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the women were among detained on march 6 and march 7 in three chinese cities.
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(CNN)Five young Chinese feminists, whose detention has provoked an international outcry, may face up to five years in prison over their campaign for gender equality. The women were among detained on March 6 and March 7 in three Chinese cities -- Beijing, Guangzhou and Hangzhou -- shortly before events they had planned for International Women's Day on March 8. Wang Qiushi, the lawyer for one of the women, Wei Tingting, said police had recommended on April 6 that prosecutors press charges of "assembling a crowd to disturb public order." Wang told CNN that prosecutors had to decide whether to pursue the charges within seven days of the submission -- by Monday. "We hope that the prosecutors will not approve a formal arrest warrant, following the laws and standing up to pressure," he said. "But nobody knows what to expect till Monday; we can do nothing but wait." The five were initially held on suspicion of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble." Wang said he didn't know why the charge against the women changed. "Neither should constitute a crime," he said. Campaign group Amnesty International said the new charge was less serious but still carried a maximum jail term of five years. "The women were doing nothing wrong, nothing illegal. They were simply calling for an end to sexual harassment," William Nee, China researcher at Amnesty International told CNN. "Everything they were doing was in line with China's own laws and policies." Wang said that Wei had been subject to lengthy cross examinations during her detention but was well the last time they met on March 31. Two of the women are said to be in poor health. He added that the charges relate both to the activities the women planned for International Women's Day and earlier campaigns against domestic violence and for more public toilets for women. The five -- who are members of China's Women's Rights Action Group -- had planned to hand out stickers printed with slogans saying "stop sexual harassment, let us stay safe" and "go police, go arrest those who committed sexual harassment!" on women's day. The detention of Wei, along with Wu Rongrong, Li Tingting, Wang Man and Zheng Churan has drawn harsh criticism from the international community. Protests have taken place in several cities, including Hong Kong, that urge Chinese officials to "free the five." A social media campaign also uses the phrase as a hashtag. On Monday, Hillary Clinton, former U.S. secretary of state, tweeted that the activists' detention was "inexcusable." Her comment drew a rebuke from Chinese authorities, who said public figures should respect China's sovereignty and independence. Maya Wang, China researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the activists were best known for their "performance art" style protests -- occupying public toilets to highlight long lines at women's restrooms, donning blood-spattered wedding gowns to protest domestic violence and shaving their heads to protest against barriers to higher education for women. "These activists epitomize the spirit of the times. They are young, confident, ready to challenge established norms," Wang said. As China prepares to mark the anniversary of landmark UN Fourth World Conference on Women in September, it will be hard for authorities to justify detaining the activists, she added.
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the cdc has yet to determine what's caused the problems.
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(CNN)Gastrointestinal illness has gripped 100 people on the cruise ship Celebrity Infinity, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control. Of the ship's 2,117 passengers, 95 have suffered from vomiting, diarrhea and other symptoms, the CDC said. The illness has also affected five members of the 964-person crew. The CDC has yet to determine what's causing the ailments. Two staffers from the agency are scheduled to meet the West Coast-based ship in San Diego on Monday. The Infinity left San Diego on March 29. It made its last stop in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, on April 10, according to MarineTraffic.com. Celebrity Cruises has been taking action since the outbreak began, including increasing cleaning and disinfection procedures, keeping passengers informed and taking specimens from the afflicted for testing by the CDC, the agency says. According to the Maritime Executive, this is the third time the Celebrity Infinity has suffered an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness, with others occurring in 2006 and 2013. The ship was built in 2001 and refurbished in 2011.
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most airline pilots have an above average ability to compartmentalize personal problems.
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(CNN)Most airline pilots have an above average ability to compartmentalize personal problems. The cockpit is our "safe" place. The flight deck is a structured world of black and white. Checklists. Procedures. Standardization. Stress from the job is an accepted part of our career. However, sometimes during the course of an airline pilot's career, or anyone's career for that matter, stress issues may manifest as depression. Depression is treatable. And for airline pilots, it is no longer debilitating to our livelihood. The Federal Aviation Administration now approves certain prescribed medication, allowing us to continue flying until depression is no longer a factor. As the world learns more about Andreas Lubitz, the co-pilot on Germanwings Flight 9525, it is readily apparent that this young man had psychiatric issues far beyond clinical depression. He reportedly was administered a series of injections to mitigate his problems, an absolute reflection on the serious nature of his illness. But Lubitz's illness didn't just appear out of thin air. Its effects had to be apparent to others. Lubitz's girlfriend made her concerns public knowledge -- unfortunately after events took their course. Considering the hoops Lubitz had to jump through to have established himself as a Germanwings co-pilot, it's curious to me how the red flags of his illness were missed. To what hoops am I referring? First, let's start with his passion for gliders. Glider flying is one of the purest forms of aviation. Although it is mostly an individualistic endeavor, the sport involves teamwork. Interaction among fellow enthusiasts is paramount to both enjoyment and safety. I'm a glider pilot. Participation among the members of my club uncovers the personalities and idiosyncrasies of each pilot. Behaviors not quite conducive to the activity are readily apparent. Second, Lubitz had to compete successfully in a selection process just to have the opportunity to train through Lufthansa's flight program, a requirement of Germanwings employment. The selection process is most likely highly competitive, requiring above-average aptitude. Is the selection process flawed to the extent that a serious mental disorder would go unnoticed? Regardless, the process had to be a stressful experience. Opinion: Germanwings and the stigma of mental illness Once accepted into the flight program, a rigorous training period began. For primary training, Lufthansa utilizes an ab initio (from the beginning) program based at a facility the airline owns in Goodyear, Arizona, near Phoenix. The training is geared toward a multi-crew pilot license, or MPL, recognized by the International Civil Aviation Organization. The purpose of an MPL is to funnel airline pilot candidates having little or no flight time into the right seat as first officers. Countries that don't have the luxury of selecting from a large pool of experienced pilots use this license. Airline pilots in the United States are not licensed in this manner, requiring as much as 1,500 hours to qualify as a co-pilot. This is a fairly recent change in FAA regulations, initiated as a result of the 2009 Colgan Airlines crash in Buffalo, New York. Lubitz had barely over 600 hours of flight time when he committed his act of horror. As a 21-year-old flight instructor, I had that much flight time; it hardly qualified as a lot of experience. As with all of the MPL programs, the training involves an intense period of airline-specific instruction. And to add insult to injury, candidates are not paid during the training until such time as they pass a final check ride. Regardless, the cost is borne by the student to the tune of about $76,000. Using both actual flight experience in a single-engine airplane and simulator time, the student receives about 250 hours of training. It is a period of almost constant supervision. Aside from observing and checking performance criteria, wouldn't at least one instructor have noticed behavioral issues in such an intense environment? And wouldn't a fellow trainee have noticed also? According to reports, Lubitz took a leave from his training -- a very untypical behavior. Was that not in and of itself a red flag? Wouldn't a manager in Lufthansa's flight department consider it prudent to reconsider a candidate with an indication of potential issues? After all, the selection process was most likely highly competitive, with other qualified candidates readily available. Once the primary training in Arizona was complete, Lubitz would have returned to Germany and completed more specific schooling on the Airbus A320 he was about to fly. Again, no one observed issues. But even more curious, according to reports, Lubitz disclosed a diagnosis of previous depression to Lufthansa. Over the course of a career, an airline pilot spends thousands of hours sharing the confined space of the cockpit with colleagues. Even if we have never flown with a particular individual, experience allows us the intuition to know when something isn't quite right. That determination can be made through performance observation of typical routines, or perhaps through a simple conversation. In that regard, I find it difficult to believe that none of Lubitz's colleagues made a less than positive assessment at some point in time. As supplemental background, Germanwings had been established as the low-cost, alter ego carrier of Lufthansa. Depending upon a pilot's monthly flight time, salary for pilots can be as much as 20% lower than the mainline carrier. In addition, more days on duty were part of a Germanwings crew member's schedule. Apparently as late as March 20, Lufthansa pilots had been on strike, one of the main disputes being an early retirement option and less desirable working conditions for new hires. Perhaps enough of a disparity existed for Germanwings pilots such that medical leave benefits would not have covered Lubitz's absence. Regardless, all of these factors combined to add a perfect storm of stress to one sick 27-year-old man. The world knows the end result. It just seems to me that this was an accident waiting to happen. Could it have been prevented? Well, this is the primary purpose of accident investigation: Never allow the same tragedy to occur again.
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"furious 7" hits theaters friday, months after controversy was stirred about the lack of diversity at the oscars.
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(CNN)It would be easy to laugh off Vin Diesel's prediction that his film "Furious 7" will win an Oscar next year, but not for the reason you might think. After all, the actor was serious when he recently told Variety "It will probably win best picture at the Oscars, unless the Oscars don't want to be relevant ever." But rather than ignore it because it's a glossy, blockbuster action film, some might argue that the movie goes against type for Academy Award nominated films because the cast is so diverse. "Furious 7" hits theaters Friday, months after controversy was stirred about the lack of diversity at the Oscars. There were no actors of color nominated and no women in the directing category, which was dominated by white males. Mexican filmmaker Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu went on to win best director for "Birdman." The lack of diversity was so glaring (even with the mostly black cast of the movie "Selma," which received a nomination for best picture) that it spurred the Twitter hashtag "#OscarsSoWhite." In contrast, "Furious 7" couldn't be more racially and ethnically inclusive. The cast includes Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson -- a Samoan/black man -- black actors Christopher "Ludacris" Bridges and Tyrese Gibson, Hispanic performer Michelle Rodriguez, Thai martial artist Tony Jaa, Beninese expatriate Djimon Hounsou and the late Paul Walker, a blue-eyed, blond-haired California native. The filmmakers even went so far as to make sure casting directors in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, where key scenes were filmed, found diverse extras. "We were mainly looking for the diverse look of the (United Arab Emirates)," Miranda Davidson, owner of the casting company, told The National. "They really wanted to make sure we reflected the international feel of the country." Almost since the beginning, the "Fast and Furious" films have had a diverse focus and appeal. The band of street racers, which encompassed white, black, Asian, Hispanic, male and female and bond as a family, has done well at the box office with each iteration. In 2011, then Boston Globe film critic Wesley Morris wrote, "Go on and laugh your Benetton, Kumbaya, Kashi, quinoa laugh, but it's true: The most progressive force in Hollywood today is the 'Fast and Furious' movies." "They're loud, ludicrous, and visually incoherent," he said. "They're also the last bunch of movies you'd expect to see in the same sentence as 'incredibly important.' But they are -- if only because they feature race as a fact of life as opposed to a social problem or an occasion for self-congratulation. (And this doesn't even account for the gay tension between the male leads, and the occasional crypto-lesbian make-out.)" According to the Motion Picture Association of America's 2014 Theatrical Market Statistics Report, while Hispanics make up 17% of the U.S. population they account for 25% of frequent moviegoers. Likewise, women make up 52% of moviegoers. Entertainment Weekly points out that the film franchise is doing a much better job of reflecting its audience than others in Hollywood. "Despite the films' cumulative worldwide gross of almost $2.4 billion, their racial inclusiveness remains an outlier; American movies are still overwhelmingly white," EW's Chris Lee writes. "According to UCLA's 2015 Hollywood Diversity Report, a mere 16.7% of 2013 films starred minorities in lead roles." At least one moviegoer tweeted that he appreciated the effort. Diesel told EW the franchise has come a long way from the original 2001 film, which featured segregated gangs of racers pitted against each other. "It doesn't matter what nationality you are," the star said. "As a member of the audience, you realize you can be a member of that 'family.' That's the beautiful thing about how the franchise has evolved."
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jack white announced he'll take a hiatus from touring.
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(Billboard)Fresh off his scorching performance at Coachella Saturday night (and days before his next one on the festival's second weekend), rocker Jack White announced he'll take a hiatus from touring. White will wrap his touring efforts in support of "Lazeretto" with a brief, first-ever acoustic tour that will hit "the only five states left in the U.S. that he has yet to play," according to White's website. Rounding out the acoustic quartet on tour will be Fats Kaplin, Lillie Mae Rische and Dominic Davis. The shows will be unannounced until day-of-show, with tickets priced at $3 and limited to one ticket per person, to be purchased only at the venue on a first-come, first-served basis. Billboard: Jack White on Not Being a 'Sound-Bite Artist,' Living in the Wrong Era and Why Vinyl Records Are 'Hypnotic' The purposely vague announcement surely has fans (and journalists) scouring the Internet for White's touring history. Unclear is whether White includes his work with The White Stripes, The Raconteurs and Dead Weather in his touring history, or just his solo road work. Presumably, he's including all of his touring, with all bands, as Billboard could find only 29 states in which he has performed as Jack White. Tour dates with White Stripes add another 12 states. That leaves nine states for which we could not find a show for White: Hawaii (where a show is scheduled for tomorrow, April 15), Arkansas, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Vermont, Iowa, and North and South Dakota. Billboard: Jack White Plays The Hits, Declares 'Music Is Sacred' at Coachella Through the process of elimination (surely he has played Boise, Little Rock, and Salt Lake?), our guess as to which five "states" White will play on the brief acoustic run: South and North Dakota, Wyoming, Vermont and ... Puerto Rico? If that's the case, this tour is in for some long jumps, with Puerto Rico to Vermont being a potential beast. (Though shipping acoustic instruments and ribbon mics will be a lot less taxing than a full electrified stage setup.) ©2015 Billboard. All Rights Reserved.
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a guard apparently approached the vehicle and saw two people arguing.
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Washington (CNN)Washington was rocked late Thursday by shootings -- one at the gates of the U.S. Census Bureau's headquarters and another in a popular area packed with restaurant patrons. The shootings were connected, authorities said. They began with what authorities believe was a domestic kidnapping incident, according to D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier. The suspect's vehicle was spotted outside the Census Bureau, which is in Suitland, Maryland. A guard apparently approached the vehicle and saw two people arguing. That guard was then shot at least once in the upper body, said Prince George's County Fire Department spokesman Mark Brady. The guard was in extremely critical condition, according to Brady. The police chief said the suspect then fled the scene. Officers picked up the chase, and the suspect fired gunshots at multiple locations, Lanier said. The chase ended in a crash on Washington's busy H Street. A shootout ensues, Lanier said. An officer and the suspect were wounded, according to the police chief. Both were conscious and talking when they left the scene. "Right now, we have every reason to believe that the car that we have in this last incident here is the same car involved and the same person involved in the kidnapping," she said. Lanier told reporters the kidnapping victim was located and is in good condition. She did not identify the suspect, nor the guard, nor the officer who were injured. Steve Brusk reported from Washington. Dana Ford wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Greg Botelho also contributed to this report.
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cassandra is in remission after nearly six months of forced chemo.
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(CNN)A Connecticut teen who has been forced to have chemotherapy to treat Hodgkin lymphoma will remain in temporary custody of the state for the time being, according to her attorney, Josh Michtom. A Connecticut juvenile court judge issued a written decision Wednesday denying a motion to let the teen, identified in court documents as "Cassandra C.," go home. The judge also denied a motion for visitation. The 17-year-old is in remission after nearly six months of forced chemo treatments. On March 16, Michtom tried to convince the court that she should be able to return to her mother's home because she was no longer at imminent risk of harm from her illness. Michtom and attorney Michael Taylor, who represents Cassandra's mother, Jackie Fortin, released a written statement after receiving the judge's decision Wednesday: "We are disappointed in this ruling, not least of all because it draws a factual conclusion that is directly contradicted by the weight of the evidence. We're conferring with our clients now about next steps, including whether to take another appeal." Cassandra was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in September and medical experts gave her an 85% chance of survival if treated with chemotherapy. Without it, doctors said at the time, she was likely to die within two years. She started chemotherapy in November but ran away after two days, according to court documents, when she decided she did not want to put the poison of the treatment into her body. In December, a judge ordered the young woman to be under the custody of the Connecticut Department of Children and Families. At that time, she was admitted to Connecticut Children's Medical Center in Hartford and has remained there since then. Doctors surgically implanted a port in Cassandra's chest to administer chemotherapy medications, which began in spite of legal maneuvers to halt them. Cassandra is feeling well and is in good shape as far as her health is concerned, according to Michtom. "She's seen in her case the side effects weren't bad, and she's been well-treated by the nurses and doctors and does want to complete the treatment," he said. Her treatment is scheduled to wrap up this month. Michtom and Taylor failed in their effort before the Connecticut Supreme Court to make the case that Cassandra was mature enough to make her own medical decisions. Joette Katz, the commissioner of the Department of Children and Families, told CNN in March the agency is "very pleased with Cassandra's progress toward a complete recovery. We understand how difficult this has been for Cassandra and her family, but we have had full confidence throughout that the medical professionals involved in her treatment would be successful in saving her life." The agency has denied CNN's request to speak with Cassandra or her physicians. According to Michtom, the Department of Children and Families could have withdrawn its position for an order of custody but hasn't. He said the department sees Cassandra as a flight risk because she has run away before. Representatives for the department have said in court and in conversations with Michtom and Taylor that they will withdraw their pending neglect petition once Cassandra completes her last round of chemo -- expected around the end of April -- and that she'll be allowed to return home. So for now, Cassandra is said to spend her days reading, watching TV and drawing. "The hospital is effectively jail," Michtom said.
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rory mcilroy went out in 32 and briefly raised the crowd's hopes that he had a sniff of completing an improbable grand slam on sunday night.
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(CNN)Saturday at the Masters, like any PGA tournament, has been dubbed 'Moving Day'. It's the day after the fat has been cut and the big dogs make their move up -- or occasionally down -- the leader board. Players rose and players fell away on Moving Day at the 2015 Masters. Rory McIlroy went out in 32 and briefly raised the crowd's hopes that he had a sniff of completing an improbable Grand Slam on Sunday night. But he dropped two shots late on in the round to finish six under par. Woods comeback? A rejuvenated Tiger Woods showed touches of his old class mixed with the ragged unpredictability that has marked his new game to finish six under too. A huge improvement, but still a long way from him wearing the green jacket again. "It could have been a super low today," a disappointed Woods said after his round. "All in all. It should have been two shots better." Phil Mickelson powered around the course, threatening to challenge too, finishing on eleven under. As did a late Justin Rose surge, where he fired four birdies in a row to finish twelve under and in second place. In the end, there was lots of moving, but no one could move quick enough or far enough to trouble Jordan Spieth. Infallible The 21 year old has been nothing short of a sensation at Augusta. His infallible first two rounds gave the 21 year old from Dallas, Texas a five shot lead going in to the third round. That has happened only three times at Augusta before, and on all three occasions the leader has gone on to win. Spieth's 15 birdies are just 10 away from Phil Mickelson's Masters mark set in 2001. He could also break Tiger Woods 270 set in 1997. As it happened, Spieth played a steady, almost conservative round. When he made the occasional mistake, like the bogey at 15, he hit back straight away with a birdie next hole. As his third round came to a close the birdies flowed, his putting impeccable. The only nerves on show came during the last two holes with a double bogey at the 17. Echos of 1996? When reminded of some of the great Augusta comebacks, including Nick Faldo's 11 shot swing in 1996, Tiger Woods still believes anything is possible. "It really is," he said. "We saw what happened in 1996. You never know. It depends on the conditions." He is, of course, right. As Greg Norman knows only too well, anything can happen on the final day. But that kind of crescendo also depends on Spieth experiencing a Greg Norman-style meltdown. Spieth's double bogey on the 17th and wobble on the 18th will give the chasing pack some hope. Yet, for all the movement of Mickelson, Woods, Rose and McIlroy, they made just a one shot dent into Spieth's second round lead. He will begin Sunday four shots ahead.
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two of its leaders, known as ustad ahmad farooq and qari abdullah mansur, were killed in cia drone strikes in january in north waziristan, near the afghan-pakistan border.
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(CNN)While the fight against ISIS in Syria and Iraq holds the world's gaze, a simultaneous transformation is getting less attention: the deterioration of al Qaeda. In an audio message released Sunday, al Qaeda confirmed that two of its leaders, known as Ustad Ahmad Farooq and Qari Abdullah Mansur, were killed in CIA drone strikes in January in North Waziristan, near the Afghan-Pakistan border. Farooq's real name was Raja Mohammad Suleman, al Qaeda said. He was a Pakistani who acted as the group's liaison to the Pakistan Taliban and was the deputy commander of al Qaeda's South Asia branch. (Mansur's real name was Qari Ubaidullah, a Pakistani who oversaw suicide missions against U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan). Al Qaeda's South Asia branch is relatively new, announced with some fanfare back in September by al Qaeda's top leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri. The creation of the terror group's South Asia branch was seen by some terrorism analysts as an attempt to steal some of the limelight from ISIS, which is embroiled in a public dispute with al Qaeda for leadership of the global jihad movement. The deaths of the two men continue the decimation of al Qaeda's bench of leaders. On Monday, in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, local al Qaeda commander Nurul Hassan was killed in a raid, said Arif Hanif, district inspector general of police. Florida-raised Adnan Shukrijumah, 39, who was in charge of al Qaeda's operations to attack the West, was killed in December in a Pakistani military operation. Texas-born Mohanad Mahmoud Al Farekh, who also played a planning role for al Qaeda's operations, was arrested in Pakistan last year. The deaths of Ubaidullah and Suleman underline the fact that there are almost no top leaders of al Qaeda left except al-Zawahiri. Both Ubaidullah and Suleman were Pakistani. This is an indicator of how al Qaeda has become a largely Pakistan-focused group, increasingly able to do nothing of any significance outside of Pakistan or Afghanistan. Indeed, al Qaeda has virtually no capacity to carry out attacks in the West. The last successful al Qaeda attack in the West was the London transportation system bombings a decade ago. Al Qaeda is now reduced only to holding American hostages such as 73-year-old aid worker Warren Weinstein, who was kidnapped from his home in the Pakistani city of Lahore on August 13, 2011. To be sure, al Qaeda's Yemen-based affiliate, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, continues to pose a threat to American aviation. The group has built hard-to-detect bombs, which it has placed on U.S.-bound flights. Luckily, those bombs were faulty or were detected. The group also trained one of the gunmen who attacked the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris in January, killing 12, but it's not clear if AQAP had any direct role in planning this attack. Meanwhile, ISIS continues to attract Western recruits and also inspire "homegrown" terrorists in the West, but the core al Qaeda organization that killed almost 3,000 men, women and children on 9/11 is on life support. Al Qaeda's confirmation of the deaths of Ubaidullah and Suleman is just one of the latest pieces of evidence for this assessment.
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marvel studios: iron man, captain america, hulk and the rest are joining the cast in the "avengers: age of ultron" sequel.
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(CNN)For superhero fans, the cup runneth over. Most of us know the members of the Avengers by now: Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk and the rest, and the fact that a few more like Quicksilver are joining the cast in the "Avengers: Age of Ultron" sequel. But there was one character who remained a mystery: the Vision, to be played by Paul Bettany. Thus far, we've only seen his eyes in a trailer. With less than a month to go before the movie hits theaters, Marvel Studios put all the speculation to rest with a poster featuring Bettany as the heroic android, who was a member of the superhero group for many years in the comics. Meanwhile, as many Marvel fans know, Thursday was the eve of the new Netflix series "Daredevil," and after a photoshopped first look at Charlie Cox's iconic red Daredevil suit went out, Marvel put out a video of the real one. Not to be outdone, director Bryan Singer announced a new character for next year's sequel "X-Men: Apocalypse," by telling Empire magazine that Ben Hardy would be playing the role of the winged mutant Angel. He even had a photo to share. And Thursday's new super images weren't quite done, because the questions over how Jamie Bell's rocky character The Thing in the rebooted "Fantastic Four" movie (out August 7) might look were also finally answered. And he looks ... pretty much like The Thing we already knew (but reportedly, CGI this time). Within 24 hours, we got yet another indication that the superhero trend isn't going anywhere anytime soon (and we didn't even talk about the new photo of Ryan Reynolds' "Deadpool").
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nyia parler can not be extradited until she completes an unspecified "treatment" she will be charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person.
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(CNN)Police added attempted murder to the list of charges against the mother of a quadriplegic man who was left in the woods for days, Philadelphia police spokeswoman Christine O'Brien said Tuesday. Nyia Parler cannot be extradited to face the charges in Philadelphia until she completes an unspecified "treatment," Maryland police said Monday. When she does arrive, she will be charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and related offenses, in addition to the attempted murder count, O'Brien said. The Montgomery County (Maryland) Department of Police took Parler, 41, into custody Sunday after Philadelphia police reported that she left her 21-year-old son in the woods while she hopped a bus to see her boyfriend in Maryland. A man walking through the woods found him Friday "lying in leaves, covered in a blanket with a Bible and a wheelchair nearby," Philadelphia police say. Citing federal health care privacy laws, Montgomery County police spokesman Capt. Paul Starks said he could not divulge why Parler was receiving treatment, but he said she had to complete it before she could be extradited. She remained in treatment as of Tuesday morning, Starks told CNN. If she chooses not to challenge her extradition, she will be transported to Philadelphia once the treatment is complete, he said. For more than four days, police say, the quadriplegic man, who also suffers from cerebral palsy, was left lying in the woods of Philadelphia's Cobbs Creek Park. Low temperatures reached the mid-30s during the week, and rain was reported in the area Wednesday and Thursday. The man is unable to communicate how he came to be in the park, but Philadelphia police Lt. John Walker told reporters that the man's mother left him there the morning of April 6. Starks identified the mother as Parler on Monday. "The mother went to visit her boyfriend down in Maryland, over in Montgomery County, and we believe she placed the child into Cobbs Creeks Park," Walker said at a news conference. Walker told CNN the man was transported to Presbyterian Hospital, but CNN affiliates reported he was being treated at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. He suffered eye problems, dehydration, malnutrition and a cut to his back that raised infection concerns, the lieutenant told reporters. "This kid's obviously a fighter," Walker said during a Saturday news conference. "It's just unbelievable how we found him out there last night. To see that kid laying there, it's heartbreaking to see another human, especially a mother, can treat someone like that." Officials at Philadelphia's School of the Future, which the man attends, became concerned when he didn't show up for classes last week and tried to contact his mother but eventually reached an aunt, Philadelphia police said. "The aunt was in contact via text message with Nyia throughout the week and when she expressed her concerns about the complainant, Nyia replied, 'We're OK,' which the aunt believed meant that the victim was with Nyia in Maryland," according to a police news release. When police tracked down the mother, she told them her son was with her, Walker said. "She indicated to both family members and the police officers that the child was with her down with her boyfriend in Maryland," he said. The boyfriend was not aware of what happened, Walker told CNN affiliate KYW-TV. Walker told reporters she bore "clear criminal liability in this case." There was no reason for the man to suffer, Walker told philly.com, because the mother had sisters willing to take care of him. Two of his aunts, who have tried to obtain guardianship of him, were staying with him at the hospital, police told the website. Parler's sister told police that Parler has another child, a 16-year-old. The mother's arrest was only the beginning of the investigation, Walker told reporters. Authorities are interested in learning more about "how this kid was cared for, and what actions were taken and providing of services by different agencies." CNN's Chuck Johnston and Carma Hassan contributed to this report.
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netanyahu's comments come as democrats and republicans spar on "state of the union" netanyahu says iran is a "congenital cheating" netanyahu: "i think there's a third alternative," one senate democrat said iran too much flexibility.
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Washington (CNN)Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the deal six world powers struck to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions, saying he sees better options than "this bad deal or war." "I think there's a third alternative, and that is standing firm, ratcheting up the pressure until you get a better deal," Netanyahu told CNN's Jim Acosta Sunday on "State of the Union." His comments come as Democrats and Republicans spar over the framework announced last week to lift Western sanctions on Iran in exchange for the country dropping from 19,000 to 5,060 active centrifuges, limiting its highly enriched uranium, and increasing inspections. President Barack Obama endorsed the deal, saying it was better than the alternatives. But GOP contenders for the party's 2016 presidential nomination lambasted it, saying it gave Iran too much flexibility. On Sunday, the sparring continued. One Senate Democrat said Netanyahu needs to "contain himself." And a top Republican said almost any of Obama's successors as president "could do better." Netanyahu's most recent argument against the Iran nuclear deal was similar to the one he'd made in a March trip to Washington, when he addressed a joint session of Congress -- fueling a Republican push to have the deal sent to Congress before it's implemented. "It does not roll back Iran's nuclear program. It keeps a vast nuclear infrastructure in place. Not a single centrifuge is destroyed. Not a single nuclear facility is shut down, including the underground facilities that they built illicitly. Thousands of centrifuges will keep spinning, enriching uranium," Netanyahu said Sunday. "That's a very bad deal. " Netanyahu said Iran is a country of "congenital cheating" and that it can't be trusted to abide by the terms of the deal, which lasts 10 years with some provisions extending well beyond that. He said his opposition has little to do with his frosty relationship with Obama. "I think that we can have a legitimate difference of opinion on this, because I think Iran has shown to be completely distrustful," Netanyahu said. Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, meanwhile, said she wishes Netanyahu "would contain himself." The top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee said negotiators working on the deal -- from Iran and the United States, as well as Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany -- are "on the cusp of something that can be workable." "It's a framework. It has to be wrapped into a final agreement. There still can be some changes," Feinstein said. "But I don't think it's helpful for Israel to come out and oppose this one opportunity to change a major dynamic -- which is downhill, a downhill dynamic in this part of the world." Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz defended the deal in an appearance on CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday, saying it would extend from two months to one year the "breakout" time period -- the length of time it would take Iran to build a nuclear bomb. He said it also allows for the "almost instantaneous recognition of any attempt to evade the deal." "We have blocked all of these pathways to a bomb," he said. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, said on "Face the Nation" that the best option for the United States is to keep current sanctions in place for two more years and then have a "new crack at it with a new president that doesn't have the baggage of Obama." And he said the alternatives to Obama on both sides -- with the exception of Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who's called for a less active U.S. role overseas -- would likely strike a better deal. "Hillary Clinton would do better. I think everybody on our side, except, maybe, Rand Paul, could do better," Graham said.
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"isis has taken the east of the city, it's not accessible," deputy chief of provincial council says.
