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(CNN) -- Everything may be bigger in Texas, but it's not all cowboy boots and big hair in Dallas. Streets of Sparkle fashion blogger Jaclyn Welch won't be stopping to snap a photo of stereotypical style any time soon. "Your big hair? Not getting on here!" Welch said, laughing. "It's the football season look: cowboy boots, jean shorts. But the great thing about Dallas, since we have the stereotype in place already, is that you can get away with wearing cowboy boots." Instead, the downtown Dallas scene is all about dressing to the nines in designer duds. Welch uses her blog to celebrate the flashy and classy women who treat the sidewalks as their stage. Even in the extreme summer swelter, Dallasites won't be caught without their heels and decadent ensembles. "It's like a Southern preppy twist, depending on the neighborhood," Welch said. "Everyone is wearing some sort of a classic piece. It's a Neiman Marcus/J. Crew mix." Below, Welch explains the Dallas look. CNN: What's the style vibe in Dallas? Welch: People's perception of Dallas is really funny when they've never been here. And when they come here, I guess they don't expect women to shop -- like we're all walking around in cowboy boots. Neiman Marcus was started here, so that's the vibe. The women here love to dress up. It's very classy, mixed with flashy -- a timeless look with a statement piece, like your shoes or a bag. Women here really appreciate that one designer piece. A lot of people in Dallas aren't from the area, so it's a lot of bringing things in and mixing with what we already have. Colorful layers of style on Chicago's streets . CNN: In addition to Neiman Marcus, what other stores are popular for Dallasites? Welch: Forty Five Ten brings in a lot of designers that you can't find anywhere. Our vintage stores are really good: Lula B's, Dolly Python, Buffalo Exchange. We are a one-stop shopping type of people -- so NorthPark Center is where most Dallasites shop (they have everything, including our very first H&M, opening in August). CNN: The temperatures are spiking in Dallas. How has that affected the street style? Welch: The funny thing is, it's 104 degrees and women still put in the effort to look good. To me, it's kind of a celebration of style in this weather. The vibe is always going to be the same, and it's a polished look. Here's the thing about Dallas: Everyone is getting in their cars and walking into air-conditioned buildings, so it's really hard to do a street style blog here. It's not like Chicago or New York, with tons of people passing you by. You have to wait around and see what you find. Get smart: Portland street style . CNN: How do you approach people to take their picture? Welch: In Texas, we like to talk a lot, so everyone I stop has a story about what they're wearing. Every piece is like a drawn-out conversation. A lot of street style blogs are just about the photography. For me, it's the entire experience -- having that moment with someone and paying them a compliment, which is maybe a Southern way of doing things. Dallas women, because they dress up, want to be seen. When you walk up to them, and they got dressed for a reason today, they want somebody to say, "you look good." Imagine going your whole day and you're like, "I look so fabulous and not one person has told me I look good." Then, imagine the day when somebody wants to take your picture. I think of it as "this is your moment, make it yours." That's how it is in Texas. Fashion from Tokyo to Toronto . CNN: What made you want to begin street style blogging? Welch: It was always about the person, celebrating women who take the time to dress up and look good. I approach the people that I want to ask, "where did you get that?" It's me communicating with them, asking what they do, where they're from and then talking about the style in itself. I like the stories behind everything. It's my favorite part, like a treasure hunt. There are a lot of people that I think look great and I don't take their picture. So it's not always about that, but an attitude you get from them. It's walking down the street and whatever makes me go "whoa." First, it's "what are you wearing?" and then, "who are you, what's the rest of the story?" It's not all country in Nashville .

Jaclyn Welch's street style blog shines the spotlight on Dallas' flashy fashion . Rather than cowboy boots, Dallas women dress in designer duds for every occasion . Neiman Marcus and Forty Five Ten contribute to the designer scene in Dallas .

(CNN) -- The U.S. government claims he's the mastermind of a huge online fraud operation with multiple identities and a history of breaking the law and evading arrest, but his lawyer says he's a law-abiding entrepreneur committed to raising his young family in New Zealand. The question is which of these descriptions of Kim Dotcom, the founder of the shuttered file-sharing website Megaupload, is closer to the truth? Arrested by the New Zealand police in a raid last week, Dotcom is one of seven people indicted by the U.S. on accusations of operating an "international organized criminal enterprise responsible for massive worldwide online piracy of copyrighted works." Megaupload's lawyers denied the charges, and online activists have rallied to the site's defense. The arrests and the shuttering of Megaupload prompted an angry reaction from the activist hacking collective Anonymous, which took credit for temporarily crippling the U.S. Department of Justice, FBI and entertainment company websites after the prosecution was announced. Dozens of supporters attended Dotcom's court hearings in New Zealand this week. As he sits in jail awaiting an extradition hearing in the coming months, attention has focused on the extravagant lifestyle he appears to have enjoyed. The U.S. authorities say Megaupload generated more than $175 million in illegal profits through advertising revenue and the sale of premium memberships. The New Zealand news media appear fascinated by the new international celebrity, and the government is facing questions over why it granted him residency in the country despite his criminal record. Judge D.J. McNaughton denied Dotcom bail and offered insights into his different descriptions. Dotcom holds one German passport, under the name of Kim Schmitz, and two Finnish passports, under the names of Kim Tim Jim Vestor and Kim Dotcom. Prosecutors say the multiple passports, as well as bank accounts and credit cards from various countries linked to different names prove that Dotcom presented a flight risk. His lawyers have countered that Dotcom thought the Finnish passport under the name of Kim Tim Jim Vestor had been canceled, and that the reason he had 25 credit cards in his possession at the time of his arrest was that he is a "collector" of credit cards. Most of the cards had expired, according to the defense lawyers. He has prior convictions from 1998 related to computer hacking, from 2003 for insider trading in Germany and from 2011 for failure to disclose the number of shares he acquired in Hong Kong. Dotcom is a resident of New Zealand, where he employs more than 50 staff, and Hong Kong, where he has a suite at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. He is married to a Filipina woman with whom he has three children. His wife is pregnant with twins, and he is also the legal guardian of his wife's two brothers ages 11 and 14. His lawyer, Paul Davison, argued the facts demonstrate his commitment to staying in New Zealand, where he obtained residency status in December 2009. But prosecutors and the judge have expressed concern that if Dotcom were able to make his way to Germany, his German nationality would make him immune from extradition proceedings. In his judgment Wednesday, McNaughton said he could not exclude the possibility that with his "business effectively shut down in the United States and his bank accounts and assets frozen and facing prosecution on serious charges with the full weight of the United States government behind it" that Dotcom "may take whatever money is still available to him and run to safe haven in Germany." The judge also expressed concern about the existence of a firearm found near Dotcom at the time of his arrest last week. The New Zealand police used helicopters to storm Dotcom's mansion. He reacted by activating a "sophisticated security lock on his bedroom door and then retreating to a second 'panic room' hidden within his bedroom again secured by a security locked door," according to prosecutors. When the police entered the inner room, they found Dotcom sitting cross-legged on the floor and "a loaded shotgun in a nearby safe." Dotcom has admitted he doesn't hold a firearm license but says he was intending to apply for one. His lawyer argued that the presence of guns on the property was a precautionary measure because his wife is from the Philippines where the kidnapping of wealthy individuals or their children is a common occurrence. It was also disclosed in court that Dotcom suffers from diabetes and hypertension. He has also been receiving treatment for a slipped disc. All reasons, his lawyers said, for not keeping him in custody.

Kim Dotcom is the founder of Megaupload, a site shut down by the U.S. last week . He is one of seven people indicted on copyright and other charges . Prosecutors say he could use multiple identities to flee New Zealand . His lawyer says he is law-abiding and wants to stay with his family .

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Two suicide vehicle bombers struck a U.S.-Iraqi military outpost in Taji on Wednesday night, the U.S. military said in a statement. U.S. Black Hawk helicopters fly over Baghdad in June. A Black Hawk chopper crashed Wednesday in Iraq. The attack killed four Iraqi soldiers, the military said, and wounded 11 U.S. soldiers and four Iraqi soldiers. The incident occurred at 8:45 p.m., according to an Iraqi Interior Ministry official. Eight Iraqis suspected of having information concerning the attack have been detained, the U.S. military said. Taji is 14 kilometers, or more than 8 miles, north of the capital, but still in Baghdad province. Police in Taji said the base is in the Haw al-Basha area. Police said that when they responded, U.S. troops fired on them and would not allow them near the base. Earlier Wednesday, 14 U.S. soldiers died when their helicopter crashed in northern Iraq, the U.S. military said. Separately, at least 37 people were killed and 81 wounded when a suicide car bomb detonated outside a police building in the Iraqi town of Baiji, north of Baghdad, in Salaheddin province, police said. Also Wednesday, a U.S. soldier was killed and three others wounded in combat west of Baghdad, the military said. The helicopter crash occurred near Kirkuk, according to a U.S. military intelligence source. Watch the initial report of the copter downing » . "Two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters were on a night operation when one of the aircraft crashed," the military said. "Initial indications are that the aircraft experienced a mechanical malfunction. There were no indications of hostile fire." The dead were all members of the Army's Task Force Lightning and comprised four Black Hawk crew members and 10 passengers. The task force typically operates in the Tikrit area, north of Baghdad. The military has launched an investigation into the crash, the deadliest since January 2005, when a helicopter went down in western Iraq and killed 31 Marines. Since the start of the war, 3,715 U.S. troops have died in Iraq; seven civilian contractors also have been killed. There have been a string of helicopter downings in Iraq this year. In January, 12 U.S. soldiers were killed when a U.S. helicopter went down northeast of Baghdad. The Brookings Institution's Iraq Index, a regularly updated compilation of facts about the war, said in its latest update Monday before this crash that 67 American military helicopters have gone down since May 2003 and that enemy fire had downed at least 36. Meanwhile, police in Baiji said an explosives-packed truck drove into the police directorate's compound in the center of town and detonated. A number of homes in the compound were destroyed. The police building was badly damaged, and 15 vehicles were destroyed. On the political front, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki responded to U.S. criticism of his government, calling such comments irresponsible and saying they "overstep the bounds of diplomatic and political courtesy." President Bush and the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, on Tuesday expressed frustration with an ineffective Iraqi political process dominated by constant governmental squabbling. Democratic Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, on Monday called on Iraq's parliament to turn al-Maliki's "nonfunctioning" government out of office when it returns in two weeks. He said al-Maliki's government was "too beholden to religious and sectarian leaders" to reach a political settlement that would end the country's sectarian and insurgent violence. "Everyone knows that the Iraqi government is one elected by the Iraqi people, and no one puts timetables or restrictions other than the Iraqi people who elected the government," al-Maliki said Wednesday during a visit to Syria's capital, Damascus. Government spokesman Ali Dabbagh said al-Maliki was specifically referring to Levin's comments. White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe on Wednesday said media reports had overblown differences between the Bush administration and al-Maliki. Johndroe said al-Maliki is Iraq's elected prime minister, and the Iraqi government is working to achieve political reconciliation. Other developments . CNN's Jomana Karadsheh and Raja Razek contributed to this report.

NEW: 8 Iraqis suspected of having information about attack are detained . 37 killed, 81 wounded in suicide car bombing north of Baghdad . UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter not shot down, U.S. says . Iraq's prime minister lashes out at U.S. lawmaker's critical remarks .

(CNN) -- President Barack Obama is having a tough time. The defeat of the gun control legislation was devastating. Despite strong public support for tighter regulations and the backing of a bipartisan coalition, a furious blitz from gun lobby groups persuaded enough senators to kill the legislation. The bill's sponsors could not find the 60 senators needed to stop a filibuster. One would think that the horrific tragedy of Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 children and six adults were shot and killed at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, would be enough to move lawmakers to impose some regulations, such as tougher background checks. But it wasn't enough. Now the president faces another challenge with immigration reform. A bipartisan group in the Senate, led by Charles Schumer and Marco Rubio, has put together an immigration bill that includes a path to legalization for the 11 million unauthorized immigrants in this country and tighter border control. It appears that the bill has a chance to pass the Senate. But will House Republicans subvert the deal? Opinion: Did we learn nothing from Newtown? Immediately after Congress killed the gun control legislation, critics started pointing to the president's hesitation to twist arms and lean on members of Congress. In what has become a familiar refrain, Obama was no Lyndon Johnson. Yet Obama's trouble has much more to do with the way government works than his skill, or lack thereof, at working Capitol Hill. Too much emphasis is placed on the small picture of what he does or does not do in his personal interactions with Congress, or his "messaging." Actually, it's not so much him as the government. Obama understood this when he ran for president in 2008. He spoke constantly about the need to reform the government and the way in which our political processes hamper the ability of Congress and the president to take action. Yet once he was president, Obama put the issue of reform on the back burner. He decided to focus on the policy challenges ahead, generally dismissing the idea that there was much chance for him to make government work better. In certain cases, such as with the use of private money and political action committees, he decided to join the game and make sure it worked to his advantage. The decision has come at a cost. Opinion: Gun control fight just beginning . Throughout his presidency, Obama has struggled as private interest groups have continued to exert enormous power over the legislative process. When Obama pushed his health care law through Congress, he felt the need to abandon hugely important measures that would have imposed tough cost controls. He did so to placate powerful interest groups in the medical industry who were dead set against these measures. The financial regulations imposed by the Dodd-Frank Act, passed in response to the financial crisis of 2008, have struggled as interest groups continually undercut their effectiveness by persuading legislators to avoid any kind of tough implementation. This time around, gun rights organizations -- from giants such as the National Rifle Association to smaller operations -- conducted a massive and unyielding blitz on legislators. Even bipartisan support, a rarity in Washington, was not enough for the bill to succeed. Other issues, such as tax reform to close loopholes, have simply been abandoned because they seem so impossible given the power of lobbyists and campaign contributors who lurk on K Street. The power of money makes it extremely difficult for politicians to go out on a limb. The filibuster has also remained the chronic obstacle for Obama. With the constant threat of the filibuster against almost any piece of legislation, almost every bill requires a 60-vote super majority in the Senate. This makes it hard to build a coalition behind legislation and in most cases allows small factions within a party to subvert presidential proposals. Presidents usually need bipartisan support to get 60 votes, and bipartisanship is almost impossible nowadays. Opinion: One way to fight guns . This was certainly a challenge for gun rights, and could make immigration reform vulnerable in the final stages of debate. As with money and politics, the filibuster has also made other issues altogether impossible to consider even. When the immigration bill reaches the House of Representatives, the trouble will begin. House members in gerrymandered districts care about the party activists who tend to be the loudest voices. The situation to avoid is one where the Republican caucus drifts further to the right even while counterparts in the Senate and public opinion support immigration reform. The truth is we will never know what was possible in that transformative moment that followed Obama's historic election or after his re-election in 2012. But without reforming our government, the path to gridlock is not going to disappear. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Julian Zelizer.

Julian Zelizer: The defeat of the gun control bill was devastating for the Obama administration . Zelizer: Now the president faces another tough challenge with immigration reform . Obama's trouble has more to do with how government works rather than his skills, he says . Zelizer: Without reforming government, the path to gridlock is not going to disappear .

(CNN) -- The idea of an amputee tinkling on piano keys with all the flair and grace of an able-handed person may seem like a futuristic fantasy. But watch Johnny Matheney effortlessly arch and extend each finger on his bionic arm and you can't help but agree with him when he says: "The future is coming now." Its makers describe Matheney's robotic limb as the most sophisticated of its kind in the world, recreating virtually every movement of a natural arm -- and all controlled by brain power. "When they took my arm I never thought I would have an actual hand -- I saw the hooks and thought that was exactly what I would be getting," said Matheney, who lost his left arm to cancer in 2008. "So once they introduced me to this, it was like something out of space come to Earth." Explore the bionic body . Moving on up . Featuring 100 sensors, 26 joints, 17 motors and a tiny computer built into the palm of the robotic hand, the revolutionary Modular Prosthetic Limb (MPL) is the work of researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland. Weighing four kilograms -- much like a normal arm -- it can mimic almost all the same movements. "This is the most sophisticated arm in the world," said Michael McLoughlin, of the university's Applied Physics Laboratory. "What we have done is, by order of magnitude, increase the ability to do very highly dexterous kinds of motions. So you can think about things like eventually playing the piano ... I think we'll get there someday." The MPL is programmed to respond to electrical impulses in Matheney's residual limb -- he simply has to think about moving his old arm. "You don't even really think about it," said Matheney. "You're extending the arm, talking and doing other things -- it just automatically does it." Nerve Center . For former baker Matheney, the first step in the ground-breaking project was bringing to life the dead nerves at the end of his residual arm. Matheney underwent targeted muscle reinnervation -- surgery that involves rewiring electrical signals in the stump. Only 50 people in the world have had the operation, which takes a couple of hours. "We take all the electrical signals that are going down to the missing limb and reroute them into residual muscles that are still there," said Albert Chi, assistant professor of surgery, trauma and surgical critical care at the university. "Now when Johnny has a natural thought about moving that missing limb, he contracts that muscle and we are able to capture those signals and translate them into messages for the prosthetic limb." Within two weeks of surgery, Matheney began to feel his phantom limb for the first time in years. He practiced moving it for 20 minutes each day, training the nerves for his new bionic arm. "The more you do it, the more the pathway is cleaned up and the cobwebs are out of it," he said. "After the surgery I was constantly rubbing my stump to see what new feeling was coming in. I said 'Wow I can feel my pinky finger.' I kept on doing it, and it was like 'Oh right, I've got a pointer.'" Symphony of movement . The ambitious bionic limb, seven years in the making, is incredibly lifelike in its movements, thanks to a complex symphony of muscle triggers. Other robotic arms have relied on direct signals, whereas the MPL picks up a chorus of muscle motions -- creating a more fluid movement. "We are using a lot more electrode sites," explained biomedical engineer Courtney Moran. "That array of muscle contraction is more like a chord in music, so you are able to get more complexity of motion -- like you would get more complexity of sound." Looking good . While many prosthetic limbs look lifelike, finding one that also moves naturally has proved more of a challenge. There are now plans to cover the MPL in a skin-like substance, which could make it the most inconspicuous artificial arm in history. "There is an elegance to it, and that is actually one of the most important things for the users of prosthetics," said McLoughlin. "The natural movement is almost more important than the appearance." Indeed for Matheney, the bionic arm feels just as natural as the arm he lost -- to the point where "every time I have to turn it back in, it's like losing part of me all over again." "I do a lot of handy work around the house, a lot of cooking," he says. "And to be able to hold bowls and grab spoons is absolutely amazing."

'World's most sophisticated' bionic arm is controlled by the mind . Modular prosthetic Limb includes computer in palm of hand . Seven years in making, valued at tens of thousands of dollars . Positive psychological benefits for amputees .

(CNN) -- A Georgia man accused of trying to extort Paula Deen by threatening to divulge "true and damning" information about the embattled celebrity chef appeared in federal court Tuesday and pleaded not guilty. Thomas George Paculis, 62, was arrested on a criminal complaint by FBI agents in Ithaca, New York, earlier this month. The former Augusta and Savannah, Georgia, resident appeared before a U.S. magistrate judge in Savannah, Georgia, Tuesday morning for arraignment. The federal charges were filed on June 24 in the U.S. Southern District of Georgia. Paculis entered a plea of not guilty and was placed under $10,000 bond, according to court documents from the hearing. A federal judge in New York released Paculis on bond a day after his arrest, said Stephen Emmett with the FBI's Atlanta office. Savannah is where Deen built her business and brand into what many consider the folksy face of Southern cooking. But she's been on her heels after admitting, in a deposition related to a lawsuit brought by a former employee, that she's used the "N-word" in the past. Former employee Lisa Jackson alleged that Deen and her brother Bubba Hier committed numerous acts of violence, discrimination and racism that resulted in the end of her five-year employment at The Lady and Sons, and Uncle Bubba's Oyster House, two Savannah restaurants run by Deen and her family. Deen's accuser: 'This has never been about the N-word' In the media firestorm that followed, Deen lost at least nine lucrative endorsements and her Food Network cooking show, while the publication of her eagerly anticipated cookbook was canceled. According to a criminal complaint, Paculis interjected himself on June 24, five days after details of Deen's deposition became public. On that day, he sent an e-mail to Deen's lawyer vowing that he was "about to go public" with information about the chef's use of the "N-word" at Lady and Sons, according to a copy of the e-mail cited in the criminal complaint. "The statements are true and damning enough that the case for Jackson will be won on it's merit alone," Paculis wrote, according to the FBI. "As always ... there is a price for such confirmation. "You can contact me here if you feel it is necessary," he said, referring to his e-mail address, the criminal complaint states. "Or I can go public and we will see what happens then." Greg Hodges, Deen's lawyer, exchanged e-mails with Paculis and the two talked over the phone two days later, according to the FBI. It was then that Paculis allegedly asked for $250,000 "net" -- or total, with taxes having already been paid -- in exchange for not talking, the criminal complaint states. The two conversed a second time by phone June 27 when, "at the direction of the FBI," Hodges negotiated the hush money payment down to $200,000. The next day, Deen told FBI agents that she didn't recognize Paculis's name or face, based on photographs. In tearful interview, Paula Deen slams 'horrible lies' Hodges declined comment on the alleged extortion arrest. Nancy Aldridge, who was married to Paculis for four months around 1986, told CNN that he once had his own restaurant in Savannah though she hasn't had much direct contact with him in recent years. Meanwhile, according to the FBI's criminal complaint, Paculis had also reached out to Jackson's lawyer. In fact, the agency alleges that the 62-year-old first reached out to Matt Billips by e-mail and phone on the same day -- June 24 -- that he contacted Deen's lawyer. Billips said his staff conducted its own investigation of Paculis. Paculis asked Jackson's lawyer how much he'd pay for derogatory information about Deen, the complaint claims. "I have pushed the opposing firm to (give) me an amount of money, in cash to never been heard of again and to never utter Paula Deen's name in public or private ever again," Paculis allegedly wrote, according to an e-mail to Billips excerpted in the FBI complaint. "Now the burning question is," he purportedly added, "do you want in." CNN's Elwyn Lopez contributed to this report.

Thomas George Paculis, 62, is accused of allegedly trying to extort Paula Deen . Paculis allegedly asked Deen's lawyer for $250,000 not to go public with information . An ex-wife of Paculis says he once had a restaurant in Savannah . Deen has been scrambling after testifying she had used "N-word"

(CNN) -- Known for building skate parks and shaping the skateboarding scene in New York, Andy Kessler, 48, died this week after an allergic reaction to an insect sting, friends and family told news media. Andy Kessler, seen in 2005, reportedly died this week after suffering an allergic reaction to an insect sting. Kessler's death is a reminder that stings can be deadly for those with an allergy to certain insects, the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology said Friday. At least 40 people in the United States die each year as the result of insect stings, the academy said. As many as 5 percent of Americans are at risk for a severe, potentially life-threatening allergic reaction from insect stings, according to the organization. In a typical week in the emergency room, doctors at Emory University Hospital Midtown in Atlanta, Georgia, see about six or fewer cases of people with allergic reactions to insects, said Dr. James P. Capes, director of the emergency department. "It's common, but not incredibly common," he said. Typically, when stung by an insect, a person will have no reaction or a mild local reaction, such as redness, swelling or itching at the site of the sting. However, some people experience a more widespread reaction, such as a drop in blood pressure, lightheadedness or hives all over. iReport.com: Send us your allergy stories . In the most serious cases, a person can go into anaphylaxis, a condition in which he or she may have difficulty breathing. Other symptoms include swelling of the mouth or throat, itchy skin, wheezing, cough and localized pain, said Dr. Clifford Bassett, medical director of Allergy and Asthma Care of New York. Capes advises people who experience a systemic reaction to call 911 and wait for an ambulance, because it will have medicine to treat the reaction immediately. An antihistamine such as Benadryl will be given and, in severe cases, a shot of epinephrine. Even if the reaction is not severe, Benadryl will help with normal symptoms of insect stings, Capes said. Those who have had allergic reactions to insects should always carry an antihistamine and an epinephrine auto-injector for emergencies, experts said. Insect allergies may be harder to control than some food allergies because it's not always possible to predict when bees, wasps and other stinging bugs are around, Capes said. Severe reactions don't usually happen the very first time a person gets stung, Capes said. "The thing about allergic reactions that is interesting, or scary, is that we never know what the next allergic reaction is going to be," he said. For those who have a history of anaphylactic reactions to insects, vaccines are available for yellow jackets, wasps, honey bees and fire ants, Bassett said. The immunization process takes three to five years, he said. There are also blood and skin tests that people can take to determine whether they are sensitive to these insects, he said. Besides anaphylaxis, people may experience other kinds of reactions, Bassett said. If a person is stung hundreds of times at once, he or she may need emergency care, as the venom may lead to seizures, shock and even death, he said. There is also a rare reaction called serum sickness that includes joint pain and flu-like illness that may result from insect stings, and has allergy-like symptoms, Bassett said. In rare cases, even mosquito bites can lead to anaphylaxis, Bassett said. There is no treatment for mosquito allergies, but there is a diagnostic test, he said. Bassett offers the following tips to reduce the danger of insects: . • Stay away from stinging insect nests when possible. • Consider wearing closed-toed shoes in an area where there may be many stinging insects. • Remain calm and quiet around a stinging insect, and move slowly away from it. • Avoid brightly colored clothing, as well as perfumes and scented hair products and lotions. • Avoid loose-fitting clothing, which can accidentally trap the insect. • Use caution when eating outdoors, especially when sodas or other sweetened drinks are available. For more tips on managing insect allergies, visit the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Web site. The American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology can also help you find an allergist.

At least 40 people in the U.S. die each year as the result of insect stings . Insect allergies may be harder to control than food allergies . If you are allergic to insects, carry antihistamine and an epinephrine auto-injector . In rare cases, even mosquito bites can lead to anaphylaxis .

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- On his knees, Nawroz prays. He is a condemned man about to die in a brutal way. His crime: The killing of his lover's husband. The judge: A local warlord in Kand, Afghanistan. The executioner: The victim's father. A mobile phone video captured the grisly scene. Many have gathered to watch this act, sitting on dusty earth, in dappled shade. Nawroz, wrapped in a white shawl, gets up from his prayer mat. His alleged victim's father is led by another man to Nawroz. "Hold the gun right," the man tells the father. Bang. Nawroz falls to the ground. Two more shots ring out. The warlord ordered the man to pull the trigger twice, but he kept on, unable to deliver a swift fatal shot. "Stop shooting, you donkey," the spectators say. "He's still alive," says one. But not for long. This is not a video taken before 2001, in the days when the Taliban ruled and Kabul's stadium was reserved not for soccer, but public executions. It's from last month. After a decade of the U.S.-led war to defeat extremism in Afghanistan, feudal justice still exists. In remote Kand, outside the reach of NATO or the Afghan government, warlord Mullah Mustafa and his men rule by the gun. Mustafa helps keep the Taliban at bay, the people say, so the government lets him run his own fiefdom. It's not the sort of compromise the United States imagined a decade ago, bringing a type of justice that's swift and brutal. Human Rights Watch has said that in large parts of Afghanistan, no formal judicial system is in place and only tribal and other customary forms of justice are practiced. And a scathing report issued last year by the International Crisis Group described Afghanistan's judicial system as being "in a catastrophic state of disrepair. "A growing majority of Afghans have been forced to accept the rough justice of Taliban and criminal power brokers in areas of the country that lie beyond government control." The report went on to say that the United States has not paid the same attention to justice reform as it has to other aspects of nation building. "Its investment in judicial institutions is modest, as opposed to the billions invested in standing up the Afghan army and police," the report said. The U.S. Agency for International Development allocated only 1% of its Afghanistan budget between 2002 and 2007 -- $64 million -- to supporting the establishment of rule of law, the report said. Human rights monitors have pressed President Hamid Karzai's government to prioritize the establishment of a professional judiciary. But Nawroz's execution is more evidence that Afghanistan has a long way to go. There have been other cases that have sparked outrage. In 2006, Abdul Rahman was arrested and threatened with death for converting to Christianity. Last year, the Taliban ordered the first public executions by stoning since their fall from power -- a young couple who had eloped died in horrific fashion. Jalaludin, who witnessed Nawroz's execution, said Mustafa gathered local mullahs to reach a verdict according to sharia, or Islamic law. "The mullahs asked the father to forgive Nawroz and to take some of his family's land and women in compensation," he said. "But the father refused, so the mullahs ordered an execution." Nawroz tried to buy his release, but Mustafa refused, Jalaludin said. He's not one to take bribes. After the killing, Nawroz first said he had been helped by his cousins, according to Abdul Gafor, one of Nawroz's cousins. "For that reason, we were interrogated and beaten a lot during the questioning," Gafor said. But later, when questioned by Mustafa, Nawroz changed his story and said he had killed alone, Gafor said. Another cousin, Sikander, wished for law and order. "We'd like strong government," he said. "There's no police or government presence here, and Mullah Mustafa has government contacts." Nawroz was a man whose jealousy allegedly led him to kill the man married to his lover. It's a story that has played out countless times in countless places. But here, in Kand, there was no trial, no jury of peers. Nawroz's punishment was strictly an eye for an eye, meted out in frightful fashion. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reported from Kabul, Afghanistan, and Moni Basu reported from Atlanta.

A warlord condemned Nawroz to death after he allegedly killed his lover's husband . The victim's father shot him multiple times . The execution was captured on a cell phone video . Without a strong court system, Afghans have had to accept tribal justice .

(CNN) -- American history is replete with examples of people who try to build a reputation by standing in the way of presidential initiatives. We see that today with Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who is acting as if he believes that, aided by a small group of tea party-supported members of Congress, he can force the president to do his bidding by shutting down the government. In this respect, Cruz is like Huey Long, the Louisiana senator and Depression-era demagogue. Long believed that he could gain a national following by being a thorn in the side of President Franklin Roosevelt. Cruz -- who, like Long, revels in the use of the filibuster -- appears to think that he can do the same by being a thorn in the side of President Barack Obama, whose Affordable Care Act he is seeking to derail. Cruz routinely says that he does not want a government shutdown, but he continues to encourage House members to refuse a continuing resolution vote that would let the government get back to business as usual. In a Sunday interview on CNN's "State of the Union" with Candy Crowley, Cruz rejected the idea that an alternative to shutting down the government would be for him and his fellow tea party supporters to persuade Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act in a straight up-or-down vote. The situation, Cruz told Crowley, was too dire to rely on the normal legislative process to settle matters. If Obamacare is enacted, "it's going to destroy the private health insurance system," Cruz predicted. The only alternative, he contended, was for the House Republicans to force a government shutdown until the president and the Senate made more concessions on the Affordable Care Act. Ted Cruz: Democrats' new bogeyman . As for his actions hurting what Crowley called "the Republican Party brand," Cruz had a confident, two-word answer: "Not remotely." For Huey Long, annoying the president was great fun. He helped get the Senate to reject the treaty that would have brought the United States into the World Court, and he launched an unsuccessful effort to make employees of the National Recovery Administration subject to Senate confirmation. The problem was that Long often went beyond being annoying with his obstructionism. The classic case of Huey Long not caring about the consequences of his actions occurred in August 1935 as Congress was getting ready to adjourn. Long conducted a filibuster against an otherwise routine deficiency-appropriation bill, because he believed the bill did not help wheat and cotton farmers enough. When Senate colleagues told Long, who earlier in the summer had filibustered for over 15 hours, that his actions would also deprive the government of funds for railroad pensions and New Deal welfare projects, he ignored them. As a result, the deficiency-appropriation bill was killed, and among those hurt by its failure to pass the Senate were many of those most vulnerable to the Depression. Long, a Democrat, was assassinated in September 1935 when he returned to Louisiana for a special session of the state legislature, but his rear-guard action against Roosevelt and the New Deal did not go unnoticed by FDR's foes on the right. After Congress passed the Social Security Act in 1935, Republicans and their supporters did everything they could to prevent it from being implemented in January 1937, much as the House is trying to do now with Obamacare . In the 1936 elections, Alf Landon, the Republican presidential nominee, called Social Security a "cruel hoax" and announced "the Republican party will have nothing to do with any plan that involves prying into the personal records of 26 million people." Opinion: Four ways for Obama to lead U.S. out of crisis . As far as FDR was concerned, the eleventh-hour political attacks against Social Security were different from the partisan campaigns both parties had previously waged. FDR refused to give his opponents credit for acting in good faith and he refused to waver in his defense of Social Security. Roosevelt's resolution paid off. He won the 1936 election in a landslide, carrying all but two states, Maine and Vermont. He even increased his majority in Congress. Obama is not the campaigner that Franklin Roosevelt was, but he does not have to be when it comes to refusing to let his Affordable Care Act be made a hostage to the threat of a long government shutdown. The most recent Quinnipiac University Poll shows that nearly three-quarters of all voters, 72%, oppose a government shutdown designed to stop or weaken the Affordable Care Act. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Nicolaus Mills.

Nicolaus Mills: Ted Cruz has acted to enhance his reputation, heedless of consequences . He says FDR's critics, including Huey Long, specialized in such obstruction . Mills: If Cruz wants to repeal Obamacare, he should seek to do it in normal vote . He says FDR's firm stance in defense of Social Security was vindicated .

Tehran (CNN) -- His wife advised him not to go. His friends said it was too dangerous. But in 2011 veteran American football coach Dan Gaspar ignored the warnings and traveled to the Islamic Republic of Iran -- Washington's longtime political nemesis -- to help Iran's national football team qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. "Sports is my life," said Gaspar. "When I came to Iran it didn't have anything to do with political reasons. My personality is one of adventure and curiosity. I wanted to experience a culture in a part of the world I had never been to." The goalkeeping coach's journey to Iran is the latest chapter in an international career that's taken the 58-year-old from the amateur football leagues in the U.S. state of Connecticut -- where he was born -- to the football capitals of the world. The Portuguese-American's resume includes stints with Major League Soccer's NY/NJ MetroStars and the Portuguese national team -- featuring megastar Cristiano Ronaldo -- which qualified for the 2010 World Cup. In 2011, Gaspar's friend and former colleague Carlos Queiroz was named head of coach of Iran's national football team. Soon after, Queiroz invited Gaspar to join the coaching staff in Iran. At the time, the Iranian government was locked in a bitter political feud with Washington. Iran regularly called the U.S. "The Great Satan". U.S. politicians frequently described Iran as a rogue nation led by a radical regime, secretly building a nuclear bomb. When discussing Washington's conflict with Tehran, U.S. President Barack Obama said that "all options are on the table", suggesting an attack against Iran was not out of the question. Despite the ominous climate Gaspar accepted the offer -- a decision his wife wasn't quite comfortable with. "She was shocked," Gaspar said. "She was concerned as most family members were." Gaspar admits he had concerns too. "When we first arrived, we didn't know how to behave and how to react," he said. During his first few months Gaspar didn't socialize much and rarely left his apartment, except for trips to football practice. But Gaspar says he steadily started feeling comfortable. He says he learned his impressions of Iran, created mostly by the media, didn't quite match reality. "When you listen to the news and you read the news, you see things. Sometimes during commercials I step off my couch and look out of the balcony and it's not what I am seeing, it's not what I am reading, it's not what I am hearing." Gaspar says what he has observed during his stay in Iran is a nation full of generous people who love their country, their food and their football team. One of his most memorable moments was meeting former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. "He walked on to the pitch and asked everyone to sit down, and then he himself sat down on the grass," Gaspar said. "I thought it was interesting how he put himself on the same level as everyone else. At the end of the day -- I saw him as another human being." In recent months, Gaspar's stay in Iran has coincided with a push by Tehran to improve relations with Washington, as moderate President Hassan Rouhani tries to settle Iran's nuclear dispute with the west. "Right now more than ever there seems to be a lot of hope and optimism and a sense of energy that things will get better," says Gaspar. "For me I believe in peace, and, if peace is an end result, then that's best for the world." But the highlight of Gaspar's Iranian adventure came on the night of June 18, when Iran's national football team recorded a 1-0 win over South Korea to qualify for the World Cup for only the fourth time. The win sparked frenzied celebrations on the field and in the streets of Tehran. "There were a lot of tears, a lot of hugging. You can't describe it. Only a few privileged people have the opportunity to climb the mountain and go to the big dance in Brazil in 2014." Gaspar says his only disappointment that night was not being able to share the win with his wife and family back in America. His contract in Iran runs through World Cup in Brazil next June and July. He says his focus is to help Iran impress at the tournament and then return to America with some remarkable memories. "If I would've listened to the experts, and my friends, and family, I would have never been here in Iran. It's been part of my life for three years and the memories will last a lifetime."

American Dan Gaspar is part of the coaching team for the Iran football team . Gaspar is a friend of Carlos Queiroz, the Portuguese head coach of Iran . The Portuguese-American has worked in the MLS and with the Portugal team . Gaspar was part of the coaching team which qualified for the 2014 World Cup .

(CNN) -- Monkeys taught how to gamble and play video games. People paid to watch grass grow. Swedish massages given to rabbits. Half of $1 million spent on a video game that is now helping terrorists train for missions. And $1 billion spent to destroy $16 billion worth of ammunition. These are just a few examples from the 100 entry-long list in a book detailing government waste, compiled by retiring GOP Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma. In the 2014 edition of the "Wastebook," Coburn notes that getting rid of the practice of pork barrel spending is next to impossible. "What I have learned from these experiences is Washington will never change itself," he said. Massages for rabbits . Some of the worst offenses listed in the book: . -- The National Institutes of Health spent $387,000 to give Swedish massages to rabbits with a mechanical machine. Coburn notes that the NIH has a $30 billion annual budget and that the director of the NIH claims an Ebola vaccine would "probably" be ready now but for a lack of funding. -- NASA pays Russia $70 million per passenger to send American astronauts to the International Space Station and back. The space agency is spending $3 billion on the ISS this year and will conduct studies, many proposed by elementary students, including one on the "design and creation of better golf clubs." -- "Only someone with too much of someone else's money and not enough accountability for how it was being spent could come up with" a $10,000 program paying people to watch grass grow. That grass -- saltmarsh cordgrass, which can grow to be 7 feet tall -- was being observed in New Smyrna Beach, Florida as part of a Fish and Wildlife Service program. The National Science Foundation is a favorite target in Coburn's book this year. The foundation spent $171,000 to teach monkeys how to play video games and gamble in order to "unlock the secrets of free will," according to the report. Other examples include $5.2 million for "voicemails from the future that warn of a post-apocalyptic world," $1.97 million for a Facebook page and P.R. for fossil enthusiasts and a $46,000 grant to support the annual Clean Snowmobile Challenge -- a contest to determine who can make the most environmentally friendly snowmobile. The National Science Foundation is also planning on spending $1.5 million to monitor Americans' attendance at science festivals. Another $200,000 will go to a study meant to determine "why Wikipedia is sexist," according to the Wastebook report. The State Department spends $90 million a year on cultural exchange programs, including one such program which sought to dispel a Pakistani journalist's perception that Americans are "fat, rude, and cold." It worked. The agencies could not immediately be reached for comment. Expensive destruction . "The real shock and awe may have been the $1 billion price tag the Pentagon paid to destroy $16 billion worth of ammunition, enough to pay a full years' salary for over 54,000 Army privates," said Coburn. The book cites Pentagon officials who said the surplus ammunition has become "obsolete, unusable, or their use is banned by international treaty." The book notes a 2014 Government Accountability Office investigation which concluded poor record keeping was the reason the military purchased so much ammunition it didn't need. The Army spent nearly half a million dollars -- $414,000 -- to develop a video game called "America's Army, " a version of which terrorists have used to train for missions, according to National Security Agency e-mails sent in 2007 and leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. The Department of Defense is spending $80 million on a real-life "Iron Man" suit. The Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit (TALOS) would need 365 pounds worth of batteries to power the suit, according to the "Wastebook." Congress ended this fiscal year with a debt under a trillion dollars for the first time since 2008, according to the Wastebook report, but Coburn notes that the deficit still added $486 billion, or half a trillion dollars, to the national debt, which is "quickly approaching $18 trillion." Of the entries listed in his book, Coburn, who will retire in 2016 after serving two terms, asks, "Is each of these a true national priority or could the money have been better spent on a more urgent need or not spent at all in order to reduce the burden of debt being left to be paid off by our children and grandchildren?"

Coburn: Getting rid of the practice of pork barrel is next to impossible . The NSF is a favorite target in the book . Congress ended this fiscal year with a debt under a trillion dollars .

(CNN) -- [Breaking news update at 2:05 a.m. ET] . (CNN) -- A tornado touched down in Golden City, Missouri, early Monday morning and tore through two counties, Barton County Emergency Management Director Tom Ryan said. The number of injuries and extent of damage were not immediately clear. [Breaking news update at 1:56 a.m. ET] . (CNN) -- Two people missing from a trailer park in central Oklahoma have been found, Pottawatomie County Sheriff Mike Booth said. The two residents were not there when a tornado devastated Steelman Estates, destroying homes. [Earlier story, updated at 11:25 p.m. ET] . Four-state tornado outbreak kills 1 . (CNN) -- At least one person was killed and around a dozen injured Sunday when a string of tornadoes tore through four states, ripping roofs off homes, downing power lines and tossing trees like matchsticks. The death happened at a trailer park in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, said Sheriff Mike Booth. He had no details, other than that the deceased was an adult male. Rescue crews were picking through the mangled metal remains of mobile homes as darkness fell Sunday. As many as 26 tornadoes were reported in Oklahoma, Kansas, Illinois and Iowa, according to the National Weather Service, with Oklahoma and Kansas being the hardest hit. Some of those reports might have been of the same tornado. Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin declared a state of emergency for 16 counties. One tornado touched down near Wellston, Oklahoma, taking out power lines and damaging several homes, according to video from CNN affiliate KFOR. The affiliate's helicopter pilot estimated the funnel cloud to be about a half-mile wide. "It's tearing up everything," the pilot said. "Just ripping everything up in its sight." Aerial video from KFOR and CNN affiliate KOCO showed severe damage near Wellston and near Carney, Oklahoma. Roofs were ripped from homes, branches stripped from trees and roads were filled with debris. Tornadoes were also reported east of Dale, west of Paden, and near Prague in Oklahoma. Part of Interstate 40 in Shawnee, Oklahoma, was shut down in both directions Sunday night after a tornado touched down there, overturning multiple tractor-trailers. Eleven patients were being treated at St. Anthony Shawnee Hospital in Shawnee, Oklahoma, said spokeswoman Carla Tollett. Ten were not critical and will be released, while one remains in critical condition, she said. Still more tornadoes were spotted in Iowa, near Earlham, Huxley and east of Dallas Center, according to the weather service. It did not mince words, telling people to take cover there, as elsewhere. "You could be killed if not underground or in a tornado shelter. Complete destruction of neighborhoods, businesses and vehicles will occur. Flying debris will be deadly to people and animals," it said in a Kansas advisory. The twisters are part of a severe weather outbreak that is sweeping through the region as storms move east. Baseball-sized hail, wind gusts and tornadoes are threatening to pummel parts of the central Plains and Midwest through Monday. "We still have a couple of active cells, and so we don't know for sure that it's over yet," said Jerry Lojka with the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management. Beyond the Midwest, other areas saw severe weather on Sunday. In Atlanta, serious flooding was reported amid storms producing heavy rainfall. Here's a quick look at CNN meteorologist Melissa Le Fevre's forecast for Monday for hard-hit Midwestern states: . Kansas . The surface front may stall on Monday, leading to showers and thunderstorms through the day. Localized heavy rainfall may lead to the need for flood watches and warnings. Oklahoma . There is a threat for strong storms in the late afternoon. With the heavy rain that will occur through the weekend, flooding could become a problem Monday night. Iowa . Showers and storms are expected to develop on Monday afternoon. Large hail is possible and though the tornado threat looks low, it cannot be ruled out. Missouri . Flooding is expected to become an issue after localized heavy rainfall. Afternoon storms could produce large hail, damaging wind gusts and possible tornadoes. In St. Louis, storms will reorganize during the afternoon and evening hours. Threats include large hail, damaging winds and the possibility of tornadoes. CNN's Nick Valencia, AnneClaire Stapleton, Sean Morris, Jackie Castillo and Alexandra Steele contributed to this report.

NEW: A tornado strikes Missouri early Monday, a county official says . "We don't know for sure that it's over yet," says an official . Tornadoes tear through Oklahoma, Kansas, Illinois and Iowa . One person is killed in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma .

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Cleashindra Hall was 18 and in the most exciting time of her life when she disappeared in May 1994, a week after her senior prom. Cleashindra Hall was two weeks shy of her high school graduation when she disappeared. She had spent hours preparing for the prom, choosing the perfect dress and getting her hair and nails done. She was an honor roll student and would give the commencement speech at her high school graduation in two weeks. Hall wanted to be a pediatrician and was looking forward to attending Tennessee State University to study pre-medicine. But all that came to an abrupt halt after 8:30 p.m. May 9, 1994, when she left her after-school job at the home office of Dr. Larry Amos in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. It was the last time she was seen. She usually called home when finished work, and one of her parents would pick her up. She spoke to her mother on the phone just after 8 p.m. Her mother expected her to call again soon for a ride home. She never did. Watch how phone calls play a role in this case » . Laurell Hall fell asleep waiting for her daughter's call. She awoke abruptly at 1 a.m., realizing that her daughter had not called and had not come home. Amos, Hall's employer, told police she had left his house at 8: 30 p.m., getting into a car with someone he assumed was giving her a ride. The next day, Hall's parents reported her missing. "It's been very frustrating for us. We feel that police didn't do everything they could have done at the beginning, when she first went missing," Laurell Hall said. "We had to wait 24 hours in those days before police would take a missing persons report." It disturbs Laurell Hall that the home where her daughter was last seen was not searched for nearly two weeks after her daughter vanished. "I don't understand why police could not search the home immediately to make sure there was no sign of a struggle there," Hall said. "Maybe they would have found her press-on nails or hair extensions there; who knows?" Amos did not return CNN's phone call seeking comment. Police say the house was full of people the night Hall was working there. Lt. Terry Hopson of the Pine Bluff Police Department said a search of the Amos home did not turn up any evidence that Hall was injured or attacked there. "We do believe she left that house that night with someone she was acquainted with," Hopson said. He did not elaborate. "We have spent many hours and manpower on this case over the years and continue to diligently investigate this case and developing leads," Hopson said. He hinted that police have some idea of what happened to Hall that night but are seeking forensic evidence to support their theory. Police said they obtained phone records from the Amos home for the hours when Hall was working there. But they won't say who, if anyone, may have spoken with Hall on the phone besides her mother. Both family and police say Hall was not the type to go somewhere without telling anyone. She also had no reason to escape her life and was not a troubled teen. Police consider the disappearance to be suspicious and believe that foul play is involved. However, they have no clues as to who might have abducted her. There is no description of the vehicle that may have picked Hall up from the Amos home, though police believe that if she got into a car with someone, it would have been someone she knew. According to family and friends, Hall did not have a boyfriend. Police did question and administer a polygraph to a boy in the community who Hall liked and was friendly with. The polygraph results are unclear, and police interrogation of the boy and their search of his vehicle did not provide any leads. When Hall disappeared in 1994, cell phone triangulation and other technologies commonly used in missing person cases today weren't available. Police say they have no forensic evidence in this case. Their only hope is that someone comes forward with a tip after all these years. Cleashindra Hall is black, stands 5'8" tall, weighs 120 pounds and has dark short hair, dark eyes and a surgical scar on her left knee. She was last seen with her hair in a ponytail, wearing a white shirt and short set with navy polka dots and stripes, white socks and small stud earrings. Police urge anyone with more information regarding the whereabouts of Cleashindra Hall to call the tip line at 870-543-5111. More than $10,000 in reward money is offered.

Cleashindra Hall hoped to be a pediatrician . She disappeared after leaving doctor's office where she worked . Honor roll student was two weeks shy of high school graduation . Tip line: 870-543-5111. Reward exceeds $10,000 .

(CNN) -- The blogging platform Tumblr -- which sits somewhere between Twitter and WordPress on the social media spectrum -- has become one of the more interesting places to watch the debate about the Occupy Wall Street protests unfold. On the Tumblr site "We Are the 99 Percent," people who sympathize with the New York-based protest movement are telling first-person stories of hardship and unemployment. Each post features a photo of its author holding up a paper sign that tells a bit of the person's story and says "We Are the 99 Percent," a reference to the protestors' concern that the top 1% of Americans command much of the country's wealth and power, leaving the rest to struggle. "We are getting kicked out of our homes. We are forced to choose between groceries and rent. We are denied quality medical care. We are suffering from environmental pollution. We are working long hours for little pay and no rights, if we're working at all," a blog introduction says. "We are getting nothing while the other 1 percent is getting everything. We are the 99 percent." Here's one post from Tuesday: . "My mom worked on Wall Street for almost 30 years. In 2008, when the market crashed, the company she worked for shut down. The CEOs were taken care of, but all the loyal workers were left with nothing. My mom still hasn't found work. I am the 99 percent." And another: . "I'm a small business owner. I just bought new work computers so my colleague and I can do our jobs. Now, I have no money for food for the next 3 days (next paycheck). I'm always one check away from eviction. I'm one of the 'lucky ones.'" On Tuesday night there were 77 pages filled with similar stories, and about a half-dozen posts on each page. As attention for that Tumblr page grew, a competing blog with a more conservative ideology came into being. The conservative "We are the 53%" Tumblr page says it represents the 53% of Americans who must pay federal income tax (Most people who make less than $30,000 per year pay no major federal income taxes, according to a 2009 report from the non-partisan Tax Policy Center, as CNNMoney reports). The assumption is that Occupy Wall Street protestors and sympathizers on the "We Are the 99 Percent" site don't pay taxes. "I work 3 jobs. I have a house I can't sell. My family insurance costs are outrageous. But I don't blame Wall Street. Shut it up you whiners. I am the 53% subsidizing you so you can hang out on Wall Street and complain," the introductory post on October 5 says. The 53% blog was created by Erick Erickson, who also is an editor at the conservative site RedState.com, according to the Washington Post. (Erikson also is an occasional commentator for CNN). The conservative Tumblr blog has six pages of posts, compared to 77 on the site sympathizing with Occupy Wall Street. "I would love to hang out in in (sic) the park for a couple of weeks protesting the entitlement generation and radical egalitarianism, but I have a job to go to. Go figure," another post says. Tumblr has become the site of choice for people organizing the Occupy Wall Street movement, which started in New York and has spread to many other cities in the United States, writes Jesse Emspak for DiscoveryNews. "The site has been a force behind the Occupy Wall Street protests, growing the number of demonstrations from just dozens of people in late September to thousands," he says. At The Atlantic, Rebecca Rosen says the "We Are the 99 Percent" Tumblr page is the digital equivalent of bathroom stall graffiti -- "allowing you to bear something private and maybe find someone else carrying around the same weight." Along with the It Gets Better Project and PostSecret, the Tumblr account is part of an increasingly important medium called the "collaborative confessional," she says. "This is self-service history, with no curator and no narrator. Some of the stories call out for follow-up questions, but there is no one to ask them," Rosen writes. "The results are raw and rough, but demonstrate that, with or without a Terkel, the power of personal narrative, whether on the radio, in a book, on YouTube, or on a Tumblr, can cut through the noise and cynicism of punditry and give shape and texture to our national story."

"We Are the 99 Percent" blog gains popularity on Tumblr . People post messages about economic hardship on the site . A rival, conservative site called "We are the 53%" launched . That Tumblr page says it represents Americans who pay federal income taxes .

(CNN)The measles cases linked to Disneyland are genetically similar to the one involved in a massive outbreak in the Philippines, according to an analysis. The California outbreak likely started when a traveler who was infected overseas with measles visited the amusement park while infectious, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But health officials don't know exactly who the source of the outbreak is. Genetic analysis of the specimens from 30 California patients showed that the measles was of genotype B3, which is identical to the virus circulating in the Philippines. The CDC also cautioned that the same virus type has been found in 14 other countries. The highly contagious disease has been damaging in the Philippines, infecting about 53,000 people and killing 110 people in 2014. The country has not seen outbreaks this year, although there have been a trickle of cases, said Dr. Julie Lyn Hall, the WHO Country Representative in the Philippines. How bad is measles around the world? So far, the United States has 141 reported cases of measles this year -- 98 of them from California. Most of the people who've become sick with measles were unvaccinated, according to the CDC. This is not the first time that measles affecting the Philippines has been linked to U.S. outbreaks. The virus can easily travel internationally -- as was the case of the unvaccinated Amish missionaries who brought back measles from the Philippines. That outbreak in Ohio infected 383 people in 2014. During the same year, 25 U.S. travelers, most of them unvaccinated, became ill with the measles after returning from the Philippines, according to the CDC. Measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000, which means it is no longer native to the country, but continues to be brought in by international travelers. The United States gets imported cases every year, according to the CDC. Visitors may pick up the disease and bring it back to the U.S., potentially infecting infants who cannot be vaccinated because they are too young, or people who intentionally remain unvaccinated. Disney parks are a popular destination for international visitors, with as many as 24 million patrons a year. And it becomes especially busier during the holiday season. The first measles case linked to Disneyland was reported on January 5, in a case involving an 11-year-old unvaccinated child who visited the park, according to the California Department of Public Health. The current outbreak has triggered a fierce debate about parents who choose not to vaccinate their children. Measles was no big deal until my daughter caught it . Countries with the highest measles incidence per 100,000 population . 1. Georgia -- 79.5 . 2. Bosnia and Herzegovina -- 62.9 . 3. Angola -- 59.3 . 4. Philippines -- 58.2 . 5. Namibia -- 41.9 . Countries with the most suspected measles cases . 1. China -- 107,024 . 2. Philippines -- 57,564 . 3. Vietnam -- 17,267 . 4. Ethiopia -- 16,028 . 5. Angola -- 12,300 . Source: WHO, does not include data from all countries . After Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines in November 2013, the country grappled with a massive measles outbreak. In 2013, the country reported 5,799 confirmed cases of the disease. By 2014, that number increased nearly tenfolds to 53,357 cases, according to World Health Organization data. The spread of the virus has been exacerbated by mass migration, with nearly 4 million displaced people. "Many of those [measles] cases were associated with Typhoon Haiyan as a number of people were moving out of the typhoon-affected area and coming into Manila," said Hall of WHO. They arrived into places with low levels of measles vaccine coverage in Manila, triggering a severe outbreak in January and February 2014. The number of cases that year was unusual compared to previous ones, Hall said. The WHO and the Philippines Department of Health conducted vaccination campaigns to immunize 11 million children. "There's still the measles virus in the Philippines," Hall said. "Despite all the efforts, not all children are protected from measles here. We are still getting reports, but nowhere near the level of the same time last year."

Genetic testing finds Disneyland cases are similar to virus type in Philippines . Philippines cases spiked nearly tenfolds from 2013 to 2014 . U.S. has 141 reported cases of measles .

(CNN) -- Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung urged authorities Wednesday to "urgently implement" relief efforts after Typhoon Ketsana slammed into the country hours earlier. A man walks by a lake alongside the national north-south highway near Danang, Vietnam, on Tuesday. The prime minister said in a written statement that he sent his "profound condolences to the families of killed and wounded," and to those who suffered damage to their homes and property. The government did not say how many people had been killed or were reported missing. Numerous news agencies reported the deaths of more than a dozen people. CNN could not independently verify the reports. The prime minister said resources in several provinces would be focused on searching for missing people; treating the wounded; moving those in flooded areas; and providing people with food and water. After it struck central Vietnam, Ketsana weakened to a tropical storm, forecasters said. "The system is expected to completely dissipate over land within the next 12 hours as it continues to track to the west," the Joint Typhoon Warning Center said in its final statement issued on the storm at 11 a.m. Tuesday ET. Watch a report on the storm from Vietnam » . Aid agencies reported that amid flood warnings, about 200,000 people were evacuated from low-lying areas to community centers and schools on higher ground. "Today was pretty bad, they say that this is the worst of it," iReporter Jeff Puchalski, 43, told CNN, speaking from Danang. "It was very strong winds," he said. Watch video from Puchalski » . Puchalski, who lives in Ho Chi Minh City, was staying at a resort in Danang. His video from outside the resort showed tiles falling from the roof and littering the ground. Although he had intended to stay only for a weekend, he said he was stuck there until the storm passed. See iReports from Danang: Strong winds, rain | Winds lash China Beach | Tiles smashed . "We're also getting very heavy rains," he said. Ketsana's maximum winds were reported at 167 km/h (104 mph) with gusts as strong as 204 km/h (127 mph) as it crossed over the South China Sea and approached land. The city of Hue, Vietnam, picked up an estimated 13 inches of rainfall in a day, according to CNN Meteorologist Jennifer Delgado. Are you there? Share your story or pictures . The global relief agency World Vision said the Vietnamese government had shut down airports, schools and power in the Danang area, three hours from Hue. Danang is predicted to be in the eye of the storm. "It's very windy, and trees have already blown down," said Le Van Duong, World Vision's emergency response coordinator in Danang. "We have seen the evacuation of 3,000 families from our project areas to safer places, including schools, and we have already distributed noodle packs to 700 families." Ketsana left at least 246 people dead as it passed over the Philippines. Another 38 people were missing, according to the nation's National Disaster Coordinating Council. Nearly 2 million people were affected by the killer storm, and 567,000 people had been evacuated. The international community rallied Tuesday to help desperate Filipinos avoid a humanitarian catastrophe. See incredible images of flooding in the Philippines » . Several nations, including the United States, Australia, Japan and China, have donated money for relief supplies. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the United Nations was considering an emergency appeal for aid as several U.N. agencies pledged support. The World Food Program said it would provide rations to 180,000 people. Floodwaters were subsiding in the capital, Manila, which was hit with the heaviest rainfall in 40 years and, at one point last weekend, was 80 percent under water. Watch how people of Manila are coping » . Manila, on the island of Luzon, and the nearby province of Rizal bore the brunt of the storm. People huddled on rooftops waiting on army helicopters to pluck them to safety. Others used ropes to wade through waist-deep muddy waters. Power and water supplies failed in some areas. Roads were rendered impassable, making rescue efforts challenging. Ketsana is expected to move west across Vietnam into neighboring Laos and Thailand. Journalist Asha Phillips contributed to this report.

NEW: Prime minister sends "profound condolences" to families . NEW: Government hasn't said how many people killed, reported missing . Aid agencies say about 200,000 people evacuated from low-lying areas . Ketsana left at least 246 people dead, 38 missing as it passed over Philippines .

(CNN) -- The Czech Republic has apologized for a controversial art installation it commissioned to mark its six-month presidency of the European Union. David Cerny attends the 'Entropa' exhibit with Czech Deputy Prime Minister Alexandr Vondra. The work, "Entropa," frames various representations of each member state as components of a giant multimedia model kit. With Bulgaria depicted as a Turkish toilet and Romania as a vampire theme-park, the work by Czech artist David Cerny has provoked an angry response from some member states. Betina Joteva, spokesperson for Bulgaria's permanent representation to the EU, said in comments reported by EUObserver.com: "It [the work] is preposterous, a disgrace. It is a humiliation for the Bulgarian nation and an offence to [our] national dignity." Look at images of European nations » . At the official unveiling of the work at the EU headquarters in Brussels Thursday, Alexandr Vondra, Czech Deputy Prime Minister for EU affairs, said: "Entropa is a provocation of a kind. I understand that some could feel offended and I would like to apologize to them. This does not just concern Bulgaria but any other member state. "I would also like to apologize to all those whom I have unintentionally misled, among other media representatives and my colleagues from the Permanent Representation of the Czech Republic in Brussels. If Entropa was supposed to make fun of someone, that would be us, me in the first place." Bulgaria is not the only nation to suffer an unflattering depiction. What do you think about images? Germany is criss-crossed by a series of autobahns in what some critics say is a close approximation of a swastika; Spain is a giant construction site in a dig at its building boom; and Luxembourg is a gold covered nugget sporting a "For Sale" sign. The Netherlands is depicted as a submerged land with only minarets peeking through the waves in an apparent reference to its religious tensions. Poland recreates the WWII flag-raising at Iwo Jima, only with the U.S. Marines and the Stars and Stripes replaced with Catholic clergy brandishing the multi-colored gay pride flag. The UK is absent from the work -- possibly because of its on-off relationship with the rest of the continent. In a further embarrassment, the Czech government said in a statement on its presidency Web site Tuesday that the original brief was for the work to be created by 27 artists representing all EU Member States -- and that it was "unpleasantly surprised" to learn that this was not the case. When we received the proposal for a joint project of 27 artists, we created the conditions for its realization," Vondra said Thursday in quotes carried on the presidency Web site. "The project which was then delivered by David Cerny included the names of 26 other artists, each of them being the creator of his or her own country. "Part of the deal was that any other costs relating to production of the project would be covered by the artist himself or private funds he would find. Only after the Entropa had been installed here we learnt, much to our surprise and dismay, that the participation of 27 artists was in fact a piece of misinformation. "It was an unpleasant shock for us although the conceptual artist DC later apologize to the government and informed us that we did not use the Czech tax payers' money appropriated for this project. "It was an unpleasant shock for us," Vondra said Thursday, in speech carried. although the conceptual artist DC later apologize to the government and informed us that we did not use the Czech tax payers' money appropriated for this project. Cerny is no stranger to controversy. In 1991 he was arrested after painting pink a Soviet tank that served as a Prague war memorial. His Web site shows other examples of his work, including previous kit-style installations entitled "Jesus Christ" and "Dead Raped Woman"; and a life-size bronze fountain that depicts two men standing opposite each other, urinating. Cerny, and his main collaborators Kristof Kintera and Tomas Pospiszyl apologized to Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek and other government ministers Tuesday, according to a statement on the artist's Web site, for " not having informed them about what is true and for having misled them." The statement adds that Cerny and his colleagues initially wanted to use 27 European artists for "Entropa", but fell short due to lack of time and money. Instead, they say, they decided to create fictional artists, some of whom have even been given their own Web sites.

Czech Republic assumed six-month presidency of European Union this month . Czech artist, govt. apologized for artwork that sparked diplomatic protests . "Entropa" was officially unveiled at EU HQ in Brussels Thursday . Bulgarian EU representative: A humiliation for the Bulgarian nation .

Washington (CNN) -- Texas Republican Congressman Roger Williams was especially stunned as he sat in school on November 22, 1963, and heard President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. Earlier that morning, he stood outside the Fort Worth Hotel with his mother and shook the President's hand right before he got on a plane and flew to Dallas. "I literally was the last person to shake his hand as he left the hotel," Williams told CNN. He was 14 years old at the time. Now a 64-year-old freshman member of the House of Representatives, Williams sat in his Capitol Hill office on Wednesday and recounted in vivid detail the day he said he would never forget, and a moment that would later spark his own interest in public service. Boy who witnessed JFK assassination recalls the day . "It was pouring rain, it was cold on November 22nd," Williams said, describing the morning he headed to a breakfast for the President and the first lady at the Fort Worth Hotel. Williams and his mother sat inside the ballroom with 1,000 others. He told CNN he recalls seeing Mrs. Kennedy's "bright pink suit" and listening to the President talk about the economy, the need for a strong military, and his idea for a man to reach the moon. His father, Jack Williams, an owner of car dealerships, was asked by his friend Jim Wright, the Democratic congressman from the area, to supply several cars for the President's motorcade for his visit to Fort Worth. In return for his help, Williams' father asked Wright if his wife and son could meet the President. After the speech, he and his mother were approached by someone and ushered to the front of the hotel where Jacqueline Kennedy emerged . "She came around the corner in that pink dress and she shook my mother's hand and shook my hand and stood right next to me." Williams said. But then the "moment:" Williams says the President appeared, took a puff of his cigar, discarded it, and then grasped his mother's hand and turned to him. "He came to me and shook my hand and did not let it go, and looked back at my mother and said 'It was a pleasure to meet your son.' " Kennedy then left for Dallas. 50 years on, the enduring lessons of JFK's presidency . Williams remembers wanting to know what kind of shoes the President of the United States would wear, and inspected them that morning, describing them as "black cat toe shoes." After he met Kennedy, his mother took him to school. Later as he sat in Latin class, the principal handed his teacher a note, and Williams watched as his teacher's head fell to his desk and he wept. "I couldn't fathom it frankly because I had just seen him an hour and half ago," Williams said. The Texas Republican said after Kennedy was killed "the world changed." His generation was never the same and the country shifted from a "happy society" to one that experienced a series of events like the shootings at Kent State and the assassination of Robert Kennedy. An emotional Williams told CNN, "John Kennedy -- he touched my heart and soul." JFK assassination a collective memory for American children . Though he's now an ideological opposite of the Democratic president he praised and admired, Williams said meeting Kennedy was part of his journey to run for office. "It eventually empowered me to do something for my country, like he did," recalling Kennedy's famous line from his inauguration speech, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." Williams played baseball for the Atlanta Braves after college. But after an injury, he followed his father into the car business, running a string of dealerships in Texas. He became involved in politics when George W. Bush served as governor of Texas. He later served as Texas secretary of state under Gov. Rick Perry. 5 things you might not know about JFK's assassination . He admits his conservative leanings differ from JFK's, but Williams believes he has a lot in common politically with things Kennedy pushed in office, citing tax cuts, a strong military, and a message that the U.S. is the dominant world power. Kennedy's great nephew, Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Joe Kennedy III, was elected in the same class as Williams. The Congressman told CNN he's talked to Kennedy about other experiences but never what it was like to meet his great uncle that day 50 years ago. After telling his story of November 22, 1963, he said, "I think I'm going to reach out to him and just kind of let him know my story."

'I literally was the last person to shake his hand as he left the hotel," Texas congressman recalls . Williams' father had lent cars from his dealership for presidential motorcade through Fort Worth . In return, Williams and his mother got to meet the president and first lady . 'John Kennedy -- he touched my heart and soul,' and emotional Williams says .

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Seventeen-year-old women should be able to buy the "morning-after pill" without a prescription within a few weeks, a government spokesman said Thursday. Plan B, also called the morning-after pill, is intended to prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex. The Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday that the contraceptive will be available over the counter to 17-year-olds, as it currently is for women 18 and older. Agency spokesman George Strait said Thursday the approval process for the change will not take long. "It's likely to be weeks, rather than months or years before it's approved," he said. The FDA just needs to review the label changes from the drug's maker, Duramed, Strait said. Once that's done, the approval will be complete. On March 23, a federal court ordered that Plan B, an emergency contraception pill, be made available over the counter to those 17 and older, the agency said in a statement on its Web site. The agency will not appeal that order, the statement said. In the order, U.S. District Judge Edward Korman also asked the agency to consider whether the pill should be available to women of all ages without a prescription, saying that such a determination is best left to the expertise of the FDA rather than a federal district judge. Watch more on the Plan B controversy » . And he rebuked the FDA for apparently departing from its own procedures with respect to making decisions on the pill's over-the-counter status, noting the "unusual involvement of the White House in the Plan B decision-making process." The plaintiffs in the case presented "unrebutted evidence of the FDA's lack of good faith" toward the application to switch Plan B from prescription to non-prescription use, the judge wrote. "This lack of good faith is evidenced by, among other things, (1) repeated and unreasonable delays, pressure emanating from the White House, and the obvious connection between the confirmation process of two FDA commissioners and the timing of the FDA's decisions; and (2) significant departures from the FDA's normal procedures and policies ... as compared to the review of other switch applications in the past 10 years," Korman wrote. In August 2006, the FDA approved the sale of Plan B without a prescription to those 18 and older, but those 17 and under needed a prescription to obtain it. But, the agency said in Wednesday's statement, "in accordance with the court's order, and consistent with the scientific findings since 2005 by the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, FDA sent a letter to the manufacturer of Plan B that the company may, upon submission and approval of an appropriate application, market Plan B without a prescription to women 17 years of age and older." "No useful purpose would be served by continuing to deprive 17-year-olds access to Plan B without a prescription," Korman wrote in his order. "Indeed, the record shows that FDA officials and staff both agreed that 17-year-olds can use Plan B safely without a prescription. The FDA's justification for this age restriction, that pharmacists would be unable to enforce the prescription requirement if the cutoff were age 17, rather than 18, lacks all credibility." Watch bloggers debate the merits of Plan B » . Planned Parenthood Federation of America President Cecile Richards said in a statement that the FDA's announcement is "a strong statement to American women that their health comes before politics. And that's the way it should be. This decision is common-sense policy that will help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and protect the health and safety of all women." The morning-after pill -- made by Duramed, a subsidiary of Barr Pharmaceuticals -- is intended to prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex. It works by stopping ovulation and decreasing the chances that a fertilized egg will attach to the uterus. When used within 72 hours of unprotected sex, it can lower the risk of pregnancy by almost 90 percent, the maker says. Some critics charge that the drug's action amounts to an abortion, and opposed making it available over the counter. Others expressed health concerns. "Plan B is a high dose of birth control pills. ... The FDA violated its standards when it made the high-dose Plan B available nonprescription to adults. But now the FDA is making the drug available to minors without parental consent," the Concerned Women for America, a Washington-based conservative Christian group, said Wednesday. "Parents should be furious that the FDA is putting their minor daughters at risk," the group said.

Judge asks FDA to weigh availability to women of all ages . Court ordered in March that Plan B be made available OTC to women over 17 . The FDA will not appeal the order . Emergency contraceptive prevents pregnancy after unprotected sex .

(CNN) -- Nine-year-old Mahmood Ahmed was playing near his home in Zintan, western Libya, when he found a green object he had never seen before. He wanted to know what was inside, so took it into his backyard and began hitting it with a stone. The object was a bullet from an anti-aircraft machine gun and it exploded, taking off his left hand. He is now getting used to life with a plastic hand. Mahmood is one of the accidental child victims of the war that toppled Colonel Moammar Gadhafi in August and he is far from alone. The International charity Mines Advisory Group (MAG), which highlighted his case, has recorded 90 casualties -- mostly children -- from similar accidents involving mines and unexploded ordinance left over from the war in the region of Zintan and Misrata alone this year. The organization also recorded 45 casualties in Libya's Western Mountains and is still trying to gather data from accidents in the rest of the country. Among the statistics were several members of the same family in Ajdabiya in June. Three-year-old Shada Yonis brought a hand grenade into the living room and pulled out the pin. Her father, Yonis Sala, who tried to shield his children, was killed, as was Shada, and five-year-old Shema. Her mother, eight-year-old brother Sulah and two other children were seriously injured. Two children were killed on Saturday, December 10, in Sirte when a device exploded as people were compiling a museum of weaponry from the war, MAG said. As well as gaining information on contaminated areas and clearing them, MAG is trying to educate communities on the dangers. Libyans find voice in new era of press freedom . Louise Skilling, the group's regional community liaison manager, said: "There is a lot of contamination in houses and residential areas. "Accidents are mainly involving children -- particularly teenage boys -- who don't understand the danger of handling items. "We are trying to change behavior among young boys and the best way to do that is through their mothers. "We are working through schools, women's groups and door-to-door in contaminated areas. " She added: "The number of accidents has increased since the war ended because people who were displaced are returning to their homes and trying to get their lives back together. "A lot of accidents are happening in or close to homes as people try to clear the damage." Other organizations are also working to raise awareness of the weapons that children mistake for toys. Mohamed Khalifa Kanah, a volunteer for the Libyan Red Crescent in Nalut, one of 30 branches of the organization in the country, is visiting schools in the town and surrounding area to educate children on the dangers. He said: "Children are bringing live ammunition into schools. They are picking up big anti-aircraft guns and playing with them. "I go into schools and talk to the children about what mines are, what explosive materials are, how to avoid the areas and what to do if you come across them. "It's terrible to have to talk about this with children, but the reality is this is common now. Once in a while something happens and a kid is killed or loses an arm or leg." Kanah has been putting awareness posters provided by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in hospitals, shopping malls and schools. He also gives out hats and T-shirts carrying the message. The British charity Merlin is working in a hospital in Nalut, a small mountain town home to just 25,000 people in the Nafusa mountains, and has treated a number of children for gunshots and unexploded ordnance since the end of hostilities. Since end of the conflict, two children have died in Nalut and at least five children have sustained serious injuries, according to Kanah and Merlin. Jo Woodrow, a physiotherapist working with injured patients in the hospital, said: "Most of the people who fought in the war weren't soldiers before, so have little experience storing guns safely. "They have come back from the war and leave them lying around. Children are curious and that's how the accidents happen. "A lot of people are embarrassed so they don't tell us exactly how the accident has happened." She added: "At the moment, I'm working with a 17-year-old who was shot at point blank range by a sniper rifle that went off by accident. "He has pins holding his legs together and has nerve damage. He won't be walking for a long time." Woodrow said many of the victims had to leave Libya for treatment because of a shortage of rehabilitation facilities in the country.

Many Libyan children have been killed or injured in accidents involving guns and explosives . Mines Advisory Group and Libyan Red Crescent are among NGOs running awareness programs . More accidents since people have returned to their homes, says Mines Advisory Group .

(CNN) -- The number of China's so-called "baby hatches" -- places where mothers can leave newborn babies anonymously -- is set to increase as the government tries to protect more of the country's abandoned infants. The hatches, which were first introduced in Shijiazhuang, the capital of China's northeastern Hebei province in 2011, consist of a temperature-controlled room equipped with a baby's cradle and an incubator. Once dropped off anonymously, an alarm is sounded and a welfare worker attends to the child minutes later. There are currently 25 baby hatches in 10 provinces across China, and the China Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption (CCCWA) told state media agency Xinhua that more will be set up, in a further 18 regions. A Mr. Zhou from the Beijing Civil Affairs Department told CNN that they plan to open a baby hatch within the year and the project is one of the department's top priorities. Children are often given up due to disability or severe illness -- largely to parents without the necessary means to provide for their offspring -- and historically, due to the sex of the child in a country where boys are traditionally favored and strict one-child policies have put pressure on families to produce male heirs. While statistics point to a largely even split between boys and girls, almost all the infants given up at baby hatches suffer from disabilities or severe illness. Proponents of the system say that the "baby safety islands", as they are officially known in China, significantly reduce the mortality rates of abandoned babies, providing a safe, warm environment with immediate care and improving on the wretched conditions that infants are often left in. According to the code of conduct released by Ministry of Civil Affairs, the facilities should issue an announcement to look for the baby's parents. The baby will be adopted into a child welfare institution -- a state orphanage -- if it is not claimed by parents or legal guardians after the announcement has expired. The baby hatch system is not without its detractors, however. Some in the country criticize the policy, saying that it could encourage parents to give up unwanted infants. The practice is also used in various countries around the world, including in Europe. In countries like Germany "babyklappe" are also considered controversial -- and inhabiting a legal gray area thanks to new laws that protect children's rights to know their mother's identity -- but have been used relatively infrequently. Since opening in late January, a baby hatch in the southern city of Guangzhou has received almost 80 infants, according to a Xinhua report cited in the party-funded English-language People's Daily. A China National Radio report said a baby hatch in Nanjing was "crowded with visitors." The owner of a nearby convenience store told CNR that she saw parents drop babies off at the facility every day. Li Bo, head of the CCCWA, says that there is no evidence to show that baby hatches lead to an increase in child abandonment, and that the service should be viewed as a practical move. "Laws emphasize prevention, while baby hatches focus on rescue after the laws are broken," he said. The original baby hatch in Shijiazhuang reported a comparable number of infants abandoned in 2009-10 to that recorded since the service was established in June 2011. "I don't think the baby hatches would encourage people to abandon their babies," population expert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Fuxian Yi said."Nanjing is an individual case. The story has been exaggerated. Its impact is waiting to be seen, it's too soon to judge." The efficacy of the baby hatches aside, the number of abandoned infants in China does, for some critics, point to deficiencies in China's welfare system, especially for children born with illnesses or disabilities. A comprehensive system that goes far beyond the immediate care offered by baby hatches should be a priority, according to Tong Lihua, who runs a Beijing legal aid and study center for adolescents. "We need a comprehensive system to better protect them," he is quoted as saying. CCCWA's Li says a medical insurance system, reinforcing other support mechanisms, should be implemented. Recent moves to relax China's strict one-child policy may also positively affect abandonment numbers in the country. The program is attracting debate on Chinese social media as well. "It's good for the babies, but the most important issue now is where would they go when they grow up," said one Sina Weibo user. "Is it a sign to legal[ize] abandoning babies?" asked another. CNN's Dayu Zhang contributed to this report .

China's "baby hatches" provide a safe environment for people to anonymously abandon infants . Supporters say the program significantly improves mortality rates of abandoned infants . Some critics see hatches as band-aid to overall problems with China's welfare laws .

(CNN) -- When Apple introduces new iPhones on Tuesday, as everyone expects them to do, the company that practically created the smartphone will face an unusual task: keeping up with the competition. There's still plenty to be said for the iPhone's sleek, simple design, easy-to-navigate operating system and tidy "closed garden" app environment. But as phones running Google's Android operating system, particularly Samsung's, have gained in popularity, iPhone owners have increasingly found themselves looking around and wondering, "Why can't my phone do that?" Many Android phones have bigger screens than the iPhone. Some are water-resistant and can even snap photos underwater. Android apps can update automatically. Users can control Motorola's new Moto X phone with their voice, without touching it. And that's just the beginning. Add to that the fact that many in the tech world saw the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 as incremental advances, not the seismic leaps forward we'd come to expect from Apple, and you've got the more pressure on the company to ramp up the "wow!" factor. "The smartphone market is more competitive overall, and in the high-end it has become a duopoly between Samsung and Apple," said Carolina Milanesi, a consumer-technology researcher with Gartner Research. "Many feel that Apple needs to regain the distance they once had over their competitors." The iPhone has remained the world's top selling smartphone, save for a few quarters when it was dethroned by phones in Samsung's Galaxy S line. But after making up nearly 24% of all smartphones sold in late 2011, Apple's device is now down to about 14%, while Android phones account for a whopping 79%. The iPhone and iPad "were revolutionary when they first came out, but (rival)products that are out there now are about as close to Apple's devices as they've ever been," Scott Kessler, an analyst at S&P Capital IQ, told CNNMoney. "The question is whether Apple is going to introduce products that are different enough from their competitors." So, what could we see come Tuesday? The most high-profile feature that's been rumored for the new iPhone is a fingerprint scanner. Such a security feature would let users register a finger or thumb print and use it to unlock their phone. There are reports the phone could be able to access LTE Advanced, a network that would make it faster than phones with 4G connections. That network is not yet available in many areas of the U.S., however. Apple reportedly also is looking at adding bigger display screens for the iPhone, but they would likely be for future models, not the phones coming this week. As usual, Apple is expected to upgrade the phone with a faster processor, better battery life and an improved camera. But those are the sort of pragmatic upgrades that, while arguably most important to user experience, don't turn heads the way a novelty like Siri, the iPhone 4S's voice-activated digital assistant, did in 2011. Milanesi says Apple needs something more than standard upgrades to get its mojo back. But that shot of adrenalin might arrive in an unconventional way. "Apple needs a new 'hero product,' but I do not think it necessarily has to be a phone," she said. "With technology innovation slowing down, maybe they are better off turning iPhone into a market-share grabber and showing innovation in another product." The most likely candidate there could be the company's anticipated "iWatch." Apple is all but certain to be joining the emerging smartwatch market that Samsung entered last week with its Galaxy Gear device. If Apple blows away the competition with a watch that transcends the existing options (as well as those expected from Google and Microsoft), it could bring back some of the excitement that once met the unveiling of groundbreaking products like the iPod, iPhone and iPad. Opinions are split as to whether Apple will introduce a watch Tuesday. Apple typically doesn't launch other major products at iPhone events. But an iWatch rollout later this year or in early 2014 would miss at least some of the coveted holiday-shopping season while giving Samsung and other smartwatch makers a big head start in the marketplace. Then there's the long anticipated, but yet unseen, Apple TV set (as opposed to the Apple TV streaming device that already exists). Moving onto customer wrists, and into living rooms, might deflate pressure to sex up the iPhone. Still, it's hard to imagine a tech world in which the iPhone isn't seen as an elite device. That's why, when CEO Tim Cook takes the stage Tuesday in Cupertino, all eyes will be on him.

Apple is expected to introduce new iPhones on Tuesday . Many say company needs to make a splash to match its competitors . Past two iPhone upgrades were viewed as incremental by some . Analyst: Other products, not the iPhone, may re-establish Apple's rep for innovation .

(CNN) -- I was in Florida this week, not for the vigils and protest at the Sanford courthouse, but as a guest of an organization that changed this country's political, cultural and moral trajectory through its protest and more importantly through its organizing before I was even born. As I sat on a panel on civic engagement at the NAACP convention in Orlando, looking out at the crowd of still passionate, but aging warriors of grassroots organizing who fought injustice, I couldn't help but think in the face of this tragedy fanning a deep hunger for action -- what would Fannie Lou Hamer do? What would Baynard Rustin do? What would Cesar Chavez do? What would some of the organizing pioneers of the movements that changed our country do in the face of such injustice and subsequent unrest growing out of this irreconcilable moral incongruity? The acquittal of George Zimmerman is triggering a truly grassroots hunger for action to help heal the hurt the community feels. There needs to be a modicum of moral satisfaction to help heal the divide. And yes moral, because while pundits can argue all day about the legal correctness of the verdict, one has to submit that letting an armed grown man off scot-free after he stalked and killed a teenager who was doing nothing more than walking home with candy does not sit well in the court of moral opinion. There being no consequence for killing an unarmed child who wasn't bothering anyone has to be in conflict with our nation's moral compass or we have to admit that our moral compass is at best broken and at worst a convenient lie. This moral distress needs a positive outlet. So what is the community to do now? (I initially wrote "What is the progressive community to do now?" But I quickly checked myself because, frankly, the so-called mainstream progressive political organizations that always, always have something to say around gender issues or immigration or marriage equality issues have been deafeningly silent up to this point on the issue of the Zimmerman verdict.) The community (and define community as a coalition of the willing, not simply by race) now must take a page from the NAACP organizer's handbook and give this dissatisfaction an avenue toward a positive reaffirming conclusion in the absence of justice from the courts. And frankly, I don't think there is a court solution now that will make Zimmerman do time for the murder. My fear is that the current round of protest and vigils will go the way of Occupy Wall Street which in the end, I'm sorry, was a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing in a political, economic or even a cultural sense. No one in the halls of Congress or Wall Street today fears or is inspired to action because of those protests. And that's a shame, but as is often typical of movements on the left that tend to resemble cat herding, nothing happens much beyond speeches -- as opposed to recent movements on the right such as the tea party uprising. They organized into something that for better or worse has defined much of the policy debate for the last couple of years in this country. What must we do now? Organize! Organize the hurt and frustration into a set of actions that will have policy ramifications and drive the political debate in this country. So yes protest, but at those protests hand out registration forms and targeted street maps for registration drives in those areas where the protests are being held. Split the marchers up into groups, hand out hoodies and have them fan out across the communities in hoodie registration drives. Borrow from Howard Dean's 50-State Strategy and organize neighbor to neighbor canvassing programs where people inside the community are engaging the people they live beside in those communities in a conversation about why this matters. Don't allow politicians who need the votes of our community to avoid addressing laws that will make this sort of profiling and murder more difficult in the future. Hold those politicians accountable at the federal level, but more importantly at the state level where most of these laws are written. And if need be, yes, organize primary challenges to state senators and city councilmen who don't seem to get it. Define an agenda that starts with gun control and anti-profiling legislation and challenge politicians to sign on or get primaried. By the way, you will be surprised by how few votes you need to win most state senate races. In politics we love to simplify complex political narratives with tags like "Soccer Moms" or "Nascar Dads" that defines an election cycle -- Let's bring organizing power to our protest so that 2014 is defined by the Trayvon voter! The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Cornell Belcher.

Cornell Belcher: What would civil rights pioneers have done about verdict? He says protests are fine but a smart strategy would focus on organizing . Belcher says voters should rally around Trayvon case, hold politicians accountable . He says voters must push politicians to favor gun control, anti-profiling legislation .

(CNN) -- They arrive in souped-up sports cars, boasting a potent arsenal of sci-fi weaponry and shape-shifting powers, lining up side by side for the ultimate race to the finish line. In the end, there can only be one winner. Welcome to the battle for Kenya's presidency -- as imagined by a talented young Kenyan animator. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, "Wageuzi" is a short 3D animated film showing Kenya's main political leaders fighting for supremacy ahead of the country's critical elections on March 4. The futuristic film sets Kenya's presidential hopefuls against each other in a thrilling, high-octane battle inspired by the Transformers blockbuster franchise. Over the course of some 12 minutes, viewers are treated to a range of industrial cityscapes and gloomy-looking backdrops. Five presidential hopefuls roar through the urban settings as they switch between forms in their bid to outfox each other. Machine guns blazing, they turn from speeding vehicles into mighty robots, before engaging in aerial combat as they try to finish the race first. "Wageuzi is Swahili, it means 'transformers,'" explains creator Andrew Kaggia, 25. "It can also mean 'the changemakers,' because our leaders are the tools for change." iReport: Kenyan Graffiti for Peace . Kaggia, a Nairobi-based 3D animator working on commercials and TV shows, decided to make the film in the hope that it would inspire people in his country to cast their ballots responsibly. Kenya was engulfed in chaos after its last election in 2007, when post-election violence left more than 1,000 people dead and hundreds of thousands displaced. "When we had an election in 2007 there really was a lot of violence," says Kaggia. "A lot of bad things happened and basically we needed to see our leaders in their true light. So I thought of doing something sort of controversial using our leaders and creating them in the form of 'Transformers,' seeing how they basically fight for power at whatever cost. "I wanted people to basically think twice before choosing their leaders," he adds. "To see their leaders as who they are and to vote more wisely." Throughout the fast-paced film Kaggia has included satirical references to what he sees as the candidates' real-life personalities. "When people they watch the film, they're able to relate the characters to the actual politicians," adds Kaggia, who first released Wageuzi in December 2011 (Kenya's elections were initially scheduled to take place in 2012). "I think people who watch it are able to actually read between the lines and say 'OK, this is actually how it is.'" Kaggia says it took him about six months to complete the whole film, working up to 14-15 hours a day. He had to quit his regular job to focus on all aspects of Wageuzi -- from 3D modeling and animation to compositing and lighting. And when Wageuzi did finally come out, it created a splash. "The first day I released the film [online] I think it got 1,000 views," says Kaggia. "People were really spreading it around." Read this: Can mobiles help stop Kenya election violence? Kaggia first discovered the art of animation through the Disney cartoons he was watching while growing up, and his style was inspired by the classic beat em' up video game "Tekken." "It blew my mind the first time I saw it," he says of the game. "I started playing around with it and that's how it began." Today, Wageuzi's success has helped put the spotlight on Kenya's burgeoning animation scene. It's also acted as an example of what can be achieved when talent meets hard work; Kaggia was born with a deformed hand, but that never got in the way of his dreams. "I refused to let it stop me," says Kaggia. "I decided not to let that be the case I can do this and I won't let anything stop me." Read this: Kenyan boy scares off lions with flashy invention . With Kenya's critical election fast-approaching, Kaggia says he is hopeful that the violence that rocked his country last time around will not be repeated. "I think people have learned since 2007," he says. "People are smarter now because they saw that they were actually used by their leaders ... so I don't think there will be such violence." Watch 'Wageuzi'

A 3D animated film depicts Kenya's politicians as Transformer-style robots . The short film, "Wageuzi, is the work of Kenyan animator Andrew Kaggia . Kaggia says the film aims to make Kenyans vote wisely . Kenya holds key elections on March 4 .

CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) -- President-elect Barack Obama told the nation Tuesday night that "the dream of our founders is alive" and that he's ready to fulfill his campaign mantra of bringing change to America. "Change has come to America," President-elect Barack Obama told the nation on Tuesday night. "At this defining moment, change has come to America," Obama, who will be the nation's first black president, told a crowd of about 125,000 people in Chicago's Grant Park. Obama, born in Hawaii to a white mother and black father, said his victory proves that America is a place where all things are possible. Paying tribute to the legions of volunteers and voters who carried him to victory, Obama echoed the words of Abraham Lincoln in the Gettysburg Address, saying those legions proved "a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth." "This is your victory," he told his supporters, praising "working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to this cause." Watch Obama say all things are possible in U.S. » . Obama pledged to heal partisan wounds left after a bruising election battle, again using the words of Lincoln, the first Republican in White House. "As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, 'We are not enemies, but friends ... though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection.' "Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long," Obama said. Obama used the life of 106-year-old Ann Nixon Cooper of Atlanta, Georgia, to illustrate what the nation has overcome in her lifetime, including the Depression, world wars, the nation's quest for civil rights, a man on the moon, the fall of the Berlin Wall and even a world connected by technology. "Tonight, let us ask ourselves -- if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?" Obama said. "This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment," he said. Obama hinted he's even looking beyond his first term, and through the first eight of those next hundred years. "The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America -- I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you -- we as a people will get there," he said. Obama congratulated his rival John McCain and praised McCain's service to the country as a politician and Navy pilot and prisoner of war in Vietnam. "He fought long and hard in this campaign, and he's fought even longer and harder for the country he loves," Obama said. "I look forward to working with (him) to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead." Watch Obama's praise of John McCain » . He also thanked his wife, Michelle, and daughters, Sasha and Malia, for their patience through the long presidential campaign. "You have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House," he told his daughters. Obama spent the first part of his historic Election Day voting, visiting campaign staffers and playing a little basketball. Following an Obama campaign tradition, he arrived Tuesday afternoon at a gym on Chicago's west side, where a campaign spokeswoman said he met with friends for a game of round ball. The game was the latest stop in Obama's busy day, which began early in the morning at a polling station in his Hyde Park neighborhood. Earlier, a smiling Obama and his wife cast ballots at the Shoesmith Elementary School. "I hope this works," Obama said after placing his ballot into a scanning machine. "I'll be really embarrassed if it doesn't." Watch Obama family at voting station » . Obama's vice presidential running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, voted in Wilmington, Delaware, on Tuesday, casting ballots with his wife, Jill, and his 90-year-old mother. Watch Biden vote » . People at the polling station also cheered as Biden voted. Election Day came shortly after Obama learned his 86-year-old grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, had died following a bout with cancer. Read more about the death of Obama's grandmother . Obama has described his grandmother, who helped raise him in his native Hawaii, as an integral figure in his youth, saying she struggled to succeed in a business dominated by men. Watch more on Obama's grandmother » . Obama traveled to Hawaii in late October to visit her. CNN's Mike Roselli contributed to this report.

NEW: Victory proves anything is possible in America, Obama says . NEW: Obama promises daughters puppy in the White House . NEW: Obama salutes McCain's campaign, sacrifice .

