on the floor," Abu Muhanad said as he walked through a torture chamber in a Baghdad mosque where more than two dozen bodies have been found. Two women clutch photographs of loved ones believed killed by the Mehdi Army. "And here, a woman's shoes. She was a victim of the militia. We found her corpse in the grave." Chunks of hair waft lazily across the floor in the hot Baghdad breeze. "This was the torture room," said Muhanad, the leader of a U.S.-backed armed group that now controls the mosque. "This is what they used for hanging," he said, pointing to a cord dangling from the ceiling. "Here is a chain we found tied to an old man's body." Go inside the mosque's torture chamber » . The horrific scene at this southwestern Baghdad mosque is what officials say was the work of a Shiite militia known as the Mehdi Army. Residents who live near the mosque say they could hear the victims' screams. The militia had been in control of the mosque, called Adib al-Jumaili, from at least January 2007 until May of this year. Residents say coalition forces weren't in the region and the torture and killings went unchecked. Some of the victims were accused of being spies for U.S. forces. Other family members don't know why their loved ones disappeared. The family members at the mosque who spoke to CNN were all Shiite, the same branch of Islam as the Mehdi militia. But, they say, some of the victims were Sunni as well. Watch mosque atrocities uncovered » . The neighborhood lies in an area that became one of the capital's many sectarian fault lines when violence was at its worst. It's been about three months since the Mehdi Army, loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, abandoned this mosque as it withdrew from several strongholds across the country. Spray painted on the walls is a chilling warning: "Spies, you will dig your own graves. Long live the Mehdi Army." Now the mosque is under the watch of the Sons of Iraq, a local armed group that is largely financed by the Americans working alongside the Iraqi police. They are charged with trying to keep the peace in the neighborhood. Muhanad is their leader. "We found this chain on an old man's corpse that we dug out of the grave," he said, gesturing to a bloodied chain on the floor. "We recovered about 22 corpses and then another five." Only now are people able to understand the true magnitude of the Shiite militia's atrocities and the brutal laws they were enforcing on the people. "This was my son's grave," Abu Wissam said, pointing to one of the many shallow holes in the mosque's garden. "We recovered his corpse completely rotten. His hands and legs were amputated, and his head was decapitated." "He was just a college graduate," his mother sobbed, clutching her 25-year-old son's photo. They say the Mehdi Army abducted their son about a year ago, accusing him of being a traitor. They shot up and looted his home. The family fled. A gruesome video of their son's mutilated body was delivered to their doorstep. The militia "still raid our homes," Abu Wissam said. "Their families are in the district. The day before yesterday, at noon, they tried to assassinate me, but I was able to call the police for help." The neighborhood is eerily deserted. Most of the residents fled the militia's reign; many who stayed bore the brunt of the violence. Homes stand abandoned, shops shuttered, buildings shot up. A single car drives down the main street as a pack of dogs runs through the twisted piles of metal that was once an outdoor market. Lingering at the mosque are a handful of residents whose loved ones were also abducted, looking for clues. "They said they were just taking him for a few minutes, for an investigation," said Karima, who only wanted to be identified by her first name, as her eyes filled with tears. "But they never released him and we heard he might be buried behind the mosque." Umm Diab's breath came in shallow gasps as tears flowed from her turquoise-green eyes. She wiped them away using the corner of her abaya, or robe. In her hand, there's a passport photo of her father, who was abducted by the militia. "All we want are their dead bodies," she said. Although the Mehdi Army has moved out of this mosque and is less visible on the street, residents know that they're not gone. "They're still threatening us," Umm Diab said.

Iraqi authorities discover 27 bodies at mosque and find torture room . "Here is a chain we found tied to an old man's body," official says . Dad of 25-year-old: "His hands, legs were amputated and his head was decapitated" Residents say militia has left mosque, but still intimidates them .

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Washington (CNN) -- Drivers of commercial trucks and buses are prohibited from texting under federal guidelines that U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Tuesday. "We want the drivers of big rigs and buses and those who share the roads with them to be safe," LaHood said in a statement. "This is an important safety step, and we will be taking more to eliminate the threat of distracted driving." The prohibition is effective immediately. Truck and bus drivers who text while driving commercial vehicles may be subject to civil or criminal penalties of up to $2,750, the Department of Transportation said in a news release. The release did not offer specifics on how the prohibition will be enforced. One of the nation's largest groups representing professional truck drivers -- the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association -- expressed support for the goal but dismay at its implementation. "We support where they are going, but not how they got there," said Todd Spencer, the group's executive vice president. "Making their action effective immediately bypasses normal regulatory rulemaking processes. Those processes allow actions to be vetted for unintended consequences as well as potential implementation and enforcement problems. "We very much share in their goal, but their legal justification for taking immediate action raises many concerns." Cracking down on distracted drivers has been a focus of LaHood's since he took office last year. In September, he convened a two-day summit on the issue in Washington. The Transportation Department recently launched the Web site distraction.gov to raise awareness of the dangers of distracted driving. And this month, LaHood and National Safety Council President Janet Froetscher announced the creation of the advocacy group FocusDriven, a nonprofit that supports the families of distracted driving victims, modeled after Mothers Against Drunk Driving. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, drivers take their eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds out of every six seconds while texting. This research shows drivers who text are more than 20 times more likely to get in an accident than nondistracted drivers. Nineteen states, plus the District of Columbia and Guam, have passed laws banning texting while driving. Six states, plus the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands, ban the use of handheld devices while driving. President Obama also signed an executive order requiring federal employees not to text while driving government-owned vehicles or with government-owned equipment, and were ordered to comply with the move December 30. Nearly 6,000 people died in 2008 in crashes involving a distracted or inattentive driver, and more than 500,000 were injured, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Eighty percent of crashes are related to driver inattention, according to a Virginia Tech study, and drivers who use handheld devices are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves, the National Safety Council reports. The focus on texting while driving comes after a few high-profile accidents. In September 2008, a California commuter train engineer missed a stop signal while trading text messages with a friend, leading to a collision with a freight train that killed 25 people, according to federal investigators. A mass-transit accident in Boston, Massachusetts, injured 62 people in May. The operator of a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority trolley later was charged with gross negligence after admitting he had been texting seconds before the collision with another trolley, according to the Suffolk County district attorney and a National Transportation Safety Board official.

NEW: Truckers' group expresses concern about rule taking effect immediately . Drivers of commercial trucks, buses who text may be subject to penalties . Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood: "This is an important safety step" Research shows drivers who text are more than 20 times more likely to be in accident .

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(CNN) -- Thousands of people in parts of the northern United States and southeastern Canada endured at least their fourth consecutive day without electricity Thursday because of ice-related outages, and power companies warned some still might not have power until at least the weekend. More than 232,000 customers were without power in below-freezing temperatures Thursday in parts of Michigan, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and northern New England. Storms that began hitting Michigan on Saturday and moved through New England early this week knocked down trees and power lines, leaving hundreds of thousands in the dark. At least 19 people died in weather-related incidents since Saturday, authorities said Thursday. Of the casualties, 14 were in the United States, according to various emergency management officials. The majority died of carbon monoxide poisoning, the officials said. In Kentucky, five people died in flooding-related incidents, state officials said. In Canada, three people in Quebec and two in Toronto died from carbon monoxide poisoning, official said. In areas near Toronto, where officials said the storm was one of the worst to hit the city, more than 54,000 were without power Thursday. While that's down from 300,000 at the peak, utility officials there declined to estimate when the last outages would be fixed. "It's taking long because we haven't seen a storm like this in our history," Toronto Hydro spokeswoman Tanya Bruckmueller told CNN affiliate CBC News. "The amount of damage to both our equipment due to the trees coming down is slowing us down, as well as this morning we've got snow coming, which is much heavier on the branches and is now covering a lot of what we need to be repairing." Toronto resident Vic Baniuk told CBC on Thursday that his family hasn't had power for five days, and they were using a fireplace and a cast-iron stove to stay warm. "We're sitting in the dark and cold, and I feel that everybody has ignored us," he told CBC. A tree branch pierced his roof, making a bad situation worse. "This is not an inconvenience. This is an emergency, a disaster," CBC reported Baniuk said. Light snow might fall Thursday night and Friday morning in Toronto, where the temperature was -2 C (28 F) around 3 p.m. The temperature isn't expected to get above freezing until Saturday, with a high of 3 C (37 F) possible. Another 16,000 people were without power Thursday elsewhere in southern Ontario; 20,500 had no electricity in the Canadian province of New Brunswick, and another 8,900 still had outages in Quebec province, utility companies said. The Hyrdo-Quebec utility estimated that about 2,000 of its customers in Quebec, mostly in rural areas, would not get power back until Friday. Power to the people . Power crews were working around the clock and called in reinforcements from other states to help them wrangle electric lines back into place. They have made progress. Of the 470,000 customers left in the dark and cold earlier in the week in Michigan, all but 100,000 had electricity restored by Thursday morning, according to two utilities. High temperatures sat in the mid-20s around much of lower Michigan on Thursday. Ice could finally start melting Saturday, when temperatures could reach the high 30s or lower 40s. Michigan utility Consumers Energy warned the melting might not be all good news -- it might snap more tree branches and send them crashing into power lines, causing more outages. Consumers Energy said it expected to have most of the outages fixed by the end of Saturday. Utility crews have had to work against icebox weather conditions this week. One utility truck flipped over on a Michigan interstate Wednesday, as a dozen cars and trucks wiped out on the same patch of ice, CNN affiliate WOOD reported. About 600 customers had no power in parts of Vermont on Thursday morning. Roughly 30,000 people still were without electricity in Maine. With no power in her Litchifield, Maine, home on Wednesday afternoon, Mary Beth King cooked her family's Christmas dinner -- seafood chowder -- on an outdoor grill, CNN affiliate WGME reported. King's husband spent part of Christmas looking for a replacement for a generator that failed on Tuesday night. "We do have a wood stove in the basement, which is wonderful, so it keeps the house warm. So we're lucky for that," she told WGME. 'Room at the inn' The storm clouds had a silver lining for some who lost power. They found generosity and new friends after turning to shelters to stay warm. More than 200 people took refuge Thursday in Red Cross shelters in Michigan and Maine, according to the relief group's online shelter tracker. "Friends and family." That's how Bonnie Libby described her shelter mates to WOOD after living with them for three days. The outage was a cure for loneliness on Christmas Day for Larry Sutherland. "I would be spending it alone, and my Christmas dinner would be a microwave meal," he said. On Christmas Eve, power crews put the lights back on at the house of Dennis and Daisy Davis, but Christmas at home no longer felt right, and they returned to the Red Cross Shelter. "I think it is just all the people pulling together," Daisy Davis told WOOD. "I think it is the true meaning of Christmas." Bonita Thomas wanted to host her grandchildren in her Flint-area apartment for Christmas, but falling trees cut the power to her building on Monday, and she began to shiver. She wrapped herself in layers. But when temperatures fell to the single digits, it was too much -- she called her grandkids' father, told them to stay home, and she went to a Red Cross shelter. Thomas was sad that she couldn't host her grandchildren, but she's grateful for the room and board, she told CNN. "It's kind of depressing, but I just believe ... that God's still on my side. And there's room at the inn." CNN's Mayra, Cuevas, Stephanie Gallman, Kevin Conlon, Carma Hassan and Matt Daniel contributed to this report.

NEW: Authorities say 14 people died in the United States and five in Canada since Saturday . 232,000-plus customers without power in Michigan, Canada, New England . Electrical grids are rapidly recovering, but crews are working against the ice . Christmas took on new meaning for some at Red Cross shelters .

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(Financial Times) -- The Philippines would strongly support a rearmed Japan shorn of its pacifist constitution as a counterweight to the growing military assertiveness of China, according to the Philippine -foreign minister. "We would welcome that very much," Albert del Rosario told the Financial Times in an interview. "We are looking for balancing factors in the region and Japan could be a significant balancing factor." The unusual statement, which risks upsetting Beijing, reflects alarm in Manila at what it sees as Chinese provocation over the South China Sea, virtually all of which is claimed by Beijing. It also comes days before an election in Japan that could see the return as prime minister of Shinzo Abe, who is committed to revising Japan's pacifist constitution and to beefing up its military. A constitutional revision that upgraded Japan's Self-Defence Forces to a fully fledged military would allow it far more freedom to operate and could change the military balance in Asia. In spite of its official pacifism, Japan's armed forces do not lack for hardware. Its navy has about 50 large surface ships, compared with China's 70-odd. Support from other Asian nations for a rearmed Japan could embolden Mr Abe to change the constitution. Beijing has long raised the spectre of a return of Japanese militarism. The attitude towards Japanese rearmament in the Philippines, itself colonised by Japan, suggests regional fears of an assertive China may be beginning to trump memories of Japan's aggressive wartime actions. This month, the Philippines objected strongly to an announcement that maritime police from China's Hainan province would intercept ships entering what it considered its territorial waters. Beijing has started issuing passports that include a map of its "nine-dash" claim to almost the entire South China Sea, parts of which are also claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Taiwan and Indonesia. The Philippines has refused to stamp the new passports in protest. "The Philippines has contended all along that the nine-dash claim is an excessive claim that violates international law," Mr del Rosario said. Southeast Asian countries concerned about what they see as an abrupt change in China's "peaceful-rise" diplomacy have welcomed the renewed commitment to the region by the US in the form of its "pivot". Mr del Rosario said Manila had agreed to more US ship visits and more joint training exercises. The region is also closely watching Beijing's stand-off with Tokyo over the Japanese-controlled Senkaku islands, known as the Diaoyu in China. Regional countries have struggled to present a united front against China, which prefers to deal with each capital bilaterally. Last June, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations failed to issue a final communiqué after Cambodia refused to endorse language referring to recent naval stand-offs with China. In July, Japan and the Philippines signed a five-year agreement to strengthen military co-operation though exchanges of personnel and technology. Japan is providing 12 new patrol ships for the Philippine coast guard, financed with a combination of soft loans and foreign aid grants. © The Financial Times Limited 2012 .

The Philippines support a rearmed Japan to counterweight China's military power . China has territorial disputes in the South China Sea with the Philippines and others . Japan has a pacifist constitution, but this might change after the upcoming presidential election . In July, the Philippines and Japan signed an agreement to strengthen military co-operation .

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(CNN) -- San Francisco police are saying a man they thought was fatally shot by officers actually killed himself. Police earlier said Kenneth Harding was shot by an officer Saturday while trying to run away. But on Thursday, authorities said they found evidence that proved something different. "We believe that the fatal wound on Mr. Harding was self-inflicted," said police Cmdr. Mike Biel. Biel revealed the new theory at a news conference Thursday at the city's medical examiner's office. Kenneth Harding died Saturday after a confrontation with undercover officers who were doing a fare check on passengers on the city's Muni bus transit system. Police say when he was approached by the officer who wanted to see his ticket, Harding ran and police pursued him. During the chase, a gunbattle started and Harding was fatally wounded, . Initially, authorities believed that San Francisco police shot and killed Harding during the confrontation in the city' Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood. The shooting triggered angry protests by some community members who challenged the police version of what happened. The medical examiner said new evidence reveals a different story. "The bullet which was recovered from his head is not consistent with the service ammunition used by the San Francisco Police Department," Chief Medical Examiner Amy Hart told reporters. She demonstrated her point with a photo of the bullet removed from Harding's head. It was a .380-caliber and San Francisco Police are armed with .40-caliber ammunition, Hart said. Medical examiner's staff also found a second, unfired cartridge (.380-caliber) in Harding's right jacket pocket. Harding was also wounded in the leg by a round apparently fired by pursuing officers, authorities said. "Based upon evidence known at this time including: officer and witness statements that Harding shot at the police officers, Shot Spotter data, video tape evidence that depicts a firearm at the scene that was subsequently taken and the location of gunshot residue on Harding's right hand, it appears that Mr. Harding's head wound was self-inflicted. It is unknown if Harding's injury was intentional or accidental." When the shooting occurred, a crowd had gathered challenging officers, police said in a statement released at the news conference. At one point, a bystander recorded cell phone video of the situation, including a handgun that was laying on the ground near Harding. The Police Department believes that the weapon used by Harding is still outstanding along with a cell phone and bullet casings removed from the scene. Authorities are offering a $1,000 reward for the return of the .380-caliber firearm picked up from the scene. Harding was listed as "a person of interest" by Seattle Police who were investigating the shooting death of a young woman in that city a few weeks ago, CNN affiliate KGO reported.

The fatal shooting occurs in San Francisco . "We believe that the fatal wound on Mr. Harding was self-inflicted," police say . Police say the bullet found in the man's head did not match the caliber authorities use .