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West of Baghdad, Iraq (CNN)The call from Faleh Essawi, the deputy chief of the provincial council, who we were supposed to be meeting up with, came just as we were about to hit the bridge -- the only safe route from Baghdad to neighboring Anbar province. "ISIS has taken the east of the city, it's not accessible," he says, sounding frantic, rapidly rattling off the neighborhoods and areas ISIS fighters had just stormed into. Moments later, we see the impact: An endless stream of humanity, shell shocked, and exhausted. Parents cradle babies in blankets, some struggle under the weight of their belongings, some carry small plastic bags, while others nothing but the children clutching at their hands. Cars are not permitted to cross this bridge across the Euphrates. The government feels that restricting vehicles will decrease the likelihood of explosives making their way into Iraq's capital. Those too young or too tired to walk pile into metal carts pushed by boys or young men, normally used to carry produce to markets. An elderly woman sits in one, a child in her arms, a worn down plastic doll in her hand. Many don't want to talk, at least not for long. What they just went through is too raw, too painful. One man we encounter describes how ISIS fighters commandeered his house. "We heard clashes in the early morning, and we couldn't see the security forces anywhere," he recalls. "We saw the ISIS fighters, they just came into the house, they didn't say a word. They just sent a sniper to the roof. I grabbed my children and ran." His wife bursts into tears, prompting him to apologize for not being able to talk anymore -- they just want to keep going. Another older woman, sitting in one of the carts surrounded by her grandchildren, starts sobbing the moment we approach her. "They took our homes and kicked us out," she cries. Over the weekend ISIS moved into towns just to the north of Ramadi, which lies 68 miles (110km) west of Baghdad, sending thousands fleeing on foot into the city. ISIS had already blocked off access from the south months ago, and the west was contested territory. The east, until now, was not just a relatively safe zone but the only viable entrance and exit. At a hospital in Amriyat al-Falluja, about a 15-minute drive away, a wounded local fighter winces in pain. He was shot by a sniper in Ramadi that morning as ISIS fighters advanced -- the bullet barely missed his heart. "We had been warning we could see their movements," he tells us. "But we just didn't have the force to hold them off. We didn't leave a single person we didn't call and ask for back up." But none came. Hours after our morning conversation we speak to Essawi again by phone. "Security is collapsing in the city," he screams. "This is what we warned Baghdad would happen. Where is Baghdad? Where is al-Abadi? "Just God knows if we will survive this," he says and hangs up. Amriyat al-Falluja regularly comes under attack from rockets and mortars from ISIS positions nearby. The hospital's façade is scarred by shrapnel. The wards are full of people injured during these attacks. Fifteen-year-old Mustafa Ahmed has bandages on his neck, leg, and other parts of his body. "A mortar fell on our street, one of my neighbors was wounded," he explains. "We went out to help him and the second one fell on us." His friend died, he says. In the next room Amal Ahmed speaks softly. "I was in the garden and a rocket hit and the shrapnel sliced me open," she says, as tears roll down her face. "Something fell out of me and I grabbed it and I put it back in and I lay down." She starts to cry harder. Her husband was killed by U.S. forces in Fallujah -- another city in Anbar -- in 2003. Her children have all moved away except her youngest, who broke his arm in the same attack. "When I see the situation I don't have hope, it's just getting worse." A few moments later, we hear two massive explosions from another of the hospital's buildings. They think it's an ISIS rocket or mortar attack so we take cover along with the Iraqi forces we are with in the hallway, away from the windows. More explosions go off in the distance. Then another actually shakes our building. "Anyone want tea?" one of the policemen with us asks, laughing as he pours. "This happens all the time, we're used to it." The police chief, Major Aref al-Janabi, radios to his men to respond. Al-Janabi, like so many others, is frustrated with the lack of support from Baghdad. Earlier, he had taken us to the front lines, a long berm that stretches along the northern and western parts of the town that is dotted with fighting positions. He says he regularly provides the joint command center with coordinates for ISIS positions, but so far there have been no significant air strikes or reinforcements. More explosions follow in the distance. We're quickly moved out and leave the town, heading back towards the bridge and the long, snaking lines of refugees. An ambulance passes us, trying to force its way through the crowds. The swell of people fleeing has grown considerably in the last hours -- not surprising given Essawi's dire assessment and warning. "Ramadi is under siege from all sides," he'd told us earlier, anger mixed with an air of resignation. "I consider the city to have fallen." He claimed that 150,000 have fled, scoffing at statements from Iraqi officials in Baghdad that reinforcements have been sent to Ramadi. He has yet to see them.
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the items are crafts made by japanese-americans confined to world war ii internment camps.
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(CNN)A New Jersey auction house has removed items from its April 17 event after an uproar from the public. The items are crafts and artifacts made by Japanese-Americans confined to World War II internment camps. A grass-roots campaign of a change.org petition, a Facebook page, and mediation by "Star Trek" actor George Takei has resulted in Rago Arts and Auction Center agreeing to pull the items from the sale. "There is an essential discussion to be had about the sale of historical items that are a legacy of man's inhumanity to man. It extends beyond what is legal. It is something auction houses, galleries and dealers are faced with regularly," the auction house said. "We hope this controversy will be the beginning of a discourse on this issue." Takei, who with his family spent time in one of the camps, thanked people for working to stop the sale. According to a comment on the Facebook page "Japanese American History: NOT for Sale," he was working on the issue while on a trip to Australia. "It took a few calls today here in the wee hours, and I'll be issuing a formal statement later, but we can all celebrate a bit today at this news," he wrote. The auction house said 24 lots of an original collection of works of art and crafts were removed. During World War II, about 117,000 people of Japanese descent were forced to live in 10 internment camps. The government called them relocation centers. Many of the people who lived there and their descendants had another phrase for the facilities. They call them concentration camps. Two-thirds of the people who were ordered there were native born U.S. citizens, according to the National Archives. CNN affiliate KGO reported the items were given to historian Allen Eaton, who opposed internment camps. The items were inherited from the historian's estate. Miriam Tucker, a partner with the auction house, said it had hoped the items would go to someone who cared about their historical meaning. "For us, there could be no better resolution than for a suitable museum, foundation or members of the Japanese-American community with the means to preserve this collection to come forward and secure it for education, display and research," she said. KGO reported the people it talked to would like items returned to family members if possible and any other artifacts put in an exhibition. "This was a gift and let the gift come full circle," said Judy Hamaguchi with the San Francisco Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League. She was referring to a letter the organization sent to the auction house. "It should be returned as a gift." The lots have been packed away for now, said auction house partner David Rago in an email. "Once the dust settles from this auction weekend (1,200 lots in three days) we will work with a small group of people from the Japanese-American community who have identified themselves through this process as generous, informed, voices of reason," he wrote. He said a suitable institution is the best possible home and the auction house will work with the current owner to find the right place. The seller -- known in the auction business as the consignor -- has never been in a position where the items could be donated, Rago said. "But the consignor, who has been a sensitive and dedicated custodian of this collection for over 35 years, has agreed this evening to work with Rago Auctions to secure appropriate placement of Eaton's life work," he added.
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all elizabeth sedway wanted was to leave paradise and head home.
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(CNN)All Elizabeth Sedway wanted was to leave paradise and head home. But she couldn't. Why? Because, according to her, she has cancer. That's what she said in a video posted to Facebook that shows her group packing up from their Alaska Airlines plane as it sat at the gate in Hawaii. "You're taking me off the airplane because I don't have a doctor's note saying I can fly," a woman is heard saying. "All these people are waiting, and I'm being removed as if I'm a criminal or contagious, because I have cancer and no note to fly." Sedway did eventually get on a flight back to San Jose, California, although she didn't get home until late Tuesday night. And she got an apology. "We regret the inconvenience Ms. Sedway experienced ... and are very sorry for how the situation was handled," Alaska Airlines spokeswoman Bobbie Egan said. "... While our employee had the customer's well-being in mind, the situation could have been handled differently." Her cancer fight notwithstanding, Sedway was in Hawaii in time to celebrate her 14th wedding anniversary. Still, on Monday, she was on a plane to head east. Then, according to her Facebook post, an airline employee who saw Sedway seated in the handicapped section asked her how she was doing. The second time she inquired, Sedway wrote that she responded by saying she sometimes felt weak. That was followed by a call to a doctor, then her removal from the plane. Egan, the Alaska Airlines spokeswoman, acknowledged that the carrier's policy when someone has a medical issue is to call MedLink, a group of ER nurses and doctors. The idea, she explained, is that "it is better to address medical issues or concerns on the ground rather than in the air, especially on flights to or from Hawaii" -- which in that case would last five-plus hours over open ocean. The decision to pull Sedway from the flight was done with "the customer's well-being" in mind, according to Egan. Still, that doesn't mean it was the right decision. Alaska Airlines since apologized to Sedway "for the disruption this has caused," in addition to refunding her family's tickets and paying for their overnight accommodations." Even though she was stuck in Hawaii, Sedway made clear on Facebook that this was a real "disruption." "Because of this, I will miss my chemotherapy, my children will miss school and my husband will miss important meetings," she said.
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hashtags are now pouring out of south africa.
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(CNN)As thousands of South Africans took to the streets of the city of Durban to rally against violence and xenophobia, an online community has joined the protests. The marches follow recent violent attacks on foreigners in the country that have claimed five lives. During the protest march Thursday, Twitter followers voiced their support through hashtag campaigns. #PeaceMarch and #SayNoToXenophobia were some of the most popular. South African Police Services said more than 10,000 people attended the march, including civil rights groups and nongovernmental organizations. Hashtags are now pouring out of South Africa. But many are asking, some via Twitter, is it enough to fight #xenophobia? Attacks this week in Durban alone have killed two immigrants and three South Africans, including a 14-year-old boy, authorities said. For South African Tim Flack, tweeting wasn't going to make a bit of difference. Flack, who lives in Cape Town, has brought allegations of hate speech and human rights violations against Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini, who he said referred to foreigners as "lice" and has said "they should pack their bags and go." "People listen to him," Flack said. "He is a monarch. The Zulu people in South Africa take him very seriously, they don't question what he says." Flack said he was motivated to make the allegations after seeing multiple complaints about xenophobic violence on social media and thinking they weren't enough. So he filed a complaint with the South African Human Rights Commission, and then tweeted about it. "The activists sit around feeling accomplished because they retweeted five times," Flack said. "I want to reach people who see that they can lay a charge and it won't cost them anything, but I will have done something to change the country and push it into a better state of being." Now, the Human Rights Commission must decide whether to investigate Flack's allegations against the King, who denies fueling any violence. Flack hopes others will also make complaints. Flack added that Zulus aren't the only people in South Africa who share in the xenophobic sentiment. "People are frustrated and unemployed, and people in South Africa pay foreign nationals a lot less," he said of the tension between nationals and immigrants. "A domestic worker would ask for 250 rand a day to clean a house, whereas a foreign national would ask for 150 rand, so it causes resentment." Imtiaz Sooliman, founder and chairman of the Gift of Givers Foundation in Durban, doesn't think most South Africans are against foreigners. "South Africans are against xenophobia," said Sooliman, who insists the majority of the country is providing an overwhelming amount of support for foreign nationals. Gift of Givers has been administering assistance at five refugee camps set up by the South African government that now hold roughly 8,000 foreign national refugees, he said, passing out things like clothing and hygiene packs. The organization posts its work at the camps online and tags it on social media with #xenophobia. Why? "In South Africa, everyone knows xenophobia," Sooliman said, "and the way a disaster agency works is we post what people understand. So if you say #tsunami or #war, people follow it. So here, people say #xenophobia, and they all know what it is -- it is a disaster, so you are going to post what people understand." He said South Africans also have been going to the camps, which are on sports fields with makeshift tents, bringing cooked food and other necessities. "This is different from what happened in 2008," Sooliman said. That year, scores were killed in attacks in the poorest areas of Johannesburg. Most of the victims were Zimbabweans who had fled repression and dire economic circumstances. Sooliman said that along with the government strongly condemning the violence, community engagement is happening now as it never happened before. It is a kind of national unity that can be best summed up with another hashtag that has emerged from this story: #WeAreAfrica. Only time, or, tweets will tell if it works.
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both were released on bail.
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New York (CNN)A suburban New York cardiologist has been charged in connection with a failed scheme to have another physician hurt or killed, according to prosecutors. Dr. Anthony Moschetto, 54, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to criminal solicitation, conspiracy, burglary, arson, criminal prescription sale and weapons charges in connection to what prosecutors called a plot to take out a rival doctor on Long Island. He was released after posting $2 million bond and surrendering his passport. Two other men -- identified as James Chmela, 43, and James Kalamaras, 41 -- were named as accomplices, according to prosecutors. They pleaded not guilty in Nassau County District Court, according to authorities. Both were released on bail. Requests for comment from attorneys representing Moschetto and Chmela were not returned. It's unclear whether Kalamaras has retained an attorney. Moschetto's attorney, Randy Zelin, said Wednesday that his client "will be defending himself vigorously," the New York Post reported. "Doctors are supposed to ensure the health and wellbeing of people, but Dr. Moschetto is alleged to have replaced that responsibility with brazen, callous and criminal acts," Acting Nassau District Attorney Madeline Singas said in a statement. Police officers allegedly discovered approximately 100 weapons at Moschetto's home, including hand grenades, high-capacity magazines and knives. Many of the weapons were found in a hidden room behind a switch-activated bookshelf, according to prosecutors. The investigation began back in December, when undercover officers began buying heroin and oxycodone pills from Moschetto in what was initially a routine investigation into the sale of prescription drugs, officials said. During the course of the undercover operation, however, Moschetto also sold the officers two semiautomatic assault weapons as well as ammunition, prosecutors said. Moschetto allegedly told officers during one buy that he needed dynamite to "blow up a building." He later said he no longer needed the dynamite because a friend was setting fire to the building instead. Kalamaras and Chmela are believed to have taken part in the arson, according to prosecutors. "The fire damaged but did not destroy the office of another cardiologist whose relationship with Dr. Moschetto had soured due to a professional dispute," according to the statement from the district attorney's office. Moschetto allegedly gave an informant and undercover detective blank prescriptions and cash for the assault and killing of the fellow cardiologist, according to prosecutors. He also requested that the rival's wife be assaulted if she happened to be present, authorities said. "He was willing to pay $5,000 to have him beaten and put in a hospital for a few months, and then he said he would pay $20,000 to have him killed," said Assistant District Attorney Anne Donnelly, reported CNN affiliate WCBS. The three men are to appear in Nassau County District Court on Friday.
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the nfl suspended the 30-year-old football star in november over allegations that last may he disciplined his son.
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(CNN)Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson will be reinstated as an active player by the NFL on Friday, the league said. The NFL suspended the 30-year-old football star in November over allegations that last May he disciplined his son, who was 4 at the time, too harshly with a "switch," or thin stick. In a letter, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told Peterson that his continued participation in the league was contingent on a number of requirements, including that he maintain "an ongoing program of counseling and treatment as recommended by medical advisers," the NFL said Thursday. Also required of Peterson: Avoiding "any further conduct that violates the (NFL's) personal conduct policy or other NFL policies." "Any further violation of the personal conduct policy by Peterson would result in additional discipline, which could include suspension without pay or banishment from the NFL," the league said in a statement. Peterson played in one game last season, a 35-6 win against St. Louis in September, before the league put him on an exempt list September 17 -- keeping him off the field with pay -- in light of his indictment that month in the case. Initially charged with felony child abuse, Peterson pleaded no contest to misdemeanor reckless assault in November in Texas. The NFL then suspended him without pay and he lost his appeal of that sanction the next month. In February, a Minnesota district court judge vacated the decision that upheld his suspension, making Peterson eligible for reinstatement. Bleacher Report: Latest details, comments, reaction The Vikings issued a brief statement in which they said they "look forward to Adrian rejoining the Vikings." ESPN reported that the team will hold voluntary offseason workouts beginning Monday. The next Vikings' organized team activities begin in late May. It is unclear whether Peterson will attend. He has been unhappy with how the Vikings have handled the matter. Though Peterson dodged jail time with his no-contest plea, he received probation, community service and a $4,000 fine. He also will take parenting classes. "I truly regret this incident," Peterson said after accepting the deal. "I stand here and I take full responsibility for my actions. I love my son more than any one of you can even imagine." Peterson is considered one of the best running backs in the NFL. In 2011 he signed a seven-year contract worth more than $100 million with the Vikings, who were 7-9 last season and failed to make the playoffs. In eight seasons, including last year's abbreviated year, he has rushed for 10,190 yards and averaged a strong 5.0 yards per carry. CNN's Jill Martin and Eliott C. McLaughlin contributed to this report.
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selena will be first figure to use acrovirt technology.
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(CNN)Tejano star Selena, who died 20 years ago, is coming back in a big way: with a hologram-like figure. Billboard reports that the singer's family is creating a version of the singer that will be "walking, talking, singing and dancing digital embodiment" of her persona. "By no means is this something that's creepy or weird," her sister, Suzette Quintanilla, told Billboard. "We think it's something amazing. A lot of the new fans that did not get to experience what Selena was about hopefully will be able to get a sense of her with this new technology that's going to be coming out." Selena: 20 years after her death The technology is being handled by Acrovirt LLC, a Nevada-based tech company. "Using detailed individual personalized functions spanning the mind, brain and body, the individual's Digitized Human Essence will autonomously learn and react on behalf of its human counterpart's," the company explained. The project is being called "Selena the One." Twenty years after she was killed by her fan club president, Selena remains incredibly popular, with her Facebook page recording 2 million likes and fans continuing to post videos and tributes. Selena will be the first figure to use the Acrovirt technology, Quintanilla said. "I'm excited at the fact that she will be the first ever, and the fact that she's a Latina makes it even more awesome," she said. "It's not about replacing Selena in any shape, way or form; it's just something to help her legacy continue growing." The family intends to expand her legacy in another way: with some new music. Selena the One "will release new songs and videos, will collaborate with current hit artists, and aims to go on tour in 2018," said a statement on Selena's Facebook page. Selena isn't the first performer to try the virtual route. A Michael Jackson hologram appeared at the Billboard Music Awards in 2014, and a hologram of Tupac Shakur performed at Coachella in 2012. But the new technology is a step forward, Quintanilla said. "People don't realize how fast technology is moving," she told Billboard. "This is something that we're building for another two to three years, so when 2018 comes around they'll be like, 'Oh, OK, we get it.' " Fans can join an Indiegogo campaign, www.selenatheone.com, to support the launch. The campaign, which hopes to raise $500,000, begins April 16. The commemorative Fiesta de la Flor in Corpus Christi, Texas -- which celebrates her life -- is scheduled for April 17 and 18. CNN's Katia Hetter contributed to this story.
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they also accepted its jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed "in the occupied palestinian territory".
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(CNN)The Palestinian Authority officially became the 123rd member of the International Criminal Court on Wednesday, a step that gives the court jurisdiction over alleged crimes in Palestinian territories. The formal accession was marked with a ceremony at The Hague, in the Netherlands, where the court is based. The Palestinians signed the ICC's founding Rome Statute in January, when they also accepted its jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed "in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, since June 13, 2014." Later that month, the ICC opened a preliminary examination into the situation in Palestinian territories, paving the way for possible war crimes investigations against Israelis. As members of the court, Palestinians may be subject to counter-charges as well. Israel and the United States, neither of which is an ICC member, opposed the Palestinians' efforts to join the body. But Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki, speaking at Wednesday's ceremony, said it was a move toward greater justice. "As Palestine formally becomes a State Party to the Rome Statute today, the world is also a step closer to ending a long era of impunity and injustice," he said, according to an ICC news release. "Indeed, today brings us closer to our shared goals of justice and peace." Judge Kuniko Ozaki, a vice president of the ICC, said acceding to the treaty was just the first step for the Palestinians. "As the Rome Statute today enters into force for the State of Palestine, Palestine acquires all the rights as well as responsibilities that come with being a State Party to the Statute. These are substantive commitments, which cannot be taken lightly," she said. Rights group Human Rights Watch welcomed the development. "Governments seeking to penalize Palestine for joining the ICC should immediately end their pressure, and countries that support universal acceptance of the court's treaty should speak out to welcome its membership," said Balkees Jarrah, international justice counsel for the group. "What's objectionable is the attempts to undermine international justice, not Palestine's decision to join a treaty to which over 100 countries around the world are members." In January, when the preliminary ICC examination was opened, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described it as an outrage, saying the court was overstepping its boundaries. The United States also said it "strongly" disagreed with the court's decision. "As we have said repeatedly, we do not believe that Palestine is a state and therefore we do not believe that it is eligible to join the ICC," the State Department said in a statement. It urged the warring sides to resolve their differences through direct negotiations. "We will continue to oppose actions against Israel at the ICC as counterproductive to the cause of peace," it said. But the ICC begs to differ with the definition of a state for its purposes and refers to the territories as "Palestine." While a preliminary examination is not a formal investigation, it allows the court to review evidence and determine whether to investigate suspects on both sides. Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said her office would "conduct its analysis in full independence and impartiality." The war between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza last summer left more than 2,000 people dead. The inquiry will include alleged war crimes committed since June. The International Criminal Court was set up in 2002 to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. CNN's Vasco Cotovio, Kareem Khadder and Faith Karimi contributed to this report.
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the creation of the terror group's south asia branch is relatively new, announced with some fanfare back in september by al qaeda's top leader, ayman al-zawahiri.
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(CNN)While the fight against ISIS in Syria and Iraq holds the world's gaze, a simultaneous transformation is getting less attention: the deterioration of al Qaeda. In an audio message released Sunday, al Qaeda confirmed that two of its leaders, known as Ustad Ahmad Farooq and Qari Abdullah Mansur, were killed in CIA drone strikes in January in North Waziristan, near the Afghan-Pakistan border. Farooq's real name was Raja Mohammad Suleman, al Qaeda said. He was a Pakistani who acted as the group's liaison to the Pakistan Taliban and was the deputy commander of al Qaeda's South Asia branch. (Mansur's real name was Qari Ubaidullah, a Pakistani who oversaw suicide missions against U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan). Al Qaeda's South Asia branch is relatively new, announced with some fanfare back in September by al Qaeda's top leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri. The creation of the terror group's South Asia branch was seen by some terrorism analysts as an attempt to steal some of the limelight from ISIS, which is embroiled in a public dispute with al Qaeda for leadership of the global jihad movement. The deaths of the two men continue the decimation of al Qaeda's bench of leaders. On Monday, in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, local al Qaeda commander Nurul Hassan was killed in a raid, said Arif Hanif, district inspector general of police. Florida-raised Adnan Shukrijumah, 39, who was in charge of al Qaeda's operations to attack the West, was killed in December in a Pakistani military operation. Texas-born Mohanad Mahmoud Al Farekh, who also played a planning role for al Qaeda's operations, was arrested in Pakistan last year. The deaths of Ubaidullah and Suleman underline the fact that there are almost no top leaders of al Qaeda left except al-Zawahiri. Both Ubaidullah and Suleman were Pakistani. This is an indicator of how al Qaeda has become a largely Pakistan-focused group, increasingly able to do nothing of any significance outside of Pakistan or Afghanistan. Indeed, al Qaeda has virtually no capacity to carry out attacks in the West. The last successful al Qaeda attack in the West was the London transportation system bombings a decade ago. Al Qaeda is now reduced only to holding American hostages such as 73-year-old aid worker Warren Weinstein, who was kidnapped from his home in the Pakistani city of Lahore on August 13, 2011. To be sure, al Qaeda's Yemen-based affiliate, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, continues to pose a threat to American aviation. The group has built hard-to-detect bombs, which it has placed on U.S.-bound flights. Luckily, those bombs were faulty or were detected. The group also trained one of the gunmen who attacked the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris in January, killing 12, but it's not clear if AQAP had any direct role in planning this attack. Meanwhile, ISIS continues to attract Western recruits and also inspire "homegrown" terrorists in the West, but the core al Qaeda organization that killed almost 3,000 men, women and children on 9/11 is on life support. Al Qaeda's confirmation of the deaths of Ubaidullah and Suleman is just one of the latest pieces of evidence for this assessment.
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former host bob barker, 91, showed up to run his old show.
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(CNN)What do we have for the contestant on "The Price Is Right"? A brand-new car! Whoops. That wasn't supposed to happen. On Thursday's edition of the popular game show, model Manuela Arbelaez accidentally revealed the correct answer to a guessing game for a new Hyundai Sonata. Host Drew Carey couldn't stop laughing. "Congratulations! Manuela just gave you a car!" he exulted. Arbelaez was mortified, attempting to hide behind the display. But everything turned out OK, she tweeted later. It's been a busy week for "The Price Is Right." On Wednesday, former host Bob Barker, 91, showed up to run his old show.
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loretta lynch's nomination of loretta lynch is the first african-american woman attorney general is a historic pick.
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Durham, North Carolina (CNN)President Obama's nomination of Loretta Lynch to become the country's first African-American woman attorney general is a historic pick. Her confirmation, however, is now taking on new historical relevance as her wait for a confirmation vote by the full Senate drags into its sixth month. The period between the Senate Judiciary Committee's vote to confirm and the full Senate vote -- which in Lynch's case has not been scheduled -- has lasted longer for her than for any attorney general nominee in recent history. By the time the Senate returns from Easter recess on Monday, it'll have been longer than the eight previous nominees for the job -- combined. Lynch, currently the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, cleared the committee February 26 by a vote of 12-8, with Republican Sens. Orrin Hatch of Utah, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Jeff Flake of Arizona joining Democrats in sending the nomination to the full Senate. Obama nominated Lynch to replace Attorney General Eric Holder on November 8, after Holder had announced plans to leave the post weeks earlier. Hundreds of miles from Washington, longtime residents of Durham, North Carolina, were beaming with pride. Lynch's family moved to the city when she was a child. Her parents, married for 60 years, still live there. They watched the announcement on television "That was encouraging but I knew then that we had a fight on our hands," said Lynch's father, the Rev. Lorenzo Lynch. "I've been in politics most of my life. I know that nothing is certain, and I know that nothing is easy." Lorenzo Lynch, 82, is a retired Baptist preacher and was active in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. He ran, unsuccessfully, for mayor of Durham in 1973. For the next round of his daughter's "fight," he traveled to Washington in late January to attend his daughter's confirmation hearing before the Judiciary Committee. "I heard a lot at that hearing that I've heard since childhood. That is the presupposition of the mindset," Lorenzo Lynch said. "The dual system or the dual treatment." When asked to provide specific examples, Lorenzo Lynch deferred to the state branch of the NAACP and E. Lavonia Allison, a Durham activist who has known Loretta Lynch since the family moved to Durham. "I don't want to think about the epidermis, but some people are thinking that way," Allison said, suggesting that Lynch's confirmation vote has been delayed because Lynch is African-American. "When it has taken so long, when it has been so different from any other person who has been nominated ... how else can we interpret that it is so different?" Allison said. In March, Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-North Carolina, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said, "I think race certainly can be considered as a major factor in the reason for this delay, but it's also the irrationality of the new Republicans." Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, evoked imagery of the segregated South in criticism of Republicans, saying Lynch had been "asked to sit in the back of the bus when it comes to the Senate calendar." Durbin was harshly criticized by Arizona's Sen. John McCain. "I deeply regret that the senator from Illinois chose to come here yesterday and question the integrity and motivation, mine and my Republican colleagues," McCain said on the Senate floor. "It was offensive and unnecessary, and I think he owes this body, Ms. Lynch and all Americans an apology," McCain added. "I thought he should be commended," Lorenzo Lynch said. "I think that's a poetic description of what has happened and poetry, like most language, is limited but it does have wings ... to carry a point." Giuliani pushes for Lynch confirmation Senate Republicans adamantly deny the delay in scheduling a vote on Lynch's nomination is because she is African-American. Many point out that Lynch, if confirmed, will be replacing the country's first African-American attorney general who was confirmed by an overwhelming margin. Instead, Republicans and Democrats say the delay is part of an ongoing partisan battle. For some, it's part of a fight over a human trafficking bill that has stalled in the Senate. For others, the delay is retaliation for President Obama's 2014 executive actions on immigration. On the eve of Holder's announcement of his plans to leave the Department of Justice, the political number crunchers at FiveThirtyEight.com predicted that whoever the President nominated would "likely face at least a moderately tough confirmation hearing in the Senate." Some of Lynch's supporters across North Carolina have organized to convince the state's two Republican senators to support Lynch's confirmation. In March, several dozen North Carolina women, led by the NAACP, traveled to Washington to meet with their senators, Richard Burr and Thom Tillis. Reportedly, the meeting lasted nearly an hour and was very cordial. At a news conference at the Washington Press Club, the group blasted the senators for opposing the nomination. "Senator Burr and Senator Tillis, it is time for you to act like you have some sense. It's past time. You have embarrassed the state of North Carolina," Allison said after the meeting. For their part, Burr and Tillis released a statement after the meeting: "While we remain concerned with Ms. Lynch's stated desire to lead the Department of Justice in the same manner as Eric Holder and will not be supporting her nomination, we are grateful that the group came to Washington to talk about this issue and exchange ideas. Weeks later, the NAACP organized protests outside the senators' offices in Raleigh, Charlotte and Wilmington. "I think there is a much deeper analysis," said North Carolina NAACP Branch President Rev. William Barber II. "I believe if she had been Clarence Thomas, she would have been confirmed." "Because of her courage, her character and her commitment to the law and to the enforcement of the laws of this land, particularly the 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution, and because her consciousness was shaped in the crucible of the civil rights movement -- that is what they fear," Barber said. Obama turns up the heat on Loretta Lynch confirmation 'limbo' Lorenzo Lynch says he carried his daughter to several civil rights marches on his shoulders. He admits that he did not think that much of the recent progress of African-Americans was possible when he was fighting for equal rights. Now, his small living room is filled with stacks of loosely organized newspaper stories about his daughter's nomination and photos of his visit to the White House. Lynch admits that he's never told his only daughter that he's proud of her, although he's sure she knows it. He plans to change that, soon, regardless of the outcome of her pending nomination.
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the ruling came in the wake of a recent case of cow slaughter in malegaon.
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(CNN)Police in the Indian city of Malegaon, in the western state of Maharashtra, are requiring identity cards for an unusual group of residents: Cattle. Following a recent state-wide ban on the sale and consumption of beef, authorities in the city have asked residents to take a 'mugshot' of their cattle and submit it to the police. Along with the photograph, the residents have to give information about their animal's 'unique features,' such as the coloring and age of the cow, along with the length of its tail and other distinctive characteristics. Police officials believe this is the only way to solve cow slaughter cases and enforce the law. Cows are considered holy and revered by that state's majority Hindu population. "We are creating a database. If we get an information of a cow slaughter, we can quickly go to the resident's place and check whether it is there or not", Mahesh Sawai, Deputy Superintendent of Malegaon Police told CNN. "I believe this will be very effective" So far over 100 owners have complied with the police order and more are lining up outside police stations across the city to get their livestock photographed. The ruling came in the wake of a recent case of cow slaughter in Malegaon, where two men have been charged for killing the animal and and selling its meat. The Maharashtra Animal Preservation Bill now includes bans on the killing of bulls and bullocks in its list of non-bailable offenses. Even the consumption or sale of beef could now land you in prison for five years. The slaughter of buffaloes, however, is still permissible. However, beef traders in the country strongly reacted to the decision and called a month-long strike, which ended Wednesday. The traders refused to even slaughter buffaloes and deprive the state of all bovine meat. They have now vowed to file a case in the state's high court. Red meat lovers weren't too delighted either, arguing the government doesn't have a right to interfere in an individual's personal preference. Maharashtra is not the only Indian state to tighten its laws on cow slaughter. Haryana state has implemented a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison, the toughest penalty in the country. Rajnath Singh, India's Home Minister has promised that he would do all to devise a country-wide law against cow slaughter.
