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CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) -- The woman who received the first-ever near-total face transplant in the United States told her doctor she has regained her self-confidence, said Dr. Maria Siemionow, head of plastic surgery research at the Cleveland Clinic and leader of the transplant team. This illustration represents the transformation of a patient who underwent a near-total face transplant in December. The patient, who prefers to be anonymous, is finally able to breathe through her nose, smell, eat solid foods and drink out of a cup, Siemionow told participants of the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago over the weekend. The complex surgery, a 22-hour procedure, took place in December at the Cleveland Clinic. The patient received her new face in one graft from a donor cadaver. "I believe this procedure is justified because you need a face to face the world," Siemionow said. Watch an animation of the face transplant » . The patient had previously "suffered severe facial trauma," the Cleveland Clinic said. She had no nose, right eye or upper jaw before the procedure, and could not smell or eat normally. People would call her names on the street, Siemionow said. The surgery gave the patient a nose with nasal lining, as well as a palate. This, combined with the olfactory receptors in the brain, gave the patient the ability to smell, Siemionow said. Social reincorporation is as important as the face transplant itself, Siemionow said. At this point, the patient doesn't want to face the "common world," but she is facing her family, the surgeon said. The patient said she is happy because when she puts her hands on her face, she feels a nose, Siemionow said. She can also taste a hamburger and pizza, and drink coffee from a cup, the "things we take for granted every day," Siemionow said. The patient also received lower eyelids, upper lip, skin, muscles, bone, hard palate, arteries, veins and nerves. As for the aesthetics of the new face, Siemionow suggested that restoring function was more important. "At this point, no one is really looking at beautification," she said. Siemionow, who has been working on face transplant research for 20 years, received approval from the Institutional Review Board in 2004 to conduct a full facial transplant. Only patients who had already exhausted all possible options for conventional repair were considered for the transplant, Siemionow said. Currently, cancer patients are not candidates for face transplants because transplant recipients must take immunosuppression drugs for life so that the body does not reject the donated tissue, Siemionow said. In the future, however, lifelong immunosuppression may not be required, she said. While burn damage is normally patched with pieces of excess skin from a person's own body, this does not work if the whole face needs to be covered -- the skin of the entire back is less than half of what would be needed to cover the full face and scalp, Siemionow said. Previously, three facial transplants had been completed -- two in France and one in China. The Chinese recipient, Li Guoxing, died in July of unknown causes, Guo Shuzhong, a doctor involved in the case, confirmed to CNN. One of the French face transplant recipients was a man who had a genetic disorder that created large tumors on his face. The other French patient had been bitten by a dog. The Chinese patient had been attacked by a bear. European news media recently reported that a surgeon in Spain received approval for another face transplant, which would be the fifth in the world. Researchers are also making headway into treatments for disorders that give rise to facial abnormalities, experts say. They are identifying genes that become mutated and cause the skull and facial features to become distorted. "We're moving into the arena where we can do medical treatment," Dr. Ethylin Jabs, professor of developmental and regenerative biology at Mount Sinai Medical School, said at the conference. One example is Treacher Collins syndrome, a condition found in one in every 50,000 births, which affects the development of bones and other tissues in the face. Scientists have determined that the gene TCOF1 is involved in the disorder, and research is ongoing into the precise function of this protein. By looking at the genetic underpinnings of disorders that lead to facial deformities, scientists can also understand what accounts for the normal differences in face and skull types. "These are going to be some of the genes that cause some of that variation," Jabs said.

Face transplant recipient can now eat solid foods, smell, breathe out of nose . The patient received her new face in one graft from a donor cadaver in December . Skin on surface of a person's back is not large enough to cover a face and scalp . Doctor: Social reincorporation is as important as the face transplant itself .

(CNN) -- Barcelona and Real Madrid have roared back to form ahead of next week's Champions League challenges, with the Spanish giants recording comfortable victories in La Liga on Saturday. Barca's title defense has been uncharactistically unconvincing so far, with last Tuesday's 2-2 draw with Valencia their second dropped points in four outings. But Pep Guardiola's team responded by crushing Atletico Madrid 5-0 on the day the club confirmed a historic five-year shirt sponsorship with a Qatari group and also banned smoking at the Camp Nou stadium. The Catalan club's financial problems have led members to accept 171 million euros ($230 million) from Qatar Sports Investment, with 697 out of 809 delegates voting to end a longstanding tradition of no commercial shirt endorsements. Having reported a loss of 9.3 million euros ($12 million) in 2010-11, the board has projected a 20.1 million euros ($27 million) profit for this season. Guardiola started with key defenders Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique on the bench against Atletico, ahead of Wednesday's Champions League trip to BATE Borisov of Belarus. The visitors' five-goal new striker Falcao was unable to take advantage -- but at the other end Argentine scoring machine Lionel Messi took his league tally to eight this season with a superb hat-trick. Tiago Mendes crashed an early shot off the Barca crossbar, but David Villa settled home nerves in the ninth minute and it was 2-0 six minutes later when Joao Miranda unluckily ricocheted a blocked shot from Messi into his own net. With rain pouring down, Messi notched his first of the night in typical style as he jinked into the box from the right flank and curled home at the near post in the 26th minute for his 190th goal in 278 games for Barca. Atletico held out until the final 12 minutes when Messi provided two more moments of solo artistry as Barca moved up to second in the table -- a point behind Real Betis, who travel to Getafe on Monday. The two-time world player of the year matched the efforts of Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who also netted a treble in the earlier 6-2 thrashing of Rayo Vallecano. Real's title challenge has also faltered, first with a 1-0 defeat by Levante and then the midweek 0-0 draw with Racing Santander, and Jose Mourinho's team suffered a horror start at home when Michu scored after just 14 seconds. Ronaldo leveled seven minutes before halftime after being set free on the counterattack by Kaka, and Gonzalo Higuain put Real ahead in injury-time with a simple finish after Sergio Ramos headed Xabi Alonso's freekick across the goal. Ronaldo made it 3-1 from the penalty spot when Kaka was fouled five minutes after the break, but Real were then reduced to 10 men when winger Angel Di Maria was sent off after being booked a second time for handball. Michu capitalized in the 54th minute with his second from a corner, stabbing a shot across the line despite keeper Iker Casillas' best efforts to drag it back out. Teenage defender Raphael Varane made it 4-2 in the 67th minute, with the 18-year-old Frenchman somehow volleying in a corner with the back of his foot. Karim Benzema drove in Real's fifth on 73 after a square pass from fellow substitute Mesut Ozil, whose first-half introduction in place of Lassana Diarra swung the match in Madrid's favor. Ronaldo completed his second hat-trick this season with six minutes to play, chipping in a penalty after being fouled. Real's third win in five outings lifted Mourinho's men into fourth place ahead of Tuesday's Champions League visit by Dutch side Ajax. In Saturday's other games, third-placed Sevilla joined Barcelona on 11 points with a 1-0 win at home to Valencia as striker Fredi Kanoute scored the only goal in the 18th minute. Valencia dropped to fifth behind Real Madrid on goal difference. Athletic Bilbao moved out of the bottom three with a 1-1 draw at home to Villarreal, with Brazilian striker Nilmar netting a second-half equalizer for the visitors.

Barcelona move up to second in Spain with 5-0 win at home to Atletico Madrid . Lionel Messi scores a hat-trick to take his tally to eight league goals this season . Cristiano Ronaldo also nets treble as 10-man Real Madrid triumph 6-2 . Sevilla claim third place above Real with 1-0 victory over Valencia .

London, England (CNN) -- Running a technology news site based in South Africa that focuses on tech news from Africa and Emerging Markets it's to be expected that I am a little attached to the region. According to a Mckinsey report ICT spend in Sub-Saharan Africa is approximately $70 billion and will nearly double by 2015. There is also no doubt Africa is on fire right now when it comes to being at the forefront of innovation in mobile (which is where the future of the web lies) with hubs in Kenya and Nigeria. Read more: How mobile broadband can transform Africa . So naturally when the "all star entrepreneur" panel took the LeWeb stage, I asked: "So are any of you investing in Africa?" The panel: "No". No? why not? TechCrunch founder and former editor Michael Arrington says it's because he hasn't been pitched anything from Africa. The rest of the panel, included: YouTube founder Chad Hurley, Digg founder Kevin Rose, and Skype founder, Niklas Zennström. LeWeb is an event that champions the next stage in our online evolution and yet there seems to be very little African presence or discussion around the future of the web there. More: 10 African tech voices to follow on Twitter . More and more are accessing content on their mobile devices, because let's face it, this is where the world is heading. As Africans we arrived late to the internet party and most of the cool innovative party favors were gone. But we are hungry for access and content. Hence the huge potential in Africa for mobile app creators and companies that rely in the mobile space. Few of the companies presenting at LeWeb seems to have a focus in Africa, they seem intent on conquering the European market. Yes some want to conquer China and the rest of Asia too. But why are they ignoring Africa? What did we do? A few questions immediately come to mind. Is it a case of access? Internet penetration? Access . Is that still a major issue? According to the head of GSMA, there are 695 million mobile subscriptions in Africa and it is predicted to hit 735 million by the end of 2012. The most common mobile device in southern parts of Africa is the Samsung E250 and it can access the web. More than 5% of Sub-Saharan Africans own the Nokia N73, according to researchers at TNS Global. Mobile penetration in Africa is about 70% or so. Access? Done. Read more: Mobile phone: Weapon against global poverty . Internet Penetration . According to research from Internet World Stats, Africa still has the world's lowest internet penetration rate at 13.5%. Not an attractive figure for potential investors maybe? No, it says there is huge potential for growth. That figure says that there is an 86.5% growth potential if we want to add numbers to it. Low internet doesn't mean a deadzone. Africa is moving on quite swiftly then. There are companies such as Google, that recognize this growth potential in Africa and they are beginning to invest in the continent. Google has launched the Umbono project in South Africa and Tahrir2 in Egypt. Read more: Humans, lose your cyberphobia . I suppose the argument could be that LeWeb isn't focused on Africa because it is designed for Europe and how technology is shaping the continent. Maybe, but most of the speakers are from the USA. All are innovating in various ways true but there are equally innovative and quite frankly more useful products coming out of Africa. Where are the speakers from Africa? Someone from Ushahidi for instance should be here. The non-profit software company that develops open source software for information collection, visualization and interactive mapping. Surely it has more to say about the innovative use of technology than Path. Then there is innovation in social and communication companies such as Mxit, which is a mobile communication platform across all types of devices, and if you listen to its new CEO Alan Knott-Craig Jnr, it is well on its way to "conquering the African market". This particular conference is backed by government. That signals something important: European government cares about innovation in tech and perhaps innovating with it. Take note here African governments. When I bumped into Michael Arrington before his session he seemed to think there isn't much Africa can do for his fund. He also seems to think there is a security issue in Africa. Can this really still be the notion that Africa has nothing to offer when it comes to the web and how we are evolving? Take a trip to Cape Town, Lagos and Nairobi or attend an Africa Gathering event, which champions African tech growth, and see how wrong you are. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Michelle Atagana.

Africa is on fire right now when it comes to be at the forefront of innovation in mobile . Africa has a huge potential for mobile app creators and companies that rely in the mobile space . There are 695 million mobile subscriptions in Africa and it is predicted to hit 735 million by the end of 2012 .

(CNN) -- Real Madrid shot to the top of La Liga on Saturday night after they won and their city rivals Atletico suffered a shock loss at Almeria. Diego Simeone's side surrender first place on goal difference following a four-goal swing on Saturday night as Real Madrid beat Villarreal 4-2 and Atletico lost 2-0. Relegation-threatened Almeria scored twice in the last 10 minutes to seal an unlikely victory with both goals coming courtesy of midfielder Verza -- the second from the penalty spot after Atletico goalkeeper Daniel Aranzubia saw red. Carlo Ancelotti's side had a more routine evening at the Bernabeu in large part thanks to Gareth Bale. With Cristiano Ronaldo serving the first game of a three-match suspension after being sent off last weekend, it was left to the Bale, who returned to action after missing the three previous games with a calf injury, to guide Los Blancos to three points. The Welsh international put Real ahead in the seventh minute, seizing on a mistake by center back Chechu Dorado before chipping the ball home past goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo to score his 11th goal of the season. Eighteen minutes later, Bale turned provider with a cross from the right which was met by Karim Benzema who doubled the lead. The visitors put themselves back in the game two minutes before the break with a superb strike from Mario Gaspar, but Madrid settled supporter's nerves by re-establishing a two-goal lead in the 64th minute -- 20-year-old striker Jese providing the finish. Back came Villarreal five minutes later with a Giovani Dos Santos free kick which set up what could have been a nervous last 20 minutes for the home side, but the game was put to bed by Benzema with his second of the night in the 76th minute. The results give both Real and Atletico 57 points from 23 games but with Real shading the goal difference by one (plus 41 goals versus plus 40). Elsewhere in La Liga, Rayo Vallecano recorded a resounding 4-1 win over Malaga to lift the second-from-bottom side level on 20 points with 18th place Valladolid who play Elche on Sunday. Valencia moved up to eighth with an even more emphatic win following their brilliant 3-2 win at the Nou Camp last weekend. A 5-0 drubbing of bottom side Betis Sevilla means Juan Antonio Pizzi's side are now level on 31 points with Sevilla who will be hoping they can repeat Valencia's trick when they host Barcelona on Sunday evening. Over in Italy, there were wins for all three home sides on Saturday. Third-place Napoli were 3-1 winners over AC Milan who remain in 10th place. Fourth-place Fiorentina beat Atalanta 2-0 while Udinese beat ChievoVerona 3-0. Leaders Juventus travel to Hellas Verona on Sunday while second-place Roma will face local rivals Lazio in the Stadio Olimpico. Donetsk mourns Maicon . A busy day of European football was marred by tragedy off the pitch as Shakhtar Donetsk announced their Brazilian striker Maicon Pereira de Oliveira had been killed in a car accident. A statement published on the club's website read: "FC Shakhtar regretfully informs that on 8 February 2014 the life of a footballer Maicon Pereira de Oliveira tragically ended. He died in a car crash in Donetsk." "He was a talented footballer, open and friendly guy. Maicon loved life and knew how to make it positive and bright. Tragic, untimely and absurd death took away a wonderful person from our ranks. Maicon was only 25 years old. "It is a terrible bereavement for each of us. FC Shakhtar expresses condolences and sympathy to Maicon's family and friends. May he rest in peace..." Maicon joined the Ukrainian champions from Volyn Lutsk in 2012 and made six appearances. At the time of his death he was on loan to fellow Ukrainian side Illichivets Mariupol. Shakhtar captain Darijo Srna said: "I have no words. We have lost a very good man, a friend, a colleague, a friend. This is a difficult and tragic moment in the life of Shakhtar and its fans." Read more: Liverpool hammer Arsenal . Read more: Bayern Munich march on .

Gareth Bale scores in 4-2 win against Villarreal at the Bernabeu . Atletico slump to 2-0 defeat at Almeria and drop to second on goal difference . Shakhtar Donetsk's announce death of Brazilian striker Maicon . 25-year-old killed in a car crash in Donetsk, says a club statement .

(CNN) -- As last night's Republican presidential debate over national security issues demonstrated, credibility is crucial to winning a debate. Think of credibility like money you have in a bank. Each time you stretch it thin, you have less the next time you might need it. It is your own personal bank of believability. Knowing your arguments and facts is one way to gain credibility. Mitt Romney fattened his credibility bank account at the expense of Rick Perry, who supported a no fly zone over Syria. Romney argued that a no fly zone over Syria would be pointless since the Syrian government has 5,000 tanks. Romney jokingly said it would make more sense to impose a "no drive zone." Jon Huntsman made a similar deposit when he stated that sanctions on Iran would not work since "the Chinese aren't going to play ball and the Russians aren't going to play ball," and Iran has already decided to go nuclear. Huntsman's cited the examples of Libya (which gave up its nuclear ambition, and later the government was overthrown with the help of the United States) and North Korea (which has tested nuclear weapons and whose government is still in power.) Another way to maintain credibility is to cite proof for your arguments. Michele Bachmann has said things in previous debates (President Obama wants Medicare to collapse) and in last night's debate (suggesting that the CIA cannot interrogate terrorist suspects any longer because the ACLU is in charge) that were not very credible. These frequent ATM withdrawals hurt Bachmann because a lack of believability spills over. Her disagreement with Rick Perry about whether to give aid to Pakistan should have been an excellent point for her. She showcased her knowledge of the subject, saying that we exchange intelligence information and the United States must have our interest represented. Bachmann called Pakistan "too nuclear to fail," and chastised Perry for being naïve when he said he would not give Pakistan one penny until it proved it had America's best interests in mind. This was a terrific answer that warranted applause because it was thoughtful, logical and well reasoned. What did she get? Crickets. Why? Because her believability bank is in the red. Ron Paul is an enigma. He can provide such thoughtful answers at one time and later interject completely unsubstantiated statements. He was banking responsibly with his argument that the war on drugs was a failure and a reason for much of the violence in Mexico. Paul reminded us that prescription drugs kill many more people than illegal drugs do and that alcohol is a deadly drug. Paul's argument was factually accurate, even if unpopular with many conservatives. But then Paul writes an overdraft with moderate Republicans by saying things like aid to Africa for malaria or AIDS prevention is "all worthless." Paul hit the daily double. Unpopular answer? Check. Wrong on facts? Check. There are countless examples of disease prevention aid being effective. Could aid be more effective? Sure. But that was not Paul's answer. He simply asserted that aid is worthless, but he had no proof. Answering questions with non-answers simply isn't credible. For example, Herman Cain twice last night reached into a very old bag of tricks to answer questions with the standard "I'd consult the experts" line. Actually, he originally answered a question about terrorist profiling with his support of "targeted identification." But when asked a follow-up not 20 seconds later, he retreated by saying he would "ask the professionals." Nothing hurts your credibility worse than flip-flopping on the same question and diving into a non-answer. Cain's bank account is probably under a thousand dollars. But that still leaves him 999. Finally, to save credibility, you should be prepared to defend your position when giving a potentially unpopular answer. Newt Gingrich had two answers that the conservative wing of his party might not like, but he defended them well. Gingrich said it was possible to cut some of the military because, "If it takes 15 to 20 years to build a weapons system when Apple changes technology every nine months, there's something profoundly wrong with the system." And Gingrich went against the Republican current when he stated that some long-term illegal immigrants should be allowed to stay legally, but without citizenship, in the United States. Romney and others said giving amnesty would be a magnet for more people to come illegally to the United States. Gingrich said we should be humane, and he was ready to take the heat for his stance. Gingrich has enough credibility banked because of his stances on other issues that he was able to withstand the criticism on this one. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Todd Graham.

Todd Graham: Key currency in debates is your stock of credibility . He says Mitt Romney, Jon Huntsman added to their credibility . Credibility of Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Herman Cain running low, he says . Graham: Newt Gingrich successfully defended unpopular stances .

Oxford, England (CNN) -- WikiLeaks.org, the website that released secret video of a U.S. airstrike in Iraq that killed a dozen civilians, is "getting an enormous quantity of whistle-blower disclosures of high caliber," the site's founder, Julian Assange, said Friday in a rare public appearance here. Speaking at the TED Global conference, Assange said that "we are overwhelmed by our growth" and the site can't keep up with the volume of the new material because it doesn't have enough people to verify it. He later told reporters that "there are many things which are very explosive." Assange said the organization gets material from whistle-blowers in a variety of ways -- including via postal mail -- vets it, releases it to the public and then defends itself against "the regular political or legal attack." He said the organization rarely knows the identity of the source of the leak. "If we find out at some stage, we destroy that information as soon as possible," he said. Pfc. Bradley E. Manning, 22, of Potomac, Maryland, has been charged with eight violations of the U.S. Criminal Code for allegedly illegally transferring classified data, including the video that wound up on WikiLeaks. He has been accused of "wrongfully introducing a classified video of a military operation filmed at or near Baghdad, Iraq" around July 12, 2007, "onto his personal computer, a non-secure information system." Assange said at a news conference that Manning "is a political prisoner being held in the nation of Kuwait, effectively keeping him away from the press and effective legal representation." He said WikiLeaks is providing legal assistance to Manning without saying if he was the source of the video. "Obviously, we cannot pick and choose," said Assange, adding that the site has to defend everyone who faces serious charges as a result of material posted on WikiLeaks. The video shows aerial footage of an attack by a U.S. Apache helicopter that killed civilians, including two journalists from the Reuters news service. WikiLeaks posted it in April. The site said the video "clearly shows the unprovoked slaying of a wounded Reuters employee and his rescuers." Asked to respond to Assange's assertion that Manning is a "political prisoner," Pentagon spokesman Col. David Lapan told CNN that Manning is "accused of committing serious offenses. He has been charged under the Uniform Code of Military Justice and will be processed by normal procedures through the military justice system." U.S. military authorities have warned that the publication of classified documents on WikiLeaks could aid in the planning of terrorist attacks and harm national security. At the Oxford event, Assange said, "Remember the people in Baghdad, the people in Iraq, the people in Afghanistan, they don't need to see the video. They see it every day." He said the site's hope is that such video "will change the perception of the people who are paying" for the war. Assange denied reports that WikiLeaks had received hundreds of thousands of classified U.S. cables in addition to the Iraq video. He said the site would have released the cables if it had received them. Assange said some information, including a patient's medical records, should legitimately be kept secret. But he said WikiLeaks's practice of revealing information from whistle-blowers follows the traditions of journalism. The fact that governments and organizations spend money to keep this information secret, Assange said, is a good indication that releasing the information can achieve reform. The 39-year-old Assange, who has gray hair swept back behind his ears, noted that WikiLeaks operates in several countries, including Iceland and Sweden, where, he said, laws give protection to the disclosures made on the site. He said he had to cancel three public appearances in the United States, including one at the June conference of Investigative Reporters and Editors in Las Vegas, Nevada, because of "unreasonable" statements by U.S. officials in private that they "may not follow the rule of law" in dealing with him. "I received advice from figures like [investigative reporter] Sy Hersh to exercise caution," Assange said, adding that U.S. officials have now adopted a "reasonable" attitude in private. Assange was interviewed by Chris Anderson, curator of TED, the nonprofit that ran the conference. He asked the audience for a show of hands as to whether he was a hero or a "dangerous troublemaker." The vast majority signaled that they viewed him as a hero. CNN's Mike Mount and Alan Silverleib contributed to this report.

NEW: Pentagon says Pfc. Bradley E. Manning is accused of "serious offenses" WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange: Site getting a number of whistle-blower disclosures . Assange: Manning is a "political prisoner" Assange says he has canceled U.S. appearances due to security concerns .

Washington (CNN) -- The FBI attained "actionable intelligence" from bombing suspect Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab in the first hours after his arrest on Christmas Day, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday. "AbdulMutallab spent a number of hours with FBI investigators in which we gleaned useable, actionable intelligence," Gibbs told reporters. According to authorities, Nigerian-born AbdulMutallab tried to detonate explosives hidden in his underwear as a flight from Amsterdam, Netherlands, made its final approach to Detroit, Michigan, December 25. The device failed to fully detonate, instead setting off a fire at the man's seat. Gibbs declined to elaborate on the nature of the intelligence. AbdulMutallab, 23, has been tied to the Yemen-based group al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. In a statement to reporters after meeting with his national security team, President Obama said U.S. officials had enough information in their possession before the failed bombing attack to have prevented the suspect from getting on the plane, but had been unable to "connect the dots." Obama said he could accept the imperfect nature of intelligence work, "but it is increasingly clear that intelligence was not fully analyzed or fully leveraged," he said, adding: "That's not acceptable, and I will not tolerate it." "Time and again we've learned that quickly piecing together information and taking swift action is critical to staying one step ahead of a nimble adversary," Obama said. "So we have to do better, and we will do better, and we have to do it quickly. American lives are on the line." In one step, senior State Department officials told CNN on Tuesday that new criteria for information collected on possible terrorists would make it easier to ban them from U.S.-bound flights. Speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the material, the officials said the United States has lowered the threshold for information considered important enough to put suspicious individuals on a no-fly list or revoke their visas. If the new criteria had been in place before Christmas, AbdulMutallab would have been added to the no-fly list, the officials said. AbdulMutallab is being held at the Federal Correctional Institution in Milan, Michigan, where he's still being treated for the burn injuries he received in the failed bombing. He faces charges of attempting to destroy an aircraft, and will face his first court hearings Friday. The suspect apparently arrived in Amsterdam already carrying the explosives he planned to use, Dutch prosecutors said Tuesday. "The suspect traveled through Ghana before he arrived via Lagos [Nigeria] at Schiphol," prosecutors said, referring to the airport where AbdulMutallab boarded the flight to Detroit. "So far, it seems he already had the explosives with him before he landed at Schiphol." Also Tuesday, British officials announced that London's Heathrow Airport will introduce more body scanners within weeks, and that all British airports must have equipment to detect explosives by the end of the year. British Home Secretary Alan Johnson said the British government had no evidence AbdulMutallab had been planning an attack. Johnson added that British authorities were directing airports to carry out more random searches of passengers because metal detectors cannot spot explosives without metal parts. Last week, Obama blamed human error and security lapses for the failure by officials to act on information that AbdulMutallab was a possible terrorist threat. He had a valid multiple-entry U.S. visa. His father, a leading banker in Nigeria, had warned U.S. authorities before the attack that his son might be involved with Islamic extremists, but the information failed to prompt a response such as canceling the visa. Tuesday's White House meetings were held just hours after the United States reopened its embassy in Yemen. It's believed that AbdulMutallab may have received training in Yemen from the group al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The United States' decision to close the embassy came after intelligence suggested that four al Qaeda operatives could have been planning an attack on the compound, a senior administration official said Monday. A statement posted on the Embassy's Web site said "successful counter-terrorism operations" conducted by Yemeni security forces Monday north of the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, addressed "a specific area of concern and have contributed to the Embassy's decision to resume operations." Yemen's state-run news agency, SABA, reported Monday that two al Qaeda suspects were killed and two others were injured in clashes with a Yemeni anti-terrorism unit. CNN's Dan Lothian and Suzanne Malveaux in Washington, Per Nyberg in London, England, and Christian Purefoy in Lagos, Nigeria, contributed to this report.

White House press secretary: Suspect gave FBI "actionable intelligence" Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab has been linked with al Qaeda group . Dutch authorities: Suspect apparently arrived already carrying explosives . British officials: Heathrow to introduce more body scanners within weeks .

(CNN) -- Forests in the Pacific Northwest are dying twice as fast as they were 17 years ago, and scientists blame warming temperatures for the trend, according to a new study. This photo of Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado shows dying pines and firs among healthy trees. The study, to be released Friday in the journal Science, is the first large-scale analysis of environmental changes as contributing factors in the mortality of coniferous forests. The data for this research was gathered by generations of scientists over a 50-year period at multiple sites in Oregon, Washington, California, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and southwestern British Columbia. Seventy-six forest plots, all more than 200 years old, were monitored by scientists doing some of the most rudimentary research -- counting trees. "It's not a happy story, but, an important one," said Phillip van Mantgem, a research ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey and the lead author of the study. "These are beautiful places. They do change and respond to their environment, sometimes quickly." "If in your hometown where you live, the death rates of your friends and neighbors doubled and there are no compensating birth rates, wouldn't you want to figure out what's going on?" said Nathan Stephenson, research ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey and one of the authors of the report. The study primarily focused on three types of coniferous trees: pines, firs and hemlocks. Older-growth forests -- some up to 500 years old -- have trees of all ages, and researchers found that mortality rates have increased for all age groups. Since mortality rates went up across the board, scientists ruled out a number of other possible causes, including ozone-related air pollution, long-term effects of fire suppression and normal forest dynamics. In the end, California had the highest tree death rate. Of the three types of coniferous trees studied, pines were found to be dying at the fastest rate. Ultimately, higher tree mortality may lead to significant shifts in forest structure and function, the report states. "Much of the world's population in North America, Europe, most of China and large portions of Russia live near temperate forests, so what happens in these forests has global importance," said Jerry Franklin, a professor of forest resources at the University of Washington whose work was instrumental in maintaining the research plots. "My guess is that forest loss has the potential to greatly exceed forest establishment," he added. The new findings concern scientists who see the study as further confirmation of the harmful effects of climate change on ecosystems. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a scientific intergovernmental body, concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are now at their highest levels for at least 650,000 years. Scientists on the panel say the increase began with the birth of the Industrial Revolution 250 years ago. The new research also suggests that as trees die, they actually emit more carbon than they absorb. Trees are key players in regulating climate because they convert carbon dioxide, which they store in their trunks and roots, to oxygen. Changes in climatic conditions or various diseases can cause the gradual dying of plant shoots. "The concern here is that these might be early warning signs of dieback," said Stephenson. Some scientists say that tree species unable to tolerate warmer conditions might just re-establish themselves in cooler areas. Given the speed at which warming appears to be occurring, it's not clear whether tree species will be able to migrate fast enough to survive, said van Mantgem of the U.S. Geological Survey. "Warmer temperatures cause earlier summer droughts, less snow pack, and cause ideal breeding grounds for invasive species and pathogens," he added. "One hypothesis is that warmer climates can make it easier for invasive species to reproduce and grow in these temperate forests. If the trees are already under a lot of environmental stress, they are more prone to serious insect attack," he said. Scientists say forests in the Western U.S. have been increasingly damaged in recent years by invasive insect species such as the bark beetle -- a sign that rising temperatures are having an adverse effect. Bark beetles are known to attack trees already weakened by other environmental factors. "Many of these beetles cannot survive in cold temperatures, and it's getting warmer," said Tim Barnett, a ­research marine physicist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. Barnett authored a research paper linking drought conditions in the American West to increased human activity. "It is perfectly reasonable to assume that this problem is going to get worse, not better," he said.

Forests in the Pacific Northwest are dying twice as fast as they were 17 years ago . Scientists blame warming temperatures for the trend, according to a new study . Data was gathered over a 50-year period at sites in the Western U.S. and Canada . Scientists: study confirms the harmful effects of rising temperatures on ecosystems .

London (CNN) -- Sub-zero temperatures continued to keep eastern Europe in their grip Wednesday, leading to the deaths of 31 people in Ukraine so far, emergency officials there said. For several days, unusually cold weather and snow have slammed Eastern Europe, as well as other parts of Europe and central and western Turkey. CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller said the heart of the cold air was still centered over Eastern Europe Wednesday, including Russia, Romania, Belarus and Poland as well as Ukraine, with temperatures generally a couple of degrees lower Wednesday than the day before. The Romanian capital, Bucharest, saw a low of -23 degrees Celsius (-9.4 degrees Fahrenheit) early Wednesday, compared with an average low of -4 degrees Celsius (25 degrees Fahrenheit) at this time of year. Ukraine's capital, Kiev, was shivering at -22 degrees Celsius (-7.6 degree Fahrenheit), with the mercury expected to drop to -31 degrees Celsius (-23.8 degree Fahrenheit) during the night. Most of the dead in Ukraine were homeless but some people died in their homes, the country's Emergencies Ministry said. The death toll has risen sharply since two days ago, the ministry said. Almost 700 people have also been hospitalized with injuries related to the freeze. In several regions of Ukraine, including Kiev, entire housing complexes have been left without electricity or heating because of power failures. Schools are likely to close Thursday as temperatures are expected to drop below -24 degrees Celsius (-11.2 degrees Fahrenheit), officials said. The Emergencies Ministry is doing everything possible to combat the weather and has set up 1,600 heating centers across the country to assist people without power or heating, it said. Temperatures could drop at the weekend to -30 degrees Celsius (-22 degrees Fahrenheit) in the daytime, the ministry warned. The health ministry said most of the deaths had occurred in eastern Ukraine, in the city of Donetsk and adjacent towns and villages. In Poland, five people died overnight, taking the total number of deaths to 15 since the icy weather rolled in Friday, the publicly-funded Polish Radio's news website reported Wednesday. Most of those who died were homeless. Elsewhere, the bad weather was blamed for the sinking of a cargo ship carrying scrap metal off Turkey's Black Sea coast late Tuesday. Divers, helicopters and coast guard ships have been scrambled in an effort to find eight missing crew members from the Cambodian-flagged ship Vera. In Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, the municipality mobilized nearly 2,600 personnel and more than 870 vehicles to try to keep roads open, as snow reached depths of up to 38 centimeters (1.2 feet). The unusual snowfall forced the cancellation and delay of scores of flights, as visibility was occasionally reduced to less than 50 meters (164 feet) mid-morning Wednesday. Istanbul also suspended its high-speed sea bus service, which ferries passengers up and down the Bosphorus Strait and stretches of the Marmara Sea. According to the Istanbul municipality's website, at least 378 homeless citizens have been brought to shelters and hotels to escape the freezing temperatures. One man died when he fell in a well that was covered by snow moments after having his photo taken in the record snow, the mayor's office said. More snow and bitter cold temperatures are expected Thursday from Edirne to Istanbul, with the heaviest snowfall expected in the Marmara region. Turkey's cold spell is forecast to ease Friday. The cold air also pushed westward Wednesday, with Paris dipping to -5 degrees Celsius (23 degrees Fahrenheit). The French capital may not top the freezing mark until the middle of next week, said Miller. In Italy, several professional soccer matches have been canceled or postponed due to the icy weather, according to Italy's ANSA news agency. One weather-related death, that of a one-year-old child trapped in a car swept into a gully, has been reported in Siracusa, Sicily, the news agency said. The cold will not loosen its grip on most of continental Europe until next week, Miller said, although parts of southeastern Europe and the Balkans could see temperatures begin to moderate on Friday as a result of a low pressure system moving in from the Mediterranean Sea. This system will also dump heavy snowfall in the Balkans, mirroring the recent snow storm which ushered in the cold blast for many locations in southeast Europe. Journalist Alexey Yaroshevsky and CNN's Talia Kayali, Laura Smith-Spark and Theo Nikolaou contributed to this report.

The heart of the cold air is centered over Eastern Europe, a CNN meteorologist says . More than 30 people have died as a result of the cold in Ukraine, officials say . Even colder weather and heavy snow are forecast later this week for some areas . The icy conditions are spreading westward across Europe .

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- It has been almost two weeks since Eman al-Obeidy burst into our hotel in Tripoli, desperate for the world to hear her story of rape and torture. We had been trying since then to interview her in person and were finally able to speak to her Wednesday, against the explicit wishes of the Libyan government. "You should not be allowed to do this," government spokesman Musa Ibrahim told me. The interview with al-Obeidy was facilitated by Gadhafi's son Saadi and was subject to a government review. We asked al-Obeidy if she would be willing to come to Saadi Gadhafi's office. She agreed and Gadhafi sent a car to pick her up. She and Gadhafi met privately before our interview, the first time the two had met. Gadhafi appeared shocked afterward. He commented on her strong character and willingness to challenge him when they disagreed. He and his press assistant sat in on the 30-minute CNN meeting. Some of the time, we were alone with her. She came dressed in ornate black robes and with her head covered. She called herself an ordinary citizen, a good Muslim who is conservative in her social outlook. She spoke with clarity and exuded strength through the conversation, adamant about clearing her name she said Libyan state media had smeared. "Everything they said about me is a lie," she said. "I am well-educated unlike the way the Libyan TV portrayed me. I come from a good family, regardless of what they said, I am also not mentally challenged like they said. Just because I raised my voice and talked to the media they blamed me and questioned my sanity. Nonetheless, I want my rights, even without the media." She spoke of her abduction, of how she was taken to one of the residences of Moammar Gadhafi's soldiers. They were drunk, she said. They tied her up, beat and raped her. Her bruises had faded, but I could still the see the evidence of her agony around her wrists. She said in the height of her trauma, she took pictures with the camera on her mobile phone, lest people should not believe her later. "People have blamed me for showing my body," she said. "I was depressed and there was no way to show people how I was tortured. I was brutally tortured to the point of them entering weapons inside me. They would also pour alcohol in my eyes." She said the men who tortured her are still free, without punishment. Later Saadi Gadhafi told me: "The people responsible for raping her should face charges. She is a strong woman." Al-Obeidy, a law school graduate, spoke her mind in Gadhafi's presence and gave no indication that she was intimidated by him, even when she accused the Libyan authorities of lawlessness, brutality and lies. "I wanted to defend myself because they did not even give me the right to respond," she said. That Saturday, when she tried to speak to journalists at the Rixos Hotel, she was dragged off the property. She was beaten and thrown in jail. Her phone was confiscated. At one point, al-Obeidy told her fellow citizens in eastern Libya and the besieged western city of Misrata to be strong. After the interview was over, Gadhafi objected to that line. Al-Obeidy agreed to Gadhafi's request that it be cut from the video, but only with full disclosure that those 10 seconds had been removed. Ibrahim, the government spokesman, reviewed my interview and objected to its tone, to the questions I asked and to the overall content. But Saadi Gadhafi overruled his objections. We were asked not to broadcast the interview until another government representative was able to look at it. At the insistence of the Libyan government, we delayed transmission of the video for 18 hours, waiting for word. But the review never came and in the end we were cleared to air almost all of al-Obeidy's words with the exception of the 10 seconds that she agreed to cut. She was thankful for Saadi Gadhafi's efforts to make the interview happen. "He was a humble and understanding man, and he treated me well," she told me. "He said that he will take my case and help me." She had asked for three things -- that she be allowed to clear her name, that her abusers are prosecuted and that she be reunited with her family in the eastern city of Tobruk. Al-Obeidy took the first steps to getting one of her wishes. She is counting on Saadi Gadhafi to help her with the other two.

Saadi Gadhafi sent a car to bring Eman al-Obeidy to his office . Al-Obeidy is not intimidated by his presence, calls him a humble man . She says she wants to clear her name, smeared on state TV . Story of rape and torture became known after she burst into a Tripoli hotel .

Casablanca, Morocco (CNN) -- Morocco's Facebook youth movement Fevrier 20 has called on civil society groups the length of the country to participate in a nationwide demonstration Sunday. The youth group's main aim is to draw massive attention to the subject of corruption in this North African country, which was recently ranked at the 89th most corrupt in the world by Transparency International. Despite a government initiative to crack down on corruption with a two-year plan -- rolled out in October -- and a recent law to protects whistle-blowers, most Moroccans believe that graft is a key issue that needs to be tackled head-on. Government initiatives are widely regarded as ineffective. Corruption accounts for a loss of about 2% of Morocco's GDP, officials have said. More important, it deters vital foreign direct investment from flowing into Morocco, they say. The 45,000-strong movement is said to be supported by most of Morocco's non-governmental organizations, according to press reports. "We call to demonstrate peacefully in all the towns to put an end to corruption, to injustice and for a real democracy in our country," explained one youth on a video posted on the movement's Facebook page. The movement, which is often criticized as having been infiltrated by mainstream politicians from various parties, is expected to put as much pressure as possible on King Mohammed VI. He recently pledged a considerable overhaul of the country's political setup, including the election of a prime minister, rather than appointment, and the shift of power from the capital to the regions. The king is widely revered in Morocco, yet many Moroccans are skeptical about whether real reforms will be implemented in a new political landscape he hopes to unveil in mid-June, after a special constitutional commission finalizes its work on the blueprint. Many world leaders, such as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, see the plan as a bold example for other Arab countries to follow. Clinton recently said that the move represented a "model for others in the region" that holds "great promise first and foremost for the Moroccan people." Yet few Moroccans are so upbeat about the new constitution, as there seems to be little in it to give hope to many who want concrete initiatives to reduce corruption. "The main areas of concern when we talk about corruption in Morocco are the judiciary, police and hospitals," Transparency International's local chief Rachid Filali Meknassi said. "We need a real followup to a lot of initiatives which were taken in previous years so that political corruption can no longer infiltrate the justice system." Judges in Morocco are appointed by the justice minister and the king in theory but in reality are installed by their own political parties, which in turn advise them on how to conclude cases. "To give you an idea how bad it is in the judiciary," Filali Meknassi said, "we conducted a survey in 2005 and found that the majority of judges and lawyers in Morocco have no faith in the system being free of corruption. We also know through our own call center that in some cases, judges can be individually persuaded with incentives." Despite numerous reports commissioned by the government on corruption in the judiciary, along with the establishment of an anti-fraud body and a special "accountability" court, not one prosecution has been processed against a judge. In 2008, the Ministry of Justice processed about 6,000 corruption cases across all government departments, although there were few obvious results. In the same year, the accountability court conducted 245 audits of national governmental offices and 198 of local authorities. The court's report focused on graft in the Health Ministry, the National Investment and Development Fund and several local mayors. There were also no prosecutions by the year's end. Fevrier 20 hopes that Sunday's demonstrations will attract more than 300,000 people in all major Moroccan cities and present an unprecedented stand against the present rhetoric attached to the new constitution. But the group doesn't specifically want to target corruption in government ministries. "We want a new constitution, which will define exactly what the new rules and regulations are in place to stop corruption," explained Said Benjebli, one of the movement's architects who edits the main Facebook page. "All we have at the moment is speeches, and the laws are not working," he said. "There are people in Morocco who have become millionaires due to being given public contracts just through their contact with the king. This has to stop. But then even smaller-scale corruption, like those who can't get a job despite having the qualifications, is also important."

The group Fevrier 20 calls for nationwide demonstrations Sunday . Most Moroccans believe graft is a key issue . King's plan for political overhaul applauded by world leaders . But many citizens are skeptical about real reforms .

(CNN) -- Ever imagined flying an airplane with your eyes closed? Or driving at nearly 200 miles an hour with a blindfold? How about racing a speedboat in complete darkness? Sounds crazy? Well take off those blinkers and meet Mike Newman -- the world's fastest blind daredevil. On Friday, Newman will attempt to break the blind water speed record in a powerboat just off the English coast and secure his place in history. Being unable to see has proved no barrier to the 52-year-old who is aiming to become the first man to hold the blind speed records for land, sea and air in the same year. Having already succeeded on four wheels and in the cockpit of an airplane, it is just the sea which stands between him and sporting immortality. "To hold all the records would be amazing," Newman told CNN, who is hoping to reach speeds of 95 miles an hour in a top of the range powerboat. "I first started riding motorcycles 12 years ago when I was pushing 40 and I just went from there. "I moved on to cars after that and I've loved it. People love all types of different sports but for me it was always motorsport. "I love the engines, the smells, the noises which come with it. I love all the elements and just because I can't see, it doesn't detract from the experience." Newman's story is as rapid as it is remarkable. Diagnosed with glaucoma as a child, Newman lost his sight at the age of eight. But it was not until some years later that he began his love affair with speed -- breaking blind land records on land and in the air. It was 12 years ago that he first attempted to break a record -- riding a motorcycle at 89 mph after just three days practice. He twice broke blind land speed records in 2003 and 2005, improving from 144mph to 175mph in the space of two years. In October 2011 he achieved the world blind aerial aerobatic record; flying the most consecutive loops in formation. A five times Guinness World record holder, there isn't much Newman can't do. His charity is now helping others to overcome their difficulties through racing with his team having recently designed and built ten specially adapted track cars boasting dual controls, twin steering wheels. "The main point of all of this is to make sure that people who aren't able to have these opportunities get that chance," added Newman. "The charity is doing a great job and although we're only quite young we've made great progress. "I can't believe the amount of attention we've had. Hopefully it will continue for a while yet." There will be hundreds of people present for Newman's latest record attempt with television cameras, journalists and photographers all ready to capture the moment. His exploits have made him into something of a celebrity -- a tag of which he's not too keen on. That he is blind is not an issue to him -- what everyone else thinks is up to them. "Whatever I attempt, I do it in my own environment," Newman told CNN. "If I get on the bus, go to the post office or the supermarket, I'm doing it in my own environment and it's normal for me. "Being blind doesn't stop me doing things. I don't really think about being a role model or if I've broken down barriers. I'm just doing this to help other people in life." John Galloway, the team principal, has worked with Newman for over a decade and has watched his friend and colleague meet each challenge head on without showing an ounce of fear. "I have known Mike for over 11 years now and never met someone with such self belief," Galloway told CNN. "He has a driving ambition to chase his dreams and able to catch them. He is a great example to all of us." Newman will now turn his attention to breaking the blind water speed record and become the first man to hold all three records at the same time. Former soldier Mark Treadgold currently holds the record of 91mph but Newman is confident he can surpass that achievement when he hits the water at Torque Harbor, Devon, on England's south west coast. Newman will be assisted by Andrew Langdon, who owns the race boat Silverline and will offer navigational assistance through helmet to helmet radio communication. The team believes he can reach 95mph if conditions allow -- a result which would see him become the first man to hold the land, air and sea record in the same year. "It would be amazing if we could do it," added Newman. "It's really exciting and I cannot wait for it to happen."

Mike Newman is hoping to break the blind water speed record on November 1 . The 52-year-old broke the blind land speed record last month . Newman was born with glaucoma and lost his sight at age of eight . Blind Water Speed currently held by former soldier Mark Threadgold at 91mph .

(CNN) -- Natalie Westling should be soaking in the last vestiges of her teenage years. For her, that would mean bringing out the vert ramp after school and skateboarding until dark. These days, the only thing she's boarding is another flight to Europe. This Fashion Week season, the 17-year-old model is being dogged by phrases like "it girl" and "one to watch" that are being tossed around by industry insiders. This week, she's across the pond in London walking for Jonathan Saunders and Giles and will soon be off to Fashion Week events in Milan. These appearances come on the tail of spring ad campaigns for high fashion houses Saint Laurent and Red Valentino. "Every job that I get, I feel so honored," she said. "Because yes, there are so, so many models that would die to be in my position on that set, doing that shoot." But the Arizona-born teen wasn't always so keen on the idea of modeling, despite her mother's urging that she had something rare, that elusive je ne sais quoi. "I was such a skater, tomboy girl that I was like, 'that will never be me,' " she said. "I was definitely anti-girly girl, makeup, fashion, all that." Less than two years ago, fate stepped in wearing stilettos: Westling was scouted in her home state by the Agency Arizona. Shortly after, a representative from the Society, now her agency in New York, came out to scout her for a bigger market. Last summer, Westling was flown out to New York to try her hand at Fashion Week. But, as the end of the week approached, she hadn't booked a single job. "It was like, 'OK, I don't know anymore, nothing is really working out,' " she said. Then, she got the call for the Marc Jacobs "exclusive" -- meaning she would open the show. It's the fashion equivalent of a high school baseball player getting the call from the Yankees. Fast-forward five months, and the laid-back skater girl says that modeling, however unlikely, is her focal point. (Though she does, admittedly, get antsy after a while getting her hair, makeup and nails done and redone for each show.) "People think we stand in front of a camera for 30 seconds and that's our day," she said. "In actuality, we work really, really hard, and a lot of the money we earn, we earn it." For her, that means shape-shifting from 17-year-old tomboy to high fashion archetype. Westling, who describes her natural hair color as a "dirty blonde, auburn mix," first dyed her mane a shocking "Little Mermaid" red for the Marc Jacobs spring 2014 ad campaign, which also just happens to feature controversial star du jour Miley Cyrus. "I think it's cool. It's perfect to be able to stand out," she said. With her neon tresses, Westling walked in shows for Prabal Gurung, Vera Wang, Anna Sui and Marc Jacobs during this month's New York Fashion Week. "A lot of (designers) were surprised. A lot of them didn't like it, but I didn't really care," she said. "When it comes to certain shows, obviously, this color wouldn't match the clothing, and it wouldn't look good, so I understand getting canceled for shows or not getting picked for shows." That tinge of teenage rebellion is working for Westling, who is in high demand. Her breakout success comes at a pivotal time, as New York legislature passed a bill in November that deems models under 18, like Westling, child performers. Among the stipulations: Models must obtain a permit to work in the state, employers must also be certified to employ the young models, and child performers must get 12 hours of rest between jobs. Still, Westling is growing up fast in the high-stakes fashion world. "You drop off the teenager side of you and just go full-force into modeling and make it into a career and pursue it for a while," she said. It's a work ethos she credits to being raised by older parents, who still live in Arizona: Her mother had her when she was 43. "My teenage years were like when I was 10," she joked. "It helps me in this industry, because you have to act mature, take responsibility for yourself, because no one else will." See all of CNN Living's New York Fashion Week coverage.

