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(CNN)It all started by looking up. During an expedition through the Brittany region on the west coast of France, photographer Fabien Le Coq noticed an unusual tree. He positioned himself at the base of the tree and turned his camera upward, filling the frame with the trunk and its spindly branches. "I'm kind of a walking photographer," Le Coq said. "I love exploring new places. One day I was taking a break during an excursion in the Broceliande forest, looking for the best place to settle, when I discovered a small clearing with a tree without leaves. I stayed for hours looking around, taking some pictures and I found myself lying down under the tree. The tree's branches were rising as if to touch the sky." This was the start of the photo series "Treesome," an embodiment of Le Coq's unique way of interacting with the world around him. "By walking a long time in an environment, landscapes begin to influence on your mood," he said. "As (landscapes) change, your feelings do." The series, shot between 2012 and 2014, reflects Le Coq's travels through his native France and countries in Central America and Asia. The images are soothing and repetitive; each tree is photographed from the bottom looking up. But it is from this vantage point that the differences become apparent. Branches take on their own patterns in the sky, creating a symmetry that is both interesting and comforting. A row of trees shot in Paris speaks to the geometry of a modern city. Cactus branches look like spears piercing the sky. Appearance is not the only factor that sets the trees apart. For Le Coq, each image is special because it represents different feelings at different points in time. Social media . Follow @CNNPhotos on Twitter to join the conversation about photography. "Each tree has its own personality," he said. "I chose them by the way I felt at the moment. Sometimes they even change my sentiments. It's kind of a spiritual experience." Le Coq says his photographs are meant to bring about pause and reflection. The viewer should "become a third actor in a scene with trees and skies." It is an opportunity to take a break and focus on our own individual journeys. "Treesome" is shot in black and white, an aesthetic Le Coq says lends tension "recalling the gulf on one side and the celestial heights on the other. "The branches are the mirror of the roots." As a freelance graphic designer, Le Coq can work wherever there is an Internet connection. He uses this freedom to travel, discover new places and grow as a photographer. Photography has also allowed Le Coq to explore his home country. "Sometimes home is full of new possibilities," he said. "You just have to look or change how you look." Fabien Le Coq is a photographer based in France. You can follow him on Facebook. | Fabien Le Coq took photos of trees from the bottom looking up . The branches take on their own patterns in the sky: "Each tree has its own personality" | f0a598d922582dbf9d8b8bd1de7ede65aeae7b48 |
(CNN)He was impressively polite and bright in the eyes of his boyhood teachers, an encourager of his college friends. He was a docile captured killer in the care of paramedics tending to his gunshot wounds. Dzhokhar "Jahar" Tsarnaev's defense team is seeking to spare him from a death sentence for his part two years ago in the Boston Marathon bombings and murder of an MIT police officer. Having focused on his dead older brother, portraying Tamerlan Tsarnav as harsh, overbearing and bent on jihad, they now shift to the younger brother who tagged after him, as one witness said, "like a puppy." The sentencing phase of the federal case will resume Monday. The jury was sent home Thursday because a juror was sick. Tsarnaev was convicted April 8 on all 30 counts, including 17 that carry a possible death penalty. The defense's transition from one brother to the other begins in the ambulances that rushed the brothers from their respective final showdowns with police in Watertown, Massachusetts, on April 19, 2013. Boston bombing survivor: I am not limiting myself . Tamerlan, dying from gunshot wounds and having been run over by the car his brother was driving as he fled, became combative in the ambulance. A paramedic testified Wednesday that it was common for patients in shock to become agitated and fight back. "He had an abdominal wound, it was an evisceration," said paramedic Michael Sullivan. It was a "penetrating wound," with the intestines protruding. "Every time we tried hands-on, he resisted that type of treatment," Sullivan said. "He was yelling, loud, like an 'rrrrrrrr' type of thing. It was like he was trying to get out of the seat belts that were holding him on" the stretcher. Jahar, on the other hand, was cooperative after his capture hours later -- until a tourniquet was applied too tightly, said paramedic Laura Lee. He responded to questions, giving his date of birth and saying he was allergic to cats. And then he asked a question of his own: . "Where is my brother?" The defense showed a series of photographs that demonstrated how the brothers differed in size and age. The younger brother has been portrayed as someone who follows, rather than leads. One of Tamerlan's boxing coaches testified earlier that Jahar followed his brother around "like a puppy." The defense asserts that the Boston Marathon bombings never would have happened if it weren't for Tamerlan. They have portrayed him as obsessed with jihad, spending hours in his computer trolling al Qaeda-style websites. An uncle in Russia told the FBI that Tamerlan came there in 2012, expecting to find "jihad in the streets." Magomed Kartashov was questioned by the FBI after 40 days in a Russian jail. The FBI summary report of the interview was read in court. Kartashov said his nephew asked him if he had contacts with people "in the forest," as locals referred to the jihadists. Tamerlan's information came from the Internet, but he had surprisingly little knowledge of Islam, the uncle told the FBI. When he asked his nephew why he wanted to go to the forest, he responded that "jihad was necessary today," Kartashov told the FBI. "I told him to stop or he wouldn't make it to the next tree." Jahar, on the other hand, was portrayed in the testimony of five of his former teachers as a smart, sweet kid who worked hard and earned good grades. He was "super kind, extremely smart, a very hard worker, really a lovely person," said Tracey Gordon, his fifth-grade teacher at Cambridgeport School. "All the teachers loved him," said Becki Norris, who had Jahar in her seventh-grade class at Community Charter School, a middle school in Cambridge known for setting its students on the path to "full ticket" scholarships to good colleges. "He was one of our top students, and one of our top athletes," Norris said. "He wasn't a rebel. If you asked him to do something, he'd do it. Like most middle-schoolers, he's need a little push, but he needed just one. " But after just a few days in the ninth grade, Jahar's mother pulled him out of the school and sent him to Cambridge Rindge and Latin, a large public high school. She was angry that her son had been sent home to change out of his blue pants. "She was very, very angry because he didn't have clean pants that matched the uniform and they didn't have the money," Norris said. "I thought he liked the school, and I didn't think he wanted to go." Norris said she asked Jahar if she could call his mother. "He flatly said, 'No, don't call her.' " He made friends in high school, and a core group got together regularly for "bro nights" during their freshman year at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, two young women testified. They smiled at Tsarnaev from with witness stand, but while he seemed generally more animated in court, he maintained his usual flat expression. "He was loyal, fun, laid-back," said classmate Tiarrah Dottin. She said she had no idea he was listening to jihadi songs or watching al Qaeda videos on his laptop. She bowed her head and wiped tears from her eyes as she stepped off the witness stand and took a seat in the audience. Alexa Guevara testified that Tsarnaev "was private about his family," and did not discuss politics or religion with her. She said when he spoke about the future he said he planned to transfer to the University of Massachusetts Amherst and study marine biology. He was a supportive friend, she added. "He encouraged me to go to art school," she said. She showed him her sketches, and he thought they were good. "He said I had talent and shouldn't let it go to waste. I should go to art school and do what made me happy. It made me feel really good, like somebody believed in me," she said. She ended her testimony with a memory of one of the last times she saw Tsarnaev and the "bros." It was March 2013, during spring break of their sophomore year. They went out to eat and then drove to a spot by the Charles River. "Jahar went over to his car, and he got a backpack and there were fireworks inside," she recalled. "He set one up and ignited it. It didn't work. The second one did work. We were all whooping and hollering. Jahar was jumping through the firework itself. He was being really silly." She sobbed as court recessed for the day, and her cries could be heard in the hallway outside the courtroom. Boston Marathon terror attack fast facts . CNN's Aaron Cooper, Ray Sanchez and Cameron Tankersley contributed to this report. | Defense seeks to make case to spare life of convicted Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev . Defense: Brother Tamerlan, who was killed during police showdown, was obsessed with jihad . Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was well-liked, polite and docile, according to witnesses . | 4fde6cc846d0709e25a9cccec8d197ba26c15c82 |
Hong Kong (CNN)When she was growing up, Mui Thomas, wanted to be a fashion model -- not an unusual aspiration for a young girl. But Mui suffers from a rare genetic condition that leaves the skin on her face and body red raw and open to infection. "I really don't think I knew that I didn't look like everybody else," she says. She was born with Harlequin ichthyosis, which means her skin is extremely thick, dry and flaky -- resembling fish scales. She can't sweat but she can shed tears. On the day we speak, her appearance raises few eyebrows at her local Starbucks in Sai Kung -- she's a familiar and well-known presence in the waterfront Hong Kong town where she grew up. Mui's struggle to come to terms with her condition and other people's reactions to it has, at times, left her on the brink of suicide. But, now 22, she refuses to let it get in the way of her life -- she has a full-time job, plays sport and is embarking on a career as public speaker -- educating and inspiring others about the challenges of looking "visibly different." After she was abandoned at birth, long-time Hong Kong expats Tina and Rog Thomas began fostering Mui, when she was just one and a half years old. They were told she didn't have long to live. "We wanted to give her a family life in the time she had," says Tina. However, Mui began to thrive in a loving family environment and Tina and Rog formally adopted Mui when she was three years old. Together they gradually learned how to manage her skin condition. Each day she bathes twice, ideally for two hours each time, and everywhere she goes she carries a backpack with three or four tubs of cream that she must apply throughout the day to stop her skin from drying out. She's thought to be the fourth oldest person alive with harlequin ichthyosis. The oldest is 31. But while Mui's unusual appearance made little difference during her early years, that changed when she started secondary school. The school she attended required that she be accompanied by a educational assistant, which put up a barrier between her and the other children and made it difficult for her to make friends. Things got worse when she became a victim of cyberbullying. She began to deny her appearance, stopped bathing, taking her medication and applying the cream. At times, she considered jumping from the balcony of her home. "They'd say things like 'You shouldn't have been born' -- and very personal things that only people who knew me would know," she says. "It made me very wary of everybody. Even when people tried to be nice, I didn't repay it. I didn't trust them." The worst episode lasted for 10 months and only stopped after police became involved and found the bully -- someone whom Mui thought was her friend. Mui left school with no qualifications. She says the school didn't push her to study and made too many allowances for her skin disorder. "I still wish I had got a very hard kick up the backside from the teachers when I wasn't doing work," says Mui. Since leaving school, Mui has found a full-time job working with people with special needs and at weekends can be found running around a rugby pitch with a whistle -- she's a referee for kids' matches. Along with her parents, she's also begun speaking about her experiences of living with a "visible difference" and cyberbullying at schools around Hong Kong. Her father has also written a family memoir called "The Girl Behind the Face." Many have found her story inspirational -- a real life version of the young adult novel "Wonder" by R.J. Palacio about a young boy with a deformed face who enters middle school. On Saturday, she will graduate from school assemblies and speak in front of a paying audience at a TEDx talk in the city. Her father is both protective and proud. He thinks public speaking will help Mui come to terms with her condition but he's also wary that she could be portrayed as a "modern freak show." "It's difficult for her because she spent so long denying it. The more she confronts it, the more she is aware of it -- it will build confidence," he says. There's even talk she might take part in a fashion show for people with visible difference, realizing a childhood dream. In person, Mui comes across as articulate, poised and confident -- something her mom says comes out of spending so much time with adults while growing up -- and it's easy to see how she could command an audience of hundreds. But after two hours of chatting in a coffee shop, she's a little bored and keen to get back to her job. She flings her backpack over her shoulder and dashes off into Hong Kong's crowded streets. | Mui Thomas has a rare genetic condition that leaves her skin raw and open to infection . Abandoned at birth, Tina and Rog Thomas adopted Mui . She's now 22, a rugby referee and an inspirational speaker . | 33ca9fba99197c82369e99aa3d234783e719227c |
(CNN)The nominations for the 69th Annual Tony Awards were announced Tuesday morning. Past Tony winner and three-time nominee Mary-Louise Parker unveiled the nominees with Bruce Willis, who is set to make his Broadway debut in the upcoming play "Misery." The awards are set to be handed out June 7 in a ceremony airing live at 8 p.m. on CBS (tape-delayed on the West Coast) from Radio City Music Hall. Kristin Chenoweth, a nominee for "On the 20th Century," and recent "Cabaret" star Alan Cumming are set to host the ceremony. The full list of nominees is below. Best Play . "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" Author: Simon Stephens . Producers: Stuart Thompson, Tim Levy for NT America, Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures, Nick Starr & Chris Harper for NT Productions, Bob Boyett, Roger Berlind, Scott M. Delman, Roy Furman, Glass Half Full Productions, Ruth Hendel, Jon B. Platt, Prime Number Group, Scott Rudin, Triple Play Broadway, The Shubert Organization, The National Theatre . "Disgraced" Author: Ayad Akhtar . Producers: The Araca Group, Lincoln Center Theater, Jenifer Evans, Amanda Watkins, Richard Winkler, Rodger Hess, Stephanie P. McClelland, Tulchin/Bartner Productions, Jessica Genick, Jonathan Reinis, Carl Levin/Ashley De Simone/TNTDynaMite Productions, Alden Bergson/Rachel Weinstein, Greenleaf Productions, Darren DeVerna/Jere Harris, The Shubert Organization, The David Merrick Arts Foundation . "Hand to God" Author: Robert Askins . Producers: Kevin McCollum, Broadway Global Ventures, CMC, Morris Berchard, Mariano V. Tolentino, Jr., Stephanie Kramer, LAMS Productions, DeSimone/Winkler, Joan Raffe & Jhett Tolentino, Timothy Laczynski, Lily Fan, Ayal Miodovnik, Jam Theatricals, Ensemble Studio Theatre, MCC Theater . "Wolf Hall Parts One & Two" Co-Authors: Hilary Mantel and Mike Poulton . Producers: Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, Matthew Byam Shaw, Nia Janis & Nick Salmon for Playfull Productions UK, Carole Shorenstein Hays, Jam Theatricals, Ron Kastner, Kyodo Tokyo, Inc., Tulchin Bartner Productions, WLE MSG, Jane Bergère, Scott M. Delman, Rebecca Gold, Just for Laughs Theatricals, Kit Seidel, Triple Play Productions, Gabrielle Palitz, Georgia Gatti, Jessica Genick, Will Trice, The Shubert Organization, The Royal Shakespeare Company . Best Musical . "An American in Paris" Producers: Stuart Oken, Van Kaplan, Roy Furman, Stephanie McClelland, Darren Bagert, Carole L. Haber, James Nederlander, Five Cent Productions, Michael Leavitt, Apples and Oranges Studios/Dominion Pictures, Roger Berlind/Arch Road, Simone Genatt Haft/Marc Routh, Triptyk Studios/Spencer Ross, Ed Walson/Peter May, Adam Zotovich/Celia Atkin, Eugene Beard/Julie Boardman/Kalish-Weinstein, Stuart Ditsky/Jim Herbert/Sandy Robertson, Suzanne Friedman/Independent Presenters Network/Wonderful Productions, The Leonore S. Gershwin 1987 Trust/Jenkins-Taylor/Proctors, Harriet Newman Leve/Jane Dubin/Sarabeth Grossman, Caiola Productions/Jennifer Isaacson/Raise the Curtain, Elephant Eye Theatrical & Pittsburgh CLO, Théâtre du Châtelet . "Fun Home" Producers: Fox Theatricals, Barbara Whitman, Carole Shorenstein Hays, Tom Casserly, Paula Marie Black, Latitude Link, Terry Schnuck/Jack Lane, The Forstalls, Nathan Vernon, Mint Theatrical, Elizabeth Armstrong, Jam Theatricals, Delman Whitney, Kristin Caskey & Mike Isaacson, The Public Theater, Oskar Eustis, Patrick Willingham . "Something Rotten!" Producers: Kevin McCollum, Broadway Global Ventures, CMC, Mastro/Goodman, Jerry & Ronald Frankel, Morris Berchard, Kyodo Tokyo Inc., Wendy Federman, Barbara Freitag, LAMS Productions, Winkler/DeSimone, Timothy Laczynski, Dan Markley, Harris/Karmazin, Jam Theatricals, Robert Greenblatt, Jujamcyn Theaters . "The Visit" Producers: Tom Kirdahy, Edgar Bronfman, Jr., Tom Smedes, Hugh Hayes, Peter Stern, Judith Ann Abrams, Rich Affannato, Hunter Arnold, Carl Daikeler, Ken Davenport, Bharat Mitra & Bhavani Lev, Peter May, Ted Snowdon, Bruno Wang Productions, Taylor Cleghorn, Sandi Moran, Mark Lee & Ed Filipowski, Blodgett Calvin Family, Gabrielle Palitz/Weatherby & Fishman LLC, Marguerite Hoffman/Jeremy Youett, Carlos Arana, Veenerick & Katherine Vos Van Liempt, 42nd.Club/Silva Theatrical, Kate Cannova/Terry Loftis, The Shubert Organization, Williamstown Theatre Festival . Best Revival of a Play . "The Elephant Man" Producers: James L. Nederlander, Terry Allen Kramer, Catherine Adler, Roger Berlind, Caiola Productions, Patrick Catullo, Roy Furman, Larry Hirschhorn, Jeffrey Finn Productions, Van Kaplan, Edward M. Kaufmann, Hal Luftig, Arielle Tepper Madover, Peter May, Stephanie P. McClelland, The Shubert Organization, Douglas Smith, Jonathan M. Tisch, WLE MSG, LLC., Scott & Brian Zeilinger, Williamstown Theatre Festival . "Skylight" Producers: Robert Fox, Scott Rudin, Eli Bush, Roger Berlind, William Berlind, Roy Furman, Jon B. Platt, The Shubert Organization, Stephanie P. McClelland, Catherine Adler, Jay Alix & Una Jackman, Scott M. Delman, Heni Koenigsberg, Spring Sirkin, Stuart Thompson, True Love Productions, The Araca Group, Carlos Arana, David Mirvish, Joey Parnes, Sue Wagner, John Johnson . "This Is Our Youth" Producers: Scott Rudin, Eli Bush, Roger Berlind, William Berlind, Jon B. Platt, Roy Furman, The Shubert Organization, Ruth Hendel, Scott M. Delman, Stephanie P. McClelland, Sonia Friedman, Tulchin Bartner, The Araca Group, Heni Koenigsberg, Daryl Roth, Joan Raffe & Jhett Tolentino, Catherine & Fred Adler, Joey Parnes, Sue Wagner, John Johnson, Steppenwolf Theatre Company . "You Can't Take It with You" Producers: Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, Jam Theatricals, Dominion Pictures, Gutterman & Winkler, Daryl Roth, Terry Schnuck, Jane Bergère, Caiola Productions, Rebecca Gold, Laruffa & Hinderliter, Larry Magid, Gabrielle Palitz, Spisto & Kierstead, SunnySpot Productions, Venuworks Theatricals, Jessica Genick, Will Trice, Roundabout Theatre Company, Todd Haimes, Harold Wolpert, Julia C. Levy, Sydney Beers . Best Revival of a Musical . "The King and I" Producers: Lincoln Center Theater, André Bishop, Adam Siegel, Hattie K. Jutagir, Ambassador Theatre Group . "On the Town" Producers: Howard and Janet Kagan, Severn Partners Entertainment, Bruce Robert Harris and Jack W. Batman, Paula Marie Black, Nigel Lythgoe, Michael J. Moritz,, Jr., Mahoney/Alden/Badway, Ambassador Theatre Group, Margie and Bryan Weingarten, Kim Schall, Michael Rubenstein, Terry/Louise/Chris Lingner, Brunish & Trinchero, Stephanie Rosenberg, Laruffa & Hinderliter, Rubinstein/Handleman, Lizbeth Bintz, Riki Kane Larimer, 24 Hour Adventure Production, A&A Gordon, Matt Ross/Ben Feldman/Pamela Cooper, Barrington Stage Company . "On the Twentieth Century" Producers: Roundabout Theatre Company, Todd Haimes, Harold Wolpert, Julia C. Levy, Sydney Beers . Best Book of a Musical . "An American in Paris," Craig Lucas . "Fun Home," Lisa Kron . "Something Rotten!" Karey Kirkpatrick and John O'Farrell . "The Visit," Terrence McNally . Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre . "Fun Home" Music: Jeanine Tesori . Lyrics: Lisa Kron . "The Last Ship" Music & Lyrics: Sting . "Something Rotten!" Music & Lyrics: Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick . "The Visit" Music: John Kander . Lyrics: Fred Ebb . Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play . Steven Boyer, "Hand to God" Bradley Cooper, "The Elephant Man" Ben Miles, "Wolf Hall Parts One & Two" Bill Nighy, "Skylight" Alex Sharp, "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play . Geneva Carr, "Hand to God" Helen Mirren, "The Audience" Elisabeth Moss, "The Heidi Chronicles" Carey Mulligan, "Skylight" Ruth Wilson, "Constellations" Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical . Michael Cerveris, "Fun Home" Robert Fairchild, "An American in Paris" Brian d'Arcy James, "Something Rotten!" Ken Watanabe, "The King and I" Tony Yazbeck, "On the Town" Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical . Kristin Chenoweth, "On the Twentieth Century" Leanne Cope, "An American in Paris" Beth Malone, "Fun Home" Kelli O'Hara, "The King and I" Chita Rivera, "The Visit" Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play . Matthew Beard, "Skylight" K. Todd Freeman, "Airline Highway" Richard McCabe, "The Audience" Alessandro Nivola, "The Elephant Man" Nathaniel Parker, "Wolf Hall Parts One & Two" Micah Stock, "It's Only a Play" Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play . Annaleigh Ashford, "You Can't Take It with You" Patricia Clarkson, "The Elephant Man" Lydia Leonard, "Wolf Hall Parts One & Two" Sarah Stiles, "Hand to God" Julie White, "Airline Highway" Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical . Christian Borle, "Something Rotten!" Andy Karl, "On the Twentieth Century" Brad Oscar, "Something Rotten!" Brandon Uranowitz, "An American in Paris" Max von Essen, "An American in Paris" Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical . Victoria Clark, "Gigi" Judy Kuhn, "Fun Home" Sydney Lucas, "Fun Home" Ruthie Ann Miles, "The King and I" Emily Skeggs, "Fun Home" Best Scenic Design of a Play . Bunny Christie and Finn Ross, "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" Bob Crowley, "Skylight" Christopher Oram, "Wolf Hall Parts One & Two" David Rockwell, "You Can't Take It with You" Best Scenic Design of a Musical . Bob Crowley and 59 Productions, "An American in Paris" David Rockwell, "On the Twentieth Century" Michael Yeargan, "The King and I" David Zinn, "Fun Home" Best Costume Design of a Play . Bob Crowley, "The Audience" Jane Greenwood, "You Can't Take It with You" Christopher Oram, "Wolf Hall Parts One & Two" David Zinn, "Airline Highway" Best Costume Design of a Musical . Gregg Barnes, "Something Rotten!" Bob Crowley, "An American in Paris" William Ivey Long, "On the Twentieth Century" Catherine Zuber, "The King and I" Best Lighting Design of a Play . Paule Constable, "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" Paule Constable and David Plater, "Wolf Hall Parts One & Two" Natasha Katz, "Skylight" Japhy Weideman, "Airline Highway" Best Lighting Design of a Musical . Donald Holder, "The King and I" Natasha Katz, "An American in Paris" Ben Stanton, "Fun Home" Japhy Weideman, "The Visit" Best Direction of a Play . Stephen Daldry, "Skylight" Marianne Elliott, "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" Scott Ellis, "You Can't Take It with You" Jeremy Herrin, "Wolf Hall Parts One & Two" Moritz von Stuelpnagel, "Hand to God" Best Direction of a Musical . Sam Gold, "Fun Home" Casey Nicholaw, "Something Rotten!" John Rando, "On the Town" Bartlett Sher, "The King and I" Christopher Wheeldon, "An American in Paris" Best Choreography . Joshua Bergasse, "On the Town" Christopher Gattelli, "The King and I" Scott Graham & Steven Hoggett for Frantic Assembly, "The Curious Incident of the Dog . in the Night-Time" Casey Nicholaw, "Something Rotten!" Christopher Wheeldon, "An American in Paris" Best Orchestrations . Christopher Austin, Don Sebesky, Bill Elliott, "An American in Paris" John Clancy, "Fun Home" Larry Hochman, "Something Rotten!" Rob Mathes, "The Last Ship" Recipients of Awards and Honors in Non-competitive Categories . Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre . Tommy Tune . Special Tony Award . John Cameron Mitchell . Regional Theatre Tony Award . Cleveland Play House, Cleveland, Ohio . Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award . Stephen Schwartz . Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre . Arnold Abramson . Adrian Bryan-Brown . Gene O'Donovan . ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved. | Actors Kristin Chenoweth and Alan Cumming are set to host the 2015 Tony Awards ceremony . Best play nominees: 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time," "Disgraced," "Hand to God" and "Wolf Hall Parts One & Two" The awards will be presented on June 7 in a ceremony airing live at 8 p.m. on CBS . | 49872ccd26cc3eebf7195d078daaa51e8830ff98 |
(CNN)The head of the Libyan Army has rejected the possibility of cooperating with any EU military intervention in his country intended to stem the flow of undocumented migrants trying to reach Europe. In an exclusive interview Friday with CNN's Becky Anderson, Libyan army head Gen. Khalifa Haftar said Libyan authorities had not been consulted and, in any event, military action would not solve the problem. "We will certainly not cooperate, because we were not involved in resolving this issue," Haftar said. "The decision was taken without consulting the legitimate Libyan side." The European Union is struggling to cope with an increasing number of people crowding into unseaworthy boats and trying to reach European shores. Many of the travelers are fleeing violence and poverty in Libya and elsewhere in the region. The capsizing of one vessel last weekend left an estimated 900 people dead. EU leaders are considering a plan that would involve military action against people smugglers at the source -- before they load their boats with human cargo. Of necessity, such an operation would involve operations within the territory of North African countries. But Haftar expressed dismay at the prospect in his interview with CNN. "Military action against Libyan territory is an unwise decision," he said. "You need to deal with the Libyan crisis as a whole. We are a sovereign country that needs to be respected despite what we are going through right now." Haftar did not respond directly when he was asked whether Libyan authorities would confront any European forces within its territory. "The European Union needs to stand with the Libyan people to solve the crisis instead of taking such decisions," the general said. "The migrant crisis affects them. But why don't they see that our problems are also very important? It's important for them to support us either on the humanitarian front or on the security front." Pressed on the point, Haftar replied, "We do what's in the interest of the Libyan people. The European Union is looking after its own interests so we will also look after ours." But he said Libya is open to other kinds of cooperation on the issue of migration. "If they take the right approach, we will certainly cooperate," he said, referring to EU authorities. "The appropriate approach will benefit Libya and its fight against terrorism. And I repeat, that means lifting sanctions against Libya -- specifically those against the army." | Head of Libyan army tells CNN Libyan authorities have not been consulted . Gen. Khalifa Haftar says Libya will "look after" its interests . Solution to migration problem requires lifting of sanctions, general says . | fd54c50ca32ef5b7cc8bb51ec9985eb1acbf36b9 |
(CNN)Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, was once known as the murder capital of the world. Back in 2010, at the height of cartel violence, the city averaged 8.5 killings per day. But five years later, local officials say the city is much safer, and plans are underway to lure foreign tourists and investors back to Juarez. This month the city launched the tourism campaign "Juarez is Waiting for You." The rebranding effort started quietly a year ago, and on April 10, it was on full display. Mayor Enrique Serrano officially kicked off the campaign, giving what he called an "unprecedented" high-profile tour to regional leaders from the United States and Mexico. U.S. Rep. Robert "Beto" O'Rourke of Texas was one of those on a leg of the Juarez tour. His congressional district includes El Paso, Texas, which sits directly across the Rio Grande. O'Rourke says there's good reason for locals to be hopeful. "As a region, El Paso and Juarez represent 20% of all U.S-Mexico trade. The binational ties are strong and have remained strong," O'Rourke says. "Yes, we had a really difficult time for a ... period. Juarez was at one time the deadliest city in the world." O'Rourke speaks of a time between 2009 and 2012 when men, women and children were killed indiscriminately. Many were helplessly caught in the cartel violence. Others were victims of the drug turf war. It wasn't that long ago, O'Rourke says, that he thought twice about crossing the bridge into Juarez. "(Now) I travel to Juarez regularly to have lunch or meet people or just to go. I always feel safe and secure." A spokesman for the Chihuahua state attorney general's office told CNN that at one point, there were days when Juarez had more than 20 killings. "That was normal," spokesman Julio Castaneda told CNN. "It's safer now." The numbers from the attorney general's office seem to bear that out. More than 3,000 people were killed in the city just four years ago, but so far this year there have been 89 killings, according to Castaneda -- a dramatic decrease in the violence. "Undoubtedly, the work we did here in the past year with the police institutions, and specifically the local police, helped. There was a coordinated effort between agencies," Castaneda said. "Without a doubt this work played a part in breaking apart the gangs that were plaguing the city." The government cleaned up corruption within the local police force, and fired or arrested a lot of bad cops who were helping the cartels. Another factor that may have helped: The turf war between the Juarez and Sinaloa cartels essentially ended, with the Sinaloa cartel claiming victory in the battle for the trafficking route in Juarez. O'Rourke argues that the El Paso-Juarez border is "safer than it's ever been." He cites the "30 million lawful crosses from El Paso into Juarez" last year as a symbolic step. Yet there are those who don't want to celebrate too soon. "For Juarez to be considered a safe city, there's a long way to go," says Sergio Meza, executive director for Plan Estrategico de Juarez, an independent organization that works to improve the city's quality of life. "Just this past year (in 2014) there were 424 homicides. In 2007, there were 272. Yes, we're not as bad. But we're still very sick," Meza told CNN from his office in Juarez. "In reality, we're progressing from the conditions that were generated by the insecurity. We're still working out the corruption in the city. It's still an issue here." With more than 40% of Juarez living below the poverty line, according to Plan Estrategico de Juarez, the future of the city will depend on "the people's participation in public matters." In fact, the organization's slogan is "Nothing is fixed alone. Participate." "We are looking at a compromised future," Meza said. "We don't talk about that. We don't have the money to generate work here." One bright spot: U.S. investment is making a comeback. American companies Delphi, Honeywell, Flextronics and Lear are among those that ramped up hiring and investment in Juarez over the last year. That hiring would have been hard to imagine four years ago. But with the average salary at $20 per week for local workers in the maquiladores, or factories, along the U.S.-Mexico border in Juarez, Meza says more needs to be done. The scars from the recent past remain. Several buildings downtown are shuttered and marred by graffiti. Americans who, before the violence, came to Juarez for bargain shopping have not returned in the numbers seen before the spike in violence. But in a sign of progress, the U.S. State Department amended its travel warning for the city. While it still urges visitors to exercise appropriate caution, it's no longer telling people not to come. Longtime residents of Juarez and neighboring El Paso may be reluctant to say the wounds of the violent past have altogether healed. In the last year, however, they have definitely noticed that "life is back." "I measure it by the everyday coming and going of people," Gustavo Reveles, 39, told CNN. "For someone who grew up on the border and for someone who spent half of his life crossing the border on a weekly basis, it's encouraging to be crossing back to Juarez without that sort of hesitation or worry that something might happen." Reveles lived in Juarez until he was 15 and now lives in El Paso. He says the threat of violence is "still a little bit concerning," though that hasn't stopped him in recent weeks from going to Juarez to meet friends for dinner and drinks. "Things have changed," he said. "To go through what Juarez went through, you see life there again. You see a semblance of what was there before. To really recover and heal wounds, there's a long way to go, but the process has started and that's a step in the right direction." CNNMoney's Octavio Blanco contributed to this report. | Cartel violence helped make Juarez the murder capital of the world five years ago . But the murder rate in the city has declined rapidly since 2010 . Now city leaders are working to bring visitors and foreign investment back to Juarez . | 060eca2f7301be29235f5aabb8ca6fbb2759df60 |
Tokyo (CNN)With the world watching, in his historic address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress, the first ever by a Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe surprised nobody by missing a great opportunity to dispel worries and tensions he raises with his revisionist views on history. During this 70th year anniversary of the end of World War II, Abe has been disappointing on Japan's wartime history because he has been evasive and ambiguous about embracing responsibility for Japan's wartime actions in Asia where the bitter legacies remain divisive. And this "Abenesia" is harmful to Japan's international image, riles China and South Korea and thereby undermines the bilateral security agenda. Washington deliberately set the bar on history very low for Abe because the Obama administration is more focused on the shared perception with Tokyo that contemporary China is a threat requiring a collective response. Strengthening the alliance with Japan and sealing the deal on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trumps past misdeeds. Forty years after the fall of Saigon, and in the wake of Iraq and Afghanistan, America is in no position to lecture other nations about the horrors they inflicted and an inadequate reckoning for such misdeeds. President Barack Obama pulled out all the stops to give Abe a red carpet welcome because he has delivered more on fulfilling Washington's longstanding security demands than all of his predecessors combined. But the newly expanded security role embraced by Japan enjoys little support among Japanese. As a recent Pew Poll indicates, only 23% are in favor while 68% are opposed. It is also problematic that Abe's stance on history is a factor in hindering trilateral security cooperation with South Korea, something the U.S. sees as essential. Carefully tailoring his remarks to his audience, Abe hit the right notes in many respects, and even inched forward on history. He did express "eternal condolences" about the loss of American lives in World War II, and noted, "Enemies that had fought each other so fiercely have become friends bonded in spirit." That is welcome news, but Japan has been less successful in achieving rapprochement with other enemies, precisely because it has not taken the measure of the shared past. Many nations play fast and loose with their unpleasant histories, but Abe is mounting a significant retreat from Japan's repentant views expressed and embraced since the mid-1990s, and actively promotes a valorizing and exonerating history under the banner of patriotic education. He is putting his personal agenda on history ahead of the national interest and therefore not meeting the test of statesmanship. Of course there is nothing that Abe could say that would satisfy China or South Korea, two nations that suffered longest and most from Japanese depredations from the late 19th century. But that doesn't mean he shouldn't try a bit harder. What Abe said is, "Post war, we started out on our path bearing in mind feelings of deep remorse over the war. Our actions brought suffering to the peoples in Asian countries. We must not avert our eyes from that. I will uphold the views expressed by the previous prime ministers in this regard." Essentially outsourcing "apology and war responsibility" to his predecessors gets low marks on the empathy and sincerity scale. It is also troubling that throughout his political career, Abe has worked to undermine and repudiate previous Mea Culpa. Rather than merely "upholding" what others have said it might have been better for Abe to prove his critics wrong by clearly expressing an apology. In Japan, there has been a lot of pressure on Abe to explicitly invoke the language of the 1995 Murayama Statement that stands as the most forthright apology and acknowledgment of war responsibility. Even the conservative Yomiuri newspaper urged him to do so. Murayama clearly condemned "mistaken national policy," "self-righteous nationalism," "colonial rule" and "aggression," but Abe has spent his entire political career renouncing this so-called "masochistic" view of Japan's wartime history. Fatalistically, Abe said, "History is harsh. What is done cannot be undone." Well, yes that is self-evident but this should not mean the door is closed on apologies, acts of contrition and atonement and a clear reckoning of the harsh history that still isolates Japan in East Asia. Abe is certainly right that the neighbors are playing the history card and relentlessly hammering Japan on the anvil of history, but they were handed the hammer by Japan. Given Abe's evasive track record about the comfort women system of sexual slavery, a forthright apology or acknowledgment of state involvement was never in the cards. What Abe managed, however, was even weaker than expected: "Armed conflicts have always made women suffer the most. In our age, we must realize the kind of world where finally women are free from human rights abuses." This cavalier "sh*t happens" attitude towards the comfort women system undermines Japan's dignity and represents a step backward. In recent remarks Abe says he upholds the 1993 Kono statement, but he has flouted it and over the past year members of his party have been busy controverting this forthright admission of responsibility and coercive recruitment. Moreover, Abe's support for patriotic education and pressures on textbook publishers has effectively erased comfort women from what is taught in junior high schools, contravening what the Kono statement promised. In the only textbook that does mention them, the government insisted on the removal of a former comfort woman's testimony and insertion of a disclaimer regarding what it regards as a lack of evidence. To counter criticism, Abe now refers to Japan's comfort women system in terms of human trafficking, a linguistic ploy to obscure state responsibility for operating this system and make it appear he gets 21st century concerns. Human trafficking, however, highlights the role of private brokers in coercively recruiting these women in line with revisionist attempts to shift responsibility from the Japanese military and government authorities of the day. Revisionists prefer to blame the Korean brokers, but they were acting at the behest of Japanese officials who surely knew of the abuses and ensured that the comfort women could not escape their hell. In his speech Abe also referred to shared values of democracy and freedom. This too is welcome news because over the past year Abe has presided over an orchestrated attack on the Asahi newspaper for its coverage of the comfort women system, packed NHK's management with like-minded reactionaries and pressured critics out of their jobs. Indeed the New York Times ran an article on April 26 implicating Team Abe in the axing of a prominent TV pundit who made the mistake of criticizing Abe. The foreign press has also exposed Japanese government harassment targeting their reporting, especially regarding the whitewashing of history, and attempts to smear the integrity of those who wouldn't go along. In addition, journalists were told not to interview certain Abe critics. Journalists acknowledge this is what government spin doctors normally do and have done in Japan for some time, but under Abe the rules of engagement appear to be nastier. Abe got lots of applause from U.S. politicians who seemed to enjoy his reference to an "alliance of hope." That's not exactly how Okinawans feel about the disproportionate base-hosting burden they bear. Some 75% of U.S. bases are concentrated in Okinawa and U.S. bases cover nearly 20% of the land. In a series of elections and in opinion polls, Okinawans have voiced their opposition to this situation. In November 2014 they elected a governor who opposes the building of a new airbase for the U.S. in the pristine waters of Oura Bay in northern Okinawa, kicking the once popular incumbent out of office because he gave the green light for this project. Officials on both sides of the Pacific have reiterated support for proceeding with the new base as part of a plan to reduce the U.S. military footprint in Okinawa, but Okinawans remain unconvinced and find that the democratic expression of their opposition is resolutely ignored. Shared values? | Abe did express "eternal condolences" about the loss of American lives in World War II . But he has been evasive and ambiguous about embracing responsibility for Japan's wartime actions . Kingston: He is putting his personal agenda on history ahead of the national interest . | 766c48c31238f598a1575e01a9aaf04eedd2f09e |
Kano, Nigeria (CNN)Hundreds of decomposed corpses were discovered buried in shallow graves in the streets of the northeastern Nigerian town of Damasak this past weekend, according to local officials and a resident. The town had recently been freed from the Boko Haram terror group in a joint Nigerian-Chadian military operation. A provincial government committee was visiting the area as part of an effort to assess the level of destruction in towns that had been in the deadly grip of Boko Haram. "We found hundreds of dead bodies in shallow graves and on the streets of Damasak during our visit," Damasak local government spokesman Babagana Mustapha told CNN on Monday. "Those bodies in shallow graves have badly decomposed while those found on the streets were desiccated from [exposure to] dry winds," Mustapha added. The victims included men, women and children murdered by Boko Haram when they seized the area in November, said Abubakar Kyari, a senator-elect for the region. "The staggering number of dead bodies found in Damasak is a testimony of the large-scale atrocity Boko Haram committed when they were in control of the town" Kyari added. Mustapha said the bodies were buried in 20 clearly marked mass graves. Although Mustapha did not give a precise number of corpses recovered, Damasak residents who participated in the exhumations put the figure at more than 400. "We collected over 400 corpses from the streets and in shallow graves during our visit in Damasak," said Idris Karimbe, one of the volunteers who took part in the burial. "The number of bodies we recovered this time around far exceeded the ones found last month," said another resident, Musa Bremah. Bremah was referring to the discovery of around 90 bodies in a shallow grave outside Damasak last month after its recapture. A regional military coalition involving troops from Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon has in recent months recaptured swathes of Nigerien territory seized by Boko Haram. The joint military operation is part of an ongoing collaborative effort at crushing the Islamist group that has widened its deadly attacks to Niger, Chad and Cameroon. | The town had recently been freed from the Boko Haram terror group . Volunteer from burial: "We collected over 400 corpses from the streets and in shallow graves" | 631b45e55e537eee6bacf8e741c572d3ca0038a3 |
Jerusalem (CNN)The Israeli military conducted airstrikes Sunday night in the area between Israel and Syria, targeting a group of militants allegedly trying to plant a bomb on the Israeli border. The Israel Defense Forces said the airstrikes were carried out in the occupied Golan Heights against four militants who crossed into the area from Syria. "A group of armed terrorists approached the border with an explosive device, which was intended to be detonated against IDF forces," the Israeli military said. The airstrikes prevented the bombing, the military said. Three of the alleged attackers were killed, Israeli media reported, citing IDF sources. It was not immediately known to what militant group the men belonged. The Golan is regarded internationally as occupied territory despite Israeli governmental control. It is home to 41,000 residents, including Jews, Druze and Alawites. Israel seized the territory from Syria during the 1967 Israel-Arab war, and it was eventually annexed. | The Israeli military says the militants were trying to plant a bomb . The men crossed from Syria, Israel says . | 26ac2554e942bc19f25dd69dadb6dcc4e44b3450 |
