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(CNN) -- A convicted child pornographer in Pennsylvania was sentenced Tuesday to 12 years in federal prison, thanks in part to three girls featured in CNN's Freedom Project who provided information to U.S. authorities. Jeffrey Herschell, 54, of Washington, Pennsylvania, visited an Internet site that showed live sex shows that forced young girls in the Philippines to act out customers' fantasies, U.S. investigators said. "Whatever the American client wants us to do, we must do it," "Gen" told CNN in May 2011 for the documentary "The Fighters." "Gen" and her friends were schoolmates and just 8 years old when the abuse occurred. An investigator from Homeland Security Investigations, part of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told CNN the information the three girls provided him was integral to the case against Herschell. Their information launched an investigation that uncovered a ring operating live-streaming shows of children engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Customers from around the globe, including an estimated 10 to 15 from the United States, paid to view the shows and direct them, in some cases. When HSI agents executed a search warrant on Herschell's home in 2011, they found computers, cell phones and hard drives containing dozens of explicit videos and images of children. The inquiry involved several U.S. agencies, the Philippines national police and the non-profit group Visayan Forum Foundation, which fights modern-day slavery. READ MORE: Victims endure lives degraded by traffickers .

A Pennsylvania man gets 12 years in federal prison for child pornography . He accessed live sex shows of girls in the Philippines on the Internet, investigators say . Information from girls in a CNN Freedom Project documentary led to his arrest .

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Bill Clinton and George W. Bush sounded like old college buddies when they appeared in Washington on Monday. You'd never know that Clinton was the candidate who made Bush's father a one-termer, or that Bush ran for office in 2000 promising to restore "honor and dignity to the White House" after Clinton left. Things are genial now that both men have their presidencies behind them and are focused on their legacies as former presidents. They appeared together on Monday to announce a new leadership program through their respective foundations. But at times, it appeared the announcement took a back seat to the presidents' relationship. The two former commanders in chief joked with and about each other, told stories about their relationship, and even offered commentary about the number of selfies each is asked to take. "He used to call me twice a year, in his second term, just to talk," Clinton said about Bush. "We'd talk -- depending on how much time he had, 'cause he was busier than me -- somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes, for several years. It meant a lot to me." Clinton said he and Bush "talked about everything in the right world. He asked my opinion, half the time he disagreed with it. But I felt good about that, I thought that was a really healthy thing." Bush and Clinton were together Monday to announce the Presidential Leadership Scholars program, a partnership between their respective presidential centers, as well as George H.W. Bush's and Lyndon B. Johnson's centers. The program's aim is to bring "motivated leaders across all sectors an opportunity to study presidential leadership and decision making and learn from key administration officials, practitioners, and leading academics." It is well-documented that Clinton has grown closer with the Bush family since his presidency. Clinton and George H.W. Bush worked together after the Asian tsunami in 2004 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, while Clinton and George W. Bush worked together after the 2010 Haitian earthquake. Monday's event was a mutual admiration festival. As Clinton heralded their post-presidency friendship, he regularly touched Bush's arm. When the Arkansas Democrat reflected positively on Bush's father, George H.W. Bush, Bush 43 looked at Clinton and said, "Thank you, you are right." When Bush gave Clinton advice on becoming a grandparent -- "Get ready also to be, like, the lowest person in the pecking order in your family" -- the two laughed and shared a hearty handshake. Bill and Hillary Clinton are expecting their first grandchild this fall as their only daughter, Chelsea Clinton, is pregnant. Hillary Clinton attended Monday's event and sat near the back. During the event, Bill Clinton's phone rang and the former president joked that "only two people have this number and they are related to me." "I hope I'm not being told I'm about to become a premature grandfather," Clinton said to a chorus of laughs. The former presidents were asked to reflect on each other's leadership qualities. Clinton said Bush was decisive and did what he thought was best for the country, even if Clinton sometimes disagreed with him. "I actually learned a lot watching him over the years," Clinton said. Bush, in a briefer answer, said Clinton was an "awesome communicator" who can "really lay out a case and get people all across the political spectrum to listen." "[There is] a lot to admire about Bill Clinton," Bush said, before noticing that he had said less than Clinton had. "Is that enough?" Bush said. "It was a lot shorter than your answer, I know." The differences between Bush and Clinton were also on full display. Clinton offered wordy, detailed answers, while Bush used more folksy one-liners and quips to engage the crowd. Both joked about how Bush often said he "didn't do" nuance. Clinton said that before the event they "were laughing about having to go to restaurants and having to spend our time taking selfies" with fans. Without skipping a beat, Bush said, "At least they are still asking, you know." Bush takes Ice Bucket Challenge, challenges Clinton .

Bush and Clinton's genial relationship now that both have left office is on full display . The duo is in Washington on Monday to announce a new leadership program . Bush calls Clinton an "awesome communicator," finds "a lot to admire" Clinton says he "learned a lot watching (Bush) over the years"

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(CNN) -- A body found in an Indiana lake has been identified as that of Teleka Patrick, the Michigan doctor who's been missing since December, the Porter County Coroner's Office confirmed. Her body was discovered Sunday in Lake Charles, west of Gary, Indiana, officials said. The cause and manner of death are still pending further investigation, but are consistent with drowning, the coroner said in a statement Tuesday. An autopsy revealed no trauma, the statement added. Mysterious disappearance . The 30-year-old medical resident failed to show up for work on December 6 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The night before, her 1997 Lexus was discovered abandoned more than 115 miles away in a ditch off of Interstate 94 in Indiana, directly south of the lake where she was ultimately found. Police brought out dogs to track Patrick's scent. They led investigators out of the ditch where Patrick's car rested to the highway. There, the scent went cold. "We looked everywhere," Sgt. Rick Strong of the Indiana State Police told CNN in December. Videos provide clues . Surveillance video and home videos uploaded to YouTube provided investigators with clues about Patrick's movements in the weeks, days and hours before she vanished. The YouTube videos showed Patrick talking, cooing and singing to someone unnamed and apparently unknown. Patrick's mother told CNN she wasn't aware of any romantic relationship her daughter may have had. But the videos have an intimate feel to them. "Hi, baby," Patrick says in one. "I am just coming to you to say 'hi' and tell you about my day." In another video, Patrick shows a table set for two with omelets and pancakes. "If you were here, this is what would be your plate," she coos. In a surveillance video from a Radisson hotel in Kalamazoo, not far from where she worked, Patrick is seen on the night of December 5 around 7:30 p.m., hours before police found her car in Indiana. She spent about 10 minutes talking with employees at the reception desk but ultimately left. There's no audio on the video, and it's not clear why Patrick failed to book a room. But at 7:48 p.m., she strode across the hotel's tiled floors, out the door and onto a hotel shuttle bus. Those are the last known images of her. Her family says Patrick, who had just moved to Michigan, bought a plane ticket to come visit them for the holidays in Florida. In January, family members urged investigators to remain focused on the possibility that foul play was involved in her disappearance, after reports surfaced that gospel singer Marvin Sapp had filed a personal protection order against Patrick in September. In court documents, Sapp said Patrick "has claimed him as her husband, had moved from California to Michigan, joined his church, had contacted his children and had been to his home. "I have at least 400 pages of correspondence from her which I have never responded," his complaint reads. Questions remain . While the discovery of Patrick's body answers some questions, it leaves many more unanswered for the grieving family of a young doctor described as "wonderful," "beautiful" and "talented." Investigators have said they have no evidence of foul play, but they also don't have conclusive evidence that Patrick's movements on December 5 were voluntary. "We have scoured, searched and looked at everything we could possibly look at -- all the exits, all the businesses, all the hotels," Strong said late last year. "We posted fliers; we talked to neighbors (who live near the highway). We did a full-blown, on-the-ground search in the wooded area north of where the car was." Carl Clatterback, a private investigator hired by Patrick's family, told CNN that investigators are looking into the videos. A central question: Who was Patrick talking to in the videos and does that person know anything about what happened to her? CNN's Tiffany Campbell and Julia Lull contributed to this report.

Body of the 30-year-old medical resident discovered in Indiana lake April 6 . Patrick failed to show up for work in Michigan December 6 . Investigators combing through 20 minutes of YouTube and surveillance video . Family, investigators trying to piece together what happened .

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Tokyo (CNN) -- Dozens of flights were canceled in and out of a northeastern Japanese city on Tuesday after construction workers came across an unexploded shell believed to be from World War II buried near a taxiway. Airport authorities in Sendai said they had canceled all 92 flights, national and international, scheduled to use the airport Tuesday after the discovery of the shell late Monday under an unpaved area beside the taxiway. Read more: World War II bomb closes part of Amsterdam airport . Members of the Japanese Self Defense Force are working to remove the ordinance, which is thought to be a U.S.-made bomb dropped during World War II, the airport said, adding that officials hope flights will be able to resume Wednesday. The device still has a fuse, which raises the risk that it could explode, and is approximately 110 centimeters (43 inches) long and 35 centimeters wide, authorities said. Sendai is still recovering and rebuilding after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that killed thousands of people and caused widespread destruction across northeastern Japan in March 2011. The city is the largest in the region of Tohoku, which bore the brunt of the natural disasters. The damage to its airport was widely documented in images that emerged in the aftermath of the quake and tsunami.

Construction workers unearthed the shell buried near a taxiway . All 92 flights in and out of the airport have been canceled Tuesday . Authorities hope to resume flights Wednesday once the shell has been removed . Ordinance is thought to be a U.S.-made bomb dropped in World War II .

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Washington (CNN) -- Toward the end of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's surprise appearance at the TED Women conference Wednesday, she told the story of a girl and her father in a developing country. "This teenage girl's father expected to force her into early marriage, but she had been to school and she received a cow, perhaps through the Heifer project, to encourage her to stay in school. When her father demanded she drop out of school and get married, she said no. When he insisted, she insisted right back. "And finally she pulled out her trump card: 'If I leave and get married, I'm taking my cow, that cow belongs to me.' So guess what. She stayed in school, she was spared an early marriage, all because her father couldn't bear to part with the cow." TED.com: Sheryl WuDunn on oppression of women . Clinton devoted her talk to the importance of empowering women and girls around the world, and the audience of 700 at the International Trade Center responded enthusiastically. "Let women work and they drive economic growth across all sectors. Send a girl to school even just for one year and her income dramatically increases for life, and her children are more likely to survive and her family more likely to be healthier for years to come. Give women equal rights and entire nations are more stable and secure. Deny women equal rights and the instability of nations is almost certain." Clinton said the goal of empowering women and girls is a "central tenet" of American foreign policy. "Women's equality is not just a moral issue, it's not just a humanitarian issue, it is not just a fairness issue," she said, "It is a security issue, it is a prosperity issue, and it is a peace issue. "Therefore when I talk about why we need to integrate women's issues into discussions at the highest levels everywhere in the world, I'm not doing it just because I have a personal commitment or because President Obama cares about it. I'm doing it because it's in the vital interests of the United States of America." Clinton said the status of women will be a key part of a new document the State Department is planning to release this week. Modeled on the Defense Department's review every four years of U.S. defenses, the "quadrennial diplomacy and development review" will assess American foreign policy. TED.com: Zainab Salbi on women and wartime . Clinton spoke of an array of initiatives and programs the State Department is using, many involving technology that can empower women. Among them is a program in the wartorn Democratic Republic of Congo that enables women who are the victims of violence to record and transmit their testimony in criminal cases through the use of mobile phones. Clinton's talk did not mention the ongoing worldwide controversy over the release of thousands of U.S. diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks. She did pay tribute to Elizabeth Edwards, who died the day before her talk. "She lived with a fierce intelligence, a passion, a sense of purpose," Clinton said. "She would have appreciated this event, where we are coming together to look for solutions." The TED Women conference was a new event organized by TED, a nonprofit that runs conferences and makes talks available on its website, and by the Paley Center for Media. Clinton said the effort to empower women and girls faces cultural barriers: "The low value that many families and societies place on girls makes possible many of the worst abuses they suffer. But even among girls who are spared the worst, too often it is a girl who is still the first to drop out of school, the last to be fed, the last to receive medical care. And in too many places, she is taught there are special limits to what is possible for her. "We need to reach out to faith leaders and community leaders to change the perception and treatment of girls, and to persuade men and boys to value their sisters and their daughters, their talents and their intrinsic worth."

Hillary Clinton spoke at the TED Women conference on U.S. policy on girls, women . She said empowering girls and women is vital for peace and security . Clinton said sending a girl to school increases her earnings and improves her family's health . Empowering girls faces cultural obstacles that must be overcome, she said .

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NEW YORK (CNN) -- The numbers were good for "Knowing." In "Knowing," a physics professor (Nicolas Cage) ponders patterns in a list of numbers. The film, about a physics professor who sees clues for disastrous events in a time capsule's list of digits, overcame some pretty long odds at the box office -- going against the Paul Rudd-Jason Segel comedy "I Love You, Man," the Julia Roberts-Clive Owen romantic thriller "Duplicity" and some fairly scathing reviews -- to emerge as the weekend's No. 1 film. Though star Nicolas Cage wouldn't have predicted the outcome, in an interview before the film's release, he did talk about the power of positive thinking. "I'm a huge believer of the human spirit," he told CNN. "I think people are amazing. I think what we have accomplished is incredible. ... If you think positive and you apply the guts and ingenuity that mankind has been doing forever, at least in our existence, I believe we get through anything." Cage's character, John Koestler, is a science professor whom Cage describes as "someone who is reawakening to his faith." He begins the film believing that everything is random, but as the film continues -- and he seeks to alert the world of a coming catastrophe -- "he believes there is cause and effect and perhaps even a divine mind," Cage said. The film begins in 1959, with students burying items in a time capsule at an elementary school. One of the children, however, creates an image of seemingly random numbers. Fifty years later, when the capsule is opened, Koestler's son receives the page of numbers, and his father realizes that they correspond to major disasters of the past half-century. Koestler determines that three events have yet to occur and sets out to meet the clairvoyant child's now grown daughter. The final event threatens life on Earth itself, and the group begins a race against time, with unusual consequences. Critics were not impressed. The film earned a 25 percent rating on the review aggregator RottenTomatoes.com, with some reviewers in full-on mockery mode. Watch Mr. Moviefone review "Knowing" and other films » . "It's increasingly hard to believe that Cage won an Oscar in 1996 (for 'Leaving Las Vegas')," wrote USA Today's Claudia Puig in a 1½-star review. "In the past decade, he has made some awful choices, and his range has seemed to grow more limited." "It's so inept that you may wish you were watching an M. Night Shyamalan version of the very same premise," wrote Entertainment Weekly's Owen Gleiberman, referring to the director whose last two films, "Lady in the Water" and "The Happening," were two of the most detested films of recent years. But the film's apocalyptic theme obviously strikes a chord, something director Alex Proyas ("Dark City") saw early on. Proyas told CNN in a pre-release interview that "you can read [the film] as biblical if you choose to," but he prefers to see it as "spiritual." "I try to leave it very open-ended," he said. "I try to think of it as more a spiritual place than a biblical one." Cage's character, he said, is on a spiritual quest in the midst of what could be global destruction. Rose Byrne, who plays the clairvoyant child's daughter, Diana, called the film "kind of a theological discussion." "That's always an exciting topic," she said. "It's bridging the gap between science and spirituality. That always makes things thought-provoking, and I like that with any piece of art." Byrne said that "Knowing" taps into some of the end-times anxiety that's been in the air in recent years, which perhaps could help find an audience. (As she was talking before the film's release, she didn't realize how much of an audience.) "I think it's a common thing in life," she said of end-of-the-world fears, referencing one of the latest making the rounds -- the Mayan calendar's Long Count end in 2012 -- in making her point. Proyas observes that given such worries, the film can be a wake-up call for such concerns as global climate change. "There is a symbolic aspect to what is happening and what the story is about, and to get people to pay attention to what could happen," he said. But, he adds, it's also just a movie. "I believe in the entertainment value of movies -- very much so," he said. "I ... want to make it good for the audience. I really want people to be there and experience something powerful and resident, both in terms of ideas and emotions ... and also with this film trying to do something different. It's a challenging film, and it takes some unexpected turns."

"Knowing" was weekend's No. 1 film . Apocalyptic thriller stars Nicolas Cage as professor who sees clues in numbers . Film taps into themes of religion, spirituality, end-times concerns, say makers .

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(CNN) -- Look out air travelers. A congressional slugfest over the U.S. deficit is threatening to trigger higher airfares and widespread slowdowns at the nation's airports. Remember that big fight in Congress last year over the national budget deficit? Eventually Congress and the White House agreed to scheduled budget cuts that are so deep that lawmakers would be forced to come together on tough choices. Washington wonks call these cuts "sequestration." Related story: Sequestration is the 'dumbest thing' The Federal Aviation Administration is in the cross hairs for sequestration -- with a possible $1 billion in mandatory cuts scheduled to occur as soon as January. The FAA chief warned of the impact of such cuts. And a new study says the cuts would result in fewer air traffic controllers, customs officers and security officers. The FAA's sweeping overhaul of the U.S. air traffic system also would take a hit. NextGen, as it's called, is aimed at improving efficiency and increasing safety. "If the sequester were to occur, we would face some very drastic cuts in services and these investments," said FAA acting administrator Michael Huerta, in an October speech. "These cuts would impact air traffic control services, NextGen implementation, and aircraft certification -- all of which are critical to our ability to move forward with aviation in this century. "They would result in significantly less efficient and less convenient air travel service for the American traveling public. We will always, however, maintain the highest levels of safety." It's anybody's guess -- and up to Congress -- whether the cuts will actually happen. But groups representing pilots and the aerospace industry say it's time to get nervous. Opinion: Clock ticking on defense cuts . Marion Blakey, who headed the FAA during the George W. Bush administration and who now leads an aerospace industry lobbying organization, warned in August that just the threat of the cuts is already having a chilling effect. Consumers should be worried, she warns. "This will affect their ability to fly when they want and how they want," Blakey says. "It will certainly be a drag on the airlines, which then will incur great cost, which then will be passed on to the consumer or it will cut into the carriers' very meager profits and that's not healthy." Blakey's group, the Aerospace Industries Association, and Econsult Corp. released a study in August that paints a worst-case scenario, including possible closure of 246 airport control towers, 1,500 fewer air traffic controllers and the loss of 9,000 security screeners and 1,600 customs officers. Obviously, fewer controllers, screeners and customs people would throw a wrench into an already stressed air travel system. "A billion dollars is a body blow to the FAA," Blakey says. For industry planners, Blakey says January is right around the corner, and making industry decisions amid such uncertainty comes with an economic price that will affect the consumer. Not only would airline passengers feel the cuts, but pilots of small aircraft, known as general aviation, or GA, will see ramifications, both in safety and efficiency, says Melissa Rudinger, senior vice president of government affairs at the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. The cuts could include the shut down of more than 200 control towers, "which operate almost exclusively at GA locations," she says. "It's unclear to us how the FAA would go about literally closing the doors and turning out the lights," she says. "But there's definitely a safety risk that would have us concerned." Safety would not be an issue, Blakey says. "I have every confidence they'll keep it safe," she says, although she expects FAA controllers will slow traffic at small airports by reducing hours of operation and capacity. "I do not anticipate that the FAA will reduce hours and personnel at the nation's big air traffic control centers and the TRACON radar tracking centers," she says. For now, many in the aviation industry are taking a wait-and-see attitude. "There is a great deal of uncertainty about whether sequestration will actually happen and what the real impact would be on commercial aviation," writes a spokeswoman for the airline industry trade group Airlines for America. Other groups aren't talking at all. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association wouldn't comment in August, and the FAA referred questions to the Office of Management and Budget. The OMB has 30 days to analyze the sequestration legislation and to make recommendations to the White House. An internal OMB memo (PDF) in July said sequestration would be "highly destructive to national security and domestic priorities, as well as to core government functions," and that Obama has submitted deficit reduction proposals to Congress aimed at avoiding the cuts. The cuts would delay deployment of the multibillion-dollar NextGen program by at least a decade, according to the study. "It's a very big deal to keep that on track," Blakey says. "It's going to get hit; it's just a question of how much." This is not just about FAA, Blakey says. Think about the idea of cutting 9,000 Transportation Security Administration screeners. "How do you like the lines now? How are you going to like them then?" She says, "People would like to treat this as a hypothetical or a simple congressional debate." But the threat will grow, she warns, unless "people step up and try again to address the long-term issues" surrounding the nation's debt and deficit -- or they postpone the FAA cuts to give themselves more time for a compromise.

Budget battle may result in slower air travel, higher fares . FAA cuts could lead to fewer controllers, security and customs officers, study says . Ex-FAA chief: Fear of the cuts is already having a chilling effect .

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(CNN) -- Speaking Saturday at the Summit of the Americas, President Barack Obama said it is reasonable to debate alternatives in the war on drugs, but insisted legalizing drugs wasn't a valid option in the United States. Obama voiced his view in his first public remarks at the hemispheric event during a meeting of business leaders, where he was part of a panel alongside Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos. The possibility of drug legalization has gained traction in Central America, which is being squeezed between suppliers to the south and consumers to the north. Yet the idea goes against decades of the prohibitionist policy backed by the United States, which is largely followed and enforced in Latin America and the Caribbean. Santos noted Saturday that people in his native Colombia, too, have called for different ways to approach illicit drugs. "Sometimes we pedal and pedal and pedal, and we feel like we are on a stationary bike," he said of the war on drugs. "I think the time has come to simply analyze if what we are doing is the best we could be doing, or if we can find an alternative that would be more effective and less costly to society. This is a topic of extreme political sensitivity." He added, "One extreme can be to put all users in prison. On the other extreme, legalization. In the middle there may be more practical policies, such as decriminalizing consumption but putting all the efforts into interdiction." The first thing that regional leaders should do, Santos said later at the summit's opening session, is seriously and collaboratively examine how to tackle drug trafficking "without dogma, without prejudice." "This summit is not going to resolve this issue," he said. "But it can be a starting point to begin a discussion that we have been postponing for far too long." Obama earlier Saturday left the door open for debate, but made it clear that the United States has a firm stance. "I think it is entirely legitimate to have a conversation about whether the laws in place are doing more harm than good in certain places," Obama said. "I personally, and my administration's position is, that legalization is not the answer." Much attention in the run-up to the summit was on the drug issue, as well as on leaders from the hemisphere who are not present in the coastal city of Cartagena, Colombia. Venezuela's foreign minister told reporters Saturday that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will not attend because of health reasons. Chavez had recently returned to his country from Cuba, where he underwent cancer treatment. Cuba, which is not a member of the Organization of American States, was not invited to join the leaders. But there was a last-minute push by Ecuador's leftist President Rafael Correa to get Cuban leader Raul Castro a seat at the table. Correa boycotted the summit because of Cuba's exclusion. Santos, a key U.S. ally, said in his opening remarks Saturday that it was time to overcome such issues -- calling it unthinkable if Cuba is not part of the next Summit of the Americas, as well as nearby Haiti. The United States has "never been more excited" to work as equal partners with countries in Latin America, Obama said earlier Saturday -- a vow that's been made before by U.S. presidents, but that nonetheless drew applause from the audience of business leaders. The president presented an upbeat assessment of hemispheric relations, touting a 46% increase in trade between the United States and Latin American and Caribbean countries. "This hemisphere is very well positioned in the global economy," he said. Rousseff spoke of a need for a "virtuous relationship" based on respect and equality among economies, while Santos said he welcomed a "change of mentality in relations between north and south." Obama pointed out one change he'd like to see: "I think in Latin America, part of the change in mentality, is also not always looking at the United States as the reason for everything ... that goes wrong." There are many examples of increased cooperation between the United States and Latin America, but they are not always flashy and don't draw the same type of attention that conflicts do, Obama said. "Oftentimes in the press, the attention at summits like this ends up focusing on the controversies," the president added. "Sometimes those controversies date back to before I was born." The summit's start was momentarily overshadowed by two security incidents -- one involving bomb blasts and another involving Secret Service in Colombia to protect the U.S. delegation. Roughly a dozen Secret Service agents and officers are being investigated over early findings that they allegedly brought back several prostitutes to a hotel in Cartagena, two U.S. government sources familiar the investigation told CNN. The Secret Service personnel have since been sent back to the United States. Separately, two small blasts occurred nearly back-to-back Friday in Cartagena. The explosions -- one near a bus station and another near a shopping mall -- occurred a good distance away from where world leaders were gathering, said Alberto Cantihho Toncell, a spokesman for the Colombia National Police. There were no casualties, and only minor damage was reported, Toncell said. The explosions came on the heels of a similar one earlier in the day near the U.S. Embassy in the capital city of Bogota, authorities said. CNN's Dan Lothian contributed to this report.

NEW: Colombia's president says it is unthinkable if Cuba isn't at the next summit . NEW: Santos adds the summit can be a "starting point" for talks on illicit drugs . Obama says debate is fine, but insists legalization isn't an option in the U.S. The United States wants strong relations with Latin America, Obama says .

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(CNN) -- It would take you almost five solid months -- without sleeping or bathroom breaks -- to watch every sporting event at this year's Summer Olympics. More than 3,500 hours of competition from London will be crammed into just 17 days. In the past, people had to settle for watching the delayed, edited bits broadcast on TV or websites, but technology and viewing habits have changed. This year, 40% of people plan to follow the games on more than one device, with 35% checking in on their tablets and 27% using their smartphone, according to a new study by Harris Interactive. Fans asked to tweet from Olympics only if it's 'urgent' So what are the best ways for today's mobile, multiple-screen owning, Twitter-loving generation to follow the Olympics à la carte? We offer these five: . Live streaming, with a catch . First, the good news: It's finally possible to stream any Olympic event live online, on a tablet or from your smartphone. After years of tape-delayed broadcasts and online video, NBC has caught on that viewers want to follow the Olympics on multiple devices in real time, and is offering the live options in addition to its regular television programming. The bad news is that anyone in the U.S. who wants to enjoy live streaming of the games needs to have a current cable, satellite or telco TV subscription that includes MSNBC and CNBC (for some areas this may mean be more than just basic cable). You will be prompted on the NBC site and in NBC apps to choose your provider from a list and log in with your official username and password in order to access any live streams. Cord cutters -- those who have canceled their cable and primarily watch TV online through services like Hulu and Netflix -- are out of luck, however. They can sign up for cable and cancel after the games are over, but there's no one-time payment option just to access live streaming. NBC wants mobile and online options to complement the TV coverage, not replace it. NBC, which is owned by the largest cable provider in the United States, Comcast, paid $1.18 billion for the rights to this year's Olympics. The network makes a good portion of that amount back on television advertising, which still generates more revenue than online ads. Online . The Internet portal for all video in the U.S. is NBCOlympics.com. On the main video page, anyone can view the select clips that NBC posts after watching a short ad. These clips are a combination of highlights from events, interviews, profiles, and peeks behind the scenes. Sort by your sport of choice or type of video. How to avoid Olympics spoilers . The site is also providing live streams of any sport to cable, satellite or telco TV subscribers. Called LiveExtra, the service will live stream some Olympic trials and every single Olympic sport. You can watch online or through the complimentary app. It's the only option for live streaming in the U.S. Though hosted through YouTube, all of the videos on the NBCOlympics are in Flash. To view them on iPhones, iPads or other mobile devices, go to the mobile version of the site, m.nbcolympics.com. You can also download one of the official apps to watch official NBC Olympic video on your iOS or Android device. For the first time, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will live stream 11 high-definition channels simultaneously over YouTube for 64 territories in Asia and Africa that don't have broadcast deals, but those streams will not be accessible outside of those countries. Foreign news websites such as the BBC will also have videos, but again, most will be blocked for U.S. viewers. Mobile apps . NBC created two official apps for Android and Apple mobile devices, NBC Olympics and NBC Olympics Live Extra, and both are free to download. NBC Olympics has no live video, but tons of content that can be enjoyed by anyone for free, including news, results, video highlights, and the intriguing-sounding Twitter heat map. NBC Olympics Live Extra app is a mobile version of its LiveExtra online service and requires a cable, satellite or telco subscription. View any event live, watch replays of the ones you missed, and check out medal ceremonies and alternative camera views. Look over the in-app schedule and set up notifications for the events you don't want to miss. (Avid streamers should be careful not to go over their monthly data limits.) There are two official apps for the London 2012 Olympics, and they're available for a mix of platforms including iOS, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone 7. Official London 2012: Results App has live updates of results, as well as schedules, news, background on sports and athlete profiles. You can follow specific countries and set up custom alerts. The second app, Official London 2012: Join In App, is more for people attending the games, and has schedules and locations for the various Olympic-related festivities going on in London. The free BBC Olympic iOS and Android app will have a steady stream of quality Olympics news, including a running tally of medals won and live reporting from the BBC journalists attending events. Social media and news . Perhaps you have no interest in seeing your favorite diver's perfectly executed reverse 3 1/2 somersault tuck. You just want to know who got the gold as soon as it happens. Individual sports have official, automated Twitter feeds that will tweet out the results as they happen. You can narrow it down to just the events you're interested in and follow those feeds (say @L2012Trampoline or @L2012Judo), or keep an eye on all of them at once by following the London 2012 official Twitter list of automated feeds. The official London 2012 feed is @London2012. Twitter takes the Olympic gold for speed . This year a lot of the fun will be following the athletes themselves. You can look up your favorites or follow this list of verified Olympic athlete Twitter accounts, the London 2012 list of Olympians or find a list just for your preferred sport of team, like Team USA. If you want more color, find a hashtag for the event you're interested in to get live tweets of the excitement as it happens from attendees and journalists. There's also an official London 2012 Facebook page you can like to get updates. And of course, there are old-fashioned news sites and blogs filled with words and pictures. There are 21,000 journalists in London covering the Olympics (outnumbering the 10,500 athletes competing). With all the content online, on TV and on social media, keeping up with the Olympics won't be nearly as much of a challenge as avoiding spoilers. Television . Oh right, there's TV, too. If you have cable, you can catch NBC's coverage scattered across a number of its channels: NBC, NBC Sports Network, MSNBC, CNBC, Bravo and Telemundo. Check the schedule for your location, sorted by time or sport, at the NBC Olympics site. If you don't have cable, you can still tune into NBC over the air for nearly round-the-clock coverage, including the four-hour prime-time broadcast that will show the most popular events mixed in with the usual profiles and athlete interviews. The channel will broadcast a total of 217 hours of Olympic coverage. Opinion: Is it really #NBCfail?

This is the first year the Olympic games will be available as live streams in the U.S. The events can be watched on TV, computers, tablets and smartphones . Only cable, satellite and telco TV subscribers will be able to watch live streams .

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San Diego, California (CNN) -- You're a mean one, Mr. Gingrich. Well, not really. Those of us who know Newt Gingrich tend to describe him as not only intelligent but also charming. Some members of the Washington press corps will admit as much, even though they usually don't agree with Gingrich's views. No matter. Facts shouldn't get in the way of a good smear. And at the moment, the left is trying to dampen the appeal of the former House speaker and current GOP presidential front-runner by likening him to a green and hairy Dr. Seuss character who tries to steal Christmas. Only in the real life version, Gingrich is supposedly at war with the poor for saying this: "Really poor children in really poor neighborhoods have no habits of working and have nobody around them who works, so they literally have no habit of showing up on Monday." That narrative was front and center again this week as Gingrich explained his remarks to reporters gathered at a New York press conference, emphasizing that he believes the secret to getting America working again is to teach some Americans how to work. "I've been talking a little bit about the importance of work," Gingrich said, "particularly as it relates to people who are in areas where there are public housing where there are relatively few people who go to work." At one point, Gingrich turned the tables on the reporters and asked them a question. He wanted to know, "How many of you earned some money doing something before you were 10 years old, whether it was cutting grass or babysitting or something?" Talk to hugely successful people, Gingrich said, and most of them will say that they got an early start learning about jobs and responsibility and earning money for their labor. Tragically, that's not happening with many young people today. Gingrich pointed out that, for instance, among African-American teenagers, the unemployment rate is a staggering 43%. Now, you can spin a statistic like that one of two ways. You can say these unemployed black teenagers are helpless victims and the system is working against them. Or you can say that many of these teenagers are unemployable because no one ever taught them the skills necessary to hold down a job. Gingrich thinks government should have a hand in creating a "pathway to work" so "people get in the work habit and learn the skills to be successful." Bravo for Newt. Politicians don't usually speak this way, which is why so many of them have mastered the art of talking for hours without saying anything of importance. I can't imagine Mitt Romney saying these things; he's too busy telling people what they want to hear to tell them what they need to hear. This subject is as important as they come, and Gingrich deserves credit for kicking off the discussion, especially since he was sure to be pummeled for stating the obvious. Here's the obvious: Americans have lost their work ethic, and some never had one to lose. They grow up -- or put more precisely, they're raised -- thinking of so many jobs as beneath them that they wake up one day not knowing how to do any job. Gingrich was right on the money. But I would go further than he did. This isn't just a problem for black Americans; it's a problem for all Americans. In fact, as someone who speaks to groups all over the country and who spends a fair amount of time visiting high schools and colleges, I worry less about students from poor families who lack resources and opportunities than I do about those from the upper-middle class who lack passion and purpose. Poor kids often have a fire in their belly, a desire to improve their lot and help their parents. Upper-middle class kids can be harder to motivate, especially if they've never been taught to work by their parents. You think I'm kidding. I remember once seeing a 21-year-old struggle with how to hold a broom and sweep the floor. It wasn't his fault. No one had ever taught him how to do that chore -- or any other. Whenever I write about young people and the jobs they won't do, I hear from dozens of employers with stories of their own. The common theme in all those e-mails is that we've been too soft on our kids and haven't demanded enough from them, something we hardly notice because we've allowed illegal immigrants to pick up the slack. Parents used to make their children work after school, or on weekends, or during summer break, to earn extra money to buy what they wanted. They gave them a list of chores to do to earn their allowances. No chores, no allowances. Today, parents find it easier to skip the chores and buy their kids what they want, which is no good for anyone and no good for society. You know what is good? This conversation, and others like it. No subject this important should be off limits. After all, how do we fix a problem if it is considered taboo to even mention it? Newt Gingrich had the courage to mention the problem of America's vanishing work ethic, and emphasize the need to restore it. And for that, Americans should be thankful. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ruben Navarrette Jr.

Newt Gingrich said poor teens don't see people working so don't learn work habits . We have lost our work ethic, Navarrette says. Not just poor kids: richer kids lack purpose . Navarrette: Gingrich got in hot water talking about it, but it should not be a taboo subject .

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(EW.com) -- To promote her Fox comedy "Raising Hope" (which begins its third season October 2), Martha Plimpton pitched a funny idea. "People are always trying to come up with creative ways of engaging the viewers," she tells EW. "And I thought well, I play a housekeeper on a show, what if I went and cleaned the house of "Raising Hope's" biggest fan. In my uniform." The network thought she was joking, but she was serious. The contest begins today at www.fox.com/cleansweep. Through October 8, fans can enter by submitting their best "Awkward Family Photo" and a paragraph stating why their family is just like the Chance family and why they deserve a house call from Martha and her TV husband Garret Dillahunt. Yes, he's coming along to, to make like his character and mow the winner's lawn. (And okay, they'll have professional crews there to help them.) "Raising Hope" creator Greg Garcia will select the winner from the top 10 finalists in mid-October, and Plimpton and Dillahunt will get their hands dirty later that month or in early November. Entertainment Weekly: What does this say about your commitment to promoting your show? Martha Plimpton: Well, I think it says a lot about my commitment to promoting the show. [Laughs] It's a funny thing: A lot of people who haven't seen the show yet say they haven't watched because they're not really sure what it is. They think it's about a baby, or that it's extremely dumb or something. But I think this show is a lot smarter than people realize. The writing is very, very sharp. If dare I say it, it's a lot more sophisticated underneath. [Laughs] Do you know what I mean? The exterior is really ridiculous and silly, but there's real sophistication in the writing, and I'm really proud to be a part of it. And I think it's really smart, and it makes me laugh. If it makes me laugh, well, I'm sorry, but then it must be good. [Laughs] Because I don't laugh at a lot of things. I'm thrilled that we got a third season. I very much would like for people to enjoy this show as much as I do. I want to share it with the largest amount of people I can. And I will do what is necessary. Muppets: 'Blue Brothers' sing for EW! Clearly. Have you given Greg Garcia any guidelines for choosing the winner? We should stay away from hoarders, crime scenes, and people with too many cats. I'm not bringing a hazmat suit. What's your personal cleaning specialty that fans should be aware of? I am excellent with laundry. For example, as a laundry expert, I never use fabric softener on towels because it makes them less absorbent. I don't know if your readers know this. You should not put Bounce sheets or fabric softener in with your towels. You should dry them separately without fabric softener, so they stay absorbent. And I'm kind of a bed fascist. I don't know if I'll be doing this in the home of our winner, but I like to iron my sheets. I'm that kind of odd person weirdo. See the original article at EW.com. CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly . © 2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved.

Martha Plimpton will clean a fan's house to promote her Fox comedy "Raising Hope" Fans can enter to win a house call from Plimpton and Garret Dillahunt through October 8 . The "Raising Hope" creator will select the winner from the top 10 finalists in mid-October .

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(CNN) -- "An unconditional right to say what one pleases about public affairs is what I consider to be the minimum guarantee of the First Amendment." -- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Hugo L. Black, New York Times Co. vs. Sullivan, 1964 . It's downright disgusting to listen to conservative and Republican lawmakers, presidential candidates, business owners and media commentators use such vitriol to describe the Occupy Wall Street protesters as hell-bent on destroying America. How in the world can anyone even form their lips to say such a thing when this very country was founded on the basis of dissent? Self-professed rodeo clown Glenn Beck castigates the Occupy Wall Street protesters, but he's always running off at the mouth about the Founding Fathers and how brilliant they were. Without dissent and protest, there is no United States of America! It's as if these folks never picked up a history book to understand how this nation was formed. The very notion of a United States of America started with someone saying, writing and screaming, "Enough is enough!" And when more and more of the early settlers became enraged at the heavy-handed actions of the British, that's when we were on our path to the American Revolution. Do any of these so-called strict constructionists even read the very U.S. Constitution they love to wave in the faces of their critics? Every American, no matter if you're young or old; rich or poor; red state or blue state; Black, white, Asian, Hispanic, Native American; has the freedom to assemble and freedom of speech, which is at the heart of these protests. In this same space, I praised the tea party for not sitting around and complaining. Instead, they organized and mobilized to affect the political discourse in the Republican Party and have definitely had their voices heard. I may disagree with a number of things the tea party advocates, but there is no way I would condemn them for doing it. As Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas said, "The right to revolt has sources deep in our history." It's increasingly clear that some Americans love to talk a good game about protests, yet hate it when someone who opposes their views decides to stand up and be heard. Remember all of those political voices championing the people of Iran taking to the streets to protest? How about Tunisia? Egypt? Libya? Bahrain? What would this world be without protest? We would have never seen freedom in Eastern Europe were it not without the people there, in the words of civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, being "sick and tired of being sick and tired." Praise God that the children of South Africa, led by the African National Congress, didn't ignore the calls of history. If so, Nelson Mandela would be dying in jail and freedom would have never ended apartheid. This nation would not have been forced to make real the very principles cited in the Declaration of Independence, or treat every human being as an equal, were it not for the civil rights movement. Those brave men, women and children chose not to accept the status quo, and this nation and the world are much better off because they did. As a supporter of Occupy Wall Street, I understand fully the sentiment that is being expressed. The massive corporate greed that has devastated the wages of the common worker, and seen the pay of a bunch on Wall Street go through the stratosphere for literally making nothing tangible, has been immoral and obscene. Wall Street and their protectors in Washington -- Democrat and Republican -- say nothing is wrong with making a profit. That is absolutely true. But what is shameful and outlandish is to watch the American taxpayer save the jobs (and big bonuses) of these financial miscreants, only to see them jack up fees left and right. Without the American people they would have had to pack up their belongings and hit the pavement. Instead, they refuse to work with homeowners struggling to meet the big mortgage payments that Wall Street helped underwrite; then sell in exotic transactions that wrecked this nation's financial infrastructure. Conservatives call this an assault on capitalism. No, Occupy Wall Street is about trying to bring some decency and honesty back to an industry that used to have some. Instead, what we have today are literal financial pirates trying to take the largest booty they can find. They don't care about the long-term health of this country. It's all about the next quarterly earnings reports and their massive year-end bonuses. This fight that Occupy Wall Street is engaged in is nothing short of a battle for the soul of this nation. Are we going to continue to allow ourselves to be held hostage by the big banks? Will we continue to allow them to trample over us with their "too big to fail" attitude? No, no, and hell no. It's time to bring these Goliaths to their knees by any means necessary. That mean the young and righteous Davids must protest, march, sit-in, work the halls of Congress and state capitals nationwide, and make it clear that as long as Wall Street, its lobbyists and political protectors continue to mistreat the common man and woman, they are our mortal enemy. Now is not the time to dismiss the protesters as a bunch of lefty college students with no guidance, no substance and no mission. Instead of listening to politicians pimp the next generation, these folks are saying in the words of the founders of the nation's first black newspaper, Freedom's Journal: "We wish to plead our own cause; too long have others spoken for us." The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Roland Martin.

Without dissent and protest, there is no United States, Roland S. Martin says . Characterizing Occupy Wall Street protesters as anti-American is disgusting, he says . Martin: It's not an assault on capitalism, but a call for decency in in the financial industry .