Natalie Westling, 17, is being called fashion's new "it girl" model and "one to watch" Westling is walking in London Fashion Week this week; she walked in New York as well . New York legislature now classifies models under 18 as child performers . Westling dyed her hair red for the Marc Jacobs spring 2014 ad campaign .

(CNN) -- After two years of debate, the constitutional challenges to President Barack Obama's health care law finally reached the U.S. Supreme Court this week. While the intensity of the debate suggests the law is vulnerable to being overturned, 70 years of judicial precedents provide strong grounds for upholding the law. On Monday, the opening day of oral arguments did little to address the core constitutional questions. Rather, the nine justices were asked to consider whether an arcane rule of tax law would require the court to postpone its decision on the constitutionality of the individual mandate to purchase health care. Under a federal statute, people cannot challenge a tax until the Internal Revenue Service tries to collect it. According to this line of reasoning, people who object to the individual mandate are objecting to the tax that they will have to pay if they do not purchase insurance. Since no one will have to pay a penalty until 2015, one of the courts of appeals had dismissed the constitutional challenge. However, there was little sentiment among the justices to postpone a decision until 2015. The only real uncertainty is how they will explain why the appellate court was wrong. Is it because the penalty for not purchasing insurance is not a "tax"? Is it because the government wants the case to go forward and can permit people to challenge a tax even before it is imposed? There's another tax argument that the court is likely to reject based on clues given on the first day. The government is claiming that the individual mandate is authorized by the power of Congress to tax Americans. The justices seemed skeptical about this point. Justice Stephen Breyer, for example, expressed doubt that the penalty for not purchasing insurance could be viewed as a tax. And none of the lower courts have bought the taxing power argument. On Day Two, the government's more important constitutional argument will be brought up. The government will make a case that the individual mandate is authorized by the power of Congress to regulate commerce. Based on their past statements, the four liberal-leaning justices on the court are expected to agree. Legal experts therefore will pay close attention to the questions asked by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Anthony Kennedy and Antonin Scalia for signs on their views about the commerce power. Critics of the health care law say the commerce power allows Congress to regulate people who are voluntarily engaged in economic transactions, but Congress cannot require people to buy a good or service solely because they are living in the United States. The government will respond that under the new health care law, insurers no longer will be able to deny people affordable coverage because they have had a heart attack, cancer diagnosis or other medical problem. Starting in 2014, "pre-existing medical conditions" cannot serve as a basis for raising premiums or refusing to offer insurance. And there is no question that the commerce power permits this new rule. But there is a cost to protecting the public from pre-existing conditions fees. Insurers can be asked to charge the same rates for everyone only if the public is required to purchase coverage. Otherwise, many people would wait until they suffer an illness or injury to buy their policy. In other words, the individual mandate is simply designed to prevent freeloading that would cause the pre-existing conditions provision to fail, and the Constitution gives Congress the power to make sure its laws can be implemented effectively. For argument, the government will cite the court's medical marijuana decision, and it will be interesting to see how Scalia discusses his position in that case. There, he sided with the majority in recognizing a broad federal power to regulate commerce, even when an individual is cultivating marijuana for personal medical use and not for any commercial purposes. If Congress can apply its drug laws to someone not engaged in any commercial activity, why can't it apply its health care laws to someone not engaged in any commercial activity? Expect the justices to ask about the implications of individual mandate for future laws. If Congress can make people buy health care insurance, can it also make people purchase other products, such as broccoli? The answer is no. Insurance is different from all other products. If Congress wants to improve people's diets, it can require dairies to add vitamin D to their milk or bakers to add fiber to their bread. The government can regulate the food we eat by regulating our voluntary transactions. There is no need to force us to go out and buy foods we don't want to buy. Opponents of the health care law make arguments that sound plausible and that once reflected the constitutional interpretations of the Supreme Court. But decisions since the 1940s provide ample support for the court to uphold the law. How the justices will ultimately rule, it's hard to say. But Tuesday's hearings should tell us more about their inclinations. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of David Orentlicher.

Oral arguments on the Affordable Care Act have begun before the high court . David Orentlicher: Justices on Monday seemed skeptical about tax arguments . Orentlicher says Tuesday's arguments about commerce power is more important . Seventy years of precedents provide strong grounds for upholding health law, he says .

(CNN) -- When making a big decision, how aware are you of the underlying brain processes informing your choices? When you go with your gut instinct, are you aware of the bodily signals that have informed your actions? While it may seem that there is no time for the close inspection of the body and mind at these critical times, enlightened leaders are turning towards mindfulness training as a way to reprogram their mind in a bid to stay sane and pull ahead in today's challenging business environment. Not only does this allow individuals to clearly see the intentions and reactions underlying each and every action-- learning when an action is arising out of fear of uncertainty or rejection and becoming better able to detect a "sure thing" via bodily signals. By repeatedly training the mind to pay attention to the sensations of the body as they enter the brain, mindfulness training uses this information to build up an exquisitely sensitive understanding of our reactions and responses in the world -- both at work and elsewhere in our lives. The term mindfulness refers to a particular state of mind, one that is alert, aware and fully present to what is unfolding on a moment by moment basis in the mental and physical landscape. Importantly, this awareness includes an element of acceptance, not judging whatever you discover in the process. The route to mindfulness is through attention training. In our general understanding, attention is something we direct outwards into the environment -- something pleasant catches our attention and we turn to look, something annoying distracts us and our mind wanders. This process changes the neural connectivity between regions of the brain related to attention and concentration. Sounds great, but what's the catch? The catch is that you need to train to get these benefits. Similar to visiting the gym and repeatedly lifting weights to develop muscles, to improve focus, concentration, and build emotional resilience you need to train your brain. An in-depth understanding of mindfulness from reading about it does not count as it is not training the neural networks. Bringing your attention in a sustained way to the breath and the body is the starting point of these practices. To obtain the best results, this training in done in a quiet dedicated environment. For example, 20 minutes of mindfulness practice in the morning will radically change how you experience your working day and relate to others. In the early stages of training, similar to when we first go to the gym, there is frustration and annoyance with our inability to stay focused and the effort required. This is because we are training these neural networks for the first time and the wetware of the brain is floppy and the mind undisciplined. The mind gets easily bored and distracted and thinks of a million other things it should be doing. We might also be alarmed when we see the quantity of mental activity that we weren't aware of at all! With practice however, the ability to stay focused becomes easier, productivity increases, there is less distraction from emails and phone calls and memory improves. One study has shown that mindfulness training helps reduce the age-related decline in the number of neurons in the hippocampus -- a region of the brain vital for memory. Perhaps most importantly, we can learn to be really present and attentive with those who really matter -- our loved ones. Where is your mind when your phone beeps and vibrates during a family dinner? High pressure situations, those involving emotions such as fear and anxiety, are when reactive mental habits are most likely to be triggered. Mindfulness allows us to see more clearly how draining this is in terms of our brain's energy reserves and how this clogs up our ability to problem solve in a creative way. Fear creates constriction in the mind, meaning we tend to stick with what we know and lose the ability to think flexibly. This happens at the level of the individual and in a wider sense in organizations. Precisely at the time when we need to be creative, the conditions of uncertainty about our economic future leads to behaviors that are constricted and conservative and more likely to keep us stuck. Engaging with the bodily sensations related to these negative emotions is at the heart of mindfulness. Improvements in attention are a happy side effect of mindfulness but the real changes occur when we are able to embrace fear in an accepting way. Those who are willing to fail, and can sit with the uncertainty of not knowing will be those who ultimately succeed because their mental resources have been freed up in a way that allows creativity and flexible thinking to emerge. Mindfulness training is found in sectors as diverse as health, sport, military, education, and in the boardroom. Tomorrow's leaders know that it will take more than technical expertise and access to facts and figures to remain competitive. Hence giants such as Google and General Mills now include mindfulness training within their organizations. The ability to communicate, to really listen, to be flexible in responding, and to be creative and courageous in decision making are the so-called "soft" skills that leaders are realizing are essential for the health and growth of their talent and business. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Dr Tamara Russell.

Business leaders are taking up mindfulness training to make better decisions, says Dr Tamara Russell . Studies show the training can help reduce the age-related decline in the brain . Google and General Mills are just some businesses using mindfulness training .

(CNN) -- Politics abhors a vacuum, and the "Bridgegate scandal" engulfing Chris Christie has severely compromised the New Jersey governor's ability to launch a campaign for president, opening a space that Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor, seems likely to fill. "The idea that he's the prohibitive front-runner is over" is how one Republican strategist described Christie's plight to the conservative National Review. At stake is the future of the Republican Party, which has been divided for several years by a simmering fight between factions -- ultra-conservative Tea Party activists and more moderate establishment figures who control key party offices. Christie and Bush are both frequently mentioned as mainstream candidates that the establishment would like to see run in 2016. But Christie's status as a party favorite has faltered, while Bush appears to be on the rise. The contrast was on display at Saturday's White House Correspondents' Dinner, the high-profile, televised black-tie event in which the nation's media and political elites take satirical jabs at one another. Nobody got rougher treatment from the podium than Christie, especially from comedian Joel McHale, the evening's emcee. "I promise that tonight will be both amusing and over quickly -- just like Chris Christie' s presidential bid," quipped McHale, who later harped on the apparently politically motivated traffic tie-up near the George Washington Bridge that has led to the firing and resignation of top Christie aides. "Finally, a politician willing to stand up to America's commuters," deadpanned McHale. Bush, by contrast, escaped with a passing mention as a top presidential contender. Christie's bad news shows up in polls that can't be dismissed as a joke. In a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll of all Americans, Bush ranked at the top of a list of Republican presidential contenders with a 14% showing; Christie's was 10%. A Fox News poll taken last month shows that among Republicans, Bush has a 52% approval rating compared with Christie's 46%. After talking with more than 24 top Republican donors, reporters from The New York Times concluded in a recent article that "some of them are signaling to Mr. Christie's camp that, should Mr. Bush enter the race, their first loyalty would be to him, not to Mr. Christie." That's a sea change from recent years, when Christie, a prodigious fund-raiser, wielded tight control over his New Jersey donors. According to Washington Post commentator Dan Balz, when candidate Mitt Romney came seeking support, in 2011, Christie said he told him: "If you raise money in New Jersey in any kind of aggressive, organized way, it's going to make it very unlikely that I'll be able to support you." Things have changed. With Christie hemorrhaging support, a number of New Jersey heavy hitters are now openly agonizing over whether to stick with Christie or invest in a Bush candidacy. Bush brings multiple advantages: Having a father and brother who were presidents means there are legions of Republicans, across multiple generations, who owe personal and political loyalty to the closest thing the GOP has to a royal family. On the hot-button issue of immigration reform, Bush has staked out an independent position, calling on Republicans to move away from "harsh rhetoric" on the issue and co-authoring a book on the subject -- an implicit recognition that winning the White House in 2016 will require support from Latinos and other pro-immigration voters. Most importantly, Bush remains untouched by scandal, while Christie must cope with a scandal that just won't go away. Last week, an attorney for David Samson, a close adviser and mentor of Christie's, announced that Samson will not answer subpoenas from a state legislative committee investigating Bridgegate, citing his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. It's another crippling blow to Christie's presidential hopes. Samson, named by Christie to serve as chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, oversaw the multibillion-dollar agency that runs the George Washington Bridge until he was forced to resign as the scandal unfolded. Samson is the most prominent among several Christie aides who have quit or been fired and have now lawyered up. That means we'll see court fights around memos, meetings and other crucial evidence for months to come -- months during which Christie's nascent candidacy will continue to decline, leaving Bush looking like the white knight for which the Republican establishment has been waiting.

Errol Louis: "Bridgegate" has hurt Christie's chances, cleared way for Jeb Bush in 2016 . He says Christie and rising Bush both seen as moderates in fractured GOP . He says polls favor Bush over Christie and donors leaning toward ex-Florida governor . Louis: Bush faces no scandal, can appeal to Latinos on immigration issues .

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Thousands of Americans learn a painful lesson in banking every day: Waiting for a check to clear and then getting access to the money from a bank doesn't mean the check has really cleared. When Harry Smith, of New York, responded to an ad on Craigslist for an office assistant, a woman e-mailed him and said her British company was starting to sell its product in the United States, but was having trouble with dealing with checks from customers. Smith said the woman needed someone to collect the checks and then send the money to her company. It was a commission job -- deposit the checks, wait for the funds to become available at his bank, then send cash to her, minus 10 percent for Smith. After Smith checked out what seemed like a legitimate company on the Internet, he started receiving checks totaling several thousand dollars and deposited them in his account. When his bank released the funds, he sent cash to an address outside the country. But after a few weeks, Smith's bank notified him the checks he had deposited had actually been returned, and that he owed the bank all the money he had withdrawn. Smith has not heard from his business partner since and doesn't even know who she really is. He still owes his bank money, is unemployed and doesn't know what action the bank might take against him. What happened to Smith is one example of a wide range of fake check scams carried out in the United States every year. A Consumer Federation of America survey estimates that 1.3 million Americans have been the victim of a fake check scam, with an average loss of $3,000 to $4,000 per consumer. The most common scams are fake sweepstakes or lotteries, phony government sponsored grants and fraudulent work-at-home opportunities, the survey says. The scams follow the pattern of the so-called Nigerian Internet scams, which often involve accepting transfers of money that become obviously phony when it's too late. On Wednesday, the Consumer Federation launched a campaign to combat check scams. Many consumers don't know they are responsible if they deposit a bad check, said Susan Grant, the federation's director of consumer protection. Grant said its survey shows an alarming level of misinformation among consumers, and the problem includes money orders and cashier's checks. Fifty-nine percent of respondents in the survey incorrectly thought that, when you deposit a check or money order, your bank confirms it is good before allowing you to withdraw the money. That number goes up to 70 percent among adults age 18 to 24. More than 40 percent of those surveyed also incorrectly think that the person who gave you the bad check must pay back the bank. American consumers are mostly unfamiliar with the time needed to process checks and money orders, say consumer watchdogs. Government banking rules mandate that money from deposits become available within one to five days. However, it can take weeks, especially with foreign checks or money orders, for the originating institutions to get the checks or money orders back and determine that they are counterfeit. When that happens, scam victims are in for a rude surprise. Publishers Clearing House, which runs legitimate sweepstakes, warns consumers that scammers might claim that you are being given an advance on a prize, but that some fee, tax or other payment needs to be sent before you get the jackpot. That's the heart of the scam, and it's something that a real sweepstakes will never ask for, say legitimate companies. Consumer protection groups, state attorney generals, the Federal Trade Commission and government bank regulators warn consumers that the number of fake checks, money orders and even cashier's checks being used to scam victims is increasing. The bottom line: "There's no legitimate reason why anyone who wants to give you a check or money order for something would ever ask you to send money anywhere in return. It's as simple as that," said Grant of the Consumer Federation of America. Smith said he suspected that his part-time job was not on the up-and-up, but didn't know about fake check scams. He's not sure how he will pay back his bank, but hopes his story will help keep other people from becoming victims. The Consumer Federation of America's tips against fake check scams: . -- Never agree to pay to claim a prize. -- Never agree to pay for grants from the government or foundations. -- Never agree to cash checks and send the money somewhere as part of a job working from home. -- Never agree to wire money to anyone you have not met in person and known for a long time. -- If it seems suspicious, consult your state or local consumer protection agency, the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service or another trusted source. -- Remember that there is no legitimate reason why anyone who wants to give you a check or money order would ask you to send money anywhere in return.

More than 1 million Americans have been victim of fake check scams, study finds . Experts warn not to accept checks from someone seeking money in return . Survey: Most American consumers unfamiliar with time needed to process checks .

(CNN) -- Severe weather -- including suspected tornadoes -- swept through the South on Wednesday, killing at least four people and injuring others, officials said. Three people were killed in York County, South Carolina, when a storm swept through a rural area shortly after 6 p.m., according to the York County sheriff's office. Half a dozen homes were destroyed or extensively damaged and five people were taken to hospitals, said Lt. Mike Baker of the sheriff's office. Searchers "expect to be (at the scene) through the night and through the morning (Thursday). This is considered a search-and-rescue operation at this time," Baker told CNN Wednesday night. iReport: Are you there? Please send photos and videos . Sabrina Gast of the York County coroner's office said authorities were "not sure if the number (of deaths) is going to rise, because we don't know if people were home or not." Another fatality occurred in Forsyth County, Georgia, when a tree fell on a car, the fire department said. Four people were injured in Mississippi, but their injuries were not critical, according to National Weather Service reports. A possible tornado caused "major damage" to a mobile home park near Opelika, Alabama, with homes and vehicles demolished, the weather service said, citing an emergency manager in Lee County. It was not immediately known if anyone was injured. In North Carolina, an apparent tornado in Davidson County south of Winston-Salem damaged "multiple structures," but there were no reports of injuries, according to state emergency management spokeswoman Julia Jarema. Downed trees, damaged homes and buildings, and power outages were reported across north, central and west Alabama and Georgia, including in metro Atlanta, from high winds and possible twisters. Georgia Power said it had 1,975 customers without power -- 594 in metro Atlanta, 1,375 in the Manchester area, and scattered outages elsewhere. A high school in Harris County, Georgia, was also reported damaged. Eastern Alabama's Lee County received "significant reports of damage," said Rita Smith, a public information officer with Lee County Emergency Management. "We've got reports of damage at an apartment complex, structures at a lake, mobile homes and trees down," she said. In Auburn, Alabama, Jim Goldberg told CNN, he and his wife were working at home when warning sirens went off, rain came down so hard it was difficult to see and wind pushed their patio furniture into a neighbor's yard. "We got into our pantry as quickly as possible at that point," he said. "You could tell something bad was happening out there." At least half a dozen trees fell on his property and a nearby home's roof was damaged, he said. In the west Alabama city of Demopolis, damage was reported to roofs downtown, and a boat was overturned at a dealership, the National Weather Service reported. In the capital city of Montgomery, trees were reported down in a neighborhood from a possible tornado. Earlier in the day, a suspected tornado in Louisiana's Tangipahoa Parish moved a home with four people inside off its foundation, but no one was hurt, according to the National Weather Service. A possible tornado also touched down near Kentwood, Louisiana, according to parish emergency management authorities. In Terrebonne Parish, near Houma, damage was reported from a suspected tornado at the Houma-Terrebonne Airport, the National Weather Service said. Shingles were blown off a home, and a shed was blown out of a residential yard and onto the grounds of a nearby school. Windows at the school were blown out, the weather service said. A survey of damage is planned for Wednesday. Sharon Henry, principal of Village East Middle School, said five windows at the school were blown out and debris littered the school yard. No one was injured, she said, as the school day had not begun. The windows were being repaired and school was in session Wednesday, she said. Homes were also reported damaged near Jones, Mississippi, about 30 miles northeast of Hattiesburg, the National Weather Service said. In the town of Laurel, Mississippi, three homes were reported damaged with people trapped inside, according to the weather service. Four people with noncritical injuries were taken to a hospital. Power outages were reported in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, the weather service said. The storms were associated with a cold front moving Wednesday across the Southeast. The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for Alabama and portions of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee until 7 p.m. ET. A tornado watch means conditions are favorable for severe thunderstorms and the development of tornadoes. CNN's Jason Hanna, Jacqui Jeras and Melanie Whitley and CNN Radio's Matt Cherry contributed to this report.

NEW: Three people are killed in South Carolina . NEW: Authorities "not sure if the number is going to rise" One person is killed in Georgia, authorities say, and four are injured in Mississippi . Tornadoes are suspected in at least two Louisiana parishes .

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Coalition troops killed the al Qaeda terrorist who masterminded the February 2006 attack on Samarra's al-Askariya mosque and set off continuing violence and reprisal killings between Sunnis and Shiites, the U.S. military said Sunday. The attack on Samarra's al-Askariya mosque set off violence between Sunnis and Shiites. Haitham Sabah al-Badri, the al Qaeda emir of greater Samarra, was killed by an airstrike Thursday east of Samarra, said Rear Adm. Mark Fox during a news conference. "Eliminating al-Badri is another step in breaking the cycle of violence instigated by the attack on the holy shrine in Samarra," Fox said. "We will continue to hunt down the brutal terrorists who are intent on creating a Taliban-like state in Iraq." Coalition forces Thursday raided four buildings outside Samarra that were associated with al-Badri, according to a U.S. military news release. During the raid, at least four armed men were seen leaving the buildings and setting up tactical fighting positions in an effort to ambush coalition forces, the release said. The coalition forces called in close air support, killing al-Badri and the three others, the release said. One of those killed was identified as a foreigner; al-Badri was identified by his close associates and relatives, the military said. El-Badri's death was first reported Saturday by a high-ranking Iraqi Interior Ministry official. No one was injured in the attack on the Golden Mosque, one of the holiest Shiite sites, but thousands have been killed by the death squads and reprisal bombings that have ravaged Iraq in the 17½ months since the attack. In addition to the February attack that collapsed the mosque's dome, another bombing in June destroyed the shrine's two remaining minarets. Al-Badri is believed to have been involved in other attacks, including two last year, Fox said -- the June 23 bombing of a Kirkuk courthouse that left 20 Iraqis dead and the August 28 attack at a Samarra checkpoint that killed 29 Iraqi soldiers. Samarra is in Salaheddin province, north of Baghdad. Mortar attacks kill 11 . Two mortar rounds struck a gas station in a mainly Shiite neighborhood in eastern Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least 11 people and wounding 15 others, a spokesman with Iraq's Interior Ministry said. The attack in the Afdhailiya neighborhood happened about 8 a.m. (12 a.m. ET), the spokesman said. Suicide bombers attacked two gas stations Wednesday, killing 70 people, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, coalition forces said Saturday they killed four suspected militants and detained 18 thought to have helped make or plant roadside bombs, the U.S. military said. The militants were suspected of coordinating logistical support from Iran for elements of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army and other Shiite militias operating in Iraq, the military said. Iraqi family upset with U.S. soldier's sentence . A U.S. soldier has been sentenced to 110 years in confinement for participating in the rape of a 14-year-old girl and the killings of her and her family in Iraq, an Army spokeswoman said. The girl's family told Reuters on Sunday they were dismayed by the punishment and would have preferred to see the death penalty handed down in the case. Pfc. Jesse Spielman was convicted Friday of rape, conspiracy to commit rape, housebreaking with the intent to commit rape and four counts of felony murder. The girl, her parents and younger sister were shot dead in March 2006 in Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad. "We were expecting the death penalty against those criminals and the place to carry out the sentence is where the incident happened," the girl's cousin, Abu Ammar, told Reuters. Her uncle, Hadi Abdullah, told the wire agency that family members wished there was a way to appeal the sentence so the death penalty could be imposed. Three soldiers have previously pleaded guilty in the case and were given sentences ranging from five to 100 years. The accused ringleader, former Pvt. Steven Green, was discharged from the Army and awaits trial in a civilian court. Other developments . CNN's Pierre Bairin and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.

Haitham Sabah al-Badri was the al Qaeda emir of greater Samarra . U.S. military says al-Badri suspected in two other attacks that killed 49 . Family of slain girl upset soldier wasn't sentenced to death, Reuters says . At least 11 people killed in mortar attacks in Baghdad, Interior Ministry says .

(CNN) -- One question that policymakers might have overlooked in trying to come up with a long-term strategy toward North Korea is this: Could the Hermit Kingdom be the next Myanmar? Myanmar, widely known by its former name of Burma, was once a pariah, but it has surprised almost everyone by becoming a Western investor's dream. While there are significant differences between Myanmar and North Korea, there are similarities that prompt the same Southeast Asian investors who correctly predicted Myanmar's turnaround to be optimistic about North Korea's future. Until recently, Myanmar's only ally was China. For over a decade, the international community placed sanctions on Myanmar for its human rights violations, including the house arrest of the prominent activist Aung San Suu Kyi. But the junta drastically changed direction and endorsed a U.S. road map for reform -- a process that led to the U.S. lifting its export ban in September. Today, an emancipated Suu Kyi is working with the new government on reforms, and Westerners carrying suitcases of cash (sometimes literally) are looking to invest in the country. There are many good reasons to turn to Myanmar. The country has plenty of fertile land for agriculture, an abundance of precious stones and large reserves of oil, gas, coal and metals. Office rentals in some parts of Yangon, the former capital, exceed those in central Tokyo. Children who used to beg on the streets have been spotted selling copies of the investment law (in Burmese and English). Myanmar's transformation is partly because of the leadership realizing that overreliance on China jeopardized the country's national security. The government prioritized diversifying its trading counterparts, and the detente began. An over-dependence on China could become a big issue for North Korea, too. China props up North Korea with aid and diplomatic support. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, the Middle Kingdom provides North Korea most of its energy needs and consumer goods and nearly half of its food supplies. But despite the support, the North Korean leadership often ignores Beijing's requests. North Korea conducted its third nuclear test in February despite China publicly asking it not to so. Economic and political pressures do not work well on North Korea's leadership because its central ideology of Juche, translated as "self-reliance," produces a very negative reaction to outside pressure. This stems from an underdog psyche resulting from centuries of kowtowing to strong Chinese and Japanese neighbors. When the regime feels provoked, it often acts in the opposite direction to demonstrate its independence. For China, being ignored by North Korea is an embarrassment. China's strategy is a combination of reprimand with ongoing economic engagement, hoping that its influence will change North Korea's mind. Meanwhile, North Korea's leadership is aware of its ever-increasing reliance on China, and the Juche ideology may catalyze diversification -- as in Myanmar. And like Myanmar, North Korea would have an appeal to investors. It, too, has large deposits of undeveloped mineral wealth, estimated by the South Korean government to be worth $6 trillion. The country also boasts a cheap labor force, with even higher literacy rates than Myanmar. There is one big difference between the two countries -- the attitude of the people toward the West. Even when the U.S. had sanctions on Myanmar, the people weren't taught to hate America. A steady stream of propaganda, however, has left North Koreans with a negative view of the United States. But the recent celebrated visits of Americans such as Google Chairman Eric Schmidt and former NBA Star Dennis Rodman show the appeal the U.S. still has -- and the soft power it can leverage. While the State Department criticized Schmidt, saying the timing wasn't "particularly helpful," the timing was in fact telling. Even while going head-to-head with the U.S. on the world stage, a representative of U.S. capitalism was heralded inside North Korea. Of course, soft power strategies are difficult to employ while tensions are high. Since the nuclear test in February, North Korea has threatened to strike at U.S. bases in Asia. It has closed the joint North-South Kaesong Industrial Zone and declared a state of war with South Korea. These are actions that cannot be ignored. But in deciding a response, it's important to understand how the leadership is thinking -- and what the future could hold. In the meantime, it's the China-North Korea relationship that the savviest of Southeast Asia investors are watching most closely. Maybe North Korea could learn valuable lessons from Myanmar. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of John Kim and Daniel Freedman.

John Kim and Daniel Freedman: Could the Hermit Kingdom be the next Myanmar? Kim, Freedman: Myanmar surprised everyone by its reforms, and Western investors responded . They say North Korean leadership may not want to rely solely on China for its needs . Kim, Freedman: Visits to North Korea or interactions with its people should be encouraged .

Berlin (CNN) -- The outbreak of E. coli in Germany has killed several more people and sickened hundreds, authorities said Tuesday. News reports citing local authorities reported 16 deaths linked to E. coli in some raw vegetables. CNN has confirmed at least 12 deaths. As more people have died, the outbreak has shown itself to be spreading geographically as well. No longer contained in northern Germany, the outbreak has killed at least two people in the western part of the country. One of the 16 deaths was in Sweden. A woman died after visiting Germany, the Swedish Ministry for Health and Social Affairs said. The Robert Koch Institute, Germany's federal unit responsible for disease control and prevention, said 373 people have been confirmed sickened. But figures coming in from local authorities and hospitals made clear many more people are believed to be infected. "Here in Hamburg we're pretty much at the epicenter," Jorg Debatin, medical director of the Hamburg Medical Center, told CNN. His hospital has 600 to 700 infected patients, Debatin said. About 20% to 30% of them develop hemolytic-uremic syndrome, or HUS, "a very severe complication," he said. The hospital is especially concerned about 85 patients -- 20 children and 65 adults -- who may go into renal failure and develop neurologic symptoms, he said. Sweden's health ministry said there have been 39 confirmed cases of people sickened by E. coli in Sweden, 16 of which are being investigated for complications caused by HUS. All 39 patients recently visited 39 Germany. No contaminated vegetables have been reported in Sweden, the ministry said. While authorities in Germany worked to contain and respond to the outbreak, the specific cause remained unclear. The European Food Safety Alert Network said EHEC, or enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli, a strain of E. coli that causes hemorrhage in the intestines, was found in organic cucumbers originating from Spain, packaged in Germany, and distributed to countries including Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Luxembourg and Spain. But the source has not yet been pinpointed, authorities said. Hans-Joachim Breetz, executive director of Hamburg's Institute for Sanitation and Environment, said it can take days or weeks to find a source of infection. In the meantime, "the warning remains not to eat raw cucumbers, leaf lettuce or tomatoes," said Cornelia Pruefer-Storcks, . Hamburg's top official for health and consumer protection. European Union spokeswoman Pia Ahrenkilde-Hansen told CNN that German authorities were examining cucumber batches from the Spanish cities of Almeria and Malaga as potential sources of infection. She also said a shipment originating in Denmark or the Netherlands is being checked. The questions surrounding produce from Spain have "paralyzed" vegetable exports, a spokeswoman for Fepex, the Spanish export producers group for vegetables and fruits, said Tuesday. The industry in Spain expects weekly losses of about 200 million euros ($288 million), Fepex officials said. Fepex President Jorge Brotons and Director General Jose Maria Pozancos called on Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero to step in, the spokeswoman said. The Fepex officials argue that German authorities have accused the Spanish cucumber of being the source of the outbreak, without proof. Spanish Health Minister Leire Pajin discussed the outbreak on Twitter. "In the absence of proof. we're not ruling out using all necessary measures to make sure there's compensation for the (economic) damage," she wrote. "From the first day, the government launched a diplomatic offensive to prevent the linking of this health crisis with our products." Germany is the top purchaser of Spain's produce, according to Fepex. In 2010, Spain exported 9.4 million tons of produce; a quarter of that went to Germany, Fepex said. A Spanish health ministry spokesman told CNN that Spanish authorities are investigating the outbreak. Initial results that could cite a potential casue are expected by Thursday, or possibly as early as Wednesday, the spokesman said. Spanish authorities are sharing their investigative results with German and European Union authorities, the spokesman added. The Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition said two Spanish companies producing cucumbers may be involved in the outbreak. The agency was awaiting further results from Germany's investigation. The Robert Koch Institute said Germany's Federal Institute for Risk Assessment "advised against eating raw tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuces to prevent further cases." CNN's Frederik Pleitgen and Eileen Hsieh contributed to this report.

NEW: A cucumber batch from Denmark or the Netherlands is being checked, an EU spokeswoman said . NEW: Spain's health minister says the country would use "all necessary measures" to pursue compensation . Media report 16 deaths linked to the outbreak, including 1 in Sweden . The specific source has not been pinpointed .

(CNN) -- This holiday season, an ad campaign is selling clothes and challenging bigotry in America. A poster of a turbaned and bearded man in Gap clothes with a woman hanging on his shoulder hit store windows and subway walls across the United States last month as part of Gap's "Make Love" ad campaign. The model is Waris Ahluwalia, a Sikh actor whose turban and beard is part of his faith. For the first time, a mainstream, nationwide ad presents a turbaned man as beautiful, even sexy. He is not a suspect, but a model; not a terrorist, but a person with dignity; not a foreigner, but an American. The ad thrilled Sikh Americans like me, who have worked for years to dismantle one of the most pernicious prevailing stereotypes in American culture: turban equals terrorist. Nearly every person who wears a turban in the United States is Sikh. Many Sikhs wear five articles of faith, including kesh, long uncut hair that most men and some women wrap in a cloth turban. Tragically, the turban meant to represent a commitment to service and justice marked Sikh Americans as targets of hate. Recently, the ad featuring Waris Ahluwalia was found covered with racist graffiti on a New York City subway wall. "Make Love" was crossed out to read "Make Bombs." Someone scrawled beneath it, "Please stop driving TAXIS." The racial epithets were familiar, but what happened next was altogether new. The photograph went viral on Twitter. Within 24 hours, Gap set out to replace the defaced ads, made the ad its background image on Twitter and Facebook and released the statement, "Gap is a brand that celebrates inclusion and diversity." The company's response set off a chorus of #ThankYouGap posts. The story is a powerful example of how a groundswell of people can "make love" in response to hate. It's a story we need now more than ever. Twelve years after September 11, 2001, the stereotype of the turbaned and bearded terrorist is deeply entrenched in our social imagination. It shows up in profiling at airports, bullying in the school yard, violence on the streets, surveillance of houses of worship, and yes, graffiti on a New York City subway wall. In daily encounters, our minds default to stereotypes we have unwittingly absorbed. The most dangerous racial stereotypes trigger fear and animosity -- for example, African-Americans as "criminal," Latinos as "illegal," or Muslims and Sikhs as "terrorist." Once a person is reduced to a stereotype, it becomes easier to harm them, or to permit harm to be done to them. But there is a powerful antidote to these stereotypes: the diversity of faces, voices and stories of real people that show our shared humanity. In the aftermath of the 2012 mass shooting in a Sikh gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, thousands of people wrote heartfelt letters in an outpouring of love and support to families who lost loved ones and signed petitions that led to a new government policy to track hate crimes against Sikhs. This fall, after Columbia University professor Prabhjot Singh was brutally beaten in New York City, nearly 4,000 people of different faiths sent him prayers and messages online. And 11 days ago, when photographer Robert Gerhardt, a white Catholic, saw racist graffiti covering a photograph of a Sikh, he chose to take a photograph of the ad. He sent the photo to Muslim American writer Arsalan Iftikhar, who decided to post it on Twitter. Others shared the photo, which prompted Gap to take a public stand. Earlier this month, Gap employee Casey David Muir-Taylor made the same choice when an irate customer complained about the Muslim "terrorist" in the "do-rag." He defended the ad and posted about it on Facebook. Each of these individuals chose to fight for a community not their own. As a Sikh American, these acts of courage deepen my commitment to do the same for others. Companies should take note that taking a public stand against hate wins new customers. But it would be a mistake to miss the deeper lesson: We as individuals can no longer claim helplessness in the face of racism. In the digital era, the power to "make love," not bigotry, lies in the palm of our hands. Whether in response to a Sikh model in a fashion ad, or a South Asian American woman crowned Ms. America, new media give a new generation a chance to speak out for our vision of America. The key is using our power to dismantle the stereotypes that shape our social landscape. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Valarie Kaur.

Gap ad featuring Sikh designer and actor Waris Ahluwalia was defaced . A photo of the defaced ad went viral and Gap responded . Valarie Kaur: "People can 'make love' in response to hate"

Washington (CNN) -- House Republicans will require the White House to provide a detailed plan for arming and training Syrian rebels to fight ISIS in exchange for giving it the OK to carry out the mission. The provision -- which is expected to be added to a must-pass spending bill funding the government through mid-December and could face a vote as early as Wednesday in the House -- would require the Secretary of Defense to explain how the Pentagon is vetting Syrian opposition groups. The administration would need to submit its plan to Congress at least 15 days before the Pentagon begins training fighters or supplying them with weapons. Regular updates, every 90 days, would also be required. Yet another beheading. What's the world going to do about ISIS? The House GOP plan also makes it clear that the new authority would not include approval for any U.S. combat troops on the ground. Even though House Republicans want to put restrictions on the President's announced plans to go after ISIS, members of both parties have also made it clear they don't plan to stay in town to pass a formal military use of force authorization like the one approved after the 9/11 attacks in 2001. The tug of the midterm elections is strong, despite sentiment among some lawmakers in both the House and Senate who think it's critically important for Congress to sign off on the broader war effort. "I think this is really serious and that it deserves our being in town and taking it up and debating it," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. Who is doing what in the coalition battle against ISIS? The House bill approving training for the Syrian rebels would expire in mid-December, at the same time the government funding bill would need to be extended. That concerned Sen. Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat who chairs the Foreign Relations Committee. "That doesn't make sense to me," Menendez said. "You want to send the message to the Sunni world, you want to send a message to those rebels you want to fight for you, that we're not going to cut it off in December." A House GOP Armed Services Committee aide told reporters that Republicans would ensure the training and weapons program would be extended past December. Senior Obama officials will testify before the Senate this week. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Martin Dempsey will testify before the Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, and Secretary of State John Kerry will be on Capitol Hill Wednesday and Thursday. Is Obama's plan for confronting ISIS legal? The Senate will quickly pick up the spending bill, with the accompanying OK to arm the rebels, as soon as the House passes it, according to a Democratic leadership aide. The vote could be this week or early next week when the Senate is scheduled to adjourn until after the election. Lawmakers and senior aides predict broad bipartisan for the measure in the Senate. "I think, by and large, you'll see a big vote in the Congress for this," said Sen. John Thune, R-South Dakota, the third-ranking Senate Republican said on MSNBC Monday. "Both sides recognize something has to be done. We've got to be aggressive. We've got to be decisive. And we've got to rally the world behind us." ISIS Fast Facts . However, there are numerous outspoken detractors in both parties who are critical of the proposal for a variety of reasons. Some, like Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Illinois, would prefer to debate the broader mission and have Congress vote up-or-down on whether to go to war with ISIS. In a CNN interview he blamed "wimpishness" as a critical factor affecting his colleagues who would prefer to leave town without that tough vote. "Congress is very risk adverse. When you put a difficult issue before senators and congressmen they don't want to be forced to decide. In this case they should be forced to decide. We should have a vote on this mission. The American people should see their representatives in Congress make a decision on a critical national security question," he said . Others, like Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, oppose arming the rebels out of fear the weapons will fall into the wrong hands. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, and other Senate hawks want a much more aggressive strategy to destroy ISIS than the one the President is pursuing. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid set the tone for many members of his party when he argued last week the President has the authority he needs to carry out the airstrikes underway against ISIS, and that it would be a mistake for Congress to be "rash" in its decision making. "We have to be deliberate in what we do," he said. "Let's just not rush into things."

The House could vote this week on the arming and training of Syrian rebels . Vetted elements of Syrian opposition forces could receive equipment to fight ISIS . Approval would be tied to a must-pass spending bill that expires in December . Congress is about to break for the midterm election campaigning .

(CNN) -- Protesters gathered in Iran on Friday for a demonstration to observe an annual holiday that marks the country's solidarity with Palestinians and calls for the end of Israel occupation. One notable absence was Iranian opposition leader Mehdi Karrubi, whose security force feared for his safety and advised him to stay away, his son said. About 50 people surrounded Karrubi's home Friday morning -- shooting paint balls and shouting chants against him and the opposition movement, the son said. Attackers targeted his father's house repeatedly to stop him from participating in Friday's events, said Mohammad Taghi Karrubi. The opposition leader's website said his apartment had come under attack four times in four consecutive days. The site said the head of his security team was in a coma after being beaten as he tried to talk with a group of attackers who broke into the apartment complex Thursday. His son told CNN the attackers fired shots, set small fires in the courtyard and lobby and vandalized parts of the building. But around the country Friday, Quds Day demonstrations continued. Large crowds chanted "Death to Israel" and "Death to America" in Palestine Square near Tehran University. In the city of Kerman, a man with a loudspeaker chanted the slogans, with the crowd repeating after him. Some were carrying Iranian flags and banners supporting Palestinians while others waved cartoon caricatures of U.S. President Barack Obama. Speaking at Tehran University, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denounced Israel, repeatedly referring to the "Zionist regime." He said this week's direct Middle East peace talks in Washington were doomed to fail. "These talks are dead. There is no reason to hold talks," he said. "The fate of Palestine will be determined on the ground in Palestine, not in Washington and not in London," he added. Ahmadinejad said Iranians sympathize with Palestinians. "We know how hard it is for them to resist," he said. As he spoke, the crowd chanted, "Death to Israel." Security forces lined the streets near Haft-e-Tir Square in central Tehran, and at least two people were detained. There were no reports of opposition clashes. Last year, demonstrators took the streets in anti-government protests, shouting "Death to the dictator" in particularly tense rallies following the unrest over Iran's disputed presidential elections in June. Clashes between security forces and protesters were reported around the university during Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech last year. On Thursday, Mohammad Taghi Karrubi told CNN that attackers had repeatedly come to his father's house because he had expressed his desire to take part in Friday's events. He said he was inside his father's fifth-floor apartment when about 20 Basij broke into the courtyard Thursday. Several of the men threatened to kill his father, he said. "When we asked the police to come to help...nobody came," he said. Asked who was responsible, he said, "They are in the name of the Basij, but in my opinion they are hooligans. The government tries to use these hooligans against the opposition and against the people." Several members of his father's security team were injured -- but not shot -- and were taken to a hospital, he said. Asked if he and his father planned to attend Quds Day events on Friday, he said, "Do you think we'll still be alive tomorrow morning to take part?" International Quds Day, or "Jerusalem day" is observed on the last Friday of Ramadan. The government sponsored holiday was established in August 1979 by the late founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini shortly after the Islamic Revolution. Khomeini called for all Muslims worldwide to participate in the events that denounce Israel and show support for the Palestinian cause. "The day for those nations suffering under the pressure of American oppression and oppression by other powers to confront the superpowers; it is the day when the oppressed should arm themselves against the oppressors," he said in a speech in August of 1979. Anti-Zionist demonstrations, parades, and seminars are held in some Muslim and Arab countries, but are especially large in Iran. A senior Iranian commander says the massive participation proves the global support for Palestinians. The Quds Day "appears to pave the way for the collapse of Israel and its allies, namely the U.S. and Britain," Brig. Gen. Masoud Jazayeri, the deputy head of Iran's armed forces joint chiefs of staff, told the Islamic Republic News Agency on Thursday.

NEW: Son says attackers targeted his father's house repeatedly to stop him from participating . Iranian opposition leader does not attend after his security force advises him to stay away . Ahmadinejad denounces Israel in a university speech . Some protesters are carrying Iranian flags and banners supporting Palestinians in the annual event .

(CNN) -- In her debut film, "Slumdog Millionaire," Freida Pinto won plaudits for her portrayal of a girl from the slums groomed for a life of prostitution. Off screen the Hollywood actress is now lending her voice to save other girls from that very same fate. Pinto, 28, is an ambassador for Plan USA's Because I Am A Girl campaign, a narrator on the ground-breaking documentary film Girl Rising, which debuted on CNN, and shared a stage with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon at the launch of the World Bank's campaign to empower girls and women around the world. The focus of all these campaigns is making sure girls receive an education, no matter where they live or what their background. Pinto's passion for education stems from her mother and grandmother, who were both teachers in India. "My mum still follows her dreams," she told CNN. "She just retired as a schoolteacher, but she always had a dream of continuing teaching children, but this time more underprivileged children. And she's living out her dream. It's really inspirational." She added: "My grandma was also a teacher, so I guess education, and the importance of education and how it really shapes and transforms lives, was something that was engrained in my system from the very beginning." Pinto, raised in a middle class family in Mumbai, broke into acting at the age of 22 when director Danny Boyle picked her for the role of Latika in the film "Slumdog Millionaire", released in 2008. The film won best film in the Oscars, Golden Globes and BAFTAs. Pinto was nominated for a BAFTA as best supporting actress. She now lives in Los Angeles with her Slumdog co-star Dev Patel, and has since starred in films including Woody Allen's "You will meet a tall dark stranger," "Rise of the planet of the apes," alongside Antonios Banderos in "Day of the Falcon" and Michael Winterbottom's "Trishna," an interpretation of Tess of the D'Urbervilles, set in modern-day India. Originally from Mumbai, some have criticized Pinto for neglecting Bollywood, but she argues that her two films set in India portray her native country as well as any. "They are just hardcore Indian stories and there's no denying it," she said. "It's kind of silly to just make this whole Hollywood/Bollywood such a big debate when actually it should be about the stories that are coming from that part of the world. "My two Indian films for many don't count as Bollywood, which is fine. But at least they're Indian international films and I'm proud of that." Pinto has criticized the "male-dominated" world of film, calling for more female writers and directors to help bring more strong female characters for women of all ages. "The only way to cure that problem is to have more female writers and more female directors," she said. "There will be a different perspective when you have women writers and women directors. There is sometimes a misconception that a female director can't really tackle manly issues and definitely Kathryn Bigelow proves them wrong." So would she get behind the camera herself? "I believe that I'm on my way to becoming a producer because there are so many stories that I read that I'm so inspired by," says Pinto. "I don't necessarily see myself in them as an actor, but I'd like them to see the light of day. So if I can help in producing that project, in collaborating with someone else, that's another way for me to feel that in my so called male-dominated industry there is still a female voice." Pinto closed her Facebook account in 2009 after receiving "unpleasant intrusions", but has just launched a new page, posting on education and social justice alongside photos from her travels. "I begin a new journey with this Facebook page," she wrote in her opening post. "I feel like there has been a shift in consciousness in the last couple of years where all of us have become more curious to know what is happening in the world today." Pinto's next film, "Desert Dancer," due out later this year, tells the true story of an Iranian dancer who risked his life for his dream after dancing was banned in the country. After that, she's not short on ambitions, reeling off a list from Chinese director Wong Kar Wai to Ang Lee, best known for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", that she'd love to work with. "There are so many, I'm glad I'm just 28 with hopefully a long career ahead of me and I can keep knocking them off one-by-one, off my list."