(CNN)On the morning of April 19, 1995, a man parked a rental truck packed with explosives in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. At 9:02 a.m., the explosives detonated, killing 168 people, including 19 children. This wasn't the work of a foreign terrorist group. Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, former U.S. Army soldiers, were convicted of the attack. McVeigh was executed in 2001, and Nichols is serving a life sentence. Twenty years later, domestic terror threats range from white supremacists to eco-terrorists to anti-government extremists and radical separatist groups, according to the FBI. The FBI's goal, of course, is to prevent "homegrown attacks" before they happen. Unfortunately, this isn't always possible. When acts of domestic terror do occur, the FBI investigates and tries to catch those responsible. From McVeigh and Nichols to Eric Rudolph to Ted Kaczynski, the FBI is often successful, but every once in a while, the suspects get away. These are the FBI's most-wanted domestic terrorist fugitives: . It was September 26, 1981, when a crowd gathered at John F. Kennedy International Airport for an anti-apartheid demonstration. Among the protestors, the FBI says, was Donna Joan Borup, an alleged member of the May 19th Communist Organization. The radical group advocated overthrowing the U.S. government. The protest turned violent, and Borup allegedly tossed a caustic substance in the eyes of a Port Authority police officer. According to the Port Authority, he "lost all or most of his sight." Borup and others were arrested and released on bail, but Borup never showed up for her trial. An arrest warrant was issued in 1982. Today, she would be in her late 50s to mid-60s, standing between five feet four inches and five feet six inches. According to the FBI, Borup "is thought to have a photographic memory and is highly intelligent." The FBI considers her "armed and dangerous." Cheri Laverne Dalton is wanted for her alleged involvement in the Brinks Armored Car robbery on October 20, 1981, when a group of political radicals associated with the Black Liberation Army robbed $1.6 million from a Brink's truck in Nanuet, New York. Time Magazine reported in November of that year that the attack happened shortly before 4 p.m. when Brink's guards Peter Paige and Joe Trombino loaded the money into their truck. Suddenly armed robbers attacked. They opened fire, killing Paige. Trombino was seriously injured, but survived and kept working for Brinks until he was killed in the September 11, 2001, attacks while making a delivery in the World Trade Center. According to the FBI, the robbers drove away after the Brink's robbery, allegedly meeting up with members of the Weather Underground -- another radical organization. They switched cars and drove off. Following a tip, police caught up to them. A shootout left Nyack police Sgt. Edward O'Grady and Officer Waverly Brown dead. Hip hop artist Tupac Shakur's stepfather, Jeral Wayne Williams (known as Mutulu Shakur) is considered by authorities to be the mastermind behind the robbery. In 1988, he received a 60-year prison sentence. He has a parole release date of 2016 . On November 17, 1982, a federal grand jury operating in the Southern District of New York returned a superseding indictment charging Dalton with various crimes related to the heist. Dalton has ties to Havana, Cuba, and St. Croix, Virgin Islands. According to the FBI, she is believed to be living in Cuba. Leo Frederick Burt, a 22-year-old aspiring journalist at the time, was part of a group that bombed a building at the University of Wisconsin in 1970 to protest the Vietnam War, the FBI says. It was classified as the largest act of domestic terror until the Oklahoma City bombing. The explosion killed a physics researcher, severely damaged a building at the university and damaged 26 others. According to the FBI, explosives had been placed in a stolen truck three blocks from the building. Burt was part of a radical anti-war group called the New Year's Gang, the FBI says. Angry over the Vietnam War, the group targeted the Army Math Research Center in Sterling Hall at the University of Wisconsin on August 24, 1970. On September 2, 1970, Leo Burt was indicted in Madison, Wisconsin. He was charged with sabotage, destruction of government property, and conspiracy. Burt's three accomplices were arrested and served prison sentences for the crime, but the hunt for Burt continues. Burt may wear glasses, and may have a mustache and beard. He has worn his hair long in the back, according to the FBI. He has ties to New York, Boston, and Peterborough, Ontario. Joseph Mahmoud Dibee and Josephine Sunshine Overaker are thought to be among the last members of the eco-terror group known as "The Family," said to be affiliated with ELF, the Earth Liberation Front, or the Animal Liberation Front (ALF). They are suspected to be involved in "at least 25 domestic terrorism criminal actions totaling over $48 million in damages, including the largest eco-related arson in history, a $26 million arson at the Vail Ski Resort," the FBI said. These alleged crimes occurred in Oregon, Washington, California, Colorado and Wyoming, and date back to 1996 according to the FBI. ELF made no secret of its responsibility for the Vail fire, and on October 19, 1998, issued a statement saying: "Vail Inc. is already the largest ski operation in North America and now wants to expand even further. The 12 miles of roads and 885 acres of clearcuts will ruin the last best lynx habitat in the state. Putting profits ahead of Colorado's wildlife will not be tolerated." Other environmentalists denounced the fires, calling ELF a fringe group whose actions did far more harm than good. On January 19, 2006, a federal grand jury in Eugene, Oregon, indicted Overaker, Dibee and two others -- since arrested -- on multiple charges related to their alleged role in a domestic terrorism cell. The FBI says Overaker is fluent in Spanish. Dibee may have fled to Syria. The FBI has led a long-running, multiple-agency criminal investigation dubbed "Operation Backfire" to combat violent elements of the environmental and animal rights groups, which remains open though not active. The case will remain open until Overaker and Dibee are located, apprehended and prosecuted, the FBI said. Elizabeth Anna Duke is wanted for her alleged involvement in a string of crimes spanning the late 1970s through the early 1980s, according to the FBI. Known as an active member of the radical group known as the May 19th Communist Organization, she was slapped with multiple charges. In May of 1985, Duke was arrested in Bucks County, Pennsylvania with Alan Berkman, who was wanted in connection to the 1981 Brinks armored car robbery in Nanuet, New York. She was released on bail, but fled in October. According to the FBI, Duke is known to speak fluent Spanish and has ties to Texas but is also known to travel in the northern United States near the Canadian border. She may have been travelling with Donna Joan Borup who is wanted for allegedly throwing a caustic substance in the eyes of a Port Authority police officer during an anti-apartheid protest at John F. Kennedy International Airport in 1981, the FBI said. William "Guillermo" Morales was an explosives expert who allegedly made bombs for an extremist organization violently advocating for Puerto Rican independence. The FALN, translated as The Armed Forces of National Liberation, claimed responsibility for or were blamed for 130 bombings, most of them in New York and Chicago, in the 1970s and early 1980s that caused numerous deaths, injuries and millions of dollars in damage. Morales was captured in May of 1983 in Mexico, but was eventually handed over to Cuban authorities, and the FBI thinks he has lived in Cuba since June of 1988. Morales speaks both English and Spanish. On July 12, 1978, Morales was injured when a bomb he was working on accidentally exploded in East Elmhurst, New York. Badly injured, Morales was taken to a hospital, and arrested. He was held at the Bellevue Hospital prison ward in New York until he was well enough to be transferred to federal prison, but escaped and fled. He is known to wear glasses and may have a beard. On June 3, 1972, Western Airlines Flight 701 was flying from Los Angeles to Seattle with 98 passengers and a crew of seven when Willie Roger Holder and Catherine Marie Kerkow allegedly hijacked the plane, threatening the crew and passengers with a ''bomb in an attache case.'' They demanded $500,000, the FBI says. They were trying to force authorities to free Angela Davis, a prominent black militant, then on trial for murder, kidnapping and conspiracy in San Jose, according to author Brendan Koerner, who wrote a book about the history of airline hijacking called "The Skies Belong to Us." Koerner said Davis was informed of the hijacking by the judge in her trial and refused to communicate with the hijackers. According to Koerner, the ransom was paid in San Francisco, where a little more than half of the passengers were released at the airport. The rest, he said, were released at JFK before the couple took off for Algiers. It was a media circus, and the pair were dubbed a modern "Bonnie and Clyde," according to Koerner. "Basically the hijackers wanted to take Angela Davis to North Vietnam, then head to Australia to homestead in the Outback. Instead, they ended up crashing with the Black Panthers in Algiers." On January 25, 1975, Kerkow and Holder were arrested in France when they tried to get in the country using fake passports, but the FBI says Kerkow skipped out before her trial. Holder was eventually extradited to the United States, but Kerkow could be anywhere. The FBI says she may have ties to Oregon, France, Switzerland, Algeria, Jordan and Cuba. Opinion: Homegrown extremist threat remains 20 years after Oklahoma City bombing . | April 19 marks 20 years since the Oklahoma City bombing . The bombing was carried out by domestic terrorists . Today's domestic terror threats range from eco-terrorists to anti-government extremists . | ebde883f489470f7cc617d7d41352f7b7e0aabda |
(CNN)A prosecutor has dismissed allegations that Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner tried to cover up Iran's involvement in a 1994 bombing in Buenos Aires. The move by prosecutor Javier de Luca to drop the case could mean a definitive end to the accusations that have roiled the nation, according to Argentina's state-run Telam news agency. The case became of high interest globally after the original prosecutor who brought the allegations was found dead in January. Alberto Nisman was found dead days after making the accusations. His death sparked outrage and conspiracy theories aplenty. Nisman alleged that Argentina's government agreed not to go after Iranian suspects in the bombing in exchange for a favorable trade deal. The 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in the Argentine capital is the deadliest terror attack in the country's history. Eighty-five people were killed, and hundreds were injured. A second prosecutor took the reins after Nisman's death and took the case to court in February. A judge dismissed the case, saying that Nisman's allegations did not hold up. Following that, the case went to prosecutor de Luca for a possible appeal. On Monday, de Luca announced that in his investigation he found that "there was no crime here, either carried out or attempted," according to Telam. | The prosecutor looking at allegations against Argentina's President says no crime committed . The original prosecutor who brought the case was found dead in January . | 76726c50778f7c34c359a7c01408e2150b6d3fe0 |
(CNN)April 27 is celebrated as Freedom Day in South Africa, commemorating the country's first democratic elections in 1994 election which saw Nelson Mandela elected as president. The day is widely seen as marking the start of a free South Africa after the fall of apartheid, a system of racial segregation implemented by the white-minority government in South Africa for decades. This year's celebrations come against the backdrop of a spate of anti-immigrant attacks earlier in April in which a number of people lost their lives. Using the #FreedomDay hashtag, people across the country and beyond took to Twitter to celebrate this year's event, express their views and send out their wishes -- including the South African government. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also hailed the people of South Africa and sent out a message of hope. Many South Africans used Twitter to denounce the recent violence... ... whilst others remembered iconic South African freedom fighter Nelson Mandela. Freedom Day didn't go unnoticed by Google, who've changed the doodle to honor the day. Here's a selection of some of other #FreedomDay tweets. | South Africa marks 21 years since the first free election . Nation celebrates amid recent violent attack on immigrants . | 8dd65e4f4c37524840d479426bd298be89251a78 |
Kathmandu, Nepal (CNN)When the earthquake struck, we huddled under a concrete beam -- and prayed. In another room, my grandfather could not comprehend what was happening and, instead of seeking cover, drifted towards the window. Outside, a brown dust-cloud rose from the ruins of cottages that had dotted the next hill. I was at my uncle's place in Ramkot, west Kathmandu, some 12 kilometers (7.4 miles) east from my family home. After escaping the building for the safety of open air, my first thought was for news of friends and family. Calls didn't go through but thankfully texts and data did. I heard from everyone except my mother. Worried sick, I foolishly went into the house for a second time to get my belongings and leave for home. Another tremor -- the first of many to aftershocks that have continued to strike an already traumatized city -- shook the house. I took refuge under the same doorway. The journey towards my family home in Sifal was a map of quake destruction, with many houses -- old and new -- torn apart. A high wall surrounding a monastery had collapsed and the nuns had run to a nearby field. A mud-and-brick cottage had fallen on a blue motorbike but no trace could be found of its rider. A woman perched on top of rubble tried to reach for a water container from what used to be her kitchen. Everywhere, survivors gathered wherever they could find open space -- fields, private compounds, empty roadside lots. In Chhauni, an ice cream seller ran double-time with his cart, while his radio relayed the latest. Further ahead, a mother and daughter sat down on a pavement so that a grandchild could be fed. Across the Bishnumati River, uphill towards Maru, I ran to get away from the tall houses and made towards the Kathmandu Durbar Area. It was reduced to rubble. A blood donation camp was said to be buried by the same structure that sheltered it. Locals were searching for survivors, but progress was slow. The Kasthamandap temple had caved in. Temples that sat on impressive staircase-style pyramids were now dust. The western façade of the Basantapur palace had fallen apart and nothing remained of the remained of the nine-story medieval palace nearby. Meanwhile, the curio fleamarket was flooded with people who had made it out of the cramped quarters of Jhocchen, Indra Chowk, New Road, and nearby neighborhoods. In Putalisadak, I met a cousin who was sitting an entrance exam for a prestigious high school when the quake hit before the allotted time was over. He kept wondering out loud whether he could retake the test. The two of us walked through Bagbajar, trying to trace a few acquaintances, and up Dillibajar to Kamalpokhari. A hawker was selling momos -- a Nepalese type of dumpling -- under a seven-story building, while policemen guarded a jailhouse. People gathered mostly in the middle of crossroads, on traffic islands and around metal pulpits, which looked out of range of falling buildings. The aftershocks kept coming. I reached home and found both my parents alive and uninjured. I couldn't believe that our 30-year-old house was still standing. As I walked my cousin to where his parents were, we kept hearing rumors: "More quakes forecast by experts for 5 p.m. and midnight." As if to confirm, tremors shook us at six and more would follow at 10 p.m. and midnight, with smaller shocks throughout the night. Along the northern boundary of the former royal museum, the wall had collapsed and people had poured out of the Uttar Dhoka neighborhood onto the palace lawn. Green military tents meant for two people were now packed with six and the army was trying hard to accommodate as many as possible. In Thamel, an electricity pole had squashed an abandoned taxi. A few men took turns taking photos with the wrecked car. In Kantipath, a handful of backpackers were discussing where to make camp. Back home, my parents decided against going to the nearby Sifal Chaur football field where families were sleeping on plastic mattresses under rudimentary tents. Instead, their tactic was to stay on the ground floor, be awakened by tremors, and then scamper to a corner of our garden that seemed relatively safe. I did not sleep a wink. | Journalist Sunir Pandey was visiting relatives with Nepal's 7.8 magnitude quake struck . He says they ran to shelter under a concrete beam and prayed, as dust rose from the rubble . | 8b17191f31c4e71f317901adefdaca81e0e885a7 |
Stornaway, Scotland (CNN)Huge military exercises are underway off and around Britain's coast, but NATO insists they are not a deliberate response to the Russian military's increasingly brazen behavior. The British-led war games are code named Joint Warrior and the numbers are all big: 13,000 personnel from 14 countries operating more than 50 ships and submarines as well as 70 aircraft. NATO says the planning started long before Russia began behaving as an adversary. For more than a year NATO has been condemning Russia's actions in Ukraine as well as its frequent, large scale, snap military drills and those long-range Bear bombers repeatedly flying very close to NATO airspace. So, if Joint Warrior is not a deliberate response, it's certainly a timely one. CNN was invited to spend a day aboard one of the vessels taking part -- the U.S. Navy's guided missile cruiser USS Vicksburg. It's the current flag ship of a standing NATO maritime group. Commanding officer Rear Adm. Brad Williamson says Russia's behavior is an added motivation to do well in these exercises. "Anytime you have a security situation that reminds us it's not just a game we're doing out here, that there are real world implications to our ability to provide security to alliance members, I think that focuses our minds on what we're doing," Williamson says. Other personnel on the Vicksburg tell us competition between different nations and even individual ships and subs is also a big motivator. The details of these war games are top secret. But they're broken into two parts: The set training exercises that involve vessels or groups completing specific jobs and what they call "free play". That's where everyone's divided into two teams with different orders and motivations manipulated by the game masters. Tensions rise and it's likely pretend war follows. Easy to see how things get competitive. Russia has taken an interest. It used its right under what's known as the Vienna document to send its own inspectors. NATO says they only stayed a few days and didn't see anything sensitive. | NATO is holding huge war games exercises off the coast of Scotland . Alliance says planning started long before Russia renewed its status as the alliance's chief adversary . But commanding officer says Russia's behavior is an added motivation to do well in these exercises . | 75856755c45cc51f660325d199cc6db450e12e68 |
Atlanta (CNN)"Do you use toilet paper?" That's the question 26-year-old Anamarie Shreeves receives most often. It's not exactly a typical question, but Shreeves, who lives in Atlanta and is the site manager for the nonprofit Keep Atlanta Beautiful, lives what some may consider an atypical lifestyle: She creates almost no waste. The list of things she doesn't use would send shivers up a consumer marketer's spine: No plastic packaging, no new clothing, no metal cans, no cars (and in turn, no gas). The small amount of waste Shreeves does create goes straight into a 32-ounce mason jar that sits three-quarters full right next to her kitchen sink. Its contents include produce stickers, some paper tea bag wrappers and a long, twisted piece of cotton that went around her toes for a recent pedicure. This is all the waste she has collected in nearly half a year. That's right, EVERYTHING. Six month's worth of garbage for Shreeves is similar to what the average person generates in half a day. A Maryland native, Shreeves considered herself an "Earth advocate" from a fairly young age. Of her four brothers and sisters, she says she was always the one wading in the creek that passed by her backyard, climbing trees and pushing her family to stop being so wasteful. "I got them their first recycling bin," she said. Shreeves began her journey into zero-waste living two years ago. She had just quit her job working in television and decided to move to Ecuador for a few months. Before she left she resolved to get rid of as much of her stuff as possible. She had read a blog post by a woman who lives a zero waste life in New York called the No Trash Project, and she was inspired. "The average person throws away a ton of trash a year," Shreeves said. "One single person. For her to go to zero like that, I was just amazed." Upon her return from Ecuador, Shreeves decided to take the lifestyle she started before she left to the next level. In April of last year, she officially began to live zero waste. Simplifying her existence wasn't easy. She had to rid herself of old habits. In the first week, she filled up half the mason jar with paper towels after grabbing them to dry her hands, just out of habit. It also took a while to feel comfortable with the funny stares she would get after politely asking food vendors to put her sandwiches and salads into her metal tin instead of paper and plastic containers. But she stayed strong and a year later she is at the point where she composts, makes her own shampoo, toothpaste and even uses reusable feminine products. And yes, she does use toilet paper -- the kind that's quickly biodegradable. The key to making it all work is an enormous amount of preparation. Shreeves packs her bags every day with a cup to drink out of, a metal tin and a reusable fork and knife, a cloth napkin and a couple canvas bags. This allows her to avoid the waste that comes so often with prepared foods. She has also had to stop going to some of her favorite restaurants and coffee shops because they won't provide reusable kitchenware. Shreeves acknowledges that with this lifestyle come certain restrictions; she has learned to make most of her food from scratch to avoid packaging. She also has to put more time into getting places by bike or public transportation. But without a doubt, the rewards for her outweigh the inconveniences. "The quality of life that I experience as a zero waster far exceeds my life before. It's made me appreciate the things that I do have. I wouldn't want to be in another space," she said. To learn more about cutting down on waste, visit Shreeves' blog, fortnegrita.com. | 26-year-old Atlanta woman uses a mason jar as a trash can . She has produced about as much waste in six months as an average person does in less than a day . She strives to live a 'zero waste' lifestyle . | f55abc14805496af56cf53489cfdb40e116567cf |
(CNN)You might call her a watchdog, because this Boston area Doberman really has a thing for timepieces. She recently ate three. Last Thursday, Jeff Courcelle came home from work to find 5-year-old Mocha -- a pure bred fawn-colored Doberman pincher -- hovering over a pile of screws, metal pieces, three watch heads and some chewed leather straps. "My husband, who's the most calm person that I know, called me up and said, 'I'm not quite sure if I should panic,' " said Courcelle's wife, Michele Parkinson. The 80-pound Doberman, whom her owners describe as "more goofy than scary," had pulled down a basket of wrist wear from a shelf in their bedroom and eaten nearly all the contents. Parkinson knew that Mocha wouldn't be able to pass all that leather on her own. The couple took her to the MSPCA's Angell Animal Medical Center, a 24-hour emergency and specialty hospital, where a veterinarian performed a 3-hour endoscopy to explore the contents of her belly. Mocha was a repeat offender: Just last summer, she got very sick and had to have emergency stomach surgery after a piece of plastic from an orange juice container perforated her intestine. She had 28 staples down her belly and 10 inches of intestine removed, Parkinson said. Fortunately this time, the jewelry remains were still in Mocha's belly and had not made their way into the digestive tract. The X-ray, however, was disturbing. Parkinson and her husband were just expecting to see a couple metal pieces. "It just looked like a Christmas tree and I almost threw up," Parkinson said. The veterinarian removed "about a pound of leather straps and metal pieces and detritus" during the endoscopy, and let nature take its course for the remaining pieces, MSPCA spokesman Rob Halpin said. As of Friday, Mocha was no worse for wear. The hospital sees dozens of cases each week of dogs ingesting foreign objects, and is trained to look for the symptoms of blockages -- typically lethargy, not eating and vomiting, Halpin said. They once saw a golden retriever who had stopped eating and found 43 pacifiers in her belly. (Apparently she was taking them from babies at the park.) And there was the 100-pound bull mastiff who ate his owner's brie that was set out for a party -- along with the cheese knife. The night Mocha stayed in the hospital, a nervous Parkinson stayed awake reading stories about dogs ingesting watches and other objects. She found one article about a Newfoundland whose owner knew something was awry only when he heard an alarm go off from his dog's belly. "We've taken every imaginable thing that could fit down the gullet of a dog out with surgery," Halpin said. "There's some evolutionary traits that some dogs have that lead them to eat first and think later ... and some of them are so food motivated that anything with a scent could be associated with food, and they go for it." Mocha likes to suck on fleece blankets and has been known to eat rubber ear buds or hair elastics, but nothing like a pile of jewelry, Parkinson said. Her breeder wondered if the dog was acting out of anxiety. That day, Parkinson had left Mocha in a different apartment the couple owns that the dog wasn't as used to. The breeder told Parkinson that Dobermans are particularly known to get anxious and do these sort of things. "She had a dog that actually consumed her whole dog bed," Parkinson said. From now on, Parkinson said she will put Mocha in a crate if the dog will be staying somewhere new. Follow-up X-rays Monday on Mocha showed a few pieces of metal left, "but they were moving along" and the vet expected her to pass them naturally. Parkinson said Friday Mocha was "her playful, energetic, curious Doberman self." But now that she thinks of it, the timing of this whole incident is a little suspicious. "My husband was all excited about the new Apple watch, but couldn't justify a reason to purchase it since he owned three watches," she said. "I am convinced that he and Mocha joined forces here to destroy all of his current watches in order to make room for Apple's new watch." | A Boston-area dog ate three of her owner's wristwatches . A veterinarian removed about 1 lb. of watch parts from her stomach . Mocha the Doberman is now doing well . | 08407e8a4629fcfbee9b3feb32574fb36e3f47c9 |
(CNN)An unmanned Russian spacecraft originally bound for the International Space Station will re-enter the Earth's atmosphere after flight controllers lost contact with it, American astronaut Scott Kelly said Wednesday. The spacecraft that lost contact with flight controllers will re-enter the Earth's atmosphere in about a week, Roscosmos, the Russian Federal Space Agency, said Wednesday. "Roscosmos (the Russian Federal Space Agency) announced that the Progress will not be docking and will re-enter the Earth's atmosphere," Kelly said from the space station. The Progress resupply vehicle will come off its orbit and will begin its combustion in the atmosphere between May 5 and May 7, according to Roscosmos. The Progress vehicle does not present any danger to the International Space Station due to a significant difference in orbit, Roscosmos added. The Russia space agency said it is working on its next supply flight to the ISS and expects to launch a new Progress ship in the third quarter of this year. Russia lost contact with ISS Progress 59 during a resupply mission to the International Space Station. The ship is now spinning out of control, NASA said. Even if Russia hadn't lost contact with the craft, the original plan was for Progress to burn up re-entering Earth's atmosphere -- albeit with garbage rather than a full load of equipment for the space station. According to NASA information on the Progress resupply vehicle, "After the cargo is removed and before the Progress undocks, the crew refills it with trash, unneeded equipment and wastewater, which will burn up with the spacecraft when it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere." The cargo spacecraft launched successfully early Tuesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. But after it separated from the Soyuz booster rocket's third stage, Russian flight controllers were unable to confirm the health of all the spacecraft's systems, including the deployment of navigational antennae, NASA said. "The spacecraft made another pass over Russian ground stations and continued to experience telemetry problems regarding the deployment of navigational antennas and the pressurization of the manifolds in the propulsion system," the American space agency said in an update. A planned rendezvous with the ISS six hours later was initially postponed to Thursday but has now been canceled, NASA said in its latest update. "Docking has been called off for the Progress 59 spacecraft," it said. "Russian flight controllers are continuing to assess the vehicle and what the plan going forward will be. Additional information will be provided as it becomes available." Few details have been forthcoming so far from Roscosmos. According to NASA, the cargo ship is carrying more than 3 tons of food, fuel, oxygen, spare parts and scientific experiment hardware for the space station. But the hitch will not put the six ISS crew members at risk, NASA said. "The spacecraft was not carrying any supplies critical for the United States Operating Segment (USOS) of the station," a statement said. "Both the Russian and USOS segments of the station continue to operate normally and are adequately supplied well beyond the next planned resupply flight." That next flight, which will be the seventh SpaceX commercial resupply services mission to the space station, is not scheduled to take off before June 19, NASA said. Meanwhile, Russian flight controllers continue their efforts to make contact with Progress 59 as it passes over Russian ground stations. NASA said Tuesday that Russian flight controllers had "confirmed that the vehicle had entered into a slow spin and have issued commands to attempt to control it." According to Russian state news agency Tass, six attempts to make contact were to be made Wednesday. The U.S. supplies on board the spacecraft include spare parts for the station's environmental control and life support system, backup spacewalk hardware and crew clothing, "all of which are replaceable," NASA said. U.S. astronaut Terry Virts, from Maryland, is the current space station commander. CNN's Eliott C. McLaughlin, Suzanne Presto and Amanda Barnett contributed to this report. | Progress 59 spacecraft will re-enter Earth's atmosphere in a week, Russia space agency says . NASA: Russian flight controllers have been trying to make contact with the unmanned space freighter . Space station crew can manage without supplies carried by the spacecraft, NASA says . | 3c2040c68ca45c78b440e299b72956907b2f9390 |
(CNN)I will always remember when things turned. I was 12 years old, and my younger sister and I were with our parents attending a peaceful demonstration in downtown Miami near the courthouse. We were there to protest the acquittal of four police officers in the beating death of unarmed motorcyclist Arthur McDuffie. I had learned the word "acquittal" just that day. It meant they wouldn't be held responsible. Community leaders were gathered at the front, speaking to a crowd that was in shock and full of anger and despair. The trial had been covered extensively, and nobody could believe that the fatal beating -- with the extent of the physical wounds to McDuffie's head and body -- could be justified or excused. I started to hear rumblings coming from around the perimeter of the immediate crowd. There was shouting and cursing. Bottle throwing. Then a car was turned over and set on fire. That was Miami 35 years ago, but it could just as easily have been Baltimore this week. The Miami riots of 1980 were the first major "race riots" since the wave of riots spread across the nation in the 1960s. Harlem 1964: Police shooting of 15-year-old James Powell. Watts 1965: Arrest of 21-year-old Marquette Frye for drunken driving. Newark 1967: Police beating of John Smith while under arrest. Detroit 1967: Police raid on a "blind pig" after-hours bar. Then the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, and Baltimore and 125 other cities erupted in flames. The immediate catalysts for the waves of riots in the 1960s before the death of Dr. King were police action, or, more specifically, perceived unjust police action. That was true in Miami in 1980 after the acquittal of the police officers. And the same in Los Angeles in 1992 after the acquittal of police officers for the beating of motorist Rodney King. Wednesday marks the 23rd anniversary of the start of the Los Angeles riots. And now we have Baltimore 2015, with the death of suspect Freddie Gray in police custody. My parents were leaders and participants in the nonviolent civil rights movement, and they raised me to understand that youths were the key to the movement. It was the images of young people all over the country -- often facing physical danger, discipline from their parents and suspension from school -- that propelled the civil rights movement into the national spotlight. Juxtapose decades-old images of youths being hosed down by police during nonviolent demonstrations in Birmingham and Selma with Tuesday's images of Baltimore youths throwing rocks at police, and you wonder what has happened. As a 12-year-old girl in Miami, I didn't understand how people could injure and even kill others and destroy their neighborhoods, and risk going to jail, by rioting. I was afraid because I didn't see my father for days as he and other community leaders walked the streets to try to restore calm. I was also afraid that such senseless violence could only derail the legitimate causes of the African-American community, causes historically advanced by nonviolent civil disobedience and through legislative channels. But two months ago, I agreed to moderate a panel at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights called "Riot -- The Voice of the Unheard?" The occasion was to mark the Atlanta premiere of "Detroit '67," a play written by Dominique Morisseau and directed by Kamilah Forbes that chronicled the journey of a family as they lived through the turmoil of the Detroit '67 riot, including the joy and love they found with one another. The play and the panel were programmed by Kenny Leon's True Colors Theatre Company, a nonprofit devoted to presenting artistic interpretations with diverse voices so that individuals and institutions can have a shared platform in their quest for understanding in American society. Inspired by the mission, I had recently joined the board. Although pegged to the past, the purpose of the panel was to examine how current events relating to police actions against African-American men could potentially lead to rioting and what could be done to prevent it. I learned that some questioned whether riots are actually purposeless and uncontrolled violence, or whether they are purposeful uprisings against individuals and institutions. I learned that those who participate in riots often feel hopeless and dehumanized, both as the victims of police action against them that triggered the riots and as perpetrators of violence during riots. I learned that riots in the 1960s played a role in advancing the civil rights agenda, often by galvanizing local and national government officials to work with peaceful community, church and civil rights leaders to address the root causes of riots. This is a controversial part of our civil rights history that has been sanitized. At the conclusion of the 1967 Detroit riot, President Lyndon Johnson condemned the violence but said in his address to the nation that: "This is not a time for angry reaction. It is a time for action, starting with legislative action to improve the life in our cities. The strength and promise of the law are the surest remedies for tragedy in the street. ..." His administration convened the Kerner Commission to examine the 1965-68 riots, and its findings were that racism had led to joblessness, poverty, a lack of political power, unfair housing, police brutality and inferior schools. After the beating of Rodney King in Los Angeles, the Christopher Commission was established and concluded that racial profiling and excessive force, unjust treatment in the criminal justice system, poor housing, and the lack of jobs and education were triggers for the riots. After all of these riots, the affected city, state and national governments enacted plans and programs to address some of these underlying conditions. Maybe the Baltimore youths involved in the riots felt the way one youth did in Watts in 1965. As recounted in "The Great Rebellion" by Kenneth Stahl, Dr. King went to Watts to try to calm tensions, and a hostile youth said to him: "We won." King challenged him: "How have you won? Homes are destroyed, blacks are dead in the streets, stores you shop from for food and clothes are destroyed." The young man replied, "We won because we made the whole world pay attention ... the police chief and mayor had never been here. We made them come." Dr. King would say near the end of his life: "It is not enough for me to stand before you tonight and condemn riots. It would be morally irresponsible for me to do that without, at the same time, condemning the contingent, intolerable conditions that exist in our society. These conditions are the things that cause individuals to feel that they have no other alternative than to engage in violent rebellions to get attention. And I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the unheard." When I learned that Baltimore high school students planned a purge based on the movie "The Purge," in which people were legally absolved for their anarchistic crimes, it suddenly made sense. They thought they wouldn't be held responsible for their crimes. They thought they would be absolved -- a word not much different from the word "acquitted" I learned the day of the Miami riots. But they got it wrong. They will forever live the repercussions of their actions, regardless of the impetus. But the Rev. Jamal Bryant got it right when he said he would open his Empowerment Temple AME Church in Baltimore to youths who would not be in school so he could teach them the power of nonviolence to change society. That power was evident after the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and the decision not to indict the officer who killed him. Those protests were mostly peaceful. And the government responded -- not out of fear of violence, but because of a desire to change the conditions that led to the protests. After several months of investigation, the far-reaching Justice Department report on Ferguson issued in March concluded that the use of policing to raise revenue, combined with a systemic racial bias, had led to a pattern and practice of discrimination and Fourth, 14th, Sixth and First Amendment rights violations against African-Americans in Ferguson. The report made recommendations that the Ferguson Police Department, as well as other departments across the country, should enact to improve police relations in communities of color. The riots in Baltimore have rightfully been quashed, but the voices of nonviolent protesters continue to be heard. | Johnita Due: The anger and frustration I saw in 1980 Miami is repeated in 2015 Baltimore . She says teaching the power of nonviolent protest is essential . | c484fc4636acdcd19c27baa6716ad9c805060a19 |
(CNN)The night before her daughter's first triathlon, Kate Parker could tell the child was nervous. Ella and her younger sister, Alice, are athletic, loud, curious, wild-haired kids. They grew up watching their mother compete in races and Ella had asked to sign up for her own. Still, as they laid out everything she'd need the next day, Parker, a photographer, could tell she was afraid. "Why don't we get a picture?" Parker asked Ella, now 9. "Show me your strongest face, show me your bravest face, even if you don't feel that way right now." As she pulled the image up on her screen, she got chills from her daughter's direct stare. She looked, Parker said, like "a little badass." "You're going to be totally fine," Parker showed her. "Look at how tough you are." The next day, Ella participated in her race, and loved it. Looking back, "I wanted her to remember that she was scared and she went through with it, sort of as a memento of her conquering a fear, " said Parker, who lives near Atlanta. "As a mom, I really wanted to get a good picture of it, too." The photo is one of Parker's favorites from her series, "Strong is the New Pretty." It covers the last two years, but evolved from Parker's early days behind a camera, when she shot daily images of her girls to expand her knowledge of lighting and composition. It seemed that most images of little girls showcased perfectly placed hair bows, forced smiles and Photoshop-smooth skin. Hers didn't. "I didn't want to shoot pictures like that. I didn't want girls to think they had to look like that," said Parker, whose daughters are now 6 and 9. "Whoever they were, however they were, was worthy of an image. Whatever they were was good enough." So, she shot her girls and their friends as they were -- freckled, muddy, screaming, laughing, jumping in the pool, collecting worms in the creek, barreling into the wilderness of early adolescence on skateboards and bicycles. "I want to capture them before they lose that sense of 'I'm so awesome.' I wanted them to keep that as long as they could," Parker said. "I started to shoot with that in mind, but it was already there." The girls pose for an occasional portrait, but most are kid-inspired moments, shaped by childish wonderment and energy. As parents, Parker and her husband encourage their girls to play outside, make new friends and try new things without worrying about grass-stained knees and knots in their hair, Parker said. Now, the girls have the confidence and curiosity to do it on their own. "They're just being themselves, and I'm just recording it," Parker said. Responses to the images are mostly positive, Parker said, but there's the occasional complaint that she's showing just one type of girl. It's true, Parker said: They're the ones she's raising, the only ones whose adventures she can document 24/7. She hopes the project inspires parents to find their own creative ways to capture their children's lives. More important, she wants kids to see they can be strong in whatever they are and whatever they hope to be. Parker's own kids still surprise her. "Alice is a beautiful singer. When I hear her sing, it makes me cry," Parker said. "Ella has this amazing, kind heart that cares more about the experience than the win. It's something that I did not teach her. "Whatever it is, it's OK." | Kate Parker is the photographer and mother behind "Strong is the New Pretty" The photo series shows her messy, wild daughters as they are, Parker said . | 47b2ad590d29f766eb0f6e114ababb53e4e7cf50 |
(CNN)Atop the Amazon bestselling books list this month sat an unexpected title: "Secret Garden." It wasn't Frances Hodgson Burnett's 1911 novel about a sour little girl's magical place, making a book club comeback. It was a similarly named coloring book that adults were buying, for themselves, and it wasn't the only one in the top 10. Johanna Basford's "Secret Garden: An Inky Treasure Hunt & Coloring Book" (now at No. 3 on Amazon) along with her second effort, "Enchanted Forest: An Inky Quest & Coloring Book" (No. 6); "Balance (Angie's Extreme Stress Menders Volume 1)" by Angie Grace (No. 9); and "The Mindfulness Colouring Book: Anti-stress Art Therapy for Busy People" by Emma Farrarons (No. 8 on Amazon UK) are selling at a rapid clip. Though they can be used by kids, these and other new coloring book titles are being marketed to stressed-out, work-addled adults, who want to benefit from the quiet zen that a coloring session can bring. "Adult coloring is absolutely a growing trend and consumers are really taking to the idea," Farrarons' U.S. publisher, Matthew Lore of The Experiment publishing group, wrote in an email. "Not only is it calming and good for your health, it's just fun! The demand is increasing exponentially as the word spreads." While Farrarons and Basford are based in the UK, the concept is taking off in the U.S. too, with the publication of titles like Virginia-based art therapist Lacy Mucklow and illustrator Angela Porter's "Color Me Calm" and "Color Me Happy," created for the minds and motor skills of Mom and Dad, not the kids. The trend doesn't seem to be letting up. Basford is working on a third title, Farrarons has been commissioned for a second book, and Mucklow and Porter will release "Color Me Stress-Free" in September. Adults have long used crafts to unwind, but why coloring books? Why now? It may have something to do with online access -- and, funnily enough, the desire to unplug. Ordering a coloring book that suits adult tastes online is easier than walking into a bookstore where the only options have Barbie or Thomas the Tank Engine themes. Plus, everyone's favorite online crafting hub, Pinterest, is a treasure trove of adult coloring pages, with themes ranging from nature and animals to classic paintings. Meanwhile, like children, adults need a break from screen time -- and many are rediscovering the analog pleasures of coloring inside the lines. "I'm a grown-up, but I still love coloring books," novelist Matt Cain proclaimed in a piece for The Guardian. "If I switch off the phone, computer and TV and concentrate solely on choosing the right shade of blue, avoiding going over the lines and slowly filling up my page with colour, all my other concerns, I've discovered, fade to nothing," Cain wrote. The therapeutic benefits of art are nothing new; it's a concept that practitioners use with patients of all ages. Atlanta-based art therapist Susanne Fincher, who has published several coloring books, said coloring can lift the mood, reduce anxiety and relieve stress. "Art making is a powerful intervention," Fincher wrote in an email. "Neuroscientific research has shown that through the use of art therapy, the human brain can physically change, grow, and rejuvenate." True art therapy, she warned, should be administered only by a qualified professional. Mindfulness and meditative coloring are recurring themes in the growing adult coloring book industry. A search for "adult coloring books" on Amazon or Barnes and Noble will yield several books of mandalas, a ritual symbol in Buddhism and Hinduism that represents the universe, waiting to be colored in. "I sometimes give clients one of my mandala coloring books for homework between sessions with me," Fincher wrote. "Coloring mandalas can empower a client to manage thoughts and feelings on their own with the positive activity of coloring, instead of, for example, overeating or abusing substances." The opportunity to craft a mindfulness coloring book for adults was serendipitous for illustrator Farrarons, who had been practicing mindfulness for a few years before getting the offer to create a book. "In mindfulness, it is encouraged to break patterns in life by introducing variation to avoid the sensation of being on autopilot," Farrarons wrote in an email while on holiday in Korea. "Each page has been caringly designed with this in mind, so that the person coloring can hop at random from one pattern to the next. " Coloring books like Farrarons' pocket-sized volume bring a bit of calming and spirituality to the masses, but for some adult enthusiasts coloring is just a fun throwback to a simpler time, she added. "It reminds me of hours spent filling in scenes from a coloring book as a little girl. In the digital age that we are in, surely, it can only be a good thing to pick up a pencil and feel young again." | Coloring books made for adults are popular on Amazon's bestselling books list . Books with calming, meditative and spiritual themes appeal to adults looking to unwind . | ec71c98fe6585e971039144aa70e8a4c94c1839d |
(CNN)Whether quaffing artisanal cocktails at hipster bars or knocking back no-name beers on the couch, more Americans are drinking heavily -- and engaging in episodes of binge-drinking, concludes a major study of alcohol use. Heavy drinking among Americans rose 17.2 percent between 2005 and 2012, largely due to rising rates among women, according to the study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, published Thursday in the American Journal of Public Health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines heavy drinking as exceeding an average of one drink per day during the past month for women and two drinks per day for men. Binge drinking is defined as four or more drinks for women and five or more drinks for men on a single occasion at least once during the past month. The increases are driven largely by women's drinking habits as social norms change, researchers found. In Santa Clara County, Calif., for example, women's binge drinking rates rose by nearly 36 percent between 2002 and 2012, compared with 23 percent among men. Nationwide over the course of the decade, the rate of binge drinking among women increased more than seven times the rate among men. Opinion: Why are more women drinking? "It seems like women are trying to catch up to the men in binge drinking," said Ali Mokdad, a lead author of the study. "It's really, really scary." The study is the first to track adult drinking patterns at the county level. In 2012, 8 percent of Americans were considered heavy drinkers and 18 percent were binge drinkers. Despite the increases in heavy drinking, the percentage of people who drink any alcohol has remained relatively unchanged over time, researchers found. Madison County, Idaho, reported the lowest rate of binge drinking in 2012, at 6 percent, while Menominee, Wis., had the highest rate, at 36 percent. Hancock County, Tenn., had the fewest heavy drinkers (2 percent of residents) and Esmeralda County, Nev., recorded the most (22 percent). Related: 1 in 5 high school girls binge drink . About 88,600 U.S. deaths were attributed to alcohol in 2010, the researchers note, and the cost of excessive drinking has been estimated at more than $220 billion per year. The increase in binge drinking doesn't surprise Terri Fukagawa, clinical director of the New Life Recovery Centers in San Jose, Calif., where 15 of her 24 treatment beds are filled with clients primarily addicted to alcohol. She said she's seen more people seeking treatment for alcoholism in the past four years. Still, she noted, "there are a lot of people still out there needing treatment, but they won't come in unless they have a consequence like losing a job or [getting] a DUI. They think they have control over it." Public health experts offer a number of cultural and economic explanations for the increase in excessive drinking. As a result of changed social norms, it's now more acceptable for women to drink the way men traditionally have, said Tom Greenfield, scientific director at the Alcohol Research Group at the Oakland, Calif.-based Public Health Institute. Young people are more likely to binge drink, and affluent people have the money to drink more. So the influx of wealthy professionals in cities like San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland -- many in hard-working, hard-partying tech jobs -- may have helped spur significant spikes in drinking rates in the Bay Area and similar communities, experts said. Taxes on alcohol have not risen along with the Consumer Price Index, so wine, beer and liquor have gotten cheaper over time in real dollars, he said. Alcohol advertising, particularly for hard liquor, has increased in recent years. A Federal Trade Commission study found that companies spent about $3.45 billion to advertise alcoholic beverages in 2011. Alcohol control policies, such as limits on when and where alcohol can be sold and how long bars can stay open, have weakened in past decades, Greenfield said. That may partly explain rising consumption nationwide, particularly in some states where "blue laws" once prohibited alcohol sales on Sundays or in supermarkets. To conduct the study, researchers analyzed data on about 3.7 million Americans aged 21 and older from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, an ongoing telephone survey of health behaviors conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Kaiser Health News (KHN) is a nonprofit national health policy news service. | Heavy drinking among Americans rose 17.2 percent between 2005 and 2012 . The increase is driven largely by women's drinking habits . It's now more acceptable for women to drink the way men traditionally have, says one expert . | 862330937cc06b461525bd492ce803540573d000 |