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(CNN) -- Egypt is reconsidering its ties with countries that haven't been supportive of the government that the military installed after ousting the country's first democratically elected president, the interim president said. Speaking in his first televised interview since Egypt's powerful generals put him in office, Adly Mansour singled out Turkey and Qatar for criticism. Both those regional neighbors have condemned a crackdown last month by Egyptian authorities on supporters of the ousted president Mohamed Morsy that left hundreds of people dead. Life during chaos: Egyptians talk about coping . "Our patience is running out regarding the Qatari stance," Mansour, 67, said in the interview aired by state television Tuesday. "The Turkish reaction has reflected short-sightedness and personal interest, not realizing the amount of cooperation between the two countries," Mansour said, according to an account of the interview published by state-run media outlet Al-Ahram. Tensions with Turkey . Unlike Qatar, which initially welcomed the military's installation of Mansour and his administration, Turkey has been critical of the forced change of government in Cairo from the start. "Neither ourselves nor the people of Turkey expected the stance of the Turkish government, which shouldn't have reacted based on the perspective of one faction," Mansour said. "We hope for better relations with Turkey, but we do not accept interference in our internal affairs." Egypt demonstrator: Why we are willing to die . Mansour said that he and Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy are "strategically reviewing our foreign relations to differentiate between our real friends and those who should not be classified in that category anymore." He said that the positions of the United States and the European Union remain unclear, but that he is starting to see indications that they will support the unelected transitional government. 'No force can turn back the clock' Mansour also denied that the overthrow of Morsy in July had put Egypt on a path back toward the police state seen under former ruler Hosni Mubarak, who lost his grip on power amid widespread protests in early 2011. A court released Mubarak, 85, from prison last month, but authorities had him placed under house arrest at a military hospital while he awaits a retrial on charges of inciting violence against protesters during the demonstrations in 2011. Opinion: What Mubarak's release means . "No force can turn back the clock, neither to the former regime or the one before it, Mansour said Tuesday. He said that what followed the 2011 uprising -- the election of Morsy and the Islamist party he was aligned with, the Muslim Brotherhood -- "was an attempt at creating a clone of the former regime but with a religious tone." The military removed Morsy from office a year into his tenure amid large-scale street demonstrations against his government. Critics accused Morsy of authoritarianism and trying to force the Brotherhood's Islamic agenda into the nation's laws. But his supporters point out he was democratically elected and repeatedly offered Cabinet positions to secularists and liberals. Police 'applied restraint' Mansour, a judge who heads the country's Supreme Constitutional Court, defended the actions of security forces in the deadly crackdown on Morsy supporters at two large sit-ins in Cairo last month. "I know the police faced a lot of criticism in dispersing the sit-ins, which were not peaceful, but they tried to pursue all peaceful stages and there was no response," he said. "Still, they applied restraint and committed to the international standards and legal means of clearing the sit-ins." The violent clearance of the camps, the bloodiest day in Egypt's recent history, was condemned by many countries. Egyptian authorities followed it by declaring a one-month state of emergency and arresting more Muslim Brotherhood officials. In his interview Tuesday, Mansour defended the decision to impose the state of emergency and a curfew. "There was no other alternative to confront the organized danger the nation was facing," he said.

Adly Mansour expresses frustration with Turkey and Qatar . He speaks in his first interview since he was installed by the military . He denies there will be a return to a police state . Mansour defends the actions of police in the crackdown on supporters of Mohamed Morsy .

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London, England (CNN) -- Britain's Prince Andrew has denied knowing anything about his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson's alleged offer to an undercover tabloid newspaper reporter to sell access to Queen Elizabeth's second son for £500,000 ($723,000). His comments came after News of the World posted a video on its Web site Sunday that appears to show Ferguson accepting money from an undercover reporter in exchange for an introduction to Prince Andrew. Ferguson is also filmed on hidden camera telling the reporter -- who was posing as a wealthy businessman -- that a payment of £500,000 "opens doors" to Andrew. She then shakes hands with the reporter after he accepts the deal. On Monday the royal family moved quickly to distance itself from Ferguson, who has never been far from the headlines since she married Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, in 1986. The couple separated in 1992 and divorced four years later. "The Duke of York categorically denies any knowledge of any meeting or conversation between the Duchess of York and the News of the World journalist," Buckingham Palace said. Prince Andrew has carried out his role as a British trade envoy since 2001 "with complete and absolute propriety and integrity," the palace said. In a statement issued Sunday, Ferguson, 50, apologized for the incident. "I very deeply regret the situation and the embarrassment caused," the statement said. "It is true that my financial situation is under stress, however, that is no excuse for a serious lapse in judgment and I am very sorry that this has happened." The tabloid said its reporter and Ferguson met on two occasions, once in New York and another time in London. Read more about Ferguson . In the heavily edited, roughly four-minute video, Ferguson appears to accept $40,000 as a down payment for a meeting with Andrew, then later discusses a wire transfer of the larger sum. "If we want to do a big deal with Andrew, then that's the big one," she says. When asked how she would receive the £500,000, she tells the reporter, "You send it to the bank account that I tell you to send it to." "Then that, is then like you open up all the channels whatever you need, whatever you want ... and then you meet Andrew and that's fine. And that's ... when you really open up whatever you want. But then that opens up everything that ever you would ever wish." The tabloid said Prince Andrew, 50, who has been the UK's special representative for international trade and business since 2001, was not aware of the deal. In the video, Ferguson tells the reporter that Andrew "never does accept a penny for anything. ... He does not and will not and he is completely whiter than white." In her statement Sunday, Ferguson confirmed Andrew "was not aware or involved in any of the discussions that occurred. ... The duke has made a significant contribution to his business role over the last 10 years and has always acted with complete integrity." CNN's Lonzo Cook contributed to this report.

Prince Andrew denies knowing about ex-wife's alleged offer to sell access to him . British tabloid posted video of Sarah Ferguson meeting with undercover reporter . Video appears to show her accepting money in exchange for access to ex-husband . Ferguson apologizes: "I very deeply regret the situation"

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(CNN) -- His voice wavering, Mark Mattioli wiped away tears as he recalled the day his 6-year-old son died when a man wielding an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle broke into Sandy Hook Elementary School and began shooting. His son, James, was among the 20 children and seven adults killed by Adam Lanza on December 14 in Newtown, Connecticut -- an event so horrific that it has since spawned a federal task force and kick-started a national conversation about gun control. But unlike the handful of other parents who testified Monday at the emotionally charged hearing in Hartford, Connecticut, Mattioli said there are more than enough gun laws on the books. He called instead for a closer look at mental health policies. Why new laws could miss America's bigger gun problem . "I don't care if you named it 'James' law,' I don't want (another law)," he said during the first of a series of meetings set up by a legislative task force assigned to review the state's gun laws. "I think there's much more promise for a solution in identifying, researching and creating solutions along the lines of mental health." Connecticut's medical examiner said he was told that Lanza, 20, had Asperger's syndrome. Research has not shown a link between that condition and violence. The hearing drew hundreds to the Connecticut state house and revealed the sharp divide in public opinion over what should happen next in the massacre's aftermath. "The time is now," said Veronique Pozner, whose son, Noah, was also killed, referring to a strengthening of the nation's gun laws. Sandy Hook probe to extend until summer . With a framed photo of her slain 6-year-old propped up beside her, Pozner called on Connecticut to become "an agent for change" across the country. During her testimony, she held up a crayon drawing that Noah once scrawled on Thanksgiving. "I am thankful for the life I live," he wrote. At one point during the hearing, Neil Heslin, father of a 6-year-old boy named Jesse who was also gunned down that day, asked why the public needed assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Some people in the crowd then interrupted his statement and shouted the "Second Amendment shall not be infringed." "We're not living in the Wild West. We're not a Third World nation," Heslin continued. "We have the strongest military in the world. We don't need to defend our homes with weapons like that." Connecticut already has some of the nation's strictest gun laws. Gov. Dannel Malloy, a first-term Democrat, has also vowed to address the factors that led to last month's massacre and set up a 16-member panel of experts to come up with recommendations. It includes experts who reviewed policies after mass shootings in Colorado and at Virginia Tech. The panel must meet a March 15 deadline for its initial report, which Malloy is expected to use in drafting initiatives aimed at reducing gun violence. Newtown parents learn comforting details about son's death .

Mark Mattioli, a parent of a Sandy Hook victim, says there are more than enough gun laws . "The time is now" to strengthen gun laws, says Veronique Pozner, another parent . Crowd interrupts the statement of a parent of a slain child . Connecticut has some of the nation's strictest gun laws .

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(CNN) -- The linguists have spoken and they have decided -- "Occupy" is 2011's word of the year. Members of the American Dialect Society came out in record numbers to vote Friday night at the organization's annual conference, held this year in Portland, Oregon. "Occupy" won a runoff vote by a whopping majority, earning more votes than "FOMO" (an acronym for "Fear of Missing Out," describing anxiety over being inundated by the information on social media) and "the 99%," (those held to be at a financial or political disadvantage to the top moneymakers, the one-percenters). Occupy joins previous year's winners, "app," "tweet," and "bailout." "It's a very old word, but over the course of just a few months it took on another life and moved in new and unexpected directions, thanks to a national and global movement," Ben Zimmer, chair of the New Words Committee for the American Dialect Society, said in a statement. The Occupy Wall Street movement began in September in Lower Manhattan, before spreading to communities around the country and the world as a call to action against unequal distribution of wealth and other issues. Founded in 1889, the American Dialect Society is made up of "academics, linguists, anyone involved in the specialization of language," according to Grant Barrett, the society's vice president. Barrett, who also co-hosts "A Way with Words," a public radio program about language, said the annual conference provides an opportunity for linguistics professionals and graduate students to share information and research. But Barrett says the word of the year vote, now in its 22nd year is, "light-hearted and whimsical." Nominations for the word of the year are submitted by society members in attendance at the annual conference, but can also be submitted by the community at large. "Occupy" may have taken top honors, but several other words and phrases received recognition. "Mellencamp," a woman who has aged out of being a "cougar" (after John Cougar Mellencamp), and "kardash," a unit of measurement consisting of 72 days, after the short-lived marriage of Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries, were both recognized in the "Most Creative" category. Barrett said many of the nominated words that have significance now likely won't stand the test of time. For instance, "Tebowing" and "9-9-9" were quite popular in 2011, but Barrett doubts they'll last very long. Some words are just outright unnecessary -- like Charlie Sheen's "bi-winning," a term he used to describe himself pridefully, dismissing accusations of being bipolar, and "amazeballs," a slang form of amazing. In the most outrageous category, "deather" -- one who doubts the official story of the killing of Osama bin Laden -- was recognized. While all in good fun and a chance for "good-natured intelligent people to let their hair down," Barrett hopes the word of the year vote conveys two important messages to even the purist of linguists: "Language change is normal. Language change is interesting."

The word occupy "took on another life" in 2011, American Dialect Society member says . Members of the society voted at the organization's annual conference . "Kardash" -- in reference to Kim Kardashian's short marriage -- deemed most creative .

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(CNN) Washington -- The nationwide retail pharmacy chain CVS has agreed to pay the federal and several state governments more than $17 million to settle claims the pharmacy overcharged Medicaid. CVS, with 7,000 pharmacies in 41 states, allegedly submitted inflated prescription claims in 10 states. The case against CVS was originally brought by a CVS whistleblower pharmacist in Minnesota. The government said that pharmacist will receive more than $2.5 million, which will come from what the states and the federal government recover from CVS. The federal government will receive nearly $8 million, and the 10 states will receive a total of $9.5 million. Those states are California, Florida, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, Nevada, Rhode Island, Alabama and Minnesota. Officials said CVS was paid a higher amount by Medicaid than it would have been paid if the company had followed correct billing procedures and submitted the claims to third-party insurers. "Medicaid covers the poorest, most vulnerable people in American society. This needed government program for prescriptions is a disservice to everyone and won't be tolerated," said Daniel Levinson, inspector general of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. CVS issued no immediate comment, but the Justice Department said the retailer agreed to three years of government monitoring as it implements correct billing procedures.

Pharmacy chain accused of inflating prescription claims in 10 states . Case was brought by a whistleblower pharmacist, who will get more than $2.5 million . States will receive a total of $9.5 million; federal government to get nearly $8 million . Justice Department says CVS has agreed to monitoring as it corrects its billing procedures .

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Los Angeles (CNN) -- Firefighters and homeowners were anxiously awaiting to learn Saturday whether the emergence of cool ocean breezes and possible rain will weaken a Los Angeles-area wildlfire that has burned 28,000 acres in two days and now threatens 4,000 homes. The weather change could be a mixed blessing, however, because a chance of isolated thunderstorms this weekend brings a risk of lightning sparking new fires, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. The Los Angeles area fire, based in Ventura County, has damaged 15 residences and five commercial properties and has destroyed 25 outbuildings, fire authorities said. The inferno, called the Springs Fire, raced about 10 miles beside upscale communities and through the Santa Monica Mountains since it began Thursday morning in Camarillo, California. It reached the Pacific Ocean shore, damaging a Navy shooting range next to coastal wetlands Friday. iReporter captures bird's-eye view of the wildfire . A total of 1,895 fire personnel, six fixed-wing air tankers and 11 helicopters have battled the blaze, but as of Saturday morning, the fire was only 30% contained, an improvement over Thursday's 10% and Friday's 20%. That means 300 commercial properties and 250 outbuildings also are threatened, authorities said Saturday. "A low pressure weather system has developed over the fire bringing higher humidity, lower temperatures, creating an opportunity to increase containment," the state fire agency said. The region's so-called Santa Ana winds -- dubbed "devil winds" because they are warm and gusty out of the high desert -- have been fueling the Ventura County wildfire. The virtual absence of recent rain also created dry conditions ripe for the wildfires, whose season typically begins much later in the year. "Onshore winds have begun to diminish this evening allowing for the expiration of all red flag warnings," the National Weather Service said late Friday. The Santa Ana winds gusted to 45 mph the past two days, energizing the roaring flames. Authorities ordered a mandatory evacuation Friday for the affluent Ventura County community of Hidden Valley, northwest of Los Angeles. Evacuations remained in effect Friday evening for several other areas. Share your images . Federal funding was made available to cover 75% of firefighting costs, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced Friday. Also on Friday, the Ventura County blaze crossed the scenic Pacific Coast Highway that separates the Santa Monica Mountains from the sea. There, small fires blackened the landscape surrounding a military firing range, a Navy spokeswoman said. Several timber backdrops at the range were partially or completely burned, but because the facility sits in wetlands next to a lagoon, the fires weren't a threat to Naval Base Ventura County at Point Mugu, said spokeswoman Kimberly Gearhart. Ammunition isn't stored at the facility, she said. "If something catches fire, it's in the best possible place because it's isolated and it's near water," Gearhart said. "Our biggest concern right now is smoke because it's a very smoldering fire, and as the wind shifts, it either blows smoke toward or away from us." Evacuation orders were in effect in several areas on Saturday, but officials lifted orders for the campus of California State University, Channel Islands in Camarillo and for the Dos Vientos community in Newbury Park, authorities said. Many Ventura County residents, especially those who live in or near the mountains, were on edge about the fires and possible evacuation. "The sheriff said they would come pounding on the door if they came close," said Ventura County resident Elizabeth Dickenson. Because of the smoke, ash and winds, people in affected areas were urged to be cautious and to avoid unnecessary outdoor activities, the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District said. CNN meteorologist Chad Myers described the fire as an omen for California because the wildfire season isn't supposed to start until August or September. Mountain chaparral and shrubs are dry because Los Angeles has received only half of its normal rainfall the past two years, Myers said. The vegetation is brown, instead of green from winter rain, he said. The Los Angeles area has received less than 2 inches of rain since January, making the bone-dry region "definitely ripe for these fires," said William Patzert, a NASA climatologist. But that could change soon. Rain showers could hit the area Sunday evening, forecasters say. CNN's Paul Vercammen, Stephanie Elam, Diahann Reyes, Phil Gast and Lateef Mungin also contributed to this report.

Cool onshore breezes and possible rain could weaken wildfire in Los Angeles . But rain prediction could bring lightning that may spark new fires . Fire is only 30% contained and threatens 4,000 homes . Sheriff deputies will pound on door if fires come close, resident says .

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(CNN) -- Former Manchester United footballer Eric Cantona said Tuesday he wanted to campaign for the French presidency -- but commentators said the announcement was a publicity stunt to turn the spotlight on the plight of poor people. Cantona has written to French mayors to obtain the 500 signatures needed to stand in April's election, Liberation newspaper reported. The 45-year-old told them he was "a citizen very much aware of our times," and would stand up for the young and poorly housed. But the bid was interpreted by Liberation as a way of publicizing his cause of better housing, rather than a genuine presidential campaign. Nicolas Sarkozy of the UMP party is bidding for re-election in April against Socialist rival Francois Hollande. See high-res images of other sports stars-turned-politicians . Cantona's move is just the latest in a varied career by the Frenchman. Since leaving Old Trafford in 1997 where he was known as "King Eric" for his goal-scoring prowess, Cantona has turned to acting, most notably in director Ken Loach's "Looking For Eric." And in 2010 Cantona urged bank customers to withdraw all their money from French banks. The call prompted widespread condemnation by politicians, and few people took out their cash. Finance Minister Francois Baroin, who is also a mayor, dismissed his latest move, adding that he preferred "the Cantona who looks after housing to the Cantona who told the French to withdraw their money from the banks in order to cause a disaster." Cantona gained notoriety in 1995 when he launched a flying kick and several punches at a fan as he was sent off during a match. After the game, he told journalists: "When the seagulls follow the trawler, it's because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea." Last year Cantona, voted by Manchester United fans as their player of the century, was named as director of football for the newly-reformed New York Cosmos. Many other sports stars have made the move into politics. Former Pakistani cricket captain Imran Khan's party is campaigning in elections, while International Monetary Fund boss, and former French finance minister Christine Lagarde was once a member of the French teenage national synchronized swimming team.