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new: hundreds of mourners celebrated his life and death as a catalyst for change in america.
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Charleston, South Carolina (CNN)Police officers Saturday accompanied the hearse carrying the body of Walter Scott to his South Carolina funeral service, where hundreds of mourners celebrated his life and death as a catalyst for change in America. A pair of officers on motorcycles were part of the large procession delivering the father of four -- who was fatally shot in the back by a police officer -- to a service open to the public. An overflow crowd gathered on a humid and occasionally rainy April afternoon at W.O.R.D. Ministries Christian Center in Summerville, which has a capacity of about 300 people. The flag-draped casket of the U.S. Coast Guard veteran was wheeled inside the church as Scott's relatives and friends followed. Some dabbed tears; others embraced. Hundreds, including local officials, assembled inside the packed sanctuary -- in corridors, under an awning at the entrance, wherever they could stand. Silence filled the vast space as Scott's daughter Samantha read a poem of love dedicated to her father. Anthony Scott said God had selected his brother as a candidate for change in America. "The change will come," he said, bringing to the crowd to its feet. The head of the church, George Hamilton, spoke of how Scott had brought members of his family to the church, of the agony of not only losing a family member but having to watch it happen on video. The death of Scott, who was black, at the hands of a white police officer was "motivated by racial prejudice," Hamilton said. It was "an act of overt racism." "Hate came because Walter was an African-American," he said. Hamilton said his remarks were not meant as an indictment of law enforcement, but he singled out the officer who killed Scott as a "disgrace to the North Charleston Police Department." "There is gong to be change," he said. "Walter's death will not be in vain." After the service, pallbearers gently lifted Scott's casket into the hearse. Crowds poured from the church. A slow-moving procession of black cars then made its way to Live Oak Memorial Gardens in Charleston for the private burial. Chris Stewart, an attorney for the Scott family, said the death represented more than an race issue. "It's a human issue," he said. "We're getting emails from people in Arkansas telling us, 'I'm a white male, and I'm supporting this family.' Their son is going to be remembered for changing the way we look at each other." On Friday night, Scott's open casket was draped with an American flag, and he was in a dark suit for his private visitation in Charleston. A Dallas Cowboys banner -- his favorite NFL team -- was placed outside the casket, and a figurine of a Cowboys player stood at his side. But Scott's family was missing. They needed privacy, said Charleston Mayor Joseph Riley, who attended. A week ago, Scott was killed in North Charleston after getting pulled over for a broken taillight. A passer-by caught the shooting on cell phone video, and Officer Michael Slager was swiftly charged with murder. He was fired and faces life in prison or the death penalty if convicted. Who was Walter Scott? The video shows Scott running from an officer, who fires eight shots. Scott is struck five times; he falls to the ground. "Nothing in this video demonstrates that the officer's life or the life of another was threatened," National Urban League President Marc Morial said. "The question here is whether the use of force was excessive." But one witness is speaking of a struggle before the shooting. And at least one expert believes a murder charge may not hold up. On Thursday, Gwen Nichols told CNN's Brian Todd that she saw Scott and Slager scuffling at the entrance to a vacant lot. "It was like a tussle type of thing, like, you know, like, 'What do you want?' or 'What did I do?' type of thing," Nichols said. "I didn't hear Mr. Slager saying 'Stop!' " Nichols' account has similarities to Slager's. He had told investigators that he had tussled with Scott over his Taser and that he feared for his safety. A timeline of events Criminal defense attorney Paul Callan said he believes Slager's defense will play up the reported scuffle in arguing that this is not a murder case. "Defense attorneys will say this was a heat of passion shooting -- (that) this was something that he did suddenly after some kind of an altercation, a physical altercation with a suspect," Callan said. "And that would constitute manslaughter under law, as opposed to murder, and it makes a huge difference in sentencing." In South Carolina, a murder conviction requires a measure of premeditation. But the account from the witness who recorded the cell phone video, Feidin Santana, paints a different picture. He was walking to work when he saw Slager on top of Scott, he said, who was on the ground. Santana said he could hear the sound of a Taser in use. He said he didn't see Scott go after the Taser, as Slager initially claimed. He said he believes Scott was trying to get away. "Mr. Scott never tried to fight," Santana said. Neither the struggle nor the use of a Taser was captured on video, because Santana started recording shortly after that. Investigators from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division found troubling inconsistencies from the very start, it said in a statement. "We believed early on that there was something not right about what happened in that encounter," division Chief Mark Keel said in a statement. "The cell phone video shot by a bystander confirmed our initial suspicions." Slager's lawyer, Andy Savage, has complained that he "has not received the cooperation from law enforcement that the media has." Savage's office said in a statement that it has yet to receive "any investigative documents, audio or video tapes, other than a copy of Mr. Slager's arrest warrant." The news release added that the lawyer has been advised that the police union that Slager belongs to "is no longer involved in the case." Charleston County Sheriff Al Cannon said Slager's wife, Jamie, who is eight months' pregnant, and his mother had a visit with him at the county detention center Friday. Slager was being held in isolation and being "monitored for his mental health," Cannon said. In a statement, one of Slager's lawyers said the meeting lasted about an hour. "His wife and mom were tearful but strong, and they were all very grateful for the chance to see him in person, even if separated by a thick pane of glass," the statement said. "They held up family photos -- and even Jamie's ultrasound from earlier that day -- to remind him of all those who love him. Throughout the visit, Michael was focused on Jamie and their baby and was very relieved to know that she is being shown so much love and support by their families." A second video, taken from a police dash cam, has also emerged from the day Scott died. It shows moments before the shooting, when things seemed to be going smoothly between Scott and Slager. Scott apparently tells the officer that he has no insurance on the vehicle, and Slager returns to his car to do paperwork. Then Scott gets out of the car and runs out of the camera's frame. Scott was the subject of a bench warrant over $18,104.43 in unpaid child support at the time of the stop, according to court records. That was why he ran, lawyers for the family said after the funeral service. U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, D-South Carolina, told reporters outside the service that Scott lost a $35,000-a-year job the first time he was jailed for failing to pay child support. "He said it was the best job he's ever had," Clyburn said. "Now you have to ask ... if you want to collect child support, there's got to be income. And you ain't going to make much income from jail. It seems to me that we need to take a look to how to deal with that issue without causing unemployment and the loss of freedom." On Friday afternoon, police met with a man who was in Scott's car, but the passenger's name wasn't in a police report obtained by CNN. He was detained briefly after the shooting, one officer wrote in the report. Scott family attorney Chris Stewart said he was a co-worker and friend. But he did not identify the passenger by name. On Friday, a few mourners trickled into the Fielding Home for Funerals. A white banner with a blue star near Scott's casket displayed his favorite NFL team. It said: "Tradition, the Cowboys way." "This is a heartbreaking tragedy for everyone in our community," said Riley, the mayor. "It breaks everyone's hearts." CNN's Polo Sandoval and Martin Savidge reported from Charleston, and Ben Brumfield and Ray Sanchez reported and wrote in Atlanta and New York.
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lady antebellum is set to perform at the 50th academy of country music awards on sunday.
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(CNN)Lady Antebellum singer Hillary Scott's tour bus caught fire on a Texas freeway Thursday morning, but everyone on board was safely evacuated. Michael Barnett captured dramatic video of the fire, on Interstate 30 just northeast of Dallas, and uploaded it to CNN iReport. Smoke and flames poured from the rear of the bus as traffic slowed to a crawl and Barnett slowly approached in his vehicle. As he drew closer to the bus, Barnett decided to stop filming because he didn't know what to expect. "It was shocking," he said. "I didn't know what I was about to see. I didn't know if anyone was hurt." Barnett said he didn't realize at the time that the bus belonged to the country band. Hillary Scott, co-lead singer for the band, posted a photo of the charred bus on Instagram and noted that she, her husband, the tour manager and the driver were all evacuated safely. "Thanking God for our safety and the safety of all of those who helped put this fire out and keep us safe," she wrote. The tour manager told CNN affiliate KTVT that the bus stopped after a rear tire blew out. It burst into flames after everyone had gotten off. Scott also posted an Instagram photo and message saying that the fire destroyed everything in the bus's back lounge except her Bible. The band's two other members, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood, were not traveling on the bus, KTVT reported. Lady Antebellum is set to perform at the 50th Academy of Country Music Awards on Sunday in Arlington, Texas.
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thirty-five crew members were positively identified and buried in the years immediately.
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(CNN)Remains of up to nearly 400 unaccounted for service members tied to the USS Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor will be exhumed this year, the Defense Department announced Tuesday. The hope is that most of the battleship's sailors and Marines can be identified. "The secretary of defense and I will work tirelessly to ensure your loved one's remains will be recovered, identified, and returned to you as expeditiously as possible, and we will do so with dignity, respect and care," Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work said in a statement. "While not all families will receive an individual identification, we will strive to provide resolution to as many families as possible." The USS Oklahoma sank when it was hit by torpedoes on December 7, 1941, during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. A total of 429 sailors and Marines on the ship were killed. Thirty-five crew members were positively identified and buried in the years immediately after the attack, according to the Defense Department. By 1950, all unidentified remains were laid to rest as unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. In 2003, five more service members were identified, with the help of historical evidence from Pearl Harbor survivor Ray Emory, 93. Emory, a native of Peoria, Illinois, was serving as a seaman first class on the light cruiser USS Honolulu that fateful day. After the war, Emory worked in Washington state before moving to Hawaii about 30 years ago. The retiree made it his mission to ensure graves are properly identified. "It's something I looked forward to for a long time," he told CNN about Tuesday's announcement. Speaking by phone from Honolulu, Emory said that proper identification means a lot to the families of those who lost loved ones -- and to him. Next of kin were being notified starting Tuesday. Service members who are identified will be returned to their families for burial, with full military honors. WWII pilot, 99, reunited with historic C-47 plane CNN's Phil Gast contributed to this report.
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william shakespeare have formed history's most heralded literary canon.
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(CNN)"Hamlet." "Romeo and Juliet." "A Midsummer Night's Dream." For centuries, these plays and three dozen more by William Shakespeare have formed history's most heralded literary canon. But now they may have to make room for an addition to Shakespeare's famous oeuvre. New research indicates that "Double Falsehood," a play first published in 1728 by Lewis Theobald, was actually written more than a century earlier by Shakespeare himself with help from his friend John Fletcher. The findings were published this week by two scholars who used computer software to analyze the writings of the three men and compare it with the language of the "newer" play. "The match between the 'Double Falsehood' play and Shakespeare was a landslide. It was shockingly clear," said Ryan L. Boyd, a researcher at the University of Texas at Austin. The study, co-authored by Boyd and UT colleague James W. Pennebaker, was published in the journal Psychological Science. "There's very little wiggle room to interpret the numbers any differently." Boyd said he and Pennebaker analyzed 33 plays by Shakespeare, nine by Fletcher and 12 by Theobald to create a "psychological signature" of each author based on word choices, phrase patterns and other factors. They compared those profiles to the language in "Double Falsehood" and determined that the play's first half was almost entirely written by Shakespeare, though the second half appeared to be split evenly between Shakespeare and Fletcher. Only tiny traces of Theobald's signature were found. "We're certainly not suggesting that Theobald didn't make edits," Boyd told CNN. "But he clearly did not write it." "Double Falsehood," also known as "The Distressed Lovers," is based on the "Cardenio" section of Don Quixote, the classic 17th-century novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Set in Spain, the play revolves around the romantic entanglements of two brothers: one virtuous, one sinful. Theobald said he based the play on three original manuscripts he had discovered, all of them written by Shakespeare. But many scholars have long dismissed the play as a fake, suspecting that Theobald tried to pass the Bard's work off as his own. Shakespeare, who died in 1616, wrote most of his published plays between 1590 and 1612. British publishers Arden Shakespeare published "Double Falsehood" in 2010 -- for the first time in 250 years -- amid renewed claims by experts that it was Shakespeare's work. But the new study by Boyd and Pennebaker, the first to analyze the writings from a psychological perspective, may settle the matter once and for all. Shakespearean scholar Brean Hammond, professor of modern English literature at Nottingham University in the UK, praised the Texas study for its scientific approach. Hammond said Boyd and Pennebaker "have got no dogs in the fight. They're not literary scholars, (so) their work could be seen as more objective than some of the literary studies." Hammond studied "Double Falsehood's" authorship from a literary perspective five years ago and found Shakespeare's DNA evident in the play. But he doubts the new research will put the matter entirely to rest. "Those people who don't believe the play was written by Shakespeare aren't going to just lay down and die," he said.
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the song catapulted the former folk singer to headliner status.
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(CNN)That's some rich "American Pie." The lyrics to the famed Don McLean song sold for $1.2 million Tuesday morning at an auction held by Christie's. "Don McLean's manuscript of 'American Pie' achieved the 3rd highest auction price for an American literary manuscript, a fitting tribute to one the foremost singer-songwriters of his generation," Christie's Tom Lecky said in a statement. McLean told Rolling Stone that it was time to part with the manuscript. "I'm going to be 70 this year," the singer and songwriter said in February. "I have two children and a wife, and none of them seem to have the mercantile instinct. I want to get the best deal that I can for them. It's time." Over the years, "American Pie" has become one of the most dissected and argued-about songs in the pop music canon. McLean has said that the opening lines were inspired by the death of Buddy Holly, but after that, it's all been conjecture -- which hasn't stopped a marching band's worth of analysts from trying to parse the symbols in the 8-minute, 33-second opus. Is the jester Bob Dylan? The football game Vietnam? The "girl who sang the blues" Janis Joplin? (One thing's certain: Buddy Holly's plane was NOT named "American Pie.") "Over the years I've dealt with all these stupid questions of 'Who's that?' and 'Who's that?' " McLean said. "These are things I never had in my head for a second when I wrote the song. I was trying to capture something very ephemeral and I did, but it took a long time." The song catapulted the former folk singer to headliner status. The song hit No. 1 in early 1972, despite its length. (The 45-rpm single split the song in half on its A and B sides.) The draft that was auctioned is 16 pages: 237 lines of manuscript and 26 lines of typed text, according to Christie's. It includes lines that didn't make the final version as well as extensive notes -- all of which should be revealing, McLean said. The record for a popular music manuscript is held by Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone," which sold for $2 million in June. Opinion: What's so great about 'American Pie'?
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a new jersey auction house has removed items from its april 17 event.
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(CNN)A New Jersey auction house has removed items from its April 17 event after an uproar from the public. The items are crafts and artifacts made by Japanese-Americans confined to World War II internment camps. A grass-roots campaign of a change.org petition, a Facebook page, and mediation by "Star Trek" actor George Takei has resulted in Rago Arts and Auction Center agreeing to pull the items from the sale. "There is an essential discussion to be had about the sale of historical items that are a legacy of man's inhumanity to man. It extends beyond what is legal. It is something auction houses, galleries and dealers are faced with regularly," the auction house said. "We hope this controversy will be the beginning of a discourse on this issue." Takei, who with his family spent time in one of the camps, thanked people for working to stop the sale. According to a comment on the Facebook page "Japanese American History: NOT for Sale," he was working on the issue while on a trip to Australia. "It took a few calls today here in the wee hours, and I'll be issuing a formal statement later, but we can all celebrate a bit today at this news," he wrote. The auction house said 24 lots of an original collection of works of art and crafts were removed. During World War II, about 117,000 people of Japanese descent were forced to live in 10 internment camps. The government called them relocation centers. Many of the people who lived there and their descendants had another phrase for the facilities. They call them concentration camps. Two-thirds of the people who were ordered there were native born U.S. citizens, according to the National Archives. CNN affiliate KGO reported the items were given to historian Allen Eaton, who opposed internment camps. The items were inherited from the historian's estate. Miriam Tucker, a partner with the auction house, said it had hoped the items would go to someone who cared about their historical meaning. "For us, there could be no better resolution than for a suitable museum, foundation or members of the Japanese-American community with the means to preserve this collection to come forward and secure it for education, display and research," she said. KGO reported the people it talked to would like items returned to family members if possible and any other artifacts put in an exhibition. "This was a gift and let the gift come full circle," said Judy Hamaguchi with the San Francisco Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League. She was referring to a letter the organization sent to the auction house. "It should be returned as a gift." The lots have been packed away for now, said auction house partner David Rago in an email. "Once the dust settles from this auction weekend (1,200 lots in three days) we will work with a small group of people from the Japanese-American community who have identified themselves through this process as generous, informed, voices of reason," he wrote. He said a suitable institution is the best possible home and the auction house will work with the current owner to find the right place. The seller -- known in the auction business as the consignor -- has never been in a position where the items could be donated, Rago said. "But the consignor, who has been a sensitive and dedicated custodian of this collection for over 35 years, has agreed this evening to work with Rago Auctions to secure appropriate placement of Eaton's life work," he added.
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saudi arabia has led a coalition that is conducting airstrikes on targets.
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(CNN)The U.N. Security Council voted Tuesday in favor of an arms embargo on Houthis -- the minority group that has taken over large swaths of Yemen, including its capital, Sanaa -- and supporters of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The resolution "raises the cost" for the Houthis, according to Mark Lyall Grant, Britain's ambassador to the United Nations. In addition to the arms embargo, it also demands that the Shiite group pull back and refrain from more violence and includes sanctions aimed at controlling the spread of terrorism, according to Grant. Russia abstained from Tuesday's vote, saying it didn't like the inclusion of sanctions. In recent weeks, Saudi Arabia has led a coalition that is conducting airstrikes on targets associated with Saleh's supporters and the Houthis, who have emerged as Yemen's most dominant force in recent months. Also Tuesday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Saudi Arabian Minister of Defense Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz agreed to form a joint military commission to discuss the implementation of a major strategic maneuver inside Saudi Arabia, Egypt's state-run Ahram news agency reported. Egypt announced that it would dispatch several naval ships to help halt the rebels' advance. In response to media reports, Egyptian officials said no troops have yet been sent to Yemen. The Houthis forced President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi from power in January, though Hadi still claims he is Yemen's legitimate leader and is working with the Saudis and other allies to return to Yemen. Those allied with Hadi have accused the Iranian government of supporting the Houthis in their uprising in Yemen. They include Yemen's current ambassador to the United Nations, Khaled Mahfoodh Abdulla Bahah, who said Tuesday, "We refuse (the) influence of Iran in Yemen affairs." CNN's Richard Roth and Dominique Dodley reported from New York, and CNN's Greg Botelho wrote this report from Atlanta. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz contributed to this report.
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the incident occurred about a half-hour before the flight landed, after the pilots had begun their descent.
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Atlanta (CNN)A passenger on an Atlanta-bound Air Canada flight told a CNN reporter on the plane Friday that a stranger sitting behind him tried to choke him. Oliver Minatel, 22, said he was sleeping on Air Canada Flight 8623 from Toronto when he felt something around his neck. "With a rope, something that he has, he just jumped on me. That's what happened," Minatel told CNN's Paula Newton moments after the incident. She was seated four rows behind Minatel, a professional soccer player traveling with his team. The incident occurred about a half-hour before the flight landed, after the pilots had begun their descent. "I forced it (the cord) down and then other people came to help, and then I got out and he started saying that we were here to kill him," Minatel said. The man was not restrained for the rest of the trip, but the flight crew told him to stay seated with his seat belt on. The man kept trying to get out of his seat but other passengers yelled at him whenever he tried to stand up. The two-hour flight landed at Atlanta's Hartsfield airport at about 4:30 p.m. where it was met by U.S. authorities. The suspect was escorted off the plane. An FBI spokesman confirmed the agency responded to the incident. "The passenger, however, was transported for medical/mental evaluation under the direction and coordination of the Atlanta Police Department," Special Agent Stephen Emmett said. "While there are currently no federal charges pending, the facts of the matter are being relayed to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Atlanta." Minatel, a forward from Brazil, was traveling with his teammates from the Ottawa Fury Football Club of the second-division North American Soccer League. They are scheduled to play the Atlanta Silverbacks on Saturday. "We're very thankful to everyone who came to the aid of Oliver and relieved that he's O.K. and ready to play in our game," Fury FC Head Coach Marc Dos Santos said in a statement posted on the team's website. Several witnesses said they saw the suspect try to choke Minatel with the cord of his headphones. Kevin Kerr says he was seated next to the suspect. "He was talking about how this soccer team was trying to kill him. I thought he was maybe a deranged fan," said Kerr. Kerr said he fell asleep and he awakened to see the suspect trying to choke Minatel. "I assisted to make sure that didn't happen," Kerr said. The Canadian businessman said he and members of the soccer team kept a close eye on the suspect as the plane landed to make sure he did not threaten other passengers.
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american-based jia jiang put himself up to when his first child was born.
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(CNN)What would you do if a complete stranger asked you for $100, or offered you an apple in a parking lot without explanation? These are only two of the 100 challenges Chinese-born, American-based Jia Jiang put himself up to when he decided to blog about "100 Days of Rejection", a project he launched after he quit his comfortable six-figure job to follow his dreams of being an entrepreneur at the age of 30, just weeks before his first child was born. After his tech start-up was declined investment, Jiang decided to confront his fear of rejection head-on. This led to his writing his book called Rejection Proof, part self-help and part motivational/autobiography, which is being released this week. Famously, in 2012 on his third day of the project, Jiang asked Austin, Texas, Krispy Kreme manager (Jackie Braun) to make him five interlinked donuts to mimic the Olympic symbol. To his surprise, she rose to the challenge and his rejection request faltered. He shared his video and it went viral on Reddit. Before long, Jiang (and Braun) were invited on talk shows and Jiang was being asked to speak at events across the US. Jiang was even offered jobs as his project continued and his fame grew. That wasn't the goal of the project though. "I'm really just a person trying to overcome my own fears," explained Jiang. The project started out to help "fix my own problems, and now I'm helping others fix theirs," he said. "The fear of rejection really holds people back. I'm trying to demystify the idea of rejection." Jiang, who as a child dreamed of being Bill Gates and has been viewed 7 million times on YouTube, has found his entrepreneurial dream in a different role for the moment. "My goal is to turn rejection into opportunity. I always thought it was something to run away from, but if we can embrace it, we can turn it into a lot more than an obstacle." 8 top tips in making rejection work for you: 1 - The fear of rejection holds us back a lot more than actual rejection. By putting ourselves out there, the world will usually open itself up to you. Though the world can seem cruel and cold, actually humans have a hard time saying no. So open yourself up, don't be afraid to ask for something. If you fail, remember it's not about you. 2 - Rejection is more or less a numbers game. Sometimes the most far-fetched idea gets a yes. If you talk to enough people, somebody will say yes to you. J.K. Rowling went through 12 rejections to get her yes for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. 3 - You cannot use rejection to measure the merit of an idea. Sometimes if you really want to change the world, getting rejection is a must. Rejection is a human interaction with two sides. It often says more about the rejector than the rejectee, and should never be used as the universal truth and sole judgment of merit. 4 - Don't run away after a no. The most common thing we do when we're rejected is we want to run because rejection is painful - you're hurt, angry and you lose confidence. But actually if we know how to handle it, we can often minimize the chance of rejection. Be confident, engaging, collaborate. I used all of these traits to maximise getting a yes. 5 - Ask why? When you get rejected you have to find out why. Then spend time to find solutions to solve that why. Sometimes through this process you learn there is something else you can ask for. Ask for an intermediate position rather than the top position. 6 - Set a number of how many no's you can take. In his book, Jiang helps his wife set out to get her dream job at Google. He tells her that instead of thinking about getting a job, she needs to prepare herself for how many no's she can take. In the end, she was offered a job at Google. 7 - Be invincible. By the end of his project, Jiang said he felt he could ask anything from anyone and not have the pain of rejection. It was a gradual process - gradually my comfort zone expanded. It's like a muscle, I could become stronger and stronger. 8 - Stand tall and remember rejection is an opinion. People are who they are. A lot of people will reject you because of their mood, their education, their upbringing, and you can't change who they are. But you can stand confidently. Innate confidence comes across. How missing sleep can damage your IQ The surprising benefits of doing nothing 7 habits of highly ineffective people
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the magazine's managing editor will dana, "we would like to apologize to our readers"
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(CNN)According to an outside review by Columbia Journalism School professors, "(a)n institutional failure at Rolling Stone resulted in a deeply flawed article about a purported gang rape at the University of Virginia." The Columbia team concluded that "The failure encompassed reporting, editing, editorial supervision and fact-checking." Hardly a ringing endorsement of the editorial process at the publication. The magazine's managing editor, Will Dana, wrote, "We would like to apologize to our readers and to all of those who were damaged by our story and the ensuing fallout, including members of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity and UVA administrators and students." Brian Stelter: Fraternity to 'pursue all available legal action' The next question is: Can UVA, Phi Kappa Psi or any of the other fraternities on campus sue for defamation? The Virginia Supreme Court said in Jordan v. Kollman that "the elements of libel are (1) publication of (2) an actionable statement with (3) the requisite intent." "Actionable" means the statement must be both false and defamatory. Of course, the law of defamation must be balanced against the freedom of speech protected under not only the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, but also the Virginia Constitution. True statements cannot be defamatory. Neither can pure statements of opinion, because they theoretically cannot be either true or false. But the Rolling Stone article certainly purported to be fact, and it apparently is not exactly what the law considers "true." The individual members of the fraternity will likely be considered private individuals, and not public figures; the latter have a harder time proving defamation. A private person suing for defamation must establish that the defendant has published a false factual statement that is about the person and that it also harms the person's reputation. The private plaintiff also must show that the defendant knew that the statement was false, or believed it was true but lacked a reasonable basis, or acted negligently in checking the facts. At first blush, that sounds like it fits perfectly, right? The Columbia report may go a long way toward establishing at least a modicum of the required intent. But that's only half the battle. There are strict rules about who can be a plaintiff in a defamation action like this. The identity of the aspiring plaintiff matters. First, let's eliminate UVA. The university is a public university, and therefore it is a governmental entity. The Supreme Court has been clear on the issue of libelous statements about the government: The government cannot sue for defamation. There is no such cause of action in American jurisprudence. Now the fraternities, starting with Phi Kappa Psi. A fraternity is not an individual, but a group. A plaintiff in a defamation case must show that the statements were "of or concerning" the plaintiff. It sounds obvious, but if you're going to say a statement hurt you, you have to prove the statement actually was about you to begin with. When the statements are about a group without naming an individual, it's hard to say the statement is "concerning" the individual -- and groups generally cannot sue. For example, you can be sued if you call a specific lawyer a thief, but that same person cannot sue you if you simply call all lawyers thieves. Defamatory statements about a group are therefore not actionable by the group's individual members, for the most part. Like all rules, however, there are exceptions. If the defamatory language is about "a comparatively small group of persons and the defamatory part is easily imputed against all members of the small group, an individual member may sue." If I said, "The 1980 Philadelphia Phillies infielders were a bunch of criminals" (they weren't), the individual players could sue, because that mean statement is clearly about certain persons -- if I said that -- which I didn't. Phi Kappa Psi would likely argue that the "small group" exception fits it perfectly: Even if the individual members were not identified by name, the defamatory story has been imputed directly to individual members, who have suffered by their association with the group. On the other hand, Rolling Stone's lawyers would likely argue that the group is so large and fluid (after all, the membership changes somewhat every year), that even though the fraternity's reputation is tarnished, the members have suffered no individualized injury. As for the other fraternities on campus but not implicated in the story, that's likely a group that moves from the small category to large, and the members of Greek life generally will have a harder time bringing a lawsuit. Lawyers will tell you that a libel suit is one of those things that citizens often threaten each other with on Facebook, but that such cases are rarely actually filed. That's because a plaintiff usually has to show some kind of financial harm. So if your Aunt Edna calls you a loser on Twitter, you're going to have to spend money on an expert to explain to a jury how that actually damaged you financially. And since most of the people who waste time threatening each other with defamation suits on Facebook live in their moms' basements and are "between jobs," these are not the kind of people who have money or reputation to damage in the first place. The UVA situation is not your run-of-the-mill defamation case. The university won't be able to sue, but if the members of the fraternity can get past some of the preliminary hurdles of a defamation claim, and they can make a tangible case for damages, then this could be one of those rare successful defamation cases.
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the trailer begins with a commentator's voice asking, "maybe he's just a guy trying to do the right thing"
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(The Hollywood Reporter)A trailer for Zack Snyder's upcoming "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice" leaked online on Thursday before quickly being taken down minutes later. A YouTube user uploaded the handheld or camera phone capture of the trailer, which had Spanish subtitles on the screen. The trailer begins with a commentator's voice asking, "Is it really surprising that the most powerful man in the world should be a figure of controversy?" As footage of Superman plays, numerous commentators' voices overlap one another with their opinions of the superheroes, including "We as a population on this planet have been looking for a savior" and "Maybe he's just a guy trying to do the right thing." Ryan Gosling in talks to star in "Blade Runner" sequel A blurred image of Ben Affleck's face appears shortly before a masked Batman appears, followed by the two superheroes coming face to face. The highly anticipated footage was set to premiere in Imax theaters on Monday. On Wednesday morning, Snyder teased the trailer by releasing a short excerpt on Twitter. "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice" will be released on March 25, 2016 and stars Affleck as Batman and Henry Cavill as Superman. The film also stars Amy Adams. How much it costs to get Mark Hamill's autograph at "Star Wars" celebration ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved.
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andreas lubitz is accused of deliberately crashing the plane in the french alps.
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(CNN)Michele Bachmann is comparing President Obama to the co-pilot of the doomed Germanwings flight. "With his Iran deal, Barack Obama is for the 300 million souls of the United States what Andreas Lubitz was for the 150 souls on the German Wings flight - a deranged pilot flying his entire nation into the rocks," the Minnesota Republican and former representative wrote in a Facebook comment posted March 31. "After the fact, among the smoldering remains of American cities, the shocked survivors will ask, why did he do it?" Andreas Lubitz, the co-pilot of Germanwings Flight 9525, is accused by authorities of deliberately crashing the plane in the French Alps. He died in the crash along with 149 other crew and passengers. The motive of the March 24 crash is under investigation, though investigators are looking in to whether Lubitz feared a medical condition would cause him to lose his pilot's license. Many comments posted on her Facebook page blasted the former representative. Melissa Coca wrote, "Comparing this tragedy to anything is moronic and despicable." Michael J Pristash wrote, "Your allusion is so inappropriate and divisive, not to mention disrespectful on so many levels. Shame on you." Some also accused her of taking desperate measures to stay in the public eye. Lynda Anderson wrote, "Posting outrageous things in a pathetic attempt to stay relevant?" Negotiations are coming down to the wire between Iran, the United States and other nations on restricting Tehran's nuclear program to prevent the ability to develop an atomic bomb. One deadline passed Tuesday, but there is a June 30 deadline for a comprehensive deal -- with all technical and diplomatic impasses fully worked out. Bachmann is no stranger to voicing her opinion on the President's dealing with Iran, personally telling him to "bomb Iran" during the 2014 White House Christmas Party. "I turned to the president and I said, something to the effect of, 'Mr. President, you need to bomb the Iranian nuclear facilities, because if you don't, Iran will have a nuclear weapon on your watch and the course of world history will change,'" she told the Washington Free Beacon. The congresswoman, who sought the GOP presidential nomination in 2012, said Obama had a "condescending smile on his face and laughed at me." She said he told her: "Well Michele, it's just not that easy."