(The Hollywood Reporter)Roseanne Barr has revealed that she is slowly going blind. In an interview with The Daily Beast, Barr said she suffers from macular degeneration and glaucoma and told the website, "My vision is closing in now." The comedic actress said smoking marijuana is "good medicine" for relieving the pressure in her eyes. Tribeca 2015: 9 Must-see films . "It's something weird. But there are other weird things. That one's harsh, 'cause I read a lot, and then I thought, 'Well, I guess I could hire somebody to read for me and read to me.' But I like words and I like looking. You do what you have to do. I just try and enjoy vision as much as possible -- y'know, living it up. My dad had it, too," the actress said. Barr also defended her use of pot, saying, "It's expansive. It opens your mind" and "It makes you wonder. It doesn't close that down." Roger Ailes: Why Fox News will never hire Jon Stewart . Doctors have not given Barr a definitive timeline on when she can expect to lose all visibility. The actress attended the Tribeca Film Festival in support of her documentary "Roseanne for President!" Directed by Eric Weinrib, the film follows Barr in her unsuccessful attempt to become the Green Party's 2012 presidential nominee. The Peace and Freedom Party eventually made Barr its nominee. | Roseanne Barr told the Daily Beast that she is slowly going blind . Barr said she has macular degeneration and glaucoma . | ff3d465726a4397b740e5dbb7264f988f0d08f28 |
(CNN)Hawaii is poised to become the first state in the nation to prohibit the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products to anybody under age 21. The state's legislature on Friday passed a bill raising the minimum legal age -- currently 18 -- to buy tobacco or e-cigarettes. The bill will now go before Gov. David Ige, whose signature would make it law in Hawaii as of January 1, 2016. Forty-six U.S. states permit the sale of tobacco to anyone 18 or older, while Alabama, Alaska, New Jersey and Utah require customers to be at least 19. Dozens of cities and towns, including New York, have already raised the minimum legal age for tobacco purchases to 21. "This bold step will reduce smoking among young people, save lives and help make the next generation tobacco-free," said Matthew L. Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, in a prepared statement. "Increasing the sale age to 21 will reduce tobacco use among youth and young adults, age groups when nearly all smoking begins and that are heavily targeted by the tobacco industry," he said. It was not clear Monday whether Ige would sign the bill, although on Friday he approved legislation banning the the use of e-cigarettes in all locations where smoking is illegal. A spokeswoman for the governor told CNN in an email that he would need some time to review the bill. The legislation comes after a report last month from the Institute of Medicine that said barring people under age 21 from buying cigarettes would have significant public health benefits. Setting the minimum age at 21 nationwide would result in nearly a quarter-million fewer premature deaths and 50,000 fewer deaths from lung cancer among people born between 2000 and 2019, the report estimated. Raise the smoking age? Report predicts big health benefits if we do . Teenagers, especially those between 15 and 17, are most vulnerable to addiction at a time when their brains are still developing, said the study, which was conducted at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. If the minimum legal age for tobacco use was raised to 21, the prevalence of smokers among today's teens would decline by 12% when they become adults, the report said. Under the Hawaii bill, anyone caught breaking the law would face a $10 fine for the first offense and a $50 fine or community service for a second offense. A 2014 survey of Hawaii voters found that 71% favored raising the legal age to 21. | Hawaii's legislature passes a bill raising the legal age for buying tobacco to 21 . The bill is now before Gov. David Ige, whose signature would make it law . Most states allow tobacco sales to anyone 18 and older . | 7bf02e3c3cb51e853f8d67400622681f86da6e4d |
(CNN)Combining healthy eating with moral support, Jean Nidetch became a heavyweight in the weight-loss industry. The founder of Weight Watchers died Wednesday at her home in Florida. She was 91. What would become Weight Watchers started as a group of friends meeting in her Queens, New York, living room in 1961. Nidetch described herself as an "overweight housewife obsessed with cookies." After countless fad diets, Nidetch figured that accountability was the key to keeping the weight off. At the time, she was 38 years old and weighed more than 200 pounds. Her guiding philosophy: "It's choice -- not chance -- that determines your destiny." Through the program of regular weigh-ins, peer support and accountability, not only did Nidetch lose 72 pounds, but she inspired millions more to shed pounds too. She officially launched Weight Watchers in 1963 and took the company public five years later. "Jean was an inspiration and an innovator who leaves behind a legacy and program that has positively impacted the health and well-being of millions of people around the world," said Jim Chambers, president and CEO Weight Watchers International. "It is our honor and responsibility to carry on her legacy to help more people to transform their lives." | Jean Nidetch started Weight Watchers in 1963 . Nidetch's philosophy: "It's choice -- not chance -- that determines your destiny" | 0e964fb9a4f51c91c23125e78a1f6f95373c5ca9 |
(CNN)Roseanne Barr revealed earlier this week that she is going blind. In an interview with The Daily Beast, the 62-year-old comic talked about her struggle with macular degeneration and glaucoma — two eye diseases that get progressively worse over time and can steal vision. Barr's doctors haven't provided a timeline, but her symptoms are worsening: "My vision is closing in now," she said. "I just try and enjoy vision as much as possible. Y'know, living it up." Related: 9 worst eye care mistakes you're making . Macular degeneration is a breakdown of the part of the retina that allows us to see fine details in the center of vision; while glaucoma damages the nerve that connects the retina to the brain, and is often caused by fluid build-up and pressure in the eyes. (Barr said in the interview that she helps relieve the pressure by using marijuana, which is known to temporarily lower pressure inside the eye.) "It's somewhat unusual that Roseanne Bar has both, but not unheard of," explains ophthalmologist Steven A. Shanbom, MD, of Shanbom Eye Specialists in Berkley, Mich. Though there are some controllable risk factors, certain people are genetically predisposed to these diseases, so Barr may simply be prone to both. "Certainly it's sad. The combination of the two is terrible. Macular degeneration takes away her central vision, and glaucoma is taking away her peripheral vision," Dr. Shanbom adds. (He is not treating Roseanne Barr, and does not know the specifics of her case.) The risk for both diseases goes up for everyone after age 60, with some people, especially African Americans, at higher risk in their 40s. That's why the American Academy of Opthalmology recommends getting a baseline eye exam when you turn the big 4-0, even if you have perfect vision. In the early stages, you can have either condition, but have no symptoms at all. Things like a family history or high blood pressure, or issues within the eye (like having a thinner cornea, for example) might lead your MD to prescribe drops that can reduce your chances of developing glaucoma by about half. Related: 10 natural ways to lower blood pressure . There is no cure for either disease. But like those eyedrops, there are treatments that may delay the progression of early-stage glaucoma (from other drugs to surgery), and therapies that might halt further vision loss in advanced cases of macular degeneration (including an implantable telescope). The future looks brighter however: An animal study published this month suggests that an injection of stem cells into the eye might slow or even reverse the effects of early-stage macular degeneration. There are also simple things you can start doing right now to ward off these diseases. Here, five ways to protect your peepers. Slip on your shades—even when it's cloudy . Sun exposure can up the risk for glaucoma and macular degeneration, as well as cataracts (clouding of the lenses). Make sure your sunglasses offer 99% to 100% UV protection. Sporting a pair that doesn't filter UV light is more dangerous than wearing no shades at all, because the dark lenses cause your pupils to dilate and allow in more harmful rays. Schedule in a regular walk . Studies indicate that aerobic exercise can reduce the eye pressure that leads to glaucoma, and may improve blood flow to the retina and optic nerve. According to the Glaucoma Research Foundation, all you need to do is raise your pulse 20% to 25% (which could mean a brisk walk) for 20 minutes, a minimum of four times a week. Related: 9 tweaks that make walking workouts more effective . Eat your greens . Spinach, kale, and other leafy greens are packed with lutein and zeaxanthin—antioxidants that lower your risk of developing macular degeneration (and cataracts too), research shows. Another good source: egg yolks. Snack on almonds, citrus, and berries . Almonds are loaded with vitamin E (a handful provides about half your daily dose), which slows macular degeneration; while citrus fruit and berries are filled with vitamin C, which cuts your odds of developing the disease. Avoid cigarette smoke . While smoking is bad news for many parts of your body, you may not have considered eyes to be one of them. However, smoking doubles your risk of macular degeneration. Avoiding cigs can not only protect your lungs and heart, it can protect your peepers too. | Barr has macular degeneration and glaucoma, eye diseases that get progressively worse and can steal vision . The risk for both diseases goes up for everyone after age 60 . Sun exposure can up the risk for glaucoma and macular degeneration . | 98103d9eff136682470cdbd0ce9972d3c508cff0 |
(CNN)People have long underestimated the athleticism necessary for golf. But over the last decade, with fit golfers like Tiger Woods, Adam Scott, and now Jordan Spieth all winning the Masters, the training perspective on golf is shifting. There's a particular emphasis on the functional movement required to execute the perfect swing, which is why yoga is increasingly appealing to golfers. During the Masters, Spieth demonstrated optimal movement in two key areas that enhance swing power and fluid control while decreasing the risk of back and knee injuries: mid-back mobility and internal hip rotation. Equally important, he did it while maintaining a stable low back and integrated core strength as the foundation for expressing his swing mobility. Related: Yoga for triathletes . Remember Tiger Wood's low-back problem earlier this year? Tiger blamed a lack of glute (primary buttock muscle) firing for locking up his back, but attempting to rotate from his low back instead of moving functionally from his mid back or hips likely exacerbated the issue. When golfers have mobility limitations in their mid back or hips, they compensate with their low back and knees, which not only hampers play but often leads to pain and injury. Want the mobility to swing like Spieth and avoid the back and knee issues that commonly plague golfers? Try these three yoga-based moves I use with my PGA clients to address the key areas of the swing. Trains internal hip rotation; stabilizes and lengthens lower back muscles; stretches upper back and shoulders; encourages ankle mobility . Start in a neutral all-fours position with your hips over your knees and your shoulders above your wrists. Engage your deep core muscles to stabilize your low back. Extend your right leg straight out to the side with your toes pointing forward and the sole of your foot down. Exhale as you sit your hips back toward your heels as far as you can go comfortably without knee, hip or back pain. Inhale as you bring your body weight forward again and internally rotate from your right hip to come up onto your toes (as pictured). Be sure the rotation is coming from your hip, not your lower back, knees or ankles. Exhale and return your hips back towards your heels and the sole of your foot to the floor. Repeat the movement in synch with your breathing through five repetitions on each side. Promotes proper mid-back extension; strengthens shoulder girdle, opens front of shoulders and chest; lengthens low back . Lie prone (belly down) on your forearms with your elbows under your shoulders. Exhale as you press down through your forearms as though you are trying to slide your belly through your arms to create length in your low back. At the same time, move your shoulder blades down toward your waist. This will activate the mid-back muscles essential for thoracic spine extension while inhibiting the muscles of your upper neck and chest that limit mobility. Hold the posture for three long, deep breaths. Rest for a breath or two and repeat for a total of three holds. Promotes thoracic spine rotation and shoulder girdle function; stabilizes low back; activates glutes (primary muscles of the buttocks); encourages ankle mobility, strengthens adductors (groins), core and legs . Stand with your feet together; your big toes should touch but allow space between your heels to avoid externally rotating your hips. Exhale as you sit back into a squat with your hands and forearms together in front of your chest. Inhale as you hold the position, ensuring that your low back doesn't arch, and your glutes and core are activated for support. Exhale as you rotate from your mid back to place your inside elbow on the top or outside of one leg. Keep your hips and low back stable. Avoid separating your knees or letting one drop forward. Inhale as you use your bottom elbow for leverage to reach your top elbow upward while pulling your hands toward the center of your chest. Exhale as you focus on dropping your shoulder blades down your back and rotating from your mid back. You can look up or down—whatever is comfortable for your neck. Hold the twist for two more breaths. Repeat on the opposite side. As an advanced option, you can hold one of your clubs (as pictured), reaching your top hand up the club during the twist to open your shoulder and chest. Adding these yoga-based moves to your workouts will help you develop the mobility for an optimal swing. But it's up to you to add skill to the movement. To that end, there are many golf trainers who focus on body mechanics with skill training. According to its website, the Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) educates instructors on "how a properly functioning body allows a player to swing a golf club in the most efficient way possible." So, if you really want to swing like Spieth, you might consider hiring a TPI-certified trainer since the training staff Spieth thanked during his Masters victory speech were all TPI certified. | During the Masters, Jordan Spieth demonstrated optimal movement to enhance swing power and fluid control . When golfers have mobility limitations they compensate with their low back and knees, which often leads to pain and injury . | cbb8e7d3e222c19388cb42a2b73262b04e8491cb |
(CNN)The number of new HIV infections in a rural Indiana county has grown, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The institute is working with state health leaders to control the "severe outbreak," which has spread among users of a prescription opioid called Opana. The outbreak has been ongoing since mid-December. As of Friday, 142 people have tested positive for HIV, with 136 confirmed cases and six more with preliminary positive test results, all in rural Scott and Jackson counties. This is a huge number of cases for an area that has a population of only a few thousand people. The CDC and state health leaders held a news conference Friday to talk about the new numbers and about the growing threat of the spread of disease from IV drug use, especially in isolated rural areas that have sparse health resources. Scott County, the epicenter of the outbreak, has only one doctor who deals with infectious disease, but the doctor is not an HIV specialist, the State Department of Health said. Since the rampant HIV outbreak was first noticed in mid-December, the state has tried to flood the area with additional resources. Indiana declared a public health emergency in that county in March. Indiana University has sent health volunteers to provide a clinic, open once a week to help treat people and test them for HIV. These workers are also going door to door to try to educate the population about the danger of sharing needles. So far, 33 patients have visited the temporary clinic, which is starting to see patients return to seek treatment. It's no coincidence that many of the cases of the newly infected there are younger people "who weren't around in the '80s and '90s when HIV was at its peak," Dr. Jonathan Mermin said. In the 1980s, doctors were seeing an average of 35,000 new HIV infections among IV drug users, and that figure has been down 90% nationally, he said. So people aren't as aware about the danger of sharing needles. Mermin is the director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention. Education will be key, he emphasized. Indiana Gov. Mike Pence also signed a 30-day executive order that allows for a needle exchange. It was set to expire Friday, but he extended the order another 30 days Tuesday. Needle exchanges have been scientifically shown to reduce new infections. The state is also offering job services to people in the area. Dr. Joan Duwve, the chief medical consultant with the Indiana State Department of Health, spoke at length about how communities all along the Ohio River in her state and in Kentucky and West Virginia have seen a huge problem with prescription drug abuse, particularly in areas where there "is not a lot to do." Many family members, across generations, live in the same house and will use the drugs together as "a community activity," Duwve said. And this has led to more needle sharing, which spreads infection. She said this has been a problem for these areas for at least a decade. Another reason this infection has spread so rapidly is the nature of the drug itself. Opana, as the prescription opioid is known, needs to be injected more than once a day. Duwve said residents have reported injecting it four to 10 times a day to stay under its influence. When people start to feel the drug wear off after about four hours, they begin to feel sick and go into withdrawal. Often they'll turn to an injecting partner in the same house who will share their needle and their drug to give the person relief from these symptoms. The other problem with this drug is that it requires a larger-gauge needle that exposes users to more blood, which increases the risk of infection. Health leaders worry about the spread of HIV and other diseases such as hepatitis C around the country as the number of illegal prescription drug users has grown. There has been a 150% increase in hepatitis C between 2010 and 2013, the majority of the increase believed to be from injection drug abusers, the CDC said. "The situation in Indiana should serve as a warning not to let our guard down," Mermin said. "This is a powerful reminder" that HIV and other infectious diseases "can gain ground at any time, unless you remain vigilant." | The number of new HIV infections in Indiana has grown to 142 cases . Some families in isolated communities use illegal drugs and share needles as a "community activity," a health official says . Public health officials urge vigilance to stop the outbreak from gaining ground . | b2eeab0bde3e6004517508eb16c32dff38b88142 |
(CNN)Are you smarter than a really smart Singapore high school student? See if you can figure out Cheryl's birthday, the Singapore logic problem that's got the Internet twisted into knots. Some are even saying it's the math equivalent of the "What color is the dress" debate. The puzzling problem went viral after Singapore television host Kenneth Kong posted it to Facebook. Cheryl's birthday challenge was meant to test the better high-school students competing in the Singapore and Asian Schools Math Olympiad, held April 8. Here it is: Cheryl has a birthday, and she doesn't want to share it right away. (Otherwise, we have no challenge to solve.) So she gives her friends Albert and Bernard a list of 10 possible birthday dates: May 15, May 16, May 19, June 17, June 18, July 14, July 16, August 14, August 15 or August 17. A brief conversation between Albert and Bernard -- who we assume are not lying for the sake of this problem -- gives the reader enough clues to eliminate nine of the 10 dates and discover Cheryl's birthday. That's assuming you want to celebrate with Cheryl after she's put you through all that trouble. See our video below for the answer from Georgia Tech Mathematician Matt Baker. The New York Times and the Washington Post have also posted solutions to the problem, along with explanations. Of course, the Internet has offered other solutions. | A logic question about "Cheryl's birthday" goes viral . The clues give just enough information to eliminate most possibilities . It spread after a Singapore television host posted it to Facebook . | 1faf623126af4beed4ea40802bcbbdfb7922d2f1 |
(CNN)As the model for Norman Rockwell's "Rosie the Riveter," Mary Doyle Keefe became the symbol of American women working on the home front during World War II. The 92-year-old died this week at her home in Simsbury, Connecticut. As a 19-year-old telephone operator, Keefe posed for the famous painting that would become the cover of the Saturday Evening Post on May 29, 1943. Although she was petite, Keefe was transformed into the iconic -- and burly -- embodiment of the character by Rockwell. "Other than the red hair and my face, Norman Rockwell embellished Rosie's body," Keefe said in a 2012 interview with the Hartford Courant. "I was much smaller than that and did not know how he was going to make me look like that until I saw the finished painting." People we've lost in 2015 . Keefe pocketed $10 for the two mornings of modeling work she did in Arlington, Vermont. Rockwell lived in neighboring West Arlington at the time. "Rosie the Riveter" is often confused with another popular image from the same era. The poster shows a woman flexing her arm under the slogan "We Can Do It." It was part of a nationwide campaign to sell war bonds, but is not the same character. Still, many folks on social media paid tribute to Keefe using the image. Both show the key role women played in the war effort. | "Rosie the Riveter" appeared on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post on May 29, 1943 . Mary Doyle Keefe was a 19-year-old telephone operator at the time . | 805954ef24750519692ae46a6665ab850849d127 |
(CNN)Feeling so happy you just can't stand it? You might want to pop some acetaminophen. A new study has found that acetaminophen, the main ingredient in Tylenol, most forms of Midol and more than 600 other medicines, reduces not only pain but pleasure, as well. The authors of the study, which was published this week in Psychological Science, say that it was already known that acetaminophen blunted psychological pain. But their new research led them to the conclusion that it also blunted joy -- in other words, that it narrowed the range of feelings experienced. "This means that using Tylenol or similar products might have broader consequences than previously thought," said Geoffrey Durso, a doctoral student in social psychology at Ohio State University and the lead author of the study. "Rather than just being a pain reliever, acetaminophen can be seen as an all-purpose emotion reliever." The researchers tested their thesis by showing 82 college students 40 photographs -- some of highly pleasant images, such as children with kittens, and some of highly unpleasant images, such as children who were malnourished. Half of the participants in the study were given "an acute dose" of acetaminophen -- 1,000 milligrams -- and the other half were given a placebo with the same appearance. The subjects were then asked to rate the photos according to how unpleasant or pleasant they were. Those who took the acetaminophen rated all the photos less extremely than those who took the placebo. "In other words, positive photos were not seen as positively under the influence of acetaminophen and negative photos were not seen as negatively," the authors reported. The researchers followed up by testing a group of 85 people to see whether this change in judgment applied just to emotions or whether the drug blunted people's evaluation of magnitude in general. This group showed the same blunting of emotional reactions. But acetaminophen did not affect how much blue they saw in each photo. But people who participated in the study did not appear to know they were acting differently, said Baldwin Way, an assistant professor of psychology who was another of the study's authors. "Most people probably aren't aware of how their emotions may be impacted when they take acetaminophen," Way said. Each week, about 23% of American adults -- or 52 million people -- use a medicine containing acetaminophen, according to the nonprofit Consumer Healthcare Products Association. The authors said it was not known whether other pain relievers, such as ibuprofen and aspirin, have the same effect. But have no fear -- they plan to study that question, as well. | Subjects taking acetaminophen reacted less strongly to both pleasant and unpleasant photos . Each week, 52 million Americans use the pain reliever . Unknown whether other pain products produce the same effect . | b3506f2df5559e4a5469a5be78fee17ee7423cbc |
(CNN)A 17-year-old teen who has been living at Connecticut Children's Medical Center since December while being forced to have chemotherapy to treat Hodgkin's lymphoma has completed treatment and left the hospital Monday, according to her attorney, Josh Michtom. Cassandra C., as she is identified in court documents, was ordered into custody of the Connecticut Department of Children and Families by a judge in December. She ran away in an effort to discontinue chemo, claiming she did not want to be treated. Earlier this month, CNN reported that she was in remission, feeling well and her treatment was almost complete. Cassandra was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in September, and doctors gave her an 85% chance of survival if treated but said she would die within two years if left untreated. She started the treatment in November but ran away after two days, according to court documents, when she decided she did not want to put the poison of the treatment into her body. That's when a judge ordered her into custody of the state. Attorneys for the teen and her mom have tried to appeal, but they did not succeed. Cassandra remained in the hospital. In the most recent legal maneuvering, a judge denied a request by Cassandra's attorney to allow her return home on grounds that she was no longer at risk for imminent harm. Now that her treatment is complete, the temporary order of custody ends, Michtom told CNN. Previously he said the hospital was "effectively a jail" to his client. "As we do for every patient we care for at Connecticut Children's, we wish her the best for a happy and healthy future," Robert Fraleigh, director of corporate communications for Connecticut Children's Medical Center, said in a statement Monday. Joette Katz, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Children and Families, said in a statement that they are pleased that Cassandra is healthy and has recovered. She credits the doctors at Children's Medical Center and the staff at her department for this happy outcome. Acknowledging that the ordeal has been difficult for Cassandra and her family, Katz said, "We were responsible to save Cassandra's life under these circumstances, and we are very happy that she is now moving successfully to another phase in her life -- a healthy and happy one." | Teen allowed to return home now that her chemotherapy is complete . 'Cassandra' was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in September . Teen was in temporary custody of the Connecticut Department of Children and Families . | 4f430d2025842aec264d9a817ec6969c2547c3a4 |
Washington (CNN)Chief Justice John Roberts is back in the spotlight. Roberts -- who shocked conservatives nearly three years ago by providing a pivotal vote to uphold Obamacare -- once again faces a judicial crossroads in a historic case. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Tuesday in a case that could decide whether gay and lesbian couples nationwide have the constitutional right to marry. The question at the core of Obergefell v. Hodges is one of the most consequential debates of the early 21st century, and one that is already helping to shape the 2016 presidential race. Appeals courts nationwide have moved decisively toward supporting same-sex marriage, but a split at the appellate level helped propel the issue to the nation's highest court, led by Roberts. Appointed to the bench by President George W. Bush, Roberts has a solid conservative record and would seem an unlikely vote to support a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. He dissented in United States v. Windsor, a landmark case in which a narrowly divided court struck down a key provision of the Defense of Marriage Act, which denied federal benefits to lawfully married same-sex couples. And he's expressed sympathy with legal arguments that would allow same-sex marriage bans. Yet both sides see the case as a legacy-making moment for the 60-year-old chief justice, and advocates for same-sex couples hold out hope that he will emerge as their ally. They will be scrutinizing his words and actions Tuesday for clues about how he'll vote -- and whether he will upset some conservatives once again. "If the Windsor majority votes in favor of marriage equality, the ruling will be one of the most momentous decisions of the Roberts court," said Judith E. Schaeffer of the Constitutional Accountability Center, which is advocating for same-sex marriage. "Will John Roberts want to be remembered as having dissented from such a historic decision?" For some conservatives, a vote in favor of same-sex marriage in the case would be a huge disappointment. It would be akin to the type of betrayal they felt when Justice David Souter, who was nominated to the bench by George H.W. Bush and who retired in 2009, consistently voted with the liberals or when Justice Anthony Kennedy, a Ronald Reagan appointee, disappointed them on earlier gay rights cases as well as abortion and the death penalty. Or when Roberts infuriated conservative allies by providing the crucial fifth vote to uphold Obamacare on the grounds that the law is a constitutional use of the government's taxing authority. The hope in conservative circles is that Roberts will see his legacy as ensuring that the issue of same-sex marriage gets decided by the people, not the courts. "The chief surely knows that his job is to be on the right side of the Constitution," said Edward Whelan, president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center. "Blatherings about the 'wrong side of history' are an appeal to intellectual cowardice." Those hoping that he will vote to uphold the state bans see a strong signal in the Windsor case. In his majority opinion, Kennedy said the "principal purpose" of the Defense of Marriage Act was to "impose inequality." Roberts disagreed. He wrote separately to say he thought Congress acted constitutionally when it passed the law in 1996 in an attempt to provide "uniformity and stability" at a time when every state defined marriage as between a man and a woman. Roberts picked up on Kennedy's language that emphasized the states' power to define the marital relationship and said that power will someday "come into play on the other side of the board in future cases about the constitutionality of state marriage definitions." David Cruz of the University of Southern California Gould School of Law said that Roberts could use that reasoning to vote in favor of state bans in the Obergefell case. "Roberts is suggesting that concerns about the powers of states will support state laws excluding same-sex couples from marriage," Cruz said. Indeed, the lower court that upheld the marriage bans in Michigan, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky in the Obergefell case relied heavily on the argument that states have a right to define marriage. Another clue to Roberts' thinking in the Windsor dissent is that he took particular issue with any notion that the Defense of Marriage Act was passed out of a desire to harm -- noting it had the support of majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate as well as President Bill Clinton, who signed it into law. "I would not tar the political branches with the brush of bigotry," Roberts wrote. The comments suggest he would reject an argument in the Obergefell case that rested on the idea that same-sex marriage bans reflected animus against gay people. But backers of same-sex marriage are reading some tea leaves of their own. Schaeffer points out that Roberts didn't join the parts of the dissents penned by Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, which clearly stated a belief that state bans on same-sex marriage don't violate the Constitution. "Roberts didn't join them in expressing those views," Schaeffer said. At the time, Roberts simply wrote that the court "does not have before it, and the logic of its opinion does not decide" whether states can ban same-sex marriage. Schaeffer said the chief justice could have simply chosen to remain silent on an issue that wasn't before the court. "But I think one reasonable explanation is that Roberts was preserving a clean slate for himself on the ultimate issue of marriage equality," she said. The Defense of Marriage Act decision overshadowed another 2013 case -- Hollingsworth v. Perry -- that could have determined whether states could ban same-sex marriage. The case concerned a challenge to California's Proposition 8, a state constitutional amendment that barred same-sex couples from marriage. But Roberts, writing for the majority, dismissed the case, holding that the challengers did not have the legal standing to bring it to the court. The ruling left in place a lower court decision that had invalidated Proposition 8 and thus paved the way for same-sex marriage in California. Roberts' lesbian cousin, who lives in California, sat in the courtroom during arguments in the Prop 8 case. Few people predicted that the issue would return so quickly to the Supreme Court, but waves of lower court judges -- sometimes citing Windsor -- struck down the state bans. On the first day of the term last fall, the court was presented with seven different petitions on the issue. Conventional wisdom was that the justices would garner the four necessary votes and grant one of the cases. But conventional wisdom was completely wrong. Without comment, the court declined to take up any of the cases, clearing the way for thousands of additional same-sex marriages. The court's vote count in such decisions is kept a secret and may never be known. But some speculate on one possible scenario: Roberts chose not to provide the fourth vote to the conservatives who dissented in Windsor. Then again, even if the speculation were true, it doesn't reveal much about Roberts' thinking. There's a big difference between voting not to take up a case, which expresses no opinions on the merits, and issuing an opinion on the merits. And even when Roberts' actions -- such as effectively allowing same-sex marriage to proceed in California -- seem to suggest a willingness to consider such unions nationwide, his comments along the way make it much harder to gain insight into his ultimate thinking. "When the institution of marriage developed historically, people didn't get around and say, 'Let's have this institution, but let's keep out homosexuals,' " Roberts said during the Proposition 8 oral arguments. "The institution developed to serve purposes that, by their nature, didn't include homosexual couples." | John Roberts is at judicial crossroads as high court to hear key same-sex marriage case . Case could decide whether same-sex couples nationwide have constitutional right to marry . Chief justice disappointed conservatives earlier when he helped uphold Obamacare . | 12c8d38fc75cbdf618d8698eec3812e651805e1e |
(CNN)The latest outbreak of bird flu -- the worst in the U.S. since the 1980s -- is not a likely threat to humans, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But as with any potential threat to human health, they are preparing for the worst just in case. The CDC and the United States Department of Agriculture held a press conference Wednesday to talk about preparations. "The risk to humans is low, our food supply is safe," said Dr. John Clifford, the USDA's Chief Veterinary Officer. "We know how to address disease when we find it." Since mid-December, 16 states have seen bird flu turn up in commercial poultry, backyard chickens, and in flocks of wild and captive wild birds, according to the CDC. That number will likely grow as birds with the disease fly from one state to the next. On Monday, health leaders in Iowa said more than 5 million hens would have to be euthanized after bird flu was detected at a commercial laying facility there. In the United States, some 3.5 million birds had already been euthanized to prevent the spread of the disease, according to the USDA. Iowa has about 60 million laying hens, according to the Iowa Egg Council and is the top egg producer in the country. California and Minnesota, two of the country's top 10 egg producing states have also seen cases. The news is bad for the birds, but not for humans. The CDC considers the likelihood of bird to human transmission of the virus "low" according to Dr. Alicia Fry, a medical officer with the CDC national Center for Immunization and Respiratory Disease, Influenza Division, Epidemiology and Prevention Branch. "That said, human infections have occurred" with another strain of the virus, found in Africa and in Asia, so the CDC cannot rule out the possibility of human infection, Fry said. "We are cautiously optimistic" that it won't spread to humans, but "we are prepared for the possibility," she added. They are studying the current virus and creating candidate vaccines which could be used if one were ever needed. The USDA is also working on a potential vaccine for the birds. These are typical routine public health preparedness measures. The CDC said it is also monitoring at least 100 people who have worked with sick birds. None of the workers have gotten sick themselves. Most of the people who have become infected with the other strains of the virus in Asia and Africa have had direct or prolonged contact with infected birds. The virus does not spread through people eating chickens or eggs. Birds that are sick die quickly, according to Clifford. Incubation period is three to five days generally. With turkeys, they go off their water and their feed when they are sick and become lethargic or have a condition called "torticollis" or "stargazing" he said, and they die shortly after that. Farmers also see a drop in egg production. Commercial growers have taken extra precautions to disinfect vehicle tires and any equipment that comes into contact with the birds. Workers must also disinfect their shoes and hands when they go from building to building to reduce contamination. With popular backyard birds, the USDA suggests people try and protect their animals from coming into contact with wild water fowl that may carry the virus. The CDC said, as with any evolving public health situation, they will continue to provide updated information as it becomes available. The good news is the virus doesn't like warm weather or strong sunlight, according to the USDA. So the cases should go down over the summer, but they are going to monitor the situation knowing that it could come back in the Fall. | The CDC says "the risk to humans is low," but, as always, they are preparing for the worst case . You can't get bird flu from eating poultry or eggs . At least 100 people who worked with the sick birds are being monitored for any sign of sickness . So far 3.5 million birds have been euthanized . | 7c97515b0e061ee4a09e7f4707852220b8f0bb1c |
(CNN)When the earthquake hit, many of Nepal's most renowned pagodas in and around Kathmandu crumbled into rubble-covered stumps. Others were smothered under splintered hand-carved wooden beams or multi-level rooftops. But the Kathmandu Valley's other pagodas, stupas and shrines -- also built mostly of red brick hundreds of years ago -- suffered surprisingly little damage and remained standing next to structures which disappeared. The worst architectural losses have included the majestic Shiva temple pagoda and its twin, the Narayan temple pagoda, which dominated Kathmandu's main Durbar Square. From the late 1960s onwards, Western hippy backpackers who traveled the legendary overland route to Kathmandu would climb the Shiva pagoda's wide, nine-step plinth, sit in the shade under the triple-layered roofs, smoke hashish and enjoy the lofty view. But now the two pagodas have been obliterated and the scene comprises pathetic piles of rubble, a bulldozer shoveling a path for vehicles, shocked and miserable witnesses and a sense of irreplaceable visual and spiritual loss -- unless the structures are eventually rebuilt. The Shiva temple pagoda may have been hundreds of years old, but before its destruction impoverished rickshaw drivers, coolies and others would publicly urinate into the gutter surrounding it while waiting for passengers or heavy loads to transport. The slightly shorter, triple-roofed Narayan pagoda allowed vegetable sellers to display their foodstuff on the temple's broad, five-level base. Both pagodas also served as public platforms. Jostling crowds of Nepalis and foreigners used to gather there because the plinths' height above street level allowed excellent views of major Hindu processions and other events. Those two landmarks fronted the enclosed dwelling place of Nepal's Hindu virgin goddess, or Kumari, whose ornate front of bricks, statues and carved wood seem to have survived the initial quakes. It is not immediately known if the inner courtyard and rooms are safe. On the other side of Durbar Square, the brick-and-wood Shiva-Parvati temple house -- where the Hindu gods Shiva and his consort Parvati shelter -- appear to also have survived. On Kathmandu's outskirts the town of Patan suffered terrible damage when its central Durbar Square lost several pagodas as structures pancaked straight down while others merely shook and cracked. Fortunately others appear to still be standing, including the Sundari Chowk temple and a surviving lucky trio of holy structures: the gray stone, Mogul-influenced Krishna Mandir; the 17th-century Bishwa Nath Mandir with its large stone elephants at the entrance; and the nearby smaller 17th-century Bimsen Mandi "god of the traders" pagoda. Several miles away from Kathmandu, witnesses have been unable to immediately confirm the levels of destruction which have occurred in the lavish town of Bhaktapur. The locality had undergone years of extensive restoration work thanks to foreign and local artists and funding. The town offset some of that cost by charging tourists a fee to enter its central area, which displayed refined temples, pagodas, shrines and even a restaurant built into a main pagoda, allowing diners to view the best sites while munching their meals. Elsewhere in the Kathmandu Valley, the white-topped dome of the Boudhanath Stupa remains standing, but its smaller neighboring stupa has shown some damage from the quake. The Boudhanath Stupa is prized by Tibetan Buddhist refugees who have fled their Chinese-occupied homeland on foot through the Himalaya mountains. They are often seen reverently walking in a circle around the stupa's base while twirling "prayer wheels" and chanting. There has been no news as yet on damage caused to other famous places of Hindu and Buddhist worship, including the hilltop Swayambhunath temple on the outskirts of Kathmandu. That imposing structure is popularly known as the "Monkey Temple" because its often vicious wild monkeys are allowed to scamper among the trees on the temple's hill, terrifying visitors who have to hike up a lengthy stairway to reach the temples, shrines, shops and monks' residences.. The fate of the Pashupatinath Temple complex near Kathmandu's international airport is also not known. Pashupatinath's multiple pagodas and shrines flank its public funeral pyres which emit smoke whenever human corpses are routinely cremated before the ashes are dumped into a narrow river. | Several of Nepal's best known landmarks have been destroyed by the earthquake of April 25 . But outside the capital Kathmandu there is hope that many have survived . | 8818b0040ed97f8251a8f20fea993ff3f3662dc0 |
(CNN)Can a prayer for diamonds actually turn up a gem? When you're exploring the fields at Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, Arkansas, the odds are higher than usual. "Are you going to bless me and let me find a diamond today?" That was Susie Clark's prayer on April 23, according to the state park service. Soon after, Clark, who is from Evening Shade, Arkansas, saw a 3.69-carat white, teardrop-shaped diamond in the plowed field. Inspired by her prayer, Clark named it the Hallelujah Diamond. She plans to keep it. The diamond, which is the largest found at the park so far this year, is about the size of a pinto bean, says park interpreter Waymon Cox. "And it's the largest one found since April 16, 2014, when a 6.19-carat white diamond, named the Limitless Diamond, was found at the park," he said, according to a park press release. It's the 122nd diamond found at Crater of Diamonds this year. Visitors get to keep what they find at the state park's 37.5-acre search field, which is named for an ancient eruption that scattered the area with gems. The area, which became a state park in 1972, is the only public site in the world where -- for a small fee -- anyone can dig for diamonds and keep them. It's not clear how much the diamond is worth, and park officials aren't trained to appraise them, according to the park website. But Oklahoman Tara Clymer sold a 3.85-carat diamond she found at the park last year for $20,000. 50 states, 50 spots: Natural wonders . Park staff regularly plow the area to bring more diamonds to the surface for visitors to discover. The 40.23-carat Uncle Sam, the nation's largest diamond, was found in 1924, and the "perfect" 3.03-carat Strawn-Wagner diamond was found in 1990. The Strawn-Wagner Diamond was cut in 1997 by the renowned diamond firm Lazare Kaplan International of New York. The now 1.09-carat diamond is on display at the park visitor center. The park stretches for more than 900 acres along the Little Missouri River, but the diamond field is the main attraction. More than 75,000 diamonds have been discovered there since farmer John Huddleston discovered gems on what was then his property in 1906. | Arkansas woman finds a 3.69-carat diamond in Arkansas state park . Crater of Diamonds is the planet's only public diamond search site . | d58d088c85365d0ec0fcd1842612123be1a9c02f |