Frieda Pinto's first film was the Oscar-winning "Slumdog Millionaire" She campaigns for girls' education . Pinto says the film industry needs more female writers and directors . Actress sees a future working behind the camera .

(CNN) -- Did the Internet kill Lee Rigby? No. Could the Internet have saved Lee Rigby's life? Perhaps. Those, at least, were the conclusions of the 192-page report, the most detailed that a cross parliamentary committee has ever authored, on the gruesome murder of the British soldier Lee Rigby by Muslim converts Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale in London in May 2013. In December 2012, Adebowale expressed his intention on an unnamed social network, reported by many to be Facebook, to carry out the public execution of a British soldier. But the company hosting this exchange didn't pass on the information to British intelligence and so the opportunity to pinpoint Adebowale was lost. "This was highly significant," noted Malcolm Rifkind, the chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee which carried out the 18-month investigation. "Had MI5 had access to this exchange at the time, Adebowale would have become a top priority. There is then a significant possibility that MI5 would have been able to prevent the attack." Indeed, the report went as far to suggest that popular networks like Facebook have become "safe haven for terrorists" because messages sent within their services aren't accessible to British intelligence agencies like MI5. So what, exactly, should be the responsibility of Silicon Valley companies when it comes to monitoring the illegal intentions of their users? They "need to play their part," insists Rifkind. "None of the major U.S. companies we approached proactively monitor and review suspicious content on their systems, largely relying on users to notify them of offensive or suspicious content. They appear to accept no responsibility for the services they provide." Prime Minister David Cameron went even further in condemning Silicon Valley companies like Facebook, Google and Twitter. "The Committee is clear and I agree that they have serious concerns about the approach of a number of communication service providers based overseas," the PM told Parliament. "Their networks are being used to plot murder and mayhem. It is their social responsibility to act on this. And we expect them to live up to it." Cameron's accusations have triggered a predictable storm of outrage. Some commentators, already paranoid about the supposedly apocalyptic threat of Islamic terrorism, have accused Facebook of "having blood on its hands" and of "not giving a monkey's" about the fate of Lee Rigby. Others, already paranoid about the role of the British government in snooping on its citizens, claim "war and tyranny," rather than Facebook, which that feeds terrorism and that it's "dangerous" to blame Internet companies for Rigby's murder. The truth, however, is more complex than either side recognizes. Both Rifkind and Cameron misunderstand Silicon Valley. For all their ideology of making the world a better place, companies like Facebook are multi-billion dollar big data operations focused on selling advertising around the user-generated-content on their networks. They've never had and never will have any "social responsibility." That's why Facebook relies on their unpaid users, rather than paid editors, to monitor suspicious activities: peer-to-peer security is free. This its appeal to Facebook. But Rifkind and Cameron also misunderstand contemporary electronic media. They assume that it's a top-down system that, like 20th century postal service or the telephone, can be manageably monitored by state security services like MI5. What they fail to realize is that the explosion of self-broadcasted data from Web 2.0 companies like Facebook has dramatically changed the nature of security and surveillance in the 21st century. Ninety per cent of all the world's data has been produced over the last two years and Facebook users alone are sharing almost 2.5 million pieces of content every minute. Rifkind and Cameron are playing to the xenophobic gallery by suggesting that Facebook is, somehow, to blame for Lee Rigby's death. We can't blame Silicon Valley for this gruesome public execution any more than we can blame Vodafone or BT for terrorist plots hatched over the telephone. But that doesn't completely excuse Facebook, whose unwillingness to actively police the content on its own network is itself deeply troubling. Two contradictory forces are changing everything about contemporary surveillance and security. On the one hand, the state now has the digital tools to watch almost everything that its citizens are doing on the network; on the other, we are all producing so much data that its beyond the ability of any centralized agency to monitor all this information. How we legislate this contradiction by trying to provide "new tools" for our security agencies is critically important. It will determine the complexion and boundaries of individual liberty in our networked age.

Lee Rigby's killer posted online about wanting to murder a British soldier . Company where message was published didn't pass information to UK authorities . Report into Rigby's death says sccial networks have become "safe haven" for terrorists . Huge amounts of data mean it is beyond ability of any centralized agency to monitor: Keen .

(CNN) -- One of Germany's most famous footballers has been banned by soccer's ruling body for failing to cooperate with an investigation into corruption within the game. Franz Beckenbauer, the only man to win the World Cup as captain and coach, has been provisionally suspended from any football-related activity for 90 days. FIFA said in a statement Friday that the 68-year-old had been asked to help with its Ethics Committee's probe into allegations against Qatar 2022 and the World Cup bidding process. "The apparent breach relates to Mr. Beckenbauer's failure to cooperate despite repeated requests for his assistance, including requests that he provide information during an in-person interview or in response to written questions provided in both English and German," FIFA said. "The case is now the subject of formal investigation proceedings being conducted by investigatory chamber member Vanessa Allard as chief of the investigation." The chairman of the committee's investigatory body, New York lawyer Michael Garcia, is expected to announce his findings by the end of July after a long-running examination of the circumstances that saw Russia and Qatar awarded the 2018 and 2022 World Cups respectively. The December 2010 vote by FIFA's executive committee members to take the sport's showpiece tournament to the Middle East for the first time has been mired in controversy. Before it even took place, two high-ranking FIFA officials -- Nigeria's Amos Adamu and Oceania representative Reynald Temarii -- were banned after allegations of bribery. FIFA vice-president Jack Warner chose to quit the following year after being implicated in another bribery scandal involving Mohamed bin Hammam, then head of the Asian Football Confederation. Bin Hammam, who had hoped to be Sepp Blatter's sole challenger at that year's FIFA presidential elections, was banned for life. The Qatari has this year been involved in new allegations by Britain's Sunday Times newspaper, which claimed he had been offering bribes to FIFA delegates for support of his country's 2022 bid. The 65-year-old -- a former FIFA ExCO member -- has denied all accusations, while the Qatar 2022 Organizing Committee insisted that Bin Hammam had not been working for them. Garcia told FIFA's Congress of its 209 member nations this month that he had been aware of most of the evidence published by the Sunday Times ahead of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, which kicked off on Thursday. Blatter used the Congress in Sao Paulo to indicate that he wants to stand for a fifth term in charge, breaking the promise he made when winning unopposed in 2011 that it would be his last. The 78-year-old, who has been in office since 1998, said his mission "is not finished." It sparked anger among FIFA's European member nations, with UEFA president Michel Platini withdrawing his support for Blatter. The former France international has indicated he is unlikely to run against the Swiss in next year's elections, but compatriot and former FIFA official Jerome Champagne will stand against his old boss Blatter. Beckenbauer led West Germany to World Cup success as a player in 1974 and as coach in 1990. He played a leading role in a united Germany hosting the 2006 tournament, and was one of the 22 FIFA EXCo members who voted on the 2018 and 2022 events. The Sunday Times alleged that he visited Qatar before and after the 2010 vote after being invited by Bin Hammam. Last week Beckenbauer told German media that he did not respond to Garcia's questions because they were in English and he did not understand them. Although he is no longer an ExCo member, Beckenbauer is still listed on the ruling body's website as a special adviser to the FIFA Football Committee. He is also an honorary president at Bayern Munich, the club where he spent most of his playing career and won three successive European Cups from 1974-76 and four German Bundesliga titles. Meanwhile, Interpol has sent a team to Brazil and to key areas around the world due to serious concerns about match-fixing and illegal betting at the World Cup. "There are organized crime groups engaged in illegal betting, and with illegal betting there's a greater likelihood that there could be an influence on the outcome of the match or an influence on what happens on the pitch based on a bribe or some kind of corrupt act," the international crime agency's Secretary General Ron Noble told CNN Friday.

FIFA bans German great Franz Beckenbauer from football-related activities for 90 days . Football's ruling body says 68-year-old did not help with investigation into World Cup bids . Beckenbauer had been one of FIFA members to vote on 2018 and 2022 host nations . FIFA's ethics committee is expected to release its findings at the end of July .

(CNN) -- As horrified travelers watched, a Greyhound Canada bus passenger repeatedly stabbed and then decapitated a young man who was sitting and sleeping beside him, a witness said Thursday. Police investigate the scene near Portage la Prairie, Canada, on Thursday. "There was a bloodcurdling scream. I was just reading my book, and all of a sudden, I heard it," Garnet Caton, who was sitting in front of the two men, said of the Wednesday night incident west of Portage la Prairie in Manitoba. "It was like something between a dog howling and a baby crying, I guess you could say," Caton said. "I don't think it will leave me for a while." Passengers exited the bus, and a trucker who stopped provided wrenches and crowbars to several of them so they could keep the suspect on the bus until police came, witnesses told Canadian TV. The suspect was seized with the help of negotiators, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sgt. Steve Colwell said. Watch Colwell discuss the case » . He said no formal charges had been filed, and he declined to identify either the man in custody or the victim, who were among 34 passengers. There was no immediate indication of what prompted the attack, Colwell said. He said he didn't know how many times the victim was stabbed. Witnesses described the weapon as a large butcher-type knife. Caton told The Associated Press that the victim appeared to be about 19 years old and had gotten on the bus in Edmonton. Colwell praised the "extraordinary" level-headedness and bravery of the bus driver and passengers. "What you saw and what you experienced would shake the most seasoned police officer. And yet I'm told that each of you acted swiftly, calmly and bravely," Colwell said. "As a result, no one else was injured." The police received a call reporting the attack at 8:30 p.m. By the time they arrived at the scene, everyone except the knife-wielder and his victim had left the bus, Colwell said. The incident ended about 1:30 a.m. The bus was traveling along the Trans-Canada Highway from Edmonton, Alberta, to Winnipeg, Manitoba, and was about 45 minutes from its destination when the attack occurred, Greyhound spokeswoman Abby Wambaugh said in Dallas, Texas. Caton said the victim was sleeping with his head leaning against the window when the attack happened. Caton said he shouted at the other passengers, many of whom also were sleeping, to leave. Watch Caton describe what he saw » . "Everybody got off the bus. Me and a trucker that stopped and the Greyhound driver ran up to the door to maybe see if the guy was still alive or we could help or something like that," Caton said. "And when we all got up, we saw that the guy was cutting off the guy's head. ... When he saw us, he came back to the front of the bus, told the driver to shut the door. He pressed the button and the door shut, but it didn't shut in time, and the guy was able to get his knife out and take a swipe at us," Caton said. Caton told the AP that the attacker didn't sit near the victim when he first got on the bus, about an hour before the attack. "He sat in the front at first; everything was normal," Caton said. "We went to the next stop, and he got off and had a smoke with another young lady there. When he got on the bus again, he came to the back near where I was sitting. He put his bags in the overhead compartment. He didn't say a word to anybody. He seemed totally normal." Half an hour later, the attack began, Caton told the AP. "There was no rage or anything. He was like a robot, stabbing the guy." The incident occurred on the first of two Greyhound Canada buses that were traveling together, Wambaugh said. The bus was carrying 37 passengers. As many passengers as possible among those not directly involved in the incident were transferred to the second bus, she said. Others were taken to a hotel in Brandon, where they were met by Greyhound managers and police, Wambaugh said. Once they are released, Greyhound will take them by bus to Winnipeg, and "we will do whatever is required to help them, and that includes counseling," she added. Wambaugh declined to comment further. "I don't want to compromise the investigation," she said. Copyright 2008 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

NEW: Police say suspect is in custody, no charges have been filed . AP: Witness says attacker seemed normal before slaying, appeared to be about 19 . Man repeatedly stabbed and then decapitated sleeping seat mate, witness says . Trucker helped passengers trap knife-wielding man on bus, witnesses say .

Los Angeles (CNN) -- Organizers of a Michael Jackson tribute concert, supported by the late pop star's mother and four siblings, promise they will announce "an incredible line-up very soon" that will include "some of the greatest names in music." Promoters missed their deadline of Thursday to name the performers for the October 8 show, forcing them to put registration for tickets to the Cardiff, Wales, concert on hold. "The registration period was put on hold because we want people to know who they are registering to see," Chris Hunt, the head of the British company promoting the concert, said in a message posted online Friday. The plan had been to announce the acts over a 10-day period following the July 25 news conference in which Jackson brothers Marlon, Tito and Jackie, sister La Toya and family matriarch Katherine Jackson endorsed the "Michael Forever: The Tribute Concert." The Global Live Events chief promised fans Friday the process would get on track. "Between now and October we will be continuing to add names to the line-up so more announcements will follow," Hunt said. "Fans of Michael's music will get the concert they've been waiting for." "Some of the greatest names in music are already signed, and more are trying to shuffle other commitments to come on board," a statement posted Friday on the concert website said. Plans for the show appeared to be in disarray Thursday when tickets were to go on sale, but instead of providing a link for purchases the promoter's website asked fans to "Please Standby for further announcements." The problems started soon after the family announced the "Michael Forever: The Tribute Concert" at the Beverly Hills Hotel on July 25. La Toya Jackson said it was "something that's spectacular" while the Jacksons' mother called it "a show fit for a king." "If my son were here today, he would feel the same way," Katherine Jackson said. "I know my brother would be very, very proud to see all the artists that he admired and respected so much coming together for this event," Tito Jackson said. But an hour later, Jermaine and Randy Jackson, the only brothers not at the news conference, issued a sharply worded statement that reflected a deep division within the Jackson family over the show. "We want to make clear that this does not reflect the position of the entire family," the two brothers said in a joint statement. "While we wholeheartedly support the spirit of a tribute that honors our brother, we find it impossible to support an event that is due to take place during the criminal trial surrounding Michael's death." The involuntary manslaughter trial of Michael Jackson's physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, begins in September and is expected to continue into October. While Hunt had hinted it could include a Jackson brothers reunion, the statement from Jermaine and Randy Jackson made it clear that would not happen. "In light of this, we feel it is inappropriate to be involved with such an ill-timed event and its promoter, Global Live," Randy and Jermaine Jackson said. Their statement said the idea of the October concert was presented to the entire family in April "as an idea already in its advanced stages." The decision to go ahead with it "disrespects opinions and wishes expressed in the strongest terms" by some members of the Jackson family, they said. The Michael Jackson Fan Club agreed with the two brothers, issuing a similar statement. "We share their concerns that this concert is taking place at a most inappropriate time when everyone's care and attention should be focused on the matter of justice. We believe that, as stated by Jermaine and Randy, the most important tribute we can give to Michael Jackson at this time is to seek justice in his name." Jackson fans posted messages on the concert's Facebook page questioning ticket prices and the process for buying them. Fans must place bids for a chance to buy a ticket. The higher their pledge to a charity, the better their chances of getting a good seat. "The ticket system is so bad!! the higher you bid the better seats you get?? not every Michael fan is rich!!!" one fan posted on the "Michael Forever Tribute" Facebook page Thursday. The October 8 show, in the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff, which seats 75,000 people, would be at least four hours long, Hunt said. In addition to the other problems surrounding the event, a spokesman for Michael Jackson's estate said last week that the promoters never sought or obtained permission from the estate's executors to use late pop singer's name or image. "The estate has not been contacted and is not involved with Global Live Events in the UK tribute concert announced today," spokesman Jim Bates told CNN.

"Fans of Michael's music will get the concert they've been waiting for," promoter says . Ticket sales are on hold until concert acts are announced . Jackson's mother, three brothers and a sister endorsed the October 8 show in Wales . Brothers Jermaine and Randy objected because the trial of Jackson's doctor will be under way .

New York (CNN) -- Police in New York are aware of child molestation allegations by a former relative against actor Stephen Collins, but due to the statute of limitations, he cannot face charges in that case, a senior law enforcement official told CNN on Tuesday evening. The woman, a relative of Collins' first wife, went to police in November 2012 and told them she was sexually assaulted by Collins when she was 14 years old while inside his Greenwich Village apartment, the official said. There are specific laws with child sexual abuse cases in New York that allow for an extension of the statute of limitations, but even with that, this case against Collins -- the father figure in the television show "7th Heaven" -- cannot be prosecuted, the official added. An investigation continues to see if there might be any other women with similar allegations, the source said. In New York, a person has five years from their 18th birthday to make an accusation of sexual abuse to authorities. TMZ audio recording . Earlier Tuesday, celebrity gossip website TMZ released an audio recording that purports to have been recorded during a November 2012 therapy session involving Collins and his estranged second wife, Faye Grant. CNN cannot confirm the authenticity of recording. But Grant told E! News she had nothing to do with the release of the recording. "I woke up today to learn that an extremely private recording I handed over to authorities in 2012 per their request in connection with a criminal investigation was recently disseminated to the press," she told E! News. "I had no involvement whatsoever with the release of the tape to the media." Following the revelation, Collins, who is involved in a contentious divorce with Grant, was fired from his job on the movie "Ted 2." He also resigned Tuesday from his spot on the national board of the Screen Actor's Guild, a source at the organization with knowledge of the situation told CNN. Accusations from court documents . According to divorce documents filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Grant says she learned Collins had "been engaging in a long-term pattern of sexually molesting children." She said Collins admitted to her that he molested three underage girls more than a decade prior, the court document says. Two of the girls lived in New York, one in Los Angeles, according to the divorce papers. Neither Collins' attorney nor his agent immediately returned any of CNN's numerous calls. Grant's representatives also didn't respond to requests for comment. Grant said in the court documents that she was unaware of Collins' behavior until he told her in January 2012. They separated the next month, after almost 27 years of marriage. In Collins' legal response to the divorce filing, his lawyer doesn't specifically address the claims made by Grant, though he does write that it "is really an attempt to extort concessions in settlement." The document says that the now-husband of one of the alleged victims called Grant in December 2012 and berated her for not turning Collins over to the police and threatened to sue her for Collins' actions. No charges . TMZ reported Collins made incriminating statements in the recording similar to the accusations in the court documents. New York police have not commented on the existence of the recording. No charges have been filed. A spokeswoman for the New York Police Department, Kim Royster, said there is a formal criminal complaint on file that is being handled by the Manhattan Special Victims Squad. Police in Los Angeles said the department received information two years ago regarding allegations of criminal behavior. The case is no longer active, LAPD spokesman Andrew Neiman said. "No crime report was ever made and there was no verified victim," he said. "We are reviewing that investigation to make certain that nothing was missed, and we are collaborating with New York to assist if we can. The case here has not been reopened. We are merely reviewing the case for accuracy." Collins played the Rev. Eric Camden on "7th Heaven," which centered on the Camden family. It aired from 1996 to 2007. He also appeared in "Star Trek: The Motion Picture." On television he played a doctor in at least six different shows. Recently, he has been a regular on ABC's "Private Practice" and "Revolution." He was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for his supporting performance in "The Two Mrs. Grenvilles," a 1987 miniseries. According to the Internet Movie Database, he is 67. UP TV, which airs "7th Heaven" in syndication, said it was replacing the show in its lineup, beginning Tuesday evening. CNN's Megan Thomas, Sara Sidner, Lindy Hall and Rachel Wells contributed to this report.

NEW: Collins' estranged wife: I had nothing to do with the release of a recording to the media . Collins, 67, starred in "7th Heaven" as the patriarch of the central family . In court papers, an estranged wife claims Collins told her he had molested three girls . Collins' legal response says the claims are attempted extortion in a divorce .

(CNN) -- The last space shuttle to grace the skies, Endeavour, ended two decades of glorious flights Friday, wowing onlookers as it descended onto a runway at Los Angeles International Airport atop a modified Boeing 747 jet at 12:51 p.m. PT. A crowd 5,000-strong, according to the Los Angeles County office of emergency management, gathered on a bluff overlooking the airport to watch Endeavour's low-altitude flyover and final touchdown. Daniela Derderian brought her son Michael, 7, and her daughter, Angela, 5, to the landing. "It's a piece of history. It's the closing of an era," she said. "I remember when the Columbia exploded. This is like the end of an era of man traveling in space, especially with Neil Armstrong just dying." Endeavour, ferried by jet, lifted off for the last time at 8:17 a.m. PT on Friday, leaving Edwards Air Force Base, California,for a farewell tour through the Golden State's skies over Sacramento, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. NASA had delayed Friday's takeoff by an hour hoping to reach San Francisco under clearer skies, according to the space agency's website. It was the final leg of a three-day, three-stage cross-country trip that NASA designed to show off Endeavour in the sky to the American public. The space agency encouraged onlookers to share their sightings of the airborne spectacle on social media via the hashtags #spottheshuttle and #OV105, the later being Endeavour's "vehicle designation." Endeavour will need to be removed from its perch atop the Boeing 747 that carried it cross-country from Florida's Kennedy Space Center. Its final destination is the California Science Center in Los Angeles, where it will go on display for posterity. Endeavour, along with Discovery, Enterprise and Atlantis, became a museum piece after NASA ended its 30-year shuttle program in July 2011. All four shuttles have been permanently retired from service. NASA said Endeavour will be moved via roads on October 12-13 to its final spot at the science museum. On Thursday, it flew low over Tucson, Arizona, where Mark Kelly, who was the commander on the last Endeavour mission, watched with his wife, former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords, before touching down at Edwards Air Force Base in California. "The space shuttle is really a testament to American engineering and ingenuity," he told CNN affiliate KOLD. "It is the most amazing spacecraft ever built, by far." His wife had watched the launch of his mission but missed the landing, so it was great for her to see the shuttle in the air, he added. Two other shuttles -- Challenger and Columbia -- were destroyed in accidents that killed all aboard. Challenger exploded shortly after launch in 1986, and Columbia broke apart upon re-entry into Earth's atmosphere in 2003. Watch: Trees removed to make way for Endeavour . Endeavour's three-day piggyback flight was divided into three legs that could be described as scenic routes to showcase the shuttle to the public from coast to coast. Wednesday's leg took Endeavour to Houston, with flyovers along Florida's Space Coast, Stennis Space Center in Mississippi and the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. As Endeavour bid farewell to Kennedy Space Center, it elicited strong emotions from people -- such as CNN iReporter Randy Lathrop of Cocoa, Florida -- who have lived with the shuttle program nearby for decades. "It's the last time that she'll ever be at her home base again. It strikes a chord of nostalgia in you because she's done so many flights from the space center. This is her home," Lathrop said. A short history of Endeavour . Named for the first ship commanded by British explorer James Cook, Endeavour rolled out of an assembly plant in Palmdale, California, in 1991 at a cost of $1.7 billion. It was the baby of the shuttle fleet, built as a replacement for Challenger. Over the next 20 years, Endeavour flew some of the most high-profile shuttle missions, covering 25 flights and nearly 123 million miles. It flew a Spacelab mission and numerous International Space Station assembly missions and rendezvoused with Russia's Mir Space Station. Read more space and science news on CNN's Light Years blog . CNN's Miguel Marquez contributed to this report .

NEW: Space Shuttle Endeavour has landed at Los Angeles Int'l Airport . NEW: It's the fourth and final shuttle to be retired . The final space shuttle to take to the skies lifted off for the final time Friday morning . The retired shuttle is headed toward a museum in Los Angeles .

(CNN) -- Missouri death row inmate Russell Bucklew's rare birth defect will make his execution, slated for just after midnight Wednesday, an "excruciating" process, his lawyer says. And she hopes to prove it by videotaping her client's death, a motion a federal court has denied. In what would be the first execution since Oklahoma's botched procedure last month, Russell Bucklew is schedule to die at 1:01 a.m. ET at Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre. In their request for a stay, filed Tuesday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, Bucklew's attorneys say he could suffer a "prolonged and excruciating execution" because of his birth defect, known as cavernous hemangioma. A U.S. District Court judge on Monday declined to stay the execution, along with the request that the procedure be videotaped. "If Missouri officials are confident enough to execute Russell Bucklew, they should be confident enough to videotape it. It is time to raise the curtain on lethal injections," said defense attorney Cheryl Pilate. Bucklew, who turned 46 last week, is already in pain, as his condition includes unstable tumors in his head and neck, causing him to bleed regularly from his mouth, nose, eyes and ears, Pilate said. Dr. Joel Zivot of Emory University filed an affidavit in the case saying that Bucklew's airway is so "severely compromised and obstructed," especially when he's lying flat, that it could easily be ruptured, raising the risk that Bucklew could choke or suffocate. "If you touch it, it bleeds," Zivot wrote of Bucklew's airway. In 1997, a jury convicted Bucklew of first degree murder, kidnapping, and first degree burglary and recommended the death sentence, court documents show. He was accused of fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend's presumed new boyfriend, Michael Sanders, and firing at Sanders' son, 6, before kidnapping Stephanie Ray Pruitt. After raping his ex-girlfriend, he became involved in a gunfight with authorities, during which Bucklew and a Missouri state trooper were injured, according to court documents. Controversy over lethal injections has been brewing in recent years after European manufacturers -- including the Denmark-based manufacturer of pentobarbital -- banned U.S. prisons from using their drugs in executions. In 2009, the U.S.-based manufacturer of sodium thiopental, a drug also commonly used in executions, stopped making the painkiller. Many states have scrambled to find substitutes from overseas or have used American-based compounding pharmacies to create substitutes. Attorneys for death row inmates in several states have flooded the court system, arguing correctional facilities' secrecy over where and how they obtain drugs is unconstitutional and violates the Eighth Amendment's "cruel and unusual" punishment clause. Last month, Oklahoma used a new three-drug lethal injection protocol to execute convicted murderer and rapist Clayton Lockett, but his vein collapsed and he died of an apparent heart attack. A full investigation and autopsy results are still pending, but witnesses said they saw Lockett struggling to speak as he convulsed and writhed on the gurney. Previously, Oklahoma inmate Michael Lee Wilson said during his January execution, "I feel my whole body burning." Wilson was executed using a cocktail that included pentobarbital, as was Texas' Jose Luis Villegas, who also complained of a burning sensation during his April execution. Also in Texas, Robert James Campbell's attorneys challenged the state's plan to administer pentobarbital to their client. A federal court stayed his execution last week -- not because of the drugs Texas planned to use, but because his defense team deserved more time to make the case that Campbell was intellectually disabled. On Monday, the Georgia Supreme Court weighed in on the issue, reversing a stay of execution for inmate Warren Lee Hill after his attorneys argued last year that a statute keeping the compounders of lethal injection drugs "a confidential state secret" was unconstitutional. "We hold that it is not," Justice P. Harris Hines wrote in the 33-page majority opinion. He said the reason for keeping such information private is "obvious, including avoiding the risk of harassment or some other form of retaliation from persons related to the prisoners or from others in the community who might disapprove of the execution as well as simply offering those willing to participate whatever comfort or peace of mind that anonymity might offer."

Convicted murderer Russell Bucklew is scheduled to be executed in Missouri after midnight . Attorneys want the execution videotaped as evidence that Bucklew suffered in process . Judge has denied motion for stay, saying that Bucklew could suffer from birth defect . Lethal injection cocktails have sparked numerous appeals as drug supplies dried up .

(CNN) -- Chronic seizures can present a risk for adolescents, whose bodies and metabolism are changing. Jett Travolta was the elder of John Travolta and Kelly Preston's two children. A seizure disorder caused the death of Jett Travolta, the 16-year-old son of actors John Travolta and Kelly Preston, a source at a Bahamas funeral home told CNN. "Literally dozens of different disorders can cause seizures: genetics, stroke, brain tumor, lack of oxygen, low blood sugar, drugs, even certain medications," said Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent. Another expert said the teen years bring risks for those with seizures. "Adolescence is a time, even if you don't talk about children with any seizure disorder, where things change in a child," said Dr. Shlomo Shinnar of Montefiore Medical Center in New York. There are effective drugs to treat seizures. As children grow, their bodies and metabolism change, perhaps causing a need to adjust their dosage, said Shinnar, a professor of neurology and pediatrics and director of the Comprehensive Epilepsy Management Center at Montefiore. "Seizures during adolescence can get better or worse or stay the same," he said. And the risk of seizures is higher for children with disabilities such as autism and cerebral palsy, Shinnar said. Jett Travolta had a developmental disability that his parents have linked to Kawasaki disease, an inflammatory disorder of the artery walls that most commonly occurs in young children. An autopsy of the actors' son was completed Monday, and the body was cremated that evening, the funeral home source said. Jett was found unconscious in the bathroom Friday while on vacation with his family. Michael Ossi, an attorney for Travolta, told CNN last week that Jett had a seizure that morning at the family's home in a resort area. He was taken by ambulance to a hospital and pronounced dead on arrival, according to local police. People.com reported that Travolta, Preston and their 8-year-old daughter Ella Blue arrived in Florida on Monday night with Jett's ashes. The reports that a seizure disorder caused Jett's death were preliminary, Gupta said. "It tells us more about what did not happen than the ultimate cause of death. It rules out brain injury, bleeding on brain, skull fractures, rules out heart problems due to Kawasaki disease, which is the disease the Travoltas say their son suffered," he said. Kawasaki disease, believed to be caused by an infection, inflames the heart muscles. In 2001, Travolta told CNN's Larry King that his son had a near brush with death related to the condition. "I was obsessive about cleaning -- his space being clean, so we constantly had the carpets cleaned. And I think, between him, the fumes and walking around, maybe picking up pieces or something, he got what is rarely a thing to deal with, but it's Kawasaki syndrome," Travolta said of his then-2-year-old son. Dr. Cam Patterson, general cardiologist at the University of North Carolina and a genetics expert who follows Kawasaki disease, told CNN, "There is no real good link at all between Kawasaki disease and cleaning products. "Kawasaki disease is due to an abnormal immunnologic response, probably to an infectious agent or infection we don't yet understand," Patterson said. "There is nothing that links environmental toxins to this problem." Someone with Kawasaki could have seizures for one of two reasons, but they would be rare, he said. "One, sometime in the past one of the arteries in the brain ruptured and caused stroke," he said. "Two, if the artery had enlarged enough, it could be pressing on parts of brain and that could cause seizure. Both possibilities are unusual for Kawasaki disease." A very small study released in 1991 found an association between cases of Kawasaki disease in homes where carpet had been cleaned in the past 30 days. "It's very easy to find correlations, but doesn't mean causative," Patterson said. The next step would have been to conduct more tests, by taking toxicological tests and brain examinations to see what could have caused the seizure. "Even with physical evidence and a deeper look by neuropathologists, we still may never have an answer," Gupta said on CNN's American Morning. CNN's Stephanie Smith and Miriam Falco contributed to this report.

Seizures in teenagers can be caused by dozens of disorders, genetics . Seizure said to have caused the death of Jett Travolta, 16 . Family has linked seizures to Kawasaki disease; experts say it's unlikely .

(CNN) -- When he came to, Gene Penaflor knew he had to do something. He didn't know how long he'd been unconscious; just that he was in the wilderness, a man of 72 who had lost his way while hunting deer. He had to quickly figure out how to survive, what to eat and drink, and how to stay warm. And for almost three weeks, Penaflor did just that: subsisting on a diet of lizards, frogs and squirrels. Penaflor was separated from his hunting buddy on September 24. At first, he tried find his way on foot out of the Mendocino National Forest, a vast nature preserve in northern California. But he was disoriented and quickly gave up. He stayed put in hope that someone would find him. In his 19 days cut off from humanity, it snowed several times, and temperatures dropped to 25 degrees Fahrenheit some nights. Then help came. Penaflor made it to a hospital in the town of Ukiah on the edge of the forest, where his family surrounded his bed. Doctors checked him over and released him. He is back home, his son Jeremy told CNN. "He's good. He's hanging in there. He looks like nothing changed except he grew a beard." Lost . Flank the deer on two sides; no matter where it runs, your buddy or you are pretty sure to bag it. It's a common hunting strategy. But it got Penaflor separated from his hunting partner on September 24. They had split up at their base camp, walking over separate ridges, and were going to meet up down the path a few hours later for lunch. Penaflor never showed. A day later, his hunting buddy reported him missing to the Mendocino County sheriff, who sent out a search party a day later assembled from nearly two dozen country and state law enforcement offices. After scouring the mountain range on foot and with rescue dogs, and in the air for four days, they found no clues leading to Penaflor. A hefty storm blew in, and they suspended the search. Woman survives 12 days in the wilds of Canada . The accident . Penaflor had walked out into the woods much farther than he had planned, his son said. He slipped on a steep slope and hit his head. It knocked him out cold, and he has no idea for how long. He still had his hunting rifle, but he told his son that he didn't have the strength to hunt a deer. "He told me it was mainly in survival mode. He was trying to save energy," the son said. Instead, Penaflor focused on small game, foraged for algae in a stream and drank water from a creek. To stay dry, he crouched under a fallen tree, and to keep warm, he made a fire and packed dry leaves and grass around his body. He never stopped trying, and his family did not give up hope. "We knew he was out there," said Jeremy Penaflor. Missing teen, fascinated with 'Into the Wild,' found dead . The rescue . The search party went out again Saturday to look for the 72-year-old, and this time the group was about half the size of the original one. But someone beat them to Penaflor. A hunter called the sheriff's office in the morning, saying he and his large group of friends could hear a man crying for help from down in a valley. The cell phone connection dropped out again and again, before deputies could note his location, the sherriff's office said. They instructed the hunter to call 911, and the operator locked in on his GPS coordinates. Penaflor's cries led the hunting party to him. They cut poles from trees and affixed their coats to them to fashion a makeshift stretcher to carry him out. Rescuers met up with the group hours later, as they heaved him up a steep hill. They called a helicopter to ferry him to Ukiah Valley Medical Center. Hugs and tears . When his family saw him, no one spoke, Jeremy Penaflor said. "Just hugs. And we were in tears." He released a photograph to the media, showing his father in a hospital bed, smiling and giving a thumbs-up. No more hunting for now, the son said. "If he decides to hunt in a couple of years, that's fine. But we joked around and said let's make it a camping trip." If he goes out again, his son wants to be with him. Police: 4 teens missing from youth ranch in New Mexico return . Missing teen found in Rhode Island . CNN's Dave Alsup contributed to this report.

Gene Penaflor, 72, fell unconscious in a California national forest . He has no idea how long he was out . He had a gun but no energy to hunt big game, so he ate squirrels, frogs and lizards . Rescuers' search was futile, but after 19 days, hunters stumbled upon Penaflor .

(CNN) -- Sad news all around: The weekend brought one tragic story after another about people dying in travel accidents. Homicide charges after train derails in Spain . The driver of the train that careened around a curve and derailed in northwestern Spain last week now faces homicide charges. Authorities charged him Sunday with 79 counts of homicide --- one for each life lost. Over the weekend, relatives of victims embarked on the grim but necessary task of picking up the luggage left behind. A solemn parade of mourners wheeled bags away from the police station in Santiago de Compostela. The suitcases had been recovered from the wreckage scene, their owners either dead or badly injured. Somber organ music filled the city's cathedral Monday night at a memorial for the passengers who perished. On church trip, bus flips in Indiana . A youth pastor, his pregnant wife and a chaperone were killed on a church trip when their bus flipped over in Indiana on Saturday. The driver told witnesses that the vehicle's brakes failed as he was trying to make a left turn, an Indianapolis Fire Department spokeswoman said. The bus ended up on its side on a concrete road barrier, with luggage and other debris strewn on the roadway. "I saw bodies everywhere, kids in shock and disbelief," said John Murphy, who had stopped along the northern Indianapolis road where the bus crashed. The bus was returning from a camp in Michigan, Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard said. Bus packed with pilgrims plunges off bridge in Italy . A bus returning pilgrims from a weekend visit to a Catholic shrine in southern Italy plunged off a bridge into a wooded area, leaving at least 38 dead. The bus was traveling east of Naples in Avellino province, the Italian news agency ANSA reported. Avellino police official Pasquale Picone said the bus struck 11 cars on the road before falling off the bridge, leading police to suspect the bus had brake problems. But the exact cause of the accident remains unknown. Photos from the scene showed a broken guardrail and the bus lying on its side. New York boat crash kills bride, best man . In New York, wedding plans turned to funeral arrangements after a power boat carrying a wedding party crashed into a barge on the Hudson River late Friday. Two people died. Lindsey Stewart, the bride-to-be, and Mark Lennon, who was to have been the best man in the wedding party, and disappeared late Friday when a 21-foot Stingray power boat they were passengers on slammed into one of three construction barges strapped together near the Tappan Zee Bridge, 25 miles north of Manhattan. New York authorities are trying to piece together what went wrong. "We're looking into every single thing," Rockland County, New York, Sheriff Louis Falco said. "What we're going to do is bring in an accident reconstruction team." Pennsylvania helicopter crash kills 5 . A day after a helicopter went missing during bad weather, search crews spotted the wreckage Sunday in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania. Five people, including a child, died in the crash, the county's coroner said. The Robinson 66 chopper departed from Tri-Cities Airport in Endicott, New York, and was headed to Jake Arner Memorial Airport in Lehighton, Pennsylvania. Federal officials said earlier it had come from Greater Binghamton Airport. Federal authorities are investigating. Switzerland: Commuter trains collide . Two commuter trains collided head-on in western Switzerland Monday evening, between the cities of Moudon and Payerne. Dozens were injured, several of them seriously, Swiss Railways spokesman Reto Schaerli said. "We don't know why this crash happened," he said. Floodwater sweeps tour bus downstream in Arizona . The driver of a tour bus loaded with passengers attempted to cross through floodwater that was at least 6 feet deep and 100 feet wide in northern Arizona on Sunday, . When fire department crews arrived, the bus had rolled onto its side and floated 300 yards downstream. No one was injured or killed, but authorities didn't mince words when they described the situation Sunday. "The occupants were extremely lucky to have survived," Northern Arizona Consolidated Fire District Chief Patrick Moore said. "When you think of how much water it takes to float a bus 300 yards," he said, "you don't have to be a rocket scientist to know you shouldn't drive there." CNN's Holly Yan, Karl Penhaul, Barbie Nadeau, Livia Borghese, Janet DiGiacomo, Ed Payne, Alina Cho, Greg Botelho, Mark Morgenstein, Sho Wills, Dave Alsup and Stefan Simons contributed to this report.

NEW: Dozens are injured when two trains collide in Switzerland . NEW: Victims of a Spanish train crash are honored at a memorial . A youth pastor and his pregnant wife are killed when a bus flips in Indiana . A bus packed with pilgrims plunges off a bridge in Italy, killing 38 .

(CNN) -- Formula One may be entering a new era in 2014 but the Mercedes and Ferrari teams chose to pay homage to the man who remains the benchmark for the sport on the first day of pre-season testing. Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, who finished his career with Mercedes in 2012, remains in hospital in a medically-induced coma after a skiing accident at the end of December. The new Mercedes car -- the first 2014 car out on track Tuesday at the Jerez circuit in Spain -- ran with the message "Keep Fighting Michael," on its silver livery. The Ferrari team, who Schumacher raced for between 1996 and 2006, also showed their support for their five-time world champion in Spain. On the eve of the first day of winter testing, the team's crew posed with a pit board showing the message "Forza Michael" while the new F14-T scarlet racer made its track debut in Jerez with the same words of encouragement. Ferrari plan to post 72 messages of support for Schumacher on their website to represent each of his wins with the Italian team. On Tuesday, the team published a note from Niki Lauda, who won two world championships for Ferrari in the 1970s, which read: "Michael, every day I follow your improvements and every day I am close to you. I hope I can speak to you very, very soon!" Schumacher is stable but remains in a coma at the Grenoble hospital as he fights the effects of a serious head injury, sustained in a skiing accident at the French Alps resort of Meribel on 29 December. His family have said the messages of support have given them strength but they have also asked for privacy from the clamoring media interest in his condition. Many dedicated motorsport journalists have turned their attention to Jerez, where 10 of the 11 F1 teams are due to trial their new look cars on track and put this season's major rule changes to the test. Sebastian Vettel, with the help of new Australian teammate Daniel Ricciardo, unveiled the new Red Bull that he hopes will power him to a fifth straight world title. "The car looks very different," Vettel told reporters. "There's a lot going on, the technology behind it is very complex." F1 has ripped up the rulebook for the 2014 season, which opens with the Australian Grand Prix on 16 March. The 2014 F1 rule changes explained . The cars are now powered by 1.6-liter V6 turbo engines which also rely on a greater use of hybrid energy -- recovered through braking and from the car's exhaust gases. The unveiling of thinner, lower nose cones and narrower front wings, to comply with new design rules, has also raised eyebrows. With so many major changes, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner, speaking to the media in Spain, warned: "I think it's dangerous sometimes to be over confident that you have all the elements in place for the start of any season. "We've enjoyed great continuity over the last few years - we've got a strong driver lineup, we've got a strong tech lineup, we've got great strength in depth. "But you can't take anything for granted - Formula One, like any sport, can be unpredictable at times." At the end of the opening day of the test, Vettel had ticked off just three laps in his brand new Red Bull and did not set a fastest time. "It was difficult to get an impression of what the new car is like," Vettel told reporters. "We weren't quite ready this morning and things took a little bit longer than expected. It was impossible to get a feeling for it today." Jenson Button, the 2009 world champion, didn't get to take his McLaren out of the garage for a spin after the team's progress was hampered by electrical issues. Ferrari set the fastest time of the day with their returning 2007 world champion, Kimi Raikkonen, at the helm just outpacing the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, who set a lap time of one minute 27.80 seconds. "From a driving point of view, I didn't feel any amazing difference, although it's much too early to give an opinion on this," Raikkonen told the Ferrari website. "Overall, we can say it was a good start." Hamilton was also pleased with his first day at work, despite crashing his Mercedes after just 18 laps. The team later explained that the car had a front wing problem.

Mercedes and Ferrari show support for Michael Schumacher on first day of testing . The seven-time world champion remain in a medically-induced coma after a ski accident . The new Mercedes car is running with the message "Keep Fighting Michael" Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari is fastest on day one of the first test in Jerez, Spain .

(CNN) -- Librarians across the United States are making noise about new federal restrictions on lead that could take books out of the hands of children. Children's books are covered by federal regulations on lead in items made for children. The Consumer Product Safety Commission Improvement Act requires all products, including books intended for children younger than 12, to meet new standards calling for lower lead content. Commission regulations, written in response to the law, take effect February 10. Even stricter limits will become effective in August. Paper, ink, covers and glues would need to pass lead content standards. "While we understand the process the CPSC must carry out in order to ensure this law is properly enforced and that the safety of our nation's children is protected, we believe the commission is wasting time and resources by zeroing in on book publishers and libraries," said Emily Sheketoff, executive director of the American Library Association Washington office. "It is our hope that this matter will be resolved soon, so that libraries can continue their efforts to serve children without the threat of closing their doors." The CPSC is expected to issue guidance early next week, said Lisa Ackerman, spokeswoman for Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Arkansas, who sponsored the legislation in the Senate last year. The bill, sponsored in the House by Rep. Bobby L. Rush, D-Illinois, was prompted by a rash of recalls of lead- and phthalate-tainted products, many of which were manufactured in China. Long-term exposure to lead can cause nervous system and kidney damage; speech, language, hearing and behavioral problems; and learning difficulties, according to the Mayo Clinic's Web site. Pryor is frustrated with the product safety commission. "The new law is not and was not intended to be a one-size-fits-all mandate," he said in an earlier statement. "There is simply no excuse for the CPSC's slow action on these rulemakings." A consumer advocate concurred with Pryor. "I don't think the law needs to be adjusted," said David Arkush, director of Public Citizen's Congress Watch division. "The law provides means for the CPSC to evaluate and decide whether exemptions should be granted for certain types of products." CPSC spokeswoman Arlene Flecha said the agency would comment on the issue later Friday. Ordinary books that aren't made to be playthings (such as vinyl bathtub books) and that don't have baubles or other materials on their covers have always been exempt from regulations on lead in paint. But the new regulations on lead in children's products do cover all kinds of books, according to a December 23 letter from the CPSC's office of general counsel to the Association of American Publishers. Librarians say there's no way they can verify the lead content of all the books on their children's department shelves. "The cost would be unbelievably high for them to test all these books so we could keep them in the library, and how long would we go without them if every library in New England sends them to the same lab," Donna Rasche, librarian at the Brewer, Maine, Public Library, told CNN affiliate WCSH-TV . Arkush is unmoved by such arguments. "If libraries can provide evidence that broad classes of books don't pose a risk of harm to the public health, then they can be granted an exemption from the testing requirements," he said. "If they can't prove that and if the books actually do pose a safety problem, then they shouldn't be sent home with kids." Publishers -- which will have to prove the safety of new books anyway -- and groups such as the American Library Association could foot the bill for testing older books, he said. "They don't have to test every book, obviously," Arkush said. "They don't even have to test anywhere near every title. I think they really have to test a reasonable sample size of different classes of books -- different types of binding, different types of materials used." A coalition of consumer advocacy groups continues to support the law but issued a statement Friday that criticized the CPSC's implementation of it. "While we have urged the Consumer Product Safety Commission to promptly address reasonable concerns that have been raised regarding compliance, and provide better information about the new law, our organizations all agree that the law is fundamentally sound and essential to ensuring a safer marketplace," the statement read. It was signed by Consumers Union, Consumer Federation of America, Union of Concerned Scientists, Kids in Danger, U.S. Public Interest Research Group and Public Citizen. The commission earlier this month clarified the regulations to let resale and thrift shops off the hook for testing the used clothing and other items they sell. Those outlets still are expected to watch out for items that have been recalled or banned, the CPSC said.

NEW: Consumer advocate says law is needed to protect public health . Law may require pulling children's books until lead content is determined . Librarians worry about cost, practicality of testing all books . Bill's sponsor criticizes CPSC for failure to give clear guidance .