Former footballer Eric Cantona says he wants to run for French presidency . Cantona has written to mayors to obtain 500 signatures needed to stand . Bid interpreted as way of publicizing housing issue, rather than real campaign . Many sports stars have made move into politics, eg. Imran Khan, Christine Lagarde .

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(CNN) -- At least 20 people were killed and 200 more were injured Friday in the northern Mediterranean city of Benghazi, Libya's second-largest, said a medical source in Benghazi who was not identified for security reasons. The casualties occurred as thousands of Libyans took to the streets to voice their discontent over leader Moammar Gadhafi, witnesses said. Friday's killings brought to 50 the number of people killed since Tuesday, when the protests began, the medical source said. Amnesty International said security forces had killed at least 46 during the past three days, with sources at al-Jala Hospital in Benghazi saying that the most common injuries were bullet wounds to the head, chest and neck. "The alarming rise in the death toll, and the reported nature of victims' injuries, strongly suggests that security forces are permitted to use lethal force against unarmed protesters calling for political change," said Malcolm Smart, the Amnesty's director for the Middle East and North Africa. CNN was unable to independently verify the information. In front of the main courthouse in a square in Benghazi, thousands of demonstrators filled the streets demanding a change of government, a protester said. He said people were chanting for Gadhafi and his children to get out of Libya. He called Gadhafi's authoritarian rule "the biggest dictatorship in history." Late Friday, a witness said more people were still streaming into the already crowded plaza, with some erecting tents, apparently planning to spend the night. There was no sign in the square of police or military forces except for the presence of three tanks, which were not moving, he said. Another source said that he saw three Libyan army tanks in the square and that young demonstrators were engaging the tank crews in conversation. He said government forces were not visible in or around Benghazi. He added that he visited Al-Jala hospital and that it was "full of dead and wounded." Electricity was lost in parts of the city but had been restored by late Friday, when the city was quiet, he said. Farther east, in al-Baida, thousands of people showed up to bury 13 protesters killed in clashes in recent days, said Mohamed Abdallah of the opposition National Front for the Salvation of Libya, who has been receiving information about Libya from sources there. Plainclothes members of the Revolutionary Committee had reportedly fired at the protesters, Abdallah said. Demonstrations unfolded Friday in other cities as well, he said. CNN has not been permitted to report from Libya and cannot confirm information about the demonstrations. The government maintains tight control of the news media and telephone services, and many people expressed fear of talking openly amid what they described as a climate of fear. CNN has been relying on information from protesters, human rights groups and foreign-based Libyan organizations assessing the situation through their sources on the ground. Libyan state-run television was airing taped images of Gadhafi surrounded by adoring crowds. The demonstrations erupted Tuesday after the detention of a human rights lawyer and spread across the country. U.S. President Barack Obama condemned the government crackdowns in Libya, Bahrain and Yemen, which are all embroiled in unrest. "Wherever they are, people have certain universal rights, including the right to peaceful assembly," Obama said. "The United States urges the governments of Bahrain, Libya and Yemen to show restraint in responding to peaceful protests, and to respect the rights of their people." "The security forces' vicious attacks on peaceful demonstrators lay bare the reality of Moammar Gadhafi's brutal rule when faced with any internal dissent," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director for Human Rights Watch. Navi Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, also condemned the crackdown in Libya and other countries "as illegal and excessively heavy-handed." Abdallah, the spokesman for the National Front for the Salvation of Libya, reported that protesters in Benghazi had freed people who had been detained during the first two days of the unrest. He said protesters also set afire a police station and the Revolutionary Committee headquarters in Benghazi, al-Baida and Darna. Gadhafi's regime, however, has sought to portray a different picture of events and sent out tacit warnings via mobile phone texts to Libyans planning to make their voices known. "The inappropriate use of telecommunications services contradicts our religion ... our customs ... and our traditions," said a text from the General Communications Body. Another said: "We commend the conscious youth who have realized that sedition destroys his family, his city, his country. And we commend our cities who have realized that touching national unity destroys the prospects of future generations. Together for the sake of the Libya of Tomorrow." A screen grab of the messages was sent to CNN by Abdulla Darrat, spokesman of Enough Gadhafi, a U.S.-based organization that has been in close touch with people on the streets of Libya. State-run television countered the anti-government protests with coverage of pro-Gadhafi demonstrations. It showed men chanting pro-Gadhafi slogans, waving flags and singing around the Libyan leader's limousine as it crept through Tripoli. Scores of supportive demonstrators packed the roadway and held up pictures of their leader as fireworks burst into the night sky. The images followed reports from protesters, witnesses and human rights activists who described brutality by internal security forces, sometimes dressed in plain clothes. One of the protesters likened the situation in Libya to that which occurred early this month in Egypt, telling Human Rights Watch that "they are sending baltaqiyyas (thugs) to beat us." Libya, like many of its Arab neighbors, is suffering from economic hardship and a lack of political reform. Youth unemployment is high. Gadhafi is acutely aware of popular grievances and has spoken with groups of students, lawyers and journalists in the past few weeks, a source told CNN this week. CNN's Yousuf Basil, Fionnuala Sweeney, Ben Wedeman and Salma Abdelaziz contributed to this report.

Witness says square in Benghazi is full of protesters, but there is little sign of police or military . Tanks surrounded demonstrators in Benghazi, a protester says . 50 reportedly killed since Tuesday, 20 of them Friday . U.S. president condemns the government crackdowns in Libya, Bahrain and Yemen .

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(CNN) -- U.S. troops lent "limited technical support" in France's bloody and unsuccessful bid in Somalia to rescue an intelligence agent who'd been held hostage for years, President Barack Obama said Sunday. Obama detailed the U.S. military involvement in the Friday night mission in a letter sent to the leaders of the nation's two legislative chambers. The letter was released publicly as well. Are you there? Send your photo, videos, but please stay safe. While U.S. forces "provided limited technical support," they "took no direct part in the assault on the compound where it was believed the French citizen was being held hostage," the president explained. In addition, U.S. military aircraft were available but were not used. "United States combat aircraft briefly entered Somali airspace to support the rescue operation, if needed," the president wrote. "These aircraft did not employ weapons during the operation." Obama said he directed the U.S. troops' involvement in the operation "in furtherance of U.S. national security interests, and pursuant to my constitutional authority to conduct U.S. foreign relations and as commander in chief and chief executive." By 8 p.m., all U.S. forces were out of Somalia. The moves came after French forces engaged in a fierce gunbattle with militants in their attempt to rescue hostage Denis Allex, who was a member of the DGSE, France's equivalent of the CIA and a part of its defense ministry. The skirmish in Bulo Marer, about 75 miles northwest of the capital Mogadishu, ended with a French soldier and 17 Islamist fighters dead, according to the French Defense Ministry. Another French soldier is missing. French bid to rescue hostage fails . French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told reporters in Paris on Saturday that "everything leads us to believe that Denis Allex was gunned down by his captors." French President Francois Hollande, meanwhile, lamented the "sacrifice" of the two French soldiers and "maybe the assassination" of the hostage. But the al-Shabaab militia, which is affiliated with al Qaeda, claimed Allex is unharmed and being held in a new location. The group said in a statement that they'll decide the hostage's fate in the next two days. Allex was abducted on July 14, 2009, while on a mission in Mogadishu in support of the transitional Somali government, the French Defense Ministry said. French media reports suggest that Denis Allex is a pseudonym for the military serviceman. French officials said they launched the rescue attempt after the terror group failed to negotiate for the hostage's release for years while holding him in inhumane conditions. The U.S. military has been involved in Somalia before, notably in the ill-fated 1993 Battle of Mogadishu that ended with 18 American soldiers killed. U.S. forces were in Somalia to try to capture powerful Somali warlord Mohammed Aidid from his stronghold in the war-torn capital and take him to a ship anchored off the nearby coast. But by the end of the 16-hour battle in which commandos tried to seize several of Aidid's top lieutenants, 18 elite Army Rangers and hundreds of Somalis lay dead in the streets of Mogadishu. The movie inspired the best-selling book "Black Hawk Down" by Mark Bowden and an eponymous, Oscar Award-winning movie directed by Ridley Scott. Fourteen years later, the U.S. military re-emerged in Somalia by conducting airstrikes targeting al Qaeda-linked operatives in southern Somalia. Other strikes followed, including one in 2008 that killed an al-Shabaab leader and several other senior leaders of his group, according to local officials. CNN's Greg Botelho and Pierre Meilhan contributed to this report.

President Obama details U.S. military involvement in a hostage rescue in Somalia . French forces failed to free an intelligence agent held by an al Qaeda-linked group . French officials say 1 soldier died, 1 is missing, and the hostage is believed dead . U.S. aircraft were in Somali airspace but didn't fire, Obama told Congressional leaders .

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(CNN) -- A Saudi court that sentenced a journalist to 60 lashes for her work on a controversial television show has summoned a second woman affiliated with the TV station. The Saudi information ministry said Sunday that a Jeddah court has asked the second journalist to appear because of her work as a coordinator with the Lebanese Broadcasting Corp. The woman was set to appear on Monday, but the hearing has been postponed because she is ill, said a ministry official, who could not be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media. The show in question, "A Thick Red Line," explores social taboos. In one episode, a Saudi man, Mazen Abdul Jawad, bragged about his sex life. Saudi authorities put him on trial and sentenced him to five years in prison and 1,000 lashes. Soon afterward, the court sentenced journalist Rosanna Al-Yami who worked as a coordinator and guest-booker for the show. In addition to the 60 lashes, Al-Yami is banned for two years from traveling outside Saudi Arabia. While the charges against her include involvement in preparing the program, she was not involved in setting up the episode in which Abdul Jawad appeared, said his lawyer Suleiman Al-Jumeii. Al-Jumeii said that Al-Yami has opted not to appeal the court's verdict. Al-Jumeii doesn't represent the journalist, but said he is keeping tabs on cases dealing with "A Thick Red Line." The lawyer is attempting to pursue an appeal for his client and get his case heard in a special court that only deals with media matters. CNN has attempted to get comments from Al-Yami and her attorney. Abdul Jawad, 32, an airline employee and divorced father of four, spoke openly on the show about his sexual escapades, his love of sex and losing his virginity at age 14. That episode caused an uproar in deeply conservative Saudi Arabia, where sharia, or Islamic law, is practiced. Pre-marital sex is illegal, and unrelated men and women are not permitted to mingle. Saudi authorities shut down LBC offices in Jeddah and Riyadh after the interview aired a few months ago. Abdul Jawad was arrested shortly after the program aired and charged with violating Saudi Arabia's crime of publicizing vice.

Second journalist summoned over controverial Saudi television show . Saudi court sentenced journalist another woman, Rosanna Al-Yami, to 60 lashes for her role . Man's sexual boasts on show led to five-year prison sentence . Saudi authorities shut down network's offices in Jeddah and Riyadh after interview aired .

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Magdalena, Colombia (CNN) -- To the unaccustomed eye, a man toting 120 books while riding a stubborn donkey would seem nothing short of a circus spectacle. But for hundreds of children in the rural villages of Colombia, Luis Soriano is far from a clown. He is a man with a mission to save rural children from illiteracy. "There was a time when many people thought that I was going crazy," said Soriano, a native of La Gloria, Colombia. "They'd yell, 'Carnival season is over.' ... Now I've overcome that." Soriano, 38, is a primary school teacher who spends his free time operating a "biblioburro," a mobile library on donkeys that offers reading education for hundreds of children living in what he describes as "abandoned regions" in the Colombian state of Magdalena. "In [rural] regions, a child must walk or ride a donkey for up to 40 minutes to reach the closest schools," Soriano said. "The children have very few opportunities to go to secondary school. ...There are [few] teachers that would like to teach in the countryside." Do you know a hero? Nominations are open for 2010 CNN Heroes . At the start of his 17-year teaching career, Soriano realized that some students were having difficulty not just learning, but finishing their homework assignments. Most of the students falling behind lived in rural villages, where illiterate parents and lack of access to books prevented them from completing their studies. To help bridge the learning gap, Soriano decided to personally bring books to the children. "I saw two unemployed donkeys at home and had the idea [to use] them in my biblioburro project because they can carry a heavy load," Soriano said. "I put the books on their backs in saddles and they became my work tools." Every Wednesday at dusk and every Saturday at dawn, Soriano leaves his wife and three young children to travel to select villages -- up to four hours each way -- aboard a donkey named Alfa. A second donkey, Beto, follows behind, toting additional books and a sitting blanket. They visit 15 villages on a rotating basis. "It's not easy to travel through the valleys," Soriano said. "You sit on a donkey for five or eight hours, you get very tired. It's a satisfaction to arrive to your destination." At each village, some 40-50 youngsters await their chance to get homework help, learn to read or listen to any variety of tall tales, adventure stories and geography lessons Soriano has prepared. "You can just see that the kids are excited when they see the biblioburro coming this way. It makes them happy that he continues to come," said Dairo Holguin, 34, whose two children take part in the program. "For us, his program complements what the children learn in school. The books they do not have access to ... they get from the biblioburro." More than 4,000 youngsters have benefited from Soriano's program since it began in 1990. Soriano says countless others have been helped, too; parents and other adult learners often participate in the lessons. Soriano has spent nearly 4,000 hours riding his donkeys, and he's not traveled unscathed. In July 2008, he fractured his leg when he fell from one of the donkeys; in 2006, he was pounced on by bandits at a river crossing and tied to a tree when they found out he had no money. Despite these injuries, which left him with a limp, Soriano has no intention of slowing down. In addition to the biblioburro program, he and his wife built the largest free library in Magdalena next to their home. The library has 4,200 books, most of which are donated -- some from as far away as New York City. They also run a small community restaurant. Soriano's hope is that people will understand the power of reading and that communities can improve from being exposed to books and diverse ideas. "For us teachers, it's an educational triumph, and for the parents [it's] a great satisfaction when a child learns how to read. That's how a community changes and the child becomes a good citizen and a useful person," Soriano said. "Literature is how we connect them with the world." Want to get involved? Check out Luis Soriano's website at www.fundacionbiblioburro.com and see how to help.

Teacher uses donkeys to bring mobile library to children in rural Colombia . More than 4,000 youngsters have benefited since the program began in 1990 . Children get homework help, learn to read or listen to stories and geography lessons . Do you know a hero? Nominations are open for 2010 CNN Heroes .

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MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Miami Dolphins defensive end Randy Starks was arrested early Sunday after police said he struck an officer with a slow-moving Freightliner truck, according to a police report. Miami Dolphins defensive end Randy Starks was arrested early Sunday, according to police. Starks, 25, faces a charge of aggravated battery, according to the report. The arrest took place about 12:20 a.m. in Miami's South Beach area. Officers said they saw the Freightliner truck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on South Beach's Ocean Drive with some 13 people inside, including a woman sitting on the lap of Starks, who was driving. The truck's seating capacity is four occupants, the police report said. It was not clear from the police report whether the Freightliner -- normally part of a tractor-trailer -- was connected to a trailer. In the report, the officer recalled pursuing the truck on foot for about a half-block and pounding on the rear driver's-side window, but it kept moving. The officer caught up to the truck again, and it stopped after the officer pounded on the window again, the report said. "I slowly approached the side door and just as I reached it the vehicle accelerated and started moving forward and slightly to the left," the unidentified officer writes in the report. "The vehicle's path caused the driver's side of the vehicle to strike me in the chest pushing me back and pinning me against a vehicle stopped in traffic in the northbound lane." Meanwhile, a second officer was pounding on the passenger's-side window, the report said. The truck stopped, and Starks was arrested. A police check showed that the truck's license plate was not assigned to that vehicle, the report said, and Starks faces a charge for that as well. Starks was released from jail later Sunday, according to a records check. The Miami Herald newspaper reported earlier he was jailed on $10,000 bond. Dolphins spokesman Harvey Greene told CNN the club was "only recently made aware of the situation. Since we are in the process of gathering information we have no comment." Starks is in his sixth NFL season and his second with the Dolphins.

Miami Dolphins defensive end Randy Starks was arrested early Sunday morning . Police say Starks struck an officer with a slow-moving Freightliner truck . Miami Herald newspaper reports he was jailed on $10,000 bond . Starks is in his sixth NFL season and his second with the Dolphins .