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tejano star selena died 20 years after she was killed by her fan club president.
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(CNN)Tejano star Selena, who died 20 years ago, is coming back in a big way: with a hologram-like figure. Billboard reports that the singer's family is creating a version of the singer that will be "walking, talking, singing and dancing digital embodiment" of her persona. "By no means is this something that's creepy or weird," her sister, Suzette Quintanilla, told Billboard. "We think it's something amazing. A lot of the new fans that did not get to experience what Selena was about hopefully will be able to get a sense of her with this new technology that's going to be coming out." Selena: 20 years after her death The technology is being handled by Acrovirt LLC, a Nevada-based tech company. "Using detailed individual personalized functions spanning the mind, brain and body, the individual's Digitized Human Essence will autonomously learn and react on behalf of its human counterpart's," the company explained. The project is being called "Selena the One." Twenty years after she was killed by her fan club president, Selena remains incredibly popular, with her Facebook page recording 2 million likes and fans continuing to post videos and tributes. Selena will be the first figure to use the Acrovirt technology, Quintanilla said. "I'm excited at the fact that she will be the first ever, and the fact that she's a Latina makes it even more awesome," she said. "It's not about replacing Selena in any shape, way or form; it's just something to help her legacy continue growing." The family intends to expand her legacy in another way: with some new music. Selena the One "will release new songs and videos, will collaborate with current hit artists, and aims to go on tour in 2018," said a statement on Selena's Facebook page. Selena isn't the first performer to try the virtual route. A Michael Jackson hologram appeared at the Billboard Music Awards in 2014, and a hologram of Tupac Shakur performed at Coachella in 2012. But the new technology is a step forward, Quintanilla said. "People don't realize how fast technology is moving," she told Billboard. "This is something that we're building for another two to three years, so when 2018 comes around they'll be like, 'Oh, OK, we get it.' " Fans can join an Indiegogo campaign, www.selenatheone.com, to support the launch. The campaign, which hopes to raise $500,000, begins April 16. The commemorative Fiesta de la Flor in Corpus Christi, Texas -- which celebrates her life -- is scheduled for April 17 and 18. CNN's Katia Hetter contributed to this story.
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but the politicians underestimated the pushback organized by local and national businesses.
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(CNN)The public outrage over the "religious freedom" bills recently passed in Arkansas and Indiana caught the governors of those states completely off-guard, judging by their confused and contradictory responses. As poll watchers, they surely knew that most Americans now oppose the discriminatory laws and practices they accepted as normal only a dozen years ago. But the politicians underestimated the pushback organized by local and national businesses, including companies with no previous record of public support for social equality. They had better adjust to a new reality. For the past three decades, socially conservative evangelicals and pro-business interests have been powerfully allied against government regulations, environmental initiatives and social welfare programs, while supporting lower taxes for the wealthy and pushing back against the growing diversity in America's population. For many, this alliance been puzzling: Other, equally devout Christians who place more emphasis on Jesus Christ's message of unconditional love and on his denunciations of excessive wealth and neglect of the poor, have been uncomfortable with it, as have many business leaders. Their priorities, after all, are based on the bottom line. And companies that sell goods and services to the public are learning that support for discrimination -- or even passive acceptance of it -- threatens that bottom line. Hence, after Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signed a law that opened a new door for discrimination against same-sex couples, the threat of boycotts and other retaliation was swift, from groups as diverse as the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the Indiana Pacers, Walmart, Eli Lilly, Apple and even the Marriott International hotel chain. Marriott International was founded by J.W. Marriott, a dedicated Mormon, and is now run by his son Bill, also a Mormon who fully accepts his church's teachings about traditional marriage. Yet in June, Marriott International launched a "#Love Travels" marketing campaign, aimed at attracting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender travelers with an assurance of "the company's commitment to make everyone feel comfortable about who they are." Asked about the discrepancy between his religious rejection of same-sex marriage and his marketing overtures to same-sex honeymooners, Marriott pointed to the Bible's injunction of unconditional love, but added "beyond that, I am very careful about separating my personal faith and beliefs from how we run our business." In 2014, global spending by LGBT travelers was estimated at more than $200 billion, and spending by this market segment is rising much faster than overall spending on travel. So Marriott worries when states start to make such travelers feel unwelcome. Businesses seeking to develop brand loyalty among younger consumers have a special incentive to highlight their rejection of anti-gay bias. A CNN poll taken in February found that 72% of millennials nationwide believe that same-sex couples have the right to have their marriages recognized as valid. Even among white evangelical Protestants, 43% of millennials support same-sex marriage, compared with less than 20% of those their grandparents' age, 68 and older. It used to be that businesses could close their eyes to discrimination in areas geographically isolated from the more liberal coasts, but that is no longer possible. According to researchers for MTV's "Look Different" anti-bias campaign, 90% of youths aged 14 to 24 agree that it is important to make their communities a less biased place, and almost 80% say that everyone has a responsibility to help tackle bias. So who's the "moral majority" now? For media-savvy millennials, following that moral imperative means spreading the news about discrimination wherever it occurs and reaching beyond geographic boundaries to mobilize against it. In the first 24 hours after Arkansas passed its version of the "religious freedom" bill, the Twitter hashtag #BoycottArkansas was used 12,000 times. It then snowballed after celebrity blogger Perez Hilton tweeted it to his 5.9 million Twitter followers. America has crossed a threshold where it is no longer a good business model or political strategy to be intolerant of diversity, whether that pertains to race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation. Since 2011, the majority of children that have been born in the United States each year are members of racial or ethnic minorities. Hispanics are projected to account for most of the growth in the labor force between now and 2060. Women now lead men in educational attainment. And more than half of Americans live in states where same-sex marriage is legal. Business leaders and politicians who ignore or offend these constituencies do so at their own peril.
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he was expelled from the communist party and arrested last december.
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Beijing (CNN)China's state prosecutors on Friday formally charged the country's former security czar with accepting bribes, making him the highest-ranking Chinese Communist Party official ever to face corruption charges. Zhou Yongkang, 72, was also charged with abuse of power and leaking state secrets, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the highest prosecution authority in China, said. As a member of the ruling Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee -- China's top decision-making body -- Zhou was one of nine men who effectively ruled the country of more than 1.3 billion people. He retired in 2012. At the height of his power, Zhou controlled police forces, spy agencies, court systems as well as prosecution offices across China -- and wasn't shy in deploying his vast assets to crush dissent and unrest in the name of "preserving social stability." Now, prosecutors have accused Zhou of "taking advantage of his posts to seek benefits for others and illegally accepting huge amounts of money" during his long political career. His alleged actions have caused heavy losses to public assets and greatly harmed national interests, they added. Zhou was notified of his legal rights during the investigation and his lawyer's views were heard, according to a statement by the prosecutors. His case will be tried in Tianjin, a city near the Chinese capital, Beijing. The president of China's supreme court recently told reporters there would be "open" trials for accused former leaders like Zhou. However, the charge of leaking state secrets may allow authorities to shield certain legal proceedings from public view in Zhou's case. Zhou has not been seen in public since he attended an anniversary event at his alma mater in October 2013. He was expelled from the Communist Party and arrested last December. State media have painted an intricate web of officials, cronies and tycoons -- some with alleged mafia connections -- orbiting around Zhou before the crumbling of his power structure last summer. Zhou and his family members were said to have accumulated enormous wealth, in a blatant exchange between money and power. He was also found to have affairs with multiple women and allegedly traded power for sex, state-run Xinhua news agency reported last year. Analysts have viewed his shocking downfall as a watershed moment in the secretive world of Chinese politics, now ruled by President Xi Jinping. Xi has been spearheading a massive anti-corruption campaign, targeting both "tigers" and "flies" -- high-ranking, and low-level, officials. Zhou is by far the biggest tiger caught in Xi's dragnet to date. "The important thing here is that Xi has proven he's powerful enough to break this taboo of never incriminating former Politburo Standing Committee members," longtime political analyst Willy Lam, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said last year, when the government revealed its formal investigation into Zhou. Many observers also note Zhou's patronage of Bo Xilai, a former Communist leader sentenced to life in prison for corruption in 2013. Bo's spectacular downfall the year before -- complete with tales of murder, bribery and betrayal -- attracted global attention. State media have cited his subsequent conviction as a prime example of Xi's resolve to clean up the party. The former Chongqing Communist Party chief's supporters, however, have long called him a political victim -- the former high-flying politician was once considered Xi's main challenger for the top spot of Chinese leadership. Political watchers see similarities between the Bo and Zhou cases. "The people being investigated for corruption are on the losing side of factional struggles," said Lam, who has predicted a suspended death sentence for Zhou.
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she suffered a dislocated jaw, leg injuries and a caved-in sinus cavity.
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(CNN)Never mind cats having nine lives. A stray pooch in Washington State has used up at least three of her own after being hit by a car, apparently whacked on the head with a hammer in a misguided mercy killing and then buried in a field -- only to survive. That's according to Washington State University, where the dog -- a friendly white-and-black bully breed mix now named Theia -- has been receiving care at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital. Four days after her apparent death, the dog managed to stagger to a nearby farm, dirt-covered and emaciated, where she was found by a worker who took her to a vet for help. She was taken in by Moses Lake, Washington, resident Sara Mellado. "Considering everything that she's been through, she's incredibly gentle and loving," Mellado said, according to WSU News. "She's a true miracle dog and she deserves a good life." Theia is only one year old but the dog's brush with death did not leave her unscathed. She suffered a dislocated jaw, leg injuries and a caved-in sinus cavity -- and still requires surgery to help her breathe. The veterinary hospital's Good Samaritan Fund committee awarded some money to help pay for the dog's treatment, but Mellado has set up a fundraising page to help meet the remaining cost of the dog's care. She's also created a Facebook page to keep supporters updated. Donors have already surpassed the $10,000 target, inspired by Theia's tale of survival against the odds. On the fundraising page, Mellado writes, "She is in desperate need of extensive medical procedures to fix her nasal damage and reset her jaw. I agreed to foster her until she finally found a loving home." She is dedicated to making sure Theia gets the medical attention she needs, Mellado adds, and wants to "make sure she gets placed in a family where this will never happen to her again!" Any additional funds raised will be "paid forward" to help other animals. Theia is not the only animal to apparently rise from the grave in recent weeks. A cat in Tampa, Florida, found seemingly dead after he was hit by a car in January, showed up alive in a neighbor's yard five days after he was buried by his owner. The cat was in bad shape, with maggots covering open wounds on his body and a ruined left eye, but remarkably survived with the help of treatment from the Humane Society.
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the additional troops came from camp speicher, a fortified iraqi base near the city of tikrit.
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Baghdad, Iraq (CNN)Hundreds of additional Iraqi troops are being sent to reinforce colleagues who are trying to fend off ISIS' attempt to overrun Iraq's largest oil refinery, a key paramilitary force said Tuesday. The reinforcements come four days after ISIS began attacking northern Iraq's Baiji oil refinery, a key strategic resource that has long been a target because the facility refines much of the fuel used by Iraqis domestically. The additional troops came from Camp Speicher, a fortified Iraqi base near the city of Tikrit, according to the media office of the Hasd Al-Shaabi militia. The reinforcements include two federal police regiments, an Iraqi military quick reaction force battalion and a regiment from Hasd Al-Shaabi, which is a predominantly Shia militia that worked with the Iraqi military as well as Sunni fighters to liberate Tikrit from ISIS about two weeks ago. ISIS launched an assault on the Baiji oil refinery late Saturday. By Sunday, ISIS said its fighters were inside the refinery and controlled several buildings, but Iraqi government security officials denied that claim and insisted that Iraqi forces remained in full control. The Hasd Al-Shaabi media office said Tuesday that Iraqi troops already at the refinery were holding their ground, preparing to push ISIS out of the facility entirely. The attack could have a significant effect if it damages oil fields or machinery. The refinery is 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Tikrit. CNN's Hamdi Alkhshali reported from Baghdad. CNN's Jason Hanna wrote in Atlanta. CNN's Arwa Damon and Catherine E. Shoichet contributed to this report.
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mosul has long been the big prize in the iraqi government's fight - aided by a u.s.-led military coalition.
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(CNN)Do you remember the talk about plans for Iraqi-led force to try to take back Mosul this spring? Well, you might want to forget it. Nearly three months after a U.S. official said up to 25,000 Iraqis troops were expected to return to the key northern Iraqi city in April or May, a senior official in President Barack Obama's administration said Thursday that Washington is "not putting a timeframe on" a possible invasion. It "might be some time from now. Might be soon," another senior administration official said. Mosul has long been the big prize in the Iraqi government's fight -- aided by a U.S.-led military coalition, which has carried out airstrikes for months -- to defeat ISIS. It has also long been a source of embarrassment, considering how it fell after Iraqi troops dropped their weapons, abandoned their posts and ran for their lives when militants arrived last June. The senior administration officials who talked to reporters Thursday stressed the Iraqis and their allies are making progress in their fight against the group that calls itself the Islamic State. In fact, officials insist that ISIS has been degraded substantially thanks to a combination of air power and ground combat. The biggest and most recent example of this came with the recapture a few weeks ago of Tikrit, the hometown of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein that is located some 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of Baghdad. Iraqi forces aided by Iranian-backed Shiite militiamen took that northern city, the same place where ISIS allegedly massacred Iraqi troops last year. Still, Mosul isn't Tikrit. For one thing, it has a lot more people -- about a million, one Obama administration official noted. And it's more important not only to Iraq, but ISIS, meaning the terrorist group has all the more reason to go all-out to defend it. In some ways, the campaign for Mosul has begun, according to officials. There are no plans for U.S. combat troops involvement in an eventual operation, they say, but airstrikes have already targeted ISIS positions in the area. Just because the area has been softened up some from the air, though, doesn't mean a full ground assault is imminent. Calling for "patience," an administration official said that winning Mosul is a complex endeavor. It will "take a lot of capacity," the official said, "and some time to build."
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he is the highest-ranking chinese communist party official ever to face corruption charges.
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Beijing (CNN)China's state prosecutors on Friday formally charged the country's former security czar with accepting bribes, making him the highest-ranking Chinese Communist Party official ever to face corruption charges. Zhou Yongkang, 72, was also charged with abuse of power and leaking state secrets, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the highest prosecution authority in China, said. As a member of the ruling Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee -- China's top decision-making body -- Zhou was one of nine men who effectively ruled the country of more than 1.3 billion people. He retired in 2012. At the height of his power, Zhou controlled police forces, spy agencies, court systems as well as prosecution offices across China -- and wasn't shy in deploying his vast assets to crush dissent and unrest in the name of "preserving social stability." Now, prosecutors have accused Zhou of "taking advantage of his posts to seek benefits for others and illegally accepting huge amounts of money" during his long political career. His alleged actions have caused heavy losses to public assets and greatly harmed national interests, they added. Zhou was notified of his legal rights during the investigation and his lawyer's views were heard, according to a statement by the prosecutors. His case will be tried in Tianjin, a city near the Chinese capital, Beijing. The president of China's supreme court recently told reporters there would be "open" trials for accused former leaders like Zhou. However, the charge of leaking state secrets may allow authorities to shield certain legal proceedings from public view in Zhou's case. Zhou has not been seen in public since he attended an anniversary event at his alma mater in October 2013. He was expelled from the Communist Party and arrested last December. State media have painted an intricate web of officials, cronies and tycoons -- some with alleged mafia connections -- orbiting around Zhou before the crumbling of his power structure last summer. Zhou and his family members were said to have accumulated enormous wealth, in a blatant exchange between money and power. He was also found to have affairs with multiple women and allegedly traded power for sex, state-run Xinhua news agency reported last year. Analysts have viewed his shocking downfall as a watershed moment in the secretive world of Chinese politics, now ruled by President Xi Jinping. Xi has been spearheading a massive anti-corruption campaign, targeting both "tigers" and "flies" -- high-ranking, and low-level, officials. Zhou is by far the biggest tiger caught in Xi's dragnet to date. "The important thing here is that Xi has proven he's powerful enough to break this taboo of never incriminating former Politburo Standing Committee members," longtime political analyst Willy Lam, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said last year, when the government revealed its formal investigation into Zhou. Many observers also note Zhou's patronage of Bo Xilai, a former Communist leader sentenced to life in prison for corruption in 2013. Bo's spectacular downfall the year before -- complete with tales of murder, bribery and betrayal -- attracted global attention. State media have cited his subsequent conviction as a prime example of Xi's resolve to clean up the party. The former Chongqing Communist Party chief's supporters, however, have long called him a political victim -- the former high-flying politician was once considered Xi's main challenger for the top spot of Chinese leadership. Political watchers see similarities between the Bo and Zhou cases. "The people being investigated for corruption are on the losing side of factional struggles," said Lam, who has predicted a suspended death sentence for Zhou.
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the bill also includes a two-year extension of a popular children's health insurance program.
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Washington (CNN)In a broad bipartisan vote, the Senate on Tuesday gave final approval to a Medicare reform bill that includes a permanent solution to the "doc fix," a method the government has used to ensure payments to Medicare providers will keep up with inflation. The bill, which passed 92 to 8, also includes a two-year extension of a popular children's health insurance program. The issue of payments to Medicare providers has been a thorny issue for years. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch of Utah called passage of the bill a "major, major accomplishment." "Tonight, the Senate is voting to retire the outdated, inefficiency-rewarding, common sense-defying Medicare reimbursement system," said Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Finance Committee just before the final vote. The House approved the same bill overwhelmingly more than two weeks ago and President Barack Obama is expected to sign it. Senate passage came just hours before cuts to physicians would have taken place since the last temporary "doc fix" had already expired. Some conservative senators, including Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz of Texas, balked at the more than $200 billion price of the bill and pushed an amendment to have the costs offset. The bill, "institutionalizes and expands Obamacare policies that harm patients and their doctors while adding roughly half a trillion dollars to our long-term debt within two decades," Cruz said in a statement. "Any deal should be fully paid for and include significant and structural reforms to Medicare." But that amendment was defeated, as were several others from each party that came up for votes. Earlier, House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio warned the Senate not to change the bill. "Unless the Senate passes the House-passed 'doc fix,' significant cuts to physicians' payments will begin tomorrow," Boehner said. "We urge the Senate to approve the House-passed bill without delay." Cruz voted against the bill, as did Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, another Republican running for president. GOP presidential contender Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky voted for the bill.
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whoops wasn't supposed to happen.
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(CNN)What do we have for the contestant on "The Price Is Right"? A brand-new car! Whoops. That wasn't supposed to happen. On Thursday's edition of the popular game show, model Manuela Arbelaez accidentally revealed the correct answer to a guessing game for a new Hyundai Sonata. Host Drew Carey couldn't stop laughing. "Congratulations! Manuela just gave you a car!" he exulted. Arbelaez was mortified, attempting to hide behind the display. But everything turned out OK, she tweeted later. It's been a busy week for "The Price Is Right." On Wednesday, former host Bob Barker, 91, showed up to run his old show.
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several afghan observers say the biography is aimed at dispelling rumors of omar's demise.
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(CNN)Mullah Mohammed Omar is "still the leader" of the Taliban's self-declared Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. That appears to be the primary message of a biography, just published by the Taliban, of the reclusive militant who is credited with founding the group in the early 1990s. The Taliban's "Cultural Commission" released the 11-page document in several different translations on the movement's website, ostensibly to commemorate the 19th anniversary of an April 4, 1996, meeting in Afghanistan's Kandahar province when an assembly of Afghans swore allegiance to Omar. Several Afghan observers say the biography is aimed at dispelling rumors of Omar's demise. "There have been a lot of rumors lately about him. Some people are saying that he is not alive," said Sayyed Muhammad Akbar Agha, a former Taliban insider who has written an autobiography about his days with the movement. "I think the Taliban thought it was an important time to release his biography to give assurances that he is alive and present," Agha told CNN in a telephone interview. Bergen: Why U.S. must stay in Afghanistan past 2016 The biography also appears to be an attempt to remind the world of the Afghan's jihadi leadership credentials, at a time when ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has declared himself "caliph" of the world's Muslims. "The Taliban has a huge leadership problem at a critical political moment," said Graeme Smith, a Kabul-based analyst for the International Crisis Group. "Another caliph has announced himself to the world, and the Taliban has been silent. And that is getting noticed by militants across South Asia." Omar was famously camera-shy during the Taliban's six-year rule over most of Afghanistan. To this day, there are only a handful of photographs of the one-eyed leader. "He never was actively involved in any of these propaganda campaigns. No publicity. No interviews. He never used the Internet," said Rahimullah Yusufzai, a Pakistani journalist and expert on Afghanistan who once interviewed Osama bin Laden. Omar then all but disappeared after a U.S.-led bombing campaign routed the Taliban from Kabul in 2001. Washington has offered a $10 million reward for his capture. The Taliban have released written statements purportedly made by the leader-in-hiding. But years without any video or audio recordings of the fugitive have led to growing speculation that Omar may have died. The biography challenges rumors of Omar's death by offering a description of his daily work schedule, which begins with prayers, study of the Quran, and then delivering "orders in a specific way to his Jihadi commanders." The publication also seeks to fill in some of the gaps about the militant's early years, including the detail that his "preferred weapon of choice" was the RPG-7, a rocket-propelled grenade. According to the biography, Omar was born in 1960 in a village called Chah-i-Himmat in Afghanistan's Kandahar province. His father, a "well-known and respected erudite and social figure," died only five years later, apparently of natural causes. Omar studied at a religious school, or madrassa, run by his uncle. The rise of the Communist Party in Afghanistan, and the subsequent 1979 Soviet invasion, interrupted the young man's studies and propelled him into the arms of the armed Afghan opposition known as the mujahedeen. For the next decade, Omar commanded rebel groups "against the invading Russians and their internal communist puppets," according to the biography. Along the way, he was wounded a number of times and was blinded in his right eye. In one battle, the biography claims, Omar and a fighter named Mullah Biradar Akhund destroyed four Soviet tanks, even though they were armed with only four RPG rounds. The Taliban biography makes no mention of the fact that the U.S., allied with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, helped arm and bankroll the mujahedeen until the Soviet army withdrew in defeat in 1989. Afghan historians have documented the rapid rise of the Taliban in the chaotic years after the communist government in Kabul collapsed in 1992. The movement of warriors who identified themselves as religious scholars emerged to bring order to a country being ripped apart by rival mujahedeen warlords who battled one another for power. The Taliban biography says that Omar and his compatriots "launched their struggle and fight against corruption and anarchy" after an initial meeting in Kandahar in June 1994. Two years later, the Taliban captured Kabul and began imposing its austere interpretation of Islamic law on the rest of the country. While the document denounces the Taliban's post-9/11 overthrow at the hands of a U.S.-backed coalition of rival Afghan fighters, it makes no mention of the Taliban's alliance with bin Laden and al Qaeda. During a decade in exile, the Saudi-born bin Laden continued to release periodic video and audio statements until he was killed by U.S. raid on his hideout in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad in 2011. Though Taliban militants have continued to battle the U.S.-backed government across Afghanistan, Omar has not been seen or heard from in years. The movement claims he continues to oversee a Taliban leadership council, judiciary and nine executive commissions, as well as military commanders who operate in all 34 provinces of Afghanistan. Exclusive: ISIS 'recruits Afghans' in chilling video CNN's Masoud Popalzai contributed to this report from Kabul, Afghanistan.
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jodi arias was sentenced to life in prison monday for the gruesome 2008 murder of her ex-boyfriend travis alexander.
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(CNN)Jodi Arias was sentenced to life in prison Monday for the gruesome 2008 murder of her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander. Maricopa County Judge Sherry Stephens could have sentenced Arias to life with the possibility of early release after 25 years, but decided the convicted killer should spend the rest of her life behind bars. Before her sentence was handed down, Arias expressed remorse for her actions. "To this day I can't believe that I was capable of doing something that terrible," Arias said. "I'm truly disgusted and repulsed with myself. I'm horrified because of what I did, and I wish there was some way I could take it back." Earlier, Travis Alexander's sisters gave their victim impact statements. Hillary Alexander said she's trying to block her brother from her life. "I don't want to remember him anymore, because it hurts too much to remember him alive. ... I remember how he was brutally taken from us and I can't handle it. This is what I've had to do so I can cope," she said through tears. Arias, 34, was found guilty of first-degree murder in May 2013. The jury that convicted her found the murder was especially cruel, making Arias eligible for the death penalty. However, that same jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision on whether she should live or die. A new jury was empanelled in October 2014 to decide Arias' fate, but they, too, were unable to reach a unanimous decision. Because a second jury was deadlocked in the penalty phase of Arias' case, the death penalty was taken off the table, leaving Arias' sentence up to the judge. Arias will serve her sentence at the Lumley Unit in the Arizona State Prison Complex-Perryville near Goodyear, Arizona.
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nasa scientists say planetary systems are 40 billion earth-like, habitable-zone planets in our milky way galaxy alone.
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(CNN)Are we alone in the cosmos? Or might there be intelligent life elsewhere? Last week, NASA scientists discussed in very concrete terms the steps to discovering life elsewhere in the universe over the next decade or two. This year is the 20th anniversary of the discovery of a planet around a star like our own sun, 51 Pegasi. Since then, ground-based surveys and NASA's Kepler satellite have discovered nearly 2,000 confirmed "exoplanets," and thousands more candidates await confirmation. Many of these planetary systems are quite unlike our own solar system. Some have large planets like Jupiter that orbit their stars far closer than Mercury, the innermost planet in our solar system. But smaller rocky planets like Earth, though harder to find, appear to be even more abundant. Life on Earth developed in its oceans about a billion years after the planet formed. That suggests that rocky planets with liquid water on their surfaces might also have developed primitive forms of life. Life as we know it is carbon-based and requires liquid water. Astronomers define the "habitable zone" around a star as the region within which liquid water can exist on a planet's surface. Any closer to the star, the water will boil into vapor; any farther and the water freezes into ice. Extrapolating from discoveries to date, astronomers estimate there are perhaps 40 billion Earth-like, habitable-zone planets in our Milky Way galaxy alone. Of course, there is a difference between single-celled organisms -- which developed 3.8 billion years ago and remained the most sophisticated form of life for another billion years or so -- and mammals, which appeared about 200 million years ago. And then the humans, who have existed for only 200,000 years. Intelligent life that can communicate via radio waves with other intelligent life is less than 100 years old here on Earth. So while planets that develop simple forms of life may be a dime a dozen, the number that have sentient beings with whom to converse -- even assuming they evolved as humans did, with ears and spoken language, or eyes and written language -- is likely to be tiny. And life that can use radio waves has existed on Earth for only 0.000002% of the planet's history -- 100 years out of 4.5 billion. If the half dozen or so rocky, Earth-like exoplanets now known are similar, the odds of discovering humanlike life on them are about the same as, well, winning your state lottery with one ticket. Of course, if there are 40 billion Earth-like planets out there, the odds improve quite a bit. If they all have histories like the Earth's, there might be 1,000 planets in the Milky Way that could support communicative beings. But before you start composing your first letter to an alien, think about this: The chance that those beings evolved on exactly the same time scale is minuscule. Another planet's 100 years of brilliance might have occurred a billion years ago, or it might happen a billion years in the future. A lot depends on how long communication capabilities last. Civilizations that can build huge telescopes and broadcast stations also have the technology to destroy their planet. So the duration of the Communication Age on a planet could be short. Not to mention: The average light-travel-time to such a planet could be tens of thousands of years, so unless humans evolve to be ageless, we're not exchanging IMs with aliens anytime soon. If advanced civilizations can maintain their capabilities for millions of years or more, the chances of communicating with them are not negligible. But in that case, they are likely to be far more sophisticated than we are (since they developed the capability far earlier than we did) -- so if they wanted us to know they exist, wouldn't they simply tell us? The SETI project has been listening for such broadcasts for more than 30 years in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Probably the most likely form of life on exoplanets is far more primitive. Astronomers have found signatures of organic molecules, the building blocks of life, in the interstellar material that permeates the space between stars in our galaxy. Possible signatures of living organisms on distant exoplanets include an oxygen-rich atmosphere, such as that created by the first bacteria on Earth, or perhaps methane or carbon dioxide. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, to be launched in 2018, will look for evidence of life in the atmospheres of rocky, habitable exoplanets. NASA's rovers have shown that Mars was once much more habitable. It had fresh-water lakes and streams of water running along its surface. Some water still remains, and there may yet be life discovered on Mars. New missions plan to look at Europa and Ganymede, moons of Jupiter that have liquid water below their icy surfaces. Life elsewhere in the universe, and even elsewhere in our own Milky Way galaxy, is practically inevitable. Signs of life on exoplanets orbiting nearby stars will probably be discovered in the coming decades with advanced telescopes. But the chance of talking to those little green men will probably have to wait for another few hundred million years.
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actress alyssa milano had some angry tweets for heathrow airport authorities.
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(HLNtv)Actress Alyssa Milano had some angry tweets for Heathrow Airport authorities Thursday morning after workers there allegedly confiscated breast milk she'd pumped for her daughter while she was on a plane. Milano, who was on a trip with her husband that she described in an earlier tweet as a "romantic getaway," was furious. According to the Heathrow Airport guidelines on its website regarding baby food and/or milk, the airport asks that travelers carry only what they need for the flight. A blogger mom apparently experienced a similar issue at the airport in 2011 when her pumped milk was also confiscated. Per the UK Department of Transport, travelers can carry breast milk through security and are allowed quantities larger than 100ml if necessary. Milano, who has long been an outspoken advocate of breastfeeding, said the cooler the milk was in was also confiscated. See the original story at HLNtv.com.
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critics say the law would allow businesses to discriminate against gays and lesbians.