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal from a female death row inmate who said fetal alcohol syndrome should have been considered by the state court that reviewed her sentence. The U.S. Supreme Court has closely monitored Louisiana's capital punishment system in recent years. The justices gave no reason for rejecting the appeal, which challenged the constitutionality of Louisiana's capital sentencing procedures and argued that Brandy Holmes' alleged developmental disabilities should disqualify her from execution. Holmes, 29, is one of two women scheduled to be executed in Louisiana. She and a male co-defendant were convicted of murder in the New Year's Day 2003 death of Julian Brandon, a retired minister near Shreveport. Holmes is being held at the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women at St. Gabriel. Experts on fetal alcohol syndrome call it the nation's leading preventable cause of mental retardation. As many as 40,000 newborns in the United States are affected each year by their mother's alcohol use, according to an advocacy group. The syndrome can lead to brain damage, behavioral problems and intellectual disabilities. Holmes' attorneys said she functions like a 10- to 12-year-old. "Brandy has a hallmark case of FAS," said Tom Donaldson, president of the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, which supported the defendant in her high court appeal. "Her mother testified that she drank throughout her pregnancy, and in fact named her daughter after her favorite drink. Brandy's capacity to appreciate the criminality of her actions or to conform to the law is very seriously impaired." Donaldson and others argue the medical and legal system is unprepared to recognize, intervene and educate when presented with the majority of FAS-related cases, especially those involving younger defendants. In a petition to the justices, Holmes' attorney, Charles Ogletree, argued the Louisiana Supreme Court did not "review the extensive mitigating circumstances that limited Ms. Holmes's moral culpability and compare them to the mitigating circumstances presented in similar cases. The [state] court also failed to consider that petitioner's co-defendant received a death sentence and that the prosecutor stated at the co-defendant's trial that he (and not the petitioner) was the more culpable party." That co-defendant, Robert Coleman, remains on death row at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. Ogletree is a noted Harvard Law School professor who taught President Obama when he was a law student. The state in its reply brief noted the violent nature of the robbery-murder. The victim's wife also suffered gunshot wounds in the attack. She lived in a severely impaired state for years and passed away in October 2008. Investigators said Holmes tried to use the victims' ATM card and destroyed evidence of the crime. Detectives said she even stole a videotape of her confession that was left unattended at the police station. "Holmes destroyed this tape by sneaking it into the ladies' room and flushing the magnetic tape down the toilet, after substituting a blank tape in the stack of taped statements that had been left unsecured on a detective's desk," according the the state's brief. Police also suspect she flushed jewelry she had been wearing, which they suggested may have been stolen from the Brandons. The Supreme Court previously had banned execution of the mentally retarded, though the justices established no clear benchmark on IQ test results to guide criminal courts. The justices also have closely monitored Louisiana's capital punishment system in recent years, criticizing in some cases the role of some prosecutors and the procedural guarantees required in such cases. The justices last year ordered a new trial for an African-American capital defendant after finding problems with how prosecutors excluded blacks from an all-white jury. That same year, the high court blocked use of the death penalty for a New Orleans-area man convicted of child rape. Louisiana was one of the few states that had actively pushed execution for nonhomicide crimes. Fifty-three women remain on death row around the country. Forty women have been executed in the past century -- 11 since 1976 when the Supreme Court restored capital punishment, according the Death Penalty Information Center. The other woman on death row in Louisiana is Antoinette Frank, a former New Orleans policewoman convicted of three murders, including that of her former partner on the police force. Her scheduled execution last year was delayed indefinitely by appeal. The high court also announced Monday that it will not hear appeals in the following cases: .

Defense argued alleged disabilities should disqualify Brandy Holmes from execution . Justices cite no reason in rejecting appeal of Louisiana death row inmate . Holmes and a co-defendant were convicted in the 2003 killing of a retired minister . Holmes' attorneys says she functions like a 10- to 12-year-old .

(CNN) -- A man authorities believe has robbed at least 10 banks in at least four states was arrested in Missouri after a retired state trooper saw him and learned he was wanted, authorities said Sunday. Schaffner is seen in a police mug shot after his arrest Saturday in Kingdom City, Missouri. Chad Schaffner, 37, was arrested in Kingdom City, Missouri, about 2:45 p.m. Saturday, said Missouri State Highway Patrol radio operator Paula Price. Sam Lakey, a retired Missouri State Highway Patrol officer said he alerted authorities to Schaffner's whereabouts after seeing him at a motel in Kingdom City, about 100 miles west of St. Louis, Missouri. Lakey didn't know who Schaffner was at first, but said he felt something wasn't right after seeing Schaffner and his car, partly because Schaffner didn't make eye contact with him. Watch how ex-cop's hunch brought arrest » . Lakey, who was staying at the motel, said he remembered seeing news reports about a man sought in a string of bank robberies, so he looked on the Web site of the television show "America's Most Wanted" to check a vehicle description in the case. A license plate number on the site matched that of the car outside the motel, he said. "I felt my goosebumps raising," he said. Lakey told CNN that after calling his old colleagues at the Missouri State Highway Patrol, he packed up his family from their room at the motel and watched the arrest from across the street. Schaffner faces charges including bank robbery in Tennessee; burglary in Indiana; armed robbery in Illinois; and receiving stolen property in Ohio, Price said. He also faces drug charges in Missouri, she said. Schaffner is suspected of robbing banks in states including Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, according to the FBI. Schaffner is suspected in 14 robberies of various types in six states, FBI Special Agent Brian Truchon told CNN on Sunday. A spokeswoman for the Callaway County Jail, in Fulton, Missouri, said Schaffner was booked into the facility about 8 p.m. Saturday. No bond has been set, she said. Schaffner will appear in court Monday in Jefferson City, Missouri, according to Bridget Patton, spokeswoman for the FBI's Kansas City, Missouri, office. Schaffner was identified as a suspect last month after investigators posted surveillance photos from the robberies on electronic billboards throughout the South. In the photos, a man was seen sneering and holding a pistol sideways. The robberies began in May. While no one was harmed, the FBI said they considered the suspect dangerous. "This guy has made no effort to hide the gun," said FBI agent Kevin Keithley last month. "He has threatened the use of it in every bank robbery he has committed. He has put the gun in the faces of the tellers, threatened to use the gun against them. So we want to get this guy in custody before he harms anyone." A woman in Morristown, Tennessee, also told authorities Schaffner hid in her apartment in August and threatened to kill her children if she revealed his whereabouts, according to documents filed in federal court. When Schaffner was identified, the FBI said he was released from an Indiana prison last year following an armed robbery conviction. He also has several other convictions in Indiana, for crimes including burglary, resisting law enforcement, and purchase of a handgun without a license, according to the Indiana Department of Correction. The last bank robbery Schaffner is suspected of committing occurred in Caseyville, Illinois, on Wednesday, according to CNN affiliate KMOV. Two bank robberies occurred in Morristown and Jefferson City, Tennessee, on August 18, authorities said. The billboards began showing images from the robberies on August 24, and the next day, a man told the FBI that Schaffner was in the Morristown area at the time of the August 18 holdups. The man said he'd known Schaffner for about two months, according to a federal criminal complaint. FBI agents also interviewed a Morristown woman after hearing she'd had a brief relationship with Schaffner, the complaint says. During the first interview, she spoke to agents outside her apartment and denied knowing him, the complaint said. But the next day she told authorities she knew Schaffner and that he had been in her apartment with her children while she talked to police outside. He had threatened to kill the children if she told agents he was there, the woman said. CNN's Marylynn Ryan, Chuck Johnston and Justin Lear contributed to this report.

NEW: Ex-trooper checked "America's Most Wanted" site after becoming suspicious . Chad Schaffner apprehended by police Saturday in Kingdom City, Missouri . Schaffner named suspect in at least 10 bank robberies in at least four states . Identification came after surveillance images posted on billboards in the South .

(CNN) -- Last year on the 50th anniversary of the creation of the contraceptive pill its inventor Carl Djerassi spoke of the coming dramatic changes to reproductive options -- of the technologies that will have just as big an impact on society in the 50 years to come. After sex without reproduction, reproduction without sex. In an article in the UK's "traditional values" tabloid, the Daily Mail, titled "A Terrifying Future for Female Fertility," Djerassi said, "There are an enormous number of well-educated, proficient women who, when facing the biological clock, first pay attention to their professional ambitions...in the next 20 years, more young people will freeze their eggs and [sperm] in their 20s, and bank them for later use. They will do away with the need for contraception by being sterilised, and withdraw their eggs and sperm from the bank when they are ready to have a child via IVF." That is certainly one option as we develop greater capabilities to store eggs more reliably and safely so that they are not damaged by the freezing/thawing process meant to preserve them. But in the next 20 years, there could be other developments on their way to the clinic. For example -- also to avert damage -- freezing strips of ovarian tissue instead of eggs, or tapping into recently identified reserves of ovarian stem cells that could be turned into a fresh supply of eggs for a woman, at any age; or even creating to order eggs (or sperm) from skin or bone marrow stem cells of men and women. Early experiments with mice have shown that both sperm and eggs can be generated from the stem cells of males, and eggs from that of females, and that they can be fertilized to produce viable young. Djerassi described the idea of being able to access healthy eggs later in life as something set to be a fundamental tool of family planning, and one that will empower women just as the pill has. He talked of female colleagues on tough career trajectories just at the time in their life when they are most fertile, and then on into the years leading into sterility. It's no coincidence in the decade of our life when we are most biologically capable of reproducing, men and women are also working full steam on their studies or on building their careers. In our 30s, fertility declines - after 35, exponentially so -- and specifically for women. Around age 50, while the rest of our faculties continue functioning beautifully, the ability to reproduce comes to an abrupt stop. There have recently been a spate of reports and discussions about equality -- the dearth of women in science, on the boards of top companies and of the pay gap that has yet to be bridged, but it is not clear that those taking part in this discussion fully appreciate that in pursuing in parallel the fulfilling goals of education, work and having a family, we are limited by both social and biological barriers. In achieving the hoped-for 40% of leadership positions being held by women, executive bodies like the European Commission and governments could, for example, legislate interventions like free or cheap childcare in all workplaces. However, only technology can tackle the biological brick wall of menopause, with all its detrimental effects on a woman's health, and especially at a time when she is likely to live another 50 years in this condition. In the quest for reproduction, only technology can give same-sex couples the chance of having their own genetic children. If eggs can be made from the stem cells of men, with the advent of an artificial womb (already in use for sharks, in development with mammals and projected to be in use for humans within 100 years), it will also give them an organ they currently have to pay surrogate mothers for the use of. So if it is to be the egalitarian society that we hope to see for ourselves and our children -- particularly our daughters, and those whose relationships and family choices still find themselves the topic of social and religious debate -- then technology that gives an individual the capability to generate healthy eggs and sperm from his/her own body and allows a baby to be gestated independently could offer us a more ethical option than what we do today. In our world, girls study just as hard as boys but face far more difficult choices once in the workplace. To make money, poor women from countries like India or the Ukraine "donate" eggs or their wombs, or churches refuse to marry gay couples because they cannot be fruitful and multiply. Freedom, power, choice? It's the alternative that sounds terrifying to me. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Aarathi Prasad.

Aarathi Prasad: Scientists are making progress in techniques for reproducing life without sex . Experiments show that sperm and eggs can be generated from male stem cells, she says . People will have more choices about when and how to have children, Prasad says . Prasad: Science could help free people from tough choices between work and family .

Singapore (CNN) -- Millie Phuah arrived at Singapore's Bukit Brown cemetery on a humid morning, armed with a rake and gloves to clear fallen branches and decaying leaves from her ancestors' graves. "I've got my great-grandparents on this side ... and my grand-uncle will be on this side," she said, pointing in opposite directions. An eight-lane highway, set for construction in 2013, will run though the middle of the cemetery. To make way for it, a swathe of graves -- marked by wooden stakes with painted numbers -- is being exhumed. The remains will be cremated by Monday, and if unclaimed for three years, the ashes will be scattered at sea. The highway is expected to be completed by 2016 and affect 3,746 graves, according to Singapore's Urban Redevelopment Authority. Afterwards, what remains of the cemetery area will make way for 15,000 new housing units and two mass transit stations, and all the graves -- including those of Phuah's family -- will be exhumed under the plan. With an estimated 100,000 graves, Bukit Brown is the largest Chinese cemetery outside China, according to Singapore's Heritage Society. Located near a cluster of reservoirs at the center of the island, the cemetery sprawls over several hills covered partly in rainforest jungle. Closed to new burials since the early 1970's, Bukit Brown now stands at the heart of a heated debate over development in tiny Singapore -- a nation that went from new and underdeveloped to one of the world's most prosperous in a matter of decades. In addition to pioneers and early migrants like Phuah's family, the cemetery holds the remains of Singapore's most prominent, like Lee Hoon Leong, the grandfather of Lee Kuan Yew, the founder of modern Singapore. The Government says the road is needed to reduce traffic congestion, pointing out that a country of just 714 square kilometers (275 square miles) has many more needs, including land for housing, defense, industry and utilities. "In such a highly land-constrained setting, we need to make difficult decisions on land use for present and future generations of Singaporeans," a spokesman for the Urban Redevelopment Authority said. A shortage of land spurred rigid burial policies in 1998: Only one cemetery, Choa Chu Kang, remains open to burials, and there is a 15-year time limit for burial, after which remains are cremated. Singapore's National Environment Agency says at "closed" cemeteries like Bukit Brown "exhumations are carried out only if the land is affected by redevelopment." Claire Leow has no relatives buried in Bukit Brown but says her grandfather's grave at another cemetery was exhumed when it was cleared to make way for housing. After a visit to Bukit Brown several years ago, Leow founded a blog, "All Things Bukit Brown," and now gives tours of the cemetery as part of a group of local activists, the Bukit Brown Community. The debate has drawn growing numbers to view historic graves, including young Singaporeans and students who clamber around the gravesites and pick their way through the thick overgrowth. Leow tells stories at the graves of early Singaporeans, those who began prominent businesses and those who fought the Japanese during World War II. In densely developed Singapore, Bukit Brown's vast green space also draws joggers, dog walkers, horseback riders and bird-watchers. One recent day, the rolling call of the straw-headed bulbul, a threatened bird, was far louder than the distant car traffic. Singapore's Nature Society says that roughly 25% of the country's threatened bird species can be found in Bukit Brown. To Singaporeans like Phuah, Bukit Brown gives roots to a young country known largely as a place to shop and do business. "Singaporeans are more interested than the government thinks we are in our heritage. It's not just about hanging out in shopping malls here," she asserts. The Urban Redevelopment Authority says it doesn't take the decision "lightly" and is working with community members to come up with ways to preserve the heritage of Bukit Brown. Read about the Singapore Memory project . However, exhibits will not replace the cemetery's value, according to the Singapore Heritage Society. "Ultimately, the struggle for Bukit Brown goes beyond saving a few graves or greenery. It is the struggle for the soul of Singapore."

Swathe of graves is being exhumed to make way for highway . What remains of cemetery area will eventually make way for housing units, transit stations . All graves at Bukit Brown cemetery will be exhumed under plan . The cemetery stands at heart of heated debate over development in Singapore .

Washington (CNN) -- Two unconnected overseas emergencies -- the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and Islamic terrorists in Iraq and Syria -- are prompting President Barack Obama to embark on a two-day U.S. road trip that the White House hopes will demonstrate a commander at work. The spread of Ebola in West Africa, which hasn't slowed despite $100 million of pledged U.S. aid, is unrelated to the U.S. mission to degrade ISIS terrorists in Iraq and Syria. But both have prompted worry among Americans about their personal safety and led to charges the White House isn't doing enough to combat the hazards. The dual foreign plagues have yet to pose an immediate threat to the United States homeland, the White House says, though each has claimed the lives of Americans abroad. And officials say both Ebola and ISIS could grow to become unmanageable problems if action isn't taken now to stamp them out. Obama's trip, which begins Tuesday, will take him to the Atlanta headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and later to the U.S. Central Command at the MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. The President's stop Tuesday at the CDC comes amid loudening criticism from health experts on the global response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, where almost 2,500 people have died. At the U.S. public health agency Obama will be briefed on the outbreak and speak to officials there about how the U.S. is responding. Afterwards he's likely to announce new U.S. commitments in combating the virus' spread, the White House said Monday. Though officials would not specify how the U.S. may increase its response, steps Obama could announce include sending more medical equipment and U.S. doctors and nurses to combat the virus, and ramping up training for local medical teams. The Defense Department may also be asked to increase its support in handling logistics of the large-scale response already underway, which involves multiple countries and aid groups. Epidemiologists and others who are monitoring the disease have claimed developed countries aren't sending enough resources to the three nations most affected: Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. The U.S. has committed more than $100 million in the effort to combat Ebola, according to the U.S. Agency for International Development, and Obama plans to call on Congress to approve an additional $88 million as part of a bill to fund the federal government. Last week USAID said it would spend $75 million to build treatment facilities and supply them with medical equipment. But so far the U.S. aid has been unable to stop the spread of the deadly virus, which Obama and White House officials are calling a national security problem. Particularly concerning, U.S. officials say, is the potential for instability in the countries where Ebola is rampant and the possibility for the virus to mutate into a more dangerous form. Ebola currently only transmits though contact with bodily fluids; a mutation that allows the virus to spread through the air would pose a catastrophic threat to human populations worldwide, health experts say. Speaking Monday, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said there was still a "very low" likelihood the Ebola virus could mutate in a way that poses a threat to the United States. "Right now, the risk of an Ebola outbreak in the United States is very low, but that risk would only increase if there were not a robust response on the part of the United States," Earnest said. The potential for increased risk to the U.S. homeland has also inspired the more robust response to ISIS terrorists, who Obama announced last week would be the target of an air campaign inside Iraq and Syria. That mission is run from U.S. Central Command in Tampa, where Obama will receive a briefing on battle plans Wednesday. The White House said the President would also visit servicemen and women during his stop at the facility. Obama and his aides maintain that ISIS fighters don't currently pose a direct threat to the U.S. homeland but warn of the potential for militants with U.S. or Western passports to return home and stage an attack remains a top concern. Secretary of State John Kerry has been engaging Arab and European nations in building a coalition to fight ISIS, though levels of commitment from foreign partners has remained vague. "We're pleased with the level of conversations that we're having with these governments and their willingness to contribute in a tangible, important way to this broader effort," Earnest said Monday. "We'll have some announcements to make in terms of what sort of cooperation and involvement and commitment that we have from the international community. And based on the tenor and tone of the kinds of private conversations that are underway right now, we expect those commitments to be substantial."

Obama hits road Tuesday for briefings at CDC and CENTCOM . White House facing unconnected Ebola and ISIS crises . If left unattended, both could present risks to U.S. homeland .

Donetsk, Ukraine (CNN) -- The recent election in Ukraine was a step in the right direction, Russian U.N. Representative Vitaly Churkin told members of the Security Council Wednesday, but unless Ukraine halts military action in the eastern part of the country, Russia cannot engage in dialogue. Ukrainian U.N. Representative Yuriy A. Sergeyev, in turn, accused Russia of "stoking the flames of separatism" in the eastern part of his country. The majority of Security Council members commended Ukraine's presidential election, won by billionaire Petro Poroshenko with 55% of the vote. "Despite successful elections which could be the beginning of a new chapter for Ukraine, violence rages on, causing loss of life and injuries." said Jeffrey Feltman, the U.N. under-secretary-general for political affairs. More clashes reported in eastern Ukraine . Ukraine's National Guard base in Luhansk was attacked Wednesday by what Ukraine's Interior Ministry described as "terrorists." "There have been losses among military personnel as well as among the attackers," said a statement by the ministry. The Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine is at the heart of the separatists' bid to declare independence, which is mirrored in the neighboring Donetsk region. There dozens of pro-Russian separatists were killed after Ukrainian security forces launched an assault on Donetsk International Airport on Monday, following the militants' seizure of a terminal. The Ukrainian military's move against the militants at Donetsk airport has been interpreted by some as an indication that newly elected President Petro Poroshenko will take a tougher stance. The presence of military aircraft may be intended as a reminder of the security forces' capacity to act. Russian troop withdrawal . The Pentagon and NATO are saying Russia has moved at least a few thousand troops back from its border with Ukraine, but a Pentagon spokesman said tens of thousands of combat-ready troops remain. The Kremlin last week announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered tens of thousands of Russian troops to return to their bases but said the pullback could take some time. NATO said Wednesday that there was "ongoing evidence of equipment and supplies being packed or prepared for movement" in the area. "A small number of units have now withdrawn from the border. The activity we are observing continues to suggest a slow withdrawal of forces," a NATO military officer said. However, he said, many of the Russian troops remain in the border area and are capable of operations at short notice. "Thousands of troops have withdrawn, but tens of thousands remain," he said. NATO is monitoring the situation and would welcome a complete, verifiable Russian withdrawal, the NATO military officer said. But, he added, "Any withdrawal does not erase or reverse what has happened in recent months. Russia has violated the trust of the international community by illegally invading Ukraine. The security dynamic in Europe has been fundamentally changed." Ukraine is not part of NATO, but other former Soviet states such as Poland do belong to the alliance. Russia is opposed to any move by Ukraine to forge closer ties with NATO. Where are the OSCE monitors? Four members of Europe's Special Monitoring Mission who went missing in the eastern Ukraine city of Donetsk are being held by a pro-Russian group, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Yevhen Perebynis said Wednesday. "The negotiations for their release are in process," Perebynis said during a briefing in Kiev. The team members, who are Swiss, Turkish, Estonian and Danish, were on a routine patrol Monday east of Donetsk when last heard from, according to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. U.N. Undersecretary-General for political affairs Undersecretary Jeffrey Feltman said the OSCE does not know who is holding the four monitors. The last time an OSCE team went missing in Donetsk, its members turned up in the hands of militant separatists in the town of Slovyansk. They were freed just over a week later. There were fears Wednesday that another group of 11 monitors had gone missing after being stopped at a roadblock in Marinka, west of Donetsk, but the group reestablished contact with the OSCE after returning to Donetsk, according to an OSCE statement. Ukraine: Fierce fighting closes Donetsk airport, claims dozens of lives . Opinion: Free elections good for Ukraine, but could be bad for Putin . CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reported from Donetsk and Laura Smith-Spark wrote from London. Journalist Victoria Butenko contributed from Kiev and CNN's Andrew Carey from Donetsk.

NEW: Russia's U.N. envoy says dialogue can't occur amid Ukraine military action . NEW: Ukraine U.N. envoy says Russia is still stoking flames of separatism . NEW: Pentagon acknowledges slow withdrawal of Russian troops from border . Four missing monitors are held by pro-Russian groups, Ukraine foreign ministry says .

(CNN) -- The anti-gay rights activist who recently toured Europe with a male escort has resigned from a group that promotes counseling for people who "struggle with unwanted homosexuality," though the man insists that he is not gay. George Rekers resigned from the board of the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality, the group's website said Tuesday. "I am immediately resigning my membership in NARTH to allow myself the time necessary to fight the false media reports that have been made against me," Rekers said in a statement posted on the group's website. "With the assistance of a defamation attorney, I will fight these false reports because I have not engaged in any homosexual behavior whatsoever. "I am not gay and never have been," the statement said. The association accepted the resignation, saying on its website Tuesday that it "would hope that the legal process will sufficiently clarify the questions that have arisen in this unfortunate situation." The group has scrubbed Rekers' writings from its site, with a page that formerly featured his work now bearing the message, "Sorry, you've reached a page that doesn't exist." Rekers, a Baptist minister, has been a prominent and effective foe of gay rights legislation across the country. He is a co-founder of the Family Research Council, one of Washington's most powerful conservative Christian advocacy groups, and has weighed in on anti-gay rights legislation across the country. He received about $120,000 to appear as an expert witness in a 2008 case challenging Florida's ban on gays and lesbians adopting. Rekers has written that gays are a "deviant segment of society." Revelations of Rekers' trip to Europe with a male escort surfaced last week, shortly after he returned to the U.S. The male escort who traveled with Rekers -- who goes by the name Lucien, though that is not his given name -- said that he advertises his service exclusively on the website rentboy.com, where visitors can choose from hundreds of male escorts in suggestive and revealing poses. Lucien says Rekers first contacted him through the site. He was hired to give Rekers daily "sexual massages" on the trip, which took them to London and Madrid, Lucien says. "He got excited," Lucien said of the massages, adding that Rekers wanted Lucien to touch him, though Lucien said that he didn't have sex with Rekers and that Rekers didn't ask to have sex. According to a contract Lucien showed CNN, he was hired to carry Rekers' bags and to provide at least one hour's worth of massage every day in their shared room, at a cost of $75 a day. The contract also stipulated that Lucien spend at least eight hours a day with Rekers, including sharing two meals. Rekers' website provided a different account of how he met Lucien and of the trip, saying he needed help carrying luggage because of an "ongoing condition following surgery." The site said Rekers "found his recent travel assistant by interviewing different people who might be able to help, and did not even find out about his travel assistant's internet advertisements offering prostitution activity until after the trip was in progress. There was nothing inappropriate with this relationship." Rekers' site said he "was not involved in any illegal or sexual behavior with his travel assistant." Rekers is a distinguished professor emeritus at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, according to his website. He earned a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles, an M.B.A. from Southern Wesleyan University and a Doctor of Theology degree from the University of South Africa, his site says. Lucien says Rekers told him about other boyfriends before the European trip. But Lucien says that in their ongoing conversations, Rekers continues to deny that he is gay. "I actually asked him over the phone, 'Do you think you're gay?' and he said, 'no'," Lucien said, adding that Rekers asked him not to share his story with the media. In a statement on its website Tuesday, the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality said it stood by its work promoting therapy for gays who wish to be straight. "(T)hese personal controversies do not change the scientific data, nor do they detract from the important work of NARTH," the statement said. "NARTH continues to support scientific research, and to value client autonomy, client self-determination and client diversity." CNN's Randi Kaye contributed to this report.

Anti-gay rights activist resigns from group that promotes counseling for homosexuals . Baptist minister George Rekers insists he is not gay . Rekers says he has hired lawyer to fight "false media reports" Rekers has been prominent, effective foe of gay rights legislation across country .

(CNN) -- In the painkiller world, oxycodone and naloxone seem like strange bedfellows. Oxycodone is a powerful painkiller, while naloxone is used to reverse painkiller overdose. On Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration approved a drug combining the two, called Targiniq ER. The drug's maker, Purdue Pharma, said the combination is intended to "alleviate pain while also introducing a new method by which to help deter misuse and abuse." Oxycodone is one in a group of powerful painkillers -- called opioid analgesics -- that include hydrocodone, morphine and hydromorphone. It provides pain relief by binding to receptors in the brain that dull the sensation of pain. So why marry it with naloxone? Simply put, naloxone can unseat oxycodone on those same brain receptors, blocking its ability to provide pain relief. In the case of Targiniq, it happens only when the pill is crushed. If the pill remains intact, naloxone lies dormant, allowing oxycodone to do its work. Approval of an abuse-deterrent painkiller such as Targiniq would seem welcome, considering the rampant use of the drugs in the United States. The United States consumes 83% of the world's oxycodone and 99% of its hydrocodone, according to a 2010 International Narcotics Control Board report. Forty-six people die each day from prescription painkiller overdoses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Stephen Anderson, an emergency room physician who sees opioid overdoses on a weekly basis, said Targiniq limits the common abuse delivery routes -- such as crushing, dissolving and injecting pills, or crushing and snorting them. "Well done to the manufacturer for placing some built-in pharmacological protections," said Anderson, past president of the Washington chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians, in an e-mail. "It won't stop orally ingested overdose deaths, but will limit some of its 'street marketability.' " And abuse-deterrence seemed to work with another of Purdue Pharma's painkillers, OxyContin: A difficult-to-crush version of the drug was introduced in 2010. "Before that, OxyContin was the most commonly diverted and abused drug," said Caleb Banta-Green, an opioid overdose researcher and former senior science adviser to the Office of National Drug Control Policy. "After the formulation changed, nobody liked it because they couldn't abuse it." According to the New England Journal of Medicine, before 2010, OxyContin had been considered a primary drug of abuse for about 36% of people surveyed. Twenty-one months after the introduction of the abuse-deterrence version, only 13% abused it. What impact Targiniq's approval could have on oxycodone abuse remains to be seen. Targiniq's approval "will better enable the FDA to balance addressing this problem with meeting the needs of the millions of people in this country suffering from pain," said Dr. Sharon Hertz, deputy director of the FDA's Division of Anesthesia, Analgesia and Addiction Products, in a statement. The FDA said the drug should be prescribed as a last resort, for patients who have exhausted all other attempts to relieve their pain. Still, experts on addiction said they fear that Targiniq could still be easily abused. "Naloxone is only active if injected or squirted up the nose," said Andrew Kolodny, chief medical officer of the Phoenix House, an alcohol and drug abuse treatment provider. "That means a patient who chews Targiniq will get the entire dose all at once and the naloxone will have no effect. "When the pills are swallowed, they are as addictive and dangerous as pure oxycodone." The concern is that people who abuse or misuse opioids (also called opiates) will simply find another route to a high. "In a sense it's playing a game of whack-a-mole, because if people are addicted to opiates, they will find an opiate," said Banta-Green, who's a senior research scientist at the University of Washington's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute. "This (drug approval) could and will likely help, but it doesn't fix the inherent problem that people addicted to opiates will continue to use them." FDA aims to tighten control of hydrocodone . FDA fights drug overdoses with new labels .

The Food and Drug Administration approves Targiniq ER . Drug relieves pain while at the same time deterring misuse . Experts on addiction say they fear Targiniq could still be easily abused .

(CNN) -- After more than half a century involved in motorsport, and three decades at the helm of Formula One, Bernie Ecclestone has no plans to quit just yet. In fact, the 81-year-old has told CNN that he will be in charge for as long as he lives. "It'll probably depend a lot (on) when I die," Ecclestone said ahead of this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix when asked about his retirement plans. "You never know, do you, with these things. I mean, it's not my intention to do such a thing. If I thought I couldn't do all the things I do, then the answer would be then we'd certainly consider it. At the moment it's not quite like that." Ecclestone: Formula One teams agree to race until 2020 . Despite his age, Ecclestone is keeping himself very busy -- both personally and professionally. Earlier this month he announced his engagement to Brazilian Fabiani Flosi, 46 years his junior. He has also set his sights on further extending Formula One's global reach, having announced an agreement with the teams to continue racing under a Concorde Agreement until 2020. Austin, Texas will make its debut as grand prix venue in November, as the sport returns to the U.S. for the first time since 2007. India was introduced to F1 last year, with the Russian city of Sochi set to host a race in 2014 -- the same year the Black Sea resort will stage the Winter Olympics. "It's good to have an American base," Ecclestone said. "We are a world championship, so why not? We have races in other parts of the world so we should have maybe another race in America." On the possibility of France hosting a race for the first time since 2008, he added: "I think maybe the election that has taken place might have put that back a bit. When that all settles down I'm sure we'll get back on track -- literally," referring to Francois Hollande's recent presidential victory. "I think you will have to wait and see if we see more. Only time will tell." Should Formula One be so unpredictable? Ecclestone has been criticized for his determination to go ahead with the recent Bahrain Grand Prix, despite political unrest in the Gulf kingdom. But Eccleston cited the riots in London as an example of how social unrest does not necessarily mean a country should forfeit its right to host a race. "I'd hate to lose the British race, for a start," he explained. "We've seen what happened there at the end of last year, all those disturbances and all the other things that happen all over the world. "I don't know where we'd have to find a nice place to race where there is no problem. It wouldn't be easy." One arena F1 has not managed to enter is the Olympic Games, but Ecclestone revealed that talks over the seemingly far-fetched possibility have been held. "I spoke to the former president, Mr. (Juan Antonio) Samaranch, years ago about this and we decided it was wrong to have mechanical sport involved. In fact I discussed it with the new president (Jacques Rogge) a year ago. "They keep adding things in which I don't believe are Olympic things, so maybe it's possible. It would be nice to see it happen." The current F1 season's first five races have produced five different winners for the first time since 1983. A major factor in the sport's current unpredictability has been the new Pirelli tires -- the team which masters the rapidly degrading rubber usually emerges victorious. Seven-time world champion and Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher has been heavily critical of the tires, telling CNN they are like driving on "raw eggs," but Ecclestone praised the work done by the Italian manufacturer. "I asked Pirelli if they could make a tire that would only run for a third of the race, which is a lot more difficult than making a tire that will run the whole race. That's easily done; it can run five races if you like. "But to make one that will only run that distance is difficult. They've done a fantastic job and that's what has made this racing so exciting." When reflecting on his contribution to F1, Ecclestone was relaxed when asked if he has received enough credit for what he has given to the sport, responding: "I get what I deserve, I suppose." And what is it that keeps the Englishman going after so long at the forefront of an ever-expanding business? "Job satisfaction."

Bernie Ecclestone tells CNN he intends to run Formula One until he dies . The octogenarian has been running the sport for the last 30 years . Ecclestone hopes grands prix in France and a second race in the U.S. can be agreed . The 81-year-old defends the decision to host a race in Bahrain last month .

(CNN) -- Extended unemployment benefits will temporarily expire for thousands of Americans on Monday because the Senate went on its spring recess without approving a one-month deadline extension. The extension, which had bipartisan support, would have cost about $10 billion, but a lone Republican, Sen. Tom Coburn, said no until the costs are offset. The Oklahoma senator objected to a commonly used unanimous-consent agreement to pass the bill under emergency conditions, even if it increases the federal deficit. Coburn wants to eliminate additional government spending to pay for the bill. "The legitimate debate is whether we borrow and steal from our kids or we get out of town and send the bill to our kids for something that we're going to consume today," Coburn said on the Senate floor. It's the second time a Republican has blocked a so-called "emergency extension" of jobless benefits. Kentucky Sen. Jim Bunning objected to adding to the deficit back in February. "We can't do everything we'd like to do," Bunning said at the time. "We don't have the money." Coburn on Monday refuted the notion he single-handedly blocked the extension, noting that he voted to stay in session to work out the issue. "Congress had several opportunities to extend these benefits in a fiscally-responsible manner before our Easter break but rejected all of them. It's time for Congress to do what's right for both the unemployed and future generations and do the hard work of paying for important priorities," he said in a statement. Bunning on Monday also pointed the finger at congressional Democrats for going on recess before agreeing to a solution that was fully paid for. "I am disappointed that the Democrats continue to play political games to avoid paying for these benefits that are so important to the many struggling families across our nation who rely on them to make ends meet while they search for work. Clearly, the Democrats don't want to help the unemployed unless they can increase the deficit while they're doing it," he said in a statement. Asked whether President Obama believes that the benefits extension should be paid for, Lawrence Summers, one of Obama's top economic advisers, said, "He believes that in an emergency, families who are depending on unemployment insurance to buy medicine for their kids should not have that unemployment insurance cut off." "We believe that we need to approach these issues in their totality, with a fiscal framework that assures that we are getting to a much lower budget deficit," Lawrence, the head of the National Economic Council, said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union." The unemployment benefits provision was a part of the Continuing Extension Act of 2010, which affects other programs, too. The Senate's inaction means lapses in funding for COBRA, Medicare payments to doctors and the National Flood Insurance Program, among other things. The Senate is expected to take up the measure after lawmakers return from recess the week of April 12. Key Democrats said they hope to pass a retroactive extension, compensating the unemployed for a gap in funding. If approved, it would be the seventh time the deadline has been extended since June 2008. Which programs did Congress leave unfunded? For the meantime, Democrats are furious. Sen. Byron Dorgan represents North Dakota. At 4.1 percent, the state has the lowest unemployment rate in the country. "There are a whole lot of people in this country that are unemployed, and if ever there was a need to extend unemployment insurance, it is now. We can't do that to the most vulnerable people in this country," he said. At least 212,000 Americans will be affected Monday. Alexander Mitiuriev, an unemployed aerospace engineer, said Coburn's argument that the nation's children will carry the burden doesn't resonate with him because his kids are being affected right now. "This is my children. For right now, they are affected," he said. "It makes no sense," he said, adding that his children need the money now. Clovia Cox, a personal trainer who is out of work, agreed with Mitiuriev, saying that the future is on the line today. "Having people give up their future dreams and trying to save money for a better working car or better career or a better education -- that is the future. The future starts now. It's desperate now," she said. About 11.5 million people currently depend on jobless benefits. The average unemployment period lasts 32.1 weeks. Of those unemployed, a record 44.1 percent of have been jobless for 27 weeks or more. CNN's Ted Barrett and Kristi Keck and CNNMoney's Jennifer Liberto contributed to this report.

Bunning says Democrats are the ones who continue to "play political games" Extended unemployment benefits expire April 5 . At least 212,000 out-of-work Americans expected to be affected . Senate plans to take up measure extending benefits after its spring recess .

(CNN) -- An al Qaeda group claimed responsibility Tuesday for coordinated attacks on two Iraqi prisons that a lawmaker said freed more than 500 inmates, including some senior members of the militant group. Militants supported by suicide bombers and armed with mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns attacked two Iraqi prisons Sunday and Monday as inmates inside rioted and set fires, ending in a massive jailbreak, authorities said. The attacks occurred Sunday night at Abu Ghraib, west of Baghdad, and al-Taji prison, north of the capital. At least 21 inmates and at least eight prison guards were killed, the Iraqi Justice Ministry said, while 25 inmates and 14 guards were wounded. Blast during sermon in Iraq mosque kills at least 18 . The Justice Ministry did not say how many inmates had escaped, but lawmaker Hakim al-Zamili said Monday that more than 500 fighters had gotten away. A statement posted on radical Islamist websites and purporting to be from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed responsibility for the attacks and said that "more than 500 of the best jihadi fighters" were among the freed inmates. CNN could not confirm the authenticity of the statement, which was signed by the group's Information Ministry instead of the more usual official media wing. State-run TV Al Iraqiya reported that guards at Abu Ghraib, also known as Baghdad Central Prison, facilitated the prison break. Al Iraqiya ran part of an interview with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who said "the guards who were present inside the prison were part of this militia, they were complicit, and they are the ones who opened the prison gates." Al Iraqiya TV also reported that the Ministry of Interior had arrested a number of the escapees, but the report did not specify a number or from which prison they had escaped. Ramzy Mardini, adjunct fellow at the Beirut-based Iraq Institute for Strategic Studies, compared the attacks to a previous prison break in Yemen. Many of those who escaped then belonged to al Qaeda. "Like in Yemen in 2006, this could be al Qaeda's so-called great escape moment in Iraq, whereby a prison break is large and significant enough to exhibit noticeable impact on the insurgency and the group's effectiveness for the foreseeable future," Mardini wrote in an e-mail to CNN. "Al Qaeda has certainly proven its reach over the past year to still exhibit a capacity to pull off high-profile and coordinated attacks. But this takes the cake, especially given the scale of the operation, its potential impact and the fortified nature of the target," he said. Mardini described the attacks as al Qaeda's "best advertisement" in terms of propaganda since 2009 bombings in Baghdad. Bombers strike in Iraq; more than 20 dead . Meanwhile, at least 16 people were killed and dozens wounded in a new wave of explosions and shooting in Baghdad and Mosul on Tuesday, according to police officials. Three roadside bombs exploded in rapid succession near a popular restaurant in southern Baghdad, killing seven people and wounding 28 others. A car bomb and two roadside bombs outside a Sunni mosque, also in southern Baghdad, killed four people and wounded 15 more, officials said. In western Mosul, the northern Iraq metropolis, gunmen at a livestock market killed three Shiite people, who police said were visiting from Baghdad. Two prison guards were shot dead in eastern Mosul. Attacks on Monday also rocked Mosul. A suicide bomber blew himself up at an Iraqi army post in northern Mosul's Kokjili district in the morning, police said. At least 16 people were killed and 21 were wounded. Both civilians and soldiers were among the victims. Later, at least four people were killed and two were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near a Sunni mosque in the al-Muthana neighborhood of central Mosul, police said. The deadly fighting is the latest in a string of violence in recent months, much of it stemming from discord between Sunnis and Shiites. Sunnis have long felt politically marginalized under a Shiite-led government in the post-Saddam Hussein era. They enjoyed more political clout during Hussein's rule before his ouster after the U.S.-led 2003 invasion. See also: Baghdad bombings target mostly Shiite neighborhoods .

NEW: At least 16 people are killed in explosions and shooting Tuesday, police say . Analyst: "This takes the cake ... given the scale of the operation, its potential impact" State-run TV reports that guards at Abu Ghraib were complicit in escapes . Al Qaeda group claims responsibility; at least 500 inmates reportedly escape .

(CNN) -- If you've ever looked closely at a newly minted penny, you've probably been struck by its sheer beauty. Abraham Lincoln's bearded, chiseled, copper face shines forth beneath the proclamation of "In God We Trust" and beside the quintessential American motto, "Liberty." Americans revere the penny, as it encapsulates a history lesson -- Lincoln brought freedom to so many -- and a civics lesson all in one. But increasingly, Americans have stopped using the penny, as we turn toward electronic payments and away from cash. Sadly, inevitably, like so many other beautiful, venerated historical objects, it appears that the penny now belongs in a museum. Earlier this week, President Barack Obama asked Congress for permission to change the mix of metal that goes into making pennies and nickels. He based this recommendation because it costs taxpayers about 2.4 cents to make each penny and 11.2 cents to make each nickel. In fact, the costs of using such coins are even higher. Poor Richard, aka Benjamin Franklin, recognized that "time is money." How much is our time worth? The average American earns a little more than one penny for every two seconds of work. Unfortunately, when there's a penny involved in the transaction, it takes a couple extra seconds to fumble around for the coin and complete the purchase. Thus, for many people, time is more valuable than this money, and increasingly we throw away pennies, lose them, don't bother to collect them to return to the store or let them pile up in jars. Stores pay out more pennies than they receive, so the order goes down the line to make more pennies, which are often lost and ignored -- repeating this vicious cycle. Unfortunately, the U.S. Mint won't find a miracle metal that will make pennies worthwhile. The bottom line is that even if pennies could be created out of thin air, the cost of our time would outweigh the gains from using the penny. For nickels, the math works out better, so I'll second the president's call to begin making nickels out of less costly metal, rather than consigning them to the history books. People from across the political spectrum should unite to retire the penny. Conservatives care about the color red -- they hate the red ink that losses by the U.S. Mint impose on taxpayers. Conservatives also loathe inflation, but unfortunately, the penny's value has been slowly eroded by inflation over the years, so the penny isn't worth a red cent any more. Liberals love the color green. A penny will turn a sour shade of green if you leave it out in the elements long enough, but it's environmentally un-green. Using pennies means an increase in zinc and copper mining, an increase in energy use and pollution at these mines and an increase in energy use and pollution as the government, banks and businesses put rolls of pennies into sacks and lug them from place to place. Penny advocates worry that customers will be ripped off if Congress kills the penny. In a penny-free world, sellers would round your bill to the nearest nickel for cash purchases. Purchases totaling $4.98 or $4.99, for example, would be rounded up to an even $5, while those equaling $5.01 or $5.02 would be rounded down to $5. Since so many retail prices end in a 9, the fear has been that this rounding will gouge consumers. This worry is unfounded. I calculated the magnitude of this "rounding tax" after obtaining data on nearly 200,000 transactions from a multistate convenience store chain. The data reveal that the "rounding tax" is a myth. In reality, the number of times consumers' bills would be rounded upward is almost exactly equal to the number of times that they would be rounded downward. It turns out rounding would have given customers in my study a tiny gain of about 1 cent per every 40 purchases. "Why, oh why, has it taken so long to recognize reality?? Get it done [eliminate the penny], and you will deserve the Nobel Prize!" That's the encouragement I received after former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker read about my findings. Nobel Prize, hmmm ... that's worth almost 150 million pennies. You could start a museum with that ... Follow CNN Opinion on Twitter . Join the conversation on Facebook . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Robert Whaples.

It costs taxpayers about 2.4 cents to make each penny . Robert Whaples: Americans using the penny less as they turn toward electronic payments . He says the U.S. Mint won't find a miracle metal that will make pennies worthwhile . Whaples: People from across the political spectrum should unite to retire the penny .