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(CNN) -- "When you and I went to dinner in Arizona in the spring of 2011," I say to Ned Colletti, general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, "you thought your team might be a lot better than it turned out to be." "It tells you that I don't know what I'm doing," he jumps in, finishing my thought. "And when we went to dinner in L.A. before this season," I remind him, "you sure as hell weren't sure your 2012 team had a shot to be the best team in baseball." Colletti is cool about being kidded because he's been around long enough to know how high and low and fast and slow and screwy and curvy and uncontrollable baseball can be. Bankruptcy court approves sale of Los Angeles Dodgers . He says, "Well, how's that saying go, 'The whole is greater than the sum of its parts?'" Everything that goes wrong one year can go right the next. Every guy who hit .200 can hit .300. Every guy on the DL can be an MVP. Every team's owner who files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection can sell that same team for $2 billion and change. Well, OK, not EVERY team. But maybe the Dodgers are too big to fail. Maybe you can't keep a franchise this strong down too long. Maybe the bum breaks even out. Maybe a new owner and a new cash infusion and a new attitude can create a new mood. I don't know. Call me maybe. I can tell you this much: For years and years before the last owner owned the Dodgers, the Dodgers owned this town. The seats were filled. The team took five World Series championships and nine National League pennants after bolting Brooklyn to go west. If you count the Brooklyn years, these boys of summer won six Fall Classics and 22 pennants. Something happened to the club that brought you Jackie Robinson and Duke Snider and Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale, alas. Something unfortunate. Something unforeseeable. Rare photos of Jackie Robinson . An organization that oozed success and epitomized class was being abandoned by some of its fan base. The seats WEREN'T filled. The team wasn't succeeding. Its owner was in divorce court and its financial statements were in bankruptcy court. A lawsuit and a criminal investigation were pending over a parking lot incident in which a Northern California man was beaten into a coma. Dodger Stadium attendance in 2011 was down more than 627,000 from the year before. Unthinkable. Unacceptable. I wondered what it would take for the Dodgers to straighten this out. Would it take years? Would thousands of fans who once jammed the freeway near Stadium Way now steer clear for good? Well, they aren't totally back, the team or the fans, but you've got to admit, it's getting better. For much of this season, Los Angeles (that famous ice hockey town) has owned the best record in all of ball. I know quite a few folks who thought the Los Angeles team of ANAHEIM might become a dominating one in 2012, what with having signed the Sultan of St. Louis Albert Pujols to a contract through the year 2022 or 2032 or 2525 or whatever it was they did. But the Dodgers? No way. After all, what did they have? They had a hard-hitting hitter, Matt Kemp, who might have been his league's legitimate Most Valuable Player last season, having come in second in a vote to a guy who later was accused of using a banned substance. They had a hard-throwing thrower, Clayton Kershaw, who was indeed his league's most valuable pitcher, having racked up a record of 21-5. They had a left-handed swinger, Andre Ethier, whose production had tapered off sharply in 2011 after a hot start. And .... and ... ? They had a team that ended up 11.5 games out of first place. They had an owner fans resented, with a big "FOR SALE" sign in the yard. A much-loved ballclub and ballpark suddenly had five popular people -- Kemp, Kershaw, Ethier, a certain redheaded gentleman in the radio-TV booth (initials V.S.) and a nice lady named Nancy Bea who plays the organ. How low would they go? It wasn't as if the Dodgers hadn't been down on their luck before. On October 29, 2005, the owner fired his general manager. He was Paul DePodesta (aka the true identity of the Jonah Hill character from "Moneyball"), who, for all his calculations and acumen, had just fielded a Dodgers team that won 71 of 162 games. Colletti was hired. His teams proceeded to go to the playoffs of 2006, 2008 and 2009. He had money to spend. He tinkered, he tweaked. Ethier was acquired in a December 2005 trade. Kershaw was drafted in June of 2006. There were signings and experiments that did not pan out, but there was also Manny Ramirez, who was acquired by Colletti from the Red Sox in mid-2008 and turned the whole left field pavilion into his own personal "Mannywood." In the first rounds of the '08 and '09 playoffs, the Dodgers not only beat the Cubs and Cards, they swept them. That 2009 team had a record of 95-67. It was the first Dodger club since the championship run of 1988 to win that many. Ah, but prior to that 2009 NL championship series, snap, things changed. It was announced that owners Frank and Jamie McCourt were kaput. They had separated. As soon as the Dodgers were eliminated, Frank McCourt eliminated Jamie McCourt as the club's CEO. That same month, she filed for divorce. A day after she did, Frank McCourt's side claimed Jamie McCourt had a guy on the side. Husband gets Dodgers in McCourt divorce deal . What a mess. And it got messier. There were good players (Randy Wolf, Orlando Hudson) who were not offered new contracts. There were players (Juan Pierre) who got traded, players (Ramirez) who got put on waivers and permitted to leave. You couldn't help but interpret it as the Dodgers cutting costs. Their catcher (Russell Martin) was not offered a new deal, even though no heir-apparent was apparent. Rafael Furcal ($13 million salary in 2011), Hiroki Kuroda (nearly $12 million), Jonathan Broxton ($7 mil) ... those guys, too, had to go. Critics and skeptics no longer saw the Colletti who landed productive guys like Ted Lilly and Juan Rivera without giving up much in return. They focused instead on risks like Andruw Jones and Juan Uribe who didn't produce. I told people that the GM, given resources, could field a team that true-blue Dodger followers were proud of again. Some of them scoffed. Excitement didn't return until Magic Johnson and associates laid their billions on the table, making McCourt green but gone. Happy days were here again. Soon, these solvent Dodgers would surely solve all of the fans' woes, from finding a new third baseman to fixing the long traffic jams and the long lines for a hot dog. Snap, just like that. And on the field? Well, there was no waiting. Colletti did what he could. There were new arms, like those of Chris Capuano and Aaron Harang. There were the unrelated Ellises (catcher A.J. and infielder Mark) who were much better than anyone anticipated. There was a battle-tested bat (Bobby Abreu's) that the GM went out and got. Best team in baseball? Maybe not. Best record in baseball? You bet. As I watched a victory parade Thursday morning through the streets of Los Angeles, the ice skate guys were kings for a day, I looked at the baseball standings in the paper. Only one team had won 40 games already in 2012. It wasn't the Yankees. It wasn't the Angels. It wasn't the 2011 World Series champion Cardinals, who had lost Pujols. (See how quickly fortunes can change?) It was the Dodgers. "I wouldn't even use words like 'best team in baseball' because there's no such thing," Colletti tells me on the phone, grateful for a good start but understandably cautious. "In our case, we're a good example of a bunch of guys who get out there and give you everything they've got." Oh, and there's something else some of them got: Kemp's got a big new contract. Kershaw's got a big new contract. Ethier's got a big new contract. Now THAT's moneyball. L.A. is a player again in the baseball business. It might not be a hockey town for very long. How do you feel about the L.A. Dodgers? Let us know in the comments below.

The Dodgers have new owners and are in first place . Last year at this time the owners were in divorce court . The team suffered on the field and at the box office .

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(CNN) -- Trayvon Martin's parents will ask the U.S. Justice Department to review a local Florida prosecutor's interactions with police investigating the teen's shooting death, the family's lawyer said. The Justice Department launched an investigation into Martin's death on March 19, but the family is now asking it to look for possible interference by State's Attorney Norm Wolfinger's office with Sanford, Florida, Police Detective Chris Serino, attorney Ben Crump said. The Martin family will send a formal request to the Justice Department Monday, Crump told CNN Sunday. Martin, 17, was fatally shot by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, 28, after Zimmerman called police to report him as a "suspicious" person on the evening of February 26. Zimmerman says he killed Martin in self-defense after the teen punched him and slammed his head on the sidewalk, according to an Orlando Sentinel report that was later confirmed by Sanford police. Police cited Florida's "stand your ground" law, which allows people to use deadly force anywhere they feel a reasonable threat of death or serious injury, for not immediately arresting Zimmerman. Authorities have said Zimmerman was not immediately charged because there were no grounds, at the outset, to disprove his account that he'd acted to protect himself. Martin's family and supporters say Zimmerman, who is Hispanic, racially profiled the teen, who was black, and ignored a police dispatcher's directive not to follow him. The killing sparked nationwide protests, including a march Saturday by civil rights luminaries, carrying "Justice for Trayvon" signs in a marching to the Sanford police headquarters. The Sanford police department has come under intense scrutiny for its actions following the shooting, and protesters renewed their call for the firing of police Chief Bill Lee, who stepped aside temporarily this month amid criticism. The local prosecutor also stepped aside. Gov. Rick Scott appointed a special investigator to decide if Zimmerman should be charged, cleared or if the case should be sent to the grand jury. CNN's Vivian Kuo contributed to this report.

Family wants the Justice Department to look for possible interference by state attorney . Family will send a formal request to the Justice Department Monday, lawyer says . A special prosecutor is handling the case after the local prosecutor stepped aside . Police cite Florida's "stand your ground" law in not arresting Zimmerman in Martin's death .

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(CNN) -- The top prosecutors in Mexico and Guatemala set their sights on the Zetas drug cartel Wednesday, pledging to pool information and resources as their countries battle the notoriously violent criminal group. Attorneys general from the neighboring nations agreed "to create concrete mechanisms for quickly exchanging timely information for the fight against the Zetas organization and others," Mexico's Attorney General's Office said in a statement. The top prosecutors met a day after Guatemalan authorities announced a monthlong extension of the "state of siege" in the northern border province of Peten -- a move aimed at continuing a crackdown on organized crime in the area. Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom declared the emergency measure in May after investigators found the bodies of 27 dismembered and decapitated workers on a farm in Peten. According to a report from Guatemala's interior ministry, the suspected attackers were searching for the farm's owner. "I will find you and I will leave you like this," a message written in blood on a white wall said. It was signed "Z 200," the name of a Zetas cell in Guatemala, the report says. The state of siege curtails citizen liberties and allows the military to order anyone suspected of conspiring against the government to be arrested and imprisoned without a warrant. Authorities extended the measure because they need more time to improve security and strengthen institutions in the province, Guatemalan Interior Minister Carlos Menocal said in a statement Tuesday. Security forces have arrested dozens of people in connection with the slayings, Guatemalan Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz said in a visit to Peten last week. The Zetas originated in Mexico as the armed branch of the Gulf Cartel, and have split off into a separate drug-trafficking organization with an international reach. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration describes the Zetas as "a group of Mexican military deserters ... who have kidnapped, tortured and murdered -- including beheadings of law enforcement officials, innocent citizens, informants and rival drug gangs." In an interview with CNN en Español last year, Menocal noted that clashes between authorities and the Zetas had significantly increased. He said his country needed more help from the United States to combat cartels that are increasingly carving out new drug transport paths. Guatemala is scheduled to host a conference on Central American security next week. So far this year, Guatemalan authorities have seized 344 million quetzales (about $44 million) worth of cocaine, 566 vehicles, eight airplanes and about 200 weapons from suspected members of criminal organizations, Colom said Tuesday, according to the state-run Guatemalan News Agency. "All of the region is making important security efforts, but there are other countries that are not doing their part," he said at forum of regional leaders in Guatemala City Tuesday. "We cannot keep paying with deaths."

Attorneys general from Mexico and Guatemala agree to share more information . Guatemala extends a "state of siege" in the border province of Peten . Officials blame members of the Zetas cartel for the May slayings of 27 workers there . State media: "We can not keep paying with deaths," President Alvaro Colom says .

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(Budget Travel) -- Hard as it may be for anyone under 30 to imagine, there was a time when people used to shoot eight-millimeter films while on vacation and then show them to friends and family gathered around a projector in the living room. Nowadays, capturing video is far easier (whether you use a video camera, a digital still camera with video capability or even a cell phone), as is the sharing: YouTube has proved that millions of folks have learned to upload video to a computer and instantly e-mail a link to family and friends. Whether you use a video camera, a digital still camera with video capability, or even a cell phone, capturing video has never been easier. While YouTube remains a popular venue for sharing vacation videos, Web sites specifically targeting travelers are also springing up. The quality of the applications and usefulness of the content, however, vary greatly. We tested four to see which are easiest, which have bugs to work out and which can even help you offset your travel costs. Travelistic . For anyone just getting the hang of online video sharing, no-frills Travelistic -- founded by veterans of Condé Nast, iFilm and MTV -- is a good start. Before you upload a video, Travelistic directs you through a simple registration process and asks you to write a short description of your clip. When the video is posted, you can e-mail friends to tell them to watch it. You can also create a profile page to list your videos, add links to other people's clips and indicate on a world map where you've been and where you'd like to go. Cool: Similar to YouTube, Travelistic gives an embed code for most postings, allowing anyone on the Internet to add the clip to his or her own Web site or blog. Likewise, YouTube videos can be embedded into Travelistic. Not cool: No registration is required to leave comments on other people's videos, leading to spam. Travelistic also doesn't restrict who can post videos, so some material on the site comes from tourism promoters. Upload time: Painfully slow at 20 minutes.* . Revver . Revver is a general-interest video-sharing site with a category devoted to travel clips. Its process for uploading a video is similar to Travelistic's, but the personal "dashboard" is much more sophisticated. You can collect friends, à la Facebook, and add other people's videos to your playlist (a compilation of favorite clips). There are also more ways to share your videos: The site allows you to use embed codes to link your videos to social-networking sites, and your friends can download the clips as podcasts in iTunes. Cool: The site affixes small advertisements to the bottom of every video, usually promoting something germane. (For example, an ad for a Miami hotel is attached to a home movie of Miami Beach.) Revver then pays you half the revenue it makes from the video ads -- the total depends on how many people view the ads or click on them. You can track how much you've made in your dashboard, and you're automatically paid through PayPal once you've earned at least $20. Earnings can be substantial. The creators of an extremely popular Diet Coke and Mentos video on the site have made $50,000. Not cool: Editors screen all of the videos to ensure that no obscene or copyrighted material will be posted to the site -- the process can take several hours or even a day. If your video has more than 10 seconds of a Beyoncé song in the background, for instance, the editors could consider it a copyright violation and block the clip's posting. Upload time: Five minutes. Tripfilms . Founded by four friends in New York City, including former IgoUgo chief executive Tony Cheng, Tripfilms is geared toward people who think of themselves as filmmakers, professional or otherwise, with higher-quality and more informative clips than those on other video-sharing sites. But that shouldn't deter the novice videographer; Tripfilms's videos may be slicker than those on other Web sites, but the site isn't necessarily more exclusive. The staff posts all videos submitted by users unless the clips are offensive. There are also tips on producing better videos, such as finding an opening or closing shot and writing a more natural script. Cool: The site has a Film Your Trip program in which people pitch ideas for video travel stories to the editors and -- if their ideas are accepted -- are paid at least $50 for each clip they produce. If you ask, the staff may edit your video to make it look more professional or give advice on how to do it yourself. The site also occasionally gives away an iPod Nano to the creators of the top videos. Not cool: Tripfilms is less than a year old, so traffic is low. There are just 700 videos on the site; only a handful have more than a few thousand viewings. Upload time: Six minutes. Zoom And Go . Zoom And Go sees itself as a combination of TripAdvisor and YouTube. The site allows users to not only upload videos and photos, but also to write reviews for hotels, destinations and attractions, and to search for hotels in certain cities. Navigating the site, however, can be slightly problematic. When you click on a city like London, for instance, you can add it to your Trip Planner, but that just creates a list of bookmarked places -- there's no actual planning function yet. The site also has a tool to check hotel availability, but clicking on the link to book the room in both Firefox and Safari led to an error page. Cool: Zoom And Go doesn't attach ads to videos, but it's launching a system that'll award points for every video, photo and review posted on the site. The points will then be redeemable for money that'll go to the charity of the user's choice. Videos will be worth 30 points apiece; every 100 points accrued will earn $1. The editors also say that all content is provided by actual travelers, not tourism promoters. Not cool: Although Zoom And Go claims to have the largest collection of travel videos on the Internet (more than 14,000), the clips are rarely longer than a minute, providing just a cursory glimpse of a hotel lobby or a tourist destination. Upload time: Seven minutes. *For all tests, we used broadband Wi-Fi to upload a four-minute clip. E-mail to a friend . Get the best travel deals and tips emailed to you and enter to win a free trip - CLICK HERE! Copyright © 2009 Newsweek Budget Travel, Inc., all rights reserved. Note: This story was accurate when it was published. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.

Video-share Web sites specifically targeting travelers are springing up . Travelistic gives an embed code for most postings, so others can post the clip . Revver pays users half the revenue it makes from ads on their submissions .