(CNN) -- One of the Bible's paradoxical statements comes from St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians: "Power is made perfect in infirmity." The poetic statement proclaims that when we are weak, we are strong. Pope Benedict XVI's stepping down from what many consider one of the most powerful positions in the world proves it. In a position associated with infallibility -- though that refers to formal proclamations on faith and morals -- the pope declares his weakness. Interactive: Where does the pope live? His acceptance of frailty speaks realistically about humanity: We grow old, weaken, and eventually die. A job, even one guided by the Holy Spirit, as we Roman Catholics believe, can become too much for us. Acceptance of human frailty has marked this papacy. We all make mistakes, but the pope makes them on a huge stage. He was barely into his papacy, for example, when he visited Regensburg, Germany, where he once taught theology. Like many a professor, he offered a provocative statement to get the conversation going. To introduce the theme of his lecture, the pope quoted from an account of a dialogue between the Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Paleologus and an unnamed Muslim scholar, sometime near the end of the 14th century -- a quote that was misinterpreted by some as a condemnation of Mohammed and Islam. Opinion: 'Gay lobby' behind pope's resignation? Not likely . Twice, the pope emphasized that he was quoting someone else's words. Unfortunately, the statement about Islam was taken as insult, not a discussion opener, and sparked rage throughout the Muslim world. The startled pope had to explain himself. He apologized and traveled two months later to Istanbul's Blue Mosque, where he stood shoeless in prayer beside the Grand Mufti of Istanbul. Later he hosted Muslim leaders at the Vatican at the start of a Catholic-Muslim forum for dialogue. It was a human moment -- a mistake, an apology and atonement -- all round. A similar controversy erupted when he tried to bring the schismatic Society of St. Pius X back into the Roman Catholic fold. In a grand gesture toward reconciliation, he lifted the excommunication of four of its bishops, unaware that one, Richard Williamson, was a Holocaust denier. This outraged many Jews. Subsequently the Vatican said the bishop had not been vetted, and in a bow to modernity said officials at least should have looked him up on the Internet. In humble response, Benedict reiterated his condemnation of anti-Semitism and told Williamson that he must recant his Holocaust views to be fully reinstated. Again, his admission of a mistake and an effort to mend fences. News: Scandal threatens to overshadow pope's final days . Pope Benedict XVI came from a Catholic Bavarian town. Childhood family jaunts included trips to the shrine of the Black Madonna, Our Lady of Altotting. He entered the seminary at the age of 13. He became a priest, scholar and theologian. He lived his life in service to the church. Even in resigning from the papacy, he embraces the monastic life to pray for a church he has ever loved. With hindsight, his visit to the tomb of 13th century Pope Celestine V, a Benedictine monk who resigned from the papacy eight centuries before, becomes poignant. In 2009, on a visit to Aquila, Italy, Benedict left at Celestine's tomb the pallium, a stole-like vestment that signifies episcopal authority, that Benedict had worn for his installation as pope. The gesture takes on more meaning as the monkish Benedict steps down. We expect the pope to be perfect. Catholics hold him to be the vicar of Christ on earth. He stands as a spiritual leader for much of the world. Statesmen visit him from around the globe. He lives among splendid architecture, in the shadow of the domed St. Peter's Basilica. All testify to an almost surreal omnipotence. Complete coverage of the pope's resignation . In this world, however, walked a vulnerable, human person. And in a paradox of life, his most human moment -- giving up the power of office -- may prove to be his most potent, delivering a message that, as St. Paul noted many centuries ago, "Power is made perfect in infirmity." The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Mary Ann Walsh.

Sister Mary Ann Walsh: Pope Benedict acknowledged that he made mistakes . Walsh: In firestorm over scholarly quotes about Islam, he went to great lengths to atone . Walsh: Similarly, he quickly reversed a decision that had angered Jews and repaired ties . Even his stepping down is a nod to his humanity and his love of the church, she says .

(CNN) -- "The Dark Knight" opened early Friday to huge crowds and rave reviews. Colorado teen Christina Perez says she painted her face like the Joker as a tribute to Heath Ledger. Much of the praise has gone to Heath Ledger's dark and disturbing portrayal of the Joker. Ledger died of an accidental drug overdose before the movie was finished. iReporter Chelsea Itson, a 23-year-old student, went to the 12:15 a.m. showing in Perrysburg, Ohio, and couldn't sleep afterward. "It still has me kind of jittery," she told CNN. Itson saw the first "Batman" movie, but wasn't a big fan of the series, or Heath Ledger, but said her friend wanted to go. iReporter hasn't been to sleep since seeing film » . "It was completely different from Jack Nicholson [as the Joker]," she said. After the movie, she said, the audience was silent. "I've never left a movie shaking before," she said. Christina Perez, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and her friends went to the theater four hours early to make sure they got a good seat. "There was already a line going along the side of the theater, but we managed to get good seats anyway," she said. The 17-year-old says she's more of a Heath Ledger fan than a Batman fan, and she wore Joker make up as a tribute to him. "I thought he was amazing. I felt really sad that he died while filming this, his role was so amazing," she said. Jessica Lang, 15, of Mankato, Minnesota, said she wasn't expecting much from the movie and pretty much went only because her brother and some friends wanted to go. "It was amazing, there were no words for it, it was so good, it was probably the best movie I've ever seen," she said. Jenni Smith went to the 3 a.m. showing in Las Vegas, Nevada, even though she had to be at work that day. She and her friends went straight to bed after work Thursday, then got up at 1 a.m. "I'm a big comic book fan, and I've been reading comic books since I was 5. And I'm also a big movie fan, and we tend to go to a lot of movie openings." Her friend Mario Carrillo also dressed up as the Joker, and she made a custom shirt for the event. "One of the things I just really love is the energy of the crowd on opening day. I find that people are more willing to laugh out loud and cheer. ... It's worth staying up for," the 32-year-old publications manager said. Below is a sampling of iReporters' impressions of "The Dark Knight." Some have been edited for length or clarity: . sanjeeva7 of Alpharetta, Georgia: Believe the hype. The Dark Knight lived up to the hype, especially Heath Ledger's role as The Joker. I really felt he was crazy. One of the best villain portrayals of all time and well deserving of an Oscar nomination. Geno Walker of Charlotte, North Carolina: "Unless you hate yourself, you should go see this movie immediately. Stop reading this right now and go to the nearest movie theater. It doesn't even matter if the show has already started. Buy a ticket, walk in halfway through, sit down and wait for the next showing to start. See it soon and see it often. You'll love yourself more if you do." mrRG: "A haunting experiment into the human psyche is the only way I can describe the unequivocal depth that Ledger was able to reach with this portrayal of one the most evil characters ever brought to the screen. It was definitely Bale's story, but the late Heath Ledger's movie. sonnyjc9: Wife and I watched this yesterday 17 July here in Bangkok, Thailand. Heath Ledger is AWESOME as the Joker. 154 minutes of pure entertainment, and you will be giggling to yourself from Heath's performance. It is sad to think he will never reprise this role, but what a farewell. Must see. Zandz: We went to the premiere of this movie last night and thought the movie was only good. However, Heath Ledger did an excellent job portraying the the Joker. The way Heath Ledger plays the Joker is different than how Jack Nicholson plays the character. Both have their unique styles -- Nicholson's Joker was more comical, but Ledger's was more dark (while trying to be funny). The makeup artists also did a great job on this Joker's face.

iReporters got up early, stayed up late to see "The Dark Night" Christina Perez got to the theater four hours early . "Best movie I've ever seen," Jessica Lang said . Send your review: Share photos and videos .

(CNN) -- A total of seven cases of a previously undetected strain of swine flu have been confirmed in humans in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. None of the patients has had direct contact with pigs. Swine flu is usually diagnosed only in pigs or people in regular contact with them. Five of the cases have been found in California, and two have been found in Texas, near San Antonio, said Dr. Anne Schuchat, the CDC's Interim Deputy Director for Science and Public Health Program. The CDC reported Tuesday that two children in the San Diego, California, area, infected with a virus called swine influenza A H1N1, whose combination of genes has not been seen in flu viruses in either human or pigs before. The patients range from age 9 to 54, Schuchat said. They include two 16-year-old boys who attend the same Texas school, and a father and daughter in California. "The good news is that all seven of these patients have recovered," Schuchat said. The first two cases were picked up through a special influenza monitoring program, with stations in San Diego and El Paso, Texas. The program aims to get a better sense of what strains exist and to detect new strains before they become widespread, the CDC said. Other cases emerged through routine and expanded surveillance. At this point, the ability for the human influenza vaccine to protect against this new swine flu strain is unknown, and studies are ongoing, she said. There is no danger from contracting the virus from eating pork products, Schuchat said. The new virus has genes from North American swine and avian influenza, human influenza and swine influenza normally found in Asia and Europe, said Nancy Cox, chief of the CDC's Influenza Division. Swine flu is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza, according to the CDC. It does not normally inflect humans, but cases have occurred among people, especially those who have had direct exposure to pigs. There have also been cases in the past of one person spreading swine flu to other people, the CDC said. In 1988, in an apparent swine flu infection in pigs in Wisconsin, there was antibody evidence of virus transmission from the patient to health care workers who had contact with the patient, the CDC said. Person-to-person transmission is believed to occur in a manner similar to the spread of the influenza virus: through infected people coughing and sneezing, the CDC said. People may contract swine flu by touching something with viruses on it and then touching their mouth or nose. From December 2005 to February 2009, 12 cases of human infection with swine flu were documented. Symptoms of swine flu in humans are expected to resemble regular human seasonal influenza symptoms, including fever, lethargy, lack of appetite, and coughing, the CDC said. Other reported symptoms include runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. The new strain of swine flu has been resistant to the antiviral drugs amantadine and rimantadine, but has responded to the other licensed options: oseltamivir and zanamivir. The CDC is working closely with health officials in California and Texas to learn more about the virus. The agency expects to find more cases, Schuchat said. If swine flu can mutate to spread between humans, what does this mean for avian flu? Because of the virus subtype, it is less likely that avian flu would become transmissible from person to person, but still possible, said Dr. William Short at the division of infectious diseases at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The news is not cause for widespread panic, but people at risk -- those who live in or have traveled to the areas where patients live, or have been in contact with pigs -- should watch out for symptoms and get tested if they occur, Short said. The three criteria for a pandemic are a new virus to which everybody is susceptible, the ability to spread from person to person readily, and wide geographic spread, said Dr. Jay Steinberg, infectious disease specialist at Emory University Hospital Midtown in Atlanta, Georgia. The new strain of swine flu only meets one of these criteria: its novelty. On the other hand, bird flu meets two of the criteria: novelty and geographic spread. If history is any indication, flu pandemics tend to occur once every 20 years or so, meaning we're actually due for one, he said. However, it is not likely to be the swine flu, he said. "I can say with 100 percent confidence that a pandemic of a new flu strain will spread in humans," Steinberg said. "What I can't say is when it will occur."

CDC: Five cases found in California, two found in Texas . All seven patients have recovered . Symptoms of swine flu in humans are expected to resemble human influenza . Vaccine against human flu is not expected to work against swine flu .

(CNN) -- Millions of BlackBerry users remained without service on Wednesday as a three-day network outage spread to North America, causing massive frustrations for people who rely on these smartphones for business and personal communications. "BlackBerry subscribers in the Americas may be experiencing intermittent service delays this morning," Research in Motion, maker of BlackBerry smartphones, said in a statement. "We are working to resolve the situation as quickly as possible and we apologize to our customers for any inconvenience. We will provide a further update as soon as more information is available." The outage now impacts people on nearly every continent, according to the company's statements. An "extremely critical issue" on the BlackBerry network caused the outage, Stephen Bates, RIM's managing director in the U.K., told CNN's Richard Quest. He added: "We're putting all of our focus with all of our engineers and all of our network specialists on trying to understand the nature of why this backup system didn't work as it should have ..." The service outage started on Monday with customers in the Middle East, Europe and Africa, before spreading to South America and Asia on Tuesday. On Wednesday morning it appeared to hit the United States and Canada. The outage appears primarily to affect text messaging and Internet access from the mobile phones, not necessarily their ability to place calls. No customer e-mails have been completely lost, and they will be delivered eventually, RIM said in a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, according to CNNMoney's Julianne Pepitone. CNNMoney: RIM can't win . In a statement released Tuesday, the company said the "messaging and browsing delays being experienced by BlackBerry users in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India, Brazil, Chile and Argentina were caused by a core switch failure within RIM's infrastructure. Although the system is designed to failover to a back-up switch, the failover did not function as previously tested." The company said it is working "around the clock" to fix the problem. "A large backlog of data was generated and we are now working to clear that backlog and restore normal service as quickly as possible," the Tuesday statement said. "We apologize for any inconvenience and we will continue to keep you informed." There are about 70 million BlackBerry users worldwide. RIM has not commented on how many users are affected, but reports suggest the number of users without some sort of service has climbed into the millions. BlackBerry users, many of whom use the devices primarily for business purposes, were angered by the outage. Overheard on CNN.com: BlackBerry outage not all bad . Many people took to Twitter to both complain about lost productivity and to make light of the situation. "COME ONNNN. Sort it out #blackberry. This is ridiculous in this day and age," a Twitter user named @Suzy__G wrote. "OK, this #Blackberry business is now SERIOUSLY pissing me off," CNN's Piers Morgan tweeted. Later, he said: "One positive of the #Blackberry crisis - my personal trainer can't get hold of me. #OrderingBurgers." "#DearBlackberry I can't work, I can't study, please, please come back from that coma!" @marianaae wrote. "What did the one #Blackberry user say to the other?..........nothing....," said another Twitter user, @giselewaymes. "And iPhone users everywhere smile smugly and search for the 'I Told You So' app," wrote another. A website called isblackberrystillbroken.com popped up to track developments. People who visited the site on Wednesday afternoon were greeted with a red screen and a giant word: "Yes." This is not the first time RIM has faced a major service outage. "I have been an analyst for 25 years and have watched RIM wrestle with this same outage problem time after time. Every few years we get pinched by yet another major problem," tech analyst Jeff Kagan said in a statement. Is the outage affecting you? This outage, however, comes at a particularly bad time for RIM, since it faces increasing competition in the smarpthone market, Kagan says. Apple's iPhone and phones on the Google Android operating system have been gaining ground, and the new iPhone 4S goes on sale Friday. The tech blog Electronista wrote: . "RIM's outage is now one of its largest in recent memory and is now edging even closer to the iPhone 4S launch than before, leading to a possible temptation for those already looking to upgrade their phones. Commentary on Twitter has shifted gradually from frustrated patience to open anger and has led some to remark that they're now likely to switch to the iPhone, Android, or another platform."

BlackBerry outage spreads to North America on Wednesday morning . Maker: Cause was "extremely critical issue" on BlackBerry network . Company says it is working "around the clock" on a fix . Customers say the outage has disrupted business and personal lives .

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- In a congratulatory letter to president-elect Barack Obama, French President Nicholas Sarkozy writes, "Your election raises in France, in Europe, and beyond throughout the world, immense hope." President-elect Barack Obama faces a litany of foreign policy problems when he takes office January 20. Similar statements from dozens of world leaders and images of people around the world celebrating his election make clear Barack Obama will enjoy a good deal of international goodwill when he takes office on January 20. Obama's election offers a monumental transformation of America's face to the world. Many see him as the epitome of the American dream. But his appeal is not solely based on the fact that he is black or that his middle name is Hussein or that his father was Kenyan or that he spent part of his childhood in Indonesia. The global excitement over Obama's election is as much about the fact that he isn't President Bush. In his victory speech Tuesday night, Obama said, "To all those watching from beyond our shores, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.'' Watch CNN's Zain Verjee report on the world's reaction to Obama's election » . Those were welcome words to those who resented what they viewed as eight years of "unilateralist" Bush policies. His words spark hope that an Obama administration will repair America's relations with the rest of the world. But as high as those hopes are, so too are the sky-high expectations. The world has been seduced by Obama's vision of change. But will "Obamamania" survive the realities of governing? It is difficult to think of a U.S. president who has come to power with a more complex and pressing web of domestic and international burdens. He inherits a global financial meltdown, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a global struggle against terrorism, and a military already stretched to its limits. Add to that, a simmering crisis with Iran, renewed tensions with Russia, and the rise of China as a global economic powerhouse, and Obama's plate starts to get pretty full. Obama also takes the reins at a time of enormous anti-American sentiment after the stains of Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and, closer to home, Hurricane Katrina. U.S. power is declining, and not entirely by fault of its own. The concept of a single-superpower world no longer fits. Developing countries like China, Brazil and India, coupled with a stronger European Union belong to a new world where many players call the shots. Globalization requires more cooperation with a wider range of countries and organizations. Obama's speech in Europe this summer about the need for reconciliation, signaled he wants to strengthen ties with Europe damaged during the Bush administration, especially over Iraq. His pledge to withdraw from Iraq and his promise for strong action on climate change is bound to make European allies happy. But issues like trade and increased troops for Afghanistan could spark new differences with Europe. Obama has pledged to make Middle East peace a priority from Day One. Arabs are already calling for a more even-handed approach, while Israel is expecting Obama to stay true to the pro-Israel posture he showed during the campaign. And there are other complications -- like politics on the ground. Israeli elections early next year could bring hawkish former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu back to power. And if moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is unable to win support from Hamas next year to extend his term, his re-election is far from certain. Obama has promised to engage Iran's leaders on a multitude of issues, but it remains to be seen if Iran would accept any deal to give up its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Obama could be forced into a devil's choice between military action (or supporting an Israeli strike) and living with a nuclear Iran. There is a long list of other pressing issues. Obama is likely to continue the Bush administration's policy of going after extremists in Pakistan. And in Africa, conflicts in Sudan, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo continue to churn. This is by no means an exhaustive list. Countries around the world will compete for Obama's attention. Africa, elated over the election of America's first black president, may expect increased attention and aid from the United States. Additionally, Muslims familiar with Obama's Kenyan father and middle name, "Hussein," may think he will be more understanding of their concerns. Will he embrace them or distance himself from them, in an effort to prove he does not hold any bias? The president-elect must navigate this minefield of expectations. Once the gloss of this historic election wears off, the world will find Obama cannot be president to the world. He can only be president of the United States and Americans will expect him to protect their interests first and foremost.

Analysis: Many see Obama as the epitome of the American dream . Analysis: Global excitement over Obama's election is also about Bush's exit . Analysis: Obama faces complex foreign policy issues when he takes office . Analysis: Americans will expect Obama to protect their interests first and foremost .

(CNN) -- A web video featuring former special forces officers accuses President Barack Obama of taking too much credit for the killing of Osama bin Laden and allowing classified information about the raid to become public. The ad also includes former Navy SEALs. The organization behind the ad, the Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund, has posted the 22-minute web video on its website. A spokeswoman says the group has raised about $1 million toward an advertising campaign in some key swing states. Over a picture of Obama, the video's narrator says that the group's mission is to stop politicians from using sensitive intelligence about the bin Laden raid and other clandestine programs for political benefit. In a series of interviews, former military and intelligence officers accuse Obama of seeking political gain by disclosing successful secret operations. Opinion: To fix leaks, fix culture of secrecy . "As a citizen, it is my civic duty to tell the president to stop leaking information to the enemy," says Benjamin Smith, identified in the video as a former Navy SEAL. "It will get Americans killed." Another former Navy SEAL in the video, Scott Taylor, says of the bin Laden raid: "If you disclose how we got there, how we took down the building, what we did, how many people were there, that it's going to hinder future operations, and certainly hurt the success of those future operations." Smith also criticizes the president for taking too much credit for the SEALs' raid. "Mr. President, you did not kill Osama bin Laden. America did," he says. "We have become a political weapon. We are not." Defense officials: Leaks didn't come from Pentagon . Smith said the ad campaign pays no heed to political affiliation, and the organization describes itself as nonpartisan and says its focus is on protecting intelligence agents and special operations officers, not on politics. But it shares an office with two Republican political consulting firms in Alexandria, Virginia. Its spokesman Chad Kolton worked for the Bush administration as a spokesman for the Director of National Intelligence. Taylor has run for the Republican nomination for Congress in Virginia; Smith said he is a registered Republican but votes independently. As to who is funding the attack, which was first reported by Reuters, a spokeswoman for the organization would not disclose its donors. Darrell West of the Brookings Institution says it is too soon to say whether this campaign could become as successful as the 2004 "Swift Boat" advertising campaign, which mounted a barrage of negative attacks on John Kerry's standing as a Vietnam war hero. Video: Obama calls leaks "offensive" "Obama's strong suit actually is on national security. He's the guy who got bin Laden, and that's been a central claim of his campaign. So there's always a risk of the opposition coming in with this type of ad to try to undermine the president's credibility and take away what is really his strong suit," he said. West said the video blames Obama for leaks without providing any evidence the leaks are his fault. But still, West said, "national security is a very sensitive issue for many people, that's an issue that swing voters take very seriously." In recent campaign speeches, Obama has cited the killing of bin Laden as one of the campaign pledges he has fulfilled. "I promised to go after al Qaeda and bin Laden, and we did it," he told an applauding audience Thursday. The Obama campaign has even produced an ad called "One Chance" in which former President Bill Clinton praises Obama for ordering the secret raid to proceed. Toobin: Obama's been "tough" on leakers . But Vice President Joe Biden made an effort to share the credit Tuesday as he was offering the crowd a list of the administration's accomplishments. "The man here pointed out, 'we also got bin Laden,'" Biden said. "Let me correct that. The president of the United States and the special forces got bin Laden." And the head of special operations, Admiral Bill McRaven, a former SEAL himself, recently told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that credit was due to the president. "At the end of the day," he said, "make no mistake about it: it was the president of the United States that shouldered the burden for this operation, that made the hard decisions." But like other top officials, including Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, McRaven was highly critical of the recent leaks about clandestine operations. "Are lives at risk? Absolutely," he said. The White House has denied leaking secret information about clandestine operations, and two federal prosecutors have been assigned to investigate recent leaks about the Stuxnet virus and drone strike operations. But in a recent speech in Reno, Nevada, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney called the leaks "contemptible" and said they occurred on Obama's watch.

The ad also includes former Navy SEALs . Former military officers accuse Obama of disclosing successful secret operations . Group behind ad shares an office with two GOP political consulting firms in Virginia .

Orlando, Florida (CNN) -- Five hundred kids screamed when singer Ne-Yo walked in on their holiday party on a recent Saturday bearing gifts and a message of hope. "This is the first famous person I actually met," exclaimed Tha Banks, 16, with a huge smile. Banks, a sports fan, got a new football autographed by the R&B superstar. Banks isn't Ne-Yo's typical fan -- he and the other teens at the party are part of Florida's foster care system, all seeking a life free from neglect and abuse. For the past five years, Shaffer "Ne-Yo" Smith has visited underprivileged children across the country, bringing toys, games, shoes and clothing as part of his charity's annual "giving tour." Ne-Yo and his mother, who is president of his foundation, recently visited six cities in six days, bringing Christmas gifts to more than 3,000 kids at Boys and Girls clubs, group homes and in foster care. He also talks to the children about his personal experiences. "I grew up pretty much like you all," Ne-Yo told the teens at the central Florida foster home. "We didn't have a lot of anything ... there was no silver spoon in my mouth." A father of two himself, Ne-Yo said he sees his children in the faces of the kids he meets at these events. "It's hard for me to fathom any parent that would abandon their kids for whatever reason," said Ne-Yo, the father of a 1-year-old and a 3-month-old. "That doesn't compute with me." The holiday party was organized by the Kids House of Seminole County, which cares for 2,300 kids each year between the ages of 3 and 18, including victims of neglect, and others who witness domestic violence, or experience physical or sexual abuse, according to Marcie Dearth of Kids House. "This is an annual party that kids host every year, but we never have had the celebrity presence that we did this year," Dearth said, calling Ne-Yo's visit "a lifetime experience." The kids frost cookies and decorate stockings for the holiday season -- a tough time for these children, who are separated from their families. "These events help fill that void, that excitement of the holiday spirit that all kids should have," said John Cooper, assistant secretary of operations for the Florida Department of Children and Families. More than 400,000 children are in the foster care system in the United States, according to a 2010 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report. With about 19,000 kids in foster care, Florida has the fourth-largest number of kids in state care, behind California, New York and Texas, according to the 2010 report. At the party, volunteers handed out wrapped presents donated by Ne-Yo's charity, the Compound Foundation; Toys for Tots; Coca-Cola; Mattel; Ubisoft and other corporate partners. Destiny Molina, 15, unwraps her gift: a box filled with bottles of nail polish. "You know what's funny," she says. "The girls at the other (foster) house stole my other nail polish, and I have been trying to buy it back." She turns to her friend to ask what she got. "Makeup," replies Karla Hurtado, 16. "Oh that's cute," Molina says. Molina said this was going to be a good Christmas, something that doesn't happen every year for children in foster care. "We don't have Christmases like this all the time," she said, a little choked up. Ne-Yo told the room full of kids that he was living, breathing proof that you need to find something that you love to do and "stick with it." He said something that motivates yet frustrates him is hearing foster kids referred to as "forgotten children." "All you need for success is drive, passion and one person to give a damn -- to give you a shot," Ne-Yo said. "And you have a room full of people like that." Mercedes Noble, 17, says she was grateful to meet Ne-Yo, who she said seemed to be a real person, just like her. The tall teen said foster care is not the best place to be at Christmas; everyone would rather be with their families. Noble said, though, "It's way better to be here with people who love and care for us than be at home and probably getting beat." With a big smile, the teen said, "I appreciate that he took time out of his life and come and show respect to us, kindness -- let us know that we are still human, we are still people and we still need love."

R&B star Ne-Yo brought holiday gifts to foster kids in six cities . He and his mother run a foundation that helps underprivileged kids . Ne-Yo, a father of two, tells the kids he also grew up without a lot of opportunities .

Orlando (CNN) -- "Businesses adding jobs" is a headline every elected official loves to read. Sadly, it's one that's getting harder and harder to find because of a policy and regulatory landscape that makes it increasingly difficult for businesses to see why and where creating new jobs makes sense. That's especially true for me and my colleagues in the restaurant industry, who find ourselves facing a plate piled high with more and more federal, state and local regulations. Regulatory mandates flowing from federal health care reform may be the most visible, but the list also includes measures such as new mandatory paid leave provisions that require us to change the way we accommodate employees who need to take time off when they are ill and ever more unrealistic requirements regarding employee meal and rest breaks that, in California for example, force our employees to take breaks in the middle of serving lunch or dinner. This reality is the result of the best intentions. Policymakers working in silos at every level are pushing through regulations that on their face seem to address admirable goals -- that are each directed at outcomes that seem desirable. The cumulative effect of these regulations, however, is significant damage to the hard-working Americans who are the intended beneficiaries. The employer mandate contained in the new health care reform law, for example, forces us to change the way we have offered health care coverage to our full- and part-time workers and, together with all the other looming regulations, causes us to rethink the way we schedule the hourly work force that is at the heart of how we deliver our product to customers. Some suggest we accommodate the costs of new regulations in one of two ways: Accept lower profits, or charge customers more. Neither is a realistic alternative for many businesses, and certainly not for those in our industry. Like most in retail, low profit margins are a fact of life for us for good reason -- low margins are consistent with charging prices our customers can afford. The difficult reality is that neither our shareholders nor our customers -- who are of course, the very working people policymakers champion -- can afford the cost of the unbridled increase in regulation we're experiencing. This is not to say that the restaurant industry should not be appropriately regulated. Food safety and cleanliness standards are just two examples of categories of regulation we welcome given their importance in helping protect two critical elements of our promise to our guests, which are their safety and well-being. So, what are restaurants doing about all of this? We are labor-intensive businesses and always will be, but we're relying more and more on technologies that make our businesses less labor intensive. It's an ominous development considering restaurants' role as a path to opportunity and entrepreneurship. More than half of today's adults worked in food service at some point in their career, for example -- whether as a first job, a way to pay for higher education, a bridge to a new direction in their lives or as a path to a career in restaurant or food service management. To preserve this important driver of economic opportunity, we need policymakers to understand the snowball effect of too many regulations. Their collective effect is to threaten job creation and prevent us in the restaurant industry from doing our part to put our economy back on its feet. Policymakers and pundits bemoan the economic news of the day and chastise the business community for not "investing" or creating jobs to help lead us out of the recession. But through the lens of a business owner, a regulatory "perfect storm" is forming that causes even the most well-intentioned business leaders to pause. Some industries -- including the restaurant industry -- continue to grow and add jobs, but what we see on the horizon puts that at risk. In the year ahead, the company I lead expects to open roughly 80 new locations, each with about 100 jobs. The entire industry projects adding 1.3 million jobs over the next decade, according to the National Restaurant Association. My plea to policymakers is simple: Before you impose another well-meaning mandate, consider the burden we already bear and engage us in conversation. Regulations are not inherently detrimental to growth. Responsible companies such as ours, that have been supportive of the president and elected officials of both parties across the country, won't say "no" to everything and, indeed, what you might find is that we can help craft solutions that truly are better for everyone. Our success depends on our ability to deliver on three promises: a promise to our guests to provide them exceptional dining experiences at appropriate value; a promise to our employees to provide them jobs with appropriate compensation, benefits and opportunity for advancement; and a promise to our shareholders to provide them appropriate returns on their investment. Our ability to deliver on these promises in the future is directly challenged by the regulations we see as we look ahead. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Clarence Otis Jr.

Clarence Otis: Everyone wants to see businesses creating jobs . As CEO of a major restaurant company, he says regulations are inhibiting job growth . Otis says state and local rules, combined with health reform, push firms to avoid hiring . Darden: Rather than hire, companies look for technology to reduce the need for labor .

Athens, Greece (CNN) -- The leader of the socialist PASOK party in Greece is starting efforts to build a government, his party said, making him the third Greek politician since Sunday to try to do so. PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos held meetings with the leader of the Democratic Left party, Fotis Kouvelis, in what Venizelos called a "first step" toward assembling a coalition of pro-European parties. He is scheduled to hold talks with head of the center-right New Democracy party, Antonis Samaras, on Friday. Samaras and another potential coalition partner -- Alexis Tsipras of the leftist Syriza party -- have tried and failed to organize a government already. If no one can pull together a coalition, and no national unity government can be formed by May 17, Greece must call new elections. Venizelos, who has three days to cobble together a deal, said Sunday's fragmented results show voters don't trust "any party on its own." But he says he wants Greece to stay in the eurozone, the group of 17 European countries that use a common currency. "It is a given that we want Greece in the euro," he said. "We want something better, not something worse." Read why Greece will muddle through crisis . Greece has been forced to impose punishing austerity measures to get international loans that have kept it from defaulting on debts. The election results were widely seen as a message to politicians to back away from the harsh economic austerity measures. Voters backed parties on the far left and right, withholding support from PASOK and New Democracy, the more moderate parties that made up the coalition that enacted the cuts. Seven parties won seats in parliament in Sunday's election, but no party captured more than 19% of the vote. As Tsipras began coalition talks Tuesday, he said PASOK and New Democracy "don't have a majority any more to vote for the plundering of the Greek people." PASOK placed third in the election, behind New Democracy and Syriza. The latest opinion poll, by Marc-Alpha TV, suggests that if new elections are held, Syriza would come out on top, with nearly 24% of the vote, followed by New Democracy with 17.4% and PASOK with just under 11%. A coalition would still need to be formed. Extreme-right party Golden Dawn would take a smaller share of a second vote than on Sunday, the poll suggests, but would still pass the threshold to have lawmakers in parliament. A European Commission spokeswoman said this week that Greece needs time to work through its political process, but she reminded the country's leaders that they would be expected to abide by the terms of a bailout program meant to avoid a crippling financial meltdown. "The commission hopes and expects that the future government of Greece will respect the engagements that Greece has entered into," spokeswoman Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen told reporters. New Democracy ended up with 108 seats in Greece's 300-seat parliament. Voters also delivered a rebuke to PASOK, leaving it with 41 of the 160 seats it held before Sunday's vote. Together, the parties fell short of the 50% necessary to continue their coalition, requiring formation of a new government. Last year, Greece's debt threatened to force it to drop Europe's common currency, the euro, prompting the European Central Bank and other lenders to swoop in with emergency funding. In exchange, they demanded that the government slash spending. The resulting measures have led to tax increases and cuts in jobs, wages, pensions and benefits -- and significant public outcry. Read why Greece shouldn't be allowed to sink . The national unemployment rate for January, the latest month for which figures are available, was nearly 22%, prompting widespread protests and leading some young people to leave the country in search of work. Youth unemployment is even higher than the national average of one in five out of work. For two years, the country's massive amount of debt has threatened the stability of the eurozone. Greece pushed through a huge debt swap in March to save it from disorderly default and clear the way for it to receive a second bailout from the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, worth €130 billion ($171.5 billion). The debt restructuring deal gave some breathing space to the eurozone bloc, where fears that Greece might collapse had increased pressure on other debt-laden nations such as Spain and Italy. CNN's Antonia Mortensen and Matthew Chance and journalist Elinda Labropoulou contributed to this report.

NEW: Socialist leader Venizelos calls talks a "first step" toward a coalition . Opinion poll suggests the leftist Syriza party would win most votes in a new election . Two other politicians say they can't get enough backing from other parties to form a coalition . If no government is formed by May 17, Greece has to call new elections .

(CNN) -- Two people yell and struggle on a city street. It happens every day. And when it does, what do you do? Dwayne Fletcher found himself thrust into this position around 9:40 p.m. Sunday, as he was walking in Philadelphia's Germantown-Penn Knox neighborhood. He saw a man seemingly manhandling a woman, then forcing her into a car. Fletcher said he yelled out and called police. The car sped away. But three days later, the two -- Carlesha Freeland-Gaither and the man police say abducted her, Delvin Barnes -- were tracked down 115 miles southwest in Jessup, Maryland. The fact that they were found then and there, police say, is largely thanks to Fletcher. "This man is a hero," Philadelphia police Detective James Sloan said. Abducted woman found alive, suspect arrested . Fletcher didn't stop the alleged abduction, nor did he have enough information to name either the suspect or the victim. But he did pay attention, he immediately contacted authorities, and he told them everything he knew -- something that doesn't always happen, even when crimes take place in full public view. One of the most cited examples of the latter happened in 1964 in New York City. That's where Kitty Genovese struggled with her attacker on the street and in her building, shrieking for help as she was raped, robbed and murdered. According to The New York Times, at least 38 people "watched a killer stalk and stab a woman in three separate attacks" over a more than half-hour period. None of them intervened. And only one called police, though only after Genovese was dead. This, of course, isn't the only case of what psychologists and social scientists call the bystander effect or Genovese syndrome, as named after the slain New York woman. Gang rape raises questions about bystanders' role . In 2009, for instance, about 10 people watched a 2½-hour-long gang rape of a 15-year-old girl outside a Northern California high school's homecoming dance. And two years later, residents of southern China's Guangdong Province found themselves on the defensive after video came out showing passersby ignoring a toddler getting hit twice by vehicles. Outrage in China after toddler run over, ignored . That's not what happened this week in Philadelphia. Rather, Fletcher told CNN affiliate KYW that when he saw the struggle, "I called the cops and I'm running and (yelling), 'Yo, yo, what's going on?' " Fletcher said that he saw the woman forcibly pulled into the car, then saw her attacker get into the same vehicle. "They were in the car for like 15 seconds. Then you just hear, like, a tap, tap on the window, and then the window come out," he told KYW, referring to how Freeland-Gaither managed to kick out one of the car's windows but not escape. After that, Fletcher said, "I jumped back. I moved back, I didn't know what was going on. I didn't know if it was gunshots or whatever." The witness called police twice and waited for officers to arrive, Sloan said. Before Philly abduction, suspect allegedly raped, burned girl in Virginia . And what if Fletcher hadn't? What if he'd walked away and never alerted authorities, spurring them to check that area right away for surveillance video? What if, because of that, they'd never gotten a description of the suspect and the getaway car? What if they'd never recovered Freeland-Gaither's cell phone, which police believe she dropped deliberately, hoping it'd lead to her recovery? After all, there are too many examples of abductions that don't end, as this one did, with the safe recovery of the victim and arrest of a suspect. Thanks to Fletcher, authorities don't have to answer any of these questions. While a great deal went into the investigation -- from several key surveillance videos, to tips, to the GPS device that a car dealer, worried about Barnes' bad credit, placed on the alleged getaway vehicle -- it all started with Fletcher. "If it wasn't for him," Sloan said, "I don't think we would have had the same outcome." Fletcher, who KYW reports works at a local recycling center, certainly is glad for that and happy to be called a hero. "It feels good; I wouldn't change it for nothing," he said. "... But tomorrow's another day. I got to go to work. It's back to being Dwayne."

Dwayne Fletcher saw a man force a woman into a car in Philadelphia . He called and waited for police; a detective now describes him as "a hero" "I don't think we would have had the same outcome" if not for Fletcher, police say .

(CNN) -- The first patient to be diagnosed with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS, in the United States is recovering well and should be able to go home from the hospital soon, doctors said Monday. The patient, an American health care provider who had been working in Saudi Arabia, is not on oxygen and is eating well and walking around, said doctors in Munster, Indiana. Doctors have also tested others who have come into contact with the patient. So far no one else has been diagnosed with the virus. Medical staff will continue to monitor the situation closely. The patient, whose name has not been disclosed due to federal privacy standards, was working at a hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He told his doctors that the hospital had MERS patients, although he does not remember working with any of those infected. The man was on a planned visit to Indiana to see his family. He traveled on April 24 and went to a hospital in Indiana with symptoms April 28. About 50 staffers worked closely with the man, said Dr. Alan Kumar, chief medical information officer with Community Hospital in Indiana. No patients at the Indiana hospital had close contact with the MERS patient, who was in a private triage unit and admitted to a private bed on a general medical floor within three hours of showing up at the facility. His family brought the man in after he complained of flulike symptoms -- shortness of breath and fever. They told the medical staff he had been in Saudi Arabia. "There was a possible thought initially that it was pneumonia," or some other kind of respiratory virus, Kumar said. "That is why he was in a private room the entire time." MERS: 5 things to know . The patient never needed a ventilator but was initially put on oxygen. The hospital knew which staffers had close contact with the patient because it uses electronic tracers on staff members, tracking where they go in the hospital and how much time they would have spent with the man. Between that monitoring and video surveillance, the hospital was able to track the patient's entire journey through the hospital system, according to Kumar. Both the family and health care workers have all tested negative for the virus and all are on home isolation, officials said. If any of those exposed have to go out, doctors have advised they wear a mask. Doctors will run a second test on both populations since the virus is thought to have a 14-day incubation period. If they still test negative for the virus, they will be considered clear and safe to return to their regular work and duties. Scientists do not know exactly how MERS spreads, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but they don't believe it spreads through casual contact. The virus poses a "very low risk to the broader general public," said Dr. Anne Schuchat, assistant surgeon general with the U.S. Public Health Service and director for the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, on Friday. MERS mystery: Virus found in camels . Out of an abundance of caution, Indiana health officials and the CDC have acquired the passenger lists from the planes the patient took from Saudi Arabia -- he changed planes in London and landed in Chicago -- and the bus he took to Indiana. Of the 100 or so passengers on the plane, three-fourths have been tested, and none has been shown to be positive for MERS. The patient was not symptomatic at the time of travel, according to the doctors. Health officials are also reaching out to the 10 passengers who shared his bus. Scientists believe MERS spreads through close contact with a patient -- meaning someone would have to have come in contact with some of their bodily fluid. MERS first emerged in 2011, with the first cases being diagnosed in the Arabian Peninsula in 2012. There have been 401 confirmed cases in 12 countries, according to the CDC. Of those, 93 people died. Testing for MERS involves looking for the virus' molecular structure in a patient's nose or blood. While the patient in Indiana was the first MERS case on U.S. soil, the CDC has been preparing for such a scenario and had been conducting an awareness campaign with hospitals and doctors since MERS emerged. There are no travel restrictions to the Arabian Peninsula; however, the CDC suggests people who visit there monitor their health and watch for any flulike symptoms. If you do feel unwell after such a trip, be sure to tell your doctor about your travel. There is no vaccine or special treatment for MERS. Doctors said they believe the patient's quick diagnosis and care dramatically increased his chances for getting better. "MERS picked the wrong hospital, the wrong state, the wrong country to try to get a foothold," said Dr. William VanNess, Indiana state health commissioner. Opinion: Why MERS virus is so scary .

The unidentified man is eating well and walking around, officials say . Those who have come in contact with him have tested negative . More than 400 MERS cases have been reported in 12 countries, the CDC says .

(CNNGo) -- Burp, don't burp. Slurp, don't slurp. The rules of social protocol around the world are as varied, and as conflicting, as countries on the planet. So how's a traveler to know what to do, when and where? Never again do you need to feel like a bull in a china shop. Throw away your guidebook and let actual locals tell you how to blend in with the crowds. China . Be a good boyfriend . "Shanghainese men almost always carry the handbag or purse for their girlfriends. You don't see it anywhere else, except sometimes Hong Kong. But Shanghai men are well-known for taking care of this for their women." -- Xenia Li, customer service rep . Shop smart . "Although most Shanghai tourist guides include Nanjing Dong Lu Pedestrian Street and several 'fake' markets around the city, Shanghainese rarely shop there. We consider them 'tourist only' areas. "There are exceptions -- a lot of local women shop at historic food stores on Nanjing Dong Lu, such as Shen Da Cheng and Shanghai No. 1 Food Store. For fashion, young Shanghainese prefer to shop in the Luwan, Xuhui and Jing'an districts." -- Eheart Chen, independent singer and director . CNNGo: The world's coolest nationalities: Where do you rank? Thailand . Split the bar tab . "When a group of Thais go out to drink, rather than ordering individual drinks they will buy a large bottle of whiskey to share. The waitress keeps bringing small bottles of mixers and ice as required. "At the end of the night, regardless of who has had more glasses of whiskey, the bill will be split evenly." -- Nissorn 'Bo' Jongcharoen, translator/writer . Japan . Eat something raw . "In Tokyo, a classic foreign tourist thing is going to a sushi bar and never ordering any raw fish. Focusing on cucumber rolls or inari rice balls or tamago doesn't cut it. "Basically, those items are for little kids in Japan, so it's funny to see adults keep ordering them and avoiding what Japanese consider to be the more flavorful fish." -- Hiroko Yoda, CNNGo Tokyo Japanese city editor . CNNGo: SulaFest: Where boys dance with girls . Sit down and shut up . "Definitely do not answer your phone on a train. Locals can expect to be lambasted by teenagers for the merest mumble, or at least get the evil eye from restrained salarymen. "If you must pick up, the accepted gesture is to cup your cell with your hand, say nothing longer than, 'Am on the train, will call you back,' then bow to the disgruntled commuters around you." -- Robert Michael Poole, CNNGo Tokyo city editor . India . Pray ... and run . "In Mumbai just cross the street. Just go. God will protect you. If you wait for cars to stop before you abandon the safety of the curb, you may never make it." -- Siddharth Sikand, director/filmmaker . Sikkim (northern India) Wear a beard to buy booze . "Women should not buy tobacco or alcohol from shops, or drink or smoke in public. Or, if they do, they should prepare for some quizzical looks, and maybe even a raised voice asking what they think they're doing." -- Devi Shikha Boerema, journalist . CNNGo: So-bad-they're-good items at the Chinese New Year market . Singapore . Adopt new family members . "In Singapore, don't question why the locals refer to anyone older as 'auntie' or 'uncle' -- it's a Singaporean thing." -- Charlene Fang, CNNGo Singapore city editor . Hong Kong . Prepare for germ warfare . "Locals wear surgical masks at the mildest hint of flu. Call it post-SARS trauma. Locals who have sniffles and are not wearing a mask may be evil-eyed by complete strangers on the street. "It's also local habit to overreact whenever someone near them sneezes or coughs, especially on public transport. I've been in a situation in which the people around me literally formed a little ring around me with their faces averted when I coughed." --Tiffany Lam, CNNGo staff writer . South Korea . Be (O/A/B) positive . "Koreans are pretty big on blood type, so have it ready when socializing. There's a pretty strong perceived correlation between one's personality and their blood type here." -- Alan D'Mello, hotelier . © 2011 Cable News Network Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved .

Shanghai men are well-known for taking care of this for their women . Split the bill evenly in Thailand, regardless of how much you consumed . Do not answer your phone on a train in Japan . Koreans are big on blood type, so have it ready when socializing .

(CNN) -- U.S. President George W. Bush told a global climate change conference Friday that the United States will do its part to improve the environment by taking on greenhouse gas emissions. U.S. President George W. Bush Friday tells a global climate change conference "we take this issue seriously." "We take this issue seriously," he said at the Major Economies Meeting on Energy Security and Climate Change, which the White House sponsored. In his address, Bush called on "all the world's largest producers of greenhouse gas emissions, including developed and developing nations," to come together and "set a long-term goal for reducing" greenhouse emissions. "By setting this goal, we acknowledge there is a problem, and by setting this goal, we commit ourselves to doing something about it," he said. Watch Bush address the climate conference » . "By next summer, we will convene a meeting of heads of state to finalize the goal and other elements of this approach, including a strong and transparent system for measuring our progress toward meeting the goal we set. ... Only by doing the necessary work this year will it be possible to reach a global consensus at the U.N. in 2009." Bush said it will be up to each nation to "design its own separate strategies for making progress toward achieving this long-term goal." He said new technology, such as clean coal technology and biofuels, could help reduce greenhouse gases. He also called for more use of nuclear, wind and solar power. "It was said that we faced a choice between protecting the environment and producing enough energy. Today we know better," the president said. "These challenges share a common solution: technology." "We must lead the world to produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions, and we must do it in a way that does not undermine economic growth or prevent nations from delivering greater prosperity for their people," he said. "We know this can be done," Bush said. "Last year, America grew our economy while also reducing greenhouse gases." If the preliminary numbers stand, it would make 2006 the first time in Bush's presidency that greenhouse emissions dropped. In prepared remarks this week, Assistant Secretary of Energy Karen Harbert said, "Preliminary data for 2006 suggests an absolute reduction in energy-related carbon dioxide emissions of 1.3 percent for that year despite economic growth of 2.9 percent." In previous years, the administration also has said its policies were reducing greenhouse emissions, but Department of Energy figures through 2005 show emission figures went up each year. The administration also said during those years it was reducing "greenhouse emissions intensity," a term referring to the ratio between emissions and the size of the economy. The administration said the economy was growing at a faster rate than the emissions themselves. While the White House has taken heat for its environmental policies -- including from some Republicans such as Sen. John McCain -- Bush said at the conference Friday, "By working together, we will set wise and effective policies." He added, "I want to get the job done. We have identified a problem -- let's go solve it together." Other nations have been critical of the Bush administration's policy on climate change after the United States withdrew from the 1997 U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, known as the Kyoto Protocol. That protocol, which was signed by more than 150 countries, called on industrialized nations to cut greenhouse emissions in absolute terms. It did not make that demand of developing nations. The protocol expires in 2012. Representatives of 16 countries, the United Nations and the European Union are attending this week's two-day conference. The Bush administration has billed it as an initiative to develop a common approach to combat global warming following Kyoto's collapse. At a Group of Eight conference in June, Bush pushed for a new framework on global gas emissions to counter the effects of global warming. Bush said he believes every nation should set its own goals. The president expressed concern that setting strict targets would damage the U.S. economy. Instead, he said, industries should enact voluntary measures. On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also told delegates to the global climate change conference that countries around the world must work together to combat climate change, much as they cooperate against terror and the spread of disease. "No one nation, no matter how much power or political will it possesses, can succeed alone," she said. "We all need partners, and we all need to work in concert." Rice said the United States takes climate change seriously, "for we are both a major economy and a major emitter." In her address to the Major Economies Meeting, Rice said an integrated response, including "environmental stewardship, economic growth, energy supply and security and development and the development and deployment of new clean energy technology," is the key to moving forward on the issue. E-mail to a friend .