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(CNN) -- Just one in seven engineers are female, only 27% of all computer science jobs are held by women, and "women have seen no employment growth in STEM jobs since 2000" reports Forbes. Women who work in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math, and those who campaign for higher numbers of women in these fields, think they have some solutions to this growing problem. 1. "The toys and games that young girls play with mold their educational and career interests; they create dreams of future careers." says Andrea Guendelman, co-founder of Developher. "Extensive research shows that certain toys and games can help young children develop the spatial logic and other analytical skills critical to science, technology, engineering and math. "A huge part of the reason women are not entering these fields and huge part of the solution starts at the very beginning." 2. "Introduce girls early to role models of other women In STEM" suggests Regina Agyare, founder of Soronko Solutions. "[These women] will mentor them and introduce them to STEM through games and practical learning experiences." 3. "It's important to engage girls in STEM at an early age and keep them interested." adds Patty L. Fagin, PhD, Head of School at Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart. "Girls start out as strong in math and science as boys, but lose interest along the way; we call this the "leaky pipeline." Grow the pipeline, keep girls engaged, and we'll increase the number of women in STEM. "Create opportunities for success and safe environments in which to fail. They'll learn to persevere and develop a growth mindset, so critical to success in STEM fields ... instead of "this is hard, I can't do it," they will believe, "I can try another way." "Girls want to make a difference, so give them hands-on, real-world problem-solving activities to show STEM is relevant and fun. "Expose girls to the different areas of STEM and provide women mentors for girls and young women, so they, in turn, will mentor other girls." 4. "There's no magic recipe for getting girls into STEM, but we know early and positive exposure makes an impact." Karen Horting, CEO and Executive Director at the Society of Women Engineers told CNN. "Our Invent it. Built it. program Oct. 25 in Los Angeles will expose girls in the sixth to eighth grade to the creative, collaborate nature of a rewarding career in engineering. "Registration continues through Oct. 11 and additionally provides educators and parents with the tools they need to nurture the future engineers in their lives." 5. "Start them young." is Michelle Sun, Founder and CEO of First Code Academy's advice. "STEM fields are often thought of as a career path for the boys, globally and no less common in Asia. "We observe brothers in a family are more likely to be enrolled to our kids coding classes. However, the amazing thing we found, with students from 8 - 11 years old, is that our female students come to our programs with minimal preconception of what programming is about. "They approached it with much enthusiasm and confidence, just as any other hobbies or subjects. "By starting them young, we provide them a chance to experience the STEM field first hand." 6. "I believe one on one mentoring programs with accomplished female STEM professionals will help bring girls in to the STEM field." says Adeola Shasanya who recently co-founded Afro-Tech Girls and works at the Lagos State Electricity Board as an Electrical Engineering and Renewables Consultant. "Fun technical workshops could also help spark a STEM interest for girls. "I believe work shadowing a female stemist in a typical work environment could enlighten the girls on what work would be like as a STEMist." 7. Haiyan Zhang, Innovation Director at Lift London, Microsoft Studios believes confidence is key; "Insatiable curiosity and the self confidence to make change in the world -- two qualities that are key to instil in the female innovators of the future. "Science, technology, engineering and mathematics become the tools with which to explore curiosity and to create change." 8. "Women are the future of technology and today's technology is fun and cool." says Weili Dai, President and Co-founder of Marvell Technology Group . "It's not just about developing "nerdy" stuff it's about turning technology into fashionable and user-friendly smart solutions. "A woman's natural talent is design, and the look and feel, and making these things fit into our lifestyles." "I believe by embracing STEM and leveraging inherent strength of women -- the sense of responsibility, passion, compassion, and pride we dedicate to family and community -- and applying it to business can make women the X factor in the new era of global growth and prosperity for the "Smart Life and Smart Lifestyle."" 9. "Time and again, I hear from women who chose their STEM career because they were inspired by a successful woman who proved it could be done." adds Suw Charman-Anderson, Founder of Ada Lovelace Day. "Role models are incredibly important, both to girls and to women, and we need to show girls just how exciting, fulfilling and enjoyable a career in STEM can be." "We must prove that there is a path for them to tread by telling the stories, past and present, of the women who've built, invented, discovered and explained the world around us, but who so often go unmentioned." 10."To get more girls in STEM let's go for collective action..." says Julie Kantor, Chief Partnership Officer at Million Women Mentors. "Of 368,000 high school girls who want to pursue STEM only 4% said they had a mentor encouraging them. Commit to mentoring a girl or young woman in STEM skills. Or offer an internship with a designated mentor at your company. "Ladies and gentlemen, let's get a million STEM mentors by 2018." Read: 12 inspirational quotes from women scientists . Relive: Twitter chat as it happened: 'How can we get girls into STEM?' Quiz:10 female scientists you should know .

The shortage of women in STEM industries is a growing problem . As part of Leading Women's month of STEM coverage we asked experts for a solution . Women in STEM gave us a range of solutions from toys to mentoring .

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Beijing (CNN)Chinese-style air rage is now served both hot and cold. Last month, a China-bound Thai AirAsia flight was forced to return to Bangkok after a female Chinese passenger threw hot water on a flight attendant amid a heated argument between her boyfriend and the cabin crew over service. On Saturday, passengers on a plane departing Kunming Changshui International Airport in southwestern China, angry with the crew for turning off the air-conditioning during the de-icing process, opened three emergency exits just as their plane was pushing back from the gate. The flight was canceled and 25 passengers onboard were detained. China Eastern Airlines flight MU2036, bound for Beijing, was already seven hours behind schedule at 3:45 a.m. when crew began to de-ice the plane at the Kunming airport, which saw more than 100 flights delayed or canceled that night because of snowy weather. Frustrated by the lengthy delay, some of the 153 passengers -- who had been sitting on the plane for two hours -- exploded with rage when the air-conditioning stopped and an elderly passenger complained about discomfort due to the stuffy cabin, airport police told state media Saturday night. Dissatisfied with the pilot's explanation about the need for air-conditioning to be off during the 30-minute de-icing process, members of a tour group started quarreling with the crew, according to police. When the Boeing 737-800 jet finally pushed back from the gate, three of its four over-the-wing emergency exits suddenly popped open. Photos circulating on social media show two opened exits on the right side of the cabin with passengers still seated, as well as crews and police on board documenting evidence. Air rage and emergency exists: Stormy weeks in Chinese aviation . Anger common in delay-prone China . After detaining and questioning all 25 members of the tour group, the authorities announced that a male member of the group, prompted by a female tour guide, opened two exits on the right side. Both were sent to jail for 15 days, while police continued to look for the person who opened the exit on the left side. As news of the incident spread, some Chinese Internet users sympathized with the perpetrators because of the delay, but many considered their punishment too lenient and suggested airlines should blacklist them for life. Air rage is a common sight in delay-prone China and Saturday's episode was not the first dramatic incident involving irate passengers at Kunming airport. One of the country's busiest hubs, more than 32 million fliers passed through its terminal last year. In August 2012, 31 passengers from a long-delayed flight tried to stop other planes from leaving Kunming by forcing their way onto the tarmac and occupying a taxiway for half an hour, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. The following February, some 50 passengers from a canceled flight stormed several gates at the airport in an attempt to prevent other travelers from boarding their flights. Police had to disperse the angry crowd with pepper spray, according to Xinhua. Exporting air rage . With the exponential growth of outbound tourism, Chinese travelers now seem to be exporting their air rage overseas as well, with several incidents resulting in flight delays or diversions recorded in recent years. In February 2012, a Chinese couple was kicked off their United flight from Guam to Shanghai, after they repeatedly yelled at a flight attendant and told her to "shut up" when she tried to move their luggage in the overhead bin to accommodate other passengers. In September that year, a Swiss flight bound for Beijing was forced to return to Zurich when a fight broke out between two Chinese men over a reclined seat. In February 2014, a fight erupted between two groups of Chinese passengers before their flight could take off from the Thai resort island of Phuket, resulting in 29 people being taken off the plane. Then, in April, a Thai Airways red-eye from Bangkok to Beijing turned bloody when a brawl involving three Chinese men broke out. During an official visit to the Maldives in September, President Xi Jinping personally asked Chinese tourists to behave themselves while traveling abroad. Last year the government released a lengthy list of do's and don'ts aimed at turning Chinese travelers into "civilized tourists."

A plane departing southwestern China was canceled after irate passengers opened three emergency exits . Passengers were reportedly angry with the crew for turning off the air-conditioning during the de-icing process .

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Washington (CNN) -- Equal pay for women, raising the minimum wage, immigration reform, combating climate change and virtually swearing off extended wars. All are catnip for the political left, and all were highlighted by President Barack Obama this week as he informally launched the November election campaign for 36 Senate seats and a new House of Representatives. By flying the Democratic banner so high in Tuesday's State of the Union address and subsequent road show to four states, Obama tried to signal unity with his liberal base and provide the party's candidates with ammunition for elections certain to be "spirited" -- the Washington euphemism for fierce and nasty. "The president wants to highlight differences between the parties and show that Democrats are on the side of ordinary people," said Darrell West, the vice president for governance studies at the Brookings Institution. "That's how he won in 2012, and that's the strategy in 2014." Focus on women, minorities . Hence the emphasis on policies that benefit women and minorities and appeal to younger voters. On Tuesday and in subsequent speeches in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Tennessee, Obama called for equal pay for women and made sure to include references to the popular first lady. "When women succeed America succeeds," he said Thursday in Waukesha, Wisconsin. "And by the way, when women succeed, men succeed. I don't know about all the guys here, but you know when Michelle is doing good and happy, I am happy, too. I'm just sayin'." The President also called in his State of the Union speech for raising the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $10.10, taking the first step himself by announcing he will unilaterally give the raise to workers under federal contracts. Republicans oppose the move in allegiance to their business supporters. According to Brown University political scientist Wendy Schiller, Obama is focusing "on all the things that can help folks immediately, even if the impact is small." "Positioning the Democrats as the party of the working man and woman is old school but absolutely necessary if they are going to successfully counter the Republican resurgence among working class and independent voters, especially women," Schiller told CNN. Obama's 'Mad Men' remark . She cited a remark from Obama's speech Tuesday that received prolonged applause from legislators jamming the packed House chamber -- the President's call for ending unfair workplace policies for women "that belong in a 'Mad Men' episode." "When both the Democratic and Republican members of Congress stood up and applauded after the famous 'Mad Men episode' quote, it was clear that each party sees women as the crucial swing factor in the 2014 elections," Schiller said. On the GOP side, she described the choice of Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington to deliver the party's formal response Tuesday night as "smart politics." Obama's re-election victory in 2012 owed much to a solid majority among women voters, including independents turned off by hardline anti-abortion policies of Republicans. The Democratic-fueled accusation of a GOP "war on women" gained traction with infamous missteps by Republican candidates such as former Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri, who claimed that women rarely get pregnant from "legitimate" rape. Akin lost his bid to unseat Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill in the Show Me State. Now a concerted Republican outreach to women voters means Democrats "can't just count on another Todd Akin to save the Senate in 2014," Schiller said, adding that "they all have to work to produce federal policies that help working families in order to sustain that advantage." GOP must walk the talk . West said Republicans must follow stated intentions with action when it comes to diversifying their policies and supporters. "They have to become something other than the party of angry white men," he said, adding the GOP also must make "meaningful changes in public policy" because "they can't spin their way out of political problems by highlighting women and minorities." While specifying issues advantageous to Democrats, Obama also has jabbed at Republicans this week on another matter that resonates with voters -- the perception that political intransigence led by tea party conservatives stymies progress in Washington. Republicans got the blame for last year's highly unpopular 16-day government shutdown when conservatives led by GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas tried to link a funding measure to dismantling the 2010 health care reforms they detest. To Obama, Republicans must decide "whether they're going to waste time creating new crises that slow things down, or whether they're going to spend time creating new jobs and opportunity," he said Thursday. In what he depicted as a presidential declaration of independence from congressional dysfunction, Obama said "I want to work with them, but I can't wait for them." Immigration reform . Another topic: reforming the immigration system, with Obama and Democrats seeking a path to legal status for the millions of people living illegally in the country. Republicans are desperate to reduce the Democratic advantage among Hispanic Americans, the nation's largest minority demographic. But House Republicans remain unlikely to support a comprehensive Senate plan that passed with bipartisan support and has Obama's backing. Instead, House Speaker John Boehner and other Republicans call for a piecemeal approach to try to show empathy with Latinos while avoiding a backlash by conservatives that would worsen an already damaging internal GOP rift. On other issues, Obama reiterated his push for unspecified action against climate change and made clear that with the Afghanistan war finally winding down, he has no intention of committing America to another prolonged engagement. "I will not send our troops into harm's way unless it is truly necessary; nor will I allow our sons and daughters to be mired in open-ended conflicts," he said. "We must fight the battles that need to be fought, not those that terrorists prefer from us." He also refused to back down from withering criticism from the political right about the health care reforms known as Obamacare, offering a strong defense of the benefits and telling Republicans to quit trying to undermine the law. Democratic unity? Schiller said Democrats need to remain unified on Obamacare and other issues, to run as a national party as much as possible even though the November elections are at the state and district level. "When Obamacare was brought up in the State of the Union, they all stood up and applauded, even Democratic senators who could be in trouble on the issue in their re-election races," she said. "If there are any cracks in that united front for the Democrats as champions of middle class and working folks, it undermines not only their 2014 chances, but the remainder of the Obama presidential agenda." While unity may exist in policy, some Democratic candidates facing tough elections don't want to campaign with Obama due to public opposition to Obamacare and slower-than-desired economic growth and job creation. On Thursday, Republican Gov. Scott Walker welcomed Obama to his state with an airport handshake, but Walker's Democratic challenger, Mary Burke, was nowhere to be seen. Republicans believe they can win control of the Senate by taking six seats from Democrats in November. The House is likely to remain in Republican hands, with the outcomes of 90% of the races considered safely predictable and Democrats needing to win most of the others to regain the majority, according to West. "It's an uphill battle for Democrats to retake the House," he said, calling the situation "pretty much a matter of arithmetic."

President Obama's road show informally launches the mid-term election campaign . Obama sounds themes benefiting Democrats in his State of the Union address . The goal: highlight differences with Republicans on issues important to ordinary Americans . Both parties seek to strengthen their support among women voters .

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DINGLE, Ireland (CNN) -- Fewer tourists and relatively warm temperatures may be reason enough to put Ireland on your list of winter travel destinations, especially Dingle Peninsula, once ranked by National Geographic Traveler as "the most beautiful place on Earth." Winter offers tourists a chance to explore Ireland's west coast unhindered by bothersome crowds. The peninsula, on Ireland's west coast, includes the oceanside town of Dingle, which boasts more than 1,000 full-time residents. Winter visitors will avoid the area's hundreds of thousands of summertime tourists. Boats crowd Dingle's popular marina, bringing fresh seafood catches of the day. Some of the marina vessels also will ferry visitors to see Fungie, a locally famous dolphin who has lived in the waters outside town since 1984. See breathtaking photos of Dingle » . Outside Dingle, numerous vacation cottages are available to rent, including homes in the village of Dunquin. In winter, rates are drastically cut, and rental period dates may be more flexible. Most shops and restaurants have shorter hours during winter, and traditional music is found in some of the pubs on the weekends. As with most of Ireland, pubs abound, even in the smallest villages. A beer (preferably Guinness) and some hearty pub grub are a perfect way to cap a day of exploring the wintry sights of the peninsula. Because Ireland sits near the warm waters of the Atlantic Gulf Stream, the Emerald Isle has an average temperature of 46 degrees Fahrenheit (7 Celsius) during December, January and February. But pack smart and bring layers of clothing, including warm sweaters and jackets, because winter weather often means rain on Ireland's western shore.

Dingle, Ireland, called "most beautiful place on Earth" by National Geographic . Escape summer crowds by traveling to Dingle Peninsula during winter months . Cottage rentals are cheaper in winter, and periods are more flexible . Winter temperatures in western Ireland average 46 degrees F (7 Celsius)

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(CNN) -- "It's the hour for us in this country to turn it back toward the Lord. We're much more than 'hallelujah' people. We're into government, and we are into politics. We are a force to be reckoned with." Wilfredo De Jesus wants his message heard loud and clear: Evangelical Latino Protestants in the United States are more relevant than ever. And they're up for grabs ahead of the 2014 midterm elections. One of the leading voices of the fast-growing evangelical Protestant Latino voting bloc, in the past 14 years as the senior pastor of New Life Covenant Ministries in Chicago, De Jesus has seen the church grow from "68 people in one of the worst parts of the nation to over 20,000." Last year, he was named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world. "We're very vocal now," he said. "In the last 10 years, you've seen this bloc of people has grown. And we have tremendous influence. Especially in politics." A new study by a nonpartisan research institute based in Washington suggests that he's right. The 2013 Hispanic Values Survey released recently by the Public Religion Research Institute showed a sharp shift in religious demographics among Latinos. It's that complex religious divide that could be the key to the Republican Party making inroads in the community during the next election cycle. "The number of evangelical Protestants nearly doubled from 7% to 13% when you compare childhood religious affiliation to current religious affiliation," said the institute's Chief Executive Officer, Robert P. Jones. That's between 7.5 million and 8 million "quintessential swing voters." An 'affinity for the Republican Party' The door is the most open to Republican candidates and the Republican Party, Jones said. "Evangelicals have the most affinity for the Republican Party. While nearly half lean towards the Democratic Party, almost as many lean towards the Republican Party at 43%." The findings were taken from a random sample survey of 1,563 respondents who identified as Hispanic living in the U.S. De Jesus -- or "Pastor Choco," as he is more commonly known -- believes that evangelical Protestants are "what the country needs right now" and could be the key not only for the GOP winning big during the midterms, but also for Republicans to get back to the White House. "We've learned from the Bible that when the righteous govern, the people rejoice. And (Latinos) haven't seen our people rejoice for quite some time," he said. "At the core of evangelicals is the fear of God and the institution of family. These are things we feel we can bring back to this nation." 'We need to do a better job communicating' Latino evangelicals might be ripe for Republican influence, but getting them to vote red is a different story. Angel Garcia, president of the Chicago Young Republicans, said that although the survey gives the GOP reason to be hopeful, the party needs to be more proactive within the community. "We've done a bad job of managing our brand. We've let a handful of people in our party, that have made some unfortunate statements, control the party's message," Garcia said. The 38-year-old attorney and lifelong Republican said that as the son of Mexican immigrants, "it's disappointing as a Latino when you hear people making ignorant statements (in the party). But both sides make ignorant statements. I am a leader in the party. I have lived the Latino culture. It's my job to show the voters and pretty much the entire party that we need to do a better job communicating." He's talking about statements like this one by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, describing his plan to deal with undocumented immigrants during a 2012 primary debate: "The answer is self-deportation, which is people decide they can do better by going home because they can't find work here because they don't have legal documentation to allow them to work here." "When he said that, I looked over at my wife and said, 'He just lost thousands, if not millions, of us.' Immigration ... it's a preeminent issue for us," said the Rev. Gabriel Salguero, president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition. A focus on immigration reform . Much like his friend De Jesus, Salguero believes that Latino evangelicals are the key to victory for any politician. Nowhere is this more evident than on the issue of immigration reform. "Evangelicals are coming to a boiling point on this issue. We've prayed about this, held meetings with the White House; we've done all we can," he said from Newark, New Jersey. "Let me be clear: We face the issue of immigration every day, as pastors, as caretakers, as Latinos. This is on the top of our political agenda. It would be disingenuous of me to say it doesn't carry heavy electoral gravitas." Both Salguero and De Jesus were advisers to President Barack Obama on the immigration issue. It's an area where they feel he's failed. Republicans have the chance to capitalize on it, according to De Jesus. "Barack flipped on us," De Jesus said. "I traveled for Obama for 14 months as a surrogate. I talked to the White House, and I said, 'the president cannot speak from both sides of his mouth.' It's only right for the Republicans to say, 'let's win back this Latino bloc, at least the evangelicals.' That starts with the immigration issue." The dismal Latino turnout for Romney was a stark contrast to the momentum developed for years under President George W. Bush, who won 44% of the Latino vote in 2004, compared with the 27% Romney received eight years later. After the 2012 election, the GOP held a postmortem emphasizing Hispanic outreach, but it's still unclear how much of a priority Republicans have made Latino voters. At the latest Conservative Political Action Conference, a panel on minority outreach had dismally low attendance. Disapproval of both parties . The Hispanic Values Survey showed that while there is "dissatisfaction" among Latino voters with the Democratic Party on issues like record deportation numbers under Obama, there is "distrust" of the Republican Party within the Latino community. "The Democratic Party has a less bumpy road ahead," Jones said. "The clearest word of caution to Democrats ... one phrase that is a bellwether question of how well to gauge voters is, 'How well does the party care about people like you?' " Nearly three in 10, or 29%, said "neither party cares about them," according to the survey. "Democrats certainly don't have this community locked down. That's a pretty clear indication that there's significant dissatisfaction among Latinos with both parties," Jones said. "That's not necessarily a reason for us to be optimistic. We have to be realistic and more proactive," said Daniel Ballori, president of the Young Republican Federation of Puerto Rico. The 31-year-old said the focus for the Republicans in winning more Latino votes should be on the economy, whether they are courting evangelical Protestants or others in the community. "Jobs and unemployment. The figures show that U.S.-born Latinos care about the same issues that non-Latino Anglos care about. Right now, that's jobs and unemployment," Ballori said. He may be on to something. Though the issue of immigration reform was ranked high among the concerns of Latino voters, it was in a four-way tie for the third most important issue behind the economy and affordable health care, according to Public Religion Research Institute research. Garcia said the solution to courting more Latino voters comes down to the rhetoric. "Regardless of party, Hispanics will go to the candidate that supports them. We're the party of (Marco) Rubio, (Brian) Sandoval and (Susana) Martinez. Our message should be one of inclusion," Garcia said. The question then becomes, how do they do that? "These politicians are so full of it to get elected," De Jesus said. "Give us someone who is real and speaks the truth and is going to do what they say and mean it. We'll vote for them, whatever party they're from."

New survey shows number of Latino evangelical Protestants is on the rise . Influential pastor says the group is "what the country needs right now" Republican Party needs to be more proactive in community, Latinos say . Almost a third of Latinos believe neither party cares about them, survey shows .

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(CNN) -- A high-speed passenger train left its tracks on the outskirts of Split, Croatia, Friday, killing at least six people and injuring 45, according to Croatian police. The high-speed train derailed on the outskirts of Split, Croatia, about noon on Friday. The train was on its way from the Croatian capital, Zagreb, when it derailed about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from it's destination of Split about noon, said Marina Kraljevic-Gudelj, a spokeswoman for police in Split. "This is a huge tragedy, so there is no place for speculation," she said. Police had launched an investigation into the cause of the crash. CNN's Per Nyberg contributed to this report.

High-speed passenger train leaves its tracks on the outskirts of Split, Croatia . At least six people killed and 45 injured, according to police . The train was on its way from the Croatian capital, Zagreb, to Split .

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Just over half the public says that it's bad for the country that the GOP controls the House of Representatives, according to a new national poll conducted after the end of the partial government shutdown. And the CNN/ORC International survey also indicates that more than six in 10 Americans say that Speaker of the House John Boehner should be replaced. The poll was conducted Friday through Sunday, just after the end of the 16-day partial federal government shutdown that was caused in part by a push by House conservatives to try and dismantle the health care law, which is President Barack Obama's signature domestic achievement. Full poll results (pdf) According to the survey, 54% say it's a bad thing that the GOP controls the House, up 11 points from last December, soon after the 2012 elections when the Republicans kept control of the chamber. Only 38% say it's a good thing the GOP controls the House, a 13-point dive from the end of last year. Defeated GOP wants to unite and fight another day . This is the first time since the Republicans won back control of the House in the 2010 midterm elections that a majority say their control of the chamber is bad for the country. CNN Chief National Correspondent John King said there is time for Republicans to recover before the 2014 midterms. "The midterm election is a year away. There's plenty of time for Republicans to work on the brand, but they've taken a bit of a beating here. They've got some work to do. They need a bit of a makeover," King said. Majority want Boehner out . "We fought the good fight. We just didn't win," Boehner said at the end of the shutdown. And while he received a standing ovation at a closed gathering of House Republicans as the crisis came to a close, he may not see anything to applaud in the new poll. "John Boehner fares just as badly as the GOP," CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said. "Sixty-three percent of all Americans think that Boehner should be replaced as Speaker of the House, a view shared by roughly half of all Republicans." Fleischer: Shutdown deal is a 15-yard punt . According to the poll, only 30% of the public says Boehner, who became Speaker in January 2011, should continue in that role. Congress near historic lows . The survey indicates that the approval rating for Congress remains near an all-time low. Only 12% of those questioned say they approve of the job Congress is doing, just two points higher than the historic low in CNN polling. And 86% give federal lawmakers a thumbs-down, also near the all-time high. Forty-four percent say they approve of the job the President is doing with 52% saying they disapprove. Four things we learned from government shutdown . "Barack Obama's numbers are pretty anemic, but he remains in much better shape than the GOP," Holland said. "Even though Obama's approval rating remains stuck in the mid-40s, it didn't take a hit during the shutdown -- 44% just before the shutdown began; 44% now." According to the survey, 44% also say they have more confidence in Obama rather than the GOP in Congress to deal with the major issues facing the country today, a 5-point drop from last year; 31% say they have more confidence in congressional Republicans, unchanged from last December. Obama wants new approach after shutdown . "The biggest change on that question is the 21% who volunteer that they don't have confidence in either side -- a remarkably high number that is roughly double its usual level," Holland said. Majority favor health care law or say it doesn't go far enough . Even though they lost this round, conservatives vow to continue their fight to dismantle Obamacare. And they point to major troubles with the rollout of the website where Americans without insurance can enroll in the new health care exchanges. The president addressed the debacle at an event Monday at the White House, saying there was no way to sugarcoat the issues that applicants have experienced. According to the poll, just more than four in 10 say they favor the law, with 56% opposed to it. But of those opposed, 38% say they are against the law because they think it's too liberal and 12% say it's not liberal enough. That means that 53% either support Obamacare, or say it's not liberal enough. The health care numbers are little changed from late last month, just before the start of the shutdown. Congressional fight over Obamacare turns to website woes . The poll was conducted for CNN by ORC International, with 841 adults nationwide questioned by telephone. The survey's overall sampling error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Poll conducted after government shutdown shows small majority think GOP control of House is bad . Results are first time since GOP took control of House in 2010 that more oppose its control . More than six in 10 say Speaker of the House John Boehner should lose his job . Obama's approval numbers didn't take same hit that GOP's did after shutdown .

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Los Angeles (CNN) -- A former Los Angeles cop with military training vowed war against other men in blue Thursday, leaving one officer dead days after he allegedly killed two other people to begin a wave of retribution for being fired, police said. The focus of the intensive, expansive manhunt is Christopher Jordan Dorner, a 270-pound former Navy lieutenant who has professed his venom against LAPD officers he claimed ruined his life by forcing him out of his dream job. Dorner blames one retired officer for bungling his appeal to get his job back in an 11-page manifesto, in which he also complained of mistreatment by the LAPD. In that letter -- provided to CNN by an LAPD source -- he vowed to violently target police officers and their families, whoever and wherever they are. "I will bring unconventional and asymmetrical warfare to those in LAPD uniform whether on or off duty," Dorner wrote. "I never had the opportunity to have a family of my own, I'm terminating yours." Authorities believe he followed through on his threats early Thursday by shooting a Riverside, California, police officer and two others. A day earlier, Irvine police named Dorner a suspect in the double slayings Sunday of a woman -- identified by Los Angeles police as the daughter of a retired LAPD officer -- and her fiance. "My opinion of the suspect is unprintable," said Riverside police Chief Sergio Diaz, hours after one of his officers was killed. "The manifesto, I think, speaks for itself (as) evidence of a depraved and abandoned mind and heart." The violence, as well as Dorner's background as a police officer and military trained marksman, left police on edge around Southern California. In Torrance, LAPD officers guarding one of Dorner's alleged targets mistakenly opened fire on a blue pickup truck that resembled one Dorner was thought to be driving, said Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck. The gunfire left two people wounded, Beck said. Torrance police also fired on another blue pickup, but no one was injured in that incident, according to a senior law enforcement source. In downtown Los Angeles, police wearing body armor patrolled outside their own iconic headquarters. Police have good reason to be fearful, the chief said. "Of course, he knows what he's doing. We trained him," Beck said. "He was also a member of the armed forces. It is extremely worrisome and scary, especially to the officers involved." The manhunt for Dorner spanned hundreds of miles and numerous counties. By Thursday afternoon, it was largely centered around Big Bear Lake -- about 100 miles east of Los Angeles -- where authorities found the truck the suspect allegedly used in the Riverside shooting. KTLA: Manhunt for former cop after officers shot . Police confirmed that the vehicle, which was burnt out when it was found, belonged to Dorner by its vehicle identification number, San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon said. This discovery spurred more officers to converge on the area to conduct beefed up patrols, staff checkpoints and go to every residence in the mountain community. McMahon acknowledged the fire may have been set as a diversionary tactic, though law enforcement isn't taking any chances. Early Thursday evening, he said that aerial and K9 searches on the ground will "continue as long as we can" -- though snow is coming -- and urged locals to be on alert. "He could be anywhere at this point, and that's why we're searching door to door," the sheriff said. 1 cop dies in 'cowardly ambush' It all started Sunday when Dorner allegedly killed two people in Irvine, according to police. Police identified the victims as Monica Quan and her fiance Keith Lawrence. Quan, 27, was the daughter of retired Los Angeles police Officer Randal Quan, LAPD Officer Tenesha Dobine told CNN. In his manifesto, Dorner said Quan handled his appeal. On Tuesday, Dorner checked into the Navy Gateway Inns and Suites on San Diego's large naval base, Cmdr. Brad Fagan said. Dorner likely had access to the hotel because he'd been honorably discharged from the Navy Reserve, said the Navy spokesman. Having retired February 1 as a lieutenant, Dorner worked with mobile inshore undersea warfare units and provided security on oil platforms in Iraq, according to Pentagon records. He was rated as a rifle marksman and pistol expert. "He did not physically check out" Wednesday as expected, Fagan told reporters. Police in San Diego say a man who could have been Dorner tried to hijack a boat there on Wednesday. Someone later found a wallet containing Dorner's identification and an LAPD detective's badge near the San Diego airport, according to police. It was unclear whether the badge was legitimate. Timeline in manhunt for former L.A. cop . By about 1 a.m. Thursday, the scene had shifted about 100 miles north to Corona, California. There, a pair of LAPD officers on a protection detail were flagged down by a citizen who reported seeing the suspect's vehicle, LAPD Deputy Chief Jose Perez said. The officers chased the vehicle and caught up to it on an Interstate 15 off-ramp. "The officers were fired upon with a shoulder weapon," Perez said, with one of them suffering a "graze wound" to his head. The police returned fire, while the suspect set off once again. About 20 minutes later, two police officers were in their car at a stop light in Riverside when Dorner allegedly pulled up beside them. That driver unleashed "multiple rounds" from a rifle at the officers, riddling the cop car with bullets and leaving a 34-year-old officer, who had been on the Riverside force for 11 years, dead, according to Diaz. The other officer, 27, was "seriously wounded but we expect a full recovery," the Riverside police chief said. KCBS: Riverside officer fatally shot . It was "a cowardly ambush," said Diaz, claiming Dorner has "no connection" to his city. A good Samaritan picked up one of their police radios and called dispatchers to send help, Riverside police said. Suspect calls attacks 'a necessary evil' In addition to posting his manifesto online, Dorner reached out directly to CNN, mailing a parcel to AC360 anchor Anderson Cooper's office at CNN in New York. The package arrived on February 1 and was opened by Cooper's assistant. Inside was a hand-labeled DVD, accompanied by a yellow Post-it note reading, in part, "I never lied" -- apparently in reference to his 2008 dismissal from the LAPD. The package also contained a coin wrapped in duct tape. The tape bears the hand-written inscription: "Thanks, but no thanks, Will Bratton." It also had letters that may be read as "IMOA", which could be a commonly used Internet abbreviation for "Imagine a More Open America," or possibly "1 MOA," which means one minute of angle, perhaps implying Dorner was notably accurate with a firearm. The coin is a souvenir medallion from former LAPD Chief William Bratton, of a type often given out as keepsakes. This one, though, was shot through with bullet holes: three bullet holes to the center and another shot nicked off the top. The editorial staff of AC360 and CNN management were made aware of the package Thursday. Upon learning of its existence, they alerted Bratton and law enforcement. Bratton headed the LAPD at the time Dorner was dismissed. The dispute centers on a 2007 incident in San Pedro involving a man's arrest at a DoubleTree hotel. Two weeks later, Dorner accused his training officer of kicking the man after he'd given up. The investigators' report said "the delay in reporting the alleged misconduct coupled with the witness' statements irreparably destroy Dorner's credibility." The report cited contradictory accounts from the arrested man and his father and denials by the accused officer and three hotel employees that the arrested man had been kicked. Dorner claims he was wrongly ousted for blowing the whistle on what he insists was police abuse. Suspect's grudge dates back to 2007 complaint . Dorner challenged his firing for years, losing at every turn. First, the police department's Board of Rights rejected his appeal. Then, in October 2011, a judge ruled against his appeal, according to court records. Beck, the Los Angeles police chief, said Thursday that Dorner's case had been "thoroughly reviewed" and said the department would not apologize to Dorner or clear his name. But as his manifesto shows, Dorner is showing no sign of relenting. He complained he had been railroaded out of the department after reporting police brutality by another officer. Dorner also complained of a continuing culture of racism and brutality in the LAPD. Attacks on other police officers and their families, he said, are "a necessary evil that I do not enjoy but must partake and complete for substantial change to occur within the LAPD and reclaim my name." "Look your wives/husbands and surviving children directly in the face and tell them the truth as to why your children are dead," Dorner wrote. Such a chilling warning prompted Los Angeles police to set up 40 protective details in an effort to safeguard people listed in Dorner's letter, Beck said. The chief acknowledged that this effort was taxing the department, which has been placed under tactical alert, meaning all officers must stay on duty. "It's extremely, extremely manpower intensive," Beck said. "But the safety of my employees, people that come on the job to protect the lives of strangers, is extremely important to me. And I will expend whatever resource is necessary." KABC: Former cop shoots three officers . CNN's AnneClaire Stapleton, Sara Weisfeldt, Barbara Starr, Pete Janos, Mallory Simon and Deanna Hackney contributed to this report.

NEW: With snow coming, authorities continue to hunt for the suspect near Big Bear Lake . Police believe former cop Christopher Jordan Dorner shot three officers, killing one . This was days after he allegedly killed two people, one a retired LAPD officer's daughter . In an 11-page manifesto, Dorner promises "war" on police and their families .

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Hong Kong (CNN)A daring cross-border raid by one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's associates has -- so far -- yet to sour Sino-Russian relations. According to Chinese state media, Ustin, one of three rescued Amur tigers released by the Russian leader earlier this year, has attacked a herd of goats on Heixiazi Island in the northern province of Heilongjiang. The region shares a border with Russia's far-eastern Amur region, and it is thought that the tiger crossed the Heilongjiang river to hunt. Russian conservationists rescued five cubs in 2012, and the Russian president was on hand for their release following rehabilitation and hunting training. The animals were fitted with tracking devices and in October, Ustin, along with another released tiger, Kuzya, were found to have made their way to China. A wildlife protection expert from China's Northeast Forestry University, Zhu Shibing, said that footprints and other traces left near the goat's shelter belonged to Ustin. Chinese news agency Xinhua reported that the skulls of the two dead goats were crushed and had puncture wounds the "size of a human finger" -- a testament to the power of the tiger's bite. Three further goats remain missing. "Our monitoring data and this attack all tell that Ustin is in good physical condition, and has a large range of activities on Heixiazi Island," Xinhua quoted Zhu as saying. He also warned villagers to keep their distance, should they spot the goat killer, and to not throw food at it. Kuzya, the other tiger known to have crossed into China, was previously blamed for an attack on a Chinese hen-house. The Russian leader has been involved in conservation efforts of the species. He is often photographed with tigers and other wild animals, and takes part in a number of outdoor activities in an apparent effort to bolster his image as a strong, intrepid leader. Putin becomes eighth-degree karate black belt .

Tiger released by Russian President Vladimir Putin thought to have attacked goats in China . Dead goats have 'finger-sized' holes in their skulls, consistent with a tiger bite . This is not the first raid blamed on a tiger released by Putin .

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A few hours before Hillary Clinton addressed an audience of around 6,000 people near Denver, the former secretary of state did what few people looking to sell a book would do: She toured a plastics factory. Clinton aides say the event was tied to her family's foundation -- the Clinton Global Initiative -- and the fact that its annual meeting will be held in Denver later this month. But the optics of the event said something different. After touring the factory and giving short remarks about the power of American business -- "I am convinced that American businesses can compete and win against anybody anywhere if we are at the top of our game," she said -- Clinton stepped off the stage and headed to a rope line of eager factory workers and camera-toting employees. "Let me shake a few more hands," Clinton said, a comment reminiscent of refrains made by Iowa- or New Hampshire-bound politicians. In the last month, these two facts have been evident: Clinton-land wants you to know she has a memoir -- "Hard Choices" -- coming out on June 10 and she has become more open about her presidential ambitions. Clinton discusses Berghdal in book . And the two have a lot to do with one another. Instead of surrounding herself with the regular PR flacks and publicists in preparation to sell her book, Clinton has brought on seasoned campaign veterans and political communicators. Sources close to Clinton are talking about "war rooms" and "surrogate operations" instead of book signings. Clinton to take part in CNN town hall as book launches . "This is a very well orchestrated roll out that is going to make the book have far more impact and, yes, will add to her sense of candidacy," said David Gergen, a senior political analyst with CNN who has deep connections with the Clintons. "I think what you will see with her over the next year until she makes a firm decision is an occasional set of events like this that will keep her fresh, allow her to say her piece." 'A very professional operation' In addition to helping Clinton, the hypothetical candidate, Gergen said the book rollout will help her staff. "It gives them a sense of what a political campaign feels like," he said. "I don't think she has made her final call yet, but she is clearly laying the groundwork in a way that suggests a very professional operation." Earlier this year, the former senator was also more measured in her remarks and more sheepish when answering questions about 2016. In January, Clinton told an audience in New Orleans that she "wasn't thinking about" running and that she has "tried to get other people not to think about it." In Portland, she shrugged when asked about 2016 and walked off stage to a chorus of laughs. In Miami, she commended the way the question was asked, but failed to actually answer it. Fast-forward to June and Clinton was more openly talking about the worst-kept-secret in Washington: She is thinking about running for president. In an interview with People Magazine that was part of the book rollout, Clinton said she knows she has "a decision to make" on 2016 and that she will "just have to make my own decision about what I think is right for me." In her Colorado speech on Monday -- the one after her campaign style tour of the plastics plant -- Clinton called the presidency "as much a job as it is a mission" and when asked about how difficult it is to run, she remarked that she "luckily" has "a lot of resilience and a lot of stamina." Her rhetoric, too, has started to sound more like a campaign. At the end of the speech in Colorado on Monday, Clinton closed with what sounded like an impassioned plea for support and, if the venue was different, for votes. "Please join me," she said, her voice raising over the roaring crowd, "in making some hard choices for America." Seasoned hands help communicate message . With the stepped up rhetoric has come a more robust inner circle of Clinton aides to tightly and systematically trickle out information about the book. Once an operation with just a few press staff and advisers - along with dozens of informal friends and longtime confidants - the Clinton world has added a few seasoned political hands to help communicate Clinton's message around the book. The Clinton team brought on Tommy Vietor, a National Security Council spokesman during Obama's first term, to coordinate and assist in the response to the book and questions about Clinton's record at the State Department. It has also tapped Kiki McLean, a former Clinton senior adviser and veteran of five presidential campaigns, to coordinate the surrogate operation around the book. With the new hires comes what one source called a war room of former diplomats who stand ready to respond to criticism of Clinton's tenure at the State Department. It is safe to say that Clinton's book roll out is one of the first to use phrases like war room and surrogate operation. One of Clinton's closest advisers - Philippe Reines - also briefed a group of Democratic national security experts and communicators last week on the political scrutiny over the Benghazi terror attack and the themes of Clinton's book. The meeting was tightly controlled by Clinton's advisers, who told attendees that there would be no leaking what was discussed in the briefing. Outside groups have also begun to step up their activity around the book. Correct the Record, a pro-Clinton messaging and rapid response organization with deep ties to Clinton, hosted media training for their surrogates in May. Ready for Hillary, a pro-Clinton super PAC that is building grassroots support for the former first lady, announced on Wednesday that they would follow Clinton's book tour in "The Hillary Bus," a mobile venue for the group to sign up supporters and support the pseudo-campaign. The groups that have Hillary's back . Leaks and excerpts trickle out . As her aides have been planning and preparing, Clinton has been all over the news. She appeared on the View in May - joking that she was "running ... around the park" -- and details about her book have slowly leaked out on a nearly daily basis. The first book excerpts came out in early May, when in honor of Mother's Day Vogue published a passage of Clinton's book that was dedicated to her mother. Then came the book's Author's Note, put out by Simon & Schuster, the book's publisher. Shortly after that, the most highly anticipated chapter of Clinton's book - her recollections and thoughts about Benghazi - was leaked to Politico. The speculation was that Clinton's staff wanted to get the news out of the way early so that it wouldn't shadow the rest of the book. On Thursday, CBS reported that Clinton talks about negotiations for captured soldier Bowe Bergdahl's release and her differences with Obama over arming Syrian rebels in the book, which it said it had gotten a copy of. Along the way, locations for Clinton's book tour were released: New York City, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and San Francisco, to name a few. If all of this seems reminiscent of a campaign, that's because it is. Seasoned staff, effective surrogate operations and coordinated leaks are what can make or break a political campaign. And as is evident with Clinton's stepped up presence and the slow trickle of news about her campaign, Clinton's book tour appears to be as much a memoir roll out as it is political tune up.

Clinton events look like something from the campaign trail . She's become more open about her presidential ambitions, although no decision yet . Rollout of her book will help her staff prepare for if she decides to go for it .

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(CNN) -- Cristiano Ronaldo scored the only goal of the match with a stunning backheel as Real Madrid beat Rayo Vallecano to stay 10 points clear in the Spanish title race Sunday. Real had to work hard to emerge on top in the capital derby at the Vallecas while arch-rivals Barcelona won 2-1 against Atletico Madrid in the late kickoff to avoid falling further behind Jose Mourinho's men. The reigning champions owed their win to a Lionel Messi free-kick in the 80th minute. It was his 28th league goal of the season, one fewer than Ronaldo. Dani Alves opened the scoring on 36 minutes but Radamel Falcao equalized at the beginning of the second half for the home side. Earlier, the first half of the clash between the Madrid rivals was short of chances, but Rayo came closest to scoring as Michu rattled the woodwork with Iker Casillas beaten. Ronaldo struck shortly after the break following a corner. He was running away to chase a loose ball, but then fashioned an incredible backheeled effort which flew into the net. "A backheel is always different. It was a great goal but I'm not sure if it was the best of my career -- I have to see it again on TV," Ronaldo told AFP. Jose Callejon later wasted a chance to double the lead for Los Blancos to calm their nerves. Ronaldo was also denied a second by home keeper Joel late on before the home side lost Michu to a red card for a rash challenge. It was Real's 21st league win of the season.

Real Madrid win 1-0 at Rayo Vallecano to stay top in Spain . Stunning backheeled effort from Cristiano Ronaldo settles game . Real stay 10 points clear of Barcelona in title race . Lionel Messi with winner for Barca at Atletico Madrid .