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(CNN Student News) -- October 11, 2013 . On the International Day of the Girl, CNN Student News discusses this year's educational theme. We also report on a proposal to temporarily raise the U.S. debt ceiling, and we explore the largest ship in the world. Plus, we introduce this year's top 10 CNN Heroes. On this page you will find today's show Transcript, the Daily Curriculum, Maps pertaining to today's show, and a place for you to leave feedback. TRANSCRIPT . Click here to access the transcript of today's CNN Student News program. Please note that there may be a delay between the time when the video is available and when the transcript is published. DAILY CURRICULUM . Click here for a printable version of the Daily Curriculum (PDF). Media Literacy Question of the Day: . Can media coverage have an impact on charities and the people they serve? What might be the pros and cons of this coverage? Weekly Newsquiz: The following questions relate to events that were covered this week on CNN Student News. Write your answers in the space provided. 1. Who appears on the new U.S. $100 bill? 2. What city is hosting the Winter Olympics next year? 3. Jack Lew leads what department in the U.S. government? 4. In what African country did U.S. forces recently capture one of the FBI's most wanted terrorists? 5. Which of these U.S. states is part of Tornado Alley: West Virginia, Nebraska or Nevada? 6. The U.S. announced the suspension of some military aid to what North African nation, due to unrest there? 7. In what country would you find the world's busiest port? 8. What bacteria recently caused an outbreak of foodborne illness linked to raw poultry? 9. What U.S. president also served on the Supreme Court? 10. During what war was the U.S. "debt ceiling" created to monitor government spending? CNN Student News is created by a team of journalists and educators who consider the Common Core State Standards, national standards in different subject areas, and state standards when producing the show and curriculum. We hope you use our free daily materials along with the program, and we welcome your feedback on them. MAPS . Download PDF maps related to today's show: . North America . Washington, D.C. FEEDBACK . We're looking for your feedback about CNN Student News. Please use this page to leave us comments about today's program, including what you think about our stories and our resources. Also, feel free to tell us how you use them in your classroom. The educators on our staff will monitor this page and may respond to your comments as well. Thank you for using CNN Student News! Click here to submit your Roll Call request.

This page includes the show Transcript, the Daily Curriculum, and Maps . Use the Transcript to help students with reading comprehension and vocabulary . The Daily Curriculum's Newsquiz tests students' knowledge of events in the news . At the bottom of the page, please share your feedback about our show and curriculum .

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Washington (CNN) -- A dispute over abortion between the only remaining Kennedy in Congress and his Roman Catholic bishop has highlighted the political volatility of the issue and the challenge it presents to the nation's Catholics. "How can you claim to be a Catholic and also support abortion?" Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence, Rhode Island, asked Monday, discussing his request that Rep. Patrick Kennedy, a Rhode Island Democrat, stop receiving Holy Communion because of his pro-choice politics. Kennedy went public Sunday about Tobin's request, originally made in a private letter to Kennedy in 2007. Tobin responded with a statement Sunday followed by his television appearance Monday, in which he acknowledged holding Kennedy to a higher standard than an ordinary parishioner because of the congressman's position as a legislator who can shape abortion laws and policy. The issue is considered much broader than a public rift between the two men. A sweeping health care bill in Congress could get derailed by conflicts over abortion language, with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops last week criticizing a Senate version of the measure for lacking the tougher language adopted earlier by the House. Kennedy, a member of the most influential Catholic family in U.S. history, is the son of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy and nephew of the late John F. Kennedy, the nation's first Catholic president. When running for president in 1960, John Kennedy famously said he was "not the Catholic candidate for president," but "the Democratic Party's candidate for president who also happens to be be a Catholic." Edward Kennedy was known for his liberal policies, including support for a woman's right to choose an abortion. When he died earlier this year, a Roman Catholic funeral Mass was held in Boston's Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica. Patrick Kennedy holds similar views to his late father, and the dispute with Tobin festered anew when Kennedy publicly criticized the Catholic Church for opposing health care reform that lacked stringent anti-abortion language. Requests to Kennedy's offices in Washington and Rhode Island for comment Monday went unanswered. Tobin, appearing on CNN, called Kennedy's support of abortion "a scandal." Asked why he was singling out Kennedy, Tobin said the congressman started the dispute by attacking the church's opposition to a health care bill that lacks tough abortion restrictions. He acknowledged "a difference between someone who is the average Catholic in the pew ... and someone like the congressman who is in a high-profile position and is in a position to affect legislation on allowing access to abortion." Other Catholics questioned Tobin's stance. "The simple fact is that most bishops don't want to deny communion to politicians, and we know for a fact that Pope John Paul II gave communion to pro-choice Italian politicians," said the Rev. Thomas Reese, a senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University. "So the question is, is Bishop Tobin more Catholic than the pope on this?" Politicians have previously run afoul of Catholic bishops on the abortion issue. Kansas City Archbishop Joseph Naumann asked Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to stop receiving communion when she was a pro-choice governor of Kansas, and former St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke said in 2004 he would deny communion to Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry for being pro-choice. Brian McLaren, a longtime Christian pastor who has written a book coming out next year called "A New Kind of Christianity," said politicizing religious views limits the perception and, eventually, the impact of a church's teachings. "Both Catholics and Protestants have allowed themselves to be pushed into this kind of binary, either-or thinking" on abortion and homosexuality, McLaren said. "It's disturbing for me as a non-Catholic to see the Catholic Church possibly risking its moral authority on a number of other issues by only focusing on abortion." The Roman Catholic church strongly opposes abortion, which has been legal across the United States since 1973. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops lobbied for tight restrictions on federal funding of abortion in the health care bill the House passed earlier this month. In an October interview, Kennedy criticized the bishops for threatening to oppose the health care bill if it lacked the tough restrictions. In the House debate on the measure, Kennedy opposed a provision with the church-backed restrictions on federal money for abortions, but voted in favor of final passage of the bill that included that language. He repeated that criticism and revealed Tobin's earlier admonition in an interview published Sunday, the 46th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Tobin responded by calling Kennedy's position "unacceptable to the church and scandalous to many of our members." Most bishops and priests oppose using communion as a "political weapon," and Kennedy's disclosure of Tobin's admonition may be an attempt to push back against the bishops' support for the abortion restrictions in the House bill, CNN senior Vatican analyst John Allen said. "The Catholic bishops have been fairly successful, at least to date, at putting abortion at the center of the debate over health care reform, and that obviously has generated some resentment from people who don't share their views," Allen said. Kennedy's decision to come forward "in effect puts the Catholic bishops in a negative light, because it ends up making them look intolerant." To McLaren, the admonishment by Tobin displays an inconsistency. "The bishops have taken I think a wise stand against the proliferation of nuclear weapons," he said. "Would they apply withholding of the Eucharist to someone who supports increasing nuclear stockpiles?" The health care debate reveals the depth of division on the issue, according to McLaren. Both sides apparently believe they are advocating language that makes the legislation effectively "abortion neutral," meaning it doesn't change existing abortion law. "What we discovered is 'abortion neutral' is a matter of interpretation," McLaren said, adding: "This is what happens in the politics of polarization. Each side plays to its more extreme base. It makes common ground and respectful dialogue harder to achieve. The idea that we're playing a win-lose game, that you're saying if you don't agree with us, we're not even going to have a conversation with you, that attitude chills civil discourse."

Rep. Patrick Kennedy's support for abortion rights brings criticism from church . Bishop tells Kennedy not to take communion . The issue is considered much broader than a public rift between the two men .

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San Francisco, California (CNN) -- San Francisco city officials are readying to ban most of McDonald's Happy Meals in current form because they offer toys to entice kids to buy meals not meeting nutritional criteria. Under a proposal given preliminary approval this week, McDonald's and other restaurants would have until December 2011 to improve their meals' nutrition with fruits and vegetables -- if the chains want to keep offering Captain America figurines or toys tied with latest films. The proposed ordinance is part of a "food justice movement" and is designed to address how about 50 of the city's restaurants use giveaway toys to sell fast food whose nutritional content is being challenged by the city. Officials said they hope their measure, the first of its kind for a large city, would encourage similar standards across the country. The San Francisco proposal was modeled after a similar law for unincorporated Santa Clara County, California, . San Francisco Supervisor Eric Mar, who initiated the proposal, said the ordinance would be "a tremendous victory" in fighting childhood obesity. His fifth-grade daughter is in the 6-to-11 age group in which rates of obesity have quadrupled the past 30 years -- coinciding with the life span of the Happy Meal, he said. "I do believe that toys and other incentives attached to foods that are high in sugar, fat and calories are a major reason for the alarming rise for childhood obesity in this country," Mar said. "This is a very modest ordinance that is an incentive for the industry to take responsibility for healthier choices for children and parents." McDonald's spokeswoman Danya Proud said the company was "extremely disappointed with the decision." "It's not what our customers want, nor is it something they asked for. Public opinion continues to be overwhelmingly against this misguided legislation," Proud said in a statement. "Parents tell us it's their right and responsibility -- not the government's - to make their own decisions and to choose what's right for their children. "We are extremely proud of our Happy Meals which give our youngest guests wholesome food and toys of the highest quality. Getting a toy with a kid's meal is just one part of a fun, family experience at McDonald's," Proud said. The board of supervisors approved the ordinance in a first reading Tuesday, by a veto-proof margin. Next Tuesday, November 9, the board is expected to formally approve the measure in a final reading, Mar said. Mayor Gavin Newsom has indicated he would veto the ordinance, but the board has enough votes -- eight out of 11 -- to override the veto, Mar said. Under the proposal, the food and beverage would have to contain fewer than 600 calories, and less than 35 percent of total calories would come from fat. The meal would also have to contain 0.5 cups of fruit and 0.75 cups of vegetables and offer less than 640 mg of sodium and less than 0.5 mg of trans fat. Breakfast would have the option of offering 0.5 cups of fruit or vegetables. City officials expect a legal challenge from McDonald's once the ordinance is approved. "They hired fancy lawyers for this and flew them out here to meet with us and basically to strong-arm us into not doing this," Linshao Chin, legislative assistant to Mar, said. She said McDonald's attorneys argued corporate First Amendment rights. McDonald's declined to respond to Chin's comments. McDonald's, Burger King and Subway are among the restaurants that offer such toys or other incentives in San Francisco, but McDonald's was described by city officials as taking the lead in opposing the ordinance. The California Restaurant Association also objected to the ordinance because, said spokesman Daniel Conway, "it's insulting to parents and it's more generating headlines than trimming waist lines." "There's been absolutely no proof that this will impact the way people eat," Conway said. "There's enough ambiguity over crayons and things like that, it has somewhat of a chilling effect. It has raised concerns for restaurateurs of all varieties and segments of the industry." San Francisco officials compromised on some draft measures in response to McDonald's concerns, such as delaying the proposed enforcement for more than a year to accommodate the chain's schedule for menu changes, Chin said. "We did have an amendment that these meals needed to include whole grains, and McDonald's said they were not able to meet that requirement because if they added whole grains into their hamburger buns, their buns would crumble. They said that was something that was too strict, so we removed it," Chin said. San Francisco officials are hoping that the ordinance would force fast-food chains to replace fries and soda with apple slices and milk. "We hope that this would have a ripple effect, that this is a small step in the food justice movement," Chin said. "We have places all across the country that are known as food deserts. You can't find a supermarket, but you can find fast-food restaurants. "Even hearing from the McDonald's nutritionist, they were saying that this food even in moderation was OK," Chin said, "but I think it completely discounts how there are some people eating it every day, and there are poor people who rely on it as a food source because it's cheap." A free toy can be effective on children. "From personal experience as a child myself, you watch a movie and you walk by a restaurant and they're offering a toy from the latest movie, and you know you want to get that toy," Chin said. "The children are pestering their parents to take them in there and get that toy. It's something that's pretty hard to resist for a 3-year-old. "So this is incentivizing children to eat these unhealthy meals with the toys," she said.

Ordinance would require most McDonald's Happy Meals to meet new city nutrition criteria . If nutrition standards are met, McDonald's and other chains can offer toys with meals . Not meeting the criteria would result in pulling restaurant's permit to operate . Measure is part of "food justice" movement; officials expect a legal challenge .

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Cairo (CNN) -- Amid the celebrations that greeted the declaration of a winner in Egypt's first freely elected presidential vote, a British student journalist was being sexually assaulted by a mob in Tahrir Square. Natasha Smith recounted the experience on her blog and in an interview with CNN. Smith, who has since left Egypt, wrote that the moving demonstrations of freedom turned to horror "in a split second" when dozens of frenzied men dragged her away from two male companions and began to grope her "with increasing force and aggression." "Men started ripping off all my clothes," she told CNN. "First of all, it was my skirt, and that just went straight away, and I didn't even feel my underwear being removed. Then my shoes went and clothes on my upper half were just being ripped off me, and that was quite painful." During the assault, "I was just in this weird, detached state of mind, and I just kept saying, 'Please God, please make it stop. Please, God, make it stop.' " Her experience echoes the assaults faced by two prominent female reporters, CBS News correspondent Lara Logan and Egyptian-American columnist Mona Eltahawy, who has said her attackers were officers at a police station. One of Smith's friends, Callum Paton, told CNN the mob dragged Smith naked across the ground before another group of men stepped in to protect her. Read Natasha Smith's account. "There were several moments at which I thought she was going to die," Paton said. "And I think that really the fact that we are still alive, and especially Natasha's still alive, was because there were so many people who were willing to help us and were willing to risk their own lives and put them in direct danger to get her out of that situation." Smith was on her first international assignment, shooting a documentary on women's rights in Egypt as her final college project. A doctor who treated Smith and a British Embassy official who met her at the hospital corroborrated her account for CNN. "If there hadn't been a small group of men around me, I would have been raped and killed," she said. "That's just without question, because that's what the men were trying to do. It was very clear what they were trying to do to me. They weren't just trying to play around with me, they were gunning for me for whatever reason." On her blog, she wrote that an ambulance pulled up at one point, but it was forced to leave when it "was invaded by tens of men." Even after being escorted to a medical tent by volunteers who formed a cordon around her, her attackers surrounded the tent. Women who assisted her told her the attack "was motivated by rumors spread by troublemaking thugs that I was a foreign spy, following a national advertising campaign warning of the dangers of foreigners." "Arab women, Muslim women were all around me, just crying, saying 'This is not Egypt! This is not Egypt! This is not Islam! These are thugs!' " she told CNN. She said she responded, "I know, I love Egypt, I know this is not Islam, it's OK. "And they were stunned, 'cause they thought I was going to be so full of hate and so full of fear. But from the very beginning, I don't blame Egypt for this. This is not the workings of the Egyptian people. This is not representative." To escape, she said, "I was told I had to put my trust in this Egyptian man. I was disguised in a burqa and let out of this tent with this man, barefoot and I had to pretend to be his wife and walk through the streets and he kept just saying to me, 'Don't cry. Do not cry. If you cry, people will know.' " On her blog, she complained about her treatment at the hospital, noting that the doctor's first question was whether she was married, "which is of course the most important question to be asking a victim of mass sexual abuse." "He and a female nurse (who only reluctantly kept me covered up) looked briefly at the damage and just wandered off, saying that because I didn't have internal bleeding, they couldn't do anything," she wrote. "A useful trip, that was." But the doctor, Mohammed Meligi, said Smith's account may be "a misunderstanding, because she was here first time to enter the Egyptian hospital." Smith said her case will get attention "because I'm British and I'm young and I'm a girl," but she said other Egyptian women "will often suffer these attacks and worse attacks and there'll be no justice done." "There's been an outpouring of support, and I'm so grateful for that," she said. But she said she wished that support could be shared with "all women, of all nationalities, wherever they are." "I'll be so happy if this could make any difference to other women who are in this situation, not just in Egypt, not just in the Middle East, but everywhere," she said. CNN's Jonathan Wald in London contributed to this report.

British reporter Natasha Smith recounts attack in Tahrir Square . Smith says she was mobbed by men who "started ripping off all my clothes" "There were several moments at which I thought she was going to die," a friend says . Egyptians stepped in to protect her and helped her escape, she says .