(CNN)In a tragic echo of the catastrophic events in Haiti in 2010, a powerful earthquake struck one of the poorest nations on Earth today. The latest estimates from seismologists put the magnitude at 7.9, which would actually makes it about 40% larger than the 7.8 currently being reported. That's less than half the size of the previous major event nearby in 1934, which killed around 10,000 people. Unfortunately, it is quite possible the number of dead in Kathmandu could rise to match it. We knew this disaster was coming eventually. Geophysicists have long monitored how fast the Earth's plates are moving, and we know that the entire subcontinent of India is being driven slowly but surely underneath Nepal and Tibet at a speed of around 1.8 inches per year. It's the reason Everest exists. Latest updates on Nepal earthquake . Over millions of years, the squeezing has crushed the Himalayas like a concertina, raising mountains to heights of several miles and triggering earthquakes on a regular basis from Pakistan to Burma. Saturday's quake was neither unusual nor unexpected, although it was larger than most. In the 81 years since the 1934 Bihar earthquake, the land mass of India has been pushed about 12 feet into Nepal. Think of all that movement getting stored in a giant spring lying under Nepal. The spring is stuck on a broad, rough surface which we call a fault plane (a fault line is what we see when it emerges from the ground). Fallen: Nepal's historic landmarks . Sometimes, energy stored in the spring gets big enough to slip catastrophically, releasing all that pent-up strain and generating shaking strong enough to destroy buildings and kill people over a huge area. The bigger the area that slips, and the larger the pent-up energy, the greater the damage. Saturday's slip took place over an area about 1,000 to 2,000 square miles over a zone spanning the cities of Kathmandu and Pokhara in one direction, and almost the entire Himalaya mountain width in the other. A part of India slid about one to 10 feet northwards and underneath Nepal in a matter of seconds. We have this kind of detailed data thanks to major advances in seismology over recent years. Using measurements of shaking recorded on seismometers scattered across the world and sent in near or real time to agencies like the U.S. Geological Survey and to universities such as Columbia, we can infer the location and magnitude of a big earthquake very quickly. Avalanches hamper Everest rescue efforts . Not just that: we can now estimate the pattern and speed of rapid sliding across its fault surface. What used to take months of careful academic study now takes minutes of computation. In Haiti in 2010, although the earthquake was more than 20 times weaker than Saturday's, well over 100,000 people are thought to have been killed around Port-au-Prince by the shaking and its after-effects. Yet despite some differences, the Nepal and Haiti earthquakes also share similarities -- both geological events were known to be approaching, and both struck areas afflicted by widespread poverty, rapid increases in population in urban areas, uncoordinated changes in building infrastructure and lack of adherence to improved building codes. About 1.45 million people live in Kathmandu, the majority in poorly constructed homes not designed to withstand the kind of shaking seen on Saturday. Nepal has a per capita income of around $1,350, only a notch above that of Haiti, and among the lowest in the world. Meeting building codes in new construction, or taking on expensive retrofitting, is way beyond the means of most. To make matters worse, the valley itself appears to focus the destructive shaking of earthquake waves. Studies have long predicted that the Kathmandu area was due a magnitude-8 earthquake, or higher -- one study predicted between 21,000 and 42,000 fatalities if a magnitude-8.1 earthquake had struck the area. (Fortunately, Saturday's shaking was half that intensity). Still, this catastrophe comes at a delicate time for Nepal as it emerges from a long-running civil war and its economy has been improving steadily. We have to hope that recovery from both can somehow take place despite the enormous challenges ahead. | A magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck Nepal on Saturday . Colin Stark: We knew this disaster would come . | c592789b58b62b03fde9846887d1d93d36f0d61e |
(The Hollywood Reporter)Ben Powers, who played Thelma's (BernNadette Stanis) husband Keith Anderson on the final season of the classic CBS sitcom "Good Times," has died. He was 64. Powers died April 6 in New Bedford, Mass., his family announced. No cause of death was revealed. Powers joined the cast of "Good Times" for its sixth and final season from 1978 to 1979 season, playing Keith, a professional football player. His character and Thelma wed in the third episode of that season, but he injures his leg while walking out of the church, straining their relationship. Powers also had a regular role as "Moochie" on the CBS detective drama show, Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, from 1984 to 1985. Powers had a small part in "Cheech & Chong's Next Movie" (1980). He was back with the comedy pair in "Things Are Tough All Over" (1982). He also appeared in "The Man Who Loved Women" (1983) starring Burt Reynolds. He also guest-starred on shows such as "Gimme a Break," "Flamingo Road," "The Greatest American Hero" and "Laverne & Shirley." Born in Brooklyn and raised in Providence, R.I., by his grandparents, Alton "Ben" Powers attended the Rhode Island School of Design for painting and sketching before focusing on acting. He performed stand-up comedy routines in Providence, incorporating impressions and songs into his act, where he was discovered by a Hollywood agent. Gigs at the Playboy clubs in Los Angeles, New York and Boston led to a job in 1977 on the revived version of "Laugh-In." Survivors include his mother and his sisters Yvonne and Maya. People we've lost in 2015 . ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved. | Ben Powers joined the cast of "Good Times" for its sixth and final season . He played Thelma's husband Keith Anderson . | 17c7a92562fc02d45bd6f87470ab93d23e8b2095 |
Gorkha, Nepal (CNN)The ride from Kathmandu to near the epicenter of Nepal's devastating earthquake is not for those who get easily carsick. Steep slopes and small winding roads through deep river valleys greet us as we make our way to a town where Nepalese and international medical teams are treating the injured, in much less than ideal circumstances. The view along the six-hour journey from the capital is deceptive. Although I see numerous landslides, I am surprised that the villages we are driving through are relatively unaffected. During the entire journey, I notice only about 10 collapsed or seriously damaged houses. One of the biggest challenges rescue workers are facing in Nepal is reaching affected people in remote mountainous areas. One of them is Gorkha, a district northwest of Kathmandu. The town we were visiting looks intact. Some houses have cracks, and I see a few collapsed brick walls. Most of the shops and businesses are open. But our first stop at the district hospital brings us into the full reality of the human catastrophe. The hospital campus is overflowing with patients. The facility is simply not big enough to handle such calamity. The injured are not from the town of Gorkha, which lies near the top of one of the numerous mountain ranges. They are from northern part of the district, where some 200,000 people live. To accommodate all the casualties, the hospital built a tarpaulin shelter over the parking lot. At a time of our arrival, there are about 20 patients lying on mattresses on a dusty concrete floor. The youngest is 10, the oldest in his 70s. Most of them have visible wounds: deep cuts, bruised faces, broken arms and legs or spinal injuries. All of their faces with empty looks are still expressing the terror they went through and the pain they are suffering. Mita Gurung, 10, sustained injuries to her face and leg when her house in the village of Sinjung partially collapsed. Her mother was injured in the tremor. Mita is gently tended by volunteer child counselor Tara May Bishakarma. "I just found what she likes and keep repeating it. Her injuries are fairly superficial, but she is traumatized. It will take some time, but she will recover," Bishakarma says. Children usually get excited when being filmed. Mita seems almost unaware of my camera. Little food, less optimism in Kathmandu tent city . The situation in the hospital's emergency room is similar. Every bed is taken. All the injured are taken care of by attentive doctors and nurses. Some have family members with them. Despite the gravity of the situation, the atmosphere here is calm. Gorkha's hospital is ill-equipped to treat more serious injuries and serves mostly as a transit point. Here, the injured get necessary first aid and as soon as possible are transferred to bigger hospitals in other districts or in Kathmandu. There are not enough ambulances, and most of the injured must travel on old buses. People unable to walk are transported on makeshift wooden stretchers. I cannot even imagine traveling on the road we just came in with a broken leg or a spinal injury. The caws of crows above Gorkha are frequently interrupted by sounds of helicopters. We leave the hospital and go to check the landing zones. One is a sports field, and the second a flat meadow on the ridge. Many of the damaged villages are not accessible by roads. To fly to most remote places from Gorkha takes about 30 minutes, five days on foot. The helicopters operated by Nepalese military bring tents, tarps, blankets, food and baby supplies to most damaged areas. They bring back the injured. One helicopter brings two stranded Danish tourists from Chumchet, a village in the Tsum Valley. They are in a group of 11 trekkers from Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic who remain in the valley. Most of the helicopters are small and can only pick up two to three passengers. We head back to the hospital, where we meet Olivier Hagon. He is the head of a mission of the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit, a Swiss government agency. The agency's "Mother and Child" team helps the needy during disasters around the world. "For us, it's most important to focus on the most vulnerable ones: mothers and children. Women in labor who do not have a bed, women in need of a cesarean (section) without access to surgery facilities," says Hagon. The rest of the 10-member unit arrives from Kathmandu in the evening. The team includes a pediatrician, a pediatric surgeon, an orthopedic surgeon, a midwife, an anesthesiologist and a gynecologist. Within two hours, they set up two modern fully functioning operating theaters at the hospital. The group's philosophy is "to support, not to invade." They work very closely with staff of Gorkha's hospital. The Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit is followed by 26 members of the International Search and Rescue Germany. They bring seven search dogs. Leader Thomas Laackmann explains: "Right now we focus on finding survivors. The chances are diminishing every hour. Members of our team are trained medics. We will also assist with treating the injured." All aid workers sleep in tents on hospital premises. On Thursday, we wake up to a drizzly morning. Heavy fog blankets surrounding slopes and mountains. All helicopter flights are suspended. People in remote areas desperately awaiting help won't get any today. But here in Gorkha, humanitarian teams are at full speed. Swiss doctors along with their Nepalese colleagues perform surgeries. The German team heads off in a bus to villages reachable by road. We wish our hosts in Gorkha the best of luck and leave for Kathmandu mid-afternoon. I had come to see how serious the situation is and how local and state authorities are coping. I am too overwhelmed and too exhausted to draw any conclusions. But I learned a lot about resilience of the Nepalese and about good people from around the world committed to help them. Much help will be needed. | A trip to the town of Gorkha shows the human toll of the earthquake . International teams are assisting Nepalese medical staff, officials . | 1dcfa6e776353713ebed73632cded1192f362149 |
(CNN)Eternally blooming in Kolkata, India, along the Hooghly River is Malik Ghat, a wholesale flower market that attracts more than 2,000 sellers each day. Photographer Ken Hermann visited the market for his project "Flower Man," which is a series of portraits that casts light upon the people behind the petals. When Hermann was in Kolkata working on another assignment, he went to the market as a tourist. After that first encounter with Malik Ghat, his captivation with the market did not diminish and he became intent on returning. "(The flower sellers) woke my curiosity. But at that time, I didn't really have the time to do the project," Hermann said. "And this idea just kind of stuck in my head for almost two years." Hermann was able to spend about 10 days at the market, and did not allow any challenges to hinder the completion of "Flower Man." He said that in addition to language barriers and the heat of Kolkata making communication complicated and shooting at certain times difficult, another adversity he faced was taking portraits of the female flower sellers. "I had a really clear idea before I went (to the market) about what I wanted to do," Hermann said. "I wanted to shoot the sellers -- the male and the female sellers." But none of the female flower sellers wished to be a part of Hermann's project, so he focused only on those who were interested in and comfortable with having their portrait taken. For the portraits, Hermann sought a neutral background. He first tried shooting under a bridge near the market, but quickly realized the lighting did not match the mood he wanted to create. He then decided to create the portraits by the Hooghly River. This allowed him to combine the hazy smog in the air, sunlight from above and studio lights of his own, which culminated to produce a surreal effect and overexposed look that made his subjects stand out. "All the pictures are shot within noon and 3 p.m. when you have the sun straight from above, which gives (the portraits) this very hard light," Hermann said. "And then I just used some studio light as a fill to make it a little bit more soft." Although the composition of the majority of Hermann's portraits encompasses the flower sellers in front of a neutral background, other portraits forgo this characteristic and consequently bring a sense of movement and fluidity to "Flower Man." Viewers may see people or a dog appearing in a frame, or even birds flying in the sky and a boat floating in the water. One of the reasons Hermann did not create the flower sellers' portraits directly inside the market is because of the hectic atmosphere. Hermann compares Malik Ghat to the environments of financial trading and fish markets. "It's impossible to shoot at the market, especially if you want a clean and quiet background, because there's so much going on," Hermann said. Social media . Follow @CNNPhotos on Twitter to join the conversation about photography. Similar to the commitment needed to effectively and successfully operate within the financial and food industries, Hermann emphasized that the competitive atmosphere of the market and work ethic of the flower sellers was a major factor in whether a seller would agree to have their portrait made. "All the other sellers -- they are so busy, so just convincing them to go near the river to get their portrait done and spend maybe 15 minutes of their time was a challenge," Hermann said. "Because every minute they're not standing in the flower (market), they lose money." Hermann said that another important reason some flower sellers decided not to be photographed was because flowers are highly valued in India and serve as a prominent feature during many events and moments in people's lives, including everything from religious rituals and festivals to weddings and parties. "Some of the flowers, (the sellers) didn't allow us to take pictures of because they're flowers used for offering in the temple," Hermann said. "It was more a problem about the flowers than actually the guy behind, because they didn't want us to take the pictures because (the flowers would) lose their purity." Challenging perceptions and breaking down barriers are underlying elements within "Flower Man." Hermann said viewers must not make assumptions about the socioeconomic status of the sellers, nor should they view the sellers through a fixed, rigid lens regarding the behaviors and roles associated with gender. Noticeable throughout the portraits is that none of the sellers is smiling, which is usually a behavior people tend to exhibit when in the presence of a camera. The lack of a smile enhances the organic nature of "Flower Man," making the portraits a powerful representation of unforced and unfabricated human emotion. "If you want to take pictures in India, people tend to just stand up and look proud and strong," Hermann said. "It's very different from the Western world because if you take pictures here, people tend to smile." Like people, flowers come in all shapes, sizes and colors. When viewing Hermann's photos, this fact leaves viewers to consider if it is not the flowers that are decorations, but rather the sellers who bring vibrancy to the flowers. In the portrait of Sanju Joshi, for example, he is engulfed in endless layers of orange. "They use these flowers in temples and all over India, so that's one of the more common flowers at the market," Hermann said. "I really like that picture because they carry the flowers like it is a dress. You should see when they walk through the flower market, it's almost like (the flowers are) all alive." Similarly, the abundant leaves come to life in Odhir Gayen's portrait. "These are a special kind of leaves, and many of (the sellers) carry them on their head and (on their) arms," Hermann said. "And when they walk around, it's almost like a human bush or something like that." Hermann plans to return to Malik Ghat and looks forward not only to the opportunity to photograph different kinds of flowers -- as the range varies based on the seasons -- but also to the chance to present the flower sellers featured in "Flower Man" with their portraits. "I enjoyed this project," Hermann said. "There's a lot of photographers going to India and then showing a poor, bad situation. ... I have a totally different approach. I want to show some more proudness and find the beauty of people." Ken Hermann is a photographer based in Copenhagen. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. | Malik Ghat is a wholesale flower market in India that attracts more than 2,000 sellers each day . Photographer Ken Hermann spent 10 days at the market photographing his project "Flower Man" | 1f4aaf00cad1c6272240bd109fd34201b92a0937 |
(CNN)Pushed to his limits, a college professor took the extreme measure of threatening to fail his entire class. In an email to his students, Irwin Horwitz accused them of "backstabbing, game playing, cheating, lying, fighting." The professor at the Texas A&M University Galveston Campus expected his missive would create some conflict, but that it could then be resolved quickly -- and quietly. Those hopes were dashed when one report by local media mushroomed into a tornado of nationwide coverage. The story went viral. Suddenly, his name was spreading on Twitter, Facebook and Reddit, accompanied by the kind of strong, unvarnished opinions that you can make about people you've never met. He was a hero who taught today's entitled youth a much-needed lesson, or an egotistical nightmare of a teacher who threw a fit. One thing was certain: He, and his employer, were now thrust into a spotlight that neither had asked for. "I did what I did without any intention of seeing this in the news or seeing this on the Internet," Horwitz said. "I will stand by what I did, but I'm not career suicidal." Texas A&M says Horwitz remains an employee and that no one has asked him to stop teaching. But Horwitz, a nontenure-track professor in the maritime administration program, is afraid the notoriety will cost him this job and future jobs. Horwitz said his intent was not to be controversial, and the sharply worded email to students was not his first about the class. The day before writing to his students, Horwitz wrote a similar email to the CEO of the Texas A&M Galveston Campus and to the school's chief academic officer. "I have never in my capacity as an academic ever encountered a class as completely disgraceful, dishonest and disrespectful" as his current strategic management class, he wrote to the administrators. He accused the students of shirking responsibility, making excuses and complaining their way to better grades. He would no longer teach the course and would fail the entire class, Horwitz wrote. "The class of graduating seniors is nothing more than a circus that is anything but academic," he wrote. "But they are your problem now." It was the next day that Horwitz wrote to the students, calling the class "an embarrassment in general," and said that "I am frankly and completely disgusted." Once his words echoed in traditional and social media, the narrative -- angry prof flunks entire class -- might as well have been set in stone. The story was such a talker that even The Onion offered a parody. "I'm not looking to fail students," Horwitz said. "I don't get a bonus for failing students." "The letter sounded a little bit more definite than I wanted it to," he added. He never actually changed anyone's grade. There were some students he wasn't going to fail, he said, and some who were on the border who could have pulled themselves out. But Horwitz stands by his tough stance; there was an issue of competency and of professionalism that had to be addressed, he said. The course in question is a capstone course for a maritime administration degree and is supposed to merge what the students learned in their other business courses. "I had a large majority of people taking the capstone course who could not do a break-even analysis," the professor said. "If you cannot do a break-even analysis, then you don't deserve a bachelor's degree in business." His other complaint was about professionalism. Horwitz said students would swear at him, cheat and spread rumors about him online. This is related to their grades, he said, because dealing with people you don't like is a business skill. On online message boards, users claiming to be students in the class accused the professor of exaggerating the situation or fabricating parts of his story. One purported student called Horwitz "a little obnoxious," but said he is a good teacher and fair if you follow his rules. Should the professor have been surprised that his email went viral? The fiery language and strong allegations were likely to be news if the email went public, but maybe there is more to it. The situation hits on a popular argument on the media and Internet: What do we think of millennials? Reflecting on his most recent class, Horwitz said there is some truth to stereotypes of millennials as entitled and pampered. He mentioned the overdependence of students on cell phones and other electronics, and the power those devices have to interrupt concentration. The other factor is a failure of K-12 education, said Horwitz, who has met college students who don't know how to convert fractions to decimals. "What I'm trying to do is to give an honest assessment of their performance," he said. In a statement, Patrick Louchouarn, the vice president for academic affairs and chief academic officer at Texas A&M Galveston Campus, said the entire class will not be failed. "Each student will receive an individual grade based upon work completed during the semester," Louchouarn said. "The university is listening to concerns about this issue from students and faculty and will address them according to our policies." The flurry of attention is unwelcome and Horwitz fears it will affect his career in academia. But it's likely his story will have a short shelf life. People probably will forget about it and turn their attention to the next grabby headline. But he said he thinks this episode will follow him everywhere. He said he feels a public shaming of sorts. Online public shaming has become a research topic of its own. People who have been pilloried online for comments they made wonder if they will get a second chance. "This is really destroying my life," Horwitz said. | Irwin Horwitz threatens to fail his entire class . His fiery email goes viral; he now wonders if the unwanted attention will affect his career . | 39ad2aac1cdd34adfe74479ef7541a57374b8bd1 |
Tokyo (CNN)A crowd gathers near the entrance of Tokyo's upscale Mitsukoshi Department Store, which traces its roots to a kimono shop in the late 17th century. Fitting with the store's history, the new greeter wears a traditional Japanese kimono while delivering information to the growing crowd, whose expressions vary from amusement to bewilderment. It's hard to imagine the store's founders in the late 1600's could have imagined this kind of employee. That's because the greeter is not a human -- it's a robot. Aiko Chihira is an android manufactured by Toshiba, designed to look and move like a real person. It was put on temporary display at the department store. Toshiba says Chihira has 43 motors allowing it to move, speak in sign language and even sing. The regular greeter, Ayako Seiryu, says she's not worried about a robot replacing her -- even one made to resemble a real 32-year-old woman. "Communication is important," she says. "My strength is I can actually talk to people." Chihira can't have a conversation yet, acknowledges Hitoshi Tokuda, Toshiba spokesperson. But he says the technology is evolving quickly and someday, robots like Chihira could replace humans for certain jobs. A growing number of Japanese businesses are testing out robots as a possible solution to the country's shrinking workforce. They're appearing in stores, banks and soon even hotels. Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ is trying out "Nao," a customer service robot that answers basic questions and is designed to speak 19 languages. The robotic polygot could prove useful serving foreign customers during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. By then, the bank hopes to have even more robots on staff. "Pepper" is a humanoid robot that "chats" with customers. A humanoid has human-like characteristics such as arms, legs and a head -- but is designed to look like a robot. Pepper first began appearing in Tokyo stores last year. Manufacturer Softbank hopes it'll eventually be a "family robot," like a sleeker version of Rosie on "The Jetsons." Meet Pepper -- the world's first emo robot . A hotel scheduled to open at Huis Ten Bosch theme park in Nagasaki this summer plans to have 10 robot staff members and aims to increase that to more than 90% of hotel services operated by robots. Today's novelty could be tomorrow's necessity. Japan has an aging population that has prompted serious talks about how to incorporate robots into the nation's shrinking workforce. One group that seems willing to embrace robots are Japan's senior citizens. A survey by nursing home operator Orix Living found more seniors would feel comfortable being cared for by a robot than a foreign nurse. In a nation with a dwindling population, waning workforce, and deep resistance to immigration, it seems robots will only play a larger role in Japan's future. | Toshiba tests robotic greeter at upscale Tokyo department store . More Japanese businesses are testing out robots as possible solution to Japan's shrinking workforce . | 39248d8dcd0c46f96c1c8cf0aced445e13edee99 |
(CNN)Buckle up for another Mercedes battle in the Formula One world championship. Lewis Hamilton took victory for the Silver Arrows at the Chinese Grand Prix -- only for his teammate Nico Rosberg to later claim he had ruined his race by driving slowly. The reigning world champion captured his 35th grand prix win with a peerless pole-to-flag win under Shanghai's sunny skies. "It was great to have a smooth weekend," the British racer said before spraying the champagne on the podium. "The team have done a fantastic job to up our pace and improve after our last race where we struggled a bit." F1 championship standings . Hamilton had lost the Malaysia Grand Prix in a strategic battle with the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel but it was business as usual in Shanghai. Rosberg came home second for Mercedes to snuff out the threat from the chasing Italian racers and renew his rivalry with Hamilton. "It was an important comeback for the team," said the 2014 championship runner-up. Ferrari continued to put pressure on the world champion team with Vettel finishing third to collect his third straight podium of 2015. "We just wanted to bring the podium back home," said Vettel, a four-time world champion with Red Bull Racing. "It's been three out of three so far so it feels pretty good. I feel happy in the team and hopefully we can get a little bit closer to challenge these guys." Vettel is just 13 points behind Hamilton in the world championship and four points ahead of Rosberg, after the first three races of the year. Rosberg unhappy . It was a disheartening weekend for Rosberg -- the son of 1982 world champion Keke -- and he allowed his frustrations to spill over for the first time this season. On Saturday, Hamilton beat him to pole position by just 0.042 seconds and Rosberg complained to his engineers on the pit to car radio: "Oh, come on guys!" Then the German insisted his race was hampered when he found himself sandwiched between race leader Hamilton and Vettel, both of whom had stopped for fresh tyres a few laps earlier. "Lewis is driving very slowly. Tell him to speed up," Rosberg told the Mercedes pit wall. Mercedes then instructed Hamilton on the team radio: "OK Lewis we'd like to pick the pace up a little bit." Rosberg complained after the race that Hamilton's lackadaisical Sunday driving was holding him up, pushing him back into Vettel's thrall and taking life out of his tyres. "It's interesting to hear from you Lewis about your pace up front," Rosberg said in the post-race media conference. "That was compromising my race. Driving slowly, that was unnecessary, and meant Sebastian was closer to me. "It cost me a lot of time ... I'm unhappy about that of course." Hamilton responded: "It's not my job to look after Nico's race. It's my job to bring the car home. "I didn't do anything intentionally to slow the cars down. If Nico had wanted to get by he could have tried, but he didn't." Bahrain . Hamilton has won two grands prix in 2015 while Rosberg has yet to climb onto the top step of the podium. If the German is to repeat his thrilling 2014 world title challenge, which went down to the final race in Abu Dhabi, he will need to turn things around soon. Rosberg has the chance to exorcise his frustrations on track at the Bahrain Grand Prix in just seven day's time. Ferrari will hope the hot track temperatures at the desert race will help them topple Mercedes again, as they did on Sepang's sizzling circuit. The Italian team have the horsepower. Vettel finished less than three seconds behind Hamilton in China with Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen fourth. There was also a small feat further down the field as former Ferrari race winner Fernando Alonso finished his first race for the McLaren Honda partnership with 12th place in China. The Spanish double world champion missed the Australian Grand Prix because of a head injury sustained in testing and then retired in Malaysia. | Lewis Hamilton took victory for the Silver Arrows at the Chinese Grand Prix . Nico Rosberg claims Hamilton ruined his race by driving slowly . | bd5454e50aa07b4da65175bdac6fbe810e0f0c80 |
(CNN)Richard Dysart, the award-winning stage actor who gained fame playing law firm leader Leland McKenzie on "L.A. Law," has died. He was 86. He died of cancer at his home in Santa Monica, California, according to his wife, Kathryn Jacobi Dysart. For decades, Dysart was a noted TV and film character actor, and stage star, winning a Drama Desk award for playing coach in Jason Miller's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, "That Championship Season." But it was as McKenzie, the occasionally crusty paterfamilias on "L.A. Law," that he's likely best remembered. 'L.A. Law': Sex, crime and the 'Venus Butterfly' McKenzie usually took a back seat to the younger, more glamorous characters on "Law," a Steven Bochco-created legal show that owed much to his previous hit, "Hill Street Blues." The employees of McKenzie, Brackman, Chaney and Kuzak included Harry Hamlin's smooth-talking Michael Kuzak, Corbin Bernsen's skirt-chasing divorce attorney Arnie Becker and Michele Greene's idealistic Abby Perkins. There was as much time devoted to bedroom activities as there was legal issues while the show bravely took on such topics as AIDS, child molestation and capital punishment. But McKenzie was the one who kept them in check while still encouraging their better instincts. (Alan Rachins' Douglas Brackman was the business guy.) He was also involved in one of the show's most surprising plot twists: a romantic affair with a rival, Rosalind Shays (Diana Muldaur), who met with one of TV's most shocking deaths -- plunging down an elevator shaft. Dysart appeared in every episode of the show, which ran from 1986 to 1994. After "L.A. Law" ended, Dysart took few roles, though he did return for an "L.A. Law" reunion movie in 2002. Dysart's other credits include 1971's "The Hospital," 1975's "The Day of the Locust," 1979's "Being There," John Carpenter's 1982 version of "The Thing," 1985's "The Falcon and the Snowman" and 1987's "Mask." He is survived by Jacobi Dysart, his wife of nearly three decades, a son and two grandchildren. CNN's Rachel Wells contributed to this story. | The died of cancer at his home in Santa Monica, California . He usually took a back seat to the younger, more glamorous characters on the show . | 3ffa01c32ebae5f91675949330e5fc4b259ad81c |
(CNN)A longtime friend of Joni Mitchell has filed a legal petition seeking to be named the singer-songwriter's conservator. Mitchell, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, was taken to UCLA Medical Center a month ago after being found unconscious in her home. She remains at the hospital, according to Leslie Morris' court petition filed April 28. Morris is described as Mitchell's friend of more than 44 years in the legal documents. Whether the folk and jazz singer is conscious remains a matter of some confusion. In her April 28 petition, Morris says Mitchell is unconscious: "At this time she (Mitchell) remains unconscious and unable to make any responses, and is therefore unable to provide for any of her personal needs." But on Mitchell's website, a statement posted the same day that says it was approved by Morris says Mitchell is alert. "Contrary to rumors circulating on the Internet today, Joni is not in a coma. Joni is still in the hospital -- but she comprehends, she's alert, and she has her full senses. A full recovery is expected. The document obtained by a certain media outlet simply gives her longtime friend Leslie Morris the authority -- in the absence of 24-hour doctor care -- to make care decisions for Joni once she leaves the hospital." When asked about the discrepancy between statements about Mitchell's health on her website and in the legal filing, her publicist, Alisse Kingsley, responded that "the website" was accurate. A doctor's capacity declaration stated that Mitchell will likely be unable, due to her medical condition, to attend any court hearings for the next four to six months. Adoring fans are posting their tributes to Mitchell at WeLoveYouJoni.com. Sonya Hamasaki and Cheri Mossburg contributed to this report. | Singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell is still hospitalized . Her longtime friend Leslie Morris wants to be appointed her conservator . | c0ff7635ebabf8000197cdbd68f76e4a0b463be8 |
(CNN)Be afraid -- be very afraid. This is the warning the world deserves to hear. Because the leader of the free world refuses to look with clear eyes at the chief security challenges of the 21st century: the fruits of radical Islam. The results of the Obama White House's innovative efforts to make the world a better place can be accounted for in the ever-growing numbers of victims of radical Islam in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. Not to mention here in the United States, Canada and Europe. Is it not a tragic irony that the Arab Spring-era policies of a Nobel Peace Prize recipient accommodated the transition of Syria into the world's newest jihad theater while leaving Libya a failed state and Yemen a failing state? The Syrian jihad gave rise to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, which now uses Syria as a rear operating base to support its jihad in Iraq, which could soon spill over into Jordan. Plus, Libya is now being used as a rear operating base by ISIS and other global jihadist elements striving to redraw the map of the Middle East, even as they plan attacks in Europe and North America. Given the frightfully slow pace America's commander-in-chief is currently allowing our military and intelligence community to take action against both ISIS and its progenitor, al Qaeda, the picture of what's in store is clear: The body count will continue to grow in the places where these groups can generate buy-in for their agendas. And neither the United States nor our Western allies are immune to this cancer. Academics who must say something new or different to garner interest in their work may describe the agendas of ISIS and al Qaeda as distinctly different. But the fact is they are not -- their agendas, which constitute the foremost threats to the global security environment today, are manifestations of radical Islam. Of course, it's hardly a surprise President Barack Obama refuses to acknowledge all this in plain terms -- the president and his national security advisers have too often proven naïve, with a dangerous habit of viewing the world not as it is, but as they hope it could be. There is no shortage of examples that highlight the absence of sound foresight on the parts of the world's most powerful politician and his national security team. Just take the National Strategy for Counterterrorism published by the White House in 2011. That document contained the assertion that, "Since the beginning of 2011, the transformative change sweeping North Africa and the Middle East -- along with the death of Osama bin Laden -- has further changed the nature of the terrorist threat, par-ticularly as the relevance of al Qaeda and its ideology has been further diminished." Yet, fast forward to January 2014 and America's top intelligence official, director of National Intelligence James Clapper, advised Congress that al Qaeda was no less capable of threatening the United States and our allies than a decade earlier. Soon after Clapper acknowledged al Qaeda was not a band on the run, as President Obama had described the terrorist enterprise, a report by terrorism expert Seth Jones of the RAND Corporation highlighted yet another inconvenient truth for the White House: As restraints on freedom of expression of radical religious views vanished in places like Libya, Tunisia and Egypt during the Arab Spring, those states became fertile recruitment grounds for terrorist groups -- including al Qaeda and groups aligned with it. According to data compiled by Jones, from 2010 through 2013, the number of Salafi jihadist groups increased by 58%. These groups are fueled by Salafiyya Jihadiyya, an ideology that not only informs the agenda of al Qaeda, but is the source code for the agenda of the al Qaeda offshoot ISIS. Most recently, absent from the National Security Strategy produced by the Obama White House in February 2015 is any real meaningful discussion concerning threats posed by al Qaeda. Yes, Osama bin Laden was killed on President Obama's watch. But contrary to what the White House seemed to think in 2011, bin Laden's death has not lifted the shadow he casts over America's, or our allies' security. Indeed, within days of our new National Security Strategy's publication date, in the seventh issue of ISIS's English-language magazine Dabiq, the group's leaders described their jihad as a continuation of the jihad charted by bin Laden, while accusing his successor, Ayman al-Zawahiri, of steering al Qaeda off the path of its former leader. Meanwhile, Yemen -- home to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the al Qaeda branch that claimed credit for the January 2015 attack in Paris at the office of Charlie Hebdo -- has also become a failed state. AQAP is helmed by the second-highest-ranking official in al Qaeda writ large, and the Obama administration views it as the most dangerous component of al Qaeda's global network. So it is interesting that, in the months before the Yemeni government was overthrown by Iran-backed rebels, President Obama described the U.S.-Yemen counterterrorism partnership as a shining example of success in the fight against al Qaeda -- interesting because the President did not do more to help that "partner" government remain in power. Once again, the president and his advisers appear to have either ignored or failed to recognize the trajectory of events in the Middle East. What were they thinking? And how do they plan to combat AQAP now? Despite what the White House wants the world to believe, a sober look at the security environment reveals the following key realities: . ISIS controls a large amount of territory in the Middle East, and the group is rapidly growing its ranks in places such as Libya and Afghanistan, while at the same time inspiring and plotting attacks in the West. And, although ISIS is trying to "out al Qaeda" al Qaeda, resorting to attention winning stunts to boost its profile on television sets around the world, al Qaeda itself is no less of a threat to the United States and our allies today than it was in January 2014. At the same time, the routine failures of President Obama and his advisers to understand the security environment, and to appropriately tailor America's national security posture in a manner demanded by it, foretells more disasters lie ahead. Not only Americans, but also our allies should be very, very afraid. Indeed, President Obama's refusal to simply call a problem like radical Islam by its name strongly suggests he is unwilling to make the difficult decisions that must be made today if we are to stand a chance of defeating radical Islamist groups. History has shown the dangers that millions can be placed in if our leaders don't face down a looming threat by calling it what it is and putting our full weight behind efforts to vanquish it. President Obama has the resources at his disposal to do just that. But if he wants to help define a future for the Middle East and North Africa in which fewer threats emanate from those regions, he must spend more time listening to talented professionals in our military and intelligence community versus the idealists and yes-men surrounding him at the White House. There is too much at stake in the near term to continue down the path of experimentation with Pollyannaish theories about how to attain this future that have actually rendered us less safe. Indeed, President Obama should also pay closer attention to what representatives from Arab states are saying behind closed doors. Most of their bosses would love to be the claimants to the prize of defeating ISIS and al Qaeda. However, all of them recognize that, unless we all want things to get a whole lot worse before they might get any better, the United States will have to deploy considerably more of our "kinetic" resources to put those victories in sight. This does not mean a ground forces-intensive response is required from us at this time. But if the President thinks it prudent to wait on our Arab partners to do most of the heavy lifting, he could be guaranteeing this will be the case in the not-too-distant future. | Authors warn President Obama must be clear about radical Islam threat . Al Qaeda still a looming threat, they say . | 456d8e5033ddfcf0a78f931b696804f94972f639 |
(CNN)With the announcement that E! will air a new documentary series this summer about Bruce Jenner's transition from male to female, fans are eagerly awaiting bearing witness to the former Olympian's journey. The as yet not titled eight-part, one-hour series is set to premiere July 26. Jenner, who along with his family has starred in the hit E! reality series "Keeping Up with the Kardashians," recently went public with the fact that he is transgender. Here are a few things we hope the new show will offer: . A closer look at Jenner's current relationship with his former wife . Fans of "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" often got to see the sometimes strained relationship between Bruce and his wife Kris. As the Kardashian family matriarch who also manages her kids' careers, Kris butted heads with Bruce over everything from their children to his desire for more privacy. The pair announced they had filed for divorce in September 2014 after some time of living apart. There has been plenty of speculation regarding Kris Jenner's feelings about Bruce's transitioning though she tweeted her support after he made the announcement Friday during an interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer. What role he will take in the transgender community . Before he was a realty television star, Jenner was a popular motivational speaker. He is already being hailed for bringing attention to the transgender community. "Bruce is incredibly courageous and an inspiration, and we are proud to be entrusted with this deeply personal and important story," said Jeff Olde, executive vice president of programming and development for E! "This series will present an unfiltered look as Bruce boldly steps into uncharted territory and is true to himself for the first time." According to E! Jennifer Finney Boylan, who is the national co-chair of GLAAD, will serve as a consultant on Jenner's series. "Orange Is the New Black" actress Laverne Cox, who is transgender, has also offered Jenner her support. "I think a lot of people tuned in expecting to see a spectacle, and they tuned in and saw a profoundly nuanced, complicated, beautiful human being," Cox told MSNBC's Janet Mock. His relationship with his kids . Jenner is extremely close with his children. He has six biological kids with former wives Chrystie Scott, Linda Thompson, and Kris Jenner. He also helped raise Kris Jenner's four children -- Kourtney, Kim, Khloe and Robert Kardashian -- from her first marriage. "Those are the ones I'm concerned with and the only ones I don't -- I can't allow, I can't let myself hurt them," Jenner told Sawyer during their interview about his fear in telling his children. Many of his kids appear supportive of his transition and his two youngest, daughter Kendall and Kylie, released the following statement to ABC about their father: "We love our dad very much as he is an amazing father. We couldn't ask for a better dad. He has the biggest heart and all we want for him is to be happy. If he's happy, we're happy." How fans will react . Jenner has long been one of the world's most popular Olympic gold medalists. Viewers of "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" often praised him for being so level-headed amidst all the paparazzi-fueled chaos. But with his new series Jenner will be taking center stage and venturing into completely new territory at a time when some still grapple with issues of gender and sexuality. He sounds like he is ready. "We're going to make a difference in the world with what we're doing, and if the whole Kardashian show gave me a foothold into that world, to be able to go out there and do something good, I got not problem with that," Jenner told Sawyer. | E! plans to air a new Jenner reality show this summer . It will follow his transition from male to female . | bf1f0672a431764d8ef55ed40590bccf112c84fa |