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(CNN) -- What would you see if you could fly over Mars in a plane and look out the window? Victoria Crater as seen by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The crater is about half a mile in diameter. It must be something like the thousands of curious, intriguing and spectacular images taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera mounted on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The University of Arizona, Tucson, which operates HiRISE, has just released a new batch of these photos taken in the last several months. You can check out the full set here. They reveal an alien landscape of craters, valleys, ridges, channels, weird surface patterns and other features in incredible detail. Take the stunning image on the left, which shows the muffin-cup-like Victoria Crater, a site once explored by the Mars rover Opportunity. The camera isn't looking straight down, but is pointed 22 degrees east so we get a better view of the crater's slopes, "comparable to a view from an airplane window," the university says. Looking at some of the photos, you feel like you're flying over the Grand Canyon or the Sahara. Others are distinctly extraterrestrial in nature. In all cases, the images reveal lots of details about the surface of our neighbor in the solar system. "Each full image from HiRISE covers a strip of Martian ground 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) wide, about two to four times that long, showing details as small as 1 meter, or yard, across," according to NASA's Web site. It might be the closest thing to visiting Mars without leaving your chair.

Photos were taken by a camera mounted on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter . They show an alien landscape of craters, valleys, ridges in incredible detail . A new batch of these photos taken in the last several months has just been released .

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(CNN) -- The U.S. Supreme Court upheld President Barack Obama's sweeping health care legislation Thursday in a narrow 5-4 ruling that Obama says will provide up to 30 million additional Americans with health care. America doesn't have universal health care coverage -- what the World Health Organization (WHO) calls "a widely shared political aim of most countries" -- but neither do most other countries. Nearly 50 countries have attained universal or near-universal health coverage by 2008, according to the International Labor Organization. Several well-known examples exist like the UK, which has the National Health Service, and the Canadian public health care system. Here are more examples of countries have implemented near-universal health care. Brazil . Free health care coverage is recognized as a citizen's right in Brazil. Brazilians have both a private and public health care system, which was overhauled in 1988. The Sistema Único de Saúde, a nationalized program, provides primary health care, while a network of public and contracted hospitals delivers specialist care. About 80 percent of Brazil's population relies on public care, while the wealthiest 20% can afford private health care, according to a Center for Strategic and International Studies report. Since the 1990s, Brazil has also provided universal access to HIV/AIDS drugs. During the three decades since the nation's major health care changes, infant mortality decreased and life expectancy increased by 10.6 years, according to a 2011 article in medical journal The Lancet. But the system hasn't been without problems, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies report, which alluded to gaps in the quality of care between various Brazilian regions. Rwanda . Since establishing a national health plan in 1999, Rwanda has insured about 91% of its population with health care -- a greater percentage than the United States. Rwanda has been dubbed "Africa's Singapore" by The Economist for its transformation since a devastating genocide in 1994. Watch Fareed Zakaria talk with Rwanda's president . The country has three health insurance plans, one for government employees, another for the military, and the third for the remaining population. The country commits about 20% of its annual spending to health, which is funded by tax revenues, insurance premiums and financial support from international donations, according to a WHO report. Since introducing health insurance, Rwanda has seen lower childhood mortality rates; more people are also receiving medical attention. But the country faces challenges from an increase in health services and making contributions more affordable for its poorest citizens, according to a WHO report. Thailand . By law, Thailand requires all patients to be covered by health insurance, regardless of their ability to pay. The WHO uses Thailand as an example of a low- or middle-income country that has been able to extend health coverage to all citizens. Introduced in 2002 as the "30-bhat scheme," (which is less than $1), the plan added about 14 million previously uninsured people to the Thai system. Prescription drugs, hospitalizations and services like chemotherapy, surgery and emergency care are free to patients, according to a WHO report. But the addition of millions of people to a health care system strained the existing structures, prompting criticisms of long waits, poor quality of service and shortage of service. South Korea . South Korea passed a law in 1977, mandating health insurance for industrial workers. During its rapid economic growth, health care became a priority for the government, which created the National Health Insurance. The system extended to universal coverage by 1989. The government merged more than 300 individual insurers into a single national fund, according to a WHO report. Korea's single-payer program has "been successful in mobilizing resources for health care, rapidly extending population coverage, effectively pooling public and private resources to purchase health care for the entire population, and containing health care expenditure," according to a report published in Health Policy Plan. But another report published in Health Affairs said that the public funding is limited, leaving "beneficiaries with relatively high payments." South Korea's expenditure on health care is 6.3% of the country's gross domestic product, compared with 18% in the United States. Moldova . The Eastern European country became independent with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. By 2004, it began a mandatory health insurance program with the aim of providing the entire population with basic health care. Employed Moldovans chip in a portion of their income through a payroll tax or a flat-rate contribution. Others who are unemployed or not working are insured by the government. Its National Health Insurance Company is the sole buyer of health care services and organizes emergency, primary and secondary care locally, according to a report by the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, a joint partnership between European governments and the World Health Organization. Kuwait . Kuwait's level of health care is comparable to average European standards, according to the WHO's profile of the Middle Eastern country. The country began building up its health care system as it gained wealth from oil revenues. By the 1950s, the government implemented free comprehensive health care. This resulted in declines in general mortality and infant deaths, the report said. "Free health care was so extensive that it even included veterinary medicine," according to a local WHO report. Kuwait faces an aging population as well as an epidemic of diabetes, heart disease and obesity-related complications that place great demands on its health care system. Chile . The Chilean constitution guarantees rights to health protection. Chileans can opt for public care or get coverage from private health insurance companies. Wealthier citizens can buy insurance from the Instituciones de Salud Previsional or obtain coverage through their employer. A 7% income tax funds the public health care system, the Fondo Nacional de Salud, according to an analysis of health care reform in Chile. Public care includes free medical, dental and midwifery services, which are run locally. Private insurance tends to focus on specialist treatment. The existence of both public-private insurance has created inequities of care, prompting reform efforts in 2000 to increase equality across the country. Chile has guaranteed universal access to quality treatment for some conditions including certain cancers, HIV/AIDS, pneumonia, depression and dental care, which has improved care for the poor, according to the WHO. China . China announced an overhaul of its health system in 2009 to bring safe, affordable basic health services to all residents -- a tall order for a country containing 1.3 billion people. The government committed about $126 billion to reform the quality and efficiency of its health care, and ensure affordable and quality medication. But the issue of equity in health care persists. "There are still significant disparities in health status between regions, urban and rural areas, and among population groups," according to the WHO. China has seen increased life expectancy and reductions in infant deaths, but health observers stated in the WHO report the need to improve delivery of care.

Universal health coverage prevalent in Europe and several non-Western nations . World Health Organization calls universal coverage "a widely shared political aim of most countries" U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule shortly on Obama's sweeping health care reform .

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San Francisco (CNN) -- The three largest U.S. cellular carriers by subscribers sell the latest iPhone, and next week, eighth-place C Spire Wireless will join the group. Some people were taken aback this week when C Spire, which only has stores in Mississippi, Southwest Alabama and Southwest Tennessee, announced that it will begin carrying the iPhone 4 and 4S on November 11. Among those grumbling over the news were some of T-Mobile USA's 33.6 million subscribers. How, they asked, could a regional carrier get the coveted product before one of the big four? C Spire's infrastructure is based on a cell standard used by Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel, which now both have the iPhone, but it is not common in other countries. C Spire, formerly Cellular South, has a deal with Verizon so that customers who travel outside of its Mississippi home base can still make calls. Since C Spire's network uses the same underpinnings and antenna bands as Verizon, Apple did not have to make modifications to its phones beyond what it already did for Verizon when it launched there in February. An Apple spokeswoman confirmed that C Spire would begin selling the phone next week, but she did not respond to a question about whether the company needed to modify the hardware. The iPhone 4S, Apple's newest gadget, uses a special antenna receiver from Qualcomm that works on typically incompatible networks. "IPhone 4S is now a world phone, so both GSM and CDMA customers can roam worldwide on GSM networks," Bob Mansfield, Apple's head of hardware engineering, says in a promotional video. T-Mobile's network runs on the global standard called GSM. AT&T Mobility also uses GSM. That's what makes T-Mobile an attractive takeover target for AT&T, which plans to bolster its own network using T-Mobile cell towers, as long as the merger is approved. (C Spire, along with Sprint, are suing to block the acquisition, saying it will reduce competition.) While AT&T and T-Mobile use the same basic network infrastructure, their cell signals operate on different antenna bands. That prevents T-Mobile from easily making iPhones run on its network. When asked why C Spire got the iPhone before T-Mobile, Brad Duea, a T-Mobile senior vice-president, smiled, having likely fielded the question before. "The iPhone already works with their bands," he said in an interview on Wednesday. "They didn't have to change anything." Since the original iPhone came out in 2007, owners have been able to take the devices to T-Mobile, swap out a SIM card and use them on the network. But as Apple has added 3G and faster data speeds for AT&T, the unofficial T-Mobile iPhones -- more than a million in all, T-Mobile has said -- have not been able to exceed 2G speeds. AT&T's and T-Mobile's 3G and so-called 4G networks operate on different bands. Another T-Mobile executive, Cole Brodman, recently addressed the issue publicly at a conference and in a letter to customers, though not in great deal. Executives say that, while they'd like to have the iPhone, Android is a fine alternative to the iPhone.

C Spire Wireless will be the fourth U.S. carrier to get the iPhone . T-Mobile, the fourth-largest carrier, still has no plans to carry it . C Spire operates on the same network bands as Verizon .

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(CNN) -- Champions League holders Barcelona survived a scare in Germany on Tuesday evening as Zlatan Ibrahimovic's second-half equalizer earned them a 1-1 last 16 first leg draw against Stuttgart. The Catalan giants failed to produce the free-flowing football that has become their trademark under coach Pep Guardiola and they fell behind in the 25th minute. Stuttgart had warmed up for the match by hitting five goals past Cologne at the weekend, with striker Cacau helping himself to four of them. And the Brazilian-born forward maintained that form by opening the scoring here, powerfully heading home Timo Gebhart's cross. The home side had chances to double their lead before the break, with only goalkeeper Victor Valdes depriving Cacau of a second -- although Lionel Messi did strike the post with a long-range effort for the visitors. However, Barca regrouped after the break and levelled just seven minutes into the second period, when Swedish striker Ibrahimovic was on hand to finish from Gerard Pique's nod down. The result means Barcelona will be strong favorites to reach the quarterfinals when the teams meet again at the Nou Camp in a fortnight's time. Meanwhile, in the night's other match, Bordeaux look well set to reach the quarterfinals after a narrow 1-0 victory against Olympiacos in Athens. Laurent Blanc's side are unbeaten in the competition this season and look genuine contenders to win the trophy after Michael Ciani nodded home Yoann's Gourcouff's free-kick from close range on the stroke of half time. In the only Europa League match played in Tuesday, Portuguese giants Benfica cruised into the last 16 after thrashing Hertha Berlin 4-0 for a 5-1 aggregate victory. Two goals from oscar Cardozo and one apiece from Pablo Aimar and Javi Garcia ensured Benfica's smooth progress, where they will now face either Marseille or FC Copenhagen.

Barcelona fight back to earn a 1-1 Champions League draw in Stuttgart . Zlatan Ibrahimovic levels for the holders after Cacau put the Bundesliga side ahead . Bordeaux secure a narrow 1-0 win in Athens against Olympiacos in the other last 16 match .

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Violent crime in the United States fell for the fifth consecutive year in 2011 with murder, rape and robbery all going down, although crime remains a serious problem in many urban areas, the FBI said on Monday. The report of all crimes reported to police nationwide showed slightly more than 1.2 million violent incidents nationwide, while property crimes hit a nine-year low. Compared with 2010, the new figures show violent crime down 3.8 percent overall. Property crime was down 0.5 percent. Among violent incidents reported to police, murders were down about 0.7 percent, robberies dropped 4 percent, aggravated assaults declined 3.9 percent, and forcible rapes were down 2.5 percent. Despite the positive trend, crime remains a serious problem in many urban pockets riddled with gangs, drugs, and poverty. There were 14,612 murders last year, on average one every 36 minutes. That's a small decline from 14,722 in 2010, but it's a decrease of nearly 17 percent from a decade ago. Most victims were male and in cases where race was known, 50 percent were black and 46 percent were white. Statistics showed 514 murders in New York and 431 in Chicago. Guns were used in two thirds of the nation's murders last year, 41 percent of robberies, and 21 percent of aggravated assaults, the report showed. The closely watched Uniform Crime Reports do not include explanations for the consolidated figures, and the FBI does not comment on the data. However, criminologists point to a variety of factors for the continuing decline in overall violence. They cite a more settled crack cocaine market, an increase in incarcerations, an aging population, data-driven policing, and changes in technology that include a big increase in surveillance cameras. James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University, said crime has continued to decline from a peak in the 1990s but now is decreasing at a slower rate. "I call it the limbo stick effect," Fox said. " You can only go so low. You're never going to get down to zero crime." The FBI crime statistics differed from a telephone crime survey released by the Justice Department early this month. That report actually showed crime increasing last year, but attributed the change to a jump in simple assaults. Fox said many of those assaults described to interviewers were non-injury pushing and shoving incidents not reported to any law enforcement agencies. He also noted the increase that the Justice Department reported was from an all-time low in the crime rate the previous year, suggesting crime is entering a low level where police officials hope it will stay for some time.

Crime still falling from 1990s peak but decreasing at slower rate, expert said . Murder, rape, and robbery decline in 2011, property crime hits nine-year low . Violent crime remains a problem in many urban areas, according to FBI statistics . Murders decline slightly year-over-year, but down sharply from a decade ago .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Violence and heavy metal seem to have been inextricably entwined since the dawn of the metal genre. Accusations that the Columbine killers were influenced by Marilyn Manson's music were found to be false. Judas Priest, Marilyn Manson and Black Sabbath are just some of the household metal names to have come under public fire for supposedly inciting teenagers to commit murder and suicide. It's a fire the international media has been happy to flame, quick to draw links between various acts of savagery and heavy metal even if, as in the case of the Columbine shootings and Marilyn Manson, evidence points to the contrary. For anthropologist, documentary filmmaker and self-confessed "Metalhead" Sam Dunn, heavy metal is often used as a scapegoat to distract from the thoroughly more complicated societal problems surrounding such incidents. "I think people look at heavy metal and label it for all sorts of things because we need easy answers to complex questions," Dunn says. "I think that it's easy to target a heavy metal band for inciting violence or making kids turn to a cult than it is to actually look at real problems in the real world." It's easy to see where the journalists, parents and religious groups get their ideas from. A quick scan of the lyrics of any heavy metal band worth its salt will often reveal some gasp-inducing subject matter. For instance in his film "A Headbanger's Journey," Dunn quotes some of his favourite lyrics by a metal band called Autopsy: "Burning from the inside out, bloody foam spews from your mouth, smell the putrid stench of flesh, as it burns you to your death." Not the sort of poetry to be quoting to grandmother over lunch, but can such ludicrous gore really incite people to violence, not to mention murder? As one young Norwegian metal fan told the UK's Guardian newspaper: "It's all fantasy, none of this is real, you can't take this seriously, it's just like a movie." But compared to some of the images filling our cinema screens -- The Devil's Rejects, Wolf Creek, The Passion of the Christ to name a few -- even Autopsy's lyrics seem a little tame. "I have listened to enough metal for me to essentially be a serial killer," says James McMahon from UK music magazine NME. "But there's something in me that says no, that's not what I believe life is about. Serial killers existed before Slayer, you know." "I'm a big fan of horror movies but Hostel, Saw, those torture porn films, I found myself repulsed -- metal is pantomime comparatively." As Alice Cooper quips: "There's more blood in 'Macbeth' than in my shows and that's required school reading." For metal musicians, death, blood and mayhem, in its various guises, are all simply part of the act, part of "the show." "I think it comes from being a child of the '70s," says Iron Maiden's lead singer Bruce Dickinson. "I was brought up on Hammer horror movies and things like "The Devil Rides Out," classics like that." "So while we do the devil type things, it's done... I wouldn't always say in a tongue-in-cheek way, but there is an element of it. It's done with a view to storytelling and drama, with a bit of dressing-up going on." Iron Maiden has also endured its fair share of controversy. The title of its 1982 album, "The Number of the Beast," and repeated use of "666" in the titular track's chorus had America's religious right up in arms. They accused the band of being devil worshippers, Satanists and of "trying to pervert our kids." "When I play that song I think, well, ok, this isn't glorifying the devil, because that's certainly not what I would do," says Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain, a born-again Christian. "It's making an awareness that yes he's out there, and you've got to be aware. There is a man with 666 tattooed on his noggin somewhere." Ironically, the fundamentalist reaction to "The Number of the Beast" packed out Iron Maiden tour gigs in every American town they visited. Kids squeezed into arenas desperate to see what was scaring their parents so badly. Despite this marketing draw, Dickinson is keen to distance Iron Maiden from the violence for violence's sake approach practiced by some of his contemporaries, such as musicians from the extreme Black Metal and Death Metal sub-genres. "We're not interested in being extreme," he says. "We're interested in being interesting and in animating people's imaginations with the stories that we tell and the songs." It's an approach that chimes with what one female Iron Maiden fan, Ruth, tells us, "I really don't see any violence in the fans and I have been to loads of their gigs," she says. "I am in a tiny minority of women, in a room full of men wearing black -- which should seem scary, but it totally isn't. The men hold doors open for me and apologize if they bash into me. They are basically really meek and polite." So while upside-down crucifixes, homicidal zombies and lashings of blood might continue to fuel our preconceptions about heavy metal music, it's worth remembering, appearances and reality can be very different beasts indeed.

Heavy metal used as a scapegoat according to anthropologist . Storytelling and drama important, not violence, says Iron Maiden singer . Heavy metal is pantomime compared to torture-porn films says NME journalist . Iron Maiden accused of being Satanists in 1980s .

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Washington (CNN) -- The chairman of the Republican Party and a leading GOP senator called on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to give up his post Sunday, following the publication of remarks he made about President Obama's race in 2008. A new book quotes Reid, D-Nevada, as saying privately in 2008 that Obama could be successful as a black candidate in part because of his "light-skinned" appearance and speaking patterns "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one." The remarks were "embarrassing and racially insensitive," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, head of the GOP's Senate campaign arm, in a statement to CNN. GOP Chairman Michael Steele, on NBC's "Meet the Press," said: "Racism and racist conversations have no place today in America." Steele also was on the defensive for a remark he made last week that members of both parties have called a racial slur. In an interview with Fox News, Steele used the phrase "honest injun." The Congressional Black Caucus has accepted Reid's apology and is dismissing calls for him to step down as majority leader. Rep. Barbara Lee, chairwoman of the caucus, issued the following statement: "I have had an opportunity to speak with Senator Reid and he apologized for his unfortunate remarks concerning the president, and he understands the gravity of such remarks. There are too many issues like the economy, job creation and energy for these regrettable comments to distract us from the work that must be done on behalf of the American people." Democrats also rejected the calls for Reid's dismissal. Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia, chairman of the Democratic Party, said "the case is closed" following Reid's round of apologies. Douglas Wilder of Virginia, who 20 years ago became the nation's first elected African-American governor, also rejected calls for Reid's ouster. "I think that what Reid was giving was a personal opinion, which wasn't affecting the laws or the operation of the dispensation of justice in our country," Wilder told CNN's "State of the Union." But he said he believes the incident "illustrates the need for more open discussion about race." Reid's office made clear he has no plans to step down. Democrats rejected the calls for Reid's dismissal, and Reid's office made clear he has no plans to step down. "Sen. Reid will stay in his position as majority leader and will run for re-election," his spokesman said. "As the leader in the fight to pass the Voting Rights Act and legislation banning hate crimes, Sen. Reid has a long record of addressing issues that are important to the African-American community. His Republican critics who are looking to politicize the issue can't say the same." Reid's controversial quote is in the book "Game Change," due in stores Monday. The authors write that "Reid was convinced, in fact, that Obama's race would help him more than hurt him in a bid for the Democratic nomination." In a statement to CNN, Reid said, "I deeply regret using such a poor choice of words." "I sincerely apologize for offending any and all Americans, especially African-Americans for my improper comments. I was a proud and enthusiastic supporter of Barack Obama during the campaign and have worked as hard as I can to advance President Obama's legislative agenda," Reid said. In his defense, he pointed to his efforts to integrate the Las Vegas strip and the gaming industry, among other legislation favored by African-American voters. "I have worked hard to advance issues important to the African-American community," he said. And the senate leader called Obama on Saturday afternoon to apologize for the remarks. In a statement issued after the call, Obama said, "As far as I am concerned, the book is closed." "Harry Reid called me today and apologized for an unfortunate comment reported today," the president said. "I accepted Harry's apology without question because I've known him for years, I've seen the passionate leadership he's shown on issues of social justice and I know what's in his heart." An aide to the senator told CNN that Reid also offered apologies to several prominent African-American political figures, including House Democrats Jim Clyburn of South Carolina and Barbara Lee of California; the Rev. Al Sharpton; CNN political contributor and Democratic strategist Donna Brazile; NAACP chairman Julian Bond; and the head of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, Wade Henderson. Steele, the GOP's first African-American chairman, was asked about the remarks on both "Meet the Press" and "Fox News Sunday." He told NBC on Sunday he believes Reid is out of touch with "how African-Americans generally feel" about sensitive issues. Steele was asked by NBC whether he believes the situation is similar to one involving former Sen. Trent Lott, who lost his post as Senate majority leader in 2002 after saying that the nation would have been better off if one-time segregationist candidate Strom Thurmond had been elected president. "Oh, yeah. There is a big double standard here," Steele said on NBC. Steele added: "When Democrats get caught saying racist things, you know, an apology is enough." Steele said that if a Republican senator had made the same remark Reid did, Steele himself and the Democratic Party "would be screaming for his head very much as they were with Trent Lott." Cornyn, in his statement, also accused Democrats of following a "double standard," and noted that they had pushed Lott to step down. "As we await his explanation, Sen. Reid should do the right thing, follow the example that he himself set in 2002, and step down as majority leader," Cornyn said. Kaine shot back against those arguments. "Anybody looking at Trent Lott's statements praising somebody who had been a pro-segregation candidate for president will see that there is no comparison between those comments and those of Sen. Reid," Kaine told NBC. The comments "were in the context of praising the senator and acknowledging that the senator could be a great president, but they were still insensitive," Kaine said. Asked whether Reid should resign, he said, "Absolutely not. ... We're moving on." Nevada state Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, who is African-American, affirmed his support for Reid in a statement Saturday. "While I am disappointed in Sen. Reid's comment and choice of words, I accept his apology," said Horsford, a Democrat. "I have known Sen. Reid for many years and he has consistently been supportive of advancing the interests of the African-American community as he has for all Nevadans and all Americans." Steele, meanwhile, was asked about his remark in a Fox News interview last week that the GOP platform "is one of the best political documents that's been written in the last 25 years, 'honest injun' on that." "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace noted that lawmakers from both parties have called that a racial slur. "Well, if it is, I apologize for it. It's not an intent to be a racial slur. I wasn't intending to say a racial slur at all," Steele said. CNN's Dana Bash, Mark Preston and Rebecca Sinderbrand contributed to this report.

NEW: Congressional Black Caucus rejects calls for Reid to step down . Michael Steele calls for Reid to step down, accuses Dems of "double standard" GOP chair says Senate majority leader's language "harkens back to the 1950s and '60s" New book quotes Reid discussing "light-skinned" Obama's lack of "Negro dialect"

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(CNN) -- An 11-year-old Pennsylvania boy is missing in Egypt, according to the boy's family. The family says that the boy's Egyptian father abducted him. A U.S. Embassy spokeswoman in Cairo, meanwhile, says U.S. authorities are "aware of the situation" and are assisting the boy's mother in her search efforts. Stephano Khalil Mohamed Atteya, or Nikko as he is called by his family, went to Egypt with his mother and her sister to visit his father, who lives there, according to a missing person report from the Pennsylvania State Police in Harrisburg. The boy was last seen August 1 with his father, the boy's family said. The father sped off with the boy in a car after forcing the boy's mother and aunt from the car, the family said. "They heard (Nikko) screaming from the window, calling for his mom," said Nikko's aunt, Olga Panagos, who lives in Fayetteville, Pennsylvania. "That's the last time they saw him." Nikko's father, an Egyptian citizen, requested that his son come to Egypt to meet his grandmother and attend his father's sister's wedding, American relatives said. The U.S. Embassy in Cairo is working with Nikko's mother, who is still in Cairo, and with local authorities to help locate the boy, according to spokeswoman Elizabeth Colton. The boy's parents were married in 1999 and divorced in 2005; Nikko was their only child together and was born in the United States, according to Panagos. "The family is very stressed. We have no idea where Nikko is," Panagos said. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pennsylvania, also is working with the family to provide any appropriate assistance, according to Casey spokeswoman April Melody. CNN's Leigh Remizowski, Mohamed Fadel Fahmy and Jill Dougherty contributed to this report.

An embassy official in Egypt says U.S. authorities are working with the boy's mother . "The family is very stressed. We have no idea where Nikko is," an aunt says . The boy was in Egypt to spend time with his Egyptian father's family .

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(CNN) -- In 2009, du Pont heir Robert H. Richards IV, 47, was convicted of raping his 3-year-old daughter and served no jail time because, a judge said, he would "not fare well" in prison. You are only just hearing about this travesty thanks to a civil suit filed recently by Richards' ex-wife, Tracy Richards, alleging that he also sexually abused his 19-month-old son during the same period. How does this happen? Lady Justice wears a blindfold that's supposed to represent objectivity. Unfortunately, it seems to blind her in some cases, especially when a defendant is wealthy and connected. And Richards is wealthy and connected -- he's the heir to not one, but two fortunes provided to him by his predecessors. In 2008, Richards was indicted on two counts of second-degree child rape for sexually penetrating his daughter repeatedly from 2005 to 2007. Those two counts would have carried mandatory minimum sentences of 10 years each. He was released on $60,000 bail. Richards is unemployed, but with a trust fund and apparently had plenty of cash to hire one of the state's top law firms. His lawyers pushed until Delaware prosecutors offered a deal allowing him the fourth-degree rape plea -- normally reserved for statutory rape cases -- and Richards admitted the assault. At the sentencing, Superior Court Judge Jan Jurden ordered Richards to attend a sex offender rehabilitation program and pay a whopping $4,395 to the Delaware Violent Crimes Compensation Board. (That'll teach him!) She then sentenced him to eight years in prison, but suspended the prison time and put him on probation instead, writing: "Defendant will not fare well in Level 5 setting." Translation for the rest of the world: The rich rapist will "fare well" living as a free man in a house where he raped his own daughter. A few points here: . 1. The purpose of prison is twofold -- to keep criminals segregated from their victims and the rest of society, to punish them by denying them the freedoms that law-abiding citizens enjoy and to rehabilitate them. Prisons are loaded with pedophile rapists who are incarcerated regardless of their ability to deal with the prison environment. If Richards was a relative of the Dipshots, instead of the du Ponts he'd probably be behind bars now. 2. And if the rapist doesn't "fare well" in prison, how is he a good fit for society? As far as I'm concerned, a sex offender who rapes his own child will never "fare well" in society. You can't cure sex offenders of their sexual urges, you can only teach them to try to control them. In the meantime, we have a duty to keep rapists like Richards contained in a location where they have no contact or opportunity to hurt another child for a good long time -- and that place is in jail. 3. The Delaware justice system appears to have also lost sight of Richards' victim -- his own kid! Think she'll "fare well" knowing her rapist was sent home to his mansion and never properly punished? The sentence was outrageous, but blaming the judge is too easy. The truth is the entire system is to blame. People with zero resources to properly defend themselves are funneled into the prison system, while rich rapists like Richards can buy an excellent criminal defense team and secure a deal no public defender could ever dream of getting. But Tracy Richards has not given up. She filed a suit last month seeking compensatory and punitive damages on behalf of her children. In addition to detailing the abuse of his daughter, the lawsuit also alleges that while Roberts was on probation, he admitted to the sexual abuse of his toddler son. It cites probation reports from two different probation officers notifying the Courts in 2010 and 2012 about that suspected abuse. According to the lawsuit, which is supported by paperwork from the earlier criminal case, Richards went into his daughter's room while she slept and penetrated her with his fingers while he masturbated. The suit also alleges that Richards then told the girl "to keep what he had done to her a secret." The girl eventually told her grandmother, who informed Tracy Richards. The girl then recounted the abuse to her pediatrician and New Castle County police, who arrested him. Given all this background, it may seem like a slam dunk of a civil suit, but societal factors -- the advantages of money-- can play a large role in the justice system. You can be certain that if Richards lives off a trust, it's one that du Pont family attorneys have painstakingly set up, and it's probably going to be remarkably hard to pierce. Likely knowing she's in for a fight, Tracy Richards has hired law firm Jacobs & Crumplar, attorneys more than capable of going after people who think they are untouchable. This is the firm that won victims $77.4 million in a settlement with the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington over sex abuse by a priest. I've got my fingers crossed that a civil jury will award jaw-dropping damages in this case and strip Richards of the trust fund and the wealthy status that allowed him to avoid jail -- where he really belongs.

Mel Robbins: Du Pont heir Robert Richards did no jail time in rape of his toddler daughter . Sentencing judge said, in part, he "would not fare well" in prison. This is not justice . Robbins: Wealth shouldn't shield him from justice . Robbins: Civil jury should award big damages strip him of wealth that helped him avoid jail .

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(CNN) -- Dancers have put on a dazzling display atop extravagant floats at the legendary annual Rio Carnival. Thousands of revelers cheered as dancers shimmied and shook their colorful costumes through the streets of the Brazilian city. Seven-year-old Julia Lira took her place as the drum corps queen for the Viradouro School of Samba despite criticism that she was too young to fill a role normally reserved for voluptuous adult dancers.

Parade of color during annual Rio Carnival in Brazil . Dancers included seven-year-old Julia Lira, despite criticism that she was too young .

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West Milford, New Jersey (CNN) -- For Gary Oppenheimer, 2007 was a year of plenty. His backyard garden produced a bountiful harvest with a surplus of spaghetti squash, melons, pumpkins, tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers for his family. At the end of the season, Oppenheimer had 40 pounds of excess fresh produce -- and nowhere to take it. "Nobody wanted more," he said. "My wife wouldn't let me bring any more in the house, and I didn't want it wasted." So Oppenheimer took the produce to a local food pantry at a battered-women's shelter. When he dropped off the food, he was struck by the response he got from the shelter worker. "[She] thanked me profusely, and as I left she said, 'Now we can have something fresh to eat,' " Oppenheimer recalled. "That stuck with me because I remember walking away thinking, 'What? They have canned stuff only all the time?' " The experience ultimately led Oppenheimer, 57, to create a way for gardeners across the country to easily share their excess produce with hungry families in their communities. In 2008, Oppenheimer became the director of the West Milford Community Garden in West Milford, New Jersey. He learned that toward the end of the summer, plots were often abandoned and good food was sometimes left to rot. He tried to find a list of his town's local food pantries online where the extra produce could be donated. A Google search showed the nearest food pantry was in another town, 25 miles away -- when in fact there were six food pantries in Oppenheimer's town of West Milford. Oppenheimer knew he had stumbled upon a gap in information that could rescue fresh produce from a wasteful end and potentially save lives. "I realized that if I'm having this problem as a gardener, then other people across the country must be having the exact same problem," he said. "I got up the next morning, and I went on the internet, and I grabbed the domain of AmpleHarvest.org." He reached out to food pantries across the country through social networking, food banks, master gardeners, faith organizations and other groups to encourage them to sign up for inclusion in his database of food pantries. Oppenheimer enlisted the help of Web designers and in May 2009, AmpleHarvest.org was rolled out nationally. The free online resource enables food pantries to register and be listed in a central nationwide directory, and makes it possible for American gardeners to easily find the local pantries where they can donate extra produce. Do you know a hero? Nominations are open for 2010 CNN Heroes . "The country is loaded with gardeners who have more food than they can possibly themselves use," Oppenheimer said. "AmpleHarvest.org gives them the ability to easily, quickly get that food to somebody who genuinely, really needs it." According to the Department of Agriculture, nearly 15 percent of American households have difficulty meeting their food needs. Those who rely on food pantries are often surviving on canned and processed foods. But with 41 million U.S. households growing fruits and vegetables, according to the National Gardening Association, Oppenheimer is helping green-thumbed Americans share healthier options with their neighbors in need. "Whether it's a hanging tomato plant off your apartment terrace, or a garden ... or whether you run a farm, we all have food that's left behind," Oppenheimer said. "That's the food that ... we can get into the system to help diminish hunger in the country." Nearly 2,000 food pantries across the United States are now registered on the site. Timothy Lesko recently received fresh produce from a food pantry that had items from AmpleHarvest.org donations. Lesko said the fresh vegetables will help his family eat more healthfully. "Me and my wife are trying to have my son be as healthy as possible. [At] the grocery store, the food's expensive, and it's hard to buy the healthier foods because we don't always have the money," Lesko said. "It would be nice to see if more people could farm at home and bring whatever extra they have for the pantry." Although Oppenheimer cannot track the amount of produce that has been donated to food pantries, he said he's received messages from numerous pantries and clients across the country who've been given food as a result of AmpleHarvest.org. He also has heard from growers who continue to donate because the website led them to local pantries. And as the food pantries continue to see results, Oppenheimer hopes his efforts will turn into a lifelong commitment for the gardeners. "The point is to get it so that people will find it's easy and convenient to get in the car and to drop off that bag of tomatoes or carrots or apples, and then to make it a part of their regular routine, hopefully for the rest of their gardening lives." Want to get involved? Check out the AmpleHarvest.org website and see how to help.

New Jersey man created way for gardeners to share extra produce with the hungry . Website AmpleHarvest.org connects gardeners nationwide with food pantries . Nearly 2,000 food pantries across the U.S. are now registered on the site . Do you know a hero? Nominations are open for 2010 CNN Heroes .

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(CNN) -- "We must be on you but cannot see you." That was one of the very last voice signals transmitted by Amelia Earhart in the summer of 1937, somewhere over the vast Pacific Ocean during her ill-fated flight around the globe. An intense search led by the U.S. Navy was launched to find Earhart and her plane, but after several weeks, nothing was found. "All right, good night." Those were the last words transmitted 17 days ago from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, somewhere over the South China Sea between Kuala Lumpur and Ho Chi Minh City. An international search led by the Malaysian government and Malaysia Airlines and joined by governments and private companies from the United States, Great Britain, China, Australia, Norway, Japan, New Zealand and others have narrowed down a possible search region to a vast chunk of the Indian Ocean southwest of Perth, Australia. "This is probably the one of the largest efforts you'll ever see in terms of maritime surveillance and joint operations," Australian Defense Minister David Johnston said Tuesday. Reports now seem to support the theory, popularized by pilot instructor Chris Goodfellow, that an incapacitating emergency led the pilots to divert the Boeing 777 toward the closest airport (hence turning south) while simultaneously trying to fight an electrical fire of some sort until they were overcome. Experts believe that the jet continued on dumb autopilot until it was, like Earhart's Lockheed Electra, out of fuel, plunging into the sea. Opinion: Flight 370's resting place is best clue . Earhart was lost on July 2, 1937. MH370 disappeared March 8, 2014, more than two weeks ago. In those 77 years, almost everything about the world has changed. Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappeared just a few years before World War II erupted and a new world order emerged: what is often called the American century. And the three-week search effort for Earhart was entirely American, directed by the Navy. Flight 370 was operated by Malaysia's national airline, en route to Beijing. The flight was the opposite of pioneering, instead a routine long haul of 227 passengers, with a coach class ticket costing about $530. But in this case, the search effort is extraordinary and much more international in scope. This time, it's not just the Americans. The Australians, the Chinese and the Norwegians are deploying their air forces and navies with cutting-edge technologies for weeks on end to help. Pakistani radar, Chinese satellites, even NASA aided the search. Add to that countless hours of analytical personnel. In the end, it was a private British satellite company, Inmarsat, that confirmed the likely flight path and terminus. According to some reports, this is the most expensive search effort in history. Although there was strong criticism against the Malaysian government for delays and missteps during the initial days of the investigation, it seems as if the international community has largely united in focusing massive resources on finding the plane. There was nobody famous on the flight and yet it is somehow unremarkable that dozens of nations are expending millions of dollars to solve the mystery. Together. Pilot: How mechanical problem could have downed Flight 370 . All this stands in stark contrast to Russia's opportunistic conquest of the Crimean peninsula, a major part of the neighboring nation of Ukraine. That sort of nationalist land grab reminds me less of the Cold War than of norms of the 18th century and just about every century of history prior. Certainly, there's something extraordinary and dangerous going on in the Crimea, but a calmer, more patient, more historical assessment distinguishes the reflexive nationalism of a weakened ex-empire from the larger trends in a globalizing world. Or what about the civil war in Syria? Or the heightened tensions on the North Korean peninsula? Or the disputes between Japan and Korea over the "Sea of Japan" versus the "East Sea"? Or the uprisings in Venezuela? All are hot spots where the international community has largely been paralyzed, unable to do much more than call for multilateral inquiries and issue hollow condemnations. So what's left to be seen is whether this unprecedented international coalition assembled to scour the ocean for the remains of Flight 370 is one of the few bright spots in an otherwise devastating tragedy for the families of the 227 passengers and 12 crew members. Or whether this is merely a one-off proposition where each nation is acting in its own self-interest to do what it must for its own citizens, while feigning cooperation for the world stage. I prefer to see the goodness here, that the world can come together and work together when it counts. Sometimes it takes a tragedy to remind us of the everyday miracles of our time. Join us on Facebook.com/CNNOpinion. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Tim Kane.

Tim Kane says international search for Flight 370 is rare bright spot in tragedy . More than a half-dozen nations have come together in the deep-water search . Like the disappearance of Amelia Earhart in 1937, Flight 370 is a mystery .

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(CNN) -- Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg just had a birthday on May 14. He's now 29. If that seems insanely young for a billionaire, remember that he co-founded Facebook when he was a teenager. Zuckerberg has a lot to celebrate. He's amassed a fortune, inspired one of every seven people on the planet to use his product and changed how the world communicates -- all before age 30. By comparison, when they were 29, Steve Jobs launched the Macintosh computer and Bill Gates was readying the first retail version of Microsoft Windows. And most of the rest of us were just struggling to pay the rent. So happy birthday to Zuck! To mark the occasion, we collected these 10 random facts about the tech wunderkind: . 1. Zuckerberg suffers from red-green colorblindness and sees the color blue best, which is why blue dominates Facebook's color scheme. 2. AOL and Microsoft tried to recruit him when he was in high school after he created Synapse, a program that used artificial intelligence to learn users' music-listening habits. 3. He wears the same gray Facebook T-shirt almost every day because he's busy and it saves him time in the morning. 4. Despite Zuckerberg's casual wardrobe, he said he wore a tie every day in 2009 to show that Facebook was serious about growing in the face of the global recession. 5. He is a vegetarian and once said he will only eat meat if he has killed the animal himself. But among his "likes" on his Facebook page are McDonald's and In-N-Out Burger. 6. He has amassed 220,000 Twitter followers despite the fact that he's only tweeted 19 times in four years, and not once in 15 months. 7. In October 2010, Zuckerberg took a bunch of Facebook staffers to a public theater to see "The Social Network," the movie about the founding of Facebook. In public comments afterward, he criticized the film's portrayal of him as someone who invented Facebook to gain social status. 8. He owns a Hungarian sheepdog named Beast, who has a Facebook page with 1.5 million fans. 9. He took some heat last year for giving his wife, Priscilla Chan, a ruby wedding ring that jewelers valued at about $25,000 even though he was worth about $19 billion at the time. 10. If you type @[4:0] in a Facebook comment window and hit enter, his name will appear. What, if anything, fascinates you about Zuckerberg? Let us know in the comments.

Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg turned 29 on May 14 . Young billionaire has inspired one of every seven people on the planet to use his product . Zuckerberg trivia: Facebook is mostly blue because he is colorblind .

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(CNN) -- There are fears of Russians and it is October, but it's not a Tom Clancy novel. It is a case of international naval intrigue off the Swedish coast that brings back memories of the Cold War. The Swedish military on Monday intensified a search in the ocean off Stockholm for an underwater mystery vessel, but stopped short of calling it a submarine. Civilian vessels were ordered to stay at least six miles (about 10 kilometers) away from the Swedish warship conducting the search, the English-language website The Local reported. The search began Thursday after Swedish intelligence picked up an emergency radio call in Russian, reported The Local, citing the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet. The radio transmissions were being sent to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, 330 miles (530 kilometers) south of Stockholm on the Baltic's southern shore, according to The Local report. There were also reports that a foreign vessel was spotted in the waters near Stockholm. Russia on Sunday denied it has any vessel in Swedish waters. Moscow suggested the vessel may belong to the Netherlands and have been involved in naval exercises off Sweden, according to a report from Russia's Itar-TASS news agency. The Dutch were quick to respond, saying a sub involved in the exercises was anchored in Tallinn harbor of NATO-ally Estonia for the weekend, according to a report from Agence France-Presse. 'We have good stamina' On Monday, the Swedish military vowed to continue searching at least for the next few days, according to The Local. "We have good stamina," The Local quoted defense spokesman Dag Enander. "We're using the sensors we have and are searching both from land and water," Enander was quoted as saying. To confuse matters even more, the Swedish military said Monday that it purposely provided incorrect information on Sunday about where the mystery vessel was sighted to keep the search area secure. U.S. officials told CNN there are no U.S. submarines or surface ships in the immediate area. U.S. intelligence doesn't know of any Russian assets in that area, the officials said. All the activity begs the question, why would a Russian sub need to snoop around in Swedish waters anyway? Johan Wiktorin of the Swedish Royal Academy of War Sciences gave three possibilities to The Local: . "They could be mapping the waters in order to be able to navigate them in the event of hostilities," Wiktorin is quoted as saying. "They could also be installing equipment, like sensors, that could track or get an observation of our units in that area," he goes on. "Or they could also possibly reconnoiter our (defense) systems." Russian military around the world . Whether there is a Russian sub in Swedish waters or not, there is no question that Russian forces have been active in the Baltic and around the globe this year. In fact, the Swedish military said Sunday that it has monitored suspicious activity for several years, according to another report in The Local. In July, a U.S. Air Force reconnaissance plane fled into Swedish airspace after the Russians took the unusual action of beginning to track it with land-based radar. The Russians then sent at least one fighter jet into the sky to intercept the U.S. aircraft. And on April 23, a Russian Su-27 Flanker fighter jet buzzed within 100 feet of the nose of a U.S. Air Force RC-135U reconnaissance plane over the Sea of Okhotsk between Russia and Japan, a Defense Department official said. Also on April 23, Dutch fighter jets scrambled to intercept a pair of Russian Tu-95 Bear bombers that entered a half-mile into Netherlands airspace. On June 4, according to U.S. defense officials, four long-range Russian Tu-95 bombers, accompanied by an aerial refueling tanker, flew into the U.S. Air Defense Identification Zone, an area extending 200 miles (320 kilometers) from the North American coast, off Alaska, where they were intercepted by U.S. F-22 fighter jets. Two of the Russian bombers peeled off and headed west, while the other two flew south and were identified by U.S. F-15 fighters within 50 miles of the California coast. And last month, two Alaskan-based U.S. Air Force F-22 fighter jets intercepted two Russian IL-78 refueling tankers, two Russian MiG-31 fighter jets and two Russian Bear long-range bombers, according to Capt. Jeff Davis of the North American Aerospace Defense Command. More than six hours later, two Canadian CF-18 fighter jets intercepted two Russian bombers in the Beaufort Sea, Davis said. Those Russian planes came within about 40 nautical miles of the Canadian coastline, he said. Earlier this year, a top U.S. Air Force general said Russia was stepping up its military activities in the Asia-Pacific region as tensions increased over Ukraine and Russia's move into Crimea.