(CNN)As CNN presents an encore of Roger Ebert's dramatic story "Life Itself," on Friday at 9 p.m. ET, it may strike you how Oscar-nominated director Steve James sprinkles surprising details about the late movie reviewer's life throughout the film. A lot of folks already know that Ebert wrote the screenplay for the 1970 cult classic "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls." They also may remember years ago when he outed himself as a recovering alcoholic. And when Ebert and Gene Siskel launched their TV review show in the 1970s, most people know they didn't get along at first. "Life Itself," includes a Siskel-Ebert squabble so snarky it'll make you squirm with discomfort. The move reminds us that the fame of someone like Ebert, who lost his battle with cancer in 2013, may fool us into thinking we knew him almost like a friend or a neighbor down the street. But of course fame has always been good at casting illusions. "Life Itself" jabs viewers with the realization that there were aspects of Roger we knew nothing about. The private details about Ebert in the film paint a warts-and-all portrait of a man who clearly lived a pretty fulfilling and interesting life. With that in mind, here are five facts from the film that may take you by surprise: . 1. Ebert's drinking years: The 'hired lady' Ebert's longtime friend, writer William Knack, shares this story in the film: "I met Roger one time with a woman that looked like a young Linda Ronstadt ... I said, 'who is that?' And he said, 'she's a hired lady.' And I said, 'a hooker?' And he said, 'Now, you take care of her when I leave.' And he left town." 2. He suspected his cancer was linked to radiation treatments. "My disease may have been started by childhood radiation treatments for an ear infection," said Ebert in the film. 3. Siskel hung out with Playboy founder Hugh Hefner's inner circle. "Gene was more of a — for lack of a better word — an elegant character," Siskel's widow, Marlene Iglitzen said in the film. "He caught the eye of Hugh Hefner and he was adopted by the clan at the [Playboy] Mansion. And he traveled with Hefner in the Bunny Jet. Even though Roger wrote 'Beyond the Valley of the Dolls,' I think Gene lived the life for a while." Take the quiz: How 'Ebert are you? 4. Siskel -- who died in 1999 -- hid his terminal brain cancer from Ebert until his final days. "He didn't really want the [TV show producers] at Disney to know how sick he was. ... and Roger didn't know. And that really wounded Roger," said Ebert's ex-producer Thea Flaum in the film. "I don't think it's that he didn't trust Roger personally. Nonetheless when something like that happens, you take it personally. How else is there to take it?" Eventually Ebert learned Siskel was sick. But it was too late. Ebert's widow Chaz Ebert said the timing was tragic. "I was so sad for Roger for not being able to tell his 'brother' goodbye. ... We were going to go and visit him that Monday, but he passed away that Saturday." 5. A chance meeting with Ebert helped inspire a girl to grow up to be a movie director. When she was 8 or 9, Ava DuVernay's aunt took her to see a rehearsal for the Oscars in Hollywood. When she spotted Ebert, she recognized him from TV. "I remember saying, 'Thumbs up! Thumbs up!' ... And he came over. The two posed for a quick snapshot. After DuVernay directed her first film years later, Ebert's review "really got to the heart of what I was trying to articulate," she said in the documentary. "The film was about my aunt who took me to the Oscars that day ... and about losing someone that you love. Ebert's review touched me so much that I sent him the picture from the Oscars." Later, Ebert honored DuVernay's aunt in a heartfelt blog post. DuVernay went on to direct the 2014 hit film, "Selma." Related: 'Selma' star's incredible transformation . Read Ebert's review of DuVernay's film, "I Will Follow" Read Ebert's blog post: Memories of two beloved aunts .

CNN's "Life Itself" includes surprises about famed film critic Roger Ebert . Friends recall Ebert's early drinking days, including a "hired lady" Ebert suspected radiation treatments were linked to his terminal cancer .

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- In a bustling room full of computers, giant wall-mounted monitors and constantly ringing telephones, a newly gathered army is fighting a war. The swine flu outbreak has kept workers busy at the Emergency Operations Center at the CDC.. The control room is staffed 24/7, and the leader recently had to tell his fighters to make sure to take a day off per week. This is the Emergency Operations Center at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has ramped up its resources to tackle swine flu, a new disease that experts say may evolve into a global pandemic. "The last time when we were really at this level was Hurricane Katrina," said Toby Crafton, operations manager. The CDC has 400 people tasked to work on the virus, also called the 2009 H1N1 flu, Crafton said. The agency had deployed 50 people to various U.S. states and Mexico by Friday. The Mexican government asked the CDC to help facilitate laboratory testing of the virus during a conference call with Canada and the United States, he said. Watch as Dr. Sanjay Gupta tours the Emergency Operations Center » . "We don't go anywhere unilaterally. We don't go into any state unless asked," Crafton said. "So if the state health department or the state health director or the government feels like their capacity is exceeded or they need us for our scientific expertise, they will ask us to come." Explainer: What you should know about 2009 H1N1 flu » . The U.S. has also committed to giving Mexico 400,000 doses of the antiviral drug Tamiflu, a shipment believed to have arrived Friday morning, said Dr. Anne Schuchat, interim deputy director for science and public health at the CDC. In front of each computer in the Emergency Operations Center is a placard: Ethics, Immunization, Mental Health, Security, and dozens more. The people -- some in jeans, some in skirts, some in uniforms with military stripes -- are fielding phones calls to their respective departments. Elsewhere in laboratories, samples of the virus arrive in FedEx and World Courier packages for analysis, triple packaged to avoid leaking. Scientists are working on the genetic sequencing of the virus, as well as growing a strain that functions as a vaccine. Although the CDC is not in the business of mass-producing vaccines, researchers there are working on developing one. A vaccine strain is being grown and characterized, Schuchat said. Once a suitable candidate virus is developed -- it takes about three weeks -- the CDC theoretically would send it to a manufacturer, which would need another eight to 10 weeks to determine production possibilities as well as the dosage, said Dr. Nancy Cox, director of the CDC's Influenza Division, at a press conference Friday. But it would not interfere with the seasonal influenza vaccine. "If a vaccine for this new virus is prepared, it would be prepared either in parallel with or after the seasonal vaccine is already produced," Cox said. Still, there has not been a recommendation to mass produce a vaccine for swine flu. The U.S. part of that decision would come from the Department of Health and Human Services. Map: Where the flu is » . Researchers are still struggling to understand the origin of the virus. "What isn't making sense right now is why there weren't reports of illness in pigs," said Michael Shaw, leader of the laboratory team force for the 2009 H1N1 virus. "Usually, if you find a human who has been infected by a swine influenza virus, you look around, you start seeing sick pigs, and we haven't seen that." Watch Dr. Sanjay Gupta talk with Michael Shaw about what CDC is doing to combat virus » . It is possible that the virus did not originate in pigs. Swine viruses have been found in turkeys, for example, Shaw said. The 2009 H1N1 virus has a "level 2" containment distinction at the CDC, although extra precautions from "level 3" are being applied, Shaw said. That means swine flu is one containment level below avian flu, which was at 3. One key handling difference is that lab workers had to shower after being exposed to the avian virus, he said. Back in the Emergency Operations Center, computer screens glow with e-mails, maps, databases, slides and articles related to the new flu strain. "We're going to continue to be vigilant and continue to work as hard as we can until it's over," Crafton said.

CDC has 400 people tasked to track and fight the 2009 H1N1 flu virus . Emergency Operations Center in Atlanta, Georgia, operates 24/7 . Researchers still struggling to understand the origin of the virus .

Washington (CNN) -- Van Jones is an American treasure. He is quite simply one of the few Americans in recent years to have generated powerful new ideas that are creating more jobs here. He wrote the national bestseller, "The Green Collar Economy," which provided the definitive blueprint for retooling American industry to create pathways out of poverty and generate a national economic recovery. He was a driving force behind passage of the 2007 Green Jobs Act. In fact, Van's ideas have helped lead to the creation of tens of thousands of jobs across the industrial Midwest and throughout the nation's decaying urban and rural areas. Van Jones also may be the most misunderstood man in America. He resigned from the White House last year after some sought to discredit him for missteps, such as political statements made years ago. However, we can never afford to forget that a defining trait of our country is our collective capacity to practice forgiveness and celebrate redemption. This is a nation built on second chances. In America, we ultimately judge people on what they are doing today for tomorrow, not for what they did yesterday. When former Alabama Gov. George Wallace embraced integration, we forgave him for having championed segregation. When West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd embraced civil rights legislation, we forgave him for having defended racist organizations. The real Van Jones story is about how a young leader became the father of the green jobs movement. In response to a longstanding jobs crisis in Oakland, California, he helped initiate the Oakland Green Jobs Corps, one of the nation's first job training programs targeting low-income people for work in the solar and green industries. This program has become a renowned model for numerous initiatives that are now up and running across America. Today, Van's vision for seizing the opportunity created by the global shift to solar power and other forms of renewable energy is becoming a reality. Policies he has promoted are bringing change to downsized economies across America. In Ebensburg, Pennsylvania, workers have gotten new jobs from a county wind turbine plant and from other wind energy projects generated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The jobs are union jobs with health benefits and living wages. At a time of record unemployment, when 2.7 million Americans are getting ready to lose unemployment benefits, green jobs can provide a way up for some families in dire need of good options. Long before joining the administration, Van was America's champion for green jobs. He helped found three national organizations, including "Green for All" in 2007, that are pushing for green energy jobs for Americans who urgently need work. Far from the divisive caricature painted by some cable news outlets, Van has been one of America's most effective and inspiring bridge-builders. He has successfully brought together labor leaders, business executives, civil rights champions, students and environmentalists to find creative solutions to the ecological and economic crises. His efforts earned him designation as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2004. His ideas served as the foundation for the 2007 Green Jobs Act, signed by President George W. Bush, which paved the way for $500 million in retraining funds provided under the Recovery Act during the Obama administration. Walk through the streets of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, or Akron, Ohio, once the steel and the rubber capitals of the world respectively, and you see the dire need for redeeming the American heartland. The lack of industry has devastated towns and cities and thrown families into catastrophe. Through Green for All, and others organizations, Van Jones continues to work for an American economy that can thrive again -- a nation whose prosperity reaches beyond Wall Street to Main Street and back streets. A country where jobs in installation, manufacturing and construction flourish again -- to upgrade our homes to conserve energy, create solar panels, build electric cars, and manufacture wind turbines and smart batteries. Furthermore, Van is working to make sure that our country does not lose out to India, China or Germany in the green industrial race. His vision gives us a fighting chance to reclaim something we lost years ago, back when steel was king. In those days, blue-collar workers could support their families with their wages, and our nation was not the world's leading debtor. Van's vision, in short, is a vision for America restored to its place as the definitive world economic leader. It is for reasons like these that Time magazine named Van one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2009 and that I am proud to give him the NAACP President's Award at our 41st Image Awards this Friday. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Benjamin Todd Jealous.

Benjamin Todd Jealous says Van Jones, Obama's former green jobs "czar," is visionary . He says Jones was misunderstood, unfairly discredited for early missteps . Instead, he deserves praise for creating a model for a green jobs economy, he says . Jealous: Jones' vision earned him the NAACP President's Award for 2010 .

(CNN) -- Broken noses, black eyes, bent fingers -- rugby players wear their battle scars as badges of honor. "You're never in danger of not being seen as a rugby player," says England's Simon Shaw, who at 6 feet 8 inches (2.03 meters) tall is never in danger of not being seen. "Rugby you wear on your face, basically." After a 15-year international career, Shaw has his fair share of bumps and bruises to take into his third World Cup in New Zealand. Among the marks the game has left on his frame over the years is a classic rugby war wound, one that is increasingly rare in the modern, headgear-wearing era: a cauliflower ear. But his is a minor example compared to some former players. A bluffer's guide to rugby union . England scrum coach and former player Graham Rowntree is naturally blessed with ears like taxi doors, but the former loosehead prop augmented them with years of hard service in front row of the scrum. As one of the ways to restart play, the set scrum is also one area of the game that can be hard to referee -- and what really goes on in there is only really known by the players themselves. But if the battle scars of rugby haven't changed much since Shaw first started playing in 1990, he says that pretty much every other part of the game has been transformed. New Zealand's World Cup obsession . Professionalism, training regimes, nutritionists and physios have all combined to create the modern players' physiques. "It amuses me that in adverts and in films that get made about rugby, often they're blokes that are overweight and with beer bellies. That's not the case anymore," Shaw says. "Bumps and minor injuries are part and parcel of the game, given the strength and the speed of players playing now. But also guys now are conditioned more to take the hits. "It can look worse than it is as these days there are something like 15 TV cameras trained on every game. It can even be in 3-D and you can watch it in slow motion." That's easy for Shaw to say. His enduring toughness has given him the ability to play at the highest level for over 20 years. But for armchair spectators, the hard-hitting part of rugby they find so appealing remains best sampled vicariously. "I've played with dislocated fingers. You often get (injuries) a couple of days before a game. You just tape them up and get on with it," Shaw says. The ultimate example of "getting on with it" must be former New Zealand captain Wayne "Buck" Shelford. In a match against France in 1986, his scrotum was ripped by an opponent's studded boot. It's a horrific injury that would make most never want to play again, but Shelford went to the sideline, had it stitched up and amazingly went back on the field to play the rest of the match. Shelford has said that he doesn't remember the incident or the game itself, having also been knocked out and losing a few teeth as well. Rules have tightened up against dangerous play to curb stray boots and flying fists. "The game isn't quite as ferocious nowadays," says Shaw. "Well, basically there are not quite as many fights." Spear tackling and taking out players who are jumping for the ball are not allowed because of the potentially career or even life-threatening consequences. As well as tighter laws, having so many cameras at big matches has meant that players can't get away with any foul play behind the referee's back. Certainly nothing like the organized brawl that took place on the British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa in 1974 that has become a rugby legend. After some violent play in previous matches, Lions captain Willie John McBride decided before the match in Port Elizabeth that his team would "get their retaliation in first" at the first sign of South African aggression. When "99" was called at a lineout, each one of the 15 Lions players took a swing at an opponent, meaning the referee couldn't identify the instigator of the fight. Not one player was sent off. As he looks forward to what will probably be his last international appearances, Shaw has no nostalgia for the old days. The game remains tough enough without too many of the extras. "The level of rucking (a contest for the ball after a tackle) has pretty much been eradicated from the game, which has made it a lot safer. You don't come away from a game with a road map on your back made of ruck marks."

Physical nature of rugby means that bruises and injuries are common . Players are fitter and stronger than ever due to modern training regimes . England player Simon Shaw says game has transformed during his career . Rules have tightened up against dangerous play to curb stray boots and flying fists .

Moscow, Russia (CNN) -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin sent a strong signal Thursday that he has full hands-on control of his country. As part of his annual town hall forum, Putin spoke for four hours and fielded 80 questions out of 2 million-plus submitted on a live call-in program, "Conversation With Vladimir Putin -- Continued." Responding to a question on whether he had any plans to retire and enjoy the life of an ordinary citizen, Putin tersely replied, "Don't count on that." And when asked whether he plans to run for the presidency again in 2012, he said, "I will think about it. There is plenty of time for that." Speaking of his "tandem" with President Dmitry Medvedev, Putin said he had "known him for many years, graduated from the same universities, having been taught by the same professors." "Those common principles allow us to effectively work together," he said, responding to the never-ending speculation about which one of the duo is more important and whether a rift between them is possible. Putin juggled a myriad of facts and statistics, giving instructions to subordinates along the way to fix problems, as he responded to questions mostly on Russia's domestic issues. These covered pensions, medication prices, the overhauling of entire industries and Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization, Amur tigers and hip-hop music, and everything in between. The program was broadcast live on government television and radio. It marked Putin's eighth annual year-end "town meeting," first launched in 2001 when he was president. This year's forum was his second as prime minister. Representatives from all Russian industries as well as university students packed the auditorium in Gostiny Dvor, a large conference hall next door to the Kremlin, where Putin appeared. Putin took questions from the hall's floor, with live cameras positioned in towns and cities across Russia, and he also responded to phone calls, e-mails and mobile SMS messages. He started off by addressing the issue of terrorism, coming nearly a week after the derailment of a luxury Moscow-St.Petersburg express train, which left 26 people dead and more than 100 injured. Russia's Federal Security Service said an improvised explosive device, which unknown bombers placed beneath the railroad bed, caused Friday's derailment. It was the biggest terror act outside Russia's troubled North Caucasus region since 2004. "We did a lot [in recent years] to break the backbone of terrorism, but the threat has not been eliminated yet," Putin said. "The entire society, each of us, should be conscious of this threat and be vigilant." Addressing the economy, Putin said the peak of the global economic crisis has passed, "although turbulent trends in the global and, as a result, the Russian economy, are still in place." "It will take time and effort to overcome the crisis," he said. The past year has been "one of the most difficult" for Russia in this decade, Putin added, saying the 2009 gross domestic product will shrink by 8.5 percent to 8.7 percent. The slump in the country's industry will be even bigger, he said, around 13 percent, but the projected inflation for 2009 will be lower than in the past year, about 9 percent. The prime minister also cited what he called "positive developments" in the Russian economy. He said some industries, such as military hardware production and agriculture, are even growing. In the arena of international politics, Putin told a questioner that he and former President George W. Bush had a good relationship but have not been in touch. The prime minister described Bush as a "very honest and nice person," saying that if the ex-U.S. leader wanted to continue their relationship, he would be glad to do so. Putin's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, said the wide range of issues on which Russians posed questions "provides an excellent instrument for sociological study, and all questions that are being raised, are carefully studied. That [call-in show] gives a very reliable sociological survey." Putin's popularity ratings at home demonstrates his political dominance in Russia. Confidence in the prime minister stood at 70 percent, as opposed to 59 percent for Medvedev, according to a recently published opinion poll conducted by Russia's Public Opinion Foundation. While Putin had his town hall forum, Medvedev was holding meetings in Italy with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Pope Benedict XVI.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin dismisses notion of retiring at town hall forum . Putin: "Common principles" let him, President Dmitry Medvedev work well together . Putin calls George W. Bush a "very honest and nice person" Putin says it will take time to overcome global financial crisis .

JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- An Indonesian court has sentenced the alleged military commander of an al Qaeda-linked terror network to 15 years in prison. Abu Dujana is suspected of plotting attacks on the Australian Embassy and J.W. Marriott hotel in Jakarta. Abu Dujana is the alleged leader of the military wing of Jemaah Islamiyah, a group that is thought to be linked to al Qaeda. It aims to create a Muslim "superstate" across much of Southeast Asia. Dujana, a slight, wiry man, is accused of direct involvement in the Bali nightclub bombings of 2002 that killed more than 200, mostly Western, tourists. He is also suspected of plotting subsequent attacks on the Australian Embassy and J.W. Marriott hotel, both in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. Furthermore, authorities say Dujana is behind the violence in Poso, on Indonesia's eastern Sulawesi island. Fighting between Muslims and Christians periodically breaks out in the region and sometimes turns deadly. Police have accused Jemaah Islamiyah of sending armed militants to Poso. The court found Dujana guilty Monday of illegally possessing firearms and explosives, and of harboring suspected terrorists. His lawyers said they may appeal the sentence. After his arrest last June following a four-year hunt, Dujana admitted to CNN that he was Jemaah Islamiyah's military chief. But he said that happened only after the attacks on Western targets. He described Jemaah Islamiyah to CNN as "an underground organization," saying "it will continue to exist and continue to move on with its plans" to create an Islamic state under Sharia law despite his capture. "When a part of it is cut off ...there will be a replacement, it's only natural," he said. Dujana denied being involved in the Marriott Hotel attack. He told CNN that he helped fugitive suspect Noordin Top plan the attack, meeting him both before and after the devastating blast that killed 12 people and injured 150. "It's true, I did have a meeting with Noordin before the Marriott bombing but that doesn't mean I was involved in the attack," he said. "In that meeting, we're just aligning our views with each other -- there was absolutely no discussion about planning any bombing." In his CNN interview, Dujana was quick with messages of hate, calling all Westerners legitimate targets because of the actions of leaders like U.S. President George W. Bush and then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who he says are not giving Muslims the chance to be in power. Dujana studied in Pakistan and fought in Afghanistan from 1988 to 1991. He told CNN that he met al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan during the fight against Soviet occupation. At the time, bin Laden was a field commander and he was an ordinary soldier, he said. Dujana said bin Laden was well respected then and helped him and others realize that it was permissible to kill people to defend Islam. "I didn't read it in the Quran," he said. " It's based on the teachings of our teachers, clerics, especially what Osama bin Laden first said." "Because of America's arrogance, many in the Muslim world know, believe, it's permissible to kill American soldiers. It's halal; it's permitted," he said. The court declared Jemaah Islamiyah a terrorist organization Monday and ordered it to pay 10 million rupiah ($1,088). Around the same time Dujana was captured last June, authorities also apprehended Jemaah Islamiyah's leader, known simply as Zarkasih. A verdict on his case is expected soon. Last week, two other top Jemaah Islamiyah leaders -- Dr. Agus Purwanto and Abdur Rohim -- were brought to Indonesia following their arrest in Malaysia. Both are being investigated for their possible role in fomenting violence in Poso. Terrorism expert Sidney Jones says Abdur Rohim is believed to have replaced Zarkasih as Jemaah Islamiyah leader. "It is another major blow to Jemaah Islamiyah, but difficult to tell what the impact will be," Jones told CNN via e-mail last week. "It could embolden a more militant faction. [It] could also lead to some serious reassessment within the organization about its future." E-mail to a friend . CNN's Kathy Quiano contributed to this report.

Indonesian court sentences Abu Dujana to 15 years in prison . Dujana is the alleged leader of the military wing of Jemaah Islamiyah . Dujana is accused of direct involvement in the Bali nightclub bombings of 2002 . After his arrest last June, Dujana admitted he was Jemaah Islamiyah's military chief .

(CNN) -- A Lance Armstrong representative tried to make a donation of about $250,000 to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency before the agency launched the investigation that led to the cyclist being stripped of his Tour de France titles, the chief of the USADA said. "I was stunned," Travis Tygart, the head of the anti-doping agency told "60 Minutes Sports'' about the alleged 2004 offer. ''It was a clear conflict of interest for USADA. We had no hesitation in rejecting that offer.'' Armstrong attorney Tim Herman said there's no truth to the story. "He never made any such contribution or suggestion," Herman said in a statement e-mailed to CNN Wednesday. Annie Skinner, a spokeswoman for the USADA, told CNN that Tygart's quotes, released by "60 Minutes Sports,'' were accurate. The new accusation is another chapter in the twisting tale of Armstrong, a one-time hero to many who has now fallen in disgrace. Armstrong will give his first television interview since being stripped of his Tour de France titles to Oprah Winfrey, her network announced Tuesday. A news release from the Oprah Winfrey Network said the 90-minute "no-holds-barred" interview will air at 9 p.m. ET January 17 and will be simulcast on Oprah.com. Winfrey will ask the cyclist to address the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency's report, which said there was overwhelming evidence Armstrong was directly involved in a sophisticated doping program, the statement said. The International Cycling Union, which chose not to appeal the USADA's lifetime ban, stripped Armstrong of his record seven Tour victories in October. Armstrong's lawyer: No talks with anti-doping agencies . The World Anti-Doping Agency also agreed with the sanctions, which means Armstrong may not compete in sports governed by WADA code. Before the ban, he was competing in Ironman triathlons and had won two of the five events he had entered. Since the ban he has entered two non-sanctioned events. According to his Twitter feed, Armstrong has been biking, running and swimming in Hawaii. The Winfrey interview will take place at Armstrong's home in Austin, Texas. The New York Times reported last week that Armstrong, 41, was contemplating publicly admitting he used illegal performance-enhancing drugs. Such an admission might lead toward Armstrong regaining his eligibility. One of his attorneys denied Armstrong was in discussion with the two anti-doping agencies. Dan Wuori, a writer at cycling publication Velo Magazine, said Armstrong may reveal a lot during the Oprah interview. "I think what we are seeing here is the beginning of Lance's effort at redemption," Wuori said. "More and more continues to come out about Armstrong. This seems like an effort of Armstrong to get ahead of the story and control the narrative." The gain game: Why do sports stars cheat? Armstrong has repeatedly and vehemently denied that he used banned performance-enhancing drugs as well as illegal blood transfusions during his cycling career. Armstrong has been an icon for his cycling feats and celebrity, bringing more status to a sport wildly popular in some nations but lacking big-name recognition, big money and mass appeal in the United States. He fought back from testicular cancer to win the Tour from 1999 to 2005. He raised millions via his Lance Armstrong Foundation to help cancer victims and survivors, an effort illustrated by trendy yellow "LiveSTRONG" wristbands that helped bring in the money. But Armstrong has long been dogged by doping allegations, with compatriot Floyd Landis -- who was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title after failing a drug test -- making a series of claims in 2011. Armstrong sued the USADA last year to stop its investigation of him, arguing it did not have the right to prosecute him. But after a federal judge dismissed the case, Armstrong said he would no longer participate in the investigation. In October 2012, Armstrong was stripped of his titles and banned from cycling. Weeks later, he stepped down from the board of his foundation, Livestrong. It is unclear whether Armstrong would face criminal prosecution for perjury should he confess. Armstrong was involved in several cases where he gave sworn testimony that he never used banned drugs. Silence falls awaiting Armstrong's 'last word' CNN's Jillian Martin contributed to this report.

NEW: Armstrong's attorney says the cyclist never tried to make such a donation . USADA chief says donation offer was a conflict of interest . Lance Armstrong has agreed to 90-minute interview, Oprah Winfrey's network announces . Release says Armstrong is expected to talk about doping allegations .

Istanbul, Turkey (CNN) -- -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lashed out at Israel and warned the United States against pushing for new sanctions on his country a news conference on the sidelines of an Asian security summit here Tuesday. A key item on the agenda at the summit is last week's Israeli raid on an aid flotilla in the Mediterranean. Ahmadinejad said the confrontation revealed Israel's "devilish" nature. "It showed violence and hatred and war-mongering attitudes," he said at the news conference. "The devilish sound of the uncultured Zionists was coming out from their deceit. ... They were holding up the flag of the devil itself." The raid led to the deaths of nine people, all Turkish citizens -- including one Turkish-American. Turkey is urging Israel to accept an international probe into the incident. Ahmadinejad congratulated Turkey, which has been in a war of words with Israel following the raid, for its response. Israel's envoy to Turkey later walked out on an Ahmadinejad speech at the conference. Ambassador Gabby Levy walked out in protest when Ahmadinejad started criticizing the "Zionist regime," said Amit Zarouk, a spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Ankara. Both Israel and Iran are members of Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA). Ahmadinejad and Levy did appear together in a group photo of delegates to the conference, along with dozens of other attendees. "Beleaguered" was how one Western diplomat described Levy's disposition during Tuesday's meeting. Host country Turkey, once Israel's close Middle Eastern ally, has called on member countries to condemn Israel's raid on the aid convoy. The incident has pushed Turkey to side with Israel's enemies Iran and Syria, in harshly condemning the Jewish state. Russia, which is also a member of CICA, condemned the attack as well, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said in remarks carried on Russian state TV. "Generally speaking, such actions against civilian vessels are unacceptable," Putin said. "The fact that they were conducted in neutral waters raises many questions, and the incident must be thoroughly investigated. We are sorry for the victims of the incident, and we hope nothing of this kind will happen again." Iran's nuclear program has been another major topic at the summit. The United States expects to bring a new resolution on increased sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program to a vote in the United Nations Security Council this week. A draft resolution saying Iran had failed to meet international requirements and U.N. resolutions was circulating at the world body on Tuesday. CNN obtained a copy from a Western diplomat. The resolution -- which could still be changed before it comes to a vote -- is set to call for tighter restrictions on people, companies and organizations, including the Revolutionary Guard Corps. The targets of the sanctions are still being worked out, the diplomat said. By calling for a resolution instead of sitting down for talks with Iran, the United States is "gravely mistaken," Ahmadinejad said. "Within the framework of respect and justice, we're ready to negotiate with everyone. Anyone who is going to resort to the language of force and aggression, the response is clear," he said. Ahmadinejad went on to commend Turkey and Brazil for recently negotiating a deal with Iran on a uranium enrichment swap. "The initiative marked the beginning of a new path -- the beginning of an end to unilateralism in the world," he said. The United States, he added, missed an opportunity by not embracing the deal. Putin said sanctions against Iran should not be "excessive, or put the Iranian leadership, and above all the Iranian people, in a false position that would put obstacles in the way of Iran's peaceful nuclear energy development." Asked whether the raid on the flotilla last week will change the way countries vote in the Security Council, Ahmadinejad said the raid will actually change many things. For Israel, he said, "it has actually rung the final countdown for its existence. It shows that it has no room in the region and no one is ready to live alongside it. Actually, no country in the world recognizes it, and you know that the Zionist regime is the backbone of the dictatorial world order." In fact, many countries recognize Israel. He added, "Maybe at the Security Council, it will impact temporarily. The Zionist regime, with what it has done, it actually stopped its possibility to exist in the region anymore." CNN's Ivan Watson and Maxim Tkachenko contributed to this report.

NEW: Draft resolution slapping tighter sanctions on Iran circulates at U.N. Russian PM Putin says Israel raid on aid flotilla is 'unacceptable' Israeli ambassador walks out on Ahmadinejad speech . Iranian president says last week's flotilla raid showed Israel's 'devilish' nature .

(CNN) -- Taryn Davis was 19 when she married her high school sweetheart. "It was probably the happiest point of my life," she said. "I didn't need someone to complete my life. He made me want to be a better person." Two days after the wedding, Davis moved to Alaska to be with her husband, Michael Davis, who was stationed at an Army base there, putting their honeymoon plans on hold. "He wanted to take me to Hawaii," she remembered. But they never got to take that trip. On May 21, 2007, Davis came home to find two men waiting to tell her that her husband had been killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq. At 21, Davis was a widow. Consumed by grief, she felt she had nowhere to turn for support. After her husband was deployed to Iraq, Davis moved back home to San Marcos, Texas, away from a military community. "I didn't live near any bases," she said. "When Michael was killed, I was in my senior year in college. I didn't have a connection to military wives." But Davis was not alone. Since 2001, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have left 2,829 women without husbands and 46 men without wives, according to a May 2011 report from the Defense Manpower Data Center. "In the beginning after I lost Michael, I honestly wanted to die," she said. "I wanted someone 21 to say, 'I got the knock on the door. I had the two men who said the words that shattered my world. And I am like you and trying to pick up the pieces.' " So she made it her mission to seek out other widows. She contacted a widow whose husband was killed alongside hers. "I gave her a call one day, and I said, 'I want to know all the things that people stopped asking me. I want to know how you met your husband. I want to know how you fell in love, how you were notified, and most importantly, I want to know what makes you get up every day and face life again,' because I didn't know the answers." Davis found other widows on MySpace and used some of the $100,000 she received in military death benefits to buy video equipment. Then she set out across the country to interview six widows in six different cities. "It was in the midst of filming that documentary that I got the idea of starting a nonprofit organization that would allow these women to have a place to share all the things that we basically were asking [in the film]," she said. Four months after Davis' husband was killed, the American Widow Project was born. Since then, more than 750 widows have joined the organization. It started with the website -- a place for young widows to share their stories, learn from one another and find comfort in knowing they're not alone. Then Davis began organizing "getaway" trips so the widows could meet in person. The trips have ranged from skydiving out of planes to rebuilding a house damaged by Hurricane Katrina through the St. Bernard Project. Brooke Toner, a widow who helped rebuild the house in New Orleans, said it was hard to find other people who understood what she was going through. "After Frankie died, I just felt like there was nothing that was going to give me any comfort," Toner said. "I felt like nobody could understand that amount of loss of my best friend, my husband, my soul mate. "I didn't even think that these women could understand that. But I've been fortunate to meet all of them. They're dealing with so much of it, and they're on a similar path. For me, it's comforting." Erin Dructor, who also lost her husband, agrees. "It's opened my eyes to show me different ways on how to be able to handle things to where I feel like I'm not alone," she said. "It's definitely helped me heal more." For Davis, starting the organization has helped her just as much as it's helping other young widows. "In the beginning, it was hard for me to even laugh or smile because I thought if people saw me laughing or smiling, they would think that I was over Michael," she said. "In reality, I've learned that when I'm laughing and smiling and I feel most alive is when I feel my husband the most. "We're all on different journeys. We all have different paths. But to come here on one of our getaways for at least three days and just feel united, feel the love of our husbands and feel the love of our new lives that we're rebuilding together ... that's the thing that gets me through it."

Taryn Davis founded the American Widow Project after her husband was killed in Iraq . The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have produced close to 3,000 widows . Widows can share stories on americanwidowproject.org, meet other women on getaway trips .

Constitucion, Chile (CNN) -- The only thing that seemed to frighten Pedro Munoz that dark morning was that a guilty conscience would haunt him if he did nothing. He'd been a fisherman all his life and was familiar with the fury of the sea. Still, he chose to sail into the oncoming tsunami, sacrificing his own life so others could live. Tabita Bravo sits on a riverbank, perching on the side of a 15-foot wooden boat like her husband's. It's a struggle to hear her small voice above the sound of waves rolling over the pebbles. "My husband always said to me that if God took him before his time, that he hoped it would be doing something for his town and his people," Bravo said. Bravo had been camping with her 54-year-old husband, her 20-year-old son, Luis Anabalon, and family friend Juan Padilla on an island in the River Maule. The island is a few hundred yards from the ocean and closer still to the town of Constitucion. It was a tradition here to camp out on the island in the closing days of the Southern Hemisphere's summer. The family was asleep, and scores more were camping nearby when they were awakened by the massive quake about 3.30 a.m. local time February 27. Munoz took one look as the river began to rapidly ebb and knew that a tsunami was on its way. "Pedro and my son dragged the boat down to the water line and shouted 'Women and children first!' I ran to get everybody together. But the boat was too small, and there was not enough space for everybody," Bravo explained. Bravo refused a spot on the first boat. She, her son and Padilla helped load four women and their six young children aboard. A first wave came rolling in, and Munoz ferried the first group out of harm's way. He shouted that he would be back. Just before the second wave hit, Munoz sailed the 400-yard round trip and departed the island a second time, taking his wife and nine others. His stepson and friend stayed behind to organize the others still stranded. Time was running out as the tsunami waters rose. "As I looked back, I heard screams and laments," Bravo said. "I shouted to my son Luis to run to the trees and climb up. He shouted back, 'I'm OK, Mum. Never forget I love you. I love you.' " Witnesses say Munoz saved at least 20 people in two trips. His wife begged him not to go back and instead head for higher ground. But a neighbor appeared and begged Munoz to make a third and final trip. "He said, don't worry, he'd be back. But he said, if he didn't make it, then that's God's will," Bravo said. "He said if he didn't try to rescue more people, then he'd always have it on his conscience." Those were Munoz's last words to his wife. She waited for him by a bridge until the water levels forced her to flee to high ground. "I heard the third wave coming and destroying everything in its path. I heard ships' moorings snap. I ran up the hill, and when I looked back, I realized Pedro, Luis and Juan were gone. I knew I'd never see them again." Bravo said. Inhabitants of Constitucion found Munoz's body six days later. He had been dragged 5 kilometers (about 3 miles) into the thick forests that line the banks of the River Maule. Debris and bits of houses litter the forests. Three fishing boats, each about 70 tons, lie battered and beached there, too. A short bit away, the digging arm of a bright yellow backhoe can be seen jutting out of the water. On the opposite side of the river, the back of a cement truck rises just above the water level. If the tsunami has destroyed those objects, each weighing many tons, one can't even begin to imagine how Pedro Munoz must have battled to keep his 15-foot skiff on course. There's no record of the names of the 20 women and children whom witnesses say Munoz saved that morning. Events unfolded too fast, and the situation was too desperate to make a note. The tsunami has wiped out most of Tabita Bravo's physical reminders of her marriage to Munoz, too. She clutches just three damp photos she rescued from the sludge. But she will never forget. "I always knew Pedro was a hero. Now, the memories are in my heart," she said.

Pedro Munoz was camping on island in river when earthquake struck . He made two trips in his boat to save at least 20 people . "He said, if he didn't make it, then that's God's will," widow says .

(CNN) -- Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas won the Democratic primary Tuesday, beating back a challenge from Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, whose campaign was fueled by unions and liberal activists. Voters in 12 states held primary elections Tuesday night, but the outcomes of two contests in South Carolina will be delayed by another two weeks. A runoff will be held June 22 for the Republican gubernatorial nomination as well as for a GOP congressional seat in the northern part of the state. California Republican voters chose two women to vie for two of the state's highest offices: Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman will face Attorney General Jerry Brown, a former governor, for the governor's office, and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina will take on Sen. Barbara Boxer for her seat. And in Nevada, Tea Party-backed Sharron Angle beat the GOP establishment candidate to earn the right to take on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in November. At the same time, embattled Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons, a Republican, became the state's first incumbent governor in 100 years to lose a primary race. The South Carolina GOP gubernatorial contest captured national attention because of accusations of extramarital affairs. The candidates are vying to succeed scandal-plagued Gov. Mark Sanford, a fellow Republican. A year after Sanford made national news for disappearing and then admitting to an affair with a woman from Argentina, allegations of infidelity surrounded state lawmaker Nikki Haley. Haley has denied the accusations over the last two weeks, which she said rival campaigns were pushing. Haley cruised to a commanding lead but fell short of the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff election, scheduled for June 22. She'll face U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett, who came in at a distant second. "You saw us push against the establishment and push against the money and push against the power," Haley said at her election-night celebration in Columbia, South Carolina. "And boy did they push back." Haley told supporters, "Over the last two weeks, we said no to the dark side of politics." Haley, Barrett headed for runoff . In California, Whitman topped Steve Poizner in the gubernatorial primary. Whitman, who also was an adviser and surrogate for Sen. John McCain's 2008 presidential bid, spent around $70 million of her own money in the race. Poizner, California's insurance commissioner and a self-made multimillionaire, injected some $25 million of his money into his campaign. California Republicans batter each other in primaries. The winner in November will succeed Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who can't seek re-election because of term limits. Fiorina easily won the Republican Senate primary, and polls suggest that Boxer faces a tough re-election battle. In neighboring Nevada, Reid also is considered vulnerable in November. A crowded field of 13 Republicans were competing for a chance to challenge the Senate majority leader in his bid for a fifth term in the Senate. Angle, a former Nevada Assembly member, won endorsements from many conservative organizations, including significant financial backing from the Tea Party Express, a national Tea Party group best known for running cross-country bus caravans, and the Club for Growth, a fiscally conservative organization. Gibbons' loss makes him the first incumbent governor to lose a primary this year. Former federal Judge Brian Sandoval won the state's GOP gubernatorial contest. Nevada Republicans in 'slugfest' for right to take on Reid . In Arkansas, Lincoln was able to survive a primary runoff despite an anti-incumbent wave, but she'll face a tough general-election fight against Rep. John Boozman, the GOP nominee. "We've got a lot worth fighting for. A whole lot worth fighting for. We're going to make sure, as we regroup tomorrow, we put this campaign on a trajectory toward November and a victory in November," Lincoln said after the results came in. Lincoln fights 'incumbent' label . Iowa, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, North Dakota, South Dakota and Virginia also held primaries Tuesday. Former state Rep. Tom Graves, a Republican, won the runoff in Georgia to fill the seat of former Rep. Nathan Deal. Deal, also a Republican, stepped down this year to run for Georgia governor. CNN's Kevin Bohn, Peter Hamby, Kristi Keck, Mark Preston, Charles Riley and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

Sen. Blanche Lincoln wins Arkansas runoff . Nikki Haley, Rep. Gresham Barrett face runoff in South Carolina governor's race . Meg Whitman wins battle for GOP gubernatorial nomination in California . Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons loses in primary .

(CNN) -- Now that delegates have converged on Tampa, Florida, for the Republican National Convention, one has to wonder whether there is enough room in the arena for all the conflicting and contradictory elements of the modern Republican Party. There is the camp that claims it wants to be more inclusive, broader in its appeal and more welcoming to women, gays and minorities. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush recently warned that, because of changing demographics, the GOP has to "reach out to a much broader audience than we do today." But then there is the camp that ensured that the Republican platform included language rejecting not just same-sex marriage but also the watered-down alternative that many elected officials find more palatable: civil unions. The GOP platform committee also defeated a proposed amendment that said all Americans should be treated "equally under the law" as long as they're not hurting anyone else. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who is known for his immigration hard-line, implied that it was fine to treat gays and lesbians differently because: "Our government routinely judges situations where you might regard people completely affecting themselves like, for example, the use of controlled substances, like, for example, polygamy that is voluntarily entered into. We condemn those activities even though they are not hurting other people at least directly." Opinion: What the GOP needs to do in Tampa . There is the group that insists it wants to focus on economic issues as the best way to defeat President Barack Obama. Many political observers see Mitt Romney's choice of spending hawk Paul Ryan as his running mate as pretty strong evidence that this view is prevailing at the top of the ticket. But then there is the group that can't seem to resist the catnip of social conservatism and that charges into the abortion debate. The platform also includes an across-the-board ban on all abortions, even in the case of rape or incest. And in 2012, as in previous election years, even with all the supposed emphasis on the economy, being pro-choice was considered a liability for those vying for the Republican presidential nomination and a disqualifier for anyone chosen to be vice president. There is the camp that calls for states such as Arizona to have the last say in shaping immigration policy by enlisting local police in the enforcement of federal immigration laws, denying driver's licenses to illegal immigrants or attempting to punish landlords who rent to them. But there is also the camp that insists that states shouldn't have the final word with regard to immigration if it means they can grant drivers' permits to illegal immigrants or opt out of a program such as Secure Communities, which requires local police to submit to federal authorities the fingerprints of anyone they arrest to determine if they're in the country illegally. There is the faction that still thinks you can keep out illegal immigrants from Mexico and the rest of Latin America by building walls and fences on the U.S.-Mexico border, but also the faction that wants to create new ways to bring in an ample supply of Mexican immigrants to work legally in agriculture, hospitality, construction and other industries. There is the group that supports Romney's plan to encourage illegal immigrants to simply "self-deport" by making the country more unwelcoming and drying up employment opportunities, and the group that worries about a labor shortage and economic slowdown if that happens. Opinion: Romney's 'birther' remark is no joke . The party platform expresses support for something that some employers want: a temporary guest worker program that imports foreign labor to offset worker shortages in fields such as agriculture. And it also backs something that many employers don't: a requirement that all businesses participate in the government-administered e-verify system, which is supposed to determine whether an employee is legally eligible to work. This is some strange hash. What does it mean to be a Republican these days if unifying principles are so hard to come by? A generous explanation could be that this is an example of the GOP "big tent" that some conservatives have always dreamed of, where Republicans with different views can put aside their disagreements and come together in a common purpose. A more realistic explanation is that, in 2012, the Republican Party has become a patchwork of individual interests united only by a shared desire to ensure that Obama is limited to a single term. We'll have to see if that is enough to hold the coalition together. And if so, what it means for the future of the Grand Ol' Party. What happens in Tampa will be our first clue. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ruben Navarrette Jr.

Ruben Navarrette: The deep divisions in the Republican Party are evident . He says some Republicans emphasize social issues, such as opposition to gay marriage . Others want to play down social issues, focus on the party's economic message, he says . Navarrette: The only thing that unites GOP is a strong desire to defeat Obama's re-election bid .

(CNN) -- For everyone licking their wounds after Thursday's landmark 5-4 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. the Federal Election Commission, worried that the evil corporations are now poised to ruin American democracy once and for all, in the bogus name of free speech, here's a word of potential hope: I used to be one of you, too, and today I'm happy as a clam. Maybe you can be too, eventually. Here's why: . Free speech really does mean free speech, and the laws that the "Citizens" ruling overturned directly and heinously restricted the stuff. Forget for the moment the broad characterization of the ruling -- such as The New York Times claim that it "sweep[s] aside a century-old understanding" -- and drill down to the individual case in question. Citizens United, a conservative 501(c)(4) nonprofit that has funded a dozen political documentaries over the years, produced a critical documentary about Hillary Clinton in 2008 entitled "Hillary: The Movie." By a decision of the federal government, which was enforcing the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (known more broadly as McCain-Feingold), this piece of political speech was banned from television. iReporter: Supreme Court ends real democracy . Let's boil it down to the essential words: Political documentary, banned, government. You don't have to be a First Amendment purist to intuit that political speech was, if anything, the most urgent subcategory covered by the First Amendment's "Congress shall pass no law" restrictions. And you don't have to be a Hillary-hater to imagine the shoe on the other foot. What if MoveOn.org's 501(c)(4), Campaign to Defend America, had been blocked by George W. Bush's Federal Elections Commission from broadcasting "McCain: The Movie"? Wouldn't that stink, too? As Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in his majority opinion, "The law before us is an outright ban, backed by criminal sanctions. Section 441b makes it a felony for all corporations -- including nonprofit advocacy corporations -- either to expressly advocate the election or defeat of candidates or to broadcast electioneering communications within 30 days of a primary election and 60 days of a general election. ... If the First Amendment has any force, it prohibits Congress from fining or jailing citizens, or associations of citizens, for simply engaging in political speech." We are living in a fragmented media age in which many nontraditional sources are producing journalism, even and especially of the advocacy variety (my opinion magazine, Reason, is funded by a nonprofit 501(c)(3). Why should nonprofit journalism producers -- like the Sierra Club, say -- have to ask for the government's permission to send a political documentary across the airwaves? For many liberals I know, the free-speech objection to campaign-finance law is just a smokescreen for enabling corporate villainy. I mean, Mitch McConnell cares about the First Amendment? I used to think that way, too. But try this exercise: Check out the free-speech objections by people who don't want Goldman Sachs to take over the West Wing, or Wal-Mart to bulldoze private residences. I'm talking about anti-corporatist crusaders like Tim Carney, anti-eminent domain-abuse litigators like the Institute of Justice, or even former Federal Elections Commission chief Brad Smith. And for those many who claim to be First Amendment absolutists while also supporting McCain-Feingold -- I'm looking at you, some of my fellow journalists -- here's a question that the former begs of the latter: What if you're wrong? Even if you just can't bring yourself to believe that people who take civil liberties seriously have long-held serious civil libertarian criticisms of campaign-finance laws, or if you simply think they're all wrong, I'll offer this last salve: It has never been easier for groups of citizens to swarm together and flow money through the Internet toward campaigns and candidates who excite them. Ask Ron Paul -- or more relevantly, Barack Obama -- what's more powerful: $10 million from Dr. Evil Industries, or $10 each from 1 million people who can actually vote? The American people are not sheep, eager to be led by the highest bidder. As the Supreme Court rightly noted today, "The First Amendment confirms the freedom to think for ourselves." The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Matt Welch.