(CNN)Just about now, North Korea's enigmatic ruler was expected to be preparing to emerge from his fortified country for a visit to Moscow to join celebrations next week marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. The trip was highly anticipated. After all, this was to have been Kim's first official international trip since he came to power in 2011 following his father's death, and it would have provided a fascinating opportunity for the world to get a closer look at a young leader and a regime still largely shrouded in mystery. But this week, Russia announced that the trip had been canceled, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying Thursday that Moscow was informed via diplomatic channels that the trip would not happen. He said that "the decision is connected with North Korean domestic affairs." What could have changed Kim's mind? It is practically impossible to answer the question with absolute certainty, but a possible explanation is that Kim may not be feeling completely secure in his position. And nervous dictators prefer to stay home. True, Kim runs one of the most brutally repressive regimes on Earth. And there is unceasing public praise for the younger 'Dear Leader," including frenzied eruptions of support. But these eruptions are carefully scripted, and those who have managed to flee the North confirm that in private, many are unhappy with the regime. Perhaps with the potential threats in mind, Kim feels the need to reassert his authority and keep his eye on the centers of power. In 2013, Kim shocked the country and stunned outside observers when he ordered the killing of his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, who had stood by his side from the day his father died. Jang had mentored and guided the young Kim as he took the reins, but the once-powerful Jang was arrested by soldiers during a Politburo meeting who dragged him away in a chilling scene broadcast on national television. The central news agency called Jang a "traitor for all the ages," with vague accusations that he had behaved "insolently." More seriously, he was accused of "counter-revolutionary factional acts in a bid to overthrow the leadership." And just this week, and only a day before the Russians announced Kim's canceled travel plans, a South Korea lawmaker revealed that South Korea's National Intelligence Service had pieced together information suggesting that so far this year, Kim has ordered the execution of 15 senior government officials. According to South Korean legislator Shing Kyung-min, North Korea's vice chairman of the State Planning Commission, for example, was executed because he objected to plans to change the design of a new government hall from a rounded shape to one resembling a flower. Such an explanation is bizarre. And in keeping with the odd behavior we have grown accustomed to hearing about from North Korea. But there may be more to this. Kim -- who was still in his 20s when he took power and holds a host of titles, including Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army -- still finds it necessary to remind everyone at home that he is the one in charge. But although there is something almost comical about the explanations offered up by North Korea for the actions of its regime, a nervous, unpredictable, inexperienced leader with access to nuclear weapons is far from a laughing matter. As recently as 2013, North Korea conducted a nuclear test -- the country's third, and it has threatened to use them against South Korea, Japan and the United States. Meanwhile, it has threatened South Korea with "final destruction," said it will turn the country's presidential office into a sea of fire, told Japan it would trigger a nuclear attack if Tokyo followed through on a warning to destroy any North Korean missiles fired in its direction, and declared the United States is seeking a war and that Pyongyang "will be exercising our right to preemptive nuclear attacks." Such rhetoric is itself troubling. But experts have also warned this week that North Korea may have restarted its Yongbyon nuclear reactor, with the Institute for Science and International Security arguing that snow melting patterns in images of the plant suggest new activity at the plant. North Korea has been mostly out of the news in recent months, partly because so many other international crises have pushed it out of the headlines. But that doesn't mean tensions have eased. Just three weeks ago, Pyongyang fired missiles into the sea as U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter arrived on the Korean peninsula. All this suggests that gauging the state of mind of the North Korean leader is no easy task. But if Kim raises the alarm about threats from the outside, we will know he is likely feeling insecure at home and may be trying to boost internal support. That would be a danger sign for the people of North Korea -- and a flashing red light for the rest of the world. Read CNN Opinion's Flipboard magazine. | Russia says Kim Jong Un has canceled trip to Moscow . Frida Ghitis: Gauging Kim's state of mind no easy task . | 74643984e7152b6d6d7309ca2e9a8789b7e067be |
(CNN)Sunday's announcement that Corinthian Colleges Inc. would shut down all of its remaining 28 campuses is a positive development in a long struggle to hold for-profit colleges accountable. Corinthian, which once enrolled more than 70,000 students, is one of the worst of the "predator colleges" -- schools that offer dubious degrees, saddle students with high amounts of debt and gobble up tens of billions of dollars in federal money every year. Many of these schools are for-profit career colleges that operate mostly online. It's no wonder that Corinthian is doing this after the U.S. Department of Education curtailed its access to federal student aid last summer. There are about 1.3 million students enrolled in for-profit colleges, many of which have questionable track records, and their students need help transitioning into legitimate postsecondary schools. With Uncle Sam's student loan debt sheet topping $1 trillion, we literally can't afford to continue funding for-profit colleges -- which reportedly get 86% of their funding from federal student loan money. For those not familiar with the for-profit college fiasco, here's the whole story in one telling statistic: While for-profit colleges enroll only 13% of the nation's college students, such colleges account for nearly half of all student loan defaults, according to Department of Education statistics. For comparison's sake, the default rate of for-profit college students is worse than the default rate of the worst subprime borrowers during the financial crisis. How do these colleges operate? It's deviously simple: Convince low-income students into borrowing tens of thousands of dollars through easy federal student loans, keep costs low through online classes and part-time professors, and watch the money roll in. The aggressive tactics of these colleges boggle the mind. Recruiters are told to make 100 phone calls and leave 100 messages a day, according to a ProPublica investigation. I can personally attest to the aggressive tactics. My phone number was accidentally placed on a call list for a for-profit college recently, and I received so many calls per day that I had to ask my wireless carrier to block the phone number. Stopping the exploitation of students isn't easy. The for-profit college business is a multibillion-dollar industry. The CEOs of these companies make millions of dollars a year, employ an army of lobbyists and donate money to both political parties. But the past two months brought a new twist to the crisis. Hundreds of graduates of the now-defunct Corinthian joined a "debt strike," publicly declaring their refusal to pay back their loans. In response, Education Department Secretary Arne Duncan signaled a willingness to forgive loans of Corinthian graduates who have crushing debt and no job prospects. Now that Corinthian is finally shutting down, we must finish the job. The remaining for-profit colleges should be closed. Any student not gainfully employed or transferred to a reputable college within three years should be considered a victim, and their debts should be forgiven. Yes, "victim" is the right word. If these degrees actually helped people get jobs, we should be celebrating them. But according to a jaw-dropping report by the Education Department, the average graduate of an online for-profit college makes less than a high school dropout. Not the equivalent of a high school dropout. Less than a high school dropout. The real-life misery caused by predatory colleges is painful to hear about. One Corinthian graduate has $37,000 in debt for his computer science degree, but he can't even get a job at Best Buy, according to Slate. Another graduate, $33,000 in debt, has a medical assisting degree, but she gave up on finding employment in her field. She waits tables now, The Chronicle of Higher Education says. I can already hear your next question. If for-profit colleges are this terrible, are they at least cheaper? No. In fact, their cost is reportedly around 60% higher than a comparable degree from a public college. What's even more frustrating is that we've known about the shenanigans of these predator colleges for years. A 2011 report by the Government Accountability Office found widespread rule breaking by the largest for-profit colleges -- everything from accepting fictitious high-school diplomas to encouraging plagiarism and cheating. In one example, an undercover federal investigator posing as a student was told by a professor, "It's not hard to get a 100% on the second try; just jot down the correct answers and take the quiz again," according to The New York Times. In 2013, Career Education Corp. paid $10 million to settle charges by the state of New York regarding phony job-placement claims. All told, no fewer than 36 state attorneys general were investigating for-profit colleges in 2014. After selling off 95 of its campuses last year, Corinthian said on Sunday that it tried unsuccessfully to sell the remaining 28 campuses, blaming the failure on "federal and state regulators seeking to impose financial penalties and conditions" on potential buyers. You can't hide your bad behavior forever, and the questionable practices of many for-profit colleges are starting to catch up with them. Enrollment at the University of Phoenix -- the largest for-profit college in the United States -- has fallen by half, to about 213,000. We laid the smackdown on predatory lenders during the financial crisis, and it's time to do the same thing with for-profit colleges. To keep predator colleges from wrecking our faith in the college degree -- still the best pathway to a middle-class life -- we need to act now. For-profit colleges have flunked their final exam. Now it's up to their rich benefactor, Uncle Sam, to make sure they don't go back to school in the fall. Editor's Note: An earlier version of this article said the San Diego campus of the University of Phoenix had been banned from enrolling military veterans last year; that issue has been resolved. | David Wheeler: Corinthian, considered a "predator" school, will shut down campuses . Wheeler: Students of for-profit colleges are hapless victims; their debts should be forgiven . | 9efbe27504b041e7f5e846a3c6898702c0e82427 |
(CNN)Jacob Lawrence's groundbreaking work, "The Migration of the Negro," is a series of 60 small paintings with text depicting the lives of millions of pre-World War II blacks as they moved from the oppressive South to the promise of a better life in the North. One frame in particular, No. 22, shows three black men dressed in their Sunday best, handcuffed, heads bowed standing in front of a window adorned with prison bars. The caption reads: . "Another of the social causes of the migrants' leaving was that at times they did not feel safe, or it was not the best thing to be found on the streets late at night. They were arrested on the slightest provocation." Lawrence painted this picture around 1940. This is important to know because there are some people who blame President Barack Obama for racial tension in America as if the March on Washington scrubbed away the lasting effects of 300 years of inequality. No. 22 was painted before hip-hop became the piñata for conservative talk show hosts to bash and before sagging pants became a popular fashion statement. Some of us keep looking for a new reason why this old problem continues to haunt us because to think otherwise requires effort. It's a lot easier to retweet a Dr. King meme. It is more convenient to say the violence began when rioters threw bricks at police and not when a city's Police Department began terrorizing its residents. We criticize Baltimore's mayor for not "restoring order" as if paying victims of police brutality nearly $6 million in a four-year span is "order." Now, some people are partially blaming the 2013 movie "The Purge" for the uprising in Baltimore as if the 1996 riots in St. Petersburg, Florida, happened on a different planet. Or that the more than 100 cases of Baltimore police brutality that were either lost or settled out of court since 2011 provide no insight as to what the residents have been dealing with for some time. An 87-year-old grandmother had her shoulder broken by overzealous police, and Sen. Rand Paul -- God bless him -- suggested the rise in absentee fathers is the reason for this latest clash. It is true only 34% of black children live in a two-family household today, and I do believe that is a problem. Soul searching, as the President suggested, is something that needs to be had by all. But it is also true that 65% of black children lived with both parents in 1960, and yet there was still a lack of trust between the police and the minority community. Sen. Paul's rationale falls apart when you consider that John Henry Crawford III was shot and killed by police at a Walmart in Ohio while on the phone talking with the mother of his two children. Crawford's father was literally playing with his two grandchildren as his son was being gunned down. In 1971, Marvin Gaye cracked the Top 10 on the pop charts with "Inner City Blues," which included the lines: . Crime is increasing . Trigger happy policing . Panic is spreading . God knows where we're heading . And yet so many look at the protests, uprisings and yes, sometimes riots, with this incredulous demeanor as if the raw emotions captured on camera are materializing out of thin air. No backdrop. No historical context. Television journalists asking questions that seem to characterize the recent developments as unexplained anger detached from any tangible issue. It is as if they believe the absence of burning crosses translated into peace and harmony. Meanwhile, Louisiana state police want people to believe Victor White III shot himself in the chest while handcuffed sitting in the back of a police car. How can there be peace when the Department of Justice found black residents in Ferguson were preyed upon for years by a corrupt Police Department? Where is the harmony when the average white household has 13 times the wealth of its black counterpart? And we know the impact wealth has on education, housing and mortality. Now there is video of police in Inkster, Michigan, celebrating the beating of a suspect as he sits nearby with broken ribs, a head injury and bleeding. The officers fist pump and laugh. One of them even appears to joyfully re-enact parts of the incident in plain view of Floyd Dent, the man in custody. And when the incident in question was under investigation, the Inkster Police Department suppressed the video. Two months would go by before the public saw what we are paying for. But at least we saw it. In Chicago, the police department has yet to release dash cam video of the fatal encounter officers had with 17-year-old Laquan McDonald last October. The report said an officer fired shots into McDonald's chest after the teen lunged at them with a knife. Witnesses said the shooting was unjustified. The autopsy shows McDonald was shot 16 times from a variety of angles by the officer. The City Council recently approved a $5 million settlement but maintains there was no wrongdoing. The video could shed some light on what really happened...which may explain why we have yet to see it. This comes on the heels of Mayor Rahm Emanuel establishing a $5.5 million reparations fund for victims of former CPD commander John Burge. For three decades Burge and his team ran a torture ring that used electric shock, burned and beat up more than 100 black men. And some look at Baltimore and the protests happening all around the country and wonder where all of this rage is coming from? This mistrust didn't come from somewhere. It's always been here. Woven in the comedic deliveries of Richard Pryor, Dick Gregory and Dave Chappelle; saturated within the prose of Lorraine Hansberry, Maya Angelou and Shonda Rhimes; heard in soulful cries of Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit" to John Legend standing on an Oscar stage singing "one day, when the glory comes it will be ours." For decades, the works of black artists have explicitly talked about the Baltimores of this country and though their work has been celebrated and curated, the message remains lost. Why else would someone believe sagging pants and hoodies are to blame for mass incarcerations? That President Obama is the reason why some blacks are frustrated with police and not the dynamic beautifully captured by Lawrence 75 years ago. Before President Richard Nixon started the war on drugs. Before Eric Garner started selling loose cigarettes in Staten Island. Before Baltimore became the setting of a critically acclaimed TV show. There isn't a new reason why Freddie Gray's death triggered outrage. Just new ways for people to validate apathy and explain away racism. | LZ Granderson: People keep looking for new reasons to validate apathy and explain away racism . But what happened in Baltimore didn't come up overnight; artist Jacob Lawrence depicted the same story in 1940s . | b9d587dc8af142c4b859bd8fcfed1f4313f1abec |
(CNN)Freddie Gray was arrested Baltimore police on the morning of April 12 without incident, according to police. Less than an hour after he was detained, officers transporting him called for a medic. He subsequently slipped into a coma, dying a week after his initial arrest. So what happened? The events surrounding Gray's encounter with police remain unclear. To shed light on what happened, police released a more detailed timeline of events on Monday, and officials speaking at a news conference elaborated on specifics of the events. "We want to clear up some of the confusions that may exist," Baltimore Deputy Police Commissioner Jerry Rodriguez said. "We will be looking specifically at our actions from the point that we came into contact with Mr. Gray up until the time we requested medical assistance -- specifically, did we miss any warnings? Should we have acted sooner? Should we have acted in any different manner?" This is what police say occurred: . --- . 8:39:12 a.m., Sunday, April 12 . At the corner of North Avenue and Mount Street in Baltimore, a police officer makes eye contact with two individuals, one of them Gray. Both individuals start running southbound as officers begin pursuing them. 8:39:52 a.m. One unit (officer) says "I got him" at 1700 Presbury Street, two blocks south of North and Mount. 8:40:12 a.m. An officer says we've got one and confirms the address of 1700 Presbury, where Gray gave up without the use of force, according to Rodriguez. One officer took out his stun gun but did not deploy it, he said. 8:42:52 a.m. Gray asks for an inhaler. Police request a "wagon" to transport him. 8:46:02 a.m. The van's driver says he believes Gray is acting "irate" in the back, according to Rodriguez . 8:46:12 a.m. At the corner of Mount Street and Baker Street, an officer asks the vehicle driver to stop so they can finish paperwork. At that point, Gray is placed in leg irons and put back in the wagon. Police interviewed several witnesses in the community with regard to that specific stop, Rodriguez said. The videos that were filmed by bystanders show events similar to what Rodriguez describes happens at this point. 8:54:02 a.m. The wagon clears Mount Street and heads southbound towards central booking. 8:59:52 a.m. The van's driver asks for an additional unit to "check on his prisoner [Gray]," Rodriguez said. Another individual is arrested and a wagon is requested. Before the wagon leaves, there is "some communication" with Gray, according to Rodriguez. They then travel to the police cepartment/s western district with Gray and the other suspect in the wagon. The two are separated by a metal barrier and the two had no physical contact. 9:24:32 a.m. A medic is called. --- . An autopsy on Gray's body was done on Monday, according to Rodriguez . He said there was no evidence that force was used against Gray, nor did any officers describe using any force against him. "When Mr. Gray was placed inside that van, he was able to talk, he was upset, and when Mr. gray was taken out of that van he could not talk and he could not breath," Rodriguez said. "I know Mr. Gray suffered a very traumatic injury, but I don't know if it happened prior to him getting into the van or while he was in the van." | Freddie Gray died on Sunday after slipping into a coma . He was arrested a week earlier under murky circumstances . | 5be9c8e3e2f685523350d627a4b34998f03ab753 |
(CNN)About 20 hours after the Boston Marathon started Monday, many of the cheering crowds had dispersed and the streets were cleared. But one man, despite the odds against him, crossed the finish line. Venezuelan native Maickel Melamed, who is battling muscular dystrophy, completed the 26.2 miles just before 5 a.m. Tuesday. A group of energized fans rallied for the 39-year-old as he walked down Boylston Street in the pouring rain with volunteers from his foundation, Vamos. He was the last participant to complete the race, CNN affiliate WCVB-TV reported. Friends who were waiting for Melamed to cross the finish line said the university professor and motivational speaker is dedicated and motivated. "He wants to show that life is great, no matter how many problems you can have," friend Perla Sananes said. Melamed was born with muscular dystrophy, which causes progressive weakness and loss of muscle mass throughout the body. As the disease progresses, people with the condition have difficulty doing physical activities like running and walking. Melamed has completed marathons in Chicago, New York, Berlin and Tokyo. Boston has a special place in his heart because his parents brought him to the city as a baby, WCVB-TV said. His perseverance was celebrated by crowds at the marathon finish line Tuesday morning, and also by fans online. Melamed is one of about 30,000 participants who raced in this year's marathon, which comes less than two weeks after a jury found Dzhokhar Tsarnaev guilty of all 30 charges related to the 2013 Boston bombings. On social media Monday, spectators cheered for runners and the city, calling the marathon a symbol of strength and unity. | Maickel Melamed, who has muscular dystrophy, took part in the 2015 Boston Marathon . He completed the race 20 hours after the start . Despite rainy weather, fans and friends cheered for the 39-year-old . | f611796309704ea03740661131fe6f6534613651 |
Shanghai, China (CNN)Volvo says it will begin exporting vehicles made in a factory in southwest China to the United States next month, the first time Chinese-built passenger cars will roll into American showrooms. Parent company Geely Automobile, which bought Volvo in 2010, is seeking to prove that a Chinese company can manage a global auto brand. Geely's gambit will be watched to see if it paves the way for other Chinese car manufacturers to crack developed markets. CEO Håkan Samuelsson said Volvo planned to sell 1,500 Chinese-made S60 Inscription sedans in 2015 and 5,000 annually in subsequent years. For many U.S. consumers, China is still more closely linked with cheap clothing and electronics than luxury vehicles, but Samuelsson downplayed any concerns about quality. "We don't highlight where the vehicle is built but we don't keep it a secret. We sell them as Volvos and we know they are exactly the same in quality no matter where they are produced," he told CNN. The car will be one of four models produced in a manufacturing plant in Chengdu that opened in 2013. But given that Volvo's brand is staked on its reputation for safety, analysts said the company will have to tread carefully. "They have a strong enough reputation no matter where they're made. They will have to make sure they don't ruin that perception with any quality issues," said Raymond Tsang, a Shanghai-based partner at consultants Bain & Company. China surpassed the U.S. as the largest market for car sales globally in 2009, and most major automakers build cars in China. But until now those cars have been sold almost exclusively in China. Chinese car manufacturers like Geely and its rival Great Wall Motor do export their models to countries in Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. But none have so far dared tackle developed markets like the U.S. and Western Europe. Geely chairman Li Shufu said he hoped the company would eventually become a global car brand, but said there were no current plans to begin export its home-grown brand to U.S. showrooms. "We have the ambition, yes; determination yes, but I'm also [a] very realistic person," he said. Industry analysts say it's unlikely we will see Chinese car makers shake up the U.S. car market in the same way Japanese and South Korean manufacturers did decades earlier, at least in the near future. "Hyundai and Toyota are now extremely successful but it took them decades to move away from being perceived as lower end and lower quality than U.S. cars," said Tsang. "And now the market is even more competitive, especially for entry level models." READ MORE: China wants eyes on cars not models at Shanghai Auto Show . | Volvo says it will begin exporting Chinese-built cars to the U.S. in May . It's the first time "Made in China" cars will be available in U.S. showrooms . But it's unlikely that Chinese car brands will take on developed markets . | 096a84f9392972cc2bdccf2ab888ef83bf8b5152 |
(CNN)The man who beat serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer to death inside a Wisconsin prison says he did it because of Dahmer's creepy sense of humor -- which included turning prison food into fake limbs covered with ketchup to resemble blood, the New York Post reports. Christopher Scarver, who was sentenced to two life terms in prison for killing Dahmer and another man at Columbia Correctional Institution in 1994, said the confessed cannibal would leave the fake limbs around the prison where others would find them. "He crossed the line with some people -- prisoners, prison staff," the newspaper quoted Scarver as saying. "Some people who are in prison are repentant -- but he was not one of them." In a separate story, the Post quotes Dahmer's former prison minister as saying the convict would make jokes about this cannibalistic past. "If he saw a guard that was nervous and standing near enough to hear him, he would say, 'I bite,'" the newspaper quoted the pastor, Roy Ratcliff, as saying. "Usually the guard would jump away and that would make Jeff laugh." "He sort of played with his persona to exaggerate it and make people more fearful," Ratcliff said. "This was just his way — a morbid humor to deal with his hopeless situation." Scarver was convicted of killing Dahmer on November 28, 1994. He told the Post that he killed Dahmer and another inmate, Jesse Anderson, after an altercation while they were together unsupervised on a work detail. Scarver said he kept a newspaper article detailing Dahmer's crimes, which included killing 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991, having sex with corpses, keeping some of the body parts and eating others. Just before he killed Dahmer, Scarver said, he confronted him with the clipping. "I asked him if he did those things 'cause I was fiercely disgusted. He was shocked. Yes, he was," the Post quoted Scarver as saying. Scarver said he hit Dahmer twice in the head with a metal bar from a weight room. He then killed Anderson, who was working in a different room. | Jeffrey Dahmer's killer tells New York Post he did it because of the convict's creepy practical jokes . Dahmer's former minister tells the paper he'd say to guard, "I bite" | 7fe2cf16ee8d74e262972a66ae53d8c03cddcb75 |
Moscow (CNN)Never mind. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has backed out of next month's visit to Moscow for World War II anniversary celebrations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday. "We were informed of the decision via diplomatic channels," Peskov said. "The decision is connected with North Korean domestic affairs." The visit was highly anticipated because it would have marked Kim's first official foreign trip since inheriting the leadership of North Korea in late 2011. He was to have met with Russian President Vladimir Putin as part of the May visit to coincide with Victory Day, marking the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. Kim also could have had the chance to rub elbows with the heads of about 30 other governments, including the leaders of China, Cuba, India, Germany, Vietnam and Venezuela. This number represents about half the world leaders that Russia has said it invited to the celebrations. Kim's trip had been anticipated since late December, when Russian state media reported that Moscow had extended an invitation. There was no further explanation, from Moscow or Pyongyang, as to why he wouldn't head west. Still, North Korea has a number of issues it's been wrestling with for years. They include widespread poverty, its longstanding spat with neighboring South Korea and the United States, as well as its international isolation largely due to its controversial nuclear program. And news about Kim's non-visit comes a day after South Korean intelligence agents told lawmakers that Kim is ruling with an iron fist, having ordered the execution of about 15 senior officials so far this year. CNN cannot independently confirm the executions detailed by Shin Kyung-min, a lawmaker with the New Politics Alliance for Democracy who attended the closed briefing. And the nature of the intelligence supporting the allegations was not immediately clear. That said, North Korea is one of the most closed societies in the world. And there's little doubt that Kim is very much in charge. According to Shin, intelligence officials say the North Korean leader is ruling in an impromptu manner and does not countenance excuses or any views that vary with his own. CNN's Madison Park and Alla Eshchenko contributed to this report. CNN's Matthew Chance reported from Moscow, and CNN's Ed Payne and Greg Botelho wrote this story from Atlanta. | Next month's visit to Moscow by the North Korean leader is off . This Victory Day marks the 70 years since the Soviet victory over Germany in World War II . | 623d92954919f2073c7de2c643966c3f44f25def |
(CNN)For the fifth year in a row in 2014, ambush attacks on police officers were the No. 1 cause of felonious deaths of law enforcement officers in the line of duty. Nevertheless, Google continues to market a smartphone application that lets lawbreakers pinpoint the location of police officers in the field. Google's executives won't even discuss the subject with organizations representing law enforcement. Google's popular real-time traffic app, Waze, uses GPS navigation and crowdsourcing to alert users to traffic jams, automobile accidents, stalled cars, and through its "traffic cop" feature, the presence of law enforcement. Most people undoubtedly use Waze's police-finding feature to avoid traffic tickets, but the app poses an enormous risk to deputies and police officers. In the days before he assassinated New York police officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu at point blank range while they sat in their patrol car last December, Ismaaiyl Brinsley is known to have used the Waze application to monitor the movements of police officers. The killer identified the location of police on his own Waze account and even posted screen captures to Instagram. While Google (which acquired Waze in 2013 for a reported $1.1 billion) claims the app "is all about contributing to the 'common good' out there on the road," the risks far outweigh the potential benefits. Every day, thousands of police officers and deputies enforce traffic laws, execute arrest and search warrants, investigate domestic violence complaints and perform countless tasks that are needed to keep our neighborhoods safe and remove criminals from the streets. It takes just a couple of clicks on Waze's "traffic cop" icon to identify their locations and indicate whether -- in the opinion of the anonymous user -- the officer is "visible" or "invisible." At that moment, the officer or deputy becomes an identifiable target whose whereabouts are available to any one of Waze's 50 million users worldwide. Social media has made enormous contributions to law enforcement as a "force multiplier" that lets citizens help police protect our communities. As we have seen with the emergence of crimes like identity theft, however, technology has the potential for evil as well as good. In the case of Waze, we are confronted with a tool that can be lethal to police officers and deputies, whose roles in society are to protect our citizens and enforce the laws that keep our communities safe. Google, whose stated mission is "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful," is now marketing an app with the potential to obstruct law enforcement and put the lives of police officers and deputies at risk. Even the more benign uses of Waze's "traffic cop" feature are concerning. In 2013, 10,076 people were killed in alcohol-related automobile accidents. And in 2011, 9,944 people lost their lives in speed-related fatal crashes. Is the highest, best use of Google's geo-mapping and crowdsourcing capabilities to help drunk drivers avoid checkpoints and give speeders assistance in evading speed limits? It's not just the speeders and drunk drivers who have access to the locations of police officers through Google's technology. Perpetrators of domestic violence can use it to find out about the presence of law enforcement in a spouse's neighborhood; gang members, narcotics dealers, even those intent on perpetrating an act of terror, all have access to Waze's "traffic cop" feature. Google has built a solid reputation as a good corporate neighbor, tying for first place in a 2013 study by the Reputation Institute measuring companies' reputations for corporate social responsibility. The company makes much of its compliance with legal, moral and ethical obligations as a good corporate neighbor. But when it comes to Waze, Google has gone into a defensive crouch. The company's executives flat out refused to discuss the subject with representatives of the National Sheriffs' Association, an organization representing more than 3,000 sheriff's offices across the United States. The refusal of Google's executives to even dignify our concerns by meeting with us offends our conscience. If Google's real objective is the "common good out there on the road," it will work with us to ensure the safety of both motorists and police officers. The goals are not mutually exclusive: we can have both. | David A. Clarke Jr. and Jonathan Thompson: Why does Google have an app that ambushes police? With Waze, we are confronted with a tool that can be lethal to police officers and deputies . | 80a28afe6ded1ad0ddd6f2ba0ac9b66436e91739 |
(CNN)The Hillary Clinton presidential campaign surely anticipated the coming wave of inquiries and criticism about conflicts of interest involving big foreign donors to charities run by the Clinton family -- questions set to get a thorough airing in a new book called "Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich" by Peter Schweizer, coming out May 5. My guess is that the issues raised by the book will prompt Team Clinton to put its candidate on the road, where she can continue holding loosely scheduled, informal meetings with ordinary Americans -- the sorts of people more concerned about local jobs than whether some foreign government or company paid a big speaking fee to Bill Clinton in hopes of getting special treatment by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. It's not that the alleged conflicts aren't potentially serious; as I recently noted in these pages, they are. According to The Wall Street Journal, in 2014 the Clinton Foundation "received money from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Oman, among others. The donors included Canada's foreign affairs department, which is promoting the Keystone XL pipeline." That's the same Keystone XL pipeline from Canada that the State Department all but endorsed, concluding after a five-part analysis that ran to 17,000 pages that the project's environmental impact would be minimal. President Obama vetoed a bill that would have allowed the pipeline to be built, but it's legitimate to ask whether the donation from Canada directly or indirectly influenced the State Department's analysis. And several news outlets have reported that banks and other companies with business before the U.S. government were donors to the Clinton Global Initiative, a sister group that was spun off from the Clinton Foundation. CNN's Alexandra Jaffe wrote last month that "listings for the Clinton Global Initiative's Annual Meeting found partnerships with at least six banks that were under investigation, involved in litigation or had been fined by government agencies and regulators at the time of the meeting. In every case, the bank in question was listed as a sponsor of the event even after the investigations were widely reported in the media." Those are serious matters -- but so are stubborn unemployment, troubled schools, high taxes and other problems that top the list of voters' concerns. A bank giving money to charity in hopes of buying leniency from the government is a cause for concern, but until and unless a smoking gun appears in the form of a clear exchange of money for favors, it becomes hard to say what, exactly, is wrong with donating cash to aid in a good cause like combating world hunger or helping to rebuild Haiti. Even among the banks fined for wrongdoing that contributed to Clinton charities, noted Jaffe, "there's no indication the Clintons had any knowledge of the ongoing investigations into banks supporting the foundation's efforts." That doesn't leave much room for outrage. A more serious critique of the Clinton foundations is that they have been an administrative and financial quagmire from their origins, running deficits, expanding uncontrollably and cutting deals that not only raise ethical questions but cast the family's management skill in a less-than-flattering light. In a well-known case of deception, a con man named Raffaello Follieri charmed his way into the foundation's good graces, earning public praise from Bill Clinton for promising $50 million to the Clinton Global Initiative -- money that never materialized. A more serious problem developed internally, with staff members fighting over the direction and management of the charities. In 2007 and 2008, the foundation ran a $40 million deficit and in 2012 had an $8 million deficit. So we already knew that the Clintons' charities suffered from poor management and took money from companies and governments that were clearly trying to curry favor. It's distasteful, but by now it's not news. Unless the forthcoming book unveils some blockbuster new information, questions about the Clintons' charities is likely to wind up on the same political shelf on which voters seem to have parked concerns about Hillary Clinton's use of private emails to conduct State Department business. According to a recent poll by the rightward-leaning Rasmussen -- taken after the email issue was splashed all over the news -- a survey of voters likely to vote in 2016 found that 57% expect Clinton to win the presidency. No wonder Clinton seemed positively unconcerned about the forthcoming book. "We're back into the political scene, and therefore we will be subjected to all kinds of distractions and I'm ready for it," she said in New Hampshire. Calling extensive exposure of conflicts of interest "distractions" suggests that Clinton knows what the polls suggest: that in a nation still struggling to emerge from a long recession, voters will likely judge her on something other than the efficiency and ethics of her charities. | Errol Louis: New book to detail alleged conflicts of interest with foreign donors to Clinton family charities . He says without smoking gun, it's likely not election deal-breaker for Americans worried about issues like economy, jobs, schools . Louis: More notable is mismanagement, ethical history of Clinton charities . | 32f2323dc070db2438d4c8838ff00f55639c9f49 |
Shanghai, China (CNN)With a well-paid job in finance and his own apartment, Li Lifei is living the Chinese dream. But there's one missing ingredient -- his own car. The 26-year old has his eye on a Volkswagen Tiguan but Shanghai, like many large Chinese cities, rations license plates as it looks for a solution to its gridlocked roads and polluted skies. To register for a license plate auction, prospective car buyers like Li must put down a deposit in exchange for disc containing software they can use to bid online. The auctions take place once a month on a Saturday morning. "I've been trying for six months with no success," Li told CNN. To boost his chances, Li upgraded the speed of his Internet connection from 10 to 50 mbps but to no avail. Each month there are around 10,000 license plates available. At the most recent auction on Saturday, Li said the final price was 80,600 yuan ($13,000) -- around three times the price of a cheap Chinese car and a third of what Li plans to spend on his SUV. It's possible to get a temporary license, but that has to be renewed every month, and Li says he doesn't want to use a huangniu, or middleman, some of whom employ hundreds of bidders to obtain the coveted registration. "I know people who've been trying for more than a year," he said. Another option would be to buy a hybrid vehicle that automatically qualifies for a license plate -- a selling point not lost on the car manufacturers showing their latest models and concepts at the Shanghai Auto Show this week. Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo all launched gasoline-electric hybrids for the Chinese market at the show, while Chinese manufacturer BYD has been an early pioneer of electric and hybrid cars. "The infrastructure (charging stations) for electric vehicles is not quite there yet but that's the advantage of a hybrid -- you can have both," said Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson. But Chinese drivers haven't wholeheartedly embraced the concept. Even though China overtook the United States as the world's largest car market in 2009, sales of electric and hybrid vehicles, while increasing quickly, still lag behind the U.S., where more than 100,000 were sold last year. And it's thought many are sold to local authorities and state industries, which are responding to central government directives. Few Chinese have American-style garages where the vehicles can be charged overnight. Li said he thought it would be inconvenient. "I don't want a hybrid car. I thought maybe a Tesla but it's too expensive," he said, referring to the hyper luxury electric sports car developed by Elon Musk that has seen weak sales in China. For others, the hassles of buying and owning a car have become too much and some affluent city dwellers are spurning cars. Shanghai resident Lei Gu, 35, learned to drive as a student and Microsoft employee in Seattle and loved driving her compact Geo on the open U.S. roads. But when she returned to China nine years ago, she chose not to purchase a car. "I used to love driving but I don't think I could drive here even if I wanted to. "Even though we have traffic rules, people don't follow them. I can barely cross the street." She's also put off by the congested traffic and the high cost of parking. If Shanghai's extensive subway system doesn't take her where she wants to go, she uses a popular Uber-like taxi app -- or rents a car. She's not alone. A recent report by consultants Bain & Company suggested that even though China's love affair with the car began late, it may already be souring. Of 2,137 people it surveyed, some 40% said cars were losing their appeal as a status symbol. Gu says luxury cars like BMWs and Mercedes are still an important way to "show face" among many of her friends. "If you've been working for 10 years and don't have a car, people might wonder if you have financial problems," she said. But she prefers to spend her money on other things like traveling abroad. "I do care about face but there are other ways to show it." | Many large Chinese cities ration license plates as they look for a solution to gridlocked roads and pollution . It means many prospective car owners have to bid in license auctions . But hybrid vehicles automatically qualify for a license plate . | 5ea6d7f1501dd9d3c88a470fe2a80e89bd8bf73d |
(CNN)In a sobering example of life imitating art, the chaos sweeping the streets of Baltimore may have been partly inspired by a series of action-horror movies. Baltimore police said rioting at a shopping mall and elsewhere Monday afternoon started amid rumors, spread on social media, of a "purge" led by large groups of marauding high school students. The term appears to be a reference to 2013's "The Purge" and its sequel, last year's "The Purge: Anarchy," about a dystopian future America where on one day each year, all laws are suspended for a 12-hour period and all crimes, including murder, become temporarily legal. In the movies, set in Los Angeles, people barricade themselves in their homes at night while gangs of violent "purgers" roam the streets. The government markets the sanctioned mayhem as a catharsis that reduces crime on the other 364 days of the year -- when in fact it's really a means of population control, mostly against people living in poor urban neighborhoods. Both "Purge" movies were box-office hits and a third installment, "The Purge: Vengeance," is planned for 2016. The Baltimore Sun reported that a flier circulated widely among city school students via social media touted a "purge" to begin Monday at 3 p.m. at Mondawmin Mall and end downtown. The flier included an image of protesters smashing the windshield of a police car in Baltimore on Saturday, the Sun said. How Baltimore police, protesters battle on Twitter . Maryland's largest city has been on edge since an African-American man, Freddie Gray, died April 19 from a spinal cord injury he suffered while in police custody. Peaceful protests gave way to violence Saturday night and again Monday, as agitators threw bricks at police, looted stores and set fire to cars and buildings. Scattered references to #purge and #ThePurge began appearing in Twitter and Instagram posts Monday about the unrest in Baltimore. | Some of Baltimore's unrest may have been inspired by the "Purge" movies . Movies are about a dystopian America where all crime is temporarily legal . | 4b132f90a0f4369df9b7ecba759c5aa068dd12be |
Kathmandu, Nepal (CNN)Kathmandu is a city with few good stories right now, but Tanka Maya Sitoula has one of them. The 40-year-old mother-of-four was at home when Saturday's deadly 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck, bringing the 5-story building down around her ground floor apartment. In the wake of the disaster, which has left at least 4,500 people dead across Nepal, Sitoula endured 36 long hours trapped in a room on the ground floor, before she was freed by an Indian rescue team. Remarkably, she escaped without injury, apparently protected by a beam. Sitoula, who talked to CNN through an interpreter, says she remained confident she would survive throughout her ordeal amid the rubble. "I heard people making noise outside so I thought I would be rescued," she said, as she and her family sheltered in the grounds of a nearby school. "I was confident that everybody was there outside and that I would be rescued." What did she do for 36 hours? "I was just lying down," she says. "There was no room to move here and there." Sitoula's husband Mahendra, a butcher, said he called out for help for hours after the quake, as he could hear her shouting in the rubble of the collapsed building. "I was totally confident that she was there," he said. "I never stopped calling her. And also from down below she was making sounds and I could hear her." It took 18 hours before the necessary help arrived, he said. And it took another 18 hours to free her. "I was asking people for help. Traffic police, whoever I could find. What happened was there were no tools to cut through the metal debris." Eventually, a rescue team from India had the equipment required, he said. Throughout the ordeal, he never gave up hope, he says: "I was confident that my wife was safe and sound." He was only concerned about how she would fare during the attempt to free her. Inspector Karam Singh from India's National Disaster Management Authority was supervising search and rescue efforts at the Sitoulas' former home Tuesday -- a bright pink building, pancaked into two levels, with an entire wall sheared off to reveal its purple interior. He described the rescue efforts as physically draining work -- "cutting, pushing and pulling" -- but extremely rewarding in the case of Sitoula. "She was happy, so so happy. She wasn't stopping praising us," he said. "We said it's good to have a [survivor]." Singh said workers had recovered one body from the building, adding that he believed eight to 10 others remained trapped inside. But as a French team of sniffer dogs completed a sweep of the ruins with no promising signs, following a search with a sensor earlier which also showed no signs of life, Singh said there was "no chance" of finding any survivors. As a digger worked to clear the rubble of her former home, Sitoula agreed: two days after her rescue, she says it is highly unlikely there are others as lucky as her, still surviving beneath the rubble. The prognosis is equally dire in Kathmandu's Gangabhu neighborhood, where search teams are focusing their efforts on a cluster of collapsed six-story guesthouses. A handler from a Japanese search dog team climbs down the wreckage with a stern expression. "I'm sorry. It didn't work out," he tells the Nepalese police officers involved in the search and recovery effort. Officer Tejush Swarnakar, with the Nepalese armed police, says officials believe about 50 people may be trapped in the rubble. Four bodies have been recovered -- but on Monday, there was a rare survival story. Members of GEA, a Turkish volunteer search and rescue team, pulled 21-year-old John Keisi from the debris after a 13-hour rescue effort. Swarnakar's colleagues were also diverted into action nearby, when dozens of protesters block a busy thoroughfare, chanting: "Down with the government." There are complaints, specifically, that the government is not doing enough to prevent rising transport prices in the wake of the earthquake. A bus window is smashed and there are brief scuffles as police move in to clear the crowd using shields and long batons. A short walk away, along the banks of the Bishnumati River, residents perch precariously on the slanted roof of a collapsed building in an attempt to salvage what they can. Next door, a striking sight: a rope of knotted sheets hangs from a third-floor window. Neighbor Aakash Karki, 19, says that seven people escaped using the rope. As the sun starts to set, crowds gather in Kathmandu's Sitapali neighborhood to watch the work of a large group of rescue and recovery teams. This is where members of GEA made the first of their two rescues in Nepal at 3 a.m. Sunday, pulling Bikram Chepang, 22, from the debris of 11 collapsed buildings. Now, back at the site, there are faint hopes that a third, and remarkable, rescue may on the cards. A search dogs scouring the wreckage has given an indication that it may have detected life. The volunteers continue their search, but conclude the dog was mistaken. They don't believe there's anyone alive inside. READ MORE: Nepal earthquake - how you can helpREAD MORE: Shattered lives - houses and families ripped apart . | Tanka Maya Sitoula was at home in Kathmandu, Nepal, when deadly quake struck . She was trapped inside the ruins of her wrecked home for 36 hours . | 8000bfa6f05e428b2c7cc552d0df4c36283108fd |