Emergency radio call picked up by Swedish military, report says . Radio transmissions sent to Russian enclave on Baltic Sea, report says . Russia denies any vessel in Swedish waters . Russian military has been active around world this year .

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(CNN) -- On Monday, news broke that about 200 girls had been kidnapped from their school in Chibok, in the northeastern state of Borno -- a region at the center of Nigeria's five-year terrorist insurgency. The very next day, the Nigerian military announced that all but nine of the girls had been rescued. This turned out to be untrue. The school's principal and the girls' parents complained that the girls were still missing. In August last year, a military spokesman announced the death of Abubakar Shekau, the leader of Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, at the hands of the military. But like the news of the release of the schoolgirls, it proved to be fiction. 'Misleading sources' Incidents like this have come to shape the way the military is perceived in the wildly unpredictable battle against Boko Haram. Posts on the military's social media accounts regularly boast of "smoking out" or ambushing terrorists or recovering weapons -- often written in way that brings to mind Iraq's infamous former information minister under Saddam Hussein, dubbed "Comical Ali," who claimed coalition forces were in retreat even as American tanks rolled almost unchallenged across the country in 2003. Like him they've also ended up pinning the blame for inaccurate reporting on "misleading" sources. Even when there is truth to its narratives -- and there have been major successes, including a crackdown that started in early 2013 that killed several top Boko Harem commanders and driven others across the border into Chad, Niger and Cameroon -- the triumphalism seems odd when juxtaposed with the harsh reality of events like the Chibok abduction, or the one at another government school in neighboring Yobe State in February, in which more than fifty schoolboys were murdered in their dormitories, with nary a soldier in sight until several hours later. Perhaps the military resorts to this impulsively buoyant tone because it believes it cannot afford to sound anything otherwise. Or perhaps it's simply because it can get away with it -- because the Nigerian authorities have a long and remarkable history of getting away with anything they say. That tenuous relationship with fact makes it relatively easy for senior government officials to publicly dispute government finances to the tune of billions of dollars; and for an assortment of newspaper headlines to display wildly differing casualty figures the morning after a bombing incident. Death 'cheap and plentiful' And then there's the scale of Nigeria's tragedies. For a country that is not at war, death is cheap and plentiful. So cheap and so sweeping in its audacity that Nigerians readily make jokes about it. That might help explain the trademark blunted edge of Nigerian outrage. If it happens often enough, the mind is soon inured, and eagerly accepting of the sense of resignation that might offer the best protection against the emotional impact of the next cycle of negative breaking news. All of the above combine to create the context in which the Nigerian military -- wielding political power for 29 of Nigeria's first 39 years after independence -- has learned to operate. Not since the civil war, almost 50 years ago, has it been tested this much. The closest it got were the lengthy tours of duty in Liberia and Sierra Leone, in which it played a prominent role at the head of the West African ECOMOG Force, intended more as a "peacekeeping" unit than a combat force. Indeed what we are seeing may be evidence of its struggle to adapt to new rules of engagement, fighting an enemy driven by convictions much deeper than those displayed by the pro-democracy activists and diamond-obsessed rebels it contended with in the 1990s; possessing access to sophisticated weapons, and operating in terrain far better suited to insurgents than conventional armies. Abuse claims . The increasing militarization of the troubled zones has since spurred accusations of human rights abuses, from local and international observers. An International Crisis Group report from April 2014 has called for an end to the use of "heavy-handed military and police methods that risk pushing yet more restless, jobless and frustrated youths into violence and extremism." Communication strategies also require overhaul. In the age of social media, the military needs to realize that propaganda is now a lot more likely to be found out and discredited. News reports suggest that the military, long hampered by aging hardware, is now acquiring new weapons and equipment. That's heartwarming. In a country where institutional graft is the rule and not the exception, it is crucial to ensure that the military budgets are spent to boost the military's capability, and troops' morale -- and not pocketed by bigwigs. International cooperation also needs to be stepped up; and it does seem that the government is now more willing than ever to work with Europe and America. Nigerians have long been wary of allowing the American military the sort of foothold it has in countries like Yemen and Pakistan, but there's certainly room for more intense cooperation that does not involve abdicating total control. Finally the military will need to prepare to adapt itself to the reality of the government's planned shift to a "soft" counter-terrorism strategy, embodied in a document unveiled by National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, a retired Army Colonel, in March. Amid the backlash it has faced recently, the beleaguered military can count on the support of a growing number of Nigerians, who think that it is being under appreciated for the work it is doing. Just this week a "Support The Nigerian Military" page launched on Facebook, in honor of "our military men and women on the field who risk their lives daily to keep us safe."

Ogunlesi: Nigeria's military has issued incorrect statements in fight against extremists . Often blame their inaccurate reporting on "misleading sources," he says . Ogunlesi says the military may be trying to paint a constantly positive picture . Ogunlesi says it has had some successes in its five-year war with Islamist extremists .

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(CNN) -- Cristiano Ronaldo grabbed a hat-trick as Real Madrid crushed Malaga 7-0 to close the gap on Spanish league leaders Barcelona. The Portuguese striker ended his four-match goal drought in style as Jose Mourinho's side reduced Barca's advantage at the top of La Liga to seven points. Second-bottom Malaga had no answer to a powerful attacking display and finished the game with nine men after defender Manolo was sent off and Cala limped off injured after they had made all their permitted substitutions. Malaga coach Manuel Pelligrini, who was replaced at Real Madrid by Mourinho, chose to rest some of his best players and the decision came back to haunt him at the Bernabeu. France international Karim Benzema began the rout after 27 minutes when he diverted Xabi Alonso's free kick into the net. Angel Di Maria added a second nine minutes later after capitalizing on a missed interception to slot the ball into the bottom corner. Just before the break Marcelo slammed Di Maria's pass into the corner of the net to make it 3-0. There was no let up after the interval as Ronaldo rounded off a flowing move to register a fourth before Benzema got his second with a header from Marcelo's cross. Manolo handled in the area to give Real a penalty and was shown a second yellow card by the referee. Ronaldo made no mistake from the spot. And the striker completed his hat-trick by converting Sergio Canales' cross at the near post with 13 minutes remaining before asking to be substituted.

Real Madrid beat Malaga 7-0 in Spain's La Liga . Cristiano Ronaldo scores a hat-trick as Real close gap on leaders Barcelona . Karim Benzema scores twice as Real move to within seven points of Barca .

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(CNN) -- Five people in southern China have been charged with intentional injury after illegally buying one of the kidneys of a teenage boy, who used the money at least in part for an iPhone and an iPad, according to state media. The five, including a surgeon, removed the organ in April 2011 from the 17-year-old high school student from China's Anhui province. The teenager is now suffering from renal insufficiency, Xinhua reported. The boy's condition is deteriorating, it said. One of the defendants, a man named He Wei, was described as "penniless and frustrated over gambling debts" and allegedly "sought to make enormous earnings through illegal kidney trading," the news agency reported. It said the men identified donors through online chat rooms and conducted the operation at a hospital. A man named Song Zhongyu, a surgeon from a provincial hospital in Yunnan province, received nearly $35,000 in the deal, while the boy was given about $3,500, Xinhua said. Wang later confessed to his mother when she confronted him about where he got the money for the Apple products, the news agency said. According to China's Ministry of Health, about 1.5 million people in the country are in need of transplants, and yet only 10,000 transplants are performed each year, Xinhua reported.

A surgeon removed the organ in April 2011 from a high school student, Xinhua says . The boy is now suffering from renal insufficiency, it says . The surgeon, from a provincial hospital, received nearly $35,000 in the deal, it says . The boy was given about $3,500, the news agency reports .

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Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- Four members of a group of 31 North Koreans who accidentally crossed over into South Korean waters on a fishing boat, have decided to defect to the South, despite Pyongyang's demands that they all be repatriated to the North, the South Korean Red Cross said. The defection of the four North Koreans could spark tensions on the peninsula, where joint U.S.-South Korea military drills have kicked off this week. North Korea had threatened to engulf Seoul in a "sea of flames," a day before the opening of the exercise. The South will return the remaining 27 members of the group through Panmunjom, a truce village on the ground border between the two sides, and send the fishing boat back through the waters in the West Sea on Friday, the Red Cross said. South Korea's intelligence agency questioned the North Koreans for almost a month since they crossed over in February before deciding to release the group, the aid agency said. There are currently more than 20,000 North Korean defectors in South Korea, according to the South's Unification Ministry. The number of annual defectors has risen dramatically since the turn of the century and continues to climb. Defectors who are forcefully repatriated to the North after attempting to cross over into third countries such as China, Mongolia or Southeast Asia are commonly sent to prison camps as a punishment. Many defectors who live in South Korea fear for the lives of their family or relatives who remain in the North.

A boat with a crew of 31 crosses into South Korean waters, the Red Cross says . Four of the fishermen decide to stay in the South . The number of defections has risen dramatically in the past decade .

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(CNN) -- The NBA is without a Chinese-born player for the first time in 12 years, after it was announced Yi Jianlian has signed a one-year deal in his homeland. Yi failed to earn a new contract with 2011 NBA champions Dallas Mavericks, and he has returned to China to join former team Guangdong Tigers. "It's a huge pity to spend his prime years on the bench in the NBA without being trusted," Guangdong general manager Liu Hongjiang said of Yi in a statement. "He wants to play and we can provide an ideal stage." Yi carried the flag for China at the recent London 2012 Olympics, his third appearance at the Games. His departure is a blow the league, which is looking to take advantage of the potentially lucrative Asian market. Current NBA star Dwayne Wade, a champion with Miami Heat earlier this year, told CNN that basketball still trails football as the world's favorite sport. The popularity of the NBA in China skyrocketed when center Yao Ming joined the Houston Rockets in 2002. The first Chinese-born player to take to the court in the NBA was Wang Zhizhi, who made history by joining the Mavericks in 2001. The NBA's profile in Asia has been boosted by the emergence of Jeremy Lin, a Taiwanese American who shot to global fame with a string of standout performances for the New York Knicks during the 2011-12 season. Lin, 24, has since left the Knicks to join the Houston Rockets.

Yi Jianlian, the last Chinese-born player in the NBA, leaves the Dallas Mavericks . Yi has signed a one-year contract with China's Guangdong Tigers . NBA star Dwayne Wade told CNN basketball still trails soccer as the world's favorite sport . Jeremy Lin of the Houston Rockets has boosted the NBA's Asian profile .

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(CNN) -- As he strained, crunched and lifted weights, the muscle panels surfaced from Jason Dinant's stomach. Faintly at first, they emerged: one, two, three and four -- not yet a six-pack. "In the first three months, I saw such a fast improvement, now I'm worried about plateauing," said Jason Dinant. "My bottom two abs haven't come in yet," he said. Since January, Dinant, an iReporter, has tried to get six-pack abs in time for his 10-year high school reunion in June. Dinant, a Las Vegas, Nevada, resident, is one of the three iReport contributors being followed by CNNhealth as they strive to meet diet and fitness goals they set at the beginning of the year. iReport.com: See the journey to change . Dinant wanted to whip his beanpole figure into muscular shape. He also wanted to display a healthier physique for his blog called "Naked Boy News," where he stands shirtless to give what he calls "the naked truth about today's news." And now the 27-year-old has another motivation. Dinant will be a guest, riding in a chariot-style car for an "ab-veil" on June 28 for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride March in New York. His car is to be accompanied by rows of shirtless men who also have six-packs. Dinant was invited because, the Naked Boy News is "a very popular act," said Maurice Michaane, director of the event. "People in the Northeast know him." With the parade only two months away, Dinant said: "Now I'm in high drive. There's no cheating on the diet." To get in shape, he works out four to five days a week, performing a combination of core exercises, dumbbell curls and pull-ups. He jogs, does cardio exercises and works with a fitness trainer. To avoid looking like "a toothpick with abs," he started lifting weights. With a stringent diet and hours at the gym, the 6-foot-tall Dinant shrank from 160 to 143 pounds. Losing weight is normal with all the exercising and dieting, said Robert Dothard, a personal trainer based in Atlanta, Georgia. "You can't see a six-pack through fat," Dinant said. "Belly fat is the enemy. People reveal their ab muscles, but the nutrition and exercise are also formula for weight loss." The key is to eat in increments, but it's difficult for people with traditional, 9-to-5 jobs to eat something every two hours to maintain their weight, he said. Body builders try to offset the weight loss by consuming protein powders and supplements, Dothard said. Dinant's weight loss was completely unintentional. He said eating 16 egg whites and 1¼ pounds of chicken breasts every day gets old after three straight months. "It's hard to eat that much protein," Dinant said. "I started drinking this protein shake so I can get in all the calories and protein." Compared with just four months ago, the "man boobies" and the extra layer of flab around his midsection have been lost, Dinant said. And there's an even bigger benefit. "I'm awake more. I'm alert more and I have more energy," he said. "I just feel better. My whole body has become healthier and better." While pleased with the results, Dinant worried that with two-thirds of a six-pack, his body will begin to plateau. "Plateaus are really a mental thing," Dothard said. "When that happens, people start going back to their own habits. So they end up cheating and binging." If the body doesn't respond to the workout anymore, more difficult exercises should be adopted. "Jason has to do something different or harder to maintain results to keep on the track that he's on," Dothard said. "It can be frustrating, especially when he is still working out and the body is not responding to the same thing. People work out 30-45 days and get tremendous results, then it slows down or stops. Nothing's wrong. The body is adjusting to what you're doing."

Jason Dinant, an iReporter, has met two-thirds of his goal for six-pack abs . Dinant getting in shape for high school reunion and gay pride parade . Fitness trainer advises using more difficult exercises if body plateaus .

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(CNN) -- From his early days as one of the first faces familiar to television audiences in the 1950s, as host of "American Bandstand," Dick Clark was a constant. He wasn't just a major force in television, but in the music industry as well, up until his death on Wednesday at the age of 82. So it's no wonder that iReports flooded in from those who worked closely with Dick Clark, as well as those who only knew him as a friend who came into their living rooms, whether it be each week or only each New Year's "Rockin'" Eve. Dick Clark was involved with so much, from various award shows, to the popular "Pyramid" Game show, to "TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes," that only focusing on one reason he was so loved by so many just isn't enough. Even three reasons doesn't cover it. So here are ten reasons -- counting down, like he did to the new year -- why iReporters loved Dick Clark: . 10. He was humble . Sioux Falcone worked with Dick Clark in the 1980s. She well recalls him wearing a name tag to his own holiday party. "I was watching CNN and my son asked who the man on television was and I told him 'actually he was my boss.' And my son didn't believe me. So I pulled out this photo yesterday and here he was wearing a name tag. I thought it was really endearing." She also said that her fondest memory of Dick Clark was when he gave her his first desk after he moved to the west coast for 'American Bandstand.' She inquired about the piece of furniture with the office manager and a few days later Clark was at here desk. "He said, 'I heard you want my desk,' and I said I would pay, but he said I didn't have to pay for it," she said. "He helped me load his antique desk into my car," she said. "He would show random acts of kindness like that.'" 9. "He broke color barriers" Maxine Porter, the legal steward for the late Bill Pinkney of the R&B/soul group, the Drifters, put it this way: "What artist of color didn't have some association with Dick Clark over the years?" Clark is widely credited with integrating his audience on "American Bandstand" and, according to Porter, Pinkney was one of those musical artists of color who credited Clark with their start. "The first comment I heard him make about Dick Clark was, 'You know, we were one of the first black acts, if not the first, on his show in Philadelphia before he went national," she said. "As a little girl, watching television in Mississippi, I was not exposed to blacks in any positions of power or affluence," said iReporter Elnora Fondren Palmtag of Clarksdale, Mississippi. "Dick Clark was an inspiration when he fought for the integration of his show, first for the performers on his show and later adding dancers of different races. I know he helped to launch the careers of some great black performers, but you may not see the impact he had on the poor underprivileged children of the ghettos around the country who did not know that they could be more than what they could see around them." 8. He introduced generations to music . Mark Jensen from Branson, Missouri, was one of many loyal viewers of "American Bandstand." "I watched the show every weekend, and because of the show, I heard music that I normally wouldn't have because I couldn't afford to buy records or a radio." Jensen was inspired by "Bandstand:" the now singer/songwriter also goes by the stage name of Mark Catron. 7. He was a teenage staple . Every afternoon, Janie Lambert from Hughesville, Maryland would switch on American Bandstand at home, and dance to Chubby Checker, learning to do "the Twist" and "the Limbo." "I will never forget March 1967 when the Beatle's Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane were debuted on 'American Bandstand.' The Beatles new look and sound was eerie, strange, a little frightening but oh so very exciting. This was a big change for the music industry." Lambert described "Bandstand" as "the part of my day that I looked most forward to,' she said. "No one can take his place." 6. He was a mentor . Paul Revere is a member of Paul Revere and the Raiders, who hit it big in the 1960s. He worked with Dick Clark for several years and describes Clark as being a wonderful and close friend. Revere describes one of his fondest memories with Clark when he and his band were at a shoot for the '60s NBC show, "Where the Action Is." "He's my guy. We saw each other six weeks ago, and I can't even believe he is gone." He said his heart sunk when he heard the news of Clark's passing. "When you get older you want to spend time with the people you are close to, and you keep putting things off because you always think you are going to have another day." He said he is really glad he had the chance to see Clark six weeks ago. "You need to always tell your friends how much they mean to you," he said. "That is what I learned from this situation... I gave him a hug and told him everything I have and everything I am I owe to him." 5. He was forever young . Kathi Cordsen remembered thinking about how ageless Dick Clark seemed on television when she tuned in to watch his show. Her fondest memory of Clark was when she would throw dance parties at her house with her neighbor friends while they watched "American Bandstand" in the afternoon. "I remember always thinking how Dick Clark never seemed to age from year to year and I wondered how he did that. Good living and being a good person, that must have been what it was." 4. He was a dancer's best friend . When Karen Folkes was a teenager, she was living in Minnesota, but she was travelling to Hollywood to dance on Dick Clark's show. Her brother, who lived in California at the time, managed to get her and her friend passes to "American Bandstand." She found herself in Clark's office with his now wife, Kary Wigton, who was also from Minnesota. Clark and Wigton told Folkes she could come by the show whenever she wanted. During the 1970's Folkes danced on the show 32 times. Dancers still have Dick Clark to thank, as he produced the Fox television series "So You Think You Can Dance." 3. He was the perfect host . Paul Martin was a British DJ living in America during the 1960s "British invasion," and looked up to Clark. "Some entertainers are trained in broadcast schools, some get lucky and just land a broadcast job on the spur of the moment, others get there because of who rather than what they know and the right connections, etc.," said Martin, now living in Beverly Hills, California. "But Clark made it to the top of his profession because he was the right guy at the right time on the right show and America and the world's most popular television music program!" 2. He was great to work for . Steven Leuck, a contractor in Eugene, Oregon, worked for Clark in his New York City home in the mid-1980s. Having grown up on "Bandstand," he was "thrilled" to work for him. "Mr. Clark called me at home and told me personally how much he appreciated the extra time and work it took to get [his] specialty lighting purchased, delivered and installed on time," he said. "He gave me his home phone number and told me that if I should ever need anything that he could do for me that I should never hesitate to call on him. I have worked with many celebrities over the years but he was far and away the kindest, most thoughtful gentleman of all the celebrities I have ever met or had the pleasure to work with." 1. He gave people opportunities . Maggie Kortchmar, back when she was known as Maggie Lee, had a song played on "American Bandstand" in the 1980s. "He said my name so sweetly: he was thoughtful, and concerned with the kids saying it was okay." Unfortunately, the record got a lukewarm response, but "Dick Clark looked right into the camera, and told me he liked it and for me to keep plugging. A very generous, kind man."

Iconic television host remembered by iReporters . Friend and colleague Paul Revere talks about meeting Clark at NBC shoot . "Bandstand" was an afternoon television staple .

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(CNN) -- Firefighters gained ground in recent days in the battle with a wildfire that burned 84 buildings and blackened 28,000 acres of dense forest in northern California. The Ponderosa fire, which is in a remote area of Shasta County, California, is just one of 42,750 wildfires that have burned 6,901,035 acres in the United States this year, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The fire, ignited by lightning five days ago, was 57% contained by Thursday, allowing some families forced from their homes to return, fire officials said. The Ponderosa fire still threatens 900 homes, forcing those residents to evacuate. Nearly 2,500 people, equipped with 263 firetrucks and 11 helicopters, are involved in the effort to stop the Ponderosa fire. Fires rage on Canary Islands . Shasta is one of three northern California counties for which Gov. Jerry Brown has declared states of emergency because of wildfires this week. The other counties included in the declaration, which makes emergency funding available to fight the blazes, are Plumas and Tehama. In Plumas County, the Chips fire has burned 63,147 acres, most of it in the Plumas National Forest. The 1,146 personnel fighting it have managed to gain 40% containment, according to officials. "Today's mission is clear: hold, hold, hold," Operations Section Chief Rob Laeng told firefighters at their morning briefing Thursday. Wildfires spread in Greece . In Tehama County, the battle is almost over against the Mill fire. It is 95% contained after 1,680 acres burned, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. A fire that has burned nearly 100,000 acres, mostly managed by the U.S. Forestry Service, in northern Idaho is still just 5% contained three weeks after it began, officials said. The Trinity Ridge fire threatens the community of Featherville, but efforts to create a buffer for the area have been "very successful," according to a statement on the fire's incident website.

California's Ponderosa Fire burns 84 buildings and threatens 900 homes . Gov. Jerry Brown declares states of emergency in 3 California counties because of wildfires . "Today's mission is clear: hold, hold, hold," chief tells firefighters battling California's Chips Fire . 42,750 wildfires have burned 6,901,035 acres in the United States this year, fire center says .

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(CNN) -- After 20 years, over 300 goals and a host of major honors, Thierry Henry has called time on his football career. The Frenchman, who won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 with his country, is hanging up his boots to pursue a broadcasting career. Although he made his breakthrough with French team Monaco, and spent time with Juventus, Barcelona and latterly New York Red Bulls, Henry is best remembered for a glittering eight-year spell with Arsenal in the English Premier League. Henry became the London club's all-time leading goalscorer and helped the Gunners win two league titles and the FA Cup on three occasions. "It has been an incredible journey and I would like to thank all the fans, team mates and individuals involved with AS Monaco, Juventus, Arsenal FC, FC Barcelona, the New York Red Bulls and of course the French National Team that have made my time in the game so special," he said on his official Facebook page. "I have had some amazing memories (mostly good!) and a wonderful experience. I hope you have enjoyed watching as much as I have enjoyed taking part. See you on the other side..." Henry's move to Arsenal in 1999, after a troubled year in Turin with Juventus, saw him reunited with former Monaco coach Arsene Wenger. The pair led Arsenal through a golden era, including an unbeaten Premier League campaign during the 2003-04 season. That team that won 26 and drew 12 of its 38 league matches during that campaign became known as the "Invincibles." Henry left Arsenal in 2007 and headed to Barcelona, where more titles lay in wait. During three seasons in Catalonia, Henry won the Spanish championship on two occasions and helped the club lift the European Champions League in 2009. The 37-year-old brought the curtain down on his player career with a four-year stint in the "Big Apple," helping New York Red Bulls win Major League Soccer's Eastern Conference in 2010 and 2013. Although his immediate focus will be punditry work with British broadcaster Sky TV, Henry has not ruled out a coaching career. "I don't know if I can be a good coach or not, but the desire is there," he told Sky.

Thierry Henry retires from football after 20-year career . The Frenchman won the World Cup and Euro 2000 with his country . Henry best known for his eight-year spell with Arsenal in the English Premier League . He became the London club's all-time leading goalscorer .

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Unsecured footage from thousands of webcams around the world -- including in the United States and western Europe -- has been accessed and streamed by a website thought to be based in the Russian Federation, British officials say. The website's operator claims to be republishing the feeds -- from sources including CCTV and baby monitors -- to highlight security weaknesses. So what can consumers do to find out if their privacy has been violated and to prevent it from happening again? CNN spoke to Andrew Paterson, senior technology officer at Britain's independent authority on information rights -- the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) -- which issued a warning about the web cams Thursday and Jules Polonetsky, executive director of the Future of Privacy Forum think tank. How can you tell if your webcam feed has been compromised? Paterson suggests the first step for concerned consumers should be to check the security settings on their web camera and ensure that their password is not set to default. "It's a website that's republished the feeds from many thousands of unsecured web cams and CCTV cameras. I believe you can view more or less live footage and it looks like one person has automatically scanned the internet for unsecured cameras and then aggregated this information in one site," Paterson says. "If you're particularly interested you could try to find your country, you could try to find the region or city that camera is in." The website guesses location based on IP addresses and has a list of countries from where it is publishing feeds, ranking them by number of unsecured cameras discovered. At the time of writing, the U.S. tops the list -- with 4,591 feeds, followed by France, the Netherlands, Japan, Italy and the United Kingdom. What devices are affected? CCTV cameras and baby monitors are among the devices that feeds have been taken from. But many others could be affected. "In theory, if you have a web camera and it is interface accessible over the internet, it could be at risk," Paterson says. Paterson says in the case of the Russian website it appears that the operator has concentrated on only a few makes. The worry is that others may also have accessed such feeds, he says: "It appears that the person responsible is trying to raise awareness but it's possible other people are doing other things." Polonetsky says it's valuable to teach the lesson that web cameras need to be secured but says there have to be better ways than publishing people's feeds online. He says similar problems have existed for years. "Almost scarier is that there are thousands of other similarly unprotected devices on the web. We continually learn about some essential device that is web accessible," he says. "There have been some very public examples of smart home equipment that could be accessed remotely," he says -- including devices to raise blinds or turn on lights remotely. "If you can remotely access something, that means others can remotely access it as well and you need to lock it down -- or you're at risk." So what can I do to protect my privacy? Again, Paterson stresses that having a strong password is critical. "The one piece of advice I can give is that if you have a camera you should go and check if it's secured with a password and must double check it's not the default password," he says. "Secondly, work out whether you actually need to view your webcam over the internet or not. If you don't then you might as well turn that feature off." While the ICO doesn't know the Russian website owner's intentions, Paterson says that as far as it can tell the feeds have not been archived -- though they don't know for certain. "It looks like if you change the default password and set a strong one it will no longer show up on website -- but the owner [on the Russian site] could do anything he or she wants," he says. But the same flaw that has allowed this website to access personal feeds, could also have let other online users view your feed -- and they may not be broadcasting the fact. "If you're able to log in remotely, then others are able to log in remotely. Either ensure that access is disabled or ensure you have a secure password," Polonetsky says. Could I seek redress if my camera feed has been accessed? Polonetsky suggests that delivering a product with a security weakness is "like selling houses without a front door." "Actually, it's worse," he says. "Here you're selling things to people who don't even know there's not a back door. It's completely irresponsible -- it's like selling a car without a key piece of safety equipment. These things are not safe to be on the internet." Polonetsky says it is possible that sellers of devices without basic data protection would be considered unfair to consumers under the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's standards. "It could be considered unfair to sell a product that puts personal data at great risk. It will be interesting to see if any the sellers face action." In the UK, Paterson says accessing a computer without authorization could well breach the Computer Misuse Act. "If you have strong evidence that somebody has compromised your camera you may be able to take it to law enforcement," he says. The ICO itself regulates the Data Protection Act. "If the feed from your camera can identify individuals that would be personal data and if someone's processing that in an unfair or unlawful manner then it could breach the act," he says. As the website appears to be Russian-based, however, any potential legal action would require action from the authorities there. The ICO is currently trying to enlist their help to get the website taken down.

UK Information Commissioner's Office says a website is publishing private webcam feeds . It says the footage has been taken from devices ranging from CCTV to baby monitors . The ICO says consumers should always change default passwords on cameras . Consumers should also take the time to read camera systems' instructions on security, it says .

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(CNN) -- Scientists studying the carcass of what they call the heaviest squid ever found have discovered it has eyes as big as soccer balls -- reportedly the largest in the world. Scientists are interviewed while two colossal squids are defrosted. The one on the right is missing part of its body. The colossal squid's eyes were measured at about 27 centimeters (10.8 inches) across by researchers, who have been defrosting it and a smaller specimen at Te Papa, the national museum of New Zealand. "This is the only intact eye (of a colossal squid) that's ever been found. It's spectacular," squid specialist Kat Bolstad of the Auckland University of Technology told The Associated Press on Wednesday. Bolstad, one of a team of international scientists brought in to examine the creature, added: "It's the largest known eye in the animal kingdom." His assertion was backed up by Swedish professor Eric Warrant of the University of Lund, who specializes in vision in invertebrates. "This is the largest eye ever recorded in history and studied," Warrant told AP. "It has a huge lens the size of an orange and captures an awful lot of light in the dark depths in which it hunts." Scientists snaked a camera into the colossal squid's body and measured its beak and tentacles in an exam broadcast live on the Internet. "It didn't seem really fair that only a handful of people would get to see an animal like this up close," said Steve O'Shea, a marine biologist at the Auckland University of Technology. He led a team that examined the corps of the colossal squid on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in a lab at Wellington's Te Papa. "It's the end of three days without much sleep," O'Shea told CNN. "It's been an exhausting exercise." Blog dispatches from the lab provided updates ("They're going to rotate the Squid!") peppered with commentary ("anything with lots of legs/tentacles gives me the willies but if it's here -- and not moving is a plus in my book -- you have to touch!") A New Zealand fishing boat snagged the squid in February 2007, as it sought toothfish in the Antarctic waters of the Ross Sea. The crew hauled in a line with many baited hooks and discovered a massive squid feasting on one of the hooked fish, the museum says on its Web site. Researchers determined it was a colossal squid, a species first documented in 2003 that tends to weigh more than the also-big giant squid. The larger colossal squid that scientists examined this week weighed 1,091 pounds (495 kilograms) and measured about 32 feet (10 meters), the museum said. "We probably have more questions than we have answers now," O'Shea said just after completing the exam. Yet the team made at least one key finding. When they measured the colossal squid's beak, O'Shea said, they were stunned to discover that it was shorter than colossal-squid beaks recovered from the stomachs of sperm whales, which prey on squid. That led O'Shea to conclude that even heavier colossal squid lurk somewhere below the surface, unseen by human eyes. "They grow considerably larger," he said. E-mail to a friend .

Researchers defrosting two colossal squid at New Zealand's national museum . The larger one has eyes around 27 cm across, believed to be world's biggest . It weighs almost half a tonne and measures about 32 feet (10 meters) in length . Scientists believe that there may be even larger colossal squids in existence .

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(CNN) -- The finest buildings in the world have been named at the World Architecture Festival in Singapore. At a glittering ceremony, Building of the Year was awarded to The Chapel in Vietnam, designed by a21studio. Future Project of the Year was won by 5468796 Architecture + Number TEN Architectural Group, for Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Canada. The three-day Festival, now in its seventh year, saw hundreds of firms from more than 50 countries competing in 27 different categories, from Small Projects to Culture and Experimental. A total of 2,000 architects, designers, clients and press converged on the spectacular Marina Bay Sands Hotel, where in addition to awards ceremonies there were numerous lectures and conferences. 10 great architecture towns and neighborhoods . Asian architects on the rise . Victory for a21studio in the Building of the Year award was symbolic of an upsurge in competition entries from Asia, which had a significant impact on this year's awards. Submissions from China, Malaysia and Vietnam increased by up to 140%. They competed alongside more well-established firms like Aedas, Zaha Hadid Architects and Foster & Partners. Asian firms quickly made their mark in the first two days, with Vietnam firmly in the lead; Vo Trong Nghia Architects, another Vietnamese firm, won three awards, including those for Future Projects Education and Hotel and Leisure. How China claimed the world's greatest architectural hits . Other winners . Landscape of the Year went to the National Arboretum Canberra, Australia, designed by Taylor Cullity Lethlean and Tonkin Zulaikha Greer, and Small Project of the Year was awarded to The Pinch community library in China, designed by John Lin and Olivier Ottevaere. Two new awards were added to this year's program. The Exterior Color Prize, which recognized the creative use of color, was awarded to Cook Robotham Architectural Burea for the Departments of Law and Central Administration, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria. The Wood Excellence Prize for the most exceptional timber project went to DSDHA for the Alex Monroe Studio in Snowfields, UK. Highlights of day one included the Culture category, which was won by Gustavo Penna Arquiteto & Associates for the Freedom of the Press Monument in Paranoá, Brazil, which resembles a huge, translucent triangle, lit from within and embedded in the earth. Biodesign: Why the future of our cities is soft and hairy . SGi Architects won the Religion category for La Ascension del Senor church in Seville, Spain, an angular, stone-and-steel structure containing three large "voids". On day two, the New And Old category was won by Rethinking the Split House, designed by the Chinese architecture studio Neri&Hu Design and Research Office. Judges were impressed by the bold vision, which involved replacing the rear wall of a three-storey 1930s townhouse in with plate glass. Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners and Arup Associates won the Future Projects Experimental category with Skyfarm, an eye-catching concept design proposal for a vertical farm that enables the cultivation of crops in high-density areas. A full list of the winners can be found at the World Architecture Festival website. Africa's most exciting architects . Is architecture dead?

World Building of the Year 2014 went to The Chapel, Vietnam, designed by a21studio . More Asian firms competed than ever before, with several winning prizes . The biggest event in the architecture calendar has taken place in Singapore . Grand prize winners were announced in a glittering awards ceremony .

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(CNN) -- As Michael Ballack finally calls time on his 17-year professional career, German football can bask in the knowledge they boast the best two teams in Europe. But while the Champions League final between eventual winners Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund showcased all that is good about German football, the 36-year-old has told CNN the domestic game may suffer as a result. As well as the continent's most glittering club prize, Bayern won the German Cup and the Bundesliga by an incredible 25 points. Dortmund, who won the championship in the previous two seasons, were their nearest challengers, and the pair have accounted for five of the last six titles. Ballack told CNN World Sport that duopoly could be bad news for the Bundesliga, if Germany's top league starts to resemble Spain, where Barcelona and Real Madrid reign supreme. "In Germany we have a situation now where Dortmund and Bayern are far, far more away from the other teams, and that's what we don't want to see in the Bundesliga," said Ballack, who has 98 Germany caps to his name. "We have a little bit of a similar situation in Spain with Barca and Madrid, and in the (English) Premier League it's more open. "These last years we could see a lot of surprises, and from the bottom (a team) could beat the first one. It was exciting and the Bundesliga was good to see. Bayern Munich is heading away a little bit so we will see how it develops in the future." Bayern's historic treble confirmed them as the dominant force in Germany, and with their considerable financial muscle, they are already planning on extending their superiority over the rest. Shortly before the end of the season it was announced that Mario Gotze -- one of Dortmund's best players -- would be joining Bayern for $49 million, with striker Robert Lewandowski expected to make a similar move in the coming weeks. While the man who masterminded Bayern's success in 2013, Jupp Heynckes, is retiring, his replacement is Pep Guardiola, who won a total of 14 trophies in four years as coach of Barcelona. So how can the other teams, Dortmund included, keep up with the Bayern juggernaut? "With money," Ballack jokes. "No, it's difficult for the weaker teams to close the gap because like I said, the bigger teams still invest, and they could invest. "If you take Bayern Munich, they just bought six months ago Javi Martinez for $52 million, now Gotze for $49 million. So that's a lot of money and it's not possible I think to do it for any other club in Germany. "It is just Bayern Munich who has this good position, and from a financial point really good, and really healthy. And that's important. "Dortmund as well, they are trying to close the gap between them and the other teams, but of course Bayern Munich are far away from the others." Guardiola comes with a reputation as one of the game's leading coaches, but given the standards Bayern set this season, Ballack thinks the Spaniard will struggle to improve the team. "I think sometimes when you come in (as a new coach) you think 'I have to change something.' But if you see this Bayern Munich team now, I can't really see where he needs to change. "Obviously he has his own idea of football and how he wants to play. I'm sure he's seen a lot of games, if not all, in the last six months from Bayern Munich, and he knows there's not much to improve. "It's an incredible level that they've played in the last six months or the last year. And like I said before, the little details. Maybe change something just to change something because you want to play your own style. "But on the other side, like I said, you can't really change a lot because everything works well. But I'm sure he's a smart guy and a good coach, and he will handle it." Ballack's farewell match in Leipzig saw a World XI, coached by new Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, take on a Germany XI, coached by Rudi Voller. Former teammates Didier Drogba, now at Galatasaray, Ukrainian Andriy Shevchenko, Bayern captain Philipp Lahm and seven-time Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher, among others, took part. Mourinho managed Ballack at Chelsea and has now returned to London for a second stint after his three-year tenure at Real Madrid ended in disappointment. One of the Portuguese's first engagements will be to renew his rivalry with Guardiola when Chelsea play Bayern in the UEFA Super Cup at the end of August. And Ballack, who won one Premier League title and two FA Cups in his four years at Chelsea, and three Bundesliga crowns with Bayern, says his time with Mourinho was a golden spell in his career. "He has a fantastic reputation at (Chelsea), also I think in England. He's a charismatic manager and I really enjoyed working with him for two years and most of the players as well I can say. "I think (his image) is not always what you see in the media. What we have as players, is another picture. And that's the picture in the dressing room. "It's the daily work with him on the pitch and his speeches when he talks to us. And that's what I can say is special, because his attitude, his personality, if he comes in front of the group if he talks to us. "What's fantastic is he brought the team behind him. And that shows not just in Chelsea, he also adapted really well on the international (stage). He worked in Italy, he worked in Spain, and everywhere he had success."

Michael Ballack tells CNN the dominance of Dortmund and Bayern is bad for Germany . Two sides contested Champions League final and are streets ahead in Bundesliga . The 36-year-old says new Bayern coach Pep Guardiola has a tough job to improve the team . Ballack played a farewell match in Leipzig as his 17-year career officially came to an end .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Activists say the U.S. is handing the enemy a victory the longer it allows the detention of enemy combatants at the U.S Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. "When we leave them at Guantanamo, in a military prison, we give them a status they don't deserve," said John Hutson, a former U.S. Navy judge advocate general. "We make them heroes and martyrs to their friends and colleagues back in terrorist camps," he said. Ten years after the first detainees were brought to Guantanamo from what was considered the battlefield in Afghanistan after 9/11, constitutional and judicial experts held a news conference Wednesday to say the Obama administration needs to restore American values of human rights and the rule of law. Hundreds of protesters rallied later outside the White House as part of the event, with organizers saying the rally was to "call on President Obama to keep his promise and shutter Guantanamo Bay now." Under the Bush administration, the United States claimed that Guantanamo Bay detainees are not on U.S. soil and therefore not covered by the U.S. Constitution, and that "enemy combatant" status means they can be denied some legal protections. President Barack Obama in January 2009 ordered the camp to be closed within a year, citing security concerns. But as of July of last year, 171 detainees remained at Guantanamo. Their prolonged and murky circumstances were the focus of the Wednesday event. "There is no case that is so important that we should sacrifice our dedication to human rights and rule of law," Hutson said. "It's not a rule of law unless it applies all the time, and it's not a human right unless it applies to all people." Morris Davis, a former chief prosecutor for the military commissions at Guantanamo, said political interference from back home during the Bush administration blocked any basis for a fair trial. "Initially I was probably the leading proponent for Guantanamo, and for military commissions," Davis, a retired Air Force colonel, said Wednesday. But he eventually resigned after he said the Bush administration pressured him to use evidence he felt was obtained through torture. "I believed at the time that we were committed to having full, fair and open trials," Davis said. "I resigned when I lost confidence that that was our commitment." Obama, in a 2009 speech delivered in Cairo, Egypt, acknowledged that the U.S. had acted "contrary to our ideals" in the time that followed the 9/11 attacks. After telling his Middle East audience he had "unequivocally prohibited the use of torture," Obama then said he had "ordered the prison at Guantanamo Bay closed," on a timetable that would have ended about a year ago. "If we roll up the Constitution every time that there's a difficult factual situation, we might as well roll up the entire democracy," said Vincent Warren, executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights. Talat Hamdani, a Muslim American whose son died in the attacks on World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, spoke at the rally in front of the White House. "We say we are not at war with Islam, yet actions do speak louder than words," Hamdani said. "Guantanamo is a shame -- a disgrace for our nation and we need to set the record straight by leading by example." Despite a steady downpour of rain, the large group of protesters -- including some in orange jumpsuits symbolizing the Guantanamo Bay detainee uniforms, marched past the White House and on to the Supreme Court following the rally. CNN's Lindy Royce-Bartlett contributed to this report.

Legal activists question a decade of detentions at Guantanamo . Former military JAG says detainees become "heroes and martyrs" in terrorist camps . Demonstration outside White House urges Obama to make good on shutdown promise .

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(CNN) -- Do not go backstage at Cirque Du Soleil. It will only hurt your self-esteem. Anthony Gatto says he's been in training since he was 3 years old and performing since he was 8. In the performers' tent for the touring show "Kooza," there are the chiseled men catapulting their partners onto each other's shoulders from a giant see-saw and the woman doing contortions on children's-sized blocks. You can only take so much of this before your ego needs normal. Normal might be that man in the corner, wearing a T-shirt, shorts and sneakers throwing balls in the air. How hard can that be? Your self-worth will be quickly dashed again when the man picks up a soccer ball, bounces it on his head and jumps rope at the same time. Moments later, he's juggling six or seven orange rings (they move so fast, it looks like a blur) and then does a pirouette -- while all the rings are in the air -- and then catches them on his arm. Watch the juggler in action » . You could say Anthony Gatto went into the family business. But his stepfather wasn't a farmer or a doctor. He was a juggler. "By the time I was 8, I was entered into a juggling competition, and incidentally, that was the same competition that Patrick Dempsey, the actor, was in," Gatto said. "He used to be a juggler. We competed against each other. I took first, he took second. Now he's a big actor and here I am, juggling." Gatto is being modest. In fact, he didn't audition for "Kooza." The show went looking for him. "I have right now 11 juggling world records," he said. "Some of them I've held since I was 16 years old and they have yet to be beaten." Imagine a wearable disco ball. That's not too different from the form-fitting outfit Gatto wears onstage. Backstage, it's a long-sleeve T-shirt, gym shorts and sneakers. But there's nothing casual about his daily routine. He typically works out and practices six to seven hours a day to prepare for his 10 minutes in the spotlight. In fact, he is practicing until moments before he runs on stage. "Juggling is something that is so delicate, you have to have a really good feel, you can lose that in minutes," he said. "There are so many variables that can affect you. If it's a humid day, it's a very difficult task to get through the number that I do. The wind, if there's any air current in there and you're expecting to catch a ring and it blows an inch, you miss it." But he rarely misses -- at least not in his act. This performer, who relies on coordination and concentration 350 shows a year, admits his most embarrassing moment has nothing to do with balls, clubs or rings. It's acting that trips him up. "I have fallen as the delivery-man character in the show. In fact, I have done this a few times," he said. "I like to think it's because I put my heart and soul into the characters I'm portraying." Surrounded by all this talent and precision, there is some comfort in knowing one of the best -- maybe the best juggler in the world -- is also a klutz.