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(CNN)Standing up for what you believe. What does it cost you? What do you gain? Memories Pizza in the Indiana town of Walkerton is finding out. The family-run restaurant finds itself at the center of the debate over the state's Religious Freedom Restoration Act after its owners said they'd refuse to cater a same-sex couple's wedding. "If a gay couple was to come and they wanted us to bring pizzas to their wedding, we'd have to say no," Crystal O'Connor told CNN affiliate WBND-TV in South Bend. The statement struck at the heart of fears by critics, who said the new law would allow businesses to discriminate against gays and lesbians. They called for boycotts. But supporters also rallied. And by the end of the week, they had donated more than $842,000 for the business. Social media unloaded on the pizzeria in the community of 2,100 people that few folks outside northern Indiana knew existed before this week. RiskyLiberal tweeted: "Dear #MemoriesPizza. No. My boycotting your business because I don't like your religious bigotry is not a violation of your freedom to practice your religion." "Don't threaten #MemoriesPizza" tweeted Aღanda. "Just mock them for their ignorance." Bad reviews flooded the restaurant's Facebook page, most having little to do with the quality of the food. Many too vulgar to share. "Do you really want to financially support a company that treats some of your fellow citizens like second class citizens? BOYCOTT MEMORIES PIZZA!!" said Rob Katz of Indianapolis. "Let's hope they either rethink their policy or the free market puts them out of business." Anti-bigotry critics harass wrong pizzeria But one outburst in particular shut down the restaurant Wednesday and was expected to do the same Thursday. "Who's going to Walkerton with me to burn down Memories Pizza?" Jessica Dooley of Goshen tweeted, according to the Walkerton Police Department. The account has been deleted since the tweet was posted. Detectives who investigated have recommended charges of harassment, intimidation and threats, according to Charles Kulp, assistant police chief. The mood was a bit more subdued on the streets of Walkerton. A man stood outside Memories simply holding a sign that reads "bigots." Jason Narducy bought $100 of pizza from another shop down the street and started handing it out, WBND reported. "Do you want some non-discriminatory pizza?" Narducy asked. But for every tweet and Facebook post taking Memories Pizza to task were words of support and a groundswell of financial support. "Because nothing says tolerance like threatening to kill Christians & burn down their businesses," said a tweet from Victor Nikki. "What's happening to #MemoriesPizza isn't the free market, it's a lynch mob," tweeted Savannah. "Cyber bulling isn't the same as taking your business elsewhere." Supporters rallied to a GoFundMe page in support of Memories Pizza. By the time the fundraiser ended late Friday, $842,387 had been raised. The purpose of the campaign is "to relieve the financial loss endured by the proprietors' stand for faith," according to Lawrence Billy Jones II, the man who started it. For the O'Connors their stand was no pie in the sky dream. It wasn't calculated but was spurred by their beliefs, they told WBND. "That's a lifestyle that you choose. I choose to be heterosexual. They choose to be homosexual," Kevin O'Connor told the TV station. "You can't beat me over the head with something they choose to be." Faced with threats against business, they're still weighing the cost. CNN's Rob Frehse and Melanie Whitley contributed to this report.
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kim's trial must begin within 14 days of receiving today's indictment.
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Seoul, South Korea (CNN)The man accused of stabbing U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert in Seoul last month is now charged with attempted murder, a South Korean court official said Wednesday. Kim Ki-Jong has also been charged with assaulting a foreign envoy and business obstruction, the Seoul Central District Court official said. According to South Korean law, Kim's trial must begin within 14 days of receiving today's indictment. Lippert was stabbed March 5 during an event organized by the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation, which advocates peaceful reunification between North and South Korea. Shortly before Lippert was supposed to give a speech, the attacker slashed him in the face and jaw. The ambassador suffered a gash from his right cheekbone to his lower jaw that required 80 stitches. That wound measured 10 centimeters (4 inches) long and 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) deep, but there was no serious facial nerve damage, said Dr. Jung Nam-shik of the Yonsei Severance Hospital. Lippert also suffered five cuts in his left arm and hand, but was not expected to have permanent damage to his arm function. Police said Kim stabbed Lippert with a 10-inch knife because he opposed the joint South Korean-U.S. military drills, which happen every year and frequently draw the ire of North Korea. Police official Yoon Myeong-seong told reporters that Kim had visited North Korea seven times between 1999 and 2007, and that authorities were investigating a possible connection between his visits to the reclusive state and the attack against Lippert. Kim, 55, has a history of unpredictable behavior. In 2010, he received a suspended two-year prison sentence for throwing a piece of concrete at a Japanese ambassador to South Korea, according to the Yonhap news agency. South Korean President Park Geun-hye condemned the attack. "This incident is not only a physical attack on the U.S. ambassador," she said, "but an attack on the South Korea-U.S. alliance and it can never be tolerated." CNN's Madison Park and Greg Botelho contributed to this report.
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"the bible" broke ratings records on the history channel, so of course, a sequel was ordered up.
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(CNN)In 2013, "The Bible" broke ratings records on the History Channel, so of course, a sequel was ordered up -- and this one is on NBC. The new miniseries from Mark Burnett and Roma Downey is one of six shows to watch this week. 1. "A.D. The Bible Continues," 9 p.m. ET Sunday, NBC Just in time for Easter, the peacock network debuts the "Bible" sequel, picking up with Jesus' resurrection and following the early days of Christianity. NBC scored on picking up the follow-up to the smash cable hit, starring Juan Pablo Di Pace as Jesus and Greta Scacchi as Mary (replacing Downey in the role). The full miniseries will run for 12 weeks, so consider it a spring revival. 2. "Mad Men," 9 p.m. Sunday, AMC We've arrived at the end, "Mad Men" fans. This is the first of the last several episodes, where we'll learn the fate of Don Draper and the cast of characters. Click here for more on "Mad Men." 3. "American Odyssey," 10 p.m. Sunday, NBC Anna Friel ("Pushing Daisies") stars as a special forces translator in Mali who is believed to be dead by those back in the States. On the show, she struggles to get back home, while we discover how she ended up how she did. 4. "Louie," 10:30 Thursday, FX Louis C.K.'s critically-acclaimed comedy is back for a fifth season. Will Louie continue to offend people in his life? All signs point to yes. Is Louie still dating his best friend-turned-girlfriend, Pamela? We'll have to tune into find out. 5. "The Comedians," 10 p.m. Thursday, FX Billy Crystal returns to television, with co-star Josh Gad, as two people starring in an FX comedy. It's a meta mockumentary about the making of a comedy show. "Seinfeld" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm's" Larry Charles is among the producers. 6. "Marvel's Daredevil," Friday, Netflix This ain't Ben Affleck's movie. Now that Marvel has the rights to the "Man Without Fear" back, they've decided to launch several series for Netflix, starting with this dark, gritty drama about blind lawyer Matt Murdock, and his moonlighting as a costumed avenger (no pun intended).
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it was one of the many moments when cruz connected with voters on a religious level last week.
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Cedar Falls, Iowa (CNN)As aides politely tried to rush Ted Cruz from an event in Cedar Falls to one in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Thursday, the presidential candidate continued shaking hands with anyone who wanted to meet him. Finally, after the selfies and conversations started to die down, his aides managed to move him closer to the door when a tall, burly man stopped him. "Senator," he said, "can I pray with you real quick?" "Yeah," Cruz said, as he clasped the man's upper arm and the two bowed their heads. It was one of the many moments when Cruz connected with voters on a religious level last week, as the senator from Texas hit the trail in Iowa for the first time as a presidential candidate. Being the only official contender in the race, Cruz drew large crowds during his two-day swing across the state. He's counting on Iowa, known for its vocal and active evangelical base, to propel him forward in what's expected to be a tough competition among a crowded field of GOP candidates. Cruz, himself, displays a pastoral swagger when he is speaking on stage and working a room. The senator regularly avoids using a podium, instead favoring pacing the stage with a wireless microphone, a scene reminiscent of a Sunday morning sermon. When he meets with people after events, he embraces each one's hand with both of his, softens his usually theatric tone and looks people square in the eye -- a familiar interaction between churchgoing Christians and their pastors. The past two winners of Iowa's caucuses rose to victory with support from the Christian right, and Cruz, who announced his bid last month at the well-known Baptist school Liberty University, is aiming to energize that same base and claim the coveted state as his prize. Evangelicals make up a large segment of Iowa's Republican voter bloc. According to a Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics poll from January, 44% of likely 2016 Republican caucus-goers said they were born-again or evangelical Christians. Cruz has built a brand as a stalwart conservative willing to buck GOP leadership on fiscal issues, but he showed in Iowa last week that he's also eager to champion social issues at a time when many Republicans are anxious to avoid them. He was one of the loudest defenders of the religious freedom law in Indiana, which came under fire last week for what critics called paving a path to discrimination against gays and lesbians. He described the outrage over the laws as "shameful" and an "assault" on First Amendment rights. "There are a lot of people here in Iowa and across the country whose hearts are breaking, watching what has happened in the last two weeks," Cruz said Friday night at an event in Des Moines. "We have seen a grossly unfair vilification of religious liberty." RELATED: Republican 2016 hopefuls back Indiana's 'religious freedom' law He's more than comfortable talking about his own faith and telling the story of how his father became a Christian and a pastor. Rafael Cruz, who's become a celebrity among Christian conservatives, will frequently visit Iowa over the next year, Cruz told voters. And Cruz's Iowa director, Bryan English, is a former pastor. Cruz's first television ads are appearing this weekend during programs on Fox News and NBC that are pegged to Easter Sunday. In the ad, Cruz talks about the impact of the "transformative love of Jesus Christ" on his life. While neither Mike Huckabee, who won Iowa in 2008, nor Rick Santorum, who won in 2012, went on to win the nomination, their successes helped launch them into high-profile battles with the then-front-runners. And with both of them likely running again in 2016, the competition will be stiff. That's why, for Cruz, courting evangelicals is only a component of a three-pronged strategy to win the nomination that also includes dominating the tea party faction and competing for the libertarian base. His stump speech hits on elements that appeal to each faction. He received standing ovations last week for calling to abolish the IRS, and, in a knock against the National Security Agency, he frequently tells audiences to leave their cell phones on so President Obama "can hear every word I have to say." Cruz argued Thursday that the Republican Party needs to bridge the gap between what he described as the Ron Paul-Rand Paul faction of the party -- young libertarian-minded voters -- and the Santorum base -- evangelicals. The two blocs, he said, are "not necessarily the best of chums." "If we're going to win, we've got to bring that coalition together," he said in Cedar Falls. "And I think we can do that." Cruz frequently says he wants to see a return of the evangelical vote to 2004 levels, when more than six in 10 evangelicals voted in the presidential election, a higher than normal turnout for the demographic. That number has waned slightly since 2004 -- but it's not too far off from the 56% of the overall population that voted in 2012. Still, his campaign believes that if it can tap into the group of evangelicals who've been staying home and get the demographic as a whole to overperform, then that could mean the difference of millions more at the polls. "If you look at available places for the party to expand the vote, it doesn't exist in the middle, it exists in the evangelical vote," said Rick Tyler, a top Cruz adviser. "It isn't a pond, it's an unfished ocean of available voters who are conservative." Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, said he expects to see record turnout among evangelicals in 2016 no matter who the nominee is or what that person says. Moore points to hot-button topics like religious freedom issues in the U.S., as well as increased attention to the killing of minority Christians in the Middle East and rising anti-Semitism. "I don't think a candidate is going to be able to get very far simply by using evangelical lingo or by pointing to his or her personal faith," Moore said. "I think a candidate is going to have to explain how he or she would protect religious liberty and would appoint justices and judges who will maintain the common good." Later in April, voters in Iowa will see the bulk of the GOP field tackle these issues when they take the stage at an event hosted by the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition. While the past two winners of the Iowa caucuses -- Santorum and Huckabee -- are likely running for president again, Steve Scheffler, president of the group, argued that the field is wide open in terms of who's going to win favor among evangelicals. Jeb Bush, while not popular among conservative activists, was known for his staunch anti-abortion record as Florida governor and touts his Catholic faith as a big force behind his policy views. Scott Walker is the son of a pastor. Ben Carson, the former neurosurgeon, rose to fame in conservative circles after criticizing the Obama administration at a national prayer breakfast. And other likely candidates -- from Marco Rubio to Rick Perry to Rand Paul -- have made serious efforts to court the religious right. "It's up for grabs. It's a clean slate regardless of if you've run before," Scheffler said. "Naturally those two (Huckabee and Santorum) have the name recognition and database of people who supported them in the past, but by and large voters are going to say, 'Let me take a good look at all of these candidates.'"
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the country also created a "gender equality bonus"
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(CNN)When photographer Johan Bavman became a father for the first time, he took more than a passing wonder about how his native Sweden is said to be the most generous nation on Earth for parental leave. He immersed himself in fatherhood -- twice over, you might say. He used his photography to document the real-life experience of other fathers taking full advantage of Sweden's extraordinary program, which allows mothers and fathers to take long, long leaves from their careers so they can care for their newborns. Get this: Sweden grants a total of 480 calendar days of parental leave, with 390 of them paid at 80% of income, with a maximum of 3,160 euros a month or $3,474. The remaining 90 days are paid at a flat-rate benefit of 20 euros a day, or $22. But there's a catch. Fathers have to share that leave with mothers. So to promote both parents to raise their children, Sweden has mandated that 60 of the 480 days be "daddy months" or "partner months." If the 60 daddy days aren't used, they are lost, reducing the maximum leave to 420 days. The country also created a "gender equality bonus": the more days that parents share the leave equally, they get a bonus that could total up to 1,500 euros, or $1,649. The idea is for both parents to share the joys and struggles of raising infants. In reality, only 12% of Swedish couples equally share the 480 days of leave, Bavman said, with women continuing to lead the way as the stay-at-home parent and men as the careerist. Still, Bavman mused last summer about how the policy impacts those men who use the full measure of their parental leave. Social media Follow @CNNPhotos on Twitter to join the conversation about photography. At first, Bavman had difficulty finding such men. But the fathers he did find and photograph, he captured their devotion in realistic imagery. "I realized while I was talking to these dads, these dads are struck by how important the bonding is between you and the children," said Bavman, who now has a 3-year-old son, Viggo, with partner Linda Stark, a freelance journalist. "I didn't want to bring out fathers as superdads," Bavman said. "I wanted to bring out these role models which people can connect to. "I want to have those dads who can also show their tiredness ... which comes with being home with your children. It's a hard full-time job. This is something that we have been taking for granted for hundreds of years. This is something that mothers have never been recognized for." He also found moments of humor, with one child nearly ripping apart the shirt of his busy father. The fathers have become more understanding of their wives and even their own mothers, Bavman said. Some are now considering a career change to accommodate their parenthood. "Being home nine months, they get time to think about their life," the photographer said. Bavman is looking for a total of 60 fathers to photograph, to culminate in an exhibition and a book. So far he's found 35 worthy of his lens. Johan Bavman is a freelance photographer based in Malmo, Sweden. From 2008-2011, he worked as a staff photographer at Sydsvenskan, one of Sweden's largest newspapers.
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host drew carey couldn't stop laughing.
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(CNN)What do we have for the contestant on "The Price Is Right"? A brand-new car! Whoops. That wasn't supposed to happen. On Thursday's edition of the popular game show, model Manuela Arbelaez accidentally revealed the correct answer to a guessing game for a new Hyundai Sonata. Host Drew Carey couldn't stop laughing. "Congratulations! Manuela just gave you a car!" he exulted. Arbelaez was mortified, attempting to hide behind the display. But everything turned out OK, she tweeted later. It's been a busy week for "The Price Is Right." On Wednesday, former host Bob Barker, 91, showed up to run his old show.
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the stars have teamed together for a video backing the show's co-creator.
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(The Hollywood Reporter)The original cast of Twin Peaks is backing David Lynch in his salary standoff with Showtime. The stars have teamed together for a video backing the show's co-creator with a #SaveTwinPeaks campaign that says doing the revival without Lynch is "like pies without cherries," among other nods to the original drama series. Sherilyn Fenn, Sheryl Lee, James Marshall, Peggy Lipton and other familiar faces from the series appear in the video. (Some members have also set up a Facebook page.) Showtime renews 'Shameless,' orders 'Happyish' to series Lynch announced Sunday that he was exiting Showtime's nine-episode revival over a salary dispute. He originally signed on to direct the project but noted that there was "not enough money offered to do the script the way I felt needed to be done." Showtime already had a deal in place with Lynch and co-creator Mark Frost to bring back the cult hit with star Kyle MacLachlan for a run in 2016, with sources telling THR that the scripts had already been written. Showtime chief on 'Twin Peaks' plans, 'Homeland' backlash and free speech For its part, Showtime noted that it "continues to hold out hope" that Twin Peaks can be brought back with both its creators at the helm. MacLachlan is the only cast member currently confirmed for the reboot. Lynch to leave 'Twin Peaks' reboot ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved.
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he says the government's concern is with the lack of transparency.
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(CNN)Just as mimeograph machines and photocopiers were in their day, online activity -- blogs, YouTube channels, even social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter -- have fully emerged as the alternative to traditional mainstream media. It is not just the low cost of posting online that attracts dissidence, though that in itself is liberating. It is the lack of access to traditional print and broadcast media in authoritarian countries that is really the driving force leading disaffected voices to post online. It is not unique to Asia, but it might seem more pronounced if you live there. Going online has become the path of least resistance if you want to make yourself heard. But it still brings resistance, some of it legal, some of it deadly. Let's look at the legal angle first. Amos Yee, the teenage video blogger who was arrested and held pending bail Sunday in Singapore, drew international attention for his anti-Lee Kuan Yew harangue. But jailing critics is not usually the government's first choice in Singapore. It is part of Lee Kuan Yew's legacy that the government's use of the courts to bring libel and defamation cases, usually carrying heavy financial penalties, is the preferred method of silencing discomfiting online voices. His father has reportedly apologized for his son's behavior, but the younger Yee could face up to three years in jail. Yee is not unique. Another dissident blogger in Singapore, Roy Ngerng, continues to suffer financial and legal pressure, including the loss of his job, because of a blog post that allegedly accused the city-state's Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, of corruption. Ngerng's concern is with the lack of transparency in the management of the Central Provident Fund, the government's compulsory pension program. Yee and Ngerng are two of many. The Committee To Protect Journalists' file on Singapore going back to 2000 has a long string of similar cases, some against politicians, others against citizens simply frustrated with their government. But it is not just Singapore where Internet activity comes under fire: On Monday in Malaysia, with much less of the international attention heaped on Amos Yee, five editors and executives from The Malaysian Insider were arrested over the site's March 25 report claiming that a senior council of royal rulers and state governors, known as the Conference of Rulers, had rejected a proposal to amend federal law to allow for the introduction of hudud, or punishments meted out under Islamic law. In deeply Muslim Malaysia, questions of Islamic faith are a third-rail issue, as is revealing government decisions before they are announced. By far the biggest jailer of journalists in the world is China, where a majority of the 44 people behind bars at the end of 2014 were bloggers, most of them Uighur or Tibetan activists who straddle the line between journalism and activism. But in second place in Asia is Vietnam, where CPJ's most recent prison census showed Vietnam holding 16 reporters behind bars as of December 1. Add one more in late December, Nguyen Dinh Ngoc, a prominent blogger who was arrested for "law-violating" after police searched his home in southern Ho Chi Minh City on December 27, and two more in January, Nguyen Quang Lap and Hong Le Tho, arrested on anti-state charges of "abusing democratic freedoms" and you can see the pattern. Because the print and broadcast media are so totally government controlled, mainstream journalists seldom go to jail any more in Vietnam. Only two investigative print reporters remain behind bars in Vietnam, their cases dating back to 2012 and 2013. Both were accused of accepting bribes for dialing back critical news coverage. The list could go on, but the reality is that, as CPJ wrote in 2013, across Asia "governments have curtailed Internet freedoms through increasingly restrictive practices, including prohibitive laws, heightened surveillance and censorship, and threats of imprisonment on various national security-related offenses." That is still the policy path being followed by most countries in Asia, and it does not look like it will be changing any time soon. Jailing journalists is one thing, but watching them being killed and doing little or nothing about it is another. Since 1992, 11% of journalists killed have died for their work online. Because our 1992 start date really precedes the full advent of the Internet, that proportion can be expected to grow. While most bloggers have not been the targets of murderers, Bangladesh has recently become the exception. On Monday, Washiqur Rahman Babu was the second blogger to be hacked to death in public in Bangladesh in the past five weeks. Blogger Avijit Roy and his wife, Rafida Ahmed Bonna, were attacked by assailants wielding sharp weapons while the couple was visiting Dhaka. Roy, a U.S. citizen of Bangladeshi origin, was killed and his wife was critically injured. Both Rahman and Roy had written critically on Islamic matters. The blogger death toll gets higher in Bangladesh if you go back a year or two, and religious beliefs are always involved, and the killings almost always carried out with near perfect impunity. In January 2013, blogger Asif Mohiuddin, who wrote critical commentary on religion, Islamist groups, free speech, and human rights, barely survived after he was stabbed by Islamists. In February 2013, blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider, who had written about Islamic fundamentalism and Islamist groups, was hacked to death by members of an Islamist militant group, according to police investigations. Later in 2013, Islamist groups called for the execution of bloggers they said had committed blasphemy. While arrests were made after those murders, there have been no convictions. The bottom line: Online journalists, operating outside the restraints of mainstream media, have become the most vulnerable targets for governments and independent actors. Where there is the restrictive rule of law, journalists are vulnerable to the anger of officialdom. Where the rule of law is weak, they are vulnerable to the attacks of killers who seldom, if ever, answer to the rule of law.
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gregory and others who lived through the 2013 attack, wednesday's verdict brought a mix of emotions.
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(CNN)Rebekah Gregory blinked back tears as she thought about the verdict. It had been almost two years since Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his brother planted bombs at the Boston Marathon, setting off deadly explosions that wounded her and hundreds of others. In court last month, she testified that one of the blasts on that day in 2013 left her lying in the street, staring at her own bones. Now, jurors have found him guilty on all 30 counts he faced for the deadly bombings and their aftermath. But no verdict can ever totally make up for the pain, she said. "I don't believe that there will ever be justice brought to this, no mater if he does get the death penalty or he remains in prison for the rest of his life," she said, crying as she spoke to reporters outside her Texas home. "I do believe, however, that he should be held accountable for his actions. And I'm very thankful for each of the jury members that are making him do that." Gregory, who wrote a widely publicized letter to Tsarnaev after testifying, said the trial has left her and other victims reeling from a flood of emotions as they relive horrifying memories, but it's an important step. "Everything is being brought up again full force. Our lives will never ever be the same, but I hope with this we can move forward and remember that we are still here for a reason, that there's a bigger plan," she said. "I may be standing on one fake leg, but I'm standing here, stronger than ever, because someone tried to destroy me, and he failed." For Gregory and others who lived through the 2013 attack, Wednesday's verdict brought a mix of emotions, from triumphant vows to move forward, to expressions of gratitude, to debate over whether Tsarnaev should be sentenced to death. There were no outbursts inside the federal courthouse in Boston. In fact, there was barely any peripheral noise as people sat on the edges of their seats. As Tsarnaev fidgeted and scratched the back of his head, some survivors and victims' family members lowered their heads and dabbed tears. As CNN's Alexandra Field noted from inside the courtroom, "They've waited a long time for this." The family of Sean Collier, a 26-year-old police officer shot to death in his patrol car on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said Tsarnaev and his brother, Tamerlan, were terrorists who "failed monumentally" in striking fear in people. "While today's verdict can never bring Sean back, we are thankful that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will be held accountable for the evil that he brought to so many families," the Collier family said in a written statement. To Richard "Dic" Donohue, an MBTA police officer left in a pool of blood after being wounded in a shootout with the Tsarnaevs in Watertown, the verdicts show that "as a society, ... terrorism will not prevail, and we will hold those accountable for their acts against our nation." "Justice has been served today," Donahue tweeted. Survivor Karen Brassard said she needed to attend the trial to help her heal. She doesn't believe Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's brother Tamerlan, now dead, persuaded him to take part in the plot, as the defense contended. Dzhokhar, in her view, was "all in." "Obviously we are grateful for the outcome today," Brassard tolder reporters. "It's not a happy occasion, but it's something that we can put one more step behind us." That sense of turning the page was echoed by Bruce Mendelsohn, who is among those who rushed to save lives at the marathon finish line. The verdicts mean that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is no longer a bombing suspect -- he is now officially a "convicted killer." You can't call it celebration. But there is a newfound peace of mind, at least, in and around Boston. This was a community that suffered greatly after the bombing and subsequent manhunt. And they got through it by rallying around each other, a deep bond reflected in the mantra "Boston Strong." That feeling was reaffirmed all around the city by Wednesday's verdict. And it's evident in people like Heather Abbott, who lost her left leg below the knee. Since then, she's become a living example of someone who wasn't stopped by the terror -- learning not only to walk again, but to run again. "Nothing can ever replace the lives that were lost or changed forever," Abbott said Wednesday on Facebook. "But at least there is some relief in knowing that justice is served and responsibility will be taken." That view was commonly shared. For those hurt -- physically, mentally, emotionally -- by the horrors of 2013, Wednesday was key to their progression. But it's not the end of the road. Just ask Jeff Bauman. The picture of him, bloodied, being rushed through the streets of Boston by good Samaritan Carlos Arredondo, became a symbol of the carnage and heroism from this attack. Even after losing both his legs, Bauman has become a symbol since of resilience -- moving on with his life, by marrying and fathering a child. On Wednesday, Bauman said the verdict "will never replace the lives that were lost and so dramatically changed." "But it is a relief," he added, "and one step closer to closure." CNN's Ann O'Neill and Steve Almasy contributed to this report.
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but a new trial was ordered in 2014 after firearms experts testified 12 years earlier that the revolver hinton was said to have used in the crimes could not be matched to evidence.
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(CNN)Anthony Ray Hinton is thankful to be free after nearly 30 years on Alabama's death row for murders he says he didn't commit. And incredulous that it took so long. Hinton, 58, looked up, took in the sunshine and thanked God and his lawyers Friday morning outside the county jail in Birmingham, minutes after taking his first steps as a free man since 1985. He spoke of unjustly losing three decades of his life, under fear of execution, for something he didn't do. "All they had to do was to test the gun, but when you think you're high and mighty and you're above the law, you don't have to answer to nobody," Hinton told reporters. "But I've got news for you -- everybody that played a part in sending me to death row, you will answer to God." Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Laura Petro had ordered Hinton released after granting the state's motion to dismiss charges against him. Hinton was convicted of murder in the 1985 deaths of two Birmingham-area, fast-food restaurant managers, John Davidson and Thomas Wayne Vason. But a new trial was ordered in 2014 after firearms experts testified 12 years earlier that the revolver Hinton was said to have used in the crimes could not be matched to evidence in either case, and the two killings couldn't be linked to each other. "Death Row Stories": Hard questions about the U.S. capital punishment system The state then declined to re-prosecute the case. Hinton was 29 at the time of the killings and had always maintained his innocence, said the Equal Justice Initiative, a group that helped win his release. "Race, poverty, inadequate legal assistance, and prosecutorial indifference to innocence conspired to create a textbook example of injustice," Bryan Stevenson, the group's executive director and Hinton's lead attorney, said of his African-American client. "I can't think of a case that more urgently dramatizes the need for reform than what has happened to Anthony Ray Hinton." Stevenson said the "refusal of state prosecutors to re-examine this case despite persuasive and reliable evidence of innocence is disappointing and troubling." Amnesty report: Executions down but death sentences on the rise Dressed in a dark suit and blue shirt, Hinton praised God for his release, saying he was sent "not just a lawyer, but the best lawyers." He said he will continue to pray for the families of the murder victims. Both he and those families have suffered a miscarriage of justice, he said. "For all of us that say that we believe in justice, this is the case to start showing, because I shouldn't have (sat) on death row for 30 years," he said. Woman who spent 22 years on death row has case tossed Hinton was accompanied Friday by two of his sisters, one of whom still lives in the Birmingham area. Other siblings will fly to the area to see him soon, Stevenson said. His mother, with whom he lived at the time of his arrest, is no longer living, according to the lawyer. Hinton planned to spend at least this weekend at the home of a close friend. He will meet with his attorneys Monday to start planning for his immediate needs, such as obtaining identification and getting a health checkup, Stevenson said. The plan now is to spend a few weeks to get oriented with freedom and "sort out what he wants to do," Stevenson said.
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"the fish was flopping on my legs," team member devin patel says.
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(CNN)It was a typical practice day for the Washington University of rowing team, but then danger came from beneath. The scene was Creve Coeur Lake outside of St. Louis early Friday morning. The team's boat got near the dock, when suddenly a swarm of Asian carp emerged from the water and went on the attack, some even going into the boat. Team member Devin Patel described the moment of terror: "The fish was flopping on my legs. It was so slippery that I couldn't get a grip on it." Patel screamed at teammate Yoni David, "Yoni, get it off me!" Thankfully, no rowers were injured during the ordeal, but the strong smell of fish lingered in the moments afterward. Watch iReporter Benjamin Rosenbaum's video above.
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no rowers were injured in the incident.
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(CNN)It was a typical practice day for the Washington University of rowing team, but then danger came from beneath. The scene was Creve Coeur Lake outside of St. Louis early Friday morning. The team's boat got near the dock, when suddenly a swarm of Asian carp emerged from the water and went on the attack, some even going into the boat. Team member Devin Patel described the moment of terror: "The fish was flopping on my legs. It was so slippery that I couldn't get a grip on it." Patel screamed at teammate Yoni David, "Yoni, get it off me!" Thankfully, no rowers were injured during the ordeal, but the strong smell of fish lingered in the moments afterward. Watch iReporter Benjamin Rosenbaum's video above.
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many of the questions around medical marijuana can be tied back to the fact that it's just not discussed much.
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(CNN)In case you haven't noticed, we're in the midst of a medical marijuana revolution. Given the amount of questions and mystery surrounding the science behind it, Dr. Sanjay Gupta wanted to provide some insight. He's been investigating medical marijuana for the last couple of years. His research has resulted in three CNN documentaries, culminating with "Weed 3: The Marijuana Revolution," airing at 9 p.m. ET/PT Sunday. Gupta opened up to questions on Twitter. Here's what you wanted to know: How does this affect me? Readers were curious about the effects of medical marijuana in easing symptoms of various ailments, asking how it could help with everything from life-threatening illnesses and neurological conditions to chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder. Gupta pointed out the 10 diseases where medical marijuana research could have an impact and how it helped to stop one young girl's severe seizures, and he also referenced other studies. He said that the potential benefits of medical marijuana for people suffering from PTSD is actually the subject of a federally approved study. The belief: It could suppress dream recall and allow those sufferers to focus on the present. There is also research into how the drug might affect the spasms associated with people who have multiple sclerosis. Medical marijuana could also be an important option for those who rely on painkillers, as painkiller overdose is the greatest preventable death in the United States, Gupta said. Why don't other doctors talk about it? Many of the questions around medical marijuana can be tied back to the fact that it's just not discussed much. Teaching about medical marijuana remains taboo in medical school. But Gupta also presented the science directly, showing what your body on weed looks like. Readers also wanted to know why people are so against the legalization of marijuana. Decades of misinformation, Gupta said. What are the drawbacks? With medical marijuana so misunderstood, there naturally is a fear of potential side effects. There are legitimate, long-term concerns with the developing brain, Gupta said, and suggested that readers seek out the research of Dr. Staci Gruber, who has conducted numerous studies on marijuana use and brain function. Isn't it dangerous? When confronted with questions rooted in fear about the dangers of medical marijuana, Gupta confessed that he used to believe the same thing -- that marijuana is dangerous without proven benefits. After extensive research, he said he changed his mind on weed.