Miami (CNN)Inside a plane at Miami International Airport, baggage handlers are going on a shopping spree with passengers' bags. What they don't know is that they are being recorded on a hidden camera. The Miami-Dade Police Department set up the camera as part of an ongoing police investigation into luggage thefts by the very airport workers who are supposed to get bags safely onto planes. Email your story ideas and tips to CNNtips@cnn.com. "It's a problem we all face," said police Lt. Pete Estis. "We will continue to be proactive until we can see that the claims of pilfering through luggage will actually decrease." Miami Aviation Director Emilio T. González said the insider theft cases "are indeed the exception among the thousands of decent, hardworking employees at MIA, and they have been prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for their crimes." And these insider thefts just don't happen in Miami. A CNN analysis of passenger property loss claims filed with the TSA from 2010 to 2014 shows 30,621 claims of missing valuables, mostly packed in checked luggage. The rest occurred at security checkpoints. Total property loss claimed: $2.5 million. John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York topped the list of airports with the most claims of thefts from luggage, followed by Los Angeles International, Orlando International and Miami International, according to the data. The problem has been so serious at JFK that in 2013, El Al Airlines set up a hidden camera in a baggage hold. The camera showed baggage handlers stealing items on flights bound for Israel, including a $5,000 Seiko watch, iPhones, an iPad, cameras, gold rings and cash. Six of those arrested pleaded guilty to possession of stolen property or petty larceny and the seventh suspect's case was sealed, according to the Queens District Attorney's Office. The high-profile case, though, didn't stop the thefts. Two more baggage handlers at JFK were arrested in 2014 after authorities said they stole two designer handbags from a suitcase, and then tried to sell them on eBay. Then, in December, seven more JFK baggage handlers were charged with stealing valuables from checked luggage. The items were stolen from suitcases of passengers traveling to or from Hawaii, Japan, Johannesburg, London, Bangkok, Dubai, Milan and various U.S. cities. In Miami, which aggressively goes after luggage thieves, police have arrested 31 baggage handlers and ramp workers since 2012, including six so far this year. Police set up a hidden camera inside the belly of a plane last year and caught baggage handlers rifling through luggage and stealing various items. Another hidden camera caught a baggage handler rummaging through bags in a secure luggage room inside the airport while a security guard looked the other way. "Insider threat is very scary for us in law enforcement, and certainly someone taking somebody's cell phone, iPad, computer -- what's next?" Estis said. A CNN investigation earlier this year found that Miami and Orlando are the only two major airports in the country that require employees to be screened through metal detectors. Miami even checks employees when they leave work to go into the main terminal. But that apparently hasn't stopped the luggage thieves. "As far as being able to get the property off the airfield, that's a great question," Estis said. "We have theories." In Los Angeles, police last year executed search warrants on 25 locations after getting complaints about thefts in two terminals. Among the valuables found were computers, watches, jewelry and cameras and designer bags. Sixteen airport workers were fired. "We cut theft in those two terminals by 60% because of doing that aggressive investigative work," said Patrick Gannon, police chief of Los Angeles International Airport. Luggage theft could definitely lead to more serious problems, he said. "I absolutely think that if we don't pay attention to the small things that happen around here, that it could lead to much larger things. So there is, I believe, a connection between baggage theft and terrorism," Gannon said. Even the TSA has had problem employees. Since 2002, the agency has fired 513 officers for theft. It employs about 50,000 officers today, and last year screened more than 443 million checked bags and nearly 1.7 billion carry-ons. DA: Guns smuggled on planes by Delta employee 'egregious' security breach . Luggage theft isn't confined to airport workers. Outsiders have been caught on surveillance cameras stealing luggage from carousels. CNN contacted airports around the country and found while the total thefts from carousels are relatively low, it continues to be a problem. For example, Seattle reported 214 luggage thefts from carousels and other airport locations last year, 200 in Las Vegas, 36 in Atlanta, 35 in Phoenix, 15 at Ronald Reagan Washington National, 14 at Dulles International and 10 at Chicago's O'Hare Airport. Odd TSA finds . CNN's Harmeet Kaur and Yasmin Khorram contributed to this report. | TSA received more than 30,000 claims of missing valuables between 2010-2014 . Most of the missing valuables were packed in checked luggage . Miami-Dade police set up hidden cameras as part of sting . | bfba99132f31689ad149b4d8c89b0480f5a7f4d5 |
(CNN)C-SPAN's live telecast of the White House Correspondents' Association dinner on Saturday night, hosted by Cecily Strong of "Saturday Night Live," was not Strong's finest hour, though the entire affair seemed like five of C-SPAN's longest hours. Even so, there were some genuinely funny moments, although the ratio was low, and you had to be patient to get to them. But when you step back and look at the event as a whole, and appreciate what's really happening -- in terms of press freedoms and even a U.S. president willing and able to poke fun at himself as well as others -- it's hard not to think of this particular Beltway-meets-showbiz event as a wonderfully American exercise in tolerance and good humor. That being said, it's a very tough room -- and not just because the Washington Hilton ballroom is so cavernous. More than 2,000 credentialed White House journalists and their mostly celebrity guests convened for the occasion. And convened, and convened, and convened, as time dragged on and dinner was served late. President Barack Obama, as Strong's warm-up act, didn't hit the podium until 10:20 p.m. (Strong got her turn at 10:45.) Obama, as in past years, came out strong -- a tough act to follow for any comedian. He had strong comedy lines and delivered them with timing that many stand-up comics would envy. Noting his lame-duck status, Obama said his advisers asked him if he had a bucket list. "I have something that rhymes with bucket list," he claimed to have replied. Obama, noting the night's guest speaker, said, "On 'Saturday Night Live,' Cecily impersonates CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin." Then, after a brief but well-timed pause, he added, "Which is surprising, because usually, the only people impersonating journalists on CNN are journalists on CNN." Obama was nailing his own punch lines frequently, and perfectly. Then, to up the ante on his time at the podium, he welcomed his "anger translator" -- a recurring character played by Keegan-Michael Key on Comedy Central's "Key & Peele." It was a clever surprise, and the crowd reacted with surprising enthusiasm (I wouldn't have presumed most of them knew of Key's character or his series), though Key's jokes lost something in the translation, and didn't pack the punch of Obama's. But the bit ended with a great twist: Obama himself getting so worked up about a snowball being carried into Congress to denounce global warming that the President's "anger translator" had to calm Obama down instead. And then came Cecily Strong, with a sly opening line referring not only to her appearance as one of the few female guest speakers at the correspondents' dinner, but to the upcoming 2016 presidential election. "Feels right," she said, "to have a woman following President Obama." From there, the crowd seemed as tough as advertised, with "oohs" often as loud as laughter, as Strong went from one target to another. She even got "oohs" when her targets were outside the room, as when she said, noting how Obama has aged visibly in office, "Your hair is so white now, it can talk back to the police." But the seemingly tepid response to Strong's routine may have been partly due to the late hour. She came on after not only the dinner service and Obama, but after scholarship awards, correspondent awards and tributes and other bits of official business. And her routine wasn't over until 11:08 p.m. -- making it a longer TV show than even the Emmys. Before the main event finally began, C-SPAN filled the time scanning the room with its cameras, but providing only ambient sound with very few identifying voice-overs or prerecorded features. Once in a while, you could see someone recognizable in the large, oddly eclectic crowd: Tea Leoni, Ivanka Trump, Larry Wilmore, Jane Pauley. For the most part, though, it was like playing a frustratingly difficult Beltway game of spot-the-face-in-the-crowd -- a sort of "Who's Waldo?" And after a few hours watching a gaggle of people chat and eat, all I wanted to do was go home. And I was already home. But I stayed tuned, just so I could watch, and grade, the results. Final tally: Obama gets an A-, Keegan-Michael Key a C, Cecily Strong a B-, and the entire telecast and event an A+ for democracy -- but a D as television. | David Bianculli: Correspondents' dinner, and Cecily Strong as host, were mostly weak, but Obama had some funny zingers . He says "anger translator" bit was funny, but crowd was tough on Strong as event went on and on . | fb0f8d71883d9d9413e59c78c14f0ba785b5c9a5 |
(CNN)Have Mercy! Lifetime has its follow-up to its "Unauthorized Saved By the Bell" TV movie: the network is now taking on Full House. The female-skewing cable network has greenlit "The Unauthorized Full House Story" (working title), The Hollywood Reporter has learned. In the same vein as its "Saved By the Bell" pic, Lifetime's Full House Story will look at the rise of the cast — including John Stamos, Bob Saget and the Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen — and explore the pressure they faced to balance idyllic family life on the show with the more complicated reality of their own lives outside the series. Additionally, it will look at the warm bond that grew between the cast as the show became one of America's most beloved family sitcoms. Casting will begin immediately. An air date for the "Full House" tell-all has yet to be determined. See more Broadcast TV's Returning Shows 2015-16 . Ron McGee, who penned the "Unauthorized Saved by the Bell Story," will write the "Full House" take. The telepic will be produced by the Bell team of Front Street Pictures and Ringaling Productions, with Harvey Kahn and Stephen Bulka also on board to exec produce. For Lifetime, the news comes after its two-hour Bell take fizzled on Labor Day 2014. Despite tons of build-up and excitement from diehard fans of the original comedy series, the Bell take drew only 1.6 million total viewers, with 1.1 million viewers among the 18-49 and 25-54 demographics. That pic was based on former star Dustin Diamond's Behind the Bell 2009 tell-all, with Dylan Everett starring as Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Sam Kindseth as Diamond. Full House aired on ABC from 1987 to 1995. Netflix this month revived the beloved family comedy as "Fuller House," with original stars Candace Cameron-Bure (D.J.), her on-screen sister, Jodie Sweetin (Stephanie), and best friend Andrea Barber (Kimmy), in a 13-episode follow-up series. From its start as an unassuming family comedy in 1987 to its eventual wildly popular 192-episode run, "Full House" was "the little sitcom that could." It made huge stars of its cast — from Bob Saget and Dave Coulier, who were grinding away on the standup circuit, to John Stamos breaking hearts on General Hospital, and the Olsen twins. See the original story at The Hollywood Reporter's website. ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved. | The network has reportedly greenlit the tell-all . Lifetime previously did an unauthorized movie on "Saved by the Bell" | 3f77ac2d823598c19d459fb9fe150b22448efdf7 |
(CNN)Chile's Calbuco Volcano erupted again Thursday, marking the third time since last week, the National Service of Geology and Mining said. Gregorio Billikopf lives across Lake Llanquihue from the volcano has been photographing and videotaping the three eruptions and described Thursday's event as spectacular but not as severe as the two prior ones. "There is still smoke on and off, but nothing so dramatic (as before)," said Billikopf, a retired university adviser on agricultural issues. "On a good day I can see about eight volcanoes. "I understand that the rain that was announced for today would have been a disaster," he added. He lives in a rainy part of Chile, which he described as like a Garden of Eden. The explosion produced an extensive plume, but it was also described as smaller than the eruptions on April 22 and April 23, according to CNN Chile. Deputy Interior Minister Mahmud Aleuy said about 1,500 people were evacuated, and security measures will continue as "contingency plans are operating," CNN Chile reported Thursday. For the past several days, the geology agency has maintained there was a possibility of a third eruption as part of steadily declining seismic activity in the area. A 20-kilometer (12-mile) exclusion zone has been established around the crater, and Chilean authorities have been keeping residents away from that zone. Last week, military and police forces helped evacuate more than 4,400 residents, the Interior Ministry said then. The seismic event is sure to add to the volume of ash already spewed since the first eruption. Ash spread to Argentina in the second eruption, which occurred a day after the first. Evacuations in the region involved not only people but also animals. The volcanic debris has landed and piled up in some places to a depth of almost 2 feet, the Ministry of Interior and Public Safety said. New advisories say airborne ash could reach an altitude of 12,000 feet. There was no immediate information on the strength of the third eruption, but government officials have said the second, spectacular nighttime eruption was stronger than the first one. Last week in Ensenada, houses, trees and even sheep were blanketed gray with ash. People were removing salmon -- a staple of the local economy -- because of fears of contamination from ash and lava. Trucks were used to evacuate farm animals and pets. Authorities last week issued a red alert for the popular tourist towns of Puerto Montt and Puerto Varas in southern Chile. Last week, people were being evacuated to Puerto Montt on 22 buses and military trucks, the Interior Ministry said. Officials said that volcanic flows from Calbuco caused rising water levels in the Río Blanco. The first eruption set off a bit of a panic in the region. "At the beginning, it was small, and later, the cloud grew. And later, there was a huge cloud over you and true terror starts," a Puerto Montt resident said. Another person said: "It was impressive to see an enormous mushroom cloud, with the immense force of the volcano, and to see the ashes. At that point, there was a lot of panic, lots of chaos, traffic jams, people going to supermarkets, everyone looking for water, trying to take out money from the ATMs." Magma expanse under Yellowstone supervolcano more vast than thought . The eruption is a first for many in the region. The last major eruption was in 1962. There was a minor eruption in 1972. Calbuco also belched out a bit of gas and smoke in 1996. CNN's Shasta Darlington contributed from Sao Paolo, Brazil. CNN's Michael Pearson also contributed to this report. | "There is still smoke on and off," says resident with distant view . The volcano erupts for third time since April 22 . About 1,500 people are evacuated, an official says, according to CNN Chile . | 1eb5a51621a16535b548ae7b02bd923cd556cb2c |
(CNN)The seventh installment of the "Fast and Furious" franchise," "Furious 7" is sure to draw fans curious about how the film handles the real-life death of co-star Paul Walker. But minus the off-screen tragedy, is "Furious 7" worth racing to the theater? Here's what the critics are saying: . Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: " 'Furious 7' is the best F&F by far, two hours of pure pow fueled by dedication and passionate heart. This one sticks with you. The usual flaws -- plot bumps, muscle acting, tweet-length dialogue -- fade in the face of the camaraderie on and off screen. Finishing the film in Walker's honor clearly brought out the best in everyone. It's bittersweet seeing Walker in action again. But it's also a kick to watch him take the wheel or hang off a bus in Azerbaijan that happens to be hanging off a cliff. He feels at home." Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly: "No one forks over 10 bucks to see one of these flicks for its logic. We go for the bananas demolition-derby mayhem. 'Furious 7' delivers that with the direct visceral rush of an EpiPen. For two hours and change, we're treated to a high-octane orgy of some of the most exhilarating stunts ever put on film, including one showstopper where Walker balances on an overturned bus that's teetering on the edge of a cliff." Chris Ziegler, The Verge: "It's entirely possible, of course, that my fandom has simply blinded me to 'Furious 7's' greatness. The action sequences -- particularly Abu Dhabi, with the supercar leaping between buildings -- are legitimately phenomenal, and the scenes filmed after Walker's passing, in which his brothers stepped in for him, were never distracting or even noticeable without looking closely. Maybe I'm missing something." A.O. Scott, New York Times: "The final moments, when Mr. Walker's longtime colleagues say their farewells while he still appears to be on screen with them, are both awkward and moving. They remind you what these movies have always been about, underneath all the noise and the bravado: the ferocity of friendship and the terrible speed of loss." Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: "The action sequences -- from hand-to-hand combat to the crash and burn of cars -- are, as we've come to expect, not grounded in reality. The parkour-influenced high-rise stunts that everyone will be talking about are particularly affecting because a) they feature the multimillion-dollar eye-candy of a jewel-encrusted limited-edition Lykan Hypersport and b) they are amazing. All of the driving and skydiving fall into the never-try-this-at-home zone." Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair: "The latest film, which opens Friday, can't help but take on some deeper meaning, as the death of main cast member Paul Walker, killed in a car accident in late 2013, looms large throughout. But it doesn't overwhelm -- Furious 7 is respectful, even solemn, when it needs to be, but is still, thank God, plenty of crazy fun." | The film is out in theaters today . Co-star Paul Walker died during production . Critics say "Furious 7" is bittersweet and "plenty of crazy fun" | 52ffa54a60b7c7f0bcd2ef05b02ff2b5b3e5d4d0 |
(CNN)The powers of Marvel's all-star superheroes go a bit wobbly in "Avengers: Age of Ultron." Faced with the daunting prospect of topping the surprise and excitement of 2012's The Avengers, the third highest-grossing film of all time, writer-director Joss Whedon mixes some brooding down-time in with the abundant spectacle. To be sure, series junkies will get their fix from the sheer massiveness of the exploits, but at least two of the big action scenes are lackluster, while the climax and resolution could have been worked out in more complex, less rote ways, so as to further increase intrigue and anticipation for "Avengers: Infinity War Parts 1 and 2," already scheduled for release in May of 2018 and 2019, respectively. Not that any of this will matter much, since the pent-up excitement among the enormous international fan base is so intense that nothing will keep the summer's presumed biggest franchise blockbuster from soaring to and beyond the one-billion dollar threshold internationally. Hands-on producer Kevin Feige and his associates have built a cinematic empire quite unprecedented in Hollywood history, a veritable solar system of staggeringly profitable individual franchises unified by the overpowering collective force of the Avengers. So while sideline enterprises like the new "Daredevil" TV series continue to pop up, the company can be so confident in the enduring appeal of its theatrical mainstays that it recently published a release schedule for its remaining big-gun commercial titles from now through the end of the decade. At this point, no one would be willing to bet on when a sense of terminal deja vu might set in to bring it all to an end, and Comic-Con can plan its main events years ahead. In the meantime, the key points of interest surround how many surprises and twists can be wrung from a format and set of expectations that demand great fealty from core fans; any significant deviations are taken as personal betrayals by the hardest-core geeks. Last summer, "Guardians of the Galaxy" showed that Marvel could play it a bit more fast and loose than it generally does, but the big-name franchises still seem sacrosanct. And so it is with "Avengers: Age of Ultron," which at moments takes a peek down some shadowy side roads but ends up mostly zooming along the main highway to deliver what the audience wants rather than something even a little bit different. Picking up where last year's "Captain America: Winter Soldier" left off, the new film, without preamble, dives right in to show the Avengers dispatching the remnants of the nasty HYDRA organization in a hectically and indifferently staged forest combat scene that leaves Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) worse for wear while also introducing two new adversaries, twins Pietro and Wanda (Aaron-Taylor Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen). Victory allows for some passably amusing scenes of the heroes blowing off steam: The favorite party trick of Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is to challenge all comers to lift up his hammer; Natasha/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Bruce Banner/The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) pursue a little mating dance in which her amorous interest is predicated upon his retaining his human rather than superhero form; and Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans) take stock of the advances their old Nazi nemesis Strucker (Thomas Kretschmann) appears to be making in the artificial intelligence department, specifically with the most sophisticated humanoid ever devised, Ultron (voiced with marvelous robotic nuance by James Spader). What's behind Warner Bros.' risky move to release nine movies . Ultron is a cool and sophisticated creation; what he lacks, of course, is a heart, which is what makes him such an imposing villain. A sleekly designed robot you might even call handsome, he makes an excellent intellectual and smart-ass sparring partner for Stark, but when he first appears, he's still on training wheels. However, he does recruit Pietro and Wanda to his cause, an easy matter since Stark killed their parents. He's not yet entirely ready to conquer the universe but, in their first skirmish with him, the Avengers are sufficiently outclassed to begin worrying. Could 'Star Wars' open at $500 million? Licking their wounds at the "safe house" of Hawkeye's farm, the Avengers go into a funk. The impatient Thor quickly takes off "to find answers," Bruce resists Natasha's desire to get something physical cooking between them; Stark, lamenting that "Ultron is tryng to tear us apart," consults with old cohort Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson, briefly), while Mad Men's Linda Cardellini, playing Hawkeye's stand-by-your-man wife, is stuck with the (intentionally?) funniest line of dialogue in the film: "You know I totally support your avenging." While some of his partners wallow in disarray, Captain America heads for Seoul, where the next evolutionary step is to emerge via a device called "the cradle," which will hatch mass-produced android soldiers that will pave the way for Ultron's world domination. But a major chase through the city involving a runaway subway train falls flat due to basic conceptual silliness and poor action continuity. Of course, the Avengers ultimately get it together to do the kind of butt-kicking they're supposed to do, and a very welcome addition to the team comes in the form of the android called Vision. Red-faced and green-garbed, Vision is given a striking profile and overall presence by Paul Bettany (heretofore limited in the Marvel world to vocal work as Stark's computerized butler J.A.R.V.I.S.), and it can be hoped, if not assumed, that this most intriguing character will play an even more important role in the final two Avengers installments. 'Galaxy Quest' TV series in the works . Ultimately, Whedon's efforts to invest the heroes with a degree of uncertainty and vulnerability comes off as half-baked, as such an effort can only go so far due to the nature of the material. After all, these are comic book characters defined by their double identities; a third dimension is neither required nor perhaps even desired. If ending on a dramatic cliffhanger note had been desired, the elements were there for the taking; including a semi-tragic component along with mystery about Ultron's ultimate fate would arguably have only further cranked up anticipation for the coming chapters. But, then, what does that matter when the automatic attendance of millions is assured? "Avengers: Age of Ultron" succeeds in the top priority of creating a worthy opponent for its superheroes and giving the latter a few new things to do, but this time the action scenes don't always measure up and some of the characters are left in a kind of dramatic no-man's-land. The returning series actors acquit themselves in the expected agreeable manner, while series newcomer Andy Serkis has a terrific couple of minutes as a tough but stressed South African criminal. ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved. | 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' hits theaters May 1 . Critic: Movie doesn't quite measure up to the original from 2012 . | a84944fed11b4eb6b4d1d8a44bc9ee44b2a0f2d0 |
(CNN)It's a case of mistaken identity that reached international proportions. A 14-year-old girl was returned to Mexico from Texas on Wednesday after DNA tests showed she's not related to a woman who claimed the teenager was her daughter. Mexican federal police seized Alondra Luna Nuñez on Friday in the colonial city of Guanajuato, in central Mexico, believing she was the daughter of a Mexican national living in Houston. Several videos show the moment the girl was taken out of her middle school. In the footage, Alondra appears terrified, screaming at the top of her lungs and desperately trying to free herself from officers who are dragging her out of the building. After a struggle that lasted several minutes, the 14-year-old was put inside a federal police truck that sped away as witnesses, including the teenager's aunt, watched and recorded. According to Mexican authorities, the woman in Houston claimed in a 2007 petition that her daughter had been illegally taken to Mexico by her biological father without her consent. According to a statement from the Mexican Foreign Ministry, the woman had recently traveled to Guanajuato and seen her daughter there. "Derived on this information ... and in compliance with international law ... the judge in charge of the case asked Interpol to intervene to make the girl appear at a hearing in which the court would confirm her identity," the statement said. But what happened next puzzled both Alondra's family and Mexican public opinion: The teenager was sent to the United States before her identify was positively confirmed. Once in Houston, and with questions about her identity being raised by the girl's biological parents, the Mexican Consulate in that city ordered DNA testing. The results confirmed that Alondra is not the daughter of the Houston woman. "I will have my girl at home. We hope she's OK. We are taking action on the matter," Alondra's mother -- Susana Nuñez -- told Milenio Television. "They stole my child." | A girl is seized by authorities who thought she was the daughter of a woman in Houston . DNA tests show she is not . The mother of Alondra Luna Nuñez says: "They stole my child" | 0ce74c645d220081a4c3f29fb671c13b7f0ef0ea |
(CNN)English actress Michelle Keegan has been named the sexiest woman in the world by British men's magazine FHM. The 27-year-old actress is best known for her roles on the BBC series "Ordinary Lies" and the long-running British soap opera "Coronation Street." Her "Coronation Street" character Tina McIntyre was the show's first character to act as a surrogate, according to IMDB. Keegan is followed by reality television star and model Kendall Jenner, Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence, Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover girl Kate Upton and British television host Caroline Flack, who dated One Direction's Harry Styles for a few months. Sandra Bullock doesn't appear anywhere on FHM's list, even though People magazine named her the "World's Most Beautiful Woman" a week ago. The "FHM 100 Sexiest Women in the World" issue goes on sale Thursday, April 30. | British actress takes FHM's top spot in the list of 100 sexiest women in the world . People's most beautiful woman is nowhere on the list . | 8429c8c4d0efb596395da9285d572fb1ce18c11f |
(CNN)Lois Lilienstein, co-star of "Sharon, Lois & Bram's Elephant Show" — the Canadian preschool show that ran on Nickelodeon during the early 1990s — has died, aged 78. Her son, David Lilienstein, told CBC News that his mother died in Toronto on Wednesday night from a rare form of cancer first diagnosed last October. "She knew it was happening, she was at peace with it, and she died very peacefully and not in pain," he told the Canadian broadcaster. Liz Smith at 92 . Lilienstein was born in Chicago in 1936 and moved to Toronto in 1996 with her son and her husband, Ernest. She joined Sharon Hampson and Bram Morrison to launch their singing trio in 1978. The TV show "Sharon, Lois & Bram's Elephant Show" ran on CBC in Canada from 1984 to 1989, before continuing in reruns on Nickelodeon stateside until 1995. The 30 most popular film producers in Hollywood . Sally Catto, general manager, programming at CBC Television, paid tribute to Lilienstein for her contribution to Canadian kids TV. "Sharon, Lois and Bram got their start at CBC back in the '80s with the Elephant Show, and they went on to become icons to children all across North America through various programs and specials. Lois will be fondly remembered by her many friends at CBC," Catto told The Hollywood Reporter. 'Ghostbusters' budget cut . The Canadian variety show was best known for songs like "Skinnamarink" and "Peanut Butter." Lilienstein left the Sharon, Lois & Bram performance trio in 2000. ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved. | Beloved children's performer Lois Lilienstein has died . She was a member of CBC and Nickelodeon TV stars Sharon, Lois and Bram . CNN independently confirmed with Sharon and Bram's manager that Lilienstein passed away at 78 of a a rare cancer . | 923fd9f68ffcc423a3087be19853ca8bcfe4f513 |
(The Hollywood Reporter)Andrew Lesnie, the Oscar-winning cinematographer who spent more than a decade collaborating with director Peter Jackson on the six "Lord of the Rings"and "Hobbit" films, has died. He was 59. The Sydney native, who also worked with New Zealander Jackson on the remake of "King Kong" (2005) and "The Lovely Bones" (2009), suffered a heart attack Monday. Said a spokesman from the Australian Cinematographers Society: "We have been advised of the sudden death of Andrew," adding that his family would provide an official statement later. Known for balancing technology with artistic considerations, Lesnie also shot "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" (2011), directed by Rupert Wyatt. The cinematographer recently polished off The Water Diviner, the directorial debut of Russell Crowe, another New Zealand native. That movie opened Friday in U.S. theaters. Said Crowe on Twitter: "Devastating news from home. The master of the light, genius Andrew Lesnie has passed on." Lesnie won his Oscar for his work on the first of the fabled "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, "The Fellowship of the Ring" (2001). His knack for getting the right feel of author J.R.R. Tolkien's most foreboding locales was remarkable. For the inaugural "Lord of the Rings" film, Jackson reached out to Lesnie after seeing his work on "Babe" (1995) and its 1998 sequel. Those Australian films, revolving around a pig and other animals, featured impressive visual effects and proved to be big hits at the worldwide box office. "I'd never worked with him or even met him before, but he'd shot the Babe films and I thought they looked amazing, the way he'd used backlight and the sun and natural light to create a very magical effect," Jackson said in a 2004 interview. "And Babe had that larger-than-life feel about it that I wanted. "So when we began looking for DPs in early 1999, I first decided to get either an Australian or New Zealand DP, as they'd be used to the way we make films," Jackson continued. "Every country is slightly different in that way, and I immediately thought of Andrew. " Lesnie's impressive body of work also includes the post-apocalyptic science fiction film "I Am Legend" (2007), directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Will Smith; "The Last Airbender" (2010), from M. Night Shyamalan; and Healing (2014), helmed by Craig Monahan. He was inducted into the Australian Cinematographers Society Hall of Fame in 2002. Lesnie studied film and television at TAFE (a provider of vocational education) and at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School before joining the Australian Broadcasting Corp. as a camera assistant. He honed his craft on low-budget short films and music videos and assisted on documentaries, features and commercials. He then spent several months on "Wonder World," a children's afternoon magazine-style show. People we've lost in 2015 . ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved. | Oscar-winning cinematographer Andrew Lesnie has died . He is best known for "Lord of the Rings," "The Hobbit" and "Babe" | f1c14671f1c68b1b725a272efd43ad1a45cb2e5c |
(CNN)Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel, welcome to parenthood. The celebrity couple announced the arrival of their son, Silas Randall Timberlake, in statements to People. "Silas was the middle name of Timberlake's maternal grandfather Bill Bomar, who died in 2012, while Randall is the musician's own middle name, as well as his father's first," People reports. The couple announced the pregnancy in January, with an Instagram post. It is the first baby for both. | Timberlake and Biel welcome son Silas Randall Timberlake . The couple announced the pregnancy in January . | 20779abc400c083fc8e37532cc9c1a24b7f19b28 |
(CNN)Bahamian R&B singer Johnny Kemp, best known for the 1988 party anthem "Just Got Paid," died this week in Jamaica. The singer is believed to have drowned at a beach in Montego Bay on Thursday, the Jamaica Constabulatory Force said in a press release. The statement listed his age as 54, but other reports say he was 55. "Passersby saw Kemp's body floating faced down in the water" around 9:50 a.m., the statement said. "Police were summoned and the body removed to the morgue." Kemp was scheduled to perform on the Tom Joyner Foundation Fantastic Voyage Cruise, parent company Reach Media Inc. said in a statement. He had not boarded the ship. "Just Got Paid" was a No. 1 hit on the U.S. Billboard R&B chart and earned Kemp a Grammy nomination. Boy band 'NSYNC covered the song in the 2000 album, "No Strings Attached." Former 'NSYNC member Chris Kirkpatrick was one of many entertainers who paid tribute to Kemp on social media. "Thank you for the great music," he said in a tweet. Samuel L. Jackson and MC Hammer were among others who shared condolences, calling him a "humble and kind spirit." People we've lost in 2015 . | Johnny Kemp is "believed to have drowned at a beach in Montego Bay," police say . He is best known for the 1988 hit "Just Got Paid" | bbaf576956c604ccba1bd5cfce1fd73291aaad58 |
(CNN)What do Walmart, Target, and now the Koch Brothers have in common with the American Civil Liberties Union, ColorOfChange.org, and the Center for American Progress? All of them are adopting or advocating for hiring practices that open up work opportunities for people with convictions and leverage untapped potential in the labor market. Koch Industries' recent announcement that it will "ban the box" -- i.e., remove from its job applications the check-box that asks about convictions -- is a big step forward in the movement to break down barriers to employment for job-seekers with records. "Ban the box" doesn't prohibit background checks, it only postpones them until later in the hiring process. It's one item on a menu of fair-chance hiring reforms intended to ensure that job applicants are evaluated on their skills and qualifications first, rather than judged solely on past mistakes. These policies help reduce recidivism by making employment accessible to job-seekers who need a second chance, and they help break down the stigma of an arrest or conviction record. Two generations of the war on drugs, zero tolerance, and aggressive policing have left 70 million adults with arrest or conviction records that undermine their ability to be considered for jobs, even as the job market has grown steadily. Millions of people are being left behind, and it's taking a toll on our economy: The reduced economic output of people with records cost our economy $57-$65 billion in 2008 alone. These criminal justice policies disproportionately impact African-Americans, who are incarcerated at a rate six times that of whites. The Department of Justice's recent investigation of the Ferguson Police Department, for example, shows the extent to which racism is perpetuated through police departments and the court system. That systemic racial disparity is then repeated throughout the economy, and the community is put at a severe disadvantage in the job market long after individuals have served their time. That's one reason the African-American unemployment rate is persistently twice that of whites. In a job market where employers that didn't previously do background checks now make them a routine part of hiring, qualified job-seekers are being screened out of the applicant pools for more and more jobs. Nearly one in three adults in America has an arrest or conviction history that will show up on a routine background check. Companies like Koch, Walmart, Target, and Bed Bath & Beyond recognize that this is a huge source of untapped talent, and that's why they've already banned the box on their job applications. These policies are also gaining traction with politicians across the political spectrum. Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, and Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe recently signed executive orders removing the conviction question from initial applications for state employment. So far, 16 states and more than 100 cities and counties have adopted fair-chance hiring policies. Six of those states and the District of Columbia, plus 25 cities and counties, have applied their policies to government contractors or private employers as well. The Obama administration took an important step toward fairer and smarter federal hiring practices last year when it issued an executive order prohibiting contractors from discriminating against LGBT individuals. Banning the box and other common-sense hiring reforms would build on that progress and on the successful work of governors and the corporate sector. The administration should ensure that the federal government does not continue to erect unfair and unnecessary barriers to employment of people with records. Already, more than 200 organizations and prominent individuals have publicly urged the Obama administration to take these practical steps. If Koch Industries -- a major federal contractor -- can ban the box, there's no reason why other federal contractors cannot. Now it's time for President Obama to lead the way and embrace fair-chance hiring of people with records. | Koch Brothers removing checkbox on criminal records from job applications . Authors: Major companies are recognizing that those with criminal pasts can be productive workers . | 9eda425b93c99b6968d33a27a71920233a3aa6eb |
(CNN)The best part of the Supreme Court oral arguments about marriage equality was when Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg alluded to S&M. OK, she didn't actually mention S&M, but Ginsburg talked about how the institution of marriage has already changed from long ago, when it was "a dominant and a subordinate relationship." "Yes, it was marriage between a man and a woman, but the man decided where the couple would be domiciled," said Ginsburg. "It was her obligation to follow him." Mary Bonauto, the attorney arguing on behalf of the four same-sex couples who petitioned the Supreme Court, said in response: "That's correct. ... For centuries we had and Europe had this coverture system where a woman's legal identity was absorbed into that of her husband and men and women had different prescribed legal roles. And again, because of equality and changing social circumstances, all of those gender differences in the rights and responsibilities of the married pair have been eliminated." Once upon a time, wives were the legal property of their husbands and "marital rape" was not only not a crime but not even a concept. To argue that the definition of marriage has not changed since then is either willfully ignorant or woefully naïve. Justice Anthony Kennedy, widely believed to be the key swing vote amidst a court otherwise generally evenly divided along ideological lines, at one point referred to "the nobility and the sacredness of marriage." Which is true, if you ignore the history of its past and the reality of infidelity in the present. If anything, the nobility and sacredness of marriage need protecting from straight people. One downside to arguing that marriage has "always been" between a man and a woman is that, therefore, any problems in the institution of marriage are also plainly the responsibility of heterosexual couples, too. The one justice who didn't ask a question is Clarence Thomas, who, with one slight exception, has now gone over nine years without a single inquiry from the bench. It should be carefully noted here that Thomas is a black man married to a white woman. Anti-miscegenation laws banning interracial marriage were first introduced in 1661 in Maryland. That means that by 1967, when the Supreme Court considered the constitutionality of such laws, bans against interracial marriage had been officially part of the American "definition" of marriage for over 300 years. Just 20 years after the Supreme Court struck down the anti-miscegenation laws still in effect in 16 states, Clarence Thomas and his wife, Virginia, were married. James Braxton Peterson, director of Africana Studies at Lehigh University, has written, "The fact that the Thomas' marriage required progressive Supreme Court action must in some way inform their sense of this moment." Or maybe not. Clarence Thomas didn't say one way or the other, though his remarks outside court and in dissenting opinions suggest he's firmly opposed to the Supreme Court doing for other loving relationships what it once did for his own. But perhaps the example of Clarence Thomas speaks to what seems most glaring about the oral arguments in the marriage equality cases, namely that just as with the rest of America, the Supreme Court seems to have increasingly become a place for partisan theatrics. Perhaps this was always the case, justices hiding their personal beliefs behind legal rationales. Still, the marriage equality arguments seemed even more shaped by politics than the law. On the one hand, pulling pages right from Republican presidential candidates, conservative Chief Justice John Roberts suggested the court shouldn't intervene in a state-driven social debate. Aping conservative religious activists, Justice Samuel Alito asked whether four people could then get married. On the other hand, Justice Stephen Breyer talked about marriage as a fundamental liberty while Justice Elena Kagan pushed back on whether legalizing same-sex marriage would really harm or take anything away from opposite-sex couples. Both arguments, and the moral force beneath them, seemed to echo gay rights messaging. Still, the highly political and momentous decision in Loving vs. Virginia was unanimous. Whichever way the court rules on same-sex marriage, it appears unlikely the ruling will be unanimous. So, while the definition of marriage has unarguably evolved, a fact hopefully the Supreme Court will soon confirm with a ruling in favor of marriage equality, what's also clear is that the court has evolved. Blown by the winds of partisanship whipping up America in general, the Supreme Court is increasingly divorced from reason and submissive to politics. The question remains not what is fundamentally the right decision — I think both law and morality are clear in favor of equal treatment. The question is simply which side of the court will dominate the other. | Sally Kohn: Supreme Court seems to have increasingly become a place for partisan theatrics . She says marriage equality arguments seemed even more shaped by politics than the law . | 0dc6506917122391fe53e18938666f91373a8efb |
(CNN)It is a city transformed, swollen in size but shrunken in scope, anxiously awaiting what comes next. On Kabul's streets, you can easily find the uneasy legacy of America's longest war. Outside one mosque -- mixing with other men desperate for a day's worth of casual manual labor -- are five men who months ago had one valuable skill NATO depended upon: they speak English. Now however, their world has turned upon them. They were, each for a different reason -- each for a reason they do not understand -- all fired from their jobs and then blacklisted, they say, meaning they can no longer get work with other government groups or NGOs here. The skill they once thrived off has left them isolated, and fearing reprisals. They sleep in market stalls, and avoid traveling to see their families in case the threats they face are visited upon them. "My family is still living in the provinces," one of the men tells me. "I cannot go there. I am living in a market, in one of the empty shops." Another adds: "My family, everybody, give up on me, they are nervous." A third man -- all requested anonymity -- says: "Right now I sleep here, on the street, in this mosque area." "We are in prison in Afghanistan," a fourth says. The U.S. Embassy and NATO declined to comment for this story. EXCLUSIVE: The last Americans in Afghanistan . Helicopters still buzz around the capital. Its population is five times what it was when NATO arrived here, even by the most conservative estimates, and the violence in the provinces means people swell it further still -- arriving in Kabul's dusty, mountainous bowl of a city in order to avoid the fighting. Neighborhoods that were once massively over-priced cliques of foreigners living in "poppy palaces" -- villas allegedly bought from profiteers of the opium trade -- are now empty. One road, forever pot-holed in the past decade, is now being covered over by Afghans who, it seems, are finally reclaiming that street. Even Chicken Street, the hackneyed pedestrian shopping road where new Western arrivals would buy carpets or local trinkets, is more or less deserted. One shopkeeper says it could be the embassy security warnings that are keeping people away now. It is the same for the restaurants here that used to brim with contractors and NGO workers. They are now empty, the sound of their heavy metal doors echoing across deserted tables. It is immeasurably different to three years ago when I lived there. Drive out east -- past the women in burqas who sit on road bumps, holding their children, hoping drivers will slow enough to throw them change -- and you see roads lined with the detritus of America's war here. Huge lines of excavators, cherry-pickers, and forklift trucks sit idle. At times it seemed there was little America wouldn't do, or try, to meets its often fluid goals in the country. Yet today, the machines that could have once moved small mountains do little more than gather dust. EXCLUSIVE: Afghan woman forced to marry her rapist . Further down the road too are more winners-turned-losers of the NATO presence here. Vast supply chains once kept 120,000 troops fed and watered. Trucks lined the roads and climbed up to the military bases. Now the bases are gone, and the trucks that once supplied millions sit still. Their bosses may have fled abroad with their winnings, yet the drivers have been left behind, stuck with vehicles that cost them $30,000 to buy -- and $1,000 a year just to keep on the road -- but that would fetch just a tenth of that price now. "The contracts were with big businessmen and commanders who were giving us very little and made themselves very rich and are now living comfortably in Dubai," one truck driver tells us. Yet still the wedding palaces proliferate. Along one stretch of road their endless, multiplying lights throb. Each night the houses seem packed -- the commitment to the future still is popular here, despite the uncertainty -- even if the lights that decorate them seem more and more like a symbol of leaving. One set actually replicates the shape of an expensive hotel in Dubai. The city's lights do shine staggeringly and often constantly -- something the Taliban never achieved during their rule here. NATO's efforts to keep them on are reported to have involved diesel power stations that cost billions but were barely switched on. The question many surely ask here -- as the last American troops prepare to retreat inside the U.S. Embassy by the end of next year -- is how much longer the lights will continue to glow. READ MORE: Nick Paton Walsh answers your questions about Afghanistan . | Kabul faces uncertain future as NATO presence -- and the money that came with it -- fades away . Interpreters are out of work, NATO trucks sit idle on roads, restaurants are empty . | 0814a342a56d75da7853c273a1d69f7222f01846 |