Cirque Du Soleil's "Kooza" went looking for juggler with 11 world records . Anthony Gatto beat actor Patrick Dempsey in juggling competition . Gatto practices six to seven hours to prepare for 10 minutes on stage . Says humidity and wind can affect his routine .

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Copiaco, Chile (CNN) -- The wife of one of the 33 men trapped 2,300 feet below ground in Chile gave birth Tuesday to a daughter, a relative said. Elizabeth Segovia, wife of Ariel Ticona, was recovering in a hospital after giving birth to a 4-kilogram (8.8 lbs.), 48-centimeter (19-inch) girl, said Ticona's sister, Veronica Ticona. The daughter was to have been named Carolina, but that plan was changed after the August 5 cave-in trapped her father, Veronica Ticona said. Nearly two weeks ago, Segovia got a handwritten letter from her husband -- sent through the 4-inch-wide hole that has served as an umbilical cord to the miners -- proposing they name their daughter Esperanza Elizabeth instead. Esperanza is Spanish for hope. "First, because we never lost hope; second, because it's the name of the camp where the families are living; and third, because the 33 miners never lost hope either," Segovia said earlier in September. Esperanza is believed to be the first child born to any of the 33 men since they were trapped. Read the latest on the rescue efforts . In the 40 days that have followed, their contact with the outside world has been limited to what rescuers have been able to pass through the narrow hole that reaches into the cave ceiling. Ticona said her brother was told of the birth by a video conference system. "He is very happy to be a father," she said. Segovia discovered that their child would be a girl by looking at a grainy ultrasound on August 4, the day before the mine collapse. "My world just collapsed," she said earlier this month. "I couldn't react. I just cried and cried." But, she added, she forced herself to stop crying because doing so adversely affected her fetus. The tube to the mine has carried life-affirming news in both directions. A few days after seeing her daughter on grainy, flickering ultrasound images, Segovia saw her husband on grainy video that the miners shot by the flickering lights mounted on their mining helmets, then packed into the tube for the journey upward. With her daughter's arrival Tuesday, Segovia is now waiting for her husband's arrival in the months ahead. The couple also have two sons, ages 5 and 9. CNN's Karl Penhaul contributed to this story.

Daughter was to have been named Carolina, but plan changed after cave-in . Miners have been trapped 40 days . Segovia discovers a day before mine collapse that girl was expected . Days later she saw her husband on a video the miners shot .

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(CNN) -- If you don't like mangoes, look away now. This article includes a "mango" word count well in excess of what is normally reasonable. It features mango culinary demonstrations, mango samplings, mango lectures, mango medics, a mango auction and even a mango summit. That's because I attended the International Mango Festival, held in the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Miami earlier this month. It's an annual event, one that draws enthusiasts, like myself, and also mango "experts" who gather to talk, taste and slurp their way around this sweetest, drippiest of fruits. I imagine most are still reading. After all, who doesn't like mangoes? The United States is the world's biggest importer of mangoes, buying in more than 300,000 tons of them in 2010, worth around $280 million, according to the UN's FAO figures. That's not as much bananas -- in the same year the U.S. imported more than 4 million tons of bananas, worth nearly $2 billion. But clearly we have a liking for this red-yellow fruit. My mission, I decided, was to try and discover if there is such a thing as a "perfect" mango, and if so, where I could find it. Hundreds of varieties . It's not as absurd a mission as you might think -- there are an estimated one thousand mango varieties grown around the world, the Fairchild Garden has a collection of 600 types, and they're all quite different. "Surprisingly, only 20 of those are commercially traded," says Noris Ledesma, the curator of tropical fruit for Fairchild's Tropical Fruit Program. "The most common are Tommy Atkins, Ataulfo, Kent and Keitt. With the exception of Ataulfo, which is from Mexico, all other varieties are from Florida." Mangoes were introduced to the United States in the early 1900s by David Fairchild, the then manager of the Office of Seed and Plant Introduction of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. His global seed explorations brought thousands of seeds, plants and crops into the country, including the mango. Originally from South Asia, the mango moved to Africa, then South America and the Caribbean. Fairchild brought the mango into the U.S. from India. For Dr. Richard Campbell, director of horticulture and senior curator of tropical fruit at the Fairchild, mangoes are "a special fruit that have everything: aromas, flavors, colors and culture. "They bring out passion and appeal to the common man and to the most sophisticated." So where should I start on my perfect mango mission? "Mangoes from Indonesia do not taste the same as mangoes from India, Hawaii or Mexico. It's just geography," says Dr. Campbell. So perhaps I should start close by -- in Florida. Florida produces the majority of mangoes in the United States, and it turns out South Floridians are exceptionally confident with their mango selections. Local favorites . Standing in front of the one dollar line for the mango tasting and flavor evaluations, I ask festival attendee Stacey Griffin what she votes for. Her mango of choice is the Merritt, a complex mango from Florida with layers of flavors. Griffin's second choice goes to the Champagne mango, also known as the Ataulfo, from Mexico, with thick, buttery flesh and a thin pit. For Griffin, mangoes are great in all forms: hot, cold, as smoothies or in a cooked dish. For others, including myself, the choice is too overwhelming to make such an important decision so quickly. I wonder if there are tricks or techniques I should apply to come to a decision quicker. "The best way to taste mango and to appreciate the complexity of the flavors is early in the morning with an empty stomach," says Ledesma. If you want to get really technical, which is exactly what festivals like this seem to thrive on, we can also argue over mango cultivation, pruning, crafting and market demand. The event features a long diary of workshops and displays and other proceedings on all things mango. I learn, for instance, that while India is the world's biggest producer of mangoes by some distance, Mexico is the biggest supplier to the United States, with China, India and Brazil following. That doesn't necessarily mean Mexico has the best mangoes, but the Champagne variety from Mexico is deliciously sweet with an appetizing orange color. Then there's the Keitt -- shining yellow and aromatic. There's the Manila from Philippines -- strong and sour. The Okrong from Thailand is also pleasant, while the Kent variety is rather grassy. Mangoes during the festival sell for the modest price of $1-2 each, but in Japan the price can go much higher. "The Floridian mango sells for $80 a piece," says Ledesma. "It's given as a gift because its red color is a symbol of luck and abundance." Mango tastings don't have to involve the fruit in its pure form. Cut, cooked, creamed . Soon I find myself trying mango-based dishes like sticky rice with mango, mango ceviche and mango chutneys offered by local vendors and chefs. It all has a refreshing yet sweet flavor and the savory and spicy combinations intrigue me. Its versatility makes it easy-to-use in salads, dips, chutneys, smoothies and even bread. But even after dozens of tastings, I'm still looking at my notes unable to decide what makes a perfect mango. I seek alternative opinion once again. "I definitely do not like Manila," says seven-year old son. "It's super sour." Dr. Campbell says it's almost impossible to decide what the "best" mango is. But that doesn't stop him picking one out. "My favorite is the Edward because I grew up with it, I have it in my backyard," says Campbell. "It is safe and it reminds me of home." After two days of exploration, numerous tastings and various conversations I finally decide on a favorite: I opt for the Fairchild mango from Panama, named after David Fairchild. It's smooth, creamy and fragrant, its bold sweetness is addictive and I'm intrigued by the color. It's just a shame my choice means excluding so many delicious others.

The International Mango Festival takes places every year in Miami, bringing together mango enthusiasts and experts . Dozens of varieties from around the world can be tasted, cooked and bid for during the two-day event . The Fairchild mango was named after David Fairchild, who introduced mangoes to the U.S. in early 1900s .

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(CNN) -- London may be the center of attention this summer, but venture beyond the Olympic Stadium and you'll find the real British Isles, a world of ancient thatched cottages, monumental castles, elegant university towns and jagged peaks. You won't have to travel far to see why the British landscape so inspired the Romantic poets, why A-listers flee the city for tiny medieval villages and why a pint in a pub selling hammers and nails tastes finer than any other on Earth. England: The Cotswolds . For a slice of picture-postcard England, the Cotswolds make an easy excursion from London but feel half a world away. The wool trade boomed in these rolling hills in medieval times and today the region is littered with achingly pretty villages, elegant old mansions, graceful churches and atmospheric pubs, most largely unchanged for centuries. Wander between rows of honey-colored almshouses and thatched cottages, browse the antiques shops or stop for a cream tea and you'll feel transported back in time. Away from the tourists in Burford and Broadway you'll find quieter spots such as Chipping Campden with its long curving high street. Leading members of the arts and crafts movement were so enamored by the town they made it their home in the early 20th century, and their founder, William Morris, settled in nearby Kelmscott in a gloriously unassuming riverside mansion. Another hidden gem, Painswick, lies to the west with its elegant rows of medieval terraced housing and wonderful rococo gardens. For the best pint, head to the Falkland Arms in Great Tew, a place so special I barely wish to share it. England: Cambridge . Soaked in history and riddled with historic buildings, the university town of Cambridge exudes a dreamy air of Old World sophistication. The august colleges, hushed quadrangles, manicured lawns and cobbled laneways give way to "The Backs," a stretch of picturesque gardens bordering the meandering River Cam. Cambridge is an exclusive kind of place where gowned cyclists ply the streets and the academic elite debate life-changing questions in dimly lit pubs. You can visit many of the University's 31 colleges, but don't miss the extraordinary King's College Chapel. Its mesmerizing fan-vaulted ceiling is best appreciated during Evensong when you can listen to the college's celebrated choir as you ponder your place in the universe. Art lovers should follow up the grand neoclassical Fitzwilliam Museum with the unassuming Kettle's Yard, a treasure trove of 20th-century art, ceramics and sculpture. For the quintessential Cambridge experience, hop on a chauffeur-driven punt to the sleepy village of Grantchester. Once a favorite haunt of the influential Bloomsbury Group of writers, intellectuals and artists, this is the place for afternoon tea at the tranquil Orchard Tea Garden. From Cambridge, it's a short trip north to the charming town of Ely and its magnificent cathedral, whose soaring towers dominate the flat marshy fenland that surrounds the town. England: Lake District . England's largest protected outdoor playground, the Lake District National Park, is a wild and winsome place full of craggy peaks, glittering lakes and moody fells. For walkers and climbers, there's a wealth of routes from which to choose. Try the Langdale Pikes, a chain of rugged hills offering spectacular views or for something less taxing, the Borger Dalr route. The region provided ample inspiration for some of England's finest writers and poets, and today you can follow the William Wordsworth trail from his childhood home in Cockermouth to tiny Dove Cottage in Grasmere, and the more tranquil Rydal Mount in Ambleside, where you can sit in the house where he once tested his verse. Beatrix Potter's bucolic 17th-century farmhouse, Hill Top, is also here and scenes straight from her books lie around every corner. Many of the main sights get extremely busy, as do cruises on the largest lake, Windermere. Instead head for Coniston Water, where a trip on the restored 19th-century Steam Yacht Gondola offers captivating views of the surrounding hills and drops you off at Brantwood, the fascinating former home of John Ruskin, Victorian art critic, philosopher and philanthropist. Scotland: The Highlands and Islands . Big skies, craggy mountains, steely-gray lochs and cascading falls, the majestic, wild expanses of the Scottish Highlands are every bit as romantic as their celluloid reputation. The grand vistas, lonesome castles and isolated pubs where you can warm yourself by a peat fire, sip a dram of whisky and put the world to right are all just waiting to be explored. You can hike, bike, ski and fish, feast on seafood, dance a jig or even toss a caber (a large wooden pole thrown as a test of strength during the traditional Highland Games). The mercurial landscape of the Cairngorms National Park makes an excellent place to start. Sculpted by glaciers and home to golden eagles, wildcats and red deer, the ancient forests and bleak moorland here are simply spectacular. For pure romance, head to Eilean Donan Castle. Perched on a rocky islet on the edge of Loch Duich, it is one of Scotland's most iconic sights. Nearby is the glorious Isle of Skye or head for the Hebrides to marvel at the mysterious standing stones at Callanish and dip your toes in the azure waters off Lewis and Harris. Possibly Scotland's most spectacular setting though is on far-flung Orkney, where you'll find the wonderfully preserved Skara Brae. The village, which predates the Egyptian pyramids, remains a testament to the ingenuity of the people of the day. Wales: Snowdonia and North Wales . North Wales is one of the country's most spectacular and traditional regions. Its high mountains and rough terrain deterred waves of invaders over the years, and its finest landscapes are protected as part of Snowdonia National Park. Snow-capped mountains, tumbling rivers, Stone Age burial chambers and Roman forts all lurk here. It's an excellent spot for gentle hiking or challenging climbs but rather than tackle the busy Mount Snowdon, head instead for Cader Idris, a legendary peak said to be an entrance to the underworld. Capel Curig makes a good base for walkers and climbers, but history buffs should head to one of the magnificent medieval castles that dot the area. The intimidating fortresses at Harlech, Beaumaris, Conwy and Caernarfon jointly form a UNESCO World Heritage Site and are intriguing places to explore. Alternatively, catch the dramatic Ffestiniog Railway to the slate mines at Blaenau Ffestiniog to learn about the human side of Wales' industrial heritage. A short trip south and you enter an entirely different world at the whimsical Italianate village of Portmeirion. Set on a tranquil peninsula, this bizarre enclave was the brainchild of Welsh architect Sir Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis. Ireland: Kerry . Gorgeously green and incredibly friendly, the lush scenery and unique atmosphere of Kerry have made it one of Ireland's most popular regions. Here, emerald forests drip with moss, dramatic peaks lie shrouded in mist and water trickles everywhere. Head out from the tourist honeypot of Killarney around the Ring of Kerry with its glorious views, sandy beaches and ancient ruins. It's a busy route in summer and the best way to leave the crowds behind is to take a trip to the early Christian monastery of Skellig Michael. Seven miles offshore and up 600 steep steps, you'll find the 6th-century beehive huts of what was once one of Europe's most remote religious communities. The sense of isolation here is humbling, and the views are nothing short of spectacular. Alternatively, you could take a trip in a pony and trap across the beautiful Gap of Dunloe which is flanked by Ireland's highest mountains, the McGillycuddy's Reeks. Whatever you do, don't miss the Dingle Peninsula with its vast stretch of golden sand at Inch, scenic Conor Pass and beguiling eponymous town where you can down a pint in the wonderfully atmospheric Dick Mack's pub/hardware store. Northern Ireland: the Causeway Coast . Northern Ireland's troubled reputation has been hard to shake off, but wander this way and you'll be rewarded with the peace and tranquility of a place the world has yet to discover. Beyond Belfast's black taxi tours, urban regeneration and stunning new Titanic experience, the biggest draw is the otherworldly Giant's Causeway. Here, more than 38,000 interlocking basalt columns form a patchwork of stepping stones that stretch out into the sea. This extraordinary landscape marks the start of the legendary Finn McCool's bridge to Scotland, although a rival theory suggests it's merely a geological phenomenon formed 50 million to 60 million years ago. From here the beautiful Causeway Coast stretches in both directions. Head east to reach Carrick-a-Rede, where a narrow swaying rope bridge connects the mainland to a little island traditionally known for its salmon fishing, or go west to the dramatic ruins of Dunluce Castle. Perched on a clifftop, the fortress partly collapsed into the sea in 1639 and today a narrow bridge forges the gap between the main castle and its courtyard. Alternatively, you could just hop on the historic train line to Bushmills, where you'll find the world's oldest legal distillery.

In the Cotswolds, visit elegant mansions, graceful churches and atmospheric pubs . Gowned cyclists ride the streets of Cambridge while academics debate . Don't skip the snow-capped mountains and Stone Age burial chambers of Northern Wales . Don't miss Ireland's Dingle Peninsula with its vast stretch of golden sand .

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New York (CNN) -- The mayor of Newark has called for an investigation into a far-reaching New York Police Department surveillance program that was allegedly conducted in the New Jersey city's Muslim's neighborhoods. "The Newark Police Department was not involved in joint operations with the New York Police Department as was described in the disclosed NYPD report," Mayor Cory Booker said Wednesday, referring to a leaked internal New York police document that allegedly detailed police surveillance of Muslim-owned business and mosques across the city. "I strongly believe that we must be vigilant in protecting our citizens from crime and terrorism but to put large segments of a religious community under surveillance with no legitimate cause or provocation clearly crosses a line," he said. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie also called the development "disturbing" and has asked the state's attorney general to investigate. The 60-page report, first obtained by The Associated Press, showed maps of Newark and photographs of Muslim residences and mosques. There was no statement in the document regarding terrorism or criminal activity. The New Jersey mayor's statement comes a day after New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended the extent of police surveillance against critics who have suggested authorities went too far. "We have to keep this country safe," the mayor told reporters, addressing questions about a separate report, also leaked to AP, that indicated the New York police were closely monitoring Muslim student associations in schools across the Northeast. "If people put things on websites and make them available to everybody, of course the NYPD is going to look at anything that's publicly available in the public domain," Bloomberg said. "And given we've had a dozen people arrested or convicted of terrorist acts who've come from similar organizations, we have an obligation to do so." That report said police have tracked websites, and on one occasion sent an undercover officer with students from the City College of New York on a whitewater rafting trip. "The police department goes where there are allegations," Bloomberg said. But Yale University President Richard Levin described New York's surveillance program as "antithetical to the values" of the New Haven, Connecticut, university and those of the nation. When a reporter asked if police had gone too far by sending the agent on the rafting trip, Bloomberg responded, "No." Police spokesman Paul Browne told CNN that his agency does not monitor students directly but confirmed it monitors websites they use. "In any case where you see an NYPD officer present, it's an indication that we were looking at an individual," he said. The Columbia University Muslim Students Association condemned the police practice in a statement this week. "We are concerned that news reports about NYPD's presence on our campus have a chilling effect on the intellectual freedom necessary for a vibrant academic community," it read. In December, a prominent group of Muslim leaders boycotted Bloomberg's annual interfaith breakfast in protest of the controversial program. The move stemmed from a series of earlier news reports that raised questions about the nature of a CIA partnership with the New York police that allegedly helped to build city intelligence programs to spy on Muslims. The boycott stood in a stark contrast to the goodwill the mayor earned among Muslim leaders when he defended plans for a controversial Islamic community center near the former site of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan. The CIA later announced its internal watchdog found no issue or evidence of wrongdoing in the spy agency's partnership with New York police.

Newark's mayor calls for investigation into New York Police Department surveillance . New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie also calls the development "disturbing" Christie asks state's attorney general to investigate reports of spying on Newark Muslim areas .

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(CNN) -- Bayern Munich coach Louis Van Gaal has signed a one-year contract extension with the German champions. The Dutchman's current deal was due to expire at the end of the Bundesliga season but the club confirmed on Monday that Van Gaal's new contract will take him through until June 2012. Bayern won the title last season but have endured a tough start to the current campaign. They are sitting ninth in the table after losing two of their opening six games and were defeated at home by league leaders Mainz on Saturday. But chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge told the club's official website that they were keen for the coach to stay despite Bayern's patchy form. "I always prefer doing things which might not have been expected," he said. "People are always extending contracts after victories, so this sends out a very good signal to the world at large about our opinion of the coach's value, even though we lost to Mainz." Speaking ahead of Bayern's Champions League tie with Swiss team FC Basel on Tuesday, Van Gaal said: "My first priority is always the sporting perspective. Winning things is always important, and you can win things with a top club like Bayern Munich." The 59-year-old led Bayern to the Champions League final for the first time since 2001 last season, where they were beaten 2-1 by Inter Milan, then coached by Jose Mourinho. Van Gaal said his "outstanding" relationship with his playing staff and the board were major factors in his decision to commit. He added: "I couldn't wish for anything better. The chemistry's right. You get to know each other properly in difficult situations. We're seeing it again right now. "These are tough times, but the board is keeping the faith -- the faith which took us to the Champions League final in Madrid." Rummenigge said Bayern valued their coach highly: "He does a superb job every day. We're recognizing that with this contract extension." Bayern's captain -- Dutch midfielder Mark van Bommel -- welcomed the news. He said: "The coach signing a new deal is a very good sign. He's doing a great job." One of Germany's stars of the World Cup, Thomas Muller, echoed the comments of his captain. "Van Gaal been extremely important for me so far, he's made a huge contribution to my career. That settles the matter, which is good for him, for us and for the club as a whole."

Louis Van Gaal signs a contract extension with German champions Bayern Munich . The Dutchman's deal runs until the end of June in 2012 . Bayern won the Bundesliga last season and were beaten in the Champions League final . Van Gaal unconcerned about Bayern's patchy start to the season .

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(CNN) -- Two leading Jewish watchdog groups are denouncing a prominent cartoonist's illustration about Israel's offensive in Gaza, saying it uses anti-Semitic imagery. The cartoon was published Wednesday in newspapers and on the Internet. The Anti-Defamation League, which has been fighting anti-Semitism since it was founded in 1913, called the syndicated cartoon by Pulitzer Prize-winning Pat Oliphant "hideously anti-Semitic." The Simon Wiesenthal Center, which, among other things, fights anti-Semitism and educates people about the Holocaust, said "the cartoon mimics the venomous anti-Semitic propaganda of the Nazi and Soviet eras." Published Wednesday in newspapers and on the Internet, the cartoon shows the small figure of a woman, labeled Gaza, carrying a child. She is being pursued by a headless, jackbooted figure wielding a sword, marching in an apparent goose-step and pushing a fanged Jewish star on a wheel. The Anti-Defamation League said the cartoon used "Nazi-like imagery" and a "hateful evocation of the Star of David." Abraham H. Foxman, the ADL's national director, said the cartoon's "outlandish and offensive use of the Star of David in combination with Nazi-like imagery is hideously anti-Semitic." "It employs Nazi imagery by portraying Israel as a jack-booted, goose-stepping headless apparition," Foxman said. "The implication is of an Israeli policy without a head or a heart. Israel's defensive military operation to protect the lives of its men, women and children who are being continuously bombarded by Hamas rocket attacks has been turned on its head to show the victims as heartless, headless aggressors." The Wiesenthal Center, which also issued its statement Wednesday, said it urged The New York Times Web site and other Web sites to remove the cartoon. "There is nothing about Oliphant's cartoon not meant to denigrate and demonize the Jewish state, from the headless goose-stepping soldier to the horrific depiction of the Star of David about to devour a cowering innocent Gazan woman holding a baby," Rabbi Marvin Hier, the group's dean, and Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the group's associate dean, said in a joint statement. "The imagery in this cartoon mimics the venomous anti-Semitic propaganda of the Nazi and Soviet eras. It is cartoons like this that inspired millions of people to hate in the 1930's and help set the stage for the Nazi genocide," the statement said. A spokeswoman for Universal Press Syndicate, which distributes Oliphant's work, issued a statement defending him, saying he, "like all editorial cartoonists, uses his art to comment on important issues of the day widely reported in the worldwide media -- in this case, the conflict over Gaza. That his cartoons sometimes spark intense debate is a testament to his talent." Universal said no media outlet had informed the syndicate that it removed the cartoon, but "Oliphant's clients are not contractually bound to inform us." A New York Times spokeswoman said, "We did not run the cartoon in the newspaper, nor do we plan to do so." She said NYTimes.com has, by contract with uclick.com, an "Oliphant" button on the cartoons page. "Yesterday, those who clicked on it saw the cartoon you mentioned, which is now relegated to the Oliphant archive," she said. Imagery and rhetoric comparing Israel to Nazis have been deployed by Israel's persistent critics, who decry the Jewish state's treatment of Palestinians as oppressive and brutal. Israel and its supporters defend the state as humane and say it has properly defended itself against attacks. There has been sharp criticism of Israel's offensive against Hamas militants in Gaza who launched rockets into southern Israeli towns. Human Rights Watch said Wednesday the Israeli military's firing of white phosphorus shells over densely populated areas during the offensive "was indiscriminate and is evidence of war crimes," a claim denied by Israel. Israel has said that Hamas militants situated themselves among civilians during the offensive. Oliphant, who won the Pulitzer in 1967, has been a dominant figure in the editorial cartoon world. His work has been distributed since 1980 by Universal Press Syndicate, which calls the Australian native one of the "sharpest, most daring practitioners" among editorial cartoonists. He has received many honors, and his cartoons have been exhibited across the world. "In 1998, the Library of Congress commemorated the acquisition of 60 of his works with a special exhibition at the Library's Great Hall," according to an Oliphant biography on the Universal Web site. This isn't the first time Oliphant's cartoons have drawn criticism. The American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee in 2005 "wrote to the San Francisco Chronicle and Universal Press Syndicate to communicate concern over racist depictions of Arabs," according to the group's Web site, and the Asian American Journalists Association criticized offensive stereotypes in cartoons in 1999, 2001 and 2007. Debates over offensive editorial cartoons are not uncommon. Keith Woods, dean of faculty at the Poynter Institute, a journalism school in St. Petersburg, Florida, was asked to comment on the reaction to the cartoon, whether the cartoon was improper, and at what point in the editorial process an editor can say a product has gone too far. He said he understands the positions the Jewish groups and Israeli policy critics bring to the table. He said he believes Oliphant is saying that "Israel is behaving toward the Palestinians the way the Nazis behaved toward the Jews" and that he is stating an opinion shared by many in the Middle East and the world. "I believe that like the caricatures they are, editorial cartoons by their nature exaggerate their messages, so I don't think Oliphant is suggesting a one-to-one comparison. So I get the message, instead, that Israel is acting brutally toward the Palestinians." He also believes the ADL and the Wiesenthal Center "are saying that the cartoon is at least doing unintentional harm (if not more calculated harm)." "I see their point. There are symbols -- and the Nazi extermination of the Jews is surely one of them -- that can only truly be analogized to their equals. Unadulterated evil compared with unadulterated evil. Israel's ongoing battles with its Arab neighbors may be many things, but it is not The Final Solution." As for the question of how news organizations should handle and discuss such a cartoon, Woods said that "Oliphant clearly has the right to provoke or offend. The question for him is: Do you truly wish to conflate a complex, historic conflict with one of the most evil acts in history? And for the newspapers that carry the cartoon -- and their behavior here is equally open to critique -- do you wish to perpetuate such a comparison?"

NEW: Cartoon's distributor defends cartoonist, cites his talent to stir debate . Work by Pulitzer-winning cartoonist shows jack-booted figure, Jewish star with fangs . Anti-Defamation League, Simon Wiesenthal Center say it uses anti-Semitic imagery . Critics compare Israeli actions to Nazi aggression; Israel says it must defended itself .

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It should have been a great morning for Richie Incognito. A brand new black Ferrari was delivered to his Florida house on Tuesday. Instead he is at the center of national media attention and exiled from his NFL team after a Miami Dolphins teammate made allegations of misconduct against him. Dolphins coach Joe Philbin suspended Incognito on Sunday night. "You know, I'm just trying to weather the storm right now. And this will pass," he told CNN affiliate WSVN outside a doctor's office in Weston, Florida, on Tuesday. Incognito said he didn't want to comment on media reports that he sent line-mate Jonathan Martin voice mails containing racial slurs and threats of physical violence. When asked about his status with the team, Incognito closed the door to his car without answering and drove away. ESPN, NFL.com and other media outlets reported that representatives for Martin on Sunday submitted the voice mails and texts to the league and the Dolphins. One of the messages, from April, contained a reference to Martin's biracial background, according to ESPN's sources. "Hey, wassup, you half (expletive) piece of (expletive). I saw you on Twitter, you been training 10 weeks. I'll (expletive) in your (expletive) mouth. I'm gonna slap your (expletive) mouth, I'm gonna slap your real mother across the face (laughter). (Expletive) you, you're still a rookie. I'll kill you." Philbin told reporters on Monday he made the decision to suspend Incognito "based on the information that I had at that time." He didn't give a reason for the move. Martin left the team suddenly last week and has not commented publicly on why he walked away in the middle of the season. He remains on the team's roster (meaning he will be paid for this week), though last week he was listed as inactive with an "illness." Also Tuesday, celebrity gossip website TMZ posted a video of Incognito at a bar, shouting at the top of his lungs while pacing wildly around a pool table topless. He uses profanity and the N-word in referring to one of his teammates who is also there. Martin doesn't appear in the video and TMZ only said the video was recorded earlier this year. CNN reached out multiple times to representatives for each player but hasn't received comment. Richie Incognito, Jonathan Martin, and the NFL's future . Cafeteria incident sparked departure . Last week, the Dolphins announced Martin had taken "a leave of absence." Philbin said Martin left the team after an incident at the team's cafeteria. Jay Glazer, an NFL analyst for FoxSports.com, reported that some of his teammates got up from a lunch table as a joke when Martin sat down. The lineman threw his food tray hard to the ground, he reported. Glazer later tweeted the incident was a final straw for Martin. The coach said representatives for Martin contacted the team on Sunday with their concerns. The Dolphins spent Sunday gathering information, after which he suspended Incognito, Philbin said. Several media outlets said Martin had left the Dolphins because of bullying, something Incognito denied on Twitter. "Shame on you for attaching my name to false speculation," one of the tweets said, according to Bleacher Report. That tweet and others addressed to various media outlets were later deleted. A post from Sunday remained a day later: "Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth -- Buddha." Philbin said he met with Martin and also talked with members of his family before Sunday, and the second-year player didn't say anything about player misconduct. The team said Sunday in a statement that Incognito, a nine-year veteran at offensive guard, was suspended for detrimental conduct. "We believe in maintaining a culture of respect for one another and as a result we believe this decision is in the best interest of the organization at this time," the team said in a statement on its website. The Miami Herald reported that a Dolphins source said Incognito is "done" with the team. A Dolphins spokesman had no comment. 'Teddy bear off the field' Chris Draft played with Incognito when both were with the St. Louis Rams in 2007 and 2008. Incognito's on-field aggressive persona was nothing like his personality away from the playing field, Draft said. "He was really kind of a big teddy bear off the field. My wife actually loved him," he said. The Sporting News takes a yearly poll of NFL players, and in 2009 they dubbed Incognito the dirtiest player in the league. The Rams released Incognito in December 2009 after an argument during a game with then-head coach Steve Spagnuolo. He played with the Buffalo Bills for three games before joining the Dolphins. Incognito, who played in the Pro Bowl all-star game in January, appeared to have calmed down on the field, according to a profile on NFL.com. Incognito pointed to meditation as a positive tool he used. The NFL will review the case, league spokesman Greg Aiello said Monday. "I will tell you that if the review shows that this is not a safe atmosphere I will take whatever measures are necessary to assure that it is," Philbin said. "I have that obligation to the players that I coach on a daily basis." The NFL Players Association has said the union has not started an investigation. NFL's pecking order . Dolphins rookie Will Davis said he hasn't experienced any acts of bullying or hazing. "I think a lot of people think of hazing as being cruel, but I don't see anything like that in this locker room," he said. "But it depends on how you take hazing. I've always thought the guys in here were great." He said everyone on the team loves Incognito. "I was shocked," he said. Wide receiver Mike Wallace said there was a lot of respect for both players. "I know both of those guys personally," he said. "I feel like they are both good guys." Former Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder told "Piers Morgan Live" that a locker room is often a place where players are trying to establish a pecking order. People cannot compare it to working at a regular job, he said, because it involves physically aggressive men with big egos competing and trying to prove their manhood. NFL players are "a bunch of testosterone-filled alpha males who are trying to find their place on the totem pole," he told Morgan. He said when Incognito joined the team, he would test people to see where he stood with them. "He is a guy that needs to know his place with you," Crowder said. Incognito also apparently liked to play pranks. In a segment shown on an HBO series that follows one NFL team during each preseason, Incognito figured out a teammate's iPad password. He then teased the player about a status update he made for the player and joked about the player's fiancee. "Hard Knocks" has given audiences a look inside team dynamics, sometimes giving viewers a glimpse at life for rookies. And inevitably some of the younger players get hazed. Hazing on the decline? Still, former Dolphins running back Ricky Williams said it occurs less frequently in the NFL than most people think. "Really I haven't seen much hazing," he said in an interview on "The Lead with Jake Tapper." He said it's a well-known "rite of passage" for a high draft pick to pick up a big dinner bill for some other players on the team. "Once you sign that contract there's a lot of rules, written and unwritten, that you are expected to follow," he said. "For me, this is something that should be handled internally. I don't think the media, I don't think fans, I don't think anyone outside is really in a position to really fully understand what occurs inside of a locker room and inside of a football team."

Suspended lineman Richie Incognito says this storm will pass . Teammate who alleged misconduct after leaving Dolphins will be paid this week . NFL is investigating whether there was hazing or bullying . Coach says he was never told about any possible misconduct .

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(CNN) -- Was it George Zimmerman or Trayvon Martin who screamed for help the night the 17-year-old Martin was shot dead? That could depend on which mother the jury believes. Both Zimmerman's and Martin's mothers expressed no hesitation Friday in separate court appearances as to whose panicked voice is heard screaming during a 911 call from that February 26, 2012, night in Sanford, Florida: Each said it was her son. That contradiction -- with Sybrina Fulton insisting it was her son, Trayvon, who cried out, while Gladys Zimmerman said it was her son, George, who was yelling after being attacked by the teen -- was central to Friday's court proceedings, and central to the second-degree murder case unfolding in central Florida. Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty and claimed he shot the teenager in self-defense. The 911 call played twice in court on Friday, his lawyers claim, back up their assertion that it was Martin, and not their client, who was the aggressor. Testifying late Friday afternoon, Gladys Zimmerman said she was sure George was the one yelling. Why? "Because he's my son." She answered "all of the above" when asked whether she had ever before heard her George Zimmerman laugh loudly or cry out for help. This instance, though, Gladys Zimmerman admits was different. "I haven't heard him like that before," she said as her son wiped away tears in the courtroom. "The anguish, the way that he is screaming it describes to me anguish, fear, I would say terror." Contrast that to the very different story offered a few hours earlier by Sybrina Fulton, who was stoic as prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda played the 911 call. When asked whether she recognized the screaming voice, the mother -- who earlier stated that her son was "in heaven" -- said it was that of "Trayvon Benjamin Martin." Trayvon Martin shooting: Fast Facts . Defense attorney Mark O'Mara followed up by asking her, "As his mother, there was no doubt it was him screaming?" She replied: "Absolutely." O'Mara then raised the possibility her son, not Zimmerman, was to to blame. "You certainly hope, as a mom, that your son Trayvon Martin would not have done anything that led to his death, correct?" he asked. "What I hoped for," said Fulton, "is that nothing happened and he'd still be here. That's my hope." Parents' comments pivotal, or do they cancel each other? More than a year ago, the tale of what happened between Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman captured the nation's attention and shone a spotlight on gun laws as well as race -- given that Martin is African-American, while Zimmerman is Hispanic. Moreover, the case prompted some to question Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law, which gives a person facing a "presumption of fear of death or great bodily harm" extra protections should they respond with force instead of retreat. Ultimately, Zimmerman chose not to utilize that specific defense. The trial kicked off nearly two weeks ago with impassioned opening arguments. The prosecution suggested Zimmerman, whom they painted as a neighborhood watch volunteer who overstepped his bounds, had "profiled" Martin because he was black. They called to the stand the 911 dispatcher who told Zimmerman not to follow Martin, though he did anyway. Then there were crime scene and autopsy photos. And of course, there was the testimony of Rachel Jeantel, who said she'd been on the phone with her friend Trayvon Martin in the minutes before his death. She testified that she'd heard Martin call out, "Why are you following me for?" and then say, "Get off," before their call was cut off. Jeantel has been described as the defense's star witness. That may still be true. But in many ways, Friday was the most emotional and potentially pivotal day in the trial to date. O'Mara isn't disputing that latter assertion. He told CNN's Brooke Baldwin on Friday night that "once the jury decides who was screaming for help (on the 911 call), if they can, I think everything else falls in line." Speaking to CNN, O'Mara says he doesn't dispute that Fulton genuinely believes it was her son's voice. But so does Gladys Zimmerman of her own son, the defense lawyer says, arguing that "all the other evidence would suggest" that the screaming voice is indeed that of George Zimmerman. And even if not everyone sees it that say, O'Mara opined, it's possible each woman's testimony may cancel each other out. Opinion: Can Zimmerman win over the jurors? "I think the jury is going to look at this and say both of these women just have to live with the belief that it is, in fact, their son," O'Mara said. "And they are going to make a determination not based on what each mom says, but on the other evidence." Daryl Parks, a lawyer for Martin's family, didn't entirely disagree -- telling CNN that he didn't think the case ultimately "is going to hinge on whose voice you're hearing." The six jurors, all women, will weigh both mother's credibility, others' testimony and a host of evidence. When all the testimony and presentations are over, Parks said, he expects they'll agree on a verdict: guilty. He said, "At the end of the day, we do not believe that George Zimmerman had to pull out a gun and shoot Trayvon Martin in the heart." Defense challenges medical examiner . Sybrina Fulton and Gladys Zimmerman weren't the only members of their respective families to take the stand Friday. Jahvaris Fulton, Martin's older brother, testified Friday morning about the voice on the 911 call. The 22-year-old college student said he was certain that it was his brother, even as he added that he had "heard him (Martin) yell" before, but "not like that." Hours later, it was Jorge Meza's turn. He testified right after Zimmerman's mother. A deputy sheriff in Orange County -- which is just south of Sanford, both in central Florida -- he's also George Zimmerman's uncle. He said he originally heard the 911 call on TV and without any further information or prompts, immediately recognized his nephew's voice. The other highlight of Friday's court proceedings was the testimony of Voluscia and Seminole County associate medical examiner Shiping Bao. In Zimmerman's trial, it's a jury of millions . Bao said the muzzle of Zimmerman's gun was likely in loose contact with Martin's clothing, indicating that the teen was shot at close range. In testimony that at times turned contentious, Bao also said Martin did not die right away after the gunshot. "I believe he was alive for one to 10 minutes after he was shot. His heart was bleeding until there was no blood left," the medical examiner said as autopsy photos lingered on a courtroom screen, adding that Martin was "suffering (and) in pain." "There is no chance he could survive. Zero." During a contentious cross-examination, defense attorney Don West expressed doubts about the condition of Martin's body and clothing when it was examined, noting the victim was not moved from the scene for about three hours. Bao would not confirm that timeline -- despite West's repeated attempts to have him do so -- because he said he was not there. As the two disputed Bao's ability to establish a timeline, Judge Nelson interjected, telling the witness to "please stop speaking so Mr. West can ask the next question." Prepared notes that Bao was reading from also drew West's attention. When asked about them, Bao said, "I typed out potential answers to your potential questions." Bao objected to sharing his notes, telling the judge that they were private and no one had seen them. Despite his protests, Nelson allowed the papers to be copied and reviewed by lawyers from both sides. The notes revealed that Bao had changed his mind about a couple of issues: the amount of time Martin survived after being shot and whether the marijuana in the teenager's system was enough to affect him. West argued that the prosecution knew about these changes but didn't tell the defense. But Bao insisted that he did not tell anyone that he'd changed his opinion. The defense attorney pressed Bao, too, on the collection of Martin's clothes and scraping of his fingernails. The medical examiner, though, said he couldn't remember each detail and that he'd trusted that his technicians properly followed procedures. Late in Friday's court proceedings, O'Mara made his pitch for acquittal -- arguing that Zimmerman acted in self-defense; there was no direct evidence of ill will, hatred or spite surrounding Martin's killing; and that it was still unclear who could be heard screaming on the 911 call. There is "no other reasonable hypothesis" for what happened, the defense attorney argued, besides self-defense. The judge, though, denied the motion -- after which, around 5 p.m., the prosecution formally rested its case. CNN's Mariano Castillo and HLN's Grace Wong contributed to this report.

NEW: A defense lawyer says other evidence, not the 911 call, will determine the case . NEW: A lawyer for Martin's family says he thinks the jury will find Zimmerman guilty . Gladys Zimmerman says she knows the panicked voice is that of her son . Earlier, Trayvon Martin's morther said that it her son's voice on the 911 call .

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(CNN) -- Mali and Ghana are through to the semifinals of the Africa Cup of Nations after both achieved hard-fought quarterfinal victories on Sunday. Barcelona midfielder Seydou Keita scored the winning spot-kick for Mali as they defeated co-hosts Gabon 5-4 on penalties after the match finished 1-1 after 120 minutes in Libreville. Meanwhile, an extra time winner from Andre Ayew proved enough for World Cup quarterfinalists Ghana to edge past Tunisia 2-1 in the second match in Franceville. Mali will now face Ivory Coast in the last four, while a semifinal showdown with Zambia now awaits Ghana. Gabon looked on course to reach the last four for the first time in their history when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang set up Eric Mouloungui for a 55th minute opener. And the scoreline remained that way until six minutes from time when Bordeaux striker Cheick Diabate turned and fired home an equalizer for Mali. With both sides scoring their first four penalties, Gabon's star player Aubameyang saw his spot-kick saved by Mali keeper Soumaila Diakite, leaving Keita to coolly slot home for Mali. Ghana continued their march towards a fifth Africa Cup of Nations title by seeing off a Tunisian side that ended the match with 10 men. Captain John Mensah opened the scoring for Ghana in the 10th minute, when he headed home a left-wing corner. Tunisia leveled three minutes before the break when Evian striker Sabeur Khalifa bravely headed in Zouhaier Dhaouadi's teasing cross from the right. But Ghana secured the victory after 101 minutes when Tunisia goalkeeper Aymen Mathlouthi dropped a harmless-looking cross for Ayew to roll home from five yards out. And Tunisia's hopes of getting back into the game were effectively ended when Aymen Abdennour was sent off for elbowing Ayew.

Mali and Ghana are through to the semifinals of the Africa Cup of Nations . Seydou Keita scores the winning spot-kick as Mali beat Gabon on penalties . Ghana are taken to extra time by Tunisia before securing a 2-1 success .