NEW: "We acknowledge there is a problem" with gases, Bush says . Bush calls on nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions . "U.S. will do its part," Bush tells international meeting . President proposes more use of clean coal technology, biofuels .

(CNN) -- The little-known South African Louis Oosthuizen shocked the world of golf as he stormed to his first ever major win on Sunday with a runaway seven-shot victory at the British Open at St. Andrews. Not bad for a farm boy who failed to make the cut in seven of his previous eight major championships. Oosthuizen joins Bobby Locke, Gary Player and Ernie Els as South African winners of the famous Claret Jug. Despite many having difficulty pronouncing his name, few will forget Lodewicus Theodorus "Louis" Oosthuizen's dazzling performance at St. Andrews. The win really is a fairytale story for the 27-year-old who lives on a farm in Gourits River, South Africa, next door to his parents. Oosthuizen, who also has a home in Manchester, England, was born in Mossel Bay, South Africa. His father was a farmer by trade yet all young Oosthuizen wanted to do growing up was play golf and tennis. Oosthuizen decided to ditch the tennis racket for good in favor of the club when he was 10 before spending three years at the Ernie Els & Fancourt Foundation during his teenage years. Oosthuizen seals runaway British Open victory . Oosthuizen is eternally grateful to the foundation, which was set up by Els in 1999 to help nurture South Africa's next generation of star golfers. It gave him financial support and coaching on the course his family could never offer their son. "It was unbelievable what he (Ernie Els) did for me," Oosthuizen told the official British Open website. "He is such a good mentor and probably without him, those three years in his foundation, I wouldn't have been here." It was not long before the future British Open champion started tasting success after teaming up with compatriot Charl Schwartzel to win his first title at the World Junior Team Championships in 2000. The teenager then claimed six amateur titles including the Irish Amateur Open Stroke Play title in 2002 before turning professional at 19 in the same year. But despite hitting a 57 during a practice round on the par-72 Mossel Bay Golf Club course, along with gaining his European Tour card in 2003, his early performances in the paid ranks were less impressive. He did manage to record the first of his eight professional wins on home soil at the 2004 Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour. But joy was quickly turned into despair as "Shrek" -- as he is fondly known to his friends due to his gap-tooth smile -- failed to qualify for his first British Open at St Andrews in 2005. The season ended in disappointment as Oosthuizen finished 139th on the money list forcing him to return to qualifying school to regain his European Tour card. 'Shrek' takes charge at St.Andrews . The South African responded to the early setback by making 2007 his best year so far on the golf circuit, winning three titles on the Sunshine Tour including the Telkcom PGA championship. However, Oosthuizen's stop-start career continued as he failed to play in a major after missing the cuts for the Masters, the British Open and the PGA Championship in 2009. But 2010 is without doubt his most successful and memorable year on and off the course to date. First, Oosthuizen became a father after his wife Nel-Marie gave birth to their baby daughter Jana. Then in March he finally won his first European Tour event at the Open de Andalucia in Spain beating England's Richard Finch and Peter Whiteford of Scotland, who were tied second by three strokes. A victory of sorts in America was next, as the South African won the Par 3 Contest at the 2010 Masters in April, but he missed the cut in the tournament proper at Augusta. He also missed the weekend action in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach so the signs were not promising as he traveled to the east coast of Scotland for the third major of the season. Having missed the cut at the British Open in 2004, 2006 and 2009, few, if any, envisaged him collecting the trophy at the end of play on Sunday. Yet Oosthuizen left Paul Casey, Lee Westwood and the world number one Tiger Woods in his wake, with his final round of one-under-par 71 giving him a 16-under total of 272 and his only major title so far.

Louis Oosthuizen stormed to his first major win at the British Open at St. Andrews . The 27-year-old lives on a farm in Gourits River, South Africa, next door to his parents . Oosthuizen is a graduate from the Ernie Els Foundation before turning professional at 19 . He also became a father after wife Nel-Marie gave birth to their daughter Jana .

(CNN) -- The hottest field in science this past decade has been neuroscience. That explosion in research, and our understanding of the human brain, was largely fueled by a new technology called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) that became widely available in the 1990s. Well look out! Another technology-based neuroscience revolution is in the making, this one perhaps even bigger. The term to watch for in 2013 is "optogenetics." It's not a sexy term, but it is a very sexy technology. The heritage of optogenetics goes way back to 1979, when Nobel Laureate Francis Crick, co-discoverer of the structure of DNA with James Watson and Rosalind Franklin, suggested that neuroscientists should seek to learn how to take control of specific cells in the brain. Well, that certainly would seem to be an advance with great potential. Imagine being able to turn the neurons in an animal's brain on and off from the outside. Sounds like you'd be turning the creature into a robot, sounds like science fiction. Right? Well, flash forward thirty-some years, and guess what, optogenetics is a reality! Here's how it works... roughly. An obvious approach would be to stick a tiny electrode into an animal's brain and stimulate the cells using electricity. Today we have tiny microelectrodes, but they are still too crude for the job. Crick speculated that light could be the tool to use. That turned out to be true: Optogenetics involves inserting fiber-optics tools into an animal's brain, in order to control the target neurons using pulses of light as a trigger. Learning to shine light on a neuron is not the whole answer, though. In order for the method to work, the neurons have to be re-engineered so that they react to the light. That was made possible by the amazing discovery of a kind of protein that can be used to turn neurons on and off in response to light. The exotic light-sensitive protein is not present in normal neurons, so scientists designed a way to insert it. That is accomplished through a type of gene engineering called "transfection" that employs "vectors" such as viruses to infect the target neuron, and, once there, to insert genetic material that will cause the neuron to manufacture the light-sensitive protein. Put it all together, and you have that sci-fi-sounding technology: genetically-engineered neurons that you can turn on and off at will, inside the brain of a living and freely-moving animal. It is the combined use of optics and genetics that give optogenetics its name, but it's not the "how" that makes optogenetics exciting, it is the "what." Scientists didn't really develop it to "take over" a creature's brain. They developed it, like fMRI, to learn about the brain, and how the brain works, in this case by studying the effect of stimulating specific types of neurons. The technology is already beginning to pay off, and despite its recent invention, the word on the street is that a Nobel Prize isn't far off. In one application of optogenetics, scientists investigated how neurons that make dopamine, a neurotransmitter in the brain, may give rise to feelings of reward and pleasure. That work may help scientists understand the pleasure-related pathologies involved in clinical depression. In another application, scientists selectively stimulated brain cells in animal models of Parkinson's disease, a disease that involves the disruption of information-processing in the brain. That research gave new insight into the circuitry involved in the disease, and the way that the therapies we currently prescribe for it operate. It has also suggested new directions for therapeutic intervention. Schizophrenia is another disorder that involves information processing issues in the brain. The illusion of hearing voices, for example, may arise from the failure of an internal mechanism for notifying a person when his or her thoughts are "self-generated." Optogenetics has been employed to better understand a kind of brain activity called "gamma oscillations" that appear abnormal in schizophrenia -- and also in autism. Today, we are a long way from the era when a single person working with an assistant or two can make a revolutionary technological breakthrough. It took, instead, decades of work in many fields, which came together, only very recently, to bring Crick's vision to fruition. But now that it's here, optogenetics is destined to change the way we treat mental illness, and eventually, even, the way we understand ourselves as human beings. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Leonard Mlodinow.

Leonard Mlodinow: In 2013, "optogenetics" is the technology to watch out for . Mlodinow: Imagine being able to turn neurons in a brain on and off from the outside . He says optogenetics can be used to gain insights on diseases, mental illnesses . Mlodinow: It will change the way we understand ourselves as human beings .

(CNN) -- Hurricane Irene has come and gone, but many travelers are still going nowhere fast in the aftermath of the storm. The airlines are just recovering after canceling thousands of flights over the weekend, some mass transit systems are still struggling, and train service remains sporadic in parts of the Northeast ravaged by Irene. The problems created a ripple effect throughout the country, with fliers who were trying to get into the region also encountering frustrating delays. "We got to go to work. How are we going to do that? Now we're thinking of driving to New Jersey because we can't stay here all this time," said Bridget Corg, who was trying to return home from Miami, CNN affiliate WSVN reported. "I'm ready to go so I can go to work. Get to the airport, cancellation," said Jerry Delerme, who was trying to fly to New York from south Florida. "I'm flying standby, so that means I'm not getting home probably until (Tuesday)." It will take a few days for everyone to get where they want to go, said Mateo Leras, a spokesman for JetBlue. The airline is adding several flights Monday to take care of passengers who couldn't fly over the weekend. Airlines and airports getting back to normal . About 650,000 to 700,000 air travelers have been grounded since Friday because of flight cancellations prompted by Hurricane Irene, said Daniel Baker, CEO of FlightAware.com, a flight tracking service. The good news is that many of the affected passengers made alternate arrangements, so not everyone is in the backlog that carriers are dealing with now, Baker added. "The airlines are hoping to be back on a regular schedule this afternoon, and so at least the cancellations will dwindle down," Baker said. "But it will be through the week" before the backlog is resolved, he said. "There's no question that there's really widespread ramifications." Did Irene affect you? Share photos, video, but stay safe . Airlines are urging passengers to check their flight status before leaving for the airport. Those who are stuck and must pay out-of-pocket to stay at a hotel should go online and look for some great last-minute rates, said Anne Banas, executive editor at SmarterTravel. She recommended checking Hotels.com or downloading the Hotel Tonight smartphone app for a list of same-day deals. "You can also sometimes call a local hotel and ask for a 'distressed travelers rate.' Usually it's a discount they offer in situations like these, when there are storms and people can't get out of town," Banas said. "Doesn't always work." But there's hope stranded fliers will see an improvement soon. Tuesday and Wednesday are usually the slowest air travel days of the week, which will help travelers get on the flights they want, said Todd Lehmacher, a spokesman for US Airways. The airline reached out to 90,000 people ahead of the weekend to reschedule their itineraries, he said. Most passengers were accommodated before the storm began, American Airlines spokeswoman Andrea Huguely said. The carrier is considering extra flights if there's a lot of overflow and demand, she said. Airlines including American and US Airways said they don't expect any impact on Labor Day travel. "This is a well-prepared(-for) and well-planned event," Baker said. "The airlines announced it really well, they canceled flights, and they're getting back going again. ... It comes off as very organized." Still, some travelers abroad are having trouble coming back to the United States. CNN's Deborah Feyerick, who has been traveling in Greece, was supposed to return to New York on Sunday, but the first flight on which her airline could rebook her was Thursday. Australian traveler Shaun Cunningham is stranded in Costa Rica. He was supposed to fly back to London via New York, but his travel agent told him he wouldn't be able to take that route until September 10. So Cunningham paid 1,200 pounds for a one-way ticket that connects via a different country, allowing him to fly out sooner. Meanwhile, train travel is still feeling the impact of Hurricane Irene. All Amtrak service between Boston and Philadelphia is canceled because of the extensive flooding, debris on tracks and power issues due to the storm. There's also no Acela Express service between Boston and Washington. New Jersey rail service is suspended until further notice, but bus and light rail service is operating on a modified schedule on Monday. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority has suspended a number of regional rail lines.

An estimated 650,000 to 700,000 air travelers have been grounded since Friday . Many affected passengers changed their plans, so not everyone is in the backlog . Airlines don't expect any impact on Labor Day travel . All Amtrak service between Boston and Philadelphia is canceled .

(CNN) -- Nothing better sums up Africa's extraordinary mixture of challenges and opportunities than agriculture. On the one hand, Africa is home to one in four of the world's hungry and is the only continent which fails to grow enough food to meet its own needs. Yet it has also half of the world's unused land suitable for farming. Better still, increasing yields on existing farmland by 50% -- still far below the global average -- would not only meet Africa's own food requirements but provide a sizable surplus for export. With global food supply needing to increase by an estimated 70% by 2050, the continent is at the heart of the challenge of food security. All this explains why agriculture in Africa is finally getting the attention it deserves from both the continent's governments and donors. The recent Nutrition for Growth summit generated pledges of $4.1 billion to fight malnutrition and hunger. This builds on the commitments made at Camp David 12 months ago when we, along with other local and multinational companies, committed to collectively invest over $3 billion across the agricultural value chain in Grow Africa countries. There is now increased pressure on G8 leaders, meeting this week in the UK, to tackle the issues at the heart of food insecurity, including "land grabs." Read this: African land grabs, mirage in the desert . In the worst cases, local communities and farmers have been evicted from land they long regarded as their own. Farmland which was once productive can be left idle. Plans to grow crops for export in the future can also be difficult to stomach when local people don't have food to eat today. Land purchases which ignore the interests of local communities and the local landscapes are both morally wrong and commercially short-sighted. We need action both nationally and globally to stop them. But there is a danger that these clear-cut cases fuel opposition to all outside investment or create a false choice between large-scale commercial farming and smallholders. The truth is Africa desperately needs to maximize the potential of both to meet the needs of its citizens. With smallholder farmers still producing 80% of the food and supporting 65% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa, they are central to any successful sustainable solution. We need to lift the barriers which have seen them locked out of the developments in agriculture from which farmers around the world have long benefited. Where this has happened, the results can be remarkable. Read this: Africa can feed itself in a generation . As a company, we have been working with African farmers for many years. We buy our raw materials from all sorts of farming systems, from large-scale commercial barley farmers right through to near-subsistence cassava farmers who we are keen to help become viable commercial operators -- and at least half of the grains we use come from local farmers. The challenge for all who want to see African agriculture drive prosperity for its people is to maximize the benefits which both smallholder and large-scale commercial farming can bring. There is no single answer to preventing land grabs but at the heart of any solution is the need to improve land rights. It is no coincidence that many of the most questionable acquisitions have taken place in countries with the weakest system of land rights in place. As much as 90% of the land in sub-Sahara Africa is untitled. The result is that communities which may have lived and farmed the land for many generations have no enforceable legal claim to it. In the worst cases, this can allow land to be sold off by governments from under their feet without any hope of compensation. Read this: Land grabs really water grabs? Improved land rights which go at least some way to recognize history and usage would help prevent this from happening. Nor is it impossible to put in place. Countries such as Botswana and Ghana have already improved their laws so customarily held lands have the force of private property. Giving people the protection of legally enforceable land rights does not only give them security. It also gives them greater incentive to invest in their farms and an easier route to get this investment. The lack of legal paperwork to their land remains a major reason for the refusal of banks to lend to farmers. Improving land rights would also help commercial organizations who want to invest and farm in a responsible way. The present position gives us the worst of all worlds. While bad investors can get away with riding roughshod over the rights of smallholders and communities, the present free-for-all makes it difficult for good investors who want to farm in a way which is beneficial to local people and the environment from accessing land. It is not just weak land rights which are holding back African agriculture, and the solutions are complex and multi-faceted. But work to put in place a fair and enforceable system would be a major step to helping the continent fulfill its rich potential. The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of Mark Bowman.

G8 leaders under pressure to tackle food security, says Mark Bowman . National and international action is needed to stop land grabs, he says . But Africa needs both large-scale commercial farming and smallholders, he adds . Bowman calls for "a fair and enforceable system" of land rights .

(CNN) -- "App" has been a computing term for a lot longer than five years. But, on July 10, 2008, it began its journey to becoming a household word. That's when Apple, a year after launching the iPhone, introduced its App Store to the world. The online marketplace launched with 500 apps, mostly for established Web companies such as Facebook, eBay and Yelp. Today, it has more than 850,000. And, a couple of months ago, it passed a mind-boggling threshold, marking the 50 billionth app to be downloaded. Apple can no longer claim proprietary ownership of apps, those mini-programs that continue to push the boundaries of what a mobile phone can do. Google launched its own app store, now called Play, less than a year after Apple. Today, it's on a path toward surpassing Apple's number of downloads. But the iPhone was the first smartphone most folks ever saw, and the App Store was the accessory that gave it extra usefulness. On this anniversary, we look at five iconic apps that got a huge lift from the App Store and expanded the capabilities of our phones. 'Angry Birds' Before the App Store, video games were, by and large, for hard-core players with consoles or souped-up PCs. Now the line between who is a gamer and who's not is blurry -- and millions of people have "Angry Birds" to thank. The deceptively addictive little game, in which players fling a flock of ... well ... angry birds at their pig nemeses, is the top-selling paid app in the App Store's history. Since its launch in 2009, the game has become a franchise, with spinoffs, toys, cartoons and even a movie making up just part of Finnish developer Rovio Entertainment's furious, feathered empire. Addicted gamers are sweet on 'Candy Crush' Google Maps . With the rise of Google's Android system as Apple's chief mobile rival, there's a certain irony that one of its products was a key to the App Store's success. But since Google Maps rolled out as a native app for the iPhone, the ability to get directions on the go has become one of mobile computing's key features. (Does anyone still hand-draw maps?) Yes, there are other map apps out there. But Google's treasure-trove of data makes its maps a go-to for millions. Witness the mini-disaster Apple had on its hands when it bumped Google's offering for its own Maps app last year. Apple's product was so half-baked that CEO Tim Cook, in a rare mea culpa, essentially told users to download Google Maps until it was fixed. How to kickstart your holiday using apps not maps . Pandora . By 2008 Pandora already had become a popular Web-streaming service, letting users seed their own personal radio stations with bands or songs they liked. But the company was quick to see the potential in mobile computing, and Pandora was among the first apps available when the App Store went live. Since then, it's become the second-most downloaded iPhone app in the store's history, trailing only Facebook. Its proof of concept -- that users want to be able to bring their music with them anywhere -- also helped inspire a host of competitors, from Spotify to Rdio to Last.fm. Why everybody's building a Web music service . Instagram . Mobile phones, particularly smartphones, made all of us photographers. That's a huge shift. But, sadly for most of us, it didn't make us all good photographers. Enter Instagram -- with a slate of editing tools and funky filters that can make even the most pedestrian pictures look good. Add to that Instagram's social features, complete with Twitter-like hashtags, and you've got a tool tailor-made for mobile. Launched in 2010 by Stanford University students, Instagram now moves about 45 million images every day. Oh ... and those creators also sold it to Facebook last year for a cool $1 billion. Instagram launches 15-second video feature . Shazam . It seems like a little thing, until you stop and think about it: What if your phone could listen to a few seconds of a song, then tell you what it is? That would have sounded like magic not so many years ago. Now, we take it for granted. Shazam started in the UK in 2002 as a Web service. But it was front and center at the beginning of the mobile revolution, and is now among Apple's Top 10 downloaded apps, with 350 million users. 20 fun and useful new mobile apps .

Apple's App Store arrived five years ago . Users have downloaded more than 50 billion iOS apps . Casual game "Angry Birds" is the store's top-selling app ever . Facebook leads most-popular list of free apps, followed by Pandora .

(CNN) -- Kyrgyzstan's president signed a bill Friday to close an air base that the U.S. military uses as a route for troops and supplies heading into Afghanistan, the president announced on his Web site. Manas Air Base in Kyrgyzstan serves as a U.S. supply route for troops and supplies into Afghanistan. The news came as two other central Asian nations -- Tajikistan and Uzbekistan -- reportedly agreed to let U.S. cargo pass through their countries on the way to Afghanistan. Such deals, if confirmed, could help fill the void left by the closing of the Manas Air Base in Kyrgyzstan. The Kyrgyz order became effective on Friday when President Kurmanbek Bakiyev reportedly signed legislation that the parliament in Bishkek backed on Thursday, the Pentagon said. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry on Friday officially notified the U.S. Embassy in Bishkek that a 180-day withdrawal process is under way. Embassy spokeswoman Michelle Yerkin told CNN the United States hopes to retain the base. Officials in Washington and Bishkek signed a deal three years ago allowing the United States to renew the arrangement annually through July 2011. "We do remain in contact with the government of Kyrgyzstan," Yerkin said. "The Manas Air Base continues to operate under existing agreements, as per the coalition's efforts in Afghanistan." U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday the United States will continue to work with Kyrgyzstan on keeping the base open. Watch why Kyrgyzstan wants to close the base » . "I continue to believe that this is not a closed issue and that there remains the potential at least to reopen this issue with the Kyrgyz and perhaps reach a new agreement," Gates said at a NATO meeting in Krakow, Poland. "If we are unable to do that on reasonable terms then, as I have suggested, we are developing alternative methods to get resupply and people into Afghanistan." The Manas Air Base outside Bishkek is the only U.S. base in Central Asia and is a major resupply hub for the war in Afghanistan. Its closing could deal a significant blow to the U.S. military effort there, especially following President Barack Obama's announcement of additional troops to halt a resurgence of the country's former Taliban rulers. The United States pays $17.4 million a year to use Manas, a major logistical and refueling center that supports troops in Afghanistan, the Pentagon said. About 15,000 troops and 500 tons of cargo reportedly move through Manas monthly, it said. The air base currently employs more than 1,000 servicemen, 95 percent of whom are Americans, Russia's Interfax news agency reported. "This is an important facility, it has been an important facility, but it's not irreplaceable and, if necessary, we will find other options," Whitman said. How far is Manas from Afghanistan? View our map » . Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, two other Central Asian nations that border Afghanistan, have agreed to allow U.S. cargo to be transported to Afghanistan through their countries, the Russian news agency Interfax reported Friday. The agency said Rear Adm. Mark Harnitchek, U.S. transportation command director for strategy, policy, programs and logistics, held a meeting with Tajik Foreign Minister Kharokhon Zarifi, after which he said he had also secured Uzbekistan's consent. A Tajik government statement said only that the two sides discussed the issue, but a spokesman for the Tajik foreign ministry told CNN that "practically all issues" to allow U.S. cargo transit through the country have been resolved. If confirmed, success would still depend on how much access the United States would have to those countries for flights and cargo, and even then, it may not totally replace the capacity lost in Kyrgyzstan. U.S. General David Petraeus, who oversees the war in Afghanistan, was in Uzbekistan this week for talks on Afghanistan and other regional issues. A Pentagon spokesman told CNN that his discussions included the regional supply network into Afghanistan. The U.S. military leased a base in Uzbekistan after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. But after Uzbek troops were accused of killing at least 150 people during a demonstration in 2005, the autocratic government of President Islam Karimov came under criticism from Washington and severed most of its military ties with the United States.

Tajikistan, Uzbekistan may allow U.S. military supplies heading to Afhanistan . Kyrgyzstan president completes next step towards closure of U.S. base . The U.S. says it's still working with the country to keep the operation open . The Manas base is used to transport key supplies and troops into Afghanistan .

(CNN) -- House Speaker John Boehner and the President Barack Obama continue to play chicken. Boehner has indicated that unless the president sits down and negotiates some spending cuts or changes in the Affordable Care Act, there will be no budget or debt ceiling increase. President Barack Obama refuses to negotiate until after a "clean" budget is passed by the House and there is an unconditional debt ceiling increase. Boehner complains that the president is willing to negotiate with Iran without any preconditions, why not the House Republicans? The president responds by saying as a matter of principle he will not allow the House Republicans to hold as hostage the U.S. economy by using the budget and debt ceiling as leverage in negotiations. The president emphasizes that he is willing to negotiate, but first Congress must enact a budget and debt ceiling increase. Boehner responds by claiming that this is the same as offering to negotiate a cease-fire with Republicans only after they first surrender and lay down their arms. This is a costly and dangerous game. Each day there is no national budget many services are not available, parks and monuments remain closed, and thousands of federal employees are on furlough. A failure to raise the debt ceiling is much more serious. If the United State defaults on its debt risks, catastrophic effects on our economy would follow: It would jeopardize the government's ability to borrow on favorable terms and would lead to higher interest rates; it would disrupt international credit markets and might well plunge the United States into another recession. In my last book "Bargaining with the Devil: When to Negotiate, When to Fight," I address the question: When you are locked in the hardest sorts of conflicts -- those with an adversary whom you don't trust, who has hurt you in the past and may hurt you in the future, whom you may even think is evil -- how do you decide whether to negotiate? Some in my field claim you should always choose to negotiate. After all, you can only make peace with your enemies. Without sitting down and discussing things, how will you ever figure out whether there might be a solution that better serves your own interests than fighting it out? Others, pointing to the Faustian legend, argue that you should never negotiate with the devil. To do so risks soiling your soul and giving up what is most important to you. I reject both categorical claims. The challenge is to make a wise decision in a particular context by carefully weighing the costs and benefits of alternative courses of action. Here, wisdom requires the president to negotiate, but to do so without sacrificing his most important interests. If the president persists in his refusal even to explore with Boehner what deals might be possible, Boehner may be the first to blink. That would be a clear victory for the president and a clear loss for the Republicans. But what if the speaker, no doubt fearful he will lose his job as speaker if he blinks, refuses to relent? When our national economy falls over the proverbial cliff, the Republicans may be blamed more. But the president's legacy will be seriously damaged as well. Both Boehner and the president should try to reach a deal that has face-saving elements for both, one that is not a clear loss for either. Better still would be a deal that might allow both to claim victory and be good for the country to boot. Such a deal is possible. It would involve two critical elements. 1. The House and Senate should pass a "clean" budget bill and a "clean" debt extension -- i.e., ones that do not themselves have provisions jeopardizing the Affordable Care Act or federal entitlements. 2. As this legislation is being enacted, the president and speaker should jointly announce in a press conference the creation of a bipartisan commission that within six months will submit to both houses for an up or down vote a combination of tax and entitlement reforms that over the next eight years will address the long-term deficit problems. In other words the two elements should occur simultaneously. This arrangement would allow both Boehner and the president to declare victory. How can this happen? The discussions leading to the deal must be kept private. Both leaders have constituents who would object to it, and who would claim their leader sold out for too little. Many Democrats oppose any entitlement reform. No doubt tea party Republicans will claim that Boehner would be giving up the leverage of the debt ceiling without any specific spending cuts being enacted. Making sure that House Majority Leader Eric Cantor supports the deal is important; Boehner wants to keep his job. With Cantor's support, Boehner can be confident that he will remain speaker. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Robert Mnookin.

Robert Mnookin: Boehner, Obama in dangerous game of chicken over debt celing. To end it, Obama should negotiate, but not sacrifice his most important interests, he says . He says a deal must save face. How? Congress must pass "clean" budget and debt bills . Mnookin: At same time both should announce commission to take on entitlement reform .

(CNN) -- It's just water. Of course it is frozen in the form of ice. Driving on ice is a fool's errand. On ice it is hard to stop (or start) moving. On ice, vehicle control is difficult at best. You don't need to be a transportation engineer to know that crashes increase with snow and especially ice, with its reduced friction. The problem is not that Atlanta got snow, but that the snow turned into ice. Should Atlanta have been better prepared? In retrospect, the answer is obvious. In prospect it should have been as well. While it's hot in the summer, Atlanta is in the foothills of the Appalachians, not the beaches of the Caribbean. In the past eight decades, it has snowed 4 inches or more 11 times in Atlanta. There are periodic ice storms. According to Weatherspark, the average low temperature in January is 34 degrees F, just above freezing. In other words, half the time in January the daytime low is below 34. I lived in Atlanta for five years. As a freshman, I remember a cold spell in January 1985, when Ronald Reagan's second inauguration was canceled in Washington because of cold, and Georgia Tech, where I was a student, had a delayed opening because it was 8 degrees. So winter is something that leaders should be aware of in Georgia. Atlanta does not get as much snow as Minneapolis, my current home, and where we have stared down a polar vortex, and are now blanketed with about 2 feet of snow. Atlanta is certainly not as cold as Minneapolis, where unusually, school was canceled two days this week, and five days this school year, and we now look at ice planet Hoth (where Luke Skywalker and friends were based at the opening of "The Empire Strikes Back") as an improvement. But Atlanta still experiences winter. Atlanta still has access to forecasts from the National Weather Service. This storm was not a surprise. There are several strategies for dealing with ice storms. Officials could have tried to prevent the ice. Unfortunately weather control is not yet very practical. The city and state could have tried to mitigate the ice. There are many techniques for salting and sanding roads that either prevent ice from forming, melt the ice or make it easier to travel on ice. This requires a fleet of vehicles and drivers that are prepared well before the weather event and that continue to be deployed until the roads are cleared. The risk is the city and state spend money on preparations for bad weather that does not come. Such spending is standard operating procedure in northern cities such as Minneapolis, where snow and ice are almost guaranteed, but it may not be worthwhile if the ice is infrequent. Opinion: When 2.6 inches of snow made hell freeze over . Atlanta could have tried to avoid the ice. If officials knew ice was coming (and they should have, the weather forecasts were not highly guarded state secrets), they should have canceled schools and encouraged people to stay home. The risk is you cancel school and it only rains, or the storm changes course. Officials who cancel school, only to see the weather improve, look bad, are considered "fraidy-cats," will be mocked by talking heads and Monday morning quarterbacks, and more importantly will have a harder time making the right decision the next time. A real leader is not so insecure. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned his city about Sandy despite perhaps being (in retrospect) too conservative in his warnings about Irene. In the end, we should ask: Is missing a day of school, or working from home instead of the office really the end of the world? Instead what officials in Georgia did was accept the damage (in the form of traffic congestion, crashes, people sleeping in place in their cars and schools instead of at home) caused by the ice. This outcome required no advance preparation or forethought. In fact a debacle of this magnitude required a careful absence of preparation. Worse, everything shut down at once. Dismissals were not coordinated, exacerbating congestion. In the end though, the main problem was not that everyone left work and school at the same time. The problem was they were all there in the first place. In the long term, the Atlanta area could do much more to avoid its routine congestion. But in the short term, if you cannot prevent the special congestion caused by the weather, avoid it. Is weather getting weirder? I don't know. Is weather getting more predictable? Most definitely. The science is improving, and the measurements are getting more precise, and there are many more of them, all of which make short-range forecasts very accurate. Our politicians should listen to the scientists sometimes. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of David Levinson.

David Levinson: Atlanta area should have been prepared for the weather . He says Atlanta gets little snow, but gets weather forecasts. Storm was not a surprise . Officials should have kept people off the roads, Levinson says . Levinson: Real leaders aren't insecure about risking such decisions .

(CNN) -- South Sudan appealed for international aid for a remote region that has been under attack by roaming fighters, as thousands of residents fled into the bush to avoid the violence. The government declared Jonglei state a "humanitarian disaster area" and called on international aid agencies to help provide urgently needed assistance. It is not yet clear how many people have been killed or injured in the violence. The United Nations said Thursday it was mounting a "massive emergency support programme" to help those displaced by fighting. The organization sent a battalion of peacekeepers to the area last week amid reports that members of the Lou Nuer tribe were marching toward two towns which are home to the rival Murle tribe. The Lou Nuer fighters, who numbered 6,000 to 8,000, have now agreed to leave the area following "intensive negotiations," a United Nations statement released Thursday said. But as many as 50,000 people who fled their advance on the towns of Likuangole and Pibor now need food, water and shelter. "The situation in humanitarian terms is grim," U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator Lise Grande is quoted as saying. "They haven't had food; they haven't had access to clean water. In a number of cases, some of the people are wounded. They haven't had shelter. As the day progresses, you can see hundreds of people coming back into town and there is no question they are in trouble." The U.N. World Food Programme has already delivered food supplies for some of the most vulnerable, including children, the statement said. Grande said the United Nations had helped evacuate citizens from the area and avert a greater crisis. Ethnic tensions in Jonglei state have flared as tribes fight over grazing lands and water rights, leading to cattle raids and abduction of women and children. Government officials have urged the two ethnic groups to return women and children abducted in the spate of violence. More forces will be deployed and a committee established to push for reconciliation between the two groups, according to government spokesman Barnaba Marial Benjamin. Kouider Zerrouk, a spokesman for the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), said Thursday that the United Nations was "beefing up" its presence across Jonglei state in support of government efforts. Zerrouk said the situation was now calm but UNMISS was operating daily land and air patrols to deter further violence and ensure the Lou Nuer fighters did leave the area. The mission would also help the South Sudan authorities transport about 800 additional police to the area, he said in a statement. Jennifer Christian, Sudan policy analyst with the Enough Project, said that while it's important to get emergency food and medical aid to those affected, a longer-term strategy is needed to avoid future violence. "The underlying, largely economic, causes of this cycle of inter-communal violence must be addressed to ensure permanent peace and stability in Jonglei state," Christian said. "In Jonglei, cattle is currency. For instance, young men need cattle to pay dowry prices and marry. A lack of access to basic services and economic opportunities compounds the reliance of Jonglei's communities on this cattle economy, which, in turn, fuels conflict associated with cattle raiding," she said. The international community should work to support the South Sudan government in developing its security forces and judicial system, she added. As residents fled the fighting last weekend, the United Nations said peacekeepers were having trouble accessing the rugged and isolated region, which is surrounded by thick forests. "The problem we faced in this particular region of Jonglei state was one of access, because there are no roads, because of insufficient helicopters," said Herve Ladsous, the U.N. peacekeeping chief. "So we did reinforce our available staff there. The government of South Sudan itself is trying to do the same, but facing the same constraints." The violence in Jonglei state is the latest to rock South Sudan, which officially gained its statehood in July after separating from neighboring Sudan to the north. Decades of civil war between the north and south, costing as many as 2 million lives, ended with a U.S.-brokered peace treaty in 2005. But before South Sudan gained independence in July, human rights monitors expressed concerns that long-standing grievances could end in violence consuming the region again. The United Nations estimates that more than 1,100 people died and 63,000 were displaced last year by inter-communal violence in Jonglei state, not taking into account the latest clashes. CNN's Moni Basu, Nima Elbagir and Laura Smith-Spark contributed to this report.

NEW: The United Nations says it is providing emergency help to those most in need . At least 50,000 people have fled violence in Jonglei state . The government declares the state a "humanitarian disaster area" Ethnic tension flares as tribes fight over grazing lands and water rights .

(CNN) -- Move, Sony's new motion controller for the PlayStation 3, has been nearly everywhere in the days and weeks leading up to its official release September 19. Gaming fans and critics alike have seen what the new device can do, how it will behave and even how it will affect their current and future gaming. But as complex and complicated as it seems, the Move had a very basic beginning. To paraphrase Walt Disney, it all began with a ball. At a demo event in Washington, the man behind the Move, Richard Marks, talked about how the motion controller came to be and where he hopes it will take gaming in the future. As the manager of research and development for Sony, Marks said that work on the Move started after they developed the EyeToy camera for the PlayStation 2 and discovered they needed a ball to help it focus. "Early work with the EyeToy camera got it to recognize specific shapes and colors to help it with tracking," Marks said. "We figured out that lighting is key to tracking." Marks and his team found that the EyeToy, which is now a part of the Move system, was able to find and follow items that were sphere- or ball-shaped. It's not surprising, then, that the hand controllers for the Move, which started showing up in online stores this week, are topped with colored balls that have led some to compare them to ice cream cones. "The sphere looks the same no matter what angle you hold it," he said. "The camera then tracks the location by the size of the sphere. Bigger sphere means closer to the screen, while smaller means further away." The development team used foam spheres with some success until a researcher wanted to make the spheres light up. It turned out that lighting the ball helped the EyeToy track the device even better. "[The researcher] wanted the sphere to change colors to reflect different things in potential gameplay," Marks said. "What we found was that the camera worked better because the colored light in the ball makes it stand out from any background." The Move and EyeToy actually examine the surroundings of a player for color pixels and then assign a completely different color to light up the sphere. The result is a smoother tracking of movement in three dimensions, something that a similar controller for another console can't do. Once they got the camera to track a lighted, colored sphere reliably, how could they turn that into a game device? Marks said that for his very first rudimentary Move controller, he took a regular controller for the PS3 and put the ball on one end. "I cut the ends off because I wanted to make something that would feel good in one hand and had buttons to help with gameplay," he said. "It wasn't pretty." The research-and-development team began to tweak the look and feel of the proto-Move controller, adding a gyroscope and accelerometer to assist with game movement. Marks insisted that the new device keep the buttons from the PS3 controller because he said they are needed to do specific, in-game movements. "You want to know you are having an effect in the game. Buttons give you instant feedback instead of just waving a hand to get something done," Marks said. "Not only can you quickly change from item to item using buttons, the T-button [an analog button located where your fingers wrap around the device] allows you to control how much of something you want to do. It gives the players more feedback and more freedom." Marks envisions the Move controller as a device that will allow players the opportunity to explore 3-D environments and games in ways that previously were seen in science fiction movies. He said the Move can pinpoint the position and angle of the player's hand in a way that's perfect for point-of-view games. Although his team had a good controller in hand, it was too expensive in the beginning. Eventually, pricing of the components, specifically the gyro and accelerometer, came down. Marks said sensor technology also got better over time. "We could have done something early, but it wouldn't have been as good," he explained. And if one Move is good, two are better. "Two Move controllers allow for more detail," Marks explained. "It opens up so many more possibilities for game developers to really put players in the middle of the action. There are a lot of things you can do as long as the platform is good." He said first-person shooter games like "SOCOM" and individual sports games such as tennis, golf and archery will be the early success stories for the Move. But he's not counting out any game genre because, he said, developers are testing out the Move to find out what it can and can't do. "I want new ways to show up to do things we haven't even thought of," Marks said. "The Move isn't going away any time soon."

The Move system grew out of the EyeToy camera for PlayStation 2 . Researchers found the EyeToy tracked sphere shapes the best . Using two Move controllers instead of one allows for more detail . Sony's Move controller will be officially released for sale on September 19 .

(CNN) -- At first glance a reality-TV hosting gig might seem beneath a megawatt star like Jennifer Lopez. But, according to insiders, Lopez needs "American Idol" just as much as it needs her. "She's tried a couple comebacks. They really haven't worked for her," says Stuart Levine, managing editor at Variety. Levine added, "She's not the celebrity she was 15 years ago. But she's not stupid. ... She's a smart businesswoman." With a first look deal with Fox Films and a contract rumored to be worth $12 million , it looks like Jenny from the Block could be making out like a bandit. But neither party seems to be holding the short end of the stick. She's viewing "Idol" as a way to jump-start her film and TV career, Levine said. In turn, Fox is banking on some star power to boost ratings during its first season without Simon Cowell. A first-look deal with Lopez means the studio will get the initial dibs on projects backed by her production company, Nuyorican Productions. According to Levine this isn't a big deal for Fox. " 'Idol' is such a big money maker ... I don't think they had to twist too many arms for that," Levine said. "Studios have so many first-look deals with so many production companies that one more is not a make or break situation. If this was someone they didn't want, they wouldn't have done it." With last season's ratings dipping below 20 million viewers in April, J.Lo and Steven Tyler could be the magic formula for viewers. It's likely that "Idol's" audience share will soar at the beginning of the season, with viewers tuning in for the first few weeks to see the new judges in action. But then again, the same was said last season of recently resigned judge Ellen DeGeneres and everyone knows how that turned out, said Abbey Goodman, executive editor of RollingStone.com. "No one thought Paula Abdul would be someone we would care about or miss when she was first announced," said Goodman. "[Lopez] has the opportunity to get back that fan support through this. Whether she will remains to be seen." In order to harness that support from fans, Lopez may need to return to her "Jenny from the Block" roots. Before there was "American Idol," there was the "Bennifer" era, when Lopez engaged in a very public relationship with Ben Affleck. But before that, she was just a young girl growing up in New York trying to make it big. A dancer from the Bronx, Lopez landed a role as a Fly Girl on Fox's "In Living Color" in 1991. (J.Lo wasn't the only Fly Girl to become a judge on reality TV. Carrie Ann Inaba of "Dancing With the Stars" got her start on the comedy series in 1990.) iReport: Will you watch Lopez on "Idol?" After leaving the hit TV show in 1993, Lopez finally found a place in the music industry with her debut album, "On the 6," in 1999. The album, which featured hits like "If You Had My Love" and "Waiting for Tonight," earned the singer multiple Grammy Award nominations. J.Lo officially became a triple threat when she played the lead in the 1997 biopic "Selena." This breakout role led to other film opportunities, including 1998's acclaimed "Out of Sight," in which she starred alongside George Clooney. She's since headlined romantic comedies like "The Wedding Planner," "Shall We Dance," "Monster-in-Law" and her most recent flick "The Back-up Plan," which Levine jokes made about $12 at the box office. (According to BoxOfficeMoJo.com, the film made more than $12 million in its opening weekend.) For Lopez, who has two children with husband Marc Anthony, the benefits of her new gig don't end with a paycheck. On Wednesday, Lopez said she looks forward to settling down in Los Angeles for a while. "This is a sweet deal," said James Cantiello, MTV News' "American Idol" expert. "It's mutually beneficial for everyone involved." This is the last season "American Idol" is guaranteed to be culturally relevant, Cantiello said. "'Idol' lives and dies by the quality of the contestants," he added. "As long as they cast good people this year, 'Idol' will remain on top."

Fox has offered J.Lo a first look deal with Fox Films and a rumored $12 million salary . "It's mutually beneficial for everyone involved," a source says . J.Lo's breakthrough role in the 1997 biopic "Selena" led to other film opportunities .

(CNN) -- Screams of outrage. Crowds marching down streets, blocking intersections and interstates. Fists raised in silence. As the Ferguson grand jury's decision was announced Monday night, protesters around the country -- who had begun to gather hours earlier -- responded in solidarity. In New York, a roving crowd wound its way through the city, surging to more than 1,000 in Times Square before heading toward the Upper West Side, CNN's Miguel Marquez tweeted. Earlier in the evening, about 200 people flocked to Union Square, brandishing signs that read, "Jail killer cops," and a large display, in lights: "Black lives matter." Protesters knocked down barricades and headed toward the West Village before turning north, accompanied by police. Emotions boiled over in Philadelphia, too. 'A thousand Fergusons across America' "Shouts of "f--- the police" at word of no indictment," a Philadelphia Inquirer reporter tweeted. "A man with the mic: 'we don't need to get mad.' Others: 'yes we do!'" In Oakland, California, shop owners posted signs in their windows, "We support Michael Brown," as marchers took to the streets. A crowd filled the intersection at 14th and Broadway, and some demonstrators laid their bodies down in chalk outlines, reports on social media showed. Later they merged onto Interstate 580, shutting down traffic. Similar scenes of a "die-in" were staged in downtown Seattle. "Same story every time, being black is not a crime," protesters shouted, according to a report from CNN affiliate KIRO. In Washington, D.C., a large crowd assembled outside the White House, with some protesters lying down on Pennsylvania Avenue. In Los Angeles, a city still scarred by the riots of 1992, silent protesters staged a similar demonstration at the intersection of La Brea and Wilshire. A group also assembled in front of the Colorado Capitol in Denver calling for nonviolence, according to CNN affliate KMGH. The Chicago Tribune reported that some 200 protesters gathered outside the city's police headquarters, chanting "We are Mike Brown!" and "I am Mike Brown!" They also carried signs, the paper reported, bearing phrases like "Won't stop 'til we get justice," "Killer pigs must pay," and "Stop the racist killer cops." Later they marched through downtown before stopping at the State of Illinois Center, where they chanted into bullhorns. Chicago police scrambled to keep up. Protests around the country appeared to be largely peaceful, compared to the scenes unfolding in Ferguson. There, demonstrators set police vehicles ablaze and officers fired canisters into the crowds. In Atlanta, birthplace of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the streets appeared largely quiet. But at Morehouse College, where about 200 students gathered to hear the grand jury's decision, a collective gasp rippled through the crowd. What's next for the Michael Brown family? Some of the students at the historically black men's school looked at one another in disbelief, others started to tear up, and a few stared ahead as their jaws dropped. Police sirens wailed in the distance as the students chanted: "Ferguson's hell is America's hell." Kevin Harvey, a senior dressed in a blue blazer, button-down shirt and penny loafers, walked away from the demonstration with his head down. He said he was angry and bewildered by a storyline that's become all too familiar. "I'm afraid to raise my son in this country," he said. "When I do have a family, I'm afraid to raise him in this country and that's a terrible thought. Because I know that he is not valued." Complete coverage of what's happening in Ferguson . When asked his reaction to the verdict, Harvey tried to sort through his emotions. "Confusion, anger, and generally just being upset," he said. "I'm scared and frustrated." Long before the grand jury decision was shared, announcing that Officer Darren Wilson would not be indicted for the murder of 18-year-old Michael Brown, the nation held its collective breath. As the sun set back East, people rose up -- hours before the decision was announced after 9 p.m. EST. More than 120 vigils and gatherings, both immediate and for Tuesday, were organized in cities large and small. From Toledo, Ohio, and Bangor, Maine, to Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Detroit, details have been shared on the Ferguson National Response Network. Read what Darren Wilson told the grand jury . CNN's Miguel Marquez and Bill Kirkos contributed to this report.

Nation responds to grand jury decision in Ferguson . Protests, vigils planned in at least 120 cities, large and small . Emotions boil over as crowds march in New York City, shout in Philadelphia .