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locals line up around the block for several hours just to get their hands on jenny's cookies.
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Hong Kong (CNN)There's a booming black market in Hong Kong, but it's not for fake Apple Watches, or the iPhone. Instead, people are going crazy for tins of butter cookies. Tourists and locals line up around the block for several hours just to get their hands on Jenny's cookies -- at $9 a tin. Its popularity has spurred bakeries to make and sell knockoffs, and the original store has signs warning against buying 'fake' Jenny's cookies. The tiny shop, located in Tsim Sha Tsui, one of the city's main shopping districts, is swarming with people handing over wads of cash for the "little bear cookies" as they are known across Asia. People are even hired to stand in line to buy the goods and are later resold at a 70% mark-up yards away, something the bakery also tries to discourage. A few meters away from the long cookie line, old ladies hold up paper signs advertising the cookies for sale. But when they see cameras approaching, they scurry away, only to reappear on another street corner. The frenzy in Hong Kong over the buttery treats is by no means an isolated example. In other parts of the world, food mania has erupted, swiftly winning people's hearts and stomachs, only to fizzle out in a few months. From cronuts to ramen burgers, here are some foods that people around the world have spent hours of their lives waiting for. Were they worth it?
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the committee will discuss the issues and make a recommendation to cerveny.
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(CNN)A high temperature of 63.5 degrees Fahrenheit might sound like a pleasant day in early spring -- unless you're in Antarctica. The chilly continent recorded the temperature (15.5 degrees Celsius) on March 24, possibly the highest ever recorded on Antarctica, according to the Weather Underground. The temperature was recorded at Argentina's Esperanza Base on the northern tip of the Antarctica Peninsula, according to CNN affiliate WTNH. (Note to map lovers: The Argentine base is not geographically part of the South American continent.) The World Meteorological Organization, a specialized United Nations agency, is in the process of setting up an international ad-hoc committee of about 10 blue-ribbon climatologists and meteorologists to begin collecting relevant evidence, said Randy Cerveny, the agency's lead rapporteur of weather and climate extremes and Arizona State University professor of geographical sciences. The committee will examine the equipment used to measure the temperature, whether it was in good working order, whether the correct monitoring procedures were followed, whether the equipment was placed in the correct location and whether the measurement is matched by corresponding records from surrounding stations, Cerveny said. The committee will discuss the issues and make a recommendation to Cerveny, who will make an official finding, probably by late summer or early fall. Researchers who study climate change carefully watch weather changes in the Antarctic region and elsewhere for evidence that the Earth is getting warmer.
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the girls are abducted on the night of april 14-15, 2014, in 2014.
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(CNN)One year after it was perpetrated, the kidnapping of nearly 300 schoolgirls by a jihadist group in Nigeria remains a crime almost too horrifying to comprehend: Hundreds of teenaged girls, just finishing school, destined perhaps for significant achievement -- kidnapped, never to be seen again. "This crime has rightly caused outrage both in Nigeria and across the world," the country's President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, said Tuesday in marking the anniversary. "Today is a time to reflect on the pain and suffering of the victims, their friends and families. Our thoughts and prayers, and that of the whole Nigerian nation, are with you today." The girls were abducted on the night of April 14-15, 2014, in the town of Chibok, in northeastern Nigeria, about a two-hour drive from the border with Cameroon. The Government Girls Secondary School had been closed for a month because of the danger posed by Boko Haram militants, who are opposed to Western education, particularly for girls. But students from several schools had been called in to take a final exam in physics. The militants stormed the school, arriving in a convoy of trucks and buses and engaging in a gun battle with school security guards. Then they forced the girls from their dormitories, loaded them into trucks and drove them into the forest. Most have never been seen since, except in a photograph in which they sat on the ground in a semi-circle, clad in Islamic dress. They were between 16 and 18 years old. Police said the militants kidnapped 276 girls in all. About 50 managed to escape soon after they were abducted. Those who did not, it is feared, may have been raped, brutalized, enslaved and forced to convert to Islam. Their parents were stricken with grief. The world was appalled. On Twitter, a hashtag began trending and spread around the world: #BringBackOurGirls. On Tuesday, Malala Yousafzai, the 17-year-old Pakistani girl who was shot in the face for speaking out in favor of girls' education, sent a message to the kidnapped girls. "I am one of the millions of people around the world who keep you and your families foremost in our thoughts and prayers," she wrote. "We cannot imagine the full extent of the horrors you have endured. But please know this: We will never forget you." One year later, a few things have changed. Each of the missing girls has had a birthday in captivity. Each is now a year older. Nigeria's current president, Goodluck Jonathan, was defeated in his campaign for re-election, in part, it is thought, because he failed to effectively combat Boko Haram. Buhari, the incoming president, has pledged an aggressive effort to wipe out the group. But much remains unchanged, as well. Boko Haram still controls swathes of northeastern Nigeria. According to UNICEF, 800,000 children have been forced to flee their homes because of the conflict between the Nigerian military, civilian self-defense groups, and Boko Haram. Amnesty International says women and children continue to be abducted. And it says Boko Haram continues to kill in large numbers. Beyond that, more than 200 schoolgirls who had gathered one year ago to take their science exam are still missing. Their families are still bereft. And Tuesday on Twitter, a hashtag was still trending: #BringBackOurGirls.
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two officers and a security guard of the provincial attorney general's office were among the dead.
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Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN)Three people were killed and five others were wounded Thursday afternoon when a group of armed assailants stormed into the attorney general's office in Balkh province, northern Afghanistan, according to a press release from the provincial governor's office. Although most staff members and civilians have been rescued, an exchange of fire between Afghan security forces and the assailants is ongoing, the statement says. Two police officers and a security guard of the provincial attorney general's office were among the dead. Afghan security forces are cautiously making advances in the fight in order to avoid civilian casualties, according to the press statement.
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al-shabaab is driven by the same radical interpretation of the koran as al-qaeda and isis.
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(CNN)The terrorist group Al-Shabaab has claimed an attack on Garissa University College in eastern Kenya, in which many people have been killed and still more taken hostage. The attack is another step in the ongoing escalation of the terrorist group's activities, and a clear indicator that the security situation in East Africa is deteriorating fast. Somalia-based Al-Shabaab has been behind a string of recent attacks in Kenya, the most well-known of them being the massacre at the Westgate Shopping Centre in Nairobi in 2013. Cross-border raids into Kenya by the group, however, date back to 2011. Al-Shabaab incursions triggered a military response by the government in Nairobi, which sent troops to Somalia as part of an African Union mission in support of Somalia's internationally recognized government that had been under pressure from Al-Shabaab and other militants for several years. Al-Shabaab is predominantly driven by the same radical interpretation of the Koran as al-Qaeda and ISIS (also known as Islamic State), but also employs more opportunistic approaches to shoring up local support. Its origins lie in Al-Ittihad al-Islami (Unity of Islam), one of several militant factions that emerged in the wake of the fall of Siad Barre in 1991. These disparate groups fought each other and a U.N. peacekeeping mission in the Somali civil war that led to the complete collapse of the country, from which it has yet to recover almost quarter of a century later. Al-Shabaab (literally "the Youth") split from Unity of Islam in 2003 and merged with another radical Islamist group, the so-called Islamic Courts Union. As their alliance obtained control of Somalia's capital Mogadishu in 2006, Ethiopia, the only majority Christian country in the region, took military action against the group. The offensive weakened Al-Shabaab and pushed it back into the rural areas of central and southern Somalia, but it failed to defeat it. To the contrary, Ethiopia's invasion and occupation of parts of Somalia -- although invited by the Somali government and backed by the African Union -- enabled Al-Shabaab to partially re-invent itself as both an Islamist and nationalist force opposing a foreign "Christian" invasion. Initially, the group primarily attacked Ethiopian forces, but soon began to "expand" its activities against the Somali government as well. The first attack outside Somalia was an attack in the Ugandan capital of Kampala in 2010. Soon after this, cross-border raids in Kenya began, predominantly targeting Christians there. Increasing its links with al-Qaeda, Al-Shabaab declared its full allegiance in 2012 -- and it is not clear whether it will switch allegiances to ISIS. Much will depend on how the relationships between al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a long-time ally of Al-Shabaab based in Yemen, and ISIS develop. The key point is that Al-Shabaab's attack in Garissa is part of a broader regional context of instability fueled by a huge number of factors. It must not be interpreted simply as another act of garden-variety fundamentalist terrorism. Clearly, the presence and activities of terrorist groups in the region is a major concern, and it is undoubtedly driven by radical and exclusivist interpretations of Islam. But the entire region also suffers from a range of other problems: from economic development challenges to environmental degradation; from organized crime to inter-tribal and inter-communal violence; from corruption to serious deficits in human rights and good governance. These entrenched inequalities help Al-Shabaab appeal to a wide variety of potential recruits, who may sympathize with and actively support the group for any number of reasons. Attacking a university in northern Kenya and separating Christian from Muslim students epitomizes the way Al-Shabaab advances itself by exploiting religious, tribal and nationalist identities. Ultimately, though, this all comes down to a struggle for control -- over people, over territory, and over resources. As long as the majority of people in the region remain excluded from any meaningful political, economic, and social participation in their societies -- which are dominated by primarily self-interested elites that put their own advance before that of their communities -- human lives matter little in the pursuit of selfish interests. It is important to counter Al-Shabaab directly, including by military means. But there won't be any lasting solution to the wider region's security problems without a more comprehensive and concerted effort to address the deeper problems of exclusion suffered by the citizens of the countries challenged by Al-Shabaab. As Garissa shows, these problems are still providing oxygen for nihilistic ideologies and their deadly fruit. Copyright 2015 The Conversation. Some rights reserved.
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marion "suge" knight was ordered to stand trial for murder and other charges.
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Los Angeles (CNN)Former rap mogul Marion "Suge" Knight was ordered Thursday to stand trial for murder and other charges stemming from a deadly hit-and-run confrontation on the movie set of the biopic "Straight Outta Compton" earlier this year. In addition to that ruling, Judge Ronald Coen also lowered Knight's bail to $10 million from $25 million, a figure that defense lawyers called excessive. The judge also dismissed one of the two counts of hit-and-run against Knight. In all, Knight will stand trial on one count of murder, one count of attempted murder and one count of hit-and-run, the judge ruled after holding a two-day preliminary hearing this week that ended Thursday. Knight, 49, faces up to life in prison if convicted. Knight suffers diabetes and blot clots, and the case has clearly strained him: He collapsed in court last month after learning of the $25 million bail and he was taken to the hospital for treatment. Knight was in court Thursday. At the end of hearing, he turned around and looked at his family in the gallery, and he smiled to his fiancee as deputies led him handcuffed out of the courtroom. In a press conference after the hearing, fiancee Toi Kelly said regarding Knight's health that he is "doing much better." The judge dismissed the other hit-and-run count because California law says no more than one charge of hit-and-run should be brought against a defendant when the same weapon, in this case the vehicle Knight was driving, is used against several people. Knight is accused of running over two men, killing one of them, during an argument. Killed was Terry Carter, 55. The survivor is Cle Sloan, 51, who in testimony this week declined to identify Knight as his attacker because Sloan doesn't want to be a "snitch" who sends Knight to prison, according to CNN affiliates KABC and KTLA. Prosecutors offered Sloan immunity, but he still refused to testify against Knight on Monday, the affiliates reported. The deadly incident happened on January 29, after a flare-up on the set of the biopic "Straight Outta Compton," a film about the highly influential and controversial rap group N.W.A. The alleged argument spilled over to the parking lot of Tam's Burgers in Compton. At the time, Knight was out on bail in a separate robbery case. The hit-and-run was captured on videotape and allegedly shows Knight inside a red truck. In the video, the truck pulls into the entrance of the Compton restaurant, and he is then approached by Sloan, who was working security on the site. The two men appear to talk for a few moments, with Knight still in his vehicle. Suddenly, the vehicle backs up, knocking Sloan to the ground. While still in reverse, the truck moves out of range of the security camera. The vehicle is then seen zooming forward, back into camera range, running over Sloan a second time, and then running over a second man, Carter, a former rap music label owner. Carter later died. In closing arguments prior to the judge's ruling, Knight's attorney Matthew Fletcher argued that Knight was the victim. Knight was only defending himself against Sloan, whom the defense attorney accused of possessing a gun at the time. "Mr. Sloan is the initial and consistent aggressor," Knight's attorney argued. "There's no intent to kill, there's an intent to survive." "Even without a gun, we know Mr. Sloan was brave enough to attack in broad daylight," the defense attorney said. Fletcher added that Knight's defense was to stand his ground. Sloan "needed immunity because he was the actual aggressor," Fletcher said. "He is the person who got Terry (Carter) killed." Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Cynthia Barnes argued, however, told the judge that Knight was engaged in "mutual combat situation" where he used his car as deadly weapon. If Knight "ever had the right of self-defense, the moment he backed-up and Mr. Sloan was ran-over, he lost the right of self-defense," Barnes said. "There was pre-mediation and intent when he (Knight) ran over him a second time." Knight is scheduled to be arraigned on April 30. The incident is the latest run-in with the law for Knight, who founded the wildly successful Death Row Records in 1991 and signed artists such as Snoop Doggy Dogg (now known as Snoop Lion) and Tupac Shakur. Knight was driving the car in which Shakur was a passenger when the rapper was shot to death in Las Vegas in 1996. Shortly afterward, Knight spent several years in prison for violating parole on assault and weapons convictions. That prison time -- along with Shakur's death, feuds between Knight and a number of rappers, and desertions by Dr. Dre, Snoop and others -- contributed to the label's bankruptcy in 2006. In August, Knight and two other people were shot while inside a celebrity-filled Sunset Strip party hosted by singer Chris Brown on the eve of the MTV Video Music Awards.
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to the contrary, increasingly more yemenis appear to be fleeing the country.
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(CNN)Thursday will mark three weeks since Saudi Arabia began airstrikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen. But there is as yet little sign that the rebels are being driven back, that the fighting in Yemen is dying down or that lives there are being saved. To the contrary, increasingly more Yemenis appear to be fleeing the country, attempting the dangerous trip in rickety fishing boats across the Red Sea to the Horn of Africa -- a trip historically made by people fleeing Africa rather than the other way around. Hopes for stability, not only in Yemen but in the Middle East in general, are fading as fears grow that Saudia Arabia and Iran are fighting a proxy war in Yemen for regional domination. And the number of dead continues to mount. Yemen's health ministry said over the weekend that 385 civilians had been killed and 342 others had been wounded. The World Health Organization has put a higher figure on both tolls -- 648 killed and 2,191 wounded -- but includes militant casualties in the totals. The Houthis forced Yemeni President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi from power in January, though Hadi still claims he is Yemen's legitimate leader and is working with the Saudis and other allies to return to Yemen. Those allied with Hadi have accused the Iranian government of supporting the Houthis in their uprising in Yemen. Like the Iranians, the Houthis are Shiites. And like the Saudis, Hadi and his government are Sunni. Since it began on March 26, Saudi Arabia has launched more than 1,200 airstrikes. Saudi officials claim to have killed more than 500 Houthi rebels. The U.N. Security Council voted Tuesday in favor of an arms embargo on Houthis -- the minority group that has taken over large swaths of Yemen, including its capital, Sanaa -- and supporters of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The resolution "raises the cost" for the Houthis, according to Mark Lyall Grant, Britain's ambassador to the United Nations. In addition to the arms embargo, the resolution also demands that the Shiite group pull back and refrain from more violence and includes sanctions aimed at controlling the spread of terrorism, according to Grant. Russia abstained from Tuesday's vote, saying it didn't like the inclusion of sanctions. Why is Saudi Arabia bombing Yemen?
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heads of state from 35 countries in the western hemisphere have met every three years to discuss economic, social or political issues since the creation of the summit in 1994.
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(CNN)The VII Summit of the Americas was supposed to be all about the symbolic handshake between the United States and Cuba. But insert Venezuela into the mix and Panama City, Panama, quickly turns into a "triangle of tension." Heads of state from 35 countries in the Western Hemisphere have met every three years to discuss economic, social or political issues since the creation of the summit in 1994. Cuba has historically been the wrench in the diplomatic machinery, with some Latin American leaders threatening not to attend the Summit of the Americas if the United States and Canada didn't agree to invite President Raul Castro. The tide changed December 17, 2014, when President Barack Obama and Castro announced that more than five decades of Cold War rivalry was ending. Diplomats from both countries immediately began negotiations to establish embassies in Havana and Washington, and the attention immediately focused on the Summit of the Americas, where for the first time since the about-face, Obama and Castro would come face-to-face. The much anticipated handshake between Obama and Castro would steal all the headlines if it wasn't for Cuba's strongest ally, Venezuela. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro recently accused the United States of trying to topple his government and banned former President George Bush, former Vice President Dick Cheney, and Senators Bob Menendez and Marco Rubio from entering Venezuela. "They can't enter Venezuela because they're terrorists," Maduro said, blaming the American politicians for what he called terrorist actions in Iraq, Syria and Vietnam. The U.S. State Department said the allegations of U.S. involvement in a coup plot against Maduro were "baseless and false." Later, Obama issued an executive order sanctioning seven Venezuelan officials for human rights violations and saying the country was a "threat to national security." White House officials said every executive order includes that language, but it has sparked a fiery response from Maduro, who has been collecting millions of signatures demanding the repeal of the order. He also asked for repeal in full-page ads in The New York Times and in a Panama City newspaper. Maduro didn't stop there; he has been rallying other Latin American leaders, including Bolivian President Evo Morales, Ecuador's Rafael Correa and Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega. But perhaps most damning for the United States -- and creating the "triangle of tension" at the summit -- Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez has sided publicly with Maduro. "We reiterate our strong condemnation of the unacceptable and unjustifiable unilateral sanctions imposed against the sister nation of Venezuela and the continued foreign interference with the purpose of creating a climate of instability in that sister nation. We ratify our firmest support to the Bolivarian Revolution and the legitimate government headed by President Nicolás Maduro," Rodriguez said. While the world watches for the photo-op of Obama and Castro, it's unclear if more Latin American diplomats will side with Maduro, and for America, the VII Summit of the Americas could go from "mi casa es su casa" to a walk into the lion's den.
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the report from the department of justice offered a devastating insight into a police department and court system that preyed on its own citizens.
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(CNN)Change is coming to Ferguson. In the next few weeks the Department of Justice (DOJ) will begin to negotiate in earnest with the city to restructure the police department, which the department has charged with engaging in a pattern and practice of racial discrimination. It should not be forgotten that the DOJ review of the Ferguson Police Department was precipitated by months of protests and activism following the killing of Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer and by revelations about the town's dysfunctional government and court system by local civil rights law groups. Now, after a half year of unrest, and with citizens on Tuesday electing two new black city council members, change is beginning to come to Ferguson. The question is, what kind of change? The report from the Department of Justice offered a devastating insight into a police department and court system that preyed on its own citizens. Through illegal traffic stops and arrests, and the use of excessive force, the police department held town residents in bondage. The municipal court system used excessive court fines and fees to ensure that citizens arrested for even minor infractions would be charged thousands of dollars or face jail time. Court costs and fees constituted the second-largest sources of revenue for the town. Rather than a force for public safety, the Ferguson Police Department became, according to Attorney General Eric Holder, "a collection agency" -- one that preyed disproportionately on the town's African-American residents. The evidence of ugly and explicit racial discrimination was devastating. It included blatantly racist emails traded among officers, and evidence that African-Americans were victims in all of the police canine bite incidents recorded by the department. But just a few weeks before the release of the report, the Ferguson police chief declared there were "no racial issues" in his department. Ferguson's ugly, racist emails released The recommendations in the report, ranging from new training and supervision of police officers, addressing racially discriminatory conduct to structural revisions in the court system, will, if implemented, remake the law enforcement system in the town. (A grand jury that investigated the shooting of Brown by Officer Darren Wilson chose not to file charges against him and the Justice Department also didn't find reason to prosecute.) Without question, change is coming to the town's government. Town Manager John Shaw, Ferguson's most powerful official and, until the DOJ's blistering report, the one who inexplicably managed to elude public scrutiny, resigned weeks ago and has been replaced by the city's deputy manager. Three sitting city council members chose not to run for office again and, on Tuesday, citizens elected two black candidates to the city council, changing its racial composition: Five of six members and the mayor were white. Now the council will be 50% black. Ferguson's hapless police Chief Thomas Jackson also finally resigned after holding on through a months-long display of astonishing incompetence. The department first drew the attention of the nation for its display of military weaponry and tear gas in response to civilian protests. The appointment of a commander from the State Highway Patrol was deemed necessary to begin quelling the unrest and to build community trust in the early days of the protest. Jackson's departure sent an important signal to the population of a town preyed upon by officers under his command. And so we can be certain that along with the new makeup of the city council, there will be a new police chief in Ferguson. But does that mean that fundamental change will come to Ferguson? Not necessarily. Not unless protest and activism during this critical period turns to influence the vitally important opportunities that lie ahead in the coming weeks. The Department of Justice's full-on negotiations with the leadership in Ferguson will determine the shape of the new Ferguson Police Department. Indeed, the DOJ report alludes to the possibility of disbanding the department in favor of a regional policing integration with St. Louis County. Many local activists have suggested just such a solution, but given ongoing problems with policing in the county -- including the role of county forces in some of the most controversial clashes with activists in Ferguson last fall -- community representatives will have to fight hard to ensure that the DOJ can fold St. Louis County Police into its monitoring and reform process. Equally important were the April 7 general elections. Turnout in municipal elections has been notoriously low in Ferguson, with white voters nearly three times more likely to turn out than African-Americans. But local groups had engaged in vigorous voter registration and get-out-the-vote campaigns.. The Mayor has two years left to his term and has defiantly insisted that he will not resign (although a petition for his recall has been circulating). That means that he will be a lead voice in negotiating with the DOJ to remake the police department. Has he committed to a clear set of principles that will guide his participation in those talks? Community activists and residents must ensure that Mayor James Knowles plans to represent their vision of new Ferguson Police Department. But there is an opportunity to begin thinking about even more ambitious structural change in Ferguson and throughout St. Louis County. Ferguson's governing structure, with a strong city manager and a weak council and mayor, mirrors that of thousands of other suburbs in the United States. That form of governance might have been precisely what thriving, middle class white suburbanites wanted when they fled racial integration in cities like St. Louis. But working class suburbs like Ferguson with a majority black population in which the needs of the population in the areas of education and economic opportunity more closely hews to the needs of urban residents, may need a more robust form of governance. In any case, a system in which the elected officials have minimal power, but non-elected leaders, like the town manager and the chief of police, have inordinate power, is a recipe for the kind of unaccountable, non-representative government that controlled Ferguson's residents. Yet this precise form of government is in wide use across the country. Likewise, Missouri, like the vast majority of states, holds municipal elections in non-presidential election years, guaranteeing a significantly lower voter turnout -- although only a few states hold the primary and general election in March and April as Missouri law requires Ferguson to do. It's not that Ferguson is so different than towns across America. It's precisely because Ferguson holds up a mirror to flaws in our democratic system of government in towns across this country that the stakes are so high. Ferguson residents now have the opportunity to begin a movement for change in the other 89 jurisdictions in St. Louis County plagued by similar governance flaws, including those towns led by African-Americans. And Ferguson's example should provoke self-examination in working class suburbs across the country, where the power and effectiveness of weak elected local government is inadequate to meet the needs of the population. Change is coming to Ferguson. But the scope and breadth of that change will depend upon the ambition and discipline of activists and residents, whose passion and tenacity have already transformed the trajectory of leadership in a typical American town.
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he has been nominated to be foreign minister by ahmadinejad's successor.
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(CNN)If you've been following the news lately, there are certain things you doubtless know about Mohammad Javad Zarif. He is, of course, the Iranian foreign minister. He has been U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's opposite number in securing a breakthrough in nuclear discussions that could lead to an end to sanctions against Iran -- if the details can be worked out in the coming weeks. And he received a hero's welcome as he arrived in Iran on a sunny Friday morning. "Long live Zarif," crowds chanted as his car rolled slowly down the packed street. You may well have read that he is "polished" and, unusually for one burdened with such weighty issues, "jovial." An Internet search for "Mohammad Javad Zarif" and "jovial" yields thousands of results. He certainly has gone a long way to bring Iran in from the cold and allow it to rejoin the international community. But there are some facts about Zarif that are less well-known. Here are six: In September 2013, Zarif tweeted "Happy Rosh Hashanah," referring to the Jewish New Year. That prompted Christine Pelosi, the daughter of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, to respond with a tweet of her own: "Thanks. The New Year would be even sweeter if you would end Iran's Holocaust denial, sir." And, perhaps to her surprise, Pelosi got a response. "Iran never denied it," Zarif tweeted back. "The man who was perceived to be denying it is now gone. Happy New Year." The reference was likely to former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who had left office the previous month. Zarif was nominated to be foreign minister by Ahmadinejad's successor, Hassan Rouhami. His foreign ministry notes, perhaps defensively, that "due to the political and security conditions of the time, he decided to continue his education in the United States." That is another way of saying that he was outside the country during the demonstrations against the Shah of Iran, which began in 1977, and during the Iranian Revolution, which drove the shah from power in 1979. Zarif left the country in 1977, received his undergraduate degree from San Francisco State University in 1981, his master's in international relations from the University of Denver in 1984 and his doctorate from the University of Denver in 1988. Both of his children were born in the United States. The website of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, which Zarif runs, cannot even agree with itself on when he was born. The first sentence of his official biography, perhaps in a nod to the powers that be in Tehran, says Zarif was "born to a religious traditional family in Tehran in 1959." Later on the same page, however, his date of birth is listed as January 8, 1960. And the Iranian Diplomacy website says he was born in in 1961 So he is 54, 55 or maybe even 56. Whichever, he is still considerably younger than his opposite number, Kerry, who is 71. The feds investigated him over his alleged role in controlling the Alavi Foundation, a charitable organization. The U.S. Justice Department said the organization was secretly run on behalf of the Iranian government to launder money and get around U.S. sanctions. But last year, a settlement in the case, under which the foundation agreed to give a 36-story building in Manhattan along with other properties to the U.S. government, did not mention Zarif's name. Early in the Iranian Revolution, Zarif was among the students who took over the Iranian Consulate in San Francisco. The aim, says the website Iranian.com -- which cites Zarif's memoirs, titled "Mr. Ambassador" -- was to expel from the consulate people who were not sufficiently Islamic. Later, the website says, Zarif went to make a similar protest at the Iranian mission to the United Nations. In response, the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations offered him a job. In fact, he has now spent more time with Kerry than any other foreign minister in the world. And that amount of quality time will only increase as the two men, with help from other foreign ministers as well, try to meet a June 30 deadline for nailing down the details of the agreement they managed to outline this week in Switzerland.
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the 40-year-old rapper was traveling, authorities said.
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(CNN)Hip-hop star Nelly has been arrested on drug charges in Tennessee after a state trooper pulled over the private bus in which he was traveling, authorities said. The 40-year-old rapper from St. Louis, who shot to fame 15 years ago with the track "Country Grammar," has been charged with felony possession of drugs, simple possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia, the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security said. The state trooper stopped the bus carrying Nelly and five other people on Interstate 40 in Putnam County on Saturday because it wasn't displaying U.S. Department of Transportation and International Fuel Tax Association stickers, according to Tennessee authorities. The trooper was about to conduct an inspection of the bus, a Prevost motor coach, when he "noticed an odor of marijuana emitting from the vehicle," authorities said in a statement. Two troopers then searched the bus, finding "five colored crystal-type rocks that tested positive for methamphetamine, as well as a small amount of marijuana and other drug paraphernalia," the statement said. The search also turned up several handguns and 100 small Ziploc bags, which the statement said are commonly used for selling drugs. The guns included a gold-plated .50-caliber Desert Eagle pistol, a .45-caliber Taurus pistol and a .500 Smith & Wesson magnum. Nelly, whose real name is Cornell Haynes, was taken to the Putnam County Jail along with another passenger. He later posted bond and left the jail, the Putnam County Sheriff's Office said. CNN couldn't immediately reach Nelly's representatives for comment Saturday. CNN's Janet DiGiacomo contributed to this report.
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he says iran has not yet made the decision to build a nuclear weapon.
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(CNN)The United States and its negotiating partners reached a very strong framework agreement with Iran in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Thursday that limits Iran's nuclear program in such a way as to effectively block it from building a nuclear weapon. Expect pushback anyway, if the recent past is any harbinger. Just last month, in an attempt to head off such an agreement, House Speaker John Boehner invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to preemptively blast it before Congress, and 47 senators sent a letter to the Iranian leadership warning them away from a deal. The debate that has already begun since the announcement of the new framework will likely result in more heat than light. It will not be helped by the gathering swirl of dubious assumptions and doubtful assertions. Let us address some of these: The most misleading assertion, despite universal rejection by experts, is that the negotiations' objective at the outset was the total elimination of any nuclear program in Iran. That is the position of Netanyahu and his acolytes in the U.S. Congress. But that is not and never was the objective. If it had been, there would have been no Iranian team at the negotiating table. Rather, the objective has always been to structure an agreement or series of agreements so that Iran could not covertly develop a nuclear arsenal before the United States and its allies could respond. The new framework has exceeded expectations in achieving that goal. It would reduce Iran's low-enriched uranium stockpile, cut by two-thirds its number of installed centrifuges and implement a rigorous inspection regime. Another dubious assumption of opponents is that the Iranian nuclear program is a covert weapons program. Despite sharp accusations by some in the United States and its allies, Iran denies having such a program, and U.S. intelligence contends that Iran has not yet made the decision to build a nuclear weapon. Iran's continued cooperation with International Atomic Energy Agency inspections is further evidence on this point, and we'll know even more about Iran's program in the coming months and years because of the deal. In fact, the inspections provisions that are part of this agreement are designed to protect against any covert action by the Iranians. What's more, the rhetoric of some members of Congress has implied that the negotiations have been between only the United States and Iran (i.e., the 47 senators' letter warning that a deal might be killed by Congress or a future president). This of course is not the case. The talks were between Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council (United States, United Kingdom, France, China and Russia) plus Germany, dubbed the P5+1. While the United States has played a leading role in the effort, it negotiated the terms alongside its partners. If the agreement reached by the P5+1 is rejected by Congress, it could result in an unraveling of the sanctions on Iran and threaten NATO cohesion in other areas. Another questionable assertion is that this agreement contains a sunset clause, after which Iran will be free to do as it pleases. Again, this is not the case. Some of the restrictions on Iran's nuclear activities, such as uranium enrichment, will be eased or eliminated over time, as long as 15 years. But most importantly, the framework agreement includes Iran's ratification of the Additional Protocol, which allows IAEA inspectors expanded access to nuclear sites both declared and nondeclared. This provision will be permanent. It does not sunset. Thus, going forward, if Iran decides to enrich uranium to weapons-grade levels, monitors will be able to detect such a move in a matter of days and alert the U.N. Security Council. Many in Congress have said that the agreement should be a formal treaty requiring the Senate to "advise and consent." But the issue is not suited for a treaty. Treaties impose equivalent obligations on all signatories. For example, the New START treaty limits Russia and the United States to 1,550 deployed strategic warheads. But any agreement with Iran will not be so balanced. The restrictions and obligations in the final framework agreement will be imposed almost exclusively on Iran. The P5+1 are obligated only to ease and eventually remove most but not all economic sanctions, which were imposed as leverage to gain this final deal. Finally some insist that any agreement must address Iranian missile programs, human rights violations or support for Hamas or Hezbollah. As important as these issues are, and they must indeed be addressed, they are unrelated to the most important aim of a nuclear deal: preventing a nuclear Iran. To include them in the negotiations would be a poison pill. This agreement should be judged on its merits and on how it affects the security of our negotiating partners and allies, including Israel. Those judgments should be fact-based, not based on questionable assertions or dubious assumptions.