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(CNN) -- A second person who had been taken hostage at a rural Louisiana bank this week has died, a hospital official said Thursday. Laden McDaniel, a woman who police said was among three Tensas State Bank employees taken hostage on Tuesday, died at Rapides Regional Medical Center, according to Sarah Clancy of the Alexandria, Louisiana, hospital. Authorities said Fuaed Abdo Ahmed shot McDaniel and Jay Warbington as police stormed the bank in St. Joseph just before midnight Tuesday. Police shot and killed Ahmed, Louisiana State Police Col. Michael Edmonson said. He said the gunman had threatened to kill the hostages. Warbington died later, police said Wednesday. The third hostage had been freed before the shooting began. In 2012: Gunman wounded, ending French hostage incident . Ahmed had with him a book on torture and a bag with items he could use to torture people, state police Trooper Albert Paxton said Thursday. He also had a book on hostage negotiations, Paxton said. Police said Ahmed, 20, was known to police, and Edmonson described him as a paranoid schizophrenic. Ahmed told hostage negotiators that he heard voices and wanted to have a device removed from his head. Born in California, Ahmed moved with his family to northeastern Louisiana, where his family owns a convenience store, Edmonson said. The Mississippi River community of St. Joseph is about 35 miles south of Tallulah, Louisiana, and 35 miles north of Natchez, Mississippi. It is the seat of Tensas Parish, home to about 5,000 people. Ahmed entered the bank branch with a handgun around 12:30 p.m., and took the three bank employees hostage, according to officials. After word got out about the hostage situation, local, state and federal law enforcement agents descended on the usually quiet community. Law enforcement agents were able to talk to the hostages as well as the gunman. Edmonson said he talked to, and prayed with, relatives of the hostages. CNN's Ed Payne, Dave Alsup, Alina Machado, Greg Botelho and Joe Sutton contributed to this report.

Laden McDaniel is the second of the bank hostages to die . Police identify the dead hostage-taker as Fuaed Abdo Ahmed . Police: Ahmed shot both hostages as police stormed the building they were in . One hostage was freed earlier in the evening .

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(TIME.com) -- As the assistant chef and the senior policy adviser for healthy-food initiatives at the White House, Sam Kass knows how to fill a plate to the first lady's approval. Recently, we caught up with Kass at Google's annual Think Health summit, where he spoke to health care leaders and innovators about his work with Michelle Obama on her Let's Move initiative to curb childhood obesity. So far, Kass said, the campaign has overhauled school lunches, replaced the government's food pyramid with the more consumer-friendly MyPlate, and encouraged pediatricians to write prescriptions for more fruits and veggies. "Yet we've only scratched the surface of what's possible," he said. We asked Kass about everything, from what the United States is doing right in terms of healthy eating to what he's growing in the White House garden this season. What do you think has been the greatest breakthrough for the Let's Move campaign so far? There isn't one magic bullet for what's having the greatest impact -- there are all kinds of things we are doing and will continue to do. But I think what's really important is that we have unified the country around health. You believe we will see the greatest changes to national health when young kids start making healthy eating decisions for themselves. Are we seeing this transition yet? I see this all the time. We recently had the first ever Kids' State Dinner. There was china, butler service, the President and first lady were there -- the whole nine yards. It was amazing. Now these kids have gone back to their schools and communities and they're heroes. Why? Because they cooked some vegetables in a creative way and they used whole grains to make healthy dishes. They've started owning this for themselves, and it's what makes them great. We start seeing this everywhere, and that's what gives me great hope that we are really going to turn this around. TIME.com: Can laws against junk food in schools rein in child obesity? What are some of the simplest changes American families can make to their diets? There are a lot of little things that can be done. It's the first lady's experience that little changes can have huge impact. If families just filled half their plate with fruits and vegetables at dinnertime, it would have a transformative impact on their health. If we drank more water and low-fat dairy and nonsugary drinks, that would also have a transformative impact. Really any of the seven MyPlate tips, if we did any of those, we would really have a great impact. Sometimes it feels overwhelming. It feels like these problems are just so big, but in the end, the solutions can be quite small, approachable and doable. I think it's important to remember that. We need to break through and make sure parents have that kind of information they need and we can deliver it to them in ways that are useful. You trained under chef Christian Domschitz in Vienna. What can we learn from the way people eat abroad? I think there's a tremendous amount that we can all learn from the world. People are learning from us. American chefs are some of the greatest chefs in the world now. But of course we always have more to learn. I think what I've seen (abroad) is a love and care for food and the quality of ingredients. There's care taken in making sure people have time to prepare them properly with good portion sizes. TIME.com: Disney's diet: No more junk-food ads on kids channels . What are you growing in the White House garden right now? We are just ending summer and moving into fall, so we are just picking our last watermelons. Our tomatoes are still doing great. We have a lot of peppers, our zucchinis and yellow squash are just finishing up. We have a bunch of beans right now. And of course, pumpkins. We have the best pumpkin harvest of our time here by quite a lot. We will have a fun Halloween. What are some of the favorite meals in the White House? That's top-secret information. We balance. The first lady practices what she preaches, which is moderation. When we put out the MyPlate guide, she came in and said, "We're cooking the MyPlate." That's what we're doing. What she's always said to her kids, and throughout the Let's Move campaign, is that if we're eating balanced all the time, then when we go to a party and have pizza or cake, it's no problem. We all love fries and burgers and all that stuff. But we just can't have it day in and day out. That's when we run into trouble. What did you have this morning for breakfast? Today the Google team provided a healthy breakfast. In line with MyPlate, I had granola with low-fat yogurt and fruit. I'm also a big oatmeal guy. Oatmeal and bananas are pretty standard for me. TIME.com: The sad state of American kids' food environments . This article was initially published on TIME.com. Q&A with the White House chef on healthy eating . &copy 2012 TIME, Inc. TIME is a registered trademark of Time Inc. Used with permission.

Sam Kass is an assistant chef and senior policy advisor for healthy food initiatives . He works with first lady Michelle Obama on her Let's Move initiative . Healthy eating solutions "can be quite small, approachable and doable," he says .

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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Rawalpindi's police chief stopped doctors at the hospital where Benazir Bhutto died from conducting an autopsy, according to a lawyer on the hospital's board. In a video released Sunday, Benazir Bhutto, far right, appears through the sunroof before shots ring out. It was a violation of Pakistani criminal law and prevented a medical conclusion about what killed the former prime minister, said Athar Minallah, who serves on the board that manages Rawalpindi General Hospital. However, the police chief involved, Aziz Saud, told CNN that he suggested an autopsy be done, but that Bhutto's husband objected. The revelation came on Monday after new videotape of Bhutto's assassination emerged, showing her slumping just after gunshots rang out. The tape provided the clearest view yet of the attack and appeared to show that Bhutto was shot. That would contradict the Pakistan government's account. Read Bhutto's full medical report . A previously released videotape showed a man at the right of her vehicle raising a gun, pointing it toward Bhutto, who was standing in her car with her upper body through the sunroof. He fired three shots, then there was an explosion. In the video that emerged on Sunday, Bhutto was standing, and her hair and scarf appeared to move, perhaps from the bullet. Bhutto fell into the car, then came the blast. Watch new tape showing apparent gunman » . These images seem to support the theory that Bhutto died at the hands of a shooter before a bomb was detonated, killing another 23 people. Doctors at Rawalpindi General Hospital declared the 54-year-old dead hours after Thursday's attack, but the cause of her death has been widely debated. Pakistan's Interior Ministry announced on Friday that Bhutto died from a skull fracture suffered when she fell or ducked into the car as a result of the shots or the explosion and crashed her head onto a sunroof latch. See the likely sequence of events » . Bhutto's family and political party maintain that the government is lying, and insist she died from gunshot wounds. Bhutto's husband, in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Monday, called for an international investigation into his wife's death, saying the new video proves the Pakistani government "has been trying to muddy the water from the first day." "Everything is now very clear that she was shot," Asif Ali Zardari said. Zardari also called on the U.S. government to push for an international probe. "I want them to help me find out who killed my wife, the mother of my children," he said of the Bush administration. Javed Iqbal Cheema, spokesman for Pakistan's Interior Ministry, said the government's conclusion on Bhutto's death was based on "absolute facts, nothing but the facts" and "it was corroborated by the doctor's report." But Minallah issued an open letter on Monday and released the doctors' clinical notes to distance them from the government statement, and he also talked to CNN. In the letter, Minallah said the doctors "suggested to the officials to perform an autopsy," but that Saud "did not agree." He noted that under the law, police investigators have "exclusive responsibility" in deciding to have an autopsy. Minallah told CNN that he was speaking out because the doctors at the hospital were "threatened." "They are government servants who cannot speak; I am not," he said. He did not elaborate on the threats against the doctors. He said the lack of an autopsy has created "a perception that there is some kind of cover-up, though I might not believe in that theory." "There is a state within the state, and that state within the state does not want itself to be held accountable," Minallah said. Cheema said the government had no objection to Bhutto's body being exhumed for an autopsy if the family requested it. Her widower has said the family was against exhumation because it did not trust the government. Minallah said the family could not have prevented an autopsy at the hospital without getting an order from a judge. The three-page medical report, which was signed by seven doctors, described Bhutto's head wound, but it did not conclude what caused it. It noted that X-ray images were made after she was declared dead. The wound was described as an irregular oval of about 5 centimeters by 3 centimeters above her right ear. "Sharp bones edges were felt in the wound," it read. "No foreign body was felt in the wound." E-mail to a friend . CNN's Jomana Karadsheh contributed to this report .

NEW: New video proves Bhutto shot, widower says . Doctors claim Pakistani police prevented an autopsy on Benazir Bhutto . Lawyer Athar Minallah said the move violated Pakistani criminal law . Police chief Aziz Saud said he suggested autopsy but Bhutto's widower objected .

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Seoul, South Korea (CNN)It started with a first-class aviation executive throwing a fit on a flight over her nuts. It ended Thursday with that former executive sentenced to jail for one year. Heather Cho was working for Korean Air on December 5 when, as a first-class passenger on an international flight, an attendant served her macadamia nuts in a bag. Cho wanted them on a plate and demanded that the plane go back to the gate at New York's JFK airport so a crew member could be kicked off the flight. A South Korean judge said that her actions threatened the development of the aviation industry and inconvenienced passengers, and ruled that she violated aviation law, changed a flight path and interfered with operations. Cho had the chief steward removed from the flight after the plane had left the gate. The flight arrived 11 minutes behind schedule. A year in jail may seem just as extreme as freaking out over nuts. But the flight attendant testified that she was pressured by another Korean Air manager to keep quiet about Cho's behavior. Prosecutors said during her trial that there was a systematic attempt to cover up the incident. The judge blasted Cho for her conduct, saying that she had used the plane as if it were her personal car and that as a passenger, she could not override crew members and give orders during a flight. The case, dubbed "nut rage," gripped South Korea, especially because Cho is the Korean Air chairman's daughter. There is growing resentment over the perceived privileges and nepotism for the families that control the country's top companies. Cho resigned as vice president at the company a few days after the incident and publicly apologized, saying she accepted "full responsibility." On Thursday, she appeared in court wearing a green prison uniform. She gazed downward. Her hair hung in her face. "I don't know how to find forgiveness," she said. Park Chang-jin, the chief steward who was booted from the flight, has said the former executive treated crew members like "feudal slaves." Details of Cho's behavior on the flight have emerged. Park and Kim Do Hee, the flight attendant who served the nuts, had knelt in front of Cho in apology. Kim testified that Cho berated them about the service, and later shoved and cursed her. When the flight arrived in Korea, the flight attendant said another airline manager, Yeo Woon-jin, pressured her not to talk to investigators about Cho's physically abusing her and Park. Yeo was found guilty of interfering with an investigation. Following public fury over the December incident, Korean Air chairman Cho Yang-ho apologized to the flight attendants and the public. Asked in court in January if he knew that his daughter mistreated employees, he said, "I just heard that she's strict with her workers." CNN's KJ Kwon contributed to this report.

A former Korean Air executive is found guilty of violating aviation law after interrupting a flight over nuts . She has been sentenced to one year in jail for all charges .

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(CNN Student News) -- Students will make educated predictions about how many electoral votes each presidential candidate will capture in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. Procedure . Have students review the origin, purpose and function of the Electoral College. Ask students: What is the "winner take all" system? Are there any states that do not follow this system? If so, how do they determine their electoral vote allocation? How many electoral votes are needed to win the presidency? Next, divide students into small groups and assign each group a current swing state in the 2008 presidential race. Consult the CNN Electoral Map Calculator for a list of swing states. Then, refer groups to online resources, including CNN's Election Center 2008 on the CNN Politics site, to identify the following for their assigned swing state: . After students complete their research, have each group analyze its data to determine which candidate it thinks will likely capture the swing state's electoral votes. Have each group present its prediction and the rationale behind it. Following the presentations, direct students to the CNN Electoral Map Calculator to log their predictions for all the U.S. states and calculate how many electoral votes they predict each presidential candidate will capture. Instruct students to create a chart and log their predictions for each U.S. state. After the election, compare students' predictions to the actual electoral vote outcome. Wrap up the activity by discussing the role of the Electoral College in determining the outcome of a U.S. presidential election. Correlated Standards . Civics . 9-12 Content Standards . II. What are the Foundations of the American Political System? A. What is the American idea of constitutional government? B. What are the distinctive characteristics of American society? C. What is American political culture? D. What values and principles are basic to American constitutional democracy? III. How Does the Government Established by the Constitution Embody the Purposes, Values, and Principles of American Democracy? A. How are power and responsibility distributed, shared, and limited in the government established by the United States Constitution? B. How is the national government organized and what does it do? V. What are the Roles of the Citizen in American Democracy? A. What is citizenship? B. What are the rights of citizens? C. What are the responsibilities of citizens? D. What civic dispositions or traits of private and public character are important to the preservation and improvement of American constitutional democracy? E. How can citizens take part in civic life? The National Standards for Civics and Government (http://www.civiced.org/index.php?page=stds) are published by the Center for Civic Education (http://www.civiced.org/). Social Studies . Standard X. Civic Ideals and Practices . Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of the ideals, principles, and practices of citizenship in a democratic republic. The Curriculum Standards for Social Studies (http://www.socialstudies.org/standards/strands/) are published by the National Council for Social Studies (http://www.socialstudies.org/). Keywords . U.S. presidential election, candidates, popular vote, Electoral College, campaigning .

Students will predict electoral vote totals for each U.S. presidential candidate .

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(CNN)On what would have been the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 86th birthday, the Academy Awards decided to snub a beautiful film made about a seminal moment in his life. "Selma" did pick up two nominations, including one for best picture. But when the Hollywood gods consider a film to be truly great, its actors and/or actresses, screenplay and particularly its director are also recognized. "Selma" is a good film that told a great story, at least according to Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voters. Those voters are 93% white, 76% male and the average age is 63, according to a 2012 analysis by the Los Angeles Times. But did those demographics play a role in how "Selma" was received? True, the historical drama has been besieged by criticism over accuracy, particularly its portrayal of President Lyndon Johnson. In the film, King and Johnson are depicted as a lot more adversarial than the actual tapes of their conversation suggests. But it's hard to see that being the reason for its snub: "Gravity" was nominated for 10 Oscars, won seven, and yet you won't find an astronaut who would describe the film as accurate. And "Dallas Buyer's Club" was also a 2014 Oscar darling that sprinkled creative liberties all over a true story. Race could be invoked as a factor when you remember the email exchange between two top-level Sony executives that became public courtesy of "The Interview" hack. In it they joked about the kind of movie President Obama prefers and then began listing only those starring black people. But the two were also unkind to Jeffrey Katzenberg in that same exchange. There were backstabbing remarks revealed in emails about Angelina Jolie and Adam Sandler as well. My point is -- and I'm sure I'm at risk of losing my black card for writing this -- when those same old, white men made "12 Years A Slave" a favorite of the Oscars just a year ago, it is hard to say the snubbing of "Selma" is all about the demographics of the voters. Some, sure. But all? Remember, these people live in a land of make believe, where it's normal for the inhabitants to be injected with silicone. Oscar snubbings could come from a thousand superficial reasons, like someone sleeping with or not sleeping with the right person at the right time. In a town full of gay men, the heart wrenching "Brokeback Mountain" somehow lost out to the woefully mediocre "Crash." Leonardo DiCaprio's trophy case continues to sit empty. And I will never understand how "Shakespeare in Love" beat "Saving Private Ryan" for best picture. Truth be told. my favorite film of 2014 was "The Drop" and I don't think that was nominated for anything by anyone. It would have been wonderful to see "Selma" director Ava DuVernay become the first black female director nominated for an Oscar. She is incredibly talented and it is always nice to be recognized by peers. But I do not need her to win an Oscar to tell me how I should feel about "Selma." I do not need the Academy to tell me how I should spend my money at the movies. I do not need old, white men to validate a story so deeply personal and relevant to me today. That's not to suggest Hollywood's racism should not be called out. Only that the true story of Selma is much more than calling out racism. To paraphrase the acceptance speech Common gave at the Golden Globes on Sunday, "Selma" the movie and Selma the historic marches are about the awakening of our humanity. The old guard at the Oscars has the power to snub "Selma" for whatever reason it sees fit. But as a summer full of marches for the fight for equality reminded us, Hollywood has neither the power to snub nor the authority to validate Selma.

LZ: "Selma's" 2 Oscar nominations seen as a snub by some; Academy voters mostly white . He says calling out Hollywood racism fine, but it may not be the reasons for only 2 nods . LZ: I don't need Academy to tell me how I feel about Selma, which is about awakening humanity .

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(CNN) -- In brief remarks to the media just after returning to her hometown of Seattle, an emotional Amanda Knox thanked those who believed in her and supported her fight to overturn her murder conviction in Italy. "I'm really overwhelmed right now," said a tearful Knox, who arrived to cheering supporters at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. "I was looking down from the airplane, and it seemed like everything wasn't real." "What's important for me to say is just thank you, to everyone who has believed in me, who has defended me, who has supported my family," she said, her voice shaking. Being with her family, she said, is "the most important thing to me right now." "Thank you for being there for me," she said. Knox and her family were on a British Airways flight that landed in Seattle about 8:12 p.m. ET. Before beginning her remarks, Knox smiled and said, "They're reminding me to speak in English, because I'm having problems with that." An Italian appeals court on Monday overturned Knox's murder conviction in the 2007 death of her roommate, British student Meredith Kercher. Knox initially was sentenced to 26 years in prison. Knox's mother and stepfather, Edda and Curt Mellas, also thanked those who have supported their family, as well as the Italian attorneys who fought on her behalf. "Meredith was Amanda's friend," said Philadelphia attorney Theodore Simon, who spoke at the news conference. Knox wants the Kercher family to be remembered, Simon said as Knox nodded and appeared to fight tears. Knox supporters in Seattle said they planned a rousing welcome. "To Amanda herself, we say, 'Way to go, kid,' " Tom Wright, founder of the group Friends of Amanda Knox, said Monday night. "We look forward to welcoming you home with open arms and open hearts," Wright said, reading a statement. "You have well deserved, and will well deserve, all the joy and warmth and fun of your normal life returned to you." The statement also said that it was "primarily a sad occasion," and that the group's "deepest sympathies" were with Kercher's family. CNN affiliate KOMO-TV reported that Wright was among a group of more than a dozen supporters who gathered at a hotel suite to watch the jury return its decision about Knox more than 5,000 miles away. Afterward, Margaret Ralph was among those crying tears of joy. Asked what she'll say when she sees Knox, Ralph told KOMO, "I won't say anything. I'll just give her a big hug and kiss." "It was incredible," fellow supporter Kellanne Henry told KOMO, adding that it took a minute to absorb the news. "They finally got it right," she said. Many Seattle residents took to social media to post messages. "I am so happy this nightmare is over for you," Seattle resident Jenn Whitney wrote in a posting on one of several Facebook pages devoted to Knox. Whitney said she "cried with joy" when Knox's conviction was overturned. "I pray that God brings you home safely," she added. "If I had the chance to greet her when she lands back here in Seattle, the only thing I would do is hand her a rose, give her a hug and say 'welcome home!' " Jeff Bamby posted. On another Facebook page, Tamara Slater wrote, "Amanda you have been in the prayers of so many people, it must be heart warming to know you were never forgotten. Welcome home!" CNN affiliate KIRO-TV reported that when staff went out to gauge reactions to the news out of Italy on Monday, "We met just a few people in West Seattle who disagreed with Monday's ruling and thought that Knox was guilty." Jordan Adams said he thought Knox was guilty, but he was willing to accept the decision to overturn the conviction. "I did think she was guilty, but I guess, good luck to her since she's been freed and cleared," he told KIRO. Early Tuesday morning, a jogger who spotted a CNN crew in Seattle's Queen Anne Hill neighborhood stopped and yelled, "Yay Amanda! Welcome home!" But later, another resident walked up to a CNN crew to say that she could not "care less about Knox returning home" and that she believed Knox committed the crime. CNN's Josh Levs and Sandra Endo contributed to this report.

NEW: An emotional Knox says she is "overwhelmed" NEW: She says being with her family is "the most important thing" NEW: Her family thanks her supporters . NEW: "Meredith was Amanda's friend," one attorney says .

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(CNN) -- On August 24, a jury of nine in a California federal court handed down a ruling that sent shockwaves through the global wireless phone industry. Samsung, the world's largest phone maker, was found guilty of infringing on key Apple hardware design and software elements. Samsung got Apple's attention because of its size, but every Android device manufacturer now needs to consider potential exposure areas that could put them in the crosshairs as Apple tries to slow Android growth. The appeals game will surely play out over the next many months. In the meantime, consumers will feel the pain as devices potentially get more expensive and software changes begin to creep into their Android smartphones. If appeals rulings uphold the initial verdict, the mobile ecosystem as we know it will look very different in one to two years. This would be driven by fundamental changes in the look and feel of non-Apple phone hardware, changes to the Android mobile operating system and potentially the emergence of a third popular mobile operating system. Smartphone market changes coming . Android phones account for 56% of the U.S. smartphone market. Friday's ruling was very sobering for the Android device manufacturers that have driven this growth. Until recently, smartphone design patent ownership seemed like a gray area. The court has now made it clear that, in fact, it is very black and white. All phone manufacturers will need to be a lot more careful from here on out when it comes to design, and patents they want to avoid, license or partner on. This could result in phones being more expensive for consumers. Over the next year, consumers lose in this equation. Android phone makers will be scrambling to develop temporary workarounds to steer clear of any potentially infringing Apple patents. The time spent working on these fixes will reduce time spent on development of new, innovative features. In the case of Samsung, it is likely the only device manufacturer with the resources and scale to develop and implement fixes rapidly, mitigating the immediate impact on consumers. If there are other phone makers in Apple's sights, they will be taking advantage of a much-needed head start to begin developing workarounds now to avoid a lawsuit. Sure, Android consumers could always turn to Apple, but some are turned off by the company's one phone per year release schedule and continued hesitancy to incorporate the latest mobile advances such as 4G and larger screens. Consumers who want to stay in the open and highly-customizable Android ecosystem could experience some temporary frustration. Creating the next iconic device . This ruling could prove to be the catalyst for major industry change. Smartphone product roadmaps are all but decided for the next year. Beyond that, every device manufacturer will be thinking outside of the "rectangular slab form-factor" box in an attempt to create the next big consumer trend. This will be easier said than done given that consumers have become accustomed to the current crop of devices. Device manufacturers know that consumers can't tell them what they want, they can only tell them what they don't want. This will result in phone makers traveling into unchartered territory in the hopes of capturing consumer attention and emotion. Choice will likely also come in the way of new mobile operating system platforms. It is no coincidence that Microsoft and Nokia's stock opened higher the day after the ruling. Apple stated during the trial that these companies have proven that it is possible to innovate in the smartphone market without copying Apple. Of course, Apple does have patent and design agreements with Microsoft and both companies have a mutual interest in slowing Android growth. As wireless carriers and device manufacturers seek to diversify their product lineup in the wake of the ruling, Microsoft might finally have its day in mobile. It is very likely that we'll eventually see a three horse mobile operating system race among Apple, Android and Microsoft. Short term is not pretty, but long term looks good . The short-term might not be pretty, but long-term, the industry is poised to break free from the homogenous rounded rectangular slabs with grid-based apps we're all familiar with today. This ruling will encourage accelerated innovation from device manufacturers, which will move beyond the constraints of a single form factor. Ultimately, the consumer will choose what designs will win and which implementation of hardware and software integration is most elegant. Today's constraints will define how the industry will innovate tomorrow. It might be a tough road, but there are promising days ahead. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Jefferson Wang.

In the short term, the California verdict could raise smartphone prices and development time . Android phone makers will scramble to steer clear of potential patent infringements . Manufacturers will be thinking outside of the "rectangular slab form-factor" box . As manufacturers diversify, Microsoft might finally have its day in the mobile sun .

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Washington (CNN) -- Macy Friday can't remember what she was thinking when -- mouth agape, eyes bugged -- she shook hands with Hillary Clinton in Denver this week. It all happened so fast, she says. What she does remember is the national response to the photo of her reacting with pure, unadulterated excitement to meeting the former secretary of state. Media outlets pounced on the story. The Washington Post captured the reaction perfectly, writing that Macy had a "look on her face that has never been witnessed by anyone who is not a dad chaperoning a minivan full of teenagers at a One Direction concert." But why was Macy so excited? What does she like about Hillary Clinton? And who else would she react that way to meeting? CNN spoke with Macy Friday over the phone Thursday. Here is our conversation: . CNN: How did you get to meet Hillary Clinton? Macy: I went to Union Station unsuspecting that she would come. I had seen her in the elections and I have heard a lot about her. I was just like, 'Wow.' I was excited because, I thought, she was saying hi to a lot of people. I didn't think she was going to say hi to me. They went into a coffee shop and we were like, 'Oh no, they are going to leave.' And then, she came out and she is like, 'Hey you.' And I didn't know who she is talking to. And then I realized it was me and I went up and I turned back at my family. (long pause) I had never met anybody famous before. (long pause) I turned back at my family and I, like, I, you know, made the face. CNN: What did you think about all the attention your photo received? Macy: Well, I love it. Because, well, it is not just because... I think Hillary Clinton is a a really good role model for girls of all ages and it [the reason she liked the attention] isn't just because it got a lot of cool places. I am just happy because people know that a younger girl still looks up to somebody like that. CNN: What is it about Secretary Clinton that you look up to? Macy: I like her because, like, she is running for president and a lot of people think that girls shouldn't be president because they are not as smart or they shouldn't have the same rights. And she is just a good role model for girls because, you know, she is just sort of, like, to everybody, 'Girls can be awesome, too.' [Editor's note: Clinton herself has said she has yet to make a decision on whether she will run for president.] . CNN: You are 10. When you were born, Hillary Clinton had been well known for 20 years. How much did you know about her when you met earlier this week? Macy: I didn't know, too, too, too much. I knew that she was the first lady for a while. And her husband is Bill Clinton. And her daughter Chelsea just had a baby. And her niece's name is Macy. And that is my name. And when I first went up to her, I said, 'Macy,' and she said that is one of her favorite names. CNN: Who are some other famous people you would be as excited to see as you were with Secretary Clinton? Macy: Oh gosh, well, Selena Gomez, Katy Perry, probably Michelle Obama and Barack Obama. Hmmm... Taylor Swift. Did I already say Taylor Swift? Probably One Direction. CNN: A local anchor in your hometown joked that you would be the first women president. Would you ever want to do that? Macy: Maybe! It is a really hard job. I think, I think, maybe. [Editor's note: Macy will be eligible to run for president in 2040.] . CNN: Do you think you could do it? Macy: Yeah! CNN: If Hillary Clinton runs for president, what would your advice be to her? Macy: I would say that even if you are different or you are a different gender, it doesn't matter what you look like. I don't know, like, if you wear glasses. Everybody can be awesome. CNN: If you could vote in 2016, would you vote for Secretary Clinton? Macy: Yes, totally. CNN: Thanks Macy... Macy: Thank you. And one more thing: Make sure if Finn [her 12-year old brother] does give you the permission to use the photo, give him photo cred! --- . (CNN did use the selfie that Finn took of his family and Clinton. And, yes, he did get the photo cred. Also, some question and answers were edited for clarity.)

Macy Friday met Hillary Clinton this week and a photo of her priceless reaction went viral. Macy says meeting Hillary Clinton was like meeting Selena Gomez, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift and One Direction. Clinton, Macy says, shows everybody that "Girls can be awesome, too". "She is running for president," Macy says of Hillary Clinton.

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(CNN) -- Michelin Travel Publications rolled out the results for New York City's 2015 Michelin Guide today, and 73 area restaurants earned one or more of the guide's highest honor - the Michelin star. The Michelin Guide, or Le Guide Michelin, originated in France in 1900 and has since offered its notes, recommendations and ratings on restaurants and hotels in select cities around the globe. It published its first New York City edition in 2005. World's 50 best restaurants for 2014 . The guide's recommendations are put together by a team of "famously anonymous" inspectors, who all must undergo strict training and sign confidentiality agreements before they can file reports on their assigned establishments. The ratings for the guide are as follows: . Three stars -- "Exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey. One always eats here extremely well, sometimes superbly. Distinctive dishes are precisely executed, using superlative ingredients." Two stars -- "Excellent cuisine, worth a detour. Skillfully and carefully crafted dishes of outstanding quality." One star -- "A very good restaurant in its category. A place offering cuisine prepared to a consistently high standard." Best restaurants in America are... Here is the full list (alphabetically in each category): . Three Michelin stars: . Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare . Eleven Madison Park . Jean-Georges . Le Bernardin . Masa . Per Se . Two Michelin stars: . Aquavit . Atera . Blanca . Daniel . Ichimura . Jungsik . Marea . Momofuku Ko . Soto . One Michelin star: . Ai Fiori . Aldea . Andanada . Aureole . Babbo . Batard . Betony . Blue Hill . Bouley . The Breslin . Brushstroke . Cafe Boulud . Cafe China . Carbone . Casa Enrique . Casa Mono . Caviar Russe . Danny Brown Wine Bar & Kitchen . Delaware and Hudson . Del Posto . Dovetail . 15 East . Gotham Bar and Grill . Gramercy Tavern . Hakkasan . Jewel Bako . Juni . Junoon . Kajitsu . Kyo Ya . La Vara . Lincoln . Luksus at Torst . Meadowsweet . Minetta Tavern . The Modern . The Musket Room . M. Wells Steakhouse . NoMad . Peter Luger . Picholine . Piora . Pok Pok NY . Public . The River Cafe . Rosanjin . Seasonal . Spotted Pig . Sushi Azabu . Sushi of Gari . Take Root . Telepan . Tori Shin . Torrisi Italian Specialties . Tulsi . Wallse . Zabb Elee . ZZ's Clam Bar .

The Michelin Guide has been published since 1900 . It offers notes, recommendations and ratings on restaurants and hotels . The New York City Guide has been published since 2005 . Six restaurants were awards the highest rating: three stars .

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(CNN) -- FACETIME: Ghassan Hasbani, CEO International Operations, Saudi Telecom . With 160 million customers worldwide, Saudi Telecom is a key player of the global telecommunication industry. With representation in 11 countries including Lebanon, Turkey, India and South Africa, the company is looking to boost that growth even further. MME sat down with CEO for International Operations, Ghassan Hasbani on STC's growing portfolio. IN FOCUS: Diversifying away from Iranian Oil . Increasing sanctions on Iran and growing doubts over the future supply of oil has led to many energy importers to look for alternative sources of energy. MME looks at the measures some of Iran's biggest customers are taking in response to increasing pressure to cut imports from Tehran. Marketplace Middle East airs weekly at the following times (all GMT): . Thursdays: 1645, . Fridays: 0945, . Saturdays: 0715, . Sundays: 0615,1645 .

Saudi Telecom is one of the key players in the global telecommunication industry. STC's CEO for international operation talks to MME on the company's growing portfolio. Plus, MME looks at how energy importers are looking for alternatives to Iranian oil.

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(CNN) -- Peace. Love. And Snarknado 2. What does it say when Americans unite, not once, but twice in a lifetime for a TV show? And not just a TV show, but one where a twister filled with man-eating sharks menaces a major metropolitan area. We couldn't afford a psychologist so we'll just have to look at social media. Last summer, "Sharknado" churned up a storm of laughs, 5.3 million viewers and enough clever tweets to choke a ... shark. It was the same story Wednesday night for the debut of "Sharknado 2: The Second One" on Syfy. The Twitterverse exploded. #Sharknado2TheSecondOne was the top-trending hashtag on Twitter well into the overnight hours and social search website Topsy recorded more than 215,000 tweets with #sharknado2 over the past day. But what inspires such passion, such creativity? Is it the rubber sharks flying through Midtown Manhattan, the implausible storyline, the Al Roker cameo? Yes. Yes. And yes. With this amount of chum in the water, there was bound to be a feeding frenzy, right? And there's more to come. Syfy has already signed on for a third "Sharknado" movie. Screenwriter Thunder Levin predicts now that New York has gone down, there might be a "global Sharkapocalypse." Heaven forbid. Sequel suggestions are already making the rounds. With all this creativity floating around, some were offering Syfy suggestions for new shows at #NewSyFyOriginals. This one has promise. And you know you've got a good thing going when the National Weather Service and the Weather Channel are joining in on the fun. . Syfy announces 'Sharknado Week' around 'Sharknado 2' premiere . CNN's Dorrine Mendoza contributed to this report.

Social media explodes for "Sharknado 2" It debuted Wednesday on Syfy . Sharks invade the Big Apple for the sequel to last summer's pop culture phenomenon . Screenwriter predicts there might be a "global Sharkapocalypse" in third outing .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Isaac Lidsky arrives in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, stops suddenly and, upon hearing a voice, extends his hand in greeting almost instinctively. Isaac Lidsky graduated from Harvard University at 19. Retinitis pigmentosa has seriously impaired his vision. Seemingly simple gestures such as a hello don't always come easily for a man who is legally blind. But this hasn't deterred the ex-Justice Department prosecutor from pursuing a promising legal career, one that will take him inside the nation's highest court in a few weeks. The Florida native will join 36 of the nation's top young attorneys as law clerks to Supreme Court justices for the 2008-'09 term. He will be the first legally blind law clerk in the court's history. Lidsky, 28, will work with the retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and will be assured of long days writing and researching cases. "I certainly am nervous to the extent I am eager to be helpful to the justice and productive," he said. "I just want to do good work." Watch as the lawyer will break new ground at the court » . Lidsky, a one-time actor, may be vaguely familiar to adults of a certain age. He played the lovable geek Barton "Weasel" Wyzell on the NBC series "Saved by the Bell: The New Class" in the 1990s. "There's a little bit of a cringe factor because my character was not necessarily the coolest kid in school, but certainly, [there's] fond memories," he recalled. "It was an incredible experience for a kid to have." Around that time, the 13-year-old was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease that already had struck two of his older sisters. The symptoms were slow to develop, so Lidsky came to terms early with the idea of losing his vision. Now his sight is seriously impaired. Lidsky said his parents, Betti and Carlos Lidsky, did not allow self-pity and encouraged him to help others like himself. "Right away my parents really led the charge on saying, 'How can we take this challenge and turn it into something positive?' " he said. "So for 15 years we have been doing just that." Acting was never going to be a career for Lidsky. It was the law that always attracted him. As a child he went to court with his father, a prominent Miami lawyer. Becoming a Supreme Court law clerk, he said, was a lifelong dream. After graduating at 19 from Harvard University, he earned a degree from its law school, with a brief stop in between as an Internet business entrepreneur. In 2004, he began a clerkship with Judge Thomas Ambro of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ambro became a mentor to the bright young lawyer and witnessed a sudden decline in his vision. "You could tell things were getting worse," Ambro said. By the end of the one-year assignment, "he now needed a cane and was using a guide dog. Once he had no idea I was in the same room with him until I spoke." But that did not dull Lidsky's drive to succeed. "He had a real good sense of what he was facing," Ambro said. "He's determined to make it in the same way as other people who succeed. For him it was simply a matter of getting the tools to do it." Those tools include optical character recognition software, which scans printed words electronically and reads them back to him, and a Blackberry-type communication device that sends and receives e-mail audibly. Friends said he was a little reluctant over the years to embrace much of the technology, as he sought to preserve his independence as long as possible. After his clerkship came a stint in the Justice Department's Civil Division, where he argued about a dozen cases in federal courts. He said his acting skills came in handy when pleading before often skeptical judges. With the recommendations of Ambro and others, Lidsky applied four times to be a Supreme Court law clerk but was rejected. A meeting with longtime federal Judge David Tatel, who also is blind, convinced Lidsky he should not give up his dream. Then came the call from O'Connor. "Sitting in her chambers, here I was worrying about having to recall the minutiae of legal doctrine" for the personal interview, he recalled. "But we fell into talking about our families and philosophies, and she made me feel very warm and welcome." O'Connor was not available for an interview, but former clerks said they remember her as a nurturing type who nevertheless demands much from them. "I have no doubt Justice O'Connor will keep me very busy," Lidsky said. In addition, Lidsky likely will be assigned to an active justice to sort through the 9,000-some appeals that reach the high court every year. In that capacity, he would recommend which cases should be accepted for review and help write early drafts of opinions. O'Connor also will continue her practice of sitting in on several appeals court cases a year, so Lidsky will assist her on those, along with the 78-year-old's busy schedule of teaching, speeches and public advocacy. Lidsky will have to scale back involvement in his foundation, Hope for Vision, which he created with his wife, Dorothy, and some friends to raise awareness of blinding diseases. His group is launching a campaign this week to find a cure for blindness by 2020. "We have communities of Hope across the country that do events to raise awareness and funding for research," he said. "It's purely volunteer-driven, very grass-roots. Over 98 percent of the money we raise goes directly to scientific grants." As for the future, Lidsky plans to go to London, England, after his clerkship ends, so his wife can finish her master's degree. He would be set to rejoin his law firm, where he has taken a leave of absence, but has no specific career goals. "In 10 or 15 years, I would bet he will be a man still on your radar screen," Ambro predicts. Lidsky appears more modest. "I'm not out there to set any kinds of records or prove anything to anybody," he said. "As odd as it may sound, losing my vision has in a lot of ways been a very rewarding experience for me." CNN's Kelli Arena contributed to this report.

Isaac Lidsky is set to become first legally blind law clerk at U.S. Supreme Court . Lidsky will work with retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who still hears appeals . Lidsky played Weasel on NBC's "Saved by the Bell: The New Class" He and wife founded Hope for Vision, a foundation that seeks a cure for blindness .

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(CNN) -- HTC's new flagship smartphone, the One, is an impressive bit of hardware and a big step forward for the company in three significant ways. The One is a top-notch, beautifully designed handset packed with the best specs and a ton of compelling features. It also runs a unique, fresh take on Google's Android operating system. And it's available in exactly the same configuration across the three major U.S. carriers. This is the phone that could close the gap between HTC's flagship and those from Apple and Samsung. We spent a couple of hours with the One before its big unveiling in New York today, and were thoroughly impressed by the luxurious materials used on the handset, the expert build quality holding it all together, and a slew of thoughtfully crafted software features. Although the phone carries the branding established last year with the One X, One S, and other HTC phones, the One amounts to a reboot of the company's vision for Android. The One X, HTC's previous flagship, won critical praise, but as an AT&T exclusive it failed to generate the sales the company had hoped for. "We think about the One X and we think 'Wow, it was big, and it was one of the best phones we've ever done,'" Scott Croyle, HTC's vice president of design, said. "But if I were to compare it to, say, other stuff that was out there, I wouldn't say it was a step-change different." The company set out to build a phone that could surpass, not just meet, the performance and quality of the Apple iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy SIII. So it put a huge effort into nailing the Sense user interface, packing the phone with the best tech and broadening its reach across carriers. Sense 4, the previous generation of HTC's Android customization, has been thrown out. Every aspect of Sense has been rethought and redesigned. The result is a slick, clean user interface, full of artful icons that match the flat, understated look Google has been trying to push with its own stock version of Android. And there's a focus in the new Sense on making things that users commonly do easier and more intuitive — such as sifting through social media and news apps, or snapping photos and video. "I think we came to this recognition that, 'Wow, there are these two other companies that are going to spend a lot more money than HTC,'" Croyle said. "This is the reality of the business. They have much deeper pockets and they can carpet bomb the industry and they have a tremendous amount of inertia there, particularly with Apple in the U.S. So, for the One, we really had to get it right, we really had to just go for it." While it's easy to see the chamfered edges found on the One and think of the iPhone 5, the One is far from a copycat product. It has a massive — and gorgeous — 4.7-inch 1080p display with a pixel density of 468 pixels per inch. As with nearly every flagship phone out there nowadays, pixels are indiscernible on the One's generous display. Colors look vivid and crisp as well. The touchscreen dominates the front of the One, with aluminum capping each end. Rows of pinholes are machined into each strip of aluminum, serving as pathways for sound coming from a set of dual front-facing speakers. Every phone speaker we've ever heard has sounded like hell. While the One won't replace your Jambox anytime soon, its onboard speakers sound immensely better than anything we've heard from a phone. Inside, the One features a 1.7GHz, quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU, 2GB of RAM, and NFC chip, Bluetooth 4.0 and connectivity to both HSPA and LTE networks. Everything is packed into a sleek, aluminum unibody — shipping in either silver or black — that features a subtly curved back with inlaid antennas. The One weighs 5.04 ounces, and is just 0.36 inches thick. The One will also sports a beefed up camera, with a ton of photo and video features — which are so plentiful we've written a separate story focusing on the One's camera. Along with all new hardware, HTC is using the One to introduce an all new take on Android. Sense 4, HTC's last skin, was among the best versions of Google's mobile OS thanks to its simplicity and gimmick-free implementation. The latest version — now just called Sense — brings users from a lock screen to a new Flipboard-like app called BlinkFeed, which displays a feed of information, stories, photos and video from various sources of your choosing. HTC has worked in integration with a few news outlets, so news stories by topic or by outlet can show up in your BlinkFeed. And the app can be connected to Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and other social networks as well. See a news story you're interested in reading? Just tap the tile in your feed and you're taken to a view that shows the story and its accompanying artwork in a presentation that makes reading clean and easy — again, very much like Flipboard, Pocket, Pulse and other "read it later" services. Tap a tweet or post from Facebook you'll be launched into that corresponding social network's Android app. You can even set up BlinkFeed to pipe in your photos and videos. Everything is displayed in reverse chronological order, just like your Twitter timeline, Facebook feed and everything else that's sorted online. While BlinkFeed is a pre-installed app, it's also the default view any One user will see once they unlock their phone. If you want to get to a traditional Android homescreen view — with apps, widgets and folders of apps — just swipe in from the right on BlinkFeed and Android as you know it will appear. "If you want regular Android, it's there," Croyle said. "But, everybody's snacking on information, whether it's from their social networks or some news source that they're just interested in. So [BlinkFeed] really is geared around that recognition of how people are actually using their phones." AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile will sell the One, along with many smaller regional telecom companies. The significance of this can't be overstated. Currently, only Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy S III are offered as widely. The iPhone is sold through AT&T, Sprint and Verizion — and it's on it's way to T-Mobile. The S III is sold by all four of the nation's top carriers. All too often, a great phone, like last year's One X, was confined to a limited audience due to carriers wanting exclusive rights to phones. The fact that the One is joining it's biggest rivals in a new paradigm that bucks the idea of exclusive phones is a good thing for HTC — because they get to sell their best device in more places — and consumers — because you have more choice when you go to buy your next phone. Subscribe to WIRED magazine for less than $1 an issue and get a FREE GIFT! Click here! Copyright 2011 Wired.com.