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Editor's note: Ralph J. Begleiter teaches communication, journalism and political science at the University of Delaware. During two decades as CNN's "world affairs correspondent," Begleiter was the network's most widely traveled reporter. Ralph J. Begleiter says the Pentagon's new policy on media access to coffins of war dead is a milestone. NEWARK, Delaware (CNN) -- The reversal of two decades of policy on images of returning war casualties is an important and welcome milestone for the American people. The Pentagon's decision announced Thursday allowing media coverage of coffins of war victims returning to Dover Air Force Base -- if families agree -- restores to its rightful, honorable place the immense value of the sacrifice American troops make on behalf of their nation. It allows the American people to honor the dignified and respectful return of war casualties to home soil for the last time. Although no one should have a veto over the nation's ability to pay respects to its fallen troops, I believe most families will decide that their sons and daughters deserve to be recognized publicly for their sacrifice. These men and women enlisted in the military for their nation. They fought for their nation. They died for their nation. Their return should be respectfully and publicly acknowledged by their nation. The ban on images of returning casualties started accidentally, and without any reference to the "privacy" of the families of those who gave their lives in service to the nation. The accident of media history occurred in December 1989 when poor White House scheduling placed President George H.W. Bush before live television cameras just as the first American casualties were arriving at Dover Air Force Base from the U.S. invasion of Panama. CNN and two other major TV networks fired up their split-screen technology, showing on one side the president joking with White House reporters just before the Christmas holiday -- and on the other the sober images of flag-draped military caskets being carried ceremoniously by honor guards across the tarmac at Dover. After the holidays, the president appealed publicly to reporters to "help me" overcome a public impression that he had been insensitive on TV about the returning casualties. News media had been covering the return of war casualties since World War II. Some military personnel believe the showing of those images -- and others from the jungles of Vietnam -- contributed to a gradual growth of anti-war sentiment during the 1960s. Just days before the Gulf War began in January 1991, the new media policy was formalized in a cable sent by the Defense Department to its posts: There would be no media coverage of returning casualties at Dover or other stops along the way home. The directive made no mention of anyone's privacy but portrayed the ban on coverage of returning casualties as an effort to ease pressure on stressed families, who might feel obliged to travel to Dover to witness the return of their loved one with news media watching. Over the next decade, several exceptions were made to the ban on media coverage at Dover, including for the return of Navy personnel killed in the bombing of the USS Cole off Yemen's coast, just weeks before the election that brought the second President Bush into office. Ironically, throughout the ban on media coverage of returning casualties, the Pentagon continued documenting this important part of any war by assigning military and government contract photographers to take pictures of the flag-draped caskets. Those images, among the most poignant, respectful and dignified tributes to troops who died in service of their nation, were carefully maintained by the Defense Department. They were used for training of honor guards and for commemorating the significance of war casualties. Although taken by the government, those images were withheld from public view. From the aftermath of September 11, 2001, through the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the Pentagon kept taking those pictures even as it expanded its ban on media coverage of returning casualties -- now arguing that such war images would somehow invade the privacy of families of the deceased troops. It was those images that a series of Freedom of Information Act requests pried loose in 2005 after months of legal skirmishing. (Those requests were initiated by Russ Kick, editor of a Web site called "The Memory Hole." When the Pentagon refused to respond substantively to my own series of Freedom of Information Act requests, the National Security Archive at George Washington University and I took the government to court with a lawsuit over the images.) Just weeks before a federal judge was expected to rule in the case, the Pentagon pre-empted a precedent-setting order by releasing voluntarily more than 700 images of returning casualties. They remain to this day available to the public on the National Security Archive Web site. At the time Kick and I were seeking to make the Pentagon's pictures public, major U.S. news organizations were busy suiting up to cover the invasion of Iraq; they did not engage their lawyers to ask for access to Dover to witness the return of those who sacrificed their lives in the war and they have declined to do so since then. The Pentagon policy, which had come into being over the embarrassment of a president, evolved after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, into a complete ban preventing the American people from seeing the most important single measure of the cost of war. So desperate, apparently, was the White House desire to block public view of such images that military photographers at Dover were ordered to stop documenting the returns. To my knowledge, since 2005, no further photos have been taken showing those emotional moments when a casualty touches home soil for the last time. The Obama administration's reversal of two decades of policy on the visibility of returning casualties should have two immediate effects: . Public opinion -- consistently supportive of making the war casualty images public -- has reached a new high. Most recently, a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released Thursday reported that 67 percent of those questioned said they think the government should allow the public to see photos of caskets of U.S. troops at an Air Force base. I have had the privilege of speaking with a number of family members who have lost loved ones in Afghanistan or Iraq. Most think the pictures should be public, but only after families authorize it. This dramatic change in government policy should once again allow all Americans to see the full human cost of war, while paying respect to those who served their nation as well as to their families. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ralph J. Begleiter.

Ralph J. Begleiter: U.S. policy on photographing war dead was result of coincidence . He says it was due to split-screen image of president joking while coffins returning . Begleiter: New policy allows the nation to pay proper respect to war dead . He urges government to resume using its photographers to document the toll .

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Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- CNN photojournalist Khalil Abdallah was having breakfast Saturday in a Tripoli hotel that houses foreign press when a woman burst into the restaurant, screaming that she had been raped and beaten for days by Moammar Gadhafi's brigades. Her sudden entrance startled the group of international journalists, who were about to begin another day covering the crisis in Libya. The woman's face was heavily bruised, a long bruise running down the left side of her cheek. She walked around, sobbing, shouting, lifting her dress to show a bloody thigh. Her ankles and wrists were bloody where she said she had been bound. One of the few present who spoke Arabic, the photojournalist understood her pleas. "She was saying, 'We are all Libyans! Why don't you treat us the same?' " Abdallah recounted Sunday for CNN.com. The woman told the journalists that she had been picked up at a government checkpoint east of Tripoli, tied, beaten and raped for two days. Her name was Eman al-Obeidy, she said. "Look at what Gadhafi's brigades did to me!" she screamed. "My honor was violated by them!" Reporters gathered around her, trying to calm her, Abdallah recalled. He and other photojournalists dashed for their cameras. "We were all in shock," Abdallah said, trying to keep a steady hand. He knew that minders -- the men Libya's government assigns to foreign journalists to monitor their every move -- were nearby. Reporters had barely asked a few questions before those minders were on them, pushing and shoving reporters to the side, trying to jerk the woman away. Some of them were wearing their distinctive red badges, Abdallah said, while others were in plain clothes. They threw punches. Journalists tried to defend themselves and keep the woman away from the minders. "It was like a rugby pileup," Abdallah said. A correspondent for Britain's Channel 4, Jonathan Miller, tried to push one of the minders back. The woman was trying to fight back as well, Abdallah said. "She is pushing him (a minder) back saying, 'Don't touch me, leave me alone!' " he said. "From that point on, everybody in this hotel was against us (the journalists)," the photojournalist recounted. Minders ran after journalists, jumping on them, beating them, he said. At one point a bag was placed over the woman's head and she was led out to the hotel garden. She was questioned for about 40 minutes, and then minders came back inside. They announced that the woman was crazy and that she was being taken to the hospital. "All the minders were telling us she was drunk or had mental problems," Abdallah said. A short while later, the woman was led through the lobby. Journalists followed, protesting, shouting for the men to let her go. A journalist can be heard on video asking her: "Are you OK?" "No," the woman answers, her voice shaky. She yells into a camera: "If you don't see me tomorrow, then that's it!" The woman is forced into a waiting car. She shouts that she is being taken to jail. The minders told reporters that they could see the woman again, later. "We have been told that we'd see people again, but we never do," said Abdallah. An image he captured shows a minder pointing his finger at Abdallah just before snatching his camera and breaking it. "He ripped the microphone off, the viewfinder, his nails sunk into my arm," said Abdallah. "I was pulling the camera one way; he was pulling it the other way." While wrestling for his camera, Abdallah saw a minder standing nearby holding a 9 mm handgun. The photojournalist let go and slowly began to back out of the restaurant. Then Abdallah heard something from the minders that he has come to expect, but that never fails to sting him. "'He is Arab!' they were shouting. 'Why is he doing this to us?'" "Once you're labeled like that, it doesn't matter what your citizenship is," he said. "But what I felt more was terrible for this woman and how the government is going to deal with her. "That is the thing that is most disturbing." Postscript: . The Libyan woman who stormed into the Tripoli hotel Saturday to tell foreign reporters that government troops raped her has been released, government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim told reporters at a news conference Sunday. CNN has not been able to independently confirm the spokesman's announcement.

CNN journalist sees woman burst into hotel saying Gadhafi supporters raped, beat her . Khalil Abdallah understood her cries in Arabic: "Look at what Gadhafi's brigades did to me!" Abdallah says government minders violently blocked journalists, broke his camera . Abdallah saw one minder with a gun in his hand, so the photojournalist backed away .

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(CNN) -- Novak Djokovic's Serbia will play holders the Czech Republic in the Davis Cup final but it was the World No.1's teammate Janko Tipsarevic who proved the final day hero in Belgrade. Djokovic, going into semifinal tie against Canada off the back of his defeat to Rafael Nadal in the U.S. Open, played his part by drawing Serbia level at two rubbers apiece as he beat Milos Raonic 7-6 6-2 6-2. But it left the pressure on Tipsarevic, who has slipped down the rankings this season, as he took on Vasek Pospisil in the deciding singles match. Tipsarevic took the first set on tiebreaker and romped through the second with partisan support from the 10,000 home crowd playing its part. Pospisil was nursing an elbow injury and fell 5-2 down in the third only to recover the break and force a second tiebreak. Again Tipsarevic went clear and had four match points at 6-2, only for the Canadian to save them all to level. Undaunted World No.23 Tipsarevic took the next two points to seal their passage to a November 15-17 showdown in Prague with the Czechs. "This is really special, one of the happiest moments of my professional career," he told the official Davis Cup website. "Janko played an incredible match under huge pressure. I think we will also find the energy for the final," said his captain Bogdan Obradovic. Serbia, with Djokovic the key influence, won the Davis Cup in 2010, but are without Viktor Troicki, who is serving an 18 month doping ban handed down by the International Tennis Federation. Earlier, Djokovic easily accounted for the big hitting Raonic to set up the decider. "The most important thing was to try to neutralize his serve. It's not easy to read," he said. The Czechs sealed their final place by forging an unassailable 3-0 lead over Argentina in Prague Saturday. While the semifinalists battled it out, other nations were left to reclaim their places in the 16-strong World Group for next year's competition. Spain, led by Nadal, completed a 5-0 whitewash of Ukraine, while World No.3 Andy Murray beat Croatia's Ivan Dodig Sunday to seal Britain's victory and a return to the top tier of men's team tennis. Steve Darcis, who shocked Nadal in the first round at Wimbledon, was the hero for Belgium in their 3-2 win over Israel. He defeated Amir Weintraub 6-2 6-2 6-2 in the deciding rubber in Antwerp.

Serbia to face Czech Republic in Davis Cup final in November . Serbia beat Canada 3-2 in semifinal in Belgrade . Novak Djokovic and Janko Tipsarevic win final day singles matches . Britain return to the World Group with win over Croatia .

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(CNN) -- A veteran airport screener at New York's JFK Airport has been charged with grand larceny after he allegedly stole two iPads that were planted in a checked bag as part of a police sting. Port Authority police initiated the sting after passengers complained of electronic devices being taken from luggage. While the case highlights a recurring problem of theft at Transportation Security Administration checkpoints, one law enforcement official said it illustrates an even bigger threat. "If they (an unscrupulous employee) can be taking stuff out of bags, what can they be putting in? That's a serious issue," said the official, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to talk about the case. TSA screeners at LAX arrested on narcotics trafficking charges . In the JFK incident, there was no suggestion that anything other than attempted theft was involved. Police said a "decoy bag" was placed among checked luggage at Terminal 4 at JFK on Tuesday. Police later stopped the screener as he was leaving work on board the airport's AirTrain system. In his backpack, police found the two planted iPads that had been in the decoy bag. They also found in his possession other electronic devices and earphones that had been reported stolen from luggage, and additional stolen items in his home. Oakland traveler arrested for watch 'art' that TSA thinks is timing device . Port Authority police identified the man as Sean Henry, 32, of Brooklyn, and said he had been a TSA screener for 10 years. Henry is charged with three counts of grand larceny, one count of petty larceny and official misconduct. Efforts by CNN to reach Henry were unsuccessful. TSA spokesman David Castelveter said the individual, who he did not name, "is being processed for removal from TSA." "TSA holds its employees to the highest ethical standards and has zero tolerance for misconduct in the workplace," Castelveter said. TSA chief a 'no-show' at congressional hearing .

Port Authority police set up a sting at New York's JFK Airport . Passengers were complaining of electronic devices being taken from luggage . Two iPads were planted in a checked bag as part of the sting . A TSA screener was arrested after, police say, the iPads were found in his backpack .

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London, England (CNN) -- A member of al Qaeda's wing in Yemen intent on staging an attack was arrested in Britain earlier this year, the British home secretary said Wednesday. Theresa May disclosed the development in a wide-ranging address on counter-terrorism, in which she discussed threats of violence and approaches to fighting them. "Our police and agencies have been working to disrupt AQAP operatives in this country," she said, making reference to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. "An AQAP associate was arrested here earlier this year. He is alleged to have been planning a terrorist attack in this country. Threats such as these are likely to continue." Officials believe that AQAP is behind the recent plot to send bombs from Yemen to the United States. The group is based in Yemen, which has emerged as a major operating base for al Qaeda and other terror groups. May noted that "one of the devices was intercepted and made safe here." She said in the wake of that incident, Britain ordered the suspension of air freight from Yemen and other actions, such as the "suspension of unaccompanied air freight from Somalia." "The specifics of this attack -- notably the type of device and how it was concealed -- were new to us. The principle of the attack -- a device placed in unaccompanied baggage -- was not. It bears some resemblance to the attack on Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie in 1988." She said last week's incident showed "beyond doubt" that "we will continue to face a threat from international terrorism for the foreseeable future." That threat is now more diverse and more fragmented than ever before," said May, who emphasized that "public policy must respond to this changing threat." May said that last month the government came out with a national security strategy that said terror from Northern Ireland and in the international realm "remain two of the highest risks our country faces." She pointed out that an explosive device intended to cause civilian casualties was found Saturday in a car at the Belfast airport. "It is testimony to the success of the police and the agencies that we have not had a successful attack in this country since 2007 and there have been no casualties since 2005. But as we saw last week, the absence of an attack does not mean an absence of threat." She says al Qaeda is weaker but still remains dangerous. "We should neither overstate the strength and significance of al Qaeda, nor underestimate its continuing capability," she said. May cited the dangers of Al-Shabaab, the militant group in Somalia "just across the Red Sea from Yemen." That group "has developed links to al Qaeda and, we assess, to AQAP. It thrives in a failed state. It has aspirations beyond Somali borders." She also mentions the North African group al Qaeda in the Maghreb, which has resorted to kidnapping. "We do not believe the group yet has the capability to carry out a terrorist attack on British soil, but I don't doubt that would be their aspiration." She said there has been an emergence of a "more diverse and devolved terrorist threat" that lacks a "strong, directive and commanding center and (is) joined more by ideology than hierarchy." "The attempted attack in Times Square by the Pakistani Taliban perfectly illustrates the challenge we face," referring to a failed attempt to set off a bomb in New York's Times Square. May cited the "new and deadly method of attack" utilized by Lashkar-e Taiba in the November 2008 Mumbai strike. "These attacks were conducted by terrorists with assault rifles, handguns and improvised explosive devices. The attackers also used off-the-shelf technology -- satellite guidance and encrypted communications -- which you can buy across the counter anywhere in the world. "We cannot assume that such an attack would be replicated exactly here, but we must plan for the possibility of a terrorist firearms attack in this country." May also stressed the importance of balancing liberty and safety. "We want to ensure that where powers are intrusive they are proportionate to the threat, necessary to reduce it to a level which we judge acceptable, and effective. These criteria -- proportionality, necessity and impact -- are vital." She said it is important to tackle the causes of terror, such as some social and economic factors. "We need a new approach to our engagement with Britain's Muslim communities -- one that helps to create the integrated society that we need. "We will stop talking to Muslim communities only about counter-terrorism, and start treating them like the mature and integral parts of society that they are." She also emphasized that success in domestic counter-terror requires "international cooperation and collaboration overseas."

Theresa May delivered an address on counter-terrorism . She says terror threats are likely to continue . This comes days after a plot to send bombs to the U.S.

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(CNN) -- Warner Bros.' $100 million Alfonso Cuarón-directed thriller Gravity blasted off on its opening weekend at the box office, scoring a stunning $55.6 million from 3,575 theaters. The sci-fi title, which stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, set a new October opening weekend record, surpassing Paranormal Activity 3's $52.6 million debut in 2011. Gravity also marks the best-ever debut for both of its stars, beating Bullock's $39.1 million start for this summer's The Heat (talk about having a great year at the box office!) and Clooney's $42.9 million debut for Batman & Robin in 1997. And to put a cherry on top of Warner Bros.' incredible weekend, audiences issued Gravity an excellent "A-" CinemaScore grade, which will yield great word-of-mouth for weeks to come. The film played to a much broader audience than most young-male-dominated sci-fi films. Crowds were 54 percent male and 46 percent female, and 59 percent were above the age of 35. 3-D showings accounted for a whopping 80 percent of the film's weekend gross (bucking the downward trend 3-D has faced this year and proving that audiences will pay for the format if they feel it's worth it). IMAX tickets made up 20 percent of revenue — because if there's one thing that looks great on a big screen, it's outer space. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 dropped 37 percent in its second weekend to $21.5 million, which gives the animated title a $60.6 million total after 10 days. Sony spent $78 million on the saucy sequel and wisely scheduled it away from other family competition, which should allow it to thrive throughout October. (By comparison, films like Turbo and The Smurfs 2 got choked out this summer while competing with each other and Despicable Me 2 and Monsters University.) The next animated film to arrive in theaters, Free Birds, won't come out until Nov. 1. Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake faltered in third place with their new crime drama Runner Runner, which earned a weak $7.6 million in its first three days. Both stars are hotter than ever: Affleck, after winning an Oscar for Argo and landing the Batman role in Warner Bros.' upcoming Man of Steel sequel, and Timberlake, after hitting No. 1 with his comeback album The 20/20 Experience, the sequel to which is projected to be the No. 1 album this week. But nothing about Runner Runner inspired crowds to check it out in theaters. Audiences issued the poorly reviewed film, which cost Fox about $30 million, a weak "C" CinemaScore grade. Prisoners and Rush made up the rest of the Top 5. Prisoners fell 48 percent to $5.7 million, giving the Hugh Jackman vehicle a $47.9 million total against a $46 million budget. The film earned excellent reviews, but has had trouble holding on to audiences due to the arrival of Rush, Don Jon, and Gravity — three well-reviewed dramas attracting attention. Fortunately, Prisoners is holding on better than one of those films, Rush, which fell 56 percent this weekend to $4.4 million. The Formula One racing drama starring Chris Hemsworth and directed by Ron Howard has now earned $18.1 million total and will fall short of its $38 million budget. 1. Gravity -- $55.6 million . 2. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 -- $21.5 million . 3. Runner Runner -- $7.6 million . 4. Prisoners -- $5.7 million . 5. Rush -- $4.4 million . Check back next weekend for full box office coverage of new releases Machete Kills and Captain Phillips. See the original story at EW.com.