Supreme Court ruling doesn't represent a step backward, says Matt Welch . He says the ruling stops government from inhibiting free speech about politics . Welch says people aren't sheep; can make decisions about campaign advertising . He says ruling will allow wide variety of advocacy groups to air points of view .

(CNN) -- Just 10 days after the celebrations of winning the Monaco Grand Prix, Mercedes is facing the possibility of sanctions after being called to the International Tribunal of Formula One's governing body. The German team and the sport's tire supplier Pirelli have been summoned to explain an alleged illegal tire test to the FIA's disciplinary body. The tribunal has the power to impose fines and bans, including exclusion from the F1 world championship. The FIA began an investigation after rival teams Red Bull and Ferrari lodged an official protest on the morning of the Monaco race after discovering Mercedes had helped Pirelli carry out a three-day development test in Spain, which was reported by the stewards. "The conditions of this testing may constitute a breach of the applicable FIA rules," the governing body said in a statement. In-season testing has been banned in F1 since 2009 but Pirelli has an agreement that says it can run 1,000 kilometers of testing with any marque during the season -- as long as every team is offered that opportunity. After gathering evidence from the Italian tire manufacturer, Mercedes and the other 10 teams, the FIA has decided that Mercedes has a case to answer -- though a date has not yet been set for the hearing before a 12-man panel. Mercedes' rivals objected because it used race drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg to carry out the test in the team's 2013 car -- and it is primarily for these reasons the sport's governing body is bringing the case before its tribunal. The rival teams have accused Mercedes of gaining a significant competitive advantage from the test and of conducting it in secret two days after the Spanish Grand Prix, where both Rosberg and Hamilton suffered tire problems despite the German having started in pole position for the second successive race. Mercedes has struggled all season with tire degradation despite being quick in qualifying. Rosberg took the team's first grand prix win of the season at the Monaco Grand Prix, held on a slower, street circuit that is not as harsh on tires. Mercedes released a statement in response to the news that read: "We welcome the opportunity to explain the full facts of the Pirelli test in an open and transparent manner at the International Tribunal. "Sporting integrity is of primary importance to Mercedes-Benz and we have the utmost confidence in the due process of the FIA." Pirelli tried to assuage the situation by issuing a statement, prior to the FIA's summons to its International Tribunal, explaining the controversial tire test. "The use of the car utilized by Mercedes, in particular, was the result of direct communication between FIA and the team itself," the statement read. "Pirelli did not ask in any way that a 2013 car be used: not of Mercedes nor FIA nor the teams which, during the year, were offered the opportunity of participating in tests for the development of tires for 2014. "Pirelli, in development testing with teams carried out in 2013, has not favored any teams and, as always, acted professionally, with transparency and in absolute good faith." Pirelli's contract to supply tires to F1 runs out at the end of the season. The company had been close to securing a new three-year deal, but a new contract could now be in jeopardy. In light of this, Pirelli stressed that the recent tire testing had focused on developing tires for 2014 when significant rule changes governing engines will be introduced. Ferrari was also asked to explain a tire test carried out at the Italian team's private Fiorano test track in April. It used a 2011 car during this test and, for this reason, the FIA concluded the team -- which used to be managed by FIA president Jean Todt -- had no case to answer. The governing body explained that "a 2011 car is not deemed to contravene the applicable FIA rules." The topic of tires has dominated the 2013 F1 season with many teams, including world champions Red Bull, criticizing the current specification of rubber and the number of pit stops seen during the races. Pirelli is trialling a new "medium" compound tire at this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, which it then plans to introduce as the race tire for the rest of this season. It is hoped the new tire will be safer and not split into layers, as has been seen on four occasions this season. While Pirelli hopes to solve one problem on track, it will be left to a tribunal in Paris to rule on the tire controversy that has split the F1 community.

Mercedes and Formula One tire supplier Pirelli called to face FIA Tribunal over tire test . The use of a 2013 Mercedes car and drivers to test tires may breach FIA rules . Ferrari face no further action over their private tire test for Pirelli using a 2011 car . Mercedes face a fine or ban, including exclusion from the championship .

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The FBI did not participate in harsh interrogations of suspected terrorists detained in Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan or Iraq, said a Justice Department investigation released Tuesday. An April 2007 photo shows a room at Guantanamo Bay that had been used for interrogations. The investigation also concluded that the bureau generally reported potentially illegal actions by the CIA and Defense Department. In "only a few instances" did FBI agents use techniques that were not approved by FBI policies, according to the report by Inspector General Glenn Fine. Fine criticized the FBI for being slow in developing and distributing its interrogation policy to its interrogators. Though the the FBI decided to avoid harsh techniques in August 2002, the decision was not put in writing until 2004, when the bureau also put in writing that the harsh techniques used by other agencies should be reported to FBI superiors. The 2002 decision by FBI Director Robert Mueller was that the bureau would adhere to restrictions used in interrogations of detainees within the United States. Those techniques prohibit coercion, abuse or threats. The policy is based on the belief that building a rapport with prisoners is the best way to gain intelligence, according to Tuesday's report. The FBI issued a statement saying it is "gratified" by the report's findings, and Mueller promised that the bureau will continue to use "rapport-building techniques in interviews" of detainees. The inspector general's investigators interviewed almost all of the more than 1,000 FBI employees who were deployed to one or more military zones between 2001 and 2004, the report said. The vast majority of the agents adhered to FBI policies and separated themselves from other agencies' interrogators who were using techniques that the FBI didn't approve of, the report said. The report listed "a few incidents" that "clearly would not be permissible for FBI agents to use in the United States," including isolating a prisoner from human contact and participating in an interrogation in which detainees were "given a 'drink of water' in a forceful and inappropriate manner." It also listed incidents that were not "clear violations of FBI policy" but which should have raised questions. Some agents participated in a program of subjecting detainees to frequent cell relocations, the report said. In another case, two agents joined in an interview in which a detainee's hands and feet were "short-chained" close together for several hours, during which time the prisoner urinated on himself. FBI agents reported that non-FBI interrogators engaged in sleep deprivation or sleep disruption techniques, which include using bright lights, loud music and extreme temperatures "to keep detainees awake or otherwise wear down their resistance." No FBI agents witnessed the abuses at Abu Ghraib, the U.S. Army-operated Baghdad correctional facility where some prisoners were physically and sexually abused, sparking outrage when photos of the abuse became public. However, the report said, an FBI agent said he witnessed a naked Abu Ghraib prisoner forced to roll between rows of cells. He did not report the incident because he didn't know whether it was an acceptable technique. The report also said FBI personnel did not witness the controversial waterboarding technique, which the CIA has confirmed was used on three prisoners. The FBI protested when it witnessed techniques used by the military and the CIA in questioning top terror suspects Abu Zubayda and Yousef al-Qarani, according to the report. In one instance, an agent objected to using a snarling dog to interrogate al-Qarani. Despite some criticism, the inspector general offered the FBI modest praise at the conclusion of his three-year investigation. "We believe that while the FBI could have provided clearer guidance earlier, and while the FBI could have pressed harder for resolution of concerns about detainee treatment by other agencies, the FBI should be credited for its conduct and professionalism in detainee interrogations in the military zones in Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan and Iraq, and in generally avoiding participation in detainee abuse," the report concluded. The inspector general's investigation did not quiet the FBI's chief critics. The American Civil Liberties Union said FBI leaders failed to uphold their obligation to "bring an end to the abuse and application of illegal interrogation methods." Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-New York, chairman of a subcommittee that oversees the FBI, criticized then-Attorney General John Ashcroft and his deputy, Larry Thompson. Nadler said FBI agents' objections to certain interrogation methods "fell on deaf ears." "The admirable actions taken by those brave FBI agents willing to speak out were undermined by those who led them," he said.

Justice Department investigation finds FBI generally acted responsibly . Probe looked at interrogations at Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan, Iraq . Investigators find "only a few instances" of unapproved techniques by FBI . FBI "could have provided clearer guidance earlier," report acknowledges .

(CNN) -- The crew members of a North Korean freighter regained control of their ship from pirates who hijacked the vessel off Somalia, but not without a deadly fight, the U.S. Navy reported Tuesday. The USS James E. Williams ordered pirates to give up their weapons, the Navy says. When the battle aboard the Dai Hong Dan was over, two pirates were dead and five were captured, the Navy said. Three wounded crew members from the cargo ship were being treated aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS James E. Williams. The captured pirates were being held aboard the North Korean vessel, the Navy said. The bandits had seized the ship's bridge, while the crew kept control of the steering gear and engines, the Navy said. The Koreans moved against the attackers after the Williams -- responding to reports of the hijacking -- ordered the pirates to give up their weapons, according to the Navy. When the crew members stormed the bridge, the deadly battle began. After the crew regained control, Navy sailors boarded the Dai Hong Dan to help with the injured. North Korea and the United States have no diplomatic relations. Watch why the U.S. helped the North Koreans » . The incident took place about 70 miles northeast of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, the Navy said. It is the second incident of piracy reported in recent days. A second U.S. Navy destroyer was searching waters off Somalia for pirates who hijacked a Japanese-owned ship, military officials said. Over the weekend, gunmen aboard two skiffs hijacked the Panamanian-flagged Golden Nori off the Socotra archipelago near the Horn of Africa, said Andrew Mwangura, a spokesman for the Kenyan-based Seafarers' Assistance Program. The guided-missile destroyer USS Arleigh Burke has been pursuing the pirates after entering Somali waters with the permission of the troubled transitional government in Mogadishu, U.S. officials said Monday. In recent years, warships have stayed outside the 12-mile limit when chasing pirates. Two military officials familiar with the details confirmed the ongoing operation. The Navy's pursuit of the pirates began Sunday night when the Golden Nori radioed for help. The Burke's sister ship, the USS Porter, opened fire and sank the pirate skiffs tied to the Golden Nori's stern before the Burke took over shadowing the hijacked vessel. When the shots were fired, it was not known the ship was filled with highly flammable benzene. U.S. military officials indicate there is a great deal of concern about the cargo because it is so sensitive. Benzene, which U.S. authorities have declared a known human carcinogen, is used as a solvent and to make plastics and synthetic fabrics. Four other ships in the region remain in pirate hands, the Navy said. U.S. and NATO warships have been patrolling off the Horn of Africa for years in an effort to crack down on piracy off Somalia, where a U.N.-backed transitional government is struggling to restore order after 15 years of near-anarchy. See how piracy is worse than 2006 » . On Monday, the head of the transitional government resigned as his administration -- backed by Ethiopian troops -- battled insurgents from the Islamic movement that seized control of Mogadishu in 2006. Hospital officials reported 30 dead in three days of clashes on the city's south side. In June, the ship USS Carter Hall fired warning shots in an attempt to stop a hijacked Danish cargo ship off Somalia, but the American vessel turned away when the pirated ship entered Somali waters. In May, a U.S. Navy advisory warned merchant ships to stay at least 200 miles off the Somali coast. But the U.S. Maritime Administration said pirates sometimes issue false distress calls to lure ships closer to shore. See the warning area » . The pirates often are armed with automatic rifles and shoulder-fired rockets, according to a recent warning from the agency. "To date, vessels that increase speed and take evasive maneuvers avoid boarding, while those that slow down are boarded, taken to the Somali coastline and released after successful ransom payment, often after protracted negotiations of as much as 11 weeks," the warning advised. The agency issued a new warning to sailors in the Gulf of Aden, between Somalia and Yemen, after Sunday's hijacking. E-mail to a friend . CNN correspondents Barbara Starr at the Pentagon and Christian Purefoy in Nairobi contributed to this report.

North Korean crew recaptures hijacked vessel . Navy says two pirates killed, five captured; three from crew injured . USS Arleigh Burke enters Somali territorial waters to pursue other pirates . Pirates aboard hijacked Golden Nori carrying highly flammable benzene .

(CNN) -- This week's bitter budget showdown in Wisconsin isn't the first time state legislators have fled a state, left a building or refused to show when votes were called. The "Killer Ds" and the "Texas 11," for example, skedaddled from Texas in 2003 to prevent consideration of a redistricting bill. In 1839, a young Abraham Lincoln, serving as a Whig in the Illinois House, jumped out of the building in a futile bid to prevent Democrats from getting a quorum to vote on a banks bill. Members of the 1891 Florida Senate went to Georgia in a bid to prevent a quorum for the election of a U.S. senator. And in 1994, Republican members of the California Assembly refused to show up for floor sessions in an effort to prevent Democrats from electing Willie Brown as speaker with less than a majority vote. The walkout by Democratic senators in Wisconsin, preventing a vote quorum on the contentious budget bill, can be added to a string of what might appear to be extreme actions to make a point. "We have a very diverse society," said Karl Kurtz, director of the Trust for Representative Democracy at the National Conference of State Legislatures. "Legislatures are where public policies are fought out. By nature, it is a messy process." Kurtz, who posted an item Friday about walkouts on the conference's Thicket blog, told CNN that "most states have rules to compel attendance of members." Republican Gov. Scott Walker said he is trying to address a $137 million shortfall in the state budget. He wants public employees to pay more for their benefits, and he wants to eliminate most of their collective bargaining rights. Walker called on 14 Democratic lawmakers to return to the state Capitol to vote on the measure Friday. Most or all of them traveled to neighboring Illinois. "You can't operate a democracy if people don't show up," he said. Republican lawmakers asked the governor to send state troopers to look for Democratic Senate leader Mark Miller, but he was not found, CNN affiliate WISC reported Friday. Although he might have the votes to pass the bill in the legislature, the problem for Walker is getting a quorum in the Senate. The defecting lawmakers say they won't return until Walker agrees to negotiate with a teachers union on the governor's proposals to reduce the state's budget deficit by cutting benefits for its members. They also want language removed from the bill that critics say threatens the existence of all public employee unions in the state. Senate Rule 16 states that "members of the senate may not be absent from the daily session during the entire day without first obtaining a leave of absence. The leave may be granted at any time by a majority vote of the senate." It's hardly new for members of minority parties to find ways to stymie legislation. "The rules and procedures generally provide that the majority rules, but [also] protect minority rights," said Kurtz, whose duties include public education and outreach. Lawmakers can filibuster in some, but not all, states. They can also utilize certain bill passage requirements and a governor's veto, said Kurtz, who took no stance on the Wisconsin situation. In most state legislatures, a quorum to do business constitutes a simple majority of the members, Kurtz wrote. But in Indiana, Oregon, Tennessee and Texas, two-thirds of the members make up a quorum, and in Wisconsin, three-fifths of the members are required to act on budget and tax bills, making it easier to thwart a bill. The most famous recent walkout was by Texas Democrats in 2003, who as the "Killer Ds" and "Texas 11" fled to Oklahoma and New Mexico to deny a quorum on a redistricting measure pushed by Republicans. Bryan Kennedy, president of the Wisconsin chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, called the lawmakers' decision to skip town "courageous." "The same could be said of the U.S. Senate," Kennedy told CNN. "A small minority continues to constantly filibuster every piece of legislation and bring that body to standstill. We don't have a filibuster here in Wisconsin. "The only thing these brave senators could do was to leave the state so that they could not be forced or compelled to bring a quorum to the body," Kennedy said. "They stood up for worker rights." But Walker called on the absent lawmakers to return "out of respect for the institution of the legislature and the democratic process." Kurtz says the conference helps to make legislators and legislatures share ideas and be more effective. "The public looks at legislatures, and all they see is bickering, which has a negative connotation," he said. "Negotiation and compromise are essential in a democratic society."

Governor can't get a quorum in Wisconsin Senate to vote on a budget bill . 14 Democrats say they won't return until governor negotiates with teachers union . Other states have seen legislative walkouts .

Rome (CNN) -- An anarchist group claimed credit for a pair of mail bombings Thursday at embassies in Rome, vowing in messages that it plans more such acts to "destroy the systems of domination," the state-run ANSA news agency reports. Police said that the Informal Federation of Anarchists -- an offshoot of the Italian Anarchist Federation, or FAI -- claimed responsibility for attacks at the Swiss and Chilean embassies. Computer-written notes were sent in small boxes along with both package bombs, according to ANSA. The messages read: "We have decided to make our voices heard again, in words and deeds. We will destroy the system of domination. Long live FAI. Long live anarchy." The notes also referenced Lambros Fountas, who was shot dead last March while protesting in Athens. The 35-year-old has since become a martyr for the international anarchist movement, particularly groups in Greece, Italy and Spain. Formed in 1945, Italian Anarchist Federation had seen a "a slow but constant increase" of supporters in recent years, said the website of an umbrella group, L'International des Federations Anarchistes. The Italian organization aims for "radical change" in support of "oppressed and exploited peoples," doing so with opposition to political powers and even the Catholic Church, the website said. There was no warning before a Swiss-born, 53-year-old mailroom worker was seriously hurt by an explosion while opening a package at the Swiss Embassy, according to police and the Swiss Foreign Ministry in Bern. One person was taken to a hospital when the second bomb exploded shortly afterward at the Chilean Embassy, police said. Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattin called the attacks "a serious threat against foreign embassies in Rome." He said that authorities were checking all embassies in Rome and Italian embassies aboard for suspicious packages. "We should avoid being alarmist," Frattin said. Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said the incident is similar to a wave of letter bombs sent last month by an anarchist group based in Greece and claimed the bombs came from there. But Greek officials disputed the notion that anyone in their country was involved in the blasts. "There is no evidence that the bombs originated in Greece," Foreign Ministry spokesman Grigoris Delavekouras said. In addition to the Swiss and Chilean blasts, a "suspicious package" was found at the Ukrainian Embassy in the Italian capital, police said, but it turned out not to be dangerous. There were also false alarms at the Slovenian and Estonian embassies. Police began their sweeps of all embassies and consulates after the blasts, the Italian ministers said. Many countries have two diplomatic missions in the city -- one to the Italian state and a separate one to the Vatican. Security around Rome was tight Thursday night, with barriers erected at embassies and some streets closed for enhanced protection. Bomb threats were also phoned in to City Hall and to another government office in Rome, the mayor's office said. No bombs have been found in either location. In November, police discovered 14 parcel bombs emanating from Greece, most of which were sent to various embassies in Athens. Police intercepted and destroyed most of them in controlled explosions, but a woman at a courier office was wounded by one of the devices and another device exploded in the courtyard of the Swiss Embassy. Other parcel bombs were addressed to European targets including the leaders of Germany and Italy. Two men accused of participating in the bombings were remanded into custody after they were arrested in Athens in possession of two parcel bombs, Glock pistols, a bulletproof vest and a wig. Panagiotis Argyrou, 22, and Gerasimos Tsakalos, 24, were also in possession of a delivery slip for another parcel containing an explosive device that had been delivered to a courier service and was addressed to the Dutch Embassy, police said. Hellenic Police spokesman Maj. Athanasios Kokkalakis called the two suspects "important members of a terrorist group." Before the attacks, Argyrou already faced an arrest warrant alleging his membership in an illegal organization called the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire. Greek authorities stressed that they believed the wave of letter bombs in November was the work of a home-grown Greek terrorist group that does not have ties to international organizations like al Qaeda. Journalists Livia Borghese and Barbie Nadeau in Rome and CNN's Laura Perez Maestro in London and Joe Sterling in Atlanta contributed to this report.

NEW: A note sent with the bombs mentions a protester killed in Greece, state-run media says . An anarchist group claims responsibility for the bombings at the Swiss, Chilean embassies . A Greek official disputes an Italian minister's claim that the bombs originated in Greece . Two people were injured, one seriously, in the blasts, according to police .

(CNN) -- The defeat of French President Nicholas Sarkozy at the hands of Francois Hollande has the potential to greatly affect European politics and the future of the euro, as many have noted. But the election of the first French Socialist president since 1995 also could dramatically change France's role in the world, at a particularly sensitive time. No doubt both sides of the Atlantic will keep a close eye on the rhetoric and actions of the new French leader in the days ahead. Almost from the outset, Hollande will be in the international spotlight, with the G-8 meeting at Camp David, Maryland, and the NATO Summit in Chicago less than two weeks away, and a G-20 meeting scheduled for June in Mexico City. The NATO alliance faces a complex transition in Afghanistan. The international community is dealing with an increasingly untenable situation in Syria and may soon have to contemplate military action. And while the nuclear crisis with Iran is at an ebb, it is by no means over. There are already strong signals that a Hollande administration will bring more change than continuity. Sarkozy, while not a Gaullist, sought to restore French national pride based on France's role as a leader in the international community. His efforts were most notable in his participation in the NATO operations in Libya. Hollande will inherit record debt of just over $2 trillion and a jobless rate hovering around 10%. It is unclear what price the French defense establishment will have to pay to meet the president-elect's desire to balance the budget by 2017, but with the Ministry of Defense in the midst of an internal review, French military policy will likely see changes driven by Hollande and his team. Hollande's advisers have stated that the new leader is likely to announce an accelerated timetable for French withdrawal from Afghanistan that could bring all French troops home by the end of this year. While the operational impact of the early removal of all 3,300 French troops could be addressed with some effort, there may be greater political fallout from the French rejection of the principle of "in together, out together," especially given the lack of public support for the Afghan mission throughout Europe. The president-elect's advisers have also claimed the new leader has reservations about Sarkozy's support of increased participation in NATO, specifically the French decision to rejoin NATO's military command structure. Jean-Yves Le Drian, a key adviser to Hollande and a potential defense minister, is reported to have said that Hollande would demand a greater decision-making role for France within NATO. But France cannot, of course, have its cake and eat it too. French participation in both Afghanistan and Libya has been significant -- but equivocation regarding NATO commitments will make requests for increased authority ring hollow to other alliance members. Rather, if France is to have a greater say, then Hollande must be willing to put alliance interests ahead of national interests from time to time. Still, Hollande has also intimated that he could take a more pragmatic approach and understands that French actions could have practical and symbolic impacts that might detract from French standing in the world. He is a career politician and no doubt understands the downside of placing France at odds with its allies unnecessarily at a time when concerted action by the trans-Atlantic powers on economic and security issues could not be more important. Indeed, President-elect Hollande's advisers say his No. 1 foreign policy priority will be helping to revive Europe's economy. No doubt, the economy will be the driving issue during the U.S. general election, and political pundits will be considering whether the Sarkozy defeat holds lessons for voters who will go to the polls this autumn. Just as in France, there is no shortage of voter anger with incumbents, and the low approval rating for Congress suggests we may see new faces on Capitol Hill in January. Likewise, the United States faces important policy challenges on health care, immigration, and of course taxation and spending. But beyond that, the dynamics of French and American politics part ways. Indeed, for the United States it will largely be the Hollande policy agenda that matters more -- not the political circumstances under which he gained office. In a world rife with instability and faced with a fragile economic recovery, there will remain an imperative for effective alliances, forward-looking foreign policy, and strong and internationally respected leadership. Hollande may wish to be a leader singularly focused on French and European economic needs, but success in these matters may rest on his initial ability not only to find a balance between politics and policy, but to demonstrate that he can work effectively with his fellow world leaders. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Mark R. Jacobson.

Mark Jacobson: Election of Francois Hollande has global implications . He says new French president could accelerate withdrawal of French troops from Afghanistan . Jacobson: France, which played leading role in Libya, could affect Syria and Iran policy . Hollande's success may rest on his ability to work with leaders of other nations, he says .

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Arriving at the London premiere of his self-titled mockumentary dressed in an enormous bearskin hat, cropped red army tunic and barely there hot pants, flamboyant Austrian fashionista, "Bruno," paid sartorial tribute to the British as only he knows how. Bear-ing all: British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's latest comic creation Austrian fashionista, Bruno, hits the red carpet. Waxed to perfection and flanked by a group of muscular black men dressed like a camp Queen's Guards, the gay fashion reporter flounced down the carpet to greet his public. "Vassup CNN! Lookin' hot," Bruno said to CNN. "I don't want any attention; I'm not here to promote my movie." "Bruno," which hits cinemas in most territories next month, is the latest comic creation of British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, who last shocked, insulted and delighted audiences in 2006 with Borat, Kazakhstan's "Most Famous Broadcaster." Bruno continues the unique approach to comedy Baron Cohen honed with characters like uneducated, loutish jungle music fan Ali G and then homophobic, anti-Semitic Kazakh journalist Borat. Watch "Bruno" on the red carpet » . His specialty is characters who say the unsayable: like Bruno's carpet quip that his new film is "the most important movie starring a gay Austrian since 'Terminator 2,'" in joking reference to the married (and firmly heterosexual) Austrian Terminator star, Arnold Schwarzenegger, now Governor of California. In pictures: Bruno offers fashion advice to CNN » . Baron Cohen puts his creations in real-life situations and uses them to draw unsuspecting participants into letting well-hidden prejudices slip out, engage in embarrassing behavior or contradict themselves. Characters like Bruno and Borat "essentially work as a tool," Baron Cohen told UK paper The Observer in a rare out-of-character interview: "By himself being anti-Semitic, he lets people lower their guard and expose their own prejudice." Baron Cohen's approach courts controversy. "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" opened to a wave of outrage from race-relations campaigners. This time it is gay-rights campaigners who are up in arms. "Sacha Baron Cohen's well-meaning attempt at satire is problematic in many places and outright offensive in others," Rashad Robinson, senior director of media programs for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation told the New York Times. While some critics may suggest that his films may reinforce prejudices, others disagree. "It is difficult to accuse Cohen of making films that are racist or homophobic," Aubrey Day, Editor-in-Chief of Total Film magazine told CNN. "He takes characters and exaggerates them for broad comic value, but I don't think there's any credence in the idea that he supports any of those ideals." But Baron Cohen certainly knows how to manipulate the media. The 37-year-old has been whipping up anticipation for "Bruno" with a series of attention-grabbing, hilarious stunts. In September last year, he brought chaos to the hallowed fashion shows of Milan when he stormed the catwalk of designer Agata Luiz de la Prada's show dressed in a Velcro suit with clothes from backstage stuck all over it. Most recently, he descended from the ceiling at the MTV Movie Awards wearing nothing but a pair of angel's wings and a skimpy thong before "falling" onto irate rapper Eminem's face. Eminem stormed out of the awards but later admitted he knew about the stunt beforehand. "Borat" debuted at number one in the U.S. box office and went on to gross $300 million in box office and DVD sales. Industry experts are predicting an even bigger return for "Bruno." The secret of the Baron Cohen comedy phenomenon may lie in his combination of laughs with something a bit deeper: namely his ability to highlight prejudices and hypocrisies. "What he does very well is hold a mirror up to a lot of society's current ideals and expose them for what they are," Day told CNN. "That is one of the joys of his films. "You can enjoy them on a simple level, in that they are very funny, but hopefully you also come away thinking, or maybe re-thinking some of your attitudes."

"Bruno" paid tribute to British icons in a bearskin hat at London movie premiere . The Austrian fashionista is UK comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's latest creation . "Bruno" has already caused controversy with gay rights campaigners . Baron Cohen's comedy holds a mirror up to many of society's ingrained prejudices .

(CNN) -- Even for able-bodied golfers, the U.S. Open is a stern test of stamina. And this week's venue, the Olympic Club's hilly, tree-lined Lake course, is as demanding as it gets. Casey Martin cannot walk for 18 holes, but nonetheless he will tee off in San Francisco on Thursday 14 years after he made his only other appearance at a major tournament, also at Olympic. Back then he was at the center of controversy as he sought special dispensation to use a golf cart due to a birth defect which affects the circulation in his right leg, causing him severe discomfort. "It's not great at times. I'm able to do it, but I'm in pain when I play so I'm grateful I have a ride to my shots," the 40-year-old told CNN. "I deal with pain but it's bearable. It helps me sometimes to concentrate -- I realize there's only one thing I can do and I try to block out my leg." U.S. Open latest scores . Martin eventually won the right to use a cart, appealing to the Supreme Court after the PGA Tour fought hard to prevent what it considered a dangerous precedent contravening its rules. Legendary names such as Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer were called in to testify against him. In the end, it proved to be a storm in a teacup. Martin tied for 23rd at the 1998 U.S. Open but the Oregon-born golfer played only one full year on the PGA Tour -- in 2000 -- and finally quit the professional circuit after another season struggling on the second-tier Nationwide Tour in 2006. Since then he has been coaching the University of Oregon's golf team, but he decided to have a go at last week's U.S. Open regional qualifying event despite limited preparation. "It just came together. I haven't been playing much golf. I've been around it with my team, I coach them, and I practice a little bit but I don't play a lot of golf," he said. "Leading up to that qualifier I was at the national championship with my guys, so I hit about 20 minutes worth of golf balls that week. It was kind of a random occurrence me getting in, but I'm glad I went through the qualifier and grateful I got hot at the right time and I get an experience like this as a reward." While his early years trying to establish a place on the circuit were difficult, Martin is now hoping to cherish his return to the spotlight. "My life changed on Monday night when I qualified -- phone calls and demands, and a lot of well wishers. Which meant a lot, it's been a really neat experience for me," he said. "I haven't had much time for myself so I'm anxious to get inside the ropes and just go play. Realistically I don't know what to expect. It's so hard to quantify because I don't play a lot of golf and I certainly haven't competed in so long. "So what does that mean when you go to a stage like this, where there's millions of people watching on TV and the golf course is so hard? I don't know. I don't even know what my golf should be, but I am going to give it great effort, enjoy every bit of it, add 'em up and see what that means." Martin has already had a taste of what's to come after Tuesday's practice round with his former Stanford college teammate, Tiger Woods. They played together at the 1998 U.S. Open, when Woods -- who had already won the Masters by that stage -- tied for 18th. "Man, it's great to see him. And just so happy in life. It's good to see him in a really good place" said Woods, who is seeking to win his 15th major title but his first since the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. "Unless you really know him, I don't think people have an appreciation of how much pain he's in. Just the everyday pain he lives with. He doesn't show it, doesn't talk about it, doesn't complain, he just lives with it. "And you just look at him and he's always so happy. It's very easy to go the other way and be very bitter, because of how uncomfortable he is on a daily basis. But I think that's what makes him special. That's what makes him so different than everyone else -- he has such a strong will and such a strong spirit."

Casey Martin will play at his first major tournament since the 1998 U.S. Open . Golfer will again use a cart to get around the Olympic Club course . The 40-year-old American suffers from a circulatory problem in his right leg . He played with college teammate Tiger Woods in practice this week .

(CNN) -- Superstorm Sandy has taken a tragic toll on the residents of the mid-Atlantic's barrier islands. All along the coast, hundreds of homes were lost, and thousands of people still have no power after Sandy wreaked havoc. The impact is not unlike many other destructive recent storms in the United States, such as Ivan, Katrina and Ike. So what can be done? In their natural state, the barrier islands that line about half of the U.S. coast, including most of the region affected by Sandy, are mobile and change constantly in response to wind, waves, tides and sea level. In fact, these islands owe their very existence to storms and the long-term rise in sea level of the past several thousand years. But much of today's coastline is a complex hybrid of a natural, dynamic landform overprinted with decades of immobile human development. Taking the dynamic nature of these barrier islands into account as we rebuild after major storms can help reduce the vulnerability of the local infrastructure to the inevitable next big storm. Beaches and dunes are the first line defense from ocean waves and storm surge, protecting the island's interior. When dunes erode and fail, much of the sand is carried up onto the island as overwash. While a failed dune in a coastal community makes it more exposed to the next storm, dune failure can make an undeveloped barrier island stronger by adding elevation to its core. This is how the barrier islands were built in the first place. During Superstorm Sandy, broad swaths of the coastline from North Carolina to Massachusetts experienced dune failure and massive overwash. The sand washed onto and across the barrier islands, filling roads, yards and living rooms. This overwash sand instantly added several feet of elevation to the islands. On a natural barrier island, this new elevation reduces the chance of inundation from the next storm. And as New Yorkers learned, a couple of feet can make all the difference between inconvenience and catastrophe. As the army of bulldozers and other earth-moving equipment deployed along the coast suggests, current efforts appear headed to restore the islands to their pre-storm state. Pushing the sand off the streets and back onto the beach removes the elevation that would have added freeboard above future floods. On a developed shore, this excavation of the roads is absolutely necessary to regain the dunes that are the first line of defense. But, everyone must understand that by resetting the island back to pre-storm conditions, the long-term risks are increased. Then there is the issue of rising seas. Sea level has risen 6 to 9 inches along the New Jersey coast since the last big storm in 1962 (the Ash Wednesday storm). Some residents say the 1962 storm barely reached their doorstep, while this time Superstorm Sandy flooded them by a foot. Although Sandy and the 1962 storm differ in their details, 50 years of sea-level rise certainly allowed water to reach areas that would not have been reached otherwise. What we know about storms, sea-level rise and barrier island response can be applied to redevelopment of the New Jersey coast. We can either try to thwart the natural response -- requiring increasing investment in construction and maintenance of storm protection structures -- or adapt by relocating farther away from the beachfront and upward as the barrier islands move. There is historical precedent for adaptation by moving. In New Jersey, some pre-WWII beachfront communities had moveable houses. In 1888, the Brighton Beach Hotel on Coney Island was moved several hundred feet back from the ocean by six steam locomotives. There are difficult choices to be made in our response to Superstorm Sandy. Doing nothing other than rebuilding is an easy choice and least expensive in the near-term, unless the next "superstorm" comes next year, or even this winter. Hundreds of miles of the East Coast where dunes were eroded or no longer exist are now more vulnerable than ever. Protecting the entire coast with coastal structures like sea walls is not feasible or even desirable; there are aspects of coastal armoring that have negative consequences. A practical response will be a blend of all the realistic options. This requires identifying which areas can adapt best, prioritizing which will receive the most protection and which will receive the least, or even none. This will be a challenging process. But, if undertaken jointly by citizens, policymakers and scientists, it could be a refreshing response and yield a coastal environment that is more resilient and economically and environmentally sound. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of E. Robert Thieler, Nathaniel G. Plant and Hilary F. Stockdon.

E. Robert Thieler, Nathaniel Plant, Hilary Stockdon: We need a solution after Sandy . They say during Superstorm Sandy, coastlines experienced massive overwash . Restoring the barrier islands to their pre-storm state increase long-term risks, they say . Thieler, Plant, Stockdon: It's better to move up and away from the beachfront .

(CNN) -- Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho's uneasy relationship hit a new low as their ugly managerial spat overshadowed Chelsea's 2-0 win over Arsenal Sunday to extend its lead at the top of the English Premier League. The pair squared up to each other and had to be separated by the fourth official after Wenger shoved Mourinho in the Chelsea technical area. The Arsenal boss was angered by Gary Cahill's challenge on Alexis Sanchez but the pair's seething rivalry has been a constant theme in the English football soap opera. Back in March, Mourinho labeled Wenger a "specialist in failure" and then his side rubbed salt into the open wound by thrashing Arsenal 6-0. It was also Wenger's 1,000th game in charge of the Gunners and he has now failed to beat his Portuguese nemesis in 12 tries. After the touchline incident, Chelsea proceeded to take the lead through Eden Hazard's first-half penalty after he was fouled by Laurent Koscielny. Arsenal was always a factor in a closely-fought match at Stamford Bridge and might have had a penalty when former player Cesc Fabregas appeared to block Jack Wilshere's shot in the area in the second half. Fabregas, whose signing by Chelsea from Barcelona dismayed Arsenal fans who hoped he might return to the Emirates, then set up Diego Costa for the clinching goal. His pinpoint pass, his seventh assist in the EPL this season, left Costa to score his ninth in seven games since moving from Atletico Madrid, another key Mourinho signing. The win left Chelsea five points clear of Manchester City at the top, with Arsenal in eighth, already nine points adrift. Both manager tried to play down the incident in post-match press conferences. "Forget that (the push). A football pitch is a football pitch, so no problem," said Mourinho. "It becomes heated because this is a big game, big clubs, big rivals, an iportant match for both teams. These conditions make a game of emotions. Wenger was asked if he regretted the incident. "What is to regret after that? I wanted to go from A to B and somebody confronted me in between without any sign of welcome," said the Frenchman. "B was Sanchez, to see how badly he was injured," he claimed. Earlier, Manchester United moved up to fourth with a 2-1 win over Everton at Old Trafford, but owed a lot to the goalkeeping heroics of David De Gea, who saved a first half penalty from Leighton Baines. United were already ahead through Angel Di Maria, but the visitors pulled level when Steven Naismith scored in the 55th minute. Colombian star Radamel Falcao put Louis Van Gaal's men ahead just after the hour with his first goal in English football before De Gea denied Leon Osman with a stunning save to preserve three points for his side. Tottenham Hotspur is up to sixth, level on points with United and Swansea, after a 1-0 win over their manager Mauricio Pochettino's former side Southampton. Christian Eriksen scored the only goal of the match at White Hart Lane in the first half. Ahead of the international break, Italian heavyweights Juventus and Roma played out a pulsating five-goal thriller in Turin. Both sides had won its opening five games in Serie A, but champion Juventus came out on top 3-2 thanks to a volleyed late winner from Leonardo Bonucci in the 86th minute. The first half saw a series questionable penalties for either side, the first two converted by Carlos Tevez for Juve and Francesco Totti for the visitors. Roma coach Rudi Garcia was sent to the stands for arguing the first penalty, but he would have been pleased to see Juan Iturbe put his side ahead on a breakaway in the 43rd minute. Juventus almost immediately drew level in first half injury time with another disputed penalty, put away by Tevez. The match looked headed for a draw until defender Bonucci proved an unlikely match winner, but there was still time for Alvaro Morata to clash with Roma defender Kostas Manolas and both were red-carded. European champions Real Madrid also scored a key victory Sunday, thumping Athletic Bilbao 5-0 in the Bernabeu, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring a hat-trick and Karim Benzema adding a double. The win takes Real to within four points of leaders Barcelona after seven rounds of La Liga.

Chelsea stretches EPL lead after beating Arsenal at Stamford Bridge . Arsene Wenger confronts Jose Mourinho on touchline . Real Madrid hits five in Bernabeu with hat-trick from Cristiano Ronaldo . Juventus edges Roma 3-2 in Serie A top of the table clash .

(CNN)A few days ago, when British journalist Charlene White posted on Twitter an apparently unretouched photo of supermodel Cindy Crawford, she launched a firestorm of debate over what women's bodies should look like as they get older. The image showed the 48-year-old Crawford looking sultry, but imperfect, in black lingerie, her bared stomach and thighs characterized by what appears to be some cellulite, wrinkles and sun damage. "Take a bow, Mrs. C," White tweeted. To many, this was a welcome change from photos of the latest celebrity who'd gone the cosmetic surgery route. Over the last year, when Hollywood stars like Renee Zellweger and Uma Thurman appeared in public with new faces, there was speculation that they got plastic surgery and the public reacted with harsh judgment. So it's no surprise that when photo of Crawford was shared all over social media, many people commended White for making it public and Crawford for having "the guts" to open herself up to such scrutiny. White told CNN, "Women come in all sorts of different shapes and sizes. I think it's important to see all sorts of body shapes on our screens and in our magazines so that people have a true reflection of what people look like." But the photo was not, it turns out, from Marie Claire, as White acknowledged. It's an unpublished outtake from a 2013 photo shoot from Marie Claire Mexico and Latin America, which is owned by a different publisher. The image was shared by White without Crawford's knowledge or permission. The irony here, of course, is that White took ownership of an objectified version of Crawford's body in exactly the same way she set out to criticize others of doing. White said to CNN, "I want people to feel like magazines aren't responsible for their happiness when it comes to their bodies, but magazines also have a responsibility to show us an array of images. ... No one has the right to tell other people how to feel about their body." And yet, isn't that exactly what White did? Crawford lingerie image stirs debate over what 'real women' look like . If White had done her journalistic due diligence, shouldn't she have made sure the woman in the photo actually felt comfortable having such an intimate photo of herself broadcast to the world? White doesn't know how Crawford feels about that image, and we still don't know. (The supermodel has not yet commented on the photo.) In releasing the image, White made an example of one woman's body to satisfy a personal agenda -- that magazines should show more "realistic" images of women. On "Good Morning America," White said, "I thought I would tweet the picture because I found it incredibly empowering to see someone as beautiful and iconic as Cindy Crawford in her natural form." To be sure, there is some comfort to be found in that photo. One of the world's most famous models has cellulite! One of the most recognizable female icons grows old and ages just like the rest of us! But in praising this photo, are we implicitly saying that we respect the aging process only when it mirrors our own or when it shows some imperfections? After all, what we like here is that Cindy, in fact, doesn't look all that amazing, and to say she does resonates as more than a little condescending. She is beautiful, to be sure, but what we're celebrating as "real" are her flaws. The release of the photo and the response it has generated is quite the opposite of inspiring. The message it seems to convey is that the only way we celebrate a woman's aging body is when we bear witness to its flaws. After all, we call women like 32-year-old Australian model Erin McNaught, who released photos of her toned body four weeks after giving birth, "vain," "insecure," and "attention-seeking" because we don't find any comfort in seeing those photos. So let's call a spade a spade. We don't like Crawford's image because it's "real." We like it because it's a little startling and a little unattractive, and therefore makes us feel better about ourselves. But that isn't what empowerment is -- using others' faults to downplay or justify our own. We're also not cheering Crawford's bravery in showing the world what even the most genetically blessed 50-year-old women look like, since the photo was very likely shared without her permission. We're using her to make ourselves feel better. Which, of course, could not be more unattractive.

An unretouched photo of supermodel Cindy Crawford was posted on Twitter by journalist Charlene White . Peggy Drexler: We don't like Crawford's image because it's "real," we like it because it's a little unattractive .

(CNN) -- If the first presidential debate in Denver was a game changer,Tuesday night's was not. But that doesn't mean it wasn't a spirited, heavyweight bout with several consequential moments. President Obama entered the second presidential debate needing to make up serious ground after his first debate performance. He turned around the narrative from the first debate -- that he was listless and lethargic and on the defensive -- but showing up is one thing, winning is another. Obama needed a convincing win Tuesday night, and he did not get it. Gov. Romney came into Tuesday night's debate needing to prove that his first performance wasn't a fluke -- in other words, that he wasn't Jimmy Carter in the Reagan-Carter debates, when Carter won early on but went on to get dominated by a Reagan comeback. Tuesday night Romney delivered again and proved his performance was consistent and legitimate. He has established himself as a legitimate alternative to the president. Romney was relaxed and not intimidated by Obama's newfound aggressiveness. He was responsive and flexible. He went toe to toe early on, challenging the president directly over the production of oil on government land and winning on the facts. Reality check: Oil production . One of the highlights of Romney's night was when he spoke directly to the African-American man who voted for Obama in 2008, but wondered whether the next four years would be any different if Obama were re-elected. In an encyclopedic fashion, Romney gave a litany of Obama's failed promises and failed record. Romney was at his best when he told the voters in the room to look at the president's record and policies, rather than listening to his rhetoric, and then proceeded to explain the impact of the Obama policies and what he would do differently. In what may be one of the more important political moments of the debate, Romney was asked how he would be different from George W. Bush. Romney effectively distanced himself from Bush on policy specifics, noting he would control deficit spending and champion small business, not just big business. It was an important moment to convince many undecided voters that he is not Bush 2.0. From the first whistle, Obama was stronger, more forceful, and more aggressive, no doubt to the delight of his supporters. If Obama landed punches it was because he threw a lot of them -- mainly on Romney's private equity career and tax returns. But too often his attacks seemed rehearsed and scripted. Romney's empty 'binders full of women' Furthermore, Obama spent more time attacking Romney than focusing on his own vision for the future. Obama didn't lay out a new, bold, or different plan for a second term dealing with the debt or entitlements. Romney was looking to the future; Obama was trying to remind the country of the Bush years and tie Romney to Bush. If there was a key takeaway from the debate indicative of the race going forward, it may be the heated exchange over Libya and the president's handling of the attack on our ambassador. The president was directly asked about the security in Benghazi and who declined the requests for more security in Libya. Obama didn't answer the question. Romney could have called him on it and missed a big opportunity. Then there was the most controversial moment of the night, when moderator Candy Crowley intervened to insert that Obama did in fact call the attacks that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens "terror" attacks in his Rose Garden speech the next day. Obama actually said, "No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation, alter that character, or eclipse the light of the values that we stand for." There will be much parsing and spinning of these words, but Romney shouldn't have let Crowley interrupt him and assert her own interpretation. Fact check: Obama's statement on "acts of terror" For two weeks after the president's Rose Garden speech, Obama and his administration peddled the explanation of a spontaneous protest sparked by a YouTube video, before they finally called the Benghazi attack what it really was -- a terrorist attack. Romney should have emphasized this mishandling. He may have missed this moment, but he will have another chance during next week's foreign policy debate. Until now, the momentum of this race has been about impressions and appearance -- Romney's aggressiveness and forcefulness in the first debate versus Obama's listlessness and lethargy. In Tuesday night's debate, Obama gets points for showing up, but that's hardly something for the Democrats to be proud of. The impression Romney made in the first debate he reaffirmed Tuesday night, meaning that Obama has still has ground to make up going into the final debate next week. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of William Bennett.

William Bennett: Denver debate was a game changer; Long Island one wasn't . He says the president needed to score a convincing win but fell short of that . Bennett: Obama was more energetic, but Romney showed he's a credible alternative .