HTC's One phone could be the one that closes the gap with Apple and Samsung . The One, unveiled Tuesday, has a massive 4.7-inch touchscreen display . It's camera ignores sometimes-meaningless megapixel count for "UltraPixels" The One will be available on AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint .

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(CNN) -- The question of Jewish resistance to the Nazis -- or the lack of it -- has loomed large ever since the true extent of the horrors of the Holocaust became impossible to ignore. Liev Schreiber, left, and Daniel Craig play Jewish resistance fighters in the World War II drama "Defiance." As early as 1940 and 1942, Charlie Chaplin and Ernst Lubitsch fashioned satiric fantasies in which Adolf Hitler was comically humiliated by Jews (a barber in Chaplin's "The Great Dictator" and a hammy actor in Lubitsch's "To Be or Not to Be"). More recently, Steven Spielberg and Roman Polanski presented authentic stories of Jewish Holocaust survivors in "Schindler's List" and "The Pianist." In "Defiance," Edward Zwick tells the true story of the Bielski brothers, Tuvia (Daniel Craig), Zus (Liev Schreiber) and Asael (Jamie Bell). When the Germans and local collaborators started rounding up Jews in what was then Belorussia in 1941, murdering thousands -- including the Bielskis' parents -- the three men took refuge in the woods. They evaded capture, scavenged, begged or stole the food they needed; they set up a camp and saved hundreds of fellow refugees -- and they fought back. Watch the stars of "Defiance" talk about the film » . It's a remarkable story, one that should have inspired a more exciting and original movie than this sluggish compendium of earnest debates and hackneyed battle scenes. The timing is unfortunate. For a story that has gone neglected for the best part of 60 years, this is hardly the ideal week to be extolling heroic Jewish resistance fighters. Ari Folman's angst-laden nonfiction animated film, "Waltz With Bashir," is altogether more relevant. Zwick's Hollywood liberal credentials are not in doubt, but his films have a surprisingly gung-ho undercurrent (they include such martial adventures as "The Last Samurai," "Glory," "The Siege," "Legends of the Fall" and "Courage Under Fire"). He may like a fight, but he's no great shakes when it comes to staging action. Besides, in a Zwick flick, words always speak louder. In "Defiance" those words come with a thick, guttural European inflection (Hebrew is spoken as English, though characters also break into subtitled Russian and German on occasion). The speechifying is often clumsy and long-winded. Take the backwoods intellectual who doesn't know how to handle a hammer but can sure nail a philosophical one-liner: "At least Descartes recognized the subjective nature of existence," he kvetches. Where's Lubitsch when you need him? Dour and dourer as the movie goes on, Daniel Craig looks rugged in a weathered leather jacket and cloth cap, but his Bond associations aren't exactly helpful. You have to check yourself from wondering why he doesn't just take out that battalion of Nazis single-handedly. Tuvia may be a reluctant hero, but he shoulders the burden of leadership and assumes responsibility for protecting his ever-increasing flock. Schreiber's Zus, on the other hand, joins with the Soviets to take the fight to the Germans. It takes him longer to learn who his true friends are. The movie is full of mud and muck, yet somehow Zwick sanitizes the things that matter most. In the most challenging scene, just as Tuvia turns a blind eye as his enraged fellow Jews beat a German prisoner to death, Zwick consistently pulls back from anything that might be too unpleasant or tasteless. His heroes remain fundamentally unsullied. Later Asael picks up Tuvia's mantle and leads his followers like a latter-day Moses, away from their enemies through an impenetrable swamp. "Defiance" is a hard slog, at times. But even if it's heavy-handed and old-fashioned, there's also something satisfyingly solid about it. It's always comforting to know who the good guys are, even if they're stuck in a not-so-good picture. "Defiance" is rated R and runs 137 minutes. For Entertainment Weekly's take, click here.

Film tells the true story of the Bielski brothers, who fought back against Nazis in 1941 . The brothers set up a camp in the woods and saved hundreds of fellow refugees . Remarkable story should have inspired more exciting, original film, Tom Charity says . Charity: "Defiance" heavy-handed, but there's something satisfyingly solid about it .

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Robert, Louisiana (CNN) -- Three attempts to pump mud and 16 tries to stuff solid material into a breached Gulf of Mexico oil well failed to stop the flow, top BP executives said Saturday, and engineers and executives with the oil giant have decided to "move on to the next option." That option: Place a custom-built cap to fit over the "lower marine riser package," BP chief operation officer Doug Suttles said. BP crews were already at work Saturday to ready the materials for that option, he said. Suttles said three separate pumping efforts and 30,000 barrels of mud -- along with what chief executive officer Tony Hayward described as "16 different bridging material shots" -- just didn't do the trick. "We have not been able to stop the flow," a somber Suttles told reporters. " ... Repeated pumping, we don't believe, will achieve success, so we will move on to the next option." Suttles and other officials said that the "top kill" attempt to stop the flow did so -- but only as long as they were pumping. When the pumping stopped, the oil resumed its escape. And Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry said that BP would resume using undersea dispersants for the new attempt to trap the oil. Suttles said the lower marine riser package cap "should be able to capture most of the oil" that has fed what is now the largest oil spill in U.S. history, but he cautioned that the new cap will not provide a "tight mechanical seal." "We're confident the job will work, but obviously we cannot guarantee success at this time," he said. Engineers should be ready in about four to seven days to make the fresh attempt, he said. Landry said officials were "disappointed in today's announcement," but noted that the immediate efforts to stop the flow were never intended to be permanent. "The real solution, the end state, is a relief well," she said. BP currently is working on two relief wells, but they are not expected to be ready until August, Suttles said. Earlier, Suttles said that BP engineers would try to place a second blowout preventer -- the piece of equipment that failed when the Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 20 -- should the lower marine riser package fail. The failed blowout preventer is a 48-foot-tall, 450-ton apparatus that sits atop the well 5,000 feet underwater. Suttles and Landry praised the clean-up efforts, however, in light of the failure of the "top kill" attempt to stop the flow. "It's a tribute to everybody that we only have 107 miles of shoreline oiled and only 32 acres of marsh," Landry said. Meanwhile, teams in Louisiana were working Saturday on a clean-up project aimed at protecting coastal marshes. Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser has said that machines would suck oil out of marshes Saturday after crews determined where to deploy them. But Nungesser told CNN that BP needed to "step up to the plate tonight to save our wetlands" by using its might to create sand barriers to prevent the oil from moving into the marshes. "BP needs to say it will pay to move those dredges and pump that sand berm," he said. "We are gonna die a slow death if we don't get that berm. We've got to have that barrier island." President Barack Obama, who toured the area Friday, said federal officials were prepared to authorize moving forward with "a portion of" an idea proposed by local officials, who want the Army Corps of Engineers to build a "sand boom" offshore to keep the water from getting into the fragile marshlands. But Nungesser said the marshes couldn't wait and that the effort needed to start immediately to save the Louisiana wetlands. Government scientists on Thursday said as many as 19,000 barrels (798,000 gallons) of oil were spewing into the ocean every day, making this disaster perhaps twice the size of the Exxon Valdez incident. Previously, BP officials and government scientists had said 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons) of crude were flowing out daily. "This is clearly an environmental catastrophe," Hayward said Friday. "There's no two ways about it." In an e-mail message sent out after the announcement Saturday, Hayward said he was "disappointed that this operation didn't work." "The team executed the operation perfectly, and the technology worked without a single hitch," he said. "We remain committed to doing everything we can to make this situation right." Obama's visit to the region came under intense political pressure to take control of the situation. "We want to stop the leak, we want to contain and clean up the oil and we want to help the people in this region return to their lives and livelihoods as soon as possible," the president told reporters. About 25 percent of the Gulf of Mexico exclusive economic zone has been put off limits, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and fishermen are worried the gushing oil will take a more serious toll than Hurricane Katrina did in 2005. "Katrina was nothing but rain, water and wind. This is poison. It's gas," oysterman Arthur Etienne said. CNN's Anderson Cooper contributed to this report.

NEW: BP will try lower marine riser package cap next . NEW: Lower marine riser package cap will capture most, but not all of oil flow . NEW: Officials: Only sure option is relief wells, still 2 months away . NEW: Parish president wants BP to build sand barrier islands now . Workers toil on beaches and in marshes to clean up .

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(CNN) -- Once thought to be a leading reformer inside the Libyan government, Saif al-Islam Gadhafi has emerged as one of his father's most-visible defenders. Saif, 38, has never lived a day in which his father Moammar didn't rule Libya -- as its undisputed leader inside the country and an enigmatic, controversial voice for the world. And yet, as the Libyan government faced a stiff popular uprising, it was Moammar Gadhafi's second eldest son -- and not the Leader of the Revolution himself -- who was first to talk to the nation about the unrest and detail a plan to address it. In early March Saif made it known his feeling about outside intervention into the unrest in Libya. "We're not afraid of the America fleet, NATO, France. You people, this is our country. We live here, we die here. We will never, ever surrender to those terrorists. Libyan nation is so united now. We are so strong," he said. That was March. This is now. And still, Saif's name makes front-page news. Citing unnamed British government sources, the Guardian newspaper reported Friday that a senior adviser to Saif -- Mohammed Ismael -- was in London for secret talks with British officials. Ismael told CNN earlier this week that he would be traveling to London for family reasons. Calls placed to his mobile phone were not answered Friday. But Guma El-Gamaty, a leader of the Libyan opposition, said Ismael's visit was anything but personal. "Our sources from Tripoli tell us that Saif has sent Mohammed Ismael to London with a specific offer. The offer is that Colonel Gadhafi will go into retirement, inside Libya, perhaps in his town of Sirte or Sabha in the south and Saif will take over and oversee some sort of reforms," he told CNN's Becky Anderson. Asked about the Guardian report, a British Foreign Office spokesman neither confirmed nor denied it. "We are not going to provide running commentary on our contacts with Libyan officials," the spokesman said. "In any contact that we do have, we make it clear that Gadhafi has to go." Meanwhile, sources close to Gadhafi have told CNN that any transition in Libya would involve his son, Saif, who has long been seen as a possible successor to his father. Saif has denied any such desire, but others were interested in the idea for some time because he was considered more modern in his thinking, even reform minded by many Libya watchers. But that was before his recent and very public vows to fight to the "last bullet." Among his relatives, Saif was seen in some ways as the polar opposite of his father. Whereas Moammar Gadhafi years ago launched a program to "destroy imported ideologies, whether they are Eastern or Western," his son speaks fluent English, earned his PhD from the London School of Economics, written an op-ed . in the New York Times and has been a frequent go-between in talks with international officials. Moammar rarely goes anywhere without a distinctive tribal dress and an ornate Bedouin tent. The well-traveled Saif, meanwhile, is more likely to appear in Western business attire: a suit and tie. While the father runs a nation, his son's main job -- at least before his 2009 appointment as General Coordinator, a position like many in the nation's government with few guidelines -- was heading a charity, the Gadhafi Foundation. And lastly, while the elder Gadhafi is known for his heavy-handed rule in Libya and its restrictions on civil rights and more, Saif Gadhafi fashioned himself as a human rights advocate and pushed for democratic and institutional reforms that could give more power and freedoms to the people. David Held, a professor at London School of Economics and Saif Gadhafi's academic advisor, said Gadhafi knew he had a dilemma. "He was torn," said Held. "There was a dilemma in his heart between loyalty to his father and the regime and on the other hand desperately realizng that the Gadhafi regime was untenable, unjustified and the reform utterly crucial." Still, his status as a leading reformer and pull with foreign diplomats have dropped significantly since the start of the uprising. And for all their differences, Saif's standing in the world is largely defined by his father's role. While some may see the son as more open to change, there's little question that his loyalty remains first with Moammar. "He's the heir apparent," CNN National Security Contributor Fran Townsend said about Saif. "The question will be, will he be able to retain control in light of the current chaos?" CNN's Greg Botelho contributed to this report.

Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, 38, was once thought to be a leading reformer . He has emerged as one of his father's most-visible defenders . Sources close to Gadhafi tell CNN any transition in Libya would involve Saif . "He's the heir apparent," says CNN National Security Contributor Fran Townsend .

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(AOL Autos) -- At the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and MINI showed the world what electric vehicles of the future will look like. And the future of driving looks fun. The Dodge Circuit EV can blast from 0-to-60 mph in around 4 seconds. Those in the know realize that sometime in the future, the vast majority of light cars and trucks in the US will feature electric final drive systems. The motors used in these systems will be powered by batteries, fuel cells, on-board generators, and perhaps even the sun. But this open issue doesn't change the inevitability of this reality. Given our current economic times, reality demands practical, tangible, and achievable ideas of what electric vehicles (or "EVs" for short) might actually look like. This is it ... Chrysler . Three of the four electric vehicles Chrysler showed in Detroit, Michigan, were shown at other events and even to Washington bureaucrats. Each of these vehicles is a running prototype, not some pie-in-the-sky-we'll-never-build that idea. ENVI is the special group of engineers at Chrysler that develops the company's EVs. To date, the ENVI group has developed four electrically powered models, each quite different from the other: a Dodge Circuit EV sports car (rear-wheel drive), a Chrysler Town & Country minivan (front-wheel-drive), a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited (all-wheel-drive), and now a Jeep Patriot (front-wheel-drive). Chrysler promises to offer at least one of these models in 2010, and three more by 2013. AOL Autos: Dodge Circuit EV photos . Chrysler approaches electric vehicles with simple plug-and-play engineering. Every one of their vehicles uses similar electric drive motors (only varying in power output), advanced lithium-ion batteries, and a power management controller. Each plugs in to 110- or 220-volt household outlets for recharging. The Chrysler and both Jeeps use an on-board range-extending battery charger (a generator). This generator automatically turns on after the vehicle's initial batter charge has been spent (usually within a range of 40 miles), supplying extra voltage that give these three vehicles an estimated range of approximately 400 miles. The generator is powered by a small gasoline-powered engine that runs with exceptional efficiency. This technology is similar in concept to what General Motors has shown in their Chevrolet Volt, a vehicle that should be ready for production in 2010. AOL Autos: Cadillac Converj photos . The Dodge Circuit carries a larger battery pack and no generator, so its range on the charge it carries is approximately 150-200 miles. Its large battery pack combined with compact dimensions and the exceptional torque provided by its electric motor blast the car from zero-to-sixty mph in around four seconds, exceptionally fast for any sports car regardless of engine type. Mercedes-Benz . Mercedes-Benz used the 2009 Detroit Auto Show to showcase their Concept BlueZERO vehicles. The Mercedes approach was to develop one efficient body style, and then equip it with three different electric drive packages. AOL Autos: Mercedes Stirling Moss photos . Much of the hardware for the all-electric front-wheel-drive propulsion units is built into what Mercedes calls "sandwich-floor" architecture that the company uses on several production cars. The design helps keep heavy components mounted low on the chassis for better handling, enhanced safety, and maximized interior room. All three Concept BlueZERO vehicles include electric drive and batteries. The E-Cell uses a large battery pack that is said to deliver a range of 120 miles. The F-Cell utilizes a smaller battery pack, but supplements the vehicle's range with a hydrogen fuel cell. The fuel cell produces electricity to recharge the battery pack that extends cruising range to 240 miles. The E-Cell Plus, with a range of approximately 360 miles, is the distance champion. The key is the on-board generator powered by tiny 1-liter turbo-charged three-cylinder gasoline engine. The engine and generator are located in the rear of the BlueZERO. For the record, when you see photos of these cars together, the E-Cell is lime green, the F-Cell is mint green, and the E-Cell Plus is orange. Toyota . Adding to its line of popular hybrid vehicles in the U.S., Toyota just confirmed plans to add as many as 10 new gas/electric hybrid vehicles in the next few years. On their way toward that goal, Toyota showed their all-new, third-generation Prius plus the new Lexus HS250H. AOL Autos: 2010 Toyota Prius photos . Important to this story, Toyota also committed to selling a battery powered electric car in 2012 for the U.S. market. Toyota debuted what their all-electric vehicle might be at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, and it's an urban commuter called the FT-EV. The little four-seater is based on Toyota's popular iQ, a car that's already a hit in Japan. The good news is that the iQ is a real car, so the FT-EV will not be a glorified golf cart or a neighborhood vehicle with severely limited capabilities. The claimed range for the FT-EV is 50 miles. As we went to press, details were still sketchy about the FT-EV's running gear. As Toyota releases more details, we'll bring them to you. Mini . While standard MINI models like the Cooper are comparatively easy on gas compared to larger cars, under the ownership of parent company BMW, MINI is testing the limits of how green a MINI can be. AOL Autos: 2010 BMW Z4 photos . Perhaps following the performance of the stunt cars used in The Italian Job (2003), BMW decided to investigate a battery-powered MINI. They introduced the MINI E coupe last November at the Los Angeles Auto Show and the car was on display again in Detroit. The "charged" MINI E can run up to 150 miles on a full battery pack. Charging is accomplished through standard 110- or 220-volt outlets. The electrified MINI weighs 600 pounds more than a standard MINI Cooper and because of the bulk of the required battery pack, the interior seats only two. Performance from the 204-horsepower motor equals the gas-powered MINI, with a 0-60 mph run in 8.5 seconds. BMW will produce only 500 MINI Es for the United States (if it were easy to make electric MINIs, they'd make more). The limited-production run will be split between New York and L.A. on one-year closed-end leases. After the leases expire, BMW will ship the MINIs back to Germany for evaluation. This scenario mimics what General Motors did with their EV1 electric vehicle about a decade ago.

Latest technologies debut at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show . Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and MINI show what electric cars of future will be . Toyota confirms plans to add as many as 10 new gas/electric hybrid vehicles . The "charged" MINI E can run up to 150 miles on a full battery pack .

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Washington (CNN) -- A Russian company is seeking to buy a controlling interest in one of the largest uranium extraction operations in the United States -- a sale that requires U.S. government review because of possible national security implications. Uranium One USA, now a subsidiary of a Canadian company, operates a uranium processing facility in Wyoming and has assets in Utah, Texas and Colorado. The sale of the company's existing and pending operations could give Russia control of about 20 percent of U.S. uranium extraction capacity, Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials estimate. Industry observers tell CNN they do not believe the sale of Uranium One to Joint Stock Company Atomredmetzoloto, or ARMZ, would jeopardize U.S. security, saying that the United States relies on Russian dismantled nuclear weapons for much of the uranium used in nuclear reactors today, and that sources of uranium are plentiful. "I have no concerns about it at all," said Fred McGoldrick, former director of the State Department's Office of Nonproliferation and Export Policy. "I don't see any national security threat to the United States from the Russians partly or entirely owning a mine in the United States." He added, "The Russian's aren't coming. They came and went. They are no longer the Soviets. I think it's to our mutual interest that we cooperate with the Russians." Said Ed Lyman of the Union of Concerned Scientists, "Looking at the big picture here, I don't really think this has major security implications. I'd be interested in hearing arguments otherwise, but I just don't see it." In an application submitted to the NRC, JSC Atomredmetzoloto, which currently owns 23.1 percent of Uranium One's common stock, says it is seeking to buy a controlling 51 percent interest. The Russian company is controlled by Rosatom, the Russian government agency that oversees Russia's nuclear industry. Uranium One would continue to be publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange, its U.S. facilities would remain under their current management teams and five of the nine directors on the company's board would be non-Russian, the company said. "The bottom line is any of the uranium we buy or sell has to be used for peaceful purposes and it's subject to all the safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Nuclear Suppliers Group, Euratom (the European Atomic Energy Community), or any other governmental agency having jurisdiction over the United States" and customer countries, said Chris Sattler, spokesman for Uranium One. Uranium One USA is involved in the "recovery" of uranium, a form of mining in which a solution is injected into an ore body and the uranium leaches into the solution, which is then extracted, said NRC spokesman David McIntyre. The company is licensed to produce up to 2.5 million pounds of uranium a year, it said. Stockholders approved the sale August 31, Sattler said, but the companies are awaiting approval from numerous regulatory agencies in the United States, Canada, Australia and Kazakhstan. The NRC must approve the transfer of the NRC license for its Irigaray-Christiansen Ranch recovery facility in eastern Wyoming, McIntyre said. "Generally, we look at whether the new ownership would have the technical expertise and the financial wherewithal to maintain the site and clean up when operations cease," he said. Further, the sale needs to be reviewed by the Committee on Financial Investment in the United States, an inter-agency panel that advises the president on any transaction that could jeopardize U.S. national security. Committee officials declined to discuss the sale, saying they are prohibited by law from disclosing such matters. And the sale may require approval of the Federal Trade Commission because it involves a stock transaction, and the Federal Communications Commission because one of the sites has a radio license, the NRC said. The NRC released details of a pending license transfer in the Federal Register, in an item giving the public an opportunity to request a hearing on the issue. The NRC involvement is limited to the company's operations in Wyoming. The states of Texas and Utah regulate uranium mining operations there.

The company is one of the largest uranium extraction operations in the U.S. NRC: Russia would control about 20 percent of U.S. uranium extraction capacity . Former U.S. nonproliferation official says he has "no concerns about it at all"

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Hong Kong (CNN) -- In 1842, when Hong Kong became a British crown colony after the first Opium War, it was described by a very unimpressed UK Foreign Secretary, Lord Palmerston, as a barren rock with nary a house on it. He also added, prophetically and spectacularly incorrectly, "it will never be a mart for trade." Of course, by 1997, when Hong Kong was handed back by the British to become a Special Administrative Region (S.A.R) of China, it was a modern metropolis of well over six million souls, used to a free economy, a free press and the rule of law. According to the agreement hammered out between Britain and China, the territory would remain that way for at least 50 years. Under Chinese rule, Hong Kong would govern itself, choose its own leaders, control its own economy and maintain its own legal system. But there were many skeptics. Would China really be able to keep its hands off? Fifteen years later, almost a third of the way through those 50 years, are those promises still being kept? How has the territory changed? Christine Loh has a unique perspective. She was a legislator during the last years of the British colony and again in the early years of the Hong Kong S.A.R. A feisty democrat politician, no one would ever accuse her of being in the "pro-Beijing" camp. If you look at the people of Hong Kong, she said, their daily lives really haven't changed very much. Indeed, Hong Kong has its own borders and immigration control, even with China. It has its own currency, its own police force and system of law courts. It has freedom of expression and demonstration to a degree unheard of anywhere on the mainland. It's the only place in China, for example, that can commemorate the June 4, 1989 crackdown against the students in Tiananmen Square. The territory also has its own legislature and chief executive. Beijing has always promised to be hands-off, allowing the Hong Kong people to rule Hong Kong, but many still feel it has undue influence in local politics and in an electoral system that favors pro-Beijing candidates. China's huge presence is inescapable. "Our unease in Hong Kong is that the mainland is so big and we are so small. We are a small city of seven million people. It is easy for us to be physically overwhelmed. I think that is our fear," Loh said. Since the handover, trade ties between Hong Kong and China have strengthened so much so that Hong Kong is now the mainland's biggest source of foreign investment, state news service Xinhua reported, quoting China's ministry of commerce. Hong Kong is also the top destination for investment from the mainland. Trade between the two surged nearly 600% to US$284 billion from 1996, the year before the handover, and last year, Xinhua said. And ties are only set to strengthen. In the days leading to the 15 year anniversary, China announced a package of policies to further bind the mainland and the island covering trade, finance, education science and technology and tourism. But the prospect of tighter ties with their homeland is not necessarily being welcomed by Hong Kongers, many of whom feel that while Chinese money has boosted business, it has also put pressure on public services. Earlier this year, full page advertisements appeared in the local media, bluntly calling mainlanders "locusts" and accusing them of driving up property prices and squeezing Hong Kongers out of their own hospitals and schools. "We have a love-hate relationship with China," said Hong Kong entrepreneur Douglas Young, whose popular chain of stores selling furnishings and knick-knacks celebrates a unique Hong Kong style. He is adamant that Hong Kong should hold onto its differences. "I disagree that you have to choose between being a Hong Kong person or a Chinese person. I am both. Like a New Yorker, a New Yorker is both a New Yorker and an American, and I am a Hong Konger as well as being a Chinese person," Young said. "So I think there is nothing wrong with Hong Kong being a part of mainland China or being a Chinese city. All I am saying is that Hong Kong should maintain its differences in its regional identity." CNN asked people on the streets of Hong Kong what the difference was between Hong Kongers and the Chinese. "Many of us were educated in Western countries and went abroad for a university education so naturally our cultural background is different from those Chinese nationals who were born and raised in China," one man said. "I don't know much about China," one woman said in Cantonese. "The problems in China right now make me think that I should not consider myself Chinese," she added. However, one woman who described herself as a Chinese person who was born in Hong Kong said, "Hong Kong people and Chinese people are basically the same. The only difference between the two is that they are born in different places."

Hong Kong marks 15 years since the handover from British to Chinese rule . The island became a British colony after the first Opium War in 1842 . Britain and China agreed that Hong Kong should remain independent for 50 years . Hong Kong has its own borders, laws, currency and freedom of expression .

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(CNN) -- China rekindled memories of the 2008 Olympics with a spectacular opening ceremony for the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou on Friday. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao formally began the event, which will be the largest in its 59-year history with 28 Olympic and 14 non-Olympic sports and 476 gold medals to be won. China, which won a leading 166 golds at the previous competition in Qatar four years ago, has a delegation of 1,454 members including Olympic champion hurdler 110-meter hurdler Liu Xiang and badminton star Lin Dan. He Chong, who won diving gold in Beijing, capped a massive fireworks display in the middle of the Pearl River on Haixinsha Island by ignited a giant flare to light the cauldron that houses the Asiad flame. Afghanistan's athletes were the first of the 45 nations taking part to parade, with China concluding the march with Olympic women's rowing champion Jin Ziwei as flag bearer. "Remember, you are part of history right here, right now," Olympic Council of Asia president Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, of Kuwait, said in front of 30,000 people attending the ceremony. "Please show us your best performance, and show us the spirit of sportsmanship, fair play, friendship and respect to your fellow athletes and officials." The event's official website reported that Guangdong Province built and updated 70 stadiums for the competition, which runs until November 27, and that 900,000 volunteers will be on hand. It said since winning hosting rights in 2004, Guangzhou officials have given out one million brochures and sent 40 million text messages to teach its citizens better manners, including instructions on how to smile. This year, cricket, dance sports, dragon-boat racing, roller sports and Go chess will make their debut appearances in the competition.

Chinese city of Guangzhou succeeds Doha as host of the 16th Asian Games . Spectacular ceremony launches beginning of the 15-day competition . China seeking to continue its winning run from four years ago with team of 1,454 members . It will be the largest Games since the first in Delhi in 1951 with 476 gold medals on offer .

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(CNN) -- Why leave home when you can send out a sexy, stylish robot version of yourself to do anything you tell it? In "Surrogates," lifelike robots take the place of humans in day-to-day life. That's the world of "Surrogates," a film starring Bruce Willis that opens Friday. Willis plays an FBI agent who investigates the first murder to occur in years in a world where no one worries about crime or pain, because their robots self-heal with a quick reboot. Far-fetched science fiction? Sure. But scientists and the movie's makers say the technology might not be as far away as most people think. Armies use remote-controlled robots to attack enemies and destroy land mines. Emerging technology for the disabled allows users to operate robotic limbs and control computer cursors without touching a keyboard. And emerging "telepresence" technology is letting people see, hear and, increasingly, walk, talk and gesture using human-sized robots a world away. "There are a lot of real-world components to this," said robotics expert and author Daniel H. Wilson, whose books like "Where's My Jet Pack?" and "How to Survive a Robot Uprising" explore the intersections between science fiction and real science. "Clearly, there are not fully functional humanoid robots ... but there are a lot of components to telepresence that already exist." "Surrogates" director Jonathan Mostow, whose film credits include 2003's "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines," said he was drawn to the concept of surrogate robots as an extension of current technology. And, he said, as he met with scientists, he became convinced that something approaching the concept could one day be a reality. "To me, it's not even a question of the technology. Technology always catches up," he said. "The question is, is some universal human urge being met by this invention? It seems to me we have a fundamental human desire to be lazy, to sort of not have to do things in person and to do it remotely. "That began with the telegraph and the telephone and has morphed into the Internet." The first steps down the road are being taken at Anybots, a Mountain View, California, company founded in 2001 by Trevor Blackwell. The company offers, for about $30,000, a 5-foot-tall, 35-pound robot that allows the user to remotely travel, see, hear and talk. It hopes to release its latest version of the robot at a more affordable price. The robot's vaguely humanoid curves, roughly adult height and ability to move around using technology similar to that of the Segway are important steps up from current teleconferencing technology, Blackwell said. Anybots in the development phase are being designed to run, jump and climb stairs, and they come equipped with fully articulated hands designed to perform increasingly human-like tasks. Blackwell said he's not sure the technology will ever advance to the level imagined in "Surrogates" -- but that may have as much to do with desire as ability. "I don't know if we'll ever get quite to that level, of being that realistic," he said. "Most of the time, you're not trying to fool people; you're just trying to make something human enough so people can relate to it." Wilson, who said he appreciates "Surrogates" because it avoids sci-fi's traditional "man vs. machine" dynamic, also imagines social reasons for not pursuing such technology. "Would humans stand in line at the grocery store behind a robot? Would I let my children play outside if I knew there were robots outside walking dogs?" he said. It's more realistic, Wilson said, that a humanoid robot could be created to remotely perform tasks that would be too dangerous for the machine's operator to do. although NASA employs robots in space, the highly technical work often required for space walks still requires a human touch -- at least for now. Plus, he said, making robots that look and act like us would help them function better, he said. "Another major reason to create humanoid robots is, they can use all of our tools," Wilson said. "Human beings have taken large chunks of the planet and completely transformed the environment to support our embodiment. Doorways are a certain width all over the world because human beings are about the same size. All our tools are similar because we've all got hands and thumbs." For Mostow, the movie also reflects technological advances that, for better or worse, exist as the world of online networking continues to grow. "You can do your shopping. You can get your news. You can let everyone know what you're up to," he said. "For those who telecommute, you don't even have to put your clothes on to go to work. "This idea basically just takes that to its logical conclusion."

In "Surrogates" sexy, stylish robots live life for their owners . Scientists say "telepresence" with robots is real, will improve . California company Anybots developing robot that can jump, climb stairs . Director: Androids are "logical conclusion" of technology that already exists .

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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (CNN) -- Sri Lankan soldiers seized a key rebel stronghold over the weekend, as humanitarian agencies feared for the safety of civilians. Sri Lankan troops at Elephant Pass, the isthmus that connects north Jaffna peninsula to rest of the country. "It's an incredibly serious situation," James Elder, a U.N. spokesman, said Monday. "We have a very large number of people, including tens of thousands of children, trapped in a fast-shrinking conflict zone." Government forces took the area in a surprise attack early Sunday, the head of Sri Lanka's army announced. Troops crossed a lagoon and entered the town of Mullaittivu before encountering heavy resistance from Tamil fighters, according to the government-run news agency. "Our troops fought their way through a 40 km (25 mile) thick jungle track," Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka said in a televised address Sunday. "This is the long-awaited victory and I am happy to say that our heroic forces today captured the Mullaittivu town after 12 years," he said. There has been no confirmation from the rebels that the strategic garrison has been overtaken. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) -- commonly known as the Tamil Tigers -- have fought for an independent homeland for the country's ethnic Tamil minority since 1983. The civil war has left more than 70,000 people dead. The rebels gained control over Mullaittivu in 1996 and established a military garrison there, according to the government. In recent days, the military has made significant progress in its campaign to recapture rebel strongholds. Earlier this month, troops regained control of the northern town of Elephant Pass, the point at which mainland Sri Lanka links to the northern Jaffna peninsula. It had been in rebel hands for more than nine years. The recapture enabled the government to use a highway linking the mainland to the peninsula to move troops and supplies. Previously, it was done by air and sea. "The area that the LTTE has dominated has shrank phenomenally," Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India, C.R Jayasinghe, told CNN. "They lost ... about 90 percent of what they had." Despite major government gains, critics point to ongoing civilian casualties resultant from the conflict. "This is a critical moment in the conflict when the space for these people has shrunk," Elder said. The United Nations is "calling on the ... Tamil Tigers to meet their international responsibilities and guarantee that these very large civilian populations to move freely and then can move away from the conflict and to areas where they can receive appropriate assistance," Elder said. "Some Sri Lankan U.N. staff are trapped there," he said in a Sunday interview. "Convoys are going to the area, delivering emergency supplies, but these are not sufficient for the number of people in need." Sri Lankan authorities are barring journalists and humanitarian aid workers from areas where heavy fighting is taking place. Amnesty International spokesman Shuransu Mishra estimated that "over a quarter of a million of the population, mostly Tamils, are trapped between the two sides." The organization says greater access and protection for aid workers and journalists are needed as news agencies struggle to report an accurate picture of the conflict. "The Sri Lankan authorities are doing little to ensure the safety of the country's media, or to prosecute those responsible for murdering or attacking them," Amnesty International spokeswoman Yolanda Foster said in a written statement on Friday. The Sri Lankan authorities "are also directly responsible for subjecting journalists to harassment and interrogation," she said. At least 14 journalists have been killed since the start of 2006, according to the statement. Others have been driven from the country by death threats, or in fear of detention and torture by government authorities, it said.

Government forces took the area in a surprise attack early Sunday . Rebel Tamil Tigers gained control over Mullaittivu in 1996 . Earlier this month troops regained control of key northern town of Elephant Pass . Tamils want independent homeland, war since 1983 has left more than 70,000 dead .

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(CNN) -- A Saudi Arabian blogger detained in December, ostensibly because he supported reform advocates accused by the Saudi government of backing terrorism, has been released, a fellow blogger posted Saturday. Web sites like this one pushed for Fouad al-Farhan's release. Ahmed al-Omran said on his blog, saudijeans.org, and later told CNN that he was awakened by a text message from the wife of Fouad al-Farhan, saying he had been released and was at home with his family. "That's great news, and this is just how I wanted to start my morning," al-Omran wrote. He said he later spoke with al-Farhan for several minutes on the telephone. "He sounded fine; he seems to be in good spirits," al-Omran said. "He said he would have more to talk about later but not at this point. He said now he'd like to take some time to spend with his family, with his children that he hasn't seen for so long." Watch al-Omran describe his conversation with al-Farhan » . A Web site set up to call for al-Farhan's release said, "Fouad is free. He is back home in Jeddah after 137 days in custody." The Saudi Interior Ministry said it had no immediate comment on the reports. In January, a ministry spokesman said al-Farhan was arrested December 10 "because he violated the regulations of the kingdom." But in an e-mail posted on al-Farhan's Web site after his arrest, he told friends that he faced arrest for supporting 10 reform advocates the Saudi government accused of backing terrorism. In the e-mail, al-Farhan said a senior Interior Ministry official promised that he would remain in custody for three days at most if he agreed to sign a letter of apology. "I'm not sure if I'm ready to do that," he wrote. "An apology for what? Apologizing because I said the government is [a] liar when they accused those guys of supporting terrorism?" Al-Farhan, who blogs at alfarhan.org, is one of the few Saudi Web commentators to use his own name, according to the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists. In January, the Bush administration expressed its concerns to the Saudi government regarding al-Farhan's detention at "a relatively senior level," U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. "The U.S. stands for freedom of expression," McCormack said at the time. "Wherever people are seeking to express themselves, via the Internet or via other areas, whether in Saudi Arabia or elsewhere in the world, we stand with that freedom of expression, and that was our message to the Saudi government." The American Islamic Congress, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization, launched an online letter-writing campaign aimed at freeing al-Farhan, whom it called "the godfather of Saudi blogging." "All he did was express his opinions in a very obvious way, and he didn't threaten anyone," al-Omran said. "He was advocating against violence and terrorism." Al-Omran said al-Farhan had stopped blogging for a few months in late 2006, after the Interior Ministry ordered him to take down a blog he was operating, but he began again at a new site. He said al-Farhan told him he was treated well in jail. He also called al-Farhan's release a turning point for the blogging community in Saudi Arabia. "It showed the community of bloggers in Saudi Arabia can come together and support this cause -- support his freedom of speech -- even those who didn't agree with some of the things he wrote," he said. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom contributed to this report.

NEW: Friend says blogger "in good spirits" and spending time with family . Fouad al-Farhan detained in December by Saudi government for his blog . Al-Farhan was held because he supported reform advocates, a blog says . Saudi government accused him of supporting terrorism through his blog .

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(CNN) -- Pakistan's much-awaited military offensive in North Waziristan was launched more than a week ago, and followed an attack on Karachi airport that left at least 36 people dead. Due to the strategic calculations of the Pakistani state, North Waziristan has steadily fallen into the hands of motley militant networks, and has become a mountainous zone for the Pakistani Taliban to recruit, regroup and launch attacks against the country. The Pakistani Army conducted a similar operation in the Swat Valley in 2009, not too far from the tribal areas, that has been a relative success in reclaiming territory. It is unclear which direction the latest operation will go. But a major humanitarian crisis is brewing in the wake of the new offensive. As of Wednesday, the government had registered over 450,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) who have been fleeing the area in view of the aerial bombardments and warnings by military authorities. There are fears the figures could be much higher. Desperate need for shelter . The military has taken extraordinary steps, especially in terms of its public relations efforts, to minimize the fallout in public perception. It's issuing press releases, specifying how many terrorists have been killed, and giving a count of aid distributed. Yet, thousands of families still need immediate support in terms of livelihood, shelter and basic amenities. While the United Nations has stepped in to provide aid, distribution systems have a long way to go in meeting the scale of demand. Beyond North Waziristan, the Pakhtun population follows the age-old custom of accepting and looking after "guests." Predictably, many families fleeing the violence are being absorbed into the towns and villages of Bannu, in neighboring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province. Bannu town is straining under the pressure of a massive population influx. While local Pakhtuns and civic groups have been engaged, the response of the government authorities has been slow. The disaster management authority (FDMA) in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), underfunded like most government agencies, is battling with the magnitude of the crisis. Government response . The government has established one camp in Bannu, but many more facilities are needed, especially during the hot summer season. A meager grant is being offered to each family for their multifarious needs, but very few have received it so far. The political opposition that rules KP has complained of a funds shortage, and voices in the media have criticized the federal government's inordinate focus on domestic political squabbles and high profile infrastructure projects, ignoring the plight of homeless people. The minister in charge of the government response — the Federal Minister for States and Frontier Regions retired Lt Gen Abdul Qadri Baloch -- has said "every reasonable need of the IDPs will be taken care of in the best possible manner and money is not an issue." However, he also urged fellow Pakistanis to "open their pockets." Few places to go . Pakistan's ethnic politics also impedes free movement of IDPs. While the country's constitution allows for freedom of movement for its citizens, the provincial governments of Sindh and Punjab have restricted the inflow of migrants from the north. The provincial government of Sindh says that it is already dealing with two million "aliens" and has attributed the rise of militancy in the port city Karachi due to earlier in-country migrations. Similarly, Punjab, the home province of Pakistan's Prime Minister, has refused to host the displaced people. This policy has been termed illegal by political leaders and has caused resentment not just among the IDPs but Pakistan's Pakhtun population in general. Marginalized population . The people of North Waziristan -- and the tribal region FATA -- have been stranded between the military and the militants for more than a decade. They have dealt with historic marginalization, underdevelopment, high poverty levels and, of late, the polio epidemic. An estimated 160,000 children are vulnerable since the Taliban banned immunization in North Waziristan two years ago, terming immunization as a "Western conspiracy." A major worry nationally is that the polio virus may spread faster than it has in recent months. According to government officials, Pakistan has reported 65 polio cases from FATA this year of which 50 alone pertained to North Waziristan. Challenge and opportunities . These grave challenges require leadership and effective interagency coordination. Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has set up a high level body that monitors the day-to-day situation. But, it is the local authorities that need more funds and broader mandates. The risks of aggravating the already marginalized people are manifold. Increased radicalization is one since the area is an open field for charities affiliated with extremist organizations. There are opportunities as well. Free of Taliban diktat, there is a greater scope for immunization campaigns for the children now. There is also an opportunity to rebuild FATA, which has been governed since the British times as a remote outpost of the Empire with little or no rights for the local population. Earlier reform efforts led nowhere. Political and administrative reforms must follow the military operations. Local governments and courts are needed for the area. Pakistan's tribal belt has to evolve from its current status as a "strategic," semi-colonial arena to a democratic polity. This requires a civil-military consensus. For now, the country must tackle the growing numbers of homeless and avoid another catastrophe in the making. Fleeing Pakistanis crowd border towns, asking 'why weren't we warned?'

Hundreds of thousands of people are fleeing North Waziristan . Rumi: Government has been slow to act to avert humanitarian crisis . Army launched strikes in retaliation for Pakistan Taliban attack on airport . Civilians caught in the crackdown are crowding nearby town of Bannu .

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(CNN) -- Authorities found four human bodies abandoned in the Arizona desert Thursday. Initial indications point to exposure as the probable cause of death, said Victor Brabble, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. "It is probable that they are immigrants attempting to cross into the U.S.," he said. "However, we don't have enough to draw a conclusion on it now." The bodies were found near Gila Bend, Arizona, about 70 miles north of the border. They have not been identified, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office said. Immigrants often try to cross the Sonoran Desert's harsh terrain, and there are many heat-related deaths, Brabble said Thursday. Immigrant rights advocates have warned that even as border crossings decrease, deaths are on the rise as increased border security forces people to choose more dangerous crossing routes. Border patrol officials have argued that more security is necessary to stop smugglers. According to a recent study by the Binational Migration Institute at the University of Arizona, more than 2,230 migrants have died in the state's desert area along the border in the past 22 years. In the border region of Pima County, Arizona, deaths of unidentified migrants in the desert have become so common the Medical Examiner's Office has helped create a website to track the deaths and assist family members searching for their loved ones' remains. On Thursday, a bipartisan group of senators announced a proposal to add 20,000 more border agents, complete 700 miles of fence along the boundary with Mexico, and deploy $3.2 billion in technology upgrades similar to equipment used by U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The proposed amendment, negotiated by a group of senators from both parties known as the "Gang of Eight," is intended to ensure Senate passage of a major immigration reform bill with enough Republican support to persuade the GOP-controlled House to also take up the measure. Journalist Valeria Fernandez and CNN's Tom Cohen, Dana Bash and Ted Barrett contributed to this report.