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the zoo says it's no immediate word on the newborn's gender.
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(CNN)Anyone who has given birth -- or been an observer of the event -- knows how arduous it can be. But to do it live on the Internet? With two hooves sticking out for several minutes in the midst of labor? Luckily, Katie -- a giraffe at the Dallas Zoo -- is a champ. In an hour-long labor captured by 10 cameras and streamed live by Animal Planet, Katie gave birth to a not-so-little baby (about 6 feet tall) early Friday evening. There was no immediate word on the newborn's gender or condition. But there were good signs, as seen on the live stream and Dallas Zoo's Twitter feed -- like its ears moving, its efforts to stand, and its nursing (or at least trying to nurse) from mom. "We're so proud," the zoo tweeted. The newcomer's debut was a long time coming, especially when you count for Katie's 15-month gestation period -- average for a giraffe, according to Animal Planet. The baby joins a sister, 4-year-old calf Jamie. It wasn't immediately known how many people online saw Katie go into labor and give birth. But the giraffe definitely did have watchers in the form of fellow giraffes who saw the scene unfold from an abutting barn, one of them being Katie's BFF Jade. The fact that the spunky Katie held up so well under the spotlight isn't a total shocker. The zoo describes her as the "diva" among a herd of 12 giraffes at the zoo who loves to "toss her head around" when she doesn't like something. As Animal Planet noted, "She's one of the only giraffes at the Dallas Zoo who can stick her long tongue out on cue." CNN's Justin Lear contributed to this report.
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the cause of injuries are unclear.
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(CNN)A mammoth fire broke out Friday morning in a Kentucky industrial park, sending plumes of thick smoke over the area as authorities worked to contain the damage. The blaze began shortly before 7 a.m. at the General Electric Appliance Park in Louisville, according to Mike Weimer from the city's emergency management agency. He said that there were no reports of anyone injured or trapped. Video showed both smoke and bright orange flames. Firefighters took up positions around the affected buildings, spraying water from the periphery. Weimer told CNN that authorities didn't know what had caused the fire, which had gone to at least four alarms. According to a GE website, its facility in the Louisville Appliance Park is "revitalizing manufacturing in the United States." The park is large, such that 34 football fields could fit in one of its warehouses in the facility.
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students on the kikuyu campus stampeded down the halls of the kimberly dormitory.
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Nairobi, Kenya (CNN)University of Nairobi students were terrified Sunday morning when they heard explosions -- caused by a faulty electrical cable -- and believed it was a terror attack, the school said. Students on the Kikuyu campus stampeded down the halls of the Kimberly dormitory, and some jumped from its fifth floor, the university said. Hundreds were injured and were taken to hospitals. One person died, according to the school. The confusion and panic came less than two weeks after Al-Shabaab slaughtered 147 people at a college in Garissa, Kenya. Kenyan teachers and students have said they fear being targeted by the Somalia-based terrorists. On Sunday, as many as 108 students from the University of Nairobi were admitted to Kenyatta National Hospital. Among them, at least 63 students have been discharged, and at least four are slated for surgery, the school said. Almost all of the 54 students being treated at PCEA Kikuyu Hospital have been released, the university said. Kenya Power authorities and its CEO are at the school and looking into the electrical issue. Normal power supply will resume after repairs, the university said. "As we mourn the unfortunate loss of the departed student, we are also praying for the quick recovery of those who were injured," said Vice Chancellor Peter M.F. Mbithi in a statement. He called on the students, staff and public to remain calm. CNN's Lillian Leposo reported from Nairobi and Ashley Fantz wrote this story in Atlanta.
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a pair of officers on motorcycles were part of the large procession delivering the father of four.
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Charleston, South Carolina (CNN)Police officers Saturday accompanied the hearse carrying the body of Walter Scott to his South Carolina funeral service, where hundreds of mourners celebrated his life and death as a catalyst for change in America. A pair of officers on motorcycles were part of the large procession delivering the father of four -- who was fatally shot in the back by a police officer -- to a service open to the public. An overflow crowd gathered on a humid and occasionally rainy April afternoon at W.O.R.D. Ministries Christian Center in Summerville, which has a capacity of about 300 people. The flag-draped casket of the U.S. Coast Guard veteran was wheeled inside the church as Scott's relatives and friends followed. Some dabbed tears; others embraced. Hundreds, including local officials, assembled inside the packed sanctuary -- in corridors, under an awning at the entrance, wherever they could stand. Silence filled the vast space as Scott's daughter Samantha read a poem of love dedicated to her father. Anthony Scott said God had selected his brother as a candidate for change in America. "The change will come," he said, bringing to the crowd to its feet. The head of the church, George Hamilton, spoke of how Scott had brought members of his family to the church, of the agony of not only losing a family member but having to watch it happen on video. The death of Scott, who was black, at the hands of a white police officer was "motivated by racial prejudice," Hamilton said. It was "an act of overt racism." "Hate came because Walter was an African-American," he said. Hamilton said his remarks were not meant as an indictment of law enforcement, but he singled out the officer who killed Scott as a "disgrace to the North Charleston Police Department." "There is gong to be change," he said. "Walter's death will not be in vain." After the service, pallbearers gently lifted Scott's casket into the hearse. Crowds poured from the church. A slow-moving procession of black cars then made its way to Live Oak Memorial Gardens in Charleston for the private burial. Chris Stewart, an attorney for the Scott family, said the death represented more than an race issue. "It's a human issue," he said. "We're getting emails from people in Arkansas telling us, 'I'm a white male, and I'm supporting this family.' Their son is going to be remembered for changing the way we look at each other." On Friday night, Scott's open casket was draped with an American flag, and he was in a dark suit for his private visitation in Charleston. A Dallas Cowboys banner -- his favorite NFL team -- was placed outside the casket, and a figurine of a Cowboys player stood at his side. But Scott's family was missing. They needed privacy, said Charleston Mayor Joseph Riley, who attended. A week ago, Scott was killed in North Charleston after getting pulled over for a broken taillight. A passer-by caught the shooting on cell phone video, and Officer Michael Slager was swiftly charged with murder. He was fired and faces life in prison or the death penalty if convicted. Who was Walter Scott? The video shows Scott running from an officer, who fires eight shots. Scott is struck five times; he falls to the ground. "Nothing in this video demonstrates that the officer's life or the life of another was threatened," National Urban League President Marc Morial said. "The question here is whether the use of force was excessive." But one witness is speaking of a struggle before the shooting. And at least one expert believes a murder charge may not hold up. On Thursday, Gwen Nichols told CNN's Brian Todd that she saw Scott and Slager scuffling at the entrance to a vacant lot. "It was like a tussle type of thing, like, you know, like, 'What do you want?' or 'What did I do?' type of thing," Nichols said. "I didn't hear Mr. Slager saying 'Stop!' " Nichols' account has similarities to Slager's. He had told investigators that he had tussled with Scott over his Taser and that he feared for his safety. A timeline of events Criminal defense attorney Paul Callan said he believes Slager's defense will play up the reported scuffle in arguing that this is not a murder case. "Defense attorneys will say this was a heat of passion shooting -- (that) this was something that he did suddenly after some kind of an altercation, a physical altercation with a suspect," Callan said. "And that would constitute manslaughter under law, as opposed to murder, and it makes a huge difference in sentencing." In South Carolina, a murder conviction requires a measure of premeditation. But the account from the witness who recorded the cell phone video, Feidin Santana, paints a different picture. He was walking to work when he saw Slager on top of Scott, he said, who was on the ground. Santana said he could hear the sound of a Taser in use. He said he didn't see Scott go after the Taser, as Slager initially claimed. He said he believes Scott was trying to get away. "Mr. Scott never tried to fight," Santana said. Neither the struggle nor the use of a Taser was captured on video, because Santana started recording shortly after that. Investigators from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division found troubling inconsistencies from the very start, it said in a statement. "We believed early on that there was something not right about what happened in that encounter," division Chief Mark Keel said in a statement. "The cell phone video shot by a bystander confirmed our initial suspicions." Slager's lawyer, Andy Savage, has complained that he "has not received the cooperation from law enforcement that the media has." Savage's office said in a statement that it has yet to receive "any investigative documents, audio or video tapes, other than a copy of Mr. Slager's arrest warrant." The news release added that the lawyer has been advised that the police union that Slager belongs to "is no longer involved in the case." Charleston County Sheriff Al Cannon said Slager's wife, Jamie, who is eight months' pregnant, and his mother had a visit with him at the county detention center Friday. Slager was being held in isolation and being "monitored for his mental health," Cannon said. In a statement, one of Slager's lawyers said the meeting lasted about an hour. "His wife and mom were tearful but strong, and they were all very grateful for the chance to see him in person, even if separated by a thick pane of glass," the statement said. "They held up family photos -- and even Jamie's ultrasound from earlier that day -- to remind him of all those who love him. Throughout the visit, Michael was focused on Jamie and their baby and was very relieved to know that she is being shown so much love and support by their families." A second video, taken from a police dash cam, has also emerged from the day Scott died. It shows moments before the shooting, when things seemed to be going smoothly between Scott and Slager. Scott apparently tells the officer that he has no insurance on the vehicle, and Slager returns to his car to do paperwork. Then Scott gets out of the car and runs out of the camera's frame. Scott was the subject of a bench warrant over $18,104.43 in unpaid child support at the time of the stop, according to court records. That was why he ran, lawyers for the family said after the funeral service. U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, D-South Carolina, told reporters outside the service that Scott lost a $35,000-a-year job the first time he was jailed for failing to pay child support. "He said it was the best job he's ever had," Clyburn said. "Now you have to ask ... if you want to collect child support, there's got to be income. And you ain't going to make much income from jail. It seems to me that we need to take a look to how to deal with that issue without causing unemployment and the loss of freedom." On Friday afternoon, police met with a man who was in Scott's car, but the passenger's name wasn't in a police report obtained by CNN. He was detained briefly after the shooting, one officer wrote in the report. Scott family attorney Chris Stewart said he was a co-worker and friend. But he did not identify the passenger by name. On Friday, a few mourners trickled into the Fielding Home for Funerals. A white banner with a blue star near Scott's casket displayed his favorite NFL team. It said: "Tradition, the Cowboys way." "This is a heartbreaking tragedy for everyone in our community," said Riley, the mayor. "It breaks everyone's hearts." CNN's Polo Sandoval and Martin Savidge reported from Charleston, and Ben Brumfield and Ray Sanchez reported and wrote in Atlanta and New York.
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on friday, more than 35 years after frenzied media coverage of his case horrified parents everywhere.
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(CNN)When Etan Patz went missing in New York City at age 6, hardly anyone in America could help but see his face at their breakfast table. His photo's appearance on milk cartons after his May 1979 disappearance marked an era of heightened awareness of crimes against children. On Friday, more than 35 years after frenzied media coverage of his case horrified parents everywhere, a New York jury will again deliberate over a possible verdict against the man charged in his killing, Pedro Hernandez. He confessed to police three years ago. Etan Patz's parents have waited that long for justice, but some have questioned whether that is at all possible in Hernandez's case. His lawyer has said that he is mentally challenged, severely mentally ill and unable to discern whether he committed the crime or not. Hernandez told police in a taped statement that he lured Patz into a basement as the boy was on his way to a bus stop in Lower Manhattan. He said he killed the boy and threw his body away in a plastic bag. Neither the child nor his remains have ever been recovered. But Hernandez has been repeatedly diagnosed with schizophrenia and has an "IQ in the borderline-to-mild mental retardation range," his attorney Harvey Fishbein has said. Police interrogated Hernandez for 7½ hours before he confessed. "I think anyone who sees these confessions will understand that when the police were finished, Mr. Hernandez believed he had killed Etan Patz. But that doesn't mean he actually did, and that's the whole point of this case," Fishbein has said. But in November, a New York judge ruled that Hernandez's confession and his waiving of his Miranda rights were legal, making the confession admissible in court. Another man's name has also hung over the Patz case for years -- Jose Antonio Ramos, a convicted child molester acquainted with Etan's babysitter. Etan's parents, Stan and Julia Patz, sued Ramos in 2001. The boy was officially declared dead as part of that lawsuit. A judge found Ramos responsible for the boy's death and ordered him to pay the family $2 million -- money the Patz family has never received. Though Ramos was at the center of investigations for years, he has never been charged. He served a 20-year prison sentence in Pennsylvania for molesting another boy and was set to be released in 2012. He was reportedly immediately rearrested upon exiting jail in 2012 on failure to register as a sex offender. Since their young son's disappearance, the Patzes have worked to keep the case alive and to create awareness of missing children in the United States. In the early 1980s, Etan's photo appeared on milk cartons across the country, and news media focused in on the search for him and other missing children. "It awakened America," said Ernie Allen, president and chief executive officer of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. "It was the beginning of a missing children's movement." The actual number of children who were kidnapped and killed did not change -- it's always been a relatively small number -- but awareness of the cases skyrocketed, experts said. But the news industry was expanding to cable television, and sweet images of children appeared along with destroyed parents begging for their safe return. The fear rising across the nation sparked awareness and prompted change from politicians and police. In 1984, Congress passed the Missing Children's Assistance Act, which led to the creation of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Former President Ronald Reagan opened the center in a White House ceremony in 1984. It soon began operating a 24-hour toll-free hot line on which callers could report information about missing boys and girls. Joe Sterling and CNN's Lorenzo Ferrigno contributed to this report.
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his red mini cooper was found abandoned near a bridge on the susquehanna river.
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(CNN)Ten years ago, a prosecutor in Centre County, Pennsylvania, took a day off work and vanished. Since then, the case of Ray Gricar has become one of the most intriguing and talked about missing persons stories in the country. Investigators have taken dives to the bottom of lakes, dug up a grave, chased more than 300 reported sightings from Arizona to North Carolina, dropped fliers over Slovenia, consulted a psychic, interviewed a member of the Hell's Angels and enlisted NASA technology. But no one has been able to find the veteran district attorney, who was 59 when he disappeared. When he went missing that Friday morning on April 15, 2005, he left behind a live-in girlfriend, a beautiful and successful daughter and a bank account that was supposed to fund a fast-approaching retirement. His red Mini Cooper was found abandoned near a bridge on the Susquehanna River about 55 miles away from his home. Months later his county-issued laptop and hard drive were found -- separately -- on the banks of the river, too damaged to read. As far as hard evidence goes, that's about all police have. The best lead they got was the sighting of a woman who has not been identified, and information that he had searched online for ways to destroy a hard drive. What's left is theory, speculation and a case that's been cold almost from the beginning. "When a district attorney goes missing, you know, it's pretty big. It's going to catch people's attention. A lot of people don't have a large footprint. This guy had influential friends, he was well known," said Todd Matthews, director of communications and case management for the National Missing and Unidentified Person System, or NamUs. From the start, investigators have considered three possibilities: Gricar committed suicide, fell victim to foul play or deliberately walked away. The prevailing theories have been suicide or walk-away, especially since 2009, when a search of his Google history on his home computer found that someone had been searching "how to fry a hard drive" and "water damage to a notebook computer." Gricar, a private and quiet man, was spotted with a woman who was not his girlfriend the day he went missing, and cigarette ash was found near his car, even though he was not a smoker. Friends and colleagues recalled him being distant in the weeks that led up to his disappearance, and recounted his fascination with another law enforcement official from Ohio who vanished in 1985. Matthews said that NamUs has compared Gricar's DNA to unidentified bodies nine times since the database became available in 2009, but so far, none has been a match. "Even if he chose to make himself go missing, it sounds like something was terribly wrong that caused a drastic change in his life. There's something wrong if he's Googled how to fry a hard drive. Did he Google it? Did someone else Google it? Was he threatened? Did he do something and is trying to cover it up? It's not a normal thing to Google that." Matt Rickard, the former investigator who had been in charge of the investigation for several years, thinks that hard drive is the key to cracking the case. He said he's still holding out hope that someday technology will allow investigators to recover the damaged data. "I think there is something out there. Whether it's evidence or a person, there's something that could lead us to something," he said. "In all honesty, somebody destroyed the hard drive and there was a reason. We have very few solid leads and the biggest one could be contained on that hard drive." In 2011, when former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was arrested and charged with sexually abusing boys, it was revealed that it was Gricar who decided not to charge Sandusky when the first victim came forward in 1998. Gricar cited a lack of evidence. The intrigue already simmering in Gricar's case exploded. Sleuths desperately tried to find a link between the two cases, but investigators said there was no evidence that Gricar's disappearance had anything to do with Sandusky's crimes. But some have stuck to the homicide theory, suggesting that Gricar was an enemy of mob-like gangs in central Pennsylvania who were upset at his drug and corruption prosecutions. Cyril Wecht, a forensic pathologist, said he considered writing a book about Gricar, his ties to the Sandusky case, and whether it led to suicide. But, Wecht said, he abandoned the book idea when it became clear there was not enough evidence. "I don't think it's a great stretch," Wecht said. "He was one of those guys with a very strong sense of justice and professional discipline and in light of what evolved and came to be disclosed -- I speak as a forensic pathologist who's done so many suicides over the years and what can bring someone to that point. It's pure conjecture, not based on any factual knowledge." Plus, Wecht said, if it was a suicide, "I don't understand how they never recovered the body." Bob Buehner, a former district attorney in Montour County, Pennsylvania, who was Gricar's friend, has never accepted a suicide or walk-away theory. He believes his colleague was killed. Buehner has doubts that, 10 years later, state police can recover from what he considers a bungled start to the case. "It didn't seem like there was any overall game plan that made sense in terms of a systematic investigation," Buehner said. "One of the things I'd asked them to do from the first couple weeks is now impossible to do -- to do a hotel-motel canvas looking for the mystery woman seen with Ray and then match the names with photo IDs which police have access to." Buehner said those records are now gone and his faith in finding Gricar is dwindling. "I give it a 50-50 at best and only because I'm an optimist and I hope that's what will happen," he said. "As a pessimist, maybe 1 in 10 that we'll find him." Despite fresh eyes on the investigation when it was handed over to state authorities last year, the mystery woman has not been found. "Pennsylvania State Police continue to chase down new leads and take a fresh look at old leads and we continue to hold out hope that something will break out in this case," said Centre County's District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller. "Everybody, regardless of what position they held, deserves this kind of attention. In any missing persons case, he's not the only one, we feel discouraged when we can't answer the questions for the family, but it doesn't change our dedication to the case." The case has gotten significant attention on the national level, appearing on several true-crime television shows, including HLN's "Nancy Grace." So it was strange to many in Pennsylvania that for years a case with such a high profile would be handled by the tiny Bellefonte Police Department, where one investigator was assigned to juggle Gricar's case along with several more. In 2014, the state police took over, but that was nine years after Gricar went missing and two years after he had been declared legally dead. Sources close to the investigation told CNN the case, as state police received it, was disorganized and porous. Evidence had been compromised in storage. Reports were missing. Evidence had been collecting dust in file cabinets. There was never a forensic audit of his finances. Today, some of Gricar's friends believe the case is damaged beyond repair. They have lost faith that there will ever be any answers. When asked if she thought things might change when state police got the case, Barbara Gray, his ex-wife and the mother of his daughter Lara, said no. "The evidence is the same," she said. Lara declined to comment, and investigators said they've had trouble reaching her. "There is always a remote possibility that we might never have an answer," said Lt. James Emigh, who leads the investigation for the Pennsylvania State Police after inheriting it last year. "We still hold out hope, and the state police will however continue to diligently follow up every possible lead and attempt to bring closure to the family and friends of Ray."
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the large hadron collider (lhc), a particle accelerator and the largest machine in the world, is ready for action following a two-year shutdown.
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(CNN)The world's biggest and most powerful physics experiment is taking place as you read this. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a particle accelerator and the largest machine in the world, is ready for action following a two-year shutdown. After problems that delayed the restart in March, scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) completed final tests, enabling the first beams to start circulating Sunday inside the LHC's 17 mile (27 km) ring. "Operating accelerators for the benefit of the physics community is what CERN's here for," CERN Director-General Rolf Heuer said on the organization's website. "Today, CERN's heart beats once more to the rhythm of the LHC." The LHC generates up to 600 million particles per second, with a beam circulating for 10 hours, traveling more than 6 billion miles (more than 10 billion kilometers) -- the distance from Earth to Neptune and back again. At near light-speed, a proton in the LHC makes 11,245 circuits per second. It took thousands of scientists, engineers and technicians decades to devise and build the particle accelerator, housed in a tunnel between Lake Geneva and the Jura mountain range. The purpose of the lengthy project is to recreate the conditions that existed moments after the "Big Bang" -- the scientific theory said to explain the creation of the universe. By replicating the energy density and temperature, scientists hope to uncover how the universe evolved. Our current, limited, knowledge is based on what's called The Standard Model of particle physics. "But we know that this model is not complete," Dr. Mike Lamont, operations group leader at the LHC, told CNN in March. The burning questions that remain include the origin of mass and why some particles are very heavy, while others have no mass at all; a unified description of all the fundamental forces such as gravity; and uncovering dark matter and dark energy, since visible matter accounts for only 4 percent of the universe. The LHC could also question the idea that the universe is only made of matter, despite the theory that antimatter must have been produced in the same amounts at the time of the Big Bang. CERN says the energies achievable by the LHC have only ever been found in nature. The machine alone costs approximately three billion euros (about $3.3 billion), paid for by member countries of CERN and contributions by non-member nations. The organization also asserts that its guidelines for the protection of the environment and personnel comply with standards set by Swiss and French laws and a European Council Directive. Scientists and physics enthusiasts will be waiting with bated breath as the LHC ventures into the great unknown. "After two years of effort, the LHC is in great shape," said CERN Director for Accelerators and Technology, Frédérick Bordry. "But the most important step is still to come when we increase the energy of the beams to new record levels." Peter Shadbolt contributed to this report.
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the new series is a well-scripted, "daredevil," netflix's latest offering.
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(CNN)Justice may be blind, but it's easy to see that Marvel's "Daredevil" is already a hit with fans. The pitch-black-dark new series streamed its entire first season on Netflix on Friday morning, and the early word is quite good. Charlie Cox is perfectly cast as blind attorney Matt Murdock, whose nights are consumed with cleaning up the New York neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen while dressed in a black ninjaesque outfit. As the season unfolds, he heads toward a confrontation with Vincent D'Onofrio's Wilson Fisk, a.k.a. the Kingpin. Two love interests enter Murdock's life in the form of Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) and Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson). Oh, and there's that red suit. So what do critics think? Quite a lot, with 94% giving it positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. "Marvel's 'Daredevil,' Netflix's latest offering, is a well-scripted, beautifully acted superhero saga that is surprisingly impressive," said the Philadelphia Inquirer's Tirdad Derakhshani. "The series stays incredibly faithful to Daredevil's pulp roots and does something delightfully unexpected -- trust its fans enough to spare us a long, drawn-out origin story," said Sadie Gennis of TV Guide. Early risers on Twitter praised the show as well, especially Cox's performance, as well as a drawn-out, well-choreographed fight scene in episode 2. Does Netflix have a "House of Cards"-like hit on its hands? Time will tell.
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new: nelly has been arrested on drug charges in tennessee.
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(CNN)Hip-hop star Nelly has been arrested on drug charges in Tennessee after a state trooper pulled over the private bus in which he was traveling, authorities said. The 40-year-old rapper from St. Louis, who shot to fame 15 years ago with the track "Country Grammar," has been charged with felony possession of drugs, simple possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia, the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security said. The state trooper stopped the bus carrying Nelly and five other people on Interstate 40 in Putnam County on Saturday because it wasn't displaying U.S. Department of Transportation and International Fuel Tax Association stickers, according to Tennessee authorities. The trooper was about to conduct an inspection of the bus, a Prevost motor coach, when he "noticed an odor of marijuana emitting from the vehicle," authorities said in a statement. Two troopers then searched the bus, finding "five colored crystal-type rocks that tested positive for methamphetamine, as well as a small amount of marijuana and other drug paraphernalia," the statement said. The search also turned up several handguns and 100 small Ziploc bags, which the statement said are commonly used for selling drugs. The guns included a gold-plated .50-caliber Desert Eagle pistol, a .45-caliber Taurus pistol and a .500 Smith & Wesson magnum. Nelly, whose real name is Cornell Haynes, was taken to the Putnam County Jail along with another passenger. He later posted bond and left the jail, the Putnam County Sheriff's Office said. CNN couldn't immediately reach Nelly's representatives for comment Saturday. CNN's Janet DiGiacomo contributed to this report.
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getty's parents released a statement confirming their son's death and asking for privacy.
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(CNN)Andrew Getty, one of the heirs to billions of oil money, appears to have died of natural causes, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesman said. The coroner's preliminary assessment is there was no foul play involved in the death of Getty, grandson of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty, said Detective Meghan Aguilar. Andrew Getty, 47, had "several health issues," Aguilar said, adding that an autopsy will be conducted. There is no criminal investigation underway, he said. Some medication had also been recovered from Getty's home, though investigators don't know whether Getty was taking it or what his medical history was, Ed Winter, assistant chief in the Los Angeles County coroner's office, told CNN affiliate KTLA Tuesday night. KTLA reported that Getty was found on his side near a bathroom in his home. Getty's parents, Ann and Gordon Getty, released a statement confirming their son's death and asking for privacy. Where the Getty family fortune came from Gordon Getty is one of three living sons of J. Paul Getty, the oil baron who was thought to be the richest man in the world at the time of his death in 1976. Gordon Getty, 81, has a net worth of $2.1 billion, according to Forbes. One other son died in 1958 and another died in 1973. Gordon Getty spearheaded the controversial sale of Getty to Texaco for $10 billion in 1984. In its list of richest American families, Forbes estimated the Gettys' net worth to be about $5 billion. Court records show Andrew Getty had recently filed to get a restraining order against an ex-girlfriend. A hearing in the case had been scheduled for next week. In his request, Getty said he had been diagnosed with a serious medical condition in 2013. "A rise in my blood pressure places me in grave risk of substantial and irreparable injury or death," he wrote in the petition. "My doctors have advised that heated arguments can cause my blood pressure to rise dangerously." Andrew Getty had three brothers and three half-sisters. People we've lost in 2015 CNN's Doug Criss, Janet DiGiacomo, Mark Mooney, Mike Love, Julie In and Cheri Mossburg contributed to this report.
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contestants told to "come on down" on the april 1 edition of "the price is right" encountered not host drew carey but another familiar face in charge of the proceedings.
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(CNN)For the first time in eight years, a TV legend returned to doing what he does best. Contestants told to "come on down!" on the April 1 edition of "The Price Is Right" encountered not host Drew Carey but another familiar face in charge of the proceedings. Instead, there was Bob Barker, who hosted the TV game show for 35 years before stepping down in 2007. Looking spry at 91, Barker handled the first price-guessing game of the show, the classic "Lucky Seven," before turning hosting duties over to Carey, who finished up. Despite being away from the show for most of the past eight years, Barker didn't seem to miss a beat.
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it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.
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(CNN)"Sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me," Jesus tells the rich man in one of his best-known parables. It was a mantra he invoked repeatedly: the poor were blessed, and it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it was for the well-to-do to enter paradise. Meanwhile, Jesus told his Twelve Apostles to leave their day jobs and follow him on an itinerant mission with few prospects of success and no visible means of support. So how did this wandering band of first-century evangelists support themselves? Clearly, money was a concern, and not just as an impediment to salvation. In the New Testament, money gets 37 mentions, while "gold" gets 38 citations, "silver" merits 20, and "copper" four. "Coin" comes up eight times, and "purse" and "denarii" -- the Roman currency -- get half a dozen mentions each for a total of 119 currency referrals. Perhaps the most relevant reference is also one of the most charged passages in the New Testament: As the Gospel of John tells it, six days before Passover, Jesus was in Bethany at the house of his friend Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. A woman named Mary takes a jar of costly perfumed oil and anoints the feet of the reclining Jesus. She dries his feet with her hair, an irresistible image for artists and dramatists. Judas Iscariot objected to the act. "Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?" Judas asks. Though 300 denarii was the annual wage of a laborer, Jesus told Judas to leave her alone, and foreshadowing his fate, said the anointing would be useful for his burial, and besides, "you always have the poor with you" -- but Jesus would not always be there. What that passage makes clear is that the Jesus community had a common purse because they needed money to survive. So how much? "I imagine the ministry functioned at a subsistence level," Rabbi Joshua Garroway, a professor of Early Christianity and the Second Commonwealth at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles. Jesus and his disciples walked, wore what they had, slept outside or in stayed in friends' homes. They ate what they caught or what others shared. "I venture to guess that begging and hospitality will have sufficed to meet the basic needs of Jesus and the companions with whom he traveled," Garroway said. Garroway said that it was possible, even likely, that Jesus and his followers received donations from supporters, and possibly substantial ones from some of the rich people who were drawn to his ministry despite -- or perhaps because of -- his preaching on the perils of wealth. The Gospel of Luke gives us a glimpse of how Jesus' ministry functioned on a practical level: "Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources." So, according to Luke, women whom Jesus had healed in turn provided for him out of their "resources," with Mary Magdalene and Joanna capturing our attention -- one by virtue of her husband, and the other, by her stature in the story of Jesus. Joanna was an upper-class woman married to a man who was intelligent and capable enough to manage the complicated household of Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great, the violent and ambitious head of Judea. As part of this volatile but powerful household, Joanna would be uniquely positioned to help Jesus with her resources, being both wealthy and having palace connections. She attends to him during his life, and, the Gospels tell us, after his death, as one of the trio of women who go to his tomb and find it empty. With her on that morning is Mary Magdalene, also identified as -- among other things -- a financial supporter of Jesus. Mary likely came from the prosperous town of Magdala, on the Sea of Galilee. As home to a thriving fishing industry, as well as dye and textile works, Mary could well have come from an affluent family -- or have been a successful business woman herself. Mary Magdalene was free to travel the country with Jesus and his disciples, so was unlikely to have a husband and children waiting for her at home, and in "Finding Jesus" we examine the Gnostic gospel of Mary Magdalene and explore the argument that Jesus was, in fact, her husband. She may have simply been an independent woman with her own resources who found a compelling message, and messenger. Not only was Mary Magdalene one of Jesus' most devoted followers, who stuck with him all the way from Galilee to Jerusalem, from the ministry to the cross and the tomb, but also she provided for him from her own means, said Mark Goodacre, a professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at Duke University. When the Gospels speak of her "ministering" to Jesus, they are explaining that she was one of the key figures in Jesus' everyday mission, Goodacre continues. Along with other women like Joanna and Susanna, she was one of those who made his mission viable. Along with these women, men like Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, both men of stature and wealth, may have chipped in to help fund Jesus' ministry. The Gospels reveal that both these men were rich, and supported Jesus -- indeed, it was Joseph who removed Jesus from the cross on Good Friday, anointing his body with the help of Nicodemus, and placing him in the tomb that Joseph had reserved for himself. After the resurrection on that first Easter Sunday, the movement Jesus started grew exponentially, and the church's relationship to money grew more complicated as the needs became greater. Michael McKinley is co-author, with David Gibson, of "Finding Jesus: Faith. Fact. Forgery.: Six Holy Objects That Tell the Remarkable Story of the Gospels."