(CNN)The quaint town of Dunblane, Scotland, has been set abuzz by the wedding of tennis legend Andy Murray to his long-term girlfriend, Kim Sears. Saturday's event -- dubbed "the royal wedding of Scotland" -- took place at Dunblane Cathedral, with cheering crowds spilling onto the streets to support their home-grown talent. The grand slam and Olympic champion donned a traditional blue and green tartan kilt, while his bride dazzled in a vintage-style gown by British designer Jenny Packham. The people of Dunblane braved wind, rain and even snow to catch a glimpse of the happy couple, having seen Murray grow from a young boy into a British sporting legend. "Absolutely fabulous to see them today, especially Andy coming back to his hometown," said one lady in the crowd. "He's a hero. He's done something that all local boys would really strive to do. He's a superstar," added another. The couple met at the U.S. Open in 2005 and got engaged in November last year. Before the ceremony, and understandably lost for words, Murray resorted to a series of emoticons to sum up his excitement for the day. Fellow tennis veteran Rafael Nadal and First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon posted their congratulatory messages on Twitter. But any plans for a honeymoon have been put on hold as the world number three returns to tournament action next week. | UK tennis star Andy Murray wed his long-term girlfriend, Kim Sears, in Dunblane, Scotland . Saturday's event has been dubbed "the royal wedding of Scotland" | 3b59aa16aab389a0b6e20a5d73cfed9cc08ee425 |
(CNN)Every day, images of war and conflict are splashed across our desktops, plastered on our TV screens and scattered through our mobile news feeds. Because of that, one's response to such imagery often becomes calloused or desensitized. This concept of "how we digest images of war through mainstream media outlets," was what drove photographer Simon Brann Thorpe to begin his project "Toy Soldiers." This idea to create a fresh perspective drove him into the desert of Western Sahara, a long-disputed region of northwestern Africa. Thorpe uses the area's harsh landscape as a powerful backdrop for soldiers posed as green plastic figurines -- similar to the popular toys that many children play with. The soldiers are with the Polisario Front, an independence movement that has been clashing with Morocco over the region since the mid-1970s. Thorpe said his project enables "the creation of a visual metaphor from which a viewer develops their own emotional, physical and political response to war and conflict, when faced with the realization that the images do not contain toy soldiers but real soldiers." Thorpe's background was not in photojournalism, but in landscape photography, which lends to his powerful placement of the soldiers in the desert -- not to mention that all the locations chosen are historic locations of battles between Morocco and the Polisario Front. "The conflict in Western Sahara receives virtually zero coverage despite 2015 being the 40th anniversary of the outbreak of war there," Thorpe said. After a ceasefire in 1991, the people of Western Sahara have been living in a state of non-resolution. The people are split into two camps -- those living in Moroccan-occupied territory, and those in refugee camps in Algeria. Social media . Follow @CNNPhotos on Twitter to join the conversation about photography. Thorpe had to get clearance to work with the Polisario Front military and also had to be cautious of how many troops he moved about at one time -- otherwise he would have needed permission from the United Nations. He usually worked with about 50 or 60 soldiers at a time. The autumn months did not offer much reprieve from the long hours in the sweltering desert sun. Thorpe would work with the troops' commander to position the men, then climb atop sandy mountains with his wide-angle lens and capture these striking images. They would work till dusk and then spend the night under the stars. Not only were the soldiers willing participants for this project, but they also helped construct the platforms they stood on. Thorpe said they were made out of old oil drums. After the elaborate five-week production, Thorpe hopes his images will raise questions on "how images of war (will) be consumed in the future with ever-diminishing attention spans and competition for them." Simon Brann Thorpe's "Toy Soldiers" book is available for pre-order through Dewi Lewis Publishing. You can follow Thorpe on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. | Simon Brann Thorpe's project makes real-life soldiers resemble toy soldiers . He shot the images in Western Sahara, a disputed region of northwestern Africa . | 69890899f419f6b5e3db63adc41e8227e60cf97c |
(CNN)Percy Sledge, the R&B belter whose biggest hit, "When a Man Loves a Woman," became a cornerstone of soul music, died Tuesday. He was 73. Sledge died in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, said Stephanie Price of the East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner's Office. Sledge died of natural causes, said East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner Dr. William Clark. He had been in hospice care for cancer, Clark added. In a career that started in the 1960s, Sledge had a number of hits, including "Take Time to Know Her," "Warm and Tender Love" and "It Tears Me Up" among them. But his first and biggest hit, "When a Man Loves a Woman," towered over them all. Over a mournful, slowly rising instrumental track provided by organist Spooner Oldham, drummer Roger Hawkins and guitarist Marlin Greene -- key musicians of what became the Muscle Shoals sound, heard on countless soul records -- Sledge crooned, pleaded and roared his way through the tune. It came directly from the heart: Originally called "Why Did You Leave Me Baby," he'd written it about a former girlfriend, drawing from a tune that he used to sing to himself as a child. "I hummed it all my life, even when I was picking and chopping cotton in the fields," the Alabama-born singer told the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. At the time, Sledge was working as a hospital orderly, picking up gigs at night with a group called the Esquires Combo. In a fit of generosity, he gave the songwriting credit for "Woman" to two of the Esquires, Calvin Lewis and Andrew Wright, who had helped him with a few chords. The song was recorded on February 17, 1966, in Sheffield, Alabama. Atlantic Records picked it up and wanted to redo the slightly out-of-tune horns, but the original version ended up being released. It hit No. 1 on May 28, 1966. "Southern soul had at last entered the mainstream of pop in the unlikely guise of the ultimate make-out song," music historian Peter Guralnick wrote. Producer Jerry Wexler called it "a holy love hymn." Sledge never saw a dime of songwriting royalties. He had some regrets about that, he told Blues and Soul magazine -- the song would have helped provide for his children -- but he accepted it. "Worst decision I ever made. But I am not at all bitter. I figure if God wanted me to do what I did, and say what I did to tell those guys they could have the song, then I'll leave it that away," he told the magazine. "When a Man Loves a Woman" became a standard, covered many times -- Michael Bolton took it to No. 1 in 1991 -- and featured on several movie soundtracks. It was even the title of a 1994 film starring Andy Garcia and Meg Ryan. Sledge's version also returned to the charts, hitting the UK top 10 in 1987. Even with his other hits, he said, it all came back to "When a Man Loves a Woman." "The granddaddy to all of my songs. The boss of all of my songs. I have great respect for that song," he told Blues and Soul. "Always will." Sledge was inducted into the Rock Hall in 2005. His death was followed two weeks later by that of another '60s soul legend, Ben E. King, who had an enduring hit in 1961 with "Stand By Me." People we've lost in 2015 . CNN's John Newsome contributed to this story. | "When a Man Loves a Woman" singer Percy Sledge dies at 73 . Sledge died Tuesday morning in Baton Rouge, Louisiana . "When a Man Loves a Woman" is cornerstone of soul music, much covered and much played . | ddf2965260a713b36a4a045c70be6e1e1629607e |
(CNN)Think it's hard to redeem your miles for an airline award ticket? It depends on which airline rewards program you've chosen, which route you're flying and when you book your ticket, according to a new Consumer Reports study of 70 million passenger trips over the past two years. The magazine collected statistics comparing award-seat availability for the five biggest U.S. airlines on domestic routes. The top performer was Southwest Airlines, which offered the most award tickets, 11.9 million, and the highest percentage of award tickets -- 11.5% of 103.1 million total passenger seats. "The high number of award tickets is directly related to Southwest's unique combination of 'Every Seat is an Award Seat,' no blackout dates, points that don't expire, and a route map that reaches more than 90 different destinations in the U.S. and beyond, making us the largest domestic carrier in the U.S.," Southwest spokesperson Thais Conway Hanson told CNN. "Unlike other carriers, we also don't charge fees for close-in bookings or penalize you for canceling your trip if something else comes up." At the bottom of the list was JetBlue, which offered the lowest percentage of award seats and the fewest number of award tickets of the five biggest U.S. airlines: 892,000 one-way passenger tickets, or 4.5% of its total 19.7 million U.S. seats. (JetBlue only operates in 10 of the top 25 markets included in the study.) Many JetBlue customers fly the airline only once or twice per year, making it hard to accumulate miles, an airline spokesman told the magazine. By not allowing miles to expire anymore, the airline says customers will be able to eventually redeem them. Delta Air Lines came in second place with 5.6 million U.S. award seats; United Airlines ranked third with 5 million U.S. award tickets; and American Airlines was fourth with 3.5 million U.S. award seats. What are the world's safest airlines? Remember that award tickets aren't actually free. The cost of miles is built into everything you buy that's earning you miles, and the airlines profit from you not using your miles at all. So it behooves consumers to book award travel carefully. On average, nearly 10% of passengers on the five airlines analyzed by Consumer Reports flew on domestic award tickets, but some of them weren't getting the best value for their miles. While many U.S. fliers redeemed miles on American Airlines flights from Los Angeles to San Francisco, the cheapest average fare on that route was just over $100 -- not worth the 12,500 to 30,000 miles needed for an award ticket, Consumer Reports says. Better to use them on American Airlines' route between New York and San Francisco or Delta's route between Chicago and Los Angeles, which are generally more expensive than that Los Angeles-San Francisco route, according to Consumer Reports' calculations. While award-seat availability is important, it may not matter as much as passengers' overall satisfaction with an airline. Southwest had the highest customer satisfaction score (86), followed by JetBlue (85), Delta (70), American (66) and United (63). And don't forget the fees. Southwest doesn't charge any fees, while other airlines tack on fees for checking bags, booking by phone, changing plans and more. | Southwest Airlines tops Consumer Reports' survey, with the most seats available . JetBlue is at the bottom of the list but ranks high in customer satisfaction . | abd69dcc1c91c304762d59d93b87bdd6af794b6c |
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN)It is an unimaginably hideous outcome. To be raped by your cousin's husband; be jailed for adultery as your attacker was married; to suffer the ignominy of global uproar about your jailing and assault, but be pardoned by presidential decree; and then to endure the shame and rejection from a conservative society that somehow held you to blame. The solution in this society? Marry your attacker. That's what happened to Gulnaz, who was barely 16 when she was raped. She's now carrying the third child of her attacker, Asadullah, who was convicted and jailed -- though this was then reduced. Gulnaz's plight -- like so much in beleaguered Afghanistan -- disappeared from the world's gaze once she was pardoned and released courtesy of a presidential pardon. Instead of a new start, what followed for Gulnaz was a quiet, Afghan solution to the "problem" -- a telling sign of where women's rights stand in Afghanistan despite the billions that have poured into this country from the U.S. government and its NATO allies during more than a decade of war. We found Gulnaz in her family home. Smile, the name of the daughter born of the rape, is now a shining little girl, bouncing around the house that her mother shares with Asadullah's first wife -- who is also Gulnaz's cousin. Asadullah agreed to let us speak with him and Gulnaz because, it seemed, he wanted to show us that things were now settled, that under Afghanistan's version of social morality he had done the right thing. He had rescued Gulnaz from shame. "If I hadn't married her, (but) according to our traditions, she couldn't have lived back in society," he tells us. "Her brothers didn't want to accept her back. Now, she doesn't have any of those problems." 2011: Thousands sign petition for Gulaz release . Gulnaz remains subdued throughout our meeting and does not once look her husband in the eye. "I didn't want to ruin the life of my daughter or leave myself helpless so I agreed to marry him," she says. "We are traditional people. When we get a bad name, we prefer death to living with that name in society." As Smile attempts to pour tea, the other seven children in this household run around the courtyard. The first wife remains unseen in the house. A portrait of Gulnaz's liberator in 2011, the then-president Hamid Karzai, hangs on the wall. But the sense of order here is undermined by the fact that this is a house built around a crime. How Gulnaz ended up here requires some explanation. There was pressure upon her to marry her attacker after her release. But at the same time, other activists were trying to assist her with an asylum bid abroad. "Unfortunately, Gulnaz was heavily pressured to marry her attacker by various people within the government which, in and of itself, was immensely disappointing," her former attorney, an American citizen named Kimberley Motley, tells us. "Gulnaz was constantly told that neither she nor her daughter would be protected if she did not succumb to their pressure to marry... Gulnaz essentially became a prisoner of her environment. "As an uneducated, young, single mother with no family support, it would have been an uphill battle for Gulnaz and her daughter." Local pressure won out. She was introduced to her attacker in the shelter where CNN first interviewed her upon release from prison. They talked and it was agreed she would marry him. Most disturbingly, the woman who -- despite knowing the stigma it would create around her -- defiantly insisted she had been raped when we spoke nearly four years ago, now says she was told by her relatives to make up the allegations. "Now she is beside me and knows that it was not as big as they had shown it," says Asadullah. "No I am not thinking about it anymore," Gulnaz adds. "I don't have a problem with him now and I don't want to think about the past problems. My life is OK... I am happy with my life... It is going on." She is then permitted to talk with us alone. Asadullah moves away but stands close to the door of the room. Though she now maintains she was not raped, she explains her decision. She contradicts her husband, saying her brothers would have taken her back, had she not married him. "My brothers opposed the marriage and told me to take my daughter and go to Pakistan to live with them instead," she says. "But now we're married, they disowned me and won't see me again." Her decision was for her daughter. "No, I couldn't fulfill my wishes in life. I married this man; I cut relations with my family only to buy my daughter's future." It is truly chilling to see how things have gone for Gulnaz after the level of international attention her story received -- pregnant with the third child of the man who was once her rapist, accepting a life as his second wife, trapped in his home. | Gulnaz was jailed after the attack as her rapist was married . Her case gained international attention; prompted a presidential pardon . She was forced to marry her attacker or face disgrace . | dbf82aa51e48c8d2e498763a4b8475a512b0cad6 |
(CNN)A lot of questions. Not too many answers. Exactly one week after being taken into police custody in Baltimore, Freddie Gray died Sunday under circumstances that are unclear. "The questions that many of you have are the same questions that we're asking: How was Mr. Gray injured? Were our proper protocols and procedures actually followed? What are the next steps to take from here?" said Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. An attorney for Gray's family alleges that police are involved in a cover-up. "On last Sunday morning at about 8 a.m., the police chased Freddie Gray, a ... healthy man, without any evidence he had committed a crime. His take-down and arrest without probable cause occurred under a police video camera, which taped everything including the police dragging and throwing Freddy into a police vehicle while he screamed in pain," attorney William Murphy Jr. said in a statement. Video recorded at the scene shows Gray, with his hands behind his back, screaming as police raise him to his feet. They drag him to a waiting van. "He lapsed into a coma, died, was resuscitated, stayed in a coma and on Monday, underwent extensive surgery at Shock Trauma to save his life. He clung to life for seven days and died today at approximately 7 a.m. We believe the police are keeping the circumstances of Freddie's death secret until they develop a version of events that will absolve them of all responsibility," said Murphy. The attorney added that Gray's spinal cord was severely injured. At this point, police are declining to say much about the case, citing ongoing administrative and criminal investigations. They have not released the incident report, nor have they released the names of the officers involved. They have said that those officers have been placed on administrative duties. When asked why officers first encountered Gray, Baltimore Police Dept. Capt. Eric Kowalczyk told CNN that they had been working in an area known for violent crime and drug sales. When the officers approached him, Gray fled, Kowalczyk said. Gray's death comes amid a string of recent deaths involving white officers and black suspects. The death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, touched off protests and sparked a nationwide debate over race and policing. Brown, an unarmed black teen, was shot by Darren Wilson, a white officer, last August. According to CNN affiliate WJZ, protesters rallied over the weekend in Baltimore, demanding answers. "Our hope and goal here is to be as informative as we can without compromising the criminal investigation," said Kowalczyk. "We're very troubled by this. We want to find out the answers as much as the public does." CNN's Vivan Kuo and Janet DiGiacomo contributed to this report. | An attorney for Freddie Gray's family alleges that police are involved in a cover-up . There are ongoing administrative and criminal investigations . Baltimore's mayor promises to get the bottom of what happened . | c728ca6117ef0f2fcecc325a7a359d61cb0ff2a6 |
(CNN)A New York jury deliberating the fate of the man charged with the 1979 killing of 6-year-old Etan Patz is struggling to reach a verdict. The little boy's disappearance, more than three decades ago, sparked an era of heightened awareness of crimes against children. Deliberations resumed on Thursday, one day after New York Supreme Court Justice Maxwell Wiley ordered the jury to continue efforts to reach a decision on the guilt or innocence of a bodega worker named Pedro Hernandez. On the 10th day of deliberations, the jurors on Wednesday said in a note that they were unable to reach a unanimous decision. Hernandez confessed to police three years ago, but his lawyers said he made up his account of the crime. Etan Patz's parents have waited more than 35 years for justice, but some have questioned whether that is even possible in Hernandez's case. His lawyer has said that he is mentally challenged, severely mentally ill and unable to tell whether he committed the crime or not. Hernandez told police in a taped statement that he lured Patz into a basement as the boy was on his way to a bus stop in Lower Manhattan. He said he killed the boy and threw his body away in a plastic bag. Neither the child nor his remains have ever been recovered. But Hernandez has been repeatedly diagnosed with schizophrenia and has an "IQ in the borderline-to-mild mental retardation range," his attorney Harvey Fishbein has said. Police interrogated Hernandez for 7½ hours before he confessed. "I think anyone who sees these confessions will understand that when the police were finished, Mr. Hernandez believed he had killed Etan Patz. But that doesn't mean he actually did, and that's the whole point of this case," Fishbein has said. But in November, a New York judge ruled that Hernandez's confession and his waiving of his Miranda rights were legal, making the confession admissible in court. Hernandez is charged with two counts of second-degree murder for allegedly intending to cause the boy's death and for a killing that occurred during a kidnapping. Another man's name has also hung over the Patz case for years -- Jose Antonio Ramos, a convicted child molester acquainted with Etan's babysitter. Etan's parents, Stan and Julia Patz, sued Ramos in 2001. The boy was officially declared dead as part of that lawsuit. A judge found Ramos responsible for the boy's death and ordered him to pay the family $2 million -- money the Patz family has never received. Though Ramos was at the center of investigations for years, he has never been charged. He served a 20-year prison sentence in Pennsylvania for molesting another boy and was set to be released in 2012. He was immediately rearrested upon leaving jail in 2012 on charges of failing to register as a sex offender, The Associated Press reported. Since their young son's disappearance, the Patzes have worked to keep the case alive and to create awareness of missing children in the United States. In the early 1980s, Etan's photo appeared on milk cartons across the country, and news media focused in on the search for him and other missing children. "It awakened America," said Ernie Allen, president and chief executive officer of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. "It was the beginning of a missing children's movement." The actual number of children who were kidnapped and killed did not change -- it's always been a relatively small number -- but awareness of the cases skyrocketed, experts said. But the news industry was expanding to cable television, and sweet images of children appeared along with distraught parents begging for their safe return. The fear rising across the nation sparked awareness and prompted change from politicians and police. In 1984, Congress passed the Missing Children's Assistance Act, which led to the creation of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. President Ronald Reagan opened the center in a White House ceremony in 1984. It soon began operating a 24-hour toll-free hot line on which callers could report information about missing boys and girls. CNN's Lorenzo Ferrigno and Joe Sterling contributed to this report. | Etan Patz disappeared in 1979; his face appeared on milk cartons all across the United States . His case marked a time of heightened awareness of crimes against children . Pedro Hernandez confessed three years ago to the killing . | 491131386aac4754d5330a3b7ec469daf5d22c76 |
(CNN)Somewhere over the rainbow, people on the Internet are losing their minds. Is it real? After the New York area received a large amount of rain, four rainbows stretched across the early morning sky on Tuesday. Amanda Curtis, CEO of a fashion company in New York, snapped the lucky shot. At first, she thought it was just one. "But I looked a little bit closer and saw that there were actually four," she told CNN. "I had a small moment of awe." She posted the picture to Twitter, and within a few hours, it had already received hundreds of retweets. "It's been surreal I feel like we're breaking the Internet but in a really great way," she told CNN affiliate WPIX. According to CNN weather producer Rachel Aissen, this would be a double rainbow that has been reflected in the sky, due to a smooth body of water underneath the rainbow. This isn't the first time rainbows have shown up in multiples. But the splendor of such a scene can render us speechless, even emotional -- much like the star of the famous "double rainbow" video. CNN iReporter Yosemitebear Vasquez posted a video to YouTube in 2010 reacting to a double rainbow he spotted in Yosemite National Park. The video has since garnered over 40 million views. Of course, we asked the unofficial rainbow spokesman to weigh in on the phenomenon. "Whoa, that's a quadruple rainbow! All the way," he exclaims. "What does it mean?" We don't know exactly, but the Internet can't get enough. | Amanda Curtis, CEO of a fashion company in New York, posted a picture of four rainbows to Twitter . "I had a small moment of awe," she said . | 89d1c32caf60a8b9b73f0ef6a3c34033fada9c1d |
(CNN)Japan's space agency announced this week that the country would put an unmanned rover on the surface of the moon by 2018, joining an elite club of nations who have explored Earth's satellite. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), divulged the plan to an expert panel, including members of the cabinet and the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry on Monday. "This is an initial step and a lot of procedures are still ahead before the plan is formally approved," a JAXA spokesperson told reporters. If it is approved, the agency will reportedly use its Epsilon solid-fuel rocket technology to carry and deploy a SLIM probe -- the acronym stands for "Smart Lander for Investigating Moon" -- on the surface of the celestial body. Japanese media estimates that the mission will cost in the region of ¥10 billion to ¥15 billion ($83.4 million - $125 million). JAXA spokesperson Chihito Onda confirmed to CNN that this estimate is realistic. The mission is expected to be used to perfect soft-landing technologies, which could be utilized in future, manned expeditions to the moon, or even Mars. The lander will use face recognition software found in digital cameras, which will be repurposed to enable the craft to recognize craters on the surface, Onda said. The move could be seen as Japan's attempt to play catchup to its Asian neighbors China and India, which have both notched significant extraterrestrial victories in recent years -- China's Yutu lunar rover outlasted expectations and India successfully put a probe into orbit around Mars the first time of asking. In 2008 Japan put its SELENE craft -- known in Japan as Kaguya, after a Japanese moon princess from a 10th century folk tale -- into orbit around the moon to gather data about its surface. The data gathered by the orbiter will also be used to calculate a suitable landing site for the rover. JAXA has also put a probe on an asteroid, which returned to Earth in 2010. Along with China, the United States and the former Soviet Union are the only other nations to have so far landed craft on the surface of the moon. CNN's Junko Ogura contributed to this report. | Japan aims to put an unmanned rover on the surface of the moon by 2018 . The mission is expected to to be used to perfect technologies which could be utilized for future manned space missions . | e5c3a9f47f8b9de4851ed60816b706af8980be8f |
(CNN)The Baltimore mother who slapped her son several times and pulled him out of a protest told CNN on Wednesday she wasn't concerned that she might be embarrassing her son. "Not at all," Toya Graham told CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360˚" in an interview that aired Wednesday night. "He was embarrassing himself by wearing that mask and that hoodie and doing what he was doing." The video of Graham yanking her son, Michael Singleton, and slapping him with a right hand as CNN affiliate WMAR recorded has led to the Internet calling Graham #motheroftheyear. Many people have praised the unemployed, single mother of six for going to the Mondawmin Mall and getting her son away from the escalating violence. Graham told Cooper that she saw her son with a brick in his hand, and she lost control of her emotions and told him to drop it. Wednesday night: Across United States, protests in support of Baltimore demonstrators . "I did (get emotional). You know, once he threw that rock down I said, 'You weren't brought up like this,' " Graham said. He's not a perfect child, but he's also not a thug, she said. The 16-year-old boy said he understood that his mother was there looking out for him. "She didn't want me to get in trouble (with the) law. She didn't want me to be like another Freddie Gray," he said, referring to the 25-year-old man who died of a severe spinal injury after being arrested by Baltimore police. Gray's death has sparked daily protests over police brutality. There have also been riots and looting that prompted the city to put a curfew into effect. Graham said her son told her the night before the violence at the mall that something was up. She told him then and the next morning not to go. He swore to her he wouldn't. Her motherly sense kicked in when she heard school had closed early and the mall was shutting down, too. She went to the mall and focused on the teens who were tossing rocks and bricks. There he was, in sweatpants she recognized. They made eye contact. He had a brick in his hand, and that set her off. Wednesday night: Marchers back in the streets of Baltimore . "I was so angry with him that he had made a decision to do some harm to the police officers," she said. She yelled at him to put the brick down. Singleton said he had seen her, but it didn't make sense that his mother would be there. But when he heard her voice, he realized it really was his mom -- and he was in big trouble. Then the camera captured her memorable smackdown. "It was just World War III from right there," he said, showing some humor about the incident. Graham noticed the TV crew but didn't think anything of it. And she didn't care. "I wasn't there to be recorded. I was there to get my child," she said. Tameka Brown, one of Graham's five daughters, told CNN on Tuesday it wasn't that hard for her mom to spot her 16-year-old half-brother. "She knows her son and picked him out. Even with the mask on, she knew," Brown said. Brown said her mother is always looking out for her children. "She has always been tough and knows where we are at," Brown said. Graham said she tries to steer her son away from potential trouble and troublemakers. "As long as I have breath in my body I will always try to do right by Michael and show him what's going on out in society doesn't have to be you," she told CNN. Her son said that once they got home from the mall he understood why she pulled him out of the crowd. "I was embarrassed a little bit, until she just started talking to me when we got home," he said. "(She was) just telling me she did it because she cared about me. And it wasn't to embarrass me, but because she cared." CNN's Elise Miller and AnneClaire Stapleton contributed to this report. Watch Anderson Cooper 360° weeknights 8pm ET. For the latest from AC360° click here. | Video of Toya Graham going to a protest and forcefully removing her son went viral, drew a lot of praise . The single mother of six tells CNN her son was scolded that he wasn't brought up that way . Michael Singleton says he knows his mom was trying to protect him . | 029cb353e9cc8ddfda29f13217a20e01d38a1d95 |
(CNN)Five militants from the Kurdistan Workers' Party were killed and another was wounded in clashes with Turkish armed forces in eastern Turkey, the country's military said Saturday. Four Turkish soldiers also were wounded in the fighting that took place in the eastern city of Agri, the armed forces said in a written statement. The Kurdish separatists opened fire from a long distance, targeting Turkish soldiers who were securing an area in Agri ahead of a spring festival, CNN Turk reported. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu condemned the violence and said via Twitter that "the appropriate answer to the heinous attack in Agri is being given by the Turkish armed forces." Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also harshly condemned the attack, describing it as the Kurdish separatists' attempt to "intervene in the resolution process (with the Kurds) in our country." Last month, Abdullah Ocalan, longtime leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), called from his jail cell for the violence to end. In a historic letter, he urged fighters under his command to lay down their arms, stop their war against the Turkish state and join a "congress" to focus on the future. Since the first incidents more than three decades ago, an estimated 40,000 lives have been lost. The conflict has been, some say, a battle by activists among Turkey's Kurdish minority for independence. It has been, others say, a guerrilla war by rebels who have punctuated their campaign with terrorist acts. About a fifth of Turkey's population is Kurdish -- a minority long living under cultural oppression, most of them in the underdeveloped southeastern part of Turkey. From Turkish prison, Kurdish leader tells followers to lay down their arms . | Four Turkish troops were wounded in the flight, according to the country's military . Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says clashes are attempt to halt a resolution process with Kurds . Violence between Kurds and the Turkish military has been ongoing for more than three decades . | 18b98e7c483c39bb51200a289b6ac513699b56ef |
(CNN)A former U.S. Navy aircraft carrier that survived a Japanese torpedo strike and was a massive guinea pig for two atomic bomb blasts looks remarkably intact at the bottom of the Pacific, according to federal researchers who surveyed the wreck last month with an underwater drone. The USS Independence was scuttled in January 1951 during weapons testing near California's Farallon Islands. Although its location was confirmed by a survey in 2009, researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration went looking for it again in March as part of a project to map about 300 wrecks that lie in and around the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. "After 64 years on the seafloor, Independence sits on the bottom as if ready to launch its planes," mission leader James Delgado, the maritime heritage director for NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, said in a statement. Indeed, sonar images show what looks to be an airplane on one of the elevators that took planes from the Independence's hangar deck to its flight deck. The ship sits upright with a slight list to starboard, according to NOAA. NOAA's survey of the 623-foot-long, 11,000-ton carrier was conducted by the Echo Ranger, an 18.5-foot-long autonomous underwater vehicle provided by the Boeing Co. The Echo Ranger traveled 30 miles from its base in Half Moon Bay, California, and hovered 150 above the carrier, which lies 2,600 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean. The drone used a three-dimensional sonar system provided by Coda Octopus to get images that showed how well the warship has weathered 64 years in the deep. "This ship fought a long, hard war in the Pacific and after the war was subjected to two atomic blasts that ripped through the ship. It is a reminder of the industrial might and skill of the 'greatest generation' that sent not only this ship, but their loved ones to war," Delgado said in the statement. In its 20 years in the Navy, the ship played a role in some of the most important events of World War II, earning eight battle stars in the process, and the dawn of the nuclear age. Independence was seriously damaged by Japanese torpedo planes during the Battle of Tarawa in late 1943. The ship returned to California for repairs and made it back across the Pacific by July 1944 to participate in the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea and the sinking of one of the Japanese Imperial Navy's biggest warships, the battleship Musashi. Later, in the Battle of Cape Engano, planes from the Independence were involved in the sinking of four Japanese aircraft carriers. After the war, Independence became part of a fleet used to measure the effects of atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific on July 1, 1946. It sat just 560 yards from ground zero in the first test, a 23-kiloton air blast of a fission bomb similar to the one used over Nagasaki, Japan, a year earlier, according to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization. Twenty-four days later, Independence was 1,390 yards from the center of a second atomic blast -- also a 23-kiloton device but an underwater detonation. The ship was later brought back to California for nuclear decontamination before being sunk during the weapons training in 1951. NOAA said no signs of radioactive contamination were noted during the survey of the sunken carrier last month. The agency has no plans for further missions to the ship, according to the NOAA statement. | USS Independence was sunk in 1951 after weapons tests . Carrier was close-in guinea pig to two atomic bomb tests . Agency: Ship looks remarkably intact 2,600 feet below surface of the Pacific Ocean . | 89811f3c4dc6eee6bdf26a9783d1219227947947 |
(CNN)As a boat packed with hundreds of migrants capsized in Mediterranean waters, many were trapped inside behind locked doors. That's the account one survivor of the deadly shipwreck gave to investigators, according to a statement released Sunday by prosecutors in Catania, Italy. The Bangladeshi migrant's description provides new details about what may have happened aboard the ship, which sent out a distress call in the dark of night Saturday after a couple of days at sea. As rescuers approached, authorities say migrants on the boat moved to one side, hoping to be saved. Their movement caused the large, multilevel boat to capsize about 110 kilometers (almost 70 miles) north of Libya, sending the desperate crowd plunging into the sea, their chance of survival slim. The migrant, who spoke to investigators after being airlifted to a hospital in Catania, is among dozens who authorities say were saved from the sinking vessel. He told investigators there were 950 people on board -- a number prosecutors haven't verified. Maltese authorities, who are working with Italian rescuers, earlier said around 50 of 700 people on the boat had been saved. Many on lower levels of the boat were trapped inside because smugglers had locked the doors, the migrant said, according to prosecutors. The Italian Coast Guard is collecting statements from other survivors, prosecutors said. It was the latest in a series of dangerous voyages for hundreds of men, women and children who boarded the boat in Libya, hoping to make it safely to Europe. Passengers on the boat were from a number of nations, including Algeria, Egypt, Somalia, Niger, Senegal, Mali, Zambia, Bangladesh and Ghana, prosecutors said. While the shipwreck was an accident, Malta's Prime Minister slammed the human traffickers who he accused of risking people's lives by putting them on rickety ships in unpredictable waters. "Gangs of criminals are putting people on a boat, sometimes even at gunpoint," Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said. "They're putting them on the road to death, really, and nothing else." It's "genocide -- nothing less than genocide, really," Muscat told CNN. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said that the incident could be worse than an incident last week in which 400 refugees and migrants died in the Mediterranean. "Our troops, together with the Italian navy, are literally looking through the bodies to try to find someone who's still alive," Muscat said of the latest incident at sea. Flavio Di Giacomo, spokesman for the International Organization for Migration, told CNN that survivors were taken to Sicily. The Italian Coast Guard, which is leading the rescue operation, reported that at least 24 bodies had been recovered so far at the shipwreck site. Security for Libya's borders is essential to "take out these criminal gangs -- these terrorists," Muscat said. The international community "cannot continue to turn a blind eye," he added. The leader of the international nonpartisan medical organization Doctors Without Borders had strong words Sunday for the tragedy. "A mass grave is being created in the Mediterranean Sea and European policies are responsible," said the group's president, Loris De Filippi. He compared the high number of deaths to "figures from a war zone." De Filippi called on European states to immediately launch large-scale search-and-rescue operations with proactive patrolling as close as possible to Libyan shores. "Faced with thousands of desperate people fleeing wars and crises, Europe has closed borders, forcing people in search of protection to risk their lives and die at sea," he said. "This tragedy is only just beginning, but it can and should be stopped." Doctors Without Borders will begin its own rescue effort, he added, because "as a medical, humanitarian organization, we simply cannot wait any longer." French President Francois Hollande called for the European Union to help more in the rescue. If the deaths are in the hundreds, he said, the accident could be "the worst disaster in recent years in the Mediterranean." Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi called an emergency Cabinet meeting in Rome. Speaking to journalists later, he defended Italy's response. "Adding 10 more vessels" to patrol the Mediterranean, Renzi said, wouldn't solve the root of why the tragedy occurred. "This has to be clear: there was not an absence (of rescue vessels) which led to the disaster. And this is the proof that if you want to eradicate the problem from the root, you have to respond in a different way. And what we're doing in the next few hours will show this." Renzi said the focus needs to be on eradicating human trafficking and that the responsibility lies with the whole world, "not just Italy and Malta." Human Rights Watch urged the EU to act quickly. "The EU is standing by with arms crossed while hundreds die off its shores," said Judith Sunderland, deputy Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "These deaths might well have been prevented if the EU had launched a genuine search-and-rescue effort." The EU released a statement Sunday saying that it planned action down the road but didn't detail any immediate plans to help with the search for the victims of this accident. "The European Commission is deeply chagrined by the tragic developments in the Mediterranean today, but also over the past days and weeks. The reality is stark and our actions must therefore be bold. These are human lives at stake, and the European Union as a whole has a moral and humanitarian obligation to act," it said. The EU is consulting member states, European agencies and international organizations to prepare what it called a European Migration Strategy, which would be adopted in middle May. It stressed the need to "address the situation at its roots." "And as long as countries of origin and transit do not take action to prevent these desperate trips, people will continue to put their lives at risk," the statement read. Many of the migrants who board ships to cross the Mediterranean are from sub-Saharan Africa, and travel for weeks just to get to the ships. They're seeking a better life, but many are exploited by the traffickers who organize the voyages. Already this year, more than 900 migrants are believed to have died while crossing the Mediterranean -- far more than during the same period in 2014, the International Organization for Migration said Friday. In one four-day period alone, more than 8,000 migrants were rescued, according to the Italian Coast Guard. On one day alone, SOS calls came in from 20 boats in distress. Roberta Metsola, a Maltese member of the European Parliament, told CNN on Sunday that countries from Northern Europe need to share the responsibility with their southern neighbors. "The people are going to continue to arrive," she said. "The desperation subsists -- there are almost a million people waiting to board boats and come to Europe to seek a better life. And that fact has to be recognized." Journalist Barbie Nadeau and CNN's Hada Messia reported from Rome; CNN's Jethro Mullen reported Hong Kong, and CNN's Ashley Fantz, Josh Levs, Catherine E. Shoichet, Jessica King and Christine Theodorou reported from Atlanta. CNN's Tina Burnside and Susanna Capelouto contributed to this report. | A survivor tells authorities that migrants were trapped behind locked doors . Rescuers say they have found scores of bodies in the waters off Libya . | 39f0c6b10b41d54533282b905d23b83e475ff29d |
(CNN)Prosperity gospel pastor Creflo Dollar responded recently to critics of his campaign to buy a very pricey Gulfstream G650. Dollar noted in a recent address to his congregants that the devil was attempting to discredit him in regards to his campaign seeking $300 from 200,000 people globally to help buy the luxury jet. In a newly posted five-minute clip on YouTube, the Atlanta-area pastor speaks to his followers at World Changers Church International, tackling his critics and allegations about tithes, his real name and reports alleging members of having to reveal their W2 statuses to come into the church's sanctuary. "(The devil thinks) I got to discredit that man before he starts showing people Jesus!" Dollar preaches to loud applause. "I'm on my sabbatical, and the enemy's trying to discredit me," Dollar stated. Dollar is focused in the video on getting his point across and slams critics of his original request by stating to the people gathered, "I never one time came to you and asked you for a dime for this airplane, did I?" But in March, Dollar did appeal in a video to "friends from around the world," soliciting donations to replace his current 1984 Gulfstream G-1159A. Because of two accidents that occurred in the 31-year-old plane, Dollar and his staff have been flying commercial. "The (critics) don't know what we do. That's why they asked the question, what does a preacher need with an airplane? If you knew what we did, then you wouldn't ask that question," Dollar said. "Just because the world doesn't have it, doesn't mean that you can't." In March, the ministry's desire to purchase a Gulfstream G650 airplane was met with criticism on social media and was the subject of nationwide media reports. The furor came after a nearly six-minute video was uploaded on the Creflo Dollar Ministries website soliciting money for a Gulfstream G650, which sells for a reported $65 million. The page featuring the video and information on the fundraiser has been taken down, but those wishing to donate are still able to do so on the church's gift page. A Gulfstream G650 can fly 18 passengers and four crew members, according to gulfstream.com. The jet comes with two Rolls-Royce engines, high-speed Internet and two multichannel satellites and allows for a four-and-a-half-hour commute from New York to Los Angeles. "The G650 is the biggest, fastest, most luxurious, longest range and most technologically advanced jet -- by far," according to the site. The project wasn't limited to member donations, as the site stated that "we are asking members, partners and supporters of this ministry to assist us in acquiring a Gulfstream G650." In the new video, Dollar claims the church has more than 3 million supporters worldwide who want him to come to where they are. The pastor has said the two incidents involving his old plane -- including one in which a mechanical failure caused the jet to skid off a runway in London while his wife and their three daughters were aboard -- have shown him it was time to turn to God for a new airplane. Prosperity gospel is a theology that promises wealth and health to those who tithe 10% of their income to the church. Attempts to contact Dollar's ministry for comment on Thursday were unsuccessful. CNN's Steve Almasy contributed to this report. | Creflo Dollar's ministry had posted a now-withdrawn request asking 200,000 people to chip in $300 each . Dollar preaches a prosperity gospel, which promises wealth to those who tithe 10% of their income to the church . The Atlanta-based pastor said the devil wants to stop him from traveling the world, spreading Christianity . | fab2591348fdbb87d3315c7b92eee4519cbe6db6 |