A border patrol spokesman says it's probable they are immigrants . The bodies have not been identified, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office says . Activists say border deaths are on the rise as security forces more dangerous crossings . Border patrol officials have argued that more security is necessary to stop smugglers .

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(WIRED) -- The Verizon iPhone and AT&T iPhone have gone head-to-head in thousands of broadband tests, and the numbers tell the story you'd expect: AT&T's network is much faster. Ookla, creators of the Speedtest.net broadband test, compiled data from tests run by iPhone customers using the Speedtest.net app on both AT&T and Verizon. On average, the reported AT&T iPhone transfer rates were roughly two times faster than the Verizon iPhone's. The AT&T iPhone's average download speed was 1,769 Kbps, and the average upload speed was 730 Kbps. By way of comparison, the Verizon iPhone's average download speed was 848 Kbps, and the average upload speed was 506 Kbps. The results come from 43,000 AT&T iPhones and 14,000 Verizon iPhones all over the United States. Most Speedtest.net app users ran the tests multiple times, totaling 106,000 results from AT&T iPhone users and 49,000 results from Verizon iPhone users. The Speedtest.net results did not provide data on coverage reliability or dropped connections. From my benchmarking of the Verizon iPhone versus the AT&T iPhone, I also found that the AT&T iPhone's 3G transfer rates were much faster than Verizon's. However, the AT&T iPhone sometimes could not complete tests because it did not have a connection, whereas the Verizon iPhone successfully completed every test. In short, I found the Verizon iPhone to be slower with network transfers but more reliable with coverage. Reviewers at other publications had the same results. "I think that's the story I expected to see," said Doug Suttles, co-founder of Ookla. "Verizon has never talked up their speed, but they always talk up coverage and reliability.... I think the story is quality versus throughput: What are you after?" Speedtest.net's nationwide results back my verdict: You should get a Verizon iPhone if you really care about voice quality and calls, but the AT&T iPhone is better as a media-consumption device (Netflix movies, photo downloads and uploads, etc.) because of its faster speeds. Subscribe to WIRED magazine for less than $1 an issue and get a FREE GIFT! Click here! Copyright 2011 Wired.com.

Verizon iPhone and AT&T iPhone go head-to-head in broadband tests . You should get a Verizon iPhone if you really care about voice quality and calls . AT&T iPhone is better as a media-consumption device .

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(AOL Autos) -- There are two good ways to buy your new car or truck at a reasonable low price and avoid all of the negotiating games and hassles: . 1. Buy through the Internet . Buying your new or used car or truck through the Internet is the easiest and most hassle-free way to make the purchase. All you have to do is choose the vehicle brand and model you wish to purchase as well as provide some basic contact information such as your name and e-mail address. In return, you'll receive - via e-mail - low bottom-line selling prices from dealerships in your area for the exact vehicle you want to buy. Compare the various selling prices and find the lowest one. Then, simply go direct to that dealership's Internet Department, sign the papers and drive your new car home - no negotiating, no hassles. To begin the process, get your free price quotes from AOL Autos. It only takes a few minutes. This service is totally free and you are under no obligation or pressure to buy. AOL, like CNN, is a unit of Time Warner. Within 24 hours, you'll receive your bottom-line selling prices from dealerships in your area. Once you've compared the various prices and found the lowest one, you then have four good options: . • You can go to the dealership that gave you the lowest price, sign the papers and drive your new car home -- no hassles, no negotiating. AOL Autos: Best deals of the month . • You can try to negotiate the lowest price with the dealership in order to get the price even lower. There's nothing that says you can't. AOL Autos: Aggressive car buying tactics . • You can shop the lowest price around to other dealerships to see if any of them are willing to beat it. AOL Autos: Which dealers treat you best? • You can do nothing. If you feel unsure or uncertain, then set it aside for a while. You are not obligated to buy anything you don't want. By getting these low bottom-line selling prices via the Internet, you're avoiding the car salesman's entire negotiating game altogether. And you're buying your car at about the same price you would expect after lengthy negotiations. It's certainly the fastest and easiest way to beat the car salesman. AOL Autos: New rules to car buying . 2. Buy through the dealership's Fleet Department . Almost every dealership has a division called the "Fleet Department." It usually consists of only a handful of salespeople who specialize in selling fleets of cars -- large orders of several vehicles direct to businesses. This department is authorized by the dealership to sell their cars at bottom-line non-negotiable prices. The prices they offer are about the same as you would expect from an online price quote or after lengthy negotiations. A secret of the car business is that many dealerships' Fleet Departments also sell direct to the public. By the rules of the game, however, they can't advertise to the public since they don't want to compete with the dealership's retail sales team. So to buy from the Fleet Department, you have to specifically ask. To buy your vehicle direct from the dealership's Fleet Department, simply call the dealership and ask to speak with the Fleet Manager. When you get him on the line, explain to him that you're ready to buy a car and you'd like to buy it from him. If he asks you what business you are associated with, tell him where you work. He'll probably be happy to set up an appointment with you. When you arrive at the dealership, the Fleet Manager will show you the vehicle, allow you to test drive it, and then bring you to the office to discuss price. With absolutely no negotiations, he'll offer you a reasonable bottom-line non-negotiable selling price for the vehicle. If the price he gives you falls within the pre-set limits of your buying goal and you're satisfied with the deal, then you can buy the car. No pressure, no games, no hassles. If for some reason, you don't want to buy the vehicle, you are under no obligation. Simply thank the salesman for his time and leave on good terms. Then, if you'd like, you can visit (or call) the Fleet Departments of other dealerships to compare prices. The selling prices offered by the various Fleet Departments can vary depending upon their inventories. AOL Autos: Have a car shopping game plan . Michael Royce is a consumer advocate and former car salesman. For more car-buying tips and advice, visit his Beat the Car Salesman Web site.

You can solicit best price quotes from car dealers over the Internet . You can shop the lowest price to other dealers to see if they will match or beat it . Individuals can also buy car from dealer's Fleet Department .

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(CNN) -- An internationally renowned paleontologist will plead guilty to stealing dinosaur bones from federal land, his attorneys said in a court filing. Paleontologist Nate Murphy is expected to plead guilty to stealing fossils from federal land. Nate Murphy, whose famous finds include Leonardo, one of the best-preserved dinosaurs in the world, will make that plea in federal court in Billings, Montana. Earlier this month, Murphy pleaded guilty to state charges of stealing a fossil from private land in order to sell it. An expert cited in that case said Murphy's find was worth between $150,000 and $400,000. The self-taught dinosaur expert, who is director of vertebrate paleontology at the Judith River Dinosaur Institute, could face jail time. Murphy and his attorney did not immediately respond to phone messages Friday from CNN. Jessica Fehr, lead prosecutor in the case, said the U.S. Attorney's Office would not comment until after the plea is entered. In court papers, federal prosecutors say Murphy knowingly took fossils from federal property between about August 2006 and August 2007. The "paleontological resources" were said to be worth at least $1,000. In the state case, Murphy pleaded guilty to a felony charge of theft. As part of the plea, the state recommended Murphy's sentence be deferred for five years. Douglas Erwin, president of The Paleontological Society and curator of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, said "theft of fossils from pubic lands has long been a problem." In a written statement sent to CNN on Friday, he said such thefts "can often result in the loss of important scientific information and the disappearance of specimens that belong to the public. "At the same time, however, fossil collecting, particularly of common invertebrate fossils, has been a pastime enjoyed by many for decades, and is an important way of connecting people with their natural heritage." An omnibus public lands bill, which the U.S. Senate passed Thursday, includes penalties for fossil theft from public land.

Attorney says well-known paleontologist will plead guilty to stealing dinosaur bones . Nate Murphy, of the Judith River Dinosaur Institute, has made major fossil finds . Murphy is accused of taking fossils from federal lands in Montana . Smithsonian: "Theft of fossils from pubic lands has long been a problem"

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Washington (CNN) -- More than 15 million surge protectors are being recalled for posing a potential fire hazard, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the manufacturer announced Thursday. Seven hundred instances of APC SurgeArrest devices overheating or melting have been reported, according to a press release from the safety commission. Thirteen people were hurt and 55 claims were made for damage caused by smoke and fire. The recall includes corded surge protectors manufactured before 2003 by Schneider Electric IT Corporation. "The affected products may present a fire hazard under infrequent, abnormal building wiring and electrical conditions," the company said. "This hazard has been reported in a small percentage (less than 0.01%) of the units sold and included reports of property damage, mostly involving damaged nylon carpeting." Thirty-two model numbers of the company's "7 series" and "8 series" devices are included in the recall and can be found on the company's website, recall.apc.com, or by calling 888 437 4007 . The safety commission urges the public to stop using the surge protectors, and to contact the company for a replacement.

The surge protectors were manufactured by Schneider Electric IT Corporation prior to 2003 .

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(CNN) -- When news broke that six e-mail accounts belonging to members of the Bush family were hacked and some of the contents posted online, reactions ranged from being offended to amusement. Many people objected to the leak of family exchanges reflecting contingency planning for the funeral of President George H.W. Bush. If ever a family deserves privacy, it is when dealing with the death, or impending death, of a loved one. Others seized on the semi-nude bathing self-portraits of President George W. Bush to resume ridicule not seen since he left office. And virtually everyone took the episode as a warning that "this can happen to you." The Bush family email hack comes on the heels of reports of hacking at universities and major newspapers, and it follows urgent government warnings against our fragile cybersecurity defenses. So, do the average users of online e-mail and Web services simply have to assume that hacking will expose their personal messages and photos? Not necessarily. The recent spate of security breaches and the attention focused on them will mean that government and businesses will up their game even more to secure our information infrastructure. But the security reinforcement might take time. In the meantime, people have options to protect their information and themselves. Privacy and data security is a shared responsibility, after all, and users have a role to play. Some Web-based e-mail services like Google's Gmail offer tools to add an extra layer of protection. Gmail offers a two-step verification to add an extra layer of security. Such protection erects a double gate against unwanted interception. Through two-step verification, in addition to user name and password, you enter a code that the e-mail provider will send via text, voice call or on a mobile app. Two-step verification drastically reduces the chances of someone stealing the personal information from your e-mail account because hackers would have to not only get a password and your user name, they would also have to have access to the mobile phone to which the code is sent. And while you are taking steps to secure your e-mail, you would be well-advised to make sure your WiFi connection is secure. Wireless routers are ubiquitous, allowing you to share your internet connection and files around the house. But without securing your router, anyone within range can access the websites you visit and may be able to access your personal information. Securing your WiFi router with a password is an easy step to take, and it is often overlooked. If you want to get a little more technical, take a look at whether the website you are using to transmit information is using HTTPS -- hypertext transfer protocol secure. HTTPS encrypts your data so that it cannot be intercepted during transmission. You will find that your banking transactions almost always will be conducted through the HTTPS protocol. For an extra level of security, check to see if other websites you use offer HTTPS for transmission. So instead of throwing up your hands that Web-based e-mail and online data transfers can never be secure, seek out and use the security tools that already exist. And no matter what your political persuasion, thank the Bush family for the wake-up call. The opinions in this commentary are solely those of Christopher Wolf.

Bush family e-mails were hacked, private contents posted online . Chris Wolf: Many offended, some amused, but all concerned about privacy . Wolf: Users have options already established to protect private information . Wolf: Use password for WiFi, use two-step verification for e-mail .

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Washington (CNN) -- The White House has been tight-lipped about how many uninsured Americans have signed up for health care insurance under the Affordable Care Act, which has led to some concerns about whether enough people are enrolling in private health plans to make the economic model work. Under the law, insurance companies are required to cover anyone. But in order to make that economically feasible, everyone has to buy insurance. The White House has set a goal of enrolling 7 million people in private insurance plans through the new health insurance exchanges by March 31, 2014, the end of the glitch-plagued open enrollment period that started October 1. But it has been tight-lipped so far about how many people have actually enrolled in private insurance plans -- those who have both applied and paid the premiums in advance. Officials announced Thursday that 700,000 people have applied for insurance plans in both the 36 states that are using a federally run health care exchange and the 14 states running their own exchanges. Obamacare website 'fixable' by end of November . But don't apply that 700,000 application figure to the 7 million enrollment goal. For starters, there's no guarantee that all 700,000 will ultimately enroll in a health insurance plan. And those 700,000 applications include Medicaid enrollments. Medicaid programs are the public health insurance programs run by states to provide low-income people with health insurance. As the law was originally envisioned, more than half of the uninsured people in the United States -- 24 million or so, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation -- who would be getting insurance through Obamacare would have been getting Medicaid. Anyone who makes less than 138% of the poverty level -- about $27,000 for a family of four -- isn't eligible for federal subsidies to buy insurance, so Medicaid is effectively their only option. So it's not necessarily a bad thing if more than half of the people getting insurance under Obamacare so far are getting Medicaid. But in many of the states operating their own exchanges, new Medicaid enrollees account for more than half of the people who have obtained insurance under Obamacare since October 1. Related: Finger-pointing over Obamacare . Should it be alarming that so many of these 700,000 new applications are people trying to get Medicaid and not private insurance? Not yet, said Matt Salo, executive director of the National Association of Medicaid Directors. "There's nothing in what we've seen to suggest anything like that," he said. "Whether you're able to be eligible for Medicaid or not is totally dependent on your income." But he did admit "Some of the numbers we've seen, preliminary, early numbers, do seem a little out of whack." But he said there's a reason for that. "In these small handful of states, they're aggressively targeting people they think might be eligible for Medicaid," Salo said. Salo pointed to people who the states already know are on food stamps receiving some other kind of state or locally funded health program. "You know who they are, you know what their income is, you know they're OK accepting government benefits. If you go after these guys, there should be no surprise that these people are being enrolled." Also, in some states, Medicaid coverage starts immediately, meaning there may be more of an incentive to enroll early because you get coverage sooner than on the private market where no matter when you enroll in the first two and a half months coverage still starts on January 1. In Arkansas they've insured more than 62,000 people in Medicaid since October 1. But in a novel twist they're doing it by using Medicaid dollars to buy people private insurance on the exchanges. Related: Obamacare more than a phone call away . And Oregon has been approved to use food stamps and other metrics as a prequalifier for Medicaid enrollment. So the state sent letters to uninsured welfare recipients that detailed simple steps to enroll in Medicaid -- i.e. just sign a form and mail it back or call a hotline. This has resulted in tens of thousands of enrollees. But Oregon also has yet to allow online registration for private health insurance. It's the one state that elected to fix the glitches in its website before going live. It may very well be that not enough people -- particularly the young and the healthy people who are needed to pay premiums to offset the benefits going out to older and less healthy -- are signing up for health insurance on the exchanges. But with so little information from the government, it is too early to tell. What we learned and didn't from Obamacare website hearing .

Early sign ups for the Affordable Care Act have lagged because of technical problems . But those first numbers may mask a different set of numbers . Many states are using Medicaid enrollees in their count toward initial Obamacare applications .

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An unlicensed doctor has been charged with causing an HIV outbreak in a remote village in northwestern Battambang province, local media report. More than 800 panicked residents of Rokar village sought testing after reports of infections emerged last week. Some 106 people tested positive for HIV, according to the National AIDS authority. A provincial court has laid three charges against the unlicensed doctor, Yem Chroeum, including intentionally transmitting the HIV virus and running a clinic without permission from the Ministry of Health, police said. The police confirmed Chroeum used contaminated needles. "After questioning Yem Chroeum, he confessed he did order his son-in-law to burn down the evidence behind his house, and (treated) patients with negligence, as well as using the same needles to treat them," Chet Vanny, deputy police chief of Battambang province told the Phnom Penh Post. Cambodia calls for investigation . Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen called for an inquiry into the mass HIV infection last week. "I call for a thorough investigation into the issue," Hun Sen said in a televised speech. The Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization and UNAIDS have sent teams to the village to carry out more investigations and provide free testing and treatment services. "I urge everyone to stay calm and avoid listening to or spreading rumors," said Dr Mam Bunheng, minister of health in a press release. "We should also all fully respect the privacy of the affected families and ensure they do not face stigma and discrimination," he added. UNAIDS estimates there are 76,000 people living with HIV in Cambodia. The country has been widely praised for its progress in tackling AIDS. New HIV infections have dropped by 67% from 3500 in 2005 to 1300 in 2013, according to UNAIDS. Prime Minister Hun Sen announced last week that Cambodia is committed to stopping new HIV infections by 2020. The government will allocate US$3.7 million of national funding to HIV treatment from 2015 to 2017.

An unlicensed doctor has been charged over an HIV outbreak in Cambodia . Police confirm the doctor re-used needles while treating patients . Health officials say 106 tested HIV positive, with over 800 seeking to be tested . Stay calm and don't spread rumors, says health minister .

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(CNN) -- I've written quite a bit about medical myths, so I'm always a bit skeptical about medical "knowledge." But one thing I, and I'm sure many of you, think we understand is obesity. After all, weight issues crop up in media constantly. Just last night, Gov. Chris Christie was joking about donuts and his weight on The Late Show with David Letterman, and the First Lady's weight is once again a subject of discussion in the Washington Post--even though by any objective standard she's in great shape. We know how people gain weight, and we think we know how to lose it. Except a study in this week's New England Journal of Medicine shows us that's just not right. Pretty much everything we "know" about obesity and weight loss is wrong. Let's start with some things that are true. More than a third of Americans are obese. Many more are overweight. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that obesity-related medical costs were almost $150 billion in 2008, and the cost in health related expensed for an average person who was obese was more than $1,400. This doesn't count the physical, mental or quality-of-life toll that obesity can levy on a person. Few of us dispute that we need to do something about this problem. There are plenty of experts (present company included) who will tell you what needs to be done. The sad truth, though, is that lots of that advice (even mine) turns out to be mistaken. I know I've told people that making small, sustained lifestyle changes is the best way to lose weight over time. But it turns out that making such changes, say by deciding to walk a mile every day for five years, results in far less weight loss than you'd expect. Coca-Cola weighs in on obesity fight . I've lectured people about the importance of physical education in schools, and I've seen countless reports declaring that the decrease in PE nationwide is one of the reasons that more children are obese or overweight today. It turns out that studies don't show that's the case. My family loves watching "The Biggest Loser." But I've found myself telling my kids again and again that what's shown on TV isn't the best way to lose weight. I tell them that slow and steady works better in the long-run than rapid weight loss. I also tell them that setting unrealistic weight goals can actually sabotage your efforts. So imagine my shock to discover that what evidence exists in this new study hints towards ambitious goals being a good thing, and that quicker weight loss isn't less likely to be kept off in the long-term. People will say eating breakfast is a good idea when you're trying to lose weight, because it will keep you from binging later. But studies show that there's no protective effect from eating breakfast at all. People will say that eating more fruits and vegetables is a great way to lose weight. But studies show that, on their own, eating more of them without making other behavioral changes doesn't result in any weight loss. There's no magic to fruits and vegetables. Eatocracy: Chefs with Issues: Farm-to-table should still be on the table . People will say that snacking in between meals can lead to weight gain. But studies don't show that to be the case either. In general, people compensate for snacking throughout the rest of the day. In other words, it's not necessarily bad to snack outside of usual meal times. It's all enough to cause one to despair. But just because so much of what we believe is wrong doesn't mean we still can't do something about the issue. Studies do show that you can absolutely overcome genetic and familial factors to lose weight. They show that significant physical activity can help with weight loss, and that it has the added bonus of making you healthier in general. Reducing your caloric intake works overall, especially if it's done in a way to change your overall eating habits. Getting the whole family involved is important. And finally, for some, bariatric surgery can result in life-changing outcomes. Over the past five years, my wife and I have lost quite a bit of weight. I'm down somewhere between 15% to 20% of my high of more than 200 pounds. My wife lost even more, although I'm not going to give you any numbers (I like being married). Now that I look back, if I'm going to be honest about it, I did it in bursts over a few months here and there, each time gaining back less than I had lost. 7 weight loss myths (sort of) debunked . Each time, I had ambitious goals of 15 pounds or more in two to three months, and each time I really restricted my caloric intake. But I've kept the weight off by radically changing my overall eating habits. My breakfast consists of just coffee, I eat very light lunches, such as salads, and dinner is usually a healthy home-cooked meal with the family. My wife cooks way more than she used to and is obsessed with finding ways to make meals healthier. I avoid fried foods almost entirely, and I can't remember the last time I ate in a fast food restaurant. I also get to the gym two to three times each week. I don't tell you this because I think this is what you should do, or because I think it's the key to getting thinner. I tell you this because more and more, I think that the journey to sustained weight loss is a very personal and individual path. Perhaps our problem is we're trying to find a one-size-fits-all solution. I'm not sure that exists. Lastly, what was left out of this new scientific paper was prevention. The single best way to fight obesity is to avoid it in the first place. That has to start when kids are young, and it's a lifelong journey. But one thing I doubt will ever be proved false is that it's much easier not to gain the weight in the first place than to take it off later. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Aaron Carroll.

Aaron Carroll: I thought I knew all about obesity; a new study challenges that . He says obesity a big problem, but weight loss not as simple as fruits, veggies and no snacks . Studies do show that overall, vigorous exercise and watching calories help . Carroll: Best tool against obesity is not to get there in first place .

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It's a truth of warfare in the digital era: Bullets and bombs often are augmented by status updates and tweets. The bloody conflict taking place in Iraq is no different. And Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, a terror group so extreme that al Qaeda has denounced it, is taking the lead with a social media propaganda war the likes of which has never been seen. From recruiting fighters to spreading word of their violent attacks, ISIS is taking to the Web in what analysts say is a more sophisticated manner than previous combatants. Perhaps as a result, Iraqis have been reporting widespread outages of social sites, a common refrain during recent unrest in the Middle East and elsewhere. CNN's Nick Paton-Walsh in Turkey interviewed a defector from ISIS who said he used to recruit Westerners for the cause through direct messages on Twitter. Opinion: Will ISIS brutality backfire? "There was special treatment for the Europeans. One British guy said he was called Ibrahim, then told me he was from Manchester," said the man, who said he left the movement after it killed two of his relatives. "One asked my boss if he should fight in his own country or come to Syria. He was told, 'If God doesn't give you martyrdom in Syria,' then he could wage war in his own country." The man, now in hiding, said he was part of a team that ran an online chat welcoming new recruits to ISIS. "There are things I am allowed to answer and things I must ask my supervisor about," he said. "Specific questions about religion -- I have to get their permission to message anyone. I can't talk on Skype. Everything is written down so they can monitor everything." As the Islamist group's fight has moved from Syria to Iraq, that savvy Web strategy has expanded to include online video posts much slicker than the grainy, shaky clips that have popped up from al Qaeda and other terror groups. Recently, a slickly produced, hourlong ISIS video titled "The Clanging of the Swords" surfaced, showcasing killings, roadside bombings and other acts of terror for which ISIS claimed credit. The video vividly displays these scenes in a style reminiscent of Hollywood efforts like "The Hurt Locker" and "Zero Dark Thirty," complete with elaborate aerial shots. "This is funded," said Nadia Oweidat, a Middle East analyst. "This is geopolitics. There is money behind it. It's not just idiots; these idiots have somebody controlling them and providing them with equipment that is very expensive. You can't just get it in a cave." On another front, at least one analyst says ISIS was recently using a mobile app made available in Google's Play Store to inflate its presence on social media. Called The Dawn of Glad Tidings, or just Dawn, the app was promoted as a way to keep up to date with news from ISIS. According to J.M. Berger, editor of national-security blog IntelWire, the Dawn app would post updates to users' Twitter feeds. By midafternoon Tuesday, Google appeared to have removed the app from its store. Google did not immediately reply to a message seeking comment for this story. With the digital assault accompanying a ground offensive that saw ISIS fighting Tuesday just 40 miles north of Baghdad in the city of Baquba, access to social media has been disappearing across much of Iraq. There has been no confirmation that the Iraqi government is behind a blackout. But both Facebook and Twitter have reported a precipitous drop in the number of people in Iraq using their products in the past few days. "Users in #Iraq are reporting issues accessing our service. We're investigating their reports and we hope service will be restored quickly," Twitter said on its global policy team's account Friday. Facebook has issued a similar statement. "We are disturbed by reports of access issues in Iraq and are investigating. Limiting access to Internet services — essential for communication and commerce for millions of people — is a matter of concern for the global community," read a Facebook statement sent to CNN. Facebook's internal numbers show that, since June 12, the volume of visits to its site and apps were as low as 30% of their normal volume in Iraq. There are no technical problems on its end, Facebook said. Web software firm Akamai reports that visits to Twitter in Iraq dramatically plummeted early Saturday. A Twitter spokesman said its internal traffic reports mirror Akamai's. Iraqis have increasingly turned to Whisper, a mobile app that lets users post anonymous images, in an apparent effort to get around the social-media issues. Neetzan Zimmerman, Whisper's editor in chief, told CNNMoney that Whisper usage in Iraq more than doubled between June 12 and June 15. During Arab Spring uprisings in places like Egypt and Iran, as well as more recent conflicts in places like Syria, unrest has been met with Internet outages and the blocking of social media sites. In virtually all cases, the opposition has accused sitting governments, who control their nation's Internet infrastructure, of blocking access to make coordination more difficult and keep news of the conflicts from spreading. MAPS: Crisis in Iraq .

A well-orchestrated social media war is accompanying fighting in Iraq . Islamic State of Iraq and Syria recruits terror fighters on Twitter . Online videos showing group's attacks are glossy, high-quality . Google appears to have banned app used by ISIS to spread news .

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MARDAN, Pakistan (CNN) -- A family of 18 Pakistani men, women and children trudges down a dirt road toward a refugee camp. These children are among the thousands of refugees this week at the Jalozai camp in western Pakistan. Adolescent girls carry infants on their hips, while the men lug bundles of belongings on their backs. "Come, stay close to me," said one woman wrapped in brightly colored robes, speaking to three children trailing behind her. "This one is empty," a white-bearded Pakistani police officer tells the family, pointing toward a tent. The women and children scramble under the canvas flap, as Salar Khan explains what led his family to flee to Mardan. "Mortars destroyed three houses in my village," he said. "It was dangerous. A piece of shrapnel almost pierced my child's leg." Khan said his family left their home Wednesday morning in Sultanwas, a town in Buner district. Now, they are living in Mardan's rapidly growing tent city of more than 1,400 other displaced Pakistanis. Five days ago, it was an empty field. Watch as CNN's Ivan Watson tours a refugee camp » . Khan's family has joined tens of thousands of other Pakistanis fleeing south to escape the escalating conflict between the military and Taliban militants in northwestern Pakistan. Meanwhile, columns of Pakistani troops in military trucks head in the opposite direction, hauling field guns north toward the conflict zone. Pakistani families have fled the area any way they can: on foot, by hitching rides on the back of trucks and by stowing their belongings on the roofs of cars. As fighting has spread from the districts of Buner and Lower Dir to the Taliban stronghold in the Swat Valley, camps for displaced people are cropping up across northwest Pakistan. The United Nations said the new exodus is exacerbating an already existing humanitarian crisis. Since August, the U.N. has registered more than 500,000 Pakistanis forced to flee their homes by fighting in other northwestern parts of the country. "Last year ... 4 million people worldwide lost their homes, out of which you have half a million displaced in Pakistan," said Manuel Bessler, a top U.N. official in Islamabad. Bessler spoke on a rooftop, overlooking the sprawling Jalozai refugee camp in western Pakistan. Until recently, the camp housed refugees from neighboring Afghanistan. The Afghans are now gone, replaced by more then 49,000 Pakistanis. Administrators are preparing space for 35,000 others. With help from U.N. agencies, the Pakistani government and other aid organizations, residents get access to medical care, children's schools and training programs to teach them how to rebuild their damaged homes if and when they get to return. Tensions have been building in the Jalozai camp. Two months ago, Pakistani police shot and killed one demonstrator after residents protested, blocking roads, throwing stones and demanding compensation for homes damaged by the fighting. This week, a crowd of several hundred agitated men gathered at the entrance, angry about a delay of several days in the monthly distribution of food aid. Some accused camp administrators of corruption, allegations that aid workers have denied. "The wheat we've been given is substandard, and people are getting sick instead of being fed," said one man named Gulzada. "Our houses have been destroyed," said another man called Anwar. "There's no tea, no sugar, no wheat, no lentils. All that we have are the clothes we are wearing." A fresh wave of displaced Pakistanis will only aggravate tensions, said Bessler, the U.N. official. "This is a factor that is destabilizing not only in the camp but in the country as a whole," he warned. Only a fraction of the hundreds of thousands of displaced Pakistanis are ending up in camps. Many more have settled with host families or have resorted to paying rent in other cities. The influx of ethnic Pashtuns from northwest Pakistan upset the delicate demographic balance last month in the port city of Karachi. That led to ethnic clashes between Pashtuns and the resident Muhajir community, resulting in the deaths of more than 30 people. Many more Pakistanis are unable to leave the conflict area, according to Sebastian Brack, a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Islamabad. "There is a serious humanitarian crisis under way," Brack said. "There is serious fighting going on. There will be massive displacement. Because of the curfew, [many] have not been able to leave yet." In this moment of crisis, some homeless Pakistanis are turning to a higher power. "Whenever it is God's will, we will go back to our homes," says Mohammed Munir, an elderly man who fled with his family from the Buner district to the new camp in Mardan three days ago. "And we pray to Allah that he will protect us. It's up to Allah. We can't do anything." The man kneeled and prayed in the grass outside the entrance of a tent that his family now calls home.

Tens of thousands flee south to escape conflict between military and Taliban . Refugee camps for the displaced are cropping up across northwest Pakistan . Latest exodus is exacerbating humanitarian crisis, U.N. says . Tensions have been building in Jalozai camp in western Pakistan .

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ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- You are about to meet Mr. Brown. David Mann and Tamela Mann -- a real-life couple -- star in "Meet the Browns" as father and daughter. He's David Mann, star of the TBS sitcom "Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns." To borrow a phrase from the network's marketing -- he's very funny. Mann's character -- "Downtown" Leroy Brown -- is a lovable, sometimes outrageous and always off-the-wall senior citizen who has stolen every scene he's entered in Tyler Perry's plays, movies and TV shows. Mr. Brown no longer has to steal scenes, because TBS -- owned by CNN parent company Time Warner -- has ordered 80 episodes of half-hour comedy, based on the success of 10 pilot episodes. "Just in case I'm dreaming, don't pinch me," said Mann. "I'm living the dream." "Meet the Browns" is a spinoff of Perry's "House of Payne," a sitcom that has yielded strong cable ratings for TBS, and it employs some of the same characters seen in Perry's movies and stage plays -- including a play and film named "Meet the Browns," which is only mildly related to the TV series. The show focuses on Mr. Brown and his daughter Cora, played by Mann's real-life wife, Tamela Mann, as Mr. Brown tries to turn his house into a home for the elderly. Those who have followed Perry's productions know that Cora was the conceived during a brief fling between Brown and Madea, Perry's female alter ego. "If it hadn't been for Cora, Mr. Brown and Madea probably would have killed each other by now," Mann said. "Cora is the glue to this whole thing. Cora keeps everybody grounded." Mann said Mr. Brown's speech and mannerisms are from a combination of people. "Grandfathers, uncles, relatives, you know, different friends you see." he said. "I use to go to a nursing home and just look at people, watch -- 'OK, that's how they're doing this.' " His biggest laughs come from his use -- or abuse -- of the English language which Mann refers to as "Mr. Brownisms." Manipulate becomes "manipudip," while hypnotize transforms to "hepatitis." "You hear them as I spit them out, and it's just like, 'What was I thinking?' " Mann said. Mr. Brown's wardrobe, which is always two sizes too small for his protruding belly, is a bright-colored mix of thrift store specials. "The clothes just kind of happened," he said. "Because, you know, you have that uncle or that relative in your family who just can't let the clothes go?" Since Mr. Brown originated on the stage -- in Perry productions -- Mann had to adjust to the small screen. "I'm very animated and so I just had to make sure I toned that down for the screen because I'm so used to making sure that the person in the front row can see as well as the person in the balcony," he said. "To bring that and condense it down for television was a transition for me." Camera operators are challenged to keep up with Mann as he moves around the set, sometimes re-writing the script. "One word can trigger a whole different thing with us, and that's what I love about working with Tyler Perry," Mann said. "He gives you the freedom to go in there and create. If you see something that can make it funnier, he gives you the liberty to go ahead and do it, create it and make it funny." Perry directs every episode at his new Atlanta studio on a sound stage next to where he also tapes "House of Payne." Mr. Brown never seems too far from Mr. Mann. In mid-interview, he emerges. "Oh, he can come out any time," Mann, speaking as Brown, said. "All you got tuh do is say it, and he'll come. Yeap, Mr. Brown is always 'round somewhere. You jes' got tuh belieeeeeve." The character is played about 30 years older than Mann, which causes some confusion out of costume and in public, he said. "What's funny is when people see me out they're like, 'Are you Mr. Brown's son?' No, I'm Mr. Brown," he said. "But that's good for the makeup team." Perhaps the most awkward time is when he is on the set, dressed as Mr. Brown, and he wants to show his wife, Tamela Mann, some husbandly affection. "She is like, 'When you put that makeup on, you are Mr. Brown, you're not my husband.' " he said. "So, she doesn't want me kissing on her and stuff. She says 'it's like a dirty old man kissing and hugging on me.' " You can also see Mr. Brown in "Tyler Perry's Madea Goes To Jail," which hit theaters last month and has been a rousing success at the box office. "They finally got Madea," Mann said. "She's been to jail a few times, but this time Madea goes to prison -- or as Mr. Brown would say, 'prisnuh.' "

David Mann plays Mr. Brown in "Meet the Browns" Character known for his mangled speech, off-the-wall actions . In real life, Mann is married to actress who plays his daughter on show .

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London (CNN) -- Rupert Murdoch is the last of a dying breed: An old-fashioned press baron with ink running through his veins, a hefty checkbook, and a hunger for the next big story. Now aged 83, he has spent the past half century turning a business that began with one local Australian newspaper into a massive multimedia empire which spans the globe and includes TV, online, film and print interests. The phone-hacking scandal forced him to close the British tabloid that was his pride and joy, News of the World, and for a time even appeared to jeopardize his global empire, valued by Forbes at $9.4 billion. It led the powerful businessman to submit himself for questioning by British politicians, where he declared: "This is the most humble day of my life." But Murdoch bounced back from the crisis, and he remains at the helm of his global empire. In 2013, News International, the UK subsidiary of Murdoch's News Corp. was rebranded News UK, while News Corp. itself split into two separate entities. News Corp. is now focused on publishing while 21st Century Fox encompasses television and film assets. This month, Forbes estimated the net worth of Murdoch and his family at $14.5 billion, adding that stocks from the two companies had boosted his worth by more than $2 billion in the past year. The same year, Murdoch filed for divorce from his third wife, Wendi Deng. Deng had grabbed headlines when she lunged to defend her husband from a pie-throwing intruder at a 2011 parliamentary hearing in London, earning her the sobriquet "tiger wife." But speculation about the state of the couple's relationship had swirled for months before Murdoch's spokesman confirmed the divorce. One tweet fittingly declared that Murdoch had gone "from tabloid boss to tabloid prey." The media mogul was kept on the edge of the limelight from October 2013, when former employees went on trial for alleged phone hacking. The newspaper business is in Murdoch's blood. Born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1931, he was one of four children -- the only son -- of a celebrated journalist and his debutante-turned-philanthropist wife. His father, Keith Murdoch, was a reporter who exposed the horrific conditions experienced by Anzac troops fighting at Gallipoli in World War I, and went on to manage a large newspaper company. "I was raised in a newspaper family by a father who believed that the newspaper was among the most important instruments of human freedom," Murdoch declared in his 2008 Boyer Lectures. His mother, Elisabeth, was inspired to devote her life to "good works" as a schoolgirl. At the time of her death in 2012, aged 103, she remained a supporter of more than 100 charities, and enjoyed an almost regal status in Australia. Murdoch was studying at Oxford when his father died in 1952. Mentored -- like his father -- by press baron Lord Beaverbrook, he learned his trade as a reporter in Birmingham, England and as a £10-a-week sub-editor at Beaverbrook's Daily Express in London before returning home to take charge of the family business. "I found myself a newspaper proprietor at the age of 22," Murdoch said in 2008. "I was so young and so new to the business that when I pulled my car into the lot on my first day, the garage attendant admonished me, 'Hey sonny, you can't park here.'" Despite his youth, the new boss of the Adelaide News took to the job like a duck to water, quickly getting embroiled in a newspaper war -- the first of many -- with local rival the Adelaide Advertiser. "It cost a great deal," he said. "But it taught me that with good editors and a loyal readership, you can challenge better-heeled and more established rivals -- and succeed." He was soon looking to expand the company: After buying up other local papers across the country, in 1964, he set up Australia's first national newspaper, The Australian, and in 1969, moved overseas to purchase his first UK paper, News of the World, shortly followed by The Sun. The sensationalism and sex on the pages of some of his papers provoked shock and anger among his competitors on Fleet Street, and earned Murdoch a number of less than complimentary nicknames. As Ian Hislop, editor of British satirical magazine Private Eye, told CNN: "[We have] referred to Murdoch as the Dirty Digger throughout his long career, and it's not an accident; he does dig up dirt and then puts it in papers and sells it." His hunger for the latest scoops -- and his willingness to pay for them -- have ensured massive sales figures, but have also caused controversy over the years, from Christine Keeler's kiss-and-tell over the Profumo scandal, to the "Hitler Diaries" (later revealed to be fakes) to O.J. Simpson's "If I Did It" book. That desire to be first with the big news has led some to question his methods -- even before the phone-hacking scandal. "He ran close to what might be considered journalistic ethics," said Lou Colasuonno, former editor-in-chief of the New York Post, which Murdoch took over in 1976. "I'm not saying he broke the law, I'm not saying he did anything illegal, but I am saying he's aggressive in getting stories." Print unions . That aggression was evident in the mid-1980s when Murdoch, by then the owner of London's Times and Sunday Times papers, broke the stranglehold of the unions on the country's print industry. After months of plotting, the media titan switched his operations from Fleet Street to Wapping, in the east end of London, and from hot metal to computerized systems overnight, forcing hundreds of printers out of work. "He was the man who tamed the print unions so that newspapers became incredibly profitable," said Martin Dunn, former deputy editor of the Sun and News of the World. Those profits were plowed into Murdoch's growing Fox network of TV and film interests in the United States, helping to create the corporate behemoth that is News Corp., which now also owns the influential Wall Street Journal, America's largest circulation daily. The thrice-married father-of-six Murdoch has long been at the center of a frenzied succession debate -- something the current scandal only complicates. His oldest four children -- daughters Prudence and Elisabeth, and sons Lachlan and James -- all have a say in the running of the company. His youngest daughters Grace (born 2001) and Chloe (born 2003), with Wendi Deng, are both said to have a financial share in News Corp. Famously hands-on, Murdoch has never shied away from getting stuck in -- whether tracking down a story, or dictating the political direction of his papers. "If I see things in the paper which I think are incorrect, I'll certainly point it out and say 'so-and-so made a mistake here,' or 'this wasn't as good a report as was in the opposition newspapers,'" he told the makers of BBC documentary "Who's Afraid of Rupert Murdoch?" in 1981. "I ... have the right to insist on excellence." On the same program, Robert Spitzler, former managing editor of the New York Post said Murdoch's role went beyond commenting and suggesting. "Rupert wrote headlines, Rupert shaped stories, Rupert dictated the leads of stories," he said. "Rupert was everywhere." In a 1968 television interview, Murdoch admitted that he enjoyed the power his position gave him, but -- in remarks that now seem more relevant than ever -- insisted: "We have more responsibility than power, I think. "A newspaper can create great controversies, stir up arguments within the community ... can throw light on injustices, just as it can do the opposite, can hide things and be a great power for evil." But even those who may be considered his enemies recognize Murdoch's business acumen. "He's a dealmaker, he's a brilliant businessman," Michael White, of the UK's Guardian newspaper, which broke the hacking story, told CNN. "He's a great strategic mind."

Rupert Murdoch took charge of his first newspaper in Australia at the age of 22 . He spent the next 50 years expanding into TV, press, internet, sport, and movies . Forbes estimates the 83-year-old media mogul and his family's wealth at $14.5 billion .

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(CNN) -- A former NFL player and his mother have been indicted in a scheme to steal more than $690,000 by fraudulently obtaining five home equity loans in six days, according to the New Jersey Attorney General's Office. Irving Fryar, 51, and his mother, Allene McGhee, 72, were charged with second-degree conspiracy and theft by deception in New Jersey Superior Court Wednesday. The indictment alleges that Fryar schemed with McGhee to obtain five home equity loans totaling more than $690,000 between December 16 and 21, 2009, using McGhee's Willingboro home as collateral for all of the loans. The pair allegedly deceived five banks by acquiring the loans within six days and purposefully failing to disclose the existence of any other loans. The indictment further charges that McGhee's loan applications falsely claimed that she earned thousands of dollars a month as an event coordinator for her son's church, New Jerusalem House of God in Burlington County. Fryar himself allegedly received or spent more than $200,000 of the fraudulently obtained loan proceeds, the attorney general's office said. Fryar and McGhee made only a few payments on four of the loans, and those banks eventually wrote the loans off as losses, authorities said. "This is not a case in which Mr. Fryar and his mother simply omitted or misstated information on loan applications," said acting Attorney General John Hoffman. "This indictment alleges that they engaged in an elaborate criminal scheme that was designed to defraud these banks of hundreds of thousands of dollars." Neither Fryar nor McGhee responded to CNN's requests for comment. It is unclear whether either has hired an attorney. A court date has not yet been set, according to the attorney general's office. Between 1984 and 2000, Fryar played for four NFL teams: the New England Patriots, the Miami Dolphins, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Redskins. He is the head football coach at Robbinsville High School in Robbinsville, New Jersey. CNN's Rob Frehse contributed to this report.

Ex-football player and his mother took out five home loans, indictment says . Irving Fryar and Allene McGhee secured loans over six days in 2009, papers say . The pair got $690,000 from the loans, the New Jersey Attorney General's Office says . Fryar played for four teams from 1984 to 2000; he's now a high school football coach .

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