Naypyidaw, Myanmar (CNN) -- Nobel peace prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is blunt and unapologetic. "I want to run for president and I'm quite frank about it," she told a panel during the first day open discussion at the World Economic Forum in Myanmar on Thursday. "If I pretended that I didn't want to be president, I wouldn't be honest and I would rather be honest with my people than otherwise." Suu Kyi's determination to drag her country free from the stifling restraint of an military regime is finally being realized more than two and a half years after her release from years of house arrest. However, two years into the presidency of Thein Sein, she says that the vast majority of Myanmar's people are not seeing the benefits of reform. "If you talk to the man on the street, if you talk to people in villages, the great majority of them would say that their lives have not changed since 2010. " Suu Kyi criticizes two-child limit on Muslims in western Myanmar . 'This is a transformation time' Her assertion was backed by a number of people in the busy Bogalay Market in downtown Yangon. Win Shwe stood in a long coat at the market entrance, raising his hand every now and then as if to bless passersby. The 72-year-old was begging for a note or two of the local currency, the kyat . "This is a transformation time. But for poor people, nothing's changed. The government mechanism is corruption," he said. Sitting beside her daughter nearby at a flower stall, Khin Than Win, 52, said: "I agree that this is a transformation time. But I see that the streets and the roads are wider than before. That's the only change." People "want to feel that they have been included in the process of change," Suu Kyi told the panel. "And that's nothing to do with the number of cars that you now see in Rangoon (Yangon) or the number of magazines that you can buy because the vast majority of our people have no access to those." Suu Kyi wins re-election as Myanmar opposition leader . Suu Kyi: Amend constitution . To clear the way for her presidency, Suu Kyi said the country's constitution had to change. As it stands, the former political prisoner is ineligible to contest the presidency because of a clause that bans anyone with a foreign spouse or child. Suu Kyi's late husband, Michael Aris, was English and her two sons have British passports. Asked whether she was reasonably optimistic that those changes would be made, Suu Kyi said, "I don't believe in indulging in optimism. Let me put it this way. I've always said hope has to be backed up by endeavor. "So, rather than being optimistic or hoping that the constitution will be amended we're going to work for the constitution to be amended." But while many see Suu Kyi as the country's best chance for the future, she's been criticized for not being vocal enough in defense of the rights of Rohingya Muslims in the western Rakhine State. Human Rights Watch has accused the Myanmar government of the "systematic and wide ranging persecution" of the Rohingya who it also says have been the target of ethnic cleansing. Opinion: At last, a hero for democracy . Minister: Change needs time . Suu Kyi says she has been speaking out "but it's just that they're not hearing what they want to hear from me." "I cannot doctor my answers to please everybody. I have to say what I believe in. And I believe that the rule of law is the first step towards any kind of solution to the problem in Rakhine State and other parts of the country." "We must get to the point of reassessing the law to see if it comes up to international norms or not." She added, "I would like all of the world to understand that we are aware of the difficulties in our country and we're doing our best to cope with it. When I say 'we,' I'm not talking about the government, I'm talking about ordinary people in Burma." A government minister also on the panel said he agreed that the constitution had to change, but stressed that decades of military rule had created binds that would take time to unravel. "We need time. We are in the dark ages. The other system was in place about 60 years. We have an idea to arrange for everything we have to change, but we need time," said Union Minister Soe Thane. "We have to untie the rope. It's very difficult but we must do it. We must think about the democracy. We must think of the economic development of 60 million people." Suu Kyi: Peaceful freedom fighter .

People want to feel included as Myanmar changes, Suu Kyi says . She was speaking at the World Economic Forum . She says the majority are not seeing the benefits of reform .

(CNN) -- Nearly 4,500 American soldiers lost and 32,000 wounded. A trillion dollars of borrowed money to remove Saddam Hussein and create an Iraq that would not only be safe from possessing weapons of mass destruction but also friendly toward the United States. These are the United States' heavy sacrifices in blood and treasure. One can be forgiven for expecting some Iraqi support for U.S. foreign policy aims in the region. On Monday, the Iranian-backed prime minister of Iraq, Nuri al-Maliki, met with President Barack Obama at the White House to express his thanks for liberating Iraq from Hussein and discuss next steps. The frosty news conference afterward told us that all was not well. Tense, lacking in warmth and smiles and with public disagreement about Iraq's neighbor, Syria, the appearance did not reflect a productive meeting. As the United States formally ends the almost nine-year war and nears the end of its troop withdrawal, there is still much at stake -- and it's not the relatively tiny Iraqi nation of 30 million people, but U.S. influence and foreign policy objectives in the region. The Iraqi prime minister knows that his country, particularly his armed forces, is not yet ready to contain the probable outbreak of sectarian violence. And he wants U.S. financial expertise in developing Iraq's private sector. He made no secret of wanting greater U.S. assistance on both fronts. Iraq, under al-Maliki, is keen to receive U.S. help in countering terrorism and developing its economy. It seems perfectly legitimate, therefore, for the United States to express its own expectations from Iraq. But what is the Iraqi response? First, ending, or more precisely, containing the Arab-Israeli conflict is a top priority of the U.S. in the Middle East. Iraq's support here would help bolster the U.S. position. Moreover, Iraq could financially help Palestinian activists committed to a two-state solution. But while Egypt, Jordan and Turkey recognize Israel, Iraq continues to refuse to do so. Second, the U.S. and Turkey have, mistakenly in my view, called for Syria's president, Basher al-Assad, to resign. But Iraq has defied the United States and supported the Assad regime. When Hussein killed Iraqi Shias, al-Maliki and others called for U.S. support for removing the Iraqi dictator. But the same logic does not seem to apply for al-Maliki and Iraq today. Forced to choose between the U.S. line and Iran's support for Damascus, Iraq opted for aligning with the mullahs in Tehran. Third, Iraq is seen as an outsider among Arab nations in the region today because of its political ties to Iran. Under Hussein, Iraq was a buffer against spreading Iran's religious and revolutionary fervor. U.S. attempts to isolate Iran and build regional support against Iran's nuclear weapons program are repeatedly scuppered by Iraq's failure to support such efforts, much less lead it. In contrast, Saudi Arabia (for different reasons) has been willing to support U.S. initiatives to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear warhead. With U.S. military and political presence inside Iraq coming to an end and with the passage of time, Baghdad will become ever closer to Tehran. Those who argue that the large and well-resourced U.S. embassy in Iraq will ensure that Baghdad is kept in check fail to remember that Tehran, too, once had a powerful U.S. embassy. Unless political will in Iraq exists to align with the United States, U.S. civilian contractors and a large embassy, much like in Pakistan, cannot create allies. Al-Maliki's comments at the White House, the trajectory of his government and the failure of the Obama administration to steer Iraq away from Iran raises these important questions for the United States: . What does Iran offer that the United States cannot? If after so much sacrifice, the United States cannot create an ally in Iraq, then is it realistic to expect that U.S. involvement in other nations (Syria, for example) will create U.S.-friendly regimes? Most importantly, what is it about U.S. foreign policy aims that make them so toxic for Iraq? If U.S. foreign policy is so detached from the lived reality of the Arab world, is it time to reformulate policy so that they can be accepted by those for whom the United States sacrificed so much? The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ed Husain.

Ed Husain: U.S. spent vast blood and treasure on ousting Saddam Hussein, building Iraq ties . He says when Nuri al-Maliki, Barack Obama met to formally end war, things were tense . He says Iraq still wants U.S. help aid but avoids U.S. foreign policy aims, has ties to Iran . Husain: If U.S. can't count on Iraq by now, how will it hold sway in other nations in region?

ALPHARETTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Soft music filled the room as waiters served white wine and hors d'oeuvres. Two dozen well-dressed women chatted in small groups. Mary Johnson, 56, who lost most of her lashes during chemotherapy, was excited to give Latisse a try. But, this was no ordinary cocktail party. The setting was the lobby of the OH2 Medical Spa in Alpharetta, Georgia. The women were on hand to take part in a new beauty treatment hitting the United States: the promise of better looking eyelashes through a prescription drug called Latisse. "It's the latest, the greatest," exclaimed the party hostess, Christine Glavine, wife of Major League Baseball pitcher Tom Glavine. She invited a group of friends to meet with local plastic surgeon Dr. Randy Rudderman to get a dose of the new FDA-approved medication. Glavine didn't have to do much convincing. Tammie Wilson, 43, of Roswell, Georgia, said she was motivated to try the product because "I want to be able to look like I have on makeup when I don't." Watch more on the marketing of Latisse » . "I have blond hair and blond lashes. I have to put on three coats of mascara," complained her friend Jennifer Altmeyer, also 43 and from Roswell. Altmeyer, who is hoping to be able to skip mascara altogether, was the first to line up at Rudderman's exam room. The drug is available only through a doctor; it is approved to treat hair loss on the lash line. The product maker, Allergan, says Latisse will thicken, darken and lengthen inadequate or skimpy eyelashes in as little as eight weeks. But, here's the catch: Doctors report it takes up to 16 weeks to see maximum eyelash growth. If you discontinue Latisse, your lashes will go back to their original state in a few months. Visit CNNhealth.com, your connection for better living . Oh, and by the way, the drug isn't cheap. It costs about $120 for a 30-day supply. Latisse was discovered almost by accident, Rudderman said. The product contains a compound that is also found in medication that decreases eye pressure in glaucoma patients. "A significant number of those patients started having a side effect of increased growth of eyelashes," said Rudderman. Women like Altmeyer are clamoring to give Latisse a try. Rudderman's assistant first removed Altmeyer's eye makeup and then applied a drop of Latisse to a small applicator. The wand was then swiped across her top lashes. Rudderman advised Altmeyer to apply the drug once a day before she goes to bed and not to apply Latisse to lower lashes because they come in contact with the medicine on the top lashes during blinks. Rudderman said Latisse comes with several warnings: It is approved only for those over 18 and is not recommended for pregnant women, people with pre-existing eye conditions or those with allergies to the ingredients. Rudderman said some of the most common side effects are itchy and red eyes and hyper-pigmentation, or darkening along the eyelash base. Dr. Pradeep Sinha, a plastic surgeon in Atlanta, Georgia, started working with the glaucoma version of the medication two years ago on an off-label -- or trial -- basis, before it was approved specifically for eyelash thickening. While he said his patients were happy with the results, Sinha noted another unpleasant side effect if the user is not careful while wielding the applicator. "One patient was messy and grew small, fuzzy hair on her eyelid," Sinha said. He instructed the woman to stop using the product, and the unwanted hair eventually fell out. Some women, like Mary Johnson, a 56-year-old breast cancer survivor, are willing to take their chances. After undergoing chemotherapy last year she lost a lot of eyelashes. "That was really devastating for me," she said. She said she could put a wig on her head, but for the rest of her face she had to "fake it" by drawing in a lash line and eyebrows with cosmetics. Johnson tried some over-the-counter lash products, but she said none of them worked. She was smiling as she received her first dose of Latisse from Rudderman. "Until you have lost your eyelashes, you don't really realize how hard it is to put eye makeup on," she said. "When you lose your eyelashes you just don't look the same."

Newly FDA-approved Latisse promises to thicken, darken and lengthen lashes . Latisse contains compound also found in glaucoma medicine . Patients using that medicine had increased eyelash growth . Drawbacks include dry and red eyes, darkening around lash line and high price .

Kabul (CNN) -- The ordeal of Gulnaz did not simply begin and end with the physical attack of her rape. The rape began a years-long nightmare of further pain, culminating in an awful choice she must now make. Even two years later, Gulnaz remembers the smell and state of her rapist's clothes when he came into the house when her mother left for a brief visit to the hospital. "He had filthy clothes on as he does metal and construction work. When my mother went out, he came into my house and he closed doors and windows. I started screaming, but he shut me up by putting his hands on my mouth," she said. The rapist was her cousin's husband. After the attack, she hid what happened as long as she could. But soon she began vomiting in the mornings and showing signs of pregnancy. It was her attacker's child. In Afghanistan, this brought her not sympathy, but prosecution. Aged just 19, she was found guilty by the courts of sex outside of marriage -- adultery -- and sentenced to twelve years in jail. Now inside Kabul's Badam Bagh jail, she and her child are serving her sentence together. Sitting with the baby in her lap, her face carefully covered, she explains the only choice she has that would end her incarceration. The only way around the dishonor of rape, or adultery in the eyes of Afghans, is to marry her attacker. This will, in the eyes of some, give her child a family and restore her honor. Incredibly, this is something that Gulnaz is willing to do. "I was asked if I wanted to start a new life by getting released, by marrying this man", she told CNN in an exclusive interview. "My answer was that one man dishonored me, and I want to stay with that man." Tending to her daughter in the jail's cold, she added: "My daughter is a little innocent child. Who knew I would have a child in this way. A lot of people told me that after your daughter's born give it to someone else, but my aunt told me to keep her as proof of my innocence." Gulnaz's choice is stark. Women in her situation are often killed for the shame their ordeal has brought the community. She is at risk, some say, from her attacker's family. We found Gulnaz's convicted rapist in a jail across town. While he denied raping her, he agreed that she would likely be killed if she gets out of jail. But he insists that it will be her family, not his, that will kill her, "out of shame." Whether threatened by his family or hers, for now, jail may be the safest place for her. Shockingly, Gulnaz's case is common in Afghanistan. CNN asked a spokesman for the prosecutor to comment on the case. The reply was that there were hundreds such cases and the office would need time to look into it. But Gulnaz's plight has found international attention because of a dispute between the European Union and a team of documentary makers hired to report on women's rights in Afghanistan. The documentary makers filmed a lengthy report on Gulnaz and other women, showing her talking openly about her fate. They showed the film to the EU, who were paying for it as part of a project on female rights here. After viewing it, the EU decided to spike the project. The EU said it was concerned about the safety of the women in the film: they could be identified and might face reprisals. The filmmakers however suspect -- citing an email leaked from the EU delegation -- that the EU might also be motivated by its sensitive relationship with Afghan justice institutions, since he film shows the Afghan justice system in a very unflattering light. The leaked email says: "The delegation also has to consider its relations with [Afghan] Justice institutions in connection with the other work that it is doing in the sector." The EU Ambassador to Afghanistan, Vygaudas Usackas, rejected any political motivation in asking for the film not to be shown. "What I am concerned about is that situation of the women. About the security and well being, that's of paramount importance, the key criteria according to which I, as representative of the European Union will judge," said the ambassdor. Under Afghan law, Gulnaz has been judged an adulterer. Despite the ongoing dispute over her story, her predicament has not changed. She faces the hideous choice of 12 years in jail or marriage to her rapist and risk death. It's a marriage she says she'll accept, so her child can continue to have a mother.

Afghan rape victim Gulnaz found guilty by courts of adultery and jailed for 12 years . The only way victim can escape incarceration is to marry her attacker . Gulnaz refuses to give away the daughter who resulted from the rape . Women in her situation can be killed for the perceived shame their ordeal has brought their community .

Beijing (CNN) -- China's second-largest train manufacturer will recall 54 bullet trains running on the new Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway after a series of malfunctions, a company official said Friday. The state-owned CNR Corporation earlier this week suspended deliveries of the same model for safety reasons. "All decisions are based on safety and we are trying to be responsible," said Tan Xiaofeng, a company spokesman. The news came on the heels of a Chinese government announcement to slow down bullet trains nationwide and halt approval for new construction, amid increasing public scrutiny on the country's railway safety following a crash last month that killed at least 40 people. Premier Wen Jiabao this week also ordered railway authorities, who had planned to invest over $400 billion into new projects in the next five years, to conduct thorough safety inspections on all high-speed rail lines both in operation and under construction, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. "Right now we are checking and eliminating all potential safety vulnerabilities," railway minister Sheng Guangzu said in Thursday's edition of the People's Rail newspaper. "Down the road we want to strengthen our management to ensure rail operations be safe, sustainable and stable." Sheng said bullet trains would run 40 to 50 kilometers below their top design speed, which currently stands at 350 kilometers per hour (217 mph) for the fastest model, and ticket prices would be reduced accordingly. The actions were prompted by the government after a stalled bullet train was struck from behind by another train on July 23 near Wenzhou in eastern Zhejiang province, causing one of China's deadliest rail accidents in recent years. Railway officials later blamed design flaws in the rail signal equipment as the culprit. Many in the public remain skeptical of the finding, still fuming over reports that the railway ministry ended its search-and-rescue effort less than six hours after the collision, and moved to crush and bury one of the six derailed cars when the investigation had barely started. Although railway authorities have denied such allegations, a panel consisted of high-ranking government officials -- none from the railway ministry -- and academic experts has taken over the investigation and is expected to produce its report in September. Reactions were mixed to the government decision to decelerate the country's trains. "This is a rational policy to correct the 'great leap forward' strategy of our high-speed railway development," Professor Zhao Jian, a transportation expert with Beijing Jiaotong University, told CNN. "It should have been done earlier -- but this is a good start." Zhao, a long-time critic of China's high-speed rail plans, said slower trains would improve safety and cut operational cost, benefiting both operators and passengers. But others compare the new measure to "stopping eating after choking on food." "The problem is obviously with management, but they simply decided to reduce the speed," a user named "usinner" wrote on Shanghai Metrofans, a popular railway internet forum. "If they don't address the real problem, trains are still going to crash even when running below 100 kilometers per hour." Now the world's second-largest economy, and flush with cash, China has built the world's longest high-speed rail network -- boasting more than 8,300 kilometers (5,100 miles) of routes -- in a few short years. Officials have portrayed the development of high-speed rail as a symbol of the country's growing prowess and also want to export Chinese technologies to markets that include the United States. The massive investment and rapid construction have long raised public doubts on the new lines' safety and commercial viability. The skeptics' voices became louder after the former railway minister -- a champion of high-speed rail -- was sacked for corruption early this year. Even the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail -- the ministry's newest and proudest project -- has broken down several times since its much-touted launch less than two months ago. "It's not the faster, the better," Sun Zhang, a railway professor at Tongji University in Shanghai -- and now a member of the investigative panel on the deadly crash -- told CNN in June. "We have to take safety, economics and environmental impact into consideration." Eager to reassure skeptics home and abroad, Chinese leaders have said the government would learn its lessons from the fatal bullet train collision -- even it means to swallow national pride for now. "If safety is compromised, there is no credibility to speak of," Premier Wen said during a visit to the crash site on July 28. "It is important that we integrate our effort in pursuing speed, quality, efficiency and safety with the understanding that safety always comes first."

The recall involves 54 bullet trains made by the state-owned CNR Corporation . There is extra public scrutiny after a crash last month killed at least 40 people . The Chinese government is slowing down bullet trains in the aftermath . Premier Wen Jiabao is ordering safety inspections on high-speed lines .

(CNN) -- Russian police detained dozens of people in an anti-terror sweep in Volgograd, the southern city where two suspected suicide bombings killed more than 30 people this week. Thousands of police officers searched hundreds of people following the attacks on Sunday and Monday at a rail station and on a trolley bus just six weeks before Russia is due to host the Winter Olympics. The death toll from the attacks increased to 34 when some of those hurt died from their injuries, state media reported. Separately, Australia announced limits on the movement of its athletes for the Sochi Games. The blasts in Volgograd intensified fears of terrorism following a threat earlier this year from a Chechen extremist group to use "maximum force" to disrupt the Olympics in February. No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks described as suspected suicide bombings. In his New Year's address, Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged problems in 2013 but said the Russian people had a lot to look forward to in 2014. He also had a message for terrorists. "We bow our heads to the victims of violent terrorist attacks. We will continue the fight against terrorists certainly, fiercely and consistently until their complete annihilation," he said in the address on Russian TV. In Volgograd, a strong security presence was on the streets leading to New Year's Eve celebrations. Australian restrictions . Australia said Tuesday that none of its athletes competing in the Olympics will travel to Sochi using ground transportation in Russia -- they will only travel by air. Australian athletes will only train and compete in Sochi and won't vacation elsewhere in Russia after the Games, said John Coates, the president of the Australian Olympic Committee. "Families of athletes and all other participants of the Olympic Games, including media and spectators, should note the steps we are taking for the safety and welfare of our athletes," Coates said in a statement on the committee's website. He nonetheless echoed comments from the International Olympic Committee expressing confidence that Russian authorities will do everything "to ensure the security of the athletes and all of the participants of the Olympic Games." Key transit point . While security in Sochi and its surrounding area is considered to be very tight, the attacks in Volgograd, a major transportation hub for southern Russia, have raised concerns about the potential vulnerability of other areas of the country. Volgograd is a main transit point for people traveling by train to Sochi, which is situated just over 400 miles (645 kilometers) to the southwest. The number of people killed in an explosion at the Volgograd's main rail station Sunday now stands at 18, the state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported Tuesday, citing the Emergencies Ministry. The toll from a blast on a trolleybus during the morning rush hour Monday has reached 16, the agency said, attributing the information to health officials. Russia's response . Russian authorities have described both explosions as terrorist attacks and vowed to continue their "tough and consistent offensive" against extremists. About 5,200 police officers are now on the ground in Volgograd for an anti-terrorism operation, Andrei Pilipchuk, a regional police official, said on Russian television. Police are checking people's documents in all crowded areas of the city and have so far detained 87 people who put up resistance or didn't have documents allowing them to carry weapons, Pilipchuk said. But it wasn't clear if any of those held had any suspected connection to the attacks or would face any charges. A total of 1,500 buildings have been "examined" and more than 1,000 people have been searched in the operation, Pilipchuk said. U.S. offers support . The United States has offered its "full support to the Russian government in security preparations for the Sochi Olympic Games," National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said in a statement Monday. "We would welcome the opportunity for closer cooperation for the safety of the athletes, spectators, and other participants," Hayden said. The U.S. State Department said American citizens planning to attend the Games should "be reminded that threats have been made against the Olympic Games and acts of terrorism, including bombings, continue to occur in Russia." "This is an exciting, positive, happy international sporting event, but people going there do need to maintain vigilance and watch out for their own security and safety," Marie Harf, a State Department spokeswoman said at a regular briefing Monday. Harf said the department was "very focused" on the security situation in Russia, but she declined to say whether any additional measures had been taken since the Volgograd bombings. CNN's Diana Magnay and Arkady Irshenko contributed to this report.

NEW: Thousands of Russian police officers carried out searches in the city . Australia announces limits on the movements of its athletes in Russia . A rail station blast killed 18, and a trolleybus attack killed 16 . The 2014 Winter Olympics are due to take place in the Russian city of Sochi .

(CNN) -- For years, Republican presidents and presidential candidates have strip-mined Clint Eastwood movies for rhetorical nuggets. Ronald Reagan warned Congress in 1985 that he had his veto pen at the ready if it voted a tax increase. "Go ahead, make my day," he baited, quoting Eastwood's Dirty Harry character in "Sudden Impact." "Read my lips," promised candidate George H.W. Bush in 1988, echoing Eastwood in the original "Dirty Harry," adding, "No new taxes." Thursday night, Mitt Romney's campaign recruited Eastwood himself. The beloved actor/director, 82, was the "mystery guest" at the Republican Convention, a warm-up act for Sen. Mario Rubio of Florida, who introduced candidate Romney. He strode out on the stage, hair uncombed and a little wild, with his familiar, stiff-legged authority, and proceeded to deliver an improvised piece of performance art that triggered unintentional amusement and confusion within the Tampa Bay Times Forum and throughout the viewing audience. But to many, the political nuggets Eastwood delivered this time were more like fool's gold. "I never thought it was a good idea for attorneys to be president anyhow," Eastwood rambled, perhaps unaware that Romney has a law degree, "because they're arguing both sides of the issue." News: Eastwood, the empty chair, and the speech everyone's talking about . "Clint Eastwood became huge star as a man of few words. As a surprise guest on the Tampa stage he had too many words (I say as a friend)," tweeted newsman Tom Brokaw of the actor's apparently improvised act, where he addressed an empty chair meant to represent President Barack Obama. Afterward, the Chicago Sun-Times critic and Obama supporter Roger Ebert tweeted, "Clint, my hero, is coming across as sad and pathetic. He didn't need to do this to himself. It's unworthy of him." For this film critic and longtime admirer of Eastwood (and a registered Democrat), it was not the best hour for the former mayor of Carmel, California. But was I surprised that Eastwood, a man who describes himself as an "Eisenhower Republican" and who publicly endorsed John McCain in 2008, would appear at the Republican convention? Not at all. Eastwood is nothing if not a straight shooter. What did surprise me, a little, is that the GOP would invite Eastwood after prominent Republicans such as Karl Rove criticized the actor as an Obama tool for narrating Chrysler's "Halftime in America" ad aired at the Super Bowl this year. What also surprised me is that the GOP would invite the guy who told GQ magazine in October, "These people who are making a big deal about gay marriage? I don't give a --- about who wants to get married to anybody else. Why not?" And it was surprising that, when the identity of the "mystery guest" was revealed Thursday evening, many non-Republicans took to Twitter and Facebook to pillory Eastwood, huffing that his appearance at the GOP convention "tainted" his movies for them. Huh? First of all, Eastwood publicly endorsed Romney this month. Second of all, the actor who is a lower-case-L libertarian on social issues (pro-gay marriage, pro choice, pro-ecology) and a fiscal conservative is hardly one to toe a party line. Have they watched Eastwood's movies? You can't pin this guy down ideologically. Many have tried. All have failed. As critic Dave Kehr has noted, "Ambivalence runs deep in his movies, just as it runs through American culture." Eastwood specializes in playing men in the moral shadowlands. During the Nixon years liberals branded Eastwood movies like "Dirty Harry" as "fascist." During the Clinton years, conservatives tagged "Unforgiven" as squishy "political correctness." Heaven knows what they made of -- SPOILER ALERT! -- the assisted suicide in his other Oscar-winning movie, "Million Dollar Baby." Entertainment: Stars react to Clint Eastwood . The first half of Eastwood's career he played men who shot first and thought about it later. The second half of his career, he's largely devoted himself to exploring the consequences of that gunplay. Is that Republican? Is that Democrat? I think it's American. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Carrie Rickey.

Carrie Rickey: Clint Eastwood lines have long been used by politicians, mainly from right . She says last night at GOP convention, he made rambling, performance-art-type speech . She says left-leaners groused, but Eastwood going his own way politically is not new . Rickey: He's small "l" libertarian, with films showing ambivalence about America. And that's OK .

(CNN) -- Football clubs spend big money on big players to deliver on the biggest stage. And no doubt Arsenal view the $58 million they spent on Alexis Sanchez as a bargain after his heroics secured its passage to yet another European Champions League group stage. Remarkably, a nervy 1-0 victory over Turkish side Besiktas in the two-legged playoff tie means Arsene Wenger's men will take their place in the draw for the 17th consecutive season. Qualification also brings with it a $33 million windfall, meaning Sanchez has already paid off a large chunk of the fee it cost the club to prise him from Spanish giants Barcelona. Now the Gunners will line up alongside the cream of Europe, including European champions Real Madrid and German champions Bayern Munich, in Thursday's draw. A relieved Wenger told Sky Sports: "We needed to keep our nerve but we kept our nerve, were united and showed great solidarity. "We wanted to be there and not go down a division in Europe. We had chances to score more but in two games we kept a clean sheet and it made a difference." Asked if it was unthinkable for Arsenal not to qualify Wenger said: "It is unthinkable until it happens. "For us it is a weight off our shoulders, we can now focus on the Premier League and wait for the draw. We feel we have done the job and have our conscience clear." Wenger also confirmed striker Olivier Giroud would be missing until at least December after undergoing surgery on an ankle injury, and said he would dip into the transfer market if he could find a forward of suitable quality. After a disappointing 0-0 draw in Turkey last week, the first opportunity of the evening fell to Jack Wilshere, but after pouncing on a loose ball when Sanchez was fouled, the England star fired wide of the target. Former Chelsea striker Demba Ba, who wasted several opportunities in the first leg, narrowly failed to poke the ball past Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny as the Turkish side showed they could still pose an offensive threat. And hearts were in mouths at the Emirates when defender Mathieu Debuchy slid in to tackle Mustafa Pektemek and appeared to get only a marginal touch on the ball inside the penalty area. But just as the home fans began to express their agitation, Sanchez found the net. The Chilean scampered into the area as Wilshere swapped passes with German World Cup winner Mesut Ozil, to fire low past Besiktas goalkeeper Tolga Zengin. Sanchez had a chance to double Arsenal's lead on 51 minutes after more neat approach play from Wilshere, the 22-year-old sliding the ball to his Chilean teammate only to see it stabbed wide of the far post. Ba had another chance to stall the Gunners' momentum as he turned inside the area, but his shot from a narrow angle could only find the side-netting. Arsenal then wasted two glorious chances to make the tie safe. With Besiktas pushing men forward, Arsenal broke and Sanchez drove into the penalty area before teeing up Cazorla, but the Spaniard's shot was blocked. Seconds later Nacho Monreal swung in a low cross and though Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain sneaked in front of his marker, he could only fire against Tolga from six yards out. A nervy climax was ensured when Debuchy was dismissed for a second bookable offense with 15 minutes left, the defender remonstrating with the referee before trudging off. Ba failed to connect with a late header, and Arsenal were penned in as the Turks desperately sought the goal they needed, but they held on to seal victory. Elsewhere, Spanish side Athletic Bilbao came from behind to eliminate Napoli, from Italy, and take its place in the European Champions League group stages for the first time in 16 years. Germany's Bayer Leverkusen also progressed after a 7-2 aggregate victory over Danish outfit FC Copenhagen. Ludogorets Razgrad, of Bulgaria, made the group stages for the first time after a fairytale penalty shootout victory over Romania's Steaua Bucurest. After goalkeeper Vladislav Stoyanov was sent off in extra time, defender Cosmin Moti donned the gloves as the tie finished 1-1 on aggregate after extra time. Incredibly, Moti took his side's opening penalty, and scored, before saving two of Steaua's and sealing a remarkable victory for his side.

Alexis Sanchez seals Arsenal's progress to European Champions League group stages . It is the 17th consecutive season Arsenal have made the group stages of the competition . Sanchez's first goal for the club sees off Turkish club Besiktas in their playoff tie . Spain's Athletic Bilbao knock out Napoli; Germany's Bayer Leverkusen also through .

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Is it possible to have a building that can make you happy, sad, or even angry? The Experience Music Project in Seattle has appeared in the Forbes list of ugly buildings. Does it affect your mood? Alain de Botton thinks it is. The Swiss-born British writer, modern-day philosopher, and author of international bestseller "The Architecture of Happiness", believes there is more to buildings and architecture than we may think. Taking on 19th Century French writer Stendhal's motto that "beauty is the promise of happiness," de Botton analyzes human surroundings and considers how our needs and desires are transferred into architecture. He also discusses the amount to which architecture can affect our personal happiness. De Botton told CNN he felt that a beautiful building, or likewise, an ugly structure, could affect how we feel. "Beauty has a huge role to play in altering our mood. When we call a chair or a house beautiful, really what we're saying is that we like the way of life it's suggesting to us. It has an attitude we're attracted to: if it was magically turned into a person, we'd like who it was. "It would be convenient if we could remain in much the same mood wherever we happened to be ...but unfortunately we're highly vulnerable to the coded messages that emanate from our surroundings," he said. But, how do buildings manage to cast their bricks and mortar over our emotions? "One might say that architecture suggests a mood to us, which we may be too internally troubled to be able to take up. Its effectiveness could be compared to the weather: a fine day can substantially change our state of mind -- and people may be willing to make great sacrifices to be nearer a sunny climate," de Botton said. De Botton believed that structures communicate with us in various ways. "This book focuses our minds on the idea that buildings speak -- and on topics which can readily be discerned. They speak of democracy or aristocracy, openness or arrogance, welcome or threat, a sympathy for the future or a hankering for the past." So, indeed your own house could be making you happy or sad, de Botton suggests. "They (houses) tell us of certain moods that they seek to encourage and sustain in their inhabitants. While keeping us warm and helping us in mechanical ways, they simultaneously hold out an invitation for us to be specific sorts of people. They speak of particular visions of happiness," he said. De Botton said there are "thousands" of public buildings which are ugly and could possibly force a negative, saddening, or even potential anger-producing mood upon us. What are some examples? De Botton is quick to mention the new Westfield mall opening in Shepherd's Bush, London, which he describes as a "monument to human idiocy" which represents a "large, confused shed, which offers the wider community nothing but a windowless façade clad in nauseating green paneling, with an utter indifference to symmetry, proportion or beauty". And what other buildings could be considered a structure of sadness? Certainly, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's Experience Music Project building in Seattle has to be a nominee -- featuring in the Forbes list of the top ten ugliest buildings in the world. Elsewhere, London's Millennium Dome (or 02 Arena) and Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, are other well-known candidates for buildings that could destroy one's day, after featuring in various "ugly" lists. At the other end of the scale, de Botton has some ideas about structures we should cast our eyes upon to make us happy. While all of this is rather subjective, de Botton said there were some aesthetic values that were universally appreciated. He was particularly fond of the highly-detailed yet serene Senate House in Bloomsbury, London, and also the Georgian-style architecture of Bedford Square, also in London. It's fair to say though, that not everyone in the architectural world is as optimistic about the power of architecture over people. In a debate with architect Robert Adam organized by building.co.uk, Adam attacked de Botton's ideas. After questioning de Botton's use of the word "us" when presenting some opinions, Adam said he did not believe that people were culturally aware enough to take notice of such details. "I wouldn't call myself a pessimist because it would mean I feel bad about popular culture, which I don't. What I think we have at the moment is people who are unprepared to take on the language of the greater part of the population," he said. We want to know what you think. Do you believe buildings can influence the way we feel? Give us your examples of buildings that make you happy or sad in the Sound Off box below and we'll publish the best.

Alain de Botton authored The Architecture of Happiness . He believes emotions are shown in, and can be deduced from architecture . Architect Robert Adam disagrees with many of de Botton's ideas .

(CNN) -- Syria's two-day Internet blackout was "a mental war" inflicted by the government, an opposition activist said Sunday as service to the country was largely restored. "So far, all areas that had Internet service before Thursday are connected," said Alexia Jade, a spokeswoman for the opposition Damascus Media Office. While Internet access is back, theories and concerns abound on what caused the outage. It also sparked fears that the government is stepping up efforts to quash the uprising by crushing the flow of information and isolating the country from the outside world. "It appears to be back to normal, but it is impossible to tell if filtering or monitoring technology was installed during the outage," said Matthew Prince, CEO of CloudFlare, an Internet security company. Global monitors said the country lost contact with the Web on Thursday, plunging into an Internet black hole. Syria's information minister said "terrorists" cut the cable, knocking out Web communication with other countries. The government uses the word "terrorists" to refer to rebels in the ongoing civil war, and blamed them for a car bombing near a mosque in Homs that killed 15 people and wounded 24 others Sunday. Syria caused Internet blackout, security firm says . According to state-run media, a car bomb in Barzeh killed three people. Syrian TV also showed graphic pictures of bodies in a field and reported 21 rebels were killed as they tried to smuggle weapons into Talkalakh, a town near the border with Lebanon. The military also carried out operations in Aleppo, state-run media said. At least eight rebels died in Aleppo when they were bombed by warplanes as they attacked Syrian military positions, the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The group claimed the Syrian military also bombed targets in Damascus and Reef al-Raqqa. The opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria said at least 173 people were found dead in Syria on Sunday. More than 42,000 people have died in the Syrian conflict since the uprising began in March 2011, according to opposition activists. CNN cannot confirm claims by the government or the opposition because of government restrictions that prevent journalists from reporting freely within Syria. During the Syrian rebellion, anti-government fighters have routinely used the Web to transmit bloody images, including what they say are military attacks on civilians. Rebel leaders accused the government of creating the blackout to hide its mass killings from the outside world. "The regime knows that Internet is the main communication method for us," Jade said. "Taking that down is almost like blinding the normal Internet users related to the revolution." Opposition: Fierce fighting closes Damascus airport for second day . Internet and cell phone coverage were restored Saturday to most Syrian provinces, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The same day, state media reported the Internet and communications lines were back in service in Damascus and its suburbs, blaming the outage on a malfunction in the main grid. A Web security expert said the outage was almost certainly the work of the Syrian government. Prince said his firm's investigations showed that all four Internet cables linking Syria to the outside world would have had to been cut simultaneously for a whole country outage to occur. As winter nears in Syria, people are being forced back to restive neighborhoods . Al-Sakhour is on the frontlines of the Syrian civil war and is the last place most civilians want to be. But the streets are getting cold, and people are low on cash. So going home was the only option for about one-third of the residents of this Aleppo community and others nearby. For the children, gunfire is so frequent it has become background noise. One 12-year-old girl tells CNN Senior International Correspondent Arwa Damon that she hardly notices anymore. Some children even collect the shell casings they find in the streets. The Syrian military wants to retake al-Sakhour because a road important to the insurgents runs through the neighborhood, which was one of the first to be controlled by rebels. It is now a bloody battle for the streets and one vital road to Aleppo airport. There are bodies on the roads. People try to retrieve them, only to be shot at by snipers. There are other dangers. One father shows his right arm, which he says was shot as he shielded one of his daughters at a checkpoint. A woman pulls Damon aside and grimly tells her "I'd rather die than live like this." CNN's Arwa Damon, Salma Abdelaziz, Faith Karimi, Samira Said and Laura Smith-Spark contributed to this report.

NEW: Woman tells CNN she'd rather die than live in war-torn neighborhood . "So far, all areas that had Internet service before Thursday are connected," opposition says . The outage sparks fears that the government is stepping up efforts to quash the uprising . The government has blamed "terrorists" for the blackout .

(CNN) -- More timely now than when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2008, "Sunshine Cleaning," an agreeable, midrange independent film, makes light work of heavy burdens. Amy Adams gets to work cleaning up as Rose in the indie comedy "Sunshine Cleaning." Sisters Rose (Amy Adams) and Norah (Emily Blunt) struggle with menial jobs and periods of unemployment. Together, they're also coping with the nasty emotional residue of their mom's long-ago suicide -- a trauma that is likely responsible for their current troubles. Self-esteem isn't a strong suit for either of them. As "Sunshine Cleaning" dawns, they're both scraping by. If Norah is out of work before we've settled into our popcorn, she's not overly concerned by her situation. Rose, on the other hand, is desperate to graduate from cleaning other people's middle-class homes. It's not just that the humiliation of laundering for her old cheerleader team is getting her down; she needs the money to put her "difficult" kid (Jason Spevack) into the kind of school that will give him a chance. It's Rose's married boyfriend -- and old high school sweetheart -- Mac (Steve Zahn) who spies a new niche for the sisters. A homicide detective, he's watching the cleaning crew bag the blown brains of a shotgun enthusiast when he overhears the proprietor of the building grousing about the "three grand" it's costing him. Granted, blood and intestinal juices aren't everybody's cup of tea, but that kind of return sure beats washing Mrs. Johansson's drapes for $30 an hour. "CSM: Crime Scene Maid" isn't a job you're likely to find down at the employment office, but somebody must be doing the dirty work. Rose and Norah -- incorporated -- find that the stench takes some getting used to, and there's a whole new arsenal of cleaning fluids to master, but they get to work with a positive attitude and like to think they're doing their bit to put the world right. From this unusual setup, the movie might have skewed in any number of ways. The sisters might have uncovered evidence of corruption and murder, for instance, perhaps implicating Mac? "Sunshine Cleaning" is nowhere near so abrasive or generic as such a scenario. Written by Megan Holley and directed by Christine Jeffs ("Sylvia"), it instead puts a sympathetic, gentle comic gloss on the characters' fundamentally forgivable foibles and imperfections. Norah tracks down the daughter of one suicide (Mary Lynn Rajskub) to present her with mementos that should have been destined for the junkyard. Blunt's edgy performance keeps us guessing. Norah's a bit of a flake, but she's animated by her anger and her rebellious streak. If she's hard to read, it's because she's still young and doesn't know herself yet. Rose is easier to understand. She's determined to seize this chance to dig herself out of the hole and recapture the promise she used to see in herself. Adams has a knack for putting a brave face on things -- something about the way she tilts her chin up while her mouth goes in three directions at once. She keeps our rooting interest in Rose alive even when her choices seem misguided or naive. A subplot concerning Rose's son bonding with Joe (Alan Arkin), the sisters' lovable but infuriating father (you know the kind: He buys bulk orders of shrimp off the back of a truck) tips us too far into the realm of indie quirk. The character is a useful sounding board, and an amusing grouch, but it's just about impossible to imagine this man bringing up these girls. Ironically, for a movie that's marketed with the one-liner "Life's a messy business," Holley's script has been polished to within an inch of its life. Emotions are experienced most vividly when they're raw, but in "Sunshine Cleaning," feelings come filtered through neat-and-tidy grace notes. The film flirts with dangerous material, but it's too intent on putting the sunny side up to get its hands dirty. The way director Jeffs tells it, not only is suicide painless it can be positively feel-good. That's not to say there isn't a lot to enjoy in this well-acted and humanistic comedy. Buoyed by its up-and-coming stars and its optimistic message, it should do very nicely with discriminating audiences. ... It might even clean up.

Tom Charity: Up-and-coming stars, optimistic message buoy "Sunshine Cleaning" Two struggling sisters become a crime-scene cleanup crew . Movie presents feelings in neat-and-tidy packages, reviewer says .

LONDON, England (CNN) -- British soldier Phil Packer was told a year ago that he would never walk again, but on Saturday he finished the London Marathon. Londoners applaud Maj. Phil Packer, who was told he'd never walk again. He completed the race 13 days after it started, walking on crutches for two miles a day -- the most his doctor would allow -- in order to raise money for charity. Flanked by cheering soldiers and supporters, an obviously emotional Packer had defied medical opinion after his lower spine was badly injured in the aftermath of a rocket attack on his base in Basra, Iraq, in February 2008. The attack sent a vehicle rolling down a sand bank, striking Packer "head on" and dragging him under it. The 36-year-old was left with no feeling or motor control in his legs, and no bladder or bowel control. Watch more on soldier's battle » . Packer was in hospital for more than four months and it was then he decided to complete three challenges to help raise £1 million ($1.5 million) for Help for Heroes, a British charity supporting wounded veterans. In February he rowed the English Channel, and next month he plans to climb El Capitan -- one of America's iconic mountaineering sites -- a 3,000-foot vertical rock formation in California. Packer, who was met at the marathon finish line by British Olympian Steve Redgrave, said that he was £370,000 ($558,000) short of his goal but he was hoping for more donations. Dressed in a white charity T-shirt and desert fatigues, he was emotional. "It's looking after our injured servicemen," he said. "There's a lot of people that can't do this, so this is for them." Earlier this week he told CNN that he "wanted to be able to move on in life." "I wanted to do something for other personnel who had been wounded. "I don't want to be helped. I want to help other people. Not that I'm not grateful, but... you know... I really want to be able to help people." He attributed being back on his feet to "fantastic medical support" from Britain's Ministry of Defense and National Health Service. "So many improvements are being made" in medicine, he said. "It's an evolving process." Watch more on Phil Packer » . However, he did not know whether he would be able to walk without crutches. "I gotta see how it goes. Take every improvement as it comes." Packer is far from alone; the six-year war in Iraq has disabled thousands of people. Britain's Ministry of Defense did not respond to a CNN question about how many service members had been permanently disabled in the war. In the United States, the Congressional Research Service reported in March that 31,131 troops had been wounded in Iraq. That figure is for battlefield injuries; many more veterans were later diagnosed with some sort of traumatic brain injury, but it is difficult to determine an exact number because of how the data is kept. It's not clear how many of the injuries are permanent because the Department of Veterans' Affairs does not classify some disabilities that way until 10 years after the injury, said Ryan Gallucci of AmVets, a veterans' service organization. Statistics for Iraqis are even harder to come by. Estimates of the number of wounded range from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands. Iraq's Ministry of Heath says one in four wounded Iraqis have lost at least one limb. Britain's Prince Charles is among those who have expressed support for Packer. "You are, if I may say so, a credit to the Royal Military Police and to the British Army as a whole," the heir to the British throne wrote in a letter posted on Packer's Web site, http://www.philpacker.com/. Packer is still on active duty and intends to remain so. "I've still got a career in the armed forces. I'm going to go back to it." He has 16 years of service under his belt, including time as an enlisted man before he went to officer training school and is, he noted with a rueful laugh, 20 years from retirement. He's been asked to be an ambassador for Prince Charles' charity, the Prince's Trust, which focuses on helping young people, in addition to his life in what he calls "the disability community." After his two-week effort, Packer was asked whether he would be relaxing in a warm bath. No, he said, "I'm going to have a drink." And with that, the army major lifted a shot glass and toasted his supporters. CNN's Richard Greene contributed to this report.

Phil Packer, 36, was wounded in the aftermath of a rocket attack in Iraq . He walked on crutches for two miles a day to finish the London Marathon . He finished the marathon Saturday, 13 days after everyone else .

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Picture this: you're sat down for the Football World Cup final, or a long-awaited sequel to the "Sex and the City" movie and you're watching all the action unfold in 3-D on your coffee table. The future of television? This image is an impression of what 3D holographic television may look like. It sounds a lot like a wacky dream, but don't be surprised if within our lifetime you find yourself discarding your plasma and LCD sets in exchange for a holographic 3-D television that can put Cristiano Ronaldo in your living room or bring you face-to-face with life-sized versions of your gaming heroes. The reason for renewed optimism in three-dimensional technology is a breakthrough in rewritable and erasable holographic systems made earlier this year by researchers at the University of Arizona. Dr Nasser Peyghambarian, chair of photonics and lasers at the university's Optical Sciences department, told CNN that scientists have broken a barrier by making the first updatable three-dimensional displays with memory. "This is a prerequisite for any type of moving holographic technology. The way it works presently is not suitable for 3-D images," he said. The researchers produced displays that can be erased and rewritten in a matter of minutes. To create television sets the images would need to be changing multiple times each second -- but Peyghambarian is very optimistic this can happen. He said the University of Arizona team, which is now ten-strong, has been working on advancing hologram technology since 1990 -- so this is a major step forward. He believes that much of the difficulty in creating a holographic set has now been overcome. "It took us a while to make that first breakthrough, but as soon as you have the first element of it working the rest often comes more rapidly," he said. "What we are doing now is trying to make the model better. What we showed is just one color, what we are doing now is trying to use three colors. The original display was four inches by four inches and now we're going for something at least as big as a computer screen." There are no more great barriers to overcome now, he said. The breakthrough has made some long-time researchers of the technology believe that it could now come to fruition. Tung H. Jeong, a retired physics professor at Lake Forest College outside Chicago who had studied holography since the 1960s told NJ.com; "When we start talking about erasable and rewritable holograms, we are moving toward the possibility of holographic TV ... It has now been shown that physically, it's possible." And what might these holographic televisions look like? According to Peyghambarian, they could be constructed as a screen on the wall (like flat panel displays) that shows 3-D images, with all the image writing lasers behind the wall; or it could be like a horizontal panel on a table with holographic writing apparatus underneath. So, if this project is realized, you really could have a football match on your coffee table, or horror-movie villains jumping out of your wall. Peyghambarian is also optimistic that the technology could reach the market within five to ten years. He said progress towards a final product should be made much more quickly now that a rewriting method had been found. However, it is fair to say not everyone is as positive about this prospect as Peyghambarian. Justin Lawrence, a lecturer in Electronic Engineering at Bangor University in Wales, told CNN that small steps are being made on technology like 3-D holograms, but, he can't see it being ready for the market in the next ten years. "It's one thing to demonstrate something in a lab but it's another thing to be able to produce it cheaply and efficiently enough to distribute it to the mass market," Lawrence said. Yet, there are reasons to be optimistic that more resources will be channeled into developing this technology more quickly. The Japanese Government is pushing huge financial and technical weight into the development of three-dimensional, virtual-reality television, and the country's Communications Ministry is aiming at having such technology available by 2020. Peyghambarian said there are no major sponsors of the technology at present, but as the breakthroughs continued, he hopes that will change. Even if no major electronics company commit themselves, there is hope that backers could come from outside of the consumer electronics industry, he said. "It could have some other applications. In training it's useful to show people three-dimensional displays. Also it would be good to show things in 3-D for defense command and control and for surgery," he said.