(CNN)This weekend, millions of people are expected to tune in to watch two men beat each other up. Why is this? We'll explore, but first let's get something out of the way: The big fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather won't "save" boxing, a sport that has fallen precipitously since its 20th century heyday. If anything, the so-called "Fight of the Century" just reinforces the sport's problems, as two aging heroes collide in what might be the last nationally relevant fight for a very long time. There's so much wrong with boxing's business model, but all you really need to understand is this: Most sports fans probably can't name a single active boxer after Mayweather and Pacquiao. Some might know that the long-reigning heavyweight champ is a towering Ukrainian with a boring jab-happy style, but most wouldn't come up with his name (Wladimir Klitschko). Boxing isn't fading away because we've finally awoken to its brutality but from a combination of catastrophic mismanagement and competition from Mixed Martial Arts -- a younger, more dynamic and better-managed competitor. The rocket rise of MMA's premier organization, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, has matched boxing's equally dramatic decline. In the course of just two decades, the UFC has grown from a freaky-violent carny sideshow into a mainstream sport. In fact, the fan base of the UFC now rivals that of the world's most popular fighting sport: ice hockey. Some aficionados spin elaborate defenses of the hundreds of fist fights that break out every year in NHL games, claiming they make the game safer by punishing dirty play. But that's so weak. Everyone knows why the NHL hasn't cracked down on fighting hard enough to end it: fans love it way too much. As the hockey announcer Don Cherry once said, "When [legendary tough guy] Bob Probert was fighting, did you ever see anyone get out of their seat and go get coffee." But why do we like to watch fights in the first place? Over the past 20 years, I've watched boxing and MMA in a spirit of nervous fascination. Watching fighters kick, punch and strangle each other, I'd be thinking, I'm a civilized person. I appear not to be a sociopath. So why am I watching? What's wrong with me? And what's wrong with all of us? Who among us hasn't felt the giddy, guilty thrill of a fistfight breaking out -- whether in a schoolyard, a hockey rink or a prize ring? We all claim to hate violence, but I think we protest too much. Inside us all, there's a creature that adores it. How else are we to explain our yen for carnage in rough sports, films, gory video games and literature? So is that it? Are we drawn to a big fight like Mayweather-Pacquiao simply by bloodlust and barbarism? Actually, I think that's only part of the story, and not the biggest part. If we just wanted blood and pain, we wouldn't bother with the tame violence of pay-per-view fisticuffs. Instead, we'd fire up a web browser and watch ISIS snuff videos for free. But many people who feel no temptation to watch Internet snuff feel sorely tempted to watch a big fight. What's going on? There's a great literature on boxing, with contributions from writers such as Ernest Hemingway, Norman Mailer and Joyce Carol Oates. For them, boxing isn't really a sport. You can't play boxing like you can play tennis. They compared boxing to a rite, or a religion, or above all to theater, complete with spotlit performers improvising on an elevated stage. A fight was drama sweated down to the bones -- a metaphor for the whole human condition, with everything noble and ugly on display. While it may seem like a stretch, I think we are drawn to prizefights less to revel in what's dark and nasty in human nature than to honor what's good and noble. Prizefights set up conditions of dramatic adversity that evoke what we admire most in human beings: extremes of courage, grace, fortitude and even heroism. So should we feel virtuous as we watch Mayweather and Pacquiao's epic brain damage contest? I wouldn't go that far. Perhaps such spectacles really should, as most of the world's medical societies insist, be abolished. Most of us feel ambivalent toward prizefighting because we should. A fight puts the darkest stuff in human nature on display: the bared fangs, the blood, the frenetic drive to do harm. But all that dark stuff draws out the best stuff, and turns a great fight into a showcase for the indomitability of human will. When Mayweather and Pacquiao clash at center ring on Saturday night, the good angels of human nature will yearn to turn away -- and to lean in. | Jonathan Gottschall: Millions to tune in to see Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, but this doesn't show resurgence of declining sport of boxing . So why will so many watch?He says a fight is metaphor for the whole human condition, with everything noble and ugly on display . | 84707b6a7b57834a9bd780eea707847fb2727f13 |
(CNN)A bus collided with a fuel tanker in southern Morocco on Friday, a fiery crash that killed at least 35 people -- most of them children -- state and local media reported. The accident caused a fire that hollowed out the bus, leaving little more than its frame. Debris scattered across the road, while smoke rose into the sky, videos posted to social media show. The dead included athletes traveling for a sporting competition, an eyewitness told 2M TV, a Moroccan state-owned network. After the crash, photos appeared on social media of young, smiling boys in soccer uniforms along with condolence messages such as "May God have mercy on them" and "Oh no, they are so young." The crash happened near the city of Tan-Tan just before 7 a.m., the Maghreb Arabe Presse state news agency reported. It said a number of people were also injured. Tan-Tan is near the country's Atlantic coast, more than 450 kilometers (about 280 miles) southwest of Marrakesh. | Most of the victims were children, according to reports . Condolence messages appear online with images of boys in soccer uniforms . The bus collided with a fuel tanker near the southern Moroccan city of Tan-Tan . | 5e7bf62eb8f37d49efeab507a8c6731a52120164 |
(CNN)How would you get your nation's president to hear you out? Put your name and number on a mango and hit him in the head with it? No? Then you're not Marleni Olivo, who did exactly that, and in return is getting the new apartment she was asking for, said Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Olivo, 54, saw her opportunity when Maduro visited Anzoategui, the state where she lives. Maduro, a former bus driver, drove a bus to a rally Wednesday where he was meeting with supporters. The president had the window open, the better to greet people attending the rally. Olivo had written a message on a mango -- "If you can, call me," -- along with her name and phone number. She got as close as she could and, as the bus passed, she tossed the fruit at Maduro. In a video that has gone viral in Venezuela, Maduro is shown lowering his head when he is hit, just above the left ear. He then calmly picks up the mango and holds it up to the crowd. Later in the evening, the president mentioned the incident in one of his customary live TV broadcasts and displayed the infamous mango as proof. "Marleni Olivo," Maduro said. "We're going to invite her to my [TV and radio] show, 'In Touch with Maduro.' She had a housing problem, right? And, Marleni, I have approved it already, as part of the Great Housing Mission of Venezuela, you will get an apartment and it will be given to you in the next few hours. Tomorrow, no later than the day after tomorrow, we will give it to you." Maduro also joked that he had something in common with the mango. The word "maduro" in Spanish means ripe. Olivo told local media her intention was to toss the president a note, as others in the crowd were doing. "I didn't have paper available at that moment," she told El Pitazo TV. "What I had was a mango that I was about to eat because I was hungry." Maduro's critics are calling the incident a "manguicidio," a play on the words "mango" and "magnicidio," a Spanish word meaning assassination of a powerful leader. In Venezuela's extremely polarized political climate, Maduro frequently talks about his belief that the opposition is conspiring to target him for assassination. But the mango-thrower says she had no evil intent. "My dream is to own a home before I die," she told El Pitazo TV, adding that she had been very ill recently, that she suffers from diabetes and hypertension. And now her dream is about come true, a dream that would not have been possible without her boldness and a little help from a tasty mango. | Marleni Olivo, 54, hit Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in the head with a mango . In a national TV broadcast, Maduro said he would grant her request for a new apartment . She wanted to give him a note, she says, but had no paper, only a mango . | efe8ab4cdfe8519b74801ca16e580a6e0ab0e53e |
(CNN)Job one for newly appointed Attorney General Loretta Lynch is to create a muscular federal response to months of national unrest over controversial police killings like that of Freddie Gray, 25. Gray's death last week -- from a spinal cord injury he suffered while in police custody -- has touched off days of protests and rioting in Baltimore. Lynch's job won't be easy: As the nation's top law enforcement officer, she takes the reins of a Justice Department that has been walking a fine line between nudging local police departments in the direction of better community relations, and threatening legal action against departments where discrimination or brutality are out of control. But as events in Baltimore demonstrate, too many local departments aren't getting the message. Lynch will need to put down the carrots, pick up the stick and make clear that the Justice Department intends to crack down on police abuse by using one of its most potent weapons: the power to withhold federal funds from local departments. More about that in a moment. The first order of business will be to re-establish order in Baltimore, where the National Guard has been mobilized and a state of emergency declared. "In the days ahead, I intend to work with leaders throughout Baltimore to ensure that we can protect the security and civil rights of all residents," Lynch said within hours of being sworn in on Monday. "And I will bring the full resources of the Department of Justice to bear in protecting those under threat, investigating wrongdoing and securing an end to violence." A key part of that vow -- "investigating wrongdoing" -- must include a close look at the Baltimore Police Department, which has been the subject of bitter complaints of brutality. According to a major investigation by The Baltimore Sun published last fall, the city has paid out $5.7 million in court judgments or settlements to more than 100 people since 2011 in connection with allegations of brutality and/or violations of civil rights. "Officers have battered dozens of residents who suffered broken bones -- jaws, noses, arms, legs, ankles -- head trauma, organ failure, and even death, coming during questionable arrests. Some residents were beaten while handcuffed; others were thrown to the pavement," the Sun expose says. "And in almost every case, prosecutors or judges dismissed the charges against the victims -- if charges were filed at all." That kind of behavior helped set the stage for the riots and looting we now see. Lynch has already launched a probe of the death of Freddie Gray, and the Justice Department is also investigating the recent videotaped police killing of Walter Scott in North Charleston, South Carolina, where an officer has been arrested and charged with murder. As attorney general, Lynch has several tools with which to guide local law enforcement toward better behavior. A Justice Department program called Community Oriented Policing Services, launched in 2011, helps local departments implement best practices. The COPS program's effectiveness will surely come under question, since Baltimore was one of the eight departments participating in the voluntary program. Lynch can also apply the tougher approach of suing local departments and securing court-ordered reforms, a power conferred by the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. The provision was a result of the 1991 videotaped police beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles cops and the riot that ensued when the officers were acquitted. The Obama administration has sued local departments 15 times -- more than either the Clinton or Bush administrations -- and has opened 11 more investigations of departments including those in Cleveland, Miami, and Ferguson, Missouri. But even those tough remedies may not be working, according to the Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization that focuses on criminal justice issues. "Even where local leaders have embraced Washington's prescriptions, Justice Department officials have increasingly found themselves returning to grapple a second time with problems they thought they had fixed," writes reporter Simone Weichselbaum, noting that "recurring problems have emerged in police departments in Miami, New Orleans and New Jersey, all of which had promised to carry out major changes in response to Justice Department investigations that turned up evidence of discriminatory policing." That leaves Lynch with a final, even tougher weapon: the power, under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, to deny federal law enforcement dollars to departments that engage in discriminatory practices. Lynch's predecessor as attorney general, Eric Holder, generally refrained from yanking funds, although in 2013 he did deny drug forfeiture money to the sheriff's office in Alamance County, North Carolina, claiming the department was unlawfully targeting Latinos for traffic stops. The sheriff of Alamance County sued the Justice Department and the case remains unresolved -- but it underscores the fact that Lynch has the power to press local departments, legally and financially, to curb local abuses. She should invoke the power where necessary and calm cities like Baltimore as the nation heads into what could be a long, hot summer of unrest. | Errol Louis: New AG Loretta Lynch will try to get cops to improve community relations, end abusive practices . He says Baltimore case shows too many local departments not getting message . Lynch will have to apply range of tough measures to fix this, Louis says . | 3c1dd8efb6350fa2af01f26a54dfb79ba652e06f |
(CNN)Would you want a TV program about your family history to include details of a distant, long-deceased relative who had owned slaves? Seriously, who in their right mind would want to be tarnished by the sins of an ancestor you had no connection to other than a remote bloodline? I wouldn't, and neither did Ben Affleck, who lobbied producers of a PBS show, "Finding Your Roots," to remove any reference to his great-great-great grandfather Benjamin Cole, a Georgia slave owner in the mid-1800's, in an episode that looked at Affleck's family history. (Affleck revealed Cole's name Wednesday night.) Here's the thing that might surprise many, given the tendency of the media to exploit any potentially scandalous material: The show's producer, Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., apparently acquiesced to Affleck's request, because when the episode aired in October 2014, there was no mention of the star's slave-owning ancestor. Affleck's attempt to alter the content of the program only publicly became known a few days ago after WikiLeaks released hacked emails revealing an exchange between Gates and Sony Pictures chief Michael Lynton. When Gates asked how he should respond to Affleck's request to delete the material, Lynton responded, "all things being equal, I would definitely take it out." And on Tuesday, Affleck, via Facebook, admitted that he had urged Gates to excise any reference to his slave-owning relative. Affleck explained, "I didn't want any television show about my family to include a guy who owned slaves. I was embarrassed. The very thought left a bad taste in my mouth." Now Gates has publicly denied that he made his decision about the content of the program based on Affleck's request, but it seems likely that he did. After all, Affleck noted as much in his Facebook post, writing that Gates "agreed with me on the slave owner but made other choices I disagreed with." And three other celebrities profiled on the series last season were shown to have been related to slave owners. So it's unlikely that it was simply happenstance that it left out any reference to Affleck's familial slave ownership connection. In any event, PBS has launched an internal review to determine if the show violated its own editorial standards. Whatever the results of the review, Affleck and Gates did the right thing. Let's be clear: "Finding Your Roots" is not an investigative news show; it's an entertainment program. In fact, as Affleck noted, much of the material is provided directly by the celebrity being profiled. It's not "60 Minutes" but more in the nature of a sophisticated profile of celebrities, using their marquee names to attract viewers. There's not even a hint that Affleck strong-armed the producers or made any type of threats against them if they included the information. In the emails between Gates and Lynton, which they presumably believed at the time were confidential and would remain so, there was no mention of undue pressure by Affleck. Instead, Gates simply noted that Affleck "asked us to edit out something." After the emails were revealed, Gates issued a statement, saying, "Ultimately, I maintain editorial control on all of my projects and, with my producers, decide what will make for the most compelling program. In the case of Mr. Affleck we focused on what we felt were the most interesting aspects of his ancestry -- including a Revolutionary War ancestor, a third great-grandfather who was an occult enthusiast, and his mother who marched for civil rights during the Freedom Summer of 1964." My view would be different if Affleck had a history of uttering racist remarks or engaging in racist conduct. That would have made the information truly newsworthy. But instead we have a man known for championing progressive causes, which I'm sure made him even more acutely sensitive that some on the right might possibly use this information against him in the future. Perhaps that's what Affleck meant in his Facebook post when he wrote that this information made him feel "vulnerable." Affleck has noted that he regrets asking PBS to not include information about his "distant relative." That's a nice gesture, but it was not needed. Affleck had every right to ask for the information about a long-deceased distant relative to be left out of the show. And PBS had the choice to include it or leave it out. I applaud PBS for doing the right thing at a time when media outlets rarely show any restraint on the lives of people in the public eye. | Ben Affleck admits he asked PBS show "Finding Your Roots" to avoid mentioning his slave-owning ancestor . Dean Obeidallah says the actor and the show were right to leave the detail out . | 75fdaee82f6d0545a86b9d28b947186ce4b2a088 |
(CNN)A helicopter crash Saturday in Malaysia killed six people, including the nation's former ambassador to the United States and a high-ranking member of the prime minister's staff, the Malaysian state news agency Bernama reported. The helicopter crashed near Kampung Pasir Baru in Semenyih, at 4:55 p.m. Saturday (4:55 a.m. ET), Bernama said. Prime Minister Najib Razak ordered an investigation. Among the victims were Azlin Alias, who worked on the prime minister's staff, and Jamaluddin Jarjis, former Malaysian ambassador to the United States and chairman of PR1MA Malaysia, Bernama said. PR1MA is an organization that develops housing in urban centers. "We have lost two figures who had made great contributions to the government, party and country in this tragedy," Najib told reporters after visiting the crash site. Jamaluddin Jarjis was "a person of high caliber, who had sacrificed much for the government, party and country," he said. "He had many acquaintances here and abroad." The state news agency called Azlin the prime minister's private secretary general, but Najib referred to him as chief of staff. "Personally he had agreed to leave his career in the corporate sector to serve the government as his national service," Najib said. The helicopter's flight recorder has been found in good condition, Bernama reported Sunday, citing police. The news agency said Malaysian civil aviation authorities are expected to release a preliminary report on the crash within seven days. CNN's Jethro Mullen contributed to this report. | Jamaluddin Jarjis, former Malaysian ambassador to the U.S., among casualties . Azlin Alias, a member of the prime minister's staff, also dies, news agency reports . | 636bd23175b43755b9a22e7aba4e373d2d1556bc |
(CNN)President Barack Obama took part in a roundtable discussion this week on climate change, refocusing on the issue from a public health vantage point. After the event at Washington's Howard University on Tuesday, Obama sat down with me for a one-on-one interview. I asked him about the science behind climate change and public health and the message he wants the average American to take away, as well as how enforceable his action plan is. Here are five things I learned: . The President enrolled at Occidental College in Los Angeles in 1979 (he transferred to Columbia University his junior year). While in L.A., he said, the air was so bad that it prevented him from running outside. He remembers the air quality alerts and how people with respiratory problems had to stay inside. He credits the Clean Air Act with making Americans "a lot" healthier, in addition to being able to "see the mountains in the background because they aren't covered in smog." Obama also said the instances of asthma and other respiratory diseases went down after these measures were taken. Peer-reviewed Environmental Protection Agency studies say that the Clean Air Act and subsequent amendments have reduced early deaths associated with exposure to ambient fine particle pollution and ozone, and reduced illnesses such as chronic bronchitis and acute myocardial infarction. The EPA estimates that, between 1970 and 2010, the act and its amendments prevented 365,000 early deaths from particulate matter alone. "No challenge poses more of a public threat than climate change," the President told me. When I asked about the strength of the science supporting the direct relationship between climate change and public health, he said, "We know as temperatures rise, insect-borne diseases potentially start shifting up. We know, in a very straight-forward fashion, that heatstroke and other heat-related illnesses and deaths potentially increase, and so what we're doing here is to make sure that in addition to public awareness around the potential for big storms like Hurricane Sandy or big wildfires or droughts, that people recognize there's a very personal, potential impact in climate change, and the good news is we can do something about it." In many ways, Obama is attempting to reframe the discussion around climate change as a public health issue that affects all of us, while conceding that we don't fully understand the magnitude of the correlation between rising temperatures and impact on human health. When asked what the average American can do about all this, the President encouraged ordinary citizens, doctors and nurses to start putting some pressure on elected officials "to try and make something happen to reduce the impacts of climate change." He also issued a presidential proclamation declaring April 6-12 as National Public Health Week "to better understand, communicate and reduce the health impacts of climate change on our communities." The average American can also do their part to reduce their own carbon footprint, including: . • Change your incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent lights. One CFL can reduce up to 1,300 pounds of carbon dioxide pollution during its lifetime. If every house in the U.S. switched its bulbs, we could reduce the electricity spent on lighting by half. • Unplug your gadgets and chargers when not in use. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, this practice can save $100 a year on your energy bill. • Use a laptop instead of a desktop. Laptops are designed to be energy-efficient, because battery life is a major factor in their design. According to Energy Star, a laptop can be up to 80% more energy-efficient than a desktop. • Filter your own water. Beyond the environmental toll of plastic waste, consider just how far your water was transported before you bought it at the grocery store. • Adjust your curtains and thermostats. If you keep your house 2 degrees warmer in the summer and 2 degrees colder in the winter, you can save big bucks on your energy bill. The Department of Energy estimates you can save up to 15% on your bill by turning off your thermostat when you're not at home. Obama did not appear particularly concerned about the current Supreme Court challenge to the Affordable Care Act. He said he believes the statute is "clear and straightforward." He said, "I am not anticipating the Supreme Court would make such a bad decision." At issue is the 32 states that did not set up their own health care exchanges and left it to the federal government to do so. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit contend that the language of the Affordable Care Act does not allow for tax subsidies in those states (without state-based exchanges), possibly creating a situation, for example, in which people in Massachusetts would receive a tax credit, but people living in Texas would not. Obama did tell me that if the Supreme Court challenge is upheld, however, there is no Plan B. "Millions of people would lose their health insurance. They would no longer be able to afford the health insurance that's being provided out there." Obama went on to say, "I think this is the last gasp of folks who have been fighting against [the Affordable Care Act] for ideological reasons." He told me that he "gets letters every day from people who say, 'you know what, the Affordable Care Act saved my life or saved my kid's life because I got insurance.' 'I thought I was healthy; turns out I had a tumor, but because I went and got a checkup, it was removed in time, and I'm now cancer-free.' " He added, "I think stories like that will be factored in when the Supreme Court takes a look at this case." CNN's Ben Tinker contributed to this report. | "No challenge poses more of a public threat than climate change," the President says . He credits the Clean Air Act with making Americans "a lot" healthier . | 0041698b4463a633f912681b96f73648cb012e33 |
Jakarta (CNN)An Indonesian court has rejected a bid by two Australian drug smugglers -- members of the "Bali Nine" -- to challenge their planned executions. Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran are awaiting death by firing squad on Indonesia's "execution island" for their role in a failed 2005 heroin smuggling plot. A panel of three judges in the state administrative court in Jakarta on Monday confirmed an earlier ruling that it lacked the jurisdiction to hear challenges against President Joko Widodo's refusal to grant clemency. Lawyers for the pair had argued that Widodo had failed to individually consider their cases. One of the condemned men's lawyers, Leonard Aritonang, said he was disappointed with the rulings but would respect the court's decision. He said his team would file a further review, asking the Constitutional Court to explain Widodo's obligations regarding granting clemency. "I'm hoping the government still respects... any ongoing proceedings," he said. Tony Spontana, a spokesman for the Indonesian attorney general's office, told CNN that the state administrative court's ruling was "a relief." "We had predicted it will be rejected because clemency is a prerogative right of the President, as head of the government, not an object of a suit at the administrative court," he said in a message. "With this decision, it's a step closer towards the scheduled execution." Australia has repeatedly appealed for clemency for the pair and has unsuccessfully proposed a prisoner swap with Indonesia as a way of avoiding their deaths. Indonesia has long taken a hard line on drug smugglers, and since assuming office in October, Widodo has made it clear he intends to be tough on those found guilty of such crimes. In an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour in January, he said there would be "no compromise" on drug dealers. "Indonesia is in a drug emergency, so we need to have something that's firm," said Widodo. "They can ask for amnesty from the President. ... But I'm telling you there will be no amnesty for drug dealers." In December, six prisoners convicted of drug offenses were killed by firing squad, including five foreigners from Brazil, the Netherlands, Malawi, Nigeria and Vietnam. Chan and Sukumaran have been jailed since April 2005 for a failed bid to smuggle more than 8 kilograms of heroin from Bali to Australia. The Bali Nine were arrested after Indonesian police received a tip from Australian Federal Police. Chan, 31, was called the ringleader of the plot, while Sukumaran was described as Chan's collaborator. Seven other people who participated in the plan are serving lengthy prison sentences. Police caught four people at the Denpasar airport with more than 8 kilograms of heroin strapped to their bodies. Another four -- including Sukumaran -- were arrested at a hotel in the village of Kuta. Chan was detained after boarding a plane to Sydney; he wasn't carrying any drugs but was named by others as the mastermind of the plot. Opinion: Why executions won't win Indonesia's drug war . Sukumaran and Chan have become model prisoners during their time behind bars, according to fellow inmates and the jail's chief warden. Sukumaran is studying fine arts and has set up a class for fellow inmates. Chan has found spirituality, which he uses to counsel inmates with drug problems. Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has said that their rehabilitation is genuine. Australians have shown public support for the men, with politicians and members of the public turning out for a dawn vigil to demonstrate opposition to the planned executions. Australia lodges formal complaint over Bali Nine transfer . CNN's Euan McKirdy contributed to this report. | Two Australian drug traffickers on death row in Indonesia have had legal bids rejected . The men were seeking to challenge President Widodo's decision to refuse clemency in their cases . Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran are members of the "Bali Nine" drug syndicate . | 6deebf13eff17d19776ca80f9738da445aba1805 |
(CNN)Sofia Vergara's ex-fiance is speaking out about their dispute over frozen embryos created while they dated. In an op-ed published by The New York Times on Wednesday, Nick Loeb explained his rationale for fighting to keep the two female embryos he shares with the actress. "I wanted to keep this private, but recently the story broke to the world," Loeb wrote. "It has gotten attention not only because of the people involved -- my ex is Sofia Vergara, who stars in the ABC series "Modern Family" -- but also because embryonic custody disputes raise important questions about life, religion and parenthood." Loeb says he met the actress in 2010 and they got engaged two years later, at which point they decided to create the embryos and conceive a child via a surrogate. After two attempts failed to bring fertilized embryos to term, they created two more embryos using her eggs and his sperm. "When we create embryos for the purpose of life, should we not define them as life, rather than as property?," he said. "... A woman is entitled to bring a pregnancy to term even if the man objects. Shouldn't a man who is willing to take on all parental responsibilities be similarly entitled to bring his embryos to term even if the woman objects?" Loeb said he filed a complaint against the 42-year-old actress to prevent her from destroying their two embryos conceived through in vitro fertilization. He filed it in August in Santa Monica, California, where they apparently lived while they dated. "We signed a form stating that any embryos created through the process could be brought to term only with both parties' consent. The form did not specify -- as California law requires -- what would happen if we separated," he said. " I am asking to have it voided." Representatives for Vergara have declined to comment in the past. Loeb has said he believes "life begins at fertilization" and wants to implant the embryos in a surrogate and bring them to term. He said he doesn't want any money from the egg donor. The case has led to questions about who has the right to embryos. Typically, a prior legal agreement between a couple spells out who has ultimate authority, said fertility specialist Dr. David Tourgeman, who's not involved in this case. "Usually when embryos are created, whether the couple is married or just consenting adults, there's usually a power of attorney that is described to these embryos, if they are frozen for future use," he said. In most cases, the mother or the origin of the egg is given power of attorney, although anyone can make a request, Tourgeman said. If there's a disagreement, the courts usually get involved to decide who legally owns the embryos, he said. Vergara is now reportedly engaged to actor Joe Manganiello. | Loeb says he filed a complaint against the actress to prevent her from destroying their two embryos . The couple created the embryos while they were engaged . | 30d6fa71c77ac790d814357addb45a31c27ee2a7 |
Paris (CNN)Six survivors of the Paris kosher supermarket siege in January are suing a French media outlet for what they call dangerous live broadcasting during the hostage-taking. According to Paris prosecutor's spokeswoman Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre, the lawsuit was filed March 27 and a preliminary investigation was opened by the prosecutor's office Wednesday. The media outlet, CNN affiliate BFMTV, is accused of endangering the lives of the hostages, who were hiding in a cold room during the attack, by broadcasting their location live during the siege. BFM in a statement Friday said one of its journalists "mentioned only once the presence of a woman hidden inside the Hyper Cacher, on the basis of police sources on the ground." "Immediately, the chief editor felt that this information should not be released. It therefore has subsequently never been repeated on air or posted on-screen. BFMTV regrets that the mention of this information could cause concern to the hostages, as well as their relatives, that their lives were in danger," the statement said. Gunman Amedy Coulibaly, also suspected in the slaying of a police officer, stormed the Hyper Cacher Jewish supermarket on January 9, killing four people and taking others hostage. He was killed in the police operation to end the siege. A 24-year-old supermarket employee, Malian-born Lassana Bathily, was hailed as a hero afterward when it emerged that he had risked his life to hide 15 customers from Coulibaly in the cold room. The hostage-taking was the culmination of three days of terror in Paris that began with the January 7 shooting of 12 people at the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. The two brothers blamed for that attack, Cherif and Said Kouachi, were killed on January 9 after a violent standoff at an industrial site. The terror attacks claimed the lives of 17 people and put France on a heightened state of alert. CNN's Ariana Williams reported from Paris, and Laura Smith-Spark wrote from London. CNN's Pierre Meilhan contributed to this report. | Six people taken hostage in a kosher market siege say media outlet endangered their lives . They hid in a cold room during the attack in Paris by gunman Amedy Coulibaly . | 0459eda57f1de780a5908dcca96bd1169bafcaf0 |
(CNN)On Thursday, President Barack Obama revealed that a U.S. drone strike had killed Warren Weinstein and Giovanni Lo Porto, two aid workers held hostage on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Al Qaeda had sought to trade the two for prisoners held by the United States and an end to drone strikes. But it is not only terrorist groups that try to reap reward from the taking of hostages -- take the case of Jason Rezaian, The Washington Post's Tehran bureau chief. On April 20, just two days before diplomats resumed talks in Vienna, Austria, to reach a final agreement over Iran's nuclear program, Rezaian's Iranian attorney announced that his client had been charged with espionage, conducting propaganda, collaborating with foreign governments and collecting information "with malicious intent." The State Department, Rezaian's employers at The Washington Post and fellow journalists reacted with outrage. Their anger is justified, but the decision should surprise no one: There is a long history of rogue regimes seizing hostages against the backdrop of diplomacy to extract concessions, humiliate the United States or signal unease. The scale of Iran's current hostage-taking -- not only Rezaian but also Iranian-Americans Saeed Abedini and Amir Hekmati -- may pale in comparison with Iranian behavior of decades past. But the use of hostages to extract concessions or dampen the enthusiasm surrounding reconciliation is part of a consistent pattern. Consider the original Iran hostage seizure: On November 4, 1979, radical students seized the American Embassy in Tehran, ultimately holding 52 diplomats hostage for 444 days. Often forgotten was what sparked that episode, which occurred more than nine months after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini declared the Islamic revolution victorious. The problem was a rush to reconcile: At a November 1, 1979, Algiers reception, Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Jimmy Carter's national security adviser, met Iranian Prime Minister Mehdi Bazargan. According to Brzezinski's own memoir, he told Bazargan that the United States was open to any relationship the Islamic republic wanted. Photos of their handshake graced newspapers around the world. Iranian hardliners, meanwhile, were apoplectic that Barzagan was "betraying" Iran's revolutionary principles, and seized the embassy to block any rapprochement. Khomeini endorsed their action. "Our young people must foil these plots," he reportedly said. The hostages became pawns in an escalating series of demands. Brzezinski's dream of reconciliation became a nightmare. Iran released the embassy hostages as Ronald Reagan took his oath of office, ending its first but not last hostage-taking episode. Iranian proxies seized a number of Americans in Lebanon. Reagan blessed a plan to trade arms for hostages. Putting aside the illegalities of diverting weaponry to the Nicaraguan Contras, the genesis of the scheme was not only a desire for diplomacy but also, much as with Obama's outreach today, to solidify the moderate camp within the Iranian political spectrum. Initially, the scheme worked, but no sooner had American officials delivered the last load of military equipment and the last hostages set free, then kidnappers seized three more Americans. Hostage-taking had simply become another way to collect concessions. Of course, Iran is not alone in such games. Whenever the United States tries to use diplomacy to bring rogue regimes in from the cold, it faces hostage crises. Take North Korea: Obama campaigned as the anti-Bush on the world stage. "The notion that somehow not talking to countries is punishment to them ... is ridiculous," Obama, then a senator, declared in July 2007. Obama hadn't even marked two months in office when North Korea detained two journalists working for Al Gore's Current TV. A kangaroo court sentenced Laura Ling and Euna Lee to 12 years in prison. It was traditional hostage diplomacy. Former President Bill Clinton traveled to Pyongyang to appeal for their release. North Korean leader Kim Jong Il used the episode to solidify the position of his third son and designated successor, Kim Jong Un. North Korea's police force put out word that "General Kim Jong Un's artifice let former U.S. President Clinton cross the Pacific to apologize to the Great Leader. It was all made possible thanks to General Kim Jong Un's extraordinary prophecy and outstanding tactics." North Korea's deputy foreign minister confided that the groundwork for the episode had been planned long in advance. Ling and Lee were neither the first nor the last Americans that North Korea seized during the Obama era. After North Korea torpedoed a South Korean ship, killing 46, Obama sought North Korea's censure in the U.N. Security Council. Pyongyang responded by threatening Aijalon Mahli Gomes, an American imprisoned earlier that year for illegally entering North Korea. On cue, former President Jimmy Carter arrived to mediate for Gomes' release, called for new talks and, by omission, derailed efforts to hold North Korea accountable for its killing of nearly four dozen South Korean sailors. The pattern would repeat in 2012 when North Korea seized Kenneth Bae, an American whom Kim Jong Un sought to leverage into concessions. The following year, North Korea arrested an 85-year-old Korean War veteran touring the hermit kingdom and, the next year, took two other tourists hostage. Each arrest resulted in a high-level visit, an apology to North Korea that bolstered the dear leader's claims of strength and renewed engagement. Saddam Hussein likewise worked from the same playbook. In March 1995, Iraqi security forces seized two American defense contractors who strayed into Iraq from Kuwait. Sentenced to eight years, they served 114 days before Rep. Bill Richardson, D-New Mexico, a close Clinton ally (and future Cabinet-level U.N. ambassador) flew to Baghdad to retrieve them. The American media lauded Richardson, but his trip was not without cost: Saddam used it to depict Iraq as strong and America as weak. "President Saddam Hussein ... accepts the pleas by Bill Clinton, the Congress and American people," the Iraqi News Agency reported. And so did the Taliban. Fifteen years before Obama traded alleged American deserter Bowe Bergdahl for five high-value Taliban and alleged al Qaeda operatives imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay, the Taliban arrested two Americans female missionaries. Their detention -- and threatened death sentence -- came against the backdrop of Clinton-era attempts to negotiate with and perhaps even normalize relations with the Taliban; the Taliban, too, knew how holding Americans captive could even the playing field or even represent leverage for new concessions. So what does Iran's hostage brinkmanship portend? Diplomats drink their own Kool-Aid, and convince themselves that their engagement can bring rogues in from the cold. Ego, ambition and arrogance convince presidents that the failure of past diplomacy rests with their predecessors rather than adversaries. Hostages such as Rezaian are canaries in the coal mine, however. Their captivity -- not suave officials and their smooth promises -- show both the true character of the regime and its disregard for the norms of diplomacy. | A U.S. drone strike accidentally killed hostages Warren Weinstein and Giovanni Lo Porto . Michael Rubin: Hostages such as journalist Jason Rezaian are canaries in the coal mine . | 432e5ce913bac13fc63bae47cb9d0bc66d935206 |
(CNN)Given that most people couldn't tell the difference between a copyright and a trademark, it usually takes something controversial, such as the Washington Redskins' refusal to change their name, to get people interested in trademark law. This week, a higher court scrutinized a lesser-known trademark -- when the band The Slants sought to protect its name. The Slants are five Asian-American musicians from Portland, Oregon, who pay homage to the '80s on stage -- and homage to their heritage in an ironic way. "We want to take on stereotypes that people have about us, like the slanted eyes, and own them," Simon Shiao Tam, the band's front-man, said. In other words, the group adopted the Lenny Bruce philosophy of repeating an insulting term until it doesn't mean anything anymore. To The Slants, "slant" isn't an insult, it is empowering. And more power to them. Unfortunately, a bureaucrat at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office decided that "Slant" was disparaging to Asians, and denied them a trademark registration under the despised (by me, anyhow) Section 2(a) of the trademark act. This is the section that lets the government deny trademark protection to a mark that is "immoral," "scandalous" or "disparaging." In this case, the latter. But wait a minute. This isn't billionaire Dan Snyder referring to other people as "Redskins." In L'affair Redskins, it is the disparaged group, Native Americans, who are complaining -- not the government deciding on its own that it knows best. In the Slants' case, these are Asian guys who say "it doesn't bother us, so why should it bother you?" And it isn't as if any Asian American groups got involved. This is not the first time that someone has "taken back" a marginalizing term in a trademark fight. About 10 years ago, the motorcycle club "Dykes on Bikes" was similarly rebuffed, and they fought back and won the right to protect their mark. They made similar arguments that resonated: If they wanted to call themselves "Dykes on Bikes," then what place does the government have in judging that decision? In another decision, the trademark office initially denied a registration for Buddha Beachwear on the grounds that Buddhists would find it disparaging. But on reconsideration, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board held that it should go forward stating it is "imperative that the board be careful to avoid interposing its own judgment for that of Buddhists." So why aren't the Slants given the same privileges as Dykes on Bikes or Buddha Beachwear? It is largely a sign of the times. We find ourselves mired deeper and deeper in a society where people actually get excited to take offense at virtually anything. Given the lingering controversy over the Redskins' trademark, our five friends from Oregon didn't stand a chance. This decision offends me. For starters, by trying to protect Asians from racism, the court issued a disturbingly racist decision based on the fact that these were, in fact, Asians who intended their band name to invoke their ethnicity. But, if a Sicilian (like me) were to seek to register the same exact name, with no such intent, I would enjoy that privilege. This isn't quite Korematsu v. United States (the decision that authorized putting Asians in internment camps), but the decision is quite unprincipled. Even worse, this decision gets the First Amendment wrong. The majority opinion almost flippantly discards the Constitutional issues as much ado about nothing. Essentially it says, "we did it this way before, so we are going to keep doing it this way." Your Constitution got stepped on before, and who are we to take our feet off of it? If you're not upset by now, you should be. Well, the court does give us a sort-of dissent styled as "additional views." While not binding, some of our most cherished First Amendment rights grew from the tiny seeds planted by the dissents of Oliver Wendell Holmes. The dissent in this case recognizes the fact that trademarks are commercial speech, which is protected by the First Amendment. It also notes that the government should not be in the business of giving out or withholding benefits on the basis of the content of the recipient's speech. This is known as the doctrine of "unconstitutional conditions." Since Section 2(a) discriminates against First Amendment protected expression on the basis of its content, the court has called for 2(a) to be, finally, deemed unconstitutional. But, for some reason, it declined to actually go that far. It merely suggested it, without so ruling. And people wonder why my hair is falling out. I guess I will start a protest band and call them "The Guinea Pigs." But, I won't be allowed to register that trademark -- although the five Asian guys from The Slants could. Maybe we should just each register the other band's marks, and trade them after we get past the bureaucrats at the trademark office. | Marc Randazza: Court upholds a trademark denial for Asian-American band The Slants on the grounds that name was disparaging . He says court is wrong: Trademarks are commercial speech, protected by First Amendment. Ruling a sign or our easily offended times . | b29aa7e069f4385ef2fb33c36a30bef713671310 |