YANAGAWA, Japan (CNN) -- Wearing a Nashville School of Law T-shirt, Christopher Savoie walked into a second-floor police interrogation room. In one corner, a stopwatch was running to hold him to the 15 minutes allotted for the interview. A Tennessee court awarded Christopher Savoie custody of his son, Isaac, and daughter, Rebecca. "I'm so scared," he said. Savoie chose his words carefully, lest police Officer Toshihiro Tanaka cut short the rare interview Savoie was granted with CNN on Thursday. There were so many rules: No recording devices. No tough questions. Speak only in Japanese. "I want Americans to know what's happening to me," Savoie continued in Japanese. "I didn't do anything wrong. Children have the right to see both parents. It's very important for my children to know both parents." But Japanese authorities disagree. They have charged Savoie, 38, a Tennessee native and naturalized Japanese citizen, with kidnapping his two children -- 8-year-old Isaac and 6-year-old Rebecca -- as his estranged wife, Noriko, was walking them to school Monday in Yanagawa, a rural town in southern Japan. Watch what else Savoie had to say » . He headed for the nearest U.S. consulate, in the city of Fukuoka, to try to obtain passports for the children, screaming at the guards to let him in the compound. He was steps away from the front gate but still standing on Japanese soil. Japanese police, alerted by his estranged wife, arrested him. The Savoies were divorced in Tennessee in January after 14 years of marriage. Christopher Savoie had visitation rights with his children, but after he returned from a short summer trip, his estranged wife fled to Japan with the children, according to court documents. A United States court then granted sole custody to Savoie. Watch why the case is complicated » . Japanese law, however, recognizes Noriko Savoie as the primary custodian, regardless of the U.S. court order. The law there also follows a tradition of sole custody divorces. When the couple splits, one parent typically makes a complete and lifelong break from the children. Complicating the matter further is the fact that the couple is still considered married in Japan, because they never divorced there, police said Wednesday. And, police said, the children are Japanese and have Japanese passports. A 1980 Hague Convention standardized laws on international child abduction. But Japan is not a party to that agreement. Savoie was out of luck. If a child in Japan is taken against the wishes of the recognized Japanese parent, the person who took the child is considered an abductor. "Japanese people think she's the victim here," Savoie said. "In the States, my ex-wife is the one who's in the wrong." U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley recognized this case as a difficult one. Even though the United States has strong ties with Japan, on this particular issue, the two nations' points of view could not differ more, he said. In Yanagawa, those who have heard about the abduction case tend to side with the woman. "They belong with their real mother," said one woman, herself a mother of two children. But most have not heard of the case, because it has not been reported in local newspapers or on television. Savoie's attorney, Tadashi Yoshino, knows the cultural divide will be hard to overcome. "He technically may have committed a crime according to Japanese law but he shouldn't be indicted," Yoshino said. "He did it for the love of his children." Savoie, a law student who already has a Ph.D. and a M.D., will spend 10 days in jail while Japanese prosecutors sort out the details of the case. In the interrogation room, Savoie appeared exhausted. Tears welled in his eyes. He glanced over at the police officer, then paused to regain composure. "I love you, Isaac, Rebecca," he said. "Your daddy loves you forever. I'll be patient and strong until the day comes that I can see you both again. I am very sorry that I can't be with you." He was grateful be able to get the words out. Moments earlier, the interview had almost ended after Savoie blurted out in English: "I love you," a message intended for his current wife, Amy, in Nashville. Then, as is Japanese custom, he bowed. And from the other side of the glass barrier, he gave a thumbs up, mouthing the words, "Thank you."

Man charged with abducting his own children denies committing breach . Japanese custom, law on custody differ sharply from those in U.S. Japan is not party to 1980 convention that standardized abduction laws . All parties in current case are Japanese citizens .

(CNN) -- BP reported problems controlling the undersea well at the heart of the largest oil spill in U.S. history and won a delay in testing a critical piece of equipment in March, according to documents released Sunday. "We are in the midst of a well control situation on MC 252 #001 and have stuck pipe. We are bringing out equipment to begin operations to sever the drillpipe, plugback the well and bypass," Scherie Douglas, a BP regulatory advisor, told the district engineer for the U.S. Interior Department's Minerals Management Service in a March 10 e-mail. In a follow-up e-mail to the district engineer, Frank Patton, Douglas reported the company wanted to get a plug set in the well before testing the blowout preventer, the massive device used to shut down the well in case of an emergency. "With the give and take of the well and hole behavior we would feel much more comfortable getting at least one of the two plugs set in order to fully secure the well prior to testing BOPs," she wrote. When Patton told BP he could not delay a test any longer than it took to bring the well under control, the company won a postponement from David Trocquet, the MMS district manager in New Orleans, Louisiana, the documents show. Trocquet ordered BP to make sure its cement plug was set up and to verify its placement, according to his reply. The messages do not indicate how long the test was postponed. The exchange was among the documents released Sunday by leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which is looking into the disaster that killed 11 workers aboard the drilling platform Deepwater Horizon and uncapped a gusher that is now fouling the northern Gulf of Mexico. BP has been unable to activate the well's blowout preventer since the explosion, resulting in up to 19,000 barrels (798,000 gallons) spewing into the Gulf every day. Appearing on ABC's "This Week," BP Managing Director Bob Dudley said those questions are being addressed by an investigation led by the Coast Guard and the MMS, which oversees offshore oil drilling. BP, rig owner Transocean Ltd. and oilfield services company Halliburton have blamed each other for the disaster . "There were issues of well control, signs out there, and there are strict procedures that are written," Dudley said. Those procedures allow the rig owner "to walk through well control," he said. "That's what the investigation will take minute by minute," he said. But he said the failure of the well's blowout preventer is a "very troubling" issue that will have repercussions throughout the oil industry. "It is the piece of equipment that is not expected to fail, and that's going to have implications for everyone around the world," Dudley said. BP's design of the well has also come under scrutiny in the New Orleans hearings held by MMS and the Coast Guard. BP drilling engineer Mark Hafle testified Friday that he made "several changes to the casing designs" to address problems with the well's cement walls and leaking drilling fluid. But he said the problems had been addressed. "No one believed there was going to be a safety issue with pumping that cement job," he said. Halliburton performed the cementing work on the well, and Halliburton worker Christopher Haire told the New Orleans hearings Friday that BP kept changing the dimensions of the well's casing. Meanwhile, BP's investigation "raised concerns about the maintenance history, modification, inspection, and testing" of the blowout preventer, committee chairman Henry Waxman, D-California, reported earlier this month. The New York Times reported Sunday that BP documents indicated the company had "serious problems and safety concerns" with the rig's well casing and blowout preventer for months. Rep. Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat who leads an Energy and Commerce subcommittee, said he has seen documents that confirm the Times report. Other witnesses at congressional hearings into the spill have raised concerns as well. Stephen Stone, a laborer on the doomed rig, told the House Judiciary Committee last week that the Transocean crew had to stop drilling four times in the space of 20 days because of the loss of drilling "mud" -- "either because the underground formation was unstable, or because drilling too quickly caused the formation to crack," he said. And Doug Brown, the rig's chief mechanic, told the Judiciary Committee that cuts to Deepwater Horizon's engineering staff left the crew with a backlog of preventive maintenance to perform. When they complained, he said, "We were always told, 'We will see what we can do.' "

BP won delay in blowout preventer test . BP director says issues under investigation . Hearings raise questions about well casing, cement . Rig cuts caused maintenance backlog, mechanic says .

SAN DIEGO (CNN) -- "When I got out of the Army, I did not want to talk about my war experience," said Angela Kozak, currently a speech pathology student at San Diego State University. The transition from war zone to classroom was not easy for the 30-something-year-old veteran. "The first semester I came here, I was kind of stand-offish. I didn't get involved in anything. I wasn't really clicking with the people in my classes. They were 19, 20, 21 years old," she said. Things changed when she discovered the SDSU Veterans Center, where she met men and women with similar life experiences. "It's made my college experience a hundred times better," she said. San Diego State University is one of the first in the country to provide a single location on campus where veterans can access their benefits, meet others with common military backgrounds, and even relax and play Xbox. The staff at the Joan and Art Barron Veterans Center does everything from helping coordinate psychological counseling for veterans who might need it, to managing the nation's first on-campus housing reserved exclusively for veterans. "Veterans have these shared life experiences, issues that they might be dealing with that only they can understand because they've lived it," said Joan Putnam, the director of the SDSU Veterans center. The students have been stopping by this week to enjoy the "bunker," a lounge at the center with one wall covered in camouflage netting and providing coffee, tea and snacks during finals. As the war winds down in Iraq and many men and women are retiring from the military, San Diego State recognizes a need to serve this type of student. Nationally, about 450,000 people used the Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits for college this fall, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. "We are anticipating that the people who are taking advantage of the Post 9/11 GI Bill over the course of the next several years will rise as we draw down and people get out of the services," said Curtis Coy, undersecretary for economic opportunity at the Department of Veterans Affairs. "The numbers are absolutely going up," said Keith Wilson, the educational services director of the VA. Since 2009 -- the first year for the Post 9/11 GI Bill -- the number of participants has increased by 50%. Share your Iraq war stories . The SDSU Veterans Center currently serves around a thousand students and is a selling point for the university to attract even more student veterans. "I knew that leaving the military, I personally wanted a little bit of a safety net," said Holly Shaffner, who retired from the Coast Guard at the end of October after 24 years in the service. "I knew that San Diego was a big veteran's community so I chose to come to San Diego State." Like Kozak, Shaffner felt she was different from the younger students who don't share her background. "They don't have the same maturity level, the same goals, the same vision for the class," she said. "I sit at the head of the class. I'm studious. I take notes. Their principles aren't the same right now." "Veterans are not your typical kid right out of high school. They are disciplined. So there's lots of those sort of nuanced reasons why school would want to have veterans on campus," said Coy. The American Council on Education surveyed 723 colleges and universities in 2009 and found that 65% of the respondents who offered services to veterans and military personnel prior to September 11, 2001, had increased their emphasis on those services since that time. This included adding new programs for military and veterans, and marketing and outreach strategies aimed at those groups. Todd Kennedy retired from the Marine Corps after a 22-year military career. He served in Desert Storm in 1991, and Restore Hope in Somalia in 1992. He did two tours in Iraq in 2006 and 2009. The history major decided to retire in November 2010 while serving in Afghanistan, and he started the college entrance paperwork process before returning to the United States. Kennedy says the SDSU Veterans Center has been a big help as he moves into the next chapter in his life. Whether they are 22 years old or 32 years old, the veterans all share a common bond, Kennedy said. "If something is bugging you, you've got someone who speaks the same language, so it's been a really good transition tool," he said.

VA: About 450,000 people used Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits for college this fall . The transition from war zone to classroom has not been easy for many vets . San Diego State University has a Veterans Center to help ease that transition . "Veterans have these shared life experiences," says the center's director .

(CNN) -- They say in Brazil that football is second only to breathing in importance. On Tuesday, 200 million people in the World Cup host nation had their breath stolen away from them in a dazzling, dizzying display of scoring by the No. 2 team in the world, Germany. No one could have predicted a 7-1 scoreline. That's something from qualifying when a big fish hosts a minnow. It's not the result of a match between the top powers of the sport. Here's a look at some of the record-setting numbers that came from the rout of all routs: . 1. They were in it -- for 10 minutes . You'd have to be almost 100 years old to have been in attendance for the last time Brazil was thumped this badly. At least we think it was Brazil. It certainly didn't look like the product of a nation that has won five World Cups. The funny thing is Brazil was pretty good for the first 10 minutes. They pressed the Germans, mostly kept the ball in the German half. But Germany scored in the 11th minute when Thomas Mueller was left so alone he could have set up a grill in the penalty area and made steaks for everyone. And then the Germans made a meal of the Brazilian defense, stuck in first gear, while the Germans were zipping both ball and strikers artfully through the confused Brazilians. A tearful David Luiz apologized to his countrymen. "I just wanted to see my people smile. We all know how important it was for me to see all of Brazil be happy, at least because of football," the defender said. 2. Step aside, Ronaldo . It was a triple disappointment for Brazil on Tuesday. Not only was the Selecao beaten badly, but famed goal scorer Ronaldo was bumped off the top of the all-time World Cup goal scoring list. German striker Miroslav Klose scored his team's second goal, giving him 16 in World Cup matches, one more than Ronaldo. "If you've scored the most goals in the history of the World Cup, you've had to earn it. He's still playing at the highest level and scoring goals," German coach Joachim Low said. A more inexperienced player might not have scored. Klose's first shot was saved by a sprawling Brazil keeper. The 36-year-old pounced on the rebound and knocked it into the goal. And there was more disappointment. Germany now also lays claim to most goals by one nation in its World Cup history -- 223. In second, Brazil at 220. 3. That sure did escalate quickly . Brazil survived the first knockdown. But like a boxer sensing he can knock his opponent out with a flurry of well-targeted body blows, Germany unleashed hell on Brazil midway through the first half. Minute 23 and 24. Bam. Bam. Minute 26. Bam. Minute 29. Meet the canvas. It was 5-0 before the first half hour. Germany scored a quartet in six minutes. You don't even do that in training. "We couldn't react to going behind. We got disorganized and panicked after the first goal and then it all went wrong for us," Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said. 4. Where's the defense? You think semifinal, and you imagine two teams playing cautiously, worried to give up a first goal that would doom them. Of the previous six semifinals, four of them had ended 1-0. Another was 0-0 after 90 minutes and didn't see a goal until Minute 119. Not these guys. They went forward with spirit . And it ended with a scoreline from the early days of the World Cup. Germany appeared content to cruise after holding a 5-0 halftime lead, but the Brazilian defense was so lame, the Europeans went ahead and sent two more in to claim another couple of records. They became the first team to score seven goals in a semifinal and to hold the largest margin of victory in such a game. 5. By the way, you guys get one more . Don't pack away the boots just yet, lads. You still have to play in everyone's (very least) favorite contest -- the third-place match. What do you get if you win that, a gift certificate for dinner for two at Rio's best steakhouse? Can you imagine what the scene will be like if Argentina loses to the Netherlands and has to play its archrival in what is usually meaningless match? Heck, we'd even watch this game for a change.

Brazil was feeling pretty good after 10 minutes . Then the defense faltered and let in a goal . That wasn't so terrible -- until things really fell apart just a few minutes later . Germany set many records and broke many Brazilian hearts .

(CNN) -- Barcelona survived a late onslaught from rivals Real Madrid to win their Spanish Cup quarterfinal tie 4-3 on aggregate and knock the holders out on Wednesday. In a dramatic game at Barcelona's Camp Nou stadium, the hosts went 2-0 up thanks to goals from Pedro and Daniel Alves before strikes from Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema leveled the match at 2-2. Real laid siege to their opponents' goal in the final stages, even after defender Sergio Ramos was sent off, but couldn't find the goal that would have taken them through. Jose Mourinho's side complained bitterly to the referee after the match but the result is sure to intensify pressure on the Portuguese coach, who has been forced to deny press rumors he is set to leave the club in June. Is Mourinho finished at Madrid? "You sometimes score a goal without trying much for one, and we happened to fail to score from four or five of our chances," Mourinho said. "It was easy to talk to my men during halftime. I had few things to change. Halftimes are short when your team isn't playing well; those ten minutes don't seem enough. I only needed one minute today because my team played very well in the first half. I told them to keep it up. "Maybe Pep Guardiola congratulated us after winning last year's final because it was a clean match without any havoc. If you like I'll congratulate him for winning last week's match. I have no problem doing so. They deserved to win that game." Real had the first chance of the match inside 15 seconds as a mistake from Gerard Pique let Gonzalo Higuain in on goal but the Argentina striker fired wide with only Barca keeper Jose Manuel Pinto to beat. Higuain had another two chances to open the scoring but Pinto saved his close-range effort from Xabi Alonso's free kick, before blocking a shot after he had surrendered possession. Germany international Mesut Ozil then struck the bar with a fierce shot from 35 yards with Pinto beaten, before Ronaldo drew another save from Barca's reserve keeper. A melee ensued after Real midfielder Lassana Diarra brought down Argentina striker Lionel Messi and was fortunate not to receive a second yellow card. Real were made to pay for their profligacy when Messi ran at Real's defense and teed up substitute Pedro to score shortly before the break, and just minutes later Brazilian fullback Alves made it two with a thunderous drive into the top corner. In the second half Real came back at their opponents as Ronaldo rounded Pinto from Ozil's pass to make it 2-1 and when France international Benzema made it 2-2 with 18 minutes left Real sensed victory. They continued to pour forward after Ramos was shown a second yellow card but couldn't find the vital third goal. Barca's night was marred by an injury to Andres Iniesta, who has a suspected hamstring tear and was replaced by Pedro after half an hour. His fellow Spain midfielder Xavi celebrated his 32nd birthday by equaling Joan Segarra's Barca record of 31 appearances in Clasico matches. Barcelona will now face either Valencia or Levante in the semifinals. The pair play Thursday, with Valencia 4-1 up from the first leg. In Wednesday's other tie, Athletic Bilbao sealed a clash with third division Mirandes in the final four after a 1-0 win at Mallorca sealed a 3-0 aggregate victory in an all-La Liga encounter. In England, Liverpool booked a League Cup final date with second division Cardiff after beating Premier League leaders Manchester City 3-2 on aggregate at Anfield. Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, Nigel De Jong brought City level on aggregate with a vicious long range drive before Steven Gerrard restored Liverpool's advantage from the penalty spot. Striker Edin Dzeko put City back on terms when he tapped in Aleksandar Kolarov's cross on 62 minutes before Wales forward Craig Bellamy equalized against his former club to make it 2-2 on the night and secure a 3-2 aggregate win. In Italy, two goals from Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani helped Napoli to knock out Italian Cup holders Inter Milan and reach the semifinals. Napoli will next face Siena, who beat Chievo Verona 1-0 thanks to Mattia Destro's goal.

Barcelona beat Real Madrid 4-3 on aggregate to knock holders out of Spanish Cup . Real fight back from 2-0 down in second leg but 2-2 draw not enough . Liverpool beat Manchester City 3-2 on aggregate to reach English League Cup final . Napoli knock holders Internazionale out of the Italian Cup with a 2-0 victory .

(CNN) -- The powerful Service Employees International Union has decided that, because of the $700 billion financial-system bailout, it wants to organize bank workers. Banks that get taxpayer money need to "ensure their workers have a voice," a union spokeswoman says. In an e-mail dated November 12 and obtained exclusively by CNN, a member of SEIU's Private Equity Project outlined initial discussions to organize bank workers "since the banking industry is now being infused with billions of taxpayer dollars." The e-mail was written by SEIU's Inga Skippings to the director of the Washington office of the Association of Community Organizing for Reform Now (ACORN), a longtime ally and partner of the union. "We need to get a handle on who these workers are, working conditions, etc.," Skippings wrote. "Do you have ACORN members who work for banks or Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae? Is there anyway [sic] you could check? The banks we're most concerned about are: . -- Fannie Mae -- Freddie Mac -- Chevy Chase/B.F.Saul -- BB&T -- SunTrust -- Bank of America/Countrywide -- Wachovia/Wells Fargo -- PNC Bank/National City -- Citigroup . "Please let me know and if you have other suggestions, I'd love to hear them." Skippings referred questions to a union spokeswoman, who confirmed the authenticity of the e-mail and that the union is considering targeting the banks for unionizing. "We believe there is special responsibility for companies who receive taxpayer dollars to ensure their workers have a voice on the job," SEIU's Lynda Tran said. "And those workers should have a seat at the table at the companies where decisions that impact the future of their families and the companies that employ them" are made. "We are talking to workers really broadly in banking," she said. SEIU is the fastest-growing trade union in North America, according to its own Web site, with a membership of more than 2 million, including health-care industry workers and state and local government employees. It also represents guards and janitors who work in commercial and residential properties. And its clout continues to grow. SEIU's $85 million in political donations made it the single-largest contributor to either party in the recent elections. The union worked vigorously for the election of Barack Obama, who has named a former union official as his White House political director, a post once held in the Bush administration by Karl Rove. The official, Patrick Gaspard, formerly was executive vice president of politics and legislation for Local 1199, the SEIU's United Healthcare Workers East. SEIU, which broke away from the AFL-CIO in 2005, is known for its successful but sometimes controversial tactics: It often targets private equity groups' leaders, as well as banks and companies, with loud and demonstrative rallies. The union's hierarchy has made no secret it hopes to grow under the incoming Democratic administration. "I would say that we've been very vocal about the optimism about the new administration," SEIU's Tran said. "There are a number of newly elected members of Congress who agree with us on matters relating to working families." One labor professor said SEIU's timing in trying to unionize bank workers may be on target "because financial institutions are at a moment of weakness." "Low-wage earners are the growing sector of the work force," said Gregory DeFreitas, an economics professor at Hofstra University and director of its labor studies program. "This is a very shrewd political move to tie this to the bailouts." DeFreitas said unions tend not to do well in attracting workers during economic recessions because jobs are scarce then. But he said recent surveys indicate a majority of workers would consider organizing, so the public's appetite for unions may be on the upswing. "Bank teller jobs are one of the few jobs that are actually growing," DeFreitas said. "And they are low-wage earners, so it makes sense that it fits into the SEIU model. SEIU has been very opportunistic in growing its membership. Success breeds success." The median annual earnings of bank tellers was about $22,000 in May 2006, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. A spokesman for the American Bankers Association said it had no one who could comment on labor issues. He said the association represents 95 percent of the industry's $13.6 trillion in assets.

Union says it is considering targeting banks for unionizing . E-mail from union lists the banks it's "most concerned" about . E-mail cites $700 billion financial-system bailout as reason for move . Spokeswoman: Bailed-out banks have responsibility to ensure workers have voice .

LONDON, England (CNN) -- While many films spend a brief period in the spotlight before fading into obscurity, there are some which seem to grow increasingly powerful over time. Nora Aunor stars in "Himala" as Elsa, a young girl who changes everyone's lives when she reveals her connection to the Virgin Mary. Lost Filipino classic "Himala," is one such film that looks set for a revival over two decades after it was first released. Web site users voted to award the late Filipino director Ishmael Bernal's film the top prize in the CNN APSA Viewers Choice Award for Best Asia-Pacific Film of All Time, edging Akira Kurosawa's acknowledged classic "Seven Samurai" into second place. This comes as a late but significant accomplishment for the film which was made in 1982. "Himala" has won numerous awards in its native Philippines and remains the first and only Filipino film to have been shown in competition at the prestigious Berlin International Film Festival. "Himala," which means "miracle" in the Filipino language Tagalog, tells the story of a poor provincial girl named Elsa who claims to have seen the Virgin Mary and then demonstrates the ability to cure the sick. She takes on the persona of a saint, and her sudden fame brings about a rush of changes in her community, for both better and worse. Scriptwriter Ricky Lee, based his story on a real incident on Cabra Island, in Mindoro Occidental, Philippines. In the late 1960s, reports of a young girl who had experienced visions of the Virgin Mary attracted salvation-seeking pilgrims and curious tourists in droves. Lee wanted to create an unflinching depiction of the place of faith and religion in desperate and unforgiving times. Producer Charo Santos-Conci's first impression of the script was that the subject matter hit close to home for the Filipinos, who are mostly Catholic. "This was a representation of how much faith really runs in the blood of the Filipinos," he said, "We're a very poor country and I think it's such a relief for us to know that this strong faith in each one of us is [what's] guiding us and propelling us to face all the challenges." Lee and Bernal also collaborated closely, continuing to work on Lee's original script, reworking the film's characters to make them as real as possible. Filming was completed in just a month in the arid, desolate area of Ilocos Norte in the northern Philippines, on a meager budget of just over $60,000. Ilocos locals with no acting experience were hired as extras to cut costs, and Lee remembers them as a genuinely wretched bunch who "knew how it was to suffer" and "to pray for a miracle." Lee had insisted on having actress Nora Aunor, who was 29-years-old at the time, in the lead role. Apart from the rising star's talent, he saw parallels with Elsa in her. "Her relationship with her fans was almost like the relationship of Elsa with her followers in the film and so I thought that it was a very strange and mysterious," says Lee. And to add a supernatural twist to the film's history, Aunor says that she had dreamt of the Virgin Mary on the night before the part of Elsa was offered to her. Since then Aunor has become one of the Philippines' biggest superstars, though "Himala" is still considered her finest work. Your say: which classic movies do you think should be resurrected? Tell us below in the SoundOff box. In her character's final speech in "Himala", which both Lee and Santos-Conci say is their favorite scene, she resolutely confesses to a motley crowd of worshippers that "there is no miracle." After telling the people to seek the truth within themselves, she is assassinated by a faceless follower. "Long after the film was shown, I would talk to university students and they would always ask, 'So, who killed Elsa?'" says Lee of the climactic ending, which underwent several on-set rewrites. "And I always tell them that in the end, we killed her. In the end, we killed Elsa. In the end, people could not bear to hear the truth from her because they wanted to survive." Lee believes the film's message is still relevant today, particularly for Filipinos, because it confronts how easily people attach their faith to almost anything they think might ease their suffering in times of hardship and despair. Whatever it is that audiences see in "Himala's" unique story, it would certainly seem that it is finally gaining the recognition it deserves.

Triumph for film at international awards ceremony after more than two decades . Scriptwriter Ricky Lee talks about working with late director Ishmael Bernal . "Himala's" message continues to strike a chord with audiences today .

(CNN) -- Live ammunition fired by Yemeni security forces left 11 protesters dead in Sanaa and Taiz on Wednesday, witnesses said, as a human rights group called for an end to the use of deadly force by government troops. Doctors and eyewitnesses in the cities told CNN that another 169 people had been injured, some critically. "Shots are heard everywhere in Sanaa," a witness told CNN. Journalists and medical sources said eight people were killed in the capital when Republican guards began shooting directly at demonstrators in the eastern and northern parts of Change Square. At least 65 people were injured, the sources said, 12 critically. They added that more than 100 additional people suffered injuries from rocks or batons. "Security forces are aiming for a massacre in Sanaa," said Abdul Wahab Anesi, a medical staff spokesman at a field hospital set up in Change Square. Before Republican Guards began firing at protesters in the square, they reportedly clashed with military personnel who had been protecting demonstrators gathered there. Journalists, medical sources and other witnesses told CNN that these soldiers defected two months ago along with Maj. Gen. Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar, who withdrew his support from President Ali Abdullah Saleh in late March. At the time, he promised to protect civilians demonstrating against the president. In addition to the casualties in the capital, three people were killed and four were reported critically injured in Taiz. "The attack took place while we were chanting, 'One more week left for you, Saleh,'" said Sabir Ali, a protester in Taiz. The protesters were giving Saleh a week to step down, saying if he does not, they will make good on a vow to march to the presidential palace. Earlier, a senior security official denied that forces fired on protesters in Taiz. "Security forces were preventing attacks on civilians led by gangs of the opposition," the official said. "Security forces did not shoot at protesters. Gangs of the JMP were the shooters." The JMP stands for the joint meeting parties, a coalition of opposition parties. "Security forces kill people, then deny the incident," said Ahmad Bahri, head of the political office at the opposition Haq party. "This is why the Yemeni revolution is taking place." He said the protesters were unarmed and were marching peacefully when they were shot. Those who died were shot in the head, Bahri said. Civil disobedience was also seen in the cities of Abyan, Aden, Ibb, Hodeida and Amran, according to reports. Amnesty International, in a release Wednesday, again called on Yemen's government to stop the use of deadly force against anti-government protesters. "Security forces in Yemen must be immediately stopped from using live ammunition on unarmed protesters," said Philip Luther, Amnesty International's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa. "The Yemeni government must allow its people to express their genuine grievances without fear of violence and killing. It must also ensure that justice is done for all those killed unlawfully while exercising their right to peaceful protest." The high representative of the European Union for foreign affairs and security policy, Catherine Ashton, echoed that call in a statement released Wednesday. "I am following with the utmost concern the developments in Yemen," Ashton said. "I condemn in the strongest terms the ongoing violence and repression against protesters in Sanaa, Taiz and other cities. I call on the government and security forces to end the use of violence immediately." Ashton urged Yemeni groups to sign a political transition agreement worked out by the Gulf Cooperation Council, and to implement it without delay. The agreement stipulates that Saleh transfer power and leave office within 30 days of signing the deal. It also provides immunity for him and those who served in his regime and calls for a unity government to be formed within seven days. Protesters calling themselves Revolution Youth had called for a civil disobedience day on Wednesday. More than 95% of the shops in Taiz were closed, according to witnesses. On Monday, medical officials said at least six people were killed and hundreds were wounded when teachers, accompanied by opponents of Saleh's government, demonstrated against salary cuts. Witnesses said security forces fired on the protesters after dispersing marchers with batons and tear gas. CNN cannot independently verify the witnesses' accounts. Saleh's impoverished and unstable nation has been wracked by anti-government protests and clashes between demonstrators and security forces for many weeks.

Live ammunition is used against protesters in Sanaa and Taiz, witnesses say . At least 169 people are injured by gunfire, rocks or batons in both cities, they say . The Republican Guard fought military personnel who were protecting demonstrators . The protesters were unarmed, according to an opposition party official .

(CNN) -- Dan Wallrath was honored as a Top 10 CNN Hero last year for his efforts to build mortgage-free homes for U.S. troops wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. He and his group, Operation Finally Home, recently partnered with the television show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" to build a house for Army Staff Sgt. Patrick Zeigler, who survived the 2009 shooting spree at Fort Hood, Texas. CNN Heroes producer Kathleen Toner recently spoke to Wallrath about the experience, which will air on ABC on Sunday night. Kathleen Toner: How was working with "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" different from one of your typical builds? Dan Wallrath: The biggest difference was just the magnitude of it. The first day when we had the Braveheart March, where volunteers and builders march in, that was very exciting -- getting things kicked off, just feeling the energy of all the volunteers and the folks. Video: Watch volunteers arrive at the build site . And then this house was built in about 100 hours, where normally we take about six months. When you do it in a week, you see the impact of the whole community. We had so many volunteers. It was amazing how smooth everything went. Of course on our other projects, we get to interact with the family a lot more during the construction. So we missed that. But the good part about working with the show is that the family has this amazing week where everything changes. So it's pretty exciting. Toner: Building a house in 100 hours sounds almost impossible. How did it really work? Wallrath: There were probably 4,000 or 5,000 volunteers involved, and it was a 24-hour work site. They set up floodlights and worked 'round the clock. They had to talk to the neighbors and let them know it's going to be going on 24/7, but the community was all for it. What amazed me was that meant that people were volunteering at all hours. To volunteer from midnight until 4, 5 o'clock in the morning -- when the cameras and the celebrities are not there -- that's pretty special. I'd built homes for 30 years and never seen anything like that. And we stayed ahead of schedule. I was impressed. They said that if we didn't exceed the record (for their shortest build time), we came real close. Toner: What was the moment like when the family saw the home for the first time? Did you really say the show's signature line? Wallrath: (laughs) We really did say, "Move that bus!" It was special. There were so many people there that day who'd helped out. It was very exciting to see the look on the faces of the young couple. It's the same look I've seen so many times when we've given away homes before -- when the young man realizes that no matter what happens to them, his family is going to be taken care of. For him, going through everything he has, to see that burden being lifted off him, it was such a joy. Toner: I hear you have plans for the empty lot next door to that home? Wallrath: We had such a good response from the community (Salado, Texas, about 30 minutes from Fort Hood), so we felt like it was the right place to put another family. We spoke to the developer that we worked with, and he gave us that lot at a very discounted price. And we've found a great couple that's going to be in this house: another wounded veteran. It'll just be great for them to have another veteran nearby. You and I can't relate to what they went through, but all of the guys tell me that when they have tough times, there's no substitute for talking to someone who's been through the same thing. Toner: And you've established a fund where people can donate to help others wounded in the Fort Hood attack. Wallrath: We're going to reach out to the other families that are all over the United States now. We're not going to be able to build homes for every one of them. But if they need wheelchair ramps, doors widened, a room added on -- that's the kind of thing that, as homebuilders, we're going to be able to do. It's so exciting to be part of it, because now all these families are not going to be forgotten. America's going to step up, and we're going to be able to help them. Read the full update on CNN Hero Dan Wallrath: Support, donations pour in for Hero homebuilder .

CNN Hero Dan Wallrath will be featured Sunday on "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" Wallrath said thousands of volunteers pitched in to help him build a home in Texas . The home is for an Army soldier who was injured in the 2009 Fort Hood shootings . Wallrath: "These families are not going to be forgotten"

(CNN) -- Authorities in the United Arab Emirates should "retract their decision to cancel the residency permits of dozens of Syrians who took part in a peaceful protest against the Syrian government in Dubai," Human Rights Watch said in a statement Friday. On February 10, more than 2000 people protested against the Syrian regime in Dubai. As the demonstrators didn't have a permit to protest, Dubai police asked them to leave. According to a source close to the leadership of the Syrian National Council, which opposes the Syrian government, most left, but dozens stayed behind and continued protesting. About 60 Syrians had their residency permits revoked, the source told CNN on Monday. In their statement, HRW said the UAE canceled the residency permits of about 50 Syrians for demonstrating. But a United Arab Emirates official told CNN on Monday that the number of Syrians affected was much lower. "The decision was not to renew the residence of a few people -- much less than 60. It was around 30," said the official, who did not want to be identified. "It was not to deport them or to send them to Syria. It was to give them the option to go anywhere they wish." The official said authorities could have arrested hundreds because "the demonstration was not licensed. It was not legal. Nevertheless, nobody touched anybody, nobody was arrested." He added that the Syrians who lost residency permits had been "involved in other activities" -- but would not detail what those activities were. In their statement, HRW said, "the UAE government has shown little tolerance for public demonstrations or strikes, regardless of whether they are peaceful." In the UAE, gatherings and demonstrations are not allowed without a government permit. The source close to the SNC leadership told CNN that while the protesters who stayed "were in the wrong" for not leaving when told to do so, but "that doesn't mean the UAE needs to cancel their residencies." The source said the SNC has been negotiating with the UAE's foreign ministry and was assured last week that the permits would be reinstated -- but that has not happened. He said protesters are "asking for mercy from UAE authorities, as this won't just affect the men whose residencies were canceled -- but their families as well." The United Arab Emirates is one of the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries to have expelled Syrian envoys and to have recalled their Ambassadors from Syria in response to the government's crackdown there. "The UAE calls on Syrian President Assad to respect the right of peaceful protesters, yet it is expelling Syrians from its country for exercising this basic right," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, in HRW's statement. Added Whitson, "these expulsions show that Emirati authorities are intolerant of any protest or expression of dissent on UAE soil even if it is not geared toward them." A Syrian who left after Emirati officials gave him 10 days to depart told CNN earlier this week that he is worried about his future. "I lived and worked in the UAE for years, all my family is there. I never did anything wrong," said the man who did not want to be named out of fear for his family. According to HRW, other Syrian nationals in the UAE are not speaking out about their expulsion because they are afraid they will be deported to Syria. The rights group said, "Syrian protesters forced out of the UAE face a significant risk to their personal security if they return to Syria. ... The protesters also are at risk of persecution on return to Syria if Syrian authorities find out they protested against the regime or the circumstances of their expulsion." The source close to the SNC leadership, said UAE authorities gave the Syrians a deadline of this past February 29 to leave the country, and that at least five have left the UAE in recent days -- including two to Egypt, two to Jordan and one to Saudi Arabia, he said. The UAE official said the deadline is "flexible." According to HRW, at least 10 of the protesters had to leave the UAE, with "some of them going to Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar." The rights group added they do not have any information indicating that anyone was sent back to Syria. The UAE official who spoke to CNN said none of those asked to leave the country had been deported to Syria. CNN's Yousef Rafayah contributed to this report .

On February 10, more than 2000 people protested against the Syrian regime in Dubai . As demonstrators didn't have a permit to protest, Dubai police asked them to leave . Source: Most left, but dozens stayed behind and continued protesting, some Syrians . Source: 60 Syrians had their residency permits revoked .

(CNN) -- Over the past few months, newspapers, websites and cable news programs have implied 2010 would be a year of remarkable progress for women in politics. With a record number of women running for the U.S. House (138) and U.S. Senate (15), pundits, pollsters and politicians assumed it was the dawn of a new day, one in which Democrats and Republicans understood the importance of electing women. High-profile female candidates, many with interesting personal stories and personality traits, fostered the speculation that 2010 might very well be another "Year of the Woman." But it wasn't. In fact, Wednesday morning's headlines did not even mention women. Obviously, Democratic losses and Republican's ascent correctly took center stage. But some important points about women in politics slipped through the cracks. First and foremost, for the first time in 30 years, the number of women serving in the U.S. House of Representatives will likely decrease. A few contests remain too close to call. Democratic incumbents Melissa Bean and Gabrielle Giffords are fighting to hold onto their seats. Republican challengers Ann Buerkle and Ruth McClung are trailing by only a few thousand votes to the male incumbents they hope to unseat. But only if women win all of these races (an unlikely scenario) will the total number of women serving in the House hold steady at 73. The story in the U.S. Senate is similar. Depending on the outcome of Lisa Murkowski's write-in bid in Alaska, women will either continue to occupy 17 seats or they will drop to 16. Therefore, the best-case scenario for women's overall representation is they will continue to comprise 17 percent of Congress. Second, a net loss of women in Congress was a likely outcome heading into election night. We just did not seem to talk much about it. In an election cycle in which women competed for fewer than one-third of the 435 seats at stake in the House and only 15 seats in the Senate, substantial or even incremental gains for women were almost impossible. And because 77 percent of the women in the House and Senate were Democrats, women were in a particularly precarious position as they faced an anti-Democratic, anti-establishment electorate. The election results are consistent with what the political landscape portended. In the House, at least nine female Democratic incumbents lost their races. That number may climb to 11 when the votes are fully tallied. Only one out of 28 female Democratic challengers knocked off a Republican incumbent. And six of the nine Democratic women running in open seats lost their bids. Democratic women held four of their five seats in the Senate, although no female Democratic challengers or open-seat candidates won. Importantly, Democratic women fared no worse than their male Democratic counterparts; of course, their male Democratic counterparts did not fare well. The only way to compensate for these losses would have been with substantial increases of women in the House and Senate on the Republican side of the aisle. That did not happen. The National Republican Congressional Committee ran women in only three of the 30 races that presented the best opportunities to gain seats. So even though all 15 female Republican incumbents who sought re-election won and even with victories by six Republican women challengers and two Republican women competing in open-seat contests, the opportunity for gains was minimal. Republican women will continue to comprise just 9 percent of their caucus in the new Congress. Third, the loss of Democratic control in the House is especially detrimental for women because opportunities for leadership positions are based on seniority. Not only will Nancy Pelosi no longer be speaker of the House, but Louise Slaughter, Nydia Velazquez and Zoe Lofgren will also no longer serve as committee chairs. Early reports of the new Republican leadership include no women's names. I do not want to minimize that last night's elections resulted in an increase of the total number of Republican women in Congress. And I have no interest in detracting attention from the successes several women saw last night. Nikki Haley, for instance, became South Carolina's first female governor. Susana Martinez's win in the New Mexico gubernatorial race means that she will be the first Latina ever to occupy a governor's mansion. Cases such as these, however, are few and far between. Focusing on those wins obscures the reality that 2010 did not represent another "Year of the Woman." It likely moved us backward on the path to gender parity. The opinion expressed in this commentary are solely those of Jennifer Lawless.

Jennifer Lawless: Number of female candidates made 2010 seem like big year for women . But when vote count is over, number will likely stay right where it is, she says . She says shift in House pushed Democrat women out of leadership positions . Lawless: Women winning governor races significant, but not same as overall gains .

(CNN) -- Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki told the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday that he will not resign in the wake of his department being accused of deadly delays in health care at some of its hospitals. "I serve at the pleasure of the president," Shinseki told the newspaper when asked whether he would step down. "I signed on to make some changes, I have work to do." The White House stood its ground when asked whether Shinseki will continue to lead the department. In its daily briefing -- a question-and-answer session dominated by lengthy discussions on the conflict in Ukraine, abducted Nigerian schoolgirls and the White House climate change report -- press secretary Jay Carney offered only a few sentences when asked whether Shinseki's job was safe. President Barack Obama takes seriously the allegations that veterans died waiting for care at the Phoenix VA hospital, Carney said, reiterating that the VA's inspector general is conducting an independent probe into the allegations. "The President remains confident in Secretary Shinseki's ability to lead the department and take appropriate action," Carney said, repeating the White House response this week to two veterans groups' calls for Shinseki's ouster. Shinseki said Tuesday that is "very sensitive to the allegations" coming from the Phoenix probe. "I need to let the independent IG (inspector general) complete his investigation," he told the Journal. Calls for his resignation . On Monday, the nation's largest veteran organization, the American Legion, and another veterans group, Concerned Veterans for America, called for Shinseki's resignation. The calls came after months of CNN exclusive reporting on U.S. veterans who have died awaiting care at VA hospitals across the country, including in Phoenix. "It's not something we do lightly. But we do so today because it is our responsibility as advocate for the men and women who have worn this nation's uniform," said Daniel M. Dellinger, national commander of the American Legion. Added Pete Hegseth, CEO of the Concerned Veterans of America, in a statement: . "We're proud to stand with The American Legion as they take this courageous and historic stand. As America's largest veterans organization, their moral authority on this issue is unimpeachable. We applaud their demands for accountability at the very top of the Department of Veterans Affairs." Dozens of deaths . Shinseki told the Wall Street Journal that he would increase the communication among the leaders atop his department and veterans and address what appears to be a lack of faith in top management. "If veteran service organizations are voicing concern about that, I will accept I have work to do to bolster confidence in their health care system," he said. CNN has been reporting on delays in care and patient deaths at VA hospitals for the past six months, including at hospitals in South Carolina, Georgia and Texas. After CNN's coverage, the VA acknowledged in April that 23 veterans had died as a result of delayed care in recent years, but sources tell CNN that number could be much higher. In an exclusive report two weeks ago, CNN interviewed a retired VA doctor from Phoenix who charged that more than 40 American veterans have died waiting for care at the VA hospital there. Throughout the network's reporting, CNN has submitted numerous requests for an interview with Shinseki, but in the six months that CNN has been reporting on the delays, Shinseki has yet to speak to CNN. CNN is not alone in getting virtually no response from VA officials. U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller of Florida, chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, issued this statement late Monday: . "For nearly a year, we have been pleading with top department leaders and President Obama to take immediate steps to stop the growing pattern of preventable veteran deaths and hold accountable any and all VA employees who have allowed patients to slip through the cracks. "In response, we've received disturbing silence from the White House and one excuse after another from VA." VA spokesman Drew Brookie's statement, released late Monday, read: . "The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) takes any allegations about patient care or employee misconduct very seriously. If the VA Office of Inspector General's investigation substantiates allegations of employee misconduct, swift and appropriate action will be taken. Veterans deserve to have full faith in their VA care. "Under the leadership of Secretary Shinseki and his team, VA has made strong progress in recent years to better serve veterans both now and in the future. The secretary knows there is more work to do." CNN's Scott Bronstein, Drew Griffin, Nelli Black and Steve Almasy contributed to this report.

NEW: Veterans Affairs secretary says he will stay if the President still wants him . NEW: Shinseki tells Wall Street Journal that he needs to have better communication with veterans . White House: "President remains confident in Secretary Shinseki's ability to lead" Month-long investigation shows veterans have died awaiting care at VA hospitals .

(CNN) -- There is a new man tasked with fulfilling Brazil's World Cup destiny. But for a nation still smarting from the pain of that humbling 7-1 semifinal defeat to Germany, the announcement that Dunga is back in charge might raise a few eyebrows. The 50-year-old is a legend in the country after making 91 appearances for "A Selecao" and leading the side to World Cup glory as captain in 1994. And yet during his previous four-year spell as coach of the national team, he could only take Brazil to the quarterfinals of the 2010 tournament, as they lost to Netherlands. Dunga replaces Luiz Felipe Scolari -- the country's 2002 World Cup winning coach, who resigned after overseeing a heartbreaking conclusion to the 2014 installment. After that pummeling by eventual winners Germany -- Brazil's biggest ever World Cup defeat -- they were then beaten 3-0 by Netherlands in the third place playoff. Such a dramatic conclusion left the nation in shock and Scolari, who took responsibility for the horror show against Germany, stepped down last week. Now Dunga is determined to put a smile back on the fans' faces. "I am immensely happy -- thank you for your confidence in me," he said in a press conference, after taking control of the five-time world champions. "The fans are very down right now but they are right behind the team which means so much to them. "I am not here to sell a dream, we must get down to work. We must get results and forge a side for 2018. This team is very young. We must find the way to blend new players with those who have more experience. "We have to work conscientiously. And not just the players, but the press and the fans too." Adenor Leonardo Bacchi -- known as Tite -- was thought to be a frontrunner for the job but the manager of Sao Paulo-based side Corinthians has been overlooked. That might be related to the recent appointment of Gilmar Rinaldi as Brazil's new technical director. He was goalkeeper in that successful 1994 team skippered by Dunga. The president of Brazil's Football Confederation, Jose Maria Marin, said of Dunga: "He was world champion, captain of a world champion side. "He has what it takes to lead the Brazil team. The numbers show he absolutely has the ability to take charge." Dunga spent 60 matches in charge of Brazil in his first stint as coach between 2006 and 2010, winning 42, drawing 12 and losing six. He was criticized for the style of play he employed, and the squad he chose to take to South Africa at the previous World Cup. Brazil was dumped out of the tournament in the last eight after a 2-1 defeat to Netherlands, leading to Dunga's sacking shortly after. But arguably, the state of the nation's soccer is in far worse shape this time around after a chastening experience on home soil. Ever since Brazil won the right to host the tournament, its fans wanted the team to erase the memory of the last World Cup they hosted back in 1950. Then, they were beaten 2-1 by Uruguay in the deciding match, a defeat which provoked a spell of national mourning. Another was induced by that semifinal mauling. Shorn of its two best players -- Barcelona striker Neymar through injury and defender Thiago Silva because of suspension -- a shellshocked Brazil were 5-0 down at halftime. By the end of its 7-1 defeat, the crowd were booing them and applauding Germany. Many of the players left the field in tears at the final whistle. And Dunga said Brazil must adapt to the differences in the world game quickly. "Football has changed," he added. "It changes every moment and every day. "We like to talk here about talent and playing off the cuff. But we also praise German organization. So we have to harness our talent with planning." Dunga also made reference to Nelson Mandela, who was a pivotal figure in taking the World Cup to South Africa in 2010 before his death in December last year. "Nelson Mandela had everything against him," he said. "He did not have a weapon and yet brought about change. "I hope to have (even) one percent of his patience. I am not thinking about me but about the team. If the team is doing well then I'm happy." Football: Germany captain quits .