The Bullock/Clooney thriller blasted into first place . The film played to a much broader audience than most sci-fi films . Affleck and Timberlake faltered in third place with Runner Runner .

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(CNN) -- One of Myanmar's vice presidents has resigned from his post due to health reasons, the government said Wednesday. First Vice President U Tin Aung Myint Oo submitted his resignation July 1. A statement read in Myanmar's parliament said the vice president was seeking extended medical treatment in Singapore because his condition is not improving. The government did not say what his illness is. According to the law, a new vice president will be chosen by the 25% of parliament that is made up of members of the military, because the position is a quota reserved for them. That vote is scheduled for July 10. The second vice president of Myanmar is Sai Mauk Kham. Myanmar has seen dramatic changes over the past year. In May, Democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi and 33 other newly elected members of her National League for Democracy party took their seats in parliament, a leap in the country's progress toward democracy. Myanmar's legislature has 664 seats, more than 80% of which are still held by lawmakers aligned with the military-backed ruling group, the Union Solidarity and Development Party. The government has also pardoned hundreds of political prisoners, begun negotiations with ethnic rebel groups and embarked on a series of economic reforms. Those steps have been welcomed by the United States, the European Union and other governments, who have responded by easing sanctions against Myanmar, also known as Burma. But international officials have also cautioned that the country still has a long way to go.

Myanmar's first vice president resigns for health reasons . Officials have not said what illness he has . Military members of parliament will choose a new vice president .

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Phoenix, Arizona (CNN) -- It's her lunch break on a sunny afternoon in Phoenix and instead of chatting with friends in the courtyard, 17-year old Maria Castro is standing in front of a white board inside Carl Hayden Community High School. She has a fat red marker in her hand and is furiously scribbling around a triangle while muttering about sine and cosine. "We're studying for a final," she explains while solving for angles. "We have a math final today." It is mid-January, just days into the new semester, which is a strange time for a final, but then, this math class is unusual. It is taught after school and crams two years of math into two semesters. Maria, a junior, is not complaining. She's the one who lobbied for the class once she figured out during her sophomore year that she wasn't on track to take calculus before graduation. "To get into a good university," she tells me earnestly, "I have to have, at minimum, calculus." Pushing kids to math and science . Maria's sights are set very high. Her first-choice college is Stanford University. "She's an exemplary student. I am very proud," her mother tells me in Spanish as I sit on the Castro front porch. Maria is successful in high school while so many of her peers are struggling. She is studying accelerated math, honors English, honors chemistry, honors economics and she's in robotics, where she is vice president of the team. Half of them are girls. Maria's teammates call her 'Mom,' because of her tendency to nudge and encourage. And the team has been successful, winning a roomful of awards, including one national prize. But the lessons Maria is learning are about much more than gears, sensors and computer code. "One of the things we talk about being on a robotics team is that you can't let things happen to you. You have to go out and make things happen," says Faridodin "Fredi" Lajvardi, her robotics coach. Watch Maria in the trailer for "Education in America: Don't Fail Me" For Maria, that meant writing up a proposal for an accelerated math class, roping in 31 other students to take part, and then literally begging the principal to find the funding. Lajvardi -- the kids call him Ledge -- has been teaching at Carl Hayden for 23 years. The school is 94% Latino. He says most parents of his students are working-class immigrants who have survived by working in food service or landscaping. He says they have made a living without higher education and believe their children can get along that way, too, "but that can't happen." "More and more of those kind of jobs are just disappearing," Lajvardi tells me. "Things are getting automated. ... If you don't keep your education level up, you will be left out." He's most worried about Latino students. They make up one-fifth of the school-age population in the United States and will be 30% of the adult population by 2050. At Maria's school, half the students don't pass Arizona's proficiency exams, which means they don't meet the bar for basic knowledge in math, reading and science. Time.com: Why the Hispanic student crisis is going ignored . Nationally, only half of Maria's Latino peers graduate on time. The reason is complicated, but stems mostly from issues connected to poverty. "In many cases the schools lack the resources and personnel to respond adequately to student needs," explains Pedro Noguera, a professor of education at New York University. "Many of the students attending such schools also feel pressure to find jobs to support themselves and their families. If they don't see college as a real option they are even more likely to dropout." Most of the kids who attend Maria's school are poor. More than 83% of its students are eligible for free or reduced lunch. The school is "Title I," meaning it receives federal assistance because it has a lot of high-poverty, high-risk students. None of Maria's six siblings who attended Hayden before her graduated from there on time. But Maria is a go-getter. Through tears, she tells me a heart-wrenching story about overhearing her father speaking with one of her favorite teachers at her quinceanera -- her 15th birthday celebration. The teacher was raving about Maria's dreams and strong academics. "It's just a matter of time before she fails," Maria says she heard her dad tell the teacher. "It doesn't really matter what she does now, she will eventually give up." Maria recalls the story for me as tears roll down her cheeks. Where many students would be disheartened by what they heard, Maria was spurred to achieve even more. "I kinda just took it and flipped it around like, 'Well I'm going to show you,'" she explains. "I can prove to myself that I can do it." Her focus means a grueling schedule. After school, there is math class, dancing, band and taking care of her little sister, 10-year-old Azucena. And, of course, robotics. By the time she entered Carl Hayden, the school was renowned for its robotics team. The team has six weeks to build a robot from a box of parts. They compete with about 52,000 students around the globe. Those who think it's all about the robot don't fully get it. How the U.S. lags in math, science -- and how to improve . "The robot is just the thing that gets all the kids here in one place," Lajvardi tells me. "What's really important is all the working together with the different mentors and the adults learning how to deal with people, learning how to solve conflicts, learning how to solve problems ... the biggest thing is learning how to be successful and that what they do matters." The robotics competition -- called FIRST: For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology -- was designed to get high school students interested in math and science careers. The United States ranks 27th among developed nations in the proportion of college students receiving undergraduate degrees in science or engineering. Maria doesn't need convincing. She believes hard work in math and science classes will get her where she needs to go. "I'm competing with the rest of the world and the rest of the world isn't sleeping, isn't eating, is just going that much farther to succeed. And to be at their level, I have to be better than them. I have to try that much harder." "They want to be successful," Lajvardi says of Maria and her teammates. "Once they find out that they're the only person that will limit what they can do, and they decide they want to do something, they're going to go for it." He says Maria learned that lesson quickly, in her freshman year. "And she grabbed on with both hands and she's making the most of it," he says. "I want to shoot for the moon," Maria says repeatedly. It's become her mantra. "In case you miss you always hit a star. Aim high. That's my thing." So far, so good. She got an A on the math final she took the day we were with her. It's one of many she is piling up in her quest to gain entry into Stanford. But 24 of the 32 original students have dropped the math class, most of them because the material was too advanced. Her dream after college is actually to aim for the sun. She wants to become a solar engineer, a job that pays about $80,000 per year. "All the energy the sun gives us in one hour can power the whole Earth for a whole entire year." She wants to figure out how to control all that power. "We need to find a way," she says confidently. Maria is reaching toward the sky, a big stretch for a young girl growing up in poverty in Phoenix. Maria's father, Antonio, came to the United States in the 1960s with a sixth grade education. He used to work in restaurants, but now they live off his Social Security checks. Antonio says he doesn't know how to help her with college -- these are just things he doesn't understand, and knows he can't afford. During a walk with Maria's father I ask him if he is proud of Maria and her ambitions. "Sure. Very proud," he confides. And when I ask if he believes she can get into Stanford he says, "I know she can do it." The conversation is quick. His answers are short, but to Maria they are long on meaning. It's something he's never said to her directly. "It's nice," she says with a smile. "It's good."

Maria Castro, 17, is an honors student despite low expectations and odds. She and her robots team are featured in a new documentary by Soledad O'Brien. "Education in America: Don't Fail Me" airs at 8 p.m. May 15 .

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Washington (CNN) -- A law enforcement official confirms members of the Westboro Baptist Church, known for its controversial practice of picketing military funerals, participated in training for law enforcement officials at Quantico Marine Base in Virginia. The sessions were discontinued this spring after Tom Browne, assistant director for the FBI, voiced strong opposition to bringing the group to a military facility. Members of Westboro were "respectful" when they were on the base and did not cause any disruption, according to the official. He adds, "It wasn't the purpose to give them another outlet to vent their views. It was more academic." The story about staff training sessions between the FBI and Westboro Baptist Church members was first reported by NPR News on Wednesday. Other controversial groups, including the Ku Klux Klan, have taken part in similar training sessions. The purpose, according to the official, is "to expose law enforcement to these groups, see what they are about, and understand their perspective." In addition, the official says, the groups have a chance to hear law enforcement's point of view in a classroom setting. "We are not endorsing these groups at all," said the official. "The reality is there are groups out there who are making presence known who the police have to encounter." "They still have First Amendment protections just like anyone else," the official added, but police may have to mitigate a situation where there is a potential for violence. The official maintained that understanding who these groups are and what they believe can help law enforcement. "It is an effort to engage in open dialogue in a setting that is more academic, rather than having to do it on a street in a peacekeeping kind of scenario." FBI and law enforcement officials participated in three sessions at Quantico between 2008 and spring of 2011. There was a fourth session at a facility in Manassas, Virginia, before a halt was called to Westboro's involvement.

Westboro members participated in training sessions with the FBI . An official said the purpose was to expose agents to groups in an academic setting . "We are not endorsing these groups at all," said the official .

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(CNN) -- He's the rock demigod who lives and breathes music, but whose heart beats thanks in part to a pacemaker. The former Guns N' Roses guitarist, whose real name is Saul Hudson, is probably the most recognizable man in rock 'n' roll. Yet beneath the mane of curly locks and leather top hat is a devoted musician who kicked a drug and alcohol addiction because it was getting in way of the music. "I was a productive junkie ... I was driven by music. I did have these distractions, but I managed to be functional as best as I possibly could," he told CNN. "What helped clean me up at the end of the day was the fact that, after a while, it started to get in the way of being able to do what it is I wanted to do... I've done more in the last four years than I could have possibly done if I was still using," he continued. Since leaving Guns N' Roses in 1996 -- "As I walked out it was a huge weight off my shoulders" -- he's produced his own material, collaborated with numerous musicians and was the driving force behind supergroup Velvet Revolver, a band he's trying to revive once again. He fixed his place in the pantheon of rock stars during his time with Guns N' Roses ("If I wasn't in that band, it would have been my favorite band") and it's been almost 15 years since he spoke to lead singer Axl Rose after their much-publicized split. However, the idea of a Guns N' Roses reunion isn't completely out of the question. "I used to be very sort of negative about it 'cause I just don't see it happening," he said, "but at the same time you just never know. No efforts have been made to try and do anything about it so I guess you just leave it to chance. Maybe it will; maybe it won't." While a potential reunion might please thousands of fans, Slash is looking forward to Velvet Revolver and other projects, despite the music scene experiencing what he calls "a very weird time." "This whole thing with the internet being the mainstay of the industry at this point is taking a lot of adjusting and it hasn't really settled yet," he told CNN. "[A] certain energy and a certain attitude and that to me is very rock and roll. And that seems to be lacking in commercial music, especially in commercial rock and roll right now. I'm sure there's a lot of guys out there who have it all together but then they can't get a record deal."

Former Guns N' Roses guitarist kicked addictions four years ago . Told CNN that it was getting in the way of the music; continues to play and perform . Has not ruled our reforming original line-up of Guns N' Roses .

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Augusta, Georgia (CNN) -- From grandma to grandson, from fan to foe, the throngs at Augusta are happy Tiger Woods is back in form and ready to contend for a fifth Masters title. Like Arnold Palmer had his army, Tiger certainly has his troop. Thousands of patrons lined the fairways on Augusta National Golf Club's front nine Tuesday morning as Woods played a practice round. They crammed themselves as many as 10 deep around the greens and moved from tee to green like waves going up each side of the fairways. "I think he's going to bring a lot of people back to the game," said Will Brown, an Augusta resident who was following Woods with his wife and two sons. "He's good for golf." As he spoke, his son Zeke, 6, tugged at his father's pant leg, begging to go to the practice tee to wait in line for Woods' autograph. "He's very special," Zeke squeaked about his favorite golf star. Woods scored his first official PGA Tour victory in two and a half years two weeks ago, winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in Florida by five strokes. It was also his first victory since disclosure of his marital infidelities, which led to divorce. In the months between those wins, his game nosedived and he plummeted from the top spot in the world golf rankings, even falling out of the top 50. He's rebounded to No. 7 and rebounded with the fans, too. Leo Brown, a 60-year-old from Greenville, South Carolina, was pleased to see Woods back in the winner's column. "He showed all the doubters that he still had a game," Brown said. SI.com: Tiger Woods shows this is his Masters to lose . Some never were doubters, including Qabaniso Lupafya, a native of Zimbabwe who moved to Massachusetts 26 years ago and now lives in Worcester. "I love Tiger. I'm obsessed with him," said Lupafya, who also goes by Frank for those who can't pronounce his name. He said his goal is to play with Woods one day. Lupafya, a former rugby player, said watching Woods -- and a nasty knee injury -- inspired him to take up golf four years ago. He's down to a six handicap, he said, and has won local tournaments, but he'll just be watching Woods from the other side of the ropes at Augusta. "I got a date with Tiger. I'll see ya!" he said Tuesday morning, scampering down the ninth fairway in search of his idol. Gary Hanson of Palm Beach, Florida, also had a date with Tiger on Tuesday morning, but don't count him among Woods' fans. That's because Woods doesn't respect the fans, he said, adding the golf star had done little to acknowledge their cheers in Tuesday morning's practice round. "Without the fans, where are you?" Hanson asked. So why was he making the trek around Augusta's back nine for a meaningless round on a gray Tuesday morning? "The wife loves him," he said. He looked over to the ropes where his wife, Gail, followed Woods as he walked up to the sixth green. "She's in love with him!" For himself, Hanson said, he'd rather be following Phil Mickelson. "And you know why? Because he interacts with the fans," Hanson said. Don't tell the kids Woods doesn't interact. Up by the practice green, they squeezed against the railings of the junior autograph area, hoping to get Woods to sign whatever they had handy. Golf.com: Most-anticipated Masters in years . Alec Cwienkala, a 13-year-old from Allentown, Pennsylvania, scored Woods's signature on his flag. "It was really cool being up close to him," said Alec, who waited 90 minutes in the autograph area. Woods and the other Masters participants have been examples for his own game, Alec said. "I try to make my swing like all those pros," the young golfer said. And maybe watching Woods is something that will inspire new generations of players to take the game to new levels. Vicki Martin of St. Cloud, Minnesota, said she thinks there's something to that argument. "Tiger makes these young kids what they are today," said Martin, noting that Woods athleticism and conditioning regimen has set the standard for others and elevated the game as a whole. Martin said Woods has inspired her 13-year-old grandson. "He's obsessed with Tiger," she said. "He says, 'I want to play in the Masters.'" Woods has elevated more than just the sport, said Jim Banks, a retired Army colonel from Fort Hood, Texas. That's because if Woods is bringing people out to PGA Tour events, the charities that golf supports are able to do more for those they serve. "Think about the revenue created for the charities," Banks said. "It's he, and he alone, who does that." Out along Washington Road, the main route from Interstate 20 to the course, Woods' resurgence is having another kind of economic effect. Those who came to Augusta without tickets are paying more to buy passes from the roadside brokers. Tye Bedwell of Chattanooga, Tennessee, his brother and a friend lucked into two passes at face value from a passing motorist, Bedwell said. But they still needed a third and hadn't found anything under $350 at noon Tuesday. "We're not going to pay $350," he said. "The ticket price has spiked up," said Randall Matod, who said he's been trading tickets on Washington Avenue for the past 30 years. He had sold passes for Tuesday's practice round for $250, he said, but was looking for new inventory at lunchtime. For Sunday's final round, they'll be around $500 -- and they'd be higher, he said, but the fact that Sunday is Easter is keeping the price dampened a bit. Of course, that Easter Sunday deduction may well be eliminated if Woods is atop the leaderboard on Saturday night. "I couldn't say I'm pulling for him to win. It just makes golf more interesting," said Jordan Myers of Columbia, South Carolina, who was watching for Woods with his brother and father. "Golf is way better with Tiger," said Alec's father, Steve Cwienkala. "Whether you love him or hate him, the sport needs him."