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a saudi general said saturday the nine-nation coalition has undertaken 1,200 airstrikes.
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(CNN)More than 500 Houthi rebels have been killed since the start of Saudi-led military operations against Yemeni Shia fighters, a Saudi Defense Ministry official said Saturday, according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency. A Saudi general said Saturday the nine-nation coalition has undertaken 1,200 airstrikes since they began on March 26. Gen. Ahmed Asiri added that the raids aim to keep the rebels from moving toward southern Yemen, according to the SPA. Clashes took place Friday near the Saudi-Yemeni border, in the Najran region. Saudi forces responded to mortar rounds fired by Houthis on a Saudi border site. Three Saudi military officers were killed and two others were wounded in the shelling, a defense official said, according to SPA. A Saudi source also confirmed to CNN's Nic Robertson that three Saudi soldiers were killed in the shelling. The Yemeni Health Ministry on Saturday said 385 civilians have been killed and 342 others have been wounded. The World Health Organization has put higher figure on both tolls -- 648 killed and 2,191 wounded -- but includes militant casualties in the totals. Yemen has been descending into chaos in the weeks since Houthi rebels -- minority Shiites who have long complained of being marginalized in the majority Sunni country -- forced Yemeni President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi from power in January. And even before the crisis escalated with the Saudi airstrikes, most of the 25 million people in Yemen required humanitarian assistance to meet their most basic needs, the United Nations said Friday. CNN's Pierre Meilhan and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.
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the pitch-black-dark new series on netflix on friday.
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(CNN)Justice may be blind, but it's easy to see that Marvel's "Daredevil" is already a hit with fans. The pitch-black-dark new series streamed its entire first season on Netflix on Friday morning, and the early word is quite good. Charlie Cox is perfectly cast as blind attorney Matt Murdock, whose nights are consumed with cleaning up the New York neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen while dressed in a black ninjaesque outfit. As the season unfolds, he heads toward a confrontation with Vincent D'Onofrio's Wilson Fisk, a.k.a. the Kingpin. Two love interests enter Murdock's life in the form of Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) and Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson). Oh, and there's that red suit. So what do critics think? Quite a lot, with 94% giving it positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. "Marvel's 'Daredevil,' Netflix's latest offering, is a well-scripted, beautifully acted superhero saga that is surprisingly impressive," said the Philadelphia Inquirer's Tirdad Derakhshani. "The series stays incredibly faithful to Daredevil's pulp roots and does something delightfully unexpected -- trust its fans enough to spare us a long, drawn-out origin story," said Sadie Gennis of TV Guide. Early risers on Twitter praised the show as well, especially Cox's performance, as well as a drawn-out, well-choreographed fight scene in episode 2. Does Netflix have a "House of Cards"-like hit on its hands? Time will tell.
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sterling's wife sued for $2.6 million in gifts.
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(CNN)Donald Sterling's racist remarks cost him an NBA team last year. But now it's his former female companion who has lost big. A Los Angeles judge has ordered V. Stiviano to pay back more than $2.6 million in gifts after Sterling's wife sued her. In the lawsuit, Rochelle "Shelly" Sterling accused Stiviano of targeting extremely wealthy older men. She claimed Donald Sterling used the couple's money to buy Stiviano a Ferrari, two Bentleys and a Range Rover, and that he helped her get a $1.8 million duplex. Who is V. Stiviano? Stiviano countered that there was nothing wrong with Donald Sterling giving her gifts and that she never took advantage of the former Los Angeles Clippers owner, who made much of his fortune in real estate. Shelly Sterling was thrilled with the court decision Tuesday, her lawyer told CNN affiliate KABC. "This is a victory for the Sterling family in recovering the $2,630,000 that Donald lavished on a conniving mistress," attorney Pierce O'Donnell said in a statement. "It also sets a precedent that the injured spouse can recover damages from the recipient of these ill-begotten gifts." Stiviano's gifts from Donald Sterling didn't just include uber-expensive items like luxury cars. According to the Los Angeles Times, the list also includes a $391 Easter bunny costume, a $299 two-speed blender and a $12 lace thong. Donald Sterling's downfall came after an audio recording surfaced of the octogenarian arguing with Stiviano. In the tape, Sterling chastises Stiviano for posting pictures on social media of her posing with African-Americans, including basketball legend Magic Johnson. "In your lousy f**ing Instagrams, you don't have to have yourself with -- walking with black people," Sterling said in the audio first posted by TMZ. He also tells Stiviano not to bring Johnson to Clippers games and not to post photos with the Hall of Famer so Sterling's friends can see. "Admire him, bring him here, feed him, f**k him, but don't put (Magic) on an Instagram for the world to have to see so they have to call me," Sterling said. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver banned Sterling from the league, fined him $2.5 million and pushed through a charge to terminate all of his ownership rights in the franchise. Fact check: Donald Sterling's claims vs. reality CNN's Dottie Evans contributed to this report.
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burns, 64, died after his car hit a mailbox and a tree in cartersville, georgia state patrol spokesman said.
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Atlanta (CNN)Robert Lewis Burns Jr., the original drummer in Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, died Friday night in a car crash, a Georgia State Patrol spokesman said. Burns, 64, died after his car hit a mailbox and a tree in Cartersville, spokesman James Tallent said. No other cars were involved in the crash, which occurred shortly before midnight. "He was not restrained at the time of the crash," Tallent told CNN. The musician lived in northern Georgia. Burns was part of the genre-defining band's original lineup, which formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1965. Lead singer Ronnie Van Zant started Noble Five with Burns, guitarists Gary Rossington and Allen Collins and bassist Larry Junstrom in their hometown. It then made a name change in a reference to a high school gym teacher. Lynyrd Skynyrd changed members over the years as it produced rock anthems including "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Freebird." Burns left the band before its third studio album, "Nuthin Fancy," in 1975, "exhausted by touring," according to the band's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame biography. He was not involved in the 1977 plane crash that killed three members, including Van Zant. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. Lynyrd Skynyrd still tours with Rossington, the only original member still in the band. "Today I'm at a loss for words but I just remember Bob being a funny guy," Rossington said on the band's official Facebook page. "My heart goes out to his family and God bless him and them in this sad time. He was a great great drummer." People we've lost in 2015
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muhammadu buhari, 125, says the bus station is a bus that was waiting for the bus.
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Kano, Nigeria (CNN)An explosion late Thursday outside a bus station in the northeast Nigerian city of Gombe killed at least five people and injured more than a dozen others, witnesses said. The explosion outside the Bauchi Motor Park happened around 8:30 p.m. after a woman left her explosives-laden handbag near a bus filling up with passengers. The bus was heading to the central Nigerian city of Jos, 125 kilometers away. "There has been an explosion just outside the motor park and five people have been killed while more than 12 others have been seriously injured," said Adamu Saidu, an employee at the bus station. "Some of the injured have had their limbs blown off and one of them has had his eye gouged out," said Saidu, who was involved in the evacuation of the victims to a hospital. The woman pretended to be going to Jos and lingered around the bus, which was waiting to fill up with passengers, according to Falalu Tasiu, a grocer near the bus station. "The woman kept talking on the phone and dropped her bag beside the bus, pretending to be waiting for the bus to fill up," Tasiu said. "She moved towards shops overlooking the bus station as if she was going to buy something and disappeared. Moments later the bag exploded and set the bus on fire, killing five people and inujuring around 15 others," Tasiu said. Although no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, Boko Haram Islamists have repeatedly carried out suicide and bombing attacks on bus stations and markets in Gombe and other northern cities, making the group the main suspect. Boko Haram has in recent months been under sustained pressure from sweeping offensives from a four-nation regional alliance of Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon. The regional offensives have considerably weakened Boko Haram's capabilities, which has prompted the Islamists to resort to attacks on soft targets such as bus stations, markets and schools. The explosion was the first attack since Nigeria held its presidential election at the weekend, which was won by opposition candidate Muhammadu Buhari, who vowed to crush Boko Haram when he assumes office in late May.
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elephant conservation sits on 200 acres of land in rural florida.
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Polk City, Florida (CNN)If you drove by it, you wouldn't even know it's there. The Ringling Bros. Center for Elephant Conservation sits on 200 acres of land in rural central Florida, halfway between Orlando and Sarasota, off a nondescript country road. An armed security guard greets you at the entrance. After a short drive down a gravel road, you get the sense this is a special place. "You can walk around and you don't hear anything," said Kenneth Feld, who opened the center in 1995. "These elephants, they have these large feet and they travel silently through the fields. I think it's very peaceful." Twenty-nine elephants currently live here, and 13 more will join the group by 2018, after Ringling Bros. decided this year to stop using elephants in its traveling circus. "This was a decision that our family had discussed for quite some time," said Feld, chairman and CEO of Feld Entertainment, the company that owns Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey. The change comes after years of repeated criticism and lawsuits by animal rights groups. The ultimate decision to phase out the elephants, Feld said, is the result of the different laws regulating the use of the animals in each of the 115 cities the circus visits every year. "You can't operate any business, much less with animals, if you don't have consistency from city to city," Feld said. "It's a definite expense to be in litigation and to be fighting legislation, and there is a saying and it's been around for a long time: 'You can't fight city hall.' And we found that to be the case in this situation." The circus business has been a part of the Feld family since 1967, when Irvin Feld purchased Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey. When Irvin died in 1984, his son, Kenneth, took over. "This is a whole family affair," he said. "It's a family affair for our family but also for all the elephants." When the center opened 20 years ago, it housed fewer than 10 elephants. "It was a place for elephants to retire," Feld said. Today, the center houses elephants of all ages. "We have lots of different elephants, meaning males and females, youth elephants, older elephants, so it is a great place to study behavior," he said. The center is also focused on breeding the animals. Wendy Kiso, a research and conservation scientist, spends her days at an onsite lab, trying to figure out how to keep the species from going extinct. Part of her lab includes several tanks that "cryo-preserve" elephant sperm at negative-196 degrees. "We process the semen and we extend it in such a way that we can freeze it," Kiso said. "This is a genetic resource bank for Asian elephants." Twenty-six elephants have been born here, Feld said. Mike, the newest pachyderm to join the group, was born at the center's birthing barn nearly two years ago. "We have the largest and only sustainable herd of Asian elephants in the Western Hemisphere," Feld said. Caring for the elephants is no small task. Trudy Williams and her husband, Jim, spend their time taking care of the animals' daily needs. It takes the couple hours to bathe, walk and feed the elephants every day. "First thing in the morning, we water them, and give them some treats and feed them some hay," Williams said. Each elephant eats about 150 pounds of food a day. Twenty-one tons of hay usually lasts only 10 days at the center. Exercise is also part of the daily routine, including stretching. "We just do that a few times on each leg with them, just to give them a good stretch," Williams said."We do some footwork with them. All of our elephants, generally once a month, get a pedicure, just to make sure their feet are in good condition." All of this care isn't cheap. "Each elephant costs over $65,000 a year, per year, over all the years of their life," Feld said. "We're fortunate we're for profit. We do make a profit and we're a privately owned family business, and so we've made a decision we want to devote a lot of resources here." It's a price Feld said he's willing to pay to keep this species -- some varieties of which in Asia and Africa are endangered -- alive for generations to come. "I always say, it's sort of like Jurassic Park with a happy ending," Feld said. "We knew that if we didn't do something, maybe my grandchildren would never have the opportunity to see these incredible animals." CNN's Javier de Diego contributed to this report.
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a judge this week sentenced a former tsa agent to six months in jail for secretly videotaping a female co-worker while she was in the bathroom.
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(CNN)A judge this week sentenced a former TSA agent to six months in jail for secretly videotaping a female co-worker while she was in the bathroom, prosecutors said. During the investigation, detectives with the Metro Nashville Police Department in Tennessee also found that the agent, 33-year-old Daniel Boykin, entered the woman's home multiple times, where he took videos, photos and other data. Police found more than 90 videos and 1,500 photos of the victim on Boykin's phone and computer. The victim filed a complaint after seeing images of herself on his phone last year. Boykin plead guilty to unlawful photography, aggravated burglary and violation of the computer act, the Nashville District Attorney's Office said. Police said the incident happened in a TSA-only restroom, and that there was no evidence public restrooms were targeted. A TSA official tells CNN that Boykin worked in an administrative capacity and didn't engage in public security screening. Assistant District Attorney Amy Hunter said this case was one of the worst invasion of privacy cases she's seen. "We are thankful that the sentence includes periodic confinement so that the sentence will hopefully make an impression on this defendant and others," Hunter said in a statement. The judge, Randall Wyatt, on Friday called the invasion of privacy "egregious." His sentence also includes five and a half years of probation, which will include GPS monitoring. Boykin was terminated last year when the investigation began. "TSA holds its employees to the highest ethical standards and has zero tolerance for misconduct in the workplace," TSA's Ross Feinstein said in a statement.
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the debris is suspected to be from the earthquake and tsunami.
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(CNN)Those poor fish must have been wondering what the heck was happening to them. The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department has reported that a section of a fiberglass boat 20 or 30 feet long was spotted off the state's coast this week and has been towed into harbor. The debris is suspected to be from the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on March 11, 2011. The boat fragment was found this week and towed to Newport, Oregon, where it is moored at a marina. Inside were found -- more than four years and 4,000 miles later, if officials' suspicions are correct -- some specimens of a variety of yellowtail jack fish normally found in Japanese waters. Biologists with the Oregon Coast Aquarium and Oregon State University's Hatfield Marine Science Center inspected the debris while it was still at sea and determined that the ecological threat posed by invasive species was small. The remnants of the boat will be dried out, inspected further and taken to a landfill. But for the yellowtail jack fish, the journey is not over. They'll be taken to the Oregon Coast Aquarium.
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tsarnaev, who's accused of detonating a bomb at the 2013 boston marathon along with his now-deceased brother, faces the stiffest of penalties.
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(CNN)The nation's top stories will be unfolding Tuesday in courthouses and political arenas across the country. Massachusetts is hosting two of the highest-profile court trials in recent memory -- those of former New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez and Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Both lengthy trials are coming to a close. In Louisville, Kentucky, Sen. Rand Paul made the not-so-surprising announcement that he will run for president, while in Chicago, voters will head to the polls in a very surprising runoff between Mayor Rahm Emanuel and challenger Jesus "Chuy" Garcia. And in Ferguson, Missouri, the shadow of Michael Brown and the protests over his shooting by Officer Darren Wilson will loom large over the city's elections. Here's a breakdown of what to expect today and how we got here: Tsarnaev, who's accused of detonating a bomb at the 2013 Boston Marathon along with his now-deceased brother, faces the stiffest of penalties -- life in prison or the death penalty -- if he's found guilty on any of 17 capital counts against him, including setting off weapons of mass destruction at a public event as an act of terrorism. The 13th juror: What defense? On Monday, survivors and victims' families wept and Tsarnaev fidgeted at a defense table as jurors heard a prosecutor allege that the 21-year-old "brought terrorism into the backyards and main streets." The jury on Tuesday morning began what is expected to be a lengthy deliberation process on 30 total charges, before the so-called penalty phase, should he be found guilty on any counts. It took prosecutors months to present 131 witnesses to support their claim that Hernandez killed semi-pro player Odin Lloyd, yet on Monday, Hernandez's defense team wrapped up its witnesses in less than a day. Closing arguments are scheduled for Tuesday, and the jury will begin deliberations soon thereafter. Jurors in Fall River, Massachusetts, will be asked to decide if Hernandez is culpable in the shooting death of Lloyd, whose body was found in a Massachusetts industrial park in the summer of 2013. Much of the evidence against Hernandez is circumstantial, and among the facts the jury will be asked to take into consideration are New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft's testimony, the testimony of Hernandez's fiancee, some grainy footage from Hernandez's home security system and a footprint left by a Nike Air Jordan shoe. Hernandez known for swagger, even in court OK, sure, no one was floored when the Kentucky senator announced his bid for the Oval Office, but of course it was news when he made it official Tuesday. Paul is expected to hit the campaign trail visiting the all-important early voters in New Hampshire, South Carolina, Iowa and Nevada. The physician rode a wave of tea party popularity into the Senate in 2010, where he carefully built a brand of mainstream libertarianism, and he is banking on a coalition of younger voters and traditional Republicans to usher him into the White House. Paul and Sen. Ted Cruz are the only declared candidates for the GOP nomination, though the field will certainly grow and could include the likes of Florida's Jeb Bush, New Jersey's Chris Christie, Wisconsin's Scott Walker, South Carolina's Lindsey Graham and Florida's Marco Rubio. Would Rand be here without Ron? It's the Windy City's first runoff for a citywide office, and it's being billed as a battle for the "future of Chicago." In one corner, you have Emanuel, President Barack Obama's notoriously hard-charging former chief of staff, and in the other, you have Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, a county commissioner who has come to embody populist and liberal Democrats' frustrations with the Chicago incumbent. After Emanuel failed to snare half the vote in February's general election, he will go head-to-head with Garcia. The timing is interesting, too, as Easter, Passover and spring break appear to have spurred more than 142,000 early votes, up from about 90,000 before the first round of voting in February. Following Michael Brown's death, the national spotlight shone on Ferguson, particularly how the city's predominantly black population is woefully underrepresented in its police force and City Council. Yet with all the hubbub about the face of civic leadership, only four in 10 city residents hit the polls in November to cast ballots. Residents speak out ahead of vote Tuesday's election will bring change, no matter how the ballots are cast: Two black men are running for one of the open seats, and the current lone black council member isn't up for re-election. In another ward, two black women and two white men are vying for an open seat. And a white protester is running for a third post.
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a total of 429 sailors and marines on the ship were killed.
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(CNN)Remains of up to nearly 400 unaccounted for service members tied to the USS Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor will be exhumed this year, the Defense Department announced Tuesday. The hope is that most of the battleship's sailors and Marines can be identified. "The secretary of defense and I will work tirelessly to ensure your loved one's remains will be recovered, identified, and returned to you as expeditiously as possible, and we will do so with dignity, respect and care," Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work said in a statement. "While not all families will receive an individual identification, we will strive to provide resolution to as many families as possible." The USS Oklahoma sank when it was hit by torpedoes on December 7, 1941, during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. A total of 429 sailors and Marines on the ship were killed. Thirty-five crew members were positively identified and buried in the years immediately after the attack, according to the Defense Department. By 1950, all unidentified remains were laid to rest as unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. In 2003, five more service members were identified, with the help of historical evidence from Pearl Harbor survivor Ray Emory, 93. Emory, a native of Peoria, Illinois, was serving as a seaman first class on the light cruiser USS Honolulu that fateful day. After the war, Emory worked in Washington state before moving to Hawaii about 30 years ago. The retiree made it his mission to ensure graves are properly identified. "It's something I looked forward to for a long time," he told CNN about Tuesday's announcement. Speaking by phone from Honolulu, Emory said that proper identification means a lot to the families of those who lost loved ones -- and to him. Next of kin were being notified starting Tuesday. Service members who are identified will be returned to their families for burial, with full military honors. WWII pilot, 99, reunited with historic C-47 plane CNN's Phil Gast contributed to this report.
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the plane crashed march 24 in rugged terrain of the alps.
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Marseille, France (CNN)Investigators have collected all the main evidence from the site where Germanwings Flight 9525 crashed, a French national police official told CNN on Saturday. Investigators are not expected to return to the crash site, said Capt. Yves Naffrechoux of the High Mountain Gendarmerie. The plane crashed March 24 in rugged terrain of the Alps about 6 miles (10 kilometers) from the town of Seyne-les-Alpes. "All the police investigators have left the (Germanwings) crash site," he said. "There is only a private security company ensuring security around the crash site so that no one can go there." The security firm will guard the site until the remaining debris is collected and taken to secure locations for further analysis, if necessary, he said. The flight data recorder, or "black box," was found Thursday by a member of the recovery team. The cockpit voice recorder was found days after the crash. In addition, out of more than 2,000 DNA samples collected from the crash site, lab workers have isolated 150 DNA profiles, said Brice Robin, Marseilles prosecutor. The crash killed all 150 people on board. Brice Robin, Marseilles prosecutor, said authorities have found 470 personnel effects at the site. That number includes 40 cell phones, though all those were badly damaged. Robin cast doubt that any useful information could be retrieved from those phones, given their condition. Authorities say the flight's co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, locked the captain out of the cockpit and engineered the plane's demise. Initial tests on the flight data recorder show that Lubitz purposely used the controls to speed up the plane's descent, according to the French air accident investigation agency, the BEA. It also has emerged that Lubitz had battled depression years before he took the controls of Flight 9525 and that he had concealed from his employer recent medical leave notes saying he was unfit for work. Calls for crash avoidance technology CNN's Margot Haddad reported from Marseille, and Greg Botelho wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Laura Smith-Spark contributed to this report.
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the teens' mother, theresa devine, was treated at a hospital and released, and is in occupational therapy, maron said.
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(CNN)A Delaware father is in stable condition and improving as his two boys remain in critical condition after they became sick -- perhaps from pesticide exposure, federal officials say -- during a trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands. Steve Esmond, his teenage sons and the teens' mother fell ill more than two weeks ago in St. John, where they were renting a villa at the Sirenusa resort. The family has confidence in their medical professionals and is hopeful for a full recovery, according to a statement released Monday from the family's attorney, James Maron. The teens' mother, Theresa Devine, was treated at a hospital and released, and is in occupational therapy, Maron said. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Friday that the presence of a pesticide at the rented villa in St. John may have caused the illnesses, which were reported to the EPA on March 20. Paramedics were called to the villa, which the family was renting. Esmond was found unconscious; the boys and their mother were having seizures, Maron said. The lawyer did not say who called the paramedics. Elias Rodriguez, an EPA spokesman, said the agency's preliminary test results "do show that there was a presence of methyl bromide in the unit where the family was staying." Exposure to methyl bromide can result in serious health effects, including central nervous system and respiratory system damage, according to the EPA. The use of the pesticide is restricted in the United States because of its acute toxicity. It's not allowed to be used indoors. Only certified professionals are permitted to use it in certain agricultural settings. For example, the pesticide is injected into the soil of some U.S. strawberry fields, said Judith Enck, an EPA regional administrator. "We trust that the strawberry producers are making sure that there's not excess pesticide residue on strawberries," Enck said. "You definitely want to wash them really good. "This is a pesticide that's been around for a long time, and ironically because of its impact and damage to the ozone layer, it's being phased out because of the air impacts of this fumigant," Enck added. Field workers at a Connecticut nursery were poisoned by the chemical in 1990, according to the Journal of Industrial Medicine. In 2011, warehouse workers in California fell ill after exposed to grapes imported from Chile fumigated with methyl bromide, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent, said many parts of the world banned the chemical, a neurotoxin. The agent is to be used only outdoors. The chemical is also odorless and colorless, Gupta said. "It's not something that you would have any warning of," Gupta said. The chemical is often mixed with tear gas so people can be aware of its presence, he added. The EPA said it is working with local government agencies to investigate whether the family was made ill after a fumigation at the resort on March 18 and whether any environmental regulations or laws were violated. Enck, the EPA regional administrator, said paramedics were called early on March 20. Sea Glass Vacations, which acts as a rental agent for several units at Sirenusa, said the unit directly below the one where the family stayed was recently treated for pests, but that the family's unit was not treated. The company said it licensed an outside company, Terminix, for the pest control services. On Monday, it ended its contract with Terminix. In an email to CNN before the termination, a spokesman for Terminix wrote that the company is "committed to performing all work ... in a manner that is safe for our customers, employees, the public and the environment" and is "looking into this matter internally, and cooperating with authorities." The U.S. Department of Justice has initiated a criminal investigation. "Many questions remain why an odorless pesticide of this level of toxicity could be manufactured, distributed and applied in a residential area resulting in this family's injuries," Maron said. The attorney added: "The family is confident that the responsible parties will be brought to justice and held accountable." CNN's Rob Frehse, Jean Casarez, Sara Ganim, Jason Hanna, Laura Ly and Michael Martinez contributed to this report.
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after class, she eats boiled sweets, one after another - they are a cheap form of energy.
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Moscow (CNN)Joy Womack is taking part in her first ballet class of the day at the Kremlin Ballet Theatre, kicking her legs up to her head, jumping and spinning across the room. After class, she eats boiled sweets, one after another -- they are a cheap form of energy. The dancer, raised in California and Texas, left her parents and eight brothers and sisters behind when she arrived in Russia six years ago, aged 15, speaking no Russian. She studied at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy and was one of the first Americans accepted from the school into the company. But in 2013 she left under a cloud -- media reports suggested she had claimed she was asked by an unnamed Boshoi official to pay $10,000 to dance in even small roles. The Bolshoi still stands by comments made at the time by its general director, Vladimir Urin. He asked the dancer to make an official complaint and defend her position legally, saying the theatre was ready to assist the law enforcement agencies to investigate the case and that "if the facts are legally established, those responsible should be punished accordingly." The dancer did not pursue a case against the Bolshoi. When she left the Bolshoi in 2013, Womack joined the Kremlin Ballet Theatre where she still works, aged 20, as a principal ballerina; dancing close to the Russian president's office, next to the cathedrals inside the red walls of the Kremlin. The surroundings may be opulent but her pay packet is not: for her role as a principal dancer Womack says she is paid around $240 a month -- which works out at around $8 a day. The dancer says the amount of money she makes in dollars each month has fallen as the Russian ruble has weakened -- the currency has suffered, in part, from a low oil price and international sanctions imposed on Russia over its annexation of Crimea last year. Womack says a friend helps her with accommodation and she says she has to make the money stretch in order to buy food. "For anyone paid a salary in rubles, especially since the crisis, it is extremely difficult. You have to decide what is worth more for you - experience or financial stability. I'm at a point in my life where experience is worth more." Sitting in the wings of the stage, chatting in Russian to the other dancers and stretching before her rehearsal for Swan Lake, she says she has to make the $185 in her bank account last for the next few weeks. To earn extra money she dances bigger roles or takes part in events abroad. The Kremlin Ballet Theatre says Womack's salary corresponds to her job title as a principal dancer and that, "on average, the salary [principal] dancers are paid is significantly higher" than $240 a month but that Womack could have been paid that equivalent in dollars "depending on the exchange rate on the day and depending on how much she danced in productions the previous month." As an American, Womack says she is paid the same as her contemporaries and is treated just like the Russians. But she says that is not always the case offstage. "It's extremely difficult to watch the deteriorating relationships between the United States and Russia. The great thing about working for a Russian company is that we are focused on creating art but...outside the ballet world it is difficult for foreigners; the general tendency tends to be more nationalistic and they unfortunately judge foreigners by their cover." Although relations between the U.S. and Russia have taken a nosedive since Russia's annexation of Crimea last March, Womack says she is "very loyal" to the Kremlin Ballet Theatre. "I love the Russian system and I'm very patriotic in that sense," she says. And despite the political situation -- and the money -- she says, "Russia has a lot to offer, it is a beautiful place that creates stars and that itself is worth investing one's career in.
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he "grabbed her arms when she resisted," sources say.
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(CNN)Just as the agency begins to recover from a series of high-profile missteps, the Secret Service is facing yet another scandal. A female employee accused Xavier Morales, a supervisor within the agency, of assault after he made sexual advances at her, according to The Washington Post. "The woman told police and agency investigators that Morales, her boss, told her during the party at Capitol City Brewing Company that he was in love with her and would like to have sex with her," and later tried to kiss her in the office, according to a report from The Washington Post. During the incident, he "grabbed her arms when she resisted" and the two tussled until Morales gave up, sources told the paper. The Post reports that the March 31 party was in celebration of Morales' new assignment as head of the Louisville field office. A Secret Service spokesperson confirms that Morales was placed on administrative leave and his security clearance was suspended. This incident was first reported on April 2, and Secret Service Director Joe Clancy was briefed that afternoon. Clancy called the allegations "very disturbing." "Any threats or violence that endangers our employees in the workplace is unacceptable and will not be tolerated," he said in a statement. This is just the latest chapter for an organization embroiled in scandal over the past several months. Last month, two top-ranking officials were suspended following an incident at a White House command post during an investigation of a possible bomb. Clancy was not made aware of the episode until five days later. The agency has also faced scrutiny for another lapse in late January when a drone crash-landed on the White House lawn. Secret Service Director Julia Pierson resigned in September after a fence-jumper gained access to the East Room of the White House. Earlier in September, an armed security contractor was allowed to get into an elevator with President Barack Obama during a trip to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. An independent report released in December found that the Secret Service is stretched "beyond its limits," needing more training, more staff, and a director from outside its ranks. Clancy, who formally assumed the post in February, is a 27-year veteran of the agency. "It's going to take time to change some of this culture," Clancy said at a House Appropriations Committee hearing last month. "There's no excuse for this information not to come up the chain. That's going to take time because I'm going to have to build trust with our workforce." The incident will be further investigated by the Office of the Inspector General.
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