Dunga is appointed the new national coach of Brazil . Former player lifted the World Cup with Brazil in 1994 . Dunga replaces Luiz Felipe Scolari who resigned after World Cup . He had a previous spell in charge between 2006 and 2010 .

(CNN) -- Jeff Weiss had spent 20 years teaching negotiation skills to top executives when he realized those techniques might be just as valuable to soldiers on the battlefield. So a decade ago, he approached the U.S. Military to teach officers negotiation tools and strategies they could use in a theater of war. The West Point Negotiation Project was founded, and before long, Weiss made another realization: the lessons could go the other way, too. "There's a ton to take from the military back to the corporations," says Weiss, a partner at Vantage Partners, a Boston-based negotiation training and consulting firm that works with Fortune 500 companies. "Business leaders have a lot to learn from military leaders who, in extreme situations, are able to take a deep breath, get perspective and negotiate through a set of strategies." Read more: Why we pick bad leaders . Perhaps counter-intuitively, the best military negotiators adopt a creative, problem-solving approach. A more macho, "Rambo style" of negotiation -- in which the negotiator digs in inflexibly to a position they believe to be right -- is "just not effective," Weiss says, and could lead to fatal errors. "When we're under pressure to act fast in a high-stakes situation, it often leads us to a set of traps," he adds. "We often act on perception and assumptions, we tend to use a strong position and dig in, we tend to use threats and we play a concessions game far too frequently." Below are five key points into which Weiss has distilled the essence of successful deal-making, which he says are equally applicable whether you're dealing with potentially hostile stakeholders on the battlefield, or a fellow boardroom warrior. Know your enemy . Step back and solicit the perspective of the other side. Understanding their point of view, whether you agree with it or not, is crucial to ensuring you have an accurate handle on the situation. This way you avoid becoming locked into a false set of assumptions, or confusing it with a situation you have seen before. Creativity, not compromise . Be disciplined about uncovering underlying motivations -- then use those motivations to put forward a set of possible creative solutions. Says Weiss: "The most effective negotiators dig for interests or motivations underneath the stated demand, and present possibilities in response." Be creative and look for the other side to build those possible solutions with you. "With a little creativity you can do all kinds of great stuff, without needing to compromise." Read more: Want to be a leader? Act like one . Arm yourself ... and the other side . Be principled and fair. "You need to take responsibility for arming yourself and the other side with something objective to defend the solution with," says Weiss. "If you leave the other side telling their people, 'Well, I agreed to this because the other side pushed really hard, made a threat and coerced me,' chances are they're not going to persuade their stakeholders and critics." Win hearts and minds . Tackle issues of mistrust head on, and don't mix them with the substance of the negotiations. "Often we find people try to buy a damaged relationship: 'You don't think I'm a good partner, I'll throw some money at this.' That never works," says Weiss. "You might make someone temporarily happy, but you don't build trust that way, and without trust it's very difficult to do complex deals." He advocates negotiating on "two tracks": trust and relationship issues on one side, the substance of the negotiations on the other. Take control . Be active and deliberate about shaping the negotiation process in the way you want it to evolve, proposing new ways forward when talks stall. Systematically change the game if you don't like the way the other side is playing it. Don't simply fall back to a position of reacting to their demands. This creative approach requires a major shift in perspective for macho corporates, many of whom tend to take the attitude that their "strength comes from being right," says Weiss. He says many tend to negotiate "the same way they handled their first negotiation -- they wanted food, they cried, they didn't get it, they cried harder. Unfortunately that's many people's first and last lesson in negotiation." But while the military's finest negotiating talent may have generated these solutions, it doesn't necessarily follow that they are used more prevalently in the military than in the corporate world. "We're getting there in the military. But," he concedes, "in large part, it still has a fairly macho approach." Perhaps not unlike the boardroom.

Jeff Weiss says the strategies of top military negotiators work well in the corporate world . Weiss teaches negotiation skills to executives and to the U.S. military . The best negotiators adopt a creative, problem-solving approach . Macho, "Rambo-style" negotiating rarely works, in the battlefield or the boardroom .

(CNN) -- Brazilian superstar Kaka celebrated his return from injury by scoring Real Madrid's winner against 10-man Zaragoza on Saturday night, keeping the pressure on Spanish leaders Barcelona. Kaka ended a six-week absence as he came off the bench in the second half and slotted home his eighth goal this season with eight minutes to play to give Real a 2-1 away win that left the capital club a point behind defending champions Barca. The midfielder, who cost $100 million when he signed from AC Milan in June, fired in a low effort across goalkeeper Roberto after running into the box to collect a precise pass from fellow big-money acquisition Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo was also involved when Real, knowing they had to win after Barcelona's earlier 3-1 victory against bottom club Xerez, finally took the lead five minutes after halftime. The Portugal forward was quickest to react after Roberto could only first parry a low shot by Gonzalo Higuain and then block the former Manchester United star's own attempt, and veteran forward Raul was in the right place to sidefoot home the resulting cutback pass. Raul, who came on for injured Dutch midfielder Rafael van Der Vaart in the first half, also hit the post in the 26th minute. Zaragoza, just two points above the relegation zone, were reduced to 10 men only a minute after Raul's goal when Matteo Contini was sent off for aiming an elbow at Higuain -- the Argentine went down clutching his face even though the on-loan Italian defender's limb appeared to strike his chest. Raul also left the pitch with an injury, to be replaced by French forward Karim Benzema. But the home side, promoted back to the top flight this season, shocked Real by equalizing in the 61st minute as on-loan striker Adrian Colunga broke free on the counterattack and rounded goalkeeper Iker Casillas to slot the ball into the empty net. Sergio Ramos headed against the Zaragoza woodwork from Guti's free-kick as Real pressed for a winner, which came after the 75th-minute introduction of Kaka. Barcelona bounced back from the 3-1 midweek defeat against Inter Milan, which followed a long bus trip to northern Italy due to the volcanic ash cloud that closed Europe's airspace. Coach Josep Guardiola rotated his squad ahead of Wednesday's second leg of the Champions League semifinal, and Jeffren and Thierry Henry took advantage of their call-ups to put the Catalans 2-0 up inside 25 minutes. The 22-year-old winger Jeffren curled in a fine 14th-minute effort after linking with Xavi, while France forward Henry was set up by strike partner Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Xerez pulled one back just a minute later with a fierce shot from Mario Bermejo that caught Barca napping after a mistake by defender Dmitro Chygrynskiy, but Ibrahimovic restored the hosts' two-goal cushion 11 minutes as halftime after Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure laid on an easy chance. Xerez ended the match with nine men as Matias Alustiza and Fabian Orellana were red-carded for bad tackles in the final minutes, and are now six points from safety with four matches to play. It was Xavi's 200th victory in 349 appearances in a Barcelona shirt, extending his club record. "It was a dangerous game because however much you prepare tactically, your mind is on last Tuesday's match and the one we will play on Wednesday against Inter," Guardiola told reporters. "Today we played thinking about Inter, and it was inevitable because it's just so important for us." Valencia consolidated third place with a 1-0 victory at home to Deportivo La Coruna in the late match, with striker David Villa scoring the only goal from the penalty spot in the 34th minute after defender Ze Castro handled the ball. Los Che moved seven points clear of fourth-placed Mallorca, who host Malaga on Monday. The only blot on the night was the late sending-off of substitute Rubens Baraja, who received two quickfire yellow cards. The first spell also ended on a bizarre note as the referee blew for halftime before the required 45 minutes were played, and then had to restart the match after protests from both sides.

Real Madrid remain one point behind Spanish leaders after beating Zaragoza 2-1 . Kaka scores 82nd-minute winner as he comes off bench after six weeks on sidelines . Barcelona earlier bounced back from midweek defeat to beat bottom club Xerez 3-1 . Xerez have two men sent off in final minutes as Barca have eye on Champions League .

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistani police say a Muslim cleric planted evidence to link a Christian girl to blasphemy -- a new twist in a case that has fanned flames of religious tension in the country and attracted worldwide interest. The imam, Khalid Jadoon Chishti, will himself face blasphemy charges for tearing pages out of a Quran to use as evidence against the girl, Islambad police chief Bin Yamin said. The latest development may make it easier for the girl, 14-year-old Rimsha, to be released on bail at her next court hearing. Police arrested Rimsha last month after a neighbor accused her of burning pages containing texts from the Muslim holy book, the Quran. Rimsha had two shopping bags with her: one containing ashes and the other, the partially burned pages, police said. She had gathered the paper as fuel for cooking, authorities said. Even though Rimsha's lawyer said no one actually saw the girl burning the papers, the neighbor went to Chishti -- the neighborhood cleric -- with the bags for safekeeping as evidence. Chishti wasn't certain that simply burning pages with texts from the Quran would be enough to convict Rimsha on blasphemy charges, said Munir Jaffery, the investigating officer in the case. So, the imam added two pages from the holy book itself to the bag to bolster the case, Jaffery said. Police arrested Chishti on Saturday after three witnesses told a judge about the imam's actions. He was sent to jail for 14 days, accused of evidence tampering. Chishti has denied the allegation, authorities said. Yamin, the police chief, drew a distinction between the accusations against the two, saying Rimsha is a simple-minded minor, while the imam is highly educated in religious studies and indulged in the act of blasphemy willfully.  . Insulting Islam provokes widespread and immediate reaction in Pakistan, a predominantly Muslim nation. Its controversial blasphemy law makes the crime punishable by death. Critics have said the legislation is being used to entrap minorities. Punjab Gov. Salman Taseer, who criticized the law, was shot to death by his security guard last year. A Pakistani court then suspended the guard's death sentence. In Rimsha's case, about 150 people gathered on August 17 -- the day she was arrested -- in the area where the neighborhood's Christian population lives and threatened to burn down their houses, police said. Her relatives have gone into hiding. During a tense hearing Saturday, Muslim lawyers demanding that Rimsha remain in jail got into a shouting match with the judge. They provided a list of reasons the girl should be detained, including questioning whether the girl gave her lawyer the power of attorney. A judge ordered investigators to get more details on her power of attorney and postponed the hearing to Monday. Before Saturday, a decision was supposed to come Thursday, but was deferred so authorities could answer questions about her medical history. "All these are the delaying tactics by the lawyers of the complainant to keep the girl in jail," said her lawyer, Tahir Naveed Choudhry. Her lawyers dashed into a car and sped off after the hearing Saturday for safety reasons. Rimsha did not attend. Pakistani authorities have come under pressure to guarantee Rimsha's safety amid concerns that if she is released on bail, angry Muslims will seek retaliation. Choudhry has sought bail, saying she is legally a minor and should be reunited with her parents rather than kept in a jail with adults. He cited a report by an independent medical board stating that the girl is 14. The doctors who examined her also concluded that her mental age was lower than her chronological age and she suffers from Down syndrome, he said. Police have said the girl is illiterate and denied knowing there were Quran verses on the documents she allegedly burned. Choudhry says he expects the trial to last as long as two years. Rimsha would remain in custody for its duration if bail is denied, he said. If she is tried as a minor, she might receive a milder sentence if convicted. As an adult, she faces a maximum sentence of life in prison for blasphemy, the lawyer said. The imam's arrest may prompt a reexamination of the allegations against the girl, authorities said Sunday. "We have strong evidence against (the cleric)," said Naveed Chaudhry, an adviser to Pakistan's president. "(Rimshi's) lawyer is going to court for bail. She might be released by Monday based on this evidence."

NEW: The imam involved in the case is himself accused of descrating a Quran . Rimsha, a teenaged girl, is accused of burning Islamic religious verses . The case has heightened religious tensions in Pakistan . Pakistani authorities are under pressure to guarantee her safety .

(CNN) -- A large pop-up box will greet Facebook users logging on to the social-networking site on Thursday, asking them to modify their privacy settings. The company says the changes will help streamline privacy controls that have confused many of its 350 million users and were sprawled over six separate pages. What is getting the thumbs-down . Complaints have started flowing in, focusing on three areas: . The changes treat as "publicly available information" the following: your name, profile picture, current city, gender and networks, and the pages you're a fan of. Until now, you had the option of restricting much of that information. That option has been removed. The ramifications, as the nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation sees them: . "For example, you might want to join the fan page of a controversial issue (like a page that supports or condemns the legalization of gay marriage), and let all your personal friends see this on your profile, but hide it from your officemates, relatives or the public at large." You cannot do so now. The foundation says: "These changes are especially worrisome because even something as seemingly innocuous as your list of friends can reveal a great deal about you. In September, for example, an MIT study nicknamed 'Gaydar' demonstrated that researchers could accurately predict a Facebook user's sexual orientation simply by examining the user's friends list." Facebook counters that a user's friends list can be made nonviewable. But it is either viewable by all or by no one. Another source of consternation is Facebook apps, such as the quizzes developed by third parties that many users are fond of taking. Until now, Facebook provided an option so you could specify that your information not be shared with others when one of your friends adds such an app. But now, whenever a friend adds an app, your "publicly available information" becomes accessible to the developer. So why did Facebook undertake the changes? The Weblog TechCrunch explains it this way: If a user retains the "Everyone" option, the information is accessible by the Web at large. "In short, this is Facebook's answer to Twitter. ... That means Facebook can leverage it for real-time search, and can also syndicate it to other places, like Google and Bing. The feature has been available in the site's privacy settings since last summer, but most people didn't use it (and probably didn't even know it was there). The new privacy launch today puts this as the default option for many users." The changes have met with mixed reaction. By early Thursday, more than 2,700 users had approved of the changes on the Facebook blog. But about 700 people said they were unhappy. "The new setting[s] are ridiculous," commented user Victoria Anne Archer. "I have less control than before and my friends are visible to everyone ... I can't hide them ... but I have no choice ... because if I select only friends ... then NO ON[E] CAN FIND ME!" What is getting the thumbs-up . The most commended aspect of the new settings is that they allow users to micromanage who can access every bit of information on the site. One way to do so is to separate your friends into lists and grant those lists varying levels of accessibility. For example, if you would rather your bosses not know what you do on downtime, you can place them on a specially created list. In addition, a user can specify accessibility post by post. After each status update you type or photo you post, you can pick from a drop-down menu whether you want that item visible to everyone, to just your friends, or to friends of friends as well. How to access the changes . The new controls will be available under the "Settings" link at the top right of every page, in addition to being available in the dialogue box. For each section -- profile information, contact information, applications and search -- users will be asked to pick from three options about who can access the information: Friends, Friends of friends, or Everyone. The changes do away with "regional networks," which let users designate themselves as residents of a geographic area. But Facebook is retaining school- and company-based networks. It is worth noting that many users will find their privacy options set at "Recommended settings" by default. If you retain those, your information will be available to everyone. If you would rather the site not share your information publicly, you will need to click through each section and restrict it to "Friends" only. This applies for photos as well. A user will have to specify album by album how much access to grant others. In addition, you will have to go under "Search" and specify whether you want Facebook to make your information available to users who look for you on Facebook and on the Web.

Pop-up on Thursday asks Facebook users to change their privacy settings . Some users dislike how much information is made public to non-friends unless they make changes . More popular is the new ability to decide on every post who gets to see it . Blog calls the changes "Facebook's answer to Twitter"

(CNN) -- When the Department of Justice shut down Megaupload.com last month, it wasn't just Megaupload users' files that went offline. The move prompted changes in the way other file-hosting sites share content and shook up anti-abuse departments across the industry. Since the federal crackdown, third-party aggregate sites no longer link to Megaupload's video host, Megavideo, which has also been shut down. File host videobb did not respond to questions from CNN regarding its anti-abuse policies, but links to the site's content were noticeably absent from sites like Side Reel following Megaupload's shutdown. Direct links to videobb's movies and TV shows that were available less than a month ago are now gone. The change suggests videobb is stepping up anti-abuse efforts in order to avoid the fate of Megaupload, a Hong Kong-based site which is accused of knowingly hosting illegally pirated material. It would be almost impossible for videobb to completely eliminate illegal content, but just the effort to do so may be enough to shield it from criminal charges. Another file-sharing site, BTJunkie, voluntarily shut down Monday. The site's founder told TorrentFreak that recent legal action against Megaupload and other similar services was behind his decision. The Department of Justice has accused Megaupload of willfully breaking copyright law and trying to cover up its actions by hiding illegal materials from the site's public page. Federal prosecutors said the company offered financial incentives for users to illegally upload movies and television shows. It also accused Megaupload officials of discouraging the legitimate use of the site for personal storage by deleting content that was not regularly downloaded. The indictment alleges the company has denied copyright holders an estimated $500 million and that those indicted have earned roughly $175 million in the process. Attorneys for Megaupload have denied the charges. A Department of Justice representative said in an e-mail the agency will only pursue cases like Megaupload's where there was "sufficient evidence of willful criminal conduct." That means videobb will likely be safe from criminal charges as long as it continues removing illegal content from third-party aggregate sites. If other companies follow suit, the Justice Department will have accomplished what some have suggested was its primary goal -- making an example of Megaupload to convince other file hosts to step up anti-piracy enforcement. However for some, the elimination of Megaupload as a file-hosting option has made vetting pirated content more difficult. Daniel Raimer, a spokesman for Switzerland-based file host RapidShare, said the company's anti-abuse department has been working overtime since the day last month when Megaupload went offline. The workload is not caused by an increased emphasis on removing copyrighted material, he said, but is necessary to vet a massive influx of files from new customers -- Megaupload's customers. Raimer said the company has not made any changes or improvements to its anti-abuse policies in the wake of the Megaupload scandal. He said it wasn't necessary because RapidShare was already among the toughest in the industry. RapidShare has a three-strike policy for copyright offenders, after which the site deletes users' accounts and all of their files, a tactic which has proved unpopular with ousted users. "There's some trash talk online, but we're not sad about those comments," Raimer said. "We like bad press from pirates." RapidShare uses a variety of technical tools to catch abusers, but the site also uses a basic search method identical to what might be employed by any home user. Raimer said RapidShare technicians type words like "movies, free download" into search engines to look for illegal movie and TV show downloads on the site. The process can be tedious for the 17-person team. While they comprise nearly a third of RapidShare's staff, Raimer said it is impossible for them to check each of the 400,000 files uploaded to RapidShare each day. He estimates about 5 percent of all files are illegal, but his team can only catch and delete about 1 percent of all uploaded files. Raimer said it has been even more difficult to keep up with incoming content since Megaupload's shutdown because of all the new customers. However despite the increased difficulty, he said RapidShare's commitment to legitimate file-hosting remains the same. Raimer said RapidShare wants to ensure its new customers understand its business model. "We don't provide any incentive to upload illegal content," he said. "We are determined to show them we don't tolerate that."

Third-party aggregate sites no longer link to Megaupload's video host, Megavideo . The demise of Megaupload as a file-hosting option has made vetting pirated content more difficult . RapidShare technicians type words like "movies, free download" into search engines .

(CNN) -- The extraordinary new film "12 Years a Slave" immerses us in the reality of historical slavery at a deep level of complexity and nuance. The film is an opportunity to honor all who were held in chattel slavery, treated like property, and subjected to levels of violence, torture, and control that no human should ever endure. The movie, directed by Steve McQueen, is also an opportunity to start a meaningful conversation about how prevalent slavery is today. Most of us believe that slavery in America disappeared over a century ago. In the narrative we've learned, the Civil War, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the Thirteenth Amendment ended this horrific chapter in our nation's history. But this narrative is simply wrong. Slavery may no longer be legal or accepted. Slavery may no longer be as brutal, as visible, or as blatant. But it's time for us to fully absorb that slavery has been with us every day since the late 1800s. Solomon Northup, whose autobiography the film is based on, was a free man living with his family in Saratoga, New York, during the 1840s. He was deceived, coerced, drugged, kidnapped, and sold into slavery. His money and documents were taken. He was given a new name, and his true identity was suppressed. He was physically and psychologically tortured, enduring abuse for years and threatened with death if he tried to escape. The parallels to slavery today are striking. The control mechanisms used by Solomon's recruiters and captors are the same tactics and stories we hear about daily from the people who reach out to us for help on the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline, which Polaris Project operates. The International Labor Organization estimates nearly 21 million people around the world are victims of modern slavery.. That's 21 million people living in circumstances similar to those that drove Solomon Northup to despair. Modern slavery is the man who was promised a job on a farm to earn enough money to pay for his parents' medical care, then forced to work long hours, intimidated with violence, and made to live in deplorable conditions in a cramped room with his co-workers. It's the man working in a restaurant who was assaulted by his manager and threatened should he ever try to leave. Modern slavery is the 15-year-old girl who was romanced and recruited by a pimp, then raped, beaten, and sold online into the commercial sex trade. It's the woman from South America held against her will in a house in the suburbs, paid only a fraction of the wages she was promised, and compelled to work as a domestic servant. These are only a glimpse into types of cases Polaris Project learns about every day -- cases right here in the United States. Human trafficking is a low-risk crime with high profits. The U.N. estimated it to be a $32 billion a year industry in 2005, and many in the anti-trafficking field believe that number is outdated and too low. As ubiquitous and overwhelming as the global scale of modern slavery feels, we can't shy away from the enormity of the challenge to address it. One way to respond is to offer a lifeline: to provide that one moment that helps someone get out of slavery. For the millions of men, women, and children being trafficked, that moment of opportunity doesn't need to take 12 years to arrive like it did for Solomon. With global telecommunications technologies, political will, and anti-slavery resources, help can be one phone call or one text away. All of us can help create that moment of opportunity: Learn about modern slavery and recognize its signs. Share the national hotline number and post fliers in places where vulnerable populations might see it. Report tips and relevant information about suspected slavery in your community by calling Polaris Project. Urge your elected leaders to pass stronger anti-slavery laws that crack down on traffickers and protect survivors. Support efforts nationally or in your community that are building a movement against modern slavery. We have a duty to learn from Solomon's story and the horrors of historical slavery, to never let it happen again, and to mobilize for the 21 million victims of human trafficking still trapped in slavery. The opportunity to truly eradicate slavery is before us. Now let's rise to the challenge and seize it. To reach Polaris Project, call 1-888-373-7888 or text BeFree (233733) The opinions in this commentary are solely those of Bradley Myles.

Bradley Myles: "12 Years a Slave" movie reveals horrors of historical slavery in the U.S. Myles: Most of us believe slavery in America disappeared but it has never stopped . Slaves include girls trafficked for sex, farm workers, domestic servants, he says . Myles: We can recognize the signs of modern-day slavery and report them .

(CNN) -- The milestones keep coming for Roger Federer, but the tennis superstar had to dig deep at the French Open on Sunday before notching his 900th career win and reaching his 36th successive grand slam quarterfinal. Federer made a flying start against home hope Gilles Simon, but then lost the next two sets to raise the prospect of his earliest defeat at a major tournament since he lost in the third round at Roland Garros to Gustavo Kuerten in 2004. An uncharacteristic fall on the red clay by the Swiss in the seventh game of the second set heralded a change of momentum. However, he regained his composure to triumph 6-1 4-6 2-6 6-2 6-3 and earn a clash with another Frenchman, sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. "It was a great atmosphere in which to play like this. It became difficult in the second set as Gilles turned it around," said the 17-time grand slam champion, who has lost only once in 23 times he has had to play five sets. "I am proud of the record. It's a lot of years, a lot of sacrifices and a lot of matches like this." Simon had won five-set matches in the first and third rounds, but was unable to reach the second grand slam quarterfinal of his career -- the only one being in Australia in 2009. Federer, whose only French Open triumph was in 2009, became the fourth player to reach 900 wins -- Ivan Lendl was the last to do so in 1990. The 31-year-old Swiss has won 81.5% of those matches, with just 204 defeats. He has a 9-3 career record against Tsonga, who beat Serbia's Viktor Troicki 6-3 6-3 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals of his home event for the second successive year. Interactive: The secrets of French Open champions . France has not had a male champion since Yannick Noah in 1983, and Tsonga is looking to make up for last year's heartbreak -- when he blew four match-points in a five-set defeat by world No. 1 Novak Djokovic. "I'm playing well, so all the lights are green," the 28-year-old said. "Everything is positive. I have nothing to lose." Fourth seed David Ferrer will take on this year's surprise package Tommy Robredo in an all-Spanish quarterfinal. Robredo became the first man in 86 years to come back from two sets down in three successive matches in a grand slam as he defeated 11th-seeded compatriot Nicolas Almagro 6-7 (5-7) 3-6 6-4 6-4 6-4. The 31-year-old, who this time last year had dropped from a career-high fifth in the rankings to a lowly 470th after 14 months out with injury, trailed 4-1 in the third set before launching an another incredible comeback. "Maybe he had a little bit of doubt, though, in that moment," said 34th-ranked Robredo, who also reached the last eight in Paris in 2003, 2005 and 2009. "Then I just pushed hard and I won the third. And then I was just dreaming and dreaming to try to do it again, and I did it." Almagro, who has reached two finals on the ATP Tour this year, also led 4-2 in the fourth set and 2-0 in the decider. "I had my ups and downs. These ups and downs cost me the match," said the 27-year-old, who also blew a two-set lead against Ferrer in January's Australian Open quarterfinals. "I think Tommy produced a remarkable, admirable game. I have every respect for what he did. For my part, I need to move on as best I can." Ferrer, a semifinalist last year, dropped just five games as he crushed South African 23rd seed Kevin Anderson 6-3 6-1 6-1. "I'm very happy with my game today," said Ferrer, who has not lost a set in four matches. "Maybe I played the best match of this week."

Second seed Roger Federer reaches his 36th consecutive grand slam quarterfinal . Federer registers 900th win of his illustrious career, beating Gilles Simon in five sets . The 17-time grand slam champion will next face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at French Open . Fourth seed David Ferrer will play comeback king Tommy Robredo in last eight .

(CNN) -- "May God bring you pain, Bashar." The curse is from a woman as she stands over a young child, dressed in purple pants and a matching shirt. Cursing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, she asks why the girl had to die -- one of 10 children killed by shelling Sunday on a playground in a Damascus suburb, according to opposition activists. The woman's cries are among a host of heart-wrenching moments captured on video from Deir al-Assafir. Posted on YouTube and quickly spread via social media, it begins by showing the bodies of two seemingly dead little girls on the ground, then two more bodies in a car, then adults carrying even more limp children. A young girl on the pavement cries uncontrollably until she's picked up. The opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria said cluster bombs from Syrian warplanes killed children while they were playing. Alexia Jade, a spokeswoman for the opposition-run Damascus Media Office, said residents in Deir al-Assafir believe the attack was committed by the government in retaliation for rebels taking over a nearby military airport. Rami Abdulrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, however, said it's not known what happened. Whatever the explanation, the images represent another sordid chapter in Syria's bloody civil war. The violence raged again on Monday, with at least 168 people killed across the country. More than half of those reported deaths -- 90 of them -- were in the capital and its suburbs, with another 35 in Aleppo, the LCC reported. Rockets pummeled the Syrian city of Atma on Monday, not far from a key command center for the rebel Free Syrian Army, a witness said. Two rockets fell within several hundred meters of the command center, the witness said. It's unclear whether any rebels were injured, but the building did not appear to be damaged. About 40,000 civilians have been killed since the first protests sprung up about 20 months ago against al-Assad's government, according to the opposition Center for Documentation of Violations in Syria. Meanwhile, more than 380,000 Syrians have fled the violence and become refugees in countries such as Turkey and Lebanon, the United Nations reports. The Syrian government routinely refers to its battle against "terrorists," the term it uses for rebel fighters and extremist elements in the country. On Sunday, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency reported on several military operations "in pursuit of al Qaeda terrorists who are perpetrating acts of killing and looting," in some instances identifying those killed and where they purportedly came from, such as Saudi Arabia, Libya and Palestinian territories. CNN cannot confirm claims by the government or the opposition because of government restrictions that prevent journalists from reporting freely within Syria. What started as security forces cracking down on mostly nonviolent protesters has spiraled into a civil war between pro-government forces and the rebels, including the Free Syrian Army. Rebel fighters scored significant victories over the weekend, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Overnight Saturday, rebels stormed Marj al-Sultan airport, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) from Damascus, and destroyed two helicopters and a number of vehicles. In Daraa province, rebels claimed to have taken over a base near the Jordanian border that once housed the Syrian army's fourth battalion. The violence has spilled over, too, into neighboring countries. Turkey has turned against its former ally, asking its fellow NATO members last week for Patriot missiles to bolster its air defenses because of several deaths in its territory blamed on Syrian forces. A delegation of Turkish and NATO officials was to begin a site survey Tuesday to determine where to deploy the batteries, the Turkish military said Monday. "The deployment of the Air and Missile Defense System is a precaution for defensive purposes for possible air and missile threats from Syria, and is not for the establishment of a no fly zone or for offensive maneuvers," according to the Turkish military statement. The bloodshed has seeped into Lebanon as well, where there have been deadly clashes between pro- and anti-Syrian factions. And Israel's army fired warning shots toward Syria earlier this month after a mortar shell hit one of its military posts. Protests continue in Egypt . CNN's Nick Paton Walsh, Ammar Cheikhomar, Samira Said, Raja Razek, Roba Alhenawi and Karen Smith contributed to this report.

NEW: 168 dead across Syria, mostly in the Damascus area, an opposition group says . Turkey, NATO to begin reviewing possible sites for air defense missiles . State-run media report on military operations targeting "al Qaeda terrorists" Witness says rockets fell close to a rebel command center .

(CNN) -- Actress Eva Mendes volunteers regularly with The Art of Elysium, an organization that enables actors, artists and musicians to share their talents with children who are battling serious medical conditions. She was also a presenter at "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" in 2009. Mendes recently sat down to talk to CNN producer Quinn Brown about CNN Heroes and her philanthropy. Below are excerpts from that interview. Quinn Brown: What inspired you to get involved with The Art of Elysium? Eva Mendes: I'm a sucker for kids, and I also know the importance of art and what it can do to someone's life. Coming from a low-income family, I didn't know that art was this release ... so it's really important for me to make sure that kids know: "You have a voice. You can put this to paper. ... You can put this to canvas." What we do is we bring the arts, in any way we can, into hospitals. Some of these children have been bedridden for years, so they obviously can't go out and play. So we sing. We read to the children. We finger-paint -- that's a really fun one -- and it's amazing what you see. You get a real direct, immediate result. These children, they're just these beautiful little souls. Some of these kids can't speak, so they really just have their eyes and their souls to communicate. And when you finger-paint with a kid or you dance and you see their little eyes light up, it's pretty incredible. And when you start visiting them on a regular basis, you see their growth. It's really quite special. Brown: Has there been a particular child who inspired you? Mendes: David is one of the most creative souls I've ever met. He ends up writing a play every year for Christmas, and we end up all acting in it. David has now written three plays for me. He's a demanding director. David's face is completely deformed, and he has a lot of internal problems and health issues due to his deformities. He's this awesome kid who's found a purpose and who's found a voice through The Art of Elysium. Brown: It sounds like you're pretty involved. Mendes: I would love to say that I give selflessly, but that's not true; what I get back is tenfold. My vocabulary doesn't even contain the words I feel once I leave the hospital. There is total sense of purpose and fulfillment that I feel that I don't get from any other area of my life. It's a two-way deal. It's just so gratifying. Brown: Do you have any heroes? What is a hero to you? Mendes: Charity and giving back begins at home, and that is really important to remember. You can be out there saving the world, but if you're not trying to save your own family and doing the work at home, it doesn't really make any sense. You asked me who my hero is -- my mom. She is a survivor in every sense of the word, and it began at home with her. She is a very compassionate woman, and she always taught me to think about other people. As bad as things were for us, there was always someone who was worse off. That always put me in a state of gratitude, and I thank her for that. But that, to me, is a hero. A woman who is a survivor and doesn't let life beat them down. Brown: Moving onto CNN Heroes, you were a presenter at "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" last year. How did that compare to other awards shows you've been to? Mendes: Can I say a bad word? It wasn't full of s---. It was real. It was inspiring. I left that night feeling like I wanted to change the world right then and there. It was beautiful because you have all of these people coming together, swapping stories and ideas. It was just amazing to have all of these "good-doers" in one room together. It's a lot of power. It's a lot of energy, and that's inspiring. Brown: What was it like to see all of those heroes? How did it affect you personally? Mendes: It makes me realize that, due to this celebrity thing, I do have a light that follows me around. So what I choose to do with that light is shine it on other things that are important, not just what I'm wearing. ... So it just keeps everything in perspective and makes me realize my purpose as well and the purpose of this crazy thing called celebrity.

Actress Eva Mendes is among those helping to bring the arts to seriously ill children . Mendes wants the children to know that they might be bedridden, but they have a voice . Mendes felt inspired by "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute": "It wasn't full of s---"

New York (CNN) -- Forget Punxsutawney Phil's predictions. The words "Play ball!" are the most dependable sign that spring has arrived in America. Finally, baseball season is here. Maybe because it is an outdoor game, with a schedule stretching across three seasons. Maybe because it is a child's game played by men, bridging the different times of our lives. But the start of the baseball season is always greeted with relief, a sign of rebirth and hope, that this year appropriately coincides with Easter. Winter is over. The bleak time has been survived. And slowly but soon the familiar rhythms of life will reassert themselves. This, as it's referred to in the film "Bull Durham," is the church of baseball, open to all. It is a sport more appropriately known as a pastime, "the national pastime." The pace of the game is part of its charm -- meditation and strategy interspersed with furious action. The sounds of the game are the background track to summer. As a sport played without a clock, a baseball game occurs out of time. It could theoretically go on forever. The past is always present in baseball -- it is "a haunted game," as Ken Burns' documentary "Baseball" intones, with typically perfect pitch. The best players of today compete not just with the players in their league, but the best players of all time. Statistics are the unlikely portal to this bit of metaphysics. Fans can compare players of different eras and dream up their own all-time all-star team. This is another reason to love the game: Baseball can inspire young fans to see the fun in math and history. I am a Yankees fan, first minted in 1979, looking up at a poster of Ron Guidry, Willie Randolph and Greg Nettles -- meaning that I waited 17 years to see them return to World Series-winning form. It was a case of bad timing:  I stayed true when just about everyone my age in New York was rooting for the Mets in their championship 1986 season. This takes not quite as much character as remaining a Chicago Cubs fan, but it's somewhere in the same ballpark. Now with the Yankee players of the legendary late 1990s teams reaching the twilight of their careers, I am not expecting to win our division this year, let alone see the World Series. But with the start of the new season, a blank slate in front of us, the possibility exists, and that in itself is liberating. As much as I love the Yankees, I love the game of baseball more. Which is why I always harbor a secret hope on opening day that the long-suffering Cubs fans will finally get to see a World Series win in their antique jewel of a ballpark, Wrigley Field.  I want to see baseball tradition and fan faith rewarded.  Even when the Yankees' archrivals, the Boston Red Sox, won their 2004 World Series after 86 years of waiting, I quietly cheered, because New England fans had waited long enough and deserved some deliverance. The love of the game comes first. These are a fan's notes before opening day, a rambling love letter to a game that still surprises me with how much I miss it in the offseason.  None of these thoughts or emotions is entirely original, but they are from the heart. The church of baseball has many hymns, from Ken Burns' epic "Baseball," to films like "The Natural" and "Field of Dreams," to books like "The Boys of Summer." Sports columnists like Red Smith, Jim Murray and Shirley Povich captured enduring moments in the newspapers of their day. But the finest tribute, to my eyes and ears, came from the typewriter of Bart Giamatti, the one-time president of Yale and Red Sox fan, who died of a heart attack at the age of 51, just 154 days into his tenure as the commissioner of baseball: "It is designed to break your heart," he wrote. "The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." But this is the beginning of the season. The knowledge that "this too will pass" takes away none of the thrill that comes with new beginnings. There are green outfields and long summer days ahead of us. The story of this season is about to be written and we will all get to be witnesses. Finally. Again. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of John Avlon.

The start of the baseball season coincides with Easter this year . John Avlon says the church of baseball is open to all . Avlon: Return of baseball is a reliable sign of spring and a moment to savor .

Taji, Iraq (CNN) -- Under a sweltering sun, Fallah al Araiby hunched over the hood of a car, scrubbing away the dirt. Once, his son used to work alongside him on a busy street corner in central Baghdad. Now, he does it alone. His son is one of the thousands who have answered the call from Iraq's top Shiite cleric to take up arms to protect Iraq from extremist Sunni fighters whose aim is to oust Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shiite-dominated government and establish an Islamic state that stretches from Iraq to northern Syria. With three days of training, his son -- 25-year-old Ali -- was given a helmet, a rifle, a magazine of ammunition and sent to the front line, al Araiby said. Maps: Understand the crisis in Iraq . Some 23,000 volunteers, according to Col. Shihab Hamoud Nasir, have signed up for the security forces since ISIS seized Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul. In a lightning advance, ISIS seize large swaths of northern and western Iraq earlier this month. Al Araiby's son and many like him were taken by the loads in buses and trucks to the sprawling Taji training base, 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Baghdad. There, under a makeshift canopy, volunteers wait for their turn to begin training. When they are called, they are put into formation where they march -- sometimes out of step -- and practice shooting. They get about a week to 10 days of training, Nasir said. Much has been made about whether it's enough training to take on the seasoned ISIS fighters, who have had significant success in battling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces. ISIS fighters and allied Sunni militants have launched a number of attacks against military bases and checkpoints, killing a large number of the new recruits. Iraq's military spokesman, Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta, details the deaths of ISIS fighters during military briefings televised near daily, but he says almost nothing about Iraqi security force casualties. But sporadic reports about the fighting from police and local government officials paint a sometimes bleak picture. Take the report about fighting at a military base south of Baghdad: . ISIS fighters launched an attack Sunday against the base at Jurf al-Sakhar, on the outskirts of Hilla, where an infantry brigade is based. At least seven soldiers, all new recruits, were killed and 15 were wounded, according to police officials. It was the second such attack on the base in as many days. Still, volunteers come by the hundreds to Taji to train. "I can assure you that volunteers came from all of Iraq's provinces, and a few were underage but we convinced them to change their decision and return to their families," Nasir said. While Nasir said recruits are not asked about their religious affiliation, the majority are Shiite who answered the call put forward by Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the country's top Shiite cleric. Among them is 23-year-old Mohammed Jassim, who left his job as a taxi driver in Baghdad's Sadr City to take up arms. "This is my first day here, and I am ready to be deployed to the field, even to the front line, if that's needed," he said as he sat on a wooden bench waiting to be called. As Nasir detailed the training for CNN, he was interrupted by a man in his 70s who reminded him that he has come to the training center every day for much of the last two weeks. "When will it be my turn," he asks Nasir. "When God wills," the colonel tells him. "When God wills." On the street corner in Baghdad, al Araiby praises his son's decision to volunteer. He doesn't know where he's been deployed. "No, I am not afraid for him. He is a brave young man, and it is his duty to obey the religious authority," he said. "... I encouraged my son to join as a volunteer because this is our responsibility and duty." The 50-year-old al Araiby hopes to join his son at the front line. He says he's just waiting for the military to call. Who are the militants fighting to take over Iraq? Iraq witnesses recall horrors in Tal Afar, Mosul .

Fallah al Araiby is glad his son, 25-year-old Ali, will be fighting Sunni insurgents . With three days of training, Ali was given a helmet, a rifle and sent to the front line . An Iraqi colonel says some 23,000 volunteers have signed up for the security forces . The big question: Are they enough to take on seasoned ISIS fighters?

(CNN) -- Bangladesh's Cabinet decided to inspect the safety and security of all garment factories Monday after last week's deadly building collapse, state news reported. At least 398 people were killed when a factory collapsed at Rana Plaza in Savar, a Red Crescent official told CNN, and up to 2,773 people survived. Under the inspection plan, a committee led by a state minister would visit the factories and submit a report to the government about the safety measures, Cabinet Secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told reporters. The panel includes the ministries of home, labor, disaster management, textiles, defense, industries and environment. M.S. Akbar, chairman of the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society, said the rescue operation might be completed by Tuesday or Wednesday. At least two bodies were pulled from the wreckage Monday, but no survivors were found. Rescuers are now using heavy machinery to remove wreckage at the site of the collapsed building, suggesting the hunt for survivors of the disaster is coming to an end. "It is hardest for those family members who do not know if their loved ones are dead or alive or trapped," Akbar said. The chances of finding more survivors were dim "unless there's a miracle." Many workers hailed from the country's north . Most of the factory workers were between the ages of 18 and 22, said Morshed Ali Khan, editor of the local Daily Star newspaper. Most were impoverished residents from the country's northern region who went to the city to find work. Many were parents with children still waiting for them to come home. Khan has seen several hundred families looking for loved ones each of the past five nights. "A strong stench of rotting human flesh has taken over the scene. It is very hard to stand next to the site," he told CNN. Yet children and their grandparents still waited at the scene Monday. They said they would camp out at the site until they get the body of their loved one, Khan said. Some relatives have lost work while waiting at the site. Many sleep on the street or quietly clutch a photo. One man was talking to himself with a photo of his son in his hand. Some have given up hope of finding their relatives alive. "Yesterday a woman told me, 'I want the dead body of my daughter so I can take her dead body home to bury,' " Khan said. Rescue efforts . Rescue teams have been combing through the debris since Wednesday morning, when the nine-story building collapsed and buried thousands of garment workers. "We will proceed extremely cautiously," Brig. Gen. Ajmal Kabir told reporters at the scene Sunday. Sunday evening's rescue efforts were disrupted by reports that a fire had broken out as workers tried to cut through mangled metal trapping a woman identified only as Shahana. Shahinul Islam of Bangladesh's Inter Services Public Relations -- a department of the Ministry of Defense -- told reporters that the fire was put out shortly afterward, but it was not clear what happened to the woman. Local media reports said she died. The commercial building, containing five garment factories, several shops and a bank, was in Savar, about 45 kilometers (27 miles) from the capital, Dhaka. Cracks had appeared in the building structure a day before the collapse, but garment workers were told to come in despite their concerns that the building was unsafe. Authorities have arrested seven people: three factory owners; two government engineers; the owner of the building, Sohel Rana, a local leader of the ruling Awami League who was caught as he tried to flee the country; and Rana's father. OPINION: Who really pays for our cheap clothes? John Sifton, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, told CNN that while people should be held accountable, Bangladesh's government and the garment industry must also take steps to protect their workers. He said research conducted by Human Rights Watch indicated that there were only 18 inspectors for the 100,000 factories operating in and around Dhaka. "What this tragedy really needs to result in is stricter labor laws, stricter safety laws and the government coming to terms with the reality that it can't just supply all these workers without giving those workers their rights. "There are only so many tragedies like this that can happen before Western retailers and Western buyers ... realize that they are going to go elsewhere, not because they necessarily can get lower prices but because the scandal is too much." Journalist Katie Hunt wrote and reported from Hong Kong and Aliza Kassim reported from Atlanta. CNN's Saeed Ahmed, Harmeet Singh and Joe Sterling and journalist Farid Ahmed contributed to this report.

NEW: Death toll up to 398, Red Crescent Society says . Many were parents with children still waiting for them to come home, local editor says . Red Crescent says the chances of finding someone alive are very remote . Most of the factory workers were between ages 18 and 22, the editor says .