Tiger Woods is contending for his fifth Masters title . He scored his first official PGA Tour victory in two and a half years two weeks ago . Fans are hoping to witness a Woods comeback in Augusta .

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(CNN) -- A huge aid effort is under way in a remote area of South Sudan to help an estimated 60,000 people who fled their homes to escape roaming fighters, the United Nations said. Some 6,000 armed men from the Lou Nuer tribe marched on an area of Jonglei state, which is home to the rival Murle tribe, attacking the town of Pibor last weekend. Although the Lou Nuer fighters have left, following negotiations with U.N. peacekeepers and the South Sudan authorities, help is urgently needed for those who fled, the U.N. Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said Friday. The special representative for the U.N. Secretary-General in South Sudan, Hilda F. Johnson, is traveling to Pibor on Saturday to see the situation, UNMISS spokesman Kouider Zerrouk said. The South Sudan government has declared Jonglei a "humanitarian disaster area" and appealed for international help. Aid workers estimate that 60,000 people are in need of assistance and the U.N. World Food Programme voiced concern Friday that food shortages in the area "could reach crisis levels." It has already made emergency food deliveries. U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator Lise Grande said some of the people who fled into the bush to escape the fighters are starting to return to their homes, according to a statement. U.N planes are also trying to find other families still hiding out in the bush, she said. "But there are a number of villages that were burned completely to the ground, for example, Likuangole, and in that case people are not coming back and that's because there is nothing to come back to," she said. Ethnic tensions in Jonglei state have flared as tribes fight over grazing lands and water rights, leading to cattle raids and abduction of women and children. Government officials have urged the two ethnic groups to return women and children abducted in the spate of violence. The violence in Jonglei state is the latest to rock South Sudan, which officially gained its statehood in July after separating from neighboring Sudan to the north. U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres is also in South Sudan this weekend, to see other areas affected by conflict. Among them will be a refugee site in Mabaan, where tens of thousands of refugees have sought help since fleeing fighting across the border in Sudan's Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile States. U.N. flights have delivered thousands of tents, kitchen sets, blankets, jerry cans, plastic sheets, sleeping mats, mosquito nets and other essential items to Mabaan and another refugee camp at Malakal in the past two-and-a-half weeks. Decades of civil war between the north and south, costing as many as 2 million lives, ended with a U.S.-brokered peace treaty in 2005. But before South Sudan gained independence in July, human rights monitors expressed concerns that long-standing grievances could end in violence consuming the region again. The United Nations estimates that more than 1,100 people died and 63,000 were displaced last year by inter-communal violence in Jonglei state, not taking into account the latest clashes. U.S. President Barack Obama gave his approval Friday for the sale of weapons and defense services to South Sudan. The decision could open the door to South Sudan acquiring air defenses. It has accused Sudan of carrying out aerial bombardments on its territory. The White House condemned air raids by the Sudan Armed Forces on South Sudan in November, saying: "These provocative aerial bombardments greatly increase the potential for direct confrontation between Sudan and South Sudan. The memorandum sent by Obama Friday to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the "furnishing of defense articles and defense services to the Republic of South Sudan will strengthen the security of the United States and promote world peace." CNN's Laura Smith-Spark and Pierre Meilhan contributed to this report.

Some 60,000 people in Jonglei state are in urgent need of help, the United Nations says . They fled their homes last week to escape thousands of armed men from another tribe . A senior U.N. official is visiting a town attacked by the fighters to assess the situation . Ethnic tension flares as tribes fight over grazing lands and water rights .

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(CNN) -- The number of aging men and women in U.S. prisons is growing rapidly, Human Rights Watch said Friday, and it expressed concern for their care behind bars. Because of their age, older prisoners incur medical costs that are three to nine times as high as those for younger prisoners, the campaign group said in its 106-page report, titled "Old Behind Bars: The Aging Prison Population in the United States." Prison officials are hard-pressed to provide the appropriate housing and medical care for older prisoners, the report says. "Prisons were never designed to be geriatric facilities," said Jamie Fellner, a senior adviser to the U.S. program at Human Rights Watch and author of the report. "Yet U.S. corrections officials now operate old age homes behind bars." Human Rights Watch pointed out that life sentences mean those prisoners reach old age in prison. Almost 10% of state prisoners are serving a life sentence, it said, and another 11.2% have sentences longer than 20 years. Prisons face a number of challenges in caring for these prisoners, the group said. They include tight budgets, prison architecture not designed for age-related disabilities, limited medical facilities and staff, lack of support from elected officials, and the pressures of day-to-day operations. It is equally as difficult for the older prisoners themselves who may be frail or impaired. Prison rules and customs weren't designed with them in mind, Human Rights Watch said. "Walking a long distance to the dining hall, climbing up to a top bunk, or standing for count can be virtually impossible for some older prisoners," the group said. "Incontinence and dementia impose their own burdens." Human Rights Watch called for changes to harsh sentencing rules regarding long mandatory minimum sentences and reduced opportunities for parole. It also called for changes to prison facilities and medical care, as well as prison rules that are tough on older prisoners. "How are justice and public safety served by the continued incarceration of men and woman whose bodies and minds have been whittled away by age?" Fellner asked.

Group says medical costs and prison facilities are not equipped for older prisoners . The number of older prisoners in the U.S. is growing, it says . It calls for changes to harsh sentencing rules and care behind bars .

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SLEEPY EYE, Minnesota (CNN) -- The father of a cancer-stricken 13-year-old boy whose mother has fled with him to keep him from undergoing chemotherapy appealed Thursday for her to bring him home. Doctors say Daniel Hauser's lymphoma responded well to a first round of chemotherapy in February. "Please bring Danny home so that we can decide as a family what Danny's treatment should be," Anthony Hauser said, directing his halting comments to his wife, Colleen, as he stood in front of television cameras outside the family's house. "I know you're scared and I feel that you left out of fear, maybe without thinking it all the way through," he continued. "Danny is my son and the rest of the family is worried sick about Danny, how he is and how he's going to come out. "Please call me and let's talk about how you can come back here and we can get this worked out, what's best for Danny." The boy was diagnosed with Stage 2B Hodgkin's lymphoma in January. The next month, he received a single course of treatment, which succeeded in shrinking a tumor in his chest but caused side effects that upset the family, doctors have said. Watch father urge the pair to come back » . Dr. Bruce Bostrom, the cancer specialist who oversaw that course of chemotherapy, told KARE-TV in Minneapolis that, without further treatment, Daniel's odds of survival would plummet from 80 to 90 percent to about 5 percent. Daniel's second round of treatment was to have begun March 5, said the pediatric oncologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School. In April, after the boy had not returned for the second course, Bostrom called the family and left a message threatening to report them for child neglect, he said. Colleen Hauser returned his call, telling him she was seeking a second opinion. But the doctor who ultimately cared for the boy has said he was only treating his symptoms, not the cancer itself, Bostrom said. So Bostrom reported the family to authorities, the first time he has taken such a step in 25 years of practice, he said. "I think it's our and my duty to do this," he said. Meanwhile, the opportunity to intervene is narrowing. "He's now almost three months late, that's why it has regrown," Bostrom said, referring to another doctor's interpretation of a chest X-ray that showed Monday the tumor had worsened. "It means his cancer is back and he is in danger," Bostrom said. "It could block his airway; he could develop life-threatening breathing problems and possibly even die from it. It could be within a few weeks or a month at the most, I would say." Hodgkin's lymphoma is a cancer of the immune system. Stage 2B refers to the two areas of the body where Daniel has it -- the chest and the neck -- and the symptoms he has experienced: tumor, fatigue, weight loss and night sweats. Authorities said Wednesday that Colleen and Daniel Hauser were near Los Angeles, California, perhaps en route to Mexico for more holistic treatment of his lymphoma. Brown County, Minnesota, Sheriff Rich Offmann cited "reliable information" in making the announcement to reporters. The sheriff's office issued a felony arrest warrant for Colleen Hauser on Thursday in an effort to "ensure extradition to Minnesota." Family spokesman Dan Zwakman said on Thursday that Anthony Hauser was not aware that his wife was taking the child. "From all appearances," Zwakman said, "it was a case of her decision by herself." Watch what legal issues are at stake » . The boy and his mother were last reported seen Monday in Minnesota. When mother and son failed to show up at a court hearing Tuesday, Brown County District Judge John R. Rodenberg issued an arrest warrant for Colleen Hauser. Court documents show that the doctors estimated the boy's chance of five-year remission with more chemotherapy and possibly radiation at 80 percent to 95 percent. But the family rejected standard treatment, opting instead for a holistic medical treatment based on Native American healing practices called Nemenhah. In a written statement issued last week, an attorney for the parents said they "believe that the injection of chemotherapy into Danny Hauser amounts to an assault upon his body, and torture when it occurs over a long period of time." Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN chief medical correspondent, said he had no doubts about what to do. "My advice would be to treat him, without question," he said. "He has a very, very good chance of surviving, being cured and never having to deal with this again. As a doctor, as a fellow citizen, I would say he should be treated." Watch Gupta discuss Daniel's chances » . But Zwakman told CNN's "American Morning" program Thursday that he knows five people who have been cured with natural healing. "Yes, it's happened many times," he said. Watch Zwakman speak to CNN » . Mankato, Minnesota, lawyer Calvin P. Johnson, who identified himself as the Hauser family's attorney, said Thursday that forcing treatment would constitute "assault and torture." Johnson said officials were forcing treatment neither the boy nor his parents want. "Anthony and Colleen Hauser share Danny's viewpoint: They do not approve of chemotherapy. Under the circumstances of this case, chemotherapy constitutes assault and torture, when given to a young man who believes that it will kill him," Johnson said in a written statement. CNN's Chris Welch contributed to this report.

Dad: "I feel that you left out of fear, maybe without thinking it all the way through" Sheriff's office issues felony arrest warrant for mother; FBI involved . 13-year-old needs chemotherapy, doctors and court say . Police think Minnesota mom, son are in California .

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(EW.com) -- "The Avengers" officially begins filming today, according to a letter posted yesterday by writer-director Joss Whedon at Whedonesque. "Tomorrow we start shooting," writes the geek auteur, before adding, "I THINK I'm legally permitted to say that." Whedon doesn't offer any hints about the plot of the movie, although he does say that they'll be shooting "the pivotal death/betrayal/product placement/setting up the sequel/coming out scene," which is probably a joke, but a boy can dream, can't he? (Elsewhere in the letter, Whedon says that he's pretty sure the movie is about the Justice League.) "The Avengers," currently slated for a May 4 release next year, will unite the lead characters from Marvel's "Iron Man," "Captain America," "Hulk," and "Thor" into one mega-adventure. (And remember: If everything goes according to plan, "The Avengers" will also inspire a few franchises of its own.) See full article at EW.com. CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly . © 2010 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved.

"Tomorrow we start shooting," the geek auteur posted Monday . "The Avengers" is currently slated for a May 4 release next year . It will unite the lead characters from "Iron Man," "Captain America," "Hulk" and "Thor"

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(CNN) -- "The stupidity is simply staggering," Rep. Charlie Dent, a moderate Republican from Pennsylvania, told Roll Call. He was referring to the political miscalculation of anti-abortion forces in the House Judiciary Committee who insisted this week on reviving the culture wars, years behind us, still again, with yet another proposed abortion bill. This bill, championed by Arizona Republican Rep. Trent Franks, sought to ban abortions after 20 weeks nationwide, with no exceptions for victims of rape or incest. "I'll be very frank: I discouraged our leadership from bringing this to a vote on the floor," Dent said. My e-mail box was flooded with headlines that began "This again?" and "This ... is the GOP's idea of outreach to women? Really?" and "He said what?" The latter referred to a remark by Franks, chairman of the committee, that "incidents of rape resulting in pregnancy are very low," as a justification for the bill ignoring rape and incest victims. Democrats on the Judiciary Committee were apparently willing to allow the time when an abortion is legal to be reduced by one month. They sought to add exceptions for rape, incest and the woman's health -- all of which were rejected by Republicans on the panel. But it appears the House Republican leaders, recognizing a train wreck, added the language to the bill anyway to avoid an embarrassing defeat. The bill will also include an exception for a medical emergency in which the woman might die. This new altered version goes before the Rules Committee on Monday. There are, by the way, 22 Republicans on the Judiciary Committee. All men. Not a single woman. It's hard to avoid inflammatory remarks when discussing rape. And the line between inflammatory and insulting is thin. It's also porous. So if Franks thought he had to address the issue of rape, he should have done so judiciously. His remark says to women impregnated by rape: You don't count. There aren't enough of you to matter. That's not just insensitive; it's immoral. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-California, first pounced on the statement's factual inaccuracy. "I just find it astonishing to hear a phrase repeated that the incidence of pregnancy from rape is low," she said. "There's no scientific basis for that." Then Lofgren, one of five women among the Democratic minority on the committee, added, "And the idea that the Republican men on this committee can tell the women of America that they have to carry to term the product of a rape is outrageous." It might be that Franks' argument, such as it is, echoed a comment by Missouri Republican Rep. Todd Akin, who claimed during his Senate campaign last fall that women's bodies have a built-in mechanism to prevent impregnation from "a legitimate rape." Aiken's candidacy went into a tailspin from that misinformed remark, and never recovered. Fact checkers have pointed to studies that indicate Franks' claim is as suspect as Akin's. One study by St. Lawrence University found that pregnancies resulting from rape were higher than from other instances. Franks later walked back his low-pregnancy-from-rape argument, saying he was not claiming it was harder to get pregnant from rape. Franks apparently based his claim on there being fewer pregnancies from rape than from consensual intercourse. Even so, that's a "Duh, do the math" excuse. GOP aides now say Rep. Marsha Blackburn will be managing Franks' anti-abortion bill. Given her record -- "no" votes on major equality or women-protection legislation and "yea" for issues like ending federal funding for Planned Parenthood -- that's hardly an improvement. And it misses the point. It's not the who, it's the what -- the argument itself does not stand. During the Judiciary debate, Franks said, "When you make that exception, there's usually a requirement to report the rape within 48 hours. And in this case that's impossible. ... And that's what completely negates and vitiates the purpose for such an amendment." So, Franks' argument then became a technical one, that if a rape wasn't reported, a decision after 20 weeks to abort was made too late. But why is it too late? Does psychological trauma have a timetable? Each case of rape that produces a pregnancy is as individual as the woman who was raped. And the ordeal -- psychological, emotional, physical, spiritual -- is not term-limited. The issue of abortion raises real and poignant moral questions. Franks made many remarks that show his obvious, deeply felt, conviction that abortions after 20 weeks are wrong. But majorities in Congress and of Americans, also with deep conviction, came to a different conclusion: They feel compelled to support exceptions for rape, incest and health. Franks' outrageous comment and the viewpoints of other Republicans on the Judiciary Committee illustrate that when one party becomes so narrowly composed that it represents a particular religious culture, we're headed to what people in other countries face when a ruling party begins making laws from religious theology, without regard to a democratic, secular society -- thus excluding other religious viewpoints and dismissing those who suffer as too few to matter. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Donna Brazile.

Judiciary Republicans sought anti-abortion bill with no exception for rape, incest . Judiciary chair Trent Franks: "Incidents of rape resulting in pregnancy are very low" Donna Brazile: His remark tells women who got pregnant by rape they don't count . Brazile: House GOP finally added exception to the bill to avoid embarrassing defeat .

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(CNN) -- Heavy fighting between Somali militants and African Union peacekeepers in Mogadishu, Somalia has left at least 19 people dead and 71 others wounded, according to a local ambulance group. "What happened today was a horrific tragedy, the shelling was continuous and it was hitting a populated area of Bakara market where people were unwitting, so it was appalling many people lost parts of their body and were screaming," said Ali Musa, director of the amblunce group in Mogadishu. Musa said his group collected 19 died bodies and 71 people with wounds. "The fighting started 5:30 a.m. and continued into afternoon so there was absolutely fear and chaos in Mogadishu," he said. Meanwhile, government spokesman Abdirisaq Mohamed Qeylow claimed that government forces pushed Islamic insurgents out of some areas. "We have pushed the militants back and our forces have reached Howl Wadag intersection near Bakara Market," said Qeylow.

The violence is called a "horrific tragedy" A source describes "fear and chaos in Mogadishu"

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