Researchers have created the first rewritable and erasable holographic images . Holographic televisions could come out of the wall or up from a table . The 3-D hologram technology could have uses in surgery or in the military .

(CNN) -- A first half goal from Milan Jovanovic gave Serbia a shock 1-0 win over 10-man Germany at the World Cup on Friday to throw Group D wide open. Germany suffered an early blow in Port Elizabeth when leading striker Miroslav Klose was sent off for his second yellow card, shortly before Jovanovic fired Serbia in front. Lukas Podolski then saw his second half penalty, given following a handball by Nemanja Vidic, blocked by Serbian goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic. The result was perennial challengers Germany's first defeat at the group stage of a World Cup tournament since 1986, when then-West Germany were beaten by Denmark. That year, the three-times world champions went on to reach the final. It also marked the latest setback for the tournament's traditional giants following Switzerland's win over Spain and Mexico's win over France. German coach Joachim Loew admitted it was a big setback for his team. "We had a lot of problems, the double yellow card for Klose, they got the first goal, then we failed to score from the penalty spot -- all in all it was difficult to come to terms with all this, " he told AFP. "We're devastated of course but I'm still confident we will go through to the last 16. we have our fate in our own hands still and a good goal difference." The result lifts Serbia's chances of qualifying from group D following their 1-0 defeat by Ghana in their opening game. They are now tied with Germany on three points following the Germans' 4-0 win over Australia. A win for Ghana over Australia on Saturday would put the west African side firmly on course for a place in the last 16 -- while a win for Australia would leave all four teams tied on three points . Match winner Jovanovic turned in Nikola Zigic's header from close range following good work down the right by the impressive Milos Krasic on 38 minutes. Two minutes earlier, Germany had been reduced to 10 men when Klose picked up his second yellow card of the game for a clumsy challenge on Dejan Stankovic. Klose, who is chasing Brazilian striker Ronaldo's record of 15 goals in World Cup tournaments, had earlier been booked for catching Branislav Ivanovic's ankles, and suspension will now rule him out of Germany's final group game against Ghana on June 23. But Klose appeared to be a victim of some fussy refereeing by Spanish official Alberto Undiano Mallenco, with seven other players also picking up bookings for minor offences. Germany came close to equalizing in the last minute of the half following a series of corners when Sami Khedira slammed a shot against the bar but Serbia's defenders scrambled away the rebound. Serbia, one of Europe's most impressive sides in World Cup qualifying, had seemed happy to concede possession and defend deep in the early stages with German midfielders Khedira and Mehsut Ozil struggling to find space in the center. Podolski flashed an early volley wide of the Serbian goal and Thomas Mueller combined neatly with Bastian Schweinsteiger on 30 minutes to play in Klose, but the German striker was called offside before putting the ball into the net. Serbia's main threat came from Krasic down the right, with Holger Badstuber and Philipp Lahm both picking up bookings for fouls on the CSKA Moscow midfielder. Aleksandar Kolarov went close from the second of those, clipping a freekick from the edge of the penalty area just wide of the post. Germany pressed hard for an equalizer early in the second half and looked to be back in the game when Serbian defender Nemanja Vidic was punished for a handball in the penalty area in a virtual repeat of the incident that saw his side concede a penalty in their opening defeat by Ghana. But Podolski's low shot was solidly blocked by goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic diving to his left. Podolski had already twice gone close, flashing a shot across the goal from Ozil's defense-splitting pass and then shooting into the side netting after being set up by the same player. Serbia almost increased their lead on 66 minutes when the ever dangerous Krasic cut in from the left to set up Jovanovic but the striker's low placed shot bounced to safety off the inside of the post. Zigic then glanced the top of the bar with a header, again from a cross from the right by Krasic.

Milan Jovanovic scores for Serbia from close range in first half . German striker Miroslav Klose sent off for second yellow card . Serbian goalkeeper Stojkovic saves Lukas Podolski's second half penalty . Loss is Germany's first defeat in World Cup group stage since 1986 .

(CNN) -- In a world where information is plentiful and abundant, traders are always trying to make money by finding that hidden advantage. Many are betting that 140 characters is all it takes to beat the market. Some professionals in the world of high finance are relying on Twitter and other social media to try to get the edge on the competition. Markets went into a spin last year when someone hacked the AP's Twitter account and sent bogus tweets about an explosion at the White House, showing just how powerful a sentence can be when millions of dollars are put behind it. Twitter has transformed communication across a host of industries, but many industries remain straightforward in how they use it. Especially in the world of commodities. In Chicago, traders trade futures contracts in every kind of product, from corn to pork belly to orange juice concentrate futures. Essentially, they are making bets on the demand and supply of these items at a later date. Every extra speck of information can make the difference. Some traders expressly follow farmers across the American Midwest and try to get a sense of how much soybean or maize is coming in this year's crop. Others actively engage with the people that make the products they trade, looking for that edge, directly tweeting farmers for information on what weather they are having and what crops they are growing. But others are using Twitter to in more innovative ways to stay ahead of the pack. "Our systems can analyze and determine a Tweet in less than a second from the moment a person tweets," says Paul Hawtin, the founder of the investment management firm Cayman Atlantic. "Analyzing untapped and unstructured data sets such as Twitter gives us a distinct advantage over other investment managers." Hawtin has been working on a fund based exclusively on using sentiment analysis of Twitter for years, analyzing tweets for relevance and for positive and negative sentiment to base its trades on. His first fund was in July 2010, when the U.S. debt stand-off caused huge turmoil in the financial markets and forced the $25 million fund to close after just a month. Hawtin is launching his second try at such a fund later this year. "We're in the process of raising £5 million ($8.3 million) for the new fund and we've secured £1.5 million so far," he says. If his first fund had taken off, Cayman Atlantic's simulated real-time account showed that it would have returned 23.8% last year -- impressive, but not as good as the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which returned 26.5% over the same period. For Hawtin, the benefits of going Twitter-only are obvious. "Breaking news, information trends and global events hit the Twitter network before anywhere else," he says. Twitter appears to be a special case. They have tried to feed in data from Facebook and Bit.ly, the URL shortener, but to no avail. "When people tweet they tend to be talking about real-world events as opposed to Facebook which is more personal and relevant only to friends and family." Others are trying to turn the world of trading into the new Twitter. Yoni Assia founded eToro in 2007 as a social network for investing and sees it as democratizing the space. "It's about opening the global market and investing and trading in a transparent way," he says. "When you're using Facebook or Twitter, it's about social signals. So not all your friends are ones whose financial investments you really want to copy." His network allows anyone to trade both virtual and real money, connect with one other and compare investment bets -- and copy the trading strategies of others. EToro, which is not yet available in the U.S. because of regulatory hurdles, has 3.5 million registered users, of which most are using virtual money. About 300,000 are trading with their own cash on the site. It's Facebook-meets-fantasy football for wannabe day traders. Assia thinks we're at the start of a change in how we invest, one that will transform trading decisions to ones not just based off reactions to real-world events or mathematical modelling, but one based on the analysis of social media as well. "I think in the future you'll have not just fundamental and technical analysis, but social analysis," he says. Hawtin, the founder of the Cayman Islands-based hedge fund, concurs. "We're in the middle of a data explosion," he says. "Trend-following has been a successful trading strategy for over a century and that forms the core of our investment process. What makes us different from any other trend-following hedge fund is the data we use." With billions to be made, Twitter and social media may end up being one of the democratizing forces in the world of finance. Read this: How to start your own currency .

Commodities traders use Twitter to get inside info from farmers . One fund based all its trades on sentiment analysis of tweets . EToro is a social network for investing, letting users copy the trading strategies of others .

(CNN) -- The death toll from the destructive typhoon that savaged the southern Philippines last week has climbed above 700, authorities said Tuesday, warning that the final number may be much higher. Nearly 900 people are still unaccounted for in the aftermath of Typhoon Bopha, the strongest and deadliest storm to hit the Philippines this year, according to the country's emergency management agency. The numbers of dead and missing have risen drastically during the past several days as government officials have gathered information from isolated areas where the scale of the devastation was previously unknown. Both of the grim totals are likely to increase further this week, said Benito Ramos, head of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, the emergency agency. Search and rescue efforts are continuing, he said, despite the declining chances of finding people alive. "We are still hoping against hope that there are still survivors," he said by telephone, adding that some of the hundreds of fishermen reported missing after the storm could yet be found sheltering on small islands out at sea. If only a few of those missing are found alive, Bopha could eventually prove more deadly than Tropical Storm Washi, which killed 1,268 people a year ago. But its toll would still remain far below that of Tropical Storm Thelma, the country's most lethal storm on record that left more than 5,000 people dead in 1991. The worst of the death and destruction from Bopha took place on the southern island of Mindanao, where the storm hit first and hardest with gusts as strong as 220 kph (138 mph). In the provinces of Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental, the heavy rain set off flash floods and landslides that engulfed whole neighborhoods, and the winds ripped apart fragile houses. Many residents were unprepared or unaware of the typhoon's threat to the region, which rarely experiences tropical cyclones of such magnitude. Bopha, known locally as Pablo, was the most powerful typhoon to hit Mindanao in decades. Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental account for the vast majority of the 714 people killed and for most of the 890 still missing nationwide. A week after the typhoon struck, survivors there are facing many obstacles to rebuilding their lives. Hundreds of thousands of people are living in evacuation centers or relying on the government for other kinds of assistance, according to the national emergency agency. And hundreds more, who have not been able to find refuge in the centers, line the roads of Compostela Valley, said Arlo Ramos, a relief worker in the region for World Vision, a humanitarian group. "During the daytime, they stand along the side of the road, they ask for food," he said. At night, they sleep in small, makeshift shelters cobbled together out of bits of wood and canvas scavenged from the debris, he added. In New Bataan, the town at the heart of the devastation, dead bodies are still being found and lined up in an open space in front of an evacuation center, according to Arlo Ramos. When aid workers or government officials arrive in the town, he said, residents crowd around them, hoping to get the food or water they desperately need, he said. The region's prospects for longer term recovery are also bleak, since the storm laid waste to a great deal of the agricultural land on which many residents rely for their livelihood. "Farming communities have been the worst hit and it could take many years for them to fully recover," said Paul del Rosario, the humanitarian program coordinator for the charity Oxfam. The United Nations has announced a global appeal to try to raise $65 million to help those affected by the storm. And Philippine President Benigno Aquino III, who visited New Bataan and other severely affected areas last week, has declared a state of national calamity, which releases emergency funds and puts price controls on basic goods. Finger pointing has also begun among officials over the reasons why so many people lost their lives. Local authorities have been criticized for not anticipating the scale of the destruction. And a member of Aquino's government, Environment Secretary Ramon Paje, has said illegal logging and mining contributed to the landslides and flash floods on Mindanao. Paje has implemented measures aimed at clamping down on logging in Philippine forests. "Several quarters are criticizing the declaration of a total log ban but look at what happened," he said last week, referring to the devastation on Mindanao, according to CNN affiliate ABS-CBN. "It is now proving that we really must stop timber harvesting, especially in our natural forests."

The numbers of dead and missing are likely to rise further, an official warns . Typhoon Bopha has so far killed 714 people in the Philippines . Another 890 people are missing, including hundreds of fishermen . Hundreds of thousands of survivors have been severely affected by the destruction .

(CNN)Ever since musician Eduardo Miranda met a patient with locked in syndrome 11 years ago, he has been on a mission to create a way for the paralyzed to make music. His latest invention is the brain computer music interface (BCMI) which allows people to create music using just their eyes. How it works . By connecting electrodes to the back of the head, the system can tell where you're looking by monitoring brain activity. Flashing icons representing different snippets of music appear on screen and you can make a selection, just by staring at one. In real time, a musician plays a score generated from the user's selections. "Our brain is producing electricity all the time," says Miranda, head of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Computer Music Research at Plymouth University. "These are very faint electrical signals but we can amplify and analyze them. Let's say you have two icons on the computer screen: one flashing at 10 hertz and the other flashing at 15 hertz. If you look at the one flashing at 15 hertz, we can detect it." "We can detect up to eight different frequencies at the moment," explains Eduardo Miranda who is helped by a team of doctoral students and research assistants at his lab. "My latest composition is for a string quartet. It's an interaction between eight people, four of them generating music and the others playing the music as its being generated. "The score for the quartet is a computer monitor rather than sheet music so the musicians have to be quite skilled and perform the piece as it's generated." Listen to Miranda's string quartet playing using the BCMI. Motivation . Speaking of his inspiration for the project, Miranda says: "I wanted to create something to enable people with severe disabilities to make music. I was struck by an encounter I had once with a man who had had a stroke and was paralyzed completely from the neck down. "That had a profound impact on me and I thought, as a musician, how I could provide a voice for him -- that's where this research began." He adds: "A few years ago I tested a prototype with a paralyzed patient in a hospital in London he was able to play music by looking as these icons. The nurses and carers there told me that one of the things that these patients really miss is interaction with other people, not with machines. That's how this system was created." Funding . It has been 11 years since Miranda started his lab, with financial support from Plymouth University as well as securing funding throughout the years. He has also been successful in securing funding from engineering organizations such as the UK's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. "It was very difficult at the beginning to convince people that this research could work and produce something useful. It sounded like science fiction to begin with, people didn't believe it. But as I began to produce results, papers and scientific journals, it became easier to put the arguments on paper." Future plans . Miranda is now working on making the system more robust and user-friendly. But it might be a while before his technology hits the shops, not least because it costs around £10,000 (around $15,600). "I don't think I would sell the BCMI, the problem is that the hardware is very expensive ... all the electrodes you need we have to buy ourselves. "I would be quite happy to give away the software to people who really need it, provided they are able to buy the hardware." "We have seen companies selling equipment (at) a tenth of the price of ours promising a lot of things, but when you really test them they don't compare to ours. "It's going to take a long time for this to become cheap," he says. But you may soon be able to try out the software in your local "brain booth." "We are working on a project, which will allow the public to use the system in a 'brain booth' and download the music they create from the internet afterward. "You don't need musical talent to use the system, but the more you understand music the easier it is for you -- if you understand for example that crochets are quicker than semi-quavers you have an idea of what you're selecting -- but after 10 seconds you hear the snippet of music you chose being played by the string quartet, so you learn quickly." Julie Tugwell, from the Queen Elizabeth's Foundation for Disabled People, who was involved with a similar project, thinks the technology could have wider applications. "It was amazing to explore how technology can help to unleash the creativity within people that they may find difficulty expressing through traditional methods." "We're also looking forward to seeing how brain-wave technology might, in the near future, be able to control other types of equipment such as wheelchairs or computers," she says.

Eduardo Miranda has created a system which allows people to make music using their eyes . The system uses electrodes and was inspired by people suffering from paralysis . The musician and professor has a research lab at the University of Plymouth .

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Desperation erupted into violence Tuesday in flood-ravaged Pakistan as survivors who have yet to receive aid scrambled to put food in their empty bellies. People in Sindh province blocked a highway to protest the slowness of aid delivery and clashed with police, the United Nations said. In a hard-hit district of Punjab, hungry mobs unloaded two aid trucks headed to a warehouse. Local aid agencies reported other incidents of looting. An aid agency worker said distributions were hampered because of the crowds stopping the convoys and because large numbers of people were living along the road. About 20 million people have been affected by the relentless monsoon rains that began falling three weeks ago, leading to massive flooding from the mountainous regions in the north to the river plains of the south. See high resoulution images of disaster . About one-fifth of Pakistan is submerged, and entire families waded through filthy water, pleading for help. More than 1,400 people have died. Health officials fear a second wave of fatalities from waterborne diseases, including cholera, which is endemic in Pakistan and now threatening to become a major outbreak. Up to 3.5 million children are at high risk of cholera and other deadly diseases like typhoid and dysentery, said Maurizio Giuliano of the United Nations' humanitarian affairs office. About 900,000 homes have been damaged, and the monsoon season is only about halfway over. Water is the villain here but can also be a savior: The only recourses from waterborne illnesses are clean water and medical care, but both are in short supply. The United Nations has called for $166 million for clean water and medical care but has received only $25 million. The World Bank has committed about $900 million at the request of the Pakistani government. According to a statement, funding will come from the bank's Fund for the Poorest through reprogramming of currently planned projects and reallocation of undisbursed funds from ongoing projects. The overall global response has not been nearly enough, according to an International Rescue Committee-chaired consortium called the Pakistan Humanitarian Forum. About $150 million had been received from nations around the world by Monday, the group said in a statement, but much more is needed. "The international response to the disaster has been too small to even begin to effectively address the needs of survivors," said Tammy Hasselfeldt, the country director of the International Rescue Committee. "The most urgent priority is to ensure that safe water as well as medicines are available, food supplies are restored and transportation networks fixed to accelerate the delivery of desperately needed aid." The UN says $150 million is needed to feed up to 6 million Pakistanis, and $105 million is needed to help shelter about 2 million people left homeless. The United States has committed about $76 million for emergency flood relief assistance. But delivering the goods to flood victims is a nightmare in itself. With many roads and bridges reduced to rubble, travel by vehicles and foot is often impossible. The country is relying heavily on helicopters and boats to bring aid. "We're putting the final pieces in place on a distribution system which can reach the huge number of people in need in the shortest possible time," said Wolfgang Herbinger, director of the United Nations' World Food Programme in Pakistan. "It's a huge challenge, particularly in Sindh, where the delivery infrastructure is most constrained." U.S. military helicopters delivered 2,500 pounds of relief supplies Tuesday and rescued 375 people. There are now 11 helicopters on the ground in Pakistan, but the Pentagon has ordered a total of 19 for flood relief efforts. Those efforts are costing the United States $300,000 a day, the Pentagon said. So far, $2.5 million has been spent. "It's a dynamic situation," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. "But the U.S. is a good ally and a friend, and we want to be supportive." Families continue to stomp through mud carrying whatever belongings they can salvage, passing dead livestock, with nowhere to go. Despite their suffering, many flood victims are reluctant to leave the ruins of their homes because they fear having their land stolen. Amid the devastation, a bit of good news surfaced: The head engineer of the Sukkur barrage -- a dam whose strength was questioned as flood waters rose in the Indus River -- said the dam is considered safe. The river crested August 10, and the dam withstood the pressure. CNN's Reza Sayah, Samson Desta and Sara Sidner contributed to this report.

Millions of children are at high risk of deadly diseases, United Nations says . About a fifth of Pakistan is under water amid monsoon rains . The UN urges more assistance for clean water, medical care . The United States has committed about $76 million for aid .

Washington (CNN) -- The Supreme Court will hear the case of a frequent flier labeled a frequent complainer by one airline. Rabbi Binyomin Ginsberg claims his WorldPerks Platinum Elite membership was revoked after being told he had "abused" his privileges, repeatedly filing complaints for upgrades and other benefits. Northwest Airlines, which was consumed by Delta Air Lines in a 2008 merger, said it had "sole judgment" over the program's general terms and conditions to make such determinations. At issue is whether Ginsberg has a right under state law to bring his case or whether it is preempted by the 1970s-era law that deregulated the airline industry. That law prohibits parties from bringing similar state claims against airlines relating to a "price, route, or service" of the carrier. Ginsberg is dean of Torah Academy in Minneapolis and travels frequently to lecture and teach. He joined Northwest's WorldPerks frequent flier program in 1999 and reached Platinum Elite status in 2005. But in June of 2008, Ginsberg claimed a Northwest representative called him and told him his status was being revoked on grounds that he "abused" the program, according to court papers. Ginsberg said the airline also took away the hundreds of thousands of miles accumulated in his account. "It didn't make sense. Initially, when they contacted me on the phone I thought it was a prank call," Ginsberg told CNN. "When I pushed for a reason and clarification, they told me it was because I was complaining too much." A month after that call, Northwest sent the rabbi a letter noting that he had made 24 complaints in the past eight months, including nine incidents of his bag arriving late at the luggage carousel, according to court papers. "You have continually asked for compensation over and above our guidelines. We have awarded you $1,925 in travel credit vouchers, 78,500 WorldPerks bonus miles, a voucher extension for your son, and $491 in cash reimbursements," the letter said, according to court papers. "Due to our past generosity, we must respectfully advise that we will no longer be awarding you compensation each time you contact us." Ginsberg's lawyers countered the rabbi and his wife had been averaging about 75 flights on Northwest each year, and that Ginsberg estimated that only about 10 percent of the trips had resulted in a call to Northwest's customer care. "I don't think I was a frequent complainer," Ginsberg said. "They should have taken their time and analyzed: Were my complaints legitimate? Should they be doing something to improve their service and quality of product? Instead of worrying, we've got to shut up somebody who is complaining too much." Later that fall, Northwest sent Ginsberg an e-mail, in which the airline quoted a paragraph from the fine print of the WorldPerks Program. It stated that Northwest could determine "in its sole judgment" whether a passenger has abused the program, and that abuse "may result in cancellation of the member's account and future disqualification from program participation, forfeiture of all mileage accrued and cancellation of previously issued but unused awards." Ginsberg sued for $5 million over a breach of contract in January 2009, but a federal judge in San Diego dismissed the class action suit, agreeing with Northwest that the Airline Deregulation Act preempted his claim. The airline's lawyers also argued that the WorldPerks general terms and conditions did not require Northwest to provide frequent fliers with lengthy explanations or reasons for its decision to terminate or demote a member's status in the program. But in 2011, a federal appeals court in San Francisco reversed, ordered it to reconsider Ginsberg's class action claims. It said that when Congress passed the deregulation law, it did not intend to "immunize the airline industry from liability for common law contract claims." There was no immediate comment from Delta to the high court accepting its appeal. Ginsberg -- who is still a frequent flier, but is no longer loyal to any one airline -- said he is hoping to get his miles back, have his status reinstated, and get fair compensation for what he's gone through. "To me, it's outright fraud. You can't take somebody's mileage away when they've accumulated it," he said. "We live in a country that was built on freedom and this to me is a tremendous abuse of freedom." The case is Northwest, Inc. v. Ginsberg (12-462). CNN's A. Pawlowski contributed to this report.

Minnesota rabbi was a frequent flier on Northwest Airlines . Carrier said he logged too many complaints and dropped his loyalty account . Court to hear jurisdictional issue stemming from law that deregulated airlines .

(CNN) -- She had many plans for the future: to go to college, start a career, meet the man of her dreams, raise a family -- when the time was right. Expert: "There's a big disconnect between pregnancy rates and what Latina families want and value." It was all cut off by an unexpected pregnancy. The baby became her life, consuming her energy and forcing her dreams to the back burner of her life. She is 19 or younger and Latina, and has had her first baby. It's not what she wanted. Nor did her parents, who are the greatest influence on her decisions about sex, according to a wide-ranging survey released Tuesday by experts on the Hispanic community in the United States. The survey also found that 84 percent of Latino teens and 91 percent of Latino parents believe that graduating from college or university or having a promising career is the most important goal for a teen's future. Somewhere along the way, the aspirations fail to match up to reality. The survey attempts to examine some of the reasons for the disparity and why Latinas now have the highest teen birth rate among all ethnic and racial groups in the United States. "There's a big disconnect between pregnancy rates and what Latina families want and value," said Ruthie Flores, senior manager of the National Campaign's Latino Initiative. According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, 53 percent of Latinas get pregnant in their teens, about twice the national average. After a period of decline, the birth rate for U.S. teenagers 15 to 19 years rose in 2007 by about 1 percent, to 42.5 births per 1,000, according to preliminary data in a March 2009 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics. In 2007, the birth rate among non-Hispanic whites ages 15 to 19 was 27.2 per 1,000, and 64.3 per 1,000 for non-Hispanic black teens in the same age range. The teen birth rate among Hispanic teens ages 15 to 19 was 81.7 per 1,000. Of the 759 Latino teens surveyed, 49 percent said their parents most influenced their decisions about sex, compared with 14 percent who cited friends. Three percent cited religious leaders, 2 percent teachers and 2 percent the media. Watch more on the survey results » . Three-quarters of Latino teens said their parents have talked to them about sex and relationships, but only half said their parents discussed contraception. The survey also found that: . • 74 percent of Latino teens believe that parents send one message about sex to their sons and a different message altogether to their daughters, possibly related to the Latino value of machismo. • Latino teens believe that the most common reason teens do not use contraception is that they are afraid their parents might find out. • 72 percent of sexually experienced teens say they wish they had waited. • 34 percent of Latino teens believe that being a teen parent would prevent them from reaching their goals, but 47 percent say being a teen parent would simply delay them from reaching their goals. • 76 percent said it is important to be married before starting a family. Flores said it is crucial to understand the beliefs and attitudes that influence teen behavior in order to reduce the high rates of Hispanic teen pregnancy. The survey, co-sponsored by the Hispanic advocacy group National Council of La Raza, was an attempt to to do just that. She said that despite a rich culture and the growing influence of Hispanics in America, the Latino community disproportionately suffers from troubling social indicators. Consider that fewer than six in 10 Latino adults in the United States have a high school diploma. Latino teens are more likely to drop out than their non-Hispanic counterparts, and of all the children living in poverty, 30 percent are Latino. "Teen pregnancy is not an isolated issue," Flores said. "It's related to poverty, to dropout rates. That's going to have an impact on our national as a whole." Flores said 69 percent of Latino teen moms drop out of high school, and the children of teen mothers are less likely to do well in school themselves and often repeat grades. "That has a big economic impact," Flores said. It's an impact that is sure to be noticed. The nation's 45 million Latinos constitute the largest minority group in the United States with a growth rate twice that of the general population. That means by 2025, one-quarter of all American teens will be Latinos.

53 percent of Latinas are pregnant by their 20th birthday, survey finds . Survey: Most feel that college, career are key to their future . Most teens in study believe that parents give conflicting messages .

(CNN) -- A deadly winter storm that began in Southern California and stretches to Texas threatens to wreck Thanksgiving week travel plans all the way to the Atlantic. At least six people have lost their lives in traffic crashes blamed on the storm system since late last week. An arctic air mass is expected to keep temperatures 15 to 20 degrees below normal along the East Coast through Thursday. Even if the system fails to deliver heavy snow, it could cause air travel disruptions with high winds, forecasters say. Airlines flying in and out of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport "pre-canceled about 300 departures to reduce the number of stranded travelers" Sunday in "anticipation of winter precipitation," the airport's official Twitter account said. Ten percent of flights at Oklahoma City's Will Rogers World Airport were also canceled due to the weather Sunday. Three travelers died in a multi-vehicle crash on icy Interstate 40 in northwest Texas late Friday, Texas State Trooper Chris Ray said. The dead included a person who got out of his vehicle to render aid and was struck, Ray said. Anther 11 people were injured in the crash, some critically. At least 20 people were taken to local hospitals from collisions within three miles of the fatal pileup, according to Oldham County, Texas, Sheriff David Medlin. "We have about 4 inches of snow on the ground," Medlin told CNN on Sunday. "Road conditions are still dangerous, and people should drive cautiously and avoid roads unless absolutely needed." A 4-year-old girl was killed Friday when a car carrying her slid off icy U.S. Highway 70 in New Mexico, said the state Department of Public Safety. The child was not properly restrained, the department said. Also in New Mexico, a woman in her 50s died Saturday when the pickup truck that she was riding in rear-ended a semi-truck during heavy traffic near Gallup, New Mexico State Police said. In Yuba County, California, a 52-year-old passenger in a car died when a tree fell on top of the vehicle Thursday, the county sheriff's office said. Ice is blamed for causing Willie Nelson's band bus to spin out of control and crash into a bridge pillar on Interstate 30 near Sulphur Springs, Texas, early Saturday. Three of the five members of Nelson's band were hurt, according to police and the band. Nelson was not on board. Flood threat in Arizona . Lingering rain prolonged the flood threat in Arizona, the National Weather Service said. Friday's 1.6 inches of rain in Phoenix made it the second wettest November day ever recorded in the desert city. Lighter amounts fell Saturday, but drainage areas already were full. In New Mexico and West Texas, snow and ice covered Interstate 10. The highway was open through Texas, but officials urged caution, especially on bridges. New Mexico could see up to 8 inches of snow accumulating through Monday. Storm will reach Carolinas by Monday . On Sunday, the forecast for northern Texas and parts of Oklahoma called for rain and sleet, and some spots were expected to get up to 4 inches of snow. Rain and sleet will extend through Dallas and into northern Louisiana. "Tomorrow is going to be the big event. After midnight, it's going to be so close to freezing, that's when we're anticipating it to be bad," Sgt. Lonny Haschel with the Texas Department of Public Safety said Sunday. Rain is expected to stretch from Texas to Georgia on Monday and to the Carolinas on Monday night, with sleet and snow in northern parts of that swath. The heaviest rain is expected across parts of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina. By Tuesday, the rain will reach the mid-Atlantic states and parts of the Northeast. Freezing rain could develop in the southern and central Appalachians. Travel delays next week in Northeast . Rain, wind and possibly snow will cause travel delays beginning as early as Tuesday in the East, said CNN meteorologist Melissa Le Fevre. "We are going to see delays," Le Fevre said. "We're just waiting to see if the impacts are going to be severe or just annoying." The deciding factor will be whether a low-pressure system moving north out of the Gulf of Mexico travels inland or close to the East Coast, she said. According to AAA projections, 43.4 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend this year. Fewer people traveling for Thanksgiving . CNN's Karen Maginnis, Judson Jones, Joe Sutton, Nick Valencia and Janet DiGiacomo contributed to this report.

NEW: New Mexico authorities report a second weather-related death . Three die on an icy northwest Texas interstate; 11 are injured . Threat of snow triggers flight cancellations at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport . Eastern U.S. can expect Thanksgiving travel delays .

Hong Kong (CNN) -- The most emotionless society is Singapore's despite its reputation for being among the world's richest, a new survey has revealed. Gallup looked at 150 countries where about 1,000 residents were asked whether they experienced five positive and five negative emotions a lot during the course of a day. The results were based on interviews taken over a three-year period. Questions included whether people felt well-rested or enjoyment, smiled and laughed or felt worry, sadness, stress or anger. The 36% in Singapore who reported feeling anything is the lowest in the world, the Washington-based research and analytics organization found. This figure is an aggregation of data from 2009-2011; in Gallup's latest measure taken last year, just 30% of those surveyed in Singapore felt anything at all. The findings belie Singapore's 1.9% jobless rate in the third quarter and per capita GDP of more than US$50,000 -- among the highest in the world. "The implications for an emotionless society are significant," wrote Jon Clifton, a partner at Gallup and director of the Gallup Government Group. "To continue to be competitive in today's world, Singapore must begin focusing on behavioral-based indicators that move beyond GDP. "The bottom line is that Singaporeans are productive, highly disciplined citizens who are not enjoying their lives much," he wrote in an accompanying article for the Gallup Business Journal. "This culture has won historically, but it will not move to the next level until its leadership takes wellbeing seriously." Trailing right behind Singapore were nearly half of the 15 former Soviet republics: Georgia and Lithuania, with 37%; and Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, with 38%. Tying at 38% were Madagascar and Nepal. The Philippines, meanwhile, registered as the most emotional nation, with 60% of those interviewed responding "yes" to experiencing a lot of feelings daily. Also scoring high were Latin American nations, with 10 of its nations -- led by El Salvador -- sharing top spots with Bahrain, Oman, Canada and the United States. Absent from the list is Bhutan, whose 4th king first coined the term "Gross National Happiness," declaring in 1972 that it was more important than Gross National Product. The country now has a Gross National Happiness (GNH) Commission with a mandate to pursue that objective. The country's latest GNH Index measures happiness based on 33 indicators grouped among nine domains: psychological wellbeing, health, time use, education, cultural diversity and resilience, good governance, community vitality, ecological diversity and resilience, and living standards. Reflecting the growing need to address happiness, The Earth Institute at Columbia University published the first ever World Happiness Report commissioned for the U.N. Conference on Happiness in April. It reviews the state of happiness in the world today, the causes of happiness and misery, and policy implications. The report was in answer to a resolution adopted last year by the U.N. General Assembly declaring "the pursuit of happiness is a fundamental human goal" embodying the spirit of the 2015 Millennium Development Goals. This year the U.N. declared March 20 of each year as the International Day of Happiness. Last month the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, which represents 34 countries, dedicated its fourth forum in New Delhi, India, to measuring well-being. The OECD's Better Life Index compares well-being across countries based on 11 topics identified as essential. It's another indication that there's more to life or success than wealth, and that measuring a nation on GDP alone can go only so far. Still, the Economist Intelligence Unit has named Singapore one of the best countries to be born in 2013. Ranked sixth on an index topped by Switzerland, Singapore was cited along with Hong Kong, ranked 10th, as being "well-known for their wealth, stability and relatively low levels of corruption," said Susan Evans, an analyst. "One determining factor of future life satisfaction for their residents, which is less easy to predict, will be the trajectory of civil freedoms," she added in a press release. The index looked at as many as 11 indicators, including GDP per head, life expectancy at birth, quality of family life, the state of political freedoms, job security, climate, safety, community life, governance and gender equality. Among the 80 countries covered, Nigeria ranked last.

NEW: Economist Intelligence Unit ranks Singapore high on "where-to-be-born" list . Nearly half of 15 former Soviet republics trail Singapore as "emotionless" in Gallup survey . Singapore boasts a 1.9% jobless rate, high per capita GDP . Philippines, meanwhile, registers as most emotional nation .

(CNN) -- When President Barack Obama's campaign announced plans for a full-court press while Republicans hold their convention in Tampa, Florida, this week, some veteran political watchers marked the end of an era. After all, as much as there has ever been accepted "rules" of presidential politics, it was once a given that the opposing candidate ceded the convention week to his rival -- it was the polite thing to do. Instead, the Obama campaign is doing anything but. Not only will surrogates for the president blanket Tampa and key battleground regions, but the campaign's three key figures will also be doing their best to steal some of Mitt Romney's orchestrated thunder this week. Liberal group airs ad in Tampa . On Tuesday, the day Ann Romney and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie are scheduled to address the convention in prime time, Obama will kick off a two-day, three-state tour of swing states that include stops at college towns in Iowa, Colorado, and Virginia. The Obama campaign strategy: contrast the expectedly older demographic that historically is represented among Republican convention attendees with images of the president rallying thousands of enthusiastic young people. Meanwhile, first lady Michelle Obama will appear on "The Late Show with David Letterman" on Wednesday, the same day vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan is set to make his big speech. The Obama campaign also planned to dispatch Vice President Joe Biden to Tampa itself on Monday but scrapped the trip on Friday because it said it was concerned that a vice presidential visit would stress law enforcement resources already stretched thin by Tropical Storm Isaac. On Saturday, the campaign canceled Biden's Tuesday events in Orlando and St. Augustine. The Romney campaign says it has similar plans to "bracket" the Democratic convention next week in Charlotte, North Carolina, though the exact campaign schedules of Ryan and Romney have yet to be released. Still, many Democrats are expecting at least Ryan will show up near Charlotte's Time Warner Cable Arena as Democratic delegates get set to officially re-nominate Obama to the Democratic presidential ticket. A look at Janna Ryan: 'She's going to bloom where she's planted' To be sure, 2012 marks an emphatic end to the bygone courtesy of allowing the other campaign to have its convention moment. But the traditional nicety began unraveling at least two or three election cycles ago. It was then that party officials decided it was advantageous to hold conventions much later in the summer, when voters were off the beach, sending their kids back to school, and at last starting to tune into the presidential race en masse. It may have been relatively harmless for a candidate to lay low for a week in July, but late August or early September? Forget about it. For example, then-Democratic candidate Al Gore decided to take a vacation on picture-perfect Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, when Republicans convened in Philadelphia in late July of 2000. The George W. Bush campaign largely returned the favor two weeks later when Democrats convened in Los Angeles. Both campaigns reasoned most Americans still weren't tuning in to the day-day machinations of the race as the dog days of summer continued. Four years later, Bush remained secluded on his ranch while Democrats nominated Sen. John Kerry in Boston in July. But with GOP's decision to hold their convention more than a month later in early September, coupled with a more fervent news cycle than ever before, the Kerry campaign decided it would not extend the same courtesy. The Democratic presidential nominee was dispatched to Tennessee and Ohio for speeches that week while his running mate, then-Sen. John Edwards, held court in North Carolina and West Virginia. Candy Explains: Political Conventions . Miffed that Republicans held their convention so late in 2004, Democrats followed suit four years later. That meant both conventions fell in successive weeks at the very end of the summer of 2008 and, by extension, both candidates remained on the trail while the rival party crowned its nominee. Then-Republican candidate John McCain attended two events in his home state of Arizona while Democrats convened in Denver, Colorado. The next week, then-Democratic nominee Obama barnstormed at seven rallies across three states as McCain got set to accept his party's nomination in St. Paul, Minnesota. What was once polite has fallen victim to expediency. As fall approaches and the now-fractured and partisan media climate demands a response to every barb from the other side, it would be nothing short of political malfeasance to allow a candidate to cede the klieg lights entirely. By the numbers: Tampa, Florida . CNN's Brianna Keilar, Becky Brittain, and Rachel Streitfeld contributed to this report .

Candidates in the past laid low while other party was having its convention . Both Obama and Romney will campaign during other party's big week . Obama campaign has several high-profile events while GOP gathers in Tampa . Romney and Ryan have events planned next week during Democratic convention .

(CNN) -- In a season of lows, golf's No.1 Rory McIlroy hit a new low as he simply walked off the course following a disastrous start to the second round of his defense of the Honda Classic title in Florida. McIlroy was seven over par for eight holes and about to drop more shots after hitting his approach to the 18th -- his ninth -- into the water at PGA National. The Northern Irishman shook hands with his playing partners Mark Wilson and South Africa's Ernie Els and beat a hasty retreat with his coach and his caddie. Golf journalist David Dusek, tweeted that McIlroy "was near tears as his caddie placed his clubs into the trunk of his blue BMW." McIlroy later issued a statement apologizing for his "sudden withdrawal." He added: "I have been suffering with a sore wisdom tooth, which is due to come out in the near future. It began bothering me again last night . "It was very painful again this morning, and I was simply unable to concentrate. It was really bothering me and had begun to affect my playing partners. "I came here with every intention of defending my Honda Classic title. Even though my results haven't revealed it, I really felt like I was rounding a corner. "I regret having to make the decision to withdraw, but it was one I had to make." McIlroy had battled to a level par first round at Palm Beach Gardens -- six shots behind first round leader Camilo Villegas of Colombia -- but had to rely on his recovery play around the greens to preserve his score and he finished with a bogey six on the 18th. But he was in good spirits Thursday night in a family occasion, tweeting: "Having a great dinner celebrating my mums birthday!" That optimistic mood would have been quickly shattered by his performance on the course Friday morning. Starting at the 10th hole, McIlroy was quickly in trouble, hitting his approach to the 11th into the water and running up a double bogey. A further bogey followed on the 13th before a disastrous display on the 16th where he found the water twice and ran up a triple bogey seven. Three putts from 40 feet on the par-three 17th left him seven over for the tournament and with little chance of making the halfway cut before he found yet more water on the testing par-five finishing hole. It is the first time the 23-year-old McIlroy has pulled out of a tournament. In later action, Woods battled to make the weekend on the cut line of level par after a second straight 70 with 23-year-old rookie Luke Guthrie leading the way on nine-under 131 after a superb seven-under 63. Villegas slumped to a sorry 77 to miss the cut. McIlroy's stumbling start to 2013 is in sharp contrast to his dominant displays last year and comes in the wake of signing a lucrative 10-year sponsorship deal with Nike, worth a reported $250 million. Honda Classic: Latest scores . As part of the deal, McIlroy changed his golf clubs to play with Nike branded equipment, which is also endorsed by his great rival and World No.2 Tiger Woods. He has enjoyed his previous success, including two major victories, playing with rival Titleist clubs. Results since have not lived up to expectations and he missed the cut in Abu Dhabi in his first tournament of the year. That was followed by a sorry first round exit -- Woods also went out on the same day -- at the WGC Accenture World Matchplay event in Arizona last week. Critics have also focused on the scale of McIlroy's new commercial ventures and three days before his Honda Classic defense he signed a three-year deal with audio products and headphone manufacturers Bose. On the eve of the tournament, McIlroy took to Twitter again: "Had a great time with the Bose crew at the launch of our exciting new partnership last night. Looking forward to a great relationship." McIlroy, who dates former World No.1 tennis player Caroline Wozniacki, will get an early chance to silence the doubters as he is due to tee off next week in the WGC-Cadillac Championship on Doral's daunting Blue Monster Course. It is all part of his preparation for a tilt at the U.S. Masters in Augusta, one of his major targets for the year as he bids to build on a 2012 season when he topped the money lists on the PGA and European Tours and claimed the U.S. PGA Championship in stunning fashion.

Rory McIlroy walks off the course during disastrous second round in Florida . No.1 cites a troublesome wisdom tooth for his sudden withdrawal . Honda Classic title holder McIlroy was seven over par after eight holes at PGA National . He has suffered a form slump since a big money switch to Nike .

Hong Kong (CNN) -- A story that helped catapult the issue of poor work conditions for Chinese workers at Foxconn -- a primary maker of iPads and other devices for Apple Inc. -- back into the spotlight in January has unraveled. An episode of "This American Life," a wildly popular U.S. radio show distributed by Public Radio International that is regularly the most downloaded podcast on Apple's iTunes store, broadcast an hour-long radio version of monologist Mike Daisey's "The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs," in which he details a 2010 trip he took to meet workers at Foxconn in Shenzhen, China. That episode -- which broke records as the most downloaded show of "This American Life" -- has now been retracted for numerous fabrications, many of which were repeated by Daisey in subsequent interviews, including one with CNN International. The power of Daisey's storytelling, coupled with a New York Times investigative series of stories in January, fanned the flames that launched a number of off-and-online protests, including a petition on Change.org that seeks to "protect workers making iPhones in Chinese factories" that has nearly 250,000 signatures. CNNMoney: Apple and the Daisey affair . But several of Daisey's dramatic claims, some of which he repeated to CNN's Zain Verjee, have been retracted after Daisey's Chinese translator was found by a reporter from "Marketplace," distributed by American Public Media, and disputed his version of events, including: . * Meeting workers with shaking hands that were poisoned by the chemical n-hexane. Apple itself acknowledged there were incidents with the chemical at two plants, but not at Foxconn. * Found workers who were as young as 12 years old. The translator told public radio they interviewed no underage workers, although some may have looked young. Apple's 2010 audit found 10 suppliers who hired 91 underage employees out of hundreds of thousands of employees. * In one of the show's most dramatic moments, Daisey said he interviewed a former worker now handicapped from repetitive stress injuries seeing an iPad for the first time, describing it as "a kind of magic." The translator said that never happened. Questions raised about work conditions at Foxconn are nothing new. The electronics supplier -- who also makes electronic goods for Sony, Microsoft, Nokia and other household brands -- came under intense scrutiny by CNN and other media outlets in 2010 after a series of suicides at its Chinese plants. Daisey told public radio that after seeing the news story slip away from public attention, he wanted to create a story that would help sustain interest in the work conditions for overseas makers of popular electronics goods. "And everything I have done in making this monologue for the theater has been toward that end -- to make people care. I'm not going to say that I didn't take a few shortcuts in my passion to be heard. But I stand behind the work," Daisey said. "My mistake, the mistake that I truly regret is that I had it on your show as journalism and it's not journalism. It's theater. I use the tools of theater and memoir to achieve its dramatic arc." But purporting as truth the fabrications of his show in dozens of media interviews has raised a number of questions about the line between drama and journalism. "The net result of Mike Daisey's efforts to put self-promotion ahead of the facts has badly muddied the waters, and has probably done more harm to the people he sought to help," wrote Arik Hesseldahl, senior editor for All Things D. "Everybody who has touched Mike Daisey in the past three to four months has been tainted and they need to go back and re-examine their archives," Hesseldahl told CNN's Howard Kurtz. Kai Ryssdal, host of "Marketplace," which broke the story, said Daisey's account mixed fact and fiction. "Mike Daisey is a great, great story teller and when you have a guy who spins a web like that and gets you involved, it's really difficult to take it apart and say, wait a minute, let's think about this for a second ... what doesn't work here?" he told CNN. "Also, there are parts of Mike Daisey's story that are true -- it does happen that Apple has had underage workers (at its suppliers); it does happen that people have n-hexane poisoning and all that," he said. "But the bottomline is Mike Daisey tells a great story and people suspended their disbelief."

A popular U.S. radio show has retracted an episode on Apple supplier Foxconn . Several dramatic claims by Mike Daisey have been found to be fabricated . Claims of talking with underaged and injured workers disputed by translator . Show helped fan the flames that sparked numerous protests against Apple .