Knoxville, Tennessee (CNN) -- Helen Ashe experienced many hardships growing up in Abbeville, South Carolina, during the 1930s and '40s. Her family's first house had no lights or running water. But even during tough times, she and her twin sister, Ellen, were taught to be selfless. "My daddy taught us not to take the last piece of bread from the table; somebody may come by that's hungry," Ashe remembered. Since 1986, Ashe has been leaving a whole lot more than bread on the table. As the founder of the Love Kitchen in Knoxville, Tennessee, she has helped serve more than 1 million free meals to those in need. Aided by her sister and a team of volunteers, Ashe serves those whom she calls the five Hs: the hungry, the homeless, the helpless, the hopeless and the homebound. "We have so many people that are in need," said Ashe, 83. "That's what keeps us going." The Love Kitchen prepares and distributes about 2,000 meals a week from a large community center that's equipped with a restaurant-style kitchen. On Wednesdays and Thursdays, the Love Kitchen serves a lunchtime meal where everyone is welcome. Hundreds often dine in, but the majority of meals -- 1,500 on average -- are delivered to Knoxville residents who cannot physically leave their homes. Many of these people are elderly and suffer from debilitating illnesses or diseases. "Each week, we get a list of people that are either hospitalized, too old to come in to eat, or homebound," volunteer James O'Hare said. "Then on Thursday, they take a stack of these seven meals, and the volunteers deliver to that person." Each takeout box has an entrée, a vegetable, bread and dessert so recipients receive well-rounded meals for a whole week. But they also get much more. "It feeds their body, and it also feeds their soul," O'Hare said. "They have somebody that comes and talks to them, gives them some encouragement." Do you know a hero? Nominations are open for 2011 CNN Heroes . Ashe doesn't typically deliver the meals herself. She and her sister stay at the community center, greeting volunteers, recipients and even fans who drop by to say hello. "My sister Ellen is a blessing to me," Ashe said. "She always says the Love Kitchen was in the making. And that's why the Lord sent two: because it's so much work to do for one." The two enrolled in nursing school in the late '50s, and after graduation, they began working at what is now the University of Tennessee Medical Center. At the time, Ashe said, segregation was in "full force." She saw many of her black patients struggle for food and transportation. "They didn't have money," Ashe said. "They didn't have transportation home. The Lord put it into my brain for me to do something about this." Ashe said she used her own funds when she could to help those in need. However, she dreamed of a place "where people could come and eat and wouldn't have to pay anything." In 1986, that dream became reality when the pastor of a nearby church said she could set up shop in the basement. The first day the Love Kitchen opened its doors, it served 22 meals. "I think our first meal was fried chicken with some fried potatoes and a little salad on the side," said Leroy Mundy, 66, who has been coming to the Love Kitchen since it started. The number of recipients grew over time, as did the venue size. But more than two decades later, there's still down-home Southern cooking and some good old-fashioned Southern hospitality. "You leave with love and some higher spirits when you talk to these two ladies here," Mundy said. The Love Kitchen's food is donated by an area grocery store. Local farmers and specialty shops also bring in fresh vegetables, fruit and baked goods. Meals are served fresh in a kitchen that is up to Health Department standards. Volunteers range in age, and many are local professionals who have been inspired by Ashe's vision and work. Ashe gives all the credit to God and her wonderful parents. Her motto remains the same as the day they opened their doors. "We work for what we got, and we share what we get," she said. Want to get involved? Check out the Love Kitchen's website at www.thelovekitchen.org and see how to help.

Helen Ashe has helped serve more than 1 million free meals since 1986 . The majority of them are delivered to people who can't physically leave their homes . The Love Kitchen "feeds their body, and it also feeds their soul," said a volunteer . Do you know a hero? Nominations are open for 2011 CNN Heroes .

Libreville, Gabon (CNN) -- Deep and heavy beats vibrate large subwoofer speakers, hip hop artists grab the mic with one hand and gesture passionately with the other as thousands of fans rap along and dance in unison. You would be forgiven for thinking this was a typical urban concert in the U.S. -- but it's thousands of miles away in the tiny African nation of Gabon. I've journeyed to this equatorial country for "Inside Africa" to find out why the Gabonese are such faithful followers of the American hip hop scene and its culture, I also want to know what makes contemporary music here different from other African nations. My first stop is 104.5 Urban FM, one of the most popular radio stations in the country. Two outspoken women, Jna (pronounced Gina) O'djino and Ingrid Wani are local hip hop critics appearing as special guests on a daily program hosted by station manager Didier DeFreshman. As they list popular rappers I realize Gabonese stage names mimic U.S. stars; Amenem is an up and coming rapper channeling the street credibility of Grammy-winning artist Eminem; Tina is a fierce female rapper comparable to Trina in the U.S.. Meanwhile, muted music videos play on the walls showing off exotic cars and scantily clad women gyrating suggestively. Turn up the volume and lyrics in French and Fang (Gabon's indigenous language) prove this is a local interpretation or better yet, an African remix of American hip hop. Read also: Meeting Senegal's octogenarian star . Between moments of playful banter, the radio team discuss the days most requested artist; Ba'Ponga. He personifies a major difference between U.S. and Gabonese music - no royalties! This lack of additional income from selling music means most artists need a day job. So even though Ba'Ponga has been performing since the 1990's and is well known here, he still has to work weekdays in an office. We go there to meet him. Ba'Ponga is an intimidating figure, six-feet tall or more with a large full frame but dressed casually. Working at Gabon's Ministry of Culture he certainly stands out among men and women in suits. He's helping the government in its effort to reach out to Gabonese youth and convince them that the future of the nation is directly tied to their actions. In fact, that inspirational message is the cornerstone of Ba'Ponga's music. He tells me he's simply emulating what U.S. rappers do; talk about humble beginnings, challenges, downfalls and motivate anyone in a similar situation to rise above it. For its part , the Gabonese government is becoming more sophisticated in how it uses music to communicate that message, partly because its President isn't shy when it comes to singing and rapping. Back in 1977 current President Ali Bongo Ondimba released a soulful and funky album titled "A brand new man'"under the name "Alain Bongo." On the LP he sounds like James Brown, which is understandable considering the Godfather of Soul's former manager helped him record it. Read also: Discovering the real Zambia . In 2009, while Ali was running to replace his late father Omar Bongo Ondimba (Africa's longest serving leader) he updated his musical repertoire. Videos on YouTube reveal a rapping Ali Bongo bouncing on stage with Gabon's hip-hop community. During this campaign, Ali portrayed himself as "Le candidat des jeunes,'" the youthful candidate. It worked - he won. On the day of my hip hop tour of Gabon, the government sponsored a free streetside concert with Amenem, Tina and Ba'Ponga warming up the stage for Senegalese-born U.S hip-hop star Akon. This wasn't just for young people, parents brought their toddlers, kids were arm-in-arm and absent was the macho bumping of shoulders and territorial stares common at other hip-hop events. I realise that for Gabon, hip hop music is not only about hope but unity as well. A small nation of only 1.5 million people means relationships are incredibly important, community invaluable. Artists have to work harder and be more creative since there is a smaller market in which to thrive. This is what makes urban Gabonese music unique, responsive and a genuine beat of Africa's true heart.

CNN's Errol Barnett takes a hip hop cultural tour in Gabon. He visited Urban FM radio to learn about the African remix of American hip hop. Barnett met Ba'Ponga, a local hip hop star who uses music to reach disaffected youth. For Gabonese, hip hop music is not only about hope but unity, finds Barnett.

Harlem, New York (CNN) -- Every four years during the Winter Olympics, millions of people become armchair experts on figure skating: quadruple jumps and combination spins, death spirals and triple Salchows. And like clockwork, many rinks across the United States see a surge in enrollment for figure skating lessons inspired by Olympic fever. But the costs of seriously pursuing the sport put it out of reach for many families. Skates alone often cost $300, to say nothing of the ice time, coaching and costumes. Yet each week in Harlem, Sharon Cohen helps more than 170 girls hit the ice and skate their way to new heights. "The girls really fall in love with gliding, like I did, and realize that they're doing something very special," said Cohen, a former competitive skater who began teaching girls to skate in 1990. "Before, there weren't a lot of girls (here) that could imagine themselves as figure skaters. ... But the thing about skating is it lets you imagine you can be anything." Since 1997, Cohen's nonprofit, Figure Skating in Harlem, has provided skating equipment and instruction, tutoring and life skills classes to more than 700 girls from low-income communities. Lessons for life . Each week, the girls participate in two 90-minute group skating classes organized by age and skill level. They have fun, get fit and stay safe after school, and Cohen believes the lessons they're learning can last a lifetime. "They gain discipline, perseverance. They fall down, and they get back up," said Cohen, 48 "And they learn they can do that in anything." To hit the ice, students must attend tutoring sessions three times a week. Participants are required to maintain a B+ average; those struggling to do that receive extra help with their studies. The organization says more than one-third of the girls earn straight As. "We really make them understand that we want (them) to be smart and wise and intelligent young women. And the fact that you skate is the bonus," Cohen said. "We're creating a culture of success." Success beyond skating . All of the students who've stayed with the program have graduated high school. In contrast, the average graduation rate in Harlem is 61%. Since 2007, all of the program's graduates have continued on to college. "We want girls to believe and know they can be anything they want to be if they put their hearts and minds to it," Cohen said. Kolby Couch joined the group as a first-grader eight years ago. She dreams of becoming an astronomer, but she hit a bump last year when she failed algebra. "Miss Sharon hired a special tutor for me," said Couch, 14. "Now I'm doing way better in school. ... She is teaching us to be the best we can be in life." Do you know a hero? Nominations are open for 2014 CNN Heroes . Students pay $350 a year to participate in Cohen's program. But with up to 100 girls on the waiting list, Cohen says this helps ensure that the girls are committed to it. One-third of the students get scholarship assistance, and Cohen says that no one is ever turned away because she cannot pay. Breaking barriers . The group recently began competing in team synchronized skating competitions throughout the Northeast. "They're up against teams (where) girls skate every day and have private lessons," Cohen said. "So the fact that they're even in contention is an amazing achievement." It's hard work -- because of limited ice time, the group's senior team practices at 6 a.m. on Sundays -- but training as a team gives the girls valuable experience. And their presence in competitions adds a dose of diversity to the sport. "They're the only all-minority -- Latino, African-American -- team out there," Cohen said. "They're very proud, and they're very well-received." Cohen hopes to one day build an ice skating education center in Harlem so that more girls can participate. She's also working to bring her program to underserved communities in Chicago, Detroit and Los Angeles. "When kids are given a blank sheet of ice, they can grow and achieve their personal best," Cohen said. "That's what this is about -- giving them the opportunity to find out what they're made of." Want to get involved? Check out the Figure Skating in Harlem website at www.figureskatinginharlem.org and see how to help.

Serious figure skaters face huge costs, making pursuit of the sport unattainable for many girls . Sharon Cohen's nonprofit gives girls from low-income communities lessons, equipment, and tutoring . Figure Skating in Harlem participants must maintain a B+ average in school . Do you know a hero? Nominations are open for 2014 CNN Heroes .

London (CNN)Lawmakers on Tuesday voted in favor of a law that sets the stage for the United Kingdom to be the first country in the world to allow a pioneering in vitro fertilization technique using DNA from three people. The technique could prevent mitochondrial diseases but also raises significant ethical issues. The measure was passed in the House of Commons, 382 to 128, Speaker John Bercow said. A further vote must be held in the UK's upper house, the House of Lords, before the measure can become law. Passage of the law is opposed by Catholic and Anglican church leaders, in part because the process involves the destruction of an embryo. One in 6,500 babies in the United Kingdom are thought to develop a serious mitochondrial disorder, which can lead to health issues such as heart and liver disease, respiratory problems, blindness and muscular dystrophy. Problems with mitochondria, the "powerhouse" cells of the body, are inherited from the mother, so the proposed IVF treatment would mean an affected woman could have a baby without passing on mitochondrial disease. But the cutting-edge IVF technique, which involves transferring nuclear genetic material from a mother's egg or embryo into a donor egg or embryo that's had its nuclear DNA removed, raises ethical questions. The new embryo will contain nuclear DNA from the intended father and mother, as well as healthy mitochondrial DNA from the donor embryo -- effectively creating a "three-parent" baby. The amount of donor DNA in the mitochondria will, however, be much less than the parental DNA in the nucleus, which determines the baby's characteristics. The Church of England's national adviser on medical issues, the Rev. Dr. Brendan McCarthy, described the step as representing an ethical watershed and said more research and wider debate were needed. "We accept in certain circumstances that embryo research is permissible as long as it is undertaken to alleviate human suffering and embryos are treated with respect. We have great sympathy for families affected by mitochondrial disease and are not opposed in principle to mitochondrial replacement," he said. "Our view, however, remains that we believe that the law should not be changed until there has been further scientific study and informed debate into the ethics, safety and efficacy of mitochondrial replacement therapy." Bishop John Sherrington, in a statement posted online by the Catholic Church in England and Wales, urged lawmakers not to rush into taking such a serious step. "It seems extraordinary that a licence should be sought for a radical new technique affecting future generations without first conducting a clinical trial," he said. "There are also serious ethical objections to this procedure which involves the destruction of human embryos as part of the process." The California-based Center for Genetics and Society, in an open letter to UK lawmakers last month, said that although the proposed goal was noble, "the techniques will in fact put women and children at risk for severe complications, divert resources from promising alternatives and treatments, and set a policy precedent that experimentation on future generations is an acceptable biomedical/fertility development." A team at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Mitochondrial Research, led by professor Doug Turnbull and based at Newcastle University in northern England, has been leading the research into the pioneering IVF technique. The center points out that mitochondrial diseases cannot be cured and that in many families, several people are affected. A Wellcome Trust fact sheet states that "nuclear DNA is not altered, and so mitochondrial donation will not affect the child's appearance, personality or any other features that make a person unique -- it will simply allow the mitochondria to function normally and the child to be free of mitochondrial DNA disease. "The healthy mitochondria will also be passed on to any children of women born using the technique." According to the latest estimates from the research team, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, almost 2,500 women of childbearing age in the UK are at risk of transmitting mitochondrial disease to their children, while in the United States, the number is more than 12,400. This equates to an average of 152 births per year in the UK, and 778 births per year in the United States, the team said. In a Newcastle University news release, Turnbull said his team's findings had considerable implications for other countries considering the technique. Allowing it would give "women who carry these mutations greater reproductive choice," he said. CNN's Alexander Felton, Laura Perez-Maestro and Debra Goldschmidt contributed to this report.

UK lawmakers vote overwhelmingly in favor of allowing the new IVF technique . A further vote must be held in the House of Lords before the measure can become law . Scientists say the technique will not change a child's characteristics, just make it healthy .

(CNN) -- "Baby, law isn't a good profession for girls," my father told me. "Stay with music, dear, that is what you and your people do so well," my high school dean said. I was 16, and asking them the most important question of my life: Will you tell me how to become a lawyer? My dad was a product of the segregated South. Orphaned at the age of 12, he pulled himself up by his bootstraps. After leaving Georgia for Washington, where he lived with a relative, he attended an integrated school, Dunbar High. Eventually, he earned his way into Syracuse University, where he was one of the first black men to graduate. In spite of his achievements, he and our family faced discrimination. Nevertheless, he kept his sense of humor, and worked hard to be a good provider. My father's message was loving and protective. He didn't want to see me hurt. My dean's message was scornful and discriminatory. She took a sledgehammer to my dreams, and when I left her office that day, I was crushed and fighting tears. I couldn't understand her answer. I wanted to go to a good college, attend a respected law school and advocate for people needing help and craving justice. I refused to abandon these high hopes. Opinion: Does Romney 'get' women who work? And I didn't. I followed my dreams and went to law school. More than 40 years later, I became one of the 10 women named to top policy-making posts in the early months of Gov. Mitt Romney's administration in Massachusetts. There, I headed up the Department of Workforce Development. During Gov. Romney's tenure, our state led the nation in terms of the ratio of women holding top spots in the administration, and to this day, that's something about which I am incredibly proud to have been a part of. And so, as I've heard criticism about Gov. Romney's admirable record of recruiting women to serve in his administration, I feel compelled to speak out about the Mitt Romney I know. I remember meeting him for the first time. I was struck by his authenticity, and over the years that I worked with him, I saw the accuracy of my first impression. Gov. Romney's overriding commitment was not to self-promotion -- as is so often the case for politicians -- but for the people he served, and the people he served with. He believes in empowering women. I would know, because I was one of those women he recruited and respected. Opinion: Romney's empty 'binders full of women' Today, there are more than 5 million women around this country -- mothers, daughters, breadwinners -- who are unemployed. They are not only robbed of their dignity and their self-respect; they are also robbed of the results of decades of hard work. More women are in poverty -- 25.7 million -- than at any time in our nation's history. And for too many young people, the doors of opportunity remain closed shut by these tough economic circumstances. Half of recent college graduates are either jobless or underemployed. The cost of college has continued to rise in the last four years and student loan debt stands at record levels. When Mitt Romney was governor, he worked with a legislature that was 87% Democratic to get things done. And to me, that really meant something: I consider myself a liberal Democrat. For him, it wasn't about who you were, it was about the quality of your ideas. That's how he improved the economy and balanced the budget, but that's not all he accomplished. Gov. Romney also initiated the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship to cover the cost of college at public institutions of higher education in the state for deserving high school students based on academic merit. During his time as governor, Massachusetts maintained its schools' ranking as first in the nation. Opportunity. Empowerment. That's what Mitt Romney has stood for while in politics and in business, and that's what matters to women. In government, he created opportunities for young people to attend college. In business, he took a chance on people to allow their dreams to flourish into realities. I've been able to rise in life because of people who see the world this way. Looking back, I'm grateful to those who believe that education is a civil right and that the dreams of all should be encouraged and cultivated. And that's precisely why I'm supporting Mitt Romney. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Jane Edmonds.

Jane Edmonds says her dad, school official discouraged her from pursuing law career . She ultimately worked for Gov. Mitt Romney in Massachusetts as cabinet member . Romney has record of hiring women in Massachusetts; he cares about women, she says . Edmonds: Romney has stood for opportunity and empowerment, big concerns of women .

(CNN) -- Yahoo's purchase of hot blogging platform Tumblr, which it announced Monday, was big news for the hundreds of millions of folks who already post to the site or check in to follow those who do. But the $1.1 billion buyout will also no doubt introduce Tumblr to lots of folks not yet wholly familiar with it, even if their Web searches for viral memes and cute kittens have already landed them there unawares. So, here are some facts you need to know about Tumblr (which, in the grand tradition of Web startups everywhere, shed its "e" early on). It's big and getting bigger . Founded in 2007, Tumblr has stayed hot on a Web that can be unforgiving once it decides you're yesterday's news. While its numbers aren't comparable to social-networking giants like Facebook, they're certainly enough to put hundreds of millions more eyeballs on the ads Yahoo serves up as its bread and butter. Let's face it -- when the White House signs up for an account, you know you're onto something. To wit (according to the company): . Number of Tumblr blogs: 105 million . Monthly visitors: 300 million . Posts per second: 900 . New signups every day: 120,000 . It loves an animated GIF . If there was a ground zero for the rebirth of the Web's beloved video loops, it was Tumblr. Once relegated to the scrap heap of Web culture (we miss you, Peanut Butter Jelly Time), the past couple of years have reminded us of an enduring truth: It's fun to watch a cute duck, a bouncy Olympian or "bros" watching basketball over and over and over again. Tumblr's quick, visual-friendly publishing platform is perfect for GIFs. Nobody expects a 10,000-word essay. Make us laugh and all is well. Oh, and how did Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer choose to make the big announcement? On her own Tumblr. With an animated GIF. They've figured out mobile . Our society is becoming a mobile one and increasingly, phones and tablets are the preferred portals for people to access the Web. For example, more people now access Facebook via mobile than on the traditional Web (a fact the site has had to aggressively address to stay relevant and make stockholders happy). 5 questions answered about Facebook Home . But while some desktop titans are having to adjust, Tumblr is already living comfortably in that mobile world. More than half of Tumblr's 300 million users access it with its mobile app, and that crowd does so an average of seven times a day. There's kind of a lot of porn . Shocker -- there's porn on the Internet. But while most any corner of the Web that allows user posts is bound to have its share of naughty bits, Tumblr has become a go-to spot for adult-entertainment industry types and amateur smut-lovers alike. (The company, of course, doesn't say what percentage of its site is adult content, but a recent analysis puts it at over 11 percent.) And the site doesn't really shy away from that fact, acknowledging as much in its community guidelines. "Tumblr is home to millions of readers and bloggers from a variety of locations, cultures, and backgrounds with different points of view concerning adult-oriented content," the entry reads, asking users only to make sure to identify such pages as NSFW ("not safe for work") and, of course, not to post anything illegal. That's all well and good for an edgy startup, but could be an issue that needs to be tackled as Yahoo aims to appeal to as many advertisers as possible. In the meantime, just make sure you look for those four letters when searching the site. It's cool . For a few years, nobody's really been sure what Yahoo is, other than a place where an aging user base gets its e-mail and looks at a few news stories. Tumblr is Mayer's bid to get young and hip -- and it's not a bad bet. From "Sh*t My Dad Says" to "Reasons My Son Is Crying," the most buzzed-about blogs of the past few years have tended to originate at Tumblr. Whether its "Kim Jong Il Looking at Things" or "White Men Wearing Google Glass," fun and a little bit edgy isn't hard to find on the site.

Yahoo buying Tumblr is a bid to make its own base younger, cooler . Founded in 2007, the site hosts 150 million blogs . Animated GIFs saw a comeback on Tumblr . There's lots of porn -- an issue Yahoo may have to address .

(CNN) -- Across the seas and oceans of Asia, islands and the waters around them are frequently a source of dispute and even military confrontation. Japan and Russia squabble over Hokkaido; Japan and China claim sovereignty over islands in the South China Sea (Senkaku to the Japanese; Diaoyu to China). Several nations lay claim to the Spratley Islands. But the coastline of the Yellow Sea -- where North and South Korea meet -- is the most explosive of all. The Demilitarized Zone between the two Koreas has long been settled in the permafrost of a diplomatic cold war. Down to the last inch, the two sides know their limits. That's not so at sea, where the North and South have long disagreed on whose waters end where -- especially in the Yellow (or West) Sea, which is dotted with islands. The South Korean warship Cheonan was torpedoed in March in this disputed area, leaving 46 sailors dead. The island of Yeonpyeong, the target of a North Korean artillery barrage this week that killed four people, is in the same area. And upcoming exercises involving the U.S. and South Korean navies will take place in this part of the Yellow Sea. At the heart of the dispute is what's called the Northern Limit Line. In 1953, after the Korean War, the United Nations unilaterally drew this line three nautical miles from the North Korean coastline. That put five islands close to the coast under South Korean control. It also hemmed in the port of Haeju, the only deepwater harbor in the North that doesn't freeze in winter. What was supposed to be a temporary arrangement has become permanent in the absence of a full peace agreement. The Northern Limit Line is still in place today -- running close to the North Korean shoreline for about 100 miles. Pyongyang has never been happy about the arrangement, but only in the 1970s did it begin to challenge it. North Korea has subsequently proposed a different line -- one that would roughly extend the DMZ southwest out into the Yellow Sea, rather than hug the North Korean shoreline. A few years ago, in typically colorful language, the North labeled the NLL "an illegal and brigandish line drawn by the U.S. on our sacred territorial waters." But the South has always resisted Pyongyang's alternative line -- as it would have brought North Korea's maritime boundary closer to its main port of Incheon. Now add the fact that these waters are important fishing and crab grounds. For North Korean fishermen especially, the blue crab season between June and September is an important source of income. Ironically, those crabs have a habit of migrating south during these months. So these waters are frequently crowded with boats from both countries -- as well as vessels from China, just to complicate the picture. Disputes over fishing rights have resulted in dozens of boat seizures. According to the South Korean Maritime Police, the North seized 36 boats in the Yellow Sea in the 1990s. More recently, the coastal waters have seen armed clashes. The most serious of them were in 1999 and 2002, which led to loss of life. The North Koreans may not wish to risk a full-scale naval engagement -- its warships came off much worse in the 1999 skirmishes and the technological gap between the two fleets has only widened since. Last year, a South Korean warship fired on and reportedly damaged a North Korean vessel that was alleged to have crossed the Northern Limit Line, leading Pyongyang to condemn what it called "a grave armed provocation." So the coastal waters of the Yellow Sea have long been the "theater" in which Pyongyang could most easily provoke a crisis, and most easily legitimize it. Added to which, such confrontations -- using artillery and patrol boats -- can be contained and managed. Nuclear threats tend to leave less room for maneuver. In the wake of the latest incidents, both sides appear to be hardening their positions. South Korea has strengthened its rules of engagement in the Yellow Sea. Far from reducing the marines stationed on the five islands off North Korea's coast, as was planned, they will be reinforced. And there's plenty of pressure in the South Korean media for a hard line, with the conservative Chosun Ilbo claiming Thursday that "the military has been implementing reforms that weaken defense capabilities" on the islands. Few analysts expect any compromise on the Northern Limit Line in the near future, given the overall deterioration in relations and the complex negotiations that would be necessary to find an alternative to what was meant to be a temporary solution nearly 60 years ago.

Asian islands are a common source of friction between countries in the region . The Northern Limit Line was drawn in 1953 . North Korea wants to push the line further out to sea . The dispute also involves fishing zones .

MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- A strong Russia is good for the United States, President Obama said in a speech in Moscow, where he is visiting in an effort to "reset" the countries' relations. President Obama meets with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Tuesday before heading to the G-8 in Italy. Obama delivered a commencement speech Tuesday at a Moscow graduate school. "America wants a strong, peaceful and prosperous Russia," he told a large crowd at the New Economic School. "This belief is rooted in our respect for the Russian people, and a shared history between our nations that goes beyond competition." He repeated the message in a meeting later with Russian business leaders, but also said Russia has to do more to fight corruption. "We have to promote transparency, accountability, rule of law on which investments and economic growth depend," he said. Watch Obama discuss thoughts on Kremlin visit » . "We want Russia to be selling us goods and we want Russia to be buying goods from us," he said. "Total trade between our countries is just $36 billion. Our trade -- America's trade with Russia -- is only about 1 percent of all our trade with the world -- 1 percent -- a percent that's virtually unchanged since the Cold War." Watch Obama's full opening statement » . Obama later met Russian opposition leaders, speaking of the importance for the country to "not simply tolerate dissenting voices but also to respect and recognize dissenting voices." Obama also spoke to civil society leaders, promising the United States will support universal values and human rights such as the rights of people to live as they choose, to have a free press and to speak their minds. On Monday Obama met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and discussed a series of agreements -- including one on nuclear-arms reduction -- as part of an effort to strengthen ties between the one-time Cold War rivals. The two signed a deal on parameters for negotiations to replace the START agreement, with the goal of reducing nuclear weapons. START expires December 5. Watch Obama discuss arms control pact » . Under Monday's agreement, Russia and the United States will reduce their strategic warheads to a range of 1,500 to 1,675, and their strategic delivery vehicles to a range of 500 to 1,100. The numbers would be a reduction from the expiring START, which allowed 2,200 warheads and 1,600 launch vehicles. The two-day summit in Moscow was to help refocus a relationship that, according to Obama, "has suffered from a sense of drift" in recent years. The president reiterated that in his speech Tuesday. "That is why I have called for a 'reset' in relations between the United States and Russia," Obama said. "This must be more than a fresh start between the Kremlin and the White House, though that is important," he said. "It must be a sustained effort among the American and Russian people to identify mutual interests and to expand dialogue and cooperation that can pave the way to progress." Obama met with Medvedev again Tuesday and with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin before heading to Italy for the Group of Eight summit. The G-8 agenda is packed with issues, including Iran, the global financial crisis, climate change and eradicating world poverty. Putin said his meeting with Obama was "very good and substantive." "We also talked about how we will be improving our relations in the near- and medium-term. It was a very well-intentioned and substantial conversation in many concrete fields. We have many points we agree on," Russia's prime minister said. After his speech, Obama sat down with Ed Henry, CNN senior White House correspondent, for a brief interview. The president spoke about a wide range of issues, including how much his daughters were enjoying Moscow, his impressions of Putin, relations with Iran and Michael Jackson. On Iran, Obama reiterated recent statements about the post-election protests there. "Events in recent weeks have disturbed the world. They are not only heartbreaking, but raise questions over where leaders want to take the country," Obama said. "We have to wait and see how the dust settles. But we have to speak out and say that the Iranian people have to be treated with justice." The president also spoke about the legacy of Michael Jackson, on the day of the pop star's public memorial program. "No doubt he was one of greatest entertainers of our or any generation. Like Elvis, Sinatra, the Beatles, he became core part of our culture," Obama said. "His extraordinary talent and music was mixed with big dose of tragedy in private life. It is important for us to affirm the best of him." CNN's Jill Dougherty contributed to this report.

NEW: PM Putin: Much agreement in "well-intentioned, substantial" talks . Obama cites respect for Russian people, shared history that transcends competition . Obama is in Moscow for two-day summit with President Medvedev, Putin . Obama, Medvedev sign "joint understanding" on cutting nuclear arsenals .

(CNN) -- Children play with a worn-out badminton set. Families sip traditional Indian tea known as chai from silver-colored cups and chat as the sun sets in a rose-colored sky. Goats bleat in the distance, water buffaloes chew on hay and the cackles of crows ring through the air. Welcome to the village of Chevuru, in southeast India, not far from the Bay of Bengal. Here, lush green rice paddies ring concrete homes in various stages of construction. I came here with 15 colleagues to help these villagers, who are among some of India's poorest and most disadvantaged people. We came to help build safe and solid concrete and brick homes for them. The villagers are Dalits -- once known as untouchables -- and they still suffer from discrimination. This group of 90 families live in thatched-roof huts that are prone to leaks and have mud floors that wash away. Some of their children attend a "school" that is a small outdoor space in front of a church. Many only have the clothes on their backs for daily wear. Ravi Kumar, head of the Association of Relief Volunteers (which partners with American nongovernmental organization Longitude, the group we used to volunteer in India) and our leader on this project, told us that giving the villagers these homes would not only physically improve their lives but it would also boost their morale -- endowing them with a new sense of pride and helping them to dream of a brighter future. Despite their tough lives -- many of the village men can only get work a few months a year on the rice paddies -- the villagers were enthusiastic, generous and hard-working. We worked under humid skies and sunny days, sometimes in more than 40-degree Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) temperatures. We carted cement, sifted materials, mixed cement, plastered walls -- and one day we worked together as a group to plaster a roof. It was back-breaking work, and watching the villagers tirelessly do it inspired me to do as much as I physically could, though we had to drink copious amounts of water and eat a lot of food. I became known as the "after lunch napper," frazzled by the morning's duties. As we worked side by side with the villagers, we got to know them and their friends. One family I spent a lot of time with was building their home to accommodate four generations: their parents, their children and their grandchild. Their names were Ramadu (the grandfather), his son-in-law Krishna and his daughter, Buji. Krishna and Buji's eldest daughter had polio, which led to her legs being amputated. The couple help raise their daughter's grandchild, a 5-year-old boy named Siy, who has a clever smile and always seemed ready to test the commands of his grandparents. I visited them in their hut, where they lived in a space that seemed to measure about 10 feet by 10 feet. I knew the new home -- at a cost of just $1,500 -- would dramatically change their lives. Despite the difficulty of their situation, they kept telling our project leader Kumar that I was working too hard and needed to rest. They always brought us superb chai tea to drink with them. But all I wanted was to help them and all the others as much as possible while we were there to get the house done. I think we did a good job: Though the homes were unfinished when we left after two weeks of work, noticeable progress had been made. Most importantly, we felt the townspeople's spirits were lifted. During our time, we met many families and played games with the children. We asked them what they wanted to be when they grew up. One of my colleagues brought bubbles (which were very popular), while others brought clothes, pens and pencils, and sports equipment. Kumar said the villagers benefited by meeting people from outside their world, getting to speak English and exchange ideas. But the benefits were definitely mutual: We got to learn about them, too, their lives, goals and interests. These villagers have so many needs: proper schooling, health care, hygiene, clothing, mosquito nets (which only cost $5) and, of course, housing. But I saw that given the right tools and opportunity, the people of Chevuru were quite capable of accomplishing what they set out to do. On our last night, the villagers threw us a party and we danced together in the new saris and kurtas they had given us. We all left wondering what we could do next to help them and discussed plans for future work in Chevuru.

A group of 16 volunteers from Turner Broadcasting goes to India to help build houses . The people of Chevuru, India, are some of the poorest people in the country . Helping the families was so rewarding for Miranda Leitsinger that she is planning a return trip .

Panama City (CNN) -- His fate uncertain, Manuel Noriega is being returned Sunday to Panama, nearly 22 years after the former dictator was forcibly removed from office by U.S. forces. Now 77, Noriega is being extradited this weekend from France, which got Noriega in April 2010 after he spent two decades in an American prison. Panamanian officials want him to face justice in the case of the killing of Hugo Spadafora, a doctor and political opponent of Noriega. Noriega was convicted in absentia of being involved with the kidnapping and killing of Spadafora in 1985. After a stop in Spain, Noriega is expected to arrive late Sunday afternoon in Panama City. For almost two decades, Noriega was a major player in a country of critical regional importance to the United States because of its location on the Panama Canal, a key strategic and economic waterway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans on the narrow isthmus linking the Americas. While in U.S. custody, Noriega suffered from prostate cancer and had a stroke. Authorities have strengthened security to guarantee Noriega's safety in prison, Panamanian Foreign Minister Roberto Henriquez said. "We have to be ready for all the possibilities in all aspects. Noriega inspires very big emotions, and Noriega's life could very well be at risk in Panama," Henriquez said. Judicial officials in Panama will determine whether Noriega can stand trial, Henriquez said. Interior Minister Roxana Mendez said Noriega will receive the same treatment as other inmates at the Renacer prison complex. "The Panamanian state has no special consideration when it comes to him serving his sentence inside the prison complex," Mendez said. "However, based on our laws, and if there's a valid request from his attorneys, they can ask that he be transferred from the prison to house arrest if the inmate's health is in jeopardy or if the inmate, being over 70 years old, may face risks inside the prison complex." Last year, a French court sentenced Noriega to seven years in prison for laundering money through French banks. He also was fined almost 2.3 million euros ($2.9 million), the amount of drug money he was accused of laundering through French banks. Noriega denied the charges. During the trial, defense lawyer Yves Leberquier tried to paint Noriega as the victim of larger geopolitical forces, accusing the United States of placing and moving pawns to serve its interests. The U.S. government has portrayed Noriega as the ultimate crooked cop -- a man who was paid millions by the Medellin drug cartel in Colombia to protect cocaine and money shipments. He was convicted of drug trafficking and other crimes in the United States. Born in 1934, Noriega was abandoned by his parents at the age of 5 and raised by an aunt in a rundown district of Panama City. After failing to get into medical school, Noriega joined the army, studying at Peru's Military Academy of Chorrillos and quickly rising through the ranks. In the 1970s he served as head of military intelligence to Gen. Omar Torrijos, who had seized power in a military coup in 1968. Torrijos died in a plane crash in 1981, and Noriega emerged as his de facto successor. By 1983 he controlled both Panama's armed forces and civilian government. In 1988 Noriega was indicted in the United States on charges of racketeering, laundering drug money and drug trafficking. He was accused of having links to Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar's notorious Medellin cartel and, in the process, amassing a multimillion-dollar fortune. Amid growing unrest in Panama, U.S. President George H.W. Bush ordered the invasion of Panama in December 1989, claiming that Noriega's rule posed a threat to U.S. lives and property. Noriega fled his offices and tried to seek sanctuary in the Vatican Embassy in Panama City. U.S. troops set up large speakers around the compound, blaring music at all hours, a psychological ploy to rattle the general. He surrendered in January 1990 and was quickly escorted to the United States for civilian trial. During his 2010 trial in France, Noriega said, "I received high praise from the U.S., Interpol and other countries who all benefited from my fight against drugs." CNN's Rafael Romo contributed to this report.

The former strongman is expected to arrive in Panama late Sunday afternoon . Panamanian officials want him to face justice there . The former dictator has been convicted of crimes in the United States and France .

(CNN) -- Things are looking horrible for President Barack Obama. There's the Obamacare website fiasco. Ongoing allegations of National Security Agency spying on European leaders. There was the government shutdown that damaged the economy on his watch. And a new poll released this week finds Obama with his lowest approval rating -- and his highest disapproval rating -- ever. If this were a movie, we would be at the part where the hero finds himself surrounded. He has no escape routes and he's outgunned. What will happen next: Will our hero prevail like John McClane in "Die Hard," or will he fail like William Wallace in "Braveheart"? Well, the good news for Obama is that the script for the final scenes of his presidency has not been written yet. The bad news is that he may not be the one writing it. Simply put: Obama is not the protagonist driving his own story. Rather, his storyline is being dictated by others. No question, he has long had trouble controlling the narrative, with a GOP bent on denying him, basically, everything he wants. But now he's heading toward the end of his final term -- and the clock is ticking on his agenda. Obama's main antagonist, of course, is the hyper-partisan Congress that refuses to agree on the most basic issues, such as raising the debt ceiling, which Congress has done more than 40 times since 1980. And unless something changes, it's looking bad for immigration reform, universal background checks for gun purchases, income tax reform or any of the other proposals he outlined in his State of the Union nine months ago. Perhaps the worst thing about the problems with the Obamacare website is that they occurred at a time when things were finally looking politically brighter for Obama. Though the government shutdown had been an unwelcome setback, polls showed after it ended that Americans blamed the Republicans in Congress for it much more than they blamed him. It looked as if Obama had righted his ship and would be able to refocus Americans on his priorities. It was as if Obama had become George Clooney as the captain of the fishing boat in "The Perfect Storm." The rain has stopped, the ocean is turning calm and there is even a glimmer of sunlight; he's beaten the storm. But then moments later, the sky darkens and there is a deluge of rain. The choppy waters (in this case, the Obamacare website debacle) soon consume the ship. Is this Obama's metaphoric fate? He can accept another plotline -- let's say of "Gravity," with Obama as a character like Sandra Bullock's, hit with one harrowing challenge after another. This may be exciting to watch, but not great for the character, who has no idea what will happen next. I'd recommend a different story line. I'd use the ending of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" as inspiration and metaphorically go out with guns blazing. Why not set some lofty goals that will frame the agenda anew going forward? First, Obama should announce that retaking control of the House in 2014 is a top priority. Yes, many districts have been gerrymandered to all but ensure re-election for Republican House members. But he should take the fight to his adversaries anyway. Unseating some tea party House members has become newly possible after the shutdown mess. Their approval ratings are just below toe fungus. Can the President maneuver through this new landscape and turn it to his advantage? Even getting more moderate Republicans into the House could be a step toward sanity. (Sometimes you have to improvise to make a story line work.) Obama should also use executive orders to the extent legally possible to attain his policy objectives. He did this very thing in 2011 when he ordered that many children of parents illegally in the United States would no longer be deported. Sure, the Republicans will push back -- they will say Obama is behaving like a "king" or "tyrant" and complain about him nightly on Fox News. But the upside is that the debate will be about the issues the President has chosen. It's denouement time for Obama as we enter the final act of his presidency. Will the President's agenda continue to be dictated by others, making him nothing more than a lame duck, caretaker President? Or will he use every means at his discretion to write his own story? Obama is the star of this movie. The only question is: How is it going to end? The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Dean Obeidallah.

Dean Obeidallah: Obama in a tough stretch, facing policy debacles, low poll numbers . If it were a movie, his character would be surrounded -- but he can change outcome, he says . He says he must aggressively press agenda and also aim for Democrats to retake House . Obeidallah: GOP dictating narrative, but he must take control before term runs out .

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Military hardware that can be used in nuclear devices and ground fighting can be easily purchased In the United States and shipped overseas, a government investigation revealed Thursday. This inclinometer, which can be . used in homemade bombs, was easily bought and shipped overseas. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) watchdog agency set up fake companies to obtain military and dual use items -- which have both military and commercial use -- in the United States and ship them overseas, according to a report made public at a House subcommittee hearing. The domestic purchases allow buyers to avoid U.S. restrictions on sales to foreign entities, it noted. Items purchased in the bogus transactions included parts for making nuclear devices and guiding missiles that could carry nuclear warheads, as well as night-vision devices, body armor and other hardware for ground combat, said the report provided to the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee. "There appears to be a gigantic loophole within our laws that makes it easy for our enemies to get hold of our superior military technology and use it against us," said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Michigan. Gregory Kutz, a GAO managing director who led the 13-month investigation, said it found "sensitive dual-use and military technology can be easily and legally purchased from manufacturers and distributors within the United States and illegally exported without detection." He stressed that no laws were broken by any of the companies that sold items to the undercover GAO operation, and that the magnitude of trying to check all overseas travelers and shipments made it impossible to halt illegal export of the items under current law. Committee members said the lack of regulation or export controls made the situation particularly troubling. "The scandal here may be what is legal, not what is illegal," said Rep. Greg Walden, R-Oregon. However, he warned against excessive regulations that could stifle necessary commerce in items used by law enforcement, medical and other industries. Kutz held up some of the items purchased by undercover investigators, including a small device that looked like a spark plug called a triggered spark gap. The item has medical applications and can also be used to detonate a nuclear weapon, he said. Kutz also displayed a small device called a gyro chip that can be used to steer guided missiles. Other items on display in the committee room included some used in improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that target U.S. soldiers in Iraq, as well as sophisticated body armor and night-vision devices. Undercover investigators complied with all required checks in purchasing the equipment, Kutz said, including the submission of end-user agreements that forbid exporting the equipment or using it in any nuclear, biological and missile weapons. Such documents amount to an "honor system" pledge, rather than any enforcement mechanism, he said. The only further checks involved are confirming the validity of credit cards and the existence of Web sites, Kutz said. Most of the transactions took place by e-mail and telephone calls. "The kind of front company we used and the kind of scheme we used is the kind being used by terrorist organizations today," Kutz said. "This was not a hypothetical situation; this is being done." The investigation shipped some of the dual-use items to "a country that is a known trans-shipment point for terrorist governments and foreign governments attempting to acquire sensitive technology," Kutz said. He declined to name the country, but said it was in southeast Asia and that the shipments were simple packages labeled documents and sent by regular mail. "As GAO proves, a cardboard box and the U.S. Postal Service is all it takes to move dual-use items out of the country," said Rep. Edward Markey, D-Massachusetts. One of those duped by the investigation -- Nicholas Fitton, a technology dealer in Georgia -- told the committee he complied with all required checks in selling an F-16 engine computer to what he thought was a legitimate U.S. buyer. Asked by Stupak why anyone other than the military would need such a device, Fitton said his customers often are museums, collectors and film companies seeking authentic items. Fitton said existing regulations were counter-productive, with seemingly harmless items associated with military gear more tightly controlled than the dual-use items of the investigation. At the same time, he said, making the system too restrictive would harm the competitive ability of U.S. manufacturers. Export laws in the United States have remained virtually unchanged since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Anne-Marie Lasowski of the GAO told the committee. She called for a "holistic" approach involving all agencies charged with security and commerce for an issue involving billions of dollars in exports.

Watchdog agency GAO buys military hardware, ships it overseas with ease . Lawmaker: "Gigantic loophole" allows enemies to get U.S. technology . Hardware that can be used in nuclear devices and ground fighting purchased . "The scandal here may be what is legal, not what is illegal," representative says .

(CNN) -- For most of the 37 years between 1963 and 2000, Jerry Sandusky was the epitome of a Penn State man. That shining image dimmed over the weekend, when police arrested him on seven counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and other charges, including aggravated indecent assault and endangering the welfare of a child. Sandusky, 67, allegedly engaged in fondling, oral sex and anal sex with young boys over a period of more than 10 years, according to an investigative state grand jury's summary of testimony. He maintains he is innocent. Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno spoke for many in the community when he called the string of sexual child abuse charges against Sandusky "shocking." The charges put a whole new spin on the title of his autobiography, "Touched: The Jerry Sandusky Story." Published in 2001, the book explores Sandusky's career and his involvement in children's charities. A starting defensive end for the Nittany Lions for three years, Sandusky went on to spend all but two years of his coaching career working the sidelines for Penn State, most of them as defensive coordinator. The university has called Sandusky "largely responsible for Penn State earning the moniker 'Linebacker U,' with 10 of his linebackers earning first-team All-America honors." Eleven years ago, he retired to focus more attention on Second Mile, the program he had founded for troubled youth. But he still maintained ties to the university, continuing as a volunteer with the athletic department's life skills and outreach programs. "Football coaching has been a wonderful career because it has brought me into contact with so many exceptional young people," Sandusky said in a statement at the time, released by the university. "The opportunity to impact the lives of the many student-athletes who've come through the program has been one of the great rewards for me. Penn State football is special because of the sense of family established by those associated with the program today and those players, coaches and staff who've been part of it over the years. "Retiring as an active coach will permit me to devote more time to The Second Mile. As the organization has grown, the demands for my hands-on involvement have increased dramatically. The staff has done a marvelous job of building the organization, which now touches more than 150,000 children annually through eight different programs. I'm anxious to devote my full-time energies to expanding the reach and influence of The Second Mile in a day and age when more and more kids seem to be at risk. " "I always felt that Jerry had two loves: One was obviously his ability, his wanting to help younger people in The Second Mile and being a head coach," Paterno said in a 2008 news conference. "He could have been a head coach a couple places, but he really he backed away because they were going to ask him to give up some things in The Second Mile." In his book, Sandusky writes of his "unusual life." "My time on this earth has always been unique," he writes. "At the times when I found myself searching for maturity, I usually came up with insanity. That's the way it is in the life of Gerald Arthur Sandusky." He writes about people who have touched his life. "I wish, sometimes, that I could press a button to bring back the times when life was so much simpler with the kids. The times when they didn't worry about what they were missing with drugs, alcohol and sex," he writes. "They didn't have to worry about protection from AIDS and HIV. They enjoyed life's simple pleasures in a naive time; a time of make-believe. There were simple activities and worthwhile outlets. People just enjoyed each other simply as people." A search of the text of his book on amazon.com shows no other references to "sex," and no references to "abuse." Second Mile issued a statement Monday saying, "The newly released details in the breadth of the allegations from the Attorney General's Office brings shock, sadness, and concern from The Second Mile Organization. Our prayers, care, and compassion go out to all impacted." Sandusky's attorney said Sandusky has known about the allegations for three years. "Jerry feels like because of his background and reputation it took a long time to reach this conclusion and he's been ready for it," Joseph Amendola told CNN affiliate WJAC. CNN contacted Amendola and did not hear back immediately. CNN's Jason Carroll and Kiran Khalid contributed to this report.

Sandusky is accused of engaging in sex with young boys . He maintains he is innocent . His autobiography explores his career and work with kids' charities . Sandusky stepped down from coaching in 2000 to focus more on a kids' charity .