London (CNN) -- It is 100 years since British explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott set off on his ill-fated journey to be the first man to reach the South Pole. Now, for the first time, writings, photographs and items from the arduous Terra Nova expedition, which lasted from 1910 to 1913, have been brought together for public display. "It's a story of immense heroism," said curator Kay Smith at the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge, where the exhibition is taking place. Entitled "These Rough Notes: Captain Scott's Last Expedition," the exhibition includes fragile journals and letters written by the men who set out to traverse the Antarctic wastes, and features the last journal Captain Scott ever wrote, as well as his final letter to his wife. It also includes pictures taken by photographer Herbert Ponting, showing scenes of ice caves, frolicking penguins and the men relaxing at their camp, Cape Evans, in preparation for the assault ahead. "He was one of the finest photographers of the 20th century," said Smith of Ponting. "Scott realized that expeditions like this, just like today, run at a loss, so he realized that once he got to the South Pole and back, he would have to give lecture tours, and would need photographic records," she continued. Also included in the exhibition are items from the company's midwinter's day festivities in June 1911, which they celebrated in lieu of Christmas with a big meal and a "tree" they decorated with little flags. On display are the paper hats they made for themselves as well as a menu one of the men fashioned in the shape of an Adelie penguin. But it is the journals, letters and notebooks that tell the story best. "It's a once-in-a-hundred-year opportunity to read this material and actually see the handwriting," said archivist at the institute, Naomi Boneham. "A lot of it has been quoted, but actually seeing the handwriting and seeing how shaky their hands were from when the weather was so extreme, is slightly different from seeing a typed page," she continued. A hand-produced newspaper by the so-called "Northern Party," who were trapped for months in an ice-cave during a perilous geological expedition in 1911, are blackened with soot from the blubber-burning stove the men used in order to stay warm. The final, tortuous journey to the South Pole is also brought to life through the writings and photographs on display. "When they set off on November 1st with the ponies, the dogs and the motor sledges, it's all very upbeat, they're not setting out to die, they're setting out to reach the South Pole, hopefully to be the first but if not the first, then one of the first people to be there," said Boneham. But the farewell letters from the last three men standing -- Scott, Dr. Edward Adrian Wilson and Henry Robertson (Birdie) Bowers-- are written in the knowledge that they were dying and are, said Boneham, "very personal." Heart-rending photographs of the team finding rival Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen's tent already at the South Pole complement the written details of their arduous journey there -- and cast a shadow on their harrowing and ill-fated journey back. It is through their writing that we now know the story of Captain Lawrence Oates, one of the five men to reach the Pole, who suffered horribly from injury and frostbite on the way back and walked out into a blizzard in order to save his companions. "It's an incredibly poignant story to walk out into a blizzard to try to save your companions and then to have them die too," said Smith. "For them to know they were dying and to sit there writing letters, it can't fail to make you emotionally involved," she continued. Scott, Wilson and Bowers died of starvation and exposure in their tent in late March 1912. Months later, a search party found them, along with their last letters and journals. Smith believes people remain fascinated by this tale of endurance because it involves extremes: Of temperature, of effort and of emotion. But, she said, "The story is actually much better than fiction. It's a tremendously heroic story, and it's real." Cape Evans still stands today, preserved almost exactly as Scott and his men left it a century ago. You can visit it, but, Smith said, much like then, "It does rather depends on your wallet."

Landmark exhibition celebrates centenary of Captain Scott's expedition to the South Pole . Show brings together writings, photographs and personal items from ill-fated trip . Curator describes expedition as "incredibly poignant story" of "extremes" Scott's camp still stands in the Antarctic, preserved as he left it a century ago .

(CNN) -- The human rights group Amnesty International said Friday that Haitian authorities are launching a probe into alleged crimes against humanity committed during the 15-year rule of former dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier. Amnesty International researcher Gerardo Ducos gave Haitian authorities 100 documents that it says detail cases of detention without trial, systematic torture, disappearances and extrajudicial killings that took place in Haiti between 1971 and 1986. Amnesty International as well as Human Rights Watch say that thousands of Haitians suffered grave injustices under Duvalier's iron-fisted rule. The former strongman stunned the world by returning suddenly to Haiti last Sunday after 25 years in exile in France. In his first public statement since his unexpected return, Duvalier told reporters he wanted to be in Haiti to help with rebuilding the country after last year's devastating earthquake. He made no mention of any political ambition. "The desire to participate at your side in this national reconstruction effort is more important than any of the problems I could face. The price to pay is not important. The essential (thing) for me is to be with you," Duvalier said. He spoke for roughly 10 minutes at a private residence and did not take questions from reporters. Earlier, he was expected to speak at a handful at public locations, but was forced to cancel because the owners of those places did not want him there. Police escorted Duvalier to court Tuesday, where a judge questioned him for hours. He faces charges of corruption and embezzlement on allegations he stole hundreds of millions of dollars from the national treasury. But human rights groups have mounted pressure on Haitian authorities to take Duvalier to court on abuse charges. Ducos said the decision to investigate Duvalier for such abuses is a huge step forward. He said he did not know why Duvalier returned to Haiti but many people have waited many years for an opportunity to prosecute him. "The state has an obligation to bring him to justice," Ducos said. He said he met Thursday with Harycidas Auguste, Haiti's chief prosecutor, and Minister of Justice Paul Denis, to discuss the need for an investigation. He said he urged Haitian authorities to ensure that abuse survivors -- including those who fled Haiti -- are given a chance to tell their stories. Four Haitians have already filed criminal complaints against Duvalier, Ducos said. Michele Montas, a journalist and former spokeswoman for the U.N. secretary-general, said she endured threats and detention and survived an assassination attempt for her journalism. The staff at her husband's independent radio station was harassed and the station was shut down during Duvalier's rule, she said. She was expelled from the country in 1980 and returned only after Duvalier's ouster. "We have enough proof," she told CNN. "There are enough people who can testify. And what I will do is go to a public prosecutor, and there is a public prosecutor that could actually accommodate our complaints." Amnesty International researchers collected its information mainly through the testimonies of prisoners, many of whose detentions were never officially acknowledged. The testimonies revealed a pattern of abuse, the organization said. Journalist Yvens Paul told Amnesty International that he was detained at the Port-au-Prince airport in 1980. He said he was taken to prison, where detectives undressed him and beat him. He said his abusers enjoyed seeing the blood gush from his body. They told him he had been arrested because his radio broadcasts were "subversive." Frank Blaise, a 70-year-old agronomist, returned home to Haiti from the United States in June 1983 and was arrested two months later and driven by jeep to the Casernes Dessalines army barracks, which the United Nations says was used by Duvalier to interrogate and detain people suspected of anti-government activity. Blaise told Amnesty International he was arrested for his book on agrarian reform and kept in a dark, damp solitary confinement cell. Amnesty International's documents tell the experiences of cobblers, taxi drivers, filmmakers, mechanics, distillers and even hairdressers, all of whom, they say, were arrested for anti-government activity. "Jean-Claude Duvalier was the head of state then," Ducos said. "He shares responsibility for these crimes. He must face justice." CNN's John Zarrella contributed to this report.

NEW: Duvalier breaks his silence and says he returned to Haiti to help . Amnesty International handed 100 documents to Haitian authorities . The documents are mainly testimonies of people saying they were arrested and abused . Amnesty says Haiti is launching a probe into atrocities allegedly committed under Duvalier .

(CNN) -- It's hard not to notice Aziz N'Diaye. Standing at seven feet tall, the starting center for the University of Washington's basketball team is a dominant force in American college basketball. His towering height and physical power, coupled with his impressive shot-blocking and rebounding skills, make the senior a serious prospect for a professional basketball career. But the imposing center's past is just as compelling as his promising future. N'Diaye's long journey to college basketball started several years ago on the other side of the Atlantic. "I'm originally from Dakar, which is the capital of Senegal," explains N'Diaye, whose introspective tone contrasts with his imposing stature. "I was going to a smaller high school over there ... for two years and I got offered to come to the States to finish my high-school career." Read also: NBA boss finding Africa's basketball stars . The place that jump-started N'Diaye's dream of playing in the NBA was the Sports for Education and Economic Development in Senegal (SEEDS) academy, a boarding school that gives eager young men from the West African country the opportunity to study and play basketball, with the possibility of being recruited to play on a bigger stage in the United States. Located in Thies, western Senegal, SEEDS uses sports as a vehicle to empower and support youth in the country while offering them quality education and helping them to improve their athletic skills. The academy provides up to 30 youngsters a year with a place to live, study and train, sheltering their dreams for a better future in a country where less than 20% of children make it to high school. "As Africans, we have a responsibility to build our community," says Amadou Gallo Fall, who started the SEEDS foundation in 1998, before opening the boarding school in 2003. "Those days are over where other people came, saw tremendous potential and resources that exist here and you know, exploited to their benefit or advantage. It's about empowering our youth, making them see that there's a pathway to success." Read also: Why Africans will be basketball stars of tomorrow . Fall, who also serves as the NBA's vice president for development in Africa, is one of basketball's most prominent figures in the continent. His vision to start SEEDS and help his fellow countrymen stems from his own personal experience as one of the first Senegalese to earn an education through basketball in the United States. Back in the late 1980s, Fall played for the University of the District of Columbia after his basketball talents were discovered by a member of the Peace Corps in Senegal. "Everything started from there," says Fall, who also pursued an MBA from Georgetown University while in the United States. Watch video: Shooting for the NBA . After graduation, Fall worked for the Senegalese national team and later he accepted a position as international scout for the NBA's Dallas Mavericks. Along the way, his desire to enable youth in his country to follow in his footsteps and gain a quality education grew even bigger. Fall realized that the power of sports to mobilize youth and give them a platform to fulfill their goals could be used for a bigger impact. The result was the establishment of SEEDS. "To me, it was about how these young people could use their God-given talent to get an education, because that happened with me," he says. "Most of them didn't realize that possibility existed. So really, my thing was, how do we help them identify that this opportunity exists? At some point I thought, in order to have a bigger impact, to reach more people, we wanted to really create something back in Senegal where it would be about, how do we use sports and the power of sports to contribute in the efforts of socio-economic developments in Senegal and Africa and beyond?" Read also: Luc Mbah a Moute -- African prince of the NBA . SEEDS has so far sent more than 40 Senegalese youngsters to study in the United States, giving 25 of them the chance to play at American colleges. For youngsters like N'Diaye, the lure of a quality education coupled with a chance to pursue his dream of one day playing in the NBA were enough to make him decide to go to SEEDS. "It was a good academic school," he says. "It's like, people going there, having the opportunity, the chance of traveling with basketball and having the chance of going to some camps and have some coaches take a look at them and see where their skill is at. "At the end of the day, I wanted to come to the States because here, sports and education, they combined it."

Academy in Senegal gives basketball scholarships to U.S. colleges . The boarding school uses basketball as a vehicle to empower Senegal's youth . It lets them improve their basketball skills while offering them quality education . So far the academy has sent some 40 kids to study in the United States .

(CNN) -- Two Israeli bands, one Jewish and one Arab, are joining together in "metal brotherhood" to spread a message of peace through rock 'n roll. Arab group Khalas (Arabic for "Enough") and Jewish band Orphaned Land are heading out on an 18-day European tour that they hope will foster tolerance between the two sides in the Arab-Israeli conflict. "We want to share the stage together, we want to show co-existence," said Kobi Farhi, Orphaned Land's vocalist. The bands will also share a tour bus for three weeks. What more perfect example of co-existence, asks Farhi. "We will snore at each other, we will do laundry together, we will make coffee for each other," he said. Among those on the tour bus will be Abed Hathout, Khalas' guitarist and band manager. "If we can do this co-existence on a bus, why can't we do it all over this country," he said. One in five Israelis is of Arab descent, according to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics. Sometimes called Israeli-Arabs, many consider themselves Palestinians. Apart from handful of cities that the government designates "mixed," where a minority of Arabs lives alongside a majority of Jews, the two groups live in separate communities. Read more: The mystery of the Egyptian sphinx in Israel . Farhi admits that music might not be able to solve the Arab-Israeli conflict, but he argues that "you can always show a way for people to take inspiration." The bands have already played two gigs together in Tel Aviv. Hathout says that Khalas' favorite place to perform is Ramallah in the West Bank but that the "good energy" at these two gigs was "amazing." This is not the first time music has been used to cross the divide between Israelis and Arabs. In 1999, conductor Daniel Barenboim and the late Palestinian intellectual Edward Said founded The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. Based in the Spanish city of Seville, the orchestra is composed of an equal number of Israeli and Arab musicians, together with a group of Spanish musicians. The orchestra has performed all over the world, working on the philosophy that music can break down barriers and encourage people to listen to each other. Some Palestinians have criticized the orchestra for promoting "normalization," which masks the realities of their situation. Last year an East Jerusalem concert was cancelled after complaints from Palestinians. Read more: New city offers vision of better life in West Bank . Farhi recounts a similar incident when Orphaned Land played with a Tunisian band on their last tour. The Tunisian band's manager received emails asking them to boycott the tour. "If you want to interpret (touring with an Israeli band) as legitimizing, that's your interpretation ... we simply have a message that we love each other and we want to live together." Khalas and Orphaned Land's tour was sparked by Farhi and Hathout's friendship. "You might say (going on tour together) is a PR cliche or a gimmick... but it's simply a translation of me and Abed's brotherhood," said Farhi. The pair met almost a decade ago at a radio station and bonded over their mutual love of heavy metal with a Middle Eastern twist. Both bands blend classic heavy metal elements with Arabic rhythms and instruments like violins and flutes. They call it Oriental Metal. "We take the rock 'n roll of the West, put it through our Middle Eastern filters, and throw it back," said Hathout. Orphaned Land's lyrics are often political, observing the Middle East's governments and religion. Khalas' latest album features metal covers of '80s Arab wedding songs. "Khalas doesn't deal with politics ... it's not because we are not connected to our people or we don't care, but there are so many people talking about the occupation. "I have the right to write about having fun and love and drinking beer." In spite of the complexities, Ben Brinner author of "Playing across a Divide: Israeli-Palestinian Musical Encounters" and a professor of music at University of California, Berkeley, says something very interesting can happen when musicians from both sides come together. "They create different kinds of musical styles; it's giving a vision of a rich kind of working together (that in) the best cases creates something new, something that they couldn't create on their own, that can speak to the hearts of diverse audiences." For Farhi, it's straightforward enough: "The only conflict we have is who is going to pay the bill."

Two Israeli bands -- one Jewish the other Arab -- touring Europe together . Bands hope their tour will show how music can unite people across political and religious divides . Other Arab-Israeli musical projects have highlighted power of music to foster peaceful relations . 'The only conflict we have is who is going to pay the bill,' says singer Kobi Farhi .

(CNN) -- Hong Kong is facing an acute shortage of one the engines of its dynamic economy -- cheap domestic help. More than 290,000 foreign domestic helpers -- mainly Indonesians, Filipinas and Thais - live and work in the special administrative region of Hong Kong, according to Hong Kong's Department of Immigration. But fears that Indonesian plans to wind up the foreign export of its low-skilled workers by 2017 will lead to a shortage of cheap hired help has the city's employment agencies looking elsewhere in the region. This week Hong Kong received its first batch of domestic helpers from Bangladesh, a country that agencies hope will provide a rich source of women willing to work in a foreign country for just $HK3,920 ($505) a month. "There are not enough Filipino and Indonesian domestic helpers these days," said Teresa Liu Tsui-lan, the managing director of the Technic Employment Service Centre. "We have a good training course for them in Bangladesh over three months where they learn Cantonese and Chinese cooking. "We think that employers will be able to accept that," she told CNN. She said there was now a lot of competition from other countries -- mainly Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan -- for Indonesian maids, making it harder for Hong Kong to recruit them. "Even though the salary offered in Hong Kong is higher, these countries are a lot closer to Indonesia so it's easier for domestic helpers to return home when they need to," Liu said. She said Indonesian maids were in demand as carers for the elderly because, with limited English skills, their Cantonese has a tendency to improve quickly. Filipinas, by contrast, who often have high levels of English before they come to Hong Kong, normally rely on English to communicate with their Hong Kong employers, she said. Another 75 Bangladeshi workers will arrive in Hong Kong over the next three months, followed by 150 to 200 every month after that. There are currently just 71 Bangladeshi domestic helpers in Hong Kong, compared with 152,557 Indonesian and 149,009 Filipino domestic helpers in the city, according to 2012 figures from the Department of Immigration. The Bangladeshi helpers said they paid an agency in Bangladesh about $HK13,000 - more than three times their monthly salary - to apply for the job in Hong Kong. One of the helpers, Khadiza Akter, 24, who is married with a son, told a press conference in Hong Kong that she planned to work in the city for five years. "My husband is a driver and I want to buy another car for him so that we can start our own business," she said. "I also want to give my son a better education." Indonesia's Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar last year announced the country planned to stop sending domestic workers abroad from 2017. While the government has no authority to prevent people from seeking work abroad, he said workers would have to have a clearly defined position and working status before taking up a foreign job. "The recipient country would have to recognize them as formal workers with certain rights, such as working hours, the right to holidays and leave as well as to a set salary," Iskandar told the Jakarta Globe. While Hong Kong has strong laws in place to protect the legal minimum wage of $HK3,920 (U.S.$505) a month, domestic helpers are sometimes subject to abuses such as long working hours, sub-standard living and sleeping arrangements and employers that attempt to cut deals to pay below the legal minimum. Indonesia slapped moratorium on domestic workers to Malaysia in 2009 after multiple cases of abuse there. While the country has since lifted the ban, it only resumed sending migrant workers after more than a year of protracted negotiations on protecting the rights of domestic workers in Malaysia. Indonesia's economy has shown stellar growth in recent years, expanding 6.02% in the first quarter of 2013, according to figures from Indonesia's Bureau of Statistics. With jobs available domestically, analysts say many Indonesians were are electing to stay at home. An Indonesian Business Forum held in Hong Kong recently outlined the thrust of government policy, which aims to boost the skill sets of Indonesian foreign workers, particularly those working in building and construction. "In five years it will be a very different situation," Indonesian government economic advisor Professor Hermanto Siregar told the forum. "These changes are already happening in the likes of South Korea and Japan. There are many semi-skilled workers employed there now on much better wages than they would earn as domestic helpers."

Hong Kong faces a shortage of domestic helpers, a vital part of its economy . Indonesia has said it aims to curb its low-paid foreign work pool by 2017 . Hong Kong plans to import more domestic helpers from Bangladesh . There are currently more than 290,000 foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong .

(CNN) -- As regional fears of a spillover from Syria's civil war increase, Israel plans to build a fence along the border with the embattled country. The announcement came Sunday during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's weekly Cabinet address, in which he cited the construction of a 230-kilometer (143-mile) fence along Israel's southern border with Egypt. Read more: Scavenging for food, Syrian children witness war . "We intend to erect an identical fence, with a few changes based on the actual territory, along the Golan Heights. We know that on (the) other side of our border with Syria today, the Syrian army has moved away, and in its place, global jihad forces have moved in," Netanyahu said, according to a transcript of his remarks. "Therefore, we will defend this border against both infiltration and terrorism, just as we are successfully doing on the Sinai border." Syrian opposition and government sources have reported that the extremist al-Nusra Front, which the United States has designated as a terrorist group with links to al Qaeda in Iraq, has taken part in some of the fighting in Syria. Watch: Syrian refugees dig in for the winter . Netanyahu also said the Syrian government is "very unstable" and expressed concerns about the possible use of chemical weapons. Israel seized the Golan Heights, along with the West Bank, Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula, during the 1967 war. The Sinai has since been returned to Egypt. Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981, a move not recognized by the international community and condemned by Syria, which still claims the land. Chaos from Syria's civil war has already spilled into Turkey and Jordan. Read more: Al-Assad says enemies of Syria 'will go to hell' Last month, shells and bullets landed in Jordanian territory because of fighting between government and rebel forces in western Syria. One Jordanian soldier was wounded, Jordan's armed forces said. And last week, U.S. troops started arriving near the Turkish-Syrian border to man Patriot missile defense batteries, which are intended to intercept any Scud missiles that might cross into Turkey from Syria. The move was made after Syria launched Scud missiles at cities near the Turkish border. The batteries began arriving Monday, video showed. "The deployment, which will take place over the next few weeks, will be defensive only," NATO stressed in a statement Monday. "It will not support a no-fly zone or any offensive operation. Its aim is to deter any threats to Turkey, to defend Turkey's population and territory and to de-escalate the crisis on NATO's southeastern border." In October, five Turkish civilians were killed when errant Syrian artillery shells struck the Turkish border town of Akcakale. The Syrian government: Talk of reform leads to heavy skepticism . Syria's prime minister called Monday for Cabinet members to convene and decide how to implement measures announced by President Bashar al-Assad, state-run TV reported Monday. No date was announced for the meeting. In his first public speech since June, al-Assad outlined a plan Sunday to resolve the Syrian crisis. His plan includes national dialogue and a new constitution that would be put up for a public referendum. But there's a major caveat to the plan: Al-Assad said he refuses to deal with "terrorists," a term the government often uses to describe the opposition. Similarly, opposition members have said they will not work directly with al-Assad's "criminal" government, nor will they accept any solution that doesn't involve al-Assad's departure. So the deadly impasse continues. World leaders slammed al-Assad's speech, with British Foreign Secretary William Hague calling it "beyond hypocritical." "Deaths, violence and oppression engulfing #Syria are his own making, empty promises of reform fool no one," Hague tweeted. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday that he was "disappointed" by the speech, saying "it does not contribute to a solution that could end the terrible suffering of the Syrian people." At least 71 people, including seven children, were killed Monday in fresh violence, the opposition Local Coordination Committees said. More than 60,000 Syrians have been killed in the past 22 months, according to the United Nations. The chaos started in March 2011, when peaceful anti-government protesters were met by a fierce government crackdown, which spiraled into an armed opposition movement and a civil war. Al-Assad's family has ruled Syria for more than 40 years.

"We will defend this border against both infiltration and terrorism," Netanyahu says . The Israeli prime minister says the Syrian government is "very unstable" He also expressed concerns about the possible use of chemical weapons . Turkey and Jordan have already seen Syrian violence crossing over borders .

(CNN) -- Nearly two years ago, after Mitt Romney's presidential campaign went down to defeat, I gave some ideas in these pages on CNN about how Republicans can win future elections. On that list was an instruction that Republicans need to stop being the "stupid party." While it is true that we as Republicans need to do a better job articulating our principles and being the party of bold new ideas, the Democrats have a far worse problem. Democrats need to stop being the party that thinks Americans themselves are stupid. To take one example: At a House Ways and Means Committee hearing in April, members asked Treasury official Mark Iwry if the Obama administration believed it could delay Obamacare's individual mandate, much as the Treasury delayed the employer mandate. Iwry's response was stunning: "If we believe it is fair to individuals to keep that (individual mandate) in place because it protects them ... then we don't reach the question (of) whether we have legal authority." The level of sheer arrogance in that response boggles the mind. A Treasury spokesman later publicly disclosed the Obama administration's official position: The federal government, namely the IRS, is requiring all individuals to purchase insurance to "protect" the American people from themselves. Lest anyone think this attitude comes from anywhere other than the very top of the Obama administration, take the President's own comments last October. In a speech in Boston at the peak of the controversy surrounding insurance cancellations, the President repeatedly derided canceled plans as "substandard ... cut-rate plans that don't offer real financial protection." And he didn't just insult the plans themselves, he insulted the people who purchased them: "A lot of people thought they were buying coverage, and it turned out to be not so good." In other words, if you like your current plan, you're delusional—or a dimwit. The President soon backtracked, and unilaterally waived portions of the bill he signed into law, allowing some individuals to keep their plans, temporarily. But while the President expressed regret for having engaged in what Politifact dubbed the "Lie of the Year," he has not once apologized for the arrogant and patronizing attitude underpinning the entire controversy—one in which the President believes that he and his bureaucrats know better than everyday Americans. Sadly, this attitude does not just pervade Washington liberals; it's also right at home in my state of Louisiana. In 2012, the executive director of a state teachers' union claimed that school scholarship programs wouldn't work, because low-income parents could not make decisions about their children's education, saying they "have no clue." These comments perfectly illustrate the left's double standards. Both President Barack Obama and Eric Holder—the attorney general who filed suit to impede our scholarship program but lied to Congress about it last month—choose to educate their children at elite Washington schools costing more than $35,000 per year. But if Americans of more modest financial means—whose annual income may be dwarfed by the tuition fees President Obama easily pays for his daughters—want their children to escape failing schools, or buy the health plan they want, the left exclaims: "Oh no, we can't let you do that." That's exactly how The Nation magazine reacted to the health care alternative I recently endorsed. Responding to the plan's new incentives giving individuals more choices and insurance options, its analysts claimed that "most people are not informed well enough (sic) to make the right choices about which plan to buy, what it covers, what it will cost them, and especially how to decide what care to seek." That's what The Nation considers an "epic fail:" allowing the "ignorant" American people to pick their own health care options. I will readily admit that we do need to improve the transparency of health care cost and quality information. And of course in an emergency no patient in cardiac arrest will be able to "comparison shop" for treatment options. But if The Nation, President Obama, or anyone else on the left thinks the American people are too dumb to pick a school or health plan, they should say so publicly—and in so many words. Ronald Reagan famously quipped that the nine most terrifying words in the English language are "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help." I believe the best way to help is to empower citizens, trusting them to make good choices, not creating nanny states to "protect" individuals from themselves. As a matter of policy, giving Americans choice in schools and health care is simply the right thing to do. And as a matter of politics, insulting voters' intelligence is just plain stupid. Join us on Facebook.com/CNNOpinion.

Bobby Jindal once warned the GOP to stop being the "stupid party" He says Democrats now need to heed that advice . He points to changes in the rollout of Obamacare and delays in the individual mandate . He argues the Obama administration thinks Americans are "delusional" or "dimwits"

LONDON, England (CNN) -- The debate about using technology to help referees has been re-ignited following a number of controversial decisions in the Champions League semi-final between Chelsea and Barcelona. The Hawk-Eye system is already widely used in tennis and has transformed the game. Sepp Blatter, president of FIFA, the game's governing body, has consistently opposed the use of in-game video replays, but goal-line technology, to determine if the ball has crossed the goal line, has received more support. The Hawk-Eye system is extensively used in tennis, using cameras to calculate the trajectory of the ball. The system then uses the trajectory data to determine exactly where the ball has hit the ground, making it invaluable for marginal line calls. Using similar technology, Hawk-Eye Innovations, based in England, has developed a football system to determine if a goal has been scored. It again uses cameras to track the ball and computers to calculate its position. If the system detects that the ball has crossed the goal line a central computer transmits a signal to the referee via either a watch or earpiece. The system was tested at Premier League football club Fulham in 2006 and then at Reading's training ground in 2007. It was backed by the British Football Association and funded by the Premier League. Another goal-line technology, a microchipped football, was developed by Adidas and German firm Cairos Technologies. A microchip built into the football detects a magnetic field generated by underground cables in the penalty area. Like the Hawk-Eye system it uses a computer to send a signal to the referee's watch when a goal is scored. The system was tested at the World Under-17 Championships in 2005 and the 2007 World Club Championship in Tokyo. The International Football Association Board (IFAB), which decides the laws of the game, discusses new rules at an annual general meeting consisting of four representatives from FIFA and one each from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Explaining the IFAB's decision, Blatter said the microchipped ball had failed in one of the seven World Club Championship matches because of interference to the signal sent to the referee and that it would be difficult to implement the chip technology in the many types of football used around the world. He added that it was not possible to ensure that the Hawk-Eye system worked in a crowded goalmouth, where players might block the cameras' view of the ball. "FIFA are of the opinion that the systems are very costly, would not add anything to the game and would harm the position of the referee," the UK's Press Association reported at the time. Do you think goal-line technology should be used? Share your thoughts in the Sound Off box below. But Hawk-Eye managing director Paul Hawkins told CNN that he believes FIFA has decided that it doesn't want technology in football. "I saw FIFA last week and told them that we can provide a system if they want it, but it's very clear they don't want the system," he said. Hawkins said his company cannot develop the technology any further without more testing in real stadiums, but that kind of testing requires FIFA's consent. The idea that football's governing bodies are opposed to more technology in football has been supported by statements from the sport's governing bodies. In March 2009, Blatter said in a statement: "The IFAB believes that football is a game for human beings and, as such, we should improve the standard of refereeing - and not turn to technology." Michel Platini, President of UEFA, European Football's governing body, has expressed similar views. Instead of pursuing goal-line technology, the IFAB chose to trial the idea of having two extra match officials, one behind each goal. A FIFA spokesman told CNN that while the use of goal-line technology hasn't been ruled out forever, even after recent refereeing controversies, the IFAB's current position is to continue to experiment with extra officials. The IFAB's decision means there will be no goal-line technology used in the Champions League final on 27 May, which means there is the potential for more refereeing disputes. "Maybe there will be a controversial goal in the Champions League final and maybe the discussion over the technology will begin again," Oliver Braun, marketing and communications director at Cairos Technologies told CNN. Hawkins agrees that it will take a controversial goal-line incident in a big FIFA match to get the IFAB to change their position, saying it took a series of contentious calls at the 2004 US Open for tennis authorities to seriously consider using the Hawk-Eye system. If that is the case, there will be some football fans hoping for plenty of goal-line drama come May 27.

Debate over whether technology should be used to help referees . FIFA is opposed to video replays but has considered goal-line technology . Hawk-Eye system and microchipped footballs were rejected by IFAB . Some feel it will take a big-match controversy to re-open the debate .

(CNN) -- Brendan McDonough, a lookout for his elite 20-man Arizona wildfire-fighting crew, saw Sunday's blaze change directions and warned his team by radio from his hilltop perch. The new conditions, he told them, also were forcing him to leave that spot, officials recalled Tuesday. He did as he was trained, officials said. And because he did, McDonough might have escaped his own death by seconds. McDonough was trying to go to another lookout point when the Yarnell Hill fire killed 19 members of Prescott Fire Department's Granite Mountain Hotshots, Prescott Fire Department spokesman Wade Ward said. The incident, part of a fire that has burned more than 8,400 acres since Friday, produced the deadliest day for firefighters since the 9/11 attacks. "He [McDonough] was doing what he was supposed to do," Ward told CNN. "The crew was doing what they need to do. This is why they call this kind of thing an accident." Honoring the fallen . Ward, who confirmed McDonough's name and job Tuesday, said McDonough is having a hard time dealing with his comrades' deaths and wasn't ready to talk. In a statement released through a fire official Tuesday, McDonough said he was grateful for the public's "outpouring of support towards his organization," and he asked for privacy for his family and his comrades' relatives. "Everyone can appreciate that he's working though the process of dealing with this loss, and that could last for some time," said Bob Orrill, a regional incident commander helping the fire department. Opinion: When heroes face down fire -- and fate . 'His lookout had already burned over' McDonough was overlooking his teammates when he told them the "weather was changing rapidly," and winds moved the fire in a different direction, Wade told reporters Tuesday. Wade didn't have particulars, but he said the changes amounted to a "trigger point" -- previously agreed conditions that would require him to go to another spot. McDonough, as prescribed, told the crew he was leaving, and that "he would contact them and they could contact him if they needed anything," Wade said. He went down the hill and met a supervisor of a different hotshot crew. Hotshot crews such as McDonough's are elite teams that are called to get close to the blaze, dig barriers and clear out the brush and other material that otherwise would fuel it. McDonough turned around. He apparently left just in time. "The location that he was at at his lookout had already burned over," Wade said. "He got in (a) vehicle (with the other team's supervisor) and was taken to a safety zone." Perhaps a mile or two away from McDonough's original location -- Wade didn't know Sunday's particulars, but he said that's typically the distance between lookout and crew -- the fire overcame the 19. The deaths are under investigation, but officials have said it appears the 19 were forced to lie down under fire shelters, blankets meant to protect against flames and heat, as a last resort against an inferno that overwhelmed them. Wildfire battle shadowed by losses . 'You cannot immediately drop somebody in another position' One Prescott official, speaking with Wade at the news conference in Prescott Tuesday, told reporters that it was protocol to have a hotshot lookout in place at all times. The officials there said they didn't know whether another lookout was in place when McDonough moved. Either way, Wade said, McDonough "was doing his job and the hotshot crew was doing their job." "You cannot immediately drop somebody in another position," Wade said. "There are lookouts in the air ... as well as other lookouts. He left his post based on protocol, and we was moving to a new position." The Prescott community has taken the deaths hard. Many attended a memorial service at the city's Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University campus Monday. A tribute outside Prescott Fire Station No. 7 grew that day, with flowers, American flags and signs placed on or near a fence that separated the station from a road. The tokens also included 19 bottles of water, arranged in a circle. On Monday, the Prescott fire chief also told reporters -- without identifying McDonough at the time -- that the 20th member was struggling. "Unfortunately, we have very few words to express that kind of sorrow, but we understood each other," Prescott Fire Chief Dan Fraijo said Monday. "When you take a person in your arms and you hug them, you don't have to say too much." How to help .

NEW: Lookout warned his team, then left post as prescribed, officials say . NEW: The lookout, Brendan McDonough, departed hilltop post just before flames came . 19 members of a "hotshot" team from Prescott died in an Arizona wildfire Sunday . McDonough was the only team member to survive .

(CNN) -- Smokable herbal blends marketed as "legal highs" have become increasingly popular and as easy to buy as cigarettes. The blends of exotic herbs and other plants have been sprayed or coated with one or more chemicals that, when smoked, produce euphoria. They are commonly labeled as herbal incense to mask their intended purpose. These contain drugs that are dangerous and should be illegal. "K2" is a brand name for a dried herbal blend that can be smoked. It produces a high similar to that of marijuana but doesn't contain tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive chemical in marijuana. Instead, K2 contains synthetic chemicals, known as JWH-018 and JWH-073, that mimic THC by acting on the cannabinoid receptors in the brain. For another opinion, click here . JWH-018 and JWH-073 are produced in China and unregulated in the United States. Similar products have been produced and marketed under names such as Spice, Genie, Blaze, Red X Dawn and Zohai. Since 2009, the Drug Enforcement Administration has been receiving reports of the abuse of these herbal products. K2's key ingredients were invented by Dr. John Huffman at Clemson University in 1995 during medical research on the effects of cannabinoids on the brain. He found no medical benefits -- only negative side effects. Unfortunately, marijuana users reproduced the recipe, creating a legal alternative to marijuana. Although the company manufacturing K2 is unknown, it is legally available for purchase in the U.S. by anyone, including minors. In late 2008, herbal incense-type products that were being shipped from Europe to the U.S. were found to contain traces of another potent psychoactive chemical known as HU-210. It is classified as a Schedule I controlled substance because it is a derivative of THC with a similar chemical structure and pharmacological activity. HU-210 was also developed for experimental purposes and can be from 100 to 800 times as potent as THC. In 2009, Germany banned the sale of Spice because tests revealed that it contained JWH-018 and yet another potent chemical, CP-47 497, developed by a drug company in the 1980s for research purposes. It produces effects similar to THC and is three to 28 times more potent. Spice is banned by some U.S. military commands, where the potential for its abuse has been recognized. Research has linked naturally produced marijuana to health issues, including schizophrenia. With synthetic marijuana being even more potent, it is frightening to consider its potential damage. K2 can cause increased heart rate, loss of consciousness, paranoia, hallucinations and psychotic episodes. Users report that smoking small amounts results in intense highs comparable to smoking large amounts of marijuana. Studies in 2008 revealed that users developed chemical dependencies, withdrawal and addictive behaviors. Increasing numbers of children are purchasing synthetic marijuana products because they are legal and easier to obtain than cigarettes. Because of the various chemicals being used, these substances are difficult to regulate. But the DEA is determining whether some or all of these products need to be controlled. More research is definitely needed. With young people using K2 more, some states are not waiting for the DEA and are moving to ban it. Let's face it: Anytime you consume an uncontrolled or unregulated drug or a drug with unknown effects, you are taking a risk. Products like K2 are not made in a controlled environment, and those who use it are playing Russian roulette. Schedule I drugs are defined as substances that have a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use. At this time, the evidence suggests that these synthetic marijuana substances should be controlled and perhaps classified as Schedule I drugs. Making these drugs illegal makes it more difficult for dealers to push them to our children. It limits availability and sends a message that the drug is dangerous -- an extremely important message since history has shown that when youngsters perceive drugs to be harmful, they are less likely to use them. K2 serves no apparent useful purpose, and we do not need more addicted family members, drug-impaired drivers or drug-related deaths. The sale of synthetic marijuana is banned in Britain, Germany, Poland, France, South Korea and Russia. The U.S. should move urgently to protect the public from yet another dangerous and potentially deadly class of drugs. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Calvina Fay.

Calvina Fay: Minors can buy smokable herbal blends sprayed with chemicals . Fay says "synthetic marijuana" labeled as herbal incense to mask intended purpose . K2 contains dangerous drugs and should be illegal, she says, as it is in several nations . We don't need more addicts, drug-impaired drivers or drug-related deaths, Fay writes .

Bangkok, Thailand (CNN) -- Renewed clashes in a disputed area along the Thai-Cambodian border killed at least one Thai soldier and left 11 people injured Saturday, Thailand's MCOT news agency reported. The skirmish came a day after officials said three Thai soldiers and three Cambodian soldiers were killed in fighting there. Each side blames the other for the violence, which erupted Friday near two temples in the Phanom Dong Rak district of Thailand's Surin province. Authorities have evacuated thousands of people from nearby villages. The Cambodian defense ministry on Saturday blasted what it called Thailand's "repeated deliberate acts of aggression," including firing heavy artillery weapons and flying military planes deep into Cambodian airspace. In a letter to the U.N. Security Council on Friday, Cambodia's deputy prime minister said Thai troops had engaged in a "large-scale attack with many types of weapons," targeting areas around temples "deep inside Cambodian territory." Hor Namhong wrote that Thai artillery pieces fell as far as 21 kilometers (13 miles) in its territory during what he called the fifth such attack since 2008 when the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization placed Cambodia's Preah Vihear Temple on its World Heritage List. Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, meanwhile, said he'd send off a "protest letter" of his own, the state-run MCOT news agency reported Saturday. He disputed reports that Thai forces had used poisonous gas or flown over Cambodian territory, except for helicopters trying to airlift out wounded soldiers. "We protected our sovereignty, and our counterattack targeted the Cambodian army base to limit the area of the clash," said Kasit, who added that Thailand still wanted to settle the issues diplomatically. Thai Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban told MCOT on Saturday that one recent clash began after Cambodian troops fired into Thai territory.Earlier, Thai army Lt. Col. Siriya Khuangsirikul accused Cambodia of violating an agreement not to bring weapons or post troops in the disputed area. Cambodian Lt. Gen. Chhum Socheat claimed Thai troops shelled and damaged temples, and flew over Cambodian territory with spy planes, Cambodia's state-run Agence Kampuchea Presse reported. At least 10 people were killed when renewed fighting flared up in another disputed border area between the two nations in February, prompting the U.N. Security Council to issue a statement calling on both sides to implement a permanent cease-fire and "resolve the situation peacefully and through effective dialogue." The office of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement Saturday that the U.N. chief was "troubled" by the recent clashes, especially after "initial signs of progress" toward resolving their conflict peacefully. "The Secretary-General calls on both sides to exercise maximum restraint and to take immediate measures to put in place for an effective and verifiable ceasefire," the statement said. Those clashes, which lasted four days, stemmed from a longstanding conflict related to the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple. Both Cambodia and Thailand lay claim to the temple, which sits atop a cliff on Cambodian soil but has its most accessible entrance on the Thai side. At the time, each nation accused the other of firing first, according to a statement from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Conflict over the site has taken place periodically for years. In 1962, the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, ruled that the site was in Cambodia, adding that the structure was "an outstanding masterpiece of Khmer architecture." But Thailand says the 1.8-square-mile (4.7-square-kilometer) area around Preah Vihear was never fully demarcated, and blames a map drawn at the beginning of the 20th century during the French occupation of Cambodia. Thaugsuban said Saturday that the border dispute must be resolved peacefully between the two parties, without the involvement of a third party. In his latest letter to the United Nations, his Cambodian counterpart Namhong accused Thailand of not being earnest in its bids to resolve the dispute peacefully, calling its neighbor's actions "a pretext for using its larger and materially more sophisticated armed forces against Cambodia." CNN's Kocha Olarn contributed to this report.

NEW: U.N. chief is "troubled" by clashes along Thai-Cambodian border, urges talks . NEW: Cambodia's military blasts what it calls "repeated deliberate acts of aggression" NEW: A Thai official says Cambodia fired first, saying its forces acted in self-defense . The tension revolves around who controls territory along the border .

(CNN) -- Few paintings have been more viewed, more analyzed, studied and interpreted, than Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa," otherwise known as "La Gioconda." Despite this, no one has come up with an explanation for that enigmatic smile, or a lot of other details in this painting that, despite all the ink and hot air expended on it, measures a mere 77 by 52 centimeters (about 30 by 21 inches). In the frigid bowels of a derelict building in central Florence, Italy, that covers the ruins of an old Franciscan convent, a group of researchers is trying to nail down some of the elusive details of the woman featured in the iconic painting. It is here that old city records say the woman who posed for the painting, Lisa Gherardini, the second wife of wealthy Florentine silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo, was buried. Read more: Unveiling of alternate 'Mona Lisa' raises questions . Silvano Vinceti is leading a team to exhume and identify Gherardini's remains. Those remains are wrapped in aluminum foil and packed into large Tupperware containers stacked in an old filing cabinet. Vinceti and his colleagues took them out, one by one, and eventually found one packet with what appeared to be skull fragments. "This is probably it," Vinceti tells me excitedly, his eyebrows arching. The remains, he says, will be sent for DNA testing to several universities in Italy and abroad, where they will be checked against the DNA of two confirmed relatives of Gherardini buried elsewhere. I ask Vinceti: Why go to all this trouble to find out if this was the woman who posed for da Vinci more than 500 years ago? "Once we identify the remains," he says, gesticulating dramatically, "we can reconstruct the face, with a margin of error of 2 to 8 percent. By doing this, we will finally be able to answer the question the art historians can't: Who was the model for Leonardo?" I've seen this before. Several years ago, I did a report about the reconstruction of the face of the Pharaoh Tutankhamen (aka King Tut) by French and American forensic experts using his mummified remains as a model. After piecing together Gherardini's skull fragments, researchers will be able to reconstruct her face, factoring in that she was probably in her early 20s when she posed for da Vinci. Read more: Scientists unlock secret of Mona Lisa's face . Vinceti has no doubt that da Vinci was commissioned to paint a portrait of Gherardini, but he is not certain whether the painting that now hangs in the Louvre in Paris is of her, or just contains some of her features. For starters, he says, that famous smile is not Gherardini's. Analysis of the "Mona Lisa" shows, he says, that "when Leonardo began painting the model in front of him, he did not draw that metaphysical, ironic, poignant, elusive smile, but rather he painted a person who was dark and depressed." The smile, he believes, was added later, and probably belongs to da Vinci's longtime assistant (and rumored lover) Gian Giacomo Caprotti, whose distinct features appear in other works by da Vinci. Other art historians say the "Mona Lisa" is a surreptitious self-portrait. There is something eccentric, or slightly mad, about Vinceti. A former producer for RAI, the Italian state broadcaster, he speaks in the language of veteran television producers the world over -- emphatic, direct and full of expletives. In the past, he's produced documentaries about his attempts to solve old art mysteries and plans to do the same with his current project on the "Mona Lisa." His high-profile efforts have been criticized by academics, but Vinceti brushes them off with a dismissive snort. Part of his motivation in this current project is a personal identification with da Vinci, who, Vinceti says, "never went to university, didn't learn Greek or Latin, and was not considered learned." It will be several months before DNA tests can be conducted and the reconstruction of Gherardini's face can be completed. And regardless of the results, Vinceti concedes that da Vinci is beyond comprehension: "This is the magic of a great genius who eludes classification, around whom remains a fog of mystery. I am under no illusion that we will be able to solve the mystery of the 'Mona Lisa.' Read more: Museum discovers earliest copy of 'Mona Lisa'"

DNA testing planned for remains of woman thought to be the model for the iconic painting . From that, Italian researchers hope to reconstruct the model's face . Former TV producer says he's sure that a portrait of Lisa Gherardini was commissioned . But, he says, he is not sure that Leonardo da Vinci's painting is completely of her .

Havana, Cuba (CNN) -- A Spanish politician is facing a charge of vehicular homicide for the car crash that killed prominent Cuban dissident Oswaldo Paya, Cuba's state press said Tuesday. Angel Carromero could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison if found guilty. He is accused of speeding and then losing control of a car that he, Paya, Swedish politician Jans Aron Modig and Cuban dissident Harold Cepero were traveling in. Paya and Cepero were killed when the car struck a tree Sunday near Las Gavinas, Cuba. The men had been traveling across the island to meet some of Paya's supporters in Santiago de Cuba when the crash occurred. The Cuban government said the crash was the result of a single-car accident. Paya had tried for decades to change Cuba's single-party system of government. He delivered thousands of signatures in an unsuccessful attempt to force a national referendum and was a constant critic of the Cuban government. But Paya also had called for reconciliation between the polarized extremes that dominate the debate over Cuba's future. Following Paya's death, his family immediately accused Cuban authorities of foul play and said they had received information that another vehicle had forced the car Paya was in off the road. "I can't take the word of the same government that wants to kill my husband, that threatened his life a ton of times," Paya's widow, Ofelia Acevedo, told CNN. Acevedo said over the years her family suffered frequent intimidations at the hands of Cuban state security. She said she would continue to have doubts about her husband's death until she had the opportunity to interview both Modig and Carromero herself. "I am asking for the intervention of an international organization that could send investigators here to do an analysis of the accident," she said. On Tuesday, Cuba's official press published a 1,539-word editorial on the crash titled "Truth and reason." The editorial announced that Carromero would face charges and that Modig would be permitted to return to Sweden. Both men had been held by Cuban authorities since the crash. Again the Cuban government denied any hand in Paya's death. "It's not Cuba but the United States that displays a shameful record of political assassinations, extra-official executions, including drone strikes," the editorial said. On Tuesday, Modig spoke to reporters at a hastily organized news conference. Members of the international media in Cuba were asked to arrive at the Cuban Press Center and then were taken by buses to a house were officers of Cuba's Interior Ministry stood guard. Jans Aron Modig then walked into the room where the press had gathered. Sitting at a table with Cuban officials, Modig said he was sorry for having traveled to Cuba on a tourist visa to meet with members of the island's dissident movements. He said he had come to "understand that these activities are not legal in Cuba and I would like to apologize for coming here and doing illegal activities." Modig denied that another vehicle had been involved in the crash. "I have no memory of any other car," he said, but refused to elaborate on how the accident took place. After less than 10 minutes of speaking to the press, Modig said he did not want to take any more questions and left the room. On Monday night, Cuban state-television showed about 20 minutes of video of the meeting with foreign journalists along with video of a separate and apparently longer news conference that Modig gave solely to Cuba's government-controlled media outlets. Officials said holding two news conferences was necessary due "to space issues" at the house where Modig spoke. Carromero, the Spanish politician, did not speak, but a clip of a video was shown by officials in which Carromero also said that the crash had been an accident. "As far as the news reports that they have let me read, I ask that the international community focuses on getting me out of here," Carromero said, "and not use a traffic accident that could happen to anyone for political purposes." Cuban state media usually does not discuss in such depth traffic accidents, much less what officials called "small factions of dissidents." Dissidents like Paya are generally referred to as "traitors" and "sell-outs" who have sided with the United States government over Cuba in the still-simmering war of words between the two countries. Paya's family said they were trying to adapt to life without him and with the added scrutiny his death brought. "All these things we have seen on TV and the accounts of what they call an accident is very unusual," said Acevedo, Paya's widow. "But they don't talk about who was Oswaldo Paya."

Angel Carromero could be sentenced to 10 years in prison if found guilty, state media says . Cuban dissident Oswaldo Paya died in the crash; his family suspects government foul play . Another person in the crash apologizes "for coming here and doing illegal activities"